Hearts of Delmar 2... ( 2 many Nicoles)

Chapter 1 (thing 2 and thing 3)

Nicole opened her eyes. She realized as she began to move that she was cuffed to a chair. The familiar scent of Kraken lumbering about: Cigar and what she assumed bear musk to smell like.

"Welcome home Nicole." He said darkly. She squinted and tried to shake off the dream she was clearly having. 

"You're dead." She said bluntly, confused by his presence."

"We both are." He yawned.

I don't understand, I saw you die, Vinn ripped your head off and threw it across the arena, and you're dead." She repeated.

"Correct. And you drowned in the tunnels."

"No, I swam out." She insisted automatically.

"Because your Zombie fish genes activated and saved you, and you could breathe underwater, you're damn near unkillable. How convenient. But that was another you, and the headless Kraken you saw was another me. We're both copies, and neither of us exists." He said circling the chair.

"You're insane, but how are you alive?"

"You're not listening little Nicole. Think hard and pay attention to what I tell you. Gizzy runs human experiments, and sometimes humans die. Sometimes even Osirians die and they just clone them back, wipe their memory and they never know, unless you wanted to. She plays God like a video game with savepoints. You understand games, Nicole. When you die in a game, you don't just lose the game. You restart at your last savepoint. Gizzy has everyone she loves saved and backed up, and all of her important test subject like you...and apparently me." He growled.

"You were just a pawn."

"No I was the perfect scapegoat villain. She chose me out of everyone because I was perfect for a complicated role, just like you were. A very extensive plan to shift the council and save the colony, for the greater good of course. You think she would even consider letting either of us die before the plan was over? Gizzy doesn't play games she can lose, she plays games she can replay till she wins. All your friends, Vinn, herself, all backed up and stored in jars so if anything goes wrong, she just loses some progress and restarts the level; fresh clone in a jar ready to at a moment's notice. If Vinn had died in that fight, she would have just cloned him back. Gizzy does not lose, but you see the problem is that this cheating creates a paradox:

An exact copy is an exact copy, regardless of who was the original, the fact that you have no idea is proof of that, The fact that Gizzy, a ninth or tenth generation copy of a copy is still very much herself is further proof. Everything is perfect as long as one perfect copy walks around freely and another floats silently in a tank in the lower floors. One asleep one awake, the one awake dies, the sleeping one takes it's place, and the tank grows another backup automatically, clicking the counter up, the newest clone slumbering away in stasis for the next time a plan goes to shit. She really is brilliant, but she is not omnipotent, nor is she all loving. Gizzy is a selfish god who is happy as long as 1 copy of her pets are still alive and well to entertain her, and remind her that she is a loving god. But she doesn't care about the ones in the tanks, until the one upstairs gets killed." He sighed sadly.

"What's your point? Gizzy is maniacal and power crazed, I'm shocked and hurt to the core by this." She said sarcastically. "But I didn't die, and why would she bring you back, and why am I here?"

"She didn't bring me back. Once Vinn tore my damn head off, I was no longer useful and the clone was supposed to be terminated and disposed of. Down the body incinerator. Someone let me out. I also have friends in high places, Nicole. My cockiness is confidence, not arrogance. Your DNA is the key to so many medical miracles it's unreal, you think someone else close to Gizzy didn't want you for testing? I played my part for a price, and it was a very good price, I simply risk my life, and if I die in the arena, my copy would be saved from the disposal and I would be rewarded with a truly disgusting amount of money. And they get you. Of course I can never show my face on Delmar M44, like you said, everyone saw me die in the arena, and most Delmarians believe a clone has no soul." He puffed solemnly.