CELL

/ FORTY THREE /

Ryan moved cautiously.

He kept his focus on the doctor, but ensured he could still see Pedra. Either one could make a move on him. Pedra would be lethal even without her gun, and Bradley certainly was with it. His advantage was clear, though not bullet or fist proof.

He would have to look away from them, and it felt as if he were turning his back on a hungry lion. He didn't want to be a rotting carcass in the desert sun. Or a newer version of himself. He had no choice.

He looked inside.

The body's covering had almost completely dissolved. A few patches remained, and they were disappearing too, shrinking like breath on a window, if the breather had mucus filled lungs. The form was naked. Completely hairless. Blemish free.

And him.

He recoiled, stumbling sideways rather than backwards, his senses needing to get away but his brain knowing he had to stay put. One of the guards made to grab him, but Bradley held up a hand.

"It's OK," she said. "Let him be."

The guard paused, lowering his weapon only slightly.

Ryan gripped onto the side of the pod. It was him. Him.

Fucking him. The next one. A backup if he failed to impress again. She'd said he was done. Ready. Fully baked, perhaps. Yet, there was another one chilling in a hot tub, waiting for it's chance to step up.

The resemblance was uncanny, but he supposed it must be. How could it not? Cut from the exact same cloth, they were more than twins. Not eggs splitting in the womb. Natural childbirth was barbaric compared to growing an offspring. There were no dirty nappies either.

Fuck!

His hand touch something and he yanked it away, staring manically.

Shit. It was only a button. Large and glowing orange, but a button nonetheless.

Phew.

"Leave that, please."

He jumped, momentarily forgetting he wasn't alone.

"What? Why?"

"Just leave it. It's not time. Not yet."

"Not time for what?"

"For him. You. It."

She didn't know how to refer to her own creation. That showed what they meant to her. They were commodities, useful only for the ultimate goal. This delusional plan for an all-encompassing cure. He looked back at the floating him and forced himself to see it as she did. Not completely 'done', it was a lump of flesh waiting for the real Ryan to be cycled once again.

She didn't want him to press the button, which meant he really had to. So, he did.

"No!" Bradley yelled.

Ryan saw Pedra's tight mouth lift in a slight smile, before Bradley stepped between them.

"Why the fuck did you..."

Ryan wasn't listening. His attention had returned to the pod. A panel had opened under the surface of the liquid, where this larger container met its younger sibling. The thick tube connecting from the ceiling pulsed down along its length, as if it were swallowing.

Whenever he saw something unexpected, no matter how gruesome or foul, he found it difficult to turn away. As it was on this occasion.

The something emerged from the opening. It was long, with an eel-like body and tail – or were eels all tail? Its head was... was... Erm... Its head was spherical and covered in slightly raised, circular patches. It was swimming blindly, bumping into the side and, once, returning into the hole. It moved lazily. There was no rush. Whatever it might plan could wait.