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The little boy's fingers touch the tips of mine and gently I take his little hand in mine. I feel the physicality of his his flesh and blood; then gently find his pulse with my finger and feel it beating fast with fear of the unknown that haunts all children.
Glancing sideways, I see Kade doing exactly the same with the smaller, delicate little boy, "Are you Thomas?" He asks, gently.
"Yes." He says, his bottom lip trembling, "Are you going to stick needles into us, like the other people do?" He asks, his whole body beginning a rising tremor.
Kade drops to his knees and puts his hands on his tiny shoulders, to settle his increasing tremble, "Of course not, we're not going to hurt you, we'll help you in any way we can," he says, reassuringly.
"How did you know are names?" Asks the little boy still clinging onto my hand.
"I made a guess," I say, knowing it's a useless answer.
He withdraws his hand from mine and frowns, "I don't believe that; you know our names from The Clinical Trial." He goes over to Thomas, gently pulls him away from Kade, puts a protective arm around his shoulder, and whispers, "Remember, we only trust each other, don't believe anything they say."
Kade moves closer and stoops to their level, "Of course we know the names from The Clinical Trial, but she made a guess that you were the children involved," he says.
When the dark haired little boy glances reassuringly at his delicate little friend, I experience a strength of emotion that makes my knees buckle and I drop to the floor.
My heart breaks with a strange mix of love and revulsion.
Imagine meeting yourself and the love of your life as children, and seeing the little loving gestures between yourselves replicated in miniature – it's almost too much to bear, and I cover my eyes, taking deep breaths to try and control my tumultuous feelings.
I feel Kade's hand on my shoulder, followed by the weight of his body next to mine, pulling me into him, "They've cloned us," he whispers.
When I glance forward, I see little Kade holding Thomas in exactly the same way, and I catch his whispered words, "They look like us, but bigger," he says.
Thomas's reaction causes my heart to break further, "But she's a girl, and I'm a boy."
Little Kade responds exactly how I'd expect, "I know, she looks like your big sister, that's what I mean," he says, reassuringly.
I know Kade is feeling the same as I am; the exact emotions are flowing through his body as we experience ourselves as children in real time and not with the comfort from an old home movie from the past.
Kade's body relaxes a little, "Come on Tanya, we have to continue going down, let's not let this deflect us," he says, standing up.
Our young counterparts mirror our action with little Kade raising his voice in surprise, "What did you call her?" He says, pointing to me.
