Amanita: Poison Shot

Chapter 35: Where Clones Chose to Self-Destruct

K8 belonged on that podium, spinning around that pole. She was a goddess.

The only weird thing about her is how ostracised and isolated she had seemed to be when I had first seen her, in Agape's office. The rest of the group had not even recognised her presence.

If we had been in high school, I would've identified her as the typically bullied teenager. She seemed willingly distant, as distant as Siegfried had been towards her when she had mentioned her to me: I remembered how he didn't consider her a girl, only a robot Agape had designed.

It shocked me because she was getting everybody's attention that night at the club. The audience was obsessively hungry for her, while our teammates didn't even look at her. It didn't make sense – to me. Something was off.

"K8!" a drunk clone guy shouted at her. "More twerking!"

The crowd cheered her name.

"Of course, handsome!" she shouted back at him in a sensual voice. She winked at him.

Her voice was a bit artificial and resonated in a metallic way, but no one seemed to care. Everybody seemed to be delighted.

She seemed to like having all that lavish attention bestowed upon her. Her smile was magnetic. I started to wonder whether such an AI was capable of feeling the way a human like me could. I made a mental note to ask her about it the next time I would see her.

The mere thought of asking her about feelings made my heart flip. I wondered about the infinite possibilities that an AI like her might be in terms of personality. I was sure she was amazing. I wanted to tell her that, too. I wanted to know her, deeply.

Then, she began to dance the way that clone guy had asked her, gladly following the rhythm of the music in a lewd way. I didn't know what twerking was, but I was about to find out that it would make me blush wildly.

The audience devoured her every move with their eyes. I was shocked on account of the sensual performance and the wolf-like reaction from the clones around me.

The crowd was overwhelming. All that yelling and carnal vibes were too much for me. I was feeling a bit dizzy.

I took a few steps away. I put a hand over my mouth and took control of my breathing. Clones loved excess in all areas of life, but I had never seen it with my own eyes.

I realised that my spying mission required me to blend in no matter what. I needed to learn how to let my hair down like that so as not to stand out too much. I'd probably see a similar behaviour in the Sappho Residence: moral decadence and excess anywhere I'd look.

Out of the blue, the crowd parted to make way for the paramedics. A guy had fainted near the bar.

I heard two girls who were standing close to me talk about what had happened. Alcohol was suspected as the cause.

"Not surprised," a girl told her friend. "He went into an alcohol-induced coma last year already. Needed a liver transplant a week after that."

"Really?" her friend replied nonchalantly. "At this rate, I'm getting one too."

"Every weekend, the same old story," the first one added casually. "Who knows! Maybe I'm next!"

I heard the paramedics confirm it. It was indeed an alcohol-induced coma. They took him to the hospital.

I was shocked due to what had just happened. I could see those girls drink even more alcohol. Birds of a feather flock together.

Was that grim scenario what Siegfried had tried to shield me from a few minutes ago? He didn't want me to see something. Was precisely that lack of care towards one's health on behalf of the clones what he thought could hurt me?