CLONING SNOWFLAKES

Cloning Snowflakes

The Julian Date was: 2529772.08861. Humanity finally knew its place in the Milky Way galaxy, basically.

Lydia was seated on one of the Barcelona chairs on the patio of the Bauhaus Star Park at the Wernher von Braun Institute of Higher Education, sipping on her dry martini as she waited for her date while gazing at the glowing red sun (GJ 3323) as it was about the descend on the horizon. The temperature was a warm 28° Celsius. She admired the two moons in the heavens to her West. She was wearing a golden dress and matching sandals.

After a few moments, Mortimer finally arrived. He was dressed in a two-button tan seersucker suit, black dress shoes, and sporting clear-rimmed glasses. His hair was a light brown parted on the right.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” smiled Mortimer taking a seat across from her.

“Oh, it’s fine. I was just thinking about where we should spend our weekend.”

“And . . . . . have you decided?”

“Yeah, I want to go to HD 40307-G.”

“Splendid, that’s only 10.76 parsecs away. We can go any time you wish.”

“I want to go in the morning. That gives us some time to get to know each other.”

“Well, I’ve been there, and honestly, it’s a hazardous place. Are you sure you want to go there? Why don’t we go to say - Luyten b?”

“Yes! I want to go there instead and see the ancient ruins!”

The waitress came over, “Would you care for a refreshment?”

Mortimer requested, “I want a Strawberry Daiquiri.”

“I’ll be right back,” beamed the cute waitress whose hair was blonde.

Mortimer watched the waitress’s ass jiggle as she walked into the bistro.

“She’s adorable,” admitted Lydia, “What exactly do you do, Mortimer?”

“I work for the Agency in the Historical Records Department.”

“So, you’re a Librarian?”

“That’s correct.”

“What’s your IQ?”

“It’s 235.”

“Mine’s only 132,” frowned Lydia.

“Oh, come on! Don’t be so grumpy,” insisted Mortimer, “You and I both know that you’re a twin, and that makes you perfect. Besides, having a 235 IQ doesn’t make me any more fun than you. I’m boring. Trust me.”

“You don’t look boring. You seem intriguing.” Lydia smiled. She was flawless in every way. She asked enthusiastically, “What were the resorts like on Earth?”

“We didn’t call them resorts back then, we called them cities, and they were in places called countries. It was a very primitive time,” explained Mortimer.

“Cities? I don’t like that word.”

“It’s just a word.”

“I want to get naked and go to the hot springs on - Luyten b.”

“We will.”

The waitress came back with Mortimer’s Strawberry Daiquiri and asked, “Is there anything else that you require?”

“No, thank you.”

The waitress smiled and walked away.

Mortimer continued, “Cheers to our grandfathers who are the reason we are here, enjoying our cocktails.”

Lydia had a blank expression on her faultless face.

“They were the brightest of the bunch,” declared Mortimer, who took a hearty chug of his frozen alcoholic beverage.

Lydia stated, “I think Earth was ugly in the twenty-first century. I’ve seen the pictures. I don’t like the history of that time at all. Everyone was fat and obnoxious. And all they did was kill each other. But I like the Ancient Greeks.”

“So, do I. That’s why I chose you because we have similar interests.”

“Are we ever going to take our home-world back?”

“No. It’s better here, and the past is the past. What’s done in the past stays in the past. Everything is about the now and the future.”

“Oh?”

“Yes, we are better off here, and besides, the Chinese can keep Earth.”

“Yes, and everybody here gets along because we are a family.” Lydia smiled, taking another sip of her martini, “We don’t kill each other like we once did.”

“Hurry up and finish your drink. I want to show you my flat.”

“Sure,” agreed Lydia, who drank her martini in one gulp. She stood up and declared, “Ready!”

“Come on, let’s go to my place.” Mortimer took Lydia’s hand and walked her through the flower gardens on the path to his complex. They took the elevator to the 37th floor, and within a few minutes, they were in his loft.

“You have books in your place?”

“Yes.”

“How did you get all of these books? I thought that books were only allowed in the Library?”

“I get whatever I want.”

“Oh? What are your books about?”

“They are called fiction; they are not real.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Let me explain.” Mortimer took one off his shelf and stated, “This book is called ‘The Time Machine.’ It was written by a man named H.G. Welles, it was written 318 years ago, it’s about a man who travels into the future to the year 802,701, to be exact. He encounters a race of blonde hair, blue-eyed people called the Eloy, existing in a peaceful paradise without war. Just like us. But they were just food for the Morlocks!”

“Where did he go?”

“He was on Earth, and the Morlocks don’t exist yet. And that is in the future.”

“We don’t know what is going to happen in the future. That’s silly.”

Mortimer took another book from the shelf, “This book is called ‘Brave New World’ set in the year 2540, yet it was written in 1932. The writer Aldous Huxley wrote about people just like you – twins.”

“How did he write about twins in 1932? They didn’t even know about twins. No one did.”

“Because he had foresight.” Grabbing another book, “This book is called ‘Logan’s Run.’ by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, set in 2274. And this book ‘Dune’ is placed 24,154 years into our future!”

“How did our ancestors get here?”

“Our grandfathers were all spies,” explained Mortimer.

“What are spies?”

“Spies were people who worked for their governments, who watched over other people and reported on the ones who were doing bad things.”

“What happened to all the bad people?”

“They died. While Humanity was watching a Mars rover roam around for years and years, sending back pictures of a dead planet, all the while in secret, our grandfathers were sending machines here to build our resort for us. So, we owe everything to our grandfathers.”

“Why was it a secret back then?”

“The Mars rover was a decoy!”

“Why?”

“Because at that time in our history, the majority of the people were, well, let’s just say, not very smart - at all.”

“When did our grandfathers first send their machines here?”

“2022.”

“Oh,” whispered Lydia seductively.

“It’s fascinating to witness history at that primitive time, from the years of 1933 onward, until the great separation.”

“You mean the day China took over Earth?”

“It wasn’t in a day, but yes.”

“It was pretty much in a day. That’s what I was told.”

“It took many years leading up to that day.”

“How?”

“Well, once the third and final war started in 2026, and the Chinese were winning, the governments of our ancestors unleashed a virus that killed everyone who had the Rhesus Positive Blood, knowing that 99% of the Asian races would die, but the Chinese had many underground cities that they lived in for years until they figured out how to make tiny flying micro electromagnetic pulse explosives which disabled the last of the nations of our ancestors.”

“What’s it like on Earth now? I hear it’s dreadful.”

“Oh, it’s not so bad as I have been told, it’s just dirty. China eventually won, as you know, by poisoning the entire planet.”

“I’m bored of talking about the past. I only care about the future, our future. I love you so much, Mortimer. You’re so smart.”

Humanity, eventually became so pathetic that the average person had an IQ of only 94, and they lived in polluted cities doing absurd work for something called money, they lived in tiny rooms, eating food out of cans.”

“They ate food out of cans?”

“Yes.”

“Oh, my word!”

“I know, terrible. All they wanted was money because it gave them their pretend freedom. They ate animal flesh, knew nothing, drove in cars, believed in Jesus and Allah, fought in terrible wars, and did terrible things to one another. They had people called lawyers who spoke for you on your behalf to a judge if you were in trouble. Their children were trained on the television by watching stuffed animals, and all it did was turn the population into drug addicts from the age of twelve. Humanity had been conditioned into a useless wasted piece of garbage. Only the secret military and the people in government had any knowledge and style to the very end. All the rest died terribly,” chuckled Mortimer to himself.

“What is money?”

“Money was what people wanted. It was the only thing they cared about. Money was made of paper, and that is how they paid for things.”

“Paper? I’m confused.” she laughed. “When did our great-great-grandfathers first arrive here?”

“Way back in 2025, one year before the great war. There were only fifty on the ship, but one died on the way. That’s why they were called the forty-niners, that’s why we have 50 seats at the round table, yet one is always empty.”

“I never knew that. You’re so smart.” Lydia smiled and kissed Mortimer on his lips, “When did the people who died on Ganymede first get there again?”

“2004. But their supplies were already sent in advance, in secret from the European Union as early as 1997, yet as we know, they perished.”

“How can you remember all those names and dates?”

“It’s my job.”

“Why was everything a secret?”

“Because the average person would have gone insane if they knew that their governments had sold them out.”

“The Chinese are bad.”

“Yes, they are, and that’s why we have nothing to do with them or Earth.”

“Why do you obsess about the history of our former world? None of that stuff matters today.”

“It matters a lot. It’s where we came from. It’s who we are.”

“We are individuals, and we have emotions based on our unique ego, being self-gratifying creatures of free will.” Lydia was proud of her learning.

“Yes, we are! Oh, I almost forgot.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s called a heart-shaped locket,” handing Lydia the neckless.

“It’s doesn’t look like a heart.”

“It belonged to your original.”

“Who was your original?”

“I didn’t have an original. I was made naturally, through sex.”

“How’d you get this?” questioned Lydia, confused.

“Oh, it was in the vault of the first settlers. It’s a gift. Let’s listen to some classical music, shall we?”

“Sure,” Lydia smiled as she took off her dress and stood in his loft naked before laying on his bed. She asked, “Do you think I’m pretty?”

Mortimer did not respond as he dimmed the lights and poured two glasses of red wine. The song was “Under the Milky Way” by the Church.

“This song is sad. The words are strange,” Lydia started crying, “I don’t know why I’m crying. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Am I flawed?”

“No. No. Not at all. You are perfect. You know that.”

“Do you love me?”

“Yes, I do.” Mortimer gulped down his wine and kissed her.

“I love you too, Mortimer.”

* * *

Lydia was naked, enjoying herself at the hot springs on the slippery rocks, when she suddenly fell and broke her neck, dying instantly.

Mortimer knelt beside her and kissed her forehead before taking the golden heart-shaped locket from around her neck, reasoning that he’d simply have to grow a new twin and give it to her.

He put on his pants and casually walked the three kilometers back to his silver spherical craft and went inside and typed in the coordinates from Luyten-b back to GJ-3323-b, being a total of 3.3235591 parsecs. His vacation was ruined.