Irreplaceable

PART 1

As the metronome on his father’s grand piano switched back and forth from one extreme to the next Marcus stared at the silver crafted bowl. How could he not? The bowl was filled with a plethora of fruits from the era of Adam and Eve. The only ones that satisfy Eve apparently as the marketing suggested. Still, they were seen as precious and rare commodities. They came from apple trees of what used to be known as China. He couldn’t resist taking one, smirking at the irony of the situation. He was subsequently startled by a loud screeching sound as the door to his father’s study was opened by a sharply dressed man with the sad and restless eyes of youth.

They both sat on opposite ends of the desk filled with pictures of his father surrounded by different races. Marcus could not picture the races as “race” was now an irrelevant concept.

There’s a cure for that said a guy in a suit smiling at the camera. A wonderfully intricate invention introduced around 2000 years ago. The jet print 1000, able to create billions of tiny intricate layers of a paste. This enabled it to generate food of any kind with the use of matter found all around. Thus, famine went away followed by peace. In fact, it seemed as though struggle and indeed conflict were just remnants of the past, much like the historical artefacts found all around his father’s house. One wonders why a man with as much political influence and power who surrounds himself with laminated papyrus portraits of pharaohs would give himself the name Steven.

Changing your name was as common as artificially injecting yourself with feelings of happiness and even fulfilment. There was a time when influences like this were considered taboo but now? You couldn’t escape it. It is rare find bottled water that hasn’t been infused with the next miracle drug. There was one on sale that apparently induced “strange but welcome sensations”. They stopped marketing those due to noise complaints, although they could often be found in people’s bedrooms if they forgot to activate the common recycling feature. The disintegration of unwanted items followed by their reintegration into something useful, this was through their transformation into pink vapour that smelled of strawberries.

“So, what are your plans for today?”

This was a question so commonly asked that Marcus almost started answering before his father even uttered the words.

“Same old, going out with the guys, having fun, the usual”.

His father gave off a quiet sigh. He turned his head to the painting on the wall.

“Again? Is this really all you want? Why not live your life at its fullest?” after a long pause, his father looked at the heart shaped locket Marcus was fumbling. “She would have wanted you to”

Marcus looked irritated.

“Do what Dad? Experience what? Everything is already done. And I already experienced everything. There’s a pill for that, it’s called everything. You experience everything in five minutes”. Marcus noticed his phone buzzing in his pocket, this was followed by the projection of at least 12 holograms all calling out “Bob” all dancing and performing.

Steven called out from the cusp of his hands

“are you going right now?”

As they stepped outside the strange historical monument that his father called home, they were greeted by the bright red and blue neon lights that enveloped the city. Even stepping out of one’s home was an overwhelming experience as dozens of holograms were projected all around the brightly coloured streets. Their voices however were often drowned by a concerned but friendly female voice saying “whoopsie, are you alright”? “do you require medical assistance”? Every time there was even the slightest concern that someone may have injured themselves. Pain was no longer a concern as the atmosphere of the City was filled with robotic nanoparticles that would repair damaged skin upon the slightest detection of injury. Tiny laughing pink butterflies. Steven played a big role in that, he and the rest of the cabinet members were as responsible for this “utopic” landscape as the “real time, real life” movie holograms that took up the streets promising a virtual real-life movie experience. “Be part of Wars in Space 1203 the definitively last battle part 8” read the hologram. And now, Steven and the rest of his party RUK (Re-United Kingdom) were ready to unveil a brand-new miracle. Cheating death, by 3-d printing people.

PART 2

Strange shapes and colours were slowly coming into focus. It was Robert and Sam. Marcus opened his eyes startled that the three of them would be on top of the leaning tower of Pisa, in space.

“Where are we?” said Marcus shifting his head back and forth in awe.

“We are in Space!”

“Yes Marcus, we are. Do you remember what we agreed on?” Said Sam with a perplexed face

Marcus furrowed his eyebrows.

“That’s right, the plan. Sorry guys I don’t think I slept well last night. We are going to the fundraiser, right? With Arlene?”

“Yes, just manifest something to put on and lets go”

As the trio took the polar express in space, Marcus stared in pure awe at the constellations and supernova holograms projected on the Earth’s skyline as the ball shaped aircraft landed as delicately as its launching.

The fundraiser was in an abandoned warehouse, this was to reduce as much distraction as possible as a major decision was about to be made. Upon entering, the three of them were greeted by a confused looking young girl with black hair and a shirt with the bottom part wrapped around her waist.

“Hi guys, can I borrow Marcus for a moment?”

“I think it would be best if we stuck together Arlene, apparently Marcus’s Dad is announcing something big” said Bob robotically

“My cousin David wants to ask him a question about that new star base film, we won’t be too long”

Arlene pulled Marcus by the elbow and they briskly walked away. She then pushed Marcus in the lady’s bathroom as the whoopsie voice was blaring in the background.

“What are you doing?” asked an irate Marcus

Arlene pulled out a remote and pointed it at Marcus’s shoulder. Upon the pressing of the centre button, a red glowing light was emitted from his shoulder, this depicted the self-destruct mechanism of 3-d models.

“I went out with Bob last night and took this from him”

“Arlene I am not the real Marcus”? Marcus collapsed onto the ground whimpering, Arlene kneeled down and embraced Marcus in a conciliatory way.

“I’m going to save you. It’s too late for my Marcus but maybe it’s not too late for you”

The door slammed opened as Sam and Bob ran in holding sharp knives.

“We think the world lost something Arlene. The old ways, and we are bringing them back” said Sam coldly.

“You can’t hurt us” Arlene stated defensively.

“Not with the way we altered you, said Bob stepping in closer.

“But why Bob, why make me love you and then get rid of me” said Arlene in an overly enthusiastic manner.

“What do you mean?” Said Bob as he turned his head towards Arlene perplexed

“Why do I have this overwhelming urge to love you and be with you?” Arlene approached Bob

Bob turned to Sam. “Do you think the real Marcus made her like this? To make her fall for me?”

In a swift motion, Arlene took the knife off Bob’s hands and threatened to slit his throat in front of Sam

“You know that won’t do any...”

Before Sam could finish Arlene slit Bob’s throat followed by a massive swarm of pink butterflies manifesting out of thin air and the stereotypical loud voice blaring out. A flabbergasted Sam started walking in reverse before being greeted by a punch on the left side of his face by Marcus.

“They won’t be out for too long; the self-repair will see to that” said Arlene wiping the blood from her blouse as she grabbed Sam’s knife as well as his laser printing 1000 device shaped as a gun in his pocket.

“I have an idea.” Marcus used the laser printer and created a duplicate remote, which he promptly left inside Sam’s pocket. “Let’s pay myself a visit.”

Upon entering the staircase to Marcus’s basement, Arlene inquired why Marcus is acting strangely.

“Every copy created must have a self-recycling mode Arlene. All 3-d printed tech does. That’s their plan”

“I don’t understand” said a frustrated Arlene.

“Then let me enlighten you”. The spitting image of Marcus was right in front of the pair, surrounded by people wearing plastic tragedy masks.

The real Marcus took out a gold heart shaped locket with strange mis colourations all around it. Upon opening it, it showed a picture of a smiling woman hugging her son.

“I don’t even know if this is real” said Marcus in a broken-up voice.

“I mean, he gave me this saying that its my real mother but many distant relatives claim that they never recalled him being with a blond-haired woman. Is anything even real anymore?”

Marcus looked visibly upset for a second before raising his voice.

“So, you’re just going to snap us out of existence, we’re just disposable, like your mother?”

The real Marcus took an apple out of his pockets and munched aggressively “I’m doing this for her! She can’t just be another copy, that’s not her. The real her. I have to make them see that by losing something fake and then gaining something real”. The real Marcus projected his hand outwardly showing a group of transfixed men, women and children all wearing trendy clothes staring gormlessly all around.

“I’m returning them safe and sound after I dissolve the fake ones. Their rich parents will be ecstatic. In the real sense of the word”

In a swift motion Marcus grabbed the remote from Sam’s pockets.

“teleportation again, Sam?” said Marcus as he pressed the centre button on the remote resulting in a red glowing light in real Marcus’s shoulder.

“Maybe you shouldn’t have created such a perfect copy of yourself, why not make one that would comply with you”

“How is this possible” said the real Marcus kneeling onto the ground “He made me? After everything! I wasn’t even the “real” one.

The real Marcus hoped that he was worthy to die for the cause. A perfect replica of himself would surely understand the beauty of giving your life for a larger purpose. Marcus disagreed, which is what he expressed to the real Marcus as he convinced him to surrender himself and his comrades to the police. There was friction from other members of the cause but they soon agreed when they were convinced that prison would be a “new” experience for them.

After taking a deep breath, Marcus exclaimed in a confident voice.

“I can’t wait to experience this”

“I’ll keep the place tidy for you when you inevitably take my place”

“I don’t think I will, there’s a pill for that I think”. Marcus walked off with his phone buzzing and projecting 10 Arlene holograms after leaving two remotes behind through the translucent jail cell where the real Marcus was now kept.

The real Marcus inspected the remotes realising that one of them caused a red glow to appear and the other one did not. Marcus smiled and took out the locket and admired its blemishes before being interrupted by a security guard.

“I have one of these as well. He pulled out the same locket and exclaimed with enthusiasm “They give you the memories as well, isn’t that funny?”

The self-recycling alarm blared from inside Marcus’s jail cell, the count-down had begun.

“It’s hilarious” said Marcus with a blank expression as his cell was gradually filled with pink vapour that had the smell of strawberries. Marcus thought that the smell was close enough to the real thing before he became a part of it.