Chapter One

BENEDICT - COMMODITY

Saturday evening, after the death of Benny Blackwood.

 

 

NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES BENEDICT ADMONISHED HIMSELF TO BE more like Benny, he still couldn’t stop his palms from sweating or that twitch in his left leg, which now seemed to have a life of its own. He accessed his ‘Benny’ vault of memories to see if anything could help him. Any witty barb to slay the dragon now eyeing him with pointy teeth and flame breath.

     ‘Well,’ sighed Eloise as she stared at the body on the table. ‘Like father, like son.’ She made some sort of tutting sound. ‘I do find it rather odd both you and your father have managed to let this most precious commodity just die, and rather horribly at that.’

     ‘As I said earlier, it was an accident.’ It had only been a few hours since Benny had fallen into that trap. Jonah had arrived in double-quick time to pick up his body. Benny’s body... so much blood and the look on his face. Stop! Concentrate, or two Benny’s might be lying side-by-side on the table.

     Benedict tried his best to appear nonchalant, bored, and wracked with ennui... he shook his head. He should be focused like never before. If Eloise even suspected for a second the body on the table was the ‘real’ Benny and that he was the clone, the unit, then they’d all be shafted good and proper. And that included Jonah, standing silently watching, waiting for instructions.

     Turning suddenly, Eloise fixed Benedict with a laser look. ‘It is strange though, you must admit, that the both of you have had your clones die. What, exactly, was this accident that left your unit like it had been used as a giant pin cushion? Did you ask it to do something it shouldn’t?’

     ‘You mean, did I send it out to do something illegal?’ Benedict raised one eyebrow.

‘If any of our clones are discovered, especially in compromising positions, then it would bring disrepute to the door of our company, and the owner of Eazee Life is not a man who would be happy about that. At all.’ She sniffed delicately. ‘Not to mention our many patrons who would not relish any spotlight cast in their direction.’

     ‘And who, pray, is this illusive owner?’

‘Mr Blackwood.’ The look on Eloise’s face just oozed scorn. ‘You know I am not at liberty to divulge this information.’

     ‘Fine. But as you well know,’ said Benedict frowning, ‘the clones are not allowed, no, not able to do anything against the law.’ He nodded at the shape, careful not to look too closely and even more careful to not assign a gender. To make it an impersonal it. A thing, not a person. As Benny would have done if the situation had been reversed. ‘It was following its main protocol. It saved my life. It could have been me on that table, so it served its purpose well. Now,’ he leant in closer to stare into Eloise’s dark eyes, ‘I need you to get rid of it.’

     ‘Hmm,’ said Eloise. ‘We have to do the tests first. We have to absolutely ensure that nothing, um, untoward has happened.’

     ‘Untoward? You mean, you think I might be Cloneboy? And that over there is the real Benny?’ Benedict laughed loudly. ‘Go for it, Eloise, because I distinctly remember you saying this could never happen? Or does Eazee Life make promises it can’t keep?’ As Jonah had secretly taped Benny’s discussions with all the Eazee Life personnel, he’d made sure he updated Benedict’s memories. Benedict saw a muscle quiver under her eye, so that, at least, had hit home.

     ‘Of course not. We have to be thorough, though.’ She clicked her fingers. ‘Doctor Digby? I need you to perform all the relevant tests. Now.’