Detective Thorne rubbed the grit from his eyes as he studied Jacob Halley's face – the original Jacob Halley – in the soft morning light of the hospital ICU room. Halley had awoken earlier than expected, coming out of sedation in a fragile state. Thorne had rushed over, eager and uneasy to finally speak to the man who had been at the center of this nightmare from the beginning.
Halley's voice was weak, muffled slightly by the oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. But his eyes were clear, if haunted. Thorne pulled a chair close to the bedside, flipping on his voice recorder. "Jacob... I mean, Mr. Halley. I know this is difficult, but I need to ask you about what happened to you."
Halley attempted a nod, winced at the pain it caused. Up close, the damage was even more apparent – he'd lost both arms just above the elbow, though regenerative bandages hid the stumps. Bruises mottled his neck and chest. The fact he could speak at all was a testament to the medics' skill.
"I'll... try," Halley rasped, voice barely above a whisper.
Thorne gave him a gentle, encouraging look. "Take your time. Start with last night. Do you remember being in your apartment in Sector D4? Why were you there instead of Arcadia housing?"
Halley closed his eyes for a moment, gathering strength. "I keep a... a separate place out there," he managed. "Company housing has no privacy. I rented a small unit in the Rim under a false name. For when I needed to think, or get away from Arcadia's eyes." A faint, bitter smile. "Ironically, I thought I could keep secrets from them."
Thorne understood the impulse. On a station where corporations watched everyone, a bolt-hole made sense. "So you went there last night?"
Halley's throat worked as he swallowed. "Yes. I'd been... having headaches. Strange dreams. I felt like I needed a good night's sleep away from work. I turned off my link, didn't want anyone to bother me. I fell asleep on the couch."
Thorne's pen scribbled softly on the notepad. "What happened then?"
Halley's eyes suddenly brimmed with tears of recollection. "I woke up to someone in my apartment. Standing over me." His intact hand – the left – trembled as it gripped the sheet. "It was dark, but the lights of the ad panels outside gave enough glow. I saw him. I saw me."
Thorne held his breath.
"It was like looking in a mirror," Halley whispered, voice trembling. "He had my face. My body. Even the tiny scar on my chin I got as a kid. I... I thought I was still dreaming. Or losing my mind."
"What did he do?"
Halley's face contorted at the memory. "I sat up, startled, and he stepped back. He looked as shocked as I was – maybe he expected me to be gone. We both started freaking out. I demanded who the hell he was. And he shouted, 'Why are you alive? You're not supposed to be here!'" A tear slipped down Halley's cheek, soaking into the pillow. "He sounded just like me. Same voice. It was like arguing with my reflection. I grabbed a kitchen knife – I keep one by the bedside for protection – and he lunged at me. We struggled."
Halley paused, chest heaving slightly from the effort of speaking. Thorne placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You're doing great. Just a bit more."
Halley nodded weakly. "He was strong. As strong as me... stronger maybe. I have some augment enhancements, but he countered every move. We were shouting, cursing. He kept saying he was Jacob Halley, the only real one, and I was the impostor. I realized then... Arcadia must have made him. I'm not stupid – I worked on parts of the Gemini project, though they compartmentalized it. I never dreamed they'd test it on me without my consent." He gave a soft, hysterical laugh that turned into a cough. Thorne quickly adjusted his oxygen mask until Halley recovered.
"They did it. They made a copy of me," Halley continued, voice muffled by the mask. "And that copy tried to kill me too... to replace me, I guess. He had this wild look in his eyes, like an animal backed into a corner. I managed to slash his side with the knife early on – there was blood – which only seemed to enrage him. Next thing I know, we crashed into my work desk and he grabbed a heavy spanner..." Halley trailed off, eyes unfocusing in trauma.
Thorne gently squeezed his shoulder. "It's okay. I saw the aftermath. I know it was brutal."
Halley let out a shudder. "He hit me with it. Here." He tilted his head, indicating the side of his neck above the bandages. "I think I was stunned. After that... I just remember pain. Searing pain in my arms as he... as he ripped..." He broke off, a sob hitching his chest.
Thorne felt a surge of anger on Halley's behalf. He gave the man a moment. Monitors beeped steadily, a counterpoint to the muffled hum of hospital machinery beyond the curtain.
Halley composed himself just enough to finish. "I think he thought I was dead. I must have passed out when he... did that to me. Honestly, I wish I had died then. The pain..." His voice quaked. "When I came to, I was on the floor, choking on blood. I remember seeing my own arms on the floor next to me." He gave a hollow, mirthless chuckle that ended in a gasp. "He was gone. I guess he fled. I don't know how I stayed conscious long enough to crawl to the door. The next thing I remember is a bright light and some voices – paramedics, I guess."
Thorne realized with a start that the motion sensor camera in the hall must have been triggered by Halley crawling to the threshold, capturing the image of the clone leaving and perhaps Halley's body near the door. No wonder the scene had been a confusing mess.
He clicked off the recorder. "Thank you, Jacob. That answers a lot." He hesitated, then asked, "Did Arcadia ever directly ask you to volunteer for anything involving Gemini? Or did you undergo any kind of brain scan?"
Halley looked bitter. "They didn't ask me – not outright. But I can put it together now. A month ago, I was assigned a special medical exam 'for key personnel', supposedly just an enhanced physical. They did a high-res brain imaging and took lots of blood. I thought it was odd, but they said it was to establish baseline health data. Lies." He closed his eyes, overcome with betrayal and anger. "They used me. And that thing – my copy – he's out there walking around, maybe still thinking he's me or... or maybe he realizes now what he is."
Thorne stood and gently pulled the sheet up a bit more over Halley's chest, a small gesture of comfort. "We're going to hold Arcadia responsible," he vowed quietly. "Just rest for now. You're safe here – we have officers posted outside."
Halley's eyes snapped open with sudden panic. He grabbed Thorne's sleeve with his one remaining hand. "No one's safe. Arcadia... they won't let this go public. If they know I'm alive, they might come for me. Or they'll twist the narrative somehow."
"Not if I can help it," Thorne promised. He pried Halley's trembling fingers from his sleeve gently. "Try to sleep."
Exiting the room, Thorne paused in the hallway to collect his thoughts. He had the station lab run expedited comparisons: the blood from the Halley in the hospital and a hair sample covertly plucked from the Halley at Arcadia were an exact DNA match. Fingerprints, retinal scans – all identical. There was no precedent for this except identical twins, and even twins had differences. But clones? That was a word still spoken only in hushed tones and science fiction holo-vids.
Officer Rios was waiting nearby and fell in step as Thorne walked, speaking in low voices. "You got all that?" he asked. Rios tapped her temple – her ocular implant had likely recorded audio.
"Yes. Hell of a story," she murmured. "Poor guy."
Thorne nodded. "He confirmed Arcadia's role and that the other Halley attacked him. That's enough to treat the other one as a dangerous suspect now. We need to bring him in, protective custody at least."
Rios chewed her lip. "About that – Arcadia's been unresponsive to our requests to make Jacob Halley available for a formal interview. Chief Kelland claims he's on leave and not fit to talk further due to stress. I suspect they've got him locked down on their campus."
Thorne felt frustration simmer. Arcadia was circling the wagons. "What about a station warrant? We have an attempted murder and evidence of illegal human cloning. That's serious enough to call in the magistrate."