WARNING FLAGS

“Speak.”

There was a faint buzzing sound, followed by absolute silence. A youngish man, perhaps not much more than twenty-six or twenty-seven, stared with abject consternation at his creation—though perhaps a work in progress would be more à propos. He threw his hands up in sudden frustration.

“What the blazes do I have to do to make you show me you have even the faintest spark of life?”

Laurie Keir was a younger man who all-in-all came across as average in most respects. Average height, average weight, average to better-than-average looks. He did, however, possess a high Scottish forehead that helped him stand out just a smidge. The man gazed out at the world through gray eyes adorned with horn-rimmed spectacles. There was a certain prim and proper element that he abided by shown in the keeping of his face clean shaven with no trace of stubble—except on those most rare of occasions. As for his balding auburn hair—he kept that covered almost religiously with a tweed Gatsby cap.

He buried his head into his palms. Then, almost as an afterthought, used his right hand to hurl a wrench at his latest pet project.

“Ouch! Hey, what’s the big idea?”

Laurie jerked his head up, his jaw fully agape. Could it be? He wondered.

“How would you like it if I were to hurl metal objects at you?” came a petulant reply from across the room.

Laurie wondered if he was in some deep fog from a dream, or if he had achieved critical success. He pinched himself to be certain which one. He definitely felt that. So, not a dream, he thought as an undiluted smile spread across his face.

He had labored and toiled for what seemed like endless days and nights working towards one goal: to prove he could create a nearly human life. A replica, if you will. His creation could easily pass for a Caucasian man in his early twenties, with a slightly medium build, a height of five-foot-ten inches spot on the nose, almost perfectly combed blonde hair, and piercing blue—red? How can that be?

“You don’t approve of red? Perhaps another a color would be more acceptable to you?”

“Well, of course another color would be more acceptable,” He stammered.

“Very well,” the replica acquiesced.

The glowing red eyes slowly dimmed and morphed into a swirling rainbow of colors that spun for a few seconds before settling on a more normal eye color. Emerald green.

Still not blue, but I guess it will do.

“I should have a name. Zarak-El is—”

“No, that would never go over. How about Zach,” Laurie said, hoping to avoid bringing too much unwanted attention to the replica.

There was a long sigh followed by, “How excruciating pedantic. But if it will please you. I will accept ‘Zach’ as my moniker.”

Laurie was taken aback somewhat at how Zach rolled his eyes as he agreed to his new name. It seemed that Zach already had a firm grasp on human sarcasm. These advancements on full display so early were both exciting and somewhat disturbing to Laurie. But he quickly dismissed whatever warning flags there were and instead basked in the success at hand.

“Shall we go for a… what is the word… ah, yes… a test run?”

Another warning flag went up and just as quickly was lowered and disregarded.

“Aye, that sounds like a fabulous idear.”

***

Inside the Haven, Laurie and Zach and a mixed group of men and women sat at a mishmash of several smaller tables placed together to form a larger table. The Haven was a local Scottish Pub that Laurie and a number of his friends and associates of Scottish and Celtic descent had made their hangout. Needless to say, Laurie and his crew were welcome regulars. Laurie had introduced Zach to the Haven staff and his motley crew of friends and associates with remarkable ease.

Zach seemed to be a natural communicator and possessed a near magical level of likability and charm. He won everyone over in a matter of minutes. Midst the smoked fish cakes, Scottish eggs, Wee Beastie Bar Steak and pints of ale, all the attention found itself fixated on Zach. The replica had them all mesmerized by his ability to spin a perfect yarn with just the right amounts of humor, whimsy—and even just the right dash of tear jerking.

“That’s right and I shite you not,” Zach said waving a smoked fish cake with his left hand, “we barely made it out of that cave unmaimed.” Zach let out a hearty laugh as he banged his right hand on the table for emphasis. “Who the devil sends folks snipe hunting in a bear cave?”

Laurie was amazed at how quickly his local gang of fellow academics of Scottish descent warmed up to Zach. Not only did he pass for a human-being, but he had practically become their new BFF. Laurie pondered the implications for the briefest of moments before once again dismissing any misgivings he may have about his creation.

Zach let loose an enormous belch, then guffawed at the gift he had bestowed upon his current company. The rest of those at the table echoed with spirited laughter—except for Laurie. Laurie let out a low-decibel, nervous, obligatory laugh.

Maybe I should cut this outing short and bring him back to the lab, he pondered.

“Zach,” Laurie interjected, “don’t you think we should head home? We have that project that we need to get started on early tomorrow—”

“Sorry to cut this short, gang,” Zach said rising from the table, “but someone here needs to get his beauty sleep. But we’ll have to get together again.”

Beauty sleep? I’ll have to see if I can tone down the sarcasm in him, Laurie cogitated.

***

“As far as test runs go, I thought that went rather splendid. Wouldn’t you say?” Zach chirped.

“As far as passing for perfectly human, yes. But that would be a qualified yes—your exceeding goal posts where there are no goal posts… that shouldn’t be possible. I think I’ll run a full diagnostic—”

“Already ran one before we left. Relax, I’m 100% A-OK.” the replica was mixing together some liquid concoction in Laurie’s Doctor Who mug. “Here, I fixed you something to soothe those raw nerves of yours,” he said, handing the mug to Laurie.

It appeared to be some sort of hot toddy, but Laurie couldn’t stuff down the nagging sensation that he shouldn’t drink whatever the replica had prepared for him. He smelled it. His nostrils breathed in the pleasant aromatic aromas. He almost took a sip, but that nagging sensation was getting stronger. He dropped the cup on the floor. It shattered and released its liquid contents.

“That’s unfortunate,” Zach said, shaking his head in disapproval. “Well, no matter.” He pulled a small handgun from his chest. “Goodnight, Laurie.” The gun made a whooshing sound, not like a bullet but—

“Tranquilizer dart…where did he get a tranquilizer gun?” Laurie wondered in a muttering voice before slowly slumping to the floor.

***

Laurie’s eyes slowly opened. The light was bright, the walls were, well, what one would expect to find in a hospital room. He was lying down on a hospital bed, his arms and legs were in restraints. There was a man in a lab coat looking at him with pique interest. Wait… no… the man’s face… was his face!

“How do you feel Subject A21?” his voice was identical to his own voice!

“What are you talking about? What’s going on here? I’m Dr. Laurie Keir!”

The man with Laurie’s face started speaking into a hand-recorder, “Replica exhibiting signs of delusion. Recommend complete mind wipe.”

“M-mind wipe! Now hold on!”

Laurie felt his heart pounding something awful. He figured he was a tad young for a heart attack, but under the circumstances, that wasn’t completely off the table. But the practical side of his brain told him it was probably nothing more than a really severe panic attack.

“I’m sorry, you had a good run,” the doppelgänger said with a sigh, “but the glitch could turn you into something far too dangerous to control.”

“I don’t know what’s going on here. But I’m Dr. Laurie Keir. This is a mistake—”

“You are a robotic human replica. Your assigned name is Subject A21.” He held up a hand mirror to Laurie’s face.

“That’s not possible!”

The mirror’s reflection showed him a stranger—well, not a complete stranger, but rather, a face that was just about identical to Zach’s! What is this? Plastic surgery? What the devil did he do to me? How long was I out? If that’s what I look like. Then the one wearing my face must be the replica. His mind flooded with one alarming thought after another. He knew that whatever purpose in trying to steal his identity, it could only be something terrible. It was just a question of just how terrible.

A man and woman wearing white lab coats entered the room. Upon seeing Laurie strapped down to the hospital bed, they showed visible concern.

“I’m preparing the subject for a mind wipe. It poses too great a threat in its present condition.” Zach said, hoping to put their minds at ease.

“Why not just deactivate it until you can find a better solution?” Dr. Zimo Chung inquired.

Dr. Chung was on loan from Beijing. He was in his mid-40’s, heavy set and completely bald. Dr. Chung found the unorthodox doctor advocating mind wipes to be shockingly alarming. It was if this strange young doctor wanted science to regress back to the 1950s. Whatever was going on here, things needed to be scaled back until everyone was on the same page.

“More power to you, if you can find the off switch,” Zach lightly mocked.

“Based upon these readings,” Dr. Rada Zelenko interjected, “We could just administer a high dosage sedative.”

Dr. Zelenko was a woman in her early 30’s, with striking black hair, and brown eyes that almost seemed set on fire. She had immigrated from Ukraine to the United States as a child. She had an extreme eye for detail and was known for being sometimes too analytic for her own good. Laurie was well acquainted with both the strengths and weaknesses of Dr. Zelenko—mostly from colleagues who had worked with her. He hoped that her known fixation on over-analytics would prove to be a welcome boon.

“That isn’t Dr. Keir!” Laurie shouted. “I’m Dr. Keir! He’s the robotic replica and has stolen my face and identity!”

“You see what I mean,” Zach said, pointing at Laurie. “This thing is showing high levels of hostility and seeks to impersonate humans. Imagine the implications if the replica succeeded. Who knows what damage it could do? We’re talking about end of the world doomsday scenarios here!”

“Wait! Wait! Wait! I can prove I’m the real Dr. Keir! Just take a DNA sample from me and compare it with the DNA on file at Nano Labs.”

“It doesn’t look like he can break the restraints,” allowed Dr. Zelenko.

“And it wouldn’t hurt to see what results we get on the DNA,” added Dr. Chung.

Zach considered his options. He didn’t wish to raise any suspicions about himself and it would take probably at least a good four hours or more to get the DNA results back.

“Very well. Go ahead with the DNA comparison.” He started walking towards the door. “I’ve got some things I need to check on. You can send me a text message to this number.” He handed Dr. Chung a business card, then proceeded to leave the room at a quick gait.

“I know all of us can come across as eccentric from time to time,” Dr. Chung observed, “but he’s a real oddity.”

“Indeed,” Dr. Zelenko concurred.

***

Zach leaned back in the chair with his feet on the desk. It was a sturdy wood desk—cherry wood from the look and feel of it. It was Laurie’s desk. This somehow seemed fitting. Sure, there was a chance that stupid DNA test might throw a proverbial wrench in the works. But that didn’t really matter. The plans he had set in motion were unlikely to be derailed by any revelations that Laurie might try to find a platform for.

While Laurie was “napping” and such, he had been busy creating an army of fellow replicas. He started by replacing the circle of friends from the Haven, and then with lighting speed continued on from there. Eventually the entire western world would be 95% replicas. The aim was for global domination of replicas within five years. Laurie would of course be horrified by the mere idea of this. Brilliant for a human, but too short-sighted to grasp the full picture.

“All the human violence, war, poverty, disease—not to mention the human aggression towards the very planet they live and breathe on—my replicas and I, can put an end to all these human negatives. I’ll bring about a world utopia in record time.” Zach was very pleased with his plan and the expected global outcome that he envisioned.

An alert sounded on Zach’s cellular phone.

“Well, well. It looks like the good doctor will be tangled up in a spot of bother to be any real trouble for quite awhile.” Eerie laughter filled the room, as Zach started keying in a sequence commands and codes into the computer.

***

“We’ve received the DNA results,” Dr. Chung said flatly.

“Good! Now you know everything I’ve told you is true,” Laurie said, as hope started rise up in his being.

“I’m sorry,” Dr. Chung continued, “the DNA results show that you are without any shade of variance, Xavier Balasco.”

“Xavier who?”

“Xavier Balasco. He’s a serial murderer who was presumed dead. But apparently that isn’t the case.” Dr. Chung explained, his voice full of caution.

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to stay in those restraints until law enforcement arrives to remand you into their custody,” Dr. Zelenko said, as she tightened and secured the arm and leg restraints.

What did that replica do to me? Dear God, what have I unleashed on this world? Too proud and too foolish. I should’ve activated the fail safe when I saw the first warning flag.