The Original

    "I am not the original, but I do carry her memories." The clone thought as she gazed at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her long brown hair mimicked a lightning bolt victim. She reached for a thick handled brush while she contemplated her situation. 

     "The original was a secret rebel writer who was kidnapped and executed. No one ever noticed that she left for the grocery store and never came back. I was created and programmed before the execution. The government discovered the rebel's identity and used an old 23 and me test for my creation.  I aged rapidly with hormone shots and radiation technology. A chip was inserted into my brain that gives me access to the original's digital footprint and memories. The government secretly recorded her so they could program the chip with her habits, mannerisms, ect. Most of that stuff came naturally because I am an identical duplicate. I only lack her life experience. Though, sometimes I wonder if experience lives on in dna." The clone set the brush aside and left for the kitchen. She had to make breakfast for the original's children before the school bus arrived. The mornings were secretly her favorite part of the day. The children would gather around the marbled kitchen island to eat and talk about their plans for the day. All three had amazing personalities that made her eager to talk to them. Every now and then she would notice how all three had grown so much from their very pictures stored in her brain. She had only a year of lived experience so she wasn't sure,  but she deeply believed she was feeling pride.

     As the children rushed to start their individual days, the clone gave each child a hug and wished them a good day. The house was silenced after their departure and she immediately regretted her plans for the day. She began to mumble to herself as she putzed around the house. 

     "I am nothing more than a pawn in the government's twenty year war on misinformation." The realization startled her. It made her wonder if the original would agree. 

     "I shouldn't care what she would have thought about me, she was a traitor to democracy." When the government took over all digital information there were many pockets of people who disagreed. The scientists, teachers, writers, and many others went back to using printers and papers. The increase in paper usage caused a climate catastrophe in South America. In order to protect the global climate, printers and paper were fittingly outlawed. The original was a member of the rebel writers group. They wrote about countless topics they claimed contradicted the government's digital version. 

     "I have a job to do." She reminded herself. The clone's job was to use her identity to track down all illegal papers, even those not written by the original. She would also collect as much information as she could about the readers and how they circulate the writings. The clone had come across over fifty papers from nearby towns. Every composition she came across she would turn over to the government, but not before reading them for herself.

     It was the paper she discovered yesterday that was giving her anxiety and regret. It was titled How To Keep Your Children Safe When The Truth Is Censored, and it was authored by the original. Her work revealed secret government plans to make reading illegal for everyone not in essential or expert positions. The clone huffed aloud.

     "It is obvious misinformation that is written on illegal resources and used to sew distrust in the government." A twinge of guilt turned her stomach so she reevaluated her thoughts. 

     "I do exist after all. A cloned duplicate programmed to be a mole. And it seems to me that a government evil enough to kill a mother and duplicate her for sharing her beliefs, would also be evil enough to censor the world." Another consideration popped into her fore thoughts. 

     "It's about the paper. How many lives are saved each year by ending its circulation? According to the government millions, and everyone knows the planet cannot endure another climate catastrophe." The wrongfulness of the clone's thoughts hit her conscience like a boulder. She pondered on.

     "If only ten percent of the illegal papers I have come upon are true, like the government claims, then the South American disaster never happened. What if the original was right and everything really is about censorship?" The clone groaned and placed her head between her hands. 

     "How do I protect the children?" She whispered to herself. She knew they weren't really her children, but something had happened over the past year. She had grown close with them and fallen in love. The clone lifted her head and was hit suddenly with an epiphany. She raced for the garage.  When the clone had first replaced the original she spent all of her alone time searching her new residence. In the second week of her replacement she discovered something very illegal, but something had told her she had plenty of time to turn it in. Boy was she glad she hadn't yet. In the garage behind the far right cabinet was a hidden cavity. Inside the cavity laid a cache of pens and paper. The clone sighed, relieved everything was still there. She grabbed up the cache and began to work out her plan. 

     "I may not be the original but I feel her love for her children. I will do everything I can to fight the government's censorship. I'll start with rewriting the original's How To Keep Your Children Safe When The Truth Is Censored. I will make it appear as though the people are not privy to the government's plans. Tonight when I meet with the secret agents I will give them the fake. But what should I do with the original's paper? I know, I could give the paper to the market manager two towns over. I know for a fact he circulates, because he is where I got the paper from. I will not tell the agents about the market manager, I will tell them I found the paper in the cavity behind the cabinet. I don't even have to stop there. I can rewrite every paper I come across in the future, before giving it to the government, and help keep the originals circulating from town to town." The clone hurried into the house so she could put her plan into action. 

     "I am not the original, but I hope I make her proud."