Another Girl, Another Planet (02.14) by StellaSvartur on DeviantArt (original) (raw)

„Are you making fun of my misery.“
„No Dunya, honestly, I would never, and I like you, I really do, but at the same time, I don’t make the rules.“
„ So how old is this guy I’m suppose to marry.“
„I think in his lates forties, but he looks younger.“
„And if he dies of natural causes, do I inherit everything.“
„Well some of it“ Frances said, „it depends on how many children there are.“
„Can I get pregnant?“
„Cause you can, you are fully functional in every respect:“
„So do children of clones have the same rights as all other humans?“
„Yes of course, there is no distinction. That would cause riots. See, the clones haven proven to be so much more fertile than normal humans, so there are a lot of descendant from clones. In fact, my grandmother was a clone."
„Well, that would go some way to explain why we have the same nose.“ Dunya quipped.
„We don’t have the same nose, get off.“
„Of course we have:“
„No, we don’t“
They both fell silent.
„I still can’t believe, that all of this is legal.“ Dunya started again, „It’s so degrading and misanthropic. Have human morals really declined that fast in recent history?“
„It’s like this“ Frances explained, „in the beginning all cloning was illegal, but it was already making tons of money. They tried to stop cloning entirely but in the 21. century the birthrate declined so dramatically, along with fertility rates, that at some point growing foeti outside the womb along with artificial insemination was needed just to keep mankind from becoming extinct. The Cloning Industry had the knowledge and the facilities to do this. So they struck a deal with most governments: They were allowed to monetise the cloning of certain famous individuals in exchange for massive help to keep the birthrates steady.“
„So is there any way for a clone to become fully human, from a legal perspective.“
„Indeed there is. As soon as they you three children, you become judicially human.“
„So I go there, marry this creep, have three kids and then file for divorce?“
„You could, but I would advise against it?“
„How is that, three pregnancys seem doable.“
„Yes, but you risk to lose custody of your kids.“ Frances cautioned.
„Why would I lose custody as a mother if you finally have the same rights as everyone else:“
„Well courts don’t look favourably on clones who seem to exploit the three children rule, especially if it’s in the outer regions.“
„What about male clones then?“
„That branch proved to be completely non-profitable, so it was abandoned early on.“