The Ethan project began thanks to the General’s many friends, he was an overbearing man, but they knew he wasn’t crazy. He and his unity prevented and neutralized many threats, so, they decided to back up him. Thanks to those wealthy contributors, they started to clone Eric. The researchers didn’t know if they would succeed in the first try, so, they made one hundred clones.

To avoid problems, they decided not to speed up their growth process. Cloning a human was already complicated enough, and they didn’t want to damage the brain of those clones. The clones lived inside medical machines until they were two years old, they could breathe, and they were feed thanks to those machines. Occasionally, those machines would also electrocute their muscles to stimulate them. Otherwise, the clones’ muscles would atrophy.

When all the clones were two years old, the second part of the experiment started. That part was the most dangerous and gruesome thing those researchers had done in all their lives. Somehow, they managed to copy the data from Eric’s brain, but it took a while. However, the process to transfer this data to another person’s brain was even slower. Since they couldn’t analyze the memories of his dead brain, they didn’t know where those memories were. So they copied all the memories and uploaded almost thirty years of life experience into the clones’ brains.

The process was inhuman. Since humans don’t have USB ports in their heads, they transferred the data using electricity. Despite being renowned researches, they decided to electrocute two years old kids’ brains to transfer the data. As if that wasn’t enough, they used even more electricity to see what kind of memories the clones were receiving. But on the first day of the second part of the experiment, they didn’t see the things they wanted.

On the first day, twenty clones died. And half of the researchers give up on the project. They became traumatized for life when they saw two years old clones bleeding through their eyes, noses, and ears. After that, they gave up on science and medicine as well and looked for other jobs. Any job which wouldn't make them remember their actions; All of them had discussed beforehand the whole process, and none of them was against it. It was necessary to prevent a significant threat. Besides, they were just clones, they didn’t have to live normal lives, and their existence had a single purpose. They weren't real humans. It was easy to accept that when they were just talking, but not after observing the process. Despite everything, the project continued because they managed to transfer the memories, and they also managed to see some of those memories.

Eric was twenty-nine years old when he died, but the researchers managed to speed up the transfer process. In three years, all the clones had absorbed twenty-nine years of memories. Well, not all clones. Only a single clone survived being electrocuted in the head for three years 24/7, and that clone was me, Ethan number twenty-seven.

No wonder I always felt something was wrong with me, my first five years of life, I had been treated as a guinea pig. No wonder I didn’t feel anything after killing so many people, I was indeed a monster created in a lab.

In any case, the experiment had been a success. General McKenzie had the information that he wanted, and he shared it with all governments of the world, and they prepared accordingly to it. But, they didn’t expect that all humans would be separated in one hundred areas, and that was why none of their plans had been of any use.

In any case, at the end of the project, only the General, Jerry, and Naomi were still involved and knew about everything which had happened in the experiment. The researchers who participated in the project... chose the easy way out when they discovered those memories would never leave them.

Since the contributors were only interested in the memories, the last part of the project was to dispose of me, but the General decided to let me live. I was the clone of the first and single human who survived the system’s arrival. He was interested in what would happen to me once the system took over the world, and that was why Jerry and Naomi adopted me.

However, until the system appeared again, I never noticed those memories. The general probably thought that I would have Eric’s skills and weapons, but I inherited only one skill, his first skill. He noticed that wouldn't be the case since I acted relatively like a normal kid after I began to live with Jerry, Naomi, Ryan, and Ellie.

But the General didn’t give up; he carefully analyzed Eric’s youth and made me experiment similar things which he had lived. We went to the same elementary school, the same middle school, and the same high school. But I only showed any similarities with Eric, when I was under pressure. Eric was quite the fighter, and that was why I defeated Ken and his nine friends when we fought for the first time.

The General observed me for my entire life and knew that I was attached to Jerry, Naomi, Ryan, and Ellie, and that was why he separated me from them, to put me under pressure. Unfortunately for him, I never went berserk again, not until the monsters appeared. Besides, I could never become someone like Eric; after all, I only saw four of his memories. In any case, since I had memories in my head, which weren’t mine, Ann’s skill didn’t work on me. His memories were somehow, sealed inside my mind because I didn't live them.

“What a crazy story…”

I was honestly surprised, I thought they only cloned me, and everything else went smoothly. Regardless, I wondered why they didn’t tell me what they felt in the middle of the experiment. I was pretty sure the General could only see me as a guinea pig, but I wasn’t so sure about Jerry and Naomi. But they probably didn’t felt anything; they had time and the leisure to procreate after all. However, when I saw Naomi trembling with her head down, showing a dark expression, I began to doubt that. Jerry wasn’t showing any emotion on his face. However, I could hear the sweat dripping from his hands and his heart beating irregularly. They also received some mental damage thanks to the experiment, but that didn’t change a thing. Since I could sense those signs, I could tell their actions were haunting them, but there was another person who couldn’t notice those small signs.

Sandra was mad, so mad that I could see her MP leaving her body even though she didn’t have that much. She was biting her lips so hard that her chin was covered in blood. Her hands were dripping blood on the floor. Without any warning, she took her spear out her backpack and charged toward Jerry and Naomi.

“You monsters!” Sandra shouted.

I still had a few more questions to ask, so I touched her shoulder and teleported us to the first floor.

“I guess you already heard what you wanted; you can leave now.”

Before she could react, I teleported back to Jerry’s office. Since I appeared so suddenly, I saw Naomi crying and Jerry’s face filled with despair. It was weird, but I couldn’t bring myself to hate them, but I also couldn’t bring myself to love them either. They only raised me because the General gave the order or because I was the clone of one of their friends. In any case, I didn’t have time to lose; I could hear Sandra’s footsteps approaching.

“Let’s finish this before she returns… I’m not a perfect clone, right? Since I have been observed my whole life, you know my problems, right?”

“… Yes,” Jerry said after a long sigh to calm his nerves. “You are not a perfect clone, we don’t know why, but we do know that you can’t procreate and you can’t cry either.”

“Well, it’s not like I need one of those to survive in this world…”

“Ethan…” Naomi said, rubbing her eyes. “Are you sure that you don’t feel any different from before? We are not sure of this yet, but we think that our bodies had been destroyed, and only our information had been sent to that virtual reality. But since we survived, our bodies had been restored. This is something beyond our understanding because it created us perfectly. But since you are a… clone… all your imperfections should have been erased when you disconnected from the virtual reality.”

“Nope, I don’t feel different at all. In this situation, I was supposed to feel many things like sadness, right? But I don’t feel anything special.”

“I see…” Naomi sobbed.

“…Ethan,” Jerry said after sighing. “We also know that some other things worried you, like your cognitive skills and the fact that you had never been good at any sport. It’s all because of those five years of the experiment, the early five years of a person are critical to develop cognitive and motor skills. Since you didn’t live them, you are quite clumsy and not very smart.”

“I see.”

I had already suspected that was the case when Ann told me that I was a clone, I thought all my problems were connected. The reason why Jerry and Naomi didn’t teleport me to their side, it was because the General wanted me to become a soldier like Eric. In any case, I guess I heard anything that I wanted to hear. When I thought that it was time to leave, Sandra appeared. And it seemed that she wanted to pick a fight. Come to think of it, she probably saw me when I was little, and she noticed that something was wrong since I didn’t have any resemblance to Jerry and Naomi. But Sandra only understood that I was a clone when we met a few months ago.

“Can you wait for a few moments? I don’t want to teleport you to the other side of the walls.”

“How can you stay so calm?” Sandra asked, perplexed. “Didn’t you hear what they did to you?”

“Yeah, I heard. Why are you angry, anyways? This is none of your business. I may be Eric’s clone, but I’m not him; hence, you don’t have a single reason to say anything about this. You didn’t lose anything thanks to their actions. In any case, I can’t love them because of what they did to me, but I can’t hate them because I only exist thanks to them.”

After hearing that, Sandra finally decided to stop her foolish actions. She stepped back and gritted her teeth because she also kept this secret from me.

“It seems that you understand your position in this world,” The General said. “Then you already know that you only exist to serve our country, right now, I’m the leader of this country, and that is why you have to obey me.”

“Sure, I will do that. When you show me where the bar code on my body is.”

“What?” The General asked angrily.

“Maybe I’m a product created at your convenience, but I won’t become your minion. If you try to mess with me, I will destroy you and everything you values.”

“You little…” The General shouted. “Do you think that you can live here after threatening me?”

“Didn’t I already said that I will leave this place?”

“Do you think a mere clone like you can survive without using the statue?” The General asked.

“Sir! Can you please stop this?” Jerry shouted after he got up from his chair. “You have my loyalty, sir, but don’t forget that you are only one of the leaders of this place.”

It seemed that I was wrong, General McKenzie wasn't the only leader in this place. And by the look of it, Jerry was one of the leaders as well. He only had control over half of it since Jerry was still loyal to him.

“Ethan…” Jerry said hesitantly. “I have no idea of how you are feeling right now, but can you please reconsider? This world is far more dangerous than that virtual reality. I know that you have some powerful skills, but all of us need the statue, and unless all of the leaders of this place agree, you can’t just enter, use the statue and leave without helping us.”

“In that case, I just need to find another statue.”

“You don’t understand,” Jerry explained. “The statue is attracting these monsters, and they always try to destroy it. You won’t find a statue in abandoned cities. You want to stay alone for a while; it’s understandable. But you don’t need to put yourself in danger; once in a while, you need to rest, and this place is perfect for that… I don’t have the right to say this… but I want to see you safe. You don’t have to treat us as your family or friends. You don’t even need to talk to us, but please stay here where it is safe and help us to rebuild our world.”

“… this is your world, not mine, and as far as I know, I’m a monster, not a human.”

“You are not a monster, Ethan,” Naomi said, looking me in the eyes. “If you can’t do this for yourself, do it for your friends. They will need you, right?”

“They are just a bunch of strangers to me, and I already helped them too much. Until now, my life had been controlled by those around me, but this ends now.”

“I understand, Ethan,” Jerry said. “For obvious reasons, you can’t see any of us as your allies; in that case, let’s make a deal. You are free to come and go whenever you want, and you don’t have to say a thing to anyone, you can also use the statue as much as you want. But after you leave this city, you have to follow a single direction, and you have to check all the big cities nearby and look for survivors, and if it is possible, you have to bring them to this place. We will give you all the necessary supplies for this work, and we will even pay you ten thousand evolution coins for each survivor you bring to this place. It is a good deal, right?”

“Wait!” The General retorted. “Do you think you can decide this all by yourself?”

“Sir, we already decided this would be they pay for the search teams,” Jerry explained. “Ethan can do this job by himself, so isn’t it fine? Or do you think that we won’t lose a thing trying to fight against him?”

It wasn’t a bad deal, although they had already decided to form teams to search for survivors in the big cities of this country. Jerry was using that as an excuse to make me return here once in a while and thus confirm my safety. I didn’t know if it was because I was his best friend clone or if it was because of his feelings of guilt, but I couldn’t care less. However, until I find another statue, I had no other choice but to play by their rules or become the enemy of five thousand humans.

“… I will think about it.”

After that, I teleported back to the entrance of that building. I had already finished my business with them.