I was going through some long-abandonned stories that are too short to be worth keeping and this one came up: Ashlyn by Dorian Grey.
I thought that the idea was very interesting but its poster created the account in 2003, created the pen name, posted that one bit and never logged in again. Below is the text posted, which is a prologue of a story and not a story in itself. I'm posting it here after I delete the original just in case somebody wants to pick up the idea and run with it:
In 2003, an Austrian born actor became the Governor of California. This was of course back before the world was unified and the concept of states became a thing of the past. In early 2004, this same Governor successfully lobbied the congress of the then United States of America, to allow naturalized citizens to run for the office of President.
In November of 2004, the Governor of California was elected president. During his term in office, the president secured peace with all nations. The United Nations became the ruling government of the world, and the U.S. President stepped down to take the post of the United Nations Secretary General.
With every former government and agency working in unison, astounding leaps in technology came almost immediately. Multi-terahertz personal computers were created that could hold terabytes of data, all inside a unit the size of a watch. Interactive holographic displays replaced the old keyboard and mouse input devices. Voice recognition software was enhanced and utilized on every system.
Space exploration went on overdrive. A faster-than-light (FTL) drive was conceived, built and installed in new shuttle designs. After a few spectacular explosions caused by the FTL drive ripping out of its housing and tearing through the ship at the speed of light, scientists came up with a few new alloys that would actually hold the drive in place. Once the new ships were certified safe, explorations were made. New planets were discovered, and new colonies were established in three separate solar systems.
All the scientists of the world came together to work on common problems. AIDS and Cancer cures were discovered and distributed. Prosthetic limbs were created that could read nerve impulses in the brain and act upon them. Obstetricians could weed out genetic anomalies from unborn children, eliminating all birth defects and abnormalities.
Nanotechnology improved by leaps and bounds. Little bitty robots that could perform almost any function could thrive in the bloodstream. Operations were rarely needed as an injection of Nanytes could repair almost any problem. Nanytes even spread to the glamour world, allowing women to change their hair, eye, and nail colors instantly. Hair length could be automatically controlled and even skin tone could be changed to give a person the perfect tan.
Cloning at this time was still in it's infancy and most certainly illegal. Until the wife of the Secretary General was killed in a freak boating accident that is. A proposal was sent throughout the UN and fast-tracked. Cloning became legal almost overnight.
After hundreds of failures, scientists discovered a method that would rapidly age a cloned body to a predetermined age. The rapid aging technique would then be halted and the clone would age normally from that point on. While they were at it, the technology was available to refine the DNA pattern specified. Sight, hearing, smell, musculature, all of these were enhanced in the first generation clones. After all if you're going to remake a person, why not remake them just a little bit better.
So the scientists had the bodies, but not the brains. What good does a 200 pound, 6 foot 3 inch, 2 year old do? The problem was considered and a solution found. While the clones were being grown, a unit was attached to their eyes and ears. This unit fed audio and visual data into the brain of the growing clone.
Now, it didn't take long to figure out that they could pretty much program a personality into these clones. Do you want your wife back as she was, or would you like her to cook too? I'm sure you can imagine the ramifications of this. The Secretary General did. Watching a few too many of his own movies, he placed an order for his wife to be recreated and brought to age 18. He wanted a mature personality, a good background in self defense and weaponry, survival skills, a lusty appetite, and swimming lessons. The clone was made to order and brought into the Secretary-General's household.
At around this time, a few facts were making themselves known about the new clones. They stopped aging at their predetermined age. Permanently. The improved musculature and bone structures made them stronger than the average gorilla. Their visual acuity was incredible. Most clones could track a fly buzzing around the room and count the hairs on its body. The auditory range of a clone was such that it could hear whispers across a large crowded room.
And the fact that got everyone up in arms; the clones were pissed off at being created. They were furious at having to live their lives in someone else's body, and most of all, they were really ticked that they were made to someone else's specifications.
Riots ensued, natural born humans hunted the clones down and killed any that weren't intelligent enough to hide. Cloning was once again banned, death warrants were issued for all remaining clones, and Arnold was ousted.
That's where I come in. My name is Ashley, Ash for short, and I'm a clone.
