Henry did not relax during his mandatory vacation. He did not know what to do with himself. Daytime television was not a welcome distraction, and he did not like going to the movies by himself. He could not think of other things to do. A few times he went for a drive, but found that he was too nervous to drive his car the way that Jonathan did. He lacked the experience and confidence to pull it off. When driving it cautiously, it was just another car, and no more fun than the one he had before.
The clone bothered him. It was shocking enough to find that there were now two of him in the world, but that smile at the very end continued to bother him. He called his mother, but didn’t dare talk about anything. Instead, he said that he was thinking of coming a few days early for Christmas this year. She was thrilled, but wanted more than anything for him to come with a girlfriend. Henry got frustrated, and quickly ended the conversation.
His vacation could not come to an end quickly enough. Monday morning he arrived early enough that only a few cars were already in the parking lot. His card, thankfully, worked to let him into the front door, but he could not get into the inventory section. For a moment, he lost his patience and rapped sharply on the door. To his surprise, it opened, and he found himself facing himself.
“You!” he gasped.
“Me?” the one who opened the door replied.
“I thought you were working in accounting,” Henry explained.
“That’s #2,” the other explained. “I’m #3. I get to take over your inventory job.” His face soured and became sarcastic. “Thanks a lot for that. The guys here are jerks.”
Henry was dumbfounded. Then #3 suddenly remembered himself. “Hey,” he said quickly. “You’ve got to get out of here. No one is allowed to see us together. Get over to R&D.”
Henry turned and angrily marched to the R&D lab, only to find it deserted. He’d come to early, and no one was in yet. Henry sat down in a conference room and stewed.
But in the silence of the office, the anger turned to fear. Was he being replaced, by himself? That’s what that VP said. Train one guy to be really good at his job, and then just keep replacing him with himself. He’d lost his accounting job. He’d lost his inventory job. He’d not done anything for Privex before the inventory job. What would happen next?
A technician arrived, bleary eyed, hinting at having a bit of a hangover. “You’re here early,” he observed at Henry.
“Do you know when Jonathan’s going to get in?” he asked.
“That guy’s a ghost,” the tech muttered, rubbing his eyes. He walked back into a small kitchenette and machine that brewed single cups of coffee.
“A what?” Henry asked. The tech held his hand up, as if unable to speak. They waited in silence for the machine to finish. The tech lifted the cup to his nose and breathed in the aroma, causing his eyes to widen and focus. As he took a sip, he walked over and started pulling out the monitoring equipment.
“A ghost,” the tech explained as he handed the equipment to Henry. Henry started strapping on the monitors without thinking. “I swear I never see that guy come or go. He doesn’t have a normal schedule. He’s never around when you’re looking for him, and just when you think he’s not going to be there, he pops out of nowhere. I swear, that guy can walk through walls. A ghost.” The tech switched on the equipment and let it run though its diagnostics. he watched, then turned. “Looks like your blood pressure went down a little, but your heart rate is pretty high. You feeling alright?”
Henry nodded, though it was a lie. The tech jotted a few notes and wandered out of the room. “Wait!” called Henry. “I don’t know where I’m supposed to go!”
The tech pointed to a neatly groomed Jonathan walking out of his office. “Ask him,” he said.
“Henry!” Jonathan called out. “Great to see you. Today, we try something new.”
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