The Storm Breaks
10 May 2020Maggie Oz
I awoke the next morning after a deep and fitful sleep, there's nothing so good as your own bed.DAC must have let Pris know as by the time I was dressed she was at the table with a steaming coffee for me.
"Thank you Pris, you are a lifesaver" I said
I sat and we chatted a little.
"DAC, could you cue up the Newsfeeds please? " I asked the house AI
"... Are you sure you want to do that Madam?" DAC asked hesitantly
"... Yes .... why wouldn't I?" I asked carefully
"It's just that you are featuring in them a bit this morning"
"What!? ' I exclaimed
"Yes, you are the headline item in many"
-Oh NO! -
"Well I guess I'd better have a look I suppose"
"I believe it is traditional to ask in moments such as this ..... do you want the good news or the bad news?"
I looked at Pris and she shrugged, "Bad news first I always say, finish on an up note"
"Yes OK, DAC show me a series of snippets of all subscribed newsfeeds in order of bad to good"
"Very well Madam"
The broadscreen lit up and, as expected The Bitch appeared.
The caption read "Cr Janet Brickhill - War Crime Investigator discovers Imperial Clone responsible for massacre of children on Alioth"
"These ... creatures .. simply cannot be allowed to continue to exist. They defy all laws of nature and perpetuate their existence without being held accountable in any way for the deeds of their former lives. It makes a mockery of every principle of crime and punishment if these abominations can just simply reset themselves on a whim.
We are proposing an amendment to the Galactic War Crimes accord that will halt to any further Generational Cloning and for the registration of all present Generational Clones as well as restrictions on their ability to travel.
We also proposing they be mandatorily marked to show them for what they are, they cannot be allowed to walk among us unidentified.
The Imperial love for manufactured people for slavery is abhorrent enough, without using the technology to extend the lives of the wicked. "
"Ok well that could have been worse I guess ..." I said
Pris looked at me with surprise
"It could have been an announcement of those laws coming into effect this afternoon and me having to get "GC" sewn onto my clothing. " I said, trying to half fill that glass.
The broadscreen changed channel to a music feed,
A song "Nowhere to run to" was playing and the video depicted a group of teenagers running through a maze of darkened streets, headed off at every turn by identical looking people with red hair wearing black flight suits adorned with Imperial Eagles.
The music was terrible, but the message was impossible to miss. I saw it had over half a million views already.
A change of channel and an "influencer" appeared
"The problem is, as it has always been, is the careless way that the Empire allows things to run. There is barely anything illegal in Empire space and new technologies and procedures are released on an unsuspecting public without any thought to the wider implications and consequences. Just because we can doesn't mean we should."
Change again, this one more of a documentary style
"All life is sacred. Generational Clones though wipe the genetic code of a naturally created fetus and blaze their own over the top of it, it defies all that we hold dear of new life" this was accompanied by a CGI of a baby morphing and changing from one person to another, that might have looked a bit like me
Change to a chat show the panel included 3 of the people I had met during the election tours I did, including the Governor from the Penal Colony
"This woman caused a riot at my facility! She ex-posed her womanhood for all to see! It was horrendous! "
"Her womanhood was horrendous? " said the host with a comic leer
"Her behaviour was horrendous, her womanhood was spectacular," the Governor said, cupping his hands in front of his chest "No Wait! That's not what I meant, you can't broadcast that! "
The chat show erupted into raucous laughter
Change to a fairly dour Imperial current events feed
"We have carried out a thorough investigation of the incident in question and there is simply no basis for any claim made by the Federation that justice has not been served in regards of the events of the Alioth Campaign. We feel this is just another attempt to discredit the Empire and our way of life."
Change to coverage of a press room where Roy's Sentor is delivering a press release on economic reforms in the Baal sector
The Senator pointed to someone off screen
"Brian Kinkade, Imperial Associated, how do you respond to the recent calls from the Federation in regards of Generational Cloning."
"Brian, I don't see it as anything more than Federal blustering and I hold deep concerns that a trilateral agreement such as the Galactic War Crimes Accord could be corrupted in this manner simply because of bigotry. Lady Aztlan and all of our Generationals have the full support of the Senate and we will not see them hounded in this manner."
Change to an "on the street" interview style
"Yeh, well I fink the Fed'ration should just be mindin' its own business you know? We live 'ere and Lady Maggie looks after fings right proper. I reckon they should be allowed to make two of 'er"
"Switch it off please DAC" the broadscreen died.
"Well, not totally bad I guess," said Pris
"Madam I should add to that that your private message box contains 125,097 messages of support from regular citizens, 43 of them from other Generational Clones. There are also 140 requests for you to address various community groups on the issue of cloning, 341 offers of product endorsement contracts and 7 marriage proposals."
"How much hate mail?" I asked
"Madam any negative messages are diverted by the spam filters"
"How many DAC?"
"Madam .... I ...."
"DAC!"
"It got to 675,989 before I put an autoblock on, Madam.
There is a message from Lord Batty madam, he assures you this will all blow over in a day or two." Said DAC, hopefully
"Thank you, DAC.
Can you please :
Contact the Athanasia Clinic on Achenar and make an appointment for me to have a new leg fitted and reskinned as well as a full rejuvenation. You can also send them the bio scan I did last night.
Send a thank you note to all who sent me messages of support, except those from other GC's. I will do those personally.
Respectfully decline all offers to speak, endorse or marry.
Seal the house and grounds to everyone and I mean everyone, except Pris and Monique.
I'm going to go back to bed and shall stay there until it's time to go to the clinic."