Mirage; Facsimale!

The boy entered the small room, and his face lit up when he saw her. She was a radiant vision; the epitome of perfection. The room itself was unimpressive and quite plain with it’s off white walls, single metal table and plastic chairs. With Sharon inside the room, however, the boy considered it the most inviting place in the entire lab.
He had been inside many impressive rooms in the lab, and had seen countless exotic and amazing wonders of the scientific world. He himself was indeed a product one of those wonders, and the scientists made sure he knew of that. None of those wonders, however, would ever measure up to the angel that presently sat in the near empty rec room nine.
He had only known Sharon for six months out of his fourteen years of life; but, he had already developed strong feelings for her. He didn’t know what to do with those feelings, as it felt almost wrong to have them. Sharon was not something one should romantically love…but he just couldn’t help himself. He had seen her perfect figure, dazzling green eyes and long, shining black hair every day. He was able to talk with her several times a week, and came to appreciate her gentle, caring nature.
As he came into the room, he sat in one of the chairs next to Sharon, wearing a huge grin. Sharon sat at the end of the table, and he took a chair near her with his back to the door.
“Hello Nate,” she said in her perfect voice. “I’m glad to see you. It always makes me happy to spend time with you.”
Nate was all too happy to receive the compliment. “Same with me, Sharon. I…I really like you, ya know.”
Her voice trilled in a beautiful laugh, and it gave Nate a fluttery sensation. “Well, thanks. It’s great to be liked.”
Nate swallowed, and shifted nervously. “I mean…I really like you, Sharon.”
She cocked her head, and her green eyes seemed to look at him with affection. “Well, I…appreciate you Nate. You are always so nice to me. You are my one true friend in this lab. Sometimes I wish they would let us out of here to see the real world; but, knowing you is enough for me.”
“I’m glad you said that, Sharon! I feel the same way. I’ve lived in this lab my entire life, and have never gone outside of it. I’d be willing to stay inside this building the rest of my life if it meant seeing you every day.”
Sharon pushed several strands of hair from her face. “That’s a very kind thing to say.” Then she lowered her gaze to the table. “But…Nate, you know what I am right?”
Nate put a hand under her chin, and gently lifted her face to look at him once more. “Hey, don’t let that bother you, ok? I…I don’t care what you are.” But even he knew that wasn’t entirely true. He had very mixed emotions, and was unsure about them all. He ignored the uncertainties, and concentrated on how real and incredibly soft her skin felt.
He suddenly felt a rush of passion, and before he knew what he was doing, Nate slowly leaned foreward. His heart was slamming his insides, and pounded in his head. Sharon just sat there complacent, and didn’t back away or resist as Nate put his face up to hers.
He pressed his mouth against her own, and lost control of his other senses. Her lips were warm and soft…so real! His right hand moved to the back of her neck, as his left entwined fingers with her own. Sharon returned the kiss as if it were the most natural thing to do.
It was one of the most exhilarating moments in his life; that is, until the door swung open.
Nate pulled away from her, and turned to see who had entered. Standing in the doorway was a well built man in his forties, wearing an expression of utter disgust.
“Uh, Mr. One, what’s going on?” Nate asked.
The man slowly shook his head. “I don’t like what I see, son.” He stuck his hand in the side pocket of the white lab coat he wore and pulled out a large wrench. “It’s time to get back to work.”
Nate turned his gaze back to Sharon. “I still have some time, Mister One.”
The man sighed heavily. “You will address me as Nathan, number two.”
“That’s my name though,” Nate grumped.
“I had it first, kid.” The older man came to stand beside the boy.
“Ok, ok, Nathan. Can’t I stay here a little longer?”
Nathan placed a hand on the metal surface of the table. “Definitely not. There’s work to do, and I don’t like the way you are spending your break.”
Nate became upset. “Why do I always have to take part in all these experiments? Can’t I have a normal life, like all the other fourteen year olds in the world?”
Nathan frowned. “What do you know, kid? What is normal, anyway, huh?”
“I don’t know for sure, but certainly not the life I’m living. I don’t even have parents!”
The elder of the Nathans gave a bitter chuckle. “I guess Mr. Rayner is your father. Or, the real Nathan, maybe. And your mother? Well, I guess we will never know, huh?”
Nate was angry now. “Why are you like this? You don’t seem to have anything good to say!”
Nathan suddenly seemed to soften, as he covered his eyes with his free hand. “I…I’m sorry kid. I’ve been kind of upset lately. I’m trying to get out of this place, now that I’m forty-two; but, our kind doesn’t have many rights.”
“It’s not fair!” Nate exclaimed. “We’re people too!”
Nathan placed a hand on the boys shoulder. “Don’t I know it.” His eyes shifted uneasily to Sharon, who had been silently watching them, and his demeanor changed. “There are a lot of things in this place I don’t like.”
Nate sighed, and also looked up at Sharon. “Yea, but there are some things that I do like.”
Nathan didn’t like the fact that they were talking about the same thing. I’ll save you from this false reality you’re falling into, kid.
The elder of the two Nathan’s cleared his throat, and said, “Ok, Nate. Go ahead and find doctor Rayner. Breaks over.”
Nate reluctantly stood. “Yes sir, Mr. One.” He took one more look at his beloved Sharon, and left the room.
Sharon smiled as he went out the door. “He looks so much like you, Mr. One.”
Nathan peered into Sharon’s eyes with powerful animosity. “Of course he does.” He paused for a moment, then continued with intensity. “Why didn’t you set him straight?”
The young woman folded her hands on her lap. “I didn’t see a reason to. Nate is so unhappy…I thought I could help in some way.”
“Look here, Gem five, you are not helping him! You should have slapped him, and set his mind straight! It’s not moral to be kissing your kind!”
“My name is Sharon, Mr. One. And I don’t like your prejudice tone.”
Nathan seemed to be holding back some sort latent rage. “Don’t you dare start lecturing me. I’ve had it with you and the others! Richard was bad enough, but four more of your kind has just about sent me over the edge.”
Sharon sighed. “I have no anger or hatred towards you, Nathan. Why do you despise me so?”
“Look, Sharon, you don’t even have anger of hatred, period! The problem here is that Nate does. Number two has all the real emotions, and you have none. He can fall in love with you, but you can never feel anything! You are all emotionlessly about cause and response. The emotions are simply part of that response, and seem so real to others; but, there is no life in that synthetic shell of yours!”
Sharon didn’t respond, but just stared at him with a complacent face.
Nathan returned her gaze with anger and sorrow. He wished Sharon was able to return Nate’s feelings…but she couldn’t. She wasn’t real!
Why does Rayner dabble so much into things he shouldn’t?! He thought to himself. Creating me and the kid in a test tube was bad enough…but creating Sharon and the other four is an atrocity! Look what it’s doing to Nate!!! I…I can’t stand this!!!
All the emotions from the many years of his troubled life came pouring into his being at that moment. It was a flood he could hardly stand. I can’t let Nate be trapped inside a false reality! Rayner won’t listen to me, and separate him and Sharon…he’ll let Nate have his little infatuation with Gem five, and use it for his research! Nathan clenched his wrench tightly, and his body began to shake. I care for this boy…in a way, he’s a part of me! He’s the second Facsimile to breathe life in this world, and he’s something special! I won’t let this abomination disguised with beauty corrupt his mind. He needs to see these creations for what they are. I…I…”
Nathan took one more look at Sharon, and made his decision in the next instant. He hardly knew what he was doing, as he raised his wrench.
Sharon’s complex thinking mainframe had only a split second to compute what was going on before the large metal tool came crashing down on her.
Nathan didn’t feel any remorse as the wrench split her face open. There was a warped gurgling noise that emitted from her form, then she was still. Nathan pulled the wrench away, and a thick blue substance dripped from the end of the tool. He surveyed the cavity in he had made in her perfectly crafted countenance, and stoically watched the same blue substance dribble down her now still body.
The damage was definitely repairable, so he decided to finish the job. With a powerful swing from his muscular arm, Nathan lobbed off her head with the thick wrench. The head rolled for a moment, then hit the wall, splattering blue on it’s off white surface. The body lurched, slumped in the chair, and made a quiet buzzing noise for only a few seconds. Then, what was left of Sharon became quiet and still.
Nathan tossed the wrench on the metal table with a loud clang, and abruptly left the room.
Did he regret his actions? Only a little. His chances of leaving the lab were severely diminished now; however, at least he could stick around a little longer and look after number two. Sure, the kid would hate him for a while, but hopefully he would get some sense knocked into him.
Mr. Rayner would rant and rave about how Nathan had just cost them millions of dollars by his actions. Years of research were now rendered useless, and the money it took to build Sharon was now wasted. It would cost even more money to repair her than it would to build another copy.
And so what if they built another copy? Maybe seeing another Sharon would help Nate to realize exactly what she was: A Mirage!!!
As Nathan walked briskly down the hall, he heard Nate’s pained cry.
“Nooo! Somebody help me! Sharon…she’s….!!!”
Nathan shook his head sadly. Why’d you have to go back, kid?! It would have been better for you just to hear about it. Oh well… Maybe seeing her like that will convince you she’s just a walking computer!
Number two was wailing in devastation. “She’s dead! Sharon’s dead!!!”
Mr. One stopped and stared at the ground sadly. She’s not dead, kid. She was never even alive.
He continued nonchalantly down the hall, headed nowhere in particular.