115th Entry

March 21^st, 2037

1111

Dear Space Diary

…hello Mary.

“Hi! It’s great to see you again. You know, after you abandoned me here to a boring and never ending eternity of solitude and loneliness.”

It couldn’t be eternity, because here we are.

“And that’s why you’re awesome… So who’s your friend?”

My friend?

“Girl you came here with. Not that I mind. I don’t mind. But who is she? Is she your friend? Cause that’s ok. She can be your friend.”

…Oh my God, are you jealous?

“Jealous? Why would I be jealous? Nothing to be jealous about! Ha ha. And if there was, she wouldn’t be a threat. Totally wouldn’t… Would she? Is she a threat?”

A threat for what?

“Do I have to spell it out? You’re kind of the coolest guy I’ve met.”

I’m the only guy you’ve met.

“Which makes you the coolest of a sample of one.”

…Ok, look. You don’t know me. You don’t know this world. You’ve never even left your tank. How could you possibly know that this is what you want?

“How could I possibly know without trying?”

…Stop that?

“Being logical?”

Yes. Mary, I have to go home. I do. I miss home. I have to go.”

“I’m asking you to stay.”

I can’t. I’m sorry Mary, but this isn’t my place.

“Oh.”

Sorry.

“…so who’s your friend?”

What?

“I didn’t like the way the conversation was going, so I’ve changed it. Who’s your friend?”

Well, um, she’s… you.

“Me?”

Yeah. Her DNA is what they used to grow you.

“Hang on, I thought the Mary downstairs was my cloneparent? She said she was.”

Well she might have been. But the Mary you saw me with was the one who Mary 2.0 was made from.

“…So she’s my clone-in-law?”

Something like that. I agree it is a confusing situation.

“Is it? Ok, good to know. I don’t really have any experience of anything else, so I thought it was normal. Confusing. Noted.”

You seem to know more than your tank would allow.

“Well I’ve got all of Mary’s memories. But she hasn’t been alive very long. And there are… other memories. Faint ones. I guess they must be from the first Mary. We’ve got them too. But they’re all… smudgy. It’s weird, remembering something you never actually did.”

And that’s how you know things?

“That and Mary used to talk to us. The lightdogs’d wheel her along in her tank and she’d say hi and answer our questions. I always liked those. She doesn’t really do that anymore…”

I’m sorry to hear it. If it’s any consolation, I think you’ll be let out of the tanks before too much longer. In fact I’m going down to ask Mary right now.

“Which Mary? You’ll need to be specific. Old, new, or me?”

New. She’s plugged in to the facility, she might know when you guys have finished cooking.

“New, huh?”

Yeah.

“New. Interesting. Hmm.”

What is it?

“Is she a threat?”