They told me I couldn’t get sick. And yet...

They told me I couldn’t get sick. <br><br>And yet, here I was, with a cough to rival a pack-a-day smoker, and a fever that could match the deepest recesses of Hades. <br><br>It was absolutely insane. I’d never been sick a day in my life, and I was a genetic clone, which pretty much ruled out the possibility of any illness. But still, my body betrayed me, wracked with pain and shaking with an unmitigated fever. <br><br>I stumbled through the lab, the white walls blurring as my vision hazed. I couldn’t focus on anything, couldn’t think of anything. All I knew was pain. <br><br>I stumbled and fell, my head hitting the tile as I crashed to the ground. I moaned, groaning as I frantically clawed at the ground. <br><br>“Hello? Hello?!” I heard a groggy, pained voice call out tinnily from my comms mic. I blinked, my vision going in and out. I saw black dots dancing around the edge of my vision, and everything felt like it was spinning. <br><br>I blinked, and blinked again, before a hand reached out and tugged the earpiece off my ear. <br><br>“Zara?” The voice was soft, and it only vaguely sounded familiar. <br><br>“She’s...she’s sick,” a low voice said, the one I recognized from my earpiece. <br><br>I blinked, looking up into a pair of worried eyes. They belonged to Arin Vex, my old C.O. I blinked, groggily trying to remember how I’d ended up in sick bay with Arin staring at me. <br><br>I blinked again, and the world went black. <br><br>When I came to, I was lying on a bed, a soft blanket tucked up around my waist. I groggily sat up, rubbing my face. <br><br>I was in my quarters. <br><br>I blinked, groggily swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear them. But as I sat there, running my fingers over my face, I realized something. <br><br>I wasn’t sore. My face didn’t hurt. My body didn’t ache. And, I realized as I looked down at my bare arms, there were no bruises. <br><br>That’s what tipped me off. Something was wrong. <br><br>I stood up, stumbling over my own feet. I caught myself on the nightstand, taking deep gasps of air. Everything was spinning. <br><br>My vision went black again, and I fell, hitting the ground with a thud. I groaned, crawling across the floor, my vision blurring in front of me. <br><br>I fell back, my vision fading in and out again. <br><br>The last thing I remembered was the feeling of the cold floor beneath me, and the sound of my own labored breathing. <br><br>When I came to, I was lying in bed. <br><br>A man was standing in my doorway, a look of concern twisting his features. He stepped forward. <br><br>“Zara?” He said softly. “How are you feeling?” <br><br>I blinked, looking up at him. I didn’t recognize him. <br><br>“Who are you?” I asked, my voice shaking. <br><br>His face fell, and he took another step forward. <br><br>“I’m your husband,” he said. “We’ve been together for almost twenty years. My name is...”<br><br>“Stop,” I said, holding up a shaking hand. <br><br>He did, his eyes filling with tears. He took another step forward, falling to his knees as he reached out with trembling hands. <br><br>“Do you remember anything?” He asked, his voice barely above a whisper. <br><br>I shook my head, a lump forming in my throat. <br><br>He reached forward, gently laying his hand on my forehead. I felt a surge of electricity run through my body, before, suddenly, my vision went white. <br><br>When it faded, I was standing in a lab. I recognized the symbol on the wall as belonging to New Eden Enterprises. <br><br>And standing in front of me, arms crossed, was Dr. Elara Vonn. <br><br>“You’re awake,” she said. <br><br>I rubbed my eyes. <br><br>“What’s going on?” I asked. “Where am I?” <br><br>“You’re...have you ever heard of clones?” Dr. Vonn asked. <br><br>I’d seen them in movies. <br><br>“Human copies, right?” I said. <br><br>Dr. Vonn nodded. <br><br>“Yes, that’s correct. And you, Zara...you’re one of them.” <br><br>I blinked. <br><br>“What do you mean?” <br><br>“You were created as a soldier, Zara. You were never intended to be a human being.” <br><br>I felt like I’d been punched in the gut. <br><br>“What? No. I...I have parents...I have a husband. Our names are on the deed to our house.” <br><br>Dr. Vonn smiled, placing a hand on my arm. <br><br>“All of that is made up, Zara. You’ve never experienced any of it. You were placed in a simulation, and told you were married, told you were a soldier. But none of that ever happened.” <br><br>I felt my eyes prick with tears. <br><br>“But...but how did I get sick, then?” I asked, even though I knew the answer. <br><br>“You weren’t sick, Zara,” Dr. Vonn said. “Your simulation isn’t perfect. Sometimes...sometimes things go wrong, and your body will play out an illness. But none of it is real.” <br><br>I felt my vision begin to blur, and I realized I was crying. <br><br>“You’re not real, Zara,” Dr. Vonn said, even as I felt my vision fade to black, and everything went silent.