Mackenzie found himself standing in the middle of his flat, his mind a whirlwind of disbelief and shock. The white walls of the Alternates Institute still echoed in his mind, the sight of the clones and Aurellia, had left him shaken to his core.
A knock on the door jolted him from his thoughts. He opened the door to find Aurelia, his late wife, standing there.
"Hello, Mac," she said, her voice a haunting echo of the woman he had loved. Her eyes, those familiar bright blue eyes, held a depth of memories that made his heart ache.
She stepped into the flat, her presence filling the space with a familiarity that was both comforting and terrifying. Mackenzie was drawn to her but he pulled away, confusion etched on his face.
"How is this possible?" he asked. "How can you be here right now Rel?”
Aurelia looked at him, her eyes filled with sadness. "I think it's time you knew the truth, Mackenzie," she said, her voice steady.
She paused and sat down, “I am an Alternate, a perfect replica of Aurelia in every way. “Our first date, our wedding day, every laugh we shared, every kiss, I remember it all.”
“I believed in the potential of the Alternates Programme. I believed that it could change the world." As Mackenzie grappled with the revelations, he realised that his journey into this strange new world was only just beginning. The answers he sought were tangled in a web of secrets and lies, and he knew that the path to uncovering them would be fraught with more questions and heartache.
Mac sat down, his heart pounding in his chest. Across from him sat Aurelia, his wife, or rather, her clone. She was the spitting image of his beloved Rel, down to the last freckle.
"Mac," she began, "I know this is hard to understand, but working on the Alternates Programme allowed me to explore a way of creating humans without illness and disease. The work was exciting and I believed in what Dr Waweski wanted to achieve. I got a chance to see things I never thought were possible. Dr Waweski's programme was revolutionary, it would give those with terminal illnesses a chance to be reborn into clones. These clones retained the memories of their past lives, their loves, their losses, everything that made them who they were." She explained." Aurelia continued, "Dr Waweski believes that one day, there will be no sickness. No pain. No loss."
“I didn't even know that he had made a clone of myself, but if he hadn't I wouldn't be here, getting to tell you all of this. I get to live on and we get a second chance.”
But Mackenzie was hesitant. "But we don't even know what's inside of you. You could contain something that is dangerous."
He asked her questions, Can you age? Can you die? Her response was a simple, "I'm not sure, I know the doctor wanted to create the perfect human without mortality."
Mackenzie found it hard to trust her. The idea of a second chance was overwhelming, too much for him to process. "It's all too much," he admitted, his voice heavy with emotion. "I need to clear my head."
With a determined look, he stood up and walked towards his room. He emerged a few moments later, wearing a fresh t-shirt and joggers. "I'm going for a run," he announced. And with that, he left the flat, leaving Alternate clone Aurelia alone with her thoughts.

•••

Mackenzie's heart pounded as he sprinted through the streets of London, the towering buildings of Canary Wharf behind him. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts. The clones, his clone wife Aurelia, the mission that MI6 had thrust upon him, it was a lot. He wanted to scream, to let out all the frustration and the fear that was building up inside of him. But he couldn't. He thought about Aurelia. His wife. A clone with all of her memories, her personality, He couldn't help but feel a connection to her. It was a connection that both comforted and terrified him. He wondered if she would still be in the flat when he returned or if she had gone back to The Alternates Institute. He knew he had to face her again at some point. There were too many questions that needed answers.