I stood up again, took a deep breath to infuse myself with some courage, and took my Kolibri out of the secret pocket I had added to the exosuit earlier that afternoon.

"You don't really want Eros, Apollo!" I yelled back at the Living God of clones with anger and pride.

I took my balaclava off and discarded it on the floor. Sigi stared at me with wide eyes while mouthing 'no' breathlessly. I was about to step out and face Apollo directly. I felt my blood rushing madly through my veins and fuelling my brain with an unknown kind of heat and bravery I had never felt before.

"I was the one to force him to help me!" I added with determination while grabbing my Kolibri until my knuckles went white. "He's innocent!"

I wasn't facing him directly yet. Only one step and I'd be in his field of vision – and that of his minion soldiers. My colleagues were behind me, silent. I thanked God for that. I had turned my back to them because I knew they would try to stop me somehow, either with a look of pity or kind words.

"You're only trying to protect him. Do you think I'm this dumb?!" Apollo replied condescendingly, then.

"No. You're not dumb, just delusional," I replied daringly. "It was so easy to get Eros to work for me, you know! He's weak-willed. He's told me everything I wanted to know about you... and your unfinished Kevlar suit."

I was lying about most of that stuff, of course.

"What?!" he exclaimed as if he couldn't believe it.

"It won't protect you from gunshots in a pathetic 50% of cases, right?" I yelled then with a smirk.

Then, a metallic mosquito settled right at the top of one of my hands, the one I was holding the Kolibri with.

"Fuck. Taro and Agape have already spread them," I whispered with dread, and then, I smashed the tiny disease-spreading machine with a hard slap.

"Damn it! The mosquitoes are free already?!" I heard Sigi complain with anger. "We have to hurry. They could infect us."

I heard a low gasp from my fellow rebels. Yes, we were at risk as much as the DNA base, Apollo and his minions. We could all die there that night, one way or another.

"Now, is that right? This cool suit won't shield you properly from gunshots?" I heard Agape reply instead of him as if she found it funny. "Then, what am I waiting for? By the time I'm done with you, you'll look like a strainer."

I took a deep breath and exited the hall where I had been hiding to face Apollo and Agape.

When Apollo set his mesmerising blue eyes on my neon purple ones, I felt fear surge through me like lightning. He looked truly impressive in that iridescent full-body suit, surrounded by his dark-suited, heavily-armed lap dogs.

Some of them were aiming at me while I aimed at them.

"Don't shoot her," he commanded his clone cops, androids, and bodyguards. His facial expression turned suddenly melancholic. "You don't have to shoot either, Daphne. I know you don't want to. You're quite the pacifist, aren't you? Unlike your boss here, who prefers to poison and kill innocent babies and the DNA they stem from. Speaking of that..." He turned to Agape. "Don't push that red button. You look like you need to push it any second now, but if you do, as I was saying before we got interrupted, it won't do you any good, you see."

So, I assumed they had been in the middle of a negotiation. Maybe the mosquitoes were free and roaming in the entire building, but inactive – waiting for a signal from Agape and that remote control she had. I guessed that was the case.

He was about to say something else when hell broke loose.

Out of the blue, we got distracted by a sudden shooting on the ground floor. Those must have been Ray and Gabi preventing any more reinforcements from coming down to the basement. However, Sigi and K8 took that chance to come out of their hiding place and attack the clone cops and the androids while Eros and Kono remained resting, seated on the floor of that hall due to their injuries. But first, Sigi retrieved his gun from the stairs.

I couldn't bear to use my Kolibri, so I put it back in the pocket of my suit as I lunged forward into battle with the two of them. I would fight with my fists despite having never used them for such a purpose.

While Agape and Taro shot to kill, K8 started knocking out every clone supporter she found on her way with her impeccable moves. I tried to mimic her although I fell short. I made the most of that previous distraction to knock out some clones and androids despite my lack of experience in combat, but wearing the exosuit gave me the extra boost of confidence that I needed.

It was somehow fun. Fighting. I didn't expect it to be that way.

A broken nose here, a sprained arm there. I even kicked a clone officer in his balls. He knelt, bent over while holding his balls and puked.

"Oops. Sorry not sorry," I whispered, and then he lost consciousness. "Oh, maybe I've hit him too hard?" I added, feeling genuine remorse.

"Nice one, D!" K8 congratulated me with satisfaction.

Anyway, Sigi delivered both gunshots and combat moves whenever necessary. I had never seen anything like it. Those flawless moves, those precise shots, the badass expression on his face. He was breathtaking.

The clone cops' and androids' response in combat might have been delayed, but they soon reacted to our onslaught by shooting at us or kicking us. I managed to disarm my opponents to even the fight a little.

During the mayhem, I noticed that Apollo hadn't got any gun or weapon and that his four bodyguards did. They looked tough, imposing, and undefeatable – or at least until Agape and Taro managed to kill two each. They had exchanged a few gunshots, but Agape and Taro had dodged them effortlessly. They shot them in the head, leaving Apollo standing on his own.

Between punches, I saw that Kono was making an effort to carry those who were still conscious but severely wounded to a room nearby and locked them up after taking their guns. I smiled at their idea.

Apollo clenched his teeth with rage because he was left to fend for himself while the rest of the basement wailed due to broken bones courtesy of K8, gunshots administered by Sigi, and enhanced girl punches delivered by me.

Then, I noticed that Apollo got a gun from one of his dead men before Agape or Taro could do anything about it. He had been fast. He and Agape were aiming at each other only at a few feet's distance.

I gasped. They were about to duel each other. I couldn't let that happen.

All Apollo's minions in the basement had been taken care of. I decided to come closer and try to stop them, even unarm them, but Taro told me with a dark, ominous voice:

"Not so fast, Daphne."

He was aiming his gun at me. His eyes were aflame with rage. That was all I could see of his face because he was still wearing his balaclava. In retaliation, Sigi aimed at Taro.

I stopped dead in my tracks in the middle of the main area of the basement, raising both my arms and hands in surrender. It broke my heart to see that the little improvements in our relationship had meant so little to Taro.

"Don't you fucking pull the trigger," Sigi warned him with fury.

"Then, tell her not to make a move, wonder boy," Taro replied daringly.

"Apollo!" Agape yelled at her nemesis, taking the spotlight. "You're not getting out of here alive! Your reign of terror ends here, tonight, by my hand! I am about to poison your precious DNA base with the enhanced palaeoviruses from the Neon Sea. You can't stop me!"

"And that's gonna faze me because...?" he replied defiantly as if he was having fun.

"Because your dear clone babies will die in their crystal wombs!" she yelled back at him. "It's over, Apollo!"

His weird, loud laughter filled the main area of the basement.

"You know me very little, oh Rightful Tyrant," he went on with an amused look on his face. I assumed Agape must have identified herself as such before we had interrupted them. "I really hope that's not your real name. Let me indulge in your future disappointment. I've been using these same palaeoviruses to enhance human DNA for years in a secret, large-scale, gene engineering project to improve humanity."

"WHAT?!" all of us exclaimed.

"I would say they are 'poisoned', but I guess you get the idea. I'm close to figuring out the right combination of human genes and the viral load they can cope with," he replied with pride. "Which is quite a lot, let me tell you! Humanity will soon take the next leap into the future thanks to me! I will improve the human genome and make us immortal!"

"Are you insane?!" Eros dared to exclaim as he leaned on the corner of the hall, staring at Apollo in disbelief.

He had managed to stand up despite his wound and had taken his balaclava off as well. It was no use to him anymore.

"Well, no. I am a planner and a visionary. I have been ever since I rose to power. I haven't been ignoring the palaeoviruses as you thought, Eros," Apollo answered, mocking my dear clone friend. "You were so worried about them, weren't you?"

"Let me guess," Eros replied with dread and defeat. "You didn't want me to develop a vaccine for them because there was no need, right? Not even if I offered you one right now to stop this needless bloodshed, you wouldn't want it."

"No! Why would I? They've been helping me to keep you idiots in check for years!" Apollo replied with a smug smile. "I've been randomly infecting adult clones to keep this discriminatory system going, ensuring a stable demand of organs to be transplanted. You have been way too scared of the viruses for years, while also worrying only about me and fulfilling my whims to even notice! You clones kept needing me, and that's how I've managed to stay in power for so long. And now, with this new batch of virally-enhanced clones, together with the 3D printers and the androids I've developed, I won't be needing the palaeoviruses anymore soon enough. The permafrost losing thickness and weight won't be a problem anymore, regardless of what viral threats are released from it. Humanity will already be enhanced!"

"See? I told you he would never want a vaccine, Daphne!" Agape told me with defiance while still aiming her gun at him. "You've got no leverage in the negotiation you wanted to have with this monster. And you've involved a clone in this pile of shit for nothing. Besides, he doesn't even care about climate change at all either!"

"Did you really think I would want a vaccine, dear Daphne?" Apollo asked me with incredulity. He laughed harder. "For real? Well, I don't need it. Never have, never will. You've got nothing to make a bargain with me."

That was when I had the guts to tell him what I feared the most. I was hoping it wouldn't get to that.

"Myself," I said with determination. "I offer myself."

"NO!" Sigi yelled.

"You still want me as your pet, don't you?" I asked him. "Take me but leave the world alone. Focus your obsessions on me, on making me become the lover you've always wanted. End this conflict once and for all, stop acting like a mad scientist and hand over the power to someone who truly deserves it, and you'll have me."

"Daphne, NO!" Sigi insisted, shouting as if his life was on the line.

Apollo laughed darkly as if I had told him a joke.

"I don't want you anymore, my pet," he replied as if the world was his oyster.

"What?!" I exclaimed in a pathetic whisper.

"You were gone. So, I made a clone of you right after the GSNS told me the dreadful news," he explained with a broad smile on his face. Then, he yelled: "Daphne, sweetheart! Come here!"

A young woman emerged from a room nearby and entered the scene behind Apollo. She was as tall as I was, around the same age as I was, and obviously, she looked exactly like me but for the irises. No, they weren't neon purple like mine.

I gasped in sheer amazement at the sight of her. She was wearing a slutty, long, golden dress with two slits. I would never dare to wear such clothes.

I froze at the realisation that she looked stunning though, yet devoid of emotions. Her face was pure ice. Her presence made me feel extremely weird.

"My dear Daphne 2.0," Apollo introduced her to us, "created thanks to the DNA sample that my mole stole from you a few days ago. Despite being a poisoned sample, it was in a much better condition than the samples I had from Valentina. So, I managed to create a 96.5% clone of you, Daphne. Behold, my new lover."

"But clone laws forbid cloning humans directly as adults!" Agape complained.

"Fuck clone laws!" Apollo yelled back at her as if she was an idiot. "Who do you think I am?! I am above the law! I am Apollo 2.0 myself, the one who got cloned directly as an adult only a few weeks ago! Yes, I lied to everybody about that during the press conference. What did you expect? My predecessor had no regard for those stupid clone laws and beliefs either! And I'm just like him – that's why I murdered him when the cloning process and memory transfer were complete. There cannot be two of us in this world!"

"Dirty fucker!" Agape exclaimed with venom in her voice. "You don't care about anything but yourself!"

"So, that's why I don't need you anymore, Old Daphne," Apollo said, turning to me while Daphne 2.0 clung to his left side while he was holding the gun with his right one, still aiming at Agape.

I was standing there, completely frozen due to the shocking revelation of Apollo's ruthless behaviour and the fact that I had such a stunning doppelgänger, with my hands in the air because Taro would shoot me if I did anything that might displease him. 

That was when Agape found it convenient to say quite dryly:

"If you're gonna remain there, frozen and appalled, and doing nothing, I don't need you either, Daphne. You might as well leave."

I felt suddenly dizzy. Space was slightly distorted in my field of vision. I didn't know what to answer to that. She didn't want me there because she considered me useless. I wanted to be of use. I was there to save her and I didn't want to leave without her and my friends, all safe and sound.

But she discarded me like a paper tissue. Why couldn't she admit that she could still need me?!

Out of the blue, Gabi, Ray, and even Cian went down the stairs while shooting at some attackers behind them. The subsequent surprise effect on everybody enabled me to stand by Sigi while he and Taro aimed at each other.

"It's Gabi, Ray and Cian!" I exclaimed. "But..."

"What are you doing down here, guys?!" Sigi asked.

"I followed Sven's trail, but when I got to him, he was already dead," Cian replied between shots with both anger and sadness. "I came back just in case you needed me here. And now I'm shooting at a former colleague. Not really happy about that either."

"What the-?!" Sigi exclaimed.

"My dearest mole, Momo, is finally here I see," Apollo said with disdain. "About time! I summoned you here ten minutes ago!" he argued with harshness. "And stop shooting for a moment. We are having a crucial discussion down here!"

"Sorry. Got caught up in the mess these fuckers have made upstairs," Momo said while going down the stairs and aiming at Gabi, Ray and Cian with her gun. A large group of well-built clone cops were behind her, also descending the stairs while aiming at all intruders.

The two groups were aiming at each other with mistrust.

"Nice to see you again, Momo," Agape told her with contempt. "Do you enjoy sucking Apollo's dick?"

"It tastes better than your cunt," Momo replied daringly.

"I see you still haven't told him our names and where we live, Momo," Agape commented with defiance.

"It's my leverage. He still needs to pay for this juicy bit of information."

"Your latest demands are too high, my dear," Apollo complained.

"We're still haggling," Momo told us condescendingly. "He doesn't get it. The fact that the world doesn't revolve exclusively around him. My safety, my wishes, my independence are of crucial importance, damn it! How many times do I need to say it?! Fulfil my demands and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

"Your arrogance will get you killed someday, my dear," Apollo replied with anger.

"Wait. For how long have you been his mole?" I dared to ask Momo.

"Quite some time."

"Why did you try to kill me on Silver Island, Momo? Weren't you supposed to extract a DNA sample from me, and that's it?" I asked her with curiosity. "Or did he command you to murder me before you had secured any sample?"

"You tried to kill her?! Before getting a sample?!" Apollo exclaimed in fury. I saw that he didn't know about it.

"I have got my own agenda," Momo replied condescendingly. "Like when I framed Ray. Or when I got Vera raped and poisoned to death by clone cops."

"WHAT?!" everybody exclaimed, including me.

I realised that Agape and the rest of the rebels were as appalled as I was. But only one thought eclipsed that bafflement: the mere fact that the only reason why she was spilling the beans about all that was precisely because she had everything under control. I didn't like it one bit.

"You framed...?!" Ray exclaimed with ire but stopped before he would reveal his identity to the enemy. I could tell by how tense his muscles and his jaw were that he wanted to murder her. "I thought you and that guy were friends!"

"We were... until he befriended this prick-teaser when she fixed his dear washing machine!" Momo yelled back at him while casting a scornful look at me.

She had chosen the same strategy as Ray to ensure she could ask Apollo for more in the near future in exchange for our names. I wondered whether Apollo would eventually put two and two together: Ray used to work in Amanita, I had recently moved there, and my boyfriend was there in the Amanita equation as well.

"You got him brutally tortured and killed only because he started liking Daphne?! How sick is that?!" Sigi complained.

"The same goes for Vera. I had seen her talking sweetly with her on our way to Old Sue's mansion. She had started to like her!" Momo rebutted.

Yes, I remembered her dirty look and the way Vera had suddenly become taciturn after that.

"You're a monster... not a person," I said still feeling the shock of those revelations.

"But how could you get her raped?" Gabi asked with cheek. "You don't happen to have a dick hidden down there, do you?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Momo answered on the defensive. "Thanks to Apollo, I had contacts in the clone police force. I told two of them that it was necessary to rape and poison a specific girl. Apollo's orders. They fell for it. But I don't think they're gonna bicker about it, actually. When they were done, they came back to me to report how successful the mission had been – and how much fun they had had."

"That's disgusting, Momo!" Sigi complained yelling with pride.

"You're a disappointment! She was one of your best friends!" Cian argued.

"You're despicable!" Taro yelled.

"How could you do such a thing to her?!" Gabi asked, horrified. The feeling was widely shared among all of us, rebels. I could tell by the hard look of rejection in their eyes besides their comments.

"She was no longer my friend. She had betrayed our loyalty!" Momo shouted back at us with defiance.

Bringing Vera into the conversation would only give Apollo another clue to figure out who we rebels were and where we lived. I wondered whether Momo would realise that soon and stop talking.

"Besides, I was never truly important in the group!" she went on bickering. "Especially after Daphne arrived. She started to poison you..." she said, turning to Agape, but not mentioning her name. "Our leader. She was poisoning you with her stupid ideals of peace and non-violence. But tonight, you've tasted how good fighting feels, I guess."

Her smug smile was aimed at me and I abhorred it.

"You're wearing the exosuit, and by the look of the number of unconscious clones and androids that you must have helped, haven't you? How bittersweet does it taste to have betrayed your own ideals, Daphne?"

"I haven't betrayed them. It was self-defence," I replied calmly. She wasn't affecting me the way she wanted it. I could tell by how rapidly her pride turned into sourness on her face.

"Whatever. You're always right, aren't you?" she replied with defiance. "So genuine and rare, especially after discovering that you are Valentina's granddaughter. I knew you would put the whole operation at risk!

"Don't you see, you idiot?!" Momo turned to Agape once more. "Daphne has put clogs up the works! I wanted to avenge my family! And soon, damn it! But you wouldn't let us carry on murdering more clones! I couldn't stand it! I couldn't wait and see you change for good! That's why I decided to offer my services as a mole to Apollo."

"By helping Apollo, you won't avenge your family!" Agape rebutted.

"I know, but I can make you pay for making me lose that opportunity... handsomely," she replied with greed.

"You're despicable!" Sigi yelled.

"Now, don't be so angry at me, you idiots!" Momo argued. "None of this would've happened if you had rejected Daphne as a member of the group. I even tried to frame her for a stupid clone secretary's murder where she used to work!"

Miss Radica?! Momo had murdered Miss Radica to get me in trouble?

"Are you mad, Momo?!" Agape shouted at her. "If Daphne had got caught back in those early days, the clone police would've found out she's a rebel and, by extension, they would've found out about us, dumbass! And that used to include you, Momo! We would all be dead!"

"NO! We would've already won this war, damn it!" Momo went on yelling. "I kept telling you we had to make more daring moves, but you never listened! By calling the clones' attention with Daphne's downfall, we would've entered into battle and already won by now!"

"You've always been too hot-headed and impertinent!" Agape replied as if she was sick of her.

"And delusional, too!" Sigi replied sternly. "You may try to base your behaviour on whatever reasons you think best, but you don't fool me. You only made one bad choice after another because you're jealous of Daphne!"

I saw Momo's face flush with ire.

"Sorry to interrupt your argument, but you seem to be missing a key point here," Apollo said then as if he was bored. "You didn't invite me here tonight to witness how much you hate Momo or distrust each other. You invited me to face each other, didn't you?"

Hello, my sugar cubes!

This scene might seem chaotic due to the huge number of people involved and the high stakes, but don't worry. I can reduce this number soon.

XOXO

MS