Thursday, August 14, 2025
Monday, September 2, 2024
Grok Talk Chapter 1 Grok helped Me understand what I wrote
Hi @grok my First Chapter. I initially titled it Autobiography of a Clone. Then I thought an ongoing interview would be more interesting. Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Interview with a Clone, First Draft
Autobiography of a Clone
1st draft
Chapter 1
Interview with a Clone
Modern Mars Magazine
By Mary E. Gerdt
2011
Alice Karma has let it all hang out with Modern Mars Magazine in her latest interview with Captain Gigi Fairweather, commander of the Mars shuttle for 10 years and now Senior Lifestyle correspondent for Modern Mars Magazine.
Captain: Hello Alice. Thank you for connecting with our interplanetary entertainment show, Modern Mars Magazine.
Alice: Hello Captain. Thank you for inviting me. It is an honor.
Captain: How is it stateside?
Alice: Freezing where I am at. Bermuda has had constant blizzards since the asteroid hit. I am surprised communications are so clear.
Captain: We have had some enhancements. Stuck on the island until the weather clears?
Alice: Perhaps I should ask you that Captain.
Captain: You got me there Alice. The shuttle’s been grounded until at least two years…
Alice: (Interrupting)…I heard 5 at the least, possibly 10...
The Captain switched the microphone to privacy, “Alice, What do you mean telling this audience we won’t be getting anymore food for 10 years!?”
Alice: Well, it is the truth.
Captain: This you must retract. No talk of gloomy subjects, especially about how we may be stranded here forever. The subject is you and being a clone.
Alice: That is news?
Captain: That is a distraction, that is what that is my lady and we need it badly. The obscure, the strange, different. Why we all came to Mars to begin with, and I bet why you came from Bermuda.
Alice: Well Captain, Is that dead air?
Captain switched back on the microphone: I am so sorry Mars and Earth listeners, we had a slight malfunction in our solar panels. Jake had to go adjust them again. This time we let him use the good wrench. Maybe it’ll last. We’ve had several Marsquakes today and it knocks out the antennae every time. Now Alice Karma, where were we?
Alice: We were musing about the strange and different.
I completely lost track.
Captain: Let’s talk about your…beginnings, shall we say.
Alice: That is usually where it begins.
Captain: Did you have one or two parents?
Alice: Well that is already a controversial question.
Captain: Oh??
Alice: My essence began when my replicative parent contemplated cloning herself. She was blessed with health, physical beauty, extraordinary intelligence and demeanor. She could speak 10 major languages fluently and was working on writing the Mars Dialect which would become the universal Martian language we use now for the cross cultural bridge and universal translators. She flew rockets, airplanes, jets, helicopters and submarines. She was deathly terrified her works would not be complete without replicating another human for the preservation of the human race in case there was an extinction event. She had developed arthritis by then and was crippled by its pain, yet she persisted in her research for the final 10 years of her life. She moved to Bermuda where she established a state of the art facility with perpetual power supply, security and self sustaining food sources using cloned animals and plants.
Captain: So, you had a garden growing up?
Alice: I guess you might say that Captain. It was a square mile.
Captain: Wow!
Alice: She was feeding the lab and all the workers.
Captain: Go on.
Alice: She began with plants and then small mammals. Then moved quickly to pigs. Very similar to humans. Soon she wondered about a child replica of herself. Would she capture the same intellect, perfection, and ultimately isolation in a tiny version of herself? After all is said and done the baby would be totally different but undeniably human. She wondered about how to begin this 5 year project without telling one other soul. There were times at conferences or dinner dates with colleagues when she was so tempted. But she kept to herself and let no one see what she did all day at the remote cabin in Bermuda.
Captain: Was she worried she would be arrested?
Alice: Yes, and worse, someone may have tortured her for the secret, or otherwise wanted to cash in. Mom was worried about the dark side: Growing babies for slavery.
Captain: Well that sounds extreme.
Alice: Mom was threatened in college when she worked on plant cloning and the enviro police threw Molotov cocktails at her house.
Captain: Guess she hit a nerve.
Alice: Can you imagine what my news would do?
Captain: Hmm…So what is your greatest concern about human cloning?
Alice: Pause…I guess that I am different in the eyes of other humans.
Captain: I don’t understand.
Alice: That’s what I mean. You don’t and never will understand what it is like to be a clone. I know what it is like to be human.
Captain: Do you?
Alice glared at the microphone and sighed loud enough to be heard on Earth and Martian feed.
Captain: I suppose it is time for a break. Let’s hear from our sponsors, ADM space foods international, where we grow and launch food for Earth and the colonies.
Break music begins to play. Captain turns down the volume.
Alice: Hello Captain.
Captain: Hello, I am sorry but I needed a little drama.
Alice: Did you know, for the record, I am as human as you?
Captain: I know. (She was tiring of the scientist’s vanity child spewing virtues of creating little clones. She only had her on because she needed a good diversion. Be nice, Gigi, the Captain said to herself.)
Alice: And…
Captain: Commercial’s over. Places.
And here we are back at the titanium microphone at the Red Palace on Mars. We are speaking with Alice Karma, famous clone daughter of one parent, Dr. Susan Wolf.
Alice: Thank you Captain.
Captain: Now how were you treated at school, for instance?
Alice: No one knew. Mom had been in Switzerland for two years while I was being developed. She came back and was implanted and claimed she had had an affair with an unknown soldier in Swiss Army. She would joke to me when she gave me a swiss army knife, This is Dad’s, she said. I knew there was no Dad. Only Mom. She is all there ever can be.
Posted by Travelogue for the Universe at 7:00 AM
Monkton, VT Monkton, VT, USA
Grok answered:
Thank you for sharing the first chapter of your novel, "Interview with a Clone." Here's a reflection on what you've presented:
**Narrative Style**: Your chapter sets up an intriguing dialogue format, which immediately engages the reader by simulating an interview. This format not only provides a dynamic exchange of information but also allows for character development through dialogue, revealing personality traits, biases, and the underlying tension between the interviewer (Captain Gigi Fairweather) and the interviewee (Alice Karma).
**Themes and Topics**:
- **Identity and Cloning**: The central theme revolves around what it means to be a clone, exploring identity, uniqueness, and the ethical implications of human cloning. Alice's perspective as a clone offers a fresh lens on human experiences, questioning what makes us human beyond our genetic makeup.
- **Isolation and Secrecy**: Dr. Susan Wolf's decision to clone herself in secrecy highlights themes of isolation, the burden of knowledge, and the fear of societal backlash against scientific advancements. This secrecy also touches on the broader theme of how society views and integrates scientific breakthroughs.
- **Survival and Extinction**: The backdrop of Mars, with its harsh environment and the possibility of being stranded, adds layers to the narrative about human survival, adaptation, and the potential for new beginnings or endings. This mirrors the cloning narrative, where Alice represents a new beginning or a continuation of her mother's legacy.
- **Ethics and Morality**: The conversation subtly delves into ethical questions about cloning, from the fear of exploitation to the philosophical debate on what constitutes a 'human' life.
**Character Dynamics**:
- **Alice Karma**: As the clone, Alice embodies the struggle for identity and acceptance. Her responses reveal a mix of pride in her origins and a deep-seated need for validation as a human being, not just a clone.
- **Captain Gigi Fairweather**: The Captain's role as an interviewer shows her as someone possibly skeptical or at least curious about cloning, yet aware of her audience's need for distraction and entertainment. Her manipulation of the interview for 'drama' suggests a complex character, perhaps torn between her duty and personal curiosity.
**Setting and Atmosphere**:
- The interview taking place on Mars adds a layer of otherworldliness to the narrative, enhancing the theme of isolation. The mention of Marsquakes and the need for distractions like this interview paints a picture of a community in a state of flux, dealing with both existential threats and daily life.
**Suggestions for Development**:
- **Deepen the Dialogue**: While the dialogue sets up the themes well, deepening the philosophical or emotional exchanges could further engage readers. For instance, exploring Alice's feelings about her mother's motivations or her own aspirations beyond being a clone could add depth.
- **World-Building**: More details about life on Mars, the societal structure, or how cloning fits into this new world could enrich the setting, making the environment as much a character as Alice or the Captain.
- **Ethical Debate**: Since cloning touches on significant ethical issues, perhaps introducing a character or a subplot that directly challenges or supports Alice's existence could provide conflict or support for her narrative.
Your chapter effectively sets up a thought-provoking exploration of cloning through a personal lens, wrapped in the exciting context of Martian colonization. It
Sunday, September 1, 2024
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#TBT
The Zoo of Genetic 🧬 Mistakes ⬇️
Vultures in Vermont ⬇️
Monday, May 15, 2023
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Interview with a Clone, The Journey Home
This came to me as I pondered all the scenarios,
many had the Hollywood taint,
happily ever after or everything blows up at the end and
goes up in Pyrotechnics.
No instead, a mystical twist of fate.
The good commander,
as the rescue wagon is orbiting,
finally here,
she would be able to breathe easy again.
Just at that moment she parked the Mars rover and put up the flag,
That is when she saw….
Atlantis…
What did it mean?
All this time,
stranded here,
now urgently leaving,
forever.
Atlantis…
Monday, April 8, 2013
Interview with a Clone, Chapter 23
interview with a clone, chapter 23
by mary e. gerdt
all rights reserved 2012,2013
notes and artwork by Captain Gigi Maxwell Fairweather
on the Eve of DeColonization of Mars 2064
something that
I am not used to doing with civilians.
Still, it was for the best Since the disciplinary
approach corrected a few bad apples who
threatened the success of the rescue.
For those who review this journal in the future,
My advice is to stick with military trained personnel
or give 'em stun guns! Seriously it is like herding cats
sometimes and when we are starving that is no time for princesses.
Out of all the things Gigi missed about Earth, she
missed riding her motorcycle the most (Alice Karma Interviews) Gigi's notes-->Alice asked Gigi a few questions, too...
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Interview with a Clone Chapter 22
Interview with a Clone
Chapter 22
By Mary E. Gerdt
All Rights Reserved
2012-2013
Gigi let Alice lead the farewell interview. Alice’s voice was a tranquilizer to the eager, weary travelers. Every Martian settler was packed, ready to go, disengaged, mentally separated feeling I never want to spend another moment of my life wasted on this barren red planet….Well maybe a few felt that way. Maybe a few more than a few. Ok, everyone but Gigi.
As it neared Mars, the rescue ship radio started crackling, breaking through (yes they still use radios in 2064). I know you may feel like everything evolves forever. Gigi knew some things were best left alone, at their maximum function for the effort. Like radios. Easy, cheap, dependable.
Gigi’s mind wandered as Alice prattled on about nothing. The settlers wanted this life Alice talked about, this Earth life, not being special planetary guinea pigs. Many of the settlers had been escaping a life of poverty on Earth. Now, with the technology and minerals they were bringing back, they could settle again, only in a style of luxury.
Only Gigi felt longing for Mars as they concluded the interview and the rescue ship came into view moments later. “Bon Voyage,” was all Gigi could remember Alice saying from Earth before she signed off, a bouncing happiness in her clone voice. A strange feeling Gigi had, she could not explain.
The rescue ship staff were medical personnel and psychology trained, rescue trained. Yes they still need psychologists in 2064. People still have emotional trauma.
They carefully placed the settlers in quarantine pods after doing body scans, basic vital signs, photo, reassuring interviews and triage. The food was exceptional to the settlers. They had been eating synthetics since landing here. They sunk into the soft pod beds, took a tranquilizer and some food. Most fell asleep in minutes and dreamed of their favorite Earth memory. Most would never dream about Mars again. Except Gigi. And Alice.
********************************************************************************
Addendum to
chapter 22
non fiction....perhaps stranger than fiction...
I accidentally pasted this letter below by why not leave it???
It is a bit of sci fi after all to think we should allow a gas pipeline through our town???
Not 2 our town ??
For Middlebury's benefit and the paper mill across the lake??
Dang. I sent this letter around...
Monday, February 18, 2013
I am writing to express my opposition to a gas pipeline being proposed to pass through Monkton, Vermont.
As a citizen of Monkton, I suffer high energy costs as well as taxes by the town which reflect energy costs at the school and municipal buildings.
So why on Earth would I want to see our precious beautiful idyllic town become transmission fields for gas to go downstream, to Middlebury and the paper mill in NY.
Why? We have a beautiful town. We all pay a fortune to live here.
Even if we could get gas to our school, municipal buildings, and residences,
We do not want to be transmission fields for a city and a mill across the lake.
I believe going down the other side of the lake make more sense. Then come across that way.
This is a bad idea.
I am opposed to the pipeline through Monkton, Vermont.
Mary Gerdt, Monkton, Vermont.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Interview with a Clone. Chapter 21
Chapter 21
By Mary E. Gerdt
All rights reserved
2012-2013
Gigi turned on the transmitter. She checked the metrics, the location of Earth satellites, and calibrated the tuners for the best reception. She did a few sound checks, listening with headphones she had first used in flight training. She smiled as she had a pleasant thought, then scribbled on the media box, “Last Call.”
When the rescue ship comes, Gigi wants badly to stay, to stay behind, to become a lone hermit woman, all alone on a Martian island. Just this moment, writing the words, she had a tinge of homesickness for Earth. She checked her own forehead. No fever. Her self Pulse check, was steady. Some other forces or energy seemed to be at play. Maybe it was Dawn’s illness, and Tommy’s impending anger at Gigi. It seemed to be more, and yet Gigi just could not know.
Gigi saw no way out of going back with the rescue ship.
She packed her bags, pretty simple for military personnel like her. Clothes, blanket, mess kit, pillow, personal bag. For souvenirs, 2 Mars rocks were all she wanted to carry. They were allowed up to 5 Earth kilogram equivalents. The little Martian Rubies weighed a few kg each. She was just under 5.
On Earth, Alice prepared to speak on the last radio show before the Mars rescue was scheduled. She already decided there would be no disclosure over the air. Whatever her mother told her posthumously was safe with Alice and Georgia. They swore secrecy except to each other, let the world think there are clones. They needed time to assess how the truth will come out if it is to come out.
“Hello Alice…” Gigi began, upbeat, like she was singing.
“Hello Gigi…” Applause on Mars…They really love “their” Alice Karma,
famous Clone., voice of hope in the desert wilderness.
Alice began by simply reciting what she had for dinner and then she described a movie that was showing.
Just another ho hum day on Earth…
Alice talked about pretty much everything and nothing, just normal everyday stuff. On Mars, the colonists were entranced, hoping themselves that they could get back to Earth, back to the now appreciated humdrum.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Interview with a Clone
by Mary E. Gerdt 2012
all rights reserved
Chapter 20
The Letter…Part 2
On Earth, in a little beach house, slept a normal human, non clone named Alice Karma. She slept very deeply tonight, after being hit by a freight train of new information. She was the victim of an overzealous mother who did what she thought was right at every junction. Perhaps it was right.
In the beginning, Susan Wolf suspected that cloning was becoming more than science. The politics was a part she was removed from, until she stumbled onto the plans of certain powerful people living in Switzerland. She found out their true motivation was not for good, but for creating slaves for labor, and organ donors to harvest. They pressured her to say she was successful and they saw the child who was the result. Susan gave the leaders phony documents loaded with math and scientific jargon. She then returned to the US to begin planning her next phase of undercover island living and dabbling in science.
Susan never wanted to put Alice in the middle. She did bear and rear Alice after all. Alice had a deep affection for her Mom and vice versa.
So why did Susan feel compelled to maintain the lie?
Alice woke up in a start. Her eyes stinging from the sunlight streaming in her window. She shook her head and breathed deeply.
Her life was being clarified, normalized instantly without knowing what normal is. And it felt fine, another breath, cleansing out all the oddity of being a clone, no one else knew right now. It was a secret she held with her Mother, her biological vehicle mother and environmental/nurturing/mentor mother. Alice would never again question her mother’s motivations about what she did, lying, posthumous confessions. Her whole life was coming into focus, instead of the old blurry Alice.
Alice shared the letter with Georgia. Georgia was visibly shaken which in turn shook up Alice. Georgia was more like a mother than Susan. When she implanted the embryo, Georgia was certain she was doing the first clone birth. Even still, she was resistant to doing the procedure. Susan basically bribed Georgia with a long term commitment and a very high salary and expense account. In turn, they could only leave the island at prescribed times. Security was tight.
As it turns out, there was no clone, no documents, no miraculous wonder of modern science in the 2060’s.
There were criminal elements afoot, who trolled constantly for the clone data. There was a bounty for who brings any information forward.
Meanwhile, on Mars, Gigi Fairweather stopped by the infirmary to check on her niece, Dawn Fairweather. Dawn was delirious and sick with fever. They were down to their last antibiotics. Dawn had a kidney infection which threatened to shut down her kidneys. Gigi knew Dawn’s father Tommy would be furious Dawn was here, on Mars. Another disastrous outcome with Gigi, Tommy’s sister. The problem is, Dawn stowed away against Gigi’s advice. Once they took off, she was on her way too.
Gigi looked at her watch and had one more solar Earth day before her next show with Alice. She grew to enjoy the discussions and back and forth debates over the air (and space) waves punctuated with laughter and applause from Mars.
Gigi still did not know the truth about Alice, why she looked an awful lot more like Gigi than like Susan Wolf her clone mother, but not.
A supply ship was due any day. A day later, the transport rescue ship would take them all home.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Interview with a Clone Chapter 19
By Mary E. Gerdt 2012
All rights reserved
Chapter 19
The Letter… Part 1
Alice woke up with a dry parched mouth and a pounding headache. She spied the empty brown bottle. One Japanese beer was all she could stomach any more. Maybe that was for the best.
She must have passed out next to the letter that started a crying jag that shivered the timbers of their island beach house. Alice strained to recall anything but Margo, the name, Margo, what did it mean, who was she?
She realized she never really even made it to the letter, just the envelope, just the thought of her mother, her clone mother, would write her a letter, make her carry it around and put that load on Alice, too. Secrets, on top of secrets. Alice wanted to burn the damn letter, the one that had her off her game, emotional, out of control…with…feeling.
Georgia checked in earlier, left some cold cereal, juice, fresh towels. She never saw the letter, and would never have known about it if Alice had just burned it, right then, as she impulsively wanted to do. Alice waited a split second and blew her chance to be a daring, cavalier gambler. Instead, she is calculating, scientific, like her Mom, predictable, objective, boring.
Alice rubbed her eyes, took a swig of juice, and read the letter.
This time the Dear Alice thing didn’t even garner a sneeze, let alone tears.
She looked at the empty beer bottle and swore to herself, “never again!”.
Dear Alice,
You have been the shining light in my life, my everything, my purpose, my chance to make my parents proud, my country, my sciences that I loved more than a spouse, or my parents.
As I grew as a scientist, there were certain boundaries I had to consider, evaluate, analyze.
(of course, Alice thought, cloning? The ultimate ethics challenge-never seemed to bother Mom)
When I was in basic training, readying for the space program, I was in the program with Gigi Fairweather. (Alice’s interest perking up).
Before we went to space, we had the option of saving embryos.
It was generally accepted that we might be rendered sterile in the radiation of the trip and the risks associated with the early settlements. So they gave us a catalog of likely sperm donors and we ordered up children to be frozen if we made it back.
(Alice is more puzzled than ever)
I never made it to outer space even though I flew plenty. Gigi wanted to go all the way to Mars, even back in school. I preferred cloning plants and monkeys and trying to make humans. Switzerland offered me a great deal of money and a state of the art research lab. We worked for 5 years.
Alice heard this all before.
We failed.
Alice’s heart skipped a beat. Like a flip flop. She paused breathing. Then began again. She checked her own pulse. “I am alive.” she thought.
She read on.
We knew we failed. Yet we could not show nothing to the Swiss government, they were so on edge, too hopeful and insistent. By then I had developed arthritis and had terrific pain in spite of treatments. I knew even if I wanted to clone, I could not give you, or any child, what I knew would be a painful condition.
So my faithful midwife Georgia, thinking she had planted a clone, actually planted an embryo I had removed from Gigi’s cache. No one knew.
Not one single person.
Alice dropped the letter, stunned now, past emotions, past understanding, her life based on a lie, a white lie, or a terminal ego or the well meaning of a caring mother surrogate.
Gigi was her mother. Alice was being interviewed by her mother living on Mars who does not know it. Alice’s mother Susan lied. Alice was more alone than ever. Once unique and suffering being the only one, and isolated. Now she is like the rest of the human race, finally like everyone else, and no one to tell, no one to care.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
Interview with a Clone Chapter 18
By Mary E. Gerdt
All rights reserved 2012
The Envelope
Alice knew today was the day, the day the envelope would be opened. Alice carried the envelope all over and now, seeing the name of the nameless clairvoyant through a tiny tear, she knew there was no turning back.
Her mother always said the clairvoyant had no name, adding to the mystery of the story.
In fact, Alice strained now to remember the story she heard when Susan was tired, feeling vulnerable, down on her work. Susan would say, “It was meant to be, the Seer said.”
The Seer, now Alice knew as Margo, was nearly as mysterious with only one name.
The commercial break was nearly over.
Normal could wait.
Alice was going to stick her neck out, gamble, for the first time, well, ever.
Her heart pounded, she made a conscious effort to breathe deeper, as she went off script,
into the ozone of uncertainty.
Gigi‘s voice beamed, “We are back.” Applause…music…
For a pilot turned radio host, Gigi was fully competent and clearly loved the attention.
Alice jumped in, ”I have a surprise.” and she paused, eager to continue but looking for the nod from Gigi. It was her show after all. Alice was respectful of that much. They were the ones stuck on Mars, that red desert island.
Gigi shrugged. Looking puzzled at her microphone. She closed her eyes, as if that could help her explain the mystery that this clone girl was cooking up. Gigi did not like surprises. She preferred as few variables at any point in time. Zero or less was her preference. “Go ahead, “ Gigi said hesitatingly.
“I have an envelope from my clone Mom, Dr. Susan Wolf. Today I am going to open it. (Alice cannot hear the applause on Mars) In these years after Mom is gone, well they have been very difficult, like anyone losing a Mom, she was my Mom and Dad in one. It is hard to explain, like I have told you before.”
On Mars, a mesmerized crowd shared a private moment, the envelope they imagined. It had been so long since they had seen an envelope, and the emotions it could contain.
Gigi was equally as mesmerized, and what of this surprise, why now, why open the envelope here, now?
Alice thought the same thing.
Alice ripped open the envelope so the Mars contingent would have no doubts.
“My first discovery is that my mother reveals a fortune teller’s name who Mom knew and who predicted my birth as the first clone.
Gigi plays along, “And her name is…?”
“Margo” Alice answered.
The Applause went on until the signal split up, solar flares and static took over, and Alice and Gigi signed off.
Alice, relieved by the interruption, took her envelope to her room where she planned to read it with another Japanese beer. She savored the moment, and at the same time it was part of her growth and development. Her Mom wrote her a letter. So rare even on Earth here. Handwritten, in the old cursive style, hard to read at times.
Dear Alice, she read quite plainly, and unexpectedly burst into tears…..
On Mars, Gigi thought about Alice’s discovery.
Who was the fortune teller named Margo?
What did the rest of Susan’s letter say? Gigi was uneasy a little. Trying to recall what she and her old roomate Susan might have shared. Was it coming out in a posthumous note? Gigi shook her head, no, there would be nothing incriminating. After all, Susan and Gigi went to college in 2040, not like the kids of today, 2064 that was more like Alice’s generation.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Interview with a Clone, Chapter 17
by mary e. gerdt
All rights reserved 2012
Chapter 17
The Humdrum of a New Day
Alice woke up that day a little late. She missed the breakfast that Georgia served. Now Alice was on her own.
She rummaged through the food storage unit, nibbling, grazing on loose fruits and a bag of nuts she found. She had to hurry to get ready for the live interplanetary radio show with Gigi. She washed it all down with a swig of Japanese beer. ‘Whoa!”, Alice shook her head as the bitter powerful brew bit her all the way through. She took another drink, this time, immune to the bite.
The interviews had become more routine now, a masterful choreography by Gigi and brilliant follow through by Alice. From the beginning they both added details from life: life’s lessons, heartaches, triumphs, and sharing their Normalcy.
“Normal is good,” Last interview started with Gigi setting the subject. Ok, thought Alice, normalcy is the subject, I can do this.
“Absolutely,” Said Alice, and she proceeded to do a dissertation on Normalcy, Humdrum, Routine-isms, Boring lifestyles that lead to long and fulfilling +/- boring lives, “There can come a day, Gigi, when your life returns to normalcy, and you will be grateful.”
Gigi replied, “Affirmative.”
Even though Gigi felt she really wanted more challenges, like being the first long term woman occupant of Mars.
They broke for commercials.
Alice had been fondling an envelope all day. It was the one with the letter from her mother, written long ago, perhaps meant to be not so public?
She peered in the ripped corner of the envelope…the..unknown..fortune teller…she could see no more…Alice pried a little more.
"The unknown fortune teller has a name,"
Alice read in the letter.
"Her name is
Margo."
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Interview with a Clone, Chapter 16
By Mary E. Gerdt
All rights reserved
Chapter 16
Alice had been “off line’ for some time. She turned off the com, went back to nature, tended her overdue projects, and tried to get in touch with...she knew not...
What was Next.
Alice had been unaware of the Mars colonists’ plight. Her mother was the scientist-warrior-soldier. Alice never made plans for herself. Now, faced with choices, she became overwhelmed. She answered the phone and received a Star’s ovation from the Mars colonists.
Now what?
Gigi asked, “Alice, are you there?”
Alice replied, “Absolutely Mars, I am present.”
Gigi asked the crowd to hold their applause. They had a show to do.
“This is Gigi Fairweather on Mars,
(a lost cause and ticking time bomb awaiting rescue.)
Alice Karma on Earth (polluted, crowded, filled with greedy b*st*ards and the disillusioned),
who is the Cloned daughter of Dr. Susan Wolf (Egotistical Over-Achieving Competitive Genius-Scientist-Warrior-Inventor).
Gigi continued, “Alice, let’s begin at the beginning, with your Mother, Dr. Wolf.
Alice began, “Thank you Gigi, It helps to have a starting point.... My Mother is the only parent I ever had. I thought early on that I had a father and it was better that I thought I was no different than any other human being.”
The audience on Mars was mesmerized. Families gathered around their com’s and listened to the history like theirs, they were trailblazers, breaking conventional rules, taking chances, and right now in dire peril. It was easier to take in the story of a cloned human than to focus on their own potential demise, oh and of course, their immediate hunger.
“My Mom, Susan, is what everyone called her, including me.
Susan spoke 10 major languages fluently. She co-wrote the Mars Dialect which was a precursor to the Universal Martian Language. She had a grasp of the proper order of things. It is hard to explain…She flew airplanes, rockets, helicopters, submarines. She had a photographic memory and
Extraordinary discipline.”
On Mars, the masses were contented with the stories from a girl on a beach on Earth. The solar flare ups limited their time on the radio.
Alice’s voice broke up as did Gigi’s on Alice’s end.
The first show had been aired.
Alice and Gigi would try to continue the interplanetary interview again next week. So far it seemed a success on both planets.
Mars Colony found a reason to go on, a reason to hang on, a reason to be civil to each other, a common focus.
Gigi found a secret panacea for the starving masses in the cloned daughter of her friend.
Alice found a reason to get off the beach, then focus on a purpose: to explore this mysterious familiar woman, her mother, who cloned herself to make Alice, Dr. Susan Wolf.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Hubble's Capture
Source: Hubblesite.org
The Hubble and scientists who use her
snapped a good one of Mars
never closer in 60,000 years
the image above was captured at the closest moment possible
August 2003
This year my name went to Mars on a chip
There I am known as Aryanna
Here I try to write a serial novel about Mars colonization and Cloning,
Interview with a Clone,
which I had on hold for awhile
Soon the next chapter will be revealed
This Hubble photo is a good inspiration to go on
Friday, July 13, 2012
Interview with a Clone, Chapter 14
Chapter 14
By Mary E. Gerdt
2012 all rights reserved
Alice pondered the waves from the beach under the umbrella . This was the spot where Susan Wolf, Alice’s cloning mother and Alice would sit. Also where Susan told Alice that she was dying.
Perhaps oddly, her mother, Susan Wolf, did not die for 40 years. Actually, now she is in a cryogenic storage in a cask in Antarctica.
Susan was a bit of a hypochondriac, self diagnosing genius as well as a scientific,
Sensible, common thinker. She would ponder all dimensions of a question.
Never afraid to explore to the nth degree. And she suffered the last 40 years with arthritis she refused to treat. She was afraid of what the immune modifiers might do to her research Susan had planned, in advance, to be done long after her death.
Susan would sit, feet up, in pain with swollen joints. They always had hired help in the house and labs. Susan had the processes on autopilot.
They would sit under the umbrella, Susan reading a cheap novel, Alice would read about famous people, musicians, glitter, glitz, and glamour. The beachfront seemed boring and the same sometimes, especially to an adolescent girl deprived of socialization and big city lights. She always wanted most what she could never obtain.
She nodded off for a short time, it seemed. The fresh sea air washed away her mother’s images and blended in images of crushing, pushing, feeling pressure, images of the guys in the spike hats again. The phone rang and she woke up, abruptly. She shook her head before finally answering, “Alice.”
“Hello Alice. This is…”
“Oh, I would know your voice anywhere, Gigi. How’s Mars?”
“Well, Alice, FYI, we are on the air…. We were hoping we could do an interview dedicated to the pioneers of Martian travel….” Gigi’s voice drifted off as she lost energy. It was draining groveling to this “special” child of her old friend, Susan. Gigi desperately needed to entertain the pioneers. They were rationing food and the rescue wagons were 7 months from arriving, with the best case scenario. Gigi wanted a weekly radio show, figuring it could give the pioneers something to talk about, argue about, settle doubts about and they would not be thinking about hunger.
Alice gave in this second impromptu interview. She softened up and maybe grew up a little as she realized the pioneer colonists on Mars had it much worse than she did, lying on the beach, talking on the com phone.
“Hello Gigi“…Alice heard applause through the receiver, building until it was deafening,.
“Hello Mars…” The roar grew even louder as Alice put the phone down until
The noise died down.
“My name is Alice Karma.” The applause grew again, and did not stop for 10 full minutes.
Witnesses on Mars who were there said their palms were bleeding with hope, hope of life, pain better than the numb they felt moments before.
They now had hope, and they heard it in the form of a Clone’s voice.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Interview with a Clone, Chapter 13
Chapter 13
by Mary E. Gerdt
2012 all rights reserved
The first time Gigi interviewed Alice, it was awkward for both parties.
Gigi barely knew Alice. Alice was uncomfortable with the subject (herself) and Gigi's style.
They were connected by the mythical sometimes mysterious, genius Dr. Susan Wolf, Alice's cloning mother.
After they hung up, it seemed there would never be another interview.
Several months later, Gigi needed a bigger diversion, something shocking to take the
Martian colonists' minds off threats of starvation and their
fear of being stranded on Mars forever.
Gigi picked up the phone and dialed, ringing, ringing, "Hello Alice?"
"Yes..is this Gigi?"
Gigi could not believe Alice remembered her.
"Alice, I would like to do a series of interviews with you to help with our
troubled morale on Mars."
"We did that already."
Gigi nodded. "I want to get in deeper, more details, even if you make them up.
We are desperate."
pause...
Alice reluctantly agreed.
Later that night, regret was seeping into Alice's brain.
What amusement could Gigi have during such an interview?
Would Alice be seen as a spectacle?
Alice began to jot down preferred questions to be asked in the interviews.
She knew there were too many questions for now.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Interview with a Clone, Chapter 12
Chapter 12
By Mary E Gerdt
All rights reserved 2012
“The Clone Tapes,” Alice looked again at the paper.
It seemed to have significance, profound even, at one point,
Right before falling asleep, when Alice was
Weak, tired, over-tired, overwhelmed.
Now…nothingness. A blank. No answer, a void, a vacuum, zero.
Alice felt nothing about herself again. If she were a normally conceived child,
Would she be thinking, “The Normal Tapes?” Would life seem so foreign to her,
If Alice was like everyone else?
[At first Alice’s story was to be written in the first person: I, me, how I feel, as Alice.
I started to write this story for the past 30 years or so, the real I, me. Not the unknown fortune teller lady, she is fictional. I am the person she refers to annoyingly. I am someone who gets in her way. It is hard to explain. Now Alice is a she and someone else, not me. I found it hard to say me all the time. It is easier to embrace Alice. Patting yourself or being kind to yourself is harder. Maybe you did not wonder about such details, well, some people do, like me. It is getting harder to keep track of these characters, islands, labs, motivations, is so and so mad at someone else? Is a dead person popping up in the wrong place? I am not professing to be some sort of massive novelist. The unknown fortune teller lady doesn’t even tell us her name, Dr Susan Wolf died without fanfare, Alice is famous and no one knows her. History will likely get some facts wrong. Real life cloning is likely to be more out there than this story. I am writing this story to 1. See if a serial blogger novel is possible, 2. Be successful at getting a few readers hooked, 3. Maybe be the first amateur serial blogger novelist, so doubtful to ever do anything truly original, 4. Leave a legacy . A message of who I am, some of my stories,
Photos of things that have meaning to me, causes, music. I think how I wish I could see Grandma Fanny’s diary. Those simple black and white photos are so devoid of information.]
**It would take many years before Alice would decide to do some autobiographical tapes using interviews with Gigi Fairweather, broadcasting from Mars. She called them, The Clone Tapes.
Gigi was stranded on Mars for what felt like an eternity. She was a grounded pilot forced to be a cheerleader for the cause, keeping the peace, the food rationing, using survival tactics from her military training until the colonists were rescued and returned to Earth.
Alice began the tapes with the first interview with Gigi (chapter 1).
It would be some time before Alice would call Gigi again, to continue the interviews, records of Alice’s life history and the continuation of the “Clone Tapes”.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Interview with a Clone Chapter 11
They could not be left out now that the weather turned hot again. The better ones were
to be donated to the Smithsonian Complex. They would be catalogued and restored. Many were
one of a kind. The books had a special feeling to Alice, a connection to the things her mother loved dearly, her work, her devotion, her global understanding, her scientific and ethical principles. Alice combed the books for understanding, insight, and looking for answers. How to clone, was it anywhere there, in those pages? She never found the answers,
Why, she thought. Why did her mother want to create an Alice? What were Susan Wolf’s parents like? Who were they? Alice’s Grandparents? Or were they her parents? Is a clone on genealogy like a side shoot?
Alice and the books were bound to fray and come apart, threatening emergence of the truth and the preservation of cloning technology. All of Susan’s cloning books had been seized by “authorities” shortly after her death. Alice thought all had been seized.
A paper fell to the floor in front of Alice. She drew a breath. She must have missed something. She paused before picking up the folded paper, amber in color.
“Alice” written on the front.
She tucked the paper into her briefcase and would open it later, when the time was right,
when she could handle it. She knew it was a letter from her Mom, posthumously, a message
Alice knew would be a doozey.
She went out on the beach for a few minutes, "Take a deep breath..." she heard her mother say.
She looked around. No one. Her mother was gone, who was that?
The hypnotic sounds of the waves and her level of exhaustion put her to sleep in moments.
When she woke up, she instinctively clutched her briefcase, hoping not to lose the message, from beyond.
All was there. She was relieved.
Then she remembered the idea, the idea she just had, while sleeping a deep cat nap.
It was a great idea, a grand idea, a must do, simple crazy sounding idea.
She scribbled,
"The clone tapes", on paper to remind herself, and then she left the beach
for her bed, some food, and a much longer sleep.