My first day of work dawned bright and hot. Eva had contacted me on my communication device with pertinent information but not much else. She told me which trains to take and what to wear, but no further details on who I’d be meeting, or what my first day would consist of.
I was grumpy at breakfast, which Jack tried to make enticing. I didn’t even bother with coffee, my stomach already a nervous wreck. He was upbeat and casual, so as to distract me, but I wasn’t having it. Donning the light, breathable material of my tunic and wearing shoes that were intended to be sturdy, I kissed Jack goodbye and made my way to the train. In my pack I carried all my devices along with a lunch Jack had made for me. I had braided my blanket of a mane and was entertaining myself by thinking about whether I should get it trimmed. I had observed the styles of the women in the city, and it seemed as if the natural look was the fashion, which was quite a difference from some of the complex hairstyles of my generation.
Still lost in trivial thoughts, I caught the right train, settled into a cozy seat, and tried some breathing exercises to calm myself. I had gotten used to looking out the windows, at least enough so that I didn’t feel nauseated by the speeding landscape. We passed through the city and went out beyond the trails I had explored by myself and with Jack. We were heading into the jungle, and my excitement began to overtake my anxiety. I moved closer to the window and watched as the rain forest grew denser. This was my territory, I reminded myself, and immediately began to feel more confident. We were speeding along too quickly for me to spot any animals, but the foliage was a welcome distraction. How many forests had I sat in for hours on end? I couldn’t count how much time had been spent among the trees in my previous life.
The train eventually stopped, and the few people who were on board with me disembarked into the humid atmosphere. Until now, I hadn’t noticed how many passengers were riding along with me. There were four, two men and two women, dressed similarly to me. They also carried bags, and were looking at me questioningly. Were these my team members?
We all stood on the platform, looking at one another, when one of the women broke the silence. “You’re her, aren’t you?”
I looked into the young face directing the question at me, and my mouth opened to respond.
“Don’t hassle her, she’s probably freaked out enough as it is,” said one of the young men, and I quickly turned to look at him.
“Yeah but she’s our team leader now, Nick. Show some respect,” said the other girl, and I felt dizzy.
Whom should I respond to first? Had they been watching me this whole train ride? I mustered my courage and attempted to give a dignified response.
“You’re all probably very curious about me. I can understand that. But please remember—above all else, I’m merely a scientist trying to do my job, just like you guys.”
I waited breathlessly for their response, and was relieved to see the three who had spoken smiling in return.
“Some of the cloned scientists they brought back have serious ego problems, although we rarely have contact with them. We were just worried you’d be like them,” said the remaining man, and his dark, almost black eyes were keen on mine.
I wasn’t sure if he was hostile toward me, but decided to pretend we were all just nervous at this introduction. I felt a few drops of rain begin to fall, and we all looked up into the canopy of trees, but none of us seemed to care. This was a rainforest, and, although I hadn’t yet been in one that behaved as a healthy ecosystem should, I had studied what these forests were like before the climate change of my era. The tunic seemed to wick the moisture away immediately, and I remained dry.
“So, what now?” I asked, hoping that by deflecting the attention from myself I could learn more about these young scientists.
“We get off this platform and go down to meet the car that will take us into the camp,” the brunette girl said, her rouged lips parting in a friendly grin. “I’m Marilyn. That’s Elizabeth,” she said, pointing to the wispy blonde. “That’s Nick.” Her finger landed on the friendly young man with the infectious grin. “And that’s Luke.”
I heard a slight note of trepidation at this introduction, and I wondered if she also sensed his immediate hostility toward me. I felt a surge of surprise at the mention of a car.
“You have a car here??” I squeaked. Something I both knew and loved.
“Yeah, it’s old-fashioned as hell but it gets us deeper into the forest. We’ve all gotten to know your history. I think you’re going to be very happy with our work here,” Marilyn said, as she fluffed her elaborate curls and touched a hand to her perfect mocha skin. I was charmed by her preening. The others were watching me closely, so I decided to formally introduce myself.
“I’m Mina. Just Mina, don’t feel you need to address me as Doctor. My last mission here in Africa was rescuing some chimps. But then, you all probably know that. I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of work you guys do here.”
I finally allowed myself to breathe, and felt I hadn’t made a fool of myself just yet. I looked around and down the escalator and asked if we shouldn’t all get going. I wanted to see this car, and compare it to my memories of them. We went down and were greeted by an affable man who looked and sounded native to the continent. He was leaning against something that was smooth and metallic but had wheels and doors. It was a car, for sure, although it obviously didn’t run on fossil fuels.
He spoke in slightly accented English, “Is this your new recruit?”
My team nodded and Nick threw a friendly arm over my shoulder and introduced me. “Cayman, this is Dr. Brice, er, Mina. She’s our clone.”
He squeezed my shoulder to let me know he didn’t take any of this seriously, and I felt myself responding warmly to his relaxed demeanor. I extended my hand to Cayman in greeting, and after a moment of uncertainty, he accepted it. I guessed maybe my old habits were out of the ordinary for him.
I turned my attention to the shiny automobile. “Does this thing work like the cars I’m used to?” I asked.
They all laughed, but not in a mocking way.
“I will let you drive it someday, Dr. Brice. But today I think it best I get you all to the camp on time,” Cayman offered, obviously enjoying the novelty that was me.
I nodded, but itched to get behind the wheel. We all climbed in. The interior was oddly familiar, although plenty different from the Volvo I had driven as a teenager. I started asking my team a bit more about themselves while Cayman drove us through the brush along a barely visible road. I learned that all of them were recent graduate students of the city university, and had been working here in the jungle for several months before I had been resurrected. They seemed to dance around the topic of my cloning, and I was fine with that. It wasn’t something I felt like discussing in detail just yet. Elizabeth was still cool but respectful toward me, and Marilyn was very chatty about her social life in Origin. Luke continued to be surly but was obviously dedicated to his work. And Nick was funny and genial. I began to feel this was a team I could work with, and possibly lead. I cast my mind back to a time when I’d worked so closely with my other team, now long dead. Once more I felt regret that I hadn’t ever been as close to some of them as I should have been, but here was a new opportunity to change that, and I felt confident that this was a team I could easily befriend. They still hadn’t told me what species of primate I would be specializing in, because they said they wanted to surprise me. They did tell me that none of the animals they were overseeing had been sufficiently habituated, and that it needed to stay that way.
“We mustn’t try to get them overly accustomed to human interaction,” Luke warned me.
I could tell he was very familiar with my work as a biologist who got right up close and personal with my animal charges. I was a bit offended that he would think I’d go against any rules set forth here, but I also wanted to assess the situation myself before deciding if habituation would be as dire a predicament as they were claiming it would be. If there were truly no human threats to the ecosystem out here, I didn’t see the problem of getting involved in the behavioral and communal structures of our charges.
Cayman had driven us a good forty-five minutes deeper into the forest, and, while I had been engaging my team in conversation, I had also been observing what I could outside the window. The rustling in the trees told me there was a plethora of life here waiting to be discovered, and I silently thanked Jack for encouraging me the past few days, telling me that once I was out in the field I’d feel at home. He had been right, as usual. I felt a pang as I found myself missing him, but I returned my attention to my teammates.
“I really wish you’d tell me what I’ll be seeing today,” I said to them, and at that moment, Cayman stopped the car and opened his door.
“We’re here!” he announced, and I got out slowly to take in my surroundings.
They had made a clearing that housed a sturdily built log observation station. It was raised on pillars, but not too high. Wooden stairs led up to the door. They had explained to me that a number of other stations were similarly staffed throughout the vast forest, but we’d likely never come across another one in our work.
“Welcome to your home away from home!” Nick said, smacking me on the back in welcome. And I was surprised to feel more at ease here than I had in the city.
“So, will someone spill the beans?” I queried, and they all looked perplexed at this old-fashioned phrase. With a smirk, I clarified myself. “What species am I observing?”
They all smiled at each other, and Nick blurted out, “Bonobos!”
I almost swooned with delight. They had always been my dream to work with in my past life, and they were here, in this forest. It was almost too much to have hoped for. They were laughing at my stunned silence as they all went up the stairs to the station. Cayman had driven away, saying he’d be back at the regular time to pick us up. I hadn’t asked what the regular time was, because I was already engrossed in the work awaiting us. This had often happened in my other life; I’d spend hours in the field before realizing how much time had passed.
I bent down to feel the soil at the forest floor and smelled the life-giving moisture. This was a truly healthy ecosystem, and that alone was enough to give me hope. The relief I felt at being on a mission that wasn’t a life-or-death race against the clock had my heart singing. The rest of the team called to me, wanting to show me around the observation station.
I walked up the steps and was greeted with yet another familiar setting. I must have been smiling widely because Marilyn asked me why I looked so happy. I had to quickly explain that, in my time, being out in the field was usually a very stressful experience because of the damage done by climate change. They all seemed very interested in hearing more about my previous career experience, but I changed the subject to some of the equipment sitting at a bank of open windows along the edge of the room. It wasn’t familiar, and I wasn’t surprised that the data collection would be different from what I was accustomed to. They briefly showed me how to log all my information from the day into the main database. That meant using my hand-held computer, and I frowned, but they made it seem easy. The screen that controlled the main computer was all touch-operated, which wasn’t all that different from technology in my era. But aside from the new gadgets, the rest of the room resembled other observation towers I had been in. There were a few beds, a small primitive bathroom to wash up in, and an old-fashioned stove.
“We don’t get all the luxuries of the city here. But we rarely end up staying out here all night,” Nick explained, and showed me the little first-aid station. “So far we haven’t had any serious injuries or illnesses. You’ve been vaccinated against all the usual suspects, by the way. We all have.”
I was thrilled to hear this. Not having to worry about malaria was the greatest relief thus far.
“So what are you all planning on doing today?” I asked with excitement.
“Well, I told you your mission is bonobos.” Nick replied. “A few of us are also monitoring several other species, but this is your area of expertise. We haven’t made contact with the community yet; we were waiting for you.”
I felt like a kid on Christmas morning. They hadn’t even introduced themselves into a fully intact primate community. This was truly a gift. Thoughts as to how to go about beginning our contact with them flooded my brain, but, before I could start inundating them all with ideas, Nick told me it would just be me and Elizabeth for today.
“You’ll just be mentoring her for a little while. The rest of us have to get back to work on our individual projects. I’m working with a herd of forest elephants, Luke is monitoring a variety of fish, and Marilyn is trying to find some elusive pygmy hippopotami.”
He pointed to a familiar object, a pair of binoculars. I smiled again at the sight of these old friends.
“Then we’ll just track down the community and observe them for today,” I explained to Elizabeth, and she nodded. I noted her reticence again, and I didn’t mind her shyness. I was an introvert, too, under normal circumstances. But I would be sure to include her as much as possible in any of my decision-making processes.
We all grabbed our bags containing our devices, food and water, and any other pertinent materials, and headed out into the forest. The rain had cleared up for now, but the tall canopies of the trees blotted out the sun, and we remained in the shade. Dapples of sunlight made their way through, and I reached out to touch a lovely, large red flower at the start of the path we would be taking. The wet soil sucked at my feet, but I loved the sensation.
The rest of the team took off in separate directions, and Elizabeth and I began to walk along a different trail, still in silence. I attempted to make small talk with her but she was still reluctant to chat with me. Undaunted, I prodded her. “Tell me more about your time at the university. Did you always want to go into biology?”
Her thin blond hair clung to her head in the humidity, and she kept her blue eyes cast down toward the mossy earth. “We’re encouraged from childhood to go into the sciences. You’ll find most people in the city are involved in science in some capacity or another.”
Something I had been wondering about since meeting my new team popped into my head. “Why doesn’t Luke like me?” I asked her.
Elizabeth didn’t answer right away, instead continuing to push foliage aside and keeping her eyes on the ground. Finally, she said, “He doesn’t trust the Facility, or the fact that you’re a clone. He’s got this idea you’ll turn on us somehow.”
After that, she became silent again, but it struck me that Luke was the third Original I’d encountered who had misgivings about the work the Facility was involved in. But I couldn’t let it break my concentration on this, an important day. Instead, I forged ahead by telling her about Cora, and how we had done walks similar to this one many times. I felt a pang at the memory of her, and wondered what she’d have thought about this new world. It didn’t seem fair that I’d been returned to life and she hadn’t. Casting a sideways glance at Elizabeth, I couldn’t help but compare her to my old partner. They were nothing alike, and, under Elizabeth’s quiet demeanor, I sensed a steely resolve. We’d probably work better together, but I still wished Cora could see all this. Shaking off the depressing thoughts, I listened closely for any calls that would signal we were nearing the bonobos. But it was mostly quiet in the jungle, with some birdcalls and some annoying bugs landing on my moist skin. It was possible we wouldn’t have a sighting for a number of days. Bonobos were more laid-back than their chimpanzee cousins, and less aggressive within their communities. But they weren’t in any way habituated, and so the sound of our approach might be enough to send them packing.
“Keep your eyes on the ground, Dr. Brice. There are green adders and cobras everywhere.”
Heartened that she was talking to me, and even though I already knew to keep an eye out, I thanked her and launched into a story about how my old team had been on a mission and one of the scientists had stepped into a snake nest and gotten bitten. “He must have screamed louder than any woman I had ever heard, and scared off the herd of antelope we’d been tracking for hours. I was close to strangling him …”
Elizabeth held up a hand to silence me. I stopped in my tracks and listened closely. She climbed through some foliage, pulled out her binoculars, and motioned for me to follow her. I crept through the brush, holding my pair of binoculars up near my face. Elizabeth had moved into a crouching position, so I followed suit. She pointed through the bushes and I looked through my lenses. And there he was. An adolescent male bonobo, sunning himself on a rock about six meters from where we were hiding. I could barely contain my excitement, but instead took over as the leader of this mission. Keeping my whisper low, I told Elizabeth to move slightly to the side, so that our scents were more downwind to the young male. As far as I could see, he was alone. We kept our bodies as motionless as possible, but Elizabeth pulled out her computer very carefully and motioned for me to do the same. I gathered we were supposed to start recording or entering the information we were seeing. Elizabeth popped hers open and began recording the bonobo. She also whispered into the device where we were, what time it was, and what else we were observing. I followed her lead and did the same, and was surprised to see my little computer taking a video that was clearer and more detailed than any I had ever seen.
We stayed mostly silent for half an hour before the male began to stir from his nap. Thinking it was safe to try and mentally connect with the bonobo, and with Elizabeth preoccupied, I cast my mind out toward the young male. I didn’t feel that old clicking sensation, though, and disappointment that perhaps my old ability hadn’t translated to this new body caused me to frown slightly. Deciding it wasn’t that big a deal, I shook my head to clear it of those thoughts, and stood up slowly. My muscles weren’t as stiff as I expected them to be, and I chalked it up to the wonders of this newly engineered body. Elizabeth, however, seemed to be experiencing some discomfort. The male lazily moved his compact body through the brush, never once looking our direction. We had remained undetected for the entire time we’d been there, and that was quite a success. Once he had left our view, I motioned for Elizabeth to stand up too. She swung her arms around and massaged her neck, but she seemed as thrilled as I was.
“That was incredible!” she said, still in a low voice. The community might be within earshot, so we had to remain quiet.
“He looked about nine years old. And so healthy!” I said to Elizabeth, and she agreed. “We need to find the female in charge!” I continued in my enthusiasm, referring to the head of the bonobo troop.
I began recalling my last mission before I died, and my names for the chimps Cora and I had rescued. I didn’t mention this to Elizabeth, because I didn’t feel we were friendly enough yet for her to know my quirks when working with primates. But perhaps she viewed them as equals, too, just as I did. After all, the pygmy chimps shared 98.5 percent of our DNA. They were truly our evolutionary cousins.
We began walking back to the observation station because we didn’t want to push our luck by trying to track the community any further. Elizabeth was warming up to me, and I felt we had a lot in common. We casually discussed some aspects of our personal lives, but she didn’t pry into my resurrection. If I had to guess her age, I’d say she was about twenty-three, but these days it seemed people didn’t age the way they used to, so I couldn’t be sure. She was very bright, though, and inquisitive, and had some good ideas on how to further track the bonobos the following day.
She was describing to me how the team had found several lesulas, a type of Old World guenon monkey, when we arrived back at the station. Nick, Luke, and Marilyn were there inside, eating their lunches. I realized I was very hungry as well, and opened my sack to see what Jack had prepared. He had written a little note along with the potato salad and loaded chicken sandwich. I felt my heart flutter as I looked at his handwriting, and Nick nudged my shoulder.
“That from your boyfriend?” he asked and I flushed.
“Yes. He’s a physician at one of the clinics in the city,” I explained, and then clammed up about it. I didn’t want my team to see me as a lovelorn sap, certainly not on my first day. They continued to chat amongst themselves as I wolfed down my food, and then I asked what was next on our agenda.
Luke looked angry at this question, but Nick explained, “Obviously, we’re here to monitor the health of the animals, but the global Facilities have the goal of minimal interference with the natural processes of the world’s ecosystems. Animals still get sick and injured. But if an epidemic of something breaks out, like a virus, we’re allowed to intervene.” Nick explained
I nodded in understanding. He continued, “Bear in mind that every day we send our reports to the Facility, so daily contact with them is crucial, especially when animals get sick. So part of what we do is go around to different water sources and dump in antivirals to inoculate the mammal populations that drink there. We’ve got to trudge several miles to the next watering hole and dump those in.”
He pointed to several large vials filled with a green fluid. Luke broke his desultory silence and piped up. “These menial tasks take away from the time we dedicate to our real research. And it’s way beneath our training to do this, to act like glorified janitors.”
I didn’t feel that way, though, and I looked forward to the walk. It would allow me to observe the jungle in greater detail. The rest of the team finished their lunches and we each placed a vial in our packs, then made our way outside to begin our hike. I relished the opportunity to stretch my legs, but the other members didn’t seem as excited. As a way to liven things up for them, I told them all to take out their computers and start collecting data on our walk. Nick took it further and created a betting pool for whoever could find the most species. This seemed to engage them, and their conversations were quiet but animated. The others were using their minds to command their devices, but I was still averse to that feature and used my voice to command it, although with my telepathic ability one would think I’d be more willing to try it out. I aimed my computer up at the canopies, hoping to capture as much as possible. The rain had stopped for now, and small patches of sunlight drifted through the leaves, piercing the gloom and dappling the hanging lianas, which resembled vines. I was enjoying the peacefulness of the green, the calls of the birds, and not really thinking like a scientist. Instead I was just a human being enthralled with the beauty surrounding me, not dissecting any aspect of it for observation. I suddenly heard a chattering behind me and turned rapidly to catch a glimpse of the elusive lesula monkey Elizabeth had mentioned earlier. I called to my companions, and we all trained our computers on the branch the monkey had just leapt from.
“Where did he go?” Elizabeth called out, and we began searching the trees.
“This one is a bugger,” Nick said, with some humor coloring his tone, the slight tilt of his eyes that indicated Asian descent crinkling further upward with a smile.
“He’s taken to throwing things at us whenever he gets the chance, but he never sits still for very long,” Marilyn explained, and was looking around nervously for the little golden primate.
I had glimpsed him only briefly, but he had seemed agitated.
“I’m guessing he doesn’t like our presence here?” I asked, and they all nodded.
We were lowering our computers, and about to continue our walk when I felt a small pebble hit the back of my head. I whirled around and glimpsed the small furry body of the lesula taking off into the trees again, chattering his warning call. I laughed, and rubbed my head, and the rest of the team was laughing too. Despite his displeasure at the intruding humans, he had come up with a way to make his presence known, and that excited me. Perhaps we could habituate some of the animals but remain safely within the realm of detached observers, following the Facility’s rules.
I longed to interact with the primates here. It felt like a long time since I’d been able to spend time with non-humans. We were all still laughing and comparing the data we had collected on our computers to see who had best captured the lesula when we arrived at the watering hole. Our voices and footsteps had likely scared off anything that had been drinking there, but that was fine. We needed to dump in the inoculators, test the water to make sure the pH level was desirable, and then leave. No observation of species was required on this particular mission.
We all knelt at the edge of the pond and I scanned it, taking in the still beauty. I ran my hands through the water and felt the coolness slide across my fingers. The pond itself was quite small, but it represented a complex ecosystem that a wide variety of life relied on. We opened our vials and dumped the liquid in, and I didn’t worry about the contents of it. Things thus far had been so incredibly well-thought-out and organized, I had no reason to think this substance would be harmful to the population. Everyone else seemed downright bored with this task, so I didn’t question it as I would have in my previous life. Elizabeth and Marilyn took out little devices that checked the pH level of the water, and, satisfied with the results, stood up. Marilyn urged us all to hurry on our walk back to meet Cayman, who would soon be arriving to drive us back to the train station. “I have a date tonight and I refuse to look like a bedraggled mess who’s been out in the jungle all day.”
I smiled at her ebullience and began to look forward to seeing Jack again. I couldn’t wait to tell him what the day had brought. I thought he’d be pretty proud of me. Hell, I was proud of me.
We slogged through the brush toward the station once more and were caught in a downpour. Marilyn protested loudly that this was certain to ruin her hair for the night, and I laughed along with the others. My team was young, that was true, but they were competent and were warming up to me after just one day—well, all of them except Luke. Still, I felt this would be a successful assignment with some interesting things to look forward to, and I was relieved at my conclusion.
We gathered up our belongings at the station. Nick went over to the console and flicked his fingers over its surface, sending our daily report to the Facility, and with that task complete we waited outside for Cayman’s car to arrive. The mood was light-hearted, and I allowed myself to relax. Soon I’d be back in the city where Jack would be waiting, and we’d spend the night together.
We heard the almost silent engine of the car coming down the overgrown trail, and Cayman was there, smiling at us all but reserving his widest grin for me. He asked how my first day had gone, and I was truthful in response. The rest of the team seemed a bit tired but I felt energized. Our drive to the train station was comfortably quiet, all of us lost in our own thoughts but not avoiding one another. We were just humans who had worked hard that day returning from our day’s work. It felt normal.
Cayman wished us all a good night and promised to meet us there again the next morning, and we all got on the escalator that took us up to the train platform. Marilyn was on her communication device with a friend, and Nick and Luke were playing some kind of game on their computers. I sat down next to Elizabeth and asked her a little more about her time in school and her current research, and it wasn’t long till we’d arrived back in the bustling city. There was a sense of culture shock, having been away from it for the entire day, and it felt like that first day I had left the Facility and seen everything up close. But the sensation passed, and I bid everyone a good night, grinning in response when Nick winked and waved at me. The girls chirped a goodbye in unison. Luke just cast a long glare in my direction, but I decided to ignore it. I had a spring in my step on the way to my apartment. I only hoped tomorrow would be as much of a success as today had been.