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13:00 Monday 16 December 2069
Ethan sat on his black leather throne, surrounded by his followers and surveyed the scene in front of him. This was the day that they had all been waiting for since the beginning of November when the first batch of children had been transformed into adult clones of themselves. Whereas on that day he had been the only adult in a sea of children, he was now surrounded by nearly two hundred fully grown men and women, all aged around twenty-five years old. The whole process of transferring the children’s souls to their own adult clones had almost gone without a hitch. They had lost only one child, Philip Armstrong, the boy who had provided the stem cells for the body that Ethan now occupied. It had been a freak accident, a failure in the structural integrity of the airlock tube that connected the donating and receiving chambers. At least, that’s how it had been explained. Once the final transference had taken place, Ethan could set about regaining his rightful position as Pindar of the Illuminati. He had held this post for almost three hundred years, except for a few breaks, during which periods he died and reincarnated, necessitating the installation of a temporary Pindar. He had never had any problems before, the acting Pindar always standing aside when Ethan returned, but he had made an almost fatal error when choosing Thomas McCann to take over back in January 2051.
Now he was about to complete his army of loyal followers, with the transfer of the final ten children’s souls to their adult clones. He knew he could trust these people. It was they who had released him from the purgatory in which Marcus had imprisoned him. And they were only children then. Now they were adults they would be even more formidable and useful in bringing down Marcus’s regime.
Ethan’s plan was to do to Marcus what Marcus had done to him. He intended to attack the Illuminati headquarters, capture Marcus, and use the same equipment to extract his soul and to lock it, trapped for ever, in a similar vault to that in which he himself had been incarcerated five months earlier. However, planning to do something and executing that plan successfully were two entirely different things. It would take much more than his little army of clones to overpower Marcus. He would have to discover how strong his support was within the organisation. He was certain that there were still many members of the Illuminati who would show their support and loyalty when asked to do so.
He had been so naïve when he had entered the Illuminati complex as Érica, expecting Thomas to hand over power peacefully, as he had done with the previous acting Pindars. He discovered, too late, that he had marched into the lion’s den and was caught off guard. He had been complacent, thinking that, just because there had been no problems on previous handovers, Thomas would provide no threat either. He hated that he had been so complacent and resolved not to make such a mistake again.
A cheer went up in the barn. The first of the final batch of clones had just climbed out of her receiving chamber and stood still as her nakedness was hurriedly covered with a dressing gown. She smiled at Ethan. The nine other clones hauled themselves out of their chambers and moved alongside the woman who was still smiling at Ethan. He found her attention a little overwhelming but decided that perhaps she was just pleased with her new body. There couldn’t be any other reason why she was smiling at him in such a way. Yes, she was probably pleased with her appearance. Ethan certainly was. She could thank him more intimately later.
He moved to a point between the rows of transference equipment and rested his hand on the lid of one of the chambers.
“Ladies and Gentlemen. Today is a historic day, the first of many historic days. For today is the day that we commence our return to The Order. You were mistreated by the usurper, Thomas and his new host, Marcus, but you will be mistreated no more. I appreciate your loyalty to me. Indeed, without you – all of you – I would not now be here, standing before you as we prepare to regain control of the Order. However, we must be patient. Alone, we are too few. We must evaluate our existing support within the Order and use it to our best advantage. Our time will come, sooner rather than later. And I can promise you, my friends, that I have a very good memory and will never forget what you have done for me. I shall repay your loyalty and perseverance tenfold.”