I cursed as I walked down the street, leaving Gage’s Kitchen behind me, pushing my bright yellow uniform deep into my bag. It was later than it usually was when I walked home, the neon light from the businesses shining on the pavement as I ducked under the metal awning that housed them. Here the real-life businesses intermingled with V-World ones, a mixture of sound and advertisements blaring against my ears as I passed.

I rubbed my cheek which was red and raw from where Reid—Gage’s yellow shirt--had punished me, the floating holographic TV screen carrying Gage’s face filled with disappointment as he treatened to take away my eyechip, eye and all. Apparently, on the black market, even something like that could sell.

I shuddered. I had to get my act together. Stop being such a Marilyn. I was better than that.

Usually, they didn’t hit me in the face, but Reid always had a bit of a chip on his shoulder for me. I wasn’t sure why, but I had a feeling it was something that leaked over towards all Marilyns, not just me. I tried not to take it personally. I was more than aware I wasn’t that important. I needed Gage and his diner more than he needed me. He had only bought me and my sisters because clones like us were going cheap before we got discontinued a few years back.

“Face-changers, 500 coins right here right now. This offer will not last,” hollered out a virtual merchant. His booth glowed red, slightly transparent in front of a beat up news projector behind it. The screen was slightly discolored and appeared even more distorted as the virtual shop hovered in front of it. The lines didn't quite match up with reality, shattering the illusion, but it worked well enough for me.

“500 coins?” I scoffed. After months of playing Galactica with my new eyechip, I had only managed to save up 450 coins. Face changers weren’t so rare that someone had to blow their entire savings on them. The vendor gazed at me a moment, then moved on. I just pretended not to see him. When the much more self-aware vendors noticed I could see them, it just garnered unnecessary attention. Attention a Marilyn didn't need.

My cheek throbbed, and I pulled my coat tighter, the material nearly like plastic against my skin. But it was the wet season in New Atlantis, and we always got the worse of it down in the ‘drowning district.’ The coat might not be comfortable, but it kept out the hot humid rain as it misted down, as if raining down from the Elevated’s houses, high up in the sky.

The street I was on eventually led to a staircase, the businesses around me growing sparser. I passed another news prompter, this one unhidden by a virtual merchant. I gazed at it, letting the story it was playing reach my ears from the cacophony surrounding me.

“Darius Edden meets with the Emperor to discuss the clone problem. He and his son, Ky, have been growing more and more prominent in Elevated society for their non-clone lifestyle. Though the prospect still unsettles many of New Atlantis’s wealthy business owners, many people are starting to support Edden and his ECCO campaign. Especially after the incident with clone 369 where his own son was injured...” The face of Edden appeared in a hologram as if he was staring right back at me. His dark hair was slicked back, the only alterations visible were a small eyechip implanted in is iris, likely custom made, and a small wire peeking out from his hair. He was grinning charmingly at the camera as the news anchor spoke, his face nearly ageless in the way of someone who had never crossed paths with a Drowner.

I turned away in disgust. Darius Edden was someone I was getting sick of hearing about, along with the Elevated bombing from a few years back that had blinded his son. He of those humans that thought they could live a clone free life. A fool, I thought.

Humans had been living far too long and far too comfortably with the aid of clones, be them as pets or cheap labor. Just because Edden and his son could give us up, didn’t mean the rest of the humans in New Atlantis would.

Still, a cold unsettling feeling coiled in my stomach as I continued home. My face throbbed, and I knew I would have a new bruise tomorrow.