Outside the Romanov Apartment...

Ravi is hanging out in the greenery outside her home, climbing a tree with some lower-hanging branches. She makes sure nobody's looking, and then uses her back and legs to hold herself up as she scales the trunk with surprising agility.

Ravi
(Exerting effort.) Huh-uh, and... yeah!

Ravi sits on a higher branch, and looks out at the street. It's lazy, and there's barely anyone around. Golden-red leaves fall from their old homes, and cars drift by at fifteen kilometers an hour. Ravi slides down the branch, which is decorated with bike locks and trinkets left by other climbers in the neighborhood. She doesn't have a bike, but if she did, she probably wouldn't choose décor over security – but then again, they did look pretty cool.

Garland
We need to talk.

Ravi
(Surprised.) AAUGGH!!

Ravi jumps, shoulders spiked, like an alarmed cat. She looks down to see the white head of hair which belongs to Garland, her half-sibling. She suddenly feels uncomfortable, but still doesn't understand exactly why... she has only a vague feeling of dread.

Ravi
(Defensive.) No, we don't. You and I have nothing to talk about. How'd you even get here? Your house is like, twenty minutes away.

Garland
No, that's uh... I don't live with the Beckens anymore. They're too sloppy for me, too stoned. Yuna's story sounded like an anti-drug PSA, but the truth is, I'm better off just toking on fridays. Those guys are like... EVERY day. Y'know? It gets to be a bit much.

Ravi
Riiight...

Garland
I mean they're not even chill with it. They'll just smoke an entire bag in one sitting, and just get HEAVY. Like they're trying to smog out the whole house. I can't even get my homework done, honestly. It's a fucking... hot-box in there.

Ravi
So Freya's cool with you, now?

Garland
Yeah, like you heard. She gets me now, lets me have the garage. She knows I'm not as bad as Carl, cause he goes way overboard and tries to bring all his friends over. They just end up breaking shit, she says.

Ravi
(Nodding.) Okay. Is this what you wanted to talk about?

Garland
(Embarrassed. No, I- ugh. Can you come down from there?

Ravi
(Shaking her head.) ...

Garland
Can I come up?

Ravi shakes her head again.

Garland
(Angry.) Okay, fine. I'll stand at the trunk so I don't have to talk too loud.

Garland leans against the tree, thick and oaken, dry as a bone. It's obviously been here for a while. He looks up at Ravi, who blushes harshly and looks away. She starts to feel a pit in her stomach. It's not the good kind of blushing.

Ravi
I don't remember anything, alright?

Garland
Yeah, I was... upset about that. I thought you were ignoring me. Or treating me like I didn't exist. Pretending it never happened. But then...

He takes a deep breath.

Garland
(Almost crying.) Then I saw myself in the lake.

Ravi narrows her eyes, and cocks her head.

Ravi
(Suspicious.) I thought that was some kind of narrative device.

Garland
(Frustrated.) Raaauggh!! No, okay?! Not everything's about some stupid story, or some kind of writing advice!! That was REAL, OKAY?! I DIED!!

He claws towards his chest, voice cracking and eyes scrunched with pain.

Garland
And SO DID YOU.

Ravi
(Breaking a sweat.) I, um... I dunno. I'm not sure. If that's what happened.

Garland
Come ON, Ravi. THINK about it. Last year was... okay. Let me break it down for you: you and I were sick of our cousins, aunt, and uncle. We hung out together, constantly. Right? For most of our lives?

Ravi
Yeah.

Garland
So after ten years of joking about it, we just decided... why not? "Let's do it", we figured. And we did it like... a LOT. Alright? Like, a LOT a lot.

Ravi
(Grossed-out.) It's ringing some bells, but it's still kind of fuzzy. I can't see a single memory where that happened, I just kind of... know that it did.

Garland
And then... you started wondering about some things. And when Grandpa Cross came over, he started wondering too. Like, I guess he was the one who set us up from the start, right? Gave us to this host family. To keep us from having to be raised by his daughter, who... let's be real! Isn't much of a mother figure to either of us.

Ravi
She's not mean or anything.

Garland
(Exasperated.) Yeah, but she doesn't HAVE to be! She just has to be snarky, and distant, and not care about anyone. Then all that 'niceness' does the rest. It makes you feel like you don't matter. She's so used to people liking her, I bet, the same way you are – that you and her both just treat everyone like shit. Because you don't have time for us all, right? We can't all be first in line for you.

Ravi
(Laughing.) I dunno what the fuck you're talking about, now. Nobody likes me like that. They look at me like I'm disgusting.

Garland
But they're LOOKING at you, that's the part you're not getting. If you just shaped up, started acting nicer – REALLY nice, instead of just the fake kind you learned from Alice-

Alice
What about me?

Garland
(Shocked.) AAUGH!!

Garland jumps, shoulders spiked, like a small dog when a truck horn goes off in the front yard.

Garland
(Alarmed.) How long have you been there?!

Alice
(Cautious.) I just got home. What are you guys talking about?

Ravi
(Hushed.) We're clones, I guess. Right? I'm guessing you know.

Garland
(Slapping his forehead.) Yeah, just tell her everything, why don't you-

Alice
(Cavalier.) Yeah, I know. That's why I'm here, to oversee you guys.

Ravi
(Annoyed.) So... when were you gonna tell us?

Alice, holding a bag of groceries, looks annoyed as she has to set them down. She sighs deeply, and rubs the bridge of her nose.

Alice
(Vaguely irritated.) Ravi, you died from adolescent cancer. Living with those sickly bozos, eating nothing but cheeze poofs, hot dogs, and chocolate cake... it killed you. Cancer is an undead parasite, and you were practically made of nothing but. We didn't even bother putting you through chemo, we just put your old body down and started making a new one. It would've been a decade of recovery versus a quick fix – you would've spent your teenage years in a rehabilitation center, surrounded by old people in assless hospital gowns. I didn't want that for you, nor did I think you'd let me do it to you – you'd probably scramble out like a fucking cat, or something; break a window and escape. So yeah, you DIED. And then you were REBORN!

Dead air.

Alice
(Mostly to herself.) "Thanks, mom! Thanks for doing that for me!" Like, sheesh, dude. Forget what it cost the company – I wasn't sure I could even DO it again, get cut open like that. They weren't even sure I had any eggs left. Luckily, they found two more.

Ravi is shocked, and can barely move. She clings to the trunk of her tree, her head growing light. The ground below her spins. Garland's not faring much better, and is gritting his teeth... arms crossed so tight he's afraid he'll snap his ribcage.

Ravi
(Quiet.) When was that?

Alice
It was like... last fall. I WISH I could have had you the real way, but... you were a clone to begin with, I've never given birth. Both of you are. But with Ravi, clone rot took over, so we decided it was worth giving you another go.

Ravi
(Angry.) Oh, you DECIDED, huh? You and who?

Alice
(Offended.) How about a 'you're welcome'?! And it was Cross, for your little notes there. Honestly, you were practically dead the whole time. If I had raised you myself from the start, you wouldn't have turned into such a-

Ravi
(Aggressive.) What? A what?

Garland
...an abysmal little shit. Always talking over people and then backpedaling so you don't have to listen to what they say back. Saying horrible, rude things about people to their faces and then acting like they're just being mean for not accepting it. Walking all over everyone's feelings, romantic and otherwise, acting like nobody pays you enough attention when you can already command a room.

Alice
(Arms crossed, huffing.) Pretty much. You're just like me when I was a kid, only... sloppier. More gross. Like a weird little animal. And you eat EVERYTHING in sight, so I had to make sure it was... at least HEALTHY for you. But you still just stuff your face every time something even mildly 'upsetting' happens to you. It's not good for you, overeating is hard on your system even if it's a vegetable for once. I'm lucky Aditya had you going vegan, cause that's all I can keep you on.

Ravi
(Feeling betrayed.) Thanks for the project update. I'll try to keep your product in good condition.

Alice
(Snapping.) You little-

Garland
(Interrupting.) Hey. What about me? Why'd I die?

Alice
(Shrugs.) I dunno. That was Carl's thing, not mine. I'm surprised the fucking idiot decided you should fish at the same lake where he dumped you, though. I'm guessing you got shot at one of his 'home-made firing ranges'. Fucker thinks he's John Wayne or some shit.

Garland
(Hurt.) So you and him never met in New York? That was a lie?

Alice
(Rolls her eyes.) Oh, we dated. Lots of times. Honestly, I've dated a lot of people, and gone through some shit I can never speak of to anyone; I've had more sex in my twenties than most people see in their entire lives. I'm kind of insatiable! But I can't have kids, Garland. Neither of you could have come from me, at least not directly - so I'm blessed we have either of you today. I'm glad my eggs were good enough to make you. If I'm being completely fucking honest, I'm glad you both exist, okay? And you're not just science projects to me, alright? You're more like... weird little siblings. And I don't wanna make you suffer because of my past, so I'm... trying to be better now.

Garland
(Probing.) When you say insatiable-

Alice
(Snapping.) I'm not fucking my own kids, Garland. Clone or otherwise. The high life is behind me, I've seen what it does to people. You can't just sex all your problems away, and use it as a smoother for all your relationships. It's just a stupid cheat code for people who can't think of anything else to do with each other.

Silence. Ravi dangles her feet over the branch, Garland shuffles his in the grass and sits down with his legs crossed. Alice does the same next to her bag, at a bit of a distance.

Garland
How'd you get our old memories into our new bodies?

Alice
What, the tech? It's like... a fuckin', needle or something. They fill your old brains with gel, and then electrify them and copy the patterns. Why do you care?

Ravi
I'm wondering the same thing. Mine has some holes in it and I'm starting to wonder if people actually hated me... or if I just think they do because I can't remember a time when they liked me.

Alice
(Shocked.) Oh, shit. Ravi, I have no idea what to say. I know you feel like shit, but I don't think your life has been nothing but lonely... I think you just see it that way, sometimes. Because you see everyone else, and their lives look ocean-deep to you, because you can't match them at their level yet. But I promise you... it's all paper thin, like a hologram. Some people just get better at... I dunno. Making it look like it's different than it really is. They WISH it was different, so they act like it. And then it looks like they're getting what they want, when really... it's just the same as it was before. They just make their holograms bigger, and brighter, and they call it a day.

Garland
That's what I've been saying. If you just played along more often instead of trying to authenticate every little thing, you'd see that most people just have fun with the fakeness – you're the only one who thinks it all has to be real to be good for you. You're the one who drags things down so hard just to check if they're solid – everyone else knows you need air to breath. It's gotta be all rocks for you, or you're not satisfied, like... ever.

Ravi
(Being short-tempered.) Don't choke on rocks, got it. I'm not hearing a lot about how you two suck.

Alice
(Narrowing her eyes.) How exactly do I suck?