Lena

"Mina? Do I have any appointments today?" Bored, Lena looked at the ceiling of her room. Walls shining like bronze, decorated with old fairy lights. A chandelier lit up the room with countless light bulbs. A holographic poster flickered on one wall, while an old gramophone played classical music.

Lena was lying on her bed, one made of good wood. A true rarity. Next to her head lay the book she had just read. The paper and the cover were damaged and yellowed. Her father had given it to her for her eighteenth birthday. It was a classic of the past world. 'Frankenstein'.

"Miiiiiiiina!" she called again at the AI. "Mina, Mina, Mina! Are you ignoring me? Otherwise, I'll ask Minnie!"

A flickering projection appeared next to her bed. Mina. A figure made of steel with a fine face like that of a porcelain doll. All her joints were moved by gears that were exposed. The woman's body was covered by metal plates.

"Of course not, my sweetie! You don't have to bother Minnie. She has enough to do with the entire city", Mina replied with a smile. "I had to discuss something with your father. Your uncle sent me."

„Why?“

"Secret." Mina's projection sat down on Lena's bed. The real body of the AI was located in the government building on a small island. "Are you looking forward to visiting your uncle? He missed you very much. All your uncles will be present."

"I can hardly tell them apart, Mina. They all look identical! And except for one, our ruler, they all always wear the same thing! At least when they meet", the girl grumbled. She was very pretty. Petite yet curvy, with blond hair and ice-blue eyes. Her father, one of the clones, had adopted her when she was very young. Lena could not remember her real parents. However, she thought she had a brother somewhere. She could remember a boy. But not his appearance.

Maybe it was just a neighbor's child? But Lena was convinced that it was her brother. She didn't know why she believed this, and according to Mina and her father, it wasn't true either. Nevertheless, Lena believed in it.

As the daughter of the mayor of Burgstadt, one of the clones, she lived sheltered like a princess. Lena attended an expensive private school, which also offered private lessons to the rich students. She would graduate this year. And then?

She knew that her father and Mina had arranged her marriage. She was to marry at twenty-three and study politics before that. At the only university in the country. The building was located on a side island of the seat of government. Only a few were allowed to go there. Only those who would later work with the clones. Chosen people.

Only five years to go... Then my freedom ends.

Lena dreamed of a career as a dancer. She took dance lessons with the best teacher. Ballet. As a hobby. She was forbidden to make this her profession. WHERE should she dance anyway? There were barely any theatres. Only bars on level 4. Her father said she couldn't waste her smart head on something trivial, and dance in front of the middle class, especially not as the future wife of the clone ruler.

The current clones were getting old and would be replaced in five years. My husband will look like my father. That's sick! "Mina?"

"Yes, dear?"

"I don't want to get married!"

"Dear! Where does this come from?" Mina blinked. "Well, child. It's your destiny. That's what you're here for. We have prepared you for this. You know that."

"Knowing and wanting are different things", Mina grumbled. "How can it be my fate?" She had been adopted. Picked. Lena loved her father, yes. He was good to her. She was spoiled. She never felt like anything other than his real child.

"According to my calculations and some research on social development, people feel better when the ruler has a woman at his side. A contented colony works hard and thrives. You are a woman. Your presence at the top will reassure the people." Mina's voice sounded almost solemn as she said this.

"And if I don't want that?" asked Lena and hugged her book. "If I have other plans? Wishes? Ideas?"

Mina blinked again. Her glowing, golden eyes shone almost motherly. "Child, why wouldn't you want that? According to my data, all people like to live well. You will be staying on the island. In the seat of government. With me, my dear child. You will live like a princess. A Queen. Pampered. Carefree."

"And then?"

"Then? Then you smile for the people. You will explain changes in the law if necessary. You will become the new face of the world. The face next to the eternal clone."

 "Should I study politics for that?" Just to look pretty while I EXPLAIN unpleasant orders and whatnot?

"Right. The poison content in the air is steadily increasing instead of decreasing. The remains of old power plants and old bombs pollute our world. Trees release poison instead of purifying the air. The people are getting restless. They lose their hope of surviving. Your face will give them hope. Together with the new clone ruler." Mina reached out to Lena to stroke her head. "You will be their hope."

Lena couldn't feel the touch.

"And then?"

"You are asking many questions today, my dear child."

"Is that wrong?"

"The clever ones always ask a lot of questions. But asking questions is not your job. Do what you are told and smile for the people. You can live carefree. That's all you need. That's what you were chosen for."

Mina's words hit Lena right in the heart. Defiantly, she stretched her chin and looked into the glowing eyes of the AI, whom she had considered a kind of mother since childhood. Eyes that got their golden light from small light bulbs. "Carefree? My DNA is damaged. Do the people want to see someone like me next to the new ruler? And how am I supposed to stand next to him when he looks like my father? And all my uncles?"

"Ah." Mina nodded and stroked her head again. "Your DNA... We took the necessary measures when you were little. There will be no problems. No one will ask for it. You are a perfect specimen of a female human. As long as we ignore your DNA. But it is neither necessary nor is it possible, that you pass it on. You will not produce mutants. Your DNA is therefore irrelevant."

"Irrelevant..." Lena sighed. She would have liked to lean on her mother figure, but this was not possible with a hologram. "I'm not perfect."

"You are! Beautiful, angelic, clever and friendly. The people will like you. None of the girls with intact DNA is pretty enough to be at the top. None has your presence, your character. If you want a child, I will breed a perfect specimen for you."

"So I'm decoration?" grumbled Lena. Breed? That sounds absurd. Like the clones? In water baths? With manipulated cells? Another clone perhaps? Of whom? ME? With corrected DNA?

"I have to leave you now, my child. Your dance teacher will appear in five minutes and I have to discuss something with the ruler. I love you, my child." Flickering, the projection disappeared.  Lena rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

She didn't want to be just decoration.