The World is but an Illusion
Matthew heard the low hum of Tinmans rotors as he glided through the hall just outside his bedroom door.
"Dinner is severed Master Brenner." the robot mechanically chirped, then he sputtered back down the hall.
Matthew was reluctant to leave the familiar ambience of his bedroom. Even though it was a facsimile, Matthew was comfortable there, but the urge to speak to Mica drew him out of his cozy place. He walked through the hall and down a narrow staircase to the dining room. The doors to the dining room were closed. He couldn't see inside, but he could hear muffled voices rising from behind the closed doors. He put his ear against one of the doors and heard Mica and Stanley talking.
"... Yes Stanley the salmon is fresh," Mica assured the mechanical boy.
"I'll have to take your word for it," Stanley replied.
"Tinman, please let some light in this room," Mica barked.
Matthew heard K-4 buzzing from one side of the room to the other. The robot pressed a button on the wall and four small openings opened revealing the sky. A moment later, the crack between the two doors that Matthew was leaning against began radiated with a warm glow. The thin stream of light shot between the two doors. Mathew opened the shining seam a little wider to peeked inside.
Mica noticed Mathew peering through the crack between the doors.
"Come in, come in my boy, sit down... we haven't been properly introduced. Sit down and I'll help you get to know yourself a little better," then he winked at Matthew.
Matthew sat down next to the old man in the wheelchair.
"How old do you think I am Matthew?" he asked.
"Seventy, maybe eighty..." Matthew shyly replied.
"I am three hundred years old," Mica raised his eyebrows waiting for a reaction from Matthew that never came. Matthew was, by now , numb from the absurd. He only gazed at Mica waiting to hear more.
"You're my clone. I made you, as my father made me, and his father made him. You are a fourth generation clone."
Matthew was still, "I don't know what to believe anymore," he whispered.
Mica dabbed the corner of his mouth with a napkin. "I know you find it hard to believe. I didn't believe it when I was told I was a clone. It is kinda' like having amnesia, but all your memories will come flooding back in time."
He jabbed at the cod on his plate and fumbled to get it to his mouth.
"Why was I created?" Mathew asked.
"Because I am dying," Mica closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "But then again, I'm not really... I am just giving up this old tired body" he put his hand on Matthew's shoulder.
"We've cheated death my son," He went back to eating his fish.
Stanley became giddy, "Did you like your room?"
Mica gave Stanley a stern look, "The room is there to acclimate you."
Matthew heard someone at the door. It was Mara. She was escorted into the room by the pleasant looking girl Sara. Although now, Sara didn't look so pleasant. She looked very disturbed. Her gaze was fearfully transfixed on Mara.
She lead Mara to the chair next to Matthew. She placed another chair in a dark corner of the room and planted herself in it. All the while she cautiously watched Mara.
