I remember slowly becoming aware that I was floating in some kind of viscous liquid. It was like swimming in hand sanitizer. I opened my eyes, but wherever I was, it was dark enough that it didn't make a difference. I was having trouble swallowing, and suddenly I realized there was a bundle of tubes down my throat. And more in my... Well, maybe I don't have to describe that part.

  [CLONE BOOT PROCEDURE COMPLETE.]

  [DISPENSING SUBJECT.]

  A computerized voice spoke from... somewhere, and all the tubes suddenly, and painfully retracted. It was at this point I realized the tubes had been breathing for me, and I gasped for air, only succeeding in filling my lungs with whatever goop I was floating in; an unpleasant experience.

  I didn't have much time to sputter before I found myself falling, hitting a padded rubber surface and flopping like a fish, coughing up globs of colorless goo. I could see, now. In fact, the lights in here were bright enough to hurt my eyes. I was in some sort of glass tank surrounded by strange machinery I couldn't even begin to divine the purpose of. Outside the tank was a room with white walls and gray linoleum floors. I couldn't quite make out yet what else was around, but it seemed like there might have been some desks outside. Were there people working here?

  One thing I recognized, though, was the EnZon logo. It was everywhere. And I mean everywhere. To the point that it was a little ridiculous. Before I could react, EnZon branded robotic arms quickly grabbed me by the wrists and pulled me to my feet, pointing me at an EnZon branded black box, which let out a loud buzz before retracting.

  [VITAL SIGNS NOMINAL. NO PHYSICAL DEFORMITIES DETECTED.]

  The computerized voice spoke again, but, strangely, I also saw the words pop up in my peripheral vision in bold, green text. When I moved my head and eyes to look around, the text stayed in the same place in my peripheral, like it was being printed directly onto my eyeball.

  A large, EnZon branded cylinder attached to another robotic arm descended onto my head. I tried to struggle, but the arms locked around my wrists held me firmly in place. Several loud clicks sounded in the cylinder, and the robotic voice spoke again.

  [PLEASE HOLD STILL.]

  "Hello?" I shouted. There was clearly a room meant for human habitation outside the tube I was in, but there was nobody in there. Several office chairs next to computer workstations sat empty and dusty, like nobody had used them in a long time. Still, I hoped maybe someone would hear me and come to tell me what the hell was going on.

  [PLEASE HOLD STILL, OR A CORRECTION AGENT WILL BE ADMINISTERED.]

  "Hello? Is anyone there? I don't know what's going on!"

  [ADMINISTERING CORRECTION AGENT.]

  A painful jab in the back of my neck caused me to jump. Almost immediately, I felt my muscles begin to stiffen, my joints locking in place. I tried to yell, but my jaw clamped itself shut, and all that came out was muffled screaming. The cylinder clicked again, then retracted into the ceiling.

  [BRAIN ACTIVITY NOMINAL. COMPARING TO LAST UPDATED SCAN.]

  [ERROR - NO SCAN FOUND. ATTACHING CURRENT BRAIN SCAN TO ID: 08423]

  The arms let go of my wrists and retracted, and my knees buckled underneath me. With muscles too stiff to catch myself, I hit the padded floor face first, my nose crumpling painfully against the rubberized surface.

  [CLONING PROCESS COMPLETE. ENZON WISHES YOU A PRODUCTIVE DAY.]

  As I rolled on the floor, trying to get my body to cooperate and stand up, a section in the front of the glass tube I was laying in opened with the hiss of hydraulics activating.

  [PLEASE EXIT THE CLONING CHAMBER.]

  After a few moments, I managed to struggle to me feet, my muscles still moving stiffly and painfully.

  "Is... Is anyone going to tell me what's going on, here?" I shouted again, at this point not really expecting a reply.

  [PLEASE EXIT THE CHAMBER, OR A CORRECTION AGENT WILL BE ADMINISTERED.]

  "Okay, fine!" I replied, as if the voice could actually respond to me, "I'm moving!"

  I stepped out of the tube and collapsed into one of the office chairs, a cloud of dust puffing up around me as I did so. I needed a moment for whatever they had injected me with to wear off, and besides, maybe the computers here would tell me what the hell was going on right now.

  I swiveled around to face the terminal and fumbled around for some kind of power button. It was one of those all-in-one type deals, where the screen and the keyboard were all one piece. The design looked positively ancient, but it still fit the aesthetic of all the rest of the tech in the room; Off-white, blue trim, and of course, the EnZon logo plastered all over everything. Maybe they were worried the people who worked here would forget what company they were working for.

  Failing to find any kind of power switch, I fell back on the old reliable method: Pressing random buttons until something worked. Immediately, I was met with a message in my peripheral, this time not repeated by the computerized voice.

  [REQUIRED COMPUTER SKILL FOR OPERATION: 50]

  [CURRENT COMPUTER SKILL: 1]

  "Computer skill?" I asked aloud, hoping whatever was sending me messages could hear me, "The fuck do you mean computer skill?"

  Getting no response, I hit some more keys, and was met with the same message. Groaning, I slumped back in the chair and rubbed my eyes. I was suddenly acutely aware I was still covered in goo, which was beginning to form an uncomfortable dry crust on my skin, which was then flaking off and joining the layer of dust on the ground.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  "I gotta find a shower..." I muttered to myself, and stood up to exit the room and explore the rest of the building, and hopefully find someone who could explain to me what the fuck was going on.

  My search of the building thankfully managed to turn up a shower and a change of clothes; A pair of gray sweatpants and matching sweatshirt, and a pair of shoes that looked like they were made of cardboard, and felt like it, too. Unfortunately, it hadn't turned up the most important thing I was looking for: a single other living soul.

  There were no bodies or signs of struggle, so it probably wasn't some cataclysmic event that wiped the place out, just an abandoned facility previously owned by EnZon Biotech, at least according to what little signage I could find. It was a pretty expansive place, too. The building had 50 floors. Most of it was office space, with the lower levels containing labs and server rooms. The entire lowest floor was dedicated to "clone tanks & storage," and was full of things I couldn't even begin to fathom the nature of.

  I began to grapple with the situation I was in. I came out of a room labeled "Clone Revival." Ergo, it followed that I was a clone. I was no stranger to science fiction, so this revelation provoked questions like, "Are there other clones of me running around?" and, "How long has it been since I died?" and "How did EnZon legally get ahold of my DNA in order to clone me?" and most importantly, "Why do I remember dying?"

  One thing had become increasingly clear during my search: I wasn't going to find answers here. Every computer I tried to access required a "computer skill" of at least 20 to use, and some of them required upwards of 130. Which brought up another question: What the hell was up with this skill thing?

  It turns out I don't just have a computer skill, I also found out I have an athletics skill, which I leveled up to 2 somehow while I was wandering the facility. Was I in some kind of video game? If I was, this was a pretty twisted way to get me to play. Also, if I was in a game, shouldn't there have been some kind of tutorial to teach me how to play? Or even just open a menu? It'd be nice if I could just log off.

  The were no clocks in this place, so I didn't know how long I'd been wandering the empty facility, but the rumbling of my stomach told me it'd been a while. I'd seen a reception area earlier, but I hadn't dared to leave the building yet. This place was, as far as I could tell, safe, and the world outside was still a complete unknown to me, especially since I had no idea where in the world I was, or even what year it was. But my hunger pangs were telling me I would need to leave soon and find some food, because everything in the break room fridges was overrun with various mold and fungi that I was guessing would be pretty unsafe to ingest.

  The reception area was pretty plain. All eggshell white and EnZon blue. There were a few plastic plants and benches, but nothing much else of note. The windows next to the front door were closed with thick metal shutters -- All of the windows in the building were -- And the door itself seemed to be made of a similar material. Most of the doors in this place were made of plastic and slid open automatically, but this one had a switch next to it labeled "manual release," so I guessed it was probably locked. I hit a button on the reception desk's computer just to see what would happen, and of course, this one required a skill of 20 to use. Oh well. It was worth a shot. With hunger gnawing at my gut, and seeing no better options, I took a deep breath and threw the switch to open the front door.

  Outside was a cacophony of sensory assaults. I was in a city, that was for sure, but it was unlike any city I'd ever seen. The streets were full of people of all descriptions, walking to and from enormous skyscrapers that stretched into the featureless black sky above. Vehicles soared overhead constantly. No, wait, those were cars. Yep, flying cars. Neon billboards advertised familiar brands like Coke, BMW, and Amazon, right next to ads for companies I'd never heard of before. Practically everyone I could see had metal parts grafted onto them, some more than others. And then there were the smells. One minute I was breathing gas-soaked exhaust fumes, the next I was suddenly intimately aware of the contents of the nearest sewer drain, the minute after that, I was smelling the MSG-laden wares of a food vendor down the street. The EnZon building must've been pretty well soundproofed to have kept the hustle and bustle of this city street from me.

  [PERCEPTION LEVELED UP! NOW LEVEL 2.]

  I immediately made a beeline for the nearest food stall. There were several on this street alone, but I wasn't exactly feeling picky at the moment. The guy was selling some kind of fried noodles from a cart. There wasn't a menu, just a lit sign that had the number 12 on it.

  "Can I get a bowl?" I asked, without hesitation.

  "12 cred," he responded, not even taking his eyes off his work.

  I reached for my back pocket and suddenly realized I didn't have my wallet. In fact, I didn't have anything except the clothes on my back. Not that I even knew what kind of currency a "cred" was, anyway. "I, uh... I don't have anything on me..." I replied, sheepishly.

  "No cred, no food. I don't run a charity."

  "C'mon, man. I'm hungry! I'll pay you back later!"

  The vendor finally looked up at me.

  [PERSUASION FAILED.]

  "I've never seen you before. And honestly, you look broke as shit. So no."

  I grumbled and moved on. My attempts at other food stands were met with similar results. The most annoying part being the text popping up saying "persuasion failed" every time I tried. Getting desperate, I spotted an Amazon branded corner store and decided to do something I'd only done once before, when I was in high school: Shoplifting.

  I walked in through the sliding glass doors and tried to look as natural as possible.

  [STEALTH FAILED.]

  The one guy in the store with an Amazon uniform made eye contact with me and cocked an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. These Amazon stores are all automated anyway, surely it couldn't be too hard to grab something and walk out, right? I browsed for a moment, then picked up a small bag of chips. They'd have to do for now.

  [STEALTH FAILED.]

  "Shut up!" I muttered under my breath as I began to exit the store.

  "Hey, I wouldn't just walk out with that if I were you," The employee called to me from across the store.

  "Oh, yeah! I paid for it! Don't worry!" I replied.

  [DECEPTION FAILED.]

  "Computer's saying you didn't," He said, tapping the side of his head as I noticed a small light shining in his eye.

  "Look, man, I'm hungry, and I don't have any money. Just let me go. It's not like Amazon can't afford to lose a bag of chips."

  [PERSUASION FAILED.]

  [AFFINITY: WORKING CLASS +]

  [AFFINITY: MEGACORPS - -]

  "Ugh, shut up!" I muttered under my breath again.

  The shop attendant rolled his eyes and went back to facing the shelves, "Whatever, man. Don't say I didn't warn you."

  There was something ominous in his reply, but at least he wasn't stopping me. What was Amazon gonna do to me, anyway? Track me down and kill me over a fun sized bag of chips? I was just going to leave, and hopefully I would never have to come into this store ever again.

  The second the front doors opened for me, however, a loud KA-CHUNK sound from behind me made my stomach drop.

  "SHOPLIFTER DETECTED. DEPLOYING COUNTERMEASURES."

  I turned to face the source of the synthesized voice. What looked like a gun barrel attached to a ball joint had dropped out of the ceiling, and was pointed directly at my head.

  "DROP THE ITEM. YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO COMPLY."

  [WILLPOWER FAILED]

  [SELECTING RANDOM FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE: FREEZE]

  "FIVE."

  I tried to drop the chips, but my body was frozen stiff, the bag held in a white-knuckled vice grip at my side.

  "FOUR."

  "C'mon! C'mon! What the fuck!" I cursed under my breath, trying to get my body to do anything at all.

  "THREE."

  "D-doesn't this seem a little... I dunno... Overkill?" I stammered.

  "TWO."

  "I warned you, man," The attendant said disinterestedly, not looking up from his work, "Don't steal from Amazon."

  "ONE."

  "Shit," Was the last word to leave my mouth before, I'm guessing, my head became a fine red mist. But I didn't know for sure. After all, I was dead. Again. Great.

  [VITAL SIGNS UNRESPONSIVE. INITIATING CLONE BACKUP.]

  [ENZON WISHES YOU A PRODUCTIVE DAY.]