October 2144

3 October 2144
ANCHOR: In the Capitol today, President Clarke – if it was the real President Clarke, wasted no time in responding to CloneStyles Unlimited president, Eugene Splice. Splice has offered to test both Clarkes to see which is the clone.

CLARKE: This is patently absurd. All of this test nonsense is merely another trick by "R" to weaken the infrastructure of the NAU. And the horrible thing is, it's working. To protect Presidential privilege, I could never submit to such a test... the results could easily be faked.

ANCHOR: Attorney General Priscilla Nagle took a somewhat different view.

NAGLE: I want to encourage President Clarke to undergo this test... and please put an end to the Union's doubt.

4 October 2144
ANCHOR: The challenger to the NAU throne, the other Madeleine Clarke, is still protected by political asylum in New York. But she has responded to CloneStyles' offer to undergo a test to see if indeed she is a clone.

CLARKE: I stand ready to undergo any test, anywhere, to regain my rightful position. I want to save our Union from the genetic monster now running the NAU into the ground.

SWANN: I have no doubt that this brave woman is the real Madeleine Clarke. She knows now that "R" had nothing to do with this. And President Clarke has promised me that the oppression against "R" and other disenfranchised groups will end – as soon as she once again assumes her office.

5 October 2144
ANCHOR: President Clarke made a surprise appearance in the Grand Rotunda of the floating Capitol in Chicago to make a startling announcement.

CLARKE: I've ordered Attorney General Priscilla Nagle to resign her office, effective at noon today.

ANCHOR: President Clarke, why have you taken this drastic step?

CLARKE: Nagle has clearly shown that her loyalty to the NAU, and to me personally, is seriously suspect. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that she is working for "R". This is a rebellion! There is no crisis in the NAU and as soon as I appoint an independent commission and a new Attorney General to find the impostor, everyone will see that they've been duped by "R"!

6 October 2144
ANNOUNCER: Crisis in the NAU!

ANCHOR: Now there is new support for the challenger to the office – and person – of Madeleine Clarke. We go live to Manhattan.

CLARKE: I am confident that when this crisis is resolved, when I take the CloneStyles test, you'll see I am the President of the NAU.

SWANN: And Madeleine Clarke, the real Madeleine Clarke, has promised me that the despicable actions of the clone impostor will be reversed.

CLARKE: And now my son Bryan has come out of hiding to be with me in this time of crisis for us all.

BRIAN: I know my mother, I know Madeleine Clarke... (points to the camera) and you, whoever you are, are no Madeleine Clarke.

7 October 2144
ANCHOR: Attorney General Nagle announced today that she's hanging tough and will not resign.

NAGLE: I will not honour the Presidential order to resign – for the simple reason that we don't yet know that woman really is the President. I have today requested a court order that will require the President to submit to the CloneStyles test.

ANCHOR: But Clarke shows no signs of backing down.

CLARKE: Make no mistake, if that woman is not out of her office and out of the Capitol rotunda in 48 hours, I will send a select squad of Government Double-Y Security Clones to physically remove her.

ANCHOR: President Clarke, is there any chance that you will reconsider your decision to not take the CloneStyles test?

CLARKE: Absolutely not.

10 October 2144
ANNOUNCER: Crisis in the NAU!

ANCHOR: While the crisis in the NAU continues to grow, Winston Rylo announced a remarkable discovery inside the chambers of the asteroid Rylo-7.

RYLO: The xenoarchaeological team exploring the inner chambers of Rylo-7 has made an amazing find. It's a discovery even more incredible than the Little Visitors, the alien drones who piloted the vehicle. I will be consulting with my scientific advisors as to how best to tell the world of this great discovery.

ANCHOR: Meanwhile, the clock is running out for Attorney General Nagle. Will she resign or will President Clarke send a squad of clones to remove her? FTL will bring you further developments in this crisis in the NAU as they occur.

11 October 2144
ANCHOR: Winston Rylo has revealed when and where the world will see the amazing discovery found in the interior of Rylo-7.

RYLO: I have decided that I will demonstrate the artifact from Rylo-7 at a special session of the World Congress. Next week, the whole world will see this amazing find.

ANCHOR: The artifact – whatever it is – will not be brought to the NAU?

RYLO: No. All the turmoil within the North American Union has made it much too unstable for such an important, er, revelation as this.

ANCHOR: You don't think that the President is the real Madeleine Clarke?

RYLO: I have to get back to my team working on the artifact.

ANCHOR: Meanwhile, time is almost up for Attorney General Nagle to leave her office voluntarily... or have President Clarke send in the clones to remove her.

12 October 2144
ANCHOR: The clones have arrived to remove the Attorney General from her office, but they have yet to carry out President Clarke's order. NAU Police Chief Darryl King spoke to FTL.

KING: My sworn duty is to uphold the law. But Attorney General Nagle is the chief law officer of the Union. And I'm not exactly sure who we should be taking orders from.

ANCHOR: Unaware of what transpired at the Attorney General's office, President Clarke was demanding that the Rylo-7 artefact be brought to the Union.

CLARKE: The NAU paid for the Rylo expedition, we paid to keep the aliens alive, and whatever's been found on the asteroid belongs to us! I'll put Dr. Rylo under house arrest if I have to!

13 October 2144
ANCHOR: Attorney General Priscilla Nagle, with the President's clone squad at her side, has made a stunning announcement.

NAGLE: (holding small disc) This is a Supreme Court order for President Clarke. She must submit to the CloneStyles Unlimited test and resolve this crisis once and for all. And I, for one, have a pretty good idea how this will all turn out.

ANCHOR: Meanwhile, world leaders rallied to give their support to Dr. Winston Rylo.

FAVREAU: I hope that my good friend Madeleine Clarke, whichever one she is, resolves her current difficulties in the NAU. But I must agree that the World Congress is the only appropriate forum for revealing to the world this artefact from the asteroid.

14 October 2144
ANCHOR: President Clarke is dead! Or at least one of the President Clarkes is dead. We go live to Attorney General Priscilla Nagle.

NAGLE: Chief King engaged the entry procedure to the President's office... but when there was no response, I ordered him to override the electronic lock. And then... and then... (sobs)

KING: I entered the office and President Clarke was sitting there like she was waiting for a floater bus or something and then – boom! – she burst into flame.

NAGLE: I'm having the other Madeleine Clarke escorted directly to the Capitol where the CloneStyles test will be administered.

17 October 2144
ANCHOR: Results of genetic testing on the charred remains of the woman we have known as the President of the NAU are in. CloneStyles president, Eugene Splice, announced them to the world earlier today.

SPLICE: The body found in the office of the President was genetically identical to Madeleine Clarke. However it was not the president. We have had a clone impostor as president!

ANCHOR: Mr. Splice, are you absolutely sure?

SPLICE: Yes, without a shadow of a doubt. As you well know, CloneStyles is the final authority on clones.

ANCHOR: Can you tell us how long the clone was in office?

SPLICE: Only the real Madeleine Clarke can tell us that.

18 October 2144
ANCHOR: The real Madeleine Clarke made a triumphant return to the Capitol rotunda in Chicago today. With her were Kyle Swann and her son Bryan.

CLARKE: I want to thank the two people who stood by me in my darkest hour: my son and Kyle Swann. My first order of business will be to undo the clone impostor's repressive actions and to find out who was behind this treasonous scheme.

ANCHOR: When did the switch take place, Madam President?

CLARKE: Last October, during the attack at the floater ball World Series. I've been imprisoned and kept in direct neurolink with the clone so that it could tap into my memories at will.

19 October 2144
ANCHOR: President Clarke is holding her first press conference since the spontaneous combustion of her clone impostor. I must ask you, Madam President, how do we know you're the real Madeleine Clarke?

CLARKE: Eugene Splice himself of CloneStyles has performed the clone verification test and has gone on record verifying my identity.

ANCHOR: Do you have any idea who was behind this?

CLARKE: No. Not at this time. But rest assured that no one wants the answer to that question more than I. I've lost a year of my presidency, a year of my life! With the help of Kyle Swann, I will run these vicious conspirators to ground and bring them to justice.

20 October 2144
ANCHOR: More startling revelations about the clone president, this time from Kyle Swann.

SWANN: Why did the clone of Madeleine Clarke undergo spontaneous combustion before she was arrested? To prevent neuro-interrogation, that's why. Whoever – or whatever – was behind her is protecting itself. The search has begun and I think I know where to look.

ANCHOR: Dr. Winston Rylo arrived in The Hague today under heavy guard. In his care was the mysterious artifact from the orbiting asteroid that bears his name. What will he unveil at the World Congress next week? FTL will be there to bring you a first-hand account.

21 October 2144
ANCHOR: SHIVA – the Society for Heuristic Investigation of Virtual Anomalies – has developed a new program designed to capture manifestations of the VR Presence. They hope to trace the phenomenon to its source. Unfortunately the Presence has been making itself scarce lately. Gogglehead worshippers of the Presence have created a mantra of their deity's last message.

GOGGLEHEADS: The truth will unfold like a flower... The truth will unfold like a flower...

ANCHOR: Meanwhile, Epson DelBerto was arrested at Marsport for trying to smuggle out a specimen of the newly germinated Martian plant. Importing alien biologicals to Earth is a felony.

24 October 2144
ANCHOR: For the past year the office of the President of the NAU has been occupied by a clone impostor. Attorney General Priscilla Nagle issues this statement:

NAGLE: We are all relieved that the real President Clarke has been freed from her year-long imprisonment and are certainly grateful to Kyle Swann for rescuing her, but the fact remains that Mr. Swann is still a fugitive from justice. He should be issuing his statements from a jail cell.

ANCHOR: President Clarke was quick to reply.

CLARKE: Kyle Swann was framed. The charges against him were trumped up by my clone impostor. Kyle is innocent.

KYLE: The real question is: Why was I framed? Who or what wanted me out of the way?

25 October 2144
ANCHOR: The friction between President Clarke and Attorney General Priscilla Nagle continues.

NAGLE: Certainly the nation is grateful to Mr. Swann for his heroic actions but the fact remains: Kyle Swann was convicted of murder and treason. He must be remanded to custody.

ANCHOR: President Clarke responded with this startling announcement:

CLARKE: Kyle Swann has no peer. If not for his courage I'd still be a prisoner and Attorney General Nagle would still be taking orders from a clone impostor. I am offering Kyle Swann a full presidential pardon. As of this moment, Kyle, you are a free man.

26 October 2144
ANCHOR: Three of the Little Visitors died yesterday. The creatures from Rylo-7 have been in failing health lately. A mysterious wasting syndrome has afflicted them since their outrageous behaviour at the NAU banquet two months ago. FTL must ask the obvious question: Was it something they ate? The remaining seven are under close observation.


 * VISUAL: plant in a pot

Have you seen one of these for sale? If so, report it immediately. It's being advertised as a genuine T. martianis, the plant whose seeds were discovered near Habitat Mars. The importation of alien lifeforms is strictly forbidden by the Intercombine Treaty of 2117.

27 October 2144
ANCHOR: In The Hague, headquarters of the World Congress, Dr. Winston Rylo commented on tomorrow's unveiling. Dr. Rylo, we've heard rumours of an astounding discovery on the asteroid. Is that true?

RYLO: Rumours? I will not comment on rumours. FTL will have to wait until tomorrow like everybody else.

ANCHOR: Elsewhere, the Xenobotanical Society has announced that the red-flowered plants being sold as T. martianis are the real thing. Dr. F. Paulson, president of the Society, commented.

PAULSON: This could be catastrophic. Who knows what havoc the introduction of an untested plant could wreak upon Earth's biosphere! This threat must be rooted out at once!

28 October 2144
ANCHOR: We go immediately to Dr. Winston Rylo, live before the World Congress in The Hague.

RYLO: You are about to see the latest incredible discovery from the interior of Rylo-7.


 * VISUAL: a holographic display of the solar system appears

This holographic image appears to be part of some sort of navigational device. It demonstrates the known trajectory of Rylo-7... a trajectory that leads directly back to Jupiter's moon, Europa. The implication is clear: the asteroid was sent here – from Europa. Isotope dating indicates that the asteroid was shaped and hollowed out sometime in the late 20th century. We believe the so-called Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet was actually debris from this process.

ANCHOR: CommLinkis making full copies of the holographic displays available to all interested parties.

31 October 2144
ANCHOR: Could the mysterious Rylo-7 have come from Europa? The answer, from most scientists, is a flat 'no'. But Dr. Winston Rylo has his own ideas.

RYLO: Europa is an earth-sized moon buried under a mile or more of ice, an unlikely home for an alien civilisation. But that doesn't mean some sort of intelligence couldn't use it as a base or staging area.

ANCHOR: The world's scientists are wondering if there is more to Europa than meets the eye. Entrepreneur Armondo Corleone of Sicily has been charged with illegal importation of an alien lifeform. He was arrested in a Palermo warehouse stocked with thousands of T. martianis plants.