September 2144

1 September 2144
ANCHOR: Two clone technicians at the California Earthquake Control Bureau were arrested today in connection with yesterday's seismic event. Both are Free Will clones who've admitted to releasing the quake by sabotaging the tectonic buffers. Here is part of Hal J-81's confession holovid.

HAL J-81: Clones live with the knowledge that their lives will be cut short by the cruel genetic programming of their creators. We – we wanted to shake people up – let them know how it feels to have the ground pulled out from under them by forces they can't control.

ANCHOR: The tectonic buffers have been restored, and both clones have been returned for immediate termination.

2 September 2144
ANCHOR: Kyle Swann, Bryan Clarke, Francisco Cruz, and Elaina Cruz have escaped from the HC.

DIAZ: We attempted to place them under arrest in accordance with the edict of the World Congress – but, regrettably, they slipped through our fingers. However, we will co-operate in any way we can with the Inter-Combine Police to help track them down.

ANCHOR: President Clarke issued this angry response.

CLARKE: Diaz deliberately let them escape, while the World Congress sat around and did nothing! But at least now, there'll be no more safe havens for Kyle Swann and his rebel collaborators. They will be found and brought to justice – once and for all.

5 September 2144
ANCHOR: The seeds found in the Cydonia desert have germinated. Dr. Kristeen Ballard revealed this surprising development at a press briefing from Habitat Mars earlier today.

BALLARD: As you know, we planted the seeds in the Martian soil at our hot house, and tried to duplicate the climate conditions we believe existed on Mars millions of years ago. Frankly, we didn't have much hope that we'd succeed. But over the past few days, these seeds have begun sprouting tiny blue shoots.

ANCHOR: You must be very pleased with these results.

BALLARD: Pleased – and amazed. It's a xenobotanical breakthrough, no doubt. But we mustn't get too excited. Just because they're germinating doesn't mean they'll actually grow. Only time will tell.

6 September 2144
ANCHOR: This just in: a gunman apparently went berserk just a few minutes ago aboard the New York to Bermuda floater shuttle, and opened fire on helpless commuters. The craft made an emergency landing at MidAtlantic's AeroResort. Reports from the scene are still sketchy, but witnesses say a lone man pulled out an automatic plasma rifle and announced, "My name is Lot – and I'm looking for one true human being in a world of clones." Then he started shooting – emptying two thirty-round magazines before the rifle jammed, and some fellow travellers were able to subdue him. Police have taken the gunman into custody. We have no word yet on the number and severity of the casualties.

7 September 2144
ANCHOR: 37 dead, 23 injured, five seriously. That's the toll from yesterday's massacre aboard the New York to Bermuda floater shuttle. Police Chief Darryl King released part of the gunman's holovid confession.

GUNMAN: Call me "Lot". I was sent by the VR Presence to destroy all clones.

KING: He's been remanded to the NAU Criminal Psychiatric Facility in Boulder, Colorado for observation. We can't identify him because he amputated the tip of his finger containing his ID Chip. The plasma rifle he used in the attack was apparently bought on the black market, and is untraceable. Anyone who recognizes this man should contact police immediately.

8 September 2144
ANCHOR: The shuttle killer has now been identified as Ishmael Forsythe, a solar engineer from the Utah Microwave Authority. Denise Doppleganger, a co-worker, recognized him from the confession holovid and accessed police.

DOPPLEGANGER: Forsythe was a heavy VR user. He was also a clonephobe – he had been making threats against the clone technicians on the job for some time. Then, after those clones caused the L.A. earthquake, he really went nuts. It got to the point where he thought everyone was a clone, and they were all out to get him.

ANCHOR: Documents found in Forsythe's home also reveal that he's a member of the North American Rifle Association.

9 September 2144
ANCHOR: The floater shuttle massacre has raised several issues: the public's growing fear of a clone uprising, the power of Virtual Reality and the ready availability of automatic plasma weapons. Here with a commentary is Perry Epp.

EPP: I've long said that Clone Free Will and VR addiction are two of society's most serious problems. But as the recent victim of a kidnapping attempt, I can also vouch for the danger of automatic plasma guns falling too easily into the hands of criminals. The time has come for President Clarke to buck the powerful North American Rifle Association and ban these assault weapons!

12 September 2144
ANCHOR: In the wake of the recent floater shuttle massacre, the North American Rifle Association issued this statement today.

NARA SPOKESPERSONS: Naturally, we share the nation's grief and outrage at this tragedy. But plasma guns don't kill people – people kill people. Background checks stop most criminals from acquiring these weapons. It works – Ishmael Forsythe had no criminal record. But apparently, he fell through the cracks of the NAU Mental Health Board. The NARA can't be blamed for that. And law-abiding citizens shouldn't be asked to give up their constitutional right to bear arms because of a government screw-up.

13 September 2144
ANCHOR: President Clarke announced that the shuttle murderer had somehow slipped through the strict mental health controls which normally apply to government workers.

CLARKE: Ishmael Forsythe was an employee of the Utah Microwave Authority. Apparently, he had been making threats against co-workers for some time. I've ordered the Mental Health Board to conduct an investigation and find out how this behaviour could have gone unreported.

ANCHOR: But Clarke agreed with the North American Rifle Association that banning plasma weapons wasn't the answer – and according to an FTL News public opinion poll, an overwhelming majority of NAU citizens agree.

14 September 2144
ANCHOR: Although shuttle murderer Ishmael Forsythe took things to a tragic extreme, his clonephobia is shared by an increasing number of people. The attempts to kidnap President Clarke and Perry Epp and replace them with illegal replicas, along with the California earthquake caused by two clone technicians, have certainly contributed to this growing public fear. Today, CloneStyles Unlimited introduced the Home Clone Test Kit.

SPLICE: Now, anyone who suspects that their lifemate or business partner has been switched with a clone can secretly doctor their food with this odourless, colourless genetic marker. If the significant other in question turns bright blue... then he or she is a clone.

15 September 2144
ANCHOR: A preliminary investigation of the artefacts found in the Cydonia desert has started scientists at Habitat Mars thinking in a new direction. Dr. Kristeen Ballard is with us now to explain.

BALLARD: The Martians clearly had an industrial, computer-age civilisation equal or superior to our own millions of years before the human race as we know it evolved on Earth. The Atlantis Theory speculates that an earlier human race may have colonised Mars, then disappeared before our history began. But the evidence that we have now is just as compelling for the opposite argument. This means that ancient Martian astronauts might have colonised the Earth – and we could be their cosmic offspring.

16 September 2144
ANCHOR: Police Chief Darryl King said today that Perry Epp will be asked to take a lie detector test about his account of the recent attempt to kidnap him.

KING: Epp's sympathies with "R" are a matter of record. If the abduction attempt was a set-up by the rebels, and he's in on it, this is the quickest way to find out.

ANCHOR: Epp issued a statement calling the move "an outrage". But speculation persists that –


 * Swann/ "R" insignia jam broadcast

SWANN: That was no stunt by "R". We're doing what Clarke and the police should be doing – tracking down the real terrorists. Well, we've uncovered something which ought to raise a few eyebrows. There's an abandoned airbus station at the Buttafucco-Fisher Industrial Park on Long Island. If you want answers, that's where you'll find them.

19 September 2144
ANCHOR: Acting on a tip from Kyle Swann, police raided the Buttafucco-Fisher Industrial Park on Long Island early this morning. Shortly after, Chief Darryl King spoke with reporters.

KING: We found another secret clone factory. This one contains illegal replicas of many of the world's top business leaders and media celebrities – including Perry Epp. Fortunately, near as we can tell, none of them have been activated. They're all accounted for in their stasis chambers. It would appear that Epp may have been the next target to be kidnapped and replaced, just like the attempt on President Clarke last year.

ANCHOR: Then Swann's telling the truth?

KING: Sorry – I have no further comment at this time.

20 September 2144
ANCHOR: FTL's latest opinion poll shows public support for Kyle Swann rising as faith in President Clarke's leadership falls. But fear of a clone insurgence supported by the rebels remains a big factor against Swann. Attorney General Nagle pounced on this fear at a press briefing today.

NAGLE: "R"'s so-called "revelation" about the Long Island clone cache is part of an elaborate scheme to win public trust. Don't be fooled.

ANCHOR: Perry Epp has refused to take a lie detector test about his account of the recent attempt to kidnap him.

EPP: This is a civil rights issue for lawyers to decide. All I know is, I told the truth. I'm the victim here – not a criminal!

21 September 2144
ANCHOR: The Cydonia seeds have produced a flowering plant. These pictures were transmitted today from Habitat Mars – our first look at this alien lifeform. Dr. Kristeen Ballard is linked up with us live. Dr. Ballard, does this bode well for our terraforming efforts?

BALLARD: Absolutely. It means the soil beneath the Martian permafrost is rich in nutrients, as well as hyperthermophilic microbes. As we continue to warm Mars with volcanic emissions, we're slowly regenerating the planet's natural botanisphere.

ANCHOR: Does the new plant have a name yet?

BALLARD: Yes. Because of its resemblance to the common Earth dandelion, we've dubbed it Taraxacum martianis – or T. martianis for short.

22 September 2144
ANCHOR: Speculation in top government and scientific circles now suggests the Little Visitors may be "drones" – a sub-species trained or genetically programmed by a higher intelligence to take orders and perform simple rote tasks. Meanwhile, disenchantment with the aliens continues to grow, except among members of the Gogglehead cult... this, despite the fact that their god, the VR Presence, hasn't been seen in the Net since before Rylo-7's arrival more than a year ago–


 * [The VR Presence jams the broadcast.]

PRESENCE: Children of Earth, do not be too quick to judge strangers in a strange land. The truth will come in its own time – unfolding like a flower.

23 September 2144
ANCHOR: Yesterday's appearance by the VR Presence was greeted with reverence by millions of members of the Gogglehead cult. But its message was–


 * Swann/ "R" insignia jams the broadcast.

SWANN: I have a different message. It's for Madeleine Clarke – or the woman who calls herself Madeleine Clarke. (The camera angle widens...) Forget the phony search for your missing "clone". We found her. (...to include a bedraggled Madeleine Clarke standing next to him.) Only one thing – we've done a little DNA dusting. This Madeleine Clarke isn't a clone – she's the real thing.

CLARKE: He's telling the truth. The woman who's been running the NAU for the past ten months – she's the clone!

SWANN: Obviously, "R" didn't put her there – or I wouldn't be telling you this. But it's time we found out who did. Who are the ghosts in the machine?

26 September 2144
ANCHOR: Yesterday's startling announcement that Kyle Swann has found the real President Clarke brought this response from the Capitol.

CLARKE: I find in incredible that CommLink is spending so much as a nanosecond on this calculated nonsense! This is merely another assault in "R"'s ongoing war to discredit my presidency in the NAU. I have no further comment.

ANCHOR: And in Santa Barbara, Pamela Corvino is at it again, leading a Clone Rights protest.

CORVINO: If President is a clone, she's not acting independently! Someone else is controlling her! Just like all her clone brothers and sisters. She is being used as an object. A tool!

27 September 2144
ANCHOR: More angry words from President Clarke on the charges that she is an impostor. After accusing CommLink and FTL of behaving no better that electronic tabloids, she lashed out at her critics.

CLARKE: We have pinpointed the origin of "R"'s jamming signal to one of the unprotected areas of Manhattan. I have instructed City Manager Bill Kennedy to scour the Horde areas and arrest Swann and my impostor. We will get to the bottom of this. We will prove who is the real Madeleine Clarke. And then we will explore the very real possibility of a connection between "R" and CommLink.

28 September 2144
VOICEOVER: Crisis in the NAU!

ANCHOR: Startling news from New York: City Manager Bill Kennedy has located Kyle Swann and the woman claiming to be the real Madeleine Clarke. But there's a catch.

KENNEDY: Kyle Swann surrendered himself to me this morning. With him was a woman who bears a startling resemblance to President Clarke. At this moment both are in my custody. But I am not releasing them to the President's clone squads – at least not yet. There's something going on here. Mr. Swann and the woman with him make a very convincing case and, frankly, I am concerned for their safety. Therefore I have decided to hold them here until this matter has been fully investigated.

29 September 2144
ANCHOR: It is less than a week since Kyle Swann's public accusation that President Madeleine Clarke is a clone impostor, and already her government appears to be falling into disarray. Just yesterday, New York City Manager Bill Kennedy offered political asylum to Kyle Swann and the woman Swann claims is the real Madeleine Clarke. And now Attorney General Priscilla Nagle has jumped into the fray.

NAGLE: My office is launching a complete and thorough investigation into this matter. Bill Kennedy has assured me of his complete cooperation, that he will allow me to interrogate Kyle Swann and the woman with him. Together we will get to the bottom of this matter.

30 September 2144
ANCHOR: Which Madeleine Clarke is real... the one in the Capitol or the one receiving political asylum in New York? CloneStyles president, Eugene Splice, has a unique solution to this growing crisis in the NAU.

SPLICE: No problem for us. CloneStyles stands ready and able to test both Madeleine Clarkes to see who's who and what's what.

ANCHOR: Meanwhile, elaborate plans continue for December's gala marriage of George Favreau's son, Simeon, to Prince Uchida's daughter, Kimoya. The upcoming ceremony at the Nagasaki Floater Resort has both the EC and the APS dreaming of a royal wedding and perhaps, a cross-continent dynasty.