cloning and super powers issue 2

Cloning and Superpower Stories Magazine

Mrs. Schick’s Classes, May 2011



Super-duper Gum

by Matthew B

“Do you have any homework tonight?” Dad called out from the garage.

“I only have one assignment; I need to study for a geometry test

tomorrow,” I responded.

“Okay, get started now so you can finish before swim practice tonight.”

I enter my two-story house and begin studying for the test. My grade

in geometry is currently a ninety-three percent, which is barely an A. I know

this test is very important. If I don’t do well, I may lose my all A reputation

throughout middle school. I carefully look over examples from the chapter,

making sure I can do all the problems. I study theorems from the chapter

that I will need to apply for the critical test. After my boring but necessary

study session, I enjoy – or devour - a steak with mashed potatoes for dinner

with grapes and corn as well. Finally, it’s time for swim practice and then

bed.

I wake up in the morning at my normal time of 6:40 on school days.

Now, I cycle through my morning routine. I shower, brush my teeth, put

deodorant on, get dressed, and walk down the stairs. My breakfast is the

usual – whole-wheat toast, honey cereal, and apple juice. I watch

Sportscenter on ESPN and look over my notes during commercials.

“Okay, Mom, I’m going out to the car,” I yelled to Mom.

“Okay, I’ll be right down,” said Mom.



My mom drops me off in the parent loop at Saline Middle School. I get

out of the car and begin my busy day. First, I go to social studies. In science,

we did a fun lab where we flew paper airplanes and saw whose could go the

furthest. Lunch flew by like a rocket. Then, came third hour geometry. After

lunch, I stop by my locker to collect my textbook, notebook, and super-duper

gum for geometry. I make sure my super-duper gum is hidden in my pocket

so nobody can see it. After all, even regular gum is against the school rules,

nevertheless super-duper gum. I stride into math class slowly making sure

that I’m ready for my big test.

“All right, put your stuff under your desk except for a pencil,” Mrs.

Meloche yells over the nervously-chatting class. “I will pass out the test.

When I do so, I expect silence. As usual, you will have until the section is

over to complete the test.”

I wait for Mrs. Meloche to pass out the test. After she hands me the

test, I immediately begin. I keep the super-duper gum in my pocket until I

need it. If Mrs. Meloche catches me chewing the gum, she’ll ask me to spit it

out. Of course, she won’t know that the gum is super-duper gum, but this

doesn’t matter because if I get caught once, she’s sure to watch me like a

hawk while I complete the test. I cruise through the first nineteen problems

with ten minutes to spare. I turn to the last page of the test and to see the

proof. I skim the proof for about two minutes, and I can’t figure it out. I

watch Mrs. Meloche like a hawk. When I’m completely sure that she’s not

looking in my direction, I reach in my pocket and grab a piece of super-duper

gum.

Super-duper gum is a type of gum that I have invented. It allows you

to read anyone’s mind of your choice. However, I must say the person’s



name of whose mind that I’m going to read before I place the gum in my

mouth. Otherwise, the gum will scream, and this will alert the teacher. I

carefully think about whose mind I should read. My choice is the brilliant

Victor Chen. I think he will be able to do the proof. When Mrs. Meloche is

helping another student, I swiftly place the gum in my mouth after

whispering, “Victor Chen”.

I nervously look at the clock. There are six minutes left. After about ten

seconds, I feel Victor’s mind inside of my mind. It feels like my brain has

doubled in size. Luckily, the gum has super-duper sugar, which prevents the

chewer of the gum from getting terrible headaches. Victor’s voice suddenly

appears in my brain. “Having trouble, having trouble,” he is saying. I wonder

if I made a mistake in picking him. I notice there are four minutes left.

Suddenly, to my relief, a light bulb turns on inside his head. He figures

out the proof. I make sure to not use the exact words he uses, or else Mrs.

Meloche might suspect something. I frantically write down the answer to the

proof. One minute is left; I write like there’s no tomorrow. Just in the knick

of timing, I finish the test. The bell rings as I put the test in our section’s turn

in bin.

It’s four days later. Mrs. Meloche tells us that she has our tests back.

“May I have your attention please?” asks Mrs. Meloche. “I have graded your

tests. As usual, I will announce the best in the class. This male student

received full marks. The best in the class on this test is… Matthew Bartow.”

I smile as she passes back the tests. She congratulates me, and some

of my classmates tell me nice job. I smile proudly. Sure, I got full marks for

test. However, in the bigger scheme of things, I maintain my perfect 4.00

GPA. I head off to language arts and thank Victor in my brain, which



suddenly shifts back to normal after I spit the gum out secretly in the boys’

bathroom between classes.



Born on the Wrong Side

by Kera Y.

“Okay, I’m going to start injecting the anesthetic now. You will to expirience

a slight pinch and then a slight burning feeling. Don’t worry it will be over

soon.” The doctor said calmly. I knew he was lying. This has been my 9th

time altering my body, I know it hurts more than a slight pinch and it will

take at least ten minutes to inject the entire anesthetic from the extremely

obese needle. Sure, the dentist numbing your mouth doesn’t feel that bad,

but with a bounty hunter doctor numbs your whole body and injects the

liquid from your head, it burns like crazy. I clenched my jaw as the needle

was being inserted into my skin. My eyes focused on the clock, willing the

stinging from the anesthetic to terminate now. After 13 minutes, trust me, I

timed it, the doctor extracted the oversized needle out. They tested in

multiple places to check if I could sense pain by pinching me with tweezers.

Thankfully, I couldn’t notice a thing. 3 men rolled me on my stomach. I

already realized what the doctor was performing; he was peeling away the

layers of skin on my back to check on my chips. Inserted near my spine are 4

chips, one for memory, one for coordination, one for intelligence, and one for

common sense. A government network commanded the chosen kids to live

like this. Then authorities separated children with great potential and

embedded unique chips. The chips aids the brain to construct decisions

during tough dilemmas. When the brain releases stress the chips will sense

it. Then, depending on the chip, one will send the brain a message to assist

it. Basically, if I’m in trouble, the chips command me on what my next move

will be. I’ve been like this since I was 7 years old, sometimes I was grateful



for the chips, and other times they were a burden. My child hood was never

normal. For hours a day I practiced the traditional skills of hand to hand

combat. My trainers were basically teaching me to become a ninja. I know

what you’re imagining, but it’s not cool to be able to knock someone out in

one hit, to fling knives out of a hidden pocket, or to be able to walk as silent

as a cat. I desired to join the neighborhood kids in an intense game of street

hockey, but I was forced to study or practice combat 24/7 with hired tutors

or men in suits, I never spent much time with my family. Why am I like this?

It’s because I’m a bounty hunter.

I was coached to hunt one thing in particular, humans. You see,

humans are a copy of us tryguns. 7,000 years ago a team of scientists

delivered 2 clones to Earth, one male and one female. The experiment was to

see how they would survive. Our dictator at that time wanted to switch to a

larger planet. In order to test if we could survive on Earth, we sent the

clones, humans. No one had expected that would flourish in this planet. Our

new elected dictator had decided to dispose of these clones. He thought that

there should be no copies of tryguns, under his dictatorship, we had to

agree. Instead of killing the humans, he thought we should put them to good

use. Humans then became our slaves, we had just migrated to a larger

planet so there was the perfect amount of space. There were 9 billion

humans so each trygun could acquire their own. Slavery was just starting to

make a big impact on the globe, our economy was more efficient, but that

didn’t last. Pretty soon, hundreds of slaves were escaping and wreaking

havoc. That’s why they have me.He required every child of 7 years to take a

test. It was a test of strength, intelligence, and pressure. It tracked your

every weakness and try to make you give up in defeat. The kids who passed

got turned into me. We immediately had chips inserted into our backs and



were trained how to use them, then came the hours of workouts and

studying. Every time we complete a mission, we have another one. Our

mission is to hunt down the escapees.

The humans that escaped didn’t lie low, well most of them didn’t. They

created terrorist attacks and violent riots. It’s my job to make sure that these

humans stop. I’m not permitted to utilize lasers or guns because then I

wouldn’t be able to blend in with commoners, so my only other option was to

study the ancient styles of martial arts. My job was just to retrieve humans,

our government decided how to dispose of them and what price to pay me.

Usually, my salary is a generous price.

“Okay. All your chips seem to be in tip top shape. We’ll move on to

your alterations now.” The doctor said. I’m required to receive body

alterations performed on me every few years. Humans recognized me,

everyone did. I was the most extreme bounty hunter in the business. It was

preferred when the escapees didn’t realize who I am. I closed my eyes and

drifted off to sleep. I’ve had so many alterations I had forgotten what I

actually appeared to be with the features I was born with.

Following the operation, I teleported in front of my apartment.

Instinctively, I exposed my eye and waited for the eye scan to allow me in

my house. I stared the red laser as it traced my eye and the door unlocked. I

didn’t even bother glancing in the mirror, I flopped down on my couch and

acquired a long nap. *beep. beep. beep. beep. be--* I slammed the alarm

off. My boss’s hologram appeared.

“Aaron. Wake up now. I possess your latest mission. Meet me in the

Draken room.” He commanded.



“Yes sir, I’ll be there as soon as possible.” I replied groggily. Quickly, I

showered, changed and pressed some buttons into my watch. In a flash, I

was outside the Draken room. This is where every mission was assigned and

where every runaway’s files were kept. I pushed in the lock code and entered

the room where I encountered Mr. Resteul, my boss.

I wasn’t paying attention as Mr. Resteul was blabbling information

about my newest victim. I suddenly became interested when I opened the

human’s file and it revealed a girl’s picture. This was the first girl that I ever

hunted before, her name was Rosa. Mr. Resteul was underestimating me; I

could on capture a girl easily. Why couldn’t I have some strange, buff

wrestler? That would be more entertaining.

“This is too easy sir; I don’t want to do it.” I complained.

“She is possibly one of the toughest humans you’ll have to catch. I’ve

already sent everyone below you to capture her and they all failed. It’s up to

you.” He said annoyed.

“She’ll be easy. She’s a girl! What could she have possibly done?”

“If you were paying attention earlier you would know. You are to

capture her and you will not complain. Now go.” He commanded. I rolled my

eyes in boredom and headed out the door. I read her repeatedly. Nothing

gave a clue of where she might live now. Her attacks have been spread

around the globe, she could be anywhere. As my brain was getting more

frustrated, my intelligence chip kicked in, it ordered me to check the latest

attack. It was yesterday, in Yeltrokiv. Why didn’t I realize this? I angrily

punched some buttons in my watch to tract this girl and teleported to

Yeltrokiv. I questioned the commoners if they spotted the girl and they all



affirmed that she died in the explosion. Not a chance, a girl this sly wouldn’t

die in an explosion she planned. That would be stupid. Exhausted, I decided

to use my last resort. I wasn’t supposed to do this too often because it blew

my cover, but there was nothing else to do. I took a piece of her hair ribbon

found in an explosion out of her file and smelled it. During an operation the

surgeons decided to donate me a nose like a hound dog. I spun around in

circles attempting to catch her scent. When I finally found the trail, I followed

it only to be devastated to realize it led straight to the ocean. Was it possible

that she was underwater? When I was positive no one was looking, I dived in

to search. The surgeons also provided me the ability to breathe underwater. I

was practically superhuman, although none of my powers can hurt people.

When I was about to give up my water search, my head clanged against

metal. My hands groped around to comprehend what the hunk of metal was.

I discovered the metal was a little house underwater. This is where she must

be. I’ve found her.

I silently hijacked the lock and creeped inside. There was a small

mudroom by the door that drained all the water back into the ocean.

Interesting, this girl definitely knows how to survive. I tiptoed gracefully into

the main room. I surveyed the area—there was a small kitchen, a bed, and

I’m guessing there is a bathroom behind the wooden door. I searched for

Rosa until I found her sleeping on the queen bed. I didn’t realize that she

was under the heap of blankets. I whipped the covers off to reveal her

frightened face. Instinctively, my hand chopped at her neck, which

immediately knocked her out.

I analyzed at her body lying on her bed. This is definitely the girl I was

searching for. This hunt was extremely simple, I guess it’s because I was the

only bounty hunter that has a strong nose, can breathe underwater, has



night vision, and knows every foreign language fluently. I relaxed in her

cramped kitchen waiting for her to wake up. Kidnapping humans as hostage

without a fight is no fun. I must have dosed off when Rosa woke up because

when I opened my eyes she was pinned me to the ground How did she do

that? She probably weighs only 100 pounds yet she can pin a 150 pound 17

year old to the ground? It was amazing, but not good enough. With lightning

fast reflexes I spun around while grabbing her arms which caused her back

to slam into the ground.

“Don’t hurt me.” She pleaded.

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t. You have been destroying

trygun’s government buildings, monuments, parks, etc. on MY planet.” I

demanded angrily. Humans should be grateful they’re alive, but they had to

rebel and ruin all of our nice buildings.

“You should let me go because I’m your sister.” She said softly. My grip

on her tightened with anger and I heard a little squeak of pain.

“That’s a lie. Why would you even think about saying that? I could

never be related to a filthy human.” I accused

“Please, listen to me. I can explain.” She spoke calmly

“No. You’re just going to escape and blow up our government building.”

I protested

“Then tie me up and let me explain. You need to know the truth about

your past.” She bargained.

Truth of my past? What was this chick talking about? Grudgingly I lifted her

into a wooden chair and tied her torso against the wood.



“Now explain.” I commanded

“It’s been so long, you’ve grown up so much.” She cooed.

“Don’t stall. Tell me what you know.”

“Okay, okay. So you know how kids were forced to take a test to see if they

had the skill to be a bounty hunter?”

“Duh. I took it.”

“Well the man who tested you didn’t notice you were a slave’s child. He

thought you were the child that lived with the owner of the house.”

“Well wouldn’t he realize it and then return me? Or even kill me?”

“No. You had one of the best test scores out of everyone they tested,

you were extremely valuable and they didn’t want to give you up just

because you were human.”

“So why can’t I remember anything before I took the test?”

“Exactly. Can you remember anything? No, you can’t. They wiped parts

of your memory so it would seem as if you were a trygun, not a human.”

Rosa explained. I sat and pondered the fact if I was actually I human or not.

“Believe me, I’m your older sister. I would never lie to you. We even

look alike –well we used to.” She spoke, trying to convince me.

“What do you mean we used to?” I questioned.

“Well you’re always switching your features so no one can recognize

you, but inside of all your fakeness, I can still see the same face you had



when you were 7.” She spoke kindly. Her face lit up as she recalled

memories of our childhood.

“You… you remember what I used to look like?” I talked quietly. It was

shameful that I couldn’t even remember what face I was conceived with.

“Don’t be ashamed. It’s not your fault, that’s the reason why I came to

rescue you.”

“You practically read my mind.”

“Oh, if you want me to be more specific we’re twins. We have the

stereotypical twin abilities.”

“You can read my mind?” I freaked out; does this mean none of my

thoughts are private anymore?

“No, we are incredibly similar. If I didn’t remember my original self I

would be ashamed too, that’s why I assumed you were. I can’t actually read

your mind. That would be strange.” She explained. I sighed in relief.

“Does this mean you did of those riots just to lure me here?”

“Precisely.”

“How are you capable of doing these things? You’re a girl.”

“HA! I can do anything you can. As I said, we’re very similar, if I took

the test the score would probably be the close to yours. So when they

realized I could do everything you could, they started training me too.”

“Oh… I see.”



“They were originally trying to train me just to blow up the

government, but I decided to use it to find you.”

“Who’s they?” I inquired. “Depends, can I trust you?” My heart and

chips were having a terrifying battle inside my body. My heart wanted to

trust her, she was my sister after all while my chips were accusing Rosa of

lying and messing with my head. Like all wars, this one had to come to an

end.

“Only if you show me pictures of what I used to look like.”

“I can do better. I’ll show you videos, holograms, CD’s, etc.”

“Okay, you have my trust. Who’s they?”

“They are an underground organization that trains people to go against

the government. Also, we train to stop the unfair treatment of humans.”

“So you’re basically producing terrorists?”

“Sure, but you’re one of us. Please come back with me?” Rosa pleaded.

In a swift motion she revealed a knife in her back pocket and cut her way out

of the ropes binding her. I was stunned. Did she plan on doing this the whole

time? She loomed over me and stuck a hand out. Without even

comprehending what I was doing, I reached out and grabbed it. She pulled

me up and we strutted out of the underwater house –together.