新媒网 · 跨境数据社区

When the alarm rang, I was sneaking through the wrong dorm tower. The siren blared through the hallway, shattering the late-night quiet. I spun around, expecting a squad of uniforms to march toward me with bio-tasers and zip ties. I scanned the corridor for hiding places, pulse racing, and readied my best excuses. I hoped none of the security guards with special grudges against me were on duty that night. I’d caught trouble for sneaking out of my dorm pod before—and for snooping where I didn’t belong and asking too many questions. That night, I’d planned to do all three. Commotion filled the corridor as the girls who actually belonged there filed out of their pods, moving in a quick, orderly fashion. Factory units occupied most of this hall, the girls designed to be efficient and obedient. No wasted movements. No hesitation. Just because they were clones being raised to work in factories didn’t mean they weren’t people, though. They talked and laughed as they followed their designated fire escape routes, assuming it was yet another drill. The siren wailed on, as loud as an airstrike warning, but no one charged up the corridor to drag me off to the detention pod. Maybe this wasn’t about me at all. Security wouldn’t wake the whole dorm for some leftover clone going out past curfew. They had bigger problems. I turned for the exit, trying to calm my racing heart. I still didn’t want to get caught in this tower. A dozen factory units clad in standard Cloneworks pajamas marched past, their steps matching the rhythm of the alarm. They came from the same batch, so their features were identical—snub noses, pale skin, strawberry-blonde hair. Pairs of watery blue eyes slid over me one after another, not showing any curiosity about what I was doing there. Factories don’t pay for their clone workers to be curious. I fell in behind the factory girls, trying to match the perfect coordination of their identical bodies. My legs were a little too long and gawky, and my arms swung a little too much. A pair of future security units overtook us at the end of the hall, wearing their school uniforms despite the late hour. I ducked my head, wishing I’d brought something to cover my hair. My brunette ponytail didn’t belong in this line-up, and security clones have strong suspicious streaks. Fortunately, they didn’t notice me, too focused on getting to their designated rendezvous point. The factory girls and I headed down the stairwell, joining a flood of factory and corporate units from half a dozen different batches. The worn-out steps vibrated under the weight of hundreds of teenagers evacuating at once. This was one of Stillman campus’s original buildings, long past its prime. I hoped it wouldn’t pick tonight to finally collapse. As we turned a corner, a group of corporate units trooping down the stairs ahead of us caught my eye. I inhaled sharply. I hadn’t seen their type before. Batches of clones occasionally get shuffled from one Cloneworks campus to another at the whims of their sponsors. Those could be the very newcomers I’d risked detention to seek out that night. I left the factory girls and jogged after the new corporate units, hoping they’d have answers for me. Continue reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

Jane is a leftover clone. Created for an unknown purpose, then abandoned at a rundown facility outside Grid City, she has a knack for trouble and a burning desire to find out why she was made. When a powerful tycoon hires her to replace his son Isaac’s best friend, a girl from the same clone batch as her, Jane jumps at the chance to finally get some answers. All she has to do is convince the charming Isaac that his friend is still alive, without getting too close to him. Stepping into someone else’s life isn’t easy, though, even when you have the same genes. As Jane struggles to survive at Isaac’s elite private school, she discovers the other clone’s death was no accident—and she might be next. She must solve her batchmate’s murder and unravel the mystery of their origins before the killer comes for her too. Start reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

When the alarm rang, I was sneaking through the wrong dorm tower. The siren blared through the hallway, shattering the late-night quiet. I spun around, expecting a squad of uniforms to march toward me with bio-tasers and zip ties. I scanned the corridor for hiding places, pulse racing, and readied my best excuses. I hoped none of the security guards with special grudges against me were on duty that night. I’d caught trouble for sneaking out of my dorm pod before—and for snooping where I didn’t belong and asking too many questions. That night, I’d planned to do all three. Commotion filled the corridor as the girls who actually belonged there filed out of their pods, moving in a quick, orderly fashion. Factory units occupied most of this hall, the girls designed to be efficient and obedient. No wasted movements. No hesitation. Just because they were clones being raised to work in factories didn’t mean they weren’t people, though. They talked and laughed as they followed their designated fire escape routes, assuming it was yet another drill. The siren wailed on, as loud as an airstrike warning, but no one charged up the corridor to drag me off to the detention pod. Maybe this wasn’t about me at all. Security wouldn’t wake the whole dorm for some leftover clone going out past curfew. They had bigger problems. I turned for the exit, trying to calm my racing heart. I still didn’t want to get caught in this tower. A dozen factory units clad in standard Cloneworks pajamas marched past, their steps matching the rhythm of the alarm. They came from the same batch, so their features were identical—snub noses, pale skin, strawberry-blonde hair. Pairs of watery blue eyes slid over me one after another, not showing any curiosity about what I was doing there. Factories don’t pay for their clone workers to be curious. I fell in behind the factory girls, trying to match the perfect coordination of their identical bodies. My legs were a little too long and gawky, and my arms swung a little too much. A pair of future security units overtook us at the end of the hall, wearing their school uniforms despite the late hour. I ducked my head, wishing I’d brought something to cover my hair. My brunette ponytail didn’t belong in this line-up, and security clones have strong suspicious streaks. Fortunately, they didn’t notice me, too focused on getting to their designated rendezvous point. The factory girls and I headed down the stairwell, joining a flood of factory and corporate units from half a dozen different batches. The worn-out steps vibrated under the weight of hundreds of teenagers evacuating at once. This was one of Stillman campus’s original buildings, long past its prime. I hoped it wouldn’t pick tonight to finally collapse. As we turned a corner, a group of corporate units trooping down the stairs ahead of us caught my eye. I inhaled sharply. I hadn’t seen their type before. Batches of clones occasionally get shuffled from one Cloneworks campus to another at the whims of their sponsors. Those could be the very newcomers I’d risked detention to seek out that night. I left the factory girls and jogged after the new corporate units, hoping they’d have answers for me. Continue reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

When the alarm rang, I was sneaking through the wrong dorm tower. The siren blared through the hallway, shattering the late-night quiet. I spun around, expecting a squad of uniforms to march toward me with bio-tasers and zip ties. I scanned the corridor for hiding places, pulse racing, and readied my best excuses. I hoped none of the security guards with special grudges against me were on duty that night. I’d caught trouble for sneaking out of my dorm pod before—and for snooping where I didn’t belong and asking too many questions. That night, I’d planned to do all three. Commotion filled the corridor as the girls who actually belonged there filed out of their pods, moving in a quick, orderly fashion. Factory units occupied most of this hall, the girls designed to be efficient and obedient. No wasted movements. No hesitation. Just because they were clones being raised to work in factories didn’t mean they weren’t people, though. They talked and laughed as they followed their designated fire escape routes, assuming it was yet another drill. The siren wailed on, as loud as an airstrike warning, but no one charged up the corridor to drag me off to the detention pod. Maybe this wasn’t about me at all. Security wouldn’t wake the whole dorm for some leftover clone going out past curfew. They had bigger problems. I turned for the exit, trying to calm my racing heart. I still didn’t want to get caught in this tower. A dozen factory units clad in standard Cloneworks pajamas marched past, their steps matching the rhythm of the alarm. They came from the same batch, so their features were identical—snub noses, pale skin, strawberry-blonde hair. Pairs of watery blue eyes slid over me one after another, not showing any curiosity about what I was doing there. Factories don’t pay for their clone workers to be curious. I fell in behind the factory girls, trying to match the perfect coordination of their identical bodies. My legs were a little too long and gawky, and my arms swung a little too much. A pair of future security units overtook us at the end of the hall, wearing their school uniforms despite the late hour. I ducked my head, wishing I’d brought something to cover my hair. My brunette ponytail didn’t belong in this line-up, and security clones have strong suspicious streaks. Fortunately, they didn’t notice me, too focused on getting to their designated rendezvous point. The factory girls and I headed down the stairwell, joining a flood of factory and corporate units from half a dozen different batches. The worn-out steps vibrated under the weight of hundreds of teenagers evacuating at once. This was one of Stillman campus’s original buildings, long past its prime. I hoped it wouldn’t pick tonight to finally collapse. As we turned a corner, a group of corporate units trooping down the stairs ahead of us caught my eye. I inhaled sharply. I hadn’t seen their type before. Batches of clones occasionally get shuffled from one Cloneworks campus to another at the whims of their sponsors. Those could be the very newcomers I’d risked detention to seek out that night. I left the factory girls and jogged after the new corporate units, hoping they’d have answers for me. Continue reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

When the alarm rang, I was sneaking through the wrong dorm tower. The siren blared through the hallway, shattering the late-night quiet. I spun around, expecting a squad of uniforms to march toward me with bio-tasers and zip ties. I scanned the corridor for hiding places, pulse racing, and readied my best excuses. I hoped none of the security guards with special grudges against me were on duty that night. I’d caught trouble for sneaking out of my dorm pod before—and for snooping where I didn’t belong and asking too many questions. That night, I’d planned to do all three. Commotion filled the corridor as the girls who actually belonged there filed out of their pods, moving in a quick, orderly fashion. Factory units occupied most of this hall, the girls designed to be efficient and obedient. No wasted movements. No hesitation. Just because they were clones being raised to work in factories didn’t mean they weren’t people, though. They talked and laughed as they followed their designated fire escape routes, assuming it was yet another drill. The siren wailed on, as loud as an airstrike warning, but no one charged up the corridor to drag me off to the detention pod. Maybe this wasn’t about me at all. Security wouldn’t wake the whole dorm for some leftover clone going out past curfew. They had bigger problems. I turned for the exit, trying to calm my racing heart. I still didn’t want to get caught in this tower. A dozen factory units clad in standard Cloneworks pajamas marched past, their steps matching the rhythm of the alarm. They came from the same batch, so their features were identical—snub noses, pale skin, strawberry-blonde hair. Pairs of watery blue eyes slid over me one after another, not showing any curiosity about what I was doing there. Factories don’t pay for their clone workers to be curious. I fell in behind the factory girls, trying to match the perfect coordination of their identical bodies. My legs were a little too long and gawky, and my arms swung a little too much. A pair of future security units overtook us at the end of the hall, wearing their school uniforms despite the late hour. I ducked my head, wishing I’d brought something to cover my hair. My brunette ponytail didn’t belong in this line-up, and security clones have strong suspicious streaks. Fortunately, they didn’t notice me, too focused on getting to their designated rendezvous point. The factory girls and I headed down the stairwell, joining a flood of factory and corporate units from half a dozen different batches. The worn-out steps vibrated under the weight of hundreds of teenagers evacuating at once. This was one of Stillman campus’s original buildings, long past its prime. I hoped it wouldn’t pick tonight to finally collapse. As we turned a corner, a group of corporate units trooping down the stairs ahead of us caught my eye. I inhaled sharply. I hadn’t seen their type before. Batches of clones occasionally get shuffled from one Cloneworks campus to another at the whims of their sponsors. Those could be the very newcomers I’d risked detention to seek out that night. I left the factory girls and jogged after the new corporate units, hoping they’d have answers for me. Continue reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

I picked up the chrome handset and cleared my throat. “Hello?” “Janie?” The voice was male and sounded young. “Yes?” “Finally! I’ve been worried sick about you. My folks have been so cagey about what happened to you while I was under. You know how they are.” “Uh, what?” He chattered on, speaking faster by the word. “I told them I’d stop taking my medicine unless they let me see you. Figured it would work quicker than a hunger strike, though no luck yet. I found your number in my dad’s office.” I glanced at the phone to make sure I was on the right line. “Who is this?” “Very funny. Anyway, they told me you’re almost better now and said we can come pick you up tomorrow. Actually, they said they’d send a railcar to pick you up, but I’ll convince them to let me come along. Or I’ll hide in the trunk. Whatever works.” I tried to make sense of the young man’s rapid-fire babble, my jaw going slack. If I was understanding correctly, there really was another clone just like me. I knew I wasn’t the only one. For a moment, my mind went still, like the dead center of a tornado. I wasn’t the only one. I wasn’t alone. Then my thoughts resumed their usual whirl as I processed what I’d heard. The boy seemed to think I was literally the Jane—the Janie—he knew. It isn’t possible to switch someone’s consciousness, their self, into another body, even an exact genetic copy. That’s a common misconception. Sometimes people clone deceased family members, especially children, and wind up bitterly disappointed when they can’t replace the ones they lost. Clones are much more successful when new iterations step into an occupation rather than into someone’s personal life. “I’m not sure you understand how this works,” I said, wishing I could see the strange boy’s face. “Normally, we get training to teach us about our roles, but I’m not actually the same—” “Isaac!” A man spoke in the background, with a commanding tone that would make the strictest teacher on campus sit up straight. “Who are you talking to?” “Janie.” Isaac’s voice became muffled, and I imagined a faceless boy holding a phone’s mouthpiece against his shoulder. “I found the number for her hospital on your desk. She sounds a little mixed up, but—” “Put the phone down.” The urgency in the voice made my stomach churn uneasily. “Relax, Dad. I’m just letting her know we’re picking her up—” There was a beep, and the line went dead. “Hello? Uh, Isaac?” No response came. I set down the phone, more confused than ever, and tried to get my head around what I’d learned. Isaac had known my voice. There was another person just like me. A person he called Janie. My batchmate. Continue reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

I picked up the chrome handset and cleared my throat. “Hello?” “Janie?” The voice was male and sounded young. “Yes?” “Finally! I’ve been worried sick about you. My folks have been so cagey about what happened to you while I was under. You know how they are.” “Uh, what?” He chattered on, speaking faster by the word. “I told them I’d stop taking my medicine unless they let me see you. Figured it would work quicker than a hunger strike, though no luck yet. I found your number in my dad’s office.” I glanced at the phone to make sure I was on the right line. “Who is this?” “Very funny. Anyway, they told me you’re almost better now and said we can come pick you up tomorrow. Actually, they said they’d send a railcar to pick you up, but I’ll convince them to let me come along. Or I’ll hide in the trunk. Whatever works.” I tried to make sense of the young man’s rapid-fire babble, my jaw going slack. If I was understanding correctly, there really was another clone just like me. I knew I wasn’t the only one. For a moment, my mind went still, like the dead center of a tornado. I wasn’t the only one. I wasn’t alone. Then my thoughts resumed their usual whirl as I processed what I’d heard. The boy seemed to think I was literally the Jane—the Janie—he knew. It isn’t possible to switch someone’s consciousness, their self, into another body, even an exact genetic copy. That’s a common misconception. Sometimes people clone deceased family members, especially children, and wind up bitterly disappointed when they can’t replace the ones they lost. Clones are much more successful when new iterations step into an occupation rather than into someone’s personal life. “I’m not sure you understand how this works,” I said, wishing I could see the strange boy’s face. “Normally, we get training to teach us about our roles, but I’m not actually the same—” “Isaac!” A man spoke in the background, with a commanding tone that would make the strictest teacher on campus sit up straight. “Who are you talking to?” “Janie.” Isaac’s voice became muffled, and I imagined a faceless boy holding a phone’s mouthpiece against his shoulder. “I found the number for her hospital on your desk. She sounds a little mixed up, but—” “Put the phone down.” The urgency in the voice made my stomach churn uneasily. “Relax, Dad. I’m just letting her know we’re picking her up—” There was a beep, and the line went dead. “Hello? Uh, Isaac?” No response came. I set down the phone, more confused than ever, and tried to get my head around what I’d learned. Isaac had known my voice. There was another person just like me. A person he called Janie. My batchmate. Continue reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

When the alarm rang, I was sneaking through the wrong dorm tower. The siren blared through the hallway, shattering the late-night quiet. I spun around, expecting a squad of uniforms to march toward me with bio-tasers and zip ties. I scanned the corridor for hiding places, pulse racing, and readied my best excuses. I hoped none of the security guards with special grudges against me were on duty that night. I’d caught trouble for sneaking out of my dorm pod before—and for snooping where I didn’t belong and asking too many questions. That night, I’d planned to do all three. Commotion filled the corridor as the girls who actually belonged there filed out of their pods, moving in a quick, orderly fashion. Factory units occupied most of this hall, the girls designed to be efficient and obedient. No wasted movements. No hesitation. Just because they were clones being raised to work in factories didn’t mean they weren’t people, though. They talked and laughed as they followed their designated fire escape routes, assuming it was yet another drill. The siren wailed on, as loud as an airstrike warning, but no one charged up the corridor to drag me off to the detention pod. Maybe this wasn’t about me at all. Security wouldn’t wake the whole dorm for some leftover clone going out past curfew. They had bigger problems. I turned for the exit, trying to calm my racing heart. I still didn’t want to get caught in this tower. A dozen factory units clad in standard Cloneworks pajamas marched past, their steps matching the rhythm of the alarm. They came from the same batch, so their features were identical—snub noses, pale skin, strawberry-blonde hair. Pairs of watery blue eyes slid over me one after another, not showing any curiosity about what I was doing there. Factories don’t pay for their clone workers to be curious. I fell in behind the factory girls, trying to match the perfect coordination of their identical bodies. My legs were a little too long and gawky, and my arms swung a little too much. A pair of future security units overtook us at the end of the hall, wearing their school uniforms despite the late hour. I ducked my head, wishing I’d brought something to cover my hair. My brunette ponytail didn’t belong in this line-up, and security clones have strong suspicious streaks. Fortunately, they didn’t notice me, too focused on getting to their designated rendezvous point. The factory girls and I headed down the stairwell, joining a flood of factory and corporate units from half a dozen different batches. The worn-out steps vibrated under the weight of hundreds of teenagers evacuating at once. This was one of Stillman campus’s original buildings, long past its prime. I hoped it wouldn’t pick tonight to finally collapse. As we turned a corner, a group of corporate units trooping down the stairs ahead of us caught my eye. I inhaled sharply. I hadn’t seen their type before. Batches of clones occasionally get shuffled from one Cloneworks campus to another at the whims of their sponsors. Those could be the very newcomers I’d risked detention to seek out that night. I left the factory girls and jogged after the new corporate units, hoping they’d have answers for me. Continue reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM

Jane is a leftover clone. Created for an unknown purpose, then abandoned at a rundown facility outside Grid City, she has a knack for trouble and a burning desire to find out why she was made. When a powerful tycoon hires her to replace his son Isaac’s best friend, a girl from the same clone batch as her, Jane jumps at the chance to finally get some answers. All she has to do is convince the charming Isaac that his friend is still alive, without getting too close to him. Stepping into someone else’s life isn’t easy, though, even when you have the same genes. As Jane struggles to survive at Isaac’s elite private school, she discovers the other clone’s death was no accident—and she might be next. She must solve her batchmate’s murder and unravel the mystery of their origins before the killer comes for her too. Start reading REPLACEMENT Free in Kindle Unlimited! 📚 www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6BGX1YM