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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