“Your lives are set out for you. You’ll become adults, then before you’re old before you’re even middle-aged, you’ll start to donate your vital organs. That’s what each of you was created to do. You’re not like the actors you watch in your videos, you’re not even like me. You were brought into this world for a purpose, and your futures, all of them, have been decided”, I said, right after the clone boys had their conversation on what it would feel like if they became actors in the future. Finally, I get to say something that I have wanted to say for a long time. I am really sorry for their tragic life, but the only way to lessen their future pain is by telling them the truth right now. Lies about the reality of their existence would not help at all. I can see the shock and confusion in their innocent eyes…poor clones.

I still remember that day, when I was four, I saw an announcement on Television saying immortality would no longer be an impossible dream for the human race. Human clones were born to sustain our lifespan by donating their vital organs to us who will suffer diseases or organ damage one day in the future. There was a group of scientists who worked on gene duplication for more than a century and finally gained the capability and designed the right technology for cloning. The technology for cloning recombinant DNA is still in rapid development nowadays. My mother told me that this invention was originally utilized by government officials who wanted to be immortal and forever enjoy their power and reputation. After a short time, it was introduced to the family members of officials and wealthy capitalists. About fifteen years later, they decided to publicize the organ replacement method to the public, which was two days before I saw this news on TV.

I’ve heard a lot of different opinions and perspectives on the development of human cloning and the organ donation system since the publication. Some would argue that this invention brought us closer to the ultimate goal of immortality and foreshadowed the potential of the human race, while some believe that lifespan should not be adjusted using artificial approaches because this went against the will of gods. There was also a group of people naming the donation program a “state-sanctioned murder program”, which was valid because governments truly are bringing clones into this world and then killing them mercilessly after their vital organs mature. I stayed neutral on this topic for the first half of my youth, until an opportunity arrived and allowed me to take a glance at the life of clones from a closer window.

Three years ago, I was an art and music teacher at an elementary school. My teaching style was to encourage the children regardless of their achievements and guide them to find their own unique potential. I had been working in that position for two years when I saw the job posting for Hailsham, the school of clones, which immediately triggered my curiosity.

I arrived at the Hailsham boarding school on a rainy morning. The principal greeted me in their office along with several members of staff. They assigned me the job of “guardian”, describing this position as a “mother” role that required great patience and sympathy. Before I went to my new dorm, I walked around the campus to see if the clones were behaving differently from the students at my old school. Surprisingly, they acted seemingly the same…except for a boy with mud all over his shirt. He was standing there raving, flinging his limbs about, at the sky, at the wind, at the nearest fence post. Then, a girl approached and comforted him, even though the comfort did not help.

Weeks later, I became more familiar with my job and what Hailsham was like. I discovered that all the other teachers and guardians at Hailsham were trying to portray an imagined utopian society for the students. They would allow the students to dream about their future occupations, future lives, and future status, keeping the real world and the real fate of clones to themselves. Under this type of educational system and belief, the clones would be frightened of their real future by the time they graduated Hailsham, by the time someone introduced them to the concepts of “donor” and “carer”. “Donor” is the clone who donates his organs, while “carer” is a clone who takes care of donors and will become a donor after he completes his mission as a “carer”. This whole thing seemed to be unreasonable to me — I thought victims should have the right to know their fate and the circumstances they are in. Deception would only add another layer of misery to the clones. 

I went up to the boy I had seen the first day and asked what was he annoyed about. His name was Tommy and he said that he was upset about his lack of creativity. I had guessed this to be the reason because, at Hailsham, the top priority was to show off the clones’ creativity. This way, the school could show the outside world that clones did have souls and could think like human beings. Among all the students, Tommy was the unlucky one, as his creativity was not as strong as everybody else’s. I didn’t always go with the flow and I felt it was unnecessary to force every student to have a creative mind because people, or clones, have talents in different areas. Moreover, there was no point in exploiting clones and belittling their self-esteem before their death in the near future. Their existence was already tragic enough. 

So I said to him directly: “You shouldn’t worry too much about creativity. Don’t mind what other people are saying”.

Tommy replied with hesitation: “But…every other teacher said creativity is what determines whether or not our drawings will be selected for the gallery”.

“So you do know the full story behind the gallery? You realize that your drawing collection isn’t only used to show creativity?”

“What does this mean…?”

I couldn’t help shaking. I don’t know why. This boy in front of me was going to die in less than ten years and knew nothing about his fate; knew nothing about who he truly was; knew nothing about why he was compelled to be creative. The lives of these kids are just…too pathetic. Although I didn’t want to show these kinds of feelings towards the students, as it would make them feel worse if they understood the situation they were currently in, my tears came beyond my control. Tommy was standing there trying to ask more questions, raising his hand up, looking a little nervous and reserved, then putting his hand down after he thought it was not the right time to interrupt me.

After I calmed myself down, I told him: “All I can tell you today is that it’s for a good reason. A very important reason. But if I tried to explain it to you now, I don’t think you’d understand…One day, I hope, it’ll be explained to you.”

Now, back to the present moment. You see, after all the curiosity, confusion, and frustration I’ve been through, I cannot hold these emotions to myself anymore. The children should have the right to know their fate before it actually comes, to avoid disappointment and helplessness. Now that everyone is gazing at me without a sound, I try to relieve this cold moment by saying, “It’s not so bad now. Let’s just go out there. Then maybe the sun will come out too”. I know this sounds awkward, especially after the speech I had made, but these are the only words that come out of my mind. I guess I’ve just disobeyed the rule of Hailsham because we aren’t supposed to expose the real existence of clones and the donation program to our students. Never mind, at least I spoke the truth and the children should start to realize their regulated lives out there. I hope the clones can spend their years in Hailsham happily because this is the only safe place for now.

Humans are selfish, I know. But what else can they do?