On
storytelling and life Justinian was a loner. He was weird, mousy-looking, smelled like gym
socks, and never brushed his hair. He had a roommate (his friend) named Gilford, who was
thin, scraggly, but very clean (since he takes a bath every morning at exactly 8).
Justinian loved his friend very much and could not imagine life without him.
Every year (at different times of the year, since he was not into
schedules), Justinian would collect cell samples from his friend (from his blood, or skin,
or hair) and freeze them, since Justinian was a molecular biologist and was doing cloning
experiments. He had successfully cloned Gilford three times, but he knew that the
resulting clones were not his friend. Because like twins, the clones would look like
Gilford but would be entirely different people, so he just lets them go (there are three
Gilford clones roaming the world at present, one is 9 years old, the other 10, and the
other 15 years old). Justinian had a plan, though.
So when Gilford died one morning (his electric clock fell in his tub
while he was having his 8:00 bath), Justinian knew what to do. He carefully removed
Gilford's brain (along with the spinal cord and major nerves) and froze it. Then he
located the 15-year old Gilford clone, befriended him, and waited for him to mature so he
could transfer Gilford's brain to him and get his friend back (since he believed that all
memories and attitudes and everything are stored in one's brain). He waited for 4 years but
when the clone reached maturity, Justinian found that he did not have the heart to replace
the clone's identity with Gilford's (for they had become friends during the 4 years that
he waited).
With a heavy heart, knowing that he will never see his friend Gilford
again, he pulled out his freezer's plug.
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