Republic of Heroes
Table of Contents
Prologue Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 Chapter 41 Chapter 42 Chapter 43 Chapter 44 Chapter 45 Chapter 46 Chapter 47 Chapter 48 Chapter 49 Chapter 50 Chapter 51 Chapter 52 Chapter 53 Chapter 54 Chapter 55 Chapter 56 Chapter 57 Chapter 58 Chapter 59 Chapter 60 Chapter 61 Chapter 62 Chapter 63 Chapter 64 Chapter 65 Chapter 66 Chapter 67 Chapter 68 Chapter 69 Chapter 70 Chapter 71 Chapter 72 Chapter 73 Chapter 74 Chapter 75 Chapter 76 Chapter 77 Chapter 78 Chapter 79 END ExtraChapter 61
Having strolled through this busy metropolis full of scattered high-rise buildings with built-in solar panels invented by the numerous quadrillion microscopic machines and the additional assistance of his clones, it has created such a breathtaking sight to behold for him and anyone who is fortunate enough to come here.
Trees, plants, and grass are also abundant as far as the eyes can see in the distance, while the artificial sun shines brightly with pleasant heat, making Carter walk casually through the street sidewalk, taking his time to admire everything around him and enjoying the sights.
Pluto, now claimed and renamed to be Planet X, is paradise for him and the people he cared about only; there isn't any conflict or misery, and no one here knows the suffering of loss or pain since all those billions of people are essentially his clones who shared one mind and soul.
Something he is proud of as he passes through many of his doppelgangers that went on their merry way without paying attention to him. Despite their different roles and attires, they all know their assigned duties and the beliefs they share together, becoming the true extensions of their own selves that he has grown fond of.
Even the occasional sound of distant laughter or banter from his duplicates brought a smile to his face. He wondered how they were able to maintain such a jovial mood in the midst of their work. Perhaps it's because they've been experiencing his own feelings through the connection they have, but somehow it doesn't really bother him much anymore after all this time getting used to it.
So far, everything's going well until a clone wearing a leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers suddenly bumps into him. Stumbling forward, he fell to the ground while dropping a pile of books he'd been carrying and scattering them everywhere. "Careful," he scolded him, hastily picking them up and reorganizing them into his own two hands. "Watch where you—" His eyes widen from seeing who he landed himself into.
"The original," the clone said in surprise before picking his books and scrolls from the ground, "my apologies." He bowed politely, continuing his task once again, "I wasn't looking where I was going; forgive me if I caused any inconveniences to you."
Offering his hand to this particular clone to help him up, making the doppelganger blush embarrassingly from his own mistakes as he grabbed it firmly. "No harm done," Carter replied, pulling up the other man to his feet once more. "What's your name?" He asked curiously, for even though they were nearly the same person, each of his cloned selves had their last names changed to differentiate one another.
"Randolph Becker," he said in a calm, collected manner, his eyes then directed at his injured hand, "hey, uh, what happened to your hand, original?" Concerned about seeing his fellow brother wounded in such fashion, he asked, "Did you hurt yourself again?" Questioning Carter's action for being careless about injuring himself in the first place.
Narrowing his eyes at his clone's words, he stared at the palm of his right hand with annoyance and said, "yeah..." He gritted through clenched teeth, sighing heavily in frustration at his foolishness, saying, "It's nothing though; it will heal in no time," reassuring Becker that it's all right.
"You know, original, I can heal your hand if you help me carry these books of mine," Becker made an offer to his creator and brother. "It's fine by me as long as we don't bump into each other again," he awkwardly grinned stupidly at his own words, making Carter roll his eyes in exasperation.
Realizing that he did not have anything else planned for the day, he gave up on his curiosity about exploring his own world further. Knowing that in this state, he wouldn't be able to do much with an injured hand, "alright, deal," Carter agreed as the two of them took the books and scrolls from him before proceeding to go onward, following behind his clone like an obedient dog, "lead the way then."
Walking leisurely towards their destination, they engaged in friendly conversation throughout their trip. Each of them traded stories and tales of their own as they casually strolled through the streets of this metropolis. Even though he can easily enter his mind at will.
Not that he would want to, preferring his brothers to simply choose their own individuality and free will and be their own selves. If this goes too far, his entire world would collapse under the weight of his own hypocrisy, but he figured that he'd rather be this way than risk becoming a tyrant like kings and gods in ancient times have become.
It is strange to have a conversation with a literal clone of oneself; however, he has begun to realize that talking with this duplicate version of himself is quite enlightening and even funny at times, regardless of how awkward it feels for him to interact with someone exactly like himself.
Even though they have the same appearance and intelligence, he found Becker's perspective on his own life much more interesting than his. While they may share the same beliefs, personalities, and appearance altogether, what separated each of them was the duty they were tasked with and the environmental factors that affected them over time.
The difference between them is almost insignificant compared to others. Even though they are mostly carbon copies of each other, he can see how drastically their views differ on certain matters despite the similarities they have, which made Carter understand that there is no such thing as one singular answer in this world.
"How's Yumi?" Becker asked with a smile, knowing the two of them; there is no reason to keep secrets for all has their minds connected to one hivemind altogether, "last time I checked, she always spends her entire life protecting and caring for you," saying in a amusing manner, making the original blush slightly in response, "but other than that, she's good at what she does if you ask me," admitting bluntly, "I do hope she could stop with her stalking habit though; it's kind of creepy and unsettling if you ask me."
Nodding his head in agreement, "yeah, she has that tendency when it comes to me," he responded back with a calm and composed tone, "if it weren't for her obsession, then perhaps she might as well be a normal person instead of the murderous lunatic maid she is now," making a joke out of the pinkette's antics, making Becker chuckled amusingly at his words, "anyway, where are we heading?"
"My library," the self-proclaimed librarian replied, "just making sure, you still love to read books, right?" Worrying that his brother might have changed over time, "because I wouldn't imagine different clones would give up on reading," he mentioned before turning left on the corner to one building, "it just doesn't feel right to not have a collection of books somewhere in your room after all."
Being the avid bookworm he is, Carter just smiled in amusement, still walking alongside with one another, saying, "Of course I do, don't get me wrong, I simply hadn't forsaken about that as I had a lot of things to do, but the hunger of reading something to the very end never changes over the years, heh," finding the situation somewhat laughable in thinking about his current situation, "What's the topic about anyway?"
Practically beaming with pride, he looked at his twin and said, "Oh, the usual: history, philosophy, fiction, and so on. When we get there, I'll show you,"eventually having arrived at the front of a large, oval-shaped structure that stretches miles around.
Upon entering inside, he saw hundreds, if not thousands, of his brothers going about their daily lives: reading books, browsing shelves, and helping one another out whenever needed. The vast, spacious interior of this building contains nothing but endless rows of wooden tables, each filled with various pieces of literature on different topics, making this place one giant archive of knowledge that's perfect for him.
Analyzing and studying the architecture, he found that the roof was filled with glass to allow the sun and moon to shine through its windows, while the walls were decorated in ornate patterns of flowers, trees, and leaves carved in stone, along with polished marble floors beneath his feet. "Wow, we really made one hell of a library," he said, admiring their own works with satisfaction.
Becker grinned happily, "Thanks for creating us; I always wanted to live a life like this; a simple yet fulfilling one as there isn't anything more pleasurable than learning something new every day," explaining his motive for this role in the first place," walking away to browse through a nearby shelf, "even though our thoughts may differ a bit, all of us are in total sync when it comes to the subject of books," placing back the pile of books he is holding into returning it back to its original location, "some may prefer the fictional genre, while others like nonfiction; in the end, what binds us is the love of knowledge and truth."
Humming in consideration as he followed suit, "true," Carter acknowledged with certainty, "the more we know, the better; that's what life is all about, Becker," he made observation from a philosophical perspective, "to understand and question the world around us," he smiled contentedly, returning the books he previously picked up to their respective places, "and hopefully, someday, we'll get answers."
The two continued their conversation like normal, minutes passing and then an hour as they eventually returned every piece of book that they held back into its original place, pleasing Carter and Becker with this achievement in returning all those borrowed texts back into their homes.
Wiping his own sweaty forehead with the back of his hand, "now, for your reward," Becker declared to the original, motioning him to follow suit towards the back of this library. "I would like you to meet someone that can help you with your injured hand," he explained to him while the latter agreed to his suggestion, for Carter himself didn't want to spend an entire eternity wandering around the streets of his own home world just because of some minor injury to his body.
Trailing after his twin, they eventually passed through multiple rows of tables with his brothers sitting on them before finally a group of his clones conversed with one another about medical-related stuff; their attire consisted of lab coats and glasses to signify their jobs.
When their gaze fell on the original, some were surprised to see him here, while others greeted him with enthusiasm and excitement as "the original!" One of them exclaimed in shock before smiling gleefully, "Randolph Becker contacted us through the hivemind about your little injury," he patted his shoulder, "we'll get started on the procedure immediately."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Carter mumbled with indifference, "just fix my damn hand already so I can continue doing my own business," scoffing with slight impatience at being stuck in one place with numerous eyes staring upon him with anticipation. "Can you guys please stop staring at me and get on with it?" He complained irritably.
To which they agreed and also scoffed at his rudeness: "Always impatient, aren't you, original?" A different clone teased playfully, "Come on, let's just get this over with; if we keep you waiting, I fear that we won't hear the end of it," he stated sarcastically, wanting to get this over with already.
He watched as one of his brothers pulled out a glass jar with nothing inside. "I suppose there is something inside there?" The young man questioned, raising one eyebrow while examining it carefully, "And you want me to put my injured hand in there?" answering himself in anticipation for whatever would happen next, "Am I correct?" He questioned them one more time just in case, awaiting their reply patiently.
"Good job," sarcastically applauding him for his 'wonderful' deduction skills, "now hold still so we can start the healing process," assuring him that all will be fine in the end.
Shrugging his shoulders in an uncaring manner, he complied by having one of his brothers place the open jar on top of his back hand as instructed, resulting of it to rapidly melt and be absorbed into his skin. He then felt something unusual where his own hand began vibrating intensely.
Sensing his confusion, one of them calmly reassured him, "Relax, it's just the nanites beginning the regeneration of your wound. They will mend or cure starting from your hand and then your entire body tissue until it looks as if any injury or disease never existed in the first place; trust me, you'll see what happens once they finish their job," she explained to the other patiently.
"Wow," he whispered breathlessly in awe at the technology they had developed here, marveling at the technology and what they had done with it, "it seems you guys were very busy while I was gone," praising himself in glee for being productive of the invention he did not know.
Bowing courteously, one of them responded respectfully, "Thank you, Original. We worked hard on these little buggers after all." They laughed along with the rest of their brothers, asking, "How's your day as of late?" Quizzed one clone, eager for some juicy gossip around the others, while others stared at him with interest in hearing his answer.
"It's been good," Carter answered honestly, "you can say I spent most of my days doing absolutely nothing whatsoever besides lounging around and whatnot; it's not much, but I did enjoyed myself regardless," telling his story in plain words.
They nodded in synchronization, sharing the same sentiment while also agreeing with their opinion of spending their lives doing nothing as they, too, enjoy relaxing around once in a while. "I wouldn't agree more than that, prime," one of them shrugged casually without giving much thought to what he said earlier, "those days are the best of ours for some reason or other. It is just fun to just laze around while the hours pass by unnoticed," adding more to their discussion.
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