"I knew this would happen. What was I thinking? Leaving a child in the house all alone with that machine." uncle Russell muttered walking back and forth in the living room. This has been going on since the past fifteen minutes and my knees were starting to hurt. I was kneeling down in the center of the living room and Sean was watching TV. The replicas were still in my room and we locked the door for the meantime.

"Sorry" I whispered and he just looked at me for a second before sighing.

"It's not your fault, what did I expect?" he said taking a seat on one of the sofas.

"Can I sit down now?" I asked because my knees were now killing me.

"You gave yourself the punishment." Sean said rolling his eyes and I sat down. It was true though, I felt bad for making uncle Russell worry on my first day here so I knelt down as a form of apology.

"What's the machine for anyway?" I asked, the question has been bugging me since i set my eyes on the clones. Sean turned off the television and we looked at uncle Russell for an answer.

"Okay." uncle Russell sighed, "let me tell you kids a story."

"Yes!" Sean said earning a glare from my uncle. "Sorry."

"Well I was a prestigious man back in my days, in the 1930's -"

"What?!" I exclaimed, this man should be in this forties.. what is he talking about?

"Let me finish." uncle Russell said and I closed my mouth, " I was a biologist and I had a friend with a complicated past..."

Flashback
Russell's POV

"So what you are telling me is, that machine has the ability to make a carbon copy of you? How is that even possible?" I said to Fredrick utterly confused. Fredrick moved to town two months ago and we've gotten along quite well except for the times Fredrick acted like a crazy man.. like now.

"You have to believe me. This machine has the ability to create multiple versions of a person." Fredrick said hurriedly, "now those multiple versions are trying to be me, they are looking for me right now."

"Fred.."

"You got to help me man, this is serious. My life is at stake here." he said ruffling his hair tiredly. Fredrick was in his late thirties and he didn't look his age at all when I first met him but now wrinkles were starting to show and the bags under his eyes showed the sleepless nights he has had.

"Fine. What do want me to do for you?" I asked giving in.

"I need to find a way to get the clones back into the machine." he stated seriously.

"How do we do that? I mean, how do I help you do that? I didn't even know that this sort of machine existed till now." I asked.

"We have to find a way." he said and I sighed sitting back on my chair, "Russ you are the smartest person I know that can help me, please."

"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime you should get some sleep, you need it." I said to him and he gave a big sigh of relief.

"Thanks man, I owe you one." he said, "I have an idea. It's like a theory, I just need you to look through it." he added handing me a sheet of paper which I took and looked through.

"Do you think this one would work?" I asked raising my brow at him.

"I don't know. I thought I should at least have a plan in case of an emergency" he said putting on his glasses.

"Have you tried physically harming the copies?" I asked, if he needs them to go away he can use the good ol' rifle.

"I've tried something like that and I found out that anything that happens to them happens to me. It's like they are a part of me" he explained tiredly. What in heavens name are those copies?

"Oh ok, I'll take that into consideration." I said giving him a small smile.

******
2 weeks later.

"Dr Brown, a letter came in for you." my assistant, Willow, informed.

"Ok, drop it on the desk." I said nonchalantly, I was too focused on the theories I was deriving. The only solution to Fredrick's problem is to reverse the mechanism of the machine and it'll suck the copies back into the machine but on the contrary, since anything that affects the clones also affects Fredrick, he might get sucked in too. I cancelled yet another theory. I opened the envelope on the table and saw that the letter was from Fredrick.

My good friend, Russell, I'm writing to inform you that I have a feeling that the copies have found me. I don't have a choice but to carry out the plan I gave you. Although there may be after effects or consequences but I have no choice at the moment than to go through with this. If anything should happen to me, send my will to my father and wife. My boy should be two by now, tell him his pa loves him. Thank you my friend for being there to help me.
Your friend,
Fredrick.

I folded the paper back and ran out of the laboratory immediately. I quickly boarded a bus to the nearest train station, I need to get to Fredrick before anything happens.
******
"Fredrick!" I called out. I arrived at his place only to find the place devoid of any human. "Fredrick!" I called out again but all I got in response was a knock. I headed towards the direction of the sound and I saw a machine, probably the machine Fredrick has been talking about. I heard the knock again and this time I am sure it was from the machine, I realized that my worst fear had come true, Fredrick got sucked in.
******
End of flashback
Camilla's POV

"Years passed and I still searched for a clue, something that would help me free my friend. I was getting old and I knew that if anything happened to me, Fredrick would be trapped in that machine for God knows how long, so I created a genetically engineered body and with the help of a close friend, we fixed my brain into the body and my consciousness and everything is now in this body." Uncle Russell concluded his quite interesting yet confusing story.

"So that is why you never got older.." I said finally understanding why my uncle was forever young.

"Mhmm" he agreed.

"And your friend is still trapped in that machine?" Sean asked intrigued.

"Yes." uncle Russell agreed again.

"How is a photocopying machine able to create replicas of a human being? Who created the machine? Why.."

"Cam, calm down. I have a lot of questions like you. That's the reason I'm trying all I can to bring Fredrick out of that machine, he's the only one that can answer our questions." uncle Russell said cutting me off and I nodded in agreement.

"How old were you when the Fredrick came to you for help?" Sean suddenly asked uncle Russell.

"Around forty, why?" Uncle Russell replied.

"So.. you're like a hundred and twenty-eight years now" Sean said grinning and I shook my head, this kid.

**********
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Thanks for reading

-Korisa