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Out of the three factions that ruled the solar system, The Kingdom was the largest and wealthiest. It was the first to board spaceships to Mars and Jupiter—the first colonized planets, alongside Venus—after Earth became inhabitable. The solar system wouldn't be where it was today if it wasn't for them and the wealthy families that founded it.

"Esma, how long will this line take?" J asked the Corpse Flower's AI while drumming on his chair's arms. With Patrick gone, he allowed her to pilot the spaceship—her main role was detecting system malfunctions.

"Not long, Master J," Esma replied through the speakers. She used to call him by his full name, Julian Tello. But after Patrick's arrival, she adopted the synth's stance on everything.

J leaned back in his seat and stared out the window. Hundreds of spaceships waited in line to enter Mars. A force field protected the planet from enemies and unforeseen attacks.

Inspection Stations surrounded the planet, each one looking like a stack of binoculars, with Inspectors having the final say on whether or not someone could enter Mars.

"Master J," Dennis called.

J turned to the bot on the floor. Purple blood covered its body after cleaning Patrick's room. I hope he cleans himself soon. "Yes?"

"Do you want to talk about it? About Patrick, I mean. I know he was more than it. I was referring to the situation at hand, involving him and—"

You miss him, don't you? "I know what you mean, Dennis. But now's not the right time."

The bot's eyes lowered sideways, indicating sadness. Dennis was the first one to get an emotion-chip. The engineers had believed if it worked on bots, then it would on synthetics.

"Maybe later." Months later.

"Affirmative, Master J." Dennis walked away with slumped shoulders.

J's heart thumped faster than normal. He put a hand on his chest, and it tapped against his palm. Dennis' last words reminded him of Patrick, and he didn't want to think of him right now. He had important things to take care of on Mars. Whatever Patrick was up to, he trusted the synth to deal with it and return.

"Master J, it's our turn," Esma announced.

Finally. "Send them in."

The airlock opened. A man and woman in red power suits entered, laser rifles slung on their backs and neutralizers on their hips. Ten drones hovered around them.

"Welcome, Inspectors. I'm Detective Julian Tello." He shook their hands.

"Me wi guh look around," the woman told the man, who nodded at her. Five drones followed her.

The man held a datapad. It had J's face on the screen. "State unnu biznizz, detective."

The Universal Authority used to be a Non-Faction Organization (NFO). But with them wanting to explore the universe, they needed funding. The Kingdom provided them with that, and helped broker a deal with the leaders of Pluto to build a Police Academy on the planet.

When it came time for TUA to align themselves with a faction, they chose The Federation instead. It pissed off The Kingdom, who decided to ban members of TUA from its planets—Mars and Jupiter—and used its influence to discredit the organization.

It didn't last.

The Universal Authority had already gained notoriety throughout the system, and no one could stop them from patrolling conquered space. But the hate between the Martian law enforcement and TUA operatives remained, though one-sided.

I don't want any trouble. "I'm meeting Susan Goodman," J said. "I've provided all the necessary information."

The inspector kissed his teeth when he realized J was telling the truth. "Ih seh here yuh hab two dead bodies pan board."

J nodded. "Olivia and Monica Pauly."

The man's eyes widened. "Yuh a di one ahuu ketch Monica's killers?"

"Yes. You knew her?"

"Nuh, buh every Martian hear bout her death." The man scratched the back of his neck and laughed. "Sorry fah being an asshole. Me get carried aweh wid our rivalry. Yuh ketch di bastards ahuu murdered ah Martian. An fah dat, yuh have me gratitude."

J didn't know what to say. This wasn't how he expected the conversation to go. Marvin had informed him how hostile Inspectors were. They made it hard for detectives to enter Mars. Sometimes it led to fights because of the hostility.

I should be solving more dead Martians' cases. "No problem, Inspector..."

"Inspector August," the man said. "Hey, Amin," he called out to the female inspector as she headed their way.

"Wah?" She glared at J.

"Dis a di detective dat ketch Monica's murderers," Inspector August said.

Inspector Amin's facial expression softened. "Yuh nuh seh."

"Me duh seh." He turned to J. "Welcome tuh Mars, Detective Julian. Me hope yuh have ah lovely time."

J wanted to ask if they were sure they didn't want to check the dead bodies for anything illegal inside them. But he didn't want to seem ungrateful and miss out on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Thank you," he said instead before shaking their hands.

After they left, J returned to the cockpit.

"Where to?" Esme asked.

"Let's start with Susan," he answered.

A hole opened in the force field, and the Corpse Flower went through it, arriving in Martian airspace and sailing through the skyway. Drones hovered on each side, producing bright lights that acted as barriers, making sure spaceships didn't crash into each other.

"The State of The Founding Fathers," Dennis said before jumping on the control panel, putting his hands on the window, and staring outside. "It's beautiful." Skyscrapers filled the ground as vehicles sped along the highways. "Is this what they call Heaven?"

"It's a utopia," J corrected him. "Nowhere close to Heaven."

Dennis turned to J. "What's the difference?"

"With a snap," J snapped his fingers, "utopias can turn into dystopias. And with The Kingdom practicing totalitarianism, it will happen sooner rather than later."

"Would you like me to give you facts about this city?" Esme said.

"Yes, please," Dennis replied with a cheerful tone.

"We are in New Age, the first populated city in the state. Duncan Candum was the first mayor. But he secretly ran a pedophile ring that kidnapped children from all over the system and—"

"No one wants to hear any of that. Take us to Susan's home in silence," J said. Though he came off harsh, he had to stop her, not wanting to be reminded about Duncan. The history books had whitewashed what the man had done. The truth was, the whole state was built on human trafficking and pedophilia.

"We're here," Esme announced.

"Wow!" Dennis shouted, jumping up and down.

Wow, indeed. J stared at the large field of green below, large enough to be a town. It had five tall buildings: one was at the center, and the others stood at the corners. Black roads led in and out, and a thick metallic wall surrounded the area.

"We're being scanned." A bright blue light passed through the spaceship. "Scanning complete. We're clear for landing."

The holo-words SU'S CLONING STATION glowed and spun above the building in the middle. It had one large landing pad, capable of fitting five spaceships the size of the Corpse Flower.

After docking, J walked out, finding Susan Goldman standing outside. She wore a white shirt, black pants with matching boots, and a white lab coat. Two guards in black suits stood behind her, with two medics in blue scrubs to her left.

When he had contacted her about Oli's death, she had replied, "I know," before sending him coordinates to her cloning station.

"Julian Tello, aka Detective J. Weh Olivia's body?" she asked with a stoic expression and her hands behind her back. Her oily dark skin reminded J of Cybil. But the Bantu knots on her head removed all thoughts of his late wife. Cybil would have never styled her hair like that.

"In the infirmary," J replied. "Dennis," he pointed at the bot standing on the ramp, "will show them where it is."

Susan nodded at the medics, and they went into the spaceship carrying a stretcher. Dennis followed, excitedly firing questions at them.

Susan moved closer to J. When the guards tried to go with her, she raised a hand and they stood in place. "When Cybil spoke about yuh, me imagined yuh tuh look more... heroic," she said.

"Age trumps heroism," J replied.

Susan chuckled. "Is dat wah yuh tell yourself?"

"I wouldn't expect a Martian to understand. You have clones. You die old and wake up young."

"Buh we still die." She pushed her falling glasses up her nose and cleared her throat. "Me ah busy ooman, Julian. Yuh ave until when di medics waak out wid Olivia's bady tuh aks any question."

This was the moment J had been waiting for since Olivia walked into his life. "For how long did you know Cybil? Why did you agree to clone us when we aren't Martians? How many clones does Olivia have?"

Susan smiled, revealing her pearly white teeth. Everything about her screamed perfect specimen. "Me and Cybil grew up togedda at the orphanage. When we were teens, me got adopted by de Goodman Family, an' she remained behind an' joined di army."

Though Cybil never spoke of Susan, she did say she grew up with a best friend who ended up leaving the orphanage. No one had wanted to adopt her, so she put all her efforts into becoming a soldier. After a year in the military, she left Jupiter and went to Pluto where she joined the Police Academy and became a detective.

Susan continued. "Years latah, Cybil contacted me an' asked me tuh mek her ah clone. Buh dis wud be ah different one. Yuh si, deh a two types ah clones: one-blooded an' two-blooded.

"One-blooded a made fram an individual's blood. Dey a empty shells, waitin' fah di original bady tuh die. It can't function on its own. While two-blooded a made fram di blood ah two people. Dem have thoughts an' dreams, goals an' ambitions, an' whatnot. Buh dem can't be cloned."

J's heart started beating fast. No, it can't be. He didn't want to jump to conclusions. There was a reason Susan wasn't fazed by Oli's death. "If they can't be cloned, then what happens to them?"

"Dem die." She noticed the frown on J's face. "Buh dat's nuh di case wid Olivia."

Wait, what? Crease lines marked J's forehead as he stared at Susan. "I don't understand."

"Before me tell yuh di ansah, me waan yuh tuh know dat de reason me did dis was dat me owed Cybil. Eff it wasn't fah her, me wud'n bi weh mi is todeh. Cybil knew how much mi waah tuh cut Jupiter an' go tuh Mars. On Adoption Day, she made sure every couple fram Mars saw me before di oddas. Me owe her me life."

Warmness washed over J's chest. Knowing Cybil, she never told him that because it would seem like she was bragging. In their dynamic, he was the braggadocious one, and she rolled her eyes at every bit of nonsense he spewed.

"That sounds like her." He smiled, tears welling in his eyes. I miss her so much.

"Me nuh know how Cybil knew bout two-blooded clones. Dem a reserved fah di wealthy and powerful. Nuh even government officials know bout dem. Buh somehow, she did."

"Cybil was smarter than people gave her credit. She was invisible to most, and that allowed her to know a lot of shit."

"Or her bredda told her. He's di Chief of The Universal Authority, after all."

J chuckled. "That too."

"Nuh worry bout Olivia. Di two-blooded clones can have dem consciousness transferred to anada sleeve. Me have one eena me lab."

My daughter will live again. J almost cried.

"Buh yuh have tuh understand something; deh might be sum ramifications."

"Like?"

"Memory loss. Hopefully, it won't be permanent."

The medics walked out carrying Olivia's body, heading for the building in the middle.

Susan patted J's shoulder. "Best of luck, Julian. Don't die."

"Same to you, Susan."

"Dr. Susan."

"Of course."

They shook hands before Dr. Susan left with the guards.

J returned to the Corpse Flower with a big smile on his face. He couldn't wait to see Oli again. Next time, he was going to make sure he spent all his time with her. Everything he missed out on when she was growing up, he would do it. But first, I have to go read a book on how to be a dad.