The Dawnlight Clone Saga

Taking place about 8 years after the Protectorate's move to Alskyr, shortly after the death of Ringo. (About 10 years "ago" compared to certain characters.)

A bit of explanation first off. Dawnlight Chronicles is a story which takes place on Earth, in the 2400s. All the characters used for dragon bonding purposes have been altered to suit the environment. However, with the move between worlds, certain aspects of the Nexus have affected the riders and their timelines.

When Kalkin and his group "broke" reality, he did so on several different levels - with the assistance of other versions of himself on many different worlds. Every connotation of every person exists in the multiverse, and on occasion, especially with the Kshau Protectorate riders, those different versions meet.

They also exchange notes.

In this particular case, it's very possible that the Cyberpunk version of Woody - Eden's Gate's resident medic and clone master - has traveled to Alskyr in place of his Old World (pernese) version. It doesn't matter to him, he's completely incapable of understanding the seriousness of this situation anyway. But given the technology he has access too now, with Alabaster moving freely between worlds and accessing things it's not "meant" to in a roughly mideval society, it was only a matter of time before this mess started up anyway.

What this mess is?

Well, Woody in the "real" Dawnlight is a scientist, a clone master. He rarely assists in regular medical procedures any longer, as he's far more interested in how he can make yet another version of someone. The process involves re-creating a body based upon cell samples, and then growing it to a semi-adult stage in a large mechanical womb. (Or, "clone vat" as they're commonly called.) When the clone body is "ready" ie: whatever age the clone master thinks is best for it, it is dried out, and connected to another device. This is a very important stage in the clone's growth. The machine is basically a network of sensors and plugs which stimulate hormone and nerve activity, in the attempt to recreate the original's brain chemistry and layout. This process is far from accurate, but it is good enough in most cases - copying from one original to the clone via a "net over the head" arrangement - to allow the clone to 'remember' things that they did in their other body, and to become faintly telepathic with their Prime.

Some clones are far closer than others, to their Primes. Some can hardly be told apart, in fact. Others bear very little resemblance to their prime - one side effect of the cloning process it seems, is albinism. So many clones are distinctly lighter in skin and hair color than their Primes. This is not always the case so it is not a good gauge or final point to tell whether someone is a clone or sibling. In some cases, in fact, mutations which occurred on unactivated lines of dna in the Prime show up active in the clone - one might have had a sheen of fur accidentally grow, another might have extra arms. It all depends on how mutated the prime might have been.

As a mad scientist, Woody has made mistakes. Many of them. However, he deals with those as best he can, by treating the clones as he would an autistic child, or to whatever degree they can be useful. Some, he's simply "let go" into the wilderness and they have never been seen again. None of them have ever been outright put to death. Any fatal or too-unusual mutations seen in the clone vat early on, would have allowed him to destroy the sample and start fresh instead of growing them to adulthood first.

In order to produce a true clone, however, the brain and mind of the Prime must be present for the transfer into the clone body. Without that, if a clone is brought to physical maturity without it, they will simply be incapable of anything other than an infant's level of motion, comprehension and speech. They will, in essence, be a blank slate unable to respond as an adult. Growing a "child" from such a state is possible, however, by releasing the clone at a stage of about 1 year (starting from conception, not "birth"). An accurate simulation of child growth can be made, this way. The clone will not be "just like" their Prime of course, they will grow their own memories and experiences and essentially be a genetically-exact sibling, rather than a reproduction.

In the "real" Dawnlight of the ravaged countryside of Earth in 2481 or so, Ringo was killed in a fight outside the Dawnlight auditoriums after a political debate. He was supposed to already be dead, according to records that Dawnlight had (having been thrown out with the dirty laundry, apparently). However, he was alive for a while longer than they knew.

In the "alternate" Dawnlight, after another such discussion, Ri'ngo, rider of Light Brown Khalbalahath was also killed.

But this time, someone saved the body.