Date: Wed, 8 Apr 1998 22:44:47 -0700 (PDT) From: Rauhnee Ranshanka Subject: Cloning Christian Berger wrote: > > Dedo20 wrote: > > Has MKC developed Cloning? I mean, if you look at the > enforcers and the kats that were in "The Wrath of Darkat" > when Darkat was attacking the reactor, the ten or so gaurds, > they all looked the same! All the enforcers have the same > grey fur, black nose thang with the same face shape except > for Felina, Steel, Smitty, and Feral. Do they like, clone > drones to do the dirty work while the biggies sit back? Most of the biggies (Ulysses, Felina, Jake and Chance while on the force) don't just sit back, but I agree with the sentiment. It would also explain the diversity in the civilian population and the lack of it in the Enforcers (on the other hand, have you ever looked at a military force in action? Those guys look like clones too and we *know* they aren't). > Well cloning is easy to do. YOU can do that in YOUR kitchen. Not really, even at fairly high Tech Levels. But from hints given in the show (The Origin of Dr. Viper is the one I'm thinking of), they are already mucking around with genetic manipulation (whether they grow the result normally or are playing with adult specimens I don't know), which is a couple steps past cloning in the usual progression. And that story is set a before the series actually begins. > But woudn't the clones rebell against their treatment? > I mean clones are kats, too. I don't see how they are treated badly, they just have a short life expectancy (but so do anyone who joins a military and conscription works pretty well). With the properly worded explanation, most clones could consider what they are and do a good thing and more than worth the price. We don't actually know what is in Enforcer HQ beyond some living quarters and office space (and that's a big building -- all sorts of fun stuff could be inside and that's assuming that it does not have underground portions). > But if the character can be cloned (not shure) you could > clone someone who doesn't mind doing those things. Cloning is not the normal word for copying a personality/ mind/ memories, it's usually called braintapeing. It is possible and used (in a fashion) in the show. The Metallikats were braintaped before they died and those recordings transferred to their machine bodies. That this transfer was an experimental one can be explained as well even with full cloning common -- the transfer to a machine is *much* harder (different types of construction after all). Back to why the Enforcer Clones wouldn't mind their fate (arguments that Enforcer life might be *very* good aside). As long as the Cloning Program for the Enforcers was a planned event and not an emergency solution (and it does not look like it to me), selecting the half dozen or so personalities to begin the program could be done *very* carefully over a long period of time to ensure there are no hidden surprises. This selection presses could have been as carefully done with the body as well. Couple more thoughts (story thoughts really). On the same count that we don't know how good Enforcer life is after shift, we don't know how bad it is either (this might explain why Jake and Chance weren't very upset about getting kicked off -- at least I got the impression that they are mad about the excuse used, not leaving itself. I'm USMC, conditions weren't wonderful, but they're a lot better than a Salvage Yard and the Enforcer building is at least couple decades newer than my barracks were -- and we don't hear Jake and Chance complain about the living conditions). A rebellion may well be brewing and we just don't see it in the show (we don't see inside the Enforcers, particularly the segment that would be cloned). Maybe a subsidiary reason (the real one) that Jake and Chance got kicked out was because they refused to be braintaped for Cloning and dashed Ulysses' dreams of an entire force as good as them (kind of a scary thought really -- an entire military composed of Razors and T-Bones, could be fun too. Be afraid, be very afraid). There is a lot of potential options involved in having clones be the correct answer to "Why do so many Enforcers look alike?" -- ----------------- Rauhnee Ranshanka GateKat@SWATKats.Net ************************************************************************* "The universe is run by the complex inter-weaving of three elements; energy, matter, and enlightened self-interest." G'Kar to Garibaldie Babylon 5 ************************************************************************* -------------------<< Advertisement >>------------------- 200,000 exposures for $450? Where? --> Coollist - http://www.coollist.com/advertise.htm ---------------------------------------------------------