Probatur, ut to order, futurus veritas

[governorkang]

Le Prefecture De Police was an impressive building, but that wasn't the reason it had been chosen by the members of the civilian council; it had been chosen because none of the Councilmen (and women) had any ties to it, making it neutral ground. There was also the potential for everyone to have an office with a desk in the same general vicinity if

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[restoresbalance]

Once those asked to present testimony to the Council had finished, and he'd had a few moments to organize his thoughts, Luke leaned forward. He'd never been much of a speechmaker; growing up on Tatooine as a farmboy hadn't exactly made him the eloquent one, not like his sister. But he would do his best.

"I've said before that where I'm from, we've had some experiences with clones," he said. "In our case they were usually soldiers, clones of those with the kinds of abilities that were deemed useful. And that's just how they were thought of by some - useful, and in the end, expendable. But others didn't see it that way. The Jedi, for example, did what they could to make sure that the clone soldiers under their command in the Clone Wars were taken care of and respected."

He took a deep breath. "Most clones were engineered to grow up quickly, and that kind of accelerated aging process meant that methods such as flash-learning were used to essentially download information from a template mind into the mind of the clone." Visions of Thrawn's clone, in the Spaarti cylinder on Nirauan, swam up to the fore of his mind. "Before that process, most clones wouldn't have even been taken out of the cloning tanks. They wouldn't have been able to function.

"But that doesn't mean they wouldn't be alive. My calling has always been to preserve and honor life as best I can, and I can't in good conscience say that a being doesn't deserve that same treatment just because they're dependent on machines for sustaining their life. And just because they're not cognizant right now doesn't mean they can't become that way. It's not a good thing to start doing, thinking of living beings in terms of usefulness, or that they're anyone's property.

"Out of respect for the other members of the crew who are clones, and based on my own thoughts on all this, I suggest we take care of Mei-Xing's clone as best we can, and keep her from being used for repairs, so to speak. Stacy's said pretty clearly she can take care of things if there's a call for something the clone would normally provide."

He sat back, breathing a silent sigh of relief.

[governorkang]

"I, and every other adult individual of my race, are clones. We were created in a different manner than the ones most of you are used to; dark magic was used to warp the eggs of metallic dragons to hatch us instead. We were meant to be weapons in a war, shock troops. The Dragonarmies had originally intended for us to be smart enough to be able to fight better than goblins, but still be tractable, and much to their dismay, we surpassed that," Kang began, wings rustling.

"Now, I have not and will not lie to anyone on this ship about my past, or who and what I and my kind are. Our side murdered, stole, and worse, and we willingly went along with it. It was the only life we knew, and we'd been raised to think that we were doing the right thing. Not only that, but we had been told that no females had ever been created, or would be, to keep us under their control; decades later, we found out that was a lie. Partway into the war, most of the dragon eggs that hadn't been warped yet were recovered by the other side, and the Dragonarmies needed more soldiers.

"One of the three that had worked the spells to create us also made an artifact, called the Heart of Dracart, that took the soul of an existing draconian and split it, making hundreds of copies. Unfortunately, these clones were, to put it bluntly, stupid, were not capable of magic or any of the abilities each type of us possesses, and didn't have a life span much longer than three years. Before Dracart got the chance to use it, the war was lost."

Kang crossed his arms over his chest. "Most of us only knew of this artifact through rumors, and were unaware of all the details of what it did. A little over a year after we had found the females, and had raised them, one of our kind decided to use it. He wanted slaves to follow him, nothing more, and he planned on killing the girls, as well. He was killed before he could use it on too many of the men."

"I pitied them. They always had a lost look in their eyes, and if I had ordered any one of them to kill himself, he would have, with no hesitation, due to the strict obedience training they'd undergone. I had hopes that these draconians would one day regain what they'd lost, so I allowed them in Teyr. They never did. To this day, I wonder if I should have just had them all killed, out of mercy."

[governorkang]

He took a breath, "So you can see that I've had more than my share of experience with clones, and why I'm uncomfortable with the idea of anymore like Mei-Xing's being created. However, we must remember that this clone already exists, and that in this particular case, it will never do anything more than lie in one spot, unconscious. It will never speak, or even open its eyes of its own volition. This was done purposely, yes, but the point is, and one that Mr. Luthor made as well, that it is not sentient, and that is what is important. It is that lack of sentience, despite its physical appearance, that makes it unequal."

"I want to make it clear: while I am of the opinion that Mei-Xing should be able to keep the clone as an organ donor, I am against any further clones being created in such a manner. In any manner, really. Once it can no longer provide any parts she may need for her magic to operate properly, Stacy can then grow them and keep them in storage. If it is decided that she is not allowed to keep it, then I would rather it be destroyed than left hooked to the machines."

And then the bozak paused.

"There is one other thing we must remember, regarding Schmuz, Iniss, and yeerks as a species. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe yeerks need an organic brain to interface with, so creating an inorganic body for them to inhabit won't suffice, unless an organic brain is cloned. That goes right back to the issue currently at hand; the decision we make about Mei-Xing's clone will affect their chances at having a body to call their own, without sharing or taking over another person's. We may, in an effort to ensure that every sentient aboard this ship is guaranteed a body of their own without infringing on the rights of other sentients, have to allow things that we are not comfortable with. It's a difficult choice to make, and no matter what we choose, someone is going to be unhappy. Unfortunately, that comes with our job."

[itsaboutaction]

Superman listened to what the other Councilmen had to say. So far, it was pretty much split. He let out a sigh as he went to speak.

"I'm going to admit something - I've never dealt with this sort of thing. At least not in this sort of magnitude. Cloning and Kryptonian DNA is hard. Before and after Kon, I've dealt with clones of me that literally disintegrated in mind and body." He was referring to the first two Bizarros that his Luthor had created. All that so Luthor could have something of him. "As it stood, though, they were still living and I had to protect them from both themselves and those around them."

"However, this isn't the case. What we're dealing with here, if what we heard is right, is nothing more than an organ bank. And that, I feel, we can't allow to keep going. As everyone's said, Stacy can take care of her needs, she doesn't need to use something this inhumane. At the same time, though..." he let out a sigh and sat back. "...I am abstaining from deciding what becomes of the clone itself."

Sorry, Kon. Sorry, Fate. Getting involved in this from the get-go has made him a bit weary of wanting to make a choice.

[governorkang]

Kang quirked an eyebrow ridge, "Inhumane, Councilor?"

[itsaboutaction]

Superman looked at Kang and noticed that he tread a mark he wasn't supposed to.

"My apologies." he said. "Allow me to rephrase it: something this cruel."

Yeah, this was going to be tougher than he thought. There was WAY too many toes on this ship that could be stepped on.

[lackofdarkwings]

"Regardless of race," said Matt, finally coming out of his meditative pose and giving Kal and Kang a look, "This is a decision that makes up the whole of the council and we shouldn't quibble over things such as our genetic makeup."

Sitting up further, the young man finally seemed to have made a decision on his own opinion. "While in truth we have a comatose clone which will never regain sentience, and no matter how strongly we feel towards certain aspects of it, the fact remains that what we decide here will also impact the Yeerk decision."

"As such, after pondering options, I've been thinking on the matter while everyone offered opinions, and I will now offer my own on the matter."

Matt took a breath and let it out slowly. "I agree with Kang on both matters, as such Mei Xing should not keep the clone in the best interests of preserving rights of the people involved in this conflict and full clones should not be created in the sake of equal rights. However, we should also look into viable options for the Yeerks and their hosts. As such..." And Matt sighed. "As such, I believe we should ensure the protection of their interests, as well as the crew. I believe we should support the clone on life support until the time comes that it passes from the state it is in, but look into creating an artificial form for the Yeerks to inhabit, thus, using the clone for study in a model that could benefit both host and Yeerk and the interests of those involved."

[escapednothlit]

Elfangor had listened quietly, having only returned very shortly before the meeting. Really, he was coming in mostly blind. He knew of one of the issues to be addressed, but that was later.

And listening now...

< There are races in the universe that depend upon clones for their own survival, to continue their race. I would never condone the life of one who is sentient being destroyed, but when there is no sentience, that is a different matter. >

He paused. It was true. For the moment, they have not come across the issue, but the Pod Caverns and the Universe were quite vast. At some point, there may very well be a time that a person would come from a species where clones weren't a convenience, but a necessity.

< I have faith in the crew to be able to tell the difference and being able to defend their crew mates should someone not be able to. Even for the emotional side, the plan suggested for the Yeerks came from one of the younger crew members who, herself, is a clone. >

< I would not condone this to be a common practice. However, for the rare occasions it is an issue, it should be a viable option given that it's monitored heavily to be sure there is no harm to what could be a sentient creature. But in this instance, should Mei Xing be able to gain from Stacy as she can from the clone, then it should either be given a 'merciful' death or kept on life support. If she can't and it's the only truly effective way to protect her sentient life, then it should be used for it's intended purposes. >