Flip The Switch
written by: Mary Kloster
“I can guarantee you; she will have every memory that Natalie had. She will wake up, and we will explain that she was in a car accident, but she won’t remember it. She will never know that she died and that she is in fact a duplicate.”
“I’ll have my daughter back,” Mrs. Hamilton said.
“Yes,” Dr. Eskew confirmed, “As if she was never gone.”
Karen Hamilton had already decided; she knew she would do anything to get her daughter back, even if it meant this, even if it seemed wrong and unnatural. Karen nodded at her husband Roy, who awaited her answer.
“I’ll need you to sign some papers,” Dr. Eskew said, sliding the digital paperwork across his desk.
Fifty-five hours, that’s how long it would take to grow Natalie from a cell until her body was sixteen years old. The machines would stop the growth process the moment before the accident. Therefore, her body would be intact, without any of the wounds that she had received that led to her death. Karen didn’t understand ninety-five percent of how it worked, and she didn’t care, all she cared about was the result, the survival of her only child.
During the two days Karen stayed busy cleaning house, preparing for Nat’s return. No one in the family was informed of the situation; her brother didn’t even know that Nat had been in a car accident. Thankfully, because of their discretion, she didn’t have to throw out bouquets of flowers, and delete sympathy e-cards. Instead, she did Nat’s laundry, tidied her room, but left it looking normal at the same time. All Nat would know is that she had been in a coma, and that is what the world would know. She didn’t want anyone to treat her differently, why should they, after all, she’d be an exact copy of her old self, herself.
Karen wasn’t nervous during the waiting; she was excited, and ran things as normal. She even kept her regular work hours, talking on the phone for hours on end, answering helpless customers with their technical problems. Meanwhile, Roy was a wreck; he was forgetting things, anxious all the time. Karen’s opposite demeanor only seemed to make him worse, but Karen overlooked it, he’d be fine once Nat was home again and they were all sitting down to dinner together.
By the time they were scheduled to pick Natalie up, Karen made sure to have all her favorite foods stocked in the fridge, and her old laptop fully charged. Karen knew Nat would be dying to go back to her work. She was an avid reader and an even more enthusiastic writer. She’d already had a few stories published, but for the past year and a half, she’d been working on her novel, her masterpiece, or so she called it. Karen had never read a word of “the masterpiece,” but she was eagerly awaiting the day Nat would let her see a page, or for that matter, tell her a snippet of what it was about.
Dr. Eskew eagerly looked at Karen with a warm smile as she and Roy arrived. Karen knew that he’d had over five thousand successful projects and she had no doubt in his skills, after all, the machines did most of the work.
“You may go in now, we’re about to wake her up,” Dr. Eskew said, gesturing for Karen and Roy to enter the room.
“Don’t you have to run some tests first or something,” Roy asked. He was letting his nerves make him skeptical; Karen knew he would be fine once Nat woke up.
“No, we’ve completed everything, but it’s best that when she wakes up, you are both there. She will be groggy, and she won’t understand what’s going on. Treat her exactly as you normally would, and let her know what’s happened to her. Explain the accident, and that she has been in a coma for a few days.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” Karen said. She wanted to shake his hand, but that wasn’t customary anymore, so she simply smiled her gratitude instead.
Natalie Hamilton lay on her back on the hospital bed, looking perfect and serene. The process had been miraculous; she even had the small scar near her right eyebrow that she refused to have fixed. She’d said that scars meant we’d survived something, even if that something was simply smacking her head on a kitchen cupboard. Nat was so clumsy it made Karen laugh.
Without thinking, Karen reached out and grabbed Nat’s wrist and jumped slightly.
“I feel her pulse Roy,” she exclaimed. Roy didn’t appear to be surprised, “Roy, her pulse.”
“Well of course she’ll have a pulse.”
“She looks so perfect,” Karen said as she brushed a piece of Nat’s long brown hair away from her eyes.
Roy didn’t touch Natalie. Karen had to talk him into this, he was adamantly against it, but he couldn’t refuse Karen. She’d let him know that she wouldn’t survive without Nat.
Suddenly, Natalie groaned and shifted her body slightly. Karen let go of her hair but kept her hold on her wrist.
“My daughter,” Karen cooed.
Natalie’s eyes opened briefly and then blinked open and closed fast, adjusting to the bright white lights.
Her pale blue eyes finally opened fully, and she stared at the ceiling for an instant. Karen exhaled a sigh of relief, which drew Natalie’s attention. She seemed to suddenly realize someone was holding her wrist, and she pulled away instantly, pulling hard enough to snatch herself away from Karen.
“Oh, honey, it’s me,” Karen said, mildly hurt by Natalie’s response.
Natalie sat straight up in the bed, even pulling her legs closer to her, staring from Karen to Roy with a terrified expression on her face.
“Who the hell are you,” she asked in an accusatory voice.
“It’s mom,” Karen said.
Natalie looked at her like she was crazy.
“Natalie,” Roy said quizzically.
“Who is Natalie,” Nat answered.
A cold shiver went up Karen’s spine. It worked, she knew it worked, this was just a momentary lapse; it would soon pass.
“Natalie, you’ve been in a car accident, you were in a coma for several days, but you’re fine now,” Karen soothed, as she reached out to touch her daughter again.
Natalie jerked back like a wary cat.
“I don’t know you,” she said.
“Natalie,” Karen said.
“Stop calling me that!”
“Uh, Doctor,” Roy called. Dr. Eskew was watching through the window, and he came into the room, his brows furrowed as he looked at his “patient.”
“What seems to be the problem,” he asked.
“Something’s not right,” Karen explained.
“Where am I, what is this place,” Natalie asked.
Everyone ignored her questions for the moment. Dr. Eskew said nothing.
Natalie glanced down at the hospital gown she was wearing; it was white with baby blue polka dots. “Ew,” she said.
Karen stared at her daughter, not understanding anything.
“Oh my god; my nails,” Natalie stared horrified at her hands. Her nails were always short; she had a bad habit of biting them. “What happened, they’re so short and crooked?”
“She doesn’t recognize herself,” Roy whispered to Dr. Eskew.
Karen looked on anxiously.
The doctor approached Natalie slowly. “Now Natalie, I want you to look at me and,” he started to say.
“I said, stop calling me that!”
“Stop calling you what, Natalie, that’s your name, isn’t it,” the doctor said.
“My name is Celine, it’s always been Celine, and it always will be. I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m not Natalie.”
Karen, Roy, and Dr. Eskew all stared at each other, equally baffled.
Celine jumped out of the bed and got to her feet, a bit unsteady. There was a bathroom attached to the room, and she raced for it, ignoring the others.
Suddenly, a loud scream emerged from the bathroom. Karen went after Celine because to her, she was still Natalie, because losing Natalie, really losing her, was something that Karen could not handle.
“What did you do to me?” Celine sobbed. She had a lock of brown hair in her hand as she stared at herself in the mirror. Tears welled up and spilled over. Without thinking, Karen embraced her in a hug to comfort her, but all it resulted in was more crying while Celine desperately tried to pull away. “Please just let me go,” she begged.
“I can’t,” Karen said, her voice thickening. But when Celine tried again, she let her pull away.
Right in the middle of another sob, Celine suddenly composed herself, a strong look of determination crossing her face, as if something had dawned on her. Karen had never seen that exact look on Natalie’s face before. It struck Karen that perhaps this girl was right, that she wasn’t Natalie, that something terrible had gone wrong. But if that was true, would she ever get her daughter back?
“You,” Celine said, pointing a finger at the doctor as she entered the room again. “Who are you,” she demanded.
“I, I’m Dr. Eskew.”
“Where is my body?” There was a fierceness blazing in her eyes that showed strength that Natalie had never possessed. Karen always thought of her daughter as lovably mousey. Natalie was extremely shy and would rather die than have to boss someone around.
“I don’t know,” Dr. Eskew said nervously. Clearly, he had no clue what was going on. Karen was getting very irritated with the doctor. Roy stood there dazed, like his worst nightmare was coming true; Karen could tell he was regretting this decision.
“What did you do, stick this Natalie in my body and put me in her?” Any trace of tears where completely gone now, Celine was even calm, but still in control of the situation.
“No, I,” the doctor said.
“Sit down,” Celine said, pointing to a chair in the room. Dr. Eskew sat, while Celine looked at Roy and then Karen. Roy took the other chair, and when Karen just stood there, Celine looked from her to the bed. Karen got the idea and sat. She didn’t know how to handle this, Celine; she wasn’t used to this person.
“This Natalie, she’s your daughter,” Celine said.
“Yes, she’s everything-,” Karen answered, but Celine cut her off.
“That’s all I need to know, doctor. Natalie was in a car accident, what happened?”
“She was going to the store to buy groceries for dinner,” Roy stated without emotion. “On the way there, her car was hit from the side, the other driver ran a red light, they weren’t paying attention.”
Celine waited, but no one said anything.
“And,” she demanded in an irritated voice.
“And she died,” Dr. Eskew said, some control coming back into his voice. Karen could tell that he had decided something, he sat up straight and met eyes with Celine; they stared at each other as if they were two cats sizing each other up.
“So, you stuck someone else in her body,” Celine accused.
“No,” Dr. Eskew said defensively. “We cloned her; you are in her cloned body.”
Celine gave a little laugh, “Yeah, right, and you’re Arthur Dunlap.”
Karen and Roy exchanged a look.
“Doctor,” Roy said, “Did you have another patient named Celine?”
“No, of course he didn’t,” Celine answered for him. Roy ignored her.
“No, I’ve never met anyone named Celine before in my life.”
“Liar,” Celine hissed. “I don’t trust him, he’s lying, he knows what he did; he kidnapped me and stuck me in this body because he realized he couldn’t bring your Natalie back.”
Karen’s eyes grew wide, what Celine said made sense.
Dr. Eskew didn’t defend himself. He stared back at Celine, and Karen could tell that he already despised the girl and was probably thinking he should just pull the plug on her. His anger seethed through him, and it made Karen feel an affinity for Celine, even if she wasn’t Natalie, she didn’t deserve to be treated badly, this was just as hard on her as it was on Karen herself. Therefore, right now all the girl had was Karen.
“I want to speak with Celine alone,” Karen said. It was the first time she’d called her by her actual name.
Celine must have realized she was getting nowhere with the doctor because she didn’t object as Roy and Dr. Eskew left the room. She remained standing, but she turned to stand in front of Karen, her arms crossed over herself.
Karen could tell that Celine thought that talking to her would be pointless, but she was willing to try anyway.
“I’m sorry that this happened to you,” Karen said, startling Celine with her opening.
The harsh look on Celine’s face softened slightly, but she remained silent.
“I don’t know what he di,d but the doctor mixed things up somehow.”
“You’re telling me. He must’ve flipped the wrong switch or something.”
An awkward silence existed, neither knowing what to say.
A question nagged at Karen, and finally, she braved herself and asked it.
“Who’s Arthur Dunlap?”
“Really, you haven’t heard of him?”
“No,” Karen said.
“I guess it’s because you guys are so sheltered here, I mean, you must be if you can still clone people.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Arthur Dunlap’s our leader.”
Karen’s face was blank.
“He’s leading our crusade to regain control, put a stop to the Kniks.”
Karen started to think that Dr. Eskew made more than one mistake. She wondered what a Knik was, but she was afraid to ask.
“You really have no idea what I’m talking about?”
“No, Celine, where do you think you are?”
“Well, I don’t exactly know since doctor what’s his name kidnapped me and all, but I was in New York.”
“We’re in Los Angeles.”
“Figures,” Celine mumbled. Kniks didn’t bother much with the West Coast.”
Karen didn’t even think; she just asked. “What year is it, Celine?”
Celine looked at her like she thought she was nuts, “3017 of course.”
A wave of sadness hit Karen, not only was the wrong girl in her daughter’s body, but the girl was mad as well. “It’s 2089.”
“No, you’re lying,” Celine lashed out. She paced the room.
“What’s your last name,” Karen asked.
“Collins, why?”
“Common name,” Karen said to herself.
“Where are your parents, are they in New York?”
“They died, two years ago, they were killed by Kniks.”
“I’m sorry,” Karen said. She realized that not once had Celine felt sorry for what she was going through.
“How old are you?”
“Eighteen, isn’t Natalie?”
“No, she’s sixteen.”
“I’m in a sixteen-year-old’s body?” This only angered Celine more.
This made Karen think. “What do you look like, I mean, that way we can keep a lookout for your body, it’s possible the doctor put someone in your body and he’s just not telling us.”
“If someone is wearing me as a skinsuit, they’d better watch out.” Karen could tell Celine was already plotting her revenge.
Karen gave her an urging look.
“I’m taller than this body, five feet seven. I’ve got long pale blonde hair and sea green eyes.”
A nerve struck Karen; this was exactly how Natalie wished she looked. She’d said it once, long ago, but a mother always remembers a moment when her daughter tells her that she really wishes she looked different, prettier. Natalie was pretty, she wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, but she was a natural beauty. Karen knew that other people didn’t seek her out for her looks; she’d never been on a date, and she was too shy to ever ask anyone herself.
“Do you have a boyfriend,” Karen asked politely.
This jolted Celine out of her mood. She avoided meeting eyes with Karen, like she was hiding something.
“No,” she said flatly.
“But there is someone special to you. Who is he?”
“Forget it, I’m not telling you anything about him or anyone. I don’t trust you; you could just be seeking information from me so that you can get to them,” Celine ranted, an idea dawning on her. “You could be working with the Kniks, maybe that’s why you’re lying to me, why you’re so isolated, and why you can still clone people. Maybe, you’ve figured out how to put a knik in a person, and that’s what you did to me.”
Karen was bewildered. She didn’t have a response to the girl’s ravings.
“Who are you really, what did you do to me,” the girl was really unravelling now. Karen could tell from her stance and her tremors that soon she would get violent, and that scared her. To see Natalie’s body in this way was disorientating.
A thought tugged at Karen’s mind, but it wasn’t possible.
Roy opened the door suddenly, a worried look on his face. He must have heard Celine’s yelling. Karen urged him to stay out; she was fine; she had to know the truth.
“Celine, what’s your Social Security number?”
“My what,” Celine was surprised. “Oh, we don’t use those things anymore; there aren’t enough of us left to bother.”
Karen realized that was the wrong question, too vague, and Celine had an answer.
“Tell me the truth,” Celine said, she was still pacing, waiting for answers.
“What’s your middle name,” Karen said softly.
Celine stopped pacing, she looked at Karen squarely. “I, I, it doesn’t matter.”
“Yes, it does, what’s your middle name, and don’t tell me you don’t bother with those.”
Celine looked confused. “I don’t remember.”
“Why,” Karen asked.
“It’s not something I need, if I don’t need something, I get rid of it.”
“Surely you would know your own middle name.”
Celine grew more agitated; she leaned against the wall opposite Karen and ran her hands over Natalie’s face.
An overwhelming sense of compassion came over Karen, and she got up and went to the girl. She crouched in front of her, putting a hand on her shoulder.
“Celine, this war you’re describing, it isn’t happening, these Kniks, they don’t exist. The year is 2089, and we are in Los Angeles.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I don’t either, but whatever the doctor did, he messed up, and you’ve forgotten the truth, but you’ll remember.”
“I remember everything, I remember when my parents died, I remember when they found me, how they trained me. I remember him, he always smells like lemons.”
Karen thought that was odd. She couldn’t be right, but if the answer to this next question was yes, then she would know for sure.
“Celine, do you have a tattoo?”
Celine looked up at her, thinking her question out of place. “Yes, a butterfly, he did it for me.”
Karen knew. Natalie had always wanted a tattoo, but Roy and she were both adamant against it. For one thing, a tattoo on Natalie would have looked stupid and made no sense. But a tattoo on this girl, this strong, fierce, protective girl, would make her look complete.
Celine was brought a tray of food, which she didn’t eat. The doctor didn’t allow her to leave the room. Roy stayed and argued with him, while Karen made an excuse to go home. She said she needed some time alone to think and process what was going on. In truth, she just needed some time with Natalie’s laptop.
The laptop hummed to life while Karen sat on Natalie’s bed. She guessed the password correctly, knowing how much Natalie had loved her old cat. It didn’t take her long to find the right file and open it.
The first words told her everything.
The Invasion of the Kniks
(Possible title: but it kinda sucks)
My name is Celine Collins, and three years ago the world changed; but it didn’t fully change for me until my parents died two years ago. The soldiers, they found me, they protected me and then they taught me how to protect myself and others, but most important of all, they taught me how to kill a Knik.
Karen was right, she had guessed at the impossible, and now she had proved it. Before the accident, Celine had been a part of Natalie, and now she was her, physically at least. Karen cried, tears of grief rolled down her cheeks, but she wiped them away, a determination growing inside her. Whether it was the ideal situation or not, Celine was going to be coming home with Karen. Celine was a part of Natalie, a part that Karen had never really known, but now she could, and even if that was all that was left of Natalie, it was still a part of her.
- Flip The Switch - May 11, 2025
- The Christmas Bring Back - December 24, 2024
