THE PRECLOUS THING珍貴之物

趙安康

Zhao Ankang， born on October 22， 1994， is a law graduate from the Henan Police College. Since July 2018， Zhao has been working at the Kaifeng Municipal Ecological Environment Bureau. The Precious Thing is his only published story.

He lay on top of the dune， motionless， his camouflage uniform conveniently blending into the sand.

The wind howled past， and the ground was like asphalt in summer， generating an unbearable heat.

But he remained still. Beads of sweat gathered into wriggling streams on his face， only to be totally absorbed by the dry air before they could fall. He used to be an excellent soldier with determination. Of course， he still was.

He held his breath， and with full attention， he stared at the battlefield in front of him， which was almost distorted by the scorching sunlight. Although the area was obscured by the sand every now and then， he had to fix his eyes on it， and kill every enemy as soon as they appeared in his sight.

In a world populated only by sand， the bodies of enemies were almost welcome embellishments. He blinked slowly. Two consecutive days of guard duty had overloaded his nerves， and such days seemed likely to continue.

Three days ago， when he left the bunker， headquarters had given him an order that had to be obeyed. With mixed feelings， he looked at the vintage-style telegraph transmitter beside him and cursed in his heart： that damn old thing. This “antique” had countless problems—when he sent messages to headquarters， they were able to receive them， and this had already been proven; but he had never received any information back. Still， he could not throw it away， because after all， under the current circumstances， it was his only companion.

He just never thought that he would be in this situation one day—nobody had thought that.

Physically， it was unbearable. These days， even when peeing， he dared not move his eyes from the battlefield. He let out a deep sigh. After all， he was not a machine： he had emotions， and he used to have his own family. The long war had dehumanized him. During the war， he relentlessly killed the enemy soldiers; the enemy women and children， whom he kept alive only due to mercy， would probably kill him once he turned his back. To win， everyone had done unethical things. Although his treatment of enemies was somewhat brutal， it worked. Long-term killing had gradually dulled his conscience.

Subconsciously， he touched the metal thing hanging from his neck and smiled. In his indifferent heart， there were still some tender feelings left. A girls face was irregularly painted in acrylic on the surface of that metal thing， but with the passage of time， some paint had scraped off and the metal showed through at the corners. Over a hundred years ago， people called this thing a phone case.

“Heh，” he smiled， as if mocking himself. “It has been a long time， and my memory is also aging.” Maybe that was the reason he smiled.

He was not a natural person， but a new product of this lamentable age—a clone.

The girl on the phone case was a classmate in his grade at police academy. Both her charming smile and sweet voice had left a deep impression on him; for such a petite girl， she showed such tenacity. During military training， there were some tasks that even he wanted to quit， but this lovely girl persevered without any complaint. Although her shooting results were bad， on the whole she had excelled much more than he did.

He had gradually fallen in love. Whenever he was close to her， he would feel short of breath， just like there was something heavy on his chest. When he got this beautiful photo of her， he printed it on his phone case. He was the kind of person who always had his mobile phone in hand， so each time he took it out of his pocket， he would see her smile. However， as he was shy and not an eloquent talker， he never confessed his feelings to the girl， just watched her quietly. After graduation， the girl made her own career， and he knew that shed gotten married and lived a happy life…until one day， when she and her husband were traveling abroad， the world war broke out.

The enemy country did not keep to the international laws， so at the start of the war， everyone from his country who traveled there were seized as hostages， then killed， including her…Peacetimes were always rare throughout human history. Only in turbulent ages did people know the preciousness of peace. It was funny to think that in history， people could wage wars for various strange reasons： religion， land， resources， and even the smile of a beautiful girl.

The scale of the war had gradually expanded since the beginning， and as other countries joined， the struggle became like a seesaw. As time went on， both sides were short on soldiers. People like him， who had police training， also joined the army to answer the countrys call （or just to avenge some woman）， and involved themselves in the war. Since he showed outstanding performance in battle， he was received by the president， and his blood samples were preserved.

In the middle of the war， some bastard pushed the launch button on nuclear bombs， and the war was immediately escalated. Nuclear bombs exploded everywhere， just like firecrackers， and the explosions did not stop until the surface environment of the Earth was obliterated. Countless people perished， but neither side won， and this had been his last thought before he died.

He let out a heavy breath and ran his tongue over his chapped lips. Now he was a little short of breath—the sun poured its heat onto the ground without any reservation， and as he had been lying on the hot sand for so long， he felt some symptoms of dehydration. Although there was a water bottle tied to his leg， he dared not make any big movements. The enemy knew that he was in this area， and perhaps they had already sent soldiers to kill him.

He tried his best to collect a little saliva in his mouth， and then he swallowed it. He gently moved his left hand to his chest and touched the phone case.

The corners of his mouth curled upward.

When hed woken up in the bunker， he could hardly believe it. His country had mastered cloning technology before the war， and some low-level clones had already participated in various dangerous tasks during the war. Today， as the cloning technology was much more advanced， it only took four months for an embryo to grow into an adult， and some cloned soldiers even had their own consciousness.

Was he still himself after being cloned？ He had been thinking about it for a long time. As a cloned adult， at the moment he woke up， he retained all the memories he had had as a natural person. He could remember the taro cooked by his mother; he could remember the happy moments he spent in internet cafes with his friends; and naturally he could remember her， the charming girl in university…But now he was just a tool that could walk， a machine made to kill.

The enemy also mastered this technology， and this meant that the war would continue. How funny it was！ You could never escape it even when you died. Although the enemy soldiers were also clones， as long as he thought that one of them used to be the natural person whod killed the girl， it was difficult for him to let go of his hatred.

A large number of cloned soldiers had been sent out of the bunker. More than a hundred years had passed， but the damage that the Earth suffered was still too monumental to be healed—the surface had become desolate due to nuclear explosions， and the ecological environment was totally destroyed. However， even under these circumstances， the survivors didnt consider how to make up for the mistakes they had made， how to recover the ecology of the Earth. Instead， they were thinking about how to continue the unfinished war.

Due to a shortage of materials， many clones did not even have clothes. The clones on the ground dared not violate the orders issued by their superiors in the bunker. When the first batch recovered their memories， they were dissatisfied with their superiors and rebelled. Thereafter， all cloned soldiers were implanted with remote-controlled bombs， and had no choice but to fight and kill the enemy. If they were lucky， some were able to take the enemies equipment and other belongings.