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Thirteen years later, as the waves tossed him about, Blaze still maintained it was fun to be a merman. All the same, he was grateful for the chance to come up for air, and as he shook the water out of his eyes, he took a deep breath.
Things had not gone to plan for him and his father, and not long after they'd moved to Calexico, his grandmother, Rosa, had used her family living across the border in Mexicali to harrass Blaine, forcing the father and son to up sticks again only a few months after moving to the border town. Years of stressful moves had followed until, finally, at the age of sixteen, Blaze told his grandmother to back off. He'd never known her, and their one meeting ended abruptly after he gave her that talking to. She'd threatened to have him taken away, but Blaine had stepped in and told Rosa to leave before he called the cops on her.
That had been a few months ago, and now, as Blaze went under again, he thanked whoever was listening that he and Blaine could finally settle down. They'd moved to Chicago a few months ago, and now that Rosa had been told to get lost, Blaze finally felt like he could live a normal teenager's life. Well, as normal a life as a teenager could do when he and his genetic twin brother had had their DNA altered to provide a cure for some of the world's deadliest and incurable diseases.
As he dived down to the bottom, he thought back on what Blaine had told him - Blaine, as a teenager, had had a sample of his DNA taken, and that sample had, some years later, resulted in Blaze's own birth. But what neither of them had known until very recently, was that Blaine's father Blake had been the basis for Blaine's birth - as with Blaze, Blake had had a sample of his DNA taken when he was a teenager, and Blaine had been born as Blaze's "son" and genetic twin. In fact, tracing their family history back, Blaine and Blaze had discovered their ancestor, Blaney Conner, was the progenitor for the subsequent sons/clones. That was why all Conner boys, from that point on, had been named with names starting with B-L-A, referencing the fact all of them were clones.
It was very disturbing thinking, and as Blaze swam along the sandy bottom, he wondered if Blainey's grand plan had finally reached its fruition with his own "birth". Years of cloning had produced men with highly advanced immune systems that proved far more resistent to most diseases. It was possible, Blaze thought. But what if it wasn't?
Blaze told himself not to worry. He'd get himself tested one of these days, and if he didn't prove to be the "end result" of his many-times-great-grandfather/clone, well, the buck was going to stop with him. He wasn't going to subject future generations to the same nightmare he and his ancestors had been put through. If his DNA wasn't good enough, it would be too bad. Blaze had the intention of fathering a son - or daughter - through more conventional means, and any naturally born descendants after that could provide the DNA doctors were so desperate to get their hands on.
But the cloning - no, the cloning had to stop. It had caused too much stress for far too long, and Blaze vowed, as he floated deep under the surface, that he would be the last clone to come out of a test tube.
END
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