But before I bit into the proverbial apple, there was another matter of the heart I had to attend to.

“I want to be with you, Andria, but first, I need to know if you’re even capable of loving me.”

“Ike, I do love you.”

“Love has to be more than just words or sex, love means placing the other person’s needs before your own.”

“Tell me what I can do to prove that to you.”

Squeezing her hand, I led her to the cephaloped trap. Pressing my face to the porous acrylic surface, I could smell the musk of Oscar’s fur, but between the darkness and the reflection of the Holy City’s habitats glowing orange in the distance, I couldn’t tell if my eight-legged companion was still alive.

“I don’t understand. Why do you care about this creature?”

“This creature saved my life. Twice. If you truly love me, then release him. Release my friend.”

“Ike, the octopeds are our enemy. They are godless vermin who seek to destroy humanity.”

“Who told you that?”

“It’s fact, passed down from the beginning, when the Creator returned life to the new world. It is said that humans once ruled the land, the octopeds the sea, and there was peace. But the octopeds were jealous of man and desired to rule the land, and so they sent an object from space to destroy the moon.”

“Andria, that isn’t true.”

“It is true. The moon will return in six days, you can see the damage for yourself. The moon survived, but the impact wiped out humanity. The Creator healed the Earth, then recreated humankind in Her image.”

“The moon was struck by an asteroid, but the octopeds didn’t cause it. The octopeds weren’t even around back then; just their ancestors—timid creatures living alone in coral beds at the bottom of the sea. As for humanity being recreated in the Creator’s image—have you ever seen Her?”

“No one can see the Creator. We can feel Her presence when She returns to the church. We can hear Her commandments whispered in our heads. Without the Creator there would be no breeding farms or nurseries or habitats.”

“And without the octopeds, the Creator couldn’t genetically defile nature.”

“Ike, humankind was created to rule the world. Octopeds are worthless, vile creatures … lecherous devil worshippers who murdered the Creator’s son.”

“The octopeds murdered Christ?”

“Who’s Christ? I was speaking of the noble Golem. For this act, the Creator decreed that the octoped must live in servitude forever. It’s all part of the Final Solution.”

A chill ran down my spine, the coldheartedness of the clone’s words unnerving.

The transport accelerated for another hundred feet and slowed. We were getting closer to our destination … I needed to free Oscar.