MBryO: The Escape by Dodie Townsend

humans had outlawed the cloning process after the ‘Xenaclon Wars’.
    Nations and galaxies began envisioning armies of disposable soldiers. Some even developed prototypes or whole races of ‘universal soldiers’ called the ‘Xenaclons’. The creators of the Xenaclon imbued them with super strength. They manipulated their genetic codes to create a league of soulless, conscienceless killers. The clones were hardwired with the determination to complete their mission at all costs, no matter who or what got in their way. They were created to succeed, even if it meant sacrificing their own lives in the process.
    And then the Xenaclons turned on their creators. Banding together, they plotted to take over the world. What followed was a three year blood bath in which millions of lives, both human and cloned, were lost.
    The world came to the conclusion that cloning was a threat to the very existence of humanity, not to mention a heinously immoral act.
    After that, Xenaclons were tracked down and disposed of. Most humans of that era considered it the same as euthanizing a rabid animal. The RMB or Robotic Morality Bureau was established to regulate the manufacturing of all robots and investigate any rumors of cloning activity. The result was that cloning was outlawed throughout the galaxy.
    And now, Pax Vitar suspected the one known as MBryO was developing his own cloned prototype; a new generation of Xenaclons. This clone model possessed psy-talent, making it twice as deadly as any of the Xenaclons.
    His motive was unclear, but nothing good could come from the project. And from what Pax had been able to discern from the four siblings, the process involved the painful extraction of human cells from two unwilling donors with specific genetic traits.
    As of now, MBryO had deliberately excluded the desire to kill in his creation. But the possibility of a future psy-talented army of soldiers made Pax’s mind boggle.
    As Pax neared the top of the bunker his own talent began to receive transmissions from the bunker. Dismayed, he listened helplessly as his new young friends broke every security protocol he and Melara had put in place to protect them.
    Melara Sivanza…his mind shied away from thinking about the beautiful red haired Terran captain. Her presence on Nyla 6 disturbed him in far different ways than the others did.
    He preferred to keep his feelings private for now, until he could better understand them himself. To do so, he erected a mental wall around his thoughts, to keep his psi-talented friends, in the dark, so to speak.
    Alas, Sasha and Ian were too young, trusting and inquisitive to hide. He could already hear their childish excitement as they dashed from their respective laboratories to the open docking bay.
    His stomach in his mouth and his blaster ready for anything that even came close to being dangerous, he braced himself, then rushed inside the gaping landing bay.
    He arrived just in time to see the side of a late model space-hopper open and a britches clad, lion-like creature fill the doorway. With reddish fur and a full flowing mane the creature was as tall as any of the eughi’s on the planet. A smattering of dark spots spread across the creature’s canine snout. The creature stepped cautiously out of the space-hopper.
    But, as strange as the creature was, it in no way compared to his elf-girl companion. No more than two feet tall, the female was as perfectly proportioned as any doll. She sat astride the creature’s shoulders; her tiny legs dangling down the creature’s chest.
    Miniature to be sure, she was an exact replica of Sasha.
    “Dogg…Gayla,” Sasha rushed forward to meet the odd looking duo, her hands reaching up to take the small female off the lion-like creature’s massive shoulders. “I thought never to see you again!”
    “It fills my heart to see you too, Sasha! I, also, had doubts of ever seeing you again, little sister,” said the small female smiling.
    Her arms encircled Sasha’s