"M-married. We were going to be married."

Couldn't help laughing. People talk about clones being dumb, but you never really appreciate how dumb until you talk to one. They know how to look good, how to smile real nice, how to give maximum pleasure to a human body, but something must happen when they're cultured out. Something must get lost along the way. Because they are dumb.

Her face reddened. "Why are you laughing?"

"No Realpeople's going to marry a clone!"

"Kyle is! He loves me!"

"He's lying."

"He isn't!" Her voice jumped a couple of notches as she rose from the chair and leaned over the desk. "I mean something to him! I'm somebody to him — not like the dirt I am to almost everybody else!"

"Hey…easy there," I said. Didn't want her burning out of here along with her gold coin. "Nobody's calling anybody names here. It's just that Realpeople don't marry clones. Not my fault it's that way — just a fact of life."

"And just the way you like it, right?"

"Don't hate clones, but I'm no oozer, either."

Gold or not, I wasn't going to lie to her. I don't like clones. Truth of the matter is I can't think of many Realpeople I like much either. But especially don't like collections of cells grown from a tissue culture parading around like real human beings.

"Bet your 'fiance-'" I said the word out of the corner of my mouth-"oozes real good, though. Probably one of those jogs clustering in the tubes shouting 'Free the clones' or 'Ban the Chlorcow' or 'Adopt an urchin!' or some other impossibility. Probably wants to marry you to use you as a bloaty trophy. Show how dregging sincere he is."

"I wasn't going to be his trophy — we were moving away."

"Where to?"

"The outworlds."

Leaned back in my chair again — slowly this time — and studied her. This was getting nasty. Like I said, I'm no clone-lover — matter of fact, I wish there were no such things as clones. But that doesn't mean I think they should be mistreated. Realpeople made them, that makes us responsible. And some dregger had been dealing this especially dumb one a dirty hand. Like them or not, I can't condone cruelty to clones.