Editing Mary (section)

==Project Goal==
Subject was created by a new technique that sidestepped the usual issues with clones.<ref>

“One student died and was autopsied,” Gordon said.  “The rest burned.  Wouldn’t a clone turn up on autopsies?”<br>[...]<br>
“It depends on a lot,” she said.[...] “If he tried to accelerate growth, which he must have, then there’s a good chance something would show up.  There are chemical ways to promote aging.  Hormones, substances, alter the seventh ratio.  But those substances turn up, and they have effects.  Any drug is like a puzzle piece.  We flood the body with puzzle pieces of a particular shape, and intend for those pieces to fit into a specific place and enact a specific function, but you can’t stop it from connecting to other sites, enacting other functions.  It’s how we get side effects.  We control it with how we deliver the medication and other factors, and some of the best graduates of the Academy have it down to an art, making it so one drug only affects one thing in one way, but that’s a delicate balancing act.  That’s without getting into the fact that a badly made clone might be more prone to wear, tear, and side effects.”<br><br>“Is our guy that good?” Jamie asked.  “Enough to have the aging drugs down to an art, hiding symptoms from an autopsy?”<br><br>“We don’t know,” Gordon said.  “But if what Sy said is true, I’d say he isn’t.  He has one area of focus and he’s giving his all in pursuing it.”<br><br>“Okay,” Lillian said.  “The second method is more complimentary, then.  Altering the fundamental pattern of the clones.  Humans mature at an exceptionally slow rate.  We saw people try this a decade ago in the Indian Empire.  Crown scientists tried to make a slave class that grew to maturity, with a specific level of intelligence.  Domesticated humans, strong, playful, good natured, attractive, and obedient.  If I’m not mistaken, they tried a lot of things, including imprinted behaviors.”<br>[...]<br>“It involves other problems,” Lillian said.  “Like the drugs and hormones, it’s an art unto itself.  It requires precision of a different sort, and a broad kind of knowledge.  There’s prior work to draw on, other projects that tried similar things, but there would be signs of the attempt that would crop up in an autopsy, unless the work was perfect.  Change one thing in the pattern, and it has ripple effects throughout the organism’s development and makeup.”<br><br>“I didn’t realize it was that difficult,” Helen said.<br><br>“Oh my god.  It really, really is,” Lillian said, eyes wide, the incredulity she wasn’t voicing clear in her expression.<br><br>“Again, if our puppeteer was that good, why the hell isn’t he already employed by the Academy and earning a small fortune for his talents?” Gordon asked.  A rhetorical question.<br><br>Many of us were nodding.<br>[...]<br> There’s a third possibility,” Lillian said.  “Maybe more, but I’m only thinking of three.  It kind of complicates things. [...] Don’t accelerate the aging.  If you need them to age, you make them age by letting time pass.” [...] I said it complicates things,” Lillian said.  “Because our ‘puppeteer’ could strike a balance.  Some natural aging.  Some hormones or changes to the pattern.  The more he relies on real time passing, the less he needs to accelerate the process.  Maybe this project has only been in the works for nine years, or six.”<br><br>“Meaning there could be clues,” Gordon said, “Ones that slipped through in the autopsy.”<br><br>Lillian nodded.<br><br>“More time to develop them,” Helen said.  “Either he inserts them while they’re young, where a half-socialized clone might go unnoticed amid rabid and rambunctious first graders, or he waits and he observes their real counterpart, and he trains the clones to mime the behaviors in his off-hours.” - [https://twigserial.wordpress.com/2015/03/28 Excerpt] from [[Taking Root 1.8]]</ref>

It is meant to be an improved version of the original.<ref name=R1>'''Vat Babies''' - Experiments born in a lab, not a womb. Typically very carefully raised from an early point, with accelerated aging through the early years, careful training and adjusted metrics, as they are built for a special task. Mind and body may be altered as part of the ongoing process, but are often a roll of the dice in terms of the doctor's ability to control the end result. Includes wholly original life and clones. There is an emphasis here on ''capabilities'', or on utility, either directly (Ashton) or indirectly (Mary; priming her for training, mindset). - [https://redd.it/52lfqm Wildbow on Reddit]</ref> Changes were made in tank to guide its mindset; making her willing to train and receptive to authority,<ref name=R1/> subject dedicates a large amount of their cognition on how to damage targets.<ref>''I spend my time thinking about how to get out of bad situations, or how to get around them.  I think about my enemies and their thought patterns, about their weaknesses, and how everything can be arranged to maximize our odds.''<br><br>''Mary thinks about how to make people bleed.'' - [https://twigserial.wordpress.com/2016/04/30 Excerpt] from [[In Sheep’s Clothing 10.15]]</ref> Consequently subject is adroit in knives, throwing and otherwise, and was able to self teach how to use wire in combat.

Was meant to act as a trainer especially for the next generation of clones but functions just as effectively training others, provided they're sufficiently dedicated. Consequently subject was not implanted with a trigger phrase outsider its creators standard procedure.<ref>My fingers unfolded the paper I’d collected.  The puppeteer’s note.  Instructions to the headmistress, useless.  The kill command for a dead clone, useless.  And his command to Mary, which was an interesting puzzle I’d have to work out in the future.  Something to discuss with Hayle.

:''Mary.  You do not have a command like Clyde does.''

:''I won’t say I didn’t try, but only managed to induce short fits to reset your mind.''

:''I grew fond of you, I admit.  What I told you was not lies.  If it comes down to it and Clyde fails, run.  Find your way.''

:''I will find you.  We will be together, and we will succeed.''

:''– Percy'' - [https://twigserial.wordpress.com/2015/04/07 Excerpt] from [[Taking Root 1.11]]</ref>
===Appointments===
Subjects' sessions are focused on her physical ability and training ensuring they are within projections.<ref name=4.12/> Outside of this it needs a special diet to meet her nutrition requirements, for things that her body never learned to make itself.<ref name=7.13e1>“While you grow, you’ll need to change your diet,” he said.<br><br>“I have a team working with me,” she said.<br><br><br><br>“Supplements?  The builder’s acids, the concentration-”<br><br>“Twenty percent.  Type F.”<br><br>“C,” he said.  “C.  Tell them.  Twenty-five percent should do it.  You grew quickly in the early stages, you’re growing a little bit faster even now.  The Type C should include a good calcium mix, and it will keep byproducts from accumulating in your joints.  Without it, you’ll find yourself with arthritic symptoms.”<br><br>“I’ll remember,” she said.<br><br>“You’ll hit a wall before too long.  Rapid growth, tissue regeneration, byproducts from the non-human cells, organ failure, cancers-”<br><br>“I know I have an expiration date,” Mary said, her voice quiet.<br>[...]<br>His face was taut with concern and repressed emotion as he spoke, sounding as if he were twenty feet away rather than five.  “I was callow and stupid, starting out.  Arrogant and narrow-minded.  I thought a few years less of having to care for infants was worth a vastly shortened lifespan in my creations, that there was no point, because you weren’t to serve any use after a certain point.” - [https://twigserial.wordpress.com/2015/11/21 Excerpt] from [[Tooth and Nail 7.13]]</ref>