One is One and All Alone

Synopsis

“One is One and All Alone” by Nicholas Fisk is a science fiction story, set in 2045.  The main character is Trish, an 11-year old girl who is the only child on a spaceship to Trion. Her father is the Executive Officer of the spaceship and her mother is in Trion helping to set up a space station.  She will only meet her mother in mid January 2047.After three months, she feels lonely and bored as she does not have any real friends to talk to except her private, multi-functional diary: the Voice Printer (VP). VP is an intelligent computer which keeps Trish entertained with its ability to perform many functions. Through her dialogue sessions with VP, Trish learns about clones and the cloning process. The idea of cloning fascinates Trish and she soon decides to create a clone to keep her company in the spaceship Bio lab without her father’s knowledge. She names her new identical twin “Clo” and initially it becomes her perfect friend and companion.  They have fun playing and sharing their time together. However, certain mannerism of Clo begins to irritate Trish as the clone behaves and thinks like her.  Soon they start to argue and disagree with each other over trivial matters. The last straw happens one night when Clo starts referring to Trish’s mum as her mum and this upsets Trish as she feels her privacy is being invaded. The next day, Trish opens up her diary and confides in VP that she does not like to be “swamped, invaded and taken over.”  At that instant, she decides to dispose off Clo forever through the “DISPOSAL” hatch near her cabin. The story ends with a twist when it is Trish who is disposed by Clo. Clo then assumes Trish’s identity and Trish’s dad is not aware of the change at all. Clo then enjoys being “one is one and all alone” and her new lease of life as Trish in the spaceship.