The scientists ran up to them, laughing in celebration to see five people standing by the exit of the machine.

"You did it! I just can't believe it!" Professor Frederikson laughed, staring at Lila in wonder. She had volunteered to go first.

Lila grinned slowly at him, as if she didn't know how to do it. He was unnerved to see how blank her eyes were. Lila usually had a wild spark in her eye - fitting the person eager to test out the machine. It wasn't there now.

"What happened?" he said sharply, his elation fading away.

"That's not Lila!" his colleague, Dan, said in horror. "Look at her eyes. My god, did you just clone Lila?!"

The team responsible for testing the machine scuffed their feet, avoiding the scientists' eyes.

"Well, did you?" Frederikson demanded, advancing on them. Human cloning technology was only a few years old, and still incredibly dangerous. Not to mention faulty. Lila had wandered away to gaze blankly at the sky.

"But why? You know the rules of cloning! You'll be imprisoned!" he screamed at them. "Didn't you think anyone would notice?"

"We thought it might work," Travis, a member of the teleportation team, sighed as he looked at Lila. She was sucking thoughtfully on her fingers. A speculative look stole across Travis's face as he looked at everyone gathered around him.

"Lila knew what she'd signed up for. C'mon, guys, do you want the prize money or not? We'll just say she has slight brain damage that'll heal up in no time. We can disappear with the money before they figure it out!"

Frederikson was horrified to see his colleagues looking thoughtful. Markus even seemed excited.

"No! No, what's wrong with you guys! You're sick, you're..."

Frederikson didnt have words for his rage. He screamed hoarsely, inarticulate with fury, in Travis's face. How had the situation deteriorated to this point? All the press he would've got as the genius behind the whole experiment, all the glory and the fame, tossed away for some lunatic with a child's grasp of ethics -

Travis shoved him into the machine and pressed the red button, grinning evilly as it shook and trembled, then was still. He had never liked that guy. Always acting so goddamn superior.

"Cheer up, guys," he grinned at the scientists, who were looking a bit sick. "Keep your eye on the prize."

On the other side of town, Frederikson staggered out of the teleportation machine. It was located in the mountains, secure from prying eyes until the right moment. Which was now. There was no-one to witness the first successful example of human teleportation.

Frederikson tapped the device strapped to his wrist with shaking fingers, calling a fellow scientist and a close friend from another country. After five minutes of small talk, he got to the point.

"So, I think I'm ready to join your team," he said slowly, edging away from the teleportation site into the woods. Who knew when they'd come to check he was dead. "Something tells me I'm not welcome here anymore. I've got a few things to share with you."