Jon and Jonnie were discussing the cloning machine. Their friend Joseph had already asked to use it, and Jon had brushed him off by saying "ask your parents."
But there had to be a better way to handle requests....
Karyn was walking around the grounds of the Eastern Summer Festival (which contrary to its name took place before summer, and was on the west side of town). These things were always so expensive. Get some vendors together to provide "local hand made goods", stick in a bunch of overpriced refreshment stands so everyone smells popcorn everywhere, and haul in a few kiddie carnival rides. Make a lot of money off everyone.
She bought herself a frozen drink that was most certainly not named Slurpee, and walked around for a while. She didn't have a whole lot of money, but there could always be, against hope, something interesting.
Then she spotted someone who looked like Jon at a booth.
Then she spotted someone else who looked like Jon at the booth.
Karyn approached the booth. It was a small, nondescript booth made of white-painted wood, but it had a cardboard sign announcing "Cloning Machine. Price $50 or negotiable." Smaller print read "Gender, thought patterns, and other changes possible. May combine several sources. Sources need not be present." Behind it was the cloning machine, plugged into a lamppost.
"All right," said Karyn. "Jon... Jonnie... what are you two doing?"
"Oh, hi Karyn!" replied Jonnie. "It's simple. We're letting people use the cloning machine. You know, it's not hard to get a booth at a festival if you have a magic stone that lets everything work out perfectly."
"Jonnie," she said, "that assumes it's a good idea to let people use it at all."
"We still have the magic stone," said Jonnie. "It's my turn to use it today. If something seriously goes wrong, I can wish away most of the problems."
"What about the price?"
"It has to be high enough that they'll take it seriously and think about it before doing it. It's still low enough for most people to afford it. If we get a ten year old whose piggy bank only has five dollars in it, he gets a discount. Besides, any money we make this way is money we earned, rather than wishing it up."
Karyn pointed to a sheet of paper, thumbtacked to the front of the booth, which had "RULES" printed in block letters at the top. "What's that for?"
"Common sense stuff," replied Jonnie. "If the clone will look like someone or have their memories, get permission from them or their parents. We'll make an exception for looking like a celebrity, or if you're just copying a little bit, like copying someone's hair or their cooking skill. If you're too young, get your parents' permission to use our service at all. I haven't decided what "too young" is yet, but I want to avoid trouble. Since your clone is permanent, we won't make a person who can't have a normal life, so be careful with the weird fetishes. And we may refuse service to anyone at any time."
"What?" asked Karyn. "So you can say no if some crime lord wants to clone a few hit men?"
"Something like that."
"Want to make a clone, Karyn?" added Jon. "You can have a discount."
"No," she replied. "But I think you have some possible customers." She stepped aside to let the other people approach the booth. And the first customer came....
