So I started thinking about clones and memory and choices after reading Harlequin's good flash, and got a little plot bunny. But then it occurred to me this idea has probably already been dealt with elsewhere, and probably developed more fully in a novel or five.
So my question for all you more widely-read SFFERS is:
Does this plot sound too much like something else?
Character X has grown up with one fact impressed on him from all sides: he must complete his father's work. Afterall, he's his clone, and gets regular (weekly?) doses of his father's memories to make sure that he will someday be able to complete the all-important project that his father's untimely death in an accident interrupted. He's occasionally resented the fact that his life seems all mapped out for him, but never really wanted to disturb his comfortable life, and never questioned why his mother and teachers and even government officials all remind him of his purpose without revealing anything about "the project".
However, as X begins work on the mysterious experiments that will finally give him a clue as to what exactly this work is, he starts digging into things for himself. He first discovers that his father apparently committed suicide, and then that he was killed for refusing to finish the project he'd begun. X finds himself in a tangled web of intrigue that he knows will only get deeper the further he develops "the project".
In the end (which I haven't really figured out, because that's usually something I save till after I've written out the rest), he escapes and leaves everything behind (probably destroying things like his father's memories and lab), and starts a new life on his own somewhere completely different (another planet, or just somewhere far and different, idky).
So, what do you think? Recognize it from somewhere else? (I know I don't consciously, but that won't stop anyone else from making a connection, I'm sure)
So my question for all you more widely-read SFFERS is:
Does this plot sound too much like something else?
Character X has grown up with one fact impressed on him from all sides: he must complete his father's work. Afterall, he's his clone, and gets regular (weekly?) doses of his father's memories to make sure that he will someday be able to complete the all-important project that his father's untimely death in an accident interrupted. He's occasionally resented the fact that his life seems all mapped out for him, but never really wanted to disturb his comfortable life, and never questioned why his mother and teachers and even government officials all remind him of his purpose without revealing anything about "the project".
However, as X begins work on the mysterious experiments that will finally give him a clue as to what exactly this work is, he starts digging into things for himself. He first discovers that his father apparently committed suicide, and then that he was killed for refusing to finish the project he'd begun. X finds himself in a tangled web of intrigue that he knows will only get deeper the further he develops "the project".
In the end (which I haven't really figured out, because that's usually something I save till after I've written out the rest), he escapes and leaves everything behind (probably destroying things like his father's memories and lab), and starts a new life on his own somewhere completely different (another planet, or just somewhere far and different, idky).
So, what do you think? Recognize it from somewhere else? (I know I don't consciously, but that won't stop anyone else from making a connection, I'm sure)