"Unfortunately, I undergo a psychological stress assessment once a year. So far, my mental state has been pretty good." Qiu Ming shrugged.
"So they're all Clones, not real humans, right?" Electronic Sheep looked at the calm-faced job applicants before him, as if clutching at his last straw, and asked impatiently.
"I don't think you need to dwell on what method brought you into this world, because there is no distinction between Clones and ordinary people." Qiu Ming said, "For a time, humanity's birth rate kept falling, causing concern on all sides. Left with no choice, the federal government joined forces with several pharmaceutical giants to launch the Artificial Reproduction Program. They decided to use machines to simulate human wombs and gestate infants, thereby increasing the population. You were actually right: whether they were born naturally or were New Humans incubated by machines, there was no difference in their bodies or genes. That was why, from the very beginning, the Federation passed laws granting both groups the same political and survival rights."
"Are you kidding me? Then why are Clones and ordinary people treated completely differently in New Shanghai 0297?" Electronic Sheep asked.
"Don't you understand yet?" Qiu Ming sighed. "In New Shanghai 0297, so-called Clones and ordinary people can simply be regarded as different professions. It's an artificial division we created to meet different labor demands. But the people working in those two professions are fundamentally no different. Let me put it this way: have you ever bought luxury goods?"
"What do you mean?"
"The price of a luxury shirt and an ordinary shirt can differ enormously, but the materials themselves are actually no different. It's just that one bears the logo of a luxury company. Clones and ordinary people in New Shanghai 0297 are the same. Whether it's the