EVE Fiction

don't forget that the clone has to have an identical brain structure. that is the most important detail.

Regarding cloning, consciousness, and the soul, you'll want to read the Cloning and Death articles, which go into detail about the exact scientific process of cloning, how the experience 'feels' from the recipient's perspective, and how the different cultures view it and its relation to the soul.

The thing to keep in mind is this: There is nothing physically stopping the existence of multiple simultaneous clones of the same person. This is limited by laws and that the technology as it is connects molecules in quantum entanglement state directly between the burn scanner and the clone brain in order to make the transfer as one-to-one as possible, but the brain scan is ultimately just data and theoretically (and in several missions) could be saved in a database for later use. This is also how the concept of 'soft clones' or 'backup clones' works, by saving a brain scan on file to use as a backup in the event of a capsuleer dying outside the pod. Likewise, DUST mercenaries are explicitly stored in a central database, operating inverse of capsuleers (they have a central personality core saved persistently on a database, which is copied onto their next clone. When their clones die, they transmit the data to the central database which updates its personality core, like patching a program. It's like having a master copy). So ultimately, clones are just duplicates.

All of that doesn't necessarily mean that the person isn't the same person, though. Stitcher and some other RPers have made very good arguments in support of the idea that it is still the same person (namely, the 'grandfaster's axe/ship of thesius' idea that even in the course of natural life there is no part of you that doesn't get completely replaced; that who you are today shares none of the same molecules etc as the person you were a year ago). That's an argument best discussed in-character, though, because it's a philosophical debate in which there's no real right or wrong answer as far as lore goes.

As far as the soul goes, this is left up in the air in lore (if it exists, how it interacts with cloning, etc), and is a controversial issue among the empire cultures (see the Death article). There are those that believe that the soul is lost upon cloning and the new clone is just an empty shell, those that believe the soul migrates to the new clone, and probably even those that believe that a new soul is created each time a person clones.

Rather, they prohibit royals from being cloned, but nobles often voluntarily refuse it as well. And many others also keep a rather dim view of it.

I strongly recommend you read up on how the Khanid Kingdom came into existence - it will shed some light into this question.


You also need to understand that the current Empress, Jamyl Sarum was not elected as previous emperors have been. Tradition is slowly eroding in the Empire...