text: The engine had been idle for a minute now. That precious fuel was burning away while Robert was contemplating continuing his journey in his dusty hybrid car. So far the trip was relatively peaceful. Abandoned farms, some old churches, few garages and gas stations - oh weren’t they useful with full of loot. Only if he could remember whether he already saw this tractor on the side of the road before or not. Robert looked through his photos on the phone. He could not find it, but what if he missed? Was it worth taking the risk? Maybe it was safer to find another road. He definitely saw a red tractor before. The shape of that rust on the corner. Did it look like Texas too? What if this one was the real one and the first one he saw was the dupe. What if all this was in his head, and everything he heard about the dupes were just a myth. No, it could not be. The civilization wouldn’t collapse all of the sudden without a reason. Robert turned off the engine. “Why didn’t the battery kick in?” he said in frustration. He then realized how old the battery is, and how he depleted it last night at his campsite. “It will take another 30 minutes before it has just enough charge” he thought in disappointment. He put his old wrinkled hands on the steering wheel, and started to repeat what he knew so far: “Dupes are entities that take the form of a machine that I have seen before. They cannot get creative so they have to morph into exact copies of another machine. They either observe you or end you if you ever come close to a dupe. That is why I memorized or took a picture of every machine near the roads or other places where there is human traffic“ This was Robert’s way of survival as well as his sanity check. This encounter was a tough one for Robert. Some previous ones were a little more obvious. A fridge on a roof he saw a week ago was no brainer. What about the motorbike he encountered on the beach - the very same bike he had seen in a garage that he looted a few days prior. “Nice try!” he exclaimed as he was recalling these memories. “You know what? You are just a tractor on an abandoned farm!” he yelled in confidence. He started his car. As Robert was driving slowly his eyes were fixated onto that red tractor in hatred even though he believed it was not a dupe. For a split second he looked at the road, after all he still needed to drive safely. That's when he noticed another vehicle. “Oh my god! Another survivor” he rejoiced. This moment of happiness was very short-lived. He felt this spine tingling horror as he had goosebumps. The vehicle in question was the exact same model and color with the same crack on its windshield. He hit the brakes. So did the other car. Robert made a hasty U turn with dust clouds in his tail. He was now watching the other vehicle in his mirror while he was driving in panic. This was the first time Robert saw a dupe moving. Were they learning? “Have I been observed too many times but never noticed? Stupid! Stupid!” he blamed himself. After driving a few miles on a dirt road, Robert finally stopped. He turned off his engine. It was quiet. He waited for the dust to settle. His eyes were fixated on the mirror without a blink. Finally the dust settled. The dupe car wasn't there. After a deep breath he was about to start the engine again, until he noticed what was in front of him: The farm he just left. .... In a dimmed room, a middle aged man in a white coat took off his glasses and massaged his eyes. “Any improvements?” he asked his assistant. The female assistant paused for a couple seconds, then pushed the blankets and the pillow on the couch that the doctor has been using for countless nights, before sitting down. “Dr. Sanjay, what we have accomplished here...” she started before interrupted by the doctor's sigh. “Give me the bad news,” the doctor said in his tired voice with an Indian accent. “Our research for restoring memory cells for patients with dementia is mostly successful,” said the assistant proudly. “We just have to figure out how to stop it” as she got quieter. “Restored memory cells keep duplicating. I am afraid it is still the case even with the latest test dose 202 that was administered to our male patient in coma ward” she reported. “Was that Mr. Haskell?” asked the sleepless doctor as he massaged his forehead. “Yes sir, Robert Haskell. Gas station owner in countryside Texas.