Take the metro. Buy a coffee. Ride the elevator. Face the day. Don’t miss a beat.

Same ol’ same ol’. It was a Tuesday, 9.25am. I nodded at Gayle on reception and sleepwalked to my desk. I put down my bag next to an identical bag, hung my jacket next to an identical jacket and went to the bathroom. It was while peeing my brain began to process the caffeine. I zipped up, zipped back and at my desk I saw …me.

The sitting me didn’t raise an eyebrow. He just carried on rifling through my emails. He seemed to know what to do so I backed out of the room gingerly.

I tackled Gayle. “Err, what time did I get in this morning?”

She peered over her round black frames. Thought for a beat, then said,

“Around 8.35 as usual.”

I sucked my lip, considered this and shrugged. Then Gayle’s mouth made an O shape and she added,

“Oh yeah… then again, just now.”

Okay, this wasn’t how Tuesdays worked. Any day really. I whimpered a little. Gayle picked up her phone and tapped in a number.

“Security? Uh huh…”, she nodded, “Yeah, it looks like Malcolm’s overnight cloning process didn’t go too well.”

I ran for it. Not again.