After meeting Carol in Newcastle, Daniel struggled to understand Adele's choice.
He felt anger at Adele for breaking the law to clone a somatic cell to give birth to a child, and he was frustrated by the complete lack of contact for the past twenty years.
Moreover, guilt gnawed at him for his special feelings for Iris, the daughter Adele had cloned.
"Who on earth am I in love with?"
"If Adele loved me, could she really have forgotten me for so long?"
"Why did you make such a ridiculous and extreme choice, Adele!"
His heart was a tangled mess of longing and anger towards Adele, mixed with confusion about Iris. The person he had loved the most had become the most incomprehensible existence to him.
"The most important thing right now is to find out where Adele is."
"Iris's adoptive parents must know something."
"I have to find Adele, no matter what!"
***
Meanwhile, Iris was equally confused.
Learning that she was Adele's daughter only deepened her internal struggle.
"Am I not the fruit of love, but rather a product of science and technology?" This thought haunted her. She grappled with the meaning of her existence, but the more she tried to understand, the more confused she became.
"Who am I?"
"What is the reason for my existence?"
"Can I be recognized as a complete person, having been born this way?"
She couldn't grasp what Adele's choice meant for her.
Iris felt pain as she pondered her relationship with Daniel. The nagging question of whether their special feelings were genuine or merely a substitute for her being a clone tormented her.
"What does Daniel think of me?"
"Does he see me merely as a replica of Adele?"
***
A few days later, in the quiet atmosphere of a café, Daniel and Iris sat facing each other. Both still carried tangled emotions in their hearts, but there was a desire to express the confusion they felt inside.
Iris looked at Daniel and spoke up. "You loved Adele, didn't you?" The question hung heavily in the air, piercing Daniel's heart.
Daniel paused, momentarily unable to respond. His feelings for Adele were intertwined with longing and complexity.
"I did love her, very deeply," he replied honestly. "She was someone who shared half of my life and inspired me in countless ways."
He closed his eyes for a moment, recalling memories of Adele. "But now, I don't know how that love has changed. Adele's choice has left me so confused, and I feel guilt about my feelings for you." His voice trembled slightly. Iris sensed the pain in his words, but it felt like a sincere confession.
Hearing his true feelings, Iris felt a mix of relief and pain. "Then, what am I? Am I just a shadow of Adele?" She asked, still struggling to find her own identity.
"No, you are not a shadow of Adele. You are you," Daniel said firmly. "Your existence is special, just like Carol said."
Iris looked into his eyes, trying to sort through her confused feelings. "But… right now, I don't even know who I am."
"The creation of mysterious life has entered the realm of science, but this is a reality that has already occurred," he continued. "You need to discover what your existence means and understand why Adele made her choices."
Iris listened to his words, and her heart began to open little by little. "So, can we understand Adele through each other and, at the same time, find ourselves?" she asked cautiously.
"Right here, the two of us—no, all three of us, including Adele—are biotechnologists. A scientist must judge based on provable facts, not mere speculation."
"In the journey to find her, you and I can discover our identities," Daniel said with determination.
"Let's meet your adoptive parents."