"Yeah, that's a pattern. The stories I could tell you about Miles... anyway. Time went on. Aral remained Regent, and little Gregor remained Emperor. There was a revolt on Komarr in the late 2970s, when Miles was about six. One of the major revolutionaries was a man named David Galen, who'd lost a sister in the Solstice Massacre. The revolt was unsuccessful. Galen faked his own death - I'm not sure whether that part was planned in advance, or he just took advantage of a misperception - stole a tissue sample of Miles, available in abundance because of how often the kid was in the hospital for this or that problem related to his fucked-up bones, and took it to Jackson's Whole to create a clone."
Here Mark gives a little bow in his seat.
"I was aimed ultimately at a substitution plot; Galen made me study Miles's life, his correspondence, his mannerisms, everything. Even called me by his name. And put me through extensive surgery to correct my lack of Miles's fetal damage. The plan worked as far as that went; I'm a near-flawless physical copy of Miles, except I have normal bone density and not nearly so many old fractures, and I do a near-flawless impression of him. I even got as far as setting up the switch and impersonating him for a few days, when he showed up unexpectedly on Earth and Galen decided to activate me. But I liked Miles, I didn't want to steal his life and assassinate his family, and—"
He pauses momentarily.
"—mm, sorry, I need to backtrack a little. During the Time of Isolation, Barrayar had a serious problem with harmful mutations, and wasn't equipped to apply a more sophisticated solution than widespread infanticide. They haven't nearly had time to shake off the superstitions and social attitudes established in those days. Being visibly deformed or disabled or weird-looking on Barrayar is a good way to get spit on and beaten up in alleys. Even in the nicer and more forward-thinking parts of society, you get some friction. So I knew, when Galen told me he planned for me to become the next Emperor of Barrayar, he was setting me up. There's an argument to be made that Miles has a claim by blood, but if he actually tried to claim it, there would be riots and assassination attempts until somebody got him. Which is exactly what Galen was hoping for, of course. Throwing me to the wolves to keep them occupied ripping my carcass to bloody shreds while he organized another revolt on Komarr. That isn't nearly as figurative as it sounds, by the way; the last notable case of Barrayar getting rid of an emperor it objected to was the descriptively titled Dismemberment of Mad Emperor Yuri, within living memory. Aral was about eleven."
no subject
Here Mark gives a little bow in his seat.
"I was aimed ultimately at a substitution plot; Galen made me study Miles's life, his correspondence, his mannerisms, everything. Even called me by his name. And put me through extensive surgery to correct my lack of Miles's fetal damage. The plan worked as far as that went; I'm a near-flawless physical copy of Miles, except I have normal bone density and not nearly so many old fractures, and I do a near-flawless impression of him. I even got as far as setting up the switch and impersonating him for a few days, when he showed up unexpectedly on Earth and Galen decided to activate me. But I liked Miles, I didn't want to steal his life and assassinate his family, and—"
He pauses momentarily.
"—mm, sorry, I need to backtrack a little. During the Time of Isolation, Barrayar had a serious problem with harmful mutations, and wasn't equipped to apply a more sophisticated solution than widespread infanticide. They haven't nearly had time to shake off the superstitions and social attitudes established in those days. Being visibly deformed or disabled or weird-looking on Barrayar is a good way to get spit on and beaten up in alleys. Even in the nicer and more forward-thinking parts of society, you get some friction. So I knew, when Galen told me he planned for me to become the next Emperor of Barrayar, he was setting me up. There's an argument to be made that Miles has a claim by blood, but if he actually tried to claim it, there would be riots and assassination attempts until somebody got him. Which is exactly what Galen was hoping for, of course. Throwing me to the wolves to keep them occupied ripping my carcass to bloody shreds while he organized another revolt on Komarr. That isn't nearly as figurative as it sounds, by the way; the last notable case of Barrayar getting rid of an emperor it objected to was the descriptively titled Dismemberment of Mad Emperor Yuri, within living memory. Aral was about eleven."