Disposable

Alex didn't have a last name. None of the clones did. Technically, Alex wasn't even Alex, but Manufactured Biped D-4465919, a product of the Shinnasaki megacorp. One wouldn't know from just looking at him though. He was, by all biological terms, a human male adolescent of about 13. The genetic material used to grow him in the BioVats was taken from a boy of Mediterranean and East Asian heritage, which gave Alex a dark skinned, exotic look, accentuated by his curly mop of raven hair, sharp green eyes, and slim physique. The only thing that separated him from a normal boy was the QR code tattooed onto the back of his neck, and the short range RF chip embedded into his skull.

Clones, male and female, were the backbone of the global economy. Used in every industry from construction to entertainment, they were often rented from the megacorps that grew them, fed them, and clothed them. Once a clone that was grown for a certain industry reached a certain age, they were disposed of by dedicated "clone snuffers" in specialized processing facilities. Even in death, the megacorps profited. Dead bodies were sold to medical schools for autopsy, their organs were harvested to supply hospital stockpiles, and their flesh, skin, and bone ground up for animal feed.

Today was disposal day for about 200 young male clones. Alex was among them. He was a "pleasure" model, grown for the sex industry, which meant his usefulness extended only up to the point where he retained his youthful androgyny. He had started to grow muscles, and pubic hair. His voice had lost its sweet high pitch, cracking like any typical adolescent. Puberty was why he was standing on the gallows along with 49 other boys, nooses around their necks and buck naked.

With a thunderous clatter, the trapdoors on the large gallows dropped open. Alex felt his stomach flip as he dropped. He opened his mouth to scream, then promptly bit the tip of his tongue off as the noose jerked tight. It was over in an instant, with the long drop and the specially designed noose knots causing fatal cervical fractures in every single boy. The woman in charge of the gallows walked underneath the platform, admiring the forest of limp young legs.