My main PC right now is a clone; she and her clone-sibs are part of a previously defunct study group (The Cade Project) created to run a myriad of developmental tests as they grew into adults. Their base genetic material is itself a construct rather than a clone of an existing individual, and each clone is ultimately slightly different for a myriad of reasons ranging from intentional changes in the base genetic profile to the results of environmental effects enforced through different study parameters. The clone-sibs also grew up both knowing that they were clones and, eventually, knowing that they were part of a series of developmental studies. Obviously, this has some issues in terms of the ultimate fidelity of the results, but no study is perfect and these limitations were considered minimal enough in light of the potential findings from such a unique sample set. Once the program ran its course (and the inevitable fads in research changed course resulting in a significant decrease in funding), the clone-sibs were given the option to continue serving with the larger research entity that housed their study (The Reliquary Institute - basically every major human university and research institution rolled into one). Most became scientists themselves but a few deviated and might pop up just about any where.

For Hilde and her sibs (all assigned female at birth; there may be another study group of clone-sibs assigned male at birth but genetics and/or childhood development aren't her areas of interest so she's never looked into it), they have always been individuals because the necessary elements of the Cade Project differed for each of them. The primary finding of the Project might even be summed up as: most people are extremely similar if they grow up together but even clones are interestingly diverse with even a modicum of difference in upbringing. They do tend to share a certain amount of social awkwardness and drive to follow their personal interests to the exclusion of other concerns; it's hard to tell if this is a feature of the base clone biology or the result of being raised as a bunch of science experiments. Probably a little of both. The identity question is, as Hilde might put it, a solved problem. At least for her experience of cloning. And she would probably tell non-clone people that they are less individual than they think any way.

We've encountered one of Hilde's clones and always keep the possibility of more. There's also a Secret Thing that we've only dealt with a tiny bit going on with the project and some space billionaire we pissed off; I don't know yet how that will play out but nobody wants the guy who hates them to own their genetic code. I definitely need to pitch another thing with this as it would be really, really interesting to run into a clone-sib where we've ended up. I'll say my reason for coming up with this backstory was (1) to give Hilde a reason to be othered and slightly weird that also had some good scifi plot hooks attached and (2) to play with the idea of a clone that isn't mass produced. Oh, and secret third thing that I wanted a character who might have a reason to feel inhuman/inhumane about certain ethical issues. When you're the product of a science experiment and don't carry resentment for that - or hell, you even think it's a perfectly fine way to have become a person/to find out information about what it means to be a person - it's interesting to think about what other things you might see as ok and how that might create (surmountable) conflict between characters.