I've modeled the story after a DNA strand undergoing a process of replication into two new, identical strands. The first act might seem simple and straight-forward on the surface, but as much as possible while maintaining relatively simple poetic forms, I've tried to create a double-helix effect of a story going backwards in the background as much as it's going forward in the foreground, and at times, vice versa. The double-helix structure also plays a critical role in one of the final duets of the opera, as the process of DNA replication gets turned on its head.
Don't worry, it's actually probably less confusing on stage than I've just made it sound. In the first act, these two strands wrap around each other: the forward progressing story, that of Chloe and Joshua and their descent into domestic chaos through cloning, has as a counterpoint a backwards moving strand of Dr. Liri reminiscing through flashback a dark personal past as a cosmetic cloning specialist. The two stories interact with each other, as Liri uses the Chloe and Joshua case as a cautionary tale to her students.
