Amber Laska

Amber Laska on the covers of each book

"*It's a lot of pressure to be the the best behaved, the most involved, and to get the highest grades. That's why I make lists of everything I need to do. It helps me stay focused—control is key.*"
—Amber Laska, *Masterminds*

**Amber Laska** is cloned from criminal mastermind Mickey Seven, the Mad Bomber, as a result of Project Osiris. She was raised by Mr. and Mrs. Laska in the artificial town of Serenity, New Mexico, and grew up wrongly believing they were her biological parents. She later escaped from Serenity in a speeding truck along with Eli Frieden, Tori Pritel, Malik Bruder and Hector Amani at the end of *Masterminds.*

## Biography

A sample of DNA was taken from terrorist Mickey Seven by Felix Hammerstrom, who used it to clone her for Project Osiris. The result was placed inside Mrs. Laska, Amber's host mother, and Amber Laska was born in the fabricated community of Serenity, New Mexico around 2002. There, she was raised by Mr. and Mrs. Laska and was best friends with Tori Pritel since they were babies. Amber also took ballet and piano lessons, taught by Ellen Bruder.

### *Masterminds*

#### Before learning of Project Osiris

A few months before finding out that her classmate Randy Hardaway was being sent away from town, Amber was in Serenity Park and met two men from Taos that were working there. She picked up a copy of the *USA Today* and discovered negative details about the outside world that Serenity's local newspaper had omitted. However, after telling her parents about it, the newspaper disappeared.

When Amber heard about the letter Randy had sent Eli Frieden before leaving, she was bewildered at his theory that some kids were "special". She also put a stop to Malik Bruder's constant teasing towards Tori about excessively missing Eli, who had supposedly fallen ill. This led to Amber's Contentment grade being reduced, a fact she was upset about.

Amber suspected the other kids were up to something and came by Tori's house to visit, although her friend was outside and didn't want to tell her anything. They began to grow further apart, being unproductive with their Serenity Day project. In Tori's attic, Amber found photographs of the whiteboards in the Plastics Works, and despite her anger, agreed not to tell anybody after being confronted.

#### Escaping Serenity

At night, after Tori had given her their finished project, Amber realized that Tori was planning to leave Serenity. Determined to stop her friend, she followed in her bike and found out Tori was with Eli and Malik, as well as Hector Amani. However, they fell ill after reaching the border and were rescued by Mrs. Delaney, who helped them return home as the effects subsided.

After that, Amber was shown an article about Project Osiris, learning that they were clones of criminal masterminds. In reaction to this, she harmed herself on the factory fence and was enraged. The kids later explored the town to find out how they could escape, discovering that a satellite dish on a traffic cone truck was part of the reason they were affected by the barrier.

They left during the Serenity Day fireworks, with Eli and Malik attempting to destroy the satellite dish and Amber, Hector, Tori soon joining them after destroying a surveillance camera. They jumped aboard the cone truck and became ill again upon reaching the edge of town, but Eli accelerated the truck into the barrier before they jumped, which destroyed the satellite dish and removed its effects.

Amber found Tori, Eli, and Malik, but they realized they hadn't seen Hector jump off and believed him to have been killed. After walking south for a long time, Amber tripped on train tracks. They decided to leap onto a boxcar, where they were finally able to rest and hydrate. After the train stopped in a rail yard, Amber leapt into the cab of a forklift, saving Malik from being crushed from its load. The kids then headed to McNally Academy in a taxi, where they met Randy in his dormitory.

### *Criminal Destiny*

#### In Colorado

Amber Laska and Tori Pritel stayed in room 122, the nurse's room, at McNally Academy. Even while hiding, Amber did her best to exercise, and they listened in on the next room to figure out what was happening. Eli Frieden and Malik Bruder met up with them, having been in Randy Hardaway's room. While eating, they discussed their plans and what they’d heard, quickly hiding when a teacher approached.

They soon learned that the Surety had arrived at McNally Academy, and escaped in the Surety's own SUV. After Eli parked in a Denver Park-n-Ride, they boarded a bus to the city. There, Amber saw a man being mugged, and she stood up for him despite the risk. The kids entered Bites and Bytes, a café where they researched cloning and ate. Wanting to take action, Amber reported Project Osiris to a police officer, but was believed to be crazy and driven away. She was taken to the Medical Arts Center, where Tori, Eli and Malik met her in the bathroom.

They escaped out the window and boarded a tree service truck, barely escaping the wood chipper it was headed for. The kids snuck into an unoccupied house to stay the night, and Tori cut and dyed Amber's hair to her being recognized by the police. However, they woke up to the Campanellas (the family that owned the house they were in) returning. Eli drove to the bus station in the Campanellas’ Jeep, and they boarded a bus to Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

#### Meeting Tamara Dunleavy

After arriving in Jackson, the clones found a motel to stay in. They researched Tamara Dunleavy, a billionaire who had once been part of Project Osiris, and found her outside the Jackson Convention Center. However, when they asked Tamara about Project Osiris, she feigned ignorance and left.

Tori then noticed that they each had a bump beneath their necks, which Amber realized to be the computer chip that affected them past the Serenity border. Panicking, she fired a stapler in her neck and had to go to the ER, where the chip was extracted. Amber proceeded to remove the computer chips from Eli, Tori and Malik.

Eli spotted Tamara Dunleavy’s driver going through their things, and Amber knocked him out. They took his keys and boarded Tamara’s Bentley, realizing the driver had snuck them five hundred dollars. As they needed proof of Project Osiris, they decided to return to the Serenity Plastics Works.

#### Returning to Serenity

The clones arrived in Serenity after breaking into a Taos pool truck, which they planned on driving to avoid suspicion. However, the town was deserted when they arrived. They entered the Plastics Works, but all evidence of Project Osiris had been burnt down except for a sheet of paper. From there, they learned the names of most of the criminals the Osiris subjects were cloned from, and Amber discovered that she had been cloned from Mickey Seven.

#### Breaking out C. J. Rackoff

Malik, Eli, Amber and Tori decided to head toward the Kefauver Federal Detention Facility to meet C. J. Rackoff, Hector Amani's DNA donor. They were almost caught at a gas station for being alone, but Amber caused a distraction by flooding the bathroom, allowing them to escape. They were guided to the prison by a man at a 7-Eleven and snuck into the Tumbleweed Inn for the night.

Early in the morning, Eli and Tori spotted somebody outside and woke Amber and Malik. They realized that it was Hector, whom they had previously believed to be dead. They learned his story and headed to meet Rackoff, who asked them to break him out of jail in return for his help in proving Project Osiris’s existence.

When driving back to the motel from a store, they investigated the Bearclaw diner. In the morning, Malik, Eli, and Amber headed back to steal the uniform of George, a postal worker, taking his truck for Malik to drive as well. Rackoff hid among the mailbags heading out, but just after they escaped, the Surety came. Amber then learned that Rackoff and Hector had been working against them. To escape the Surety, she and Malik leapt onto a wooden skid and rushed down the river, having lost track of Tori and Eli.

### *Payback*

#### Visiting Gus Alabaster

Amber and Malik swam ashore together, then jumped onto the roof of a camper to get away. When they dismounted, Malik found out that Gus Alabaster, the gangster he was cloned from, had been released from prison due to cancer, so he and Amber took a train to Chicago to meet the criminal and get a lead on Project Osiris. They got his address in the police station and headed to Ramsey Road, where they found Alabaster's home.

After introducing himself, Malik was taken to Alabaster himself, who insisted for him and Amber (whom he believed to be Malik's girlfriend) to move in with him. She disliked living with the gangsters and decided to volunteer at the New Hope Soup Kitchen. When a cop headed for one of the soup kitchen's customers, Amber attacked him with mashed potatoes and ran, but was stopped by Malik, who brought news that Alabaster was dying.

The two kids headed to Alabaster's bed, where Malik finally told him the truth about Project Osiris before Alabaster passed. Right after, Amber and Malik were taken to a private airport by the police, where they met Tamara Dunleavy and reunited with Eli Frieden and Tori Pritel.

#### At the Dunleavy home

There, the four kids learned of Tamara and Project Osiris's history. Tamara offered them a place to stay with her, and they were flown back to Jackson Hole. Amber loved being able to exercise constantly without having to worry, but not long later, Eli realized that the other clones were situated in Poseidon Resort and Water Park after finding a news article online.

Tamara agreed to send a pair of investigators to Poseidon, and they came back with photos of the remaining Osiris subjects and other Serenity residents. However, Tamara refused to let them take matters into their own hands, so Amber, Malik, Eli and Tori planned to sneak out and rescue the other kids themselves.

#### Heading to Poseidon

At night, they snuck out of the house in Tamara's Bentley. They entered the airport but were nearly spotted by Gavin, who worked for Tamara and blocked their way. The clones went back and saw Boss Hawg's, a biker bar, the motorcycles of which they could use for transportation.
They arrived at the Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport and flew to West Cay, Bahamas. However, they landed in Florida instead after Tamara revoked their clearance to land. The kids took a taxi to a marina and stole a boat, which Eli drove to the water park.

#### Rescuing the other clones

They stopped at a beach and were soon spotted by a guard. However, he didn’t stop them, and Tori stole swimwear for them to use. Robbie Miers became the first clone there they told of Project Osiris, although they were only able to persuade him with the help of Hector Amani, who was also at Poseidon. They then spoke to Ben Stastny and Freddie Cinta.

Margaret Rauha and Penelope Sonas soon followed. They headed towards the boat but were detained by Mrs. Laska, whom Amber tackled and yelled at. After escaping, they found the boat had sunk, so they ran to the beach instead. Amber was determined to recruit Aldwin Wo, the only remaining clone, and went up to him despite the danger. C. J. Rackoff and two Surety members stopped them soon after, but Amber knocked out the Surety with an umbrella and Malik knocked out Rackoff before they ran into the hotel.

There, they met Felix Hammerstrom, who pointed a pistol at Eli and pulled the trigger just as Hector tackled and jarred his arm. As a result, the bullet shattered the lobby’s fish tank and a manta ray fell, which crushed and killed Hammerstrom.

When Tamara arrived, she took the eleven clones home on her private jet and forgave them for their actions. Amber was determined to repay everyone for all the damage they had done. Malik and Amber also argued about what Alabaster's last words to him had been, and Amber figured out that they were "You're a gift." The four kids then ended up in a group hug.

#### After Project Osiris

Although Project Osiris had ended, they had to pretend it never happened, a fact that Amber was strongly against. In September, she attended Jackson Hole High School as a freshman. After so many years in Serenity, Amber and the others were eager to learn more about the outside world and were content with their life in Jackson Hole.

## Personality and traits

Amber is reckless, loyal, devoted, selfless, brave, passionate, ignorant, and absolutely unstoppable once she decides on a course of action. She pays close attention to her health, goal weight and exercise, making her fit and healthy. She's also intelligent and organized as she would make lists of everything she needed to do that day. One example of these lists are:

THINGS TO DO TODAY (UNPRIORITIZED):

* Piano Practice (1.5 hours)
* Ballet Practice (1 hour)
* Math Test Corrections (to bring up grade from 94)
* Meditation (need new mantra – download English Sanskrit translation app)
* Make farewell card for Randy ~~(optional)~~ (mandatory)
* Work on book with Tori
* Work on Serenity Day project with Tori
* Sleepover at Tori’s (unconfirmed; Tori might sleep over here)

## Physical description

At the beginning of the trilogy, Amber was seen with long, blonde hair that was typically worn in a ponytail or bun. In *Criminal Destiny*, she had to cut her hair short and dye it black to avoid suspicion from the Denver police. In *Payback,* Malik Bruder states that her hair looks pretty punk with blonde roots, splashes of red where the black dye was fading, short, choppy hair, and scraggly bangs. Amber has a great figure due to her constant exercise and has a strong jaw-line.

## Relationships

### Family

#### Mrs. Laska

Before discovering the truth about Project Osiris, Amber was very close to Mrs. Laska, seeing as she was the teacher of Serenity's only school and they saw each other all day and all night. Mrs. Laska raised Amber for thirteen years with her husband, Mr. Laska, until Amber found out the truth about Serenity. After realizing that they had lied to her for her entire life, she hated her parents just as much as she loved them before and couldn't wait for them to be arrested.

### Friends

#### Tori Pritel

Amber Laska has been best friends with Tori Pritel since they were little kids. She claims that they're closer than sisters, and they had clothes available at each other's houses in Serenity for spur of the moment sleepovers. In the end of *Criminal Destiny,* the two ended up being split apart; Amber going down a waterfall with Malik Bruder, and Tori traveling on a helicopter with Eli Frieden.

#### Malik Bruder

*Main article: Amik (Amber x Malik)*

At the beginning of the trilogy, Malik and Amber didn't get along very well. They were almost always arguing and insulting each other, and have many differences. The two were partnered together at the end of *Criminal Destiny* after going down a waterfall to escape the Surety. Malik and Amber pretended to be a couple in *Payback* while visiting Malik's DNA donor, Gus Alabaster, at his mansion, and they slowly grew more closer together and became increasingly dependent on each other.

Gordon Korman has confirmed that they began dating before the end of *Payback*, and the reason they're always arguing is because of their feelings for each other.

## Trivia

* Amber is the second protagonist in the first two books.
* Confirmed to be 13, and 14 at the end of *Payback.*
* Her last name, Laska, is Polish for grace.
* Her first name, Amber, means fierce.
* She is portrayed by Kelly Jean Badgely in the audiobook.

## Gallery

Fanart by VioletBaudelaire14Amber Laska fanartAmber Laska on the cover of *Criminal Destiny*Fanart by Canimations-Jaguar