My initial thoughts were, wow, this kind of reminds me of "The Manchurian Candidate." But after googling when that was written, I guess I should be saying "The Manchurian Candidate" reminds me of this story. This story was written in 1950, and "The Manchurian Candidate" in 1959, and the movie was in 1962. The themes for the story is similar, but really it's a different story. In Manchurian - the candidate for the president of the United States has been brainwashed by an unknown Asian government, for reason of take over. While in Imitation, it's a counsel member of a governing body between Mars and Jupiter. With Earth agents wanted to take over control of the colonies. In Imitation, the counsel member is replaced by a duplication - an android/robot, that the agents have "control" over. I'm also reminded of the Outer Limits episode "One hundred days of the Dragon" (1963), which share the same general theme and elements from both Manchurian, and Imitation. Where an unknown Asian government, replaces the president outright, and similar to Manchurian it's to take control of the U.S. One of the biggest differences between the stories, two appear to take place in the present (or 1950/60s present). And one takes place in an unknown future. I'm just over half way though the story, and I'm hooked on it. And really looking forward to see how this story gets resolved. It's a very interesting story, that if you like Manchurian - I think you will enjoy this story.