What the issue here is, the issue with what Saede is doing, is in keeping all of those clones constantly updated on each other's memories and personalities all at the same time, as some kind of super-person. Saede's just now said it's more like a mindlink than an actual 'one person with multiple bodies' thing, so her thing sounds fine to me.
To me that's irrelevant, since I am casting doubt on the earlier possibility. I'm not convinced Saede can make multiple clones, regardless if she can keep them in sync. All PF that doesn't make sense I liberally ignore. 'Only laws are keeping capsuleers from doing so' simply isn't convincing argument by a long shot.
Right, so there's no point arguing with you since you'll just ignore any lore you don't like. Gotcha.
I'm stating right here if Merdaneth knew how to make multiple clones, he most certainly would. All attempts to do so have failed, despite sending a cluster-wide broadcast to all cloning centers, each time only one clone is activated, the other left lifeless.
You can make multiple clones. You do it with alts.
If you're saying he can't make multiple clones, then he simply isn't doing it right, because there is literally nothing in lore that says that multiple clones of a person is impossible, and many sources that say that it is possible and that people have made them. The way the whole process
works leaves it open to multiple clones. Missions in-game have you save people's brain data to be used for cloning. EVE Source talks about how a DUSTer clone that gets abandoned on a world might be assumed dead and they'd just make a new clone elsewhere, unknowingly leaving two up at the same time. That wouldn't make the current one fall over and die, at all. The news post linked above shows multiple clones being active.
If Merdaneth doesn't know how, it's because you the player, have decided that apparently he doesn't know how to save a brain scan to file and use it to replicate multiple copies. And you can very well do that, mechanically, via alts. Dev responses to questions after the release of True Stories states that, yes,
alts can be considered 'other clones' of the same capsuleer if the player wants. And yes, that means if you have multiple accounts then you could have multiple Merd clones at the same time. You could literally, right now, make a Merdaneth2 clone on an alt account and very well say that it's a second clone and go flying around with both toons at the same time. Anyone who told you you couldn't do that would be wrong. As far as I know, that's what Saede does--she actually has multiple Saede toons.
You want to know what doesn't make sense? Saying that making multiple clones isn't possible when every aspect of the process dictates that it is possible and can and has happened. Now, if you're only going off of in-game systems and ergo only counting podding and jump cloning, then yeah, you only get it on a one-to-one basis. But by lore it is very much possible, and if you want to replicate that lore by mechanics then you can easily do so with alts.