text; | @poison

[writtendestiny]

[A few conversations have led her to mulling more on this than she would do normally. Maybe it's the lack of having to fight for her life constantly, or certain questions she's been asked, but...]

Is there a way to find out if you're a clone? Does it matter if you are?

Does it mean you're worth less?

Comments

[braidmage]

Oh! Sorry. Um, clone.

[ Well that was awfully embarrassing, wasn't it? But now he is definitely never going to forget how it's meant to sound. ]

How could anybody make an exact copy of a person? Is that possible where you're from?! And why wouldn't you know, if you were one?

[ He wants to offer his support but honestly there is a whole lot of genre-blindness going on here and Reynir doesn't really get how these things work. ]

[writtendestiny]

[She's had a lot of instances like that herself over the years. No harm done, and she won't hold it against him.]

Where I'm from... sometimes the phaeries will replace an infant with a mimic of them, but that isn't the same. We don't have science, only magic.

[Sigh.]

But Anchor... isn't the first place I've been that wasn't home.

[braidmage]

[ Reynir, who comes from a world with both science and magic, readily accepts the idea of a world where only one is common. He gives a small nod of acknowledgment and ]

Yes, we have spirits and hidden people in my world, too, though I have never heard of them replacing babies with copies before.

[ It's sort of a terrifying idea, honestly, but she said that's not really what she was talking about here so he sets it aside for now, he can always ask more questions later. ]

You mean you've been taken to other worlds before, like this one?

[ That's surprising, but he can't quite connect it to Poison's anxiety about not being an original. ]

I still don't understand how you could be a copy and not know it. Wouldn't you remember being created?

[writtendestiny]

Mm. Two others.

[But then she frowns to herself, and the silence before she speaks again stretches out between them.]

Do you remember being born? Do you even remember exactly how you got here?

[braidmage]

Two?!

[ Reynir has generally found he's less worried about being brought to this place than others, but if it was the third world he'd been taken to that wasn't his home... well he's starting to see why Poison is not so happy at the moment. ]

No, I suppose not. But nobody remembers being born. That's just normal.

[ It's all a bit over his head; Reynir gives a small shrug. ]

It just seems like an unusual conclusion to jump to, to me. Then again, I'd never heard of a clone before just now, so it might be a matter of perspective.

[writtendestiny]

It was how they brought us back, every time we died. We found out they were cloning us, implanting our memories, and sending us back up to the surface.

[There's a subtle anger in her voice. Of all the things she's been through, that feels like one of the most unforgivable. One of the most violating. They'd taken everything she was and copied it, and now she's stuck on the idea that her entire life could be something fake.]

That was all they were using us for. Cattle to be hunted down and killed, as often as it took. [She falls silent, then exhales softly.]

I want to be sure, then I can decide where to go from here.

[braidmage]

Oh.

[ He hadn’t realized that, and it makes perfect sense now why Poison is wondering whether she is a clone or not. Also, what a terrible place it was, that she had been before this! ]

Well, I- I hope you find your answers soon.

[writtendestiny]

[She sighs slowly, letting the air out through her nose.]

Thank you. I hope I do as well.

[Though... she still isn't entirely sure if she really wants to know.]