Chapter 5 - Two For One Special

[photonicfighter]

[A - Action - 458 Stone Street, Morning]

[Welcome to a brand new day in Mayfield, household! Dakki is up bright and early like always, and today she is humming pleasantly to herself while she mixes together the batter for pancakes. This is perfectly normal. Surely, there is nothing wrong with this.

She's even using chocolate chips, for extra deliciousness!]

[B - Action - Around Town, mid-day]

[One of the most normal things for Dakki to do on a day like this would be to go to the park and train! It's important to keep fit, after all. Perhaps you'll catch her jogging laps, or doing push-ups, or practicing with the long staff she made for herself. Be careful not to get too close, though.]

Ah, out of the way, now! [A light, airy laugh] You're slowing me down! But I wouldn't dream that you could ever keep up with me, you poor thing...

[And so on. And so forth.]

[C - Action - Up and down Stone Street at high volume]

[Why are there two blonde women running up and down the street, exchanging blows with makeshift weapons? And why is one only in her undergarments? And slightly sticky?]

YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, COPY-CAST!!!

Not if you keep telegraphing your moves like that!

[The one only in her skivvies seems much, much angrier than the one in the nice blue dress and pearls.]

Comments

[photonicfighter]

[Pod-Dakki is starting to come back around, finding some breath and some composure. And she looks quite heartbroken and confused, to have Gat's considerable bulk devoted to pinning her down.]

Gat...? Wh-why would you... don't you know it's me?

[Actual-Dakki has gotten over her discomfort and astonishment, and has moved right along into considerable anger. She pauses only long enough to pick that frying pan up, and is then right alongside the two.]

Thank you, Gat.

[And then, cold rage is turned on the pod-Dakki.]

...You are not me. How dare you claim to be!

[And if Gat doesn't somehow stop her? Actual-Dakki is going to slam that frying pan down hard on her clone's head.]

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

Whoa, now—!

[Even though Gat is trying to pin the pod Dakki down, he's going to reach up and try to grab Dakki's arm before she can splatter her dop-pod-ganger's head across the sidewalk.]

—Alright, first, I want some answers here. What happened, Dakki? Did she attack you on sight?

[Only after he says that does he realize he might have to clarify which Dakki he means. But he's looking at the real one.]

[photonicfighter]

[An arm in the way of her swing is enough to keep Dakki from caving in her clone's skull. Although she makes a wordless vocalization of objection, at first.]

Of course I attacked her on sight! She's... she's a copy of me! And a bad one, too!

[The Pod-Dakki is struggling to rise.]

The neighbors pried me out of a pod, and I came through the front door to find you standing around wearing my clothes and my hair and my face!

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Gat's effort to keep Pod-Dakki immobilized is redoubled by her open admission to openly attacking the real Dakki.]

So it was jus' like all th' other cases I've seen in town.

[photonicfighter]

It's been happening all around town? It's not just me?

Well, that's Mayfield for you. You should realize that, you stupid fake!

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

Yeah. I've been seein' pods an' people fightin' themselves all around town.

[Glancing down at the dop-pod-ganger.]

An' th' ones from th' pods always act a bit like a jackass.

[photonicfighter]

At least I'm not the only one... [Actual-Dakki really isn't sure that she's comforted by that. She's at least not trying to force that pan down on her clone's head, so Gat can put more of his focus on the pod-Dakki.]

I'm not allowed to be angry that my clone is trying to kick my ass?

Hey, you're the clone, here!

I am not. You are. Who came out of the pod, hmm?

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Gat looks back down at the dop-pod-ganger.]

You ain't gonna fool me. Dakki ain't th' type to act like you've been actin' since this mornin'. Both you and‐

[Suddenly he looks up and over at the house.]

—Aurica.

[photonicfighter]

[Both the pinned Dakki and the standing Dakki react the same way at the mention of Aurica's name. A tensing, a turning of the head towards the house, and a simultaneous exclamation.]

Aurica!

...she wasn't in the house, that I saw.

No, she hasn't come home from school, yet.

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Now Gat is looking down at the dop-pod-ganger again, intently.]

But she was actin' a helluva lot like you.

[photonicfighter]

[The pinned Dakki shrugs as best she can, from beneath Gat's pin.]

Can I help it if she wants to take after her mom?

...Gat, please let me put this thing down, already?

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Gat looks back up to the real Dakki.]

Listen, Dakki. We gotta find out what happened to th' real Aurica. One of us has gotta go look for her an' bring her back home.

I can keep a watch on th' clones.

[photonicfighter]

I'll go find her!

You should change first. All of Mayfield doesn't need to see that much of us.

HEY!

[Actual-Dakki is already taking steps away, though.]

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Gat looks down to the dop-pod-ganger Dakki.]

Are ya invitin' her to take your clothes?

[Then he glances back over to the real Dakki.]

You'll need a knife to open th' pods if ya find her in one. Might as well go an' get a change of clothes if th' clone Aurica ain't home yet.

[photonicfighter]

[Dopple-Dakki shrugs, turning her eyes away innocently.]

If it means you'll let me up....

[Actual Dakki facepalms and shakes her head.]

I'll get a knife. And some clothes. And Aurica. You can handle her, right?

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Gat nods. He's still got dop-pod-ganger Dakki pinned down.]

Don't you worry none, Dakki.

[photonicfighter]

Excellent. Don't let her get loose! Thanks, Gat!

[And just like that, Dakki is bolting for the house to change, and get a knife, and prepare to FIX THIS CRAP UP.]

...I'd say that we could use this time to chat about the good old days, but I'm not sure how good they actually were....

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Gat's not going to let Pod!Dakki up until the real Dakki has gotten changed, equipped, and left the house.]

Yanno, I'd agree with that, but I don't think we've got th' same line of thinkin' behind that thought.

[Might as well humor the dop-pod-ganger.]

[photonicfighter]

Well, you are much older than me, Gat! You have a lot more "good old days" than I do.

[She laughs, and it's Dakki's laugh... more or less.]

I'm surprised that you weren't already obsolete when you were back on Ragol!

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

[Gat's not letting that dig get to him. His voice sounds as laid back as ever.]

There were folks way older'n me on Ragol. If you've got half th' mind of th' real Dakki, you'd know us Androids got upgrades whenever new tech came out.

[photonicfighter]

[And that's just fine with the un-Dakki. In fact, she's no longer really struggling against Gat's hold.]

Aw, Gat, you know that I'm teasing.

You're so easy to tease.

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

If y'say so.

[But with mild amusement, he adds,]

Reckon you should be glad Alicia ain't here.

[photonicfighter]

[The clone lifts her eyebrows, still grinning.]

What? Are you implying that she'd try to eat me? Or shoot me? Or shoot me, then eat me?

Sometimes I feel bad for her, needing to follow you around all the time...

[nanocerancowboy.livejournal.com]

She probably would, seein' has how you pod folk've been actin'. Ya'll'd get her blood up real fast talkin' to her like that.

[photonicfighter]

You keep insisting that I'm not me... [She rolls her eyes.]

She's so easy to rile up, though. Was she that scrappy when she was a mag? Or can we blame partner machine programming for it? I'm not sure how you can stand her, sometimes...