Event Log: Dead Ringers

[hadrielmods]

Who: Everyone participating in the event!
What: The event log for the Dead Ringers event!
Where: All around the city
When: January 16th-January 25th
Warnings: Evil doubles, so we can assume manipulation, violence, murder, and maybe some nasty words

Everything seems normal on the morning of the 16th - actually, everything seems normal about the city for the entirety of this event. Nothing is strange, nothing is obviously wrong. Well, except that the population has mysteriously doubled, and the new residents each look exactly like one of the old residents. So weird! Definitely not ominous at all.

At least until your new double gets down to business. After all, their only goal is to ruin your life, and that can take any form. Smashing your favorite coffee cup? Telling your worst enemy they're right? Kissing someone else in front of your girlfriend? Brutally murdering you and then hiding your body in a closet so they can more effectively destroy your life? The possibilities are truly endless, and the only way to protect yourself is to kill your double first. They're not really open to negotiation, after all - but they sure might pretend to be in order to trick you.

So watch your back, and try to make sure that really is your best friend and not an evil clone masquerading as them. Boy, that would be awkward. If you can stick it out until January 25th, good for you! But if you didn't manage to and your double survives until the end - well, just as a final 'fuck you', there's a chance you'll come back to life and remember every awful thing your double did. Hey, at least that'll make it easier to fix, right?

► This log covers January 16th-January 25th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If your evil clone happens to take you out, please let us know here, and remember that you will not revive until the event is over.

Comments

[Shadow and Valentine vs. the Double]

[synthedick]

[The Guard may be two leaders down, but their substitute still remains, standing in the doorway, his yellow eyes aglow with a fiery, vengeful light.

By now, the fact that there's something amiss in the city has become apparent -- and to hear it's doppelgängers is a shock even to Nick. There are loads of other synths running around in the Commonwealth, but none quite like him, and certainly none within Hadriel.

Until now, presumably. Meeting someone so like him would be tempting if he wasn't a part of the latest scheme of the gods. It doesn't take a detective to figure out where his own twin would go if he was looking to cause problems, but with no answer from Maketh or Henry, Nick is on his own when it comes to going to the Guard HQ. Of course, if they had clones of their own running around, chances are they'd go to the same place, hit them all where it hurts, tear down what they'd built together.

Nick's gut tells him not to go it alone on this one, both his instincts as a pre-war cop and a post-war private eye insisting he get backup. It'd be all too easy for someone to take advantage of his battered condition, to simply replace him like the synths in the Commonwealth. That's a concern that hits too close to home, one that rattles him right down to his mechanical frame.

He can't ask Rey for help: she's laying low from her involvement with the Guard and dealing with some things of her own. He'll check back in on her later. He can't ask his bosses, since they're potentially occupied. He does have someone else he can count on, though.

So one phone call and a walk later, he's at the headquarters, though it's not his own twin he confronts there as he steps through the open doorway. Given the bodies on the floor and the emblem painted on the wall, he wishes it was.

The old synth's nose wrinkles, a quiet fury etched on his face as he pulls his gaze from the corpses of his allies, his hand tightening on his cane. One thing is abundantly clear: this is what Maketh was afraid she'd become one day. Even if they weren't friends, they weren't coworkers, they didn't have a reason to fight together, Nick would know what to do -- what he said he'd do.]

And I hope you understand that you're not leaving this building alive.

[mismanagement]

[The double looks him up and down, taking stock, and then--

Laughs.]

And who exactly is going to stop me? You?

[The double sniffs, brushing dirt off her jacket. It does nothing for the blood already soaked in.]

Please. You're hardly fit for scrap metal.

[synthedick]

[Nick's eyes are locked on the visage of Maketh before him, knowing good and well it's not her; despite that, he can't help the feeling of unease that settles over him as he stares her down. Is this what the folks in the Commonwealth felt like when met with someone they were sure was a synthetic replacement for a loved one? When they felt they had no choice but to gun down someone who looked so much like their friends or their family?

That feeling that boils in his mechanical gut is a familiar one, one most people would never expect to see from Nick Valentine, a machine with more human compassion than most people could ever claim. He felt it when Eddie Winter got away with the murder of Jennifer Lands; he suffered it when IV showed up in Hadriel and threatened his family.

And he feels it now, igniting like white-hot fire in his chest. He answers Shadow in a graveled tone, one as dark as his intent.]

You heard her. She's making a point.

[Which is exactly what he intends to do, as well. The Guard may have no real authority in the city, but they were established to protect, and protect they will -- even from someone who looks like one of their own.]

[mismanagement]

[The double's smile fades and she shifts her weight. They're not backing down. She hasn't had enough time to set up effective contingency plans in case of assassination attempts. The timing couldn't be worse.

Well, fine. The Empire demands ruthlessness from its officers.]

I already made my point, droid. But it seems I must make another. This one didn't stick.

[She prods the bodies with her foot, grimacing.]

Such a shame.

[synthedick]

[Nick's eyes narrow as she calls him a droid, but he doesn't rise to the bait. Shadow, on the other hand, is far more impulsive. The hedgehog is far faster than the old synth, and he doesn't even get a hand out to stop his companion before he's at her, forcing the Imperial officer against the wall, his hands at her neck.]

Shadow.

[Though he takes a step forward and calls the hedgehog's name, he makes no other moves to stop him. Nick knows better than to fend off a rage-fueled Shadow; he's feeling that ire himself as it is, that hunger for vengeance rising the longer he has to look at the bodies of his friends and this murdering facsimile standing over them. They deserve better -- they deserve justice.

But he waits, playing support for the moment. He may be silent on the outside, his face of stone, but a storm builds within.]

[mismanagement]

[The double snarls, eyes wide with sudden pain. Bones crunch. She makes a noise, a yell swallowed down out of stubbornness. Never show weakness to your opponent. Never let them see you hurt. Her arm shakes, fingers twitching wildly. Nerve damage. Bones crushed to dust. It's just like being in the Academy again.

The double leans forward, Shadow's hands around her throat, and smiles at him, toothy and wild.]

Glory to the Empire.

[synthedick]

[Before Nick can get another word in, there's a sickening crack, and the double goes limp -- she's gone before she hits the floor, leaving only him and Shadow.

He doesn't have to see the hedgehog's face to know what might be going through his mind, how he's feeling. Nick remembers how he took Kain's death, something he'd had to do in self-defense. This wasn't exactly the same -- this wasn't the real Maketh overcome by demons. She may have had the face of a friend, but this was just some copy, something pretending to be her... pretending to be human. Nick knows all about that.

He hobbles to Shadow's side slowly, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder in gentle reassurance.]

[synthedick]

[Nick doesn't take Shadow's deflection personally; he knows that it's not easy to kill for some people, even when you come from a world as messed up as his. Each one weighs on a person in a different way. Some shrug it off because they have to; some leave it behind without a second thought, caring only about themselves.

And then there are those who carry that weight with them always, shouldering burdens they shouldn't have to. Nick calls out to him, his voice firm.]

Shadow.

[A pause, and then, softer:]

We don't have to wait inside, but I'd feel better if we at least stuck around until they disappear... if you don't mind waiting with me.

[It's a turnabout of a request Shadow once made of him, and while it may also be for the hedgehog's benefit, Nick can't deny he wants to keep an eye on the place until their bodies vanish, taken away by Hope to be resurrected. There's no telling who might come wandering in and see the corpses... or what they might do if they're looking to start more trouble.]

[synthedick]

[Nick joins him at the door, though rather than remain standing, he takes a seat on the steps leading in setting his cane behind him as he fetches his cigarettes from his coat. He doesn't need them, being a machine -- he's incapable of the actual feeling one might get from the nicotine -- but they're a part of the image, of presenting himself as who he wants to be. It's in that way that they are a comfort in troubling times.

The silence hangs between them for a minute or two. Nick doesn't bother look behind him; there's nothing he can do for Maketh or Henry. He'll have to take command of the Guard again, try to see if there's something to be done to curb the damage of the copies. He'll focus on the here and now for the second, though. One problem at a time.]

Thanks for coming out here with me, Shadow.

[synthedick]

[Nick glances Shadow's way, his expression somber.]

Let's hope 'never.' It's no secret I'm well past my warranty date, but you'd be surprised how hard it is to kill something that isn't alive in the first place.

[synthedick]

[Nick might not know about Shadow and the job he's on for Hope, but he hears that sigh.]

Hey, I don't want to make any promises I can't keep. That's one reason I didn't come out here alone, though. Didn't want to get in over my head and end up going to pieces.

[synthedick]

[He lets out a quiet sigh of his own. He knows, Shadow. He knows.]

For all I knew, she might've booby-trapped the place. I'd honestly thought I'd be the one putting her down, but in case things went wrong... I'm glad you were here to watch my back.

[synthedick]

[It could have been, indeed.

Nick is silent after that, his mind on what he needs to do next. Check on Rey, check on the rest of the Guard. He'll be glad to know they're not the only two left, but with Maketh and Henry out of commission until Hope brings them back, that means he's in charge. A year and some change in Hadriel has worn on him more than a decade or two in the Commonwealth. He wasn't made for this kind of work... though for all he knows about the Institute and why he was put together, maybe he was.

He glances over his shoulder again after several minutes, and sighs in minor relief at the missing bodies, smoke billowing from his nose. He plants his cane on the floor, using it to help him to his feet.]

Guess it's back to work.