My Little Clony

by therealfeedback

Act II, Chapter III

It had only been a few hours since we staged the kidnapping, but it felt like it had been centuries by the time Doc and Trixie got back, mainly because of the anticipation of the results. They had been analyzing ever since our return, but they had only just finished, ready to tell us whether or not Photo Finish was the Game Master.

We were gathered around an old oak table in the main room of my house. There was a large computer behind me, with an equally large monitor, and only because I’m a fan of those sorts of science fiction stories, a swiveling metal chair connected to it by a metal pole, in which I sat. In addition to the lights in the house, the light of the full moon shined down brightly through a skylight, helping to illuminate the room.

“Alright, the polygraph says that she wasn’t lying.” I said.

“I still don’t get why you have that thing.” Vinyl chimed in, her goggles back on her head instead of mine.

“It’s one of my products.” I replied. “Old products were a lot of what we spent last night moving in the basement for the setup.”

“Anyway, I’ll see what I can have done as far as analyzing that little piece of skin the cuff took. If we’re lucky, once I can start looking for similarities in the samples from us and her, I’ll be able to get an idea of a common thread between all of the cloned ponies. That’ll make it a lot easier to see when we get one that’s off, and related to our Game Master somehow. On that note, I’ll need some samples from you all. Hair, skin, whatever works.”

“And for what purpose exactly?” Trixie asked, annoyance in her voice. Exhaustion as well, as carrying on two constant, simultaneous, photorealistic illusions as far apart as she had earlier today required a lot of energy. “I don’t fancy the idea of tearing my mane out.”

“Sampling.” I replied. “I need to know who’s who, on a deeper level than just knowing you. I need to know things that nopony outside of the two of us would. And I need to be able to verify that you’re either you or a clone of you. They could do it, but even with the Game Master’s technology, I can’t think of how they’d clone somepony in any manner of a timely fashion.”

“If we could turn a basement into a terrorist hideout, and a puppet into a living foal, they can use magic to turn one of their agents into us. Genes don’t lie though. Or at least ours won’t, can’t say the same of any clones. I need to be sure without a doubt who’s who. You all do, too.”

“Right, we can deal with all that later. For now though, what’s the verdict on our suspect? Do we know who we’re going after as the Game Master, or are we still on the hunt?” The Doctor asked.

“She looks clean.” I said. “Polygraph says she was being honest, as I said. and the interrogation probably wouldn’t have been possible if she were the Game Master. Someone with that power could’ve stopped it all easily.”

“Which reminds me,” Vinyl said. “What the hell happened to you? One minute you were playing the part, the next you were crying on the ground. It was kind of…unexpected, to put it mildly.”

“I’m not honestly sure.” I replied. “I just know that I don’t want it to happen again. Whatever it was, I felt awful, and I still don’t feel fully clearheaded. I get a feeling that it’s related to our methods though – We’re not kidnapping anymore of our suspects though. We’ll be more subtle from now on. Even if we can pass it off as a dream, I feel like that may have caused it.” There was another reason as well, that I didn’t want to voice, as it would sound selfish to leave behind the relative safety of that modus operandi in-part due to me not liking to play the villain. It felt like a grim reflection of what we were fighting; a facsimile of what were were trying to fight for, and I wasn’t willing to compromise our integrity for the sake of quicker results. We didn’t need to stoop that low, ever again.

“So then what will we be doing?” Vinyl asked.

“Improvising.” I said simply. “Every situation, unless we take full control like that, is going to differ. We have to adapt to it, because we barely had the resources to isolate and control that one incident. Controlling the environments we’ll need to from here-on is impossible for us. We need to adapt.”

“No idea how we do what we do, just that we have to do it, and screwing up can cost every one of our lives?” The Doctor said, oddly excitedly. “I like this plan.”

“So, who’s next? Trixie asked the question this time. “And do walleyes and I get more to do this time?”

“My name’s Derpy, not walleyes.” Derpy said.

“It’s not really that important, is it?” Trixie asked.

“Whatever it is, it can wait until we’re not discussing things this vital.” I cut in. “Please play nice though, we’re fighting a big enough enemy, we don’t need to do their work for them.”

“Right then,” I said, segueing into the next subject. “Who it is next, I’m working out between two of them. I think I know though. And you’ll both get to do more now that we won’t be counting on the illusions to do everything, and individual skill instead.”

“Anyway, overall, given what ended up happening wasn’t planned on in the slightest, things went fairly well. I’ll work out the next move, and we’ll move in a few days. For now though, I want you all staying here.” Here being my home. The less variables we had to deal with, the better. The potential of any of our homes being broken into and one of us being Removed without warning could be disastrous, and potentially give us all away. If we were all here, I could keep an eye on everyone, and we could all pitch into one safe house instead of five.

“Somehow, I’m not fond of the idea.” Trixie said. “The great and powerful Trixie demands her own home, thank you very much.”

“First, strength in numbers. We’re safer if we’re together, which is all too pertinent a concern given our opponent.” I responded. “Second, I’m not exactly poor – my guest room is at least as big as your traveling stable. If anything, you’re getting a nicer place to stay.” There was a moment of silence, quickly ended with the sound of Trixie grumbling.

“Right, so, everyone, get some rest. We need to be fully ready and prepared for the next operation.”

I sighed as I walked back to my room. Everyone else had gone to their assigned guest room to sleep for the night, and I was heading to my room to do the same. As I did though, it turned out I wasn’t the only one still awake, as, not paying attention amidst my thoughts, I walked right into someone. As I glanced up from the ground, I saw it was Derpy.

“Sorry Derpy,” I said. “I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you alright?”

“I think so.” She said. She seemed upset for some reason.

“Is everything alright?” I asked.

“That lady today…she seemed really scared.” The pegasus replied. “Did we do something wrong?”

“No, she was just…” I thought about my wording for a moment. I didn’t think Derpy really understood just what we were supposed to be giving Photo Finish the impression of, and I didn’t want to make her feel bad in case she also wasn’t fond of how it went. “She was…just trying to make it seem that way. She wasn’t really scared, she was just trying to trick us. She didn’t though.”

“Alright…” There was still an uneasiness in her voice. “And…why were you screaming?” At that, my mind went blank. I hadn’t really thought of an explanation for anyone else, as I didn’t really have one for myself.

“I…I’m not sure.” The truth was better than a lie in this situation, I figured. “I just know that I didn’t like whatever it was…and I don’t want it to happen again. I don’t want to hear…I…”

“Do you want a hug?” She asked.

“Huh?” Was the only response I could give, as my train of thought was disjointed already, and it only got worse with the offer.

“Hugs…always make me feel better.” She said with a smile. “I thought maybe one would make you feel better.” I nodded.

“I…Yes, I’d like that.” At that, she wrapped her arms around me, and I instinctively did the same, as a pair of tears slowly ran down my face onto her shoulder.

Sometimes, a hug from a friend can put you at ease better than any cold logic can.