Kenji came over to me, cupped hands full of mana crystals.

"You are one amazing guy, Kenji," I said, reaching out and patting his head. "You should give those to Morgan to fuel her alchemy forge. I wanna see what kind of potion she makes with them."

He nodded at me, eyes shining, then went over and dumped his treasure into Morgan's inventory.

Arthur’s group had been wandering for a long time without a break and they insisted upon having a rest and some food in the comfort of the Gorgon’s grotto before setting off in search of the others. We were about to head toward the beach where the Gorgon had her tent, but we made it all of ten steps before the door opened and in strolled Chika, Nina, Galahad, Sam, and Jane.

Pretty lucky timing, huh? Yeah, that was my first clue too.

“Nina!” Byron was the first to rush over, smothering his wife in a tight embrace. She stood there, accepting the crushing hug. “I’m so happy you’re safe. Where have you been?”

Jane stepped forward. “We defeated the Minotaur,” she said.

“That’s terrific,” I said. “Can I see the horn?”

“Horn?”

“The Minotaur’s horn? The drop item we’re looking for?”

Jane looked at me and blinked. “We forgot.”

“That’s okay. Sifu did say it wasn’t necessary, but maybe we can go back and look for it. What about the mana crystal, what color was it?”

She blinked at me again.

“You forgot it too, didn’t you?”

“Oops,” she said.

“Oh well, you can’t be perfect all the time,” I said.

Jane looked at me for a moment, then turned and wandered away.

We went as a group back to the beach so everyone could get a meal and a rest. Sigrid pulled me aside while the others were busy eating. “Let’s take a walk.”

I followed her to the little bridge over the stream, where she stopped to lean on the railing, looking back at the picnic scene on the beach.

“Is it just me, or is there something off with Jane?” she said.

“You noticed too, eh?”

“Yeah. She seems...flat.”

We watched Jane sitting on the sand, nibbling a ham sandwich quietly while Kay and Morgan laughed about something beside her.

“She hasn’t teased me once since she got back,” I said. “She even ignored a clear opening when I implied that she’s usually perfect.”

“Yeah,” Sigrid said, “that’s not right. And she completely ignored my armor. Since when did she not comment on a new outfit?”

“That doesn’t sound like Jane at all.”

Jane had been gazing into the lake, but all of a sudden she looked up and stared right at us, as though she knew we were talking about her. Her face was blank, but her green eyes seemed to bore into me.

It was weird to see Jane not smiling.

Jane’s mouth slowly curled into a smile.

“That is not right,” I said. I opened her Status.

Jane Anders

Affinity:

Air - Novice

Darkness - Novice

Death - Novice

Earth - Novice

Fire - Novice

Ice - Novice

Life - Novice

Light - Novice

Nature - Novice

Shadow - Novice

Void - Novice

Water - Novice

Gifts:

Let’s Dance

Master Of None

Powers:

Captivating Presence - Novice

Glow Worm - Novice

Gone the Next - Novice

Skills:

Acting - Novice

Dancing - Novice

Gymnastics - Novice

Kung Fu - Novice

Music - Novice

Sword - Novice

“Okay, something’s definitely wrong.”

“Why do you say that?” Sigrid said.

“Everything in her Status is at Novice level.”

“No,” Sigrid said. “I know for a fact that she was at least Competent in a lot of things. She always whoops when she advances in something.”

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Let me check something.”

“What?” Sigrid said.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Nina Masters

Affinity:

Life - Novice

Powers:

Bless You - Novice

You Shall Not Pass - Novice

A Spoonful Of Sugar - Novice

Skills:

Affinity Control - Novice

Crossbow - Novice

Eidetic Memory - Novice

Kung Fu - Novice

Laying On Hands - Novice

Medicine - Novice

“Yup, something’s definitely wrong.”

I used All Shall Be Revealed on all the people in Jane’s group and they were all the same: nothing higher than Novice in any power or skill. I also noticed that they were all missing the line that identified their team. Then it hit me.

“Hey Sigrid?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we found the Doppelgangers.”

“Shit.”

Byron and Kenji had come over while Sigrid and I had been talking.

“You two need to work on your conspiracy skills,” Byron said.

Kenji nodded. “Mm hmm, mm hmm. You look totally suss.”

“You’re talking about Nina and the others, aren’t you?” Byron said. “You noticed it too, there’s something up with them.”

I nodded.

“Nina’s not the same.” Byron inclined his head toward Kenji. “He says it’s the same with Chika.”

I looked at Chika over on the beach. Like Jane, the usually animated girl was sitting quietly by herself. And, like Jane, her Status was full of nothing but Novice-level abilities.

“We think they might be Doppelgangers,” Byron said.

“Yeah, we think so too,” I said.

“What should we do?” Byron said, concern written all over him.

“We need Arthur,” I said.

“Why Arthur?” Sigrid said.

“He has a power we need to use. Discreetly.”

“Got it.”

Jane was no longer staring at us with that weird smile, she’d stood up and was on her way over.

“I’ll keep her busy,” Sigrid said. “You go do what you need to do with Arthur.”

When Jane got close enough I said, “What I don’t get is why the monsters don’t need to pee. I could really use a bathroom right now, or at least somewhere discreet to go number one.”

“Yeah,” said Kenji. “Me too.”

I looked at Byron. He looked back. I cleared my throat. He looked at me. Then he got it. “Oh! Yes, me too. I also need to pee.”

Sigrid didn’t physically roll her eyes, but it was implied. “You’re dudes,” Sigrid said as Jane got there, “just go find a discreet tree to go behind.”

The real Jane would’ve made a joke about that, but this one just stood there. We left the two of them alone and went in search of Arthur, eventually finding him at the shed, poking at the Golem bodies with a stick.

“These things are kinda gross,” he said when he heard us coming.

“Be nice to your sister then, or you might end up getting one for Christmas,” I said.

“Huh?”

“Never mind, you’ll see. Listen, Arthur. Have you noticed anything about the last group? You know Galahad well, does he seem a bit off to you?”

Arthur prodded a Golem, trying to shove the end of the stick into the flesh. “To be honest I haven’t really talked to him much since they got here, why?”

I peered around to make sure we were alone. “We think they might have been replaced by Doppelgangers.”

He dropped the stick and brushed some dirt off his hands. “You do?”

I explained about the Status changes and how we’d noticed Jane, Nina, and Chika were acting differently. “And isn’t it strange that they all happened to forget to get the Minotaur’s horn and its mana crystal?”

“Come to think of it, yeah,” Arthur said. “And how’d they manage to find us here just a few minutes after my group arrived?”

“Yes! That was way too convenient.”

“So what should we do?”

“I was thinking maybe you could use your telepathy to tell everyone else to be cautious and don’t let themselves be alone with any of the Doppelgangers.”

“No problem,” he said. “And what’s the plan after that?”

“I was kind of hoping you could also help come up with that, too. Using your telepathy is about as far as I got.”

Arthur scratched at the stubble on his cheek. “Let’s keep this simple,” he said. “There are only five of them. We should split up and subdue them at the same time. Take them by surprise.”

“And by subdue...?” Byron said.

“I mean capture. Without injury, preferably. At least until we’re sure they’re not our real friends.”

“We need to keep one alive regardless,” I said. We’d all avoided talking about it so far, but it was time to face the elephant. “Assuming that our real friends are not dead—”

“Can we assume that?” Arthur said, which made Byron and Kenji both grimace.

I shot a glare at Arthur. “I think we can,” I said firmly. Kenji looked up at me, hope flickering in his young, frightened eyes.

He could take on a horde of giant worms and eat barbequed centipede without blinking, but the thought that something bad happened to his sister turned him into goo. I liked this kid.

“All this is based on games, right?” I said. “And in Dungeons and Dragons the Doppelganger needs to keep the person they copy alive.”

“Really?” Kenji said.

“For sure,” I said. “So I think it’s very safe to assume that the real Chika and Nina and the rest are just captured somewhere, waiting for us to rescue them.”

“Well all right,” Arthur said. “No matter what, we keep one alive and make it show us where they’re being held.”

“Kenji, you should be the one to handle fake Chika,” I said. Kenji’s hopeful look seeped away. “Don’t worry, it shouldn’t be too hard. They’ve copied the powers and skills but they’re all at the most basic level.”

“That’s a relief,” Kenji said. “We spar every day and I’ve never been able to beat Chika one-on-one.”

“I’ll handle the fake Nina,” Byron said.

“I’ll deal with fake Galahad,” Arthur said.

“That leaves Sam and Jane,” I said. “I’ll do Sam. I’m sure Sigrid will want to be the one to handle Jane.”

“Sounds good.” Arthur said.

We agreed to all get close to our person, then wait for the signal before trying to subdue them. Arthur would warn everyone else through telepathy so they’d be ready to help out, if needed. Kenji and Byron started heading back, leaving me alone with Arthur.

“What you said earlier,” he said, “about Doppelgangers keeping people alive. Is that true?”

“No,” I said. “But Kenji and Byron needed something to believe in.”

Arthur considered me appraisingly, then nodded. “Okay then.”

I couldn’t explain it to Arthur, but I was sure that everyone was okay. Even if we didn’t know if people were killed by Doppelgangers when they got copied, or whether or not they’d respawn if they were killed, I did know in my heart that our friends would be fine. After all, Jane was with them, and there’s no way they’d kill off the main character this early in the game, especially not in such a trash way.

I guess I needed something to believe in too.

Arthur bit his lip, brow furrowed in thought. “Sigrid keeps pushing me out of her head when I try to contact her telepathically, we'll need to tell her the plan in person. Where is she?”

I waved back toward the bridge. “She’s keeping Jane busy while we talk to you.”

Arthur gawked at me. “You left her alone with a Doppelganger?”

“Oh crud-nuggets.”