Jack sat in the rather cozy dungeon living room, helping himself to some expensive brandy.
“Yea, just make yourself at home, Jack. Any bottle is all yours.” Hyde sarcastically muttered.
“Sleeps in a tank of water, eyes open? Your Nicole got a heavy dose of Menace, didn’t she?”
“You know helping yourself to my bar is a little bold, but spying on me while I tend to my girlfriend’s medical needs is just shady and disrespectful.”
“Cut the shit. You don’t have photos, you just assume you know where I was.”
“Reading my bluff like a real Jack of hearts. So why agree to stay here?”
"I feel safer watching you than assuming you won’t start something. Your military lawyer…hell of a rack.”
“Vicky not doing it for ya anymore?” Hyde smirked.
“I’ve seen fake tits before, but those are FAKE tits. Xeroxians have free cosmetic healthcare, and you would never know the difference if they had work done. You’re is nothing BUT work. So…pleasure model, or android maid?”
“Well, both if you get the right outfit. You’re good, Jack.”
“Fake lawyer, fake woman even, you got a bomb you think will get past Delmar airport scans or you just recording the house layout for later?”
“Oh I wouldn’t dream of a bomb that close to any Nicole. I don’t wanna hurt her. She’s too much like mine, and I’m starting a new life. Legal, turning over a new leaf. But that takes money, and my Nicole has nightmares too from what Gizzy put her through. She deserves some compensation. There’s no plot to kill you all, or even Vinn. I’m trying to go straight and legit this time. The kraken is dead, and judging by the Nicoles you can see that cloning someone without their knowledge can change ya.”
“So you’re just a nice guy now, hu? Cloned out all the meanness conveniently?”
“Shit no, nice is a stretch, but compared to the other guy I’m a damn saint. That’s a low bar to set, so I’m still a little bit of an asshole. But I’m learning, Nicole has really helped me change too. I rescued that girl, you know. She was a fish in an aquarium, and now she’s free to live. Even if she’s not your friend Nicole, doesn’t that count for something?” Hyde said, offering a cigar. Jack waved it.”
“You know it’s not poison or anything. Well, I guess to humans it technically is if you smoke enough of them. So let’s cut the anchor here and let the past drift away. Or am I always just a permanent villain to you because I look like one?” Hyde asked.
“I can tell when someone hates me, you’re faking the hospitality.”
“Of course I’m faking it, I don’t like you. I don’t have anything against your Nicole, or your friends or your girlfriend, but you rub me the wrong way and I have a very serious issue with your boss.”
“So Gizzy is your target, and I’m the bonus that gets in your way.”
“Jack, you defend her, but you don’t really know her. I don’t wanna hurt you, but I feel like you might get in between her and me, and that’s a dangerous spot for a human. Don’t make me move you, it won’t be gentle.”
“Why Gizzy?” Jack inquired.
“Because she toys with people, Jack. You know that more than most. She snaps her fingers, and you obey like a dog on a shock collar, and I’m familiar with that feeling intimately. She has something on you, and that’s a shame. You’re her plaything, and you’re disposable, like all of us. Nicole, your friend, replaceable and stored for study, my hairy ass being played like a game of poker, ready to be cloned back if I die too early, And the old Jack of hearts himself. How many cards of you does she have in the deck, or does she just get a new deck when one wears out?”
“We signed a life insurance policy. You die, you get cloned. That’s public policy. In my line of work you die more than most.”
“No Jack, public policy is cloning humans who watched the video and wanted to be brought back. THAT is the policy. The policy is if you die, they clone you. She doesn’t mention that the clones are already in storage, the tracking implants, the memory altering, and you can’t clone a Delmarian. It kills the soul and renders you void. I don’t remember signing a policy. I don’t think Nicole signed one saying that medically altered experimental versions of her would be on stand-by, alive and sedated in a tank, ready to upgrade when she fails the test. Do you come back different every time, or does she give you pet favoritism?” Hyde asked.
“Nicole is a fluke, you know that. Acidental. She has unknown DNA with unpredictable results and cloning is only an exact science if you know the variables, and 1 percent virtually unstudied species can cause problems. It wasn’t intentional, it was a fuck up, and she’s not perfect. People get cloned every day and the ones that don’t wanna know, don’t ever know, that’s a check box on the policy, standard Osirian paperwork. You think I give a shit what number is next to my name in the database? I’m me, every time, full blooded human, no unknown aquatic 1 percent variable.”
“Do you really believe that? Mother never lies because she loves you? Gizzy is a manipulative psychopath and I want her to pay for it. Not you, not “older Nicole” or her friends and not even Vinn. Sure he killed me, but that’s how the pit works, I got arrogant, he got lucky, it was a fair kill. And I’m better now than ever. So stop thinking I’m coming to your back door with a gun and starting a war. I hope you all have a great life, and even you, and you still kinda piss me off. I hope you stand down and stop trusting the overlord's every word. Free yourself, think for yourself, have a family or something Jack. You’ve been through some shit, you deserve the collar taken off by now. But Gizzy…she fucked with my life, she messed with Nicole, and she answers to nobody for it. Please don’t get killed for her sins, that would upset a lot of people. Think about Vicki losing you, your friends missing you, the people you care about and protect without their protector and friend, because you have to be a human shield for a god that literally has your face on a playing card. Let me guess, her way of reminding you who owns you?”
“It’s not that simple.” Jack sighed.
“Sure it is. We may not be friends, but we don’t have to be enemies,but if you hunt me down and cross me, and I have to kill you, you know what I’ll do to your family? Nothing. Not a damn thing. I’m not out for blood. I’ve spilled enough blood, and it haunts me because there is no afterlife and the people I killed are just gone. We don’t get cloned back, unless we have a role to play against our will. I do not want to spill any more blood, just whatever that coolant shit is that runs through Gizzy’s tubes. You and I are not the monsters, we just guard them. Stop.”
“I’ll take that into consideration. So this isn’t about the money at all then, you just want someone down there because you can’t set food on that moon. So what does a reprogrammed sexbot have in her gears that you think can take down someone like Gizzy?” Jack inquired.
“Now Jack I said I was being honest and friendly, I didn’t say I wasn’t holding ANY cards back. I want you to know your people are not my target, so you’ll ask yourself if their lives are worth hers. Is their pain and suffering worth you obeying the mistress, is their happiness and safety is really your highest priority? You have enemies out there, I don’t hate you, I don’t like you much, and you pointed a gun at my dick and then another one at my head later during an honor fight. Rude as hell, but forgivable given what the old me was like. I don’t give a damn about you, let alone enough for revenge, or going after someone’s family. That’s low. But if you die in the crossfire and someone who hates you starts a problem, there won’t be another card in the deck to save the day. You have miracles to perform for them, stick around. Don’t get between a raging bull and his big blue target. That’s all. Make a choice. Their happiness and safety, your life, your happiness, or mommies obedience like a good little bitch, while she plays you and puts you in danger, clones you back and acts like you owe your soul for it. Because we both came back, Jack. There is no soul. There never was. She doesn’t have yours.”
“How do you know?” Jack said, taking a sip. “How do you know she doesn’t have yours too? How do you know there aren’t dozens of her waiting to wake up, and one of you somewhere ready to pay for what you did to her? She could clone you back just to keep you in a box and torture you, indefinitely. You call yourself a hydra because you lost one head. She’s lost more, and every time she upgrades, there’s more of her. You can’t kill one, let alone all of them. You should take your own advice, Hydra, because I may let you live with one Nicole if she’s truly happy and chose you for some reason. Maybe the defective Nicole just likes that ugly face of yours. You could be happy, and you know what would happen to her if you died? Nothing. Because she wouldn’t go after your family either. Gizzy believes in that honor code too. Same pitch, same lecture. If you piss off Gizzy, the devil owns your soul, and you may wake up in a hell you can’t get out of.” He said, leaning close to Hyde’s face.
“You think Gizzy’s just indiscriminately evil and without honor. You don’t know her at all. But when someone gets personal, and you provoke that fury, buddy, you don’t know what evil looks like. She’s killed worlds for personal insults. She doesn’t play fair. She has a side of her that is a blessing and a hero to those she cares for, and she cares for a lot of people. But for the few who spark that darker side of her, that ancient vengeful god you think she is…it’s in there, and you don’t want to understand it. You think she controls me with fear? I do what I do out of respect and a debt I owe. That’s MY code of honor tethering me down. I’m paying it off as we speak. But I would absolutely fear her more than anything if I even considered stabbing her in the back…which of us knows what that feels like? Who’s stabbed someone’s back more recently?” Jack smirked.
“You’ve made your point, little soldier, and you made a damn good one. But you keep calling her Evil Nicole. You risk your life for your Nicole; you can’t protect mine if I’m dead? Would you not take her in as one of yours if she was alone? She moved on when she lost Vinn, right to me. She’s a survivor. Likewise, she’d move on again if she lost me. I have a code to follow and a point to make, and I don’t need to kill every Gizzy, I just need to expose her and show that she has that dark side, and she loses her followers forever. You don’t kill a god, you just make them bleed and die a martyr. Maybe you get your soul back for it, maybe you just put a crack in the faith and start the temple crumbling down. Either way my life is just a copy, what is it worth if I run and hide while she plays overlord with everyone’s lives? Nobody else is going to start the fire, why not a dead man with nothing left to lose?”
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“So we really can’t be friends, then? I'm heartbroken.”
“Doesn’t seem that way. But if one of us falls and the other lives…do we agree to take care of the ones left mourning? That’s a soldier’s code of honor.”
“For once, we agree. Cheers.” Jack sighed.
“To victory and glory.”
“To making smart decisions and enjoying second chances.” He corrected with a sad nod.
They parted ways, Jack staying in the bar area and Hyde returning to Nicole’s room. He finished his drink and took his phone out, dialing.
“Yea. I’m on the ship. Something is very off. He’s not lying, but he’s omitting something. Evil Nicole is not well, the lawyer is a drone, I need full scans of her and recording jammers installed in every room, see if we can bug her and use her against them. The money is a decoy, he’s got a second plan, this is just a distraction. I don’t think he’s planning an attack on the house, but I don’t know yet. He’s different, I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. Yea, you are the target, that much is the truth, I just don’t know the angle or if you’re the only target, I think he killed Gandalf to cover his ass and steal a Nicole, but he didn’t admit it. I’ll keep you posted, keep tracking the android.” He said, hanging up and sending some files.
Hyde closed the door and locked it behind himself, looking at Nicole in her tank. She moved to the top and into the air, beating on the top glass and yelling silently. He pressed the button on a com system.
“LET ME OUT!” she yelled.
“I’m so sorry I can’t do that just yet, but you are quite safe. The sedatives wore off quicker than expected, I see your eyes are back to normal.”
“You had a Nicole. Why can’t you leave me alone?” she cried.
“It’s complicated, and it’s not about you. I needed my Nicole down there, you’re just here for safe keeping until this is over. You have my word you will be safe and unharmed, and I know you must despise me and this certainly doesn’t help, but I mean you no harm, and you have nothing to fear. Your friends are safe, you are safe, confined but safe. You’re not my enemy, you’re just an unfortunate complication in the way during a more complicated plan, and you will be free soon enough. And you will never see me again"
“FUCK YOU!” she yelled, punching the glass.
You two really are a lot alike, but I assure you this is a temporary swap and no harm will come to you, your marriage, and your house of friends.”
“Then what? Why?” she asked.
“Oh, I think we have a common enemy now, and when it’s over you may even approve of my plan. But not this part, the confinement and waiting. Waiting for me to do something terrible or vengeful. I can’t convince you that I want you safe, especially locking you in a jar and keeping Jack on the ship. I’m sorry, it’s necessary but unfair to you. When this is over, and you see that I mean you no ill will, I hope you can forgive me, but I understand if you don’t. Is the water fine? Comforting? I can lower it, change the temperature, you have a TV and your little protein shakes. Let me know if I can make this less unpleasant in any way.”
“Let me out for starters.” she snipped.
“Aside from that. Maybe later.”
“You could jump off the deck and kill yourself.” She snipped. He sighed sadly.
“Sleep, rest up, the time will pass quicker. Maybe in a few hours, you’ll think of something more rational that would make you feel more comfortable.” He said, flipping off the lights and resting on the couch nearby. “Good night, little one.” He said softly.
Evil Nicole sat in the mansion basement, drinking her shake and turning her nose up slightly.
“Bad batch?” Vinn asked.
“It’s just…off" she sighed.
“You seem off, is it just nerves or the gravity sickness, or…freaked out by meeting your evil clone?”
“I wish everyone would stop calling her evil. She’s just different. Maybe when this is over, she can understand better. The other Nicole is just misguided and lost. She can still find her way back. She’s not a lost cause, Vinn.”
“Sorry, I forget she’s like 99 percent you. She can’t be that bad, just got caught up with the wrong asshole. What is it about him and you? It’s like you don’t hate him like you should. Like I get forgiveness, and it’s sweet of you, but he did terrible things to you. He doesn’t deserve forgiveness"
“He didn’t do anything unforgivable, Vinn. He frightened me, he chased me, I got a little shaken up and some skinned knees and bruises from the ordeal, but nothing that doesn’t mend. And the nightmares are…fading. He was a piece of shit, for sure, but didn’t you notice something about him that seemed different?”
“Yea, shorter beard and civilian clothes, otherwise the same asshole.”
"Vinn it’s over. He didn’t imprison me in the caves, or kill me, it was just an act that a very dark and broken monster played too well, but it’s over, and he’s not the same man you killed. You need to let that go. If I can accept that the old bastard is dead and the new bastard is different, you should give it some thought.”
"Are you just…attracted to him? Is it the confidence or the power or the…better horns or something?” Vinn asked.
“Vinn you’re not less than him. Men like that have a…aura of authority. But he’s an animal, and you’re not, some part of me is drawn to animals, maybe his is tamed down now and maybe without you around, the other Nicole just thinks she can tame that and fix him.”
“I’m not animal enough? I mean I could stop using fur conditioner, I could work out more.” He suggested.
“Vinn…not right now, I don’t feel totally ready for that conversation, I just wanna forget that craziness and be with my friends, and you. Game night, remember?”
“You still just wanna go on with life as normal, with that damn creepy robot watching us from the front lawn?” he asked, locking eyes with their new lawn statue.
“She’s a sexbot with a lawyer program, what’s she gonna do…yell OBJECTION and start stripping? Jack can take care of himself. He’s got this handled. She’s just an annoyance.”
"Game night is schedules for 8, it’s only 6:45. You wanna…maybe hit the soundproof shower and freshen up?” he eyebrowed.
“Maybe later tonight, I’m still a nauseous. These protein shakes are not helping."
“I thought you were intentionally fermenting them now?”
“I may give that a rest and go for some fresh ones for a while, at least until my stomach feels better.” she sighed.
“I’ll make you a fresh batch before game night. You’ll feel like your old self in no time. Just take it easy.” He said, hugging her and petting her hair. She cautiously leaned into it and felt oddly safe. A familiar memory that nearly brought a tear to her eye. She shook it off, put on a smile, and headed up to her room for a little alone time on her computer.
Good Nicole sat balled up on an unfamiliar couch as the door opened and Hyde walked in.
“Prefer the couch to the tank, I see?” he asked. She sprinted and dove from the couch, connecting with a flying punch to the nose, stunning him a little. She landed with a fighting stance and was ready.
“Yea I definitely deserved that.” He said, sitting down on the couch and hunkering down to more eye-level. “Go ahead, swing away. Let it out. Hit me, kick me, scratch at me, obviously the eyes are off limits, but otherwise you’re not making me any uglier than I already am, and you need the stress release.” He said getting comfortable.
“You just…want me to beat you up?”
“For starters, you’re a declawed kitten fighting a bear, so I’m not really that scared, and you have every right to wanna tear me apart. Can we just sit and talk a minute?”
“I’d rather stand, it’s a pretty crowded couch.” she glared.
“It’s a Delmarian king sized couch, you could fit 3 of me on here.”
“And yet...still not quite enough space.”
“Look. If it’s the money you’re worried about, we don’t want much, ten percent would get the ship good to go, and we could pay you back, you got plenty. It’s not about the money.”
“It’s about the power.” she said.
“It’s about her. She’s lost and scared, you know the feeling, you’ve been through it both but you have Vinn and a home, and she has this…a partially renovated flying cave and whatever I am. She just wants what you want. To feel like home. Family photos, some music she loves, some games she remembers. All hers too, all copied, not stolen, just like her. She can’t buy those sentimental things, and your hate for me is clouding your reasoning and making you hate her. She’s you, you know. She gets lonely, she gets cold at night when she has bad dreams. She spends 2 hours with a single cup of coffee because she just likes holding the warm mug and smelling the scent of it, and she keeps heating it back up when it goes cold. It’s adorable. Don’t hate yourself in order to hate me, just hate me and let it out. You’re not exactly gonna break my skull making yourself feel better, so please don’t become a thing of hatred and suffering and point it at her, just because you can’t forgive me. She did nothing wrong, before or after she was cloned. She’s not robbing you, or planting a virus on your computer or spying for an invasion. She’s just going home for a little bit, and copying a few things she can take with her. Imagine if you woke up and had to leave everyone, to live on a ship with me…and some little brat wouldn’t let you at least take a thumb drive of pictures and games with her to remember her life when she was happy.”
“She looked oddly happy with you.”
Of course, she did. You’re a survivor and you adapt. Just like you don’t look scared with me right now, and you’re holding back despite wanting to take my head off. You probably Envy Vinn, he’s had that satisfaction you never can. Plus, the sex is great. Just stop being so selfish for a minute and let YOU have a few days with your family before they're taken from her. She may spend her life out here in space, on a ship, stuck with me while you go home. You can’t give her a few days of that trade?”he asked.
"Do you…actually love her?” she asked.
“Of course I do. Even the monster you hated respected you and found you fascinating, and he was a dangerous animal that cared only for himself. And YOU…the you right here now, broke through that and made him almost feel warm inside. Now imagine seeing you drown, losing that, dying himself, then seeing you come back stronger and needing him to survive. Waking up broken and forgotten and there is the newest and even stronger Nicole, and she looks at you and doesn’t see a monster anymore. How could I not love that? Does she love me? Probably not. I’m a placeholder she can lean on in a difficult time, who owes her a debt and practically kisses her ass to make sure she has SOME kind of home. She doesn’t miss me right now. She’s probably enjoying game might with friends and sleeping alone in her room, wishing she never had to leave again. She probably misses Vinn more than she misses me, nobody really does miss me until they need a monster on a leash to protect them. And that’s good enough for me. It has to be, it’s all I have. I miss her like hell already. Just think how frustrating it would be to escape me, run back to Vinn, and know you can’t really be with him, just around him, seeing him, a hug a smile, and in a few days you’d have to go back to me. She’s going through hell, Nicole. She’s stronger than you, but she’s going through so much worse, and all she wants is one last time to say goodbye to her family.”
“And we sit here calling her Evil Nicole. Maybe I’m the evil Nicole. I’m a piece of shit.”
“No, you’re just slightly more human. I don’t even hate them anymore. Well, Jack does really annoy me, I admit I would love for him to start a fight, so I could smack him around a little, but I can restrain myself. For you, both of the yous. The rest of you are alright in my book. Even Vinn.”
“I still kinda want to kick your ass.”
“I’d still let you. Little one. If you prefer the couch I’ll sleep somewhere else. Doors are locked so you’re free to move about, anything you want…within reason, let me know next time I check on you.” He said ruffling her hair without even realizing it. She froze in an awkward manner, realizing it wasn’t meant for her, and it was done with love.
“Hyde…” she said. I want something.
“Name it.”
“Medium deep dish pizza and a fleece blanket.” She smiled.
“20 minutes or less, or it’s free of charge.” He joked, leaving the room. As the doors opened and Hyde turned the corner, Jack, lurking in the halls, stuck his head out. Nicole Dilated her eyes to black, and he turned to see her standing there, waving with a smile as the door closed.
“I forgive you, and I’m sorry.” She whispered to herself, both literally and figuratively.