Cognates and Clones
Word has gotten around about Charlotte’s team and the dire predicament facing not just one world, but many. Other members of the Menagerie have asked about it. Despite her appreciation of the offer, Charlotte politely declines. Despite her refusal, the magnitude of the problem makes people persistent, and finally she must explain herself.
Charlotte decides, as she’s done in the past when things were getting out of her control, to at least get in front of things. To that end, she gathers some of the people who’ve been asking, and trusts that others will show up or hear about it later.
Harry is practicing his powers, and makes sure everyone has drinks. Once he’s done with that, she starts talking.
“Creatures called Eigendrakes are causing damage throughout the multiverse. We hope to neutralize them - and perhaps undo the damage. I am working with some of our cross-dimensional cognates on this matter. So for that reason, while I’m grateful of the offers, there are quite a few interested parties. I assure everyone here, should any of you become vital to the effort, I will notify you at once.”
She takes a breath, and lets go of tension by an act of will. She doesn’t want to say what comes next, but it best explains her real reason for turning down help.
“We’ve already lost one person. Leah Snow. She was… struck by the Eigendrakes’ lightning, I am told. What I hope this means is that we can find her somewhere, somehow. After all, these beings at their core are driven by preservation. We won’t give up looking. But… I am not interested in losing anyone else at this time.”
The gang is silent at this revelation. Mourning lost comrades - even if they returned later - isn’t foreign to anyone here. Aren’t they at a wake for the supposedly deceased Jason Quill right now? However they feel about risking the danger personally, they also have to accept Charlotte’s feelings about the matter.
She pivots to another subject, hoping to put peoples’ minds more at ease. “Besides, some of you have already helped with the most important next step. The Resister suits. And I’m sure each of you are working on something important.”
She beckons. “Harry. Adam. Why not come tell us your recent business, for example?”
Harry takes a position front and center.
“Well, we’re working on two problems. The Seven Wonders of the villain world. Last-generation villains. I got a few folks from the former JHHL turned Chosen and uh, some unnamed folks, and we’re working up a thing to try and take them down. Oh hey, maybe this will help someone. Rex Tyran’s Stellar Six? They’re clones of other heroes and villains. Maybe mind controlled, maybe conditioned by upbringing or something. Anyone who wants to talk about that, come find me.”
Several people, including Alycia and Daph, perk up at this news.
Adam goes next. He’s not as comfortable in front of an audience as Harry, but he gamely follows Harry’s example. “Hey. Uh, the Universal Concordance aren’t really good guys, but they aren’t really bad guys either. The Blot are still out there, and the HHL that went to space are still fighting them, and uhhh.”
He scratches his chin and looks around. “There’s a big repository of negative energy on Earth. Probably it created the Sepiaverse by accident. The Concordance put it there. There’s someone named Somber trying to tap into it. I’m putting together a plan to handle that. So uhhh, wish me luck.”
Expressions of support and admiration ring out. Although Adam can’t make out the individual words very well, he can feel the unified emotion of it all.
By sharing what he knows, Harry has learned some important things in return.
Daph was in close contact with the Stellar Six at one point. From that meeting, she realized that the spirits of the corporate heroes were crying out for vengeance. Now Harry understands why - they aren’t people who made a choice to do what they’re doing.
Alycia, likewise, knows something about clone programming from her experience in the City of Clones. The laptop they stole from the underground facility contained much information about the Russian ANTIBODY program, including the old RNA transcoding process used prior to the Poppet System.
“Get a blood sample from the Stellar Six,” was her advice. Easier said than done, Harry reflects. But it’s something.
“Much as I’d like to pursue this, I think we have to concentrate on the Seven Wonders,” he admits at last. “I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but it’s not like the Stellar Six are attacking the city or its heroes right now.”
Summer happens by, and perks up. She and Harry take different tacks simultaneously:
“Hey, Summer, you know brain stuff, right? If a clone–”
“Hey, Harry, we got a tip about the Stellar Six, actually–”
The two heroes laugh at the gaffe, and start over. Harry, being faster, goes first.
“So is there anything that like a brain scan could pick up, or maybe some way to like, trace down what’s going on with a clone?”
Summer thinks. “Well, if it’s a biological clone of someone, no more or no less than you could study a human being, right? I don’t know much about any cloning process, but if you got someone into a hospital - or if they had one of Rossum’s neurochips, like Leo does - you could study their brain details in depth. There’s plenty to learn from that.”
Harry nods, and Summer goes ahead with her thing. “So um, not only are the Stellar Six working with Tyran Enterprises, I mean duh, obviously… but they might be approaching villains and getting them to do stuff. The Fourth Mother, from Argentina–”
“Haven Station, yeah.” Everyone has heard by now.
“–Well, there’s uhhh, evidence I guess? That she was prompted to attack the station at a certain time. So maaaybe if you can beat other villains whose timing is sus, you can interrogate them? They might reveal something useful.”
Harry claps his hands. “That’s fantastic. And oh! Congratulations!”
Summer blinks. “For what?”
Harry grins. “For being famous! Now it’s not just me who has to deal with it. It’s such a relief to know that someone else is going to suffer through all the attention from the press and stuff.”
Summer, her face frozen in a mask of fear, slinks away.