Replication
Page 21
Even though he was seated, I got the impression that he was tall, and he had dark hair that he’d allowed to grow to his shoulders. Good genes had blessed him with a handsome face, and he had a physique that suggested he worked out regularly. He wasn’t wearing a letterman jacket, but I got the sense that he belonged to one of the school’s cool cliques – probably the football team, or something along those lines. Emotionally, I detected a degree of confidence that maybe just crossed the line into the region of arrogance, along with smugness and a roguish sense of entitlement. All in all, he exuded something of a bad-boy element that girls probably found attractive.
Like me, Electra had followed her classmate’s thumb-pointing with respect to who had sent the note. Seeing that he had my girlfriend’s attention, the guy winked at her and flashed a thousand-watt smile. Based on what I was picking up empathically, he was probably used to that routine melting hearts, and thus expected Electra to give him an encouraging smile or something along those lines. What he got, however, was a response he likely hadn’t seen in a while (if ever).
Rather than smile back, Electra frowned in irritation and rolled her eyes. She then crumpled up the note without reading it and flung the wadded ball of paper back at the guy. It hit him in the chest and then flopped to the floor, despite his valiant attempts to catch it.
I smiled. That’s my girl.
A general round of snickering followed Electra’s actions, causing the teacher to turn around. By that time, however, Electra was sitting face-forward again and stone-faced. The teacher eyed the class warily, knowing that something had happened but unable to discern what, then turned back to the board and continued with the polynomials instruction.
I waited a few seconds and then reached out to Electra telepathically.
Slightly startled, Electra promptly looked around, head jerking about as she replied.
She looked up, then almost immediately turned her head towards the upper right corner of the room, where I was hovering. She had obviously used her powers to pinpoint my location, and confirmed the fact by giving me a surreptitious wave.
She sighed mentally.
I quickly explained to Electra what had happened. Using telepathy, it only took a few seconds to make her fully aware of the entire situation involving my evil twin. Needless to say, she was quite surprised.
I frowned, not sure what she meant, then the truth hit me: Electra was one of the people my double wouldn’t be able to fool. Her power let her recognize people by their bioelectric fields – for her, it was as good as a photo. Thus, unless he could change his bioelectric field to match mine (which was a tall order), he’d be wasting his time trying to siphon info from Electra.
And bearing that thought in mind, I suddenly realized I was wasting my time. It was good to have warned Electra about my double, but she was in no danger of being conned by him. That being the case, I wished her well on her quiz and teleported.
Chapter 39
The next person on my list was Smokey. Initially, I tried to locate him the same way I’d pinned down Electra: by going to his school and searching for him empathically. It didn’t work; Smokey wasn’t at school – at least not as far as I could tell.
Strike one, I thought.
Reflecting on it, I supposed he could have been on a field trip, out sick, or anything in between. In essence, there are lots of reasons why a student might not be in school on a particular day. That said, the situation was serious enough that it warranted me putting a little thought into trying to ascertain my best friend’s whereabouts. And then I laughed as the truth hit me.
Of course Smokey wasn’t in class. I had completely forgotten what Mouse had told me: Smokey was in the same boat I was in terms of being AWOL regarding his academics. He and I would be going through the crucible of being instructed by Mouse together, so he wouldn’t be wandering the hallowed halls of his high school any more. More than likely, he was at home.
Pulling out my cell phone, I gave him a call. It rang several times, then went to voicemail. The same thing happened when I tried a second time.
Strike two. I put my phone away without leaving a message and then spent a moment thinking about what to do next.
The fact that Smokey hadn’t answered didn’t necessarily mean anything. In today’s society, with technology so prevalent (especially communication devices, like cell phones), it’s easy to simply assume that people are always in a position to take a call. That, however, is far from true. The person you’re calling could be in the shower, taking out the trash, or just have their phone off. Thus, Smokey failing to pick up wasn’t anything I could assign meaning to, but I still needed to talk to him.
With that thought in mind, I teleported to Smokey’s neighborhood, popping up about a block from where he lived – evidence, once again, of my attempt to avoid excess attention. I then sauntered towards my destination in a leisurely fashion, thinking about the conversation I’d had with Sarah.
In truth, it wasn’t my business, but I had promised I’d speak to Smokey on her behalf. He might tell me to butt out (and that was his prerogative), but I didn’t think he would. Previously, when he’d thought I was mistreating Electra, he hadn’t hesitated to let me know what he was thinking. I felt certain he’d appreciate the same candor from me.
By this time, I was on the sidewalk in front of Smokey’s house. I put the issue of Sarah on the backburner momentarily as I reached out empathically in the direction of my friend’s home.
Strike three, I muttered internally a few seconds later. No one was home.
That shouldn’t have been completely surprising. Smokey’s parents worked and his siblings were, presumably, at school. That just left one question: where was Smokey?
I stood there on the sidewalk for a moment, debating. Smokey could take care of himself, so I wasn’t too worried – plus I had the issue of my evil twin, which was the whole reason I was here. I didn’t need to get distracted, but at the same time this was all so uncharacteristic of Smokey that I couldn’t help being slightly worried.
The sound of footsteps striking the ground in a rhythmic pattern drew my attention. I turned in the direction of the sound and saw what I assumed to be a fairly new mother, jogging towards me while pushing a stroller. She eyed me with deep suspicion as she went by, and I suddenly realized what I must look like: a kid who obviously should be in school but instead was standing out there on the sidewalk, unmoving, not dressed for the weather, seemingly staring at a house whose occupants were all gone for the day. She probably thought I was planning to burgle the place, and would call the cops as soon as she put some distance between us. (In fact, she appeared to be pulling out a cell phone at that very moment…)
I sighed. I didn’t need any more misunderstandings regarding who I was or my intentions. That being the case, I decided to put the Smokey question on the backburner for now and began swiftly walking – almost high-stepping – in the
opposite direction of the jogger. I turned as soon as I reached the corner, and teleported the moment I was out of her line of sight.
Chapter 40
I popped up at League HQ – in the residential section. More specifically, I was outside Li’s apartment. I rang the bell and then waited. Approximately fifteen seconds later, it was answered.
Li opened the door wearing a black Mandarin shirt with matching pants – pretty much the same ensemble that he was wearing when we had first met. I smiled, thinking back to that time, when Li had proven himself to be a strong and resourceful ally, as well as a great friend.
“Please come in, Jim,” he said, motioning for me to enter.
“Thanks,” I said as I went inside. His quarters were generally a replica of mine in terms of layout, so I went to the living room and plopped down on the couch.
“Is this a social call?” Li asked as he closed the door.
“Not exactly,” I replied as Li came over and took a seat in an easy chair. “I’m dealing with an unusual issue…”
As he was an android, I couldn’t share anything with Li telepathically. Still, it only took a few minutes to lay everything out for him, including the reason for my visit.
Li seemed to ponder for a moment after I finished, then said, “So you think this individual may have attempted contact with your friends and associates in an effort to glean information about you?”
“I’m not sure if information about me, per se, is his endgame, but I’d wager he wants to know enough to be able to present himself as me without anyone knowing the difference.”
“I see,” Li murmured thoughtfully. “In any event, I can assure you that he has not attempted to make contact with me.”
I frowned. “How can you be sure?”
“Because I have means of establishing identity that go beyond the mere visual.”
“What do you mean?”
Li appeared thoughtful for a moment. “I know that I appear human and everyone treats me as such, but I am not. For instance, what you designate as eyes are ocular implants which allow me to see well outside the visible light spectrum. What you denote as ears are auditory devices that let me perceive sound well beyond the scope of human hearing.”
“I don’t think that would surprise anyone. We’re all aware that you have enhanced senses.”
“That would probably be an understatement,” Li noted. “In essence, I have internal systems, constructs, and configurations that permit me to detect, observe, and examine the world around me in ways that most of your contemporaries cannot. By way of example, when I look at you, it is not merely your physical traits I see – your height, weight, the shape of your face, and so on. I hear your heart beat, the rush of blood in your veins. I note your respiratory rate as you breathe, the air capacity of your lungs. As I speak right now, I sense the bones in your middle ear vibrating.”
I stared at him, almost in shock. “Li, are you saying that you perform an X-ray of some sort when you see me?”
Li shook his head. “No, that would be dangerous. X-rays pose a risk of harm due to radiation. I would never expose my friends to perils of that nature. What I have described is, practically speaking, just taking an assessment of certain bodily functions at a particular point in time. If necessary, I can compare those to an established baseline to determine if there are notable variations.”
I frowned, concentrating on what I’d just heard. “So basically, you take biometric readings every time you see me?”
“Biometrics typically refers to verification of identity through unique signifiers such as fingerprints, facial recognition, and earlobe geometry. What I can do goes well beyond that, but the short answer to your question is yes. And it is not just you for whom I take these readings – it is everyone. But it is not with a specific purpose in mind; it is simply the way I am designed.”
“But if we apply that to the issue we were originally discussing, you’re saying that my doppelganger couldn’t mislead you because, biometrically, you know what I look like.”
“Precisely.”
“But I’m able to alter my biological systems at will – tweak things internally so that I can go without sleep, don’t feel hunger, and so on. What if my double can do the same thing and tries to match the internal functions you monitor when you see me?”
“Any attempt to replicate the biometrics of your internal physiology is doomed to fail.”
Li’s statement caught me a little by surprise. Intrigued, I asked, “Why is that?”
“Because your heredity is unprecedented, which lends itself to a biology that is not only extraordinary, but particularly anomalous and exceedingly rare.”
I nodded, but stayed silent. Li’s statement alluded to the fact that my father was actually from another dimension. That, combined with the fact that I also had alien DNA, meant that I pretty much made up my own species. In short, if I ever needed a blood transfusion, the odds of finding a match were going to be pretty low.
Interrupting my thoughts, Li went on, saying, “You have internal organs and systems that no one fully understands and which don’t exist anywhere else in nature. In essence, you are sui generis – one of a kind.”
“And that being the case,” I concluded, “the fake Jim isn’t going to be able to mimic my biometrics. For instance, if I’ve got a supernova for a heart, he can’t replicate my biometric readings unless he has a supernova heart, too.”
“I sense hyperbole in your analogy, but your statement is generally correct.”
“Great,” I said sincerely. “That means two of the three people I’ve been hunting for can’t be fooled by my evil twin. Now I just need to find Smokey.”
“Smokey?” Li echoed, sounding perplexed.
“Yeah. I need to talk to him about my evil twin, but he’s not at school and isn’t at home. Apparently he’s missing in action.”
“But he is not missing,” Li stressed. “He is here.”
Chapter 41
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out,” I said to Smokey.
We were in his apartment at League HQ, sitting at a small table in the breakfast area, where my friend – still dressed in pajamas – was eating a bowl of oatmeal. After Li had advised me of his whereabouts, I had quickly reached out to Smokey – via the internal landline as opposed to his cell phone – and moments later, I had teleported to his quarters. Now, watching him enjoy his morning meal, I was reminded of the fact that I had missed breakfast myself, so I tweaked my internal systems to stave off any hunger pangs.
“First of all,” Smokey began, after swallowing a bite of oatmeal, “I’ve only been staying here a couple of days – not long enough to be considered ‘hiding out’ by any standard. Next, I’m here solely because Sarah keeps coming by the house to visit, and I don’t want to deal with her.”
“So you’re here to avoid her.”
“Pretty much.”
“By staying some place she’s unlikely to find you.”
“Yeah, so?”
“That’s the very definition of hiding out.”
He gave me a sideways look, as if there were something he wanted to say, and then we both started laughing.
“Okay, you got me there,” Smokey admitted a few seconds later. “Maybe it is hiding out. But she was calling me ten times a day and leaving twice as many texts – still is. I’m at the point where I don’t even bother looking at my phone anymore because nine times out of ten, it’s her.”
Well, that explained why he hadn’t answered when I called.
“Then, since I wasn’t responding to her calls, she started dropping by the house unexpectedly,” he continued. “My family would do as I asked and tell her I wasn’t home, but they like Sarah and didn’t care for lying to her, and I hated putting them in that position.”
“So you basically moved out.”
Smokey shrugged. “I told my family that I had to check into HQ for some training, which isn’t exactly a lie since I’m going to be homeschooled by Mou
se. And if Sarah asks, the League isn’t going to tell her anything about who’s in residence at the moment.”
“Speaking of Sarah,” I said, “full disclosure: I spoke with her today.”
Smokey dropped his spoon into the oatmeal, then pushed the entire bowl away before leaning back, looking annoyed. “I suppose she asked you to talk to me.”
“Something like that.”
“And I take it that’s why you’re here.”
“Not the complete reason, but yeah,” I confirmed. “Obviously it’s none of my business, but for what it’s worth, I think you should at least hear her out.”
Smokey looked away for a moment, shaking his head in a woebegone manner before turning back to me. “Did she tell you about our arrangement – the concessions we had to make to her family in order to date?”
“She told me.”
“I guess you think it’s weird.”
I held up my hands in a hands-off fashion. “Hey man, you’re talking to a guy who had to get engaged to someone in order to get home to see his girlfriend. I’m not in a position to judge anyone.”
“True,” Smokey acknowledged with a chuckle.
“So is that why you started missing school, too?” I asked. “Trying to duck Sarah?”
“No,” he stated, shaking his head. “I skipped school because of Atalanta.”
I frowned. Needless to say, his statement bothered me. Playing hooky – even for a pretty girl – was well out of character for my friend.
“Wait a minute,” I said. “You skipped school to hang out with her?”
“Not exactly,” Smokey stated. “She had a problem that she needed some assistance with. Helping her caused me to miss some class time.”
I took a moment to let his statement soak in, not saying anything. Based on what I was picking up from him emotionally, there was more to the story, but I probably needed to get it another time.
“Anyway,” I said, “my talking to Sarah about you was really sidebar to another conversation and segues into the real reason why I’m here.”