ic Every Choice We Make (IC)

[Fox]

"The one and only!" chorused the two Elizabeths, grinning ear to ear as they waited for the music to start.

 

When the music kicked in the be-scienced Liz's eyebrows shot up, and her foot immediately began tapping to the beat. The less-scienced Liz pouted, leaned in to put her ear against the patch, and finally resigned herself to leaning back, eyes closed, brow furrowed, as if concentrating. Then she, too, started tapping her foot - hesitantly, imperfectly, but on the same beat.

 

"That's really cool," said the one. "I'm pretty sure my laptop has Bluetooth, so I bet I can put all kinds of stuff on here."

 

"How do I turn it on or off?" asked the other, cracking open a concentrating eye. "I probably can't get away with it all the time. I'm not allowed to have a double in class - they decided it was 'too disruptive'."

[Avenger Assembled]

"Press until you feel the liquid matrix separate - er, till you feel it 'squish'. Then again to reactivate it.," Eira clarified, gesturing with her fingers. She pulled off her glasses and peered at Elizabeth, her blue eyes wide with fascination. "You have a telepathic connection! That is delightful!" She stroked her chin and said, "Have you tested it over long distance, or at relativistic velocities?" As  she talked, she circled the 'twins', staring at them unblinkingly. "When you act like two minds in two bodies, is that an affectation?" she asked. "Or are you genuinely a double-consciousness?" 

[Fox]

Elizabeth reached up to squish the device behind her ear, while Elizabeth turned to watch Eira circle them with a sort of confused amusement. The two glanced at each other and started counting down the questions on their fingers. "We have a connection but it's kind of weak until the double goes away," said one. "We get emotion and a sort of intent but not a lot of, you know, deep conscious thought. Senses are hard but music's easier because it, you know, moves you so at least the beat and stuff rides on the emotions part."

 

"Never had a problem with distance," added the other, ticking down another finger. "I've, um, never done 'relativistic velocities' so I really can't answer that one. Stuff that blocks magic shuts it down, but that stuff also shuts down the double, so, you know. Moot point."

 

The first Elizabeth shrugged. "It's fun to mess with people and keep them guessing, but I guess it's technically like two minds? But, you know, the same mind...I don't know what the science version is. Like two of the same app running at the same time? I know what I would do, most of the time...." She trailed off, exaggerating the shrug with one hand hung loosely outward.

 

The second Elizabeth mirrored the pose exactly. "....so it's kinda easy to coordinate with myself, especially with the little bit of connection. And when the double goes away, I get all the memories. It's pretty great for studying."

[Avenger Assembled]

Eira asked several more questions about Liz's powers, most of them related to concepts that were a little beyond what was covered in Claremont's science classes but seemed to involve the physical mechanics behind her duplication. Finally, after the third one, she paused and took off her glasses. "That is a lot of questions. I'm sorry, I shouldn't ask so many. It is just so interesting here." She shot Liz a quick glance and asked, "Do you want to see something weird? It is gross," she admitted without sounding too guilty about it. 

[Fox]

"It's okay!" Elizabeth was smiling, if a little bemused; she didn't actually know how her double worked, and she was pretty sure it didn't obey physics, which left a lot of her answers less than satisfactory or helpful. Still, it was kind of fun to discuss. "I'm...really not someone who can criticize other people for being curious," she laughed.

 

The double was laughing too, but they glanced at each other at some unseen feeling or conversation and she finally gave a bow - and disappeared, burning away in a soft light like she'd been made of so much flash paper.

 

"'Weird' means a lot of things at Claremont," mused Elizabeth, still grinning, "but sure? Gross can be fun, too."

[Avenger Assembled]

Eira gave a long, fixed stare at where the second Elizabeth had been, her slim shoulders tense underneath her shirt. After a moment she shook herself and seemed to come back to the moment.

 

Then Eira slid her hands underneath her jaw, finding the pressure points behind her ears with practiced ease. "Miss Americana installed this so she could perform systems checks without having to remove my outer layers." She bit her lip, squeezed with faintly audible click, and her skin above her neck came off. No, became transparent, or nearly enough. Eira was explaining about the magnetic charge in her skin and how different electric fields could change its color, shape, and strength, but what was more important was the revelation of her inner workings.

 

First there was a layer that was almost ominously organic; blue and red tubes moving through a pinkish blue mass that looked vaguely like chemically-infused meat slime, then further down, a skull of polished chrome with the flattened features of something partially human, pure white eyes that glowed ever-so-slightly, and moving numbers along her temples and cheeks that must have been internal readouts. 

 

"You can see my eyes roll in their sockets!" She demonstrated. "Not as good as two of you, but pretty neat, yah?" 

[Fox]

Elizabeth blinked in surprise, and couldn't entirely hide a wince, but at least the wince very quickly became open curiosity. "You know, I kind of expected more...um...." She waved a hand, and a brief illusory pattern of clockwork and computer circuitry formed in the air. "I guess this makes sense, though! You make a robot body, you make it like a non-robot body, right?"

 

She cocked her head, making a study of a level of super-science she'd bet she'd never actually understand. "....I'm not going to lie," she said, finally, squinting at an inorganic eyeball, "it's pretty gross. But I bet if you made my skin transparent, I'd be kinda gross too. ....please don't do that, though."

[Avenger Assembled]

Eira squeezed under her jawline again, her face turning opaque again. "Most of those things are in my brain," she said softly, tapping the side of her head for emphasis. She hesitated a moment, then said, "Thank you for coming, Elizabeth." She crossed her arms over her chest, then took out her dark glasses to polish them, not quite able to look at Elizabeth as she spoke. "Would you like to come another time?" she asked. "We could talk about class, or listen to different kinds of music, or I could build more things you're not supposed to have..." She smiled at that.  

[Fox]

"Aww, you don't have to build me things to have me by," said Elizabeth. She was smiling, but she could read the room and was headed to the door. "I'd be happy to come around again. Or you could come my way! That's what friends do, you know?"

 

New friend! She could have cheered, if it wouldn't have looked cool. So instead she flashed a wide, toothy grin, gave a casual wave, and disappeared through the door. The sound of some suspiciously swing-like humming followed her down the hall.