Day 1: Out of One's Element

[perfectimitator]

Characters: Peony, Jade(s) (closed)
Location: Grand Chokmah
Time: late morning, day 1
Warnings: none yet

Comments

[voiceofrappigs]

The message had arrived without fanfare, a simple folded bit of paper with Jade's familiar neat script, passed to him with an apologetic murmur during breakfast. It conveniently interrupted what would otherwise have been an incredibly boring morning -- in Peony's experience, if people were asking him to sign things while he was still eating breakfast, it was going to be a rough day. So Peony had wholeheartedly welcome the messenger, but the contents of the message had done wonders to quell his enthusiasm.

From the message, he gathered that... there were dead people walking around who were not replicas. And he wasn't supposed to be alarmed by this?

Damnit, Jade, this is your idea of keeping me informed?After he managed to give Sesemann the slip, Peony strode through the corridors of the palace, thinking about heading out to military base to find the man himself -- but he caught sight of a familiar blue uniform and tawny hair crossing the path ahead of him

[perfectimitator]

His smile was quick and pleasant, unfaltering, and he turned on his heels to meet whoever felt the need to greet him so -- loudly. It was an assault on his senses.

As was everything else about the man approaching him. Lorelei help him.

But Jade only slid his arms smoothly behind his back and said lightly, "I would apologize, but that would be setting a precedent. And then you might start expecting it."

First rule of pretending to be yourself: be yourself. The servants hadn't seemed phased by his dry attitude, and he doubted anyone familiar enough (still? how had that happened? what had he done so differently here?) to be on a first-name basis with him would be either.

How could they be so alike, and yet...

[voiceofrappigs]

Peony sighed, long-suffering, as he drew up alongside him. "Right right, and you wouldn't want me to start expecting you to be reasonable or anything-- Like be available at any point after sending me a message like this?"

It wasn't that it was uncharacteristic of Jade -- especially if he had more pressing things that needed to be handled immediately (as Peony hoped he would, if the undead were involved) or if he didn't feel like he had enough information to report on -- but rather that it was an extremely aggravating characteristic of Jade. If Peony kept informing him that it was extremely aggravating, perhaps even Jade could be eventually taught a new trick.

The blond was nothing if not relentlessly optimistic.

And since Jade was here now, and he was confident that in a matter of moments he would have his answers, he could engage in a little futility, especially since it took the form of jerking his friend's chain. "What's the meaning of sending me a message like this?" Peony asked, amused, holding the missive with casual

[perfectimitator]

He felt his lips twitching, and since his first instinct was to suppress it, he did. "Are you accusing me of unreasonableness, Your Majesty? Why, I can hardly believe my ears."

Of course, he had no real idea what the message had been, but if it was something the Emperor of Malkuth was meant to be on guard for, well. Given the present circumstances? There were few possibilities. He only needed confirmation.

"Time, essence, all of that. You'll have to forgive me, I was slightly occupied at the time. Besides, a thing like this..." He trailed away and adjusted his glasses, shrugging unrepentently. Bemused.

One more hint? His memory is going, you know.

[voiceofrappigs]

"A thing like this indeed," Peony said dryly. "Next time, make some time to tell me a little more than to not be surprised if I run into the walking dead, okay? It's a tad alarming."

He folded his arms over his chest, not really expecting an apology (from Jade? never) so much as some sort of elaboration. The timing was even stranger, in such close conjunction with Jade's visit to Kimlasca and Luke's mysterious return--

Then he turned around, double-checking their surroundings to confirm what he already knew, and then scolded, "And it's just the two of us-- you don't need to be so formal. I know you know what my name is."

[perfectimitator]

And there it was. He allowed himself a faint smirk. "Indeed. But bear in mind, at this point it is still only a theory -- the matter will require further study." Jade paused, and then added, with a twist of his lips, "You should appreciate the fact that I'm saying anything at all. You know how I hate to theorize out loud."

Because you know me.

He was used to being around people who thought they knew him. He was used to the cloying familiarity, the bent heads and conspiratorial tones. But this was more than that horrifying familiarity. Something like -- real friendliness.

It was cloying. Suffocating. And from this person, somehow worse than it would have been from a complete stranger.

Do not flinch, he told himself fiercely. This person is an excellent resource. He knows nothing of the current situation, but he knows this world, and if you are his dear friend here, so much the better. Do not flinch.

"Ah, I think I do," Jade agreed with acid sweetness, tilting his head as if he really weren't quite sure. "It begins with a 'P', or

[voiceofrappigs]

Peony was prepared to allow that much, but oh, those wounding words! He scratched his head and mused thoughtfully, "If you have difficulty remembering it, I can always give you a rappig with the same name. Then a quick glance at the nametag will help remind you. You know, keep it fresh!"

Despite the carefree jab, he found it a little odd, though -- Jade was usually not quite this recalcitrant, even though he certainly did hate volunteering theories without compelling evidence to back them up. He wouldn't have sent the note if he hadn't thought it was important enough to warn Peony about, whether as a soldier of Malkuth to his emperor, or between two friends. And if it was important...

The blond gave Jade a long look, trying to identify the reason why. "...Does this have to do with Luke? I thought it seemed strange that the first thing he wanted after two years of being missing was to voluntarily subject himself to your laboratory."

[perfectimitator]

An error on his part, obviously -- that was a searching look, and the suggestion likely a test. "There's no need to threaten me," Jade assured him. He remembered what those little beasts could do to a well-ordered lab, and somehow doubted they were any better behaved in an office setting. "Peony it is."

He removed his glasses entirely then, and began to clean them, making no secret of his reluctance, since it had already been spotted. "It isn't unrelated," he agreed slowly, because the replica certainly fit his definition of the walking dead, and coincidences were not useful. "How well do you remember theoretical physics?"

Everything was eggshells now, but the worst thing he could possibly do would be to scramble in an attempt to reassure the other man. The analytical part of him even admired the suspicion. If it didn't run such a high risk of being fatal for him, he might have even graciously admitted defeat and revealed his deception.

[voiceofrappigs]

Oh Yulia. Theoretical physics? Peony's memories of Professor Nebilim's classroom were mostly of excitement at stealing away from his own tutors and escaping the manor, and the fervent desire to be distracting to her more ardent students. The actual content of her lessons had rarely stuck for very long in his quick-moving mind, since no report of his progress would be sent back to his father (and although at first she had attempted to test his learning regardless, he had spent examinations kicking his legs idly and staring out the window while he waited for his friends to put down their pens, and eventually she gave up on that). Only a very scattered assortment of information was still really with him.

Peony said dryly, "Let's just pretend I've had more important things on my mind than intellectual theory for the last thirty years." He didn't take his eyes off Jade, but he relaxed slightly as the direction seemed to be moving more in the intended direction.

[perfectimitator]

"I would roll my eyes, but..." But that was more or less the answer he had been expecting. It went both ways, then; something to keep in mind. You haven't changedShould he explain in full, careful detail? Expound one of the great theories, crushing their elegant symmetry into short, simple words? Goddess, he hated the very idea. Jade studied his glasses a moment longer, and shook his head, mostly to himself. "Put simply: Our universe exists. It may not be the only one." There. Only slightly painful to say. "One theory is that our universe came from an original universe -- a parent universe, if you will -- and that, essentially, every event in our universe -- every path taken, every choice made -- takes us another 'step' from that parent universe. But at that exact moment, another choice is also made, and our universe splits in two -- or three -- or four -- or a million, all the result of that different choice. And this is happening every second of every day

[voiceofrappigs]

"How unusually helpful of you," Peony said breezily, but he had heard and followed and it -- troubled him. Math had been something that his tutors had impressed on him and he had been reasonably good at it; he remembered probability trees that started out simple and eventually grew into massive things with the potential to go on into infinity. To think of the universe in such a manner was-- unsettling, to say the least.

The words quantum interference meant nothing to him, but the implication was clear: "So 'walking dead' means that we may get visitors from these other universes, who may have experienced different things, taking the form of people we know who should be dead," Peony mulled. That explains the clause about memories.

"Although--" The idea dawned on him, and he really hoped that some inexplicable quirk of this theory (there were always inexplicable quirks) would prove it wrong. "It doesn't have to be people who we think should be dead, does it?"

[red_under_glass]

"That is correct, Your Majesty." It was Jade's voice that responded, yet the Jade in front of Peony hadn't spoken...? The answer to that question came with the opening of a nearby door, and through it stepped...Jade. Two Jades? The world must be ending! "You followed along with that surprisingly well. A good thing, all considered, considering you've already met one of them

[perfectimitator]

He stiffened slightly at the sound of his own voice, but did not bother to glance back or gawk. He knew what he would see behind him. Checkmate, then; game over.

"Do I really hate explaining things so much that I would rather hide in the shadows than arrest a possibly dangerous impersonator?" he asked dourly over his shoulder. "Ah, I have a truly terrible sense of priorities."

Jade turned his attention fully back to the Emperor of Malkuth then, and offered, "Careless is certainly the word. You should reprimand me somehow. Duplicates of the dead might be unsettling and cause -- ah, rather rash actions, on the part of some -- but a duplicate of someone you trusted could be deadly. I should have mentioned the possibility. Or," he added, his lips curving, "at the very least, I should have given you some sign -- some subtle signal or password -- for use in the event of meeting me."

He held out his wrists, clasped expectantly together, and did not seem at all to begrudge either man the obvious necessity. "Well, I suppose the jig, as they

[voiceofrappigs]

Peony backed away immediately at the second voice, turning to regard the door and looking back and forth between the two -- for once, not even a trace of a smile on his features. This situation had very quickly gone from hypothetically bad to extremely and obviously bad. He had been talking to an alternate, and he had only had the slightest idea that anything was awry... they were identical. It was eerie.

It was worse than he'd thought. It was like the mass replications all over again--

There would be panic.

Peony straightened, recollecting his composure as he stepped back to where he could see both of them -- uncomfortable though that prospect was. "Well," he said dryly, running a hand through his hair casually, "This certainly is the worst of all possible scenarios. Two of Jade? I asked that question because I was hoping the universe would implode before something this creepy occurred."

He waved the... other Jade's hands down, and told his friend, "He's right, you know. We need a secret handshake."

[red_under_glass]

"You made it clear by your conversation that your priority was to seek information on your situation, and therefore it was unlikely you'd jeopardize that by engaging in unnecessary violence," Jade replied calmly to his double. "Ergo I could afford to wait for a good opportunity to interrupt while getting a better sense of your own world via your attitude and choices. Since you were also unaware of my presence, that also gave me the advantage of a surprise attack were you to decide to employ force against His Majesty for whatever reason, so simply jumping out immediately to arrest you would have no advantages. Really, I would have thought that I would keep the bigger picture in mind

[perfectimitator]

That was, admittedly, a fair point. And -- at least on the surface (he would hate to jump to conclusions) -- considerably more cool-headed than he would have given his duplicate credit for. Really, it was reassuring. Point for him, then; perhaps that made them even thus far. (If they ended this game in a tie, he would consider himself the victor -- surely some sort of handicap should be afforded to the fish out of water?)

He had already begun to move his hands as per his duplicate's request when the Emperor rendered it -- unnecessary.

Jade stared at the other man, expressionless. Was he serious? It hardly seemed possible. How could anyone be so distastefully naive? Surely some assassin would have already taken advantage of this by now to feed him poisoned apples or stab him in the back on a pleasant evening's stroll. It was preposterous. He kept his arms at his sides, hovering, waiting for one man or the other to have the final word on the matter.

(Did this mean he wouldn't be executed?)