Chapter 103: [20] Close Encounters of the Bus Kind 20 [From Beyond Arc]

Close Encounters of the Bus Kind

[20]

The two Ginas walked in careful circles, as though they were orbiting, as one of them declared, “Standard rock paper scissors, throw out on a count of three, stare then look. And don’t you dare try to change your throw! Best out of seven.”

“Me? That’s a riotous statement from an imposter. I always play a fair game!” The results were quite predictable as each girl kept throwing out exactly the same symbol over and over. Their server just made a quick comment of “Woah, identical twins” before serving their meals. Unfortunately, there were  now seven hungry girls and only six entrées. Before it could come to blows, Odessa frantically waved her hands and assured them that she would gladly cover an extra meal for their “new guest” as they left the server to assume whatever they figured made the most sense of the situation.

Each Gina stumbled over herself to eagerly reimburse her, but she waved a hand and assured them it was fine. They traded identical stink eyes with one another.

“Sit down…” Eva commanded but didn’t compel. One of the Ginas briefly started to duck down, as if she was fine with sitting on the floor. The other merely shook her head at her twin and proclaimed, “Why would the real Gina listen?”

“Because the real Gina would know not to tick me off,” Eva noted with a scowl. Both girls swiftly found seats amongst the group with much separation as possible from the other. One was situated near Odessa, while the other sat beside Erin. Neither party seemed particularly keen to be host to half this quarrel.

Each of the twins grabbed for the remaining entrée with their order and made no headway in acquiring the dish, but plenty of headway in risking a messy spill. Eva had to play Solomon and ask for a separate bowl to divide this and the subsequent meal. That left neither of the Ginas happy as there was a sloppy, uneven distribution of the green onions and meats and plenty of accidental waste of the broth.

The Odessa side Gina inhaled her ramen but also took time to declare that she had to be the real genuine article and they might as well put it to rest now.

Erin side Gina also greedily attacked her dish and countered that sounded just like what an imposter would say.

Nervously, Odessa dug deep into her memories and cautiously offered up this wisdom, “Couldn’t it be like a transporter accident? Wouldn’t you each… equally be real because you’re just copies of one another? Like… Tom and Will Riker, right?”

The Star Trek fan in the two Ginas thoughtfully acknowledged this reference but still don’t like it. “But there was an original of us and now there’s one claiming to be the original. I know who I am, but she needs to know who she is,” responded Odessa side Gina.

The other Gina folded her arms and slurped her ramen broth. “I already know who I am. I went through everything with these girls. I found the way out and I led the monster away. Don’t you try to take ownership of things you never did! You just popped into existence. And uh…somehow, I’m gonna prove it.”

Squeezing sharped frustration across her wrinkled brow, Eva jumped in firmly but low enough that their servers would have to be listening attentively to know what they were saying, “You died back there. Maybe the real you.”

Both girls stopped eating and looked over at their friend with bewilderment. It wasn’t too long before the additional order was placed on the table, compounding the sharing option. While processing the bombshell out of Eva‘s mouth, they each seemed to do quick and dirty arithmetic about how much was left of their meal and how much they were obligated to relinquish. Odessa set down her fork and spoon and squeezed her breath into her chest, as though gripped anew by the memory of what had happened back there. Her eyes trembled but no tears came.

The sound was still the most vivid part for Nadia, especially the messy crunching, twisting, and dripping. Even if she were to see all the stark details, she doubted it would be as seared in her mind as those sounds were. She took a steady sip of her drink to keep anything from coming back up.

Luna gently sipped her fizzy matcha green tea soda, same drink as Erin, and probably kept the best poker face. Erin didn’t need to be reminded of her failure. The fact that two versions of her student sat on either side of the booth was cause enough to make her want to scream in terror and run into the darkest recesses of this life, never to be seen again. Thank goodness Nadia was here.

It took a little while for the weight of that information to be absorbed. “…I died? What are you talking about? I ran away safely and hid until I made it back.” With less volume but equal insistence, the other Gina touted the same thing. Eva raised a hand for silence and both of them eventually agreed to it.

“Before the Gina we came back with, very soon before, there was one of you who found us with relief that we were going to be her salvation. I don’t know who or what she was, but she felt exactly like my best friend and neighbor. And she died in the worst way humanly possible, in the dark, not even able to scream, and left there without anyone to bring her home or tell her it’s okay. She’s gone… She could’ve been my best friend or a duplicate of her. It doesn’t matter, because she was equal to her in every way, and she didn’t deserve to suffer and die like that. No one does, but her least of all.”

A silence as stark and oppressive as the darkness they had just barely managed to escape from settled over the group. There was nothing to say, despite so many words being necessary. Listlessly, they each continue to eat. Somehow, both of the Ginas set aside their quarreling over the remaining broth, noodles, and meat. They gradually sifted through what was left until it looked like enough.

Erin wasn’t far from finishing her meal. She sensed that this should’ve been one of those moments that she occasionally latched onto as a coach, when she plunged into the depths and quagmires of her negative experiences to sift out some pure, carefully constructed nugget of wisdom that might be able to lend comfort to the uncertainty in her girls’ lives. But that tended to be on the level of a hard loss game, fears about not being strong enough, weight uncertainty, a boy who turned away at the wrong time, or heartbreaking family situations. Not barely surviving a man-eating shadow creature who killed your best friend, or someone like them.

Fortunately, both of the Ginas had words of their own to share, even though they awkwardly stumbled over one another to get them out. They apologized for “some part of them” dying, half as a serious sentiment and half as what felt like a typical quip. Eva snorted like she expected this but nodded for them to continue.

More so, the girls fervently apologized for not being there at their best friend‘s worst moment of fear and anguish. All they could offer as recompense was what they termed a special hug coming from two directions. Glaring with narrowed eyes, Eva considered it for a few moments before accepting. Only heaven knew how they appeared to the staff with their surreptitious whispers, drastic mood changes, and this.

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Being hugged by two versions of Gina was not something Eva ever would’ve considered or even wished for but the mostly pointless gesture settled a lot of the turbulence still riding around in her stomach and quelled her heart from beating in her ears. It was just as much of a soothing watch as it probably felt for Eva to experience. That didn’t particularly help with Erin‘s drowsiness though. At this point, she had essentially resigned herself to randomly nodding off until she managed to traverse back to her bed. Unfortunately, her body’s nagging complaints had finally compounded into the first unmistakable pain of this renewed shape.

She had a headache right in the middle of her forehead. It felt oddly cooling and tingling, likely some variant of a muscle tension headache. As a consequence of everything that happened recently, it wasn’t bad. But the problem was how she had been free of such nuisances since becoming an alien medical experiment. The raw perfection of her youthful refresh hadn’t even lasted a full day. Up next, were her joints going to start popping and aching as everything settled back into the previous equilibrium? And then would Sharon turn against her and toss out the same old torments and pointless punishments? Compared to what the other girls were experiencing, she feared that her own thoughts were painfully trite.

Despite that little moment shared between friends, the twins were still ruthlessly dedicated to objectively determining which one of them was legitimate and which one was the copy. Luna, tapping the nearest version on the shoulder, promptly gestured to her forehead and then poked at her clothes. It took the one Gina a few careful moments to put together what the kid was trying to say.

“We don’t match. Not exactly. Your forehead scratch and arm skinning are still oozing slightly but mine have dried. And your clothes look still messed up from everything, like you weren’t present when we washed up afterward. Therefore, it had to be me…who made you…s-somehow.”

The other Gina’s rebuttals verged towards increasingly frantic by proposing some sort of time skip and flashing her cell phone as proof. However, a couple taps along its surface soon revealed that it didn’t function, or even turn on, looking basically the same as a plastic replica someone might find on display in a store.

Slumping on the table, this version of Gina quietly resigned herself, “I’m the copy. But I don’t have any crazy insane, arcane wisdom from my alien masters? What a gyp! What’s the point of this if I don’t have any sort of nefarious purpose?"

The other Gina appeared sympathetic but expressed overwhelming relief as to her identity. Nadia reflected on the last few things she saw of the doomed Gina and couldn’t say everything with absolute certainty but the other one was lacking her cell phone, or maybe she just put it away because it didn’t seem to work. As well, and more incriminating, she didn’t retain the forehead gash that the one they brought back clearly did. It ultimately didn’t matter, as Eva alluded to, but it was some small measure of relief to ascertain their level of reality.

Quiet shellshock lingered with the replica Gina as she nervously ran through her immediate fears. They couldn’t possibly tell mom that she suddenly had a secret second twin daughter, she would’ve known. And they wouldn’t be able to paint her as some random person who just happened to look like Gina because they were freaking dressed identically. Just coming out with it and the full sci-fi implications could’ve been the best approach, but then it opened up a whole ball of wax with the other girls and uncertainty about their situation. The stuff with the creepy agent guy who had been prying around at their doors was likely only to get worse.

For a fleeting moment, replica Gina wished something dark with her eyes downcast. Instantly, her sister, who had been an only child, sunk under the table, and popped out next to her. Eva complained bitterly and dubbed her a child, but only for a moment.

“Listen, this is crazy and wild, and I have no idea what to do about it, but we’re in this together. You’re not going to be left alone. I’m sure Odessa would be willing to take you in. Got that huge house with all those spare rooms, right?”

A nervous, uncertain expression crossed Odessa‘s face before she hesitantly gave a little nod and confirmed that she could figure something out to take care of “all versions of [her] friend”. The girls also proposed imposing on Eva, but she swiftly shut that down. Then, they got into teasing her about the “playful possibilities” of having three people together. Eva fumed and briefly wanted to take back all the nice things that she said.

Despite the boiling, blasting craziness that had consumed her life, Nadia appreciated the group around her. Whatever happened, she knew they would take care of one another. Looking over, her fledgling peace floundered when she caught sight of Erin bent over the remains of her bowl with her eyes placidly fluttering. She looked so worn out. Part of her wanted to take her to bed and just snuggle again.

She had to do something, even if it was a very small thing. Glancing down at the table, she noticed that the napkins the restaurant used were a certain, firm stiffness between crêpe paper and construction. It shifted and pulled apart easily, but diligently held its shape after being crumpled. She thought this could work, but she didn’t want anyone to know what she was doing until it was ready. Grabbing several pieces of the paper, she set them practically in her lap and began to carefully fold, flex, and shift the elements of what she wanted.

Delicate petals, velvety opening, and a strong supportive stem. She had folded flowers like it before, but nothing previously came as simply to her as this precious little project. When it was ready, she looked around at the table. The cluster of conversations and arguments had waned as everyone finished the meal and relaxed. Without preamble, she produced her completely colorless paper flower. It slightly resembled a rose but in more of a loose star pattern with broad petals arching out. Despite being the same color, the leaves along its stem still stood firm.

Each of the girls marveled at the paper creation. Erin noticed last and smiled warmly at the precious memories it evoked. She felt overwhelming shock when Nadia presented her creation as something for her to have and keep. She commented with awe and appreciation at how Nadia managed to weave simple bits of paper into such a comprehensive and coherent structure. Then, she slightly frowned.

The flower was good. The flower was downright amazing. Especially, the flower was frankly impossible. Just one more impossible thing. When the server returned, Erin considered and quickly asked for a glass of water. Setting the stem of the flower into the water should have swiftly dissolved it into a mass of paper particles, but it didn’t. Instead, the flower held firm, as though it were a real one that just happened to lose all its coloration. Sucking up the water into which it had been placed, the flower rapidly bloomed and spread with fresh petals and a hint of ivory pollination centers.

It was alive! She had no idea what this meant for whatever power other than language comprehension that her girlfriend seemed to possess, but she could only guess that it represented something immense and powerful. She could stop tiles in mid-air and see monsters. Eva could scream those monsters into hell and her best friend could make copies of herself. Odessa, she didn’t know yet, but she suspected they would find out eventually.

What a crazy bunch they were. Like superheroes but totally unprepared for what that represented. 

 

[I have a question at the end of the chapter again to help with suggestions for where the story should go. I'm actually not that far ahead this time and I am wide open for possibilities for this particular story. Feel free to add an idea which doesn't show up in the options. Also, if you see any random typos or uncapitalized starts of sentences, please pass them along. I have to cut down on my editing due to release speed and my programs don't seem to be catching lowercase sentences. Thank you for reading!]

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