Clone

“What's next?” David asked me, as we sat in the hotel room.

“Not sure,” I said. “It's gonna be difficult to get anywhere, with most of our transport methods being too dangerous.”

“I have one idea, but I haven't tried it at all yet,” David said.

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“The Grove Of Fetters,” he said. “The Brute's domain.”

“You think you could enter it?” I asked.

“I don't know,” he said. “It's possible. But even if I could, where would we go?”

“I'm not sure,” I told him.

“What about Vocallas's old hideout?” he asked. “Red Daniel gave you the address for it, didn't he?”

“To tell the truth, I already checked it out,” I said. “While I was at the runner hideout, I went over there to see if I could find anything.”

“Did you?” he asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “It was a waste of my time.”

It was at that point that we got a knock on our door.

“Who's there?” I asked David.

He used the Vision's power to see through the door.

“Some pink haired chick,” he said. “Wait a minute...”

“Something wrong?” I asked.

“She looks... a lot like the Vision,” he said.

I approached the door.

“Who is it?” I asked, without opening it.

“My name is Scia Malkator,” she said.

I glanced at David. He was just as shocked as I was.

“Come in,” I said, opening the door.

She looked a few years older than me, and, as David had said, she was almost identical to the Vision, with the exception of her hair, which was pink instead of orange. She even had the vision's eyes. She came inside and stood in the middle of the room.

“What brings you here?” I asked.

“I saw a vision of you two,” she said. “I figured I was meant to meet the two of you.”

“How are you connected to Benhjamin Malkator?” I asked.

“I am a clone of him, created by the Archive,” she said.

“Is that so?” I asked.

“Yes,” she asked. “And what are your names.”

“I'm Daniel Ferris, and this is David Kallaway,” I said.

“I see,” she said. “Um, is he okay?”

I looked over to see that David was sitting, unmoving, on one of the beds, resting a head on his hand with his eyes closed.

“Hey, is something wrong?” I asked him.

No response.

“David!” I said. “Answer me! Are you okay?”

He opened his eyes. “I'm fine,” he said. “Just lost in thought.”

“Is that so?” I asked.

“There's something in this town we have to find,” he said.

“Really?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “And we'll need her help to get it.”

“What is it?” she asked.

“I'm not sure exactly,” he replied. “I just know it's important.”

So... I guess Scia's part of the group now. Great.