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we’re ready to make you one of us.

WHO: Open to all Dualizens
WHAT: When Roboclones Attack
WHERE: Anywhere in the city!
WHEN: The night of Oct. 19
WARNINGS: Please use these if applicable! And if you happen to end up dead by roboclone, please fill out the death form!

It’s an ordinary night in Dualis, until it suddenly becomes a very dark and stormy night in Dualis. There hasn’t been a single day of unpleasant weather since any of you arrived, but soon after the sun begins to sink behind the city’s skyscrapers and the neon lights intensify for the night, storm clouds begin to gather overhead and unleash a cacophony of thunder, a deluge of rain, and brilliant spikes of lightning arcing across the sky.

It’s a violent storm, to be sure, but surely severe weather is no challenge in such a technologically advanced city as Dualis, right? As long as you stay indoors, you can keep safe and dry until the storm passes.

Except … less than an hour after the storm begins, the power all across the city goes completely out. All buildings are dark except for the illumination cast by lightning across brick and steel and glass. All electronics - including phones - are dead, all biometric locks are disabled, and no attempts to call, text, or reach the internet or the network succeed. Eerily, the streets are silent and empty.

Under normal circumstances, such a widespread blackout would merely be odd and inconvenient, but tonight, circumstances are anything but normal. About half an hour after the blackout begins, something approaches you, wherever you are. In the dark, you’ll be able to make out that its shape is humanoid, but maybe its motions are jerky and mechanical. As it draws closer and you get a better look, by candlelight or flashlight or flash of lightning, you recognize the face staring back at you.

That face is your own.

The face, like the rest of the body, is likely some degree of incomplete, an incongruous jigsaw of metal and flesh, but it’s definitely yours. And this machine doppelganger’s mission is soon made apparent as it launches a targeted attack on you:

It’s here to kill you.

After nearly four hours, the storm subsides and the power is restored and the city falls back into its normal rhythm. Will you survive until then?

May the odds be ever in your favor, friends.

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Thane would have left after his shift hours ago if not for the sudden storm. The humid air was far too hard on his lungs, and going out in the dark, in a raging storm, in a city that likes to shift as it sees fit was anything but a good idea. He decided on staying in the Ax Hole for the time being. At least to see if the storm eventually lets up.

He's immediately alerted to the sound of someone coming in. He had left the door unlocked in case someone needed refuge from the storm, or worse. A risky move, certainly, but Thane was confident enough in his own abilities to ward off any danger, sickly or not.

He clears his throat as he approaches from the back of the bar, both to alert Hank to his presence and because his chest is tightening an awful lot. "Hank," he greets calmly considering the circumstances. "Glad to see you in one piece."

Hank finishes pulling down the second ax of choice, sticking it in his belt before the sound of Thane coming in draws his attention.

Even if the door had been locked, there are a lot of doors with electronic locks that had failed. That's how he'd walked into Rick's. The power going out didn't seem to be a thing that people considered around here. Or else it was something too well prepared for.

"Police station is empty. I'd arm up if I was you. Seems like the only people out are the ones that had unwanted copycats. That, or whichever one won the fight."

He steps away from the ax storage in case Thane wants to get his own.

"I see."

Truth be told, Thane had decided to stay in this one spot and not venture anywhere for the time being. His biggest concern wasn't the sudden appearance of aggressive duplicates (though they were indeed a big concern) but the more immediate (to him) threat of this weather. He can defend himself against an opponent well enough — in his opinion there were few he feared going up against, but the weather has been wreaking havoc on his lungs...weakening him.

Speaking of, he can feel the intense pressure build up in his chest as he idly walks over to the ax wall. He lifts a hand to his mouth to release a string of coughs, but otherwise doesn't grab a weapon despite seemingly studying them. He already has some axes stashed around various places should he be caught off guard anywhere in the bar. One could even see some missing on the wall given closer inspection.

"Is your partner okay?"

"He's fine." Hank says tersely, watching Thane's rough motions and hearing his heavy coughs. "You're not."

And it's his guess that even the hospital is currently shut down. He knows of one doctor: David. He knows of Morbius, too, but he doesn't know the span of his specialties.

In any case, he'll hunt a doctor down if he has to. For the moment he goes over to Thane's side. "What's wrong?" An attack? Or something that was there? Fuck, it might even be that Thane's doppelganger had piss poor lungs, but it seems like the doubles have little patience for conversation.

"I'm fine," he's quick to reply after a clearing of his throat to suppress another fit for the sake of not worrying Hank further.

"Drell don't do so well with this type of weather. Moisture in the air is bad for our lungs. It will pass with the storm." Hank doesn't have to know that this issue causes drell to eventually get a terminal disease that makes the matter much worse, of course. "For now, the doppelgangers are a bigger concern."

Well, for everyone else. No worry should be expended on him at the moment, is what he means.

"Humans can get pretty fucked up by bad weather too. That cough doesn't sound good. Make sure you get that checked out, alright? Sounds like you're working on a case of pneumonia."

He can't keep the concern out of his voice, even if his realm of understanding is pretty rudimentary. But yeah, the doppelgangers. While he's here, he might as well get the story.

"Tell me what happened with yours?"

"I will see to it when I can."

There would be no point, but for the sake of easing the other's mind he has no qualms about saying he will. It was a lot easier than explaining that he has a terminal illness in the midst of a storming black out with murderous doubles running amok.

He moves away from the ax wall and closer to the bar area, leaning against the counter top surface.

"It tried to strangle me. But it was loud, jerky movements, not quite sure how to move." It's a good thing they aren't able to replicate their actual skills, it would seem. It showed no signs of knowing any of the martial arts skills that Thane spent years honing. Whatever they were, they were unready. "I was able to defend myself, but I lost it in the storm. I intended to find it again. However, the weather is making that next to impossible."

Truth be told, he's hoping it will find him instead.

"Then I want you to stick around me, alright?"

He has no clue that Thane is an expert assassin. He just knows he's coughing and seemingly at a disadvantage because of the weather. "I'm pretty sure it'll come back looking for you. Seems like they got a single-minded goal."

To kill the originals.

"I'm really fuckin' tempted to start triple checking everyone I know that's not out right now. It's fucked up that the police department is empty. Like they were all just fuckin' programmed to stay at home."

"It is troubling, yes."

Thane won't pretend to be surprised by the disturbing implications. They're all clearly on their own.

"While I appreciate your concern I think it best for me to wait for it to come back on my own. So long as I remain inside I'll mostly be okay. These clones have overly aggressive, predictable fighting patterns." Normally he would go further to hide the fact that he knows what he's talking about when it came to combat, but now's hardly the time, and he already trusts Hank to let that slide in such a situation. He also didn't want anyone else to get hurt in Thane's endeavor to take down his own clone. If it were just looking for him, homing on him like a heat-seeking missile, then he would be rid of it on his own and give the others one less to worry about.

"Just.... alright. Okay. But stay here for a moment. My dog knew when my clone was coming. If I can go get her, maybe she'll know when yours is close by."

The usual dog senses, but as an android. Enhanced for strength, speed, and agility. With some minimal scanning ability, and some cute doggish mannerisms. He holds up his hands, indicating for Thane to stay there.

And he runs off. Probably should wait for a good-bye, but he's in a rush to do a lot of shit.

It takes him about ten minutes to come back, trailing a Doberman behind him. She follows him all the way into the ax place, walking in a very formal looking trot that would be particular to her breed even if she wasn't an android. And he's paying close attention to her reactions as he goes.

He wants to tell Hank that he should go to — that perhaps he shouldn't be here when the clone comes. But he's off without so much as giving Thane the opportunity to protest. He is of course still waiting here when Hank returns, having nowhere to really go in this storm. He uses the ten minutes that Hank is gone to stop fending off a coughing fit that had been dying to come out for a while now, just to let it out and hopefully stave another one off for a time.

When Hank returns with the dog trailing behind him, Thane regards her with a nod, as if to acknowledge both her presence and help. "I have not seen many dogs in my lifetime," he comments idly as he too watches for her reactions. If Hank would insist on staying here then Thane was going to be ready to act the moment he catches sign of his clone having found him.

"I wouldn't have been surprised if you hadn't seen dogs at all."

Hank admits before ushering Maggie over towards Thane. She's still formal with her movements. He knows he'll have to get back out there, but if he can make Thane comfortable in there, in a place he's familiar with and maybe slightly harder to find than the fucking dorms, it'd help.

"Glad you're still in one piece. I'd have been pissed the hell off if you got killed by a body double while I was gone. Do you have any coats in your lost and found?"

Fair enough.

"It would be an unfortunate fate, yes." At least his previous death had him at peace. With his son by his side, praying as the priests did, and Shepard. His last breath being for his friend; hoping Shepard would eventually find peace in the wake of all that she had been through. All that she had to do.

So yes, dying by an unfinished double of himself would be particularly lousy.

"Hm, behind the counter, I believe there may be a couple." The lost and found is really just a big box crammed into a corner behind the bar.

Thane feels another cough coming on. As he lifts his hand to cover his mouth, suppressing as much of it as he can, he hears something faint. It's hard to tell with the storms raging outside, beyond the rain pelting the building. It's a small enough sound to dismiss as his imagination. He makes sure to keep an eye on the dog.

Hank goes to look behind the counter, distracted for the moment as he's concerned about that cough. A borrowed jacket in the storm could mean a world of difference at this point.

As he pilfers through the box, Maggie takes a few steps forward, her ears perking and she looks aggressively in the direction of that small noise. All of her attention is fixated on that, not on Hank or Thane.

"Jeeze, I don't know if extra warmth'll do you any good but I figure we oughta keep the rain off you if you have to go back outside," Hank says.

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