Rock Bottom

[Cadmon Geller]

Cadmon stood silently for a moment as he took back the booze, stuffing it back to where he'd held it prior. The alcohol had done enough in dulling his aggression, but his intellect still remained surprisingly unscathed. Without hesitation his mind went to work, eliminating the notion of a twin immediately, there was no way Harper wouldn't have looked into that already. "They say everyone has a doppelganger or two throughout the galaxy." Geller mused, scorn filled eyes watching the flickering holo.

"What makes you think this is any different?" It wasn't condescending, he was legitimately curious to see what the ex-cop was so wound up about. Harper hadn't necessarily said he thought it was any different, but it was clear that something about this encounter had left him deeply disturbed. It wasn't a case of simple uncanny resemblance, Cadmon had seen that before, and this was different. A guy in his unit on Metalorn had blasted a Republic trooper who was a dead ringer for himself, or maybe his brother, regardless it had left the man shaken, but not in the same way.

He'd known it was just dumb luck, they'd just had to convince him of that. Whatever Kole had encountered had seemingly shocked him in a wholly different manner.

[member="Kole Harper"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

Kole knew that much. Everyone had someone that looked similar, but not always identical. An uncanny resemblance to Lysle of the Hydian Way had landed him in some odd situations before, but suppose that had a different demeanour- but one that involved the same sort of aggressive coercion. Strange that. There wasn't much else to it, though.

Yet, when he was on Shusugaunt Kole felt as if he was staring into a mirror, but one that didn't replicate his actions. In truth, it was Morgan Vance- the HRD he was a backup for, but that seemed to be a moot point at the moment. Harper wasn't aware of his origins, and that made everything all the more difficult. Finding out why this man looks like you was near impossible when you didn't have a singular piece of the puzzle, but knew what it looked like at the end. That's all it was; perception.

"I know." He replied, his gaze distant and as if he was hardly there in the present moment. His voice retained the soft almost mumbling sound to it where all words nearly came together as one. "That was me. I saw it." It bothered him for too long.

[member="Cadmon Geller"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

"Huh." Cadmon was probably too deep in the drink for this, but nonetheless here he was. He dug his hand into a pocket and withdrew another stimstick, igniting the narcotic and pressing it between his lips. Frankly he wasn't sure what to make of it. Strange things happened in the galaxy, cloning was a rampant practice utilized by despots and warlords the galaxy over, corporations too. It wasn't too far fetched that Kole simply suffered from severe amnesia, maybe some sort of accident had befallen him, then he'd woken up and signed up with the Alliance.

No, no that didn't make sense. Harper was so disturbed because, if Cadmon had to guess, he did have memories which made the encounter all the more shocking. Oddly enough, the concept of Harper being a droid didn't even cross his mind in spite of the times he'd dealt with HRD's. Maybe it would've made too much sense? He'd jokingly thought to himself that Kole always came off as robotic, but that was a result of perspective more than anything.

"Don't suppose you talked to the guy? This other you?" Geller's leading theory was clones or a long lost twin, which happened alarmingly more than one would think in a galaxy as massive as the one they inhabited. He knew people who very well could have answers, people who sliced into corporate databases on the daily and likely could search for most any batch of clones produced in the last four decades if Cadmon called in a few favors.

The question was; why would he do so for someone he hated?

[member="Kole Harper"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

Kole's eventual response became late, as if it was delayed by something. Perhaps a little too much of waiting period, potentially leading Cadmon to believe he stopped listening. Truthfully, Harper was absorbed in the moment- lost within his own thought, confused as to why that man existed. "No." It came around, lingering on a soft fading voice, almost croaky.

The HRD shifted within his stance, bowing his head whilst his left hand moved to scratch at the back of it, but not to rid it of an itch but rather alleviate stress. He felt his synthetic skin crawling with agitation, unable to comprehend what it was he saw, or why he saw it. "He just... stood there, and stared." A few moments passed, maybe one too many, "I only stared back."

[member="Cadmon Geller"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

Cadmon blew out smoke, his attention nodding off until Harper spoke again. He chuckled, Harper was being oh so helpful to himself in solving the little mystery. Then again, Cadmon had never questioned his reality, never had to wonder what was and wasn't real in his memories. Perhaps he should've, but he didn't, if for no other reason than there was no reason to dive down that rabbit hole when he'd never been given any reason to.

But Kole had, and maybe that interested him.

"You could be a clone then, plenty of 'em out there who get out of whatever line of work they were made for and into something else. Probably have their minds messed with too if you're having problems with that." He replied as the stimstick hung loosely trapped between his teeth. There was no reason for him to help anyone, much less Harper, but something nagged at him, likely boredom, and urged him to take action. He'd do just about anything to just get his money for the damn guard job and leave. Sure, Ladduin had some connections to some powerful players on Nar Shadda, but that was just on Nar Shadda, and Geller could easily relocate.

"I know a girl who could check. See if you're a copy or not."

[member="Kole Harper"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

That was one thing he never really considered.

Of all the explanations of the event that occurred, the fact that hey may very well be a Clone was never something he considered to be true. It was for fair reasoning, mind you. Clones, as far as he was aware, typically knew that they were Clones for one reason or another. Be it a Soldier, a Diplomatic purpose, or something else. Better yet, being a robot? Never. Not once. Kole had his own life that he lived out, and he knew it like the back of his hand. To say that none of that was true was to deny him his entire existence. He couldn't fathom the concept.

​"No. I can't be a copy. I've lived my own life."

[member="Cadmon Geller"]

 

[Cadmon Geller]

"You wouldn't be the first clone to think that." Cadmon replied callously. Perhaps he should've been kinder when potentially shattering another being's reality, but orders or not Harper had helped burn down his world, Geller could afford to be a little blunt. From inside he could hear their mutual employer howling with laughter as he and a few of his regulars, lieutenants in local syndicates, talked over drinks and spice. He despised working for the winged alien, who was always smug, and for some reason found it appropriate to act as if he were a god and his employees were merely his loyal subjects, often forgetting all of them could easily kill him.

But he paid well, so Cadmon had tolerated it, but as this particularly odd night went on, he began considering alternative solutions.

"What's it hurt to check?"

[member="Kole Harper"]

 

[Rakaan Horne]

Maybe it was that he wasn't going to like the answer.

There was no suspicion that it might be true, that he may not be human. Yet, in times like these, Kole became more of a pessimist than anything else. Fearing the worst at any given moment in time. Everything had gone oh so wrong in such a short span of time. Forced into becoming an outlaw, hunted by members of the Galactic Alliance, but then their demise came. Even after all of that, he couldn't help but feel sorry. They were only following orders, just as he had done. Even Jin Shao, the man who ruined it all, had his reasons that made sense. Now? It seemed that nothing did.

"No." He persisted.

It didn't matter if he was a Clone or not. Kole knew who he was, even if he didn't like it all too much. That's the only thing that mattered to him, at least right now. His face blank, emotionless as ever, lost in the city of stars, grime, and toxic air and rain. A light flickered in the distance, ensnaring his vision. Nothing mattered.

[member="Cadmon Geller"]