00? ( video. ) not sarissa, tho.

[magnitudes]

( There is a woman on screen who looks remarkably unconcerned.

She also looks familiar, possibly, given that the family resemblance between Sarissa and her grandmother is staggering. Notable differences – this woman is obviously wearing something a little more era appropriate for this place, but still not quite right, in faded green and brown cut to match World War II era demands, all practicality. A scar, or an injury in the process of becoming a scar, cuts down from her left cheekbone towards her jaw, and it creases into something like a dimple when she speaks.

Between the knuckles of her fore and index fingers rests a cigar, white smoke curling upwards and blooming outwards like a drop of ink twisting through water. Her accent, when she speaks, is markedly Greek. )

I have always heard America called the “Land of Opportunity.” Opportunity— ( A small gesture with her free hand, palm flat and facing down - so-so. )

Maybe. Feet draggers, I think, more likely. And poor filing, ah? That is definite.

( There is a little smile, though it’s not a very mirthful thing, as she picks up a file. ) I was giving the paperwork for a Sarissa Theron. They insist it’s mine, but— no. If anyone knows this woman, I think it better these papers get back to safe hands.

( Her smile widens, sharpens. )

My name is Eunike. For the record? This is— cock and balls. Bullshit. Dragging us from our own wars, to fight theirs? That is convenient, no? Cowardice, I think.


( Note: this is related to the Dial Straits plot. Sarissa ported out on the 1st March and this is set on the 3rd – for those two days Sarissa’s device would have been disconnected. Now is back in action, but in the wrong hands. )

Comments

[coppelganger]

[ Sarah is, for the moment, too startled and (frankly) upset to process Eunike's name, or the fact that she's wearing clothes in a style from 70ish years ago. She does hear the accent, but that doesn't mean anything. Clones come from all over the world. Sarissa's papers, though? Sarissa's comm? Makes no sense. ]

Where are you right now? [ No hello, no introduction. ]

[magnitudes]

( Hold up. Eunike holds up her hand, leaning closer to the comms to examine the woman looking at her. Startling - strange, startling, not impossible. She used to have a sister that she looked a lot like.

English, though? )

Nowhere I will tell you, without introductions.

[coppelganger]

No, who the hell are you? Why do you have my sister's communicator?

[magnitudes]

Your sister's communicator.

( There is a palpable pause between your and sister's, each word holding enough slow emphasis that she might as well have prodded Sarah, hard, with each one. )

This is the communicator they gave me. A— ( she gestures with her cigar, and takes a drag before adding a response on the exhale, ) hand me down, I suppose.

[coppelganger]

No. No, that's not how it works. They don't just give you someone else's shit.

[magnitudes]

But here we are.

( Her mouth quirks with a smile, and it makes the scar on her cheek dig into a jagged line. )

This country is at war, yes? I read something about the Russians. ( Details she'll pursue later. ) There is wealth here, enough food, but in war there will always be the things that give way. Wearing the clothes of dead men, using their guns - nothing is sacred. Wake up.

( And, briskly sweeping that aside, she asks, ) We look a lot alike. You more like you have crawled out of debris.

[coppelganger]

Thank you, Master Splinter.

[ Said in the most deadpan of voices, of course. ]

Yes, we do look alike.

[magnitudes]

( Just a look, because what does that even mean you strange feral creature. )

You are a very unhelpful girl. I cannot imagine you have made it so far in life without hearing that many times over. ( A raising of her brows, and Eunike taps away the ash of her cigar. ) You will meet me in an hour. I am near the Nonah city centre.

[coppelganger]

You're right, I haven't. I'll see you in an hour.

[ And she hangs up before Eunike can get the last word in. She seems like the type who'll try. ]

[magnitudes]

( WHAT A COWARD, NOT EVEN WAITING TO SEE IF SHE COULD BEAT EUNIKE'S LAST WORD

PEH.

Eunike rolls her eyes, and makes herself busy with other things. She's in a park, sitting on a bench, and when Sarah finds her? Is still smoking, two cups of black coffee at her side. )

You're late.

( Wouldn't matter if Sarah was early, she'd still be late. )

[coppelganger]

[ Sarah chooses not to comment on her lateness, or lack of lateness, and instead gives Eunike a scowling once-over. ]

That shit'll kill you, you know.

[magnitudes]

( And at that? Eunike laughs. )

If go outside or stay inside, take action or do nothing, those are all ways I can die. Cigars are are welcome to try.

( She knocks away the ash, and takes a drag, before holding out a cup of coffee to Sarah. )

I think we need to speak, you and I. It's good.

[coppelganger]

[ After a moment's hesitation, Sarah takes the coffee and sits down opposite Eunike. So many doppelgangers, and it never gets less weird the first time she's face to face with one. ]

Alright, so let's talk.

[magnitudes]

( Holding up Sarissa's file, Eunike does not hand it over. )

I had a little look. This doesn't mention England. She was born in Australia. In, ( and she scoffs, here, ) nineteen eighty-five. Your accents though, it isn't sounding Australian to me.

( Eunike keeps holding onto the file. ) What is your name?

[coppelganger]

Sarah. She's Australian, I'm English. It's a long story. There's another one of us here, Cosima. She's American.

[ She's not trying to grab the file, but her fingers are itching to. ]

[magnitudes]

You and Cosima, you have name days. I was-- surprised by her name. You know it isn't a name, in Greece? It's a word for a weapon. Your parents must either have thought practically, or cruelly.

( Still, the file stays in her hand. )

Was it the war? Or a war, I suppose, that separated you.

[coppelganger]

We don't have the same parents. We were all raised separately. I told you, long story.

[ She sips at her coffee to avoid elaborating, then asks, ] So you're Greek?

[magnitudes]

It sounds it.

( There's a slowness to how she says that, but she doesn't get into incredulous specifics. )

Yes. The Nazis, they are trying to take our country, but we are still Greek. Still fighting. Stubborn and proud.

[coppelganger]

[ Okay. Time to take a deep breath, because— ]

Sorry, did you say Nazis?

[magnitudes]

Did I not speak clearly?

[coppelganger]

So you're saying you're either from some darkest timeline universe where we're still at war with Nazi bloody Germany, or you're from the 1940s.

[ She's not even sure which she'd prefer, at this point. Either way, all signs are pointing toward this woman not being a clone. ]

[magnitudes]

( Eunike leans forward, hand pinning Sarah's wrist to the table, watching her with a sharp, hawklike gaze. Her movements are quick and her grip is strong. )

Germany, Italy and Bulgaria invaded my home. I have seen good people die, and my unit is now without it's second in command. Do not make it a joke.

( She takes another drag of her cigar. ) Nineteen forty-three.

[coppelganger]

Don't touch me. [ As she snatches her hand back. ] I wasn't making it a joke. Just trying to figure out what the hell this means.

[magnitudes]

( Eunike just slowly exhales the smoke in Sarah's face. )

It means, little girl, that your family is more complicated than you thought.

( And she holds out the file to Sarah. )

You are worried about her. From what I hear, I shouldn't have her file. That is a new occurrence.

[coppelganger]

But this doesn't make sense.

[ She takes the file and uses it to wave some of the smoke away, an absent gesture. Eunike is from the 1940s. There's no reason she should look anything like Sarah, unless, like Sarissa, she's some sort of... random fluke of the multiverse. Except what are the odds she'd end up here at the same time Sarissa ports out, and why would they give her Sarissa's file?

She doesn't say any of this out loud to Eunike, just goes silent, frowning and clearly thinking hard about something. ]