Dopple Effect: A Story of Rabbits and Robots.

[ThreadLurkingComorant]

CW: Discussion of death, discussion of outbreak.

The following logs come from a conversation documented without visual sourcing.

Mori: Fizz, can you say a little something for the audio recorder?

Fizz: Yes.

Mori: A little more? Without being a smart ass?

Fizz: You think I'm smart? I appreciate it.

Mori: You're lucky we're friends or I'd yell at you for this. How's the body adjusting?

Fizz: Bad, honestly. Got a stomach cramp a lot of the time, tries to reject me about halfway through the day... I'm not much of a fan. Old body never did that.

Mori: Old body does that now. There's not much in terms of options.

Fizz: Sucks but I know everyone is doing what they can. 

Mori: We're waiting to see if this new shell accepts you before we let you out. We wanna make sure you're also at least stable before you see other familiar people.

Fizz: I'll manage... so uh, what's going on outside lately? Weather bad or something?

Mori: Mm? It's a little more complicated than that. 

Fizz: Yeah well I wanna know.

Mori: Can I tell you off record? I don't want to freak you out right now.

Fizz: I'm sure it's fine.

Mori: You remember the parasitic ivy that people were finding on their walls? The one that seemed harmless to plants?

Fizz: Did it kill all our crop or something?

Mori: It attaches to people, and it takes over the recently deceased.

Fizz: Okay.

Mori: As in it takes over their bodies. Like... zombies.

Fizz: So just wrangle them. 

Mori: They're too smart for that. They maintain their intelligence but... they're different. They're not the person they used to be. They hive mind and try to convert others.

Fizz: That... sounds fake. You're punking me because I'm back right?

Mori: No.....

Fizz: But I'm here right? You used a donor body to bring me back and it's not infected.

Mori: Dopple bodies, they're immune. Nobody is sure why. 

Fizz: You and Apollo?

Mori: I'm not sure about me so I'm playing things safe. Apollo is immune as far as I can tell but he may just be lucky. It's airborne so....

Fizz: Wait... as in-

Mori: Anyone who breathes around it is a carrier. The moment their brain shuts down the parasite becomes active and reboots them to fit its will. They're like a cult really, and they're recruiting. 

Fizz:... Diane is okay right? 

Mori: Diane is immune and living with Apollo and I. 

Fizz: You got them out of that place?

Mori: The rehab center? Yes. Diane was there for unrelated reasons... for some reason those fully infected seem to target those sensitive enough to interact with spirits so we figured their safest bet is to stay with us.

Fizz: Why were they there to begin with? They hated it. A lot, I heard all of it.

Mori: It's a mistake on my part, they had a mental break and I didn't know what to do so we took suggestions from a professional. We're doing our best to correct that, Apollo and I.

Fizz: It sucked! 

Mori: We know.

Fizz: You visited though right? Like you didn't actually go and isolate them in a place like that yeah?

Mori: I did... as much as I could. 

Fizz: ..... 

Mori: I'm sorry.

Fizz: Good grief you should be. I'm just glad you're keeping them somewhere safe for now. 

Mori: On a related note I want you to keep a video or audio diary as we go. Getting your body replaced meant asking for a lot of favors from eggheads. They want to know how it impacts you on a cognitive and emotional level.

Fizz: Couldn't be free huh? Barely works right.

Mori: That's even more reason why they want it.

Fizz: I mean I can do that I guess. No promises I'll give them good drama though. 

Mori: Mm. Honestly if they get bored that's for the best, no worries there.

Fizz: So when am I gonna get to see the rest of ya'll? 

Mori: After this actually, we're bringing you back home with us. You'll be assigned a rancher unit. 

Fizz: A construct?

Mori: They don't have developed sentience, they're not real constructs. 

Fizz: You just saying that to avoid breaking the rules?

Mori: It's a loophole really. If they're just machines without personality you'll be fine. We have a couple of them on household for safety reasons. 

Fizz: They got names or...

Mori: No. Please don't name them.

Fizz: You don't wanna think about how much you're pushing moral code that bad huh?

Mori: It's... complicated.

Fizz: Look, ya'll made a species for a job. Diane was made for a job. The body I'm in right now was made for a job. There's no skirting around it. 

Mori: Well....

There is a long period of silence in the recording. 

Fizz: Look, I'm sorry I'm all tense at you right now. You're just... dropping a lot on me and being super clinical about it.

Mori: I know.

Fizz: Talk to me like your friend. We know each other, you know you had no reason to patch me up otherwise right? I'm not your demon.

Mori: That's... another big question I have to ask you.

Fizz: Ah.... did you revive me with work in mind?

Mori: No... more so that your dopple form is not seemingly immortal like your original state and well... Diane and I are both used to having you around. If that's not an issue.

Fizz: You can't fix the old body?

Mori: You're not compatible with it anymore. Whatever you ran into made you incompatible with fully synthetic constructs. This is the closest thing we could offer, and considering the infestation probably safer.

Fizz: Yeah, yeah that's fine. We can do whatever ceremony after I've got some time to adjust if you don't mind too much.

Mori: Go ahead.. can we talk off record after this?

Fizz: What do you mean? 

Mori: There's a few things I want to say but rather not get on the recording if that's alright.

Fizz: Does it mean you'll talk to me as you? 

Mori: Mmm.

Fizz: Yeah I can do that. Right now?

Mori: Mmhmm... if that's okay.

Fizz: Yeah just turn that tape off yeah?

There's the sound of shuffling around before the feed cuts off.