An Imperfect Copy

Chapter 2

Origami Butterfly

"Hello, Ninancy Makuhari. Do you mind being called that?" The Joker met the shy looking girl at the front of the library.

The girl bowed. "Nancy was a hero. I am honored to have her name."

"Yes, she was. You call yourself Ninancy to make the distinction between you?"

"Yes, I find people are more comfortable that way."

"You do look very much alike."

"Many people say so. Wow, look at all the books!" They had entered the main branch of the library and book stacks upon book stacks filled the luxuriously designed British Library.

"Do you like to read, Ninancy?"

"Oh yes. When I was recovering, I spent a lot of time in the library. I have lost my own memory, so I enjoyed reading about strong people who knew themselves well."

"I hope you are beginning to get a sense of yourself again."

"I do not know who I was before, and nobody else seems to know either. My sister was a hero. That is the center of my character. I think that learning more about her will help me understand more about myself."

"There is one here who may have understood your sister better than anyone else, but even she did not know her fully. I must warn you though, she was Nancy's partner when she died and she has unresolved feelings about the matter."

"Miss Readman? Yes, she visited me once. She made the most beautiful butterfly out of paper. I had not fully recovered at the time or I would have liked to spend more time with her. But she never came again. She was the one who told me my sister was a hero. I would not want to disturb her, but I doubt Nancy would want her to blame herself for my sister's death."

"You and Yomiko will surely find you have much in common. She loves books very much herself. It is something you to could talk about together." The Joker typed a few letters into a keypad. Suddenly, the bookshelves before them began to move accompanied by the sounds of mechanical whirs and rumbles. Revealed was a whole inner layer of rooms full of people busily working.

"Welcome to The British Library Task Force Headquarters. If you'll follow me, I'll introduce you to some of the people you will be working with."

Joker led her into the Headquarters, introducing her to various people. Finally, she was introduced to Drake Anderson.

"Hey, I'll show you the Workout Room and we'll see what you can do, alright?"

"Yes, that would be great." Ninancy smiled broadly at the excited look on his face. He was obviously a person who enjoyed fighting.

"Have you ever phased before?"

"Yes, once. I didn't even know I could do it," she giggled, "until one day I dropped a knife back at the center. It went right through my foot. I thought I was crazy as well as an amnesiac until Joker sent some video footage of Nancy going through walls. I also got to see Yomiko in action. They were both amazing, but I still treasure this most of all."

Ninancy drew a book from her purse and opening the book, pulled out a flattened origami butterfly, which she had carefully preserved.

Drake raised his eyebrow at her treasure, but decided not to comment. He would not tell her that Yomiko had drawn into herself lately and stopped making such pretty useless things as origami butterflies.

At first Yomiko had seemed all right after the Beethoven Fiasco, as they often called it, but as the weeks went by she had become more and more solemn. He often found her reading distressing poetry and twirling that book mark. The entire headquarters had felt Yomiko moving into her depression, as if her heart was part of the center of the British Library Task force. The soft giggles of Ninancy already seemed to warm the stale air.

Yomiko heard the uncommon sound of giggles coming from the Workout Room. Curious, she sped up her walking speed, even going so far as to bookmark the book of poetry she was reading from as she walked. What she saw through the open door almost caused her to drop the book entirely.

"Nancy?" Disbelief and elation warred in her voice.

Ninancy forgot to phase at the sound of Yomiko's voice. The tennis ball, which Drake had thrown at her, bounced off her stomach.

"Ow! Oh, Miss Readman!" Ninancy quickly bowed to the stunned agent.

Drake cleared his throat. "Yomiko, this is Ninancy, Miss Deep's sister. You've met?"

Yomiko felt herself grow faint. She tried to answer, "yes," but fell to the floor instead.

"Oh, Miss Readman, I'm afraid I have upset you."

Yomiko saw Nancy's clone reaching down to help her up. The gesture was too much like Nancy's own last gesture, as she let her hand phase out of Yomiko's that horrible day.

"Please. I'm okay." Yomiko pulled away from Ninancy's hand and pushed herself off the floor.

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"I…I am now." Yomiko closed her eyes for a second to compose herself. When she opened them, it was as if she were meeting Nancy all over again, reaching for the same book. She looked down and focused on Ninancy's feet. "So, you call yourself Ninancy?"

"Yes, Nancy number 2." Nancy smiled. "You were the person who first told me about my sister."

Yomiko sighed. Nancy. "Would you mind if I gave you a nickname all your own?"

"Should you? Perhaps that would make me feel more myself. I knew it was the right thing to come here."

"Can I call you Nina? A person should have their own name." You can't be Nancy, Yomiko said only in her mind.

Drake threw a case of tennis balls to Yomiko.

"We were practicing phasing out of the way of flying objects. Do you wanna throw a cross fire?"

"I…sure."

Yomiko lay on her bed twirling a book mark over her head. Unread books piled around her; ones about love, about adventure, ones about mysteries unsolved. Yomiko felt that she could be a character in any one of her books, but books were a pale imitation of real life. Nancy had known so much about love. Love was about sacrificing your dreams for someone else. Yomiko had never tasted true adventure, until she had leapt with full trust into the empty sky to catch a book and known without a doubt that Nancy would be there to catch her. And mystery. Yomiko dreamed every day that Nancy had lived and it was her cruel twin who had fallen into the sea. "Take care of my little sister," she had said. Yomiko would do that, but in the depths of her mind, she would always wonder if it was really Nancy who she now called Nina.

Such thoughts were worthless. Yomiko rolled over on her bed and tried to stifle her tears into her pillow. Love is worthless, when the one who you love does not love you back. Why did Nancy have to waste her love on such a worthless man? Yomiko brought the book mark up to her face. It had crumpled a little. She tried to smooth it out. Why did you have to waste your love, Nancy? Yomiko carefully hooked the bookmark on the windowsill beside her bed and turned out the light. She lay back in her bed and tried to be as still as possible. Why did you waste your love?