– Chapter Ten –
Back in Switzerland, the clones had reluctantly allowed Lucas to leave to make sure Maggie didn't find the house. It was a huge risk, but they had no choice and just had to trust the man.
In the meantime, Aila and Katja were having trouble contacting the Canadian clone, Elizabeth Childs. Aila looked over her file as Katja did something on the computer. Aila knew having someone who was affiliated with the police on their side would be a huge help when it came to being hunted down by a psycho killer clone.
Sadly, with her being in Canada, they couldn't show up there as easily as they could with the European clones, and so the next best thing was trying to contact her over the computer, though the detective didn't seem to be at home very often.
"We could always try calling instead?" Aila offered, looking over to the German woman.
"Ja, but I am not going to pretend zis Elizabeth Childs does not vorry me a little," Katja said uncertainly.
Aila stared at her. "Why?"
"She ez police detective. If she does not believe us, or if she ez not villing to listen, her police detective buddies could find us. Ve have to be careful."
"Shit," Aila whispered. "Her monitor isn't a cop, right?"
"Erm," Katja said uncertainly, and she flailed around trying to search for Elizabeth's file. "No," she continued once she found and opened it. "Monitor is boyfriend, Paul."
"Well that's something at least," Aila sighed in relief. "Last thing we need is a monitor with authority on our backs…"
"Ja, but still, police getting involved in all zis could be messy, especially if zey have heard zat you are vanted for murder back in Scotland," Katja said cautiously.
Aila swallowed hard. "I'd almost forgotten about that for a bit," she whispered. "But what are the chances of that?"
"I do not know," Katja shrugged. "But you can never be too careful. Zat ez von zing I have learned from Ratty, even if she zinks I do not follow zat rule often enough." Aila watched as Katja tidied up the files and found her phone. She paused, and then looked up at the doctor. "Do you vant to call Childs, or shall I?"
"You're better at talking to new clones," Aila pointed out. "I always get nervous about how they'll react and start stuttering."
Katja just shook her head and picked up the phone, dialing as Aila read off Elizabeth's cell phone number from the file, figuring that'd give them a better chance of reaching her over her home phone number. Katja put it the phone on loud-speaker and set it on the table between them after entering the last number, and waited as it rang.
The phone rang and rang, and for a moment, the German woman thought it'd go to voicemail, but on the last ring, the Canadian clone picked up.
"Childs," her unmistakable voice came through the speaker.
"Elizabeth?" Katja asked.
"Beth, and yeah. Who am I speaking with?" Katja paused for a moment before Beth spoke again. "Hello? I'm gonna hang up."
"No, don't hang up," Katja told her urgently. "I have some information for you. I have reason to believe ve may be related."
A pause followed, and Aila opened her mouth to ask what on earth Katja was thinking, but the German held her hand up to silence her.
"Related?" Beth sounded surprised, but stern. "Who the hell ARE you?"
"My name is Katja; Katja Obinger. I vas put up for adoption vhen I vas born, and I never knew of my real family until now. You vere IVF baby, ja?"
"What's that got to do with you being adopted?" Beth asked shortly. "How exactly did you get your information?"
"I cannot explain over zee phone," Katja continued. "But Beth, zere are many things I vould like to discuss vith you, if vill let me. You have…Skype?"
Beth didn't speak for a while, and Aila simply frowned in confusion at Katja, who was still dismissing her looks with a wave of her hand.
"You don't want to meet in person?" Beth eventually asked. Katja bit her lip.
"Not possible. Not right now. If ve can talk online…video call maybe…you vill understand. I vill tell you everything."
"If this is some sick joke-"
"It ez not, but you can judge for yourself," Katja assured her. "Please. Just one video call."
Beth sighed down the phone. "What makes you think I'm even interested in the fact we may be related?" She sounded much more stuck-up now, but Katja detected a hint of uncertainty in her voice. Beth was simply being cautious.
"You vill be," Katja replied.
Another paused followed. The sounds of Beth scrambling around for something on her end could be heard; Katja could only guess she was searching for some paper to scribble on.
"Give me your Skype details and I'll contact you tonight. Be online at eight o'clock. If fail to respond to my call, you won't get another chance."
Katja nodded, and the two of them quickly swapped details. Beth swiftly ended the call after that, and Katja looked up at Aila.
"I could not tell her about zee killer and clones over zee phone; she might have been at zee police station," Katja launched into an explanation first. "So vee call her later. Let her see our faces. She vill be interested enough to listen zen; to believe us. Vhen she vants to know more, ve vill tell her everyzing."
"Yeah, but what if her boyfriend's around when she makes the call?" Aila asked.
Katja shrugged. "Ve vill have to make sure he ez not," she said simply.
"And what if her calls, phone or Skype, are being monitored by DYAD as we speak? They're going to know we've been in touch."
"I did not zink of zis," Katja said regretfully, lightly smacking herself on the head. "But zere is no other vay, Aila. Beth is police. She vill figure out a vay to stay undetected, I am sure…and so vill vee."
Aila glanced at the clock, working out the timezones in her head. "She's…six hours behind us…I think. So eight at night for her world be…two in the morning for us."
Katja looked displeased at the thought of being awake at that time, and sighed. "Ja. Ve should take nap."
That night, Aila wandered around the house aimlessly. There was still over an hour until Beth was due to call, but the doctor couldn't sleep. She silently paced up and down the halls as Katja slept, having a million things on her mind.
What would happen if Beth didn't want to listen to them? What if she looked into Interpol and discovered the murder accusation? Would she believe Aila hadn't done it? Would she try to arrest her? Plus, what if DYAD was really tracing Beth's phone calls and Skype calls? Would they show up at the house? Take them all away and lock them up in a lab like Rat kept insisting?
The doctor sighed and made her way towards the kitchen to make some coffee, shaking from her nervousness and her continuous thoughts about all of the what-if's of the future. She almost wished she could go back to how things were before; back when she was still living in blissful ignorance.
Aila sighed and flopped down at the table, burying her face in her hands as she finally broke down and cried; the fear and desperation she'd been suppressing for weeks finally getting to her. She'd tried so hard to stay calm and positive, but the very idea of anything going wrong with Beth terrified her more than she wanted to admit. There was just so much riding on this going right; on the detective trusting them and not being traced.
The smell of the coffee brewing in the pot helped sooth the doctor a little bit, though she didn't move to retrieve it. Instead she sat at the table with her head down, her shoulders shaking as she cried, releasing several weeks' worth of pent up tension, unable to stop now that the dam had broken.
She jumped and looked up quickly when something lightly touched her shoulder, seeing Katja standing over her. The German looked quite sleepy, but she invited herself to sit at the table next to Aila, and simply looked at her.
"Sorry, ignore me," Aila managed.
"I vill do no such zing," Katja insisted. "I hear you at night, Aila. I zink vee all do. Zat night in Austria…it vas not just one bad dream, no?"
Aila gripped at her own hair rather hard, resisting the urge to tug it nervously. "I'm sorry," she said again, not looking at Katja. "I'll be fine; I'm just being silly."
"No, you are not. You are only human, Aila. You cannot be composed always. Even I know zis." Aila sniffed and wiped some tears away. Katja dared to take her hand, causing the doctor to finally look up. "You helped me. Now I help you."
Aila sighed, looking down at their joined hands. She wiped her eyes with her free hand. "This…isn't related to that…I'm just so completely shit-scared of things going wrong with Beth," she said quietly. "There are so many things that could go wrong, and I just lost it for a minute…"
Katja nodded but said nothing, silently urging the doctor to open up and talk to her properly.
"Sorry about keeping everyone up at night…I hoped it would work itself out by now," Aila sighed. "But yeah…it's not just one bad dream…it's a problem I've been dealing with for years. They're called Recurrent Pattern Nightmares…persistent never-ending dreams that feel so real you'd swear they were. It's rare... it's kind of like having flashbacks in your sleep. Back home, I dealt with it through use of an experimental dream-suppressant called Hypnocil. It makes it so I don't dream at all. Only thing is…suppressing REM sleep - dream sleep - for too long has its own repercussions, and suddenly going off of the stuff not only brings them back…but it makes them worse. A lot worse…there's really not much to do though until the recoil evens itself back out. When that happens, it won't be every single night anymore. Just every few nights. I was thinking about soundproofing my room in the meantime, but…yeah…too obvious…" she said with a hollow laugh. "I don't like talking about it, but I didn't exactly prepare for all of this to suddenly happen."
"Vat happened to you, Aila?" Katja asked. "To cause…all of zis?"
Looking over at the clock, Alia saw they still had quite a bit of time before they'd need to talk to Beth, and she sighed. It'd been a long time since she'd spoken about any of this out loud, but she knew she could trust Katja.
"Well…you already know my mother gave me up for adoption directly after birth for reasons unknown. I don't remember much about my houses and families growing up. I was tossed in and out of shelters and temporary houses almost every year, sometimes more than once a year. I think I was thirteen when I ended up in an orphanage that became my last. It was called New Haven Sanctuary," she began, leaning back in her chair as she spoke, even if she kept hold of Katja's hand.
"It was a very…VERY large house off in the countryside, surrounded by acres of lush green land and forests. It looked like a paradise, but truth was, it was a gilded paradise. It looked pretty on the outside, but scratch the surface and you quickly found out the interior was nothing short of rotten.
"The house was really a front for criminal activity of all sorts. The heads of the company were gang leaders who didn't give a shite about the orphans they took in to keep up the appearance of being totally innocent. Many of the younger kids were used as pack mules to transport stolen contraband, or worse…" Aila trailed off, shaking her head. "Didn't have a choice really. It was either do it and get fed, or don't do it and starve. We were too scared to fight back, but there were so many of us that a lot of times if we hid and said we were off doing other 'useful' things, we could get out of doing the really bad stuff. Not always, but a lot of the time…" Aila's eyes were distant, as if staring into the past itself before she paused and looked up at Katja.
"As kids got older, a lot of them simply joined in with the illegal activity to keep themselves alive. As teenagers, if we were considered useful, we were moved into another large house in the nearby city of New Haven. I was fourteen when I went there, only staying in the nice building for a few months before I was considered too old. I dunno if I was really useful at that point, but they kept me anyways. Maybe because of DYAD...who knows.
"If you kept being useful, you got to keep breathing. If not…well, I don't think I need to say it. We had a 'territory' I guess you'd call it, an area of the city where we could live and do their work and whatever else we wanted in, but we couldn't leave. There were eyes everywhere, and those who tried to do a runner were shot down. Literally," Aila told her, shuddering slightly at the memories.
Katja frowned, but remained silent and allowed Aila to continue.
"I was fifteen when my friend Maxine showed me the way up into the attic of the city house to hide away for a while. A few of us started making a habit of going up there when we needed to stay out of the way for a while for whatever reason. There was a lot of stuff covered in dust, and nobody important really went up there anymore, so we felt safe. After looking through things, I came across a huge pile of old textbooks. Medical textbooks. At first I read them because I was curious, but after a while I kept reading them over and over because I was fascinated to no end at the idea of using drugs to help people rather than hurt them." A small and distant smile appeared on Aila's lips as she recalled the realization that ultimately gave her a new direction in life.
"The pattern nightmares were always there, in a way, but they only got really bad after one particular incident…" the doctor sighed, unconsciously squeezing Katja's hand tighter. She felt reassured when the German woman squeezed her hand back. "I was sixteen when it happened. One of the higher ups wanted to know where I kept vanishing to, and of course I lied since the attic was literally the only safe place in the house...though the next time I went up there to read, they followed me and weren't pleased to see me messing about with books that weren't mine, and for lying…" she trailed off, bringing a hand up to her throat. "Let's just say things weren't pleasant for a while…that event is mostly what the nightmares are about.
"It was hard to escape that place, but a few of us managed to when we were eighteen. I'll spare you the grotesque details of that particular shit-storm, but long story short; we managed to go to the police and get ourselves placed in witness protection in exchange for detailed information about everything that had been going on. Eventually, after a massive investigation, both of the houses got busted and shut down. After that, a lot of us went our separate ways. The younger ones were placed back into the system again, but I wasn't since I was a legal adult. Instead, I started working and saving money, and went to medical school instead. Eventually became an A&E doctor…and well...that's about it, I think."
Katja remained quiet for a short while as she let Aila's story sink in. However disgusted, saddened and angry the German felt for what had happened to the doctor, she found it difficult to express it. Aila was smart enough to know she didn't deserve what happened. Telling her that would not make it better.
Instead Katja placed her other hand on Aila's wrist and looked her dead in the eyes. "You are strongest person I know," she told Aila honestly. "Nobody can take zat avay from you. Not even Beth Childs."
Aila smiled weakly and hugged the other clone for a moment before pulling away. "C'mon," she said. "We should go get ready to meet her."
"I have got her!" Katja exclaimed. "Look! She ez typing!"
Aila hurried over to where Katja was sitting with her laptop, almost knocking over their cups of coffee in the process. As Aila straightened up the items on the table to prevent a hazard occurring, Katja rapidly typed away in response to Beth's greeting.
"What's she saying?" Aila asked.
"Just confirming zat I am Katja Obinger," Katja said automatically. She concentrated on the chat box and typed once more.
'Ja…I mean yes, this is Katja,' was the message she sent.
'What exactly is it that you want?' Beth typed back. 'You said we might be related. Can you provide proof of this?'
Katja hesitated, and then looked at Aila, lost. Aila bit her lip. "Only thing we can do is show her the files, but we don't have a scanner to upload them. And even if we did, sending DYAD files online is NOT a good idea. Not if DYAD are watching. They'll lock poor Leigh away forever…"
"DYAD does not know Leigh took zeir files?" Katja asked, and Aila shrugged.
"I don't think so. They know Leigh decided to bugger off and meet clones, but I don't know if they're aware she took copies of the files. Then again, maybe they do know. Shit, I have no idea."
"Vell," Katja said thoughtfully, pausing a bit, "Leigh ez in deep enough trouble vith zem anyvay. Ve still remain undetected vhatever action vee take, ja?"
"Aye, but not if DYAD are spying on this Skype call," Aila reminded her with raised eyebrows.
"So? Beth ez cop. Vee tell her vat vee know, get her on camera and show her zese files, and zen convince her to do somezing about remaining undetected. If she takes zis seriously enough, she vill get avay before DYAD come looking for her."
"And what if she doesn't?" Aila asked uncertainly.
Katja frowned a bit. "I do not know," she admitted quietly. Aila thought Katja even looked a little scared.
"Maybe we hold off on showing her the files for now," Aila suggested. "If we have to, we can send her physical copies rather than do it online."
"Ja," Katja nodded. The screen caught her attention again when Beth sent another impatient message.
'Hello? I don't appreciate my time being wasted, so please respond with evidence before I block you.'
The German woman started typing quickly. 'Sorry, yes we can prove it, though calling will be proof too. You will understand when you see us.'
'Us? I thought it was just you?' Beth typed back.
Katja hesitated, forgetting Aila didn't speak to Beth on the phone, though rather than answer the detective with words, Katja simply started up a video call and hoped the detective was at least curious enough to answer.
Aila settled in next to Katja and sipped her coffee as she waited, wondering if the detective would pick up at all after several minutes. Just when Skype was asking if they wanted to leave a video message, the call was answered.
For a few minutes, all was silent as Beth took in the image of the two women who looked identical to her. Aila smiled awkwardly and waved. Beth had long brown, perfectly straight hair, and she reminded Aila a bit of the photograph they had of Aryanna. Beth's eyes were far more intense though, and were filled with surprise and suspicion.
Beth leaned back with her arms crossed, and Aila could almost see the gears turning in her mind. "Well…" Beth started, her eyes darting back and forth between the two. "You have my attention now. What the fuck is this all about?" she asked, sounding casual but interested.
Aila held her breath. This had been her exact reaction too when Leigh found her all those weeks ago. "A-are you alone?" Aila asked nervously.
Beth narrowed her eyes. "No, I just agreed to a weirdass call with a bunch of even weirder strangers with my boyfriend present," she said with so much sarcasm the doctor was reminded of Rat. "Of course I'm alone. I'm not dragging other people into whatever the shit this is until I know what it's all about."
"Your boyfriend Paul?" Katja asked, eyebrows raised.
Beth scoffed and laughed forcefully in response, and shook her head in disbelief. "Look," she said seriously, "just get to the point. You obviously know something I don't. Whatever it is, quit pissing about and tell me."
If Aila wasn't scared for Beth's reaction before, she certainly was now. Before she could even think about offering some sort of explanation, Katja began talking. She was slow enough to allow Beth to take it all in, but stern enough to let the detective know she was deadly serious.
A ringing silence followed once Katja finished. Beth was looking very disturbed. "So…" she began slowly, sounding as though she was carrying out a police interrogation. "You're telling me we're not related per say…but rather we're illegal human clones…and I might be in danger because somebody is hunting down my genetic identicals all over Europe, though there are apparently people like us all over the world…is that right?"
"Ja," Katja confirmed as she nodded.
"We know how crazy it sounds," Aila said.
Beth leaned forward, thinking. "Hypothetically…if I were to use the police database to run facial recognition against my own face, I might find other…'clones'…closer to my location?" she asked, sounding genuinely curious.
Katja shrugged. "You might, yes. I don't know exactly how many others are in Canada."
"Look, if you need more proof, we're happy to provide evidence," Aila told her, hoping she wasn't sounding too desperate to get on the detective's good side. "Only it's not safe to send it online; we might be being watched."
"Ve can send copies of files to you under a false name," Katja suggested.
Beth nodded. "Obviously official documents and evidence would be appreciated and valued," she agreed. "And this killer? Who is it?"
"She's called Helena," Katja explained, "though ve know next to nothing about her. Ve zink zat she might be anozer clone, but vee can't be certain yet."
"Only thing we know is that she's a religious nutter who thinks clones are abominations to God," Aila added. "And she's working for a group called-"
Aila stopped, distracted by her phone. It had started ringing, so she took it out of her pocket.
"It's Leigh," she informed Katja. "Sorry," she told Beth, who looked vaguely curious and confused. "Another clone – sorry – I should take this."
Katja nodded and allowed Aila to cross the room to talk to Leigh. Aila made sure the German continued to explain the situation to Beth before taking the call.
"Leigh? What's up?"
The hairdresser did not respond for a second. Aila thought for a moment Leigh had accidentally pressed a button on her phone with it in her pocket and had failed to notice.
But then Leigh talked. Or rather, she slurred. "Aila…shit…" She sounded either tired or drunk. Aila wasn't sure which.
"Leigh, what's wrong? Why are you up at nearly half two in the morning?" Aila asked, concerned.
"Can't sleep…shit, did I wake you? Sorry…" Leigh said, her voice trailing off.
"No, no, you're fine. I was up," Aila reassured her quickly. "Katja and I are both awake. What happened? Are you alright?" the doctor asked, making her way to her room to sit on her bed and talk so Katja and Beth could continue to converse.
"Sorry," Leigh spoke numbly. "It's just…I didn't know who else to call."
"Leigh, just spit it out. You're scaring me now," Aila told her. "Did something happen with Rat, or Aryanna? Oh please don't tell me somebody's hurt-"
"No, no, it's nothing like that," Leigh promised her. "Um…I think I'm missing having someone friendly to talk to."
Aila sighed a bit. "You're not getting on with Rat, are you? I knew this would be a bad idea…"
"She…" Leigh began, voice trembling now. "She just…earlier she…she's fucking with my head, Aila…"
"What do you mean?" Aila asked.
"About Rachel!" Leigh cried down the phone. "Shit, I'm sorry, I…I was gonna call Rachel…I really need to talk to her, but it's not safe…I just…I needed to talk to someone about this, and I dunno if Rat is lying…if she's making shit up…"
"You know I'm always here for ya," the doctor said gently. "What exactly did she say?"
"She…s-she said that Rachel…that Rachel's my sister…" Leigh all but whimpered.
Aila raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Really? Could that be a possibility?" she asked carefully, sensing how distressed Leigh was.
"NO! I mean I don't…shit I don't even KNOW anymore," the hairdresser sobbed. "I don't trust her though. She HAS to be fucking with me! Rachel CAN'T be my sister!"
Aila sighed. Making Rat and Leigh spend time together wasn't going to be a good plan right from the start, though she tried to stay neutral. "Calm down…look, you can't really contact Rachel. You said yourself she'd probably sell us out…hmm…what about your parents? Could you like…I dunno…call them from a public payphone or something? Or maybe ask...well…ask Rat to set up a secure connection for a video call? I know that's not ideal for you, but it'd be the only way."
Leigh just sighed miserably. "Is it a bad thing if it's true?" Aila dared to venture further. "I mean, you keep saying you miss her and implying you guys are close…" she said, trying to choose her words tactfully.
"I…we weren't…I mean we're not close, not really," Leigh managed after a moment of silence. "Well, not anymore. I mean, it's not like I hate her or anything; I just…she's difficult¸ you know? I dunno how she'd react to this, or if she'd even care, because she doesn't seem to care about anything…oh shit, what if Rachel knows? What if she knew this all along?"
"Leigh, you need to try and calm yourself down," Aila advised her. "I understand how confusing and upsetting it must be, but-"
"No," Leigh interrupted. "I know, Aila…I know. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called like this…I just freaked."
"It's OK," Aila assured her. "Just please don't do anything daft like calling Rachel. It'd compromise everything-"
"I won't. I'm not that stupid," Leigh told her, sighing.
Aila smiled. "You gonna be OK?"
"Yeah," Leigh told her quickly. "Yeah…just…just forget I called. I'll sort it out. I always do. Thanks, Aila…"
Leigh hung up before Aila could respond. The doctor looked at her phone and sighed, running a hand through her hair before putting it back in her pocket. She made her way back out to the living room and sat down beside Katja again. "Sorry about that."
"Everyzing ok?" Katja asked, tilting her head.
"Eeeh, I have no idea," Aila said, shrugging. "Just drama between Leigh and Rat. They'll sort it out, hopefully."
Katja rolled her eyes and shook her head, before turning her attention back to the detective. "I vas just telling Beth how vee all ended up meeting and vhat vee are doing to try to save clones."
Aila put a half-hearted smile on and nodded, though her thoughts were still lingering on Leigh. She hoped the hairdresser would be OK.
The following morning, Katja was woken up much earlier than she would have liked by the sounds of an incoming Skype call. She tried to ignore the noise for as long as possible, but on the fourth call she groaned loudly and sat up, wiping the sleep from her eyes as she yawned. Her hair was even messier than it normally was, and the bright morning sun momentarily blinded her.
The German woman muttered and blindly felt around for her laptop and slowly dragged it forward as her eyes adjusted to the brightness. She clicked the button to answer the call, still squinting. "Vhat reason could you possibly be having for vaking me up at…vhatever time it ez?" she muttered, unable to make out the blurry numbers of the laptop's clock just yet.
Rat raised an eyebrow and shook her head at the state of Katja. "It's nearly noon," she said flatly.
"And I vas up talking to Beth at two in zee morning," Katja mumbled. "I have excuse to be sleeping all day. Vat do you need?"
"I…erm…may have crossed a line…" the hacker said, trying to keep at least some dignity even as she looked over at something off the screen.
Katja sighed, rubbing her eyes. "Voo are you and vat have you done vith Rat?" she mumbled.
"Very funny," Rat muttered, rolling her eyes. "Well…last night, I was trying to do as you asked and, upon being asked, attempted to explain why I have trouble trusting Leigh, and incidentally revealed some information about her that she apparently didn't actually know…aaaaaand she's been staring out the window ever since. I can't get her to move."
"Try apologizing?" Katja said, looking rather unimpressed.
Rat clenched her jaw and looked away. "I did. There was no response."
"Try giving her beer," Katja suggested, shrugging.
Rat stared. "It's nearly noon," she repeated. "And I'm pretty sure she drank a load last night."
"Go to store and buy her cookies; I dunno…" Katja said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
"Katja, it may have escaped your notice, but cookies are not the answer to life's great tragedies," Rat groaned in exasperation. "They don't solve everything."
"Vat exactly did you say to her?" Katja asked curiously, ignoring Rat's comment about the cookies. "Vat is so tragic zat it can't be solved with a simple apology and some-"
"Don't say cookies," Rat warned her seriously. "I…I dunno if I should tell you what happened…"
Katja raised her eyebrows. "Rat. I cannot help if you do not talk. I am not mind reader."
Rat sighed and rubbed her forehead irritably. "Apparently she had no idea that Duncan is her sister," she said in a much quieter voice. "I didn't believe her at first but…but…this kind of…emotion...can't be faked. I have never seen her like this."
Katja was looking very curious and concerned now, despite her sleepy state. "She did not know? I always zought she did…from zee vay she mentions her, I mean…how could she not know…"
"I don't know," Rat shook her head as she spoke. "But I wouldn't put it past Leekie to screw with her and Rachel like…like he did with us. Katja, don't tell Leigh you knew about this. She's traumatized enough as it is…"
Rat glanced over at the sound of a phone ringing and raised an eyebrow. "Leigh, are you going to answer your phone, or just let it ring all day?" she asked dryly, looking unimpressed. "That's the third time in the hour it's been ignored."
Just then, Katja glanced over as Aila entered the room. "Morning," the doctor greeted her before looking down at her own phone. "I can't get hold of Leigh…I was worried about her after last night, but she's not picking up…"
"Mein Gott…" Katja said, becoming more awake now. "Zis is more serious zan I zought…" She shifted over so Aila could sit down and speak with the hacker as well.
"What's going on?" Aila asked, frowning.
"See for yourself," Rat grunted, turning the laptop around to show Leigh pacing back and forth in front of the window like a zombie. "She's been at it for six hours."
"Oh…shit a brick," Aila blurted out rather uncharacteristically, earning an alarmed glare from Katja. "Yeah, she called me last night about…"
"About Rachel friggin' Duncan," Rat sighed.
Katja frowned. "And vhy vas I zee last to know about all of zis?" she asked, but Aila rolled her eyes.
"Because you were busy talking with Beth Childs until gone four, and then you passed out asleep on the desk as soon as the call finished, and I had to drag you to bed-"
"You guys spoke to Childs?"
The question came from Leigh rather than Rat. The hairdresser had turned her attention to Rat's laptop and was now approaching so she could talk to everyone. Aila could tell Leigh was mentally and physically worn out, but she appeared to be using the topic of Beth as a distraction.
"Leigh," Aila began, but Leigh stopped her.
"I'm fine; honest, I'm fine. I've decided it doesn't matter. I can't do anything while I'm here, so what's the point, right?" She forced a little laugh, and Rat simply stared at her as if she'd grown another head. "How'd it go with Childs?"
"Err…fine," Aila said cautiously, mildly disturbed by how exhausted Leigh looked. "She was actually pretty cool about the whole thing, and was going to look into finding more clones in North America. She said she'd call us if she found anything."
Leigh nodded. "She wasn't freaked out?"
"Didn't seem to be, but then again she's a detective. I guess she's used to keeping a level head when faced with shocking news," Aila said, shrugging.
Katja nodded along. "Ja, she vants to help vorn clones, and is going to find clones using the police face-identify…thingie."
"Elegantly put…" Rat said, to which Katja merely stuck out her tongue good-naturedly.
"And Lucas?" Leigh asked.
"Erm…we had to let him go," Aila told them.
"Why?" Rat snapped.
"Well we couldn't really force him to stay, could we?" Aila sighed. "He wanted to make sure Maggie Chen doesn't find us; so I dunno, he said he'd throw her off our trail…"
"And you believed him," Leigh finished for her.
A pause followed.
"He has not given us a reason to not trust him," Katja shrugged. "So far all he has told us has been proven true. If vee do not trust anyone, vee vill surely fail. Vee can't keep doing things by ourselves…ja?"
Leigh rubbed her own forehead. It was clear she was far too tired to disagree. Apparently, so was Rat.
"How're the dogs?" the hacker asked instead, trying to keep a controlled and calm voice.
"Zey are fine," Katja assured her. "Charles sleeps all day and Bianca runs around like energizer bunny. Vee play fetch vith ball."
"Typical," Rat said, still looking annoyed.
"How goes the situation with Aryanna?" Aila asked, shifting uncomfortably as she sat, feeling the tension between the clones.
Rat shrugged. "She called in sick to work today, but she's still alive as far as I can tell. We haven't been out yet though, and she hasn't tried to make contact."
"She called in sick?" Leigh asked. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"I did," Rat snapped irritably. "You were too busy staring off into the abyss to respond."
Leigh grimaced at this comment, as though reminded of the very thing she'd been trying to distract herself from. Aila watched her on the screen, wondering if she might cry.
"We'll be in touch again later," Leigh said quickly as she reached over for the keys on Rat's laptop. Rat glared at her with such a furious expression it was a wonder Leigh didn't even notice. "We'll have spoken to Aryanna by the end of the day."
"But-"
"But nothing Aila," Leigh interrupted. "We need to keep moving forward, so that is what we'll do. Catch you later."
The call ended. Katja and Aila exchanged glances.
"She is trying to focus on anything but…"
"But Rachel," Aila finished, nodding. "Yeah. I just hope she won't do anything stupid because of it."
