(Episode Card: "The Doppelganger")
"This is a joke." Smiley says as the scene zooms in on his face. "A lie, a sham, a hoax, a facade, a flimflam..."
Smiley walks up to Julian, getting in his face.
"...A hologram." Smiley finishes, his last word uttered with a slight growl to his voice. "Computer, end program!"
Nothing happens.
Smiley gets directly into Julian's face, his eyes narrowed. "Aren't we the little trickster?"
"Do you seriously think that I would waste my time preparing some elaborate Hologram just to piss you off?" Julian says, responding just as angrily as Smiley was.
"You weren't wasting your time..." Smiley says, digging into his right pocket, taking out an Empire-issued dagger. "I AM pissed off...And your'e live, beating Heart will be the perfect payment for my troubles!"
"Try it, little man!" Julian replies, getting into Smiley's face. "I'll dissect you faster than you can say-"
"Before you idiots get into yet another brawl, I want Smiley to come see this. Doctor, make sure the other one stays put." Odo says, as the two enemies find him now standing by the computer console.
Smiley slowly walks towards Odo, his Dagger drawn, and his eyes trailing Julian's.
"If ther's nothing good here, Julian..." Smiely says.
"Oh, piss off, you lunatic!" Julian replies, keeping his Phaser trained on Miies.
"What the hell's up with all of you?" Miles asks; still looking around in utter shock.
"You, stay quiet." Odo says, pointing at the console he was manning. "Look over here, Smiley."
Smiley looks over the console as his eyes stop at a pair of numbers.
"That's...That's my Transporter signature...And even my pattern!" Smilely says in awe. "So that...thing over there isn't a Hologram. It's another me...Could it be a Replicant?"
"No..." Odo says. "Remember the incident with the Parada? After the last Replicant incident, we had the Transporters modified to disassemble Replicants upon Transport. It's probabaly a clone or something. If it is...A DNA Test will find that out."
"I'm not a Hologram, Repli-whatever, and I'm certainly no Clone!" Miles shouts, his face red with anger. "I'm flesh and blood, dammit! Now I demand to know what the hell's goin' on!"
"Hold on." Odo says, walking towards Miles.
In one swift motion, Odo backhands Milkes with his left hand, as the poor man falls to the floor.
"Prisoners do NOT demand anything...They beg..." Odo says, looking over Miles with sadistic glee. "And I'm not in a humoring mood. As for you, Doctor...you have work to do down on Bajor, so go and do it." Odo says. "Though, be kind enough to scan our newest victim before you go..."
"I'm late enough already, thanks to you two." Julian says irritably, walking towards the Transporter console, pressing buttons rapidly. "I'll do it when I return. Just keep that thing on a leash. We already have one lunatic running around the station..."
Julian gives Smiley one last glance of anger as he hastily walks onto the Transporter Pad. "...And I'm not about to become a bloody Counselor."
The Doctor disappears seconds after his feet touch the platform, as blue lights take his body from the room.
"Well, so much for the DNA Test." Odo says. "I suppose some Agony Booth time will clear up this little mystery."
Smiley wasn't listening to anything Odo was saying, even as the Changeling hoisted the fake Smiley to his feet.
All Smiley could do was stare into Miles' eyes...And calculate how slowly he could possibly rip them from his head.
"AAAAHHHHH!"
The man's screams cannot penetrate the glass prison surrounding his body.
Kira Nerys twiddles her Terran-issued Dagger in between her thumbs as she leans back in the mobile chair that overseers of the Agony Booth always sat in.
This...was an unexpected gift.
She nonchalantly turns the knob of the Agony Application Device up one more notch.
The man's screams become louder as his body shakes and contorts within the hollow tube.
His eyes were bloodshot; His arms were tired. His voice was ragged.
This one was no Replicant...
To think, another 'Smiley.'
Green to the ways of this savage world, open to influence, actually sane. And...innocent.
He could become her most valuable pawn if she played her cards right.
Now was the time. Kira had amassed enough resources to knock Sisko off of his fake throne.
She had waited a long time for this...The right time to strike.
And when she did...What is Sisko's would now belong to her.
With this new toy...the timing couldn't be more perfect.
"He's had enough. He'll die if I keep him in there much longer. Why break my new toy?"
Kira leans forward in her chair as she turns the knob down to it's lowest setting, as the Agon Booth's lights dim and the screaming fades.
This was the start of a new era...
Kira gets up from the chair as two Security Guards fish out Miles' weakened body from the Agony Booth Tube.
He can't talk. All he could do was breath hurridly and raggedly.
But that was enough. Kira didn't need him to talk right now.
She walks towards the man, who looks at her with angry, confused eyes.
That's how Jadzia saw her master for the first time. An evil sadist with only hatred running through her veins.
But like the rest of her 'followers...'
"I'm gonna make this easy. Help me, and you'll get to go home. Don't...And I'll practically gift-wrap you and hand you over to Smiley...And by the Prophets, you DO NOT want that. My quarters...Nineteen-hundred hours. Memorize it."
...They'll learn to love her.
"Take him away!"
He just kept asking.
"No. For the final time."
Smiley wasn't himself.
Asking for favors wasn't very common for Smiley. He always did what he was told and usually didn't expect anything for it. The perfect servant.
But this was new...And it was pissing Benjamin off.
"But, Captain. That man is going around the station masquerading as me!" Smiley says desperately. "I just want to slit his throat and use his blood as new paint for the walls in my quarters...That doesn't seem to be too much to ask."
"Smiley, you've never behaved like this before." Sisko says angrily, folding his hands as he lays back in his chair. "Ever since that man beamed on-board the station, he's all you've talked about. Now an obsession is fine, but don't let it interfere with your duties! Use your head. I'm keeping him alive for a reason and when I'm through with him, then you can do whatever you want with him! Besides, I need him!"
"For what? To be your new Operations Chief? Your errand boy? Your'e little playmate?" Smiley asks angrily. "I'm your playmate! I'M your handyman! It's always been that way! And I swear, it will stay that way even if I have to do it myself!"
Enough was enough. e was giving Smiley too much lee-way.
Benjamin gets up from his chair and stomps over to the man, who turns his eyes away from his Commanding Officer in response.
"Beat him black-and-blue." Benjamin says, walking around Smiley with his arms behind his back. "Spit in his face, gouge his eyes out, Eat his Heart, Put him in the Agony Booth for a week. Hell, stick his head in the toilet if it suits your fancy."
Benjamin then gets face-to-face with Smiley, as their eyes lock level with each other.
"But I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR DOCTOR BASHIR TELLING ME HE'S DEAD!" Sisko roars, his yelling surely being heard outside in Ops. "Do you understand?"
"Train wrecks...Dogs...C-C-Candle...H-Hyperfusion Matrix..." Smily muttered nervously to himself as his breathing became worse.
Sisko was only this mad at him on very rare occasions. Sisko knew of the babble Smiley uttered at times and the mood swings he often had. Especially when he was thinking about something. The more involved, scared, or stressed Smiley was, the worse it all got. It let him get away with things most Ensigns and rookie officers would usually get killed for. But Sisko had his limits, even for Smiley. Though, it secretly made Benjamin happy that despite his reputation for being lazy, he could still intimidate the very best the Empire had to offer.
"Do. You. Understand?" Sisko says again as he puts emphasis on his words, moving his head closer to Smiley, who backs up slightly in response.
"Yes, Captain." Smiley says sullenly.
"Dismissed."
Dax walks down the vastness that was the Promenade of Terok Nor, watching the people and inferior aliens pass by.
Despite it's bloodthirsty crew, it was actually a pretty safe and enjoyable environment...(Save for the occasional assassination or barfight in Rom's) especially compared to some of the starbases stationed in other quadrants.
Dax saw many peeople she recognized.
By one of the many Bajoran Church entrances, she sees Vedek Oboron. He had an innocent smile, but behind that kind face lies a secretive, xenophobic weapons merchant notorious for his horrible luck and weak business savvy. He's done business with Odo and Rom before...and that's the only reason why he's not in a holding cell right now. He was always a bit of a coward...Easy to scare. She launches a stare his way as the two meet eyes. He fakes a bow of courtesy, but she knows it's his way of saying 'Mind your own business.'
With a chuckle, she continues down the Promenade.
By the Jumja stick Kiosk in a drunken stupor lay Tuvok, a Vulcan that abandoned his homeworld when it was conquered by the Empire. He, unlike most Vulcans, was NOT logical, and acted more like a Romulan. This causes many Vulcans to look down on him. He was a nice guy and surprisingly enough, quite the party animal...Shame he was too much of a womanizer to ever be one of Jadzia's close friends. (She almost castrated him when his hands went below her waist-line during the Bajoran Gratitude Festival) Still, he was a decent negotiator, provided the target in question was even willing to talk to him.
Sitting on his usual stool in Rom's was the infamous customer Morn, who was actually an assassin for his government. Him and Odo have a good business relationship, with Morn sometimes taking Smiley's place whenever the freak was out on some bout of derring-do. (She wasn't in the mood to think about Smiley right now) He often performs hits for Odo gaining his usual fee of one hundred bars of latinum every time; fifty in advance, the rest when the job was done. Rom's been trying to make deals with him for years, but for some reason, the man never gave the Ferengi a second glance. Morn was actually pretty brave despite his seemingly cowardly appearance. It was rumored that he's an escaped mental patient from a theraputic hospital on his home planet, but whenever anyone asks about him, the transmission always...ALWAYS...ends. Jadzia actually liked him. Too bad he wasn't much of a talker.
Eventually, the hustle-bustle of the Promenade begins to fade as she finally reaches the Infirmary.
No sooner does she walk in that she sees Julian Bashir huddled over a console.
He was the station's Chief Medical Officer. A Genetically enhanced, antisocial sadist who blazed through Medical Science at the Academy. His Terran conditioning came to a head when he slaughtered five teachers and two Cadets in what is still known today as "The Bashir Incident." He usually chose to keep to himself, often ignoring others and avoiding close relationships and bonds. Because of this, he wasn't well-liked and often avoided. Everyone knew that the generally corpse-filled Infirmary was HIS domain. And that there was no guarantee that anybody coming in...was coming out. He can usually be seen indulging his cultural side through his many spy programs, in which he often played the villain. Still, despite his sadistic streak, love of gore, and quick temperament, she preferred Julian's company more than anybody in the station. (The only exceptions were Morn, Rom, and Captain Sisko...whom she talked to regularly) It wasn't because he was genetically enhanced, either...He was just smarter than the others. It was a nice change talking to someone who was an intellectual equal instead of a bloodthirsty killing machine. Granted, the man HAD a sadistic streak, but at least HE knew when to put it. The others just sort of...threw their weight around.
"Cause of death...Assassination. Stardate 46320.9..."
He was obviously consumed with his work.
"Time of Autopsy..."
"Ahem." She grunts.
The man's hypnotized chanting stops as he turns his rolling chair to see her standing behind him. His eyes looked irritable. He wasn't in a talking mood.
"Ah, Jadzia." Julian says. "What do YOU want?"
"I was wondering how those tests on the other O'Brien went." Jadzia replies, ignoring Julian's obvious disintrest in interaction. The 'faker's' state was not really why she was here. Still, every little bit of information was helpful.
"Oh, for-Odo's already asked me this." Julian says bluntly. "Despite all medical possibility, logical probability, and my personal preferences, these two are indeed the same man. He's not a Replicant; and he isn't a clone. Clones usually have incomplete DNA sequences, problems with their genetic coding, or even diseases that an actual Human would simply not have. Here we are in the 24th Century, and we still haven't perfected the Cloning process. I keep telling Imperial Medical to allow me to research the process, but no...The fatcats don't want to waste their time doing something actually useful!"
One thing she hated about him: He complained. A LOT.
"All of that aside, this other O'Brien must come from some sort of alternate universe or dimension." Julian continues. "I doubt that Smiley just...spawned him out of thin air..."
"You mean like the crossover that took place during the time of Captain Kirk?" Jadzia asks.
"Well, duh." Julian says. "It's just a matter of finding out how the hell he got here. I can't believe I'm saying this; but if that's what you want to find out, you should ask Smiley."
"Ugh, I'm not going near that...thing." Jadzia asks. "I'd rather hurl him out of the nearest airlock than ask him about his counterpart. Besides, all he'll do is..."
"...Go on and on about how his counterpart is impersonating him and how he's going to kill him in various gruesome ways?" Julian asks, finishing Jadzia's sentence.
"Y-Yeah." Jadzia says, a note of glee in her voice.
"Nice to see someone with a brain on this station..." Julian says icilly.
"Was that a compliment or an insult?" Jadzia asks, crossing her arms in a jesting manner.
"You decide that for yourself." Julian replies.
"So where exactly is this 'other' Smiley?" Jadzia asks.
"Odo's keeping him in a Holding Cell." Julian replies, turning his back on Jadzia to resume his work on the console. "Now if you'll kindly leave me alone, I have work to do."
His prey was so close.
He couldn't take the hiding anymore...
Smiley could see his counterpart just...sitting there!
Reading a PADD like he owned the place! That skin! Those eyes! Those features! They were Smiley's! His and his alone! And to think Sisko and Odo fell for that scthick!
"He thinks he can just...come in and replace me; Replace old Smiley?" Smiley thinks to himself as he adjusts his body to his hiding place behind the wall of the adjoining door to his quarters. "No, no, no, no, no! I am the real O'Brien! Me! And I'll prove it to him..."
And with that, Smiley quietly exhaled, closing his eyes for a brief moment before hunching his back...and taking a step into the room.
Inch by inch, step by step, the homicidal engineer crept ever closer to the couch the impostor was lounging on.
Smiley's unsuspecting prey did nothing but sat there as his impending doom lurched ever closer.
It kind of reminded Smiley of his days fighting as a soldier against the Bajorans during the Imperial Occupation. He enjoyed every minute of it. The feeling you get knowing your'e superior; The knowledge that your'e enemy's life is in your'e hands; To know that the last thing they'll see is your face. To know that their life is now your eternal possession...
It gave him such a rush. This was no different.
But...His interests weren't all that concerned him. Smiley knew just how damaging somebody in his position could do...Especially someone that knew as much, if not more than him about the inner workings of Terok Nor. This...impostor had to be eliminated before he took over Smiley's life...and destroyed Terok Nor.
He was almost within range. He COULD throw the dagger at his target's head now, would be less messy. But no...He wanted to SAVOR every minute. He wanted it bloody. He wanted all of that red to drape the walls! He wanted it SPECTACULAR!
The moment he was at close-range, Smiley resumes an upright position. The couch prevented him from casting a shadow. There was no way he'd be able to blow his cover unless his breathing became erratic.
No, not yet.
"Maintain your'e composure, Smiley." Smiley thinks to himself. "Be calm...Save happiness until AFTER your'e knife's in his throat..."
His upright position was an advantage. And he intended to use it.
Smiley twiddles the dagger in his thumbs as his counterpart stopps looking at the PADD. He knew something was amiss.
Now!
Smiley lunges, like a feral beast, grabbing his target's head with blinding speed, both pinning his head and muffling his cries at the same time.
It was time. As Smiley's face lights up in an insane grin, He lift's up his target's neck and wastes no time.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Let all the candles burn out!"
Placing his Empire-issued dagger by his counterpart's left ear, he slices into the sensitive skin, letting his instincts take over.
"MMMMPPPPHH!"
Even with both the muffling and the knife piercing his neck, his target put up a good fight. His target tried to grab one of Smilely's arms in an attempt to flip him over. It was a common tactic for any Terran officer to learn. Made assassinations harder. But there was one fatal flaw the target had failed to anticipate. They were the same man, they were matched in strength. Therefore, it was obvious to the insane Terran that his target was fighting (Well...trying anyway) to stun Smiley; not kill him. Any smart Terran officer would've reached for their OWN weapon to counter with. Smiley's killer instinct, however, was running full blast; therefore he was devoting all of his strength to his task. His target's struggling was pointless.
The knife digs into his target's neck deeper as Smiley's laughing becomes even more erratic and loud.
Smiley was slicing directly into the Carotid Arteries of his target's neck, which were basically the neck's blood pumps for most Humanoids. And that's why the blood was simply GUSHING out. All over the couch; All over his target's uniform; Even in a steady stream jutting from the wound onto the other side of the room. He wanted to see more!
"Let it flow! LET IT ALL JUST FLOW!"
His counterpart finally begins to tire as the continous blood loss, the pressure of the knife, (Which was now proceeding to his other Carotid Artery on his neck's right side) and Smiley's grip finally begin to take their toll.
As fun and sweet as the guts and gore were, this exact moment was the part that Smiley always loved the most. That...instant realization that there was truly no hope whatsoever. To know that they have lost; and that they have no choice but to give in to the sweet, warm embrace of death...
Finally letting his prey go for but a brief moment, Smiley zooms around to the other side of the couch as his counterpart collapses onto the floor in front of the couch in a bloody heap.
Smiley examines his work. The slice was both fast and precise. The cut could still be seen on his target's neck, despite the blood still flowing out of the wound. Even if a doctor had been in the room, it wouldn't have mattered. No regenerative substance or tool could've saved him in time.
His target's breathing was erratic. He was trying to talk, but all he could do was either stare at his murderer or watch the blood leave his neck and stain the floor.. He was choking on his own blood. It was secretly drowning him. He didn't have long...A minute at the most.
Despite the sorrowful and angry eyes staring back at him, Smiley kneels down near the prey laying before him on the floor, stroking his target's semi-bloody hair with his right hand in what could only be perceived as fake affection.
"Shh, shh, shh, shh, shh..." Smiley shushes in a mockingly soothing voice;, still clutching his weapon with his left hand. "Don't worry...You can't hurt me or anybody else ever again..."
The target coughs some more blood, causing the red liquid to land on Smiley's uniform. But the Terran didn't care.
He looks down at his target with an oddly warm smile; also raising his left arm again.
"Don't fight it..." Smiley continues with that gentle, mocking voice.
Smiley continues playing with his target's hair while swiftly sending his knife charging into the left side of his target's chest; keeping his eyes trained on his prey and his hands in his target's hair the entire time.
A final whistling throe his heard as the knife is dragged slightly deeper into the puncture wound.
His target's last spark of life is truly and utterly extinguished.
The target's eyes finally close as the body at last relaxes, spent.
The deed was done.
And no sooner is this completed that the door to the room swings open.
Smiley aggressively turns his head to the door to find Odo; looking around with a mixture of disgust and intrigue.
Upon seeing Smiley, the blood all over the area, and the dead corpse of his clone, Odo sighs irritably, utteering only three words.
"Computer, remove corpse."
Immediately, the corpse that Smiley had caressed and carefully killed disappears the room as the blood goes with it. Anybody walking wouldn't even know anything had happened in this room.
"Your'e ruining my fun, Odo..." Smiley says in a fake pout, getting up from the floor and walking towards Odo. "It was fun, I tell ya...The pretty red was everywhere...Everywhere! I had him, Odo. His life was putty in my hands! Why'd you have to end it so soon?"
"I've been spending the past hour looking for you." Odo says. "The Phase Inducer near the Defiant's Warp Core is malfunctioning for the third time."
"Ugh! I told Muniz to re-coordinate those ODN Matrices!" Smiley says irritably. "Great...I guess I have to do it?"
"Yes, you do." Odo says. "Maybe next time, you should finish your duties BEFORE coming to the Holosuites to murder holographic clones of your OWN clone...Which brings me to my other reason for finding you. Sisko has ordered me to release your clone from the Holding Cells."
"What?" Smiley says in loud surprised shock, causing bar-goers to look up at him and Odo talking from the lower balcony. "Is he out of his mind?"
"That was my question, too." Odo says. "But orders are orders. I only have so much freedom. I tried making up as many laws as I could to keep him there, but the Captain wouldn't buy any of them. He also told me to tell you that you are not permitted to harm him, much less go near him. After your'e little show in Sisko's office yesterday, the Captain's worried that-"
"I don't believe it." Smiley says, pacing left and right in place. "It's already starting. First he's given freedom, then he'll start getting work, then I'll get a knife in my chest and a kick out of an airlock!"
"He isn't replacing you, Smiley." Odo says.
Smiley rushes at Odo, grabbing his shoulders and looking at his superior with desperate eyes.
"Don't you see, Odo?" Smiley says. "He's out to replace me! To take my identity! My life! No, no...I'm the real O'Brien! You can't let him out, Odo!"
Odo gently pushes back from Smiley's grasp, resuming a standing posture.
"I don't care how much you hate him, Neither me or Sisko want to see him dead." Odo says firmly. "I'm sure this man is going to be the key to ending this little back-and-forth betwen Sisko and Kira. If you value your position and your'e loyalty to me and the Captain, you'll leave that man alone until we find out how to use him. Understand?"
"But..." Smiley starts.
"I promise after one of them kills the other, I will personally request that he be released into your custody." Odo finishes. "Then, you can do whatever you want with him. But until then, don't do anything stupid enough to jeporadize either of our positions, understand?"
Smiley says nothing; instead turning around and walking away.
"Where are you going?" Odo asks.
"To configure those damn Matrices!"
This wasn't good. Sisko and Odo were his masters; but they were blind to what was really going on.
His clone was his opposite in every way...except for one.
He knew how to scheme. Smiley knows that the moment he's let out of that Holding Cell, his clone's gonna raise hell.
He'll do everything he can to take over Smiley's life. To BECOME Smiley.
That could not happen!
As Smiley walks down the Promenade, he sees the entrance to the Holding Cell Chamber.
There was no point in playing dumb anymore.
Smiley walks into the Holding Cell Chamber, ignoring the Guard sitting at watch. He was Odo's (And Sisko's) right-hand man. He didn't NEED clearance.
Smiley walks over to the Holding Cell that was the least crowded. His counterpart was such a rare find that he got an entire Cell to himself, while the pleading Terrans and lesser-raced prisoners were crammed together into groups that were put into seperate Cells.
Smiley stops in front of the forcefield. He eyes the Control Panel keeping it active. He was tempted to disable it, walk in there, spatter his clone's guts all over the Cell wall and leave content.
But no...His first loyalty was to the Empire...and his superiors...His interests were of no importance.
His counterpart...the FAKE Miles O'Brien...looks at him from behind the forcefield.
"What now?" Miles asks irritably.
"Let this be a warning." Smiley says, doing his best to contain his anger. "The rest of them may not see through your'e innocent act, but I'm on to you! I'm gonna do everything in my power to stop you! So you better play nice!"
Smiley begins to walk away in a huff, only to stop short.
"...And if you do anything stupid..."
Smiley turns back briefly; staring into his counterpart's eyes with what could only be described as pure unbridled hatred.
"...Your'e mine."