Poster's Note: (magik): Erm... well... late ish again. I should have gotten this up yesterday... but I didn't. Murrr.

"What's Sora like, in that universe, then, if your Riku Replica's the one who's been dealing with the Organization?" Ienzo asked, after a moment.

"He's a lot less…" Vexen began, but didn't quite know where he planned to go with that, so settled instead for: "He's different."

The look on Ienzo's face clearly told Vexen that he was already aware of this.

"Well, he-" Vexen sighed. "I've only met him briefly, but he's been struggling with the darkness, if I'm not mistaken."

"Has he now?"

"You don't seem very surprised…" Vexen said, slowly.

"Should I be?" Ienzo replied.

"I was…" Vexen answered. "Sora never struck me as one to be tempted by the darkness."

"There are differences between universes, are there not?" Ienzo said with a shrug. "The Replica Program over there is obviously different; I don't see why Sora can't be."

Vexen sighed. Ienzo had him there.

"Speaking of the Replica Program," Ienzo continued. "How many Replicas did you say there were?"

"If there are as many Replicas in the World that Never Was as there are in Castle Oblivion, nearly a hundred."

Ienzo raised his eyebrows. "All of Vexen?"

Vexen couldn't help but laugh. He tried to contain his laughter as quickly as possible, though, and apologized as soon as he had it under control. "No," he said. "Though I'd bet about a third of them are of him."

"Who else are there Replicas of?"

"Zexion, Marluxia, and… Larxene." Vexen grimaced slightly at the thought.

Ienzo grimaced in sympathy. "One Larxene is bad enough…"

"I know!" Vexen said. "I mean, the Replicas of her aren't terrible—but I don't understand why they needed to make so many of them. What use are they?"

"How many of them are there?" Ienzo asked.

"I assume twenty-six," Vexen replied. "One for each letter of the alphabet, since that's what they're classified by. The latest in the set I've seen is Q, though, and I suppose there could be some that failed." He paused. "Though, actually, I'm not sure if the Vexen of that universe labeled failed Replicas. I know a Vexen Replica who's No. 2. And I doubt it's possible to get the Replication process down on the first or second try. It took me eighteen before I got it right."

"I don't know," Ienzo said. "But I suppose you're probably right."

"I'll have to ask." Vexen sighed. "Where was I? Before that side tangent?"

"Larxene Replicas."

Vexen nodded. "Right. I don't see what purpose they serve! The Vexen Replicas I get; they were most likely created to help maintain the Program. The Zexion Replicas were probably created for similar reasons. The Marluxia Replicas are fighters, as are the Lexaeus Replicas—"

"There are Lexaeus Replicas?" Ienzo interrupted.

"Yes. Did I not mention them?"

Ienzo shook his head.

Vexen grimaced. "Sorry. They must've slipped my mind; though it's not like I see very many of them. I don't think more than a few were made: I've only seen two."

"Any other Replicas that slipped your mind?" Ienzo asked.

Vexen thought for a moment. "I don't think… wait! There's one of Xigbar. Just one."

"Is that all?"

Vexen nodded, positive this time. "Yes. Of the Organization members, at least."

"There are Replicas of non-Organization members?"

"There was one of Sora that became Roxas," Vexen said. "And Namine's a Replica, in that universe. And, of course, there's Joseph and Toby."

Ienzo's eyes lit up. "I meant to ask Joseph and Toby about this, but they left before I had a chance," he said. "Are there any other 'experiments' like them?"

Vexen paused a second before replying. "No," he said, slowly. "I'm told that there used to be, but I've never seen any of them. They were all gone before I got there. All but Joseph and Toby, of course."

"What happened to the others?"

Vexen took a deep breath. "I mentioned Saix took charge of the Replica Program, did I not?" Ienzo nodded, and he continued: "Well, Saix deemed the Experiments… useless…"

"And got rid of them?" Ienzo finished.

Vexen nodded solemnly. "That's what I'm told, anyway."

"But Joseph…?"

"29 takes his job as Joseph's caretaker very seriously," Vexen answered before Ienzo could finish the question.

"And Toby?"

"I'm… not actually sure how he survived," Vexen said. He believed he remembered Joseph explaining something about it, but he couldn't quite remember what Joseph had said.

Ienzo frowned. He seemed suspicious of something, now. "Joseph told me that Toby was locked up because the Organization thought he was dangerous," he stated, plainly.

Vexen frowned, too. That certainly wasn't what Joseph had said to him. He'd have remembered that. "Did he?" he asked, slowly, confused. Why would Joseph lie to Ienzo?

"Were you not aware of this?"

"Well, I—" Vexen began, but faltered. Saying he was would be lying. Saying he wasn't would probably tip Ienzo off to the fact Joseph had been lying. Though, from the sounds of it, Ienzo was already aware of this.

"He was lying, wasn't he?" Ienzo said, when Vexen didn't say any more.

Exactly.

"I believe so, yes," Vexen said.

Ienzo nodded. "I thought he might be," he explained. "Though, I must say, he's an impressive liar. It was Toby's confusion that gave him away, not the lies themselves, and certainly not any of Joseph's own actions. Joseph was completely calm, and even if his story was far-fetched, he didn't hesitate when I asked for clarification. He had answers ready immediately, and the answers made decent sense."

Vexen chuckled. "And you're surprised?"

"Hmm?"

"Does the title 'Master of Illusions' not ring a bell?"

Ienzo laughed, now. "True," he said. "Illusions are really just lies, after all." He paused, then. "So you aren't sure how Toby survived?"

Vexen shook his head. "No. But I know it's probably not what Joseph told you."

"I highly doubt it's what Joseph told me," Ienzo said. "But, anyway… did you mention a Rebellion that was happening?"

"What about it?"

"How long has it been going on?"

Vexen took a second to count. It had already begun by the time he had arrived in the other universe, had it not? So then… "A few months, at least," he said. "Though I don't believe it was quite the 'war' Joseph considers it until a month or so ago."

"And the Organization hasn't done anything about it?"

"About the Rebellion?" Vexen shook his head. "They apparently don't find it worth their time. Though, it's not like the Rebellion has done much more than keep them out of Castle Oblivion and prevent them from creating any new Replicas."

Ienzo frowned. "But how is it a 'war' if the Organization isn't interfering at all?"

"Saix is 'interfering'. Not the Organization," Vexen explained.

"There's a difference?" Ienzo sounded a bit bemused at the thought.

"There seems to be," Vexen said. He then chuckled slightly. "Though, the entire time I've been there, I haven't even seen Saix himself, merely the Replicas he sends in his stead."

"Saix never has liked doing the work himself," Ienzo said, smiling. "Clearly, that does not change across universes. But what is the Rebellion even doing? How is all this even considered a war?"

"Joseph's the only one who considers it a war," Vexen reminded Ienzo, simply. "But, I suppose, he considers it one because we spend nearly every day fighting. Saix sends a group of Replicas every other day or so to Castle Oblivion, in hopes to retrieve the part of the Replica Program that the Rebellion has. We have to fight them off."

"And you fight?"

"Me?" Vexen grimaced. "I'm usually near the Main Computer. Though I'm surprised no one's complained about that. I'm not sure if I'm really who you'd want as a last line of defense to protect the computer. I'm almost surprised they don't force Riku to protect the computer. Actually—" He paused, considered that a moment more. "No, I understand why he's among the first line of defense. If he's out there, the less people will get hurt on our side."

"Why is that?" Ienzo asked.

"Because he's… very quick to get rid of the Replicas that Saix sends. He's very quick to kill…" Vexen chuckled then, bitterly. "My own little weapon…" He sighed. Riku was created mainly from the Real Riku's battle data. Born out of battle. It was no wonder he found it so easy to fight.

Could Vexen blame himself for Riku's tendency to… kill, and kill swiftly? Maybe. He didn't remember actually Programming Riku that way, but there was a lot he didn't remember about Programming Riku. He didn't remember all of the details, that was for sure. It'd been such a long time ago…

"Weapon?" Ienzo's voice was filled with a cross between confusion and concern. "Were you—?"

"No," Vexen interrupted. No. He hadn't… "I didn't—" he tried to tell Ienzo, but he couldn't form the sentence. He hadn't created Riku with that intent in mind. Well… not the intent to use him to kill, anyway. He'd wanted to impress—or perhaps intimidate was the right word—Marluxia. Put the bothersome neophyte in his place. Marluxia was plotting to overthrow the Organization, anyway; what harm was it if he used his Riku Replica to stop the plot?

Not that that idea had lasted long, of course. He'd been convinced that Riku needed to be Rewritten…

What was he even thinking? That the Rewrite would pit his Riku against Sora, and thus delay him? That it would be an interesting experiment? He couldn't remember. But why had he even listened to Larxene? The thought made him want to bang his head against the wall. How could he, who prided himself with being such a brilliant academic, have been so stupid? The Rewrite did nothing more than further Marluxia's plot. He should've realized that the moment Larxene first mentioned it!

"Vexen?"

Vexen turned to Ienzo, slowly. He let out a long breath. "Enough about the other universe," he said, waving the matter aside. "Tell me how things are going over here."

Ienzo remained silent for a moment, studying him, as if he were debating on whether or not to press the previous matter any further, despite Vexen's aversion to doing so. Much to Vexen's relief, he decided not to, and said: "Well, there isn't anything incredibly interesting occurring in this universe. There are a few darkness problems, as I have previously mentioned, but otherwise… nothing."

Of course. Nothing to talk about.

Vexen grimaced before asking: "So what have you been doing, then?"

"Running this bookstore," Ienzo replied. "What about you? What do you spend your spare time doing?"

"Research," Vexen said, simply.

Ienzo didn't seem surprised. "And what are you researching?"

"Well… I'd be lying if I said I wasn't studying my Riku Replica, so, in a way, I'm researching him," Vexen said. "I'm also studying the Namine of that universe, who is a Replica, which I believe I mentioned… and I'm studying the relationship between my Riku and that Namine. I was going to start research on Joseph and Toby—and the other Experiments, to an extent—but that hasn't gotten far." He sighed. "Though, what I really need to do is figure out a better way to organize my research notes. They've all just been going in my pocket…"

"I think I can help you with that. Hold on a second." Ienzo got to his feet and left the room. He returned a few minutes later, a three ring binder in hand, which he promptly handed to Vexen. "Will that do?" he asked.

Vexen nodded. Any form of organization was preferable to keeping his notes in his pockets. He fished his notes out and started sorting through them. "You don't mind if I do this now, do you?" he asked, as Ienzo sat back down on the couch.

Ienzo shook his head. "No, I don't mind at all. Can I still talk to you while you organize, though? Or do I have to wait?"

"No, I don't see why I won't be able to multi-task," Vexen said. "What was it you wanted to ask? Or say?"

"You did say that Namine was a Replica in your universe, did you not?"

"Yes. Twice I believe." Vexen frowned at his notes. He appeared to be missing one. He distinctly remembered writing a report about Riku's possible feelings for Namine. Well—he'd written several of those by now, but there was one particular one he was looking for, and it was missing. Where had it gone?

"But how is that possible?" Ienzo asked. "How can there be a Replica of someone who otherwise does not exist?"

"She was crafted entirely from Riku's memories," Vexen explained as he searched his pockets for his missing note. They were empty. He started searching through his notes again, in case he missed it. "At least, I think that's what it is. I distinctly remember someone mentioning that she was built from the data in Riku's memories. I'm not sure if there was any supplement"

"But… memories are a very unstable form of data to work with," Ienzo said. "You can't tell me that their Replica Program produced a completely stable Replica out of memories alone."

Vexen could still not locate the note he was looking for. Blasted thing. Where'd it go? "She's stable enough to function, that is for sure," he said, as he started flipping through his notebook. Did he write it in—aha! There it was. Now that he had found it, he could get back to—

Wait a minute.

Namine.

Stable Replica.

Unstable memories.

Memory meltdowns.

Those weren't caused by an instability, were they? Was that really all this was?

It was entirely possible, but the only way to be sure was to actually check her data—something that they needed full access to the Program to do, if he'd been told correctly. Still, it was something to keep in mind.

"The Replica Program over there seems to be very successful," Ienzo said, drawing him from his thoughts.

Vexen nodded. "They seem to have slightly more advanced technology, though," he said. "So I assume their Program's success finds its roots in that. But I'm not positive." He placed the next note in a separate section of the binder; this one was about Toby, and not Riku. "I have to admit, though, their Replica Program never ceases to amaze me. Not only did they successfully create a fairly stable Replica purely from memories, they've also created around a hundred Replicas—each with their own distinct personality! And the Experiments, too! Combining data from multiple people—why didn't I think of that?"

"You didn't have much time to develop the Replica Program?" Ienzo suggested.

"I know that," Vexen said. "But the thought didn't even occur to me!" He sighed. "Sometimes, I wish I could speak with Master Vex-" He paused, frowned. Wait a minute…

Ienzo raised his eyebrows.

Vexen laughed and shook his head. "You can tell I spend my days surrounded by Replicas! But I mean the Vexen of their universe. I wish I could ask him about their Replica Program—no one is going to know it better than him."

"He might come back, you know," Ienzo said. "You certainly did."

"I suppose that's true…" Vexen said, slowly, as he turned the thought over in his mind. He decided he'd think about that later, and returned his attention to organizing his notes.