– Chapter Four –

Aila's thoughts raced as she and Leigh made their way to Capitol Theater Offenbanch, which apparently was in Frankfurt rather than Würzburg. It meant the German clone didn't only know their names, but also which town they were calling from.

Leigh seemed even tenser than usual; not that Aila could blame her. The two got out of the cab in front of the brightly lit theater and looked around for someone whose face matched theirs.

"She said she'd be opposite the theater, so we have to cross the street somewhere," Aila murmured.

"Vee talk now."

Aila yelped and spun around, her eyes wide as she came face to face with what she assumed was her own face, covered slightly by very large, black glasses. This clone's hair was short and bright orange. She wore a large amount of white fur, and her expression was stoic and unreadable. In Aila's mind, she almost looked like a stereotypical pimp. Aila prayed to God that that wasn't the case.

"K-Katja?"

"Holy fuck a duck!" Leigh shrieked, scared out of her wits at Katja appearing out of nowhere.

Katja removed her glasses to observe the two closer. Leigh's heart raced. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself, but Katja's blank, unfazed stare only bothered her more. Was every clone going to remind her of Rachel in some way?

"I see. So zere are truly ozer clones in zee vorld. Follow me," Katja instructed them. She turned and crossed the street (never once looking back to check her doubles were actually following), and made her way to an isolated backstreet a short walk away from the theater.

"I don't think we should be doing this," Aila whispered to Leigh urgently, but they obeyed Katja anyway.

"She already knows," Leigh whispered back, scared for Katja's reaction should she realize they were talking about her. "How the hell does she already know?!"

Katja stopped walking and turned quickly. Leigh almost walked into her. Then Katja stared. Leigh and Aila stared right back.

"Tell me of zis danger," Katja demanded, "and zen I have zings to tell you also."

"Yeah…you sure do," Leigh agreed, still staring.

Aila kept her eyes on Katja, both amazed and intimidated by this woman's very presence and expressionless face. "Someone is hunting us," she explained. "We don't know who, but they've already killed a few of us in other countries. They tried to kill me, but we got away, barely." Aila paled a bit as she recalled the scene of gruesome slaughter in her apartment.

"How you know zis?" Katja asked instantly. Leigh swallowed and dared to step forward. Aila glanced at her; how did Leigh know all of this anyway? She'd never even thought to ask.

"I…err…it's a long story," Leigh admitted. "Let's just say I've known everything for a long, long time. Well, not everything – just…just some things…"

"Ja," Katja nodded. "You vork for DYAD."

Aila stared at Leigh. Leigh stared at Katja. She shook her head. "Worked," she corrected her. "Look, I'm not discussing it out here. Can we please go somewhere safe?"

"I err…dunno if we should," Aila spoke up.

Katja fixed her gaze on her. "You are fearing me, and yet you are all over English news being suspect of murder," she said bluntly.

Aila's head snapped up so fast she almost thought it would break, her eyes wide and mouth agape. "WHAT?! M-murder?!" she squeaked, her throat dry. She felt nauseous as she remembered the body in her apartment. The police thought she did it? "N-no! I didn't kill anyone. When I got back from meeting Leigh, the killer had broken into my apartment and killed my monitor before trying to kill the two of us," she said in a rush, looking at Leigh for help. Leigh nodded desperately, but Katja only responded with a slow blink.

"It ez not me you need to convince," she assured them. "I'm sure you have many zings to tell me, as I do you. Come. Vee go to my house now."

The Scottish and English clones struggled to keep up with Katja. Their minds raced, and they felt very sick suddenly. Katja half turned her head as she walked to eye the figures behind her.

"Zey vill not find you and take you back to your country if you do as I say. I have a...friend...voo can help, but first vee go to my house and vee discuss everyzing."

Aila nodded shakily and followed Katja, staring at the ground as she walked in silence.

Katja led the two clones back to her house in silence. It was a fairly sizable house without being ridiculous. The main sitting area was warm and cozy, with lots of red and brown colours surrounding a large fireplace. The whole room reminded Aila of a setting she'd seen once on a holiday card.

"Sit," Katja ordered before vanishing into another room.

Aila quietly lowered herself into one of the soft chairs and stared at her hands, trying hard not to panic and cry. How on earth did things go so wrong so quickly? Two days ago she was living a comfortable and normal life. Now she had no home, no job, and a possible prison sentence on the horizon for a crime she didn't commit.

"I think I need a drink…" she murmured, her voice hoarse.

Leigh willed herself to sit down as well. She had no idea what to say to make Aila feel better, so she remained quiet.

Katja reappeared a short while later. She had removed her coat, but her sunglasses remained sitting on her head, and she carried a laptop under her arm. She placed it on the coffee table in front of Aila and Leigh, and then knelt down on the floor besides it, staring up at them.

"Vee speak to Rat on here soon," she told them.

"Rat?" Aila asked.

"Ja. Rat vill help us. Rat knows of DYAD. She knows of you both. Zis ez how I know too."

"R-Rat's another clone?" Leigh asked, surprised. Katja nodded. "How…how did you and this Rat person find out? I thought…" Leigh stopped. She was beginning to feel uneasy about sharing her information, but the stern look Katja gave her encouraged her to continue. "I thought I was the only self-aware clone. The others aren't supposed to know," she explained.

"Hold up," Aila managed, watching her intensely. "You've known? As in forever?"

"Yeah," Leigh admitted regretfully. "Part of the experiment. I don't know why I was self-aware and the others weren't. I don't get to know all of that."

"But you vork for DYAD," Katja reminded her. "You must know some zings."

"I only worked for DYAD because I started to find out some things," Leigh explained exasperatedly. "I was never supposed to find out anything; hell, I didn't know even know there were other clones until a few weeks ago! I thought me and…I thought I was the only one. It's a long story, but I agreed to take a job working there because I wanted to know what the hell they were playing at, and then I found out about this killer…"

"So who ez zis killer?" Katja asked. "You have a name? A face?"

"No," Leigh said, and Aila shook her head as confirmation. "We never saw them. What about Rat? How did you and her find out?" she asked again.

Katja blinked slowly and lifted up the laptop lid. She pulled it towards her and began typing. "Maybe Rat vill tell you herself," she offered. Aila and Leigh watched closely and waited.

A moment later, a window opened on the screen, showing the unmistakable face of a clone. She had short hair, and wore a plain black sleeveless top and a silver necklace with a silver canine pendant. The clone glanced down at her own screen while typing, but paused when she noticed that Katja wasn't alone in the room.

"So you're not in a rabbit cage yet. What do they want?" she asked, her voice flat even as her eyes showed suspicion.

"Meet Rat," Katja told Leigh and Aila.

Aila raised her hand as if to wave in greeting, but then pretended to brush a strand of hair behind her ear when Rat showed no signs of being pleasant to either of them. Leigh simply stared.

"What do they want?" Rat asked again.

Katja suppressed a sigh, but rolled her eyes. "Zey vant to know how vee know zings. Tell zem."

"I'm telling them eff all," Rat responded coldly. "Where are you, anyway?"

"My house," was Katja's response.

Leigh bit her lip when Rat appeared to slam something violently onto her desk. Katja pulled a face, as if she'd been waiting for this reaction.

After the initial outburst, Rat just stared at the screen for a moment. "No. You are NOT that stupid, right?" she hissed, her eyes slowly growing more intense as the German clone shrugged and put her head on her hand. Rat sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "One of them is DYAD! Isn't it common sense to NOT go teaming up with someone you're at WAR with? Must I remind you that DYAD are the ones who make a habit of sneaking into houses at night to perform illegal experiments on our kind as we sleep? The ones who TORTURE and KILL anyone who doesn't agree with them? Are you TRYING to get us both captured and tossed into a lab cage?"

Aila's eyes widened in shock. "W-what?! Illegal experiments…in our…sleep…" she trailed off, looking horrified as her question was finally answered, and she stared at Leigh as if wanting some type of explanation. "Did you know that?"

Leigh wanted to shrink into herself and disappear. Katja was the only who wasn't making her feel accused or untrustworthy. Her apathetic attitude might have bothered Leigh any other time, but right now she was grateful.

"I never knew," Leigh told Aila honestly. "Not until you asked me about people coming into your home the other day. I never had any proof, and I didn't want to alarm you in case I was wrong. They did tests on me while I was awake my whole life, because I've always known I was a clone. I had no idea they were breaking into your houses and doing this without your knowledge!"

"Yeah, right," Rat shot irritably.

"Yeah, it IS right actually," Leigh snapped. She really didn't like Rat already. "Why can't any of you understand?! I left DYAD and came to warn you about this killer because THEY don't care what happens to us; to any of us! Just because I've always known they made me doesn't mean I support what they're doing! Not now I've found out!"

Aila fell quiet, staring at the floor. The more she found out, the more this felt like a bad dream, or a movie. It didn't feel real. She tried to speak, but nothing came out. She couldn't imagine the types of things DYAD might have done to her over the years. She supposed she'd have noticed sooner if they'd done anything invasive, but she couldn't help feeling incredibly violated.

Rat looked unimpressed. "Left them? You don't leave DYAD; they're like the friggin' Mafia," she muttered. "They're not going to tolerate someone running around messing up their experiments. Let's say for a moment I believe you. Do you two even have a plan? A structured way of doing things that won't get you caught? Because it's already in your profiles that you arrived in Frankfurt. They know exactly where you are."

"How…how?" Aila asked in disbelief.

"Just screams dodgy to me," Rat continued. "Either you're trying to bring us all down and passing your whereabouts onto DYAD, or you're so stupid you have no idea what you're DOING-"

"Hang on a minute. How do you know all of this anyway? You're judging me, but you have all this info?" Leigh was raising her voice now, anger increasing by the second. "How do I know YOU'RE not working for DYAD?"

"Rat hacks," Katja said simply, still not moving from her slouched position on the floor. "Zis ez vat she does."

Rat looked annoyed, but shook her head and sighed. "As Katja said. Without going into technical detail, let's just say as soon as DYAD knows something, I know it as well. For the most part, anyway. I've been gathering intel on them for years, and I fully intend to bury everyone involved with them for everything they've ever done," she seethed in a low and threatening voice.

Aila looked between Leigh and Rat nervously, her eyes wide as Leigh's anger increased. The doctor sighed and retreated into her own thoughts for several minutes, considering the pros and cons of her next words before looking at Leigh. "I believe you," Aila spoke quietly.

"Oh, well that makes everything MUCH better…NOT," Rat spoke loudly. "Are you really thick enough to believe this idiot? You can't trust ANY of them. And as for YOU, Katja…well, I thought you were smarter than this."

"Innocent until proven guilty, Rattyrat," Katja said dismissively. "I am reserving all judgment."

"You're going to get yourself KILLED," Rat hissed through the screen. Katja ignored her.

"What do I have to do to prove I'm not directly involved in all of this?" Leigh asked, her voice trembling now. "I have no control over my birth, or how I grew up. I knew OF them; I went in for tests and such, but I never knew what they did! I was just a kid…I'm just a hairdresser, for Christ's sake…I was never supposed to know what I know now…I was just like the rest of you…"

She stopped talking. If Rat wasn't going to believe her, she wasn't sure what else she could say. The very thought made her want to run.

"How…how could DYAD know where we are though?" Aila asked quietly. "We were so careful…"

Rat sighed. She still looked annoyed. "My best guess would be they're tracking your movements through your passports," she explained tiredly and reluctantly. "They're probably screening for your names, and every time you buy a plane ticket, they'll know precisely where you are, where you're going, and when you'll be there. I wouldn't be surprised if one of these times they'll have someone waiting for you when you exit the terminal to either pick you up or follow you, if they haven't done that already."

"So how the hell are we supposed to travel then? There are still three others who need to be warned! Maybe more! Are we just supposed to let them DIE?" Leigh demanded, though she looked more defeated than angry now.

"Rat can do somezing about zat," Katja said, randomly piping up from her unchanged position.

"And just what makes you think that?" the hacker muttered crossly.

"You say you can't do it?" Katja asked evenly, obviously baiting her.

Rat rolled her eyes. "Of course I can. Don't be stupid," she grumbled as she turned her attention to something off-screen. The soft sounds of typing floated through the speakers.

Leigh slouched moodily. "As if you'd really do that for us," she scoffed.

"I'm not doing it for you," Rat said with a sharp glare. "I'm doing it so your idiocy doesn't get Katja killed."

"Oh Rat," Katja spoke, pretending to be flattered. "You do care."

Rat muttered something incoherent as she continued to type. Aila and Leigh exchanged distressed and confused glances. Katja finally sat up a little straighter to watch them.

"You two vill stay here tonight, ja? I do not zink staying verever you are staying ez a good choice. If you have checked into a hotel, DYAD could still be tracking you."

"They haven't," Rat interrupted. "Or if they have, it's not on their files yet. The last update just says they made it to Frankfurt."

"We've been paying for things by cash only," Aila explained shakily. "Bank cards can be traced…"

"Oh at last, some common sense," Rat responded with an eye roll.

"We're not complete idiots," Leigh grumbled defensively. "But we don't know everything. That's why we're so shocked. We didn't think they could trace us using our passports like that."

"Vell, you both stay here just to be safe," Katja told them as if her word was final. Leigh opened her mouth to talk, but Rat groaned.

"Great, you all team up. What better way to avoid detection than sticking together to create an easy target? DYAD knows where you live, Katja. How many times do I have to explain this? If they know these two are in Germany, it'll be pretty damn obvious to them they're setting out to meet clones! They won't even need monitors to know they're meeting up with you!"

"Vee stay here for zis von night and zen scram," Katja responded. She shrugged as she spoke. "Fix zeir passports, and mine, and zen vee can travel safe. Get out of DYAD's vay. You both have all your belongings, ja?"

"Yeah; we weren't gonna risk leaving anything in the hotel," Leigh explained, gesturing to the small bags she and Aila had between them.

"But we already paid for the rooms," Aila breathed.

Katja shrugged again. "So if DYAD does know you are at zis hotel, it vill buy us some time. Zee trail stops zere if you do not check out. By zee time zey come to my house looking, vee vill be gone, and zey vill not know vere."

"Yeah, unless you're being watched right this second," Rat snapped.

Katja stood up casually, crossed over to the window, and peeked out of the curtain. She watched the outside world for a second or two, looking this way and that, and then turned to face the other women. "Zere ez nobody zere," she stated.

Rat groaned. "This isn't funny Katja!"

"Who says I am trying to be funny?" Katja asked, her voice a little louder than usual. She hurried back over and collapsed in front of the laptop to watch Rat. "I am just trying to help. I am going vith zem verever zey are going. If zere is a killer, I am not staying put and vaiting for zem to find me."

"But how can you be so trusting?" Rat asked her angrily.

Katja shrugged. She glanced at Aila and Leigh. "Zey are us, Rat. Zey need our help. Vee need zeirs too. Vee stick togezer."

Rat muttered something, but she was mostly silent for several minutes. At last, she leaned back in her chair. "There," she told the other clones. "That should buy at least some time between trips to get out of the airports. You'll still be flagged, but it will redirect the hits in a kind of loop for a while before delivering them. Also, I'd advise picking airports with some degree of distance to your actual target city and taking public transport from there."

"Danke Rattyrat," Katja said in a too-sweet voice.

"Whatever," Rat muttered, picking up something off of her desk and throwing it off-screen, to which an excited yipping and scampering could be heard. "Just don't forget you still agreed to help me with my stuff too," she added, leaning down to pick the item up before tossing it again.

"I do not go back on my promises Rat," Katja assured her. "Call me ven you need me."

Rat grumbled something in agreement, and the call ended. The trio of clones sat in silence for a while to take in all that had happened before Katja got to her feet and disappeared into another room, muttering something about fetching much needed wine and cookies.

"So…you still never explained how you and Rat already knew about this," Aila brought up the subject that evening.

She and Leigh were sitting rigidly on Katja's sofa after reluctantly agreeing to stay. Katja had allowed them to shower (it had been a few days and both clones were extremely grateful for it), and prepared dinner without making a fuss. Leigh felt a bit awkward; she didn't want Katja going out of her way for people she had only just met, but Katja was persistent in insisting they eat.

Now, Katja was sitting curled up in an armchair to the left of the sofa, nibbling on a rather large chocolate chip cookie. She watched the clones closely. "I knew of clones before I met Rat, even," she explained between bites. "I have a large family. Many brothers and sisters; most adopted, but some are birth children of my adopted parents, you see. Zey vanted to care for children vithout families as vell as raise zeir own. Zey are good people, my parents."

Katja took a moment or two to devour more of the cookie in her hand. Leigh stared at her, eager for her to continue. "My real parents - I mean, my birth parents…zey could not have children by themselves. Zey searched for doctors for help, to have zee IVF treatment, but zey did not know zey vere receiving clone from DYAD. My real mother died during child birth, so I never knew her. I still do not know what became of my real father, or vhy he didn't vant me any longer, but in zee end I was adopted by zis large family who loved and raised me as zeir own.

"DYAD made one of my sisters become my monitor. At first she had no clue of clones, but one day she overheard zings and realized vhat vas happening. She did not agree zat it was right. She told me everything a good few years back, so I, like you," Katja looked at Leigh, "have been self-avare for a vhile. So far, DYAD have been good to me ever since I found out. Zey vere angry at my sister, but all vas forgiven in exchange for us keeping quiet."

Katja finished her cookie, stretched out her hand and examined her fingers for crumbs. "Zen Rat found me, and my view on DYAD changed. I do not trust zem."

Aila frowned, remembering how angry Rat was at DYAD, and wasn't sure she really wanted to know what else the company had done. She sipped at her wine, entirely grateful for it as she managed to relax in the chair in front of the fireplace. The soft orange glow danced around the room, and Aila looked up at Katja again, nodding.

"My birth mum gave me up for adoption directly after I was born, though I don't know why," she explained. "I've never been able to find any leads about who she is or where. I never knew about any of this before two days ago when Leigh saved me from whoever's killing us." The doctor fell silent again before looking over at Leigh. "By the way, I meant what I said earlier…I do believe you. Might be daft since we only just met and don't really know each other yet, but I feel like you're a good person."

Leigh had been sitting quietly until this point. She felt her throat tighten horribly at Aila's words, and suddenly realised she could not stay composed. "I need a minute," she muttered. She stood up quickly and left the room, allowing her legs to walk her up the stairs to Katja's bathroom without having any control over them.

Leigh entered, lightly closed the door, and found herself in the mirror. God, she still hadn't gotten used to that awful haircut.

Leigh cried.

The next morning, Aila wandered into the living room, looking around. She wasn't sure if anyone else was awake, but the doctor quietly made her way over to the bag on the floor and took out the stack of documents. She spread them out on the table as she sat down to look them over.

The easiest clones to find next would be the Austrian clone, Janika, or the French clone, Danielle. Germany bordered both countries, and it would make for easier access.

"Guten morgen," a voice said suddenly, and Aila jumped a bit to find Katja plopping herself down on the sofa beside the doctor.

Aila cleared her throat and smiled. "Good morning Katja," she said before looking back down at the papers.

"Sleep vell?" Katja asked.

Aila nodded briefly. "Yes, thank you."

Katja eyed the biscuit tin still sitting on the coffee table from the previous night. She picked it up, removed the lid, and offered it to Aila. "Cookie?"

"Err," Aila began, startled, "no thank you. Maybe later."

Katja put her own hand into the tin to take out a cookie. She began eating it slowly and stood once more to see what Aila was doing. "So zis is zem. I have only heard names from Rat, but I do not know much else. Ashleigh provided you vith zis?"

"Aye," Aila told her. "From DYAD."

Katja ate in silence for a few moments. "Your friend, she is troubled. I do not believe she ez in league with DYAD, but she must tread carefully. Vee all must."

Aila nodded. "Yeah…would they really lock us up like Rat said?" she asked.

Katja nodded. "I believe zere is a strong possibility of zis, yes. Still vant to dive in head first?"

Aila gave a dry laugh. "Back in Scotland, I have no home, no job, a bounty on my head, and a killer on my ass. Yeah...I think I'll stick with you guys for a while."

Katja nodded and looked over the files, taking a particular interest in her own. Aila leaned back and stretched. "The closest two are in Austria and France, then there's also one in Italy."

"Vee go to Austria then," Katja said with a nod.

Aila blinked slowly. "Suuure, can I ask why that over France?" she asked, genuinely curious.

"If she does not speak English, she vill speak a variation of German. I help vith that. I do not speak French," Katja explained, and Aila nodded. It made sense, and would help them greatly.

"Austria it is," Aila said as she closed the other files. "Her name is Janika. Apparently she runs some kind of popular museum, so she's a very public person. If the killer goes there, they'll find her easily."

Aila and Katja looked up when a dazed, half-asleep Leigh shuffled into the room, her hair messier than usual. She yawned and dragged herself over to them. "What you doin'?" she asked.

"Preparing," Katja explained. "Vee have decided on going to Austria next. Cookie?"

Leigh automatically took a cookie from the tin and raised it to her lips. She nibbled a bit, and yawned again. "I've been thinking," she said quietly after a minute or two. "You're gonna be all over British news, Aila. Do you think we should get access and find out exactly what's being said? Or would you rather not know?"

"The most important thing to do ez leave," Katja reminded them both. "So get dressed. Vee ought to be moving quickly. I'll let Rat know too."

Leigh resisted an irritable groan at the mention of Rat's name. She hurried to leave the room to get ready, not eager to be there if Katja was about to start another video call with the hacker.

Aila stood and followed Leigh back down the hallway to their rooms, not really wanting to see Rat again either. She sat down on the bed and gathered up her clothes, which had thankfully been washed the night before.

It was nice to be clean again at the very least, and the doctor couldn't help the small smile that tugged at her lips as she put on the pink hoody. No matter what Leigh said, that would always be funny.

Aila sat on the bed then and sighed. Did she really want to know what was being said about her? Surely the police would find something to prove she wasn't the killer. Weren't they doing any DNA tests? If the killer had been in her apartment, surely there would have been something left behind. It was just a matter of time until they found it. She'd much rather be classified as a kidnap victim over a suspected killer.

The doctor sighed loudly and flopped back onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. It was hard to believe that so much had changed in such a short amount of time.

When everyone was dressed and ready and Katja had spoken to Rat, the German woman stepped in front of Leigh and pulled her aside. Leigh frowned, confused. "I have a question. Yesterday you say you knew nozing of ozer clones, yet you vere self-avare your whole life. How can zat be? How could you know you are a clone if you zought you vere zee only one?"

Leigh bit her lip. It didn't make sense, even to her. "Me and this other self-aware one," she corrected herself, and Katja nodded in understanding. "I thought me and her were the only ones. I didn't know there were more all over the world."

"Is that who Rachel is?" Aila spoke up. Leigh and Katja looked at her from across the room. "Sorry," Aila said quickly. "I just…it doesn't matter."

"I'm not gonna talk about Rachel," Leigh said quickly. "Let's just get to Austria and find this Janika woman, yeah?"

Leigh hurried to leave the house. Aila followed her closely, and Katja watched after them, frowning a bit.