Doc code 1278803-4576b

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Entry 17-

Now that I have ingested food, I feel much more inclined to continue my recalling of the day's events.

As Thaal walked into the Legion Auditions chamber, I felt my chest tighten. The familiar room seemed to loom over me despite the fact that it was simply a small video feed lying at my feet on the bed. In that moment, I felt intensely aware of my heartbeat, a thing that I had become quite accustomed to now foreign to me as it pounded loudly, my blood creating whooshing sounds in my ears. My breath picked up and grew shallow.

Thaal must have heard something different, because he spoke softly. "It's okay Brainy," he murmured, his face and voice hidden from the Legionnaires by the faceplate of his helmet. "Breathe."

I took a shuddering breath.

Thaal turned to face the legionnaires. Cosmic boy was poking at a padd. His face was lined with tension. He never did enjoy sitting still all day. Neither did Lightning Lad, who was fidgeting in his chair and 'subtly' sending little volts of electricity at Saturn Girl, whose hair was looking extremely frizzy. Imra, to her credit, allowed Lightning Lad to be immature and was ignoring his actions in favor of being 'a grounded member of the team' in front of those who were auditioning. (I find myself amused by my choice of words. Lightning lad, Saturn Girl 'grounded', electricity… but I digress.)

Cham slipped into his seat beside Bouncing Boy, and Matter-Eater lad yawned, munching on something indiscernible. There was one additional seat, currently empty.

Cosmic Boy sighed, glancing at the empty seat and then the door, which happened to slide open at that moment, allowing a young man to enter, carrying a large tray of food. He had green skin that gleamed with an almost metallic sheen. His eyes glowed with a throbbing magenta. His hair was short-cropped and blonde. He bore three white circles on his forehead.

He was me.

"Whoa," Thaal whispered, "trippy."

"I-I-I don't understand," I found myself scrambling for words. "This isn't—that's not—how? Why? Who?"

"Well, there's some pretty solid evidence that you would be accepted back into the Legion," Thaal muttered.

"Who is that?"

"Well duh, that's Brainiac 5," Thaal said. "Should I boo him?"

"I don't know," I responded absently, staring. The 'Brainiac 5' I saw before me on the small screen was a combination of my old robotic form and my new biological body. It had the sleekness and soft look of my biological body, but the eyes, the face… clearly robotic in nature, though much more integrated into a biological-like form.

Whoever had chosen to impersonate me was doing a good job. And since the average Coluan has a level ten intellect, most would likely be unable to tell the difference in ability. Though I wondered about Shrinking Violet. One would think at least she would be able to note the difference between a level 10 and level 12 intellect.

"All right, sil shin," Cosmic boy said, pronouncing Thaal's name without the proper inflections, "What's your power?"

Thaal coughed, activated the helmet speakers and said, "Um. Inventions?"

The whole room turned to look at the impostor, who leaned forward slightly, the hint of a smirk on his face. "Oh?" he prompted.

I felt my face flush. He had my mannerisms – The disdain. The superiority complex. He was me. I did not understand.

Thaal fidgeted under the harsh stare of 'Brainiac 5'. "Um yeah," he said. "This is-"

"STOP!" I shouted suddenly. "Thaal, you can't demonstrate the suit. It's too good. They'll know it's mine."

Thaal frowned, deactivating the speaker system. "What do you mean? Why didn't you think of that before?"

"I didn't expect to see myself on the selection committee. Whoever he is, he'll recognize my handiwork. Just give me a minute, I'm going to make the suit less operational. The jetpack will only last for ten minutes. When you fall the suit should absorb the impact."

Thaal fidgeted. "Brainy, why are you sabotaging your equipment? HOW are you sabotaging it?"

"Remote access," I explained, deactivating the force-field belt, a dead giveaway. "You have no force fields. React accordingly. Also, the lasers are of a lower frequency and less effective. And your gears may grind awkwardly. Fear not, you will not be damaged should they fail."

"Brainy!" Thaal hissed. "If you kill me I will kill you back!"

"Sil Shin," Cosmic Boy called, glaring at the impostor, "What do you call yourself?"

Thaal reactivated the external speaking system. "Gadget."

The impostor leaned back and rolled his eyes slightly.

"So that's your power? Inventing?" Cosmic Boy prompted.

"We already have one of those, genius," Lightning Lad snapped at Thaal, appearing irritated.

"Obviously he's not a genius," the impostor smirked. "Or he would know that."

Thaal shuffled awkwardly. "Look, should I just go?"

"No no, please demonstrate," Imra said, leaning forward. "What does it do?"

Thaal fired the jetpack, hovering at about ten feet. He fired lasers at the floor, placed his hands on his hips, and cocked his head. "Well?"

Cosmic boy glanced at the other Brainiac 5. "Well, we have flight rings, so the jetpack is nice but pretty unnecessary. And uh… lasers? Those are pretty basic. Sorry."

Thaal let his shoulders slump. "Oh. Okay."

Brainiac Fake rolled his glowing eyes. "Amateur."

I wanted to punch him. With my own fist. Despite the fact that it would likely hurt very badly as he was made of metal and I soft human flesh.

Thaal made a quick exit.

I was thoroughly confused by this impostor. Did Colu see it fit to substitute myself in the Legion in order to save face? Was it some sort of reparation? Did my teammates know he was another, or did they actually think he was me? And if they actually believed his deception, how had he managed to fool them, and how long had he been here?

I have since trawled the news nets and discovered that Brainiac 5 secretly returned to the Legion a mere 3 months before to my return. His return was only made public three weeks prior, while Thaal, Arno, and I were in transit to New Metropolis.

Someone has been impersonating me for 3 months. I need to know who. And why. After considering my options for some time, I have decided that there is only one option for me.

I will break in to Legion HQ. I know COMPUTO better than anyone else. I will be able to silence the alarms, sneak in, use the system to analyze the individual who has been impersonating me, and from that information determine who is impersonating me and why.

I am frightened. I do not know why this is happening.

I just want to go home.

But I cannot go home until I know who has taken my place.

I want to go home.

I want my friends.

I don't want to be afraid.

But I am.

A/N: MWAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT, WERE YOU? AHAHAHAHA, NOW LET THE THEORIES RUN WILD! AHAHAHAHA! ...yes. As you can see, I have had far too much fun with this plot twist. Honestly, this whole deal wasn't even planned until the exact moment I wrote Thaal walking into the room and then all of a sudden I was like "This is too simple. We need an IMPOSTOR". And so now here we are, with an impostor. And I am just cackling evilly in my Authorly corner, making notes and basically dying of evil machinations that make me laugh with dastardly guffaws. Anyway. Stay tuned, I'm thrilled with this development (in the sense that it will simply make life that much more painful and difficult for our dear friend brainy), and I hope you all don't decide to kill me for once again leaving you hanging with a stunning development. :D