Doc code 1278803-4576b

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Entry 26-

I awoke to find that I never even made it to an actual bed. Instead I was lying on the floor, still clutching some components in one hand, other components digging into my ribcage where I had been lying prone on the floor after apparently succumbing to overwhelming exhaustion. My back is sore. I do not think that lying on hard floors is conducive to comfortable sleep or minimizing aches and pains. I also have a low-level headache, though this is likely due to sleep deprivation. I was awakened by Cosmic Boy, who was seeking out Brainiac, and had to turn me over to ensure I was in actuality "the clone" and not feigning sleep to "avoid talking about important matters." I must admit a growing dislike for the word 'clone,' particularly when used in reference to me in particular. I understand there must be some form of differentiation between myself and Brainiac, but it seems as though everyone has just taken to calling me 'clone Brainy' or even merely 'the clone' without ever receiving my consent or even asking if I approved of the title. I do not approve. But I digress. My original intent with this entry was to complete the retelling of yesterday's events, which were emotionally trying and, in a way, related to the continued distress I feel at being referred to as "the clone."

First, I shall do my best to resume the story where I left off yesterday. I ended shortly after Salu and I had procured some of Tenzil Kem's latest concoctions in the cafeteria, and were looking for a seat. After scanning the room momentarily, Shrinking Violet made her way across the floor, sliding down next to a young man with brown hair. I'd never met him before, so I assumed he was one of the new Legionnaires. Judging by his costume, which had a lowercase letter "i" from old earth English on it, he was likely Lyle Norg, codenamed Invisible Kid.

He glanced up as I slid into the seat across from him, raising one eyebrow. I extended a hand in greeting. "I presume you are Lyle Norg, otherwise known as Invisible Kid. I am Querl Dox. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Lyle took my hand and shook it once firmly. "Nice to meet you too, Querl." He glanced at Shrinking Violet momentarily before looking to me. "So, I guess you're going to be joining us in the labs?"

"I am," I said slowly, "is there a problem?"

"Depends on how many labs you plan on blowing up," Lyle said, the corners of his eyes crinkling slightly with the hint of a smile. "We have a weekly quota of three. If any more than that gets blown up in a given week, Cosmic Boy might have some strong words for you."

"I do not intend to create anything with that level of destructive force were it to fail," I told him. "I am, after all, 'on probation', as Cosmic Boy puts it. I do not wish to damage my currently tenuous standing here. I understand that there is a lot of confusion about my presence here."

"You can say that again," Invisible Kid says with a slight laugh. "It's a pretty wild story."

"Got that right," Sun Boy said, turning around. His table was beside ours, and he leaned over to join our conversation uninvited. "Leave it to Brainy to screw up being cloned by his own people. You'd think between working with Coluans and his own Twelfth level intellect a disaster of this proportion could have been easily avoided."

Lyle's face seemed to close off slightly as he turned to face Sun Boy. "Oh really, Dirk? What exactly do you mean by that?"

"It's obvious," Sun Boy said, "He's a sprocking clone. It's not like he has rights. They could have sent people after him, they could have locked him up, grife, they could have chopped him into pieces or put him in an induced coma until he cooperated, they could have done any number of-"

It was only after I noted people staring at me that I realize I had stood at some point during Dirk Morgna's long-winded tirade.

"I…I'll be going now," I said, realizing that this very speech that had so upset me was directly related to the reason why there was very little I could say or do to defend myself. I couldn't strike him, couldn't knock my tray to the floor… even shouting would have been ill-advised. But more than that, he was right. I was considered a clone, and unless someone contacted Colu (a notoriously isolationist race) to verify my identity, no one would ever learn the truth – one of the "Brainys" is an impostor.

"What about your lunch?" Shrinking Violet asked, sounding concerned.

My hands were shaking, and my voice was as well as I simply replied, "I am not hungry," before leaving the cafeteria as quickly as I could without running.

Once I entered the hallway I ran as quickly as I could to the laboratory in order to escape what I felt was an oppressive presence but was likely only a figment of my imagination, as I was suffering from anxiety and emotional duress.

I leaned against the door to the lab, breathing heavily for several moments, eyes closed. That is when he spoke.

"I never expected you to be so weak."

His voice was like a knife. I felt my insides crawling as though I had eaten something alive. But I had eaten nothing. I have not eaten in three days, barring the nutrients fed to me intravenously by Dr. Gym'll. I opened my eyes, staring into his cold, mechanical orbs. "Brainiac."

"Indeed. I was beginning to think you hadn't realized. You did not attempt to identify me in the hospital room. Why?"

"I appeared psychologically compromised at the time considering my…accident. They would never have believed me."

"And yet," Brainiac murmured, in my voice, stroking a chin that looked like mine, "The longer you stay silent, the harder it will be for you to speak out against me without appearing negligent."

"Unless I claim I was seeking proof," I told him.

"That claim only succeeds if you do indeed have proof," Brainiac replies. "Only you and myself have our genetic structures memorized, so if you attempt to use our DNA as proof, you will only succeed in proving that we are not the same person, which is easily explained away when considering the difference between your biological body and my biomechanical structures, which can be recognized as totally Coluan in origin."

"I am aware that I will need some other form of proof," I told him. "Also there is no guarantee that is the path I will choose. I could tell Saturn Girl right now."

Brainiac's hand struck then, gripping me around the throat as he leaned in. "And do you think I could not deceive her once again, as I did when I infiltrated your puny legion almost one year ago? Think again, foolish child. Keep thinking. But know that I have had more time to think, and we share the same mind, the same intellect. You cannot think of a solution that I have not already considered and treated as a potential contingency."

I clutched at my throat as he squeezed harder. There were lights dancing in my vision, I was losing oxygen. His grip was solid, mechanical, unyielding.

"You will not go to your friends. Or I will end you. As is my right, under Universal Planetary law. After all," and the smile that crept across his face sent a chill down my spine, "you are merely a clone. Would anyone even mourn your passing?"

With that, he threw me to the floor, finally releasing his grip on my throat. I coughed, choking air into my oxygen-starved lungs and he laughed.

"You are weak, as weak as all other organics. Well, now you are human, son of Colu," he growled, reaching out and grabbing my hair to lift my head to face him, eye-to-eye. "How does it feel?" he snarled, throwing me back down.

He turned to leave, but I was not willing to allow him to have the final word in this encounter. "It…feels," I managed to say, lifting my head to look at him. "like…being…alive."

Brainiac paused in the doorway. "Perhaps for now, Querl Dox. But not for long. This form you currently inhabit is fraught with weakness. But do not fear," he turned to glance over his shoulder at me, his gaze surprisingly pitying. "in time, I will make you strong."

A/N: I promised myself I would only post this early if I wrote an extra chapter so I could stay ahead of the curve. I haven't finished that next chapter yet, but I was also dying to upload this chapter. Seeing as I have no self control, I uploaded this chapter. I really really loved this chapter when I first wrote it, but then the more time I spend re-reading it the less I like it. So I also decided to upload this for the sake of moving the story forward instead of obsessing over chapters that should be considered complete.

On a vaguely related point, it's really quite strange to visualize brainy the android snarling, mocking, and knocking around brainy the human. Just, my mental image clashes on that point, but it isn't like Brainiac would shift his bodily form just to beat up on poor brainy. In other ways it almost makes the scene more salient, like it really mentally enforces the idea that Brainy's been replaced by someone who can convince others that he hasn't changed, all the while being cruel and manipulative just below the surface. So yeah. Things I like about this. As per usual, I always feel like conflict between characters is sappy and bordering on cliche, particularly where physical confrontation is involved. Hence my dislike for the chapter.

Ultimately though this chapter is here to move the story along and let us face it, our villain and our hero had to get things sorted out at some point. Mannnnn I'm so excited for the next chapter. But i have to wait a month (Or at least another 20 days) before I can post it. ugh. If it makes you feel better, I'm frustrated at the slow pace too, so...

Stay tuned? And thanks for reading.