001; username: eggman

[scrambledegg]

So as some of you may have noticed, we had ourselves a little double trouble around these parts lately. Even I wasn't spared some half boiled doppleganger trying to cause mischief and ruin my good name. [So far.]

But considering the circumstances, I figured it'd be a waste to just toss these things in the trash without at least doing some investigating, so I decided to cut one up. Not, you know, just for kicks or anything, but to try and see what we're working with here, just in case there was anything off about them.

Now, the general structure on the inside is about what you'd expect from a human. Same organs, same layout. Just try and remember your high school biology book's illustration of the human body and it'll match up just fine with these things. What is strange though, is on closer inspection all these organs on the inside are brand spanking new. Neither wear nor tear to be found. Even the stomach was completely empty, and when I say completely empty I don't mean it's been fasting for a few days, I mean I don't think it's ever eaten anything at all. I'd bet good money on the other bodies telling the same story.

So, my best guess? Well, as far as I'm concerned, these things were made and they were made recently. I'm going to go out on a limb and say their antics were likely intentional too. Someone's out there and they were trying to make things harder for us.

[But that's just, like, his opinion man. He's paranoid]

Oh, and I decided to spare most of you the gory details so I didn't bother taking any photographs, but if anyone out there's got a medical degree and feels like giving a second opinion on a corpse, feel free. This fake Abbacchio will probably hold up for a while longer before it starts to stink...once that happens it's going in the trash where it belongs.

Comments

username: ArgentESPer

[iblistriggered]

man

that is so gross :(


but kind of useful i guess


they were living in the vents

[scrambledegg]

Did you crawl inside and try to see if you could find anything?

[iblistriggered]

I did!!

but they got too skinny, even for me. I probably could have squeezed through but I'm not too keen on getting stuck in a small space with something super dangerous like that.

[scrambledegg]

Too small for a hedgehog...if I had parts I could probably just build a little drone to crawl around in there instead. Sadly, that's out of the question right now.

[iblistriggered]

man... I never thought I'd wish you had your lab and stuff...

username: chocobo

[impostersyndrome]

you cut one open?

[scrambledegg]

Alright, so maybe that's a crude way of putting it. But I did. I should get some kind of award for performing an autopsy with a steak knife.

[impostersyndrome]

[Gross, dude... He's just going to ignore the steak knife part.]

but don't clones normally have to grow up? like all other humans? can an adult clone be made?

[scrambledegg]

Clones don't really have to do anything. If you want to try and make an exact duplicate of someone from the time you took their DNA sample, you could.

Assuming you're smart enough, that is.

[LIKE HIM.

Has he ever done it? No, but he's convinced he could.]

[impostersyndrome]

you can??

[That's news to him, but it's not like he knows anything about clones, despite... being one.]

so it's possible someone DID make these things just to mess with us.

text | un: fantasma

[teaserving]

they could contort themselves into the vents
ways that a human shouldn't be able to move

appreciate you looking into this doc

sorry i deleted the icon i used originally and the default is too sinister looking lol

[scrambledegg]

Well, I figured someone ought to.

It's a shame those vents are so narrow. I'm very interested to see what's on the other side.

un: lottie

[oomfies]

well. someone had to do it i guess

[ And better it be someone who has the stomach for it than Lottie, herself! ]

thanks for keeping us updated tho... it's gross but good to know
are you a doctor or something?
or like, i don't know, a surgeon?

[scrambledegg]

I am a scientist. My expertise lies more in robotics and engineering, but something as simple as this wasn't too difficult to pull off.

[He has a little computer in his glasses that helped a lot, too. But no need to say too much.]

[oomfies]

[ Even though he just confirmed he's more robotics than traditional doctor, Lottie still asks: ]

so in your expert opinion
what's the likelihood of all this happening again?

[scrambledegg]

Well, that all depends...

My running theory is they...SOMEONE created these things intentionally. If I were them, I'd probably try to refine the process and try again with superior clones. But someone else suggested they might just be something native to the area able to snatch another's appearance...if that's the case, it'd be inevitable more of them would show up and try the same thing.

So, I suppose pretty likely all things considered.

[oomfies]

ughhhh they WOULD come back!! they're the worst
at least we know they can technically die
i'm not suggesting, you know. killing them or anything

but it's gonna take us FOREVER to figure out the plumbing here to fix all the shit they ruined
and i'm not doing this a second time!

un: crescentrose

[sanguinertia]

well at least there's that?? i guess??? it's too bad you can't tell if someone has shiny new organs without uhhh that

[scrambledegg]

It's a cruder way of ascertaining information than I'm used to, I'll admit. If I had access to better equipment I wouldn't have had to do that, but we're all a little empty handed right now.

[sanguinertia]

what kind of equipment would that even take?

[scrambledegg]

If I had one of my own personal scanners from home, I'm sure I could have fiddled with the settings to do just that. A lot more, in fact. I'm kind of a big deal.

username: cinnabar

[globs]

[ this is less disgusting than it might be for anyone else, since they're used to body parts being picked apart and examined. ]

How do you "make" a human?

There was one of me too. It takes hundreds of years for a new gem to grow. I don't understand.

[scrambledegg]

A gem...?

Well, there are a few processes that can be used to artificially grow a desired gem. It tends to involve super heating certain chemicals and allowing them to cool, or using heat and great pressure to imitate the earth's own natural processes.

Theoretically, you could grow a human if you did something similar...only less heat. Some genetic material here, some artificial container there...I've never tried it, but I'm certain I could do it.

[Because he is PROUD of his BRAIN.]

[globs]

[ they know some of these words. ]

Even copies of people that already exist?

[ gem or human -- it seems unlikely. They're still not convinced that anyone could grow and refine a crystal into their exact likeness so quickly - to say nothing of infusing it with inclusions, and even having the material to create so much cinnabar crystal... ]

[scrambledegg]

Certainly. It's a tricky process, which doesn't take into account how identical they are to the original.

For example, while my own clone may have resembled me perfectly in appearance, I wouldn't spend my time trying to sabotage the wiring here when it doesn't benefit me whatsoever while I'm stuck here. They were able to leave out things like that...very unsophisticated attempts at copies, but it would save a lot of time if all they had to do was pass for us while undermining our chance at survival.