selfhelp | [Voice / Action]

[Okay, so. Several things need to be dealt with here, one way or another. First being the fact that he has a facetwin hanging around who is pretty damn hard to explain, though Tommy being more or less okay with the "brother" title helps with that. Second is that he knows the truth about his heritage now, which is, in short, a huge weight off his shoulders. Third is that his strength is mostly back in his arm as long as he doesn't bend or twist it in a way that stresses his brace too much, which admittedly doesn't mean much, but it does mean that he's able to finish the sketches he'd promised to Pepper's art gallery.

Thus, since it's so warm and dry today, he'll be heading out to deliver a set of hefty-sized rolled sheets of drawing paper to Pepper's art gallery, and then to swing by Tony's house to catch up on some work and maybe fill his... sort-of employer in on the recent developments. Mainly the kid with Billy's face who is probably going to hate him for a while. Tommy's not as keen to forgive as some people.

His last stop will be the plaza, armed with a miniature sketchbook, and props himself up against the side of the fountain to draw whatever comes his way. Occasionally he might have to stop and give his hand a frustrated shake, but hey, there's no physiotherapy like a good work-out, right?

At some point while he's out, though, he'll be doing what he told himself he'd get done: a journal entry that is better late than never.]

[Voice, locked from Tommy]

Hey, it's Billy. Just wanted to get it out there that if you see anybody with my face - or hear my voice, I guess - that's Tommy, my... brother. Kind of. It's complicated. He might be a bit tough to deal with sometimes, but he's not a bad guy, so just try to put up with him, if you can. He could use some friends.

[....]

Just don't let this get back to him, I'd never hear the end of it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Original"? Is that what you'd call a firstborn?

[Weird term for it. Then again, different universes and all that.]

"A firstborn"? Not at all, I--

[...]

...I'm beginning to wonder if we're really talking about the same thing or not.

I'm still talking about brothers, here.

[What in the world are you talking about, kid.]

Oh...

I'm sorry, when you said it was "complicated" I must have misinterpreted. Although the three of us look like brothers and could be considered related on some level, we're not actually brothers at all.

...That sounds more complicated than my situation, then.

[What in the world could it be?]

Are you guys, like- shapeshifters? Or clones or something?

Something like that...

Are you at all familiar with the term "replica"?

Replica? Never in reference to people, no. Just collectibles and stuff.

[He totally has an amazingly legit replica of Mjolnir, for example.]

[Not the first time Ion's heard an answer like that, so it doesn't come as too much of a surprise.]

On Auldrant, replicas are created through a technology known as fomicry. When I said we were like brothers, in reality we're replicas created from the same person... the original Ion.

There's more to it than that, but I'm afraid trying to explain might only create more questions than answers... [You know, better to stop here than drag Billy into an explanation of the fonderful world of fonons.]

[So... clones, basically. Yeah, that- that is nothing like soultwin demonspawn. Though he's not sure which is better or worse.]

Oh geez... yeah, that's pretty different. Sorry, I didn't mean to accidentally pry like that.

There's no need to apologize. Florian and I get mistaken for each other rather often, so it's not exactly something we try to keep a secret.

[Sometimes even in their own home.]

[#replica problems]

Is there any particular way to tell you guys apart? Or is it that precise a resemblance?

[Hopefully his curiosity isn't seen as too nosy. There's pretty distinct differences between himself and Tommy, but that's obviously not the same situation.]

Well, if you look for longer than a glance, there are a few differences between Florian and I that can tell us apart. I'm a bit taller than he is now, and he doesn't have any scars on his neck like I do.

[Which should be visible from the picture in the journal, since Ion doesn't cover them up anymore. It was just easier to have something distinct to tell them apart, especially given how much it seems to bother Florian when he's called by the wrong name.]

Oh, but you shouldn't have any trouble getting us confused with Sync. He usually wears a mask when he goes around the village, and he wears his hair differently as well.

[Billy purses his lips at the scars - debates asking, then thinks better of it, because he has an uncomfortably overactive imagination and that's kind of personal to ask a stranger - and makes note of them. Just in case, you know. For later.]

Okay, so... Ion, Florian, and Sync with the mask. Why a mask, anyway? Is he a super hero?

[Because that is the most natural assumption for him okay.]

[Is he a super hero?]

[...]

[The mental image broke his brain for a second, brb rebooting.

[And now he's just going to laugh. Because omigod, Sync as a super hero. Maybe he works with the Abyssmen as a side job or something. Rescuing kittens from trees and pulling tiny children out of wells.]

[While still chuckling, he shakes his head.]

No, nothing like that. Actually, he wears it to prevent himself from being recognized... it would have been problematic for the both of us if people knew we were replicas.

I suppose wearing it here... comes mostly out of habit.

[And keeping certain pink haired lolis out of the loop.]

[Wh... why is that funny. He doesn't get it 8|]

Is there something wrong with being a replica back home? Or is it just a precaution?

[He has no idea how the world works, but he can't imagine it would be well-received unless replicas are normal.]

There's a bit more to it than that. It's only very recently that the existence of replicas has become common knowledge in our world, and sometimes people react poorly when faced with something they don't completely understand.

[Sound familiar?]

Though perhaps in our case, it has more to do with the fact that no one was supposed to know that the original Ion had died. It was the reason we were created in the first place.

[Disturbingly so, actually.]

People really can't be understanding with anything they don't understand...

Why is it that multiple replicas had to be made for one person? He was that important?

Yes. Fon Master Ion was the leader of the Order of Lorelei, the leading religious institution of our world. In order to keep people from learning the truth about his death, they needed to create a replica with the same abilities as the original...

[He adds, somewhat hesitantly due to the implications behind his words:] ...it took more than one try. I was the seventh one.

[Seven?

Seven?

He can't even fathom that...]

That... sounds like a pretty extreme solution for the death of a leader. Wasn't there anyone else who could have stepped in to replace him? Without using a replica, I mean.

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