Rowan and Spoon had been sitting in silence for a few minutes, before the shapeshifter posed another question to the psychic. "Say... you said at least one of my powers is designed to be a weapon. Keyword being at least. What did you mean by that? I know the obvious weapon at my disposal: psychic bolts. The only other power I have is... well, my shapeshifting. How is that a weapon?"
±It's quite simple, really. A shapeshifter can go anywhere, be anyone, cause nearly any kind of damage or repair. You have used your powers in a multitude of different situations, from what you tell me, including attempted mimicry of other Society members. To properly impersonate a subject, however... ah, but that would be telling. Use of powers are not something someone can just tell you. They have to be properly learned.± Spoon's voice laughed a little in Rowan's mind, though it was not a derisive chuckle. Rather, he was laughing with the shapeshifter.
Learned... Rowan had heard stories of Society members giving each other tips on how best to improve their abilities. But was Spoon suggesting that he figure this one out himself? From his college studies, he had learned acting... that was a good place to start. "Is it... acting? Or rather, learning to act like the subject? Studying them carefully, making sure not to miss any details?"
Spoon's response was enigmatic. ±One can learn only so much through observation and study. The ways you have learned must be forgotten and replaced. Shapeshifters can be living mirrors... perhaps Silhouette is not the most appropriate name for you.±
Rowan frowned. He hated people who spoke in riddles; or, rather, the fact that they did. That was what had annoyed him about Cadizki before his death. Still, this was his double. A man who likely knew everything about him now, due to his ability to get into people's minds. It would help to listen, and try to decode the message. With luck understanding would come sooner rather than later.
[hr]
Upon asking Katie to recount something personal to her, Catherine had fallen silent, allowing the plant manipulator to speak freely. Katie had chosen the events following her parents' death, up to and including the battle with the woman herself. The murderess' name was Marilyn Reinhardt, otherwise known as Hellfire. An apt name for someone whose primary talent was setting things alight and watching them burn: fire was one of Katie's greatest weaknesses and fears. Hellfire had had half a dozen followers, each with their own abilities or talents... in a sense it had been her own little band of villains similar to the Union.
The Society had only properly began to plan a raid of Hellfire's base of operations after her shapeshifting associate had disguised themselves as her comrade and ambushed one of the Society members to deliver a message. The base had been subsequently attacked, and the followers eliminated. But the one-on-one confrontation with the murderer herself... that had been a troubling time indeed. Katie recalled it in exact detail.
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While Hellfire was caught off-guard from other attacks, Katie rushed forward, yelling as she did so. "Get back, both of you! She is MINE!" She tackled the woman to the ground, one hand's talons at her throat while the other pinned her arm down.
That was back when Katie had used makeshift blades as part of her armour. Surprsingly there were some plants that produced razor-sharp edges, and she had used them to adequate effect. These days she preferred to use vines and razor leaves, not to mention minute spores that were always in the air wherever she went.
"Going to kill me, Demeter?" Hellfire eked out, her head strained as far back as possible to try and prevent the talons from cutting her skin.
"You... you murdered my parents," was Katie's halting response, her voice shaking from her rage. She ignored the words of caution, throwing them aside in favour of her desire to end the life of her foe. "It's what you deserve. You shouldn't be allowed to live."
"I don't deny it. But Masterson's right, *****. You don't have the guts to do it," Hellfire mocked, a cruel sneer twisting her lips. "You could have fucking killed me a year ago and this wouldn't have ever happened. But you didn't do it then, and you won't do it now. You wouldn't be able to live with yourself and your actions. My blood on your hands..."
"Shut the fuck up," Katie snarled, pressing her talons against Hellfire's throat. They pricked the skin, each drawing a tiny drop of blood. Hellfire fell silent. And then the world slowed to a crawl for Katie as she thought about her intended action. Killing another human, taking a life in battle, even if it was justified... those were things Katie knew in her heart she didn't want to associate herself with. Hellfire was speaking the truth. They both knew Katie wouldn't be able to clear her conscience.
There was a silence in the room that spoke volumes, during which time Katie weighed up her options. It was as if time itself had slowed just to allow her to make this decision.
She had done what she thought was right. Even now Katie believed that. But such actions had nearly cost her her own life.
Katie withdrew her hand, instead pinning down Hellfire's other arm. "No. You're right, all of you. I can't do it. I can't kill her."
"You stupid fool," Hellfire immediately whispered. In Katie's moment of weakness she pounced, thrashing wildly underneath her captor's grip. She dislodged the younger girl through brute strength, rolling on top of her to pin her down. At the same time, she drew a dagger from somewhere. The firestarter raised the weapon, heedless of the Society members standing around, and in a split-second flames danced along its keen-edged blade.
"Now you pay the price for your weakness, *****," she snarled, preparing to plunge the fiery knife into Katie's heart. The next thing Katie saw was a flash of metal and a spray of blood, though it was not her own. Richard had driven his own blade through Hellfire's chest, ending her life through his actions rather than through those of Katie.
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"That's... that's it," Katie finished. Her voice had started to quiver during her recount; even now that years had passed between the death of her parents and the present day, her memory of the ordeal was a strong one.
"I see... this is the reason you have never taken a life?" Catherine asked. Katie nodded, though she remained silent, inviting Catherine to continue. She did. "Had I been there, I would have taken a different path. But then, we are different but the same. I am a soldier: sometimes I am a one-woman army. I think that you, Katie, seek peaceful solutions rather than taking a more violent option."
That was the first time Catherine had used Katie's given name. The plant-manipulator noted that fact. "Yes. I do not kill, merely take my opponents out of the fighting," Katie eventually said after thinking it over. "Our choices define who we are."
"Correct. And now it is time for me to make a choice myself." Catherine fell silent for a moment, her eyes looking down at the table as she was lost in thought. She had received plenty of information from Katie, including the world that she lived in. Friends, comrades, family, enemies, lovers. Names, places, dates, times, events. It all added up to paint a clearly defined picture in the cloner's mind.
