TWINNING
Twinning was developed by Kaarvok, the crazy ruler of a dying Leviathan. It's a technology that could have some wide-reaching applications, but Kaarvok seems to have wanted it mainly so that he'd have a steady supply of living brains to suck down like milkshakes.
The twinning process is near-instantaneous: Kaarvok points his magic wand at you and the next thing you know, you're beside yourself — literally. At least, that's how Chiana describes it. D'Argo adds that it hurt, which means something, coming from him. I got twinned, too, but I don't remember much of it. When the second Crichton showed up, I was as shocked as the next guy ... which is to say, as shocked as he was. As I was? Damn, this is maddening.
My — okay, our — first question was, "Which one of us is the original and which is Memorex?" I feel like I've got all my parts, but so does he. Jool's DNA tests revealed no differences between us. We're just two identical John Crichtons, with identical memories up to the moment of being twinned. But we can't both be the original, can we? One of us isn't the original. I'm as sure of it as I am that I am not a copy. Of course, try telling that to the "me" who just ran off with Aeryn and took Winona and my best pair of boots. Dammit, this ain't happening.
There's another disturbing piece to this already-creepy puzzle. The primitive, violent creatures inhabiting Kaarvok's domain were actually Peacekeepers. At least, they used to be Peacekeepers, before Kaarvok twinned them dozens of times each. This means that, if people are twinned enough, they degenerate. Their bodies become malformed and they lose personality, intellect, and (if I wanna get metaphysical) their soul.
So something got lost or damaged when I got twinned. Since I only suffered the process once, whatever disappeared was negligible. But I can't deny the facts: If twinning caused no damage at all, then it wouldn't have reduced those Peacekeepers to animals gnawing on walls. So, what exactly has happened to me? Did I lose a piece of myself to make my duplicate? And if I did ... how much did I lose?
JOURNEY LOG REFERENCES
Eat Me
Thanks for Sharing
Green-Eyed Monster
Infinite Possibilities, Part 2: Icarus Abides
Dog With Two Bones
STARBURST TO ANY NOTE
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