𝐃𝐀𝐁𝐎𝐈𝐀 - TMR, Gally ² / ³

𝟢𝟤𝟧，𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞?

It's another tank filled with water. And something.

Someone.

Someone that looks ridiculously much like Joan.

She stares at it. For a long time. And she has no idea what to say or do. It almost feels like a threat to see this. It's wrong.

"What is this?" Thomas urges, eyes flashing to Teresa. "Tell us anything you know."

"I don't know!" She cries out. "I have no idea."

Still frozen, Joan watches Camil take something off the table beside it. He holds it up, and it looks like a video tape. Then he puts it inside a player, not warning anyone about his actions.

A screen flashes above it. It glitches and the sound doesn't work very well, but the video is visible, and that's enough.

Just like that, Janson's voice starts speaking, and the tape starts flowing.

"Okay." Joan lets go of a breath. "I think that's enough. But don't think I won't come back with more questions."

"I'll keep it in mind."

She stands up. "Good."

"Good," he replies carefully, also getting up. "And Joan?"

"What?"

"Whatever it is in your mind that you fear, whatever's stopping you, kill it."

Her eyebrows start to furrow. "I have no idea what that means, but alright."

"I expect to see you tomorrow," he adds, right before she can reach the door handle.

"Why?"

"Reasons."

This was filmed with the camera she saw in the room Janson first interviewed her. She expects that the next video shows a part of their second conversation, but it doesn't.

She fights as hard as she can. Scratches their skin. Screams. Kicks and punches, but five guards easily overpower her. They carry her out of the room as if she weighs nothing. Tears stream down her face as they bring her into another room, and strap her to a table.

They untie her ponytail. They place things on her temples and arms. They hold her down as she kicks with her feet. They give her a syringe.

Once her eyes have closed at it, they pick her back up. And as if she weighs nothing, they drop her into the tank.

Joan looks at the girl in the water. Her hair is loose. It flies around her head. Her skin is pale. Her skin has shrunk, a clear hint to the body being in there for quite a while.

And she returns back to the video. Now it's Janson, speaking directly to the camera.

"We have great beliefs in our new project. This is dedicated to Ava Paige, message from Mr. Janson on the Killzone Operations," he says. "The results started to show straight away. One day later, and she has already killed someone. Way better. This could come to good use."

Her eyebrows furrow. And she looks at the tank again. And at her own hands. And back at the tank.

If the girl in there is her... then what is she?

Who is who?

"Wait. Look at the dates," Teresa says.

Camil plays back a little. The first video of their interview shows the same date as the one where she got taken by the guards. Janson's message matches with the next video, which is about her killing the guard who wouldn't let her see Gally, and her second conversation with Janson.

"Whatever they did, it changed something about Joan," Thomas realizes slowly. "She started killing people. Getting... different. Right?"

Her mouth opens, but no sound comes out. It makes no sense. It does, but it doesn't.

"Joan?" She startles at the sudden straight confrontation. "Do you feel like the Joan who lived in the Glade would kill?"

She frowns deeper. "I don't... I don't know. Maybe if the situation was similar to that one. If something happened to Gally. But I wouldn't kill a Glader."

You've changed.

Good or bad?

I don't know.

She changed.

Maybe too literally. 

The video then continues.

"Unfortunately," it's Janson again, "the subject escaped. We made the clone too smart. Too secret. Too much of the things we wanted it to do the greatest.

Another voice she doesn't really recognize. "Would anyone who doesn't know notice?"

"Maybe a slight change, but itself doesn't even know what happened. Nothing could spoil what it is. Nobody but me, you, and Ava know about the tank."

"Will the girl survive?"

"Oh, surely. There's an air tube, and mentally, she's with the clone."

Joan is frozen. She just got called an it multiple times. A clone. Not... herself.

No one moves for a long time. There are so many unanswered questions. So much confusion and horror at this.

"Get her out of there," Thomas decides. He points at the tank. "Gally, I want you to carry her as we all move to get Minho. We leave this building, and return to the rest as fast as possible. Well worry about all of this later."

A shiver runs down her spine. Is that even real? How could they have cloned her? How come she didn't know? How come she's actually in that tank but thinks she isn't? What is this body made of? Human flesh? What—

"I need to sit down." She presses a hand to her forehead, gasping.

Gally immediately bends down in front of her. "We'll figure it out, okay? No one will hurt you or... the other you until we've figured it out. You'll be okay."

She nods, but continues worrying. Her hands run through her hair as sweat breaks out. "You're probably right— let's save Minho first."