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[littletonoidea]

"This is the audio log of Communications Officer Doug Eiffel of the-- previously of the U.S.S Hephaestus, leave a message and I'll see if I can bear to drag myself away from whatever utterly engaging task I must be doing to not notice my comms--"

BZZZZZZZ

Action | Text | Voice | Video

Comments

[littletonoidea]

Nothing it's fine. It's fine!

[He's glad it's audio because he can feel his face heat up immediately.]

...wait, what post?

[reformedsinner]

The one you just made.

[Eiffel is an amazingly bad liar, Gonou's fairly sure he knows what Jedao might have said, and all of that can wait until later, because Gonou's also suddenly a little more concerned.]

You, ah. Did just make a video post, didn't you? I thought it was -- odd.

[littletonoidea]

I don't... remember the last time I made a video post.

[Admittedly his last one has been actual black-out drunk during a flood, but he so rarely makes them in general.]

Hold on- give me a minute, I gotta see this.

[reformedsinner]

That was one of the odd things about it, yes.

-- I'll wait.

[littletonoidea]

[He doesn't bother hanging up when he switches over to the network to watch the video, and for a minute his own voice is tinny and audible.

For a minute after the video ends, there's silence on Eiffel's end.]

[reformedsinner]

[Well. That's not good.]

Eiffel?

[littletonoidea]

[There's a rustle of fabric at Gonou's voice, like he just startled.]

I'm okay, this is-- I'm not freaking out, 'cos that's not me, I am-- ninety-nine percent sure that's not me, so that's fine, I'm fine, this is- this is totally fine!

[reformedsinner]

You're in your room, aren't you?

[Video Eiffel had not been. He also hadn't made any movie or pop culture references at all.]

[littletonoidea]

Uh- yeah, yeahyeahyeah. Door's open.

[But he's wondering if he shouldn't lock it, now.]

[reformedsinner]

I'll be there soon.

But, ah, also -- he wasn't. You can be one hundred percent sure.

[littletonoidea]

[There's a brisk breath, but he does sound marginally more even afterwards.] Okay. Thanks, bud.

[And when Gonou does arrive, gravity is on so that Eiffel can sit perched on the arm of the couch, one leg bouncing violently as he watches the video again, just staring intently at the face that is very much his and still not him.]

[reformedsinner]

Envy isn't here anymore...

[Who else do they have on board who's a shape-changer? Gonou leans over the back of the couch, looking at the video over Eiffel's shoulder with a keen, thoughtful gaze.]

Have you annoyed anyone recently?

[littletonoidea]

That gets a short snort out of Eiffel, but hey, it gets him to relax a little, leaning on the back of the couch instead of ramrod stiff.

"Does a bear piss in the woods?" he comments dryly. "I'm sure I have, that's just what I do, but I don't know anyone who'd go and make a revenge video out of it."

[reformedsinner]

Gonou leans in a little further in turn, enough that his forearm is pressing in silent reassurance against Eiffel's shoulder.

"Well, as revenge goes, they really just dressed up as you to call you an idiot," he muses. "Dr. Hilbert did claim innocence rather quickly, though, didn't he?"

[littletonoidea]

"Yeah, but I saw later how you talked to him when it was his fault," he points out, leaning into the touch as he looks up at Gonou with a raise eyebrow. "Way to put the fear of God in him. No wonder he called 'not it' so fast."

[reformedsinner]

Slightly embarrassed, Gonou clears his throat and glances away.

"Yes, well," he murmurs. "Someone needed to point out the problem. Which still leaves us with a mystery. Have you, ah, argued with anyone recently?"

[littletonoidea]

"I mean...?" he gestures vaguely with his tablet as he shrugs. "I dunno? Not any real arguments, unless the person on the other end didn't take it as well as they made it look."

[reformedsinner]

"Which might have been the case. I'm just trying to work out who could have come up with a duplicate of you, so if we can shorten the list from the entire Barge, we can start eliminating anyone who doesn't have the power for that..."

[littletonoidea]

"Uhhhhhh..." His dragging note turns into a hum as he flicks open to the replies, scanning down the names. "Mmmmmost of the people that I talk to are regular humans, I think. You and Jedao don't do doppelganger bullcrap, plus I showed Jedao one of my logs from back home before and he knows that freaks me out already so I don't think he'd be an asshole about it?"

It's a questioning tone but he does genuinely believe Jedao wouldn't fuck with him like that.

"Uhh-- Norton's human, Natalie's human, Jon's-- well, he's not that kind of shapeshifter," he comments dryly, "I think Ye Zun likes me but I dunno what his deal is, Sephiroth is-" He makes a face, wrinkling his nose. "Sephiroth, uh... I like Ulla, I think she likes me, the marshal's chill..."

[reformedsinner]

Thoughtfully, Gonou murmurs, "I wouldn't be surprised if Ye Zun could use some sort of illusion to make himself look like you, but I don't think he's even that good of an actor. Ah... I don't know much about Sephiroth's abilities, though. Other than that he thinks he's a god."

[littletonoidea]

"Plus Ye Zun- well, I think he likes me?" It seemed a safe enough guess. "But also he knows what a goddamn reference is, and he knows me well enough to notice that this guy wasn't using any. I think we can probably rule out anyone who commented on the faker's post."

[reformedsinner]

"That's also a fair point," Gonou muses, "unless of course they're deliberately trying to deceive us. Which would seem to take more complex planning than seems to have gone into this whole business."

[littletonoidea]

"If it's someone trying to screw with me, they're probably not gonna try that hard," he points out. "Most people think I'm an idiot, remember?"

[reformedsinner]

"And this person explicitly thinks you're one," Gonou adds with a glint of amusement -- considering that's just what they'd chosen their masquerade in order to say. "Is the marshal Raylan? Because he's human, too.

"I believe we're down to Ulla and Sephiroth, so if Ulla likes you..."

He spreads his hands.