jacksonian: (gun-wielding (neutral))
Mark Pierre Vorkosigan / "Peter Kane" ([personal profile] jacksonian) wrote in [community profile] barrayar2016-01-22 09:49 pm

I am junking up this beautiful community with this junk

All the other starters are so beautiful but instead I'm coming in and ruining everything with this useless post with this sad sack
Comment to this post and I will write you something
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 105)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 01:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The gesture makes Miles ill to watch. It's his all right, or so damned close to it that he could doubt himself for the faint differences he sees. Not only is there a clone - alternate? he hasn't ruled that out yet - but clearly they've studied him. Were prepared to take his name from him immediately, even in this place where there could surely be little reason to do so. So an instinct, well-worn, much like his own Naismith persona.

A clone intended to take his place, then. For - god knows what reason. Well. It's not as though he was using this name, right? And Gregor knows the truth. Gregor knowing the truth is the only solid thing in this whole dizzying merry-go-round. He mustn't get lost in his own lies, no matter how bewildering the man in front of him may be.

He lets his face go through a range of expressions - again, not hard, since discomfort and terror rise easily to the top of his mind - before settling on wary compliance. Feeling out this Lord Vorkosigan, his supposed progenitor. A demon feared for so long, and now turning up directly on his doorstep, in his house. ]


House Bharaputra. Life extension, except something went hideously wrong with the cloning process. I - I was never actually told you commissioned me but - well, the conclusion is obvious, isn't it? Why else?
dendarii: (solpadeine05)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 01:39 pm (UTC)(link)
[ The trouble is, he doesn't know how much this clone knows. Except, perhaps, that surely an actual clone would probably know quite a bit more about the whole process than Miles himself would. His story is cobbled together from what details he had known before coming here - no specific research, after all - and wound together with enough bullshit to choke an elephant. It makes a pretty smooth tale to tell to outsiders, who know nothing about his world to begin with. Not so here.

He sucks in a breath, a flicker of uncertainty showing in his face. The fact of the matter is that he has no details to give. Better feign suspicion and ignorance. This is "Lord Vorkosigan" he's talking to, after all. Why should he tell the man a damn thing? He shifts, uncomfortably, onto his own too-short leg. ]


Why? Why do you care? I'm a threat, aren't I? Your damn Barrayaran lackeys sure thought so. I haven't had a moment's peace since I escaped.
Edited 2016-01-23 13:40 (UTC)
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 138)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Huh. That's kind of infuriating. He feels a sudden, deep sympathy for Simon Illyan and everyone else who's been forced to put up with Miles' bullshit over the years. Though, he must admit that whoever this clone is, they're doing a bang-up job of imitating him. It's surreal. He's alarmed. He's fascinated.

What is the worst outcome of letting this play out? Giving up his own identity as Miles Vorkosigan? He'd already done that for the public eye when he took up the Naismith mantle instead - and it's not as though Gregor would be fooled. One telepathic prod would be the only thing needed. So ... let it play out. After all, one should never interrupt an enemy when they're making a mistake.

(If it's a mistake. Maybe he's the one making the mistake. God, what a mess he's made already.)

Regardless, he eyes "Vorkosigan" with the wariness he deserves after a comment like that. And says the first thing that pops into his head: ]


Oh, god. Don't tell me you wanted me for sex. Were you really that desperate?
Edited (hmmm this is better) 2016-01-23 13:55 (UTC)
dendarii: (eidetics 84)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Ha. Score one point for him. Miles himself hadn't been fully aware of that distinction - he'd known Bharaputra had been in the life extension business, and that clones made for that purpose did exist (as he'd been taunted with a few key times previously), but not which house. Ryoval. Got it.

He suspects that he can fill in the technical details of his own story if he goads "Vorkosigan" at just the right moments. Better do that rather than get himself caught in a tangle that he can't explain his way out of. ]


Who, then? I was hardly told anything. Only that I was supposed to be a copy of this Vor lord, and that escape would mean he would be after me just as hard.
dendarii: (eidetics 42)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 02:30 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It all hangs together. After all, any clone takes a certain minimum number of years to be raised to adulthood, no matter what measures may be taken to age them sooner. Miles would have been a baby, surely. There couldn't be a plot against him specifically ... right? No, not with the body that Miles - that this clone - had ended up with. A potential replacement for himself must needs be a healthy one. That would be the fastest way to dislodge his own claim to the Vorkosigan countship.

So ... something else. Another sort of replacement. A plot against this father does make more sense. He begins to pace a bit, the gesture a singularly Naismith one that he had picked up during his adventures. (Well. Not completely. But more pronounced, nowadays.) ]


I assure you, I have no such intentions. I'd much rather stay far away. As far away as possible.
Edited 2016-01-23 14:30 (UTC)
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 236)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 02:41 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Passwords, eh. Miles knows there are no such things - all Illyan would need to do was recite something word-for-word and expect complete comprehension. He still suppresses a very real shudder at the thought of discussing this sort of thing with Simon Illyan. ]

Ha. As if you could get me that close to Simon Illyan. I'm not a complete idiot, you know. I wouldn't come back from that encounter intact.
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 234)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Bits and pieces. Greg Vorthys told me most of what I know. Otherwise ...

[ Hmm. That's an excellent suggestion, actually. It suits, neatly, and he can think of enough holes in his own history that would allow a clone a brief window to contact the Naismiths and be gone. ]

Yes, however briefly. They were my first stop - or rather, Beta Colony was. A much friendlier place for an escaped clone to get off to. They have this wild idea that I'm rightfully the Count's son in my own right.
dendarii: (Default)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 03:20 pm (UTC)(link)
I'd be surprised too. But - well, the Betan Countess is infamously liberal, and if I'd had any shot at a family ... it would be through her.

[ Right back at you. At the mention of Gregor, though, Miles can't help but brighten. He has too much affection for the man to do otherwise. ]

A practically exiled one. He ran - I know how you Barrayarans are about that.
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 205)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 03:37 pm (UTC)(link)
I mean the rather dim view you all seem to have about deserters. It's made his life difficult as well.

[ There's a hole for you, brother-clone. Best patch it fast.

Now that he's past the initial shock, it's almost ... fun playing this game against a version of himself. Testing his own cover, feeling it out against someone who probably won't kill him. Probably. (Surely Miles would be dead by now if that were the point - his neck is fragile enough, among other things.) He makes a mental note to tell Gregor all the details later and decide what they ought to do long term. In the meantime it seems fruitful to continue to Naismith as hard as possible.

In any case, his reactions to the topic of "Greg" continue to be blissfully honest. The easiest part of the whole thing. ]


I take Vor one at a time, please and thank you. He has proved to be exceptional beyond measure. [ A beat. ] Even you may not be so bad if you don't intend to kill me just yet.
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 192)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 04:00 pm (UTC)(link)
[ A reasonable reaction. And yet, Miles finds himself disagreeing with it. Lack of hostility is all he would offer? No ... a mental image of his mother comes to mind; he can just about hear her voice resounding in his ears. Miles, what have you done with your baby brother?

Because that is truly who this man in front of him would be. His brother, under Betan law and his mother. His father ... a harder sell, he thinks, but he's sure the man would come around in the end. He'd had to think through the scenario himself while discussing his family as Naismith.

He must win this man over, one way or another. As Naismith if possible - that seems a much safer choice than upending the man's cover. He knows too well how much identity can be tied up in such a thing. And he has no idea who this man considers himself to be under all that ... Let the man have Vorkosigan, for now, and see what happens. ]


Neither did you, apparently. That ... resolves the worst of my issues. Admittedly. [ Reluctantly, like he's just now deciding to trust Vorkosigan. Which he is. ] I had almost hoped for a villain.
Edited (the ] wanted to party too) 2016-01-23 16:00 (UTC)
dendarii: (frakkingcylon 184)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 05:19 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Miles, meanwhile, considers that. The Naismith part of him agrees that he'd much rather be as far away from his progenitor as possible. Vorkosigan chimes in cheerfully that it would be unsettling for Gregor, and dangerous as all hell if this man decides to snap one day. Even with the telepathic link, it would cause a dizzying confusion for a critical moment, not to mention the possibility of being murdered in one's sleep.

... They could be murdered anyway, one day. The best defense is a good offense. The decision is made in an instant, and a brilliant smile - the likes of which would only be seen on Naismith and not Vorkosigan - cracks his face. ]


On the contrary. I'd like you to stay, if Greg doesn't mind the occasional confusion. If you [romise not to change your mind about not minding having a clone later?

[ And more genuine sentiment bubbles to the top of his mind, wild with the sudden thought. ]

Under Betan law, we'd be brothers anyway.
dendarii: (cocky lil bastard)

[personal profile] dendarii 2016-01-23 05:36 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh, no. No worries there. I have my mercenary fleet, and as you are the progenitor you're obviously the real heir. I still wouldn't set foot on Barrayar for a million Betan dollars.

[ He can feel that familiar momentum starting up, the sort that usually results in really good or really bad ideas. He has no idea which one this is yet. It's exhilarating. For just a moment, he pauses to savor the thrill of adrenaline going through him. ]

My greatest strength as Admiral is in recognizing good personnel, and promptly drafting them. In that, my snap judgments are usually the best.

[ His grin is somehow still brighter. Manic and wild with possibility. ]

What do you say, Lord Miles? Fancy having a little brother?

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