Post MoM AU, general post

[use_everything]

And then one day, it was over.

The memory of how it happened was hazy. Perhaps it was as simple as being ported out, perhaps there was a great experiment, bringing together physicists, chemists, alchemists and scientists to get something WORKING. But like the memories of that time, that other dimension, singular events come and go, like a dream, or an age past.

From the very start, however, there were changes.

Comments

[jacksonian]

I tried to kill you a few days ago.

[dendarii]

You didn't even get close. Trust me, I've had much worse.

[jacksonian]

[ His lips tighten, and he looks away. Far from being a comfort, that hurts his pride. An untrustworthy assassin, but at least you were incompetent. Sure... ]

[dendarii]

[ Did he miscalculate? It seems so. He tries to sound comforting. ]

Even if you had gotten close, I have other tricks up my sleeve. And Bothari.

[jacksonian]

[ Still not helpful. ]

That's not the point.

[dendarii]

No? What's the point, then?

[jacksonian]

A brother doesn't try to kill a brother.

[ A shrug. ]

Fucking it up - being a fuck-up - doesn't make that any better. And I'm not even - this isn't what a brother is. Do you know how I was made? Why? Where I grew up? What I am?

[dendarii]

[ A reasonable amount of all of the above, thanks to Aral's briefing and his own memories. ]

Galen commissioned you, right? To try and replace me.

[jacksonian]

[ He clenches his jaw and nods. ]

Yeah. I was supposed to kill you and take your place. And then I'd kill your father and the Emperor. I'm a Bharaputran creation, made in a lab and pulled out of a uterine replicator. I don't have a mother or a father. I'm just some tissue sample cut out of you that they forced to grow. Not even really human. That's not a brother.

[dendarii]

[ There's no surprise in his expression, though he tries to at least remember to widen his eyes a little. ]

Do you want to do that now?

[jacksonian]

What does that matter?

[ He stares glumly down at the floor. ]

It doesn't change what I am.

[dendarii]

Choosing is something that people do, Mark. The fact that you can do that makes you one.

[jacksonian]

[ He shakes his head. ]

I can only do that because your father decided I would have that right.

[dendarii]

Are you sure about that? [ His voice drops slightly. ] Did our father really give you your first choice? Or did you make some before then?

[jacksonian]

[ He looks away, jaw set, confusion bubbling in him. ]

Look, the only reason I'm here is because Vorkosigan offered me an opportunity to strike back against Bharaputra, back on Jackson's Whole. Don't get carried away with this sappy stuff.

[dendarii]

Oh, good. I'm glad of that. But that isn't the end either.

[jacksonian]

That's not the...end? What are you talking about?

[dendarii]

After you free the clones. What then?

[jacksonian]

[ He opens his mouth, then closes it, confused. Then he shakes his head, completely helpless. ]

[dendarii]

[ Gently: ]

I hope you aren't planning on getting yourself killed.

[jacksonian]

[ He flinches just a bit, but replies stubbornly: ]

If I do, it doesn't matter. It's worth it to save them.

[dendarii]

I don't doubt that. But I still want to see you home safe at the end of it.

[jacksonian]

Home. Meaning here?

[dendarii]

[ ... Miles nods at that. (Don't push him, don't push him...) ]

Of course. Whether you choose to stay here or not. Has Da given you a tour yet?

[jacksonian]

[ He's distracted from his defensiveness, his reluctance to call this home, by that last question. He shakes his head. ]

No.