Doppelgangster - Laura Resnick [88]
“That reminds me! Danny’s death almost made me forget,” said Max. “I continued my reading this morning, after a few hours of sleep, and I found the solution to one major aspect of our problem. It turns out that it is childishly simple to identify a doppelgangster!”
I blinked. “It is?”
“Do we need holy water?” Lucky asked. “I know where we can get all we need.”
“No, not necessary,” Max assured him.
I said, “I thought you were using Nelli to identify doppelgangsters?”
“Alas, until she actually exposes one, we have no way of being sure that she can identify these creatures. But according to my reading, we needn’t worry.”
“Under the circumstances, I’m probably going to keep worrying,” I said. “But go ahead and explain. How can we identify a doppelgangster?”
“As we’ve learned, such a creature is made of ephemeral substances empowered through mystical means. One way in which the duplicates we’ve encountered fit the classic doppelgänger pattern is that their function is specific and limited. Therefore, all the effort invested in fashioning a doppelgangster goes to its outward appearance and its imitative behavior. For a brief period, it must seem to be the real thing, that’s all.”
“So?” I prodded.
“So its internal mass is undisguised ephemeral matter.”
“I got no idea what you’re talking about,” Lucky said.
“In other words, they’re not real people,” Max said. “They’re mystical in nature. So although you may hear a heartbeat if you get close enough—because this seems to be a very talented and thorough sorcerer who would not neglect such important details—there isn’t actually a heart. Or a liver or bones or lungs or soft tissue or blood!” He looked at us triumphantly.
Lucky and I looked blankly at each other for a moment.
“So, Max, you’re sayin’ we gotta whack someone and open him up to see whether he’s a person or a doppelgangster? That don’t seem like much of a solution.”
“No! No, nothing so extreme. Don’t you see?” Max said. “Doppelgangsters don’t have blood. They don’t bleed!”
“So we gotta stab someone we suspect?” Lucky guessed.
“No,” Max said. “We just need to, oh, prick him with a needle, for example.”
“Oh! I get it now,” I said. “We only need to do enough damage to see whether someone bleeds like a normal human being?”
“Exactly!” Max said. “If you prick someone’s finger with suitable emphasis, and there’s no sign whatsoever of blood, you’ve just found a doppelgangster.”
“And once we find one,” I said, “how do we, uh, neutralize it?”
“Oh, that’s easy. We simply decapitate it.”
“What?”
Max added, “From now on, we should keep large bladed weapons handy at all times for this purpose.”
“Max!”
“It won’t be like human decapitation, my dear,” he said reassuringly. “Remember, doppelgangsters don’t bleed or have any connective tissue.”
“That’s not the point!” I rubbed my hand over my face. “At least, it’s not the main point. If we’re going to cut off someone’s head, we’d better be damn sure the individual in question really is a doppelgangster!”
“Oh, yes,” Max agreed. “Yes, indeed.”
“Damn sure, Max!”
He nodded and patted my hand. “That’s why it’s so important to prick someone and check for blood before you attempt decapitation, Esther.”
“I can’t decapitate someone!” I said, aghast.
“Strictly speaking, you won’t be decapitating someone ,” Max said, “but rather something.”
“Either way, I can’t do it,” I insisted.
“Don’t worry about it, kid. I’ll take care of it. I’m used to it.” Lucky added to Max, “It’s not something a young lady should do.”
“Perhaps you’re right,” Max said.
“But we’re all gonna have to learn to identify doppelgangsters,” Lucky said firmly.
Feeling rather frazzled, I said, “Maybe we should get a test kit for diabetics. They have to prick themselves enough to bleed, don’t they?”
“I’ve always got a couple of knives on me. For backup,” Lucky said, reaching into one of his pockets. “I’ll give you one. That’ll do the job better than a needle.”
“I don’t think I want a knife,” I said doubtfully.