[video] Dip-dop Says Hello

[captainbuzzkill]

[There is a noodle-child on the comms, one that looks maybe only just old enough to be a Legionnaire. His hat is missing because he lost it on the planet and his slightly poofy hair is sticking up, so that a birth mark in the shape of the Big Dipper is visible on his forehead. He's currently hyperventilating. His eyes are wide and he's breathing like every new breath makes it even harder to take the next breath.]

Oh man. Oh man. Oh man.

[Will someone help this wayward child? This poor, clearly terrified--]

This is the best thing ever!

[Okay, so maybe he's not hyperventilating because he's scared. Maybe he's just so excited he can barely breathe right. In fact, he's so excited he basically went on the network pretty much as soon as the omnicom was put in his hands. The situation got explained to him -- and he lied his butt off about his age because they mentioned the age limit before they asked what his was -- and now he's clearly still in his Medbay bed, not even released from the Medbay yet, hyperventilating on the comms in excitement over his situation.]

Not the whole being dimensionally displaced part -- even if time supposedly isn't passing back home -- or the, y'know, mortal peril part, but we're in space! Did you all see that? You can just look outside the window! And it's space!

And my doctor had four arms! And was purple!

[Yes, he's excited. Supposedly, he even has superpowers now.]

And we all have superpowers! And -- what am I saying, all you people know this, right? They said other people have been here longer. Do you all have cool powers? Are any of you aliens? Mutants? Or, like, I dunno, space wizards with laser swords or something? That seems like a thing that could happen.

[His other hand comes in frame and he makes a gimme gimme gesture.]

Gimme the lay of the land. What am I looking at here?

[A pause and then he finally remembers maybe he should give his name. He says it like it's an afterthought.]

Oh yeah, I'm Dipper Pines.

Comments

[mirror_soldier]

[The concept that these clones had somehow been made of paper was both intensely fascinating and utterly sickening all at once. Part of him wished he could see the copy machine himself, and part of him was equally glad he likely never would.]

I'm sorry you lost him.

[Was that the appropriate kind of thing to say in this situation? He ins't sure, but hopes so.]

How long was he alive?

[captainbuzzkill]

Yeah, me too.

[Dipper genuinely does miss him. He wishes he hadn't handled that cloning thing so lightly.]

And he was only around for a day. That water thing was the worst. It's really hard to go through life and completely avoid getting wet.

[mirror_soldier]

That was likely the point.

[Was that a note of bitterness in his voice? He tried to respond as clinically as possible but he can't quite help the slight harshness of his tone or how his expression hardens.]

Whoever created the machine may have wanted an easy means of disposing of whatever copies they made, in the case that something went wrong with a copy or they became a problem. It would have been a particularly useful feature if they were experimenting with it, or if the machine was a prototype.

Any idea if it could copy inorganic material in the same manner as it did people?

[captainbuzzkill]

[When he hears that bitterness, Dipper wonders if that was the point. He also wonders if he's a bad person for melting the other clones. But they were trying to replace him -- what was he supposed to do?]

[In any case, he's not talking about that anytime soon.]

It definitely could because it was able to copy my clothes.

[mirror_soldier]

[Intresting...if it could just as easily copy inorganic matter, perhaps cloning wasn't part of its original purpose. There were certainly more uses for making copies of inorganic materials that there was for making clones, but then again, having a human copy come out of it with a functioning and evolving personality seemed like something that would have required effort to achieve. But admittedly he didn't know much about how magic functioned, and from what he had seen of it, it could be fickle and highly unpredictable.

He kind of wished he could see the device for himself, maybe if he could-...]

[Midway through that thought it finally hit him how he was acting, and how overly invested he was becoming in a device he would likely never come in contact with.

He was being ridiculous.]

[Embarrassed he gave a stiff nod.]

Sorry, I probably shouldn't have asked into that to this extent.

Was...Was there something you may have wanted to know about this place that the others haven't already answered?

[captainbuzzkill]

It's okay.

[He kind of likes remembering Tyrone.]

Is there are a reason you were so interested?

[mirror_soldier]

[He shrugged, not particularly interested in sharing the real reason and trying to play it off as just general intellectual curiosity.]

I hadn't heard of a cloning process that involved litterally copying humans on a copy machine. At least not the kind that would produce a completely separate sentient being with their own thoughts and desires.

Most of what you listed as weird in your universe, is somewhat common in my own...except for the mutant cows with laser eyes.

[Though he wouldn't be surprised if they existed.]

But not that. It's ethically dubious, to say the least, but still intriguing.