JJ ran when she saw a ‘Welcome Home :)’ notification light up her vision through her Optics. She ran through the Gutters, ran through the decades of unattended filth and the corroded and fractured sidewalks that impeded the way back home. The smell of piss and the sour stench of long-forgotten trash cans stung her eyes. The heavy and rank atmosphere that came with the distinct lack of bustling life and decomposing tech that evaporated from the sewers helped JJ pick up her pace. It was an unwelcome change from the pristine, clean, and colourful scenery of the Overpass, but when you lose everything, it’s hard to go back to the life you once knew before.

​

The trek back was rough, more so than it should’ve been — her ankles were weak, like back before she started working for ROCHEFORD. Their nanotechnologies and nanorobotics did wonders for the everyday folk. She struggled to keep her form straight — her knees buckled and popped, and she gasped for air, a repeated motion that aggravated her now narrow nasal passageways which the Nanomachines refused to expand just eight days ago. All this because of the spoiled prat. Ten years’ worth of hard work and obsequious ass-kissing — of climbing the ladders and punching down at anyone who dared to get in the way — gone. Just like that. From one single use of the Telepod. Gone, because JJ wanted to try teleportation for the first time and visit her family after spending over a decade apart. All gone. Everything that ROCHEFORD gave her was snatched away by the very person that was going to take her house from her, too. Her precious home — the only space she had to herself.

 

She counted the blocks left till she got home and kept her eyes on the seconds that ticked with each street she ran past. Each second, the impostor could sift through her personal stuff back home, digging their grubby, grimy hands into a life that they otherwise never would have had the luxury to live, a life so suffocating that they have done nothing but adapt to it. She adapted so much that the impostor would hardly be able to breathe in what JJ had built for herself. They could do nothing but take in the fact that they know how tiny and insignificant they were. They would never understand what it took JJ to get to where she was now. Never.

 

When JJ walked through the lacklustre panes of glass signalling the main entrance of her condo, the concierge greeted JJ with a startled shake in their voice. JJ nodded at them, as she always did, but didn’t have the mind to remember to attach a smile to it this time. She stilled her heavy breathing, holding back how desperately her lungs needed air from the run home. With a long exhale, she reached for the elevator’s biometric scanner. It flashed red once and made an irritable sound indicating there was an error. JJ tried again. The same noise made it hard for her to focus on her breathing. A slow breath out, she examined the scanner. A wet sheen of sweat covered precisely where JJ had placed her hand. She nearly forgot about the layer of sweat that surfaced from the run here, not from how much she hated the idea that the tiny stain of life managed to do so much harm to her; that was not worth her time. JJ inhaled slowly, wiped her hands on her sweatpants, and wiped the scanner with the hem of her shirt. It left a smudge. She tried again and again. Fuck. She felt the lump in her throat. The way her eyes stung forced her to look up as she blinked away the urge to break down. Deep breaths. It’ll still work. Push past this.

​

JJ pressed her hand against the panel. Her hands shook from exhaustion, the Nanos and mods in her arms not functioning the same as they once did. The green glow from under her hands opened the elevator doors before her. She sucked in a long breath that she wasn’t aware she neglected. For the first time in a while, JJ dreaded going home.

​

The wait in the elevator made her skin crawl; millions of pins and needles poked and prodded at her. Time slowed to a crawl as she watched the numbers scroll up floor by floor, and she nearly felt the shift in gravity lift her off the ground when the elevator drew nearer to her unit. Eyes downcast and glossed over in thought, she almost missed the figure that waited for her at the elevator’s entrance as the doors opened. 

​

“Hey, I’ve been waiting for you.”

​

Her heart pounded before leaping at the playfulness in their voice. Something was familiar about it, but JJ’s stomach lurched after considering why.

​

The snivelling thief smiled JJ’s polite smile, as if they had an ounce of her hospitality to give. “You can call me Chongxing for now.”

​

Why ‘for now?’ JJ gawked at the stranger.

​

There was something disgusting about how Chongxing looked right back at JJ. Every part of them peered back at her, the same sunken and fatigued eyes, the same slightly crooked and bruised nose, the same uneven and cracked lips as JJ. Her own mirror image was looking back at her, but whatever was on the other side lived a life that she didn’t know. Whomever this impostor was, as much as they wanted to try and look like JJ, they weren’t JJ. That dubious little shit could never be her. JJ continued to scan them. From head to toe, whoever they were, they dressed and carried themselves the same way that JJ would. Everything from the knit sweater to the way their thumb would rub along the side of their right middle finger — the spot where her stability mod would occasionally buzz her slightly. JJ looked for scars around their eyes and jawline; she knew where her own face mods started and stopped. She’d be able to spot the new scars around the eyes and lower face area —

​

“It’d be better if you came in, I think. I’m sure you’re worried about your sanctuary.”

​

Chongxing was welcoming JJ into her home when they heard the elevator’s incessant ping alert them to get off. Backed up into a corner before she even knew, JJ shoved past the waste of space with an agitated tsk and kicked off her boots near the door. Something boiled inside JJ when she saw the same exact pair of shoes already in her spot. A cute game the fake was trying to play. Chongxing didn’t wait for JJ; they knew exactly where her kitchen table was. The rat-faced git knew precisely which chair was her favourite before they took a moment to consider something. They sat down in her spot anyway. It felt as if she had left her body, and it was on autopilot. She knew what that boiling feeling was now.

​

“You bitch,” JJ sneered, lunging at the parasite. “That’s MY spot.” Her knees popped and her ankles stung, but it didn’t matter to her. At that moment, she was truly blinded by the idea that this impostor imitated her so well that she had almost believed in the act. “You think you can just steal my life, take my looks, and have my spot just cause you want to?” She went for their eyes. Her eyes. But the sham brought up both their arms to block it. She almost laughed. They would have known that there was no reason to stop if they were really her. Her glass-eyed Optics and the carbon faceplate would be fine against her modded hands. As bland as JJ always thought her face looked, she fell for the faceplate gimmick like everyone else that worked for a major corporation. They were fake, just like the fake that she swung a hard low left at. A thud vibrated through JJ’s left hand and made her recoil from the pain, but from the way the impostor grabbed at their side and doubled over, it satisfied the small price she had endured. If they were JJ, they would’ve known that she would go for the sides. She always did. JJ went for another low hook.

​

The fraud must’ve seen the second swing coming. Chongxing grabbed her right fist and diverted it behind them.

​

“Double shovel hooks.”

​

JJ thought it was the voice in her head that she heard. No problem. She went low and could quickly go for a gra— 

​

“Into a grapple.” Chongxing stepped back as JJ took a moment to recognize what she had just heard. Not one to waste a moment like JJ would have, Chongxing held onto JJ’s face as they brought a knee up to meet it halfway. Faceplate or no faceplate, it was enough to get JJ’s ass to the floor.

​

Her eyes hazed over by the mild concussion. At a moment of confusion, JJ recalled seeing her own face lean down at eye level with hers. It looked like her own concerned brows as she heard the light slap on her face before she felt it. When a hand was brought up in front of her face and snapped, she blinked once. Then twice.

​

“Good.” Amidst JJ’s recovery, Chongxing once again took the chance to offset her balance. They pushed at JJ’s chest with one of their feet. They straddled her chest, both JJ’s arms under their legs, and leaned over her. “I’m you. A carbon copy, in fact. So, let’s get that out of the way first.”

​

JJ tried to buck once to throw them off, but Chongxing sat too high up on her chest for it to do anything. The weight on her chest was heavy, making it hard to breathe.

​

“Look.” Chongxing shifted their weight as they heard JJ heave. “While I’m still you, in a sense, we’re two different people. I’m not an impostor or some freak that’s out to live your life. Let’s be honest. We don’t really have much going for us. There are other people that are worth more in less time. We just went our separate ways.” Chongxing leaned back, head tilted away slightly. Their eyes bore down on JJ, enough that JJ almost looked away. “Which brings us to the next problem; which one of us gets to keep the title of the ‘real’ JJ.”

​

“It’ll be me,” JJ said as she tried to catch her breath. While the boiled feelings had long simmered down, she still fought for what she knew was a fact. “If you’re a copy of me like you said before, then I’m the original. Simple as that.” JJ tried to maintain her breath, trying not to let her loss get to her head. She needed to control the situation despite being pinned. She threw in a disinterested side glance, something she knew upset many of her superiors. It seemed like it didn’t affect Chongxing the same way as they looked back with the same disinterest that she feigned. JJ maintained disinterest, or at least tried to, but it was short-lived.

​

“True.” Chongxing shrugged. “You’re not wrong.” Chongxing scanned over JJ’s face. “But I came from you using the Telepod. I came out of the right exit while you remained at the entrance because of an accident. A mistake, really.”

​

JJ’s fears were confirmed. ROCHEFORD’s teleporters didn’t just cut and paste; they copied and pasted. The original was destroyed at the start point. Eight days’ worth of research and denial finally caught up to JJ, and it hit her like a truck. JJ opened her mouth to retort, but she couldn’t find anything to say.

​

“You know ROCHEFORD would rather dispose and cover up their mistakes than deal with them. I know you’ve done your research on this. You’ve seen what they did with the clone. Or the originals. Whichever brings up the mistake first, right?” Chongxing tapped their temple with their right middle finger before reaching over toward JJ.

​

She flinched.

​

They paused.

​

“Don’t fear it.” Chongxing read her mind.

​

JJ honestly didn’t expect anything to happen. Or maybe she did. Chongxing tapped their middle finger on the right side of JJ’s temple, and JJ wasn’t surprised when her search history and a myriad of opened screens appeared before her Optics. A few more screens opened before her as if she had dragged in the information from another device. She wasn’t surprised that her Terminal had booted up to Chongxing’s touch, nor was she surprised that Chongxing could transfer data to her without her confirmation. She was surprised at how readily she accepted that everything Chongxing told her was true. She turned away from Chongxing’s finger, the touch leaving a sting that lingered on the surface of her skin.

​

Chongxing waited for JJ, but JJ wasn’t sure what she was waiting for. The idea that she, Chongxing knew something that JJ didn’t, caused that same boiling feeling to surface amidst the confusion. Either Chongxing knew JJ was starting to get upset or felt her breathing pick up under her. Chongxing got off her and offered a hand to JJ, but she didn’t want to take it, she didn’t want to take in the idea that it wasn’t Chongxing that was ruining her life but ROCHEFORD.

​

“Whatever ROCHEFORD wants to do with their mistakes, I know that you don’t feel the same way. Neither one of us deserves to live more than the other. Yeah, I wanted you gone when I first found out about you. But I’m sure the sentiment was mutual.” she laughed. JJ almost wanted to join in.

​

Another moment of silence went by, but neither of them made any move to break it.

​

“So, what now?” JJ broke both their breaths. She took Chongxing’s hand and got to her feet, her body braced against JJ’s form as her knees buckled from both exhaustion and the concussion from earlier.

​

“We’ve got a plan.” Chongxing started to make their way to the kitchen chair.

​

“We?” JJ sat down in her favourite spot before Chongxing sat across from her.

​

JJ watched Chongxing reach into her pocket to pull out a Print. It was a small oval-shaped translucent film thin as a piece of paper. The one that Chongxing held onto was fogged over with a dark grey shade of over-writing and overuse. She held it towards JJ and made a gesture for her to take it.

​

“You know we’re hardly alone. ROCHEFORD has hundreds of their Telepods scattered around the city. Hundreds of thousands of people have used it since it first launched.” JJ took the Print and pressed it with a light pressure between her right index finger and thumb. A light haptic buzz pulsed twice, and a new screen opened within JJ’s Optics. Rows and rows of names were documented within the Print. Some were greyed out, others struck through. But every several rows down, there would be a name highlighted in red, yellow, or green. At the very bottom was a list of names written in green.

​

“You gathered these yourself?” JJ asked. She hadn’t noticed how straight she sat while flicking her right hand upwards to scroll back up the list.

​

“No,” Chongxing leaned back, “they’ve been keeping tabs on people that used the Telepod.”

​

“So, they’ve been keeping a tab on me.” JJ closed the screen and glanced at Chongxing. The idea that there were other people that looked into her life made her head buzz. She had only just noticed the fast beating of her heart.

​

“Yeah, they told me how committed you were to the idea that someone was trying to steal your identity.” Chongxing laughed. Seeing her own smile, not forced by anything, felt refreshing. Was this how others saw her?

​

“That would’ve been easier, wouldn’t it?” JJ handed the Print back with a sigh.

​

“Maybe. But you can’t see even an inch into the future. Right now, though, it’s probably been the clearest vision you’ve had. I know it is for me.” Chongxing had a point.

​

JJ took a moment to look over the names again. ROCHEFORD was involved in ruining the life of every name on the list — including JJ — over such a trivial aspect and lie that the public had so stubbornly believed.

​

“What now?” JJ looked at Chongxing. This was the first time she felt alive and clear in over a decade. JJ has also simultaneously never been so lost in her life.

​

“We go meet the others.” Chongqing shrugged, going with the flow. “Some who've been on the same train as us. Some who felt sympathy for the train. But everyone’s here against ROCHEFORD.”

​

“Against ROCHEFORD.” JJ couldn’t quite put her finger on why that tasted so bittersweet in her mouth when she echoed after Chongxing. “Feels weird.”

​

“Going against something that’s done nothing but keep you lazy and complacent? Makes sense. But you finally get to be someone again. Not some cookie cutter model citizen they wanted you to be.” Chongxing said. “It feels weird because you finally get to be you. Just like how I’ve been able to be me.”

​

JJ knew that Chongxing meant ‘worship movement.’ She liked the name Chongxing picked for herself.