The falls

chapter 13

Neomi and Jessica stood in Dipper's lab, surrounded by all sorts of strange gadgets. Jessica stared warily at the odd machine in the corner—the one Neomi had insisted they use.

"So, this... printer," Jessica said, eyeing it with skepticism. "You're sure it's safe?"

Neomi grinned mischievously. "Well, it's not like we have time to deliver all the presents by ourselves! This thing'll print clones of us. They do the heavy lifting, we fix the sleigh. Simple."

Jessica crossed her arms. "It's experimental tech, though. What if something goes wrong?"

"Come on, Jess! It's Christmas! What could possibly go wrong?" Neomi said, waving off her concerns as she fiddled with the controls.

With a whirring sound, the printer began to hum, lights blinking as it got to work. Moments later, two identical copies of Neomi and Jessica stepped out from the glowing panel. The real Jessica blinked, momentarily stunned.

"Whoa," Clone-Neomi said, stretching her arms. "This is trippy."

Jessica was less enthused. "I still don't know about this..."

"Relax!" Neomi slapped her on the back. "They're just gonna help. Besides, you said it yourself—Santa's sleigh needs repairs. We've got alien adhesives and fancy machines, but we need time!"

Jessica sighed, giving in as they started working on fixing the sleigh. Dipper's lab had all kinds of odd tools—half of them she didn't even know how to use—but Neomi seemed to know her way around. The alien adhesive glowed an eerie green as they carefully applied it to the cracks in the sleigh's runners.

Meanwhile, the clones were out doing their thing—delivering presents to the residents of Gravity Falls. Everything seemed to be going smoothly.

Until it didn't.

"You know," the very first clone of Jessica said, casually walking back into the lab and wiping her hands. "I can get used to the Christmas vibe this book is taking. But please never again with the rhyming style of the last chapter."

Jessica froze. "Wait. What did you just say?"

The clone blinked. "You know. The rhyming? That whole 'Night Before Christmas' thing? Kinda cringey, if you ask me."

Jessica stared at her clone, confused. "What are you even talking about?"

Before she could get an answer, there was a loud crash. One of the other clones had slipped, knocking over a pile of snow off the roof. A small avalanche of snow landed directly on top of the first clone.

"Oh no!" Jessica gasped as the snow began to melt. The water from it hit the clone, causing her to fizzle and dissolve into nothing but a puddle on the floor.

"Well, that's... not ideal," Neomi said, her voice filled with nervous laughter. "Guess clones and water don't mix."

Jessica shook her head. "This is why I don't trust experimental tech."

"Hey, at least the sleigh's almost fixed," Neomi pointed out, motioning to the now nearly repaired vehicle. "Let's just make sure we don't lose any more clones before Santa wakes up."

Jessica wasn't sure what was crazier—that they were using alien glue to fix Santa's sleigh, or that her clone had suggested they were in a book. Jessica would have to ask dipper or Dr. Mathis about this later. But for now, Jessica sighed as she knew they couldn't go back on the whole saving Christmas thing.

One thing was for sure: Christmas in Gravity Falls was unlike anything she'd ever imagined.