Poignant Skies

Doppleganger

Lee found himself again in one of the interrogation rooms in NICC. In the other rooms were the museum staff who were baffled as to why the incident had anything to do with the organization.

Chancellor Alexian entered the room.

"Chancellor." Lee bowed.

"We ran some tests in the museums and we found faint traces of the chemical Gaserin which Celestians use in their weapons."

"How could they penetrate into our atmosphere?"

"General Wilk is still working on that." He replied. The chancellor stared at Lee for a moment. "There's something else we need you to see."

The chancellor placed a holographic projector in front of Lee.

"This was the footage outside the museum during the abduction."

It showed two people attacking the NICC security and abducting Selena. Before taking her away, they shot the cameras to avoid further surveillance.

"A patch of their skin in the neck and wrist show a very pale complexion which is consistent to that of Celestians." The chancellor told Lee. "Now this is the footage inside the museum."

There were only five people in the area, a couple in matching green outfits, two female teenagers in their school uniform, and a woman in white with a long hair. A few seconds into the footage, the lone woman nonchalantly dropped something on the floor. Soon, blue sparks flew all around area. The couple saw the sparks first and everyone ran away freaking out, including the woman who dropped the item. Blue smoke began to fill the gallery. Soon after, the young security guard arrived and rang the alarm.

"It was difficult to identify Ms. Marie's abductors because of their masks. But the woman in the Written Artifacts section was only wearing a cap. We were able to look into her face through other cameras prior to the incident."

The chancellor zoomed in to one of the photos they captured. It took a while before the pixelates photo became clear.

"That's..." Lee was speechless for a moment.

The face was undoubtedly Selena's.

"Ms. Marie's doppleganger." The chancellor said.

"How could this be possible?!"

"You tell me Dr. Kurt."

Lee thought for a moment. "She could either be in two places at the same time or she has a twin or a clone."

"We're hoping for a twin." The chancellor said, sounding exasperated. "If she is a clone, God knows how many more are there."

"And this... doppleganger... is with the Celestians?"

"Seems so." Chancellor Alexian replied. "Whatever their intent is, we have to know. They wouldn't risk infiltrating our planet to abduct Selena if it were not a matter of space security."

Lee could not believe what just happened. "Is there anything I could do to help?"

"We will call you if we need you Dr. Kurt."