The Janus Project (ONC 2020 - LGBTQ)

20. The Scream

Kai returned to his empty living room and opened the door to his bedroom. Ash was standing inside, looking wide-eyed.

"I wouldn't have believed that if I hadn't seen for myself. You just disappeared... like magic!" He hesitated. "It wasn't just a magic trick, was it?"

Kai smiled ruefully. "I thought you might wonder something like that. Here's an object I brought back from my world," he said, holding out his mobile phone with a flourish. "I bet you won't have seen one of these before."

Naturally enough there was no Wi-Fi reception but there was enough to see to convince Ash he was looking at something alien. He handed it back, reluctantly. "I wish I could go to your world, it must be wonderful."

Kai grimaced. "Earth is probably like anywhere else. Some of it is wonderful and some of it isn't! We have some amazing technology, like the phone, but we also have a lot of wars and violence. I think this world, here, is pretty good, actually," added Kai, looking at Ash as he spoke.

Ash was looking down at the phone and didn't notice. "Is there any way of discovering whether I have a double there or not?"

"There are a couple of ways. I can take a photo—an imagegram—of you and run it through our facial recognition program. That only works, of course, if your double is in our system somewhere."

Ash was staring at him with a blank expression, and Kai hurried on, unwilling to embark on detailed technical explanations.

"And there's another way, which we could try if you like. Oddly enough, this method was the one being tested when the Butcher escaped."

He picked up the transporter and stood with his back to Ash. "Press your finger, here on this button. There's a tiny needle which will take a blood sample and analyse it. If you have a living match on Earth, the light should glow red. Don't press too hard though, or you'll activate the machine."

Ash didn't hesitate. He pressed his forefinger to the button, wincing as he felt the needle. The light glowed red. Ash stared.

"Try it again!" pressed Kai, trying not to get too excited. Visions of them travelling together, between Earth and Gaia flashed into his head.

Ash tried the test with the forefinger of his other hand—with the same result. He didn't look as thrilled as Kai had expected.

Ash looked at Kai and chewed his bottom lip. "Actually, now that I know there's another me somewhere, it feels really weird. I'm not sure that I like it."

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, from what I've seen it's only the physical aspects which are identical. The personalities can be quite different. Opposite, almost. Just look at Kayden and me. He's obviously in love with Sandra, and I'm-" Kai broke off abruptly, his cheeks flushing pink.

"Yes? You're what?" asked Ash, his gaze very intent.

"I'm in love with you," confessed Kai, looking directly at Ash.

"Are you? Truly? I wasn't sure... I mean, I wasn't sure how much was real and how much was..." Ash's voice trailed away.

"Here, let me show you," said Kai, putting the transporter back in the leather bag and kicking it under the bed. He took Ash's face between his hands. "This is real," he said, and kissed him, hard.

~~~

The Butcher had got bored waiting in the street for either Calvin or Ewans to leave the building. What the fuck were they doing in there that took so long?

To fill in the time, he broke into one of the apartments on the ground floor. Disappointingly, there was no-one home but at least he was able to make himself a cup of tea and a sandwich while he waited. A bottle of whisky on the sideboard provided a quick pick-me-up.