Doppelganger

By: DemonClowSorceress

Now that I've had the time to re-watch and catch up with the entire series, more Razaya moments to come! Spoilers up to "...In Love and War."

Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all. I'd like to have the Interceptor though - sweet ship.

Zamaron really had been more trouble than it was worth. Not only did we barely escape with our lives, but the episode left me fighting emotions I knew would not fade away quietly.

To distract myself I begin tinkering with spare parts to create a basic trap cube. It will probably never be used, but I like to keep my skills sharp in case we find ourselves in a troublesome situation. A likely situation, given our predilection for attracting momentous amounts of trouble.

The Star Sapphires' home planet is but an unpleasant image in our rear scanners, but what I said in the throne room still rings clear in my mind. The words I flung at her once that she-witch Aga'po confirmed what had been a wayward suspicion in my mind since I first laid eyes on Aya's robotic form.

"It's true. You - you were in my mind. You stole the image of Ilana from my memories!"

I remember the anger I had felt. Not at Aya, but at myself for being a fool. A blind, stupid fool. How could I have not noticed the similarities? Every day Ilana haunts my memories, her voice a whisper in my mind and a shiver down my spine. Every night, she walks through my dreams. But despite my reliving every memory of her life and death, I could not see her image had been reborn in the white-and-green robot that stood beside me.

"I meant no harm. I simply based my mechanical form on the last imprint I had in my database."

I remember Aya's expression, simultaneously crestfallen and remorseful. A child who hadn't realized the magnitude of her ignorance. She had wanted to say more, but Aga'po cut her off and readied her spear to run me through. Then the Green Lanterns arrived, and we made our escape.

It has been two days since then, and Aya has managed to avoid me for the entire time. A remarkable feat, since she is essentially the entire ship. But manage it she has, leaving a room as I enter, purposely speaking to Hal Jordan or Kilowag despite my being closer, averting her eyes or letting them drift over me as if I were invisible. Jordan and Kilowag began shooting me looks, but I did not respond to them. I did not wish to interact with Aya either.

Ugh. Setting the half-completed cube down on my workstation, I sit back and cross my arms. I should've known it wouldn't be able to distract me enough.

"Razer?"

It's her. She's standing in the doorway to the common area, her hands clasped respectfully in front of her. I can feel her blue eyes on me.

I don't answer. Two can play the avoidance game.

"I know that you are still displeased with my appropriation of your late wife's form - "

"Don't mince words, I'm angry," I snap, turning to glare at her. So much for mutual avoidance. I convey my irritation with my sharp tone. "You had no right."

If she had been a living person, she might have flinched. Instead, she blinks. "I meant no harm."

I rise to my feet, tired of having to look up at her. The added height gives me some measure of control, and it forces her to look up to meet my eyes. "I told you before at the prison planetoid. My past is private."

"You also said that although the illusions you experienced were painful, you did not care. You were able to see her again, even for one more moment."

This is one of those moments that I dislike arguing with Aya. She can throw my words back at me with far better accuracy. "You still had no right to take her form."

"Which is why I did not develop my physical form to precisely match Ilana's," Aya says. She walks forward to stand closer, closing the gap between us to merely a meter. "I made several adjustments to my features in an attempt to disguise the origin of the base template. I did not wish to - " She falls silent as her eyes drop to stare at the ground.

I narrow my eyes at her. "Did not wish to?" I repeat, attempting to goad her into completing her sentence.

"I did not wish to purposely cause you pain," she finishes quietly.

"Well you failed on that aspect."

"For that, I am sorry." She looks up at me again, and I wonder how I could have ever missed the clues. Her eyes are the same shape as my wife's, her face shape and features practically identical. It is as if looking at a picture with very slight changes. "But I now have several different image references to choose from in my database. I can change my facial appearance if you wish."

Although she is an artificial intelligence, Aya has come a long way since our first interactions. A nav-com AI that developed a will of its own (not surprising, comprised and powered by Green energy) she goes out of her way to help as best she can, whether it is searching for Kilowag on her own or fighting with me against a dozen Star Sapphires.

She also tries to understand things that nav-coms ordinarily would not take time to understand. I have seen her watching the Sergeant as he mopes around the ship pining for his woman, how she listens to Jordan when the Earthman starts talking about his woman Carol. It is the little things she wishes to understand, like discomfort or pain or sadness, that make her try to fix them.

The fact that she is willing to change her physical appearance in an effort to spare me pain...it is something no other AI would ever consider asking.

Ilana was my true love. Aya may bear her face and form, but they are as different as night and day. I realize that now, and the knowledge lets me look at the face they share and see only Aya.

Suddenly I realize that she is awaiting an answer. I shake my head. "No. That is not necessary."

"Are you certain? It would be no trouble."

"Kilowag and Jordan would just ask questions I would not want to answer." I regard her face again. "Besides, it is no longer an issue."

She tilts her head slightly in puzzlement. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," I say honestly. "You are fine the way you are."

I have never met another being in this universe like Aya. I doubt that I ever shall.

They HAD to talk about what happened. Seriously, you can't just let something like that go without a talk.

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