silph_co | Video

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Hey there, kiddos!

So...

I'm guessing by this point you've all seen the dude that looks and sounds just like a really roughed up version of me.

That's Jack Number Two.

[He figures it's about time he addresses this situation, since it could end up being a sort of liability.]

Long ass story short, he's my doppelganger, he took an insanely high paying job to basically be a secondary me. And he was really good at it for a while, but then I guess some shit happened and I haven't seen him in years and he's all pissed off about things that happened when I wasn't even around.

[Like it's Jack's own fault that he ended up getting his ass kicked by terrorists and the casino went into lock down with Other Jack in it. The dude has Jack's DNA, he could have gotten out. Probably. Anyway the point was it wasn't anything that had been Jack's fault.]

He doesn't know I'm a high ranking member of this stupid organization. Don't mess with him or anything, cuz for one he's basically me and messing with me is a bad idea in general - I at least like most of you people. He doesn't.

And plus I'm trying to work shit out with him, so just leave him alone.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

He was a separate person before he was you?

[Like prototyping a Sprite. Ever wanted to know what you're like when you're someone else? No?

Tough shit, because it's the nature of the Game to ensure you do. Me especially, because my nature is to saturate reality with myself. That's also the nature of the Game. But I guess ego will always find a way.]

Been there. Good luck with that.

He was an actor. He came in for the job, he was just what we were looking for.

Thanks. It'll be fine, we got a history, he just needs to calm down and get over whatever bullshit he went through that, again, I wasn't involved in.

But I'm an easy target for him to get pissed at, it's not like there's many of us from our world here.

Yeah, I get it. A story needs a villain.

[For example: Team Rocket.]

Not that you did anything, just that you exist. And if he's been you, then you're his problem.

Like I said, been there.

Well shit, apparently so! You get it!

But I'm more than willing to give him another chance - hell, I miss the dude!

[I think for a second, forgetting myself enough to want to come up with a splinter I would have missed before the difference between us was dissolved by my Ultimate Self.

But frankly, I can't think of one. I was pretty well determined to escape all of them. All of me. I wasn't expecting a one-to-one equivalency, though. He's barely scratching the surface of what I've been through, and what I've become. I do remember how it felt, though. Before I truly understood.

Individually, I made myself miserable because I was miserable. Haunted by the potential I brought to each of my selves, the potential I could never seem to satisfy. Blah blah blah. Normal people, I assume, are generally satisfying normal potentials. The potential is normalised by the normalcy of their existence. So what I actually achieve by thinking about it is the realisation that of course Jack could and would miss this partial self of his.

Nice.]

Maybe give him a couple.

But worst case, you can always appeal to the human appetite for a story. Then sell him on a redemption arc.

Yeah, I backed off for now - gave him a lot to think about and withdrew.

Eh, maybe but...this is a real delicate case. Plus side is...he's me, in a lot of ways, so I know the angles to take.

[Or so Jack assumes.]

[Hearing someone say they've done the exact thing I would have in a situation is pretty fucking novel. I'm not sure I like it, but it's not like I invented the task of convincing people of what's already true. If it works, it works.]

So are we setting up a needlessly cryptic code phrase or something to make sure it's you before we shoot the wrong Jack, or are we just supposed to close our eyes and hope for the best?