raisetheearth

[ The number on the network seems to be the same as a certain Marina Santana that people know - including a few newbies now. It's taken from a low-quality camera phone, and the background seems desolate, and the blue-haired girl the video is looking at has shorter hair than Marina and, quite notably, has both of her eyes intact.

She sighs, and waves at the propped-up camera. ]

So it looks like we're getting new additions to this network for the first time in a while - and from what I've caught looking over the network, it coincides with a new wave of oddities.

[ Not-Marina leans in closer, eyes narrowed. ]

To everyone new, if you notice that I look identical to a certain Marina Santana, there is a good reason for it. Over a year ago, our planet created copies - doppelgangers - clones - what have you, of some of the reincarnations. Mirrored selves... and some of us are still alive. You may call me Umi Ryuuzaki, the name of Marina's past life, because I was in a hurry to be my own person and the name stuck well enough.

[ Yeah Marina, she doesn't really care how you feel about people talking about your past life. Just sayin'. ]

To everyone else, if this trend of strange occurrences continues, you'll be hearing and seeing more of me than you have for the past year or so.

It's... a pleasure. Goodbye. [ Although she'll chat with anyone who wants to.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've nothing against doppelgangers that sincerely want to help. Congratulations on surviving the invasion.

I never said that I sincerely want to help either, but thank you anyways.

Fair enough. Just as long as you mean us no harm, we don't have any quarrel.

I have no need to pick any fights with any of you, any more.

You speak like you had a reason, once.

[Just because Lazarus isn't crazy about the idea of doppelgangers, for obvious reasons, doesn't mean he isn't keenly interested in their motives.]

I had a reason, and I will admit that it was not a good one. I was easily convinced by the... more troublesome among us.

[ Her voice shakes slightly. ]

I couldn't turn on my Jasmine.

[Empathy, shame, regret? That's good. That's a start toward actually relating to one of the copies and giving them a chance to be a help. Or, barring that, at least not a hindrance.]

Your Jasmine? Another doppelganger?

[ However she was created, she's a person... although she doesn't always agree with that. ]

The very same. She was oppressive, violent, and I was completely under her sway - but I carry the blame for failing to even attempt to change her course.

[Lazarus doesn't always agree either. It's a prejudice he's fighting hard to overcome even if it's fully understandable where his particular one stems from if they know anything about his horrifying doppelganger.]

It's not your job to change other people. Just to accept or resist their influence. It's not your fault, the way you're describing it.

...I could have attempted to break away from her, with the help of all the numbered, regardless. It would have been easy to plead my case, that I wanted free.

[ By that she means she's not gonna stop blaming herself; and she does still seem to miss Jasmine, on occasion, even as she sometimes has nightmares about her. ]

But thank you for being understanding, all the same.

Life's full of regrets. We all have things we could have done and ultimately, they don't matter, as long as we can't change the past. That's all it takes to understand; it's not a terrifically difficult concept to grasp.

Simple to grasp, far more difficult to put into action. The human mind is not a purely logical machine, most of the time, for most people. I can recognize the futility of my thoughts, and still be unable to banish them.

Evidently, very similar things make us unhappy.

Feeling useful helps. Find a cause, attach yourself to it, and take it day by day. That's my advice if you want it.

I have plans to do so... something bigger than simply surviving, at any rate.

There's certainly a lot more to living than surviving. I wish you all the best in your endeavor.

I may be ready to try living now, yes.

Deciding is the first and hardest step. I've been there. I still struggle sometimes, but it's never been as bad as that initial step. Keep at it.

Thank you, and good luck with it to you as well.

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