>https://youtu.be/Nb8LwIusNdQ"Ellery," you say.
Madrigal glares. Ellery's eyes land on you for a long, long moment, then he looks away. You lace your fingers. "Um, I was just curious why you made your fake version <span class="mu-i">kill</span> himself all the time. Isn't that kind of weird? And mean? Are you mad at him for stealing your whole life, so it's a revenge-type— do you <span class="mu-i">feel</span> anything when he kills himself?"
Ellery's bouncing has halted, replaced with a rapid rubbing of one thumb against another. "No."
"To what question?"
He approximates a shrug. The wind blows cold.
"Do you feel <span class="mu-i">anything</span> he feels? The whole mirror thing is— I mean— it's different from gooplicates, isn't it? They're goo, he's mirror... goo. I guess. Wouldn't using regular goo be easier?"
"It would've been fucking obvious," Madrigal sneers. "Jab him in the side, he squishes?"
"Isn't coming back from the dead obvious?" you say.
Earl's been sitting silently and bemusedly the whole time, but he brightens up here. "Ha! For Ellery? Coming back from the dead for <span class="mu-i">him</span> is like—"
"I don't come back from the dead, BK. I don't die." Ellery switches thumbs. "That Guy 2 does. I'd prefer it if he wouldn't, <span class="mu-i">Charlotte,</span> but I don't get a lot of say."
"Oh?" you say. ("Fucking— That Guy 2?" Madrigal mutters.) "Who does get a lot of say?"
The waves slam against the glassed beach. "It's a figure of speech."
"Really? So you're saying you alone made a functional, non-goo doppelganger in the span of— how long did it take between the break-up and him acting weird, Madrigal?"
"He <span class="mu-i">always</span> acts weird," she says. "If you mean extra-weird, fucking instantly."
"In the span of effing instantly? That, or you had one stored somewhere? But you'd still have to <span class="mu-i">make</span> it. Can you explain how it works to us?"
"Glass."
You fold your arms. "And?"
"It's extra-real. Your reflection— in a manse, it—"
More than you were hoping for, but he's still fumbling. "I was just asking, since Headspace has non-goo clones too."
"<span class="mu-i">Headspace?</span>" Madrigal says. "What the fuck has that got—"
Ellery's looking at you. Steadily. "So you are one of them?"
You scoff, but Earl beats you to it. "You're saying she's an <span class="mu-i">employee?</span> Come on! You're the one who invited her!"
"Indeed!" you say. "Nay, I am no employee. I just— I talked to some people. Geez. And they talked about the suspicious clones, and— about locitis! Yes. How do <span class="mu-i">you</span> feel about locitis, Ellery?"
How does he feel? He's shot out of his slump, his nails gripping the edge of the lounge chair. He's wearing the traditional panicked grin. The clouds are thick above him. "How the <span class="mu-i">fuck</span> do you—"
"I talked to some people," you say non-committally.
"No you didn't! No you <span class="mu-i">didn't.</span> Gullshit. Locitis? Fucking gullshit. That's— that's—" He's really getting himself worked up. "Fuck you. We're not talking about that."
"Great!" Madrigal says. "So we can talk about how you've been <span class="mu-i">railing</span> another—"
(1/3?)
