"I think it did," Shiro agrees. Everything's so heavy - his body, gravity, even the air in his lungs. Some days he's painfully aware of how present and alive he is. Watching from afar was agonizing and frustrating to say the least... but he didn't hurt there. The witch had been very thorough in getting the damage just right.
"You know how you found me, so I won't go over that, but you should know that the man you found in that fighter-craft was me, at least in all the important ways. He didn't know any differently, he had to escape from a Galra ship, the burns and injuries and hypothermia were all real. He knew everything I did. His DNA would match mine almost completely."
It's always hard to say this part without letting his temper get the better of him. Breathe. Focus. "The witch kept samples of me from when I was in the Arena. She cloned me. She accelerated his growth, and then broke him down to match my body in every particular. She knew the injuries I had sustained, right down the the claws across my ribs. She knew. So she had to make him match. There are things they did to him--" Shiro bites through the sentence, tasting the bitter, sour note of rage and fear and helplessness. His hand hurts. Oh. It's clenched tightly enough that his nails are making impressions through Keith's old glove. Carefully and deliberately he uncurls his fingers. Forces himself to relax his shoulders. Get it together, Shirogane.
"Regardless... He didn't know that she'd programmed him. He's a sleeper agent, Princess." Gods. How many times has he told this story now, and how many times has it drained him. And yet it hasn't gotten much better. "Those headache spasms he gets where he's in a lot of pain but won't talk about it? He's getting flashes of the witch. I don't know how, and neither does he, but it hurts, and then it's gone. The information is so fast and muddled that it's really difficult to even understand what he's seeing. He thinks he's hallucinating. But... there will be a point where she reaches across space and triggers something in his head. It locks him out of his own body. He's... there, but unable to do anything. He has to watch. His body will try to kill you." It's so hard to force the words out. Even as a warning they sound wrong. Twisted. Inconceivable. "And the other Paladins. He doesn't want to, but he'll take Lotor and go."
Nausea swirls unpleasantly in his stomach. When was the last time he ate? Doesn't matter. "Keith will follow him in the Black Lion. And he'll find him. Sort of." Shiro tries to clear his throat, but it doesn't help much. "That clone isn't the only one."
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"You know how you found me, so I won't go over that, but you should know that the man you found in that fighter-craft was me, at least in all the important ways. He didn't know any differently, he had to escape from a Galra ship, the burns and injuries and hypothermia were all real. He knew everything I did. His DNA would match mine almost completely."
It's always hard to say this part without letting his temper get the better of him. Breathe. Focus. "The witch kept samples of me from when I was in the Arena. She cloned me. She accelerated his growth, and then broke him down to match my body in every particular. She knew the injuries I had sustained, right down the the claws across my ribs. She knew. So she had to make him match. There are things they did to him--" Shiro bites through the sentence, tasting the bitter, sour note of rage and fear and helplessness. His hand hurts. Oh. It's clenched tightly enough that his nails are making impressions through Keith's old glove. Carefully and deliberately he uncurls his fingers. Forces himself to relax his shoulders. Get it together, Shirogane.
"Regardless... He didn't know that she'd programmed him. He's a sleeper agent, Princess." Gods. How many times has he told this story now, and how many times has it drained him. And yet it hasn't gotten much better. "Those headache spasms he gets where he's in a lot of pain but won't talk about it? He's getting flashes of the witch. I don't know how, and neither does he, but it hurts, and then it's gone. The information is so fast and muddled that it's really difficult to even understand what he's seeing. He thinks he's hallucinating. But... there will be a point where she reaches across space and triggers something in his head. It locks him out of his own body. He's... there, but unable to do anything. He has to watch. His body will try to kill you." It's so hard to force the words out. Even as a warning they sound wrong. Twisted. Inconceivable. "And the other Paladins. He doesn't want to, but he'll take Lotor and go."
Nausea swirls unpleasantly in his stomach. When was the last time he ate? Doesn't matter. "Keith will follow him in the Black Lion. And he'll find him. Sort of." Shiro tries to clear his throat, but it doesn't help much. "That clone isn't the only one."