“I’m not sure if information about me, per se, is his endgame, but I’d wager he wants to know enough to be able to present himself as me without anyone knowing the difference.”
“I see,” Li murmured thoughtfully. “In any event, I can assure you that he has not attempted to make contact with me.”
I frowned. “How can you be sure?”
“Because I have means of establishing identity that go beyond the mere visual.”
“What do you mean?”
Li appeared thoughtful for a moment. “I know that I appear human and everyone treats me as such, but I am not. For instance, what you designate as eyes are ocular implants which allow me to see well outside the visible light spectrum. What you denote as ears are auditory devices that let me perceive sound well beyond the scope of human hearing.”
“I don’t think that would surprise anyone. We’re all aware that you have enhanced senses.”
“That would probably be an understatement,” Li noted. “In essence, I have internal systems, constructs, and configurations that permit me to detect, observe, and examine the world around me in ways that most of your contemporaries cannot. By way of example, when I look at you, it is not merely your physical traits I see – your height, weight, the shape of your face, and so on. I hear your heart beat, the rush of blood in your veins. I note your respiratory rate as you breathe, the air capacity of your lungs. As I speak right now, I sense the bones in your middle ear vibrating.”
I stared at him, almost in shock. “Li, are you saying that you perform an X-ray of some sort when you see me?”
Li shook his head. “No, that would be dangerous. X-rays pose a risk of harm due to radiation. I would never expose my friends to perils of that nature. What I have described is, practically speaking, just taking an assessment of certain bodily functions at a particular point in time. If necessary, I can compare those to an established baseline to determine if there are notable variations.”
I frowned, concentrating on what I’d just heard. “So basically, you take biometric readings every time you see me?”
“Biometrics typically refers to verification of identity through unique signifiers such as fingerprints, facial recognition, and earlobe geometry. What I can do goes well beyond that, but the short answer to your question is yes. And it is not just you for whom I take these readings – it is everyone. But it is not with a specific purpose in mind; it is simply the way I am designed.”
“But if we apply that to the issue we were originally discussing, you’re saying that my doppelganger couldn’t mislead you because, biometrically, you know what I look like.”
“Precisely.”
“But I’m able to alter my biological systems at will – tweak things internally so that I can go without sleep, don’t feel hunger, and so on. What if my double can do the same thing and tries to match the internal functions you monitor when you see me?”
“Any attempt to replicate the biometrics of your internal physiology is doomed to fail.”
Li’s statement caught me a little by surprise. Intrigued, I asked, “Why is that?”
“Because your heredity is unprecedented, which lends itself to a biology that is not only extraordinary, but particularly anomalous and exceedingly rare.”
I nodded, but stayed silent. Li’s statement alluded to the fact that my father was actually from another dimension. That, combined with the fact that I also had alien DNA, meant that I pretty much made up my own species. In short, if I ever needed a blood transfusion, the odds of finding a match were going to be pretty low.
Interrupting my thoughts, Li went on, saying, “You have internal organs and systems that no one fully understands and which don’t exist anywhere else in nature. In essence, you are sui generis – one of a kind.”
“And that being the case,” I concluded, “the fake Jim isn’t going to be able to mimic my biometrics. For instance, if I’ve got a supernova for a heart, he can’t replicate my biometric readings unless he has a supernova heart, too.”
“I sense hyperbole in your analogy, but your statement is generally correct.”
“Great,” I said sincerely. “That means two of the three people I’ve been hunting for can’t be fooled by my evil twin. Now I just need to find Smokey.”
“Smokey?” Li echoed, sounding perplexed.
“Yeah. I need to talk to him about my evil twin, but he’s not at school and isn’t at home. Apparently he’s missing in action.”
“But he is not missing,” Li stressed. “He is here.”
Chapter 41
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out,” I said to Smokey.
We were in his apartment at League HQ, sitting at a small table in the breakfast area, where my friend – still dressed in pajamas – was eating a bowl of oatmeal. After Li had advised me of his whereabouts, I had quickly reached out to Smokey – via the internal landline as opposed to his cell phone – and moments later, I had teleported to his quarters. Now, watching him enjoy his morning meal, I was reminded of the fact that I had missed breakfast myself, so I tweaked my internal systems to stave off any hunger pangs.
“First of all,” Smokey began, after swallowing a bite of oatmeal, “I’ve only been staying here a couple of days – not long enough to be considered ‘hiding out’ by any standard. Next, I’m here solely because Sarah keeps coming by the house to visit, and I don’t want to deal with her.”
“So you’re here to avoid her.”
“Pretty much.”
“By staying some place she’s unlikely to find you.”
“Yeah, so?”
“That’s the very definition of hiding out.”
He gave me a sideways look, as if there were something he wanted to say, and then we both started laughing.
“Okay, you got me there,” Smokey admitted a few seconds later. “Maybe it is hiding out. But she was calling me ten times a day and leaving twice as many
