B32C8/9 - Two Rachels

"Yeah, we have two Rachels," Jake said.

"Okay. Any particular reason?" Erek asked.

"It wasn't exactly deliberate," Cassie explained.

<They appear to be identical,> Ax said. <Except that one is passive and easily frightened, and the other is ->

"Excitable?" Marco suggested.

<- violent and aggressive,> Ax concluded.

Erek nodded. "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde?"

"Well, it's sure not Mary Kate and Ashley," Marco said.

(...)

"Cassie," Jake said in his I'm-losing-patience-but-still-trying-to-be-polite voice. "Tell us what you know."

"Starfish. They regenerate. You can chop off a leg and they can grow a new one. Somehow when that starfish was chopped in half, the starfish's regenerative powers created the possibility of two separate Rachels. One in each half."

<But, somehow the two halves were unequal, subtly different,> Ax said. <This is a very interesting phenomenon.>

"Interesting?" Marco shrilled. "It's bizarre! It's weird. It's wacko, creepy, horrific, incredible, absurd, and totally, totally, I mean totally insane. But also, kind of cool."