“You’d want to know, right?” I asked.  “You wouldn’t want to give her the benefit of a doubt if she was playing you.”

Makes sense to me.

“You assholes are saying I’m gullible.”  If Bitch had hackles, they’d be standing on end.

No, they’re saying “better safe than sorry”.

Her fists were clenched at her side, her feet planted apart, as if she’d be ready to start swinging, whistling for her dogs to attack, at any moment.

“Hey,” I raised my voice.  “Answer the question!  Would you want to know?”

Firmness. Even in the question itself, she’s enforcing that.

“Yeah, but-”

“Then we get in touch with Cherish.  We get an answer from her.  She’d know.”

Nice, I was right about the method. And hey, I’m down for some more Cherish.

The difficult part is going to be getting it out of her, though.

“No.  It’s not-”  Bitch stood abruptly, and Bastard yipped.

It’s not what? Fake?

“Rachel,” Lisa tried, but Bitch turned away.

“There’s one way we could try to find out,” I said.

Interrogating Cherish?

Bitch turned at me and glared.  There was a viciousness in the look that I couldn’t blame entirely on her grudge against me or the current conversation.

Come on, Rachel, Taylor’s throwing you a bone here.

No dog pun intended, but if a doggy brain were to make her like to chew on metaphorical bones, that’s a bonus.

Just like Brian, there was a minefield there.  I couldn’t hope to guess at what would press her buttons.

Yeah, I’m sorry, I don’t think I can help you much. I’m a cat person.

“No,” Bitch clenched her fist, and I could see her dogs responding to her body language, tensing.  “Don’t buy it.”

…why not?

Is it that you wanted there to be someone who actually could relate to your animal-like mind, even if it was Siberian?

“Why not?”  Lisa asked, her voice gentle.

“What she said made too much sense.  She said things and she understood.  I’m fucked up.  I know I’m fucked up.

Maybe she’s actually like that, regardless of how real her body is. But conversely, maybe she’s just really good at acting.

Maybe she’s Maybelline.

Not good at dealing with people.  But I could deal with her.  I understood her.”

This would require quite a solid understanding of Rachel to act, though. I’m inclined to believe Rachel’s right, that it’s not entirely an act.

“That doesn’t mean she didn’t lie, Rachel,” Lisa said.  “It only means she understood you well enough to know how to deceive you.”

The question then is how? She’d been following Rachel, spying, yes, but a lot of it doesn’t really spell itself out without watching for a long time.

Cherish may be key to it, I suppose.

BLAG.

Brian nodded.

“He got the ability to grant healing from Othala.  Regeneration from Crawler.  But who was the shadowy figure he used to pulverize Burnscar?”

*waves hand in air* Ooh, ooh, I know, pick me!

“You’re thinking Siberian,” I said.

Lisa nodded.  “Sure.  What if she’s like Genesis?  Or Crusader?  What if Siberian has a very real, vulnerable human body somewhere nearby, always has, and the body she’s using is a projection?  Maybe it’s something even Jack doesn’t know.”

Yesss!

And Brian, having used a fraction of this power, ought to have an idea of how it works. For instance, does she assume direct control of the duplicate?

That gave us pause.  An in.  A way to stop the unstoppable beast-woman.

People have been trying to do this for a very long time, and you may be the first to figure out how to do it.

It’s a little concerning that it’s been figured out this early in the Arc, though.

“Like?” Trickster asked, as he found a seat on the arm of the chair Sundancer was sitting in.

Lisa said, “Brian’s new powers.  He was copying powers from the people who were in the darkness, yeah?”

Wait, are you suggesting that Siberian is the monochrome duplicate?

I was joking when I compared that to her!

So the Siberian we’ve been seeing might be the black and white duplicate of her original self, a duplicate which is – as I talked about in regards to Brian’s duplicate having a small fraction of the power – ridiculously powerful.

Perhaps she’s left her true body behind (who knows, maybe the duplicate even turned out to be it’s own person and killed the original Siberian), or perhaps she has to follow her duplicate around in the shadows. If it’s the latter, it might be the key to stopping her, as she has a more vulnerable body to attack, but that still won’t be easy considering that the duplicate can be dissipated and recreated where she needs it.

Either way, this is really cool.

“They didn’t,” Bitch said.

“How can you be sure?”

Maybe because of nuances to Bastard’s behavior?

“He smelled like the forest when I got him.”

While I see the point, they could’ve just put the tracking device in and then had him run wild for a while. They’ve been in town since at least Sentinel, they’ve had plenty of time.

“It would have taken them seconds to stick it in him.  It would mean there was a way to find you.  Find us.”

They already had that when they gave her Bastard, so unless they expected to lose Cherish, there wouldn’t be much reason to do it.

“No.  Doesn’t make sense, what she was talking about.  Being free.  Accepting that we’re animals.”

She wouldn’t put a wireless leash on you, is that what you’re saying?

“I wonder about that,” Lisa said, pulling her feet up so she was sitting cross-legged on the sofa.  “Maybe she was playing you?”

Rachel didn’t seem to even entertain that notion.

“Is she really that smart?” Alec asked.  “Jack is smart.  Bonesaw, Mannequin, sure, to varying degrees.  But Siberian?”

I mean, why not? She behaves ferally and all that, but she’s got a brain. Presumably.

“My instinct?” Lisa shrugged.  “She’s an actor.  Playing up the feral angle, hiding a deeper strategy.  She might even be playing a long con on her team.  Or maybe her intentions are pure but she’s keeping them in the dark about the key stuff.”

Huh…

I wonder if the rest of the team even knows she can talk.