A door appeared in the far wall and the same old man walked into the room. The same, but different. Whole.

“You may leave us now Alan, thankyou.”

The clone smiled and nodded to Cass before turning and leaving through the door, which then vanished leaving blank white wall

“You will excuse us of course. As I mentioned, one cannot be too careful in these parts, especially these days. Madigan is my name.”

Cass studied the old man and immediately felt the life and power radiating out of him. This was no clone. There was a depth, a mass she could feel slightly warping the world around him, bending it with his presence.

“Oh yes, I am the real thing. I should have known you’d pick up on Alan immediately, but one does enjoy one’s little tests. You did much better than my earlier visitor, though you do have quite distinct talents.”

His bright eyes drifted down to the blade still clasped in her hand.

“May I see it?”

The only thing to trust was instinct, and it told Cass to trust this man. She handed the blade over.

As it left her hand she felt a deep pull in her gut, a tearing, a yearning for it back. Her shoulders tensed but she controlled the urge to spring.

“It’s been quite some time since I held one of these. There are others, of course, not all the same shape or size or power, but all capable of some surprising results. I assume you know?”

Madigan stepped over to the wall and dug the blade into it. He sliced it down effortlessly.

“Yes. Perhaps a little too powerful, if I do say so myself.”

He tossed the blade back to Cass quickly, and she caught it by the hilt and slung it back on her waist. It was still warm from his hand.

“I call them Rippers. Designed to alter the fabric of reality, at least, what we on this side consider reality to be. They were made for a specific purpose, long ago. Made by me. One of my most successful creations. Successful and dangerous. Now they’ve gone the way of all forgotten things and become altered. Scattered. Yet the power still remains, and with that the danger.”

He wiped his hand down his gown, as if eager to lose the sense of the blade against his skin.

“They have other names. Blood drinkers. Warpers. Twisters. One of their unfortunate side effects, I’m afraid. They tend to alter the wielder slightly with each use, warp them as they warp reality. Create hunger and chaos. You should be careful, it’s already quite advanced with you.”

Cass felt a sudden urge to grab the blade again, but she suppressed it. Wait. He is leading you somewhere.

“They have a way of finding those who were meant to wield them. It seems to have found you well enough. Perhaps it knows its purpose better than I. My creations often surprise me. Take Alan here for instance.”

Immediately the door reappeared and another clone walked in.

“Alan, what was that song I heard you all singing the other day?”

The clone smiled shyly and lifted his head.

“Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream.

Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

Life is but a dream.”

Madigan clapped his hands together.

“Bravo!” He looked at Cass. “I never taught them that, lord knows who did.”

He grinned to himself and shook his head.

“Quite apt really. As I said, constantly surprising. Thank you again Alan, that will be all.”

The clone smiled happily and turned to leave.

“Oh, just one more thing.”

Madigan stepped quickly in front of the clone and out the door before him. A moment later the door was gone, leaving Cass and the clone staring at the wall.

Cass felt her hand tighten.

“Sorry about this old boy, it’s just that I’ve learnt to read certain people, especially those addicted to something I’ve created.”

The voice was echoing down from the roof now. Cass looked down and found the blade ready in her hand.

“Our friend here should prove quite useful, but unfortunately she’s also a little hard to control at the moment. Best to keep at arms length.”

Alan turned towards her and smiled hopefully. She saw a dark figure reflected in his empty eyes.

Cass sprung back against the wall then up and over the unmoving figure. She flipped and landed lightly behind him, reached around his head, and in one movement twisted his neck and let the blade bite hungrily into his throat.

There was no blood, just a slumped figure on the floor. Cass felt herself relax, and was surprised when she found herself breathing again.

The voice echoed down from the roof.

“Such a pity.”