The Systems Challenge

Jonas noticed a small room as they were walking along the hallway. There wasn't anything remarkable about it, but he did notice another door that was left open in the room that led to a hallway that wasn't as well furnished as the one they were in.

He didn't have a reason why she should go in there, but a feeling came to him that he should go in that direction. He was sure that Elmo would be fine on his own. Especially since he suspected that the doppelganger they were following likely took that path, which was why the door was open.

There wasn't any reason for him to suspect that, but it's what he could make sense from the feeling of why he should go in that direction. He wasn't used to going with felings like that, but with the environment they were in, it only felt like that was the only way he'd be able to get the upper hand against the doppelgangers.

While he only had the mythology of doppelgangers to work with on knowing what to expect from them, he couldn't be sure that the mythology would be correct in any way. Some things got blown out of proportion or even exaggerated in order to make whatever story more interesting. Such things did often take on a life of their own, to the point sometimes where everything had become completely fictional. On rare occasions things like that would remain mostly true, it was typically hard to tell which would be true and which wouldn't.

Even the last doppelganger that they'd fought, he hadn't been present for. He merely had seen the results of the fight, so he couldn't be sure that anything he'd learned about the doppelgangers from their mythology was true or not. Aside from what he could correlate from what those in his team had mentioned to him. Such as the ability to take on the shape of another, which he'd essentially been able to see firsthand with Elin a few minutes ago.

There were things that he couldn't be sure of that he suspected Elmo had merely assumed. Which was that the doppelgangers would not only copy the physical appearance as well as any abilities their tartget had, but also that they knew how the other person thought and possibly the thoughts of that person.

Jonas had to assume that it was merely Elmo's speculation on it, but at the same time, since he couldn't read minds himself, like Owen, he couldn't be sure if that was accurate or not. Just as he couldn't be sure that they would really, truly take on the complete persona of whoever they were mimicking.

After all, one of the best ways to spot a fake was to recognize subtleties that a person isn't even aware of that they do. Such as the words they phrase things in or various gestures they make, like maybe rubbing their nose at times or scratching behind their ear. All of that could be used to identify an imposter if you knew what to look for. Which he seriously doubted the doppelgangers were that well versed in Jonas and everyone in his group.

Not that he was sure that he'd be able to identify them through that method as well. It felt like it would be an exercise in futility if he tried. Which was part of the reason why he hadn't argued about helping Elin. Unless he was sure who he would be fighting, he didn't want to take the chance of aiding the wrong person. Especially in this situation where the consequences could be more devastating than he'd like.