Mouri was not in shape. She quickly tried to duck into a tea house – as she wasn’t dressed for a yoga session, she was sure she would be able to blend in there.
She failed miserably. Ami just got in line behind her. But Mouri was too tired to run again. The two got a quiet booth.
“First. Who are you?”
“Mouri Sarker. I am a postgrad neuroscience student at the university.”
“How do you know Usha?”
“We bang a lot.”
“Uh huh…?”
“You want me to be blunt, I can be blunt. We’ve been ‘in lesbians’ with each other for … 14 months, maybe? On the recommendation of one of my instructors, actually.”
“Is that a joke?”
“Movie reference. And the only defense against being called ‘close friends’ by scholars. Mind you, I didn’t think it was to be a lesbian relationship when we first met, but…”
“What are you saying, you thought Usha had a penis?”
Mouri weighted her options. “Not ‘I thought’. He did at the time. Or perhaps you don’t know she’s a shapeshifter of sorts.”
“Usha… used to be male?”
“No… She was just experimenting for the night. I didn’t realize then what sort of a blind date I was set up on, believe me, “
“Usha… can become a guy.”
“More than that. As implied by calling her a shapeshifter a moment ago. It’s… not supposed to be public knowledge. And She’d probably fund a more convoluted way to describe it.”
“And you’ve done… the dirty with her both ways.”
“It’s not just the physical relationship. But yes, I’ve loved and been loved by every part of her, as far as I’m aware. It’s had some very interesting points, but it’s also.. just a relationship between two people. Mutual support. And… some pranks that didn’t go quite as expected. Like the Briefcase Incident. Really expected she’d move us somewhere more private then.”
“A shapeshifter….”
A moment of silence let Mouri and Ami sip their tea.
“What did you think would happen? With the suitcase.”
“Oh, I suspected I could get her to fit. But… let me back up. As I understand it, a month or two before we met, Usha had fallen asleep at work, and had an ambulance called because she wouldn’t wake up, and was all rubbery – I don’t think anyone knew of her situation before then. One of the higher ups – Dr. Samantha Carter – One of my advisors – wanted to do a more through study, and eventually she agreed, If she could be ‘Jane Dough’ – d-o-u-g-h – instead of d-o-e. And eventually they wanted to do some single-blind gender studies. Which is how our date happened. I think my claiming to be bisexual is what qualified me.”
“So you fell in love because of a study?”
“Oh – not a formal study. Usha was curious and Dr. Carter amenable. It could have been… pretty evil if it were a formal study. But I guess it lead to a pretty prank-based vibe early on. That dynamic sort of died after the first split.”
“First…?”
Mouri gave her self a moment to think. Assemble.
“Sophi is an Usha. Instance, I think she calls it. Puts on a different face, leads a different life. “
“Wait – but I Sophi came in to interview people a long time ago -“
“Ah. did she?” Mouri finished her tea, “That must have been the original Usha at that point, then. Putting on a face to learn secrets. I could see it. But,” She leaned in, “You could have two Usha walking around, but everyone gets confused. Even her, I think. One Usha keeps her original face, another wears Sophi’s. Instead of confusing twins, you have roommates, free to live their own lives, while still having a shared history. And Vedika, and Biralee – though I don’t think we’ve entirely decided where Biralee came from yet.”
“Wait. There were three Usha at the Yoga session? Doesn’t that… violate causality or somthing?”
“She’s not time traveling. And I think that’s another movie reference – I’ve seen them hugging and they were fine. And. Four, actually.”
“Four. And you aren’t-“
“I’m older than Usha is. No. I just walked into this whole situation, and fucked it.”
Ami rolled her eyes, “Then who?”
“I noticed that Rina girl was staring at you when this whole conversation started.”
Ami paused. “Oh. Ohhh. She’s a really good actor, isn’t she.”
“Among other things.”
Ami finished her own tea, “It’s all very tele-drama. Isn’t it.”
“It could be. It doesn’t seem too dramatic day-to-day, honestly. More like, ‘could you not have told me how big this family is?’. I’m just hoping it stays that way after Dr. Carter publishes the next paper. Four Jane Doughs? People might go crazy.”
“I’ve got to get to work. How… how do I tell her I know? The Usha I work with?”
“I could tell her. But. I’d suggest a really big hug when nobody’s going to notice.”
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