Mimicry

An Illusionary Mask

Written by J. L. Gryphon

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Greetings to those below. I am Death, though Azrael is the name I claim. And that is what we are discussing today, that thin concept of identity that is so often an illusion.

CCertainly those with mimicry talents understand this better than most, and I dare say they take advantage of its flexibility. Then again, that is sort of the point of mimicry, all things considered.

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A Brief Explanation

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by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay

Those with mimicry talents, or just “mimics” as they are often called, are those with the power to imitate anything about another person or animal and apply it to themselves. And I mean anything. The sound of a person’s voice, the feature’s of a person’s face, or even the innate ability one might have to play the piano. All might be copied by the mimic and perfectly imitated. Suddenly there would be another person who played the piano with the exact same style, flair, and skill as yourself. Heaven forbid they beat you to the punch and apply their newfound “talent” before you do. This has happened, and it is somewhat tragic that the one born with the talent, if beaten to the punch, is the one accused of copying unless the mimic is otherwise discovered. I suppose mimics bring a whole new meaning to identity theft. Even your skills are not safe from them.

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Rules & Rewards

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by Luis MGB from Pixabay

Fortunately, mimics do not typically use their talent for evil. Also considering how rare mimics are, it is unlikely you will ever encounter one in your entire lifetime. In fact, they are so rare, some have stopped believing they even exist.
That said, mimics may be found among any of the Orostian peoples. Except for dragons, that is. Oddly, this dragon exemption applies to those with shadowstealing talents, too, though no one has managed to discover why . . . yet. All this to say, though mimics have a unique name signifying their group, it is important to understand they are not a race unto themselves. It would be unwise to say, “George is a mimic” and believe that was all he was because underneath whatever illusion he might be casting, he could be a human, a Sithuwaye, or even a Zurrinaih. A human isn’t too much of a threat, but Sithuwaye and Zurrinaih both can be quite lethal if the mood strikes, and it may be prudent to be aware of whom you are dealing with should you accidentally offend them.
Not that you could be aware, of course, if they had mimicry talents and wished to conceal their true identity. Mimicry illusions are almost impossible to detect with the natural senses. In fact, mimicked sound is always undetectable from the real thing. So, too, is smell, taste, and touch.

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Restrictions & Risks

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by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

A Visual Problem

But, before you begin to wonder how mimics have not simply taken over the world by now, I’m afraid being a mimic is not nearly as great as it sounds. While it might seem wonderful to be able to copy any talent or look, the price you pay is high. And, as far as copying goes, while sound, taste, touch, and smell might all be fooled, the visual illusion, which indeed would be the most useful, is the one most mimics avoid. This is because, the singular type of illusion in danger of being detected is the visual kind. While whatever visual illusion a mimic casts is undetectable to the naked eye, there is one thing that can always penetrate it.
A mirror.
You see, mirrors cannot lie. When the first mirrors were made, this was a necessary feature. A safety measure if you will. But the need for such methods of detection has dwindled. So, too, has the knowledge mirrors have this function in the first place. But, as they were designed, they automatically reflect the true nature of a person no matter what powers the person may use. In the case of shadowstealers, mirrors have a bit of trouble considering their transformations are physical, so the mirror compensates by displaying a smudge over whatever shadowstealer it might be viewing, as if it is confused which image is the truth. But with mimics, that is pure illusion, and a mirror cannot be fooled by such tricks.

Aging

Easily managed, though, right? All you’d really want to do is sing better or learn how to cook like a master chef. And, if you really did want to trick the eye, there are ways to hide from mirrors and remain undiscovered. Certainly being a mimic still sounds all right.
Well, I did say there were many drawbacks, didn’t I? And I believe the most significant one is the speed with which such talents cause you to age. Mimicry is not a learned ability. You must be born with it. So, had you been born with mimicry talents, by the age of one, both your mind and body would be that of a ten-year-old. By the age of two, you would be the equivalent of a twenty-year-old, and so on and so forth. By the time you reached the literal age of ten, you would die, having lived the equivalent of a hundred years. Indeed, when I have come to collect these ten-year-old mimics, it is not a child I collect, but a wrinkled old man or woman born just ten years ago.

by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay

There now. That is something to give you pause, isn’t it?
Fortunately, there is one thing that can help with this, though it does take a certain awareness and skill to work properly, and it has the very large chance of backfiring altogether. Since a mimic can copy anything and apply it to themselves, this includes even lifespans; therefore, the only way to stop this rapid aging is to successfully copy another person’s lifespan. This would allow you to age as that person would instead of your own short-lived fate. Most mimics, should they be lucky enough, copy a Zurrinaih elf’s lifespan, which is quite a change considering Zurrinaih are estimated to live 5,000 years. Quite the upgrade from just ten years.
I can hear you asking, though, if we are in the business of copying lifespans, why not just copy from a dragon and live for 15,000 years or more? Or, just fix it altogether and copy a Sithuwaye elf’s immortality? Well, the first reason is, the longer the lifespan, the harder it is to copy, and remember I said this has the very real chance of backfiring, meaning the mimic dies straight away. It is a dangerous business playing with the thread of one’s life, after all. The second reason is, mimics have tried this in the past, but it has never worked. In fact, no mimic has ever succeeded in mimicking anything from a dragon. It seems while dragons are exempt from possessing mimicry talents, so, too, are they exempt from whatever allows the mimic to mimic in the first place. As for the Sithuwaye, while a mimic might succeed in mimicking their general aspects, their fiery sithu in their blood, the thing that makes them immortal, seems beyond a mimic’s power to imitate. So then, the next most long-lived thing aside from a Sithuwaye or a dragon is the Zurrinaih, hence them being a popular choice.
Of course animals are another, easier option to mimic from, and you could very well mimic a beetle’s lifespan if you so desired. I . . . don’t know why you would do this, but the point is you could if for some reason you wanted to.

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Mimics Today

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by pendleburyannette from Pixabay - Modified by J. L. Gryphon

Speaking off odd mimicry choices, Ree is a notable example of a mimic living today. He is the only one I know of, but unlike other mimics who prefer copying skills—a thing that makes them virtually undetectable unless otherwise exposed by some plagiarism scandal—Ree almost solely uses visual illusions despite that being the weakest aspect of his available power. Doing this immediately exposes him as a mimic, not because of mirrors, but because of what Ree has chosen to look like.
Ree is not green-skinned, his eyes are not gold, and he is not three-feet-tall as looking at him with the naked eye would cause you to believe. How Ree appears has no comparison on Orosta. I personally have likened him to a “goblin” in the past, but I am borrowing that term from the land of elsewhere since, in the world of Orosta, there are no such things as goblins. Nor are there any myths about goblins. Various Orostians have likened him to a gecko, a green fish, a newt, or some sort of bipedal lizard, all those being as close as they can come to explaining him. But in any case, it is clear to any Orostian that the only way Ree could achieve looking the way he does is if he had mimicry talents.
As for his rapid aging, Ree was able to get a handle on that, though it was . . . well. Ree is an odd little thing at the best of times. Unlike other mimics, Ree didn’t understand his true nature until he was two years old, meaning he had already rapidly aged to the equivalent of twenty. I suppose he would have continued to age, unaware of why, had certain things not . . . happened . . . that allowed him to become educated on the subject. Fortunately he became aware before he aged too much, though I imagine it would have been terrifying in those early days not knowing why.
He’s fourteen now, well past the age he would have died, and I think he could still be considered the equivalent of being in his twenties or early thirties, so I think it is safe to assume he successfully copied a lifespan from someone. I’d wager it was a Zurrinaih. Hmm. If so, that would probably mark the one time he’s ever copied anything from a person. Interesting.

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Origins

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by andresalinas81560 from Pixabay

But, since I have mentioned Ree now, that brings me to something I’d rather not discuss about mimics. The origin of mimicry is . . . ah, skeeters of hell. I have mentioned shadowstealers a few times now, and indeed, mimics are similar to them in many ways. With that in mind, though I shudder to say it, shadowstealers and mimics both originate from the same, blood-chilling source. Except while shadowstealing talents came into being before mimicry talents, mimics represent a . . . return, if you will, to something I think is better left forgotten. It is not a complete return, and I think “watered down” and “unstable” are good ways to describe the current level of a mimic’s abilities. Because what they do, while I have so far used the word “illusion” to describe it, has a more specific name. It is an old, ancient name that has similarly been forgotten. Again, I think this is for the best, because if mimics, like shadowstealers, really knew what it is they only dabble in, they might be terrified to live in their own skin.
Really, I am glad mimics are rare, even more rare than shadowstealers, because every time I encounter one, I feel a jolt of panic, like I’m witnessing a child playing with a gun. Truly they have no idea what vicious echoes lurk inside them, and while a part of me hopes they never will, things that have yet to happen must happen. A secret long buried must resurface. A dead memory must be resurrected, or else . . . well, I don’t want to think about “or else.” I just hope when it happens history won’t repeat itself. Because while my master has a plan, choice is law, and not even my master can change that. So then, I don’t know how it all will end. Choices have yet to be made.

Signed your nervous narrator,
Azrael the Star of Death

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Book Information

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Image by Ruth Archer from Pixabay

Associated Species

• Elf
• Tressian
• Jeenta
• Undine

Associated Ethnicities

• Sithuwaye
• Zurrinaih
• Rhyonian
• Altyman