Dexter/Porter is a favorite character in the first Blades of Janus novel. You’ll be learning more about them in the books to come. Here’s a quick look behind the scenes of this fascinating character to whet your appetite.
Warning: there are spoilers for Pack of an epic level in this short piece—like three of the biggest plot twists are given away here. If you plan to read Pack , you might want to wait on reading this piece 🙂
This takes place around chapter four of Pack.
Something Borrowed
Copyright © 2016 Cassandra Chandler
Dexter kept his mouth shut until they reached his office. Most of the house was covered by surveillance, and even though Vaughn should be working on his current assignment, Dexter didn’t want to take a chance of being overheard.
His body felt tight—almost claustrophobic—with only one set of sensory organs and one brain to process data. The world seemed dulled and muffled.
As soon as the door was closed to his shielded study, he let loose on his “twin”.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Dexter said.
He couldn’t believe that Brock was borrowing the Porter replicant. Dexter hadn’t known Brock was still strong enough to do so.
The last time they’d seen their progenitor, he’d been crumpled in a wheelchair, barely able to hold himself up. Now, he was bending over the desk, staring at the feed Vaughn had transferred. Brock seemed transfixed.
“You’re too weak to borrow Porter like this,” Dexter said. “Or any of us. You need to go back.”
“How can you expect me to stay away? You saw the screen. That’s Tessa.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I do.”
Dexter had to get Brock to see reason. The longer he stayed in Porter’s body, the more of a drain it would be on his own.
“The last time you saw Tessa, she was twelve,” Dexter said.
“What’s your point?”
“You can’t be sure it’s her.” Dexter tried a different tack when Brock ignored him. “Does Eli know you’re here?”
“Not yet. I wanted to be sure before I tell him.”
“Let Vaughn confirm it.”
Still nothing.
“Even if that used to be Tessa, we can’t be sure she’s still human,” Dexter said. “She could be a dweller. One that’s irredeemable.”
The only response that garnered was a tightening of Brock’s lips.
Dexter grabbed Brock’s arm, trying to pull him away from the monitor. “Tessa was never your sister. Not really.”
That got Brock’s attention—and in the worst possible way.
Dexter felt his fingers jerk loose from Brock’s arm. His legs carried him back a few paces. He was trapped in his own body, being moved around like a marionette, and Brock was pulling the strings.
“You forget who you’re talking to.” Brock bit out each word
A trickle of blood fell from Brock’s nose onto his lips. Dexter felt wetness on his own face and knew he had the same. He had to do something to calm Brock down.
Borrowing Porter’s body was bad enough. Controlling Dexter while doing so could kill them all.
“My apologies, progenitor.”
Brock glared at Dexter for a moment before releasing him and turning back to the screen. The room started to spin, the physical toll rippling through Brock and into Dexter—into all of his replicants.
Brock shook his head, swaying on his feet. Dexter barely managed to reach the desk in time to guide Brock’s fall into the office chair behind it.
“Please, Brock. Porter and I have been with you since the beginning. If this Tessa is your sister, we’ll figure it out. We’ll keep her safe. We swear this to you. But if you die, we all die. Everything you and your father—all of us—have worked to create with the Blades of Janus will be destroyed.” Dexter struggled for the breath to finish. “No one will be left to protect her.”
Grimacing, Brock nodded, then his limbs spasmed, his head flying back against the chair. Dexter wrapped his arms around Porter’s head, trying to control the seizure, to prevent damage to his second body.
Borrowing Porter was bad enough. Lashing out at Dexter had pushed Brock way past his limits.
Dexter felt the Porter aspect of their consciousness flow from him into their other body as Brock left it, a brief burst of static in Dexter/Porter’s mind as their sensory input split.
They looked at each other, then wiped the blood from their faces. Wordlessly, they turned back to the monitor, gathering data, processing it, and coming up with a plan to bring Tessa to their base.
One way or another, they needed to know who she was.
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