Jack of Harts

Jewel spent most of her first life being a Hellcat starfighter. Her name was Mercedes back then, and she was the very image of an old fashioned courageous aviator. She resigned after Olivia’s court martial and let her old identity fade away. I was rather surprised the first time I saw Jewel. New obnoxious hair. New tie dyed shirt and painted on jeans. The girl that had once been military recruitment poster material looked more at home in a hippy commune when she walked up to me that first time. It was an amazing disguise. It was all the more amazing because she lived it. I remember her the way she was before. Quiet. Solid. Professional. Jewel is nothing like that at all. Jewel is loud. Jewel is flighty. Jewel is aggressively casual about everything. It’s like she decided to be someone else and just…changed everything. And that is the secret to her success. I don’t think Jewel is a disguise at all. She’s just as real as Mercedes ever was. And that brings up some interesting questions about the nature of cybernetic life.

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