On our first night in Egypt, Ginny and Luna were so excited that they couldn't stop chatting, so they fell asleep quite late. If not for the excitement of what we would be doing the next day, they probably would have stayed up all night. As for me, although I stayed involved in the conversation until both of them fell asleep and then got a little rest, my other "selves" were working tirelessly in the fiefdom to prepare the next day's surprise.
Before dawn, I had already gotten up and went over to wake up my little sisters, though not before taking a couple of photos of them because of the comical way they had ended up sleeping.
Both of them woke up dazed and still tired, but I had to wake them up if we wanted to get everything ready before the others got up. Using my power, I dispelled their fatigue and revitalized them in an instant, leaving them as full of energy as if they had slept eight hours straight and were ready for adventure... though before that, there was a task to complete.
"Here," I told them, handing each of them a notebook along with a feather quill engraved with runes.
Both sat up in bed and took the objects curiously, looking at me as they waited for an explanation regarding that peculiar gift.
"Open them and start writing. It's a 'Copycat Notebook,' a very special artifact capable of creating a copy of you—a substitute that will replace you while we go off on our own. You need to draft a description of yourselves while concentrating strongly on your own identity. The quill will drain part of your magic to print your essence onto the pages, similar to how ghosts are formed," I explained to them calmly. "Come on, let's finish quickly."
Driven by curiosity, they immediately opened the notebooks and began writing. I stayed by their side, guiding them on what to include. I instructed them to jot down brief physical details—not entirely indispensable for the form, but useful to anchor the image of their "self"—in addition to basic data like their name and age for the same reason. Then they moved on to describe their personality, tastes, dislikes, quirks, habits, fears, and major life events. Every trait, however concise, had to be captured to convey the essence needed to determine how that copy would react under any circumstances. Logically, it was impossible to summarize a human being in a few words—living beings were infinitely more complex—but that was what the magical quill was for: in addition to imprinting their magical signature on the notebook so the copy emitted their exact magical trail, it channeled those nuances impossible to express in text through their own essence, perfecting the power of the written word and endowing it with profound accuracy.
The process left them physically, mentally, and magically exhausted, as they pushed themselves to the limit to detail every aspect to guarantee the plan's success and be able to "escape." When they finished, both let out a sigh of fatigue while stretching their necks. The magical strain had been considerable: driven by enthusiasm, the more information they poured in, the more energy the notebook absorbed from them. However, with me right there, that posed no problem. I didn't even need to draw on my own power to restore them; I simply offered them perfected potions from the [fief] that restored their magical energy at high speed.
Once they finished, they looked at me anxiously, waiting for the magic to begin, and I didn't keep them waiting. I gave them instructions to activate it, and as soon as they placed their hands on the covers and recited the incantation, both notebooks leaped from their laps to float in front of them. Before their eyes, the artifacts transformed into two low-definition figures standing like inert mannequins, while a magical symbol appeared engraved on the girls' palms.
It happened suddenly. Despite the crude appearance of those silhouettes, both girls got out of bed, driven by curiosity. Suddenly, the defective copies began to emit a magical flash, vibrating and turning blurry. The "definition" of their shapes began to sharpen very rapidly, and within seconds, the doubles' appearance drew astonishingly close to the girls'. Before they finished completely "clearing up," I used my magic to dress them appropriately.
It was striking for them to witness the figures in front of them molding themselves until they became exact replicas of their own bodies. Had they been a bit more perceptive, they would have noticed that both emanated a magical trail that was ninety percent identical to theirs, albeit somewhat fainter.
After the physical transformation came the "awakening." The lifeless eyes of those clones went from absolute absence to gradually sparking with life. Suddenly, the bodies set stillness aside: they moved gently, adopting postures almost identical to the girls', and their chests began to rise, simulating breathing. Ginny's copy stood staring fixedly at the real Ginny, while Luna's replica observed her surroundings with curiosity.
"Is that... me?" Ginny asked, feeling a strange unease as she saw herself being watched by a living reflection rather than one in a mirror.
"Yes, but I'm only a copy. I'm not really you," Ginny's clone replied using her exact same tone of voice.
Ginny shuddered and instinctively almost drew her wand at a response that unsettled her as much as it fascinated her.
Luna, for her part, turned out to be far more "invasive" with her copy: she began stroking its face and examining it by touch. The replica showed no annoyance whatsoever; in fact, it adjusted its posture to facilitate the inspection.
"Are you like my sister? Will you be the Mirrored Luna?" the real Luna asked, staring straight into its eyes.
"Or Anul..." the copy replied.
"Is this like your clones, Red?" Ginny inquired, divided between awe, excitement, and fear at that identical copy of herself.
Following Luna's example, Ginny began inspecting the other Ginny's body. Upon confirming a one-hundred-percent similarity—at least in external appearance—she couldn't help giving me a strange look that I couldn't quite comprehend; right after, she blushed and looked away.
"Exactly," I nodded with a smile. "It's based on my skill, but it goes much further. They can take over your places and will act like you in the vast majority of situations. They possess their own intelligence, so they aren't simple automatons: they can make their own decisions based on the information you poured into the notebooks. Furthermore, they are linked to you." I pointed to the marks engraved on their hands. "At any moment, you can take control of these copies remotely, perceive what they perceive, and operate their bodies as if they were your own. Mind you, you'll feel a certain disconnect, a lack of sensitivity, and tiredness, so you must be cautious not to overdo it or hurt yourselves without realizing it, since you won't feel pain."
Both concentrated on the symbols on their hands just as I instructed. Almost immediately, their real bodies closed their eyes and lost consciousness, forcing me to act quickly to catch them before they fell. It was their first time using the transfer and they weren't used to multitasking like I was; however, in the future, they would manage to control it without entirely losing mastery over their bodies, remaining upright though motionless while operating their doubles.
The copycats seemed to awaken a second time, but now with far greater vividness. Ginny and Luna had replaced the clones' consciousnesses and were curiously observing their real bodies, which I arranged comfortably on the bed. Through their doubles, both began touching themselves, studying each other, jumping around, throwing punches into the air, and carrying out all sorts of physical tests.
Just as I had warned them, the disconnect was obvious: even if they could move those bodies, they felt as though they weren't truly there. They barely felt muscle tension, lacked the need to blink, and didn't even need to breathe. The most dangerous part was the absence of fatigue or pain; they could tear a muscle or fracture a bone with ease without realizing the severity of the damage. Added to that, the clones exhibited a noticeable physical and magical weakness compared to their real selves: they were exact replicas, but they did not possess the same power.
Shortly after, both returned to their real bodies and woke up in their beds, while the copies' consciousnesses resumed control in an instant.
"They don't have much magic at their disposal either, so any charms they perform will be basic and quite weak; keep that firmly in mind," I added as an instruction while the clones, under my guidance, began getting ready to take on the girls' role. "Additionally, every time you take direct control, the copies will log your actions. That, along with any details you add to the notebooks later on, will serve to update them and make them increasingly precise. Oh, and you can order them to alert you if something relevant happens or if there's anything in particular you want to witness. If you don't want to control them directly, simply sharing their visual perspective is enough to find out what's going on. Since the connection is constant, you can ask them to keep you informed of everything or even transmit their memories, though those won't be entirely clear—they'll be more like visions from a Pensieve."
Truth be told, it was a revolutionary creation. After incorporating the "Artificial Intelligence (Elite)" function into the Archmage's Tower enchantments, this breakthrough had become possible. It wasn't a simple replication spell or a crude duplicate: I had genuinely created a conscious entity capable of learning and making decisions. Although it hadn't yet reached the perfection of my own clones, the project's development was extremely promising. I hadn't delved too deeply into it since it wasn't strictly necessary, but over time I could refine multiple aspects; for now, this was nothing more than a "field test," though I stood ready to apply a quick update if circumstances required it.
Ginny and Luna immediately grasped the artifact's implications; it felt as though my abilities and their possibilities knew no bounds. The idea of having such duplicates thrilled them, even leading them to harbor the typical childish thought of sending the copies to school in their place.
However, there was no time to lose. The copies entered the bathroom along with my sisters to change, putting on the girls' pajamas while my sisters got ready in street clothes. Since Ginny and Luna were by my side during their creation, they had omitted certain intimate secrets and deeply personal experiences from the notebook pages, so the replicas weren't entirely identical in mindset; for that reason, rather than changing in front of me without hesitation as the originals might have wanted, the two clones made the logical decision to step into the bathroom.
Shortly after, the copycats tucked themselves into Ginny and Luna's beds and closed their eyes, simulating sleep with impressive realism. As for me, I left one of my clones behind and took the girls outside the hotel under a cloak of invisibility, just as the first light of dawn began to illuminate the area.
My sisters were so euphoric they could barely contain their excitement. By maintaining a direct communication channel with their doubles, not only did they enjoy the curiosity of chatting with their own replicas, but they could also closely follow everything that happened and witness firsthand if the "deception" worked when our mother went to wake them up.