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They stumbled on the file while they were cleaning up on Haggar's lair.
Project Kuron.
Safe to say that things did not end well for Shiro, or in this case, Kuron.
They took him to the holding cell, the one where they had previously placed Lotor in, and tied his hands behind his back, making sure he had no access to his Galran arm before putting a blind fold on him and leaving him there.
-----
"Can a clone have a soul?"
Silence.
"I... I'm not... I mean, in a sense, I am Shiro. Same chemical makeup, I have most of his memories and some of my own... I can feel, and I can make my own decisions but... am... am I my own person?"
Lance stared down at the Shiro look-a-like, Kuron as what they decided to call him.
"Hello? Are... are you guys still out there?"
Lance swallowed, his heart clenching at how heartbroken Kuron sounded. The others have left long ago. Pidge to go decipher the rest of the project, Allura speaking with Lotor, Coran fininshing the updating of the star maps, and Hunk restocking their supplies.
"Am I alone again?" He quietly asked, leaning back, a shaky sob escaping his lips. "I think... I think I'm remembering from when they were making me. I was so scared. Please. Is anyone there?" In a quieter voice, Kuron practically begged, "please don't leave me alone."
"I'm here," Lance softly replied, sitting down in front of the cell.
"Lance?" Kuron asked, perking up a bit.
"That's my name, don't wear it out." He smiled playfully.
"Did... Since when where you here? Are the others still there?" Kuron asked, self-conscious of how he was acting.
"We left a while ago but I just got back here, actually." Lance easily lied. Since Kuron's eyes were covered, he didn't see how Lance made a face of discomfort. It was one of the few tells he had when he lied.
"Oh... okay." Kuron nodded, relieved that his whining wasn't heard. "Have you guys decided what to do with me?" Kuron asked after a moment's pause.
"Not yet." Lance replied, watching as Kuron fidgeted nervously. "Scared?"
"Uh... yea..." He laughed awkwardly. "I mean, my entire person and life is a lie. And not in the meme kind of way." He lightly joked. "I don't know what to do anymore. I guess I'm just... waiting for you to decide if you'll kill me or not."
"Woah, kill? Jumping the gun there, aren't you?"
"Well it's not like you guys can set me free. Not after what I can do or what can be done to me by that witch."
"Still, kill is..."
"Something that we've all done, Lance. We're soldiers in a war. We've taken Galra lives. How many Galras did you think fail in escaping ships that we've destroyed? Or were stranded in broken ships, left to rot?" Kuron bitterly replied. "And I... no, Shiro, he's had to fight in the gladiator rinks. You know the Galran saying, 'Victory or Death.' There's no way he could have gotten out without having to kill."
"Kuron..."
"I was probably born to die." Kuron said, shuddering as his voice grew thick with emotions. "The druids probably plan to get rid of me as soon as my mission was done. I would become their plaything." He spat out, curling into himself. A difficult feat for someone who was tied up. "I-"
"Lance!" Another voice called, causing the red paladin to look back.
"Allura called, she wants us all to discuss what to do next." Pidge continued, waving him over.
"Yea, coming!" He called loudly, standing up. "I'll be back later, Kuron." He added in a softer tone as he made his way to the shortest paladin.
-----
"Allura, I'm just saying that we need to consider our options." Coran adviced, his hand on the princess' shoulder. "We cannot keep him on board. What if Haggar is tracking us through him?"
"I know, Coran! We can't leave him anywhere in fear of getting others involved. Not with the Blade, not with innocent civilians. I just... It only leaves one other option and I don't like what it means."
"We could leave him with the Galra?" Hunk replied. "I mean, with Lotor leading and all that, it couldn't be that bad of an option."
"I don't think so, Hunk." Pidge said, shaking her head. "What if Haggar has insiders like what the Blade had? We don't know what this clone is capable of and it's too risky."
"What if we study it? See if there's anything different with it?"
"Him, Hunk." Lance interrupted. "Kuron maybe a clone but he's still human."
"Is he really though?" Pidge replied, frowning. "I mean, not to be rude but there is a chance the druids messed with him, while making him."
"Yea, but what confuses me is Black."
"What do you mean, Lance?" Allura asked, her eyebrows scrunching up.
"You said that the Lions choose their paladins, that they're connected to us mentally. If Kuron knew that he was a clone, Black would have rejected him, right?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"I think he's as much as a victim in this whole thing as any of us. I think he genuinely didn't know what he really was. Now that we found out, his entire world view has been flipped upside down. I was listening to him earlier and he's having an existential crisis!"
"And that's sad, yes but-"
"Pidge, he was ready to die! He believes that he was only made by those witches just so that he would be killed afterwards! That he's some kind of pawn to be played."
A pregnant pause filled the air.
"So what then?" Pidge frowned, fidgeting slightly.
"Maybe we can get Black to help us. See how far the roots of Haggar's influence goes." Lance suggested.
"And what if Haggar uses Kuron as a way to corrupt the Lions?"
"No, Coran, it could work." Allura said, rubbing her chin in deep thought. "If we get someone to mediate the two, act as a link, maybe we can find out the truth."
"We already know that Haggar uses his eyes and ears to spy on us. She can probably influence his thoughts. Wait. What if she's the one making Shiro act all different? What if that's why Shiro was so supportive of Lotor, that this was all just a ploy to-" Hunk worriedly asked.
"We can't know for sure until we do this." Lance interrupted, looking at the team. "We can't panic on what if and act on our fear. What do you guys say? Will we take a chance on this, together?"
"I don't like this but I trust you guys." Pidge spoke up. "And I'm willing to see where this takes us."
"I trust your judgement, Lance." Hunk said, smiling slightly.
"It's the most solid choice." Coran said after a while.
"Together, then." Allura nodded.
Lance nodded back as they made their way to the holding cell. He fervently hopped that there was a way to come out of this with out harming Kuron.