What goes around, comes around

Who: Zack & Cubie
Where: Outside their quarters
When: During Lenin's escape
Zack pounded on the door to their quarters. "Come on, Cubie. Let me
in."
"No."
Zack sighed. "Why not? I didn't give your broach away! It was the
other Zack!"
"It was an alternate you. One who displayed all your character flaws
quite accurately!"
"But that wasn't ME!! You can't hold a grudge against me for something
an alternate me did!"
"Can too!"
Zack sighed again, then shrugged and headed off to the Promenade.
Maybe the new McKenzie's was hiring.
Then he remembered all the damage he'd done while fleeing Cubiepede.
~Nope. Not the best option.~ Zack briefly imagined himself chained to
a display rack, trying to earn enough commissions to repair all the damage
Cubiepede had wrought.
He didn't get far before bumping into Tom, Dick, and Harry. They
snatched him up by his arms and headed for the brig. "We frown on
shoplifters here, you know."
~Oh, yes. The shoplifting and subsequent jailbreak.~ Zack closed his
eyes as he was dragged backward through the passageways of the Blue Dwarf.
<Back at the Richards' quarters>
Cubie glared at the door. "Nice try, Zack. I suppose you think that
if you're quiet long enough, I'll just think you left and open the door.
Well, FORGET IT!!" She hurled a shoe at the door, but as it was a
holographic shoe set to soft-light, it simply went through.
Grumbling, she got up off the bed and marched across the room. "I'm
coming out, Zack. You'd better not get in my way!"
She switched to soft-light and passed through the door into the
passageway.
All that greeted her was her discarded shoe. Zack was nowhere to be
seen.
"Jerk. I can't believe he just left." Grousing, Cubie bent over to
put on her shoe.
The holowhip smacked her right in the derriere. Popping up in outrage,
she whipped around, vile epithets on her lips.
The vile epithets dissolved in shock and alarm as she recognized
several scutters that had escaped the battle at Parrotts. They were all
brandishing holowhips. She started to back away. "Wait a minute, guys.
That wasn't me! That was an alternate me!"
Realizing that the scutters really didn't care, she turned and started
sprinting. "ZACK!!"
Behind her, the scutters were in hot pursuit, revenge on their
cyberminds.
~Zack & Cubie~