Author's Note: I've decided not to use the Merron Twins as romantic interests for Kate and Morgan, as Evan/Eva made a more interesting foil for Morgan than Kal/Jessica would have. If anyone's interested in appropriating these characters for another use, let me know. —Chris
Joss and Kal Merron are a pair of identical twins who enter the lives of our heroes in a rather innocuous manner: one of Morgan's infamous double-dates with Kate. Morgan met Kal at a photo shoot that she had volunteered for — a fashion magazine's special on "The Ladies of the Night" — for which he was serving as the photographer. They hit it off, and Kal later introduced Morgan to Joss. Morgan thought he would make an interesting candidate for Kate, and the rest is history … or soon will be.
As should be expected from anyone that Morgan is involved with, Joss and Kal have an unusual trait beyond that of being twins: both of them are hot-swapping androgynes, from a family with a long tradition of it. As sixth-generation gendermorphs who were "Cursed" at less than four weeks old, they are strongly but not completely bifurcated; their alter-egos, Amber and Jessica, share all of their memories, but their personalities and general outlooks on life are quite different. (See the Curse for details on the cause and effects of bifurcation in high-generation androgynes.)
Since Joss and Kal were born male, Amber and Jessica are technically the "dominant" forms, meaning that the twins have to spend at least half of their time in their female roles. (Joss and Kal are quite strong-willed, however, and will reassert themselves if "the girls" have kept them pent-up for too long.) Each alter-ego tends to think of his/her opposite number as a sibling with whom s/he shares a body and a set of memories. Generally, they get along quite well, but conflicts do emerge from time to time. Both Joss/Amber and Kal/Jessica share a sizeable two-bedroom apartment on the second skyway-level of Metamor City.
The Twins
Each of the twins has their own entry in the wiki:
Story Hooks
- Morgan's relationship with Kal/Jessica will be an opportunity to look at her forays into the world of modeling, and there should be some interesting consequences when Jessica's activities with the Hedonists come to light.
- There is a strong possibility that the twins' connection to Morgan will put them in danger if the Syndicate decides to put pressure on her. They may threaten the health and safety of one or both of the twins in order to ensure Morgan's cooperation. Messing with the MCPD is a risky venture, but if the motivation is strong enough it might be worth the attempt. In particular, the vamps might need Morgan's help to find out who is behind the recent upsurge in gang violence, so that they can go after whoever is encroaching on their territory.
- Joss's job as a photojournalist will put him in the same spots as Kate, as he shows up to investigate the news stories surrounding the crimes that she investigates. There is some potential here for Joss to get into trouble as he pokes his nose in too deeply to places where it isn't wanted.
- And, of course, there's the whole situation that will happen when Kate figures out that Joss and Amber, whom she has been hanging out with separately, are sharing a body. Having to reconcile Joss-as-boyfriend, Amber-as-pal, and Amber's desire to be part of her romantic life should keep Kate's poor tortured brain tied in knots for a long time. :)
All of this gets down to the consequences of transgender issues in individuals with a truly dual-gendered upbringing, and the real-world impact that it would have on people's relationships. It also has the bonus of giving us a colorful set of secondary characters for Kate and Morgan to interact with.