Why do shapeshifters not kill their doubles before taking their form?
Ko'dor are an octopus like species that arise from the swamps of the planet Luvwa. They have the ability to transform their bodies into any form or shape they want.
When a Ko'dor wants to infiltrate an animals social structure (say, humans) they "single out" an individual to transform into. They listen to and mimic their voices, study their bodies, and finally, shapeshifter into their form.
To get rid of the individual they "singled out" they use their ink, a chloroform like substance, to knock them out, and than they hide the body.
It would likely by easier to kill they individual, so my question is, what is a plausible reason why the Ko'dor would knock out their victims, instead of killing them?
-The Ko'dor's Ink knocks out victims for a week. They hide the body, and feed it, expell its waste, all that stuff
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1 answer
If the ink knocks them out for only a week, then perhaps the Ko'dor don't want the victim dead, they wish to temporarily impersonate a person of power or influence and make some momentous decision or change.
In our modern world for examples: Becoming the US President or a Prime Minister for a week, or becoming the head of the FBI, or becoming some billionaire for a week to donate tens of millions of dollars to something the Ko'dor think is important. Or a CEO of a major corporation to make some similar decision. A week is long enough to sign documents and make something legal and irreversible.
The real person will have a "blackout" week where they do not know what happened, but as people wielding great power, they may also be reluctant to tell anybody about the blackout, since it would have massive repercussions on their fitness for duty. So the victims might very well go along with whatever the Ko'dor did to conceal the fact that they were blacked out when, to their knowledge, they themselves did it.
If the Ko'dor killed their victim, then presuming they do not wish to remain this person forever, eventually they must stage the death of the victim. Then somebody else would become the recipient of the victim's power (as a new CEO, politician, etc) and might quickly work to counter whatever the Ko'dor has done.
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