[Info needed] Multiple instances of the same companion!

This problem started with me a few days ago (pre release 54), but has gotten worse with release 54....

I started on the path of love, met Fiona, who joined my party. Now in Aerie, I spoke with Ariel Rosehaven and got the following dialogue:

Ariel Rosehaven: [This NPC's dialog is in active development and will be updated shortly]

name: My name is Ariel Rosehaven

job: Edit me

help: I will serve thee! (Placeholder)​

At this point, a new copy of Ariel "forked" from the original and follows me as a member of my party. However, the original NPC still remained in the square!

With release 54, I went back to the market square and spoke to the NPC Ariel. Now, I get proper dialogue, but have managed to get her to join my party again! So now, there are three Ariel Rosehavens - two in my party, and one still in the square!

Help! What do I do now to sort this out???

Screenshot:

(on my PC, the screenshot isn't loading, but, using Firefox, if I right-click the "IMG", I can view image)

 

I may have a partial solution:

On leaving Aerie, I encountered a siege where I died. When I resurrected, I was able to summon both Fiona and Ariel, but fortunately, only one Ariel.

On returning to Aerie, I can see the NPC Ariel waiting in the market square, even though my companion Ariel is with me.

Bug: clone of Ariel remains in the market square after joining your party.

 

@jregel
Would you be able to do a /bug next to Ariel where she split into multiple companions?
Info on how to use this command is at the top of the page. Thank you!

 

@Lexie Hi. Here you go:

6/13/2018 12:20 PM
Title: Recruiting a companion leaves original NPC in the scene
Reproduction Rate: 100%
Blocker? No
Details: On recruiting a companion to your party, it appears that a new character model is created, but the original NPC remains in the scene. If you later return to the scene, the original NPC is still there and you can have the original conversation again (although I haven't managed to reproduce having more than two companions on screen again.). Although originally experienced with Ariel, I have now repeated it when recruiting Dupre (which is where this /bug is from).
Steps to Reproduce: Speak to companion, accept the companion when they ask to accompany you.
The visual effect is of a second model being created at exactly the same co-ordinates, and then the new model "walks" away from the original and becomes your companion, while the original stays where it is.
User Specs:
OS: Windows 10 (10.0.0) 64bit
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4790 CPU @ 3.60GHz (8) System RAM: 16326
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti GPU RAM: 2007
SotA.Win.64.791.Date.06.06.18
Area: Novia_R6_City_Resolute
Area Display Name: Resolute
Loc: (-1.3, 81.3, -178.5)
Debug: Tm92aWFfUjZfQ2l0eV9SZXNvbHV0ZXx8KC0xLjMsIDgxLjMxNiwgLTE3OC41NDcpfCgwLCAtMC45NDMsIDAsIDAuMzMxKXwyMTguNzI2OHwyNC4wMDY1M3w2Ljc5NzAxOQ==