The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

Thanks Aloft

Previously: "A Battle Plan Begins" 

"When are you going to see Chelsea?" you ask Marc.

"After school. She hangs out in the gym, doesn't she? I was going to go look for her then."

"What about?"

Marc glances around. The hallway is crowded with people squeezing past, but he doesn't lower his voice when he answers. "Cheerleader stuff."

"Oh, Marc!"

"What's wrong?"

"Talk to me before you talk to Chelsea!"

"Okay," he says, but he sounds dubious. "When can you—?"

"Tonight. Call me."

"I want to talk to her—!"

"Is it really a rush? What's it about, specifically?"

He grimaces. "Okay, I'll call you tonight, around— Fuck!"

"What's wrong?"

"This is Friday, I got a date! I'm going out with Hannah!"

You smirk at him in a way that makes him blush, and poke him in his hard, taut stomach. "That's gotta be more fun than talking to me about Chelsea."

"That's why I wanna get it over with!"

"You can't talk to Chelsea until you talk to me, or you're going to make whatever it is worse. So call me this weekend."

He writhes in place. "I'm gonna be doing stuff all this weekend, probably! Oh, Jesus!"

A voice sounds behind him—"Marc!"—and he squawks and wheels as his sister, Eva, materializes at his side. "Are you bothering Kim?" she demands.

"No! I'm going! I guess I'll see you and Jess after school after all." He shoots you a beady-eyed glance, then dives into the coagulated hallway.

You follow Eva into the room, where you share AP English IV. "Did you just save him from doing something stupid?" she asks you in a suspicion-laden voice.

"I saved him from doing something," you reply, "but I don't know if it was stupid."

* * * * *

You certainly saved Marc from one stupid choice—putting himself in line to being immediately replaced by a doppelganger. But that's only because you suspect you can and will replace him later. For now you've got more strategic choices to make, and by the time the final bell has rung, you have made them.

You need a secure place on campus, and the loft—which is open to fewer people than you can count on one hand—is the most secure site of all. True, an off-campus site would be even more secure, but you'll trade a little security for the greater convenience.

As for getting yourself an income, that, like Marc Garner, is an advantage to be grabbed later. And with an on-site location like the loft, and with the duplicates you have already made (Chelsea and Kim), you doubt a teacher or administrator as an ally would make much of a difference.

But that still leaves you the question of how to secure the loft. You know that Gordon Black and Steve Patterson can get in. Is there anybody else? You send Chelsea a text, asking. Her answer comes quickly and briefly: Jason Lynch also has a key to the place.

That's too bad, you reflect to yourself. You want a diverse set of doppelgangers, and not too many, and replacing Gordon, Steve, and Jason would be no part of any plan. You ask if there's a chance of kicking either Steve or Jason or both from the loft. Her reply this time is much longer in the coming, and it's a lengthy one. The gist is that Steve is Gordon's best friend and Gordon would never cut Steve from the loft. Jason's position sounds more iffy, as Steve and Chelsea both hate him, but Gordon has a weird soft spot for him.

You chew on this while working in the office conference room after school, and decide that things could probably be arranged such that Jason loses his access. As for Gordon and Steve, both of them need to be controlled, but there's nothing to say that you need to control both of them—one of them you could give to a confederate once you start recruiting partners. So the question is, which of the two basketball players should you replace now?

Replacing Gordon would put him back under your thumb, and with the school's power couple (him and Chelsea) as your minions you would be well on your way to dominating it. Also, the two of them could coordinate to keep Steve away from the loft when you need it, by claiming that they need to use it for their own private time.

On the other hand, if you replaced Steve you could probably double the amount of access you could get. Chelsea could keep Gordon out by being affectionate with him elsewhere, and Steve (you presume) could claim his own "private time" when he wants to use it.

Next: "Three-Point Shot" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 3)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)"