The Book of Masks (Vol. 3)

Newbie Orientation

Previously: "A Conspiracy Unmasked" 

"Look, the only way I'm getting mixed up in this," you tell Fairfax, "is if I know exactly what's going on."

His brow creases. "But you know what's going on, Will," he says. "I just got through explaining it."

"So why do you want my hair? And what are you going to do with Seth?" All that guff about the real Cindy Vredenburg and the other girls being "basically okay" sounds a little hollow when they've got Seth Javits—no matter how deservingly—trussed up inside another storage bay.

"Hey, maybe I should explain things to him," Cindy says. She stands up from behind the desk. "Just us. Take a little walk?" she asks you.

She says she's really Keith Tilley—imagine that, your ugly, dumbass friend Keith disguised as the gorgeous cheerleader Cindy Vredenburg—but you can hardly say "no" to her anyway. You shiver a little with delight as she totters over to you in her heels. "We'll just take a little walk around the lot," she says, and you shiver harder as she takes your arm in hers.

* * * * *

"So, first of all," she says after you're halfway down the main hallway and out of earshot of the others, "I guess I'm sorry we didn't tell you about all this before. Or that I didn;t. I was kind of mad at you, though."

"For what?"

"For blowing me off. All those times I tried getting you to come out here, to be in one of our videos—"

"Yeah, how long have you been hanging out with these guys? How long have you been friends with them.

She drops your arm. "Dude! I've been friends with them for, like, most of high school!"

"Really?"

She glares sourly at you. "Jesus, it's like you don't even pay attention most of the time."

"I'm sorry! I'm just saying I don't remember seeing them around, with you or anyone else."

"Like I said, it's like you don't even pay attention."

You grumble in the back of your throat. Whatever Keith says, you're sure that you'd have noticed him hanging out with Fairfax and those guys, same you notice when you and your friends hang out with Carson Ioeger and James Lamont and that gang. You can't help wondering if Keith isn't too ... embarrassed ... to mix his two sets of friends together.

But Keith is still talking: "—so I guess I just kind of held it against you. But when we got the idea to, you know, help you out with your popularity—"

"Was this before or after you turned yourself into Cindy?"

"About the same time? It was Philip's idea. He thought that if we were going to do something like that, then it should have some kind of purpose. You know, other than, uh—"

"Other than so you could fondle your breasts and finger your own pussy?"

"Oh, God," Keith moans, and his eyes roll up in Cindy Vredenburg's sockets. "You have no idea how hot that is."

Squick, you think. Then, as you eye him sidelong, you think, Erm. Hmm. Hmmmmmm.

But he's still talking: "—run some sociology experiments. So I mentioned what you'd said about being popular, and Philip thought it'd be a great idea to see how far and fast we could actually make someone popular. So, I thought that was like a good turn to do for you?" A little bit of Cindy's breathlessness creeps into his voice. "And it seemed like it was working?"

"Yeah, seems like it," you agree. You also look around, and notice that while you weren't looking you and Keith exited the building and are now outside. It has stopped raining, but low clouds are hurrying overhead, and there's a sharp breeze. Keith, in Cindy's short skirt and hose, shifts from foot to foot as though chilly. You're tempted to put your arm around her waist and pull her close, but resist. " I still don't get what you did with the real girls," you say. "Are they really okay?"

"Totally," he says, and he sounds exactly like Cindy when he says it. "You don't have to worry about them. See, there's this stuff you can make, and if you put it inside a mask, well—" He hesitates. "Well, I'm not sure how it works. Philip's in charge of understanding it all. But say we make a mask of Seth. Which, um—" He glances back at the storage unit. "I guess is what we're going to do? Then if you put this stuff inside that mask, and we put it on him, then he turns into a thing like a robot. I mean, it looks and acts just like him. But he has to do what you say."

"Like who says?"

"Like whosever hair gets used. Yeah, you have to use hair in the spell—"

Spell. You haven't asked how they learned to make these masks and do this stuff, but you're starting to get an inkling. But you say nothing.

"—and whoever's hair gets used, they are, like, the master of the thing. It has to do what you say."

"It? It's an 'it'? It's not the person?"

"No. It's a copy of the person. If you put this stuff in Seth's mask, and if you put it on Seth, then it's not Seth anymore. It's a copy of Seth. Same as I'm a copy of Cindy." He twirls about so that his skirt flies out.

"But what does this have to do with the real Cindy? Where is she?"

"I'm coming to that. If you make a mask of me, and you put that stuff, with my hair, into that mask of me, and you put it on someone, then it turns them into a duplicate of me. But it's just another 'it', and I'm in charge of it. So it has to do what I say. So that's what we did with Cindy."

"Wait," you say. "You mean that you're wearing a mask of Cindy, and she's wearing a mask of ... you?" Keith nods. "Oh, Jesus. Is that how come the guy at the donut shop has been calling you all a bunch of cunts, and telling me not hang out with you?"

"Wait, what?" Keith exclaims. "What are you talking about?"

So you tell him what "Keith Tilley" has been saying to you. "So that's not you? It's Cindy?"

Keith looks doubtful a moment, then shakes his head. "No," he says. "That's not Cindy. She's— Well, she's under that mask, but she's asleep. We tested it all out. The person gets knocked out, so they don't know what's going on, and when you take the mask off them, they don't remember being inside it."

"Then why is that Keith-bot at the donut shop telling me to stay away from you guys?"

"Probably because he's jealous," Keith says. "I'd be. Yeah, the things act just like we would. That's what you want, right? Your replacement to act just like you? Except we can keep them in line. I mean, you couldn't tell that wasn't Mike back there, right?"

You shake your head, then jump. "Wait, that wasn't Mike in there?"

"No. That's Eva in a Mike mask. That's not the real Josiah either. It's Chelsea. Cool, right? But they act just like the real guys, and don't even know who they really are 'cos like I said, they're asleep. And the only real people back in there are Philip and Carlos.

"At least," he says after a thoughtful pause "I assume that's the real Fairfax. He's acting like the real Fairfax would. But, you know—" He shrugs. "He would even if he's the fake."

* * * * *

Keith goes over things a few more times, just so you're sure that you've got it, then takes you back inside. Philip, who has been texting on his phone, is waiting for you just inside the door. "All set?" he asks.

Keith nods. "But Will wants to know what we're doing with Seth. So do I."

"Well, as Seth is now apprised of the fact that there are imposters about—or, at least, that there are multiple versions of Will around—we are going to have to replace him with a beta."

"That's what we call the fakes," Keith tells you in an aside. "That's too bad. I was having a lot of fun dicking him around."

Philip grimaces. "Yes. But it can't be helped."

That sounds harsh, but Keith had assured you that these impersonations are temporary—probably only until the end of the semester, at most until the end of the school year. Then we all go back to normal, including them. Good thing they'll have amnesia.

Fairfax turns to you. "Did Keith fully explain how the masking procedure works? Including control of the beta?"

"Yeah. You use someone's hair, and that puts you in charge of the, uh, beta?"

Philip nods. "We'll use yours on Seth. That will give you control of the beta that will be impersonating and replacing him."

"Dude!" Keith punches you in the arm. "You're going to be the boss of Javits!"

"And," Fairfax says, "you will even be able to impersonate him if you want. You will be able to switch between his mask and yourself at will. Uh, no pun intended."

You slide Keith a sidelong look. He draws back. "Don't even think about it, fucker," he says. "Seth and me are totally busted up now. 'Course, you can always use him to get some new taint."

"Are we still doing that other project?" you ask. "The one about making me popular?"

Philip considers, then nods. "It might even be easier now, as we can coordinate directly instead of trying to maneuver you into improving yourself."

* * * * *

Well.

You're going to be popular. And with a mask of Seth Javits, you can moonlight as someone who is already ... well ... feared and respected, if not "popular."

But why not join this conspiracy by taking a different face? Some girl, like the Garners and Cindy, who can improve your standing? Or a guy? Like that Blake guy at the Warehouse the other night, for instance. He was sort-of helping you out.

Or hell— You could instantly get yourself a girlfriend this way.

* To get yourself a female beta: "Feminine Charm" 
* To pick a male beta to give you extra juice at school: "The Wingman" 
* To get a beta who will be your girlfriend: "A Beta Class of Girlfriend" 

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