The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

Anne and the Air Head

Previously: "Monday Bombshells" 

Wow. Reorganizing the cheerleader squad, trying to end a jock feud ... It sounds like Yumi hit the ground running today. And Anne is interested when you tell her about the changes to the cheerleader squad, and how freaked out all the girls were.

You're still talking when a third car pulls up and Maria Vasquez gets out. She returns your greetings with a vacant look. "So what are we up here for?" she asks.

"The furniture, Maria," you tell her. "The stuff we wanted to look at."

"Oh. Right." But she makes no move toward the door.

"I don't know the door code," you tell her. "And you've got the key."

She frowns as her gaze goes distant. "No, the only key I've got is for a room out at Top Self Storage."

"This is Top Self Storage, Maria."

She looks around, and her frown deepens as she studies the sign over the office: Top S{h)elf Storage. "No, this is Top Shelf Storage."

"Just try the code, Maria. I'm sure you'll find it works."

She gives you hurt look, but taps at the pad. The lock clicks, and you dive to open it when Maria draws back from it in surprise. You and Anne exchange a quick look as you bundle inside. After another frowny moment inside the entryway, Maria leads you down the central corridor. Halfway down, she mutters, "How would you pronounce a parentheses?" to herself.

She stops in front of a door and bends to unlock it; your heart wobbles in your throat as her ass thrusts itself at you. On raising it, she gestures Anne inside. You start to follow, but Maria blocks you with an elbow. She then steps up behind Anne and grasps her from behind. The two girls softly sink to the concrete floor.

"Jesus, man!" The air explodes from your lungs. "You really had me going with the airhead act."

"It wasn't hard," Maria mutters as she extricates herself from Anne's tangled limbs. "Carlos never has given me a straight answer on what the name of this place really is."

* * * * *

As you undress Anne, you tell Fairfax what Anne had been telling you. "So what's the story from Chelsea's side?" you ask.

"I don't know," she says. "I've barely talked to her since we made the switch. She spent the weekend avoiding me, and she barely talked or even looked at me all day today."

"But Maria's, like, Chelsea's best friend!"

"I know. At first, I was putting it down to Yumi not wanting to make any mistakes. But she wouldn't be worried about that after today. And she wasn't shy with any of the girls at lunch." Her frown deepens. "I might have to talk to Kendra or Gloria to find out what she's been saying to them."

"Can't you corner her, talk to her? I mean, if you're her best friend—"

"That's not Maria's style. She hardly even talks to Chelsea. Mostly she just listens." She combs out a long strand of hair with her fingertips. "I suspect that's why Chelsea likes her so much."

You've got Anne disrobed by now, and Maria leaves you to contemplate the naked form of your new beta. She's a girl of average height, whose dark reddish hair falls in long streams past her shoulder blades. Her summertime tan is fading but she still has a ruddy glow on her face, forearms, and calves; the rest of her is a healthy pink. Her body is covered over in a soft layer of baby fat, but her stomach curves inward between breasts and hips of a healthy size. Her hazel-green eyes are open but unfocused, and you shift around so that she's not seeming to stare at you.

When Maria returns she's got a mask with her; you ask her if it's for yet another beta.

"No, it's for Anne," she says.

You look down at the girl. "I thought you already used one on her."

"Part of one," she replies. "A mask comes in two parts, Will. The mask itself copies the body, but there's a separate metal strip that copies the mind. Normally we glue these together, so that we can copy a person, body and mind, all in one swoop, and then wear them together. I wanted to try something new with Anne, though. You know, it takes time for the memories to come. I want you to put on the memory unit first, after it's copied her, so that you get the memories and personality right away. Then we'll put the mask on you. If it works the way I suspect it will, this will give you access to her mentality almost immediately instead of having to wait until morning."

You digest this, and almost object: You got all of Jenny's memories instantly. But you dismiss it with a shake of your head. What does it matter if you do it a piece at a time or all at once?

"But first I guess I should ask if you're just going to treat her as a beta." Maria says. "Or are you going to switch places with her?"

"Well, she's supposed to meet with Chelsea when she leaves here. So should I switch places with her so I can talk to Chelsea?"

"That makes sense," she tells you after a long moment's thought. "I was thinking maybe I could borrow Anne's mask. But maybe it should be you. I might accidentally slip up and say something that Anne wouldn't know but Maria would."

"Is there anything special you want me to find out?"

"No," she replies after another hesitation. "Just ask her whatever Anne would ask her. But if you're going to switch masks, maybe you should go ahead and get out Jenny's things."

You're in the studio, so you lay out on top of the desk where they record their videos and strip down to your nothings. You shiver in the chilly air as Maria bends over you. You close your eyes as she wraps her fingers around your brow, and you wince as she pulls.

* * * * *

A deep chill has penetrated your skin when you awake, and you have a headache. You flinch hard and deep against it, and blink at the ceiling, where a harsh fluorescent light glares down at you. Where am I? you wonder. What happened?

With a deeper wince you sit up on one elbow. Something light and soft slides off your breasts and onto the floor. You're laying on a hard table top. A desk?

Someone sighs softly behind you, and look over with a gasp. Maria Vasquez, sitting behind the desk, is putting her phone away. She says nothing, but lifts a querying eyebrow.

Memories flood in; the pressure inside your skull threatens to explode your head like a melon. You grind at your eyeball with the heel of your hand.

Then, with a shake of your head, the pain is gone. You know who and where you are, and how you got here. With a grunt you lever yourself upright—

—and freeze at the sight of the girl on the floor.

It's you. It's Anne Starkey.

She is pale and flabby, and her eyes and her mouth open vacantly up at the ceiling. Her hair is snarled about her head, and her breasts are trying to slide off her chest. Instinctively you grab for a tress of your own hair and pull it in front of you to stare at it. It's yours, alright: reddish-brown, and very fine. You look down and cup one of your breasts. It's small and pointed and it tilts slightly up, like a fat banana. The tip prickles in the cold.

"I was waiting to put Jenny's mask on her when you woke up," Maria says from behind you. You turn to stare; she rises and crosses around the desk. "I thought maybe you'd have some instructions for her, and I wouldn't have any way to control her. How are the memories coming?"

"Pardon?" you stammer.

Maria stops and turns to give you a hard stare. Her lips part, but they barely move as she breathes a single word: "Will?"

Will?

Oh. Right. Relief floods over you.

"I'm here," you assure her. You rub your face. "I'm feeling a little fucked up, but—" You swallow. "And ... And Anne's in here with me."

"You sure?"

"Sure I'm sure," you retort with no little irritation. "Want me to give you my Social Security number?"

"Please."

You give her a look. "Do you know Anne's Social Security number? If you don't, how you would know if I got it right?"

"I guess that's right," she says. She turns back to the real Anne Starkey, and kneels beside her. Briefly, she covers her face with a mask. Then Jenny Ashton wrinkles her nose and sits up where Anne had been. "Maria?" she says in a puzzled tone. Then she sees you. "Anne?" Her eyes widen. "Oh!"

After spending the better part of a week as Jenny, it's more than a little disorienting to see her from the outside again, but you rally. "You know what's going on?" you ask her.

"I guess so," she says warily. "You, uh, switched places with Anne." A little green shows in her face. "That makes me really Anne?"

Maria inserts herself: "It's best not to think too hard about it. Will, how about you give Jenny any instructions you have for her."

Except you haven't any, not really. Be like Jenny, don't tell anyone about the body-swapping, keep close to Yumi if possible, try to prod her into going out with beta-Will, but don't push her too hard. She quickly turns irritated with you as she dresses. "Yeah, I think I know what you want," she says. "Just keep doing like I was doing the past couple of days." She practically scampers from the room when you release her.

You pick up Anne's clothes, and only then do you pause. "Weren't you going to put that metal band on me, and then put the mask on me?"

"I decided to add the mask after I put the unit onto you. If it didn't work, I was going to suggest we try it again the other way. But you say you've got her memories? Then I suppose you should go find Chelsea now."

That's all for now.

*
"Table of Contents (Vol. 4)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)"