The Book of Masks (Vol. 4)

Playing the Victim

Previously: "Project Genesis" 

You rush out through the study and onto the patio without checking on Blake first. As you scoop up Genesis's cell phone from where she dropped it, you instinctively glance at the screen. where pick you up from? is the last incoming message.

You blink at it, and the last moments of Genesis Lee's life as herself come rolling back.

Omg jack just bailed on me need ride home. she had texted Leah Simmons, and she had just got Leah's reply when something hit her from behind. A fresh, hot blast of anger and resentment roils your guts as Genesis's old emotions come boiling up.

Freaking Sydney McGlynn! That's what you were thinking as with trembling thumbs you texted Leah. Of course she's the kind of girl Blake would be into, and of course she'd throw it in my face when he shows up at her house for a date! And now Jack's run off and I don't have a ride home and I'll have to hang out here with Sydney and Blake and be polite to them and I'm just gonna DIE of humiliation first!

Your head swims as you try to smother Genesis's emotions with your own. Damn, they hit hard. Are all girls like this? Sydney wasn't, was she?

You grimace as you remember the rush of ardor you felt when you looked at your own pedisequos.

Focus, Will, you remind yourself. You're not Genesis, you're supposed to be Blake. How would Blake act if he woke up inside Genesis Lee's body?

You raise your eyes as you ponder the question. They meet the horrified gaze of the teenage boy who staring out at you through the living room window.

* * * * *

Blake O'Brien—

His body, that is. Technically it's Genesis Lee who is standing stiffly at the corner of the sofa when you peek in through the living room entryway. His face as he stares at you is so pale it's almost green, and his dark hair is plastered across his forehead. He is leaning to one side, as though caught in mid-sway. The whites of his eyes show.

You wait for him to speak. He doesn't. Oh, right, you think. I'm supposed to be Blake. I should be the guy here, the one who's not going to take any shit.

"I know who you look like," you tell him. "But who are you? Because I know you're not—" It seems right to awkwardly pause here. "Me," you conclude after hesitating whether to use the personal pronoun or the proper name.

Blake grabs the armrest of the sofa. "Blake?" he asks in a squeak.

"My name's Blake. So are you ... Genesis?"

"Oh my God." Blake sinks onto the sofa.

Act like a football player, act like a football player, you tell yourself. "The fuck is going on?"

"I don't know," Blake squeaks. "It's like—" He presses the heels of his hands into his eyes. "Is it a dream? A nightmare?"

"Well if it is, I'm having it too. Where's Sydney?"

"My ears are burning."

You wheel as Sydney McGlynn strides into the living room. She smiles puckishly, like a little girl nursing a great big secret. "So how are my two little ducklings?"

You and Genesis exchange a glance. "Sydney?" you query.

"Yes, Blake?" she says to you, emphasizing the name. She turns to Blake. "Yes, Genesis?" Again, she emphasizes the name. "Don't tell me you guys are confused. I mean, isn't it obvious what's going on?"

Blake doesn't reply, so you don't either.

"How about you sit down before you fall down," Sydney tells you. "Right there next to—"

She presses a fingertip to her lips, and smiles behind it. "Well, to be honest, I'm not sure exactly what to call you guys now. You don't look like the names you should answer to. I guess that's something else I should have thought about before I pulled the trigger."

"Trigger? What trigger?" you demand.

"The trigger for the body swap," she says. "Come on," she says. "Don't you think it's exactly what it looks like?"

Sydney is so good at playing the cool, amused super-villain of the scene that you almost break out in a laugh. At the same time, a very cold chill runs down your spine. How awful would it have been if she'd done this to you for real?

You edge over to the sofa and perch on the end opposite Blake. Sydney rocks back and forth on her heels as she addresses you.

"So I guess it is kind of a shock, and I guess I should have asked permissions before doing it. But you know," she smiles, "how do you ask people permission for that kind of thing? I mean, if I'd said, 'Blake, Genesis, could I swap you into each other's bodies?' you'd have just looked at me like I was crazy. And if I'd asked you if you wanted to swap bodies, then you'd just treat it like a joke. So it's not like a body swap is something you can ever get informed consent for before—"

"Just get to the point!" you shout. "How did—? What—?"

"Chill out, Blake," Sydney says. "I hope you're not getting hot flashes. Oh my God, there's going to be a hell of a lot of stuff you two are going to have figure out with each other's, you know. But if you want to know what's going on, what's going on is that I need your help."

"Our help?" Blake yelps. Genesis has finally found her new voice, apparently.

"Yes. You see—"

Sydney takes the chair opposite you, and leans forward with the eager air of a girl who's got a killer idea for a party and can't wait to get her listeners excited about it too.

"See, I've got this little ceremony I want to perform. Nothing big, just the invocation of an extradimensional entity. But I need help with it. Just a couple of people to help out. So this is all about making a deal. You help me out with the thing, and I'll help you out by putting you back to rights." She looks between you, and her smile turns puckish again. "There might even be a little extra in it for you when we're on the other side."

"Other side?" Blake whimpers. "Other side of what? I still don't understand what's going on here!" She turns to you, does a double take, and turns green again.

Sydney starts to answer, but you interrupt her. "It's witchcraft, isn't it?" you say. "That's what's going on."

"Really, W— Blake," she says. "'Witch' is such a derogatory word. I prefer 'occult researcher.' It's just like science, and not nearly as bizarre as quantum mechanics."

Another whimper escapes Blake's throat.

"Listen, I know it's a shock," Sydney says. "I'd have given you warning, but you wouldn't have believed me and it would still be a shock anyway. But this proves that I'm serious. And, um—" She smiles tightly and lets her eyes fall. "It's a lot nicer than some of the other things I could have done to prove my bona fides. I mean, it's not like anyone grew gills or a tail. Right? So."

She claps her hands and gets to her feet. "How about we put a happy face on the situation—no one likes a grump—and break for the day? It's been an awful lot to take in, I know, so let's put our minds to getting used to things, then get back together tomorrow and pick up from there. Okay? Everyone know where they live?"

Before you can reply, Blake says, "No."

"No?" Sydney echoes. She flicks you a tiny side glance. "What do you mean, dear?"

"I don't know where— where Blake lives! I don't know who his family is, or—" He gives you a terrified glance. "I don't know anything about—" She gulps. "Who I'm supposed to be!"

Sydney gives you a very long look. You can see the message behind her eyes.

I told you so, she's saying.

* * * * *

Well, she hadn't "told you so," all she'd told you back in the bathroom was that it was a dumb idea you were proposing.

And even she hadn't foreseen that there'd be a problem with the masks. Whatever thing it was that stopped the real Sydney from getting Caleb's memories is also stopping Genesis from getting Blake's. To keep things consistent, you also pretend to not have your new body's memories, and after tapping her lip Sydney says it might be a side effect of a last-minute switch in the spell. "Originally it wasn't you and Blake I was going to switch," she tells Genesis. "I was Blake and Jack. But Jack took off first, and you were here, so I said 'What the hell'. Oh well." She shrugs. "Maybe it'll sort itself out."

"Sort itself out?" Blake shrieks. "Can't you switch us back?"

"Well, I can. Eventually I was going to anyway. But—"

"Please!" Blake implores Sydney. "I'll do anything you want! I promise! The— the thing you need help with! I'll help! Just switch us back!"

Again, Sydney's eyes flick in your direction. "Well, I don't know," she says. "There's, um, some complications. It's not as easy as all that—"

"But you said—!"

"Oh, I can switch you back. Only, we need to get some other people on board, and there's also some, um, technical issues with the invocation that—" She gives you a very long look after falling silent.

There's that message again: I told you so. Do you want to take it all back?

Genesis has just said she'd do anything to switch bodies back, including helping Sydney out with her project. So it sounds like you don't need to leave her in Blake's body in order to get her to join the Brotherhood. If you switched her back, and took Blake's body for your own, you'd be in just as good a position—maybe an even better one—to keep her in line.

Next: "The Way We Are Now" 

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