Chapter #27The Best Laid Plains (Are Sometimes Changed) by: rugal b.   You look at the freshman girl as she tries her best to hide an expectant, hopeful look. "Now why would I want to do that?" you ask, "Maybe I want to be Dana for a few days." and at that you see Sarah wilt a bit and Dana look a smidgen annoyed.
Dana's memories tell you of Sarah's not so secret crush on David Johnson, the brother of her best friend Joanna. You infer, as well as general admiration for her older sister, that this is probably a big reason why she wants to switch. The opportunity to spend some time with someone you who sends your heart fluttering is something you can understand. If you had a mask of him you'd probably spend a couple of days as Mansfield yourself. You were going to go along with it anyway but wanted to have some fun teasing the sisters first. You realize that you can't really do that to Sarah.
"Alright, fine." you say with a fake sigh, "I guess I have no choice if I want your cooperation, huh?" With that you head back into the bathroom with the excuse that you like a little privacy when you take these things off or put them on. Once you've switched back to Yumi you re-enter the room. "Here you go!" you say with a bit of pep in your voice as you hand the Dana mask to Sarah; Sarah's is still sitting on the floor. "A couple things before you guys put those on: first, one day." you hold up one finger as emphasis, "I'll be back over tomorrow evening to take the masks back so make the most out of a day as one another. Second," two fingers this time, "I want a mask by the time I come. One of you grab a mask of Joanna, I don't care which one, and give it to me too when I come."
"Joanna...?" Sarah mutters taken aback.
"What the hell, Yumi, what are you being so bossy for?" asks Dana.
"Look, I'm not trying to be mean but like I showed you these things are magic. Real magic not 'pull a rabbit out of my hat' sleight of hand." you explain, "You can have fun with these things but you also have to show you're serious. I just want to see that you're taking things seriously that's all." The tone is stern yet gentle, almost motherly. It's something Yumi's quite good at. There seems to be no more counterpoints so you look at both of them, "So which one of you is going first?" Sarah volunteers by raising her hand. "Then take your clothes off." If either of them been drinking something it'd probably be all over you by now. "Dana's a little bigger than you. If you're becoming someone bigger it's best to get out of your clothes so you don't stretch them out or rip them or otherwise ruin them." You see that they're still eying you a bit queerly. "Look if you don't want to do it in front of me you can go in the bathroom or your own room to change."
"Yeah, I think I'll do that." Sarah says as she stands up. You tell Dana to give her some clothes and she hands her a pair of sweat pants and a tank top; simple lounging around clothes. A short time later you're greeted by a second Dana, Sarah under the mask this time, stepping into the room. "This is... this is so..." her face is a mixture of joy and astonishment, "Oh my God!"
"Try thinking like her. Letting the memories that the band copied into the mask open up to you." you tell her. "What do you see?"
"I see... I'm looking at Dana and Sarah. They're both shocked." At that point you fidget a bit; you hadn't thought about YOUR memories while wearing the mask. "I know it's from when you had the mask on, Yumi, but they're just like... memories floating in a void. Like they belong to the mask itself." You let out a sigh at that. "And I see... two months ago. Shawn Gregory talked to me after last period. He wanted to get some of my notes from Matheson's biology class but him talking to me felt so good that I went home and then..." Her eyes go wide and she blushes while looking over at the real Dana.
"Alright, that's enough!" Dana grumbles as she marches into Sarah's room.
With that you gather up your things but hand the one other blank mask and strip you have to Sarah... well Dana now. "Alright, I think you guys have an idea of how this works so I'm gonna get out of here." you say. You explain the process of the mask, the strips, and combining them and then give one last reminder to have a mask of Joanna by tomorrow. You tell her to pass what you said onto her sister and then you head out. Home that evening is spent getting accustomed to every bit of Yumi Saito's body. Well, more accustomed than you did the night before because Jelena's right: being in this body does feel good.
* * * * *
"Did you get masks of your cousins?" Jelena asks as you hang around school waiting for the bell for first period to ring.
"I did." you reply not looking at her, you're on the lookout to make sure nobody's eavesdropping, "But they want to spend a day as one another as a test run. I gave it to them."
"And you think that's a good idea?" she asks.
"Can't hurt." you shrug, "I need to show them I'm on the up and up after all. Sarah fell right into it though. Dana took some convincing but I don't know if she's fully there yet. In fact, I'm gonna put off James, Carson, and Jenny until I know what's what with those two."
Jelena grunts, "Don't fuck it up, remember that."
You turn to her and give her a smile, "Don't worry." you say, "We've got contingencies, remember?"
* * * * *
"You girls did good." you beam as you sit in Dana's room later that evening inside a mask of Joanna Johnson to ensure that they did everything correctly. Joanna's memories and thoughts filling your head tell you they did. "Especially you, Dana. Guess being her best friend made it easy, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Dana replies crossing her arms. Both girls are back to being themselves.
"You don't seem very excited." you observe.
"That's because I'm not." she states.
"Why not? I could give you Joanna's mask and then you could use that to get close to Sarah." you state, "Then you could get close to Shawn." You hope bringing up her crush will be enough to persuade her.
For her part Dana flinches but regains herself. "Look, I don't know if I'm comfortable with this." she says as the crossed arms turn into clasping herself.
"But Dana...!" Sarah begins protesting.
"Don't worry about it, Sarah." you say holding a hand up, "If she doesn't feel comfortable then she doesn't feel comfortable." You then turn to look at Sarah directly, "Just give me and Dana a little privacy to work this out, okay?" you ask.
"But..."
"Sarah, please." it's Dana's voice who cuts in this time, "Yumi and me need to talk."
She's not happy about it but eventually Sarah does make her way across the hall and into her own room. You close the door and make sure it's locked. "So you're really not comfortable with it?" you ask.
Dana shakes her head, "I don't know what to think. You come over here with these masks, these magic masks, and you tell us we can become other people. Then you want us to use these masks on others." she draws her knees up under her chin, "I mean it's magic. Real life, honest to god, magic. Like Lord of the Rings magic. I don't know what to think. My head's swimming right now." she lowers her legs so they hang off of the bed and looks you dead in the eyes, "I was my sister. I had the appearance of my own sister. I had her thoughts, I had her feelings. It was neat but..." she sighs, "But it felt wrong. Like I was invading her privacy. Like I was snooping through her diary. And you're asking me to do that with other people. Like you're doing right now with Joanna."
"And you don't want to?"
"I don't think I do, no." Dana responds, "I don't think Sarah should either. I don't think you should."
Your face falls a bit, "Why not?"
"Because it's magic!" Dana exclaims, "Who knows what kind of consequences this could have, or what it's already had! Look at you, Yumi: you're telling us to do these things. You're wearing Joanna's body. You're you but you're not. You're different. This stuff has changed you." she says, a worried tone in her voice. Then in a lower, darker tone she adds "I think it's corrupted you."
You give a laugh, "I guess I could see how you could think that but I'm fine, honest." you state. "And if Sarah wants to do it she should be able to. I gave you guys a choice after all. If you don't want to do it you don't have to."
You knew Dana would have doubts but you thought she would cave in at the end. This is a problem. You look down at the masks on the ground: one of Dana, one of Sarah, and one of Yumi. After getting them back you made sure to take all three into the bathroom and golemize them. Yumi's if you wanted to be someone else and the sisters' in case they refused. Like you and Caleb agreed: if someone doesn't want to do it you slap a golem mask onto them to make sure they stay in line. You could do that right now but you look at Dana's mask. You've got a link to Eastman so why not forget James, Carson, and Jenny work there while letting Caleb have Westside? All you have to do is step in for Dana, say you agreed to do it and Yumi put you in charge of yourself and Sarah.
"You don't have to do it." you say as you look at Dana out of the corner of your eye, "But you have to promise not to tell anyone about this." | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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