"Not happening Sarah, sorry." you tell her with a shake of your head.
"What?! But why not?!"
You're a bit surprised by how adamant about doing this she seems to be. For a second you almost want to go back but stand strong. "Look, you can't play around with these things. At least not yet. These masks are magic, real magic, and I need you to show me that I can trust you." you state.
"You showed us all of this and now you're backing out?" asks Dana sounding more than a little irritated by the whole thing.
"I'm not backing out." you state perfectly mirroring Dana's expression. "What I'm doing is making sure you can follow instructions and that you can use these things without screwing up. To get masks you're going to have to be other people, replace them long enough to get close to others. I need to see that you can do it that's all."
"That sounds really cold." Dana replies, still trying to keep a strong tone to her voice.
"It does but we have to be serious with these. We can't just do things halfway." another copy of Dana, that tone this time, and you can tell that it's seriously weirding out Sarah so you soften it. "Look if we screw up, if people catch us... who knows what could happen? People will freak out, they'll avoid us, or maybe we'll attract the wrong kinds of attention as rumors spread about those Asian witches."
"I just think it sounds neat." Sarah says quietly, "I just want to try it. Just once."
You look at her, Dana's memories and personality making you feel a large wave of compassion for the younger sister. "Here, take this." you say taking the one extra blank and band out of your purse and putting it onto the floor in front of the sisters. "Use this to get a copy of someone. Whoever you want, just go for someone easy. I'll be back tomorrow to pick it up and if you pull it off with no problems then you can get a day or two as each other."
"You promise, right?" asks Sarah.
"One hundred percent." you reply, "Just get someone copied and we'll talk."
* * * * *
Goodbyes are said and you leave, not bothering to change out of Dana's mask yet, and head out to Yumi's car. You're surprised, then, when a hand grabs your shoulder and you turn to see it belongs to Dana herself. "What's up?" you ask trying to sound as good natured as possible.
"You know what's up." she says and you can feel her staring daggers right through you. "You've got that mask of me on so you know exactly what's up, don't you?"
You stare back coolly. "This isn't a good idea. We don't know what we're messing with and things could get real bad real quick." you reply.
"I'm only doing this because it's something Sarah wants to try." she replies thereby confirming what you just said, "I'm her sister and I have to keep an eye on her. If something happened I couldn't..."
"Live with myself." you say finishing her thought for her.
"You're not me." she states, "In fact I don't know who you are, Yumi's never been like this. Maybe that book is influencing you or maybe it's evil and you're really some creature from Hell running around in my cousin's body."
You sigh, "I've been acting weird, I know, and I'm sorry. It's just..." you trail off trying to find the words, "I put up with so much garbage from Chelsea Cooper because she thinks I'm a threat to her. I see my best friend lumped in as an 'undesirable' simply because she hangs out with some dorky guys and because Chelsea knows it'll get to me. Lin, the Garner twins, and myself, Chelsea's got it out bad for all of us." you look at her, a bit of a pleading expression on your face, "I like being a cheerleader, I like the exercise, I like the camaraderie I've developed with a few members. And this... this bitch wants to ruin things because she's arrogant and self-centered. So with this book and these masks I can get back at her, or I can get away from her for a bit."
"Then why come to us?" Dana asks, "Why rope me and my sister into this?"
"Because you guys are my friends as well as being my cousins." you say. "I just thought it'd be cool to share in this together. I've got you in my head right now and I know that some times the daily grind gets to you and that you want to get away from it every so often. Well, you can! You can be someone else for a few days and take a break from yourself! I just want to help you guys out and have a little fun, that's it."
Dana continues to eye you though the more contemptuous nature of her gaze has mostly faded, albeit replaced with a more wary one. "Fine. I'll take your word for it for now. I just hope this doesn't come back to bite us all in the ass, especially Sarah."
"Thanks." you reply with a genuinely grateful tone. With things now softened you explain to her the process of combining the mask and band and sealing it up. You tell her to pass the news on to her sister and then exchange another set of goodbyes with her.
With that done you drive out until you get to a parking lot, one that doesn't look crowded. Then it's a scramble into the backseat to lay down and remove Dana's mask before putting Yumi's back on. Once you've finished with that you get back into the driver's seat and as you put the car back into gear you call up Jelena's number. "What's up?" comes the voice on the other end.
"They're in." you say. "Sarah was easy, Dana took some convincing, but they're in."
"That's good. So when are you gonna get to your first group?" she asks.
"I dunno, I'm thinking of dropping that." you tell her, "Shit's complicated enough as is without one of us trying to run two groups. I think I'll try and keep Eastside as my territory."
"Are you sure you want to do that?" asks Jelena.
"Yeah. I can stay as Yumi and help you out if you want but for a group I'll just use Yumi's cousins." you explain, "I can recruit another person too if I have to. Maybe I'll find someone there to switch with to make things easier."
There's a moment of silence on the other end before Jelena's voice breaks in, "Alright. Have fun."
"I'll get you your girly masks, don't worry." you tease.
* * * * *
You stand in the bathroom, door locked, of the Pak residence the next evening, newly acquired mask in hand while Yumi's lays on the sink. You didn't ask who they managed to get, you want to be surprised, only confirmed that they got it. Thankfully they pulled through with Sarah commenting that it was surprisingly easy. So with a curiosity you sit down, back against the wall, and raise the mask to your face.
Coming to you're struck by how different you feel. Your weight is distributed a little differently, your hips wider, your breasts a bit less firm... it's definitely a girl they got but different from being Yumi or Dana. In fact you feel older. You raise yourself off the floor and look into the mirror and are quite shocked by what you see as the copied mind opens up to you. The person they copied, the person you now are, is Kaori Pak: their own mother. You look at your face; it's a face that's aged well though there are a few lines here and there. Nothing that can't be covered up though.
And you feel older because, well, you are older. A recently turned forty-four in fact. You take a look at your close cropped dark hair. Hands paw at your breasts with a slight sag to them. Hands caress hips that are wider than either of the female ones you've had. For over forty Mrs. Pak keeps herself looking good; regular exercise, even if it's just running on the treadmill or going for a walk, helps.
And as her mind opens up to you you're able to learn things: like the fact she's the news director at one of the local stations. Well isn't this just peachy? With her position getting masks of some of the more attractive anchors and reporters at the station would be a cinch. You would definitely be able to get some of various local celebrities and even the rare larger one that makes their way through. Becoming Kaori Pak sounds quite tantalizing though thinking of how to do the switch might be tricky. After all the sisters would be expecting Yumi and likewise if you told them what you plan to do they might not be so keen on it. You'd have to tread carefully if you want to make this switch.
Of course the easier solution would be to just switch into one of the sisters. That's going to involve having to spend at least a day as Sarah before ultimately deciding which one to go with. Dana's skepticism and uneasiness could cause a problem so switching into her is the obvious solution but you know how strong her love for her sister is. If you stayed as Sarah you might be able to use that to your advantage as she might be willing to cut Sarah slack that she otherwise wouldn't give to Yumi, though the problems that come from being a freshman are obvious; mainly transportation if you need to see Caleb.   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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