# chapters

path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221
author_id: seuzz
title: Multiplicities
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You stare hungrily at Chelsea. She stares vacantly back, a light smile on her lips. Maybe she thinks you're about to pay her a steamy compliment.<br/>
<br/>
But much as you'd like to transact a body swap with her tonight, you haven't the energy. "I think that's all for now," you say.<br/>
<br/>
Joe turns querulous. "Wait, I thought we were having a big argument about finding faces for me and Frank."<br/>
<br/>
"I got other stuff to think about," you say. <br/>
<br/>
"But if the <i>Stellae</i> come looking—" Frank starts.<br/>
<br/>
"Tomorrow. We'll deal with it tomorrow," you say. "Chelsea will have something to say about it all then. Won't you?"<br/>
<br/>
"Uh, sure," she says.<br/>
<br/>
"Great. Joe, can you and Frank go pick us up some burgers?"<br/>
<br/>
"You want to risk us being seen in public?" <i>Now</i> Joe decides he wants to worry about that?<br/>
<br/>
"Fine, then just raid the fridge in the main kitchen." Your palms are feeling sweaty.<br/>
<br/>
Frank steps forward. "Will, are you feeling alright?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm fine. I just got stuff on my mind is all." You avoid his eye.<br/>
<br/>
"Uh huh." Joe and Frank exchange a long glance. "Well, okay. What do you feel like eating?"<br/>
<br/>
"Whatever," you stammer. "I'll be in the bathroom."<br/>
<br/>
"Right." Joe drawls out the word while you hurry for the toilet. You lock the door behind you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You successfully work out certain tensions while the boys are gone, and are much more relaxed when you reemerge. You avoid conversation by pretending to doodle with sigils, but your attention is elsewhere. Frank is right, you need to start training with your <i>ousiarchs,</i> particularly with Glundandra, so: "Joe, how about you play Jonathan tomorrow. I wanna hang out with Frank, get some work done," you tell him.<br/>
<br/>
He nods. "Good idea. I should fix whatever fuck ups Frank caused with Monique." Frank whaps him for that.<br/>
<br/>
And since Joe will be playing Jonathan tomorrow, he goes to bed in Jonathan's mask, leaving you and Frank to camp out in the living room. He presses you to do a little training right away, but you demur, claiming exhaustion. "Tomorrow," you assure him. "Early, and all day, if you want."<br/>
<br/>
"It doesn't work like that," he says. "You have to get a handle on them first, get a feel for them. That's something that takes time, but it you can't squeeze it all into a day."<br/>
<br/>
"So what will it be like," you ask as you slip into a sleeping bag.<br/>
<br/>
"It's different with different people," he says. "My job— You know, I've never trained anyone before." He bites his lip. "And circumstances are a bit unreal. But we'll start with meditation exercises. Get you used to being in the presence of your new <i>ousiarchs.</i> It's probably gonna be pretty daunting, dealing with Glundandra. That's the biggie, you know."<br/>
<br/>
"Why is that?" you ask. "Glundandra is Jupiter, right?" Frank nods. "But why isn't the Sun the big one? It's far and away the biggest thing in the solar system."<br/>
<br/>
"Joe's better at answering questions like that. But it doesn't have anything to do with the mass of the actual planets.  Those are just, like, physical clothing for them. Or something." He shrugs. "But it's kind of like with people. The biggest person isn't always the person in charge. Sometimes it's the smallest person. Like Napoleon."<br/>
<br/>
"Or Chelsea," you blurt out.<br/>
<br/>
Frank nods thoughtfully. "You're giving me and Joe new faces," he says, and doesn't sound enthusiastic. "You're going to give yourself a new face too. You're going to give yourself Chelsea's."<br/>
<br/>
He doesn't intone it like a question, and you nod. "She's a natural leader type anyway," you say. "You know that. It makes sense to pair her with Glundandra."<br/>
<br/>
"Joe and I talked while we were fetching supper," he says. "We figured you'd be doing that." Now he hesitates. "If we're supposed to be hanging out close while I help train you, I suppose that means I should be getting Gordon's face."<br/>
<br/>
You'd not thought that far ahead. "Yeah, that's an obvious possibility," you say cautiously. You're not sure if Frank—your alter ego in his body—would be eager or mortified to be your "boyfriend" once you've take Chelsea's place, so you're not sure how to pitch your response. "She also says she's got that brother, though."<br/>
<br/>
"So I guess we've got a choice," Frank says after a moment's pause. "You'll know better once you've made the switch." He goes over to turn off the lights.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
The next morning you eat a quick breakfast with your partners, and then Joe—still wearing Jonathan's mask—takes off for the day. "Why don't you give Joe Jonathan's face," Frank asks. "Someone needs to play Jonathan anyway."<br/>
<br/>
A little avalanche goes off in your head. "We could make that one of his faces," you say. Frank gives you a queer look. "Oh, it just occurred to me. The trick I used to give myself two sets of <i>essentia—</i> It wouldn't be too hard to adapt it for <i>imago.</i> Then we could have multiple faces and switch them around without using masks."<br/>
<br/>
Frank cocks an eyebrow. "Joe would like that. He wasn't looking forward to losing his old body."<br/>
<br/>
"I could tell. And you?"<br/>
<br/>
Frank shrugs. "It's just something for people to look at. But I guess I wouldn't like to cut myself off so totally from who I was." He shifts a little.<br/>
<br/>
"So that's my next project," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"Your next project is working with me," Frank retorts. "Come on. Get cleaned up, and then we'll have a session."<br/>
<br/>
So after you shower you sit down cross-legged in front of Frank. "Put your hands in mine," he says, extending his palms up. "Close your eyes. Relax."<br/>
<br/>
You let your eyes droop and your shoulders sag. Nothing happens. Your breathing becomes slower. Nothing happens. You let your mind go fuzzy and unfocused.<br/>
<br/>
You feel something like a gentle tug that sets you spinning. Two globes hove into view: one's a bright mirror, and the other is a dark, burning mass.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Crap. You're operating with your old </i>essentia.<i> Those are Sulva and Kenandandra.</i><br/>
<br/>
"It's okay," Frank says. It's like his words are echoing in your mind, not your ears. "Let's see how you are with these."<br/>
<br/>
So you relax and let the planets drift. Kenandandra retreats from view, and Sulva comes to the fore. Its surface is pitted and cratered, but as you draw close you see that each tiny curve is actually an infinitely small, flat surface, highly polished. The Moon is a giant congeries of tiny mirrors. And in each mirror is your face.<br/>
<br/>
No, the Moon itself is your face. And inside each tiny mirror— You can't make out whose faces they are, but they are each different, unique.<br/>
<br/>
You're reminded of when you were working on <i>imago,</i> editing the sigils that compose them. The tiny mirrors are like those sigils, and the Moon itself is like your own <i>imago</i>. You feel yourself swallow, for it's like confirmation of what you just said to Frank: You can give yourself the <i>imago</i> of multiple people, and you yourself would be the sum of them.<br/>
<br/>
Sulva fades, and Kenandandra reappears. It's a dark planet but seems to burn on the inside, like charcoal. Your own intellect quickens at its approach. You're like a gas or a thin liquid, bubbling and fizzing with its heat. Unbidden, sigils form in your mind, swirling and coming together in vast, intricate, complicated diagrams, yet you can take them in instantly. Again, it's confirmation of what you'd just seen: the plan for a sigil that will let you—or your confederates—sport multiple <i>imago.</i> It flares before fading, leaving a sharp, burning imprint of itself in your memory.<br/>
<br/>
You open your eyes. Frank smiles at you. "Looks like you've already got a good connection to your old <i>ousiarchs.</i> Probably you've been working with them for a long time without realizing it."<br/>
<br/>
You draw a deep breath. "I guess. It still feels like a big thing to meet up with them like that, though." A sharp shiver goes through you. "So, should we try it with the others now?"<br/>
<br/>
But Frank shakes his head. "I think that's enough for today. You don't wanna wear yourself out. And if Sulva and Kenandandra were daunting, well— You might wanna save Glundandra for when you're at a hundred percent."<br/>
<br/>
You pale a little at his words, but also thrill.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Chelsea is a little moody when she arrives after school in answer to your summons. "I had to skip out on my friends," she pouts.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't worry about it, Chelsea," you say. "You're going to like what happens this afternoon. I'm going to give you a present. I'm going to make you a queen." You raise your hand to brush your face, then drop it. You're not sure you want the memory of being pawed by "Will Prescott."<br/>
<br/>
Her eyes brighten, and she doesn't object when, in the ballroom, you order her to disrobe. You stiffen all over at the sight of her taut, firm, rounded curves: hips, thighs, calves, buttocks, shoulders, tummy and breasts, topped with that mane of shimmering hair and the pert, imperious expression on her chipmunk face. She lays in the middle of the sigil, and you arrange the empty bottles around her. You close your eyes and extend your hands.<br/>
<br/>
Low thunder crackles, and you open your eyes. There's just a golem there now, with the remote sigil still carved in its chest. Her <i>imago</i> shimmers in one of the bottles.<br/>
<br/>
Frank helps you move the inert slab to the side, then you pull off your clothes and lay in the sigil. Now that it's come to the point, you feel strangely tranquil; all sense of anticipation has left you, for the transformation will be upon you in only moments. You brush your hand over your face, and the world shifts. From inside Frank's body, you look down at your lank and scrawny body: so different from Chelsea's.<br/>
<br/>
You're glad your erection had gone away by the time you'd shifted your place in the world.</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211
author_id: seuzz
title: The Perfect Disguise
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You take a deep breath. This operation isn't nearly as tricky as the ones before, but you don't want to fuck it up.<br/>
<br/>
Carefully, you further prep the sigil. An empty bottle to hold your original <i>imago.</i> The bottle containing Chelsea's original <i>essentia</i> and the bottle that now holds her <i>imago.</i> The sheet onto which you've carefully drawn the sigil that will let you switch between <i>imago.</i> You stand back, eyeball it all for a moment, then close your eyes—Frank's eyes—and extend your hands again.<br/>
<br/>
Thunder rumbles as you chant, and you seem to feel the elements slip through your hands, like liquid filaments. Your <i>imago</i> streams off your <i>substantia</i> and into a receptacle. You grasp Chelsea's <i>essentia,</i> chant a phrase, and it arcs from its bottle to your body, attaching to the wheel that holds the other two <i>essentia.</i> You suppress a shiver. You grasp the new sigil and drape it over your <i>substantia.</i> You grip your <i>imago</i> and Chelsea's, and they simultaneously sizzle and strike like bolts of lightning, grounding onto your substance. <br/>
<br/>
That completes the operation, but you keep your eyes closed and study the occult image that floats in your mind's eye. It shimmers under your stare before resolving, not into an image, but into a complex sigil whose significance you recognize: Chelsea's <i>imago</i> manifesting to the physical world.<br/>
<br/>
You smile, and release your hold on Frank.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Your eyes flutter open, and you've just a brief glimpse of a dusky ceiling before you screw them tightly shut again. <i>If it's to be done, it's to be done right.</i><br/>
<br/>
You turn your attention inward, and find the place that holds your <i>essentia.</i> (So easy to find now.) They float in a void, like burnished globes. Twin planets revolve about each other in one; twin planets revolve about each other in another. You grasp the third, and pull it into yourself.<br/>
<br/>
The world lurches. Your eyes pop open, and your chest heaves. You swallow a little bile, and cough daintily. You blink and touch your lips. Sharp, curved fingernails scratch.<br/>
<br/>
You pull your hand away and stare at it. It's small, with trim fingers and polished, satiny nails. <i>I need to try a new color,</i> you vaguely think.<br/>
<br/>
You smile lazily, and let yourself settle back.<br/>
<br/>
It feels very natural. Unnaturally natural. You permit yourself a pert frown.<br/>
<br/>
Of course, it had all felt very natural when you were wearing a mask of someone else: you had felt just like that person. Similarly, it had felt very natural when you had slipped inside Frank and Joe. You never would have said—to yourself or another—that it felt artificial, like you were only in "disguise."<br/>
<br/>
But in retrospect, it feels now like there were layers. That in wearing a mask you were still peering through eyeholes; that in operating Frank and Joe you were wearing a skin over your own.<br/>
<br/>
But this feels seamless. Your skin—Chelsea Cooper's skin—prickles in the air. The prickles sink into your body—Chelsea Cooper's body—and vanish into a smooth interior that is Chelsea Cooper's interior all the way through and to the other side.<br/>
<br/>
The thought "I'm Will Prescott" buzzes in the back of your head. It's like an irritant. You've only to brush it away—<br/>
<br/>
Frank's face looms into view. "Is that you, Will?" he asks.<br/>
<br/>
That Prescott-like buzz blooms, and you're briefly overcome by dizziness. You grunt. You lose none of the firm, creamy sense of Chelsea Cooper, but you feel anchored to yourself again. "I'm here," you chirp. "And it's <i>amazing.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Frank helps you up, and you bounce lightly on the balls of your feet before doing an effortless backward flip. You come out of it with upthrust arms and fingers exploding like starbursts toward the ceiling. "What do you think," you say, shaking the hair from your face.<br/>
<br/>
"Very nice," he says dryly. "She looks just like she did before."<br/>
<br/>
"Just like she did before we got ahold of her," you gloat. "I'm running her operating system underneath."<br/>
<br/>
"Is that wise," Frank asks. You frown. "I mean, it seems easy enough to lose yourself in a mask. If you've even got her <i>essentia—</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"It's no different than what you and Joe have going," you retort. "Their <i>imago,</i> their <i>essentia,</i> my— Our <i>anima.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
Frank still looks skeptical. "That's true. But in case you hadn't noticed—" He tugs his ear. "Joe and I seem to be running pretty close to our original personalities. I mean, we're totally on board with this rebel group we've got going," he hastens to add. "There's no way we want the <i>Stellae</i> catching up to us. They'd rip your— Our <i>anima</i> out of us, and that'd be like being killed." His color turns chalky. "I just mean that it's real hard not to stay in character. There's no reason to even <i>be</i> in character as 'Will Prescott'," he adds.<br/>
<br/>
"So why are you worried about <i>me,</i>" you ask, and put a well-practiced, deadly inflection into the question.<br/>
<br/>
"I guess I'm not," he stammers. "Except— Well, when we started all this, we all <i>assumed</i> that 'Will Prescott'—" He crooks his fingers into air quotes "—was going to be running things. Not Chelsea Cooper." No air quotes around "Chelsea Cooper," you notice. "We were all going to be <i>Stellae</i>," he adds. "Renegade <i>Stellae</i>, retrograde <i>Stellae,</i> but still <i>Stellae.</i> And Chelsea—"<br/>
<br/>
You let yourself crimson. "I've got the <i>essentia</i> for it, Frank. I can be Chelsea <i>and</i> a <i>Stellae.</i> In fact, I've got <i>double</i> the <i>essentia</i> for it. Chelsea's <i>essentia</i> is just— Well, it's to make the package more complete, that's all. But I'll be switching over to the others when I need to be. Mastering Glundandra. Then I won't just be Chelsea, I'll be more than Chelsea. Or maybe I'll be the Chelsea that should have been. Chelsea as she'd have been if this were a well-run universe." You tilt your chin.<br/>
<br/>
Frank swallows, but his eyes harden.<br/>
<br/>
So you relent. It's one of your—Chelsea's—talents: feigning retreat. "Alright, I'm just a little drunk on my new self, I guess. It's pretty heady, Frank. I mean, come on, don't you get a little light-headed just <i>looking</i> at them?" You grasp your breasts and hold them up. Frank's eyes widen, and water, before he looks away. "And that's just looking at them. Imagine having them, and holding them, and feeling them from—"<br/>
<br/>
"Alright, alright, you've made your point. Put some clothes on, okay?"<br/>
<br/>
"I guess I could," you laugh. "After all, Gordon is waiting."<br/>
<br/>
"Waiting for you, up in the fuck room?" Frank asks. His tone is churlish.<br/>
<br/>
"For me. Maybe for you." You give him a coquettish side-long glance. "He's a natural for you take over, Frank. A warrior, a captain. Someone who can whip the troops into shape, train them, help them unlock their potential. And he's the one who gets to touch—" You cradle your breasts in the crook of an arm, and with your free hand lightly trace a line down the curve of your stomach toward the tuft of hair between your legs.<br/>
<br/>
Sweat pops out on Frank's brow.<br/>
<br/>
Then the doorknob rattles. You shriek and whip around, dropping to your knees to cover your nakedness. Behind you, Jonathan Straussler's jolly voice sounds: "Hey kids, where's Will gone off to?"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
At least Joe's return sobers you up. He's shameless about ogling you, and the easiest way to deal with him is to put aside Chelsea's native personality and force your own to the fore. You calmly explain to him what you did to yourself this afternoon, all while snapping on panties, pulling on tight jeans, tucking yourself into a sports bra and pulling on a short, flannel top. (Chelsea likes clothes that are a little too small. It reminds her that she needs to exercise and eat right; and it keeps boys in a tense state of expectation that she'll bust out of her too-tight restraints at any moment.) "So you're now Chelsea Cooper to the core," Joe grins.<br/>
<br/>
"To the same extent that you're still Joe Durras and I'm still Frank Durras," Frank says. "The way Will explains it, he's built on the inside exactly the way we are. Everything the original girl had, but with his <i>anima</i> running things."<br/>
<br/>
"I guess we can stop calling you 'Will' then," Joe chortles. "Start calling you 'Chelsea'." He draws up close and peers down at you with a rakish smile. "Is that gonna change our relationship?"<br/>
<br/>
There's no denying that Jonathan Straussler—tall, blonde, willowy Jonathan Straussler—is very attractive. So is Joe, when he's out of that mask. So is Frank. But you stare back at him evenly, and—<br/>
<br/>
<i>Oh, God damn it!</i> You do feel a flush of desire, and from the glint in Joe's eye you can tell that he's spotted it. His smile widens.<br/>
<br/>
But you've got Chelsea Cooper's self-control now. "We're going to keep things on a professional basis, Joe," you coolly tell him. "And that means—"<br/>
<br/>
Two things happen simultaneously, to interrupt you. First, your phone trills. Instinctively you check it: Gordon. He can wait, though, for the ballroom door has opened and another Jonathan Straussler hurries in. The one standing before you abruptly vanishes. "Sorry," the new arrival says. "I left a placeholder while I ran back to get this. You didn't see me go, because I'm good that way." <br/>
<br/>
<i>Fucking show off.</i><br/>
<br/>
He brandishes a golden disk, which you recognize as the little device he used when you first met him, to test you out as a <i>Stellae.</i> He fiddles with it, and mutters. "You're using Chelsea's <i>essentia</i>?" he asks, and you nod. "Cool, check it out. No reading." He shows you the disk, but of course you don't know how it works. "You're invisible, Chelsea," he says. "Under that face, with that <i>essentia,</i> you're just an ordinary girl. Well, as ordinary as girl looking like that can be," he leers.<br/>
<br/>
"A perfect disguise," Frank says. "Isn't that what we want?"</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122111
author_id: seuzz
title: The Two Faces of Chelsea Cooper
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Perfect disguises," Frank says. "Isn't that what we want?"<br/>
<br/>
"Absolutely!" You clap your hands. <i>This is just so perfect.</i> "I'll get Gordon out here for you, Frank—"<br/>
<br/>
"I thought we were keeping things on a professional level," Joe says in a sly voice. "How are you going to keep things 'professional' with my brother if you're boffing him on a regular basis?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, who says we're going to—?" You pull up hard, for you glimpse Frank staring at you over Joe's shoulder. It's an even gaze, communicating nothing. But it communicates enough. What were you promising him just before Joe showed up?<br/>
<br/>
You could kick Joe in the balls for catching you in that little contradiction.<br/>
<br/>
But it's not like a contradiction could ever trip up Chelsea Cooper.<br/>
<br/>
"We <i>will</i> keep things on a professional basis," you say in a much cooler tone. "And all three of us will keep them on a professional basis while being <i>totally</i> in character."<br/>
<br/>
Joe looks very mirthful. <br/>
<br/>
But you ignore him as you take out your phone and return your boyfriend's call. "Pookie," you coo. "You called? What's up?" <i>As if you didn't know.</i><br/>
<br/>
"Nothing," says Gordon Black, sounding grumpy as usual. "Just, you know, wanted to hear the sound of your voice."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, that's so sweet!" In fact, you've got him well-trained to call in every couple of hours. If you go too long without hearing from him, your manner turns very frigid, and your tongue acquires a sharp barb. <i>Sharper.</i><br/>
<br/>
"You know, I was just thinking about you," you continue. "You'll never guess where I am."<br/>
<br/>
"Up at the school?" His voice acquires some little interest.<br/>
<br/>
"Tch! No! But I can guess what <i>you're</i> thinking about," you giggle. His query at least tells you he's not up in the fuck room, drinking beers with his stupid jock friends. "Tell me where <i>you</i> are, and I'll tell you where— Oh, never mind that. I'm at Jonathan Straussler's house! You know Jonathan, he plays basketball for—"<br/>
<br/>
"I know who Straussler is." Gordon's voice now becomes tinged with suspicion. "What are you doing at his place?"<br/>
<br/>
"It's amazing out here, Gordon! It's like this amazing castle, like they just <i>picked it up</i>— And it's got stained glass windows, and a pipe organ—!" You cover the phone with your hand. "This place has a pipe organ, doesn't it?" you ask Joe in a low voice. He nods. You return to Gordon: "And I know you don't care about that, but I think it's neat. And they've got this game room— Omigod Gordon, you could have so much fun over here, you and Steve and—"<br/>
<br/>
"Why would I want to hang out at Straussler's place?'<br/>
<br/>
"I'm telling you, because he's got all this— There's a tennis court, and an outdoor <i>and</i> an indoor pool—"<br/>
<br/>
"But why are <i>you</i> getting a special tour?"<br/>
<br/>
"Don't you think <i>I'm</i> special, Gordon?"<br/>
<br/>
"Of course, baby," he says, backing off. "I just wanna know why you suddenly got an invite from—"<br/>
<br/>
"Didn't I tell you? Oh, but that's what makes it so great." You hop up and down excitedly, and Frank and Joe roll their eyes in unison. "Jonathan called me out because he wants us all to be friends! Like, you and me and him and his friends at Eastman. I know you've got that stupid rivalry thing going—"<br/>
<br/>
"What's so stupid about wanting to paste their pansy asses to—?" <br/>
<br/>
"Nothing, pookie. But it's like— I've seen you and Steve when you play against each other. I mean, my God, sometimes I think you two are going to kill each other! But you're still <i>friends.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Steve-o doesn't invite you over to his place—"<br/>
<br/>
"We're going to have a party out here, Gordon," you say, and drop your voice to let him know he's on notice. "That's why Jonathan called me, because he knows that <i>I'm</i> the one who should be organizing it on our end. Jonathan may be a blonde like me, but he isn't an airhead like— Like <i>Maria.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
Joe snerks so hard that snot flies out his nose.<br/>
<br/>
"So what needs organizing?"<br/>
<br/>
"A <i>party,</i> Gordon." You can't believe how stupid he can be. "I know you and Steve like to just sling potato chips and pizza over your dirty jockstraps up in the gym loft. But this place is like a <i>castle,</i>" you whine. "If we're going to have a party it has to be really nice, and that takes <i>planning!</i> I'm going to help set it up and figure out who to invite from Westside. There's going to be dozens, maybe even hundreds of people here! The whole idea is to break the ice between the schools, so we can be <i>friendly</i> rivals."<br/>
<br/>
"Does that include the Eastman cheerleading squad?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, let's not get carried away. The point is that I want you to come out here and look around and meet Jonathan."<br/>
<br/>
"Why? If you're the one organizing things—"<br/>
<br/>
"Because I'm asking you to come out here, Gordon. Are you coming or not?"<br/>
<br/>
"Okay," he says in a small voice.<br/>
<br/>
You give him the address. "Oh, you'll see, pookie! You and Jonathan are going to start hanging out and be best friends. Like brothers, even!" Joe—still in Jonathan's face—smirks at Frank, who remains stone-faced. "And we'll come out here with our friends and sit around the pool and play tennis and—! Oh, I can't wait! Hurry over, baby!<br/>
<br/>
"Well, he's on his way over, the dumb ox, in case you couldn't tell," you sniff as you tap the phone off. "God, he can be so <i>pig-headed</i> sometimes." You turn violently on Frank. "So you watch yourself when we finally get his face onto you," you snarl. "He's got problems, you'll see, but that's no excuse for the kind of <i>shit</i> I have to put up with from him. Oh, I could <i>strangle</i> him sometimes."<br/>
<br/>
"Is Gordon into that kind of thing?" Joe asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Truculent as ever, Gordon takes his sweet time showing up, and you tamp down your frustration as you wait out front. His classic VW Bug finally stutters up after nearly forty minutes, and you suppress a sniff as he climbs out in wrinkled flannel shorts and a dirty sleeveless t-shirt. So much less classy than Jonathan, who's in khakis and a nice shirt. Gordon ignores you and his host, though, and casts a slightly fearful eye over the façade of the Straussler "castle."<br/>
<br/>
You bound up and squeeze him. "You know Jonathan, right?" You cast a twinkling glance between the boys.<br/>
<br/>
"Straussler," Gordon says. Jonathan smiles thinly and replies, "Black."<br/>
<br/>
"So wait'll you see this place," you gush. "Oh, but I should shut up. Jonathan can tell you all about it."<br/>
<br/>
But you can't stifle yourself for long. It's one thing to have seen the Straussler house with your own eyes; it's another to see it through Chelsea's, and despite yourself you cry out over almost every detail. Especially the curtains. Oh my God, when you were Will Prescott you had no idea that curtains could be so thrilling!<br/>
<br/>
Impatience gradually overwhelms you, though, for Jonathan seems intent on showing every single corner and crevice. "The ballroom," you tell him. "Show Gordon the ballroom! You'll never believe, honey. That's where we'll have most of the stuff set up. There's room for everybody, and your eyes will just pop when you see it."<br/>
<br/>
"There's a lot to see," Gordon allows.<br/>
<br/>
"Ballroom's the highlight," Jonathan says. "I'm saving it for last."<br/>
<br/>
"Are we gonna look at <i>every</i> room?" Gordon asks, sounding a little aghast.<br/>
<br/>
"Your girlfriend's having a lot of fun looking over it again," Jonathan says. "Or maybe I'm just having fun showing it to her. I don't want the tour to end."<br/>
<br/>
"Jonathan, you're being mean!"<br/>
<br/>
"Alright!" he relents with a laugh. <br/>
<br/>
You hug Gordon more tightly as you walk along, and kiss him on the shoulder.<br/>
<br/>
But he's not impressed, you can tell, when you finally enter the ballroom. He just looks around, then jumps a little when Frank strides out of a dark corner. "You know Frank Durras, from my school," Jonathan says.<br/>
<br/>
"Nice to see you," Gordon says with lukewarm enthusiasm.<br/>
<br/>
"Nice to <i>be</i> you," Frank replies in a similar tone.<br/>
<br/>
You feel rather than see Gordon do a double take. Then he's jerked violently from your embrace and hurled to the floor. An invisible force drags him over to the sigil and nails him in place. He's too surprised to shout. "I got the door," Jonathan calls as he locks it. "Chelsea, you got the rest of the stuff?"<br/>
<br/>
"Boy, we're not wasting time, are we?" you laugh. "Finally." From a nearby table you pick up the supplies for the transference. <br/>
<br/>
Gordon eyes you wildly as you kneel beside him, setting items in place. "Chelsea! What's—? I can't move!"<br/>
<br/>
"I know, sweetie," you sigh. "That's just Frank. It'll be fine, you'll see. Well, someone will see that it's fine after we're done. But he'll <i>be</i> you when he sees it's fine, and that's what counts. For us, anyway. And I guess you heard that 'someone' will be Frank. He'll make it better for you, you'll see. He'll be able to handle your dad, for a start."<br/>
<br/>
"Chelsea!" Gordon's voice is a shriek. "What are you talking about?"<br/>
<br/>
"Shh, sweetie. I'm concentrating." You cover his mouth with yours—a final kiss. "That's the best I can do for you." You stand up, and gaze at him complacently as he gazes with mounting terror back at you.<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan sidles up close. "So he's for Frank. Not to sound impatient, but who's for me?"<br/>
<br/>
<i>Maria,</i> you almost blurt out as you raise your hands to perform the first step in the spell. It would be the perfect hiding spot for a brainiac like Joe. But you hesitate. Maybe you should leave him as Jonathan for the time being, and get acquainted with Glundandra before making that decision.</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221112
author_id: seuzz
title: Substitution Surprise
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Not now, Joe," you mutter. "I have to concentrate." You close your eyes and bend your will onto the scene in front of you.<br/>
<br/>
<i>First, put Gordon out of his misery.</i> You murmur, and feel his <i>imago</i> leap into one of the bottles. Frank will also need Gordon's <i>essentia</i>, so that goes into another bottle. You can't have Gordon's <i>anima</i> messing anything up, so you pull that out of him and put it into a third bottle. You open your eyes and exhale. A bare golem rests on the sigil. "Oh, dammit," you sigh. "Joe, be a sweetheart and get Gordon's clothes off that thing. Move it out of the way first. Frank, you need to get there."<br/>
<br/>
"I know what I need to do," he mutters.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't get in character as Gordon until I'm done with you," you snap as you help him set things up for the second phase. "Are we ready? Then hang on."  <br/>
<br/>
Again, you close your eyes. Lying at key corners of the sigil are the blueprints for the sigils that will let Frank shift his <i>essentia</i> and his <i>imago,</i> and you knit those onto him first. After that it will be a simple matter of attaching Gordon's <i>essentia</i> and <i>imago</i> onto Frank. You prepare to do just that—<br/>
<br/>
And stop. You frown.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Dammit.</i> You thought you'd been so careful to plan it out, how could you have missed it? You've never been this careless before ...<br/>
<br/>
Well, there's nothing you can do about it now. You clench your hands, and feel the powerful surge of Gordon's elements rushing through you and onto Frank. While you have direct control, you make sure that Frank's <i>imago</i> and <i>essentia</i> are the ones that manifest. Then you release him and open your eyes.<br/>
<br/>
Frank sits up, looking around sharply. "Did you do it?" he asks. "I thought I felt—"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, it's done," you say. "But I just ran into a little complication. Nothing bad," you hurriedly add as Frank pales. "You're okay, it's just that—" You take a step back as Frank leans forward: You can feel him pressing upon you. "Stop it, Frank, I didn't fuck up or anything. It's just not going to work exactly the way I thought."<br/>
<br/>
"What did you do wrong?" he demands.<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing! I gave you Gordon's <i>imago</i> and <i>essentia</i> like we planned. You can switch between them. The thing is, when you change to his <i>imago,</i> you'll lose touch with Frank's."<br/>
<br/>
His eyes widen. "How come?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because— Look, when I put you back together again in Cuthbert, I gave you Will Prescott's <i>anima.</i> My <i>anima.</i> That's how come you've got Will Prescott's memories, and you always will. But you've only got Frank's memories and personality because you're wearing his <i>imago.</i> And when you switch between his <i>imago</i> and Gordon's— Okay, you don't know anything about Gordon right now, do you?" <br/>
<br/>
"I know that he's an asshole and a bully."<br/>
<br/>
"I mean, do you know anything you didn't know before?"<br/>
<br/>
Frank's attention goes inward, and he shakes his head.<br/>
<br/>
"That's because you're wearing and using Frank's <i>imago</i> right now. But when you switch to Gordon, everything will flip." You illustrate with your hands. "You'll have all of Gordon's memories and personality, but you won't have Frank's. Because deep down—" You point to your temple. "Deep down, you're Will Prescott, and you're just pretending to be each of these guys."<br/>
<br/>
"It's like with masks, bro," Joe jumps in. "That's what Chelsea's trying to say. When you're in a mask, you got what they got. But when you change to another mask, you lose what you had before. Basically, you've got two masks inside you. One of Frank Durras and one of Gordon Black. But you, you're just Will Prescott underneath, and you'll just be switching between those interior masks."<br/>
<br/>
"But I feel like I'm Frank Durras!" he exclaims.<br/>
<br/>
You can only shrug. "That's what happens when you're inside a mask for a long time, right? And you've been playing Frank for a long time."<br/>
<br/>
"Still, it's not like this is a tragedy," Joe says. "It's not a huge fuck up on your part, Chelsea. We can still hide, be invisible—"<br/>
<br/>
"I was just hoping it would still be Frank with us," you say. "Underneath Gordon, operating him. I don't want to lose you, Frank."<br/>
<br/>
"I'll still be here, it sounds like," he says, though his tone is wary. "It'll still be me."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Still be Will Prescott,</i> you think to yourself, but say nothing, for fear that your disappointment will sound through.<br/>
<br/>
"But how did you miss this?" Joe asks you. "Didn't you set things up with yourself the same way when you added Chelsea's <i>imago?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes," you stammer. "But I didn't notice because, when I shifted into her <i>imago,</i> I still had the Prescott <i>anima</i> underneath. So I didn't notice anything missing."<br/>
<br/>
"But when you switch into Prescott's <i>imago—</i> Oh, but you haven't done that yet," Joe laughs.<br/>
<br/>
You blush and shake your head. You weren't planning to ever put your old face back on.<br/>
<br/>
"But if you did," Joe continues, "you'd forget everything that Chelsea knows. You'd just be plain old, stupid Will Prescott again."<br/>
<br/>
You bite back a sharp reply, and content yourself with a muttered, "Like that's ever going to happen."<br/>
<br/>
"It still bothers me," Frank says. "This is the first time you've fucked up, Will—"<br/>
<br/>
"It's not a 'fuck up,' Frank," Joe interjects.<br/>
<br/>
"Fine. It's still the first time you missed something pretty big. Why?"<br/>
<br/>
You glare at the floor. "Maybe it's 'cos I was running Chelsea's <i>essentia</i> when I did it," you murmur.<br/>
<br/>
"Whadja say?" Joe asks. "Ah!" he exclaims when you repeat it. "Makes sense. You didn't have Kenandandra in play. Well, as long as that's the worst that happened. How about you give it a whirl, Frank?"<br/>
<br/>
"The worst that happened?" Frank echoes, and now he does look alarmed. "If you were operating on me as that bimbo—"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm sure I got the rest of it right!"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not taking any chances—!"<br/>
<br/>
In a fury, you brush your hand over your face in a complicated motion. You've just time to feel yourself falling before you find yourself blinking and frowning at Jonathan Straussler, who has caught Chelsea Cooper in a dead faint.<br/>
<br/>
"Jumping Jupiter, Frank!" Joe exclaims as he hefts Chelsea into his arms. "You scared Chelsea senseless!"<br/>
<br/>
"I did not! I'm just over here now. I'm running Frank remotely, Joe." You stand up. "If the fucker's going to be stubborn about it, I'll have to test it out myself."<br/>
<br/>
Joe does a double take, and you notice he loosens his hold on your body just a little bit.<br/>
<br/>
But you ignore that; you have a spell to test out. You thrust aside Frank's worries and plunge inward.<br/>
<br/>
You know what to look for—if Frank doesn't remember how to do it after you've done it for him, you'll just have to show him—and you find it. Two complex sigils, floating like constellations in an inner void. One of them—the <i>imago</i> of Frank Durras—blazes brightly. You thrust it away, and the <i>imago</i> of Gordon Black explodes about you. You surface—<br/>
<br/>
—to find Joe staring at you goggle-eyed. <br/>
<br/>
"Fuck," you gasp. "What did I do wrong?" You look down at your body.<br/>
<br/>
You're still in Frank's clothes, but everything seems to be there: a trunk, strong legs and arms. You gingerly pat yourself. You've got feeling all over. Carefully you bend joints. They seem to work. You raise your head again. "The fuck are you staring at, you homo," you snarl at Joe.<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing," he says. "I guess it worked. It's just a shock is all, to see it happen like that. I mean, when it's masks going on and off—"<br/>
<br/>
"You mean I just changed? Presto-chango? Was there a flash or a puff of smoke?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. Just one moment it was Frank and now it's Gordon. Uh, what we were saying earlier, about memories and stuff—?"<br/>
<br/>
"Right," you say. "Hang on, lemme check, but I don't think—" You blink stupidly and concentrate. <i>Nope. Only Gordon and his abusive dad and his abused mom and his shitty schoolwork and a best friend who's quitting Westside to move to Eastman, and speaking of which how come that fucker Jonathan Straussler is HOLDING YOUR GODDAMN GIRLFRIEND IN HIS ARMS?!</i><br/>
<br/>
You blunt the sudden spasm of anger. "No, just Gordon in here. Fuck."<br/>
<br/>
"Now what's wrong?"<br/>
<br/>
You wave your hand over your face, and wake in Jonathan Straussler's arms. You suck in a sharp breath and wriggle free.<br/>
<br/>
"Christ," Joe exclaims. "Will you figure out where you want to be and stick with it? Or least give a guy a little warning?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sorry," you say. You turn to the person who's now looking like your boyfriend. "Frank? Or Gordon? Oh golly, what do I call you now?"<br/>
<br/>
"Pfft. Fuck if I care." He turns his back on you. "You'll just do whatever the fuck you want without asking me."<br/>
<br/>
Instinct takes you by the hand and pulls you over to him. You embrace him from behind. "I'm sorry," you say quietly into his back. "I know you didn't like taking the risk. But someone had to, so I did it for you."<br/>
<br/>
"You didn't even ask before jumping into me. You know how fucked up that is?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes. But I thought if I asked, you wouldn't let me, and then you'd do it yourself, and then what would happen if something went wrong?" You rub your face against him, and squeeze him more tightly.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, what would have happened if you'd got stuck in between, with <i>me</i> stuck in between— Stop that! I know what you're trying to do!"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm only trying to show you how much I care for you."<br/>
<br/>
"Too bad that's all you're trying to do," Joe mutters from nearby. "And too bad you're wasting it on the wrong guy."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Frank finally unfreezes enough that you can have a civil conversation. Naturally, you discuss whether you should try fixing the oversight you had made.</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211122
author_id: seuzz
title: Meet the New Power Couple, Same As ...
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Is it my turn now," Joe asks. "Who do we bring out for me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe we should wait until I get the process ironed out," you say. "I don't want to have to do everything twice." You cock your head and regard Gordon thoughtfully. "Uh, pookie?" He looks up at you sharply. "I don't know what to call you," you apologize.<br/>
<br/>
"I'd like it if you kept calling me 'Frank'," he says. <i>Even though right now Frank's </i>essentia<i> is his last link to the ex-</i>Stellae<i>. And even that won't survive your next request.</i><br/>
<br/>
"Do you want to see if you can switch your <i>essentia</i> over to Gordon's?" you ask. "Make that 'perfect disguise' we were talking about earlier?"<br/>
<br/>
He bites his lips and shrugs his shoulders and screws his eyes shut. "What should I be doing?"<br/>
<br/>
"It'll be kind of like meditating," you say. "You're going to have to look down inside yourself, feel around. I don't know what it'll feel like to you, but to me it felt like—"<br/>
<br/>
The air around Gordon thickens, and when it resolves Frank Durras is back. But his expression—one of taut anger—is unchanged. <br/>
<br/>
"Not that one," you say. "That's the—"<br/>
<br/>
"That's the place I remember you fiddling with when you were in here," he says.<br/>
<br/>
"Right, that one changes your <i>imago.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"So I can tell."<br/>
<br/>
"Do you want me to go back in, do it for you, so afterward—" You snap your mouth shut when he opens one eye to glare at you. "Well, just keep feeling around. Maybe with Frank's experience—" You gesture helplessly with your hands.<br/>
<br/>
Frank screws his eyes shut again and his frown deepens. His head lists, as though he's listening very carefully for something. His brow furrows.<br/>
<br/>
He drops to one knee and gasps deeply. <i>He must have found it.</i> You step forward.<br/>
<br/>
Frank holds up his hands to stop you, but you feel no force, no pressure. You advance another step. He clenches his fist. No great claw encloses you. You grasp his hand and kiss his knuckles.<br/>
<br/>
With a groan he falls onto his side. "It's like having most of your body amputated," he says.<br/>
<br/>
"It's only for when you need to be under deep cover," you say, and sit next to him. You grasp his hand and caress his arm. "You've still got Frank's <i>esssentia.</i> And now that you know how to switch them around, you can bring it back whenever you want."<br/>
<br/>
He grunts again, and holds your eye for a very long time. "Your boyfriend wouldn't like you touching me like this," he says quietly.<br/>
<br/>
"My boyfriend's not here." You show a dimple in your cheek.<br/>
<br/>
"Hmm." Frank lays back and closes his eye. Again, for only a fraction of a second you can't tell who you're looking at, and then it's Gordon's hand in yours. "The fuck were you flirting with that guy for," he softly growls.<br/>
<br/>
"I was flirting with <i>you,</i> silly goose."<br/>
<br/>
Your gaze doesn't wander from his face, nor his from yours.<br/>
<br/>
"Since we've got our perfect disguises now," you say, "I suppose we should start using them."<br/>
<br/>
Gordon grunts again and gets up. "Lemme just get my clothes off of— Say, what are we gonna do about what's left of Black?"<br/>
<br/>
"Stick it in a corner," you say. "We'll find a use for it." <br/>
<br/>
And while Gordon is changing his clothes, you wander over to Joe. "Nicely handled, dude," he murmurs. "Whose <i>essentia</i> were you using? The Glundandra Eldibria?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, Chelsea's. She's got lots of practice with him, and more than a little of the normal witch. At least, that's what she thinks."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
As you had your arms around the old Gordon when he strolled into the Straussler home, so you've got your arms around the new one as you stroll out; your feet keep tangled with his, since you pull yourself so close to him. His car is parked next to yours, but you don't part right away, even after Jonathan has waved a farewell and gone back inside. You push your boyfriend against the side of his car and grab at his non-existent love handles, growling like a poodle and gnawing at his chest and stomach. "We're getting in character, aren't we?" he laughs as he puts his hands on your butt.<br/>
<br/>
You gaze directly up at him. "It's nice, isn't it? I get to be— And you get to be—" You tear lightly at his sweatshirt with your teeth. "And together we get to—" You trail off with a manic grin.<br/>
<br/>
"We get to what?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing we can do out in public without getting arrested!" You release him. "We should go. You pick the destination, and I'll follow."<br/>
<br/>
Your car—a little sporty subcompact—is clean as a whistle inside, and you turn the satellite radio over to light pop. You hum happily to yourself, and at stoplights twist the mirror around to check out your makeup. It's a little smudged, you note. Well, it was a full afternoon, and if that's the worst that happened—<br/>
<br/>
But your expression sours as you begin to recognize the route Gordon is taking, and your mood has curdled by the time you pull into the Westside parking lot next to him. You don't get out when he does, and only roll down the window. "You want me to carry you in like a newlywed?" he grins.<br/>
<br/>
"Why are we here, pookie?" you quietly ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, we can't go to my place or yours."<br/>
<br/>
"Why not? What were we going to do that we can't do it there?"<br/>
<br/>
He stares back, and his face falls. "I thought— The way you were talking—"<br/>
<br/>
"I've got things I have to do, sweetie." You tick items off your fingers. "I've got to figure out a way to fix you and Joe up so your <i>Stellae</i> sides don't disappear. I've got to figure out who Joe's going to be, and who else we're going to replace. What we're going to do with the extra <i>essentia.</i> I've got Glundandra and Eldibria to master—"<br/>
<br/>
"You know, those are all things I could help you with. You <i>need</i> my help with the <i>ousiarchs.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"I need <i>Frank's</i> help, and when you're looking like that you're not Frank."<br/>
<br/>
"So I'll change—"<br/>
<br/>
"And I haven't even mentioned all the stuff that <i>Chelsea</i> has to do. I've got messages piling up on my phone, and it's been <i>hours</i> since I've been online—"<br/>
<br/>
"Fuck. Nothing's changed with us."<br/>
<br/>
"Everything's changed, pookie! That's why I haven't got time for—! Look, tomorrow's Friday. We'll have the weekend together. And tomorrow, at lunch, let's have it up in the loft, just us."<br/>
<br/>
"Sure, whatever." He turns away.<br/>
<br/>
"Gordon!" He looks back over his shoulder at you. "Sweetie, if you want to come home with me— I mean, please come home with me. We can talk and hang out and cuddle and you can help me. We just can't, you know—"<br/>
<br/>
"Why not?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because, you big goof, once we start I won't want to stop, and then where will we be? It can't be just, you know, scratch and poke and dig and fuck all the time. And it will be if I ever get started on you." You bite a lip coquettishly.<br/>
<br/>
"So we're not going to do it at all, is that what you're saying?"<br/>
<br/>
"We'll do it tomorrow at lunch, in the loft." You bat your eyelashes once. "Because then we'll <i>have</i> to stop. Oh God, when was the last time we did it during school hours?"<br/>
<br/>
"Us?" he says. "If you mean Gordon and Chelsea, yeah, it's been awhile. If you mean <i>us,</i> we've never done it during school."<br/>
<br/>
"I know," you giggle. "Won't it be <i>awesome?</i> I'll see you tomorrow, sweetie. Pick me up at my house?"<br/>
<br/>
"It'll be early," he warns.<br/>
<br/>
"Like always." You stretch out to pinch him, but he's out of reach.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Okay, so what you said and did to him at the school was kind of cruel. But dammit, where does he get off thinking that <i>you</i> want to have sex with Gordon Black? Oh sure, you'll have to give in to him occasionally, the way Chelsea had to give in to her boyfriend. But, just like she insisted, it will be on <i>your</i> schedule and according to <i>your</i> needs.<br/>
<br/>
Because you <i>have</i> got needs. And fuck it if sometimes Gordon isn't just what Chelsea needs in that department. Oh, jeepers!<br/>
<br/>
You grimly reflect that you're going to have to get yourself another face. You've only been inside Chelsea for a few hours, but between having her <i>imago</i> and her <i>essentia</i> running, you're starting to lose your grip, you worry. You're going to have to balance yourself out so that you're not running a single face all the time.<br/>
<br/>
Now, if you could put six golems under the control of Chelsea Cooper's <i>essentia,</i> then that would give you seven faces, one for each day of the week. You could change after school, up in the loft. Chelsea's fellow cheerleaders would be the obvious and most attractive candidates to use—<br/>
<br/>
You almost run a stoplight, and put the plotting on ice until you get home.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"I thought you were going to be out all evening with the girls!" your mom exclaims when she sees you.<br/>
<br/>
"Change of plan," you say. "Can't I eat supper with my family?"<br/>
<br/>
"Did Kendra find you?" your brother yells from the other room.<br/>
<br/>
"What? Did she call here?"<br/>
<br/>
"She stopped by." Jordan, barefoot in jeans and t-shirt, steps in. "I didn't know where to tell her to go, though I had ideas that didn't involve where <i>you'd</i> likely be."<br/>
<br/>
"That featherbrain. I've got a phone!"<br/>
<br/>
You ponder that instrument—loaded now with dozens of texts. If Kendra came by, it must have been important. But you've got important stuff of your own to deal with.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122111222
author_id: seuzz
title: A Gift from Kenandandra
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>My God, it actually hurts to not call Kendra back. Your eye keeps going back to the phone, even after you've laid it on your desk and propped yourself up on the bed with a notepad. A couple of times it buzzes, and you dive for it as instinct takes over. But they are meaningless little questions or messages from classmates, about schoolwork or who is going to be wearing what to class tomorrow. It irritates you that you have to deal with them, and it irritates you that prefer to ignore them, and it irritates you that it all irritates you so. <br/>
<br/>
You close your eyes and let your head fall back. You hear voices from downstairs. Your brother and your dad talking while watching TV. Your mother is on one of her exercise machines. Your room is directly over the laundry room, and a buzzer goes off. If you could only escape the noises, the bother, the distractions— But the only places you know are loud (coffee bars) or lame (libraries). If you could retreat inside yourself—<br/>
<br/>
<i>Pfft. Chelsea, you're such a ditz.</i> You dive inside yourself and find your <i>essentia,</i> and gulp hard as you surface again. You close your eyes again, let your breathing become regular, and sink into a shallower place.<br/>
<br/>
Kenandandra appears. It hovers before you, burning. It holds your eye and your mind rapt. And as you stare at it, you realize it is staring back at you.<br/>
<br/>
You feel yourself cracking, and something molten pours forth. You are swallowed up inside Kenandandra, like liquid iron into a mold.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You raise your head and blink stupidly. The bedroom light burns harshly. You look over at the clock. <i>2:34.</i><br/>
<br/>
<i>Oh, Jesus!</i> You sit up , feeling stiff all over. Your right hand is cramped, and you shake the pencil from it. In your left hand is that notebook.<br/>
<br/>
The paper is covered in a complex sigil. As you stare at it, its design and purpose fills your mind.<br/>
<br/>
You smile broadly. You didn't even consciously know you wanted this. But it is <i>perfect.</i><br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Gordon, come on, I'm serious, I need your help." You try pulling away, but your boyfriend pulls you back into an embrace and mashes his lips against your forehead.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm trying to get 'em off you, Chels," he says, and reaches under your blouse for the hooks on your bra.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't mean <i>that.</i> I need you to get one of your friends up here."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, you mean for a threesome?" Gordon's grin goes broad and lopsided. "Who? Kendra? Gloria? Ma—"<br/>
<br/>
"One of <i>your</i> friends! Jesus!" You shove him; it's like pushing a brick wall.<br/>
<br/>
He starts to turn red. "I'm not gonna share you with—"<br/>
<br/>
"Christ, can you let me talk to Frank instead?"<br/>
<br/>
Gordon passes red and into purple. "It's only one person in here," he says. "Like you explained, these faces are just masks. Talking to Frank will be just like—"<br/>
<br/>
Your sigh is ragged. "Then why are you getting so pissed off, the way Gordon always does?"<br/>
<br/>
"Why are <i>you</i> being such a cocktease the way <i>Chelsea</i> always is? You promised me that we'd pop our cherries with these bodies today at lunch in the fuck room. Well, we're here in the fuck room." He gestures. "And it's lunch time."<br/>
<br/>
"Like I told you on the drive to school, I had another breakthrough last night. That's why I had you take us by Straussler's to pick up the sigil board."<br/>
<br/>
"You said we'd be doing that after school."<br/>
<br/>
"We will. But I want to show you <i>now,</i> because we'll be using it a lot <i>after</i> school, and we need a head start so we'll know who to—" <br/>
<br/>
"Can't you just tell me what it does?"<br/>
<br/>
"It's best if I show you. Now, will you please call Steve or Jason or another one of those idiots?" You turn your back on him to unpack two blank masks from your backpack. <i>Honestly, if you're going to be in charge, the least that your companions can do is follow your orders.</i><br/>
<br/>
When you turn back around, Gordon is grunting into his phone. "Lynch on his way up," he says as he puts it away.<br/>
<br/>
"What happened to Steve?"<br/>
<br/>
"Look, if you want Steve instead of Jason—"<br/>
<br/>
"It doesn't matter to me, sweetie. I was just asking what happened to Steve. I haven't seen him today."<br/>
<br/>
Gordon just kicks at the floor, and you don't press it. Neither of you speaks until you hear the creak of footsteps outside. "Grab him when he comes in," you say. "I'll get the mask onto him."<br/>
<br/>
"New technique, huh?" snorts Gordon. "Sounds pretty old-fashioned to—"<br/>
<br/>
The door opens and Jason Lynch sticks his head in. His clear blue eyes shine with a friendly light, and his sandy hair gleams. But he cackles, and in that cackle you hear the psychotic bully. "You guys decent? I hope not, 'cos—"<br/>
<br/>
The door bangs open and Jason flies across the room, crashing hard against a wooden pillar. He spins around, and his eyes bulge as something big and invisible presses him against it.<br/>
<br/>
"Gordon!" you cry. "What are you doing? That's Frank's—"<br/>
<br/>
"You said to grab him!"<br/>
<br/>
"With your hands! You don't need to— What are doing running Frank's <i>essentia</i> anyway?"<br/>
<br/>
"I switched back into last night, didn't switch back. Helped me deal with my dad."<br/>
<br/>
"Your dad?" you gasp. "Gordon, you didn't use that fist of Frank's against him, did you?"<br/>
<br/>
"You think I'm an idiot? Even if I did, he'd just get his cop buddies to—" He glances over at Jason, who is making choking noises. "Shouldn't you get that mask onto him?"<br/>
<br/>
You march over to Lynch and slap the mask against his face; it vanishes into him. "Well, as long as you know what you're doing." Gordon releases Jason, who flops heavily to the floor.<br/>
<br/>
"And as long as you know what <i>you're</i> doing," he retorts. He squints down at Lynch. "What <i>are</i> you doing, anyway?"<br/>
<br/>
"Making a new toy for you. A golem <i>and</i> a new disguise." You giggle. "You're gonna love this. Now, you have to put on <i>this</i> mask." You hand him the second blank. "Part of the design," you add when he frowns.<br/>
<br/>
Ten minutes later you have a mask of Jason and a mask of Gordon. The originals are naked, and Jason—still unconscious—is sprawled across the sigil, which has bottles and your new sigil placed at strategic spots. You hold up your arms, then gasp. "Oh, jeepers, maybe we should wait till after school to do this."<br/>
<br/>
"Now what?" Gordon explodes. "I told you—"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, but I wasn't thinking about the noise it makes. You know, that thundering when we strip people of their <i>imago.</i> Someone's bound to hear and they might think it's a school shooter."<br/>
<br/>
"We can't let Lynch go! Not after what I did to him when he—"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, check out the window. Maybe it's getting ready to rain."<br/>
<br/>
"It's not getting ready to— Just do whatever the fuck you're planning on doing."<br/>
<br/>
You grit your teeth and close your eyes. Maybe if you're extra careful— <br/>
<br/>
The first lightning strike almost blows you off your feet. "Just hurry up and get it over with," Gordon hisses.<br/>
<br/>
You strip Jason of his <i>imago, essentia,</i> and <i>anima</i> in three big strokes. "Okay, your turn, pookie."<br/>
<br/>
"<i>Mine?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure, if I'm going to give you his face."<br/>
<br/>
"What do I want Jason Lynch's body for? Did you see how tiny his pecker is?"<br/>
<br/>
"This isn't about— I can't show what the new spell does if you don't—"<br/>
<br/>
"You're gonna have to! The state you're in, Chelsea, I don't trust you to get it right."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not using Chelsea's <i>essentia,</i> I'm using mine. Kenandandra and—"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not talking about your <i>essentia,</i> I'm talking about your nerves!"<br/>
<br/>
"Fine, I guess I can show you his half. But you're gonna want the rest of it after I show you! Put your mask—not that one, the one with <i>your</i> face, Gordon's face, in it. Put it over there." You vibrate in place. "Oh, and I need some of your hair. Shift back over to Gordon's <i>essentia.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Why?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because I'm going to make him your slave. You can't order him around if you're not running Gordon's <i>essentia.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, who's gonna know if I'm running Frank's?"<br/>
<br/>
"Let's just keep things straight! I don't think you'd wanna waste Frank's <i>essentia</i> on a cocksucker like Lynch anyway."<br/>
<br/>
Gordon grumbles and falls to the floor cross-legged. He turns very white for a moment, then plucks some hair from the back of his neck. You put in he proper position and raise your arms again.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Gordon peers at the figure. "And why am I supposed to be impressed with this?"<br/>
<br/>
"Don't you see?" You wave your hand across Jason's face, and he blooms up again into Gordon's twin. Another wave over his face, and he shrinks back into Jason's form. Both transformations leave the golem blinking stupidly. "If you had Jason's <i>imago,</i> you could just turn yourself into Jason and him into Gordon with just a wave of the hand. Swap places without using masks!"<br/>
<br/>
"Why would I want to switch with Lynch?"<br/>
<br/>
"It's the principle of the thing," you sigh. "Look, you'll have a bunch of golems. With this trick, you can step in for any of them. Just get some place private with them, and half a second and a change of clothes later—"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, and you could just give me one of those control sigils, and put the remote on him."<br/>
<br/>
"Then your real body would be unconscious. This is just like swapping with masks, except it takes only a few seconds." You pause. "I was gonna start turning some of my girl friends into golems after school. Unless you wanna work on the basketball team then."</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221112221
author_id: seuzz
title: The First Lieutenants
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Your girlfriends, huh?" Gordon says. "I kinda like the sound of that."<br/>
<br/>
"I do too," you say, feeling relief. You gesture at Lynch. "But do you want me to set you up with his <i>imago</i> before--"<br/>
<br/>
The bell rings, ending your lunch period.<br/>
<br/>
"Not sure I'd want it anyway," Gordon says. "But we can deal with it this weekend. I'll tell the guys to come up tomorrow afternoon for extra practice."<br/>
<br/>
"And I'll have my girls done in the morning. Pick me up early?" You get on tiptoes and kiss your boyfriend. "We can even have a party up here tomorrow night!"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"So <i>are</i> you going to Jamie's party tomorrow night?" Kendra asks.<br/>
<br/>
You don't look up from your nails, to which you are carefully applying a new gloss. Eighth period is your free period, which you carefully devote to repairing the wear-and-tear damage of the school day. It's Kendra and Gloria's free period too, and they  always join you to give you the preliminary report on the day's gossip.<br/>
<br/>
"And you had to stop by my house yesterday to tell me <i>that?</i>" you ask in a cool voice. "That it had been pushed back by a day?"<br/>
<br/>
"I was in the neighborhood," Kendra says. "And I didn't want you wasting time prepping for a party that--"<br/>
<br/>
"I <i>told</i> you I wasn't planning to go. Jamie Bornholm's not <i>that</i> important." You scrutinize a nail, then bend over it to brush away a tiny imperfection.<br/>
<br/>
"So you're not going."<br/>
<br/>
"I didn't say that. Friday nights are kind of special for me and Gordon. But I could afford to slum on Saturday night." You shrug. "But I'm sure you'll have fun at it. Both of you." You keep your eyes on your nails.<br/>
<br/>
"Did Jamie say why she pushed it back?" Gloria asks. <br/>
<br/>
"No, but I think it was a family thing. She was really upset." Kendra snickers. "She acted kind of humiliated."<br/>
<br/>
"I bet," you snicker back in turn. "They probably had some old Aunt Ethel coming in to spend the night." Your snicker turns into a snorting chuckle. "Her mom was probably all--" Your voice turns into a whinnying sing-song. "Oh, you don't have to change your plans, Jamie, your aunt can help out with it, she'd love to be at a party with a bunch of young people!" You bend your head with quiet laughter.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, you're awful, Chelsea," Kendra laughs. Gloria smiles thinly. "And Jamie was all like, No no, Mom, that's okay, I'll just--"<br/>
<br/>
"No, she probably thought it was a great idea," you guffaw. "It was probably her <i>friends</i> who told her that it wasn't--" You and Kendra collapse against each other in shrill titters. "Well, you should find out, you should <i>definitely</i> find out what the delay was all about when you go tomorrow."<br/>
<br/>
"Didn't we just find out what it was?" Gloria asks dryly.<br/>
<br/>
Kendra gives her a puzzled glance; so do you, until you grasp the meaning of Gloria's remark. "Oh, I think we did!" you exclaim. Kendra still looks puzzled.  "So that's the story you should put out. That it was some frumpy old grandma or something, showed up at the last minute-- No!" <br/>
<br/>
You lean forward. "Her mom's youngest sister is a meth addict." Your voice sinks into a whisper. "She showed up last night and there was a huge family crisis, so everything got pushed back a day. It almost got cancelled! Poor Jamie. We really should feel sorry for her." You lean back, and shrug. "Of course, you didn't hear any of this from Jamie. You just heard that it was what people were saying."<br/>
<br/>
Kendra and Gloria look shocked, even stricken. "Can't we just go with the frumpy grandma story?" Kendra asks.<br/>
<br/>
"It doesn't sound realistic, Kendra," you say. "Frumpy grandma is like something out of sitcom. Anyway, just look at Jamie." You arch your eyebrows knowingly. "Are you telling me the Bornholm's don't come <i>exactly</i> from the soci-- sociological economic background--" You stumble over the words. "Are you telling me the Bornholms don't <i>look</i> like they've got meth addicts in the family?"<br/>
<br/>
Kendra and Gloria both smile, but it looks painful. "Yeah, something about how skinny they are," Kendra mumbles.<br/>
<br/>
"Why do you hate Jamie so much?" Gloria asks.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't hate Jamie." You peer at your nails, and with a sigh pull out a new shade. "I'm trying to do her a favor. It's not like so many people <i>like</i> her. But if they feel sorry for her--"<br/>
<br/>
Kendra pulls her stuff toward and sweeps it into her bag. "Where are you going?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Gotta get busy," she says brightly. "So much to do before--"<br/>
<br/>
<i>I bet,</i> you think to yourself. <i>Gotta start spreading that 'Jamie and meth' rumor. </i>And<i> lay responsibility for it right at your feet.</i> Kendra is such a snake. But that's okay. She'll do as she's told soon enough, and will start repairing all the damage she's done you over the last few months.<br/>
<br/>
"Stick around after school," you say as she stands up. "Or come back after the guys are finished with practice. I wanna talk to both of you up in the loft."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Kendra gasps as Gordon grasps her by the shoulders; Gloria squirms in invisible bonds. "Chelsea! Gordon!" Kendra cries. "What--?"<br/>
<br/>
"Go ahead and scream if you want, Kendra honey," you say as you push a mask onto Gloria's face. "We're going to be making a lot of noise, like we did at lunch. But at this hour, there's no one to wonder where it'll be coming from. Isn't that right, Maria?" Your best friend turns at the sound of her name, and shrugs.<br/>
<br/>
Kendra's eyes bulge as Gloria slides to the floor, and she opens her mouth. You pause with a second mask in your hand. You wait just until a thin, bodiless shriek begins to ripple from Kendra's throat before you knock her out too.<br/>
<br/>
"Jesus, you're nasty about it," Gordon says as he hauls Kendra over to the sigil.<br/>
<br/>
"These two deserve it," you sniff. "I was a lot more gentle with Maria. Wasn't I?"<br/>
<br/>
"Whatever you say, Chelsea," Maria says.<br/>
<br/>
"That's right. By the way, what did the guys say while I was making all that noise upstairs?" you ask Gordon.<br/>
<br/>
"They all stopped and looked around like a buncha dumb fucks," Gordon says. "I told 'em to get back to it."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, I figured there wouldn't be a problem." You kneel next to Gloria and remove her shoes and socks. "Did you tell 'em about special practice tomorrow?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, they're supposed to show up at two."<br/>
<br/>
"Plenty of time for the girls, then. We're practically halfway there now."<br/>
<br/>
You disrobe Gloria while Gordon deals with Kendra. You're very businesslike, but he lingers over his job, so you finish at almost the same time, despite Gloria being much more bundled up. And when the masks come out of them, you strip Kendra and Gloria down to their <i>substantia,</i> bind them with Chelsea's <i>essentia,</i> and return their <i>imago</i> to them, along with a copy of Chelsea's. They rise uncertainly to their feet, but at a sharp word from you retreat to the corner with Maria, to stand mutely.<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, honeybug, I need to slip into you now," you tell Gordon as you pull off your own clothes.<br/>
<br/>
"Can't you find another way of doing it," he asks. "I mean, I might not always be available when you need to operate on yourself. Joe either."<br/>
<br/>
"I suppose I could rig up a golem," you say. "But it'd have to be someone who could be on call. I'll think about it."<br/>
<br/>
"Good. Because if I'm in the middle of something--"<br/>
<br/>
You brush your hand over your forehead in a complex motion.<br/>
<br/>
"--I don't want to--" You lapse in mid-sentence as you stare down at Chelsea Cooper from Gordon Black's towering height. "I don't want to have to drop it just to come running," you murmur, finishing his thought for him. You put your hands on your hips and let out a low whistle.<br/>
<br/>
As much fun as it is to have Chelsea's body, and to run her hands over it, there's definitely something to be said for having a third-person point of view on it. Gordon's cock, which was already turgid, stiffens. Those curves, those golden hues, those firm breasts and thighs, and the impudent tuft of hair that peeks out-- <br/>
<br/>
"Mm. Jesus, Gordon, I'm sorry I was being such a bitch to you. I'll make it up to you, I promise." You reposition bottles and masks and diagrams, then swallow hard and close your eyes.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Your laugh is more of a low gurgle as with slim, dark fingers you brush kinky, amber-hued hair from your face. You smile toothily, and cup your face in both hands, the way Kendra Saunders loves to do when getting someone else to take a 'selfie' of her. "What do you think, Gordon? Would you cheat on Chelsea to get some of <i>this?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Would it be cheating, technically, if I did it with you?"<br/>
<br/>
That's a puzzle, but not an interesting one. You march over to the other Kendra, who like her teammates is staring at you with surprise and horror. She flinches as you flash a slim hand over her face; a sliver of reality comes temporarily unglued; and Chelsea Cooper stands where Kendra had been.<br/>
<br/>
It gives you a turn for just a moment. Chelsea's <i>imago</i> has fled entirely, leaving you with only Kendra's memories and habits. So it gives you a thrill to order your squad captain: "Chelsea, stay here with Gordon. Give him a good time." You wink. "You have to do what I say, right?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, Kendra." Chelsea's voice is tight.<br/>
<br/>
"Where are you going?" Gordon asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Out. Got things to do. Steve starts at Eastman on Monday. Maybe we should put Joe there. He needs a deep disguise."</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211122211
author_id: seuzz
title: Curt Straussler Pays a Dividend
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Gordon wants to go with you, and together you drive out to the Strausslers' without calling first, and walk around the corner to Jonathan's "punishment corner." You can't help gushing when you walk in without knocking. "So, how do you like my new--? Oh my God! Oops!"<br/>
<br/>
For Jonathan Straussler isn't alone. His girlfriend, Monique Travers, is on the sofa with him.<br/>
<br/>
It feels like forever since you've thought about Monique. Of course, it's only been a few weeks, and she hasn't changed in that time. Still slim, with big, dark eyes and long, dark hair; still holding herself in the guarded manner of a young fawn. You still have a control sigil on her, and you're tugged by the temptation to leap into her, right here and now.<br/>
<br/>
But you've got other business.<br/>
<br/>
"--Gordon Black," Jonathan is saying to Monique. His expression is very tight. He only gestures at you.<br/>
<br/>
"Hi, I'm Kendra Saunders," you tell Monique. You smile very broadly, and fan your fingers in a wave. You turn a twinkling eye on Jonathan. "I'm sorry we busted in on you like this."<br/>
<br/>
"It's okay," Jonathan says. "So what's up?" His manner is very stiff.<br/>
<br/>
There's a pregnant pause. "We wanted to talk," says Gordon.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah?" Jonathan says. He doesn't move. Monique starts to look worried.<br/>
<br/>
"Privately?" you say, and hide an embarrassed smile behind your fingertips. <br/>
<br/>
Jonathan sighs through his nose, and follows you and Gordon outside and around a corner, to where Monique can't see.<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck is your problem?" Gordon explodes. "Just because you're horny--"<br/>
<br/>
"Don't get on my case, Black," Jonathan barks back. "If you wanna start something--"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, be quiet, both of you, darlings," you say, and step between them. "We just want to ask you a question."<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan stares at you doubtfully. Something in his manner causes you to gasp.<br/>
<br/>
"Where's Joe?" you gently ask the blonde guy. Gordon gives you a startled look.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, God!" Jonathan cries. "Is that what this is about? Fuck, don't mind me. Half the time I understand what's going on, but the rest of the time--! I think it's my dad you want to be talking to," he ends in a ragged sigh. "The beast is in his office, in the back wing."<br/>
<br/>
"Can you take us up there?" you ask after you've recovered your own breath.<br/>
<br/>
"If it'll get you out of my hair," Jonathan says.<br/>
<br/>
You pass back through his apartments, and he gives Monique a quick, "Be right back." You murmur to your partner as you walk along the long, twisting passageways. "Didn't we put his dad under your-- I mean, Frank's control?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, I don't get what's going on," Gordon admits.<br/>
<br/>
When you arrive at a closed set of double doors, Jonathan just indicates them, and trudges back the way you came. You and Gordon exchange a glance, and go in.<br/>
<br/>
Curt Straussler is seated behind his massive desk, a phone receiver at his ear. His eyes narrow when he sees you. "Yeah. Yeah," he mutters into the phone. "Well, if it goes below thirty and a quarter, start buying. But listen, I got other business. I'll call you back when I'm done." He hangs up, and a gleam comes into his eye. "Hiya, kids," he says. "What happened, Chelsea? You stay on the tanning bed too long?"<br/>
<br/>
"Joe?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah." He grins. "You're not the only one with a new look."<br/>
<br/>
"How did you--?"<br/>
<br/>
"Made a new mask of the old man. I couldn't put on the old one, it had Frank's shit in it."<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck are you up to?" Gordon asks. "We just about fucked things up with--"<br/>
<br/>
"I was getting bored."<br/>
<br/>
"With Monique?" you gasp.<br/>
<br/>
"Is she here?" The old, bald man perks up in a way that leaves you feeling a little revolted.<br/>
<br/>
"Never mind. Are you getting off on playing the tycoon?"<br/>
<br/>
"Eh. It seemed like you guys weren't in a hurry to get back to me, so I decided to put the time to good use. I've been setting up some accounts for us to use, getting us some capital and income that can't be traced back to anyone else. Making a couple of really big discoveries." He grins again.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, if you're sick of being bored," Gordon says, "we stopped by to see if you wanted to step into Steve Patterson's skin. He's moving over to Eastman. Did you know that?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure. It's big news, got all the guys over there excited, especially since Frank and I disappeared on them."<br/>
<br/>
You laugh. "Well, do you want to take over for him?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure," Straussler shrugs. "That's doable. But I should tell you about what I found after I got here." He gestures you to sit down in the chairs across the desk from you, and leans forward on his elbows. "Fane's got an agent in Saratoga Falls."<br/>
<br/>
"Fane?" you say. The word is familiar--you remember Frank and Joe mentioning it--but you can't place it. You look over at Gordon, who seems just as puzzled.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, Fane. Oh, come on," Joe says when you don't respond. "Frank, you know about Fane!"<br/>
<br/>
"Hang on," Gordon says, and leans back in his chair. You blink as Gordon's body is replaced by Frank's.<br/>
<br/>
"Your brother might know about Fane, but I don't," you tell Straussler.<br/>
<br/>
"Fane's this big conglomerate," he says. "Or a set of them. All very complicated, very big, and <i>very</i> powerful. Also very deeply mixed up in occult business. The whole thing is basically a multi-billion dollar front into the research of things that human beings aren't supposed to know. Well, except for people like us and the <i>Stellae.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"<i>Stellae</i> like to keep a close eye on Fane," Frank says slowly. He blinks a few times. "Problem is that Fane is so big and complicated that they can never really hope to shut them down."<br/>
<br/>
"But we've got an entry point now," Straussler says. "Fane's always trying to buy Proteus, and they've got an agent here in town. He gives Straussler little toys, tries to keep kindling his interest in a deal."<br/>
<br/>
"Sounds pretty low level, Joe," says Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, but through him we can get his superiors, race up the chain. With no limit on our golems, we can honeycomb their whole organization with agents. Learn all their secrets. Take total control for ourselves."<br/>
<br/>
"Something worth exploring," you say. "Can you get this agent out here?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure," Straussler says. "Christ, you won't believe it when you see him."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Yeah, wooing Curt is one of my jobs," says Eric Kim. He shifts from foot to foot uncomfortably. Clearly he doesn't like telling you and your friends his secrets, but it's not like he has a choice. Frank grabbed him right after he arrived; Joe slapped him in the face with a mask; and some of your <i>essentia</i> in the sealed mask turned him into a golem under your control. You're not sure you want to keep him, which is why you haven't done anything worse to him, and why you haven't bothered to change his attitude.<br/>
<br/>
"What are your other jobs?" you ask him. "I mean, besides running the comic book shop."<br/>
<br/>
Joe was right, it had been a shock to see Eric Kim--fat, bumptious, friendly Eric Kim, the proprietor King Kong Komics--stride into Curt Straussler's office. You don't know Eric well, but you drop by his shop often enough that he recognizes you. He's on much better terms with Christian Knouse and Howie Baylor and the other guys who hang out in his cafe annex, doing RPG campaigns.<br/>
<br/>
"There are some guys out at Fort Suffolk I'm supposed to keep an eye on," Eric says evasively. "There's a research project there," he says when you press him. "Business rivals. I'm supposed to keep my ear to the ground, cultivate some of the soldiers, find out what I can about it."<br/>
<br/>
"You're a spy?" you gasp.<br/>
<br/>
"Industrial espionage, yeah."<br/>
<br/>
"Who are you spying on?"<br/>
<br/>
"A group called Titan. It's another division of Fane."<br/>
<br/>
"Wait," Frank says with a frown. "I thought you worked for Fane."<br/>
<br/>
"I do. Titan's another division. My division is trying to keep tabs on them."<br/>
<br/>
Your trio all look at each other. "I don't get it," you say. "If you all work for the same company--"<br/>
<br/>
"We do," says Eric unhappily. "But that doesn't mean we're not rivals. My division and Titan don't share info or research. So I'm supposed to snoop into their business. Titan's certainly doing the same to us."<br/>
<br/>
You tell him to wait outside, and you and your partners consult on what you've learned. "The whole thing sounds ridiculously complicated," you say. "If it's like that all the way through, it might be impossible to run this Fane thing."<br/>
<br/>
"That's what golems are for," Joe says.<br/>
<br/>
"We're just getting our hooks into Westside," Frank says. "We shouldn't go any further there if we're going to switch focus to Fane."<br/>
<br/>
"Eric's working solo, he said," you say. "We'd have to use him to pull someone in from out of town--"<br/>
<br/>
"No, we grab one of these Titan guys out at Fort Suffolk," Joe says. "If it's a research project, then there's lots of targets to infiltrate. It won't be hard to get in."<br/>
<br/>
"But we don't know who any of them are."<br/>
<br/>
"We don't have to. We just get onto the base. Diana Lord," Joe says impatiently. "Frank and I went to school with her at Eastman. Her dad's the top man at Fort Suffolk. Colonel Lord. Oh, hell, I could just call him up directly, get him out here for us. Proteus does business at the fort."</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122111222111
author_id: seuzz
title: Goliath in the Cross-Hairs
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"It's certainly worth thinking about," you say. You temple your fingers thoughtfully. "At the very least, we could take over Fane's local guys."<br/>
<br/>
"If we're going to go into the empire-building business," says Joe, "we should take over Straussler's."<br/>
<br/>
"You mean Proteus?" Frank asks. "We already have that with Straussler."<br/>
<br/>
"Some of the executives there too," says Joe. "But I mean the household. Wife, staff, bodyguards, everyone."<br/>
<br/>
"Including Monique?" you gasp hungrily.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh sure," says Joe. "But the main--"<br/>
<br/>
The rest of what he's said is lost as you wave your hand in front of your face, bringing up the control sigil and the faces it contains.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You feel yourself listing a little to the side, then jerk back up. The raucous din of the restaurant--loud conversation, the clatter of forks on plates, hoarse shouts from the kitchen--rings in your ears. You wince.<br/>
<br/>
It's loudest just to your left, where Ben Paxon and Tony Rodriguez are sitting. They're laughing and nudging each other while standing half out of their chairs to ogle one of the waitresses. But everybody else at the table is also making a huge racket. All except for Ian Carpenter, who's watching one of the TVs hanging from a ceiling, and Steve Patterson, who's watching and listening to the rest of the Eastman High basketball team with icy amusement.<br/>
<br/>
The facts of the scene come to you as tiresome memories, not realizations. Jonathan returning from his dad's office with his phone to his ear; Jonathan telling you that the guys on the team were taking Steve Patterson La Cocina--a popular Mexican restaurant/cantina/sports bar--to celebrate his move from Westside; Jonathan telling you he wanted you to go along. You were happy to, until you got there and found you were the only girl at the table. <br/>
<br/>
Oh yeah, Jonathan's also being quiet, but it's a moody and sulky kind of quiet. The same moodiness that had afflicted him on the drive out.<br/>
<br/>
That's the thing about Jonathan. He's usually so cheerful that he doesn't know how to be unhappy, and takes it out on his friends with ugly, silent funks. <br/>
<br/>
He needs fixing, you see that clearly after this afternoon. So does Monique.<br/>
<br/>
You lean in close to whisper in his ear. "Let's leave."<br/>
<br/>
<br/>
He turns sharply on you. "We can't leave," he says in a sneer.<br/>
<br/>
"We are going to leave, Jonathan. If we don't leave, I'll call someone--you know who--and tell them to come <i>order</i> you to leave."<br/>
<br/>
You lean back and regard Jonathan evenly. He looks puzzled at first, and then his expression blackens as he realizes your meaning. You give him a little half smile.<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan stands up. "Sorry guys, I gotta go," he says.<br/>
<br/>
Ian looks over. "What's up, Jon?"<br/>
<br/>
"Monique remembered something. We have to go." Barely suppressed fury sizzles beneath Jonathan's voice.<br/>
<br/>
Paxon and Rodriguez laugh harshly, and you avoid the eye of the other players. "I know what that's like," Patterson says as you and Jonathan pass him. "You should see the way his girlfriend's always chasing Gordon around."<br/>
<br/>
That provokes more jeers, from many more players. But then you're out the door and into the parking lot.<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan says nothing until you're in the car. "I didn't know you were one of them," he mutters.<br/>
<br/>
"We're on the same side, Jonathan," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"Doesn't mean I'm happy about it."<br/>
<br/>
<i>You will be,</i> you think to yourself as you take out Monique's cell phone. You text Frank, telling him where you are, and to have everything in ready to turn Monique into a golem after you get back.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Monique only has time to shriek before you cut her off by activating the spell. Her high-pitched squeal is overwhelmed by a roll of deep thunder. You pause long enough to ask Joe where the real Curt Straussler is: "We should take care of him next."<br/>
<br/>
"I got him locked in the panic room," Joe says. The wrinkled face he's wearing takes on a devilish aspect. "He's not going anywhere. I know where all the booby traps are."<br/>
<br/>
So you content yourself with transforming the Straussler household--everyone who lives and works there--into docile, obedient golems under Joe's control. That includes Jonathan, whose <i>imago</i> you permanently impress upon a golem. "You'd better give him some good programming," you tell Joe, and explain the way he acted on the drive back from the restaurant. Joe himself will simply hide out at the Straussler's until you're ready to make more definitive moves on Fane.<br/>
<br/>
It's nearly nine o'clock before you and Gordon are able to leave the Strausslers', and you get some sharp questioning from Kendra's parents when you get home. You're able to brush it off, though, and retreat to the bedroom, ostensibly to get an early start on weekend homework. But though you're up until two, you're actually working on a new sigil.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"I think I've got it licked, guys," you tell your confederates the next morning as you spread the new sigil out on the dining room table before them. No need to hide in the ballroom or Jonathan's apartments any more: Arturo, the imperious head of the household staff, stands deferentially nearby in case you need anything. "So Frank's problem--"<br/>
<br/>
"One of many," Joe snarks. Your other partner--who arrived in Gordon's form but then changed into Frank's--rolls his eyes.<br/>
<br/>
"--is that he can't access Frank Durras's mind and memories while wearing Gordon's <i>imago.</i> The solution is pretty obvious, though. Or, it was once I got back under the Kenandandran influence." You pause and giggle. "Kendra the Kenandandran, Kendra the Kenandandra. Ugh," you sigh. "My problem is that I <i>love</i> being whoever I happen to be at the moment. I really need to get back to Chelsea--"<br/>
<br/>
"Just get on with it," Frank says.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, lucky for us, mind and memories, those are part of <i>anima,</i> but they cast a kind of shadow into <i>imago.</i> That's why when you copy <i>imago</i> you also get the memories and habits and the rest of it. And the <i>Libra</i> already shows how to separate mental shadow that's inside <i>imago</i> from the rest of it. And the mental stuff, that's like Legos or something. They just naturally stick to each other."<br/>
<br/>
"So all you have to do," says Joe, who's been studying the sigil, "is get the mental <i>imago</i> out of me and Frank--"<br/>
<br/>
"Attach to the <i>anima</i> already inside you--"<br/>
<br/>
"And voila, the trick she is done," Joe triumphantly concludes.<br/>
<br/>
"Is that really going to give us what we want?" Frank asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Sure! What we want is what we have right now, right his moment," you say. "Joe and Frank Durras, all their memories and talents and the rest, but controlled by the Prescott <i>anima.</i> You lose that when you change over to Gordon, sweetheart. But by attaching their mental <i>imago</i> directly to the <i>anima</i>, what you have now you'll still have when you put Gordon's face back on."<br/>
<br/>
"That easy?" Frank still sounds skeptical.<br/>
<br/>
"Sure! It's all done automatically by the sigils."<br/>
<br/>
Frank looks between you and Joe. "Then let's do it."<br/>
<br/>
So you troop to the ballroom and Frank spreads himself on the sigil. You place the necessary materials--including the new sigils--in the necessary places, and concentrate. The spell goes off as smoothly as you could have hoped. A copy of Frank's <i>imago</i> arcs into the new sigil and splits in two, with his physical form imprinting on a blank mask and his mind and memories into a blank metal strip. You then direct the latter back onto the <i>anima</i> he contains; in your mind's eye, it spins about and sticks to him like cotton candy, leaving no seam or separation between Frank's mind and the copy of yours that you gave him. So simple is the operation that you feel no tiredness when you open your eyes. <br/>
<br/>
Frank sits up. "Well?" you ask him, and you've hardly uttered the word when Frank is replaced in the circle by Gordon Black. "Well?" you ask again.<br/>
<br/>
His eyes turn hard but bright. "Works as advertised, I think."<br/>
<br/>
"How much did you put in for that telescope we bought?" Joe asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing," Gordon says. "You kept spending it on presents for those girls, and Kali finally got you one for Christmas." He stands up, towering over you and Joe both. "Yeah, this'll make it a lot easier to deal with Gordon's dad. Fuck, I could just--"<br/>
<br/>
"That presumes you're gonna be spending a lot of time as Gordon Black," Joe says. "If we're going after Fane, we're gonna be under new faces, right?"<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe not," you say. The corollary to Frank's leaving Gordon behind, you realize, is bound to be your leaving Chelsea and Kendra behind--not a welcome prospect, it seems to you. "We just need you playing Curt Straussler--"<br/>
<br/>
"While you guys have all the fun back at school?" Joe retorts. "Fuck, I'm glad you show so much faith in me, but it's a team effort right?"<br/>
<br/>
"Joe's right, Will," Gordon says, and you wince at the use of your real name. "There's three of us, and there's three obvious prongs of attack on Fane." He points at Joe. "Straussler can sell out to Fane, and Joe can then do a reverse takeover on the new bosses. We can also work through these Titan people out at the fort. And we can use Eric Kim to establish third foothold."<br/>
<br/>
It makes too much sense, but still you weakly protest. "I've still got <i>anima</i> to spare. We could put that in one of these targets, maybe even some of the <i>essentia</i>--"<br/>
<br/>
But Frank cuts you off brutally. "Save it for any <i>Stellae</i> that come knocking. In fact--"<br/>
<br/>
"Hal Swann," says Joe.<br/>
<br/>
"Exactly. He can be our fourth partner."<br/>
<br/>
So you acquiesce. Joe is already positioned to run Proteus. So do you tackle Fort Suffolk, or Eric Kim's employers?</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221112221111
author_id: rugal
title: Military Movements
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Call him up." Frank and Joe both cast quizzical looks in your direction and you turn your attention to Joe, "Colonel Lord. I'll go after Fort Suffolk."<br/>
<br/>
"The fort and not Eric," asks Frank. "He's only one guy."<br/>
<br/>
You lean forward a bit, elbows resting on your thighs and clasp your hand in front of your mouth. "That's the problem. It'd be easier, right? A place to lay low and watch things until we need to get his handlers and start working up the food chain. But..."<br/>
<br/>
"But you don't want to be that fat ass?" Joe grins.<br/>
<br/>
You make a face at that. Partly because you're not sure if now is the time for crass joking, partly because he's right. "No, whoever takes him is going to be more in the open," you reply, "There's less of a room for error if whoever takes over for Eric screws up. You're on your own taking that route and if Fane gets suspicious..."<br/>
<br/>
"Then whoever's Eric will have to deal with them on their own," Frank finishes your thought.<br/>
<br/>
"Right," you nod, "With the fort, if you replace or put the right people under your control then you've got an entire military base at your command if anything goes wrong. Since I'm running the show I'd rather put myself in the safest environment possible and if someone takes over for Eric then I'd want it to be someone who I know could keep calm in that situation and deal with things if it all goes south."<br/>
<br/>
"That someone is me," says Frank and it's more of a statement than a question.<br/>
<br/>
Joe guffaws heartily, "Oh man, I'm so sorry Frank if you really end up as Fat Eric."<br/>
<br/>
Frank glares at his disguised brother, "This isn't a beauty contest. If I have to be him then I have to be him."<br/>
<br/>
"It wouldn't be permanent," you interject, "Just until I've got the base ready and a foothold into Titan. I do that, then we move Frank from Eric to a handler, then Joe sells Proteus."<br/>
<br/>
"When I do that they'll probably want to send their own man over to take control of things," Joe says as he leans back, "I've got a good idea as to who, too."<br/>
<br/>
"Who's that?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
Joe leans back and smirks a bit. "Guy named Julian Dey. Some rich British twit that works for Fane. Don't know in what capacity, officially, but he's come over to make offers on their behalf when Curt's feigned interest," his smirk grows into a full-on grin, "Curt's been stringing them along for better tech and the like, some of it he unloads on the fort. Keeps the gravy train rolling. Guy's a businessman after all and a good one at that."<br/>
<br/>
"So once Frank and myself are in position you sell out, replace Dey and then we regroup and work out our next plan of action," you say though you're more thinking aloud than talking to either of them, "Yeah, that works. Alright then, Joe, call him up."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Colonel Lord, it's a pleasure to talk to you today," says Joe putting on the best faux-enthusiasm he can muster.<br/>
<br/>
"Straussler," comes the gruff voice through the speaker phone as the three of you sit in Curt's office, "this had better be damn important."<br/>
<br/>
"I would think so," states Joe, "we're working on something that I think you might find interesting and being the proud American I am I'd like to give you the first look."<br/>
<br/>
There's a grunt from the other end of the line, "I know you and your type well enough, Straussler. You might worship Washington but you damn sure aren't patriots."<br/>
<br/>
"Colonel, your words wound me," Joe replies with more than a little sarcasm, "I just figured you'd want a crack at something that might help you protect your boys a little more but if not..."<br/>
<br/>
"Cut the bullshit, Straussler," comes another gruff reply, "Even if I wanted to come out there today to I've got a meeting with some DoD people today. But if you really think you have anything worth showing I can arrange to have someone come out to represent both the base and myself."<br/>
<br/>
You see Joe mouth something, "fuck" you think, but he continues without missing a beat, "Sure thing, Colonel. Just as long as it all makes its way back to you."<br/>
<br/>
"Good, then they'll be out soon," says Lord and the line goes dead before Joe can even get a reply in.<br/>
<br/>
"Well this is just fucking great," he groans.<br/>
<br/>
"So we just take the representative," you reply.<br/>
<br/>
"Right but we were going after Lord."<br/>
<br/>
"We don't need to replace him specifically," you counter, "Just put him under our control. So who would he send out, anyway?"<br/>
<br/>
Joe leans back and throws his feet up on the desk, "Probably Briggs," he states, "Lieutenant Claire Briggs. She's one of Lord's right hands and he likes to send her out every so often when he doesn't feel like dealing with Curt. I guess on account of her knowing her weapons and hardware and probably because she's a bit easier on the eyes to an old pervert like Curt than Sanchez."<br/>
<br/>
"That's good though. That's exactly what we need," you state, "If she works as close to him as you say she does she'd be in the perfect position to get him out here and put him under our control. It'd allow me to set up the base while hanging back a bit as well."<br/>
<br/>
It's about an hour and a half before Straussler leads Briggs, a tall redhead who looks to be in her late twenties or early thirties, into his office. And as soon as the door clicks shut she freezes and begins struggling, caught in the grasp of Frank's invisible fists.<br/>
<br/>
"Straussler, you snake, what the hell is going on," she demands, "I swear, I get back to base and I'll see to it that the colonel has you hauled in on treason charges!"<br/>
<br/>
"You'll be heading back to base alright, Lieutenant Briggs, but you won't be telling him anything except what I want you to tell him," you say as you approach her, one of the multitude of masks that have been made up in the last few days since the discovery of the swap technique in hand and jam it on her face.<br/>
<br/>
Frank, in Gordon's imago, picks up the lieutenant and follows you into the ballroom where you get to work adding Kendra's imago to her own as well as Chelsea's essentia. You also make sure to add her essentia to your own as well, after all you're starting to spread Chelsea's a bit thin, in addition to her imago. Once it's done, Claire Briggs is replaced with Kendra Saunders.<br/>
<br/>
Once all that is done you slip into Claire's imago, standing around six foot and sculpted with both military physical training and additional Muay Thai training, as well as her uniform and head off to Fort Suffolk.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"So, lieutenant, what was Mr. Straussler so excited to show me?"<br/>
<br/>
You don't have to guess that Col. Lord is more than a little irritated; the details of his meeting, DoD officials asking about the status of the SX-2 which the fort had been working on before Titan showed up, asking when things would be back on schedule and the like tell you everything you need to know.<br/>
<br/>
"A prototype for some new body armor, sir," you tell him, "More resistant than anything we have currently and far lighter and allowing for far more movement. Or so he says, anyway."<br/>
<br/>
"Body armor? That's it?" Lord grumbles as he lights and begins puffing on a cigar, "You think it's worth pursuing?"<br/>
<br/>
"It's in the very early stages but what I saw looked impressive," you reply, "He wants you to come out tomorrow to check it out.<br/>
<br/>
"And you think I should?" he asks.<br/>
<br/>
"It might be a good idea, sir."<br/>
<br/>
The colonel mulls it over for a moment but on matters like this Claire's word carries a lot of weight with him. "I'll give it some thought, then, and decide what to do in the morning," he says before looking back up at you. "Dismissed, then, lieutenant. Actually, I need you to talk to Dr. Harding. Try and tell her to hurry up with that Titan shit, will you? I've got the Washington brass breathing down my neck for the SX-2."<br/>
<br/>
"I will, sir," you reply.<br/>
<br/>
"Dismissed."<br/>
<br/>
With that you salute and head out of the colonel's office towards the science wing of the base. Claire runs security for the science wing while Captain Eric Sanchez, Lord's other confidant, runs security for the rest of the base. She feels sorry for him since it includes those TRS Solutions assholes. Claire's job is arguably more important, though Sanchez or a grizzled old soldier like Lord might not think so, due to the sensitive nature of the work done and especially because of Dr. Harding.<br/>
<br/>
Dr. Jillian Harding, actually. A wunderkind who, despite only being in her mid-twenties, is possibly Fort Suffolk's single most valuable asset. An absolute genius when it comes to not just biology but damn near everything science related; she's even a bit mechanically inclined. She was in charge of the SX-2 project, an ultra high strength adhesive, before it got sidelined when Fane and their Titan division came in. Jillian is as acerbic as she is brilliant, however, and Claire is one of the few people on base she gets along with to the fact where Claire has unofficially been assigned as her bodyguard.<br/>
<br/>
As Jillian's worked with Titan she's told Claire about how Fane has made repeated offers for her to come on board offering her pay, being in charge of her own research division, but she's turned them down so far. The light bulb goes off: You came to Fort Suffolk to get into Titan and as Claire you have that in through Jillian. As Jillian you can get in contact with Fane and accept a job. You'd be fast tracking your plans to gain control of Fane and you wonder if that's the best idea.<br/>
<br/>
When you're ready to start moving then you'll replace her, you've already come to that conclusion, but is doing it now the best idea or would it be better to hang back for now and slowly build your safety net?</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211122211112
author_id: rugal
title: The Fox in the Hen House
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Very quickly you decide that slow and steady is the way to go. Having the backing of the key players at the base is still the safest option and you'll have plenty of time to take over for Jillian; as is she's one of those key players that will need to be under your control until you're ready to switch over.<br/>
<br/>
You make your way over to the R&amp;D wing and salute the Pvt. Danny Morris, the soldier on guard duty for the main building. "I take it all's well," you ask in a manner that's both authoritative yet friendly.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes ma'am," the private answers.<br/>
<br/>
"No incidents in my absence?"<br/>
<br/>
"Just a minor disturbance," comes the reply.<br/>
<br/>
That causes you to eye him queerly. "A minor disturbance," you ask, "Explain."<br/>
<br/>
"Just the usual harassment by one of those TRS thugs, er..." Morris catches himself, "Sorry if it seems like I'm speaking out of turn, ma'am."<br/>
<br/>
You smile and shake your head, "It's fine, private," you reassure him, "Thugs is what I'd call them too. If it was up to me we'd never allow these PMC types on base. I know Capt. Sanchez and Col. Lord feel the same, but..."<br/>
<br/>
"But those Titan guys requested them and we can't really turn them down," Morris states before catching himself once more, "Uh, sorry again ma'am. It's just guarding the building and all, I hear things, ya know."<br/>
<br/>
Once more you reassure him, "It's fine, private. You're allowed to hear things, just don't go around saying them recklessly alright?"<br/>
<br/>
"Y-yes ma'am," comes the nervous answer.<br/>
<br/>
"Good. As you were, then, private."<br/>
<br/>
You smile to yourself as you walk into the building. Pvt. Morris always finds himself tripped up in Claire's presence, most likely because he's still a nervous and horny kid. It's kind amusing to Claire though; having that effect on someone is a nice confidence boost. You acknowledge other soldiers, scientists and engineers that cross your path and make your way to a closed off lab. With a combination of a keycard and a few types of biometric recognition you gain access.<br/>
<br/>
"Jillian," you call out.<br/>
<br/>
A woman, slightly less than a foot shorter with a bit of curves and baby fat and her neck length blonde hair pushed back by a dark headband turns to look at you, her blue eyes hidden behind black-rimmed glasses. "Oh, it's you Claire. I didn't even notice you come in, hi," her greeting is scattered sounding, something Claire has long grown used to.<br/>
<br/>
"Absorbed in your work," you ask rhetorically. Dr. Harding has a tendency to shut everything out as she gets lost in trying to work through a theory or problem.<br/>
<br/>
"It's this stupid Titan stuff," she groans, "I've told them a thousand times that some of the things they're looking for aren't in my wheelhouse. I don't even <i>believe</i> in it! They may as well be asking me to explain Jesus' alchemy."<br/>
<br/>
"I take it you'd rather be back on the SX-2," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
She groans again, "You don't know the half of that. That was logical, orderly. It made sense. I was making steady progress in perfecting it."<br/>
<br/>
"Well that's good," you smile, "Because Lord wanted me to tell you that the Washington brass are getting antsy. They're not any happier about this detour than you are."<br/>
<br/>
Jillian throws her hands up in frustration, "You'd think I'm the only smart person in this whole damn base," she exclaims, "Dr. Harding we need you to develop this, Dr. Harding we need you to solve that. Well I can't be in five places at once!"<br/>
<br/>
You place your arm around her in a friendly gesture, "It just means this place couldn't run without you," you reassure her.<br/>
<br/>
"Right. Sorry, like I said it's just Titan," she pauses at that, "They're too impatient. Things take time if you want them done right. If they want them done fast then Proteus is across town to half-ass things."<br/>
<br/>
You let out a small laugh, "I'm going off base tonight to get some food, some drinks and maybe a guy," you tell her, "You sound like you need a breather so why don't you come with?"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"So magically enhanced super soldiers, huh," Curt says as he throws his feet up on the desk as the three of you plus the now under your control Jillian sit in Curt's office.<br/>
<br/>
"Guess that's why Titan requested the presence of those TRS goons," you state, "They're not there for protection. They're guinea pigs for when they feel they've got a workable version of the sigils involved."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm guessing it would've been a long time before that was possible given that Jillian knows fuck all about magic," says Frank, now in the form of Eric Kim. After you'd gotten Jillian fixed up, getting her out had involved calling Joe and getting him to send out one of Straussler's staff to meet you at a bar with some knockout powder, you'd called out Eric and switched out Frank for him.<br/>
<br/>
"That would change of course once I step in for her," you say and a smile breaks out on your face, "Can you imagine someone like Harding with Kenandandra? We'd blow through the book; probably do things we or the book never knew."<br/>
<br/>
Curt whistles, "She'd put Nash to shame. Shame for the Stellae she's working for us instead of them."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't understand why you don't just step in for her now," Frank, or rather Eric, says.<br/>
<br/>
"I still need to get the rest of the base under control," you state as you shift a bit, "Jillian doesn't get along with most of the staff whereas I'm perfectly positioned as I am now to get who I need. Once I've got them I'll switch over."<br/>
<br/>
"Who do you still need," asks Eric.<br/>
<br/>
"Let's see," you say as you begin checking names off on your fingers, "Jillian was one. Lord, of course. Sanchez is Lord's other number two, Major Blackwell who's sort of the base's detective and monitors all comings and goings. Gustavo Perez who's in charge of the TRS contingent there and Drew Williams, one of the mercs under him."<br/>
<br/>
"One of," Curt asks in surprise, "If he's just a random merc why bother?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because none of the TRS people are nice but <i>she's</i> the worst of them," you say. Claire's had more than her share of run-ins with Williams, "She causes trouble, picks fight, harasses scientists and the younger soldiers. The woman's got a tattoo commemorating her number of kills from her time in the army. She's a psycho and I can't have anyone like that left to their own devices."<br/>
<br/>
"So how long is this going to take," asks Eric and you can tell that for all his bluster earlier Frank's not enjoying that body.<br/>
<br/>
"As long as it takes," you state tersely. You then gather your things to go and turn to Jillian, "Once we're back you act normal. Repeat nothing you've heard here. Is that understood?"<br/>
<br/>
Jillian nods and with that you're gone.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Once the sun rises the next day you get to work. Lord agrees to head out to Straussler's, as you figured he would when you suggested it, where you're quick to add him to your list of thralls. That done you spend a day converting an old, mostly unused warehouse on the edge of the base into a makeshift operating room like the ballroom at the Straussler residence and have Lord order that no one is allowed there except those with approval.<br/>
<br/>
To further secure things, in addition to the regular security you make a trip out to pick up the essentia detector and spending the rest of the day in Jillian's form with your original essentia you're able to extrapolate how it works and build a security mechanism for the warehouse doors that will unlock only when it detects the correct essentia: in this case the essentia belonging to either Will Prescott, Chelsea Cooper, Claire Briggs or Jillian Harding whose essentia you added as you'll expend Claire's just gaining control of the base. During your trip to return the detector you make sure to grab the usual equipment, masks and knockout powder and mind strips and the like, and set them up in the warehouse.<br/>
<br/>
Over the next week and change you then use the warehouse to convert, in order, Maj. Blackwell, Capt. Sanchez, Perez and Williams.<br/>
<br/>
Things go smoothly until the night after your final conversion. Blackwell informs you of an unknown person skulking around the vicinity of the base. You order Sanchez to send out some MPs to confront the intruder as you watch one of the camera feeds trained on them. They're confronted near the entrance by a small group of MPs. Obviously you can't make out what's being said but the body language tells you things are growing more tense so you contact Sanchez and order him to send out back up. Within minutes another group arrives and the intruder, perhaps sensing them as hostile, attacks. However ten-on-one isn't a fair fight and the intruder is subdued.<br/>
<br/>
Something about them seems odd, their skulking around and insistence on fighting, so you order the intruder brought out to the warehouse and cuffed and bound so they can neither fight back nor run. Once there you open the warehouse and the intruder is shoved in while you order the MPs back and close the door leaving only yourself and the intruder who you now see is an Asian woman. You could question her, of course, but why do that when your own methods of interrogation are so much more effective?<br/>
<br/>
So you blow a bit of powder in her face then strip her imago making a copy to add to your growing list of copied imago. You search inside yourself and find the constellation-like pattern pertaining to her imago. You grab hold of it mentally and swipe your hand and in an instant Claire Briggs is replaced by the woman. As you run through her memories you gasp and shock and look down at yourself, your current body draped Claire's military uniform.<br/>
<br/>
This woman is no ordinary intruder. Her name is Miko Toyotomi and she is a Stellae.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122111222111121
author_id: rugal
title: Zashiki Warashi
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You've captured a member of the Stellae. What she's even doing here you're unsure of but you've lucked into a definite whopper of a fish all the same. As for the why of her being here, well you search through her memories and... yeah, that definitely makes sense. She wasn't going to find anything but it makes sense all the same. You look down at the substantia that was Miko Toyotomi. You're going to have to tell your compatriots and decide on the best course of action with your new capture.<br/>
<br/>
But first... you shift back to Claire. First you feel like celebrating your exceptionally good mood. You head back to the main section of the base and find Sanchez, whisper something into his ear and the pair of you are soon disappearing back to his quarters. Fraternization is one of those things which would be frowned upon and could get you in trouble if certain people found out. But as Claire Briggs now de facto runs Fort Suffolk those "certain people" have no say in the matter.<br/>
<br/>
"That intruder we captured, she's dangerous you know," you say as you watch your partner begin to undress. Captain Eric Sanchez has a reputation for being a playboy and it's not hard to see why: young, good looking... and those abs, dear god.<br/>
<br/>
"Dangerous how," asks Sanchez as he watches you do the same, "The MPs who hauled her in said she was Asian. She a Chinese spy?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing like that, no," you state as you gently shove him onto the bed, "She's like me in that she's... mystically inclined, let's say. Only she hunts people like me, people who don't use their gifts in ways she thinks they should be used."<br/>
<br/>
"So she's a threat," Sanchez says, "To you and this base."<br/>
<br/>
"She was but she's been dealt with," you reply with a smile. You then back off of the bed, "You never saw her did you," you ask and at that Sanchez shakes his head. You pull on Miko's imago, reality shivers ever so slightly around you and she's standing where Claire had been just a second before. "What do you think, Captain? Would you like to take her for a ride?"<br/>
<br/>
Sanchez makes a face at that, "I was hoping for... well, I was hoping for you. <i>You</i> you, not this woman."<br/>
<br/>
You giggle a bit as you clamber onto him and then have him shift positions putting you underneath. Claire is one of the few women Sanchez's charm and looks haven't worked on, "If you want Claire then you're going to have to go through me," you say teasingly, "Just remember: say nothing to no one. Fraternizing's frowned upon after all."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"So what's so important that you had to call this 'emergency meeting', Briggs," asks Curt as you sit in the main room of his home with Eric.<br/>
<br/>
"There was an intruder at the base last night," you state simply.<br/>
<br/>
Curt grunts, "That's it? You called a meeting because a bum wandered a little to close?"<br/>
<br/>
"No," you shake your head, "This was someone far bigger. Someone who could've thrown a massive wrench into everything we've been doing. Thankfully having the base wired paid off and--"<br/>
<br/>
"Wait, wired? As in you've got it under control now," asks Eric as he looks at you a tad incredulously, "Then why are you still Briggs?"<br/>
<br/>
"If you'd allow me to finish," you reply with obvious annoyance, "As I was saying this intruder would've had the capacity to FUBAR everything. Having the base wired, though, allowed me catch and deal with them with no disruption. There was something weird about her so I've got her imago floating around inside me to see who she was and what exactly she was up to," you look from Curt to Eric and back with grim seriousness, "The name Miko Toyotomi means a lot to you I'd assume."<br/>
<br/>
If your companions were drinking anything they'd have spit it. Curt's the first to speak, "Miko's here," he exclaims in disbelief.<br/>
<br/>
"A hunk of substantia that <i>was</i> Miko is back at base in an unused warehouse will no one will find it," you explain, "The rest of her is in me."<br/>
<br/>
"What would Miko even be doing here," Eric asks as he begins chewing on a thumbnail.<br/>
<br/>
"Aparijita was supposed to take Malaika back to the Akshardham, remember," you explain, "When she didn't show up that sent everyone into a panic. Imam el-Bayoumi had to come to take the girl in Aparijita's absence. Combine that with the disappearances of Rick and yourselves all in the same time frame and you can imagine how chaotic things are with the Stellae at the moment."<br/>
<br/>
"I guess we never really gave it much thought," Curt says leaning forward.<br/>
<br/>
"Is that why she's here? To investigate the disappearances," Eric asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Right," you nod, "Unfortunately for her we did a good job of getting rid of any evidence. She wasn't going to risk Cuthbert alone so her next instinct was, naturally, the military base on the edge of town that's a hot bed of tinfoil hat rumblings. If she had gone there under normal circumstances she would've found nothing but again, unfortunately for her..."<br/>
<br/>
"We lucked out big time," states Eric.<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe though I don't like to believe in luck. Or Claire doesn't, anyway," you say but it's followed up with a small sigh, "I'm going to miss her, I think. Jillian's told her that Fane's basically offered her to head up pretty much any project she wants if she accepts."<br/>
<br/>
"So you switch into her, accept the job offer, then take over Titan," says Curt.<br/>
<br/>
"Exactly. Ronald Galloway, Titan's head, gets kicked to the curb and the prodigy takes her rightful place as its head," you reply, "But that'll come after we deal with Miko."<br/>
<br/>
Curt raises an eyebrow, "Going by what you've told us she sounds pretty dealt with I'd say."<br/>
<br/>
"Not completely," you shake your head, "We don't just capture a Stellae and then leave them to collect mothballs in storage. Miko's like any other piece of hardware now. She has a use, we just need to figure out what that use is."<br/>
<br/>
"So we put her under our control, it doesn't seem difficult to me," says Curt as he shifts back into a more comfortable position.<br/>
<br/>
"That's one option, yes," you reply, "I put her under my control, then put a remote sigil on her. That way I can send her back and use her to check in on things. Keep an eye on the Stellae and see what they're up to. It'll give us a massive leg up in staying ahead of, and away from, them."<br/>
<br/>
"One option," asks Curt, "So what's the other?"<br/>
<br/>
"The other option is that I substitute one of us for her. The new Miko goes back, keeps us on top of things and once there's an opening we strike," you explain, "I was thinking Frank. With myself as Jillian and Joe as Dey that should be enough to gain a foothold and expand through Fane."<br/>
<br/>
"So you're saying we try to take both the Stellae and Fane at once," asks Eric and you can tell the prospect makes him a bit nervous, "We might be trying to bite off more than we can chew if we do that. If I go in for Miko I'd be left with even less back up than I have now."<br/>
<br/>
Frank's right of course. It's not like you've even committed to the idea of making a play at both at once, it's just that after all: an idea. You've been playing it safe and so far it's served you extremely well but on the other hand when an opportunity falls in your lap maybe it's best to seize it.</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211122212
author_id: seuzz
title: Two Faced Bitch
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"I thought we were concentrating on taking over Westside," Gordon says.<br/>
<br/>
"We've got the manpower for both," you reply. You pick up Kendra's panties and slip them on. "Or, we slip Joe in place of Patterson, and he changes his mind and comes back to Westside." Gordon looks skeptical. "I guess it is too late for that. Well, we'll figure something out, after tomorrow, when we've got our first two squads nailed down." You turn back to the girls. "Do you want me to leave all three gals up here with you?"<br/>
<br/>
Gordon looks startled. "Sure. If you're not staying, I guess. But they're gonna be kind of robotic, right?" Then he shrugs. "Well, like it matters."<br/>
<br/>
You smile slyly, and pull Maria, Gloria, and Chelsea aside one at a time, whispering instructions to them. You take especial delight in inventing all kinds of degrading things for Gloria to do for Gordon.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Oh, I hate this stupid windmill," you exclaim as your ball bounces off a spinning blades and rolls into a corner. "I can never— Ooh!" Your pretty little pink golf ball scratches against Martin Gardinhire's green ball, settling behind it. "Why are we even playing? It's so cold."<br/>
<br/>
The sky is dusky with clouds and the dying evening light, and the floodlights of the minigolf course burn acridly. There's a smokiness in the breeze: someone in the nearby subdivision is already lighting their fireplace.<br/>
<br/>
"You invited yourself along," Brooke Galloway says in a tired voice. "And no one said you had to be dressed be like that."<br/>
<br/>
"I was jogging earlier," you whine back. "Up at the school after class."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, cut it out, Brooke," Gardinhire says. He peers down at you from behind his shades. (How can he see out them in this murk?) "Do you wanna borrow my jacket, Kendra?"<br/>
<br/>
"I might." You smile and slink over and slip your arm around his waist, between his jacket and his polo shirt. "Oh, it is warm, isn't it?" It's definitely a relief from the wind. You're in skimpy jogging shorts and a thin cotton top: no protection for your slim, track physique against the late autumn chill.<br/>
<br/>
"We could break off early," says Ricky Golia. "Go grab a pizza someplace. I could call Amanda, and she and Kelsey could—"<br/>
<br/>
"We paid for all eighteen holes," Deanna Showalter points out.<br/>
<br/>
"Are you guys going to Jamie's party," you ask as Brooke gently knocks her ball into play; it slips past the spinning blades and out the other side. "Tomorrow night, you know?"<br/>
<br/>
"I was going, but then she changed the date," Ricky says unhappily. "I have to go to a function at the country club tomorrow—"<br/>
<br/>
"Why <i>did</i> she change it?" you ask. "You know what <i>Chelsea</i> is saying, right?" you add knowingly.<br/>
<br/>
The wind rises briefly in the ensuing silence, and then Martin quietly guffaws. "No, what's Chelsea saying?"<br/>
<br/>
"That the cops were out there yesterday on suspicion of there being a meth lab on the property. And that it took Jamie's mom a day to get it cleaned up afterward."<br/>
<br/>
"Clean up what, the meth lab?" Gardinhire chuckles as the two girls cry out.<br/>
<br/>
"No, from the search!"<br/>
<br/>
"That's the stupidest—" Brooke sputters. "Where does Chelsea get off spreading—"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, you know how Chelsea is when it comes to spreading bad news about people," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"She made it up herself," Brooke says hotly.<br/>
<br/>
"No, I don't think so," you say. "Because she was all excited when she told me, 'cos she'd just heard it. She said she didn't believe it—"<br/>
<br/>
"I bet," Deanna snorts.<br/>
<br/>
"—but you can't stop Chelsea when—"<br/>
<br/>
"Did she say who she heard it from?" Ricky asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Lin and Yumi were talking about it in the locker room after practice."<br/>
<br/>
"Not Lin and Yumi!" Deanna cries. "Eavesdropper," Brooke mutters.<br/>
<br/>
"Apparently, they couldn't believe it either," you say. "And Chelsea says <i>she</i> can't. She kept prattling about how someone is trying to make Jamie look bad. She even told me I had to go to the party, to show her support. That's how come I asked if you were going. Because frankly, I'd rather skip it." You roll your eyes in a way that conveys the utter lameness of any party that Jamie Bornholm would have anything to do with. "But if someone is trying to hurt Jamie—"<br/>
<br/>
That sets off a round of chatter that continues angrily while your quintet finishes the hole, and it takes you several minutes to steer it back to where you want: "So who might have started the rumor?" you ask. "Who has it in for Jamie?"<br/>
<br/>
By this time, Brooke's suspicions have been overwhelmed by the others in the group, and from Deanna you get a nice list of people who, for one reason or another, might feel spiteful toward Jamie. After the game is done, you retreat to the bathroom and text the list to Chelsea with the note: "Deanna S. thinks these people hate Jamie B." The note is for your benefit (when you return to Chelsea's position) rather than the golem's, but she texts back: "!!!! Thx!"<br/>
<br/>
Ricky still wants to get pizza, but the idea of dealing with Amanda and Kelsey gives you a headache, so you beg off. But you linger in the parking lot, and when he goes to his car, you corner Gardinhire. <br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Ungh, I'm not sure this is a good idea—" Martin grunts, and sloppily tries to return your ardent kiss. You lay your hand on the side of his face and thrust your tongue into his mouth. "Mmn't— I don't have— Uh oh—" He gasps as you probe his crotch for the zipper. He arches his back, and his erection buckles the front of his cargo pants. Your fingertip finds the flap and the zipper, and you tug at it.<br/>
<br/>
"You don't have to bring anything, Martin," you groan. "I'll take care of it. You just have to—" You thrust a hand inside his pants, and your fingertip brushes something smooth, almost soapy.<br/>
<br/>
"Agh! That's— Nngh!" Gardinhire slides down a little further into the back seat of his old sedan, as though he's trying to lie on his elbows, as you free his cock from the folds of his pants.<br/>
<br/>
You steel yourself for the ordeal to come, and hunch forward to take his penis in your mouth. You gag a little, and draw Kendra's personality more tightly around yourself as a shield. She doesn't much like it either, but she's more used to doing distasteful things in order to gain advantages.<br/>
<br/>
What advantages there is in having Kendra Saunders suck off Martin Gardinhire you're not sure. But you bet there will be advantages somewhere.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It's seven-thirty when you pull up at the Cooper residence, and you're surprised to see Gordon's Bug out front. Mrs. Cooper lets you in with cheerful hellos, and Jordan looks around a corner to briefly grin at you. "Chelsea! Kendra's here for you!" Mrs. Cooper shouts.<br/>
<br/>
A flurry of doors opening and closing, and Chelsea appears on the landing. "Hiya, come on up," she chirps. You squeeze Mrs. Cooper's hand and dash up the stairs. <br/>
<br/>
Chelsea is all smiles until you get into the bedroom with her; her expression sours abruptly as she closes the door. Gordon—still dressed but looking disheveled—lounges on the bed. His hair is stick up in ways that suggest it is groping to extend itself into the fourth dimension, and he gives off an overpowering stench of testosterone. "Yo, it's my fine chocolate princess, come to—"<br/>
<br/>
"I'll take over," you tell Chelsea. She cocks her head to the side, but otherwise doesn't react as you execute the shift sigil, leaving another Kendra Saunders in her place. "Get undressed," you order the golem.<br/>
<br/>
"How did I get up here?" she asks plaintively as she undoes her blouse.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah," Gordon laughs. "Ol' Kenandandra seems to have left a hole in that design. I've been dying to see the expression on your face when you realize these golems are gonna come down with amnesia after you shift 'em back. And that <i>you</i> ain't gonna have any memories either of what was going on."<br/>
<br/>
You coolly let him finish his thought before opening a dresser drawer and taking out two strips of metal. "No holes, Gordon," you say. "I just have to— Well, hang on a moment." You change the golem back into Chelsea, and slap one of the bands onto her forehead; she topples slowly backward on to the bed in a daze, and Gordon has to pull his long legs out of the way. "Catch me," you say, and put the second band to your own forehead.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Yeah, okay, you proved your point," Gordon grumbles good-naturedly as the Kendra golem finishes dressing. She keeps shooting you dirty looks, as well she might, since she's now got a fresh memory of going down on Martin Gardinhire to contend with. "Your system's pretty good, Chels. Now just put the other band onto yourself, so you can remember what 'we' got up to this evening."<br/>
<br/>
"After you're gone," you say, and slap the side of his thigh. "I could tell by the way my mom was looking at me that she doesn't like you being up here this long with the door closed."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, but—"<br/>
<br/>
"No buts. Pick me up tomorrow at nine so we can get the loft ready for the girls. Up!"<br/>
<br/>
He moans and groans and moves very slowly, and won't leave until you give him a warm, slurping kiss on the lips.  You then repair to the bathroom, start the hot water, and go downstairs for a little ice cream; with the water running, your mom can't keep you long for an interrogation about what you did with Gordon.<br/>
<br/>
Once you've got the bathroom door closed, you take a deep breath and put on the mind band that contains the Chelsea-golem's memories of the afternoon. Once your trembling has stopped, you get in the tub to wash the sense of grime away.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122111222121
author_id: seuzz
title: Some Team-Building Exercises
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Did Joe have anything to say?" you ask Gordon as he comes back out to his car with a box full of blank masks. He opens the hood of the Bug and drops the box into the trunk before answering.<br/>
<br/>
"Nah, he just showed me to the ballroom and helped me pack these things up. We're almost out. We'll need to make some more. Or get Joe to. What are we gonna do with him?" He gets in and slams the car door.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm still not sure. I'm hoping our acquisitions today will spark some ideas. Maybe Gardinhire," you add, more to yourself than for your companion.<br/>
<br/>
"Why him?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, he's one of the AP jerks. Joe could run that crowd from there."<br/>
<br/>
"Or from Mansfield," Gordon counters.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes," you testily allow.<br/>
<br/>
"Or from Lisa."<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up. Honestly, how can you <i>go</i> there?" You wheel on him. "Don't we have the same <i>anima,</i> aren't you always saying how we're the same guy down underneath?"<br/>
<br/>
Gordon grins raffishly. "Yeah, but you care a little more about it than I do, so I can joke about it. Anyway, how's this supposed to work this morning. We tackle all the girls all at once."<br/>
<br/>
"Of course not. I set it up so that they come through one at a time. Well, except for Eva and Jessica, who <i>would</i> have to come in together." You roll your eyes, then sit up primly. "I told them we were going to have some one-on-one chats, you know, feedback about their performance and stuff. So, Yumi will show up at ten, and the Garners at ten-thirty, and Lin at eleven. Kendra and the rest of them will then come at eleven-thirty so we can have our big powwow."<br/>
<br/>
"What about those two new girls. Cara and—"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, so you have been paying attention when I talked about them," you laugh. Gordon winces. "No, I left them out. I'm only interested in seniors. We're not going to be around here past the end of the year."<br/>
<br/>
"Then why are we making all these golems instead of just putting masks onto the people?" Gordon asks. "When we leave, we'd just take them off the guys—"<br/>
<br/>
"And cause a big scene when suddenly lots of kids started claiming to have amnesia," you point out. "Anyway, what's wrong with having lots of golems? They might prove useful. Like, Trojan horses we can call up when we need them. Secret agents. Moles." You giggle.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You've only just got the sigil board down from the loft when your first victim bangs at side door. "Yumi, thanks for coming," you say as you let her in. Behind her back, you grimace at the grungy sweat suit she's chosen to wear.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, hi," she sighs, and cocks her head at the sight of Gordon. "So I'm here. What are we supposed to do?"<br/>
<br/>
"A team building exercise," you say.<br/>
<br/>
She doesn't hide her impatience or disdain. "I thought you were going to give us, like, feedback or something."<br/>
<br/>
"No, I'm rebuilding the team. From the ground up, inside out."<br/>
<br/>
She flushes. "Are you sacking more people?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. Gordon!"<br/>
<br/>
With a shout, Yumi falls to the gym floor and is dragged halfway across court, coming to rest in the middle of the sigils. Gordon kneels next to her and drops a mask onto her face. You jog over, quick. "Can I undress her," Gordon asks.<br/>
<br/>
"No need for that," you say as you start placing the rest of the items around Yumi.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Why didn't you just use the same <i>imago</i> on both of 'em?" Gordon asks as you set Jessica's mask next to Eva's. Two golems rest nearby.<br/>
<br/>
"They're not <i>that</i> identical, pookie."<br/>
<br/>
"They could be."<br/>
<br/>
"The hair is different. Or don't you look at them from the neck up?"<br/>
<br/>
"So we'll just pretend that Jessica got her hair cut this morning. Or that Eva let hers grow long."<br/>
<br/>
"In one morning, Gordon?" you sigh. "Okay, now I need to run <i>you</i> for a bit." You drop onto the sigil.<br/>
<br/>
"I thought you were gonna work on a—"<br/>
<br/>
"—new way of doing that," you finish for Gordon, in Gordon's own voice, from Gordon's own body. "Not yet, pookie," you answer yourself in a scratchy falsetto. "I've been busy with this stuff. Well, when the fuck are you gonna— Just shut up, sweetheart, so I can finish this thing. You don't like me in here longer than I have to be." You put the bottle with Yumi's <i>essentia</i> in the correct spot, close your eyes, and hold out your arms.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Welcome to the team," you say as you help the disoriented Ms. Pol to her feet. "Your friends are in the changing room, getting dressed out. Go change into your uniform. Let's show some team spirit, Lin."<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, Chelsea," Lin replies, somewhat tonelessly.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, for God's sake, Lin, show some <i>real</i> spirit, too."<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, Chelsea," Lin says with more vibrancy, and walks quickly away.<br/>
<br/>
"Didn't they all seem kind of that way?" Gordon asks. "Flat?. No fizz."<br/>
<br/>
"They're just confused. As soon as we have our talk they'll be okay. <br/>
<br/>
"Are you gonna need me anymore?" he asks, and presses his temples with the heels of his hands. "Because this has been pretty intense, and I could use a burger."<br/>
<br/>
"Then go get one. Just be back by one, so we can get set up for your crew."<br/>
<br/>
"Whatever." Gordon jogs away, and the side door slams open and shut. You wait for your new team to return.<br/>
<br/>
<i>God, they are all so beautiful,</i> you think when you've got them arranged before you in a semicircle. Some tall, some short. Some leggy, and some with great chests and butts. Some with long hair draped in lovely folds around the shoulders, and some with short bobs you'd love to scramble with your finger tips. They stand with hands clasped behind their backs, dressed in the scarlet and gold colors of Westside High, miniskirts draped invitingly across the fronts of strong thighs in smooth stockings. Kendra Saunders, Gloria Rea, Maria Vasquez, Lin Pol, Yumi Saito, and Eva and Jessica Garner. You—alone of the group naked—drink them in one at a time.<br/>
<br/>
"So nice to have you girls, finally," you say. "All on one happy team. All pulling together, all working hard for the good of the squad and the good of the school.<br/>
<br/>
"Now, you all know who you are. You remember who you are, and you all know how to act. There's only one reason you're standing here so quiet letting me talk to you like this. Because I told you to."<br/>
<br/>
You're pleased by the silence, for you hadn't enough <i>essentia</i> to master all of them. You had to add Yumi's <i>essentia</i> to your collection, and use it to enslave Yumi, Lin, and the Garners. But they are as quiet and attentive as the rest of the crew.<br/>
<br/>
"But once you leave here, go back to normal," you order. "Act just like you were acting before you got here. Except for the little things I'm going to tell you to do. Oh, and don't tell anyone what happened here this morning. Don't talk about it with anyone. Don't even talk about it with each other." You shift to Yumi's <i>essentia</i> and repeat the instructions for the benefit of her and her friends.<br/>
<br/>
"First you, Kendra." You turn to your chief lieutenant, and fall into yourself. Nine sigils blaze in your mind's eye, and you draw Kendra's around yourself. The girls are all staring back at you with frozen surprise and horror when you open your eyes again, but you ignore them. "Kendra," you repeat in the girl's own honeyed tones. "You're going to keep giving the AP boys blow jobs. You started with Martin Gardinhire last night. Go on to these boys, in this order: Anthony Kirk, Brent Pruitt, Marc Garner—" You think you see Eva and Jessica react to that one. "Geoff Mansfield, Ricky Golia. Oh, and Keith Hennepin."<br/>
<br/>
Kendra's eyes cloud over. "But Geoff and Ricky and Keith, they—"<br/>
<br/>
"I know, Kendra," you coo. "You're not trying to break anyone up. We just want to see what happens.<br/>
<br/>
"In fact," you continue, turning to the rest of the girls. "All of you are going to start putting out more. Poor Kendra has been carrying too much of the load of keeping the boys in this school happy. So Gloria—" You morph into her form. "You're going to work on the football and wresting squads. All of them, including the guys who have girlfriends. Including Cameron Huber. Maria—" You shift into her form, and regard her thoughtfully.<br/>
<br/>
Five minutes later, you're still staring at her. <i>You'd never have guessed.</i> "You hang loose for the time being," you say. "I'll have to find something special for you.<br/>
<br/>
"Eva, Jessica." You choose the latter's form for this talk. Again, you have to think deeply with their heads to come up with suitable mischief. "You're going to become real good friends with Hennepin's crowd. Tim Gerrard, Zach Reynolds, Adrian Semple, those guys. Like with Kendra, sleep with them or suck them off if it's doable. Also, start hanging around with the girls, like Jelena Petrovic and Sienna Goldman."<br/>
<br/>
"Do we have to sleep with the girls," Eva asks sullenly.<br/>
<br/>
You ponder that a bit before shaking your head. You then give similar instructions to Yumi and Lin, only you direct Yumi to hang around with the "loser nerd" crowd, like she already does, and tell Lin to keep going over to Eastman for her dates. You also tell them that Rachel Burton was pumping up a mean rumor about a meth lab raid on Jamie Bornholm's house. "You don't believe the rumor," you explain to them. "But Rachel was definitely trying to spread it."<br/>
<br/>
And with that, you dismiss them. They file quietly out.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122112
author_id: seuzz
title: The Perfect Use for the Perfect Disguise
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Perfect disguises," Franks says. "Isn't that what we want?"<br/>
<br/>
"Absolutely." You suck on the end of your thumb. "I don't know why I didn't see it before," you murmur. "It was right in front of me. With Frank's <i>imago</i> and <i>essentia,</i> you're a dead ringer for Frank Durras. Even though it's my <i>anima</i> running things beneath."<br/>
<br/>
"Same with me too," Joe says.<br/>
<br/>
"You don't have to horn in everywhere, Joe," says Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm just pointing out—"<br/>
<br/>
"You don't have to point every little thing out, either."<br/>
<br/>
"Quiet, both of you!" You whirl around and start to pace in a tight circle. "Now, it would involve giving you guys the extra <i>essentia</i>and <i>imago,</i> but that's okay because I've just demonstrated it can be done. Of course, we could just swap out <i>anima</i> in them—" You tap your teeth furiously. "But this way we'd be hiding in plain sight, under perfect disguises, <i>and</i> we could spring some unexpected tricks on them."<br/>
<br/>
Frank and Joe look at each other. "Care to explain what kind of scheme you're—"<br/>
<br/>
Your phone rings again. "Oh, God damn it, Gordon," you hiss. "Why do you always bother me when I don't want to hear from you, and never call me when I do?" You master your vexation before answering. "Hi, pookie," you chirp. "I'm sorry I missed your call a few minutes ago. What's up?"<br/>
<br/>
"Eh, nothing," your boyfriend grumbles. "Just checking to see what's up with you, how you are."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, that's so sweet. I'm just hanging out with friends."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah," he says, and his tone darkens. "Who?"<br/>
<br/>
"No one you'd care to hang out with," you say. "Just some girlfriends. We're talking about giving ourselves a makeover." You snicker at your partners.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, jeez," Gordon groans, then hastens to cover up his <i>faux pas.</i> "I mean, if that's what you guys want to do, if that's what you want to do—"<br/>
<br/>
"But you like me the way I am," you simper.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah."<br/>
<br/>
"The same old, boring, stale look I've had for— Gosh, it feels like ten years or something."<br/>
<br/>
"I didn't mean--!"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, I'm just teasing you, pookie. We're just talking right now. But we found this modeling site online, and omigod! We're going through it and looking at—" <br/>
<br/>
Frank impatiently signals you to hurry and wrap things up. <br/>
<br/>
"And we're just— Well, we're just getting lots of ideas."<br/>
<br/>
"Uh huh," says Gordon. "Who are you with? Kendra and Gloria?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. Josie and Francine Starr, from Flegenhepfler. You remember them!"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh yeah, them. So, are we getting together tonight?"<br/>
<br/>
"Can't, pookie. But pick me up tomorrow morning? You will? Thanks, I love you too. Buh-bye! Fucking liar," you mutter as you hang up.<br/>
<br/>
Joe nudges Frank in the arm. "Hey Francine, you heard from the kids back at Flargenharbler today?"<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up. So what's going on," Frank asks you.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm going home. I've got some stuff I've got to plot out, see if it'll work, then think about if I want to do it. I'll see you guys tomorrow after school!"<br/>
<br/>
"What do you want us to do in the meantime?"<br/>
<br/>
"Stay out of trouble!" you call over your shoulder as you dash for the ballroom door.<br/>
<br/>
"Looks like I'll have to fuckin' superglue you to the ceiling." That's the last thing you hear Frank say—to Joe, naturally—before the door closes behind you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It takes you longer to get to your project than you'd like. Kendra shows up at your house right after you arrive, full of the <i>thrilling</i> news that Jamie Bornholm's party has been moved from Friday night to Saturday night; you whip her smartly with your tongue and send her scurrying away. Then you have to eat dinner with your parents and brother. The phone buzzes with calls and messages. Finally you just turn it off, run yourself a deep bath of hot, sudsy water, and hide from the world. <br/>
<br/>
You gently pluck at your inner thighs as you sink up to your chin into the water, but your body is so firm and toned that there's practically nothing to pinch. But suck in the air in hissing gulps between your teeth as you work closer and closer to your pussy. Chelsea Cooper doesn't often do this sort of thing—too self-indulgent—and you vaguely sense you're not quite getting the full effect that you could. <i>Will Prescott</i> would enjoy this more than Chelsea could, but you can't dismiss Chelsea's mind without also dismissing her body. <i>Hmm. If you could chop <i>imago</i> up into its constituent physical and mental parts, the way the </i>Libra<i> does with the masks and mind bands ...</i> But you can shift your <i>essentia</i> at least.<br/>
<br/>
You seem to drop into dark, watery depths ...<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You jerk awake in a tub of lukewarm water, sloshing most of it over the lip of the tub and onto the floor. Your heart is hammering and your head is throbbing, though not in an unpleasant way. You have a vivid impression—not a memory, but only an <i>impression</i>—of a dark, fiery disk glowing in the abyss. You blink rapidly, and the disk seems to appear on the inside of your eyelids.<br/>
<br/>
It is very clear.<br/>
<br/>
<i>My God, it's a sigil.</i><br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"We're gonna be late," Gordon growls as you hop into the cab of his classic VW Bug.<br/>
<br/>
"Like the captain of the team can be late," you chortle. "When <i>I'm</i> late I just make the girls work harder." You lean over and give him a peck on his rough cheek.<br/>
<br/>
He turns and gives you a little double take. You give him a double take. You hold each other's eye.<br/>
<br/>
You must have surprised him with that kiss. Or maybe just aroused him. For your part, you're smartly struck by the thought you've never been this close to Gordon Black. Certainly he's never given you the kind of look he's giving you now. He's unlikely he ever would have before—<br/>
<br/>
You can't help grinning at him. <i>If he only knew who he was </i>really<i> kissing.</i> You lean forward and take his mouth in a warm, slow, crackling kiss, one with lots of little animal noises. His tongue finds its way to yours, and you gently caress the side of his face. He fondles one of your boobs— "Quit it!" You push away from him. "You're always grabbing there!"<br/>
<br/>
"I just like—"<br/>
<br/>
"I know you do." You buckle yourself in. "I'm sorry, sweetie, that's just not the kind of thing I want to do this early in the morning." You take out your phone, using the camera as a mirror, and check your makeup for damage. <i>Ugh, your hair kept fighting you this morning.</i><br/>
<br/>
Gordon pulls into the street. "I was thinking about skipping first period," he says. "Hanging out and watching your squad practice."<br/>
<br/>
"I'd really rather you not," you sigh. <br/>
<br/>
"I let you and the girls watch <i>us</i> at practice."<br/>
<br/>
"That's different. Your guys like showing off for my girls. You make them uncomfortable. And who would you be watching, exactly?" Your tone turns waspish.<br/>
<br/>
"Uh, you."<br/>
<br/>
"And not Gloria or Yumi or Eva or—? I don't want to fight, Gordon. The answer's no."<br/>
<br/>
You keep your expression straight, but inside you're grinning madly at the way you've told the biggest bully in school that he can't watch his girlfriend practice her cheerleading routines.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
In fact, you're so pleased by the day's events—bossing Gordon around; running cheerleader practice; gossiping with your friends; glaring at the boys who have the nerve to ogle you—that you're tempted to leave things as they are, and not tell Frank or Joe about the new sigil, and what you can do with it.<br/>
<br/>
It goes back to your stray thought about splitting mental and physical <i>imago.</i> The new sigil—an edit to the master sigil you carved into that sheet of metal—will do that; and it can be used to insert mental <i>imago</i> separately when set new <i>imago</i> onto <i>substantia.</i> What this means is that you and your friends can have maximally flexible control over your constituent parts: you can display yourself inside one body, reason and remember with a second mind, and operate with a third <i>essentia.</i> You even refined it so that you can consult the memories of a second mind while still thinking with a first, like rifling an encyclopedia or memorandum book.<br/>
<br/>
But the real advantage is that it gives you an easy to merge your confederate's <i>anima</i> with the minds of other people. It had occurred to you last night, while thinking things over, that you'd almost made a bone-headed blunder with them. They have your <i>anima</i>, and hence will always have your memories and personalities. But the minds of "Frank" and "Joe"—which they use to complement your own thinking—operate in them only as <i>imago,</i> and if they change <i>imago</i> they will no longer have access to what Joe and Frank know and think; just as if you'd stop being able to think like Chelsea if you switched back to your natural <i>imago.</i> Merging the brothers' mental <i>imago</i> with your <i>anima</i> will make the merger permanent.<br/>
<br/>
But what really excites you is the capacity you've now attained for infiltrating the <i>Stellae.</i> With these "perfect disguises," you and Joe and Frank can perfectly mimic any <i>Stellae</i> you manage to capture—while keeping your own powers in reserve and available for use.<br/>
<br/>
It all depends on whether you feel up to the ultimate challenge: Taking over the <i>Stellae Errantes</i> from within.</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221121
author_id: seuzz
title: Reach for the Stars
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Hokey smokes," Joe says as he traces the new sigil with his fingertip. "I realized the bit about our <i>anima</i> needing a better merger with our brains. Well, with Frank and Joe's brains. Nice solution, by the way. Except I don't follow this little bit here."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't follow <i>any</i> of it," Frank grumbles. He's looking a lot less excited than Joe.<br/>
<br/>
"You wouldn't be able to," Joe retorts.<br/>
<br/>
"I mean <i>any</i> of it," Frank says, and his frown deepens as he starts ticking items off his fingers. "First of all, I thought we came back home so we could practice our techniques at Westside."<br/>
<br/>
"I think this gives us all the technique we need, Frank," says Joe.<br/>
<br/>
"The technical machinery, maybe," says Frank. "I'm talking about the skills to use 'em and get away with it."<br/>
<br/>
"Nobody's saying that we tackle the <i>Stellae</i> all at once, immediately," you say. "We could just infiltrate, lay low, watch, plot—"<br/>
<br/>
"And go crazy with boredom, spring the takeover prematurely, and get blown all to hell when the <i>Stellae</i> hit back," says Joe. He looks up from the sigil. "Sorry, I'm just articulating what Frank would struggle to say. Personally, I think it's a keen idea."<br/>
<br/>
"And, typically, my brother is moving too fast," says Frank. "Look, I think we're wasting our time here in town, but I'm not eager to jump into the big game right away."<br/>
<br/>
You don't want to be argumentative. "We could ease into it," you say. "Maybe only one of us returns to the <i>Stellae</i> in disguise. Or maybe we sneak up on one of them and take them over with the <i>anima</i> we used on Rick."<br/>
<br/>
"If we do that, we could take over two or three more," Joe says.<br/>
<br/>
"And that's my second point," says Frank. "What's the point of <i>us</i> infiltrating the <i>Stellae</i> when we can just use <i>anima?</i> We could be doing that already, but decided not to. What happened that now it seems like a good idea?"<br/>
<br/>
"Don't you want a second pair of <i>ousiarchs?</i>" Joe asks. "Quick training with them too, since we'd have the <i>imago</i> of the people who had 'em originally."<br/>
<br/>
"But we could still get that in a couple of years, after we've practiced these other skills," Frank says. He speaks more slowly; it sounds like he's becoming convinced.<br/>
<br/>
"And what opportunities would we miss in the meantime," asks Joe. He's heard the same shift in Frank's voice, for he continues as though the decision has been made. "The first one to catch, obviously, is Kali. Then, based on what she knows—"<br/>
<br/>
But Frank reacts as though he's been slapped. "Why Kali? I mean, I guess I can see the advantage, but—" He starts to turn red. "You're actually hot to get inside her skin!"<br/>
<br/>
Joe lowers the sketch of the new sigil and turns to stare at his brother. "It's only logical that it's me who gets her. As the only one here with a real education—"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, bite me," Frank snarls. "Besides, you've already got Arbol as an <i>ousiarch—</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"It doesn't matter. What matters is the <i>blending</i> of the pair. So I've already got Arbol and Viritrilbia as a blend, Arbol and Perelandra are a different blend."<br/>
<br/>
"So I could take another Malacandran when I double up," Frank asks.<br/>
<br/>
Joe freezes. "Well, I'd need Malacandra myself at some point—"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh for fuck's sake, that's so typically <i>you.</i> A grabby little—"<br/>
<br/>
You've been trying to get their attention all this time, waving your hand and shouting "Hey! Hey!" to no avail. Now you jump in, grab Frank by the face, and kiss him hard on the mouth. He and Joe stare at you slack-jawed. "Now that I've got your attention finally, will you stop arguing so we can talk about it rationally? Who's this Kali person?"<br/>
<br/>
It takes Joe a second to recover his voice. "Kali Valentine," he stammers. "Our teacher, Frank's and my teacher. She teaches all of us, at least at the start, teaches the basics. Then we go on for specialized training with others. She's very senior, very high up—"<br/>
<br/>
"She's an old lady?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
There's a long pause. "She takes real good care of herself," Joe says, and he turns a little pink. "She's still real attractive. Why, does it really matter?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm thinking of what happened when we caught Rick," you say. "Whoever gets Kali, you or Frank or me, if we just use <i>anima</i>, has to be happy there."<br/>
<br/>
"I've already volunteered," says Joe. "And we really should take her anyway. All the newbies go to her first."<br/>
<br/>
"Why's that important," Frank asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Because any new <i>Stellae</i> will be another good avenue for infiltration," Joe says. "No one knows them, so there will be less chance of a slip up."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm still nervous," Frank says. "Especially about targeting Kali. She's so close to Dad, and I want to stay as much out of his sight as possible."<br/>
<br/>
"But we have perfect disguises," Joe says. "You said so yourself."<br/>
<br/>
"Famous last words," Frank says. "What about targeting the Akshardham, or the Sages instead? There's no Glundandrans there to worry about."<br/>
<br/>
Joe snaps his finger at Frank. "Malaika. That's another natural one to—"<br/>
<br/>
"Who's the Akshardam?" you ask. "The Sages?"<br/>
<br/>
"Guys like us," Frank says.<br/>
<br/>
"Exactly like us," Joe interrupts. "Same stuff, same philosophy, same goals. Just a different organization. The Akshardham is centered in India, the Sages in China and the Pacific. The <i>Stellae</i> come out of Europe and the Middle East, cover Africa and the Americas these days too. We all cooperate, of course—"<br/>
<br/>
"And there aren't any Glundandrans in these other groups?"<br/>
<br/>
"Nope. There can only be two Glundandrans at a time— Wait, shouldn't you know all this?"<br/>
<br/>
"If you don't want to explain it to me, Joe, let me use you as a puppet." You raise your hand to your face.<br/>
<br/>
"No thanks!" he hastily exclaims. "So, there can only be two Glundandrans in the world at a time, and the <i>Stellae</i> have both of them now. They also have the heiress apparent, Malaika, which is why we should target her too. So we can take over the <i>Stellae</i> when Dad finally dies."<br/>
<br/>
"We have another Glundandran with us," Frank says. To you: "I can't believe you left it to me to point that out."<br/>
<br/>
But Joe shakes his head. "Problematic, bro. Deeply problematic. Chelsea's too old." He turns to you as you start to sputter. "See, most <i>Stellae,</i> even the ones living out in the boonies, get discovered real early. Like, five or six or eight years old. Ten years old is about the latest. The reason you and Rosalie went undiscovered is because you had Sulva as your second <i>ousiarch.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"But I've still got— Oh, that's right." You make a face. "I recombined Glundandra with Eldibria."<br/>
<br/>
"Exactly. You'd have to get yourself the <i>imago</i> of someone really young, like five or six, which is I think is how old Malaika was when they found her, if you were going to be 'discovered' and enter the <i>Stellae</i> that way."<br/>
<br/>
"Would it be more believable if the Sages discovered her?" Frank asks. "Maybe they could have missed her until she was this old?"<br/>
<br/>
Joe looks even more dubious. "Maybe," he says, his voice dripping with skepticism. "But the real problem in that case isn't her age. It's her looks. Chelsea Cooper is very beautiful, but she's the wrong kind of beautiful for someone who was born in China."<br/>
<br/>
"Will couldn't use Chelsea's face anyway," Frank says. "What I mean is, we go to China or Japan or Korea, someplace in the Sages' sphere, go undercover there, and let the Sages find Will."<br/>
<br/>
"What's the advantage of that?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"First, there's no Glundandran in the Sages, and those are the really scary ones to try to fool. Second of all, if we place a Glundandran in the Sages, and also do as Joe says and add Malaika to the team, then we'll have control of both the <i>Stellae</i> and the Sages. Eventually."<br/>
<br/>
"Nice," says Joe. "In that case, we should use <i>anima</i> to get Malaika. You and I could split up. You could partner with Malaika, and I could partner with Will."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not sure I want us splitting up," you say. "I'd rather we were together, so we could coordinate closely, back each other up."<br/>
<br/>
Joe and Frank mull this. "In that case," Joe says, "I think we'd be best concentrating on the <i>Stellae.</i> We want Malaika regardless. And then Kali really needs to be another one."<br/>
<br/>
"Where would Will fit in?" Frank asks. "A new Glundandran? Or would he hide somewhere else?"<br/>
<br/>
Joe shrugs. "Kali would be the best one to answer that."<br/>
<br/>
"How hard would it be to get to Kali?" you ask. "To make a change?"<br/>
<br/>
"She's a designer and decorator, caters to millionaires and billionaires," Joe says. "She wouldn't be hard to get to, if we pretend to be rich. Not that she's mercenary," he hastily adds, in an oddly struck, defensive note.</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211211
author_id: imaj
title: Hot For Teacher
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>It doesn't take much effort to pretend to be rich.<br/>
<br/>
Curt Straussler is seated behind the massive desk in his office as you enter, Frank and Joe tailing behind you.  He narrows his eyes unhappily and mutters into the phone pressed against his ear.  "Yeah, I have to go.  Other pressing business," he growls.  "I'll call you back."  He puts the phone down.  "What do you kids need now?"<br/>
<br/>
You pout unhappily, the Chelsea part of you bridling at his brusqueness.  "Frank, tell Jonathon's dad to be a little more polite," you complain.  "Actually no, just take his mask off."<br/>
<br/>
Curt stares at you levelly, his eyes brimming with hatred, but he does nothing as Franks steps forward and pulls the golem mask off.  There's barely any perceptible change, as Curt goes from golem fake to slumbering original.  Frank finishes the job by blowing a some knockout powder into Straussler Senior's face to keep him unconscious for longer.<br/>
<br/>
"What are you going to do with him," asks Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Take him apart and store him," you reply with a shrug.  You examine your nails carefully, they need a touch up.  "I'll put him back together once we are finished.  In the mean time, we need a Curt Straussler to hire this Kali Valentine of yours."<br/>
<br/>
"Me," asks Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes you silly," you tell him.  "I can hardly disappear, people would notice."<br/>
<br/>
"Uh-huh..."<br/>
<br/>
"Get to it," you instruct him.  You open your handbag and fish through for a bottle of nail varnish.  Perching on the desk, you slowly and carefully reapply the varnish.  Around you, the process of switching from one Curt Straussler to another proceeds.  Clothes are removed then donned.  The original Curt is dragged away by Frank with Joe's help.  You finish applying the varnish and coat your lips with a fresh layer of gloss as you wait for the boys to return.  A few minutes later they arrive, now done up as father and son.  "Much better," you say, clapping your hands together then hopping off the desk.<br/>
<br/>
"Looks like Curt was holding out on us.  I found out something interesting when I put on the mask," says Straussler Senior, presumably Frank under the mask.<br/>
<br/>
"You're gonna want to hear this," adds Jonathan, who must really be Joe.<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up Joe," growls the apparent Curt.  Jon rolls his eyes in response  "Fane's got an agent in Saratoga Falls."<br/>
<br/>
"Fane?"  The word is familiar, you're sure you've heard it before but you just can't place it.<br/>
<br/>
"Come on," says Jon.  "I'll explain all about it while Dad there calls Kali and try to persuade her to redecorate our house."  You leave the office with Jon, walking back through the house towards the ball room.  "So Fane," grins Jon.  There's enough Joe in there under the mask to relish the opportunity to give a lecture.  "They're this big conglomerate, or a big set of them.  Very big and very complicated.  They've got their fingers in so many pies it's hard to keep track of everything, but a lot of those pies are occult pies."  You nod your head dumbly, finding it a little difficult to keep track of Jon's explanation.  "Stars I'm hungry," he continues.  "There's some pie back in Jon's, sorry my apartment.  We should get some pie."<br/>
<br/>
"Fane, Jon," you say impatiently.<br/>
<br/>
"Sorry I get my metaphors in a twist when I'm hungry," he says by way of apology.  His big wide smile suggests he isn't entirely sincere.  "Fane are big on things that man wasn't supposed to know, they're like a multi-million dollar front for occult research.  Which means that Fane and the <i>Stellae</i>'s paths keep on crossing in a kind of if it wasn't for you meddling kids sort of way.  Except they're the kids, but we're the ones meddling with them.  I really need that pie."<br/>
<br/>
"Concentrate," you say, your voice laced with frost.  "Is this going to be a problem?"<br/>
<br/>
"Problem, no.  Opportunity, yes.  It's an excuse to call in another <i>Stellae</i>.  'Kali' can make the connection," he explains, dropping exaggerated air quotes round the name.  "She'll work out Fane are here.  Then she can ask for help and we can pull in a new face for Frank as well.  Hal  is into hunting Fane in a big way, or depending on what they are doing here we could pull in someone like Nash or even John Reilly."<br/>
<br/>
"Jon, Joe, whatever... I don't know any of these people," you pout.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, yeah...  They'd all be good faces for Frank.  Hal Swann isn't as senior as Kali, but he's close to Uncle Fyodor.  That's the other Glundandran in the <i>Stellae </i>right now.  With Hal and Kali, we'd be perfectly placed to watch Fyodor and Dad," he explains with boyish enthusiasm.  "Nash and John both work in the archives, which is where we store all the dangerous trinkets and dinguses to keep them safe.  I know you haven't thought that far ahead yet, but that's got to be your target once you get control of the <i>Stellae</i>.  The knowledge contained there..."<br/>
<br/>
"Is getting too far ahead of itself," you interrupt.  You roll your eyes.  "Honestly Jon, the breathy fangirl look does not suit your face at all," you scold, lightly swatting him.  "You are getting too far ahead of yourself.  We'll work out what to do once we get you into this Kali.  She's more tolerable than you, right?"  Jon makes a face.  "The hurt puppy look doesn't suit you either."<br/>
<br/>
"Aw c'mon," he pouts.<br/>
<br/>
You reach the ballroom.  Curt Straussler - the real one anyway - is already laid out on the dissection table.  You bid Jon to help you set out the various masks and bottles that will act as the receptacles for the constituent parts of the man.  When all is ready you sit in place beside and concentrate.  Faint lightning crackles between Straussler Senior's body  and the bottles and masks as you unmake him.  A sharp clap of thunder rolls through the ballroom as he finally splits into pieces.<br/>
<br/>
"That's a little weird," says the replacement Curt Straussler as you stand up.  He must have slipped in whilst you were working.  "Watching it happen to what I think is myself."<br/>
<br/>
"I'll put him back together once we are done," you repeat.  "If that makes you feel better."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not sure that it does," he replies.<br/>
<br/>
"Well," asks Jon.  "Spill it.  Is she coming?"<br/>
<br/>
The fake Curt's face shades red.  "Fuck Joe.  What is it with you that you want in her skin so bad?"<br/>
<br/>
"I can't wait," replies Jon.  He starts rubbing his hands up and down his body.  "Oh, I'm gonna be inside Kali's skin."  He casts a sly glance at the man who appears to be his father.  The replacement Staussler Senior is, if anything, growing even more red.  Jon bursts out laughing.  I need to get my cell phone, so I can take a picture to immortalise this little scene.<br/>
<br/>
"Frank, sit on him," you say in a bored tone of voice.  There is a soft thump as Jon falls to the floor.  He wriggles as if struggling against unseen bonds - which is exactly what he is doing.<br/>
<br/>
"No fair, you caught me by surprise," he complains.<br/>
<br/>
You motion for the fake Curt to continue.  "Kali was reluctant at first," he explains.  "She's very busy with a commission in LA, but as soon as I mentioned Saratoga Falls she was interested."<br/>
<br/>
"She wants to know what happened to us," interrupts Jon.  "She just needs an excuse to come.  I bet Dad even told her not to come out here."<br/>
<br/>
"Probably.  And now we've given her the excuse she need.  She'll pay for it with at the cost of her life," says Curt, his voice sounding tired.  "Three days.  She'll be here in three days.  Then you get to have your perverted little wish Joe."<br/>
<br/>
"We agreed to this," you tell him.<br/>
<br/>
"She's the logical choice," says Jon, his tone more serious now.  "And there'll still be a Kali Valentine afterwards."<br/>
<br/>
"I know, I know.  It doesn't make it any less..."  Curt tails off.<br/>
<br/>
*****<br/>
<br/>
You check the dissection table again, making sure that everything is in the correct place.  The sheet of metal is in the exact same state as the previous four times you checked it.  "Where are they," you ask Joe, pacing impatiently around.<br/>
<br/>
It's not really Joe, but rather his astral twin.  The prodigy that lets him project, see and speak through a copy of himself.  "One room further on since you last asked," he replies with a wry grin.  The real Joe - who is disguised as Jon Straussler - is trailing after Frank - disguised as Curt Straussler - and Kali.<br/>
<br/>
"Try and hurry them up," you tell him.  To your surprise, you stamp your foot impatiently.<br/>
<br/>
Ten minute pass.  Ten long and slow minutes, each one lasting impossibly longer than the last.  You lose track of the number of times you check the dissection table is set up properly, and the number of times you complain to the astral projection about how long it's taking.  You just want this over and done with, and until you have Kali lying on the sheet metal unconscious the possibility remains that she will somehow escape the trap you have set for her.<br/>
<br/>
Finally, the door opens and you get your first look at Kali Valentine.  Your first impression is of an older, wiser and less bitchy version of Kendra Saunders.  Surprisingly, she looks only to be in her late thirties, despite Joe's description of her as an older woman.  The only sign of age is her greying hair which streaks white at the temples.  What stands out most though, is the way she moves:  She has a natural elegance that leaves the Chelsea part of you green with envy.<br/>
<br/>
That poise flickers and vanishes as she sees Joe's astral twin.  "Joseph," he voice quavers.  "Is that you?"<br/>
</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122112111
author_id: imaj
title: Kali-graphy
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Yes," says the astral twin.<br/>
<br/>
"And also no," finishes Jon.<br/>
<br/>
The astral twin vanishes in a flash.  Kali hesitates for a fraction of a second.  It is more than long enough to doom her.  By the time she reacts, all she can do is struggle against the binds of Frank's invisible fist.  She tries to twist and turn, but is barely able to move a muscle.  "Frank?"  She must recognise the prodigy, for all the good it will do her  "But you're supposed to be dead."  Kali wilts as Jon pulls his hand from his pocket inhumanly fast and blows knockout powder into her face.<br/>
<br/>
"Intense," sighs Jon.  His hand whips up to his face and pulls the mask away, revealing Joe in his place.  He stumbles for a few minutes before straightening himself.  Joe looks at Kali warily.  She hangs slack in the grasp of Frank's invisible fist.  "She's sleeping.  Let's do this."<br/>
<br/>
You settle down on the ground, kneeling beside the dissection table.  The new sigils you developed should simplify the procedure considerably.  There's still a lot to do though, and you expect the process will leave you drained.<br/>
<br/>
You start with Kali's disassembly.  First Curt - Frank in disguise - places her on the metal sheeting.  You wait for Joe to remove her clothes before you start.  He works slowly and lovingly, carefully removing her charcoal grey skirt suit and purple silk blouse.  Then you pull her apart.  Green tinged lightning arcs from her into the bottles placed for her <i>essentia</i>.  Another fills with her <i>anima </i>and her <i>imago </i>earths into a mask.<br/>
<br/>
"Clear this away and set it up for Joe," you say, standing back up.  Curt hauls the golem like <i>substantia </i>remains of Kali away as Joe removes the smaller items from the table.  "Lie down Joe," you tell him when he is finished.<br/>
<br/>
"This is safe, right," he asks, uncharacteristically nervous.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm about to change the fundamental nature of your being," you deadpan.  It doesn't quite come out right in Chelsea's voice.  "What do you think."  Joe makes a gulping sound.  "Oh lie down before I come over there and <i>make </i>you lie down."  He gets down quickly after that.<br/>
<br/>
This is the most delicate part of the operation, using your most recently created sigil to fuse Joe's mental <i>imago </i>with the copy of your own <i>anima </i>within him.  "Lie still," you shout as fetch the Libra, a blank mask and a voodoo doll from the storage shelves.  You close your eyes and focus on the doll, establishing a connection to Joe.<br/>
<br/>
His <i>anima </i>and <i>imago </i>appear in front of you, almost as if they are printed on the inside of your eyelids.  Multiple thick blue lines connect them.  Occasionally one pulses as a tiny fragment of <i>imago </i>is absorbed into the <i>anima </i>naturally.  The first part of the spell is essentially a marking exercise, delineating the boundaries within Joe's <i>imago </i>between the physical and mental parts.  It is tedious and repetitive work, identifying each connection between physical and mental.  You attach a little spark of blue energy to each.  Then move onto the next, and then the next and then the next.<br/>
<br/>
You aren't aware of how much time passes but finally you reach the end and realise you've found all the connection.  You relax and let your focus drift until you are looking at the whole of Joe's <i>imago</i>.  It looks as if someone has built a fuzzy wall through the middle.<br/>
<br/>
The final thing you have to do for this part is transfer the mental <i>imago</i>.  Those little blue sparks you placed detonate like a row of dominoes falling down and the mental imago starts to drift.  It floes down the connections to the anima, like debris carried on a river.  As it goes, it carries the residual energy of the exploded blue sparks, creating a whole new set of connections between <i>anima </i>and <i>imago</i>.<br/>
<br/>
"We'll take a break there," you say, opening your eyes.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't feel any different," complains Joe.<br/>
<br/>
"You won't," laughs Curt.  "Even I know that."<br/>
<br/>
"Because I'm still thinking with the same memories and experience, right," Joe asks you.  "It's just they are part of my <i>anima </i>now."<br/>
<br/>
You nod.  "Get me a glass of water," you ask Joe.  The process, and the exacting attention to detail required has left you drained.  "Then I'll give you Kali's imago and essentia."  Joe leaps to his feet.  Of course, he's not been left weak by the whole process.<br/>
<br/>
A few minutes later Joe returns with a water filled jug and an empty glass.  There's even ice in the jug.  It clinks as you pour yourself a drink.  Joe lies on the dissection table and waits patiently as you drain a glassful, and then a second.  "Frank, I need you to bring back Kali's <i>essentia </i>and <i>imago</i>.  I need an empty mask too"  You wait for Frank to return with items and then begin.<br/>
<br/>
You start by ripping away Joes <i>imago</i>.  You have no intention of letting him be able to switch between different faces like you can yourself.  There would be too much temptation to  use it, and get caught out as a consequence.  Joe is going to be stuck with Kali's face and Kali's face only, whether he likes it or not.<br/>
<br/>
Next, you prepare to give him Kali's <i>essentia</i>.  You've done this before, when you granted yourself Eldibria and Glundandra.  It's tricky and time consuming, but you craft a facsimile of the same skein of control you have rooted within yourself.  That should provide space to hold Kali's <i>ousiarchs </i>without letting them touch Joe's own.  The act of transferring the <i>essentia </i>to Joe is simple by comparison.  It arcs into him, accompanied by a thunderous crashing noise.<br/>
<br/>
You grunt.  You're feeling tired all over now.  Though your eyes are already closed to help you concentrate, you doubt you could open them fully again if you tried.  Your body cries out for sleep.  But you'll have to go on, because there is one last task to complete before your finish:  Transplanting Kali's <i>imago</i>.<br/>
<br/>
Luckily it's simple.  Without any attached <i>imago </i>of its own, Joe's substantia is hungry for a new form.  Kali's <i>imago </i>slips from the mask it was stored in and wraps itself into position.  You only need to prod it a little into place before securing it.<br/>
<br/>
That last task complete, you open your eyes again.  Already, the new Kali is climbing gracefully to her feet.  She modestly covers herself with her arms, trying to hide her nakedness.  "It worked," you ask through parched lips.  The smile that appears on the new Kali's face is an answer in itself - It belongs to Joe.  Satisfied your operation has been a success, you allow sleep to take you<br/>
<div align="center"><br/>
*****</div><br/>
<br/>
Even in the dark of the room, you can make out the shadow of someone sitting on the bed beside you.  You try to push yourself up a little, but your arms feel too weak to respond.  The shadowy figure leans to the side and switches on a bedside lamp.  You blink a couple of times to adjust to the sudden light.<br/>
<br/>
Kali Valentine sits besides you, dressed in her purple blouse and charcoal grey skirt.  She takes a copper coloured hand and strokes your hair gently with it.  "Gracious child, you should still be sleeping." She smiles down at you warmly.<br/>
<br/>
You try, and fail, to sit up.  "I want to make sure everything worked.  That's you in there Joe, right?"<br/>
<br/>
"After a fashion child," she tells you.  "I still remember  everything about being Joe, and I also feel his excitement at being like this."  For a moment the elegance vanishes and her face twists into a approximation of Joe's knowing expression.  "And it feels fucking amazing," she says as she runs her hands over her body.  Then the sense of Joe vanishes and you are talking to Kali again.  "But I am now wholly and completely Kaliope Valentine, so completely that not even my own dear departed mother could tell the difference between myself and the Kali that walked in here several hours ago."<br/>
<br/>
Hours ago!  "What time is it," you ask in alarm.  "My mom will be worried sick."<br/>
<br/>
"It is alright child," replies Kali.  She's talking in your voice!  That's one of Joe's prodigies.  "I phoned home for you and convinced your mother that you were staying at Maria's house."<br/>
<br/>
"You worked out how to switch between <i>essentia</i>?"<br/>
<br/>
"It was simple enough," replies Kali, speaking as herself again.  "I admit it felt a little odd to switch between <i>ousiarchs </i>at first.  I know that you read my story about Lucio Strigiotti, but you have to understand now that I remember experiencing it first hand.  It seems amazing to the Kali part of me that you have succeeded where he has failed.  I am eagerly anticipating starting your training child."<br/>
<br/>
"I thought I'd been training with Frank and Joe."<br/>
<br/>
"Gracious," exclaims Kali. "Oh you have child, you have, but you will learn significantly more with a proper teacher.  But that can wait till tomorrow."  She pushes you gently back down to the bed and strokes your forehead,  "Goodnight Chelsea."  With that she  turns off the light and walks softly out the room.</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221121111
author_id: imaj
title: In Which Kali Sets Out Some Possibilities
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You wake up very hungry the following morning.  You scramble about for your cell phone, eventually finding it on the bedside table.  You tear the covers off when you realise it's almost midday.  At least it's a Sunday and you have no need to worry about missing class.  Though you will have to get home before your mom gets too worried about you.<br/>
<br/>
There's one text message on the phone too. It's from Kendra, who apparently has some juicy gossip about what went down at Jamie Bornholm's party the previous evening.  Suddenly the petty rivalries that fill Chelsea's life seem unimportant, not when compared to the course you  have embarked upon.  It seems odd, and you expect more resistance from the part of you that is purely Chelsea Cooper.  Then again, maybe the prizes at stake are a lure for her as much as they are a lure for you.<br/>
<br/>
You dress in your discarded clothing from yesterday- ugh - and fight with your hair until you get it into a reasonable semblance of a loose ponytail.  Now you definitely want to get home, if only to clean up properly.  Then you follow the smell of food into the small kitchenette that forms part of Jon's apartment in the Straussler mansion.<br/>
<br/>
Kali is there, at the cooker tending to a sizzling pan.  Frank sits at the small table, out of the Curt Straussler mask he has been wearing recently.<br/>
<br/>
"You stayed overnight," you ask Kali.<br/>
<br/>
"No child, I returned to my hotel and came back this morning," she explains as she dishes out a breakfast for you - a single strip of bacon and slice of toast.  "I'm here to take a look at the rooms I'll be redecorating, that's the story anyway, but really I wanted to talk you and Frank."  You chew thoughtfully on a nibble of toast as Kali lays out Frank's breakfast - a full plate of bacon, sausages and eggs.<br/>
<br/>
"Why do you keep calling me child?"<br/>
<br/>
"It's how Kali speaks," explains Frank between mouthfuls.  "And my brother is getting far too into character."<br/>
<br/>
"I am character," she titters.  "It's hard to be out of character now.  Chelsea understands Frank.  You'll understand too once we change your face.  And  Chelsea, you are a child, one who has much to learn."  You look at her askew.  She must see your next question coming, because she heads it off before you get a chance to voice it.  "Early successes, great as they are, not withstanding.  Once we have control of the <i>Stellae</i>, we can build on those successes."<br/>
<br/>
"And we need to work out where I'm going to be," you intuit.<br/>
<br/>
"Exactly," replies Kali.  She claps her hand together and smiles in delight.  "And now I'm me we can work out where to place you."<br/>
<br/>
"And I need to be here why," asks Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Because I value your opinion Frank," Kali says sincerely.  Frank looks surprised for a moment, then genuinely happy at the complement.  "Psych," laughs Kali, suddenly more like Joe like in her nature.  "I had you going there Frank.  This really is the perfect disguise."<br/>
<br/>
The table jumps as Frank hits it with his invisible fist.  The strip of bacon skitters off your plate and onto the floor.  Frank growls unhappily.  You sigh and take another nibble from your toast.<br/>
<br/>
"Where Chelsea ends up is going to affect where we put you," explains Kali, smoothly switching back her more graceful speech patterns.  "And you might have some ideas that I may have overlooked," she admits.  "Firstly though, we will need Malaika to our group at some point.  No matter who Chelsea joins the <i>Stellae  </i>as, even if you join as a Glundandra, Malaika is Dad's... sorry, Charles' most likely successor.  You might even want to be Malaika yourself Chelsea.  That is something we can discuss at a later date.  Unfortunately she is back in Europe with Hilda Gunnarson, so an immediate swap is not a possiblity."<br/>
<br/>
"Unless you swap me for Hilda as well," suggests Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"You want to double up on Malacandra," teases Kali in a Joe-like way.  "Or maybe you just want to get your hands on a pair of these?"  She hefts her breasts with both hands.<br/>
<br/>
"Stop that," says Frank, his face turning red again.  "Stop being her, and then turning into him."<br/>
<br/>
"As you wish Frank."  He glowers at Kali, but says nothing further.  "Such a swap would be possible, although you would have to overcome or trap both Hilda and Malaika with only Frank's assistance.  I would not be able to come with you.  In fact, my presence here is going to result in some pointed questions later, but I believe I will be able to evade suspicion simply because Charles knows I am close to the boys and I have been affected strongly by their loss."<br/>
<br/>
"Hilda wouldn't be a pushover either," adds Frank.  "She's a Malacandra like me and has a lot more experience than I have."<br/>
<br/>
"So if you want to be Malaika, the best course of action is to wait until next she is in LA with me," states Kali smoothly.  "That said, despite the initial difficulties, becoming Malaika or someone like her represents the safest and most risk free route to taking control of the <i>Stellae</i>."<br/>
<br/>
You pick up on the oddity in her statement:  "Someone like her?"<br/>
<br/>
Kali nods.  "If we're going to get you into the <i>Stellae </i>as someone else then someone like Malaika is the safest option.  When I was still Joseph I told you that most <i>Stellae </i>were found at the age of five or six."  You nod, you remember that.  "In practice we have some flexibility - Ten or eleven wouldn't be unreasonable, especially in an out of the way town like this.  I'm starting to get the feeling that Saratoga Falls is somewhere that somehow just slides off the map and into obscurity.  John might be interested in that I suppose."<br/>
<br/>
Eleven or so isn't too bad.  You'd have to go through puberty again and - ugh - middle school, but you're sure you'd manage.  It's certainly better than starting again as a five year old.<br/>
<br/>
"Also, it would be best if you were a girl."<br/>
<br/>
"What," you exclaim.  "Why?"<br/>
<br/>
"What's wrong with being a girl, <i>Chelsea</i>?"  Kali stresses the last word wryly.<br/>
<br/>
"There's a big difference between being a seventeen year old girl and a ten year old one," you protest.  "For a start: boobies," you add, taking the generous breasts you now have in both hands.<br/>
<br/>
"The only real difference is seven years," sniffs Kali.  "You'll grow up again, and you'll grow up just a beautiful as you are now, or even more so if that's what you want.  No, a girl is best because the <i>Stellae </i>is all about partnerships.  We set ourselves to watch each other.  Why do you think Joseph and Frank grew up with each other and had their first assignments together.  If another ten year old girl <i>Stellae </i>surfaces right now, the first thing Charles is going to do is slot her next to Malaika so they become friends.  Then in ten years time, when Charles passes on, you are very close to the next leader of the <i>Stellae</i>."<br/>
<br/>
"But ten years old," you complain.  "It's all pink, and My Little Pony, and more pink..."  You blush as you remember that Chelsea's best friend Maria Vasquez's bedroom is still very pink.  "Can't I be older?"<br/>
<br/>
Kali tilts her head to the side and looks thoughtful.  "Perhaps, but only if you have very specific combinations of <i>ousiarchs</i>.  Eldibrians tend to be a little older when discovered compared to most of the others, perhaps as a consequence of their <i>ousiarch</i>'s proclivity for secrets.  There you could be as old as thirteen or fourteen if you pushed it.  I should warn you though that in the very few cases where an Eldibrian was discovered so late in life, they were ah... <i>damaged </i>would be one way of putting it.  Imagine being plagued by nightmares for years and only discovering <i>why </i>after it had broken you.  We would have to find a suitably troubled young girl for you to become in that case.  And you would be watched <i>very </i>carefully by whoever was mentoring you, though I suppose it would be me."<br/>
<br/>
You're not sure you like the idea of the extra suspicion.  On a hunch, you ask a question:  "How old was Rick when he joined?"<br/>
<br/>
Kali smiles sadly.  "Thirteen."<br/>
<br/>
There is a long silence where no one says anything.  You remember Rick's demons, and you remember disassembling him into his component parts was a mercy.<br/>
<br/>
"If you really want to be older, Sulva is the <i>ousiarch </i>to choose.  Charles believes Sulvae can go their entire life without being discovered by the <i>Stellae</i>.  Of course, if you were older, you wouldn't be able to establish that same bond with Malaika," counters Kali.  "That's why I would recommend we play the long game and establish you as one of Malaika's peers."</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211211111
author_id: rugal
title: Youth Movement
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Playing the long game, huh," you ask, more to yourself than either of your compatriots. You grumble and scrunch your face, "I'm not keen on being a kid and going through all that crap again but..."<br/>
<br/>
"But Joe... Kali, is right," states Frank as he finishes your thought.<br/>
<br/>
You sigh, "Yeah. I really hate admitting it but this is something where I should take her advice on, I think."<br/>
<br/>
"Some times the sign of good leadership is knowing when to defer to your advisors," Kali says, smiling warmly.<br/>
<br/>
You grunt at that, the Chelsea part of you would never want to defer to Kendra or Gloria, but you nod as well as you do realize that she's right. "We want to take the path that'll allow us to take over the Stellae while keeping us as safe as possible and if that's the safest path..." You shift a bit, Chelsea is so used to getting what she wants when she wants it and not having to wait but you'll have to learn temper that impatience, "Plus, like she said that's probably the easiest path to get this Malaika girl under our control and if she's the one who's taking over then we really <i>can't</i> afford to take chances."<br/>
<br/>
"There is one problem, however," Kali says as she crosses her arms. You half-wonder if she's doing it for the feel of her chest resting on them. "All new recruits stay with me for initial training before taking more advanced or specialized training under other members who would be able to help refine their understanding of their prodigies and their role in the Stellae. The girl you become, she would most likely not see her family again for years. There is the very distinct possibility she would never see them again."<br/>
<br/>
"If recruits are found as kids, then how do you grab them from their families," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Many have no families," Kali states, "That or they are in situations where it is easy to get them to come. Frank and myself, well the Joseph part of myself, were orphans. Malaika came from a poor family in Ethiopia. She is a very pretty girl, as is befitting someone with Perelandra as an ousiarch, so it was a matter of telling her family that she would get work modeling with money she could send back to support her family."<br/>
<br/>
You chew on your bottom lip, a nervous tick. "We would need to come up with a convincing cover story then," you state.<br/>
<br/>
"Well if anyone could come up with a good one it's Kali," Frank says albeit a bit begrudgingly, "She's a very trustworthy person."<br/>
<br/>
"It is Perelandra. Not only does it help maintain my looks," and you note the pride, and desire, in her voice, "but it is the planet of muses. Of art and creativity. It allows me to create not just interior designs but to craft ideas and stories as well.<br/>
<br/>
"If you say so, then, but there's still the problem of who I'd be," state, shifting a bit, "Because I really don't know any kids outside of Robert and I don't really want to involve him. That and he never seemed to really know any girls anyway." You look from Frank, to Kali and back to Frank, "What about you two? Did you know anyone at Eastman who would?"<br/>
<br/>
"I can not say that we specifically knew any kids but..." Kali snaps her fingers, "We do not have anyone playing Jonathan at the moment. Frank, would you go put his mask on? He might know people who would be able to get us Chelsea's new identity." Once Frank leaves, she takes notice of you. "You do not seem too enthused."<br/>
<br/>
"It's like I said before," you reply, crossing your arms and leaning back, "I'm not too hyped about being a kid again even if it's the best option. School, lack of freedom, lack of, well, this..." you gesture at your body.<br/>
<br/>
Kali lets out a small laugh and places a comforting hand on your shoulder. "I imagine most anyone would be loathe to give that body up. Chelsea Cooper is indeed a very beautiful young woman. However I am sure who you become shall also grow into a beauty, whether that's who you take now or if you should take Malaika at a later date." She then gives your shoulder a squeeze, "Besides, you will still have your youth. I envy that."<br/>
<br/>
You look at her with a bit of surprise, "How old is Kali Valentine? There's a difference between taking care of yourself and, well, what I'm seeing," you say.<br/>
<br/>
Kali smiles, "Kali Valentine is old enough," she states, "She does take good care of herself but it is the power of Perelandra as well which keeps her youth, enhances her beauty and gives her an almost unearthly elegance."<br/>
<br/>
"Was Frank right," you ask, "Were you actually hot to get under her skin?"<br/>
<br/>
She pulls her hand back and looks at you, a very Joe expression on her face. "Kali trained and taught me. She was, is, gorgeous but also something of a... chaste individual. That beauty combined with the unobtainable becoming obtainable... I will not lie," she then hugs herself tightly, "it was enticing."<br/>
<br/>
It's another awkward few minutes before Frank, now dressed as Jonathan Straussler, re-enters the kitchen. The pair of you turn your heads to him and you especially look at him rather expectantly. "Well," you ask impatiently.<br/>
<br/>
"Well what," he asks in return.<br/>
<br/>
You feel yourself getting frustrated. "Does Straussler have any kind bead on anyone who could get me someone younger," you shoot back, the frustration in your voice very apparent.<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan chuckles to himself, "Yeah," he replies with a nod, "There's a few. He's got a teammate, guy named Jordan Reynolds. Reynolds is dating Hannah Chamberlain, the captain of the girls' team. Hannah's got a younger sister named Amanda who's eleven. If you want to be someone closer to Malaika's age then she'd be the route to take."<br/>
<br/>
"Great," you exclaim.<br/>
<br/>
"There's a catch though," he interjects, "Reynolds and Hannah's relationship is... think of it like sailing on the sea. There are times where it's calm and during those periods it's relaxing, you don't have to worry. But some times a storm hits and you have to hang on. Right now they're in the storm phase." He notices you grumble at that and works to reassure you, "That's not to say it'd be impossible to get Amanda. There's just a chance it might be harder; Hannah's a drama queen."<br/>
<br/>
"What about any others," asks Kali, "You said that there is a few."<br/>
<br/>
"Right, the other option is Jonathan's teammate Timothy Johnson. He's got a thirteen-year-old sister named Jade if you want to be older. She's moody but I don't know if 'moody' is a good enough substitute for troubled."<br/>
<br/>
Kali gets a thoughtful expression, "Perhaps we can get a mask of her. I could put it on and with my ousiarch knowledge I would be able to tell if she'd be a good enough fit for an older Eldibrian. If she is not or if it is not enough to appease Chelsea, then perhaps she would know someone who would be a better fit." She then turns to you, a warm expression on your face, "It would, of course, be your choice entirely."<br/>
<br/>
You lean back in the chair once more, unsure of what to do. Being a kid is not the most enticing option for you, but it might be the easiest route as you would simply be a new recruit not unlike any other one and would be closer to Malaika. You like the idea of being a few years older but getting Jade sounds much more complicated and you think back to what Kali said, about how Eldibrians found around her age are seen as troubled and more closely monitored.<br/>
<br/>
You definitely want the puberty and school out of the way quicker but is two years a big enough difference?</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122112111111
author_id: rugal
title: The Princess Who Was, and Would Be, Queen
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Hopefully Frank's right and his idea to get her out here actually works., you say as you pace around the ballroom-cum-workshop impatiently.<br/>
<br/>
"You need to stop stressing yourself, child," Kali states in a rather soothing tone, "Jonathan is such a natural charmer that I am sure all will go well, even with Frank as the one running him." She snickers a little at that last bit.<br/>
<br/>
You really hope she's right. Frank's idea was simple enough: head out to Hannah's house and try and get her to come here to the Straussler Estate to discuss her and Jordan's relationship and maybe just enjoy a nice, friendly day at his place as perhaps she would need a little bit of relaxation instead of the drama her life has become. According to him if he could get Hannah to come, then her sister would definitely want to tag along as Jonathan has been over to Hannah's before during times where her and Jordan's relationship is going good, and he notices the way Amanda looks at him. A kid with a crush, he had called her.<br/>
<br/>
So at the moment you're leaving things in his hands and hoping he doesn't drop it all which, to be honest, has left you more than a little anxious.<br/>
<br/>
"There is one thing, however, and I can not believe I forgot to mention this," Kali says after a moment.<br/>
<br/>
You turn your attention to her direction, "Forgot to mention what," you snap.<br/>
<br/>
"Ousiarchs are generally tied to personalities," she explains, "Though there are very, very few people in this world who have the right combination of factors needed to tie them to the planets, communicate with them and use their gifts it might not be too far fetched an idea to say that even the less inclined would still gravitate towards certain pairs via their own personalities."<br/>
<br/>
"So what are you saying," you ask, narrowing your eyes.<br/>
<br/>
"Think of when you became Chelsea. It was because you thought she would be a good fit, correct," she says thoughtfully continuing only when you give an affirmative response, "Chelsea is a leader, someone who commands respect. She is also someone able to control the emotions of others, knowing what buttons to push to get the desired response. Were she a more inclined person she would almost certainly have been a candidate for Glundandra and Eldibria."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm still not following you."<br/>
<br/>
Kali smiles and you're not sure if it's a genuine one or one masking frustration with you, "The Stellae find a person's ousiarchs through a horoscope. Remember the one I performed on you when you were impersonating Melody?" You nod and she continues, "There is the possibility that others such as Nash or... Charles," you note the pause there, "might want to test you as well. With a Glundandran that would actually almost be a certainty in order to make sure they are one hundred percent correct. If this Amanda's horoscope does not match the ousiarchs we've presented..."<br/>
<br/>
You finish her thought for her, "Then they'd know something's up, our cover would be blown and we'd have the full weight of the Stellae and maybe the Akshardam and Sages bearing down on us. Fuck, why didn't you mention this earlier," you explode before composing yourself. "We've already decided on this girl, there has to be something we can do," you bite your lip nervously, "Would there be a way to use her imago without integrating her mental imago completely?"<br/>
<br/>
"Come again," asks Kali.<br/>
<br/>
You continue chewing on your lip and pacing, "When I became Chelsea my mental imago and hers combined to become one," you explain, "But think about a mask: when you put it on you're not merging with someone's mental imago. It's there, all around you so that you can use it without being overpowered by it. So what if I found a way to do that, having Amanda's physical and mental imago without merging the mental one with my own? It's there to use, like a mask, but it would still be my-slash-Chelsea's personality running it. Do you think that'd mean the horoscope would still come out as 'correct' without necessarily having to find the right person?"<br/>
<br/>
Kali looks thoughtful, "If you can figure out how to do it that might be a solution."<br/>
<br/>
Decided on your course of action you then head over to the materials stored in the ballroom. You'll need to bring Chelsea back as is and since you'll still be needing her mind yourself you realize that you'll need to make a copy of your own to give the <i>new</i> new Chelsea. You sit down, back against a wall, and darkness comes as you press the band to your forehead.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Kali, I'm going to need you to pull a bit of double duty here," you say from Jon's, really Frank's, body, "You'll have to get stuff as I need it but I'll also need you to reapply the powder to Hannah whenever she seems to start coming to if you need to. About every twenty to thirty minutes maybe."<br/>
<br/>
She nods and you take take a look at the sprawled forms of Amanda Chamberlain, her sister Hannah and Chelsea Cooper. Frank's plan had been a success, shockingly, and when both girls stepped into the ballroom they were immediately hit with the powder.<br/>
<br/>
Taking another short look, you steel yourself, sit down and concentrate. Amanda's imago goes into a mask and her anima and essentia into bottles leaving only her substantia behind. You then move the necessary pieces around ending with placing your body onto the "operating table and stripping away the physical imago into another mask. Both masks have voodoo dolls inside and you grasp them.<br/>
<br/>
The act of giving yourself Amanda's physical imago is easy so you get that out of the way first. You now bring up both her mental imago and your own. You see how brightly your own imago shines, and proceed to think of her the masks, her own mental imago surrounding or hanging over you like an apple tree whose fruit you can pick at will. You bring it around your own and it wants to merge but you push it back, away from your own mental imago and towards your substantia.<br/>
<br/>
In short order it's clinging to the substantia. As a bonus you add Amanda's essentia your ever growing mix of them; more essentia of course means more golems to control.<br/>
<br/>
You wave your hand and leap from Jon's body back into your own. You wake up and groggily tell Kali to bring Amanda's clothes over, getting dressed as quickly as possible. But did it work? You concentrate, review your thought processes. They seem like the ones you've been having since becoming Chelsea with no further influence. You shift focus a little more and Amanda's memories come to you, including the way she jumped at the chance to see Jonathan's mansion earlier today.<br/>
<br/>
"So did it work," Jon asks, slightly groggy but seemingly not as worn out as previous operations. He's still able to function anyway.<br/>
<br/>
"I think so but should probably check," you say, taken aback at how, well, small and childish your voice sounds. Everything seems bigger really. "Frank, watch over Hannah, powder if she stirs. Kali, give me one of those horoscopes."<br/>
<br/>
They both nod and Kali exits the ballroom, re-entering a few minutes later with a pen and a notepad. "Are you on your Glundandran and Eldibria set," she asks and you confirm that you are. "Alright, remember don't think. Just answer."<br/>
<br/>
The questions fly fast. They start out mundane, asking of friends and family and the like, but eventually take a turn for the bizarre and nonsensical. "Which is a better instrument, a trumpet or a dog," is one. "What weighs more, sound or light," is another. After a few moments these questions end and Kali puts the pen down.<br/>
<br/>
"Well," you ask expectantly.<br/>
<br/>
Kali looks at it, then you, then smiles. "Glundandra and Eldibria. It worked," she states proudly.<br/>
<br/>
You smile back, a smug smile of victory. "Naturally," you state proudly as you flick back a bit of wavy, light brown hair.<br/>
<br/>
You were Will Prescott, an outcast dweeb who stumbled onto a magic book who became an apprentice to a dark magician and managed to outwit two hunters. You were Chelsea Cooper, the most popular person at Westside High. Now with Chelsea and Will as the engine, you are Amanda Chamberlain. You are a Glundandran and an Eldibrian. When you eventually leave with Kali you will be the princess of the Stellae Errantes. In time you will be their queen.</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221121111111
author_id: rugal
title: The Princess' Court
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You bring yourself back to reality. There will be enough time to lose yourself in the immense pride you're feeling right now but for now you have other business to attend to. You turn your attention to the hunk of substantia that had been Amanda Chamberlain and tell Frank to move it onto the slab and when that's done, still running Chelsea's essentia, you pull out a strand of hair and place it on the substantia; as it'll be Chelsea's mind combined with your own you can't afford to leave her to her own devices whether you're in Saratoga Falls or not.<br/>
<br/>
You then sit down, make sure everything is in place and concentrate. At this point this operation is child's play, a thought that would make you laugh at the how appropriate that phrase is now, and it doesn't take too long to add the physical and mental imago. Thankfully you don't feel wiped out once you're done although the process is still more tedious than anything. It's not long before her eyes flutter open and she rises.<br/>
<br/>
"So how's it feel to be back to yourself," you ask with a false cheeriness.<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea eyes you, a bit of confusion evident on her face. "I can hardly even tell I went away," she says, still trying to get her bearings.<br/>
<br/>
"And you've got my mind in there too, right? The mind of Will Prescott mixed with Chelsea Cooper's," you ask. She nods. "Well I want you to not use that. You're not me, I'm the only me around. You're Chelsea Cooper and I want you to think of yourself as her exclusively, you understand?"<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea's eyes narrow. She's more aware of everything now and clearly annoyed at having to take commands by a kid. But still, she complies, "Yeah, sure. I'm Chelsea Cooper but I shouldn't be taking orders from some brat," she states.<br/>
<br/>
"Give it a few days and I'll be out of your hair. Westside will be yours again," you give an insincere smile before bitchily adding, "Besides I've got bigger things on the horizon than some dumb high school."<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea rolls her eyes and snorts, "Yeah, the kiddy pool sure is a big step up," she says derisively.<br/>
<br/>
You glare at her. "Who's in charge here, Chelsea," you snap, "Be happy I'm not telling you to give over the captain position to Yumi." Chelsea pales at that and you smirk, "Keep up the attitude and I will. For now, though, get dressed and get out of here. Your boyfriend's probably feeling lonely, go make him happy."<br/>
<br/>
Once Chelsea's gone Kali snickers at the display. "Oh, nothing. Just seeing Chelsea Cooper bossed around by a kid is quite funny, is all," she states, an amused smile plastered on her face.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm going to be your boss, too," you grunt and while it's true that's not for a few years yet. "Anyway, grab Curt's stuff. I'm going to put him back together."<br/>
<br/>
"Nobody's stepping in for him," Jon asks.<br/>
<br/>
"You can if you want," you tell him, "But if you are you're staying under there until we find you a Stellae to replace. Otherwise you can stay as Jon and we'll just put the mask on him."<br/>
<br/>
Jon makes a face, "I'll stay for now, then. I can always order info from him if we need it."<br/>
<br/>
"Where is the real Jonathan anyway," you ask, "I mean if you're wearing his mask..."<br/>
<br/>
"Under a mask of Frank's normal face," Kali states before adding with a large grin, "He's one of the new pool boys. I believe he's caught Mrs. Straussler's eye."<br/>
<br/>
Jon grumbles before you tell him to grab Curt's substantia and all the other related things. You then put Curt back together and slap the mask onto him and he is indeed still under Frank's control. It's then waiting around for a little while and coming up with the seeds of the story you'll use to try and convince your new family to allow you to come out to Los Angeles.<br/>
<br/>
Once Hannah comes to, Jon helps her to her feet telling her that she just sort of fell asleep. Hannah can do nothing but nod groggily saying that she did wake up early so she was probably still a bit tired. As you're leaving the ballroom Kali decides it's time to plant the seed.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, Amanda," she calls out causing all of you to turn towards her, "I'd like to say that you sounded lovely."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You look in the mirror after brushing your teeth after having a rather nice, if low key. Tonight it was just with Hannah and Amanda's father, Andrew, as her mother Denise, a nurse at the local hospital, had a night shift and won't be back until later. A girl stares back at you with large brown eyes and long, wavy brown here. A skinny girl practically drowning in the pink hoodie that covers her white shirt and hangs over the dark jeans.<br/>
<br/>
You sigh as you finish walking up and head back to your room. You're cute and you'll eventually head the Stellae but you still can't shake the feeling of missing your old body. It was nice running things <i>now</i> as the most popular, and prettiest, person in school. Now you've been kicked back to the beginning, having to wait. You know that you're being influenced by Chelsea's impatient nature. Chelsea is so used to getting what she wants and getting it when she wants and not waiting so it's as much unexplored territory for her as it is for you.<br/>
<br/>
And the freedom you've lost.<br/>
<br/>
You can't drive, you can't even go much of anywhere on your own the way someone even a couple years older would. You're essentially trapped for the next few years, left in the are and mercy of others, until the time comes for you to start taking control. Maybe it's some kind of cosmic test. Knock you down to your lowest point and being slowly built back up to see how you handle it; to make sure you're truly ready to assume leadership of the Stellae.<br/>
<br/>
You flop onto your bed, the events of the day having left you more tired than you initially thought, and close your eyes.<br/>
<br/>
You suddenly find yourself hurtling through the dark void of space. You feel lost, unable to tell up from down or front from back. Suddenly you feel something calling to you. You turn this way and that until you see it, a light in the distance. Small but there's something powerful and magnetic about it, something that draws you towards it. As you approach the light gets brighter and it turns from a dull white to a bright gold.<br/>
<br/>
There's an aura emanating from it. Warm and calming, you feel a sense of awe overwhelm you. As you continue to approach you notice there's not just the light and the aura but an entire court. The feeling of music and people dancing and singing merrily. Full of the most magnificent throne, sculptures, banners, jewels and miscellaneous contraptions beyond what man has ever seen it puts the great palaces, ones such as Versailles or Topkapi, to shame. You almost want to bow reverently and submit yourself to the great power that commands all this but instead you push on, approach the throne and in fact pass by it.<br/>
<br/>
What you see surprises you even more. The incredible court is still there but the joy is gone. The golden construction, the jewels, it has all lost its shine. No more does a bright, magnanimous light fill the court but instead there is a darkness, oppressive and miserable. Once more you have to fight the urge to bow but this time not out of reverence but of submission, prostrating yourself before this great power.<br/>
<br/>
You take a step back, you see the throne, half in light and half in dark. It is welcoming to you and deciding to oblige it you take a seat.<br/>
<br/>
The cosmos stretch out before you. Dark yet a colorful and ecclectic mix. You see Arbol burn brightly with knowledge, Virtilbia with a swagger. Perelandra's grace is enchanting while Sulva hides in the corner. Malacandra is there with the fierceness of an unrivaled warrior while Lurga stands with all the dourness of a confessor who has heard an infinite number of sins. Eldibria is noticeable by its torrent of emotions while Kenandandra seems to be off in its own world, no doubt lost in its ingenuity.<br/>
<br/>
They all turn in your direction and all bow, both out of reverence and submission. It is the court of Glundandra but as you sit on the throne it is also your own court.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You awake with a start and can feel the cold sweat both on your forehead and that covers the rest of your body. You never changed out of your clothes, you realize, and while sleeping in a couple layers of clothing would be enough to make anyone sweat you know that it's not from the clothing at all but instead from your meeting with Glundandra. It was far and away the most intense thing you've ever experienced. Moreso than any previous meetings with your ousiarchs. Moreso than your harrowing adventure in Cuthbert, even.<br/>
<br/>
You sit up and reach behind you to the cellphone in your back pocket and check the time: a little after six in the morning. You grunt in annoyance. That means you're going to have to leave for school soon and it's not an experience you're looking forward to. Kali said she would be in touch later to look into convincing your family into letting you come out to Los Angeles. It might be a tough sell but with the backing of Glundandra you feel that your opinion and desires will carry much weight.<br/>
<br/>
Well hopefully that means it won't be much longer. You hop out of bed, grab a towel from the linen closet and head to the bathroom to get ready for the day.</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211211111111
author_id: rugal
title: The Curious Fox
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>School goes more or less how you figured it would: boring. You start off the day making a genuine attempt at being interested in the subject matter but it's all on a level so far below you that it's not long before you find your attention drifting. You then attempt a feigned effort as well but even that is relatively short lived. So you sit around bored in class, at one point drifting off into another vision of Glundandra though nothing as intense as the last time.<br/>
<br/>
You find yourself once again in the court, once again on the throne. Before you, you see visions of people. More like ghostly wisps but visions all the same. You recognize some of them, classmates from Westside, your old family, your new family, Amanda's classmates and others. All kneel, an endless array of apparitions.<br/>
<br/>
And then you're jolted awake.<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe if my lecture was a little more interesting, perhaps you'd stay awake Amanda," asks the teacher, Mrs. McIntosh, in a sarcastic and chiding manner that causes a few titters around the room.<br/>
<br/>
You can feel yourself get mad at that. She's going to embarrass <i>you</i>? "Well maybe you <i>should</i> make them more interesting," you shoot back.<br/>
<br/>
You catch yourself far too late. A large mixture of gasps, laughs and "Ooohs" rise up from the class. That was definitely not an Amanda reaction, as a student she's an angel. No, that was pure Chelsea, the part of you that's her. Whether Amanda would suffer a remark like that is inconsequential. You, Chelsea, never would... and that part of you doesn't particularly care. You're not long for this dumb school in this piss ant town. Not when L.A. and the Stellae await you. You find yourself surprised by that but it's Mrs. McIntosh's response that surprises you even more.<br/>
<br/>
"I... yes, maybe... maybe you're right," she stammers, "They can be a little boring can't they?"<br/>
<br/>
You spend the rest of the day up until lunch stunned by what you saw. In the cafeteria you look through your lunch and make an offhand comment wishing that you had something a little better than what you'd been backed and before you know it a couple of boys sitting nearby are offering you things from their lunches and semi-arguing over whose stuff you want.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey," comes another voice and you turn to see Bailey Hartwell, one of the more popular girls standing by you, "Like I heard about what you said to Mrs. McIntosh."<br/>
<br/>
Even down this low rumors and whispers spread like wildfire it seems.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, well I don't know, I didn't mean to," you explain, "I just kinda blurted it out."<br/>
<br/>
Bailey just beams, "Anyone who can tell off a teacher like that is cool," she states, "I don't know how I never noticed you before but if you wanna hang out with me and my friends some time that'd be, like, really cool."<br/>
<br/>
That's another surprise. One of the most popular girls in school is asking you to hang out with her and acting a bit like a nervous, starstruck fangirl. You realize now the way people look at you. The way they act to please you or to be your friend. The way some seemingly shirk from you. The way they listen to you and how they hang on your every word. It's been like that since you snapped back at Mrs. McIntosh. That one moment changed everything, it seems.<br/>
<br/>
You look at Bailey, "Um, I dunno. Maybe some time," is all you can think to say.<br/>
<br/>
There's a mixture of emotions on her face, disappointment and hopefulness. "Well, we'll talk again then. You really should hang out with us, it'll be fun," she says with a smile that you're unsure is forced or not and bounds back to her group.<br/>
<br/>
As it stands, after this discovery the rest of the day proceeds to be a little more interesting. Is this the power of Glundandra? The reverence, the desire for your approval? It's not even something you're consciously doing, it just... is. It's causing people to metaphorically bow to you, to want to appease you and it feels really, really good.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You're surprised when, a little before dinner (with the entire family this time), the doorbell rings, your mother gets up to answer it and you yourself see Kali standing in the doorway. "Oh, Amanda! Just who I came to see," she says with a smile before turning back to your mother, "Please, if it's alright may I come in for just a moment?"<br/>
<br/>
Your mother looks reluctant until you pipe up. "I met her when I was over at Jonathan's," you say and you through a little sigh of admiration in there, "She's really nice."<br/>
<br/>
That seems to be enough to get your mother to relent and she lets Kali inside. "Would you like anything to drink," she asks as Kali takes her seat.<br/>
<br/>
"Just water, thank you," she replies. She begins explaining the reason for her visit once everyone is in the living room, "My name is Kali Valentine and I'm an interior designer. I had met your daughter, Amanda, when she and her sister had visited Jonathan Straussler yesterday; the Strausslers having contacted me about the possibility of doing a bit of work on their own home."<br/>
<br/>
Your father lets out a small whistle, "I'd assume that means you're a big deal in the, ah, interior designing world if the Strausslers are contacting you," he says in a bit of a joking manner.<br/>
<br/>
"As a matter of fact," Kali begins and you can make out the smallest hints of smugness in her smile, "I have worked with more names than I can even remember. Perhaps the name Haley Solomon might ring a bell," she asks looking at you.<br/>
<br/>
Drawing on more of Amanda's character you allow yourself to go wide-eyed at the mention of famous pop star who's one of Amanda's idols.<br/>
<br/>
"Anyway, during the visit I happened to hear Amanda sing and to be honest I was rather surprised," Kali states, "She has a good voice. Very good, in fact. I have plenty of contacts in the entertainment industry and I believe any number of them would be interested in seeing her."<br/>
<br/>
This causes a murmur to go up around the four of you but you're the first to speak. "You mean I could be a star like Haley," you ask in amazement. It's not much of a story; being a star like her pop star idols is Amanda's dream and she does a lot of singing and dancing... mostly messing around for fun.<br/>
<br/>
"Perhaps," says Kali, "Though that could be a bit of a problem. It would require relocation to Los Angeles. You could stay with me but, well, we've really only just met."<br/>
<br/>
"Mom! Dad! Please," you say putting as much of a begging whine in your voice as possible, "I... I could do it! I could be a huge star!"<br/>
<br/>
You see them both look at each other, unsure of what to say. "We can't just pack up and move. Not when Hannah's getting ready to graduate," says your father, the first to speak.<br/>
<br/>
"I could, I don't know, maybe I could try to transfer to a hospital out in that area," your mother states sounding as if she's trying to convince herself. "You and Hannah could stay here until she graduates and maybe you could try and find a job out there, honey."<br/>
<br/>
"That's... that's a possibility," your father replies, "The company's got a branch out there I think." He then turns his attention to you, then Kali, "My wife and I will have to discuss this a little more. This is, wow, this is quite a bombshell."<br/>
<br/>
"Of course," Kali replies warmly, "If you'd like I can give you my number and perhaps we could meet at the Straussler's tomorrow for a bit of further conversation?" She then turns to you, "Amanda, if it's alright I would like to speak to you in private about this."<br/>
<br/>
You nod and the pair of you disappear to your room.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You break into a large grin, "Did you see that, Kali," you ask, "The way they just relented. That's the power of Glundandra, right?"<br/>
<br/>
"Possibly, child," she replies, "It is true that Glundandra has the power to... perhaps saying bend others to its will is a bit extreme but to suggest. To convince others to believe the Glundandran, inspire loyalty and appeasement. Especially on the weaker-willed, though I suspect on the stronger-willed with more training as well."<br/>
<br/>
"I guess, if they decide yes, there's the problem of my mom though," you state, "I should probably put her under my control. In fact, maybe I should put both of my parents under control to cut off any possibility of them interfering."<br/>
<br/>
"That might be a good idea, yes," states Kali, "As would taking care of another matter that was brought to my attention last night."<br/>
<br/>
"What's that," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"I had a conversation with... with Charles, last night," she says with yet another pause when using his name, "He was wondering why it was I was out here. I mentioned investigating the nature of Frank and 'Joseph's' disappearance but that something else had caught my attention as well: a possible new Stellae."<br/>
<br/>
"That'd be me, wouldn't it," you state.<br/>
<br/>
Kali nods, "Aye, and this is the important part so listen closely child," she replies, "He told me to focus on that instead as another Stellae was actually in the area investigating the disappearance: Miko Toyotomi. Miko, is a Malacandran and Catalindrian and like most Malacandrans is something of a loner. But she is an incredibly skilled warrior and a dogged investigator as well; not as smart as Rick but much more implacable."<br/>
<br/>
"If she's in the area, we should grab her for Frank," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"We should, but I would tell you to exercise caution," Kali warns, "Miko is a strong warrior but is also incredibly hot headed and prone to violence. She is dangerous and should we mess up, well, she would not hesitate to cut us open with her katana. And she very well could."</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211211112
author_id: imaj
title: Scoping Out Sulva
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"But if I was a Sulva I could be older," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
Kali breaks out into laughter. "You <i>are </i>a Sulva Will, remember," she tells you, using your old name. The one you used before you became Chelsea. "Sulva and Kenandandra, and you did not so much be discovered by the <i>Stellae </i>as stumble upon us by chance. Admittedly you have more than made the most of that chance child," she adds with a smile.<br/>
<br/>
"So I could join with my original <i>ousiarchs</i>," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes and no," replies Kali cryptically. "It would be quite possible for me to <i>discover </i>a Sulva on my trip here, and I would certainly try to persuade them to join the <i>Stellae</i>, but <i>you </i>could not join as a Sulva and Kenandandra Chelsea."<br/>
<br/>
You pout. "Why not? I thought Sulvae could be discovered at any age."<br/>
<br/>
"They can, that is not the problem here," explains Kali. "The problem here is that you do not make for a convincing Sulva Chelsea."<br/>
<br/>
"Ah," says Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Ah?"<br/>
<br/>
"This is difficult to explain, or difficult to understand fully," continues Kali. "One or the other. Remember when you decided that Glundandra would be perfect for being Chelsea?" You nod. "Well it's to do with her personality. You do make an excellent Glundandra, and an excellent Eldibria too for that matter, because Chelsea naturally gravitates to being in charge and she liked playing with people's emotions already. The <i>ousiarchs </i>are a perfect match for you. Just like Malacandra and Lurga make Frank dour and dull, and like Arbol and Viritrilbia made Joe dazzlingly witty" Frank groans and covers his eyes with the palm of his hand.<br/>
<br/>
"But..." you say. "There's a but in here isn't there."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, Will Prescott had a Sulvan and Kenandandran personality," continues Kali. "A little bit shy, a little bit invisible. Goofball. Intuitively analytical and with a knack for problem solving. The first problem is that Will Prescott and Chelsea Cooper are nothing alike." You nod in agreement. "The second, and bigger, problem is that the method that we use to decide what <i>ousiarchs </i>a member of the <i>Stellae </i>has is, in part, a personality test. Or possibly it tests your <i>ousiarchs </i>and your personality is an expression of that. Nash could explain it fully I suppose."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"We don't know that a horoscope doesn't work," says Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"But it probably won't," counters Kali. "Still we can try it easily enough. I need some paper and a pen," she explains, looking at Frank.<br/>
<br/>
He puts another forkful of food in his mouth. "What."<br/>
<br/>
"Go get some," she tells Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"You're not the boss of me..." begins Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Joe was not your senior Frank," replies Kali. "I am not Joe any more, are I? Go and get me some paper." He looks at you and you give Frank a slight nod to confirm the instruction. Kali slips into his vacant seat and pushes the half empty plate to one side. "A horoscope allows us to identify an individual's <i>ousiarchs </i>by asking them a series of questions, if that was what you were about to ask child. You would usually be asked to answer each question instinctively. What I want to see is if you answer just as Chelsea would, would I be able to identify Sulva and Kenandandra as your <i>ousiarchs</i>. Make sure you have them selected now." <br/>
<br/>
You nod and close your eyes for a moment to concentrate. The shining disc of Sulva and dark polished orb of Kenandandra waver into view. "I'm ready," you tell Kali.<br/>
<br/>
"And here is Frank with the paper, thank you Frank," says Kali as he places pen and paper on the table in front of her. "Now, let us begin. The first question is your date of birth. Remember to answer instinctively and as the original Chelsea would."<br/>
<br/>
You nod again and reply. The questions come thick and fast. They start off making sense, asking about your family and relations. Then, as Kali progresses, the questions become more and more nonsensical: 'What do you prefer, bananas or umbrellas', 'which is your favourite sound, yellow or red' and other nonsense. After thirty minutes of questioning, your head is pounding and you start to complain.<br/>
<br/>
"It's no good," says Kali. "The answers are slowly pushing you in the right direction. Perhaps if I sat here for another half hour and kept asking eventually I would settle on Sulva and Kenandandra, but any other member of the <i>Stellae </i>is going to want to know to want to know <i>why </i>it takes so long to work you out. We can't afford to have that level of attention on you child."<br/>
<br/>
"Couldn't we just lie and say you did her horoscope," asks Frank. "No one is going to gainsay Kali's opinion on that."<br/>
<br/>
"Say it Frank," she mutters. "Say <i>your </i>opinion." She sighs and places the pen down on top of the piece of paper. The wild scrawls, arcing curves and strange formula jotted there look nothing like any horoscope you have ever seen. "We could, but what if Charles asked to see it, or worse asked to do it himself. He might. Especially if Chelsea decided to be a Glundandra as well as Sulva. She is likely to receive more scrutiny as a Sulva in any case."<br/>
<br/>
"Can the horoscope be tricked," asks Frank. "You said Eldibria and Glundandra was a good match for Chelsea. What if she switches to that and you try again?"<br/>
<br/>
"That might be worth trying," admits Kali. She flips over the paper. "Switch to your other <i>ousiarchs </i>for me Chelsea." You find the little catch that lets you flip between <i>essentias </i>and change to the Glundandra / Eldibria combination. "Ready," asks Kali with an encouraging smile. You nod.<br/>
<br/>
This time it progresses more smoothly. You aren't really aware when, but at some point your answers diverge from the ones you gave in the previous attempt. Kali only has to ask a handful of the nonsensical questions before putting the pen back down.<br/>
<br/>
"I have a fix on your <i>ousiarchs </i>now," she says, passing you the paper. In truth, the complex equations and diagrams make no sense to you, but you nod and try to look as if you understand anyway. "Glundandra and Eldibria."<br/>
<br/>
"But we know that," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"But now we can <i>prove </i>it," says Kali. "The original Chelsea must have been predisposed towards Glundandra - Yes Frank, that can happen, you can be predisposed towards a planet without having an <i>ousiarch </i>or special <i>essentia</i>. Now that you have Glundandra as a <i>ousiarch </i>as Chelsea, the horoscope is accurate.  That means that it is possible for you to become a <i>Stellae </i>as anyone, provided their personality is a close enough match for the <i>ousiarchs </i>you choose."<br/>
<br/>
"But not as Chelsea," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"No," Kali shakes her head. "Chelsea is not a natural Sulvan, and the only way to enter the <i>Stellae </i>as someone your own age is with Sulva as one of your <i>ousiarchs</i>."<br/>
<br/>
"Sulva is the rarest <i>ousiarch</i>," interrupts Frank. "It's going to be hard to find someone predisposed to it."<br/>
<br/>
"It is the hardest to find Frank, not the rarest" corrects Kali. "And I suspect that there will be quite a few people with leanings towards it. Just look for shy, retiring types with a quiet inner strength. If you are still stuck, there are two people we definitely know to have Sulvan personalities - Will Prescott and Rosalie Stewart."<br/>
<br/>
Frank bursts into harsh ugly laughter. "Funny that after all you've done to change yourself, the best identity to join the Stellae with is your original self."<br/>
<br/>
"I hate to agree with him, but he is right child," concurs Kali. "Though Rosalie would be more difficult as it would be possible to trace her back to the mess we left in Cuthbert. Another Sulvan identity is still perfect possible, it will just require a little work to find the right face to go with it. The only limitation is that you could not combine Sulva with Perelandra. It has been too soon since Hélène died for there to be another with her ousiarchs. There is one way to avoid this problem entirely though," she adds.<br/>
<br/>
"Go on," you tell her.<br/>
<br/>
"Rather than join the Stellae as someone new, you could replace an existing member just like I have. In fact, you could replace Hilda child. That way you could grow close to Malaika as one of her mentors.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122112111121
author_id: imaj
title: A Medley of Moons
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"I don't want to go through middle school again," you tell Kali.  "It was bad enough the first time.  We'll work out a Sulvan identity.  What are my options?"<br/>
<br/>
"As I said child, the only combination that you can't use is Sulva and Perelandra.  It has been less than a year since Hélène died.  Whoever replaces the <i>ousiarchs </i>that she had will not have been born yet, so the arrival of a new Sulva and Perelandra combination will be viewed with great suspicion," explains Kali. " As well as that, a number of combinations will be unavailable because you don't have the spare <i>ousiarchs</i>."<br/>
<br/>
"Unless he takes us apart to get them," points out Frank.  "I mean, do you really need that Viritrilbia anymore Joe, now that you are Kali."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not going to do anything to you guys," you insist.<br/>
<br/>
"That would be Frank's idea of a joke," says Kali with a sad smile.  "Which is why he so rarely makes them.  But yes, the only way to combine Sulva with either Viritrilbia, Arbol or Lurga would be to remove the <i>ousiarchs </i>from us."<br/>
<br/>
"Which I'm not going to do," you repeat.<br/>
<br/>
"So you are left with five combinations."  Kali holds up her hand and starts ticking the alternatives off on her fingers.  "The first is the one you have already - Sulva and Kenandandra.  I've already told you that the most convincing way to join the <i>Stellae </i>with this combination would be as Will Prescott.  I have the feeling you are not keen on this option."<br/>
<br/>
You gesture at yourself.  "Why would I want to give this up to go back to being Will?"<br/>
<br/>
"No," says Kali.  "I did not think that you would, and since anyone that would fit with that pairing would be, shall we say, Will-like in their nature, I believe that you will not want to use this pair.  At least as far as the rest of the <i>Stellae </i>is concerned.  I assume you will continue to use Kenandandra in private to unlock the secrets of the <i>Libra</i>."<br/>
<br/>
You nod in reply.  "So what are my other options."<br/>
<br/>
"The second combination, and I believe you will want to chose this one, is to use the spare Sulva you have from Rosalie Stewart and combine it with her Glundandra <i>ousiarch</i>, removing the Eldibria you have now," explains Kali, taping her index finger from one hand against the other.<br/>
<br/>
"But I can't be Rosalie," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"It would be too easy to link her to Cuthbert, and the disappearance of Aparijita, Joe, Frank and Rick," explains Kali.  "There would be too many questions, especially about how Rosalie escaped Cuthbert when everyone there thinks she is dead.  We do have one advantage in knowing about Rosalie though," continues Kali.  "We know what kind of person a Glundandra and Sulva combination should be like:  Possessed of a quiet strength and resilience.  Thoughtful and considerate.  Do we know anyone at Westside or Eastman like that?"<br/>
<br/>
"What about Jenny Taylor," offers Frank.  You don't immediately recognise the name, but you guess that's a good sign.  "She's the captain of the girls soccer team at Eastman, but she's not like you at all Chelsea."  Frank suddenly goes pale as he realises his mistake.<br/>
<br/>
"Go on," you say frostily.<br/>
<br/>
"I uh..."<br/>
<br/>
"What Frank means," interjects Kali.  "Is that Jenny has all the Sulvan characteristics that you lack child."  You frown, not quite sure if you've been insulted or not.  "She leads by quiet, supportive example.  We would have to acquire a mind band of her to make sure, but I suspect she could be passed off as a potential <i>Stellae </i>with Glundandra and Sulva as <i>ousiarchs </i>easily enough."<br/>
<br/>
"I'd need to see what she looks like first," you say with a sniff.<br/>
<br/>
"Perhaps not as pretty as you are now child," Kali tells you.  "But you will have no complaints with her either.  The third option," she continues, ticking it off on her fingers is to combine Sulva and Eldibria.  This is harder to judge, since we do not have a template for the combination, but I believe it would make for quite the spy:  You would be combining the two <i>ousiarchs </i>with the greatest affinty for deception alongside the ability to ferret out the deepest of secrets."<br/>
<br/>
"A spy," you echo with a smirk.  "Or a gossip, I know just the person: Kendra," you say in a sing song voice.  Your cohort would be a step down from being Chelsea, you suppose,  but she would still be acceptable enough.  "Just think what she'd be like with some of our special <i>essentia </i>in her."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't think I want to," Kali groans, more Joe-like for a moment.  "There are some students at Eastside of a similar character, should you want to consider them too: Lisa Rickover springs to mind."  You've heard her name, at least, since Kendra apparently has some traffic with her.  "Again, I would require a mind band of either candidate in order to make sure that they were a good fit."<br/>
<br/>
"Let's put it down as possible then," you tell Kali.  "What's the next option?"<br/>
<br/>
"The revolutionary - Sulva and Catilindria," states Kali.  "Or perhaps subversive would be a better word.  Catilindria is a... <i>difficult</i>... <i>ousiarch </i>and I would advise caution if you are thinking about this combination.  Catilindrians tend to very significantly in character too.  Miko is very prickly, Ed is especially cantankerous and curmudgeonly and Hal has a very slapdash nature that gets him frequently into trouble.  We would be looking for someone contrarian in their nature, yet also someone with a low profile, as befits Sulva.  I'll admit, it is a difficult one to identify."<br/>
<br/>
"What about Ioeger," asks Frank.  Of course, your <i>anima </i>is in there with him and that means he remembers all your friends at school.<br/>
<br/>
"Carson," muses Kali.  "I'm not so sure.  He is more something of a joker than a contrarian.  Yves, at Eastman has the necessary revolutionary fire, but I'm not sure  that she matches to Sulva well enough.  No, I am at a loss, unless you have any ideas Chelsea."<br/>
<br/>
One name does edge into your mind.  <i>Stupid Chelsea</i>.  "No," you say quickly, your voice sounding strangulated.<br/>
<br/>
"No," says Kali, arching an eyebrow.  "You don't sound very sure."<br/>
<br/>
You wilt a little and manage to reign in your Chelsea-impulses.  "Andrea Varnsworth maybe," you admit.  "There's some history between her and me, her and Chelsea I mean."<br/>
<br/>
Frank furrows his brow.  "What kind of history."<br/>
<br/>
"The kind I don't want to talk about."  You blush furiously.  Even saying as much as you have is a difficult admission, and something the original Chelsea would never have done on her own.<br/>
<br/>
You catch the tiniest hint of a smirk on Kali's face, but it vanishes in an instant.  "Well, I would have to check her to be sure, just like all the others.  At least it is somewhere to start though ."<br/>
<br/>
"What's the last option," asks Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"The one you'll know all about Frank," says Kali wryly.  "Malacandra and Sulva.  Since we are unlikely to find any aspiring ninjas or assassins in a high school, let us say we would be looking for a huntsman.  The kind of person would could track their quarry through the wilds and take it down without being seen."<br/>
<br/>
"Actually I have an idea," says Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Really," asks Kali.<br/>
<br/>
Frank glowers at Kali.  "The real Kali wouldn't be sarcastic."<br/>
<br/>
"I think you have a lot to learn about Scots," Kali shoots back.   "But do go on."<br/>
<br/>
"Justin Roth," says Frank.  "I met him on the archery practice range at Keyserling when we were investigating the <i>Libra</i>.  He's exactly what you're looking for."<br/>
<br/>
"Chelsea," asks Kali, looking for your opinion.<br/>
<br/>
You think about Roth from the perspectives of Chelsea Cooper and Will Prescott.   He's an outsider, definitely,  but a far more popular one than you ever were as Will Prescott.  There's a certain raw physicality to him that would make slumming it appeal to the Chelsea part of you.  "He'll do," you tell Kali.<br/>
<br/>
"So those are your options, as I see them," says Kali primly, folding her hands together.  "For now at least.  They all depend on my checking out a memory band to do a horoscope to see if they are close enough to the <i>ousiarchs </i>you want to use though."<br/>
<br/>
The question is, which one do you want to choose?<br/>
</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122112111122
author_id: imaj
title: False Stars
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Replace an existing <i>Stellae </i>member," you ask.  "But aren't they all really old?"  Without thinking about it, your face screws up into an expression of Chelsea's distaste.<br/>
<br/>
"It's impolite," says Kali wryly.  "To talk about a ladies age."<br/>
<br/>
"Not that you're a lady Joe," laughs Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"I am now," says Kali primly.  "In any case, this is actually one of the better options for you to infiltrate the <i>Stellae </i>child.  As I am perfectly and undetectably Kali, you could be perfectly and undetectably another member in much the same way that you are Chelsea now.  This would avoid the problem of trying to spoof a horoscope, as all the existing members of the <i>Stellae </i>had their horoscopes done years ago. In any case, you would be able to supply their answers perfectly."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, you just have to catch them first," counters Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"We've done that before though," you reply.<br/>
<br/>
"Kali was easy to catch," explains Frank.  "And you caught Rick by surprise, just."<br/>
<br/>
"It's true," says Kali sadly.  "My skills have always lain in the classroom rather than in the field.  Another <i>Stellae </i>wouldn't have allowed themselves to be distracted when they saw Joe back from the dead."<br/>
<br/>
"So if you want to catch another one of us you'll have to be well prepared," states Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Which we will need to do in any case in order to find a new identity for you Frank," says Kali smoothly.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm just saying that we don't want to expose ourselves to any more risk than we have to," argues Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"But if Chelsea becomes an existing <i>Stellae </i>member the long term risk is reduced," counters Kali.  "We will have to be careful capturing Chelsea's new face, but once we have them it will be close to impossible for Charles or Fyodor to see through the imposture.  I hope."  Well that's a vote of confidence.<br/>
<br/>
Frank grumbles a little, but he stops complaining.  "The obvious choice is someone close to Malaika," he suggests.  "Like Kali said earlier, one of her mentors or teachers.  When the time comes you take Malaika for yourself."  You nod in agreement.  It's a solid plan.  "That means becoming Hilda Gunnarson."<br/>
<br/>
"You mentioned her before," you say to Frank.  "What can you tell me about her?"<br/>
<br/>
"She's a Malacandra, like me," begins Frank.  "But her other <i>ousiarch </i>is Perelandra.  Her favoured weapon  is a great two handed sword that she swings about like it's as light as a feather."<br/>
<br/>
"She's probably exactly what Wagner had in when he penned the <i>Ritt der Walküren</i>," mutters Kali under her breath, but Frank barely notices the interruption.<br/>
<br/>
"She's as good as Miko with her sword, except Hilda's style is more direct and less acrobatic than Miko's."  Frank explains with great enthusiasm.  "She came to Dad's once when me and Joe were kids and told us about this time she stood toe to toe with a jötunn for an hour before she finally slew the giant."<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, she is very capable," agrees Kali.  "So if you became her you would be expected to do a lot of work around Europe.  That would mean helping Fyodor and probably Hal and Margaret too.  That might be dangerous, but I think your disguise would hold up well, even to Margaret's examination.  The main benefit would be spending a lot of time with Malaika.  When Malaika isn't training with someone else, and when Hilda isn't on a job, Malaika is Hilda's ward.  Of course, there are other options that are just as good."<br/>
<br/>
Frank mutters under his breath.  "Like who," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"As you'd expect given that she'll be the leaders some day, Malaika's training moves her around a lot to give her a chance to work with everyone.  She's spending one, maybe two weeks at a time with other <i>Stellae </i>every few months," explains Kali.  "So picking someone who she goes to see regularly is another one of your options, and since Charles will be consulting me on Malaika's education, that opens up some otherwise difficult avenues for us," titters Kali.<br/>
<br/>
Frank's eyes narrow.  "This sounds risky," he says.<br/>
<br/>
"No more risky than trying to trap a Malacandra with exceptional endurance prodigies," replies Kali, clasping her hands.  "I was thinking Nash Carnes, as it happens Frank.  I mentioned the archives before, and the synergy of Chelsea's Sulva and Kenandandra pair with Nash's Perelandra and Kenandandra pair would be very strong."  She turns to you and smiles.  "Imagine, if you will, sitting upon the largest pile of artefacts and magical items in the world, with all the time you need to pick them apart using the flair for such as task that Sulva and Kenandandra give you.  And then," she adds, her smile if anything getting even wider.  "Then using what you learn to create new devices with the combination of Perelandra and Kenandandra that is so well suited to that.  That I would make sure that you still saw Malaika frequently is the icing on the cake."<br/>
<br/>
"What she isn't telling you," interupts Frank.  "Is that the archives are bound up in millennia's worth of traps and snares to protect the contents.  Every Kenandandra ever has added some new twist to it.  And you'd have to deal with John Reilly too."<br/>
<br/>
"Pshaw," replies Kali with a dismisive wave of her hand.  "If she can't take them apart with a double helping of Kenandandra then we might as well give up now and go ask Charles to have someone sing us to sleep."  Frank grimaces, but Kali cuts him off before he can complain.  "And obviously we'd be putting a little more Prescott anima into John as well, perhaps you would like to be John?  If anything the isolation of the archives is better for hiding in."<br/>
<br/>
"It's still a helluva risk," counters Frank.  "Like putting your head in the lion's jaws and being surprised when they snap shut."<br/>
<br/>
"Who is this Nash guy anyway," you interrupt.  "What does he look like?"<br/>
<br/>
"Is that really important child," asks Kali.  You look down at yourself, at the delectable Chelsea body you have stolen and then nod.  Kali sighs.  "Well, as it happens I did have one last person in mind - another Perelandra, but one that wouldn't be so risky to capture," she tells Frank.  "And she is beautiful enough to keep you happy Chelsea.  I'm sure I could persuade Charles to put Malaika in her charge if it was needed."<br/>
<br/>
"Maria," asks Frank.<br/>
<br/>
You look at the pair in confusion, thinking only of Maria Vasquez - the closest thing Chelsea has to a friend.  Kali smiles gently.  "No not that Maria Chelsea, Maria Cardozo.  She is another of the Stellae.  Joe would have referred to her as the Brazilian bombshell," Kali adds wryly.  "Though not whilst she was within earshot."<br/>
<br/>
<i>The Brazilian bombshell</i>, you think, <i>that sounds more promising</i>.  You only hope that this Maria isn't as much of an airhead as your one.<br/>
<br/>
"I think you would like her," continues Kali.  "Her Eldibrian prodigies are all about manipulating people's emotions and she is exceptionally good with them."  You feel a little twinge of jealousy, though you can't think why.  Maria's abilities can be yours if you want them.  "She also has some affinity for healing, which is very rare indeed.  Her television career has made her quite rich..."<br/>
<br/>
Your eyes light up.  "Her television career?  Is she famous?"<br/>
<br/>
"Moderately so, within her native Brazil.  It rarely does any good for a <i>Stellae </i>to have too high a profile," answers Kali.  "Ah I can see by the look on your face that you have made your decision."<br/>
</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222112211211113
author_id: imaj
title: A Second Childhood
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"If you really think that's best," you tell Kali<br/>
<br/>
"I do child," she replies.  You'll literally be a child again now that you are going to take this approach.  "There is one consideration we will have to be wary of though."<br/>
<br/>
You frown at her.  "There's more?"<br/>
<br/>
"There is," Kali replies, spreading the palms of her hands wide.  "It is difficult to explain properly, or perhaps difficult to understand fully.  Remember when you decided that Glundandra would be perfect for being Chelsea?"  You nod.  "Well it is to do with her personality.  You do make an excellent Glundandra, and an excellent Eldibria too for that matter, because Chelsea naturally gravitates to being in charge and she liked playing with people's emotions already.  The <i>ousiarchs </i>are a perfect match for you.  Just like Malacandra and Lurga make Frank dour and dull, and like Arbol and Viritrilbia made Joe dazzlingly witty"  Frank groans and covers his eyes with the palm of his hand.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not sure I like the sound of this," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"Well, assuming that you want to use your Glundandran and Eldibrian <i>ousiarchs </i>to join the <i>Stellae </i>as a child, you would have to find one who's personality is a match for those <i>ousiarchs</i>.  Potentially a match, at least.  Another advantage of becoming younger again is that people will not look too closely if your character changes somewhat, and that the onset of puberty can result in quite a change in an individual's nature indeed."<br/>
<br/>
"Do we need to," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Horoscopes," interrupts Frank flatly.<br/>
<br/>
"Exactly," says Kali, clapping her hands together.  "We use horoscopes to determine what <i>ousiarchs </i>you have.  They are, in part, a test of personality.  Or they possibly test your <i>ousiarchs </i>only, but your personality is an expression of that.  Nash could explain it fully I suppose.  Either way, it means we shall have to pick whoever you become carefully."<br/>
<br/>
"Can we fake it," asks Frank.<br/>
<br/>
Kali looks thoughtful.  "To a certain extent.  I would be able to make a convincing enough forgery that could show whoever Chelsea ends up as to be the Glundandran she wants to be, but what if Dad...  I mean Charles wanted to check.  The closer we are to matching personality and <i>ousiarchs </i>the better."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't even know where to start," you complain.<br/>
<br/>
"Well I have a few ideas that might work," replies Kali.  "Let me think about it and get back to you."<br/>
<div align="center"><br/>
*****</div><br/>
<br/>
Keeping up with minutiae of your life as Chelsea, now that you know you are going to abandon it, seems to be a bit of a chore, but you go through the motions anyway.  You tell your mother a little white lie about where you were last night when you get home.  She doesn't believe it, you can see that much, but she doesn't challenge you.  The you spend a good half hour taking a long relaxing bath that breathes life back into your exhausted body and wipes away the sense of dirtiness that seemed to accumulate overnight at the Strausslers.<br/>
<br/>
You emerge from the en-suite bathroom in your bedroom thoroughly refreshed and ready to take on the task of maintaining your pre-eminence at Westside.  Checking up on Jamie Bornholm's party is the first task there.  You missed it because you were at the Straussler's, changing Joe into Kali.  There won't be much fallout though, unless you count standing up Gordon, which you don't.  Jamie simply isn't important enough for there to be a fuss about your absence.<br/>
<br/>
You'd better repair the damage with Gordon first though.  You pick up your cell and call him.  He grunts monosyllabically as he answers.  "Hi pookie," you say winsomely.  No response.  "I'm really sorry I missed you last night, but my Grandma over in Dury took ill yesterday and Mom insisted on packing us all in the car and driving out there."  You improvise the lie, listening carefully for any response from Gordon.  "And then the stupid battery on my stupid phone went and died on me.  Oh Gordon," you sniffle.  "I'm so sorry."<br/>
<br/>
"It's not your fault Chels," he replies.  <i>Sucker</i>.<br/>
<br/>
"I will so make it up to you pookie," you tell him, before adding in a low and breathy voice:  "Tomorrow after school."  On the other end of the line, Gordon chortles.  "Oh shoot," you cuss.  "Kendra's on the other line," you explain.  "She'll want to talk to me about the party as well."  You use the excuse to end the call with Gordon before he can say anything.<br/>
<br/>
Kendra isn't really on the other line, of course, but you do need to talk to her so you call her next.  "Hey girl," she says slyly when she answers the phone.<br/>
<br/>
"Hey Kendra," you answer back.  "I got your text.  You've got something juicy for me?"<br/>
<br/>
"The juiciest," she replies.  You'd swear you can hear her smirk.  "Sit down for this one Chels."<br/>
<br/>
"You are awful Kendra," you say, hopping up and down.  "Don't make me wait girl."<br/>
<br/>
"Seth was there," she drawls.  "But Cindy... wasn't.  And that didn't stop Seth from disappearing for a while..."  She trails off and leaves the sentence hanging in the air.   She milks the pause for all it is worth.  "... with Yumi."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh my god," you squeal.  "Are you sure?"<br/>
<br/>
"Well I didn't go listening at any keyholes if that's what you are asking Chels, but they were both gone, both at the same time and came back together later."<br/>
<br/>
"I feel so sorry for Cindy," you say.  "I mean, we always told her Seth was bad for her, didn't we?"  You suppress a snicker and you're pretty sure Kendra does the same.  "And she's been so depressed since her sister died," you add.  <i>Sister</i>.  Why is that important.  "I think we should totally be supportive tomorrow," you say.  "Help her find someone new, someone more her <i>style</i>."  This time you can't stop yourself sniggering.  Kendra joins in.  "Do you have any ideas?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'll see if I can think of anyone," laughs Kendra.  <br/>
<br/>
With your petty little plans laid out, there's nothing really more to talk about with Kendra, so you bid her farewell and sit back down to think.  Messing around with Cindy is nothing more than something to kill the time until you hear from Kali about potential candidates for your new identity.  So why was there something in the phonecall with Kendra that seemed so important.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Ah, sister</i>, you think.  Didn't Monique say something about having a younger sister?  You pick up the phone a third time and call Jon Straussler, since Kali never gave you a number.  He picks up on the first ring.  "Hi Jon, it's Chelsea.  Who am I speaking to?"<br/>
<br/>
"You mean the other two?  No it's just me here."  <i>A golem then</i>, you think.<br/>
<br/>
"Is Kali Valentine still there?"  He answers in the negative.  "Or whoever Frank is being, your dad maybe?  Never mind, I have a question for you:  Does Monique have a younger sister?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, Angelique.  She's like eleven or something."<br/>
<br/>
"Perfect," you trill.  "Tell your dad to ask Kali about her.  As a possibility.  He'll know what I mean."<br/>
<br/>
"I know I don't really get what's going on here..." states the golem.  "But I overheard him saying something about one of his accountant's step-daughter's being a possibility to Kali too."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Interesting</i>.  "Thanks, but make sure you talk to your dad.  Or Frank, wherever he is."  You end the call.  You'll just have to wait for Kali to get back to you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">*****</div><br/>
<br/>
Nothing happens for a couple of days.<br/>
<br/>
Well, nothing about your next identity anyway.  A lot happens at school.  You manufacture a row with Gordon on Monday morning as he is driving you to school in his VW bug.  It give you enough of an excuse to duck out of 'making it up to him' like you promised.  By Tuesday though, Chelsea's impulses are nipping at you enough that you consider making up with him.  You almost go up to the Fuck Room for a hot and steamy makeup sex session last period on Tuesday, but you manage to retain enough self control to suppress the impulse.<br/>
<br/>
The Seth, Yumi and Cindy situation blows up spectacularly on Monday morning, even before you have a chance to intervene.  Though Kendra comes up with the spectacular suggestion of Dalton Douglas - a minor bully and crony of Gordon's - as someone to try an push Cindy towards, you never get the chance as Cindy disappears from the school by Monday lunchtime.  A pity, as Dalton would have been perfect for making her even more miserable.<br/>
<br/>
Finally, just after school finishes on Tuesday Kali calls you.  You wave off Kendra and Gloria before finding somewhere quiet to talk to her.  "Took you long enough," you say sourly.<br/>
<br/>
"I was investigating potential identities as we discussed on Sunday," replies Kali, her voice a little stiff.<br/>
<br/>
"Did you find any?"<br/>
<br/>
"I did.  In fact I found two that would be suitable as a Glundandra and Eldibria combination.  The first you know about already, as you suggested her child:  Angelique Travers.  I had Frank as Curt invite the entire Travers family to dinner at the Straussler home last night.  I talked to Monique and her parents, as well as Angelique herself.  She has something of the spoiled little princess to her, and I believe she would make a good match for you."<br/>
<br/>
"And the other option," you ask Kali.<br/>
<br/>
"One of the senior accountants at Curt Straussler's company has a troublesome step-daughter by his second marriage.  Her name is Traci Small and she is fourteen and repeatedly getting into trouble at school.  I approached her this afternoon in the guise of a child psychologist and found her to be quite manipulative.  She would be the ideal 'troubled Eldibria' that we discussed.  I should warn you again that you will receive a lot of scrutiny should you choose her."<br/>
<br/>
"Or I could just wait for Malaika," you suggest.<br/>
<br/>
"Or you could just wait for Malaika," echoes Kali</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221122112111131
author_id: imaj
title: Exit Strategies
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Kali is waiting in the ballroom when you arrive.  "Have you decided?"<br/>
<br/>
"Angelique," you tell her.  You look down at yourself, admiring the view of your boobs from this angle one last time.  "Let's get this over with."<br/>
<br/>
Kali looks suddenly panicked.  "You want to switch now?  It would be impossible to get Angelique over on short notice."<br/>
<br/>
"I want to get out of Chelsea now," you say.  "Before I change my mind.  Jon Straussler's a golem at the moment isn't he?"  Kali nods.  "I'll use his face for a couple of days till we get Angelique.  The longer I stay like this," you say, gesturing at yourself.  "The less likely I am to want to leave."  You give one boob a gentle squeeze, regretting that you never really had the time to fully explore Chelsea's body properly.<br/>
<br/>
Kali frowns.  "I am not sure that I understand."<br/>
<br/>
"Don't worry, I've got it all worked out," you tell her.  You planned it out on the drive over.  Nothing complicated, just applications of what you know already.  "Just find Jon and bring him here."<br/>
<br/>
Kali returns ten minutes later with a bewildered looking golem.  You whip the mask from his face to reveal the slab like body underneath.  It takes less than a minute to transcribe a copy of Jon's imago to a mask, and a little longer than that to change out of Chelsea's clothes.<br/>
<br/>
After that you start removing the rest of Chelsea from yourself.  You lie down on the dissection table.  "I'm going to need to borrow you for a moment Kali," you tell her, without even waiting for a response before you wipe your hand across your face and steal control of her body.  She seems oddly comfortable to be inside, and you rather enjoy the simple act of walking around and fetching the necessary items to complete your task.  Adding Jon's <i>imago</i> as another layer to your collection is easy.  You flip back to yourself for the fraction of a second it takes to switch to Jon's <i>imago</i>.  After that, it is simple to grab control of Kali again and peel away Chelsea's <i>imago </i>and <i>essentia </i>from your body and place them in a mask and jar respectively.<br/>
<br/>
Kali is momentarily dazed when you switch away from her.  You climb to your feet.  "I'm going to need your help again in a second," you tell her.<br/>
<br/>
She pales a little.  "That was most disconcerting.  Not an experience I am sure I wish to repeat."<br/>
<br/>
"Actually, I just need your help with Chelsea's <i>substantia</i>," you explain.  "I'm putting her back together," you continue as you lead her back into the shelves where the <i>substantia </i>is stored.  The golem like remains of the original Chelsea are light work for the pair of you to lift back to the dissection table.  You place her anima, <i>essentia </i>and <i>imago </i>alongside.  "As close to the original girl as possible."  You frown, there's still a little bit of your own <i>essentia </i>left in the girl, making her a golem.<br/>
<br/>
Improvising, you grab another empty bottle and place it down on the dissection table next to the <i>substantia</i>.  One more use of the strip <i>essentia </i>part of the sigil and your are left with Chelsea's pure, unadulterated, <i>substantia</i>.  The little fragment of <i>essentia </i>in the bottle you can re-integrate into yourself later.<br/>
<br/>
You check the remote sigil you carved onto Chelsea's body when you first took her apart, making sure that it is still intact.  That's the most insidious thing about the remote sigil - it doesn't require your <i>essentia </i>to power.  When you put Chelsea back together, it will still be there, waiting for you to activate it and grab control of her again someday.  "Once she's back together I'll grab control of her and go home in her body," you explain for Kali's benefit.  "After that I'll rewire her memories so doesn't remember anything, and set her up so she doesn't think about it.  I don't want to leave any clues behind."<br/>
<br/>
"A sensible precaution," nods Kali.<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea goes back together with the minimal of fuss.  There is a bit of a lightshow as you join the pieces, but it is comparatively muted and within a few minutes you are looking down at her as she stirs from unconsciousness.  You drop a little knockout powder on Chelsea, just enough to keep her out until you get yourself into Jon's bed.<br/>
<br/>
Five minutes later you are sitting up on the cold metal of dissection table, protecting Chelsea's modesty with her arms.  "I should be done by this evening," you tell Kali as pull on her clothes in a workmanlike fashion.  "When can we get Angelique out here?"<br/>
<br/>
"In a couple of days," replies Kali.  "Better to do Angelique first and then see if she passes muster with whoever we trick out here to replace with Frank."  <br/>
<br/>
You nod in agreement as you pull the last of Chelsea's clothes into place.  "I'm going to miss all this," you say, folding your arms so they cradle your borrowed boobs.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">*****</div><br/>
<br/>
"You don't mind, do you Jon," asks Monique for what must be about the fifth or sixth time.<br/>
<br/>
"Why would I mind," you say, smiling tightly.  In fact you've spent the last three days specifically pushing at Monique for this to happen.  Not by talking to her or anything similarly direct.  No, you've been invading her head at night, slipping inside her body using the remote mask you placed on her before your adventure in Cuthbert.  You've been shaping her thoughts as she dreamt, which is why she genuinely thinks that bringing Angelique to the Straussler mansion again is entirely her own idea.  One that you are not entirely happy with.<br/>
<br/>
"Thank you," replies Monique.  She gives your hand a brief squeeze as you walk through the front hall of the Straussler's.  Angelique is a few paces ahead of you, gazing round the room in wide-eyed wonder.  The resemblance between the two is obvious - they share the same  dark hair, the same wide eyes and the same slight frame - but while Monique is a beauty budding into bloom, Angelique is merely a sapling.  She might be as pretty as her sister one day, but today she is just a little girl.  "Dad says she looks up to me and it means a lot for her to get a chance to hang out with me like this."<br/>
<br/>
"This place is so cool," says Angelique, spinning round to get  a look at the whole room.  "I'm gonna have one just like it when I grow up."  You smile genially at her.  She'll certainly have somewhere like this if that's what takes your fancy.  She runs off towards one of the archways and stops rather abruptly when Kali Valentine emerges from it.<br/>
<br/>
"Hello there child," says Kali.<br/>
<br/>
Angelique sticks her tongue out defiantly.  "I'm not a child.  I'm eleven!"<br/>
<br/>
Kali laughs warmly and smoothly, laying an arm round Angelique's shoulder.  "Of course you are.  I'm sorry for the mistake."  Monique shrugs apologetically at both of you.  "And I need someone with your expertise to help me redesign some of the rooms here," Kali adds conspiratorially, causing Angelique to flush with pride.  "That is, if you want to help me."<br/>
<br/>
Angelique spins round to face you and Monique.  "Can I go with Miss Valentine?  Can I?"<br/>
<br/>
"If it's ok with Miss Valentine," replies Monique.<br/>
<br/>
"It is really no trouble at all," Kali tells her, before ushering Angelique out of the room.<br/>
<br/>
"I worry," says Monique to you, her voice very quiet.  "She is so spoilt.  And used to getting her own way."<br/>
<br/>
You rub her shoulders.  "It isn't your problem.  Let your parents worry about her."<br/>
<br/>
"Should I teach her to use makeup," Monique asks, catching you by surprise.  "She is so young, but she keeps asking about it.  If I don't do it will she sneak into my room and steal some and make a terrible mess of it?"  Monique sighs unhappily.  "It feels like it should be a big sister thing to do, but she is so young."<br/>
<br/>
You pull her close and lift her chin with your finger, gazing adoringly into those eyes.  "What do you think is right," you ask her after a brief kiss.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know Jonathon."<br/>
<br/>
"Then do what <i>feels </i>right," you reply, hugging her.  Over shoulder you can see a figure at one of the doors trying to wave you over.  "Uh, I'll be right back.  I left something in the other room."  Your hands linger together for a brief moment and then you walk over to where the figure was.<br/>
<br/>
Another Jon Straussler is waiting for you in the next room.  It's Frank really, under a mask.  You restored his father a day ago, using the same method you did with Chelsea, so he'll be Jon until you find a new face for him too.<br/>
<br/>
"She's angsting about Angelique," you tell him as you unbutton your shirt.  He nods and takes it when you hand it to him.  "Just keep her away from the ballroom till we make the switch."<br/>
<br/>
"Simple enough," the other Jon replies.  He pulls the shirt you just handed him on and buttons it up.  Now he looks exactly the way you did when you left Monique moments ago. <br/>
<br/>
Time to go get a new face.<br/>
</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122211221121111311
author_id: imaj
title: The Court of The King of Planets
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You set the pink headband in place, pushing your waves of dark hair back and out of your face.<br/>
<br/>
"How do you feel," asks Kali.<br/>
<br/>
You look up at her.  She seems like a giant now.  "Small."  Kali raises an eyebrow at you.  "No, I'm excited," you gush.  "I'm gonna be a princess, like for real."  Angelique's youthful enthusiasm engulfs you, dragging you along with it.  In a very deep and dark spot at your core, a spot that is entirely Will Prescott, you lurk and watch.  You can be Angelique today if it means gaining control of the <i>Stellae </i>tomorrow.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm sure you are child," replies Kali genially.  The word 'child' makes you bridle.  If you are as special as Kali says, and Kali did talk about it to the previous Angelique before you became her, why is she still calling you a child?  You bite your tongue though and listen.  "But you must not tell anyone about what we have discussed, not even your sister or your friends.  And you must meet another of <i>my </i>friends, so we can talk about your education with the <i>Stellae</i>."<br/>
<br/>
There's nothing in her voice, nor in the expression on her face that suggests at a double meaning.  Yet you know for sure that it is like a codeword - something to let you know she wants to talk about Frank. "Who," you ask, concealing the hunger from your voice, instead sounding sweetly innocent and keen.<br/>
<br/>
You catch the ghost of a smirk on Kali's face, or maybe you imagine it.  "I shall phone Charles.  He is our leader and he will very much want to know about you.  He will send someone to help convince your parents to let you come with us."<br/>
<br/>
"That's what would normally happen," you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Or I would convince a child's parent's myself, but yours already know me as Kali Valentine the interior designer.  So I need someone to help me in your case," explains Kali.  She leans down and whispers to you.  "And that gets us a face for Frank."<br/>
<br/>
You look around.  The ballroom is empty bar you and Kali.  "Do we have to be so careful about being out of character," you whisper back to her.<br/>
<br/>
"I think we do," she says in a low voice.  "Now that we are about to draw Charles' attention to us.  It is far safer to be who we appear to be entirely than risking being somehow spotted at an inopportune moment."<br/>
<br/>
You nod, and with a brief moment of concentration resume Angelique's excitement.  "I can't wait," you tell her, your voice quavering.<br/>
<br/>
"Remember that you have a long hard road ahead of you child," says Kali, straightening up.  "Now shall we go and find Monique and Jonathan?"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">*****</div><br/>
<br/>
That night, after your new Mom and Dad send you to bed, you lie awake under the covers long after everyone else has gone to sleep.  You meditate, contemplating your <i>ousiarchs</i>.  It is Glundandra that attracts your attention the most, and its radiant disc seems to swallow the world around you till only it remains.  You fancy for a handful of moments that you are not alone, and as Glundandra looks back at you, others look back with it.  You have to fight the urge to dance in its presence, so magnificent is it, and so enthused is your Angelique persona by the bond that you share with it.<br/>
<br/>
Then finally, at whatever late hour it must be, when you finally have to give up exhausted, there is a buzzing sound from your cell phone.  You unlock it with a swipe to find a long message - several messages joined together really - from Kali.  You can't help but snort:  It figures that Kali is too old fashioned to write in anything but full sentences in a text.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Angelique</i>, it reads, <i>I have contacted Charles and discussed you with him, and learned some interesting items.  He has asked me not to investigate Frank and Joseph's disappearance.  My colleague Miko Toyotomi has already been assigned to that.  This presents an opportunity for our tall dark and glum friend.  Alternately, Charles has sent John Reilly to help convince your parents to release you to the</i> Stellae.  <i>Charles additionally says it was a pleasure to meet you, and he looks forward to seeing you in the flesh too.</i><br/>
<br/>
You pause for a second and shiver.  There <i>was </i>someone watching you earlier, and while you seem to have gotten away with your carelessness this time, it underlines just how dangerous your situation now is.  From now on you can't afford to give away any clues that undermine your identity as Angelique Travers.<br/>
<br/>
You continue reading the text.  <i>I would advise you delete this as soon as you finish reading it.  I will do the same once the message is sent.</i><br/>
<br/>
<i>Yeah, no shit</i>¸ you think to yourself before cursing moments later.  That isn't an Angelique thought, it's a Will Prescott thought.  You can't afford to have those any more.  You bury yourself, hiding the core of Will Prescott in a energetic shell of Angelique.<br/>
<br/>
<i>This is gonna be so awesome</i>, you think as sleep finally comes upon you.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">*****</div><br/>
<br/>
"Are we done yet," you whine petulantly.  Time seems to be passing so slowly in the musty little office.  You almost wish you were back in class rather than<br/>
<br/>
John Reilly looks up from his writing at you.  His ruddy face puts you in mind of your - Angelique's anyway - grandfather.  The jovial one that always left your new mother seeming slightly embarrassed.  The rather old fashioned suit he wears adds the air of archaic school master, entirely appropriate given he is posing as the head teacher of the entirely fictitious Journeyman Institute for the Gifted.  Kali explained it to you before he arrived - The <i>Stellae </i>sometimes pose as members of the Institute in order to convince parent's to let children with <i>Stellae </i>potential join.<br/>
<br/>
"One more question Angelique," her replies, and you cannot help but roll your eyes and sigh.  "And then we should be done:  Do you want to join us?  Become one of the <i>Stellae</i>?"<br/>
<br/>
You gasp in excitement. "More than ever," you gush.<br/>
<br/>
"You're right Kali," continues Reilly, turning to face the woman he thinks is his comrade.  "Glundandra and Eldibria, an amazing find, and at least something good has come out of this whole sorry mess."<br/>
<br/>
"Yes," sniffles Kali.  She suddenly looks on the verge of tears, as if being reminded of the fact that Frank and Joe are 'missing' has upset her. For a moment you are impressed with the Joe-tinged version of yourself underneath her skin  and the way he can act.  "That's something."<br/>
<br/>
"I know you were close to the boys Kali," he says, putting a hand on Kali's knee to comfort her.  "If anyone can track down what happened to them it's Miko."<br/>
<br/>
"I know," she says.<br/>
<br/>
"But now," continues Reilly, smiling at you.  "For our new member.  I'm going to go convince your principal that she should call your parents.  I'm sure they'll be interested in the scholarship the Journeyman Institute has to offer you."<br/>
<br/>
He gets up, leaving you and Kali alone in the office.  "How did he manage to persuade Principal Soltesz to pull me out of class like that.  She's such a hard ass."  The question is couched as being Angelique's, but the intention of the Will Prescott part of you should be clear.<br/>
<br/>
"His <i>ousiarchs </i>are Perelandra and Viritrilbia child," explains Kali, a twinkle in her eye.  "He had a gift for words, both written and spoken.  It would have troubled Joseph to admit it but John is perhaps the better and more convincing liar when he turns his mind to it.  If anyone can convince your parents that this scholarship is genuine, it is him."<br/>
<br/>
"A good face for Frank," you ask in a whisper.<br/>
<br/>
"It would be different for him," replies Kali quietly, leaning forward so you can hear her.  "And that might also be <i>difficult </i>for him.  But John would give us access to the archives too."  She looks around again, understandably nervous about talking so openly with another <i>Stellae </i>so near.  "In truth Miko might be a better fit for him, though she would less useful to us.  Perhaps later if you decide you need and enforcer."  She glances at the door again.  "You should decide quickly child.  I do not know how long it will be before we can talk like this again once John returns."</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122212
author_id: seuzz
title: Chelsea Joins a New Team
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span><i>Glundandra and Eldibria.</i> A boss-type who would be good at manipulating people, that's how Rick had forecast the combination would work, if lodged in the right personality. And if there's anyone who has those qualities already, it would be Chelsea Cooper, the head cheerleader and acknowledged queen of Westside High School.<br/>
<br/>
"What the--?" Chelsea squeals. "I can't move!"<br/>
<br/>
"I know, Chelsea," you say. "Don't worry about it. It'll be okay, you'll see. You'll <i>like</i> it when it's all over." She falls against you, and you grasp her in your arms. Frank opens up a vial of Blackwell's knockout powder, but you wave him off. "We don't need that," you say, and push her into his arms. "Just keep her muffled."<br/>
<br/>
Frank gives you a look, but claps a hand over Chelsea's mouth; her eyes roll with terror in their sockets.<br/>
<br/>
You manifest Joe's illusory twin and send it into the house to scout ahead; through its eyes, you see the way is clear, and gesture Frank to follow you with the captive girl.<br/>
<br/>
In the makeshift library you direct him to lay her on the sigil. "Jonathan!" she gasps as Frank's hand comes away. "Whatever you want, I-- I'll--" She swallows, and her voice shakes hard. "I'll give it to you."<br/>
<br/>
"Of course you will, Chelsea," you say. "And you'll be happy to. I'm going to give you something you'll really like." She turns very white, and starts to hiccup.<br/>
<br/>
You set empty bottles in the sigils for <i>essentia</i> and <i>anima,</i> and a blank mask in the sigil for <i>imago.</i> With his invisible fists, Frank keeps her pinned in place even as the two of you stand off to the side. You extend your hands palm downward and chant the incantations. First you strip her of her physical form, then pull her <i>anima</i> and <i>essentia</i> from her, which you label and put on a shelf. "You know how to carve a remote sigil," you ask Frank as you pull the clothes off Chelsea's remnants.<br/>
<br/>
"It's not something I really remember."<br/>
<br/>
"Then get out the bottles with the Glundandran and Elidibrian stuff while I take care of it," you say as you drop onto the golem with a steel-nub pen in your hand.<br/>
<br/>
Frank's eyes widen as he realizes what you're planning. "Are you out of your mind? You're gonna put some of our stuff inside--?"<br/>
<br/>
"She'll be fine once I've got my <i>anima</i> in her, same as you and Joe. And she'll be better once <i>I'm</i> inside, pulling the strings."<br/>
<br/>
"How long are you planning on doing that? And what are we going to do with your body while you're--? You already went all day without eating!"<br/>
<br/>
"I'll pull out of her long enough to take meals, a little exercise," you say as you scratch the runework into the golem's chest. "As long as she knows I'm around and can get back into her whenever I want, she'll behave. Like you and Joe." You grin a little to yourself at your addendum, for you are <i>being</i> Joe at the moment.<br/>
<br/>
Frank still looks unhappy. "It'll be a hell of a thing with her being one of us." He shudders. "She was hard enough to deal with when she didn't have any magic inside her."<br/>
<br/>
"She always had that kind of magic, didn't she? She'll be unstoppable once she's got--"<br/>
<br/>
"Unstoppable by <i>who?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"I know what you're worried about, Frank. Don't be. She'll be unstoppable by the people we turn her against. But she'll be one of <i>us.</i> Now quiet down while I concentrate."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It takes the better part of an hour to get it all done. After you get the remote sigil onto her you use the band that had been on Rick to put your own <i>anima</i> inside the golem. Then you put the two bottles of <i>essentia</i> into the appropriate sigils and put them into Chelsea; the two arcs of lightning merge as they plunge toward her; thunder rolls through the room. "That'll bring someone running," Frank mutters as he rises from a half-crouch.<br/>
<br/>
"We'll tell them we were bowling," you say, getting off the floor, where you'd also thrown yourself. "That was bigger than I thought it was going to be."<br/>
<br/>
"Think it came off?"<br/>
<br/>
"Only one way to find out." You hold out your hands again, make the incantation, and send Chelsea's <i>imago</i> back onto her.<br/>
<br/>
Her naked body--so perfectly formed--betrays no hint of tan lines as it lays in the sigil. Her thighs and calves are strong and taut; her boobs spread and droop only a little under gravity's pull; her hair is a lovely tangle. And her face is drawn up in a proud little pout.<br/>
<br/>
Her eyes spring open. She blinks hard a couple of times, then sits up with a groan. She puts a hand to her temple, and presses it lightly with tapering fingertips. She raises her eyes, meeting yours and Frank's. Her nostrils flare. No one says anything for a very long minute.<br/>
<br/>
"Okay," she says quietly. "The last thing I remember was being in Cuthbert. We were going to catch Rick Bredon, and I needed to make an <i>anima</i> band--"<br/>
<br/>
"It's been a week since then," Frank says, and looks inquisitively over at you.<br/>
<br/>
"Really." She lifts her breasts with both hands and gazes down at them, her hair dropping over her face. "That's a surprise, but nothing like the surprise of finding myself inside Chelsea Cooper's body."<br/>
<br/>
It would probably be fun trying to explain things, but you're eager to test-drive your new partner. So you murmur some arcane words, and the control sigil appears before you. There are your puppets, glittering like stars. Three of them shine very brightly: Joe Durras, Frank Durras, and Chelsea Cooper. You draw the latter around yourself like a silvery veil.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You have a slight headache, probably caused by stress and surprise, and shake the hair from your face. But you don't release the plump breasts that sit in your slightly sweaty palms. They feel so good, like firm, ripe fruit. The nipples harden at the thought of having someone suck at them.<br/>
<br/>
"So, I'm guessing that's Prescott inside her now," Jonathan Straussler says. "Yo, Will, is that you fondling our new--?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, it's me. Checking it out from the inside."<br/>
<br/>
"How is it?"<br/>
<br/>
You look up from under your brows. "As magnificent as you'd imagine, Joe," you say. He groans and turns away.<br/>
<br/>
You get to your feet. The ground is very close, and Jonathan and Frank loom over you. But you feel no worry or fear, not even the echo of Chelsea's terror as she'd been dragged into this room. "Oh, you were <i>right,</i> Jonathan," you coo. "I feel <i>so much happier</i> now."<br/>
<br/>
"This is sick," Frank says.<br/>
<br/>
"What about the <i>essentia?</i>" Jonathan asks.<br/>
<br/>
You bend over and easily grasp your feet. "I don't know. I feel kind of sparkly, but that might just be from the-- And I never felt anything when I was just Will Prescott, not before I started meditating."<br/>
<br/>
"We're gonna have to start getting her trained, then," Frank says. To Jonathan, he mutters, "What do <i>you</i> think, Joe? Do we really want to weaponize her?"<br/>
<br/>
"What matters is what <i>I</i> think," you snap. "And it's too late for second thoughts." You straighten up, shaking your hair back. "We need to put you guys someplace where we can meet up for training. Frank, how would you feel about taking over for Gordon?"<br/>
<br/>
"You mean with a mask?"<br/>
<br/>
"I mean permanently. I don't want any of us inside masks, in case the <i>Stellae</i> snoop around in town and have a way of--"<br/>
<br/>
"How would we do that?"<br/>
<br/>
"Strip you of your <i>imago,</i> put Gordon's onto you. Do something the same with Joe."<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan's expression falls. "I <i>like</i> my face. Lots of girls like my face."<br/>
<br/>
"It's a nice face. We'd keep it in reserve, inside a mask."<br/>
<br/>
"Do I have to be Gordon?" Frank asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't you want to be my boyfriend?" you ask coyly.<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan raises his hand. "<i>I'd</i> be Gordon."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, I'd have to think about it anyway," you reply, and snatch your panties up from off the floor. "That's the reason we added Chelsea, after all. She'd know <i>exactly</i> where to put you guys." You slide your legs into the very tight jeans and button them with a grunt. "Dammit, I hope these things have been shrinking in the wash. I hate diets."<br/>
<br/>
"What about you?" Frank asks. "I mean, you yourself."<br/>
<br/>
You pause, the bra in your hands. <i>Will Prescott.</i> You feel the loathing that Chelsea feels for him. <i>That little creep.</i> "Let's go take a look at him," you mutter as you finish getting dressed.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You are laying where you'd put yourself this morning, on Jonathan Straussler's bed. You are staring up at the ceiling, seeing nothing. <i>Correction: You are seeing the world through Chelsea Cooper's eyes.</i> And through her eyes you look like a lank scarecrow.<br/>
<br/>
"What's been happening at Westside?" Jonathan asks.<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing good," you say, still staring at yourself. "All his friends have dropped him. Chelsea has seen to that." You smile tightly. "So he's been hanging out with the portables crowd. You know, Justin Roth, Shep Tsosie, losers like that." <i>People who don't give a fuck about Chelsea and her standards.</i><br/>
<br/>
"But Chelsea can fix that now, right?" Jonathan's voice is sly and lazy.<br/>
<br/>
But some things might even be beyond Chelsea's skill. And now, from inside Chelsea herself, you can't really imagine yourself returning to this life. You look around. "Why can't he just stay here, like this?" you say aloud.<br/>
<br/>
"He'd starve to death," Frank says. "You would, I mean."<br/>
<br/>
"So he's in a coma," you shrug. "Let the Strausslers keep him here, hire a private nurse to take care of him. Do we really need this body running around?" You sniff. "It wouldn't be a loss to the world."</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222122
author_id: seuzz
title: The New Captain's First Decision
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"If we're going to have our own gang," Jonathan says, "Shouldn't <i>all</i> of us be active? I don't think you could develop your own skills unless you were moving around inside your own body."<br/>
<br/>
You grunt. That is a point. <br/>
<br/>
And there's be the irony, the delicious irony, of running things from your old body. <i>Will Prescott, the despised social pariah, secretly managing the school from his outcast station.</i><br/>
<br/>
Or you could restore his social standing. Chelsea Cooper likes a challenge, and you feel her own ambition rising at the thought of manipulating the pecking order in just that way. <i>You destroyed him; couldn't you also lift him to the heights?</i><br/>
<br/>
"Okay," you say at last. "We'll bring him back. Somehow." You nibble thoughtfully on your thumbnail. "In the meantime, I'll be myself in bits and pieces, eating and taking some exercise. But I'm gonna have to spend most of this week finding spots for you two. Even if you're not going to become Gordon," you say to Frank, "I want to turn him into a golem. He needs managing."<br/>
<br/>
"Can't you manage him, looking like that?" Jonathan chortles, and makes the "pussy whipping" noise.<br/>
<br/>
You glower at him. "Yeah, but it's no fun. He likes to crawl all over Chelsea." You shudder. "And, anyway, I got the hex off myself. When I go back to school, Black and them will make things even harder for me without that thing for protection. I need to make sure Gordon treats me the way I <i>want</i> him to treat me. So--" You turn on your heel with sudden determination. "How many masks and things have we got on hand?"<br/>
<br/>
"We got one for Gordon, if you want to do that tonight," Frank says.<br/>
<br/>
"I can pick up supplies tomorrow and make all we want," Jonathan volunteers.<br/>
<br/>
"Excellent!" You clap your hands and take out your cell phone. "I'll get him out here, tell him all about that <i>awesome</i> party Jonathan wants to throw!"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Gordon Black--that towering slab of muscle and bad attitude--is surly and taciturn when he shows up, and growls in your ear that he doesn't want to waste any time dealing with "Eastman homos." With a brittle smile you chide him pull him toward Straussler's suite. Gordon's partisanship may be real, but you can also sense there's another cause for his behavior: He's jealous of the immense wealth on display; that, you guess, is why he sneers that "No one needs a palace like this."<br/>
<br/>
"I'd <i>love</i> to live in a place like this," you say. He stiffens, and it's probably not because of the way you tighten your arm around his hips and dig your fingernails into his flesh.<br/>
<br/>
Once inside Jonathan's living room you don't waste any more time. As with Chelsea, Frank grabs Gordon in an invisible embrace, and this time you let him throw the knockout powder into your victim's face. Frank and Joe carry the recumbent Black into the library, where you strip him of his <i>imago</i> long enough to paint a remote sigil onto his <i>substantia.</i> You use Chelsea's own hair in the sigil; when you put his <i>imago</i> back on him, that makes him into the same kind of golem Will Shabbleman had been: a golem without masks or bands, under Chelsea's control. His attitude isn't any better, though, and he curses long and hard until you force him to stop.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, I really want to turn myself into <i>that,</i>" Frank says sarcastically.<br/>
<br/>
"There's other people," you say with a casual airiness. "Of course, it has to be somebody that <i>we</i> can be seen with--" You hug Gordon tightly and ignore the way Frank and Jonathan roll their eyes. "Who do you like to hang out with, pookie?" you ask Gordon.<br/>
<br/>
"Huh?"<br/>
<br/>
"Huh?" Jonanthan mimics him cruelly.<br/>
<br/>
"Who do you like to hang out with?" you ask Gordon again. "I mean, besides Steve and Jason?" You gag on the names.<br/>
<br/>
"Psht. Steve-o's moving to Eastman," Gordon grumbles.<br/>
<br/>
"What?" You and the others exchange startled glances.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah. He told me the other day that he was gonna transfer."<br/>
<br/>
Vertigo overwhelms you. "Why is he--? Why didn't you tell me?"<br/>
<br/>
"Not <i>everything's</i> your business, Chels."<br/>
<br/>
You blink back sudden tears of anger and frustration. "If you don't <i>tell me things,</i> Gordon--!" You stamp your foot. "Dammit! I try to help you out all I can--"<br/>
<br/>
Out of the corner of your eye you catch Frank and Jonathan exchanging a glance. It almost sets you off.<br/>
<br/>
But instead you close your eyes and master yourself. <i>Jeepers, Chelsea is going to be a handful, even when you're running her from the inside.</i><br/>
<br/>
"Well, that clears out a spot up in the loft, doesn't it," you say more calmly. "If we can get rid of Jason we can start over from scratch. Start hanging  out with people who aren't <i>assholes.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"They're my friends!" Gordon turns red.<br/>
<br/>
"Not if I say they're not!"<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe we should leave you two alone," Jonathan murmurs.<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up! I'm thinking!" you bark.<br/>
<br/>
The Westside student body, in all of its relations and hierarchies, seems to appear before you. You blink and concentrate on it. <i>So many pieces, there for you to pick up and arrange however you like.</i> <br/>
<br/>
"Team players, that's who we want," you murmur to yourself. "Guys who'll use the loft the way-- Well, the way you and your <i>friends</i> like to use it. Laurent Delacroix? Cameron Huber?" Gordon groans. "Erik Carstairs and his friends?"<br/>
<br/>
"Stereotypes," Frank snorts.<br/>
<br/>
"Look at who you are, Frank," you retort. "I want you with a face that suits a warrior. Oh!" You gasp and feel your eyes widen. "But if that's what we want, and I want you close--" You grin wickedly to yourself. "You can be Jordan!" <br/>
<br/>
"Jordan who?" Frank looks at Jonathan, who shrugs.<br/>
<br/>
"My brother! Chelsea's brother! You remember him, he graduated from Westside only two years ago."<br/>
<br/>
Frank cocks an eyebrow. "I remember being at Westside, dude-who-is-also-me. But we didn't pay a lot of attention to the senior class until we <i>were</i> seniors."<br/>
<br/>
You are momentarily baffled and hurt. <i>How could anyone not know who Jordan Cooper was?</i> Your own psyche breaks briefly into warring camps: Will Prescott, who pays as little attention to Chelsea and her business as he can; and Chelsea Cooper, who demands the attention. "Oh well," you say, shrugging it off. "The point is that Jordan is perfect for you, Frank. He's big and strong, he plays lacrosse for Keyserling, and he lives at home still--bleagh!--so we could train every night. We got another mask?" you ask Jonathan as you take out your phone. "Unless he's being stupid I can get him out here--"<br/>
<br/>
Frank wrenches the phone from you. "I know you're in charge, dude. Doubly so when you're pretending to be Chelsea. But don't <i>I</i> get a say? This fucker-brother of Chelsea's sounds like a slope-headed avalanche--"<br/>
<br/>
"Perfect for you, Frank!" Jonathan chortles.<br/>
<br/>
"--so I'd like to scope him out ahead of time."<br/>
<br/>
You put your hand on your hips. "How?"<br/>
<br/>
"Let me make a mask of Chelsea. I'm already sick of being cooped up here. Let <i>me</i> go home as Chelsea tonight. Look around with her eyes, do some thinking with her brain, see if what you've got in mind would really suit me."<br/>
<br/>
You gasp. <i>You just got Chelsea for yourself, and already one of your erstwhile partners is trying to wrench her away from you.</i><br/>
<br/>
But internally, you smirk to yourself. <i>So what? You could do his thinking for him.</i> You just have to bring up the control sigil, plunge inside of him the way you've been doing to him and Joe for the past few days. Put on Chelsea's mask, and then as Frank-pretending-to-be-Chelsea go back to her place. Report in the morning that Jordan would be perfect.<br/>
<br/>
You're on the verge of doing just that when you pause.<br/>
<br/>
It would be a transparent ploy. Frank would know that's what you did to him. He'd tell Joe, if Joe himself didn't figure it out instantly.<br/>
<br/>
But that's the point of having remote sigils inside them, isn't it? Keeping them on a tight leash? Keep them on their toes? Keep them paranoid?<br/>
<br/>
It's exactly the way that <i>Chelsea</i> would run things.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221222
author_id: seuzz
title: Team Play
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span><i>No,</i> you decide. <i>It's better to give these guys some independence. Show that you trust them.</i><br/>
<br/>
"I suppose that's best," you say. You wipe your frown away with a shake of your head. "You're right, Frank. You <i>should</i> make the decision yourself."<br/>
<br/>
Frank's face falls with surprise. "Are you serious?" he asks guardedly.<br/>
<br/>
"Totally. Besides, I have to figure out how we'd merge you and Jordan. You and whoever, I mean," you add.<br/>
<br/>
"Then I guess that's your project for tonight," Frank says. "Can we get that mask made?"<br/>
<br/>
So that's what you do. It's a simple thing, only  a matter of putting it to your--Chelsea's--face and sealing it up afterward. After Frank's got it on, two Chelsea Coopers swap clothes, and he leaves immediately after with Gordon in tow.<br/>
<br/>
That puts you alone with Jonathan; conscious of your nakedness, you put on some of Rosalie's old clothes, though they're too large for Chelsea's frame. "I should eat something," you say as you stare at your comatose body. Jonathan takes off to raid the main kitchen.<br/>
<br/>
You decide you might as well give Chelsea some room to run as well.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Your stomach is growling hard as you sit up in Jonathan's bed. You turn, and flinch away from Chelsea, who is sitting beside you and staring at you hard. "So, are you caught up with everything now?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Mostly, I guess. I suppose this is what it's like being a golem."<br/>
<br/>
"How do you mean?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, saying and doing things you don't mean and don't understand. Are you really planning on spending most of your time, uh--" She taps her chest.<br/>
<br/>
"It's gonna be more fun being you than being me," you reply evasively. "You've seen to that, haven't you?"<br/>
<br/>
She clucks her tongue and rolls her eyes. But before she can reply, you hear loud banging noises from Jonathan's kitchenette. You and Chelsea scurry downstairs, where you find Jonathan, looking black in the face, loudly unloading cans into the pantry. "Something happen?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
"Had to waste our last spare mask is all," he mutters. "Mother cornered me, pestered me with a lot of questions about my 'guests'."<br/>
<br/>
"Your dad's on board with us staying here," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, well, he just pays for everything. <i>She</i> runs the household."<br/>
<br/>
"So are we in some kind of trouble?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. Like I said, I put a mask on her, like we did on Daddy Warbucks. She won't be bothering us anymore."<br/>
<br/>
His clipped brutality takes your breath away a little, but you see it was the logical thing to do. <br/>
<br/>
But Chelsea chooses to argue: "Don't you think you should have asked first?"<br/>
<br/>
Jonathan looks at her, and then at you, and says nothing. "It's okay, Chelsea," you say. "Joe knows what he's doing, and he doesn't have to get permission."<br/>
<br/>
But Chelsea continues to frown. "But what if that had been our last mask, and we'd needed it--"<br/>
<br/>
"It's okay," you say. "Come on, guys. Let's just eat. We're all friends, we're all on the same team."<br/>
<br/>
"You eat," Jonathan says. "I'm gonna go shoot some hoops."<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea looks very prim after he's gone. "Every team needs a captain," she says. "Like the cheerleader squad at school, or the basketball team--"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't want it to be like that," you say. "I'm going to give you guys more freedom. I'm gonna--" You swallow, not wanting to give up what you're about to give up. "I'm gonna stop barging my way into you guys." You look at her sharply, and surprise yourself a little with the bravery you feel at staring Chelsea Cooper down. "I know you're used to running things, and I know it's a lot of fun. But you need to not be so bossy with them." The person you're talking to may have Chelsea's body and her instincts, but she's got your <i>sedes</i> inside her, so you add: "Don't be so much like the girl whose body I gave you."<br/>
<br/>
She makes a face and looks past you at the food Jonathan had brought back. "At least I can make us something healthy to eat," she says. "I'll go get us something for a <i>real</i> dinner."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
While she's raiding the main kitchen, you go out to find your other partner. It's already dark, and he's got the floodlights turned onto the basketball court. You watch him for a bit; he slaps the ball around hard while waiting for you to speak.<br/>
<br/>
At last: "Look, I'm really sorry about that scene back in there. I meant what I said, though."<br/>
<br/>
"Is it going to be like that? Chelsea--<i>you</i>--second-guessing me and Frank?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. That was Chelsea, you know what she's like."<br/>
<br/>
"Funny, you were acting a lot like her when you were inside her."<br/>
<br/>
"I know. I was trying to fight it."<br/>
<br/>
"I hope you were losing. Because if that was <i>winning--</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"It's hard not acting like the person when you've got them all around you. It's hard for me not to act like <i>you</i> when-- Is that what this is about? You don't like it when I take control of you?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, I don't. Not especially. Been feeling like I've had to hide it."<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, I promise I won't do it to you or Frank except when it's necessary."<br/>
<br/>
"And when is it ever necessary? Was it necessary at school today?"<br/>
<br/>
You wince. "I was bored. And I won't do it anymore. I promise."<br/>
<br/>
He does an easy lay-up. "Okay, I understand. It's not like there's a lot to do here, is there? I was bored even when it was me and Frank trying to find the <i>Libra.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"You want an adventure?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah. But I get why we're doing things this way. Figuring out what we can do, and how to do it." He peers down at you. "Chelsea figures out who we replace, and me and Frank pull off the jobs?" You nod. "I can live with that. Long as you leave it to Frank and me to do the jobs without riding around with us."<br/>
<br/>
"I wanna have fun too," you say wryly.<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, maybe you should ride along on some of our jobs, get the same training. And I guess it won't be fun for a long time, going back to school as yourself."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not looking forward to it."<br/>
<br/>
"So that's what we need to figure out," he says with a slight smile. "Who we have to convert, so you can get back into everyone's good graces."<br/>
<br/>
"Job for Chelsea. Speaking of which, she's making dinner for me." You glance back at the house. "That's a real funny thing, isn't it?"<br/>
<br/>
"Watch yourself, Prescott," he says. "In my experience, when a girl makes dinner for a guy, it's because she's got a <i>plan</i> for him."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
What Chelsea's got for you is an egg-white omelet. You refrain from making a face. She watches expectantly as you take a first bite. It isn't bad.<br/>
<br/>
In fact, it's delicious. It's stuffed with peppers and onions and ham and cheese and strong blend of spices. "This is really good," you say, and mean it. <br/>
<br/>
"Thanks. I'm good for other things than bossing people around. You make up with Joe?"<br/>
<br/>
"I think so."<br/>
<br/>
"I'll talk to him later. Just me, okay, without you around?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure. We all need to talk later, though, about what we'll be doing at Westside."<br/>
<br/>
"I've already got ideas. Like for you." She leans forward, putting her face close to yours. "Do you really want to go back to being yourself?"<br/>
<br/>
"It <i>was</i> my life. Maybe it wasn't much of a life, or one that Chelsea Cooper might respect--"<br/>
<br/>
"Don't be like that. It's so unattractive." She turns a little puckish. "I bet you clean up nice."<br/>
<br/>
"Is that what I should do," you say around a mouthful of omelet. "Clean up? That'll make everything better?"<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe not. But you could still--" You flinch away as she runs a finger down your cheek. "What if you made a really radical change? Merging yourself with someone, the way you're talking about doing with Frank and Joe."<br/>
<br/>
"So merge myself with some other guy? What would happen to 'Will Prescott'?"<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, he continues as a golem. But we gradually clean him up, making him more presentable for when you slip back into your own life."<br/>
<br/>
"So who could I be? It would have to be someone who could hang out with you."<br/>
<br/>
"And the openings there are really limited." She cocks her head. "What if you came back as someone new? Someone I could really take a shine to?"<br/>
<br/>
"What kind of person would that be?"<br/>
<br/>
"How broad-minded are you?" she asks with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.<br/>
<br/>
"You <i>are</i> me," you remind her. "How broad-minded am I?"<br/>
<br/>
"Come back as a girl?" she giggles. "Rosalie, from Cuthbert? She was cute, and you kind of look like her anyway.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Rosalie?</i> You swallow a huge chunk of food. "But we don't want anyone from Cuthbert showing up in Saratoga Falls."<br/>
<br/>
"So give her a new background and backstory. I know just the kind of girl she could be." Her eyes glitter. "A hippy-bohemian. You know Gillian Kiefer? Like her, but more laid back. Cooler. Smarter. The kind of girl who doesn't give a fuck about girls like me, so she doesn't have a problem hanging out with me, or with not hanging out with me." Again, she tugs at your hair. "She was pretty."<br/>
<br/>
You say you'll think about it.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Jonathan comes back in after you've washed up, and the three of you talk vaguely of this and that, and then you let him and Chelsea go up into his bedroom. You don't disturb them, and just climb into a sleeping bag and put out the lights.<br/>
<br/>
You don't disturb them, even when the bedsprings begin to squeak, and Chelsea's ardent shrieks begin penetrating the walls.</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122212221
author_id: seuzz
title: Two Into One, Part 1
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Frank calls early the next morning, so early that Jonathan--his hair a tangle--has to stumble out of the bedroom to hand you the phone. "I was about to put on my makeup," he says in Chelsea's sunniest chirp. "But then I was thinking maybe I shouldn't if you were going to be going in as Chelsea today. You'd probably want to do it yourself."<br/>
<br/>
You glance up at the bedroom door just as Jonathan shuts it again. Your own head is a woolly mess, inside and out. "How about you just cover for Chelsea today?" you mumble. "The real Chelsea and I can hang out at Jonathan's."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh really?" he says archly. "Like I bet you guys didn't hang out <i>all night</i> already?"<br/>
<br/>
You bite your tongue. <i>No we didn't, she and your brother spent all night screwing,</i> you don't say. Three times they woke you up. "I've got stuff to do," is all you say. "What do you think of Jordan?"<br/>
<br/>
"He's a jerk, but he'll work for me. Can Joe have a mask ready for me after school?"<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe tonight. He has class, <i>and</i> he has to get stuff."<br/>
<br/>
"Okay then, bye, I'm already running late." He hangs up.<br/>
<br/>
Since you're awake now, you get up and shower and fry yourself some eggs. Footsteps go into the bathroom while you're cooking, and water runs, and it runs for a very long time, and you've eaten and washed the dishes before the bathroom door opens again. Jonathan comes out first, gives you a wink and a grin, and goes upstairs.<br/>
<br/>
And then Joe appears, wrapped only in a towel. "Don't look at me like that," he says as he opens the refrigerator door and avoids your eye. "It was a bonding exercise, that's all."<br/>
<br/>
"Did it work?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure. I guess." He holds your eye now as he tips back the jar of OJ and swallows long and thirstily. "Weren't you there?"<br/>
<br/>
You shake your head violently.<br/>
<br/>
"I knew you weren't there inside me," he says. "Chelsea said the same thing, but--"<br/>
<br/>
"I swear, Joe, I wasn't. And if I had been--"<br/>
<br/>
"Huh. I guess we're all sympatico, then. She's quite a girl. Maybe you and Rick were right about that combo, and about it working with her."<br/>
<br/>
"Did you do any meditation exercises with her?<br/>
<br/>
"No, just sexual. Did we bother you?"<br/>
<br/>
"No," you lie.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm glad. We tried to be quiet." <i>If last night was them being quiet, you wonder what it would have sounded like if they'd tried painting the ceiling with Joe's cum.</i> "You were zonked when we came out to get the <i>Libra.</i> That's how come I wondered if you were--"<br/>
<br/>
"Get the <i>Libra?</i>" you interrupt. "Why did you--?"<br/>
<br/>
"To get the golem layer out of Jonathan's mask. She couldn't put it on otherwise, right? Yeah, she's going in to Eastman today."<br/>
<br/>
"How come?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because she's sick in the head." He glances back up at the bedroom door. "Yeah, I think I'm starting to like her." You feel numb, and say nothing. "Well, that, and she said I should probably hang out with you today. Said you had some technical stuff to work on, and I should help. So she's covering for me."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Oh yeah, the stuff you need to explore with merging </i>imago. Now you glance thoughtfully past Joe up at the bedroom door. It's a smart managerial decision on her part.<br/>
<br/>
The door opens as you're staring at it, and Jonathan comes out, dressed in a creamy sweater and slacks; his hair is still damp, but brushed around in a way that looks careless but studied. "Dudes," he says with Jonathan's insolent twinkle. "You leave anything for your host?" He brushes the side of Joe's torso with lean fingertips as he opens the refrigerator.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm gonna fire up a video game," you stammer, and your knees wobble as you totter over to the game player. You relax into the beanbag, but can't relax into the game. You try not to eavesdrop, but it's hard to ignore the voices from the kitchen. Mostly, though, it's just talk about Eastman. There's no obvious flirting, and though you steel yourself against it, there's no sound of kissing when Jonathan leaves, shrugging on a letterman jacket and grinning at you around the piece of toast clenched between his shining teeth.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm going to hold you down and punch you until you bleed," Joe says as he sits down cross-legged next to you.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm sorry, Joe! I just--"<br/>
<br/>
"Chelsea said you were thinking about turning yourself into Rosalie. Well, into her doppelganger. I say go for it."<br/>
<br/>
"Why? So you can--?" You feel yourself turning very red.<br/>
<br/>
"Nah. Or yeah, if you want." He rubs your thigh, and you jerk away. "I'm just messin' with you. But it makes sense. It'd put you in good with Chelsea."<br/>
<br/>
"I can get in good with Chelsea on my own, I think."<br/>
<br/>
"I mean, at Westside. The way she was describing it, it'd be a lot easier for her to be friends with a new girl than with someone already there, or with a new guy. And, you know--" He smiles tightly. "The combination of Chelsea's head and Will Prescott's, in her body? I think she's extremely bi curious, in all sorts of ways."<br/>
<br/>
You almost swallow your tongue. To cover you discomfiture, you turn it around on him. "Sounds to me like <i>you're</i>--"<br/>
<br/>
He leaps on you, and to show that you're going to give him room to run without your leash, you stay in your own body, even after he's hit you hard a couple of times.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
The day is given over to work, studying the <i>Libra.</i><br/>
<br/>
The challenge: How to merge two full sets of memories, talents, dispositions, and other mental whatnot into one <i>imago,</i> so that you can give Frank and Joe (and yourself) maskless disguises. In theory it's doable: the mental aspects of <i>imago</i> are flexible enough that you could add an entirely new set of mental properties to an existing <i>imago</i>. The problem is that <i>imago</i> is so complex that it would take a very long time to make the changes in a piecemeal fashion. "If I could just <i>merge</i> them," you say. "If I had both sets in front of me, and could just force them together--" You trail off.<br/>
<br/>
"But that would require two copies of the same sigil," Joe says, for he sees the same problem. "You'd have to have Frank's <i>imago</i> in one mask, with a voodoo doll on top of the sigil. And then you'd have to have Jordan's <i>imago</i> in a mask, with a voodoo doll, on top of another copy of the sigil."<br/>
<br/>
"And there's only one copy in the book. And we can't copy it because--"<br/>
<br/>
"Because the book is locked against making copies." Joe frowns. "Thing is, you've already made up your own modifications of the sigils. You're probably smart enough that you could have invented that 'modify' sigil on your own."<br/>
<br/>
"Would I have been able to write it down, if I had?"<br/>
<br/>
"The spell shouldn't prevent the independent discovery of sigils," Joe says. He cocks his head. "What if you tried writing down the sigil without using the book to guide you?"<br/>
<br/>
"From memory? That's like copying."<br/>
<br/>
Joe turns the <i>Libra</i> to the front page and studies the symbols there. "It's a narrowly crafted lock," he muses. "It won't let you copy the sigils with the book open. But if you closed it--" He shuts it firmly. "Just try it. Let's see what happens."<br/>
<br/>
And so you settle over a large sheet of paper at the kitchen table and try to make up your own copy of the "modify <i>anima</i>" sigil. You try not to work from memory, and just let your own knowledge of how the spell is supposed to work guide you. Joe helps, pointing out corrections as you go along. Bit by bit it takes form, and Joe grows quiet as the symbols come together and the circle fills in. When you're done he picks it up and carefully examines it. "Well?" you ask. "Is there any way to test it, short of--?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, you got it," he says quietly. "I can tell. This thing is live." He puts it down gingerly and looks at you. "You said the last page in the book was blank? I wonder if it is now. Because this thing here feels like a graduation exercise. If you can do this, I'd say you've mastered the <i>Libra.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
You take a deep breath, and a tremble goes through you. Are you now a master of the book's magic, on a par with the author of it? Slowly, you open the <i>Libra,</i> and turn pages until you come to the last one.<br/>
<br/>
But it's still blank, and still refuses to turn.<br/>
<br/>
There's disappointment in Joe's sigh as you shut the <i>Libra</i> again.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
That's all done by two, and after that you put on Will Shabbleman's face as a disguise and drive your friends' truck into town to pick up mask-making supplies; with a wad of bills from Jonathan's dad, you're able to get enough for dozens of masks.<br/>
<br/>
You've got them all laid out when Chelsea (under Jonathan's face) and Frank (under Chelsea's) show up at around four-thirty. "Jordan won't be free until six," the latter says. "I already talked to him about coming out here. We gonna be ready for him?"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure," you reply, and explain to your confederates how it will work. You explain to your confederates how it will work. "And even if I mess up--"<br/>
<br/>
"If you mess up," the Chelsea-disguised Frank interrupts, "it'll be <i>my</i> face you're messing up."<br/>
<br/>
"No loss," Joe says carelessly.<br/>
<br/>
"We'll still have your face and Jordan's on file," you say.</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222122211
author_id: seuzz
title: Two Into One, Part 2
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Six o'clock comes, and then six-thirty, and Chelsea--now out from under Jonathan's mask--has to call her brother. So it's a little after seven before the operation can commence.<br/>
<br/>
It starts with Frank--puffing a little under his load--carrying a big guy into the library in his arms. You look at Jordan Cooper after he's on the floor. He looks to be six-two, quite a contrast to his very petite sister, and there's only a faint resemblance between them. Jordan's hair is blonde like hers, but close-cropped. His nose is thicker and wider than hers, and his eyebrows are ragged. It's not a handsome face, but the features are regular under a few days' growth of beard. His physique is strong, though, with a broad, meaty chest, a flat stomach--though it lacks definition--and strong arms and legs. He's dressed in shorts, flip-flops, and a t-shirt. Overall, he's much sloppier looking than his sister.<br/>
<br/>
You start by stripping him of his <i>imago, essentia,</i> and <i>anima,</i> reducing him to a golem which you then shrink down into a doll. You put that doll onto his mask and lay them both on the open <i>Libra.</i> You then make a mask of Frank, and put it and your first golem-doll onto the sigil you had made. "I don't know if this is going to hurt," you tell him as he stretches out on the floor.<br/>
<br/>
That causes him to sit up again. "Why didn't you mention 'hurting' before?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because he didn't think of it," Joe retorts. "Now shut up and take your medicine."<br/>
<br/>
"Your turn'll come too, Joe," Frank growls.<br/>
<br/>
"Not if it hurts," Joe grins. "Don't be a baby."<br/>
<br/>
Worry writ large on his face, Frank sinks back down.<br/>
<br/>
You grasp the dolls, and close your eyes to concentrate.<br/>
<br/>
Two <i>imago</i> appear before you, recognizable to your practiced eye as Frank Durras and Jordan Cooper. The former appears far more solid, though, probably  because it is an actual person and not an image you are working with.<br/>
<br/>
Now comes the test: You've not said anything to anyone, but you've only hunches about how to proceed.<br/>
<br/>
You start by finding where Frank's mental <i>imago</i> attaches to his physical form, and loosen the connections. There are hundreds, maybe thousands of points of contact, but they are all of the same kind--like little clasps--and it takes just a loose brush from your mind to unhook them all. Frank's mind floats free of his body, but remains before you still.<br/>
<br/>
You do the same for Jordan's <i>imago,</i> separating mind and body. <br/>
<br/>
While keeping a grip on their physical forms, you grasp their minds and bring them together. There's no need to hook them up: connections spring up, like vines curling about each other, as they draw together. With broad strokes you guide them together, wrapping Jordan's mind about Frank's, leaving the latter as a tight core while the former covers it in a thick, meringue-like layer. Even as you mold the final form, the newly merged minds harden into a single entity.<br/>
<br/>
And then you erase Frank's physical image, like scrubbing a chalkboard of formulae. Even in your state of concentration, you hear gasps from Joe and Chelsea, but keep your eyes shut tight.<br/>
<br/>
Soon there's nothing left of Frank's physical form but a smudge.<br/>
<br/>
That makes it easy to pull Jordan's physical form over onto Frank, settling it over the ghost-like remnants of his physical body, and making him a solid duplicate of the other.<br/>
<br/>
But then comes the hard part--connecting mind and body. All those clasps have to be reattached. Bit by bit you go, clipping them together, tightening connections and weaving them into a whole. You feel yourself trembling from exertion and exhaustion long before you're done, but grimly you press on.<br/>
<br/>
You've lost all sense of time before you're finished and satisfied: the form you behold before you looks as solid as the one you'd started with, and as tightly and coherently integrated. You're reluctant to release it, but your strength finally fails. <br/>
<br/>
Vaguely, you feel yourself passing out.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You ache all over when you wake, and feel feverish and drenched with sweat. You have no energy to move even a limb, and a pounding headache makes it hard to concentrate. All you can do is blink your eyes stupidly.<br/>
<br/>
The world shifts, and your stomach rises. Chelsea's face looms into your field of vision. "How are you feeling," she asks quietly.<br/>
<br/>
You don't answer immediately. You turn your head, looking around. The room is featureless, the walls strange. "Where am I?" you groan.<br/>
<br/>
"Jonathan's bedroom." She brushes your forehead. "You look pretty bad, Will."<br/>
<br/>
"I feel awful." Now that she's told you where you are, you finally recognize it. You're on Straussler's bed. Chelsea is sitting next to you, cross-legged, and she puts a book down and turns to lay down next to you. <br/>
<br/>
"We were kind of worried about you," she says. "But Frank looked you over and said you'd probably be alright."<br/>
<br/>
You snort. "Tough guy Frank <i>would</i> think that." Memories flood back. "How is he? Did the spell work?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes." She smiles faintly. "He's now totally my idiot brother."<br/>
<br/>
"Totally?" It hurts even to frown. "I was supposed to leave a lot of Frank behind."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, he's there too. Both of them. It's just like you wanted, like he's wearing a mind band of Jordan. He's got both sets of memories, and he's still got his powers."<br/>
<br/>
"What about physically?"<br/>
<br/>
"Like I said, he's totally looking like Jordan. It was pretty creepy while it happened. You erased him down to a golem. But not even a regular golem. He was all bloody and mucousy and stuff." She wrinkles her nose. "But then you got Jordan onto him."<br/>
<br/>
"Did he say if it hurt?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. I mean, he said it didn't. It looks like it hurt you more."<br/>
<br/>
That makes sense, since you feel so awful. "God, it was hard to do. I don't think I want to-- Oh, but I have do it with Joe again at some point."<br/>
<br/>
"I suppose one of us could do it," she says. "It doesn't have to be <i>you</i> always."<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe. I'm the team's mechanic and engineer, remember?" Strength has begun to return to your frame, and you rub your face. "Where are the guys now?"<br/>
<br/>
"They left. I said I'd stay with you." She strokes your face again. "So Frank went home as Jordan, and Joe put on my mask and went home as me." She laughs lightly. "They're siblings again."<br/>
<br/>
"Mm. Thanks for staying, Chelsea."<br/>
<br/>
She smiles, and cuddles up closer to you, putting one arm under your back and the other over your chest. "I figured it would be nicer for you this way."<br/>
<br/>
You are momentarily seized by a suspicion: Maybe this is actually Joe inside Chelsea's mask. But even if it is, it wouldn't matter. You drop the thought.<br/>
<br/>
"You want something to eat?" Chelsea asks.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't feel strong enough."<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe you'd feel better if you put Jonathan's mask on? Someone should be playing him anyway."<br/>
<br/>
"I think I just need to recover in my own body."<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea studies you closely for a minute, then jogs the bed as she sits up, setting off another brief wave of nausea in you. She pads from the room, and returns a few minutes later with two glasses of clear liquid and some pills. "Here," she says. "This is for your stomach--" One of the glasses fizzes. "And the other is for your head. Come on, sit up."<br/>
<br/>
"You study nursing too?" you grumble as you struggle up.<br/>
<br/>
"I've had lots of practice taking care of Gordon after some of his workouts."<br/>
<br/>
"Have you been missing him?" You make a face as you drink down the first glass; it is lemony, but also a little bitter.<br/>
<br/>
"Not especially. There's nothing wonderful about Gordon. He loves me, and he--" She looks a little uncomfortable. "Well, Chelsea loves him because he's the big man at school. He's strong, powerful, doesn't take shit from people. He's the best she's ever seen at that. <i>Was</i> the best, until-- But he's just a little kid next to Frank and Joe." She pauses. "And you."<br/>
<br/>
You look at her. She looks away. This is very weird, because of course it's your <i>anima</i> inside her. "Dude, are you flirting with me?" you ask.<br/>
<br/>
She gives you a dirty look. "I'm just telling you what she'd think. I mean, look at what you've been able to do. You're even more powerful than them." <br/>
<br/>
Her words leave you feeling very weak. You've not thought of yourself as being "strong," just desperate. Even a bit of a goof-off, figuring out fun and games with the <i>Libra.</i> "But I'm not much to look at, right?" you mutter.<br/>
<br/>
"Stop it. I told you--" She takes the glasses from you and puts them on the table next to the bed. "If you just want to talk--"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't feel like doing anything else."<br/>
<br/>
"Then we'll just stay like this." She cuddles up next to you again. "Does this feel nice?"<br/>
<br/>
"It feels very nice."<br/>
<br/>
Your breath mingles with hers, but you don't kiss, and don't even talk much, even though you're wakeful.<br/>
<br/>
But eventually sleep steals over you.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221222111
author_id: seuzz
title: Possible Faces
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You're alone when you wake again, and bright light is streaming through a window. The clock says it's 8:30.<br/>
<br/>
You're still feeling wrung out, but otherwise healthy. You pad down into Jonathan's living room, but his quarters are deserted. There's a note on the dining nook table: "Gone to school. Text or call if you want.. Jonathan."<br/>
<br/>
So they've left you alone again. You refresh yourself with a shower and a bowl of cold cereal. Then, after dressing, you go to the library.<br/>
<br/>
But you turn around and go back before reaching it: There are some workmen there; apparently, that electronic lock is being installed. <br/>
<br/>
So you while away a little time with Jonathan's toys. And then, feeling bored and restless, you lock yourself in the bedroom and bring up the control sigil.<br/>
<br/>
You pause: You'd promised Joe you'd not use the sigils unless it was "necessary." It's not "necessary" to take over for any of them. But maybe you could slip in unobtrusively, just to see what's going on.<br/>
<br/>
You start with Frank.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You materialize in a large lecture hall. A bearded, middle-aged man is at the front of the room, talking in a very dry way about the late Roman Empire. <i>History 102,</i> you realize. Jordan's most boring class. You're sprawled in a chair, feet up on the back of the chair in front of you. It's cold today, and the heavy jacket scratches, and the ball cap feels tight on hair that hasn't been washed. Your nerveless fingers hold a pencil, but there are no real notes on the page.<br/>
<br/>
You look to your side. Elise Turner sits next to you. That's Jordan's girlfriend. She's pretty, in a nerdy sort of way, and is scribbling intensely. She feels your gaze, and glances over with a smile briefly before returning to her work. <i>She'll</i> give you the notes you need, when you need them.<br/>
<br/>
Well, this is boring. Let Frank handle it.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Well, he <i>called</i> it a cross," Mrs. Cussler is saying with undisguised contempt. "It was actually an Egyptian ankh. You can draw your <i>own</i> conclusions about how sincere of a Christian Constantine was." Her own tone tells you what her conclusion is.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Whoa, déjà vu,</i> you think. <i>What are the chances that Jordan Cooper and Jonathan Straussler would both be taking notes on Roman history at the same time?</i> Mrs. Cussler, the most terrifying teacher at Eastman High bends over her lectern and glares at a student behind you. You turn: Adam Karter is leaning over and whispering to Ursula Jensen. "Am I bothering you, Mr. Karter," Mrs. Cussler barks.<br/>
<br/>
Karter whips around. "No ma'am," he grins.<br/>
<br/>
"But you're bothering me," she retorts. "And quit bothering Miss Jensen."<br/>
<br/>
The class snickers; you and Derek Linwood catch each other's eyes, and grin at Karter's discomfort.<br/>
<br/>
You settle back in your desk, which is a little too small for Straussler's lanky frame. His notes are much more complete and rigorous than Jordan Cooper's. In the margin you scribble a note of your own: "I'm up, but you didn't leave me a number to call. Call me when you can. Or don't. Doesn't matter." You pause and add: "Thanks for last night."<br/>
<br/>
You withdraw from Chelsea Cooper.<br/>
<br/>
That leaves only Joe--in Chelsea's form--to check up on. You hesitate long and hard before pulling his sigil about yourself.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You blink and raise your eyes from the screen of the iPhone. <i>Cripes, it's </i>another<i> history class.</i> Mr. Fernandez's, back at Westside. The bloated teacher slouches at the desk at the front of the room, ignoring the chatter of the class. <i>He must be drunk again.</i><br/>
<br/>
Vaguely, you understand that you (and the rest of the class) are supposed to be writing out your notes in a more presentable form, to turn in to him for checking, but it's an obvious excuse for him to abandon his teaching duties for the balance of the class. Like everyone else, Chelsea is using the opportunity to catch up on social networking.<br/>
<br/>
You look back down at the half-completed message: <i>Matthias,</i> it reads. <i>Everyone likes him and no one notices him. Or maybe Hagerman?</i><br/>
<br/>
It's a text to Jonathan Straussler, you realize. Chelsea and Joe have been talking about which Westside student he could take over for. "How about you use my brain to think about it," she had told him before sending him out in her mask. He had agreed. These are some of his accumulated suggestions.<br/>
<br/>
Your hair falls into your face as you regard what he's written. <i>Dane Matthias? The stoner?</i> As Joe has said, he's a constant presence, smiling and inviting people to hang out, and worming his easy way into their company. He's goofy, pleasant, guileless. No one would suspect him of being a deadly magician. <br/>
<br/>
But who is "Hagerman"?<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Mr. Hagerman," Joe says with slight irritation.<br/>
<br/>
"The teacher?" Your mouth falls open slightly.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, the teacher. You think I'd call any of the <i>guys</i> at school 'Mister'? You didn't stop long to think about it."<br/>
<br/>
"I was only inside you for about twenty seconds," you say, and squirm a little. "I told you I was going to leave you alone."<br/>
<br/>
"So you shoulda left me alone."<br/>
<br/>
"Alright, I'm sorry. But why Mr. Hagerman?"<br/>
<br/>
It's late afternoon; you and Joe and Chelsea are in Jonathan's living room, but Jonathan's discarded mask is nearby, for Chelsea has also doffed her disguise of the day. The girl, her legs crossed at the knees, has been watching you and Joe with a trace of amusement, and she leaps in at this point.<br/>
<br/>
"He wants Mr. Hagerman so we'd have a <i>teacher</i> on the team," she says. "I think it's a smart idea. He could lay down the law in ways a student couldn't. We could also use him to get to some of our targets. You know, pull them into the classroom and make them sit still until we jump them. Also, he's kind of a hottie." Her eyes glint.<br/>
<br/>
You ignore the comment, though you'd have to agree that the new English teacher at twenty-four has some rugged good looks. "But doesn't he teach mostly freshman classes? Are we looking at freshmen?"<br/>
<br/>
"Maybe yes, maybe no," Joe says. "Point is, he's a good place to hunt and strike from."<br/>
<br/>
"How would he be able to work with us, get together with us?" you ask. "It'd be kind of weird for a teacher to hang out with students."<br/>
<br/>
"We'd have masks of other people, right?" Joe sighs. "So I'd switch into a mask of-- I dunno, Matthias, when--"<br/>
<br/>
"Will, I'd like to take you shopping," Chelsea interrupts as she stands. "Some new clothes for your new look."<br/>
<br/>
"Am I getting a new look?" you blurt out. Chelsea's eyes harden slightly. "Okay, sure," you hastily add. "You driving?"<br/>
<br/>
"Of course." She takes out her keys. "See you later, <i>Jonathan,</i>" she adds pointedly to Joe, and he scrambles to pick up Straussler's mask.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Out in the car, she turns to you with a pleasant smile. "So what kind of look? For Will Prescott? Or have you picked another look?"<br/>
<br/>
You frown. <i>Another look? Oh yeah,</i> you remember. <i>Rosalie.</i> You've not thought much more about it. But now that it's been put to you more directly, you realize why you've avoided it: You haven't wanted to admit the attractiveness of the idea. "Yeah, Rosalie," you say. "I'll go back as Rosalie. But shouldn't we get everyone else settled first? That <i>is</i> why we're leaving, isn't it? You wanted to talk to me about the way I was talking to Joe?"<br/>
<br/>
"Mm-hmm," she says. "Don't you think you should leave the decision to Joe?"<br/>
<br/>
You slouch in the seat. She's right. You'd decided to give them their more freedom, and told them as much. But you're still feeling argumentative. "We're supposed to be cooperating. And I'm the boss. Aren't I?"<br/>
<br/>
"I kind of thought that was <i>my</i> job," she says with slight acid. "Glundandra? Isn't that why you gave me that bit of <i>essentia?</i>" You bite your tongue. She continues, being very pleasant. "And you told me you didn't want me being quite so bossy, quite so <i>Chelsea-like.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Still, we should <i>consult</i> about it," you say sulkily.<br/>
<br/>
"And we <i>are</i> consulting about it, sweetie. We just need to be <i>nice</i> about it. So don't be a backseat driver, Will." She giggles. "Leave <i>that</i> to me." She strokes your thigh. "Tell me what you want for them, and leave it to me to steer them that way."<br/>
<br/>
Goose pimples run all along your body. You're feeling fully recovered from yesterday, and all your nerves are tingling from having Chelsea so close to you. So close, so available, so flirty. But you throttle the urge to fondle her. "I don't know what I want for them," you admit. "I'm not even sure I know what I want for myself."<br/>
<br/>
"Don't you want to bring Will Prescott out of the dog house?"<br/>
<br/>
"That's not as important as it had been, not with me turning myself into a new student."<br/>
<br/>
"But it's one job for us. There could be others. You want to leave that to me, deciding how the school should be run and organized?"<br/>
<br/>
You look over at her: That <i>would</i> be a job for Chelsea. You were thinking that would be a job you could do <i>as</i> her, but if you're going to let go of the reins-- "You have any ideas?"<br/>
<br/>
"Lots. There's <i>so</i> much to do, especially with Steve Patterson leaving. There's organizing some new friends for Gordon. Changing the cheerleader lineup. Making sure the right girls are going out with the right boys, and vice versa--"<br/>
<br/>
"And where would <i>I</i> fit in? With my new look and background."<br/>
<br/>
Her smile is puckish. "You're the new girl who's going to have <i>all the boys</i> fighting over you."<br/>
<br/>
"<i>Me?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Sure. We'd just have to swap out your <i>essentia,</i> give you that other set. Perelandra and Catalindria," she sighs. "You'll drive them <i>mad.</i>"</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122212221112
author_id: seuzz
title: Chelsea in Charge
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"Who decided I was going to swap my <i>essentia.</i>" You realize your voice is very shrill, but you can't help it.<br/>
<br/>
"Obviously it hasn't been decided <i>yet,</i> Will," she says soothingly. "I'm just tossing out a possibility. But it makes sense. A new girl. A beautiful new girl--that's the Perelandra--who makes everyone spit and fizz when she's around. That's the Catalindria."<br/>
<br/>
"Rick said Aparijita's specialty was manna," you say. "Drawing in power and passing it on to others."<br/>
<br/>
"I wasn't there then," she reminds you. "Maybe I'm getting carried away. But it's like Joe's idea about Mr. Hagerman. Think big, think strange, think things that wouldn't occur to you."<br/>
<br/>
"Fine," you grumble. "I could be Mr. Fernandez, then."<br/>
<br/>
"I said 'think strange', not 'think stupid'. You don't want to change your <i>essentia?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"I like what I've got," you say stubbornly. "It's got me this far."<br/>
<br/>
"Okay," she says serenely. "But I still like the idea of a new girl stirring things up. We could make a new face for-- What did you say her name was?"<br/>
<br/>
"Aparijita."<br/>
<br/>
"Well, <i>that's</i> got to change," Chelsea says firmly. "It's exotic, but no one will remember it. As for <i>Rosalie--</i>"<br/>
<br/>
But she doesn't have any ideas, not immediately, for the role you would play in the new dispensation.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
As Chelsea has suggested that "Rosalie" should be a hippie-bohemian type, you hit various thrift stores, and pick up a sloppy but stylish ensemble: tie-dyed t-shirts, buckskin vests, torn jeans, soft leather boots. You draw the line at a bangled and feathered head-band though. "She's not a Cherokee princess," you insist.<br/>
<br/>
"She could be," Chelsea dimples, but doesn't insist.<br/>
<br/>
When not cooing over clothes, you talk about who your team will turn into golems. "The lacrosse team at school," Chelsea says. "A player there for Frank. That would be a natural connection for 'Jordan' to have back at Westside. Get Danny Russo for Joe, that'd be a good fit for him."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know Danny Russo."<br/>
<br/>
"You wouldn't," she says after a moment's thought. "He's goofy, like Joe. I think Joe likes his 'idiot' act. That's one reason he wants Dane Matthias. But we should also get him a brainiac." She gives you a sidelong glance. "Geoff Mansfield, maybe?"<br/>
<br/>
You stiffen. <i>Mansfield.</i> The guy who took Lisa Yarborough away from you. You've not thought of him or Lisa in a long time.<br/>
<br/>
You're startled by how fresh the wound still feels.<br/>
<br/>
"Or maybe you want the new girl to mess with him," Chelsea says when you don't reply.<br/>
<br/>
She keeps talking, but you're lost in thoughts that wander uselessly without settling anyplace.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
She drops you off afterward at the Strausslers' with several large bags of clothes and returns home. You find Joe--in Jonathan's mask--back in the game room, shooting pool. "I need to find a new face," he says brusquely as you join him. "Jonathan has had to be very anti-social lately."<br/>
<br/>
"So bring Monique out. I can disappear."<br/>
<br/>
"Where?"<br/>
<br/>
"I dunno," you sigh. "Maybe I should go back as myself for a few days, get out of your way."<br/>
<br/>
"You're not in the way," he says in a way that suggests he's trying to mean it, and not fully succeeding. "Just pick me a new place, and you can take over for Jonathan until you're ready to move."<br/>
<br/>
"You pick," you say. "Chelsea said something about-- No, you just pick."<br/>
<br/>
"Should be someone connected to you, right?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm gonna come back as a new student." You tense. "A new girl. I'm gonna use Rosalie's face."<br/>
<br/>
He's taking a shot as you say that, and in his surprise he misses his target. "Whoa," he gasps. "That's thinking outside the box."<br/>
<br/>
"It was Chelsea's idea. I liked it." You pause. "Do you like her ideas?"<br/>
<br/>
"I liked the ideas I had while I was playing her today."<br/>
<br/>
"So go for them. I mean it. Chelsea and I talked while we were out."<br/>
<br/>
He smiles thinly. "She's good at talking people around to her point of view, isn't she?"<br/>
<br/>
"And she hasn't even gotten acquainted with her <i>ousiarchs</i> yet." You shake your head. "What'll she be like when she does?"<br/>
<br/>
"She'll be like someone I want on <i>our</i> side." He sinks two balls with one stroke, then straightens up. "You put Glundandra and Eldibria into her. You put Frank into that jock brother of hers. I guess that's the pattern we should be following. Give us new faces that fit with who we <i>are.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"She wants to bring Aparijita in as a new student too," you tell him. "A girl who will steal every guy from all of their girlfriends, and totally fuck up the social scene."<br/>
<br/>
He guffaws. "Nice. But if that's the pattern, then I guess that rules out Dane Matthias for me."<br/>
<br/>
"Dane's a nice guy. So are you, Joe. He'd fit."<br/>
<br/>
"Mr. Hagerman would fit me better. Teacher. Of Language Arts, too."<br/>
<br/>
"So take him. I shouldn't have argued. I didn't mean to. I was just surprised."<br/>
<br/>
"I'll do that, then. I'll take Dane, too, as a golem, so I can be with you guys without it looking weird."<br/>
<br/>
"Things always look weird with Dane."<br/>
<br/>
He looks up at you. You smile at him. He smiles back. The tension finally breaks as you both begin to laugh.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
The two of you talk over logistics and quickly outline a plan; while Joe calls Chelsea, asking her to come back over, you copy your <i>anima</i> into a fresh band. "All you have to do is get it onto Hagerman," you tell Chelsea after she's arrived. "He'll probably know what to do, but tell him to come over here tomorrow after school so we can fix Joe up."<br/>
<br/>
But she's staring at slab of sheet metal with your advanced sigils. "We'll be well established at the school by then," she says. "We should move the operations up there. The loft, you know?"<br/>
<br/>
<i>The loft.</i> That's a room over the gym where the top athletes hang out; it's known around Westside as "the fuck room." "Aren't there still people who go up there?"<br/>
<br/>
"Steve Patterson will be gone next week," Chelsea says. "I can get Gordon to get rid of Jason, and then it'll just be the two of us. If you come over around four-thirty or five--"<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, I can give us a ride then," Jonathan says.<br/>
<br/>
It makes sense, so you agree, and help them move the "operating table" to Joe's truck so he can take it up there immediately.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
It's Thursday afternoon, after classes and practices have ended. It's been weeks since you've been to your school--in your own body, at least--and the campus looks both familiar and alien as you and Jonathan pull into the mostly deserted parking lot next to the gym. "Are you going to be okay," he asks as you get out. "Changing Frank's face was real hard for you, I know--"<br/>
<br/>
"I'll be okay," you say, though you aren't looking forward to the effort. "I'm just looking at this place, and it's--" You shrug. "It's quite a homecoming."<br/>
<br/>
"The prodigal son returns," Jonathan grins. "And this time, he's got a posse."<br/>
<br/>
You smile thinly.<br/>
<br/>
The gym is empty, and the steps up to the loft creak under your footsteps. Inside, it's dirty and unkempt, smelling like stale beer and cast-off gym clothes. Old crates full of athletic equipment are stacked everywhere; the paint is peeling; and the only two real comforts are a pile of gym mats in the center and a dorm refrigerator in the corner. Chelsea and Mr. Hagerman are already there; the girl smiles brightly, but the teacher shifts uneasily.<br/>
<br/>
He's a big guy, almost six-two, with a mane of blonde hair and a shapely torso tucked into faded Levis and a button-down shirt; his physique leaves little doubt that he works out. "Hey man," he says, jerking his chin at you. "Haven't seen you around in a while."<br/>
<br/>
"Likewise. Well, shall we get started?"<br/>
<br/>
But he doesn't move. "You know what this is going to be like for me," he says, and shifts on his feet.<br/>
<br/>
"You won't feel anything," you say.<br/>
<br/>
"No. I mean--" He rubs his temple.<br/>
<br/>
<i>He means that it will be like killing himself, for the </i>anima<i> riding around inside him is going to cease to exist when the spell is complete.</i><br/>
<br/>
You bite your lip. You don't want to have to wrestle this guy into submission; Joe might not be able to take him, and you doubt you and Chelsea could help. Fortunately, you don't have to argue. Chelsea puts her arm around him, and reaches up to cradle his face. "It'll be okay, sweetie," she says.<br/>
<br/>
"You <i>know</i>--" he argues.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, I know," she says. She strokes his cheek. "But you know why it has to be this way. What it's for." Hagerman looks over at Jonathan with a pinched expression. "Will," Chelsea says. "Isn't there a way of making it work for him? Of merging his <i>anima</i> with Joe's, so that it's not like--"<br/>
<br/>
"I could try," you say. "I <i>will</i> try."<br/>
<br/>
"You see?" Chelsea says. "Everything will be okay." She runs her hand over his face. He closes his eyes as she brushes his cheeks and his brow--<br/>
<br/>
And then he falls to the ground as she rips the <i>anima</i> band from his forehead. "Quick, get his <i>imago</i> off before he comes to," she hisses.<br/>
<br/>
The brutality shocks you. "I thought I was supposed to--"<br/>
<br/>
"It wouldn't work, Will," she snaps. "Hurry up. That was just a song and dance to get him to lower his guard. Really, we shouldn't be using these things." She tosses the band away. "More trouble than they're worth."</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222122211121
author_id: seuzz
title: No Rest for the Wicked
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You and Jonathan exchange an uneasy glance, then set to work. You take the "operating table" out from the corner where the two of you had hidden it last night, and pull Mr. Hagerman onto it; Chelsea arranges masks and bottles and golem dolls in all the necessary spots. Joe takes off Jonathan's mask, opens the <i>Libra</i> and lays down on it. <br/>
<br/>
What follows is an encore performance of what you did for Frank. And, as with that performance, it leaves you exhausted and unconscious.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You lay for a very long time in a fetal position, squeezing your eyes shut against the light. Your head throbs, as though there's something alive inside it, trying to break through the skull like it's an egg shell. When you stretch a limb, you tremble.<br/>
<br/>
It's so much damn work, merging <i>imago.</i> It's not something you can take a break while doing; you have to start and finish it all in one session. It drains you so completely that it leaves you wondering if you are dying.<br/>
<br/>
You're not dying, are you?<br/>
<br/>
Well, you recovered from working on Frank. Eventually you'll recover from working on Joe.<br/>
<br/>
How long have you been out? You don't want to open your eyes to find out. You just lay there, trying not to breathe too hard.<br/>
<br/>
But your limbs twitch now and then, and you hear a creak as of footsteps, and something settles near you. "Are you awake, Will?" a soft voice asks. <i>Chelsea's voice.</i><br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, you awake you little fuck?" a harsher voice demands.<br/>
<br/>
Your eyes pop open, and your head reels as you twist around to look up. Gordon Black glares down at you.<br/>
<br/>
"Shut up, Gordon," Chelsea says. "He doesn't feel well."<br/>
<br/>
Gordon shrugs and turns away.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Gross.</i> By the stench, you can tell you're still in the fuck room. You don't want to look weak and pathetic in front of the captain of the basketball team--even if he's a golem under your partner's control--and sit up shakily. "What's going on?" you mutter.<br/>
<br/>
"It's morning, Will," Chelsea says. "We were going to wake you up, because we need to get you out of here."<br/>
<br/>
"Morning? I was out all night?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yep. We thought about moving you after it got dark, but decided to let you spend the night here, as long as you were sleeping. Gordon and I stayed with you."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Yeesh.</i> You rub your eyes and temples and glance between them. Chelsea is suited out in her cheerleading ensemble--soft cloth in scarlets and golds--and Gordon's dressed in shorts and a muscle shirt.<br/>
<br/>
"Is it time for practice yet?" you ask in a thick voice. "I should get back to Straussler's--"<br/>
<br/>
"Exactly," Chelsea says. "Gordon, a little help?"<br/>
<br/>
He smiles nastily and yanks you to your feet; for a moment you fear your head is going to snap off your neck, so loosely does it feel attached. But Chelsea speaks sharply to her docile beau, and more gently he supports you as he guides you to the door and down the steps. "Take him to Jonathan Straussler's, then come right back," Chelsea yells after him.<br/>
<br/>
So he guides you out to his classic VW Bug--that oddly inappropriate vehicle of his--and wedges you into the front seat. You close your eyes and lean against the window, and wrinkle your nose against the pungent fumes that fill the cabin as it growls its way out of the parking lot. "How are you doing, Gordon?" you ask him after a long lull during which no one has spoken.<br/>
<br/>
"Maintaining. Do we have to talk?"<br/>
<br/>
"No. Not if you don't want to."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't." But then he continues. "I can't figure out what's going on, or where you figure in it."<br/>
<br/>
"You don't have to. Just do what Chelsea says."<br/>
<br/>
"Like I have a choice,"  he says bitterly. "And what's with you? You don't feel as repulsive as you usually do, Prescott."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Heh.</i> He thinks you're your own golem, which still has the hex on it. "You'll see me at school later, and I'll be normal. Don't worry."<br/>
<br/>
"I'd take you out to the river now and drown you, but I have a feeling Chelsea wouldn't like that."<br/>
<br/>
And that's the reason you haven't taken the hex off your doppelganger yet. It's the only thing keeping him safe from people like Gordon and Jason Lynch and The Molester and Kirkham and ...<br/>
<br/>
Your list of enemies is depressingly long.<br/>
<br/>
But justice will be coming soon.<br/>
<br/>
It would start coming sooner if you put yourself inside Chelsea. But you don't feel strong enough for that.<br/>
<br/>
But you might feel better if you did. <i>She's</i> not hung over from performing a humdinger of a spell.<br/>
<br/>
But you promised to stay out of them except when necessary.<br/>
<br/>
Back and forth you go, as the car rocks through traffic. You're not well enough to make a decision, and that proves a decision in its own right. Gordon helps you into Straussler's deserted quarters--they must have put his mask back onto the golem last night--and you go upstairs and collapse on his bed.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
A phone rings around five. You've risen and taken some pills and eaten something and showered, so you're feeling much better as you answer. You tell Chelsea as much, since it's her calling. "Well enough to come eat with us?" she asks. "Us is me and Jordan." She giggles. "And Mr. Hagerman will be meeting us."<br/>
<br/>
You agree, naturally, for you're curious to see the results of the operation. They pick you up thirty minutes later, and you drive over to Le Jardin, a frou-frou salad place.<br/>
<br/>
Hagerman--Joe in his altered body--is already there, and you do a double take when you see him. It's Hagerman alright, not Joe, but there's a feeling of familiarity to him. Maybe it's Joe's own golden light peeking through. Maybe it's the vague resemblance Joe and Hagerman already shared: that blonde, healthy, handsome look. But now that you see the results as you slide into a chair next to him, you can see why Joe picked his form for himself. "How are you, Mr. Hagerman," you politely ask.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm doing great. Nice to see you too, Will," he smiles, and nods at Chelsea. "My favorite students."<br/>
<br/>
"We never had you," Chelsea says. "You joined the school only two years ago."<br/>
<br/>
"But I see you around. You're hard to miss."<br/>
<br/>
"Is he what you expected," you ask as you study the menu. Nothing looks good.<br/>
<br/>
"Pretty much. Glad it's Friday."<br/>
<br/>
"What's on Friday?"<br/>
<br/>
"Clubbing." He grins raffishly. He looks around; the place is mostly deserted, so your group can talk freely. "Maybe we could find you guys some twenty-year-old bodies. Well, I guess <i>Jordan</i> could get in with a fake ID--"<br/>
<br/>
"That's why you picked that guy, isn't it, Joe?" Jordan says. "So you could be the older one."<br/>
<br/>
"The thought had crossed my mind," Hagerman laughs. "But speaking of fake IDs, we should talk about you, Will. I took the liberty of taking Rick's mask home with me. He'd know how to rig you up the fake documents you need for your new identity."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't feel like dealing with that just yet," you say. "Give me a chance to recover, won't you?"<br/>
<br/>
"You could give me names and biographical background," he replies. "It'd take a few days, probably, to make you what you need."<br/>
<br/>
You look over at Chelsea. "You're the one basically designing the girl. What do you think?"<br/>
<br/>
"Do you want parents? A single mother, maybe?" she asks. "We'd have to manufacture one for you."<br/>
<br/>
"Is there another way of doing it? I don't want to waste a golem."<br/>
<br/>
"We were talking about having thirty-six of them," Jordan says. "Would it be a waste?"<br/>
<br/>
"Would you waste one of yours on a mother for me?" you retort. He makes a face. "Right. Is there some other way."<br/>
<br/>
"You could be an orphan waif taken in by the Strausslers," Hagerman suggests. "Or you could rent a cheap apartment and take on a full-time job outside of school. Waitressing or something."<br/>
<br/>
<i>Ugh.</i> "A real life, in other words," you mutter.<br/>
<br/>
"Doesn't have to be yours, not full time," Hagerman says with a shrug. "You can have other identities inside Westside. Leave Rosalie or whatever her name is going to be to support herself outside school while you go home or go to parties as other people."<br/>
<br/>
"Can he enroll in school without parents?" Chelsea asks.<br/>
<br/>
"He'll need a transcript, parents' permission, and contact info for them," Hagerty says. "That can be faked without manufacturing the parents themselves." He looks at you. "They could be out of state, and <i>I</i> could sponsor you. We could explain you're the son--"<br/>
<br/>
"Daughter," you correct.<br/>
<br/>
"--of some friends of mine. That would make it easier, since I could talk to Sagansky directly about it."<br/>
<br/>
It seems doable, and is the kind of thing that would give you some independence as well, so you agree. You all order dinner, and then set to work sketching up a biography. <br/>
<br/>
Rosalie Martin, you decide her name will be. Widowed father has just taken a job that puts him on the road, so he has arranged for Rob Hagerman--a friend of his college-age son--to watch out for her while she goes to school in Saratoga Falls. The necessary documents should be easy to make.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Frank and Joe, in their altered bodies, go off together while Chelsea drives you back to the Strausslers' afterward. "You gonna be okay by yourself," she asks.<br/>
<br/>
"I'll have to be. I'll be bored, though."<br/>
<br/>
"You could come to school."<br/>
<br/>
"Not with Gordon and them." You tell her what her dummy boyfriend said on the drive that morning. <br/>
<br/>
"I meant as me," she says. "I was going to have fun tomorrow. I was going to capture Kim Walsh."<br/>
<br/>
"Tomorrow is Saturday," you point out.<br/>
<br/>
"No rest for the wicked. Wanna hang out? Real close?" She runs her fingertips lightly up your thigh.</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221222111211
author_id: seuzz
title: Gossip Girls
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"I guess we could do that. As long as you're <i>offering,</i>" you say, emphasizing that it would be her choice.<br/>
<br/>
"I've been thinking about how we should run things," she says. "We are all basically the same person, what with shared <i>anima,</i> and all having Will Prescott's memories. I mean, I still do think of myself as being him. As being <i>you.</i>" She snickers. "Even though it's a lot of fun having Chelsea around me. But we should stay synchronized, and you're the only one who can keep us all ticking to the same beat."<br/>
<br/>
"Makes sense," you allow. You're glad that <i>she's</i> the one to have made the point.<br/>
<br/>
"But you have to do a favor for me," she adds in a more serious tone. "When you're inside me, you have <i>listen</i> to me, try to see and think things from my point of view. So <i>you're</i> synched with me, too."<br/>
<br/>
That shouldn't be hard. Probably it would be pleasant. As your alter ego has said, it's gotta be fun having Chelsea wrapped around your psyche. "But are we going to try talking Joe and Frank into letting me 'synch' with them? I told them--"<br/>
<br/>
"Leave that to me," she says. "I'll talk to them. With you on the outside, so they know it's coming from me and not from you."<br/>
<br/>
You agree, and tell her that you'll step in for her tomorrow. "Bright and early, if you want the full experience" she says. "I'm an early riser."<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
But you're not, and it's nearly nine-thirty when you crawl out of the sleeping bag. The Jonathan Straussler golem is sliding keys and wallet into his pocket as you blink up at him. "Where're you going," you mumble.<br/>
<br/>
"Hang out with friends," he says. "Wanna come with?" He doesn't enthusiastic.<br/>
<br/>
"I got other plans. I'll be up in your bedroom." You rub the sleep from your face.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't make a mess," he says, and makes a face. You make a face back at him.<br/>
<br/>
Despite the hour and your eagerness to take advantage of Chelsea's offer, you clean up and dress and eat before running up the stairs. Jonathan's bed is made, and you slide into the sheets, propping yourself up comfortably. You take a deep breath, and run your hand over your face until the control sigil and the sigils of your puppets appear. <i>Chelsea Cooper.</i> You tremble slightly as you reach for it.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
The steering wheel jerks a little under your hand. <i>Dammit.</i> That's the problem with jumping into remote bodies, you think reflect as you get the car back into its lane. You never know where you're going to show up.<br/>
<br/>
It takes you a moment to figure out where you are and what's going on? Where are you going? <i>Oh yeah, up to the school, where the supplies are.</i> A light pop song is playing on the car stereo, and you fall back into humming along with it while you finish acclimating to your new location. It's a bright but cold day, and you're bundled up in a sweater and scarf and cute little cap. It took you almost thirty minutes to put this ensemble together, even though it's not a school day. You wanted to look just right for when--<br/>
<br/>
A little shiver runs through you as you recognize how easy it is to slip into "your" memories. You nestle down a little further inside Chelsea, and "listen," as she'd asked you too.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Hmm.</i> Neither she nor Frank had mentioned the little "breakthrough" they had made while meditating on Thursday night. She had found her <i>ousiarchs.</i> Eldibria, a deep world of murky layers and strong cross currents. She had dipped into it, and been whipped around by winds and waves, and Frank, who was with her, had had to drag her back out again. "That's gonna be a tough one," he'd said afterward. "Everything I've heard about Elidibria-- Well, let's just say that if you don't master it, it will master you."<br/>
<br/>
And then there had been Glundandra. Of that one you only have an impression of a memory, not a memory itself. It had been vast, and Chelsea had been too timid to approach it. She'd described it to Frank afterward as a courtyard. "It was huge," she'd murmured. "And there were walls and towers, but they were so big that I couldn't see them."<br/>
<br/>
"That's another one that'll be hard," he'd said. "It sound like you'll have to grow into it."<br/>
<br/>
But she had gone to bed feeling thrilled at having made her first tentative step into the esoteric world of the planets. <i>I'm going to be a queen.</i> She had actually thought that to herself.<br/>
<br/>
And <i>that</i>, it occurs to you, is why she wanted to have a merger with you. She's going to be a queen, but you are going to be the "boss" of the group. She wants to be very close to you, so that she can--<br/>
<br/>
Your mouth tightens into a grim line. <i>She wants to erase as much of a line between you as she can.</i><br/>
<br/>
Well, there's nothing wrong with that. Erasing the line means that you'll be as fully her as she will be fully you. It's to your mutual advantage to be so close. You worm your butt more firmly down into the heated seat.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Your phone tweeted twice during the drive, but you ignored it, and not until you pull into the parking lot at school do you check the messages. One is from Gordon: <i>We getting 2gether?</i> You sigh. It's been almost ten days since Chelsea has put out for her boyfriend, and the golem, true to its original's personality, has been growing tetchy. You wonder if you should take a bullet for your teammate by relieving him of his anxiety.<br/>
<br/>
The other is from Kendra Saunders, one of the cheerleaders and one of Chelsea's trusted goons: <i>Jamie's party. OMG!</i><br/>
<br/>
Your heart leaps excitedly. "Jamie" is Jamie Bornholm, one of the girls on the swim team. Kendra wormed her way into a party at her house last night, and this will be the after-action report. You quickly call her while walking up to the side door of the gym. "Hey girl," you chirp. "Got your message. What happened?"<br/>
<br/>
Kendra is breathlessly excited, and you squeal along with her as she shares the dirt. "Jamie was totally out of control!" Kendra exults.<br/>
<br/>
"She got drunk?" you gasp.<br/>
<br/>
"No, I mean she couldn't control things. Too many people were there. Too many closed doors, and people weren't letting her open them!" Kendra laughs.<br/>
<br/>
You snicker. "Did <i>you</i> get them open?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, but I kept an eye on them. Where do I start? I know who to save for last, though!"<br/>
<br/>
"Don't be like this, Kendra. Tell me!"<br/>
<br/>
"Well, Laurent Delacroix and Christine Coolidge, for one."<br/>
<br/>
"That's boring." You cluck your tongue. "Honestly, Laurent's just-- Wait, is this the first time that they've--?"<br/>
<br/>
"I think so."<br/>
<br/>
"So it's just another notch for him. And Christine, too. That's a waste. She's so <i>bony</i> and--" You whinny like a horse.<br/>
<br/>
"I know! Jamie had carrot sticks out, too, and when I saw her eating one--" You both dissolve in laughter. "But okay, there was also Michael Allen and Catherine Muskov, but they're an item already. And they didn't disappear, they just went off in a corner and ate each other's faces off.<br/>
<br/>
"Gross. But come on, who--"<br/>
<br/>
"Okay, okay." She pauses, and you can visualize the grin on her face. "Amanda Ferguson was there, but Ricky Golia <i>wasn't.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"That's news?" You're up in the loft by now, and reports about who <i>wasn't</i> making out are less interesting than the contents of the supply cabinet you're opening. "What about Kelsey and Keith Hennepin? Were they--?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, neither one was there. But here's the thing about Amanda. She <i>did</i> disappear into a bedroom."<br/>
<br/>
That catches your attention. "Who with?"<br/>
<br/>
"Fred. Hildown."<br/>
<br/>
"Whoa! Are you serious?" You fall back against a crate. "She's been stringing Ricky along since they were juniors. Do you suppose--?"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know, I didn't listen at the door. But Fred, he's definitely more her type--"<br/>
<br/>
"No, Ricky's her type, because she can boss him around and she thinks he's going to be a congressman or something."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, but Fred's smart too, and he looks a <i>hell</i> of a lot better in shorts."<br/>
<br/>
"Mmm." You roll the thought around in your mouth. "And he's <i>nice,</i> too." You cluck your tongue again, distastefully. "I wonder if she thinks--"<br/>
<br/>
That leads to a long discussion of the kind of guy Amanda probably thinks she wants: Smart and ambitious and hot, but not so much of an alpha and not so much of a hottie that she can't dominate him. You exchange ideas of who she might pursue, and whether she might actually dump Ricky or if she's just going to cheat on him behind his back, and whether she's been cheating on him before with other guys. "This is <i>definitely</i> something to keep an eye on, Kendra," you tell her.<br/>
<br/>
"Amanda doesn't like me," Kendra says. "She doesn't like you either, Chelsea," she adds.<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, I have ways," you lightly retort. <i>Indeed you do,</i> for you are holding and fondling a blank mask. "But was that the big news?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, I've got two more. Scott Bickelmeier? And Jessica Garner?"<br/>
<br/>
"No! Did they--?"<br/>
<br/>
"Uh huh."<br/>
<br/>
"They've been hanging out together for weeks now," you observe. "So this could mean-- Maybe we need to stage an intervention with Jessica. He's all wrong for her, you know."<br/>
<br/>
"Everyone is wrong for Jessica," Kendra agrees.<br/>
<br/>
"We wouldn't be her friends if--" But you can't finish the sentence with a straight face. Chelsea and Jessica loathe each other. "So that's the big one?"<br/>
<br/>
"No, the big one is who was there and who wasn't. Like Amanda and Ricky. And who the one who was there went into a bedroom with."<br/>
<br/>
"You're awful, Kendra!" You jump up and down on the balls of your feet. "Christmas is coming! Don't make me wait!"<br/>
<br/>
"Alright, Chelsea. But sit down before I tell you." She lets you hang a moment. "Seth was there. But Cindy wasn't." The world darkens a little as it reels. "And Seth disappeared with <i>Yumi.</i>"</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122212221112111
author_id: seuzz
title: Chelsea's First Capture
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Seth Javits and Yumi Saito? That's shocking in lots of ways, and words fail you. Kendra asks if you're still there. "Yeah, I'm here," you reply. "Oh my God! Are you <i>sure?</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"They definitely went off alone," Kendra says with a knowing primness. "I didn't listen at any keyholes or anything--"<br/>
<br/>
"But Cindy's been in really bad shape since her sister died," you say, and are haunted by a feeling of guilt. No, you didn't kill Lucy Vredenburg, that was Blackwell, and he's paid for his crimes now. But you're the one who made her death public by staging an accident that put Lucy's golem in her grave.<br/>
<br/>
And Cindy has since withdrawn from almost all social life. Chelsea found it a relief when Cindy (who has always acted as a kind of rival) quit the cheerleading squad without even being forced off: It meant that Chelsea didn't have to worry about her, or about coddling her feelings. But as far as anyone knew, Cindy was still dating Seth, her long-time beau.<br/>
<br/>
But if Seth is now cheating on her-- "I guess Seth couldn't take dealing with her anymore," Kendra says, giving voice to your thoughts.<br/>
<br/>
"But Yumi and Cindy are friends. At least, they're supposed to be."<br/>
<br/>
"We're <i>all</i> supposed to be friends," Kendra says with no little acid in her voice.<br/>
<br/>
"You know what I mean, Kendra. Maybe Seth and Yumi just went off to talk."<br/>
<br/>
"At a party?" Kendra demands. "Get real, Chelsea. Anyway, it's not a good idea for Yumi to be seen <i>going off alone</i> with one of his girlfriend's girl friends, into a bedroom where--"<br/>
<br/>
"You mean it's not a good idea for her to be seen by <i>you</i> going off alone," you retort. Your lips twitch into a smirk. <i>No, it's definitely the kind of thing that Chelsea and her clique could use against Yumi.</i> "Who else have you told?"<br/>
<br/>
"Just you, Chelsea."<br/>
<br/>
"Don't bullshit me, Kendra. Who have you told?"<br/>
<br/>
"No one!"<br/>
<br/>
"Then keep it quiet. Don't tell <i>anyone.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"What's the fun in that?" Kendra whines. "That little self-righteous bitch--"<br/>
<br/>
"She's got it coming, but we have to be careful." You stroke the mask thoughtfully. "Trust me, Kendra. She'll pay for being a tramp and a slut with Cindy's boyfriend--poor Cindy!--and we'll be the ones that make her pay. But we have to wait. <i>We</i> can't be the ones that spread it around. We have to be shocked when we hear about it after everyone else has started talking about it."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh my God!" Kendra sound suitably boggled. "What are you planning, Chelsea. You're not going to put Gordon onto Seth, are you?"<br/>
<br/>
"When was I ever stupid about these things, Kendra? Let's see, given the people you mentioned were there, I'm betting that Kim Walsh was at the party too?" Kendra grunts an affirmative. "Perfect. I need to meet with her today anyway."<br/>
<br/>
"Kim didn't see anything, Chelsea," Kendra whines. "Kim never sees anything--"<br/>
<br/>
"Didn't she, Kendra?" you ask meaningfully. "<i>Didn't</i> she see anything?"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm pretty sure she didn't."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm pretty sure she did. It's just a matter of <i>reminding her</i>--"<br/>
<br/>
But you clap your mouth shut. It doesn't do to let Kendra know what her boss and mentor intends or how she intends to encompass her ends. You quickly wrap up the conversation by telling her to trust you, and reminding her to <i>not breathe a word</i> about Seth and Yumi.<br/>
<br/>
"What about the others?" Kendra asks with a pout in her voice.<br/>
<br/>
You give her permission to share about the others, then hang up. You immediately call Gordon, and tell him to meet you in the loft. But before calling Kim Walsh, you cross your arms and murmur to yourself. "What do you think, Chelsea? Am I handling it like you would?" You feel no answering twinge or echo, which you take as a sign that you and the double inhabiting Chelsea's mind and body are perfectly in synch. With immense satisfaction, you phone the president of the student council.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Kim Walsh is a small, slim, strawberry redhead, with skin so pale it almost translucent. In her green wool cap and blue scarf she looks almost like an elf. It's too bad, you reflect as you eye her critically, that the effect is ruined by the puffy coat.<br/>
<br/>
And she's looking rather pinched in the face. "What's this about, Chelsea," she bluntly asks, and her voice echoes in the gym. "And why do we have to meet here?"<br/>
<br/>
"Because it's a matter of some delicacy, Kim," you retort. "I want to see you privately, upstairs." You indicate the steps to the loft. She follows you with obvious distaste. Like everyone else at Westside, she knows who uses the room, and for what.<br/>
<br/>
As soon as you're inside the loft you pick up the mask from the crate where you'd put it. Gordon closes the door, and as you'd instructed him beforehand, he grabs Kim from behind in his arms. She squeals in surprise, but that's all she has time to do before you slam the mask onto her face. It vanishes into her, and she sags into unconsciousness.<br/>
<br/>
"Put her down, Gordon," you say. "On the gym mat."<br/>
<br/>
"The hell did you do to her?" Gordon demands.<br/>
<br/>
"Nothing that concerns you. Or, actually, I guess it will. Just keep quiet. Don't tell <i>anyone</i> what you're about to see."<br/>
<br/>
He grumbles while you try to keep busy fussing with the various containers you need to complete the replacement. Kim will prove very useful. Everyone likes her and trusts her, because she <i>never</i> abuses their confidences, and is always and obviously kind-hearted. <i>No one</i> will suspect that she is secretly working for Chelsea Cooper.<br/>
<br/>
No one will suspect that she actually <i>is</i> Chelsea Cooper. What you have in mind is something you don't want to trust to a golem, so you'll be playing her part for the next few days, probably.<br/>
<br/>
When the mask comes out of her, you lay it aside and put the golemized mask of Chelsea Cooper onto her. Gordon sucks in a sharp breath, and the floorboards squeak as he takes a step back. The other Chelsea opens her eyes and sits up. "What do you think, Gordon?" you ask him with a grin. "Would two of me be too much for you to handle?"<br/>
<br/>
"The fuck?" he whispers. "She looks--"<br/>
<br/>
"Just like me? Yeah. Didn't you suspect I was a little bit of a witch? The new guys I've been hanging out with have been teaching me a few tricks. She can act just like me too. Can't you, Chelsea?"<br/>
<br/>
"If I have to," the other Chelsea dimples back. "I guess that's my job now."<br/>
<br/>
"But isn't that Kim?" Gordon swallows heavily.<br/>
<br/>
"Don't worry about it, Gordon," you say as you sweep up Kim's mask and start to seal up its insides. "It's above your pay grade. Just treat her like she's me. She'll treat you the same way. You <i>both</i> have to do what I say."<br/>
<br/>
"So what's the plan, girlfriend?" the other Chelsea asks of you, and starts to pull off her clothes. "Besides getting changed."<br/>
<br/>
You'd charged the mask with your most recent memories after calling Kim, so your double is up to speed. "Do whatever you think has to be done, about anyone and anything," you tell her. "Keep out of the Seth and Yumi business, though. I'll be handling that myself."<br/>
<br/>
"You get to have all the fun," she grumbles back.<br/>
<br/>
"But if she's you," Gordon asks, "what are <i>you--</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"Someone has to be Kim," you reply, and blow dry the sealant. "Don't yelp when you see what happens next." You drop down cross-legged onto the mat and lift the mask to your face. Kim Walsh's name burns brightly on the inside as you put it on.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You are cold--very cold--when you wake again. That's not a surprise when you sit up, for you find that you are naked; a pile of clothes that you recognize as Kim's--that you recognize as your own--lays nearby. Gordon is standing in a corner, looking like he wants to disappear. "Where's Chelsea?" you muzzily ask, and paw at your new clothes. "Gordon," you demand when he doesn't answer. "It's me. Chelsea. Where's the other one? Did she take off?"<br/>
<br/>
He swallows hard and nods. "She, uh, took your things and--" His eyes look like they're going to bug out of his head. "I asked her if she wanted to, you know, uh--"<br/>
<br/>
"And she told you not to be stupid, right?" That's exactly what you'd have told him under in the circumstances. "Let me get dressed and I'll-- What?" You're now a little rattled by the way he keeps staring at you.<br/>
<br/>
"You look just like Kim," he says. "Is that really you, Chels?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes, it's me," you sigh. "It's just a disguise. A total disguise. I've even got her--" You stop as you see the front of his jeans start to steeple. "Oh my God, Gordon, are you getting an erection?"<br/>
<br/>
He turns a furious crimson.<br/>
<br/>
And you feel yourself smirking. <i>Well, why not?</i> His balls have been turning blue recently, and it would be quite a coup for Kim Walsh if she-- "You wanna fuck me, Gordon? Are you hot for Kim?" He obviously doesn't know how to answer that. "Come on, Gordon. Come over here. I'm cold, and you are <i>so hot.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
But even as he staggers over, you're distracted by thoughts of what to do next. Concentrate on Yumi and the other gossip that Kendra shared with you? Or use Kim to find a new partner/receptacle for the last batch of <i>essentia</i> you have on hand?</span></div></div>


path: 1122111111121222212221211211221112211111221211111111111111122121222122211121112
author_id: seuzz
title: Aparijita Speaks
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>"You wanna fuck me, Gordon?" you tease him. "Are you hot for Kim?"<br/>
<br/>
"I dunno how to answer that," Gordon says as he lumbers over.<br/>
<br/>
You giggle. "You can tell the truth. I won't be pissed."<br/>
<br/>
"She's not in my top ten, I can tell you that," he says.<br/>
<br/>
"You'll have more choices," you say, and wrap your arms around him.<br/>
<br/>
"I could give you a list. Oh, hell, I'll take what's available." He sits down heavily and pulls you onto his lap. His eager kisses are sloppy.<br/>
<br/>
And you? You've got three psyches warring inside you, though none are very enthusiastic. But it's in some intersection of Chelsea's and Kim's personae that you find satisfaction. Kim is such a goody-goody; she'd never cheat with another girl's boyfriend, and she'd be far too cautious to mess with Chelsea and Gordon, even if she was attracted to the latter. But Chelsea-- Laughter bubbles inside you as you rub Chelsea's mind inside Kim's. <i>I'm Kim Walsh,</i> you think. <i>And I'm doing something Kim would </i>never<i> do.</i><br/>
<br/>
You are cold in your nakedness, and you rub yourself against Gordon, and pull off his shirt so you can rub against his hot skin. You unzip his stiff jeans and tug them down; his thick cock springs out, touching your pussy. "Mm, Gordon," you murmur throatily. "You're so big, and I'm so tight. Unlock me. Give me what you've been giving Chelsea. Make me yours."<br/>
<br/>
He falls upon his back, and you straddle him, pressing one free hand against his cock and pushing it into your tidy little bush. He flinches--your hand must be cold--and wriggles around he can slide his tip inside you. It's a tight fit, and you gasp and groan as you settle onto him. It's like being impaled, and you grimace as he thrusts deeper inside you. You have balance up high on him as he starts to work, and you have to keep reminding yourself: <i>I'm Kim Walsh, and I'm fucking Gordon Black. I'm cheating with him behind Chelsea's back. She'd be so furious if she found out. I'm being a very bad girl, but no one will ever find out ...</i><br/>
<br/>
A few shudders of pleasures pass through you, but Gordon cums long before you've thawed and loosened up. And then it all seems very silly; and you've got things to do. You dismount him with relief, clean up the sloppiness as best you can, and get dressed. You're going to be late for work.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Kim works at Wal-Mart on weekends and after school, and works tirelessly and conscientiously. You armor yourself in her sense of duty--though you're bored to distraction as you stock and move items and help the boorish customers and chat quietly with coworkers--and remind yourself that it's all part of the pretense and part of the plan. No one, even the people outside of school, should suspect that Kim Walsh is an imposter. <br/>
<br/>
But your mind is humming busily as you go through the rote motions. You have one more set of <i>essentia</i> to put in play, and one more ex-<i>Stellae</i> to bring back. Aparijita, a professional like Rick, whose <i>ousiarchs</i> were Perelandra and Catalindria.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Perelandra</i>: That's the planet of creative influences, often identified with plant life and with procreation. Not a "fertility spirit" as such, and not an erotic one, either; but the inspiration of creation and generation. A muse, Frank had explained to Chelsea during their first meditation exercise.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Catalindria</i>: That's the planet of anarchy, evolution, and creative destruction; a wrecker of old dreams so that new ones can burst forth. "They're hard to work with," Frank had said. "I've only met a few of them. They try your patience."<br/>
<br/>
Together, Rick had told you, they gave Aparijita a manna-like ability to draw energy from the environment, store it, and share it with others. He hadn't said anything else about her personality.<br/>
<br/>
So those are three rather distinctive personality types you could find a home for: a Perelandra-like beauty; a Catalindrian troublemaker; and a combination that banks and shares (and maybe amplifies) power and energy. You wrack your brain for a Westside student who might meet all three requirements.<br/>
<br/>
Maybe it's Chelsea's own ego that suggests that Chelsea Cooper should have been the home for those.<br/>
<br/>
But then there's Aparajita's own personality to take into consideration. You don't know her; none of those in your group knew her well, since she was not, technically, a member of the <i>Stellae Errantes.</i><br/>
<br/>
It finally comes to you that the best way to choose a home for Aparijita is to let her choose it herself.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
"Frank. Jordan." The college student gives you a quizzical look as you try to figure out what to call him. It's less of a problem for Chelsea, when she's at home with him, and has to use her brother's name. But you're back in your own body, standing in a loose knot with your three partners in the loft. It took awhile to arrange this late Saturday meeting, as it involved summoning people from their various weekend pursuits as well as bringing yourself and Jonathan Straussler's golem along. The golem has vanished, as you've taken the Eastman student's mask off the thing and laid the remnants in the middle of the sigil sheet.<br/>
<br/>
"I want to borrow your body for a bit," you continue, giving up on the naming problem. "If that's okay, of course."<br/>
<br/>
"Why do you need it?" he asks. Even more than Joe, he has seized on your promise to leave people alone.<br/>
<br/>
"I'm going to bring Aparijita back," you say. "And I want to merge her memories with Chelsea's, so that she's got a set of Westside experiences. I told you, I want <i>her</i> to pick out her new body, and she has to know what the possibilities are."<br/>
<br/>
"But why do you need to use <i>my</i> body?" he stubbornly demands.<br/>
<br/>
"Because you've got more stamina, bro," Chelsea answers for you. She's out of Kim's mask temporarily. "You know how it wipes him out."<br/>
<br/>
"So it'll wipe <i>me</i> out if he uses <i>me,</i>" her brother says.<br/>
<br/>
"You can bear it better," she says.<br/>
<br/>
"You'll put in your <i>anima,</i> too, right?" says Mr. Hagerman.<br/>
<br/>
"Of course," you say. "She'll need controlling, and she'll need to know--"<br/>
<br/>
"Point is," the altered Joe Durras interrupts. "Your <i>anima</i> will also give her memories of Westside."<br/>
<br/>
"I want her to see things from Chelsea's point of view. She's got a better handle on things."<br/>
<br/>
"So, if I understand this," Joe continues patiently. "You're going to put your <i>anima</i> and Chelsea's memories and Aparijita's <i>imago</i> onto this golem."<br/>
<br/>
"Right. Why are you--?"<br/>
<br/>
"And after she picks a place?"<br/>
<br/>
"We take her apart again. We'd have to anyway, after we get her new body for her." Your brow furrows. "I already explained this. Why is it so hard for you?"<br/>
<br/>
"What I don't understand," he says, and doesn't bother to hide a smile. "What I don't get is why we have to go through all this bother. You can get the same result just by putting Aparijita's mask onto Chelsea." He nudges the cheerleader. "Will Prescott's <i>anima,</i> Chelsea's memories, and Aparijita's personality all in one package. And it's not nearly as hard."<br/>
<br/>
You glower at him. <i>He's so fucking smart.</i> But he's right, and you want to kick yourself for not seeing Joe's much easier solution. "Well, maybe I <i>want</i> to do it the hard way," you holler, and then deflate at the other's snicker. "Let's seal it up," you say as you pick the mask off the floor. "And then--"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
She's older than you remember, with finer lines about her eyes. Maybe it's because you were looking at her with Rick Bredon's eyes that she seemed very young. But Aparijita was probably nearer forty than thirty. Not that you're going to ask her, even if it is Chelsea operating her body.<br/>
<br/>
She's pacing the loft, not speaking, her eyes not taking in the room. You and the others shift awkwardly from foot to foot. You don't interrupt her, and you've nothing to say to each other. You're conscious that you're in the presence of a much more experienced user of magic, even if it is a disguise, and even if the disguise doesn't come with her <i>essentia</i> or her powers. Uneasily, you feel the temptation to slide inside Chelsea, to see what she's thinking and feeling, given that she's got a much more mature and experienced mind to explore.<br/>
<br/>
"There aren't any good choices," she says at last. There's just a tincture of an accent in her voice, which is full and throaty. "They're all such <i>children,</i>" she adds with a trace of a sneer. <br/>
<br/>
"Put her in an adult, then," Joe suggests. "A teacher? A parent? Maybe Straussler's mom?"<br/>
<br/>
"And it's all very different here in the United States," Chelsea continues in what might be a reply. "Putting her inside anyone would be a culture clash. It would have to be someone <i>mature,</i>" she adds thoughtfully. "Or someone who holds <i>aloof</i> from the crowd."<br/>
<br/>
That leaves you at a loss, and you frown at the seeming dead end. "Who would work <i>best,</i> then?" Joe asks. "Maybe someone Frank knows at the college?"<br/>
<br/>
"Andrea Varnsworth," Chelsea says. "Here at Westside, she could work. She stands apart. But Eldibria would have been a better fit for her."<br/>
<br/>
"I don't want to shift <i>essentia</i> around anymore," you protest.<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea turns to give you a very long and measured look. "I can only think of one other person who could fit with her," she says. "And you won't like it."<br/>
<br/>
You brace yourself, though you've no idea what she's going to say.<br/>
<br/>
So it's still a shock when she says it. "Lisa Yarborough."</span></div></div>


path: 11221111111212222122212112112211122111112212111111111111111221212221222111211121
author_id: seuzz
title: Checkmating the Mermaid
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>You suck in a sharp breath. <i>Lisa? Your old girlfriend? As a partner?</i><br/>
<br/>
Except she said you <i>weren't</i> boyfriend and girlfriend, when she threw you over for Geoff Mansfield.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't want to do that to her," you say, and feel yourself turning very red. "It would be like doing it to Caleb or Keith."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, it was a real nasty thing you did to <i>us,</i>" Frank says acidly.<br/>
<br/>
"You guys were--! And Lisa was--!" You wheel furiously, putting your back to the others. "It's one thing doing it to people who weren't my friends before--"<br/>
<br/>
"Are we your friends now?"<br/>
<br/>
"We <i>are</i> you, dude," Joe says. "Lisa would be too."<br/>
<br/>
"That's what would make it weird!"<br/>
<br/>
"Are you thinking of winning her back?" Joe asks. "Or of taking over Mansfield's place?"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know! I'm trying to think of the future--"<br/>
<br/>
"Which is how come we're screwing around in your old high school," Frank says. "If we're going to screw around here, we might as well screw around <i>totally.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"So maybe we should turn Caleb and Keith into golems too?" you hotly demand. Frank just shrugs.<br/>
<br/>
"They're not your friends anymore," Chelsea quietly points out.<br/>
<br/>
"Are you voting for Lisa?" you ask her.<br/>
<br/>
She shrugs. The other two perk up. "Are we taking a vote?" Joe asks. "If we are, I vote for Andrea. I see her in the hallways every day, and--"<br/>
<br/>
"Then let's put it to a vote," you say, seeing this as a way to avoid picking Lisa. "Joe picks Andrea. You two?"<br/>
<br/>
"Andrea's acceptable," says Chelsea. Simultaneously: "I don't especially care," says Frank.<br/>
<br/>
"Then it's one to zero for Andrea," you say. "I don't want a stalemate or an argument, so--"<br/>
<br/>
"I could vote for Lisa," Frank says with a smirk. "Force you to break a tie."<br/>
<br/>
"Don't be a jerk, Jordan," Chelsea says. "Andrea it is. You two should split. Will and I should talk."<br/>
<br/>
"We're just as much Will Prescott as <i>he</i> is," Frank says. But Chelsea insists, and a few minutes later it's just the two of you. She stretches out on the floor and takes Aparijita's mask off. You pick it up and regard it thoughtfully while your partner lays sleeping on the floor. You're feeling a little abashed as the implied rebukes that got said to you: <i>Children. Immature.</i> Are you wasting your time at Westside?<br/>
<br/>
That's the question you put to Chelsea when she revives. "Oh, don't ask me a question like that while I'm so muffin-headed," she replies. "You've got your head inside the others, and inside me. Don't let <i>them</i> get inside <i>your</i> head."<br/>
<br/>
"We should have talked about 'synching up' while we were all here," you say. You're actually a little less enthusiastic about that idea now, after hearing Frank talk. You wonder if you'd be much rougher--much more willing to screw with your old friends--if you were inside his brain.<br/>
<br/>
"One important talk at a time," she says. "Right now we need to figure out how to get to Andrea. Or I do. After you and I talk about--"<br/>
<br/>
"About what?" You stiffen, and not in an excited way as Chelsea edges closer to you and puts her arm around you.<br/>
<br/>
"About making you feel better. I shouldn't have mentioned Lisa."<br/>
<br/>
"I need to know what all the possibilities were," you mutter.<br/>
<br/>
"I guess. But we won't talk about that anymore. We'll talk about-- You had fun being me today, didn't you?" You grunt. "What did you like the most?"<br/>
<br/>
"Having boobs and a pussy to play with?" One of her breasts is squeezed up against you.<br/>
<br/>
"But you didn't. Except with Gordon. And that was-- <i>I</i> felt the same way, of course."<br/>
<br/>
"Naturally."<br/>
<br/>
"So what was it you liked the most?"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't know," you sigh. "Feeling connected to people and things? Feeling in charge? That talk with Kendra--"<br/>
<br/>
"That <i>was</i> fun, wasn't it?" She giggles, and squeezes you. "We could find you a face, make you a mask, so you could--"<br/>
<br/>
"I'm supposed to be coming back as Rosalie, remember?"<br/>
<br/>
"Until then, I mean."<br/>
<br/>
"Or I could ride around inside <i>you</i> some more," you say. "We have to get Andrea."<br/>
<br/>
"And I know how to do that," she says. "But tomorrow. I'll set it up, then give you a call. You can do it using my body. But I think Kim has to get home. Where's-- Oh, there it is." She scrambles over to pick up Kim's mask. There's no implied invitation to ride around with her, and after she revives she takes you back to Straussler's.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
But the invitation comes late on Sunday morning with a phone call. "I'm all set up with Andrea," Chelsea chirps. "You'll have to handle the business, since I don't really know how to do it."<br/>
<br/>
"What's the plan? You gonna pick me up?"<br/>
<br/>
"I don't have to, do I? Just move in. You'll see what I have in mind when you're here. I knew just the card to play with Andrea. She'll be here real soon, so you better hurry."<br/>
<br/>
That gets you moving, though you have to roust a late-sleeping Jonathan-golem out of bed so you can get yourself comfortable. "I was gonna get together with Monique anyway," he grumbles. You're beginning to feel anxious about moving out of his place.<br/>
<br/>
To your surprise, you find yourself in the changing rooms at the school when you materialize inside Chelsea. You're half-dressed, clutching your jeans with one hand. <i>What the hell am I--</i> You search her memories for a clue.<br/>
<br/>
<i>Oh, that's work,</i> you reflect when you find the answer. From Chelsea's bag you draw out the one-piece bathing suit--winter swim wear in place of the summer bikini--and pull it about yourself. It feels very good as it binds to your tight ass and strong tummy and firm bosom. There's a mirror in the corner of the room, and you turn around, checking yourself out happily and pulling and tugging at the hems until it's comfortable. You then stride out of the gym and over to the natatorium, leaving it unlocked for Andrea. That was Chelsea's "card": an invitation to join Chelsea at the school at the school's pool.<br/>
<br/>
It's twenty minutes before the captain of the Westside swim team arrives, and you've tired yourself out with laps. You flash your biggest smile at Andrea as she drops a bag by the side of the pool, and returns your grin with a small one of her own. "So is this the first time you've been able to do a weekend swim up here?" you ask, and can't keep the smug out of your voice.<br/>
<br/>
"I don't have a key to this place," she says simply. She peels off her jacket and jeans, exposing a one-piece swimsuit of her own. Her long, strong limbs are brown and beautifully shaped, and like your own swimsuit hers leaves nothing of her form to the imagination. She's taller than Chelsea, and tawnier in build, and her mask-like face is set in a hooded expression. Andrea is a real beauty, but she holds herself aloof from the rest of the school body; and she and Chelsea have little to say to each other. So she ignores you while executing a clean, knife-like dive into the water.<br/>
<br/>
You swim more slowly while she makes brisk, business-like laps, and before long you're worn out enough that you pull yourself out of the water and let yourself dry out on a towel. Andrea rests a few times on the far end of the pool, clutching the side without coming out, but is otherwise completely absorbed in her exercises. But she knows she has to be polite, and when you gesture to her she swims over. "You said you don't have a key," you say. "I can't believe that. You should let me give you one."<br/>
<br/>
"Are they yours to hand out?"<br/>
<br/>
You roll your eyes. "They trust <i>me</i> with one, I'm sure they'd trust <i>you.</i>"<br/>
<br/>
"I thought they gave it to Gordon."<br/>
<br/>
"Yeah, well, same thing. Come on, let's go up to the loft. We can dry off and, I don't know, talk."<br/>
<br/>
She follows you slowly across the way to the gym, and you feel yourself prickle with excitement. She's so gorgeous, and soon she's going to be one of your teammates. You hope "Aparijita" will share Andrea's body as readily as Chelsea shares hers with you. To have those legs and those arms, to be able to peer at the world from over that tilted chin-- "I have a spare key around here," you mutter when you're in the loft. "Oh, I think I put it under--" You pick up the blank mask from the crate, and rapidly spin to slap it against Andrea's face. She falls back against the doorsill, and you grab her limp body and drag her over to the sigil that's laying on the gym mats.<br/>
<br/>
You take a deep breath, and steel yourself for the labor to come.<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You feel a deep thrumming inside you, and wake to consciousness with a gasp. Merging Andrea and Aparijita had been hard, harder even than the others, and as soon as you had the last connection in place you'd felt yourself falling into an abyss. And so this waking experience frightens you, briefly.<br/>
<br/>
You struggle against what feel like bonds, but it's an embrace: Andrea, naked, is holding you tightly in her arms, her face against your neck. You squeal: "What are you doing?"<br/>
<br/>
She raises her head, and her dark eyes glint. "Are you feeling better, Will?" she asks, emphasizing the name with a little lilt. "Or do you want me to--" She grips you more tightly, and puts her open mouth to the side of your neck.</span></div></div>


path: 112211111112122221222121121122111221111122121111111111111112212122212221112111211
author_id: seuzz
title: The Battery Charger
chapter_content:
<div><div> <span>Your bones, your guts, your skin, they feel like they're full of bees: angry bees, excited bees, humming and buzzing and crawling throughout you. You tremble hard all over, gasping and writhing in Andrea's tight hold. Things inside you are trying to burst out. "What are you doing?" you squeal again.<br/>
<br/>
And you suck in a sharp breath. You've been in this position before, and you remember it now, vividly.<br/>
<br/>
It was a few years ago. You--Chelsea Cooper--had invited Andrea over to the house for swimming and talking. Andrea had been more coltish back then, more open. And you--Chelsea Cooper--had been more vulnerable, more insecure. You'd wound up in your bedroom, to talk about the things that girls just feeling their way through high school need to talk about. You'd opened up with her, talking about boys. You hadn't hooked up with Gordon yet, though you had your eyes on ambitious and aggressive ball player. But you weren't sure about him, or about boys in general. You talked about what they wanted, and about what you wanted. You were interested and excited, but fearful, and even a little disgusted. "I want someone," you'd said as you laid back on the bed. "Someone to hold me and take care of me." You'd cradled yourself in your arms. "Someone to talk to me and listen to me. Someone I can really be myself with."<br/>
<br/>
Maybe you didn't say those exact words, but that's more or less what you meant.<br/>
<br/>
And while staring up at the ceiling you'd felt a movement, and suddenly Andrea was next to you, her arms over you, and she'd put her face close to yours. It had seemed like a sisterly move, until you'd felt her lips at your neck. "What are you doing?" you'd softly gasped, but you hadn't fought her, you had embraced her, and your cheeks and noses touched and rubbed at each other, and your limbs had become entangled.<br/>
<br/>
But it hadn't lasted long, and in a sudden panic you'd thrust her away, and stammered something incoherent. She had retreated, looking hurt, and you hadn't even said goodbye to each other when she'd quickly left. You'd ignored her at school after that, never speaking to each other, and you'd done your best to put the memory out of your mind.<br/>
<br/>
But this, now, doesn't feel like love or affection. "What are you doing?"<br/>
<br/>
And she releases you with a deep sigh, and sits up on her haunches. Her face is drawn and looks a little haggard. "Are you feeling better now?"<br/>
<br/>
You scramble back against the wall. You are still vibrating all over, but without her touch it begins to die down. You are very alert, as you should be, for you feel adrenaline coursing all through you. "What the hell was--?"<br/>
<br/>
"Trying to give you some energy back," she says. "That business with the sigils--" She glances over her shoulder at the glinting sheet metal. "We both know it really takes it out of you."<br/>
<br/>
You swallow, and a numbness steals over you. But you don't feel sick or exhausted, like you did the times you worked on Frank and Joe. Tentatively, you get to your feet. You sway a little, but a sense of firmness returns to you. You rub your arms and bosom and hips. You feel almost as strong as you did before you performed the transformation spells that merged Aparijita's <i>essentia</i> and memories with Andrea's <i>imago</i> and <i>substantia.</i><br/>
<br/>
You nod. "Yeah. I feel ... okay."<br/>
<br/>
"Good." She gets to her feet, and your eyes track appreciatively down her naked form. "That's one of my skills, Will. Giving others their strength back."<br/>
<br/>
"Oh, right. Wow. I wish we'd had you around when-- Are you okay?"<br/>
<br/>
"I will be. I just need to-- Is there a park or something nearby? I need a big place to recharge, someplace I can draw strength for myself without killing anything."<br/>
<br/>
"I suppose we could find someplace," you say, though as you look at her you find yourself wishing you could take her in your arms and return some of your energy to her. "What about Andrea? And Aparijita? Is everything there, all hooked up? I was really failing toward the end."<br/>
<br/>
"It's all here," she says with quiet confidence. "I <i>am</i> Andrea. I <i>am</i> Aparijita. And I <i>am</i> Will Prescott." A faint smile appears on her face. "I suppose Chelsea is thinking about picking up where we left off a few years ago?"<br/>
<br/>
You feel yourself turning red. "I guess that's something for you and Chelsea to talk about when I'm not here with you guys," you mutter.<br/>
<br/>
"Mm. Well, let's get dressed and go find some vegetation. Too bad it's winter already, it's much easier in the spring and summer."<br/>
<br/>
"Should I leave? I mean, should I leave you and Chelsea to--?"<br/>
<br/>
"We've got business to discuss, don't we?" she says, and starts pulling dry clothes out of her bag. "You should be around for that, right?"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
You wind up in the Sutton Wilderness, the state nature preserve on the outskirts of town, tramping slowly up and down trails as Andrea runs her hands over the brush; the plants seem to droop a little as she passes. "Is Andrea going to work for you?" you ask her. "I had a hard time coming up with--"<br/>
<br/>
"I remember what you said," she replies. "You were wearing Aparijita's mask at the time." She shrugs. "She works as well as anyone at Westside would. It's all very silly out there." She casts an amused, sidelong look at you. "Andrea thinks it's all very silly too. Even the people who come out to the house she thinks are rather silly. Will Prescott was out there a few days ago."<br/>
<br/>
"Really?" you squeak. The thought of your scrawny doppelganger at Andrea Varnsworth's house leaves you agog.<br/>
<br/>
"Yes. He came out with Dane Matthias. That's the kind of person he's been hanging out with. Speaking of Dane, I can get him for Joe. I can get people for Chelsea, too. Would she be interested in Charles Hartlein?"<br/>
<br/>
Chelsea has pondered that gossipy queen as an acquisition, but you don't answer on her behalf. "Do you think what we're doing is silly?"<br/>
<br/>
"Yes. But it makes sense. You're very young, Will. All this is very new to you. It's very new, period. I'm sure no one has ever used that book this way before."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm not really sure what to do with it," you admit. "I mean, this all started--"<br/>
<br/>
"I know exactly how it started," she says. "The five of us understand each other perfectly. We're trying to keep safe from some very dangerous people."<br/>
<br/>
"Are we going to be safe?"<br/>
<br/>
She shrugs. "As long as we keep hidden. These are good hiding places. Though a different school in another city very far away would have been better."<br/>
<br/>
"I just feel like I need to practice, and want to be someplace familiar."<br/>
<br/>
She waves you to be silent. "I told you that we understand each other. And I want you to understand that you should follow my advice."<br/>
<br/>
"And what's your advice now?" you cautiously ask.<br/>
<br/>
She doesn't answer immediately. "You're going to make yourself a new face, right? Maybe you should get that taken care of. It'll be easier for you, now that I'm here."<br/>
<br/>
"I'm waiting for Joe to get my new documents ready. And to get things set up at school."<br/>
<br/>
"Then let's go see him. You know where Mr. Hagerman lives?"<br/>
<br/>
<div align="center">* * * * *</div><br/>
Andrea finishes re-energizing herself on the return to the car, but you have to make a change of positions before going out to the teacher's apartment, which is in a modest but tasteful complex on the far side of town. Chelsea has to return to playing Kim Walsh's part, so Andrea picks you up in your own body at Straussler's. She eyes you closely as you get into the car. "I can see the changes," she says. "Your golem is still very goofy. You're looking a little more--"<br/>
<br/>
"A little more what?" you ask when she trails off.<br/>
<br/>
"A little more not-goofy," she says, and doesn't expand.<br/>
<br/>
Joe is at his new place, and he grins broadly as you and Andrea step inside. "Are we all gonna get together for a pow-wow," he asks. "Now that we've got a full complement?" He reaches out to touch Andrea, but she pulls away.<br/>
<br/>
"I still need to get my new face," you tell him. "How are you coming?"<br/>
<br/>
"I just need a picture to finish up the photo IDs," he says. "I talked to Sagansky yesterday. The paperwork he needs will take a few days to be processed, but you could go in to school tomorrow if you want. I also reserved an efficiency apartment in this complex for you. Unless you want to, uh--" He grins raffishly over the implied invitation to share his space, and maybe his bed.<br/>
<br/>
"I'll take the efficiency. Can Straussler carry my expenses?"<br/>
<br/>
"Of course. Though maybe you'll want to find a part-time job, just to keep things looking natural."<br/>
<br/>
"I'll think about it." You glance around, feeling the pinch of the approaching change. "If you need the photo, I guess we should go ahead and-- We'd have to go back up to the school." You look over at Andrea.<br/>
<br/>
"I'd like to use the powder room first," she says, and disappears through the doorway that Joe indicates.<br/>
<br/>
When she's gone, he looks keenly at you. "Have you been inside her yet?" he quietly asks.<br/>
<br/>
"No. She's spooky, and I've been nervous about asking."<br/>
<br/>
"I guess I should be glad that you want to <i>ask.</i> But maybe you should. She seems very--" He searches for the right word. "Very masterful. Even more than Chelsea."</span></div></div>


