Character Reference:
Core friends:
Morgan - 21, started college late. Overweight, dark brown hair and brown eyes. White, about 6 feet tall. Gamer/nerdy type.
Caleb - 18, tall and blond. Skinny, and has a boyish sense of style. Baseball-tees and college sweatshirts. Nerdy. White.
Alan - 18 Sporty, athletic. Average height and weight. Prefers athletic or "athleisure" clothes. White with dark hair.
Victor - 19 Latino, average height, athletic and into rap music.
Non-core friends:
Seth - short, 5'4'' with acne. 18. Nerdy, scrawny, and known to be weird.
Jakob - Originally from an Eastern European country, but adopted to America. Has slight accent. Pale white, dark hair, icy blue eyes. Weird and prefers dark clothing.
Andrew - Nerdy kid, blond, film buff, sarcastic and prideful. White
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Morgan walked out of his last class of the day rubbing the boredom induced sleepiness from his eyes. Checking his phone, it looked like his friends from the dorm were going to be heading to dinner at the Commons in a few, so he texted them that he would meet them there.
It was a breezy Autumn day, and though the sun was setting for the evening, it still cast light down the main walking thoroughfare of the small campus that is Birch State. He crossed his arms across his torso to try as if to hold in the heat of his body, but the biting cold still nipped at him through the thin pullover he opted for instead of a thicker sweater or even a sensible windbreaker.
Not too long was spent in the cold however, the main benefit of such a small campus being that most classes weren't too far from other buildings. The Commons door swung open, and warm air, heavy with the scent of many foods, greeted him. Swiping in, he went upstairs a level and looked for his friends. Sure enough, they were at the usual area. He dropped his bag there and the group got up to get food with him.
"How was your class?" Caleb asked. He was watching his steps down the stairs carefully, his long legs having nearly missed a step in the Commons before.
"Good. I like the material, it's just the professor is so dry. I nearly fell asleep..." Morgan explained.
"Oof, I know that feeling." Caleb commiserated.
"Y'all see the mashed potatos? Looks like they gave up halfway through the 'mashing' ugh." Alan complained.
"It's never good anyways, just get a wrap. They can't mess that up..." Victor said.
"I like potatoes though..." Alan looked dejected.
"Down for some smash later?" Caleb asked the group.
"Of course." Everyone responded, as if the question didn't really need to be asked.
***
As everyone worked through their food, Morgan noticed their oddball friend Seth walking by, looking dark but excited.
"What's up with him?" He asked Alan. Alan is Seth's room mate, but he preferred hanging out with Morgan, Caleb, and Victor.
"Oh, I don't know. I think he found some weird wicca shit on the internet and he's getting worked up about it. He was going on about the power of harmonics the other day, crystals and shit. I don't pay him any mind to be honest." Alan explained.
"Gotcha..." Morgan replied. He didn't really care, he was interested in his greasy fries.
***
"And that's how you put the hurt in the dirt my boys!" Caleb yelped as Captain Falcon, controlled by him, kneed Morgan's character off the screen.
"God damn, that was brutal!" Victor cried.
"I just can't. The dodging is too good." Morgan whined.
"Lucina is top tier, why can't I win?" Alan moped.
"Get good son!!" Caleb barked at Alan. Alan scowled back. "Y'all wanna go again?"
Before anyone could reply, several sharp knocks sounded on the door.
"Who could that be?" Victor speculated. Caleb hopped up and peered through the peep hole.
"Oh, dude... it's Seth." Caleb whisper-yelled.
"Want to pretend we aren't here?" Victor asked the group.
"Dude! Asshole move." Morgan chided him. The thought was slightly appealing to him, though.
"I'm going to open it..." Caleb said. He swung the door open, and Seth looked in and smiled once he saw the group of guys inside. "Hey Seth!"
"Hi Caleb! Hi guys! I was wondering if I could come in and show y'all something?" Seth said, his voice sounding cheerful yet slightly conspiratorial.
"Uh... sure?" Caleb said. Victor barely masked a shake of his head.
"I hope you don't mind I also brought Andrew too!" Seth exclaimed.
"Oh, I guess not." Caleb almost whispered. The smash night was getting ruined, but none of the guys was rude enough to voice that.
"What's up?" Morgan asked, feigning politeness.
"Well, I have a wild proposition and something wild to show y'all if you'll take me up on it." Seth said, somewhat coyly.
"It's crazy!" Andrew yelped.
"Ok, ok. Just tell us, I guess." Alan moaned. He wiped his face from top to bottom with the heels of his hands.
"So, as you all know I've been getting into some stuff online, you know... forbidden stuff-" Seth began.
"Deep web?" Victor cut in.
"-stuff that has to do with like, souls and energy." Seth continued, almost as though he didn't realize Victor tried to make a joke.
"Souls? Come on man..." Alan said, bemused.
"No, dude, hear me out." Seth shushed him. "Look, I found out about this thing... it's like a conceptual psychic space. It's beyond crazy. Andrew and I already tried it out..."
"What? Conceptual psychic space? The hell even is that?" Morgan inquired. This was starting to get boring. He wanted to pick another character and resume the game.
"Ok, it's too difficult to explain... but perhaps I could show you all?" Seth said, in such a way that Morgan almost detected a sinister note.
"How? And how long?" Alan said, giving up.
"Oh, not too long. And trust me... once you see this, video games just won't compare." Seth stated, with Andrew beside him nodding gleefully.
"How does it work?" Victor asked.
"Ok,first we have to clear some space on the floor. We all need to lie down for this. And before anyone complains, just bear with me here. It's worth it." Seth directed.
The group got up, pushing chairs and random junk aside until a large space was freed up in the middle of the room.
"Now, we all need to lie down in a circle, with our heads close. We don't have to touch, but it could help." Seth said.
"No, dude, come on this is getting weird." Alan said.
"Alan, you said you'd try! If you don't like it then after this you don't have to. It's like that time you thought you wouldn't like pudding but then I got you some and you ate like 4 snackpacks in row!" Seth pleaded.
"Fiiine!" Alan groaned.
All the guys got down, their eyes to the ceiling and the overhead light. Seth and Andrew settled in, looking overjoyed and like they won the lottery.
"Ok, now what?" Morgan asked. Skepticism at an all time high.
"It's important we all try to imagine the same space. I think the easiest for us right now would be a simple room, let's say all white walls, floor, and ceiling. Just a bright room like that. Keep focusing on that, imagine sending your mind to that space... let your mind wander, but never lose that space in your minds eye..." Seth explained.
Morgan laid there thinking he must be in a drugged state but without having taken drugs. This was a weird way to spend a Friday night, especially when they could be playing smash. He closed his eyes, however, and began to imagine the white room. He let his mind drift, but as he considered this white room... a shift came over him.
It took a while but Morgan realized it felt like his whole body had the tingling sensation, like when your hand or foot falls asleep. It wasn't jarring, however. It was more like... his mind knew that there was supposed to be a synaptic connection that would control those limbs, but as he kept imagining the white room, he lost those connections.
After a while, when the tingling had gone away, he felt that he could open his eyes. Morgan peered into what he thought was Caleb's dorm room, but after blinking a few times, realized was most definitely not that.
He stood in a completely white room, utterly alien to him except for a vague sense this was the imaginary room he had conjured up in his mind. A comforting sight, however, was the forms of his friends all there. It was bizarre seeing everyone in the white room. He also noticed that behind every person was a door. In fact, he realized that coming into this room felt like crossing a threshold.
"Where the hell are we?" Victor asked, nervousness tinging his voice.
"The Mindweft." Seth said, matter-of-factly.
"The what now?" Alan asked, stupefied.
"We've been calling it the Mindweft." Seth said. Andrew nodded in excited agreement.
"What does it mean?" Morgan asked.
"It's like... a place where our psychic energies are entwined. We're all connected now in a way that is usually impossible. You all would have struggled more, but with our time here, we've become adept at inducing Mindweft descents." Seth elucidated.
"So because you two have been here before, you are able to bring others?" Morgan probed.
"Yeah, basically. If you meditate in here, we believe it will train your mind to enhance latent psychic abilities." Andrew said, helping Seth explain this strange place.
"But that's just one, and dare I say, mundane application for this place." Seth said, a dark smile spreading across his face. His glasses slipped a little, to which he pushed them up. "There's a much more interesting and unique feature to this place."
"What is it?" Victor said, genuinely curious.
"You see these doors?" Seth pointed at his own. Inscribed on a simple black plate in the middle of the white door, was his name. "These lead you back to your body."
Morgan turned to look at his door, and so did the rest of the group.
"What happens if we open it?" Alan asked.
"Nothing, until you walk through. But here's the thing... you don't have to walk through your own door." Seth smiled.
"Wait... are you saying what I think you are saying?" Morgan asked, curiosity piqued.
"If I'm right, then exactly that." Seth said, suddenly very serious.
"I'm not following..." Alan said.
"He's saying we could be each other." Morgan said plainly.
"What? Like freaky friday?" Alan asked, stunned.
"Sort of, but it's no Chinese curse!" Andrew joked.
The guys looked around at each other. They were all pretty progressive, and had been open with each other. But when it came to the idea of being in each others bodies, it brushed up on a sort of weird taboo spot. Morgan looked at Caleb, and imagined what it would be like to be thin. He'd been chunky for so long, it was hard to imagine what it would be like to be skinny.
Similarly to Morgan, Caleb was eyeing Alan's muscular arms and toned legs. He had never really enjoyed sweating, and having a bit more mass and muscle was enticing. It seemed like each person in the room was feeling the same things in different ways. However, what no one really wanted to say was which bodies were not attractive for this strange body-swap scenario they had suddenly been presented with.
No one looked at Morgan's gut and wanted that. Likewise, Seth and Andrew were scrawny, with almost boyish bodies that were underdeveloped. They had more growing to do than many of the others in the room.
"You have to open your own door to let someone else in." Seth explained. "Why don't you two try it out?"
Seth pointed at Victor and Alan respectively.
"Us?" Victor said. He looked at Alan and seemed to consider it. Alan also seemed surprised, but not opposed to it.
"I mean, why not? I can see what it's like to be a Latin lover!" Alan guffawed.
"I'll be swole, man!" Victor joked back. They both turned around and opened their doors, before stepping towards each others door.
"Wait," Alan stopped walking. "Can we get back into this to switch back?"
"Of course. It's a matter of going back to the Mindweft." Seth said, almost annoyed.
"Oh... sweet!" Alan walked over to the door. "Adios, amigos!"
"Shut up!" Victor laughed as they stepped into the voids behind their friends door. As soon as they stepped through completely, they sank out of view, and the door swung shut, fading into the wall as if it never existed at all.
"That's wild. So it's me and you?" Morgan asked Caleb.
"I guess. I have never had a stomach like yours... this going to be interesting." Caleb said, accepting that he was about to spend some time in his friends shoes - and much bulkier body.
"Actually... that's not quite the case." Seth said, a malevolent look spreading across his face. Morgan hadn't seen him inching towards him. Andrew, he noticed, was also practically on top of Caleb.
"What are you talking about?" Morgan inquired.
"I earlier said that only you could open your own doors... well, that's true for people with low psychic abilities. For us, however? We can open anyone's door." Seth cackled.
"Wait, what the fuck! Don't touch that!" Caleb cried out as Andrew quickly darted behind him and slipped through his door. The doorway faded into nothingness, presumably as Andrew assumed control of Caleb's body.
"What are you doing!" Morgan screamed, but Seth roughly pushed past him as he swung open Morgan's door.
"Y'all can choose between Andrew's body or mine... I don't really care!" Seth yelled as he dove into the void of Morgan's door.
Morgan felt the blood drain from his face as his door vanished. "What the HELL!"
"What do we do?" Caleb cried out.
"I think there's only one thing we can do." Morgan stated, reluctantly.
"I don't want to be one of those weirdos!" Caleb yelped.
"Me neither, but we can't just stay in this psycho room forever!" Morgan rebutted, agitated.
"I-I guess." Caleb said, dejectedly.
"Should we match up with the guy who stole our bodies, respectively?" Morgan offered.
"Makes sense. At the least, being that runt won't make me want to beat you up if we switched it up..." Caleb said. His logic was a bit confusing to Morgan, but he focused on the problem at hand.
The doors to Seth and Andrew's bodies were slightly ajar. Whatever assholes they might be, at least they didn't leave Morgan and Caleb trapped in the Mindweft. The two friends looked at each other, sharing a moment of acknowledgement that they had just wound up in perhaps the most fucked up situation of their lives. Gulping, Morgan took the step into Seth's door not taking his eyes off Caleb.
***
Morgan felt sensation returning to his limbs. He could feel the carpet below him scratchy against his skin. As he opened his eyes, and felt the light burning into his corneas, he suddenly remembered what had just transpired.
He shot upward, throwing his arms to the ground and pushing up. The first and most obvious sign that something was amiss was how easily he stood up. He wasn't weak, by any means, but his weight certainly made getting up or moving suddenly a bit harder. However, he practically sprang up just now.
To his chagrin, looking down confirmed his nightmare. He hadn't paid particular attention to what Seth had been wearing, but he was certain he wasn't wearing a marvel tee and a cardigan... Morgan didn't even think he owned a cardigan. And more than that, he could see straight down to his feet. He was ashamed to admit he couldn't do that normally without bending forward.
He looked around to see the room in varying levels of chaos. Victor and Alan looked like they were enjoying themselves, as they jokingly flexed or not so discreetly checked their junk. Morgan looked over to see his own body, and that of Caleb's, whispering to each other. Finally, he turned to look at the body of Andrew, who was still seated on the ground, feeling up his torso and arms.
"What the fuck!" Morgan yelled.