Linda had memories of her daughter growing up, saying her first word to winning her first bodybuilding competition. Yet her old life as the married man Thomas finding out his wife cheated on him were coming increasingly into focus. Freeing Alicia had obviously returned too much of the guy she met at the beach. Alicia’s love and obsession was her fault. All the alternate realities were converging in her mind. And between them, this one here with her family surrounding her had made her the happiest.
“Come here, Alicia.” Opening her arms, she beckoned her daughter into an embrace. Alan became a screaming cacophony as he futilely urged to the teen to end this. Instead, the young bodybuilder crashed into Linda’s massive and muscular arms, a complete wreck. “I am so sorry. My selfishness lead to this. If it makes it easier, have your friend use the app on me. Even if I won’t be in them for most of it, and you’ll eventually realize the memories were implanted,” using the app seemed to provide some protection against the reality warping effects, “you’ll nonetheless have them. You made me so proud as Alicia and this will help you be that girl – both body and soul.”
As Linda released her daughter, she took care to wipe away some of her tears. A last maternal act before she became her little sister. ‘Ugh, are we done with that now? No matter how you change, I’ll be there to remind us of what we truly are.’ Alan, too, made his contribution.
Meagan had stood by, listening. Her heart thumped in her chest when the Asian teen, knowing she had been manipulated didn’t alter her admiration the slightest. The text read: ‘Alicia is hugging her mother.’ Mother became sibling. Feeling the wrench of reality, the older Japanese woman had been replaced with a tiny young girl clutching at Alicia’s shirt as she lay bundled between her arms. The girl yawned, seemingly ready to fall asleep.
‘Peekaboo!’ The male voice was harsh and it took a second for Alicia realize who it belonged to. Alan bashed her with the memories she had lost, enjoying her grimace as the numerous lives altered and erased by the app surged through her. ‘Naughty. Now, where were we.’
Nowhere. Ignoring him took effort. Though he seemed to surrender far too easily before retreating to the recesses of her mind. Alicia had something to do. She could worry about Alan later.
Leaving their principal standing there for the moment, she walked over to Meagan’s side. Rather than taking the phone, she ensured that both she and Meagan held it as new sentence was generated. No sense in wasting the fetish she had been so careful to implant during the day. ‘The Caucasian woman thinks Alicia is the most beautiful person in the world.’ So sweet.
The chance she took paid off. Both of the nineteen year-olds were full aware of what happened between one eyeblink and the next after Caucasian became Japanese. “Find a mirror and start masturbating and I’ll punish you.” Her playful tone lacked the edge of malice it would’ve had before. And hearing it helped to confirm that she was still Alicia despite what Alan had done. She had that choice, anyway.