Josh found himself in the white void, with both his and Andrew's profiles open. His plan was to become closer to Andrew's friends, eventually on a more intimate level. However, they were currently only Andrew's friends, not his own. He simply knew them through Andrew... or rather, Anna, when Andrew was still Josh's fiancé. Deep down, he still thought of Andrew as his fiancé, even if he had changed her into his twin brother. But as long as they were currently brothers, it seemed like a perfectly legitimate opportunity to fool around with Andrew's friends. And the first step was to copy Andrew's friendships over to himself. He probably could've just instantly set all their relations to intimate, but he wanted to take things slow, and figure out what direction he wanted to go instead of diving in head-first.
Unfortunately, he had already reached a roadblock. Upon opening Andrew's relations, the only person listed was himself. None of Andrew's friends were listed anywhere! Mentally, he tried opening the profiles of Andrew's friends, to see if he could work his magic on them directly. However, the resort's computer denied him. "Desired targets not found."
Not found? But they just sent a message they had just arrived.
Then Josh remembered, they also said they were on their way to registration. Perhaps they can't be targeted until then. Which means, Josh entered the void too soon to do anything!
He considered exiting the void, and waiting until they were all together to begin his plan. But he would've hated to waste a trip into the void. And time is frozen while in the void. That would give him plenty of time to possibly alter his plans before Andrew's friends registered.
He started recalling what he knew about the transformations, so far. Guests do not transform as a result of other guests transforming. Guests cannot be changed into not-guests. Guests have a choice whether to change back to normal when they leave. And transformations can change reality, including relations, but he has no control over these outside the resort.
Josh focused on that last detail in particular. When he transformed Andrew into his twin brother, Andrew kept her friends, but lost her parents in exchange for his own. So his changes *can* affect relations outside of the resort, even if he has no direct control. He then wondered if reality changed so that he and Andrew now shared Andrew's friends.
Deciding not to risk it, he started thinking of a way to increase the likelihood of sharing friends. His first thought was to swap his and Andrew's profiles, effectively swapping lives. But he didn't want to hurt Andrew if she lost her friends as a result. Thinking furthur on the matter, Josh realized the only guarenteed way that he and Andrew could share friends was if they were both the same person.
In response to his thoughts, a third profile suddenly opened up in between his and Andrew's. The profile showed a rubber creature with the build of a mouse, including its large ears, but a white tiger's face, tail, and fur pattern (painted on). Its name was Josh-Andrew Homes. Josh's and Andrew's profiles were pointing at it, implying a merge.
Josh wasn't even aware merges were possible! That opened up some possibilities for transforming other guests. But that can come later.
Looking over the specifics of this merge, he learned that the resulted being would have all the memories of both himself and Andrew, as well as a mix of their personalities. If he wanted, he could change which personalities took priority. Alternatively, he found an option to keep their minds separate, resulting in two beings sharing one body. As for species, he could alter how his rubber mouse form and Andrew's white tiger form would be mixed, or he could choose an entirely different form.
If he merged minds, that would resolve any moral issues with fooling around with Andrew's friends. But Josh wasn't sure he wanted to go through with a change like this. Would he still be himself, or a brand new person? Would he ever be able to undo this change?
Thankfully, the resort's computer had an answer for him. "Both targets would experience becoming a new being, their minds and thoughts being synchronized to simulate a being of one mind. As this being is still technically of two minds, it is easily possible to separarate them. However, separating minds would also separate their memories, with exception of new memories gained while synchronized. Also, while synchronized, all resort transformations will affect this being as though it was one person, including mental changes. Likewise, the VIP system will treat this being as one person."
So if Josh understood correctly, he would still feel like himself, but have access to Andrew's memories. And likewise her with him. That put his current mind a little at ease, though he was still a little nervous about becoming a different person. He could just as easily share Andrew's friends if he kept their minds separate. Though even sharing a body, Josh wasn't sure Andrew would be okay with fooling around with Andrew's friends. She herself may not even be interested in fooling around with her friends. Not without performing some mental alterations.
Josh considered his options.