Mason And The Golden Skin

Mason and the golden skin

A special thanks to @dulafer, who helped me come up with the idea after having hit a minor writer's block Body a day - #14: Battery

Mason had been envious of his classmate Chris since the first day he met him at Colchis University, so much so, that it had become an obsession. He envied him, he envied him so strongly that all he could think about was becoming him. Every thing about Chris, he desired and longed for, so much so that it became unbearable.

One of Mason’s former highschool classmates, Jed, was also studying at Colchis, studying both neurology and engineering. When Mason confessed his feelings towards Chris, Jed became lost in thought. The silence was eerie, but Jed was definitely contemplating Mason’s thoughts.

“If you really could switch places,” Jed said after the very long pause, “would you?” “Yes!” Mason blurted without hesitation. “Even if it meant giving your life to him?” Jed asked. Mason was a bit more reluctant this time, he hadn’t actually considered that, but if he had to swap places with Chris, it made sense, that Chris had to be somewhere else. But there would be no way, that Chris would ever accept that. “I’m sure, I’ll manage…” Mason said nonchalant.

Jed seemed very interested in the conundrum, but more out of curiosity than envy nor desire.

“If I come up with a solution – I want you to do something for me…” Jed said looking up at Mason. “What do you want?” Mason asked. “I want you, or rather you in Chris’s body as my boyfriend.” Mason blushed, “you have a crush on me?” “Maybe,” Jed answered clearly embarrassed and uncomfortable, not even looking at Mason anymore.

“Hey,” Mason began softly, breaking the awkward silence, he walked over to Jed, then pushed Jed’s chin up so that they had eye contact. “If you are really willing to do this for me… Then you might as well call me your boyfriend already,” he said, touched by Jed’s sentiment.

Two semesters later they came up with a prototype for a body-swapping device, technically it was a mind-swapping device. It would carry the full neurological pattern between two brains within a very short distance. Mason had to get Chris somewhere secluded, so that no interference was possible, and he had to take a clean shot. Jed was confident, it would work, but there were many potential risks. The device looked similar to a tablet with a camera attachment, except for the fact that the tablet part mostly consisted of batteries in a series. The device took an unbelievable amount of power, 75% of the device’s weight consisted of the batteries powering it.

Jed somehow managed to arrange a meeting with Chris at a remote part of campus. Mason wouldn’t have been successful if he had tried, after all Chris knew him, but Jed didn’t actually tell Mason, exactly how he managed to convince Chris to turn up at that place. But he did, and armed with the tablet-camera-thingy, Mason was prepared to welcome the unsuspecting Chris, who arrived on his bike.

“What are you doing here?!” Chris drawled as he noticed Mason, “is this some kind of joke?!”

Mason was nervous, almost afraid, but still infatuated and smitten with Chris. Mason let his envy consume him, he took some big steps directly towards Chris, aimed the device at his face, and pressed the button. There was a blinding light, and they both felt like they had been electrocuted, their bodies were shaking, but they couldn’t see anything.

Then Mason could see again, no longer blinded by the light, he could see himself, but from a taller perspective. He wasn’t looking in a mirror, the device had worked.

Mason’s body was still dazed and confused, the device fell out of his hand and hit the ground.

Mason was in awe. Chris’s body was all his, this perfect body was all his. He didn’t get to enjoy the moment for long however, he was ripped out by his stream of consciousness, when he heard his old voice shout at him: “What the hell have you done?!”

Chris had apparently already figured out exactly what had happened, there was a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

Mason’s body picked up the device. “You aren’t getting away with this. I’m gonna take my body back, and then… And then you won’t even live long enough to regret this!” Mason’s voice snarled, his words dripping with loathing and vindictiveness. Mason had a feeling something was wrong, he could smell burnt ‘something’, rubber or plastic maybe, the smell definitely came from the device, it was about to break down. Even a single use had put massive strain on the batteries, the device couldn’t handle another swap.

Mason in Chris’s body froze, blinded by the bright light, but also something else, it was like his mind was clouded by all sorts of unrecognisable impressions.

Mason’s body fell unconscious to the floor, but Mason was still looking at it from Chris’s perspective, he felt a bit of satisfaction seeing his former body collapse. But to make sure nobody would accuse him of anything, he picked up the foul-smelling device and stuffed it in Chris’s bag, then he begrudgingly called an ambulance. Then he went over to his unconscious body and more by instinct than choice began to perform CPR on it, then it dawned on him… He did not know, how to perform CPR, but Chris did. The faulty device must have transferred parts of Chris’s consciousness to him. He was still Mason at heart, he knew that much.

Mason’s body was taken away by the paramedics, as Chris explaining something about having witnessed Mason having a heart attack or something. With the ambulance gone, Mason could finally wrap his head around the other dramatic events. The faulty device had transferred Chris’s memories to him, he wouldn’t have any problem fooling everyone, he didn’t have to pretend to be Chris, he was Chris.

First ride

My flatmate Ricky had told me of the joy of the first ride of the season. When you can finally put on the gear, kick up the engine and hit the open road. So now I’ve got to try that.

I pulled on my Dainese leather suit, my boots, my gloves and grabbed my helmet. On my way out the door I stopped by the mirror and made certain my Ricky mask was still in place. I grabbed Ricky’s motorcycle key and his wallet from the table. Everything I needed to be him for today.

As I went into the parking lot in the basement, I couldn’t help but smile with Ricky’s dumb grin. Nobody was going to be able to tell the difference. It was gonna be a great first ride.

A real footballer

Body a day - #7: Football

Ashton: “Do I look like a real footballer now, dad?”

Coach: “Yes, you do Jere–, I mean Ashton.”

A: “Ashton Jenkins… it will take some time getting used to, da– I mean ‘Coach’.”

C: “Yes, you probably shouldn’t call me ‘dad’ any more.”

A: “This is so surreal, I can’t believe you’d do this for me.”

C: “I’m sorry for the things I said, son. You’ve got a good head, but you were never much of a jock.” A “I wasn’t a jock at all…”

C: “It’s absolutely criminal that a guy like Ashton could get such a great scholarship, just by being good at sports, and you, despite all your intellect could barely get something mediocre. But if this is the length I have to go to to secure your future, then so be it.”

A: “I can’t thank you enough, da– Coach!”

C: “We still need to see if it’s working completely as intended. There’s only a few practices left before term ends, then it’s summer holiday and after that, you’ll be starting your new life at university…”

A: “I think it will, I feel stronger already, and I think I can launch a football with ease now.”

C: “That’s the kind of confidence, I always wanted to see you have. Make me proud.”

Introducing S.O.N.

Halfway through @max-the-many's ludicrous challenge. The prompt this time is something I've already done, so here's something a bit different as the midway-marker. For the other son-transformations I have done during this challenge, see #1, #7 and #13.

Body a day - #15: Son

S.O.N. is a revolutionary new technology, that will allow you to relive and redo the best time of your life. Get a second chance at life and enjoy it to the fullest with the new S.O.N. technology.

S.O.N. is a replica of your younger self, improved and enhanced in every way desirable to your specifications. You’ll receive a fully-grown, mature S.O.N. in just ten weeks.

Using advanced and revolutionizing DNA-resequencing technology, we’ll make the perfect S.O.N. for you based on your DNA-profile and matched with any of our top class models from our extensive catalogue, making sure that your S.O.N. becomes the best possible version of you. We flesh out a complete backstory as well as identity papers to specifications and provides a smooth and inconspicuous transition of the S.O.N. into your life and routine, before you inevitably take their place at a predetermined time.

With the advanced DNA-resequencing you will soon have all your life and memories transferred to your S.O.N. and can enjoy and experience life again more well-off than the first time.

Your S.O.N. will be the perfect candidate to carry on your legacy, your company and/or your heritage, as they are you – only rejuvenated and revitalized.

Order your S.O.N. today. You don't have to only live once.

”I told you to stay away from my daughter! Pauline has moved on! And she deserves better than you! But if you want to give it a go, then try me… Then I can beat your ass with your own muscles.”

Hank placed his cigarette between his lips, savouring the smoke as it passed down into his rejuvenated lungs. He zipped up Carl’s leather jacket, which he now wore… like the rest of Carl’s clothes.

He stared down at Carl full of disgust and fiendish delight. Seeing his daughter’s ex-boyfriend like this filled him with pleasure.

”You ain’t a threat to anyone anymore,” Hank continued: ”I’d like to see you try, but to be honest.. you look more like you belong in a retirement home.” Hank waved the cigarette in the air, scattering ashes to the wind.

Not bothering to spend a moment longer looking at the sore remnants of Carl, Hank turned around and walked back to his car. He felt great. He could only imagine what Carl would be thinking seeing his broad leather-clad back walk away, knowing it was his jacket, his jeans, his boots and most importantly: his physique, his muscles, his youth.

Hank looked at himself in the rear-view mirror and smiled. He hadn’t looked this good in years, youthful, muscular, handsome, like he used to look 30 years ago, now Carl’s vitality was brimming through him.

Pulling out the key from his old fleece jacket that he had discarded on the back seat, he turned on the ignition. Stepping on the throttle with Carl’s boot, the youthful energy and feeling of invincibility, that flowed through him, almost made him floor the gas pedal, but he resisted the temptation – after all, he was better than Carl.

Maybe a story with this one?

Goodness, can't believe how skinny I actually was until I saw my old body running in blind panic down the road as I looked after him... Being in this new body feels good. Feeling stronger and more confident by the minute... And I still got the looking glass... I'll need this for some further... experiments.

A flash of light from the bushes gets your attention. You bend down to investigate and find a small mirror half-buried in the grass. You pick it up and turn it around in your hand. Curiously enough, the mirror seems to be made of two-way glass, with one side showing your reflection, and the other allowing you to see straight through it.

You hold the mirror up to your eye like a magnifying glass and look around. A man accidentally walks into the frame of your strange your little mirror and you feel an intense pulling sensation. A moment later you realized you’ve somehow jumped yards away from the bushes, but looking down you realize you’re somehow in that stranger’s body.

Whose body have you ended up inside of?