The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)

The Magical Transvestites, Part 2

Previously: "The Magical Transvestites, Part 1" 

"Why isn't it my business?" you demand.

You feel like you've been taking these revelations in a good spirit. These guys, including one of your best friends, have been turning themselves into cheerleaders and manipulating your life and doing all kinds of crazy shit with magic. Anyone else, you think, probably would have jumped out the window when they saw Keith's bony, hairy ass inside Cindy Vredenburg's skirt.

Now it feels like they're just trying to jolly you along. They're promising you a shiny toy—Ooh! Will! How about we turn you into a pretty girl like us!—while they keep running things from the grown-up table.

So you feel your lower lip thrusting outward as you ask the question again. "Why isn't it my business?"

"Because," Philip says, "we're actually not sure what it is."

"It" is the thing on the bed. It's a whitish thing about the size and shape of a person, for it has stumps where legs and arms might go, and the potato-shaped lump at one end is sort of like a head. It has no features, though, and looks rather like the first rough pass a sculptor might make of a statue before filling in the details.

"It appears to be a beta," Philip continues. "Those are the robots I told you about, the things we use to, uh, replace us in our real lives so no one notices we're gone. But this one has shown up in a most unexpected place."

You glance around the company, but Carlos and Mike and Keith all seem to be used to this very professorial manner that Philip has.

He's still talking, too. "We were trying to make a copy of Lucy, but something went wrong. We—"

You gasp. "You mean you killed her?" You swing around to stare at the bed and the thing on it. Is that Lucy Vredenburg? Her corpse? What's left of her corpse after Fairfax's magic went to work on her.

"No, we didn't kill her," Philip says, but the others sit up with a start and exchange wide-eyed glances. "Shit," mutters Mike, "we didn't think maybe that—"

"We didn't kill her," Philip says more firmly. "We just uncovered the truth that Lucy was already a beta."

"But how did that happen?" Carlos explains. "Unless when we put that mask on her—"

"We know she was already a beta because we got this off her," Philip says. He holds up the mask that he used to turn himself into Lucy. "What happened," he says, turning to you, "since you want to know everything, is that we tried making a copy of Lucy. Normally when you put a blank mask—"

"Hang on!" You raise your hand. "First of all, could you explain how these masks actually work?"

* * * * *

Well, you don't get a very straight answer to that question, as lots of people try to help and end up arguing over the details, and it's soon clear that no one knows the actual technique: they're just following a procedure that's written in some book that Montoya has and that Fairfax has been studying.

But basically, it appears, you craft a mask and attach some kind of metal doohickey to it. Then, when you put it onto a person's face, it vanishes while knocking them out and copying them. After about ten minutes it reappears, and if you seal it up you're able to put it on and turn yourself into a copy of that person. Or you can set it on a beta—that lumpy thing on the bed—and it will turn into a magical robot that has to obey whoever created it.

Your mouth puckers up sourly as you remember what happened in the hall when you arrived: Someone jumped you and jammed something into your face, and when you woke up you found a mask that had your name in it.

Like someone was trying to copy you so they could turn themselves into you. But you say nothing.

Anyhow, the guys had tried doing that to Lucy. Only the mask didn't go into her. It just fizzed and burned on her face until in a panic they pulled it off. Lucy sank into a stupor. Fortunately, Philip had the presence of mind to try a quick experiment: He pulled at Lucy's face, and a mask came away, revealing a beta beneath.

"So the question we now face," he concludes, "is who made the beta of Lucy?"

Silence ensues. You look around the circle of faces. "You mean it wasn't one of you?" Your gaze settles on Keith, who had after all been impersonating Lucy's sister. He turns red.

"I'm certain it's not one of us," Philip says, "but we were starting to investigate when you interrupted us." He blinks. "I think that brings you up to speed now, Will."

If so, it's been a breathless ride. "So what's happening now?" you ask for lack of a better question.

"We were investigating the mask we pulled off Lucy, to get at the memories inside. Remember, we mentioned that the masks can copy those too, along with personalities?"

"Right. So what's the answer?"

"Oh, it'll be awhile before an answer comes," he replies, "and that's even after I'm back in the mask. The memories don't come right away. They take several hours to seep in, and it's usually best to get a good night's sleep before you fully get them, along with the personality. Fortunately, if you get a mask back on not too long after taking it off, you get them back right away. Speaking of which," he adds, turning to Keith. "Cindy's parents should be back soon. Maybe you should get back in character before they do."

"Right," Keith says. He picks up the mask of Cindy and, with the blanket still around him, exits the room. You imagine he's got a furtive look on his face.

"So hang on," you say to Fairfax after Tilley is gone. "If you weren't pretending to be Lucy already, who were you pretending to be all this time?"

"Maria Vasquez," he replies. "And Josiah is playing Chelsea Cooper."

"Whoa." Well, that's something to process later. "But for now you're going to turn yourself into Lucy?"

"At least long enough to get into her memories. Which, as I say, probably won't be until the end of the day, and maybe not until tomorrow."

"What happens to Maria?"

More glances are exchanged. Carlos leans forward.

"Listen, Will," he says in a low voice. "We've explained all this to you and offered you a chance to join up in our, uh, club. Are you going to join?"

If you didn't want to join, you had an opportunity earlier to say so. And you remember what Philip said about "hiding" people so they could be replaced. They could do that to you.

And when you remember that mask in the next room, the one with your name on it ... And that person you saw at the complex ... It occurs to you that they were already making plans to replace and impersonate you.

"Yeah, I won't tell anyone," you say around the small lump that's formed in your throat. "And I'll play."

Mike looks relieved, but Carlos and Philip continue to look very serious. "In that case," the latter says, "you could help us out by taking over one of our impersonations while one of us steps into the role of Lucy Vredenburg."

"How would that work?" It's Mike who asks the question, but it's your question too.

Fairfax tugs at his lip. "Probably the best way to do it," he says, "would be for Will to become one of the Garner girls. Jessica, maybe," he says, and points at Carlos. "And you could take over as Lucy long enough to get the memories out."

"Why me?" Carlos asks, and Mike nods. "Why not you or Keith?"

"Because Will would still have to get into Jessica's memories. Or Eva's, if he takes over for her. But meanwhile, the other sister would be on hand to help cover for him until he got them."

"Why can't I be Lucy?" you blurt out. Not that you have any strong preference, really, but you're in a mood to voice almost every stray thought you have.

"I think we'd prefer to conduct that investigation ourselves."

You make a face. "But I could stay with Keith. With Cindy. She could cover for me."

"I have the impression Lucy isn't often at home," Fairfax says.

"She could be." The more you think of it, the better you like the idea of impersonating Lucy, for it would put you with Keith, who you know and can probably guilt and bully into telling you more about this stuff. Being Jessica or Eva would put you at the mercy of one of the main hoodlums.

A pained silence ensues. "I don't want you to think that we don't trust you, Will," Fairfax says, but he breaks off when he sees your chin tilting. He grimaces as he resumes. "But you are the newbie, and—" A red spot forms on his forehead, and he starts to stammer while avoiding your eye. "And, well, kind of on, uh, probationary status?"

You tilt your chin further. "Did you put Tilley on probationary status when you let him join?"

"He was in it from the start," Carlos says.

Philip slumps. "And I suppose trust has to go both ways," he sighs. As though he has read your earlier thoughts, he adds, "And if you put on Lucy's mask that means you and Keith can talk some more and he can explain things all over again so you'll know what's important when you start getting her memories."

You look around the circle at the three of them. They look very unhappy at the idea that you might lay claim to the mask of Lucy Vredenburg. And, in fact, it would be a major responsibility, one you're not sure you're prepared to handle, since all this is very new to you. It would be most diplomatic, probably, if you retreated and accepted with their Eva or the Jessica masks as a temporary abode while the others dug into the mystery Lucy's beta.

But maybe they would take it as weakness if you retreated now. And you do want to get alone with Keith.

* To put on Lucy's mask: "In Which Some Masks Come Off" 
* To stay as yourself: "Keeping the Company of Facades" 

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"Table of Contents (Vol. 1)" 
"The Book of Masks (Vol. 1)"