This choice: Lunge past Jillian and try to absorb Darcy again • Go Back...Chapter #3An Absorbing Personality by: imaj   Overcome with the urge to hide and to hide now, you break free of Jillian and dive across the floor to where Darcy lies. You grab her as you fall on top of her and your momentum carries you onward, rolling several times before coming to a tangled rest on the opposite side of the lab from Jillian.
Jillian has barely managed to turn round in this time. Her mouth is hanging open in shock at what you’ve just done. Before she has time to marshal her response, you will the change to begin, hoping that you can absorb Darcy quickly.
Nothing happens.
It’s not working. Quickly, you think back to what happened this morning: Darcy arriving at the door. Darcy getting the papers out her bag. Darcy giving you the papers. No. That’s not right, she dropped the papers as you reached to take them. That’s when it happened, when you tried to take something from her.
It seems like a long shot, but what other option do you have. Her body, her memories, her very identity. You feel it as your flesh begins to lose its solidity, engulfing Darcy and drawing her within yourself. The changes come on quickly after that. Bones grind and pop as they shift themselves into new shapes. Flesh bubbles and swells, padding out some areas and thinning in others. As the changes climax, you draw yourself to your feet and look straight at Jillian, who still hasn’t moved from the window.
“We can’t take any chances,” you explain, half apologetically.
“What have you done,” says Jillian quietly, a hard look in her eyes. She starts walking across the lab slowly and carefully. “What if we can’t get Darcy back again?”
“I did what I had to do,” you reply quickly and insistently, almost shouting. “No one can know. No one!”
“You’re out of control Mark,” says Jillian, seizing you by the arms. Her expression is a curious mixture of rage and sadness. A tear trickles down one cheek. “I want to help you but you have to let me help you. If you keep on like this… If you keep on like this…”
She stops mid sentence for a moment, staring right into your eyes. Somehow she manages to convey the full depth of her feelings with that look. How her love for you is driving a conflict within her. She’s caught between her need to protect you and her need to cure you. It makes you feel guilty, but you also have a sinking feeling as you begin to realise what she is trying to say.
“If you keep on like this, I’ll have to tell people what happened,” Jillian finally says. She’s crying now, tears smudging her make up. “If it’s the only to get you the help you need.”
“No,” you shout shrilly, operating purely on instinct. “I’m not going to let them take me.”
“Mark,” exclaims Jillian, her jaw dropping in an expression of surprise. Her tears dry up almost immediately.
You look intently at her face, trying to work out what’s changed. She’s not looking directly at you anymore, you realize. You follow her gaze, looking down at yourself, to where she has grabbed your arms. Her fingers have sunk into your upper arms. Not fully, as they are still visible, but they’ve depressed into your flesh more than is natural. The effect looks similar to squeezing play-doh.
You must have partially triggered absorbing her. It’s not progressing any further but she’s stuck. You watch as Jillian tries to pull her hands clear, but they barely budge at all. She only succeeds in stretching your flesh a little, which snaps immediately back into place like elastic and pulls her hands further into you. You look up and see the fear in her eyes.
“No,” she pleads. “Don’t do this.”
“I’m sorry,” you say quietly as you grab Jillian by the waist and pull her close.
You watch, impassively, as a look of terror settles on her face. She struggles ineffectually all the way as each part of her is pulled in. Your flesh wraps itself around her legs, her arms, her body, dragging her inside you until only her neck and head are left, jutting out just in front of your face. You lean in close to kiss her.
There is a moment of darkness, then the last of your girlfriend is sucked inside you.
*****
The Jillian in the mirror has been crying. Her eyes are red and puffy, her cheeks are stained where her makeup has ran. You lift your hands to wipe your eyes and the Jillian in the mirror does the same. You run some water from a tap and splash it onto your face, the Jillian in the mirror does the same.
You are her and she is you. You have absorbed your girlfriend completely and are now wearing her form and persona as an impenetrable disguise. This sort of thing is probably not good for your relationship.
The rush of Jillian’s feelings that you experienced when you absorbed and became her probably isn’t good either. You didn’t realise the depth of feeling she had for you. Worse, with the mask of her personality you are now wearing, you realise she is unlikely to ever fully forgive you for what just happened. So the flood of tears that you have wept over the last five minutes are partly Jillian’s and partly your own.
But you have more pressing concerns than the wreckage of your relationship. By now, the military convoy you observed will be parked and the occupants making their way through the foyer down on the ground floor. With hindsight, you realise Jillian was right – they do come to Protean a lot. You could fix your make up and walk straight back to the lab. Continue with the tests. With Jillian’s mind, and you now realise she is a lot cleverer than you, you could make some real progress
But can you take that chance? You now know for sure that Jillian kept her promise not to tell anyone about the SX-3 spillage, but that doesn’t preclude anyone else finding out. It might be safer to run. No one should be looking for Jillian, yet. Even if they are, you could probably find another identity to escape in on the way out. | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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