Chapter #25What Hides Behind a Mask, Metaphorical or Not by: Nostrum   Mireya had seen these masks twice already, but they never lost that element of surprise to them. She knew they could transform anyone into someone else – though sometimes, that "anyone" could be the petrified remains of someone. The second time wasn’t very recomforting: even as Jeff told her that there would be a moment of unconsciousness, she didn’t expect that intense feeling of fading away when they put the mask on her.
Or worse: to see her own face, her own body and her own expressions in front of her, with her own eyes.
She had touched one of them – while Jeff explained them in a very jittery tone stemming out of excitement. She had everything about them explained; how they would copy the looks, or imago – the term Dr. Gus used when explaining how the venom that killed her mother worked, the term Jeff used to explain how these masks worked during her visit to Nash’s workshop – and then make a switch once worn, giving their user the ability to perfectly replicate their looks.
There were other things Jeff mentioned in a rush, things that she couldn’t recall very well. There was another thing that caught her attention, though: the holographic letters that formed her name – MIREYA ISABEL GUILLEN Y ARISTIZABAL – almost floating from the mask. That’s the one thing that unnerved her, for when she asked Jeff about it, she almost slapped him.
Tabula Mentata, he mentioned. "Mind bands", he began to call them, for ease of understanding. One of those could copy the memories of anyone, down to their skills. Whoever wore them would have the muscle memory to replicate any physical skill, and the knowledge to replicate any mental one. And they could be stuck to one of those masks, making them the ultimate disguise.
No wonder Lucy had such an aversion to those masks. Even she thought they were creepy. That Jeff showed a vested interest in them – a technical one, perhaps, as he was making many questions afterwards, taking notes – the same notes that he was probably taking right now, in his mind – worried her, but the way he reacted to her outrage gave her some pause. And after mentioning that he was looking for a way to unmake those, she felt peace.
All of that still couldn’t explain what she saw. Though both were blond, Taylor seemed broader and larger, but less intimidating than Scott – perhaps for his baby face that made him look much younger than Lucy.
Questions quickly riddled her mind – questions that demanded answers. "Jeff? Why’s Taylor wearing one of these masks?"
"It’s a long story," he said, though with the intention not to follow on it.
"You told me about what happened to them, but never told me he was wearing one of these masks. Why’s he wearing one?"
"If you’re curious, it’s not his fault." Lucy’s sudden defense of Jeff felt wrong to Mireya. Usually, she was the one that adopted this behavior – usually with Marty, but in occasions with the older brother as well. "That’d be Taylor’s."
It didn’t take much to get the story from Lucy. Scott and Taylor were high-school friends, until a chance meeting with the masks turned everything upside down. They had found a set of these masks, and had made copies of each other, and had donned them. After this reckless act—and after discovering they did not know how to remove them—the real Scott Bickelmeir had died in an accident, leaving Taylor stuck living Scott’s life. This caused a wedge between Taylor and his twin, Sean Mitchell, as the latter blamed Scott for Taylor’s death – without knowing that his brother was only a mask away from him.
Before Jeff could ask Lucy about Sean, Taylor woke up with a groan. "Ugh," he said, his voice dropping an octave. "Never get used to this." He laid the mask aside, stretching.
"I understand now." Mireya sucked air through her teeth, feeling the weight of guilt in Taylor’s shoulders. "Listen... I heard about your story, and about Scott. I feel sorry for your loss."
"It’s..." Taylor chuckled, showing a dry smile. "It’s nothing, really."
"Just to imagine living the life of someone else for the rest of my life... It’s a real-life horror story."
"I try to see the positive side of it, though. Yeah, I won’t be able to show my true face again, except for those I can trust, but at least one of them’s gonna be my wife tomorrow."
"Aww..." Lucy and Taylor stole a kiss from each other, giggling.
"Still... You’ll have to live his life, rather than yours." Mireya noticed as Jeff was about to make a comment, but remained oddly silent. She noticed these bouts of deep introspection during her visit to Nash’s house – often, when he was analyzing things in his mind. She startled the young man with a tap to his thigh. "What’s on your mind?"
"Nothing, just..." Jeff pointed at the mask, mumbling. "Fifteen minutes, give or take one or two. Taylor, you still have that feeling of vertigo when you put it on?"
"Uh..." Taylor shook his head. "Yeah? I guess..." The two engaged into a short interrogation, where Jeff hounded his friend with copious questions about Scott’s mask – how long did he wears it during the day, how quickly he regained Scott’s memories, if he tried taking it off for more than once day day... Mireya was entertained by the idea that Jeff took his investigation so seriously, making poignant questions in the same vein as she did with those she captured, in the strange occasion her bounty was human, or when she was interrogating someone with clues to her bounty.
Lucy, on the other hand, wasn’t amused. She rose – with difficulty, heaving her belly – and beckoned Mireya towards the table. "So...? You know Will for long?"
"I’d say a year and a half. I met his brother first, though."
"Oh! And how’s Robert?"
"Robert? Oh, right – I know him as ‘Martin’. Well..." Mireya laughed with a wide-open grin and a long stare. "He’s on his second year in high school. Linebacker on his school’s football team, but he’s also excelling in STEM courses."
"Linebacker? When I saw him, he was--"
"Small and slim? Don’t ask me, but I also saw him that way. He’s almost as tall and wide as your boyfriend now."
"Really?" Talking about Marty – or rather, Robert, Will’s brother – seemed to put Lucy at ease. "I remember when I first met him. I thought he was a troublemaker – almost as much as Will, actually. They butted heads as often as I saw them, but after what happened, they didn’t want to be away from each other. It broke my heart seeing them suffer."
"Yeah. Same with me. I couldn’t stand seeing their sad eyes. John – John Reilly, another of the Stellae and a personal friend – took Marty under his wing and helped him get into a nice charter school. He asked me to see if I could befriend him, and so I did. Later on, Jeff comes in, and I decide to do the same, but he was a bit more distant. Took me a while to get to him; he still didn’t trust me as Marty did, but I guess I opened up to him."
"And where does he live?"
"I could tell you, but I don’t think that’d be appropriate." Mireya burst into nervous laughter, only to stare at the floor in confusion. "I wish this was a joke, but after what I learned from those masks? And to think that...well, the guy that did all of this to you--"
"Professor Blackwell." Lucy called his name under an angry hiss.
"--yeah, him. To think he could...use one of those mind things and get all that information from you."
"Don’t tell me about it," said Lucy with fear in her eyes. "Will never told you about how we met, right?"
"He did. He said he and Scott – I mean, Taylor – rescued you from that guy’s villa."
"He never told you that the professor made a copy of me, didn’t he?"
Mireya slowly shook her head. "No."
"Well, he did. And I always lived in fear that he’d find me. I wanted them to find that...double of me...and take it out of commission. Seeing Will acting just like the professor scared the shit outta me. If it weren’t for Frank and Joe--"
"Them?" Mireya cackled, this time out of amusement. "Color me surprised. Well, I could believe it from Frank."
"Doesn’t matter. All that matters is that they took it outta the streets. I still watch around, in case I notice someone looking like me, but... I guess that’s not possible. I recall Joe took everything away from here, someplace else."
"The Archives, most likely. That’s where everything gets stored."
"Right." Lucy took a deep breath, composing herself. "But enough of that! How long since you’ve been together?"
Together? Mireya found the question more than just odd. "We’re not together."
"You’re not!?" Lucy glanced at Jeff, who seemed to have finished the interrogation and was in a very amiable talk with Taylor. "I thought you were a couple."
"Of course not!" said Mireya with wide-open eyes and a gasp. "Jeff just asked me to ... accompany him here. His ‘plus one’, basically."
"I see...! It’s just that, I’ve never seen him that comfortable with a woman."
"Not even with you?"
"Only after his parents disappeared – well, his mother, since...you said you know about his father. Though, I don’t know a lot about him, to be honest. I can see from a mile that he’s not good with women. Is he...?"
"Still bad with women? Yeah. I guess. He’s just not interested." But even Mireya could notice that was a lie. He had his moments where he gave lecherous stares, and he had just confessed using the mask they made of her for kinky purposes. She was right at one thing, though – for all he looked, he never made the move.
Was he waiting for the right one? Or was he too afraid?
Or – and Mireya really dreaded that question – he was too shy to ask her? What if Jeff felt attracted to her? What if everyone saw what she was too blind to see?  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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