It was already late when Jon knocked on the door of the Druller house, but surprisingly Leo was the one to answer him.
"Oh good, you're here." He states plainly.
"Where's your mother?"
"Indisposed."
Jon bristles, and snaps. "Leonard, so help me, if you've done anything to your mother I won't care what type of power you think you..."
Leonard raises a hand and interrupts. "Geeze. Relax. She went to bed early, ok? I told you I'm not evil."
He guides Jon to the basement, where, once again the machine chugs and whirs away. Jon's eyes flit around the room, but he doesn't see the stone. He does, however, see multiple lock boxes, and safes on a shelf that weren't there previously. Perhaps its in one of them?
Leonard yawns as he sits behind a computer desk now sporting a half dozen monitors arrayed in an erratic fashion, where that morning it only had one.. "So you've read my note?"
"That's why I'm here." Jon states curtly.
"And, which option did you decide on?"
"I..." His voice catches in his throat, and Leonard looks up, putting that terrible smirk back on his face. "I want to go back to highschool." Jon stammers. He knew it wasn't the wisest choice. It would be a lot harder to get the stone if Leo is constantly experimenting on him, but he didn't think he could take one more day of Mrs. Black's life, even if he had the nicer bank job.
Leo's smirk becomes a Cheshire grin. "I knew you would."
"Because your machine told you?"
"Because I know you." Leo cracks his knuckles. "I've got to be honest." He states as his fingers start to clickity clack across the keyboard. "I'm fascinated with you Jon... I have been ever since I completed the machine. I can't explain it, but I was hoping you'd stay my test subject. I was hoping I could keep things..." He pauses and looks up. "Interesting for you."
Jon shivers, recalling the wording of his wish, and wondering if the two were related or merely coincidence.
"So. Goodbye Mrs.Samantha Black." Leo states plainly, before striking a key. "Hello..." His eyes flit up and he smirks. "Karyn Black."
"What?!" Jon shouts, but before he has time to act, his world reels once again, just like it did when he moved from the bank to the bar. He's vaguely aware of falling back again, only this time nothing catches him, and he lands HARD on the floor. The pain is numbed in the confusion, but the ache in his tailbone is the first thing to greet him as his world starts to make sense again.
Jon looks around, but this time he hasn't moved. He's still in Leo's musty old basement. He turns his head back and forth quickly, suddenly finding lovely blond locks hanging in his face. He looks down at his body, and Jon realized it wasn't 'his' face anymore, but 'her' face. Greeting her was Karyns frumpy green hoodie burying her massive new tits. Jon brushed her blonde bangs behind her ear to get a better look. He was wearing her tattered jeans, her well worn trainers, he had her pale skin, and everything else that made Karyn Karyn.
"You can't turn me into my daughter! This isn't what I asked for!" The voice he hears is disconcertingly familiar, and his hand went to his throat. What had just happened to Karyn, if he was now in her body?
"Daughter?" Leo perked up, one brow raised curiously. "One second..." He buries his nose in one screen, much to the chagrin of Jon.
"I meant Karyn. My best friend, whatever. You lied to me." Jon stares, but Leo ignores him. "Dammit Leo, keep running your experiments, but I want to be me again! You said you would..."
"I SAID." Leo raises his voice and looks up. "That you would go back to highschool and be a teenager again, and I fulfilled my promise. You should be thanking me."
"Thanking you?" Jon cries with his bright sharp voice. Karyn could always grab the attention of a crowd if she wanted too, and now he could too.
"I'm not done talking." He states. "I didn't consider this, but..." He scratches his chin. "It turns out, there was a bit off interflow."
"What are you talking about?"
"Quick, tell me, is Karyn your daughter, or your friend."
"I like to think she's both." Jon retorts. She shakes her head. "Well, I mean she's my friend. I just said that because I was just Mrs.Black and I thought..."
"No, you still are Mrs.Black... At least a little bit. And she's a little bit you now." Leo leans back in his chair. "Even though I traded the exact same parts of your souls and experiences back to one another, it seems like there was a bit of mixing first. I thought the soul would be much more stable on the short term, but we're looking at a," He glances back to the monitor. "1.27% contamination in just a few hours." He looks up to Jon. "That's a lot, in case you didn't know."
"Well, so what?"
"I suppose it means things are going to get a lot more interesting for you than even I realized." He presses another key. "Because here comes Karyn's life."
Jon's already on the floor when the vertigo hits her. She knows enough to brace herself, and breath deep, and a moment later the sensation has passed. She slowly opens her eyes and finds...
