Feeling relaxed after my lengthy sex session with Erica, I grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to school.
As usual, Karyn left not long before I did, and I had to run to catch her up. Just before I did, I muttered, hoping my power would work even if the person being commanded didn't hear the command, "Karyn, cause time to stop except for the two of us and then lose your ability to control time until I tell you to use it again."
Karyn almost immediately stopped in confusion at the frozen scene around her, then was even more confused when she turned and saw me walking toward her.
"Jon! What's going on? Did you do this with the rock?"
I explained that I hadn't, that rather I had used it to grant myself the power to make anyone do anything, provided it was a command prefaced by the person's name.
"It even extends to things that the person couldn't normally do, or that break the laws of reality as we know them," I finished, gesturing at the world around us.
"Do you think it could undo wishes? I'd really like to be rid of these," she said, gesturing at her hair and breasts.
"I don't know. Karyn, restore your hair and breasts to the way they were before you made that wish."
Within seconds Karyn's hair returned to its red colour and shorter length, and her breasts shrank back to their original size.
Karyn hugged me in gratitude, then said, "That's some power you gave yourself, Jon. Can you command yourself to do things?"
"I don't know. I haven't tried it."
"Well, try something simple then, like ordering yourself to clap three times or something."
"Jon, clap three times," I said, and involuntarily found myself clapping three times.
"Wow," I said. "I hadn't quite realized just how powerful this could be."
Karyn looked at her watch. "Good thing you made me freeze time, Jon--you know I have early commitments most days."
"Well," I admitted, "I mostly did it to see if I could use my ability without the subject hearing the command."
"You what?"
"Karyn! Just think--of all the things I could have done, this one's pretty benign."
Karyn rolled this around in her head. "I guess you're right, though that doesn't excuse the fact that you made me do something without my having a chance to know about it."
"Look, can I try to make it up to you? As far as I can tell, these commands are reversible. You've told me that you sometimes feel like you need another you to do everything you've said you'll do--what if I gave you another you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Command you to have more bodies, or something."
"So there'd be clones of me running about?"
"No, not clones. Extra bodies, all controlled by your mind."
"Let's try to make sure you get this right, Jon. Here," and she brought out some paper and a pencil. For the next while, time still frozen around us, we worked out the command that would give Karyn more bodies.
"Karyn, gain four additional bodies, all controlled by your mind, identical to you except for the clothing and names, the latter of which should be similar to yours."
And just like that Karyn appeared to divide, breaking up into five parts, each growing into a new Karyn. Clothes appeared on each, different yet decidedly Karyn's style, and what looked like Karyn and four copies stood before me.
"I'm Caryn!"
"Eryn!"
"I'm Karyn, Jon."
"I'm Laryn."
"And I'm Taryn."
"So," I asked, "how does it feel, being split five ways?"
"Split? It doesn't feel like I'm split. It feels like I'm complete, like I was always meant to be like this. If only you could feel what this is like, Jon."
"I think I'll hold off on that for now," I said, still a bit shocked that the command had worked.
"Suit yourself," said Laryn.
"You don't know what you're missing," added Caryn.
I decided to implement the second command then. "Jon, make everyone except yourself, Caryn, Eryn, Karyn, Laryn and Taryn"--they might all have Karyn's mind controlling them, but we had no idea how it actually worked, only that it did--"think Karyn was actually one of quintuplets, her four sisters being her four other bodies. Jon, Caryn, Eryn, Karyn, Laryn and Taryn, retain your memories of the world before this change but gain the ones you would have had you not been exempted from the previous command."
Suddenly I had two conflicting sets of memories, one the original, the other what must have been memories that I would have had had Karyn actually been this way. Like everyone else, I thought she was one of quintuplets, until she confided her secret in me. This way, Karyn was able to do all the things she liked doing without overloading her schedule, since she had five times as much time in which to do things than anyone else.
"Just remember, Jon," admonished Taryn, "don't let anyone know about what we really are."
I nodded, then gave Karyn the command that would unfreeze time and make her unable to do so until commanded again. The world began moving around us, nobody looking askance at the sudden appearance of four more bodies.
"I've got places to be, Jon. Everyone remembers the new reality, in which I've signed up for even more stuff. I imagine even documents and such were changed so that they wouldn't cause contradictions with people's memories."
Four of her bodies went on ahead, the original staying with me.
"Ooh," said Karyn, "that bitch Sarah's only a block or two ahead of us--Caryn just passed her. Let's try that ability of yours to command people even when they can't hear you on her!"
"But I thought you didn't like that."
"Like, shmlike. It got me four spiffy new bodies, didn't it? Like I said, it's wonderful being this way. So, got anything in mind? Taryn's meeting is a bit later than my others, so I can have an eye on her, see if she does what you say."
"Got any ideas?" I asked.
