The Book of Masks Homepage

A Detour in the Flight Plan

Well, it turns out I spoke too soon when I said that today would bring a sequel to "The Sophomore Scheme" .

It'll come tomorrow. Instead, today I'm anticipating the branch that comes after that, the one you guys voted for in the "Plot Plinko" poll. You know, the sequel to "The Nuclear Option." Here it is:

Interactive: "Girls, In and Out of Character" 
Public: "The Nuclear Option"  -> "Girls, In and Out of Character" 

Why jump ahead like this, only to post a single chapter?

Because I wrote that chapter yesterday, and when I got to the end of it I realized that I'm not quite sure what you guys were voting for when you picked the path "Let Sydney switch with her."

Oh, the immediate question posed by the choice is clear. Who should assume the identity of Bridget Atwater: Will or Sydney? But what are his reasons for making that choice?

It turns out that's pretty important, because (as you'll see if you read today's chapter) Will is going to have to immediately take on a new alias of his own. And which alias he takes will depend upon his reasons for letting Sydney take Bridget's mask.

Specifically, does he let Sydney take the mask because he wanted her nearby as one of Kelly's friends? Or is it because he'd prefer to stay out of a female mask altogether? As "The Nuclear Option" is written, both are plausible motives.

I'm not sure which motives the voters were thinking of when they voted for a continuation of "The Nuclear Option," so I'm putting it to you guys. Though Sydney winds up inside Bridget's mask, Will has a further choice about whose mask he puts on. The chapters "The Boyish Girl"  and following will give you a sense of who the other candidates might be.

To vote in the Free Poll, go here: [Poll completed and deleted]

To vote using GPs, click on one of the links in the Free Poll and send GPs through the tip form at the bottom of the chapter it takes you to.

* * * * *

I'm going to let the poll run for two days, through Tuesday. In the meantime, don't worry about me keeping busy. I've been commissioned to work in a different branch in the saga of Will and Sydney, and I'll work there—keeping myself inside their heads—as I wait for the decision above.