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"Discomfiting Doubles" 

OOHHH BOY.

CHAPTER SEVEN (PART TWO): THE DOPPELGÄNGER DILEMMA
—aka—The “OH MY GOD I’M LOOKING AT MY OWN FACE BUT IT’S MIKE” Moment.

This chapter is a thermonuclear plot detonation dressed as a casual conversation about party expansion. We just went from “ancient puzzle book” to full-on identity replication magic.

🪞THE MIRROR TWIST
Let’s just sit with this a second:

Mike puts on the mask.

Mike becomes you.

Mike, in your face, says “I really wanna show this to Carlos.”

That is the exact moment when I realized something:

The mask isn’t just a disguise.
It’s access.

This isn’t some Halloween-level trickery. This is steal-your-life-level magic. If someone walked into a classroom wearing your face, who’s gonna stop them?

Mike is loving it. Josie is visibly spooked. Kim? Visibly disturbed. That line—"Seeing two Wills is just freaking me out”—that’s not just reaction. That’s emotional collision. Something about seeing you, but not-you, hit her right in the existential gut. She’s not okay. And you shouldn’t be okay either.

🗳️THE VOTE
And now comes the most dangerous moment so far:

“Should we bring in more people?”

Let me just scream this from the rooftops:

NO. OH GOD NO. DO NOT DO THIS.

I get the logic. More brains. More ideas. More hands to hold the line if things get scary. But have these kids never seen literally any horror story ever?

Let’s run the math:

Pros of expansion: more people to help decipher. Social fun. Maybe Carlos brings snacks.

Cons of expansion:

More people = more chances to leak.

More egos = more power struggles.

More faces = more data for the mask to digest.

And let’s not forget: You already saw what happens when someone else wears your identity. That’s just Mike. Imagine if Chelsea gets ahold of it. Or Steve Patterson.

Not to mention: you’re the only one so far who hasn’t gone full Mask-Crazy. Kim and Josie are right to be wary. Fairfax wants to test. Mike wants to perform. You're the anchor here.

🎯 MY CHOICE:
2. Leave it as is for now.
Because:

This isn’t a toy. This is unstable arcane hardware.

You don’t even know what the next spell does yet.

Letting even one more person in opens the door for blackmail, theft, betrayal—or worse: weaponization.

And honestly? The emotional suspense is too good with this current group. Josie’s grounded. Kim’s rattled. Mike is having a weird power trip wearing your face. Fairfax is ticking like a clock with no hands.

Let’s keep it tight.

Let’s go deeper.

Let’s turn the next page.