Chapter #32Running the Replacement Plan by: Nostrum   You’re not sure if it’s a surge of adrenaline from the plan, but last night was adventurous and intense. Sex with Luke’s replacement felt like fucking an animatronic, but you still climaxed. Lesbian sex, on the other hand, was exceptional – especially when your partner is the vivid image of yourself. In the heat of the moment, you became addicted to your own body, and soon enough, your tongue was deep inside...
Her pussy? Yours? Your twin’s? You can’t explain. It’s astonishing how your shed skin feels when someone else wears it. It’s the ultimate self-exploration – your body, identical to the most minute detail, but seen and touched from the outside.
And you’re pretty sure Luke enjoyed feeling what a woman feels during sex, because he crashed within your shed flesh, with a grin from end to end. You tap his shoulder, highly amused. “Wake up, young lady. We’ll be late for work.”
“Huh?” He shudders, touching his borrowed face. “Oh,” he responds with your voice. “That was amazing.”
“I agree.”
He sits, struggling with the weights in his chest. “God, how can you live with these?”
“That’s what a good bra is for. And shapewear.”
“I see...” He feels his new breasts, moaning with pleasure. “I understand why this is so addictive. But I could never replace you.”
“I was hoping you’d say that,” you claim, half in jest. “I wasn’t willing to give my life to you.”
“And I’m not willing to lose you.” Those words will never stop squeezing your heart – especially when they come from your voice, but not from yourself. “I don’t need to replace you, and I don’t need anyone replacing you. You’re perfect just the way you are.”
“Then why are you wearing my skin?”
“Replacement skin,” he corrects you. “And I just want to know what my favorite woman feels.”
“Does it make you feel horny?” you ask with a sultry tone as you rub your finger in her flesh.
“If by ‘horny’ you mean my pussy is wet?” You push him back, watching the facsimile of your groin within his legs. “Figuratively, of course. Though it feels beautifully hot down there.”
“You’re one crazy man, Mr. Strickler.” You giggle, as you can’t imagine a man that could enjoy putting the skin of a woman.
Except, perhaps, one David Anderson. Which makes you think – if Luke’s replacement feels like dead inside, what about that poor kid?
--
Your steamy session of sex last night and your tomfoolery this morning prevented you from imbuing your own replacement – the skin you shed – with your mind. You feel it’s for the best, though. What if your replacement is as dead inside as Luke’s?
Maybe the newer pens will solve that, but for the time being, you left your shed skin – and Luke’s deflated replacement – in hangers hidden within your closet. Your cozy cottage is far away from civilization to catch someone’s attention, and if you notice anything has happened there, you’ll know.
Your day at work has been dull thus far. Even the book you read has lost some of its interest – perhaps, because the story you’re living is far more interesting. You reckon it must be how you haven’t seen your plan in motion. You’re so distracted, you haven’t realized the person before you called you by another name. “David?”
“Huh?” The woman before you is young and homely – hefty, with thick-rimmed glasses and large cheeks, wearing a simple blouse and jeans. She carries a backpack in one shoulder and a very familiar bookbag on the other, its worn leather easily recognizable. “You must be mistaking me.”
“I usually have another face,” she reveals, and you shiver. “But you were asking for a Computer Science student, and here I am.”
You take her aside, whispering. “Could’ve given me a call.”
“Decided to talk about it in person,” Merry claims. “What about your boytoy?”
“At work.”
“Anyways, this is the best I could get on short notice. I’m scouring through her mind and I found someone who might be interested – some Dexter Schoenstatt. Old-school coder, hates his job.”
“You feel he might bite?”
“It’s our best bet. Problem is, this one doesn’t take classes with him, so we need your boy to replace one of his students. He does his pitch, you do yours.”
“You sure you can’t do it?”
“Not without becoming a boy or sounding suspicious. But I can always tag along. Anyways – tell your boy to meet me at Heinlein Plaza. I’ll be inside this girl, so tell him not to look for my usual face.”
“He might take a while – he doesn’t have a car.”
“Well, tell him to move it. Clock’s ticking.”
--
You arrange for a meeting after hours, at Mr. Schoenstatt’s office inside one of MTSU’s computer labs. As Merry claimed, he’s a good candidate – you don’t know if it’s Luke or the mind of the boy he’s wearing, but he reacts to the relic atop the desk with admiration.
“Ms. Nicholls,” he says as he invites you to sit. He rocks a modernized vintage nerd vibe – short-sleeve shirt and dress pants, but sporting sneakers, spiky hair fixed with a mountain of gel and sleek, thin glasses. You feel some kinship, as his only concession to modern technology is a smartphone. “Colin here told me about a proposal from the Municipal Library.”
“Yes,” you claim with a little exasperation. “It’s a personal project, but Mrs. Drexler, the head librarian, has expressed some interest. I was proposing a competition for computer enthusiasts to engage with legacy code.”
He snickers. “Sounds strange coming from someone like you. Don’t take me wrong – I'm not criticizing how you’re dressed, but I expected other interests based on your look.”
“I’m a history enthusiast,” you riposte, “and my interest is in preserving it. As you know, the Municipal Library has some old computers – some would say obsolete – which could find some use.”
“They are obsolete.” Mr. Schoenstatt leans forward, showing his smartphone. “This little device here can do far more than what any of your computers could.”
“Yes, but I was aware that some government facilities still use legacy code and equipment such like that.”
“Out of logistics and security, but those facilities would upgrade if given a chance.” He flashes a timid smile as he leans back. “I appreciate your enthusiasm – I share it, even! – but you need to tell me why this generation needs to embrace obsolete code and equipment over its bleeding-edge counterparts.”
You’re at a crossroads, but Luke – wearing Colin Andrews, one of Mr. Schoenstatt’s students – comes to your rescue. “What about preservation efforts?”
“Preservation is an act of love, not a business.”
“I said it was a challenge, right?” You can’t believe you must delve deep into your past life – to an argument you had less than a month ago, when Jimmy and Eric were discussing about modern gaming. You didn’t care, but you paid special attention to Eric’s arguments. “Modern gaming developers don’t admire the beauty of optimizing code because modern engines do all the work for them.”
That catches the professor’s attention. “Color me intrigued.”
“It’s... a discussion I hear when things are slow at the counter. Perhaps Mr. Andrews can express it better, but from what I can get, limitations in programming language and storage create an aesthetic that is unmatched by more modern games and the experience they provide.”
Mr. Schoenstatt snickers, flexing his eyebrows. “Well... You see, Ms. Nicholls, code optimization isn’t exactly a lost skill – it's a matter of elegance, rather than necessity. Modern graphics engines are invaluable tools, not burdens.”
“I don’t argue against the validity of those tools, but I feel modern programmers and developers and engineers could use some more lateral thinking in their lives.”
His chuckle tells it all. “Lateral thinking. Solutions to unexpected problems via unexpected solutions.”
“But of course, my expertise is Library Sciences. I was hoping to consult an expert in matters of programming code to develop a challenge that could gather the most passionate to the fold – those who wouldn’t shy from working with all those tools.”
“I understand what you want. What you seek is a ‘hack-a-thon', but one that uses obsolete equipment and software as part of the challenge. My concern is how that would translate into useful tools for their future, Ms. Nicholls.”
“Well, I know the value of lateral thinking, but not in your environment. I was hoping you could enlighten me on the matter – after all, I feel that teaching such skills to students will prepare them for the future more than rote memorization would.”
You’ve given him food for thought. “You mentioned legacy code – places that need such expertise usually teach it the way a master teaches an apprentice. I’d argue that a prospect with interest and previous experience would be better equipped to learn its intricacies, but that can only take them so far.”
“I was told you value the worth of vintage code and equipment – else, I wouldn’t make this proposal.”
“I must admit I’m an oddity,” he confesses. “Teaching the future to students but living in the past.”
“The past can teach valuable lessons. Teach students how to build a working computer from any spare parts, how to use old code to access modern equipment, and let their imagination soar.”
He tilts his head, smiling. “I admire your insistence. But I’ll need something concrete – something more than an impassionate plea. What do you win in this? Why such an unusual request?”
“I want to save the library from selling its soul,” you confess. “If we could only bring more people willing to support us – if we could only bring sponsors--”
“I see...” The smile in his eyes tells you everything. “Then, let’s think outside the box and make this hack-a-thon a success.”  You have the following choice: 1. Continue |
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