You continue to stare at the message on the IAMU's display. Your mother's identity...yours to do with as you please with but the push of a button. From what you remembered, the "Assign" function would apply the identity stored in the IAMU onto the target, but you weren't sure exactly what that meant. You didn't even know what the "Absorb" function would do until you pressed it and sucked up your mom.
A crazy thought crossed your mind as you continued to ponder the remote's second feature. Did that function work on anyone? Even...you?
With shaky hands, you turned the device around so that it now faced you, thumb hesitantly raised over the second button. What would even happen if you assigned your mother's identity to yourself? Would it turn you into her? Give you her legal identity, like a twisted form of identity theft? Make you think you were her?
Well...only one way to find out. You exhale and click the button.
"--honestly, Mom, I really appreciate you looking out for me, but Josh and I are fine with taking things slow..."
Conversation in the kitchen suddenly picks up again, but as far as you know it's still just you and Katherine in the room. You realize you're now standing, not sitting, and are on the other side of the countertop, your mom's bowl of Cheerios in front of you. Kat is now looking at and speaking to you--apparently calling you/i} "Mom."
You look down at yourself--instead of your tank top and sweatpants, your clothes have been replaced with an oversized t-shirt and comfy pajama pants. Your mom's sleepwear.
Kat's expression grows concerned as she watches you give yourself a once-over and ignore the chat she was having. "Uhh, Mom?" She asks. "Everything okay?"
"Oh! Uh--y-yep! Just fine!" you reply after you realize you aren't alone. "Just, uh...thought I saw a loose thread, haha..."
Your sister accepts your excuse as a momentary bit of weirdness and continues talking to you, evidently a little more engaged now that she's had some caffeine. However, you aren't listening to much of it, too lost in your thoughts over what had just happened.
It actually worked...! Kat thought you were your mom! And with you being in front of her bowl, and wearing her clothes...it was like the IAMU had put you right into her position, and no one was the wiser.
As your sister continues to chat with you, you examine your appearance again. Even though she was shorter and a lot curvier than you, Mom's clothes were fitting you like they'd been made for you. The oversized t-shirt was particularly weird--it was about the same size as you were normally when your mom wore it, but on you, it was somehow swallowing you...you guessed that since it was big on Mom and now you were your mom, it would be big on you.
You remember it used to belong to your husband Clark; he left it behind when you split, and you've been wearing it as pajamas to--wait, "Clark?" "Husband??" Clark was your dad's name, but why did you call him your husband? Were you experiencing your mom's memories? It was probably another aspect of taking on someone's identity--you'd need to remember stuff about who you were in order to pass as them, or something.
Your eyes turn up to the empty seat at the other side of the kitchen counter--the seat you were sitting in not a minute ago.
"Where did Iiiiiyyyour brother go?" You interrupt your sister, only just remembering you were supposed to be playing the part of your mother. She looks to the empty seat and shrugs.
"I dunno, I think he said he was meeting friends or something? He doesn't really share that kind of stuff with me."
So just like how Kat had believed an excuse as to where your mom was when you'd used the IAMU on her, your own identity was being given an alibi. Definitely convenient, but...now what?
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