A Gender Swap Mega Bundle 6

by Gregor Daniels

  And she was after the biggest rat of them all.

  Lana stopped in her tracks. Just ahead was a shadow in the darkness, a shape clarified by squinting her eyes. There was another person staring back, no more than fifteen feet away.

  “Mason, I don’t have time for any of your dirty games,” Lana said, pulling up her coat and revealing a handgun holstered against her hip. It was a Heckler & Koch, silver slide with a black grip. She made sure the person across from her saw the glint of the metallic top. It was there in case he did something really stupid.

  And again her voice echoed unnaturally.

  “Where have you got him?” She took two steps forward. “Is he still here? Enough of this rubbish grudge.” Another two steps, and then she gasped. “Lewis?”

  He was standing directly across from her, perfectly fine and seemingly uninjured. Lana spun around, searching for the surprise in the darkness. With a streak of lightning bolting overhead, she saw no one else. The factory appeared to be empty, save the two of them.

  “Lewis, are you all right?”

  “Lewis, are you all right?” he repeated.

  “Quit fooling around.”

  “Quit fooling around.”

  “Where is he?”

  He repeated the question.

  He’s brainwashed him, or something, Lana assumed right away. Not only was he repeating every word she said without a pause in between, but he mimicked her movement exactly, following her lead. Lana sidestepped to the left, and so did he, staring straight back. She moved a quarter-turn of a circle, and so did Lewis again. They continued to focus on each other.

  Lightning flashed overhead, and Lana saw that he had a pistol strapped to his hip too.

  Mason, what have you done to him?

  With the possibility of her assistant being a threat—and carrying around a loaded weapon—Lana decided to act. She lunged forward in a flash, falling to a crouch and swinging her right leg around, the end of her boot aimed at Lewis’s lower leg to knock him off his feet.

  Instead, he crouched too. Her foot connected with his ribcage, driving a powerful blow to his body. At precisely the same moment, Lana felt a sharp pain in her side. She fell to her back, before leaping up to her feet again. Lewis jumped back to his feet, too.

  She rubbed the sore spot where his foot had slammed into her. So did he.

  “He’s turned you into a weapon of some kind.”

  “He’s turned you into a weapon of some kind,” Lewis repeated.

  Copying every move? I just have to be quicker than him.

  With a bolt of lightning flashing overhead, Lana lunged forward, stepping through the column of rain. She connected her fist with Lewis’s left cheek. A blindingly-quick blow hit her at precisely the same time. The two of them stumbled, finding their balance before circling each other again.

  Lana spit out a bit of blood.

  So did Lewis.

  “I don’t want to fight you.”

  “I don’t want to fight you.”

  “I know you’re in there, somewhere. Forgive me for this.”

  “I know you’re in there, somewhere. Forgive me for this.”

  Lana punched forward, aiming for Lewis’s nose. Instead, he had the exact same idea. The two fists slammed together in the middle, knuckles against knuckles. Lana shrieked in pain, pulling back, before spinning around with her other hand forming a tight fist. Lewis dodged to the left at the last second, while she avoided his oncoming strike.

  They staggered away from each other, both wiping a trickle of blood from the corners of their mouths.

  “Lewis, if you’re in there, just … tell me what I can do to stop this!”

  He repeated the phrase word for word.

  “Don’t make me.”

  “Don’t make me.”

  Lana reached for her sidearm, the cold grip fitting perfectly in her palm. Lewis did too, she saw. Together, they both slowly raised their guns, barrels aimed at the floor.

  She jerked hers upward, testing him. “Stop!”

  “Stop!”

  A little further up. “Put it down, Lewis!”

  “Put it down, Lewis!”

  With the handgun beginning to tremble in her fingers, Lana pointed it straight ahead, the front sight just to the right of Lewis’s head. The dark end of a steel barrel stared back, visibly shaking just as hers was.

  They circled each other, never letting their eyes wander elsewhere.

  “Bravo!” a voice yelled from the rear of the empty factory. “Bra-fucking-vo. Looks like the untouchable Lana Craft has finally met her match.”

  A man in a motorized wheelchair rolled out from the shadows. Lana recognized the face right away, though he had gained weight since their last meeting. His one leg was thick and heavy with muscle. The other was gone below the knee, ending in a sewn-up stump.

  “Turn him back to normal!” both Lewis and Lana shouted, guns still raised.

  “But he’s perfect the way he is!” Mason exclaimed. “Just look at him. I imagined my creation with a better body, but he’s turned out fine, minus a few unanticipated glitches.”

  Lana shook her head.

  “You expected my arrival, didn’t you? I don’t remember the Craft manor being so empty. No butlers or maids, or anything. You left him there alone, knowing I’d show up. You used him as bait.”

  Lana didn’t say a word.

  “That’s rude of you.”

  “You’re not the murdering type, Mason. What happened to you … no one could’ve predicted it,” they both spoke.

  “You still left me to die.”

  “I couldn’t find you! It was a day later. You know that. The avalanche buried everything!”

  Mason fingered his haggard beard. “I made something for you. Lewis is in there right now. It’s everything you ever wanted, adventure and peril, nonstop excitement. You can explore whatever part of the world you want to. Free of cost! And if you die, you get to try again.” He laughed. “I’ve been working for years, polishing it, getting all the details just right. I want you to see it.”

  “Lewis is still alive?”

  “Yes.”

  Lana bit her lip, looking ahead to her brainwashed assistant. His eyes almost appeared to glow in the darkness, until a flash of lightning briefly lit up the empty factory. Her gun was still aimed at him, and his at her. She moved it slightly to the right, and so did he, a perfect copy of her actions.

  “Put the gun down, Lana,” Mason told her. “You’re not the murdering type either. Besides, I bet Lewis doesn’t want his body with a hole in the head.”

  Lana glanced to her right, seeing Mason gleeful in his wheelchair. It was roughly a ninety-degree swing, his head level with her stomach. Smirking, she swung her arm left, aiming at the opposite wall, from where she had entered. Lewis, meanwhile, spun the other way, pointing the end of his pistol directly at Mason’s head.

  “Just exactly who is in command here?” Lana and Lewis both asked. “It seems he does what I show him to. The best assistant I can ask for.”

  Mason straightened in his wheelchair. “Hey, wait a minute now! Don’t point that at me! You wouldn’t dare!”

  Lana grinned. “No, you’re right. You have me there. My gun’s not even loaded actually. But, I bet you gave Lewis a fully-loaded magazine, didn’t you?”

  “Stop!”

  She squeezed her finger against the trigger, causing her gun to click. At the exact same moment, Lewis’s gun fired. The bullet whizzed by Mason’s face, hitting the ground several yards beyond, shooting up sparks. The sound echoed throughout the empty building.

  “Jesus!”

  “Now that we’ve confirmed that I’m the one in control here,” Lana called out over her shoulder, “perhaps you can be on your way. Refuse, and my friend here won’t miss again.” She reached into her pocket and tapped her phone.

  Sirens wailed in the distance, closing in on the factory.

  “You called the police?”

  “Shortly before en
tering, yes,” she said. “Let’s see, breaking into my house, kidnapping, a while behind bars might do you some good, I think.”

  Lana and Lewis both lowered their weapons as Mason motored away on his wheelchair, pushing through a heavy metal door on the far wall. She spotted computer equipment inside, but her handicapped foe didn’t bother staying behind to take anything with him. He disappeared out the back, and Lana heard the start of a car engine and tires spinning in gravel.

  Running to the back room, she found a computer monitor with Lewis’s vitals on it. Everything appeared to be stable. There was also a video feed of a room that looked an awful lot like the master bedroom back at the manor—except it was daylight outside. Lana squinted at the screen, spotting someone that looked exactly like her, without any clothes on!

  “Lewis,” she whispered happily.

  There were two big, clickable buttons, a blue UPLOAD and a red DOWNLOAD, along with a seat nearby with a pair of VR goggles. In his haste to leave, Mason had left everything behind. Getting her friend out of the computer program would be a cinch.

  Shortly after, the quadrotor helicopter descended into the building through the broken skylight, a police siren wailing from it. Lana immediately turned it off with her phone, for the sound was really quite irritating indoors!

  “That was some friend of yours,” Lewis said, now back in his own body. He rubbed his eyes, trying to erase the images of Lana’s master bedroom and that hallway full of doors. He shuddered at the thought of being trapped in there indefinitely. “I thought you weren’t coming. How did you find me?”

  “I have my ways,” Lana assured him, smirking. “And Mason and I aren’t friends, not anymore.”

  “What happened?”

  “Five years ago, we were out for a climb in the American Rockies. I misjudged the slope we were on. The mountain was overloaded from a weekend blizzard. There was a rumble … and everything turned to white. We were both thrown inside the avalanche. I was lucky to make it out with minor scrapes.”

  Lewis gulped. “And him?”

  “Snapped his leg off against a sharp rock. The snow buried him. I searched for any sign when everything was still. A day later, a rescue party found him further down the mountain. He was half-frozen and barely alive. It was a month before he left the hospital.” Lana turned her head toward the ground. “He blamed me for it all, the avalanche, his injuries, everything. He’s never let it go.”

  “Yeesh. And you let him get away? Remind me never to get to know any of your other friends.”

  “He has every right to be upset at what happened. Solitude has twisted the facts in his head,” she told him. “Maybe he’ll learn from this. Holding a grudge for so long isn’t healthy.”

  Lewis gazed at his surroundings. The rain had let up, though the clouds above the factory looked like they would open up again any second. Thunder rumbled softly in the distance over London proper.

  “So, the doppelgänger was in my body, and mimicked every move you made?”

  Lana nodded. “Yes. She was quite agile. Your body moved quicker than I’d ever seen before. Maybe I should get her back.”

  Lewis laughed. “Wait a minute. Okay, so she mimicked every move. Then, how did you get her into the chair with the VR goggles?”

  “Found an empty barrel. Tricked her into falling in. Once the calibration was off, I was able to move her to the computer room and get her seated.”

  Lewis shook his head trying to imagine the scene. No matter how he pictured it, the doppelgänger in his body was stuck upside-down in the barrel, legs kicking in the air. It was comical to think about. But hey, her dream had come true! She had been in the real world—for a few minutes anyway.

  “What happens to the computer equipment?” he asked Lana.

  “I’ll take it with me. Can’t let Mason come back for it. What he’s developed is far too dangerous. His obsession knows no bounds.”

  “Man, we have some weird adventures. I’m glad you didn’t leave me behind.”

  He turned to Lana, expecting to see that same stupid grin plastered on her face. Instead, she wasn’t smiling.

  “Lewis,” she began, her voice suddenly more serious, “I won’t deceive you. I knew he might try something foolish. That’s why I left and put you in charge of the manor.” She pulled a folded letter from her pocket.

  “What?” Lewis gasped.

  “He reminded me of the five-year anniversary of the accident. It was a terrible choice, and I apologize. I knew no harm would come to you, but you should’ve known from the start.”

  Lewis’s mind flashed back to the simulator, dying over and over and feeling it every single time inside Lana’s body.

  “I was bait? I could’ve been killed!”

  “He wouldn’t—”

  “How do you know? He was prepared to torture you until the ends of time. I saw it all in there! The video game was one death trap after another, designed specifically for you. Once he had you caught, I’d probably be worthless. Tossed into the river as trash.”

  “But you weren’t, and I saved you,” Lana pointed out.

  Lewis shook his head, staring hard into the night. The East End was surprisingly quiet, save for the occasional clap of thunder. The street was empty. Lana’s van was the only vehicle parked next to the curb.

  “I’m gone in a few days. Back to California.”

  “You’re welcome to stay at the manor, Lewis. Plenty of room. It can be your home away from home if you wish.”

  “Can’t. Too dangerous with you.”

  “I understand,” Lana said, nodding. “At least help me with the equipment. Are you going to stay at the manor until your flight? It’s cheaper than a hotel.”

  Lewis sighed. “Yeah.”

  A few days later …

  “Lana?” Lewis called out, his voice echoing down the hall and back. “Lana, where are you? I need a ride to the airport.”

  Every bag was packed—two to be precise. Lewis had packed lightly for the trip, knowing that it was only going to be a few days out of the country. He lightly tapped his jacket pocket, feeling the familiar contour of his passport. The weather outside appeared to be miserable, that constant dull gray that he quickly grew tired of. That’s all there was in England, rain and clouds! How the people that lived here weren’t irritable bastards he’d never know.

  “Lana?”

  He checked his phone. Three hours until boarding. Plenty of time to get there and check in. He didn’t want to be in a rush. A sunny California was waiting on the other side of the world, with sandy beaches, white-capped waves, and plenty of girls in skimpy bikinis. He couldn’t wait.

  Lewis arrived at the foyer and stared at the high ceiling one last time. He’d seen smaller hotels than the Craft manor—and not just the cheap ones either.

  “Come on, Lana. If not, I’m just gonna call a cab.”

  Heading down the stairs, Lewis spotted a trio of fat, black cables snaking along the carpet. They emerged from somewhere under the floor, twisting around the bottom step and disappearing into an adjacent room.

  “Lana?”

  He followed them, pushing through a door on the way. They ended at a computer station—the same one from the factory. And right next to it was Lana Craft herself, sitting still with the VR goggles wrapped around her head. The only part of her face visible were her lips.

  Lewis snapped his fingers. She was totally unaware of his presence, apparently inside that same digital simulation that he had been so thrilled to finally be out of.

  On the table was a second pair of goggles.

  Lewis dropped his bags. “What could possibly be in there that’s gotten you intrigued?”

  Making himself comfortable on the floor—and putting himself in a position where he could be totally relaxed—Lewis pulled the black headgear over his face, situating the lenses just over his eyes. Everything was dark for a moment, until he flipped the switch on the side and found himself within the world of the computer.

  He w
as in the master bedroom of the Craft manor again; Lewis knew it well enough now that it was easy to recognize. After that, he noticed that his clothes were gone, and on his chest were a pair of fairly substantial breasts. It was Lana’s body once more, in its full naked glory.

  Must be some profile setting, he thought to himself. Every time he entered the simulation, the software was programmed to give him Lana Craft’s body. He placed a hand on his right breast, giving it a soft squeeze. The other went between his legs, finding all-too-familiar territory. Yep, it was just like he remembered!

  “Oh, the detail is impeccable!” a female voice said.

  Lewis turned his head up, and his jaw instantly dropped.

  The reason why Lana was inside the computer simulation was suddenly clear. Two naked girls were on the king-sized mattress, one on her back with her legs spread, and the other knelt down facing away from him. Lewis saw that the former had bright red hair—the doppelgänger!

  “Lana?”

  The darker-haired one snapped her head around, eyes widening. “Lewis, is that you? I think three of me is one too many.”

  “What were you doing?”

  Her cheeks went red. “I know what it must look like.”

  “You were lezzing out with her!”

  “Me? She’s just a clone, Lewis. It’s more like masturbation, I think.”

  “That’s the same person that stole my body … or computer program. Whatever!”

  Lana stood, presenting her round, bubble-shaped backside. “I took a few liberties when rewriting her code.”

  “She’s dangerous!”

  “Lewis, she’s just a computer program. I could’ve tossed her in the recycling bin. Instead, I changed a few things. She won’t be trying to escape anytime soon.”

  “Hey Lewis!” The doppelgänger cheerfully waved.

  Oh boy, he thought to himself. He was suddenly very conscious of the fact that there wasn’t just one Lana Craft in the room, but three. Sure, only one was the real one, but all of them had the exact same body. In fact, as Lana strolled over to him with no piece of clothing on, Lewis found it easy to resist staring. He had seen everything about her that there was to see!