Chapter 3: Maximum Detection Risk
I had some idea of the things Felix does in his spare time. An awful lot of it seems to be drinking black coffee. That or cider, for some reason. I headed out towards the cafe, a Modifier in tow. Today was Monday, so Nathan didn't have any work. He was likely out at the park with Franklin, so I'd have a good chance of running into Felix there. I ordered a cup to go, paid with a twenty (they seemed pretty confused when I handed them cash), and headed to a bench.
Sure enough, the two of them were already at a picnic table talking about Nathan's newest project. He was building a game in Unity and Franklin would be writing and storyboarding it, and what they had shown to me the other day looked promising. It seemed to be a sort of RPG but the combat was music and rhythm-based, which sounded pretty awesome. It'd be a big hit with the inept livestreaming crowd, no doubt. I was on the other side of the park, but Nathan nodded at me. I nodded in response and tipped the coffee cup towards them, and took a sip.
Ugh, this is disgusting. How can he do this? Within a minute or so, Felix skipped up to them. “Hey, guys!” he said in an enthusiastic tone, likely bewildering them as much as possible.
“Uh, hey Ash. Looking awfully... dressed-up today.”
He laughed and leaned more towards Nathan. “You know, that thing there on the screen is moving just dandy, but let me see the code... Oh, now you could streamline this further by just making it move between two points, make 'em children of that. Y'all understand?”
Y'all? Oh my God, Felix.
“Uh... thanks?” Nathan replied, a ton of hesitation and confusion in his tone.
“So, whatcha doin' later?”
“Well, Ash,” Franklin interjected, “we'll be going to my place so we can use my father's recording booth.”
“Can I come?”
“Eh,” Nathan said, “it's kinda just a two-man project right now. We can invite you over later tonight if you want to play, I dunno, Mario Kart or something.”
“Sounds lovely!”
He then immediately skipped away from the two of them and behind a bush. “Jesus Christ,” I muttered.
“Hey, Felix!” He said immediately behind me, his accent marring my voice in a way I can only describe through anguished screaming.
“Felix, what the hell was that?”
“Well, I just have always thought you and Nathan would look so cute together!”
“Are you serious.”
“Why, what's the problem?”
“Oh my God, Felix.”
“Is he already taken? I mean, we could still make it w--”
“Goddammit, Felix. Yes, Nathan is taken. He's been dating Franklin for like 8 months. Jesus Christ!”
“Oh. O—Oh! I get it!” He chimed in.
“Now you do. How's that Modifier thing been coming along?”
“Nothing yet, still working on it! Well, I'm going to go figure out how your computer works. It's a lot more visual than I expected!”
He skipped away, humming to himself and gasping at small dogs. I poured out the rest of my coffee and walked over to Nathan. “Hey, Nathan,” I began.
“Felix, what's going on with Ash?”
“That's just it. That's not Ash. I—I'm Ash. Somehow he got swapped into me and vice versa. I've tried my damnedest to look and act like him, but he just doesn't care. He'd rather have fun and look cute while I try to figure out what's going on and how to even use his stuff. I'm getting a little sick of it.”
“...You lost me. Wait, is that why my contacts got switched around a few days ago?”
“Exactly that. Francisco or someone is swapping stuff around, and this happened. Have you guys seen any other oddities?”
“Like the bench out in the lake?”
“The what?”
He got up and walked to the east end of the park and pointed over a hedge. Sure enough, a metal bench was partly submerged in the water. “What did it switch with?”
“The non-functioning fountain in front of the capitol.”
“When was this?”
“Oh, like five minutes ago, just before A... Felix... got here. There was a crackle of static and then we heard a kid talk about the bench in the lake.”
I rushed back to the capitol and tried to navigate Felix's interface. I retraced his steps and sure enough the last edit was just a few minutes ago, right outside the capitol. I quickly tried to undo it but was halted by a password screen. I groaned and took out Felix's flip phone. I dialed my number and waited for a response. It eventually went to voicemail. I groaned louder. “Felix, please call me back.”
I tried to call again, and this time he picked up. “Hello?” I asked.
“Oh, that's where... Hi!” He exclaimed, “Still getting used to this!”
“Alright, I need to know the credentials for your accoun... what is that sound in the background?”
“Some music! You had a CD on your desk, and I'm playing it now. It's pretty faining music!”
“Fa... Felix, just get over here.”
“Alright! Should I bring the CD?”
“Just leave the CD where it is.”
“Shut it off?”
“...Yes. Obviously.”
“Alright, I'll be over in just a... a minute.”
He left the call going as I heard him get up (from what sounded like off the floor) and run out of the room. Gosh, I can only imagine what mom will think. Has Alex seen this at all? I hung up for him and put my head against the wall. Faining is not a word. At least, I don't think it is. I don't have any way to look it up (why are all of these computers so old?!), and Felix left behind my phone, so I don't have any idea.
Within a couple minutes, Felix had come down the stairs into the workshop, skipping the last step like a child. He smiled at me. “Told you it'd just be a shortlog!”
“A what?”
“A minute. That's eh-- that's what I said, alright, let me get to that password... there you go!”
I quickly tried to switch around as many things as I could. The fountain and the bench, a couple other sets I didn't recognize, and then I came across one from 3 this morning, something in the gigabytes in size. I immediately tried to switch this one back. It had to be Felix and I!
Suddenly, the screen went blank and asked for the password again. “Felix, log me back in!”
“Uh... I don't think I want to. Not right now, at least”
“W... what? Felix, don't tell me--”
“Oh, Ash, it's been a blast today! The last few days have been so hard on me. It's been rough. But I mean you're young and full of energy. It just feels fun to be someone like you! You're so... I hope you understand this all.”
“Felix, what's more important to you? To New Infinity?”
“Just one more day!”
I glared at him. “At least explain shortlog and that sort of shit. What's up with that?”
“Oh, just some words from when I was a kid. Getting to be young again, I find it so much easier to use them. It's only natural.”
“Felix, those aren't even words. Here... you left my phone at home. Shit, well, can you get to the Internet from here?”
“Not really. I don't see the big deal, Ash.”
“Because you're not thinking straight. Now write down your credentials and get out of here, please.”
“Uh... alright...”
Felix grabbed some dot matrix printer paper from a box and wrote down some stuff, and left, running up the stairs. I heard the bookcase slam shut and steps rush out the capitol. The door crashed shut. He was taking this a little harsh, it seemed. I rolled my eyes and looked at what he wrote down. “Name: NIFELIX / Kzhhdliw: ZMLGSIVPRM”. I sighed and tossed the paper in the trash. He really wanted to keep my body, didn't he. I called again and left a voicemail. “Hey, the password you left me is just gibberish. I caught onto your little game. So you get one day, just one day. Not two. Please, take this seriously next time this happens. Lock the files or something. I'm just... I'm just frustrated is all.”
I hung up and figured I'd tell him myself. Given the events earlier today, he probably doesn't know how to work an Android phone.
ns 15.158.61.6da2
