When a young man’s sister threatens to reveal his secret invention to their parents, he makes a split second decision to stop her by using the new machine to copy his friend’s mind into her body in Copy That (Part 1).
Cole is a brilliant young inventor. Too brilliant, really, though his best friend, Dominic, has become adept at translating his high-minded concepts into everyday English.
Ever since Cole’s last invention nearly destroyed the house, Cole’s parents forbade him from working on anything else. So they have no idea that he’s come up with a brand new invention in the basement that can clone a person’s entire mind.
When Cole’s sister, Callie, discovers his invention and threatens to tell their parents, Cole makes a split second decision and zaps a copy of Dominic’s mind into Callie’s body.
Now Dominic has gone from stumpy to sexy, a clone of his mind inhabiting Callie’s incredible body while his original self looks on longingly. While Cole tries to find a way to restore his sister’s mind, the new Callie has to pretend that everything is normal, even though she has none of the original’s memories. But she finds being a woman isn’t so bad. Particularly when her new body is smoking hot, and incredibly sensitive.
Maybe she shouldn’t go back to her dumpy old self just yet. Not when she’s enjoying this body so much.
And Callie’s friends are so hot.
And Cole’s invention is so easy to use.
“Is it booting up now?” Cole asked from where he crouched behind the basement sofa.
Dominic stopped restlessly spinning around in the worn office chair and glanced at the computer monitor.
“Yeah, that did it,” Dominic replied.
Cole rose and brushed the dust and cobwebs off his hands. As the computer booted up, he took off his thick rimmed glasses and tried to clean them on his shirt. But, since his shirt was as filthy as the rest of him, it just moved the smudges around.
Dominic pushed himself back in the office chair so that it rolled across the concrete floor of the basement and came to rest just against the stairs leading up to the house. He spun himself around a few times, idly, before leaning the chair back and walking his feet as far up the wall as he could form his seated position.
“Jesus, Cole, why did you have to cannibalize your game console to do this?” Dominic said, stifling a yawn.
“My parents won’t buy me the necessary components after the little accident with my last invention,” Cole replied, leaning over the keyboard and typing in some commands.
The ‘little accident’ was an electrical overload that fried the fuse box and cause thirty thousand dollars’ worth of damage to his parents’ house. Cole’s parents had come home to find the fire department handling the mess while Cole and Dominic stood outside watching. Cole’s parents had forbid him from any more of his science experiments after that, which was why all of Cole’s equipment was pushed to the corner of the basement with a handy tarp ready to pull over to hide the whole thing.
“You know,” Dominic said, patting his tubby stomach rhythmically. “You could get what is known as a ‘job’ and buy it yourself. Maybe even move out of your parents’ basement?”
“And live with two annoying roommates like you do?”
“We could get a place together. Then I would only have one annoying roommate.”
“Ah, that would be me, would it?”
“You really are a genius,” Dominic grinned, spinning around in his chair again.
“I promise you this will be much better than any game console,” Cole said, as the computer beeped.
Dominic snorted doubtfully and heaved himself out of his seat to stand over Cole’s shoulder. “What is it?”
The computer was scrounged together from spare parts and Cole’s previously awesome gaming console. It connected via a thick bundle of wires to the butchered game console controller. The whole thing was badly duct taped and soldered together.
“It’s a mind swapping device,” Cole said, distracted as he frowned and typed in some more commands. “If I can get this stupid AI to do what I want it to do.”
“A mind swapping device?”
“Yes. A device that can swap minds.”
“Great. Thank you for the clarification,” Dominic sighed. “You think it will work?”
“I know it will work.”
“That’s what you say every time.”
“In the words of one George Michael, you gotta have faith.”
Dominic picked up the controller connected to the computer. It was much heavier now that Cole had attached a big block to the underside of it that held what amounted to a second computer. Dominic tapped some of the buttons and a green laser pointer flickered across the far wall. Dominic turned the controller around to look at where the laser had come from and Cole grabbed the controller from his hand.
“Careful with that,” Cole said. “It could explode.”
It was impossible to tell if Cole was joking or not.
Cole continued typing for a few seconds, then: “I need to load someone’s mind into this thing. Give me your head.”
“What? No. Use your own head.”
“I’m concerned that there will be a capacity mismatch between my intellect and the specifications to which I constructed this array.”
“Are you saying your genius is too big to be contained in that computer?”
“That’s another way of putting it, yes. It won’t hurt. Just come here and stand still.”
Dominic sighed and dutifully went to stand next to Cole. Cole picked up the remote control and aimed the sensor at Dominic’s head.
“Ready?” Cole asked.
There was a low, soft whump.
“Will it hurt?” Dominic said, shutting his eyes.
“I don’t know. Did it hurt?”
When Dominic opened his eyes Cole was looking at the monitor, where a complicated-looking program displayed several wavelengths and a bewildering chart of numbers that Dominic couldn’t make sense of.
“Yes!” Cole nodded with satisfaction. He turned to Dominic and pointed at the monitor. “That’s you.”
Dominic peered at it. “That’s me?”
“Sort of. It’s an exact copy of your conscious cortex activity.”
“So…my brain is in that computer?”
“That’s what I just said.”
“How did you get everything so quickly and without any…I don’t know…surgery or anything?”
“I could explain it to you but the risk of the knowledge exploding your head is too great.”
Again, it was impossible to tell if Cole was joking or not.
“Does that mean that there’s a ‘me’ in the computer?”
Cole shook his head. “No. This is just data. It needs to be mapped on to an existing brain architecture through the judicious use of the zapping appendage.”
“So translated into normie speak, that means you need to target someone with that modified remote control to transfer that copy of my brain into theirs?”
“Precisely. You should help me with the marketing.”
“First thing I’m doing is changing the name of ‘zapping appendage’. Sounds too porn-y.”
“What about insertion generator?”
“No.”
“The penetrator?”
“Now you’re just fucking with me.” “Yeah.” Cole cracked a smile.
Read the rest in Copy That (Part 1).