He considers turning himself into a someone else

Dr. Jon Kekyll stood still, the hum of the RAC slowly fading in his hand as the realization fully settled in. He was taller. Not by much, but it was enough to prove it, enough to shake the foundations of everything he’d spent his life trying to understand.

It worked.

He paced now, barefoot on the cold tile, the RAC pulsing faintly with residual heat. The lab’s fluorescent lights buzzed overhead, indifferent to the impossible. Monitors still flickered with telemetry data, oblivious to the meaning behind the numbers. But Jon? Jon was electric.

He stopped in front of the mirror again, examining himself - not just taller, but different. Not enough for the world to notice. Not yet. The field remained localized, perception-bound. No one else could experience the change unless he let them, unless he recalibrated the RAC to broadcast instead of contain. But that was risky. Messy. And frankly, boring.

No, the truly interesting part wasn’t showing the world.

It was testing it.

He tapped the RAC against his palm, thinking. “If the internal state changes, and no one else sees it... what does that say about identity? About self?”

He paused. “What does it mean to be real if I can be anyone, but only I know?”

The question thrilled him.

There were endless permutations to try: strength, intelligence, memory. Emotions. What happens if he subtracts grief? Or multiplies confidence? Could he turn himself into someone who doesn’t remember failure? Someone who loves? Someone who believes?

He glanced at the mirror again. “I’ve proven it works. I’ve changed. But now... it’s time to try something new. Perhaps someone new.”

His fingers hovered over the RAC's interface, scrolling past "Height", past "Metabolism", past all the physical traits and into the deeper menu: Profile Overwrite.

The icon blinked softly, inviting him in.

“I confirmed a change to my appearance,” he murmured. “by extension, I should try changing my identity!”

He grinned, not out of joy, but something sharper. Hungrier.

“I can become someone else entirely. Not just act like them. Be them.”

He stepped back from the mirror, eyes glinting with possibility.