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It took Sam a moment to react. He heard the hidden door close, presumably with Ivan/Lexie behind it, and the clack of Judy's heels slowly going up the stairs. He rushed back towards the bathroom, closing the door behind him and trying to make it look as if he's been working this whole time. It was hard to act normal after what he just saw; Something behind that door turned Ivan into a tiny college girl. He had to get inside there somehow, see what that was.

The click-clack of Judy's heels grew louder and louder, like an encroaching predator. He braced himself for the performance of a lifetime, only for the sound to abruptly stop. He barely heard her phone ring, only her voice when she answered it.

"Good morning Mr. Klaus. Yes, I'm still in the penthouse." She paused. "Yes, Lexie is here, she's just getting changed." She paused again. "Uh huh. Uh huh. Yes."

Sam's heart beat like crazy. Did Judy see him? If she did, she wasn't giving any clue of the matter. Sam was thinking fast. He had to get inside that hidden room somehow, but he didn't think Judy would give him leave to stay in the apartment alone after she left with Ivan. If he was finished, she'd want him gone before them. and if he wasn't she'd probably want to wait on him. He recalled what she said earlier, if he was done early, he could just leave...

Sam turned to the faucet, working like never before. If his dad could see him right now he would probably be crying with pride. In less than a minute he managed to break down the faucet, change the filter and rubber, and put everything back together maticulously, all the while Judy's conversation continued in the background. He was just putting his tools back when he heard Judy's clack continue again, approaching his way. He quickly finished up everything and rushed out to the bedroom, jumping into the walk in closet just as he heard Judy's voice enter the room.

"...yes boss. I'll just check out on the plum- oh, it looks like he's done already." She paused again. Did she hear him? He stupidly peeked through the small crack, seeing Judy bending over and picking something up.

"No sorry boss. He just forgot a screwdriver here. Alright, me and Lexie will be on our way. 5 masks? I'll probably have to stop by the ware..."

Her voice soon faded back into the hallway, and Sam let himself breath again. This day must've been the most stressful experience in his life. He paused, allowing himself to finally process what he just saw and heard. It was almost too much to comprehend. Somehow, something in Gregory Klaus' apartment allowed people to entirely change their appearance. That's the only explanation he could conjure, unless Lexie was just waiting in that hidden room to swap places with Ivan. It wasn't that far fetched, KLI were known for their cutting edge nanotechnology, but it was still surreal to just imagine. This sort of technology could change the world, and they were using it... To suck guys off at college? He was sure there was more reason to it. Whatever was in there, he bet it was the secret to Klaus' success... And likely quite illegal if it was being kept under wraps like this. This could be his big break!

He heard the distant sound of Judy and Lexie talking some more for a few minutes, and then what he assumed was the front door. After waiting long enough for his sweat to dry, Sam carefully stepped out of the closet, first scouting to see he wasn't noticed before continuing forward. The place seemed empty. He let himself to be slightly more at ease as he continued down the hallway, always making sure to scout ahead. When he felt confident he was alone, he walked down the stairs, to the wall.

Wherever that hidden door was, it was seemless. He searched for the brick for a long moment, letting out a little squeel as he felt it budge finally. He was fiddling with his fingers in anticipation, typing the code from his phone to the keypad as soon as it appeared. In his excitement he got the code wrong, and for a moment was devastated he must've misheard it. But on his second try sure as day, the wall suddenly began to move.

He caught his breath watching the hidden room slowly open before him, the lights flickering on automatically. He blinked a few times, trying to peer forward to get used to the relative darkness compared to the sunlit living room. He took a step inside, noticing a few racks of clothes, all different outfits big and small. Almost like costumes. The wall facing him was made entirely of different labelled drawers, but the back wall was what caught his attention. Or to be more accurate, nearly made him shit his pants.

Faces. The entire wall was covered in faces, almost like that place from Game of Thrones, only smaller. Each was framed neatly around the edges, but otherwise, each one was a unique, real looking face. Or otherwise, an extremely realistic mask.

Were these the masks they were talking about? Did one of these faces transform Aaron into Lexie?

He inches forward, inspecting the wall with caution. Each face appeared to be resting on a display hanger, with a label bellow them. There were at least a hundred different faces, each more different than the last. Young, old, male, female... All shapes, sizes and colors, like a random sample of the population.

He approached one of the faces, his eyes widening at the sight. "Kim K, 44. Actress." Indeed, the face resembled that of the famous Kardashian. There were a few more celebrities he noticed, but not as much as he expected. What mostly caught his attention though, was an empty hanger, the label under it reading "Lexie Tang, 19. Student."

Lexie's empty hanger was bordered by several other women and men of her age, all presumably students. Were these all real people? Did... Did they turn these people into masks? No, if they have people like the Kardashians stowed in here, it made no sense for them to be the original. Most likely these are copies. But how?

His mind went back to the conversion he eavesdropped to. They were saying something about empty masks... Is that what they use to copy the appearance? The mask must somehow capture the appearance of its wearer. He searched with his eyes, and quickly found one. It wasn't hard to notice.

The empty masks were just blank white, like a simple plaster mask you get at arts and crafts, only made of some sort of metal. It was hanging on an unlabeled hanger near the edge of the room, near 5 more empty hangers.

He took a step back, admiring the wall. It was insane just to think about what he was seeing. These masks, this power... Whatever it was, Sam knew he needed proof. Nobody would believe images either. He knew he had to take one. But... Did he know how they even work?

Sam's eyes scoured the wall again, looking over the dozens of different faces. It was one thing to see someone do it, but to take one himself, to pick who he was gonna become... It was harder than he imagined.

Slowly he stepped forward, his eyes landing on a slim-faced young Latina. He couldn't tell why he was drawn to her speciallly, despite it being a female face. Something about her just seemed... Familiar.

Speaking of which, Sam's eyes landed on another familiar face, only this time he has no doubts whose it was. "Judy Hudson, 25, PA to Klaus." It was right next to... A mask of Klaus' own face.