Liz asks for some help.

I explained the situation to Liz, who was very troubled.

"So they're... the same? But only mentally?" she asked. "And this is the first time you've seen something like this?"

I nodded affirmatively and she thought for a second.

"I've got to admit, this is very disturbing to me. I'm not worried because I know I can trust you, but it's upsetting to even imagine it. I agree that we need to find out more about your power, and that requires experimentation. I trust you - even though I know I only trust you because you made me - but this whole thing freaks me out." She sighed. "Since I'm gonna be helping you with this, can you do me a favor?"

That sounded ominous. "Um, sure," I replied nervously. "What is it?"

"You know how you made me love you and trust you and all of that? Could you make me a little less squeamish about all of this?"

My eyes shot up. "You want me to make you ok with it?"

"No, no, no- well, I guess, yeah. That's the long and short of it. Can you make me less disturbed by it? That would go a long way towards helping you learn more about it. I just, ugh, the thought of losing my identity like that makes me shudder. Can you change that?"

I pondered it for a second. I didn't want to use my power any more than necessary, but her arguments were compelling. I'd already changed her so much, why stop when she asked me to?

Mind made up, I got up and walked towards her. Her eyes opened wide for a moment, then fluttered.

"Whoa, that's... don't... surprise a girrrrll..." Her jaw hung slack as she trailed off, unable to complete the word. I placed a hand on shoulder.

"Liz?" A small grunt of affirmation. "Liz, I need you to listen to me. This thing that I do - it's not scary at all. All of the things we know and learn about it don't disturb or upset you. You don't have any residual anxiety or worry about it - you just want to learn more. And if you feel yourself changing at all, I want you to tell me immediately. If you're, um, under my influence, please do your best to signal to me or make me aware that you're changing."

I began to walk away, but seeing Chloe and Jess slowly coming back to life reminded me of something. "Oh, and you no longer have an intense desire to give me anal or oral sex."

"Hey, are you telling her to do stuff?" Jess asked groggily.

"No fair!" Chloe said, stretching. "What about us?"

Meanwhile, Liz was also coming back. "I- um, what? What was- what? You were... you did it! When you started coming at me I felt everything draining out of me so fast... you did it, though!" She glanced at Jess and Chloe. "That mind-meld thing doesn't bother me anymore at all!"

"Easy for you to say," Chloe replied and gestured at Jess. "You're not the one who has to be this bitch- ow!"

Jess had punched her chest. "Don't forget I know your right tit's more sensitive than your left. I'm just as much you as you are me. Man, those things are huge! I kinda miss them." She grabbed her more modest chest and looked down ruefully. "These things just don't measure up. At least bra shopping's easier."

"Settle down, girls." Liz was more aware now and went to sit next to them on the couch. "Let's talk this out. Jess?"

"Yeah?" they responded in unison. They looked at each other and grinned. Liz grimaced.

"Alright. For now, when I say Jess I mean the person in Jess's body and the same goes for Chloe. That ought to help. You girls ok with that?" They nodded.

"So, first question. Tell me, do your bodies feel like yours? Chloe, for example, do you feel comfortable in your body?"

"No," Chloe said angrily. "She fucking punched my tit. Hurts like hell!" She slapped Jess's ass, causing the other girl to yelp loudly.

"What I mean," Liz said patiently, "is do you feel like you're in somebody else's body? Do you feel a sense of ownership? Jess, earlier you said you missed having larger breasts. Do those breasts not feel like your own?"

Jess was glaring at Chloe. "They feel like mine, but they also feel like hers. I don't know, it's hard to pierce together. I guess this body feels natural until I start thinking about it. I have all of these memories of being a short blonde with a nice rack, but it's like remembering when you were a little kid. You remember being 9 years old but it doesn't feel weird that you're an adult now. Like that was you and this is you too, you've just changed.

"So do you feel like you've changed?"

Chloe chimed in. "Definitely. When we woke up in that tub, I didn't feel exactly like Chloe or Jess. We were so stoned and out of it that it took us a while to figure out why, but I definitely felt like a different person. At least partially."

Jess spoke again. "It's very unnerving, talking to a perfect copy of yourself who has a body that you can remember having."

"Well, it is to you," Liz replied. "I had Dan take that away from me so I can help us sort this out."

"Sort it out?" Chloe asked. "Take it away?" Jess replied simultaneously.

"Yes, I was very upset about what's happening now so Dan removed that feeling. And we're all on the same page that we want to reverse this, right?"

The girls shared a glance, then Chloe spoke. "I don't think we're on the same page at all."

"Yeah," added Jess. "I like being me. Being us. In a sense, Chloe and Jess died in that tub and whoever we are was born. We don't want to go back to being separate people. We like being us."

Liz looked at me, clearly confused. I shrugged.

"Well, then we'll need a different plan. Dan, I suggest we meld me with either one of these girls or someone else. I think going in fully aware and sober will give me more insight than they have." She smiled. "Also, I'm really curious. Now that it doesn't bother me, I'm honestly a little jealous of them. I'd love to share that with someone too."

I looked at her incredulously. Before I could speak, she addressed my objections. "Yes, yes, ethics, slippery slope, et cetera. I know you're not very comfortable with this, but we need to experiment so we can figure out how this works before things go even more haywire. I'm completely comfortable and willing to be your guinea pig."

"But that's only because I made you feel that way!"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I know. What of it? It doesn't help anything for me to know that it's not real. It still makes the most sense. So what do you say?"