A new face to fight back

You can't go now, you resolve. You've got to fight back against this mysterious entity that has entered your life, and is now happily living the lives of those near and dear to you. Your family and friends are in the grip of a conspiracy few could imagine exist. And, if you stand for anything, it's for them.

You rise, dabbing Gabby's tears away, and walk slowly and deliberately to the arrivals corridor, patting yourself on the thigh in thought. Gabrielle's body has, for the last few days, felt perfect on you. In fact, you can't imagine being a man again; the idea of looking at your dick again makes you feel strange, as if it's an alien appendage rather than part of your body. It's funny, you think; you used to consider it your most important body part. Now that it's gone - or at least submerged under Gabby's exquisite flesh - you don't feel like you miss it.

You reach the arrivals hall, and look for your targets through the crowd. The flight attendant you thought had been heading for the toilet was obviously caught by her friends, because she's making her apologies still, but finally heads to the restroom. You quickly single her out. If you're going to be a woman, you're going to be a beautiful one. Anything less would feel like a step down after several days as an undeniably hot French woman. You cut your way through the crowds and slip after her.

This is a drill you've done before. Outside is a ''toilets closed for maintenance" sign left by some careless airport staffmember, which you hang on the handle. Then you walk in and quietly jam the lock; you're lucky that the door has one at all, but you're not going to question small mercies. You spot the attendant heading for a stall, and point the brown pen at her.

Immediately, information rushes through your mind. Pin number, cell number, flight numbers. Isla Clarkson, age 30 years, almost nine years' experience as a flight attendant.

You call out.

"Miss? Excuse me?" Gabrielle's sweet French accent slips across your tongue like butter. You're going to miss the sound of her voice. The attendant stops, and turns to you.

"Yes?" She says with a thick Scots accent; evidently she's from a European airline. You don't hesitate a second longer: you lift the black pen and fire.

*****

You're out of Gabby's T-shirt and clothes, busy slipping her skin from around your ankles, when disaster strikes. You hear the sound of a door opening. Not from outside, but from within.

A woman steps out of a toilet cubicle: the older blonde woman in floppy hat and sundress you saw earlier. You can only imagine what she must see: a naked man, with the loose, limp, mask-like face of a woman around his legs, staring at her in shock. A few metres away, crumpled under a crisp crimson uniform, the red-haired locks of a flight attendant. Her eyes widen, her mouth flops open, and you brace yourself for a scream.

None comes. The woman continues to stare, mouth flapping like a fish, before her eyes roll and she falls into a faint. You waste no time in reaching for a pen and zapping her. Her stats begin to consume your mind. Mrs Mary-Ann Whittling, aged... Shit. In your panic you used the brown pen. You shake off the memories and grab the black pen, watching as she collapses into a skin.

You look at the chaos around you. Gabrielle's beautiful body is trailing around your legs, her flowing, highlighted hair spread across the floor. In front of you is Isla, a Scottish flight attendant, with any lucky due to stay in town at least overnight. And, a little further on, Mary-Ann, who has just seen far too much. You could continue the plan as before, become Isla, revive Gabrielle and Mary-Ann and use the white pen to repair any damage with a quick memory wipe. But what if you get it wrong? And do you really have time to do that before someone else stumbles in on the scene? The alternative is to become Mary-Ann. She's old enough that her kids - if she has any - could well have left home, meaning you'll just have to put up with your husband on the way back to town before exiting her life. Or maybe you could stay as her while you work to free your family. She wouldn't be your first choice, but she's kept her body in good shape, and it's certainly a guise nobody would ever expect.