"Cassie" arrives

Another knock on the door. A young woman with short platinum blonde hair strides through the door and places an arm around 'Nessa, grinning with delight. Those memories that you so graciously appropriated from the form you're wearing tells you that this is Cassie Lewinski, the band's tough looking drummer. Cassie's short platinum hair and heavy eyeliner make her look quite the tomboy and her manner of dress reflects this.

"You busting on my vomiting again 'Nessy?" she drawls. Even if she acts tough and puts on her a strong Southern accent, Riley knows this is just an act. The vomiting was an old left-over habit from back when Cassie was a beauty pageant contestant; an activity **** upon her by her overbearing mother. The whole cutting her hair and running away from home thing was an act of rebellion against her teenage days. When the members of Ani-E finally found out about Cassie's past, they never hesitated to badger her about it.

"God woman, get a mint or something." 'Nessa went to push away her band mate; whose mouth obviously smelt like vomit but found Cassie holding only tightly. "What's that..."

It was then that you saw the black pen grasped in Cassie's hand as it fired point blank into Vanessa Zhou, turning her into a pile of skin and clothes.

"Fuck dude," exclaimed Gemma, "Stop fucking doing that?" For her part, Cassie had a giant Jimmy-esque grin plastered across her face. She picked up the fallen guitarist and handed the skin to Trish.

"Hurry up dude, concert starts in 20. You don't want to keep the fans waiting do you?"

Jimmy's plan finally clicks into place. He wants the three of you to go up on stage and perform as Trish and Jessica's favourite band. Analytical Engine. The thought is incredibly arousing to you; to replace basically the entire band and play in their stead without anyone realising. The thought of it excites you to no end. For her part, Trish seems to be giving it some real thought.

"Fuck." Trish grabs the skin and starts slipping into it without taking off Gem first. You glance over at Jessica's discarded skin in the corner. Cassie has obviously noticed you and shakes her head. It'll take too long to explain to her what's happened. You're inclined to agree. After all, the last thing she'll remember is probably meeting Jimmy right before he zapped her and wore her like a cheap suit.... restoring her here would just confuse the hell out of her.

Trish eases into Nessa's skin without a problem. Even before Jimmy zaps her with the brown pen to give her all of the guitarist's memories, she was acting almost exactly like her. It must've been all the fangirling and the fact that Nessa is Trish's favourite member of the band. In any case, you're pretty sure Trish is living her dream right now. It's time to make that dream a reality.

*****

The band is amazing. The three of you up on stage playing your hearts out. You sing without missing a beat. To your left is 'Nessa, currently being worn by Trish who plays better than your Riley memories tell you she's ever played. Jimmy plays his role as Cassie flawlessly. Of course, you can't take all the credit, that little brown pen which granted all of you the memories and mannerisms of your skinsuits is to blame but even so, the crowd adores you. Ani-E blows them away and they scream in delight. No one, not even Chell the bassist can tell that three of the four members are imposters. It's the half-time mark and the members make their way backstage for a quick breather and a costume change. You're huffing and puffing from all the singing but that sensation of being watched, cheered and worshiped by the thousands of fans outside; it's not a feeling you think you want to give up. The euphoria makes you ecstatic.

The three of you kick back in Riley's dressing room. There's about twenty minutes to get changed but your memories tell you it'll take less than 5. Plenty of time to enjoy the moment.

"Holy fucking shit dude," says Trish, breaking character to express herself. "That was probably the highlight of my fucking life. Nothing is ever going to top that."

"I don't even like Ani-E that much, but I have to agree." Cassie chimes in.

"Ladies ladies," you tease, "don't get your panties in a bunch. We've still got another half to get through." You don't really know what's going to happen afterwards. Trish's or rather Gemma's voice echoes through your head - 'it's tantamount to ****...' A few more hours won't really matter will they? Even a few more days?

"Wait..." Nessa starts to say, looking over in the corner of the room. Jessica's crumpled skin is missing. It's only then that you realise that you'd forgotten to lock the door in your excitement to get on stage. Thankfully Jimmy had hidden the pens in Cassie's pant pockets; neither you nor Nessa could fit them in your tight clothes. The fact remains that your girlfriend's skin is now missing. Who had come in here? Why did they steal Jessica's skin? Had they just taken it or were they wearing her form outside somewhere? It's unlikely that the thief knew anything about Jessica's life; they didn't have the brown pen after all. All they would know is that they found the skin of a pretty blonde girl in the dressing room of Riley Lovelace, a world-renown singer.