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From: J R D <jrdss@pobox.alaska.net>
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Subject: {ASSM} Change of Power [3/14]
Date: Thu, 29 Nov 2001 23:10:12 -0500
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Had to get a new email, so I'm reposting my old works under the new 
addy to get it out.

Change of Power (pt 3)

Now, onto the boring stuff

-------------------------

DISCLAIMERS

-------------------------

This story contains scenes of an erotic and/or controversial nature, 
and is not intended for the perusal of minors.  Further if perusal of 
such material is considered illegal in your area or immoral by your 
religion or personal beliefs, you should likewise bypass this story.

This story remains the property of the author.  Permission is granted 
to download, photocopy, copy and repost so long as any such action 
contains these disclaimers, and no attempt is made to profit from 
this story.

All characters in this story are the creation of the author, and any 
resemblance to real persons, alive or dead, are purely coincidental.

This story may contain aspects of fantastic science or magic.  The 
parameters of what this science/magic can accomplish are completely 
at the discretion of me, the author, and, as such, I make no 
apologies for any rules of "real" physics, chemistry, biology, or 
magic that may be broken within the story.

-------------------------

Now onto the fun stuff

-------------------------

CHANGE OF POWER pt 3

Laurie was frantic.  The night before when she had lost track of her 
daughter, every Sister in San Bernardino had been mobilized in a vain 
effort to find Jacqui.  But a little while later, Laurie's sense of 
her daughter had gone out almost entirely.  She could tell that 
Jacqui was still alive and unharmed, but other than that, the 
distance her senses were telling her Jacqui was at were impossibly 
huge.  At that point every sister on the planet had been alerted to 
be on the lookout for the youngster.

At nearly five that afternoon, Bronwyn came running into the house. 
Laurie, sitting at the kitchen table, asked, "Any news?"

Bronwyn sat beside her.  "Some.  One of the sisters who was watching 
the college campus was in one of Jacqui's classes when the teacher 
called roll.  But then he got to a Jack Donovan, and a young man ran 
into the room, yelling, 'Here.'  A young man that looked exactly like 
Jacqui before her Transformation!"

Laurie thought about it for a second and said, "No.  It's not her."

"Laurie-"

"No.  Even if she had decided to go back, and had found a way, she... 
he'd be a lot closer than my senses tell me he is."

"Are you sure?  I've gotten the impressions from our Sister.  She's 
been watching him all day.  The impressions are exactly like those of 
Jacqui before her Transformation."

Suddenly, a strange (yet familiar) voice said, "That's because I 
scanned her mind to get all the information I could before doing 
this."

Both women bolted upright and turned to be confronted by the image of 
a man who had not existed for over two years, Laurie's son, Jack. 
Laurie was suddenly besieged by guilt, the guilt of having 
transformed her son unwillingly into her daughter; a guilt she 
thought she was over.  Bronwyn said, "Who are you?  Where is Jacqui?"

"Who am I?"  He smiled.  "For the time being, I am Jack, her son. 
Not telling you my real name will keep you from using it by accident."

"But where is Jacqui?"

"Safe."

"Safe where?"

"In case you're not getting it, I don't intend to tell you."  Before 
either lady could object, "Jack" continued, "Here's the scoop.  Your 
daughter, sometime in the last half year I'd guess, underwent a 
massive spiritual transformation.  It was something that pushed her 
to a whole new power level.  A power level you couldn't hope to deal 
with, much less train.  So she's someplace where she can now be 
trained."  Suddenly he switched tracks, and yelled, "Incoming."

Bronwyn then felt a mental message.  It was Dana, the woman who had 
been watching "Jack" at school.  "Bronwyn, I've lost the boy!  He 
went into the locker room after practice and when he didn't come out, 
I cast an illusion and went in after him.  But he's gone!  I have no 
idea how!"

Bronwyn sent back, "It's okay, Dana.  He's here with us."

"He's...  How?"

"I'll try to find out.  Check back later."  Closing the link, she 
said to Jack, "Alright who are you?  One of the Brotherhood?"

Jack snorted in derision.  "Hardly.  Shape shifting, mind scans, and 
teleportation under the direct observation of a Sister with her being 
none the wiser are all beyond them."

Laurie, a plaintive tone to her voice, asked, "Why are you here?  As 
Jack?  Why not send a girl to be Jacqui?"

"This is not usual behavior.  Usually the erstwhile apprentice simply 
disappears for a while, then returns later.  Your daughter implored 
me to come here.  As for why I'm Jack and not Jacqui, the reasons are 
twofold.  One, I don't do the girl thing unless I have to.  Private 
reasons.  And two, to make going back to Jack a real option."

Laurie desperately said, "But she decided to stay Jacqui!"

With a disgusted tone, he said, "Oh, big surprise.  You destroy HIS 
life, Jacqui spends two years rebuilding it as a woman, then doesn't 
want to rebuild her life as Jack all over again?  Yeah, big surprise."

Hearing the guilt inspired desperation in her friend and lover's 
voice and becoming quite angry herself, Bronwyn said, "Look, you! 
Why should we put up with this?  Why should we help you?"

Jack looked at Bronwyn with apparent honest surprise.  "So I should 
just go back and tell Jacqui that Jack never really mattered to 
either of you?  I'm sure she'll be real happy about that."

Angrily, Bronwyn said, "How dare you?!"  But before she could go 
further, Jack snapped his fingers.  Suddenly there was a very 
realistic image of Laurie and Jacqui in the kitchen talking.  It was 
a replay of the events shortly after Laurie had made the 
Transformation of her son.  After that, he snapped his fingers again, 
and the first illusion was gone to be replaced by one of Jacqui and 
Bronwyn.  In both cases, the illusion showed both of the elder women 
apologizing for having taken Jack's life from him, and pledging to do 
what they could to help him get back if he wanted.

After both were finished, Jack snapped his fingers, and the illusions 
were gone.  "So what's it going to be?  If you want, I'll go back and 
tell Jacqui that you meant those words only as long as you didn't 
think you'd have to really follow through on them."

Both Bronwyn and Laurie stewed a bit before Bronwyn said, "We want to 
talk to Jacqui directly.  Find out what she wants."

"And I want world peace.  I don't see either happening real soon."

Bronwyn was quickly growing enraged.  "Now look here!  Do we get to 
see Jacqui or...?"

"Or what?"

"Or things get really ugly."

Jack sighed.  "I can see this is going nowhere until you get a 
confrontation, so..."  Jack snapped his fingers and suddenly all 
three were standing on top of a wind swept plateau.

Bronwyn asked, "Where are we?"

"On top of a mesa somewhere in the American southwest.  New Mexico, I 
think, but that's not really relevant."

Laurie asked, "Why are we here?"

"Well, I figured if the High Priestess there was set and determined 
to provoke a confrontation it would best be held far away from your 
home where we wouldn't be risking your house or possessions."

Both women were shocked.  This was further than any woman in the 
Sisterhood (except maybe Jacqui) could've teleported without being 
totally exhausted, and this man did it without the slightest stress. 
After a few seconds, he said, "Well?"

Bronwyn pulled herself together and cast a "Stun blast," an attack 
directly on the mind of a person designed to render them helpless. 
The spell lashed out, struck the Jack look-alike, and did absolutely 
nothing.  In fact, judging by the look on his face, had he not been 
watching, he may not have even noticed the spell being cast.  He 
looked at her in disbelief and asked, "Is that the best you've got?"

Bronwyn then proceeded to cast a series of spells against him, each 
more powerful than the last, but each doing absolutely nothing.  When 
she took a brief break, Jack asked, "Are you finished yet?"

Bronwyn took a deep breath, and said, "Not quite."  She then used the 
Transformation spell on herself.  She grew to about seven feet tall, 
with a hard carapace, and claws for hands.

Jack looked at her and sighed.  He then back-flipped.  As soon as his 
hands touched the ground, his body lengthened and grew.  His hands 
became huge claws, and his head became a super-sized lizard's head. 
When his feet landed Bronwyn and Laurie found themselves looking at 
an oriental dragon.  His head alone was bigger than both of them 
combined.  He then put his head right up to Bronwyn (his eye was as 
big as her head) and said, "Take your best shot."

Bronwyn just stared at him for a few seconds before taking a couple 
steps back, signifying her submission.  He said, "Good plan."  He 
then brought his claw up and snapped it like fingers, and all three 
were back at Laurie's in their normal forms.  "Now that we've had the 
obligatory 'See how powerful this guy is' confrontation, we can get 
on with our lives."

Bronwyn could feel the pain and guilt in Laurie, and asked, "How 
could you be so cruel and arrogant?"

"Cruel and arrogant?  If that doesn't fall under the category of 'Pot 
calling the kettle black,' I don't know what does."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your Transformation of Jack into Jacqui.  It was unprovoked and done 
without full consideration of the effects upon him."

"We did what we thought was right!"

"Really?  Let's put that to the test, shall we?  Three quick 
questions.  One, when you scanned Jack's mind to see what he'd be 
losing, how many things did you find?"

Both women suddenly got a sheepish look on their faces.  Jack asked, 
"You didn't bother scanning his mind before you transformed him, did 
you?  It's real easy to convince yourself that the life he's got 
isn't worth letting him keep when you don't actually take a good look 
at the life he's got.

"Second question.  When you gave Jack fair warning that asking for 
more time after that first hour would mean staying a woman, how long 
did he have to fight before finally giving in and losing total 
control?"

After a few seconds, he said, "That's right, you didn't actually give 
him fair warning, did you?  It's real easy to convince yourself that 
it was her decision when you make sure she's got only the data you 
want her to have.  When she has no idea the full ramifications of her 
decision.

"Third question.  Doing what I'm doing, living Jack's life for him so 
that he'd have HIS life to come back to if he wanted to, would've 
been a lot harder for you than for me, maybe even impossible, but how 
long did you consider it before deciding it was impossible?"

After a few more seconds, he said, "It wasn't even a consideration, 
was it?  It kind of increases the likelihood that she won't go back 
to being Jack when the life isn't really there to go back to, doesn't 
it?  Let's face facts, ladies.  You were so interested in creating 
Jacqueline, that for a brief while Jack ceased to matter."

Bronwyn felt stab after stab of guilt inspired depression roll off of 
Laurie.  She growled, "Damn you."

She was about to try something, despite the consequences, when he 
said, "Oh, go away," and waved his hand at her, teleporting her away.

Laurie sat there at the table, tears rolling down her cheeks, unable 
to look up and face the image of her son.  But then she felt a hand 
on her shoulder, placed there with a soft, tender touch.  She looked 
up into his eyes to see a very concerned look.  "Damn," she thought. 
Did he have to look SO much like her son?

"Believe it or not," he said, "I'm not doing this to be cruel."

She looked down at the table.  "Could've fooled me."

He sat beside her in the chair recently vacated by Bronwyn.  He 
turned her face to his.  "I'm doing this because you have never 
confronted the guilt over what you did to your son.  You have never 
confronted the reasons why you did it."

"I did it because the Sisterhood thought that Jacqui's power would be 
necessary in the upcoming fight against the Brotherhood."

"No, that's the excuse you used."

When he said those words, he said them so matter of factly that it 
shocked her out of her depression.  "What're you talking about?"

"Looking back, can you say, with absolute certainty, that you 
couldn't have handled the Brotherhood without Jacqui?  Granted, her 
power made victory almost totally certain, but can you look back and 
say that she was totally necessary?  Again, with absolute certainty?"

Laurie thought about it.  "Not with absolute certainty."

He placed his hand on hers.  "You are too good a mother, too loving, 
to have destroyed your son's life on a hunch.  At least not without 
having undergone at least one of the precautions I mentioned earlier. 
There is another reason, a reason you must discover and deal with. 
And, in so doing, you will undo a serious wrong done ages ago."

Laurie was confused.  "What do you mean?  Do you know the reason?"

"Yeah."

"Can't you just tell me?"

He considered it for a while before saying, "Technically yes.  But 
the fact of the matter is that it is so unbelievable and so... unkind 
a revelation, that if I reveal it to you, you'll assume I'm just 
making it up and get nasty and defensive, making both of our lives 
miserable for our time together.  No, you have to discover this on 
your own.  I can give you clues, and prod you along, but it has to be 
your discovery."

"Thinking along those lines, how long are you going to be here?"

"Until Jacqui finishes her apprenticeship."

"How long will that take?"

"Depends on whether or not she decides to join one of the sub-groups 
in our coalition of Mages.  If she doesn't decide to join a formal 
group then she can attend a variety of classes to get the training 
she needs.  Problem with that route is that there are special 
trainings available only if you officially pledge to a group. 
Trainings that could theoretically speed her training time."

"And if she joins one?"

"Then her training time could last anywhere from 6 months to 12 
years, depending on the group she joins."

"12 YEARS?!"

"Yeah, but I don't see her joining the Hermetic Guild.  They're a 
little too... anal for her, I think."

"Then how long do you think?"

"Well, I checked the records.  Jacqui is not the first Sister to 
awaken to the higher level.  Before this, most have joined the 
Verbena, a group of Life and nature mages, and a few have joined the 
Celestial Chorus, religious mages.  But I don't see her joining 
either of those.  Most likely she'll join the Virtual Adepts, 
computer mages who hack the reality code."

Thinking of her daughter's skill with computers, Laurie said, "I 
don't know about 'hacking the reality code', but computers make 
sense.  How long till she comes back if she joins them?"

"Totally unpredictable.  They're one of the most freestyle learning 
forms.  Could take as little as 6 months, or as much as 5 years."

"But however long it takes her, she won't be here when she gives birth."

"Sorry, no.  But she will be safe.  There are more than enough 
Masters of Life magicks to ensure a safe and healthy birth for mother 
and child."

"But a birth without me."  Jack said nothing, knowing that nothing he 
could say would do anything to make it better.

Laurie sat for a while, contemplating the words of the man who had 
taken her son's face.  Finally, she pulled herself together, and, 
looking around, said, "Wait a second, where's Bronwyn?"

"She's fine.  I just sent her to-"  Suddenly Jack's eyes went wide, 
and he said, "Oops."

"Oops?  What oops?  If you've done anything to her!"

"Oh, no, at least not anything she can't handle.  I just made a 
little mistake."

"What mistake?!"

"I sent her to the bathroom of a casino in Vegas."

"And?"

"Well, I've never actually been to the women's room, and it was just 
kind of an unconscious thing.  Wave my hand, send her away, and I 
sent her to the one I was familiar with."

"Are you saying...?"

"I sent her to the men's room.  It was an accident and I didn't mean 
it.  I am sorry for any embarrassment I caused her."

Laurie tried to keep from smiling, she really did, but, after the 
intense emotion of the past day, this was just too funny.  Jack said, 
"Now that's the smile I remember from Jacqui's memory."

Laurie asked, "Uhm, Jack, you scanned Jacqui's mind.  Do you really 
think she'll go back to being Jack?"

"From what I scanned, probably not.  But who knows what she'll decide 
after mastering her new level of power.  She could stay Jacqui, and 
decide to be Jack for a few days out of the week.  Or vice versa."

"But if she goes back, won't she lose her power?"

"Nope.  All the old rules don't apply.  It all depends on how much 
skill she gains during her training.  Although I doubt she'll be able 
to manage full body transformations fresh out of apprenticeship, but 
I could be wrong.  Stranger things have happened.  Now if you don't 
mind, I've got some studying to do.  Your daughter had a pretty heavy 
class schedule.  Sheesh!"

Laurie smiled.  He sounded like Bronwyn had after she found out what 
her school load would be following Jacqui around for her senior year. 
"Wait a second.  You said you'd give me a clue.  To help me confront 
why I did what I did."

"That I did.  Okay, clue one.  Look for a common thread running 
through all those of the Sisterhood who decided to make the return to 
manhood.  The thread will be present in some who did not return, but 
all those who did have at least one thing in common."  It was kind of 
vague, but at least it was a starting spot.

Jack got up and went over to the fridge.  "Want a soda?"

"There's none in there.  I meant to go shopping today, but with 
Jacqui's disappearance things have been too hectic."

Jack returned with a couple cans of soda, and set one in front of 
Laurie.  "Don't worry about it.  I handled the shopping.  One of the 
advantages of having one of the world's most powerful mages living in 
your household.  As long as we're together, as long as I'm here, I'll 
take care of the food."  As he walked towards the staircase, he said, 
"I've got to warn you, though, some of my tastes can get pretty 
extravagant.  Expect to eat well for a while."

After he left, Laurie opened the can of soda and sipped at it.  Then 
she got up and checked her cabinets.  All of the ones with food were 
stocked, mostly with expensive gourmet foods.  "Well," she thought, 
"it's not my daughter, but it is something."

Then she heard Bronwyn mentally calling to her.  "Laurie, are you 
okay?  Is... whoever he is still there?"

"He's up in Jacqui's room doing her... his homework."

"Do you think it's safe to talk mentally?"

"I think so, but I also think if he wanted to eavesdrop, that no 
place that we went to, no steps that we could take would prevent it."

"You think he's that powerful?"

"Yes, Bron, I do.  I have been sitting at this table all day, and 
have felt no magic used in my house, but I, as we speak, am looking 
at cabinets filled with expensive foods of all types."

"You sound impressed by him."

"Well, after you... left, we got a chance to talk.  He's not really a bad guy."

"That's another thing.  Do you have any idea where he sent me?"

"The men's room of a casino in Vegas.  He explained that.  He's never 
been in the woman's room, and he just sent you to where he was 
familiar with.  He did apologize for any embarrassment."

"Well, even if I believe him, we still need to get together and see 
if we can find a way to get rid of him and get Jacqui back."

"No."

"WHAT!?  Are you crazed, girl?  Don't you want your daughter back?"

"Of course I do!  But if this man's organization can train her where 
we cannot then she deserves the best we can give her.  Besides, he 
was right."

"What are you talking about?  Jacqui accepted her womanhood and 
decided to stay one of us."

"And he told me that, from what he scanned in her mind, that she 
would probably not return to being Jack.  But if any part of her 
decision was based upon the reason that Jack wasn't there to go back 
to, then we owe it to her to let this man rebuild that life so that 
she has a decent choice."

"But-"

"No buts, Bron.  In our arrogance to determine what we thought was 
right, we stole Jack's life from him, we both admit that.  And we 
both promised to do what we could to help her get her life back if 
that was what she wanted.  If this man can do what we can't, can give 
Jack back the life he would've had if we hadn't Transformed him, we 
have no right to interfere.  We owe it to Jacqui."

Bronwyn was silent for a few seconds before saying, "I can't just sit 
back and do nothing."

"Yes, Bronwyn, you can.  You must."

Bronwyn was silent for a little while longer before saying, "I'll be 
back as soon as I can.  We can discuss it in person."

"Okay, love."

************
------------

He wandered through the empty building, questing with his magical 
senses.  The building was empty, thanks to those bitches in the 
Sisterhood.  Thanks to them, one of the greatest strongholds of the 
Brotherhood was now an abandoned husk of a building, some of their 
greatest members lost.

He expanded his senses, looking for the tool that would provide both 
revenge and domination.  Finally, he found it.  He walked over to the 
computer terminal, pressed a button and the ZIP disk ejected.  He 
felt the disk with his senses, feeling the mating of magic and 
technology that was the creation of Eric Lancaster, the previous head 
of the Brotherhood, his brother, now an emasculated bitch brat.

He held the disk up.  "And so it begins anew.  The Dark One be praised."

------------
************

Excerpt from the journal of Miss Jacqui Donovan, Vol. II

Day 1

I know it seems strange to say Day 1, but it just seems right.  I'm 
trying to think of something to put after it, like the A.T. (after 
Transformation) in my original journal.  Maybe A.A. (after arrival) 
or I.T.O. (in the otherworld).  I'll decide later.

After he got finished explaining my new status in the world, and 
transforming himself into... Jack (I can't even say that it really is 
me anymore), the Akashic Master brought me here to this... 
Otherworld.  I can't think of another term for it.  We just stepped 
into a mirror, and we were here.

 From the explanation they gave me, there's a world side by side with 
our own.  A spirit world.  I guess the closest analogy I've got in my 
experience is what human mystics call the Astral Plane.  Of course, 
when I use this analogy, most of the people here just smile 
knowingly.  Patronizingly.  They make me feel like a five year old 
trying to figure out nuclear physics.

Anyways, this spirit world outside our own has a boundary.  They call 
it the Horizon.  And when I say boundary, I don't just mean a limit, 
I mean a metaphysical protective field.  That's where we are.  In a 
man made mini-universe placed on a gate between what's inside and 
what's outside the Horizon.

They won't tell me what's outside the boundary, and when I ask, they 
just say, "Pray you never find out."  I hate it when people keep me 
in the dark "for my own good."

They plan on taking me on a tour of the base tomorrow.  There are, in 
their words, nine and a half groups in the base.  Nine full blown 
groups of magi on their Council, and one up and coming group of 
youngsters.  They plan on introducing me to all of them.  They say I 
can join any group I want to, or none at all.  But I get the feeling 
that they expect me to join a group, regardless of whatever else they 
say.

The thing that strikes me most about these people is their total 
arrogance.  Maybe they deserve it.  Maybe their powers are greater 
than anyone in the Sisterhood, and a few of them maybe have more 
power than all of the Sisterhood combined.  But do they have to act 
like this makes them better than all of humanity?

The thing I'm most surprised about is the Akashic Master.  I had no 
idea that he was as powerful as he was.  It seems that he is the head 
of one of those groups I was talking about earlier.  With a snap of 
his fingers he could've had a half dozen of his men positioned around 
home within an hour.  That he would handle this personally 
flabbergasts me.

It flabbergasts everyone else, too.  But what really seems to shock 
them is when they ask me what I had to do to get him to do it, and I 
tell them that I just asked.  Apparently he's got something of a 
mercenary reputation around here.

Well, tomorrow is another day, and I need to get some sleep.
-- 
"This is reality, not T.V.  Can't you tell the difference?"
"Sure.  I just like T.V. better."

J R D
jrdss@pobox.alaska.net

-- 
Pursuant to the Berne Convention, this work is copyright with all rights
reserved by its author unless explicitly indicated.
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