The Genesis Covenant

Transmogrification

Thursday 23rd April 2022 - 1135

Leicester Square - London

Call Box

    

I hang up.

My heads spinning, I feel like just sitting down in the phone box and crying. I'm not good with pressure, and this situation is so, so far beyond anything I've ever experienced, I just want to shut down.

I stumble out of the call box, I try to recall ED 209's instructions

It's clear, I have to get away from here. Apparently, there are people coming for me and they can potentially track a random conversation in a random call box. I've seen this happen on movies, but now it's happening to me.

I get my legs moving. Then I stop, I don't know where I'm going, oh and I have to find somewhere to change my face. Like that's something you do before breakfast.

I try to think it through.

First, change my face.

MIND BLOWN!

This is ridiculous, but I have to try, I have to give it a go.

I think about where I should go. If they can track phone conversations, I bet they can get access to any of the billion security cameras in London. If this face change thing works, it will be pointless if I get tracked and they see me change. I need to find somewhere with no cameras and I also need to ditch my school uniform.

I start walking, back across Leicester Square, I head towards what I recognise from TV to be Picadilly Circus.

I'm in the thick of it now, I've never seen so many people on a street. I get to Shaftesbury Avenue, I look right, up the road I see a McDonalds. I've been a couple of times on trips, and know they have public bathrooms. I'll be on camera going in, and probably in the McDonald's itself, but I'm pretty sure the toilets won't have cameras. Also, it's so busy it will be hard to track everyone.

I head up the road and go in. It is absolutely packed, people are pressed up against the serving desk. It's like there is a zombie apocalypse and everyone's stocking up on McDonalds for their final meal. I don't see any toilets or any real seating in this area, but there are stairs down.

I decide to explore and head down.

This is more promising, it's pretty large space, long and thin with a ton of seating. I walk down the oversized corridor scanning for the restrooms.

I spot the universal sign and head for the toilets. I'm looking for cameras, I've no idea what to look for really, I don't see anything but I'm sure they are there.

I enter the male bathroom. There is a steady stream of people heading in and out.

It's a surprisingly small space for the volume of people, three urinals, two sinks and a hand dryer, along with three stalls with bright blue doors.

Thankfully there is an open stall. Head down, I dive in.

I lock the door and put the seat down, I sit on it... now what? I give it five minutes, so there is a decent amount of traffic gone through.

Who can I think of, who should I be? There is one person who comes easily to mind, cause he's pretty much always on my mind, Fizz.

It's perfect, the irony is fantastic. I'm going to try and look like the guy who made my life a living hell, imagine the trouble I could get him into.

I go for it, I picture him in my mind, the square jaw, low brow, greasy skin, even the couple of spots I saw on him this morning.

A slight buzzing in my cheeks, but beyond that nothing happens.

I take a break and refocus.

I picture him again, I force myself to repeat in my mind, 'I want to look like Fizz, I want to look like Fizz.'

My face starts to tingle, then buzz like I've felt before, then the pain comes. It's like a freshly skinned knee all over my face.

I stifle a scream, it comes out as a grunt, I kick the bright blue door involuntarily. I grunt again and start panting.

'Yo man you aright?' Calls a stranger.

'Ye, yeah' I wheeze.

'Yeah man, just relax into it yeah' the guy knocks the door, sniggers and is gone.

The pain abates, I breathe hard. All in all a pretty unpleasant experience, made worse by the locale. I'm sweating buckets, I'm in a right mess.

I get up, take a deep breath.

It hits me, I should take a bathroom break while I've got the chance so I take care of that.

I take my jacket off and bundle it under my arm.

I head out of the stall and go to wash up.

I put the jacket down and look up.

HOLLLEEEEE

It's Fizz staring back, sure the hair colour is wrong, I'm blonde and his is dark brown, but it's his face staring back at me.

I silently say 'hello' to see my face work. To my surprise it does. This is crazy, crazy.

I'm regretting my choice of Fizz, it's not that cool looking like my nemesis. I'm going to get a shock every time I look in the mirror.

I get a grip.

I wash up and do the best to make my hair look different.

I take a deep breath and head out.