Quest: The Dualist's Qualia - Prologue

>The Lydia(?) in bed with you

"Come here often?"

>>125262
>>the Lydia at the foot of your bed

>>125275
This or
"Fancy seeing you here..."

>>125262
>>the Lydia(?) in bed with you

>>125275
>>125282
>>125298
Maybe it's the fog in your head at work, but you blurt out the first phrase that comes to mind.

"Come here often?"

You feel your brain suddenly crackle with sensation, clearing the fog in an instant, as another image comes to focus: short brown hair, plain face, dark brown eyes. Your own face.

The words that left your lips... enter your own? You exhale through teeth that are surely not yours.

You take this moment to jolt up, and so does she. She's completely naked.
You're wearing a simple shirt and shorts, but you still feel naked.

>Input action

>>125332
Grab her tits
>Ask the Lydia at the foot of our bed for help.

>>125332
Try to see if she mirrors your actions, or copies them.
For example, if you raise your right hand while facing her, does she raise her left or right hand? Also get some clothes on her probably.

>>125332
So did we switch bodies or what?

>Say "What the hell is going on?!"

>>125339
You are a healthy young man with some inhibitions against lechery. But you reason that the situation is strange enough to try anything.

So you gently touch the tits before you, to affirm that you still like girls.
The sensation of your own chest being touched dampers whatever trepidation remained. They're your tits. Yup.

You are now quite sure that the Lydia at the foot of the bed is the real one. Only she could stave off the incoming mindbreak at this point. "What is going on?"

She strokes her chin, fascinated. "So you've become a Dualist, too."

>>125374
Is there another post after this? If not:
>EXPLAIN

>>125374
pls OP, satisfy my 'tisms
>>125350

>>125350
>>125357
You stroke the false Lydia's face with your right hand, and she involuntarily strokes your own with her own right hand.

"It takes a while to adjust to the synchronicity," the real Lydia chimes in as she pulls out clothes from your roommate's drawers. "Right now, I need you to act lazy, like a puppet without strings."

You decide to look at Ryner, who has yet to say a word. Did he faint on the spot? "Ryner?"

No response.

For now, you follow Lydia's instruction and do nothing. While she dresses the false Lydia in a baggy sweater, shorts, and pants, you absorb whatever you can of her explanation.

>>125410
>"too"
>ryner saying nothing
Lydia confirmed for Dualist. Put your faith in the heart of the cards, boys.

>>125410
A Dualist is someone who gains control of a second body that's molded after their own ideal of the opposite self. Wait, then this "false Lydia" means you're a hopeless romantic!? You feel your pride take a hard hit.

The second body is known as a Doppel, and the Dualist now experiences the world through both his own body and the Doppel, like a computer with two monitors. Whatever the Doppel senses, the Dualist will also sense. This is enabled through a mental link connecting the bodies.

Because the mental link is still new, the Doppel will move exactly as you do. It'll take some practice to refine the movement.

---

Lydia's explanation ends as she finishes clothing the Doppel. "That's the basic stuff, I think."

As for Ryner, he seems to have gone back to bed, facing the wall away from us without a care.

You try to internalize everything, only for your cell phone alarm to trigger. "Oh, shit, I have class this morning!" You now notice that your Doppel said the exact same thing, at the exact same time. Her voice matches Lydia's, too, only disturbing you more.

"Just skip it today," Lydia states plainly. "Say it's a medical emergency. Otherwise I'd have to restrain your Doppel until after your class because you haven't learned the desync technique yet."

Prioritize:
>Your class
>Your "condition"

>>125485
>Your "condition"

>>125485
>Your "condition"
I'm pretty sure we should see what masturbating feels like in a female body. And if we can masturbate in both bodies at one.

>>125485
>Your "condition"

File: dolphin wants you to stop.jpg (50KB, 357x357px) Image search: [Google]

50KB, 357x357px

>>125495
Let's not turn this into smut man

>>125485
>Your "condition"
>also "Why the fuck is this happening? How the fuck is this happening? How the fuck do you know whats happening?" and questions like that on and on and on.

File: HhYeshO.jpg (122KB, 839x1200px) Image search: [Google]

122KB, 839x1200px

>>125503
You're just not true to yourself

>>125485
>Your "condition"

>>125495
Motions are different for both though. One would just be grabbing at air, at best. At worst, one of them is going to be bleeding out of a hole that shouldn't be there.

Besides, I really don't want another smut quest. Unless it's well-written, of course.

>>125509
I have that fetish too man, but take it to anonkun. They usually have a good(?) selection of smut quests there.

Rolled 9, 34, 13 = 56 (3d100)

>>125488
>>125495
>>125500
>>125505
Your mind needs to recover; surely missing one class wouldn't hurt?

A hail of questions keep prodding you. Why? How? And why is your girlfriend of all people an expert in this?

You decide to skip class, and she looks over both your bodies.

"The desync technique requires a lot of time. First is your breathing cycle. If you don't adjust quickly, you could easily choke."

First 3 posters, roll 1d100.

>>125503
>>125509
>>125517
If I do decide to write smut (the nature of this premise can explore it tastefully, I think), it will be in a separate pastebin. And it would be my first one.

Rolled 20 (1d100)

>>125563

Rolled 12 (1d100)

>>125563

Rolled 2 (1d100)

>>125563
Tell her that you can't see the process correctly because her clothes don't let you see

>>125566
>>125573
>>125574
Hopefully we have a fetish for choking.

>>125566
>>125573
>>125574
You and the Doppel are breathing in sync, so you first breathe in, then hold; the processing of information induces a small amount of strain.

Next, you both exhale everything, then have the Doppel breathe first; the strain doubles, but is manageable.

Lastly, you try some irregular patterns, and that's when you catch it in your mind: a small wisp between you and the Doppel, oscillating.

"That is the fundamental rule of living as a Dualist: you are not defined by your original body anymore." Lydia's words somehow feel hollow: they ring true, yet reluctantly so. "You gain two paths, always prepared to choose one and ditch the other at any time."

You mull the words a bit too long, and your Doppel gives a rough cough, throwing you in disarray.

Lydia quickly pushes on your Doppel's back. "Breathe slowly."

Once the Doppel's shaking gasps subside, she moves on to the next exercise. "Now, try different actions with your hands. See if you can maintain your attention on all of them."

>Input action for each hand (L1 = original left, R1 = original right, L2 = Doppel's left, R2 = Doppel's right)

>>125675
L1 = Finger snapping
R1 = Waving fingers
L2 = Curl fingers into a fist
R2 = Lightly slap yourself

>>125675
Start off easy
Original draws circles in air with right hand, Doppel draws triangles

>>125675
Whoops, too many options. Next four posters, choose 1 action, and I'll assign them randomly to each hand.

>>125690
Try making a fist

>>125690
Wiggle fingers

>>125685
>>125688
>>125697
>>125705
You decide to get a little cocky for the sake of impressing her: finger-snapping and finger-waving with your original hands, and making a fist and tapping your body with your Doppel's. It doesn't even take five seconds for all your fingers to freeze in place, the various instructions tripping each other over.

You then try something simpler, drawing separate shapes with each right hand's finger. It's an almost tedious process, but there's a hidden delight in the small discoveries, every nerve ending, every boundary.

"Independent movement with your legs will take even longer. Crawling, standing, walking, then running: a lot of hurdles. It'll be a long while before your Doppel leaves this room."

While doing similar alternating exercises with your toes, you decide to prod her every so often about her expert knowledge.

Already preparing:
-Why am I a Dualist?
-What criteria is needed?
-How did you become familiar with this?

>Input other questions/topics of interest?

>>125781
What's up with Ryner?

>>125781
What happens if one of the bodies dies?

>>125781
Can we get rid of the second body at will?

>>125781
GODDAMMIT, I lost my first draft. Typing this again ;_;

---

"Why exactly am I in this mess now? Is it a curse, a good fortune, a carryover from another life, what?"

"Aside from two criteria, it's completely random past that. I post my notes on this site." She whipped out her smartphone and typed an address: dualists.wordpress.com

"The first item is a definition of your own self; for most people, that's after age 5. The second item is an ideal of the opposite sex: it could be a parent, an idol, or even someone fictional."

"I see." You recalled the "waifu" culture in a certain place, and half-wondered the outcome of a Doppel with a different mold. Perhaps Lydia would react differently. "So, does that mean you have firsthand experience as well?"

"Naturally."

"So, your Doppel is around?" The moment you asked, you had a feeling that you already knew the answer.

"Uh..." She then turns her face aside.

Towards Ryner.

Your roommate of one whole year.

>Insert reaction

File: finger.jpg (50KB, 853x480px) Image search: [Google]

50KB, 853x480px

>>125956
>"Wait, you put this information on the internet?"

>>125956
I was talking to you about you this entire time?

>>125956
...so does that make that one time we jerked each other off not gay or what?

>>126000
nothing gay about a brojob, bro

You want to react, but you delay the fall for just a bit.

>>125799
>>125806
>>125966
"Something in particular has been bugging me: what happens when one of the bodies dies?"

Her gaze grows cold. "A number of Dualists actually told me about that. If a Dualist ends up losing one body, they would be shunted into the remaining one, their soul scarred by the nature of their first death. A few recently told me about a second penalty: infertility. No matter how healthy the remaining body is, it will never create life. It's still unconfirmed until I can conduct some tests of my own; I don't expect all my sources to be legit."

"Hold on. If you know not all your sources are real, why make your site public on the Internet in the first place?"

"I'm just a co-admin; someone else founded the site. That, and the founder uses the excuse 'a work of fiction' to bypass some legal boundaries."

>>125971
>>126000
Now that more pressing concerns have been taken care of, your gaze shifts to Ryner sleeping soundly.

You remember moving into this dorm one year back, and finding this guy already claiming one side as his own. His mood tended to shuffle wildly, as if he were acting out a variety of roles: reticent, passionate, thorny, chummy. Every day simply made him harder to read, but he always knew when his demeanor at the time was too much.

Perhaps the fact that you managed to create a friendship with him despite his inconsistency was the real trigger for today's events?

>I honestly did not think this far. What personality would you like for Ryner?

>>126120
Well now that we know he's actually Lydia's doppelganger, wouldn't they act the same since they don't have to hide the fact that they are two different people?

>>126120
I think there's a few edges to sharpen here before I continue this plotline, so I'll organize the site and try a different approach.

If you were entertained up to this point, I'd love to hear some suggestions for other Dualists.

>>126133
My initial notes for Ryner involved Lydia wanting him to be an entirely separate existence, and not just an extension of herself. There was one function I didn't get to introduce yet, which involved disconnecting the mental link so that the Doppel uses the Dualist's memories to come to their own conclusion; this shift is when I stop referring to that Doppel as "it" and call it "her/him".

Someone mentioned possible identity theft, and I could add a character around that.

May as well give my Twitter for the next thread:
https://twitter.com/JossePassant

other dualists:

A strong guy that speaks like a caveman and his Doppler is a skinny slippery girl with a very sharp mind. Almost super genius like.

An African American nerd and his Doppler is an European skinny lady. He even made the arrangements to send her to France.

A socialite girl, popular and rich and her Doppler is an hilkikomori living as a blogger/researcher of dualists in history. He sometimes contributes to the blog.

A very punk rocker girl, with a Mohawk, piercings and and combat boots. Her Doppler is a big hairy Viking.

A pair of lovers since childhood, both are the ideals of each other's. So there are four of them. They engage in orgies with themselves.

>>126166
Locked Twitter

>>125262
This is weird QM, the kind of weird that either makes a good story or more boring shit. I wish you luck. Also, fuck you for reminding me that Kampfer is a thing,

>>136770
It has potential but it can quickly degenerate into fetishism.

>>125262
Lydia

"Hey buddy I think you got the wrong Door,"

Op pls don't die