"I know what we can do!" Jerrica said. The other women stared at her intently waiting to see what would save Starlight House and the foster girls under their care.
"Father left us all of this…" she indicated the instruments, clothes, and the hologram making Synergy. "And Kimber you write all of that music. It is so fantastic. Maybe he wanted you to let the world hear that music."
Kimber's eyes teared at the thought of her father and the last time he had listened to his youngest daughter's music, he had always been so complimentary, so encouraging, but she always assumed that was just a proud father, in all of that time she hadn't ever thought about the fact that her father had single handedly, for quite some time, run Starlight Music.
"But, he gave you the earrings. He must have left this for you Jerrica."
Jerrica reached out and grabbed her flame haired sister's hand and squeezed. "He knew I'd make you step up." Kimber looked away from her sister's intense blue eyes. Shana and Aja closed the circle of friendship and provided their strength and encouragement.
Kimber nodded, looked up, and wiped the tears from her eyes. "Okay. But I can't play all of the instruments by myself.
"I've got your back on guitar." Aja said.
"And I've got you covered at drums." Shana nodded.
"I'll make some calls and get you guys all set up. I'm sure Rio will be able to set up lights and sound.
"Wait!" Kimber said. "I can't sing."
Jerrica chuffed. "That's not true Kimber. You have a great voice!"
"It's a good voice. But it's not your voice."
"You want me to be the lead singer?"
"You are the most logical choice."
"But…I can't. I…I'm not…" Jerrica took a step back frightened at the possibility of being on stage in front of people singing. "You know what happened in high school."
"That was years ago."
"But, I can't. I can't have people looking at me like that."
"Perhaps I can help with that Jerrica." Synergy said from behind them. Jerrica looked at the digital woman in confusion.
"Did father program you with a stage fright cure all?" Jerrica joked. "No offense, but I don't think there is anything you can do to make me not just stand there on stage, freaked out, and unable to remember lyrics, and unable to find my voice other than a mouse like squeak."
"Most incur stage fright when they are afraid of what people will say and thing when they perform or speak in front of others. You are afraid that people will laugh at you once you have left the stage and then you have to live with their ridicule for the rest of your life."
"That pretty much sums it up." Jerrica said nodding, blonde hair falling from the pins holding her hat in place.
"I can create a persona for you, and people never have to know it is you Jerrica."
"You can create holograms. And people will want to touch, and their hand will sail right through a holographic hand."
"No. Jerrica, you wouldn't sing for a hologram."
"Then I don't understand what you mean."
"Let me demonstrate." Jerrica was engulfed in light and when the light died down her shoulder length blonde hair was long and black.
"Kimber, touch your sister's hair." Kimber walked closer to Jerrica, her heals clicking against concrete. She reached up and touched the hair right above her ear. It felt just like it always did. "Kimber, touch the length. The length that you know was not there before my intervention." Kimber nodded and reluctantly removed her hand from the hair above the ear to the hair between her sister's shoulder blades. She expected her hand to pass through, instead it landed on hair, hair that felt just like her sister's and she slowly closed her hand around it. She gave it a short tug and Jerrica's let out a short sound of pain, turned and glared at her sister.
"It's real." Kimber said breathlessly.
"Yeah, I felt that." Jerrica said rubbing the back of her head.
"How did you do that?" Aja asked breathlessly.
"I am able take organic material from the subject and rearrange some of the molecules and mold it into an image that I so chose. But, as you can see Jerrica, I can create a new look, a new person that people will be able to touch and interact with, because that person will be you.
Jerrica reached behind her and grabbed some of the black length and rolled the strands between her thumb and forefinger.
"I don't like black." Jerrica said simply and looked up at Synergy.
"You'll do it?" Shana asked.
Jerrica licked her lips and looked back at her friends. "Father knew about my stage fright, knew about Kimber's writing talent, and he knew how talented you guys were on drums and guitar. He made it possible for me not to be afraid, he made this all possible. I can't let my girls go to other foster homes because Eric Raymond is a greedy pig."
Jerrica turned back to the fantasy maker, "I can be me again, right? You can rearrange everything back to the way it should be?"
"Yes Jerrica. As you wish." The pink light engulfed her again and her hair was short and blonde again. It took every ounce of strength within Jerrica not to sigh with relief.
"I guess all that is left is for me to decide what I should look like."
They spent the next several hours trying dozens of different hair colors, lengths, facial types, eye color and make up, and the girls exhausted everything they could think of, and were becoming frustrated with their lack of vision when Synergy spoke up. "May I chose for you Jerrica?"
Jerrica threw her hands up in the air and sighed. "Go for it."
The pink light engulfed Jerrica one more time and this time, an elegant slender woman with pink layered hair emerged from the pink light cocoon. Without looking in the mirror she turned to her friends. "What do you think?" she asked turning around letting her friends see all of it.
"Outrageous." Kimber breathed.
"Perfect." Aja chimed in.
"Look for yourself Jerrica." Jerrica turned to the mirror and studied the glamorous woman in the mirror. She reached up and touched her face and was surprised when her hands touched the skin that was reflected in the mirror.
"No one would ever know it was you Jerrica." Kimber said. "I wouldn't even know. And I'm your sister."
"What do you think?" Shana asked.
"I like her." Jerrica said.
"What do we call her?" Aja asked.
"Jem." Synergy said.
"Why Jem?" Aja asked.
"I am unsure, but it seems like the right name." They all studied Jem as she studied herself in the mirror.
"Hello. My name is Jem." She practiced in front of the mirror. She put a smile on her face and said it again. And then she finally turned to her friends. "What do we call ourselves?"
"Jem and the Holograms." Aja joked trying to break the tension.
"I like it." Kimber said.
"I was just kidding Kimber."
"Doesn't mean I can't like it."
"I like it too."
"That settles it, Jem and the Holograms." Jerrica said as she reached up and touched long layers of pink hair. It was going to take some serious effort to get used to this.
"How do I tell you when I'm done being Jem?"
"Tell her the show is over." Shana suggested.
"Do I have to touch the earrings?"
"It is best." Synergy said.
"Shows over Synergy." She said softly and the light engulfed her and she was back to Jerrica.
"We better get started. The contest is in a couple of hours." Kimber said softly.
Jerrica nodded, took a deep breath and smiled. "Let's rock this girls!" And Synergy watched the girls get into the rockin' roadster and drive out of the abandoned drive in, confident that her Jem and the Holograms were going to win the competition and take the world by storm.