Of the many now useless things Timmy learned about in college, the Kinsey scale and the notorious professor's surrounding research was on the list the made his fingers tremble and palms sweat when picking up the required reading.

As periods passed people has learned that humans tend to rank around the middle of the scale; in others words most members of his species are some variety of bi-sexual. It seemed a bit of a stretch at first but after going to a few bars once he was of age he believed it. In absolute secret he even conducted 'experiments' to see where he might rank. Nothing impressive or even interesting; it just involved him watching various types of porn and seeing if he could get aroused and beat off to it.

But he managed to learn things about his own sexuality. Anything involving a woman or women he loved, no matter how many men were also involved. But just men; he found that only very specific acts and only a few types of guys actually got him going. He was picky with his own sex. By his guess he was about a 1 on the Kinsey scale, maybe a 2.

It was nice to learn that about himself; he felt proud for figuring that out. Pride wasn't something he got to feel often even less so about his own self so he'd take the bits he could get. But after the surgery pride was a little easier to feel.

There were so many things about the whole experience that messed with him but the thought of wearing the face of a man he'd never met niggled at him a lot. Especially while he was still healing, new face hidden behind sterile gauze.

He had no idea what this Jack guy looked like. Would he look good, was he some kind of grizzled veteran or a skinny aged executive type?

'I hope it's good, I hope it's worth it.' he thought desperately as the days to the unbinding ticked down. Towards the end he came to a kind of forced peace with it.

'It's not like I can look much worse than I did, right? I mean, I won't have those acne scars anymore!'

Timmy shook a bit while the nurses were un-wrapped his face when the moment of truth finally came. The stabilizing mask, and then the final bandages came off, and his eyes frantically jumped from one person to the next looking for their reactions.

"Perfect!" Dr. Autohn exclaimed. "The resemblance is uncanny!"

The nurses smiled and nodded. Timmy smiled sheepishly half afraid to crack the new face open.

"C-can I see?" he squeaked, his heart pounding.

A nurse picked up a mirror and held it out to him. When he lifted it to his face he forgot to breathe for a second. A blush spread across the newly sculpted cheeks.

'My God! Damn he's...I mean I'M...hot!'

The brown eyes were still his own, his wispy light brown hair was greasy and matted, but the face! All of it was perfect, not a scar, not a mar and he couldn't have begged for a better nose, a more heroic chin, for higher cheekbones or a nobler brow. That sheepish smile grew quickly into something much more elated, even confident. It looked great on his new face.

"Wow." was all he could say. Right now he didn't care if he ever paid his loans off this was very much worth it. He was gorgeous now and he loved it!

"Ok Mr. Lawrence we still have a few more things to do, just a little gene modification, gotta take care of those eyes and that hair."

"Ah-k." Timmy said absent mindedly. He was still holding the mirror when the nurse pushed him away in his wheelchair.

The gene mods sucked, they made him feel like his bones were breaking between the cells for days on end. But when the therapy was finally done he had thick, shiny dark hair in place of his light and thin hair, and his brown eyes shifted to green and blue.

"Hot damn, and I thought I couldn't get any prettier." he whispered over the sink one morning. He was starting to understand why some people loved mirrors so damn much.

On top of the therapy they'd also been making him stick to a strict diet, an intense workout regime and even been drilling him on his new background.

"My name will be Jack, I work as an engineer for Hyperion corporation." Timmy tried to parrot the information back but he was being overloaded and was making mistakes.

"No no no! You're a programmer! Not an engineer." Dr. Autohn was visibly exasperated.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"And your name is Jack. Remember you're legally forbidden to use your old name now."

"Right, ok." Timmy took a deep breath and tried to imitate the man he was supposed to be.

"My name is Jack, I'm a programmer for Hyperion, ...I" Timmy's shoulders drooped and he let out a sigh.

"Dr, this isn't working, I still sound like myself!"

"The voice modulator will take care of that, keep practicing."

About a week later the voice modulator was 'installed' as Dr. Autohn put it. He was forbidden speech for about two weeks after. It was a relief really. He still had to work out and memorize his backstory but Dr. Autohn wasn't drilling him now. The man was too impatient to wait for Timmy to write his response. That and maybe Timmy was dragging out his writing just to make sure the Dr. got frustrated and walked away before he could be harassed too much.

Then his second moment of truth came.

The modulator was turned on. It hummed in his throat for a second and scared the the crap out of him. Dr. Autohn tried to get him to talk and few a few minutes Timmy only clamped his mouth shut and shook his head.

"It's not like its going to fall out , talk!" Autohn smacked him the arm.

"Ow!"

Timmy froze for a second after his new voice rang out.

"Oh m-god" he put a hand to his lips. That voice was not in the basement, but it was a honeyed, rich tenor a cut or two above his natural alto.

"Alright, now that voice modulator may cause you some pain for the next 20 or 30….years."

"What?! Awe man I have to talk like Jack for 20 years?"

"Yes, since you signed those documents you do. Now keep talking, say something charming. I have to test the range."

Autohn stepped behind a console and began running test programs.

"Um," Timmy searched frantically for something to say, "Hi; I'm Jack. Youuu're...pretty?"

Autohn rolled his eyes.

"Atrocious! Work on your delivery on the shuttle!"

"Huh? Shuttle?"

The shuttle to Helios as it turned out. A steel tube hurtling towards a multi-billion dollar space station owned by Hyperion. Timmy, now Jack to anyone else was sent up first. It was that morning that his transformation was completed in earnest.

A stylist did his hair and taught him how to put up the pompadour himself. He'd have to do it everyday by contract now. She also made him shave his subtle into a soul patch. He thought facial hair like that was tasteless but he didn't have much choice in the matter. And then he had to dress the part. Those jeans were a tad too tight for his liking, having his shirt half tucked bugged him and the holster strapped to his leg would be something to get used to. Even more so the weight of his pistol.

They trained him to use it just like his new identity but like everything else about him now it felt foreign. As the rocket approached Helios he wondered if he'd have to use it on people, and if he'd even be able to kill anyone. How would it feel if he did?

Real terror overtook him for the first time since this whole experience started.

"What's going to happen to me?" the frightened whisper escaped him as the shuttle docked on Helios. It a way it was the last part of his real self running away.

Once the shuttle locked into the hangar the braces released him and the door opened. Robotically he stood up and approached it. His head spun as he looked out the hangar door and saw Pandora far off behind him and he realized how high he technically was. He teetered and caught himself on the edge of the door, leaning on it and gripping his hand.

"Oh hi!"

Timmy grimaced. There was a claptrap approaching him. The annoying machine did take his mind off his fear just enough.

"Welcome to Helios! You must be the new doppelganger! Just follow me and I can lead you to your corporate liaison!"

Timmy followed on slightly unsteady feet, feeling quite a bit better once they left the hangar. With walls all around he could forget he was in space. He couldn't say he liked the place much. Looked dungeon like and dark what with all the red and black and low lighting.

"Sooo, you're taking me to Jack?"

"That's right! He's very excited to see how all that money and research turned out! He hopes you're worth it all!"

"Great…"

The claptrap lead him to a large office midway up western spire.

"Here we are!" it pressed a few buttons on the door's console, then a small beep was heard.

"Mister Jack; your doppelganger has arrived!"

"How's he look?" the exact same voice as his new one came over the intercom.

"I think he looks spectacular!" the claptrap chimed.

"Crap...alright send him in."

Timmy furrowed his brow. Worry bubbled up again. What if he didn't pass muster?

The doors pulled apart and Timmy strode through, flinching a little when they closed. No escape if things go bad. Up on the far side, typing away at his desk was the man whose spitting image he'd been molded into.

Jack took a few minutes to look up but when he did he smiled. Timmy gulped. He felt confident he measured up but there was something in Jack's smile that knocked him far off base. Real Jack was a whole different animal.

It was obvious in the way he smiled, in how he walked as he approached, in how he carried himself. And especially in how he talked.

"Well aren't I just god's gift to everyone?"

He grabbed Timmy's chin and twisted his head this way and that as if it were a cabbage at market.

"Autohn did good, real good." Jack get go and stepped back but Timmy still felt on edge.

"How do you feel kiddo? Having fun wearing my face?"

"Um," Timmy shifted and quickly hid hands behind his back to hide his fidgeting. "Yes, it's a great face." He was surprised with how smooth that ended up coming out.

But Jack didn't seem pleased. His smile melted into a scowl quickly.

"Goddammit you idiot, didn't they train you? Act like you're supposed to; like me! Stand up! No fidgeting! Ever! Confidence, dignity, suaveness! Come on!"

Timmy panicked, puffed out his chest and for a second struck an at attention stance any soldier would be proud of. That didn't please Jack any better so he mimicked him. He shift his weight to one side and struck the same relaxed, cocky pose jack had taken earlier. His employer's scowl faded a hint.

"Better…" Jack said slowly, "Now prove you're me." He folded his arms and waited.

Timmy's panic grew. He wasn't sure what Jack wanted him to do but he was sure he'd be more than just fired if he couldn't do it. What the hell, mimicry was what he was being paid for.

"Better…"Timmy did his very best to copy Jack's delivery exactly. "Now prove you're me." he folded his arms, took the same stance and tried to put on the same expression. Now he really wished he'd taken his mother's advice and gone for some drama classes in school.

Jack said nothing for a few tense seconds. He didn't seem entirely convinced but Timmy held on for dear life, willing himself not to sweat or even blink unless Jack did.

"You've gotta be more than just a mirror kiddo." Jack said his voice low and dangerous.

"I know," Timmy stopped thinking about everything else and just focused on his acting job, "It's not easy being...me is it?"

He reverted to Jack's cocky stance and tried to give the same million dollar smile his boss had. His pause came from a hiccup in identity but it came off as cocky. 'Good.' he thought.

"No, it never is, is it?" a corner of Jack's mouth crept up, almost a half grin.

"I don't think you're ready quite though. Maybe you need to see me in action first. Tell you what," he motioned for Timmy to follow him, "there will be four more vault hunters arriving in a couple of hours. Watch me while I deal with them. Then you'll go down afterwards."

Timmy mimicked Jack's gait as he followed. It was more of a sashay than walk. Jack noticed as Timmy approached his desk and gave a small nod of approval.

"Now buddy, pay close attention ok?" Jack's tone was condescending and sarcastic. He rotated his holographic screen to show Timmy a map of unintelligible marks.

"This here, is a vault." Jack pointed through the back to a bright blue marker, like an A without the cross bar.

"Your job, and theirs is to find it for me. Its down there," he pointed behind him, to the moon, Elpis. "Somewhere on Elpis's surface."

Timmy looked back and forth between the map and the moon for a few seconds.

"Elpis is scav paradise, I heard." his voice was monotone.

"Yeah," Jack sat back down, lacing his fingers.

"And there Crackening opened up huge lava pools…" Timmy continued.

"But," Jack held up a finger, "Low gravity makes it easier to jump over them."

"Low oxygen too." Timmy added.

"Hmm, more like no oxygen. The people on Elpis use Oz kits to survive."

"I'm guessing that map is not really as accurate as I would like?"

Jack shook his head. He drew his finger in a small circle around the vault sign.

"This is kinda a best guess. Really it could be anywhere on the side of Elpis we can see from here."

Timmy sighed, his brow knitted and his brought fingers up to massage his head.

"Hey now, you're a college grad! I'm sure you can find a way, you're also me afterall!" That thought may have perked Jack up, but Timmy could not agree less.

He kept rubbing the bridge of his nose; then felt a heavy hand clap down on his shoulder.

"Buck up; this is your job now."

Timmy looked up at his mirror image and gave him a look. 'Why, why me and not you?' it was meant to ask. Jack smiled.

"Good." he brought his hands up like a frame."Heroic determination and defiance! Remember this face for all your badass brawls man!"

Timmy fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"What happens if I die? Am I buried as you, or left to rot? And what about those relatives I can't talk to anymore?" he didn't know why be his annoyance at being handed this impossible job somehow gave him enough confidence to question Jack.

Jack turned away and Timmy knew he'd rather skip these questions but he answered, sort of.

"That's in your contract kiddo."

"Well, could you spell it out anyway...kiddo?" Jack shot him a glare, then grinned.

"That one was convincing. OK, you die, you don't rot but you can't be buried as yourself or me. Can't admit you existed but I'm not dead am I? You'll be cremated and scattered. You can specify a place and religion."

"Over the cliffs outside MT Uni on my home planet. And none."

Jack seemed slightly impressed with how assertive Timmy was being.

"Your relatives, eh, they're on their own." Jack shrugged. "I only have so much to spend you know."

"If I die send them whatever money you owed me. All of it. Don't try to cheat them out of money I earned wearing your face."

"Ok…" Jack's demeanor shifted again, but this time Jimmy couldn't really read it. "Deal."

He sat back down and started typing again.

"There's one last thing...take a look at these."

A hologram projector on the front of his desk lit up and two copies of Jack digistructed.

"And the world just got 25% more handsome!" they chimed in unison.

Timmy's mouth gaped open a bit.

"I know they're great huh? These bad boys can shoot at anyone you fight, draw attention, get you some breathing room and if someone kills them they just pop right back up. Course, the unit they'll be housed in runs out of power eventually but I made sure that the guys working on it gave it a way to recharge quickly. Nano-fiber-something-or-other, the point is; you won't have to wait long before you can digistruct them again."

He hit a button and the Jacks disappeared.

"The thing for them will be ready in about 20 minutes. Last minute stuff, they said."

Timmy huffed. He could already feel awkwardness crawling into the room.

He looked down to see Jack staring at him with that same unreadable look.

"What?" he asked.

Jack only smiled slightly in response.

"Whaaaaat?" Timmy put on a sarcastic tone like Jack's. His boss stood straight up and closed the distance between them.

"This is a little strange, but I'm going with it."

Timmy raised an eyebrow and Jack's smile grew. Heat was apparent in his eyes. Timmy was still confused.

"I mean I knew I was hot. I know I am. But this is a little different."

A little bubble of worry popped in Timmy as Jack grabbed his face and neck and leaned in. He'd kissed before; always badly. Always bumping faces and teeth. He'd begged for those kisses; initiated them and messed them up. No one kissed him; no one demanded he open his mouth and let them plunder it, no one held him in a vice grip and kept him right there for their pleasure. Now that such a moment was upon him...he wanted to get the hell away.

Not like this; this was a bad way to get your first good kiss. Not from another guy. Not while he looked and sounded just like that guy; not because he looked and sounded just like him. Timmy pushed Jack, clawed at his clothes and heaved with all his might. After weeks of working out he made Jack stumble and take a step back but he would not loosen his grip.

Jack's tongue was hot and slick in his mouth, he could practically feel the foreign saliva sticking to it. Timmy tried to yell but succeeded only in muffled groans. Mercifully jack let his face go and Timmy threw himself backwards, rubbing his mouth violently. Jack laughed.

"What, never kissed a man? A kiss is a kiss junior. Its a compliment! Or have you just never kissed at all?"

Timmy blinked owlishly at his comments, Jack took it to mean that he hadn't done anything as he suspected. Timmy spat weakly and screwed up his face.

"What is wrong with you?" he turned on heel and stomped over to another corner of the room. Jack followed him Timmy could feel him behind like a gazelle feels the presence of a leopard. Jack grabbed his arm and spun him around.

"Nothing actually. Even though you look like me you're not me, or even related to me. It's not even incest." Jack's smile was pronographic as he ran a hand over Timmy's chest.

"Well, that trainer I hired knew what he was doing."

"Get off!" Timmy batted his hands away. "I'm not interested in this."

Jack pouted. Timmy hated the fact he thought it was cute and that he wanted to learn how to do that.

"Awe, here I was hoping to usher a hot virgin into the wonderful world of hot, mano-e-mano sex."he licked his lips.

Timmy felt a flush creep into his cheeks at those words.

"God I'm hot when I blush." Jack's voice dripped with lust and his mismatched eyes bored into Timmy.

Then his palms started to sweat. That made him worried. Sweating palms meant he liked something. For split second he remembered his old Kinsey experiments, and the few men who he could beat off to. Pushy, cocky, ridiculously good looking, almost to the point of looking fake. Jack fit the bill. He fit fit the bill now.

Timmy stood stock still and refused to look at Jack, clenching his fists to hide the sweat. Jack didn't need to see it to know he'd hit a chord. He moved closer sliding a hand over Timmy's stomach and hooking the fingers of his other under Timmy's belt. Jack was biting his lip and brushing a leg up against Timmy's.

'Fuck! Shit dammit! Fuck!' the blush spread to the rest of Timmy's face and down his neck. His hands kept sweating and he could feel his cock starting to swell. No one ever came on this strong, ever, at all. Dear god above he liked it on one level and didn't care that it was from another guy but reason and logic screamed at him that this was too messed up.

Timmy swallowed hard and cleared his throat.

"Aren't you just a regular Narcissus." he growled. He hoped to cut Jack with the remark. Instead he goaded him on. Jack gingerly lifted his half untucked shirt and snuck a hand beneath it. Timmy hissed at the bare contact, shaking his head. Jack pulled him right up against his warm body and ran his hand all the way up to his chest then pinched one of his nipples.

That shocked Timmy right back to reality. He shoved Jack off and bolted away, almost to another side of the room.

Jack was miffed, he ran a hand through his hair and stared the wide eyed Timmy down for a second. He was debating how much he wanted to chase this guy. He glanced down to his double crotch and smiled just a hint.

"Maybe not today, but soon." he smirked, then went back to his desk.

Timmy looked down and was immediately crushed with shame. He wished the shame would have happened to the raging boner straining against his jeans. He sat down, and took some deep breathes. Thankfully by the time a scientist had arrived with the 'Digi-Jack' projection unit he had deflated.

Timmy turned his impression of Jack back on and got a little kick as the bewildered scientist glanced back and forth between the Jack at the desk and the Jack reaching for the projector. His boss broke into hysterics when the poor guy left, Timmy giggled a bit too. Jack shot him another one of those smoldering looks on hearing him laugh. He looked like he would pounce again then a loud and unmistakable alarm sounded.

"What? Oh what the hell?" Jack looked down to his screen.

"Ahhh, one of those damn claptraps probably got stuck in the last thing you'd want it stuck. Come on follow me."

Timmy did so, again imitating Jack's stride. Maybe he was showing off before. This was more normal.

'Mental note. Jack likes to show off.' Timmy figured he'd have to make a lot of these.