Kyle woke up instantly from the smell of blueberry pancakes. He'd slept peacefully but he couldn't say the same for Amanda. Somehow, even asleep, he'd kept track of her heartbeat and the state of her dreams. They hadn't been good.

He consulted his mental graph and noticed her heart rate had peaked at three different times, each worse than the last. Had it been him he likely would have just stayed up.

He remembered her agitation while still awake; until he'd been compelled to see if something was wrong. He hadn't pried into her state of mind last night with their texts. He had kept the subject safe and neutral. If she wanted to open up she could. He would never force her.

Kyle smiled when he thought of Amanda. He could hear that she was awake too. He really wanted to see her and today she'd be at the Rack working the late shift. He'd be able to walk her home, hold her hand, and probably kiss a few times. How he loved that; it gave him butterflies just thinking about it.

He figured he probably had one of his 17 Amanda looks right now but thankfully no one was there to announce it. He could hear the shower running upstairs and noticed it was Lori. Jessi wasn't in the house; she was out with Foss training this morning. Josh was busy getting ready for the morning shift at the Rack and both Stephen and Nicole were sharing time with each other in the kitchen while 'the kids' were still asleep.

It felt like a normal morning at the Trager house. As Kyle got dressed and tidied his bedroom, Kyle noticed that Amanda had left her house and was coming to him. He knew she was going to the front door though so he sprinted out of his room and opened it just before she got there.

"Hi Amanda," he said, a big grin on his face.

She didn't appear at all surprised that he had known she was coming. She smiled too. "Hi Kyle." Her eyes darted behind him as Nicole peeked into the hall.

"Hello Amanda! We have some extra blueberry pancakes if you want some; come in!"

"No thanks Mrs. Trager," she paused. Her eyes looked a little sad as she looked into his eyes. "Kyle, um, I came to see Lori…" Her voice resonated apology, but Kyle dismissed it. He could smell her from where he stood and she smelled wonderful.

He moved to the side. "Come on in Amanda, Lori's in the shower at the moment but," he paused a moment. "She just finished." He took her hand and led her by him. "I'll see you later." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She responded with a quick hug before going upstairs.

He turned his attention to the pancakes he was about to eat. Today he would try to focus on isolating his sense of taste. He knew from his reading that the sense of smell as acutely connected to the sense of taste. Without one you generally couldn't have the other. He didn't put any syrup on the first pancake and took a small bite, closed his eyes, and savoured.

Nicole and Stephen watched him; he knew from their continued silence. It took a lot of focus but he thought he tasted eggs, flour, milk, blueberries, salt, and a seasoning or was it two? He opened his eyes and asked, "Nicole, what seasonings do you add to your pancakes?"

***

She didn't wait long for Lori to get dressed. Lori opened the door and she walked inside, closing it behind her. Lori's left eyebrow rose half-way up her forehead. She appropriately whispered, "So Amanda, it's a little unusual for you to be seeking advice this early in the morning."

Amanda pulled out a large pad of sticky notes and two pens from her jeans' back pocket. She handed one pen to Lori. Lori's mouth was literally agape. Amanda quickly scrawled, "Kyle won't overhear."

Lori composed herself, sensing that some gossip might be coming her way. Taking half the pad of sticky notes, she wrote, "Do tell."

"Kyle told me everything yesterday."

"Yes."

"He's a really good guy."

"But." Lori seemed to have an innate sense when buts were hanging about.

"He's too good."

"For you?"

"No, no. Just too good."

Lori paused almost a minute before continuing. "True. That's Kyle."

Now it was her turn to pause. Maybe it was best to be direct. "I need to corrupt him."

Lori gasped when she read that. "Wouldn't that corrupt you too?"

Amanda blushed severely just then. Clearly they weren't on the same track. "I don't mean sex."

Lori nodded. She pondered a moment. "Why?"

There was only one word that came to mind. "Latnok."

"Continue."

It was time to dive right in. With a fresh sticky note under her pen, she wrote, "Latnok abducted me once. They could do it to any of us. They're not gone, just hiding. Cassidy left, without a trace. It won't stay that way. They'll be back. Kyle must change or they will keep pushing his buttons."

"How do you propose to corrupt him?"

"That's why I am asking you."

"We should get Jessi in on this."

"No."

"Hils?"Amanda was incredulous. Hillary also knew Kyle's secrets? Since when?

"She knows?" She was really getting angry. Lori quickly shook her head.

Amanda sighed. She didn't remember ever having this much trouble with anger and frustration. "How would you ask her? Can you bring her to the Rack tonight?"

"Won't Kyle be there?"

Lori's eyes lit up when she read Amanda's last note. "He will, but he won't be in our hair."

***

Kyle went for a jog, intentionally travelling at a leisurely pace. As he got near a large park he slowed even more. He took deep breaths, focusing on his sense of smell. He'd learned that Nicole had much more than just two spices, but a mixture of six of them in various degrees. At least he'd had the main ingredients right.

He noted the wind's direction and velocity over the last ten seconds. With his eyes he determined a 3D area that he should be able to detect by smell. There was a couple, a baby, and a small dog within the area.

He stopped moving altogether, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply. As Nicole had suggested at breakfast, he pretended to be doing yoga.

He smelled a lot of grass, of weeds, of pollen. He focused harder but he wasn't getting anything more. He wondered idly whether he should be able to smell like a dog with his brain – and quickly dismissed it. He didn't know the limits of his abilities; he could already do so many things he'd thought impossible. And then the wind changed minutely and he could smell the dog, or at least a small amount of poo it had stuck in its fur. It was pretty unnerving and smelled pretty terribly but he kept going. Just when he thought he couldn't handle it anymore, he smelled baby powder followed by what he perceived as a cloying alkaline smell, probably the baby's urine.

Wondering once more whether he was truly smelling these things or merely envisioning them because of his encyclopedic knowledge – he would certainly never forget the smell of a birthing mother that's for sure – he opened his eyes. The baby has happily cooing in the mother's arms and the father was holding a little lavender scented bag with the offensive dung inside.

Why yes! He could smell the synthetic compounds that produced the smell of lavender! He believed he could even tell what some of the compounds were.

Bearing a huge grin, he began to run, faster than he had all the way to the park. It was harder to discern the individual chemicals involved in natural smells but being in a city, even in the suburbs where he was, he had ample opportunity to discover some truly noxious synthetic substances in his own neighbourhood.

He began to wonder if the expansion of his sense of smell had been a good idea after all. He was getting worried about the various chemical compositions and concentrations. He resolved himself to tackle one issue at a time.

***

When he got home no one was there so he went to his room to gather a few things then went upstairs to take a shower. As the water cascaded over him, a vague idea struck him odd about that morning. He couldn't immediately formulate exactly what was wrong or out of place. Since no one else was there he replayed the entire morning in his memory. Suddenly it was morning again and he was sitting at the table, his eyes closed as he attempted to determine the individual ingredients in Nicole's blueberry pancakes.

As he'd known, Stephen and Nicole were looking at him with interest and shared a glance. Stephen shrugged minutely before turning back to Kyle. Suddenly memory Kyle opened his eyes and asked, "Nicole, what seasonings do you add to your pancakes?"

As the remainder of the scene began to play out as he remembered, a thought occurred to him. He could hear Amanda's heartbeat, and Lori's, but absolutely neither of their voices, only the mildest movements, and only intermittently.

He moved to the hall and dismissed the scene immediately around the kitchen. He realized his memory retained some elements of the entire household and created what it believed the house was like from previous experiences. Standing before the door to Lori's room, he noticed it was closed. He could hear the vague scratching and what sounded like small papers being moved or shuffled but he couldn't make it out precisely and it wasn't any louder or clearer because he was now closer to the source; unfortunately because he'd been in the kitchen focusing on his sense of taste he couldn't truly examine this part of the house.

From past experience he knew that if he opened Lori's door he'd probably see immobile versions of Lori and Amanda in definitely no true representation of their true activities that morning. He sighed, taking comfort in Amanda's heartbeat for a moment before returning his attention to the moment he'd opened the front door for her. The current scene with the mysterious sounds dissolved and reconstructed itself into the open front door and the hallway.

"Hi Amanda," memory Kyle said, a big grin on his face. He scrutinized himself briefly and noted what looked like Amanda look number 9 on his face. He was positively smitten by his lovely girlfriend.

She still didn't appear surprised and she flashed memory him a smile. Despite being directed to his other self, it made him smile. "Hi Kyle." Her eyes darted behind him as Nicole peeked into the hall.

"Hello Amanda! We have some extra blueberry pancakes if you want some; come in!"

"No thanks Mrs. Trager," she paused. This time the pause felt longer though it was still only 3.4 seconds long. She looked at him and said, "Kyle, um, I came to see Lori…" He let the scene play out, noticed himself breathing in the smell of flower-scented soap and a very mild perfume. Sure he'd missed it previously, he realized her heartbeat was a little elevated, and her hands were a little clammy.

He took the moment to appreciate her appearance, but he refused to leer like some of the men he saw just about everywhere did to beautiful women like her. As she passed by both of him, it was then he noticed the bulges in the back pockets of her jeans. One was square and from the other pocket protruded two pens.

He stood there in his own memory, wondering what Amanda didn't want him to overhear. Because she knew little said in the house could be kept from him, he now knew this had been planned a secret conversation. It hurt to see her intentionally keeping something from him, deliberately creating secrets, and even bringing Lori into it.

He envisioned Amanda slowly distancing herself from him, unable to cope with his being a clone. It was true that he also had feelings for Jessi but he primarily understood those as kinship, of being the same. But he knew there was potential for more there as well.

Feeling he was too close to the situation, that he was emotionally compromised – Nicole had taught him therapists and counselors had to remain detached and objective to be most useful – he determined he needed someone else's opinion. He could only think of one person.

The house resolved around him once more, this time reality bringing life to his senses. The water was warm and his fingers had begun to prune. His face turned grim as he turned off the water and grabbed a towel. Jessi was coming upstairs to take her own shower.

***

Amanda spotted Hillary and Lori come into the Rack. It was a pretty slow day being Sunday evening. "Hi girls!" she exclaimed, a little excitement getting the better of her.

"I hear you need my services but the subject matter is being withheld despite my guesses," Hillary said with faux anger directed at Lori.

Lori piped up after scanning the room, "Kyle's gone home?"

Amanda's smile faltered for only a moment. "He hasn't come yet." Lori looked quizzically into her eyes. Hillary waited impatiently.

"Out with it girls." She stuck out her hand as though they would deposit the secrets directly into her hand.

Amanda sneered as she pulled out three pads of sticky notes and three pens. "No talk, write."

***

He had known that Jessi, sensing an opportunity to drive a wedge between him and Amanda, would do so willingly. It had surprised him however how caring Jessi had been when he presented his problems to her. They had hugged and he'd brought her into his memories of that morning.

Of course she'd inquired about the taste experiment and that had led to the smell experiment in the park. She admitted she didn't see much value in expanding those senses but was nonetheless clearly jealous that he had two more abilities, even if they were still rudimentary.

He was painfully aware of her scent and a small tinge of something that he couldn't quite identify. Unbidden he found himself breathing her in; she'd noticed.

It would have been so easy for her to take advantage of him. Despite his resolution to be solely her friend, he'd reacted in much the same way he had the first time he'd been at the local pool and he'd been rescued by…

Amanda. He very nearly cursed. In his state of confusion, time had seemed to fly by and now it was quite late. He got up from the park bench and sprinted to the Rack with five minutes to spare before closing time.

He opened the door and saw Amanda wiping down tables and placing chairs upside down on top of them. No one else was there. She glanced his way and a big smile appeared in her eyes. "Hi," she said and he returned the greeting with a sheepish look. She raised her eyebrows a little and said, "Did you forget?"

The truth seemed best. "I lost track of time."

She didn't stop in her cleaning but he saw a small smile as she said, "I find that a little suspect." She chuckled and he did too in response. "But I was pretty sure you'd come before I finished though."

"You had doubts." Not a question but a statement. His spirits were dampening by the moment.

"Would you like to help me with the chairs," she asked. Any trace of a smile vanished from his face.

"Yeah, sure." The physical activity did little to ease his brooding. He didn't know what to say so he said nothing. His heart felt heavy.

When the restaurant was locked up for the night, she jolted him by giving him a big hug. She looked into his eyes, concern evident. "You look really down. What's wrong?"

He smelled and felt her; the reaction was visceral and instantaneous. He bent to kiss her much more aggressively than ever before. She initially kissed back but pulled back sharply. "Teeth!" she shouted. She brought a hand to her mouth. "That actually hurt!" She took a step back.

"Amanda," he started, "I'm sorry. I couldn't help it." Even now, this close to her, his judgement was clouded and he could only focus on her. He felt lithe, virile, and was quickly being overtaken by lust. The feelings scared him intensely. He took several steps upwind from her. It helped calm him enough to talk coherently. "Let me explain. You know how I can hear your heartbeat from a distance, and that I can see in the dark as long as it's not total darkness?" She nodded, her hands tightly bound in front of her. "Today my senses of smell and taste got much sharper…" he trailed off.

She appeared fearful. "So you try to eat me," she said, suddenly chuckling. "I see why you didn't come to the Rack earlier then." She chuckled again then turned serious. "You need to control that." She took a step toward him and he took a step back. "How can I help you with this Kyle?" Perhaps it was more shock than fear? He wasn't thinking straight.

He was gasping, as though he'd run many miles. "I'll have to learn to control it; I don't know how you can help me. Maybe Jessi…"

Her outburst stopped him in mid breath. "No!" She took several steps toward him as he stood still. He could smell her again but this time her anger dissipated his feelings. "She has the same feelings for you that I do! If you go to her now she'll, I'll, just no all right?"

In a corner of his mind he noted she still loved him. In another, he had a new secret. Jessi had restrained herself completely for him and for Amanda. She certainly loved to push Amanda's buttons but not when he needed her. It was true that Jessi did love him too.

(Monologue) I'd known for some time that both Jessi and Amanda loved me in their own ways, but it became clear that they were more like the other than they cared to admit. It was all about delivery.