In the City of San Jose in California, there lived three friends who made names for themselves in the tech industry in their own rights. They are named Tom, Sam, and Harry.
Tom, an average-built guy who is also a systems engineer in his late 20s, was the cautious one of the group. It made sense—his entire career was built on paranoia. He was the mastermind behind 'Super VPN,' a secure network protocol trusted by government agencies, as well as a cutting-edge software tool used by enforcement agencies to spot deep fakes.
Then there was Sam. A lovable, chubby fellow, Sam was the accidental millionaire of the group. He had invented a highly resilient, low-cost LiDAR system for ships, and instead of dealing with the headache of building factories, he simply licensed the tech globally, leaving him with a massive bank account and way too much free time to look for trouble.
Rounding out the trio was Harry, a pale, lanky man with vibrant ginger hair and a sharp, hyper-observant energy. Harry was the most consumer-facing success story of the three; he was the creator of a massive, lifesaving smart watch app adopted by millions of diabetics worldwide. His software could predict critical blood sugar crashes before they happened, giving users and their emergency contacts a vital window to take action.
One Friday night, the guys were lounging in Tom’s penthouse, overlooking the glowing San Jose skyline. As the conversation shifted from the latest industry scams to tech trends, Sam leaned forward, a mischievous grin on his face.
“So guys, I was checking out this forum I stumbled across on the dark web the other night...”
Harry groaned, rubbing his temples.
Tom let out a tired sigh. “Seriously, dude? When are you going to stop digging around in that place?”
“Yeah. You know nothing good ever comes out of that thing.” said Harry.
“Really? Name one.” Sam dared.
“Do you remember in 8th grade when you were looking for certain pictures there and your computer ended up getting hacked?” said Tom.
“Okay fine.” Sam said defeatedly. “But I am telling you guys. This is different. I actually found something worth looking at.”
Tom and Harry sighed. “Fine. But you better not use my wifi.”
“What do you mean not to use your wifi? I need it to access the internet” argued Sam.
“I don’t want anyone to hitch to your access to infect all my devices. Everything’s connected through the wifi here.” explained Tom.
“Fine!” said Sam as he used his mobile data to access the dark web. “Here’s what I found. It’s a forum which I first thought was for spies and terrorists who need some ideas to create disguises. When I read through the thread, I realized that it wasn’t. It was actually for a crowd of masking enthusiasts! They share information on how to build prosthetics and stuff. They even hire people to create masks to help them look like real people.”
“I know! But it gets freakier.” said Sam. “Here. Watch this video.”
The video shows a guy wearing a ski mask and a pair of compression pants showing this new bodysuit that he created that can make him look like this particular celebrity. He started to push his feet inside through the opening. When the guy had pulled up the rest of his bodysuit, he turned away from the camera to take off the ski mask before pulling on the bodysuit’s mask over his head. Then the suit made some weird hiss and humming sound as it adjusts the wearer’s proportions into the borrowed identity’s form. The guy turns around.
Tom and Harry were shocked with what they saw. It was like the actual celebrity was on screen. He even sounds like that particular celebrity.
“Dude, what the hell? How is this even possible?” asked Harry. “This has to be fake.”
“No, it’s not. Well, it doesn’t look like it. I’ve spent a lot of time analyzing fake videos when I was developing my software. There would usually be signs of fakeness but I don’t see anything. It might be worth running this video on the tool.” said Tom.
“Don’t bother.” Said Sam. “Check the comments and the succeeding posts in the forum.”
Tom and Harry did check. There were a lot of testimonials of happy customers. This has to be real, they thought. The two former skeptics are now intrigued. It makes them want to see a sample, themselves in real life.
Sam tells them more about the suits. He says that the maker can build the suits based on the custom design of the customer or any real person that the customer wants to become. Customers would either submit a model or sketch. If they actually want to use a real person’s identity, they need to submit a few photos.
Sam gave his friends some time to let this all sink in before breaking the silence. “So, gentleman. Do you think we give this thing a chance?”
“I mean. I don’t know.” said Harry. “Is it really safe?”
Tom also asked, “Is it legal?”
Sam doesn’t know how to answer that. Instead he proposed a compromise. “I don’t know guys but if it makes you feel better... Here’s my proposal. Each of us orders a suit. We don’t tell anybody about this. This stays between all three of us. Once we get our suits, we can go to my cabin upstate where we can show our suits to each other.”
Tom and Harry liked this idea. “Sounds like a plan!” said Tom.
“Count me in too!” said Harry.
Sam had this biggest smile on his face as both his best friends are on board with this. “Great! One more thing though.”
“What’s that?” asked Tom.
“We can’t tell or show each other what our suits will look like before our meetup. We can only reveal the suits to each other in the cabin. Deal?”
“DEAL!” said both Tom and Harry in unison.
Tom spent the entire weekend completely consumed by the suit’s design. He caught himself thinking of attractive (or at least what he thinks is attractive) features of various people which include but not limited to fitness influencers on social media and scrutinizing the faces of random strangers he passed on the streets of San Jose. He is trying to piece together the perfect look for the new identity that he is about to have.
For a fleeting moment, he considered opening up a digital canvas or tool to draft a completely unique, custom identity from scratch. Before he could even open it up, he gave up almost immediately. He was a systems engineer, not an artist; his brain mapped out secure firewalls and algorithmic logic, not facial symmetry and jawline proportions. Left to his own creative devices, he’d probably end up looking like a glitching video game character. Even if he considered making an enhanced version of himself using AI, he shutted that idea down immediately. He feared that he might not be happy with the results. He reminded himself that AI is a great tool but not a miracle worker.
Then, a sudden spark of inspiration hit him: Jake.
Jake was the quintessential gym bro who frequented the local café where Tom, Sam, and Harry always grabbed their morning coffee. He was hard to miss—usually sporting athletic clothes or an outfit that accentuated his muscular physique. He was the kind of guy whose effortless confidence and peak physical shape made ordinary tech guys feel instantly inadequate over their iced lattes.
Tom opened his social media apps and quickly pulled up Jake’s profile. Scrolling through the feed, he found exactly what he was looking for—a recent post documenting Jake's intense workout progress. Tom smirked. The decision was made. If he couldn't invent a perfect physique, he would just borrow one that he saw every single week.
He immediately contacted the mysterious suit maker through the dark web portal (with a secured connection) and uploaded three specific reference images from the profile. The first 2 were gym mirror selfies that clearly captured Jake’s entire front physique and facial features. The second was a shot from behind, showing Jake mid-flex in a double-bicep pose, perfectly mapping out his back proportions. After placing his order, he immediately got a confirmation from the maker giving him instructions on how and where to settle a down payment.
Tom opened his group chat with Sam and Harry. “Order placed. The countdown begins,” he texted. Within minutes, two glowing thumbs-up emojis popped up alongside confirmation texts from the other two guys. Their orders were locked in. Now, all they had to do was wait.
Two weeks had passed. Tom was still waiting for the suit maker to provide him an update. Sam already had his suit four days ago. Harry just got his last night. This was making Tom anxious and impatient.
Suddenly, Tom’s phone pinged. He immediately grabbed it and saw that it was a message from the suit maker. At last, an update came! The suit maker said that Tom’s suit is finished and it is ready for pick up. Tom replied to thank the maker and ask for more details on how to get the suit as advised by his two best friends. The suit maker sent a list of instructions for Tom to follow as well as their meet-up point tonight.
Later, around 10pm, Tom pulled into this multi-story parking building. The meet-up point was on the 4th level, specifically beside the column that says 4Q. Just as he was told, there is a blank unmarked van beside column 4Q.
Tom parked his car across the van. He got out of the car with a Manila Envelope full of cash. He opened the van’s passenger side door and put the cash there. Then, he opened the back doors where he found a box labeled, Tom. He took it out and transferred the box into the back of his luxury station wagon. He closed the van’s back doors before leaving the parking building.
It took Tom 20 mins to get back to his penthouse. He brought the box to his walk-in closet. He used a box cutter to cut the tape that sealed the box before he carefully took out the suit.
He placed the suit on a bench inside the closet and stared at it. He was amazed by the craftsmanship and the attention to detail. Every pore, every strand of hair, and every imperfection on the skin made it look and feel like a real human person (or as close as it can get).
He flipped the suit around to see the back. There he saw the small mark for the invisible seam that will allow him to get in. He pressed the hidden button beside the mark and the invisible seam at the spine opened.
Tom immediately took off his clothes and started to put on the suit. He started with his legs. When he pulled it up all the way to his waist, he noticed that it felt like he was wearing loose pants. Next, he put his arms inside and his torso followed suit. Then, he shoved his head inside the attached mask and tried his best to align his features.
Tom pressed a patch in the left wrist. The seam automatically closed, locking him inside. The suit hissed and hummed as it connected itself to Tom’s body. Then, Tom felt his body expand to fill up the suit. He even felt an itch on his throat briefly.
Soon, standing in Tom’s closet was Jake or at least a duplicate. The “new Jake” began to inspect his body. He moved his arms and legs and was amazed at how the suit performed. He touched his pecs and torso. He felt every part of it. It was like it was his own actual skin and muscle.
Tom put on a pair of boxer shorts and began to walk towards the large mirror. As he got near it, he saw Jake! When he moved, Jake moved. The suit made it so real that he forgot that it was all a disguise. It made Tom feel that he is actually Jake. He really couldn’t believe his eyes. He became this strong, tall, and handsome man that he envied.
“Holy fu-” was all Tom was able to say before he noticed that his voice also changed. He talked using Jake’s deep and resonant voice! Tom was ecstatic. He is loving every part of this.
Then, Tom picked up his phone. The facial recognition feature did not work due to his new face. After unlocking the phone using his passkey, he sent an update on his group chat. It was simple and vague, “Just got mine.” The first to reply was Harry who sent a thumbs up emoji. Next, Sam said that they can meet at his cabin this Saturday.
The day has come. Tom was driving down the road to Sam’s cabin. The rumble of the twin turbocharged V8 under the hood of his wagon broke the sereneness of the forest around him. Tom was driving at a quick pace as he couldn’t wait to put on the suit again which was waiting for him inside a suitcase in the back.
Then, the GPS chimed in, telling him to turn right to a private gravel road. As soon as Tom got to that road, he was greeted by a gate. He rolled down his windows and entered a passkey that Sam had given him. The automatic gates opened instantly and Tom slowly drove up the gravel road.
The gravel road opened to a rotunda in front of this 4-bedroom log cabin. Tom noticed that Sam’s pickup truck was already in there and smoke was coming out of the chimney. As soon as Tom parked his car, we saw Harry’s electric SUV from his rearview mirror.
Tom got out and greeted Harry. They briefly hugged before asking about the commute to the cabin. Then, the front doors opened and Sam came walking out.
“Gentlemen! Welcome to Casa de Awesome!” said Sam.
“Casa de Awesome?” said Harry with a chuckle.
“It’s a work in progress.” defended Sam. “Anyway, come in. Mi casa es su casa.”
Tom and Harry took their stuff from their respective cars and got inside the cabin. The cabin was modest. It had a simple living room with a stone fireplace. It had an open floor plan that connects the living room to the kitchen and dining area. Some stairs can be found on one side that leads to a loft space that also serves as an entertainment room.
“So, do you guys want a tour or should we just get this shindig started?” asked Sam.
Tom and Harry looked at each other. No words were said but their eyes told everything they needed to know. Tom then said, “I guess it’s time to see our new selves!”
Sam’s face formed this massive grin. “Good. I’m dying to put on my suit and see how good I look compared to whatever you guys got!”
“In your dreams!” Harry retorted
“We’ll see about that.” Sam said with a laugh. “Okay. My room is here on the right. Tom, yours is here in the middle. Harry you get the one at the end.” All guys went into their respective rooms.
As soon as the door was closed, Tom immediately took out the “Jake suit” and climbed inside, repeating the same process that he did when he first tried it on. “Fuck! I’ll never get tired of this!” said Tom to himself using Jake’s voice. He pulled out some clothes from his bag and put them on. Tom got dressed in an unzipped hoodie to reveal his impressive torso. He paired this with some shorts. He checked himself out on the mirror near the dresser before leaving the confines of his room.
Tom was the first to open the door and saw no one. Just then, Sam’s door opened. “Dude! What the hell!” Shouted Sam using his new voice.
It turns out, they were both disguised as Jake! The only difference is their clothes. Sam’s version wore this tight-fitting shirt and grey sweatpants.
“What’s going on? Why are you guys shouting?” said Harry from his room. Then, Harry’s door opened and another Jake stepped out, looking surprised. Harry’s version of Jake wore a cropped sleeveless shirt and jeans. They somehow recreated the infamous spiderman meme where they are all pointing at each other.
The silence in the cabin was deafening, broken only by the crackle of the fireplace and the synchronous, deep-timbred breathing of three identical Jakes. For a solid ten seconds, nobody moved. They just stood in a triangle, fingers locked in a rigid, accusatory point, staring at their own faces duplicated twice over.
"Okay, back up," Sam-Jake finally said, his deep voice sounding bizarrely defensive. He dropped his hand and gestured wildly at the other two. "Which one of you hacked my dark web portal? Because there is no way this is a coincidence."
"Hacked you?" Tom-Jake shot back, rubbing his temples—a gesture that looked entirely mismatched on Jake's muscular frame. "Sam, I wouldn't touch your search history with a ten-foot pole."
"So did I!" Harry-Jake cried out. He looked down at his own cropped, sleeveless shirt, then at Sam’s tight red tee, and finally at Tom’s unzipped hoodie. "Wait... if none of us copied each other... why the hell did we all choose Jake?"
The three of them slowly drifted toward the living room, 1 collapsing onto one of the mismatched couches while the others stood in shock in other parts of the living room. It was a bizarre sight: a set of triplets who are all peak-physique gym bros in total, uncoordinated tech-bro exhaustion.
Tom crossed his massive arms and looked at Sam. "Alright, mastermind. You found the site. You go first. Why Jake?"
Sam-Jake's face put out a shocked look before morphing into a classic, mischievous smirk that looked incredibly cocky on Jake's features. He leaned on the stone mantle with his arms crossed. "Oh, my reason is pure poetry. I knew for a fact that Harry has had this massive, pathetic crush on Jake for months. Every time we go to the café, Harry practically dissolves into his iced latte if Jake even looks in our direction. I thought it would be the ultimate, hilarious mind-fucking prank to show up here as his dream guy and completely mess with him."
"You absolute piece of shit!" Harry-Jake snapped, throwing a pillow directly at Sam's face. Sam laughed, the deep chuckle vibrating through his chest.
Harry huffed as he sat at the armrest of one of the chairs. He crossed his legs and stared down at his jeans. The anger faded, replaced by a slight, sheepish flush that didn't quite show through the suit's pale, perfect complexion. He sighed, the resonant voice softening. "Okay, fine. I do have a crush on him. Shut up. But it wasn't just a joke for me. Look at me normally—I'm lanky, I'm pale, and I feel like I'm invisible half the time. Jake is... everything I'm not. Being him, even if it's just a compromised dream in a high-tech rubber suit... it made me feel like I could actually be that confident for once."
The room quieted down, the humor shifting into a rare moment of genuine vulnerability.
Sam cleared his throat, suddenly looking a bit guilty, and turned his gaze to Tom. "What about you, systems engineer? What's your excuse?"
Tom-Jake let out a dry, self-deprecating laugh, running a hand through his curly dark hair. "Honestly? Pure jealousy and a complete lack of imagination. I spend twelve hours a day looking at lines of code. Dark circles forming around my eyes. Then every time we go for coffee, I see this guy who looks like a walking Greek statue without even trying. It was like life was so easy for him that there was nothing that could tire him. I envied his looks so much. When I sat down to design a custom face, my brain fried. I couldn't think of anyone else to pretend to be, so I took a shortcut and chose the person who I often compare myself to."
Tom looked around the room, taking in the tight red shirt, the unzipped hoodie, and the cropped tank top. A sudden, hysterical realization hit him, and a grin broke across his face.
“What’s so funny?” asked Harry, all confused.
“Us, man! I mean, look at us. This is so stupid but I love it. It’s so us!” explained Tom.
Sam and Harry looked at each other before looking back at Tom. He was completely right. The sheer absurdity of three tech-bro best friends trying to escape their insecurities by accidentally cloning the exact same local gym bro was peak ridiculousness. This all felt incredibly stupid.
A second later, the tension broke completely, and they all just started laughing at each other.
"Do you guys realize what this means?" Tom laughed, gesturing to the three of them.
Harry looked up, a smile finally breaking through his embarrassment. "That we all independently chose the exact same guy to escape our own lives?"
"Worse," Sam grinned, flexing a massive bicep. "It means Casa de Awesome just became a clone sanctuary. Gentlemen, we have the whole weekend. Who wants to go see what happens when three Jakes try to operate a grill?"
The night went on. The trio were having fun together, all disguised as Jake. They took pictures doing several synchronized gym poses, took silly videos, and used the tech-bro banter to mask the underlying weirdness of what they’ve all done. They even took a picture and recreated the reaction that they did earlier as the Spiderman Meme pose was hilarious. Sam cooked burgers and some steaks on the grill. Harry made some sides for their food in the kitchen.
But as the hours stretched past midnight, the rowdy energy began to fracture. The empty beer bottles accumulated on the coffee table, and as the initial high of the alcohol started to wear off, the jokes slowed down. The room plummeted into a quiet, heavy silence. The fire had burned down to a low, amber glow, casting long shadows across the living room.
Sitting in a circle, they were forced to look at each other. Because the room was quiet, there were no more distractions—just three identical mirrors of the physical ideal they had all privately, desperately obsessed over.
Harry stared down at his large, borrowed hands, tracing the knuckles. "It's exhausting," he murmured, his deep voice sounding rough. "Seeing him every morning at the café. Knowing I’d never be with someone like him, or at least never have him look at me like I actually existed. I thought putting this on would make the craving go away. But looking at you guys... it just makes it hurt worse."
Sam let out a breath, but the usual sarcastic retort didn't come. For the first time all weekend, the loud, impulsive jokester looked completely stripped bare. "You think I just did this to mess with you, Harry?" Sam asked softly, looking up. The cocky armor was entirely gone, exposing the complicated desire hidden beneath the prank. "What I actually wanted was to see me as him in the mirror, too. Not just physically. I wanted to know what it felt like to be the guy everyone notices, instead of the guy everyone looks past." Sam let out a soft chuckle. “You know what’s pathetic? Me making people laugh was just me hiding my own insecurity that I am someone invisible compared to Jake. I needed to make people laugh to really draw attention to myself but Jake can do it without even missing a heartbeat.”
Tom leaned his head back against the arm chair, closing his eyes. "We're pathetic," he whispered with a humorless laugh. "A room full of guys who built empires out of algorithms, completely paralyzed by a stranger's jawline. I hated how much I envied him. I hated that I couldn't just be happy with my own brain."
The raw honesty hung in the air, thick and suffocating. The emotional vulnerability shifted the atmosphere, making the air in the cabin feel hyper-charged. The distance between the couches seemed to shrink.
Harry looked at Sam beside him on the sofa. Then, he looked at Tom from across the room. He was seeing the person he lusts in his dreams. It was too much now. Sam sensed Harry staring at him so he turned towards Harry. Without thinking, Harry reached out to Sam’s jaw and pulled him into a kiss. Then, he let go and realized what he had just done. “Sam, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to. I just… I.. I…”
Then, Sam reaches for the back of Harry’s head. Sam pulled him close and kissed him back passionately. It was a surreal collision of reality and fantasy; they were finally breaking the wall between them, yet doing so through the heavy, muscular avatar of the man they desired.
The kiss deepened, the rhythm of their breathing filling the quiet room. When they pulled back just enough to breathe, their eyes drifted over to Tom, who was watching them with a breathless, heavy stare. The sudden intimacy expanded naturally, pulling Tom into the fold.
What followed carried a hazy, dreamlike quality, muted by the shadows of the cabin. There was an intense emotional weight as the three friends worshipped each other's borrowed, perfect forms. Hands traced broad shoulders, fingers tangled in thick, curly hair, and chests pressed together in the dark. It was an act of profound love and connection between three lifelong friends, yet entirely filtered through the lens of their shared, physical fantasy—a surreal night where the lines between who they were and who they wanted to be blurred into nothingness.
It was morning and this massive ray of sunshine started to enter the living room. Tom was the first to wake up. He was almost naked if not for the blanket covering up the lower half of his body. Beside him are his two friends who were also naked under the thick wool blanket. At this state, he isn’t sure who is who. Is Sam the one on his right or is that Harry?
Tom got up as quietly as he could. He found his underwear and shorts and put them on. Then he put on his hoodie. He walked into the kitchen. The automated coffee machine had just brewed a fresh pot. He poured some into a mug and went outside. He sat on a bench and sipped his warm coffee. He was staring at the lake at the horizon.
Then, one of the Jakes came out. He was wearing a pair of boxers and a familiar red compression shirt. It was Sam. He also had a fresh cup of coffee. He sat on the bench next to Tom. They toasted their cups before each taking another sip.
Harry eventually came out too. He wore the faded jeans from yesterday. The wool blanket they used earlier was wrapped around his torso to keep him warm. Harry sat next to them and joined them watching the nature around them.
Hours passed and it was time for them to get back to reality. They all got out of their Jake suits and started packing up. Tom and Harry loaded their stuff into their cars. Sam watched them from the front door. They eventually said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.
The next weekend, they all met up at their favorite café, talking about how their week went.
Then, Jake arrived and ordered at the counter. He wore this tight-fitting black Henley shirt which accentuated his built chest and arms. He paired this with gym shorts and a cap.
All 3 tech-bros noticed Jake the moment the cafe door's bell rang. They all had a silent, desperate struggle not to laugh as they remembered last weekend’s fun. They return to their normal lives, but they are fundamentally closer than they ever were before.
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