Anonymous silhouettes outlining Bob's alter-egos appeared in the room.
Allie initially couldn't entirely believe what she was seeing, she saw the holograms, the entities, but it was something else to comprehend what Bob was claiming.
Bob channeled his Adaptability talent which had reached , assessing composure based off the Eyes of Rizz to make sure he wasn't going too quickly or giving too much information.
Sally - still Allie - inwardly gasped as she took it all in.
"What on earth?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"
"Bob... are you saying... that all these people... are... you?!?!?!?!?!"
Outwardly though, she kept a calm countenance, aiming to get more information.
"What do you mean by real... as in, they're actual living people?!"
Bob nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. They're living, breathing, alternate versions of me, all living in different places around the world right now."
"Well, we live our separate lives, which I respect and keep separate. But if I want, I can gain insight, knowledge and skills from their lived experience, since they are all essentially, 'mes'..."
"Do you mean to say like penpals...?"
"...Nope. Mes. True Projections of Mes..."
Hmm... Let's say that what you're saying is true. But wait. Did you say you can gain insight, knowledge and skills from everyone? Like you're all mentally connected?!"
"Again, I respect their autonomy, and I would never pry into their personal lives without obtaining their permission and consent. But as always it's about respect, respecting others and myself of course. But yes, since they are essentially... me at the core, it's basically as if I'm able to live out multiple life pathways at the same time through them, whilst I live out my life as Bob."
At this point Rowena was also in shock.
"Come on Allie, let's go... This guy, What, you're not seriously believing this guy are you?"
Rowena - disguised as Allie's college friend - spoke up in a panic. Bob was terrifying - knowing him, there was no doubt in her mind that it was legit. Bob never did anything by halves. He was walking talking authenticity. As a result, she figured that he had managed to game the system, and her first instinct was to protect Sally from the unknown influence!
Rowena tugged at Sally's arm, but Allie was... well she was kind of also in shock and didn't really know how to respond at this point, since her mind was running her own multi-track simulations.
"Was he for real?" Sally had assumed Bob was just talking about virtual avatars, like having a lot of D*cksword accounts, but apparently, he was saying that they were... real people - actually, he was saying that they were all hims that had taken different life paths?!"
"Who exactly were they?"
"How did she feel about this?"
"How should she respond?"
Firstly, ok she did want to know who these alter egos were, of course. She felt shocked, but at the same time, she was trying to figure out if Bob was just pulling her leg - but it didn't seem like he was joking. Rather, it seemed like he was absolutely telling the truth.
So first of all, to be frank, all he had shown her so far were some nice holograms, so she would probably have to find out who those other Bobs were.
Only then would she know how to feel and how to respond...
"You're probably wondering who they are." Right on cue, Bob seemed to almost read her mind, but there was no arrogance, rather, his eyes were full of warmth, sincerity, and kindness. Argh, how was he always like this?!?! Allie couldn't complain since it was admittedly quite nice, but sometimes, she wondered if Bob might be too good to be true.
"And I can show you, but..."
At this point Bob glanced at Rowena and then back at Allie.
"Since it's personal, I want to just show Allie alone if that's okay with you."