Who was this person? How had he ended up here? And most importantly, how could he return to his own body? With trembling hands, he began to flip through the diaries, determined to unravel the mystery surrounding that unknown body.
In a general summary, they both shared the same name: Mason Gruber, although their lives were like water and oil, with completely distinct experiences and destinies. Mason was an omega, but the new Mason found himself in a world where he understood what it meant to be an omega.
Mason Gruber belonged to a family of social prestige, immersed in strict rules of etiquette and conduct. His parents were Alphas, and he had an older brother, Owen, who was also an Alpha. Mason's life took a turn at the age of 14 when his mother passed away, leaving a painful void in his heart. At the age of 16, his father, Roman, remarried Liam, an omega, his father's former lover, who had a son named Theo, who, to Mason's surprise, was also an omega.
Mason's life became a maze of complex and conflicting family relationships. His mother's death and his father's marriage led him to discover that Theo, who was his same age, was his half-brother. This revelation only worsened his already troubled relationship with the family.
The worst part of this twist was losing everything he had once known: inheritance, family, friends, and his social status. But the loss that haunted him the most was that of the love of his life, the Alpha Dean Sheridan.
Consumed by the desire for attention and love, Mason became a bitter and cruel person. He did terrible things to eliminate Theo, his half-brother, who was beloved by all. Over the years, Theo stole everything from Mason, even the familial feelings Mason valued: his brother Owen's love and his father Roman's meager attention.
Theo was the embodiment of everything Mason hated and, at the same time, desired to be, and he saw Theo and his father Liam as thieves of his life and happiness.
Consumed by envy and the desire to be loved, Mason, after losing Dean Sheridan to Theo, the sweet, kind, and flexible omega, committed atrocities against his half-brother, who was protected by everyone. The peak of his wickedness was when he ordered the kidnapping of his own half-brother.
With nowhere to go or hide, he sought refuge with a former employee who had worked for years at the Gruber mansion and helped him hide from his family. However, his connection to positive feelings was severed, leading him to contemplate giving up on life.
It was in this dark moment that the new Mason woke up, in an unfamiliar situation where he found himself trapped in a body and a life he could barely comprehend. Mason shared a common trait with the owner of the body he now inhabited: both came from multimillionaire families. And just like the other Mason, he also desperately sought attention, though in very different ways.
"Initially, there was a simple and shared desire that both Mason: they ardently wished for the world to notice their presence. But over time, he plunged into a dark world, becoming a hacker, a feared criminal in the global cyber scene, with his quest for attention evolving into a search for chaos and anonymity. He became a fugitive, and the rejection that once haunted him lost its meaning in the face of the crimes he committed."
Although he didn't know exactly what kind of trouble the original Mason was involved in, he discovered detailed records of his crimes, for the original Mason Gruber was a fool who documented everything, even his crimes. Determined to erase any traces of wrongdoing that he did not commit, the new Mason Gruber burned all the evidence diaries, destroying any proof of the dark past of the body he now inhabited.
He acted swiftly, grabbing some clothes, a backpack, and whatever money he could find, leaving the rest behind. He set out in search of a place where he could access communication networks, discarding documents and communication devices that belonged to the original Mason in the trash.
On the streets, he acquired a new communication device. Connected to the internet, he realized that the security system in this world was stricter than he was used to. However, he used his skills to create a false online identity and launched a cyberattack, which earned him an emergency sum of money.
Mason chose to stay off the Gruber family's radar, who were frantically searching for him. He focused his efforts on understanding the nature of this new world he found himself in and how he could return to his original world. To do that, he began investigating the people he had seen in the robotic holographic projection before his arrival in this new environment; this was his only lead. He considered that if he had changed, the agents pursuing him might have changed as well.
His attention was primarily on Adam Kadman and Callum Campbell, although initially, they seemed inaccessible. However, Mason managed to gain access to information about Taylor May and Clarice Phillips, which led him to believe they could be the new agents tasked with capturing or locating him.
He did what he could, sending emails with messages that simulated being from agencies like the CIA and FBI. He even used flowers in the colors of the American flag in his contact attempts. However, all these attempts were in vain.
Faced with the lack of results and the growing pressure from the Gruber family to find him, Mason decided to take a riskier approach. He broke into Taylor May's apartment, an action that almost exposed him and put him in grave danger. He was aware that after the emails and with the flower messages, if the Gruber family found him, they would likely try to—have him committed to a psychiatric hospital.
Of course, nothing, not even a new body, could change what had been in his head and soul for a long time. He was a cybercriminal. And his technical nature came into play. He began to commit cybercrimes, which led him to change names multiple times.
Even after the failed apartment break-in, he reconsidered his existence. Perhaps he was lost.
It was a time when he was living two lives. He didn't know if he was dead or alive, but continuing to take risks was not an option.
His new apartment was a digital fortress, equipped with the most advanced security and encryption systems. He became an expert at keeping his identity hidden and his digital tracks confusing, allowing him to continue his illegal activities without drawing attention.
He lived in an elegant apartment. But what caught his attention was his new neighbor, in the apartment across from his, with large and exposed windows. It seemed like his neighbor had never seen a horror movie. He wondered if his neighbor wanted people to watch him.
"Thursday, seventeenth of October, this body is turning twenty-six. Determined to keep its existence as discreet as possible and always driven by curiosity. One day, he began to observe his neighbor's activities. He discovered within seconds that his neighbor's building security was ridiculous. Even a five-year-old could get in."
"And what instinctively caught his attention? His neighbor was a male omega prostitute who had many clients, and Mason felt like a character from the movie 'Rear Window.' It was as if a new form of obsession had taken hold of him. He had a show to watch every night. However, he had a favorite day of the week, which was Tuesday, the Tuesday client, he was great, his performances were perfect.
His arrival was punctual, always at 11:30 PM, but at 10:40 PM, Mason was already prepared, cameras on and hidden behind his screens in the living room, keeping the lights off. His heart raced as he watched intently, the three screens in front of him. He monitored the Tuesday client's arrival through the security cameras of the building next door, tracking every move with surgical precision.
And from his window, a camera was discreetly positioned on a tripod.
The client in question was a figure who stood out from the rest. It was evident, even in the lower-quality surveillance images, that he was an alpha with a commanding presence. His tall, athletic frame dominated the scene, and his posture radiated confidence.
His face, with strong features and magnetic eyes, seemed sculpted like a Greek demigod, and his aura conveyed an intensity that Mason had never experienced. It was like smelling him from the other side.
Energy and exceptional skills. The Tuesday client seemed like a pleasure machine, a force of nature that would make anyone tremble in the face of his virility. He made his Tuesdays excellent.
He often roamed the city, dressed in dark sportswear, with a black hat pulled down to his eyebrows and sunglasses that concealed his restless eyes.
One day, by chance or perhaps destiny, Mason had a chance encounter with Julien. The latter was in the square near Mason's building, with his pet, an exotic lizard resembling a bearded dragon.
The moment Julien's lizard darted off, Mason acted on instinct. He quickly approached, his heart pounding as he offered to help Julien. His movements were skillful, his words carefully chosen to seem casual, as if fate had decided to bring them together at that moment. It was the perfect opportunity that Mason had longed for to get closer to Julien.
From that day on, Mason and Julien spoke regularly. The lizard Lumière was very skittish but behaved well with Mason, which led to a friendship between the two. Julien told Mason that he was an art student who had moved to the big city to study.
Mason, who knew the whole story, absorbed everything while interacting with interest. After all, Julien never confided in him about his profession.
One day, Julien knocked on Mason's apartment door. Seeing that it was Julien, Mason quickly removed all his recording equipment and threw them into the bedroom, locking the door. Then, he opened the door gently.
"Hello, Julien," Mason said. "I didn't expect to see you here. Is something wrong with your computer again, a new virus?"
"No, everything's fine," Julien replied. "You won't believe how good it's become. Am I bothering you?"
"Of course not," Mason replied. "How can I help you? Come in and have a seat."
Julien lowered his gaze like a sweet young man and said, "It's just that I'll be away for a few days with my boyfriend, and I can't take Lumière with me. I was wondering if you could take care of him for a few days. But I'm not sure if he'd be okay here in your apartment."
Julien held Mason's hands and spoke hopefully, "Could you come over to my apartment for a few days to look after him? I'm afraid he might get depressed, and I trust you, he adores you."
Mason smiled from ear to ear and thought, his boyfriend...? He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Julien was asking him to take care of Lumière in his own home. It was the opportunity he had been waiting for.
"Of course, I can take care of him," Mason replied.
Then, Julien gave Mason all the instructions and handed him the spare keys to the apartment.
November 28, 8:00 PM. Mason was completely alone in Julien's apartment. There was so much to do that he didn't even know where to start!