Knowledge (Part 7)

Click here for Part 1.
Click here for Part 2.
Click here for Part 3.
Click here for Part 4.
Click here for Part 5.
Click here for Part 6.

It was several more weeks before Elisa called to tell Eugene that should had figured it all out and that she could get them back to normal. Eugene invited her back to the mansion, and wore a gorgeous orange dress as he awaited her. She arrived eager to set up the device and swap back, but he stopped her.

“I may not be a genius anymore, but I’m not an idiot,” He told her, “Your husband is dead. I know you didn’t love him; you just wanted his money. That money is now mine. Exchanging riches for my genius back would seem like a fair trade, but I also know you’re cunning. There’s no guarantee for me that you haven’t figure out that swapping device better than I did. Maybe you figured out exactly why we retained certain aspects of the other. You could swap me back to my own body while transferring my genius with you to your own. You’d be smart, beautiful, and rich, and I’d have nothing. That’s too great a risk for me, so I’m afraid I have no choice but to keep things the way they are. You should have no problem using my intelligence to succeed in life.”

Eugene turned to walk away. Elisa was about to protest, but Eugene turned around with a smirk and raised his voice, “Security, please escort my guest out.”