"Oh this is hopeless" said Babette suddenly bursting into tears "He loves you. I love him and neither he nor I can be happy with things like this."

"That means you envy me in a way" said Rosa.

"Yes I guess I do" said Babette.

"Well don't cry about it. I have a friend who happens to be Henry's teacher, although he knows nothing of our friendship. Her name is Miss Beetlenelly. She is a brilliant scientist, and she even has access to technology which she claims is made on another world in a different dimension. I don't know whether it really does come from there or not, but I can tell you what she showed me once: the most amazing machine you could ever imagine. Why don't you meet me after school this afternoon, and we'll go and see Miss Beetlenelly? Maybe she can find a solution to your problem."

"I will, and thank you Rosa."

*          *          *          *

At the end of the day Rosa and Babette visited Miss Beetlenelly, who now had a home laboratory of her own. She took them into it and showed them the machine that Rosa had mentioned.

"This is a device that I have been unable to use, because I have no right to force people to undergo what it does" said Miss Beetlenelly, "However it is an amazing piece of technology. Have you ever watched science fiction movies about mind transference?"

"Yes. There was one on in the holidays" said Babette.

"There is one problem with the technique used in the movies. When the transfer occurs, for example Smith and Jones transfer their minds into each others bodies, they swap memories too. So Jones is unable to behave convincingly as Smith when he inhabits Smith's body, and vice versa. In real life, I have experimented only on animals, but I am convinced that only the basic personality and personal memories can be exchanged. Acquired knowledge would remain with the original host body."
"Can you really do that?" asked Babette.

"Yes" said Miss Beetlenelly.

In fact, Miss Beetlenelly had acquired the technology from a former boyfriend of hers, who had used his teleportational abilities to visit another world through the Swain Gardens dimensional gateways. When he had shrunken himself and been eaten by her, she had kept the technology that he had brought back from the parallel world, which was more scientifically advanced than earth A.

"And what do you mean again about the knowledge? I did not really understand that" said Babette.

"I mean that if I used the machine to exchange your mind with Rosa's, Babette, your mind would live in her body and be able to use her adult knowledge to lead a normal adult life. You could then respond to Henry's crush on Rosa and make both of you happy. Rosa would live in your body and lose all of her acquired adult mental development. She would need to go through school all over again, passing herself off as Babette. It would be best for you to remain as friends, so that you can still see your mother on occasional visits to your old house, where Rosa will be living in your body pretending to your mother that she is you."