Sparked

“Do we have to switch back now?” Nico complained from inside Jacob’s body, “I just peed standing up for the first time! It was awesome! And people actually listened to me! Being a guy is sort of fun!”

“I’m worried about this old thing. If we don’t switch back now, we may be stuck,” Jacob replied.

“Okay fine. Do what you need to do.”

Jacob began to turn on the generator outside the barn that powered the body swap machine inside. However, it soon began sparking, so he pulled his hands back.

“It’s not supposed to do that, is it?” Nico asked.

“No. Get me the fire extinguisher from inside. If this things burns down, it’ll take the barn with it...”

They did soon manage to get the fire under control, but the generator was shot. The thing was so old that there would be no parts to replace it. They have to install a modern day battery and hope they could retrofit it into the power supply of the body swap machine. But then there was the issue of the body swapper itself, which Jacob had already been worried about. Could it even hold out long enough for a battery to be installed? Could he and Nico actually end up stuck in each other’s bodies for good?

The Truth (Part 2)

View Part 1 of The Truth.

Erika was shocked to hear about the body swap, and that her husband Kyle was actually an Asian woman named Theresa Wong. Meanwhile, Mrs. Wong was actually Kyle. Though they had swapped bodies long before Erika had even met Kyle -- or who she thought of as Kyle but was actually Mrs. Wong. It was making her head hurt.

And then there was the issue of the medallion, which she guessed was the cause of all this. She had simply found it one day when cleaning, which made her husband think it had gone missing. Apparently, it could resolve this mess.

But that would mean she’d be married to a man she didn’t even know, who had literally just threatened to kill her moments ago. Though given what he had gone through, she couldn’t totally blame him for being so crazy. Plus, she wasn’t exactly feeling too fond of the man she had married -- he had been lying about who he really was the entire time; even down to the fact that he wasn’t a man at all!

None of these felt like great solutions to her, but she knew she was the one who was ultimately going to decide. After all, she was the only one who knew where the medallion was. After considering the facts, she decided it wasn’t fair that Kyle was stuck in the wrong body. But she’d be expecting very fair terms in the divorce, which Kyle immediately agreed to.

BBQ (Part 2)

View Part 1 of BBQ.

It was like a self-fulfilling prophecy, as soon as Dennis said it, there was a thunderous sound in the air and everyone was knocked to their feet. It was just like last year, and once again everyone’s bodies were mixed up.

Travis knew for sure he wasn’t back in his own body. But at least he wasn’t his own mother anymore! He probably could’ve dealt with being a woman, but being old with everything sagging and aching? All that stuff was the worst. His new body did feel familiar, but it didn’t hurt; it was younger, perkier. Things looked up, at least a little bit.

As it turned out, Travis now found himself in his sister Mirah’s body, the one his brother Dennis had just been in moments ago. People always said she looked a lot like their mom, and Travis was amazed by how much they felt the same from the inside perspective. Still, being 21 years old was certainly an improvment over being 50!

Cutting the Losses (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Cutting the Losses.

Zach knew there wasn’t much hope of earning back the money he needed, let alone an extra 30% on top of that. And while he would miss his body, he could at least leave with the same amount of money he came here with.

For the next few days, he could just enjoy a Vegas vacation while trying to avoid any more gambling.

He supposed he’d learn to live with his new body; he’d have to adjust to being a woman. Of course, a lingering question remained in his head as he thought about what exactly this woman was planning with his body. A question that was answered about a month later when he was arrested at home and deported overseas.

It's a Deal

“I can’t believe you’re suggesting we stay like this!?” Kimmi exclaimed, “This has been the worst week of my life! I’ve been trying to dress like you and act like you, but it’s tough! You’re friends are all really suspicious, and I just don’t know how much longer I can keep it up.”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Malik replied, “If we accept that we aren’t going to swap back, we can drop the act. I don’t think anyone is buying me as this prissy Asian prep either.”

“No. No way! You’ll ruin my life! Ruin it!”

“But unless you have any ideas about how to get back to normal, it’s not your life anymore...it’s mine.” Malik sighed, “Look, I don’t like it either. But we have no freeking clue how we could’ve even possibly swapped bodies in the first place. We don’t have any hope of getting back. Shouldn’t we at least be able to feel comfortable?”

“I won’t be comfortable if I see my body running around dressed with your fashion sense. Do you want to see your body wearing a skirt?”

“What about a compromise? We relax the rules a bit. Instead of trying to completely act like each other, we get some freedom to act how we want...with permission from the other person. But not too restrictive.”

“And try not to go too far out there. You’re still me, so you still got to dress like a woman.”

“All the time?”

“Yes, but I promise to be looser about what that means.”

“Fine. It’s a deal.”

Pscyhe!

Anthony was thankful that after a 12 hour period that seemed to last forever, he’d be swapping back with Anja. She dangled the medallion as Anthony approached on the beach, but instead of touching him with it, she pulled it away while screaming, “PSYCHE!”

Then she tossed it into the waves. Anthony rushed after it. He didn’t want to be stuck in Anja’s body; he needed to get that medallion back!

It couldn’t have gone far. The waves weren’t that strong, and the medallion was heavy enough that it just sink where it fell. Anthony reached around the area but couldn’t find it. He thought it might have sunk into the sand, so he tried digging as the waves crashed upon him. But it was a losing battle. The sand was too loose. The medallion was nowhere to be found, and when he looked back the same was true of Anja with his body.

Entrepreneur

When Warren found the medallion his grandmother had given him could allow him to change into another person simply touching a piece of their clothing to it while wearing it, he quickly decided to turn it into a business opportunity. He’s charge guys on campus $500 to breakup with their girlfriends for them. It was fairly lucrative with full bookings on the weekends. And Warren had to admit that it was fun to swap into a wide variety of different guys’ bodies for a few hours at a time.

And then she showed up.

Warren never specified that the service was just for guys. Sure, he had spread the word about it exclusively through fliers in the men’s locker room. He also had just of assumed men would be more interested. Becky somehow heard about it regardless. She moaned about how she was having trouble breaking up with her boyfriend. She had heard about Warren’s service, and wanted his help. Warren wasn’t about to say no to anyone’s cash.

While Warren had gotten pretty confident with breaking up with girls; dumping Becky’s boyfriend immediately felt different. For starters, he felt a lot more vulnerable as a woman; not able to quite build up the level of confidence he was used to. Next, while he had developed a impersonal misogynistic view after breaking up with woman after woman, it was hard to not see her boyfriend as a human being with feelings. And speaking of feelings, he was certainly not used to how seeing a handsome man made Becky’s body feel! In most cases when breaking up over dinner, he could get it done before the appetizer came out. With Becky’s boyfriend, he nearly finished the main course, and he still hadn’t done the deed. He told himself dessert would be the time. He had never let a client down before, and Becky would not be the first. No matter how awkward this was!

The Purse (Part 1)

While the others around him were grabbing their bodies, screaming, or getting into fights, Peter was taking a much more practical approach to the fact that he was in someone else’s body. He could obviously tell he was a woman without making a public spectacle of himself, and knowing his gender told him very little about who he was.

So he took the purse he was holding and emptied it on the table in front of him. He was sure he could find something in here that would give him a better idea. However, he had to be honest that it was a bit of a mess, filled with a lot of loose change, multiple chargers for her phone, and various makeup products. He had to unzip several items before discovering which one was the wallet. Unfortunately, there was cash in the wallet, but not much else. He needed to keep digging. The contents of this purse seemed endless.

True Heist

Officer Garcia was filling out the paperwork for the man they arrested robbing a store. The scene was quite weird. The robber was the one who called it in, waited peacefully for the officers to arrive, and came along with absolutely no fuss. He clearly wanted to get caught but why?

As she described the whole incident in the report, she started feeling strange. She had no way of knowing that the robber was a body hopper taking possession of her body.

This, of course, was the robber’s true heist. The store was simply a ruse. Whereas the police evidence locker contained millions of dollars of cash and valuables that could be looted. Officer Garcia was certainly a good pick, as she had a key to the locker hanging in her office, which he spied when being brought in. He certainly didn’t expect to be swapping with a female when he came up with this plan, but he didn’t really object to it either...

Should've Picked Ken

I couldn’t believe my roommate Ken found the old gaming system in the trash. I don’t think either of us played since we were kids. I don’t know how Ken got the thing hooked up to our TV, but once he did, the entire room felt like it was in a grainy haze. He selected his character, Chun Li -- I joked that he should pick Ken, but he brushed it off. I picked Blanka and then went to go get a beer from the kitchen as it loaded.

I was shocked when I returned to see Ken sitting on the floor looking exactly like Chun Li.

“Think you can keep up with me?” Ken asked as he offered me the other remote.

I took a step back, making sure the wire wouldn’t reach me. That thing had turned him into Chun Li, I sure wasn’t going to let it turn me into Blanka!

“Come on!” Ken asked again, “Want to see my kung-fu? I’ll show you!”

My only thought was to unplug the whole thing. Once I did, the grainy haze faded. However, Ken was still sitting there in Chun Li’s body. But as he mind escaped from the haze as well, he immediately started freaking out about that.

It's My First Day

It was Joshua’s first day in the office. He was filling out the required tax forms and was told to make a copy of his ID. He placed his driver’s license down on the glass of the photocopier and pressed the start button. The paper it spat out had an image of a woman on it. He picked it up to look at it, noticing the long nails of his hand. Glancing at his reflection in the nearby glass, he could see his body had changed -- becoming the woman printed on the paper.

Convinced he was having some of nervous panic attack on his first day, he pressed the start button a few more times. Each time he did so, a different woman’s image was printed on each page, and each time his own body transformed to match.

“You need to stop using the office copier for your personal use, Shawntel,” He heard a man’s voice say to him, “I won’t tell on you, but you gotta grab your copies and go back to your desk.”

Joshua nervously picked up the pages that he had copies. He wanted to ask “Who’s Shawntel?” But it was obvious he was. He looked through the pages as well. Instead of being all different women, they now all matched the face he currently had.

The man who had scolded him about the use of the copier picked up the ID off the glass and gave it to Joshua as well. Sure enough, it was actually an ID for Shawntel. Joshua wanted to warn the man about the machine, but he was in such shock, he didn’t have time. But when the man pressed start and tried to copy, nothing happened. “I think you may have jammed it,” The man told Joshua, “We’ll have to call IT...”

Made Up

Leo knew that when he swapped bodies with his wife, Mei, it wouldn’t be easy. She was an executive at a high end fashion company, and he knew it was a stressful gig. To top it all off, it was the middle of Fashion Week, which meant a lot of late nights. The one thing he had hoped was that he’d be able to skip out on doing makeup.

However, people kept commenting on his lack of makeup, and he felt like it was something he needed if he hoped to keep this body swap a secret. It was a bad idea.

Leo was absolutely terrible at putting on makeup. He looked like a clown. He hid his face until he came across a makeup artist and begged for help. He confessed the whole body swap and his attempt to hide it. He asked that she not tell anyone, and the makeup artist agreed as she quickly went to work to help Leo out...

Dimensional

The orb arrived on David’s doorstep with few instructions, just a note saying it could transport people through multiple dimensions. He was skeptical at first, but the thing seemed to be glowing with no power source and no way to open it to reveal any contents inside.

With a thought, the glowing orb changed colors, and David began to notice small differences. The color his house went from blue to brown; the cars now drove on the opposite site of the street. He picked up the orb and things slightly changed again. This time his nieghborhood seemed to revert to a 1950s style. Each time he placed the orb down and picked it back up, it would change color and, it seemed, he would be teleported to a new dimension instantly. Most of the time, the changes were pretty subtle.

He soon realized that he had no good way to tell when he was back in his own dimension; he would just have to settle for close enough. But he figured it couldn’t hurt to do some exploring around all these slightly different dimensions either. He went downtown to explore some of the changes. It seemed his small town in this dimension was quite a big city. Missing that quaint quiet charm, he reach into his pocket to pull the orb out. It glowed yellow this time and began steaming. Unlike the other times he had used it, this time his body changed. He hadn’t considered that only his consciousness had been traveling to various dimensions up until this point, and in this particular world, he had been born a woman.

Not wanting to deal with that, he placed the orb back in his pocket and brought it out again. However, it stayed yellow and was still steaming. Nothing changed around him. And worst of all, he was still a woman. Was it malfunctioning? The the steam mean it was overheated? Was he going to be stuck like this? Was he going to be trapped in a whole different dimension?

Different Version of Himself

Irving stumbled as he walked out of the chamber. It wasn’t the first time he had been a woman, but it had been a while. He wasn’t sure if most of his selves in parallel universes were also male or if it was just that mostly males ones were the ones that had bothered to build chambers of their own.

The chamber was designed on a principal of chaos theory and infinite possibility. Once he built it, there had to be a chance some version of him in another dimension also had built it. And in some dimensions, one of those versions of him would step in at the exact same time. Then their consciousness would swap, and he’d be in the body of that version of himself in the other dimension.

Being a different gender was common, as was a different race, a different age, or even a different evolutionary ancestor in the animal kingdom. Each time the chamber needed to recharge, which was different in each dimension. According to the readout, it seems he’d be in this version of himself for at least three days.

Was there ever a chance to return to his own universe? Perhaps, but it was a long shot. In the meantime, he’d enjoy being all the different versions of himself.

Too Many Fingers

Waking up in the body of a woman was quite a shock for Orion. He had to adapt to a new body and new sensations, but something was off -- and it wasn’t just due to what he was feeling because of his new gender.

He was studying his hand when he finally figured it out. There was an extra finger. This whole thing had to be some sort of simulation generated by artificial intelligence -- AI never gets the fingers right!

However, just knowing that didn’t help Orion escape in any way. The AI was clearly big enough to create a large bubble of artificial reality around him at all times. And even if he wasn’t really a woman, as long as he was trapped in here, he would feel like one and experience everything a woman would. So the question was: How would he get out?

Cutting the Losses (Part 1)

Zach saw the next card in the dealer’s hand, the King of Hearts. He was going to have 16. Hitting would likely be a bust; standing and the dealer was almost sure to win. It would be a setback for sure, and he was starting to wonder if he should just cut his losses. His losses were, however, quite significant.

He had gambled most of his money away fairly quickly, only to find a way to quickly get it all back. A shop on th side of town where you could literally “sell your body.” Zach’s was purchased by a chubby Asian touris for a substantial sum. He didn’t know her exact plan for it, but it clearly had something to do with a citizenship scheme.

His one hope to get it back were through local pawn laws, which allowed him to buy his body back for what he was paid along with an extra 30%.

If he walked away from the table now, he’d have the same money he had when walking in. And the only loss he’d have to accept would be his body. Or he could keep playing, but he might end up even further in the hole.

Hooked Up

I turned around to look when I heard my mom snore in the seat behind me on the bus. Okay, so technically, it wasn’t my mom. It was my roommate Nick inside my mom’s body. She had come to my college for a surprise visit and Nick let her in to wait for me. She started cleaning my side of the room when she found this magic totem I had bought.

The guy who sold it to me promised it would allow me to hook up with any women I wanted; I just hadn’t decided who I was going to use it on. It was probably best I didn’t after the damned thing ended up causing a body swap between Nick and my mom. We all tried to figure out how to use it again, but it wasn’t working a second time.

So we had to go find the strange old man who sold me the damned thing. The bus was about a two hour ride there. I was happy when Nick fell sleep. It was weird seeing him make my mom’s body move and act like a nineteen year old wannabe frat boy. It was only slightly less weird to have Nick’s body be acting like my 50 year old mom.

When we arrived, the old man’s antique shop seemed more dilapidated than ever, and he immediately recognize me. I explain what happened, and he nodded.

“Yeah, the totem hooked up their minds. They’re linked now!” He explained.

“They’re each other’s bodies!” I protested, “You have to reverse it!”

“UNLINK two minds?” He sounded shocked, “What do you think I am? Some sort of magician? I’m sorry, but it’s simply impossible!”

Get to the Con

Bill had scraped together his cash for a ticket to this year’s ComicCon. He had it all planned out pretty well. He’d take the Chinatown bus from his college and stay with his parents for the weekend to save by not spending anything on a hotel (they didn’t live too far). It was the perfect plan.

The only things he didn’t count on was his annoying sister Allison being home from her college on the same weekend -- and his father using them both to test his new invention that ended up swapping their bodies.

When Bill mentioned that he planned to still go to ComicCon, Allison was agast. There was no way she wanted her body to be seen at a nerd convention. Bill sighed. This was one of the reasons that she annoyed him; she was always belittling and dismissing his interests. He told her she wouldn’t need to worry. He would be cosplaying, and no one would see her face. He just needed to use their mom’s sewing machine to make some modifcations to his costume. Of course, Allison made fun of the fact that Bill knew how to sew as well.

The next, Allison had to admit she was impressed. Not only was she sure no one would recognize her body as Bill ran around ComicCon, but his outfit showcased how much her time at the gym was really paying off. She sort of recognized the character from one of those recent movies Bill liked to watch.

For Bill, it was weird walking through the convention halls as Lady Deadpool all day. More than a few guys tried to give him their numbers. But, whatever, he was just glad he was there.

Doors (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Doors.

Fred picked a door and began to open it. He thought he could outsmart whatever trick this was by opening it with just the smallest crack to peek inside. He didn’t anticipate the overwhelming sense of a void that came through the crack. There was no escaping it.

He wasn’t Fred anymore. He wasn’t even the woman he had been in the hallway. He was Sheyu now. Sheyu was elegant and graceful; she was perhaps one of the best dancers in the world. Yet she refused to dance because she did not enjoy dancing. Food was brought though the door each day, but she did not ever eat it. She did not care to eat it; she grew thinner but never starved. The door was never locked behind her, but she could not bring herself to go back around and enter the hallway. She did not even turn around to look, staring instead at the blank wall in front of her. There was nothing there to see, there was nothing she imagined there, and there was nothing she cared to imagine. Time passed, but she never aged. The room slowly became smaller as the eons passed. She did not wish to leave, but she did not care if she stayed either. And as the room grew smaller, she was pushed back out into the hallway.

The voice instructed her to pick another door. Sheyu had no desire to pick another door, but also considered it pointless to refuse. As she put her hand on the handle of one door, Sheyu felt a sense of Fred (the man she once was) before she quickly moved to open a different door instead.

No Hope (Part 2)

View Part 1 of No Hope.

Over the next few days, our transformations progressed. The virus had soon changed both Michael and I into women. There was no trace of the virus left in either of our systems, and both of us now had fully functional female parts. But our work continued.

Michael seemed to embrace it well enough. I noticed he was wearing makeup and painting his nails. He also seemed....happier.

“How’s things with the girlfriend?” I asked one day.

“Good. Very good.” Michael replied. “She’s pregnant. The doctor’s say it’s a boy.”

“Congratulations! That’s amazing!”

“More so than you think,” Michael started to explain, “The fetus in the womb shows no signs of infection or exposure. At first I thought it was the protection of the womb, but I took some samples from my wife, and...well...”

“A cure? A vaccine?” I asked hesitantly.

“Not exactly. There’s no stopping the spread among any males now, but if we administer what I’ve developed to pregnant women, it should stop the disease in any future generations. My boy will still be a boy. I’m not sure if this will save humanity, but it will at least give it a chance.”

Worked Up

Emily and Derek both wanted to scream when they swapped bodies in the middle of a meeting. They exchange eye contact with knowing glances as they did their best to maintain the other’s professionalism.

It was only after the meeting when they finally were able to talk. Derek snatched the glasses off his former face and put them. He may have had Emily’s body, but he seemed to have maintained his own poor eyesight for some reason. He hopped up and sat on the table.

“We need to figure out how to swap back,” Emily stated.

“First, we need to figure out how to act like each other until we can do that,” Derek reasoned.

“I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”

“But I don’t know the first thing about being a woman!”

“Look at yourself. The way you hopped up at the table; the way you crossed your legs; the way you’re sitting up straight. It’s like you’re acting like me on instinct without any effort.”

Derek tried changing his position. He attempted to slouch and manspread, but quickly found it uncomfortable. He straightened his back and re-crossed his legs. Emily may have been on to something.

“But if we have no idea how this happened,” He continued to think, “Then how are we ever going to reverse it? And if we don’t, are we going to start acting more and more like each other?”

“I don’t know, but we need to start finding answers. Quickly. There’s another meeting in here in five.”

Interned (Part 4)

View Part 1 of Interned.
View Part 2 of Interned.
View Part 3 of Interned.

Reclaiming his rightful reigns as the head of the company wasn’t easy. While he quickly able to prove who he was as well as develop a plan to boost the stock price an save everyone’s job, spinning the story of the turnaround needed some good PR.

The body swaps had already been mostly hidden from the public, so they weren’t about to put that out in the open. However, a story of a genius intern making herself known at just the right time to swoop in and save the company was a story they were sure they could spin. Though James knew why he never came forward, he still couldn’t explain why Sarah -- the intern who he had swapped into -- never did. He was certainly worried the report might bring her out, yet she still never showed up to claim her body or her life.

And though James did drop out of her college to work back at the company full time, he still popped into a party every now and again. He could still see the eyes of every guy in the room gloss over when he tried to talk, but now he knew it was just because they were dumb. Yet now they still hung on his every word, because when he was finished, the first words out of their mouths were “Can I have a job?” Of course, if they couldn’t actually listen and engage, they were the last people he’d ever hire at his company...

Building Character

“Do you want fries with that?” Hugh asked through the drive-thru loudspeaker.

He had taken a summer job before his plans to head off to an elite college in the fall. He didn’t need the money; his family was loaded. His dad just forced him to do it in order to “build character.” The wealthy Hugh struggled at the fast food joint, regularly screwing up orders and goofing around on the job. His co-worker, Destiny, was often furious with him. Unlike Hugh, her family was poor and she needed the money from this job. There was no fancy college waiting for her in the fall, just more hours stuck in this dead end job.

They were both assigned to close on stormy night when they got into a big argument. Just as they were shouting, the lightning struck the building, and Destiny and Hugh ended up swapping bodies.

Adjusting to Hugh’s life was pretty easy for Destiny. She was able to take the job seriously for the next month and half until she went off the fancy college in Hugh’s place.

Meanwhile, Hugh was having a tough time in Destiny’s body. He was miserable living in a small apartment with Destiny’s mom and having to come to work at this fast food joint every day. Worse still was that there was no escape in sight. Having grown up rich, he had never truly appreciated his advantages; he never studied hard to applied himself. Without his families money supporting him, he’d amount to nothing.

Pretty (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Pretty.

Jason had no idea what he was going to do. He had no idea who he even was! He couldn’t find any identification amongst this woman’s belongings, and he also couldn’t imagine wearing much of the clothes in her luggage. It was filled with trendy designer brands that were quite feminine in style.

He sat down on the bed and thought about what he was going to do. Maybe if he found her phone, he could call someone. But he couldn’t find her phone, and hadn’t memorized any of his friends’ numbers in years.

He felt trapped. And it wasnt just about being in this body, it was also about this room. It was like this woman was kept in a state of control. And just as he came to that conclusion, there was a knock on the door. He was quite hesistant to open it.

Unknowing

“Let’s try this again. What’s your name?” Jackson asked.

“Akiko Takahashi,” The woman with a strange helmet on her head replied.

Jackson made a few adjustments to the wires attached to the helmet and asked again, “How about now?”

“Still Akiko. Have you considered the possibility that I really AM Akiko That your body swap device here is a failure? I think it’s pretty obvious I am who I say I am.”

“But she left here in your body saying she was Akiko.”

“Come on. Brian loves to mess with you. He was probably just pretending to be me.”

“Well, what do you remember?”

“I’m a Japanese student who came to this country to study at the university. You, I, and Brian have all been friends these past few years going to school together. I’m not sure what you want to know?”

“Do you remember being my girlfriend?”

“What? No! No way! Ew! Gross!”

“See. The real Akiko would remember. We’ve been keeping it a secret from Brian -- from you -- as to not hurt his feelings or make him feel like a third wheel.”

“Or maybe your device just fried that section of my brain! I mean, there’s no way it could’ve actually worked...and that I’m actually...”

Expectation

“Ew.” Alice said as she approached her own body.

“I thought you got all that out on the phone when we discussing how grossed out you were to be stuck in my body,” Matt said while putting a hand on one hip.

“On the phone earlier I was grossed out by being in your body, but now I’m grossed out about seeing how you’ve dressed up my body.”

“What did you expect? Honestly! I’m not exactly an expert on makeup and women’s fashion here!”

“Ugh, but it’s still super embarrassing that anyone might see me looking like...ugh...that!”

“I don’t think anyone is going to notice. Plenty of women probably dress in a t-shirt and sweatpants.”

“But I don’t! You’re ruining me! The sooner we can get back to our bodies, the better!”

“And do you have any idea how to do that?”

“No...”

The Joys of Science (Part 5)

View Part 1 of The Joys of Science.
View Part 2 of The Joys of Science.
View Part 3 of The Joys of Science.
View Part 4 of The Joys of Science.

When Monday morning rolled around, it seemed almost the entire Senior class had called out sick. Mrs. Graves looked at her first period classroom to see only a single student waiting for the lesson, and she didn’t recognize her.

“Excuse me, Miss,” Mrs. Graves asked, “Who are you?”

“Julia,” The student said, “I used to be Julian, but...uh...something happened. I don’t mind, but I will as that you abide by school policy and not deadname me...ever.”

“Right...uh...Julia...” Mrs. Graves said, fully aware of the school DEI policy.

It wasn’t quite what Julian had planned, but it should work out. With everyone out, he’d spend the day ensuring none of the teachers would reveal his true identity while cementing the idea he belonged in these classes. He’d slip back into the fabric of the school quietly while the chaos ensued when the other students returned over the next few days. He’d still get to revel in his revenge, but it would be in a sort of slow motion compared to what he expected.

Surge

When Leonard saw the wall outlet where his lamp was plugged in was sparking, he thought the smartest thing to do to prevent a fire was to unplug it. Apparently, the woman in the neighboring apartment thought the same thing.

There was a surge and a flash, and as the sparks began to slowly dissipate, the reality of what had just happened began to sink in. The circuit must have linked their brains in some way, transferring electrical signals and essentially swapping his brain into the body of his neighbor.

It felt strange to be Hayley. She was a young blonde woman who tended to wear short skirts. But he was more focused on the science of the situation than his body. It was technically more like this brain got rewired to think it was Leonard as opposed to any sort of actual ‘swap,’ he supposed. It was certainly unheard of, but theoretically possible.

As he contemplated the situation, there was a knock on the door. He had an obvious assumption as to who would on the other side.

Swapping Storm

No one was quite sure when the swapping storms first started. I think we all assume that when they first started, there was such chaos that recorded history got messed up for a time. In fact, the legend of the first swapping storm was that it was so large that it caused nearly everyone in the world to switch bodies with everyone else. People would say the electrical energy in the swapping storms was residual from that event, but no one really knows. You’d think there would still be some percentage of people alive from the earlier events -- you know, like someone who is lucky enough to swap into a younger body every time -- but apparently your brain starts turning to mush after too long, no matter how young your new body is.

The latest storm wasn’t my first -- I’d been in two three before -- but it was my first time swapping into a woman’s body. She was one of those women that wore all sorts of eccentric clothes; I wasn’t sure if I should be going to a party or a circus. And it also seemed I was the middle of Chinatown, or so I thought. As it turned out, this latest swapping storm was truly a rare one that struck two different parts of the globe at the same time. As a result, it was like the entire community swapped bodies. I could still speak English with everyone within a few block radius, but outside of that I couldn’t understand anyone. That being said, it’s not like these things surprised anyone anymore. We all knew what was going on. Everyone has passwords to sort of who they really were, and everyone had adapted to picking up a new body when these things happened. It was only weird for people like me, who now had to figure out the logistics of a new gender for the first time.

Waiting Is the Hardest Part

Waiting was difficult. Evan shifting ackwardly in his seat at the mall food court. The leather pants he was wearing were sticking to the seat. He was nervous and sweating, which didn’t exactly work well with what he was wearing -- though it’s not like he had chosen this outfit. He had just ended up in it, along with this entire body when he randomly swapped bodies with this woman.

They had immediately called each other in a panic and agreed to meet. It had felt like so long ago now, at least over an hour. But then he checked his watch -- well, technically her watch. It had only been fifteen minutes. Still, it meant she was now late. Every minutes being in the wrong body felt...well...wrong!

But even when she showed up...what then? They didn’t know how they swapped; they certainly didn’t have a way to swap back. He’d still be stuck like this. Nothing would be solved.

How Long?

Being a teaching assistant in college for the legendary Dr. Marvin Hamlin was an honor for Julie. As a bonus, she also got to visit his lab to see some of his experiments. There was one device that caught her eye. The lights were on, but it didn’t seem to be plugged in or powered by anything. She asked Dr. Hamlin how it could possibly be functioning.

He seemed genuinely surprised and said that it shouldn’t be. Yet when he walked over to look at it, it was undeniable that Julie was correct. A worried expression fell onto his face before stating flatly, “We should leave.”

But it was too late. The device whirred to life and blinded them both in a flash. It wasn’t a shock to Marvin (though it certainly was to Julie) that they were now in each other’s bodies.

Realizing immediately what had happened and what had caused it, Julie looked at the device through Dr. Hamlin’s glasses, “This needs to be destroyed! It’s dangerous!”

“No, it worked exactly as it was supposed to. It was simply that my calculations assumed the amount needed to power this device could never be achieved, and yet it seemed to simply collect it from the residual energy in this room.”

“But it swapped out bodies! It made me old!”

“And it made me young. Imagining cloning yourself and transferring your consciousness into that youthful body. It could cure disease! It could achieve immortality! And don’t worry! I have no interest in staying your body; I will return it as soon as the device allows.”

“How soon is that?”

“There’s no way to be completely sure. We have no idea how many times the device triggered with no one around. It could recharge in a matter of days...or it could be years.”

The Truth

It was probably the last thing Erika expected to see upon coming home. The middle aged Asian woman was pointing a gun straight at her.

“Where’s your husband?” The Asian woman asked.

“He should be here in just a minute.” A terrified Erika replied.

And sure enough, a man walked in a moment later, and the Asian woman reaimed the gun at him. The man just scoffed, “Are you really going to shoot yourself? I doubt it.”

“No,” The Asian woman sighed before once again pointing the gun at Erika, “But I can shoot her unless you switch us back.”

“What’s she talking about Kyle!?” Erika screamed.

“This is Mrs. Wong. I used to live downstairs from her before we met.”

Erika screamed as she felt the breeze of a warning shot from the Asian woman’s gun zoom passed her head. “Stop the crap,” The Asian woman warned.

“Okay, fine. Fine.” Erika’s husband confessed to Erika, “I’m Mrs. Wong, and that’s Kyle. I stole his body years ago. I never thought he’d track me down.” Then he turned to his former body, “But you have to believe me when I tell you I don’t have a way to swap us back to normal. I lost the medallion years ago.”

“The medallion? That old thing?” Erika asked.

Perceived (Part 1)

Adam was still trying to wrap his head around his first day back to the office after switching bodies with his wife. When the swap first happened over the weekend, they spoke with one of their neighbors -- who still acknowledged Adam as Adam and Grace as Grace, despite the swapped bodies. And it was the same at work...sort of. Everyone still called him Adam; he still had his usual job; it all seemed normal.

However, he did notice that he wasn’t listened to in meetings; people often talked over him. People asked him why he wasn’t wearing a dress or makeup. They told him to smile more. It seemed that even though everyone still knew him as “Adam,” he was also now seen as a woman. Adam did use this on the way home to his advantage, as he was able to flirt his way out of a ticket when a cop pulled him over for speeding.

He wondered how Grace was holding up. She had probably gone to the supermarket today, and she likely wore one of her dresses. He can’t imagine that had gone well for her, and they both had to discuss what their plans were next...

No Hope (Part 1)

Michael and I had been researching the virus extensively for the past year. It didn’t have any affect on women, but it would cause any infected male to change genders. We had both recently tested positive a few weeks ago, and we were both nervously anticiating when the transformation would begin.

Michael was the first to show. It was obviously when he showed up one morning with his chest inflated outward, explaining that he had to borrow one of his girlfriend’s bras before coming into the lab. Then he confess something else.

“We’re trying for a kid,” He said. It seemed to come out of nowhere but he felt like explaining further, “Once I was diagnosed, we started trying. We figured it would be our one and only shot at it. There’s no way humanity suvives this.”

“We could find a cure...or a vaccine!” I tried to offer hope.

“You’ve seen how fast this thing speads and mutates. It’s like six months before every guy is infected. Even if we discovered a vaccine today, we couldn’t manufacture enough in time. As for a cure? Once it’s done, it’s like there’s nothing wrong with your body -- so what’s it even curing? I’m telling you, Man, there’s no hope.”

Why Didn't You Tell Me?

Matt hadn’t been looking where he was going when he ran into the woman on the street. It seemed like something out of a poorly written television show when bumping heads with her caused them to swap bodies. It certainly didn’t make any sense, and yet here they both were, stuck in each other’s bodies.

Matt suggested talking about it over lunch and suggested a Mexican fast food place. The woman in his body shrugged and agreed. Her name was apparently Lara, and she attended classes at the local college. As she described her life, Matt felt like it was all stuff he could easily handle.Though he realized he might have to get used to Lara’s smaller stomach. He had ordered a lot, and there was still so much in front of him. Yet he didn’t feel like eating more and clutched his stomach. From Matt’s body, Lara laughed.

“What?” He asked, “I’m full!”

“No you’re not. I always get explosive diarrhea when I eat Mexican food.” She said while still chuckling.

Matt could still his stomach churning. There were certainly aspects about having someone else’s body that were going to be very unexpected. And now he was going to have to rush to the bathroom, but he wanted answers, “Why didn’t you tell me!?”

“I realized it wasn’t my problem anymore. Besides, this place IS great if you can enjoy it. And it still isn’t going to be as bad as the cramps you should start getting next week...”

Bulba!

It was the first big comic book convention since the Great Shift, and honestly Gene was pretty excited. He did the math, after all. While these sorts of things were fairly male dominated, the Shift should logically produce at least a 35% increase in the number of women in attendance. He could only imagine some of the cosplay he’d see this year. He was espectially excited to see what his friend Oscar would wear. Oscar had shifted into an extremely hot Asan woman.

They agreed to meet up by a particular booth, and Gene was looking all around before calling Oscar directly. He certainly didn’t expect a person wearing a furry Bulbasaur to turn around -- Oscar’s new hot face hiding under the hood.

Oscar could see the disappointment in Gene’s face.

“What did you expect me to come dressed up in a skimpy Chun Li outfit?” Oscar asked, “Or Tifa Lockhart? Or Ada Wong or something? Just because I became a woman as a result of the Shift doesn’t mean I automatically become anyone’s eye candy, you know? Even yours!”

The Old Woman

“Gwiyeomddungi,” The old lady said, “There’s been something off about you these past few months.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Grammy,” Marshall replied from inside the woman’s body. In truth, he was sure he knew exactly what she was talking about. The Great Shift had happened months ago, which is how he had found himself in this woman’s body in the first place. The old woman was with her at the time, and she seemed to have dementia. He wasn’t sure if they were actually related or if the woman had been swapped as well. And -- if she was swapped like he was -- he wasn’t sure if the problems with her memory were due to the body of the old woman or the mind she had before. However, she did seem sure that Marshall was her granddaughter. Whether or not this was actually the old woman’s granddaughter was also in question, but Marshall decided he’d be kind and play along anyway.

In the weeks that followed, he’d visit her at the nursing home several times a week. He’d take her out to do things; today, they were enjoying lunch together when the topic finally came up.

“No, no,” The old woman continued, “There is something different about you. I can’t recall you ever being this kind to me before.”

“Maybe I’m just finally coming to appreciate the time we have left together,” Marshall replied, realizing the statement came from a unknown place of sincerity before adding, “I love you, Grammy.”

“I love you too, Gwiyeomddungi. I just --” She paused.

Marshall realized the old woman lost her thought. It was common with her condition. Instead, the two just exchanged smiles as they continued to eat.

Model Ambition

“Ronaldo? Earth to Ronaldo?” Zarina was trying to get the man’s attention, “You’re going to have to stop staring at yourself in the mirror soon enough to face the world. People are expecting me to go out there.”

“But I’m not staring at myself,” He said flatly. “I’m staring at YOU. I’m moving, yet your body is the one making the movements. It’s so weird.”

“Yeah, I get it. I’ve used the Medallion of Zulu with tons of other people at tons of other times. You’re acting like a n00b. Well, I guess that’s because you are.”

“Has anyone else ever had to do a fashion runway as you?”

“I usually time it better. I didn’t mean for us to swap. I was just out, and we both touched it...”

“And we became each other...But I’m not sure I can be you out there on the runway. You’re always walk with such poise and perfection.”

“It’s a benefit of the medallion. You’ll find my body knows what to do. But you seriously need to get out there.”

Not Recommended

“You’ve been seeing me since the Great Shift,” Dr. Lee explained to Graham, “And I get why. It’s been hard to adjust to suddenly changing genders. You’re not alone here. As a psychologist, I’ve recommended may for gender reassignment surgery to deal with the dysphoria they experienced.”

“Are you recommending surgery?” Graham asked nervously.

“Well, no, let me finish. You are certainly upset about the fact that you are now a woman. However, you are also fully accepting of the fact that you are a woman. You don’t talk about how you feel like a man on the inside, or --”

“But I WAS a man! Less than a year ago!”

“Did you notice how you use the word in the past tense? What do you feel like now? On the inside.”

Graham sighed, “A woman.” He hated that Dr. Lee was right. He may have hated the idea of being a woman, but the idea of going back to being a man just didn’t feel right. For a while, he told himself he was just afraid of the surgery, but he knew it wasn’t that either. He may have hated being a woman because of the Shift, but somehow he still knew he was a woman.

Coma (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Coma.

The months passed, and the physical therapy was painful. My words were clearer. I could grip things and feed myself. I was able to stand and walk. I probably wasn’t at 100% -- I mean, even though I was able to stand and walk, I couldn’t do it for more than a few minutes, and running was still out of the question.

However, I was well enough to be released from the hospital. I sat on the bed waiting for my sister to arrive and pick me up. I wanted to lie down. Even sitting this long was sometimes painful, but I wanted to prove I could do it.

“Are you ready?” She asked.

“I could use some help getting dressed,” I replied, “But otherwise I’m good to go.”

“I’m sorry you couldn’t go to your own home.”

“Sarah visited once. I don’t think she likes seeing me like this.”

Sarah was (and still technically is, I suppose) my wife. Her signature was on the paperwork right beside mine. I don’t think she expected them to transplant my brain into a woman’s body, and it was hard for her to see me like this. She had apparently been around quite frequently initially, and then less so after the transplant. And only once after I woke up. She was nearly in tears the entire time. So when it was time for release, I had called up my sister. As she helped me hook the bra in the back, I found myself thankful for her support. It had been difficult since the accident, and with Sarah not even wanting to talk to me, it was good to have someone...

Nymph

Of all the legends in the world that could’ve turned out to be real, Carl was very surprised to stumble upon a forest nymph. He’d also soon learn that nymphs have three rules.

The first rule is that they should never been by a human. They can take any nature form to prevent this from happening -- trees, water, grass, whatever.

The second rule is that if they are seen by a human, that human must be turned into a nymph. This prevents the secret of their existence from being revealed to the world.

The final rule is that all nymphs are female.

Carl was surprised how much he didn’t miss once after becoming a nymph. Perhaps it was the magic of nature now running through his veins, but being cut off from things like technology didn’t bother him. His missed his family from time-to-time, but even that seemed fleeting. And then, of course, was his manhood. It was upsetting at first, but the realization soon dawned on him that it was replaced by something so much better.

Interned (Part 3)

View Part 1 of Interned.
View Part 2 of Interned.

While filing away some things in a cabinet at the office one day, James overheard a conference call from a nearby office. They were discussing the missing CEO and how the stock was in free fall. Profits were down and layoffs seemed almost inevitable.

James suddenly felt guilty about not coming forward when the swaps happened. He assumed those under him were capable enough to keep things going well enough but apparently not. Was it too late to tell everyone who he really was now?

And there were more questions like if anyone would anyone even believe him after staying quiet for so long? Or even if they did, would anything he said be taken seriously coming out of the mouth of a 21 year old college senior? Perception still mattered in the world of business. However, perhaps he could use the latter as a reason for why he waited so long to come forward. He began to apply his persuasive business skills to this situation. He was sure he could make it work, and he hoped he wasn’t too late to save many people’s jobs...

Aliens!

Chuck screamed as the alien spaceship teleported him down to the center of a remote field before flying off. He had been aboard that ship for the past few hours, being subjected to all sorts of weird experiments. He was among several human participants, and he watched them remove organs like heart and lungs -- and often just as quickly putting them back. When they arrived at Chuck, they looked him up and down and eventually settled on removing him brain.

While the aliens did place all the organs back in people’s bodies, they weren’t exactly knowledgeable as to which parts were interchangeable and which weren’t. When he realized his brain was now in the wrong body, he tried explaining that he wasn’t supposed to be in this body; he wasn’t supposed to be a woman! He could rationalize why they would screw up, but he still wanted his body back! Of course, the aliens had no way to understand any human languages, and so Chuck got more and more angry. The only consequence of this was that the aliens agreed to bring him back to earth first.

He kept screaming even after they were long gone, even though he knew it wouldn’t matter. But in some ways, it just felt good to let his frustration out.

Tunnel (Part 2)

View Part 1 of Tunnel.

Daisy walked away from the pink light in a daze. She had experienced the magical source first hand, and it was overwhelming. It was hard enough to conceive, and it seemed to be harder to remember what the experience was even like. A lot her memories seemed disjointed and fragmented. She vaguely remembered her name being Brian or Brandon or Benjamin or something.

She quickly shrugged it off. Those were guy names; she most certainly wasn’t a guy! She then checked just to make sure she wasn’t. This body wasn’t the type a guy would have, was it? No, it certainly wasn’t; he could remember that at least...No, wait, SHE could remember that. He was a she...or she was a she! Why did she keep wanting to think of herself as a he?

As she worked further, she saw a man. “What was it like, Ben?” The man asked.

Daisy looked behind her. There was no one else here. The man must be talking to her. She looked confused as she responded,”What was what like? Who’s Ben?”

50 More Years

Charles remembered the days before the Great Shift when he used to have to lean over to kiss his wife Linda. Now he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach her lips. Not that he had any complaints about the Shift at all!

When the Shift happened, he and Linda were both in their 70s; they had been married for 50 years. Neither weren’t exactly how sure their new bodies were, but Charles often estimated they would now probably have another 50 years together.

Of course, one of the effects of the Shift was that they were both women now. One day, Linda asked Charles if it bothered him that they were both women now.

“Love is love,” Charles said with a shrug, “Never had a problem with gay people before; not gonna start now that I am one; never voted for the bigots against them either.”

Linda smiled. Her husband rarely talked politics; he just wasn’t the type. She had always thought he was somewhat conservative, so it surprised her -- but that was just Charles being Charles, even after 50 years, he still surprised her. It was one of the many things she had always loved about it -- finding new things to love about him.

Pretty (Part 1)

Jason awoke in ther sterile hotel room to a shock. He immediately rushed to a mirror to see his reflection, and his fears were confirmed.

This wasn’t his own face staring back at him. It was now...someone else. He wasn’t sure who she was. She seemed to be Asian and quite pretty even without makeup. But how was this even possible? How was his suddenly a woman?

For about half an hour, all he could do was keep staring at the reflection in the mirror. It was weird to see someone else’s body mimic his movements perfectly. He wonderd if he was dreaming. If so, it was going on for a long time with not much happening. No, this seemed too mundane for a dream and far too real.

Slime

The puddle was green with a thick, slimy consistency. It wasn’t exactly the grossest thing Rich and Maria encountered on their hike in the wilderness, but it was probably close. Maria had suggested looking for a way around, but Rich was determined to go straight through.

It was like walking through wet glue, but they were both tired and absolutely covered in gunk by the time they got to the other side. As they sat to rest on a fallen log, the slime on their bodies began to feel like it was burning. They tried to use their water to wash it off, but it was too thick and they didn’t have nearly enough water. But despite the pain, they weren’t being hurt...not really.

Within minutes, the burning sensation had stopped, but Rich and Maria’s lives were forever changed. The sludge was some sort of magic that transformed them both -- somehow changing their bodes from one to the other (complete with clothes). Rich now looked like Maria, and Maria now looked like Rich. Rich suggested they could walk back through on their return trip; Maria wasn’t having any of it. Another pass through that stuff might make things even worse...

Great Escape

Harold had gotten into some deep debt with a lot of bad people. For the sake of his research, he knew it was worth it. If his experiment was a success, he’d be able to cheat death -- and given he wasn’t going to be able to repay many of those loans, this was something that was sure to come in handy.

He always knew it was possible that they’d come after him, but he still never saw it coming. Fortunately, his tech was rather passive; it just needed a warm body nearby, and it would automatically trigger by slipping his consciousness into that other body.

As his brain started to take hold in his new form, Harold guessed he’d end up in the body of the coroner or maybe a police officer. And while he was certainly in a coroner’s office, there was no way he was in the body of the coroner! Sure, it was possible this hot woman had that job, but she just wasn’t dressed for the part. They wore medical scrubs, and this woman wearing high heels and tight leather pants. He guessed she wasn’t an officer either.

But just what was she doing in here? He also wondered why his device hadn’t activated earlier. One thing was for sure, he was glad to escape from his debt...

Confrontation

“You’re totally ruining my image, ya know?” Gene recognized the voice behind him. It was his voice -- or at least it used to be.

He tried to ignore it and just keep walking, but the voice continued, “You could try a skirt once and a while. Or maybe some heels? At least ditch the glasses and use my contacts! Your know you have absolutely ruined my reputation!”

Gene finally stopped and turned to see Anh standing there with his former body. She was wearing a pink croptop and plaid pants. It had been about a month since the studious Gene had swapped with the once popular Anh.

“You ruined mine too!” He snapped back.

“What reputation? You were a dork who no one cared about; at least people notice your body now!”

“You’ve made all my former friend think I’m gay!”

“If they’re so concerned with your sexuality, then maybe it’s better you’re no longer friends with those homophobes.”

He supposed she did have a point. If she had just left it at that, he probably would’ve felt completely ashamed, but she kept going.

“Do you think my old friends even want to come within 100 feet of your dorky body?” She added, “But I’m sure they’d think you turned me into a nerdy lesbian or something too!”

And with that, Anh lost her moral high ground, and Gene started to walk away again as she just kept shouting more at him.

Forgot Your Robe

“Jim! Jim!” It was his wife’s voice, or rather, what his wife’s voice will be for the next two weeks. He turned to look, hunched over with a lack of confidence, not quite befitting the gorgeous body he’d be stuck in for the same amount of time.

“You forgot your robe,” She said trying to hand him the white terricloth just as he stepped into the pool.

“I’m not wearing that in the pool. It’ll be too heavy to swim.” Jim reasoned.

“Yes, well, um,” His wife was clearly hesitating before she finally spit out, “You know I don’t like you looking at other women’s bodies.”

Jim sighed, “Whether I like it or not, I’m going to be stuck in this woman’s body for the next two weeks. Looking at it is going to be unavoidable. I’m going to use the bathroom, and shower, and even just getting ready.”

His wife knew he was right. She still wasn’t comfortable with this.