Robbed

A few moments ago, Mei had heard noises in her apartment. When she had gone to investigate, something (or someone) had hit her over the head. The next thing she knew, she was looking down at herself. When she placed some laundry under her own head, she noticed the gloved hands she now had -- much larger than her own. She quickly rushed to a mirror to see a man in black looking back. She could only assume the man she was looking at was some sort of robber, and that she had swapped bodies with him after he hit her over the head. That meant he was likely passed out in her body in the other room. She couldn’t call the police; they’d likely just arrest her considering the body she currently had. She couldn’t just leave; trusting the robber alone with her body seemed like a bad idea. She decided to tie him up until he awoke. Maybe he had some answers, maybe he could explain why this happened, and maybe she could force him to swap them back to normal. She didn’t want to be in his body, and she certainly didn’t want him to be in her body either!

The Yoga Class (Part 4)

View The Yoga Class (Part 1) here.
View The Yoga Class (Part 2) here.
View The Yoga Class (Part 3) here.

Over the next few weeks, Keysha assumed Ming’s life. Ming tried to fight for it back, to explain who she really was. However, because of the brief period where the class had agreed to be who they appeared to be, it became impossible to convince everyone of the truth after the fact. Keysha loved being Ming; she loved being beautiful and skinny. She enjoyed going to the gym and being able to do effortlessly do things.

She switched into a different outdoor yoga class, but one day after a year, a new participant joined. It was Ming. Ming looked at her former body with disgust.

“How could you?” Ming asked, “The Great Shift took my body from me and gave it to you by chance. But you took everything from me by choice -- my life, my husband, everything! Why? Is being me really what it takes to make you feel better about yourself? I’ve started dating again after your husband wen missing during the Shift. You probably don’t even know he went missing, did you? You’re just happy that you took mine. I know your body may not exactly be the most conventionally attractive, but I’m feeling good about it now. I continue the workout stuff not to make your body look better, but because I enjoy it. Doing these things simply makes me feel better! I can find my own happiness no matter what body I am in. But you are just a b*tch who needs to take it from other people. I’d watch your back if I was still you.”

Leading Edge (Part 1)

David had always been a bit enamoured with the idea of a festival dedicated to self-expression, and even though he knew it had recently felt taken over by tech bros and Wall Street types, he had to believe the original spirit was still there.

And so he arrived at the desert with high hopes. It was wild, but even as he tried to lose himself to it all, he still felt like some of the magic was gone. It didn’t help when a woman approached him to tell him about some “weird shit” some tech bro was showing off, and how it was going to be “bigger than the iPhone.” He tried brushing her off, but she was persistent; he finally agreed to come along with her.

He didn’t get to hear what the thing did when the tech bro was already asking for volunteers. The woman grabbed David’s hand and raised it with hers. He walked over and aimed a small device at them both. It sparked; it flashed; it caught fire.

David was about to laugh, but as he put his hand on his hip, he noticed something felt strange. It seems that despite getting destroyed in the process, the device had worked as it was designed; and it swapped David’s body with the woman’s. He was now her, and (looking at the state of the device) it seemed like he would be for quite a while.

VR Malfunction (Part 3)

View Part 1 of VR Malfunction.
View Part 2 of VR Malfunction.

A few months passed, and I began to really began to embrace the fact that I was a beautiful woman. Part of this was likely due to the fact that I had quit my job immediately (I felt like I couldn’t explain what happened to me with a straight face), and I ended up taking up work as a model to pay the bills. The photographers and talent scouts were underandably impressed with the sort of superhuman things I could do.

Marvin also helped with the rent in the early months before the checks starting coming in. He was always a good friend, and his name was on the lease of the apartment we shared, so it made sense. Because of our long friendship and his kindness, we tried dating. Unfortunately, my super strength extended to all the muscles in my body, and I ended up severely injuring him when we got close enough to try sleeping together. While he was in the hospital recovering, I stayed by his side with only short trips to the nearby park for some fresh air. I used it to clear my head; I thought about breaking it off. But we ended up deciding to stay togethr; we just weren’t going to do THAT again any time soon.

A Choice

Eddie had estimated it had been about two weeks since he was locked in this glass cage. He didn’t know for sure; there were no windows to see the sun and no clocks. And who knows how long he had been passed out after all the weird experiments he had been put through -- the latest resulted in him being in the body of a woman. He’d often yell at the people who brought him food or brought him to the various experiments. They never responded.

Except for today.

“Haven’t you done enough?” He shouted, “Let me go!”

The figure looked at him for a moment, “Is that what you really want at this point? The world would never believe you, and we will never be found. Your brain is presently Miss Cortez’s body. You know nothing of her life. It might be fine, or it might be more difficult than you could ever imagine. We will keep you safe here, and ensure your safety when we are done. If you left now, you’d be on your own in a life you are not at all prepared for. Is that what you truly want? Perhaps I should grant your request for freedom, but I might give you one more opportunity to change your mind.”

Eddie took a deep breath before giving his answer...