Did the Math

Alvin did the math. There was no way he was going to be able to afford retirement at this rate. He needed more time to earn more, and a new technology seemed to offer a solution -- he could simply buy a younger body to swap into. A thirty year old body would be expensive, but it would buy him decades of more time in the workforce -- enough to recoup the loss from purchasing the new body and save for retirement after that.

Of course, he tried to keep the cost of his new body as low as possible. The budget wouldn’t allow for specific selections beyond age. The head and face were extra, so he opted to keep his own.

In hindsight, he probably should’ve spent a little more for additional specifics as he was quite unhappy with the results of his purchase with the plump, feminine body he now possessed below the neck. He couldn’t even afford to try again, at least not yet. He’d be paying off this body for about ten years, then he could give it another go.

Dimensional

“I thought you called me that you had some sort of explanation as to why we swapped bodies,” Ying said with a scared stutter, “Now you’re telling me this is my body!?”

Gerald sighed, “I did the math. Like I said, we didn’t swap bodies all; we got sucked into a different dimension where these bodies have always been our bodies. I am the Gerald of this universe with the Gerald body. It just so happens that body in this universe looks exactly like you. And visa versa. It explains why your clothes still fit. It explains how almost everyone is dressed.”

“But it feels gross. I still want my body, not some pale nerdy white guy body that has my name. I want to be me again.”

“Like I said, you technically are you...just a very different version of you. But the good news is that this changes how I approach the problem, and hopefully it means I’m one step closer to a solution.”

Big Wish

“Maybe it’s like that movie ‘Big.’” Stephanie suggested, “You know, that kid made a wish and became Tom Hanks? Then he just needed to find the Zoltar machine to reverse the wish.”

“Is there one of those machines even on this Boardwalk?” Tom asked, “I didn’t see one. I certainly didn’t make a wish at one. And I would’ve never wished to be a woman.”

Stephanie was oddly silent.

Tom asked, “What did you do?”

“I’m sorry,” Stephanie confessed, “I just don’t have any female friends. I wished I could have at least one. And you were always my best friend, but I didn’t know it would pick you -- and that’s the honest truth. I’m sorry. But it was my wish, so I’m going to fix this, okay?”

Twinsies, Episode 1 (Facebook version)

Avoid It

The first thing Lewis did after the Great Shift was cut his hair short. He told himself there had to be something he could do about being in the body of a woman, and -- quite honestly -- the short hair gave him some confidence back. It also got him thinking.

His new female body was skinny, but it was also quite rectangular. The chest was below average, which he was very thankful for. Maybe he could just bulk it up a little bit by working out. Sure, he’d technically still be a woman, but he didn’t have to act like one or look like one. At least, he could try his best to avoid it.