Patched

After plugging the cord into his neck, Kyle’s eyes glazed over again as he once again went back into the game -- it was much too addictive to be logged out for any significant amount of time or to give any concern about the major bugs in the software and hardware. The most significant of these was that the servers had lost track of the players’ brain uploads, meaning one was likely to log off into a different body than one someone logged in with.

The fact that Kyle had become a woman this time? Well, he didn’t give it a second thought. His actual body was irrelevant inside the game, so what did it matter?

Unfortunately, the next patch didn’t quite work as planned. It shut down the servers, booting everyone out and forcing them into the body of their most recent upload until service could be fixed. And then suddenly Kyle was not only deal with a new body but extreme withdrawal from the game as well.

Magic Cookie

“I have one magical cookie left,” Armand said to Li as he held the item in his hand. “Once I bite into it, I will have my final wish.”

“Then do it and wish us back into our own bodies!” Li begged him.

“I could do that...or I could wish that you believe you have always been me with no memories of being yourself. I might also wish that you like being in my body so much that you begged me to keep us this way. Or maybe when I eat this, I will wish you thought the last cookie had already been consumed. I have quite a few options,” He said as he put the cookie into his mouth.

World War B(ody) SW(ap)

Disguise Self

Elowen had been skeptical in letting Trent join the party. Sure, his skills of lock picking and sleight of hand were useful, but having a trickster rogue around was becoming quite frustrating. Today, it seemed he used his limited magic to swap their bodies, and Elowen was furious.

“It’s not an actual swap,” Trent explained as he leaned up against a wall, “It’s more like we’re just disguised as each other for a bit -- just until a long rest.”

“Then let’s set up camp,” Elowen insisted.

“We just woke up! It’s in the middle of the day! Just relax and enjoy it.”

“It’s a waste of your limited magic that we could use in combat.”

“Then will stay close to the city today. What could possibly go wrong?”

Stop Joking

“Okay, these things are weird.” Jeff said he nervously touched the arm of his wife’s body that he was presently swapped with, “If we take them off, will we switch back to our own bodies?”

“Oh, no. It’ll cause permanent brain damage, and we’ll be stuck like this forever,” Linda replied.

“WHAT!?”

Linda laughed before adding, “I’m kidding! I’m kidding! No, if we take them off, we’ll be fine. We’ll still be swapped, but we’ll be fine. We just have to reactivate them to switch back.”

“Well, let’s do that.”

“Oh, come on, not yet! I want to stay like this for a week.”

“This isn’t funny., Linda Stop joking.”

“I’m serious.”