Fix This

Jun didn’t think it was possible that the gorgeous blonde woman heading in his direction was doing so to speak with him, yet she approached without skipping a beat. She pulled out a remote and asked, “Can you fix this?”

“What is it?” Jun asked.

“Right. You don’t remember.” She paused. “You invented it. And it turned me into a woman. I used to be your best friend, Harold.”

“I, uh, don’t know a Harold.”

“Because the remote made you forget me, just like it made you forget the remote. It also made me blonde, a woman, and -- most importantly -- kinda dumb. So, like, I can’t fix it on my own anymore, and I need your help.”

Jun shrugged. He wasn’t sure if this woman was trying to play some sort of prank on him, but he was interested in seeing where this would go...

Flipping

Jerry noticed the remote on the couch. It didn’t seem like the usual one, but it seemed to turn on the television just fine. However, as he tried to flip channels, nothing changed on screen. He tried again -- still nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing -- just nothing Jerry noticed. With each flip of the channel, his body changed into a completely different person. He had become a tall basketball player, a hispanic maid, a gang member, and a lawyer. When he finally stopped flipping and turned off the TV, he was a beautiful woman with long blonde hair. Despite not noticing the change himself, his wife would notice something was wrong immediately when she got home...

The Remote

The remote had caused so much trouble already. It started by changing people’s gender or race, then it swapped people’s bodies. Then things got really weird. There were mythical creates running around outside, multiple people merged into one, and horrors that couldn’t be put into words. Then the mental changes began. Some people thought it had always been like this; others thought things were unusual enough.

Brandon was pretty sure she wasn’t supposed to be Brenda. She was sure the world was all messed up in some way that she just couldn’t place. She knew the remote was responsible, but she also felt like things got worse the more she used it. But she didn’t fully remember all the times she used it; she couldn’t quite recall all the past fixes; it was more of a general sense of dread.

Maybe she wouldn’t fix the world. Maybe should could just fix herself. She could either use it to return to normal: to go back to being Brandon. Or maybe a better use would be to get rid of all the last little bits of Brandon left in her head: to fully embrace being Brenda. Of course, it didn’t matter what he plans or intentions were; the remote had other ideas of its own.

Upgrade

Peter had spent the last several hours stuck as a woman thanks to this weird remote that his girlfriend Natalie had found. It was supposed to be a punishment because she thought he had cheated on her. He was angry about the untrue accusations and what she had done to him.

And when he finally managed to wrestle the remote away from her, his first thought wasn’t to change himself back to normal; he decided to turn Natalie into a man!

“How is this revenge?” Natalie asked, “I’ll get paid more for the work I do. People will actually listen to me. It’s an upgrade as far as I’m concerned...”

Changing Channels

It was the first thing Dennis usually did when arriving in a hotel room on any vacation, he plop on the bed, turn on the televison, and flip through the channels. His wife Carly never understood why. After all, they’ve got TV at home. Yet she still accepted that this was his ritual.

And on their latest trip, as per usual, he got onto the bed and began flipping channels. And while the TV turned on just fine, when he pressed the channel button on the remote, the show on the television stayed the same while everything around him changed around: the hotel, the hotel’s location, even his and Carly’s bodies! He tried flipping it back to the original, but it only seemed to change it more.

“Honey, the remote’s broke!” He shouted as he continued flipping to try to get back to normal.

“We’ll call the front desk,” she shouted from the bathroom When she walked back into the main room, the changes froze, and the buttons on the remote seemed to stop working.

Dennis was horrified. Of all the bodies he could’ve been stuck in -- he was now a woman! And it seems Carly was now his husband!“I...I...but...” He stammered at a loss for words trying to explain what had happened.

“I know your ritual is important to you, Denise,” Charlie said, “But the front desk will take care of it. Let’s just enjoy our time here, go out to dinner, or something...”

Smashed

Ethan first got the remote several years ago. He was amazed at its power. With the device, he could swap any body parts between two people and choose to have them notice it or not. For the first few years, he used it to swap various parts amongst other people. But recently, he had been using it on himself and swapping his entire body. He usually found himself swapping with women out of curiosity. He was sitting on the balcony of his apartment with his latest body when he knocked the remote off. It shattered on the street into a million pieces. He began to cry. He had been curious about being a woman, but he certainly didn’t want to be stuck as one!

Universal Remote

When Alex got the odd remote in the mail, he found it hard to believe the instructions that were included. According to the manual, the remote could swap any aspect of any two people (personality, body, clothes, and so on) with or without their knowledge. It didn’t even seem possible, but Alex still felt curious enough to test it out. He went to the park and saw some guys playing basketball on the court while some women were taking photos of each other’s outfits not far away. He decided to use the remote to swap one of the women with one of the guys, both body and clothes but also make them completely unaware of it.

Alex’s eyes went wide as the two actually swapped places. There was now a guy snapping photos with the rest of the women while one of the women was now on the court. What was most amazing to him was that the guy on the court now with a woman’s body didn’t seem at all affected by it. He was still able to play as well as ever. He was sure the lack of a sports bra might be a problem and it didn’t even seem possible for him to run well in the long, tight skirt. Yet somehow he managed effortlessly. Alex was transfixed for so long that it was a solid hour before he even remembered that the remote was what caused this, and he realized the power to make things a lot more interesting now rested in his hands...

No Reset

Loosely based on this story.

“I still can’t believe we haven’t used that body swapping remote in over three months,” Alex told his two friends, “Especially because when you first swapped us into these bodies, I begged you for days to hit that reset button to get us back to normal.”

“I told you being a woman was fun!” Ryan retorted.

“I don’t think I ever want to go back to my own body and life,” Jake interjected.

Ryan smiled, “Good, because I’ve returned the remote.”

“You did what?” Alex asked. He paused before continuing, “I guess I’m okay with that actually. I mean, I guess there’s no way back to our original bodies, but the more I think about, the more I’m fine with that fact. Being a woman is great!”

Sick

Edward held onto the side of the sink. He was ready to throw up at any second. He supposed it was either a side effect from the body swapping or else Leah just couldn’t handle her liquor. She had been eager to show off a strange remote she had been sent. It had no return address, but the instructions inside said it could swap people’s bodies. It took about a half an hour before they both decided to test it.

Edward had put down two shots of whiskey and they each drank one before Leah zapped them both with the remote. To Edward’s surprise, it worked, and he now found himself in Leah’s body. The transfer felt like it had taken a lot out of him. He stumbled to the bathroom and slumped by the sink.

He had trouble thinking straight, but he couldn’t believe Leah would feel like this after just one drink! However, his own body with Leah inside seemed perfectly fine. If he was going to have to spend time as her, he wished he could at least enjoy it!

Predicament

The little remote had come in his mailbox just two days ago with no return address and no instructions. Zach had taken it out and experimented with it. It didn’t take him long to figure out that the small device could literally do just about anything. He could point it at two people and swap just about anything. It started pretty realistically. He swapped people’s outfits. But he soon discovered the remote was far more powerful when he swapped two people’s heads. It got more outlandish when he found out the parts didn’t need to be the same. It could be an arm for a leg or a head for a butt. As he laughed at all his changes, he failed to notice one big one. He had actually managed to completely swap his own body with that of a woman. While he was laughing at everyone else, he was completely clueless about his own predicament.