Solutioning

Professor Whatley’s jaw dropped. Emily Chen had only been in his body for a few hours, and she was solving equations that had stumped him for years.

“Do you know what this means?” He asked her.

“That we’re one step closer to nuclear power plants? with no toxic waste” She asked looking over her work.

“Well, yes, but it also means that if you solved that equation, you can probably also figure out the problems I was having with the machine that was preventing us from swapping back to our own bodies.”

She looked at it again, then she looked at him. “But I couldn’t solve this yesterday when I was in my own body. And neither could you. And you can’t solve it now.” Emily sighed.

“What’s your point?” He asked, though he already had a good idea what she was implying.

“My brain in your body solved this problem. Think of what else I could solve. If we swap back, that might all be lost.”

She was right. He hated that she was right, but she was right.

Extra Credit (Episode 2)

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Extra Credit

Campus Experiment

Emma was understandably in a panic after she swapped bodies with her professor, Mr. Douglas, during an accident in an experimental lab procedure. After a few hours of looking into the data, he told her they likely wouldn’t be able to swap back for a week.

She asked about her classes. He explained that, as a professor, he’d easily be able to handle them for her. She asked about his classes. He told her he’d take the week off. She asked about her trendy appearance. He explained that he had plenty of experience observing youth trends as a professor, and that he could manage that as well.

She was placated by his answers, but in hindsight, she probably shouldn’t have been. Arriving back on campus after a week, she found Professor Douglas on campus in her body. She was distressed upon seeing him. It wasn’t exactly a trendy look -- at least not for today. Maybe it would have been thirty years ago when he went to college, but now? God, it just felt like he was embarrassing her!

It got worse. He hadn’t made any progress on setting the procedure back up! He was having too much fun being young again. As a result, it was going to at least be another week that they’d be stuck in each other’s bodies. And Emma was starting to think he was enjoying being in her body way too much and that maybe -- just maybe -- he had done this whole thing on purpose...

Bullied

Evan wondered how it was possible he still had a bully? He was 18 years old and a senior in high school, and yet every day he still lived in fear of Chuck Watkins. But he put his genius mind to work and thought he found a solution: a device that could swap the traits of any two people. Evan used it to swap bodies with Esther Lee, a nerdy wallflower of a student who no one ever notice.

As it turned out, Chuck liked to bully her just as much as he liked to bully Evan, except that it also came with a side of revolting innuendo.

Realizing he had nowhere to hie, Evan decided to use the trait swapper on Chuck the next day, switching his personality with the nicest teacher in school, Mrs. Torcado. This proved to be an even bigger mistake.

“Hey, Loser,” Mrs. Torcado said as she approached Evan as he sat down for class, “Where’s your stupid homework?”

“It’s right here,” Evan said pulling it out of his bag and putting it in front of him.”

Mrs. Torcado immediately tore it up, “Aw, I don’t see any goddamn homework. I guess you’re gonna have to stay after school. Say what? Maybe meet me behind th dumpster during lunch and we can work something out, eh? Be prepared to bring your goddamn safety scissors, if you catch my drift, you pillow princess!”

First Semester (Final)

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“Chanellor, deans, professors, faculty, and students, I come to speak to you today about the recent tragedy on campus,” Josh was nervous as he spoke, “The unfortunate death of Eunice Wen has shook the campus. It happened while she was still in my body on the day after my final Swap Class presentation; two days before we were scheduled to return to our own bodies. And so now I am stuck in her body, but that’s not what I’m here to address today.

”The danger I am here to talk about is Swap Class itself. Eunice didn’t give me much instruction about how to be her, but she did teach us all that for the duration of class, we should be embracing who we appeared to be. And let me ask you? Was not Eunice Wen doing that in my body when she got drunk at a party and fell off a roof? I held up an unpleasant mirror up to her life, and she responded by acting like the irresponsible male college freshman she appeared to be. So I am asking you to cancel Swap Class. And I’m not for the fact that I am now stuck in the body of a middle aged woman -- you’ll see a fairly big lawsuit about that. No, I’m asking foe the life of a woman who would still be with us if not for the foolishness of placing us all in the wrong bodies for a few months. End Swap Class. End it now! Thank you.”

First Semester (Part 6)

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“Loneliness, isolation, depression...” Josh spoke in front of the class, stating the themes of his presenation as his introduction. He knew he had a unique experience to tell. The semester had been miserable, and despite showing up to classes everyday, he still felt like an outside and detached from campus life. In the community, he was an older woman, who often had trouble connecting and making friends. He discussed the sudden wane of sexual desire as soon as he found himself in an older body.

And perhaps there was something about being in Ms. Wen’s body, which had years of practice delivering lectures in front of classes, Josh felt so at ease as he as he said every word. He knew it the presentation would be like other student’s in class, because he was in a situation like no other student in class. A few kids even clapped at the end. But the best part was when it was over. Sure, he was still stuck in Ms. Wen’s body for a few more days, but it really felt like Swap Class was truly done.

First Semester (Part 5)

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Josh trudged to another early morning Swap Class and slouched down. He really wished he could skip, and all he could think about was how he was glad this semester was finally almost over. His final presentation was next week, and then he was scheduled to swap back to his own body two days after.

Then he could finally actually start a normal college life! Being trapped in a teacher’s body was the worst! He honestly couldn’t wait. That being said, he was pretty sure he was going to give the best presentation in the class; he certainly had a lot to talk about...

First Semester (Part 4)

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Sleeping in Ms. Wen’s quiet and empty house was difficult that night. It didn’t help that he still felt very awkward in her body. He thought about the words she said to him, and he fretted about how he was expected to dress and act.

It all contributed to him oversleeping, and with Ms. Wen’s warnings about esterday about wearing something appropriate coupled with the fact that putting on women’s clothing was still awkward for him, he knew he was going to be late to class.

For most people, skipping Swap Class wasn’t a big deal -- they often just showed up to give their final presentation at the end -- but most students weren’t in the teeacher’s body. Josh was sure Ms. Wen would notice his absense. He tried to sit down without being noticed, but Ms. Wen called him out.

“Thank you for joinin us, Eunice,” Ms. Wen said to him.

“Wait...what did you just call me?” Josh said reeling at being called by Ms. Wen’s first name.

“We were discussing the meaning of self. Tell me, do you feel like a ‘Josh’ or do you feel like a ‘Eunice?’”

“To be honest, I’m not really sure.” Josh mumbled.

“Well, if you had shown up to class on time, you might actually have had a thoughtful philosophical response instead of a mumble...”

First Semester (Part 3)

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Josh returned to campus and found some friends playing Ultimate Frisbee, and he soon joined in. With just about everyone from the freshman in someone else’s body, no one made a big deal about the fact that he was now Ms. Wen.

That is, until Ms. Wen walked by with Josh’s body.

He actually gave a friendly wave when he saw her, but she responded with a stern look before sighing and saying, “Josh, may I see you over here for a second?”

Josh walked over and asked, “What’s up?”

“Do you understand the point of Swap Class, Josh? The point is not to run around campus as you normally would. The point is to understand the world from someone else’s perspective. Now, with that in mind, do you imagine that I would be running around playing sports on campus while wearing my daughter’s clothes?”

Josh felt a little embarrassed he picked clothes out of the wrong closet. “Your daughter?”

“Don’t worry. She’s around your age and off to college herself. You won’t find yourself in any awkward family situations. But do please go back to my house and change into something you might actually expect a professor at this university would wear, and do your best to act like one as well!”

No Case

Jim always hated giving his clients this type of news, but he stood in front of them and sighed, “Quite honestly, and I hate to break it to you, but you don’t have much of a case against the university.”

“How do we not have a case? We were at the school when it happened. They’re clearly at fault here. I swapped into the body of my own student because of them! I’m a tenured professor trapped in a nineteen year old woman’s body for Christ’s sake!” Professor Howard Powell protested.

“Look, I believe you, I do,” Jim sighed again, “But the courts need evidence. Quite frankly, we can’t come up with any! There’s not even any proof that you two have even swapped bodies at all! We did brain scans on oth your bodies, and Miss Lim doesn’t have any prior scans to match up with, but Howard, you do. The scans still line with your body, not with where you say your mind is.”

“But I know I’m me,” Howard stated again from inside Grace Lim’s body, “And surely the university knows something.”

“If they do, we haven’t been able to uncover any record of it. We literally have nothing to go at them with. If I were in your position, Howard, I would enjoy my new lease on life; take as much advantage as you can being young again. And if I were you, Miss Lim, I’d say you should enjoy the financial security that comes with being a tenured professor. There’s really nothing they can do to fire you; even if you do a terrible job teaching. Enjoy your new lives, appreciate them. Maybe if your lucky; it’ll all just reverse on its own...”

First Semester (Part 2)

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The swap itself was surprisingly uneventful. Each student would show up to the classroom at the given time, pair up with their partner (in Josh’s case, Ms. Wen), then go off to a side room where someone from the engineering team aimed a device at the two of you where they’d zap you. It was instantaneous and painless. If the two bodies were similar, you might not even notice. However, Josh certainly noticed that he was now female and certainly older.

It wasn’t uncommon for the students to help each other adapt to their new bodies, but Ms. Wen was pretty no-nonsense. She simply handed her home address to Josh and left. He stood there somewhat dumbfounded. What was he supposed to do now? He figured he could at least pick a less stuffy outfit, so he decided to head to Ms.

It was a fairly big house now far from campus. Many of the rooms seemed empty, but finding her closet was pretty easy. As he looked through, he settled on something that looked comfortable. If he had gotten any other female body in the swap, he might’ve been excited about changing clothes, but as Ms. Wen, he just wanted to do it as quick as possible.

First Semester (Part 1)

Upon arriving at college as a freshman, Josh had heard rumors about the university’s manditory Swap Class. Some students absolutely freaked out at being in someone else’s body for the semester, but Josh shrugged thinking it wouldn’t be too bad.

Ms. Wen was the teacher, and the first class was mostly a presentation about what was expected of us, and how the swap process worked. A slideshow behind her showed how two students were paired at random, reported in at a certain time, and so on. It was all pretty boring. Ms. Wen also explained that due to there being an odd number of students in class this semester, she would be participating as well. That fact caused many grumbles in the class.

Then all the phones started buzzing as the students got out assignments. Josh checked his. It read, “3PM; Eunice Wen.” He sunk down in his chair; he had gotten the teacher! Realizing he was going to be spending the first semester of his college career as a 50 year old woman didn’t seem like fun; he realized why people groaned earlier.

Yet he didn’t want to fail Swap Class, and so at 3PM, he reported to the room, ready to swap with Ms. Wen.

Help! (Part 2)

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“When I asked for your help, I expected that meant you might be smart enough to help me get back into my own body; I didn’t expect you to swap yourself with Mrs. Lee’s husband!” Ed said.

“Well, you had left me alone in the basement as you went to store to get some more stuff. Then he came home, and I panicked!” Jeremy explained.

“So at least know what chemical compound you used, right? You can make more and swap Mrs. Lee and I back to own own bodies? And you and Mr. Lee, too?”

“Not exactly. So after he and I swapped, I tackled him in my former body. I tied him up and put him in the closet. I tried several times with the same formula, but as you can see -- I’m still stuck as Mr. Lee!”

“So you’re saying that we’re not only stuck in the wrong bodies, but in Mrs. Lee’s basement right now is your body -- one of Mrs. Lee’s students -- tied up and locked in a closet? Damn, Jeremy, I thought you were smart, but you seem to lack even the most basic common sense!”

Help!

Jeremy was always the last in gym class to leave the locker room. He always waited to change because the other guys would make fun of his scrawny body. It was the one class he wished he had with his best friend, Ed. He was just glad graduation was literally weeks away.

As he finished changing alone in the locker room, he was shocked to see one of his teacher, Mrs. Lee standing there. She was easily the most attractive teacher in school.

“M-M-Mrs. Lee,” Jeremy stuttered, “W-what are you doing in the men’s locker room?”

“Because I’m not Mrs. Lee...I’m Ed! Eddie! Your best friend!” The woman standing before Jeremy said, “There was a weird accident in chemistry class. It happened to a few of us. We all decided not to tell anyone, but I guess I could use your help.”

“H-h-help?”

“Yeah, dude, you’re smarter than me. I think if you and I worked on this, we could figure out how to get me back to normal. I don’t want to be stuck like this.”

Jeremy looked Mrs. Lee’s body up and down, suddenly thinking about the possibilities of his best friend having a body like this and being a little dissapointed about getting him out of it, “No, I guess you don’t.”

Learning Lesson

Professor Andrea Burton could never understand why someone like Walker Ericson took her class. The subject of the social justice class was well known, but every now and again a student like Walker would take it for what seemed like the sole purpose of being a troublemaker. Still, she thought he could get through to him, so she asked to speak with him after class out on the quad.

Before she was even able to speak a word, an odd flash shot across campus. The entire college swapped bodies, and Professor Burton was now standing there in Walker’s body looking at herself. Walker was now in her body; he was terrified, but tried not to show it.

Professor Burton decided to abandon her planned talk, and instead mention that the body swap might be a good learning lesson for Walker. As she left, Walker could only stand there in her body, feeling completely dumbfounded. He was decades older AND a woman AND a Black woman at that!

Toughest Professor (Epilogue)

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It got even better over the next few months for Katie (formerly known as Doug) as she and Chris continued their relationship. They got closer until one day Chris finally asked Katie to marry him.

Katie blushed and said yes immediately and asked her what took so long.

Chris admitted that he was unsure if he should be the one asking, or if that would hurt Katie’s ego. Katie laughed, knowing exactly what Chris was talking about. But she explained that she had come to grips with the fact that she was no longer a guy and how much she enjoyed her new found femininity, especially in all aspects with Chris (which she winked to him when she said). Now it was Chris’s turn to blush.

And so the two began to plan their wedding, happy to spend the rest of their lives with each other.

Teaching Is Hard

For the past three days, Connor has been doing his best to adapt to living his wife’s life. Each night, she would go over her lesson plan with his, so he could do her job as a teacher the next day. He thought it would get easier, but, if anything, it was only getting more dificult. The kids were asking more and more questions that he just didn’t know the answer to, and he was sure his wife’s body was going through its monthly cycle. There was also the matter of his own job; he had called in some time off, but he couldn’t keep that up forever. Ultimately, he and his wife both knew they needed to find a way to swap back to normal, but as of right now, they had no idea how they ended up swapping bodies in the first place.

Toughest Professor (Part 4)

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Doug kept thinking back to last night, and it kept putting a smile on his face. He had gone out to a nightclub on the advice of his counselor, and he ended up going home with someone! They talked for a while to explain their incidents. Doug talked about how he had been a college aged guy before the Great Shift put him into the body of Professor Katherine Liu. It seems the man was in a similar situation, having previously been a 30 year old woman, she was going by the name Chris -- incidentally short for her own name and the name of the man she became. Their talk turned to passion, as they became intimate. When Chris shouted Doug’s name, he corrected her. He wanted to be called “Katie.” It seemed right now.

And all of that was going through Doug’s mind now -- or, rather, Katie’s mind. Her counselor had been right. She had to embrace her femininity; the fact that she was now a woman. The fact that she was Katie Liu. When she did that, it all fit into place.

Toughest Professor (Part 3)

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And so reluctantly, Doug went to the mall to pick out an outfit like the one’s he seen girls in his class wear on Friday nights, and he forced himself to wear it before heading to a club.

The loud music bothered him at first in a way that loud music had never bothered him before. He went to the bar to buy his first beer, spitting out the first sip due to how disgusting it tasted. He was ready to call it a failure and go home until a pink drink with an umbrella showed up next to him. The bartender told Doug it was from a man at the end of the bar; Doug didn’t even look to acknowledge.

The pink drink wasn’t bad, and he ended up having several more. This gave him the courage to go on the dance floor. Things didn’t seem nearly as bad now, and he was feeling happy for the first time in forever.

He returned to the bar again and another pink drink was waiting for him. The bartender explained it was from the same man. Doug looked over to see an older man -- scratch that, technically this man was now probably around his age -- who looked like a silver fox. Doug couldn’t believe it, but his body was actually feeling excited, and to a man at that! Doug decided to take the next step and flirt a little. He put on the biggest smile he could and walked over.