Ned sat there for about an hour while the old man got on a laptop that he pulled out from under one of the machines started doing, well, something on it.  Ned wasn't exactly overly interested in what.  He had a feeling the less details he knew, the more likely he would actually do this.

He looked up at Melissa and Sarah.  Melissa had calmed down in the sense that she was no longer trying to scream continuously, but instead of that she was now crying.  He honestly wasn't sure which was better or worse.  Sarah, meanwhile, he tried to avoid her gaze.  Her idea of what to do was obviously not what she would have wanted him to do.  However, he was the one that had to live with this, not her.  While he wasn't sure it was the right decision, he wondered if there actually even was a right decision.

He sat there, trying as well not to be too weird with his new body.  It wasn't even really a sexual thing.  It's just this felt so different than being a man.  The clothes felt weird, especially the pantyhose, and not having a dick or testicles and being able to put his legs so close together was something he found a little jarring.  He thought about getting his phone out of his pocket, but he didn't want to touch his body attached to that machine and also doubted that this old man would take too kindly to him getting something that he could use to get help.

Finally, almost mercifully, the old man finally put the laptop away and picked up Sarah's phone.  He put in a code and he unlocked the screen right away, to everyone's surprise.  Sarah was just able to see him from her position.

Ned stood up and walked so he was able to see what the old man was doing.  What he saw surprised him.  He saw the old man looking through her photos.  The old man, after a moment, put the phone down and looked at them all.  It was not the look of power or pride, but one he didn't expect to see.  Regret.

Maybe the old man is a really good actor, Ned thought.  Maybe this is all a manipulation tactic.  But, Ned doubted it.  He already had them against the wall, and people with all the power, Ned had found, rarely miss the chance to flaunt it.

"I should tell you all the plan.  I think you have the right to know.  First, though..."

He hit a button, and then Ned and the old man watched as Sarah's head was taken out of the jar.  Quickly, her head was stitched onto Ned's former body.  Ned watched this, wondering exactly how Sarah was going to react to this situation.  He doubted she'd be happy.  It was then that he thought about what she would do now that she had a body.  He then realized that simply not being happy was likely a very optimist assessment.

Apparently, the old man came to the same conclusion.  Ned heard the pump being worked on the shotgun and heard a shell hit the floor.  He then heard the pump again, and yet another shell.  The old man was unloading it.  He wasn't sure if that was smart, insane, or useful to them.  At this point, what was beneficial to them wasn't exactly clearly defined.

Once the machine finished, Sarah was standing no more than a couple of seconds later.  She looked herself up and down, feeling her lack of breasts and rather brazenly putting a masculine hand down her pants to feel her new package.  She pulled her new hand back out of her pants and looked at the old man, anger in her eyes.

"You may be wondering why I did this."  He said to all of them.  "Simply put, we'll need both of those tables soon enough.  Plus, I could use your help."

"What the fuck makes you think I'll do it?"

The old man sighed and pointed at Melissa's head.  Sarah didn't look back.  Ned figured he knew why.

"I don't want your body, and you don't want his body, and your friend probably doesn't want to be a head in a jar, and he doesn't want her body.  So, why don't we cooperate?  The faster and easier we do this, the best chance all of us have of getting what we want."

Sarah was very, very angry, but Ned saw she wasn't past the point of reason.  Given what he saw on her face, what came next spoke to incredible strength.

"What's the plan?"  She said, walking toward the old man.  As she got to him, she grabbed her phone.  He spoke before he could answer.

"What the hell were you looking at, anyway?"

"Photos of you."  He said.

"Why?"

"Something to remind me why keeping your body is a terrible idea.  I don't expect you to believe that."

Sarah looked at Ned.  Ned looked back.

"He was actually looking at photos of you."  Ned had to admit.  "He's telling you the truth."

"Okay, anyway.  The plan.  Now."  She said.

"Three people were responsible for my situation.  A Barry Nelson and Sophia and Vincent Knox.  The last two are married, in case you were wondering.  I have a plan for all three of them and secure a new body for myself."

"Who are they?"  Ned asked.

"Executives at TRA.  They do a lot of high tech research.  It once was a very respectable company.  Now, it's very profitable for his executives, no matter the cost., and I don't mean dollars and cents when I say that."

"So you got screwed by a company."  Sarah said.  "All this for that?"

"You didn't hear me mention my cancer?"

"Come on, you're a hundred.  You can't put that on them."

"I can point to the accident that directly caused it, one that the safety equipment just happened to all malfunction on.  I wasn't the only one that was affected.  Just the only one that is still alive.  I checked."

At that Sarah stopped.

"This isn't just about you, is it?"  She asked.

"No."  He said, anger in his voice.

"You know, why don't we keep to the particulars of this."  She said.  Ned noticed her anger was not gone, but he saw something else there as well.  He wasn't sure if he should be relieved or worried.

"So," the old man said.  "Barry likes to party.  My original idea was to lure him down here with help and give him my body, but that obviously isn't the plan now.  I still want him lured down here, if for no other reason than I don't want him to warn the other two."

"What was your original plan with luring him?"  Sarah asked.

"He likes to party, as I said.  Drugs, booze, women.  He especially likes places where he can get caught.  He didn't know where I lived, so I was going to pay a woman to bring him here and pretend it was her home and her husband was just upstairs.  Now that my house has obviously been cleared of furniture, I don't think that will work."

"But..." he said, with a smile forming on his face as he looked at Ned.  "I think I have an idea that will work."

Ned did not like the look on the man's face.  Not one bit.

Ned soon was in bar in the more upscale part of their city, realizing just how out of place he looked.  Or, at least, how he thought he looked.  People have to notice this right away, he thought.  They just have to.  No way that anyone can't see right through this.

Thing was, Ned didn't quite  realize that with his softer features, it wasn't exactly much of a stretch for people to see him as a woman, especially after Sarah had made his hair look a bit more feminine and gave him a small amount of make-up, which he soon found out.

Still, that didn't really change his perception of it, despite people paying little notice to him.

He ordered a drink and gulped it down.  He wasn't a drinker and he really should have all his wits about him, but the man would be looking for someone who was a bit tipsy.  Someone who he could take advantage of.  Ned shivered a little at that.  This was going to get worse before it got better, he knew.

Luckily, he was aware that he wouldn't have to drive.  This guy, apparently, liked using rideshares.  Odd that an executive with as much money as he had would do that, but he didn't question it.  It worked to his advantage, or the old man's advantage.

Damn, Ned thought.  Here I am in an upscale bar, my head attached to the body of my realtor.  I have make-up on my face, tits on my chest, and I'm in heels and a skirt suit.  Hit it, he thought with a wry smile.  He needed something to amuse himself while he painted a target on himself.

He did see that the guy in question was already inside, but he had been told he wouldn't make his move right away.  Ned ordered a second drink, something he guessed a woman would order in this situation.  He ordered a Sex on the Beach was surprised that he liked it.  He was also surprised at just how much alcohol was in one of those things.  He was lucky in one regard that being a lightweight as a man prepared him for dealing with this.  He found he was getting tipsy quickly, but no so quickly that he was losing his wits.

About fifteen minutes later, he had finished his drink and ordered a third, and, as he was taking a sip of it, his eyes and that of Barry met.

Actually, Ned thought, Barry was a bit unexpected.  He was younger that he would have guessed, with handsome features and in good shape.  He smiled at Barry and took another sip, but not before giving his straw a subtle lick at the top of it.

It worked, he saw.  Good.  He wanted this over with.

Barry walked over and ordered a straight scotch.  He sipped it and then stood, trying to give off a look of strength.  Ned was unimpressed, but he tried to fake it.  It seemed to work.

"Hello."  Ned said, trying to give a shy-ish but sexy smile.  He realized that it probably didn't come off right, but also had more than enough wits to realize that might work to his advantage.

"Hello."  Barry said.  "You look like you could use some company."

Not a great line, Ned thought, but whatever.

"Oh, I think so."  Ned said.  "Definitely one as attractive as you."

"You're pretty good-looking yourself."  He said.  "My name's Drew."

"Naomi."  Ned said.  "I know it's cliche, but come here often?"

"A little."  Barry laughed.  "When I have time.  Not as often as you'd think.  Being an executive means I spend far more time at the office than I'd like."

"Oh, an executive, huh?"  Ned asked, feigning interest.  "Where at?"

"Oh, one of the big tech companies downtown.  By the way, it looks like you just came from work."

"Oh, yes!"  Ned said, trying to play up being as feminine as possible.  "It's not as glamourous as tech, but I guess I spend a lot less time in the office because of it.  I'm a realtor.  I was getting a house ready to show tomorrow morning.  Nice place."

"Pretty late for doing that."  Barry said.

"I wanted it to be ready.  It's funny, everything is taken out of the house, but bedroom suite.  The movers are going to get that tomorrow right before I show it."

Ned's eyes met Barry's as he took another sip and crossed his legs, putting a feminine hand on his nylon-covered knee.

"So, are the owners still there?"

"I wouldn't be able to do this if they were!"  Ned laughed, smiling a little drunkenly.  "Nope.  In fact, maybe I should go back tonight.  I think I want to see what all I need to do before they show up in the morning.  Peace of mind, you know."

"Well, a woman shouldn't be out at an empty place so late."  Barry said.

"Oh?"  Ned said.

"Why don't I accompany you?"  He asked.

Ned smiled.  "I thought you'd never ask."

Ned and Barry walked to the door and Ned, while certainly not sober, did play up being a bit more drunk than he actually was.  The fact that he wasn't used to heels didn't exactly hurt his performance in that regard.

Once the door was closed, Ned walked like he wanted to show Barry the place.  Barry obviously had other ideas.

Ned was no more than a few steps away when he realized Barry was close behind him.  He then felt Barry's hands on him, one hand on his ass, the other reaching around to rub what was Melissa's tit.  Ned gasped at how sensitive it was.  It wasn't a one of pleasure, more surprise.

"Oh, Barry, they'll see us!"  Ned said.

"Oh, then let's give them a show!"  Barry said.  "Or, do you want to take this upstairs?"

"How about downstairs?"  Ned asked as he caught a glimpse of the old man right behind Barry as he turned.  Ned's eyes locked onto Barry's as the old man jabbed the syringe into Barry's neck.  It worked fast enough that Barry had no time to even cry out.

Sarah and the old man were able to get Barry down to the basement and onto one of the tables attached to a machine.  The old man smiled and then pushed a button, then laid down on the other table across the room.  The two machines worked on concert and soon Barry's head was in a jar, trying to yell while the old man's head was now attached to Barry's body.

"Ah, much better."  The old man said.  "Now..."

He pressed another button as he stood up and moved away from the table.  The one machine had extended arms and grabbed both Ned and Sarah.  Both were shocked.  The old man looked at them as them were put down onto the tables and Sarah's headless body was moved by another machine to a third table that had been pulled out from that respective machine.

"Now, I have no further need of any of you."  He hit another button.  Both soon were severed heads and both were expecting the worst.  Ned's head was being put into a jar, but Sarah's was not.  Instead, her head was moved toward her body and soon Sarah was sitting up, feeling her familiar form as she saw Ned's head and Melissa's head get move to their respective bodies.  Soon, everyone was back to their original selves.

"I thought..."  Melissa said, tears in her eyes.

"Sorry, I phrased that very poorly."  The old man said.  "I have everything I need to do this myself.  Make something up about why the house is no longer available.  I'll handle the rest.  Thank you."

None of them said a word, and were very quickly out of that house.  After getting several blocks away, the three of them pulled into a diner to talk.

It was over, they hoped.  After consoling each other, they agreed to never speak of this except to each other.  It never happened.  The next day, Melissa delisted the house, citing a safety issue with the basement and "forgetting" to call the relevant inspectors to clear it.  Soon, it appeared that someone had gotten an inspection because one day Melissa happened to be driving by and saw a moving truck.  Inwardly, she froze.  She wanted to go tell the new owners, but dared not approach the place.

In the end, all three of them drove by the next day.  They parked nearby, but saw no cars, and seeing the door locked when Ned went to the door decided that was about all they could do.  Anything much more and they'd be risking more than they were willing to.  They were just about to leave, all three them in the car, when they saw the garage door start to open.  A black SUV drove into the driveway and parked and the driver's front door opened.  A long, feminine leg appeared, and soon they saw a black heel touch down on the concrete of the garage floor.  Soon a second leg appeared and they could see it was a woman in a short green satin dress, black hose, and black heels.  They watched, thinking about what they'd say to her once she got out fully.

Once the feminine figure was fully out of the car, all three of them realized very quickly they had no need to explain the situation of the house.  Looking back at them and smiling was the head of the old man, a feminine hand shutting the car door as he stood there, gracefully balanced on those heels.  He then took a small remote out of his purse and soon the garage door was closing as he walked into the house.

Melissa had never been out of a neighbor faster in her life.