"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked.

"Yeah! It'll be so cool! You'll have the best fursuit around!" My friend Rebecca exclaimed.

"Well, it's only temporary, so I see no harm in it," I replied. I was looking for a fursuit, but they were all way outside my price range. Plus, I wanted something that looked a little more… realistic. This was an economical solution, if not necessarily an ethical one. At least it wasn't permanent.

"Yay!" She exclaimed, grabbing the magic zipper off the shelf. It could turn anyone into anything with a zipper, which probably included fursuits.

"Wait! We have to buy it first."

It ended up being $260, which was about as good a deal as we could have expected for a magic item. Still way, way cheaper than a regular fursuit. It was a price I could actually pay, if barely.

"We could try it out tonight if you want," I suggested. Honestly, I was looking forward to getting it. It was Rebecca's enthusiasm That confused me. She thought furries were weird and had never gone to the cons, even when I invited her.

"Yay! I'll call my parents and make sure I can stay the night."

A short walk and two phone calls later we were nearly to my house. When we arrived nobody was home, as was to be expected. Neither of my parents were usually home until after six, so we had some time.

"Alright. So it says here that all you have to do is imagine the clothing you want, then stick the zipper."

Simple enough. I imagined my fursona, but as a costume with a zipper down the front. She was a black cat with white spots, basically the reverse of a snow leopard. I imagined what she would look like as a costume, two gloves, a top, a bottom, a head, and two stilted feet, all meshing together seamlessly. Then my mind wandered a little. I imagined what it would be like to actually be my fursona. The thought of putting the costume on and literally becoming my fursona sprang into my mind. I shook my head, as appealing as it was, it wasn't possible. The zipper just did clothes, right?

"Alright. I'm ready." I said.

"Then stick it here," Rebecca said excitedly.

I placed the zipper right at the base of her neck. It sank in just a little, then began to move downward.

Rebecca gasped. I gasped. As the zipper moved downwards it revealed nothing but an empty cavity in her chest, leaving behind a widening hole ringed in zipper teeth. From the zipper spread Synthetic black fur, coating her torso and moving down her arms and legs.

"It's working!" Rebecca exclaimed.

I simply watched in mild horror as my friend disintegrated into nothing but clothing. Her body was completely fabric now, and not enough to support her weight. She began to sink to the ground as she watched her arm hollow out with fascination. Then her hand fell off completely, nothing but a paw-shaped glove.

The fur was spreading up her head, making it larger and warping it in stomach-churning ways.

"Are you ok?" I asked, watching the last of her humanity fading away.

"Yeah I'm fimph," She said as her face extended and froze, sealing shut with a playful smile. Her eyes locked in place, staring directly ahead. Her ears shrank back and disappeared, while two new triangular ones poked up out of the top of her head.

By now the rest of her body was nothing but fabric as well.

"Rebecca?"

No response.

She was a costume, through and through. I stood there watching her for a moment then shrugged; I may as well try her on.