Lots of money is spent each year, with the amount increasing every subsequent year, trying to prevent cyber attacks. Someone living somewhere is trying to get something from someone else. Usually, the cyber attacker is looking for money or means to get lots of money. Obviously, this is illegal and jail time awaits them once caught. However, there are some who want the thrill and challenge of cyber attacking without the fear of being arrested. Enter the most prominent one: Charles Baker, or as the cyber world knows him, AddSwap.

As his name suggests, he swaps addresses in companies databases. Usually, the AI's will catch him within an hour of doing his deed, which is fine with him. Human IT personnel might want to file a complaint, but a "robot" will just fix it and mark it as an "anomaly". AddSwap grins as he sees the jewelry store's AI begins shifting the addresses of their patrons back to normal, almost an hour after AddSwap had randomly moved them around. He doubts anybody got the wrong shipment, as they fixed it so quickly. And, the cheap sample necklace should show up at his girlfriend's in a couple of days. Again, they will not even notice the "free gift" missing from their inventory. Downing the rest of his Red Bull, AddSwap looks for his next conquest.

Hmmm, he thinks, The Flower Depot has more customers than I first thought. He stares at his screen, as his software begins to count up the number of unique names in their "weakly protected" database. This is probably too easy, he wonders, but it is already 2am and he has school to get up for in a few hours. Not that he cares, but he is tired of the lectures he gets about missing school. He can go, catch up on his sleep, and be home to start his next cyber raid. Besides, Christmas break starts after tomorrow. "Well," he says, cracking his back in a big stretch in his bedroom's gaming chair, "www.buy-tfd.com is about to take a ride on the AddSwap train."

Reader's note: the letter 'd' is right next to the letter 's' on the keyboard. Even the best typist can easily give the 's' key a press when they meant 'd'. And with the smooth motion of the keys on a keyboard, you might not notice that you had done it until too late. Autocorrect might help you, but then again, it might not.

"Ladies and gentlemen, this is Spencer Styles with the evening news and this breaking news report." The man with the perfect hair and smile sits comfortably behind the desk that hides most of his perfect suit. The camera takes in his mock concern, as he continues, "The Department of Health has released a statement about opening unknown boxes from A to Z Shipping. If you are not expecting a package, I repeat, do not open it!"

Reader's note: did you know that www.buy-tfs.com is the place to order transformations? They have 3 witches and 2 warlocks on staff that will make a transformation for you and have it sent to your house or apartment by their elf staff. You might be surprised to know how cheap an hour transformation can be. Just remember that it is spelled 'buy-tfs' and not 'buy-tfd'.

"Huh", Blake mumbles to himself, "I don't remember ordering a package. Maybe Eska did?" He opens the box as he walks towards the kitchen. As he gets the top popped open, he says, "Honey, did you..." He does not finish the statement as he feels a strange sensation on his body. He feels his arms hollowing out while becoming incredibly light. His head does the same, as it takes on a concave shape. His legs pull up into his torso and it all flattens out. Within a second, the box falls to the kitchen floor, with a white puffy jacket landing on top of it. Eska's boots make a clunking sound as they round the corner. She squeals, "Ooo, what a perfect jacket! Blake, did you get this for me? An early Christmas?" She picks it up and starts to try it on.

What happened? Blake says to himself. I had a box and wait, what is coming inside me? It feels like a warm...arm? And another? Oh no, I've become...mmm, jacket...warm, soft jacket for Owner...mmm, wear me...

"Love it, babe", Eska shouts as she walks to the garage door, "Gotta run. Love you!" With a new skip in her step, she snuggles into her jacket as it wraps around her perfectly.

"Reports are coming in that people are randomly being transformed into random objects or people. Nondescript A to Z Shipping boxes are showing up at doors, and with it being the holiday season, homeowners are opening them to their great surprise." Spencer turns to face a different camera, "While you may find this funny, I assure you it is not. This latest report says a homeowner became a spoon and had to go through the dishwasher when their roommate found them on the floor by the front door." Spencer noticeably shudders at that thought on camera.

Reader's note: none of the transformations are deadly or harmful, at least not in how they were designed. The website allows you to buy a 1-4 hour transformation of almost anything you can imagine. For added security, the transformation is sent in a regular box, with it being activated at opening. If you ordered it, you know it is coming, so you are not surprised. I'm sure you always check the label before opening it.

Edna Whitehouse does not go to the store anymore since Covid, so she orders everything online. For her, she did not even think to check the box's label. Yes, her address was right, since it came to her, but the name was definitely not hers. When the elderly woman opened the box, she found herself forced onto the ground on all fours. She screams in terror, thinking her heart was finally giving out like the doctors said, only to find herself standing up on four "feet". Four? She looks around and realizes she feels very small and short. Am I wearing a fur coat? She walks slowly to the window to catch a glimpse of herself as a small Yorkshire Terrier. How did I..."woof". She turns around to see her dog Rufus looking at her. Why is his head tilted like that? Oh no, Edna screams to herself, no, no, Rufus! She bolts for the door on her four soft paws, and Rufus gives chase. This new dog is begging for some attention that only Rufus can gladly provide.

"You get it here first, ladies and gentlemen," Spencer says calmly, "Our team has found out that the transformations can be no longer than 4 hours, so there is no need to panic. If you or a loved one has been transformed, you need only wait a few hours. We are on location at East Street. Sierra, can you tell us what is going on there?"

The scene cuts to a small house in an older neighborhood. The reporter is standing on the sidewalk, her ear warmers look useful as a cold wind blows her black jacket. "Yes, Spencer, you can see the scene unfolding behind me, even as we speak. The residents here on East Street are being subjected to the Nutcracker, as it is being performed by wind-up actors and actresses who used to be the Jones family." The camera pans back to show 6 full-sized wind-up dolls performing the Nutcracker. Along with their bright colored outfits, they each have a large golden key sticking out of their back that turns as they move and dance about. Each also has a speaker built in for their voice and signature music. With robot stiff movements, the toy soldier hops to defend the damsel from the rat king. Some of the neighbors have even brought out lawn chairs and blankets. They are sitting in the road, facing the front lawn that is now a stage, as they wrap themselves up with blankets and sip hot chocolate to enjoy the show.

"As you can see here," Sierra continues, "It is complete anarchy as the Jones family carries out their transformation to perfection. Their freedom has been hijacked, resulting in this abhorrent display of captivity. Back to you, Spencer." Sierra's serious words and facial expression come back into view as the music reaches a climax. "Thank you for your report, Sierra," as he turns to face a different camera, "When will the madness end?"

"So glad you are home from work, honey"  -smooch-

"Yes, dear, it is so good to see you, too."  -smooch-

"I've made your favorite dinner of popcorn and ham."

"Yum, you know me so well."

The Barbie doll "walks" into the plastic kitchen along the plastic floor. The Ken doll "follows" her with the same painted smile on his lips. The plastic table has two plastic plates of plastic ham with a plastic popcorn box in the middle. The astronaut Barbie is positioned to sit down in a kitchen chair, while Ken in only swim shorts is positioned the same way to face the silver-suited Barbie.

"You had to open the box didn't you," the "Ken" doll thinks to "Barbie".

"It was your idea to try that sketchy 'tf' website years ago, and now here we are," the "Barbie" doll thinks to "Ken". Neither can hear each other, but they try their best to "scream" at their spouse. While their thoughts may be shooting daggers, their plastic facial expressions are perfection in happiness.

"Oh, I forgot the dinosaur," the little girl says to herself, "Be right back." As she skips out of the room, Ken and Barbie sit stiffly in their plastic seats, enjoying the "meal" that she "cooked" for them. Ken tries to ignore how hot Barbie looks in that space suit, just as Barbie tries to not stare at Ken's sculpted chest.

"This just in," Spencer says while looking down at his paper, "The source of today's transformation pandemic was none other than AddSwap. The cyber attacker that has switched addresses in company databases has done it again. Nothing on this scale has ever been recorded by him or her. The authorities have no leads, as usual, but they are working to find this cyber prankster."

Charles looks at the news on his phone in confusion. Transformations? It was a flower shop that I hacked. Sitting at the kitchen table waiting for dinner that his dad is just about done warming up, he looks up his hacking history and sees what he did wrong. As he sees his simple mistake, his mom walks in the room carrying a box, "I don't remember ordering anything," she mutters absently to the room. He looks up with the realization: he has a cheap sample (that the company would not miss) of whatever website he hacks sent to his mom or dad or his long-distance girlfriend or himself as a gift. He thought his mom might get off his case if she got a flower arrangement just before Christmas. Wait, did she say box?

"MOM, don't open that..."  WHOOSH!