Trust Machines - Welcome to the Carnival, pt. 2

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Kyle and Keri chatted for a little longer, then Keri stood up.  "Might as well
show you the rest of the house, since you're our guest for a little while.  With
that, she led Kyle into the kitchen.  "If there's something special you like,
let either of us know," Keri said.  "Otherwise, you'll pretty much be on your
own."

Kyle nodded.  "Shared grocery bill?" he asked, and Keri smiled.

"That and utilities.  That's if you don't mind," she added.

"Look, if I'm going to be living here even for a short while, I'm going to
contribute my fair share," Kyle said firmly.  "Besides, it's not as if I'm
broke, I do have my bank account back home to draw from."

"Trust me, that'll be appreciated by both of us."  She went through a door and
into a hallway.  "Master bedroom is at the end of the hall, there's a second
bathroom to the left, and the right is our storage area and computer room.

Kyle peeked in and noticed there was a futon on one wall, and two desks with
laptops sitting on the desktops.  He figured he'd use the futon as his bed while
he was here, but Keri's next words shattered that.

"Don't even think about sleeping by yourself," she said in a mock growl.
"Whether you like it or not, you're going to be sleeping in here with us."  With
that, she opened the door to the master bedroom, and Kyle realized why.

The centerpiece of the room was the king-sized bed that took up close to half
the space.  It had what looked like satin sheets on top of the mattress, a
wooden frame that supported a lace canopy, and some sheer drapes in front and
along the sides.  There was other furniture as well in the room, a night stand, a
cabinet and a door that led to a walk-in closet.

Kyle looked at the bed again, and blinked.  Laying there was a brown-colored
vibrator, and Keri sighed softly.

"Oh, damn, I forgot I left her there."  Before she could reach for it, the
vibrator seemed to suddenly transform, becoming a dark-skinned female who was
barely clothed.

"Oh, wow," she said, "that was trippy.  Has it been a day already?"

Keri sighed, and Kyle noticed the second pair of breasts had disappeared from
her.  "Time flies when you're having fun.  Tasha, this is Kyle."

Tasha grinned and bounced out of the bed, wrapping her arms and legs around him
and planting a deep kiss on his lips.  "Mmmm, hi there, handsome.  So you're
going to stay with us a while?"

Kyle tried to get his voice working after the kiss, peeling Tasha off of him.
"Uhhhh... yeah, that's the idea," he said finally.  "You're going to have to
excuse me, but... this is rather a shock for me."

Tasha tilted her head in puzzlement, then looked over at Keri.  "Shock?"

"It's a long story," Keri replied.  "Basically, he's from one of the few areas
that still hasn't experienced a Venn Machine."

"Oh."  Tasha looked back at Kyle, who was looking rather sheepish.  "Well, we're
going to have to fix that, especially if we're going to EDC."

"Can we back up a bit here?" Kyle asked.  At the nods from both Keri and Tasha,
Kyle took a deep breath.  "Tasha, you were... a vibrator?"

"Yeah, I was."  She grinned at his reaction.  "Actually it was a lot of fun,
especially when Keri was busy..."

"All right, that's enough."  Keri's blush spoke volumes, and Tasha didn't show
any remorse over mentioning it.  Kyle, on the other hand, was thinking for a
moment, then realization dawning and a rather unusual expression crossing his
face.

"You were... using..." Kyle shook his head.  "I don't want to know.  No, I do
want to know, but just... not right now."  He let out a sigh. "I've got too much
to think about already."

"Look, why don't you go get some of your personal things and bring them in, get
yourself comfortable here."  Keri's tone carried a slight hint of concern.
"Then once you're settled enough, we can talk some more."

"That's... a good idea," Kyle said.

---

It took Kyle a few minutes to bring most of his stuff into the house.  His
clothing was easy enough to move, but the boxes with his music collection and
mix board was a little heavier.  Keri suggested storing it in the spare room for
now, which Kyle agreed to.

He needed something to center himself with, and looked over the music
collection.  He pulled out one disk, and decided that would work well enough for
his mood.

A few moments later he had popped one of the cd's into the player, and the
sounds of trance started coming out of the speakers.  Tasha wandered into the
room and nodded appreciatively.  "Who is it?"

"George Acosta, cd's called 'The History of Trance.'  Figured I needed something
to help chill my mood."

"It's nice."  She sat down on the futon and smiled.  "I hope you weren't too
freaked out by me earlier."

"It did shock me, yes.  But then again, as I said to Keri, I've not had any
experiences with the... Venn Machines?"

"That's what they're called."  Keri's voice came from the doorway, and she
walked in to settle down on the other side of Kyle.  "No one where they come
from, or anything other than they allow a person the ability to be changed."

"To be changed?"

"The way they work," Tasha said, "one person enters a booth, and another person
enters the other booth.  Once inside, the first person can then select what they
want the other person to look like, and vice versa."

Kyle worked to understand and absorb that bit of information.  "So... you have
two people, and they have to agree on what the changes will be, and who'll be
changed?"

"Pretty much," Keri said.  "Tasha and I, well, we trust each other enough that
we know that the results will be fun for us both.  Although usually only one of
us can become an object when we change."

Kyle took a deep breath, his head spinning at all of this.  "Oh, I can see I'm
going to have a headache getting used to this," he said lightly, causing both
gals to laugh.

---

Boulevard Mall was on South Maryland Parkway, about 3 miles away from where Keri
and Tasha lived.  It was also the location of the closest Venn Machine short of
the various casinos that lined Boulder Highway.  Together the threesome went
over to the mall, just after 8pm that evening.  The crowds would be a lot less,
giving Kyle a chance to get used to the way things were.

Following Keri's directions, he parked close to one of the entrances, and
together they went into the mall itself.  Keri and Tasha knew where they wanted
to go, and Kyle merely tagged along for the time being.

They turned a corner, and there stood the Venn Machine, currently not in use.
They went over to it, explaining as they walked.

"The way these work is that usually one person enters a booth, then another
person enters on the other side.  Once inside, there's a touch panel that
displays what changes you want to give the person across from you.  The
interface also acts like a speaker so that you can talk to the other person.

"If you say something like 'vixen', it'll bring up an image of a morphic vixen.
You can make whatever changes you want by touching various bubbles that appear
on the sides, giving her extra appendages, changing her size, fur color,
whatever.  When you think you're done, you press the green circle and the other
person changes."

"For how long?" Kyle asked.

"Well, you can do it for 8 hours, 16 hours, a day, two days, three days, even
months or years.  I knew someone who wanted to be a dragon for a year, still was
last time I heard from him."

Tasha added to that.  "Now the same is true for taking something like an
inanimate object, only folks who want that have to wait until last.  Those
changes tend to be more extreme, but there are those of us who like extreme."
She grinned and winked at Keri, who merely giggled.

"Oh, you'll want to give your wallet to one of us, the changes play havoc with
money and credit cards."

"Wha...?"  Kyle looked perplexed.  "You want me..."  He closed his eyes, taking
deep breaths, then opened his eyes again.

"Ok, I suppose if I'm going to be living with you two, I might as well get used
to it.  So what do you want me to do?"

"Right now, just watch."  With that, Keri walked into one booth, and Tasha
walked into the second.  Before he realized it, the openings had vanished,
a blank surface now visible where an entrance was.  He waited, then without
warning there were two entrances again.

Out walked a pair of identical looking wolfettes, their silver and black fur
making interesting patterns.  Tails wagged behind them as they looked back at
Kyle, waiting for a reaction.

"Wow," he said softly.  "That's... amazing."

They both giggled at his reaction.  "Now, it's your turn," Keri said with a soft
growl in her voice.  "Just step into one, and don't worry about working the
interface right now."

Kyle hesitated, then made up his mind and walked into the booth.  It sealed
behind him, leaving him standing there.  Turning around, he noticed the
interface, and heard Keri's voice.

"Ok, now whatever you do, don't touch the interface.  I'll be doing all the
changes on my side."  Kyle coughed, then nodded.

"All right."  All he could do was stand there and wait, unable to tell what
changes she was making or even if she was making changes, but it was clear she
was doing something from the humming sound she was making.

"All right, brace yourself," she finally said.  There was just a moment where
time seemed to freeze around him, then suddenly he found himself covered in fur.
He looked down at his hands, now paw-like, and involuntarily flicked an ear.
Reaching up, he felt his face, and discovered a muzzle, then looked behind to
find a furry tail curling slightly.

"Oh god," he said, with a clear growl in his voice.  "What just happened??"

The door opened after a few more seconds, and he staggered out on new legs,
feeling off balance.  He looked up at Keri and Tasha, who had expressions of
concern on their faces.

"This... is going to take time to get used to," he finally said, his eyes wide with confusion.

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