Trust Machines - Welcome to the Carnival, pt 5

"Stop trying to change me
(Stop trying to change me)
I am what I am
(I am what I am)
No I don't need you to save me
(I don't need you to save me)
I am what I am
(I am what I am)"
-- "I Am What I Am", by Oceanlab feat. Justine Suissa

---

Kyle drove back to the house in silence, still in stunned shock at what had
happened.  Keri tried to make conversation with him, but after a few tries
realized that he was in no mood for casual talk.  Instead, she sat in the
passenger seat, fidgiting as she could feel his mood radiating from him.

He was so far in shock that the realization of what he was still hadn't hit.  He
was looking out of two pairs of eyes, his senses doubled in ever way.  Had he
thought about it he might have lost it completely.  But his focus was extremely
narrow, and that helped him navigate down the streets.

Once back at the house, he went immediately to the couch and sat down, looking
at Keri expectantly through both sets of eyes.  She sat down on the edge of a
chair and braced herself for the explosion of fury from him.

It never came.  He kept looking at her intently, then in a level voice simply
said, "Would you mind explaining to me just what the hell is going on?"  His
voice came out of both mouths,

She could have taken any number of ways out, but decided to be honest and blunt.
"Tasha wanted to be a condom, so I made her into one."

Kyle's eyes narrowed.  "Why?"  "Why would she want to do that?"  For the first
time his voice came out of separate heads.

"Because she likes it, that's why!"  Keri's frustrations broke through.  "I
thought you'd realize that by now!"

"So you turned her into a condom so that I could use her?"

"No!" Keri cried out.  "She WANTED me to turn her into a condom so that you
could enjoy her!  Haven't you figured that out by now?"

Her outburst made Kyle sit back in bewilderment.  He closed his eyes, and in a
very soft tone asked, "She wanted to be a condom for me?  Why?"  "Help me
understand here, this is... is..."  He lapsed into silence, mentally unable to
continue and looked at Keri through both pairs of eyes, his need to understand
etched in them.

Keri got up and went over to Kyle, giving him a hug.  "She likes you," she said
gently.  "She likes you a lot, just as I like you a lot.  You're kind, you're
considerate, you're unlike anyone we've known before.  And we both want to make
you happy.  For Tasha, well, if she wants to be a condom and be used by you as
you're making love to me, then that makes her happy, it makes me happy knowing
that she's happy, and we both want to make you happy as well."  She indicated
her current look, smiling.

"It just seems so... alien," Kyle said.  "I can't say wrong, it's not wrong."
"Not when what you do is meant to make another person feel loved and cared for."
It's just... I didn't expect it."  Both of his muzzles gave a wry sort of smile.
"You two are putting a lot of faith in me here."

Keri kissed one, then the other muzzle.  "After the last few weeks, we both
think you're worth it.  Now, show it by putting her over you, then you putting
yourself in me, and see what sort of faith you can really generate."

Kyle laughed weakly and walked with Keri into the bedroom, his arm resting
gently on Keri's shoulder as she held the cellophane wrap that held Tasha's
condom form.  "I guess..." "I'd better get used to it."

---

Kyle heard his phone ring, and quickly slipped out of the bed to answer it.

"This is Kyle," he said, seeing the number was a Las Vegas area code.

"Kyle Elliot?  This is Thomas Charles with Insomniac."

Kyle's heart skipped a beat.  "Good morning, Mr. Charles.  How can I help you?"

"Actually, I'm calling to see about your availability.  We've received your demo
mix and feel it's of sufficient quality that we're wondering if you'd be
interested in a slot to perform the night before EDC."

He managed somehow to keep his excitement under control.  "Which venue?" he
asked.

"It'd be at the Light Nightclub at Mandalay Bay.  It'd be a late slot, probably
around 2am in the morning to closing.  But we're looking for someone who can do
a good mix of trance, lounge and chillout to help slide the mood downwards, and
it'd give you a chance to display your talents to a wider audience.  We can
guarantee that someone from Ultra Records and Anjunabeats will be there,
possibly even Armada Records."

"Would I be given a chance to look over the venue?"

"You can do that on Wednesday afternoon.  We can provide you entrance after 2pm
to look over the place."

Kyle's hopes started rising.  "And the contract?"

"One night only, but standard rates for performance.  Right now, that's $6500
for a 90 minute set, given that you're basically an unknown.  But also given the
quality of your demo mix, I'd venture to say that you'll get offers for more
performances.

"So when would you want to meet?"  Kyle hoped, hoped, hoped that this was on the
level.

"We can meet Wednesday at Light, when you're looking over the place.  I'll have
all the paperwork ready for you then."

"Then I'll see you after 2pm on Wednesday."

Thomas Charles' voice chuckled.  "I'll see you Wednday, Mr. Elliot.  Or should I
say Kyle, or do you have a stage name yet?"

"No stage name, just Kyle."

"Then I'll see you then, Kyle.  Have a good day."

"You as well."  Kyle ended the call, the let out a whoop that woke up everyone
in the house.

"What's going on?"  Keri said, sitting upright.

"I've got a gig!"

---

Tasha was stunned as Kyle explained what happened, once she returned back to
normal.  "You're playing at LIGHT??  Mandalay Bay?  That's one of the hot venues
in town!"

Keri giggled.  "It's great, isn't it?"

"It's better than great!  And you said there'll be record label agents there?"

Kyle nodded.  "Ultra and Anjunabeats, at the very least.  Apparently the folks
at Insomniac have passed my demo mix around."

"Wow."  Tasha jumped up and kissed Kyle hard on the lips.  "I'm so happy for
you!  Just a few weeks in Vegas, and you're already getting a chance to play
with the big boys."

Kyle looked pleased from the kiss.  "I'm going to have to work out a whole new
show, which means I'm going to be busy working out what will go together.  And
that means I'm going to have to dial back some of our fun."

"Don't worry about that," Keri said.  "Given what I've seen and heard from you,
you're going to knock 'em dead at Light."

"I hope so, it's one thing to play little small clubs, but Light is a class in
itself."

Tasha snuggled him tightly.  "Just trust in yourself, you know you can do it."

---

"Tasha, can I ask you a question?"

Kyle was seated in front of his mix board, looking up just as Tasha was walking
past the door.  She stopped, and walked into the spare room.  "You can ask me
anything," she said.

"Last night, when you were my... condom."  Kyle's tone was both curious and
concerned.  "Did you... did you really enjoy it?"

Tasha's face took on a euphoric expression.  "It was wonderful, feeling you in
me, so nice and hard, then feeling Keri surrounding me, and the two of you
rubbing me back and forth.  It was just so..."  She shivered, clearly
remembering it and savoring the memory.

"I guess I'm just wanting to understand," he said finally.  "I can understand
looking like someone else, or something that might have walked out of a comic or
cartoon.  Or those images you two show me," mentioning the websites that show
people's artwork, and images of those who have used the Venn Machines to turn
into living versions of that artwork.

Tasha giggled a bit.  "Some of those folks make us look like complete amateurs
at using the Venn Machines."

"But why an object?"  Kyle didn't feel a headache trying to form the way it had
earlier.  "It's not like you can do much as such, can you?"

"No," Tasha admitted.  "But you're totally dependent on whoever you're with,
that they'll use you that way.  And it can be quite an experience, you still
have the feeling of touch, and that feeling can be magnified.  Like when I was
wrapped around your hardness, you wouldn't believe the euphoric state that put
me into."

For once, Kyle's expression wasn't confused, but rather a mixture of
understanding and acceptance.  "Maybe... maybe one of these days I'll understand
enough to try it.  Not yet," and he held up his hand to cut off anything Tasha
was about to say.  "But someday here in the future.  There's still... a lot I
need to adjust to around those machines," he added.

---

The next few days were chaotic for Kyle.  In the morning he'd work on his
playlist, going through track after track in his music collection and decide if
it was worth adding.  Later he'd fire up his laptop and head to JunoDownload,
Beatport and Amazon to download tracks for possible inclusion.

He was so deep into creating his playlist that after the third night in a row
that the trio hadn't used the Venn Machine that Keri made a decision.  "Kyle,
hun, you need to take a break.  Get your mind off of your music and just let go
for a while."

Tasha agreed.  "You know we're both pulling for you, wanting your session at
Light to go off without a hitch.  But you need to decompress, unwind and just
forget your music."

"So what do you suggest we do?" Kyle asked, wondering what they had planned.

"Easy.  We're all going to go clubbing."

---

It was later that evening that they drove to the Mall, parking in the usual spot
close to the Venn Machine entrance.  The machine was in use at the moment, and
they waited for their opportunity.

From one booth a pair of identical twin gals came out, both giggling up a storm
for some reason.  They went over to the other booth, one of the twins walking in
and then walking back out.  They both gave a wink towards Kyle and the gals, as
they walked past.

"Something tells me those folks are going to have a lot of fun tonight," Tasha
commented.  Kyle looked curious.

"What did they do?" he asked.

"Well, if I had to guess, I'd say the gals were one girl who ended up as twins.
As for the other one," Tasha grinned.  "I think the other one is either a
vibrator or a double-ended dildo for use by the gals."

Kyle's eyebrows shot up.  He opened his mouth to say something, then closed it.
"Ok, far me it for me to judge other people's idea of fun," he finally said.  "I
guess if they're enjoying it, then that's what matters."

Keri kissed him on the lips.  "Now that's the sort of thinking we both want to
see from you," she said.  With that, Keri went into one booth while Tasha went
into the other.  Kyle waited patiently for them to finish their transformations,
then a pair of gals walked out of the booths, both of them sporting bright red
hair, a soft sort of face framed by that hair, and a rather erotic looking body.
They grinned at Kyle, then Tasha nudged Kyle to the booth.  "Your turn," she
said.

Kyle went into the booth, just wondering what the two gals had in mind for him.
The door disappeared, leaving him standing there in the confines.  The interface
panel was already indicating that it was in use, with either Keri or Tasha
working.

"Brace yourself, hun," was the only warning he received.  He took a breath, then
reality froze around him for a moment.

"Oh gods," an unfamiliar voice moaned.  Kyle blinked as the voice came from him,
and he looked down.  A pair of breasts were on his chest, a lock of hair
dangling in front of his eyes.  He reached up, and saw his hands had changed
into a slender shape, along with his arms.  Instinctively, he reached down...

The door appeared, and both Keri and Tasha walked in.  "Oh, now don't you look
sexy," Tasha said.

Kyle looked up, gracing them both with a sharp expression.  "You just had to do
that to me, didn't you?" the new female Kyle said with resignation in his... no,
her voice.

"Come on, you'll get used to it.  Now, let's all go hit a dance floor."

---

"From day to night and night to day
An endless sea of choice
If you should ever lose your way
Just listen to your voice

Just listen"

-- "Just Listen" by Oceanlab feat. Justine Suissa