At last, Jenna had an evening off. Even though it was Friday, she was going to take a much needed night in by herself. She liked to be busy, yes. But there was something to be said for eating bake-at-home pizza and watching a movie in sweatpants.

Also, she'd really been meaning to give the NMO-101 another try. Her roommate Tori had bought it a few days ago at an auction or something. What it did, well, it was pretty amazing. It could change your head into just about anything. Which is an odd kind of machine, to be sure. But Tori sure seemed to enjoy it.

Since buying the machine and first 'testing' it on Jenna, Tori's head hadn't been the same in … well, every time Jenna had seen her it was something new. First it was a basketball for about a day. The next morning it was, apparently, a pineapple. Most worryingly, Tori had chopped her pineapple head into pieces and insisted that Jenna try a piece. She had — however reluctantly — but Tori's head appeared to be "fine" the next day. So long as "fine" meant "turned into a fishbowl with a real fish in it".

The machine also had the effect of rendering heads detachable. The physics of this were baffling to Jenna, but having had her own head vanished for over a minute, she didn't question the reality of it. Some things you've just got to let go.

Let go. That's what this night would be about. She'd let go, give the NMO-101 a try or two, have some unscheduled, unscripted fun for a change.

Tori wasn't home when she got there. "That's okay," she thought, "I could use the peace and quiet."

Jenna put up her jacket, took off her shoes, and went about relaxing. She opened a beer, put on some music, and started a pizza in the oven. Then she sat down by the computer and started to browse through all the countless — there must have been thousands — of 'scripts' for the NMO, each one a different head to try.

There were so many different options. All sorts of animals, of course. Robots. An LCD screen that displayed your face. A book. Hell, one was a tree stump. What would that be like?

But there was one that stood out to Jenna, one that she really wanted to try first. Nothing too, too extreme, at least not at the beginning. This one was 'simple'. But only in the most subjective way.

The title was "Mad Scientist's Hat". That in an of itself was intriguing. The description of the script read:

Show off your brain! The Mad Scientist's Hat is a partial transformation, featuring an unbreakable pyrex dome. Features adjustable glass tint, and is compatible with most other Biological-based scripts.

The picture showcased a young guy, presumably the creator of the script, with — well, it was exactly what it was. The top of his head was a clear-glass dome, which left his brain clearly visible beneath. It was the perfect mix of goofy and spooky, Jenna thought, and the perfect way to get adjusted to this crazy machine.

She downloaded it and carried the computer into the garage where they'd unpacked the NMO-101. She pressed the power button and waited for the light to turn green, then plugged the USB cord into the computer. Starting the software, she loaded up the script she'd just downloaded. Setting it up to run on a delay, she got into the chair and pulled down the white… thing.

There she was. Just waiting for her head to be changed. She head a noise that sounded exactly like a fizzle, and then the white thing started to retract on its own. Jenna got up excitedly, reaching up to feel the clear glass covering on her head, starting just above her eyes. She knocked on it. It felt very solid. She decided she needed a mirror.

She raced to the bathroom, a huge smile on her face. There it was, just as it looked in the picture. She had no hair left. The 'hat' was slightly bigger than her regular head, but didn't seem to add any extra weight. It felt pretty strong, which it would have to be, right?

Feeling around the edges behind her head, she found something … interesting. A button. There was a button on her head. What did this do?

Only one way to find out. She pushed it.

She heard a click, and for that matter, felt a click.

"Uh-oh," she said. The glass cover appeared to be detachable.

With some hesitance, she took it off and set it on the bathroom counter. Leaning towards the mirror, there was … her brain. Exposed to everything.

So this was interesting. Dangerous? Perhaps?

She poked her brain. Didn't feel it at all, of course.

The next step was inevitable. Stupid, maybe, but she'd already come this far. And she had been entirely headless the other day. So, well, uh, why not?

She took out her brain. Amazingly, she didn't die. She just held it there in her hands, looking at — well, herself.

"Am I still using this to think?" she asked herself. Pondering this, she took her brain and its cover into the other room to look this up on the computer. She set them on the kitchen counter, then went to get the laptop from the garage.

Her head certainly felt lighter. Perhaps because it was empty.

"This would've been the perfect halloween costume," she thought. "For that matter, anything this machine does would be."

She brought the laptop back into the kitchen, then set it next to her brain while she tried to figure out where her 'mind' really was.

On the comments about the script, she found her answer:

The brain really is yours! Said the creator, answering another user with the same inquiry. You can use it in whatever experiments you might need, perform amateur surgery, what-have-you. I do suggest you save a copy of your original brain before trying anything too extreme. But it will continue to function fine outside your head. For a really crazy experience, try running it through a blender.

"Maybe another time," thought Jenna. "For now, I better pop it back in just to make sure nothing happens."

Jenna did just that, clicking the cover back into place. The pizza would be ready soon.

A little bit later she heard Tori's car pull into the driveway. She turned the volume down on the TV just a bit, but stayed riveted to the TV. She'd been discovering Battlestar lately, and was currently halfway through the 3rd season.

"Hello," called Tori, as she came in.

"Hey," said Jenna. "Pizza's on the counter if you want some."

"Thanks!"

"Oh, I've got to show you something," said Jenna. She paused the TV, got up and went into the kitchen.

Tori turned around.

"Nice! What's that one called."

Jenna didn't say anything. She just stared at Tori, open-mouthed.

"What?" said Tori, grinning mischievously. "Is there something on my face?"

"My face! My face is on your face!"

"What?"

"My head! That's my head on your shoulders!"

"Oh, right. Well, it's easy enough to do. You're saved on the computer."

"But it's mine!"

"What's the big deal? It's not like I took your head away, you've still got your own. I like the glass thing by the way."

"I … What were you doing?"

"I just went for a drink at the bar down the street."

"Wait. You mean Tyler's? We go there all the time."

Tori shrugged.

"Were you pretending to be me?"

Tori shrugged again.

"Did people think you were me?"

"I mean, nobody asked. So, probably, yea."

"Okay, just please tell me you didn't get me into trouble."

"I mean the cops might be looking for you, but you've got an alibi!"

"Wha— Oh you were kidding."

Tori just grinned.

"I guess… I'm not mad, just… it's very strange to be talking to myself. Or someone who looks like me."

Tori bit her lip. "I kinda did it mostly just to mess with you. But feel free to copy my head any time you want!"

"That crossed my mind. Speaking of that, check this out."

Jenna reached back and pushed the button on the back of her head. The glass cover popped off. Jenna removed her brain and set it down on the countertop.

"Cool!" Tori eagerly picked up Jenna's brain.

"It's really my brain too, so don't do anything crazy."

"Like this?" Tori threw Jenna's brain up in the air and caught it.

"Exactly like that! Don't do that!"

"You know what we should do — let's slice your brain in half down the center, then you're hemispheres won't be in contact with one another, and it's like you have two different brains! I saw a documentary on this. They do it for epileptics!"

"Let's… not do that right now. I knew this was a bad idea."

"Fine, fine. But I'm totally gonna try that myself."

"That seems like more your kind of thing anyway."

"Hey, think fast!"

Tori threw Jenna's brain at her. She barely managed to catch it.

"Get it, think fast? Cause it was your brain. And…"

"Yea, I got it. Thanks…"

"Anyhoo, I'm going to change out of this head. Want to help?"

"I suppose so. What are you gonna do?"

"Hmm… Why don't you surprise me?"

"Interesting. I'm not sure this is a path I want to go down."

"Why?"

"Because inevitably, you'll want to return the favor."

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Uhm… Fine, but you're not allowed to turn me into anything gross."

"Aww, that takes all the fun out of it."

"All right, let's do this then."

The two girls went to the garage. Tori got into the NMO's chair, and pulled down the contraption until it clicked around her shoulders.

"I don't know what I'm going to do quite yet," said Jenna.

"Take your time," said Tori. "I'll just sit here in anticipation and impatience."

Jenna browsed through the website she'd been on, sorting the results first by popularity, then by theme. After about a minute, she found one and decided according to the guidelines of "Ahh, why not."

It was a mod, designed to be used on an 'original' head. Jenna loaded up Tori's saved head. Looking at a mirror image of herself was still a bit unsettling. Then she loaded the mod and waited for it to the program to initialize. Once everything was set up, she hit the run button.

"Is that it?" asked Tori, as the machine lifted off her.

"That's it."

Jenna couldn't help but laugh. Even knowing what would happen, it was still surprisingly funny to see it actually work

Tori's head had been reduced to only her face. She was almost completely flat, unattached to the rest of her body. Essentially, she'd been turned into a mask. Which, interestingly enough, was the name of the script that Jenna had downloaded.

"This is neat," said Tori. "I feel pretty uh… flimsy."

"Wait, open your mouth," said Jenna. "That's hillarious, you can see right through to the other side."

"Wait really? Mmph."

Tori stuck her fingers through her mouth from the back. She wiggled them at Jenna.

"You always find a way to make it weird," said Jenna.

"That's my job! Okay, your turn!"

"Really? Already?"

"Really! Already!"

"Fine, let's do this."

Jenna got into the chair and pulled down the … whatever. The head-zapper.

"Let's see… Oh, I know what we're gonna do!"

"I don't like your enthusiasm," said Jenna.

"Don't worry, you'll love it."

"Have you done it already?"

"Of course not!"

"I … erm … okay."

Jenna lowered the thing over her head. Almost right away she heard the "zoink" noise that the machine made when it ran. Or was it more of a "werrt". Whatever. That computer-esque noise of something happening inside.

With the machine rising, her hands immediately went to her face.

Actually everything appeared quite normal.

"I'm… I don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

"You're smirking! I know what you're doing. You made my head normal but you're going to act like it's different to try and drive me crazy! I'm onto you!"

"I'm … that's funny, but I'm not that far ahead of you. Actually, that's a bit paranoid to be honest. C'mon, I'll show you in the mirror. It'll be better over there."

They went to the shared bathroom, also the one primarily inhabited by Tori. Jenna had secured the master bedroom of the apartment in coin toss.

"So? I'm still … exactly normal."

"Hold still," said Tori.

Tori took hold of Jenna's face with one hand, and with the other quickly snatched out Jenna's right eye.

"Fucking Beatrix Kiddo!" shouted Tori, raising up Jenna's eye and pointing it at her.

"Ahhh— What the fuck!"

"Here you go," Tori handed Jenna's eye back to her. "Guess what this one's called."

"I … My eye is like … plastic."

"Yea. Go on. Guess!"

Jenna popped her eye back in.

"I have no idea," she said.

Tori grabbed Jenna's nose and pulled it off.

"It's called 'Potato Head!'"

"Gib meh back ma noze," said Jenna.

Tori's reached as if she was about to stick Jenna's nose back on, but then instead swiped her mouth as well.

"MMM!" said Jenna. In response she grabbed Tori's face from where it was resting on the bathroom counter.

"Okay, fine, I'll trade you," grinned Tori. Jenna handed Tori's face back. She replaced the missing facial features. However, they had been swapped.

"I should have know you'd do something like this," said Jenna.

"Guess what else is does!"

"I don't even…"

"It pops off!"

Tori demonstrated, lifting Jenna's head clear of her shoulders.

Jenna finally just started to laugh.

"And then the top comes off…"

Tori popped the top of Jenna's head off.

"And there's more pieces inside! Just like a real Ms. Potato Head!"

"I … just … wow, this is strange."

Jenna spent a couple minutes examining all the extra bits she had. There were several different shapes of noses, eyes, and mouths, along with a second pair of ears.

"This might actually be pretty fun," said Jenna.

"I hope so! Okay, I'm gonna go get a slice of pizza. Wait, can I even eat like this?"

"I really don't think I'm qualified to answer that."

"Only one way to learn I suppose."

It was later on that night, after a couple more episodes of Battlestar, that Jenna noticed something weird about the NMO-101.

"Hey Tori," she said. "I was just going to get the computer from the garage … and there's a red light on the machine."

"Oh? Is it the one in the middle?"

"Yea, the one that turns green."

"It must be out of the uh… redifizer stuff."

"What is that?"

"It's the stuff that makes it work."

"I um….. Wait, what!?!?"

"Yea, it ran out the other day and I had to put the rest of it in there."

"So you don't have any more?"

"Uh… nope."

"So we're stuck like this?"

"Well, until we get some more."

"Do you even know where do get it?"

Tori shrugged. "The internet?"

Jenna handed the comptuer to Tori, and just said "Do it."

"Can you be more polite?"

"Can you please order the stuff that lets us put our heads back to normal?"

"Of course! Hey, they say it might even be here by Wednesday."

"Wednesday?"

"It ships from Iceland. You know how it is."

"Overnight it!"

"That would cost like… three hundred dollars. If not more. Unless you're going to pay for it…"

Jenna grimaced so hard her mouth fell off.

Well, she thought, picking it up again. I guess this will be an interesting few days.