Eagerly, Amanda took the pencil, signing the contract, a thick stack of legal and informative papers which, thankfully, only needed one signature. Satisfied, the advisor in front of her collected and stored it neatly in a folder after she'd finished. 

Amanda's heart started to beat faster and she squeezed her husband Steve's hand, looking at his face in a thrill of anticipation. Soon, her biggest dream would become reality! 

They were currently sitting in a air-conditioned satellite office of Services Unlimited, located in Westport's waterfront strip-mall. The office enjoyed a perfect view on the accompanying beach, but Amanda's eyes rather darted constantly to the other outlook which was offered. Because right next to the office, a Venn Machine stood, the familiar icon spinning. 

"Shall we go, then?" the advisor asked, and Amanda's head bobbed up and down fervently. Actually, Services Unlimited offered a much steeper price than Fantasy Escorts, a similar establishment available in their home town. But their services were more limited as well, basically only providing the transformation and delivery. Period. Services Unlimited, on the other hand, made sure that every i was dotted and every t crossed. Of course this made an impressive impact on the price. What Amanda and her husband were paying for her little adventure which would soon start would've been adequate for sponsoring a week in Hawaii for two. 

Therefore the decision hadn't been easy. But finally, she'd decided that she just wanted to have this experience, whatever the costs, and despite not sharing his wife's unusual fantasy, her loving husband had backed her to the hilt. 

Which was just why Amanda now felt a little shaky in the knees while she was following the advisor towards the Venn Machine. Because in a few minutes, she would be a shark. Yes, a shark! Since she'd been little, Amanda had had fantasies about becoming a shark, those streamlined, powerful creatures, roaming the oceans like flying through a blue sky. She hadn't thought much about those dreams, after all, transformations are stuff out of fantasy. But then, the Venn Machines had appeared, and suddenly everything had changed. Now, transformations WERE possible. Even animal transformations! And so she'd stubbornly started to search for a way to make her longest dream true. Most Venn Machines were located far inland, and becoming a shark without water would be unwise, obviously, making realizing her dream still a challenge. 

She'd first inquired at Fantasy Escorts about this, but they couldn't help. But they had forwarded her to Services Unlimited, whose advisors had listened to Amanda, then asked for a couple of days thinking time, and then contacted her back, providing her with a price list. "Of course it's possible. We do know a Venn Machine next to the sea. The only question is, how much are you prepared to pay?" 

Enough to accept the price in a matter of moments, that's for sure. Her husband had eyed the price for a little longer, but he'd long realized how much his wife wished for this experience and therefore hadn't protested. 

Now, the couple reached the Venn Machine where two heavy muscled guys in 'shirts with discreet 'Services Unlimited' logos were already waiting with an unusually long stretcher. Additionally to her wobbly knees, Amanda now also experienced goose bumps, although those could be attributed to the early morning's breeze and Amanda's lack of clothing. She was only wearing a bathing suit, nothing more. For the initial transformation, it wouldn't matter which clothes she wore, those would be converted during the process. But she would possibly change back in the water, and appearing there with full clothes would be awkward. Therefore the Services Unlimited advisor had recommended to wear a swimming suit for the transformation and that's what Amanda had done. 

Meticulous, the shirt and tie wearing advisor took out some kind of checklist and looked at Amanda. 

"Mrs. Hirsch, I will now ask you a routine question I'm required to ask. According to our contract, I will transform you into a Reef Shark for a time span of 24 hours. Do you still want to continue?" 

Amanda squeezed her husband's hand even harder. "Yes, I do." she told the advisor with a firm voice. 

"Alright." the advisor nodded and his gaze traveled forward another paragraph on his checklist. "I have to inform you that Services Unlimited will not be liable for any damages you cause or receive while being transformed."

She nodded and satisfied, the advisor continued. 

"Next comes the details of your transformation. You will be transformed into an eight feet long female Caribbean Reef Shark of approximately 100 lbs. You won't be a fully grown shark of this species because then your body would be to big for the Venn Machine. It will have all characteristics of this specimen, including its senses and instincts, but you will retain your human mind. Are you with me so far?" 

Again she nodded. 

"Okay. Since you'll be transformed into an animal with gills, you won't be able to breath above water. As soon as you're transformed, our staff there-" he gestured to the men with the long stretcher. "-will put your body on the stretcher and move you towards the water. This will take up to two minutes, although it usually doesn't take longer than one. Of course you will experience fear of suffocation during this time, but I plead you to try to stay as calm as possible. First of all, you're a shark at that moment, with a powerful jaw and sharp teeth. If you bite one of our staff people in confusion this may hurt quite a bit. Our staff will wear chain gloves to prevent accidents, plus they and your husband will enter the Venn Machine before, changing a little detail of their bodies to make sure there are no fatal accidents, but it will be much easier and faster if you don't struggle. Are you with me here?" 

"Y-Yes, I do." Amanda said a little husky. There'd been a scary waiver in the paperwork she'd signed before telling her this. One interesting aspect of the Venn Machines was that while a transformed body could be killed, the mind of the person inhabiting it simply couldn't die. Under no circumstances whatsoever. Even if one changed only his skin color and then had a 'fatal' accident, his body being killed, his consciousness would not disappear. Instead it would still inhabit the corpse, settling down to 'sleep' until a major portion of the corpse would be returned to a Venn Machine or until the transformation's duration would be over. 

Which didn't mean that injuries were painless. They still hurt like hell. And moreover, 'dying' wasn't pretty, according to the people who had suffered terrible accidents while being transformed. Some of them had even suffered major psychological damage. Although there were rumors of secret clubs where transformed people with... 'special' fantasies attended to have their bodies mutilated voluntarily. 

Amanda had always thought of this to be an urban legend, after all it was crazy, but...

"All right." the advisor yanked her out of her thoughts. "Then I suggest that they do these changes now while I'm telling you the rest." 

Steve released her hand and, together with the staff guys, went to the machine while the advisor proceeded his lecture. 

"You don't need to have any fear." the advisor assured her after the trio was gone. "Sharks are very robust animals. They can stay out of water for a very long time, many times as long as we will need." 

At this point, Amanda was starting to become a little impatient. "Yes, yes!" When would they start the transformation already? 

Unfazed of her eagerness, the advisor continued. 

"And finally, a necessary detail of your transformation: If I transform you first, we will have to wait for 48 seconds until the doors appears again and our staff will be able to transport you to the sea. Therefore it would be recommended if you would change first a little detail at my body, perhaps my hair- or eye-color. Once I will change you then, the doors will immediately open." the advisor chuckled. "We could also do this by you pressing the green button first, without you changing me, but I'd like to have some protection from your jaw as well." 

"Um, okay." Amanda said and finally, the advisor seemed to have finished his checklist. By now, the staff and Steve had returned, both staff guys having changed their hair cut and Steve suddenly having green instead of blue eyes. 

"Very well." he said. "I will enter the Venn Machine then. As for your husband, the boat you have requested is moored next to the spot where we will put you into the water. As soon as you are swimming, I will give your husband the keys and then he can follow you out to the sea. We have prepared snorkeling and scuba diving gear as well as an underwater camera." 

He entered the Venn Machine through the right side, setting the duration of the change for 24 hours and his door disappeared. Now his staff muscles placed a foam mattress in front of the left side's door, to dampen her fall when her shark body would come plunging out of the machine. The booth wasn't broad or wide enough to accommodate an eight feet shark, only high enough. Therefore she would probably appear standing on her fin - and start falling out of the machine as soon as the door reappeared. 

Slowly she looked into her husband's eyes, grabbing both of his hands. 

"Thank you for supporting me in this." she whispered huskily. "You don't know how much this means to me. Finally I can realize my life-long dream!" 

Steve simply squeezed her hands back, then embraced her in a fierce hug. "No, I don't. But I know that it means a lot to you. And when I married you, I vowed that I would place your happiness as high as mine. Therefore... go and fulfill your dream." 

"Thanks!" she said again, pulling him in a fiery kiss. Then she stepped back, smiled and walked into the booth, heart throbbing madly. The interface came to life and Amanda heard the the advisor's voice through the interface. 

"All right, Mrs. Hirsch. It's your turn first. Change something small about me."

Amanda pondered for a short moment and then selected a change, applying it by pressing the green button and the countdown started to roll down.

"Okay, what did you change?" the advisor asked and Amanda giggled. 

"I gave you blonde hair. Somehow, black doesn't suit you." 

"Oh, well... I wanted to try this out anyway. So... your change is ready. I'm applying it in three, two, one..." 

Amanda simply waited, counting as well, and then her body changed. 

Suddenly, she was feeling entirely different. Her legs were gone, replaced by one single, powerful muscle. Her arms were gone as well. She felt her body falling and then, with a large 'Wump', impact on the foam mattress. She couldn't see properly, everything was blurred. And then there was panic bubbling up in her mind. She felt so heavy, as if her body was going to be crushed, despite her lying on the mattress. Even worse, she couldn't breathe! There was no oxygen for her body! She opened her mouth to say something, to scream, but no sound emerged, only a snapping noise. She tried to move her body, twisted unfamiliar muscles, but she simply thrashed around without moving. 

Abruptly she felt two powerful hands grabbing her tail and starting to pull her down the mattress. She tried to resist, could see blurry shapes moving left and right of her body, but nothing in front. And then, another hand touched her, this one not grabbing, simply resting on her head. And she heard sounds... voices. Those didn't sound right, as if someone was speaking in slow motion. 

"...panic." she could understand barely as she concentrated. "...moving you to the water, Amanda. Try to bear it..." 

This must be Steve's voice! Amanda realized, and suddenly her mind surfaced from below the panic. Then it must have worked... I'm... really a shark! And I'm not getting any air - or water - because my gills are not wet!

Dazed, she forced herself to relax, despite her body's craving for oxygen. And instead tried focusing on the changes. Her body was indeed... different. She couldn't feel her legs anymore because they were gone. Instead she had a powerful tail now. Her arms were gone as well, replaced by fins she could move a little. And then there was her head. She noticed that she could see to the left and right of her body, albeit very blurry, but her new eyes covered nearly everything, except for a small spot in her front and in her back. And then her mouth... or maw. There was no tongue anymore. Instead, she had simply a large, powerful jaw, spiked with razor-sharp teeth. 

While she was taking in all these changes, she noticed how her body was lifted in the air now. Two of the blurry shapes had moved to the front and the back where she couldn't see them, but the third one had stayed on her side, hand still on the top of her head, radiating calm. 

"...nearly there, Amanda..." she heard now and realized that this shape must be her husband, trying to comfort her. She didn't want to disappoint him, therefore she fought madly in keeping the panic down which was becoming stronger and stronger. But it was hard! Her body wanted to breath, wanted oxygen and after a short time, she began jerking involuntarily again. 

She thought she couldn't keep the panic in check anymore when she felt water splashing on her skin. Water! And then the stretcher she was laying upon was lowered into this divine substance, and suddenly she was floating. The pressure which had crushed her body was gone. Instead she was feeling weightless. Her eyesight was better as well. To the right she could see a human standing, submerged up to the navel. And on the right, another human was moving, the staff man who'd carried the front end of the stretcher. 

Still there was panic. Her gills were wet, that was good, but there was still oxygen missing... and with an instinctive blow of her tail, she propelled her torpedo-like shape forward through the water. It was like a revelation. Water was flowing through her gills, saturating her greedy body with oxygen. Panic left immediately and instead there was... serenity. 

Amanda was simply gliding through the water now, bathing in the sensations her new body was providing. 

This is incredible! she thought overwhelmed. It has really happened. I'm really a shark!

Testing, she beat her tail a couple of times with all her might and her body was propelled through the water like a rocket. She went back to slow, continuous pacing and was still gliding through the water at an unbelievable speed compared to what she'd have been capable as a human. Then she tried changing her depth and in a matter of seconds, she wasn't cruising directly under the surface anymore but instead gliding across the seafloor, a good 30 feet below. 

Wait a moment! Amanda suddenly thought alarmed. 30 feet below? That means that I'm far away from the coast. But I didn't swim for longer than a minute! I need to get back to Steve!

That was a silly thought of course. She was a shark now and the distance she could swim in this body in a given time was incomparable with the piddly little way she could cover as a human. Quickly she made a sharp turn, again amazed at how easy swimming was. There was nearly no drag. As a human, you had to work against the water, which was forcefully slowing you down. As a shark, water was simply making way, parting before, flowing around and joining again behind her body. 

Hugging the ground, she propelled herself forward at a faster pace, making towards the coast. She didn't know why or how she knew its direction, but she was instinctively aware of where the coast was. And now her other senses where surfacing. For once, a smell sense. She could literally smell in which direction fishes and even humans were. Then there was sound. She heard nearby pleasure boats, heard the surf, heard human feat treading water... and finally a confusing sense. First she couldn't classify it, but then she realized that she was somehow feeling other fishes heartbeat's. 

This must be a shark's electroreceptive sense. she realized fascinated. And just then she began sensing a larger being's heartbeat. Something nearly as large as her. She slowed down, noticing that she was in shallow water again. There was a human in front of her and instinctively, she steered towards it. As she was three or four body lengths away, she turned, giving her right eye a good view of it. It was submerged up to its chest, but the bright red bathing trunks she recognized. 

Giggling inwardly she swam towards Steve, starting to circle him. Somehow she'd have loved to touch him, to rub her new body against his legs like some kind of oceanic cat, but she couldn't. Her skin was that of a shark's, rougher than the best sandpaper. One rub by her would create a terrible would and she didn't want to try out what would happen if she smelled blood in the water. 

I'd love to know what Steve is thinking now. she asked herself exuberantly. His lovely wife is circling him in the body of a large shark, is now a huntress of the seas! 

*******************************

With a mix of fascination and trepidation Steve watched the large shadow circling him below the surface. He was happy for his wife that finally her dream was coming true, but still... his Amanda now was an animal, and not only that, a dangerous animal. One bite of her jaws would easily take away his lower leg and the thought had something unsettling. 

Intellectually he knew that the shark circling him was actually his wife and therefore wouldn't harm a hair on this body. But still, seeing such a large shark in such close proximity... 

When he'd first seen Amanda after the transformation, he'd been shocked for a moment. His wife had entered the booth, the door had disappeared and then, half a minute later, suddenly the door reappeared and a fish had plummeted on the mattress. A large shark, its long tail thrashing around, teeth-spiked jaw opening and closing with an unsettling snapping. 

There'd been no trace of a human in the creature, its eyes apparently dumb. And he'd needed a moment to gather himself until he'd found the strength to go to the animal he couldn't quite believe being his wife and put his hand on its head, despite its dangerous jaws, trying to calm it. And it had worked, confirming that this really was his wife. 

So now he looked at Amanda, in the body of Caribbean Reef Shark, drawing circles and occasionally breaking the surface, showing her triangular fin. 

Slowly he went into shallower water until not even his knees were submerged anymore. This was too shallow for Amanda, but she'd followed him as far as possible. A couple of hundred yards away, the small boat he and Amanda had wanted for this trip was moored at a jetty and Steve began walking towards it, making sure to stay in the water all the times. In deeper waters, between waves crashing on the shore, Steve could every now and then see Amanda's triangular fin surfacing, trailing him on his way to the boat. 

Once he was on board he cast off, starting the motor and steering the vessel towards the open sea. There was no sign of Amanda anymore, but Steve wasn't concerned. She had probably dived down to a lower depth were he couldn't spot her shape from above the waves anymore. He was sure that his motor boat was loud enough for Amanda not to lose him, even when she was putting more distance between it and herself. 

After perhaps twenty minutes Steve had arrived at a location Services Unlimited had recommended to them beforehand and he cut off the engine, mooring his boat at a buoy floating nearby. This spot was a popular diving location, with the seafloor starting at 45 feet of depth and many reefs, some of them rearing up to 20 feet of depth. 

Calmly he checked the equipment Services Unlimited had provided. There was snorkeling and scuba diving gear, as well as multiple spare compressed air tanks. They'd also attached a shark suit, chain mail armor designed to protect a diver from small to medium sharks' bites'. Steve saw no reason to mistrust Amanda, but still, accidents could happen, especially if one was inhabiting an unfamiliar body. And there'd still be the possibility that Amanda's presence would attract other wild sharks. Actually, Amanda had insisted on him wearing such a suit while he would interact with her. 

Next to the gear, there was a large underwater writing board with a pencil and sponge attached. This he could use for communicating with Amanda while she was underwater. Then there was a large mirror, already attached to a rope which was fastened to the boat's bulwark. Amanda had wanted to be able to see her new body. This was, apparently, an usual request Services Unlimited got because the mirror looked well used. And the final item was, of course, the underwater camera. Services Unlimited had provided one of the latest models with lots of recording media and spare batteries. 

Well, for all of the many bucks we're paying them we can expect some multiple redundancy. Steve thought amused. Smoothly he removed his clothes and slipped into his gear, first the wetsuit, followed by the chain mail armor. Steve was an experienced diver, being married to a woman which was crazy about sharks tended to have that effect. But he enjoyed the sport as well, being more the dolphin fascinated man. 

Next he lowered the mirror in the water and then strapped on the scuba gear. He did one last check, verifying if everything was indeed working as it should. When one was diving alone, safety was even more critical than usual. 

Not that I'm diving alone, because I'm not. Amanda is there, too. he snorted internally. It's simply that I'm the only human diver. 

Finally satisfied, Steve strapped the camera and the writing board to his suit, set his diving clock and removed a part of the boat's bulwark, opening a spot with a ladder where he could descend into the water and, later on, enter the boat again easily. 

Tentatively he sat down on the edge, feet with diving fins attached dangling in the water, put on his mask and respirator and then let himself simply roll forward into the sea. 

With a large splash the water greeted him and, as with every dive, he suddenly entered a totally different world. The splashing sound small waves made when they collided with the boat were gone, as well as the bright, hot sun. Instead he was floating in a blue, quiet world. The water quality was excellent and he could easily look down to the seafloor. 

And right below him and the boat, Amanda was swimming. She was moving her long, torpedo-shaped body with a lazy grace, traveling through the reef's labyrinth, occasionally chasing small fish which crossed her path. 

Grinning behind his respirator, Steve took out a short, metal cylinder, beating it against his diving tank's iron. The motion produced a low-frequency metallic sound and immediately, Amanda turned her flexible body, angling upwards in a spiral which brought herself to Steve's water depth in a matter of seconds. 

He simply waited while the eight feet shark which was his wife circled him, fixating him with one of its expressionless eyes. He and Amanda had been shark diving in the Bahamas two years ago and he remembered the reef sharks they'd seen there vividly. The creature which now orbited him looked like those sharks and moved like those sharks. A large, stream-lined fish with long fins and a pointed snout, sporting large jaws with inclined teeth. 

Absolutely incredible that this really is Amanda. he thought while reaching for his camera.