A Fishy Betrayal
a
Trust Machines story
by
clancy688
Grinning, Devon followed Nina into the Venn Machine. The buxom red-head's bare back, with her crimson locks lusciously spilling down over it, already aroused him, and although his mistress was still wearing a normal top and trousers, he'd soon Venn her into something more suitable for the opera today. Of course something low-backed... lots of possible shapes circled in his head, one better than the other. Somehow, she seemed to be a bit inhibited today, so he'd make her garments extra-glorious, maybe that would bring her into higher spirits.
"So?" the woman smiled expectantly on the other side of the interface while he was still pondering. "What kind of dress do you want to see me in today? I already know the shape I want you to wear..." she asked while working on the interface.
Devon chuckled. He loved Nina's frank openness. The babe was so different from his wife, the always ill-humored dragon he'd just married because of her family's money, but he didn't want to think about that ongoing disaster today. Lindsey was sitting at home, thinking that he was gone on a fishing trip, with no idea that he was actually spending time with his secret affair. This fact added a special something to the mix, and he already found himself heating up as he envisioned tonight's after-show program...
"Daydreaming? What are you waiting for?" Nina interrupted impatiently, and Devon quickly nodded and started to work on the controls himself. Nina had no idea that he was actually married, and he had no intention of sharing this secret with her. The girl was adventurous and bold, but also young and naive, otherwise she wouldn't have embarked on this relationship with a partner close to double her age. Sadly, because of her youth, she also (still) had integrity and would probably recoil in horror at the thought of sleeping with somebody's husband. Well... nobody was perfect...
"So, what do you think?" he asked smiling and pressed the button, and in the next moment, Nina's street clothes had disappeared in exchange for a magnificent dress, just as crimson as her hair.
"What I think?" she asked and looked down, and suddenly there was a strange, malicious undertone in her voice. As she looked up again, she'd been transformed way beyond his intended changes... all at once, there was fury burning in her green eyes, and Devon gulped as he inadvertently took a step back. He'd never seen Nina in such a state, in such fury. That rather reminded him off... "I think that I now have up to 50 seconds to get my revenge, dear!" she said in a voice of frozen helium, and Devon's eyes flew wide open. Nina had NEVER called him 'dear'. In fact, only his-
"You're realizing it, right?" the woman he'd thought to be his mistress mocked him with barely restrained fury hovering over her words. "I'm not your little plaything 'Nina'. I only have borrowed her shape. In reality, I'm your wife, Lindsey... whom you have deceived with this girl!"
Shocked, Devon stared at the young woman in the breath-taking dress he'd Venned on her. That couldn't be...! How...? Why...?"
"Oh, you're surely wondering how..." Nina, or rather Lindsey continued with a sadistic smirk. "40 seconds. Actually, it's quite the coincidence... Nina and me are part of the same amateur drama group. She's such a nice girl. And she was always swarming about you, how she'd never met a man of your virtues. And I was naturally interested, so she showed me a photo of you... and imagine my surprise!"
Her gaze could have withered stone now, and panicky, Devon tried to escape the confinement of the Venn Machine, but it was now use. Nina, or rather Lindsey, laughed viciously as he hammered on the controls in frustration, desperately looking for a way to open the doors again. "Oh, that's no use. You have just Venned me, and now I have 50 seconds to change you in return. Or rather, 35 by now. But where did I stop..." Helplessly, Devon had to watch as Nina twirled the crimson locks he'd always loved so much between her fingers while pretending to brood.
"Ah, right... I couldn't believe it. Oh, I never really believed that you're going fishing." Lindsey bestowed a derogatory smile upon him. "That doesn't fit your personality at all. I rather thought you were gambling or similar, but that you were rather deceiving me... Nina was totally horrified when I told her the truth, and she told me under tears that she never wanted something like this to happen." Lindsey's borrowed face became stone-hard. "I'll never be able to forgive her, but in the end, she's just another victim, just like me... and therefore she didn't hesitate for a minute to help me when I decided to get back at you."
His wife stopped her tirade and silence lingered for a few seconds while Devon felt the sweat trickling down his temples. He was locked in the Venn Machine, alone with his wife, at least until all the moon-phases around the green button which were getting fewer and fewer, just like some kind of seconds hands, was gone. And while he already had changed her, she hadn't changed him. Yet...
"Oh, you've probably noticed it." Lindsey continued. "After all, you're a clever guy. Not smart, not intelligent, but clever..." a cruel smile played around her mouth. "20 seconds. Now I have the power. I can change you into whatever I want. Whatever horror I can conceive... what do you say, should I turn you into a tampon? Or into a condom and go whoring all over the city like you did, using you for contraception?"
Horrified, Devon gaped at his wife. He knew that his wife had a sadistic streak a mile wide, so there was no telling what horrors she'd submit him too. He was sure so, that the things she'd just said were not even close to what she was capable of. "Please... please! Don't!" he stammered. "We... we can surely talk this out...! But don't... don't do something that cruel! I beg you!" His eyes became glued to the moon-like phases of the green button which were nearly gone. Only a few seconds, if he could only distract her for a few more seconds, he'd be able to get out of-
"Cruel?" Lindsey interrupted him with a malicious smile, her hand moving forward to the button. "Oh, I don't want to do anything cruel. I just want you to have spoken the truth, for once. Now... you said you wanted to go fishing, and therefore we will go fishing. Together."
Devon had only a couple of seconds to ponder this crazy statement, before the indicator reached the last phase and Lindsey's hand went down on the button with a furious bang, revealing all the anger and frustration which had piled up in his wife. And in the next moment, everything became black for Devon.
The doors opened and with a satisfied smirk, Lindsey walked around the machine towards Devon's entrance. Her cheating husband wasn't anywhere to be seen. He'd been replaced by something else, sitting in the middle of the booth. Evilly chuckling, the woman walked in and took the cylindrical shape, carrying it out into the open.
"Oh, yes, dear soon-to-be ex-husband..." she mused venomously while she looked down onto her changed man. "We will go fishing indeed, just us two..."
************************************************
Jeffrey furrowed his brows as he looked towards the jetty. He was the owner of this small fishing pond, a nice little hobby of his, and to bankroll it, he leased trolling permits to anglers. There were way more fish swimming in the pond than he'd be able to catch and consume anyway.
By and large, anglers tended to be mostly a weird bunch. Not crazy or insane, just... weird. And he'd seen many anglers over the course of his life, all kinds of weird guys (and sometimes gals). But nobody, nobody he could ever remember topped this woman which was now sitting on the jetty, clutching a fishing rod in her perfectly manicured hands. That he could still fathom. Female anglers weren't that rare.
But certainly not that she was trolling while being dressed in a spectacular, red evening gown and wearing dainty high heels instead of proper gumboots! And as if that wasn't strange enough, she wasn't even fishing seriously. Each time she caught a fish, she hauled it in, took the creature off the hook and then started anew.
Perhaps she wasn't just weird, but really crazy? Jeffrey shook his head in consternation. But she'd seemed like such a nice person when she'd purchased the permit earlier that day. He'd expected the woman to get it as a present for her boyfriend or husband for some kind of close ceremony, he'd certainly not expected a woman all dolled up for a party going back to her car and retrieving her fishing gear out of it. But that was what she'd done.
Slowly he made his way over to the woman now, looking around suspiciously. Was this perhaps some kind of candid camera? Were there any microphones hidden on his ground? But he couldn't spot anything untoward, and before he even knew how close he'd come to her, he stood next to the woman. By now, her beautiful gown was ruined, soiled in water and slime, but she didn't seem to care. Instead she hummed happily, twitching the fishing rod a bit to attract a catch.
"Um..." he hemmed. "Are... they biting...?"
The strange woman turned, looking at him out of dreamy eyes. "Oh, yeah... absolutely." She giggled. "I can't believe how well it's going today. I've already fished out a dozen or so. That's really amazing!"
"Aha..." Jeffrey waited for more, but apparently the woman didn't find it necessary to elaborate. "But... they weren't to your liking?" he asked finally as she didn't offer anything else.
Puzzled, she looked at him. "Not to my liking...? Oh no, they looked really healthy and strong. Why would you ask that?"
"Um... because you... didn't keep even a single on of them?" Jeffrey stuttered. Why would he ask this? Why was she boomeranging the question back to him? "You... put them into a lake again. All of them. And didn't kept a single one."
The woman laughed. "Oh, sure." she said and twinkled. "I wouldn't want to kill them.After all, I'm a vegetarian."
"A vege-?!?!" The owner of the pond had to choke at that seemingly paradox statement and it took a few moments until he had himself sufficiently under control again. "But why are you fishing then????" He blurted out incredulously.
This time, she didn't even look at him. "To spend some fishing time with my husband." she explained cheerfully and Jeffrey found himself ogling her. Then he slowly looked left. And right. Finally behind. Her husband? Where the hell was her husband supposed to be...? There was nobody here at the pond, besides her and him!
"Um, lady-" started cautiously, but the woman's excited scream interrupted him. "Look, I got another one!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, and sure enough, she hauled another fish out of the water. It wasn't a big one, but it would make a decent dinner. If one would mean to make some with the catch. Instead, just like before, she carefully removed the hook from the fish and then let it slip into the water again. Without missing a beat, she reached into a bucket full of bait she'd brought with her and removed a wriggling worm.
For a few seconds, she simply stared at the pinkish tube twisting between her hands, then she carefully speared it on the hook. Curiously, Jeffrey looked at it. He was always interested in new techniques to fish, and he'd never seen this specific species of bait before, it didn't look like any worm he knew. Pink and fleshy, sure, just like a generic... worm. Just not like anything he'd ever encountered. And somehow, the way how it wriggled looked different as well. Somehow... as if it was in agony. Which was preposterous, of course, since worms only had the most rudimentary nervous system and couldn't feel pain...
His fascination with this peculiar type of bait was cut short as the woman dangled the hook with the impaled and floundering worm in front of her grinning face. "There, a perfect bait. Shall we go again, honey?"
Again Jeffrey felt acutely uncomfortable. Clearly, the woman was crazy. She was actually speaking with someone who clearly didn't exist. She didn't seem to realize this, though, because next she cast the fishing rod with astonishing strength, sending the hook with bait flying into the pond. This woman was obviously was nuts, he decided, and he didn't want to be anywhere near anybody who'd clearly lost it. Who knew what crazy stuff she'd be up to once she grew tired of fishing? But since she'd payed and wasn't making a ruckus, he couldn't expel her from his grounds either. That... simply didn't feel right.
"Um, Lady..." he therefore asked again cautiously. "How long do you plan on fishing today?"
"Oh..." the woman looked towards the float, then down at her bucket of worms. "Until I run out of bait." she replied giggling. Jeffrey followed her stare. The bucket was still more than half full, crawling with these strange, pinkish worms. Emptying it would obviously take a while. A very long while.
Jeffrey gulped. "Alright, Ma'am." he stammered uncomfortable while already retreating from the aura of madness she seemed to spread. "Just... don't stay too long, it's supposed to become a really cold night..." But the woman already wasn't paying any attention anymore, and instead happily twitched her fishing rod, uncaring and unaware of the keeper of the pond racing down the jetty away from her as if he'd encountered a demon, trying to bring as much distance between them as possible.
By and large, anglers tended to be mostly a weird bunch. Not crazy or insane, just... weird. And he'd seen many anglers over the course of his life, all kinds of weird guys (and sometimes gals). But nobody, nobody he could ever remember topped this woman which was now sitting on the jetty, clutching a fishing rod in her perfectly manicured hands. That he could still fathom. Female anglers weren't that rare.
But certainly not that she was trolling while being dressed in a spectacular, red evening gown and wearing dainty high heels instead of proper gumboots! And as if that wasn't strange enough, she wasn't even fishing seriously. Each time she caught a fish, she hauled it in, took the creature off the hook and then started anew.
Perhaps she wasn't just weird, but really crazy? Jeffrey shook his head in consternation. But she'd seemed like such a nice person when she'd purchased the permit earlier that day. He'd expected the woman to get it as a present for her boyfriend or husband for some kind of close ceremony, he'd certainly not expected a woman all dolled up for a party going back to her car and retrieving her fishing gear out of it. But that was what she'd done.
Slowly he made his way over to the woman now, looking around suspiciously. Was this perhaps some kind of candid camera? Were there any microphones hidden on his ground? But he couldn't spot anything untoward, and before he even knew how close he'd come to her, he stood next to the woman. By now, her beautiful gown was ruined, soiled in water and slime, but she didn't seem to care. Instead she hummed happily, twitching the fishing rod a bit to attract a catch.
"Um..." he hemmed. "Are... they biting...?"
The strange woman turned, looking at him out of dreamy eyes. "Oh, yeah... absolutely." She giggled. "I can't believe how well it's going today. I've already fished out a dozen or so. That's really amazing!"
"Aha..." Jeffrey waited for more, but apparently the woman didn't find it necessary to elaborate. "But... they weren't to your liking?" he asked finally as she didn't offer anything else.
Puzzled, she looked at him. "Not to my liking...? Oh no, they looked really healthy and strong. Why would you ask that?"
"Um... because you... didn't keep even a single on of them?" Jeffrey stuttered. Why would he ask this? Why was she boomeranging the question back to him? "You... put them into a lake again. All of them. And didn't kept a single one."
The woman laughed. "Oh, sure." she said and twinkled. "I wouldn't want to kill them.After all, I'm a vegetarian."
"A vege-?!?!" The owner of the pond had to choke at that seemingly paradox statement and it took a few moments until he had himself sufficiently under control again. "But why are you fishing then????" He blurted out incredulously.
This time, she didn't even look at him. "To spend some fishing time with my husband." she explained cheerfully and Jeffrey found himself ogling her. Then he slowly looked left. And right. Finally behind. Her husband? Where the hell was her husband supposed to be...? There was nobody here at the pond, besides her and him!
"Um, lady-" started cautiously, but the woman's excited scream interrupted him. "Look, I got another one!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, and sure enough, she hauled another fish out of the water. It wasn't a big one, but it would make a decent dinner. If one would mean to make some with the catch. Instead, just like before, she carefully removed the hook from the fish and then let it slip into the water again. Without missing a beat, she reached into a bucket full of bait she'd brought with her and removed a wriggling worm.
For a few seconds, she simply stared at the pinkish tube twisting between her hands, then she carefully speared it on the hook. Curiously, Jeffrey looked at it. He was always interested in new techniques to fish, and he'd never seen this specific species of bait before, it didn't look like any worm he knew. Pink and fleshy, sure, just like a generic... worm. Just not like anything he'd ever encountered. And somehow, the way how it wriggled looked different as well. Somehow... as if it was in agony. Which was preposterous, of course, since worms only had the most rudimentary nervous system and couldn't feel pain...
His fascination with this peculiar type of bait was cut short as the woman dangled the hook with the impaled and floundering worm in front of her grinning face. "There, a perfect bait. Shall we go again, honey?"
Again Jeffrey felt acutely uncomfortable. Clearly, the woman was crazy. She was actually speaking with someone who clearly didn't exist. She didn't seem to realize this, though, because next she cast the fishing rod with astonishing strength, sending the hook with bait flying into the pond. This woman was obviously was nuts, he decided, and he didn't want to be anywhere near anybody who'd clearly lost it. Who knew what crazy stuff she'd be up to once she grew tired of fishing? But since she'd payed and wasn't making a ruckus, he couldn't expel her from his grounds either. That... simply didn't feel right.
"Um, Lady..." he therefore asked again cautiously. "How long do you plan on fishing today?"
"Oh..." the woman looked towards the float, then down at her bucket of worms. "Until I run out of bait." she replied giggling. Jeffrey followed her stare. The bucket was still more than half full, crawling with these strange, pinkish worms. Emptying it would obviously take a while. A very long while.
Jeffrey gulped. "Alright, Ma'am." he stammered uncomfortable while already retreating from the aura of madness she seemed to spread. "Just... don't stay too long, it's supposed to become a really cold night..." But the woman already wasn't paying any attention anymore, and instead happily twitched her fishing rod, uncaring and unaware of the keeper of the pond racing down the jetty away from her as if he'd encountered a demon, trying to bring as much distance between them as possible.