Venn Partner
a
Trust Machines story
by
clancy688
"I'm coming..." Travis grumbled drowsily as he shuffled towards the door in his pajamas. He wondered who this was, at 7 am on a Saturday morning. Probably his twin sister Cheryl with whom he was sharing the apartment. This was just like her, stumbling home after a celebrated night, way too intoxicated to find the keyhole.
Both were still in high school, although in their final year, but their parents had decided that a bit of self-responsibility would be character-enhancing for their kids, not to mention to get two noisy teenagers out of their home. And the apartment they owned in town had been empty anyway, so why the hell not?
Cheryl had embraced the proposal enthusiastically. Finally being free from curfews? Heaven! And Travis had consented because he'd been well aware that his sister's inevitable and prolonged absence would give him enough undisturbed time to fully concentrate on his major goal of achieving a college place in engineering at a renowned university.
It was working so far, his sister was often away, partying or whatever she was doing, and he had all the undisturbed time he wanted to prepare for the acceptance tests. Although he sometimes had to basically roll a wrecked Cheryl into her bed. How she managed to get to the front door in her condition was one of the mysteries of life not even Travis could work out.
But as he opened the front door now, he found himself not facing his sister. Instead, their was a shapely female, somewhere in her mid twenties and dressed in formal attire.
"Um... hello?" he asked carefully. He was used to well dressed woman appearing on his doorstep on the most outrageous of times, but not to unrelated ones.
The woman, though, didn't seem to mind. "Hi!" she exclaimed cheerfully, conjuring forth a tight, black dress on a hanger. The garment would probably look spectacular on her body, but why she was showing the thing to him Travis had no idea. "You must be Cheryl's brother, yes? I'm here to return her, I wanted to change her back but I overslept, and I have to attend this stupid family celebration. I'm already running late, so could you please...?" Without waiting for his reaction, the woman shoved the dress into his hands.
"Tell your sister that I had a blast please!" she grinned and Travis' mind, honed by countless hours of self-study, offered an explanation for her crazy behavior.
"Wait..." he asked her irritated as she was already turning, "You're saying that this-" he pointed at the dress in his hands, "-is my sister Cheryl? Venned?"
The woman giggled. "Yeah. And she felt awesome. Don't worry, she should turn back somewhere around 10 am. Well then, I'm already running late. Bye!"
Startled, Travis watched the woman disappear. Of course he knew of Venn Machines, only that he'd never used one. As far as he was aware, girls were fairly crazy about them, but his classmates hardly used the things. Plus he spent much of his time on studying anytime, so the precious free time he had he used on biking, not on trying out some transformation stuff. His sister, though...
"Hm..." he murmured while closing the door and carrying the dress into the apartment. "So you're into Venning?" he mused. "I wouldn't have guessed. So that's why you're so often gone for many hours. You could have told me, you know?" The dress didn't answer, but he hadn't expected it to.
Chuckling, he put his sister's transformed shape onto her bed and then moved back to his room. He still had some sleep to catch and his sister wouldn't be around for another three hours anyway. Without missing a beat, he closed his room's door and fell into the bed again. Five minutes later, he was sound asleep.
****************************************
"Hey, Cheryl. Back as a member of the human race again?" Travis asked three hours later as his sister poked her head through the kitchen door. "Wanna have coffee? I have a pot ready."
"Yay, coffee!" Swiftly, Cheryl darted through the room, grabbing a beverage of the black elixir.
"Didn't know you were Venning." he said conversationally while she slurped the brew appreciatively. Cheryl raised a brow.
"What, I never told you? Hm... what were you thinking have I been doing when I was gone?"
Laughing, Travis shrugged. "Don't know? Partying?"
Cheryl giggled. "Well, partly correct. I was at parties. Mostly. So Linda dropped me off? The girl struck me as a bit unorganized, so I told her where to load me off if time would be running tight on her this morning."
"Linda, hm? Is she a friend of yours?"
"What?" Cheryl looked at him quizzically. "No, I met her only yesterday. I haven't known her before."
Travis nearly sputtered his scrambled eggs back on the table. Choking, he brought himself back under control. "You just met her? And let yourself being transformed into her dress? How could you be sure that she wouldn't change you into... crazy stuff?"
"Oh, no danger there." his sister explained happily. "We had a second from VP.com with us. He was watching. Standing guard, you know."
"VP.com?"
Startled, Cheryl regarded her twin. "You don't know Vennpartner.com? Wow, you don't get out that much, do you?"
Offended, Travis stared back. "I'm learning. To get into a good college, you know? Contrary to some other people at this table." he huffed.
Cheryl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You should just enjoy life a bit more. Okay, I'll show you. Just a sec."
Out of her robe's pocket, she produced her tablet PC and then tapped a few times on its surface. At last, she turned the gadget so that Travis could look on the screen as well. On it was a website displayed, it looked a little bit like a bittorrent tracker, with menus on the left and the right and a long list of entries of some kind running down the middle.
"Here, that's Vennpartner.com" Cheryl explained to her brother who listened with interest. "It's kinda similar to a dating website, only that it's for Venning and therefore temporary. People can put up requests for Venn changes and whoever's interested can reply back."
"So your acquaintance Linda put up a request for someone changing into a black dress and you took up the offer...?"
Cheryl giggled. "Yeah. Everybody has his own share of kinks when it's about using the Venn Machines. Linda likes wearing people when partying. And I like being worn as a dress." For a moment, she had a dreamy expression on her face. "It's the greatest feeling in the world... being only a piece of fabric, draped over another woman's body..."
Travis smiled courteously. "But why don't you ask your friends and classmates to change and wear you?" he asked and Cheryl snorted.
"Mostly because the only thing these are using the Venn Machines for is duels. I don't have any inclination to spend a day as a pair of shoes! Thank you very much." She shook her head in disgust. "Anyway, I'll tell you how Vennpartner.com works. Maybe there's something interesting for you in there, too?"
Travis laughed. "I don't think so. Venn Machines are cool but transforming isn't my thing. I'm happy with being myself."
Mischievously, his sister eyed him. "Well, my experience is different. Everybody has a fantasy somewhere. Many suppress it, out of fear of not being accepted. But that's exactly what Vennpartner.com is there for. To find people with whom you can live out those fantasies!"
Cheryl waited expectantly for a reply, but none came, Travis simply smiled back.
"Yeah, right." she snorted amused. "Then keep it to yourself. Anyway, here's Vennpartner.com 101. In the middle of the screen there's the list with all the requests, sorted by time. It's from all over the country, but of course you can filter." with one click, she opened a drop-down menu. "Free users can only filter for location and type of change. Premium users, such as myself, can use the internal search engine to specifically look for interesting requests."
Travis raised an eyebrow. "So you're paying money for this?"
"Only two bucks a month. Or fifteen a year. It's nothing, actually. But lets see... I'll enter my zipcode, tell the site to look only for change requests not further away than ten miles, add 'dress' as a keyword and voila..." With a final click, the site refreshed and filled with a number of search results. "Five search results for 'dress' in the vicinity. Let's take the first one..."
Curiously, Travis looked at the screen as it filled with information.
"Okay... gambier237 is looking for light summer dress to wear on a date with her boyfriend next Thursday. Change duration: 8 hours." Grinning, Cheryl looked at her brother. "You interested in becoming a pretty girl's dress for a day?"
Travis laughed. "No, I'm not. Are you?"
"I am. But I have volleyball practice that evening. Pity." With a click on the back button, Cheryl was back at the list of the search result. "Besides custom keywords like 'dress', each request has to be fitted with exactly one specialized keyword: Transgender, Body Enhancement, such as extra limbs, Animal, Anthro, Inanimate, Food and Other. And of course there are red- and black-flags. Red-flagged requests mean that there are sexual themes involved. And black is... crazy stuff."
"Crazy stuff?" Travis asked. "What do you mean?"
Cheryl sighed. "You know that people who have used Venn Machines can't die?"
Travis nodded. "Yeah, I've heard. So... wait! You don't mean...!"
His sister chuckled at his shocked face. "Bingo. There are always people who are living on the edge. Freeclimbers. Bungee Jumpers. Venn Machines now allow them to actually go over the edge. For a moment. Let's see..."
She clicked on something and the entire screen was filled with entries containing stylized black flags. "Gurley85 wants a volunteer to test his home-built guillotine. Black_Widow wants to mate with someone as spiders, which normally doesn't end well for the male spider. Hm, fitting nickname. Oh, that one's crazy: Power_Prankster_J is looking for someone to slaughter him as a chicken and then roast him."
Travis shuddered at the bizarre requests and was relieved when Cheryl returned to the main site. "Have you ever..."
"...done a black flag?" she completed his sentence and shook his head. "No, never. And I don't intend to. But becoming clothing isn't actually more crazy than doing... this stuff. It's simply another fantasy. If people want to do those things, they can go ahead. As long as they use Venn Machines." She gave him a crooked smile. "Or would you prefer them to walk around and kill people who are not Venned?"
Taken aback, Travis shook his head. "Um, no... actually not. So... VP.com is mainly for crazy changes?"
"Not mainly, but it's heavily used for this. What do you think would happen, for example, if you'd tell your friends that you'd want to become a condom and ask them if anyone would be happy to use you?"
"They'd probably run away screaming bloody murder." he answered with a snort and his sister nodded.
"Yeah. And that's why you can use VP.com to find people who would not run away screaming, without scaring away your friends. So..." Cheryl smirked at him. "But we're family. I won't run away by your secret transformation fetish. Just tell me what it is. Let me guess... you wanna be a tampon?"
For the second time this morning Travis nearly sputtered his breakfast back on the plate. "Ha-Hardly!" he coughed while trying his best to keep the food in his mouth. "I already told you!" he protested as he had himself under control again. "I don't have any transformation related fetish!"
Cheryl simply rolled her eyes. "And I already told you that everyone has at least one fantasy which can be fulfilled by using Venn Machines. Okay, let's just browse..."
Helplessly, Travis watched on as his sister refined the search terms. When she was rolling, there was hardly anything which could stop her, so he had to sit out his storm. Cheerfully, Cheryl started scrolling through the search results.
"I'm omitting anything blacklisted." she replied in a breezy voice. "I don't think you're the type who's into this shit. Because if you are, we have been roommates for the longest time."
"Thanks... I guess." Travis murmured sarcastically, but his sister was already scrolling through the results.
"Okay..." she started, studying the tablet. "I'm only looking for requests in the immediate vicinity and over the course of this weekend. Let's see... You into domination stuff? Here's someone who wants a French Maid, cleaning his apartment and doing other, um, chores. Interested?"
Disbelievingly, Travis ogled his sister. "Becoming a woman to be dominated by men? No thanks, I'm perfectly happy with being male!"
Cheryl pouted. "Pity. I think a female version of you would look quite cute in an apron, stockings and heels."
"Just look into the mirror if you want to see a female version of me. Have you forgotten, we are twins. A female version of me is you!"
"Oh!" For a moment, Cheryl looked thoughtful. "You're right there. Interesting. Haven't considered this. So you don't want to do transgender stuff? Changing sex? Trying out how the other side lives?"
"No, I'm happy as a male." Travis grumbled back.
"Riiight..." One quick click and a large number of entries disappeared from the list. But half of a frigging large list was still a large list. "Okay, animal stuff. You interested in sex as an animal? Here's a girl who wants a miniature bull to mate her as a miniature cow."
"Wouldn't that be sodomy?" Travis asked back exasperated, but an unfazed Cheryl shook her head.
"Nope, you'd both be animals. It would be perfectly natural. So that's a no?"
"Positive." Travis managed to squeeze out. Not that his sister was finished. Far from this.
"No sex with animals, either as a human or an animal, all right. I guess I can discard the Anthro stuff as well, then." Another bunch of entries disappeared. "Then there's, of course, the 'normal' animal stuff. Wanna become a pony for a child's birthday party? No? Then a cougar? Hm... maybe something strange? There are some people who are more interested in becoming creepy-crawly creatures. Okay, here's someone who wants to have an exotic tarantula as a pet over the weekend. Brrr... anyway, you interested?"
"NO!" Travis yelled horrified. "I don't want to become an animal. And certainly not a spider. Who'd want to change into a spider, anyway?"
"Oh, there are all kinds of people..." Another couple of dozen entries disappeared from the list. Unfortunately, there was still enough stuff and for the next five minutes, Cheryl bombarded him with all kinds of more or less strange requests. People who wanted other people to change into their underwear. Other people who wanted to become someone's underwear. People who wanted other people to become food, cakes, ice, etc. The list went on and on.
But finally, the results seemed to thin out, with only a few remaining.
"Okay..." Cheryl said. "So by now we've eliminated all the mainstream stuff. Actually, I expected that this would happen so now there's only the special stuff left, which doesn't really fit into popular categories. I'll simply read all the remaining entries out and you tell me whether one sounds interesting or not."
Travis sighed. "Fine." At least he'd be free then. All he had to do was brushing of any request his sister read out loud with a no.
"Ice statue for formal dinner?"
"No."
"Kite?"
"Like hell!"
"Life sized..." the list went on and on and almost automatically, Travis always replied with no. Until the routine managed to bite him into the ass.
"...for a ride over the weekend?"
"No... wait, what?"
Victoriously, his sister glanced up. "Ha!" she exclaimed and Travis got a sinking feeling in his stomach. He'd just fucked up. Once his sister smelled blood, she didn't let up. "I knew that there'd be something which would interest you!"
"No, I was simply surprised by the change!" he protested. "That sounds a bit too much to be possible. Did I hear you right, there's a request to change into motorbikes?"
Cheryl grinned back. "Yeah. A married couple, apparently. They want to do a motorcycle tour tomorrow and need bikes. And here it says that they have experience in using the Venn Machines to change people into motorcycles. Well, it's logical. You wanna become a mechanical engineer? Of course you'd be interested in becoming a complex machine!"
"I've never said this!" Travis objected vehemently. The only problem was - deep down inside he suddenly was curios how it would feel to be an engine. He had studied engines, had studied the math and physics, but actually experiencing when...
Unfortunately, his sudden thoughtfulness wasn't missed by Cheryl. "I knew it!" she exclaimed. "Then it's decided. I'll tell these two that you'll fulfill the request."
"WHAT?" Travis blurted out perplexed. Cheryl only smirked.
"What?" she asked smugly. "Have you anything planned for the weekend?"
"Actually, yes." he countered weakly. "I wanted to freshen up my math-"
"Okay, you have nothing planned at all. Thanks for making this clear."
Panic bubbled up in Travis' mind as Cheryl reached for the virtual keyboard. "But they need two bikes!" he put forth his final, desperate argument. "They need two people."
"Oh." Cheryl looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're right. Oh bother. Hm, what to do, what to do... I know!" her face brightened up. "I'll accompany you! I always wanted to use the Venn Machines together with you. And becoming a motorbike sounds cool."
Last layer of defense, broken. Pulverized. Travis sighed.
"Oh come on, please." he regarded his sister with a hopefully stern look. "You can't force me to do this. If you set this up and I'm not going, you'd be in trouble. Why do you want me to use the Venn Machines so much?"
Composed, Cheryl looked back, and suddenly, the mischievousness was gone from her face. Instead there was sobersidedness and... compassion?
"Let me ask you something else first." she abruptly changed the topic. "When was the last time when you were out in town. Meeting with friends, on a party, doing sports, you name it? And school doesn't count."
"What?" surprised, Travis contemplated this. "I don't know... Marc's birthday?"
"Quite possible." Cheryl replied. "But his birthday was in the middle of the winter holidays."
"And...?"
"And now we're fairly close to spring break." Cheryl sighed. "Really, Travis, I know that it's good that you're so focused on your goals, and I know that I'm really slacking off in these regards, but you're hardly going in front of the door. I only see you studying. And when you're not studying, you're relaxing by reading books. I guess that's still preferable to hanging in front of the television, but it's Not A Good Thing." Now there was sternness in her voice.
"College is important, but not important enough to keep yourself holed up in here. You need a change of pace. Seriously. Actually, I didn't plan bringing this up when I entered the kitchen, but now that the opportunity has prevented itself... I'll take it. It's something which needs to be said."
Taken aback by his sister's bluntness, Travis fumbled for the right words. Actually, she was right. He had barely left their home over the last few weeks. He had been immersed in studying or his books. But...
"And what does this have to do with using the Venn Machine?" he asked faintly and his sister smiled.
"You know, there are two main reasons for using Venn Machines." she explained. "The first is 'trust'. As soon as you enter a Venn Machine, you are at your partner's mercy. She can turn you into her ideal lover. Or she can turn you into a bug. Or even worse. So to enter a Venn Machine is a signal to your partner that you trust her, by giving her the ultimate control over your body. That's the reason why so many couples are playing with the Venn Machines. But there's another reason as well." Now she eyed him composedly.
"And that's to get a change of pace." she continued. "To become someone else, something else. Simply let go. Live a different life. When I'm a dress, I'm just a... dress. I'm being worn, I'm making my wearer look good. Nothing else matters."
"And you think that me using a Venn Machine would give me the change of pace you think I need?" Travis concluded and Cheryl nodded.
"Yes. Can you deny that you need such a change of pace?" Cheryl mustered his face intensely and suddenly, Travis realized, that she was right.
"No..." he said hoarsely. "I think you're right there. I see what you're hinting at. I've really living a withdrawn life for the past few weeks. Or months. And a part of me really wants to do something different for a change. But... physically changing? Transforming? Into stuff? Things? That's just... a bit too crazy." he shook his head. Gently, Cheryl laid his hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, come on." she cooed. "I'll be with you. Millions of people are doing it everyday. Just give it a try, now will you? Just this once. What's there to fear?"
"Yay, coffee!" Swiftly, Cheryl darted through the room, grabbing a beverage of the black elixir.
"Didn't know you were Venning." he said conversationally while she slurped the brew appreciatively. Cheryl raised a brow.
"What, I never told you? Hm... what were you thinking have I been doing when I was gone?"
Laughing, Travis shrugged. "Don't know? Partying?"
Cheryl giggled. "Well, partly correct. I was at parties. Mostly. So Linda dropped me off? The girl struck me as a bit unorganized, so I told her where to load me off if time would be running tight on her this morning."
"Linda, hm? Is she a friend of yours?"
"What?" Cheryl looked at him quizzically. "No, I met her only yesterday. I haven't known her before."
Travis nearly sputtered his scrambled eggs back on the table. Choking, he brought himself back under control. "You just met her? And let yourself being transformed into her dress? How could you be sure that she wouldn't change you into... crazy stuff?"
"Oh, no danger there." his sister explained happily. "We had a second from VP.com with us. He was watching. Standing guard, you know."
"VP.com?"
Startled, Cheryl regarded her twin. "You don't know Vennpartner.com? Wow, you don't get out that much, do you?"
Offended, Travis stared back. "I'm learning. To get into a good college, you know? Contrary to some other people at this table." he huffed.
Cheryl rolled her eyes. "Yeah, right. You should just enjoy life a bit more. Okay, I'll show you. Just a sec."
Out of her robe's pocket, she produced her tablet PC and then tapped a few times on its surface. At last, she turned the gadget so that Travis could look on the screen as well. On it was a website displayed, it looked a little bit like a bittorrent tracker, with menus on the left and the right and a long list of entries of some kind running down the middle.
"Here, that's Vennpartner.com" Cheryl explained to her brother who listened with interest. "It's kinda similar to a dating website, only that it's for Venning and therefore temporary. People can put up requests for Venn changes and whoever's interested can reply back."
"So your acquaintance Linda put up a request for someone changing into a black dress and you took up the offer...?"
Cheryl giggled. "Yeah. Everybody has his own share of kinks when it's about using the Venn Machines. Linda likes wearing people when partying. And I like being worn as a dress." For a moment, she had a dreamy expression on her face. "It's the greatest feeling in the world... being only a piece of fabric, draped over another woman's body..."
Travis smiled courteously. "But why don't you ask your friends and classmates to change and wear you?" he asked and Cheryl snorted.
"Mostly because the only thing these are using the Venn Machines for is duels. I don't have any inclination to spend a day as a pair of shoes! Thank you very much." She shook her head in disgust. "Anyway, I'll tell you how Vennpartner.com works. Maybe there's something interesting for you in there, too?"
Travis laughed. "I don't think so. Venn Machines are cool but transforming isn't my thing. I'm happy with being myself."
Mischievously, his sister eyed him. "Well, my experience is different. Everybody has a fantasy somewhere. Many suppress it, out of fear of not being accepted. But that's exactly what Vennpartner.com is there for. To find people with whom you can live out those fantasies!"
Cheryl waited expectantly for a reply, but none came, Travis simply smiled back.
"Yeah, right." she snorted amused. "Then keep it to yourself. Anyway, here's Vennpartner.com 101. In the middle of the screen there's the list with all the requests, sorted by time. It's from all over the country, but of course you can filter." with one click, she opened a drop-down menu. "Free users can only filter for location and type of change. Premium users, such as myself, can use the internal search engine to specifically look for interesting requests."
Travis raised an eyebrow. "So you're paying money for this?"
"Only two bucks a month. Or fifteen a year. It's nothing, actually. But lets see... I'll enter my zipcode, tell the site to look only for change requests not further away than ten miles, add 'dress' as a keyword and voila..." With a final click, the site refreshed and filled with a number of search results. "Five search results for 'dress' in the vicinity. Let's take the first one..."
Curiously, Travis looked at the screen as it filled with information.
"Okay... gambier237 is looking for light summer dress to wear on a date with her boyfriend next Thursday. Change duration: 8 hours." Grinning, Cheryl looked at her brother. "You interested in becoming a pretty girl's dress for a day?"
Travis laughed. "No, I'm not. Are you?"
"I am. But I have volleyball practice that evening. Pity." With a click on the back button, Cheryl was back at the list of the search result. "Besides custom keywords like 'dress', each request has to be fitted with exactly one specialized keyword: Transgender, Body Enhancement, such as extra limbs, Animal, Anthro, Inanimate, Food and Other. And of course there are red- and black-flags. Red-flagged requests mean that there are sexual themes involved. And black is... crazy stuff."
"Crazy stuff?" Travis asked. "What do you mean?"
Cheryl sighed. "You know that people who have used Venn Machines can't die?"
Travis nodded. "Yeah, I've heard. So... wait! You don't mean...!"
His sister chuckled at his shocked face. "Bingo. There are always people who are living on the edge. Freeclimbers. Bungee Jumpers. Venn Machines now allow them to actually go over the edge. For a moment. Let's see..."
She clicked on something and the entire screen was filled with entries containing stylized black flags. "Gurley85 wants a volunteer to test his home-built guillotine. Black_Widow wants to mate with someone as spiders, which normally doesn't end well for the male spider. Hm, fitting nickname. Oh, that one's crazy: Power_Prankster_J is looking for someone to slaughter him as a chicken and then roast him."
Travis shuddered at the bizarre requests and was relieved when Cheryl returned to the main site. "Have you ever..."
"...done a black flag?" she completed his sentence and shook his head. "No, never. And I don't intend to. But becoming clothing isn't actually more crazy than doing... this stuff. It's simply another fantasy. If people want to do those things, they can go ahead. As long as they use Venn Machines." She gave him a crooked smile. "Or would you prefer them to walk around and kill people who are not Venned?"
Taken aback, Travis shook his head. "Um, no... actually not. So... VP.com is mainly for crazy changes?"
"Not mainly, but it's heavily used for this. What do you think would happen, for example, if you'd tell your friends that you'd want to become a condom and ask them if anyone would be happy to use you?"
"They'd probably run away screaming bloody murder." he answered with a snort and his sister nodded.
"Yeah. And that's why you can use VP.com to find people who would not run away screaming, without scaring away your friends. So..." Cheryl smirked at him. "But we're family. I won't run away by your secret transformation fetish. Just tell me what it is. Let me guess... you wanna be a tampon?"
For the second time this morning Travis nearly sputtered his breakfast back on the plate. "Ha-Hardly!" he coughed while trying his best to keep the food in his mouth. "I already told you!" he protested as he had himself under control again. "I don't have any transformation related fetish!"
Cheryl simply rolled her eyes. "And I already told you that everyone has at least one fantasy which can be fulfilled by using Venn Machines. Okay, let's just browse..."
Helplessly, Travis watched on as his sister refined the search terms. When she was rolling, there was hardly anything which could stop her, so he had to sit out his storm. Cheerfully, Cheryl started scrolling through the search results.
"I'm omitting anything blacklisted." she replied in a breezy voice. "I don't think you're the type who's into this shit. Because if you are, we have been roommates for the longest time."
"Thanks... I guess." Travis murmured sarcastically, but his sister was already scrolling through the results.
"Okay..." she started, studying the tablet. "I'm only looking for requests in the immediate vicinity and over the course of this weekend. Let's see... You into domination stuff? Here's someone who wants a French Maid, cleaning his apartment and doing other, um, chores. Interested?"
Disbelievingly, Travis ogled his sister. "Becoming a woman to be dominated by men? No thanks, I'm perfectly happy with being male!"
Cheryl pouted. "Pity. I think a female version of you would look quite cute in an apron, stockings and heels."
"Just look into the mirror if you want to see a female version of me. Have you forgotten, we are twins. A female version of me is you!"
"Oh!" For a moment, Cheryl looked thoughtful. "You're right there. Interesting. Haven't considered this. So you don't want to do transgender stuff? Changing sex? Trying out how the other side lives?"
"No, I'm happy as a male." Travis grumbled back.
"Riiight..." One quick click and a large number of entries disappeared from the list. But half of a frigging large list was still a large list. "Okay, animal stuff. You interested in sex as an animal? Here's a girl who wants a miniature bull to mate her as a miniature cow."
"Wouldn't that be sodomy?" Travis asked back exasperated, but an unfazed Cheryl shook her head.
"Nope, you'd both be animals. It would be perfectly natural. So that's a no?"
"Positive." Travis managed to squeeze out. Not that his sister was finished. Far from this.
"No sex with animals, either as a human or an animal, all right. I guess I can discard the Anthro stuff as well, then." Another bunch of entries disappeared. "Then there's, of course, the 'normal' animal stuff. Wanna become a pony for a child's birthday party? No? Then a cougar? Hm... maybe something strange? There are some people who are more interested in becoming creepy-crawly creatures. Okay, here's someone who wants to have an exotic tarantula as a pet over the weekend. Brrr... anyway, you interested?"
"NO!" Travis yelled horrified. "I don't want to become an animal. And certainly not a spider. Who'd want to change into a spider, anyway?"
"Oh, there are all kinds of people..." Another couple of dozen entries disappeared from the list. Unfortunately, there was still enough stuff and for the next five minutes, Cheryl bombarded him with all kinds of more or less strange requests. People who wanted other people to change into their underwear. Other people who wanted to become someone's underwear. People who wanted other people to become food, cakes, ice, etc. The list went on and on.
But finally, the results seemed to thin out, with only a few remaining.
"Okay..." Cheryl said. "So by now we've eliminated all the mainstream stuff. Actually, I expected that this would happen so now there's only the special stuff left, which doesn't really fit into popular categories. I'll simply read all the remaining entries out and you tell me whether one sounds interesting or not."
Travis sighed. "Fine." At least he'd be free then. All he had to do was brushing of any request his sister read out loud with a no.
"Ice statue for formal dinner?"
"No."
"Kite?"
"Like hell!"
"Life sized..." the list went on and on and almost automatically, Travis always replied with no. Until the routine managed to bite him into the ass.
"...for a ride over the weekend?"
"No... wait, what?"
Victoriously, his sister glanced up. "Ha!" she exclaimed and Travis got a sinking feeling in his stomach. He'd just fucked up. Once his sister smelled blood, she didn't let up. "I knew that there'd be something which would interest you!"
"No, I was simply surprised by the change!" he protested. "That sounds a bit too much to be possible. Did I hear you right, there's a request to change into motorbikes?"
Cheryl grinned back. "Yeah. A married couple, apparently. They want to do a motorcycle tour tomorrow and need bikes. And here it says that they have experience in using the Venn Machines to change people into motorcycles. Well, it's logical. You wanna become a mechanical engineer? Of course you'd be interested in becoming a complex machine!"
"I've never said this!" Travis objected vehemently. The only problem was - deep down inside he suddenly was curios how it would feel to be an engine. He had studied engines, had studied the math and physics, but actually experiencing when...
Unfortunately, his sudden thoughtfulness wasn't missed by Cheryl. "I knew it!" she exclaimed. "Then it's decided. I'll tell these two that you'll fulfill the request."
"WHAT?" Travis blurted out perplexed. Cheryl only smirked.
"What?" she asked smugly. "Have you anything planned for the weekend?"
"Actually, yes." he countered weakly. "I wanted to freshen up my math-"
"Okay, you have nothing planned at all. Thanks for making this clear."
Panic bubbled up in Travis' mind as Cheryl reached for the virtual keyboard. "But they need two bikes!" he put forth his final, desperate argument. "They need two people."
"Oh." Cheryl looked thoughtful for a moment. "You're right. Oh bother. Hm, what to do, what to do... I know!" her face brightened up. "I'll accompany you! I always wanted to use the Venn Machines together with you. And becoming a motorbike sounds cool."
Last layer of defense, broken. Pulverized. Travis sighed.
"Oh come on, please." he regarded his sister with a hopefully stern look. "You can't force me to do this. If you set this up and I'm not going, you'd be in trouble. Why do you want me to use the Venn Machines so much?"
Composed, Cheryl looked back, and suddenly, the mischievousness was gone from her face. Instead there was sobersidedness and... compassion?
"Let me ask you something else first." she abruptly changed the topic. "When was the last time when you were out in town. Meeting with friends, on a party, doing sports, you name it? And school doesn't count."
"What?" surprised, Travis contemplated this. "I don't know... Marc's birthday?"
"Quite possible." Cheryl replied. "But his birthday was in the middle of the winter holidays."
"And...?"
"And now we're fairly close to spring break." Cheryl sighed. "Really, Travis, I know that it's good that you're so focused on your goals, and I know that I'm really slacking off in these regards, but you're hardly going in front of the door. I only see you studying. And when you're not studying, you're relaxing by reading books. I guess that's still preferable to hanging in front of the television, but it's Not A Good Thing." Now there was sternness in her voice.
"College is important, but not important enough to keep yourself holed up in here. You need a change of pace. Seriously. Actually, I didn't plan bringing this up when I entered the kitchen, but now that the opportunity has prevented itself... I'll take it. It's something which needs to be said."
Taken aback by his sister's bluntness, Travis fumbled for the right words. Actually, she was right. He had barely left their home over the last few weeks. He had been immersed in studying or his books. But...
"And what does this have to do with using the Venn Machine?" he asked faintly and his sister smiled.
"You know, there are two main reasons for using Venn Machines." she explained. "The first is 'trust'. As soon as you enter a Venn Machine, you are at your partner's mercy. She can turn you into her ideal lover. Or she can turn you into a bug. Or even worse. So to enter a Venn Machine is a signal to your partner that you trust her, by giving her the ultimate control over your body. That's the reason why so many couples are playing with the Venn Machines. But there's another reason as well." Now she eyed him composedly.
"And that's to get a change of pace." she continued. "To become someone else, something else. Simply let go. Live a different life. When I'm a dress, I'm just a... dress. I'm being worn, I'm making my wearer look good. Nothing else matters."
"And you think that me using a Venn Machine would give me the change of pace you think I need?" Travis concluded and Cheryl nodded.
"Yes. Can you deny that you need such a change of pace?" Cheryl mustered his face intensely and suddenly, Travis realized, that she was right.
"No..." he said hoarsely. "I think you're right there. I see what you're hinting at. I've really living a withdrawn life for the past few weeks. Or months. And a part of me really wants to do something different for a change. But... physically changing? Transforming? Into stuff? Things? That's just... a bit too crazy." he shook his head. Gently, Cheryl laid his hand on his shoulder.
"Oh, come on." she cooed. "I'll be with you. Millions of people are doing it everyday. Just give it a try, now will you? Just this once. What's there to fear?"
****************************************
What's there to fear? Travis contemplated the next morning while standing in front of the Venn Machine. Quite a lot! Losing my humanity, for example, to become a... thing. Why exactly did I agree again...?
But asking himself this question was a moot point by now. At least the couple who'd requested the change seemed to be quite nice. Actually, he'd expected a tattooed, heavyset biker and his blonde, elbow-eyecandy. Instead, Eric and his wife Wendy were a normal, middle-aged couple, Eric was working as a banker and Wendy was a lawyer.
Both were hobbyist bikers, but since their jobs didn't left them with much free time, they had sold their bikes which otherwise would have spent much of the time inside their garage. Instead they were using the Venn Machines to change each other into bikes for their infrequent tours. Now though, they wanted to do one tour again together, so they needed two volunteers to become their rides. Which meant Cheryl and him.
"I'm so excited!" Cheryl exclaimed now next to him, jumping up and down exuberantly. "I've been clothing en masse but never a vehicle!"
Wendy, who was standing next to her, chuckled. "Believe me, it's really a blast. I have always loved it when I've been the bike. So... you wanna start?"
"Sure!" his sister beamed and practically bounced into the Venn Machine while Wendy was following at a more leisure pace.
"Your sister looks like she regularly Venns." Eric chuckled after the booth had closed up on the two woman.
"Um, yeah, you could say that..." Travis replied, nervously eyeing the lazy spin of the Venn Machine's symbol on the wall. The other man squinted at the young man next to him.
"Contrary to you, huh?" he asked, waiting for an answer. "First time, hm?" He added after Travis stayed silent. "She made you do this?"
Travis blushed. "Yeah... I've never Venned, spent my last few months studying to get into a renowned college. And this was her idea of having me blow of some steam. Or rather gear up." He actually had to smile at his lame joke.
Eric laughed out loudly. "Oh my, first Venning into a bike. That's quite a leap. First time I got Venned Wendy simply gave me some abs. Took me a dozen times until I became something inanimate for the first time. But don't worry, it's a shitload of fun."
"Yeah..." The knots in Travis' stomach were still there, though.
"So you wanna get into college."
"Uh, what?"
"College, what kind of degree do you want to pursue. Just asking, changing your sister into a bike is gonna take some time, you know."
"Oh." Intellectually, Travis knew that Eric only wanted to make him comfortable, but he readily took up the question. "Yeah, Mechanical Engineering, in fact..." Soon, the two of them were chatting away, and much to Travis' relief he felt his apprehension fade away.
He'd almost forgotten why they were here, at least until he suddenly heard Wendy giggle behind him. "Having fun you two? I'm finished at last."
Travis whipped around, staring at Eric's wife and... the motorcycle she was pushing out of the Venn machine. His sister Cheryl.
The machine she had become was gleaming in the sunlight now, and she... it looked futuristic, like out of a Science Fiction movie. The bike definitely looked sleek and fast, but its design had an alien touch, and it definitely wasn't related to anything human-made.
Wondrously, Travis stepped closer. For a few seconds, he hesitated, then he put his hand on the smooth metal of the bike's body. "Wow, that's really her...?" He finally asked, scrutinizing the machine from every angle.
"In the flesh... or rather parts." Wendy chuckled, apparently amused by his amazement.
"But... there's no exhaust. And no chain. And where does the gas go?"
"Electro-mechanical drive. Batteries, instead of a tank. And a wheel hub motor, so no chain for force transmission necessary." Eric smiled at Travis' obvious surprise. "Yeah, we tried internal combustion engines, but... Venn Machines, or rather their products, are iffy. We never got our bike designs to properly work with gas or diesel. Or ethanol. Or whatever. Believe me, it's no fun being an engine which gets the wrong fuel."
His wife rolled her eyes at that statement. "Yeah, just like having the gripes. Not fun. So we rather went for the electrical path, and what can I say? It works. Besides, the acceleration is way better with electrical drives." She smirked.
"And how do you charge the bikes?"
"Oh, that's not necessary." Eric replied smugly. "The Venned bikes appear with a full charge. No idea how efficient those batteries are, but so far we never managed to get the gauges past the half mark."
"Gauges? Where?" By now, Travis had almost suppressed that this wasn't any normal machine, but actually his sister's transformed body. Instead, the aspiring engineer in him was gaping at this marvelous new toy in front of him.
"Oh right... let me switch her on." Grinning, Wendy flipped a switch and with a soft hum, the motorcycle roused to life. Its lights powered up and on its tiny windshield, a crystal clear heads-up display appeared. Curiously, Travis got closer. The symbols were alien and indecipherable, but the analog depictions were readily understandable, with three circles indicating what would probably be speed, RPM and battery load.
It was marvelous. And with a sinking feeling in his stomach, Travis realized that soon, he'd be this bike's companion. He swallowed. "Will I... look like this?"
"Like your sister?" Eric asked. "No. You will be Venned by me, not my wife. There will be differences, but it will be in the same ballpark. You will look similar. Now... shall we then?"
But asking himself this question was a moot point by now. At least the couple who'd requested the change seemed to be quite nice. Actually, he'd expected a tattooed, heavyset biker and his blonde, elbow-eyecandy. Instead, Eric and his wife Wendy were a normal, middle-aged couple, Eric was working as a banker and Wendy was a lawyer.
Both were hobbyist bikers, but since their jobs didn't left them with much free time, they had sold their bikes which otherwise would have spent much of the time inside their garage. Instead they were using the Venn Machines to change each other into bikes for their infrequent tours. Now though, they wanted to do one tour again together, so they needed two volunteers to become their rides. Which meant Cheryl and him.
"I'm so excited!" Cheryl exclaimed now next to him, jumping up and down exuberantly. "I've been clothing en masse but never a vehicle!"
Wendy, who was standing next to her, chuckled. "Believe me, it's really a blast. I have always loved it when I've been the bike. So... you wanna start?"
"Sure!" his sister beamed and practically bounced into the Venn Machine while Wendy was following at a more leisure pace.
"Your sister looks like she regularly Venns." Eric chuckled after the booth had closed up on the two woman.
"Um, yeah, you could say that..." Travis replied, nervously eyeing the lazy spin of the Venn Machine's symbol on the wall. The other man squinted at the young man next to him.
"Contrary to you, huh?" he asked, waiting for an answer. "First time, hm?" He added after Travis stayed silent. "She made you do this?"
Travis blushed. "Yeah... I've never Venned, spent my last few months studying to get into a renowned college. And this was her idea of having me blow of some steam. Or rather gear up." He actually had to smile at his lame joke.
Eric laughed out loudly. "Oh my, first Venning into a bike. That's quite a leap. First time I got Venned Wendy simply gave me some abs. Took me a dozen times until I became something inanimate for the first time. But don't worry, it's a shitload of fun."
"Yeah..." The knots in Travis' stomach were still there, though.
"So you wanna get into college."
"Uh, what?"
"College, what kind of degree do you want to pursue. Just asking, changing your sister into a bike is gonna take some time, you know."
"Oh." Intellectually, Travis knew that Eric only wanted to make him comfortable, but he readily took up the question. "Yeah, Mechanical Engineering, in fact..." Soon, the two of them were chatting away, and much to Travis' relief he felt his apprehension fade away.
He'd almost forgotten why they were here, at least until he suddenly heard Wendy giggle behind him. "Having fun you two? I'm finished at last."
Travis whipped around, staring at Eric's wife and... the motorcycle she was pushing out of the Venn machine. His sister Cheryl.
The machine she had become was gleaming in the sunlight now, and she... it looked futuristic, like out of a Science Fiction movie. The bike definitely looked sleek and fast, but its design had an alien touch, and it definitely wasn't related to anything human-made.
Wondrously, Travis stepped closer. For a few seconds, he hesitated, then he put his hand on the smooth metal of the bike's body. "Wow, that's really her...?" He finally asked, scrutinizing the machine from every angle.
"In the flesh... or rather parts." Wendy chuckled, apparently amused by his amazement.
"But... there's no exhaust. And no chain. And where does the gas go?"
"Electro-mechanical drive. Batteries, instead of a tank. And a wheel hub motor, so no chain for force transmission necessary." Eric smiled at Travis' obvious surprise. "Yeah, we tried internal combustion engines, but... Venn Machines, or rather their products, are iffy. We never got our bike designs to properly work with gas or diesel. Or ethanol. Or whatever. Believe me, it's no fun being an engine which gets the wrong fuel."
His wife rolled her eyes at that statement. "Yeah, just like having the gripes. Not fun. So we rather went for the electrical path, and what can I say? It works. Besides, the acceleration is way better with electrical drives." She smirked.
"And how do you charge the bikes?"
"Oh, that's not necessary." Eric replied smugly. "The Venned bikes appear with a full charge. No idea how efficient those batteries are, but so far we never managed to get the gauges past the half mark."
"Gauges? Where?" By now, Travis had almost suppressed that this wasn't any normal machine, but actually his sister's transformed body. Instead, the aspiring engineer in him was gaping at this marvelous new toy in front of him.
"Oh right... let me switch her on." Grinning, Wendy flipped a switch and with a soft hum, the motorcycle roused to life. Its lights powered up and on its tiny windshield, a crystal clear heads-up display appeared. Curiously, Travis got closer. The symbols were alien and indecipherable, but the analog depictions were readily understandable, with three circles indicating what would probably be speed, RPM and battery load.
It was marvelous. And with a sinking feeling in his stomach, Travis realized that soon, he'd be this bike's companion. He swallowed. "Will I... look like this?"
"Like your sister?" Eric asked. "No. You will be Venned by me, not my wife. There will be differences, but it will be in the same ballpark. You will look similar. Now... shall we then?"
****************************************
"Believe me, you got nothing to fear." Eric said in a soothing voice. He'd spent the last ten minutes murmuring commands to his side of the interface, which had left Travis on his side lots of time for worrying. "Being a bike feels awesome, no worries."
"Yeah..." Travis said, feeling miserably. The elation of seeing this sleek, alien machine was gone, the doubts back in force. He was not ready for this, how could he have agreed to this insanity?
"Are you ready then?" The question hit him unprepared. He actually wanted to scream that he was not, but instead, he simply closed his eyes.
"Yes." Travis lied. He really didn't want to chicken out at the last moment and-
Everything changed. The hollow feeling in his stomach was gone. Along with a lot of other feelings. In fact, he wasn't even breathing anymore, wasn't feeling any of the slight movements which were normal in having a body. His sight was gone, too, just like his hearing. But much to his surprise, he didn't panic.
Instead, he simply waited. Patiently. By now, he'd realized how different his new body was. Few soft portions, except for the rubber of his wheels or the cushion for his driver. Lots of metal instead, hard and unyielding, but also flexible in parts. There was power, too... he could feel it, only an hairsbreadth away, but for some reason, he felt no incentive at all to call upon it.
Suddenly, something, somebody grabbed his... handlebars and pushed him, his wheels faithfully turning. Eric probably, pushing his new bike into the open. Travis still couldn't believe how calm he was, compared to before, and how patient. He was waiting for something, but he didn't know what exactly, in fact-
The switch of his ignition hit him without warning, and yet there was no delay in his reaction. It was what he'd unknowingly been waiting for. Circuits closed and brought his internal electronics up, system check programs started up in his mind and executed flawlessly, prompting him to activate further subsystems within time spans normally way too short to be recognized by humans, and yet readily recognizable to him.
Travis uncoiled a complex choreography of sequences completely unknown to him with inhuman precision. He energized his motor, did a systems check of his sensors, painted the HUD, warmed up the battery... and then he waited. For further commands.
A distant part of his mind recoiled a bit at the realization that he'd, in fact, not become a powerless passenger inside a machine, but the machine itself, incapable of independent action and instead slavishly waiting for inputs. But only for a short time. Then all of himself relaxed, giving into the realization that for the first time in months, he was freed from responsibility. For himself, his studies, his future...
Travis felt the pressure, as his rider sat down on his cushion, recognized the tiny offset the additional weight had infused on his wheel's shock dampeners and adjusted them accordingly. There had never been any question about doing or not doing the adjustment. No decision whatsoever. It was beautiful.
And then, Eric's hand reached for the throttle, unleashing Travis' power for the first time. Dutifully, he processed his rider's commands in milliseconds, drawing power from his battery and routing to his driven wheel. It was only a fraction of what he was capable of, but it was enough to reach considerable speed nonetheless and Eric cranked back, only giving enough power to keep their current speed.
Not that Travis would have cared. He'd faithfully execute any of his rider's commands, without any hesitation. Because this was what he'd been changed into, at least for the next 16 hours.
By now, his speed was high enough for additional sensor to become activate, giving him... well, not exactly sight of his surroundings, but awareness. There was some sort of lane assist feature which tracked his location on the road. He knew that he'd gently nudge his rider to counteract if he'd stray too far from the racing line, but so far Eric was smack in the middle of the lane, so there was nothing for Travis to do. Additionally, a forward-facing radar, an emergency braking device, had detected an object, classified as a motorbike, in front of him, probably his transformed sister, but his algorithms didn't sense any danger here as well.
So instead, Travis just cruised along, his robotified brain governing the myriad of mechanical systems which made up his body and reacting to any control inputs as efficiently as slavishly.
He realized that his human self would probably have been horrified at the thought of becoming nothing more than a dutiful robot, completely incapable of independent action. The stark opposite of what he wanted to achieve in his life. But right now, he didn't care. The absence of any need for making decisions felt like the best relaxation he'd ever experienced.
Just for tonight, I'm gonna let myself be driven... to wherever Eric and Wendy want us to go. He thought while flawlessly executing Eric's speeding through a tight corner, engaging his braking system right when prompted to. I hate to admit it to you, dear sister... but this really was a change of pace I desperately needed... and I really hope that you have just as much fun as I do.
"Yeah..." Travis said, feeling miserably. The elation of seeing this sleek, alien machine was gone, the doubts back in force. He was not ready for this, how could he have agreed to this insanity?
"Are you ready then?" The question hit him unprepared. He actually wanted to scream that he was not, but instead, he simply closed his eyes.
"Yes." Travis lied. He really didn't want to chicken out at the last moment and-
Everything changed. The hollow feeling in his stomach was gone. Along with a lot of other feelings. In fact, he wasn't even breathing anymore, wasn't feeling any of the slight movements which were normal in having a body. His sight was gone, too, just like his hearing. But much to his surprise, he didn't panic.
Instead, he simply waited. Patiently. By now, he'd realized how different his new body was. Few soft portions, except for the rubber of his wheels or the cushion for his driver. Lots of metal instead, hard and unyielding, but also flexible in parts. There was power, too... he could feel it, only an hairsbreadth away, but for some reason, he felt no incentive at all to call upon it.
Suddenly, something, somebody grabbed his... handlebars and pushed him, his wheels faithfully turning. Eric probably, pushing his new bike into the open. Travis still couldn't believe how calm he was, compared to before, and how patient. He was waiting for something, but he didn't know what exactly, in fact-
The switch of his ignition hit him without warning, and yet there was no delay in his reaction. It was what he'd unknowingly been waiting for. Circuits closed and brought his internal electronics up, system check programs started up in his mind and executed flawlessly, prompting him to activate further subsystems within time spans normally way too short to be recognized by humans, and yet readily recognizable to him.
Travis uncoiled a complex choreography of sequences completely unknown to him with inhuman precision. He energized his motor, did a systems check of his sensors, painted the HUD, warmed up the battery... and then he waited. For further commands.
A distant part of his mind recoiled a bit at the realization that he'd, in fact, not become a powerless passenger inside a machine, but the machine itself, incapable of independent action and instead slavishly waiting for inputs. But only for a short time. Then all of himself relaxed, giving into the realization that for the first time in months, he was freed from responsibility. For himself, his studies, his future...
Travis felt the pressure, as his rider sat down on his cushion, recognized the tiny offset the additional weight had infused on his wheel's shock dampeners and adjusted them accordingly. There had never been any question about doing or not doing the adjustment. No decision whatsoever. It was beautiful.
And then, Eric's hand reached for the throttle, unleashing Travis' power for the first time. Dutifully, he processed his rider's commands in milliseconds, drawing power from his battery and routing to his driven wheel. It was only a fraction of what he was capable of, but it was enough to reach considerable speed nonetheless and Eric cranked back, only giving enough power to keep their current speed.
Not that Travis would have cared. He'd faithfully execute any of his rider's commands, without any hesitation. Because this was what he'd been changed into, at least for the next 16 hours.
By now, his speed was high enough for additional sensor to become activate, giving him... well, not exactly sight of his surroundings, but awareness. There was some sort of lane assist feature which tracked his location on the road. He knew that he'd gently nudge his rider to counteract if he'd stray too far from the racing line, but so far Eric was smack in the middle of the lane, so there was nothing for Travis to do. Additionally, a forward-facing radar, an emergency braking device, had detected an object, classified as a motorbike, in front of him, probably his transformed sister, but his algorithms didn't sense any danger here as well.
So instead, Travis just cruised along, his robotified brain governing the myriad of mechanical systems which made up his body and reacting to any control inputs as efficiently as slavishly.
He realized that his human self would probably have been horrified at the thought of becoming nothing more than a dutiful robot, completely incapable of independent action. The stark opposite of what he wanted to achieve in his life. But right now, he didn't care. The absence of any need for making decisions felt like the best relaxation he'd ever experienced.
Just for tonight, I'm gonna let myself be driven... to wherever Eric and Wendy want us to go. He thought while flawlessly executing Eric's speeding through a tight corner, engaging his braking system right when prompted to. I hate to admit it to you, dear sister... but this really was a change of pace I desperately needed... and I really hope that you have just as much fun as I do.