This is the introduction to my series “Reductive Fun”

“Emily, I’m home!” I dropped my keys by the mirror at the entrance, kicked off my shoes and strolled into the living room.

“Emily?” No response. ‘She must still be out’, I thought to myself, ‘probably having a stroll through the mall on her way home from work.’

The mall was already decorated for Christmas and we both found it quite relaxing to wander through the blinking and shining halls and grab some caramelised almonds or some mulled wine in our spare time.

I sighed slipped out of my coat and entered the bedroom to stow it away.

“Boo!!”

I recoiled in shock and squealed in terror, while a giggling Emily fell on my bed.

“You prick”, I gasped, though I was only half serious.

“Ooh, I got you, Ben. I got you good. That’s revenge for last Thursday”, she laughed.

I had thrown a bucket of ice water at her while she was showering in the morning.

“Fair play! I guess we’re even…” I trailed off, getting distracted by something. Something about Emily was different. I hadn’t noticed it before, when I was too busy being terrified. Emily’s right hand was missing. A few inches below her elbow, it ended in a round stump.

“Emily”, I asked, “what happened to your arm?”

“Uh, that? Yeah, I was about to tell you. I decided to get rid of it, at least for a while. What do you think?” She looked at me with a challenging expression.

“That is super odd. I mean…how?”

“I’ll get to that. I got off early from work today. Mr. Cauley is sick and put Dennis in charge. We had a slow day, so around noon, Dennis called Mr. Cauley and got permission to send us home at 3, provided the day stayed as slow, and that’s what happened.”

“That’s mighty kind of Mr. Cauley. Good thinking from Dennis as well”, I interjected.

Emily had been working for a medium sized insurance company for three years now and from what I’ve gathered over the almost two years of my relationship with Emily, Mr. Cauley was a gem of a boss.

“Yeah totally. I’m terribly lucky to have a boss like that. So, anyway, at three o’clock, I went to the mall with Dennis, Jenny, Hanna, and Tim. You know, to look around and grab a mulled wine and a bite to eat”, Emily continued. “Hanna noticed this new little niche store that was crammed between the bakery and the flower shop right by the east entrance.”

“I know where that is”, I said. “Sorry, continue.”

“There was a sign that said ‘Reductions here! Check out the newest tech in body modifications and stay trendy. Opening discount: 50% off for the first three reductions. Get your stamp card inside!’ We had no idea what ‘reductions’ could mean, so we decided to have a look. The others were hesitant, so I volunteered. They’ve got to have a permit to open a shop at the mall and start a business, right? So I figured it was bound to be safe.”

“Fair assumption”, I muttered.

“So they have this device. It looks a bit like those security body scanners at the airports. You stand inside and the operator selects a reduction and how long it should last, and then the machine ‘works its magic’ and you lose a limb. Or more. And after I was done without dying or screaming in agony, Tim got his foot removed at the ankle, Hanna gave up her left ring finger and pinky, and Jenny got her thumbs removed. Both of them.”

“Wait, so this really is temporary?” I was stunned. This really did sound interesting.

She giggled at gave me a shove with her stump. “Well, of course! Why on earth would I permanently cripple myself? No, this thing is recreational. My arm stays like this for a week. It’ll be back to normal next Friday, same goes for Tim, Hanna, and Jenny. Poor Tim could still walk on his stump, but had a terrible limp. So, do say, what do you think?”

I had to smirk. I had always found the idea of an imperfect body fascinating, especially of amputations. It was hard to wrap my head around what it would be like to be missing a limb, to not be able to do certain things, and to have this be the default… “I think you’re hella sexy like that”, I blurted out.

“You do?” Emily looked surprised.

“Yeah, I find it fascinating and you are a hottie anyway. This just makes you insanely hot and fascinating! How does it feel?”

She stopped for a second. “It feels… it’s hard to describe. I can kind of feel my hand, or where it was supposed to be, but whenever I try to move my wrist or my fingers, it just feels numb. As if it’s asleep. It’s super odd, but not uncomfortable. Getting used to only having half an arm is rough, though. I am right-handed, remember? I should’ve held out my other arm. I’m constantly trying to use that arm, to grab something with it or use my phone. Paying for the mulled wine and some gingerbread was way more challenging than I had imagined.”

“Oh yeah, I believe you! Can I see?” I nodded at her arm, which she immediately held out to me. It felt warm and mushy. There was no scar, no sign that there had ever been a hand. “This is awesome. How much did you pay?”

“It was super cheap, actually. The price is determined by how much is disappeared for how long. Entire limbs are more expensive than half limbs, legs more expensive than arms, and half limbs more expensive than just a hand, foot, finger, or toe. I paid €10 to get like this”, she said excitedly.

“What?? That’s not just cheap, that’s a cheap, even without the 50% discount”, I exclaimed.

“Right?? Oh, and look, they gave me this brochure. Apparently, they are working on getting these devices to private customers as well. They have an extensive catalogue, with sales beginning in January next year.” She struggled a bit to get her left hand to her right back-pocket of her pants and pulled out a slightly bent brochure, which she then handed to me.

I studied the brochure for a bit before I looked up again. “Wow! And look at these prices. €200 for a handheld vanisher, €800 for a full body version… That’s incredibly affordable. I know what I want for my birthday. This is amazing! You are amazing, Emily!” I moved in and gave her a long kiss.

“I’m glad you think so, Ben. Now, what do you say we get undressed, and you can see just how amazing I am?” She pulled her shirt over her head and adjusted her bra with her shortened limb. “We can go back to the mall so you can check out that store for yourself first thing tomorrow.”

I marvelled at her, smiled, and nodded. “You have a deal!”