TF (erasure)

There was a lot of screaming going on and, in Phil's opinion, not all of it was justified. Workplace accidents happened, even in home labs. It wasn't like anyone had died. And hey, had he asked his wife to
barge in with a complaint about a dripping tap in the bathroom? And had he said "Now honey, just walk into the middle of the
trans-dimensional phase-shift field?" No, he hadn't.

Of course, he didn't exactly say these things to Bonnie. She was, after all, the one doing the screaming.

"My legs! You disintegrated my legs!" she screeched, not for the first time.

Phil cast his eyes over his wife. Sure enough, there was nothing between her skirt and her shoes. "Oops," he muttered.

"Oops?!"

"Uh ... I'm sorry?"

"Sorry! Sorry! You bet your ass you're going to be sorry! You're going to be the sorriest excuse for a man who ever lived! I should have listened to my mother when she called you a ..." Bonnie trailled off and blinked. "Wait. If you disintegrated my legs, why aren't I falling over?"

Ah! Her logical nature was reasserting itself! That was good. He could work with that.

"That's just what I've been trying to tell you, honey," Phil leapt in. "Your legs haven't been disintegrated. They've simply been shifted out of phase with the rest of the universe."

"Oh, that makes me feel so much better," Bonnie said. Sarcasm was good too. At least she wasn't screaming.

Bonnie stared at the phase-shifter field. "That's what you've been doing down here? Your pet project is phase-shifting between
dimensions?"

"Uh-huh," Phil said proudly.

"Why?"

He blinked. "Why? Well ... science."

It sounded lame even as he said it.

Bonnie shook her head, with the hint of a smile around her mouth. "OK, let's talk turkey. My legs are out of phase with the world. Forever?"

"Forever? No, of course not." Phil frowned. "Do you really think I'd try to phase-shift something without a safety net? Any material that's been shifted or part-shifted will return to alignment with this world
in ... " he did some quick calculations "...27 hours."

"Twenty-seven hours?" Bonnie wailed. "I can't wait that long! I have to work tomorrow morning!"

"Well, there is another way."

"Great."

"You're not going to like it."

"Tell me anyway."

"I phase-shift the rest of you, then simply reverse the effect within the phase-shifter."

"You're right. I don't like it." She scowled. "But if I want to be in one part for work tomorrow, then I guess we'd better do it. What do I do?"

Phil was already resetting the phase-shifter for vertical alignment. "Just stand over against that wall. Oh, and honey? It would be easier if you were naked."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Bonnie sighed and began to strip. When she unhooked her skirt she gazed at the two stumps of her legs hanging in the air. She walked up and down for a bit, watching them in motion. Then she pulled her shirt off over her head and unbuttoned her bra.

She noticed Phil staring at her. "Oh my God, Phil, you're enjoying watching me take off my clothes!"

"Oh, come on, Bonnie. It's not like I've never seen you naked before." Phil blushed a little at being caught. "OK, stand up against the wall, and I'll begin the shift."

Bonnie's nerves jangled. "Will it hurt?"

"Not at all. The most you'll feel is a slight tickling sensation." Phil hoisted the phase-shifter and aimed it at his wife. "Which part
do you want me to shift first?"

"What? I thought you'd just do all of me!"

"No, I need to do a bit at a time. Same with reversing the field's effects."

"OK." She gulped. "How about my arm?"

"Fine. Just hold it out straight at your side." Phil set the controls, and aimed at Bonnie's left arm. A yellow beam enveloped her arm, which glowed for a second. And then suddenly it was gone.

"Hey, it does tickle!" Given the severity of her situation, it felt wrong to giggle, but Bonnie simply couldn't hold one back.

"Told you. OK, hold out your right arm, please." Phil used the shifter again, and his wife's remaining arm vanished.

This time Bonnie couldn't keep her laughter inside. "Oh God, I must look like the Venus de Milo!"

"That you do. Wanna check it out? There's a mirror over there."

Bonnie floated over to stare at her reflection in the full-length wall mirror. She wiggled the stumps of her arms. She felt oddly excited.
Maybe this was her brain's way of dealing with her body being limbless, she thought.

"Ready for the next stage?" Phil held the shifter up.

"Sure, go ahead. Shift my belly." Bonnie returned to her clear spot against the wall. This time she definitely felt the tickling as her body below her breasts glowed before vanishing. God, why did it feel so good?

"You can choose which bit you want me to shift next, your boobs or your head."

"I don't think I'm ready to have my head vanish yet. Why don't you do my breasts."

That tickling sensation was definitely getting stronger. In the brief moment between her breats being hit by the beam and them vanishing, she definitely felt her nipples getting hard.

Oh God, this isn't funny. I'm vanishing bit by bit. What's wrong with me? Why is it ... a turn-on?

She didn't voice these thoughts to her husband. Instead she simply said, "If you shifted my head, what would happen?"

"Well ... nothing. I mean, I wouldn't be able to see it, but I could still hear you, and you would still be able to see me. You'd still be
occupying the same physical space, just slightly out of alignment. Matter can't interact with you, but you can interact with matter."

"Well, that sounds confusing."

"Not at all. That's why your shoes and skirt acted like you still had legs, even though if I tried to touch them, I would have just felt
empty air."

Bonnie wasn't sure that made any sense at all. But what the hell. "OK, you might as well shift my head then, Phil."

"Sure thing." Phil aimed the shifter and watched as the glow took away the last remaining traces of his wife.

This time she couldn't restrain herself. "Who-oah!" Damn, it felt she was close to ... to ... that couldn't be possible. Could it? Well,
there was definitely a wave cresting ...

Oh God, she's in pain, Phil panicked. "Bonnie! Bonnie! Are you all right?"

"Am I all right?" Here it goes again. "Oh yeah, I'm fine, Phil! I just ... uh ... I need to go to the toilet! Right now! Be back in a minute!"

Phil watched as the door opened and closed by itself, slightly bewildered.

She'd started screaming again, but there didn't seem to be any anger in it.

*

Half an hour later, Bonnie was back. Or at least her voice was.

"So, keep talking, honey," Phil said. "I should be able to use the phase-shifter to bring you back to alignment."

"Really?" There was a brief silence. "Um, darling, I ... can I ask you for a favour?"

"Anything."

"Could I ... could I stay like this for a little while?"

*

Three hours later ...

"So, uh, should we do the restoration now?"

"Just another hour, honey."

*

"Want me to do it before bed?"

"That's OK, I thought I might sleep like this. It's ... very restful. Yeah. That's it."

*

"Hi Jillian, yeah, I won't be in today. No, I'm not all there."

"You're calling in sick?"

"Yeah! Hee hee! Not all there! Get it?"

*

Twenty-seven hours later ...

Phil must have been imagining the audible POP! he heard when Bonnie's legs came back to their proper dimensional alignment. He watched as over the next half an hour or so bits of his wife suddenly glowed back
into existence.

"How do you feel, honey?"

How did she feel? Like a cat with the cream. Bonnie sighed contentedly. "Oh my God, Phil, that was an experience and a half!"

"Again, sorry about the accident. Hey, I fixed the bathroom tap this morning."

"That's nice. You know, I wouldn't mind doing it again sometime."

"Really?"

"Sure. Maybe ... next weekend?"

Phil stared.

OK, chalk this one up as a win for science.