TF (twinning, shrinking, melting)
No sooner had Jake let himself into his apartment than he collapsed on the sofa. Ten pm?! How had it got to be 10pm??? He was exhausted.
Where did the time go? Up at 5am to make the yoga class with his girlfriend Maya, then a breakfast meeting with a client, then work, then dinner with his girlfriend, then the gym. He felt like he’d been shoved into a big tube at the crack of dawn, only to be spat out at the end of the day.
He sighed, got up and pulled his laptop out of his bag. He was going to head to bed, but first, maybe there was something short he could watch on Netflix? Something that would be his, something that would carve out a little bit of me time?
If only there could be two of him.
Which is when a little voice in his head whispered “well, actually …”
A couple of years ago he’d gone out with this girl called Daisy. They’d been immediately attracted to each other, and spent a good couple of months having almost constant sex. (Ah, those were the days, when he was just a junior at the marketing agency, with plenty of spare time — evenings! weekends! — at his command.)
Jake and Daisy had turned out to have little in common apart from being sexually compatible, and inevitably they’d broken up, although they’d stayed on good terms. But Jake remembered one Saturday afternoon as they lay in bed, how they’d somehow got into a conversation about the kinkiest things they’d ever done. He’d talked about having sex in a change room at H&M with an ex.
And Daisy had said, “I turned into a cloud.”
Jake had laughed before he realised that she was deadly serious.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“But … you know … really? How?”
And Daisy grinned and said, “Have you ever heard of Goo Labs?”
She explained how she had this friend who was into melting. Apparently this Goo Labs was a place online you could order weird serums that transformed you …
“Into goo?”
“Not just that,” Daisy said. “They can turn you into a lot of other things. Shrinking, invisibility, making two of you. But yeah, the goo’s a part of it.”
“Wow. What happened?”
A dreamy look came into Daisy’s face. “Well, my friend had ordered this evaporation serum, and she wanted to take it with someone. She asked me. We melted into puddles, and then the puddles became steam, and the steam became clouds.”
“And you did … what?”
“Floated about for a couple of hours. All through her house. We eventually became one big cloud, and we were kind of mixed up together, so we were like one mind. And then we rained.”
“You rained?”
Daisy smiled at the memory of it. “Uh-huh. And the rain became puddles, and then the puddles changed back into us.”
“Wow. That sounds like an incredible experience.”
“You have no idea. No idea at all.” Daisy laughed. “It was the most sexual thing I’ve ever done.”
“Really? Even better than … this?”
“Well, yeah.” She kissed him gently. “But don’t stop doing that, okay?”
They’d split up a week or so after that. Jake missed the sex. Not that his current girlfriend was any slouch, it was just finding the time …
Daisy had said something about making two of you.
Wait, what was that company called again?
Jake flipped open his laptop and opened a browser. He typed “Goo Labs” into the field and pressed return.
No hits. Maybe it had all been some fantasy of Daisy’s.
Or maybe it just didn’t show up in a search engine.
Carefully, Jake typed “www.goolabs.com” into the browser field.
No hits.
Or maybe “www.goolabs.net?”
Jake typed again and hit return.
Bingo! There it was.
“Welcome to Goo Labs!” its front page read. “We offer a range of transforming potions, serums and pills. Click on the transformation you require and meet a whole new you!”
At the side of the page was a picture of what appeared to be a bubble in a vaguely female shape. Copy underneath read: “Summer specials! Find out what our number one guinea pig Emily is turning into this season!”
Jake went exploring, fascinated at the different categories. He couldn’t decide whether this was all an elaborate hoax or real. Ah! Here we go! “Twinning/duplicating!”
There it was. “Not enough hours in the day? Make more of you! Share the load with a duplicate of yourself, then recombine at the end of the day or week or even month. Available in butterscotch or cherry flavour.”
And the price? Hmmm. The marketing manager in Jake considered. Not cheap, certainly, expensive enough for you to know they meant business, but not so expensive that it screamed “scam”.
Something stirred inside him. Wow, he really wanted to try this. And if it wasn’t real, well, he’d certainly have a fun story to tell someone. (Not Maya. She’d just accuse him of wasting money. Well, so be it. What was the point of working so hard if you couldn’t waste a little money once in a while?)
Jake clicked on the twinning package. After a moment’s thought he selected “butterscotch”. He clicked on the Paypal option and filled in his address.
“Thanks for ordering with Goo Labs! Your order should be delivered within seven days.”
Okay, he’d see whether this thing was real or not.
*
It was real.
A week later, Jake was ready to turn in for an early night, having blown off his gym workout, when there was a knock at the door. There stood a pretty woman in a cap and T-shirt emblazoned with the name of a courier service he’d never heard of.
“Hey there, Jake! Special delivery for you. Just sign here.” In exchange for his scrawl, she thrust a parcel at him. “Have fun!”
“You’re working late,” Jake said. She grew serious for just a second.
“Goo Labs never sleeps,” she said, before giggling. “See ya!”
And there he was, alone with his parcel.
With anticipation, Jake tore open the parcel. Inside was a set of 10 little vials and a bottle of blue pills. There was a thick booklet too, and a note.
Jake opened the note. “Thanks for choosing Goo Labs! As a first-time user of our products, we ask that you read the instructions very carefully before use. We’re sure you’ll be pleased with your serum, so we have a special offer for you. With your second order will you receive a FREE liquifying serum. We’d also appreciate feedback on our potions as we strive for a better gooey experience. Your pals at Goo Labs.’’
Okay, if this was a scam it was the most elaborate one he’d ever heard of.
Thoughts of an early night had vanished. Jake picked up the instructions and read them thoroughly. He’d paused at one point. “Remember to take the blue pill before using the serum. The blue pill ensures you and your duplicate will be your usual mass. Failure to take the blue pill will result in each duplicate halving in mass.”
So, Jake mused, if he made two of him he’d be half of this original size and height. Make four of him, and each would be a quarter. God. How weird would that be?
How many duplicates could he make, anyway? Well, it didn’t really matter, since he was only going to make one.
He stared at the contents of the package. Then he flipped to the end of the instructions. “For best results, use while naked, remembering to remove any jewellery and spectacles.”
Okay, he’d bite. Jake began to strip, feeling a little self-conscious as he got naked. A thought struck him and he picked up the parcel and made for the bathroom. He had a full-length mirror in there, and if this stuff could do what it claimed, he definitely wanted to see it.
He hesitated a second, with the blue pill in his fingers. Was he crazy? Was he really going to take some unknown chemical he’d ordered online from some crazy website?
Fuck it. He was.
Jake tossed the blue pill into his mouth, then cupped his hands under the tap, swallowing it with water. Okay, no immediate nasty effects. He uncorked one of the vials and brought it to his lips.
Mmm! It really was butterscotch flavoured! He congratulated himself on not ordering the cherry flavour. Way too much like cough syrup.
Okay, he’d taken it. Now what?
Now a tingle that seemed to start off in his toes and quickly spread to the rest of his body.
As Jake stared in the mirror, his face grew pale. For a second he panicked. Then he saw it wasn’t just growing pale, it was growing transparent. So was the rest of him.
He stared at the mirror, looking straight through himself. Wait. Where were his organs? His bones? His brain??? He couldn’t really be turning into some kind of jelly … could he?
And then he began to melt.
Jake realised too late that he’d kind of skipped over the whole “melting” thing. He’d been concentrating on the duplicating. But oh God, he was losing shape, turning into the human version of a guttering candle, and it was …
Well, actually it was kind of cool.
And sensual. Did he mention sensual? It was as if all his nerves were tingling with pleasure, like when an orgasm was building. Oh wait, did he even have nerves anymore? Whatever.
Jake giggled at the sight of his legs melting together as a puddle spread out under him. Fuck, this was amazing! His head was now bullet-shaped as his chin fused with his neck. He looked down just in time to see his penis elongate and drip into his puddle. Down, down, down he went, his arms joining with his torso, and he dwindled down until he could feel his head spread in all directions …
And he was a puddle of goo, two eyes and a mouth floating in it, shapeless and formless.
God, it felt amazing. He totally got the whole goo thing now.
But already he could feel the puddle that was him beginning to separate, like some huge amoeba dividing itself into two. Another pool of goo was forming out of half of him. When it finally separated from him he realised he could no longer feel that other puddle.
But wait, what was happening now? It felt like the reverse of the melting process, as the puddle he was began to grow, get harder, and he realised he was reforming himself.
And right next to him, another him was doing the same thing.
Once Jake had returned to his usual self, it took him a moment to find his voice. He checked to see he was no longer looking in a mirror.
“Well,” he said carefully. “I guess it worked.”
The other Jake smiled at him. “I gotta say, I had my doubts right up till the melting started.”
“Phew. Wasn’t that something.”
“Definitely want to do that again.”
Silence.
“So …”
“The plan?”
“Uh-huh. One of us takes the morning shift — 5am until 2pm, say. We meet at lunch, then we swap.”
“Oops. Bad plan. We can’t meet in public.”
“I guess you’re right. So, I’ll leave work at two, say I’m getting a cup of coffee, and you take over.”
The other Jake nodded. “So, maybe we should rename ourselves?”
“Huh?”
“Avoid confusion.”
“Okay. So, um, I guess I’m Jake-1 and you’re Jake-2.”
His double frowned. “Uh, doesn’t calling me two imply inferiority? Like you’re superior to me?”
“I guess you’re right. I see the point.”
“Well, of course you do. You’re me!”
“How about I be Jake Red and you be Jake Blue? Remember that old Superman story?”
“How could I forget? One of the classics! But look, man, it’s getting late and I’ve — you’ve — got to get up early.”
“You’re right. Let’s go make up the bed in the guest room for you.”
“Thanks, man, appreciate it. You don’t mind if I catch up with Game of Thrones, do you?”
“Not as long as you keep it down, I guess. I mean, we’ll remerge together and we’ll have the same memories.”
“Cool!”
As the two Jakes turned to leave it struck Jake-Red he’d been standing in a bathroom with a naked man, even if it was himself.
*
It was a perfect day.
Jake-Red got up early and met Maya. They did their yoga class together, had a quick bite to eat, a quick kiss, and he left for work. He got the presentation he was going to give that afternoon ready. By two he was starting to yawn, and made his exit, saying he was going out for coffee.
Once out, he ducked behind the building. He could see someone crossing the street, in jeans and a shirt very similar to the one he was wearing.
It was him.
He watched Jake-Blue as he strolled into the building, coffee in hand. Good man.
Jake-Red went home and had a nice long nap. About seven, he got up, had something to eat, played some Xbox.
He was getting ready for bed when he heard a quiet knock at the door.
“If we’re going to keep doing this, we’ve got to get another set of keys,” Jake-Blue said.
“I’ll get onto it tomorrow. How did the presentation go?”
Jake-Blue grinned. “Fabulous. That biscuit company is in. We’ve got the whole campaign!”
“Great! And how’s Maya tonight?”
That grin grew even broader. “Wow. I don’t know what you said to her this morning, but she was really in a great mood.”
“Ha! I bet she’s just happy I was still awake. I dozed off on her the other night, you know. Wait, stupid of me. Of course you know.”
“Yeah, I was there. So, you want to recombine?”
Jake-Red hesitated. It had been so great to just have time, to not be in an unholy rush. “I tell you what, man, it’s Wednesday. How about we do it Friday night? Just in time for the weekend?”
“Sounds good to me. Oh hey, did you see I restocked the fridge with beer?”
“Oh yeah, thanks for that! I was absolutely planning on doing that. I had it in mind.”
“I know.”
*
Saturday afternoon.
“This is nice,” Maya said, stretching out in the bed beside Jake.
“I’ll say,” he said. They’d just had some very loving sex.
Maya rested her head on Jake’s chest. “The past few days have been nice too.”
“Absolutely.”
“I have to say, I felt like you’d been distracted the past few weeks. I know you’ve been working on that marketing campaign for that biscuit brand, and I’m really happy you got it, but it felt a little like you were always exhausted.”
Well, that’s because I was, Jake felt but did not say. Instead he said, “I’ve been trying something to help me plan my time better. Help me chill.”
Maya giggled. “Well, it certainly seems to be working! I feel very close to you right now. Want to go out for dinner later?”
“Sure!”
“Oh but, didn’t you say you had a brief to do on the weekend?”
“I’ll do it tomorrow,” Jake said dismissively.
When there’s two of me and doing it will take half the time.
*
Having two of you around was actually pretty easy, Jake realised. Quickly he’d slipped into a routine. Late Sunday afternoon he’d take some of the serum, melt and divide into two. One of him would be designated Jake-Blue and one Jake-Red. They’d split the week into morning and evening shifts. Typically they’d rotate, just like they rotated who got the big bed in the main bedroom and who got the single bed in the guest bedroom. Friday night, they’d recombine, catching up with all the memories the other had.
Now that he wasn’t actually in the office for many, many hours, Jake realised just how much he enjoyed his job. And being around Maya was great too. A fully-rested Jake could pay special attention to her. They got into the habit of having breakfast together after yoga; and if Maya made some special comments or request, Jake got into the habit of letting his other self know so he could be prepared for an evening visit.
To tell the truth, some of the best times Jake had was sitting around with himself, just talking, offering ideas for work or laughing together. They never disagreed on anything; how could they? In some ways it was like having a twin brother, except even closer.
Jake-Blue found the Goo Labs website and put in his order for a second batch of the serum, Jake-Red grinning over his shoulder.
It was great while it lasted.
Inevitably though, Maya found out.
*
Jake-Blue was taking Maya to the movies, so Jake-Red had the afternoon off. He did a bit of shopping, had coffee in the park, before getting back to the apartment and letting himself in.
It was just too bad his phone had died, as he never saw the warning text that the movie had been full, and Jake-Red and Maya were back at the apartment.
It was even worse that Maya had Jake-Red so occupied that he didn’t hear the key in the door before it was too late.
When Jake-Blue walked into the living room, where Jake-Red and Maya were kissing on the sofa, Maya, to her credit, didn’t freak at all. All she said, in a loud clear voice, was “what the hell is going on?”
“I can explain!” both Jakes said together. “What happened was-“
“Hang on. One at a time.” Maya pointed at Jake-Red. “You first.”
*
“Okay, let me get this straight. So you say you’ve been taking some magic potion that makes you two people?” Maya said.
“Uh-huh,” Jake-Red said. Jake-Blue nodded in agreement. By now they were all sitting on the sofa together.
“And you’re not actually Jake’s evil twin brother?”
“Nope,” said Jake-Blue.
“And the reason you were doing all this was to make sure you weren’t exhausted when we had time together?”
“That’s it,” both Jakes said.
Maya sighed. “Okay, I can understand that. I mean, it’s actually kind of sweet of you. But why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why?” Jake-Blue said. “I don’t really know.”
“I guess I thought you’d freak out,” Jake-Red added.
“I mean, it’s kind of weird.”
“Weird?” Maya laughed. “It is kind of weird, yeah. I mean, I didn’t even know this kind of thing was possible!”
“I kind of doubted it too.”
“But, well, here we are.”
“Here we are,” Maya echoed. “So. Uh. Have you had any thoughts about the other … applications … you could put this to?”
The Jakes stared blankly at her. “Other applications?”
“I mean, yeah, I know you’re two people now, and I mean … hasn’t it occurred to you that … you could … you know?” Maya smiled shyly.
And they got it.
*
“Oh God! Yes!” Maya cried out. She squirmed on the bed. “This is so good! Please, please don’t stop doing that!
“That goes for both of you!”
*
Sunday afternoon.
He’d forgotten to take the blue pill.
Maybe, just maybe, on purpose.
Maya lay on the sofa giggling. “Aw, you guys look so cute like that!”
Six little Jakes ran around the apartment, naked — well, they were never going to find clothes to fit someone just a foot tall — ostensibly trying to clean the place, but pretty much just making their girlfriend laugh.
Maya lay back and laughed. “Be good, boys, and we may get to play together later.”
She winked.
Jake enjoyed seeing her so happy. But he’d merge his selves together later before dinner.
His second lot of serums from Goo Labs had arrived on Friday. And Maya had been dropping hints she might be in the mood to try one of them herself.
He didn’t mind at all.
After all, two was better than one.