Trust Machines - Rebellion (First part)

“God,” exclaimed Tyler as he slumped into the diner seat in front of his friend, Connie.  “I thought I was going to flip out if I had to spend another hour in that house.  Thanks for calling me.”

Connie laughed, and set an ice cream soda in front of him.  “On the house.  I’m on break for half an hour,” she said as she sat down.  “So what’s got you down?”

“Just...  home.  Everything.”

“Poor boy.  Stuck at home with parents who love him, and a dad whose job gives you dirt cheap tuition.  It must be a terrible life.”

“Ever since Sally left to go tour Europe, it’s been just the three of us.  I’m off on summer break, Dad’s on sabbatical, Mom writes from home.  If I could even find a job flipping burgers I’d do it.  But there’s nothing.”

“C’mon, you’re a second year math student.  That means you can actually make change.   You’re overqualified.”

Tyler snorted.  “It’s not like I need the money, or anything.  I just... gah, it’s all so samey-same.  I’ve lived in that same house, slept in that same room, all my life!  Plus it's like my parents are trying to act extra normal since Sally left.  I want to shake things up.”

Connie held her hands up so she could frame Tyler’s face.  Tyler knew what she saw, a very ordinary looking guy with fading acne, black-rimmed glasses, and unruly dark hair that was the bane of every barber he’d gone to.  Looking back at her, he saw his oldest childhood friend.  They’d been neighbours for their entire lives.  Her gap-toothed smile, freckles, and long blonde hair in its usual ponytail had been as much a constant in his life as his mother.

“How about a new hairstyle?  I could borrow my sister’s clippers and shave you bald?”

Tyler laughed.  “That might be an improvement, but it’d be awfully hard to reverse if I don’t like it.”

“That’s not necessarily true...” said Connie.  She turned to look at the mall across the street.

Tyler followed her gaze.  “You’re not seriously suggesting the Venn Machine, are you?”

“Why not?  Come on, lots of people use it to try out new styles.  If you don’t like it, hop back in and poof you’re back to normal.”

“Why not?  Because it can turn me into a billiard ball just as easily as making me bald.”

“So?  Don’t you trust me?”  Connie might not have been the prettiest girl around, not by a long shot, but her puppy dog eyes were second to none.

“Of course I do.”  Tyler looked away, stared at the mall.  “I’ve just never...”

Connie grabbed his hand.  “First time for everything, right?  It’ll be an adventure.”  As they got to the door she waved to the owner.  “I’ll be back in ten, uncle!”

The mustachioed man behind the counter waved at her with a grin.  “Take as long as you need.”

When confronted by the disturbingly normal looking Venn Machine, Tyler's nervousness returned.  "I don't know about this, Connie.  What if I end up something weird?"

"Would I do that to you?" Connie asked with a grin.

Tyler thought back to pranks they'd played while growing up.  April first was still Connie's favourite day.  Most of their stunts had targeted others, but they'd gotten each other a few times too.  "Yes," he said simply.

"Fair enough.  I promise I'll change you back.  Then you'll know there is nothing to fear."

"How do you know there's nothing to fear?" asked Tyler curiously.

Connie put a dollar in the slot then set the time for a third of a day.  "Sociology group project.  We did the old 'please mail a letter for me' routine, with a cute girl versus a homely one."  She curtsied at that to show what her role had been.  "We didn't have a guy, so Jenny turned Rachel into a cute guy for the third part.  The prof made us take that out, said it tainted the results."

"So you've done this before?  Good."  Tyler stepped into one side of the machine.

After her door had closed behind her, Connie admitted that she's only seen it used, but had a pretty good idea how to do it from all the stuff her partners had said.  A minute later she was looking less sure.  "Stupid machine, not a... oh bother."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't have time for this... can I fix you after work?  I'm off in two hours." Connie pleaded.

Tyler sighed.  "I'm sure I'll regret this but... sure."

"Cool!" exclaimed Connie, then Tyler bounced to the ground.  She scooped him up after he'd had a minute to wonder just what had happened to him.  Her hand closed around him, enclosing all of whatever he was in warmth.  Then she squeezed, and he could feel his entire form squish and yield, then spring back to shape when she relaxed.  It was an odd sensation but far from a bad one.  He felt his compact shape slide into her pocket, then the swaying of her walk back to work.  The time passed slowly, pressed against her thigh.  From time to time her hand would find him and give him another of those body-distorting squeezes.

When he fell to the floor, Tyler had a moment of worry that he's been lost.  Then his body was his own again, and saw that he was back in the Venn Machine.  The display was different from before, and Connie told him to hit the green circle if he was okay with her changing him again.

Tyler grinned and hit the circle.  "What was I?  I felt small and squishy."

"You spent two hours as my stress ball.  Holding you in my pocket was..."  She smiled sweetly and shook her head.  "Are you okay?  Was it bad?"

"I'm fine.  It was kind of relaxing, almost like a massage.  I'd be okay with spending longer in your pocket."

"Cool.  I'm going to take you up on that, but not just now.  We still have to make you bald."  Her eyes widened and she touched the interface between them.  Then she laughed.  "It's really that easy?"

Tyler was about to ask what she's found when he felt a draft on the top of his head.  He reached up and felt his scalp, not his hair.  "I'm bald?  Holy crap, I'm bald!  Where's a mirror?"

"Don't touch it," said Connie hurriedly.  "Unless you want to turn me into a mirror..."

Tyler hesitated, thinking about all the things he could change her into.  Connie was saved by the timer.  Both doors opened before Tyler could begin to decide.

"Would you really have changed me?" asked Connie with a grin.

Tyler let his grin be his answer, then went in search of a mirror.  It wasn't hard to find one, and soon he was staring at his gleaming dome.  "Did you have to polish it?"

Connie shrugged.  "It came that way.  I think it looks good on you, gives you a dangerous air."

"You really think so?"  Tyler turned this way and that but couldn't really see danger in the scrawny body in the mirror.

"Sure.  Get you some leather, a few tattoos..."

Tyler laughed.  "Mom would flip!  I think this is quite enough.  Let's go see what she thinks.  Want a lift home?"

"Heck yeah.  I wouldn't miss this for anything."

At Tyler's house, Connie tagged along into the kitchen.  She didn't ask, she and Tyler had been in and out of each other's houses since they could walk and neither thought much of it.  She waved to Tyler’s Mom with a cheery, “Hi Jackie!”

Jackie took a moment to react, gave the pot on the stove another stir, then turned to face the kids.  “Hi Connie.  Hi Tyler.  Are you going to stay for dinner, Connie?”

Connie stared at Jackie for a moment, then smiled.  “Sure.  Whatever that is, it smells really good.”

“Tyler, would you be a dear and set the table?”

Tyler nodded, and gladly settled back into the familiarity of the chore.  Connie tagged along and helped straighten the napkins.

“That was weird,” whispered Tyler.

“Yeah.  It’s like she didn’t even notice.”

When Doctor Larson came down to dinner, he raised his eyebrows.  “Have you done something new with your hair, Tyler?”

Tyler looked over at Connie with raised eyebrows, then turned back to his father.  “Yes.  What do you think?”

At a significant look from Jackie, Dr. Larson shrugged.  “I’m not sure it suits you, but whatever makes you happy.”

And that was that.

Tyler walked Connie home, and on her doorstep she reached out and ran her hand over his bald head.  She giggled.  “Sorry.  I’ve wanted to do that all night.  It’s so smooth.”

Tyler laughed.  “Yeah.  We’re going to have to come up with something more extreme to get a reaction out of Mom, it seems.”

“Same time tomorrow?”

“Am I going to end up in your pocket again?”

“Probably.”

Tyler chuckled.  “Sure, why not.  I’d rather be your squeeze toy than spend the hours here.”

“Really?  You liked it?”

“It was different.  Right now, I want that more than anything.”

Connie grinned.  “I’ll think of something else to turn you into, then.”

Tyler grinned back.  “See you tomorrow.”

In the morning, Tyler had his hair back.  This didn’t especially please him, as he’d been looking forward to not having to wash it in the shower.  He tried combing it, and debated taking Connie up on that offer with the clippers after all.

To make matters worse, his mother didn’t comment on the return of his hair.  She was deep into her cookbooks, with some notepaper on the side.  When Tyler asked what she was up to, she seemed surprised, then said she was planning the menu for the next week.  She didn’t even inquire where he was going when he said he was going out.

Connie was surprised to see Tyler show up at the diner just before lunch rush.  Since the rush hadn’t hit yet, she was able to dash over to the mall with him.

“Are you sure about this?” she asked as she set up the Venn Machine.  “I’m on shift for another six hours.”

“Better in your pocket than tearing my hair out at home,” Tyler said as he entered the machine.

“As you wish.”  She tapped at the interface a few times, grinned, and then Tyler felt himself falling once more.

Again, he couldn’t see.  Well, not really.  There was a vague sense of shadow and light, and the light was blotted out by something just before he got grabbed by Connie’s enormous hand.  Then he heard, quite distinctly, her cooing about how cute he was.

The squeezing felt different this time, too.  Like he had some structure.  The petting and skritching were nicer.  He could feel how busy she was as lunch passed, but then things got quiet and she spent a lot of time with him in her hands, or idly petting him in her pocket.

When she pulled him out of her pocket to show off to some of the other waitresses, there was a commotion.  He would have laughed if he could, they gasped as one when she told her that he was actually a real person.  Then he was handed from one to the other, each one blocking out his fuzzy vision as they peered into his tiny face, or petting his soft fur.  He was surprised at how different each person’s touch felt, and how certain he was that he was back in Connie’s hands at the end.

He napped for a while through the activity of dinner service, then felt himself get gently set on the floor.  This time, the return to being human didn’t surprise him.  He tapped to accept more changes and smiled at Connie.  “Thanks.”

“Really?  You enjoyed being a teeny wolf plush?”

Terry nodded.  “Yeah.  The others seemed to get a kick out of it too, if their comments were anything to go by.”

Connie looked surprised.  “You could hear them?”

“Yeah, when you held me up.  I couldn’t hear much from inside your pocket.  I could tell when you were speaking, but not really what you were saying.”

Connie smiled with relief.  “Good.”

Tyler laughed.  “Did I miss something?”

“Nothing too juicy... this time.  I’m not sure I’d want to have you listening in on everything that’s said there.  The others are awfully, uh, colourful when nobody else is listening.”

“So I don’t get ears next time?  Fooey.”

“Is there going to be a next time?”  Connie asked carefully.

“Heck yeah.”  Tyler nodded, grinning.

Connie smiled.  “Good.  So what shall we tease your mother with tonight?”

“Tattoos.  Big tribal ones...  Ooh, what’s that?”  He poked at a bubble on the screen, and looked up to see spiralling designs all over Connie’s body.  “Um, did I do that?”

“Just... don’t touch the green circle, OK?  As long as you don’t do that, I’m still normal.”

“So I can play with the bubbles?”

Connie grinned.  “It would be hypocritical not to let you.”

A minute later Connie nodded with satisfaction.  “There.  That should do it.  Bald, tattoos on your head and all down your arms.  Ready?”

“Sure.”  Tyler stared down at the red and black patterns that had appeared on his arms.  They looked like native designs, making his arms look like totem poles.  “Wow.  That is cool.  What are they?”

“Wolves, if I got it right.”

Tyler smiled shyly at Connie.  “Can I show you what I came up with?  If you don’t like it you can change back, right?”

Connie sighed softly.  “Okay.  It’s only fair.”

They both stepped out of the booth and stared at each other, giggling.  “Wow.  You look different,” said Tyler at last.

Connie sought out the mirror by the Venn Machine and gasped.  “Oh, wow.  I’m... blue.”  Her face and arms were a deep cobalt blue, with ripples of paler blue passing slowly over it.  “Mom’s going to flip.”

“Really?” Tyler asked, intently curious.  “Can I see that?”

“Uh...  Yeah, sure.”  Connie was still staring at the patterns passing over her face.  “It’s only for eight hours, I’m sure she’ll understand...”

Tyler drove Connie home, and came in with her.  He waved cheerfully to her mom.  “Hi Mrs. Baker.”

“Tyler, is that you?  And what have you done to yourself, Connie?  What is that all over you?”

Connie pirouetted to show off her blue skin.  “Tyler did it, with the Venn Machine.  It’ll wear off by morning.”

“Oh.  Well, then.  It’s... different.”  Connie’s mother turned back to her cooking.

Connie and Tyler exchanged a look, then wordlessly headed over to Tyler’s house.  Tyler’s Mom looked up briefly as they entered.  “Oh!  That’s a different look for you, Connie.”

“Um, thanks.”

“Would you be a dear and set the table, Tyler?  Dinner’s almost ready.”

Tyler waited in vain for any other response, then sighed.  He waved goodbye to Connie, and did as he had been asked.  At dinner, his father examined the tattoos with a critical eye.  “West coast indian designs?”

“Connie said they were wolves.”

“It’s nice work.  Will they disappear tomorrow like your haircut?”

Tyler sighed, and nodded.

“Good.”

Later, Tyler and Connie sat on the porch swing and talked.  Connie’s father hadn’t had much to say, either, other than curiosity about how the patterns on her skin moved over time.

“It’s weird that they’re taking it so well,” Connie mused.  “Especially your folks.  Your Mom is not normally that chill.”

“I know.  It’s freaking me out even worse.  If I don’t get some kind of reaction out of her tomorrow...”

Connie laughed.  “So we’re doing this again tomorrow?  You spending the day in my pocket, then trying to freak your folks?”

“Sure.  Today was... it was nice.  Your hands feel really good.”

Connie smiled.  “Thanks.  I take good care of them.  Oh, and thanks for all this, too,” she added, gesturing to the rippling blue patterns on her body.  She was wearing a tank-top and shorts, showing off the pattern on her legs and belly too.  “I think it’s really pretty.”

“I think it looks pretty, too.”  

Connie stared at Tyler in surprise, mouth hanging slightly open.  “Did you just...”

“Hm?”  Tyler was looking at her face, mesmerized by the patterns flowing over it.

“Nevermind.”  Connie bit back a sob and turned away.  She ran off to her house.

The next day, Tyler was even earlier, and met Connie in front of the diner just before her shift.  Wordlessly she led the way to the Venn Machine, and set it.  Tyler hopped inside, then got a good look at Connie’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

“I... you...”  Connie sighed.  “My period started today.  And I’m on my last tampon.”

Tyler’s eyes widened as Connie tapped at the interface.  “You wouldn’t!”

“Is that a challenge?” Connie asked dangerously.

“No, I...”  Tyler saw her hand reach for the green circle.  “Don’t!”  Connie’s hand stopped.  “Please?  Don’t do this.”  Tyler begged.

Connie cackled wickedly at Tyler’s expression.  “Did you even see what time I set on this thing?  Enjoy your trip to the landfill.”  She touched the circle.

Tyler felt himself fall.  By now, he was getting used to it.  His form felt... elongated.  With a firm exterior, and something fuzzier inside.  When he felt Connie’s hand close about his body, he could tell he was finger-sized.  She’d actually done it!  With a cold, sinking feeling, Tyler felt Connie tuck him into her pocket and start walking.  She wasn’t going to change him back.  He racked his memory, but couldn’t recall how long the Machine had been set for, just that it had looked different from the usual.  This was going to be a very bad day.  Or month.  Or longer...  Why hadn't he checked?

To be continued...