Trust Machines - Accommodation 1

Trust Machines - Accommodation 1

“I got the part I got the part!” shouted Jim as he bounced into the apartment.

“Rrrgh?”  His roommate, Roger, sat up on the couch and flicked off the monster movie he’d been watching.  “What part?”

“In the new Wizard of Oz theatrical!  The one I auditioned for last week.”

“Oh!  Congratulations, that’s going to be huge for you.  Who’d you get, tin man?  Scarecrow?”

Jim smiled, and shook his head.  Softly he admitted,  “I got Dorothy.  Dorothy!”  He launched into a lovely tenor version of ‘Over the Rainbow’.

Roger’s eyes went very wide.  “You lucky dog!”

“I know!  I still can’t believe they saw Dorothy in all this.”  He indicated his lanky body, much better suited to being a scarecrow than a little girl.

“Don’t act so surprised, you’re an amazing singer, and we both know it’s invariant under Venn transformation.  Remember when we went as mermaids to the big party at Katy’s Dad's place by the lake?  I couldn’t sing a lick, no matter how many times you Venned me.  You were knocking it out of the park with your Ariel numbers.”

Jim grinned at the memory.  “Yeah, that was a good day.  We should go tell her the good news!”

Soon the two of them were knocking on the door of the apartment across from theirs.

Katy grinned at them as soon as she saw them, flashing them both a welcoming smile.  “Hey cuties.  What’s up?”

“Jim got the part!” announced Roger proudly.

“Sweetie!”  Katy scooped Jim into a bosomy hug.  “That’s wonderful news.  Wait, which part?”

Jim hugged Katy back, then stepped away and ducked his head.  “Dorothy, in the new Wizard of Oz theatrical.”

Katy’s eyes went wide.  “You’re going to be playing a little girl?  Are they going more Judy Garland or closer to the original Denslow illustrations?”

Jim shrugged.  “We haven’t discussed that yet.  I’ll let them Venn me however they like for this part.”

“Are you sure about that?  In the illustrations, she looks prepubescent.”

Jim smiled, a sweet, innocent look that Katy had never seen on him before.  “Honestly, I’m looking forward to it.  It’ll be wild seeing the world from a new perspective for so long.”

Roger turned to his roommate curiously.  “For so long?”

“Well, yeah.  They want us to stay in character for the run.  I did read the contract before signing it, they’ll Venn us for a year at first, longer if the show’s a success.  Though they did mention they might have to re-Venn me from time to time to keep my age constant.”

“You’re going to be living as a little girl for... potentially years?” asked Katy, expression falling.  “Oh, Jim.”

“Maybe I should change my name to Judy,” Jim mused.

“But what about you two?  Won’t that kind of... get in the way?”

Jim and Roger both blinked at her in obvious surprise.  “Of?” Jim asked, after the silence had grown uncomfortable.

“I... you two.  You’re a couple.  Right?” Katy asked desperately, skittering back a step.  “Oh, say I’m right, or I’ll be horrified by the way I’ve teased you two, flirting all the time.”

Roger shrugged.  “Can’t say I’ve minded having a pretty girl smile at me from time to time.”

“Nor me,” agreed Jim.

“But you never have girls in.  Or guys.  I just assumed...”

Jim shrugged.  “Never been a big priority for me.”  Roger nodded along.

Katy was very still as she digested that, brow furrowed.  “So you’re not... attracted to either gender?”

“Oh, I think you’re plenty pretty, Katy-dear.  I just... eh, no interest in going further,” offered Jim.

Katy dimpled at the compliment, but still looked confused and ready to bolt.  “None at all?”

Jim shook his head.

“Bizarre.  Roger, you too?”

Roger shrugged.  “I’m not quite as... extreme as Jim, but yeah, basically.”

“So... it’s safe to flirt with you guys?” Katy asked hopefully.  “You won’t... do anything?”

They both nodded.  “We’d miss it if you stopped,” reassured Roger.

“I’m disappointed you think so little of us,” added Jim.  “We’d never...”

Katy offered him a sad smile by way of apology.  “I am sorry, it’s just...  I have issues around... y’know.  Men.”

Jim grinned, then.  “By this time tomorrow, I won’t be one.”

Katy inched forward, gave Jim a quick hug, and then scooted back into her apartment.

Back in their own place, Roger turned to Jim.  “Are you seriously going to be living here as a little girl for... years?”

“Probably.  They seem to figure the show could run for at least a few years.  It’s going to be spectacular!”

Roger paced back and forth in the apartment.  “If you’re going to be bringing work home, as it were... would you object if I did, too?”

Jim looked over at Roger curiously.  “What do you mean?”

“It’s takes almost an extra hour to get to work every day via the Venn Machine out in North York.  The boss has been strongly hinting that I could get more hours if I was willing to be changed long-term.  His daughter has to go out and meet me every day, too, and it would save her lots of time as well.”

Jim shrugged.  “I can hardly say no now, can I?  Sure.  Come home Venned.  How long were you thinking?”

Roger kept pacing.  “I don’t know.  It...  I...  Probably a month, at first.  Depends on how it goes, I guess.  Tuhin’s got some ideas on how to make it more workable.  I should call her.”

“Who’s Tuhin?” asked Jim.

Roger actually blushed a little.  “Boss’ daughter.  I think she’s sweet on me.  Or at least the person she gets to Venn as she sees fit every day.”

Jim scooted closer to Roger, an eager grin on his face.  “And are you sweet on her?  Come on, you are!”

“I’m not!  I just... like talking to her, you know?  It’s pretty quiet in the middle of the day most days, so we talk.”

Jim peered into Roger’s face.  “You are sweet on her!”

“It’s just talk, that’s all.  She just turned eighteen, for pity’s sake.”  

“Only eighteen, he says.  We’re only twenty-four, why is that even an issue?”

Roger turned and paced out to the balcony, staring out at the apartment across the street.  “Tuhin still feels like a kid to me, I’ve known her since she was fifteen.  She still loves dragons and unicorns and all that stuff.”

“Roger has a sweetie,” sang Jim, improvising lyrics for several verses until Roger threw a pillow at him to shut him up.

* * *

Jim met the casting director Anita at the Venn Machine the next day.  They tried out several looks for Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Cowardly Lion, until the director was happy with how the four of them looked together.  Jim led the quartet through “We’re Off to See the Wizard” a couple of times, drawing a crowd.

Once the others had headed off, Anita sat down for a chat with zir.  “Are you sure about this?  Once we send out the publicity shots, you’re locked into this look for potentially a very long time.  We won’t even let you grow up... which is a huge win for us, so I want to make sure you’re going to be happy, Jim.”

“Call me Judy,” zie asked.  “At least, when I’m in costume, and not Dorothy.”

“You’re taking this awfully well.  The androgynous look, that cute pixie cut, it’s perfect.  Exactly the look I wanted.  But...”

Judy put zir hand to zir hair self-consciously.  “It’ll take a little getting used to.  I like it, though.  I feel... honestly, this feels more like the body I’m supposed to have than Jim ever did.”

Anita’s expressive eyebrows raised in surprise.  “You want to be like this?  Agendered?”

Judy nodded eagerly, swinging zir feet under the chair.  “Yes.  The height’s going to take a little getting used to, but the rest... yeah.  I already love this body.”

Anita smiled broadly.  “Ah, good.  So is there anything you need before you head home?”

“A little help clothes shopping, maybe?  The gingham skirt is cute, but I need to save it for rehearsals.”

“You’re on, kiddo.”

Judy grinned, and skipped further into the mall, already burying zirself in the role.

Anita had gifted Judy with more strength than zir slim body should rightfully possess, so zie had no trouble with the armload of bags on the subway home.  There were a few odd looks, and more than one offer of assistance, but other than that, it was fine.  The novelty of seeing the world from a height of four feet was wearing off by the time Judy made it up the three flights of stairs to the apartment, though.  And even more so when reaching the top shelves in the kitchen proved impossible.

Judy busied zirself with packing away all of Jim’s old clothes, and hanging up the new ones.  When zie heard Roger’s keys clattering at the door, Judy dashed out to meet him.  The fumbling went on rather longer than usual, so Judy opened the door for him.

Standing in front of the door was an eight foot tall dragon, covered in bright green scales.

Judy screamed and scrambled away from the door, landing on zir rump against the kitchen island.

The dragon advanced into the room, closed the door on its tail, sighed, and pulled its tail through before finally getting the door shut.  Judy whimpered and scrabbled backward but had nowhere to run.  Zir eyes were glued to the creature as it dropped its jingling clawful of keys into the bowl beside the door.  The familiarity of the gesture made Judy start to giggle.  “Roger?”

The dragon nodded, eyes glittering with amusement.  “Surprise,” he rumbled.

“Surprise!  What the hell?  You scared me half to death!  I... I...”  Judy’s eyes went even wider.  “I need to go change my panties,” zie whispered.

Some minutes later, Judy emerged timorously into the living room.  “Roger?”  Zie looked around in confusion.  How did one misplace an eight foot tall dragon?

“Over here,” called Roger’s voice from the kitchen.  Judy skittered around the island and saw Roger standing there, his head at her level.  He was no more than four feet tall, and his scales looked almost black.

“What?”  Judy asked in confusion.

“Foam rubber,” replied Roger.  “If I exhale really hard, I can sort of vacuum-pack myself.  Took some work to get down to your size, but I figured you’d appreciate the effort.”

Judy nodded slowly.  “Yeah.  Is it hard to stay that small?”

“It feels like I’m holding my breath, just... backward.  Not sure I can hold it much longer.”

“I know it’s you, now.  I’ll manage... eeep!”  Judy stared at the growing dragon in the kitchen.  Roger was hissing like a teakettle as he expanded.  When the hissing finally died down, his head was brushing the ceiling.  “Holy crap.  You’re huge!”

Roger dropped to all fours, and padded into the open space in the middle of their living room.  He pushed the coffee table out of the way, making even more room.  “You haven’t seen anything yet.”

Judy stayed in the kitchen, peeking around the island.  “How big can you get?”

Roger took that as a request, and started to inhale deeply.  His expansion started once more, though not as quickly as before.  Judy watched with wondering eyes as his body grew and grew, until it nearly filled the living room.  As he grew, his green scales paled from the deep jade colour he’d had when he’d arrived to a leafy green.

When he was done, Roger turned to grin at Judy.  “Big enough?”

Judy actually giggled.  “You look like a balloon!  You’re not scary at all.”

Roger snorted, which caused a few sparks to fly out of his nose.  “I know.  But it’s still attention-getting, which is the point.”

Judy ventured closer, and touched Roger’s hide.  “You feel like a balloon too.  Can I...”

“Hm?”

“Can I bounce on you?  Would it hurt?”

Roger laughed.  “Nah.  I end up giving kids rides while their parents are shopping pretty often.  Hop all you like.”

Judy took a flying leap onto Roger’s belly, and got thrown clear back into the kitchen.  Zie landed with a thud which made Roger rather alarmed, but he couldn’t shrink quickly enough to help before she was already on her feet and laughing.  “Again!”

“Didn’t that hurt?”

“Nah.  This body is tough.  Partly to make it through long rehearsals, but I think Anita mostly did it because she was worried about my safety on the subway.”

Roger nodded sagely.  “Good.  You look...”  He frowned.  “Damn, you’re cute like this.  But you don’t really read as male or female.”

Judy just smiled.  “I know.  I can look either boyish or girlish depending on the outfit.  I got a couple in neutral colours and cuts, too.”

“Can I see?” asked Roger.  “We should go out and confuse our neighbours.”

“Yeah!  Give me a couple minutes, and see if you can dig up some good bags.”

“Uh... OK.”

When Jim emerged from zir room zie was dressed in a light purple T-shirt that was just a bit too dark to call lavender.  Loose black pants and black leather shoes all came together in a very neutral way.

Roger looked his roommate over.  “Yeah.  You really don’t read as either like that.”

Jim turned around to show off.  “Thanks.  Did you get the bags?”

Roger nodded.  “But... why?”

“C’mon, shrink down to my height again, then we’ll go.”

Roger shrugged, and did as Jim asked.  Once he was stable at four feet tall, Jim tugged him toward the door with a grunt of effort.  “Goodness, but you’re heavy like this.”

“Yeah.  My mass doesn’t change, and I’m pretty solid at my normal height.”

Jim grabbed a bag from Roger’s talons, and then knocked on Katy’s door.  When she answered, zie called out, “Trick or Treat!” and held out the bag.

Katy looked at them, then noticed the open door across the hall.  “Jim?  Roger?  Guys, it’s a bit late for Hallowe’en.  Though I don’t blame you for trying.  God, you’re both so cute!  Is this your Dorothy, Jim?”

Jim nodded.  “Yeah.  They went a little more asexual than the original.  It works, though.”

Katy tilted her head to look at Jim.  “Wow.  I really can’t tell what you are.”

“Want me to show you?”

As Jim started to pull the lavender shirt off, Katy scooted them both out of the hallway and back into their apartment.  Jim stripped down fearlessly before Kate’s wondering gaze.

“Wow,” Kate said at last.  “There’s... you look like a doll.  No nipples, nothing between your legs... wait, how do you pee?”

Jim shrugged.  “A bit like a bird.  It’s a little weird, but I figure I’ll get used to it.  I like how it feels.  Nothing to intrude.”

Kate snorted.  “No kidding.  Do you feel anything when you... uh, touch yourself there?”

Jim shook zir head.  “Nothing.  Sex was never a distraction before, now it’s even less.”  Zie started getting dressed once more.  “But you should really let Roger show you his new trick, too.”

Kate looked over at the dragon, who had slowly been returning to normal height.  He was only six feet tall, enough that Kate had to look up to meet his gaze while he was standing on his hind legs.  “You grow?”

“Yeah.  My normal size is a bit bigger than this.”

“Show me.”

Roger shot up to eight feet tall, getting a squeak out of Katy.  “Holy Hell!  That’s...”

“Yeah, he made me pee myself the first time I saw him like that,” said Jim ruefully.

“You’re never going to let that go, are you?” sighed Roger.

“Oh hell no.  C’mon, show her the rest.”

Roger sighed again, this time due to a deep inhalation to continue his growth spurt.  Soon he was filling the room once more.  Katy leaned into him, and declared him the cuddliest thing ever.

“Can I stay here tonight and watch TV with you guys?  Roger’s way more comfy than my couch is.”

Jim grinned.  “Sounds good to me.  You’re not... yesterday you were running away from us.”

Katy blew Jim a kiss.  “And tonight I know I have nothing to fear from either of you.”