“Just… ugh, explain it to me again, okay?” I rubbed my eyes in the dull morning glow and sat back down on the sofa. Opposite me, a girl with long jet-black hair, dark makeup and big brown eyes gave an exasperated gasp.
“I don’t know how else to explain it to you, dude!” She crossed her arms over her chest, wearing a loose black t-shirt with a digitally distorted skull figure on it. “Okay alright just… start at the beginning again. You found this ‘job posting’ on some website?” She nodded. “About two weeks ago. I’m in need of the cash now that my hours have been cut to almost nothing, and this seemed like a reasonably legitimate gig.” “So you’re… being paid to test this… thing.” “Yes.” She waved her hands over herself. “This is some kind of weird… suit, that I put on each morning, and then I have to wear it for at least a couple hours a day. Don’t ask me how it works!” - She held up a hand before I could even get the words out of my mouth - “I honestly don’t know. The woman running the test gave me a box with this suit in it and a trunk of clothing, and just gave me instructions to wear it each day and to send her pictures of me in it. She gave me half the money up front, and promised the rest plus expenses after four weeks.” I just frowned and tried to make sense of it. “… Okay… but it… turned you into a… a chick?” She raised an eyebrow and gave a half-shrug. “I guess so. I mean. I’m back to normal as soon as I take it off, so it’s just temporary.” “But how is that even… you… how does it…” “I already told you I don’t know. It’s got this kind of gross slimy surface on the insides, and when I put it on it sticks onto me like a plaster. Once it’s on me, I can feel everything as if I wasn’t wearing anything special at all, just… feels like real skin, y’know?” I kept frowning in disbelief as she sat up slightly, opening and closing her right hand on the desk chair opposite me. I had commanded her to sit down there after I’d woken up early and found this stranger rummaging through the kitchen - I thought she was some punk rocker that Dan knew, but when she tried to tell me that she was Dan, I was hesitant to believe her. What if she was some kind of crazy ex? I stood up and pointed “W-well… okay, if you’re really Dan, then, I dunno, tell me something only Dan would know.” “Seriously dude?” She rolled her eyes. “Okay, like… I know your real name isn’t Frank, it’s Francis but you don’t like the way that name sounds, and you broke your arm in middle school trying to ride a skateboard down a staircase, and that you dated Sarah even though you said you didn’t l-” “Okay alright! I believe you, okay?” I rubbed my eyes again. “Fuck… alright… you’re Dan.” “Yes!” She relaxed, sighing. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep you in the loop, alright?” “I mean, I don’t think I’d have believed you if you had, but… it’s alright.” I sat back down opposite the weird girl-shaped roommate. “This is a really weird-ass kind of hobby, though.” She pursed her lips defensively, which only made the fact that they had dark red lipstick on them more obvious. “Man it’s not, like, for fun or anything! It’s for this woman I found on the internet, who actually turned out to be LEGIT, and has already paid me serious cash. She said she was some kind of inventor that specialised in really weird stuff.” I snorted. “To be honest I’m more surprised you actually found a chick on the internet that actually turned out to be a chick!” She gave a small smile. “Not the usual kind of ‘job’ on the internet, I guess. It was pretty vague in description, but didn’t stink of all the usual fake or scam hallmarks, so I gave it a chance and it turned out to be… this.” I looked her up and down. “So, tell me again - you wear this… you wear ‘her’ for a couple hours a day and then… that’s it?” “Well, that’s what I was told to do at the start. That woman also texts me every now and then asking for some specific stuff, like wear some particular outfit and send her pictures, or sometimes visit her in such and such place to tell her how things are going.” My turn to raise an eyebrow. “Okay, that’s… unusual… and how are things going, then?” I was immensely curious by this point. “Well as you can tell, the thing works pretty damn well, even down to changing how my voice sounds. You could never tell it was me, could you?” I shook my head. “So that means it’s working as expected, right?” “Well… I mean… I’ve been experiencing some… weird feelings sometimes if I’m honest.” Seriously dude? “Oh, feelings like ‘what the hell are you doing wearing a suit that turns you into a chick for two weeks’?” She gave me a sour look. “No, actually, smartass. That’s been surprisingly easy to adjust to.” She stood up and took a step over to look out the window, her hands in her hoodie pockets. “I’ve been having weird dreams sometimes, and I have this kind of headache after I-…” “… After you what?” Her eyes widened. After a millisecond of deduction, I figured it out. “After you finish jacking off as a woman.” I kept a straight face as she spun around, agitated. “Dude!” “What? It’s obvious! It’s literally the first thing everyone would do if they had the chance!” “But… I know, but it’s still… I don’t really wanna be talking about that, y’know?” I huffed. “Understandable. But still, you did it… what’s it like? How’s it compare?” She turned around again, hiding her face. “I’m not gonna… well I’ll say it’s… different. Just different.” Hm. “Well okay then. You’ve been, uh, ’testing’ this girl out for a while now, and you’ve been dressing up and meeting this inventor lady, and now you say you’ve had weird dreams?” “Not just dreams.” She crossed her arms again. “It’s like… sometimes I feel it… moving, like without me consciously doing anything, right?” She pulled on her elbow. “It’s like those freaky involuntary twitches you get when you smack somethin’ just below your kneecap, only it’s really slow and hard to notice until it’s happened.” “… okay, that’s… even weirder. And you’ve reported this stuff to the lady?” “Not yet - I can’t really say for certain what’s even happening, and even if I did I’d have to explain to her that I… well, y’know.” She made a vague gesture and I nodded. “Right, she didn’t mention any kind of stuff you shouldn’t do or whatever?” “Nope. And now there’s…. " Turning back, she shuffled over to the loosely hanging hall mirror and started feeling around the back of her neck. “… I keep losing it but… there’s definitely some kind of… thing sticking out of my neck whenever I’m inside the suit.
...