Content Warning: Verde’s Doohickey 2.0: Sensational Summer Romp contains content that some readers might find disturbing, triggering or uncomfortable. This includes sexually explicit activities, strong language, and hateful language and slurs. Reader discretion is advised.
Verde’s Doohickey 2.0: Sensational Summer Romp
June 8th: Anita Neukar in… Vivi Gaimz
Part 1: Now That’s What I Call A Manic Monday!
Date: Monday, June 8, 2015
Time: 08:30
Location: Vivi Gaimz’s House
I woke up to the sound of garbled static. Normally, I’m bright eyed and bushy tailed whenever my alarm plays, but today, I found myself curling up against the covers. It was June, but I felt like it was in the dead of winter after Dad turned the temperature down to 18. I opened up my eyes to look at the ceiling, plain and white, but as I looked down from there… I realized this wasn’t my room.
My decorated walls were bare, my bed was along the opposite wall, and even my alarm clock was completely different. Even the LED color was different! It was green instead of blue and… that was when I realized where I was. This was Vivi’s room!
That wasn’t too out of the ordinary, as Vi and I had more than a couple sleepovers over the years, but I was 95% sure I went to bed… in my bed, and in fact, I didn’t hear from her at all last night. I figured she just got distracted by a new game or something. Wait, when was E3 again? She might’ve been sucked into that…
After spending a full minute lost in my own head, I finally brought my hand out from my sheets to silence this infernal alarm, but as I pressed it and looked at my hand… I realized I had just stumbled into some major SHIT.
My hand… was white, pasty, bereft of sunshine and so faint that I could see the gosh darn veins crawling up to my fingers. It definitely wasn’t my hands, it was at least… three shades too light for that, and as I looked at it, the slender fingers and short nails, I started getting an idea of whose hand this might be. I mean, it seems obvious in retrospect, but I just woke up.
I tossed off the blanket as quickly as I could and looked down at a long-sleeve purple shirt and gray fleece pants, with thin white limbs poking out from all the right holes. I could faintly see breasts on my chest, and as I tilted my head, a curly red strand of hair fell into my eyes.
???: “Oh… I’m Vivi? …How in the fuck is that even possible?”
Yep, that sure was her voice coming out of my throat. For some reason I thought that it might sound like my voice, but… no. Damn Nickelodeon. Rotting my brain with LIES about how body swaps worked! …And that’s when it hit me like a stray tennis ball to the noggin! I should call Vivi and ask her what’s up. …But she doesn’t keep her phone by her bed— meaning I had to get up first.
Now, I was a fit and a tall person, at least based on the laws of averages, so when I rolled out of Vivi’s bed, in her body, everything felt freaking warped! I was a good twenty centimeters shorter, lost over a dozen kilograms, and while I could feel a decent chunk of muscle with my moves before… My limbs felt like wiffle bats covered in noodles. Like, she wasn’t emaciated or something, but no wonder this girl struggled to run two kilometers… Seriously, I get that you can’t get pumped with the mouse, but just going to school should be enough to build some muscle on these chicken legs.
Whatever! I dealt with the extra uncanny feelings of walking and found her phone on her desk. Vivi was one of those people who went all maximum security with her devices, but she did give me her phone password, and made sure I memorized it. 758-627-639-468. That was the key, the ticket to get into her oh so precious jailbroken phone. Her contacts list was about as small as I expected, but right at the top of the list, I saw the name I needed. Anita Neukar!
…Wait, she put my full name into her phone? Gee. I knew she was a nerd, but still!
Anyway, I put the phone up to my ear, flicking bits of curly hair out of my face, and standing around, because moving was too weird to even pace around in a circle. Seconds felt waaaaay too long as I waited for Vivi to pick up my damn phone and explain this spontaneous body switchery to me. …Then I heard that subtle clicking noise.
Vivi(Anita): “Y’ello!”
Anita(Vivi): “Well, that’s a casual introduction. Please tell me you’re responsible for this, Vivi.”
Vivi(Anita): “Uh… responsible for what exactly? And who are you calling Vivi?”
Anita(Vivi): “…You know, the fact that we switched bodies? And if I’m Anita, then you need to be Vivi?”
Vivi(Anita)?: “Vi, you sure you’re feeling alright? I know you’re not one for pranks, but this is a pretty bad one, I gotta say. Body swapping isn’t real. It’s just some cliche they use in filler episodes on TV shows.”
Anita(Vivi): “W-What the hell are you talking about? No, I know who I am, and I am not Vivi, I’m Anita, and there is only one Anita Neukar and one Vivi Gaimz on this Earth! …Well, maybe not on the whole Earth, I never have googled myself. But the point is that I’m Anita, and I’ll prove it however I can!”
Vivi(Anita)?: “Whatever you say… Look, I’m free at the moment, so why don’t you come over to my place so I can show you reality?”
Before I could decide whether I wanted to call her out for being an bitch or play along, she hung up on me. …Like a bitch!
Whatever. That phone call was weird on just about every level, so I didn’t really think about it too much. I had a plan, a destination, and all I had to do was… get there. Looking down at myself was still a wicked surreal time. And while I could just go running out in Vivi’s jammies and no bra, that felt like a mean thing to do when changing would take me three minutes, tops.
Vivi kept everything in a dresser, even though she had a perfectly good closet, and once I figured out where things were, I pulled out a long-sleeve baseball tee and jeans. It was super simple, but Vivi’s wardrobe was pretty much just stuff like that. No skirts, no dresses, no shorts, barely any short-sleeve tees, and the only overly feminine thing in her entire wardrobe were her peach colored bralettes. Needless to say, my options were limited.
Two minutes later, I was looking down at Vivi’s body, still weirded the everloving hell out of what I was seeing, but not enough for me to do something stupid. Like forgetting Vivi’s phone, wallet, or keys.
There were other things I should’ve done. Go to the toilet, brush my teeth, grab some breakfast, or just drink some water. But, again, looking down at Vivi’s body weirded the everloving hell out of me. So, after shoving Vivi’s phone, wallet, and keys into her man-sized pants pockets, I ran right out the door, moving as fast as these skinny little chicken legs would take me! …Which, one, was not very fast, and two, was not very far.
I was moving at about 8 kilometers an hour, and after only 500 meters, I was breathing heavily and my chest hurt.
I knew this was just because Vivi wasn’t a fan of exercise, and mostly just ‘participated’ in PE classes. But as someone who was in varsity track… I felt like a failure as I slowed my speed down to a walk, panting heavily over something so light and minor. Let’s just say it really made me want to get out of this body, and sort of made me want to take Vivi aside and help her get in better shape.
After ten minutes of walking, I finally made it back to my house. It was almost 9:00, so my parents were already long-gone, meaning I knew who was going to answer the door… but that didn’t prepare me for what I saw. The sight of the front door slowly opening to reveal my face, looking down at me with my gray eyes, wearing a cold, bitter expression like I was interrupting something.
Anita(Vivi): “H-Hey, Vivi.”
Vivi(Anita)?: “I am not Vivi, you are Vivi. I am Anita! I hoped some exercise would clear your head, but I guess it didn’t.”
Anita(Vivi): “Look, can you cut the shit, Vi and just tell me what the hell happened? I think I know who I am, and you sure as—”
Before I could say anything else, she dragged me into my house, slamming the door behind me. I thought she finally saw reason. …But then she grabbed my bony little arm as tightly as she could, dragging me away, deeper into my house, past the living room, and into the tiny first floor bathroom. She slammed the door behind me, still maintaining a vise grip around my wrist, before shoving me toward the sink.
Anita(Vivi): “Gah! The fuck do you think you’re doing—”
Vivi(Anita)?: “Look in the mirror. Look and tell me who you see.”
I rolled my eyes at her command, but as she made my body look… scarier than I ever thought possible, I looked away and at the mirror. I had avoided doing this before getting here, but seeing Vivi’s freckled face stare back at me, looking at her head full of curly red hair, and staring into her dull green eyes… it stirred something within me. This was… real. I knew it was before coming here, but watching Vivi look where I looked, seeing her hand move as mine did… it would be mesmerizing… if everything surrounding this weren’t so terrifying.
In the mirror, I also saw Vivi in my body, glancing down at me, sneering, as if I was a burden on her.
Vivi(Anita)?: “Have you seen reality now? You are Vivi Gaimz, and I’m Anita Neukar. Anybody with a working set of eyes or ears could tell that with no issue. But somehow you can’t. It’s pretty sad, I thought you were always a smart girl, but then you start going all crazy on me.”
I turned around and stared at Vivi as she said that. Her mean stare had become a look of full-on disgust as she looked down at me, and I had enough of her crap!
Anita(Vivi): “Like hell you’re Anita! Anita’s a kind and easygoing girl who cares deeply about her friends. She’s been friends with ‘me’ since before we could read! Anita would never act like you, and if anybody who knew anything about Anita saw you right now, they’d call you out for being the faker that you are! So, cut this fucking bullshit and admit the truth!”
My throat felt hoarse from shouting that much. And that made sense. Vivi rarely raised her voice. To the point where I wondered if she even could scream anymore. I hoped that would be enough to unnerve her, to show Vivi how distressed and angry I was by all this. …But then she grabbed me by the arms and pinned me against the bathroom door. She lifted me off the ground, leaving my feet dangling, and stared at me with a look of unbridled fury.
Vivi(Anita)?: “Look, you little ginger fuckwit! It doesn’t matter who I was before. I am Anita Neukar— the new Anita Neukar. If You want, you can be the new Vivi Gaimz, but you will still be Vivi Gaimz. You will always be Vivi Gaimz. And no matter what Vivi Gaimz you become, the new Anita Neukar wants nothing to do with you! So get. The fuck. Out. Of. My. House!”
I was shaking at her words, felt tears rolling down my cheeks… but even in this frail body, I still had the strength to speak, to offer a retort.
Anita(Vivi): “This isn’t your house, you vindictive cunt! And no matter how much you know me, you don’t know how to be me! I can prove my identity, have secrets that I never told you, and if this is how you’re acting around me, then my parents are going to find you out within minutes, and—”
Vivi(Anita): “And then what? Body swapping isn’t fucking real! The world does not work that way! And no matter what you do, no matter how convincing your arguments are… you will always be in that body, you will always be Vivi Gaimz. The sooner you accept your fate, that this is your life, that this is your reality, the better.”
She dropped me from her grasp, and I fell to the floor like a drenched coat. I had no words or retorts left. All I could do at that moment was look forward. Look at someone who stole my body, my life, my… everything. Look at her stare down at me… and cry.
I was tiny, I was weak, and the one person in this world who I thought I could trust more than any other— my fucking girlfriend— betrayed me when I needed her the most. She told me to leave— to leave my home and never come back. So… I did.
I wasn’t thinking— I didn’t want to think— and when I was stressed or worried about things, I just ran. I did it to clear my head, to drain away the stress with sweat, to fill my lungs with fresh air. I could run a goldarn marathon if I wanted to. …Or at least I used to be able to. Now, I couldn’t even a single fucking kilometer without crumpling down to the ground.
It took me a second to realize where I was, where my unconscious mind had taken me today… when I saw a familiar house in the distance. It was… Gem’s house.
I shambled over to the house, and banged on the door like an emaciated zombie, as Gem’s doorbell had been broken for years. His parents were gone, so if anybody were to answer the door, it would be Gem. When the door opened, I saw him, still dressed in his pajamas.
Anita(Vivi): “G-Gem! You’re here!”
Gem: “Yeah, this is my house. …Am I supposed to know you?”
…If I wasn’t holding onto the railing of the front steps, I would have fallen over. He… he did not say that. Gem did not just… say he didn’t know me— know Vivi! That meant… he wasn’t Gem. That meant… it wasn’t just me and Vivi.
Anita(Vivi): “Who… who are you? You’re not Gem. So, who—”
???(Gem): “Who else could I be? My parents called me Gem, my license says I’m Gem, and so does my student ID. No matter which way you fucking look at it, I’m Gem. What, do you want a DNA test or something?”
Anita(Vivi): “N-No, I’m just like you. I woke up today in someone else’s body. My name is Anita, I don’t normally look like this, this isn’t my body, and if we work together, then maybe we can find out what happened and—”
???(Gem): “Kid, when was the last time you heard about two people swapping bodies? Not in a cartoon, not in a movie, in real life? I’ll save you the trouble and say fucking never! Something beyond comprehension just happened, looking for an explanation will do fuck all, and things will be so much easier if we accept this and move on.”
…I feel that such a statement would normally anger me. Instead, it just made me cry… again.
Anita(Vivi): “H-How can you say that? You must have had a life, a family, and things you loved before you wound up in my friend’s body, but you’re not even going to look for him or try and—”
???(Gem): “You think I haven’t spent the past few HOURS going over this? You know who I was before this? I had a net worth of over fifty million dollars! I had a smoking hot wife and two beautiful daughters. You think I’m not pissed about this? Because I’m fucking pissed, because I just lost everything and wound up as some fat Mexican from a working class family! I don’t know who you are, and I don’t care, but don’t you dare try and tell me that I need to try! Because you have lost nothing compared to me!”
Anita(Vivi): “You… You… You are a fucking coward! You need to fight for what’s right, you need to try even if it seems pointless, even if it seems possible, because—”
Before I could finish that sentence, he slammed the door in my face, and locked it with an audible click. Just like that, he was gone. My two best friends in this world, gone.
I just wanted to crawl into a dark ditch, cry, fall asleep, and wake up to realize this was all one fucked up nightmare. But as the tears rolled down my face, and my eyes grew irritated, I could tell this was no dream. This was… reality. And without them, without anyone to help me, to make things right, make them how they should be, then… this might be forever.
Forever… Forever… like this. Forever in this body. Forever estranged from myself. Trapped as a woman I once loved. I will never be able to forget her. I would forever be haunted by her voice, by her face. She would always be with me. And I would hear her name in place of my own. If I can’t be myself, if I am forced to be someone else, then… What is my purpose? What is the point of going on, if the future lacks any and all hope. If every good experience is forever tainted by the fact that I’m not… me.
I tried to walk away, but… this body collapsed on the sidewalk. I did not think I had the strength to move, and… I didn’t want to try. I just wanted for this all to be undone, for time to rewind, and for this mistake to be erased.
Minutes became indistinguishable from seconds and hours as I laid there, my head buried in a patch of grass, in the dark nothingness. But then… I felt something ram into my gut.
Anita(Vivi): “Gurf!”
???: “You almost made me fall and crack my head open. Get off of the damn sidewalk!“
I crept my head from the darkness and into the light. It blinded me at first, but as these green eyes adjusted to the sun, I saw a woman standing before me. Tall, muscular, Black, and dressed in only a red sports bra and black shorts.
As I looked into this woman’s striking red eyes, I felt… something familiar. Something that I couldn’t help but dig through my brain for before… it hit me all at once.
Last December, I… met this woman. After Oransehn High was decimated by a terrorist attack, I was trying to lift the spirits of Vivi and Gem with a get-together, a little holiday shindig. It was just coping on my part, as I didn’t want to accept that over a hundred of my classmates were… dead. That’s when she showed up one day, at Vivi’s doorstep, wearing an adorable bear hoodie. When I saw her, I felt I had to help her out, as I believed kindness was the only right course in light of a tragedy. I gave her a few phone numbers and… and then… a few days later, she killed me. And as a corpse, as a lifeless and disfigured object that was once human, I looked up at her, the only living thing in a sea of death and rubble.
And her name was…
Anita(Vivi): “Y’vonne Hemming?”
By the time I said that, the woman had already stepped over me and continued her jog. I knew I couldn’t chase after her, not with this body, so I shouted.
Anita(Vivi): “Y’VONNE HEMMING!!!”
She stopped, turned, and walked back. Looking at me with a… terrifying smile, slowly clapping her hands.
‘Y’vonne’: “Congratulations, Anita. You remembered “
Anita(Vivi): “H-How do you know my name… and what was that vision? Did that really happen, because the school’s just fine now and… who are you?”
‘Y’vonne’: “All your questions will be answered in due time.”
The woman named Y’vonne then bent down, pulling a business card from her shorts, and dangled it in front of my face. I grabbed it with my tiny slender hands. a moment later, she was running away. Part of me wanted to chase her, but I was too exhausted to even try. Instead, I simply looked down at the business card.
A card featuring the name ‘Abigale Quinlan’ and an address that I recognized… but was two freaking kilometers away.
I was exhausted. I was thirsty. I was hungry. I was weak in many senses of the word. That vision, combined with the way my two ‘friends’ reacted, was making me wonder if I had gone insane. I didn’t want to do anything other than linger in the fine pit of despair I had fallen into… but as I saw this lone light of hope shining above, I… I couldn’t let it pass me by.
I used the nearest tree to hoist me up from the ground, and even though this body was positively aching at this point, I didn’t have much of a choice. I had to keep moving, keep walking, no matter what.
Part 2: Confronting Y’Vonne Hemming
Date: Monday, June 8, 2015
Time: 11:07
Location: An Innocuous Oransen Apartment Complex
I really regretted not grabbing a water and granola bar at the 7-11 I passed by. Because after walking so much, after schlepping my way up three flights of stairs, I was finally there. At the apartment that this ‘Abigale Quinlan’ person listed on her business card. It was a pretty dingy place, with stained carpets and walls that should’ve been repainted… five years ago, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was whatever was behind this door. I gave it a firm knock, and the door opened, sliding slowly to reveal a dimly lit apartment. One that looked almost desolate, as if it was available for rent, but has been unoccupied for months. I could even see dust lining the table near the entrance.
I slowly crept inside, hoping I wasn’t intruding, when I heard her voice.
Abigale: “Hello, Anita.”
I turned my head and saw Abigale, still dressed in her sports bra and shorts, sitting in an armchair. As I locked eyes with her, she shut the book she had been reading in the dim light and placed it on the coffee table in front of her.
Abigale: “Please, take a seat.”
She gestured at another armchair, opposite of hers. It looked chintzy and dusty, but after the day I had, any chair looked like a throne to me.
Anita(Vivi): “You… seem to know what’s going on, Miss Quinlan.”
Abigale: “Indeed I do. Normally, such things would be beyond the realm of possibility, but with the proper tools, anything is possible.”
She then grabbed a cardboard box from the coffee table, and delicately opened it, showing me its contents. It was… a GameBoy? Wait, no, I don’t think those had four buttons… and they were a translucent purple plastic!
Abigale: “This device is known as the VD 2.0. You can think of it as a… body switcher.”
Anita(Vivi): “…Is that what was used on me? Is that how I wound up… in this body?”
Abigale: “Yes.”
Anita(Vivi): “But… how? When? Wouldn’t we need to be in the same room for—”
Abigale: “The VD 1.0 had such limitations, but this upgraded model is far more versatile. Once a person is registered, the VD 2.0 can swap them with anyone in a ten kilometer radius. Which is how you and Vivi were swapped last night. All I had to do was target you beforehand, and queue a swap for 3:00 in the morning.”
Part of me wanted to say that is utter billshit, as something that powerful couldn’t possibly exist… but I would have said the same thing about a body swapping machine that filled up an entire room. Instead, it was her choice of pronouns that truly caught my attention.
Anita(Vivi): “…So, you’re the one who did this to me? But… why? Why would you do this to me? To Vivi? To Gem? What did we ever do to you? Hell, I tried to help you in… that vision.”
Abigale: “Oh, think of it as a twisted prank. From the moment you woke up, from the moment all four of you woke up, I have been observing you. Humans are a curious and fickle thing, so uptight and serious, so devoted to the idea of morality. But once you change something as significant as their body, then they become a different person in more ways than one. Some become monsters, some grow mad, others discard their sense of self. And most take this as an opportunity to show who they truly are. Like your little girlfriend.”
Anita(Vivi): “So… this was all just a game to you? A fucking prank? You stole my body, destroyed my relationship with Vivi, all for what? For your own twisted pleasure?”
Abigale: “Correct. I have eyes all over the place, and I have to say your despair was utterly delectable, my dear. Ordinarily, I let these things stew over weeks, if not months, after all the stages of grief run their course. But you, Anita… are special. You retained knowledge of another world. Of one of my prior experiments. I knew that if I did not reach out to you, you would dedicate your life to searching for me. I would be the hope that would shred through your precious despair. Instead of watching you obsess over me for the remainder of the summer, at the least, I decided it would be more… spicy if I gave you an opportunity instead. The opportunity to become anyone.”
Abigale placed the VD 2.0 on the coffee table between us, and slid it to the center. Far enough that neither of us could reach it without leaving our seats.
Abigale: “You could go back to normal, become yourself, and send Vivi back into her true body. Perhaps you could even reconcile on the idea that was all a bad dream you two shared, and forget this ever happened. You could become someone prettier, wealthier, or stronger than you could ever hope to be. You could skip past college straight into adulthood, or extend your childhood by another decade. You could change your race, change your sex— you could be a rich White boy if you’ve had enough of being a working class Black woman. So, what will it be, Anita?”
Anita(Vivi): “…I take it I can only use this once? So I can’t save Gem and give him his body back.”
Abigale: “One use, one swap, and you must be one of the swappees. Don’t go asking this djinn for more wishes unless you want to be trapped in a lamp for all eternity… again.”
…What the hell did that mean?
I was not in the mental or physical state to make a decision that would affect my life in the most literal way possible. However, as I looked at the device, and looked at the smirk lingering just below her crimson eyes in this dark, dreary room, I made my decision.
I took the device, fumbled through its interface, and after reviewing my choice in target, I pressed the confirmation button. My senses faded into nothingness, and for a brief moment, I thought I had somehow killed myself. But as quickly as they left, they returned… and I saw that my plan worked exactly as intended.
I was still in the apartment… but now I was looking at the body of Vivi. Except it wasn’t her in there, or me. It was Abigale. She twitched as she realized what happened, but I didn’t give her the chance to press a button. I rose from the chair, planted my foot on the coffee table, and pounced Abigale(Vivi) like a wild animal freed from her cage.
From just the ways he looked, I could tell Abigale was a powerful woman, but actually using this power was another story. I was huge. I was a powerhouse. And I was fast. Meaning it didn’t take me long before I pinned Abigale(Vivi) to the floor, pressing the entirety of my weight upon her back, while holding the VD 2.0 in my hand like my life depended on it. Because it did!
Anita(Abigale): “Listen up, you malicious cunt! You are going to tell me EXACTLY what you’re doing, and will tell me how to get EVERYONE back to normal!”
It was bizarre hearing her voice boom from my throat and verbalize my thoughts, but her voice made my words feel powerful, to the point where I was almost afraid of myself.
Abigale(Vivi): “You’ve got spunk, Anita. And an eye for quality. Tell me, how does it feel to be in my body? To have my stature and might? Doesn’t it feel good? Probably even better than your original body.”
As she spoke, I couldn’t help but think about her words. I was great at running, tall, and athletic, but I wasn’t strong. I wasn’t a bodybuilder. I didn’t really do much weight lifting outside of Strength and Conditioning. I wanted to get stronger, but… it was easier just to keep on running. Now… I was strong, I was huge, and… from what little I could feel, it felt damn good.
…But that was besides the point.
Anita(Abigale): “Listen here! You are not going to tell me what to do, and you will NOT ask me any fucking questions! You will tell me how to get everyone back to normal, and I will be taking this horrifying thing with me. If you don’t comply… I will fucking kill you with my bare hands, you got that?”
Abigale(Vivi): “My, oh my. Threatening to end my life and kill the body of your little girlfriend? I see you enjoy having a lax moral code as well.”
Anita(Abigale): “You have no place to talk to me about morals! Trust me, even… even after what she said to me, I still love Vivi more than anyone else in the world. I don’t want to hurt her, but if it means stopping someone as evil as you, I will.”
Abigale(Vivi): “You’re just saying that because you’ve had my body for a minute and already fell in love with it. Vivi is more than happy to be Anita, and I can tell from the look in your eyes that you want this. You want to be superior, stronger, taller, and a helluva lot sexier than your half-White ass.”
As she said that, I punched her in the gut, and grabbed her throat before she could breathe.
Anita(Abigale): “You. Are. Scum. I don’t know what you did in that… other world, but I know you killed people. A LOT of people. You are a vicious unrepentant murderer who used something that could change the world to bring people nothing but pain! So, tell me, who did you switch with Gem? In fact… did you switch anyone else? How many lives have you ruined? How—”
I realized I was asking her to confess things while I was choking her, so I loosened my grip. What little color that remained in Vivi’s pale freckled face had faded, and she was hacking her lungs out as she tried to breathe in this dusty air. It was most because of her face, but I couldn’t help but feel an ounce of pity for her.
I waited until she was fit enough to speak, when she looked into my eyes and said… words that didn’t even sound like words.
Abigale(Vivi): “Zxkuqyb Gvhvl Hmlrgnlumzig Ooz.“
I was bemused by this reaction, but before I could say anything… Everything went dark. Every sense faded away and, before I could say anything, I found myself immersed in water.
I opened my mouth without thinking, filled it with the bitter taste of chlorine, and immediately realized how desperately I needed air. I swam up for the surface, was blinded by the sun, and immediately began coughing up a storm. It felt like crap… but as I heard myself cough, felt myself cough, I realized something. The sound of my voice, the way the harsh pulse of a cough ran through my chest. It wasn’t just familiar, it was… normal.
I looked down as quickly as I could and saw… my body. My light brown skin, my curves, all wrapped up in my white one piece swimsuit. I was back to normal… and I was at the Oransen Public Pool.
Anita: “…What the fuck just happened?”
One minute, I was fighting a transdimensional monster, trying to get things back to normal, and the next… things are just normal? No. Nooooo way Jose! I was not just going to accept that this was all a dream. I know dreams, and that sure as shit wasn’t a goldarn dream! I was glad to be back in my body— I didn’t dwell on it, but if I did, I’d be ecstatic, I’m sure! But… if I was back to normal, then what about Abigale, or… Vivi.
…I had to get out of here.
I ran out of the pool, rummaged through the locker room for my stuff, and didn’t even stop for a rinse. I had to get back to that apartment. Had to figure out what just happened. And thanks to my penchant for running around all over the damn place, I knew how to get back to the apartment. It was only three kilometers away. …And with this body of mine, it only took me 13 minutes.
As I ran, I could not ignore the sense of euphoria going through me. I was back. I was fast. I had the stamina to keep going for over an hour. And the adrenaline, the fear of what might happen, kept me going. I knew I should have looked at my phone or done something sensible, but… when the going gets tough, I just run.
Through the streets, down the sidewalk, and even through my little forest shortcut, all before reaching the apartment, where I did a final sprint up the stairs.
I didn’t even think as I kicked the door open, I just did. And what I saw when I entered this apartment was… beyond comprehension.
In the rinky-dink apartment, I saw Abigale and Vivi… but I also saw Gem… Zoe… Shiaka, Maxxie, Jade, and… even Miss Underwood? But in the center of all of them was a woman, she looked to be about 25, with dark hair, wearing a green dress. All eight of them looked at me as I entered and… began to clap.
Abigale: “Omedetou.”
Vivi: “Omedetou.”
Gem: “Omedetou.”
Shiaka: “Yoku yatta.”
Zoe: “Omedetou.”
Jade: “Omedetou.”
Maxxie: “Chughahaeyo!”
Miss Underwood: “Omedetou.”
Woman in Green: “Kazoku e youkoso!“
…I didn’t know if this was as weird as the whole body swap thing… but it sure felt like it was.
Anita: “W-What? How did you… Wait, was this all a—”
Woman in Green: “Consider it a test, Miss Neukar! And you passed it with flying colors! As a reward, I present you with full membership into the Swap Posse! And as a member, it’s only fair that you get one of these puppies for yourself!”
This woman then pulled a cardboard box from a nearby table and threw it my way. I grabbed it easily, and as I felt it in my hands… I could already tell what it was. Another VD 2.0.
Woman in Green: “Welcome to the family, girl!”
To my friends who agreed to this, fuck you.
To my sanity, farewell.
And from the deepest part of my very soul…
Arigato.
Verde’s Doohickey 2.0 Main Page
Act 1: SwitchY Swap
May 16th: Prom Pomf Pomf Preview
May 29th: Enter Verde’s Doohickey 2.0
May 30th: Let’s Get Swappin’
May 31st: Flare Family Fiasco
June 1st: Graduation Day
June 2nd: The Kurokawa ‘Sisters’
June 3rd: My Day As Zoe Xing
June 4th: Love in Seoul
June 5th: Sister Mother and Sister Daughter
June 6th: Back 2.0 Basics
June 7th: Assembling the Posse
June 8th: Anita Neukar in… Vivi Gaimz
June 9th: Mother Daughter Heart-2.0-Heart
June 10th: Daisuke and Paz in… Wacked Up Wednesday
June 11th: VAG Swap
June 12th: Terra’s Tomorrow
June 13th: Haruki’s Birthday Bash
Act 2: CHAOTIC CHANGES
June 14th: Jade and the Kuro Abigale Quinlans
June 15th: Aku_Mako’s E3 2015 Rundown – Day Zero
June 16th: Transform Sex Power
June 17th: Erotic Blitz
June 18th: An Evening At The Local Water Park
June 19th: Date Night Cubed
June 20th: Chicago Diamond Symphonia
June 21st: The Father’s Day Resurrection Special
June 22nd: Nazz and Liang Do Flare Industries
June 23rd: The Kurokawa Family Visits the Museum of Science and Industry
June 24th: Whatever Happened to… Yuccot Kikansky?
June 25th: A World Where The Gamers Won
June 26th: Bond Xing
June 27th: SSS – Sizzling Sexual Summer
June 28th: Lesbians 2.0 Gay Boys
June 29th: Caroline and Raiyne’s Cabin Logs
ACT 3: WORLDLY WONDERS
July 1st: We Lost the Remote in Tokyo!
July 2nd: Maid Café Mishaps
July 3rd: Pier Parties and Peaceful Palavers
July 4th: The Freedom To Get High At Burger Queen!
July 5th: From Nippon With Love
July 6th: Let’s Go Mexico with Haruya ‘n’ Da Boyz! Episode 1
July 7th: Jade & Caroline’s Austrian Adventure Episode 1
July 8th: Max’s Buff Quest Episode 1
July 9th: Let’s Go Mexico with Haruya ‘n’ Da Boyz! Episode 2
July 10th: Jade & Caroline’s Austrian Adventure Episode 2
July 11th: Max’s Buff Quest Episode 2
July 12th: Let’s Go Mexico with Haruya ‘n’ Da Boyz! Episode 3
July 13th: Jade & Caroline’s Austrian Adventure Episode 3
July 14th: Max’s Buff Quest Episode 3
July 15th: Utage Three-Point-Oh!