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, dubious consent, strong language, hateful language and slurs, and incestuous activities. Reader discretion is advised.
Verde’s Doohickey 2.0: Sensational Summer Romp
July 8th – Max’s Buff Quest Episode 1
Part 1: Max’s Morning Meeting
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Time: 07:31 CDT (Central Daylight Time)
Location: Casa del Dusk
The summer sun was high and valiant, as is customary for this time of year, yet most sensible people were still at home, possibly in their beds. After all, it was a Wednesday, summer break, and still just a few days after a major holiday. Miss Maxxisaurus Omega Flare would have been one of those people, being firmly on the night owl end of things, yet she was fully dressed in her purple tank top and dark shorts, pounding away at the door to Casa del Dusk.
Maxxie: “C’mon, Verde! Lemme in! LET ME IN! Today is the day we promised! The time has come and so have I! No matter what you have planned, I shall embrace it! So witness me! Witness me!“
She was feisty even by her high standards, desperate to be let in… before checking her backpack again and fishing out a key, using it to open up the door herself.
Maxxie: “Garf! I can be such a ditz when I get excited. Ready or not, here I come!”
Opening up the door, Maxxie took in the sight of Verde’s luxurious home for the summer, home to many a party over the past month, and many more to come. However, a party was not on her agenda, and after kicking off her kicks she scampered up to Verde’s room, finding her lying alone in a queen-sized bed, wrapped in a light sheet. Maxxie mused over this sight, looking to both sides of her shoulders, as if to entertain a pocket-sized angel and devil, before deciding to take the chaotic approach to waking up this sleeping God.
With Verde still asleep and none the wiser, Maxxie snuck underneath her sheet and crept closer to her, careful to not make a sound or cause a rustle before gently wrapping her arms around her. Verde remained asleep even as Maxxie wrapped around her torso, and with their bodies touching front-to-back, she whispered into Verde’s ear.
Maxxie: “Wakey-wakey Verde.“
With a rustle, Verde crept her eyes open, looking at her clock as it displayed 7:36 at her, before shrugging and deciding to get up, pausing as she felt something wrapped around her. She turned around and came face to face with Maxxie, shooting back her signature smirk.
Maxxie: “Hiii~!”
Verde: “…Why are you in my bed?”
Maxxie: “‘Cos you seemed lonely lying there like that.”
Verde: “No, I… ugh. I mean why are you here?”
Maxxie: “You know why! You told me to come by Wednesday morning so you could make be a better Max. It’s Wednesday, and it’s morning—”
Verde: “…I meant like 9:00 or 10:00, you impatient little dork! Gimme five minutes, and I’ll get down with you…”
Maxxie: “Sure thing! So long as you keep your promise.”
Rolling out of bed and onto her feet, Maxxie moseyed downstairs while leaving Verde to toss off her sheet and make her bed, wearing only a black camisole and green panty as she did so. She grabbed her phone from the nightstand and sighed at the first message that cropped up, muttering that today’s going to be “one of those days.”
Following the requisite five minutes, Maxxie was in the living room, sitting down, her legs shaking in anticipation, and her hands fiddling with themselves as the seconds passed by. Verde finally emerged a full six minutes later, undressed and looking like she just rolled out of bed, because she did. Before sitting down with Maxxie, she made sure to grab a can of coffee from the fridge, popping the top before gulping down a fifth of it in one go. She plopped herself down at the requisite dining table of the home, and Maxxie sat across from her a few seconds later.
Maxxie: “So… when do I get my sexy new boy body?”
Verde: “Well, for one, I’m not going to just give it to you. You gotta work for it one way or another.”
Maxxie: “I’m not liking what I’m hearing…”
Verde: “For the love of… Okay, let’s start from the top. What displeases you about your male TransSex form?”
Maxxie: “You know! It’s way fatter than regular me and not in the right places. It’s not handsome, not cute, not even all that strong or nothing. And as a mistress of the perverse, having a 4 inch penis like that is inexcusable! …It’s also nonsensical! Both my grandpappies had bigger dicks, six inches at a minimum, and I would be fine if I were just average, but I’m not even that. You gave me a subpar penis!”
Verde: “…Why do you know how big your grandfathers’ dicks were? …Actually, forget I even asked that. Your Maxwell Beta Flare form was not something I designed by hand. It was determined systematically as what you would most likely look like if you were born a boy— if you were assigned male at birth. You could always change it by working out and—”
Maxxie: “Boring, slow, and it won’t make my penis bigger. I was promised you’d give me a bigger schlong, woman! I’ll do anything! I’ll even go out and kill a dragon! Hell, I’d fuck a dragon to get a bigger dick!”
The absurdity of Maxxie’s comment was enough to brighten Verde’s expression, letting out a single chuckle before restraining herself.
Verde: “That… will not be necessary. However, you will need to embark on a quest. A quest to expand your understanding of gender, forcing you to learn to love and appreciate the male form.”
Maxxie: “Uh, have you seen my artwork? I’m pretty sure it’s plain as day that I like me a sexy man. Hell, have you seen who I’ve swapped into this summer?”
Verde: “Of course I have. You have admired sexy men from afar, brought them to life through the power of pen and stylus, and enjoyed embodying a sexy man. But if you want to prove yourself as one, worthy of defying biology to be a strong, sexy man with a fat cock, you will need to go on a special kind of quest. A… BUFF quest!”
Upon hearing this, Maxxie stood up and slammed both hands on the table. Verde did not flinch, but her eyes drifted up towards Maxxie’s face, finding her smiling ear-to-ear, on the verge of laughter.
Maxxie: “Hahahahaha! I don’t know what that means, but you’re on! Maxxie’s— no, Max’s Buff Quest is go-go-a-go-go! …I mean, I’m plenty comfortable like this, you know this, but if I can go on a quest full of buff dudes to become a Cadillac of men, Imma do it to it!”
Verde: “Ah, that was the reaction I wanted to hear. Very good! I shall replace your Maxwell form with something more suited to your ideal male body, a sexy buff dude with a 10 inch dick. …IF, and only if, you perform admirably in the Strongest Under The Heavens Tournament.”
Maxxie: “Yeah— Wait, so I need to fight to become a sexy dude and… hold up, why are you making a Dragon Ball reference? I can sorta see it, but—”
Verde: “Will you, Maxxie Flare, train yourself to be the best man you can be? Through perseverance and effort, you can transcend Maxwell Beta flare and become a better Max. Maximillion Alpha Flare!“
Maxxie: “Well I’m not going to say no now when you’re dangling 10 inches in front of me! So yes, I will, Miss Dusk. When do I start this week-long bootcamp to be the best dude ever?”
Verde: “You start… right now!”
Snapping her fingers, Verde caused a door to suddenly appear behind Maxxie, arriving with a distinctly magical shimmering sound. Maxxie looked at the door— a black wooden door with a mulberry-colored doorknob— and smiled confidently. She reached for the doorknob, ready to throw herself into this new venture… only to stop before her hand touched the oddly colored metal.
Maxxie: “…Actually, how long is this going to take? Doing the math, I’m primo defo not gonna be able to whip my body into shape like that in just a week so—”
Verde: “Oh, even with my magic, it will take you months.”
Maxxie: “MONTHS?! Do you seriously expect me to throw away the rest of my summer and the start of college for this?”
Verde: “No, that would be stupid. Time will move differently for you, and you’ll be back within a week. It’ll be just like what happened to Caroline and Reyn, just with some different scaling, and you’ll be back in Oransen by May 14th. God’s promise! On God!“
While Maxxie had learned to trust Verde when she seems honest, she hesitated as she weighed these two options. She could go on this wild adventure, or she could not and… spend about a week without half of her friends, her family, or her girlfriend. She always had stuff to do, art to draw, games to play, and things to watch. But which option was more in the spirit of this sensational summer? Going on a bodacious quest that would take her who knows well or chilling in her bedroom for a few days. …The right answer was obvious.
Maxxie: “Alright, Verde. You’ve got me! I’m gonna walk through this door, begin my Buff Quest, and it better be a good one!”
Verde: “Oh, trust me, Max. It will be out of this world.”
Emboldened, Maxxie flew open this door and embraced whatever laid on the other side, slamming it shut. The door vanished a few seconds after being closed, leaving Verde in her lonesome again. She sighed as she slumped back in a chair, looking out at her empty house, before finishing up her coffee, crushing the can for fun.
Verde: “That’s one more off the list. Now then, who else do I have to play with today? …Oh. Right. There’s him too.”
Part 2: Max’s Voyage Beyond Space and Time
Date: Unknowable
Time: Unknowable
Location: Beyond Space and Time
Upon entering the black door, Maxxie found herself in a place far, far away from Oransen. Far from the world she knew, and one that seemed to defy several known laws of physics. The sky before her depicted a sea of stars, all shining valiantly in a way that was rare to see in an industrialized world, but they were further decorated with a vibrant green aurora, dancing across this cloudless sky.
Looking down, she saw that the ground beneath her feet was adorned in some soft rubbery material, divided into squares colored a soft white and a sky blue, alternating in a checkerboard pattern. As she continued to stare down, she saw her feet, clad in blasé black gym shoes, and more notably her body. She was wearing an Oransen High gym uniform, but rather than adorning her usual chubby girl figure with all of its curves and lauded warmth, she was in her boy body just as it was last time she had resided in it. Short black hair, a face that kept her signature freckles but lacked the cuteness, and fat that gathered around one big gut. She was no longer Maxxie, but Maxwell.
Maxwell: “Guess I should have seen this coming…”
Sighing, Maxwell wandered out past the door to get a better scope of her surroundings, and what she saw was… a gym with no walls and an endless horizon. The sky above stretched on for what looked like miles in every direction, there was no sign of life to be seen, and while there were things around her, they were all decidedly “gym themed.” Mats, weights, balls, lines on the floor outlining a 250-meter-track, a cart of “sporting goods.” Looking back where she came, she saw a rest area the size of a studio apartment, but it was mostly dedicated to essentials. A bed, kitchenette, table, shower, toilet, fridge, that sort of thing. It was a little hut of a building, cute in a sense, but it looked positively odd next to all of the emptiness around it. …And the fact that there were two hourglasses of green sand on both sides, the sand going down in one and up in the other.
Maxwell: “Oh, another Dragon Ball reference? I didn’t take Verde to be the type. …So, what am I supposed to do here? Just work out in private for months? Do I have an exercise sheet or something? …Do I need to do this in silence? Because I think that would be the worst.”
???: “I see she did not give you a briefing on what is to happen. More work for me, I suppose.”
Maxwell swerved her head around as she looked for the source of this voice. They were definitely on the masculine side of the register, sounded particularly confident, if not comfortable, with this situation, and bore a distinctly British accent. She looked up, down, and all around for this voice, only for something to tap her on her shoulder. She turned around to greet this figure, expecting some British sensei to show her the ways of a fighter, of being a strong sexy man, instead… Well, if you gave her 500 guesses, she would not have guessed what she was looking at right now.
The person who spoke out to her was not human, not even humanoid, but a velociraptor of all creatures. They were featherless, a classic greenish brown dinosaur, yet were dressed with a top hat on their head, a bow tie on their neck, and a cane in their hand. All they needed to complete the look was a monocle, but I suppose they did not have vision issues, beyond those inherent to their species. Instead, they had a golden pocket watch fashioned along their person, looking more like a necklace than anything else.
Most people would react to seeing this dinosaur, this beast from millions of years in the past, with some level of dumbfound awe or fear, as these things could easily kill a human. This summer’s biggest movie, Jurassic World, reminded people of just that well understood fact. Maxwell though? Maxwell looked at this dinosaur with dazzling eyes before wrapping her arms around it in a zealous hug.
Maxwell: “OH MY GAWD! A real dinosaur! Verde, you’re the best! I take back every nasty thing I ever said about you! You’ve made dinos REAL! REAL!“
Fancy Velociraptor: “Yes, yes, that is quite alright, I appreciate the enthusiasm, but if you could please save the hugging for later, dear Maxxisaurus.”
Maxwell: “Ha! He even knows my name!”
Fancy Velociraptor: “Of course I do. Now, I said to take your hands off me once, and I shan’t ask a second time.”
Using a level of deftness and precision that was unbecoming given their form, the velociraptor wiggled their way out of Max’s hug and swiftly bonked her on the head with a cane. The abruptness of the impact sent Maxwell falling down onto the floor, where she realized just how soft it was. It was like the entire floor was one big exercise mat.
Fancy Velociraptor: “I shall apologize for this once, but bear in mind that I do not offer hugs under flimsy circumstances. They are a reward in my book, not a right. At least not for strapping young men of your age. Though, strapping may be an inappropriate adjective given your current physique.”
Maxwell: “Wow, talk about a double whammy to my self-esteem… Could you at least tell me your name, mister raptor?”
Fancy Velociraptor: “My name is Sir Xandy, but merely Xandy shall suffice for our relationship.”
Maxwell: “Nice to meetcha, Xandy! Can we be friends?”
Attempting to start out their relationship on the right foot, Maxwell held out her hand for a shake, yet Xandy gently pushed it away.
Xandy: “I intend no offense to you, Maxxisaurus, but that is not the relationship we have. We are master and pupil, teacher and student, sensei and deshi. I am here to instruct, and you, as my deshi, are here to do.”
Nodding, Maxwell was quick to perform a formal Japanese bow before Xandy, turning her back 45 degrees forward while smiling like a dork.
Maxwell: “Thank you Xandy-sensei! Under your tutelage, I hope to learn the art of becoming a strong man!”
Xandy: “Ha! I admire the clarity of your goals, but before you can become a strong man, you first must become a man. While the world may say you are from your age alone, you have the rigor and discipline of a mere boy. There are many ways in which a boy may become a man, but all involve labor, pain in some flavor, and for you? Well, to test your level, I believe a little mock battle is in order. You shall lose. The question is how badly you will lose.”
After stating his terms, Xandy tapped his cane on the floor thrice. Through what could only be described as magic, Max’s clothes switched from a standard gym uniform to a proper training gi, complete with a white belt, and a pair of red boxing gloves on her hands. She looked at these clothes and gloves with a smile, clenching her fists and shaking around as the loose fabric hung off of her person, only for a tsk noise to redirect her attention towards Xandy. His dapper appearance had been amended with the addition of a pair of blue boxing gloves, which raised… several questions. Such as, could raptors even make fists?
Xandy: “What? You look like you’ve never seen a dinosaur with boxing gloves.”
Maxwell: “Heh! I’ll have you know that I’ve played Tekken Tag 2 before! I sucked at it, but I remember that there was a dino who looked an awful lot like you.”
Xandy: “Typical human, thinking that all of us look alike. But enough talk! You strike first.”
Maxwell: “Alright then… I’m a karate class dropout, and was never good at sports, but I’ll give it my all! Yaaahhh!”
Harnessing the power of determination , Maxwell launched her best attempt at a flurry of rapid punches at Xandy, hoping to at least get a single good hit in. Xandy immediately recognized this approach and gracefully dodged each of Max’s attacks, letting her get in at least a dozen attempts before finally retaliating.
Xandy: “PREDICTABO!”
The next thing Maxwell noticed was that there was a sharp pain coursing through her gut. She tried to move, to do something, but as she moved a foot, she fell to the ground like a wet slab of meat.
Maxwell: “Ooowww…”
Xandy: “Oh, pish posh! I did not strike you with more than a fragment of my true power.”
Maxwell: “It still hurts! I’m not used to getting gut punched!”
Xandy: “Hmm… yes, this is worse than I anticipated.”
Grabbing his fallen cane, Xandy tapped it onto the floor yet again, causing the boxing gloves to disappear from both him and Maxwell. Using his freed appendages, Xandy brought his claws to his pocket watch, opening it up and muttering some numbers to himself.
Xandy: “Per my calculations, you are six months too green for the tournament. But that is quite alright. I already have a training regiment all set up for you, including friends to help make your doughy boyish self into a true man.”
Still curled over on the floor, Maxwell looked up at Xandy as if he just sent her to labor jail.
Maxwell: “Ugh… so, what are you going to have me do? Am I going to wear weighted clothes, do deliveries in a rural town, train under intense gravity, or—”
As Maxwell began reciting more Dragon Ball training arc references, Xandy bonked his cane onto her head. Teasingly, yet enough to hurt.
Maxwell: “OW!”
Xandy: “I know we are in a loosely veiled rendition of the room of hypertime—”
Maxwell: “That’s not it’s name!”
Xandy: “But I shall expect you to hold our training to a higher standard. Look toward a martial arts movie with real martial artists. There are hundreds to choose from. Or perhaps watch a real fighting anime.”
Maxwell: “Well, I did watch Ippo a while back—”
Xandy: “Too pedestrian! But at least they teach some good fundamentals there. Train your body, train your skills, and repeat them over and over until your body and mind work with a synchronicity that would awe regular people. Repetition is the point, for it shall make you stronger, more regimented, and enhance your limits, bit-by-bit!”
Groaning and mustering the strength needed to stand, Maxwell rose from the floor and looked down at Xandy, sighing as she accepted her fate.
Maxwell: “Very well sensei. What is my training regime today?”
Xandy: “We shall start you off on the most basic of basics, repeated until you reach levels I deem satisfactory. You begin with 50 sit-ups, 50 push-ups, 50 10 kilogram arm curls, 50 squats, followed by a 5-kilometer run.”
Maxwell: “…Sensei, not to be rude, but you’re crazy if you think I can do all of that in a single session. Hell, even a single day.”
Xandy: “Ah, yes, under normal circumstances, that much is obvious. Yet I have failed to inform you of a quirk with this place. No matter how much you exercise, your body will neither grow tired nor sore nor hungry nor thirsty beyond a modest level. You can train ad infinitum.”
Based on the dire expression on Max’s face upon hearing that news, Xandy may as well have told Maxwell that she’s not allowed to have fun for the next few months.
Maxwell: “So, is that bed for show?”
Xandy: “Rest shall be a reward for your efforts, to heal your mind, not your body. Now chop-chop, let us make post-haste, not most waste!”
Every second that passed made this deal seem worse and worse. It was one thing to train, but Maxwell felt like she was being thrown out of the freezer and into the frying pan with this rapidly established regimen. She looked back at the door she entered in, at the end of the rest area, and told herself that she could go back if she wanted to. …But when was the last time a Flare ever backed down from anything?
Maxwell: “…Just so you know, you are rapidly declining on my dinosaur tier list.”
Xandy: “I told you to run, not to run your mouth.”
Feeling the frustration billowing within her, Maxwell heeded the talking dinosaur’s hints and dropped to the ground, counting down her sit-ups as she adopted the proper position, lest she be chided. She knew that this would be a hard fought process, meeting this fancy velociraptor’s expectations, but all she had to do was stick with it, trust the process, and accept that this is the cost of getting what she wants.
Part 3: Max’s Endless 5K
Date: Unknowable
Time: Unknowable
Location: Beyond Space and Time
Maxwell: “I should have kept my damn mouth shut…”
After hours of exercise, Maxwell was partway through her 5-kilometer run, and was positively dogging her way through the final few laps. Sweat coated her being, turning her gi into a swampy off-white garment that stank like something that ought to be burned, rather than cleaned. Her thick thighs slapped against her dampened dick and stretched out balls with every step. The thrill of running with a loose dick, edging as she ran, had long been replaced by a desire for some proper underwear to keep her boy bits away.
Her face was positively dripping as sweat persisted without limit, plopping onto the floor where it melted away into nothingness, leaving behind not even a stain. Arms hung off her shoulders like loose sausages, too strained from the arm curls to adopt a proper running posture. While lastly, but not least, were her legs, feeling like wilted sticks on the brink of collapse. She just wanted to sit down to recuperate, but with Xandy staring at her, watching her, judging her, with a cane in hand, she felt she had no choice to continue.
As she did so, she thought back to how easier this whole sorted affair would be in the bodies of the various men she tried and tested. Zoe was the obvious pick, being practically built for this thanks to his years-long exercise routine and signature rigor. Nazz was basically just Zoe: Caucasian Version. Yukito was a robot, so that was cheating. But, shit, even being a middle-aged dude like Liang or Daisuke again would be preferable to this.
Maxwell: “Then… then there’s Tony, he was practically built for this. And… would Vid be better? …Yeah, nah, it would. He wouldn’t have an extra 30 kilos to lug around… Screw it, I’d rather do this as ANYBODY BUT ME!“
Right as Maxwell made this audacious declaration— one that would trigger a body swap in certain scenarios— Xandy’s pocket watch let out a cheery chime as an alarm rang. Maxwell, still too stuck in the zone of a hard work-out, barely heard it, finagling her body forward until Xandy spoke loudly and made a declaration.
Xandy: “Very good, young Maxwell. You have achieved your first session of traini—”
Before Xandy could finish his congratulations, Maxwell fell to the rubbery ground face-first, drool coming out of her mouth as she told her body to stop and relish in the bliss of being static.
Maxwell: “Badubbaduh.”
Xandy: “Yes, yes, you did what I told you to, and per the rules of positive reinforcement, you shall receive a treat.”
Maxwell: “Wuzzat? What am I to you? Some kind of dog?”
Xandy chuckled as he looked down at Maxwell, still lying on her gut, half-talking into the floor, yet just intelligible enough to be understood.
Xandy: “Mayhaps. We are all animals at the end of the day. Now, work your way to the rest area, where you can shower and eat, in whichever order you choo—”
Maxwell: “Food! Maxwell needs food badly.”
Adopting the disposition of a shambling zombie, Maxwell wandered over to the rest area, following behind Xandy as he set the small end table and fiddled with a microwave-looking contraption, pressing its buttons with his claws. Seconds later, he produced a bottle of a purple drink and a positively cartoonish looking piece of food— it looked more like a prop than anything meant to actually be eaten. It was a thick chunk of browned meat. Soft, tender, full of dense proteins and seasoned with a careful blend of spices that produced something that smelled divine.
Though the most curious part of this meat, beyond how even it was on all sides, was how it was perfectly embedded on a stark white bone, a cartoon dog bone, that ran through its center. It would take a chef of immense caliber, or a factory of a dubious nature, to produce something that so perfectly translated the imagination of generations of artists into reality. It should not be real, but it was. It was genuine, perfect, meat on a bone.
Smell and sight pushed Maxwell to dash despite her fatigue, slamming her fat ass into the cheap chair before her. She sunk her teeth into this meat, ripping out the fattest chunk she could before letting it dance throughout her mouth. She struggled to chew, tears began to well in her eyes, and whatever pain she felt over the past few hours suddenly seemed unequivocally worth it.
Her body sung the song of life as she consumed this massive chunk of meat with vigor, only pausing to take swigs of her purple sports drink, which tasted like… purple. No words could describe the flavor. It was not grape, not artificial grape, not even eggplant flavored. It was just… purple from top to bottom, and whatever that flavor represented, it went surprisingly well with meat.
Within a few minutes, Maxwell had fully picked off every scrap of meat from her meat on a bone and there were only a few drops left of her drink. She sat back in her chair, full and content, sighing proudly as if finishing the meal was the real accomplishment.
Maxwell: “Now that’s the good shit! What animal even was that?”
Xandy: “Only the most delectable prey from my native era.”
Maxwell: “…Wait, so you just fed me dinosaur meat? You trying to turn me into Bonk or something?”
Xandy: “Rest assured, your head shall remain furred and proportional. Now that you have digested, did you, perchance, notice any changes?”
Curious about what Xandy was talking about, Maxwell lifted herself up from the chair and tried examining her body. She was still slightly sore after her first session so she did not feel meaningfully different, but she also did not feel worse. She knew all too well that progress was gradual, and that a few hours was not enough time to produce a perceptible amount of progress in just about any new skill. Certainly a project, but not a skill.
Maxwell: “Well, for one, I’m not as tired, which is good. Sometimes I get sleepy after a big meal like that.”
Xandy: “Through your labor and consuming that curated meat, your prowess and form have shifted, ever so slightly, closer to your idealized form. If I had to say, you are now one percent closer.”
Maxwell: “…So I need to do this 100 times?”
Xandy: “Ohohohoho! …Yes, at the very least. I wish to give you a hint of progress with every success, but just a hint, to keep you hungry for more, eager to develop a strong body. For only with a strong body can you learn to fight.”
Maxwell: “Spoken like a true dinosaur… So, I just need to keep doing this over and over until I get strong enough? This really is like that summer art bootcamp all over again. Just with magic. Meaning it will probably actually work.”
Xandy: “It will work, that I can guarantee. Trust the process, deshi, and all your desires shall become reality.”
Hearing these words, Maxwell rubbed her cheek, trying to devise a way to get back at her sensei with a bit of coercion.
Maxwell: “I do. But you know what would really motivate me to do another hundred times? If I didn’t have to run around in silence! Seriously, there’s no ambient noise here or anything! No machinery, no bugs, it’s crazy! Maxwell wants music!”
Xandy: “Hmm… yes, quite. That I can arrange, but only in moderation.”
Looking as smug as a lizard could, Xandy tapped his cane on the floor thrice, and caused a generic looking MP3 player to appear in Max’s hand. It had a pair of earbuds poking out from its bottom, and as she turned it on, she saw that it only had a single album on it, MMMMM: My Mysterious Malice for A Misanthropic Mythos by MinoFloppz.
Maxwell: “Huh. You gave me Gem’s breakcore album and that’s it?”
Xandy: “For now. Complete a cycle and you shall be rewarded with another album, selected from your collection, at random.”
Maxwell: “…Do I also get more of that meat?”
Xandy: “Yes. It is a signature warrior’s meal, and you—”
Maxwell: “HELL YEAH! You should’ve told me this from the start, ya silly dino! Knowing that I’ll get good grub and sick beats is enough to get me motivated. In fact, screw the shower! Imma gonna begin round two RIGHT NOW! ‘Cos I’m sparking!”
Clumsily attaching the MP3 player’s built-in clip to her soggy and rancid smelling gi, Maxwell hit the floor and started doing another round of sit-ups, ready to speedrun her way to success as Xandy looked on and smiled. Or, at least it looked like a smile.
Xandy: “I see you are a tad extra compared to the others I’ve encountered, but that’s quite alright. Determination keeps the heart beating, makes it stronger, and if you can maintain this drive from start to finish then, well, your final form shall be something simply stellar.”
Unfortunately for Xandy, Maxwell was in the zone, grinding on this fitness game in hopes of finally achieving the sexy male body she had been begging for. It would not be a quick process, or an easy one, but with her go-getter’s mindset, success was inevitable.
Gaiden July 8th: The Xing(Kurokawa)s and the Kurokawa(Xing)s – Episode 2.0
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Time: 10:35 CDT (Central Daylight Time)
Location: Flare Industries Chicago
Flare Industries’ Chicago Office was in something of a tizzy. During the extended Fourth of July weekend, the company servers were subject to a cyberattack originating from Japan. Whoever stole Ken and Elly’s bodies after they lost the VD 2.0 had used their remote access to the servers to plant a smorgasbord of malware into them, threatening every computer on the network. Two days into the repair process and things were still shaky. Several people were unable to do any meaningful work without access to their shared drives. And while a company of this size should have the resources to get things up and going ASAP, Flare Industries HQ only had on IT guy. It was a mess, and what made it all the worse was the fact that the owners, Ken and Elly Flare, were off in Lake Geneva, looking for love in an unconventional manner.
Most of the fine details were unknown to the majority of Flare Industries personnel, but there were extra people sent in to help, after Verde swapped around the Kurokawa and Xing families. Not because they were strictly the best people for the job, but it gave them something to do while half the Swap Posse was out being a bunch of world warriors.
Activity was buzzing throughout the corporate office in the north side of Chicago, but whenever you get an office of this size, you always wind up with a few shit-stirrers who just try to make everything hard for everyone else. Felix Herrera was one of those people. A Hispanic man, taller than average, 38-years-old, with jet black hair and a full beard bearing some gray strands sprinkled throughout. He walked around the office, peering over people’s cubicles, carrying a manilla folder in his hand, before ducking into an office with an open door.
Felix stared at a woman at a large desk covered in papers aplenty. Her name was Penny Malla. A 29-year-old Desi woman dressed for the crisp temperatures of the office, with a scarf and cardigan covering her person and jeans covering her legs. Her face was down, obscured by her dark wavy shoulder-length hair, but she looked up as she saw Felix walk in, audibly groaning at his presence.
Penny: “Hello, Felix. Do you need me for anything?”
Felix: “Yes, of course. I need your help getting to the bottom of what’s going on here, as there are so many odd coincidences happening at once!”
Opening up his manilla folder, full of assorted papers and notes, he began to read off some handwritten notes from a legal pad.
Felix: “First, we had Natasha suddenly leave, on June 7th, to take care of some ‘sick family members.’ She didn’t say goodbye in person, she just sent a damn email and left Nazz to take care of her work, and he does it better than she ever did!”
Penny: “Felix, we’ve been over this. Nazz has been working here for half a year, and he worked directly with Natasha. That is plenty of training time, and Nazz… just seems smarter and more driven than his mother, I hate to say. Natasha wasn’t dumb, but Nazz is a smart guy.”
Felix: “Sure, sure, it’s not like he’s someone fresh out of college, but I’ll give you that he’s smart. …But what about Liang? He just does not make any sense! Natasha NEVER mentioned having a husband, always shot down the subject, and I thought he was dead. But no, apparently he was alive all this time, just in another country, and he comes back, working for us 15 days after Natasha left! Despite not having had much of a relationship, these two— Nazz and Liang— are working surprisingly closely together, and I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a stepdad and stepson working as well as these two. Furthermore, I don’t buy that Liang is actually in his 50s. Here, take a look at this, it’s a photo of Liang I was able to get from the website of his prior employer, Zeta Realty, taken back in 2000!”
As he continued to rant, Felix produced a photograph and Penny, begrudgingly, took a gander at it. It looked like Liang, it was definitely him, and while the quality was low resolution, it looked like him from three or five years ago, not 15 like Felix was saying. Still, Penny did not take the bait. She just handed the photo back to him.
Penny: “Does this really matter, Felix? We don’t need to interrogate everyone in the office about their past or—”
Felix: “No, but this is different! Right after Natasha leaves and Liang is brought on, what happens? We have a major security breach and our servers are down! Ken and Elly said their phones were compromised, that someone loaded viruses remotely, but I don’t believe that. While Ken is… Ken, Elly is an extremely competent woman, and she would never let this happen. What if this is just a cover, a cover for Nazz and Liang—”
Penny: “Felix, are you even listening to yourself? You have no proof for any of this, and we have written explanations from both Ken and Elly and a separate one from Besnik. Nobody was in the office when the servers were compromised on July 3rd. And do either Nazz or Liang have laptops or mobile access? No!”
Felix: “Hmph! …Then why is Liang having his daughter work for us? Why did they call in one programmer and her daughter to help restore the servers? We can afford premium data recovery options and that woman— Dia Kurokawa— I looked into her and found out that she was the victor in a lawsuit involving a school board in Silicon Valley and—”
As Felix kept rambling, Penny slammed her hands on her desk and stood up, shocking the man.
Penny: “Clearly, you have too much free time on your hands if you are doing this. You really need to get another girlfriend.”
Felix: “I— My love life is none of your concern, but I am working on that.”
Penny: “Good for you. Now, if you could let me get back to my work, that would be greeeaaattt.”
Sensing the sass in her voice, Felix nodded along and left her office, before stopping, turning, and heading over to the nearby cubicles of Nazz and Liang, currently occupied by Paz(Nazz) and Shiaka(Liang). He quietly peered over their walls, barely making a sound on the carpeted floors and searching for anything off on their screens. Alas, he did not see anything other than their standard software suite, but he had other ways of getting his suspects to slip up.
Felix: “Nazz! How’s it going. Say, how are you doing with the corporate loan documents? I’m looking to wrap up my June reports by the end of the week, so I’d appreciate it if you could…”
As Felix spoke, he looked over Paz(Nazz), unaware of who lurked behind those bright blue eyes. Comparing her to regular Nazz, she seemed a fraction as confident, looking startled if anything, especially as Felix started looking over the folders on her desk.
Paz(Nazz): “Uh, Felix, you… You know I can’t finish up the corporate loan documents until I get the reports, right?”
As Paz(Nazz)’s voice gained some of Nazz’s usual sass, Felix stepped back, keeping a firm eye on his target.
Felix: “They are normally released a week after the start of the month—”
Paz(Nazz): “Everything was, uh, delayed because of the holiday and… you know, everything going on with the server issues, so… everybody is behind!”
The wavering tone of Paz(Nazz) struck Felix as suspicious, yet he knew he could not spin this into much of anything. People, in general, have been on edge, and he was the one who interrupted Paz(Nazz) from work. Many people here would react the same way. Suspicious? …No. Even he was not that petty.
Felix: “I know, I know, I just hate being behind, and keep running into these roadblocks! If you’re busy, maybe I could take something off your hands…”
“To make sure that you’re doing your job,” Felix thought to himself. You could see it in his brown eyes, yet Paz(Nazz) wasn’t looking. She was digging through her files, looking for something she actually needed help with.
Paz(Nazz): “Uh, I’m going back to paper because of the outage, but… did you get started on the Q3 files?”
Felix: “Already did that a week ago.”
Paz(Nazz): “Great. Uh, you could ask Liang if he has anything.”
Felix: “Will do.”
The moment Felix stepped away, Paz(Nazz) returned to her opened spreadsheet, muttering to herself in French.
Paz(Nazz): “[No, I don’t have anything for you. Nobody can access the servers, so nobody can finish their work, you… jackass.]”
Alone and on her third day of work, ever, Shiaka(Liang) was trying to focus on the task assigned to her, writing a macro in Excel, when she heard the sound of someone knocking on her cubicle, leading her to spring up from her chair, turning to come face-to-face with Felix. He flinched at how quickly Shiaka(Liang) got up, but quickly cleared her throat in an attempt to recover.
Felix: “H-Hello there, Liang. I just wanted to see if you finished any of your reports. With the network down, we need to do things the old school way, as I’m sure you’re familiar with.”
That snide comment flew over Shiaka(Liang)’s head, but she knew what reports he was talking about and returned to her desk, picking up a couple freshly printed papers and handing them to him.
Shiaka(Liang): “Here. I was able to finish them quickly this morning by writing a macro to expedite things.”
Her tone was unusually flat, by both Shiaka and Liang standards, but that’s not what Felix latched onto.
Felix: “Macros? We don’t really use macros here. And I thought you weren’t a, what did you call it, ‘Excel power user.’ Strange that you would suddenly take on this new skill.”
Shiaka(Liang): “Oh, uh, I got some help with a friend after discussing the basics and—”
Felix: “Friend? Were you sharing corporate documents with someone outside the company? You do realize that is explicitly against the rules, right?”
Felix felt like he had finally found something to hold against these newcomers, and smirked as he made the accusation. He knew something was wrong, and wanted to prove it purely for the sake of being right. Shiaka(Liang), in response, took a deep breath, hardened her body, and reminded herself of who she was. She was a big, strong man.
Shiaka(Liang): “I would have never dreamed of it. I was asking for generic advice and implementing it accordingly. You have your reports. If you… if you need something else to keep you busy, I have flagged several items for review in our workflow dashboard. While the server may be down, I have uploaded copies of the files there.”
Felix: “You… I see. You really seem to be on top of things, Liang. I’ll give them a look and let you know if any changes are needed. Your formatting’s a bit old school, but if it works, it works.”
With some of his dignity in-tact, Felix sulked away, no longer having an overt excuse to pester his co-workers now that his hands were literally full of documents. He did not have to do the work now, but he had to at least put them aside for the time being. Meanwhile, Paz(Nazz) approached Shiaka(Liang) to discuss their latest encounter.
Paz(Nazz): “I’m sorry you had to deal with a guy like him. He’s clearly a busybody more interested in workplace drama than actual work. And you did a great job getting him to shut up.”
Shiaka(Liang): “Th-Thank you. I had to tell myself who I was to stand up to him, but I did it.”
Checking to see that nobody else was around or listening, Paz(Nazz) wrapped her arms around Shiaka(Liang), locking the two in what was probably their least comfortable hug in years. Strong arms, broad shoulders, and flat chests made their hugs lack the comfort they expected as mother and daughter, not that this factoid stopped her from being emotional.
Shiaka(Liang): “M-Mom, you don’t need to hug me like this—”
Paz(Nazz): “But I want to, I want you to know you did a good job and that I love you very much.”
Paz(Nazz) followed up her comment by planting a kiss on Shiaka(Liang)’s cheek. She flinched, staring blankly into her mother’s handsome face before she let out a giggle, sounding wrong with her borrowed voice.
Paz(Nazz): “No matter the body, you’ll always be my little Sunshine.”
Gaiden July 8th: The Xing(Kurokawa)s and the Kurokawa(Xing)s – Episode 2.1
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Time: 11:09 CDT (Central Daylight Time)
Location: Flare Industries Chicago
After dropping off his files on his desk, Felix continued his warpath through Flare Industries, searching for these pesky outsiders and finding his way to the IT office. Its door was open, as it always was, and as he went in, he saw some unused computer set-ups and three workstations. The first was home to the resident IT person, Besnik. He was a big Estonian guy, had a bit of a gut, and was clearly on the sunny side of 40. His hairline was thinning, glasses adorned his face, and he was the sole person responsible for keeping the IT infrastructure of this multi-million dollar company online. Besnik took a sip from his can of sparkling water before turning to face Felix, his eyes drooping as his hazy blue eyes landed on his face.
Besnik: “Felix! What is it this time? We’re kind of busy, haven’t you heard?”
Felix: “Yes, yes, I understand that, Besnik. I know you are working hard, and believe me when I say I appreciate you. But… I’m more concerned about this woman you’re working with.”
Lowering his voice into a whisper, Felix pointed at Zoe(Dia), dressed in gray buttoned blouse and a black skirt that went up to his knees. He was focusing on his dual monitor display, seemingly not listening whatever Felix and Besnik were talking about.
Besnik: “What’s there to complain about Dia? She might not be a specialist, but I’ve worked with her before and she’s a huge help. Without her, this would take me forever. But with her and her daughter helping out, we should be back to normal by Monday. …Maybe Wednesday.”
Felix: “I guess, but can we really get by like this? Do we need to bring in contractors like this? If you need someone else to work for you, we can find someone, someone with a more reputable history and resume who has the credentials needed to—”
Zoe(Dia): “Sir, are you aware that I am in the same room as you?”
Hearing Zoe(Dia)’s soft voice perk up was enough to freeze Felix where he stood. Embarrassment, fear, and humiliation melded into a slurry as he looked on at Zoe(Dia), looking prim, proper, and sexy, as he stood in the center of the room, arms folded just a smidgen beneath his boobs.
Zoe(Dia): “We have attempted to explain what precisely happened to the server in simple terms, but allow me to explain it to you through an analogy. Through Ken and Elly’s phones, a cluster of malware— a virus— was uploaded onto the server, where it spread itself through every facet of the system. Think of it like a burrowing pest— termites, ants, bedbugs— spreading throughout a house. If you want to remove them, you need to be thorough. You need to remove things, cleanse them, and smoke out everything that remains. A single pregnant bug in the floorboards or beneath the carpet is enough to begin the cycle anew, so we must carefully review everything, wait a while, and ensure that no further pests emerge.”
The calm and collected speech of Zoe(Dia) was enough to leave Felix petrified, wanting to butt in, but unable to as he asserted a presence beyond his stature and general appearance. He did not look like someone to deliver a verbal beatdown, but he was in the middle of doing just that.
Zoe(Dia): “With our server, however, we are not taking any chances and are revising everything, installing newer, more secure, server software. This new software will be capable of better communicating with mobile devices, rather than the roundabout unsecure connection that was previously employed. While the virus has corrupted certain live hard drives, or infected them to the point of uselessness, we are able to restore the data based on a comprehensive June 30th backup, and intend on recovering sanitary files that were updated the following two days, if at all possible.”
Felix turned to Besnik as the Zoe(Dia) continued his explanation and found him nodding along to his words.
Zoe(Dia): “What we are doing requires precision, requires multiple people, and after working on this project for a day and a half, I have already been able to work with Besnik on restoring basic server functionality. You may not have access personally, but rest assured that we are fixing things and working as hard as we reasonably can. I understand this is frustrating for you, Felix I believe your name is, but coming into our offices to voice superstitions will not help us bring the server back online. So, if you found my answer satisfactory, please allow us to return to work. If you have any spare vacation days, it would not be a bad idea to take the rest of the week off. You would not be the only one to do so.”
With Zoe(Dia) finally done with her explanation, Felix looked around, humbled, and desperate for a way out that would keep his pride in one piece.
Felix: “I, uh, thank you for your comprehensive summary. I’ll… let you get back to work.”
Moving faster than an office worker should, Felix fled the scene, leading Besnik and Zoe(Dia) along, where Besnik quickly broke out into laughter.
Besnik: “Hahahaha! It’s been too long since I’ve seen someone put Felix in his place.”
Zoe(Dia): “Trust me, I’ve heard… I’ve encountered men like him before, and dealt with him in a way I’ve proven works. He might talk big, but if you explain it to him like he is five, he shall understand swiftly and effectively.”
Besnik: “Ooh, I should remember that for next time.”
Zoe(Dia): “Feel free. I don’t profess to owning any of my techniques. Most of them are hardly original anyway.”
As Zoe(Dia) spoke, he returned to his desk, eager to resume work, but Besnik rose from his chair, peering over his cubicle wall to talk to him.
Besnik: “Hey Dia, I know you’re married, and a lesbian, but you’ve been such a help, and I know we’re going to get this done on time. Would you let me take you out to dinner on Friday? We can even get ice cream afterward if you’d like.”
From the look on his face and his inflection, however skewed by his Estonian accent, Zoe(Dia) could not detect any ill intentions in Besnik’s offer, nor could he think of anything preventing him from going out while in this body. So, knowing how fond the Swap Posse was when it came to dancing into danger, he shrugged and accepted the offer.
Zoe(Dia): “Sure, I don’t see any reason why not. It should be fun.”
Besnik: “Nice, nice, I’ll let you know the place tomorrow. For now, let’s get back to it.”
Gaiden July 8th: The Xing(Kurokawa)s and the Kurokawa(Xing)s – Episode 2.2
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Time: 14:02 CDT (Central Daylight Time)
Location: Flare Industries Chicago
After being talked down to by a “woman” a foot shorter than him and handed a modest pile of work, Felix decided to do his job and review the work products of his co-workers, finding nothing at all wrong with anything. He should have been humbled by this fact, discarded his superstitions after being proven so wrong, yet he was a bit too stubborn for that. With lunch behind him and his schedule clear, he slithered out of his office, looking for the others who were hired to allegedly help with the company’s IT issues. They were not given cubicles and were left to work on a shared table, usually reserved for quick meetings and collaborative work, yet it was now occupied by them, their laptops, and a few folders of papers.
Two 18-year-olds, Daisuke(Zoey) and Liang(Shiaka) were busy doing something or other, and the entire arrangement was… unusual. A summer intern of the same age was not an uncommon sight at Flare Industries, yet Felix could not fathom why Natasha’s daughter and Dia’s daughter were both here. He had heard about them, even introduced himself, yet he could not allow them to exist here unquestioned. As Felix approached, he heard the two “girls” talking to each other and opted to duck in an empty cubicle. They were speaking in some language he could not understand, and despite being part of a multinational company, he could not spot Korean when he heard it.
Daisuke(Zoey): “[It’s weird to feel like you’re working ‘undercover’ when in an office like this.]”
Liang(Shiaka): “[You’re telling me. One day I’m going here as my regular old self, and the next day, I’ve got to pretend that I don’t know anybody or where anything is.]”
Daisuke(Zoey): “[Hmm… true. At least I have Nazz and you as my cover, as people think I am ‘your’ daughter.]”
Liang(Shiaka): “[It’s so strange to think that this is just ‘normal’ to so many people here.]”
Daisuke(Zoey): “[Haven’t you transformed into Lilian in this same office?]”
Liang(Shiaka): “[That doesn’t make it any less strange!]”
Daisuke(Zoey): “[True, but it’s the type of strange you can get used to. I cannot say the same for the strangeness of trying to type with a different set of hands. Zoey’s fingers are not that much longer than mine, but they’re thinner, so I keep undershooting or overshooting my keystrokes. The fact that we’re on laptops doesn’t help with that.]”
Liang(Shiaka): “[Ha! And here I thought it was just me being slow on the uptake.]”
Daisuke(Zoey): “[Anyway, it looks like I’ve almost figured out how to sanitize the July first and second data. How about you?]”
Liang(Shiaka): “[I’m just trying to keep the investments all up to date. All of this server stuff is over my head!]”
Daisuke(Zoey): “[Just because you’re on the sunny side of 40 doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to pick up new things.]”
Liang(Shiaka): “[I’m a damn teenage girl! So are you! Isn’t that enough of a new thing?]”
Frustrated by this muffled bantering, Felix rose from the cubicle to verify that Daisuke(Zoey) and Liang(Shiaka) were busy working, standing up, stepping forward, only to find that they were already approached by Penny, handing them some papers and pens.
Penny: “Hey guys, sorry about this, but we need you to fill out some more paperwork so we can cut checks for you. It’s all a bunch of pesky tax compliance stuff, since this is your first job.”
The pair of fortysomethings turned 18-year-old girls were quick to take to the paperwork, slowly and methodically going through it, defying muscle memory as they looked down at their hands, or boobs in Liang(Shiaka)’s case. Writing their body’s names, addresses, dates of birth, and needing to remember their social security numbers was all a bit too much for them to handle. As they slowly filled things out, Penny darted her eyes about, idly looking around, when she happened upon a familiar face.
Penny: “Oh, hey Felix. Funny running into you here. …In Michael’s cubicle. …Girls, I’ll be back for the forms in five, I need to have a little chat with Felix here.”
Felix: “W-Wait, I can explain, I was just grabbing something Michael didn’t give back and—”
Penny grabbed Felix by the hand as she dragged him to someplace more isolated, leaving Daisuke(Zoey) and Liang(Shiaka) to sigh in relief and pull out their phones, searching for a cheat sheet of notes.
Liang(Shiaka): “That was a close one. I was never good at remembering socials.”
Daisuke(Zoey): “Let me guess, not even Zoe’s?”
Liang(Shiaka): “Nope! He was just a kid, what would we need his social for?”
As the two filled out their paperwork, Felix was dragged out to a storage and copying room, a commonplace institution among offices like this, to give him a stern talking to.
Penny: “Felix, would you care to explain what you were doing? Because, to me, it looked like a 38-year-old man was creeping on two 18-year-old temp employees.”
Felix: “I was just making sure they were doing their jobs, but they were speaking another language, uh, not Chinese, not Vietnamese, I think it was, uh—”
Penny: “It was Korean, I heard it to. Look, our office is an English language office, but we have it written in our handbook, explicitly, that employees can speak to one another in whatever language they prefer. We hear half a dozen languages every day between phone calls and foreign clients. Get over yourself. And you’re not a young man anymore. You’re old enough to be these girls’ dad. So please don’t go acting like a creep around them Trust your co-workers to do their job. They don’t need Big Brother looking over their shoulders. Okay?”
Felix: “F-Fine, but I still think that the server—”
Penny: “FELIX! Do I need to remind you that I am the head of human resources in this office? I don’t have the authority to put employees on mandatory vacation, but I would strongly recommend taking two days off. Nothing much is going to get done until Monday, and I think you need some time to focus on yourself, not the company. In fact, I’ll bring a vacation form over to you— I’ll fill it out and everything— while you focus on putting your affairs in order, add an out-of-office reply on your emails, all that… good stuff.”
Penny did not even bother waiting for a response from Felix before she patted him on the shoulder and departed, taking an audible breath while he was still in earshot. Disparaged and feeling like an utter moron, Felix sulked over to the break room, off to grab another cup to get him through the day. One quick trip to the machine later, he had all he needed, but before he could walk out, he saw someone unfamiliar entering this room.
It was an average-looking Hispanic woman in her mid-40s. It was Nazz in Paz’s body, carrying a metal water cup and bringing it to the water cooler, waiting a few seconds for it to be refilled before nodding and turning away, barely even noticing Felix. Felix, however, could not let that happen, even after such a stern-talking to.
Felix: “Hold on. I don’t believer I’ve seen you around here, Miss…”
Nazz(Paz): “…Paz Kurokawa.”
Felix thought “she” sounded a bit too irritable, so he pressed on, not that a nosey man like him needed a reason.
Felix: “Kurokawa? Are you in some way related to Dia, the IT specialist?”
Nazz(Paz): “Yeah… she’s my wife.”
He wanted to say something like “why would a sexy thing like Dia want some old fuddy like you?” But Felix figured he had gotten into enough trouble for one day.
Felix: “Okay, so… don’t tell me you’re working here too!”
Seeing Felix grow irritable like this warmed something in Nazz(Paz)’s heart, so he decided to go along with it for his own amusement.
Nazz(Paz): “I’m just here to support my wife for a couple hours, working as a contractor, trying to help her out with what I can. Same with my daughter Shiaka. But we’ll be gone in a few days, no need to interrogate us.”
Felix: “H-Hold on now! I don’t think it’s proper that so many new people are coming in at such a sensitive point. I can understand Dia, who is supervised, but who is looking over you, Miss Kurokawa?”
Nazz(Paz): “I’m reporting to Nazz. Now will you let me get back to work? I’m guessing you’re pretty busy yourself… Felix, is it?”
Felix wanted to dig into Nazz(Paz), just the confidence he was showing, how much lip he was giving a senior employee like him, he did not want to stand for it. …But the thought of being reprimanded by Penny was enough to cool his fury. He could leave one encounter today with grace, so he would.
Felix: “Hmm… I suppose I am. I’m not sure why, but for some reason you seem to remind me a lot of Nazz. No, you remind me of his mother, Natasha, if she were a bit spicier.”
Leaving behind that remark, intended to be an insult, Felix took his coffee and left the break room, leaving behind Nazz(Paz) standing there, clenching his water bottle, and looking down at it, that phrase echoing in his head. “Natasha, if she were a bit spicier.”
He had much to think about after landing in this body for a few days… but before he could do so, he still had to finish up his shift.
Gaiden July 8th: The Xing(Kurokawa)s and the Kurokawa(Xing)s – Episode 2.3
Date: Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Time: 17:10 CDT (Central Daylight Time)
Location: Flare Industries Chicago
After the clock struck 17:00, the merry body swapped batch of the Xing and Kurokawas were filtering out of the office in a group. All had varying degree of weariness from not only work, but the social exercise of trying to be someone else and look like they knew what they were doing.
Shiaka(Liang): “W-Well, at least we’re halfway done working here, I guess?”
Zoe(Dia): “For the most part. Besnik has been making good progress and thanks to all of you for lending a hand and keeping up appearances, we should be able to finish our share by Friday.”
Paz(Nazz): “It wouldn’t have been that bad if we could just focus on our work, but that Felix guy kept showing up and… I think he hassled all of us.”
Nazz(Paz): “He did, and trust me when I say he’s always like this around new people. You put him in charge of something and he thinks he’s been crowned emperor. Dude needs to find a hobby or a girlfriend or something…”
Liang(Shiaka): “Seconded! Even at my worst while single, putting way too much into work, I was never half as bad as him! He thought we couldn’t see him, ducking into the cubicle, but I certainly did.”
Daisuke(Zoey): “Well, when people only have their job and nothing else…”
By the time they were done chatting, the empty elevator arrived and the six squeezed onto a single elevator, keeping the conversation going as they descended.
Paz(Nazz): “S-So, do any of us have plans for tonight?”
A barrage of responses in the negative range followed.
Paz(Nazz): “Hmm… then maybe we should get together for a group dinner. It’s only been two days and I’m already starting to miss my house…”
Daisuke(Zoey): “Oh, are you offering, Paz?”
Paz(Nazz): “May as well. And not just because I want to be back in my kitchen.”
Nazz(Paz): “Erm, actually, I’ll take care of dinner. We can do it at the Kurokawas’ place.”
Paz(Nazz): “Huh? Are you sure?”
Zoe(Dia): “If we want to make this an event, we can always put in an order and pick it up on our way home or—”
Nazz(Paz): “No, Zoe, it’s… if I’m going to be a mom like this again, I should try catering to people.”
Liang(Shiaka): “Uh, Nazz, are you feeling okay? You never were big into cooking for people and—”
Nazz(Paz): “I’m fine, I’ve just got some shit to work out of my system, and this is the best way I can think of to do it.”
The slow elevator finally opened as Nazz(Paz) made his final statement, being the first to step out and leading the charge. The rest of the group looked at each other, confused as to what baggage Nazz(Paz) was referring to, but none of them were going to say no to a fresh hot meal.
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!