Jenny dropped into the chair that Jason had just vacated, then slid the headband on. The device had a ratchet to adjust the fit, and she tightened it so that it was snug on her smaller forehead.
Tapping the interface on her iPad, Kelly asked, “Ready?” Jenny and Ryan each nodded, excited expressions on their faces. “Okay. Three… Two… One…”
Jenny suddenly felt disoriented. Her vision blurred and she was briefly out of breath. She closed her eyes, momentarily confused. When she opened them a few seconds later she had an entirely new perception. She felt stronger. Bigger. Taller. She turned to her right and with shock saw herself in the other chair, smiling back at her.
The headbands Jenny and Ryan were each wearing had small led lights that changed from red to green. Kelly looked up from her iPad with a proud smile. “Looks like we have a good link.”
“Hey!” Jenny heard a female voice – her voice – say, “Look! I have boobs!” followed by, “Holy shit, what happened to my voice?” and then, “Why do I suddenly feel a little drunk?” This was accompanied by laughter from Kelly and Jason. Incredible as it was, Jenny realized that Ryan was in her skin. He was delightedly staring at his chest. Jenny turned her eyes down at herself, then gasped with amazement at the sight of her own muscular build. She ran a hand over the hairs on her arm. It genuinely seemed like she was in Ryan’s body! “Oh my god! I can feel everything!” she exclaimed. Then she too laughed at the sound of her surprisingly deep voice. “This is unbelievable. Professor Finch is going to be a billionaire when this goes to market.”
Setting the iPad down on the counter, Kelly accepted Jason’s offer to refill her plastic cup with more wine. “Wild, isn’t it?”
“Understatement of the decade,” Jenny said, still incredulous. All of her senses were being experienced via Ryan’s body. She saw, smelled, felt and heard everything differently. It was thrilling. She noted that she wasn’t as tipsy in his body. Ryan easily weighed at least eighty or ninety pounds more than her, so she reasoned that his body had a higher tolerance for alcohol.
“Can we try standing up?” Ryan asked.
Kelly took another sip of wine. Watching linked people trying to walk for the first time was usually pretty humorous since their minds were not oriented to the new proportions of their temporary bodies. With the addition of the alcohol they’d consumed, it had the prospect of being downright hilarious. Grinning, she said, “Okay, but usually newbie linked people are pretty uncoordinated when they try to walk, or even to just stand. Jason and I will help steady you both. Keep your movements slow and gentle.” She stepped in front of Jenny’s seated body, and asked Jason to do the same for Ryan’s.
Ryan went first, standing up much too fast and then quickly putting his arm around Kelly’s waist as he wobbled on legs that were smaller than he was accustomed to. Jenny’s platform sandals didn’t help. “Whoa! I definitely see what you mean!” he said. Kelly nearly spilled her drink as she tried to brace him. She set her cup down next to the iPad, then used both hands to steady his swaying body. “This is so trippy!” he said. “I think these boobs are throwing off my balance!”
“Of course you would focus on breasts,” Kelly snickered. “But more likely it’s just a smaller body than you’re used to. Plus, the wine is making it even harder for your mind to process everything that’s happening.”
“I’ll stick with my boobs theory,” Ryan chuckled, which came out sounding like a giggle from Jenny’s body.
“Okay, my turn,” Jenny said. Jason stepped closer but she held up her hand and shook her head. “I got this,” she told him confidently. Slowly she got up from the chair. She felt like she was standing on a stool because she was almost as tall as Jason. She took a cautious step, then another. A gymnast since she was five, her mind was quick to adjust to the new paradigm of Ryan’s larger body.
“Very good Jenny!” Kelly complimented. In response, Jenny curtsied, being careful not to lose her balance. The sight of Ryan’s body dipping into a curtsey made the other three laugh.
“I think I could get used to this height,” Jenny said when she straightened up. “It makes me feel so powerful.”
“And I could get used to these,” Ryan said, cupping his breasts for a moment before Kelly swatted his hands away.
“You do realize that you are feeling up Jason’s girlfriend right in front of your fiancé, right?” Kelly said, putting her hands on her hips.
“Oh. Right. Sorry, but it really seems like these boobs are part of me.” He turned to Jenny. “My apologies if that was inappropriate.” He tried to imitate Jenny’s curtsy but lost his footing and ungracefully fell back into the chair. He struggled to stand again and needed Kelly’s help. Just when he had gotten back on his feet, the iPad started beeping.
“That’s the one minute countdown. The link will terminate in sixty seconds. You’ll both want to sit back down.”
“It’s been five minutes already?” Ryan protested.
“I can relink you for another five minutes after a required short break,” Kelly offered.
“Can’t you override it?” As Ryan asked, he reached to hand her the iPad. But his wide receiver hands, always sure and precise, were on the other body. His unfamiliar fingers fumbled, knocking over Kelly’s plastic cup. It spilled on the iPad. He tried to grab the iPad from the spilled wine, only to knock it to the floor. The screen cracked. The NEL interface that Kelly had been using flickered, strings of code flashing for a split second. Then the screen went blank.
Ryan and Jenny each shuddered, their eyes blurring as a warm tingling enveloped them both. Dizzy, Jenny somehow remained standing, but Ryan dropped back into his chair. Kelly saw the LEDs on both of their headsets turn off. She grabbed a rag, picked up the iPad, wiped it off and then unsuccessfully tried to turn it back on.
“Great. It looks like you fried my tablet. How am I going to explain this to Professor Finch when he gets back on Monday?”
“I’m really sorry I broke your iPad,” Ryan said.
Kelly slowly turned to Jenny’s seated figure. “What?”
“I said, I’m really sorry. I hope I won’t get you in trouble. I just couldn’t get my hand-eye coordination down. Or maybe it was the wine. Or both, like you said.”
Kelly’s eyes widened. “Ryan?”
“What?”
She froze for a moment, then grabbed the headband from his forehead.
“What’s the matter? I didn’t break that too, did I?”
“Ryan!”
“What’s the matter? Why are you freaking out?”
Kelly snatched the headset from her boyfriend’s standing body, then stepped back with a panicked look. “Which one of you is Ryan?” The seated girl’s body raised a hand. “And is one of you Jenny?” Her boyfriend, or at least her boyfriend’s body, raised a hand.
In unison, the four of them said, “Oh shirt!”