Tony ran to the car parked in front of 432 Madison with the engine idling and jumped in beside Felix Fairfax. His brother Mark was also in the back seat with Jack at the wheel. Claire came running up a few seconds later with the laptop and jumped in the shotgun seat. As they peeled away from the curb she stretched over the seat and kissed Tony.
"Bro? No clothes?" Mark smirked.
"I had to shrink him before growing him back to normal" explained Claire "and the batteries are so down I just wanted to get his body back to normal. This'll just take a second" she added, plugging an adapter into the cigarette lighter. She typed away for a minute and then hit 'enter'. Tony felt the electric wave pass through his body and a moment later the car was filled with laughter as Tony found himself attired in a dress straight out of Gone With the Wind, complete with a hoop skirt, plunging neckline and yards of lace. Tony laughed as well. "Very funny"
Claire gave him a friendly pat on the head and zapped him into a pair of corduroys and a flannel shirt. For the rest of the ride home, he told the others of his time as "Mr. Nutcracker". They laughed at the notion of Tony being completely overpowered by a 4 year old girl and spanked till he saw stars. Then they recounted what Emma Chase had done to them. Tony just shook his head at her doings. Three times she had learned about the chronivac. Three times she had gone off on a psychotic bender trying to mete out punishment to anyone she didn't like.
Jack drove them back to the St. Martin house and the others all got out. Mark went to his room and Felix went with Tony and Claire to Tony's room. The door was barely closed when Felix wrapped his arm around Tony's shoulders and gave a squeeze. "I'm sorry, man. I fucked up and almost wiped us all out"
Tony patted his shoulder and stepped back. He saw that Felix's eyes were watery. Though Felix was the same 6'1" tall as Tony, he seemed smaller. He sank back onto Tony's desk. "I-I didn't meant to endanger anyone. I just . . I don't know. Maybe I didn't understand it well enough or take it seriously enough. That must be it for me to be such a jackass and blab about it like that"
"You don't have to beat yourself up over it" said Claire with a rub of Felix's V-shaped back. "You made a mistake but not with any lasting consequences"
"Speaking of which" said Tony to Claire "Why dodn't we register Felix's profile so that he's got the same protection as the rest of us?" He opened the laptop, plugging the adapter in and also connecting the modem.
"What's that mean, to 'register' my profile?"
"It means that we send a copy of your complete profile to Trans Dem Labs. And for a fee, they keep a copy there and check in periodically to make sure nothing's happened to you" said Tony typing all the while. "They saved us once before from Emma Chase. They saw that she'd messed with us-"
"She made Tony and Jack ragingly gay for each other" interrupted Claire with a chuckle.
Felix's eyes went wide. "You were gay?"
Tony laughed as he typed. "Yeah. It was no big deal"
"But you and-and Jack? You . . .?"
"Whatever you're thinking of, the answer is yes. We spent a night together and did everything"
Felix just stared at Tony. He was so calm about it, to admit . . that! And he knew Tony was straight. He loved Caroline. How could he admit . . with Jack.
Tony saw him staring at him. "It really wasn't that big of a deal. The violation was Emma changing me against my will and intending it to last forever. But Jack was always my best friend. We always regarded each other as brothers and he's a handsome guy. The change was to add the spark of wanting boys so that whenever I saw Jack I wanted to kiss him and screw him"
"You don't feel . . odd . . about having done that?"
"No. It wasn't me any more than being 7 inches tall was the real me or being a-a jackass or a gorilla or anything else. And what happened to me when I was transformed into those things was no reflection on me. Hey, come here now" said Tony.
Felix stepped around to stand behind Tony and look at the screen.
"Use my paypal" said Claire. Tony nodded and typed in her account.
As he watched, Tony started the transfer of his profile data to Trans Dem.
"This'll take around 20 minutes" said Tony and he spun his chair around to face Felix. "This'll give you some protection against anything happening in the future"
"Like being turned gay?" Felix mumbled stiffly.
Tony laughed. "Jeez Felix. You have to get over that. Maybe you should try some other transformations. There's a simple physical joy in being a greyhound or 7 feet tall or whatever but part of the point of the chronivac, the better part, is to understand what it's like being another person or creature. It makes you a wiser man to understand other points of view."
"It also makes you appreciate the power of the machine even more when you use it a bit more" said Claire.
Felix let out a long sigh. "You're right. I-I . . maybe it didn't seem real to me because I only used it once. Maybe that's why I shot my mouth off about it so carelessly"
Tony stood up and gave him a hug and patted his shoulder. "That's enough of that. No what would you like to try?"
"Well, what've you done? You could tell me what to expect."
"Well, I've been myself gay. I've been a greyhound, a jackass. I hated that one. Emma Chase did that to me."
"You were The Golden Ass?"
"Only roses didn't serve as an antidote. I've also been a lemur, a gorilla, a woman, a wolf a few times, a dung beetle, an eagle, myself at 10 years old and Jack." He turned to Claire. "Am I forgetting any?"
"I don't think so"
"Where-where do you think I should start?"
"Welllll, exotic animals are kind of tough because as soon as someone sees a gorilla or a lemur they call vets or animal protection or something and you've got people shooting tranquilizer darts at you. Eagle is kind of tricky the first time out . . um, dog or wolf is not bad, especially dog. You can come and go and nobody thinks anything of it. I really liked being a greyhound. Wanna be a pair of greyhounds?"
Felix considered it, nodding all the while but the depth of his nod getting deeper each time. "Alright. Let's do it" he said confidently while inside a part of him was still fearful. I'm going to be a dog!?
Tony started typing. He called up his own profile and scrolled down to the earliest transformations he'd undergone. The greyhound he'd become the very first time the 4.0 had been used on him was at the bottom of the list. He only made 1 adjustment to it. He gave himself the power of human speech as well as his canine bark.
Tony got up and started to unbutton his flannel shirt. "Make him into the same dog as me but with a quicker transition" he told Claire.
"Speech?" she said questioning that change as she sat down. "You're not really a dog if you can talk, are you?"
"Well" said Tony as he untied his shoes and pulled off his socks. "I wanted to be able to talk to Felix as I started to convert and for him to be able to talk to me as he started"
"Well, let me put a 15 minute timer on it, how 'bout that?"
Tony nodded and then pulled off his corduroys. He directed Felix to pull down the shade on the adjacent window and then pulled off his boxers.
"Zap me" he told Claire. She hit the 'enter' key and Tony felt the electric wave pass through him where he stood naked in the middle of the room. He felt the electric wave pass through him.
Almost immediately, his extra large penis rose up and stuck to his lower abdomen with a wet -SLAP-.
"What the-?" Felix mumbled.
"It's not just that I'm happy to become canine, Felix. Dogs have their penises in sheaths against their bellies"
"Oh . . yeah. Um, what's going on inside you now?"
"I can feel my body narrowing . . and I'm juuuuuuuuust about to have a tail"
Felix inspected his naked friend. It was true. Tony's waist and torso, no, his whole body, was slowly narrowing. And then a bump appeared at the base of Tony's spine. The bump became a thin projection and then grew out and out till it was a foot and a half long. Felix marveled at the sight of Tony happily wagging his new tail. He went around the front of Tony and saw that Tony's penis had become smaller.
"What now, Tony?"
"Um . . my senses are re-wiring to be canine. I'm starting to smell things I couldn't smell a minute ago. You showered with neutrogena soap, didn't you?"
"Um, yeah, that's right"
"I can smell that and a whole lot more. The neighbors put their trash out already. I can smell all the different table scraps they put in the garbage for the last couple nights." Tony sniffed. "I can smell a cat in our yard, too. He just pissed in our bushes. Oops, I can feel my face starting to stretch out. Here comes my muzzle"
Felix stepped close to watch Tony's transformation from just inches away. As he did, Tony's handsome face projected slowly forward, just an inch in a few seconds at first but then telescoped forward a few inches a second till the incredible growth stopped a moment later with Tony's face in the long pointed muzzle of a greyhound. And as Felix continued to inspect his friend with scientific detachment, Tony's skull became smaller, shrinking to canine cranial dimension. His nose blackened and moistened and his ears grew larger till they flopped over on each side of his head.
"Wow! You're-you're so much a dog now"
"And more coming up" said Tony "I'm really slimming down now" he said and stepped over to lean on the desk with his hands. Felix inspected his friend from just inches away and saw that it was true. Tony had slowly slimmed down since the start of his transformation but now, the last half of his change in dimension came in a rush as Tony's torso and legs assumed greyhound thickness. As Felix continued to watch, Tony's knees wobbled and then, with a slight clicking sound from each.
"Oh man, did that hurt?"
"Nah" said Tony facing Felix and the words coming from the long pointed face of a greyhound with a seemingly foot long tongue drooping out of it. "I think that one of the first things the chronivac does in any transformation is disconnect your neural pain response pathways to your brain because, well, look at this" said Tony holding up his right hand.
In just a few seconds, the bones of his hand and fingers completely reshaped and re-formed. His palm became a thick, durable paw pad and his nails become claws. Felix checked his other limbs. Tony had four greyhound paws now. "Wow" repeated Felix.
"Okay, all that's left is my fur and here it comes. I can feel what seems like ten thousand pinpoints all over my greyhound body. It's not painful at all, more of an itch or a tickle. In just a few seconds, Tony's entire body covered over with inch long golden brown fur and a collar with the name "Tony" appeared around his neck. Claire immediately petted his sides and Felix watched his intellectual friend Tony, now a dog, wag his tail furiously and whimper happily.
Tony turned and jumped up on Felix. "Pet me Felix!" Felix rubbed Tony's head.
"How do you feel now, boy?"
"I'm feeling a flood of instinctual responses. It feels good to be petted. Not sexual, just good, kind of like getting a pat on the head from a parent. I've got all these new social instincts I'm trying to apply. Who's my master? Who's in my pack? Who's the alpha male? When you turn into a dog, we'll have to mock fight to see who's the leader."
"Really?" asked Felix
"Oh yeah" said Tony and he pressed his nose to the crotch of Felix's jeans.
"Hey!"
"Sorry man, automatic instinct. Anyone I haven't met, I smell up their crotch or their ass. I could pick you out of a thousand crotches now."
"Um, good for you"
"You'll see. It's an innocent dog response. I would *love* some dog food right now and if there was a bitch in heat here, I'd feel an urge to fuck her brains out. I'd chase a cat if I could, too. But I could stop myself. That's the difference. My 'Tony' mind is programmed to be in control but I still feel all the instincts I would if I was just the dog I appear to be. But I don't have to overrule my dog self that much"
"Now you don't boy" said Claire kneeling and motioning for Tony to come to her. He did as commanded and she rubbed him over and over.
"There's a good boy! There's a good boy!" Tony even rolled over onto his back and got some loving petting of his belly from Claire before finally standing up.
"See, Felix. She's my master. Rolling on my back like that and exposing my belly. That shows she's my master"
"So, in the big picture, you don't feel ridiculous or degraded or anything?"
"Nah, not at all. I'm physically a dog and a lot of stuff is intrinsic to that and none of it can be embarassing if judged by normative standards applicable to a dog"
Felix laughed. "You sound more hopelessly intellectual than me and those words are coming out of this big long dog mouth of yours" he said, grabbing Tony's muzzle.
"Come on now, take the plunge" urged Tony. "It'll be fun. Wait till you see how fast we greyhounds can run. It's fantastic"
"Okay" said Felix and he began to undress. He turned his back on Claire as he finished eliciting a chuckle from her. "I saw you naked already when I changed you back from being a fish" she said as she hit the 'enter' key.
Felix recoiled slightly from the electric wave that passed through him. Remembering Tony's transformation, he looked down waiting for his penis stick to his abdomen. Instead, he felt a tail grow out of the top of his buns. "Hey, that's not what happened first for you!" said Felix, looking back of him at his tail and, as he did so, his entire body immediately covered over with golden brown fur.
"The elements of the transformations seem to occur in random order, Felix. You could return to human and become a dog again right after that and that time you might get your moist black nose first. It's unpredictable. But just enjoy the ride"
Felix let out a long sigh and did. It was sort of like the end of "A Day in the Life" by the Beatles. He felt like a maelstrom was swirling around him but it wasn't a storm of wind or water. It was flesh. It was his own flesh completely reorganizing itself at the command of the electric wave that had passed through him. Felix marveled at the sight of his 6'1" tall body becoming the size of a greyhound, at his athletic human shape becoming canine. As the process was almost complete he trotted on his four legs to the mirror on Tony's closet door. Felix turned his head this way and that, opened his mouth, closed it, stretched his tongue and pulled it back. It's really me! I'm a dog. Holy shit! I'm a dog!
"I'm a dog!" he nearly shouted and stared at his new canine face in the mirror.
But even more than his new body, Felix marveled at all the incredible sensory inputs he was receiving. He heard some high pitched whirr, probably out of human hearing range, coming from the house across the street. He could smell that same garbage can that Tony had described. Claire was wearing Tatiana perfume. He'd smelled it once on his aunt years ago and asked her what it was. He felt the same mild hunger that Tony had expressed and yes, a dish of Alpo would be fantastic right now. So would a bitch. He wondered if it would really be possible for him to turn down some doggy style loving.
"Oh my god" said Felix and he momentarily marveled at his own voice coming out of his new pointed muzzle. "This is incredible"
"Here, boy!" called Claire and Felix dutifully trotted to her but first put his nose to her crotch and sniffed.
Claire laughed at the irony as she petted him, rubbing his back and head over and over.
Felix realized he was wagging his tail furiously. This felt very good. Very good. And he realized as he rolled on his back and let Claire rub his belly as she wished that he was acknowledging her as his master. If she called him, Felix knew he would come running. If she commanded him to sit or speak or anything else, he would. He marveled at his crystal clear assumption of a subordinate role.
After a minute's delighted whimpering, he rolled to his feet and approached Tony. Neither spoke in human voice to the other. They circled each other sniffing each other's rear and then looked each other menacingly in the eye. They snarled at each other and bared their teeth. They pushed with their paws and Tony knocked Felix down. Felix was on his back now with a grunting Tony leaning over him. He saw a confident glint in Tony's eyes and felt it completely imprinted in his own mind. Tony is the alpha male. I'm subservient to him. Tony let him up.
"You're top dog" said Felix in his human voice.
"Well, I should be. I've been a greyhound before. I'll be a better leader outside with my experience as a dog"
But, that issue decided, Felix felt a tremendous urge to bond with Tony, to stay with his packmate. He rubbed his body alongside Tony's nearly identical one (they were the same dog except that Tony had light grey eyes and Felix's eyes were blue)and it felt good. It felt right to be with his packmates, so right. The idea of wanting to be alone, or be off reading and not serving his master or with his pack seemed impossible to Felix. He rubbed himself on his leader Tony again.
"Wow. This is amazing, all the instincts I feel, all the social patterns I feel so powerfully. Amazing. I rrrrrrrrr-"
Felix looked puzzled. What happened to my voice?
Claire patted his head. "I told you Felix, boy, you'll only have human speech for 15 minutes." Felix nodded. That's right.
"How 'bout you, Tony boy? Speak!"
"Rrrrrrrrrrr Rufff! Rufff!" Tony couldn't speak a work either giving two loud barks after trying.
"Okay boys, we're gonna go outside now"