Meanwhile, Jeff wandered the aisles bored. Even these humans turned into objects was "meh". He didn't understand why he was so apathetic but he did have a few ideas. Jeff wondered if his teachers and the internet were to blame. His teachers spent way too much time testing him and way too little time actually teaching him anything. He was expected to just know or to do his research. But that's where the internet failed him. When he tried to do research, he found the internet was full of celebrity gossip and porn. Education was boring. All Jeff wanted to do was wank, eat and sleep.
Then he heard a familiar voice. "What are you doing hanging around here?" Jeremy was in the store. Jeremy was sort of a friend, not a really good friend but they hung out sometimes. But Jeremy wasn't talking to Jeff. Jeremy was standing at a rack holding up a flattened male by his balls.
Jeremy continued, "I thought Rodney was your owner. Did he decide to sell you?"
Then Jeff realized who the flattened guy was. It was Brian, another friend. Brian was a better friend then Jeremy but Jeff thought Brian had moved away to college a month ago. Brian's head looked normal but from the neck down, he was flat and hanging limply from the rack. That is, his upper body was still hanging from his head which was hooked on the rack while his lower body was hanging from his balls in Jeremy's hand. Brian couldn't control where his head turned so his face was frequently buried in the other inanis on the rack. He was flat like a rug but not completely flat. He was thicker than a typical rug and he still had bulges in the appropriate places like a shaped foam version of a nude young man. His buttocks made a nice pillow.
Brian said, "Rodney doesn't own me. He offered me a deal that I could be his roommate rent free if I turned myself into a bare skin rug. It saves me a ton of money but he's not paying me anything."
Jeremy said, "But isn't that payment that he covers your living expenses? You should be laying on his floor right now. I'm calling Rodney to tell him you're not doing your job."
Brian said, "Go ahead. He already knows."
Jeremy said, "Dang, too much interference to get a clear signal. I'll be right back." Jeremy left.
Jeff came up to Brian. "Hey, Brian. How's it hanging."
Brian said, "Bad joke. I hear it all the time."
Jeff said, "I thought you moved."
Brian said, "I did, sort of. I'm starting a trade school in the fall but I'm trying to keep my debts down. I want to be a millionaire not a debtor. My classes will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday but the rest of the time, I need a place to stay."
Jeff asked, "How does that work?"
Brian said, "When they turned me into an inani, they implanted a control device with different settings. At setting zero, I'm an ordinary human so I can attend classes. At setting 100, I'm all rug, indistinguishable from all other rugs. Right now, I'm at setting 2 which just makes me rug like."
Jeff asked, "And people pay you."
Brian said, "Well that is one of the difficult parts about being a bare skin rug. How do you use a bare skin rug? It's not like being a vacuum which has a clear usage. Vacuums get paid to vacuum. I get paid to what? So I had a choice, either be a rug with zero expenses but practically no way to earn money, or be a vacuum and spend all the money I earn on rent. If..."
Jeff interrupted, "So how do bare skin rugs get used?"
Brian said, "Primarily at parties or whenever someone has guests to show me off to. I did get used once at a business meeting. The man laid me out on the floor of his office before the meeting to intimidate the guy he was meeting with. Throughout the meeting, the man kept rubbing his feet all over my back making sure the other guy was watching. My balls were stepped on several times as well. I've been told that bare skin rugs whose balls are easily visible between their legs are more popular than bare skin rugs who hide their balls and I've got a pretty good guess why."
Jeff looked at Brian's balls and they were very visible. "They seem bigger."
Brian said, "What, oh, my balls, yes. They enlarged my balls when they turned me into an inani. They typically make enhancements during the transformation process but they limit the enhancements because they still want me recognizable. People rarely go for a setting of 100 because people who want inanis want to know that their object was once human."
Jeff continued to examine Brian, "You don't mind if I examine you do you?"
Brian asked, "Are you planning on throwing a party and using me as decoration?"
Jeff lied, "Maybe."
Brian said, "I hope so. I'm sick of these perverts who feel me up but don't want to use me. You just graduated didn't you. Is that the kind of party you're planning? You're going to invite some of our friends to some wild themed party? Will Tony be there? I haven't seen him in a while. I would prefer not letting him see me as a bare skin rug but if you're paying, it's your party. He'll probably draw penises on my exposed butt but ..."
Jeff interrupted, "Where's your control device?"
Brian said, "What, oh, the back of my head covered by my hair. Tony and I had some wild times ..."
Jeff found the hidden control device and interrupted, "So this device works as a percentage. Setting 2 means two percent rug, right?"
Brian said, "Not exactly. Each number is a unique setting. They tried to arrange the settings in order from least rug like to most rug like but there were too many variables. For example, setting 69 makes me look like a rug but still allows me the freedom to move on my own while setting 70 makes me completely human but takes away the ability to move on my own. Some numbers have been left blank so that if you come up with a setting you want, it can be programmed into that slot. Anyway, that Tony sure ..."
While Brian continued to ramble about Tony, Jeff tried several of the settings. Some settings silenced Tony and made him unable to speak but then the next setting would have Tony babbling again. Jeff would have to spend some time learning the settings to know which ones he preferred and which ones he wished to skip.
There were some numbers that the control device skipped over and it was obvious that those were the blank ones that could have new settings programmed in. But then when Jeff got to setting 69, the control device wouldn't go any further. Brian was 100% rug but he was squirming about as if he was still trying to talk. The control device would not go to 70 or any higher number.
Brian turned the setting back down to 65 and started to ask but Brian was already answering. "You can't use seventy or higher without paying me. There's even a card slot near the control device where you can insert a payment card. Settings 70 and above have different prices and when the time runs out, I automatically revert to 65 where I can then change my own settings as I choose. I'm in this for the money. I'm not being paid to stay at Rodney's and I'm not being paid to hang on this rack and let perverts like you feel me up. Since I don't have a specific use like a vacuum, settings 70 and up are the only way I get paid. If you want to use me, please insert a payment card."