Nikki stood there, her arms crossed, with an amused look on her face.
Jessica turned to the Chronivac, typed in a few settings, and turned back to Nikki. "Trust me, this thing works."
"Have you seen it work?"
"No, but-"
"-Jess, you'd fall for anything. Okay, use this program of yours to 'change' me. See if this device of your has magic powers," Nikki sneered.
Jessica smiled. She was sure that this thing would work. Now she just had to aim... "Consider it done," she said, firing the Chronivac.
Nikki stood there, mockingly waiting. "Nothing happening, Jess. Oh - wait! My mind - is - turning - into -" whatever it was she was about to say would have to wait for later, though, as she collapsed to the ground, laughing.
The Chronivac program emitted a small beep. The screen said, "Change complete."
Nikki smiled and looked at the program - nothing had happened to her whatsoever.
"Still a skeptic?" said Jessica.
Nikki frowned. Had something changed? She didn't *feel* any difference, so Jessica had to be pulling her leg-
Her leg?
Nikki looked down and screamed. Her legs were now giant and covered with a white fur coat. The program had changed her into-
"-a cow, Nikki, a cow. Again, this program *works*."
Nikki tried to ask, "How the hell?", but her tongue slipped up, and the only noise she managed to produce was a groan which sounded so much like a 'moo' that she jumped from the shock.
"Oh, of course," said Jess, turning back to the program. "I must say, though, that you have been acting like a cow on a few recent occasions." She smiled at her own joke, then pointed the emitter again. "There..."
This time around, Nikki did feel a small tingling sensation, though it was small she only noticed by chance and because she was looking for it. "So?" she said. "I'm not changing back..."
"That," said Jessica, "is because I've just allowed you to talk. I want to gauge what it feels like. Are you in pain or anything?"
Ignoring the question, Nikki tried to stand up. "How - what did that do? How?"
"Some kind of secret advanced technology," shrugged Jess, "and don't bother standing. Cows can't stand; you certainly can't right now."
Nikki tentatively tried balancing on all fours like she had seen cows do, then looked up in mild shock as she realised how comfortable - how *natural* this felt. "So you turned me into a cow," she said, trying to follow.
"Yep, and this proves beyond doubt that the Chrono - sorry, Chronivac works."
"Is this safe? Can you change me back?"
"I don't know," said Jess, "I'm going to try that right now." She pressed a button labeled "previous state" and made a little devious modification of her own, then fired the Chronivac emitter again.
Nikki noticed that in the split second it took for the transformation to occur, her arms and legs suddenly shrunk and pulled in the fur. "Wow..." she said. "This is amazing."
"Mm-hmm," said Jess, amazed that what she had entered had worked. She wondered how long it would take Nikola to notice.
"I've got to try this," said Nikki, trying to stand up. Nothing happened. "What- Jess, did you do something?"
"From the waist down, you're attached to the floor," said Jess. "Sorry, I didn't mean to shock you like that, it's just... I was wondering whether the Chronivac could do something complicated." She fired the emitter again, and Nikki stood up, now completely back to normal.
"Let me try," said Nikki, reaching for the controls to the Chronivac.
"Why not?" said Jessica. "I trust you not to be an idiot."
Nikki smiled, as she thought of an interesting transformation...