Steve was sloping around the mall, bored on a weekend. He was a painfully average guy, about 6'0'' tall, dark hair, hazel eyes. He'd never been good with women, being a little too shy, not confident enough, too awkward. And now, as his friends drifted off and got married and had kids, he was bored. And so he'd ended up browsing the Magic Shop, stumbling across the Nu-Life Booth. Curious, glancing back at the proprietor who sat reading a newspaper, seemingly ignoring everyone in the store, he slid into the booth.
As soon as the curtain slid between him and the store, it felt as though Steve was suddenly in a different place, like the interior of the booth was uniquely private. But the odd sensation passed, and he was just sitting on the stool, looking at a primitive old screen with some brass gears for knobs and dials. It made a zzzt sound and the screen lit dark green, text appearing as a bing-bong noise crackled out of a nearby speaker. 'WELCOME TO THE NU-LIFE. PLEASE PICK A THEME TO START.'
Various options began to appear in plain text, Steve leaning forward to read the blurry display. There were such a long list of options, but his eyes darted to one and he felt perversely curious. "Being a girl?" Was it so mad? Maybe if he could be a hot girl, he could understand what women wanted, and then change back, and get girls easier! And in the interim, maybe finally have some fun. He turned the knobs, moving the green light on the screen to highlight the 'be a girl' option, and pressing on another widget to select it. The screen cleared, and then more text appeared. 'SCANNING TO DETERMINE PREFERENCES'.
A blue light lit the inside of the booth, as Steve's brain suddenly felt slightly warm for some reason. The lights seemed to be reading into his brainwaves, to interpret what exactly he was going to become! But what was he becoming?