Just as Jason was pushed into the store, the phone had generated a sentence:
“This store welcomed a new visitor.”
Mandy smiled and swapped out “store” for “gym.”
Just as she hit the button to confirm, she overheard one of the boys already in the store checking on her boyfriend.
"Hey man, are yo-"
Unfortunately for Mandy, she couldn’t see what had gone on as the doors had instantly shifted into a glass entrance filled with posters of motivational quotes and offers.
Meanwhile, chaos unraveled in the toy store as reality spun a new tapestry. The brunette boy that was next to the asian kid had quickly elongated, squatting as his body twisted and contorted… being reconstructed into a bicep pull machine. The remainder of his clothing had fallen apart, not before reformatting into a backwards cap that fell onto the floor.
The black haired boy similarly elongated, and swishing into the air like a deflated balloon as the asian boy had begun to swell out of his clothes. Muscle stacked upon muscle fantastically, the boy progressing in years as his back broadened outward and ripped the generic t shirt as though it was made of paper. His friend continued to whirl around his waist as the black haired boy began to lose his human features, the asian man’s chest inflating obscenely as his shorts ripped and a white pair of briefs became very taut.
His manhood lurched forward as the tighty whities came apart, the asian man’s girthy cock was a plaything to the app’s reality warping power to bend to its will… before his previously human friend wrapped around the massive tool and rested comfortably on his waist, thinning out into a shiny thong that was quickly swallowed by the globular glutes that had erupted from his backside.
Still with a confused expression, the man’s face shifted, jaw cracking as it became lantern shape, his previous lazy haircut became more styled, modernized as in the new reality forged he was a perfect gym model. He too squatted, sandals losing their leather look as their consistency turned into liquid and reformed into athletic shoes.
He was spirited onto the new bicep pull machine as his own arms had become engulfed in sinew, going from tennis balls to nearly melon sized. Just then, the hat that had fallen onto the ground flew up and rested on his perfect hair, completing the new man’s identity as a bodybuilder who frequented the gym in earnest as well as the well maintained machine and his favorite posing thong.
Elsewhere the young boy who had at once been browsing games progressed in the opposite direction, growing taller by a decent amount, before his lips grew fuller. His chest gently plumped into healthy breasts as his blonde hair extended down his, or rather, her shoulders. Her baseball cap had faded, restyling into a simple scrunchie to hold her hair up as headphones were placed into her ears. A Mario shirt and navy blue shorts had melded into a tight fitting teal yoga pants and tank top, while the game display she was once gawking at had quickly manifested as a weight rack. The young woman lifted, what remained of her male sex had shrunk inwards, becoming a wet entrance as she dutifully held light pink weights in her hand. Nearby another bystander dropped to their knees, an angsty teenager with her younger sister who were looking through the opposite facing glass display case.
The elder girl lost her skin color, flattening into a bench just as her feet reformed into rubber wheels for the woman to recline on. The display case too rearranged, reformatting into a glass mirror and racks of weights below it to capture every gym goer's gains.
Her sister, meanwhile had elongated, hands reaching upwards into the ceiling as her clothes became a sticky red substance coating and dissolving all traces of humanity in her. The new concrete pillar held up the burgeoning building as it miraculously grown a metal dispenser for alcohol to wipe down machines.
A pregnant woman flattened and reformatted herself into a cardboard cutout of herself, giving a thumbs up and advertising about a Lamaze class in the community.
Other customers unfortunately sprouted into gym equipment, a family of four being unlucky enough to become a large bench press with the father’s name written as the company brand. One athletic woman had inflated into a pudgy, short man who was now running on his previous best friend, now a treadmill.
Randomized changes went unabashed throughout the store, as toys had become people, people became objects to be used, and even the flooring had become the new gym manager, the original boring fabric design sucking into itself as a fully formed man had emerged from the puddle complete with a pair of glasses and starched shirt.
Mandy sighed, blinking as she realized she missed out on the changes that went on without enjoying it fully in front of her. She gazed upwards and saw a sign that read “24 Hour Fitness: Pump Fiction!” And groaned at the dumb pun.
As she entered, she could feel herself in awe as the walls were coated in a modernized slate and members of all ages were enjoying using the facility. Everything seemed normal, there was a massive asian man she recognized on social media exercising and grunting out his reps while other men egged him on. A woman with red hair listening to loud music as she continued her lower body routines.
Mandy appreciatively whistled as she walked about eyeing how things had changed, though, she was curious to see just what happened to her “boyfriend” if he even was one in this reality swap.
“Excuse me, Miss?” Mandy turned to see a stern man in glasses approach her, his gaze was serious and he had proudly worn a badge that read “Manager”.
“I’m afraid if you aren’t a member, you’ll have to come with me to sign up for a membership. Of course, we don’t mind showing tours, but, policy is policy.” He said, motioning her to him.
Mandy nodded, smiling and rolling her eyes as the man turned almost stiffly and walked ahead to the register area, his body, Mandy noted, was above average. Maybe if this was Jason, it wasn’t such a bad change, he could definitely use the size increase…
“Now, we have a special going on where just 1 dollar a day, yes, just one, can get you a full membership for a month before we charge you full price. AND,” The man said in his best salesman voice,
“You can take a tour with yours truly.” He smiled, winking at Mandy.
“Oh, I see…” She replied, fishing a dollar from her pocket. This could be what she needed!
“Thank you, er, what was your name again?” She said sweetly, employing her demure self yet again.
“Call me Frank, Frank Floë.” Frank said, grinning as he flashed his badge.
Mandy sighed, it wasn’t Jason, but she could deal.
Frank had made quick work of making the gym tour seem boring as Mandy’s mind drifted to wondering who or what each of the gym members or equipment could have been prior. He had shown her the weight racks, the boxing area, which she remembered fondly as a few tanned men had hooted while she strutted behind Frank with a bit of sass, and of course, the locker rooms. As Mandy was being brought back to the gym registration in the front of the gym, her eyes lingered on a glass case that had a gold twinkle.
Inside it was a man, and not just any kind of man, he was broad, flexing like an adonis with rippling muscles and a generously filled speedo that left nary a thought in her mind that was pure. He had chiseled cheekbones and hair that was meticulously swept back, all in gold, with a placard that read “1st Place Champion”.
“Oh, I see you’d want to be acquainted with our founder,” Frank spoke, carrying a clipboard in hand.
“He’s extremely famous you know, most of us wish we could look like that.” He chuckled, holding out the item to Mandy.
In a stupor, she took and signed her name without losing eye contact with the cocky statue. Could it be…?
“Right, what’s his name? He doesn’t look like Arnold Schwarzenneger, that’s for sure.” Mandy giggled, attempting to hide behind the veneer of being a curious young woman.
Frank took the bait.
“You don’t know the great Jayson Cutler? Well, this miniature is by far nothing like the real one, he’s at least 300 pounds, when the man walks, the gym shakes, real stand up guy. In 2003 he…” Frank continued, eyes sparkling as both he and Mandy looked on the display case in intrigue. She could feel her heart race and her fingers quiver, could this have been Jason?
What if it were the Lamaze poster woman? The Asian man bench pressing to the cheers of his fellow bros?
“Miss?” Frank questioned, shaking Mandy out of her stupor.
“Uh, right, sorry, yes?” Mandy replied, brushing her hair out the way.
Frank gently took the clipboard out her hands and smiled sweetly to her.
“No problem, I get all woozy talking about guys myself, you’re all set with the signature so, feel free to use the facility as you please!” He said, turning on his feet to leave.
“Oh, and by the way, be sure to rack your weights and lock your lockers, we’ve had reports of people just being slobs and I wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to our newest patron.” He said, winking before going back to the help desk just as the fit male employee swapped places with him.
Mandy turned back to the statue, then to the other gym goers and equipment surrounding her. She didn’t really see Jason at all, and who knows who was really who, but, she had all the time in the world and she could even leave and watch these new people with her handy phone by her side…