Finn continued watching the practice as it moved along.
He was still undecided as to what he should change. Did he care about losing anymore? Not really, but coming out…scared him. A lot. It was strange, because everyone already thought he was gay and anyone who might matter didn’t even care. He was pretty sure Mike and his Dad were encouraging Jeff and Finn to fuck…which was kinda weird, to be honest.
Also, Jeff seemed weirdly interested in making more changes for someone who should be satisfied with the Chronivac. How was that happening? Was he simply content with his own changes, not with others? The Chronivac was really weird. Finn wished he could talk to someone about it. Someone who understood.
But it was just him…
Oh. He could…could he call himself? The multiverse theory might be accurate. Maybe he could talk to another verison of him about his problems.
‘My phone allows me to contact my other multiversal selves-not all of them, just the few that are closest to my universe.’ Finn hit enter.
‘Processing…’
‘Processing compelte! What else would you like to change?’ Blinked on his phone.
Finn carefully exited out of the Chronivac app and pulle dup his contacts. He saw five versions of himself-Fox Finn, Bull Finn, Fat Fox Finn, Bottom Ram Finn, Ram Finn. Figuring Fox Finn would be the closest, he chose that one and hit the call button.
His phone dialed out and he waited, heart punding in his chest.
“Hello?” An uncannily familiar voice spoke on the other side of the line. “Uh, Why is this saying your using my number?”
“Hey me, it’s you. Finn.” Finn smiled.
“...Why am I calling myself?” He heard his voice on the other line.
It was weird and kinda surreal. Also, his voice was weirdly high. No wonder everyone thought he was gay. He sounded like he hadn’t gone through puberty.
“Because I’m indecisive and decided to phone a friend. Meaning myself.” Finn explained.
“Uh…oka~y, off-putting, but okay. So what’s up?”
“Kinda running into an issue. I’m at football practice and Jeff wants me to change something to test if he can figure it out.”
“He shouldn’t be able to, right? The reality alteration should make him incapable of even noticing anything is out of place.”
“Well, he kinda can, because he knows the changes he made. So anyone who is an anthro that he isn’t ware of is automatically sussy.”
“Oh. That’s a conundrum. What else have you changed?”
“Bryce into a gay dog.”
“Hah!”
“So what did you do?”
“I changed Vance into an anthro horse running back.”
“Huh. Why Vance?”
“Oh. Well, so he noticed when I changed Mr. Thompson into a bullman…sort of. He noticed me playing on my phone and almost took it right out of my hands.”
“Dude, what the fuck? That’s fucked up!” Finn actually felt angry for himself.
“Yeah, he wanted me to make him into a jock stud.”
“Why not turn him into Jeff’s jock? Asshole deserves it.” Finn snarled.
“Unintended consequence avoidance. C’mon man, you and I might be horny foxes, but we’re smart enough to be IT experts.” It was so strange hearing himself be lectured by…himself, Finn decided. “What happens when you erase someone from existence? And I don’t mean dead, I mean never existed? That’s a lot of erasure.”
“Right. Doesn’t mean you had to give him what he wanted.” Finn grumbled.
“Kinda had to, man. Oh, I did make him gay, I think.”
“Intentionally?” Finn’s ears perked up.
“Sorta? But he was a single loser, so being a big gay horse was probably a better life for him anyways. On that note, my advice would be to avoid gender swaps and anything involving people with children or who are happily married.”
“Right. What about people who want to be a new gender?”
“Then just create a breakthrough surgery or something that allows someone to actually change genders, don’t simply turn them into women or women into men. I think we already created like, a gene expression that changes people into animals. Lean into what tools reality offers you before doing anything fucking magic, you know?”
“Right.” Well, at least he was talking sense. It was like talking to his own conscious. Technically, he was.
“And, uh, use your Chronivac to research personal profiles for any big red flags you might set off, like children.”
“Got it. What are you going to change?”
“Hmmm. I’m actually kinda having a crisis here.”
“Oh yeah?” Finn found himself interested.
“Well, I don’t know if I should change myself into a fellow football player or not. For some reason, I’m feeling super nostalgic looking at the football field. I think Jeff might have changed us. So it might actually be okay to transform myself into a football player.”
“That’s a thought…”
“Right. What about you?”
“Oh…coaches, maybe?”
“Oh, the bear-looking guy and the generically muscular assistant coach?”
“Mmmhmm.”
“Well, good news, they’re both unmarried. Easy change there, if you know what I’m thinking.”
“Turning them into a gay bear and a wolf couple?”
“Yeah. And age them down. Maybe 25 and 30. You’ll know why when you look up the coach’s profile. It’s kinda sad.”
“Kay. You?”
“Oh, same.
“Are you having a bet with Jeff too?”
“Um, no. You mentioned that earlier. What’s your bet about?”
“Coming out.”
There was a pause. “...Why are we in the closet, anyways?”
“No idea, but coming out terrifies me, for some reason.”
“Same. Jeff did that, you think?”
“If he did, he’s getting annoyed with it. Honestly, so am I. Hey, anything go weird with Vance?”
“Nah, he’s a total show pony and a huge sweetheart. You can change him too if you want.”
“Yeah, I think so. Text me your wording so I can do the same thing.”
“Text me Bryce’s transformation and you have a deal.”
“I dunno, man, he’s acting kinda overly horny.”
“Well, he’s acting like a dick over here.”
“Sounds like my world’s old Bryce. I’ll send you the info. What kinda anthro you think of becoming and what position on the team?”
“Oh. Never thought about it like that. Ram, like dad?”
“Then you’d be a tackle or a linebacker, right?”
“Yeah, but think. Vance is the running back, Jeff’s the wide receiver, Bryce is the quarterback. Linebacker or tackle is kinda the only position left, right?”
“You could be a runningback. That’s not a position that requires you to be big like dad.”
“Hmm. Then I have options, huh? What were you thinking?”
“I mean, Cheetahs are the fastest land animals. I’m looking up the others.” Finn scrolled through his phone. “Some gazelle-like animals, jackrabbits, lions-ooh, maybe a sexy lion for your tiger, huh?”
“Hmm. I’ll think about it.” Finn heard himself pause. “…Actually, I’m kinda glad you called, no matter how weird it was. It’s hard to talk about things with other people.”
“Same. What are you going to do about coming out?”
“I think…I think I might change my confidence level when I become a jock. Being closeted is tiring and our Dad clearly knows. You should too. Everyone already thinks we are gay anyways.”
“You just talked about unintended consequences.” Finn reminded himself. “Are you sure using magic is the best solution?”
“I’m scared. And it’s stupid, I know, but…shit, maybe Jeff specified we’d be closeted?”
“Maybe…and then unintended consequences struck.”
“And now we’re mortally afraid of coming out. Holy shit, Jeff is a moron!”
“Yeah, he keeps fucking asking me to be his open boyfriend. Like, does he enjoy torturing me emotionally?”
“Did we make fun of him for being gay or something?”
“I…” Finn paused. “Oh no…”
“It makes sense, right?”
“So much sense.” Finn paused. “Do you want to stay gay?”
“Might as well? Or maybe…a girl? I want his babies.”
Finn giggled. “Oh, I know! Finding a surrogate is such a hassle. Maybe I should join the cheerleaders?”
“A tiger football star’s cheerleader vixen girlfriend, huh?” His other self paused. “I mean, at least you wouldn’t be gay.”
“But I also like having a penis.” Finn replied, feeling butterflies in his stomach. “Oh, are you afraid of actually taking his dick too?”
“Kinda. Do you think he has barbs?”
“God, I hope not! Maybe I should change myself to be a little stretchier. His dick is fucking humongous!” Finn laughed.
“Yeah..” He heard himself sigh. “Practice is over in thirty minutes. We better get to it.”
“Yeah. I’ll send you the deets.”
“Thanks. Wanna stay in touch?”
“Absolutely!” Finn smiled.
“Well, talk to you later.” He heard himself say, trying awkwardly to end the call.
“Talk to you later. Bye.” Finn said, ending the call.
Well, that was…oddly refreshing. His chest felt lighter, and the fall air felt crisper in his lungs. It was weird, he was feeling a little lonely out here on the bleachers. But now, knowing he was sitting in the exact same spot, watching his boyfriend (his heart fluttered) practice football too…it was oddly comforting.
He quickly copy and pasted his commands and texted it to himself. He saw his other self text him his commands and smirked. Man, Vance really did get everything he wanted. He’d have to play with the wording here and there, but it would be prefect.
A whistle came form the coach’s area and Finn glanced up, watching them talk to Bryce about concentrating on the ball. Well, there were unintended consequences for turning him into a ball-lover. Oh, that reminded him…
Finn pulled up the profile information on the coach. Ouch. Single for fifty years…and in the closet. Geez, he could relate. Guess the guy grew up in a Christian household and lived through homophobia and bullying in school and just kinda..lived a lonely life. No wonder his other self wanted to age the guy down. Give him a shot at a real, happy life.
His other self texted him other messages.
Hey, check over my wording-Other Fox Finn
What followed were a series of sentences. Carefully structured to avoid the bigger unintended consequences. Of course, like making a wish, nothing would be absolutely air tight. But he could steer the consequences, soften their impact.
Smiling, Finn got to work ironing out the changes.