Sam crossed his arms as he waited for Cal to get back from whatever he said he was going to take care of.
Cal Hannigan was a childhood friend of his. They'd met in Fifth Grade, and ever since then, the two of them had been inseparable. To the extent that Becky, Sam's girlfriend, joked that the two of them were "at least a little gay". Sam was the more athletic of the two, standing about six feet tall. He had slightly wavy blond hair, brown eyes, and a decent tan from his construction job - which also helped with his build. Sam didn't exactly workout, but he kept himself decently trim and attractive. Becky usually cut the gay jokes after Sam made sure she was...adequately pleased at night.
He wasn't exactly overconfident, but he was pretty sure that he was at least somewhat skilled in the sack. Becky was only his third girlfriend. His first was in high school, his second came right after, and then on the rebound from the second, he met Becky - right when he was walking around in 95 degree weather without his shirt on at the construction site.
As Cal liked to joke, he may as well have reenacted a porn skit for her.
Dressed today in a white polo t-shirt and jeans, Sam was sipping at his usual drink in the coffee shop where he and Cal usually met up during their off days. Cal had work in a much less physically intensive place - up at the college on the hill nearby, as an assistant in the lab for his old professor. He just made sure things got to and from the classroom and the lab as best as possible. Despite the proximity, it seemed Cal just downright always struck out when it came to the attractive sorority girls.
"Besides, TA just isn't a very hot job." As Cal would say.
Man, Cal's been gone for a while now, Sam found himself pondering.
The guy had run off to check on something. Apparently he got some kind of notification on his cellphone. Something about access to a program that he'd won. Honestly, sometimes he seemed to fall into the stereotype of the weird Crypto / Techbro type, just...not exactly very successful. He'd put money into various weird online apps and projects, and then he'd be all surprised when the project or app went tits up. Now it seemed no different.
Then Cal suddenly walked back out. A grin plastered to his face.
Cal was thinner by far. He had messy brown hair, olive tanned skin, and light blue eyes. He was downright skinny, and probably had the metabolism of a hummingbird. He would eat something like a 1200 calorie dessert and not show any noticeable fat gain anywhere. Which might contribute to why Cal also it seemed couldn't get any noteworthy results despite 5 months of a gym membership. He sure tried, that much was sure, but...well. Sometimes it was just beyond your control.
Cal, dressed in his brown heavy jacket, white t-shirt and thick cargo pants, took a seat opposite Sam, and smirked, "I think I honestly just got something. My latest project - the latest app that I found online - I really think it's like, something else." Cal was now leaning forward on the table, grinning like a madman, and Sam could tell that he was really excited about this. And could also wonder just how long it would take for the reality and the disappointment to set in.
"Really...?" Sam leaned back, leisurely evaluating the situation - and catching that Cal was excitedly glancing at...something...on his phone. "Well, what is this big, exciting something? Different, I'm sure, than your last few ventures...?"
"This is it! This is a big thing." Cal flipped his phone around, showing an image of Sam, sitting there in the diner. Information visible across several bars, and it looked like several prompts were visible on the display. Weird. It was like a Generative AI platform, except it evaluated whatever images it got fed and puked out whatever the prompts would be...but then Sam started taking a deeper look. And saw some things in there that made him really tilt his head and begin to wonder. "Construction Worker"...? How in the ever loving fuckity fuck did that thing know to prompt him that way...?
"Cal, what the hell is this thing?" Sam asked, the tone cold and flat.
"This thing..." Cal smirked, "It's like a Generative AI, but supposedly, I can change the prompts...and that like...changes something. It's like that rumor..."
"The urban legend about the Chronivac thing? The program that can turn people into like, donkeys and shit?" Crossing his arms, Sam chuckled to himself. Everybody knew that that was just something put up online by people into that kind of stuff. And this looked like basically a generative AI photo editor. "Okay, if you're so sure about this, edit me. Give me a job that isn't hauling around bricks and mortar all day."
Cal set the phone down, cracked his knuckles, and picked it back up. "Your wish is my command." He then started editing. A mood took him as he did so. He edited out the eight bracket prompt of Construction Worker, and replaced it with Tiktoker. He then figured he should give Sam a place in the fun end of Tiktok. Those fitness guys always got oodles of thirst from bitches who would lick sweat off of their abs. So he went ahead and added eight brackets worth of Bodybuilder.
Checking Sam's hairdo, he decided to give the guy a haircut - well, kinda. Grinning, Cal changed him so that Sam had a thick, wavy mullet. A regular Harrington cut.
Deciding to trust in the program, he hit Generate.
And at that, Sam suddenly grunted, and grabbed the attention of Cal away from his new fixation.
Sam clenched the table as he felt sweat starting to bead up on his forehead, "...The fuck's going on...? Mmmmph!!" Sam didn't know what the hell was going on, but Cal sure did. He watched with bated breath, observing as his best friend's skin seemed to pulse and twitch, and Cal swore that as he watched, Sam's tan deepened and darkened to a full bronzed look. As Sam clenched his teeth and tried not to make a scene, Cal watched Sam's teeth change - shifting and turning into a picture perfect, glimmering set of teeth. Whitened and picturesque.
And then Sam grasped his shoulders, and asked in a desperate hissing tone, "Dude---dude can you like, call 911 or something? I swear I'm having a fucking---episode or some shit here!!" But it wasn't exactly an episode - and as Sam touched his shoulders, he found his hands on thicker, broader shoulders than usual. Mass pumping up on his laterals, then on his front and rear delts. As Sam's eyes widened, realizing what he was feeling, he raised an arm...
And watched sweat trickle off his arm as his biceps, triceps and forearm all bulged with muscle. Forming in real time as if by the command of the program. He gasped, "What...what in the fuck did you---did you DO to me...?" He suddenly gasped again as he felt his pecs swell up and bulge - thick, heavy muscle sticking out enough to press against his shirt. And as they watched on, Sam's shirt itself changed - shrinking in the sleeves and collar, folding in on itself until only a pair of small, thin bands of fabric connected the front and back of the shirt - if you could call that a shirt.
Sam grunted, "You---you gave me one of those stringer tops...? You---ohhh, you fucker---" He awkwardly chuckled despite himself, finding his responses to this ending up less and less severe. As if somehow this was becoming more normal to him - even as he remembered that it was a change. And then Sam felt the wind get knocked out of him as he peeled his stringer shirt up - watching his abs and obliques sculpt themselves into existence in real time. And he groaned - his lats pulling his arms out a bit, giving him a different stance. His back was gettin' soooo fuckin' wide bro...
Then Sam outright moaned outloud, feeling his quads and hamstrings grow so fast he could watch his jeans suddenly get filled right the fuck up by a whole lot of muscled flesh in a hurry. The long, thick veiny flesh of his quad straining against the jeans...all the way up until his jeans began to turn cherry red, and shrank away - turning from long pants to a pair of bright red short shorts - flattering his still growing, still thickening legs and..."Oooh..." Man, feeling your ass grow is niiiiice, Sam found himself thinking.
By the time the change was done, the Sam that sat there had a whole new haircut. Thick, wavy blond hair down to his neck, his brown eyes almost amber colored and bright. And yet despite how much he changed and how different he was, he still remembered what he was before. "Dude...like, shit, you turned me into some kinda like, fuckin' Tiktok guy, bro...and what the shit is with this dudebro vernacular my guy!?"
"I---I just mean---I thought---I thought that was what you meant---" Cal awkwardly shifted in his seat.
Sam breathed, and crossed his arms, "Well, yeah, I guess you're like, right about that. And I still remember everything, even if I think I'm probably like, kiiiiinda a dumb jock..."
"Do you feel any dumber?" Cal asked.
"Like, not really bro...but fuck, if I saw a bro what looked like I do now, I'd think he was like, majorly a douchebag." Sam then chuckled, and pondered, "So uh, bro, did that thing like, change everything about my life? So like, it's normal I'm some kinda Tiktoker now? Is Becky still with me?" Honestly, he knew she was a smart babe, and her going out with someone like that was a little odd.
"Says here she is." Cal stated, "You uh. You wanna go back or...?"
"Naahh bro, this could be kinda sweet." Sam flexed an arm, watching that huge gym honed bicep bulge up to full size, "Let's see how this goes. Like, maybe we could enjoy my new lease on life, y'know?" Cal then nodded, and as Sam got up to head out, Cal followed - and both guys gawked when they saw the Lamborghini out front. The two rushed over to it - Sam out of a sudden rush of familiarity, and Cal in response to Sam.
"You have---?" Cal started.
"A Lambo...!?" Sam grinned broadly, seeming every bit the cocky Tiktok Fitness Bro, "Yeah bro. Let's take a ride."