Trish thought about what things she wanted to try, and a strange thought floated to the surface. She tried to dismiss it, but it lingered in her mind, demanding to be acted upon. "This might sound kind of weird, but...well, I want a tail. A really long one. Something that will trail behind me a ways."
"A really long tail," Samantha said flatly. "That's it?"
"No. Not really. That's just the first thing I thought of." She tried to think of how to phrase her desire. "See, the tail I had before felt great and everything, but for some reason I really want a tail that doesn't feel great. I want this tail to be kind of a burden."
"Well, if that's your decision...but why?"
Tricia shook her head. "I'm not sure. You want me to tell you what I want, and for some reason I just really want to see what it's like to have a feature that's more troublesome than helpful. Something that's a part of my body that I have to take care of and deal with."
"So you don't specifically want a tail? There are a lot of things that can be considered burdens. Even long hair."
"All I know is, you want me to pick a direction, and for some reason my attitude is to go in the direction of creating some kind of burden for me to bear. As long as it's not so great as to really be a problem."
"So you want something--possibly a tail--to become a physical difficulty that inconveniences you, but not so much that it totally ruins your life." Samantha spoke so dryly that Tricia's request sounded even stranger.
Why was it so difficult to communicate the feeling she had? Even Tricia didn't understand where this desire for a burden came from, but so much of her longed for it now. "Doesn't make much sense to me, either, but the more I think about it the more I really want to experience that kind of transformation."
Samantha put her fingers to her lips in concentration as she examined the remote's various settings. "I'm thinking about what you might want...but there's a lot of ways to deal with this. Take a minute and decide for yourself. I'll be programming my own idea into the remote in the other room. If you don't have an idea when I'm finished, you're gonna get what I programmed."
"All right," Tricia said. She was very embarrassed now. Here she was, asking her friend to do something when she didn't even know why she wanted it. Maybe her body knew something she didn't. Maybe there was something she had to discover. Something was telling her that this was a necessary experience.
Samantha stopped just before stepping through the doorway and turned back. "One more thing," she said. "If you really want to experience this as a burden and not as a temporary gimmick we can undo with the push of a button, then I call a twenty-four hour rule. If you're not satisfied by what happens to you, you'll have to live with it for at least a day. Burdens aren't usually taken willingly. Most people have them thrust upon them, and those burdens can be pretty harsh. Think about that, and then tell me whether or not to go ahead with this when I get back."