FSE

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Stepping outside into the cooling evening air, Renna said, "By the way, I trust you were just saying it that way to be petulant."

"What?"

"When you said we'd go to the Getta refitters so you could try on bodies for me."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I expect you'd want to confer with me before actually making a decision like that."

"Ah. Yes. I..." I had been sure when I was there, but now that I was away, I remembered. "I'm not entirely sure about it myself. They're so sketchy."

Aresh amended, "They have a sketchy reputation. Have you been by them yourselves? I dropped by."

Renna looked to me - of course not - then to her. "Please, what happened?"

"Well. I was curious, just went to see the difference. Yes, it's on the edge of the red-light district, and they have contracts with... establishments there. And their general atmosphere is one of distrust. But they have so many different services, and they sell kits for the simpler ones!

"When I showed up, a doctor was there, to find out whether it'd be useful to learn to feel what the patient is feeling. On thing led to another, and I got to go co-haptic with him, on his coin."

Renna interrupted, "What was that?"

"Co-haptic. You feel the same thing they feel. Like you've got a second body you're aware of. It's actually not as weird-feeling as it sounds."

I recalled her mild embarrassment the previous evening, and gently inquired, "Did you feel anything interesting?"

"Well, disgusting, mainly. He was gassy, and had an itchy crotch. And he was very horny, but he didn't really do anything about it."

Renna said, "I expect that's one of the deals they offer with those 'establishments', though, right?"

"Exactly. They'd use a filter or something, though. As a doctor, he was most interested in the internals. Kind of the opposite of what those establishments would be aiming for."

We speculated about the possibilities and disadvantages of that most of the way down the mountain. When we made it home, we all collapsed into our beds.

~~~~

Renna remained asleep through the morning, and I took Aresh in to work, where she spent the day learning the ropes.

That evening, over dinner - an unusually elaborate one for something Renna cooked, being rice and spiced boiled chicken with pineapple slices on the side - Renna said, "I dropped by the refitter this afternoon."

"How is it?"

"Not so much sleazy as... industrial. It's meat to them. Not a bunch that holds much sacred. Anyway, I found dozens that look good - all types. You can try some out if you want, let me know what it's like."

"You're really okay with that?"

"Let's whittle down the list. I can't even get into them for a moment, to heal whatever it is about me that got frayed - but you can rule out lots of them."

"But the expense..."

"Checking them out in-house? Cheap - 20 bits each. Even if we take it home... if we go temporary connection, restricted behavior? 100 bits a day. Affordable."

"What's unrestricted service, that we wouldn't go for it?"

Aresh got up from the table and went to the toilet.

Renna waited, then quickly said, "Boils down to, you can get semen on it. We won't have that problem because the only penis around won't be when that body is."

"Huh. Doctor... whatshername, in Allegos, said I should lock up tight."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea, or if you get used to double-body, we don't need to leave anything there."

"Double-body?"

"You'll see."

~~~~

The red-light district was most notable by the total lack of advertising on half the buildings (those that sold sex), and garish advertising on the other half (those that sold anything else). The refitter's establishment stood out for its simplicity: the pillars were a stone relief of a slightly-over-scale man and woman in robes; the arch of the door was their joined, raised hands. Above their heads read an engraving: "Body Exchange".

I stepped in, and the interior was shockingly different - painted boards offering specials - fresh new nagas, primarily, obviously aimed to the purist market. The paintings were high quality, probably painted from a projection, and were very flattering.

As I moved past them, an older 4:1 fox lady in a skirt and belly-revealing blouse stepped out of a side door. "Hello there. What can we do for you?"

The sensation of sleaze suddenly skyrocketed. "I'm here to test out several bodies for my wife."

"Test out, eh?"

"Yes, test out. She's stuck where she is at the moment. I am also curious, but if it weren't for the testing, I wouldn't be here. I didn't expect to have to justify myself to you, of all people." I added after a moment, "She came by today and made a list."

She ignored my testiness, went to the desk to peruse the file, and said, "Name?"

"I'm Famir, and she's Renna."

"Ah, yeah. Joire!" She handed me a list of 55 bodies Renna had picked out for further consideration. They weren't kidding about better selection!

A fox-boy of around 10 scrambled into the room. "Yes?"

"This gentleman will be checking several bodies out. They will be women. Will you fetch his picks to the wire room, and let me know when you're ready?"

"Sure thing." He handed me a slate with a form painted on it, and a slip of chalk. "Just write their numbers on this, at least 3 of 'em not to waste time. Come on."

I followed Joire to the wire room, already going down the list. #1 was a very aesthetically pleasing 1:1 mink. I emphasize aesthetics because though she was pretty, she simply wasn't Renna, and Renna wouldn't look any more right as her than she had as the goat. I would get to it eventually, but skipped her for now. #2 was a 2:1 leopard that could have been Jimothal's sister. I figured the associations wouldn't be too weird, and wrote her ID number on the slate.

The wire room was aptly named. There was a slanted table with straps, from which wires hung, all converging on a collar. Joire began tapping his toes, and I jotted down the ID numbers for the third and fourth without more than a cursory glance (there were no obvious problems). He handed me another slate and took the one I'd begun.

#5 was breathtaking. Alien. And I knew this was the body the moment I saw the picture. I had no idea what it was, and based on the description, no one else did either. It was peach-colored, hairless, scaleless, and hanging from the sides of its head were fronds of pink feathery things.

I stepped out and called out to Joire. He stopped, and I added it to the list.

I could barely focus on the remaining options at first, but eventually noticed something odd - number 12, 15, 24, and 33 looked very similar - they could be sisters. How did that happen? The entire family switched out? Perhaps they needed to raise money quickly?

Joire pulled in a dolly with four boxes on it, and took my slate. When he handed me another, I waved him off, saying, "That'll be all for tonight, thanks."

As he left, a very pregnant naga slithered in, wearing a sling with an infant in it. "Hello. I'll be assisting you this evening. Would you get onto the table and shift human?"

I complied, and then she slithered up alongside my head and asked, "Are you claustrophobic? We can do things more easily if you aren't."

"Not at all."

She pulled a black rubber sheet over me, fitting a hole to my nose. Despite my expectations, I nearly panicked - I was only used to going into narrow spaces as a snake. I imagined I was one, and forced myself to calm down.

"Don't worry, you'll seem to be out of there in just a minute. Getting things set up..." I heard two clunks of a box opening, a rustle, and the sound of a wire being pulled.

And then... I wasn't only under the rubber sheet. I was also in the open box, and the naga was pulling her hand away from my neck. "There. Are you there?"

"Yes." That was from my real body, but I heard it from both.

"Try doing something. You'll get the hang of using only one at a time."

First, though, I raised my arm. Wrong arm... but then... a twitch. And then the arm raised. I sat up in the box, and took a look at myself. I was #5, and I was covered by only a flimsy sort of gown tied along one side. I saw that my breasts... this was a new notion... were just like Renna's originals - smallish and perfect.

My fingers were a bit webbed, though it seemed not enough to impede writing - there was a writing callus on the right hand. I wriggled my fingers, testing the range of motion: nothing wrong there. My toes were also webbed, and I could flex each one separately.

I turned my legs out through the open side of the box. Dizzy. My fronds swung about as I wobbled. That feeling was itself kind of scary for a moment... but just a moment. Moving them actually made my head clear a bit. Also, I noticed I was wearing a collar with a fat wire coming out the back. I pointed to it. "This how I'm connected?" That was the strangest of all, to hear myself sounding so different.

"Yes. Don't take it off, period."

"Can I use a mirror?"

Instead, she lowered the rubber sheet a ways. "Just open your own eyes." In a moment I had sorted which eyelids were which, and I saw her. There were too many images for me to make sense of, so I closed her eyes.

I turned her around. There was no way I'd ditch the gown with company, so I'd seen it all. I just closed my own eyes and opened hers.

The baby woke and began complaining. The naga attended to him for a moment, and looked up before leaving. "See you in a few minutes. Looks like someone peed. Don't walk in circles or keep turning around the same way, or the cord will get tangled. Don't try to get out of the rubber sheet, but feel free to take a closer look."

I clarified with her voice, "As in, without the gown?" She nodded and slithered out.

I untied the gown, and ran her hand over her body. Not especially muscular, and there was a reasonable amount of fat on her chest and belly, enough not to show ribs. Her hairlessness was absolute, which was a strange difference from Renna's old jumbled patch. Her ass was perky, and her legs pretty nice. Would be nicer after Renna and/or I had exercised them up. But what stood out most was she was damp. It wasn't simply being sweaty. This could be a problem.

I remembered that Joire was coming, and retied the gown. I stared into my own eyes, practicing shifting focus from one body to the other. Sure enough, Joire came in, carrying the second load of 3, and just behind him the naga mother. She said, "Get on to the next?"

"Absolutely."

I lay down in the box, and the naga took the collar off. I was just myself for a moment, before it was put on the next and I became a naga - a southern style naga, like the red-haired one with suicidal tendencies, but this one had yellow hair. This one was simply naked. I sat up easily - her abdominal muscles were excellent. Remembering, I licked her fangs, noticing the two tongue-tips, and tried to flip them down as I'd seen her do. Nothing happened. I couldn't find it... until I realized that it was really reorienting the rest of her mouth around it. I unhinged the jaw, and the fangs came out very prominently.

The mother sidewinded back a coil in alarm. I pulled my mouth back together and said, "Sorry. I saw that once before and wondered how it was done."

The rest of the checks proceeded without particular incident. One had a bright, itchy rash all over one leg, and ringing in one ear; another was just pathetically weak and sore, and had joint pains. The others were all... fine, as far as I could tell.

I paid up and dropped by the telegrapher's office. Mezo was in the front, chatting on the line with a distant operator, and looking very busy. He waved, and I went to the back. The front of Renna was buried in the switching system. I knocked, and she backed out. "Oh, hey."

I slithered over and kissed her. "So, checked out seven of them. Eliminated 2. Like one in particular."

"Which?"

"The one nobody has any idea what it is. If, that is, its being a bit damp isn't a problem. It may be - it was surprisingly cheap for its looks and apparent health."

Renna looked down at her matted fur. "Around here, is anyone not damp?"

"Well, then. Shall I bring it home?"

She pondered for a moment. "How about next rest-day? The 5th."