Imagine a world where there are transformation booths in malls in place of the old photo kiosks. Two people step in, and each selects a change for the other. Welcome to that world... the world of the Trust Machines – known colloquially as Venn Machines due to their interlocked-rings logo.

Note: The Trust Machines setting was inspired in part by Elrod W’s MAU stories.

*** *** ***

“Come on, you two. Everyone else at the party has agreed to get venned.”

Gary glared at his friend. “Peer pressure isn’t going to get me into one of those crazy machines.”

“Oh come on, it’s New Years! Time to try new things. The Venn Machines are perfectly safe. Nobody’s ever gotten hurt. Since you two haven’t tried them before, we’ll let you off with a one month change. But the rest of us are doing the full year as someone else.”

Gary shook his head. “How on earth do you figure that will work? Are you just going to walk up to your job and say ‘Hi, I’m still Tassie’?”

Tassie nodded zir head. “Pretty much. As long as I swipe my badge and know my login, I should be good to go. My supervisor will have a few questions, but it’s not like it’d be the first time I’ve shown up in a new body.” Zie twirled around to show off their athletic but aggressively neuter body. “It’s not like you have a job to lose this time of year, right?”

Gary’s girlfriend spoke up for the first time. “I have a job.”

“You do? Since when?” asked Tassie, incredulously.

“Mom has me doing paperwork for her company. It’s nice, I can mostly do it from home. She keeps bugging me to get an accounting degree.”

“Nice to have rich parents, I guess. Still, it’s not like she’d kick you out if you looked different, right?”

Leah clutched Gary’s hand a little tighter as she thought about it. “As long as someone could prove I’m still me, I guess not.”

“So you’ll do it?” asked Tassie. “Sweet! Now maybe I can get the rest in on it.”

“Hey, you said everyone was...”

Tassie grinned. “I’ve talked about half of them around. By midnight, I’ll have everyone on board. You’re sure you’re only game for the month? A full year would really let you know what it’s like to be someone else.”

Gary felt Leah’s grip tighten. “A month is plenty, thanks. Besides, how many New Year’s resolutions make it the full year, anyway?”

“Yeah, I don’t expect many of them to go the full year. I will, though. Time for something new, agender really isn’t me.”

“Have you been that way long?” asked Leah.

“Just the year.”

Leah giggled. “Do you do this every year? Try to drag others out to change?”

“I tried last year, but only got a couple takers. This year, no prisoners!” Tassie waved and headed off to chat with another group.

True to zir word, everyone at the party headed off to the nearby mall after toasting the New Year and singing Auld Lang Syne. They were all chattering about what they wanted to be for the next year. Some of the girls were figuring on longer hair, or a better figure.

Leah shook her head. “They’re thinking too small.”

“Oh? You want to try being something radically different?” asked Gary. “The Venn Machines can literally turn you into anything. Not just people. You could be a dog, or a cat, or even a cute little plushie.”

Leah giggled even more giddily and mimed hugging something small enough to fit in her arms. “I bet you’d like to be my plushie, snuggled up against my chest.”

Gary blushed. “Wouldn’t be the worst fate.”

“And my mother might even let you in the house like that. Seriously, she’s so defensive...”

“I know. And my folks are around all the time. Trying to get any privacy at all is... ugh.”

Tassie hugged them both from behind, making them both squeak. “If you want privacy, I can arrange it.”

“No you can’t,” replied Gary. “You’re up in everyone’s private business. Making out at your place I’d be worried we’d end up on one of your streams.”

Tassie shook zir head. “Not a chance. Only people who’ve signed the waiver are on the show. I take that very seriously indeed.”

“It’s hard to imagine you being serious,” quipped Leah.

Tassie pirouetted showily. “All the world’s a stage, my dear. I can be serious... when it matters. It just so rarely does. Are you going to be serious about this resolution, or silly?”

Leah exchanged looks with Gary. “Serious. The idea of shaking out of my rut is starting to appeal.”

Tassie clapped zir hands. “Excellent! Oh, I have just the thing for you two. Go in, and say ‘clone’ until you see an image of yourself appear, then choose that.”

“You want us to turn into each other?” asked Gary.

“What better way to understand each other?” replied Tassie. “Come on, give it a try. It’ll be fun!”

“I guess...” mused Leah. “Confusing Mom would be a bonus.”

Gary chuckled. “Works for me.”

Tassie cheered, and pushed them toward the front of the group. “Show them how it’s done!”

Before Gary could marshall any further objections the Venn Machine was yawning open in front of him. He stepped into his side as bravely as he could manage, and stared at the weird transparent interface between him and Leah. He followed Tassie’s instructions, and images of himself bubbled up. He picked one that looked maybe a touch better than he normally did, then tried a nearby one that looked a little more muscular. “Ready?”

“Let’s do this. Hit the button on three. One, two...”

Instead of looking across at a hotter version of himself, Gary was now looking up. They stepped out of the machine, and Gary couldn’t help but keep staring. “You look like a mirror... oooh, my voice!”

Leah chuckled in a voice that sounded almost like Gary’s, just a little deeper. “You too. Oooh, I see what you mean. This is so weird!” She waved her arm, and Gary aped her motion a moment later.

Tassie cheered for them. “You both look great. How do you feel?”

“Pretty good,” said Gary. “Is it weird that this feels kind of natural? I mean, bits of me are wiggling in unfamiliar ways and yet... it doesn’t feel that strange. The weirdest part is hearing this new voice, really. La la la laaaa! Hee, it’s so cute.”

Several other partygoers asked if they really had swapped, and both of them nodded in reply. Tassie took that as encouragement to chivvy others into doing the same. Not everyone did, but several couples swapped and a few of the single guys got persuaded to try out a year as a girl. By the time everyone else was changed, Tassie was giddy. “This worked out so well. What should I become?”

“You totally need to become a guy to balance the numbers out. Too many new girls, show us some muscles!”

Tassie grinned at the person and set up the Venn Machine. “Let’s do that, then.” When he emerged, he was almost a foot taller, had bright orange hair instead of zir “original” purple, and even more muscles than Leah. “Yeah, this will be fun. Thanks!”

After that, everyone went their separate ways. Gary had to adjust the seat in his beat up old Civic before he could drive it. “Your place first? This is going to be challenging to explain...”

“No kidding. You look and pretty much sound like me,” replied Leah. “Do I sound like you?”

“As long as you don’t giggle,” replied Gary with a giggle.

Leah giggled, then cleared her throat and gave a faux-manly chuckle that started both of them laughing uproariously. “I’ll try. Any other tips?”

Gary shrugged. “Talk more about video games and fishing, and less about how you hate columns of numbers? You’re not fashion-crazy like some of our friends, so that’s easy enough.”

“Me like fishing,” growled Leah, starting another round of laughter. “I guess the inverse applies to you. Less fishing, more ‘do I really need to be an accountant?’”

Gary laughed. “Are numbers so awful?”

“I guess not. I’d just rather not stare at endless columns of them day after day. They make me go cross eyed.”

“I still say you need glasses.” Gary held up a hand in front of his face then moved it closer and further away. “These eyes seem fine, though. Do Venn Machines fix vision?”

“I think so? Huh. That’d be nice. Anyway, this is my stop. Come prove that I’m me.”

The conversation with Leah’s mother did not go well. She refused to discuss the Venn Machines at all, and barely acknowledged that they existed. She wouldn’t even let Leah into the house looking like Gary, and they had a heated argument on her doorstep before getting the door slammed in their faces.

“Well. That... was not what I expected,” sighed Gary. “Now what?”

“She would have let you in,” mused Leah. “Want to take up accounting?”

Gary snorted. “Seriously? You’d just let me... use your room and stuff?”

Leah shrugged. “My closet is full of stuff that’ll fit you. It would be easier to swap rooms than try to haul everything back and forth...”

That got Gary laughing, though he stopped when Leah didn’t join in. “Wait, you’re actually serious.”

“You saw how she looked at me. I have no idea why she has it in for you, but it’s swap places or bail on the resolution barely an hour in. We promised we’d last the whole month.”

“Let’s go see what my folks think,” sighed Gary.

When they got to his place, both Gary and Leah were welcomed in, but once again their resemblance to each other made it difficult to convey that they’d swapped bodies. Gary’s father grudgingly accepted that it could have happened. “But why would you do such a thing?”

Gary looked over at Leah, looking into his own eyes. “It has been... enlightening, seeing Leah’s perspective. I’d like to stick out the month, and learn more. Would you be okay with Leah staying here, and me staying at Leah’s? Her mom won’t let men enter the house.”

Gary’s mother shook her head. “Something is wrong with that woman. So you’re... just going to stay where you look like you belong? I can work with that, if you can live with being called Gary.”

“That... probably makes the most sense,” agreed Leah. “Hey, Leah, you okay if I call you by the name that matches your body?”

“Leah” licked her lips uncertainly. “You’re Gary. I’m Leah. Oh, that sounds so odd, and yet...”

“It does sound correct,” said Gary’s mother. “You look more like a Leah than a Gary, after all.”

“So... you’re okay with this?”

“We’re going to pretend this conversation never happened. Now Gary, you should drive Leah home.”

“Uh... sure. That sounds... You’re serious, right? Not just...”

“We’re confused,” said Gary’s father. “This way we can just sort of go along with things as they appear to be, right?”

“Yessir!”

Gary’s father chuckled. “Don’t call me sir. Just ‘Dad’ will do.”

Leah blinked back an incipient tear. “Yes, Dad. I’ll... yeah, get that driving done. Back soon.”

“No rush on our account.”

Once they were back outside, Gary waited by the passenger door of the family car. He tossed Leah the keys. It took her a moment to realize what to do, but she opened the door for Gary as he used to do for her. “This is going to take some getting used to. But...” she smiled down at Gary. “I kind of like it.”

Gary flashed her her own winning smile. “Me too.”

When they got to Leah’s house, Gary got out of the car and Leah came around to meet him. They shared a hug and a kiss that went on for longer than either had planned. They broke apart, breathlessly. “Wow.”

“Yeah. Damn. You still turn me on. This is going to be...”

“Want to take Tessie up on that privacy offer?”

“Let’s... wait a bit. Does it count as losing your virginity if you’re venned at the time?”

“Physiologically, no. Psychologically? Oh hell yes.”

“It can wait.”

*** *** ***

Gary and Leah spent the next week making regular calls back and forth to advise each other on how to live their exchanged lives. Gary needed lots of coaching on how to get into and out of bras, and was sent links to a series of makeup videos to watch. Leah complained about the boring contents of Gary’s underwear drawer. They met up briefly when “Leah” had time away from work, and before they knew it a week had gone by.

“Gary” showed up Friday night to pick up “Leah” for a date at their favourite inexpensive restaurant. “My treat, this time.”

“You have money?” asked Gary incredulously. “I was always broke. Getting a regular paycheque must be nice...”

“I happened across a renovation project while walking around. I just sort of stood and watched, amazed that I wasn’t getting cat-called. One of the guys asked if I was willing to help out, they were short-handed and needed someone to help move supplies around. I figured, what the heck, I’ve got these muscles...” Leah flexed her arms, showing off the muscles Gary never had.

“Cool. So you got hired on?”

“Nah, it’s all piecework. They pay cash at the end of the day. Told me about a few other sites, might give them a try next week. It was fun being able to lift heavy stuff!”

Gary chuckled. “Nice. Never been a huge fan of it, but... the muscles look good on you.”

Leah flexed again. “How about you? Going blind from staring at numbers?”

“Not yet. But it’s just so bloody mechanical. Page after page... why not just import it all into a spreadsheet and do the checks there?”

“Mom doesn’t trust computers any more than she trusts men. That, and I think all of it starts in spreadsheets anyway, so you’re cross-checking against bad programming and bad data entry too.”

“Bah. I could do all of this with a very small script.”

Their food arrived then. They’d asked for their usual, so Leah got Gary’s usual double-stack burger, and Gary got a salad. They both looked at their food uncertainly, shrugged almost as one, and gave it a try.

“Hey, this is really good,” said Gary. “How’s your burger?”

Leah was too busy eating to answer. She took another bite, sighed happily, swallowed and said, “Divine. Did I get your taste buds, too?”

“If you’re doing heavy work, you’ll need to eat more than that...”

Leah’s grin broadened. “Really? So cool... That body you’re wearing won’t stay thin unless you keep to salads and such.”

Gary shrugged. “If they taste like this, I’ll be okay.”

They went off to watch a movie afterward. Gary got a little twitchy when Leah tried to pose them like usual, with her arm around Gary’s shoulder instead of the other way around. After a while, he settled in against his sweetie and started to feel warm and cozy there...

After their date they promised to keep in touch. Both boggled at just how little their parents had noticed.

*** *** ***

The next week, Gary insisted on paying for the date. “The script worked remarkably well. Flagged a few problems, and I was able to track down a couple of payments that had gone astray. Your mom gave me a bonus for that.”

“Really? Damn. And she still thinks you’re me?”

Gary shrugged her shoulders. “I’m starting to think I’m a girl, I’m not surprised she does.”

Leah chuckled at that, nodding his head along with Gary. “Oh yeah. Same here. Your folks are so nice when I do the chores without being asked. Such sweeties, I can’t imagine why you complained.”

“God, they’re so stifling at times. I resented being poked about the... you just did it without asking?”

“Yeah. You may want to try that, they were so surprised and so nice about it. Can I keep them?”

“Uh...” Gary blinked, giggled briefly, then covered her mouth. “Shit. Seriously?”

“I was kinda joking. Mostly. Having a father is so nice...”

Gary tilted her head and peered at her girlfriend curiously. “I don’t get it.”

“You’ve had a Dad all your life. I lost mine when I was eight. God, I miss him. I know Dad isn’t... I mean he isn’t my Dad, but they asked me to call them Mom and Dad and... this is too weird to be so normal.”

Gary laughed warmly at that. “Normal? I mean... Okay, I’m getting used to your place, and your shampoo... why does it smell so nice?”

“Why does yours smell like industrial solvent? I need to buy some nicer stuff. Not floral, but certainly there has to be something... nice, right?”

“Beats me. I just use the same stuff Dad always has.”

*** *** ***

“Gary. Hey Gary.” Leah snapped her fingers. “Leah?”

Gary blinked and looked across the table at her boyfriend. “Oh! Sorry. Got too used to Mom calling me Leah. I mean your mom. Did I really just react to your name?”

Leah grinned and nodded. “Try it.”

“Hey Gary, studly boyfriend of mine, shall we go somewhere private instead of to a movie?”

Leah twitched. “Fuck me.”

“That was the idea, yes,” Gary said with a pretty, saucy grin.

“I... I’m not sure I’m ready yet. Like this, I mean. Can it wait until we change back? Please?”

Gary smiled at her boyfriend sweetly and took his hands. “You’re worth waiting for,” she husked.

Leah moaned softly. “Going to be another cold shower tonight.”

Gary giggled. “I’ll go down on you in the theatre.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Wanna bet?”

Leah stared at Gary wide eyed. “Why?”

“Been where you are. And I’ve been reading some of your magazines. They get some things right...”

Leah whimpered softly. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this... but yes please. Still haven’t figured out how to... uh... manually solve the problem.”

“Oh dear. Is my muscular, handsome boyfriend really that desperate?”

“Yes!” hissed Leah, blushing intensely.

“Then I’m going to have even more fun than I imagined.”

*** *** ***

Leah snuggled up against Gary and sighed. “I can’t believe it has been a month already.”

“Has it?” her boyfriend asked, pulling his sweetie tighter against his side. “I... crap. That means I’m going to turn back in a bit. When?”

Leah pulled out her phone. She’d replaced Gary’s old industrial-grade case with something sparkly. “I’ve got a venn timer here... says we have another ten minutes. I’m not sure I got the start time right, though. Could be any minute now.”

“So that’s why the mall date?” asked Gary.

Leah nodded. “So we’re near the Venn Machines, yeah. Look, I know we haven’t really talked about this much, but... could we maybe stay this way a little longer? I’m helping your mother automate more of her work and she’s thrilled with how it’s going. She’s been so nice about it, about everything, really. Just wish I could get her to unbend about you. I mean Gary. I mean me...” Leah giggled. “I don’t even think of myself as Gary any more, not really. How about you?”

“Uh... wow. I mean... a little? I’ve gotten used to answering to your name, but I don’t...” He hesitated, closed his eyes. “Um. Okay, maybe I am more used to this than I thought. It feels natural to hear this voice when I talk, and I even hear it in my inner dialogue. When the hell did that happen?”

“A couple weeks back for me. You really didn’t notice? You’re such a guy.”

Gary stuck his tongue out at Leah and giggled. “Am not.”

“You look like one to me.”

Gary crossed his arms across his chest and pouted at Leah. And then quite suddenly, without any fuss, both of them were back in their original bodies and clothes. “I don’t look like a guy any more.”

The restored Gary winced and tugged at his waistband. “Damn it. I know it was my idea to wear our clothes from when we got venned... figures I’d forget about the panties.”

“Bathroom’s over there,” Leah said, pointing at a nearby hallway. “I’ll wait.”

Gary returned a couple minutes later with the offending panties in hand. “I think they’re ruined. Sorry.”

Leah shrugged. “I wasn’t planning on wearing them any time soon.” She handed Gary his old wallet back. “Here’s your ID.”

Gary handed over the purse he was still carrying, giggling a bit as he realized how easily he’d done so. “And yours.” He pulled open the wallet to check his cards and blinked. “There’s... a lot of cash in here. And what are these business cards?”

“Projects near your folks’ place. Any of ‘em will take you on for a day’s worth of heavy lifting. Seriously, such a great way to earn some cash.”

Gary thumbed through the bills. “Think you can spare some of this for a hotel room for the night, get us a little privacy for once?”

Leah grinned hugely. “That sounds like a lovely idea. Before or after we venn back into each other?”

“Both?” asked Gary with a shy smile. “I’d... kind of like to do it right the first time, but I do want to go back.”

“Yeah, me too. C’mon, girlfriend. Let’s go have some fun.”