Science Experiment

Matt finished reading the card, "49% voted for Science Experiment - With all his current transformations it's clear that one day he'll be too dumb to do work of any kind. To save himself from that fate he'll sign up to be a test subject for a radical new treatment...medical nanites. The nanites can boost his IQ...but comes with side effects. Side effects? What kind of side effects?"

His phone suddenly buzzed with an incoming message. He felt like he had to check it. He opened his email, "Apparently I have an appointment tomorrow morning...oh, and my time off request was approved? Fuck. I have a feeling I won't just be able to avoid them..."

"Probably not." Mal agreed.

"Oh and Avery's result is here too. It says 33% voted for Avery-chan - Avery was born in China, but her passport says otherwise. Help her connect with her true roots but making her obsession with Japanese culture. Sure, she'll have to learn what that is first, but she'll soon she'll be the biggest weeb around."

"Can she, like, be a weeb if she's Japanese?" Jade asked.

"She is Chinese." Laurie said, trying to stand up for her friend.

"No, she is Japanese." Matt said.

"I am proud of my Chinese heritage Laurie-oneesan," Avery said slowly, "But honestly having a Japanese passport is like, so cool!"

"Oniwhat?" Laurie asked.

"It means older sister," Matt explained, "She's being respectful."

"Kerr-san is right," Avery said, "He is big weeb too."

Laurie huffed, "I'm the same age as you."

"You heard Matt, she's just being respectful." Samira said.

"Samira-chan is right, I love you like..." Avery froze, suddenly recalling what they'd done together this morning. That was NOT something family did. She blushed, "Ok. I call you Laurie-chan."

Laurie nodded, "O-okay. And chan is a good thing?"

"It just means you're close." Matt offered, "But Avery, we're close. You can you my given name...and don't have to use san with me."

"Of course Matt-san, you are right." Avery said, switching names but keeping the san.

Matt rolled his eyes and gave up. He glanced at Mal, "What about him...her...? He was curious how Avery would deal with the genderbent Mal.

"Mal-senpai is Mal-senpai." Avery said.

Matt frowned. He was older than her too. Then he shrugged, "Well Laurie it's your roll."

"Right, here goes, 6." Laurie said as she rolled, "That's orange. It says Casual Lesbian - You are now bisexual. You will often casually touch other women's bodies in a sexual way and those women are much more likely to allow it than normal. So I'm going to grope all the nurses at work? That's...fine as long as I don't get in trouble."

Mal went next, "4. That's blue. It says A: Have your ears permanently pierced with large hoops you can never remove B: Have your nipples permanently pierced with barbells you can never remove? Well I don't want any piercings but at least I could hide the barbells. B. OW!" As soon as he said it he felt a sting as the barbells appeared. He looked down and could immediately see them, although the others might only see them poking through his dress.

Then suddenly he was male again. He couldn't help but smile as he saw his body return to normal, but when he looked up his friends were looking away, "Oh my god dude, cover that thing up!" Matt complained.

It seemed his dress no longer fit. Avery tossed him a pillow and he put it over his crotch, "Sorry guys."

Jade rolled next, "An 8. Awesome. That's like, a green!" She picked up her card, "Charisma Enhancement - First impressions are you are always favourable. Oh, that's like, good."

Avery rolled next, and surprised the others when she picked the path that led to the extra red tile. The reds had been fairly **** but the opposite path held a lot of blue tiles. Avery felt like she'd rather not have to make those difficult choices, instead she'd just accept whatever happened, "Orange. Must bow when greeting someone. Well, duh, I would bow anyway. I am Japanese after all." She felt like now she could really embrace the changes the nanites had done to her nationality.

Samira went next, but she was only a few spaces from a red tile so she couldn't get passed it, "It says Keep playing." She passed the dice on.

Matt rolled, "8, that's a blue tile. It says A: Age 5 years (Physical change only) and gain one million dollars B: Deage 10 years (Major reality change). Major reality change? What does that even mean?"

Mal tapped his fingers on the pillow on his lab, "I think it means it's not just a physical change. You won't just look 21, you'll BE 21. Like your ID, birth certificate etc, all changed. And you'll lose your job...maybe your apartment. Cause you won't be a 31 year old scientist. You'll be a 21 year old-"

"Student. Fuck. I'll be a student again." Matt groaned.

Jade looked at him curiously, "Student what?"

"Fuck. I said fuck."

Jade stared at him, "Oh. You're like...swearing..."

"You're fucking right I am." Matt said.

Samira put her hand over Matt's, "A million dollars...that's a lot of money."

She was right. He wouldn't earn a million dollars no matter how hard he worked in the next 5 years. It was just 5 years. He'd just look a little older and suddenly be rich. Except...he had to assume his life expectancy wouldn't change. Was it really worth dying 5 years early? It felt far away but still, it was a major decision.

"I..." Matt struggled to decide.

"Matt-san you should pick B. You can earn money later. Live a long life." Avery said rather seriously.

Matt stared at her, then nodded, "You're right. I'll pick B..."

There was a strange sensation as reality shifted to accommodate the new Matt. He pulled out his wallet, "Oh fuck...Born in 2005. No longer a 90s kid."

The physial change was noticeable too. The pretty face transformation had made him look younger already, it was really noticeable now. He really did look like the youngest in their group.

"I...wow...I remember meeting Matt at school. It's different..." Mal said, "He took one of my electives..."

Avery nodded, "I remember meeting Matt-kun at the board game cafe...twice. I have both sets of memories, young and old."

"I'm kun now? Well I guess I'm much younger...this is really weird. I remember both memories too, although the younger memories feel somewhat alien to me. My parents are still my parents, they just had me 10 years later and...oh fuck. My younger sister is now my older sister. That's going to be annoying."

"This game...it's incredible..." Laurie whispered, "In a bad way of course. To think it could change so much..." Then she rolled, stopping on a red tile, "It says keep playing."

Mal was only a few behind Laurie, sure enough he rolled and had to stop beside her and Samira. "It's the same. Keep going."

Jade picked up the dice, "Like, my turn. 5, that's a blue. A: Heels of Aphrodite - Unable to stand or walk unless barefoot or wearing 5 inch (or larger) heels. B: Showing it (want a tattoo showing how much one is an anal whore). Wow, 5 inches? That's...like, a lot, huh. But um...I totz don't like anal...gross...ugh. Guess I like, hafta pick A."

Avery rolled next, stopping just short of a red tile, "Orange. Your accent shifts to match your new appearance. Huh, do I have much of an accent?"

Avery had been in Canada long enough that her English was pretty good, but her Chinese accent was still obvious to everyone. Of course now she didn't have a Chinese accent, she sounded like her native language was Japanese.

"Yes." All her friends said together.

Samira put a hand on Avery's knee, "But not in a bad way. It's cute."

Avery smile, "Thanks Samira-chan."

Samira went to pick up the dice but suddenly her hand shifted and grabbed a card instead, "Oh, the red tile results are ready. I got..."

Vote for red tiles AND Matt's Science experiment side effects here:

https://forms.gle/A44mSdXUY7mcGQB36