An invisibility device

"So?" asked Alice as she gazed at the address on the little piece of paper she held in her hand. "1313 Gibbs Lane. Interesting name for an address. I hope it's not an omen."

"Oh, don't be like that," said her friend Riley. "This city is not that bad. It's not like the place where I used to live where I was always having to wear a cross after sundown and I was always having to fill out a concealed carry permit for my stake and my crossbow."

"Er, what kind of place was that?" asked Alice.

"I forget," said Riley. "I've lived in so many places over the years that I sometimes forget certain place names. But then I was a military brat so moving from place to place is kinda in my blood, so to speak. Though I must admit my one year in Collinsport, Maine, was pretty memorable."

"You lasted a year in that place?" asked Alice.

"Oh, it was not so bad," said Riley. "The Collins family was pretty nice -- except for that eccentric cousin of theirs -- and my friend Vicki was okay, even if she did seem a bit old to be a caregiver. It was certainly was not as bad there as it had been in this one town I visited in California though I do remember having my share of issues with my boss Angelique. I'm telling you that woman was a real -- but hey! I'm keeping you from that job interview."

"I'm not so sure I want to apply here," said Alice.

"Hey, it said you had to be fully dressed," said Riley. "Isn't that the type of job you wanted?"

"Why can't I have a job like yours?" asked Alice. "You seem to be doing okay -- and you obviously get to wear clothes."

"Well, thanks, but right now I'm off work and besides my Watch -- er -- my boss probably wouldn't permit it," said Riley. "So let's go get you that job!"

As the two women stepped inside, she noticed that the place was basically just a small house with a laboratory located in the garage. In the laboratory was a blonde in her thirties who looked at Alice and said, "So you're my one o'clock."

"I guess I am," said Alice, glancing at her watch to make sure that it was in fact one o'clock. "Where do I start?"

"Well, you did fill out the online application, right?" asked the brunette.

"Right," said Alice. "And you are?"

"Carroll," said the brunette. "Professor Kitty Carroll. No relation, of course. I need you to go behind that curtain and remove your shoes and your jewelry. Please leave behind your watch and your purse as well."

"But I thought that I was supposed to be fully dressed for this job?" asked Alice.

"You are," said Professor Carroll. "But some substances in those items might not agree with the device that I'll be testing on you. And of course, certain forms of radiation cause havoc with the likes of a wristwatch. Which reminds me -- you do have a cell phone, right?"

"Yes," said Alice. "I keep it in my purse."

"Good," said Professor Carroll. "Keep it there. Now do what I said and then join me over here in the center of the lab."

Riley just shrugged as Alice went behind the curtain and took off her shoes, her earrings, her class ring and her watch. Then she put down her purse and walked over to the center of the lab where Professor Carroll was waiting for her with a strange-looking object in her hands.

"What's that?" asked Alice.

"A transformation device," said Professor Carroll.

"But it looks like a gun," said Alice.

"Of course it does," said Professor Carroll. "It looks less suspicious this way."

"Suspicious?" asked Alice.

"Oh, relax," said Professor Carroll. "I'm only joking. I designed it this way to make the device easier to carry. I've successfully tested it on animals and not one of them showed any ill effects. So you should be safe."

"Oh, good," said Alice. "So what does it do?"

"It makes you invisible," said Professor Carroll.

"Oh, that's interesting," said Alice. "Does it just work on organic flesh or does it work on clothes as well?"

"Good question," said Professor Carroll. "Let's find out."

"What?" asked Alice.

But before Alice could move, Professor Carroll had already fired the device in her direction. Before she knew it, she was covered with a strange glowing sensation and then -- the sensation disappeared.

As did her clothing. And herself.

"I'm invisible right now, right?" asked Alice.

"You sure are," said Riley, standing off to the side behind Professor Carroll.

"Okay," Alice tried to say with a bravado she did not quite feel as she stood in the center of the lab feeling like a pane of glass. "That was fun. So when do you test out the reverse function on that thing? You know? The one that makes me visible again?"

"Right now," said Professor Carroll.

And again she fired the device in Alice's direction. And again Alice was covered with a strange glowing sensation.

Hey, Alice thought, I could get used to this.

Then just like that, Alice was visible again.

But her clothing wasn't. And when she tried to touch the clothes on her body, Alice noticed that they seem to have disappeared all together during the reversal process.

"Hmm," said Professor Carroll. "Apparently we're going to have to work on that."