Clarissa and Pierre Swap

Clarissa made her way through the halls, but right as she was about to leave, another thing caught her eye. There was a strange light coming from the utility closet. Cautiously, she approached and opened up the door. To her surprise, the floor had been opened up. “Shit. Someone’s in the basement. Did Tambry not close the door properly?” She grabbed a nearby mop and slowly made her way down the stairs.

There was the hum of electricity in the air and the sound of bubbling liquids. The stairs were covered in a brilliant teal blue light, coming from a large machine down in the center of the room the stairs lead to. “What the-?” Clarissa reflexively exclaimed as she saw Pierre at the machine, typing away. She tried to cover her mouth, but Pierre looked up at her.

“Shit!” Pierre said as he realized he was discovered. He quickly scrambled to cover up what he was doing, only ending up knocking over an empty iced coffee cup and a half-eaten container of General Tso’s chicken.

“”Pierre! What the hell are you doing down in the Rent Clone Room? Wait a minute, is… is that my food?” Clarissa made her way down the stairs more, still gripping the mop tightly and keeping it aimed at Pierre.

“I… I… I’m sorry!” Pierre fell to his knees and bowed, tears streaming down his face.

“Pierre, what’s going on? Why do you have my food? Wait, were you trying to clone me? What the hell?” Clarissa said, holding the edge of the mop close to Pierre. However, Pierre just continued to blubber. She rolled her eyes and tapped him on the shoulder. “Come on, Pierre. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

Pierre slowly got to his feet and wiped his face with his sleeve. “I’m sorry Clarissa. I… I was trying to clone you for a Rental.”

“Why would you do that? You didn’t ask me about any of this, so there’s issue one. Secondly, Clone Rentals are a one-way swap. You’d be stuck that way!”

“Well maybe I want to!” Pierre shouted, still trying to fight back tears, though these weren’t from being afraid, but from being exhausted. Seeing this, Clarissa gently lowered her mop. “I’m so tired of being frickin’ useless Pierre! Always late! Always being a wuss! I’m so sick of being me that I’d rather be anyone else!”

“And you chose me?” Clarissa said, a mix of concerned and flattered.

“I mean, of course,” Pierre said as he gestured to her. “Look at you! You’re tall. You’ve got gorgeous red hair. You’re brave. Who wouldn’t want to be you?” Pierre sat down on the ground. “I just… I wanna get relief from being me, even if it’s just for a bit.”

Clarissa was at a loss for words. On one hand, she was incredibly weirded out about this whole situation; but on the other hand, she couldn’t help but sympathize with Pierre. Her mind thought back to the conversation she had earlier with Vince. With a heavy sigh, she extended her hand out to him. “Delete all the stuff you have on me off the computer and come with me. Don’t dilly-dally or I’m reporting you.”

Pierre gave her a confused look, but quickly got to his feet and went to the computer. He deleted all the files on Clarissa and followed her as she led him up the stairs. They closed the entrance to the basement and began to walk towards the Rental Room.

“Come on. Get in.” Clarissa said as she pulled Pierre towards one of the doors on the machine.

“What are you doing?” Pierre asked as Clarissa gestured for him to get into the machine.

“Look, if you don’t want me to report you, just do what I say.” Pierre nodded and got into the machine.

With a heavy sigh, Clarissa headed over to the control panel. She typed in the commands for the machine, but made sure that it was on a delay. A delay long enough for her to get into the other side of the machine. She rushed over and quickly shut the door once she was inside. There was a blinding light that filled the room, and then the gentle hum of the machine cooling down.

Clarissa fumbled a bit as she reached around for the handle. It took a few tries, as this was her first time inside, but she managed to open it up. She coughed a bit and took a deep breath, feeling the air filling up Pierre’s lungs. She turned over and saw Pierre step out of the machine in her body.

“Clarissa, what did you do?” Pierre asked as he looked down and around at himself.

“Oh wow. Is that what I sound like to people? Huh, I thought my voice was a little higher pitched,” Clarissa said as she sighed and looked at her body from top to bottom. “Come on. You know what this machine is. You know exactly what I did.”

Pierre looked at the machine, then to Clarissa, and then rushed over to the large mirror in the room to examine himself in Clarissa’s body. “I can’t believe it. I’m you! I’m beautiful! I’m tall! I’m strong!” He looked over Clarissa’s hands, switching between the palms and the backs of them. He laughed, hearing himself laugh in Clarissa’s voice. He turned himself around a couple times, examining Clarissa’s body from all angles that he could.

“And how do you feel?” Clarissa said as she walked over to him.

“I feel incredible!” He lifted up Clarissa with ease, thanks to Clarissa’s body’s strength. “I feel like I can do anything!” He set down Clarissa and took a couple deep breaths. “Is this how you feel every day? This is fantastic!”

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it,” Clarissa said as she couldn’t help but smile at watching Pierre enjoy her body.

“Hey,” Pierre said as he tugged a bit on the zipper of Clarissa’s top. “May I?”

Clarissa rolled her eyes a little but nodded. “Alright, go ahead.”

Pierre cheered and unzipped the top, showing off her bra and toned stomach. “Whoa. Incredible.”

“Thanks,” Clarissa said as she coughed a bit to remind him who the original owner was.

“No, thank you!” Pierre said as he lifted up Clarissa again.

In the heat of the moment, Pierre pulled Clarissa closed and kissed her on his lips. Clarissa’s eyes went wide in surprise, but the rush of the moment overtook her. She pulled Pierre in close and returned the kiss. As if on instinct, her tongue wiggled out of her lips and met with her body’s lips. It was a strange experience, kissing her own body, but exciting and thrilling at the same time. The kiss only lasted for a few moments before Pierre’s eyes shot open wide and he quickly separated the two of them.

“Shit! I’m so sorry!” Pierre said as he quickly wiped his lips. “I just got so caught up in everything.” He ran his fingers through his hair as he breathed heavily. “I just felt so confident and so excited that I just…”

“Decided to kiss yourself?” Clarissa said with a bit of a smug face.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I… Why am I so sorry? I should be confident! I should be proud! I should be better!” Pierre sat down on the ground, his expression sullen and his mood sunk. “So, why aren’t I?”

Clarissa took a seat down next to Pierre. “You’re a smart guy. Tell me. Why do you think that you’re not?”

“Because…” Pierre turned and looked at the machine. He gave a heavy sigh and hung his head back. The machine only swaps bodies. It doesn’t do anything about the mind that’s inside. Despite the body that I’m in…”

“You’re still you,” Clarissa said as she finished his sentence.

The two of them sat in silence for a bit before Clarissa broke it.

“You know what your problem is, Pierre?” Pierre looked over at her and shook his head. “You keep having these self-fulfilling prophecies that you’re gonna screw up, so it just comes true.” Pierre sunk a little further into himself, raising up his knees and huddling into himself. “But, right now, you’re me. So tell me, Pierre, what would I do in this situation?”

Pierre sniffled a little. “I don’t know. What would you do?”

“I’d believe in you. That, with a little help and guidance, you can be and do better.”

“You… believe in me?”

“Of course,” Clarissa said, giving him a wide smile and standing up. She stretched out her hand to Pierre. “Besides, I’m Pierre right now and I believe in you. You’ve got potential to be a really great guy, even while being yourself. So if Pierre can believe in Pierre, then so can Pierre.” She chuckled a little at her silly little sentence.

Pierre cracked a smile in response as well. “Thank you, Clarissa.” Pierre reluctantly took Clarissa’s hand and stood back up. “I guess we should swap back, huh?” Pierre started to walk towards the machine, but Clarissa grabbed his hand and held him back.

“Well, maybe not necessarily just yet,” Clarissa said, a sly little grin appearing on her face. “Tambry suggested that I try loosening up a little and, well,” she said as she wiggled her arms around. “This body feels pretty loose. I wouldn’t quite mind being in it for a little longer.”

“Really?” Pierre said, surprised.

“Yeah,” Clarissa said with a nod. She pulled Pierre close to her. “Besides, someone took and knocked over my leftovers.” She reached back and pulled out Pierre’s wallet from his back pocket. “So, I believe someone owes me a dinner.”

“But, I thought Swap Techs can’t just use this technology willy-nilly,” Pierre said with a bit of a happy chuckle.

Clarissa shrugged and smiled at him. “I’m off the clock, so right now, I’m not currently a Swap Tech.”

“So, where did you want to go for dinner?”

“I’m thinking Panda Panda. Always wanted someone to take me. And who better to take me there than myself?”

[An Outfox Stories original by GaylynneQT. See more of GaylynneQT’s stories & continuations here]