The room was small and cylindrical. An alternating system of lights and reflecting mirrors lined the walls. A circular platform, made of glass, rested in the center, flush with the floor. Concentric circles were etched or painted on its surface.
Two glass columns rose from either side of the platform. Handles jutted out from both. Alex looked closer and saw they were adjustable for height. A clipboard with a paper hung from one. A strange pair of glasses and a bathing cap hung off the other.
"You done looking around kid?" a voice said, startling him. It rose from a hidden speaker. "Take the clipboard, read the paper, sign it."
Alex frowned but he took the clipboard. The paper contained the usual disclaimers.
Basically, if they fuck up, and fuck me up, they're not at fault.
Alex was young, but he knew the game.
I shouldn't do this. I don't know what this place is. It's so weird... but it's six hundred dollars, and how bad can it be?
He signed.
"Now put it in that slot to your left."
Alex complied.
"Now, go stand between the pillars. Put on the glasses and cap, and grasp the handles."
Alex did as instructed. Before he put them on, Alex took a brief look at himself in the mirror.
How the fuck did I get into this?
Alex never considered himself handsome, or even cute. Other people thought the opposite for some reason he couldn't understand.
He had a well-cut bowl of reddish-brown hair, deep set green eyes, a pug nose, and full lips on a wide mouth.
His skin was lightly bronzed from lawn mowing work, he did for a neighbor two days earlier. He'd taken off his shirt, and only wore shorts and sandals for the hot, muggy day. "I shouldn't have done that," he thought with hindsight.
The neighbor, Miss Minnie Doramus, gave him some ice tea, but kept looking at him funny. Plus, he freckled easily in the sun, as evinced by the march of freckles across his face, upper shoulders, and forearms.
Also his skin was lighter around his groin and ass, giving him a distracting tan line.
His height was average, 5'8", with a body just above slender but less than stocky. He wasn't athletic. His muscle tone came more from yard work than sports. His erudite uncle liked to describe him as blue collar Celtic.
Alex's face annoyed him the most. It wasn't overly masculine, but round and smooth-cheeked, giving him a boyish appearance. Less mature than he wanted. His high school English teacher noted this feature, and his pug nose, saying Alex would make a good
Huckleberry Finn,
or Puck from
A Midsummer Night's Dream,
or Peter Pan, or Artful Dodger.
Most of his body hair sat on his lower body, and underarms, with a mat of pubic hair, and hairy legs. The rest of his body, including his face, mostly contained peach fuzz. His forearms were especially fuzzy.
"If you can stop gawking at yourself, and put the glasses on, we can get this over with, and I can have my tea," the annoyed Amazon said, shaking Alex from his reverie.
"Dammit," he thought, examining the glasses. The lens were small and tinted, just large enough for his eyes. Two coverings spread from wires on either side.
"Put it on kid. It looks strange but it's designed to cover eyes and eyebrows. I adjusted them myself. The sticky pads will hold them in place. Hurry up, I don't have all day."
Alex put the glasses on and reached for the cap. He slicked back his still damp hair, and put the cap over his head. The tinted glasses darkened the view.
"Now, stand between the pillars and grasp the handles. Place your feet on the lit part of the platform."
The area between one of the outer concentric circles lit up with an impression of a foot on either side. Alex did as told. The handles raised slightly at his touch, so his arms were spread straight to either side of him. The placement of his feet spread his legs.
"Now, I'm going to take you through the procedure. Don't let go, no matter what. I might give you a bonus after this, if it works."
"That seems good," Alex thought, nervously.
"Hatta, begin."
"Turning on ultraviolet," a lightly accented voice said.
A darker, blue hue replaced the bright, silvery light illuminating the room. Alex's skin changed color.
"Shit!" he cursed, on seeing himself in the mirror. The hair on his body glowed. His invective stemmed from the thousands of black spots appearing on his skin, head to toe.
"Well, I see the dye worked, at least."
"Wait! That stuff you made me drink was dye?!"
"Of course. We needed a dye to highlight your hair follicles and cells. Don't worry, it's harmless. Now, close your mouth, and keep it closed. Hatta?"
"Commencing chemical hair removal."
"Hair removal," he thought, "This is it."
The inner circle under his body opened to expose a drain. Panels, in the wall and floor, slid back to reveal nozzles. The nozzles sprayed a fine mist on Alex's body. The mist smelled slightly acrid, and tingled when it landed on his skin.
Alex was sprayed until thoroughly drenched. Some mist entered his nose, causing a sneeze. The nozzles stopped. Alex had time to think, "That wasn't so ba... Yike!" An unnoticed nozzle spritzed his butt crack, balls, and taint. The close proximity, and jet force, put hair remover partially into his rectum.
"Very funny," Alex shouted to a brief burst of laughter from the speaker.
"Oh, don't be a baby kid," the Lady laughed back.
Alex fumed as the drenching continued for several more minutes. The spray stopped. Alex waited another minute.
"Commencing rinse."
The nozzles opened up again, this time with a shower. The water ran down the open drain, along with Alex's body hair.
"Commencing drying procedure."
The panels closed, the black light switched off. A ceiling fan pumped warm air into the chamber, while heating lamps in the walls switched on.
"I hope this place doesn't accidentally cook me," Alex thought. It took a few minutes for Alex and the room to dry.
"Is that it?" he asked. The lady stopped him before he could take his hands off the handles.
"Not yet. Hold that pose."
"Commencing laser/IPL process."
"Laser? IPL?"
"Intense pulsed light," answered Hatta. "The system uses a combination."
The room returned to ultraviolet. Alex heard an electric hum. The drain underneath his body slid aside to make way for a new object.
It rose out of the hole, looking like a bejeweled mushroom. Another object descended from the ceiling. A large, round ball, also bejeweled, and connected to a pole. It hovered close to his face.
Alex felt nervous.
Like I'm in a microwave.
It didn't help when the panels slid back, to reveal an array of thousands of glowing objects.
Like needles with jewels on their tips.
"Okay Alex, I'm going to explain. The 'mushroom' and ball are lasers. They'll take care of those tiny little stubs left behind by the chemicals. Like removing tree trunks."
"What are those little needles in the walls?"
"You'll find out in a moment. Hatta."
"Beginning laser treatment."
The jewels on the mushroom and ball glowed. A soft hum vibrated from both. Alex expected to hear laser sounds, like light sabers. Instead, the ball hovered close, the little lights winking on and off. The mushroom echoed the ball's function.
Tiny pinpoints of light flashed upon his skin. It wasn't comfortable; they felt like tiny pinpricks. It wasn't painful either.
The ball and mushroom maneuvered about his body. Alex realized, gradually, the shape of the ball and mushroom allowed the lasers to access all areas.
The mushroom moved between his spread legs to get his inner thighs, balls, taint, and lower butt crack. The ball moved across his face, underarms, and around his arms and back, down his chest, to his belly, groin, and legs.
The process repeated several times until the lasers switched off.
"Looks like the laser treatment works. How do you feel Alex?"
"Um, my skin kind of tingles. Are we done?"
"Wait a few minutes. Hold that pose. The lasers automatically switch off when they no longer detect hair. At least the hair not protected by your cap and glasses. Everything else, we have to scan to make sure."
"More lasers."
"Relax."
The laser scans came from the walls. Alex stood patiently until they finished.
