I was twenty when my life changed. Or perhaps I was fifty. Well, one me was twenty, and the other was fifty, if that makes any sense. It will. Anyway, twenty year old me was sitting on the couch one Saturday, playing some videogames and unwinding from a demanding week at the software company I worked at, when suddenly, a man appeared from thin air in the room, right between myself and the screen of my television. I swore as I dropped the console, partially in fright, and partially because this...apparition, whatever it was, was making me lose my game. I surveyed the man...he looked like he could be a relative. We were the same height and build, though he was ever so slightly bigger than me. His graying hair looked as if it had once been the same shade of light brown that mine was now. But the strangest thing about it was that, like me, his left eye was lighter than his right. How often did that happen?
"I'm sorry," he said, "but I need to do this."
"Huh?"
"When I was twenty, I recall having been visited when I was alone, playing a video game, by an older version of myself."
"So you're...me?" I wondered.
"Yes. Call me narcissistic, but I must admit I'm a little proud of you for catching on so quickly."
"If you're me," I asked, "What number am I thinking of right now?"
"Thirteen hundred fifty one," he said, "I remember the number I thought of like it was yesterday."
I breathed deeply, now forced to accept the fact that me, from the future, was able to time travel, and in my living room.
"So what brings you...me...here?"
Momentarily, I thought I saw a look of apprehension on the old man's face, as if his worst fear was about to come true.
"I came here to give you this...I wish I didn't have to."
He pulled a small orb with various buttons on it from his pocket and gave it to me.
"This is an interface that allows its operator to upload himself or anyone else into a computer. Press this button," he said, indicated a small square button on the back, "and a cord pops out that allows you to connect the interface to any computer or mobile device. Once you set the interface with this button," he indicated a circular one, "the next person who touches it can be uploaded into any program the operator wishes."
"How does it recognize the operator?" I asked.
"This device responds to my DNA, which is your DNA as well. It can only be operated by us. Once the operator has uploaded a person, he has control over them and their world. If he uploads himself, he still has control of what he and the other person do. The operator is able to leave the device whenever he wishes. The others in the device can leave only when the operator releases them."
Then he looked me in the eyes, deadly serious, "I invented this device, which is to say, you will invent the device, by reverse-engineering it from the one given to me by a future version of myself. Further research on the mechanism at the laboratory where I work in the future unlocked the key to time travel. It has done innumerable good in the world...but let me just say this...I deeply regret having to give you this device, because of what you're about to do with it. I don't want to tell you what it is I did...what you will do, but let me just say that it was unethical, and I regret it so much that I wish there was a way, other than giving you the device, to have it invented without creating a time paradox."
"I don't understand," I said.
"Please, don't do anything unethical with the device."
And then he left, vanishing into thin air as suddenly as he had come, and I was left with a power in my hands that I was completely unprepared for. I went to bed, unwilling to start on reverse engineering the device after a long week of work.
My video gaming was interrupted again when Cassie came over. Cassie Goth and I have been dating for two months.
"I figure you were tired after a long week of work, so I picked up a pizza," said Cassie, then seeing me playing her favorite fighting game she asked "Hey, can I play?"
That's one of the things I love about Cassie, her love of video games. It's rivaled only by her love of fitness. She's the star of her college track team, and I love the slim yet round curve of her hips, her toned back and legs, and her round, jutting ass. Still, she isn't exactly one to show herself off. She sat there in her baggy sweats and hoodie, winning round after round of Fight-O-Rama as a character who fought in a minidress and thong. She would never wear something like that in real life. Then she noticed the interface that the older version of myself had given me.
"What's that?" she asked.
"Just a project I'm working on," I said quickly.
I wondered why I hadn't been completely honest with Cassie. Truth was, because I wasn't quite ready to share the knowledge of something so powerful.
A few more slices of pizza and rounds of game, and Cassie excused herself to go to the restroom. It was then that my mind started racing. I loved Cassie and all, but it would be exciting seeing her a bit more...uninhibited. We'd never made love, she'd never masturbated in front of me, never wore sexy clothing out...and now I had the power to make a person do whatever I wanted, right in the palm of my hand. Hesitantly, I pressed square the button and the cord popped out. I connected the interface to the video game I was playing and pressed the round button. The device began to glow.
As Cassie emerged from the bathroom, my heart was hammering into my throat.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Uh...about that project for work," I began. I was at the horns of a dilemma. Should I tell her the truth? Or should I test my newfound power? If I told her the truth, I might give up my only chance...
"Yes?"
"It's a state of the art video game controller. I thought you might want to try it out."
Okay, not technically a lie.
"Cool," she said, "How does it..."
But no sooner had Cassie touched the device than she was gone from the room, and I could see her on the screen of my TV. She was standing in the ring, in place of her character, wearing the same outfit that her character was wearing. I wondered what would happen...would she be angry?
"Hi, I'm Cassie "Kicks ass" Goth, ready for round two." I saw a cursor on the screen that hadn't been there before. I moved my hand, and the cursor moved. I clicked on Cassie. A box on the screen popped up, containing a set of stats.
Age: 21
Strength: 4/10
Speed: 8/10
Agility: 7/10
HP: 100
And below that...
Appearance
Bio
Cheat Codes
I clicked on Bio and Cassie began to speak.
"Cassie 'Kicks ass' Goth is a speedy runner. Not the hardest hitter, but she can dodge anything you throw at her."
"Cassie?" I said hesitantly.
"What?" she asked.
"Can you hear me?"
"Of course."
"Do you know who I am?"
"The announcer. You announce the fight and say what moves we're performing."
"How did you get here?"
"From the locker room, of course."
Wow...Cassie didn't seem to be aware of what had happened at all. She was now herself as a fighting game character, thinking she had always been that way.
I clicked on appearance, and the fighting ring melted away behind Cassie. In its place was a backdrop of a locker room, with Cassie in the center. I moved the cursor to her breasts. The real-life Cassie had breasts on the small side, not tiny, but definitely not large. I clicked on them.
"Ah!" said Cassie, slapping the spot where the cursor had touched, "must be a fly."
So she could feel the cursor...she just couldn't tell what it was? Interesting.
I clicked the enlarge button on the screen, and her breasts swelled to twice their normal size. Then I clicked on her nipples a few times for good measure.
"Eek! Aah! Oh!" she cried out, her nipples hardening.
She looked every bit the part of a buxom video game fighter. I then clicked on her hair. As I did, she brushed a hand past it, as if seeing whether something was there.
Cassie had dark brown hair, which looked nice enough against her tawny skin, but I always wondered what she'd look like if it were red. Now I had my chance to find out. A menu of colors popped up, and I clicked on dark red. Her hair color instantly changed.
"Cassie," I said.
"That's the announcer," she said, "I wonder if it's time for my fight..."
I put on an announcer-like voice.
"Aaand we're almost ready for the fight. Cassie is still in the locker room and I bet that cursor tickles."
I swiped the cursor over her stomach to test if the command had worked. Cassie instantly began to giggle. I moved the cursor more vigorously, and she collapsed in gales of laughter. I enjoyed the upskirt view of her thong for an instant, then moved the cursor to her feet.
"Help! Help! Make it stop!" she shrieked between laughs.
I removed the cursor from her body and put my announcer voice back on.
"Well, that was weird. And the cursor has stopped tickling and Cassie is unfazed and ready for the fight."
I clicked the "close appearance mode" box, and the locker room melted away. Cassie was in the ring once more, breasts larger and nipples hard, but otherwise unchanged.
I picked up the video game controller for my own character, a lean yet muscular martial artist. I'd chosen him for similarity to my build, and customized to look like me. I started to speak in my announcer voice again. I knew all Cassie's character's strengths and weaknesses, and I wasn't going to let her win that easy.
"And Cassie launches a flying spin kick," I said, making my own character duck and come back with a body slam.
