Author's Note:
This is my first attempt at writing a piece. I'd like to lead up to a full story at some point, but you have to start somewhere. Constructive criticism is appreciated.
Please enjoy!
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Prologue
Dear Reader,
I never thought I'd be one to write a story like this. My life was your typical story of the everyman - not that I'm complaining, mind you. It was a fine life. I had a good job, plenty of good friends, a quaint house, and the other staples of a successful single man. There was nothing wrong with my day to day, but I look back with a sense of elation knowing those days were numbered. What follows is the chronicling of the life I've lead up until now; a life I believe is worth documenting in the event I ever decide to pass down what has been given to me. Rather than bore you with the details of my life before this precious gift was bestowed upon me, I'll jump right to the day I received the device that would ensure my greatest sexual fantasies became all too real.
Chapter 1
The date was Saturday, August 12, 2017. I was 26. As far as I was concerned, a day like any other. I had decided to sleep in to try and recover from some late nights at the office when I was stirred by the doorbell. I threw on a shirt and jeans that were lying on the floor, making sure to briefly stop at the mirror in my bedroom to fix my disheveled hair before heading to the door. Alas, no one was there but I did notice a package on my stoop; a nondescript cardboard box. Upon further examination, I noticed there was no shipping label of any kind, no branding, nothing at all to identify where this had come from. I brought the package inside and opened it up, ripping through the packing tape. "Weird...", I thought to myself. It was a remote, but not like any remote I've ever seen before. It had sleek, black glass on the front and back with a brushed aluminum trim around the edges.
At first glance it looked much more like a flashy smartphone, but the clear plastic covering the front glass pane clearly labeled it as a remote. I peeled off the protector and pressed the power button. "Could be one of those touch screen universal remotes, I guess" I said, uncertainly. I didn't remember ordering anything of the like. A few seconds later the remote had booted and presented me with a welcome screen. "WELCOME TO THE PLACEHOLDER REMOTE. PLEASE ENTER YOUR NAME." I punched in my name and pressed continue. The next prompt appeared. "PRESS THUMB TO SCREEN AND HOLD FOR 5 SECONDS." As soon as my thumb touched the screen, a graphic of what appeared to be a biometric scan displayed. The system continued. "Thank you for activating your device. Your placeholder remote is now linked to your fingerprint. Let's get started. The placeholder remote is a prototype wireless biochemical modulator designed to adjust the chemical makeup of anyone you choose. This can include mental, physical, and sensory manipulation of any human. If you ever have any questions, just tap the HELP button that appears on any screen. Have fun!"
The screen faded to another interface that contained three buttons that matched the remote's instructions; Mental, Physical, and Sensory. Obviously at this point I thought this was joke, but there was a sense of hope building within that maybe I was one of those chosen people that dominate movies and fiction whom may have just stumbled across the opportunity of a lifetime. There was only one way to find out. I returned to my bedroom and looked back in the mirror. Staring back at me was the face that had always returned a glance in every mirror I'd ever observed. With equal parts trepidation and excitement, I pressed the Physical button on the remote's main menu. A small model of a human displayed, along with a list of the major parts of the male anatomy. I opted for the torso, at which point another list populated with more specific categories. Arms, chest, abdomen, shoulders, and waist were among the options.
I chose arms, which brought up a slider and zoomed in on the model to focus on one of its arms. The slider started in the middle, so I wiggled it around to see how it would change the model. Moving it to the left resulted in the arms shrinking in width and mass, moving it to the right added muscle and definition. I dragged the bar about three quarters to the right, then pressed the Apply button that appeared after making the change. An incredible sensation suddenly ripped through my body. My vision blurred, a pounding went off in my head, and my arms became unusable for a moment. For those few seconds, it felt like I had worked my arms harder than I ever have in my entire life. Before I could process what was happening, it was over with no residual pain whatsoever. Dazed, I caught a look at myself in the mirror. To my delight - and horror - my arms had unmistakably packed on pounds of extra muscle.
The definition was fantastic, and they've never felt better. They weren't the arms of a weightlifting champion, but they were vascular and tightened the sleeves of my shirt around them. I decided to go all in and flung the slider on the remote all the way to the right and quickly pressed Apply again. The same experience - blurred vision, unusable arms, pounding head, followed by nothing. Looking back in the mirror showed massive arms on my otherwise lithe frame. A cartoonish mix of a relatively skinny body with enormous, muscular arms. It felt incredible. Not wanting to get too ahead of myself, I brought the slider back to where it started and applied the change. Normal once more. I was in utter disbelief. If all the functions outlined in the startup guide work as well as just changing my arms did, imagine the endless possibilities. Beyond enjoying peak physical condition for the rest of my days, think of all the people I could help. With so many functions to explore, I was about to have the best day of my life.
Day one with the placeholder remote. My head spun with ideas of how to field test the remarkable device. As appealing as adjusting my own physique was, I was all too excited to try out some of the functions on other people. I called up my best friend since grade school, Monica, and insisted we get together. "I've got something incredible to show you", I implored. On the drive over I contemplated my relationship with Monica. For as long as we've been friends, there has always been a certain level of sexual tension between the two of us. We were never part of the popular crowd, didn't play sports, and weren't particularly physically fit. She was definitely the mousy librarian type; clothes, glasses, and all. Despite that, we suffered from the same hormonal desires of your typical teenagers, and the chemistry between us was undeniable. Both being rather shy and not wanting to chance ruining our valuable friendship, we had always opted to stay just friends and not act on these sensations.
Once out of school, we both focused on our college educations and, eventually, our careers but maintained contact with one another throughout it all, continuing to see each other as much as we could. I certainly didn't regret the path our friendship took. Monica had always been there when I needed her and we'd made some fantastic memories over the years. She'd been an amazing friend, and I valued that deeply. Still...the "what if" of a romantic relationship with her haunted me. Maybe today would be the day our friendship takes the long awaited step forward, I had hoped. I arrived at her apartment and approached her door, remote in pocket. She answered and we did our typical greeting; the hugging, the "it's great to see you again!" and so on. Whilst making small talk, I wondered what the best way to present all of this to her would be. Should I surreptitiously use a function of the remote on her and see what happens? Or perhaps I should just show her the remote, try to explain it, and provide her the proof she inevitably challenges me for. I opted to be a straight shooter and see how things play out.
"So, Monica, I have something to show you and you aren't going to believe any of it at first. I'm still not sure I believe it, but before I messed around with it anymore I just had to check it out with someone."
"You're hyping this a lot! At this point I don't really care if I don't believe it, I just need to know what's up!"
"Alright, so I found this remote..." and I continued to walk her through the same menus I had walked through just an hour prior, explaining how I tested it.
"Bullshit!"
"Look, I know, it's completely unbelievable. So, if you let me, I figure I'll just demonstrate it."
"I...I don't know. I mean, I don't believe it works like you say for a second, but on the very off chance that it does what if something goes wrong?"
"I get it! I tried it out on myself just an hour ago thanks to a combination of boredom and disbelief, and it worked. I even undid my change with seemingly no after effects. Just give it a chance!"
"Well, what would we even do?"
"That's up to you. I figured we'd try a physical trait again, since it's a pretty direct way to see and feel a change. What's one thing you'd like to change about your body?"
"Are you kidding? One thing? What wouldn't I change? I guess I'll go simple and say a tighter stomach. I've noticed some weight gain recently and have been contemplating joining a gym but according to you, it's just the press of a button away! Ha!"
"Perfect, let me just punch that in."
I navigated the menus similarly to when I tried out the remote on myself, making sure to tap on the model first so I could change the target of the change. Pointing the remote vaguely in her direction resulted in a female model appearing with her name hovering above it. I selected her model, then proceeded through to the Abdomen slider. Much like before, the slider started in the middle and could go left or right. Going left melted any semblance of fat off the model in exchange for a stomach any woman would be proud to show off at the beach. The taut, well toned abs suggested the owner performed thousands of sit ups to earn them. Satisfied, I showed Monica the model and looked her in the eyes.
"Ready?"
"Sure, go for it. If I look like that when you're done, dinner's on me. Your choice."
I pressed Apply and anxiously awaited her reaction. Instantly she gasped and her entire body stretched to capacity. Her eyes closed and her breathing accelerated. A moment later the theatrics stopped. She looked around confused and flustered. I asked her to lift her shirt up, just enough to see her abdomen. To her absolute shock, what she revealed as she slowly pulled up her t-shirt was the stomach of an Olympic athlete. She probed with one hand while the other continued holding her shirt, relishing in the rock hard abs just granted to her.
