Rick explained to Viola, “Jim would never forgive me if I didn’t take advantage of this chance.” He then spoke in no direction in particular. “Obie, subject should be six feet six inches tall and proportioned accordingly, with total muscular development. Got that?”
”Yes, you want him to look like a bodybuilder,” the voice replied.
”Is this version of you familiar with Mavra Chang’s implanted hypnotic drug system?”
”Yes, I am,” replied Obie. “I take it you want the subject to be given Ben Yulin’s natural version?”
”That’s correct,” said Rick, and he said to Viola, “In the books, there was this character that had been implanted with sacs of a hypnotic drug under her fingernails that she could inject into people. Later, another character uses Obie to give himself an organic version of the same thing.”
”And it worked?” asked Viola.
”Oh, yeah,” said Rick. Addressing Obie again, he said, “Well, let’s see what else Ben Yulin asked for in the books -- super hearing and sight, right?”
”Yes, hearing and sight far beyond those of your species norms.”
”Give him that,” ordered Rick, “and the ability to live off anything organic -- that’ll help when we go to greasy-spoon diners in the future.”
”You got it,” was Obie’s response.
”Let’s see, you’d made him immune to venom from some of the Well World species. Can you make him completely immune to disease? I mean things like the common cold, cancer, STDs --“
”There are numerous ways in which a human may develop a disease,” said Obie, “but I believe I can do that with a few upgrades to a few body systems. Should I also clear up any congenital defects?”
”Sounds good,” said Rick. “Now, what else did Yulin ask for --“
Obie responded, “Immunity to electrical shock, ability to camouflage...”
”I don’t think those will be necessary. But what else would Jim want?” Rick thought for a second and said, “Oh, I know -- his skin should be naturally tanned and won’t burn no matter how long he’s in the sun, and should be smooth, with no risk for acne.”
”I’d already cured his acne -- that counts as a disease,” Obie said with what Rick interpreted as a bit of a haughty tone. “This is quite a superman you’re building here. Maybe better than Ben Yulin.”
”Superman -- I don’t suppose you can make him fly, can you?” Rick asked.
”I could, but it would take a number of physiological changes -- easiest way to do it would involve giant wings, hollow bones, and so on,” answered Obie. “Based on your inputs so far, I don’t think that would be what you have in mind.”
Rick had a vision of Jim as a bird-man and half-grinned, but he said, “No, you’re right, Obie. Let’s just say that the subject has extremely high environmental tolerances, and a surplus of fast-twitch muscle fibers to give him super reflexes.”
”Done.”
”And, uh, subject is capable of almost indefinite multiple male orgasms, has semen with a pleasing odor and taste that doesn’t stain, increase volume to approximately four times that of the average human, and -- can you give him mental control over whether or not there’s even sperm when he comes?”
Viola rolled her eyes at that. With a half-sigh, Obie said, “I’ve got to hand it to you, that’s a good way to handle birth control. Yes, I’ll make it so that the subject has to consciously think ahead of time that he wants to try to get his partner pregnant, otherwise he’ll be ‘shooting blanks,’ as I guess you’d say.”
Rick had a brainstorm. “And how about this -- can you make his bodily fluids mutagenic?”
There was a beat before Obie said, “I wasn’t expecting that. I can. What did you have in mind?”
”I want them to affect only women, by making them more beautiful, to a certain degree,” said Rick.
”What?!” exclaimed Viola.
Rick and Obie both ignored her. The computer said, “That’s certainly possible, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. What specific effects do you want?”
”Bigger tits, of course,” Rick answered immediately, but then said, “Actually, how about this -- can you make it so that the transformations are shaped by the subject’s desires? So however he wants a specific woman to change, they will -- but only to a point. Like, if he wants her to be taller, she won’t turn into an Amazon or something like that.”
”I see,” said Obie. “I can do all that. The degree of the transformation is going to depend on how much of the subject’s fluid will come in contact with, so if he ejaculates into her, he’ll get pretty much exactly what he wants, but merely breathing or sweating near a woman will cause much more toned-down changes.”
”That sounds great,” said Rick.
”And let’s say he notices a woman he wants to have blonde hair,” pointed out Obie. “Every dark-haired woman he passes will take a small step toward blonde hair, merely from his breath, until he really notices another woman that he’d want to change.”
”That’s exactly what I want!” exclaimed Rick.
”Ugh,” muttered Viola.
”Then I’m glad I’ve met all your needs,” said Obie, a bit of a sarcastic tone to his voice.
”Well, I think that’s just about it,” said Rick. “I do want the subject to feel comfortable, normal, and natural in the new body, and will know of its operation, capabilities, and limits.”
”But of course,” Obie responded.
”Perform transformation on subject, then, and bring him back,” ordered Rick.
Viola still wasn’t 100% sure any of this was real, but seven seconds later, her doubts were removed. A metallic blue glow emanated from the disk above the platform, and Jim reappeared. His face hadn’t changed aside from the elimination of acne, but the rest of him was now taller, tanned, and had muscle tone straight off a romance novel -- he was even wearing a tank top and shorts, rather than the polo shirt and slacks that he’d gone into the machine wearing.
He stepped off the platform, and...
Sat Jan 12 03:40:12 2013