Chapter #40 Continue in the office by: sdaze   Natalie laughed at what she perceived as a blatant falsehood that had just escaped Liam's lips. Emma and Liz 2 weren't quite so sceptical.
"So...," Emma said as she sat down, while still clearly thinking, "that gun you stole, lets you swap bodies?" Liam shook his head.
"Gun? What gun?" A confused Natalie asked Emma.
"A toy gun. It was on my desk yesterday and Liam here," Emma pointed at him, "decided he'd take it without telling me." Liam looked a little guilty. Natalie turned to him.
"Why would you steal something like that?" She asked him, trying to understand why he'd risk his job for a plastic toy. He shrugged.
"It was there." Was the only explanation he offered.
Liz 2 wanted clarification herself. "If it didn't swap your body with Ruby's, how can you be her?"
"I'm Liam too. The gun combined her with me. We are one person now." Both Liz 2 and Emma nodded with growing comprehension.
"You two aren't actually believing this nonsense?" Natalie scoffed at her superiors.
Emma looked at her sympathetically. "It's a lot to take in luv but since yesterday I've become a lot more open minded." She thought about the new addition to her own body, that one of the items had created.
"I like to think I'm open minded too Emma but this is complete nonsense." Natalie also knew Liam was the biggest liar in the place. Emma pointed at the stuff on the desk.
"All these items have special powers." Emma explained as she waved her hand across the desk. "We don't know how they all work yet."
"Even this?" She asked as she picked something up. Emma shook her head.
"No, that's my stapler. It was already there." Natalie put it back down. "We can give you a demonstration later, right now we need to deal with Liam."
"I'm Ruby too." He said again.
"Liam and Ruby." Emma corrected herself.
"You still look like Liam though." Liz 2 said.
"I don't quite understand that myself. I haven't tried all the features on the gun though. The setting I used, keeps me looking like Liam but I still have some of my, I mean Ruby's features." Liam glanced downwards towards his crotch. It was difficult for Liam and Ruby to explain their own thought processes. "I'm not as hairy for one thing." He rubbed his face. As much as Natalie didn't believe him, his skin did look a little smoother and softer than usual.
Liz 2 began to speculate. "If you looked like a combination of the both of you, people would know you were two combined people. It seems like this setting allows you to pretend to be one of you, without arousing too much suspicion." Emma was getting turned on again by Liz's obvious intelligence, she squirmed a little in her chair.
"That makes sense." Liam told her. "If I hadn't got caught using my phone, nobody would have suspected." He admitted.
"So why did you choose Ruby?" Liz 2 asked still gripped with curiosity.
"I was the last person in the break room. I was a bit shocked when it happened, I can tell you."
"If this isn't voluntary, we need to get you two split apart again. It's not fair on Ruby." A somewhat agitated Liz 2 told Liam. "I presume the gun can do that." Liam nodded.
"It can but I actually like being me now." Neither Liz 2 or Emma look convinced. Natalie just looked at them like they were all insane. "Yeah, I was pretty annoyed about it to start off with. I was really suppressing the Ruby part of me, which was really frustrating." Explaining their combined emotions were becoming paradoxical.
"So what happened?" Liz asked.
"I needed to go to the loo. I, Liam didn't know how to wee with my, err, parts." Both of the personalities felt a bit embarrassed. Emma and Liz 2 looked at Liam's crotch.
"You mean down there...?" Liz 2 asked.
"I'm a woman, yeah." He admitted. "I was really bursting, I was freaking out, so I stopped suppressing Ruby and it was like suddenly everything changed." He smiled as he recalled it. "I felt a lot happier than I could ever remember."
"A lot more relieved too I bet." Emma added, referring to what Liam was actually doing when he had his epiphany
"Yeah that too." He said with an embarrassed grin.
"I can't really see the appeal of being combined with Liam myself." Liz 2 said. Liam frowned at her comment. "No offence, but you don't exactly have the best reputation around here."
"I know right but I, the Ruby part of me suffers a bit from anxiety. I'm pretty good at hiding it but the Liam part of me is so relaxed I'm practically horizontal. I've never felt more at peace with myself, all those worries have just vanished." He told her enthusiastically.
"Whilst I'm glad to hear it has improved your mental well-being, it hardly justifies what Liam did." It wasn't like Ruby had much of a choice Liz 2 thought.
"I do feel bad about it but I also recognise there is so much more to life now." Liam started counting off points on his fingers. "I'm smart, I mean really smart. Listen to how I've been talking. I've done nothing but waste those smarts on shirking work. Now I can use them productively, for so much more." He moved on to his next finger. "I'm stronger. It makes moving around all that heavy stock in here a lot easier." He moved on to the third finger. "People don't judge me on my appearance. I don't have to spend half my mornings doing my hair and make up." He touched his last finger. "I don't have to share a room with my annoying sister any more. I have my own place now." He looked at the women. "I'm sure there will be more benefits that I haven't thought of yet."
"It sounds like you have it all worked out but what about Ruby's disappearance? How are you going to explain that?" Liz 2 asked.
"I was halfway through sending a text to my mum when Natalie caught me. I was going to say I was staying at a friend's house tonight, so she wouldn't worry about me. I guess at some point, we will have to go back to being two people for a while, until I can sort out something a little more permanent." He didn't look too happy about the prospect. "I just wanted to spend a day or two getting comfortable with the new me."
"What about working here? Ruby is a member of staff too." Liz 2 asked. Liam pivoted on one foot.
"Now it is out in the open," Liam spoke hesitantly "I thought maybe, when we are combined permanently, you and Emma might help me out." He said hopefully.
Emma leaned forward. "As a manager I have to take the mental health of my staff seriously, " Liam smiled, "but don't expect to get two wages. If you are going to be one person, you'll get treated as one person." She warned.
"Thank you Emma." A grateful Liam said. She handed him Ruby's phone.
"Now once you finished texting Ruby's mother, put that back in your locker." Liam nodded. "Now get out of here."
Liam turned around and practically skipped with happiness out the office.
Natalie stared in complete disbelief at her two superiors, who were both grinning.
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