The House of Many Bodies Part 1

We bought out house in the old section of town. The house sat at the very back of the acre and a half lot, and was exactly what we wanted. It was the culmination of a house search that lasted nearly five months, having us traipse through house after house, always disappointed, always emotionally drained. Our house, ours as soon as I walked through the front door, was large and open, build almost eighty years ago, and had all the charm of an older home. The house, on the market for nearly two years because of a murder that took place in the kitchen, was priced just right: cheap. It needed a lot of work, but my husband is handy, and the savings would allow us to do what we want and make the house ours.

After closing was done and the movers had come and gone, I was left alone to unpack while Mark finished his obligations at work in Baltimore. We had relocated to Virginia when Mark had been offered a promotion, and even though I had reservations, I thought a new start would be good for our marriage. We had had some problems in our marriage, mostly due to a sex life that was less than stellar. All the equipment was there, both of us were attractive people, but for some reason the chemistry wasn’t always there. We had good sex sometimes, but most of the time if felt forced, had to work to hard for the moment, and generally too tiring to worry about. As such, we generally worked outside any sexual situations. We loved each other deeply, and as far as my part went, would never have thought about going out of the marriage to be fulfilled.

The first night in the house was strange. New sounds and smells, spaces that were unfamiliar, and the general loneliness that comes with a new home. I searched every room, explored the closets, gaining genuine excitement from finally owning my home. I took a shower, paused to examine the body in the mirror that I was generally unhappy with, and made my way though as many boxes and bags as I could. I tried to find something to wear, finally settling on an old tee shirt of Marks and a pair of his boxers if for no other reason than I couldn’t find anything of mine. I worked my way through the rooms, being overwhelmed by the size of the job, and eventually went with a glass of wine to the master bedroom. I had no television set up, no books that I could get to, and after a few moments starring at the wall, I decided I would try my best to get clothes in the closet. I worked my way through the maze and cleared what I could from the doorway to make a path through the large walk in closet.

I was clearly a small room in the past. On all the ways were built in cabinets and hanging room, all custom. I opened the first box, took out some ball caps of my husbands placed them on the shelf, and started to organize a box of my shoes, when I lost my balance. I grabbed the shelves to save my self a hard fall and when I did the entire shelving unit came free from the wall. I screamed. I expected the things to crush me, but instead of falling, it swiveled on the wall and opened like a door. When it swung all the open a light came on and revealed a set of stairs. The walls were all metal, like the stainless steel walls of an elevator, and reluctantly, I peaked down. They came to a landing. I paused for a minute, decided there was no danger, and took each step slowly. The stairs were cold, and when I reached the bottom, there was nothing but a stall with a metal folding door. The room could not have been more than five feet by five feet, the stall only big enough for one person to stand in. I looked around for something, not really knowing what I was looking at or for. I went into the booth, and when I did the doors closed behind me making a wave of panic overtake me. I pushed against the door to no avail. A humming began and all I could think was that I was about to die.

A strange light came on overhead, although there was no indication of where it came from, and suddenly a voice entered the room.

“Welcome. Your profile is not on record. Would you like to register your profile?”

“Who is that? What is this? Let me out of here.” I was again banging on the doors.

“Please relax, exiting is only allowed after your profile is taken for the safety of the operator.”

“Who is this? I want to ask you questions!”

“You have a question. Please state your question.”

“Where am I? What is this?”

“One question at a time please.”

“Where am I?”

“You are inside the main chamber of The Body Regeneration and Alteration 3000.”

“What is this?”

“This machine has been build to assist in the rejuvenation of the human body and the alteration of the physical appearance of the body structure to your standards.”

“What?”

“Please finish your question.”

“How do I get out of here.”

“Request a profile and the doors will open when you say ‘exit’.”

“Ok. Take my profile and exit.”

“One command at a time. What would you like to do.”

“Take my profile.”

“Please relax. Your profile will be taken shortly.”

With this, a louder humming began and the walls began closing in. They appeared metal, but when they moved they had more of a latex appearance to them. I reached out and touched them and they retracted. I pulled back and they started moving toward me. I tried to step forward to avoid the wall behind me but I came closer to the one in front of me. When they finally touched me, they retracted completely, and the voice returned.

“Please remove all clothing.”

“Exit. Exit. Exit.” I was scared.

“A profile must be taken before exit is possible for the safety of the operator.”

I was resigned to my fate. I took off my clothes and pushed them into the corner.

“Take profile.”

“Please relax. Your profile will be taken shortly.”

The walls began closing in once again. I stood completely still. The walls formed around my body. They pressed against my chest first, around my ass and legs. It came in contact with my nose and then pressed its way tighter around my face. My entire body was surrounded. My mouth was covered, also my nose, and I expected that shortly I would not be able to breath, but as I opened my mouth the black latex material entered my open mouth and remarkably I could breath through it. Once open however, I could not close my mouth. It was getting tighter and tighter. I felt it enter my vagina, my ass, and my ears. I felt myself being raised from the ground and it pressed around my feet. Although the pressure was severe, there was no pain. I felt a sense of calm come over me, and just as suddenly had I been lifted from the ground, I was set back on the ground and the walls withdrew.

“Your profile is now registered. Under what name would you like the profile labeled?”

“I’m Mandy.”

“’I’m Mandy’ is your profile name. Is this correct?”

“No.”

“Under what name would you like the profile labeled?”

“Mandy.”

“Mandy is your profile name. Is this correct?”

“Yes.”

“Would you like to exit?”

“Yes.”

The doors opened, and as I stepped out, I noticed that my sense of fear and dread was completely gone. I was relaxed, like I had never been before, and while I wanted in my mind to run up the stairs and flee that chamber, I looked back and was so curious that it was hard to move. As I climbed the stairs and made my way back into my closet, I felt refreshed, younger. As I closed the shelving unit, the lights over the stairs went out and once it was close to the wall, the shelving unit sucked tight and seemed to lock into place.

Again I looked back. It was only when I made my way to the unmade mattress and laid on it did I start to wonder what had just happened. What in the hell was that damn room? What had just happened? Why did it need a profile? What the hell was a profile, and who had built that machine? The questions made my tiredness return, and as the thoughts circled in my head, I slowly drifted off to sleep.

I woke in the middle of the night, freezing. I reached for the blanket and realized I had to pee, realizing only when I was standing on the wooden planks, that I was completely naked. For a moment I wondered if what I experienced was a dream, but I remembered that I had taken my clothes off and not put them on when I left the machine. I was in such a rush to escape that I didn’t think about getting dressed.

On the way to the bathroom, my curiosity grew. With each step, I wanted to explore the machine more, and as I sat on the toilet, I kept repeating the word “alteration” kept playing over and over in my mind.