Chapter 2

I am not a morning person and, in my half-awake state, I'd forgotten about the alien as I stumbled into the kitchen to make my breakfast.

"You know this could be a thing of the past," a superior voice said.

I jumped. "You sacred the shit out of me. I'd forgotten you were there."

"Sorry." It didn't sound it.

"It's okay. I'm just not fully awake yet." I turned to look at its ugly countenance. "You know, it's not a very appealing thought to know something as ugly as you is going to be inside me."

"There's no need to get personal."

"Why did you take that form?"

It shrugged. "I have no control over it. Anyway, it's what's on the inside and not the outside that counts."

"Spare me the homilies."

"Have you made up your mind?"

"I think so, yes."

"And?"

"I'll do it. Just let me get showered and shaved."

"Don't do that. Let me in now then I can show you some of my powers immediately."

"Okay. But I need coffee first."

"I'll be waiting," it said in a coy voice.

"Okay, so what do I do?" I asked after the coffee had made me feel half-way human.

"I suggest you relax in the chair and close your eyes. It's not necessary but you might find the sight of me entering you upsetting."

"Ugh!" I shuddered. "Will it be painful?"

"I've no idea," it said cheerfully. "I don't think so."

"You fill me with confidence."

"Just relax. When you next hear me it'll be inside your head."

I lay back and closed my eyes but, no, I didn't think of England. I felt a faint fluttering all over my skin like a gentle breeze or a hundred feather dusters. The fluttering became a tingling which increased until it was painful. It felt a bit like the pins and needles you get when your foot falls asleep only amplified fifty times. The tingling sank through my skin. It wasn't that it was painful, which it was; it was more that it was strange and unpleasant and very intrusive, as if my body was being invaded, which, of course, it was. I suddenly remembered that I'd forgotten to ask it about sharing minds but it was too late now. The pins and needles seemed to last for ages as it slowly moved deeper into my body. To feel your liver and heart and gut tingle is not pleasant and not something I would want to repeat very often.

My muscles began to twitch like an attack of petit mal. My toes wiggled, and my fingers. My head moved from side to side, I blinked rapidly and my mouth opened and closed. My cock twitched and my rectum tightened and I suddenly needed to go to the toilet.

"Sorry about that," said a voice inside my head. "I was just making sure I fully understood your body and nervous system."

"Are you in?"

"Yes, thank you. Nicely settled. You don't have to talk out loud, you know. Just think at me and I'll reply."

I tried thinking but there was no response.

"It doesn't work," I said aloud.

"That's because you're not thinking at me. If you don't think at me directly I can't hear you. Your thoughts get lost in your general thought stream." It sounded bit irritated.

I tried again with the same result.

"Try picturing me in your mind. It's not really that difficult, you know."

"The last thing I want to do is picture you in my mind. I'm deliberately trying not to do just that."

"We are tetchy this morning."

"Look can you make an image of someone I would like to be with and associate that with you?"

"Why can't you just picture me?"

"Because the thought of some ugly, misshapen, khaki-coloured alien in my head gives me the willies!"

"Okay, okay. There's no need to get personal," it said huffily.

"You can't get more personal than this."

An image of a man about my age appeared. He had light brown hair and pleasant, bland features — a sort of Identikit young man.

"That better?" it asked.

"Much but he's far too anonymous. I'll never remember him. Make him a bit older and darker and sharpen his features."

"Some people are never satisfied," it grumbled but the image began to slowly change.

"That's it. Just like that."

The image settled on a man of about forty with swarthy skin; dark, wavy hair and a hook nose. I suddenly realised it was the image of a maths teacher I had had and I giggled.

"What's the joke?"

"I've just realised whose image I've created. It's perfect."

Indeed it was for Mr Thompson was renowned for being irascible and not suffering fools gladly. On the other hand, if you were prepared to do your best, he could be very positive. As I had been good at maths I never had any problems but some poor souls went in mortal terror of him. I racked my brains for his first name.

"Charles," I said.

"What?"

"We primitive humans like to attach labels to things and the label I'm going to attach to this image is 'Charles'. From now on, when I want to speak to you I shall call you Charles."

"That's a human name, is it not?"

"Yes."

"Oh, well, I suppose I'm flattered in a way. I've never had a name before. Now try and conjure up the image and talk silently."

"Charles," I thought, calling up the image.

"Gotcha," 'Charles' replied.

"Great, it works," I thought.

"Of course it does. I told you it was simple."

"I have an idea. Could we dispense with the image and just use the label."

"I don't know. We could try."

I cleared my mind and tried again. "Can you hear me Charles?" I thought.

"Loud and clear. I never knew you could do that."

"You're never too old to learn something new," I thought smugly. "Now what?"

"Humph," Charles said. "Remember I asked you not to shower and shave? Now I'm going to show you the sort of things we can do together. Imagine yourself as if you've just emerged from the bathroom."

I did. There was an all-over tingling sensation and, instantly, I felt clean and fresh as if I had just showered. I ran a hand over my chin to find the smoothest shave I'd ever had.

"That's impressive. Does this mean I'll never have to shower again?"

"It does. And I can permanently remove your facial hair if you like."

"I'll pass for the moment. What next?"

"Body control. Find a full length mirror and strip off."

The body I looked at in the mirror was not the best. I wasn't ugly or deformed — just unprepossessing. Skinny, narrow shouldered and a bit out of condition. I wasn't a seven-stone weakling but I had a naturally slender build and no inclination towards athletic pursuits.

"Okay, let's play," Charles said. "Imagine you're looking at the top of the mirror."

"Bloody hell!" I exclaimed and my eye level rose until I was looking at the top of the wardrobe. The irrelevant thought that it was time I dusted up there popped into my head.

"Well, you did ask if I could make you ten feet tall. Going down."

I began to shrink and didn't stop until I could only just see over the sill.

"I feel like bloody Alice in Wonderland."

"Okay. Back to normal. There's lots more to do." It brought me back to my normal height. It's amazing how you take for granted the view you get of the world from whatever height you are. "Now try and think muscles."

I conjured up an image of The Incredible Hulk and, suddenly I was glad I was naked. I positively bulged with muscles. I twisted to examine myself from different angles and found it a very strange experience. My shoulders were too wide, my elbows didn't tuck in properly. I couldn't bring my thighs together properly. I felt top-heavy. My entire balance was off and nothing seemed to move correctly. I decided I didn't want bulging muscles.

And so it went on. We tried different body types; broad shoulders, narrow shoulders, slim hips, wide hips, round bottoms, small bottoms, long legs, short legs. Then we did faces; broad one, thin ones, big features, fine features, nose, lips, cheeks, ears, eyes, the lot. Then we did hair and hands and feet. It is amazing how much variety there is in the human body and how much difference just a small change. Even Charles began to be impressed. In the end we were limited only the limits of my imagination. Finally we did cocks — everything from a fourteen-inch monster to one little bigger than my pinkie.

"Right," said Charles at last. "What do you want to look like?"

The question took me by surprise. We had just been playing and I hadn't thought about making it permanent. "I don't know. Just return me to normal for the moment and I'll think about it."

"You mean you don't want lots of muscles and a big cock so you can screw lots of women?"

I sighed. "Listen, Charles, I realise your experience with the human race has been somewhat limited but take my word for it that we don't go around saying "Ugh" and bashing women on the head and dragging them back to our caves by their hair."

"Well, if you say so."

"I do. Look, can you read?"

"I can see everything you see. Why?"

"We're going to get you an education about 21st Century man. Now I'm hungry. In fact I'm starving." I glanced at the alarm clock — it was only eleven.

"I forgot to mention that body changing uses up energy."

"Sounds reasonable. I'm going to get dressed and go out to lunch. We'll pick up some magazines on the way and you can see how people look and dress and behave. That way you'll have a better idea of what I might want."

I drove to the local shopping centre. I hate malls and normally only go to one if I must but, this being Saturday, I knew there would be lots of people around for Charles to study. As I drove, I began to get a pain in my neck.

"Charles, can you control my body?"

"No. Why?"

"Then why does it feel as if someone's trying to twist my head off my neck. I know you want to gawk but it I don't concentrate on driving, your time here will be short. After lunch we'll go for a walk and you can look all you want."

There was no reply but the pressure on my neck stopped. At the Centre, it started again.

"Look, Charles, either stop it immediately or I'll turn right round and go back home. This is my world. Kindly have the courtesy to allow me to navigate it and, even more, have the courtesy to ask if you want something. I'll do it if I can."

There was a sigh. "Sorry. Just trying to look."

"We'll look later."

I picked up a bunch of 'life style' magazines for men, women and teens for some reason and settled in the 'outdoor' restaurant. The food was terrible but it was food and it would give Charles an opportunity to look round.

"Charles, I'm bloody starving so the first thing I'm going to do is eat," I thought. "After I've had my main course, I'll linger over dessert and let you look. If you want to look somewhere just give me a nudge and I'll do it. Whatever you do, don't stare. Staring is regarded as very rude and could lead to trouble. I'll look casually, look away then look back. Make use of peripheral vision if you can. Is that understood?"

"It'll have to do, I suppose."

"Don't sulk."

If I hadn't been so hungry, I would never have managed to clear the plate of fish and chips I ordered. At one time the fish might have resembled something that swam in the sea but time and man and machinery had contrived to remove all the taste and goodness from it.

"Okay, Charles, what do you want to look at?" I asked as I pulled the plate that had been euphemistically labelled 'cheesecake' towards me.

I felt a slight nudge and let my eyes wander to a nearby table where three young teenage girls sat. They were engaged in animated conversation, as teenage girls normally are. I watched them for a minute then looked away.

"Okay, Charles?" I thought.

"No, but it will have to do. Tell me which ones you liked."

"Well they were a bit young for me but the blonde was quite attractive. The other two did nothing for me." One of the others had been distinctly overweight while the third had been vaguely pretty.

"Young?" He sounded shocked. "They're over the age of puberty and sexually mature. What's wrong with them?"

"Firstly there are laws about engaging in sex with minors — under sixteen. Secondly it's regarded as distinctly odd for there to more than about a five-year age gap between partners."

"I can see I'm going to have to change your thinking," he said firmly. "You don't seem to realise that none of these laws and conventions apply to you any more."

To say I was shocked would have been the understatement of the year. He must have sensed it for I distinctly heard him chuckle.

"Oh, yes. You don't realise the extent of my power. Whatever you want, whatever is in your deepest fantasy, is yours — within the limits we discussed. You want that little blonde? You want to have her bent over the chair and plough her with a ten-inch cock? You've got it. You want her to come over here and sit on your lap? Consider it done. You want her to unzip you and give you a bang-up blow job? You have it. Whatever you want, it's yours."

I stopped with the spoon half way to my mouth as the enormity of what he'd said hit me. Up till then I'd never really considered the implications of having my wishes granted. I'd been too caught up in the mechanics of it all and the novelty of having him inside my head. I put the spoon down carefully and looked back at the girls. Yes, the little blonde was quite a hot little piece. I thought about her sitting on my lap with those pointy little breasts poking into me. I thought of running my hand up her slender thigh under that short skirt and feeling her damp panties. I thought about her head tilted back, her lips parted and her eyes closed, begging me to kiss her. I thought of these things and instantly had a raging erection.

"Charles, are you putting thoughts in my head?" I thought sternly.

"No, but I like the ones you're having," he chuckled.

"I thought you couldn't read my thoughts unless I let you."

"Er, normally that would be true but these are exceptionally strong. So, do you want me to do it?"

For a moment I was tempted. "You couldn't," I thought at last. "There are too many variables."

"Well, yes, perhaps I exaggerated a little. But I could arrange it for you to sort of bump into her and take her off somewhere quiet."

"Get thee behind me, Satan," I thought, only half in jest,

"I'm not the Devil," he said in a hurt tone.

"I only meant that I was sorely tempted but no, I don't think I'm ready for that sort of thing yet. I need to find out a lot more about these powers first."

"You really are a wimp, aren't you."

"No, just cautious. You don't know my world. What if something went wrong and it got out. Next thing you know there would be hordes of policemen at the door and you and I would spend a long and exceedingly unpleasant time in gaol. No, I have to come to terms with your powers and then set things up so there'll be no come-back."

"You mean you're not going to have sex until then?"

It was my turn to chuckle, "I didn't say that."