Chapter 8

JOHN

When I got to Art Materials, it was obvious that someone was going to be posing. I was hoping it would be one of the later draftees, serving their sentence for something they did.

No such luck. It was Emily. About halfway through the introduction, I got it. She was going to show the Tunnel Snake. I flinched when I saw that big thing she used to spread Emily's vagina open to show the teeth. Was that the thing I heard women complaining about from their "annual inspection" as my mom calls it? No wonder they complain. It looked huge.

Once everyone got a good enough look to be able to identify the teeth, she let Emily go back to her seat. She talked a little about the myth of Vagina Dentata, and then about the Tunnel Snake.

But I didn't get off entirely free. She had me explain the way I made the teeth, with everyone watching. I told them about dipping the wires in resin and letting that harden, then pouring the latex and setting the coated wires in the filled molds. It was a short presentation, but she seemed to be pleased with it.

The rest of class was pretty routine. At the end, we got a note to go to the office.

I needed to go there anyway, to pick up my stuff.

When we arrived at the office, Emily asked about the summons while I packed the Boombox and flashpots in the duffel bag I brought for the purpose. She was told that Principal Murrow was busy and we were to see Vice Principal Ackerman. We went and knocked at her door.

She had good news and bad news for us. The good news was that our IVDs were accepted by the Federal Office Of Social Awareness. They also wanted us to write an article about our recorders for their newsletter, and they put us up for some award.

The bad news was another false accusation engineered by Susan. I was about ready to declare my intention to press charges after all, but I found out that she wasn't told about that pending choice until the end of the day. I bet she was the one in with Principal Murrow when we got to the office.

While the accusation itself got cleared up thanks yet again to a recording, there was enough fact in it to prompt action. We were not making ourselves available enough, according to Ms. Ackerman. And to be honest, she was quite right. We had made one major tactical error, by using the same approaches for too long and too many times. Now we would have to undress in a "normal" way, at the designated place, and then stand there and be available for groping for at least five minutes. And we could only use the OBL when we really were in danger of being late, or already were late. Otherwise, we had to walk. And she would be checking on us, directly and through "trusted students". She would even have some of those students make Reasonable Requests at random times and places. Damn!

We could still work around this, but it would take more work and flexibility. A challenge.

By the time we were leaving, few people were left and almost none were paying any attention to the door. We went through the quick changes anyway. She went first, then I passed her the duffel and pack and did the same. I took them back from her once I was outside and dressed.

We walked toward my house, so we could put the equipment away. On the way, we discussed the problem from the perspective of our area of expertise: the principles of magic. If we were to be standing naked and vulnerable for five minutes in that designated place, we would need a very long distraction or series of distractions to avoid undue attention.

What did we know about the situation? The program was no longer all that novel. Several sets of people had already gone through it. Our group was not even novel: tomorrow would be our third day of stripping there and our fourth day of walking the halls naked. Some of the participants were providing some little bits of novelty by their performances while stripping. Especially those who were having a hard time of it, and those who had adapted quickly and whole heartedly.

This morning was a hit, because it was so different from all the other morning strips. It was a show, of sorts. But it did not last five minutes, and it only featured one person. We needed more time, more novelty, and more people to draw the needed attention. What we really needed was two shows, one for each of the remaining days.

Emily said that it would be better if the shows were, or seemed to be, arranged by someone other than us. She also came up with a killer idea for Friday morning: a naked Talent Show preview. Those of us who had to strip in the morning anyway, and would be performing naked that night, could each give a small sample of things to come.

I figured that Perry would be the ideal person to organize it. He was the star of this morning's event, and could MC the other two. He could talk to the others at the runthrough tomorrow night and set up the previews then. In fact, any of us who had to cut for time could do part of what we cut there. We could be somewhere in the middle, having served our five minutes while others were drawing attention, and could then duck inside once attention was safely shifted off of us again.

All we would really need was a Boombox, a wireless mic for Perry, and appropriate music and introductions. And whatever we would need for the sample tricks.

That still left tomorrow. Something that would appeal to Perry's vanity and thirst for attention. Emily came up with the idea of a talk show format. He could make a few comments about arriving Participants, give them a chance to make comments, and encourage them to strip down there. He could easily do that for more than five minutes, and it would be novel enough to draw almost all of the attention. After our five minutes, we could walk inside while he keeps on with the show out there.

In terms of audience psychology, it should work just fine. Other than one or more of the VP's agents, few, if any, people should even see us if we stand still.

For the rest, we could play on the zombie rumor. Not camp it up like Night of The Living Dead, but just dive down so deep in our safe places that we don't react to the touches or the posing positions (but we do hear and act on the requests, as long as they are reasonable). It would be a small audience, but the psychology would be the same. Playing with an enthusiastic Participant would be fun for most people. For many people, playing with a reluctant or defensive Participant (especially a new one) would also have its attractions. But interacting with someone who does not react is boring and a little distasteful. Sort of one step removed from necrophilia. With so many other Participants available, we would not be worth the effort.

I suspect that is part of what we have already seen. A large part.

We got to my house, and I saw that Mom was home. She had taken part of the day off to get ready for out visitor. That was convenient. I told her about the shoes, and asked her if we could give Emily a ride home. She agreed.

She was very unhappy about the shoe trip, because there was no time to shop. We had to "man shop" so we could get back in time to get Dinner in the oven. On the other hand, she had been complaining about how ratty my shoes were starting to look, so she was happy to be replacing them. Especially on someone else's dime. We got the same kind I had before, a half size bigger. I was surprised how much they cost, because we had gotten them on sale before.

It was a good thing I had almost no homework, because the rest of the evening was very busy. I called Perry, and pretty soon it was "his idea" to do the Perry Show the next morning. I agreed to supply the mic and Boombox, and the intro tape. No flashes this time.

I told him about the idea for Friday, and he liked it. He would run with it.

I dove into preparations for the preview show, then got ready for dinner. When I came down, Dad was telling Mom that they had determined that the Participant selection fraud was pretty clearly Bertha Conway, but they couldn't absolutely prove it wasn't an extremely good frame. We shared our frustration about that.

Brendan arrived, and I shifted into Fellow Magician mode (my persona from classes, etc.). He brought a bottle of wine (apparently a nice one) as a traditional gift. My folks appreciated the gesture, and the wine (which the three of them shared at dinner). It was a pleasant meal, with nothing important said or done.

We were just starting on our desert when Emily and her parents arrived. They joined us, and we all relaxed for a few more minutes.

Emily and I took my parents down to the workshop and ran them quickly through the cues. We had kept them simple anyway, because they would be done by overworked teens at the show. My Dad went up to get our audience, while we "changed" for out performance. In a way, this was the hardest part: performing naked in front of each other's parents. But it was too late to worry about that.

The show went well. Mrs. Watson made a kind of gurgling sound when Emily was handling "my" genitals, but she laughed the hardest at the "Still growing those" line in Zigzag. They all joined in with gusto on the fourth and later repeats of "Nothing up my sleeve!" and laughed appreciatively at the cartoon clip. The vanishes, productions, and transformations went smoothly. Most of the jokes were well received, but a few died. I expected that of a couple of them; they were school in-jokes.

After the finale, we put on robes and all went upstairs for the reviews. We got a couple of sodas, and the adults got coffee or wine. First, we asked for overall impressions. Both sets of parents loved the overall effect, and Brendan liked it but said it could stand some tightening up in spots. We got some good feedback from my folks about the cues, and decided to change a couple to make them easier. Emily's folks admitted their prejudices, then gave us their high and low points. Brendan was complimentary, but gave some detailed comments about weak spots and suggested improvements. He was great.

After we were done, I went down to the workshop and got the skeleton. I asked him to make sure it was what he wanted, and he checked it over. He pronounced himself satisfied, and I packaged it for him to take along. Before I forgot, I got on the computer and refunded his shipping and handling fee. Business is business, and all that.

We all talked and swapped stories, then our guests took their leave. Brendan asked us to let him know how the performance turned out. We promised we would.

I cleared up a few things and got ready for tomorrow. My homework was done, and I was dressed for bed. I was too tired to do more online than scan for business related emails and orders. I made a note to send the Federal Office Of Social Awareness the sample IVDs for their safety testing. Then I got to bed.

I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.

EMILY

Well, that was interesting. And kind of creepy and disturbing, in parts.

When I got home, I checked the email and got the details Ms. Ackerman mentioned. We had a little over a week for the article, so we could wait until the weekend. I hurried through my homework and made sure this annoying journal was up to date. When the 'rents got home, I told them about the approval, article, and possible award. They were thrilled.

Dinner was fairly simple, because of the upcoming performance. We learned the hard way about fancy dishes before shows. Mom and Dad did all the work tonight, leaving me free to prepare. I was ok while doing my stage/close makeup on my face, but it was kind of weird doing the body makeup. There was not much, 'cause like the face makeup it had to look right close up as well as on stage. I dressed for the trip to John's, and went down to eat.

We had desert at John's place, and relaxed a few minutes. Well, they relaxed anyway. Brendan was friendly and funny, a genuinely nice guy. We took John's parents down to the workshop stage. While John ran them through the tech cues, I changed out of my clothes and into my robe. It's kinda funny to think that they were going to see me naked in a few minutes, but I didn't let them see me change clothes. How was I going to survive Friday?

After we ran through the cues and checked the props and equipment, I went up and told our "audience" that immediate seating was available downstairs. While I was doing that, John was changing. When they were seated, we cued the music and I was completely The Magician.

One thing that threatened to crack the mask was the surprising extent to which ALL the adults were looking us over. It was fairly easy to deal with the thought of Brendan, he was really just an audience member. But the way John's father checked me out was a bit disturbing. And the way my OWN father seemed to take in all the details just sort of creeped me out. And the mothers! The both looked me over they way girls check out the competition in locker rooms and the like. Sheesh! I filed it all away for after the show, and kept The Magician firmly in place. John didn't even seem to notice the ways he was checked out.

I think the whole business with me handling John's detached package kind of got to my mom. I wasn't sure whether it was the whole idea of a cock and balls being the center of that much of the act, or the fact that I was handling what was supposed to be someone's privates.

The act went smoothly, with a good laugh at my boobs comment in Zigzag. After the finale, we took our bows and then jumped into our robes for the postmortem. John's folks gave us good info about the cues, and we had to change a couple. My mom and dad gave a good idea of the overall impression. But Brendan was a whole Masters Class in one person. His critiques were detailed, and his suggestions ranged from some timing changes in Moonglow Cock to darkening the makeup on my chest between my boobs a little to make them stand out more. It was amazing.

The adults relaxed while John and I went downstairs. We quickly dressed, then brought up the skeleton Brendan had ordered. He liked it, and took it with him.

On the way home, Mom was acting kind of funny. Finally, I asked her to spill it. She got all sentimental about how grown up I was becoming, and how I had grown into such a beautiful young woman. And too soon I would be off on my own, and maybe married and all that. Urgh! It was worse than when she was looking at me naked! I reminded her that I was only fourteen years old and still had a lot of growing and school to go. I don't think it worked.

By this time we were home and inside, so I excused myself and dashed up to shower and wash off all the makeup. The last thing I need for Friday is a rash from wearing the body makeup all night. Or for tomorrow at school.

My soft, ankle length nightgown felt wonderful as I got ready for bed. I wished the 'rents goodnight, and they said how proud they were, then wished me goodnight. I snuggled under the covers, burrowing into their soft embrace and let my mind wander as I drifted off to sleep.

JOHN

I am somewhere like school, but not quite. All the people here have beams of light coming out of their eyes. They normally have them spread out like a flashlight beam, but they can narrow them to something almost like a laser. Some of their eye beams wash over me and nothing much happens. I get uncomfortable. I know that if one or more of them focus their eye beams on me from up close, and narrow them down, something bad will happen. If they do it from far enough away, it won't be as bad. I think of science classes, and the phrase "inverse square law" comes to mind. I can't run, that would just draw more powerful attention. I am outside, and I have to just stand there until the beams are turned away for long enough. I have waited, and now I can walk. Beams sweep over me, but turn to other people. There is a girl walking toward me. I know her, but not well. Somehow, I see a picture of another person, a woman, around her, guiding her actions. She walks up to me and focuses her eye beams very small and right into my eyes. I get a brief, dim picture of my parents' anguished faces vanishing into the distance. The world is black, and I'm falling. I can't feel anything, not even the wind as I fall. Not even any part of myself. The world has gone away, and so have I. Some lights pulse, far away, and suddenly there is a loud noise and...

I jump up in bed, almost jumping out. I turned off the alarm and wrote down as much of the dream as I could remember. I wonder what it was supposed to mean.

I did my morning business, and made sure to wash thoroughly in my shower. One way or another, every inch of me was likely to be seen today. Meh!

I checked my book bag to make sure the loads - and my homework - were in there. Then I got dressed. I fought conflicting urges: on one hand, I wanted to be as dressed as I could. But on the other hand, I wanted to be able to strip quickly and with an economy of motion. I settled on a somewhat stretched pair of briefs, and a shirt and loose pants. No undershirt. I made sure my pants could easily slip over my new shoes. I was as ready as I was going to get.

Thinking about that, and the five minute stand, took me well into my safe place as I headed down to breakfast. My folks took one look at my face, and the usual morning pep talk died on their lips. So did their conversation, which had sounded like it concerned me. What little talk we had was all business. I let them know that I would need my equipment for the rehearsal, and Mom promised to deliver it all. I also warned them that I would probably need a smaller collection of equipment tomorrow morning. And a lift to school.

I grabbed the bag with the stuff for Perry, then we left.

When we got there, Perry was waiting, talking to another boy. He introduced his friend as the one who would be "running" the Boombox. I showed him the controls, and how to adjust the relative volume of the wireless mic. The tape drive and CD player were pretty much standard, so he would have no problem.

Perry had burned a CD with a variety of music, from the funeral march to The Stripper. He would signal a track number to his friend, and keep talking. He had clean, new trash bags for clothes, and a mission: to get as many Participants as possible (except us) to strip down where he was rather than up by the boxes. And to do naked interviews with them. He also had a stretch goal of getting at least one non Participant to strip there. Not necessarily to stay that way the whole day, but that would be a bonus.

He would keep the equipment until Friday.

By that time, Emily had joined us. I suggested that we keep our recorders running from just before we undressed to the end of school. They had room for nine hours at high quality mode, and the batteries were good for it. They would be a help if there were any questions later.

We went up the steps and mingled with the gathering crowd. As soon as there was a reasonable size audience, and some of the Participants were getting close to his spot, he started his music. He did a late night television style monolog at first, while he was stripping and tossing his clothes in a bag.

Once the crowd was firmly interested in him, we quietly went to the boxes and took off our clothes. I looked at my watch, then went deep into my safe place for the five minutes.

Perry was pestering an arriving Participant, one of the girls who became one of us for misbehaving. He showed off the (temporary) tattoo on his abdomen which said "THIS is NOT the Microphone!" and had an arrow pointing down. They got into a battle of wills (and won'ts) and the crowd loved the back and forth.

About three minutes into our exile, a girl I recognized as one of the more popular and "involved" juniors went up to Perry and handed him a slip of paper. He looked at it, nodded to her, then continued his dialog.

From there, she came up to us. She asked to play with my cock, and I let her. I was deep enough in my safe place that I could (and did) dial down my physical responses to pretty much nil, so nothing happened. After a few moments, I asked her to stop, saying that her dry fingers were starting to irritate delicate body parts. She moved to Emily and asked to handle her breasts. She allowed it, with much the same results. Looking somewhat shaken, she left.

We watched Perry as the two boys who had (falsely) accused Emily approached. He called out to them and had them come to him. "I've got some bad news, guys. Ms. Ackerman wants to see you right away." He handed them the paper, then continued. "I think we all know where this is going. Why don't you save yourselves some time and strip right here?"

The boys looked horrified, and the crowd started chanting "strip! Strip! Strip!" to the beat of the music.

By then, our time was long done and we went inside. Being careful to walk rather than hurry (as we had for the last few days), we made our way to the office. I wanted to make sure they knew that Perry would be keeping the Boombox today and dropping it off sometime tomorrow.

When we got there, we heard voices from one of the offices. "... sorry, but it really creeped me out. They are normally nice enough kids, but it was like someone sucked their souls out or something. They did what I asked, but did not respond to anything I did. Not even an involuntary response. Nothing. I'm not into dead bodies and that stuff. And everyone else..."

The lady at the desk sort of shook herself and noticed we were there. I told her about the Boombox and Perry, and she said she understood. The boys entered, looking nervous. And our requester came out of Ms. Ackerman's office, saw us, and looked embarrassed as she left.

We headed for our lockers, and then on to class. Even though we walked and listened, nobody approached us. Then again, nobody reproached us either.