Henry! Welcome to the game...

Bet! Your! Life!!

The audience cheered as Luke and I took the stage as contestants. The energy was high, and the atmosphere was intoxicating. Luke had bet me he could beat me, and the game, and volunteered to go on the wild gender-swapping game show if I would take the bet. Should he lose, he would be obligated to keep my house clean, help with the cost of my Master's degree, and attend to my every need for the next two years. However, should I lose, I would be responsible for the same. Luke was headstrong and confident, and happy to gamble a bit with his friend for the chance at a free education and personal assistant.

After the first round of questions came the physical portion. It was challenging, but we both passed the push ups, pull ups, squats, bench, and overhead press challenge before navigating the obstacle course. On the last step, Luke slipped on the edge of the mat, falling backwards into the water pit. He was officially out.

In the last round I was offered ten more questions, each progressively harder than the next. Mastering math, geography, and economics, I hit a pop culture reference that stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Mattel makes the popular children's doll Barbie. Henry, if Barbie were a grown woman, what would her bust-waist-hip measurements be?"

What kind of question was that?! Based on a hypothetical reality where the doll was real, there would be no way to really confirm it.

After a quick buzz from the announcer and the groan of the audience, he announced, "36-18-33!! Thank you for playing Henry, please line up with the rest of the contestants for the Booth of Change!"

A handler came and grabbed me by the wrist as the audience hammered the room with cheers and screams. A second large-framed handler came up and grabbed my other wrist with a slap of a hard metal cuff around it. They led me offstage as the announcer continued to pandar to the audience.

Backstage, a small Japanese man rushed up to quickly remind us of what we signed up for, blending a lot of contract terms too quickly to decipher.

"Do you want morphine before the booth? I hear it makes it easier." The handler gestured to a room of the other contestants, all zombie eyed as their fate was being realized before them.

The announcer called from the stage, "What do you say, folks? Should we bring back our contestants?"

The stadium was erupting with cheers. Backstage, the handlers administered each one of us a small shot. "Don't worry - you won't be out of it, but it should help with the transition." Luke was sitting quietly in a bit of a daze. The drugs had kicked in, but he wasn't thinking about them. "I fucked up... I fucked up so badly. Shit! This was such a stupid idea." The handler came behind Luke and placed a ball gag around his head. "There you go... protesting is bad for ratings."

One by one the contestants were marched on stage while the audience was standing and applauding. The first few contestants went, changing into a soccer mom, a coed, and a tall black woman. Luke was marched up next while I stood in line behind him.

"Now Luke! You played well today but you just missed that last obstacle by a hair. We read your bio at the beginning of the story, it says you made a bet with your friend right behind us, yes? Something about helping with chores, studying, and being a personal assistant for two years, does that sound familiar?"

The announcer held no malice in his tone, but was utterly entertained.

"Don't worry champ - we can help. Go ahead and step up into the booth and lets get started!" The handler moved Luke up to the booth and fastened his wrists and ankles onto a vertical wall. Luke was still, accepting fate at this point. The frosted glass door closed and inside was a bright light, smoke, and a loud humming sound. It would have been hard to see from the audience, but you could see him start to change. Large breasts began to sprout, and the silhouette of longer hair began instantly growing. The booth turned around for a moment while the door opened and the handlers dressed Luke for the reveal.

The booth door closed and turned one more time. "Well Henry, I think you are going to enjoy the next few years with your friend, or at least, someone will. Since Luke wanted to help in so many things, we thought it would be appropriate to turn him into an attractive young woman who will come with a variety of outfits. You'll have your classic maid uniforms for housekeeping, nurse uniforms for when you feel sick, and of course, with all that administrative work she will be doing for you, we've put together quite a few secretary uniforms."

The door slid open to billow out smoke as Luke walked on stage, his new form wildly different from before. "Oh! And how could I forget! She will certainly be able to help you study as long as you can focus on the material. Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce you to - Michelle Suckmore!!" Michelle looked around a bit, confused by the large amount of applause. "Don't worry Henry, she may be a bit shy at first, but once you get her going, she'll be more than happy to fulfill desires." The handler escorted Michelle offstage and moved you into the booth. "Now Henry, maybe your new friend might have a little more fun with your male friends, because I think you aren't going to be interested in her in a few minutes."

The door closed abruptly as the audience roared in laughter. "So Henry made a mistake on a Barbie question, what was it, something about her measurements?" The audience recited in unison, "39-18-33!!"

"Ah yes, that's right! Well, I think Henry is going to be a little more conscious about measurements in a minute. In fact, he is going to be one of the models in our newest app! That's right everyone, if you go to your mobile devices and download the Bet Your Life app, you'll be able to find Henry and modify his measurements in real time!" The announcer turned to the screen displaying an outline of a female form. To the right were sliders for breasts, waist, hips, hair, weight - you name it. "As long as you have a Bluetooth connection, you will be able to 'pair' with our newest model and modify her to your liking if you are within range. You can change anything from hair and eye color, height, weight, even..."

The announcer slid the breast size left and right, displaying the outline of the woman rapidly shrinking and growing her cup size. The audience laughed as his eyebrows hinted at the implications.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, our handlers have our last contestant Henry backstage now, picking out an outfit for her debut. Let's take a look and see how we did!"

The TV above the booth lights up to a camera backstage with a blonde woman, all but naked in a tiny metallic pink bikini and heels, for the audience to see - relatively flat chested with no hips. The audience murmurs to each other as the screen switches back to the app.

"Well, that won't do at all, now will it audience? Not for someone with the name, Barbie, right?" The audience laughs as the announcer pulls out his phone, walking up next to the Booth of Change. "Now, remind me again, what were those measurements?

39!!

The announcer slid the chest button to the right on his phone, displaying the change to the app's outlined female in real time on the TV.

18!!

He continued to slide the waist bar left, almost as far as it would go, showing an almost unrealistic proportion on the screen. "Careful gentlemen, you won't want to break her!" The audience laughed and stood up, all shouting in unison one last time:

33!!!

The final slider for the hips moved over as the announced chuckle to the cheers of the audience. "Well, let’s give all our contestants a round of applause tonight while our handlers get her ready."

The cheers echo in the studio as the announcer speaks over them, "Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: Barbie Bendover!!"

The booth of change whirls around to open one last time as I all but stumbled out onto the stage. The audience explodes as they see a platinum blonde stagger out in a bikini, huge breasts almost spilling out of the swimwear, an impossibly tiny waist, and a thick set of hips to match. Confused and still in a bit of a daze, the handlers grab you by the arms and escort you to the front of the stage.

"Can we get a spin for the audience?"

My body was gilded easily around in a full spin to cheering from all around. The announcer laughs as you are then escorted off stage, cheeks bouncing with each step of your heels.

"Wow! I may have to keep that one for myself! Thanks again for tuning in tonight and don't forget to download our app - more features and models will be coming soon! Goodnight everyone!!"

The handlers hurdle the contestants back to through the green room and down a stairwell. The room is almost deafening from the several pairs of heels clicking onto the concrete stair treads. At the bottom of the landing the announcer is quick to follow and meet the group. "Thanks again for playing everyone! As stated in your contracts, all changes are permanent and binding." The announcer smiled at you, winking as he continued, "Well, some changes are more adjustable than permanent. You have all waived your right to hold Bet Your Life or our subsidiaries responsible for any negative impacts you may experience with your new changes. All of your personal effects that you had at the start of the show - your clothing, keys, cellphones, and other items have all been packaged and shipped to your residence as shown on the contract. As compensation, you will all receive $100 dollars for your appearance tonight. Congratulations!!"

The handlers pass out $100 dollar bills to each contestant. You stare at the money briefly, realizing you are wearing a bikini without pockets.

"$100?! Are you kidding me? How am I supposed to get home, I live in Canada!" on contestant shouts.

Smiling, the announcer chuckles to himself, "Well, you have a lot of new resources at your disposal, I'm sure you will be able to figure it out." The announcer points over to you and I and chuckles. "At least Barbie Bendover has a new assistant indentured to her. I'm sure you could run into some fans that would be more than happy if you let them borrow her in exchange for transportation. She is, after all, loyal to you or anyone you assign her to. I'm willing to bet you can loan her out to the highest bidder."

He winks at Michelle, then happily waves to the crowd. "Again thank you all for playing and goodnight!"

The announcer disappeared into a green room as the handlers forcibly herd the group to a metal door with an 'Exit' sign hanging above. In seconds, all of us found ourselves in an alley with the door closed and locked behind them. I looked at you, standing in my pink bikini and heels, waiting for direction from you or anyone else, not knowing what to do.