The Tablet (Patreon)

Note: This is a story-prompt for Absolus.

$20 Patreon Directory

-

Work was stressful this time of year. Simon had been in severe need of some retail therapy.

He was finishing up at the third clothing store he had frequented, looking at the bill and feeling terribly guilty. He pulled out his wallet and withdrew his newest credit card. He knew this charge would max it out, but he would just DIE if he couldn’t take home those cute overalls with the torn pocket.

“Congrats, you are our ten-thousandth customer!” The bubbly cashier grinned at him. “You just won this tablet.”

She handed over a tablet that seemed unremarkable, even a little antiquated. Simon half wanted to decline the reward, but accepted it out of politeness.

-

The tablet sat untouched on his desk collecting dust for a full week before Simon bothered to pick it up and glance it over. It wasn’t a normal tablet. He couldn’t web-surf or download apps. It was odd, as there were a couple of specific settings. Like, Bank Balance. Or, Dinner. Weight, and Physique. Hair, Car, the list went on.

Bored and annoyed, Simon played with the settings just a bit. For Hair, he selected Curly, Mid, Purple. Nothing happened after that. The tablet didn’t give him other options or open up a new window. It is all just sort of…dumb. Simon put it back on his desk, shaking his head. Maybe he could trade it in next time he went to the electronics store.

It was only when Simon was washing his hands in his bathroom mirror later that day, that he froze to stare at his reflection. His usually-floppy hair was now a curly, florescent purple color. His jaw dropped.

-

Over the next few days, Simon tried out several more settings, and found them immediately reflected on reality. When he added a million dollars to his bank account balance, that was exactly what showed up in his account. No one questioned it. No one was confused by it. The bank teller happily allowed him to withdrew ten-thousand dollars. The tablet had changed reality.

This was applicable to every other setting. Simon was even able to change the manner of his boss. With the press of a button, Simon made the man more kind and understanding. It was truly insane. Simon kept expecting to suddenly wake up from some crazy dream.

One night, Simon did something super-ridiculous. He’d always been curious about pregnancy when he saw women go through it. He just had no understanding it, and was curious of what it actually felt like.

Going to the Physique setting on the tablet, Simon selected Pregnant as well as Triplets and Nine Months. In a blink, he was suddenly looking down at a huge belly attached to his torso, protruding entirely out from the bottom of his shirt. The belly was round, heavy, and heaving. His chest seemed softer as well, nipples definitely pointier. The unexpected weight of his midsection left Simon stumbling and gripping onto his dresser. “This is nuts,” he laughed to himself, staring down at the huge orb. He thought he looked as though he had a basketball inside of him, but when he wobbled to the mirror and saw his reflection, he realized he was even larger. “Trippy…” he muttered, rubbing his hand over the mound, feeling responding movements. There were actual babies in this thing!

Simon felt a potent wave of fatigue. Groaning, he made his way to the bed and plopped down. “Woah, easy there.” These babies were overwhelming for him to carry just over the past few minutes. He couldn’t imagine how women dealt with nine months of this.

Simon eased himself back across the bed. His eyelids fluttered. He decided to rest them, just for a moment. Or two.

Before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

-

Simon gasped awake, and it didn’t take him long to realize what had awoken him. His abdomen was clenching hard and aching painfully. He hugged it, grunting and squirming, trying to breathe through the wave of tension.

The contraction ended, leaving him sweating and gasping. He realized, dazedly, that he was in labor. He hadn’t even known that was possible. He was a man, after all.

“Ohhhh…” Simon moaned, fumbling to grab the tablet off his nightstand. He quickly went to the pregnancy setting, about to reverse it, when the tablet died. He stared down at the black screen in shock.

Worse, he didn’t have a charger for it. A charger hadn’t even come with it. He looked at the port, recognizing it as an older style charger, not one that he would have on hand in his apartment. “Nrrggghhhhhh…” he groaned out as he was hit by another, more powerful, contraction. He arched, shoving his belly outward, face twisted in pain.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he cursed as he rubbed at the mound with both hands. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be happening. Maybe could run to the store and still reverse this.

Simon started to get out of bed, when he was assailed by yet another contraction, this one almost overlapping the previous one. “Arrghhhh!” He sunk down on his hands and knees, his belly brushing against the floor. He could feel tension in his backside now, the heavy pressure inside him shifting low on his pelvis. There was just no way, no way this could this be happening!

Then the next contraction hit him, and he was helpless against the powerful urge to push.