Daily Free-Write March 4, 2021 (Patreon)

Note: This story is set in the world of Babied by Billy and Back to School. Just a little background on that fun little show both protagonists enjoy so much. 

“Today we have the rare opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at one of the best baby shows not on television – The Diaper Pals, made famous for its excellent programming with titles like: Babies Talk Wike Dis; Diapers are Awesome; Being a Baby is Better; and of course everyone’s favorite, Time for a Diaper Change.”

”The reporter held the microphone close to his sweaty face. He smiled with an enthusiasm that bordered on fanaticism as he turned to a man in a suit with short curly hair, glasses, and a goatee. “And we get to do it with the one and only Dr. Stannopoulis, Director of the Center for Adult Baby Studies, which produces the program. Hello Dr., such an honor to meet you. And what are you going to show us today?”

“Well, Jack – It’s okay if I call you Jack is it not?” The doctor paused mid-handshake as he squeezed the man’s palm and the reporter seemed confused for half a second as the Dr. reached out his other hand.

“Ah ah ah! You almost got me there. Was that going to be one of your world-famous instant inductions? No way you’re gonna get me into any baby stuff.”

“Alright, alright, you got me,” said the doctor, smiling sheepishly and putting both hands behind his back. “Well, to answer your question, I’m going to take you to our production studios, where we produce our extended reality content. First, we’ll check in on a few projects our alpha and beta development teams are working on, and then we’ll check out a live taping of your favorite show!”

“My favorite show?” Asked the man, taken aback.

“Yes, it is your favorite show. Isn’t it Jackie?” said the doctor, with a knowing grin.

“Wow, well, I guess you’ve outed me,” said the reporter. “I’ll admit it. I’m a fan.”

“Thought so,” said the doctor with a chuckle. “And just what is someone your age doing watching a show like that, hmm?” There was a twinkle in his eye. The reporter looked visibly flushed and sweat stains were appearing on his pits.

“Oh, I don’t watch the show, at least not more than the first few minutes of any given episode, though the fact that I’m having an adult conversation with you probably makes that obvious. It’s just that ever since I saw you and that adorable boy who piloted your pioneering program, Fresh Start, I’ve been enthralled with everything C.A.B.S. And I’m sure the viewers will feel the same way after they see all that you and your team can do.”

“Yes, Jackie. I’m sure they will. And a very adult conversation you’re having, too. Great job. Though I’m sure if you ever did slip up and watch a little bit more… you’d make a very adorable baby.”

The man gulped and pulled at his tie, looking around to see what the film crew thought of that comment and laughing nervously, but the Doctor quickly picked back up where the reporter left off.

“I’m just teasing you, Jacky boy. Lighten up. I can’t resist teasing you journalism majors. You wouldn’t believe how many ‘reporters’ come in looking for dirt for their next exposé or to try and steal our trade secrets and sell it to one of those other programs that have popped up. Yes, we do quite a thorough background check, so I must admit, I cheated a bit before you came and learned a bit about your interests. I do hope you’ll forgive me.”

“Oh, gosh, no. I don’t mind at all. I’m glad I made the cut! Uh, well, anyway enough about me. I’m excited to see the magic behind the VR screen, so to speak. Doctor, please lead the way!”

“Sure thing, Jacky. Follow me.”

The camera followed them into the building past the colorful lobby, where a pert young woman was handing an ID photo for a visitor. They reached her just as the visitor disappeared passed through the security gate and out of sight.

“This is Beth. She checks in all our new patients. Hi Beth. Three passes for me and my two buddies.”

“Sure thing, Doctor,” she said, smiling into the camera and winking. “I just happen to have them right here. Two press passes and a gold pass for the good Doctor.”

“Thank you, my dear,” said the Doctor.

“Excuse me! Excuse me!” said the young man holding the microphone. “Do you mind I I ask you a few questions? I-I mean if it’s alright with the Doctor of course.”

“No, I don’t’ mind,” said Beth, looking slightly surprised at this unscripted moment.

The doctor knitted his eyebrows for a second, then shrugged and held his hand up.

“Sure, be my guest.”

“Hi Beth. I’m Jack. Jack Bennington. Junior Reporter…”

“Oh yeah, I see you got the little junior reporter pin and everything. So cute,” she said, giggling a bit behind her hand.

He coughed and cleared his thought, shifting uncomfortably. “Yes well… ah, I wanted to ask you. How long have you worked at C.A.B.S.?”

“Oh,” she said, “Ever since I started the Child Psychology program as a freshman. It’s been about four years now.”

“Wow, that means you were here since the start. You must have a special affinity for the little ones. Did you get to meet Nicky?”

“Meet him? I changed his diapers!” she said with a laugh. Then, she added by way of explanation, “I worked in the early childhood development center daycare where Nicky was enrolled during the school year. He was quite a little handful, but cute as all get out. Never did seem to outgrow his diapers after the treatment though…”

“Thanks Beth,” said the Doctor, cutting the conversation short. “I think we’d better get on with our tour now. Don’t you, Jackie boy?”

Jack gave the man a hangdog look, but quickly perked up when he was told they’d get to see some very special projects inside.

“you’re doin great, kiddo!” Beth said in a stage whisper as she waved goodbye to Dr. Stannopoulis and the two students from the journalism department.

The doctor directed them through a series of halls until they got to a large open room with a group of people testing out some strange looking equipment.

“Hey guys, gals, and nonbinary pals,” said Dr. Stannopoulis. “Mind if we join you?”

“Not at all,” said a woman who seemed to be directing the organized chaos in the room. “We’re just testing out our latest VR recording equipment. You all wanna be in our little demo film?”

“Sure!” said Jack, looking like he was in his element, for once. “Wow, so tell us about that thing over there,” he said, pointing to a piece of equipment that looked like M.C. Escher’s version of a camera.

“This is a high-end camera that has basically records from every angle. We need it to get that 3-D effect you get from V.R.”

“Oh wow. Hey!” he waved, the camera guy over. “Take a look at this! What’s that over there?” he asked.

“That’s the omni-mic. Hey, you know what,” she said, looking him up and down. “I think you might be perfect for something we want to test out. Why don’t’ you just walk around a bit around this omni mic? I wanna see how well it picks up your crinkle.”

“My what?” asked the reporter.

“Oh, that’s just dev team lingo,” the doctor said, cutting in. “She means the sound you make when you move. Go ahead, Jackie boy. Give it a try.”

He walked around a bit, and then they gave him a pair of headphones, and asked him to point in the direction the noise was coming from. His finger followed the same path he had gone, even the switchback he had done to try and be tricky.”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” he said. “Any plans to use this to make a more interactive version of Diaper Pals?”

“Well, I’d tell you but then I’d have to kill you. Just kidding. We’d just have to turn you into a baby so you couldn’t talk. Ha!”

“At least until the new content came out. Wouldn’t want to ruin the surprise for everyone, would we?” said the Doctor. “Thanks, everyone. We’re going to check out the Alpha team next.

“Bye!” waved the people in the room. “Wasn’t that fun?”

“Yeah!” said the reporter. He looked less nervous now. He had already undone his tie and absent-mindedly placed it in the Doctor’s outstretched palm. “We gonna see the alpha team next?”

“We sure are, buddy,” said the Doctor. “Right in here.”

The turned into another room. This one was full of keyboards which people were typing away at furiously, but there were no monitors. Instead they were all wearing VR headsets and haptic gloves, which they waved through the air periodically as they worked.

The team leader, who was not in VR, walked up to greet them. “Hello, we’ve been expecting you. We’ve whipped up a little surprise for you two.”

“Oh a surprise?” asked Dr. S. “You know I don’t like surprises.”

“I think you’ll like this one!” the team leader replied. “Why don’t you join us in VR?”

The two of them placed on their headsets and looked around.

“Whoa!” said Jackie, jumping back. “No way!”

The TL snapped their fingers and the far wall lit up with a projection of what the reporter and the Dr. were seeing.

“Wouldn’t’ wanna leave your audience out, after all!”

It was a scene of the central courtyard. Dr. S. and the Junior reporter were walking along the spiral pattern that was actually there, only this one descended down and down and down, and below it were bits and pieces of experience - sound, sight, touch, only some of which were conveyed by the limited technology of the projection screen.

“It’s like I’m swimming in it,” said Jack.

“It’s a new world, Jackie boy,” said the Director, smiling and clapping his hands. “Full immersion!”

Then the sensations and sounds began to crystallize. A bit of a crinkle here. The smell of baby powder. The sound of a baby crying and being shushed. Everything went bright and suddenly Jack was in a high chair in the middle of a hectic celebration while Dr. S had on a party hat and was blowing into a party blower.

Confetti exploded up into the air and spelled out ‘happy birthday’ as one of the Alpha team came and served him a piece of cake.

“Go on, try it!”

Jack gave it a taste.

“Oh my god, it tastes like the real thing!”

“It sure does. But there was a special ingredient. I’ll bet you can’t guess what it was?”

“What was it?” said the junior reporter smiling, but then he held his stomach. As he felt a cramp. “Oh no… You didn’t!” He sat forward to reveal a big poofy diaper, which quickly got bigger as he grunted and filled it.

“Sure did! Virtual laxatives.”

“Hnnngg… it’s… huff… grunt… so real,” said the junior reporter. “Such a realistic simulation!”

“Ah yeah,” said the Alpha team member with a smirk. “That’s what it is…”

The Alpha team leader then took a minute to answer some questions and tell them about their latest projects.

“You know we gave 24 of our best programmers 24 hours to come up with something that would knock your socks off. Looks like they decided to go for the pants instead.”

They all had a laugh at that.

“How do you manage to work nonstop like that? You must have to take potty breaks at least?”

“Nope. We got that covered,” said the team lead, shifting his butt so a loud crinkle could be heard.

“Of course. What was I expecting? This is C.A.B.S. we’re talking about! So what’s next for Alpha team?” asked the junior reporter.

“The next step is direct CSN nervous system stimulation. We’ve been working with the neurology department but it’s still in the very early stages…”

Jack was fascinated as the team leader continued to speak. He didn’t even notice his thumb drifting closer and closer to his mouth as he listened, enraptured, and eventually slipping its way past his lips.

Finally, it was time for the final part of the tour, and Jack had to pull his thumb out of his mouth once they got to the big double doors with the ‘on air’ sign lit up, though he was loathe to do so. He wiped it off on his shirt as he continued.

“So, Dr. Stannopoulis. Before we go inside, would you care to fill our viewers in on just what this show is all about, for those of us who don’t know?”

“Sure, kiddo, I can do that.   Diaper Pals is a VR show made by C.A.B.S. for our Fresh Start rehabilitation program and recorded before a live audience of program graduates and trainees. It’s got all your favorite characters: Cheerful Chester the Chipmunk; Giggly Barry the Beaver; And everyone’s favorite Depressed Donkey, Dusty, along with many other pals who join them. Say, Jackie, would you like to join them in today’s episode?”

Jackie had been smiling and even started clapping along with each syllable as the Dr. listed out the names of some of his favorite characters. He’d had so many questions about the show written on his notecards. Who is in the audience? Who are the performers? How are episodes conceived? But those all went out the window the moment he heard he would have a chance to not only watch the characters but meet them. And not only meet them but be on the show itself!

“Don’t wet your pants,” said the Doctor, “it’s just a little walk on part.” He watched as the Junior reporter jumped up and down clapping his hands, practically foaming at the mouth. “I’ll take that as a yes, since I didn’t’ actually hear any words in that… Oh well, you don’t have to speak for this part anyway.”

On the other side of the doors was the set. Another doppel camera was set up to record the episode properly for VR, and the audience was sitting a little further away in various outfits that ranged from age 0 to maybe 6 or 7. They were all smiling and interacting, but he couldn’t see their eyes because they were all wearing VR headsets with a live feed of the show.

Doctor led them to the side of the stage where he gave the reporter his very own character costume.

“Okay, kiddo. Today you’re gonna be Sammy the Skunk. All you have to do is run on stage and yell “I made a stinky!” when you see the signal. Yes, that’s the signal, now go!”

Jacky ran out, did a toddler squat, made a loud mushy fart, and yelled, “I made a stinky!”

The other characters all gathered around and patted him on the back, congratulating him on a job well done. Like all the characters, Sammy the Skunk had a big diaper taped around his waist, and it was looking pretty full.

“See boys and girls? Sammy has the right idea! He’s using his diapees like a good baby because what?” He held a hand up to his ear, prompting the audience to call out his favorite catch phrase, “Diapers are awesome!!!”

“That’s right, kids! And using them is even better, so don’t hold back! We’ll be right back kiddos, so just keep watching the swirls as we go and change our stinky pal!”

The crowd cheered as they led the skunk off the stage and then went strangely quiet as swirls were projected to all their headsets.

“Wow! So nice to meet you! Big fan! Oh my gosh, and you too! Oh. Oh… c-can I get an autograph?”

“Hehe, sure sure,” said Chester, happily signing the reporter’s shirt at his insistence. The strange thing that Chester never noticed was none of them ever took off their suits. He didn’t really think about it because he kept his on the whole time too. It wasn’t until after they said their goodbyes that he thought to take off his head and get out of the suit, but he needed help from the Doctor to do it.

“Thankies!” he said with a big smile as he stepped out of the suit. “You know, for a second there I was worried you were gonna hipmotize me into a diapee.”

“Oh, I already did that,” said Dr. S, casually, pointing at the junior reporter’s crotch.

Jack looked down to see that he was wearing a full diaper, and it was already sogged and loaded.

“Wha? When did you do dat?”

“When I introduced myself! You’ve been walking around without any pants this whole time! We were all wondering when you’d notice.”

Jack covered his face but at the doctor’s reminder that he had an assignment to finish, he managed to speak again into the microphone and stutter out some closing remarks and a thank you.

“That was great,” said the Doctor. “Really great! I think you’ll make a great little reporter one day, kiddo. Hey, it would be great if we could use some of this for promotional material. With your permission of course.”

“Well... otay,” said Jack, nodding with certainty now that he had come to a decision.

Dr. S. smiled and nodded, and then someone came and led the camera man off, taking his film for ‘processing and vetting’.

“Just sign here, and here. Yes, here too. Great job, kiddo. Very good, now come clean, little Jackie. Did you steal Daddy’s clothes?”

“No!!!” said Jackie, crossing his arm. “Dey my cwoves! Ima dunior reporder!”

“Sigh… little boys little boys…. You never do learn. I think they are Daddy’s clothes because you are certainly too young for them.”

“I notta baybee!” he said. “An needer is my bro! You gonna pay for wat you done.”

Jackie reached down, but his hand met nothing. All that was below his waist was the diaper.

“Looking for this?” said Daddy, holding up a mean-looking knife. “Not an appropriate toy for a little boy of any age. I think some time with us would do you good.”

Jackie began to throw a fit, and Daddy picked him up and rubbed his back until he was all cried out, then carried him over to the rows of changing tables set up behind the stage. He spoke as he changed the messy little boy up.

“Sorry we had to do that to your brother. Don’t worry, you’ll be reunited with him real soon. His daddy was looking to adopt another little and now I have just the one for him – once you’ve finished your training of course. But don’t be so sad, kiddo, look at the upside. You’re gonna be the newest member of the Diaper Pals. Sammy the Skunk. Has a nice ring to it doesn’t it?” He waved his hand in front of his nose as he tossed the diaper in the pail. “Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?”

Once he was all changed, the doctor led the crying boy out to the front of the center and up to the front desk and spoke to Beth.

“Guess who decided to stay?”