Support
Pulling the blanket closer, Garry jumped at the first hint of a clicking sound on the ancient smartphone in his hand, "Yes?! Hello??? I've been on hold for fifty minutes!"
"I'm so sorry, ma'am. It's j--"
"Sir. I'm a man", Garry interrupted the voice swiftly. "Despite what your company did to me."
"My apologies. We're told to default to current, system-registered sex for applicable gendered-pronouns. If you would prefer a specialized-pronoun or the company-standardization of 'user', I can make the adjustment."
"Sir is preferable. Always."
"Yes, sir. So, the system tells me you're calling about a ForMeLife biological tech product?"
Fiddling with his glasses before plucking them off, Garry took a deep breath, tried to make his voice sound deeper than it currently was, and said through his teeth, "Yes. I am calling because your damn technology gave me tits!"
"Sir...sir?...sirrrrr? If you use language which is offensive towards me and the company then I will be forced to suspend this tech-support ticket and cut this call. You may also be charged a penalty."
He sighed. The same line they'd used with him time after time. "I am so tired of this runaround. I just want this resolved as soon as possible."
"And I just want to help you, but psychological-confrontation-triggering-language-use helps no one."
"...I'm sorry..." He still spoke through his teeth.
She clicked some keys. "Your genuine admission of guilt in projecting confrontations is appreciated by YourBody Corp and its associates. Now, our files note you have called before."
Garry took a deep breath. "Yes. I have. I have called. Every day. Every single weekday at the precise hours. For your company's...tech-support. And spoken. To fine people, such as yourself."
On the line, the voice noted, "Actually, we are legally..."
"I know I know...Assistants. You are referred to as Assistants, no gender-naming. I know I know."
"I'm also legally-obligated to inform you of the entire Assistant-addressing protocol in detail every time you call. Just a moment."
Garry sunk his head, his soft hair settling against his glasses. He propped his legs up on the end of the couch with the phone in his delicate hands and tried not to blackout. When she was done, he automatically answered, "I accept this protocol as you have relayed it to me."
"Now, this Assistant can take your information so far as any further developments. But I will also be starting from a new support ticket file. When did the problem first appear?"
He'd been through a few iterations of this. "On Oct 31st at 17;35 company adjusted time as per all the readouts and logs I was given. I was preparing for a Halloween party and a friend suggested that I wear a witch's dress and a mask."
"Do you or your friend suffer from any specific genderpathic dysmorphic congenital conditions, even those registered as non-specific unclassified designations?"
"We do not", he answered with a sigh and continued, "But I put on the dress as a gag for the party. My friend Lori suggested stuffing a bra too. She doesn't have any of those conditions either."
Silence held on the line as Garry paused and adjusted the well-filled bra on his chest. "That was when the problem started."
"The telemetry from the live feedback biological system shows me you increased from approximately less than a size A-cup mammary biological volume, American standard classification, to one exceeding the quantity of an American standard E-cup. What is the problem?"
Gazing down at the F-cup bra he had on, Garry ran his tongue along his teeth to keep from saying something he might be fined for and answered, "Men don't have or need boobs."
"I still don't comprehend the problem. Telemetry tells me you are currently female sexed with a female form within traditional XX chromosomal appearance of primary and secondary attributes."
Pointing at the phone, he noted, "Yeah, I'm a girl right now, but I'm still a guy."
"So, then your problem is a biochemical neurological one so far as your gender self-image? Let me put you on hold."
Garry sat up with a jolt and a jiggle. "No! Wait wait wait! That..."
"---At YourBody Technological Solutions we bring together physical health and mental wellness. Just a simple doctor's visit adds you to our network. Don't let your genetics at birth determine who you are and who you want to be. Be more!---"
And Garry was back in the loop of canned messages and ads with chiming melodies which ran in cycles of less than a minute. Lifting his glasses again, he mashed a couch pillow into his feminine chest. Standing and stretching, he looked at the mirror. A sweater draped over his smaller body, shifted to fit the silly dress he put on for Halloween TEN DAYS AGO, with virtually every day spent with one after another useless 'Assistant'.
Adjusting the flat crotch of his loaner panties, he grimaced and waited out the call. After a replay of the default message, he felt a sudden warmth suddenly trickling in his brain. Before he could puzzle it out, the warmth radiated past his mouth and dipped to his legs. He could remember when he received iodine contrast as a child at a hospital, when hospitals still did that kind of thing for CT scans. It felt just like that, plus with a sudden sensation of being drunk.
It passed suddenly and he...she felt a strange feeling come over her. She looked at the world as if something had shifted. Then, she scowled at her frumpy sweater and chucked it off her body. Didn't she have anything nicer to wear? Shifting her position naturally, she posed in the mirror, hands to her chest, and smiled. Not bad.
A moment later, the Assistant returned. "Ma'am? Are you alright?"
Garry smiled to herself. "Oh! Absolutely! I'm great. What was the problem?"
"Just a brain-to-body disparity which has since been resolved in the most effective way possible, according to our management procedures."
"Oh...that's...I feel a little strange though but...good."
"Just one small, remaining matter of your user ID in the system. While your name is your choice, unresolved user IDs have resulted in disparity-resolutions regressing, so our system has auto-generated a preferable name for your ticket. Your new customer name and ID is Idella Fowler."
Blinking, Idella cleared her throat and asked, "My what? Wait. My name IS Idella Fowler. So my new one is the same as the old one?"
"Everything has been resolved. Did you have any further questions? Also, a gentle reminder, if you intend to shop anytime soon for new clothing or other goods, our website links to sister companies based in mainland China which can offer affordable options for women of all needs. I'll be sending the information to your registered devices and favoriting it inside your neural matrix wetware. Have a nice rest of your day, Miss Fowler, and please be sure to score your Assistant highly on the mandatory evaluation survey!"
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Support - Alternate Version
Chucking a heavy towel at the wall, Garry cracked his wrists and furiously-dialed the number. The call went to on-hold music for a minute as he rolled his eyes and stomped around the room.
When a woman finally picked up, he jumped over her words, "Finally! I need some support help! This is absolutely ridiculous. I have been waiting for hours on end. I have tried multiple things. I could write a flipping book about how much trouble I have had to go through. This is beyond reasonable. This is beyond frustration. I am tired of listening to the runaround I've gotten and I want my entire list of grievances known right here and right now. The alchemist was out of locally-sourced mana. So, I call my service and I get to the main office. I find out that there's a new local ordinance forbidding everything but only certain mana sales. I'm not a freaking wizard, I just have a hard day at work. It's bad enough that it comes out of an ever-increasing co-pay I need to deal with every single time I'm worn out. I'm not spellcasting here! I'm not burning through my life force. I'm not even asking for lattes and fresh, smashed avocados on toast! Medical-grade, locally-sourced mana should be permissible. I shouldn't have to fight every step of the way for a little bit to make me feel better. I'm not gonna go out into the wilds and hunt down an endangered dragon or anything. That's another thing though. This area. They care more about the talking fish and anthropomorphic near-human races than they do about hard-working citizens! It's not even like it's a federal Class-A spirit-enhancer. So please please please...I need some support RIGHT NOW!"
Silence followed on the line before a small, female voice asked, incredulously, "Sir...you want SUPPORT...from us?"
Garry's eyes bulged like he could strangle the lady on the other end of the line. "YES! That's why I called!"
"You sure?"
"YES YES YES! I don't want to hear another word! Just do it right now!"
"...Alright. Whatever you want."
He was too exasperated and out of breath to say anything else. In the quiet, he smelled cinnamon, the telltale aroma of spell-casting.
"WA..." His voice cracked and a shiver ran down his throat. Instead of his deep, rough voice, he felt a faint, high voice he could barely shape into one sounding like a small boy's. He had to flip his glasses off his changing ears and skull before they slipped to the ground. Fumbling with them in his slender, long-tipped fingernails, he sneezed a tiny "chu" through his nose as it turned up and receded towards his face.
He coughed as his neck stretched and he yanked at his shirt as it tightened around his now-glossy, slender arms. With each frantic breath, his stomach caved in tighter, his slight curve of belly fat sinking to oblivion. He tore off his tight pants as his softening hips and thighs braced against them. Shrinking without falling, he watched the final spell change settle in place. His chest swelled against his top, stretching the material with a squishy, full weight buoyantly-supported by a bra with broad, satiny cups.
Snatching the phone from where he'd dropped it, Garry snarled out in a voice which sounded like a demented woman out for blood, "What have you done to me?!"
Cool and calmly, the woman on the other end stated, "Ma'am...this is a magic bra store. Not your insurance or alchemist drug store. When you ask for support...well, there's only one kind we can freely-provide. Well...not exactly freely. That'll be $81 for services rendered."
Garry's first reaction was to yell in her high soprano, "$81?!"
"Over-the-phone services are higher than in-store ones", she explained.
Staring at the blank screen of her phone, the display hadn't worked since she dropped it in cursed soda, her voice retreated to meek calm as she asked, "This...isn't (405) 841-9882?"
"(405) 841-9828. Mystical Intimates downtown. I assume you're a first-time user of our bras."
Garry fiddled with the straps. "I am. What do I...?"
"Remote spell support is bound to the object. Simply place the item in a binding box and its magic will be contained. Your personal mana should shift you back in like a day or two. Sorry for the confusion, but I warned you. We do have persuasion-modifier garments if you're trying to get through to some hardheaded folks." Garry passed on that and ended the call.
Leaning on the couch with her dainty fingers covering her eyes, Garry sighed. She walked over to the mirror in her bedroom and stood there, stripped down to her unfamiliar underwear. Pressing her hands to her new chest, she felt and saw a smile on her face. Not bad.
Testing things with the bra off (and taking a few photos with her other phone), she realized she definitely needed the support. The bra was so big but also so warm and comfortable. Probably part of the spell.
Pondering, she raised a thin eyebrow and considered the possibilities. The mana provider offered video chat tech support. Shifting the camera position, she took a selfie, posted it to their social media page, and texted for "support options". Literally a minute later, she was on the line with a young man who, "very much wanted to help her".
Smiling slyly, she let the phone dip ever so slightly and told him, using a gentle, slow voice and a casual wink, "Oooh, thank you sooo much. I've been looking for someone strong and powerful who can use their mana to help me get the mana I need to...support my needs the best..."
