(Authors note: sorry for the length of the chapter, it kinda ran away from me and turned into a massive explosion dump. Should hopefully be able to start really focusing on the WLV experience now it’s out of the way)
The six of them stared at the screen expectantly, and after a few moments the image changed to show a woman who couldn’t have been much older than 25. Her hair was tied up in a neat, tight bun, and her face was made up in a very professional manner. She was sitting behind a desk, so all the could was her top half, but they could see she was wearing what looked like a lab coat over the top of a deep green blouse. She reached up and pushed the stylish cat-eye framed glasses up her nose a little.
“Good afternoon Jeffersons” she said with a slight smile “I’m the lead technician in charge of the team that oversees Iris Drive. I’m speaking to you directly as there have been quite a number of nudges and even a corrective measure flagged for your household already. I would like to clear up any issues you may have before we proceed”
“Oh I have an issue!” Susan said loudly as she practically leapt to her feet “you can’t seriously expect me to pretend to be a 5 year old boy!?! I mean the absurdity of it all!”
“I’m not exactly over the moon either!” Sarah chimed in from where she was still trying her best to cover herself on the sofa.
“Yes! Exactly!” Susan exclaimed as if only just remembering her own daughter was in a decidedly worse role than hers “my darling daughter explicitly put on her form that she wanted to be in a unit with her boyfriend. Care to explain how on earth she was assigned a dog role!?” Susan cocked her hip to the side as she crossed her arms in a near perfect ‘can I speak to your manager’. The only thing that ruined the whole image was the fact she was dressed like a child in boys denim dungaree shorts and a striped t-shirt. The woman on the screen took a deep breath, the same kind a teacher might make before explaining something important to a petulant child.
“While I completely understand that the roles you have been assigned are not the ones you expected,” she said in a near sickly sweet way “I can assure you that they have been selected to provide you a complete vacation from your old self. The forms you were all required to complete at the time of booking were to ascertain your personality types. We then cross referenced those outcomes with your online presence, your social media and such, and finally fed the results into a very sophisticated algorithm which determined not only your familial role, but also your role in the West Lake Valley society as a whole.”
“You can’t be serious!” Sarah huffed, “I’m not pretending to be a dog just because some computer program told you so. If anything I should like mayor or a CEO or something!” She added with a pout.
“I must admit” Linda chimed in thoughtfully, “I am curious as to how you consider any of these roles to be a…vacation from ourselves? Is that how you put it?”
“Now that is a good question” the woman smiled again, giving Linda a half-nod of approval, “I have your results here.” She reached just passed the camera and pulled a wireless keyboard towards her. She made a few keystrokes then made a few muttering noises and moved her lips as she read something on a screen just out of frame.
“Ah here we go!” She said happily after a moment “Jefferson Family, 38 Iris Drive. Let’s start with you Linda. Your answers showed that you felt a little unappreciated in your life as a housewife. Part time job doing accounts working from home, but you still appeared unfulfilled. This was corroborated by your social posts. Half-jokes about running your home and juggling kids and work. So to that end, the algorithm decided you’d probably enjoy being the chief breadwinner of the family. A man who can take charge and who people listen to, especially with your new job as a construction foreman.”
“Oh…well…” Linda stammered, her face turning red. Sure she had felt that way occasionally, but had never voiced it out loud, believing that she kept it well under wraps.
“Now let’s see, who’s next…” the woman on the screen continued looking at her files, her eyes darting from left to right as she read “Jonathan Gibson, took mothers efforts at home for granted, lack of professional drive, organisational skills need improving. Therefore it was considered best that you become a mother and part time PA, this way you could appreciate everything your own mother did for you. Not only that, but you will be responsible for not just your household and children, but also your employers schedule and workload.”
Jon felt himself shrink a little with embarrassment as everyone’s eyes fell on him.
“Michael Gibson, currently envious of his older siblings and dislikes the way they treat him. A bit of a shy loner, possibility of becoming an introverted recluse in the future. Your new role has made you the eldest sibling, and will offer plenty of opportunities to boost your confidence and self worth.” The woman continued “And in a similar vein, Karyn Black showed as being a very driven, grade obsessed only child. Your new role will allow you to enjoy life in the way only a teenage boy can, along with experiencing what it’s like to be the middle child, where the focus is not solely on you.”
“I wouldn’t say I’m ‘Grade Obsessed’” Karyn scoffed.
“But why do I have to be a girl?” Mikey whined.
“A change in gender simply accommodates another layer of taking a vacation from yourself, which is why we have tried to facilitate this where possible, unless a more fitting role requires a participant to keep their original gender. Therefore you can expect to see a lot of West Lake denizens on the same situation as you. It will also provide you all with a clearer picture of what it’s like on the other side of the gender divide” the woman replied before looking back off screen.
“Susan MacMillan. Let’s see… obsessed with her immaculate image, uptight, relies on intimidation tactics to get what she wants. Plenty of signs of counter-dependancy, with evidence of viewing asking for help or showing vulnerability as dangerous or weak. Your role puts you in the youngest child slot, meaning you have to rely on others for a lot of things, and what young boy cares about how they look?”*
“If people actually did things right, I would be able to reply on them” Susan huffed, but her expression showed a hint of hurt embarrassment, like the results had hit the nail bang on the head.
“So why the fuck am I dog?” Sarah said angrily “I can’t wait to hear the explanation for this one” she added, glaring at the screen. Her attempt at intimidation hampered somewhat by the fact she was butt naked.
“Sarah MacMillan, shows same counter-dependant traits as her mother, but also craves approval. Feels trapped by maternal expectations and her own curated personality. Mistreats others as a way to sooth her inner turmoil.” The woman said plainly, staring back at the camera, and somehow making it feel like she was matching Sarah’s ‘Queen Bee Death Stare’ without backing down. After an icy moment of silence, Sarah dropped her gaze and the hint of a smirk flashed across the technician’s lips.
“As there aren't many roles that could address all these issues in one, you have been assigned a pet role. This is a very common issue, so you will see others around the valley who are just like you. You are clearly in need of a lesson in humility, but also to be shown just what true freedom from expectations can feel like. An adolescent retriever has absolutely zero impulse control and a complete disregard for order, they don’t worry about what to wear or what’s fashionable, and certainly don’t care what people think of them. Like your mother, you will also learn to rely on other for things you can’t do by yourself, and as a dog, that will be a lot” She finished and let the words hang in the air as Sarah sat there dumbfounded, she’d even allowed her arms to drop down by her sides, exposing her bare breasts.
“Now that you all have a much better understanding of your roles and the reasons they have been allocated, we hope that there will be a lot less refusal and need for corrective measures.” She seemly stared at Sarah again “We also want to make it clear that we don’t expect you to fully immerse yourself into the roles straight away. We realise that you will need time to acclimatise. For at least the first week of your stay you won’t be too harshly punished for being yourselves. You will at times be given tasks by your devices, which will need to be completed as directed, but otherwise you have pretty much free rein. Our suggestion would be to start viewing yourself with the lens of this new information.” She paused for a moment, taking in their confused expressions.
“Ok, look at this way. Jon, rather than seeing yourself as ‘Jon the 18 year old male student’, just change it a little to be ‘Jon the 18 year old male wife and mother’, and approach situations as a wife or mother would. Or ‘Susan the 45 year old female kindergarten boy’ can just make choices that a 5 year old boy would make. Then as you find yourselves getting used to that mind frame, you can add more changes at your own pace, going to ‘Jon the 18 year old male 45 year old wife and mother’ then ‘Jon the 45 year old male wife and mother’ and finally ‘Joanne the 45 year old female wife and mother’. Of course should you try anything truly out of the scope of your new role, you will receive nudges as you already have, but our hope is that in time, and with the right mindset, you will just naturally slip into your new roles.”*
“So what, as long as we make role appropriate choices, we won’t get those headaches?” Karyn asked, “that sounds a little too open to interpretation though. Like how I see a teen boy acting, might not be how you think they should act”
“Correct on both counts” the woman smiled “ultimately these are YOUR roles, so provided you don’t, for example, start trying to wear skirts or dresses, or Susan tries to drive a car for instance, then you will be fine. Does that make sense?”
“I guess so?” Linda said slowly, as the others in the room nodded along.
“Excellent. I’m glad I could clear that up” the woman beamed “now your vacation will begin in earnest once I end this call. As I said your devices will provide you with any additional information as and when you need it, such as directions to your places of work and school, as well as assigning you various tasks that will help you with role assimilation. The nanos will hold off making any extra enhancements for the next couple of days as you properly adjust to your roles. A few final notes for you, while you will have the rest of the day to yourselves, you will be unable to leave the property. Use this time to fully settle into your new home, and then tomorrow the whole of West Lake Valley will be open to you. We have provided enough food to see you through until then. Please follow the instructions and tasks assigned to you, and have a pleasant vacation.” she gave them a smile and a tapped her forehead with two fingers in a kind of salute, and then the screen went blank. The six new Jefferson’s were left staring at their unusual reflection in the dark screen.
“Does anyone else feel like they have more questions than answers?” Karyn said after a moment of awkward silence. Jon was about to answer when there was a chiming sound from the dainty gold watch on his wrist. He looked down as the pastel purple holo-box appeared above his wrist displaying the text
NEW TASK
PREPARE DINNER
