Episode 2: Strange New World But Stranger Problems
The next morning, Orlando woke up still groggy, the events of the previous night a blur in his mind. He stumbled out of bed and went through his usual morning routine, stepping over to a dresser and slowly opening the top drawer reaching into it and grabbing a pair of underwear and socks. But something was off. The clothes inside were all wrong—boxer briefs instead of his usual boxer shorts, “w-w-what… what the fuck?” he whispered baffled by the underwear, and he could only let out as sigh. “Whatever…” he murmured to himself while giving a quick sigh. However as he continued gathering his clothes his bewilderment grew with each one of his article of clothing. “What’s going on,” he asked himself whilst brushing his medium length blonde hair out of the green eye and grey one. Going through the two dressers and closet, they showed a collection of polo shirts, dress pants and shirts, Bermuda shorts and numerous bowties that were hanging on hangers or folded up verse the mixture of tee shirts, graphic tees, jeans and other pants, shorts as well as countless baggy clothes he favored. He rubbed his eyes and tried to shake the sleep from his head, but the disorientation remained.
Once he had picked what he was going to wear that day from all those clothes that were in his dorm room which he figure it might have been one of two choices. He passed out in someone else’s dorm or Xavier and/or Lexie replaced his clothes with what he thought were these nerdy article of clothing as some kind of prank. Although the confusion had finally washed off, he immediately stepped out into the hallway. He slowly made his way down when the sight of a handful of the male students with rounded and extended bellies of all sizes in the hallways only added to his puzzlement. He had heard of some crazy college traditions, but this was on another level.
‘Oh man,’ Orlando thought, ‘I get college life can be a party, but some of these guys… um… they might want-need to hit the gym.’ Yet the young blonde man continued on his way and could really only just ignore the oddity for the moment, he made his way to the boy’s bathroom, still dressed in his tee shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms, and headed to his locker, 69, as was his routine. He inserted the key and gave the lock a twist, but it wouldn’t budge. “What…what the!” He blurted out. “Why isn’t this working?” He asked and then again tried it. He tried to unlock it and with a few more times with the same result. “Oh come on…” he let out a groan.
Unbeknownst to him a man emerged from the shower’s steam, his figure shrouded in the mist that clung to the tiles. He was shorter than most, with a frame that carried more weight than was typical for his age. His hair, almost black, held whispers of a dark brownish-red hue, hinting at a fiery past or perhaps a rebellious streak that time had not fully washed away. Water droplets glistened on his skin, creating a mirage of youth that belied the creases around his eyes. He looked to be in his mid-thirties, yet there was a certain boyish charm in his gaze that made him seem younger, more approachable. He had only a towel and a pair of water shoes, on. Once the man had entered the area with all the lockers when he finally noticed Orlando and raised an eyebrow, “hey you!” He called out rapidly storming over to his locker. “What the hell are you doing at my locker.”
“Hmm…” Orlando said swiftly glancing over at the man. “Um… what! No! This is mine. See…” he raised the key up and that’s when he noticed the locker tag had printed on it #75.
The man raised an eyebrow. “Eh no,” he said. “It’s not.”
“What,” Orlando mouth, “no! But-I’m… this is… but…” he trailed off feeling a sense of defeated and unsure of what to do. He sighed. Confusion, plastered all over his face, he shuffled down the row of lockers until he reached the correct one all the way at the end and against the wall, feeling a bit like he was navigating through a foggy memory. He hastily place the key in the lock and turned it. The sound of the door unlocking surprised him. He speedily changed out of the tee and PJ bottoms Orlando had on and in one swift motion tightly wrapped a towel around his waist grabbing the soap and shampoo unaware that they were different brands and a changed look too. Yet his mind, now racing with so many questions. ‘Seriously what’s going on.’ He thought.
However after the awkward encounter in the locker room, Orlando, in a rush to shower, eager to wash away the weirdness of the morning started searching for the first empty one. The locker room was bustling with the sounds of splashing water and the chatter of other students. As he made his way to the shower, he couldn’t help but notice something odd. Each shower stall had signs on them, some of which read ‘Expecting Fathers’ Showers’, others with pictures of men with pregnant bellies, and there were even a few labeled as ‘Expecting Fathers’ chairs’. He rubbed his eyes, sure he was dreaming, or someone was playing a prank on him.
“This can’t be right,” he murmured to himself, his heart racing. He decided to ignore the signs and just get clean. He turned the water on and waited for it to warm up. As he stepped into the shower, the water cascading over him, he felt a strange tension in the air—like something was about to happen.
The confusion grew as the water hit his skin, the warmth of it feeling oddly comforting in the midst of the chaos. Orlando scrubbed himself with the bar of soap that smelled faintly of baby powder and lathered his hair with the shampoo that was definitely not the brand he had bought. He tried to shake the unease, but it clung to him like the soap suds. He had to find Xavier and Lexie and figure out what was happening.
As he rinsed off, the water grew hotter, almost uncomfortable. He quickly turned the knob, but it didn’t respond. “What the hell!” he yelled, jumping back from the scalding spray. The room fell silent, and then erupted in laughter. Orlando realized that his friends had probably rigged the shower to prank him.
Once he managed to shut off the water, he grabbed his towel and rushed back to his locker, throwing on his clothes as fast as he could. He burst out of the locker room, half expecting to find Xavier and Lexie waiting for him with their signature smirks, but the sight of his friends outside his dorm was anything but comforting. Their expressions were mirrors of his own confusion and concern.
“Guys, what’s going on?” Orlando asked, panting slightly.
Xavier’s eyes went wide. “Dude, you don’t know?” He whispered urgently.
Lexie stepped closer; her own confusion palpable. “You didn’t hear about it?”
“What?” Orlando’s voice grew louder with each syllable. “What the fuck is going on?”
They exchanged glances, and Xavier spoke first. “There’s a rumor going around that a lightning storm last night caused something weird in the computer science lab.”
Orlando’s heart dropped into his stomach. He knew immediately which night Xavier was referring to. “The machine. Oh no. What did we do?”
Lexie’s voice was a mix of shock and fear. “We have to find out before this gets out of hand!”
“Guys let’s talk inside.” Xavier suggested rapidly looking around the hallway still baffled by all that has happened since the storm the previous night.
Orlando’s and Lexie’s gaze fell on each other and nodded, “yes.” They said as they turned their attention back to their friend.
The three of them hurried into Orlando’s dorm room, their eyes darting around the unfamiliar space. The furniture looked like it had been rearranged, and there were different posters on the walls that hadn’t been there before. Lexie and Xavier sat on Orlando’s bed; his eyes glued to the floor. Her eyes had been darting all over the room concerned written all over her. While Orlando for the second time that day bolted over to the dresser and then grabbed one of the few tee shirts in there and a pair of underwear. And quickly putting them on, using the towel to hide his privates. Afterwards in one swift motion grabbed the desk chair, pulled it over to his friend then sat down sitting on it backward leaning against the chair’s back and uttered, “what the ever loving hell is going on?”
Lexie shrugged as she finally stopped looking around the room.
“Okay… guys,” Xavier spoke with a heavy dose of hesitation in his voice as he eventually looked up from the floor and at Orlando. “I need to tell you all something that I just found out this morning.” He took a sudden pause trying to rearrange his words and only stumbling over his own thoughts until finally just blurting out. “So… um… I guess… here I go…” he took in a deep breath and brushed his red locks back. “So when I woke up this morning after we had all snuck back into our dorm rooms.”
“Dude just get to the point. Why do all these guys have guts and what’s up with the expecting fathers signs and pregnant men pictures everywhere?” Orlando demanded glaring at his friend.
“Okay, okay, okay,” Xavier said holding up his arm as if someone was going to shoot him. “Okay so when I woke up, my roommate was gone. And his bed was empty. And I didn’t think too much of it. It wasn’t until I saw him in the school’s cafeteria and then notice he had a belly. And I didn’t understand why until he mention he was pregnant, but I knew that wasn’t possible and thought he was joking and doing something to help his pregnant girlfriend, Jessica. But he told me he wasn’t dating a girl named Jessica, but his girlfriend’s name is Gemma. And then he told me that male pregnancy is normal and that most of the guys here with guts, they’re pregnant. And that guys have been getting pregnant for like forever. And it’s like everyone’s forgotten girls are supposed to get pregnant and it’s not us guys,” he said, his voice shaking.
Lexie’s jaw dropped. “That’s insane! My mom told me the exact same thing men get pregnant not women when she called me earlier. And then she said that my brother and his husband are both expecting instead of adopting a kid. She said it’s the latest trend for gay couples to do that. With both guys getting pregnant. And that a lot of same-sex couples are doing it. I didn’t know what to say!”
Orlando felt a cold sweat break out on his forehead. “We need to figure out what happened last night. Did we do something to the code that caused this?” He paced the room, his mind racing.
They sat in silence for a moment, the gravity of the situation weighing heavily on them. The storm had brought more than just rain; it had brought a bizarre reality where men were suddenly capable of bearing children. They had to find a way to reverse whatever it was they had unleashed, or their lives would never be the same again.
But as they sat there, trying to piece together the puzzle, the intercom crackled to life. The voice of the college’s dean, which had been a male’s voice verse a woman’s, filled the room, announcing a mandatory assembly for all students in the auditorium.
“What?” The trio uttered confused by the voice, the speaker in the room and why there was an assembly in the middle of the day, but wonder if it were time to face the music and hope they could find some answers.
They grabbed their bags and headed out into the hallway, passing by more and more of their male classmates with their newfound baby bumps. The whispers grew louder as they walked, and Orlando couldn’t shake the feeling that their little experiment had changed the world in a way they could never have imagined.