Something was wrong with the machine, but Eva and Neil don't know that yet.
It's a normal mission, an easy wish, no real hurdles slowing them down. As they back out for the last time, a strange feeling overcomes the doctors. A kind of electric tingling, not quite painful but worrying all the same.
When Eva comes to, she immediately knows something isn't right. Her body feels completely wrong, like her soul has shifted about when she wasn't looking, a feeling not unlike her shoes are on the wrong feet. A strange weight is pressed against her nose. Cautiously, she removes her helmet. This is... this isn't right. She wasn't sitting here when they entered the simulation, she's supposed to be sitting over- What. Eva does a double take when she sees... herself. Where she last remembers being, she watches as her own body removes their helmet, looking just as confused as she currently felt.
"What the fu-" Eva watches her body say, and she suddenly feels sick. Standing up, she stumbles over and grabs the other Eva, noticing her hands look suspiciously like Neil's- dragging them both out of the room. The flat lining of the patient's machine matches the ringing in her ears, walking is incredibly difficult for the both of them. Once they're out of earshot of the patient's family, Eva turns and looks her body in the eye.
"Neil? What the cabbage is going on- wooooooah, my voice is deep..." Eva looks away, patting her new face and mumbling softly. "Deep, deeeeeeeep, ooooooooooooh" she laughs, this was kinda fun if it wasn't so concerning.
"Eva-" She heard her voice squeak. Well, that confirmed it. Eva looked back down at her face, at Neil. Neil was blushing up a storm, it was kind of weird being taller, Eva had to remind herself to look down instead of up.
"S-something must of gone wrong with the machine..." Neil stammered, high pitched and gravely, did her voice really sound like that? Probably not, his voice kept cracking, fluctuating in pitch wildly, like he couldn't decide how he wanted to sound.
Neil was really panicking, breathing heavily and looking around the room. Eva raised a hand to her current face, tapping the unfamiliar glasses in thought. Guess he wasn't used to people seeing his eyes. They were no use like this, whatever happened with the machine to make them swap bodies, it had to be fixed. Taking a steadying breath, Eva pats Neil's shoulder to grab his attention.
"Okay, listen... We can figure this out later, for right now let's just get our of here without causing a scene." Eva was trying to keep her voice even, but she still wasn't used to how deep it was. Though... it wasn't quite as deep as she had expected. Before walking back into the room to grab the equipment, Eva can't help but tease. "So... when are you hitting puberty?" She whispers to Neil, escaping back into the room as he squeaks indignantly.
However, upon returning to the machine, Eva's mind blanks. Despite appearing to be a tech, she is not, Eva has no idea how to manage the equipment. Neil walks into the room and stops beside her, he's looking a lot more composed now, smirking at her mischievously.
"Why, Dr. Watts, could it be you've somehow forgotten how to pack up the machine?" He whispers traitorously, just quiet enough that the patient's family can't hear him. She glares at him, lightly punching him in the arm before turning back to the machine. He just grins, and sighs dramatically. "Weeeeeell, I guess I could help you out, just this once..."
The family was eyeing them in concern as Neil showed her the ropes of being a technician, ugh, this was a mess... Stuck in the body of her nerdy partner. Eva was not sure what to do, let alone ACT LIKE NEIL. Sure he made references and was a dork, but he knew how to operate the machines better than her. She really didn't want to cause a scene... She had to wing it. She had to play this unknown role in order to not draw suspicion, and she didn't even have coffee.
"...Heavy..." Eva huffed, shifting under the weight of the box as they walked to the car. Neil glanced at her, smiling in mock pity.
"Now you know my pain-" he teased, before tripping over his own feet and face planting on the ground, again. Eva just sighs, repressing the urge to face palm.
"Can you at least try not to get me killed?" Eva winces, if this kept up she had a feeling she was going to be suffering the effects when they finally switched back. Once Neil opens the trunk of the car, she attempts to set down the heavy box- yelping in pain, Eva jumps back, cradling her fingers to her chest.
"Oh yeah, forgot to mention, watch the fingers!" Neil calls out, before jumping into the passenger seat and slamming the door. Eva follows suit, sliding into the driver seat and glancing at her partner. He'd closed the door too fast, and had shut his now long hair in the door. Eva watched him struggle before she silently reached over and opened the door for him, freeing the hair from it's prison.
"You gonna be able to drive like this?" He wonders out loud, pulling on the seat belt worriedly. Eva huffs, buckling herself in and starting the car.
"Bet I can do a better job than you, dude" she grins, attempting to do the cool anime-glasses thing, Neil just stares at her with a deadpan expression before bursting into laughter.
"That was- Oh God is that what that looks like?!" he manages between laughs, Eva simply punches him in the arm before backing out of the parking lot. They had a lot to catch up on before they arrived back at the office.
"Okay, so we just play it cool, get into your office, you can fix the machine and everything will be fine!" Eva was starting to get used to the situation, at least a little bit. Though, she still wasn't used to how tall she was, and promptly smacked her head on the door frame while getting out of the car. Neil, while laughing at her on his way out, tripped on the long lab coat and tumbled face first onto the ground.
With a grunt, Eva grabs the box from the trunk and trudges after Neil into the building. It's easy going at first, they're able to make it all the way up to the office hallways without attracting too much attention. However, it's as far as Eva is able to hold out, and she has to put the box down to catch her breath.
"Dangit Ev- uh... Neil," Neil clears his throat, casting a wary glance down the hall "...c'mon, we're so close, why'd you have to give up now?" Still catching her breath, Eva looks over at him.
"This would be easier, huff huff... if you took better care of yourself, eat a vegetable or something" She grumbles, causing Neil to rub the back of his neck awkwardly.
The sound of heavy footsteps approaching startles the both of them out of their thoughts, looking up down the hall. It's Robert, running towards them at full speed, grinning happily... what. In fear, Neil and Eva scream and attempt to scramble away, but to no avail. Robert grabs the both of them in a crushing bear hug, there is no escape.
"Oh my gosh! You guuuuuys, did it happen to you, too?" Robert's voice is oddly lilting, like he's trying to speak a lot higher pitched than his deep voice is able to. While Eva looks up at Robert in confusion, Neil is still desperately trying to free himself. In the chaos his long hair has taken over, Neil spits out hair, sputtering in silent, hairy agony.
"So, we weren't the only ones" Roxie's voice sounds from down the hall, strangely monotone. She leaning against the wall, arms crossed, watching them with a disgruntled frown. Robert smiles at them in sympathy, gently releasing them from the hug and taking a step back.
"...How could you tell?" Eva asks, defeated. Roxie just shakes her head dismissively, walking up to stand next to them. Robert picks up the box, laughing happily.
"This is great! Look how strong I am now, and so taaaaall~" Okay. Seeing Robert act like this was really starting to freak Eva out. Neil looked like he was about to explode, holding his head in his hands. Walking to Neil's office door, he blocks their view before entering the password, and they all sneak inside.
The second the door is closed, Roxie turns on them.
"I don't know how, but I have the feeling this is something you did, Neil." Roxie grumbles, eyes narrowing suspiciously at Eva, before remembering the situation and turning to face Neil. Neil sticks his tongue out, very mature.
Robert- wait, no- Roxie? Wait- dangit this is confusing. Roxbert and Robbanne? Nope, that's just stupid. Eva shakes her head, okay, Roxie in Robert's body put's the heavy box down on the floor, before turning to face them again.
"Aw, c'mon guys, don't look so glum! This is fine~" Rox!Robert chirps, causing Rob!Roxie to shake his head again.
"Things are not, in fact, fine" Rob!Roxie sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Eva can't help but agree, this entire situation was really starting to get on her nerves, she could feel a headache coming on...
"Yeah, I don't know about you, but I'd really like to get back to my own body, and forget this ever happened" Neil mumbles, crossing his arms defensively. Rox!Robert pats Neil on the shoulder, a little harder than necessary, causing him to squeak again.
"Don't worry~! Neil and I can work on the machines, though, isn't it kind of weird how we all got switched?" Rox!Robert wonders, tilting her head to the side. Rob!Roxie nods solemnly.
"That's what I was thinking, this may not be an isolated case." Hearing Roxie's voice so monotone and low was really starting to freak Eva out, she was feeling restless just sitting here.
"Hey, while you two start working, why don't I go grab some food?" Eva suggests, causing the other three to glance at her. Neil makes a sour face.
"Fine, but take Bobert with you, I don't trust you to bring back anything but vegetables..." he grumbles, glancing at Rob!Roxie for a moment before looking away again. Eva just nods, not feeling up to arguing. She locks eyes with Rob!Roxie, before they both walk out of the office without a word.