🤖✅ Exchanging Places

Chapter 4 - The Little Devil

Once the demon in his body placed him back on the floor, George tried to ignore the lingering humiliation from the diaper change. He had to act fast if he wanted any chance of regaining his body and thwarting the demon's twisted plan. It was clear now that the slightest childish action would suppress his memories of who he really was; so even if he had some recollection for a couple of weeks, it would probably only be days before he was incapable of fighting this. He needed a plan right now. Gazing around at the array of toys scattered about the room, an idea began to form in his mind – a trap.

"Maybe I can use these toys to trip the demon," George thought, determination swelling within him. He knew from past babysitting experience just how easy it was for his body to go flying after stepping on a toy car. And once the monster was on the floor, it should only take a few seconds to touch his lips and reverse this unfair exchange.

He started to crawl towards the toys, trying to ignore the crinkling sound coming from the fresh diaper and the disconcerting sensation of it snugly hugging his hips. It was hard to work out which was more distracting between shame from the sound that constantly reminded him what he was wearing, and the unexpected comfort of the soft padding around his bum. But he reminded himself that he couldn't think about it too much. He had a job to do here. George surveyed the battlefield before him, and considered his options.

He wasn't just going to depend on luck, he needed to think about this carefully while he still could. He figured that he needed something for distraction, and something else to push under the demon's foot. While the babysitter's attention was on the brightest and most unusual arrangement of toys he could put together, he would slide something small with wheels across the floor to make it trip. He started mentally cataloguing each toy, splitting them between those that would grab an adult's attention, and those more likely to go unnoticed until they were actually underfoot.

His eyes fell upon a small xylophone with a brightly coloured mallet. It had wheels on the corners, like a miniature skateboard, and was large and flat enough that it could easily carry a person's foot without breaking. The only problem was that its keys were all primary colours, and there was no way that the babysitter would fail to notice it, unless George could somehow disguise it. On the other hand, it might actually be better for the visible part of the equation. If George could figure out how to play a tune on the thing, the babysitter's attention would be drawn to him in an instant. The challenge for George now was finding out what was the best use for it.

"Ha!" George cheered involuntarily, but there was no time for celebrations yet – he still needed to focus enough to decide how to use it. He clumsily grasped the hammer in one hand, and tapped a few of the keys. It made a dull plink-plunk sound; certainly loud, but he wasn't sure just how effective it would be. He tried striking it again, with the mallet and with his hands. Maybe hitting it with another toy would actually work better. She tried using one of her dolls, and was rewarded by quite a resonant 'ding', although it seemed to be unreliable when its hair got in the way.

"Good dis...tacton," Eve said with a nod, frowning slightly as she realised that she couldn't get her lips to shape the words she really wanted to say. All the more reason to get this plan finished quickly. And if she had a distraction, she...

'He', George corrected himself mentally. His name was George, not Eve. It didn't matter how many times this body had heard that name, or how the neurons were already getting conditioned to respond to it, because he was more than just his body. He needed to stay on top of that, and to keep reminding himself who he was. Working towards getting his body back would be good for that, wouldn't it? He just needed...

"Something to trip up the demon... maybe this?" he pondered, staring at a shiny red vehicle that looked like it could easily slide beneath a foot. But that gave him a second thought as well, because every time he'd looked after a baby before, he'd been on the lookout for things like that on the floor. It was so bright and shiny that the babysitter would see it even before coming into the room. He looked around for something that would be a little less obvious, and caught sight of some building blocks that were at least a similar shade to the carpet.