You awoke to the familiar hum of your room, light filtering through the blinds as you stretched your arms, rubbing your sleepy eyes. The routine of your day weighed on your mind, but as you padded to the bathroom, you stumbled. A strange sensation rippled through your legs, causing you to look down in confusion.
Your legs were growing stiff, and a sheen of metallic gray began to spread over your skin. Panic welled up within you as you tried to move, but found yourself sinking to the floor. Your arms twisted in unnatural ways, transforming into mechanical limbs. Each joint and sinew became steel, each motion accompanied by the hiss of pistons and joints.
"What... what's happening to me?" you whispered hoarsely. Your voice sounded foreign, strained.
Trying to stand, you felt the room whirl and tilt, a splintering sense that reality was breaking around you. Your body pitched forward, and you landed on your new wheels with a crash. The world around you warped, your bedroom dissolving into a swirl of colors and shapes that reformed into something entirely different. Lush greenery, endless tracks, the distant honk of a train.
You were no longer in your room but in the midst of Sodor, the land of Thomas the Tank Engine. An intense pressure ballooned within your chest, expanding until your human frame was unrecognizable. Your body elongated, metallic skin shimmering in the light. You became aware of the weight of a vast steam boiler, the complexity of a steam circuit connected within you. Steam hissed from your funnel, and the clarity of your new vision revealed an emerald green livery with yellow lining.
"Bust my buffers," you heard yourself say, voice noticeably higher, with a distinct Scottish lilt. "This cannot be happening."
Your voice. It was higher, softer. Your panic deepened as you tried to comprehend your transformation. Your face reshaped, turning gray before smoothing into the anthropomorphic visage of the engines of Sodor. The shed doors opened, and as you took in your surroundings, you saw other engines peering at you.
"Morning, Emily!" Thomas rolled alongside you, a bright smile on his face.
Your mind reeled. You remembered the human world, but it was slipping away, dissolving like a morning fog burned by the sun. Your memories, your identity as a human male, fought against the flooding tide of mechanical thoughts and locomotive instincts.
"Good morning, Thomas," you replied mechanically, your voice warm and friendly. No, this isn't right, you thought. I'm not Emily. I'm—I was—your human name faded, becoming a distant echo.
The engines around you, their chirpy familiarity, their steady presence, suffused your mind. Being Emily was never meant to feel like this before. How was a train meant to keep their human memories and personality?
But they were fading fast. The mental change solidified as you fought to hold onto your human self.
"You alright, Emily?" Percy approached, his concern evident. "You seem a bit out of steam."
"I'm fine," you—it was Emily who replied. "Just a little bit of confusion this morning."
"There are freight cars waiting for you." Gordon's booming voice announced your duties.
You knew the routine, the rolling tracks beneath you, and the echo of railway signals calmed the remaining fears, your mind settling into the role Emily always held. You felt the warmth of camaraderie with your fellow engines, their presence who you've known so long.
"I'm Emily. I'm a steam engine," you—Emily whispered firmly, the final shred of your human fear dissolving under the steel resolve of an engine born in the Victorian era, built by train engineers, and integrated so deeply into the workings of Sodor's Railway. You truly were not human at all, never male. The memories of a human male that you dreamed about could not exist.
As you set off on the tracks, your large wheels rolling smoothly, you let that doubt fade. Your identity was whole again. And as you proudly chugged along the railway, you felt the joy of doing the work you loved, helping the other engines, and doing good for Sodor.
This story was generated by user MeganAndy with assistance by one of OpenAI’s large-scale language-generation model; prompts used to help generate the story are shown below.
Images were generated with OpenAI's AI system, DALL·E 2, or uploaded by the user.
Prompt: Write the POV transformation story of the male human reader (from the real world) turning into Emily (from the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise), complete with body change (the arms (even hands) and legs (even feet) turning into metallic train wheels with running gears, the human's body falling from his formerly bipedal human posture into his new six-wheel train posture, body ballooning and elongated from a human's body into a steam engine's metallic body (complete with a boiler, steam circuit, and the aforementioned six wheels with running gears), his face pale from normal color to gray before reshaping to match other tank engines of the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise, etc), gender change (turning from male to female, despite losing all human genitals, and his (now her) voice raises in octaves into those of a female's), voice change (the reader's voice changing to fit her new life as a living (and human-faced) steam engine), reality change (the reader's real world becoming the world of Thomas the Tank Engine, now finding himself (now herself) on the train tracks on a railway in Sodor, more specifically in a shed where the show's train characters rest), and mind/mental change (with the reader's personality and memories being completely replaced with those of Sodor's steam engines (even starting to talk like other train characters from the show, even saying lines such as "Bust my buffers"), despite her best efforts on fighting off the mind/mental changes (she is scared of losing her male human self and becoming who she's not), making her remember (or rather realize) that she had always been a female steam engine named Emily (which is the reader's real/true self), and that she was dreaming of her human life all this time (she knew that it was completely impossible for her to have ever been a human (she was also never male to begin with), since she was built in 1870 by (human) train engineers) and she's awoken back to her real/true self as one of Sodor's steam engines), so she continues her work at Sodor as she always had). The transformation is permanent (meaning it is forever) and is completely irreversible. Here is Emily's appearance; she is steam engine based on a Great Northern Railway (GNR) 1003 class Stirling Single 4-2-2, and she is painted emerald with yellow lining and brass fittings. Her valences and the back section of her running board are painted chocolate brown, while the top of the front section of her running board is grey. Her bufferbeams are red. When Emily debuted, she had bronze buffers with black buffer shanks. In the eighth series, her buffers became silver, while her buffer shanks later became red in the eleventh series. In the twenty-third series episode Chucklesome Trucks and in several magazine stories, Emily's buffers were briefly black as a mistake, but returned to being silver in later episodes. For the Great Railway Show, gold trim and flowers were added to her livery for her participation in the best-decorated engine parade. After she returned to Sodor, she was repainted to her original livery. From the twenty-fourth series episode Emily to the Rescue onwards, Emily has her number 12 painted on the middle square on the sides of her tender in beige with chocolate brown borders. Here is Emily's personality; Emily is a kind, caring, helpful and intelligent engine, who speaks with a Scottish accent. She is sensitive to the feelings of others and is quick to apologise if she wrongs someone, whether knowingly or not. She will stand up for other engines if they are being teased or treated unfairly and is unafraid to speak her mind, even to authority figures. Emily often acts as a level-headed voice of reason, particularly when the other engines jump to conclusions or when a friend needs moral support. She is also a very competent, clever, adaptable and quick-thinking engine, and as such is often relied upon for advice, a trait which eventually led her to becoming the railway's official "safety engine". Though Emily can occasionally come off as bossy, rude or impatient, these traits are usually unintentional on her part and come from a place of concern for the well-being of others. She does, however, have occasions where she can be quite vain or overconfident, usually as a result of feeling she knows best, though once brought back down to earth she is always sure to make amends. Since around the eighteenth series, Emily has been prone to feelings of inadequacy or jealousy, often longing for more excitement in her life when she hears of others' adventures, or for the same talents as them. Thus, making her a character that the audience can sympathise with. Here is Emily's history (according to the Thomas the Tank Engine franchise); When Emily was new to Sodor, she borrowed Annie and Clarabel without Thomas' knowledge, to the shock of the other engines. The matter was resolved after she saved Oliver from a nasty accident and she was rewarded with two new coaches. Emily proved to be kind-hearted, as she was the only engine concerned about Henry when he was ill due to leaky tubes and stuck up for Salty when Thomas and Percy were teasing him. She also came up with the suggestion that Bulgy could help the farmer deliver his vegetables around the island, after his passenger services went wrong due to some chickens sleeping in his luggage racks. One winter, Emily decided she would "help" Thomas by telling him what he was doing wrong. This offended Thomas, resulting in him ignoring Emily when she told him to wear his snowplough. Emily later helped Thomas when he became stuck in a snowdrift, but was scolded for not having told Thomas that it was Sir Topham Hatt's orders. During summer, she was assigned to make runs to the Flour Mill. She soon met up with James, who had been assigned to the Black Loch run and told her that there was a monster in the Loch. After having difficulty with the Troublesome Trucks at the Flour Mill and accidentally shunting some of them into a pond, she was reassigned to the Black Loch run, where she discovered the "monster" was just a family of seals. She then continued to run the line to Black Loch for the rest of the Summer. While pulling the Express for the first time, Emily was determined to keep to Gordon's timing, but became impatient and ran out of water. Following a storm on Sodor, Emily was tasked with bringing timber to repair a barn at McColl Farm. Throughout the day, she would boss around others who were helping to clear up the storm's damage, but after a confrontation with Elizabeth and some advice from Thomas, learned to be more polite and delivered the timber on time. When Thomas had to stay at Knapford Sheds temporarily, Emily did not like his company at first as she did not want him to disturb her sleep. Later, however, she learned how comfortable it is to have the company of friends, missing Thomas when he did not return to the sheds one night. Originally disappointed once Tidmouth Sheds was rebuilt, she was delighted to find that the shed had gained a seventh berth and she was transferred there to be with her new shed mates. Emily was once asked to collect a set of special coaches to be awarded to Gordon. These were stolen by Diesel in retaliation to her having not listened to him earlier, leading her to chase him around the Island, only being able to catch him when Sir Topham Hatt intervened. After finding out that Diesel had wanted to tell her about him having broken a record for shunting trucks, Emily made amends by gifting Diesel a new motor and apologising for ignoring him. On Whiff's first day on Sodor, Emily was asked to help him collect rubbish trucks. She initially avoided him due to being laughed at by the other engines, but apologised after she realised she would need his help to move some trucks out of Spencer's way. When Thomas hid his snowplough one winter, Emily had to do Thomas' work for him, including ploughing the tracks and later running his branch line. She later rescued Thomas after he got stuck in a snowdrift while trying to recover his snowplough. During one foggy day, Thomas told Emily about the Flatbeds of Fear, but Emily did not believe in it and said there must be a sensible explanation. After taking the train on from Henry, she began to believe in it after hearing the whistling noises for herself, until Thomas informed her that it was just one of Salty's tall tales. When the other engines tried to clear the tracks of snow for Connor to deliver the last train for Christmas, Emily struggled at a deep drift near the Vicarstown Bridge. Fortunately, Hiro helped by charging the drift from the other side, allowing Connor to pass through. One of Emily's most exciting jobs was taking a giant model of a globe to the Sodor Animal Park. While attempting to show it off, however, she lost the globe, leading her to have to chase it all the way to Brendam Docks. After Emily was informed by Paxton about the rumour that Toby was to be scrapped, Henrietta overheard this and knew it was not true. Emily took her to find Toby and once they found him safe, Emily gave him some of her coal. After being helped to the Sodor Steamworks by her, Emily became fascinated with Caitlin being able to go at such high speeds and wondered what it would be like to be fast, becoming depressed when she could not do so. Emily eventually regained her self-confidence after managing to save Caitlin when she became a runaway after her brakes broke on a steep hill. When Thomas was fed up with Diesel's selfishness during the holidays, Emily partook in Thomas' plan to mend the diesel's ways, much to her joy and amusement. She later attended the Earl's Christmas lunch with several other engines. Emily was one of the Sodor engines that took part in the Great Railway Show and competed in the Best Decorated Engine Parade alongside James, but the two lost to Rajiv. After Percy dropped out of the Shunting Challenge, she encouraged Thomas to take his place, declaring him Sodor's last chance to win. Emily was once assigned Thomas' duties with Annie and Clarabel while Gordon took her trucks of scrap when Dowager Hatt took charge of the railway temporarily while Sir Topham Hatt was ill. After Dowager Hatt's changes resulted in much confusion and delay, Emily confronted her about the situation and helped the Dowager to get things back on track before Sir Topham Hatt returned. One winter, Emily helped Donald and Douglas pull a heavy train of steel pipes to Vicarstown, but ended up being derailed at the bottom of Gordon's Hill due to the twins' constant bickering. After scolding the pair for their childishness and being lifted back onto the rails by Harvey, she took the train from the front while the twins pushed together from the back, reaching Vicarstown without any further trouble. Following a storm, Emily took the Sodor Rangers on a camping trip so that Nia had more time to finish her shunting in Knapford Yards, but derailed whilst trying to get a fallen tree off of the line. Later that night, Nia brought her the truck of camping supplies she had forgotten to pick up from the yards - fortunately, the Rangers had been able to set up a camp using the survival skills they had learned. Emily and Nia stayed with them throughout the night and the next morning she was rerailed with their help. When a sand sculpture was to be unveiled at Tidmouth Town Square, the rest of the Steam Team were working in pairs, leading Emily to feel left out. While searching for a "best friend" to work with, Emily became distracted and forgot to deliver her trucks of sand, which were gone by the time she returned. Fortunately, Emily found out at the unveiling that Thomas had noticed Emily forgot her trucks and delivered them for her, much to her relief. Later, when an emergency drill turned into a real emergency, Emily came to the rescue with Rocky, saving Gordon from a collapsing bridge and helping clear up a three-engine pile-up with James, Percy and Rebecca. As a reward for her quick thinking, Sir Topham Hatt appointed her the railway's official "safety engine" and had her number 12 painted on her tender. There should also be quotes from the characters in this story so we know what they're saying and what they're thinking. Also, it is a POV reader story, so it should not be in an author's point of view (my, I, mine, etc), and it should be from the point of view of the reader (you, your, etc)
Response: You awoke to the familiar hum of your room, light filtering through the blinds as you stretched your arms, rubbing your sleepy eyes. The routine of your day weighed on your mind, but as you padded to the bathroom, you stumbled. A strange sensation rippled through your legs, causing you to look down in confusion. Your legs were growing stiff, and a sheen of metallic gray began to spread over your skin. Panic welled up within you as you tried to move, but found yourself sinking to the floor. Your arms twisted in unnatural ways, transforming into mechanical limbs. Each joint and sinew became steel, each motion accompanied by the hiss of pistons and joints. "What... what's happening to me?" you whispered hoarsely. Your voice sounded foreign, strained. Trying to stand, you felt the room whirl and tilt, a splintering sense that reality was breaking around you. Your body pitched forward, and you landed on your new wheels with a crash. The world around you warped, your bedroom dissolving into a swirl of colors and shapes that reformed into something entirely different. Lush greenery, endless tracks, the distant honk of a train. You were no longer in your room but in the midst of Sodor, the land of Thomas the Tank Engine. An intense pressure ballooned within your chest, expanding until your human frame was unrecognizable. Your body elongated, metallic skin shimmering in the light. You became aware of the weight of a vast steam boiler, the complexity of a steam circuit connected within you. Steam hissed from your funnel, and the clarity of your new vision revealed an emerald green livery with yellow lining. "Bust my buffers," you heard yourself say, voice noticeably higher, with a distinct Scottish lilt. "This cannot be happening." Your voice. It was higher, softer. Your panic deepened as you tried to comprehend your transformation. Your face reshaped, turning gray before smoothing into the anthropomorphic visage of the engines of Sodor. The shed doors opened, and as you took in your surroundings, you saw other engines peering at you. "Morning, Emily!" Thomas rolled alongside you, a bright smile on his face. Your mind reeled. You remembered the human world, but it was slipping away, dissolving like a morning fog burned by the sun. Your memories, your identity as a human male, fought against the flooding tide of mechanical thoughts and locomotive instincts. "Good morning, Thomas," you replied mechanically, your voice warm and friendly. No, this isn't right, you thought. I'm not Emily. I'm—I was—your human name faded, becoming a distant echo. The engines around you, their chirpy familiarity, their steady presence, suffused your mind. Being Emily was never meant to feel like this before. How was a train meant to keep their human memories and personality? But they were fading fast. The mental change solidified as you fought to hold onto your human self. "You alright, Emily?" Percy approached, his concern evident. "You seem a bit out of steam." "I'm fine," you—it was Emily who replied. "Just a little bit of confusion this morning." "There are freight cars waiting for you." Gordon's booming voice announced your duties. You knew the routine, the rolling tracks beneath you, and the echo of railway signals calmed the remaining fears, your mind settling into the role Emily always held. You felt the warmth of camaraderie with your fellow engines, their presence who you've known so long. "I'm Emily. I'm a steam engine," you—Emily whispered firmly, the final shred of your human fear dissolving under the steel resolve of an engine born in the Victorian era, built by train engineers, and integrated so deeply into the workings of Sodor's Railway. You truly were not human at all, never male. The memories of a human male that you dreamed about could not exist. As you set off on the tracks, your large wheels rolling smoothly, you let that doubt fade. Your identity was whole again. And as you proudly chugged along the railway, you felt the joy of doing the work you loved, helping the other engines, and doing good for Sodor.
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