I've been thinking about transforming a guy into water and back, and thinking I probably want to explore it in more than just a little short story. I didn't get very far, but here is what I have so far. This takes place as the main character first learns that he's being transformed into a liquid.

Jay looked at the pack of cigarettes sitting on the table. Yesterday, he could have killed for one. So he agreed to one more test.

They didn’t give him the prize because they cared about him. They didn’t. He was just one data point in a whole pile of statistics.

When he started the program, cigarettes were off limits because they wanted their test subjects in prime health. As the last subject left alive, they no longer cared. That he was still around was something of a surprise this late in the program.

Not that anyone had expected a death sentence signing up for this gig. Yea, there were all the standard forms disavowing any sort of danger existed, and preventing beneficiaries or loved ones from suing the company should something unexpected occur. Hell, you had to sign worse forms than that just to cross the street these days. And the geeks weren’t positive that everyone had died. Some might have just gone missing.

There was a pack of matches from the Lady Luck’s All Night Blue Casino and Dance Club on the table next to the cigs. Someone in this place had a sense of humor, anyway. The odd thing, though, was that after yesterday’s test, Jay no longer had any desire to smoke.

He felt different. Like I woke up in someone else’s body different. Nothing hurt. In fact, he felt good, really good. He couldn’t remember ever feeling quite this healthy and content. If that was a side effect, it was a damn good one. Maybe the geeks were at last getting closer to what ever it was they were looking for. 

“Martial arts training in fifteen minutes, Jay,” came over the hidden speakers in the waiting room.

It had been the offer of training with Master Ino that got him into this crazy program in the first place. The Master was one of a kind. There were rumors that a guy could get a black belt just by being in the same room, breathing the same air. At first there had been six of them in the class. The classes were fantastic. Jay learned things he couldn’t have imagined in a million years. Now that it was just him with the teacher, his rate of learning just kept accelerating. He knew he should feel bad that the others were gone, but the class was just so good.

Unfortunately, the class only lasted two hours. Then the geeks got him for another three. They scraped the sweat off his body and tested everything humanly possible—respiration, pressures, muscle mass, density. After six months, he knew the routine. Some of it made sense, he guessed, but he never could understand why they refused to let him talk through all of it. He could make the case that they didn’t want their measurements influenced by his comments, but even small talk was disallowed. Later on, they’d all be chatty and friendly, but during the examination, silence was the rule.

Of the geeks, the closest he had to a friend was Bolt. That wasn’t his real name. In fact, he doubted he knew the actual names of any of the folks in the facility. Bolt was called that because he wore shirts with a little lightning bolt embroidered in the space above his pocket protector. They all had silly identifiers like that. Bolt spent more time with Jay than any of the others and seemed to be a genuine, nice guy.

“So, Jay. For months you’ve been complaining about no smokes. I get you some, and you don’t even open the package.” Bolt made notes on his tablet.

“So long without, I guess you broke my habit.”

Bolt led him to the tank room. The label on the door said something obscure, but within was this big bathtub-like tank, so that’s what Jay called it. Of late, they’d do this every day.

Jay didn’t need to be told to undress and climb into the tank.

Bolt drizzled the contents of a bottle over him. That was new.

“We think this is going to help facilitate consciousness,” the tech said. “I warmed it up a little. I hope it isn’t too cold.”

The pink liquid touched his skin and was instantly absorbed, leaving a slightly oily trace.

“Ready?”

“Sure.” For what, he could never guess. Jay always blacked out then.

Except this time he didn’t. But he wished he did. All of a sudden, he could see nothing, feel nothing. There was no sound either.

He was about to lose it when he thought he heard a voice.

“It’s all right, Jay. You’re doing great. Five minutes more and you’ll be back to normal.”