Jon quietly looked for the stone in his room.
He wasn’t sure what would make it appear… but… it would appear at some point, right? When it was the right time? He felt like now should be the time! Surly this was the moment? He was glad that Mikey was now doing a lot better as was Biff. What exactly did he have to do to get back the stone? Learn some kind of lesson? Accept people as the are? What was the point of all this! Looking over his shelf and drawers there was still no sign of it.
“Something interesting...” He whispered. Strangely it was like those words echoed in his room, vibrated and returned back. “Something interesting...” he repeated it like a mantra as if somehow it would conjure the most powerful artefact in the universe. Jon signed. Nothing. There was nothing...
“Hey bro,” smiled Zoe as she knocked into his room. “Lost something?” She tilted her head.
“Uh… nothing important,” Jon tried to dismiss.
Zoe looked at Jon curiously though dismissed it. She could tell whatever it was had to be very important. “Well, I wanted to let you know me and Mikey were heading to the cinema.”
Jon nodded still thinking about the stone. “Okay.”
“Well- you are welcome to come if you want?”
Jon blinked. “Huh?” The thought had not even crossed his mind.
“Well- I just noticed you spend a lot less time with Mikey now.”
“Oh-” Jon shrugged. “It’s not that. I mean- there’s been a lot of other stuff I’ve been thinking of.” He felt himself sigh again. If only he could tell Zoe! If only he could tell someone this weird virus was his fault. Though it was somewhat.. true. He had spent less time with Mikey, but only because he seemed happier now. “I didn’t want to mess it up with her,” he admitted.
“We are still siblings you know.”
“I know we are!” Jon explained with a strained voice. “It’s just… I’ve been looking at this all wrong. I was trying to say Mikey was just the same and I screwed up big time. I didn’t think about…”
“Treating him like me?” Zoe asked innocently with a light wink. “Oh- you look worried. Don’t worry Jon, I kinda worked out how being the only girl was among us. Now you are the only guy! I guess… part of me is worried about you too. I might even be a bit selfish. I get to have my own little sister too now!” She gave a light laugh. “But I didn’t want you to be the odd one out.”
Jon suddenly realised how complicated this could be. The relationship between himself and Mikey had changed on a fundamental level… his brother was now a girl and his little sister which was going to be a lot more different then having a little brother. Was gender really such a.. barrier? It made more sense for her to be with her sister instead of him and have more in common with Zoe then she would now with him. If anything the two could help each other. Jon didn’t mind that and in fact was grateful to have Zoe.
The implication of all this meant.. Jon was alone… He had lost the connection he had with Mikey being brothers. It hit him quite hard but an older brother was there to protect his younger siblings regardless of personal feelings. “You guys… have fun at the cinema. I just have some stuff I need to do.”
Zoe watched Jon go a little sadly.
Elliot’s new body was a bit of a marvel as soon as she had gone into the doctors. They had attempted to collect a blood sample but found her skin didn’t seem to allow that. The surface was almost like smooth plastic underneath. An approximation of human skin. Attempting to X-ray her also proved futile as there was no soft tissue. Knowing she was some form of artificial life they would not dare to use anything like a CT scan as the powerful magnet could cause all kinds of weird effects. As a result, Elliot was given the most generic of pamphlets possible: ‘dealing with changes’ as well as ‘a new young outlook on life’ and send home to deal with it.
“This sucks!” She protested as she got up on the weekend. Everything was so big! She got up slowly, still unused to the weird sensations of her new body, A brief look at her reflection startled her.
Where… what.. how… who… and where- well- what could she think! The fact she -could- think was in some ways a weird realisation given her lack of biological parts. She was just a weird complicated machine. She had no idea even what ran inside her or how. Some kind of computer probably but.. how was she even alive? An android made to look like a cute doll.
Yeah… she looked like a doll. Blonde hair of artificial nature sweeping each side of her in a twin-tail pattern not unlike sailor moon. She had tried to get them cut but some kind of ‘repair program’ kicked in, stating its operation over her optics and her hair rapidly grew back! She was literally stuck with them.
She didn’t have any clothes that would fit the body either and every time she tried to put something a bit more ‘normal’ her body would freeze and a message would flash stating ‘Against defined parameters.’ She would then be unable to take any action except to discard the clothes and try again.
She ‘could’ get around this if someone else dressed her (Awkward as that was) but it didn’t help. The parameter mismatch issue would flag and she would find herself seeking ‘appropriate’ clothes.
So here she was, dressed for the morning in some kind of blue dress. She had only a small set of breasts given her age- but sufficient curves to show she was a girl.. heck there was no way anyone could think she was anything besides the most girliest girl ever!
Her mother watched her for a bit with concern. “Something… rather weird came in the post for us.” she said with a clearing of her throat.
“Huh?” Elliot blinked. She looked up at her mother with confusion. She was so tall- no- the doll-girl was short. She was short!
“I don’t quite know how to put this but… it’s your uh- instruction manual.”
“My what?!” The doll-girl ran downstairs to the table. There was a huge book with her picture in front of it. An owner manual for a.. E-1110t Version 2. She looked at it in confusion and went through the first page. “Congratulations on your ownership of the E-1110t… the most perfect girl ever created- what the H- uh- H-”
‘Speech outside established parameters’ the strange writing appeared over her eyes.
Elliot growled slightly in her head. Every time those words came up she was stuck!
Her mother sat down on the table to flip through the book. “It’s actually quite interesting. It seems you are designed to be a perfect companion to someone one day.” She rubbed her head. “I heard the Mist could do strange things but I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
An instruction manual… like she was some kind of ‘thing’. Still maybe it could provide answers and had to be better then the stupid pamphlets from the hospital. Where and where it came from… well… she had a guess. From that ‘other’ place. “Is there anything in this thing about changing my… parameters? Every time I try to do something I- I can’t.”
“It seems you are fully customisable,” she nodded. Her mother looked at the manual. “Well- I had a brief look through. It looks like your parameters can be changed but um...” She looked awkwardly. “It looks like we need to use your remote control.”
“… Remote control? I- I have a remote control?!” Elliot looked exasperated. How was any of this even possible…
“Yep,” her mother produced a sleek looking futuristic grey remote. There were not too many buttons and they seemed a bit larger then she imagined they would be. There was an LCD screen of some kind at the top displaying various numbers. It seemed to display power currently at 98% and her general health? “To adjust parameters first press the red button-”
“Wai-” But as her mother pushed the button she suddenly fell down limp!
‘system off line’. Time stopped. Time stamp 11:10:13.
This was nothing. There was nothing. No thoughts of thoughts. A single frequency of existence. Time had literally stopped.
‘system online.’ Time stamp 11:14:12. Elliot blinked. What the heck just happened?! Her mother was suddenly holding her around her body. “Huh- what-”
“Are you okay?!” She cried terrified.
“I- yeah...” The girl looked with confusion.
“I was fiddling with the remote and tried to make you wake up- I don’t know why it wasn’t working! I don’t think we should ever try to change your parameters until we find someone that … knows how to do it safely. I put you back into default mode to wake you.”
Elliot didn’t want to give up but her mother wasn’t going to hear of it. “Let me go through the manual… maybe I can figure this out...”
“Elliot no!” The mother took the manual away from her.
“But Mom!”
“I won’t let you mess with your new body like this. You’re just a kid! You could do terrible harm to yourself. I’ll keep all this and your remote and see if I can change these paramaters later.”
Biff had gone out to do some shopping for the weekend.
The new sphinx-girl was feeling a little better lately. A nice chat with Jon seemed to make her feel a lot… better. It was strange whenever she thought of him. Actually Jon had become such a mystery of late. Mikey was almost like a sister given they were literally birds of a feather- or at least had them as part of their new bodies. Seeing the two take care of each other like that made her wish she had her own family…
She sighed. That was now gone of course. Who in the world would be ‘adventurous’ enough to try that with her? Heck… she wasn’t feeling adventurous enough to try it with some guy- but- well-
‘no don’t think about it’ she muttered.
She was walking down the isle on all fours. Her assignment was pretty simple… go get some milk. The sphinx had a custom made bag on her back which she hoped would let her carry some stuff. Though she resented that it made her look more like a pack mule.
She was just about to go to the shop when .. her senses kicked in.
‘run.’
… run? There was no danger here- yet she knew with absolute certainty if she didn’t run something bad would happen- but then another sense kicked in.
‘don’t run’.
If she didn’t run something even worse would happen! She felt herself stop with indecision. Something was happening… something was about to happen- or something really bad was happening!
A large van suddenly drove to the side. The door opens as a large man loomed above the sphinx. He stared at her evenly. “Biff… you are invited to have a chat with my boss.” He said evenly. “I would suggest you come inside.”
Biff glanced around. Her senses were going wild. What was going on.. if she didn’t go- what would happen?
The image of the family he had crashed into several days ago came to his mind- No! Their house would be burned? Would they survive? He couldn’t tell the future was all messed up-
“Biff… I suggest you comply.” The man said evenly.
Facing little choice the sphinx entered the van…
Biff found herself blindfolded.. her legs- both of them binded. Her wings wrapped tightly. She didn’t feel afraid though. Her future sense seemed to be telling her that no matter what happened this was the best way to avoid anyone getting hurt… including herself.
She also didn’t need to see. Her sense of smell was acute and she knew what was going on, where she was. She knew she was being taken to the back end of some fancy hotel. An elevator was rising to the top floor. She could smell weapons and guns… but they were not loaded- nothing was pointed at her.
A ding and she was now in some large office.
“Thank you Dominique...” A male voice spoke. “Please untie our guest and you may leave us now.”
“Boss? Are you sure?” The large voice spoke.
“Yes.”
Doninique started to undo the bindings on Biff. The large sphinx growled slightly. She had the body of a lion after all and could do a lot of damage. However the thought that these people might hurt others stopped her from doing anything. With the blind fold off she blinked, finding herself in some kind of office. The place was rich… exceedingly so. An oak desk of tasteful design as well as magnificent tapestries around her. A plush red carpet that oozed wealth and power.
The man behind the desk seemed to be in his mid fourties. Slightly grey hair but quite a handsome looking man. He had pale skin and a steely set of blue eyes. His teeth gleamed in pure white. He wore some kind of business suit and remained seated. “I do apologise for the methods used to bring you here Biff...” He said evenly. “The problem is, I know of your abilities. I couldn’t just.. bring you here. You would have known and flew away. My associates were concerned you might make a fight of it.”
“… so you targeted everyone I liked. No matter what I did if I didn’t come here...”
“Indeed. A great chess game if you will. Oh, pardon again for not introducing myself. I am Emit Sparrows...” He smiled quietly. “One of the names I go by, and one that people here will know should you choose to use it.”
Biff growled again. “What do you want… make me do something or kill my friends?”
Emit raised a hand. “First of all… that is not how we do business. Certainly that’s how some do… and perhaps I know a few that still use such techniques to get what they desire. However… I promise you now, whatever you decide no harm will come to anyone you favour. By all means, use your special future vision and you can see all is well… and my mind will not change.”
Biff wasn’t even sure if she was being played with. However from what she could gather the man was telling the truth. Everyone seemed to be safe. Her decisions would not impact anyone… though that didn’t make her relax much. “Just what do you want...”
Emit sighed. “Your power is useful Biff. Frankly, you are valuable. I want you to work with us. I run a number of casinos and… I would like to be able to make some extra money on the side. I also have interests in markets.. competition and frankly- a protector. One that can perceive of threats before they become actual threats.”
“Work with you?!” Biff’s wings shot outward making the man startled. “You kidnapped me!”
“Yes.. because it was the only way. You can walk out that door though at any time… or fly out the window.” Emit gestured. He started to move towards the window- wait what? He didn’t walk.. he glided- and soon Biff saw that Emit was actually in a wheel-chair. He nonchalantly rode towards a window and opened it.
Biff stared at him in surprise and confusion.
Emit turned his chair back towards him, rolling the wheels. There was no trick, Emit’s legs were unable to move. “I note you are surprised that I can run such a business without being in full use of my body,” He said calmly. “That is… also why I wanted to give you a chance.” he gestured to his legs. “I was born unable to use my legs. Nature decided I was to watch others live their lives and I was to be an object of pity. However I decided that was not the life I wished. I turned to… other means. The internet allowed one to run many things without physically walking. I grew an empire… I am the head of it. Others became my legs… I want you to be my wings.”
Biff humped at that. “I don’t deal with criminals!”
“Criminals!” Emit laughed. “There are shades of grey. Listen to me Biff… If I didn’t do this, what would I be? A man living in a run down apartment taking benefits from the government or doing pity jobs until some person decided to rob me and I become an even great object of pity. I want you to see what you can have...”
he gestured Biff to follow.
Reluctantly the sphinx started to walk with him towards some kind of hall way. There were more paintings here.
Emit gestured to one tapestry. “The first sphinx ever recorded from the age of Greece. Her name was Astraea. She could see crimes before they happened and told the authorities. Of course The authorities couldn’t deal with a crime that had yet to happen… and so she dealt with the issue herself. She saved an entire town from terrors… following these events the town began to worship her. They needed no other protector...” He smiled faintly. “She lived a life of incredible wealth and luxury. Temples were built for her...”
He gestured to the great rooms of the hotel. “This Biff, can be your palace. People will worship you for your future sight. Your every need and desire will be met. You will not be subject to some.. sub-standard of living for having no hands to open a door. Others will -beg- to be your hands or face the wrath of those with the power… you and me.”
“I won’t be a party to anyone that kills-”
“Killing? Heh, nobody kills here. We’re just doing business. Perhaps some of it is a little shady but… nobody gets hurt. Look, even between us this is just business. I have something you want, you just don’t know it. I have explored your records and history. You have a craving for power, domination and wealth. You loath what has happened to you and can see all your dreams being crushed before your eyes. Your love is gone and there is nothing this world can offer you… I am telling you now, there is no need to wait for an offer to happen. Take what the world owes you. It took your hands.. it took your humanity… just as it took mine. Partner with me and we will make more money to rule the world in the shadows… there would be nothing beyond your reach. Otherwise go home… go live your life in mediocrity… perhaps give rides to little kids in a park for a few buck. If you’re lucky you might own a house by begging someone to write your life story.”
Biff flattened her ears. Why was this making… sense. She wasn’t a bad person though! She felt so damn confused. Why did the cat part of her even… enjoy the idea of being worshipped and adored- urgh! Stupid instincts. “I need.. to think about this.”
“Of course Biff...” He smiled faintly. “Normally this is the part where I give you my card but… let’s not be so undignified. Just return to this hotel and tell the receptionist who wins the next football match… I will take that as a sign that you have decided to work for me. A million dollars will be placed in your accounts… you can decide to do what you will after that. No obligations… you can just take the money and go. Come back a second time… and more money will follow.”
Biff gulped.
