Mary normally had quite the analytical mind (which was currently sitting along side another- alien mind), capable of discerning and distilling information (both capable of doing so to a fine degree) until crystal clarity could be found (or creating the illusion of such).
It was all about the story to the teenage girl- that is, the story of ‘others’. She was quite content to examine people like bugs in a microscope. A little prod here and a poke there to eventually bring out the picture of their lives… then display it for all to see, once she had all the secrets naturally. She took a sense of gratification in this work that some might consider a bit… unethical? Maybe that was too far a word- she simply followed the story. She always did really well and naturally wanted to be a journalist.
Though it seemed this time the story had landed on her uncomfortably close.
Greg stood there folding his arms with that quiet smirk on his face broadening into an ever widening grin. He didn’t know what happened to her… was she an alien then? It might make some sense. Maybe there was an alien in her bloodline. Wouldn’t that be fun to tell everyone! However even he could see it was so much better to milk this. “So… how much is this worth to you?”
The diminutive teenager looked momentarily fearful as she stared at her hands. Normal hands, they were normal. Her body was normal. She turned to Greg angerily. How dare he even try to blackmail her! That was her prerogative! “Don’t you dare say a word about this!”
Greg simply gestured with his left hand, running his thumb against the fingers. “What’s that expression? Cross my palms with silver?” He was enjoying this so much!
“That’s for fortune telling you ignorant jock!” Mary almost hissed. Though until she understood just what was going on… she needed time to work out what happened to her. “We’re not talking here- step into my office. Quietly.” She gestured him quickly down the corridors of the school. She had never felt so nervous as now and yet… at the same time she felt like this was her… territory? “Get in.”
“… you mean in your closet?”
“It’s a perfectly good newspaper office!” She snapped as she walked adjusting her clothes a bit after the.. unusual appendage appeared. It had pushed things around a bit awkwardly even with its disappearance.
The club room was… Spartan to say the least. a… repurposed windowless room. It used to be a storage closet- not exactly small given it was for a small class, but it was hardly a full size room like most clubs had. Mary was after all the only member of her club… not for lack of people wanting to join a club as hers- Mary just didn’t find people she could accept into her club so ran it herself.
A single computer rested on a shelf with a chair propped up towards it. Given her slight size this seem to work out okay for her. Though what drew Greg’s curiosity was a paper on the wall. It looked like it came from an actual real paper… and Mary wrote the article?
“huh.. what’s this?” Greg looked at it curiously.
“My first interview with one of the aliens. I got to talk to one when I was a kid and wrote about it.”
Greg looked at the list. It was actually rather cute. When the aliens first came to Earth.. so Mary would have been a preschooler at the time maybe. Some questions about what the aliens liked to eat, and if they could someday visit their planet… though one question did come up at the end which made him wonder: ‘are there any bad aliens out there?’
“… did you get any answers?”
“Their favourite dish is something called Terisilo. I never found out what that was but I intended to find out. We can visit their world someday… and they simply said ‘not around here.’ for the last one.” She huffed a bit. “Anyway- it seems we have a deal to make.” She looked at him flatly. “I don’t want you telling anyone anything of what you saw. It’s gone now anyway.”
“The.. tail you mean?” Greg asked tilting his head with a grin.
“It’s not there nya-o!” Mary covered her mouth in shock. What the… “I mean- it’s not .. there, Now. I don’t have a tail now- and I never will again and I’m not gonna even-” she felt her tongue against her incisors. Were they growing? No- damn it. ‘calm down… ‘calm down’ … “Until I have this figured out… not a word.”
Greg smiled. “Sure. Also, I think we can agree not a word about my alien clone?” So did stress trigger it? Could he push her a little more? Hm…
Mary’s eyes twitched. “… alien clone?”
Greg looked at her- then had that feeling as if he had just blundered at this whole thing. “Well- I mean- the alien girl-”
No- Mary heard him loud and clear. “Alien.. Clone? Alien clone? The Alien girl? The alien is a clone… she’s… your clone… she’s… you?!” She looked at Greg with a weird cat-like grin. In fact that the way her lip started to split she was looking like the Cheshire cat himself. “Oh this is so juicy- Meow- Huh? EEK!” There was the sound of something tearing and ripping. A popping sound as her tail had reformed, eagerly swinging behind her as if she was a cat cornering a mouse. “What the heck is happening to meeeow!”
Greg watched in awe and despite his slip up- he still grinned. “So! What are you going to do now Mitty.”
“Mitty?!”
“Mary the kitty… Mitty. I think it suits you for a new name.” He chuckled.
Mary’s eyes narrowed. In fact- they narrowed along the side turning her eyes into a distinctly cat-like shape. “Don’t you call me that! I’m Meowry!”
Pop- just like that her ears now appeared! Mary seem to forget for a moment that she was supposed to be on two legs as she hunched down to anger- before she realised what she was doing. She stood up looking at her tail and tried to concentrate again. ‘Be human.. be human.. be human...’
Relief… they went away again. Was this going to be permanent!? If she got mad upset or angry… how was she going to even avoid this? “How did this happen…” She tried to think. “I nyoed to figure out how this happened!”
“Well.. retrace your steps perhaps?” Greg tried to suggest still grinning a bit. Teasing out her cat-body was going to be.. fun.
“Retrace… I can’t remember what even happened. I was… walking and then- I was on the bench… dizzy...”
“… maybe.. you were abducted by aliens?” Greg chuckled.
Mary tilted her head at that.. could that have happened? “Well… if I assume alien involvement… that can only mean one place to investigate. I got to get to that spaceship.”
Greg’s eyes widened. “Oh hell no! I’m in trouble with my mom over that. I ended up with a freakin’ alien clone. I’m not going anywhere near those crazy people!”
“I need answers Greg! You’re the only one who has actually been in there. Can you just show me-ow the door you used and I’ll find some way in.”
The tall teen looked with some caution at this. “Hmph. Scott’s Mom probably keeps it locked now. I can show you the door but I am not going in there.”
Mary for some reason grinned. “Well, meow-be the other you could be of help there instead...”
Greg gulped. He really wished he had not told her like this. Why was he so bad at keeping secrets! “Look- Mary.” he said trying to hold onto her hand in a serious manner. The gesture took the cat-girl by surprise.
Greg looked to her seriously. “I didn’t want to tell you about her… but please- I’m just a guy that absolutely sucks at keeping people’s secrets.. secret. Even my own. You want me to admit I might have a thing for Scott’s new body? Fine, I admit it. I think she’s attractive. Write it down. The alien has a connection to me of sorts… she has my memories that’s all. She thinks she’s me but she isn’t… it’s best not to take advantage of it. I’m hoping they can just wipe her mind later on.”
Mary seemed surprised at the honesty. “Why are you telling me this?”
“Because I’m ‘really’ bad at keeping secrets… and you have a secret. A secret I know.”
Mary’s eyes widdened. “You accidentaly blurted out the alien’s secret without me even needing to prompt you. Oh Nyaa-o!” she suddenly jumped up in annoyance. It took a few breaths for her to clam down. “Okay… well- here’s how I think we’ll play it. I need to keep as close an eye on you as possible… I’ll.. ‘teach’ you how to keep a secret.”
Greg gave an innocent bat of his eyes. “I’m not a good student either.”
“Now that isn’t completely true.. but I can teach anyone how to keep a secret. If you tell anyone about this then I will tell everyone about the alien!”
“People will still know about you Mitty the Kitty.”
“Pft!” Mary growled. “Shut up! I need to think- urgh...” She rubbed her ears with her hand as she thought of how best to work this out. She needed to stick to him and make sure he kept his world “Fine. Let’s be a couple.” She stated with utmost seriousness. “At least in appearance so we have a reason to be talking to each other.”
Greg almost gagged. “Uh? What? You’re not my type.”
“-Just what’s wrong with meow!” Mary raised her eyes in annoyance.
“Well… you look kinda… short-”
Then the claws came out.
“… but … I mean- you’re probably okay. Sure...” Greg gulped. “Just in appearances. I don’t really want us to be a real couple anyway.”
“As if I would find a meat head like you attractive.” The cat-girl growled once more. “I need to figure out what happened to me...”
This was a complicated brain. It seemed very focused on coherency, something which in some ways the symbiont could relate to. Things had to make sense in terms of memory but… the need to keep itself quiet and hidden took paramount especially as it was still inserting itself.
Its had to hide… and it had to work hard to end the thought processes that might yield discovery. This was not a normal creature… it was a creature made of two minds running in parallel both checking against each other. It was surprisingly difficult to maintain the illusion on both of them at once. It could halt the analytical processes but the emotional emanations lingered on forcing a further memory cascade. A gap in memory was not tolerated which started to introduce it to concepts of ‘time’ and ‘story’. A very complicated species, clearly at the top of the food chain!
For some reason it was nearly detected. It took no action given that the mind was working on its own to keep itself hidden anyway. It didn’t know enough about this mind to fill in the missing gaps. It could certainly provide an impulse if needed but resources were restrained for the moment.
At some point it would have to work on multiplying when its cycle completed. This species- which it learned called itself ‘human’ despite the mind’s strength was… incredibly physically compatible. It was almost as good as its initial ancestor, perhaps lacking in some of the hearing and visual acuity and lacking in tolerances to ultra violet radiation however… this species was incredibly adaptable right down to their genetics.
It would wait this out quite comfortably.
Pyx was still a bit sore from that game of basket ball. From her experiences so far, her new body had a surprising amount of stamina despite… lacking in physical strength. Being aware of this was one thing but capitalising on it was another. It didn’t come naturally at all given yesterday she had elements of both and it was hard not to see it as a handicap- not to mention the loss of substantial height. Yes, her legs were pretty strong for their size and it certainly allowed her to run further then most would think but… how to make use of it? It would take time to work it out.
‘Stupid alien body. It assimilates another species and forgets how it’s actual body works!’ How was that even ‘good’ for any survival? Then again it could be the consequence of absorbing a sentient being. Her own memories of her actual ‘real’ body were just that strong even if she was just some copy trying to make use of these alien fingers and toes.
At least she had avoided most of the girls in the changing room afterwards, except for Mel. The girl seemed to be tailing her- literally- like glue wherever she went. She wouldn’t have minded (That much) in her human body but she was treating her like some sort of kid!
The shower had been awkward enough. She snorted- sorta- through her mouth which came out as a weird mix of a sneeze and cough with a slightly higher pitched ‘squeak’ of sorts. Not a normal sound at all. She ran the hair over her strange tendrils on her head feeling them out. she didn’t seem to sweat as such but the water was oddly refreshing. The way her body regulated heat was a little on the strange side as her tail seem to vibrate a little, generating ambient warmth to her torso. Drying the large tail proved to be more then awkward as she tried to rub against the side as it didn’t exactly move easily in front of her either. In the end she set the towel down on the ground and tried to rub the appendage against it instead giving an odd and surreal sensation when one never had such a thing before.
She only had a few minutes before the other girls began to pour into the changing room. Fortunately the girls seem to be slower then even the guys at this task- she had to be quick!
“Don’t you blow dry your hair?” Mel asked inquisitively as she stood over her quite comfortably in her underwear. She changed relatively quick though not out of embarrassment- more then likely she was just following Pyx’s pace.
“No- I mean- it’s not exactly hair.” Pyx blushed heavily pulling down her loose top shirt. When she thought about it she realized just how trapped she felt. Trapped in flesh... trapped in clothes… trapped in… in.. the girls locker rooms and now trapped with this weird girl who was trying to be friends with her!
Some of the other girls from class started to pour into the changing areas. Pyx took this as her moment to leave while they glanced over to the pair in a not so hostile and ever so curious enough manner, though the new alien girl was not going to be anywhere near them! She darted out of the locker room with her somewhat large backpack trailing behind her barrelling out of the forbidden changing area dramatically.
The alien girl was out now in more neutral territory. She stared at the huge halls… and now a…. sea of students walking, chatting, carrying books, bags... They glanced down at her in surprise but moved on, pausing so briefly at the strange sight that she was. Her tendrils picked up an ambient torrent of thought- seeing so many people like this it was actually strange. Human thoughts could not communicate to each other and yet there was some kind of… buzzing sound? It tasted like saccharine- kind of sweet tasting and yet oddly artificial but not unnatural as such. Layers of thoughts created this image of thoughts that seemed even more alien.
College was no longer ‘felt’ as she remembered. Not with these feelings in her head. It looked the same but it was also different.
If Pyx were a cat her ears might flatten at this point. If she even ‘had’ some way to express what she was feeling beyond the furrowed slightly wrinkled brow and twinge to the left eye.
Her own body- her REAL body was among those students right? Living a life that was supposed to be hers. Why did it have to be her! Why was she the copy? Where was the justice! Existential crisis in three.. two…
… ‘I’m just a copy… a shadow.. an echo.. not even real..’ the thoughts spiralled into her uncontrollably. She looked at her large arms and the long projection of fingers that were not even human! She then felt a somewhat large slap on her back pushing her forward with a gasp. “Huh?!”
“So what class we got now!” Mel grinned having followed her new friend. “Let’s see… I hope we have some classes that are the same. Maybe we could join a club together?” She wanted to spend as much time as possible with Pyx and learn everything about her!
“I- I don’t know.” Pyx didn’t know where she was going but she wanted to be alone now to try and push this existential crisis away, though there were not exactly many places one could -be- alone in a school. Faces looked down on her... some she recognised but none recognized her. She turned away not wanting to see it any more, her tail limply swaying behind her. Eventually the alien girl wondered into an empty study room. Just books and… she stood as still as a statue.
Mel wasn’t sure what had got into Pyx as she followed. She could see that the alien girl seemed to be literally in her own world. “Pyx?” she called out tentatively. “This ain’t a class- hm?”
No answer.
Mel tiptoed up curiously. “hm..” Wait- Was she.. crying? Or.. trying to anyway. She didn’t seem to be making any tears anyway. “Ga!” Mel reached down and gave the alien girl a hug suddenly wrapping her arms around the strangely built creature.
“AH!” Of all the things this got a reaction out of pyx. “What-”
“You seem to need it!” Mel’s smile holding her tightly. “Come on.”
Greg- or Pyx tried to turn away but her grip was so strong! The feeling of those fingers on her soft body felt weird. Her tail lightly brushing against Mel’s leg awkwardly. “I’m fine. Just- I got stuff I need to deal with-”
“-and I’m sure it’s really important!”Mel interrupted. “But it makes you sad.” She gripped her even tighter holding her like she might a teddy bear. Something so precious and wonderful. She didn’t want to let go. Oh! I know...” Perhaps it was wrong- and she wasn’t sure if it was right to do so but... Mel reached forward to Pyx’s hair. The alien had warned her not to… but right now it just ‘felt’ right.
Pyx tensed as her tendrils flared upwards but she was surprised by the sensation it gave. She feared at first that something horrible would happen- like maybe being over taken by Mel’s personality or something. Instead.. her tendrils simply relaxed to the human girl’s touch as if welcoming the curious light of her thoughts.
Mel continued to explore the touch of her tendrils. “Oh… It feels so soft- oh bristly. Its kinda tingly- hehe- it feels like the tingles going all the way up my arm!” Mel observed as she finally satiated that curiosity. Static like energy rippling and making contact with her nervous system.
Pyx looked at her like the girl was a bit over dramatic- which was.. certainly true. Still she smiled just a bit more despite her own blushing. The casual contact was… not quite what she expected. It wasn’t close to her brain as such so she couldn’t feel the same interactions of deep thought. Though there was a sensation here… kinda like… an echo of… autonomous thought. If there was a sound that a biological gear made this was probably it. A rather nice pleasant rhythm that seemed to make her own body mimic it subtly. It was like her own heartbeat started to tune into hers…
Mel seemed to be almost in a trance. She became a little light headed… it was like her hand was trying to reach further inward but wasn’t actually moving now. Normally one might feel vertigo but whatever this was Mel seemed comfotably able to just drift into… into a realms of free thoughts that did not belong to her own mind. The strange tendrils rubbed over her fingers in their strange way making it feel kinda… nice. It was of course quite alien- and while not a sensation of intimacy it could probably become one akin to an alien hug…
...though the fact that the girl was one of the first humans to feel something like this made it quite intimate to her.
Pyx listened to the echoes… vague coherent thoughts could almost be seen… the deeper and longer the touch remained. ‘Smile… keep smiling and be happy… help everyone be happy...’ It was such joy- such- niceness that tasted of cotton candy. It made Pyx smile and almost laugh but she caught herself and gasped as she felt the connection ebbed away. It was a sweetness that was just the definition of sugar itself- real sweetness rather then that strange off sensation she got from a crowd.
Mel was looking down at Pyx in confusion as the alien girl’s thoughts seem to connect inside her mental-scape. That bright sunny place inside briefly turning cloudy and grey. Her own state of being becoming more subdued.. saddened… however the steely mechanisations of her will quickly purged such thoughts forcing the sunshine to come through once more. She never wanted to feel sad after all and something… something inside seem to guard against it.
That sunlight streamed deep into Pyx’s own mind as she saw the light piercing her own sadness briefly… though not able to stop it entirely it did make her stare in surprise even seeing the bright aura of a light around Mel. Pyx was holding her breath.
“Wow- you’re really sad huh...” Mel asked figuring out quickly that those feelings came from the alien… somehow she could feel it through her hair?
Pyx looked to the side awkwardly. What the heck was that! Maybe it was best to not do that again but it was like some… part of her did feel happier. As if an awful lot of that sadness became stilled by her happiness. “I- I don’t know what that was but… thanks. I feel kinda better.” She rubbed her three fingered hands awkwardly. “why are you so happy all the time?”
Mel gave the question some thought. “Because I want everyone around me to be happy too! Including you.”
Pyx was still processing what just happened. Was that some kind of psychic ability? Could she do that with anyone or was Mel unique? It wasn’t exactly thought reading but much like she could taste emotions in the air. Closer physical contact seem to bring context to those emotions; a deeper clarity. What she saw in Mel- the alien girl wasn’t sure what to think. It made her feel both sad and happy. Which one was true? Why did Mel carry this burden of being… happy all the time?
However it seemed that Mel had also gained something from the connection sensing Pyx’s sadness.
“Oh! I know what will cheer you up!” Mel suddenly decided hugging the alien again.
“Ow- hey!”
“Come on! It isn’t far at all.” She began to drag her quickly away from the empty room. A quick sprint and Pyx was taken to some kind of board.
“Extra-curricular activities- clubs?”
“Yes!” Mel smiled. “I think you would do great in the sci-fi club. We could go visit it when it opens! Though we can have a look at anything you want to join. Cooking could be fun? Oh! Star-gazing? Maybe we can see the star of your own world… Hey! You like Earth music? We could jam together in my house if you like! It’ll be like a sleepover.”
“S-Sleep-over-” Pyx suddenly felt quite faint… why was her life so weird now! It’s not like his real body would end up sticking with some weird person...
Dennis was feeling quite sour as he stared daggers at the slim guy that said such stupid things to Scott. The larger teen felt a burning anger, which was quite a new feeling and he wasn’t sure how to resolve it. When people bullied him he wasn’t even angry at them- but this guy… this guy ‘hurt’ Scott!
The slim looking teenager seemed to note Dennis’s ire and tilted his head. A somewhat baffled look was returned but he didn’t seem in any way intimidated… “You seem to have something you want to say?” He asked blankly, his body stance neutral. It didn’t look like he was unprepared though as he sized Dennis up.
Dennis opened his mouth to say something but his mind clashed in just what to say! Something like Who the heck do you think you are, why did you say that, who and what were you trying to insult- “What the heck did you upset her for you- you-” he froze not wanting to swear though perhaps it was on the tip of his tongue.
The teenager gave a sombre look in return. “It was not my intent,” he said with a somewhat guarded gaze. “I had apologized to her. I know it was not my place-”
“Damn right it wasn’t your place! You insulted who she is now! Her family!” Dennis was getting now very riled up. “You have no idea how hard it’s been for her-”
“-and you do?”
Dennis frowned even harder were that possible. He was getting even more angry and for the first time in his life actually wanted to just smack this guy down. He could probably take him- he was quite tall but also slim. He could easily push him to the ground-
… just like others did to him?
Dennis got closer to him. “I saw, -I- saw her change. I’m her friend. You really hurt her feelings!”
The slim tall teenager sighed looking back. “… I humbly apologize,” he said with a small bow of his head though never taking his eyes from Dennis. “It is… it was simply... a difficult thing to hear- for me. To hear her casually describe her situation as if it were quite normal.”
Dennis didn’t realize how red his own face in rage he must have been as he calmed down. The guy knew he had done some wrong at least. It still annoyed him for some reason. The guy was just a coward too. “You apologize but you don’t sound very sincere about it. You said stupid things just because she offended you in some way?”
“Offence?” He placed a hand on his chin in contemplation. “Yes… I suppose that is sort of true. Very astute of you to notice. I like to think in my own way I was trying to help. I was playing devil’s advocate because at the time it just… seemed the right thing to say. Perhaps it was not. I said such things because… I do like her. I felt reminding her of her birth-mother might benefit.”
“You don’t know that! You have no idea what her circumstances are. She’s happy! She’s happier now- and her alien mother is actually really nice! So is her dad. Her father wouldn’t marry someone he thought would make Scott upset!” The larger teen seem to run out of energy at this point. His heart was racing. “Who are you anyway?”
The teenager gave a gentle smile. “Nicolas.” He held out his hand in a somewhat… reluctant manner. “I fear we got off on the wrong foot… I wish to make amends. Can we perhaps start over?”
Dennis... didn’t like this guy at all. Every instinct told him he was just going to mess up Scott even more. He was handsome, spoke so well, and by his clothes he could tell his family must be pretty damn well off- not like he dressed super rich or anything but there was something rather ‘smarmy’ about him. He probably had private tuition or something- damn it would Scott fall for such a guy?! Wait- no- that wouldn’t happen. (why was he even worried about that?) He quietly accepted the handshake even if he wasn’t too sure on what to say. “I.. suppose. Just- please leave Scott alone.”
“Well… I’m afraid I can not promise that. Though what I can promise is not to speak of such personal things in future.” Nicolas gave the barest flicker of a smile.
Dennis let go not too happy. “So what’s your deal anyway? Why the interest in her?”
“Dalzen’s interest me. Ever since I saw their spaceships on the television… I have yearned to learn the secrets of their science to help the world.”
“Help.. the world?”
“Yes.” Nicolas said with no hint that he was embellishing his desires. “I want to help the world and learn all I can about their technology. Perhaps we can one day colonise Mars with ships of our own. I want to improve the human condition and life on this world. I will explore space and bring life to other worlds.”
“Heh… you want to be an astronaut. What, you never grew out of your five year old fantasy?”
“No, I did not,” Nicolas said with a deadpan look and chuckled. “Did you?”
“Well-” Scott blinked again. Why did this guy always turn a question back to him like this! It was infuriating. To ask such a personal thing too when he said he wouldn’t! Well- not to Scott. Why was he getting personal with him now?“… my childhood dreams were stupid- but I was a kid… I’m excused on that.”
Nicolas looked at Dennis quite softly again with his sharp blue eyes. “Yet… you do remember them? It must have meant something then.” Nicolas looked with simple curiosity. He looked like he already knew what it was...
“Not a thing,” Dennis almost growled it. “It’s not important anyway. I’m just going to get some job somewhere after college, make some money… I haven't thought about any real career. I just take life as it comes.”
“I see. Well… I know you don’t think me sincere. However, I am sorry for the distress I may have caused to Scott. It wasn’t my intention at all. I do hope I can speak to her again some day. If that is too much, may I ask you to convey my apology?”
Dennis wondered if this was some kind of weird trap. This guy... what game was he playing! Or.. was he just being suspicious for nothing? What harm could it do? Heck Scott might even be happy that he confronted Nick like this. “Fine.”
Nicolas got up and nodded. “Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, if you ever have need of an astronaut one day, I hope you will give me a call.”
Dennis scoffed. Like he would ever call him!
Runi had assembled most of her new data within the confines of Dennis’s phone. At this point she had a pretty good understanding of the various programs on it- not to mention some of the weird games that the man-child seem to diligently play through. Strange tropes that for some reason were starting to feel… second nature to her in her understanding of them. She suffered a digital dysphoria at all the weird displays of color and lights just by the loading screens and was really put off by the… physics of the game engines. Things didn’t move that way- and why in the world did her own avatar move that way now!
“Hm.. what’s this?” She looked at the subroutines of a rarely accessed program that was storing a lot of information. Weird- some kind of… heart beat sensor? Why in the world would Dennis have this? She could see now various statistics on Dennis’s health and body- all of which seem to be taking a nose dive on the charts but had been picking up recently.
“Some kind of… training program?” Hm… a very primitive one at that. Where were the neural augmentation systems? Where were the sensory stabilisation units? What about a basic Bio-boosting electrolytic enhancer! Primitive systems… though- she ‘could’ probably create some programs that would be far superior. The trouble was the lack of any Bio-interface to do the more ‘interesting’ techniques… but there was some weird feeling she was having. Possibly as a result of looking through all of Dennis’s strange interests. It was like she was kind of… liking him?
She had to get out of this digitised form! “Let’s try and make some arrangements… these humans rely so much on their communicators to arrange events.”
This would require a rather elaborate set of circumstances but she had the means to pull it off. The most important part was getting inside the ship, and accessing the system from within the terminal. The threat here was Scott’s mother, who might object towards ‘borrowing’ said technology- and perhaps might inconvenience her by bringing in the space-police- which certainly didn’t appeal to her. That meant she had to stay as much as possible a secret from her and potentially Scott as well…
… how much could she trust Dennis? The kid was easily manipulated of course but… something made her feel a little- ‘damn it this is no time to have a conscience!’ Still the teenager really did seem quite enamoured with her… and- the more she got to know him the more interesting he seemed to be…
“I need more time to work out a plan… perhaps I don’t need to do anything ‘right now’. I don’t need to force anything to happen- Scott will invite Dennis eventually… just so long as nothing breaks their friendship I can be patient and just wait it out.” The best thieves were also the most patient… wait for the right moment when all seemed well...
In the mean time maybe it was best to learn more about Earth-culture. “I’ll be out of this weird fantasy body and back to my old self in no time!”
… just one problem. What did she used to look like again?
Dennis had to talk to Runi again. The Space-elf quickly appeared on his phone seeming in a bit of a trance. “Huh? Oh hey Dennis!”
“Hi… um… how are you feeling?”
“Oh pretty good! Learning a lot about Earth. I should be heading off home soon, so thanks for letting me use your communication device.”
“Oh- really?” Dennis was glad of course that his alien friend was able to go back home. Though it wasn’t as if he did anything all that much. Plus once she’s gone… well, that would be it right? “I’m.. going to miss you when you go.”
“Huh?” That caught Runi by surprise. Someone would actually miss her?! She was the fearsome space pirate! People were glad for her to be gone! “Well-” she looked at him in thought. ‘I might regret this later...’ She had a very serious look- it was probably not even allowed and would cause more trouble but at the same time… she wanted to give Dennis just a bit of hope. She knew what it was like to be in a backwater planet herself. “… would you like to come with me?” she asked not even sure quite ‘what’ she would do with someone so… primative.
It took a long painful second for the reality of that question to hit Dennis. An alien girl was asking if he would like to join her in a journey across the stars… to leave everything and everyone he had ever known. He felt every emotion- dread- fear- hope- joy- the sheer elation that came at someone offering something money could not really buy… just because she… she… liked him? “R-really? You.. and me… like- in the anime?”
“Heh… yeah, just like in your show.” She smiled with an actual blush. She had not seen all the episodes of this ‘show’ but.. it seemed to make Dennis happy.
“Then we- we would-” Dennis gasped. “You… you mean- you really like me?”
“Uh- sure I like you, but let’s not get too far ahead.” Runi cautioned. “You are clearly the main character of this world after all, right?”
Dennis blinked. “Me? The- The.. MC?!” He almost yelled it causing a few people to look strangely at him. “I-… am I? Isn’t that more Scott? She’s the one who changed gender so that makes her the main character in most animes and caused all the stuff to happen. I’m just on the side and in the way. If this were a comic I’m I the background. I keep thinking she’s going to just go away.. the cameras will follow her and you- you’re going away too- after all.”
“Tsk...” Runi shook her head. “I’m partly from the world of your fantasy am I not! I can judge these things.” She raised a slender finger on the screen. “Let’s see, your best friend turned into a girl- that is true. However, I ended up on your phone.. as the girl you like, and Scott doesn’t know about me. There’s a lot of stuff going around that makes me think you’re a lot more important then some alien ritual transformation.”
This… this was true. He did have Runi. Were events that centred around Scott actually centred around...him?! Could he be a main character like some strange fantasy?! “T-Then- Scott’s uh- like in a harem situation and I’m the main protagonist?” Dennis’s eye widened like saucers. “He- I mean- she’s… she’s my friend though! I don’t think- I can’t even think that way about her!” he was breathing harder. “Are you sure this isn’t a reverse harem situation? That guy was going to hit on her- I could feel it!”
“Welcome to being the main character!” Runi giggled. “Oh what a troubled web has befallen you. Nah, it’s not a reversal. That was a rival to be sure, but rivals are quite common. You just have to be sure to make some sort of move before him and you’ll be all set!”
“Oh- wow!” Dennis gasped. Mind completely blown at the prospect that he actually had some part in this world after all! Could more of his fantasy’s come true? Could he visit alien worlds… be someone important- be… a hero? With a heroine girl at his side- a whole bunch of them! Runi.. Scott.. that alien girl- flying in some spaceship to the stars unknown to recruit more girls- perhaps with green skin!
Runi quietly examined his heart rate through the phone. His heart was beating a mile a minute!
Dennis was still beat red blushing. The thought of being some kind of sci-fi-harem-anime-protagonist-main-character! Though he did love Runi when she was playful even if she was just cheering him up. Still it was nice to imagine it if only for a little while.
With the day over and the weekend fast approaching it was time to go home. His quiet home where he had no amazing spaceships, alien clones, or weird stuff-
...but he did have in his phone the best girlfriend he could ever have… even if he couldn’t touch her, that love was real.
“What a day,” Scott thought. It was good to be back home. The events of school were just weird. She had started out being pretty open with her change, even casually explaining what happened to avoid being some ‘mystery girl’ but the result had been mixed. Drifting across the sky though felt somehow so natural. Of course it would- she was a Dalzin. Though it came to her mind how social and open her new species were despite having extra dimensions to work with. Humans buit things in a two-dimensional landscape, building an extra layer now and then granting an illusion of three dimensions but-
somehow when Scott floated across those buildings… made for walking.. it felt a little confining. Unnatural even. Not that it was uncomfortable specifically, just very crowded with rooms and corridors being smaller then they were. The open sky on the other hand felt so much nicer. She wondered what a species that could literally live on a ceiling have as architecture.
She glanced slightly towards her mothers spaceship parked on the side, now with some kind of high grade security lock. “I guess she’s making sure nobody can get in again- uh oh.” She saw a car. She knew that car..
.. a feeling of dread washed over her as she felt suddenly tense all the way down her legs. “Why today?” She didn’t want to deal with- with-
“Scott!” A familiar voice called out.
“Uncle Richard?!” Scott gasped seeing him open the front door. She looked tense. Did he have an argument with her mother now? Was he going to start spouting stupid nonsense about her change… “I- I guess you heard about-”
“Scott...” The man looked at her rather sternly. He began to walk up.
“I can explain-” Scott felt her body almost becoming heavier. A strange feeling as she enjoyed floating recently but seeing her uncle- and she knew what was to come. She knew what he was going to say-
“Ah my dear girl Scott!” Richard suddenly reached around and embraced the alien girl into a hug.
“Wha-?!” Scott stood there dumbfounded. She almost felt her feet planted down by the surprisingly strong embrace. “W-what’s going-”
“Nothing at all!” Richard let go as he looked at her again with a warm gaze. “You’re so beautiful! You make just… a wonderful niece. I heard what happened and could only imagine, I saw some pictures but to see you- oh you’re just perfect!” He smiled broadly and genuinely.
Scott looked confused.. then her mother came out from the door grinning. “Oh yes she is! Please come in Scott. Dinner will be ready soon. Your uncle Richard is joining us. I invited him.”
“It has been a long time since I have seen your father too.” Richard admitted as he returned to the house like nothing was wrong.
Scott wondered what bewildering thing happened and now it was her turn to be paranoid. She quickly tugged her mother’s arm when her uncle was out of earshot. “Uh… Mom… what exactly is going on?”
“What do you mean? Your uncle wanted to see you, and I said we could have dinner. I showed him a picture of the new you. He’s just so enamoured- which is to be expected of course.”
“Expected?” Scott rubbed her pink hair.
“Of course! Your change was designed to make our families closer after all. It’s perfectly natural he would love you. If he loved you before, those feelings will manifest in similar ways. At least it does among Dalzins. Honestly it’s quite surprising how similar his reaction is to an actual Dalzin!” Scott’s mother seemed not to be concerned about the.. possibly out of character behaviour. “He even brought you many gifts. Such a good man.”
Scott wordlessly floated into the dining room and towards her uncle’s gaze. He was… looking at her-
“I couldn’t believe it was you.” Richard suddenly said. “Though when I saw you… well, I just knew it was you. Oh! I decided to go on a little shopping spree. Some clothes of all sorts just for you!” He gestured to a few bags hidden under the table.
“C-Clothes?!”
Indeed Richard had bought a medium sized box of clothes. Dresses.. skirts.. frilly things- fortunately he didn’t buy underwear but- what the heck! Some of this was expensive. Uncle Richard didn’t even have that much money. Why was he buying this stuff he knew she was a guy before! This was the complete reverse of normal expected behaviour-
...Did her mom use some kind of ray-gun on her uncle to make him like that?
Richard smiled as he took a seat, watching his niece float in the air. “Is something wrong Scott? I have receipts for the clothes in case something doesn’t fit. I wasn’t too sure on your size.”
Why was he being so damn nice! “Well- I thought you would be upset about- um… my change.” She gulped.
“Ha! So did I!” Richard laughed. “I mean I was confused but… then I just realised I am just a paranoid man at times- and the one thing I could never do is hurt you Scott,” he said quite matter of factly.
“Here’s dinner!” Lalaxi smiled as she brought in some strange plants. “I thought a mix of things from our world and human-things could be interesting to try. Almost symbolic of our new family.”
“Oh how wonderful!” Richard tried to eat the purple-egg-like thing, and promptly gagged nearly falling over.
“Um- that’s not exactly meant to be chewed-” Lalaxi explained as she patted his back.
“Gah- Oh Man- that’s.. spicy.” He coughed. “Thanks.”
Lalaxi simply smiled.
Scott still stared. Paranoid… “Uh- Mom, is it okay if I show Dennis the ship later?”
“Hm? Oh? Sure! There’s no weird surprises there now to be of concern.” At least she was pretty sure there wasn’t. “I’m glad you’re taking an interest in such things Scott. Though please stay away from the controls, We’ll have to organise a saucer licence for you later.”
“I… can fly it?”
“Eventually, I don’t see why not. If you’re really good you might get one of your own!” Lalaxi smiled.
Richard looked to the other girls in Lalaxi’s group. “Oh! Please don’t think I forgot about my other nieces.” He suddenly took out a few more boxes. “I bought a few small gifts I hope the whole family could enjoy. Now that I have three of you.”
Lalaxi beamed even brighter. “Oh my. This is quite nice of you.”
Scott had to admit.. his uncle was acting really nice. Was it an act? Or.. did his transformation illicit this. Could his uncle have just gone crazy? Great.. she had a crazy earth uncle… no- no- it’s probably just nothing.
Dinner was over and it was time to do some chores in the saucer. Scott had called Dennis over who arrived faster then he had ever seen him run. A sheen of sweat on the larger teen as he grappled with the new situation.
Dennis was so happy to be seeing the inside of the ship. “Scott- uh-” He was almost in tears. He always wanted to see this! Just like in his shows and movies- “Can- Can- I touch it?”
“Dude it’s just a spaceship!” Scott smiled. “Come on. We’ll go inside and have a look. Mom wants us to try and tidy up some of the boxes if we can.”
“Oh- s-sure.” Well- even to work Dennis was keen to help. He beheld the spaceship.. watching it dance in the air. It was like it flickered in a distant star.. he watched it sway, feeling the strange sensation of a pull of gravity the closer he got to it.
Scott made some kind of gesture and the ship responded pulling in Dennis while Scott floated into the hatch.
“Ah! Tractor beam!” Dennis gasped as he was pulled- or fell- into the innards of the spaceship.
Dennis looked around in surprise while Scott pulled him up. “There we go! Easy huh?”
“E-Easy.” Dennis was trembling… this was his dream. He was even with a pretty girl and it was so hard not to remember that this was Scott! Though if he wanted to be a main character he had to say something right? Before that guy asked her out-
but… he couldn’t. He couldn’t say anything.
“Something wrong?” Scott asked. “You didn’t hit your head did you?” She placed her hand on his forehead. “Yikes- you feel warm!”
“Uh- i-it’s probably the atmosphere- here.” He coughed. “So- what is the job here anway?”
“Mom wants us to move those boxes out.” Scott sighed. She floated towards the pile picking one at random. It had some weird Dalzin style books.
“S-sure.” Dennis nodded. He continued to look at Scott… and thought about his conversation with Nicolas. That guy… he was so.. suave- handsome even. What if he asked Scott out! He was supposed to say that he was sorry- but part of him didn’t even want to say that as it would help the enemy! Though he was honor-bound to at least mention it.
“Uh- Scott? Nick said he was sorry about saying that stuff.”
“Huh?”
“Nick.. Nicolas. He um- said that stupid stuff about your family. I confronted him and he said he was sorry.” Well- not ‘exactly’ right but.. close enough.
Scott seemed surprised. “Dude- not you too. Are you going as nutty as my uncle?”
“Huh?”
“People are acting weirder now that I’m a girl! My Uncle is giving me.. free stuff. Stuff he never would have given before- and that guy well, I didn’t even care. You didn’t have to go picking a fight over me.”
Dennis looked away for a moment at that. He had never had such feelings as this to.. a ‘real’ person. He has protected the sanctity and grace of all his 2-dimensional girl friends.. never one in the real world. It was just.. Scott.. well… she- she knew him well and it made sense that he would protect her. “I- I just had to defend you after he said that stuff!” He insisted. “We had a civil talk about it that’s all.”
“Well.. okay. Just- come on, I want things to be as normal between us.”
“Normal...” Dennis nodded as he lifted up a box helping to set things aside. “Scott? Um.. stupid question- probably not a normal question exactly. I mean- maybe it is normal for some people but.. it’s not a question I thought I would ask but-”
“Hm?” Scott turned to him, coiled in the air. Her breasts gave a slight and rather ‘noticeable shimmy to the larger teen.
“Uh- if someone were to ask you out- would you uh...” He leaned slightly to the side- just enough for the box above his head to topple. Suddenly he felt Scott pull him away from the tumbling box. The large teen boy stared at her like- like she was ‘supergirl’.
“Are you okay?” Scott asked.
“Oh- y-yeah.” Something came out of one of the open boxes- and caused Dennis to scream in panic. “Oh God it’s a head!” He screamed like an actual little girl as he stared at the.. thing. Scott looked back in surprise. Perhaps it was something in her Delzin makeup that made her realize it wasn’t that at all.
“Calm down- it’s.. not real.”
Dennis gulped as he prodded it with a finger then slowly lifted it up. It was heavier then he expected it to be, and very delicate. Electric green hair and ears that were like antennas sticking out. Smaller antennas seem to be built into the hair ribbons that were all part of some internal circuitry. The neck itself was exposed to some strange wires. There was a concentric blue circle around the edge. Perhaps some kind of ‘adaptor’ for where the head was supposed to go? “Is- Is she- okay?”
“Mom said nothing here is dangerous,” Scott whispered. “It looks like a robot.. but where’s the rest of her?”
Dennis bit his lip as he looked at her. She seemed to be almost sleeping. So real and life-like… a poor girl- “Maybe we should try to fix her? We could put her together?”
“I don’t know if mom has all of the parts,” Scott said. “We can have a look while we tidy up.”
Dennis tried his best to find more of the robot-girls body but.. so far he had no luck. Maybe Scott’s mom only had the head? Could Runi help her? “Runi?” He called on the phone. No response. Weird.. she was usually so quick to talk to him.
He stared back at the strange head in wonder. “Who are you...” He asked. “Can you hear me? Please?”
Mary had finally got home. She went through her schedule for tomorrow, looking at how best she was to organize things. She had a meeting with the class representative, to put out an article on what support and help was available to students- another chat with a teacher who wanted to talk about the importance of a good education…
all pretty normal stuff- not the exciting crazy stuff she really wanted to report. Though maybe it was best to take a break from that.
She leaned back in her bed… and yet she felt somehow paranoid. It was like she felt someone was watching her. “Is someone there?” She asked quietly.
She looked around behind a curtain… inside her wardrobe- no. Nothing… and perhaps even more paranoid she looked under her bed. Still nothing. It was barely the start of the evening and she was just so tired..
Maybe a little sleep would be a good idea. She stripped down to her underwear as she crawled into bed..
“Stupid weird day,” She muttered. Maybe an early sleep would be a good idea.
