Kevin did not have to think about the question that much as he examined his bandages, his hand brushing on those strange pointed ears he now had. What if he turned into some rabbit like his friend? He.. didn't want that.. right? To be.. like.. his friend? No- of course not. Never!
Lightning had struck twice... not only had he found an Ancient Ship but he had also found this Colony- on the moon no less. A way from the moon to Robin's heath! This was a discovery of a life time and he did feel very lucky indeed. They might even name the town after him next! Not silly Old Robin the Peace maker, but now Kevin the Wayfarer! He wasn't just going to be famous.. he was going to be in the history books- and at his age? Unheard of!
Though... he did want to make sure they saw the -real- him when the various Kings- or maybe even the Emperor King? They had to see him for who he was Whatever happened that caused his changes... if maybe it was the ship that did it, or something else- well- these 'beings' had the ability to fix it. They were people like Sarah, right? Though it was odd that they didn't seem 'quite' like Sarah. It felt like there was something missing in the way they talked to him. It was like talking to a machine- well- they were machines but it was like talking to someone who had already been told what to say in a given situation.
These people had medicine that could cure him and- perhaps even Peter? Maybe his friend didn't have to be a rabbit! He could be the one that brought 'the cure' to Robin's Heath. They would be so impressed! Not just Kevin the wayfarer, they would make him a saint!
"I detect your heart has accelerated. Have you made a decision?" The strange clockwork girl waited patiently.
Kevin nodded. "Yes.. I'd like you to fix this please. Make me normal..." he sighed in relief when he could finally tell someone about it.. so much so he didn't quite expect a strange glowing ball of light to appear in front of him, hurled from one odd machine towards him, hovering like it was.. waiting for something. Kevin was starting to get used to these odd displays. The ancients must have had a thing for using light. It was on everything they touched, and the people that ran this place.
"Please place your hand on the imprinter." gestured the clockwork girl. At Kevin's confused look she gestured with a click of her artificial hand. "Right in front you touch it." Strange how this child needing prompting but.. not unheard of.
Kevin did so- not really knowing what an 'imprinter' was. He felt something odd- like a tingle running up his hand, not unlike when he first touched that weird glowing crystal from the ship. He had to tell Peter about this! They could own the moon! Or.. could -he- own the moon after this?
"You may now remove your hand." The clockwork said, taking hold of the ball of light. She seemed to take it gently to another odd glowing pedestal, where it hovered. Odd symbols began to flow around it in circles in what Kevin assumed had to be a magic spell being prepared. He only recognised one word there. Analysis? "So how long is this going to take?" he looked at the strange ball of light curiously and in-comprehensively.
"Estimate is Six standard hours." The mechanical lady gestured to a strange cabinet with a number of twinkling lights. Again those strange symbols danced behind curtains of light, hovering a few inches in thin air. "The infusion is successful.. you shall be normal again, but you might require a day to fully equilibrate. Do not move too quickly in that time."
"Six.. hours? Just like that? I'm going to be cured?" The young boy asked confused at that.
"Yes."
"Oh.." That was almost anticlimactic Still... wow! Just a touch of some weird glowing ball of light and he was gong to be back to normal? he glanced around the odd medical room, thousands of questions rained in his mind. "What should I do until then?"
"We can induce artificial sleep if you desire." Said the clockwork girl. "It might be more comfortable for you?"
Sleep? No way! He was far too excited for that ."Actually um- can I just look around? What do you have here to.. um.. have fun with?" He might as well look at what the ancients did...
"Entertainment facilities exist." replied the Clockwork girl. "Please come this way." A push on a panel was accompanied with the odd pop of their 'door'.
Kevin was once again lead down the odd corridors with a bit of tension in each step. This was a place that was probably not walked in thousands of years by a person. Where was everyone? The clockworks were nice but.. they were not real.. and he was starting to miss seeing a real person. His ears twitched and he swore he could feel the hum of this place become stronger. Was it reacting to his presence? Going further down, he suddenly felt a little bit lighter. He tested a foot and.. yes, it was odd but.. it was like there was an extra spring on his step as it slowly descended back down. Like he was under water... "Um-What's happening?" he asked.
"Do not be alarmed, you are simply acclimatising. It will take time for you to get used to it." There was one last door and
A strange barren landscape greeted Kevin, pitted by rocks. There was a glowing dome of greenish blue surrounding the whole thing some distance away. The inky blackness of space and the sea of stars glowed without any twinkling.. there was no atmosphere here after all. He could see his own planet in the distance Kevin realised he was holding his breath but- let it out. "The moon's surface?" How how could it be? How could he just stand on it? Was there a glass dome surrounding them? He thought it was really cold on the moon.. or something.
The clockwork placed a hand on the child's shoulder to steady him. "A safe place. Yes. Please do not go outside the boundary, there are deep craters in those areas. You are not yet mature enough to travel there on your own." With that the ticking girl went into a standing position to.. observe. Her ticking slowed a touch.
A boundary? That was almost a relief a barrier against all that nothingness Kevin stepped onto the surface, ignoring the whole 'you are not mature enough' thing. Why were these machines going on about his age? Boundaries were made to be broken! It's what got him this far...
This was just.. amazing! It was like being outside... outside... everything. There was a thin sliver of light about a hundred feet around him like a giant dome. What was space like? His feet left a strange dust, it scattered all over him. It got inside his shoes as he was not wearing socks. He could taste it, breathe it.. it was getting all over him- he sneezed suddenly. "A-choo!" The sound echoed across the wilderness disturbing some more dust around him. He quickly wiped his nose seeing the dust was now all over his clothes as well. His shirt was badly torn from his last fall. With a sudden gust of his legs he started to push himself off the surface, landing slowly. He felt a laugh escape his lips, as he tumbled around the surface. "Haha!"
He never felt so much freedom before. He couldn't wait to show the others this. Peter, heck maybe even that 'girl' could join in so long as they understood that this place was now his, of course- sort of. He found it so incredible. Barren but.. the world- well- the universes' best playground.
He had to wonder though if these beings were the ancients after all? "Hey uh- can you tell me what happened to the people who built this place?"
The clockwork girl clicked. "I am sorry, you are not authorised to access those records."
"hm..." Kevin continued to explore thinking he could probably find a clue somewhere. He found odd dunes that looked to have been dug by hands. Small ones.. he even found a sand-castle. Or would that be a moon-castle? He gave it a light kick, the grains suddenly vanishing in slow motion with a tumble, fragile and gone forever in an instant. Where was everyone else? He started to go towards the 'edge' of the barrier.. he had to see what it was made of...
It took a few short jumps, to get up to a 'hill', more dust tumbling down behind him in slow motion. A glance behind him made him think this would be a great place to 'jump' back to the middle area almost like flying likely what this was intended for. However he wanted to see the edge of the barrier itself so he started to walk towards it. There was not a lot to see in the approach, just a strange silver light the source of which looked liked to be two long structures at the top of the colony- probably. They did seem to have a more concentrated shimmering magical field around there. The shimmering in front of him though was a more transparent constant flow of light, almost like a ghostly mirror effect that only barely reflected his own reflection. Not too well either, it made him look like he had purple eyes for some weird reason. He pushed his hand through the barrier and-
"Huh?" His hand.. went through it. He looked confused at it expecting a physical barrier but no- this was different.. his hand went beyond the barrier. A slight sting of cold on his palm but.. not too bad. It was like touching a cold river. The strange field seemed to wrap itself around his hand, going up his arm. He started to push a bit more soon his entire arm was now outside the 'safe' barrier. Dare he.. stick his head outside to see? Before he could decide he lost his balance slightly. In some fear his whole body moved- in acutely slow motion, tumbling outside the barrier. Soon he was clear of it.. he wasn't sure what to expect but.. he was.. fine? A bit cold but.. yeah.. he was okay...
He looked at his hands, which seemed to be shimmering in the energy of the strange field was this how the ancients walked around?
Kevin glanced and saw the clockwork girl approaching with not a sound. It was eerie She placed a hand onto his head and for a moment Kevin thought she was about to send him back but instead she heard his voice."I advise you to return to the safe area, Kevin." it said with another tick, the curious energy field surrounding the two of them as a skin tight layer. Weird it felt like her voice was vibrating inside his ears
"Just.. just a minute..." Kevin hoped. He felt.. odd. Standing here, where he shouldn't be.. the hum of the facility was somehow more distant now. In fact he could barely hear it. He took in a deep breath, and exhaled.. there was no steam on his breathing despite how cold it was. He rubbed his face, looking at the out of bounds craters. It was like a desert of grey hues, many strange crevices There was an odd feeling with his clothes too as they felt odd and itchy getting even more torn.. or worn by the environment..
Kevin felt a slight wave of dizziness. It was getting colder or.. warmer?
The clockwork girl gently took Steven's hand leading him like a child back to the facility. "I am sorry Steven, when you are mature enough you can explore more but you must stay within the bounded areas for now."
Kevin was probably a bit glad to be lead away. "I'm old enough to explore on my own," he insisted. "I always did back home."
The clockwork-girl looked down to him in concern. "The elements are more extreme beyond the circle We would have to send you back to a more temperate location if you endanger yourself like this again..."
Kevin blinked. "No- uh- I don't want to go back home just yet. I'll behave." he had to see more of this area...
The clockwork girl gave another tick. It had to attend to the child correctly and sometimes that did require forbidding certain actions with an implied loss of some kind. The child responded adequately, it could therefore now provide reward to ensure compliance. "I have made another observation. Your current garments are interfering with your bio-systems. We can provide clothing, they will also help you more in future with the elements too, should you wish to venture with your parents."
"Oh?" he glanced down at his town shirt. Not just torn now, it had odd bubbly broken parts on it as if it had been placed in some pressure cooker. "Yeah.. I guess.." There was a lot of moon dust since he came back from his moon-walk, with an odd worn and dry texture. So much so, that moisture was just pouring out from his own body and into the cotton like a sponge, making him feel sticky. Maybe that was just how space worked. It did weird stuff to clothes but not to him?
The clockwork girl took them to a new room. It was strange to Kevin it looked like an odd gallery or a temple. There seemed to be various objects on display on strange floating screens. As he walked past one of the doors there was a brief flash of light. The various pictures on display changed.. the clockwork girl then approached one of those pedestals the light panels.
The panels on the walls began to change, taking on the shape and styles of some curious clothings. Kevin looked at it with wonder. These were a style of clothes that were completely alien to him. Strange robes in colours of silver, gold, red and deep blue. There were cuts of every option...
"Measurements have been set for your specifications now" The clockwork girl added.
The clothes on display suddenly all shifted becoming smaller. Kevin slightly frowned though as a lot of them looked like robes or.. even dresses. Still, they all looked a bit.. plain too compared to the styles he saw before.
"I'm afraid you can only access standard clothes. If you wish to access other designs, you must come with your parents." the clockwork girl said apologetically.
"Oh hm That's fine." Kevin pulled off his torn shirt- the force of it tearing it quite a lot now. "I'll take anything that fits."
The clockwork girl nodded, and requested one of the 'standard' clothes. "Please stand on that pedestal. Do you desire a clean as well?"
"Uh- yeah- I guess you could clean the shirt-"
There was a pulse of light. Suddenly, Kevin realised all the dust from the moon walk was gone! He felt strangely refreshed, as if he had just had the best shower possible. He.. he was clean? Like- really really clean. Even the stains of his clothes had gone! "Oh Wow!"
"Do you wish any perfume?"
Kevin was quick to realise just how efficient the ancients were with their curious ways of just changing clothes! He had to see how this worked too! "Oh yes please!"
"Standard perfume accessed. Please note that further accessories require a parent or guardian account. Materialising standard clothing."
Another flash of light.. Kevin felt his old clothes disappear from his body. He was bathed in strange light again, as new fabric of some sort wrapped around his form. It appeared to be some kind of robe.. silvery in colour hanging as it did from his shoulders Though why was it so poofy around his hips? They also didn't quite go all the way down his legs, more like to his knees. The arms were quite poofy as well, though it did cover most of his sleeves. Strangely it was quite comfortable despite the odd cut...He was distracted by the new smell around him. It was.. oddly pleasant. Very gentle, not at all like anything he smelled back on his normal world "Can't you give me something similar to my old clothes?" He asked. "Just shorts and a T-shirt maybe?" This stuff felt.. weird...
"This is adaptive wear. It will change shape as you grow," The clockwork said. "Augmentation and elaborate changes will require credit in an account which we can not access at the moment. You can change the colour later if you desire."
"Oh.. well.. I guess, it's fine. If we can change it later maybe." Maybe if he brought his parents here and they could get some money for it.. yeah that could work. In the mean time though these robes were very comfortable "Could I get some socks too? I want to keep my shoes though."
"Minor additions as that can easily be requested with the adaptive clothing.. simply concentrate on your desire.."
Kevin wasn't sure how he was supposed to concentrate. It wasn't really his best talent but he tried, picturing a set of socks.
The robe responded, by cutting away some of itself on the hem near his legs. The energy spiralled down his legs into a set of long silver socks.. they almost looked like stockings!
"Urgh!" Kevin bent down, folding them to make them look shorter. Weird though, were his legs always so.. smooth? He never had that much hair- not much anyway, but they did look a bit.. odd.
"With practice you can make minor alterations However it is standard clothing only, anything significant will require a new infusion. Style has been hard coded in this fabric." the clockwork girl explained, noting the child's difficulty in something that should be quite basic. "Your treatment is placing a higher metabolic demand. May I suggest something to eat?"
Kevin grinned. "Oh yeah, I'd like that." Weird.. the robes did make it look like his hips were a bit bigger. Not by much but.. these ancients just had a strange idea of what clothes should look like.
X-3 noted in its journal entry the new discoveries of the day.
Star Sigma-1029 has experienced one solar flare. Documented for study and filed.
Resources dangerously low, system continues in hibernation mode. No atmosphere generation required.
Signal detected. Hibernation discontinued. Investigation of signal.
A ship has been impounded, with no sign of the owner. Currently three thousand six hundred and seventy two years out of date in paying tax and one mooring fee.
Signal detected. Contact Established. request for assistance made.
Emergency declared by unregistered minor...
The facility seemed to pause. It had to access areas of memory that were not accessed In quite some time. There were protocols to follow n this situation. All children that 'request assistance' must be attended to.
Attendant dispatched. A medical condition was detected and the condition is considered treatable after analysis.
Medical systems re-activated, facility power levels at 2%.
Subject registered as Kevin. Development disorder, unknown cause.
Probe has detected an under developed VP Organ. Treatment to boost development and re-align bio-form to normal. Scan has shown possible exposure to viral elements that have disrupted normal functions. Virus has been successfully eliminated by subjects anti-bodies. There is no danger of infection.
Treatment has been initiated. Time index, One hour. Subject shows improvement in condition. VP organ now fully developed, strong response detected on rudimentary ancillary clip. Crowning expected in one further hour. Subject will be immunized to prevent further infection query database on immunization history...
Unregistered child, Kevin, has not been immunized against standard hazards Imu-genesis agents required for infusion VP organ has accepted upgrade successfully. Noted on Database.
Sarah glanced around in concern. She held Diana closely as Tom also became on edge. The whole town of Robin's Heath was essentially locked down while people examined the situation. There was a town meeting in the hall with all the other residents.
Everyone was changing.. the inn-keeper's daughter Mary, the shopkeeper everyone.
Sarah had never been to a town meeting before. She took a place on one of the benches. The mayor was present.. at least.. she thought it was the mayor.
What addressed the podium was a curious creature. She appeared to be turning into a wolf. A female one at that, if she were any guess.. but it was certainly quite strongly animalistic in her form, were she not wearing a suit and standing on two legs.
"Ladies and gentleman.. I'm Mayor Erington- Yes I know I don't look like myself.. neither do a lot of you.."
Sarah glanced around. There were a lot more changed people then she had realised. She saw bird creatures, foxes, even a skunk- who- seemed to be trying really hard to hide what she was embarrassed to be such a thing though it wasn't all girls either. There were males too one appeared to be a centaur, walking very unsteady on his four hooves. His expression was of bewilderment, as he wore one of those fisherman tops and.. not much else.
The mayor coughed slightly, as if trying to get used to her voice. "I ask for calm now please, has anyone seen anything unusual that could explain this?"
"The gods are punishing us again!" said one of the changed. It appeared to be some kind of bird. "Don't you see? The gods don't want us near here at all! It wasn't about anything else!"
Diana frowned. The bird must be referring to the events of the Truman Town.
"It was outsiders!" said another. "Look I'm turning into a cat! That there is a cat! How many of you are also turning into a cat!"
Peter took Diana's hand. "It's not her!"
"Calm down all of you!" Said the Mayor. "I will not accept that the gods would punish us, for we have been a decent town under the protection of the Sea and Stars. We settled here to help those who were changed and built a peaceful port town."
There was a quiet look around the town as if trying to find who was the cursed witch amongst them...
The mayor continued. "Now,,, changes have suddenly happened to us all... It's likely not all of these changes will be permanent.. but some will be, as is what happened in the past here. I have requested aid from the Kingsmen, they will dispatch a wizard to us to see if magic can help us."
There was a concerned murmur at that. "Mages?"
"Yes. In the mean time, please continue your lives as best you can. Those of you who can write, please document any details when the wizards come to talk to you."
Peter glanced concern to Diana. "It was us wasn't it. We're the ones who found the weird ship maybe it did this to us. The gods punished us for playing there."
"You can't believe that stuff," Said Diana annoyed. "Look- there ain't no such thing as gods."
Peter gasped. "H-huh? You don't think so?"
"Well- um-" she paused. This was a new world after all.. a new universe. " I'm.. not sure." She admitted. "I have to see it."
"Oh I see. I guess that's why most believe in the stars here. Cause we can see em.."
The alchemist Lady Brook started to approach the two children. "Hm.. I have looked all over for Kevin but I can not find him." She seemed very.. concerned of that. "How can someone simply disappear..."
Diana glanced to Peter. "Well- we've seen something like it before.. disappearing..."
"Oh?" Brook bent her spider legs down to their level. "Please do tell..."
"Over by the beach.."
Peter and Diana walked to where they had found the ship...
Zoe woke up, a stream of light on her form. She reached out a bit but her arms were not quite working as she remembered. In a flash her memories returned. She was a sphinx yes
One of the servants knocked the door. "M'lady?" she asked.
"Uh.. yes?" Zoe sighed a bit as she slowly got up and.. felt an urge to stretch pushing her huge paws down and arcing her long tail and back legs it felt so good.
"Lady Khuit has invited you for breakfast. Would you like us to prepare you?"
"Prepare me?" Zoe tilted her head. "What do you mean?"
"I will clean your fur, your teeth and face. Clean the claws of your paws.
Zoe growled. "I can.. prepare myself just fine just show me where the bathroom is- I require no assistance there either."
"Of course m'lady." The servant followed her to the bathroom. "I will be available should you change your mind."
Zoe reached the bathroom. The basin was clearly made a bit lower, just for access to Sphinxes. She did have a bit of a morning breath on her which wouldn't really be good. She wondered if.. maybe she did need the help of the servent after all. Now that she was here and.. about to do her business and such. She rinsed her face first in the water, and quickly gargled some water. She could almost sense the servant wincing at the sound. Sheesh, what was her problem about it?
Kevin was lead into a strange room. It was small, only enough room for maybe ten people to stand in? He glanced in confusion to the clockwork girl.
"Please step inside." she said in her mechanical mannerisms.
Kevin seemed very apprehensive. There was also a mirror inside.. why would anyone place a mirror in a small closet? Strangely enough there were also doors on 'all' sides of the room. Even a trap door! Kevin certainly didn't want to 'fall' down. "Uh- is it safe?"
"It is safe child.. please do not be concerned. We are simply going to the dome."
Kevin stepped inside.. the door behind them closed with a woosh sound. It was like being inside a die.. the clockwork girl stepped inside with him and just.. stopped. "How is anyone supposed to use those doors?" he asked.
"When you are mature enough, you will have access to them."
Kevin groaned. "I am mature enough..."
The clockwork girl accessed her database. Appropriate response? "You.. will be." she stated.
Suddenly, Kevin was aware of movement. The whole room was moving! They were going backwards- forwards- Up- down? Then the room stopped. "W-What the heck was that!" He demanded.
"We are here." The clockwork girl gestured to the side as one of the doors opened.
Kevin found that the corridor they had come from was gone! Now they had been transported to some kind of .. bar? Restaurant? There was another clockwork girl behind the counter The young child was a bit disappointed seeing her wishing.. and hoping to find someone real but there was a big window up here. They must be on some sort of tower, the entire moonscape was around them. A place to eat and drink food?
The clockwork girl gave him a strange glowing pad. "You can access a standard meal here. Though anything more-"
"Requires a parent or guardian, yeah, yeah I get it," Kevin huffed. Hunger making him look at the menu, words which meant.. nothing to him. All some gibberish. "I'll just take.. that one." he said pointing at it.
What followed was certainly an unusual, not not un-delicious breakfast. There were a lot of mushrooms and odd herbs that tasted odd but not unpalatable. Some kind of weird things of odd colours.. a drink that was a glowing blue in colour, and it even fizzed! Still the boy wished there was some ham or.. something like meat. If he could have that it wasn't available to him. There were also odd fruits that looked like raspberries but tasted like apples . He rather liked the nuts that were diamond shaped.
He glanced up to the window and his reflection, noting again how the it didn't quite work right with however the ancients protected themselves against the elements of the moon. His hair looked purple? Curiously he tugged one strand down- It- It was purple! That was no mirage it was really his hair!"Huh? What-"
Then he felt a strange pain on his head. "A-Ah!" he groaned. It felt like something was coming out of his head! It hurt quite a bit as something started to push making his head feel.. bumpy? "What's happenin'!" It didn't hurt but.. it was like something was growing out of him!
"You are entering the process known as 'crowning'. Did your parents not explain this process to you?" Asked the clockwork girl. "It's quite normal please don't be alarmed-"
"What? uh-" Finally it stopped. Kevin touched his head. There was something on it! It was like he was wearing some sort of headband? He touched and tugged on it trying to pull it or push it back but- but- it was stuck! Looking in the mirror, his hair had adjusted to part along it, making a soft fringe at the front. A fringe of lavender purple hair. "Wh- what's happened to me!" He screamed. "What the heck- Get this off me!" Though it was far from over. As he touched it, strange.. points began to form, two of them in small circles at the top of the headband. The silvery points began to grow, reaching a length of about five inches. At the top, they began to form a crystal-like structure, taking on the form of a silvery star.
The clockwork girl looked Kevin over. It tried to find the right response to the child's distress in absence of her parents. Something they would say? "It is... a very well formed clip, I'm sure others would be envious. Star shapes are quite rare."
"Star? What's a star-" he tugged at his antenna's not quite sure what -was- there. "This ain't right!" Kevin insisted. "Please- can you fix it? Get them off me!" he tried to tug at the strange.. structures as they wobbled around the top of his head...
The clockwork girl once again checked her database. The crowning process was known to cause some distress when they reached that stage so late. Usually it happened when they were younger, but this child was a bit older. "It will.. be fine, Kevin. The treatment is still working it will take time to fix everything..."
Kevin sighed. So the treatment was going to take a while again "Just.. please hurry..." he said tensely.
"The treatment will finish its course in a few hours in the mean time, I can offer a few school sessions for you."
"S-School?!" Kevin blinked. "Wait- I don't go to school!"
"Yes. This is a requirement for minors attending our facility, until we can find your parents."
