Mary struggled to make sense of what was happening All she could hear was this 'ticking' sound. It was everywhere, forcing and unyielding with a relentless rhythm like the march of ants crawling over her body and right into her mind. It was like she was in two places at once? Maybe three.. or four places even. She had never felt something go into her mind like this and- it didn't even seem to ask any questions that she could understand. These questions implied command and it- it was- getting harder to think to stay whole it was like getting lost in a strange multitude of mirrors, reflecting her thoughts right back...
She suddenly stood up straight and still, though her insides were a cacophony of gears and shafts replacing many of her biological organs. One by one, everything started to change. Her heart becoming an intricate artificial mechanical system The key on her back ticked, somehow though interfaced with her still biological brain. This was perhaps the cause of confusion as the two parts interacted to find some 'bridge' between the impulse of neurons to the clockwork gears. Her human mind was not capable of processing in terms of number- no- 'difference' in numbers, which seemed to be the way the pulses and noises became translated back into her mind manifesting as sounds and images.. vague impressions a painting? It was like she was loosing her thought processes- parts of her processes- as the probing commands tried to make sense of her, as much as she was trying to make sense of it- them? How could she make this stop! "S-Sarah..." she gasped. "H-help can't.. move can't I don't understand what do you who.. I..."
Mary's father was in near panic. There was nothing he could do! "Do something for her! Please!" He begged them. He couldn't lose her.. not Mary... He looked at the metal key like it was a rotating dagger on her daughter's back he reached down in an attempt to pull it-
When Tom held him back. "Wait, that key is sustaining her right now. If you pull it out, she might never move again..." Tom didn't- couldn't tell him that this was perhaps far worse then...
Sarah was still shocked by the mental assult even though it had long subsided. She approached the changing woman and clutched her head into her hands staring her straight into Mary's eyes as they started to look as artificial as her own. "Mary! Can you hear me? Fight it Mary!"
"M-Mary.. my designation? What? My name is Mary.." she said quietly in strange perfectly chipped clockwork speech. "I.. I .. I was born in the year 768 of the New Dawn I have a brother A father . My.. role? I-"
"What's wrong with her?" Mary's father demanded still shaking though Tom had a hand on his shoulder for support.
Sarah frowned as Mary stared blankly, making these strange affirmations. "It's like she's talking to someone. Something tried to talk to me too, but I managed to shake it off. It's got hold of her..."
"Is it- is this demon hurting her?"
" I don't know. I don't think it's a demon.. but it's certainly powerful let's wait it out"
The group started at the ticking clockwork girl.. an eerie glow on the strange black stone flickering..
Mary found herself locked in some kind of strange.. mental barrier. She could see everyone around her, but her body refused to move. The insistent ticking of her new cogs inside her body compelled her mind to think thoughts that were not entirely her own, connected by... something. She was part of something else? Someone else? Was this a divine being perhaps? A god? It seemed unlikely.. could it be a demon? Something from the Unseen? Yet whatever it was, she didn't get the impression of it being a demon taking control of her somewhat. The beings seemed as confused as she was, for one...
"What is your designation?" The ticking sound suddenly becoming vocalised inside her.
"I don't understand Do you.. mean my name? I'm Mary..." she spoke- no- she wasn't sure how it worked.
"This is.. an invalid designation. We think you have possibly corrupted data. We will attempt to restore original parameters."
Mary could feel them start to 'fix' her mind. There was an explosion of strange commands she didn't understand any of them, yet they had become part of her as new 'things' and concepts alien in their wording became entrenched within. She could feel it.. feel them a machine inside her that would not yield or be swayed by any emotions- though not totally emotionless? There was the thought of an emotion inside.. a care.. a concern... equations that were of incredible importance ticking away However while they were certainly able to get close to her mindscape, there was an inability to access her biological mind at the core. "S-Stop!" She cried out.
" nonconforming media... detected. Suspect .. biological organism?" In an instant, the probing stopped. "This is.. causing you harm?" There was a hint of caution in the voice.
Mary could feel herself need to draw breath finally, as if her own systems were struggling to understand the current duality of her being. "Oh.. thank.. goodness yes.. that was not comfortable" she ticked another cog. "Who who... are you..."
There was a great pause that lasted an eternity. Mary could tell that only her smallest cog had ticked somehow she knew that meant 0.001ms have gone by.. then another.. and another why was the response taking so long!
"Our apologies it was not known you are partly biological. This is.. new to us. We are made to not cause any harm You are a new construct?" It seemed to almost have a.. hopeful tone. Happy? Not quite but it was certainly a little quicker with its responses.
"I guess- I am? It's new for me too," Mary spoke back. "How is it that we are communicating?"
Mary suddenly acquired some strange.. knowledge? Words? What did this mean? Was this magic? Quantooom Entanglement? Sink-chron-ice? yet weirdly it was.. well.. not quite 'understood' so much as 'known'. So her cogs were in synchronisation with the 'others' .. others like herself? "Wait- too much.. too much! Slowly please..."
An entire 0.5 seconds was required for them to properly work out the limits of communication.
"We have.. formed an interface for us to work with your systems. Again, our sincere apologies. We had no idea that you are partly biological. This is.. unheard of..." The voice waited an eternity before doing what might have seemed a 'formality'. "We welcome you to Luna-Net. Access granted for new unknown device designated 'Device Mary.' Hello Device Mary, how may we be of assistance?"
Mary groaned at the title but sidestepped it. She took a moment to 'sense' Interface. It was present like a gentle tingle on her cogs and mind. Words appeared with various incantations not unlike what she imagined a book of spells could look like. It was relatable to her thoughts now. Mary probed this new form of communication like she had just discovered a new voice. "Well.. thank you. Yes that's a lot better..." she thought back her speech turning the cogs inside her body instantly. She had so many questions! What happened to her? Though perhaps first she best learn more of who she was talking to- talking to inside her own head no less! "Could you tell me.. who you are?" The question was taken with garbled confusion. She stared at the list of commands. "Identify?" That seemed to bring a response.
"I am the Shell," It said back. "It's nice to meet you. Device Mary."
"Just Mary will do.. so... what's behind the Shell? You.. shy or something?" She had no idea how to react to something saying it was a shell.
"I am not shy. I am Shell. I am We are... We are many devices. We help, we assist, we search and discover, we watch and record, we create new al-gor-rythems for searching. We are part of Luna-Net."
"You mean you serve the Moon-Goddess?" She asked even more confused.
"No.. that's a very strange question Device Mary." Shell answered back. "Could you ask standard questions please? It's very difficult for us to understand how to respond." Apparently Mary was making them as confused as she was herself. Standard questions okay
"What is.. your purpose?" Mary asked.
There was another pause. It seemed like that was not really a standard question either. "To serve."
Mary blinked. How could something that seemed so powerful, be relegated to a serving role? "Are you the ancients?" She asked. It was implied they could be watchers of some sort.
"No..." They said back. "This is a new word to us.. the Ancients? Could you clarify?"
"The ones that made you." Tick. Access.. denied? What did that mean?
"I'm sorry D-Mary. We are not able to provide that information due to you being an unknown device and currently off-world."
"Off.. world? Wait- Where.. are you? Please just call me Mary! I'm no device!"
"Distance is 225623 miles." they said back. "Apologies D-Mary, this is the minimal we need to give you a valid designation. This is your identity on Luna-Net."
"Urgh- Why.. can't I move my body..." Mary finally asked as she realised it- though in fairness it had only been five seconds
"Diagnosing.. We detect you have no instructions yet."
Mary fumed. "I need to move! Kindly give me back control of my body and don't stop me from moving again. It is very uncomfortable."
"You are granted full autonomy?"
"Yes!"
"..updating.. Designation D-Mary, granted full autonomy apologies again."
Mary suddenly jerked as she moved. "Oh.. by the stars..." She moaned.
"Mary!" hugged her father. He was surprised by how.. cold her body felt. Yet she was alive right? "You- you were really out of it. What happened?"
"I was in contact with.. something... I think..."
Her father looked at her with awe and caution. "Spirits? Demons? Angels?"
"I I know not.. something like me.. like myself and Sarah now..." She gasped as all that she experienced through her ticking was.. somehow struggling to work itself into her biological memories. "I'm able to communicate with something- a being that called itself 'Shell' but it's not being very cooperative when I ask questions- I wonder if they know where Kevin is."
"Are you still.. you?" Sarah asked. "You look like you've turned.. completely mechanical..."
Indeed Mary had. Now her body was fully clockwork.. her eyes glass and plastics, with a sheen of felt-like skin. Sarah noted Mary did look a touch more human then herself.. though this was unsettling more then anything else.
The new clockwork-girl looked at her hands, feeling the cogs and springs inside. "I- I am- mostly myself still, yes. I don't know what's inside here though.." She tapped her temple. "It's just these 'others' are being quite obnoxious and don't seem to understand boundaries their language is alien I can't quite figure out how we are communicating it does not translate well." The clockwork girl suddenly felt her gears move quickly as she asked the question. "Do you know where Kevin is..." Mary waited patiently. "Hm.. they say they don't have a 'Kevin' " she looked apologetic. "I'm sorry I- I really hoped they would know- wait what? Huh?" She turned suddenly excited. "They say they have someone! Someone who used this.. machine? Well- can you send this person back here?"
Kevin was starting to enjoy looking at the odd alien man. He thought it strange that his eyes were big and the colour of his skin radiated a curious blue. It was not unwelcoming. The clothes seemed odd too, shiny metallic jackets? The way he explained it all.. it was so simple! The letters all made the same sound, all of them identical.. wasn't that always the case though? He was feeling really proud of himself. "Huh- what's this?"
The man on the screen looked to him. "This is your first homework assignment," he said politely back.
"Wait- you can talk back?!"
The man looked back at him from across the screen and smiled. "Why of course! Though only at the end of a lesson. Do you have any questions for our interactive session?" The man asked with an amused look.
Kevin suddenly laughed. It all seemed so.. crazy! His teacher was inside a metal box. "No- I think- I got it..." Kevin replied, parting a curtain of odd light purple from his eyes. "Um- what's it like living in there?" He asked suddenly.
"Ha! Well when you're older, you can come inside later and see. Until then, let's see how you've done. I am satisfied by your progress, and I think we can also move on to mathematics later on. You should learn how to count up to B. First though, can you spell your name for me?"
"Course I can!" Kevin said. He started to write out the letters of his name. "Ke-e-V-en." He wrote.
"I'm sorry that's not correct. Do you want to try again?" The man asked with concern.
"What do you mean that's not correct! I followed the rules right! That's how my name is spelt."
"I'm afraid not," the man said apologetically. "Please try again?"
Kevin frowned. Well- his name was being written in another language.. in their language so he tried another variant. Maybe he had to use that strange symbol that looked like a hat.
"I'm sorry that is also not correct. Would you like to see it spelt?" The man asked.
Kevin sighed. "Fine, how is it spelt?" He waited.. and the answer was.. odd. "Huh? That's not how- are you nuts? That's completely wrong!"
The man showed a series of letters and as Kevin translated the sound it became something like.. Callie? "That's not right my name is Callie!" Then Kevin.. blinked as the word escaped his lips. Wait a minute- how had he been pronouncing his name? He said it slowly to himself. "K-Ca-lee?" Exactly as it was written he was saying his name, like it was written there!
He looked in shock at the letters like they were foreign all over again. This- this was all wrong! He took a slight pull back on the chair to work out how this happened but- new robes tugged a bit between his legs sending a -very- peculiar sensation. His hair was again ticking the back of his neck and- touching his shoulders? He stared left and right in confusion as now it felt like something.. felt like it was.. on his chest? How did he not notice it! He looked down pressed a hand down there and-
He- or rather- she- screamed. "AAAH!"
The clockwork girl suddenly rushed towards him. "Can I be of assistance Callie? Please do not be alarmed at failing the test, I'm sure you can do better next time." she put her arms across her front looking at the young girl with emulated concern and a slightly bent down pose. It was quite.. maternal.
"My- my thing- it- it- it's gone!" she cried out. "What's happening to me! I got stuff on my chest and- my hair? I-"
"What do you mean?" asked the clockwork girl in confusion.
"...I'm a girl!" Did that mean He- she looked under her robes. There was something covering her. Some kind of new weird.. underwear? It looked like the thing his sister wore. It looked like it appeared as her body changed. Comfortable enough to be seemless and unnoticeable well until now anyway when it was quite obvious! The material covered some kind of soft very slight bulge on his chest- breasts- at a fairly early stage of development, but breasts all the same. "I- huh? I- I got-"
"Yes, I'm afraid there might have been some complications in your treatment. It was experimental, so this was to be expected."
"What do you mean!" Callie stood up quickly and- somehow started to float. Her body moved up gracefully, then she wiggled in the air for a bit then before slowly descended down. "W-wow- w-hat?" She felt so.. light?
"Ah, you can already alter your gravity? That's quite advanced for your age Yes. These are all indications of a minor complication. In attempting to treat you, we did have to accelerate your maturation rate. As a result, you have had some breast growth relatively early, though this is not outside normal parameters. We will note this on your file, in case there are further complications. However we can say the treatment is successful. Though we do ask you not make others your age jealous, they will learn to control their gravity eventually."
"Success..ful? Look what you did to me- and what the heck is gravity!" she looked confused and- scared. Very scared with an almost humiliated look. Suddenly it didn't seem so funny when she called Peter a girl...
"Yes. Your original parameters have been reset. Gravity is well we can add that to your studies. It is too compicates a subject."
Callie suddenly felt herself go cold. They.. they did this? To her?! They turned her into a girl?! She suddenly launched herself at the clockwork. "AAH! Turn me back now! Turn me back to normal!"
tick. "You are- tick- normal- Callie tick- please stop- hitting- tick- me." Each hit dislodging a tick in the clockwork girl but she seemed completely unfazed. "I will add emotional control to your lessons. Though I have some good news. We have established contact with a device back in your location."
"No! I ain't going anywhere until you turn me back!" She panted and finally.. stopped. She gasped a bit for breath..
The clockwork girl placed a hand on the child's shoulder. "I'm sorry Callie, we only have facilities for treatment. We detect no further abnormalities in you you are healthy. There is not much more we can do. I don't know how to help you further."
"But- I'm a boy!" She cried out.
The clockwork looked at her with confusion. "Yes- I know you are. A very nice looking Nana..." she replied hopefully. "Please, would you come this way?"
Callie's eyes closed like daggers. Were these machines malfunctioning? "I'm going to tell my dad and- he'll fix this!"
"Of course Callie."
Callie couldn't believe this! She- a girl? Some weak stupid- urgh! She was not weak! She wasn't a girl! How could she make these machines understand? Her body and peculiar thing 'down there' was just weird! She had no idea how girl-parts worked but she felt quite ill knowing that something so alien was.. was.. there. She through back her hair, pulling it away from her shoulders. The strange points of her ears equally visible. Not to mention the soft curves of a girl that was just touching on becoming a teenager. She never felt so humiliated even this robe was starting to look like a dress! How did she not notice it- or- was it adjusting itself again? Argh!
That wasn't the only oddity.. she felt really light for one as she walked back to the transporter stones. Did all girls feel so light? It was like being on the moon's surface well- she -was- on the moons surface, but didn't dare ask how that worked.
"Location has been set Callie." The clockwork girl said as she touched a few strange lights on a panel. "Please remember to finish your homework. We'll try to send it to you." The clockwork girl said with a soft bow.
"Just get me back!" The girl demanded. "I'm going to bring my Dad here! Then you have to turn me back to normal!"
"Very well Callie- though we can detect no other in the vicinity that could be related to you."
"How come?"
"Because our scans reveal that all organisms in that vicinity are metabolically dependent on the environment. There is no oxygen here you could bring the devices here though if you wish? We really hope you would stay here though we can only send you where we know a device exists that can protect you in absence of your parents."
Callie looked stunned. So- that meant they couldn't breathe? "But- I need oxygen too..." she said.
"You possess a well- we will add basic philology to your lesson plan.."
"Urgh- just send me back! You guys are all malfunctioning or something. I'm not a girl!"
How peculiar indeed Callie was. Of course she wasn't a Nako why say the obvious? "Very well. I will await your homework Callie. D-Mary, please await transmission of Callie. We entrust her care to you."
"Mary?" Callie asked- though the lights suddenly whisked her into some strange surreal place. Soon the shimmering artificial structure disappeared around her. She felt for a moment completely weightless- then suddenly- she felt air. The moisture from the nearby sea was more surprising. She was back! Though there were others here- her dad? Two clockwork girls? She recognised Peter and Diana though. They all looked at her stunned to just.. appear. "Freakin' heck!" She said- the others looking at her oddly. Well "“ she did just appear out of thin air. Where should she begin? "Okay- look it's me Kevin!" She started gesturing to.. herself to their continued stunned look. "You guys won't believe what I'm about to say." She quickly stepped off the pad.. to the stunned silence of the group.
"Well- yeah okay I guess you want to know where I've been. Ha! Well- seems I'm the first man on the moon!" She said proudly- again nothing but stunned silence as the others continued to stare. "What's the matter with you guys- yeah okay- so- I kinda got turned into a girl- eh- no biggie- I mean all I got to do is get Dad to tell them I'm a boy and it should be sorted- sorry Peter, guess you're still the girl! Though- I did try to get a cure-" She was in truth quite scared but.. denial was a wonderful thing to hold onto. Indeed at this point, even being yelled at would be nice...
" " nobody spoke a word.
The new girl glanced between them. "Okay you guys are seriously acting strange. Dad? It's me really-" He went to the closest familiar face with- a bit of a spring in her step. Perhaps too much, as she suddenly vaulted, floating quite a bit in the air before descending down again.
Her father looked down at her. "Qui aris antu sa?" He asked.
"huh?"
"Qui aris antu!" He said with a raised voice.
Callie stared blankly. "Wait what? I don't understand you- something happened to you guys?"
Jon had checked out a few books for Maggie. They spent the rest of the day in a nice park. It was a bit awkward for Jon to turn the page with her talons, though Maggie was engrossed in her book. "I like reading about other worlds," she said. "Though I guess that must be really boring to you since you're from another world!"
Jon thought about that. "I- like reading about other worlds too. Just because I'm from one doesn't make me any less interested." She sighed as she looked around. Curious people were walking around here. More mammals.. though one thing that did catch her eye was a human wearing a feather on her head- somehow she knew that was a harpy feather.. what did that mean? Though there were other strange people here it was actually quite pleasant.
The park seemed to be a lot of greenfields for people to play, for picnics.. if not for the fact that they were all strange races it could easily be Earth. Maggie seemed to be watching something- then suddenly flew off.
"Huh?"There was the sound of a crash.
Jon put her book down and with a mighty flap of her wings, moved in the direction Maggie went. What the heck had she done!
"I'll save you!" Maggie's voice rang. She was behind some strange mouse-girl wearing a robe. The person in front of her was much larger, wearing a mask. A mask with a sheen like a mirror. "You tried to stab him! You Murderer!" Maggie said.
Jon saw the scene- and it was a scene. Maggie had just.. interupted a play.
"Who's child is this!" Cried out a bull. The bull then noticed Jon. "You there! Kindly remove your chick from the stage!"
Jon put her wings on her face in a very unharpy like fashion. "I'm sorry- uh- she's new to all this Maggie please just come here-"
"he was going to stab the mouse-"
"It's just pretend.." Jon explained. "It's some kind of play."
"Some kind of play?!" The bull huffed. "Little Bird, this play is no less then the story of Lady Bria, the first Mouse Queen of the Human-Empire. You interrupted the betrayal of Lord Grais!" The bull growled. "Places again! Let's just do the scene over..."
Jon arched a slight eyebrow at that. So this must be their .. Shakespeare? Hm...
