Effie sighed...
Okay, so maybe it was just a bit more complicated now. Her form and thought were one... she was a female, which meant of course, she would have the instincts that went with it. However that surly could not be the only explanation for her protectiveness of Mikey. It might be part of it, but not all of it... right?
She got annoyed with trying to convince herself of a hopeless situation. Every time she tried to hold on to the person she used to be, another aspect of her new form just took it away. She was starting to wonder if she even should even try to contact her parents... how would they feel if... this... this teenage girl dared to contact them saying she was their son?
She would be just a stranger to them.
Not just in body, but in mind, probably even spirit. There was just so little of who she once was, there was no other explanation for her thoughts and actions so far. The worst part is, she wasn't sure she completely missed her old memories. For one thing they would only be a weight on her shoulders. They wouldn't help her at all with her new body. The instinctual memories that took over when she lost her original memories, were far more suited...
Dennis once said she seemed to have a gift in the digital world, with the way she could manipulate aspects of it. She didn't think so. If she had any ability its only because she lost memories of how she used to do things, and so had to start completely fresh. She realised this is precisely how the best operating systems tended to work. If she was an operating system, when her memories were taken she must have effectively re-booted. The blank slate being more efficient in carrying out tasks... but it was also empty and devoid of many of the tools other fairies had, such as the basic editor she was given by Amy. The elder fairy was very kind to give her a lot of other utilities which would come in handy.
Dennis could tell something was bothering Effie, and approached her. "You okay?" he asked concerned.
"Yeah... Sorry Dennis. I just..." she couldn't explain it to him. It would feel wrong in so many ways.
Dennis gave an easy going smile. "What's on your mind?"
"I'm... thinking, I want to look at my source code," she said honestly.
"Is that safe?" Dennis asked concerned.
"I downloaded a viewer program designed for fairies from emergence. They locked it so that it can only be used to view, and not to edit the data..."
Emergence admitted they have a version that could edit as well, but so far they have not released it to the public. Its going under some heavy beta testing. Given how long its taken though, Effie isn't sure she would see it in a while. It was likely Emergence were trying to make it as safe to use as possible, but it was the biological equivalent of re-writing your DNA. There's no way to make it safe...
"If it's safe, I guess it's okay. But what are you looking for in your code?"
"I... want to see how I work. The viewer should decipher some of it..."
Dennis suspected there was a lot more to it then that. Effie always evaded personal questions, about her past. She admired she had lost some memories, so he suspected this had something to do with it. "If your sure its safe, okay..."
Effie nodded.
Harry ate silently, on her own in the lunch hall. She wasn't sure where everyone was, but she needed the alone time anyway. The strange visions she was having was subsiding now, probably because of her use on it with Brittany. She was starting to think about how this ability even worked. Was she psychic? What was it about the third eye? Besides making her feel a little taller it didn't actually 'do' anything before.
Except make her look freaky.
There was also another aspect to consider. If her power lets her see the 'truth'... then why didn't she see people as they used to be? Wasn't the truth that they were not these creatures? If she was seeing the truth...then... why were they all not human? Also, what would she see, if she used the power on herself? What would she see in herself?
She didn't know if she wanted to see it. The past week has brought up so much introspection on herself, including the need to see the councillor, that she wasn't sure she could handle more 'truth'.
Harry was looking forward to her next band practice. Even if... Ken was there. She was glad they had made up though. It looked like Ken didn't really mean it in the way she thought- but then she had to ask herself, why was she so mad in the first place? Oh well..
She looked at her food, potatoes and some kind of mystery meat. She slowly ate it, with her drink of water as she rook another glance at all the students trying not to be too obvious about it. She was also thinking a lot about the ghost-girl, Brittany... how weird it must be, to also be removed from time, body, and space...
There was a little apprehension too, for when she was going home today. Her mom said she was going to go shopping for more suitable clothes for her. She said she wanted to make sure her daughter looked 'pretty'. Much the same as when she was a boy, she wanted to make him look handsome... she wasn't exactly sure what that entailed on the girl side though. She had no idea how others regarded her, but her mom insisted she had a very beautiful face. When she grew up it was likely she would draw a great deal of attention. She was considered... exotic. Her mom also said they would one day do something with her hair too.
She shook her head to herself, trying not to think about it.
Muriel returned to her house, with Jenny close to her. The two had gone to get some basic things for Jenny, since she would live with her for a while.
"I- I- can live.. with you?" Jenny asked apprehensively.
The strange looking chitin-armoured woman nodded. "Yes, of course you can. Although it is just going to be the two of us at the moment... I am still going to have to find a temporary school for you."
Jenny looked unsure. "Um.. what's a school?" The memory was still fuzzy in her head.
"Its a place you can learn... have you never been to school before?" Muriel asked concerned.
Jenny frowned a bit. Of course she- well... she knew what a school was, but it sounded so far away. Such a distant memory... "I- t'ink I know" She said in the end. "But... I don't want to go."
Muriel unlocked the door, as they entered into the living room. "It will be good for you. I can take you to a private school, for these situations... you'll be well protected."
"OOoo" The tiny cat girl purred. "Sounds fancy," She giggled.
"It's necessary if she is going to be needed in..." Just what word could she apply here? As a police officer, the word would be combat... but how can she possibly use that to a child? It was her job to fight these things, not this little girl. "... needed." she finished in the end. Who's cruel joke was it to place such a responsibility on a small child?
The thought of it made Muriel Angry. "Jenny? Why don't you go wash up, I would like to talk to your.. cat friend for a moment. Take the new clothes I bought you."
The girl looked hesitantly a moment. "Er... okay..." She picked up the bag and went to the bathroom.
The cat girl started licking her paws, and Muriel somewhat aggressively put her hand down on the table where she stood. If the cat was bothered she didn't show it, she continued to lick herself.
"Just what the hell are you playing at, doing this to her!" She spat.
Finishing licking, the catgirl looked back much like any other cat would have. "Like what dear?"
"I don't care what war your planning on having. It must not involve civilians, especially children."
"I told you before, it's not my fault. She was selected."
"By who!" Muriel said angrily.
The tiny catgirl shrugged. "Can't say. But it's the truth."
"Can't you give the power to someone else? Give it to me... Let me fight those battles instead." Muriel had a feeling she knew it couldn't be done, but this was serious. A child was being asked to fight in place of her.
The tiny cat girl looked at the police officer curiously, her eyes shining. "I wish... I could. It is not possible though. You will just have to protect her as best you can."
Muriel frowned sitting back on the sofa. She heard Jenny was using the shower. "What's your name anyway?"
She sarted to pur. "My name is Tetra," she smiled.
"All right Tetra... I will explain one thing to you. I am not a civilian.. I am a police officer. Let me make this very clear. Any harm at all that comes to Jenny from this, I will arrest you for child endangerment... got it?"
Tetra swallowed. She was not used to dealing with someone so.. abrasive. Did she really think she could arrest her? "Yeah... got it."
Jenny could hear them arguing... it made her feel bad. Were they arguing about her?
She slowly stripped off her clothing, and turned on the shower. Her long white hair started to get wet, and she frowned slightly. The feeling of the long hair was...foreign. It was like she had no memory or knowledge on even an instinctual level, of how to deal with it. she reached for the shampoo, and started lathering it.
She noticed not many people had hair like hers, though she didn't know why.
Lathering her body she noticed those spots on her front. She glanced at them now and then, not really sure of what they were for. The four spots looked identical. Maybe they had something to do with those bumps Muriel and the catgirl had? Whatever the reason it didn't seem that important. she turned off the water, and started towelling herself. Her long hair dripped a lot of water, and she started trying to towel that off as well.
Muriel said her hair made her look pretty, even if it was annoying.
She went into the clothing bag, and put on the pair of panties that fit her snugly. Again... that foreign feeling came to her again. She wasn't sure why, she felt like something was missing... but she had no idea what. She slowly put on the rest of the clothes they bought, a simple vest first which easily covered those four strange spots, followed by a basic white top. It got a bit strange when she picked up the dress though. It was a simple pink one, but it just felt... wrong? Like she never worn one before...
She slipped into it, not really sure how to put it on, but eventually managing it.
finally dressed she went to see her new room.
