The phone rang in the Gorgon residence. Abigail sighed, hoping it was not one of the labs again. It was a Saturday! This was supposed to be their own time. Yet her husband was constantly on the phone, getting every update he could.
"Hello?" She enquired.
"Mrs Gordon? It's Ashley... um... Stacy's friend from school?"
"Oh- Hi Ashley. Do you want to talk to Stacy?"
There was a hesitation behind the line. "Yes... please."
Abigail called for her son. "Stacy, phone. It's Ashley."
Stacy looked very worried. He clutched the phone carefully, having some trouble with it. He was having a lot of trouble with his huge dinosaur body when it came to working objects meant for human use. "Hi Ashley," He said.
"Stacy? Oh... you really did change," She said a bit sadly.
"Yeah..."
There was a pause on the other side. "My... parents say I can't be your friend any more. I'm really sorry.."
"What?! Why?" He almost roared.
"T-They think you're dangerous. I know you're not.."
"We've been best friends since kindergarten!" the dinosaur boy said quite upset. "I'm not expecting you to sleepover any more..." he said as softly as his voice allowed. "But.. can't we still be friends?"
"Sorry Stacy..." she repeated, the line going dead.
Stacy let out a big snarl.
Billy and Jenny heard the snarl, and rushed over seeing the slight claw mark on the phone handle.
"Sis?" Billy asked. "You okay?"
"Um.. yes. Sorry brother.. It's nothing don't worry." he smiled to her. He just... didn't want Billy to worry about him. He knew this was probably going to happen. what exactly could he do? Swap friends with Billy?
The dinosaur boy looked to his little sister and thoughts started to turn. He also looked to Jenny... maybe he couldn't return to his old life, but maybe he could use that experience to help his new sister? He remembered when he had his first sleepover, and the fun they had... it might even cheer Billy up.
"Billy? Why don't you invite Jenny to sleep over with you," he said.
"H-huh?" The squirrel girl asked confused.
"She could spend the night with you. You'll be able to play games a lot later then normal"
Jenny giggled. "I'd love to!" she said. "But I got to ask my mom again."
Billy didn't know what to think. She did want Jenny to stay more. She wanted to show her the various games she had. Maybe even learn more about her. But... was this really normal?
The squirrel girl's tails flickered delicately over her head as she looked very shyly at the idea.
Mr Gordon had gone to his computer, to finish up some analysis. He had a database program and was adding Jenny and Muriel to it.
Subject: Jenny Walsh. Minor Change. Hair turned white.
Subject: Muriel Walsh: Minor changes. Skin insect like. Shows resistance.
Clearly there was some form of resistance in this family. Something genetic.. or environmental?
Abigail looked to her husband concerned. She knew that look. "You look obsessive dear."
"I can't help it. This is very possibly a cure. A family line barely touched by the light.."
"Dear, Jenny was adopted."
Mr Gordon raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Yes... and if that was not mentioned, you could well have been barking up the wrong tree for God knows how many years." She said sadly.
He looked down foolishly to himself. He should have checked his data! Still.. maybe not a complete loss. Two subjects with minimal changes could be very useful. Muriel said she would provide something. Would he impose too much to ask one of Jenny?
This was for the cure! She had to say yes... wouldn't she?
"So, what have you discovered so far?" asked Abigail. Indulging in her husbands hobby.
"I believe there might be a distinct bias towards a change of male to female." he said.
"How biased?"
"The data suggests... by 60%." he said looking at the computer.
"Sample size?" Abigail knew how to speak scientifically. She had been married to her husband long enough.
"... one hundred and thirty two," Mr Gordon said. "Yes I know... not statistically significant. But It makes sense."
"It does?" Asked Abigail.
"Assuming someone has 'done' this... their intention may well be to create more generations. A bias towards females would significantly increase the gene pool." In a way this theory calmed him. It meant that perhaps his baby was safe... still.. the fact that Stacy also changed gender... he had to be sure.
"You believe someone 'did' this dear?" Abigail said very critically. "That's too far an assumption.
"Maybe... but the more I see into this, the more I wonder if I am also being tested... I feel like I'm in a laboratory, and someone is pushing and pressing us... every time we think we have an idea, something takes it away from us."
"Honey, you are starting to sound paranoid."
Mr Gordon shook his head. "Ah, you are right dear... I'm sorry." He gave his wife a warm hug. "I'm sorry... I just... this is so important."
"We are just as important... don't forget that."
"You know I never will."
Will had a lot of time to check out Anneza's house. It was quite a fancy place, although clearly a very quiet one too. The scent here was just Anneza and her old self.. and maybe one other, somewhere.
She found Ellen, the little doll woman, looking curiously at an old photo with a young man and what could be his relatives. She pointed to it and looked to Will. It was the only photo in the house.
"I don't really know," explained Will.
Ellen gestured behind her, giving permission for Will to use her.
"We never really said hello. Hello I'm Ellen. Play with me!"
Will blinked. The doll quickly shook her head gesturing for the chord to be used again.
"Sorry. If what I have to say is really short things just come out. I can't help-"
Will pulled the chord just a tiny bit.
"-it." She explained sadly.
"Don't worry Ellen... Your sign language has really helped us communicate with Anneza." Though it was clearly not the same, something was better then nothing. "Do you... mind if I ask how you ended up there?" Waiting for permission she pulled the chord behind her back, letting the doll speak.
"I changed and some children found me. I tried to explain I was not a toy but they were very young. they-"
will pulled the chord again feeling really sorry for the little doll.
"-played with me. I managed to escape but I guess I just wanted to make sure I had not gone mad. I- don't blam-
Will pull the chord one more time.
"-e them. They were only children. I feel okay. Let's have tea and cakes!" The doll winced inwardly at the slip in the end.
Will shook her head. The poor creature... still she seemed to be coping well. Perhaps if she learned to pace what she wanted to say with how far her string was pulled, she wouldn't let those weird phrases slip out. "How do you know sign language?" she asked pulling her chord.
"I learned it to communicate with the deaf. Part of my job... The light is magic! Let's cast a spell!" she winced again. She just didn't know what to say and sometimes nonsensical words would just.. come out. It was another thing that could have driven her mad.
At least she had her sign language though.
Will tilted her head. "Anneza... insisted to cook some dinner for us. I'm a bit worried about some of the smells coming from the kitchen. It.. doesn't smell quite normal," she said.
The doll gestured to her mouth and shook her head.
"Don't you eat?" asked Will.
The doll woman gestured for her chord which Will pulled back slightly, letting the internal ticking of her voice continue.
"I can eat. Sort of. Not much. I don't really know where any of it goes. I don't even know what I'm made of." It was nice that the basic human senses were not lost on the little doll... it was just this strange mode of speaking which she struggled with.
Will figured her transformation, while tricky may not be quite as bad as initially thought. With a little practice on speaking she would be okay. Finding a way for her to pull her own chord discreetly with some extra string was not a problem... but clearly she was stuck having to think first before she said a word.
Will picked up the doll (her young self seemed to get just a little giddy holding her) and took her to the kitchen, to see what Anneza prepared.
"So, what games can we play here?" asked Effie. She was still a bit worried about the idea of playing a game as a digital fairy. She loved games but she didn't want to be 'in' a game. Characters tended to suffer some horrific injuries just for laughs!
"The hooking program makes you take the place of a sprite or subject. It's safe. Pick a game."
Effie wondered... what game did she like? Well she did like RPGs but you won't find those in arcades. "Something adventurous?"
Dennis nodded and pressed something on his editor. The area around them started to shimmer and change. Even so, it still felt 'virtual' to the digital fairies. Like they were not really here.
Dennis 'picked up' a sword, although Effie noted he wasn't really holding it. It looked like he was holding a drawn up sword made of paper. This really was strange.
"A simulated environment is no substitute for the real world," thought Dennis. "Either real world." he corrected.
Far from this place being 'real' they were still apart from the environment. It was made by people in the real world after all, to be displayed on a real world screen. Trying to play it in their own digital world was just... wrong. It was fake.
Still.. that didn't mean they couldn't have some fun in it anyway. Like playing in an abstract painting. Effie really wanted to have some fun... lately it was all work in this strange new existence. She saw a colourful bow and arrow, and picked that up.
David and Rachel had left the strange restaurant. David in particular was glad to be back home. She recognised this part of the city, as exactly where they left.
"That was quite fun," Said Rachel stretching her naked devil form.
David blushed slightly trying her best not to look. "Um. It was... interesting. But... doesn't this show something stranger then people being changed is going on?" The angel girl asked.
"Yeah. Maybe. Still, It is fun... don't you think so?" the devil girl leaned just a little closer to the angel making her turn a slight shade of red. "You know, repressing yourself like this isn't exactly healthy," said Rachel with a very... interesting timbre to her voice.
David blinked. "Y-You know why..." did she have to explain it? "Everything she did was shared! Everything they did was shared. Just holding hands with someone felt awkward enough, and those feelings tended to override what joy could be held in those things.
Rachel was suddenly in front of David. "... Kiss me."
David stepped back. "W-What?!"
"... as... an experiment. You seriously aren't opposed to finding out a little about yourself now, are you? Besides... I can bet you, if you don't try it one of your sisters will eventually. It might as well be you."
David's brain had just about gone into meltdown. The stress of her thoughts was being transmitted to her sisters, and it was clear they knew something very awkward was being contemplated by one of them.
David didn't even have a chance to think as suddenly, Rachel took that further inch forward... and kissed the angel-girl.
