Steven watched the cyborg walk mechanically off into the night. His gait wasn't awkward or jerky like in the movies, but it did have a peculiar...lifeless quality to it. Perfect, efficient precision, yet somehow devoid of grace...it was creepy. Like a lot of things about Hiro, actually.
The flower-girl felt bad for thinking that, but it was a feeling she couldn't shake. Was it that she was uncomfortable around a...a machine person? But that couldn't be, she'd seen some full-fledged robots during her day visit, and while she hadn't interacted with them, they didn't creep her out to watch. Was it that he was half and half, then? But if that were true, why wouldn't other half-creatures like the harpy-girl bother her?
No, it had to be the way he acted, she thought. She herself hadn't interacted with robots, but she'd seen enough, both at school and on TV, to know that they could act just as natural and pleasant as a human. Yet Hiro felt cold and calculating like none of the fully-electronic people she'd seen, and seemed to want to be...dead. Like having emotion at all was some kind of weakness to be overcome and disposed of...
She shuddered. How could you think something like that? Just because he could technically function without them...she was no philosopher, but there had to be something wrong about that. To emotionally cripple himself just because not doing so might hurt...and for all his talk about "survival," he didn't seem to actually place any value on his body, or he wouldn't have electrocuted himself. Just what lengths was he willing to go to to hide from-
Steven gave a soft gasp. Was...was this what her mother was talking about? She had kept her change secret from everyone, and then wanted to hide away from her friends at school once her mother had found out, and she'd even...tried to cut off a part of her body, for a lot less cause than its being a possible threat to her health...what would she have done to herself, if she were desperate enough?
She felt like she wanted to throw up, and wrapped her arms around herself, shivering at the thought. She wanted to run after Hiro and stop him, force him to stop this before he really did destroy himself...but he was gone. And she hadn't been paying attention, she had no idea where he had gone to. Maybe...maybe if she went to the day-side school, she'd see him again, but he had talked like that wouldn't happen...why?
She sighed. Nothing she could do about it now...and Ben was probably wondering where she'd gone. The flower-girl turned and walked back to the arcade.
"Alex, honey? You okay? You don't look too good..."
The dragon-girl looked up at her...her mother. It felt kind of strange to be think of the naga-man that way, but it was still the truth, she supposed. As for the question...she looked around. Dad and Sally were both off doing other things at the moment, leaving just her and Mom in the living room.
"I...we met another dragon-girl this afternoon," she said. "She...she was upset because she was...she had...oh my God, Mom, she..." She cringed, flushing brightly - to be talking to her mom about this kind of stuff!
Susan put an arm around his son-turned-daughter. "It's okay, you can tell me. Things are...going to be a little embarassing for most of us, I think, but we can't get too hung up on it."
"She laid eggs," Alex whispered. She felt nauseous just saying it. "Mom, am I going to...to...?"
The snake-man sighed. What a bombshell to drop on his daughter, and only the day after she'd changed, too. "Probably," he said. "It makes sense that it would work the same way, at least. Her transformation was close to yours?"
"Almost the same," the dragon-girl said. "Except she's green-scaled. Mom, it sounded like it hurt...isn't there some way to stop it?"
Susan shook his head. "I doubt it," he said. "If it's any comfort...it would hurt if you were an ordinary girl, too. It's just part of life...you'll learn to deal with it, I think."
Alex gaped. Just part of life!? "B-but," she stammered, "isn't that like...like having a baby? Normal girls don't have to do that every month!"
Her mom shrugged. "To tell you the truth?" he said. "Even childbirth isn't the worst thing in the world. It hurts, sure, but there are worse things. Some women don't even take pain meds for it. Besides, if this is something you're going to have to go through, I'm sure your body is built to take it."
She stared, eyes wide. "R-really?"
He nodded. "I can understand why it freaks you out, though. I grew up knowing what it entailed, and I was still scared when I was pregnant with you. People think it's so terrible because it's...um, pretty dramatic. But this girl you met, if she was up and around so soon afterwards...I don't think it's probably as bad as all that. I'm sure it'll hurt, but it should be manageable."
Alex didn't know what to say to that. The idea was just...mind-boggling. "Why...why does this have to happen?" she asked. "How is that f-fair!?"
"Oh, I never said it was fair," her mother said. His expression was pure compassion. "It's just how your reproductive system happens to work. Nature doesn't care whether something's fair or not, honey. But...you have my sympathies."
Alex groaned and clung to her transformed parent, who hugged her tightly. "It'll be okay, honey," he said. "It'll be okay."
Ben saw the flower-girl that was Steve approaching. She didn't look angry, at least, but she did look...kind of down. He hoped things weren't going to get all complicated... "Hey," he said. "So, uh, who is that guy?"
"His name's Hiro," she said. "I don't know if he's new around here, or if I've just never seen him before, but he came up and wanted to do some multiplayer. He just edged out a win at racing, and I beat him at DDR, but...only because he was distracted. I don't want to jump to conclusions, but...I kinda wonder if he wasn't cheating."
He frowned. "What, like super-reflexes or something? I guess that'd kinda come with being a robot."
"Cyborg, actually," she said. "But I meant actually cheating cheating...he's kind of..." She hesitated. "Kind of a dick. But I think...he has some pretty big issues, I guess. He said someone on the Internet was after him and started going all weird."
Ben nodded. "When he was talking about needing you to get him out, I thought...I thought he was trying to...put the moves on you..." God, that sounded weird to say...
"I...kinda wondered myself," Steven replied, even more weirded out. "But I think he was being honest, that time...he kept going with the spazzing out, so I don't think it was an act, and he just said goodbye and left..."
There was a long, awkward silence.
"S-so," Ben said, finally, "...how long have you been...like this?""
Steven sighed. Did she really...really have to...? No, Ben was her best friend, she owed him an explanation, at least. "A...a g-girl?" she asked. "Two weeks..."
"Two weeks!?" Ben gasped. "That can't be right! I saw you this week, and you were just the same...you didn't have the flower on your head, or...or any of it!"
She shrugged. "I didn't...but I was a...a girl. I was just able to hide it...and then I started changing more..."
He stared at her. "Really? So the flower on your head and your...uh, it's all..."
"Part of my body, yeah." she said. "Everything except the shirt and pants...it seems like good conditions for plants triggered it, or something."
Ben gave a low whistle. "So...are you just going to keep changing, then?"
Steven shook her head. "I'm done now...I think. Nothing more has happened, at any rate." How long were they going to keep talking about this!?
