Jon was glued to the TV. Granted, all it was showing right now were distance shots of the strange landscape that had replaced Hedgeton; one of the station's reporters had apparently gone further in with a handheld camera, but whatever had happened to her, they weren't getting a usable transmission right now.
The slug-girl's stomach churned. Could this have anything to do with the sun? She didn't think so; it had only demonstrated its transformational effects on humans thus far, why would it change now? But it certainly couldn't be non-magical, could it? Did it have something to do with some aftereffect of her wish? Was...was she responsible? For the death or disappearance of 500 people...?
No! No, that couldn't be true. At the very least she couldn't jump to that conclusion without some real evidence to that effect. But if only there were some way she could help, it would ease her conscience...if only she could use the stone! But it was still recharging, and she needed it to put the sun back to normal. She couldn't risk upsetting anything for this one rare chance to put right what she had made wrong...
She wondered, though: could there be something bad enough that she'd be willing to sacrifice this opportunity in order to address it? Could she give up on ever absolving herself for screwing it up in the first place? After all, she might never get another chance to change the sun again...
...on the other hand, would that really be so terrible? Civilization seemed to be withstanding the blow; certainly it brought its problems, but who was to say that the world couldn't simply learn to deal with it? Maybe there'd even come a day when everyone was changed in some way, when the ordinary human was something that existed only in history books?
Jon had to admit, in a way the idea did intrigue her; she had, after all, wished for "something interesting," and there was practically nothing about this whole scenario that wasn't. On the other hand, she liked ordinary humans. She was one herself until very recently; she certainly didn't want them gone, or having to hole up indoors whenever the sun was out...
Her attention snapped back to the TV as something changed very suddenly, but by the time her eyes focused on the screen it was gone. Then it was back, then gone again, then back, flickering in and out in no particular rhythm. It was an image of...of the town! It was flickering in and out of reality, as were the crystalline pillars and rock mounds that had replaced it! She gasped. Was it coming back by itself!?
He grimaced and hissed in pain as the last changes finished. He was uncomfortable in this body, this freakish monster body. And hungry...so hungry...oh God, he just needed something to eat...
Something was...was calling him. It knew his need, knew how to address it. Knew where he could find food. He could sense other minds just on the periphery of his own, coexisting with him in some kind of shared mental space, but considerate enough not to violate his privacy. This one was merely reacting to his own plea for help...
Food. There was food all around, wasn't there? He hadn't thought of it that way, but it wasn't like these things were his own kind, not like the minds that swarmed in to help him. But he was most drawn to something that had been spotted in the middle of this area; it was full of life, full of a special kind of energy. It would sate him so perfectly, and it seemed to be small and weak, too...perfect prey when he needed an easy meal.
He spread his wings and took off, flitting as stealthily as possible towards the old house on the edge of town/.
Riley frowned. This was hard work! Reality had a very elastic structure; you could deform it slightly in places, but it had a tendency to snap back...which was a wonderful thing most of the time, when you weren't deliberately trying to alter it. Now it was just a plain nuisance. She needed to carefully guide things to make sure everything turned out as best it could, that this area wouldn't suddenly disconnect from Earth again...
Concentrating would have been easier if she hadn't suddenly felt hot breath on the back of her neck. She whipped around to come face-to-face with a giant bug-thing, its carapace hard and green, its eyes transparent and red, and its mouth slavering. It looked at her with hunger in its eyes.
Riley leapt bckwards, pulling down her visor and trying to get a good look at the information it was showing. If it could tell her how to defeat this thing...
The creature moved closer, its spreading mandibles leaving no doubt as to its intent.
The agents' party was just making its way around back of the town when there was a an ear-piercing shriek. Hawkins's and Cecilia's attention snapped to the direction the sound came from. "All right, everyone!" the shadowy figure said. "Get ready to make an attack if necessary. Do not rush in if you don't have to; that'll only increase the chances of someone getting hurt."
They arrived near to an abandoned co-op and peeked around the corner. Some kind of alien bug-monster was chasing a little girl! Hawkins drew his gun and dashed over towards a suitable target range, the dinosaur-girl and the demoness spreading out to flank it. He pointed the gun at its head...
"No! DON'T!!!" Riley yelped. "It's intelligent! I saw it on the visor! Just make it stop attacking!"
