Adam tried to shake off the fatigue of her new body. For some reason, sleeping in a bed felt really uncomfortable. Looking at the mattress, she realised her clawed feet had shredded the material. The petite girl yawns and stretched her wings in a wide arc.
"Morning dear," Said a voice.
"Mom? What are you doing here? Don't you have to go to work too?"
Adam's mother shook her head. "Not for a while yet. I'm working on the nights. You still have to go to work though don't you?"
Adam bit her lip. With the inheritance of her grandmother, she didn't technically 'have' to work. If she sold this place, she could live quite comfortably. However, that is definitely not what she would have wanted of her... besides, who knows what other secrets existed in her grandmother's house? What if there were other magical items here? She had to be careful...
Right now though she was also hungry. "I could go for some cereal," she said hopefully.
"I could make it for you... but how are you going to eat it?" asked her mother delicately.
Adam glanced down at herself, and her winged arms with some rising panic. How was she even supposed to work? She couldn't drive her car... and she wasn't sure if her body could really even fly. Still one step at a time.. she was adamant that her change shouldn't change her desire for her cornflakes at least. "Just.. put it in a bowl, I'll figure out the rest," She said with a sigh.
Her mother complied, placing the bowl down on the table.
Adam tried to hold the bowl between each wingspan. It was awkward and unfortunately, slipped past her snow white feathers as if they were ice. The milk bowl splattered on the table, splashing both herself and her mother.
"S-sorry!" Adam said upset.
Her mother just laughed it off. "It's all right honey. Maybe you should try holding the bowl up with your claws?"
Eating with her feet felt.. undignified to say the least. She leaned herself to an angle, holding up the bowl with one claw. She was surprised to notice, she had not split a drop. It was like holding a cup in her hand, she could do it instinctively... she brought the bowl to her lips, and started to eat the cereal.
Her mother nodded in approval. "Have you told your workplace what happened to you?"
"Not.. yet," She said with a sigh. "I don't see why I can't still work selling games. Maybe things will be tough, but..."
"I hope they'll understand."
Adam nodded. Her job really didn't pay much, but she certainly enjoyed it. Her general activities included making customers feel welcome to their store, and answering questions on products... hardly anything too demanding for hands- except when working on the til, or dealing with stock inventory. There was always a chance she could become a manager, but then everyone hoped that.. As a harpy now, did she really have a chance any more?
"What will you wear?" Asked her mother.
"I.. guess my normal work-clothes," She said softly. "I'll get a size that fits me.. or.. something." She really couldn't go naked that's for sure.
"We could order a taxi to take you to work the first day.. and we'll see what we can do."
A taxi ride would be expensive... but did she really have any choice? She certainly couldn't do this as a daily commute... she glanced again at the strange air globe, the temptation to make another wish to fix this rose in her head.
But no... she was going to stick this out. as long as she could.
Anezza gave a little sad smile to herself as she continued to work. She joined the sheets of carbon together, as if she were sewing. Truth be told she didn't know the mechanism of how she did this either, but if she were to guess it might be very similar to her own locomotion from her leg muscles. She could sense a very tiny 'force' working between her fingers. It worked on a very tiny scale, a much smaller force but far more precise. It didn't allow her to do anything on a macro level... but on the molecular level...
she could sense bringing order to chaos, in each string of material. Turning it from one thing to another, with but simple changes in their structure. It helped that the materials were already nano-materials, she doubted she could bring the same fine action to something more complicated like every day things.
However, she could bend these atoms and align them correctly, with just a few runs of her finger. She was almost enjoying this. Several scientists were measuring the result of her work on some kind of contraption. They all seemed very happy, and eager to buy the material from her.
... but they never spoke to Anezza. They only spoke to her employer. Aneeza, didn't understand what they were saying.
"It's unbelievable!" Said a tiger-creature. "I'm reading zero resistance. It's become super conductive. At room temperatures."
"Yes," said a very curious snake-girl. "But check the difference over time... it loses the property at a temperature dependent rate."
"I noticed... I calculate that the material returns to its previous state in about a month at normal temperatures. It still leaves the possibility of creating a protective sheath, once we understand how the material is interacting..."
Aneeza continued to work, not understanding a thing. She was... just a spider to them. She weaved her web, and they talked about how beautiful it was... but did they really care for the spider that spun her silk? They didn't... They didn't care at all.
At least her bank account was set up. She hoped she would at least get a decent sum for doing this... she couldn't even read the contract, but she hoped she would gain a decent wage from this activity.
... she thought a little of that girl, she nearly hurt with deep shame. She didn't know what she was... but... she wasn't a killer. She was desperate yes... but... why did that image persist? She tried to shake it away.
New materials were brought in. Flattened sheets of carbon they wanted her to change. She did so, once more bringing order to the atoms.
Father Robert sat down in the study. She glanced at the special silver mirror.
"As old as the bell," She said softly looking at it. One of the last treasures of the church now. She realised so quickly, all her doubts of not being a priest any more were unfounded. She was female now... but that didn't mean she couldn't serve the Lord. It was just a... matter of tradition that could be changed.
The phone rang, and father Robert picked it up. "Hello?" She made a very curious expression. "You want me... to what?"
The devil priestess sat down. The media had heard what was going on, and were hoping to get an interview from her in a talk show. But that would mean... appearing in television as she was. Looking like a devil... in front of the entire world.
"Can... I think about it?" She asked. There was a pause and she put the phone down.
The devil priestess started to weigh the pros and cons of appearing on television for an interview. She knew it could get her point across... however it could easily be a trap. Media had become increasingly... aggressive. Except for a few studios. The one with that Fox girl Jay for instance, had started to kindle that hope that seemed lost so many weeks ago. She wished... it was them who had asked. Not this unknown. Perhaps her own story was simply not big enough for them.
Still... there was a possibility. She would have to think this carefully.
Effie couldn't believe it... She had to re-read the E-mail from Bonzo over and over. the windows ME fairy looked shaken to the core.
"What's wrong?" Asked Dennis tilting his head.
The two digital fairy's had become very comfortable in exploring cyberspace. Dennis could tell Effie still longed for the real world.
"Its... nothing," She said before casting the letter to the recycle bin of the computer.
Dennis caught the data stream before it reached its destination.
"No!" Effie protested.
The DOS fairy shook his head. Whatever this was seemed important. He was only able to read the subject line... "I found your parents?"
Effie looked mortified. "They aren't my parents." She said angrily. "That person died. I don't even remember them."
The DOS fairy looked sympathetically to Effie and held her digital body into a hug. "You know you should at least contact them... just.. let them know you are okay. I'm sure they would appreciate that."
"Dennis... I don't even know them. I can't tell you anything of the person I was. For all intents and purposes, I died coming here." It was true, wasn't it? Could she even remember a single defining moment in her life, before she came here? She could only remember vague feelings... but the substance and source of where those feelings came from, were gone. She was not even a ghost of her former self... she was just an echo of a sound. A name long gone, and only Effie remained.
Effie was also mixed in that... she didn't want to remember who she was. She was a person that unleashed terrible viruses on the internet, for fun... an action that has brought severe consequences to every digital life. She was the equivalent of Typhoid Mary in their new world. She was glad that person died!
... glad that... justice was done. The AI that did it's job...
Dennis protected the E-mail into his own editor, sealing it. "I wont... read it Effie," He said. "But I wont let you throw it away... when you are ready, you will want this."
The Gorgon woman nodded as Hiro came into her office. The cyborg looked... distracted. "Hello Hiro Hibiki," she said.
Hiro looked with some trepidation. "I'm told I had to see you," he said distastefully.
The gorgon nodded. "You did not wish to come willingly to talk. So yes, I arranged a meeting."
"You do this with all who refuse?" He said a little defensively.
"Only when I feel concerned..." She said calmly. "Please, sit down."
The cyborg sighed and sat down. "Look- I'm fine.. really..." He started.
"You have been in a lot of fights in the past. I am concerned because with your new form, you could actually hurt people."
Hiro glanced down at himself. "Miss, you got it wrong. I look like I can hurt someone. I'm no stronger then I was originally. I'm just... scary to look at. That's all." Hiro glanced at the Gorgon hoping he had not offended her... it would be his luck to just say the wrong thing again. People always prejudged him. Teachers, people, girls...
.. the only one that really liked him was his sister. He was just a dick to everyone else.
The Gorgon didn't look offended. "You have a transformation that some consider the uncanny valley," She said sadly. "It will cause an instinctive distress..."
"Yeah. I know," Said Hiro reluctantly. "Is this also about my test?"
"You scored perfectly, for an ordinary human being," she said calmly.
Hiro tried not to change his expression on that. "Well... I guess I am just an ordinary human being, besides my appearance."
"You find it... difficult to trust, don't you Hiro?" Asked the Gorgon.
Hiro took a slightly defensive posture. "People are ass holes- miss. They don't care about you, only what you can do for them. I got some skills with machines, but nothing compared to true AIs. I mean you've got a twelve year old girl running the networks here, just because she's an AI. I have more experience with computers but I'm not even considered!"
"And.. does that bother you?" She asked plainly.
"Who cares?"
The gorgon looked plainly at him again.
Hiro bit his lip, his cybernetic eye giving a faint glow. "I'm done with being a tool. I'm nobody's tool, I'm nobody's fool. I've not got into trouble here, and I don't intend to be. I just want to forget I'm a cyborg." he said this pulling up his hood, hiding his mechanical attributes.
The gorgon realised she wasn't getting anywhere today with Hiro. It was true he had not done anything as yet... he had stayed on the straight and narrow. The bias they had with true AI's was an issue they would have to deal with another time. "My door is open to you Hiro... any time, any day..." She explained.
"Yeah... thanks," Said Hiro leaving.
