Hiro stared at the strange little cat-taur. "Wh-where am I?" she repeated, staring back up at the gigantic cyborg.
"Uh, you're here," he said. "With me. You're running on my hardware." In fact, she seemed to be running more closely on his hardware than any normal digital fairy.
She eyed him warily. "Wh-who are you?"
He shrugged. "Hiro Hibiki. I was given your code and asked to repair it by someone named Shi. You know her?"
The cat-woman shook her head. Hiro wasn't surprised; Shi seemed like something else entirely from the standard native-AI/digital-fairy arrangement.
He paused for a moment, looking her over. He wasn't sure how to feel about the slightly-clad cat-taur woman; one the one hand, she was quite attractive, and even if the extra breasts were unusual, they seemed to fit with her. On the other hand, was she in any sense his child? He didn't know, and he was pretty confused as a result. As he looked her over, he noticed a blue pendant hanging just in the top of her cleavage. He squinted, trying to get a closer look without looking like he was staring down her top. It was...an Apple logo?
Oh, right, digital fairies tended to have that operating-system thing going on. But what did that have to do with her cat-form...? Oh. Oh. He almost laughed, but managed to hold it back. "So," he said, "uh...OS X 10.4, right?" A.k.a. "Tiger." He felt a little bad for her; that was a bit literal!
She frowned. "I didn't want it...I'm not even a Mac person! I was just trying to fix one of the school's eMacs..."
He nodded. So perhaps that was why she'd risked herself trying to alter her form. Couldn't have been this school, though, they only had PCs. He supposed if she came from the Internet, she could be from anywhere. "You're not alone," he said. "There're other digital fairies who got stuck with the theme of whatever computer they happened to be around...so what's your name?"
Andy sat in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity, though it was really closer to ten minutes. She was a bit relieved that she didn't seem to be going into a panic, but there was still a baseline stress level that didn't seem to be abating. That was normal for an interview, though...right? It had been long enough that she was having a little trouble remembering, but she seemed to recall that it was common for her to feel this way.
She looked around the little reception area. This not being the company's main offices, it was small and a bit sparse, and it aside from the receptionist's computer it didn't look like it had seen much in the way of re-furnishing since the '80s. Still, it wasn't run-down, at least. It was quiet, though. Sure, she could hear the industrial sounds on the other side of the door out to the main plant floor. It was hard not to, really, as her changed ears seemed more sensitive than before (thankfully, it didn't seem to make her more sensitive to loud noises.) But the office was quiet.
Which would have left her quite startled when the door suddenly opened, had she not heard footsteps approaching. She stood, trying to have good posture without being stiff, and took a deep breath, then turned to meet her interviewer.
Mr. Jusczak looked pretty much like he sounded; a sturdily-built older man with white hair just barely kept in order over a deeply-grooved forehead. He looked at her, surprised, for a moment, then smiled. She liked his smile; for someone who looked to be in his early sixties, he still had fire in his eyes. He extended a hand and she shook it. She was a bit startled by the force; it had been one thing to deal with Sue, who was of just above average build and not a whole lot larger than her (at least not when he sat close to the floor, with most of his tail behind him.) Here, now, she started to realize just how short she was.
"Glad you could make it!" he said. "Andy, right?" She nodded.
"I'm Abe," he said. "Thanks for coming out on such short notice; we're in a bit of a panic a bit around here, what with our only machinist out of action. I thought I'd show you around the plant first, and then you can demonstrate your proficiency with the equipment. Sound okay?"
The rabbit-woman smiled. "Sounds good, but I'm afraid I don't have any protective gear for, uh, these." She indicated her ears, which were hardly in any place for normal headphone-style earmuffs.
Mr. Jusczak nodded as he led her out onto the floor. "I suppose not. Hang on a minute. Hey, Calvin!"
A young cat-man passing by stepped over by the office door. He wore some kind of contraption on a band atop his head. "Yeah? What's up?"
"She needs some ear protection," he said. "Go have a smoke, I'll make sure they get back to you when we're done."
The feline grinned. "Take a break? Hey, don't need to tell me twice." He removed his ear-coverings, wiped them off a bit, and handed them to Andy, who took them and examined them curiously. Instead of a cup that fit entirely over the ear, they seemed to be halfway between earmuffs and earplugs; the cup had a padded end that went into the hollow at the base of her ear, and a clip that went around the other side and snapped shut, closing things up pretty tightly.
It took her a minute to get them on properly, but once she did they seemed pretty effective. She could still hear surprisingly well, but she guessed part of that might just be her improved hearing. Mr. Jusczak motioned her on, and she followed him around the plant.
When the overview-slash-tour had concluded, Andy was led over to a corner of the floor that served as a machine shop. She stared at the equipment. She knew this stuff, she knew the functions and a couple of pieces were even the exact models she'd used and known for ten years. She knew this...it had just been so long since she'd used that knowledge...could she still do it?
She had to. She needed this, on both a financial and, far more importantly, a personal level. It's like riding a bicycle, she told herself. You don't just forget, even if you're out of practice. She'd be okay. Just take it slow, make sure you remember what you're doing...
Mr. Jusczak picked up a parts catalog from a nearby bench, flipped to a particular bit of piping, and placed it on the bench beside her. "Make me that," he said. Andy nodded. T-joint tubing, threaded on the ends...yeah, that was simple enough. She supposed he just wanted to see that she knew how to do it. She hoped this wasn't a women-can't-do-this thing; he didn't seem like that type of person, and she'd have been disappointed to find out otherwise. Still, focus.
She went over to a rack of spare copper pipe and found the size she needed. She'd need about a foot total, but better take eighteen inches so she had some slack. It'd be simpler to put the branch of the T into the crossbar than to assemble three separate bits, and it'd be sturdier that way anyway. She made the cuts, fit them together...damn! She hadn't gotten the branch piece quite right. Well, that was why she'd left herself some wiggle room. She re-cut the end; it took a little longer than she'dve liked, but better that than a poor fit.
Okay, they fit properly now. She took the pieces over to the welding equipment. At least the welder's masks fit her without modification, she mused. She was never as good with this as she was with the cutting tools, but a simple joint like this was easy enough. She welded the pieces together, let it set, then tested it; it seemed like a good solid join. Then it was over to the die, so she could put the threading on the ends. She sliced off the excess tubing, then took a moment to sand down the ends a bit; she'd always hated scraping or cutting herself on a piece that someone hadn't bothered to smooth out a bit.
Feeling a bit nervous, she handed the finished piece to Mr. Jusczak. He turned it this way and that, looking it over, tested the weld, checked to see if the ends were the same length. He set it down on the bench. "Good job," he said. "Now, if you'd come on back to my office?"
Andy felt a little irked; was that all? It wouldn't even have been a challenge if she wasn't four years out of practice! But she followed him back without saying anything. He led her into his office and shut the door, motioned for her to sit, then sat behind his battered old desk. "You took more than a minute over what one of my fastest guys did for that on Monday," he said.
She felt a sinking feeling in her gut. She couldn't...she couldn't have screwed this up! Not now! Not...no, she couldn't panic. If she panicked things would be lost for sure. "I...um, I'm...sorry?" she said.
Abe snorted. "Don't be. He nearly tore his damn fool hand off on the equipment. I wanted to see that you weren't in so much of a hurry that you'd neglect sense and safety, and you weren't. Good job on that."
Andy had to work to keep herself from audibly sighing in relief. That had sounded worse than it was. "So, uh...?" She didn't want to just come out and say, "do I get the job?" ...well, actually, that was exactly what she wanted to do, but it probably would've been a bad idea.
"I'm still thinking," Mr. Jusczak said. "I've got a couple of guys coming in later, but I will tell you that I saw a lot of what I wanted to see out there. I have to ask you, though, and I'm sorry if this is a little personal, but you said you were unemployed for four years? What exactly was it that kept you from finding work?"
Andy sighed. She didn't want to answer this. It was a relevant question, she supposed, but she could just refuse, act all offended...no, no she couldn't. She couldn't go back into denial...
"A number of things," she said, trying to hold her voice steady. "At first it was just lousy economic conditions; that went on long enough that I basically just lost motivation altogether. And...well, I've been dealing with some personal problems in that time as well, and they certainly didn't help."
He nodded. "I see. How are things now? What do you think has changed?"
The rabbit-woman sighed. "Better," she said. "Not perfect, but better." What had changed? What hadn't? "I'm...getting a handle on things again," she said. "My...uh, my spouse has been pretty instrumental in that. Being through this change has made us both reevaluate a lot of things..."
Mr. Jusczak nodded thoughtfully. "That's good to hear. I think that's all the questions I have for now, Mrs. Thompson. As I said, I've got a couple other interviewees yet; I'll make sure to stay in touch, however things work out. Thanks for coming."
Andy nodded, smiling. "Thanks for having me."
She left the ear protectors with him and saw herself out; he offered to accompany her, but she declined; she had to hit the bathroom first anyway, and there was no sense in him having to wait. She made her stop and then started to make her way through the employee break area towards the exit. She was just passing the break room proper when she heard a wolf-whistle.
Her brain seized up. This was exactly what she didn't feel like dealing with right now! She didn't need this, she was in a good mood and didn't want it spoiled, she just wanted to get home to Sue. Keep walking, you don't have to let it get to you, she told herself.
She was, however, not in luck. She heard soft, heavy feet padding after her; not shoes, paws. "Hey, wait up there, babe!" a voice said.
Andy turned to face the speaker. The wolf-whistler was, in fact, an actual wolf; she would've found it funny, if the circumstances, his comparative height, and a little instinctive "danger!" signal from the rabbit part of her didn't have her feeling a little afraid.
"Hey," he said, grinning. "Couldn't let a cute little lady like yourself go unremarked on. You doing anything tonight?"
Her stomach was doing flip-flops now, as her brain tried to sort out a number of conflicting feelings. She was afraid, she was a bit offended by his bluntness, she was...still uncomfortable with being acknowledged as a woman by anybody but Sue...on the other hand, somehow, she felt a...a little flattered. And...well, he was attractive.
That last one was the most confusing. It was one thing to be turned on by Susan, her best friend, lover, and spouse of eighteen years. But...other men? Other men? It wasn't the same depth of feeling; not the frank longing she'd felt that first day, or the stronger "Sue" flavor of the sort of pleasant mild buzz that it seemed she would be living with day-to-day as a bunny-girl. But...he was nicely built, not too old (a few years younger than she'd been, pre-change,) and a bit disheveled. She blushed ever so slightly as she realized that part of what turned her on about Sue was that she just had a thing for scruffy young men. Yes, he was attractive.
Not, of course, any kind of hyper-attractive that could make her feel like cheating on the most important person in her life. Just...not bad at all. But...but...what should she do here? How should she handle this? And what if he...if he...
No, no, that was ridiculous. He wasn't being a total sleaze, just...not particularily tactful. And just because a little animal instinct said "don't trust him, he wants to eat you," that didn't mean that he would...get violent. Calm down, Andy, she told herself. What had Sue said? Acknowledge, make it clear that you're not interested, but don't make it seem like he's a bad person for being interested...
She put on a slight smile. "I am," she said. "I'm married, sorry."
The wolf-man thought for a moment, then shrugged. "Ah well, it was worth asking. You sure you're not just giving me an excuse?"
Good lord, he was tactless. She held up her right hand, so that he could see her wedding ring. It was still the simple gold band; Sue had the one with the diamond, as he'd always had. She wondered if they shouldn't trade; it probably didn't fit him too well now anyway. "Besides," she said, "I've got kids. Teenagers."
He stared, clearly a bit surprised that someone who appeared to appeared to be in her mid-20s would have multiple teenaged children. But, after all, the sun did strange things to people. She was relieved when his expression of incredulity broke back into a smile, and he started to chuckle. "Okay, okay," he said. "Point taken. Have a good one, then."
Andy smiled in spite of herself. "You too." She made her way out of the building as he went back to the break room. She'd thought she'd get back to the car and be overcome with revulsion, but actual what happened was that she started feeling aroused. It...it wasn't just Sue being nice to her, it was...she was attractive. And she knew that he really meant the things he'd said when they were in bed; not that she'd ever doubted, but now she really knew. She felt a little weak in the knees; why did it have to be so far from here to home? Okay, it was only half an hour, but...she wanted to get back *now. She wanted to get back and...and...
God, Maple had been right. She couldn't fight this, only hold it back temporarily. She'd thought the longing from her first day had been the extent of what she would feel, because she was so overwhelmed by it then, but it hadn't been this* fierce._ Okay, focus, she reminded herself. Sue had taken another half-day today...he'd be home, and the kids were still at school for hours yet...
No. Home wasn't the place for these feelings. The animal part of her had a better idea, and her memories of their first year of marriage confirmed it. She picked up the phone as she rammed the key into the starter slot. "Hello?" came Sue's voice.
"H-hey, honey," she said, her voice getting all breathy again. "I...I wanted to...if you wouldn't mind packing a picnic lunch...could you meet me in the park?"
