Riko stretched her four legged body on the desk. The cat-taur form of a tiger was certainly unique. Not to mention the extra breasts on her form.
Hiro, being a rather curious teenager, found his eyes wondering- but he didn't want to make his new 'friend' in all this be uncomfortable about it. Even if she was a little weird...
"I'd really like to see your other form," Said Hiro aloud.
The cat-taur crossed her arms. "No. Way. What do you think I am? Some private entertainment for you?"
Hiro blushed. Maybe- just a little of that was in his head... but there was curiosity in that too. "Well- we're partners now right? I thought... we could get to know each other?" The young asian cyborg really wasn't sure how to deal with this.
"Look- I'm just not comfortable in that form... I rather like my transmission state. All the cat parts are down there, and I'm up here." She said with a shrug. It felt more like she was riding on top of a cat, then actually being the cat... it was an important difference to her mind.
Hiro scratched his head a bit. "Well.. yeah I guess I can understand," he said leaning back on the desk. "I'm really sorry you joined up with a..."
"A dick?"
Hiro actually chuckled a bit at that. "Yeah... a dick like me. I can't handle any of this. I don't really have any contact with emergence, they want nothing to do with me. I don't even have any friends in school." He glanced around at the empty chairs around him.
"And you think girls are afraid of you?" Said Riko.
Hiro blushed a but at that. How much of his memory did she share? It wasn't mind reading, but quite a bit of his knowledge had bled into her. That was quite unsettling... it was hard for him to open up, yet here was someone that knew more about him then most.
"Yeah... well... you're a girl. I guess you can see I'm not as handsome as I used to be," he said trying to make light of it. Though the truth was, it did affect him quite a lot. "I met another cat girl... but she was... well... I dunno. Intimidated I guess." Hiro shrugged. He didn't want to be intimidating... he was actually a nice guy, wasn't he?
Riko wondered if she should say something... but wasn't sure. "You're not as bad as you think," she said in the end. "You're not a cybernetic zombie. You're a mesh of man and machine. Like Robocop. he was cool wasn't he?" The cat girl smiled a bit.
The young cyborg thought a bit about it. "Murphy was built for combat.. that made him cool. I'm not built for much more then sensing I think." He really hoped they would find that cyber-ghost Shi soon... he sent out a few packages of search strings but there was only silence. Still it was nice to spend time with someone who didn't hate his guts.
"Where are your parents anyway?" Asked Hiro.
"Well, around... I guess," the catgirl said evading the question. "What happens now?"
"I can send you back on the net if you want. Go where you want to go," Hiro offered. "I'm just glad you're okay. You really did all that just... for clothes?"
The cat girl huffed. "Look at me, I'm practically naked. Yes I just wanted to wear clothes so I didn't have internet geeks staring at me." She wanted to add 'like he was'., but... she didn't. She did owe him her life.
"Does that mean digital fairies are stuck with what they are wearing?" He asked curiously.
The cat girl pulled out an editor- though it flickered a bit. It seemed to be a little glitchy. "Darn it.. I'll have to repair this too. I'm still getting used to programming things... and yeah. We're stuck with what we got as our clothes are part of our programming. Though sometimes, a person can access different themes within their code."
"Themes?" Asked the cyborg.
"Yeah.. like a desktop theme. But only a few of the experts have worked that part out. I'm nowhere close. My default is just.. well.. this," She said gesturing to her bra and bare body, with the fur covering her lower torso.
It made Hiro wonder all the more, what her humanoid form looked like. Did she have clothes like that? Why was she so coy about it? Maybe.. she was naked?
The cyborg then glanced over at the plant girl across the library. Oh crap- now she thought he was a dick, and crazy... the day just get's better and better.
Mr Gordon looked a bit down cast. He was just trying to help his son. He didn't know how to raise a girl. He remembered that a lot of that, he left to his wife when it came to Stacy. Not that he didn't love her any less, it was just that... he didn't know a lot about girls.
Raising Billy was second nature to him. He was looking forward to the day, when his son would stand as his equal, with a gentle but firm hand and grasp of the facts of the world. It was unsettling that the sunlight, undid everything he taught the boy about life. He never considered himself the best father in the world... but he loved his son. Why did the sunlight take all that away?
Was it really so bad to teach Billy, that nobody lived on the moon? What was next? Was she going to believe Santa clause? The tooth fairy? The Easter bunny? What in the world was he supposed to do treating his son like a little girl! It was... too weird.
But she was a little girl...
Leslie wondered if he had simply lost his skill at being a parent. His wife dealt with this so much better then he did. With Stacy an actual grown up boy and apparently having few issues with it, he didn't have a lot to contribute. Maybe he should step back a bit again, and let his wife handle things. He had other things he could concentrate on anyway.
He was reading on a few websites that the orbit of the moon had changed. That was... quite disturbing. But perhaps it could be explained by the new magnetic field. Could it be interacting with the field of the earth?
Normally this kind of thing would excite him. Not today though. He took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes. He had gone back over the past month of all his actions, believing everything he had done to be the right course. The course of any person that loved his family as much as he did. He put all his wealth into finding a cure... what did he have to show for it now? A destroyed lab, and an injured technician in the hospital- not to mention a cop that could easily have thrown the book at him, for taking a sample without permission.
Leslie was frustrated... normally he would go out for a walk, maybe visit his friend in the hospital, but the sun was still up. He was a prisoner in his own home! All because of that sunlight.
He turned off his computer.
Agent Hawkins knocked on the door of the police officer.
Muriel opened it a little surprised. "I didn't expect to see you so soon," she said.
"A pleasure to see you as always, Muriel. Your message was considered a high priority. Indeed, I would like to provide you with this." He gave her a small device that looked like a pager. "That is a direct page to me, on an independent system. Even if the phone lines were down, you could use that to send a message to me or Agent Cecilia.
Muriel took the device grateful. "Why am I being given such... consideration?" She asked.
The Agent looked a little concerned a moment. "You were wise, not to mention minus four in your message.. In our department, someone like her could be of interest to... certain people," he said. " And you seem to be in contact with a lot of unusual phenomenons of late."
Muriel thought about it. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of it... but she guessed caution was best in this situation. Hawkins was willing to keep this a secret, that was the important thing.
The agent got into his briefcase taking out a number of papers. "Now, Cecilia and I can arrange anything you wish for this child. We can put her in any system you desire, make it seem as if she was born from anyone you have in mind. We could easily make it appear as if you were her mother," he said with a sincere smile.
Muriel blinked. "Just like that?"
"Just like that," grinned the agent. "It's for a good cause, and Cecilia knows her way through all the government computers. Just tell us how you wish us to proceed."
"I'll.. have to give this some thought," said the officer.
"I understand. Just remember that once we have her in, it's a little more tricky to change things around. Not impossible mind... but at this point with no identity at all, its easier to work something out."
Muriel nodded. "I hate to ask this... but..."
"Financial assistance can easily be arranged. I believe this is in all our interest... do you think you could convince the child to tell her kind, we're not enemies?"
"I don't know. She doesn't seem able to communicate with them... but if any communication can be made to them, I'll let you know."
