Andy smiled though as she walked- albeit stiffly into the office of her new job. As nervous as she was, she didn't want it to show. There were a few procedures to sign and she was given a badge with her picture on it. Her face was a little further away to include her rabbit-ears... which she made a slight face at. Was that part of her really needed for the records? Looking at the neutral expression of the picture though it did look... well... cute? Urgh... she mused a bit to herself. Was that really how she looked?
There was a woman sat on a desk, also a transformed. She seemed to be a mouse type of change, though curiously enough it was a very light transformation. Then again, the same could be said of Andy if people didn't know her original gender.
"I'm Marin, it's nice to meet you," she said with a smile. "We just have to ask you to sign a few things. We also have a new health and safety assessment system in dealing with new changed."
"I think I heard about that on the news," said Andy trying hard not to sound completely clueless. "I just never thought Id have to go through it."
Marin nodded as she took a few more papers from the drawer. "Yes procedures have had to change in a lot of industries. You can't even board a plane without something like this. When everyone had the same shapes, certain assumptions could be made- like say, they could fit through a door in a fire escape. Unfortunately with everyone having very different shapes, sizes, or even-materialness-"
"Materialness?" Andy asked with an arched eyebrow.
"I guess you haven't been a changed very long. Some people don't have the benefits of a physical carbon based form. Even then, we have slime mould creat- people that couldn't be subjected to the harsh heat of the furnaces. We also have the tiny changed, which is always a challenge. They require specialist transports often as well as someone to watch over them."
"Well... I'm not that different from human, I guess," said the rabbit girl glancing down at herself. Her body was still a little weird to look at from this perspective. But it was hers now, and she could deal with it... right?
"I believe the standard health and safety documents will work for you," She said while taking out a pen. Marin carefully noted each aspect about her as she carefully went through some kind of 'decision tree' process. Finally they singled out the slightly more relevant questions. "Let's see... do your ears present a tangle hazard?"
Andy's jaw dropped. Was she being serious? "I- no-" She said at the ludicrous idea. Health and Safety was clearly mad these days.
"Are you excessively sensitive to loud noises?"
"Excessively? Well- No. But I can hear a lot better then I used to," She said hoping it wouldn't disqualify her immediately. Honestly she thought she had done the interview process! Why wasn't this done earlier?
"Oh don't worry," Said Marin. "An initial assessment of you was already done, we just need to look at the details of your job now. Everyone wears protective helmets but your ears will require some... special considerations," She said filling out the forms. "Perhaps a form of ear plugs."
Andy was wondering how they could spend ten minutes talking about her ears. She was momentarily glad she didn't have a really big change. What kind of thing did others have to go through?
"Sign here if you are happy with my assessments," said Marin. "Its nice to have you with us."
The rabbit girl looked over the comments and signed her name.
Haru sat with Ken at lunch. The oriental three eyed girl ate a ham sandwich while ken, seemed to be quite keen on his steak.
"One good thing about this," said Ken. "The food has become a lot better."
"You think so?" Asked Haru glancing around. She guessed that nutrient requirements were now a lot more varied, so it was true. The food budget must have given a complete overhaul.
Haru looked over to Ken. His fox-tail was so close to her and... it felt kind of... nice to look at. There was a curious urge to just- she blushed a bit. But being with her new friend felt so good. It was also relaxing, since he didn't trigger any... strange things in her mind's eye.
"I... had a weird dream," She admitted to the fox-boy.
"Oh.. nothing bad I hope?" Ken asked concerned.
"It.. was just so strange. Jon was there. And-" She bit her lip. "I'm not sure I like what I saw," she shivered a bit in thought. First that vision of Hedeton now this... why did she see these weird things?
"Maybe it was just a dream? I thought your er- thing only happened when you looked at things," said Ken very confused.
"So did I," said Haru rubbing her forehead a bit. Looking at the world as she did was not something she could ever get completely used to. Closing her left eye made everything shift a bit upwards, and closing both her lower eyes made her feel like she was a bit taller? Not to mention her oriental appearance. "Why am I like this," She wondered.
"I often wonder that too," said Ken. "Why am I a fox? Not that I mind... maybe its just random pot luck in the end."
"I'm not so sure," said Haru in thought. But what was the pattern? She never had any connection to the far east, so why would she change in this way? Why did she have an ability like this? Why a girl! But at the same time... she had adapted. She was fine with it. "I think something s going on with Jon and her friends. I'm worried I'll get tangled into something."
"Well... You are not alone. I'm with you. If you like we can go together. I may not have your power, but I can bring morale support," he said with a grin. With a flourish, he brought his arm around Haru.
Haru blushed. He was so close to her! Was... was this.. okay? "I- I think I'd like that," she said blushing even more. She relaxed into his arms feeling... content? What a strange feeling it was.
Ken just grinned again. "Let's go see if they can make sense of this dream of yours."
Lilly looked tensely as the moon girl looked at her. She had just apologised... what would she say-
"You were mean!" said Artemis in the end.
The squirrel girl stuttered. "I- I'm sorry..." she said again. "I- I just-" At this moment, Lilly just didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to talk to girls. Even if she was one right now.
"You just want to be a boy! Well fine!"
Lilly looked up as Artemis disappeared. She never even saw her walk. The bell rang and she started to make her way to class. "..just.. wanted to be friends..."
Jon was thinking hard about what Brittany said. She assumed Brittany would be able to teach her, but apparently she would learn more doing this on her own. How long would learning ordinary magic take?
Also, how would one learn magic? Given it is a power that is considered accessible now, she has yet to see ordinary people employ it. She had seen magic only done with the stone, yet Brittany said it was completely possible to use magic without it.
'Ordinary magic' she repeated to herself. How could magic be considered ordinary? It was a fantastical force that made the impossible happen. It had changed peoples lives so dramatically... could she learn a spell that would... undo the stones power on the world? Was that really possible?
Karyn elbowed Jon affectionately. "You got that face again," she said smiling.
"Huh? Sorry Karyn. This is just a lot to think about..."
The cecaelia girl nodded. "Yeah.. and how are we going to do this? How are you going to study magic in between normal studies?"
"I don't have any books either. Except for Merlin's book." She did see a few incantations in it, though she wasn't sure if they actually did anything. Given how powerful the stone was, she didn't know if she dared try anything in the book. So she had to learn this.
They went into class and sat on their respective desks.
"You could do it during self-study times."
"I suppose," said Jon. He glanced a bit distracted by a.. very bright light. Turning to the door she saw Tiffany, who's face was starting to glow. The girl looked a bit uncomfortable like she was hot or something.
Tiffany slowly walked to her desk, shifting about her clothes.
Mrs Summers arched a slight eyebrow as the girl entered her classroom but did not say a word... she simply took out the next assignment for them. "I believe we have concluded this part of the curriculum. We are now going to study mythology," she said.
"Don't you mean real life?" asked Steven the flower girl shaking her head. The flower which sat atop of her moving in turn as she did so.
The entire classroom burst out laughing.
The teacher went to the flower girl, her gaze quite even.. then she smiled. "I'm glad you have your sense of humour back."
Steven swallowed slightly. Still... she had been feeling a bit better about things.
"Yes," said Miss Summers. "This is intended to help prepare you for... whoever you may encounter. Now I must explain that, we will cover quite a few different subjects here, and you must absolutely not expect it to be the truth of anyone you might encounter. People might have the form of a werewolf, it doesn't mean they are rabid beasts."
There was another little laugh as the classroom relaxed at the subject. In truth a lot of them had become very interested in mythology given what has happened to them. This was going to be fun!
Tiffany huffed a bit. "What good is studying mythology if you became something that doesn't exist anywhere," she said with some annoyance. The strange light in her body was becoming excessively strong lately. She probably shouldn't have rested in the covers for two nights in a row. But she really didn't want to wear her diaphanous clothing either
"This is intended as a guide... nothing more. Here are your new text books, revised."
