Leslie had gone back to basics with the loss of his light lab. He was working probably as any other scientist would have, without the advanced medical equipment with a microscope and a few slides in his house. Still he felt he had made a very important discovery and was anxious to get this knowledge out.
*Leslie's log on the changed.
I have been looking at single cells of the changed, or any particulate matter they produce. As far as I can tell, the change exhibit incredible resilience to illness, and much of our world does not seem to cause any kind of sickness. However clearly the changed can get sick. I attribute many illnesses to be psychosomatic, or even the result of an unknown nutrition requirement.*
At least, that was the theory so far. Still it was more likely that bacteria have yet to adapt to the sudden emergence of a new species- several million types and subsets anyway. It meant he had to be on the look out for plagues that other creatures may suffer now, not just human. What if a horse flea got onto a centaur, for instance and a cross species bacteria emerged?
I have been looking at my notes and I feel confident enough to make the following observations. The changed cells are almost incapable of being induced to form cancerous cells. This is making it very difficult to form clonal cells for further testing. This leads to some very awkward conclusions that I fear we may have to face up to.
Gordon sighed. Yeah, this was certainly one of the 'biggies'. What exactly was he going to say? He decided to leave that trail of thought blank for now. He just... couldn't write how complicated, such a basic understanding could get. Biology had become a lot more complicated of late.
The mermaid in Jeff's pool was at a loss to explain just what happened today. It seemed that every person that Jeff brought here, was just going to either gawk at her, or worse- hurt her in some way. If she could she would leave but there was nowhere to go. She was a mermaid, stuck in this rich-boy's swimming pool. Indeed she was 'lucky' in the sense that at least, she had some place she could live in.
Of all the things to change into...
She absolutely loathed being moved around in a wheel chair like she was... disabled. She did that for a little while- but her tail was certainly one of the larger ones for her kind of transformation and it kept on brushing the ground. It was beautiful really, with the loveliest shade of bluish green. If she were in a school of other mermaids, she would probably be the fastest. Oh how she hated having that thing attached to her hips, the way it flicked this way and that... The only peace she got was during the day time when Jeff couldn't get near her. She wanted her legs back!
She glanced wearily at her naked form. Her normal clothes had finally given in to the water and had become an unwearable slush weeks ago. She was so ecstatic when Her bikinis arrived in the mail. Finally she could have some dignity. But then that robot girl took them away! Why would she even do that? Why would a changed girl be that cruel to another changed? Still the way she remembered her face, she had absolutely no doubt Jeff was the real culprit. He must have had some hold on her. That... jerk.
The mermaid was feeling furious over loosing her clothes. But again, there was nothing she could do.
The sun was slowly going down, and that meant Jeff would be coming by soon. Once again he'll humiliate her, and there was nothing she could do but 'swim' there. What was he going to ask her next to do? Probably another flip. Then she'll get some food. Like a performing seal.
She glanced over, and like clockwork there he was. Her tormentor.
"Hey Wanda- eh.. hey," said Jeff wincing at the 'pet name' he picked for her. It was at first supposed to be affectionate but... actually just what was her name? He never found out. Oh well, it's not that important.
"Whatever you want, this time, it ain't happening." said the mermaid icily. "And what did you do to my clothes?"
"Clothes? oh eh..." Jeff looked embarrassed as he thought of the box. What happened to it? Oh.. it... uh oh. That was an accident. Kind of... sort of. He was mad at the time and well- urgh. Damn. This isn't going to go well. Still he had to make some kind of peace or Ricky might tell everyone. "Right. The clothes. Eh... I... lost them..."
"You liar!" spat the mermaid. "Whatever happened to being fair? I bought those clothes! From my own money. You owe me now!"
"You're a mermaid, you don't have money." Jeff observed automatically. It just slipped out.
"Shut up!"
Oh damn it, Thought Jeff turning around to not look at her and see his furious expression- more so at himself then at her. This isn't how he wanted it to go, and neither did he really want to admit he screwed up either. He turned back around. "Okay look- those clothes were worth at least a month in my pool. So... I'll get you a set when I get back. Also you don't have to do any tricks for the food. See? I'm leaving you some cereal."
The mermaid glanced at the food wondering if it was some kind of trick. But it all seemed normal. There wasn't even any pepper in it to make her sneeze like last time. Still she thought back to her box. "There were ten in there! You owe me ten!"
Jeff groaned. Just what made her so special? She thought she was some sort of princess? Everyone has to pay their way, even him- no especially him. She just lay there doing nothing, eating his food, using his pool- heck she didn't even need clothes as a mermaid. (Not to mention it was quite a show to watch- if he got the chance) Still... he had to try and be nice. "Okay fine. Two.. I'll get you two. Eh... what's your size?"
If the mermaids eyes could glow, they were doing so right now. "Just bring two medium sized bikinis. I'll manage with that." She wasn't sure why Jeff was being 'generous'- or rather what passed as generous and understanding for this snobby rich kid. But at this point, she didn't care. He was still being a colossal jerk, but... he seemed to be at least 'trying'. Kind of. Like a lumbering cave man trying to work out how a television worked.
Suddenly the mermaid closed her eyes. She paled a little, looking shaken. There was a disturbing look in her eyes. It was enough so that Jeff actually jumped back slightly. "Eh- are... are you okay?"
"F-Fine! Just.. get the hell out of here!" The mermaid shouted. "Bring my stuff!"
"Okay okay, Jeez Wanda," he said going back to the house.
"MY NAME ISN'T WANDA!"
Jeff winced again. Damn it.
The tiny little clockwork girl Belle watched from Jeff's window. She couldn't hear them, but she saw her boyfriend give the food to the mermaid. She smiled when she saw him come back almost running to the end of the desk again. "Hi Baby. gawd, you are so nice helping her." she said smiling. It's a shame she couldn't go see it but Jeff insisted, being so protective of her.
"Oh- eh... yeah. I guess." He said suddenly guilty at those words.
"And... you gonna help me too, right?" Asked the clockwork girl hopefully as she bend down on her knees to sit down on the desk comfortably. Her small key in her back kept on turning, giving power to the strange doll-body.
"Of course I am! I... just don't know how yet," he said looking down at her. How could he help her? Nobody had found a cure...
"Oh! You got my homework ready for me?" She asked looking at the second book on the desk. "Thanks... I'm such a dummy," She said sadly.
"You're not stupid Belle. You're just dyslexic," reminded Jeff. "It's their fault for not realising that!"
"Just another way of saying I'm stupid," Said the clockwork girl sadly. She had become a little better, now that she understood the problem.. but it was so hard to focus or even to remember certain things.
Jeff didn't reply to that. "Look we just cheat a little bit to get you past this semester. Then you'll be fine-" But no... she wouldn't be fine. She's stuck as a clockwork girl now. A tiny one. She'll never be able to do anything again. Not unlike the mermaid really. He found his eyes getting wet with tears.
"Mmm.. how 'bout a kiss?" The clockwork girl asked puckering her lips.
Jeff tensed. "Eh.. well..." He approached not really sure quite how this was going to work. So he went to the desk, leaning his face closer to her waiting form as she rose up from sitting there. He tried to remember what it was like before kissing her as a human. She was always so sweet... so nice... he puckered his lips, as he felt...
...just a tiny tap, onto his lip. Barely anything really, not even the sucking pull of air. He opened his eyes, to see the doll looking awkwardly.
"Thanks Jeff," she said softly.
Neither wanted to admit that it... just didn't feel very satisfying. But in each other's body language, it was very obvious.
