(felt the original one needed improvement)
Hiro stared at the sunlight...
...nothing.
He didn't change back!
Words couldn't describe it. How angry he felt... the rage built into him, reaching records that even his processor sensor warned him was unsustainable and could do irreparable harm. He didn't care though. He pounded the ground with his metallic hand, sending a shock wave of vibration around him, and a small creator on the side walk.
"God..." he said shaken. He was going to be stuck like this forever? A monster? Why! God Why!
Hiro got up a little dazed, as the feeling of defeat sank into his soul. It... wasn't fair. It just wasn't.
He went back to his house, not really sure what else to do. He looked at his computer and sat down, wondering if anyone else felt like he did. He sighed, already missing Riko. He could call her back of course, but... at the moment, he wanted to be alone.
Staring at the screen though, something very odd happened to the VR system on his cybernetic eye. His memory file was listing a number of programs that were definitely not in his memory before- but were all tagged as belonging to him. It was as if his DNA had written new programs? Is this the result of organic computing? They were responding to the visual information on the computer too... what could they mean?
He stared at pictures, of various 'fictional' digital fairies he and Riko were looking at before. As he scanned them he was getting some kind of 'compatibility' match... varying between 10% to 95%. There was one in particular he liked, with hair of four braids, each a different colour. It was a SNES-type fairy. As he stared at it, he decided to try the program to see what it would do.
There was a strange feeling as the world turned dark... except for this girl, which seemed to glow. His eye zoomed in on the picture, as a moth to a flame... and then there was a bright flash...
There was a disconnected feeling, but not exactly a 'floating' feeling, as much as a 'swim'. Then it was like he was in the computer screen. He turned around to see- a giant! But.. no that was him! His cybernetic body. Getting a sinking feeling he glanced down at himself... and saw the body of the female digital fairy.
He screamed- a rather girlish scream admittedly.
"Holy shit!" This... it was real? She attempted to get back to her own system... and found she could do that with ease. He was actually 'hosted' by his own system! Back in his own body, he was now he was looking at the picture. it had become a template file? Her expression was stuck in that expression of surprise and shock he only wore a moment ago.
Hiro was nervous, sweaty, but at the same time... excited. Apparently he was able to take on the form of pictures on the internet? Become some kind of 'digital fairy bitmap?' Not a true digital fairy exactly though... just in 'appearance'. Could this be a way to a more 'normal' appearance, even if only on the internet?
A little eagerly he quickly uploaded a picture of his human self. He wasn't sure what a picture of a teenage boy would result in... what kind of a 'digital fairy' would that be?
...nothing. He was not even getting a compatibility score any more.
He tried activating the program a few times, but all he got was an error 'type mismatch' code. What the hell was going on?
After a little more experimentation, it dawned on his that he could only take the appearance of a female avatar. Not only that, but... something about the program ensured that they would always be extraordinarily beautiful avatars, no matter how crude the drawing was. Indeed the more crude, the more the program seemed to 'compensate' for that, even when he tried to go for certain 'boyish' looking ones, they always had that... something feminine about them.
Hiro spent the next couple of hours experimenting in different forms, building a collection of avatars that were... at least 'reasonable' to him. He didn't have an 'editor', as 'she' was still linked to 'his' body... (this was getting very confusing...)
Each avatar went through the entire scale between racy, to conservative.. cute, to serious... humanoid to relatively exotic- though the more exotic ones got a lower compatibility score.
Somehow, the light had given him a few other curious programs too! Exausted from this project, he decided to try one more of the new programs... it activated a system deep within the machine aspect of his nature, deploying a technology beyond known human science, as his nanites started to re-build the links between his biology and artificial nature.
It was like going through a growth spurt.. much like the artificial life forms did. Didn't they describe how sometimes it could look horrible? There was a rumour of an artificial human, who's internal foot structure grew and required artificial skin to heal over... What if... Hiro started in the 'middle' of such a spurt?
His cybernetic form was... made sleeker. Less crude looking, and more... natural. Whole. There was a seamlessness, to make it look less like a hodgepodge of man and machine, and a greater elegance in their fusion. It was surreal.
Still... it didn't really look right. He missed being human. He tried the last program- and nearly fell of his chair.
Energy was being used at a very high rate, as a strange light formed around him, changing him... in the real world!
Now he was human? (with pointed ears though). He looked in the mirror, and his- well 'her' jaw dropped. She took on the appearance of the last avatar she became! This particular avatar, was of one of his favourite drawings. A somewhat feminised version of Link from the legend of Zelda.
Hiro looked down touching the breasts, feeling... that they were real? This couldn't be a trick. There was no way to explain it. The lovely green tunic, the strange lightness of her skin... It was so surreal.. a pretty face to say the least. She looked down and around... with confusion as much as curiosity, with the knowledge that this was not permanent... she could switch back and forth simply by the program!
There was a metabolism warning though. Doing this in the real world... seemed to take a great deal of energy. Was it holography? It couldn't be... it all felt 'real'. Unless the program was feeding her biological senses that she 'expected'? This was not an unreasonable possibility...
She had already spent some time in this form on the internet, and it was not quite as awkward this time in the real world... but... maybe she could now go on the internet, and see Riko? A sudden pang of embarrassment though made her realise she would rather not people knew she changed gender on the internet! That.. just felt so wrong! She was a guy and liked being a guy! She should change back and forget about this program-
Suddenly his sister knocked the door. "Hey Big Brother are you-" She gasped. "Who are you!"
Hiro's jaw dropped. "Uh..."
