Jon wondered to his locker to get his assignments. He found his usual books, but there was an extra one. A yellow folder that he had never seen before What class was this? "Extra Biology?" He thumbed through the various worksheets with even more confusion.
The assignments on it were done in his own handwriting. Was this because of the stone? For some reason people in this new reality took an interest in the biology of made up creatures? Why in the world would they do that-
"Hey Jon!" Karyn smiled.
Jon gasped. "K-Karyn! What the heck- what happened to you!"
Karyn looked for all the world a teenage blonde cat-girl. She still had that long blonde hair, but they were matched by blonde furred cat ears that were slightly on the larger side. Her eyes had changed colour, becoming a vibrant green. Then there was her blond furred tail, peeking out behind her skirt.
Karyn fumed. "You already know what happened. I rather you didn't talk about it out here." She glanced a bit shyly.
"I- I didn't know.."
"My boobs and hair Jon, remember? I made that wish?" She gave an exasperated look. Karyn really didn't want to dwell on it. What happened was permanent.
Jon looked blankly. He had completely forgotten about that. Still that was definitely not what was in his mind right now! "You're a- a- cat girl!"
Karyn looked at him tilting her head strangely. "Well yeah since I was thirteen." She gave another weird look to him. "Are you feeling okay?"
Jon started to slump down in exasperated gasps. This was- how- how could it be that all this was going on? Why is it that people treated it as perfectly normal! He glanced around a bit more carefully. There didn't seem to be anyone else quite as obviously changed as Karyn "How- I mean- I don't remember-"
"You don't remember? Did you wish I caught it!" Karyn suddenly looked angrily. "How could you-"
"Wait no! Karyn I didn't wish for anything like that. I just well- I may have made a stupid wish. I just was bored and wished for something interesting to happen. I didn't wish for anything as specific as that though!" A lot of questions were rattling in Jon's mind. What was 'it'. Some kind of virus?
Karyn calmed down a bit. Jon was her friend. She remembered him sticking by her, even though she started turning into a cat. She was glad she had stopped at the point that made it look cute rather then freaky still, she remembered all the other kids staying away from her. Back then people thought you caught it like a flu but the truth is, nobody knows quite how or why anyone caught it or even the rules for it. "I don't know why you wished for that of all things Jon. The world is interesting enough with the Myst around."
"Mist?" Jon asked. "You mean like a fog?"
Karyn again looked blankly at Jon. "Havn't you been studying.. anything the last ten years? Its M.Y.S.T. The Myst."
Jon glanced trying to understand it. "Okay- could you take me through this Myst stuff? I really have no idea what you're talking about."
Karyn wasn't sure she could believe this either. Was Jon seriously saying he had no idea of the most important events in history? "Well, some think it's short for Mystery. Because nobody knows what causes it. It gave the impression that it might be an invisible mist." It actually stands for Morphic Young Syndrome in Teens. Though some people nick name it Magical Why-me shock Trauma." The cat girl shrugged. "I guess given how it affects kids the most, there's some bleak humour about it. Trying to reach adulthood without being affected by it is considered lucky."
Jon looked through his book. There were various categories. Animal, mythological, Something called Endomorph- which from what he could gather is the event changing person in ways that were completely normal to their biology, such as becoming older or younger. A transformation of pure gender was considered an Endomorphic event, though this appeared to have its own category too. Perhaps because of the unique demands such a transformation placed. There were other categories too which were more intriguing. They appeared to be at the top end of the scale, and were considered Bio-warpers, reality shifters strange changes that didn't fit in any category.
He was gratified though to see that the changes generally didn't cause illness or harm- just- well- changed in circumstances? Though he felt a sudden disgust and hatered that his wish.. his wish put all these changes to a generation of children before he was born, and after.
.."I it's my fault," Jon whispered. "K-Karyn- I- I did this!"
Karyn looked sadly to Jon. "Jon.. it's..." she wanted to tell him it was okay but if this is true, if Jon had unleashed the Myst, it was definitely -not- okay. Still maybe there was one silver lining she could offer. "Jon- from what we know, the changes only ever happened in this town."
Jon thought about that then looked alarmed. "Oh no..."
"What? That's a good thing."
"It's only been that way because of the range limit of the stone. Now that we've reached the point in time where I actually -made- the wish its free to go anywhere..."
Karyn grimaced. "W-Well- at least it doesn't affect that many people. It was usually quite rare here."
"The outside world is going to quarantine us..."
Mikey got through class as best he could. However he was still feeling weird, especially in his clothes and legs. He was sitting down listening, but something.. urgent felt like it was running through him, no matter how much he squirmed to lift the tension. Finally he couldn't take it any more. "M-Miss can I go to the nurse?" He asked worried.
"Not feeling well Mikey?" asked Wyngate with concern placing a hand on his forehead. "Oh dear you do feel a bit warm. Go ahead, take a break."
Mikey was so glad his teacher was understanding. He tried to get up, but.. then he heard a strange pop, and a rip. Bright red feathers peaked out of his jeans, followed soon by a whole bunch more. They lifted his shirt as he turned in confusion.
Shawn saw this and started to laugh. "Ha ha! Mikey's got a bird tail!"
Mikey suddenly burst into tears trying to get away from the stares. It was the worst feeling in the world, he had never felt so humiliate in his life. He felt some assurance from the teacher as she calmly took him outside the class, the young changing boy still shaking. Away from everyone in the hall way, he burst into tears.
"It's okay Mikey," Said Miss Wyngate giving him a tissue.
"I- I'm a freak.. Shawn's makin' fun of me.."
The teacher gave the boy a hug. "Don't mind Shawn he went through his own changes a while ago."
"H-How?"
Wyngate looked awkwardly but with how Mikey looked, perhaps she best come clean on a few things. "Shawn is an Endomorph he used to be an older teen called Biff Meadows. He thinks that... he can't catch the virus a second time. The Myst... made him younger, and we hoped it could give him a fresh start by changing his name too but it hasn't really improved his attitude..."
