Jon quietly watched the news, knowing there was little he or Karen could do. The attention of the entire world was focussed on the area. People were trying to understand how the Myst- or whatever it was functioned. Experts were being called in, calling it a 'virus' that was known to the local area but that there was nothing to worry about as it had only ever happened in lakeside. That was until it started happening everywhere else.
To the rest of the world, this event was new. A justified panic swept the globe until they realised it only affected kids- then of course all the parents demanded a vaccine be made immediately. As the media continued its strange way of creating questions with no actual answers, some of the lakeside experts gave what they know of the tests. The testing itself was quite simple, involving placing a bit of blood and detecting a very specific extremely low frequency in the electromagnetic spectrum. This had lead to theories that perhaps these frequencies might be involved in the changes but nobody had been able to prove it. Though there did seem to be a casual link between atmospheric disturbances and transformations.
"I think they are lifting the quarantine." Said Karyn as she watched the television. "You know.. it's still weird to me that nobody outside the town has heard of the Myst."
Jon nodded as he switched the television of with the remote. "Well.. the stone's range is limited. It can only affect things around here. So everyone's lives here were changed to everyone else it's always been like this. I'm no different to people outside the range of the stone since I was at the epicentre of the reality bubble." Jon sighed in thought.
Karyn sat down on the sofa. She studied Jon's face. He looked really distraught.. well to Karyn this situation had existed for a long time. Nobody really knew a lot about it, though there were conspiracy theories. People just changed, for no reason- and it usually affected the young. Once you got past your teenage years it was a good bet you would be fine with a few exceptions. Of course Karyn had always had her cat ears and tail- she wouldn't have known life any different but Jon knew. "Quarantine never worked in the past. It didn't spread like a virus nobody quite knows how it spreads. Food.. drink.. water it's just something that happens."
"Yeah, it's not as if I wished for a cure to the common cold." Jon frowned. What was the Myst then? He felt nervous at that.. the only thing he guessed it was 'something interesting'. "How long do you think the stone will make me wait?"
Karyn looked sympathetically to Jon. "Until it's the right time I guess " her tail wiggled a bit uncomfortably. "It's not so bad though Jon.. I mean.. okay so some kids do get a bit messed up from it but..." Karyn had a flashback. Teasing, children pointing at her.. nobody came to her thirteenth birthday party for fear of catching it old friends deciding it wasn't worth hanging around with a 'cat girl' freak well except for Jon of course despite this though, Karyn didn't feel a grudge to Jon. It wasn't his fault, and she knew Jon would never hut a soul. If anything was to blame it was the stone, or whatever power existed behind it.
Jon glanced up the stairs to where his brother was sleeping. What horrors would await them later on.. how much of a bird would he be? Would he shrink? Or.. what if the myst-
Karyn then gave Jon a hug, noting his distress. "Hey it's not your fault " her voice was almost like a purr. She rubbed his cheek...
Jon blushed and stepped back. He knew Karyn was just.. being a cat there- it wasn't as if they had any changes to their own relationship. It wasn't enough though to change how he felt. "It is! I I made two very stupid wishes and my brother..."
"Well I made a stupid wish too," pointed out Karyn. "I spent a good half hour scanning my photos to see how much my life changed. To everyone else it's as if I had these huge boobs."
"It's a bit different to creating the myst! At this point I wish that -was- the wish I made."
"Hm.. you're lucky the stone isn't here any more," Karyn teased. "Don't worry about Mikey, he's got you, and I have a lot of experience with changing." She touched her blonde tail. "To be honest it's not so bad. Sure I get odd looks because Myst is still pretty rare. There's only.. eh, one class of kids with it, so maybe about thirty- you only get one class of them each year, so it's a very small number."
Jon started to get a bit interested in this. It's true he didn't see that many changed. "So.. what kind of changes are there?"
"Well- going by when I was in class.. you might get about six animal types, four mythological types and.. one or two really really weird ones. Though it varies from year to year."
"Weird ones?"
"Well- that's probably not a nice way to say it but.. there are some changes that are just very strange. I'm just saying what I experienced in my class, the weird one was a tree-girl.. thing. We called her Sakura."
Jon bit his lip. "Poor kid..."
Karyn sighed. "She's doing fine, really."
Jon realised something. "So- does that mean we were never in the same class growing up?" Jon frowned. He really enjoyed being Karyn's friend back then. Was her childhood that different?
Karyn bit her lip. "Well- back then myst wasn't really happening that often. We were in a small group but we were still in the same class most of the time. I just got a few extra lessons on how to sort out my.. cat instincts."
"I- I see-" Jon gave a look but was then interrupted. "Is Mikey up?"
Mikey tossed and turned in his sleep. He was alone.. but he didn't feel afraid. He knew Jon was out there, and his brother would always be there. Though as he slept he dreamed, a very strange one. It felt like something was outside his window a bird? There was nothing else outside just a strange grey mist...
'Go away' he said- chirped- or- something. The bird pecked at his window, until the glass broke. Suddenly strange mist was now inside the house. Thousands of birds all flew around Mikey, lifting his body. None of them seemed to hurt him though, just tickled him with each beat of their wings as they flew in circles. His skin turned slightly red with odd goosebumps feathers suddenly bursting from them...
In the real world, Mikey was starting to change. The feathers on his lower back extended just a bit further and would surly almost reach the ground with his short legs. His hands started to thin and become slender, with fingers extending into odd projectiles. Before this could become unsettling to view the new structures become covered with feathers, showing themselves to be simply normal wings Though certainly large. A change started to happen as he.. became a girl. It wasn't exactly a long drawn out process and there was very little to see given all her equipment was covered up by many down feathers. Just a slight pinching of his waist was the only outward view and slightly thinning frame. The most pronounced effect was on her face, as her eyes became a bit larger, the eyebrows thinner.. and longer hair, turning a shade of red to match her feathers.
One could still see human skin from her face, and along the neck as the feathers took on a natural V-shape on he flat chest. The feathers extended down her torso, and between her legs. The texture of the feathers changed as it went down her thighs becoming slightly thicker, until it ended at her knees where her scaly talons started.
Mikey was now a female harpy.
Biff stared as Ms. Collins for quite a while before looking away- concerned that somehow her stare might be taken as a sign of aggression. It was a cat's instinct to stare like that but only when it was.. serious. Not that Biff knew if she had those instincts, or how she would look to a fox-girl. To be honest, Biff didn't think much about the changed . Now she was one of them. She felt that same pride and wanted to hold onto it she wanted to still have that one part of who she was. Though part of her also felt a sense of shame
'Ms. Collins is like an angel one you don't deserve'. Biff growled inwardly at that thought. Would Biff honestly ever in his past, try to help someone that was changed in the way she had? She didn't have to think long to know that no.. she wouldn't have. She would have walked past anyone. 'Not my problem', she would have muttered. Things only mattered if they affected him it only mattered if his pride was at stake- it only mattered-
.. Biff slowly realised just what she was on the inside. She wasn't sure she could entirely regret it but- up to now she had her whole life ahead of her... what now though? What now when she had nothing and could lose so much more...
Still the fox-woman was there waiting for an answer. Biff twitched a single ear Time ticked.. each beat to her heart. Fundamentally the question was, did she want to be alone? She had resigned herself to that fate when her father left thinking her a monster. Without her hands, how was she supposed to cook.. clean.. or even go to the bathroom- yeah that was starting to become a pressing issue. Was she supposed to just go outside like some pet? The realisation that living like this without any help would not be pleasant at all and here was a way out of it. Would it be so bad to just accept help this one time?
Biff finally- after holding it all his life, swallowed his pride. "I- I want to get a few things," the sphinx girl quickly said. "I- I um..."
"Hm?"
" Thank you." Biff whispered not quite able to meet her gaze.
