Karyn took another sip of her soda, walking with Jon down the hall to the lounge. Jon tried putting his arm around her shoulders, but found his fingers sinking into her back.
"Whoa! Sorry about that," Jon apologized, pulling his hand out.
"That doesn't bother me. I mean, it does feel a little weird but really, it feels good," Karyn insisted, taking Jon's hand. "Go ahead, put it back."
Jon reached around Karyn's lower back this time and let his fingers sink into her side, around where her lowest rib would have been.
"There you go, that's fine. There's the lounge, I wanna try a little something before we go in," Karyn said, stopping Jon at the door. She took her Dr. Pepper bottle and plunged its top into her breast, pouring some in.
"I agree, that's not something to do in polite company," Jon commented, staring at the slight red-brown stain that seemed to appear in her breast for a few moments.
Karyn stumbled. "Ooh, that tickles." She was not used to feeling something fizz in that part of her body. "I can taste it too."
"Let's go in," Jon urged. Through the door, there was the usual array of break room appliances along the left wall. To the right was a small dinner table and chairs, and a pair of couches with a coffee table and television. There was a large bowl filled nearly to the brim with a milky gray substance that caught Karyn's attention.
Dr. Chester stood up from the couch. "Ah, Karyn! Welcome back to the land of the living. I brought someone you might like to meet -- my good friend Lisa."
"Is that her in the bowl?" Karyn asked. She was trying not to be distracted by the carpet. The material seemed to grab at her feet-- even though her gooey body was far more cohesive than adhesive, it tickled awfully whenever Karyn pulled a foot off the carpet.
The pale gray goo in the bowl seemed to pour itself out onto the table, forming itself into a female shape sitting on the edge. But rather than remain in a slick colorless state, she seemed to grow even more solid, skin turning pale pink and the tendrils on her head becoming bright red hair. A deep forest green dress appeared around her body before Jon was able to see certain details form. "It's nice to meet you, Karyn. There aren't very many of us yet. I only reached this state myself, about two weeks ago." Lisa held out her hand.
"How long did it you to figure out how to do that? You look perfect-- I mean, you know, beautiful, but normal," Karyn asked. "I was hoping to get back to school on Monday."
"That shouldn't be too much of a problem. Things like colors and textures don't come instantly, to be sure, but they're not really difficult. In fact, if I'm not mistaken you're doing skin already." Lisa pointed at Karyn's feet.
Karyn looked down. She had managed to stop her feet from sticking to the carpet. Curious, she balanced on one foot and brought her other leg up. Bonelessly she twisted it to look at the bottom of her foot. She had in fact formed a layer of skin there. "Excuse me," Karyn said, heading into the restroom. There, she tried extending it to her whole body, forming details she had previously neglected -- nose, ears, nipples, navel, labia, and even nails. Her hair wasn't quite fully formed yet, still looking a bit wet and matted, but it would do for the moment. Checking herself all over in the mirror to make sure she got everything right, Karyn smoothed over her breasts and crotch before coming back out. In a way she felt more self-conscious, just by having skin. She was still pale gray all over.
"Very nice," Lisa announced, looking over Karyn's body. "I understand you leaving certain bits out in public, but I hope you stay in practice."
"No problems with that, ma'am, thank you," Karyn dismissed.
"Now let's talk about color. That's more tricky than doing clothing. Clothes are almost like an extra partially detached layer of skin. Color requires learning to sense the N-Cells' chromatophores. They're not exactly hard to control once you figure out how to talk to them, but it can be frustrating until you get it."
