McMillan Tech Industries, former office of Martin Stragey
Ryan Leeson was now in the former office of Martin Stragey, carrying a Restoration Gun. Nearby on chairs sat Larry Eastbook and Arnie Amspoker, both with Restoration Guns. On the couch sat Roman Coakley, still in the form of a female ninja.
Ryan's friend Randall Jeffries was outside the closed office door, accompanied by Carrie Brierton and a security guard. They would sit and rest and look after the Transformation Guns Samantha's team had found at Accounting and Marketing: The Jock Gun, the Babe Gun, and the Mime Gun. They would also be there just in case Ryan needed any further backup.
It occured to Ryan that though he had come up with the rules for the Restoration Gun in the first place and put them down to paper, he had not actually seen anyone use them to undo one Transformation after another in the manner described. But he was pretty sure this was how the Restoration Guns worked in reality: They only undid one transformation at a time. Since Roman Coakley had been transformed no less than twenty times, it would take twenty zaps to restore Coakley to his original form.
Ryan supposed it was for the best that the Restoration Guns worked that way. Suppose someone liked one of the forms they'd been changed to previously but didn't like the form they'd been changed to afterward? This way allowed for the possibility of a choice.
Anyway, the time had come. Ryan turned to Coakley. "Are you ready, Mr. Coakley?"
"As ready as I'll ever be." Coakley replied.
"Okay. Here goes." Ryan then aimed the Restoration Gun at Coakley, who sat patiently as she was zapped.
Instantly, Coakley changed, becoming a middle aged man in a striped coat. "Step right up! See if you can win a prize!" said the man, in the manner of the carnival barker he now appeared to be. "Why did I just say that?"
"It just came out." Ryan said. "It's part of the persona of this form."
"Oh. Yeah. I'm not really a carnival barker, aren't I? And even if I was, there's no prizes to be won here."
"Do you remember your name?" Ryan asked.
"Name, name... Roman Coakley, I think. I've been so many people..." the barker said.
"Do you remember who you used to be?" Ryan asked.
Coakley groaned, rubbing his head. "What was I before? Royalty, I think. And before that ... some sort of minimum wage worker. They all kind of blur together."
"Do you remember that you're Roman Coakley, Lake Point Bank President?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, yes. But ... it's almost like he's someone else. Someone I read about in a book. ACK, my head!" he groaned. "Can you ... zap me again?"
Ryan paused. "I'll wait another minute or so. Tell me when you're ready."
"I think I will be, in another minute. Wish I had a ball or some darts to give you so you could have the chance to win a stuffed zebra. Or whatever the booth happens to obtain cheaply." He groaned. "You'd win something eventually, after blowing 50 dollars on chances."
"At least you're more honest than some barkers." Arnie Amspoker said. "When my daughter was little, she wanted a lovely stuffed pony from a game booth at the seashore. Couldn't hit the bullseye after 12 tries. I'm sure it was rigged."
"That's why I never bother with those games." Larry added. "I'm sure some might be legit, but I wouldn't spend too much hard-earned cash on them. More trouble than they're worth."
"I think I'm ready now." Coakley said. "You can zap me again."
"Okay." Ryan said, zapping Coakley. Coakley then turned into a young woman with flowing blonde hair dressed as a fairy tale princess, wearing a beautiful lavender princess dress and a tall cone-shaped pointed princess hat.
"Thank you most kindly, good sirs. With you to escort me, I will surely be safe from vile knaves and that horrid dragon!" she said. "Wait a minute, what dragon? What am I talking about?"
"There's no dragon." Larry said.
"That is such a relief." Princess Coakley replied. "Yes, I know. It's the transformation again. I ... don't know what's real and what's not. I feel like a princess, I feel like I live in a world of knights and princes and dragons and unicorns, but I know I'm not a princess really and I've never lived in such a place."
She then gave a wistful sigh and stared out the window. "But I wish I did. Aside from the dragons and the ruffians and those who'd try to claim the throne by force, it wouldn't be such a bad life."
"I suppose it wouldn't." Ryan said. "Do you want me to zap you again, or would you like to stay as you are?"
"It's ... tempting." Princess Coakley replied. "But ... no. I just won't fit in with the modern everyday world like this, pining for some world that probably never really existed. I'll stay like this for only a few minutes, and then when I'm ready, you can change me again."
Ryan, Larry, and Arnie spent the next few minutes chatting with the princess about fairy tales and medieval fantasy shows and video games. After a while, the princess smiled. "Thank you, everyone. But I think I'm ready now. I'll just set this on the desk." She removed her princess cone hat, and set it on the desk. "Maybe that will stay behind after I change, so we can remember this form. You can change me now."
With that, Ryan zapped the princess, who transformed into a pimply teenaged boy wearing a fast food franchise uniform. "Can I take your order, please?" he said.
"We're not here to order anything." Arnie said.
"Oh, right." the boy replied. "I'm not really a fast food worker. Maybe they're right. Maybe they do deserve better wages, given what they have to do every day facing rude customers. I'll try to keep that in mind when you change me back."
After a few minutes, Ryan zapped Coakley again, and this time Coakley turned into a prim and proper English butler type dressed in a fancy suit. "It is strange having no one to give me instructions, but I know I am not really a butler. Therefore, I will wait quietly until you transform me again."
After the butler indicated he was ready, Ryan zapped him with the Restoration Gun, and Coakley turned into a female heavy metal headbanger, screaming heavy metal lyrics at the top of her lungs. "Hey, can you turn that down?" Ryan asked.
"Fine!" she replied. Then she groaned, and rubbed her head. "Maybe, I banged a little hard. Or maybe it's just the transformation. Yeah, I know I'm not supposed to be this, either. And this one gets old fast. I'll just rest on the couch and then you can change me again."
After a few minutes, Ryan zapped Coakley, who transformed into an old woman resembling a kindly grandmother. "Oh, dearie me. Would you like a cup of tea?" she said. "I'd love to make you some tea, if I could find a kettle around here."
"The tea sounds nice." Ryan said. "But are you all right?"
"Oh, I'm fine, for an old woman in her 80s. No, this will not do at all. I'm older now than when I started." she said.
"You mean when you were Roman Coakley, 61-year old bank president?" Ryan asked.
"Yes, dear." the old woman replied. "Now just let me have a minute or two, and you can change me again."
After a while, the old woman sat down on the couch, and said "I'm ready. Any one of you can do the honors."
"I'll have a go." Arnie Amspoker said, raising his Restoration Gun. He zapped the old woman, who turned into a tall man dressed in dark clothing wearing a hockey mask. He looked like a knockoff version of a slasher movie villain.
Before Ryan, Larry, or Arnie could do anything, the imposing figure grabbed one of the mounted swords from the wall of Stragey's office, and slashed Arnie Amspoker across the chest. Arnie fell to the ground, bleeding profusely from a massive gash.
"Arnie!" Larry exclaimed, just before the silent masked slasher turned to him and with surprising speed, slashed Larry's throat. Larry clutched his throat, gasping and bleeding, and falling to the ground.
Ryan raised his Restoration Gun, knowing it was the only means of stopping this madness. But before he could press the trigger, he felt the sword's blade pierce his stomach. He gasped in shock and pain, the Restoration Gun falling to the floor.
He looked up into the cold, emotionless masked face as he slid off the blade, his back colliding with the office floor. As his vision faded, he caught a glimpse of the remorseless killer standing over him, and then darkness as he lost consciousness.
Outside the office, Jeffries, Carrie, and the security guard leaped from their seats as they heard the sounds of a pained scream, Larry's shout followed by loud choking gasps, and ominous noises. "Something's gone wrong!" Jeffries exclaimed.
They threw open the door and gasped at the sight they saw inside.
