McMillan Tech Industries Lake Point Branch, Marketing Department, cubicle center hall
Ryann then turned to the rest of the group assembled. "Now that that's taken care of, we need to talk about the Restoration Guns."
She took a look at Arnie, and then at Jeffries, before she began. "Now, Arnie just did a very brave thing. He risked his own life to find out whether or not injuries would return if any of us were zapped with the Restoration Gun. I'm sure he had faith that one of us would zap him again with the Jock Gun just in case restoring him to his original body caused him to bleed again. But what if someone were to zap him accidentally with a Restoration Gun, and there isn't someone around to zap him with a Transformation Gun that would save him?"
"He would die. If it happened to Larry or myself, we would die. Our lives depend on us NOT being zapped by a Restoration Gun before thirty days have passed. After thirty days, our current forms become permanent. These will be our default forms from that point on."
"To be honest, I'm looking forward to it." Ryann added. "But that's beside the point."
She continued. "The point is, we have to make sure we're safe from a fatal Restoration Gun accident until then. The most obvious method would be for the three of us to take a whole month's time away from McMillan Tech Industries, since this place has more Restoration Guns than anywhere else in town. Maybe we'd take a vacation in the woods or at the beach or somewhere where we're not likely to encounter a Restoration Gun. Though so far we've yet to hear of any Restoration Guns outside of this building."
Jeffries couldn't help noticing how comfortable Ryann was in her new form, and how calmly and easily she spoke. She spoke with a confidence that her former male self never could quite manage.
What was more important was what she was saying. At various points in the hours since the Restoration Guns were retrieved from the storage locker, Jeffries had occasionally checked news reports via his cell phone. He had seen reports of several types of Transformation Guns out in the rest of the world, but so far no reports of any Restoration Guns. It was likely that, thanks to Samantha's intervention before the Event, there were Restoration Guns out there in 'the wild', but if so, they were probably not as plentiful as the other Transformation Guns. So yes, Ryann's suggested vacation strategy would likely work.
But Jeffries knew Ryann wasn't finished, and that she was about to make another suggestion.
"The thing is, I don't feel right taking a vacation when my friends and my coworkers and employers need my help." Ryann continued. "I want to be there for everyone, and help everyone as best as I can. Some of you are like family to me."
She paused for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "My closest friends and I were the first to know about the Transformation Guns. When we, well, discovered them, we worked out how the transformations worked, and what the rules were. When Jeffries and I figured out that the Restoration Guns undid one transformation per zap, some questions came up. Such as what happens if someone is zapped with the same Transformation Gun over and over again?"
"Other than the Random Gun, of course. By now we all know it produces a different change every time. But what about the other Transformation Guns? If someone was zapped with the Jock Gun or the Babe Gun or the Mime Gun or the Goth Gun multiple times, would the Restoration Gun count those as separate zaps even if there wasn't any visible further change?"
"When the question came up, Jeffries and I thought it was an interesting idea. 'Maybe', we said. But we didn't think the Transformation Guns would EVER escape out into the rest of the world, so we didn't think it'd ever come up."
Mr. Adaway spoke up. "How did the Transformation Guns 'escape into the world'?"
"We're still trying to figure that out ourselves." Ryann replied. "Anyway, they're here, and they're out in the rest of the world, too, so it's up to us to figure out what we're going to do, and see if they work the way we think they do."
Ms. Hitchens then spoke up. "This reminds me of something. When I was wandering around stuck as a mime, I saw this strange woman who looked like a punk rock motorcycle woman. She had one of those Transformation Guns, and then she zapped herself with it. Over and over again. She didn't change, but she looked like she thought she was accomplishing something with it anyway."
"That would be Jerri. Or Jerri Blazestorm, as I hear she's calling herself now." Ryann said. "She's one of our coworkers who got changed by the Random Gun. Did you get a good look at the Transformation Gun she had?"
"Only briefly." Ms. Hitchens said. "I think the label read 'Punk Gun'. She was already a punk, but she kept zapping herself with it over and over nearly six dozen times. And she seemed pleased with herself for doing it."
"She must be the same one I saw in the hall vandalizing the walls." Darby Adaway chimed in. "I'll admit she scared me, but looking back it seems she wasn't going to hurt anyone, just spraypaint a few walls and motivational posters. But I was so scared I zapped her with the Transformation Gun I'd picked up. When we both realized it was the Punk Gun, she just laughed at me. I dropped it and ran off, and I've been hiding for hours."
"Sounds like she believes all those zaps count." Jeffries commented.
Ryann nodded. "I think she guessed we would soon recover the Restoration Guns. She likes who she is now, and doesn't want to ever go back. She's got her own reasons for it that I won't go into, because they're personal and they don't really matter."
"What does matter is that a lot of us think that the Restoration Gun counts all those extra zaps as zaps, even if they don't cause any further changes. I'm thinking that perhaps it's time we put this idea to the test."
She turned to Larry Eastbrook and Arnie Amspoker, both of whom had been quiet for a while sitting and listening. "Okay, are you ready?"
