McMillan Tech Industries, Legal Department
Samantha Duncan and her team were currently on the floor housing the Legal Department and the Public Relations Department. She was glad that so far, their visit to the Legal Department hadn't run into too much difficulty. A few obvious Transformation Gun transformations, but no one trying to zap Samantha or her companions against their will.
Mary Smith (Melissa's aunt) had been zapped with the Goth Gun, and was now dressed in Victorian Goth style dark dress. Two other co-workers of hers had also been zapped with the Goth Gun . One was dressed in a classic original Goth style, and another in 'Geek Goth' attire.
"Look, I'm not going batshit insane with this." Mary said. "I'm not even going slightly nuts. They said 'Cool. What happens if you use it on me?', and I obliged them."
"Do you want to change back? We have Restoration Guns." Teresa Talton said.
"They've been proven to work so far." Samantha added.
"No. I want to stay like this for a while." Mary replied.
Samantha exchanged glances with her companions Doug Sallow, Teresa Talton, and Milt Smukmeyer. It was Doug Sallow who spoke up.
"I'm not the head of this department." Sallow said. "Angela Breakfall is, after Mr. Jacobson retired last year. However, I do have to wonder if the Goth Gun's influence might negatively impact these people's ability to do their jobs."
"Look, I'm not all depressed and shit." Mary said. "Sure, I like moonlit nights now more than I did before, and strange things that lurk in the dark, and cemeteries and spiders and bats. But I can still look up legal precedents and help everyone with the lawsuits this company's facing. And from what I've been hearing, this company's going to be facing a LOT of them soon."
Samantha winced, even though she knew that Mary was likely correct in that last statement. Still, the rest of Mary's words made her think. "I think we should let her stay a Goth for a little while. If her coworkers notice anything strange in how she handles her job, then of course we can zap her with a Restoration Gun later."
Teresa Talton nodded. "Sounds reasonable."
"I'm surprised no one's tried to change me back yet." Milt Smukmeyer said, still influenced by the Steampunk Gun and still dressed in a Steampunk outfit with hat and goggles.
"That's because you're not on the job right now." Sallow said. "If you were, we'd be tempted to use a Restoration Gun on you unless we thought MTI could benefit from some steampunk-inspired products that you'd design. For now, it's a pretty harmless effect."
Samantha nodded. "There are definitely worse ones."
At this point, Rand L. Goodman, also known as Randle Goodman (Randy Goodman's father) approached. "So you're the ones going around looking for those weird ray gun things?" he asked.
"We are." Samantha said.
"I think I found one of them." Rand said. "But it doesn't seem to do anything. If someone sold it to me, I'd say I was ripped off. As it is, I just found it underneath a desk."
"Nothing happened?" Teresa Talton said. "Are you sure you didn't just zap someone who was already what it turns someone into? We've had a few incidents like that already."
"Okay, I zapped two of my coworkers with it, as a joke. But nothing happened. They stayed the same." Rand said.
"Let me have a look at it." Samantha replied.
Rand showed her the Transformation Gun in question. It was labeled 'Noitarotser (Un-Restoration)'. "I'm not even sure how to pronounce that name. What is it?"
Samantha looked at it with recognition. "An Un-Restoration Gun." she said. "It undoes the effect of a Restoration Gun by returning the person to a form they'd been given by a Transformation Gun within the past thirty days, though ONLY within the last thirty days. For example, let's say a week ago, you were zapped with the Clown Gun."
"Clown Gun?" Rand asked.
Samantha nodded. "Not likely, since none of us knew the Transformation Guns really existed until this morning, but let's suppose it happened, and then someone zapped you with a Restoration Gun, and you weren't a clown anymore. If you were to get zapped with the Noitarotser, or Un-Restoration Gun, you'd turn into a clown again."
Rand looked at her with surprise. "The way you describe this, and your tone. So matter of fact. Does this thing really work the way you say it does?"
"I'm pretty sure it does." Samantha said. "My friends and I, we ... heard about the Transformation Guns before today, and only this morning found out they were real and worked just the way we were told they worked. I'm pretty sure the Un-Restoration Gun isn't an exception."
She turned to Mary. "Mary, are you willing to help us demonstrate this one?"
"So, you're going to zap me with a Restoration Gun, and then zap me with an Un-Restoration Gun?" Mary asked.
"Yes." Samantha said. "Mr. Goodman raised a good point here, and you know us in Research and Development. We like to have 'proof of concept'."
"Well, okay." Mary said, with a shrug. "I'll help you with this little science experiment, or whatever."
With that, Mary held still. "I'm ready."
Doug Sallow took a Restoration Gun, and zapped Mary with it. Mary returned to a plain ordinary woman dressed in a business-like pantsuit.
"And now, to see if this works." Samantha said, as she zapped Mary with the Un-Restoration Gun. Instantly, Mary returned to her Victorian Goth attire and appearance.
"It works..." Mary said, looking at herself with amazement.
"I guess now we know why it didn't work before." Rand noted.
"The people you tried it on hadn't been changed before, clearly." Samantha said. "But you shouldn't have tried it on them anyway. Suppose those people HAD changed in some way? You didn't even know there were any Restoration Guns when you used it, did you?"
Rand looked uncomfortable. "Well, no." he said. "But I guessed there was probably at least one, if there was an 'Un-Restoration Gun'."
Samantha paused for a moment. She realized that none of the people here had been going quite as far as Peggy Pegany had downstairs. Mary had only transformed herself, and a few others with their consent. And Rand apparently was not meaning any harm.
"All right. I'll go easy on you." Samantha said with a sigh. "But we're still taking these Transformation Guns. Mary's right - the Legal Department is going to be very busy in the days to come, and we can't have you be distracted with Transformation Gun mischief."
"That's all well and good, but what about the PR Department?" Rand said. "Things are really crazy there. Last time I was there, there were competing clowns, emo people, and cheerleaders."
"Cheerleaders?" Teresa Talton asked.
"Yes. There's a Cheerleader Gun." Samantha replied, trying to conceal her exhaustion. "And if we head to the PR Department now, we're going to see it in action."
Samantha looked at her phone. There was a text message from Ryan.
Ryan: Things got crazy here, but we're okay. How are you doing up there?
Samantha: Found a few more Transformation Guns. And there's more in the PR Department. Confirmed sightings of Clown Gun, Emo Gun, and Cheerleader Gun. Going to get them now.
She put away her phone, and turned to the others. "Brace yourselves. Things might get a little strange."
"As if they weren't already." Teresa Talton remarked.
Samantha nodded, conceding the point. She then led her group to the PR Department. They needed to see just what was happening there.
