Post by Kat on Sept 20, 2006 20:37:47 GMT
kat looked up from her notes and noticed the classroom was empty.
Oop, guess I'd better get going...
Adjusting her small glasses, she dragged herself out of her seat, gathered up her books in her arms and left the room with her shoes clicking on the floor. Making her way out the block, she descended a flight of stairs, turned-
*smack*
"ow..."
The laughter of a group of people as they walked away from her filled her ears as she stood and picked her things up again. This time she took a less used route out and around towards the dorms. A girl with white hair in a miniskirt awaited her arrival at the block entrance.
"Hey Kat! You're late home, been chasing a date again?" She grinned, and Kat ignored it.
"Hey Miala. Just daydreaming again..."
"I'll bet, there are some right hotties in your classes!"
"shu'up!"
"Hahaha, I'm only joking!"
Opening the door to their rooms revealed some new post, which Miala nabbed. "Hey look, we got official looking mail! There's one for you too."
"Mm?" Kat fiddled around with the envelope and read the contents of the letter inside. "Hmm... 'Physics department matter manipulation experiments'. well, not everyday you see something like that..."
"Oooh yeah, let's go for it Kat!"
"Sounds kinda dangerous..."
"Now now now, where's your sense of adventure? These guys haven't screwed up before."
"That's kinda true. It's in like, a week."
"You got any plans?"
"Me? No."
"Then it's decided!"
---
Before the pair were let inside the squeaky white labs, they had to put their clothes and things in a locker and don clinical robes. After that, they were led though decontamination and eventually reached a large white room. They were standing on rubbery padded floor, and there were various wires and tubes running around the walls and ceiling, with eight large cylindrical devices surrounding the room- they entered between two of them. Miala, as always, spoke first.
"There's a lot more people than I expected!" she said to the crowd of around fifty as they approached.
"Well, they don't call it 'public transport' for nothin."
"Yeah, yeah, smarty pants-"
A male voice came over the PA, and interrupted everyone in their conversations.
"If everyone would just stand there that would be good. We're about ready to go here, so just stay calm, it should be over in about ten minutes."
After a few moments Miala and Kat engaged in some more conversation.
"What is all this other stuff?"
Kat glanced around at the assorted pets, plants and objects sitting next to the crowd.
"My guess is they wanna test for cargo transport and stuff too."
"At the same time?" Kat shrugged at this, and a loud whirring and humming started to come from the cylindrical generators, the voice on the PA reassuring everyone again.
A minute passed, and the generators were at full power. The PA counted down from three... two... one...
A flash of light.
An explosion. Fire, smoke.
Kat came to her senses again, started to cough and crouched lower to avoid some of the smoke. She nearly paniced at the groans of pain and the shapes of bodies and things she could see on the floor.
"Miala? ... Miala!"
...
"MIALA!"
"Kat?" Miala's voice was somewhat quiet through the noises.
"Yes! Where are you?" She started to move toward the noise.
"Over here..."
Eventually, they nearly banged into eachother. Linking hands they fled until they were well clear of the building, where emergency services were arriving on the scene. A fireman ran up to the pair and guided them to ambulances.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine..."
"Smoke... I can't see."
"Lay down here... There you go." The medic tended to Kat while trying to get some information. "What happened?"
"Teleportation experiment..."
"Is that how you two ended up like that?"
"Like... what?"
"Here."
By this time Kat could see again and sat up to a mirror the medic was holding up to her. She seemed to have acquired feline characteristics... ears, nose... she opened her mouth at the request of the medic. Tongue, teeth!
My eyes... what the hell?
Kat looked at her hands. The nails on them were more curved and tapered to a sharp point. There were hints of pads on her palms and fingertips. Similar story with her feet. Then she noticed the tail. She started to panic.
"What the hell is happening to me?!" Kat got off the bed and looked ready to bolt.
"Whoa, miss! Calm down!"
When she didn't, the medic called in help- together they tranqed her succesfully, and restrained her to the bed. While in this state, kat heard excerpts from conversations.
"There are few survivors... and most are in bad shape. Others are disfigured horribly, and we're still trying to talk to the scientists. What about the girl in there?"
"Traumatised, though she seems physically OK for now, just like the other." That was all she got before she fell asleep.
---
When she awoke her bindings were still in place, though looking around she was in a proper hospital. She could still feel that tail, and ears...
It wasn't a dream. What happened?
She tried calling out. "Hello?"
Am I gonna stay this way forever? Why am I strapped down?
Her train of thought was interrupted by one of the scientists hurrying into the room loudly, causing Kat's ears to flick on reflex. "H-hello? Kathryn Walker?" The guy seemed nervous, and Kat stared at him with accusing eyes.
"Yes..? Who are you?"
"Well. Um. I'm the leader of the experiment yesterday-" You! "-and I wanted to apologise... We're working as fast as we can to get everyone back to normal."
"What about the people who are dead? Gonna get them back to normal?"
The scientist looked truly hurt by that, and Kat regretted saying it, her face softening. "We made a mistake. We don't know where, but we -will- find it. I'm truly sorry."
Kat just closed her eyes and nodded. "Have you talked to the doctors?"
"About you? They say you seem fine, though not... fully... human..."
"Their degrees really pay for themselves."
"Mm. Well I must be going, others to see... sorry, again." And he slipped out of the room, leaving Kat alone once more.
Goddamnit. Any answers at all?
As if in response, a young doctor strolled into the room and sat beside her.
"Miss Walker?"
"Yes?"
"Hi, I'm Doctor Wilkins. I am afraid that we don't have any information yet, but we are conducting tests. Do not worry, you're in capable hands." He smiled at her reassuringly, and despite herself she gave him a small one in return. "Is there anything you wanted?"
"Yes... Uh, I'd like to know why I'm strapped to the bed... I wanna walk around."
"The last time you were conscious you were a little unmanagable, or so I'm told. I can release you but you can't leave the hospital and you'll have to be kept under guard, understood?" She nodded. "Try not to worry too much." He got up and turned to leave. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, I'm hungry."
The doctor laughed. "I suspect you are. The guards will be able to show you the cafeteria. I shall see you soon, miss Walker." With that, he was gone, and within minutes two uniformed guards appeared to undo her bonds and follow her around.
--- A few days pass ---
Kat knocked on the door to the doctor's office, and entered on command. The room was plain but fairly nicely furnished, considering the location.
"You wanted to see me?" Kat asked him as she sat.
"Yes, Kathryn. We have some results back, and have analysed them extensively. I've some news for you. I don't believe stalling will help, so I will tell you now you may not like it."
Kat dropped her head toward the floor at the last part and stayed silent for a moment, before sighing. "I think I know... but what you got?"
"OK. The entirity of your body's cells have been changed, as far as we can tell. While functionality seems to be unaffected, We are sure certain things will happen in the future. However, due to the nature of the change... we cannot reverse it. We don't have anything to work from, and in any case such a thing would put an enormous strain on the body, and I would not allow it."
"..."
"I'm sorry, Kathryn."
"What... kind of things will happen?"
"We have strong reason to believe you are infertile, or will be within a short period. Scans show that the hair follicles across your body have grown in number significantly, and your mind may well have been affected, though that is very difficult to confirm. Certainly, you no longer have normal human musclature."
"In...fertile?" The doctor nodded.
"Could I have a moment alone, please?"
"Certainly." Placing a hand on her shoulder for a few seconds, he rose and left the room, leaving Kat to contend with her emotions. She lost, and wept quietly until her eyes were sore. The doctor came in with another touch on the shoulder and sat back down, giving her another one of his reassuring looks.
"It isn't all bad, Kathryn, the tests revealed several upshots."
kat frowned. "Huh?"
"The musclature, as I said before. Your legs are significantly stronger than a normal human of your mass, and the rest of your muscles are no doubt strengthened... Your eyes appear restored, though no better in resolution than before- however, you should be able to see in the dark. You'll be able to testify to that better than me, of course. Your sense of smell and hearing should be far superior to a human's, too."
Kat nodded and rolled the ideas around. "Cool..."
The doctor responded with a nod of his own and a small smile. "When you feel ready, you're free to leave the hospital, miss. You're going to be fine."
"Thank you."
---
Throughout the next few months, Kat experimented with her abilities in between studying, often leaping across rooftops and startling townsfolk. She began physical training, at gyms and said experiments, and went from a frail geek to a strong and somewhat imposing figure, being taller than average and all. Her fur also grew in and she became more attatched to it. Alienation from her parents followed, understandably, and wasn't helped when she accidentally blasted someone with an energy bolt. Still, the labs had compensated her for the accident well. Flick to her examining her hands on a bench one day, when a smartly dressed man sat down beside her and watched her for a moment, when she noticed and turned to him.
"Hello? Can I help you?"
"Kathryn Walker?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Hi. I heard about your accident a while back and wanted to speak to you about it."
"It was an accident. I said I was sor-" she was interrupted by the man laughing.
"No no no. I meant how you did it. That power. Have you tried controlling it?"
Kat frowned. "I'm trying. Having some success."
"Good, good! Have you ever thought about using your abilities to help people in need?"
"Uhm... it might've crossed my mind, but never seriously..."
The man took a card out of an inside jacket pocket. "I'm a scout for a group called Freedom corps. We mainly work out of paragon city over in the US. We can provide you with training and coordinate your efforts, if you like. We could always use more people over there."
Kat looked at the card as the man got up. "Looks interesting..."
"Please consider it."
"What about the people I know here?"
"It is your decision, Kathryn. You can work here, but there are far more serious threats in Paragon than anywhere else in the world. Goodbye."
"Bye..."
Oop, guess I'd better get going...
Adjusting her small glasses, she dragged herself out of her seat, gathered up her books in her arms and left the room with her shoes clicking on the floor. Making her way out the block, she descended a flight of stairs, turned-
*smack*
"ow..."
The laughter of a group of people as they walked away from her filled her ears as she stood and picked her things up again. This time she took a less used route out and around towards the dorms. A girl with white hair in a miniskirt awaited her arrival at the block entrance.
"Hey Kat! You're late home, been chasing a date again?" She grinned, and Kat ignored it.
"Hey Miala. Just daydreaming again..."
"I'll bet, there are some right hotties in your classes!"
"shu'up!"
"Hahaha, I'm only joking!"
Opening the door to their rooms revealed some new post, which Miala nabbed. "Hey look, we got official looking mail! There's one for you too."
"Mm?" Kat fiddled around with the envelope and read the contents of the letter inside. "Hmm... 'Physics department matter manipulation experiments'. well, not everyday you see something like that..."
"Oooh yeah, let's go for it Kat!"
"Sounds kinda dangerous..."
"Now now now, where's your sense of adventure? These guys haven't screwed up before."
"That's kinda true. It's in like, a week."
"You got any plans?"
"Me? No."
"Then it's decided!"
---
Before the pair were let inside the squeaky white labs, they had to put their clothes and things in a locker and don clinical robes. After that, they were led though decontamination and eventually reached a large white room. They were standing on rubbery padded floor, and there were various wires and tubes running around the walls and ceiling, with eight large cylindrical devices surrounding the room- they entered between two of them. Miala, as always, spoke first.
"There's a lot more people than I expected!" she said to the crowd of around fifty as they approached.
"Well, they don't call it 'public transport' for nothin."
"Yeah, yeah, smarty pants-"
A male voice came over the PA, and interrupted everyone in their conversations.
"If everyone would just stand there that would be good. We're about ready to go here, so just stay calm, it should be over in about ten minutes."
After a few moments Miala and Kat engaged in some more conversation.
"What is all this other stuff?"
Kat glanced around at the assorted pets, plants and objects sitting next to the crowd.
"My guess is they wanna test for cargo transport and stuff too."
"At the same time?" Kat shrugged at this, and a loud whirring and humming started to come from the cylindrical generators, the voice on the PA reassuring everyone again.
A minute passed, and the generators were at full power. The PA counted down from three... two... one...
A flash of light.
An explosion. Fire, smoke.
Kat came to her senses again, started to cough and crouched lower to avoid some of the smoke. She nearly paniced at the groans of pain and the shapes of bodies and things she could see on the floor.
"Miala? ... Miala!"
...
"MIALA!"
"Kat?" Miala's voice was somewhat quiet through the noises.
"Yes! Where are you?" She started to move toward the noise.
"Over here..."
Eventually, they nearly banged into eachother. Linking hands they fled until they were well clear of the building, where emergency services were arriving on the scene. A fireman ran up to the pair and guided them to ambulances.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine..."
"Smoke... I can't see."
"Lay down here... There you go." The medic tended to Kat while trying to get some information. "What happened?"
"Teleportation experiment..."
"Is that how you two ended up like that?"
"Like... what?"
"Here."
By this time Kat could see again and sat up to a mirror the medic was holding up to her. She seemed to have acquired feline characteristics... ears, nose... she opened her mouth at the request of the medic. Tongue, teeth!
My eyes... what the hell?
Kat looked at her hands. The nails on them were more curved and tapered to a sharp point. There were hints of pads on her palms and fingertips. Similar story with her feet. Then she noticed the tail. She started to panic.
"What the hell is happening to me?!" Kat got off the bed and looked ready to bolt.
"Whoa, miss! Calm down!"
When she didn't, the medic called in help- together they tranqed her succesfully, and restrained her to the bed. While in this state, kat heard excerpts from conversations.
"There are few survivors... and most are in bad shape. Others are disfigured horribly, and we're still trying to talk to the scientists. What about the girl in there?"
"Traumatised, though she seems physically OK for now, just like the other." That was all she got before she fell asleep.
---
When she awoke her bindings were still in place, though looking around she was in a proper hospital. She could still feel that tail, and ears...
It wasn't a dream. What happened?
She tried calling out. "Hello?"
Am I gonna stay this way forever? Why am I strapped down?
Her train of thought was interrupted by one of the scientists hurrying into the room loudly, causing Kat's ears to flick on reflex. "H-hello? Kathryn Walker?" The guy seemed nervous, and Kat stared at him with accusing eyes.
"Yes..? Who are you?"
"Well. Um. I'm the leader of the experiment yesterday-" You! "-and I wanted to apologise... We're working as fast as we can to get everyone back to normal."
"What about the people who are dead? Gonna get them back to normal?"
The scientist looked truly hurt by that, and Kat regretted saying it, her face softening. "We made a mistake. We don't know where, but we -will- find it. I'm truly sorry."
Kat just closed her eyes and nodded. "Have you talked to the doctors?"
"About you? They say you seem fine, though not... fully... human..."
"Their degrees really pay for themselves."
"Mm. Well I must be going, others to see... sorry, again." And he slipped out of the room, leaving Kat alone once more.
Goddamnit. Any answers at all?
As if in response, a young doctor strolled into the room and sat beside her.
"Miss Walker?"
"Yes?"
"Hi, I'm Doctor Wilkins. I am afraid that we don't have any information yet, but we are conducting tests. Do not worry, you're in capable hands." He smiled at her reassuringly, and despite herself she gave him a small one in return. "Is there anything you wanted?"
"Yes... Uh, I'd like to know why I'm strapped to the bed... I wanna walk around."
"The last time you were conscious you were a little unmanagable, or so I'm told. I can release you but you can't leave the hospital and you'll have to be kept under guard, understood?" She nodded. "Try not to worry too much." He got up and turned to leave. "Anything else?"
"Yeah, I'm hungry."
The doctor laughed. "I suspect you are. The guards will be able to show you the cafeteria. I shall see you soon, miss Walker." With that, he was gone, and within minutes two uniformed guards appeared to undo her bonds and follow her around.
--- A few days pass ---
Kat knocked on the door to the doctor's office, and entered on command. The room was plain but fairly nicely furnished, considering the location.
"You wanted to see me?" Kat asked him as she sat.
"Yes, Kathryn. We have some results back, and have analysed them extensively. I've some news for you. I don't believe stalling will help, so I will tell you now you may not like it."
Kat dropped her head toward the floor at the last part and stayed silent for a moment, before sighing. "I think I know... but what you got?"
"OK. The entirity of your body's cells have been changed, as far as we can tell. While functionality seems to be unaffected, We are sure certain things will happen in the future. However, due to the nature of the change... we cannot reverse it. We don't have anything to work from, and in any case such a thing would put an enormous strain on the body, and I would not allow it."
"..."
"I'm sorry, Kathryn."
"What... kind of things will happen?"
"We have strong reason to believe you are infertile, or will be within a short period. Scans show that the hair follicles across your body have grown in number significantly, and your mind may well have been affected, though that is very difficult to confirm. Certainly, you no longer have normal human musclature."
"In...fertile?" The doctor nodded.
"Could I have a moment alone, please?"
"Certainly." Placing a hand on her shoulder for a few seconds, he rose and left the room, leaving Kat to contend with her emotions. She lost, and wept quietly until her eyes were sore. The doctor came in with another touch on the shoulder and sat back down, giving her another one of his reassuring looks.
"It isn't all bad, Kathryn, the tests revealed several upshots."
kat frowned. "Huh?"
"The musclature, as I said before. Your legs are significantly stronger than a normal human of your mass, and the rest of your muscles are no doubt strengthened... Your eyes appear restored, though no better in resolution than before- however, you should be able to see in the dark. You'll be able to testify to that better than me, of course. Your sense of smell and hearing should be far superior to a human's, too."
Kat nodded and rolled the ideas around. "Cool..."
The doctor responded with a nod of his own and a small smile. "When you feel ready, you're free to leave the hospital, miss. You're going to be fine."
"Thank you."
---
Throughout the next few months, Kat experimented with her abilities in between studying, often leaping across rooftops and startling townsfolk. She began physical training, at gyms and said experiments, and went from a frail geek to a strong and somewhat imposing figure, being taller than average and all. Her fur also grew in and she became more attatched to it. Alienation from her parents followed, understandably, and wasn't helped when she accidentally blasted someone with an energy bolt. Still, the labs had compensated her for the accident well. Flick to her examining her hands on a bench one day, when a smartly dressed man sat down beside her and watched her for a moment, when she noticed and turned to him.
"Hello? Can I help you?"
"Kathryn Walker?"
"Uh, yes?"
"Hi. I heard about your accident a while back and wanted to speak to you about it."
"It was an accident. I said I was sor-" she was interrupted by the man laughing.
"No no no. I meant how you did it. That power. Have you tried controlling it?"
Kat frowned. "I'm trying. Having some success."
"Good, good! Have you ever thought about using your abilities to help people in need?"
"Uhm... it might've crossed my mind, but never seriously..."
The man took a card out of an inside jacket pocket. "I'm a scout for a group called Freedom corps. We mainly work out of paragon city over in the US. We can provide you with training and coordinate your efforts, if you like. We could always use more people over there."
Kat looked at the card as the man got up. "Looks interesting..."
"Please consider it."
"What about the people I know here?"
"It is your decision, Kathryn. You can work here, but there are far more serious threats in Paragon than anywhere else in the world. Goodbye."
"Bye..."