Babs Yerunkle / Jade / Jade 6 – Dreams and Awakening"

They’d been summoned to meet Thuban in his place of power.  Jade had no idea what Thuban was up to, but she wasn’t about to ignore the request.  He might have information from the secret surveillance on Don Sebastiano.  The Alphas had given them far too much grief already.  She couldn’t ignore a possible warning.

Or maybe it was a job offer.  Thuban was rich.  For a moment, Jade entertained fantasies of getting some high-paying errand job.  She wouldn’t turn her nose up at that.  It would be nice to earn enough to buy Christmas presents.  But the way her luck ran, she’d probably have to find some cheap but “creative” solution to the Christmas present problem.

What had worried her was the strict instruction that both she and Jinn were to come, and that they should make sure to keep the meeting secret.  That brought to mind countless bad murder mysteries.

She’d left a note of explanation under her covers.  She hoped that if Thuban tried to pull something wicked and kidnap her, her friends would find the note.  Meanwhile, she’d taken what other precautions she could.  She had her gun back, and it was clipped at the small of her back, covered by her school uniform’s blazer.  She had her kitty compact, barrettes, and other gear.  Jann-sensei was charged into her clothes and gizmos.  That meant that Jann could talk to her, or drop everything and take off in the compact, or whatever they needed.  She had maximum freedom of movement.  And with a subtle finger gesture, Jade could signal her spirit-sensei to initiate telepathic contact.  Jann would poke a spiritual “finger” into Jade’s head, and they could link minds.  That gave her twice as much thinking power, the warning that came from being able to see in every direction, and even an escape in case she was gassed or knocked unconscious – Jann could grab her clothes and fly her away.

It also helped to have Jinn, dressed as Shroud, floating beside her.  Shroud was ready for a fight, with her bear-trap face, Harry’s latest combat arm modules, and the sledge hammers and spikes ready to spin up.

Despite all these preparations, she still didn’t feel very safe.  Jade tried to control her anxiety as they finished the trek through the creepy cavern, lit by lights from deep under the cave pools.  In the center of the cavern was a grand silk pavilion tent.  The blue silk was patterned with Chinese ideograms and astrological signs.

She wondered whether to knock or call out as they approached the front, but the door smoothly pulled itself aside.  Inside, seated in the geometrical center of the tent, was the half-man, half-reptile, Thuban.  He was perched on top of a mass of gold and silver coins, stacked and welded into the shape of a crude throne.

“Excellent response time,” he began.  “I appreciate that.”

Jade hung back, letting her “sister” move forward to take the brunt of the conversation.

“We’re here,” Shroud said.  She’d left off the spooky effect, and spoke with Jinn’s normal seventeen-year-old voice.  “What do you want?”

“Indulge me for a moment,” Thuban requested.  He was dressed like a Mandarin, in deep red robes with gold embroidery.  He even wore a matching skullcap.  With his sleeves pressed together, he looked almost human.  He still had slitted eyes, pebbled skin, and a horse-shaped face, but his body seemed human.  When he raised a hand to gesture, it was disconcerting to see the scaled and taloned hand that was concealed inside the sleeve.

At his gesture, two chairs slid forward from the far corners of the tent.

Shroud shook her head, declining.  “Thank you, but I have no need for a chair.”  She folded her legs into a full lotus, and sat levitating in mid-air, her night-black cloak hanging down to just brush the ground.

Jade had no such excuse.  She would have preferred to stand – sitting made her more vulnerable.  It was harder to move or react from a seated position, and reaching for her gun would be slower.  She compromised by perching nervously on the edge of the seat, smoothing her skirt so that it wouldn’t bunch up and get in the way if she had to go for her gun.

Thuban began abruptly.  “Montana has been doing much better since the conclusion of the Tansy Walcutt affair.”

Jade shuddered at the memory.  Montana was a blond sasquatch, nearly twice her height and four times her weight.  Her most vivid images of Monty were from the fight with Toni, when Monty took a cheap shot at Toni’s back after the match ended.  It hadn’t helped that just as she herself had finally won free of Tansy’s possession (or should it have been vice-versa?), Thuban had used an underling to possess Tansy’s body, forcing the girl to fulfill all the sexual promises she’d once made to Monty.  Jade had barely escaped sharing that fate.

Jade had spoken to Monty once or twice since then, but he remained a giant hairy brute that she associated with backstabbing and sexual assault.

“He has yet to redeem his honor over the match against your friend, but I have faith that he will, in time, atone for that.  The important part is that the black despair that had claimed him has vanished.  The Tansy … incident … seems to have permanently broken the hold that her mistreatment left on him.  Although he’s far from recovered, he now shows the capacity to recover.  Every day he seems to be doing a bit better.  He’s truly a changed man.”

“I’m so thrilled,” Shroud said, flatly.

“I find it hard to believe you would sympathize with Tansy Walcutt, after the many ways she has done you wrong.”

“Hardly,” Shroud said.  “She was already pimping herself out to Sebastiano, and I’ll bet she spread herself for anyone else who could help her, long before your thing with Monty.  As for me – she wanted to drink my soul.  She wanted to kill me, and steal my powers.”

Jade was a bit shocked to hear herself speaking like that, but they had decided that sometimes her older self needed to use language that was a bit more appropriate for an angry teenager.

“Indeed,” the dragon-man agreed, sagely.  “I believe that Miss Walcutt could do with further lessons in respect.  However it seems that the world has decided her to offer her an appropriate payback.  Perhaps no action will be needed on my part.

“But let’s focus upon Montana.  As I watched his growth and recovery, I realized that he held a lesson for all of Faction Three—”

“I beg your pardon?” Shroud interrupted.  “Faction Three?”

“Yes, a name of my own devising.  I assume you know of the movie The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.  So much of Whateley focuses upon the epic battle between good and evil.  It’s the same in the wider world – look at that new game Good and Evil Online.  People see a face-off, two sides squaring off against one another in epic battle.  Lost in the drama is the plight of many victims: the weak, the different, and in fact, everyone who doesn’t fall directly into one of the two main camps.

“The ‘different’ ones are people like Montana.  People who, through no fault of their own, have been reduced to the status of mere things, or worse.  People whose minds and spirit are ignored, because they are seen as brutes, beasts, and monsters.  People who, perhaps, don’t fall into a simple slot like ‘good’ or ‘evil.’  Poor confused Monty is certainly a poster child for that.  Society will never accept him as being noble or heroic, and, without Miss Walcutt’s potent influence, he wouldn’t have been half so nasty.  Monty is hardly alone; there are more like him than you suspect.  They won’t be allowed to be good.  They might gain marginal acceptance as villains, or particularly the lackeys of villains.  Most end up as victims.  These are the people whom I have begun calling Faction Three.”

Jade tried to reconcile this with the “middle path” described by Robert Shih.  That middle path (as she saw it) was to do what was right and work for good, but to be ready to bend the rules of legality when necessary.  “Faction Three” seemed to be an entirely different idea.

“So, which side will Faction Three ultimately follow?” Shroud asked.  “The good guys?  You aren’t another faction of goons, are you?  I don’t want to hear that!”

Thuban shook his head sadly.  “It amazes me that otherwise intelligent people are unable to understand that the world might possibly hold more flavors than chocolate and vanilla.”

While Jade puzzled over that, he continued, speaking more plainly.  “Faction Three will not be part of either side.  We are an independent faction, primarily out for our own interests.  The criminal elements would callously use us and throw us away.  Conversely, your ‘good’ side legalizes most discrimination.  It institutionalizes rule by attractive leaders that appeal to the common masses.  As soon as someone pretty or popular got upset, the ‘good’ people happily condone an old-fashioned lynching.  That always seems to comfort the masses.  Meanwhile, the authorities and other forces for ‘good’ will discretely look the other way.”

“It… it isn’t really that bad, is it?”

Even to Jade, the comeback sounded weak.  She’d done enough research on the Day of Remembrance to know that the dragon-man was right.  It was a risk that every transgendered person had to live with.  Once a TG was exposed, it was impossible to predict how friends and companions would react.  Some were puzzled, or accepting, or supportive.  Others lashed out with a hatred that bordered on the psychotic.  And society had no interest in either protecting the innocent TG or punishing the guilty straight.  Society wanted the problem to go away.  If murder made the problem “go away,” that seemed acceptable to many people.

She wondered, How much worse is it for people that look like monsters?

Thuban’s voice was cold.  “It is as bad as you can possibly imagine.  If there was anyone out there with even an inkling of our situation, I would think it would be a student from Poe!  You should be a natural ally.”

Her apprehension increased.  Was he hinting that he knew about Poe?  Did he know about her?

He waved a hand in dismissal.  “You look so surprised.  ‘How could he possibly know the big secret of Poe?  Is it my fault?’  Please.  I’ve known about Poe since my first quarter here.  Far from exposing your deviant little cottage, I’ve done everything in my power to preserve and guard the secret.  There’s no reason why Faction Three shouldn’t be inclusive.  But we’re getting off the topic.  Or perhaps not, since we’ve wandered into the topic of sexuality.”

Thuban leaned forward, now speaking with a burning intensity.  His emotions flickered with repressed feelings as well, including longing and lust.  “High school is a crucial period for psychological development.  You finish adolescence, you learn social interaction.  Your place in society is established.  It determines who and what you are for the rest of your life.  Will you be a leader or a lackey?  Will you become a kind, helpful hero … or an abusive, manipulative tyrant?  Will you become a strapping example of manhood, and all that implies?”  He turned to stare directly at her.  “Or perhaps you would prefer to become a delicate flower, the soft and gentle epitome of all the feminine virtues?”

Jade’s teeth began to chatter so hard that she almost missed his next statement.

“That was Montana’s problem.  At this delicate stage in his development, Tansy Walcutt stepped in and destroyed his self-image.  She utterly shattered it when she publicly humiliated him.  And that was my realization.  The rest of Faction Three is in the same position!  We aren’t all challenged with a Tansy Walcutt, but the entire group suffers from a lack of opportunities, a lack of confidence, and ultimately, the fear of rejection.  All of us face public humiliation, just by going to class.  The situation is even worse here at Whateley, where so many of the students are physically perfect, Olympian ideals.  Can you imagine how hard it is to approach a girl, to risk making small talk with her, when you look like a giant hairy ape, or a human turtle, or something worse?

“This past month, I’ve paid for construction down in the underground.  I’ve had a theater put in – the Faction Three Theater.  It’s a lounge and media center all in one.  We meet every Tuesday and Thursday after dinner, and I’ve invited all of us, well, all of the appropriate members, from Whitmore, Hawthorne, and Twain.  But it hasn’t been enough.  I can’t get them to break out of their shells, to risk talking to other people.  All of them have been hurt too badly, too often.”

Shroud drifted up and down slightly in mid-air.  “What do you want of me?  You want me to invite Poe?”

Thin, reptilian lips drew back from Thuban’s pointed teeth.  “Not exactly.”

He withdrew a hand from his sleeve.  In his hand was a small white stuffed toy.  He tossed it to Jade.

“A small gift for you.  I had some difficulty constructing it:  bulletproof, fireproof, and resistant to corrosives and acids.  It’s doubly hard to do it in plush.  That’s got a Zylor-Titanium weave, with Nomex flocking for heat resistance.  It should stand up to the type of abuse you seem to run into.  It’s yours, provided that you bring it to life, here and now.  Make it run around the room.”

Jade had instinctively caught the throw.  The toy felt similar to her stuffed toy lion.  But this lion was white.  With round ears that had a black band at the top.  Not merely a white lion, it was the Kimba of Osamu Tezuka.  The Kimba, the Jungle Emperor.  The one created in Japan, nearly half a century earlier.  The icon that her team had taken for their mascot and name.  She couldn’t help petting the toy.  It was soft and plush and perfect. 

Having held it, she didn’t want to give it back.  And he wasn’t asking for much, was he?

She looked at Shroud plaintively.  “Please?”

Her “sister” sighed.  “Oh, for Pete’s sake.  Alright.  Give me a second.”

As Shroud drifted toward her, her body seemed to undergo convolutions.  A moment later, Shroud’s costume, skin, and cloak imploded inward, folding inside-out to vanish into a thick-walled metal safe contained in her torso.  As the last shred of fabric flew into the door, the safe clicked shut, and settled to the ground beside Jade.

Jinn flooded back into her mind, and she felt the resentment and irritation at breaking security for the sake of gaining this stupid toy.  But then, as she continued petting it, she considered both lines of thought.

It’s worth it, she decided.

A moment later, the toy in her hand stirred and came to life.  Kimba stood up on her palm and roared a squeaky roar.  Then he jumped nimbly to the ground, raced around the inside perimeter of the tent, and approached Thuban.

“Is this what you had in mind, oh mighty dragon?” the toy demanded.

Thuban’s eyes were wide, and through her link with Jann, Jade could see his emotions crest in need and vindication.

“Amazing!”  He practically whispered it.  “Just a toy, and yet, so lifelike.”

As Kimba trotted back to Jade, Thuban continued to speak.  “Now I begin to believe that my plan might actually work.”

“What plan?”

The toy lion jumped up onto the metal locker.  Jade touched toy and locker, recharging Shroud.  A moment later, the locker opened, exploding in a reverse transformation.  The toy vanished, safely locked away.  Clothes, hair, and chalk-white skin exploded outward, then condensed into Shroud once more.

Thuban smiled, but his eyes were tight with anxiety.  “Like the vaunted Dr. Frankenstein, I intend to make a bride.  Or rather, a girlfriend.  Not real, not genuine competition for any of the girls in Faction Three.  And at the same time, someone safe, whose very purpose is not to reject the clumsy and inexperienced, and especially, the unattractive.  Everybody’s sweetheart, if you will.  She will be an ice-breaker.  Relationship training wheels.  A striking and distinctive female, obviously appropriate to Faction Three, but presented as a ‘construct’ and a cunning fake from the very start.”

“You want me,” Shroud said, figuring it out.  “I don’t know how to break it to you, but I’m hardly the life of the party.  You want Toni.  Or maybe Nikki.”

“I need someone who won’t make the other girls in Faction Three feel like ugly freaks.  Someone who is as grotesque as they are, and yet, could be seen as attractive, even desirable, given the proper perspective.  Don’t you understand?  Faction Three is a refuge from you beauty queens and film stars.  It is a place where we can allow ourselves to be what we are, out of the spotlight.”  He shook his large head.  “Besides, I didn’t go to all this work to create a Team Kimba auxiliary branch.”

“There’s Sara,” Jade suggested.  “She’s not exactly normal.  And Tennyo…”

“As I may have hinted, I intend to assume leadership of Faction Three.  Albeit, from behind the scenes.  Placing your demon princess in a pivotal role would hardly be wise.  Nor do I wish to enter any direct conflicts with Kellith.  As for your roommate – anyone who wasn’t deeply intimidated by her would be quite the fool.  But perhaps you are unaware of some of her secrets.”

Jade glared at him.  How dare he taunt her with her friend’s secrets!  He was probably just lying, anyway.  How could he possibly know more about them than she did?

“They’re good people!” she insisted, loyally.  “I don’t care what fake secrets you pretend to know.”

He gave a cold smile.

“You’d be surprised at what I know.  Secrets that you’ve probably never even admitted to each other.”

The smile widened with the appreciation of a trap that has been sprung.

“For example, have your friends ever heard the name ‘Jared Reilley’ ?”

34: Heart’s desire

November 15, Wednesday evening, 4:43 PM

At the mention of her real name, it felt like the blood in her veins turned to ice water.  Jade found herself simultaneously icy cold and sweating.  Under Jann-sensei’s urgent prodding, she tried to control her face and body language, but she knew she’d given away her shock.

Thuban began to speak again, in his dry, whispery voice.  “The last time we met face-to-face, you rather surprised me.  I like to know who I’m dealing with.  I took the liberty of learning everything I could about you.  Everything.  My methods and sources are … extensive.  You’ll be pleased to know that the records on the Whateley end were quite secure.  I had to finally trace things backward from the Kansas end.  I took the liberty of ensuring that those records were permanently lost.”

“So,” Shroud’s voice was as cold as the grave, “you think you can blackmail my sister into doing your work?”

“No.  I engage in blackmail for punishment, not motivation.  Besides, with the gift I offer, you will do my work quite willingly.”  He gave a laugh that was surprisingly warm.  “And don’t think to lead me astray, either.  Your ‘sister’?  Please.  That whole tale about being the re-animated spirit of her dead sister, or even the backup tale about you being a Ghulah are just that – tales.  Cover stories that weren’t invented until you’d already been here a month.  We all know that you are simply a splinter-self, flaked off from the whole.  A temporary psyche that somehow telekinetically charges your body image template.”

Jade and Shroud were both silent, as they digested this.  Was there anything about them that he didn’t know?  And how could they get out of this without destroying everything they’d achieved at Whateley?

Jade realized that she had little to lose at this point.  “If you’re so smart,” she asked, in a subdued voice, “why am I stuck like this?”

Thuban’s lip curled slightly in triumph, as he relaxed back into his hard throne.  “I collect information.  That doesn’t mean I know everything.  Often, there are no final answers.  The best you can do is to search for a workable solution.  Sometimes I am able to suggest possibilities.  For a price.  After all, that is my specialty.”

“What are you talking about?” Shroud demanded.  “What price?”

“All in good time.  Perhaps you’d like to see the reward, first?”

The robed lizard-man gestured at the area ahead of him, and a holographic image snapped to life.  It showed two girls climbing into a strange device, while a trio of teenagers in lab coats bustled around them.

“You’re already familiar with Eleanor Ruskin, better known as Jello,” the reptilian man stated.  “Here she is, getting into the BIT-Shifter.”

The holographic image showed a figure who looked more like a half-melted wax mannequin, stepping up into a platform.  On the other side of the platform, another girl was stepping up.  The second girl was a stunning blonde that Jade recognized from the fight in Boston.

“The ‘donor’ is a girl named Heartbreaker.  One of Ruskin’s few friends.  Watch closely.”

With both girls strapped in, another girl, a technician, connected a maze of electrodes and wires all over their nearly naked bodies.  The technician stepped away, then the platform began to spin, faster and faster.  Finally, there was a strobe-like effect, and a blue corona became visible over most of the wires.  In the strobe’s flash, Jade saw first Jello, then the beautiful girl, then Jello again, as the machine spun round and round.  A blue corona began to surround the spinning stage.

“Now the process truly begins.”

The strobed images had seemed to be first one, then the other.  Now they blurred, so that the image presented was both girls, somehow melting together.

“The ‘slicer’ is measuring the fields that corresponds to Heartbreaker’s Body Image Template,” Thuban explained.  “It is forcing those same signals into Jello; actually superimposing them over Jello’s own template.  Watch.”

The blurred half-and-half image began to change.  While the half-seen image of Heartbreaker remained unchanged, there was also a superimposed image of another shape.  This other shape expanded, contracted, altered, and then seemed to slowly vanish.  Soon, the only visible image was that of Heartbreaker.  Now the operator pulled a switch and the blue fire faded; the spinning stage slowed.  Inside, there were two copies of Heartbreaker.  The technicians removed the probes and electrodes (some, it seemed from rather personal places).  One of the Heartbreakers stumbled forward, as if exhausted.  The other seemed enchanted by her own body.

“As you can see, Heartbreaker’s BIT was copied and successfully superimposed over Jello’s BIT.  Jello lost none of her mind or memories, but the tests we ran confirm that her body was a near-exact duplicate for Heartbreaker’s body.  The inventors were able to filter out several values.  Jello’s blood type wasn’t changed.  Nor were her fingerprints.  As I mentioned, her mind and memories were unchanged.  And – in theory, at least – her ova retained her original genetic code.  We weren’t able to test.”

Thuban leaned back on his throne, hiding his clawed hands within his sleeves once more.  “I commissioned and funded the development of the BIT-slicer.  I hoped that it might be a tool to assist members of Faction Three.”  He sighed.  “It may not be as promising as I had hoped.  It only works on exemplars and shapeshifters.  Furthermore, Ruskin – Jello – was unable to retain her shape.  It looked like a perfect success, but twenty minutes later, Ruskin began to melt.  Her BIT – whether her own or this newly imposed copy – is perpetually in flux.  We might imagine giving her a booster dose every twenty minutes, but that’s impractical until we can create a BIT recorder.  For now, her BIT is too fluid for this to be useful.”

“She had the same problem with self-hypnosis,” Jade mused.  “Too suggestible.  New ideas quickly replace any post-hypnotic suggestions.”

“I will continue development, of course, but I had cause to wonder: What would it do to someone whose BIT seemed to be stuck?”

Jade gulped, as a shiver ran down her spine.

“What if there was someone who wanted, more than anything, to be a real girl?  Could she, perhaps, find a ‘donor’ to supply a body template that could be imposed over her own stuck, male form?”

Jade couldn’t help herself.  “Whatever the price – I accept!”

35: Costs

November 15, Wednesday evening, 5:10 PM

“I accept!”

At that exact moment, she felt the telepathic contact of Jann, and heard Jinn’s voice ring out: “I do not accept!”

Jann and Jinn seemed to have been thinking along the same lines (not unexpectedly), for Jann’s thinking matched Jinn’s verbal conditions.

“First, I want proof that this isn’t some new attempt to mess with Team Kimba!”

Thuban rested his head against a taloned hand, gently massaging one temple.  “I could care less about your precious ‘Team Kimba.’  None of those perfect beauty queens hold the least interest for me.  And it’s not because of their ‘alternate sexuality’ – either the gay students or the gender-changers.  Don’t think that all the students in either of those categories live in Poe.  Only the pretty ones.”

He closed his eyes and said quietly, “To those of us in Faction Three, the ‘dilemma’ of being turned into an attractive and popular member of the opposite sex seems like a dream come true.  What you call a problem, we call wallowing in vanity and self-indulgence.”

“But proof of my good intentions?  That would be a challenge.  I’m not going to require you to do anything onerous.  You won’t be serving in a combat role.  If I need fighters, your acquaintance Montana is the least of my resources.  Lackeys and servants can also be obtained in abundance.  I won’t even require you to directly obey me.  You are merely to serve a role.  Provided that you do that to the best of your ability, I will consider our bargain well met.”

“Then explain,” Shroud insisted.  “What’s the nature of your ‘price’?”

Thuban’s slitted eyes glittered coldly.  “Interesting.  The body disagrees with the spirit.  How common in life, yet sublime to see played out in this fashion.  Naturally the passions,” he nodded to Jade “drive forward, while it seems the intellect” now he nodded to Jinn “pauses to consider.  But can the spirit also hold emotions and passion?  That is essential for my plan.”

Jade thought of a laughing cabbit toy.  She had an image of Jinn shaking with terror, as they left the far end of the sewer line, and she remembered the whiplash of emotions during the Tansy affair.  Jann, temporarily taking Jinn’s place, had been as emotional as she was.

“She can be plenty emotional,” Jade insisted.  “Shroud is supposed to be cold and spooky, but Jinn isn’t always like that!  She may not have hormones and stuff, but she still feels plenty!”  It still sometimes felt odd to speak of herself in the third person like that, but she was getting used to it.

“Good.  If there is one absolute requirement I have on this project, it is sincerity.”  He rose from his throne while gesturing negligently to Shroud.  “Fold yourself up or do whatever it is you do.  I have a new body for you to inhabit.”

With two strides, the Mandarin-robed lizard-man strode to the rear of his pavilion.  He jerked aside the curtain to display a body lying on a stone slab of a table.  A body that wasn’t so much corpse-like, but instead seemed to be a statue carved from semi-precious stone.

The figure was medium height, perhaps five-foot-six.  She was very definitely female, with the black leather halter and miniskirt emphasizing rather than concealing her figure.  Her skin was the deep blue of some precious stone, but veined throughout with purest gold.  The gold was repeated at her nails, lips, and hair.  Not a blonde-gold, but a metallic gold.  As Jade moved closer, she realized that the immobile figure didn’t have fingernails, she had talons.  The entire tip of each finger was a sparkling gold spike.  And she had horns!  Blue stone protuberances lengthened the plane of her face, giving her what seemed to be a widow’s peak.

“This is Lazuli.  Step inside,” Thuban urged, gesturing to the body on the slab.  “Try her on, see how she fits.  Bring her to life the way you brought the toy to life.”

Shroud floated over the body, passing her hand over it, and examining the form.  “If this is some kind of trick…”

“Spare me your empty threats.  Besides, I need a willing volunteer.”

Once again, Shroud collapsed down into the simple armored box that was her locker.  Jade felt the memories settle into place, and then stepped forward to touch the statue on the slab.  As always, there was no flash or visible effect.  But a moment later, the statue took a shuddering breath.

---

Jinn settled into her new body, examining it and feeling it, inside and out.

Oh, that’s a bit of a surprise.

She found herself breathing, or at least, mimicking the motions that a breathing person would make.  Likewise, she blinked, even though she didn’t actually see out of the glassy spheres that looked like eyes.  There was an electronic device in her throat.  It wasn’t exactly Bunny’s design, but she quickly recognized the intention.  The craftsman had even thoughtfully labeled the controls: speech, rumble, growl, purr.  Fortunately, she didn’t need light to read the raised markings.

She pressed the speech button and vibrated the film in the “microphone” end.  “How do I sound?”

“Lower,” Jade said, beside her.  “Sort of husky, or maybe throaty.”

Jinn didn’t really need that evaluation; she could hear herself just fine.  She wondered how to maneuver the thick tail.  Switching quickly to object mode, she moved the tail, then switched back to girl mode to coordinate the rest of her body.  In this fashion, she flicked the tail to the side to help her pivot around and then stand.

“You’ve got a tail!” Jade observed, a bit late.

“Obviously,” Jinn agreed, in her throaty voice.  She wondered how she should play her new persona.  “If I didn’t know better, I would think that scale-boy there modeled me after himself.  Well, parts of me.”  She stood on the ground balancing awkwardly on her ill-formed feet.

“Stand on your toes,” Thuban instructed.  “You should walk like a cat.  Your weight should never come down onto your heels.  You’ll need your tail for balance.”

Jinn noticed that his tone was level, but his skin positively glowed with a rich banquet of emotions.  There was joy and triumph, some greed, and a healthy dose of … lust?  She stood on her toes and tried to look like she was moving her tail appropriately.  It was difficult, since  she had to keep flipping over into object mode.

“And what’s with the black leather cape?  It’s a little heavy for cape material, isn’t it?  Even if she could be a Cape Squad type, which she isn’t.”

Jinn faced her more naïve younger self.  “It isn’t a cape, sister.  These are my wings.”  With that, she unhooked her wing ‘thumbs’ from where they clasped, at the hollow of her neck.  With one tremendous flap, she unfurled her large wings.  Fortunately, the wingspan was just inside her telekinetic reach.  She flapped again, pulling herself aloft.  Of course, it wasn’t actually the wing lift that raised her, it was all telekinesis.  But she could provide the illusion of flying.  She flapped out of the pavilion, flapping through a quick spin around the cavern.  It had been poorly lit when she’d looked at it in her body, but none of that mattered to her in this form, with her unique method of sight.  When she returned, she saw that she and Thuban had moved out of the tent to watch her.  She landed gracefully, moving close to Thuban.

“Like what you see?” she taunted.  She pressed the purr button at the end.

His face gave an even stronger flash of lust and need, but nothing in his expression revealed that.

“We’ll start with you just playing a part,” he said, calmly.  “We will admit up front that Lazuli isn’t real.  You’re a fake, an illusion, although the exact nature of that illusion won’t be revealed.  You are to give the men confidence, and give the women no genuine competition.”

“A bit conflicted, aren’t we?  Besides, if you want me not to scare off the other girls, why’d you burden me with the oversized chest?”  She tugged at her leather halter, as if peering down the front of her own top.  “This whole body’s just some huge stroke fantasy, isn’t it?”

For once, Thuban seemed to be fumbling with his words.  “Not at all!  Your measurements are appropriate for an exemplar three.  There are plenty of girls with more impressive figures.”

“Uh huh.  Stroke fantasy.  I guess it’s up to me to figure out how to make it up to the other girls.”

“You’ll want to practice before the meeting next Tuesday.  ”  He handed a DVD to Jade.  “Lazuli is based on a TV series.  Study the disk to learn how you should move, and the mannerisms to duplicate.”

“What about the BIT-slicer machine?” Jade demanded.

“Find a donor for the template you’ll copy,” Thuban advised.  “We may be able to manage a session as early as next Monday.”

36: Body shopping

November 15, Wednesday evening, 6:15 PM

Jade sat quietly through dinner.  Her mind seethed with turmoil from her meeting with Thuban.  She had accepted an acting role with a twist that was uniquely Whateley, but what occupied her mind with the stunning revelation of the BIT-slicer.  Find yourself a donor, Thuban had said.  Pointed questions had revealed that she could retain her own face, hair, and other details, but the majority of her body image would be derived from her ‘donor’ template.

But who?

Nikki caught the eye first.  She had long, graceful legs.  Her hands and feet were both dainty and delicate, which Jade appreciated.  Nikki had the largest bust at the table, being a C-cup even though she was only fourteen.  Jade wondered how big the poor girl would eventually get.  Her large bust combined with her tiny waist gave her easily the best figure at the table.  Her gorgeous, exotic face and wild red hair topped it off for a truly stunning package.  Jade stared at her in bemusement, imagining herself with that body.  She’d never even dared imagine herself as a C-cup.  That would make people notice her!  What would it be like to straining the seams of her blouse every time she inhaled, or to have all the boys staring at her?  Unless… would she prefer to have all the girls staring at her?

Either prospect was intriguing, and frightening.  It was nice to fantasize, but she figured that even after the change, she might bind herself down so that her changes weren’t so fast or so obvious.  That made her grin in goofy delight.  The idea of strapping herself down because her breasts were too big…!

But what if she also picked up Nikki’s allergies?  Jade certainly couldn’t afford Nikki’s wardrobe.  And then she remembered that Nikki wasn’t an exemplar.  In fact, she wasn’t an avatar either.  The doctors seemed a little puzzled by Nikki, which made plenty of sense given how she puzzled everyone else, too.  No, Nikki wouldn’t be able to provide a template for the BIT-slicer, so she was out.

Well then, how about Toni?  She was slimmer in the waist and hips than Nikki, which suited Jade fine.  Toni was a B-cup, which was also less frightening.  And Toni’s bust on her sleek body gave her a figure that was as dramatic as Nikki’s.  Best of all, Toni was definitely an exemplar, which the process required.

But… Toni wasn’t quite finished transitioning.  There was something about cracking her hips or something, Jinn was fuzzy on the details, but she thought she’d better not take the body of anyone who wasn’t ready for childbirth.  She thought that Toni was having periods, but Jinn wanted a body that could bear children, even if she decided to wait for quite a few years.

Her main problem was that Toni was black.  She thought they could probably “filter” for skin color (whatever that meant).  Heck, if they could leave her blood type unaltered, they could probably fix the skin.  But Jade realized with a bit of shame that she wasn’t as free of prejudice as she hoped.  She loved and respected her sempai, but she didn’t want to be black herself.  She wanted to change her gender, not her race.  And while she admired Toni’s figure, she didn’t want to stop being Japanese.  She wasn’t sure that race mattered, once you dropped below the surface of the skin, but that didn’t change her feelings.

She realized that, because of her own prejudice, she’d only be comfortable taking a template from one of the Asian girls.

Chou had a substantial figure that was also trim and athletic.  But Billie…!

She’d done her roommate’s laundry enough to know that Billie took a 32-B bra.  She was close enough to Jinn’s seventeen-year-old dimensions for them to share bras (she’d tried once, as a joke) – although Jinn was a small B, where as Billie was an ample B.  She knew what the other girl looked like, clothed and naked, happy, sad, sweaty, and freshly bathed.  And there was a connection there.  There was no one in the school she was closer to.  Come to that, there was no one in the world (still living) that she was closer to.

She thought of the countless times she had watched Billie in secret jealousy.  She’d never imagined that one day that body might be hers.  She tried to suppress a giggle, as she stared at Billie, imagining her naked.  That could be me!  I could walk like that, move like that!  I could have that flare in my skirt, those long, perfect legs.  That could be me, squeezed into a tight sweater and filling it so attractively.

She would never have Billie’s beautiful face or amazing eyes or devilish smile.  But she would have a womb.  A real womb nestled in the bowl of her hips.  She would have children one day, growing inside her body.  Billie had been having periods for months now, and her hips certainly seemed wide enough for easy childbirth.

“—I said, HELLO!” Toni yelled in her ear.

Riptide waxed poetic.  “Look at that vacant gaze, that goofy grin, the subtle line of drool – our little girl’s become a dyke.  I’m so proud!”

That partially snapped Jade out of her daze.  “Huh?  What?”

“So she was staring at me!” Billie yelled.  “Big deal!”

Trying to look inconspicuous, Jade focused her attention on her casserole.

“Naw, face it, Tennyo,” Rip said, “she wants your body.”

Jade almost swallowed her spoon.  “How did you—?”  Then she realized what the water-worker was talking about.  “WHAT?  Ewww, no way!  That’s like incest, isn’t it?”

“Uh, Jade, it’s only incest if we’re related,” Billie explained.  Then seeing everyone’s eyes on her, she began to panic, too.  “Wait, that came out wrong!  I didn’t mean it would be okay … Jade!  You know what I meant!  Help me!”

But Jade’s mind had already moved to imagining what it would be like to have a body that was a near copy of Billie’s.  Then they would be related, even closer than sisters.  More like half-twins or something.

Only… now that she had embarrassed the heck out of Billie, how was she going to ask for such a huge favor?

---

November 16, Thursday evening, 6:40 PM

“Come on!” Billie bellowed, “you guys aren’t going to miss the dance, are you?”

Nikki blushed.  It was a skill the redhead excelled at, and the girls watched as the pink tinge first coated the elven girl’s face, then traveled down her neck and well into her cleavage.  “I was going to help Bunny … study.”

Toni was looking heavenward.  “Thank you, God, for giving me a decent skin color.”

“How far down does that blush go?” Chou asked.

“Come on,” Toni protested.  “You must have noticed in the showers.”

“I’ve… uh… I’ve been trying not to ogle the other girls in the showers.”  The Asian teenager gave her own blush, which was partially concealed by a more forgiving skin tone.

“Christ almighty,” Ayla let out.  “This is Poe!  Every single one of those girls is either a lesbo checking you out, or a T-girl, peeking to see how far along your transition is.  Are you telling me that you never look?”

“Well,” the admission was almost a whisper, “I’ve been trying not to.”  Then Chou seemed to realize something about her roommate.  “Besides, who are you to make accusations like that?  It’s not like you’re studying the view either!  You zoom in and out like it’s some sort of race!”

“Yeah, well,” the punk girl defended, “you have any idea how hard it is to do anything in the girl’s bathroom without getting a raging hard-on?  It has been pointed out to me on more than one occasion that the compliment is not appreciated.”

“They aren’t really checking us all out like that, are they?” Jade asked with some trepidation.

“Don’t worry,” Billie comforted.  “It’s not like you’ve got any worries along that line.  I don’t think any of them care about kiddie porn, and even if you haven’t finished transitioning, it’s obvious you’re a girl.”

Ayla rolled her eyes.  “She’s saying that since you haven’t even got the first wisp of a bush, it’s pretty plain to everyone that your dingle doesn’t dangle.”  Everyone just stared at her.  “She’s got a slot, not a pole, okay?”

Privately, Jade was mortified.  They were checking her out!  If it wasn’t for her telekinetic tuck, they would have tagged her as a phony long ago.  Her “female” anatomy was achieved by taking the extra flesh of her boy-sack and then using her powers to tuck, pull, stretch, and fake what she should have looked like, if she hadn’t been born into this freakish male body.

But soon!  As soon as she could get up the nerve to ask Billie.  How would she do it?  Excuse me, Billie, but you’re my closest friend and I really love you and I was wondering if you’d let some people connect you up to some really gross machine so that I could steal your body and then we’d be just like twins and we could be like friends and sisters forever.

Hmmm, maybe that wasn’t quite right.  Besides, they wouldn’t be twins if she didn’t have Billie’s face.  And she doubted that she’d be getting any of Billie’s powers.  She didn’t think it worked that way for Jello.  So, maybe not twins, but a big-sister, little-sister thing?

She wondered if she’d pick up Billie’s scent.  The taller girl always smelled really good: a sort of peach and ozone, with just a hint of girl-musk.

“…I might show up later,” Toni was saying.  “It all depends.  I’ve got a hot date tonight, and he said he wanted to surprise me.”

Fortunately, Riptide wasn’t around to hear that comment.

“I’m definitely going,” Chou said.

Billie gave the Chinese girl a wide-toothed grin.  “Going to rendezvous with your little snuggle-bunny Molly?”

“No, she’s busy – HEY!  That’s none of your business!”

Jade knew she should practice with the equipment Thuban had given her.  “I need to do some studying, but I don’t want to miss the dance.  I think I’ll stay, but Jinn will go.”  And if she stuck close to Billie, maybe she’d get a chance to ask her.

“Let me shower and change and we’ll take off,” Billie decided.

Back in the room, Jade couldn’t seem to keep her eyes off her roommate.  Billie was odd.  Sometimes, she would get so overcome with modesty that she’d completely cover up.  But when she wasn’t thinking about it, she’d strut around in the nude as if she was the most confident person in the universe.  As if she, in the buff, was tough enough to take on any threat that might appear.  As if she was woman enough to out-vamp any other girl in the state.  Maybe any other girl in the world.  As if she was lover enough to … Jade wasn’t sure.  Lover enough to capture whoever or whatever she wanted, and make them hers forever.  The details were fuzzy for Jade, but the astounding confidence and utter magnetism of the taller girl were undeniable.  Even if she got the body, she’d never have the personality.  But that was okay, she was happy to be herself.  Besides, the world only needed one Tennyo.

Right now, Billie was fresh out of the shower, stark naked, and swaying and dancing as she moved around the room, impossibly light on her feet.  Her legs were long and athletic and smooth.  The stretch of muscle didn’t need heels to bring out the beauty in the lines of her calves and the back of her thighs.  Billie’s backside was an inverted heart, rounded but curving smoothly inward to a tight waist.  The girl’s back displayed trim muscles and the shifting outlines of ribs, spine, and shoulder blades, but it had enough flesh to soften the lines.  Her neck was long and slender, and that took you to Billie’s improbable head, with her peculiar out-jutting ears and the spiky cascade of silken hair that was unique to her.

Her naked roommate bent, searching through her panty drawer, flashing Jade just a hint of her feminine secrets.  Billie stepped into a lacy pair of sky blue high-cut panties and then pulled them up snugly.  She rooted through her brassieres for a moment, before snorting and abandoning the effort.  Instead, she slipped into a camisole, and put a satiny blue-green leotard over that.  She didn’t actually jiggle that much, but the two prominent points made it clear what she wasn’t wearing.

I wonder what that feels like? Jade wondered in awe.  Would I dare to go braless?  She loved wearing camisoles.  What would it feel like to wear one properly, with breasts of her own inside to give it a proper shape?  What would her cotton camisole feel like against the soft swell of her own breasts?  What if she bought a silk camisole, or satin?

“You okay, Jade?  You going to get ready?”

“Right!” the younger girl nodded eagerly.

Jade’s closet was much less interesting than her roommate’s.  It was hung with a bare half-dozen outfits (not including assorted sizes of school uniforms), and a grisly collection of flayed human skins.  Or that’s what they appeared to be.  They were actually rubbery plastic “pours” of false skin that she’d made in costuming workshop.  She picked out a full-body suit and charged herself into it.

---

As always, it was a thrill to come alive as Jinn.  She settled into her skin and then had a second thought.  She reached for the metal locker and then held it out to her kid-self.  “Better have the full package,” she advised herself.

Jade reached out and charged her again, incorporating the locker full of tools and weapons.

The full-body skin only had a few seams.  Her scalp pulled up from the back of her head where hair covered the seam.  After she “swallowed” her other supplies, the seam was sealed closed on the inside using a modern miracle binding known as Velcro.

Jinn picked out a black polyester halter, a miniskirt, and a matching set of cuffed gloves and ankle boots.

“The black two-piece outfit again?” her roommate chided.  “You always wear that.  Or something close.  And what’s with all the black?”

Jinn flicked her fingers up as she counted.  “First, I’m seventeen.  And while I have a certain fondness for Hello Kitty, you have all made it quite clear that it’s barely tolerable for an eleven-year-old, and completely unacceptable for an older teenager.”

“Yeah, unless you’re making an ironic statement, which you can’t carry off worth a damn.”

“Two, black coordinates well.  Three, it’s got a sort of ‘see, I’m Shroud, too’ thing going.  Lastly, I’m running out of ways to use the same five pieces of wardrobe.  You know, if it wasn’t for school uniforms, I wouldn’t have had anything to wear to class after the first week.”

---

Jade watched them getting dressed, herself and her roommate.  Billie looked so pretty as she finished her outfit.  The under layer was a teal body stocking, with a high collar and billowing sleeves.  The color complimented her hair perfectly.  Over that, she had a pink vest with a matching full skirt.  The vest served primarily to draw attention to her bust, while the skirt billowed and wrapped around her legs as she moved.  Finally, a high, wide, black belt cinched just under her chest, further emphasizing her ample bosom.  The high-waisted outfit would have been out of place on most girls, but Billie had longer legs and a shorter torso than most girls, and this outfit took advantage of that.

The older girl noticed her gaze and explained.  “I’ve been dying to wear this somewhere,” she admitted.  “I picked it up back in Boston, but I never had the nerve to put it on.  What do you think?”  She did a pirouette in mid-air, forgetting to drop back to the ground when she finished.

I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and I am so happy and so jealous and I wish I could be you, Jade thought.  Aloud, all she whispered was, “It’s really, really nice.  It’s … it’s beautiful!”  She blushed, realizing that she was going too far, so she quickly corrected with, “I’m a little surprised the colors work, but they do.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah.  It’s perfect with your hair!  And I especially like the vest.  It’s like it hides the fact that you aren’t wearing… you know.  But if any of the boys peek in at the side, I’ll bet you’ll really tease them.”

Billie pulled out the fabric of her top.  “Is it bad?  Should I wear a bra?”

“That look is way sexy!  Is that what you want?  Or are bras really that bad?”  She had a personal reason for asking.

“Well, I guess they’re not so bad, it’s mostly just the principle of it.  And I admit, it sometimes feels like I’m getting rope burn or something when I slide around inside my blouse.  The camisole helps.”  She reached under her vest to rub the tip of one breast.  “But it’s a little more comfortable without a bra.  If I do a lot of dancing, I sometimes sweat in the band.  It’s much cooler to do without, so I think I’ll skip it.”

“How about me?” Jinn asked.  She launched into the air as well, spreading her arms wide in a spin.  She also neglected to return to the ground.

“You’re good,” Billie said, without much enthusiasm.

“But?”

“Well…” the admission reluctantly came “…polyester?  That same outfit would be really hot if you did it in black leather.  Or maybe even denim.  You can’t use the money argument all the time, because I know you’ve gotten some good paychecks recently.”

“True,” Jinn confessed.  “But it was either clothes or guns.  And… and…”

Jade remembered the other good news.  “And Bunny said she would finished my ‘egg-splosive’ missiles by the end of the week!”  It was exciting enough to get her mind – momentarily – off the prospect of achieving her dream.  “Once I buy the factory unit, I’ll only have to pay for raw materials.  Her ‘factory’ egg will hatch out as many missiles as I need!  Ha ha ha ha!”

Billie narrowed her eyes at the deranged child.  “You had the money for clothes and you used it to buy weapons instead?”

Jinn took up the conversation with a supercilious air.  “Look, I’m sure that mega-destructive plasma blasts are all very nice and all, but it’s not my fault that you can’t appreciate the beauty and elegance of multi-purpose ordinance with a self-guided missile delivery system.”

“What ‘self-guided missile’?  You told me you were just going to charge Jann into tiny bombs and fly them down your opponent’s throat!  What kind of—” her eyes narrowed in realization.  “Wait a minute… you haven’t been watching Project A-Ko again, have you?”

“Uh, well, it was playing in the lounge.  There isn’t very much lesbian comedy animé around, so the other girls keep putting it on.  And if I’m passing through, I maybe stop to watch a couple of minutes.”

“Uh huh.  Come on, Jinn.  Let’s see if Chou is ready.”

Before she left, Jade took her roommate’s hand.  “Uh… Billie?  Tennyo-san?”

“Yeah?  What’s wrong?”

“I…” she was suddenly too shy to ask.  “I just wanted you to have a good time.”

“Oh.  Thanks.”

---

The three of them were fairly cheerful as they made their way toward Emerson, but Jinn could see emotions.  There was no way for the other two girls to hide their apprehension.

“So, you’re feeling it too?” she asked, broaching the taboo subject.

“Pretty hard not to,” Chou said quietly.  “Halloween was supposed to be just a dance, like this.  Instead…”

Billie was typically gruff.  “I refuse to be traumatized, just because some bastards thought a dance would be a good time to catch us off guard.  I’m going to have a good time!  And if anyone tries anything this time…!”  She held up a fist that glowed with disturbing power.

Chou recoiled immediately.  Even to Jinn, the energies that swirled around Billie’s fist seemed almost like a blasphemy on the face of creation.  It was a feeling that was almost reminiscent of the terror she’d felt at the farthest end of the sewer tunnels.  And that had definitely fallen under the classification of “blasphemy.”  That had been like a gaping, pustulent wound in the fabric of reality.

“Stop that!” Chou shouted in desperation.

“Sorry.”  Billie’s hand went back to normal.

“Do you have any idea what that was?”

“Some idea, yeah.  If I hit someone with that, they’re dead.  I mean, really dead.”

“You hit them with that,” the Taoist girl pronounced, “and death with be the least of their worries.  I think I’d rather feed them to Sara.”

“Guys, guys!”  Jinn quickly floated in between the two girls.  “We’re here for the dance, remember?  Fun and good times!”

“Yeah,” Chou agreed.  “Maybe you’re right, Tennyo.  If anyone’s dumb enough to hit us twice in a row, they deserve some serious pain.”

“You know,” Jinn realized, “I think this is the first time that just the three of us have been out.”

“So?” Billie asked bluntly.

“Well, I mean, we’re the three Asian girls, right?  That’s got to be good for something.”

“I suppose,” Chou allowed.  “I guess I never quite thought of it, not originally being Chinese.  And people have certainly been treating me different, but it’s sometimes hard to tell whether it’s because I’m Chinese, or because I’m a girl.”  She considered it.  “I suppose we have a bit in common.  We all do martial arts.”

“Some of us better than others,” Jinn said with a touch of jealousy, looking at Chou.

“We all use swords,” Billie suggested.  “Though you’ll pardon me if I don’t bring mine out.  I still sometimes have trouble putting it back away again.”

“I’ve heard,” Chou said, dryly.  “Wait a minute.  Since when did you use a sword, Jinn?”

Billie smirked.  “Show her.”

Jinn sighed.  “On our way to the dance?  Well…”  She held her right hand out.  “You know Harry Wolfe, Billie’s friend?  He helped me with a little surprise.”  With a deadly sounding –CHANG– a foot-long blade shot forward out of her hand.

Chou’s eyes bugged out at the sudden appearance of the double-edged blade.  She couldn’t help giving a slight backwards leap and settling into a stance.  By the time she thought to look more closely, Jinn’s gloves had vanished away somewhere, so that now the girl appeared to have normal fleshy arms, black fabric wrist bands, and blades instead of hands.  They weren’t quite short swords, but they were a lot longer than daggers.

“Sorry,” Jinn said, chuckling.  “I only train with them when I’m up against an invulnerable sparring partner.  And you haven’t been around for sparring, not since you started all that sword training.”  As she spoke, the blades slowly withdrew back inside her arms.  A moment later, her gloves seemed to unfold from somewhere inside the wrist area.  The wrist bands rotated for a moment, then her gloved hands resumed their normal appearance.

“So anyway,” Jinn said, still amused, “I guess this applies to both of you.  How do you do it?  Sword combat, I mean.  Isn’t it pretty hard to fight someone without it turning really serious?  I mean, like deadly maiming lethal bloody serious?  How do you fight that way?”

“I haven’t used my sword on any people,” Billie admitted.  “Ugg.  There’d be nothing left but well-cooked chunks.”

“I’ve fought some against demons,” Chou said.  “That’s not the same thing.  I don’t feel any guilt over slicing one of them up.  People… so far I’ve fought mainly to disarm and pin.  That’s really more of a sword-versus-sword style.  You’re not fighting the person, so much as their sword.  I suppose I should watch for that, since I might overlook a crippling or lethal shot in a real fight.  Also, most of the time I leave Destiny’s Wave in her sheath.”

So, as girls are prone to do, the three Asian-looking girls bonded a little closer while discussing those topics that are closest to a young girl’s heart: proper slashing techniques, when to take a life, and how to clean bloodstains out of silk.

37: I want your body!

November 15, Wednesday evening, 6:35 PM

After making sure no one was up to anything in the hall outside, Jade opened her laptop and connected a set of headphones.  Sliding Thuban’s disk in, she selected “play.”  She was the only one of her that could do this, since she needed to be in her physical body to see a computer screen.  Fortunately, the laptop could double as a DVD player.

That same screen cleared a moment later, and as the show began, a logo appeared: “Gargoyles.”

From the headphones, a narration began.  “It was an age of darkness…”

---

The party became evident as they reached the stretch of parkway between Emerson and Twain.  Normally, the brick path that wound between the cottages was an empty trail with overhanging oaks, occasional clearings, and benches convenient for either picnicking or warm-weather study.  Now, that space was transformed.

As they passed Emerson, they noticed that nearly every window was open, and in every open window, there was a stereo speaker.  The wall of sound was impressive, but not as impressive as the speaker towers in the central clearing.

“It’s WARS,” Billie realized.

“What?” Chou sounded concerned.

“Whateley Academy Radio Station.  They must be doing DJ duty, so everyone can pick it up on FM.”

Jinn gave a humorless grin.  “I guess this means that we won’t be able to squash Greasy and Peeper if we see them at the dance.  Too many witnesses.”

“I’ll bet they volunteered,” Billie speculated. “Those guys must be desperate for a little support about now.”

The beat became more powerful as they approached the “stomp stage.”  Early in the school’s history it had been discovered that too many ultra-heavy types dancing in unison would create vibrations powerful enough to collapse any tunnel or building nearby.  The solution, used ever since, was the “stomp stage”: an elevated platform designed to damp the vibrations it transmitted down the support legs.  At the same time, the stage acted as a sort of giant tympanic surface, becoming the world’s largest drum.  When the heavies could get their act together, they made an unbelievable rhythm.  The girls were still several hundred feet away, and Jinn could already feel the waves of sound pulsing through her body.

“Wanna do some groupie dances around the stomp stage?” she asked them.

“No, I’m going to check out the kata dancers,” Chou said.  “I got an informal invite from a couple of the Dragons yesterday.  I think I might give them a chance.  Besides, I want to see if I recognize anyone’s moves.  How about you guys?  You’re both as good as any of the freshman Dragons.  Why not come on by?”

“I think I’ve got the urge to fly,” Billie confessed.  “How about you, Jinn?”

“Can we join the pattern around the Stomp Stage?”

Billie rolled her eyes.  “Do we have to?  I want to go wider.”

With a wave, the two of them split from Chou and headed toward the illumination stand.  When they got there, they saw a second booth set up next to it.  The second booth had a tall black boy (at least, Jinn assumed he was black, based on his dreadlocks, the sunglasses he hid behind, and the patter he spoke).  Next to him was a girl – Jinn got the mild impression she was white, with her hair in a thick braid.

“You, you flyer types, check it out.  Prototypes to show off your flyin’ skillz.  Free samples, you hear what I’m sayin?”

Billie sauntered up.  “What have you got?”

“Yo, the name’s ‘Dredz.’  Got somethin’ new for you sky dancers, hear?  Vital equipment.”

“Cut to the chase,” Billie advised him.

The boy sighed and let a bit of his accent lapse.  “Yeah, so there I was, working on my laser shield.  Piece o’ crap that don’t work worth shit.  Then along comes the Red Lensman here,” he gestured to the girl, “and she’s, like, all over me, offerin’ to help out.  When we’re done it still won’t stop spit, but it puts out one fine glow.  Leaves a little trail of sparkles, you know, that Tinker Bell shit.  Just the thing for a flyer to be wearin’ at a dance like this one.  Once we get the last bugs out, we’re goin’ to start renting ‘em out, maybe pick up a few Benjamins, hear?”

The girl next to him was apparently trying to massage away a migraine.  She translated, “Next dance we’ll be renting them out, but since these are prototypes, we’re just offering them as samples and to see if there’s anything we still need to adjust.  Hi, I’m Loophole, by the way.”

Billie nodded.  “Tennyo.  Pleased to meet you.”

“Whoa, hold up there, chika!”  Dredz snatched back the slim backpack.  “My homie told me all about this one!  No offense, Babezilla, but you attract a bit too much property damage for our expensive little prototype, hear me?”

Billie’s face started to cloud up, when Dredz put up his hand in protest.  “No, no, don’t get me wrong.  Got nothing but respect for you.  Deep respect.  You got the power, you got the moves, you the slayer.”

“Star Stalker, actually,” Billie muttered under her breath.

“Ain’t got nothing but respect.  But our poor little hardware isn’t quite ready for major damage.  You followin’ me?”

Billie made a rude noise.  “Let’s get some sparklers, Jinn.”

“Yo, don’t have to go away mad!  The ghost girl’s fine by me, I’d be happy to slide her my package, hear?”

“Uh, I’m with her,” Jinn said, following Billie.

Loophole slumped down, rubbing her head once more.  She glared at her partner.  “Word,” she muttered.  “Dirty word.”

---

Jade was engrossed in the show.  Thuban had sent her home with a cartoon!  It wasn’t any animé she’d seen before, though something about the style was reminiscent.  She understood why Thuban liked it, though.  It would be perfect for his Faction Three.  Each of the heroes were members of a race of monsters, called “gargoyles.”  No two of them looked alike, and they were shunned and feared by humans.  But each of them was a heroic warrior.  Each of them had their own personality and dreams and foibles.  Despite their hideous appearance, they were all wonderful people.

And they were totally loyal to each other.

She wondered whether this show had been chosen to help Faction Three, or whether the show had been the inspiration for Faction Three.

The big trick would be to convince mutated humans to behave with the nobility and confidence that the gargoyles in the cartoon had shown.  Thuban clearly wanted the members of Faction Three to look at each other the same way the gargoyles saw each other:  not as a bewildering array of monsters, but as members of a broader family – each different, but with their own strengths.

She snorted, as a realization came together.  With Lazuli’s blue-stone body, the form Thuban had given her was plainly intended to be a gargoyle.  That explained what he meant by, “playing a part” and “we’ll admit that you aren’t real.”  And she was certain that the dragon-man would be showing the cartoon series at his meetings – probably as a sort of episodic thing.  As the token gargoyle, she would represent all the values Thuban wanted to express through that show.

Or to put it in the harshest terms, if the school freaks were going to learn to accept each other, to love and trust their fellows, she would have to teach them.  She would have to become their example.

And she hadn’t even been able to accept Toni-sempai for her BIT-donor, because of her skin color.

Gosh, thanks so much, Thuban.

With a sigh, she started the next episode.

---

“Slow down!” Jinn called to Billie, as the Cyan-haired girl shot up in the sky.  Jinn was decent as a flier, but she sure couldn’t match her roommate.

They rose up to about 80 feet, then she noticed what Billie was looking at.  Ahead of them, soaring in an elegant glide, was the white-winged form of Mary Goodhope.  Mary carried a pair of flickering sparklers, one in each hand.

Billie already had hers out, and Jinn quickly grabbed two from her locker.

Billie called ahead.  “Hey Mary, got a light?”

As Mary spread her wings wide for a smooth glide, Billie flipped over on her back, then slid in under the winged girl.  They came together until they were face to face, close enough to kiss.  Mary held her arms straight ahead and Billie matched the pose, lighting her sparklers off of Mary’s.  Once Billie’s sparklers caught, she peeled off, doing a couple of quick loops around the winged girl, her sparklers blazing like twin comets.

Jinn flipped over on her back, and performed the same maneuver.

Unlike most light sources, Jinn could actually tell when her sparklers were lit since small flecks were ejected as it burned.  She couldn’t see the light, couldn’t feel the heat, but she could see the flecks as they sputtered off.  She could also hear the telltale hiss.

She was the slowest flier of the three, but she was more maneuverable than Angel.  Billie was both fast and maneuverable.  For the three of them to keep together, Angel had to slow down a bit, and allow the other girls to perform more complex maneuvers around her as she swooped and glided.  She and Billie tried a few sky dances, the spiral, the ring belt, but when the song ended they waved to Mary and went their own way.

“Billie?” Jinn asked tentatively.

“Yeah?”

“You don’t mind me following you, do you?”  It was uncharacteristically timid for her.  As Jinn, she was usually much more confident.

“Naw, I don’t mind.  It’s more fun to be in a group.  Although… if I see any cute guy fliers, I’m dumping you.”

Jinn laughed back, as they burned up their sparklers, racing across the sky, weaving in and around the other sky dancers.

After a few more dances, Billie swooped down for some of the punch.  Jinn followed, though she didn’t need a drink, and couldn’t consume it in any case.

Billie immediately began to attract a crowd, but she rocketed up to treetop level to drink her punch.

“This is what Halloween should have been like,” the spiky-haired girl decided.

“You going to try dancing with any of the guys?”

Billie took another sip to hide her face, even though Jade could see the color of embarrassment clearly lighting up her skin.  “Uh, guys.  Well, yeah, probably.  Maybe in another couple of dances.”  She sighed wistfully.  “You ever feel like you know what your body is telling you, but your spirit isn’t quite ready for it?”

She looked at Jinn then suddenly glowed with regret.  “Oops, sorry.  I didn’t mean it like that.”

“That’s okay—” Jinn began.

“No, I’m really sorry.  Anyway, I don’t mean to say that we’re in the same boat at all.  I … like … being a girl.  I mean, a lot.  But sometimes, I’m not sure that I’m ready for all the stuff that comes with it, you know?  Like how Toni is always kissing and stuff, and just how many people is she going out with, anyway?  I’m not sure I’m cut out for that, you know?”

Jinn nodded seriously.  She’d had similar thoughts herself.  Was this her opportunity to ask?

“And Nikki,” Billie continued, “I mean, for all her protests, she sure jumped in with both feet, didn’t she?”

“You’re always hanging off Hank,” Jinn pointed out.

“Well, sure.  Because he’s safe.  I mean, I know he’s not seriously interested in me, so I can play around with stuff, without worrying about it getting serious or hurting anyone.  That’s why I’m glad he’s seeing Wall Flower, although I’m not convinced the girl is good enough for him.”

“Billie?”  Jinn thought this might be her best chance to ask.

“After all, what do we really know about that girl?”

“Billie?”

“She comes out of nowhere.  Did you know that security arrested her on like her first day on campus?  Does that sound like the kind of girl Hank needs?”

“Can I ask a … favor?”

“And he’s part of Team Kimba, right?  Not some junior Star League or whatever.”  She humphed.  Then, “What kind of favor?”

Jinn took a metaphorical breath.  “Well, I’m doing a job for Thuban (and I can’t tell you what that is because it’s secret, but it doesn’t affect any of us) and the way he bribed me was by showing me this new devisor invention called a ‘BIT-slicer’ that copies the Body Image Template from one person and transfers it to another only they can adjust it so that my face would be the same and other stuff like fingerprints but if it works I could become, you know, my dream would finally come true and I really, really want that only I need someone to be the ‘donor’ for the body part of the template and I looked at everyone but you’re the person who’s closest to me and I was hoping that you felt like I did that we really getting close like if we’d been born sisters or something and I really like you and this isn’t just because you look so incredibly beautiful, although who would mind having your figure, you know? And I’m afraid you won’t because you have to be naked when they connect you up to the machine and it looked super embarrassing but I really need someone and more than anyone else I was hoping it would be you even though you don’t have to if you don’t want to, and I’ll understand, but if you would I’d be grateful forever.”  Having finally got it out, she just stared at Billie, waiting for the other girl’s reaction.

Billie blinked once.  “Uh, was there a question in there?”

Jinn nodded.  When she was Jinn and not Jade she tried so hard to act like she was really seventeen, but sometimes the mask slipped.  She thought that maybe it had just slipped pretty severely.  “Do you think… maybe… you could help me?”

Billie scratched behind one ear in embarrassment.  “Well, the thing is, my blood is kind of … different.  Remember the Boston Brawl?  I blew myself out of that ice cube by letting some blood out, and it’s sometimes kind of explosive.  I don’t think you’d survive.”

Jinn nodded, trying not to show how crushed she was.  “I understand.  Hey, how come you don’t blow up or whatever whenever you get cut?  You’ve taken some pretty bad wounds.”

“Has to be under special circumstances,” Billie explained.  “Normally my blood just sort of steams and evaporates.”

“But they said they had to filter out the blood changes anyway.  I think they normally do that.  Even a little thing like changing your blood type might kill you.”

Billie looked worried.  “What if I hurt you?  I couldn’t stand it, if it was my fault.”

Jinn smiled.  “It wouldn’t be you hurting me, it would be my responsibility.  And I’m more than willing to take the chance.”

The other girl frowned.  “I don’t know.  Hey, did you say ‘naked’?  And just how embarrassing are we talking, here?”

“Uh, it looked a little worse than a pelvic exam.”

“WORSE?” Billie thundered.  “Worse than a pelvic exam?”

Jinn nodded, cringing.

Billie floated in a sitting position, scowling sightlessly out at the dance below.  “I hope you know that I wouldn’t do this for ANYone else!”

Jinn looked up, barely able to believe what she was hearing.

“And they’d better do a DAMN good job of convincing me this will be safe for you!”

Jinn flung her arms around her roommate.  “Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!”

---

Two shows gave her an idea of what this person should act like.  Now she needed to try it on her own.  Jade charged up a Jamie (Jamie Bond, the SpySpeck), who circled the perimeter of the room, looking for peepers, observers, cameras, or anything else.

It’s too bad my spirit-form can’t see electronic signals, she thought.  That would make it a lot easier to check for bugs and stuff.

Instead, she activated Bunny’s “anti-nano” egg.  Several weeks back, a devisor down on the guy’s end of the hall had discovered nano-sized spies infesting the dorm.  Several of the girls had taken up the task of stopping the intrusions.  One of the guys had created a multi-purpose jamming device, with a signal strong enough to overpower any nano or micro transmitters that weren’t shielded.  Shielded nano-bugs were no longer microscopic, so they could be searched out the old-fashioned way.  Bunny had cranked out a few copies of the invention, which she called “anti-nano” eggs.

Satisfied with her precautions, Jade took Jamie back.  She pulled a small white box the size of a pack of cigarettes from her purse.  She charged it, and waited while the box floated in mid-air.  Abruptly, the box vanished.

“Cloaking’s good,” she told herself.  “It’s not quite invisible – I can still see the outline, but it’s pretty good.  Try doing some sort of stealthy sneaking along the floor or wall.”

The nearly invisible box complied, flying into a corner and then moving along the wall.  If she hadn’t been looking, she would have missed it completely.

“Great,” she said.  “Come on out.”

The box became plain-white visible again, then the top flipped open.  And then the impossible happened.  A hand reached out of the opening.  The hand was larger than the opening, larger than the entire box.  It was as if the mouth of the box contained some sort of magnifying glass, enlarging everything that passed through, making it nearly a dozen times larger.

First a hand and arm came out of the opening.  It wasn’t human, it was a deep blue veined with gold.  Then came a gold-haired horned head, followed by a black-winged body.  In moments, a tall, blue-skinned demon-girl stood in the room.  She grabbed the floating box and briskly slid it into a small pocket on the side of her leather miniskirt.

“Look?”  The demoness asked.  Jade tended to skip a lot of words when she talked to herself.  She was asking, How do I look?

“Fine,” Jade answered.  “Or as Toni-sempai would say, ‘fiiiine.’  How’s it feel?”

The demoness stretched her black, leathery wings wide.  She gave a few tentative flaps, then settled them around her shoulders like a black cape.  “Feels like our Shroud-cloak.  Needs some adapting.  Not too bad.”  She softly touched her ample bosom.  “I feel it here, when I flap.”

“Well, duh,” Jade agreed.  “That’s why birds have such a prominent breast bone.”

“Not like I’m using muscle,” the tall blue girl protested.  “Let’s try some tail exercises.”

Lazuli began to swing her tail from side to side, practicing her walk as she did so.

“Not quite natural.  You need to swing in sync with your gait.  And with hips that wide, you ought to have a bit more sway when you walk.  Heck, since you’re always standing on your toes, it’s practically like you’re in invisible high-heels, isn’t it?  Think high heels, and try the walk again.”

---

Jinn held the hips of the boy in front of her, as he walked up the side of the cottage.  Billie had finally taken off to try her courage dancing with some boys.  Jinn had gleefully waved her off, still buoyed by the joy and anticipation from Billie’s agreement.  So she joined the wall-crawler’s conga line as they danced up the side of Emerson, and across the peak of the roof.  Afterward, someone started a line dance, and the fliers started a second and then a third layer up in the air.  It was a lot like the Halloween party, but with less death and explosions.

Singing through her all the while was exultation at the knowledge that Billie would do it for her.  She would have her chance to be a real girl.

Truthfully, dancing was more fun when you had a physical body.  But she had never had a better time.

38: Bring back my body to me

November 18, Saturday afternoon, 2:23 PM

Toni munched a carrot stick as she sprawled over her bed.  “So what’s the problem?  You told her you’d do it, right?  You still worried about the danger?”

Billie crossed her arms under her chest and frowned.  It wasn’t a scowl, but she was obviously exasperated.  “The problem is that I want my life back!  Lately, Jade’s gotten really clingy.  Half the time she’s staring at me and you’ve seen that look of hers!  It’s practically drooling.”

Toni snorted.  “You mean, the one where she’s the rabbi and you’re the world’s last uncircumcised boy?”

Billie rolled her eyes.  “Where do you come up with these?  And can we skip the whole circumcision thing?  It’s a bit too close.”

“Okay, the look where she’s Mad Max, and you’re the last gas for 500 miles.”

“Better.”  Billie sighed.  “In a way, I guess it’s not so bad.  I’m glad to help her, and I’m really hoping that we can make this thing safe.  And I know how much she’s been wanting this.”

“I’m waiting for the ‘but…’.”

“Well, she’s started watching me and it’s getting sort of… possessive.  Like if she lets me out of her sight, she might lose the golden ticket or whatever.”

“Uh huh.”

“And even that wouldn’t be so bad – if it was just Jade.  But there’s like five of her!  And they’re all doing the same thing!  Circling like vultures!”

Toni had picked up a textbook.  The way a someone else might spin a basketball on their fingertip, Toni spun the textbook.  “Five?  That’s a bit of an exaggeration, isn’t it?”

“Well… only a little.  There’s Jade, there’s Jinn or Shroud, depending on whether she’s dressing like a ghost.  Lately, she’s been being Kimba the lion, just sort of hanging around my desk or watching me work.  Have you seen it?  Her new lion toy?”

“That’s still only three of her.”

“Feels like four, since Jinn is sometimes Shroud, or vice versa.  At night, it’s almost crowded.  Shroud’s getting ready to do something, visit Sara or whatever, her textbooks and homework are doing themselves, and half the time there’s a toy or compact or dirt speck or something zipping around the room doing something.”  She lowered her voice confidentially.  “It’s the toys that make me the most jumpy.  Last night, I thought I had the room to myself.  And you know I’ve got that toy cabbit?”

Toni nodded.  “Hard to forget chasing it around the cottage, our first day.”

“So I’m doing my algebra, sort of distracted, just thinking about stuff.  I’m zoning out, and suddenly the cabbit squeaks up and says, ‘You forgot to carry the one.’  I swear, I fell out of my seat!”

“Ow.” Toni winced sympathetically.  “Hard landing?”

Billie looked at her in puzzlement.  “On the floor, you mean?  No, I fell up.”  As she spoke, she seemed unaware of the fact that she was actually floating a few inches off the ground.  “It wasn’t the fall.  The problem was that I almost blew out the side of the room!  And now,” she looked around furtively, “I’m suddenly paranoid of all the toys.  And I’m afraid that if I tell anyone, they’ll just laugh at me.  I can just picture telling one of the counselors.  ‘Pardon me, but you know how stuffed animals have those beady little eyes?  I think they’re watching me!’  Oh, sure, that’ll go over well.  Half those headshrinkers already want to lock me up.”

Toni obliged, by laughing at her.  “Just look at it as a good opportunity for training!  Develop your ki senses or something.”

“I don’t have any ki senses.”

“Well you must have something.  Feel it out, try to figure out when she’s lurking in toy ambush.  Heck, maybe I should convince her to pull ambushes on all of us.  Nikki could use a couple of good wake up calls.  Have you seen that girl when she concentrates?  Talk about the ‘dead zone.’  You could stick a sword right through her and she’d probably never notice until she was done with her mystic philosophizing.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Billie agreed, without much enthusiasm.  “I’d fault you for realism if that same exact thing hadn’t happened to Sara.”

“Is Jade really getting on your nerves?  I though you liked her as your roommate.”

Billie frowned.  Her strange cat-eyes and small fangs gave her an alien-looking scowl that was quite intimidating.  “It’s not that.  I do like them.  A lot.  Particularly since she’s starting to treat me more like a big sister than a mother.”

Toni raised an eyebrow at that, but she’d made it a point not to poke too deeply into the strangely close relationship.  “Okay.  I’m definitely getting an odd vibe here.  What’s the real problem?”

Billie’s face and features could look angry, or dangerous, or sexy, or mischievous, or any combination of those.  They weren’t made for looking vulnerable.  But just for an instant, the mask cracked, and the sometimes insecure person inside peeked out.  It was only a moment, but Toni saw a look of heart-wrenching anguish.

“What if something goes wrong?” Billie whispered.  “She wants this so much!  What if I wreck it for her?  If she gets hurt, how could I ever forgive myself?”

There wasn’t a thing Toni could say to that.

---

There weren’t many places that Jade could practice without being spied on.  The maintenance workshop under the library was old, ugly, and had unpleasant aromas, but it was very private.  After pulling extra shifts to clean up after Halloween, Morrie and Stan were taking a few weekends off.  Which meant that Jade had the workshop to herself.  She had to stay clear of the armory locker.  Her TK could probably trick it open, but she knew it was wired to security.  There were a few other secured lockers, but most of the large space was set aside for clothing, fairly ordinary plumbing supplies, and similar boring equipment.  That made it the perfect place to experiment with Lazuli.

She charged the invisible cigarette box, then lost sight of it as it flew away from her.  After a moment, she linked with Jann-sensei, who had no problem tracking the invisible box.  Its camouflage only worked for the visible spectrum, it couldn’t hide from her spirit-vision.

Watching Lazuli come out of the box was definitely weird.  The movement was far quicker, this time, as if the gargoyle was stepping out of a hole in space.

“Pretty good,” Jade judged.  “The question is, can you do it inside the hollow stone shell?”

“The trick will be the wings,” her gargoyle self decided.

“We’ll practice.  Do the walk, first.”

“Slave driver,” Lazuli told herself.  But she folded up her wings and did the tip-toe catwalk from one end of the room to the other.  She’d been practicing.  It was similar to a high-heel strut, but not exactly the same.

“Not bad,” Jade decided, impartially.  “That tail flip is sexy.  And the little wing flutter is pretty good, too.  I wonder if he deliberately made your skirt match your wings?”

“You think anything Thuban does is accidental?” Lazuli asked.

“Good point.”

They both knew the practice list, and they worked through the movements, trying to get them natural.  Jade let her attention to threats and ambushes lapse.  For once, she delegated that entirely to Jann-sensei, while she concentrated totally on watching her gargoyle body move, trying to see it the way the guys and girls would when movie night finally arrived.

After an hour of hard coaching, Jade decided it was time for a break.  She’d practiced normal movements to death.  Even something as simple as sitting was a new discovery, once you had to contend with a tail.  There were a variety of gargoyle motions that were pretty unique, including work with her wings and a sort of four-legged panther gait.  But she’d practiced everything, critiqued it, and readjusted until it looked smooth and flowing.  She wasn’t learning to coordinate physical muscles, but to simulate what they looked like through her telekinesis.  But after practice, the movement seemed to “lock in” so that she could simply react naturally, without thinking of each little movement as “simulated” or “fake.”  It took work to reach that point, and while Lazuli might not get tired, she did.

“I’m starting to feel pretty good about this.  Even the wings and gliding are looking good,” Jade-physical decided.

“Then let’s break for a bit.  I want you to look at some stuff with real vision.”

Jade knew what was coming, but it was still a bit freaky to have the large blue gargoyle approach her, then lift up her halter.

Jade reached out to the breasts, feeling them, hefting them, touching the nipples.  “How’s that feel?”

The gargoyle shrugged.  “You know me.  Pressure, not pleasure.”

“Then why is your nipple getting stiff?” Jade wanted to know.

“Don’t you get it?” Jinn asked.  “A few more days and we might be feeling this for real.”

“Mmmm.”  Jade did her own fantasizing.  “Right.  Got it.”

“Okay,” Jinn-as-Lazuli said.  “Here’s something else to check out.”  She spread her legs wide and reached behind her.

Jade had already guessed what she was talking about.  “How are you supposed to get the skirt off?”

“Uh… there’s snaps in back, on each side of my tail.”

The skirt-and-panties were a single unit that came off in one piece.  While Lazuli removed her skirt, Jade knelt down to look.  She felt no embarrassment, this was her own body she was looking at, after all.

“Uh huh,” Jade reported.  “Gold, almost metallic gold, same as our nipples.  Figures that Thuban would put gold there.  I guess I hadn’t expected this body to be so… accurate.”  Another thought hit her.  “Hey, do we have an inside, too?”  Without thinking, she stuck her finger forward to stroke her other self in a very intimate region.

“Hey!  If you weren’t me, I’d be tearing your face off right now!”

“Right,” Jade agreed absently.  She was surprised to notice that, despite the other girl’s stony skin, this part of her was quite soft.  Abruptly, as her finger slid backward along the other girl’s channel, her finger slid into a small depression.  “Hey, you’re wet!”

“Uh huh,” Lazuli agreed.

“And… slippery!”  Jade pulled her finger out and touched it to her tongue.  “Kind of musky, but not too bad.”  She returned her finger, trying to find out just how deep in she could feel.  She was surprised at how soft and warm it felt, and then was doubly surprised at her other self, when she felt the girl’s tunnel beginning to gently and rhythmically squeeze around her finger.

“Remember how we’re only supposed to drink pure water?  The stomach reservoir can pump it to the bladder, or down there where it mixes with some sort of lubricant powder.  You know… it’s definitely weird to feel you doing that.”

“I wish I could really feel it,” Jade muttered, more to herself than to the other girl.  “I’ll bet Bunny could teach me how to do this right.”

Lazuli’s tail had wrapped around Jade, pulling her in closer.  “Uh huh.  You know, this is kinda interesting the way it is.  I’m not sure if I could handle it, if we had real feeling.”

Jade gave in to her curiosity, bent forward, and carefully licked the other girl up the length of her cleft.

“Oh, okay.  THAT was definitely interesting.  How do we feel about licking girls?  ‘Cause I can tell you, it’s pretty interesting from up here!”

“I don’t know,” Jade admitted.  “I think I was more interested in testing that I really was a girl.  The sex stuff itself… I don’t know.  Playing around with myself is one thing.  I can’t really imagine doing something like that with someone else.”  She moved back and stood up.  “Hey, your nipples got all popped-out again.”

“That’s odd.  Must have been subconscious.”

“So how’s it like from that side?”

“Interesting,” Lazuli instantly answered.  “Like you said, it would be different if I wasn’t just touching myself.”  In the midst of pulling her skirt back on, she suddenly straightened.  “Oh no.”

“What?”

“Let me put it this way: Do you think that Thuban accidentally made this body so functional?”

“Nothing Thuban does is… Damn.  He’d better not expect…!”

“Agreed,” Lazuli said.

39: Bitches

November 18, Saturday evening, 5:12 PM

The walk back from the library was routine.  Shroud was out and in full defense mode.  Jann-sensei was using her senses to peer in every direction looking for life, movement, activity, or ambush.  Jade was seemingly absorbed in her thoughts, but as always, a part of her mind and attention was alert – spotting likely danger points, seeking out lines of defense or retreat.

This had become ordinary procedure.  Ever since Halloween, most of the group tried to be in pairs or trios when they had to go anywhere.  Jade and Nikki had upped their paranoia a month earlier, when the Alpha ambushes had occurred.  Fortunately for Jade, she could become her own trio, so the extra precautions were easier on her.

She’d also been acting as her own personal trainer for about six weeks now.  The coaching was beginning to pay off.  Even when her mind was busy with other topics, she retained a fair awareness of her surroundings.  When she was caught by surprise, her reactions were becoming both swift and useful.

That wasn’t as comforting as it might have been.  Aside from Jinn and her other selves, Jade had no powers of her own.  She was utterly human and completely normal.  Despite her training, she embodied the devastating threat potential of a normal strength eleven-year-old girl.

The Halloween attack, on the other hand, had been aimed at Sara.  Sara was so close to invulnerable that one time she hadn’t noticed being staked in the back.  In a different incident, she’d been decapitated and had only noticed later, when she came across the severed head during a cleaning binge.  Sara was setting the standards for the upper end of what “radical regeneration” meant.  Of course, Sara was a demon princess followed by a cult of thousands, with magic abilities that could be so terrifying that they threatened people’s sanity.  It was definitely better to have her as a friend than an enemy.

That hadn’t stopped the attackers.  Perhaps that was why they’d attacked.  Still, if they could come so close to neutralizing Sara (and a good chunk of campus, at the same time), even three of Jade would barely slow them down.

It was easier on Jade – she’d accepted how vulnerable she was.  She’d faced this crisis back when Tansy Walcutt had “killed” her.  Others on campus were having a tougher time.  Some of the bricks and “unbeatable” types were still going through counseling about the disaster.  Some of them had spent years learning how invulnerable they were, only to have their illusions stripped away in one brutal night.

When the attack did come, it was inside the front doors of Poe.  Jade was caught by surprise, both by the location, and by the fact that this threat was verbal.

Shroud had reconfigured into pink-skinned Jinn, and she and Jade came through the hall side-by-side.  That was when they found their path blocked.

“Oh, look, it’s the ghost girl and her stupid little boy-toy.”  The speaker was a slightly chubby black girl by the name of Sharisha Kincaid.

Jade quailed.  She knew it was a bad habit, but Jinn was there, Jinn dealt with this stuff better than she did, and Jinn was a real girl.  So she just cringed, and tried to slip unobtrusively in behind her taller and more confident other self.

“Oh, I think you scared him!”  The sneering sarcasm came from one of the two sophomores standing behind Sharisha.  Jade didn’t know the names of either of the two older girls, but she’d seen them around.

The first sophomore, with close-cropped curly black hair and a rather large nose, added her comments in.  “What’s a boy doing wearing skirts like that?  Are you a pervert or some sort of diaper sissy?”

“What are you talking about?” Jade almost yelled, peeking out from behind her “sister.”  “I’m as much a girl as you are!”

“You sure aren’t a proper lesbian,” the brown-haired sophomore shot back.  “And you’re always hanging around with the T-girls.  Which is such a bad name.  They should all be the T-boys.”

Jade calmed at that.  Guilt by association she could handle.  She was afraid that her secret had come out … again.

“Haven’t you heard?” Sharisha asked, in a mocking tone.  “He’s one of the ‘kimbos’.  All of them are boy-girls, who run around campus pretending to be real women.  Like Toni Chandler and her fairy roommate.  ‘Cept they have a bit too much testosterone.  Maybe they think that’s the only way they’ll be able to get near real girls.  The boy-ho and his fairy are already poaching the sisters on our floor.  Have they gotten up to your floor yet, Julia?”

The black-haired girl seemed to think for a moment.  “You know, I have seen this one bothering us.  She sometimes comes up to pester Mary or Juanita.  Haven’t you seen that, Naomi?”

The brown-haired sophomore nodded.  “Yeah, most of us are getting pretty sick of it.  Sick of little boys who wear diapers and skirts and think it makes them into girls.  Sick of all you boys pretending to be real girls.”

Jade had been read several times for now, and for real, not this false accusation.  It was beginning to lose its shock value.

“Back off girls,” Jinn ordered.  “This sort of talk isn’t what Poe is about.”

The black-haired girl gave Jinn a shove.  Jade was surprised to see her sister momentarily almost knocked aside, before halting in mid-air and returning.

“You back off!  You aren’t even an upperclassman – otherwise why would you be rooming with the freshmen?”

In less than a second, Jinn transformed into Shroud, her healthy skin tones replaced by chalk-white “flesh” in a grim hooded cloak.  Practice had made her transformation swift and flawless.

Shroud reached forward with a skeletally withered hand.  “As much as the outside world discriminates against alternate sexuality, did you ever consider that they discriminate even more against the dead?”

The brown-haired girl seemed to blur, and she was suddenly two feet farther away.  “Don’t touch me!”

“Are you going to get out of our way?”

“Make me, freak!”

“No,” Sharisha decided, maliciously.  “I’ve got a better idea.  Listen to this, pee-weenie: if you’re a real girl, prove it.  Then we’ll get out of your way and we won’t bother you ever again.”

“What?”  Jade was outraged.  “You expect me to drop my panties in the middle of the hallway?  You’re out of your mind!  As if I would, for the likes of you!”

“Whatcha got in mind, Shar?” the brunette, Naomi, asked.

Sharisha chuckled at her own idea.  “Don’t we have a hot tub special coming up next week?  Strictly in the buff, almost all the third floor girls, right?”  She turned to stare at Jade.  “If you’re a real girl, you won’t mind joining us, will you?”

“I—”

“It’s next Tuesday.  We’re sneaking out after curfew.  But I know you won’t show up, ‘cause you know everyone will see you for what you are, boy!”

“It’s third-floor girls only,” Jade protested weakly.

“Oh, no problem,” Sharisha concluded.  “You can be my guest.”

“Not a chance!” Jinn said.  “You’re obviously trying to make a move on my sister.  Look at her!  She’s too young for those games.  She hasn’t even started puberty yet!”

Jade ground her teeth.  That was the problem with being Jinn.  She got so hyped on the fact that she was a real girl, a mature and seventeen-year-old girl, that she sometimes slipped and forgot how sensitive the other her was about being stuck.  Then she realized that maybe this wouldn’t be a problem forever.  The BIT-slicer session was scheduled for Monday.  After that, she really would be a real girl.

The taller sophomore leaned in.  “You’re a freshman, Shar.  And I’m booked, cause I already invited you.  Naomi would have to invite her.  You should do it, Naomi, cause, look, she’s really afraid!  I think I’m starting to believe Shar!  The kid really is a boy in skirts.  That’s just too rich!  Wait till I tell everyone!”

“Alright, I’ll prove it!” Jade said, before she could finish thinking it through.  “But I’m sure not going as the guest of any of YOU creeps!  I’ll get Mary or someone else to invite me!”

“Sure you will,” Sharisha purred.  “But if you aren’t there, we’ll know why.  And we’ll tell everyone.”

“And no ghost chaperones,” Naomi commanded.  “None of your Kimbo friends to hide behind.  As if we’d want their shrinky-dicks at our party anyway.”

“And you,” Jinn continued the negotiations, “keep your hands off my sister.  Everyone keeps their hands off her.  No one’s going to take advantage of her until she’s at least old enough to know what her own feelings are.”

The other sophomore nodded sharply.  “Agreed.  Tuesday night, right before curfew.  Be there, or we’ll know why.  And we’ll tell everyone.”

---

Back up on the third floor, Naomi and Julia congratulated themselves on a good prank.

Julie grinned at the instigator.  “Well, Shar, not bad for a freshman.  ‘Kimbo’ – I’m going to have to remember that one.”

“Are you sure she’s a boy?” Naomi asked.  “She sure didn’t look like one.”

“Who really cares?” Sharisha answered.  “It’ll get Chandler hot under the collar.  That’s all I care about.  She’s always hanging around with the rug-rat.  And you remember when Chandler fought the sasquatch?  That was cause she was defending Tennyo!”

Julie gulped.  “Toni Chandler had to defend Tennyo?  That girl took out Hippie with one punch.  Almost killed her.  Now Hippie’s got this major ‘comrade in arms’ thing going for the girl.  I’m not sure I want to get involved with Tennyo.”

Sharisha waved a hand negligently.  “Don’t sweat it.  Tennyo won’t be involved.  My point is that if Chandler is so uptight that she has to go off on a crusade to rescue Tennyo, how’s she going to react to see people picking on the rug-rat?  It’ll send her over the edge!”

Naomi shrugged.  “I still don’t see what you’ve got against Toni Chandler.  I mean, you’re both black, right?  Isn’t there some sort of ‘sister’ thing going on there?”

“With that sex-changing wanna-be?  Get real!  She makes me sick!”

“Whatever,” Julie decided.  “I’m just looking forward to getting an eyeful of miss young-and-innocent.”

“You really are a pervert, Jool,” her roommate decided.

“I’d have to be, to room with you.  But tell me you aren’t turned on by little girls, just when their tits start growing in.  Gawd, I’ll bet she hasn’t even had her first period yet.”

“I prefer my girls with a bit more bounce,” Naomi said, reaching over to cup her roommate’s boob.

“Uh, guys?”  Sharisha interrupted her older friends before they could get too physical.  “She’s coming because we accused her of being a guy, remember?”

Julie grinned.  “And the ploy worked.  But really – as if.  Kelly’s in her gym class.  Showers with her every day.  Nothing but naked pubes.  Whatever made you think she was a guy?”

“Well…” Sharisha fumbled “she’s in Poe, isn’t she?  And you heard her sister, she doesn’t even have a preference yet, so she isn’t a lesbian.  So she’s got to be a T-girl, right?  And she’s hanging around those other T-girls.”

Naomi shrugged.  “Ayla I can understand.  It swings a dick that’s almost a foot long, I heard.  I think if I saw that, I’d probably lose my lunch.  But the rest of them – face it, they’re all girls.”

Julie spotted Sharisha’s growing scowl.  “She’s right.  Maybe they’re still growing inside or something, but they all bleed, just like the rest of us.  So long as I don’t have to think about what the used to be, who cares?”

Naomi nodded.  “Besides, some of the T-girls are the most radical lesbians.”

Sharisha goggled.  “You don’t mean Hippolyta?”

“No, but,” Naomi leaned close and confidential, “Zoe on the fourth floor.”

Sharisha couldn’t believe it.  “The fixer?  Zenith?  Miss Perfect?”

Naomi nodded, placing a hand over her heart.  “Swear to God.  That’s why she just about pukes at the thought of touching a man.  I heard she even had a teeny bit of a guy-thing left, up till the end of last year.”

Sharisha shook her head in denial.  “Zoe Nesmith, with the body to die for?  With a … thing?  That’s just sick!”

“All in the past.  Believe me, she’s nothing but pure girl, these days.  At least as far as a tongue or a finger can reach.”

Julie swatted her roommate.  “How would you know?”

“I heard.  Question is, are you going to be checking out the li'l bit, the same way?”

“Jade?”  Julie’s eyes seemed to lose their focus.  “Gawd, I wish.  But we promised…”

Naomi shrugged.  “Yeah.  But ghost-girl won’t be there, will she?  Or any of spunky’s other friends.”

“Hmmm…”

---

How could I let them talk me into this? Jade wondered.  She hated the way the older girls had plucked at her insecurities, playing her like a fiddle.  She was suddenly wondering what might go wrong with the BIT-slicer on Monday.  If she couldn’t become a real girl, she was going to be in a lot of trouble.  More than if she’d just refused the dare.  But she’d probably better get her invite now.  If she told Mary, there would be more chance to plan things out, no matter what happened.

She nervously trudged upstairs.  Mary’s room was directly above hers.  Once she reached the third floor, she tiptoed past the stretch where she thought the two obnoxious girls lived.  The doors were all closed, but there was raucous laughter coming out of one of the rooms.  Jade crept on, heading for room 302.  She knocked lightly on the door.

“Come in?”  The voice was faint.

Jade slipped through the door, closing it behind her.  “Mary?”

“Sorry, she’d not in right now.”  There was a thin girl doing homework at her desk.  She had glossy black hair pulled back in a high ponytail.  “Oh, hi, Jade.  What’s up?”

Jade knew Lily well enough by now.  She roomed with Mary, took classes with Billie, and was sometimes dating Hank.  She was in Jade’s martial arts class.  She was around a lot.  For all that, Jade had never really done anything with the slim girl.  “Uh… do you know when Mary’s going to be back?”

“Not until after Thanksgiving.  Juanita – you know Juanita?”

Jade nodded jerkily.

“Big friend of Mary’s.  Juanita’s great uncle passed away, and she went to the funeral.  I guess they were close.  Mary went along to keep her company.”

“Both of them?”  Jade couldn’t believe it.  “They won’t be back until after Thanksgiving?”  She sank to the floor, her back pressed against the door.

“Hey, what’s the matter?”

Jade was devastated.  What was she going to do?  “But she was just here!  I saw her at the dance.  And now I need an invitation to the hot tub party next Tuesday.”

“What for?  You know those parties are just a big excuse to match girls up with each other.  Aren’t you a little young for that?”

Jade nodded.  “It was … a dare.  A couple of obnoxious girls down the hall from you.  Naomi and … Julia, I think.”

“Yeah, I know ‘em,” Lily muttered.

“They were with Sharisha, this jerk from my floor, and they were saying the most horrible stuff about me, and they dared me to prove I was a real girl…”

“You didn’t fall for it, did you?”

“Umm… yeah?”

Lily sighed again.  “You aren’t really that desperate, are you?  Besides, aren’t you too young for the hot tub?”

Jade tried to blink the tears out of her eyes.  Why couldn’t Lily understand?  “They said they were going to expose me!”

“Look, I’ve been here for a while now.  I see you almost every day in the showers.  The girls showers, after we do kung fu practice?  And while you’re even more underdeveloped than me, which is saying something, it’s pretty obvious that you’re a girl.  So what’s the big deal?”

Jade just sniffed, trying to hold back the choke in her throat.  She hated talking about her deformity.

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that?”

“I’m faking it, alright!” Jade hissed out.  “I’m got this stupid boy’s body!  I use my telekinesis to – sort of pull and stretch and stuff, so you can’t tell in the showers.”

Lily shook her head, making her pony tail swing back and forth.  “No, no, no.  Even if I believed that, which is pretty farfetched, I’ve seen you touching Mary.  And we both know how she breaks out in hives, practically, whenever she touches a guy.”

Jade blew her nose.  “Mary reacts to the soul, not the body.  I’m a girl – Mary proves that!  But I’m stuck with this stupid boy’s body!”

“Really?  Hank never mentioned any of this.  Although… maybe a couple of things he said do make a little more sense.  But how is this even possible?”

“I guess I have to tell you my whole life story, huh?”

“Might as well,” Lily decided, “after what you’ve told me so far.”

“Well, I’ve been trying different treatments.  You know about exemplars, and the Body Image Template?”

Lily nodded.  “Yeah, I’ve been finding out about all that.”

“Well, they think I’m an exemplar one, which means I’ve got a BIT, but none of the real advantages…”

As she explained, Lily got paler and paler.

“Oh, God,” she exclaimed.  “THIS is what I have to look forward to?”

“What are you talking about?” Jade asked.

“That’s why I’m here in Poe.  Mom was an exemplar, and she did the male-to-female thing long before she married Dad.  Like some of your friends, I guess.  Lucky me, when I was born I got to have both sets of bits, you know?  They cut away the icky male parts.  I don’t know, some sort of surgery.  Only, Mom’s afraid that since I’m now an active exemplar, the … you know, the guy parts … might start growing back.”

Jade’s hands were clutching at her mouth.  “Oh, no!  And you’re a girl!  You’ve got to be, if you’re rooming with Angel.  What are you going to do?”

Lily shrugged, as if trying desperately to look nonchalant.  “Like I told Mom.  They cut it off once.  They can do it again.”

Jade cringed.  It wasn’t that she minded the thought of losing that ugly tag of flesh, it was the thought of someone cutting her in such a sensitive area.  “Wait, let me tell you about this experimental procedure that I’m going to be testing…”  And she began to tell Lily about the experimental BIT-slicer.  “…so if everything works out, I’ll be a real girl by Monday, and I could go to the party on Tuesday and Sharisha couldn’t say a thing!”

Lily shook her head.  “Ooookay.  Sounds like a lot of eggs in one basket to me.  Still, I’m obviously very interested in whether or not this gizmo works.  Who knows when I might need it?”  She thought about it some more.  “Look, I still think this hot tub party is a really bad idea.  I mean, REALLY bad.  Are you still insistent on it?”

“I promised!” Jade almost wailed.

“Like I want to be ogled by a bunch of lesbians,” Lily muttered.  “As if there was all that much to ogle.  Hmph.  Okay, here’s the deal.  I’ll go to the little strip-soak and take you as my guest—”

“Really?”

“—but you have to do me a major favor.  And I don’t mean keeping me informed on the BIT gizmo.  You’re a friend, right?  You’d do that anyway, now that we know each other’s deepest fears, right?”

Jade nodded vigorously.  “What do you want?  Personal servant?  Laundry duty?  Bathroom cleanup?”

“Oh, no.  Lots bigger than that.”  She had a glum expression.  “It’s just that you guys all seem to have some really cool trips.  Like Boston?  And I’m not exactly one of the Kimbettes, so I sort of missed out on all of that.  And I really like hanging with my own buds too, I sure don’t want to give any of that up, but I … I don’t know…” she trailed off.

Jade nodded, understanding perfectly.  She reached for Lily’s hand and softly took it in hers.  “You don’t want to be tied down to our team, but you want to be able to come along, if we have a cool trip or something, right?”

Lily was looking at the floor now.  “Well, it would probably be too much trouble.  I mean, I’m a sophomore and everything, and I’m not even sure if you guys want me…”

Jade hugged her hard.  “I’ll do my best!  I promise!  Of course we want you along!”

“You don’t think I’d be in the way, what with the super-models and all the beautiful girls?”

Jade held her at arm’s length and surveyed the other girl, who was barely three inches taller than her own diminutive four-foot-nine.  “Are you kidding?  You’ll be the cutest one there!”

Lily gave a glum half-smile.  “I guess I could live with cute.”

Jade hugged her again.  “Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!”

“Well, I guess it’s worth it.  So how did I get talked into skinny dipping with lesbians, when neither of us actually wants that?”

40: Preparations

November 18, Saturday evening, 11:32 PM

Jade lay in bed thinking, listening to Billie’s soft snores in the darkness.  At her desk, there were slight movements of book and pen, as Jann did her homework.  Jinn had already left to see if Sara was up for anything.  Jade lay in bed, occasionally linking with Jeanie as the two of them considered things.

Charging Jeanie no longer knocked her unconscious, but it did leave her about as weak as a noodle.  She could really only do it when she was in bed anyway.  She figured it was good practice, and the nearly constant exercise of her powers was building up her strength nicely.  She could conjure three selves, and be so weak that she could barely crawl, or she could even conjure four selves and be unconscious.

Their dorm room had never looked so clean, and she was actually ahead on homework and class reading, even with the second set of classes she took as Jinn.

And her powers – she was now getting just over 110 minutes per charge, and she was able to lift nearly 290 pounds – solidly into the TK-3 category.  She still hadn’t gotten around to filling out the paperwork to notify administration.

She was worried that she’d need more than two hours for the Faction Three meeting this Tuesday.  How was she going to manage that?  She still didn’t know.

The tough part was, who should she be?  Jade herself sometimes avoided conflicts that she knew she could win.  The whole boy-as-girl masquerade sometimes showed up as the weirdest insecurity.  For example, Sharisha – she should have just told her off.  Instead, she let her insecurities talk for her.

And Jinn didn’t have those insecurities.  She might not have a real body, but what she had was all girl.  As Jinn, or worse Shroud, she thought she maybe overcompensated for Jade’s insecurities.

Now she had a chance to be a new person, and to imagine a personality.  She could do it from scratch, too.  Her friends in Poe weren’t going to be showing up at Faction Three meetings, and the people from Faction Three wouldn’t be seeing her friends that often.  She could start with a clean slate, and make herself whoever she wanted to be.

So who did she want to be.

She was pretty happy with herself as Jinn, but there was just one thing.  She really wanted to strut her stuff.  Not like Sara … well, not exactly like Sara.  Not yet, at least.  But Jinn was a girl, and she couldn’t really go out with anyone, or hug, or kiss or do anything girlish.  Maybe as Lazuli she could do some of that.  People wouldn’t be seeing her as a ghoul.  In fact, they might see her as a sexy heroine.  That wouldn’t be too bad.

She had to make sure the other girls in Faction Three got drawn in, rather than being pushed away.  That would take some work, because Jade wasn’t very experienced with this stuff.  She was at best a novice flirt.

This might actually be fun.

---

November 20, Monday Lunch, 11:27 AM

She caught him in the hallway, on the way to lunch.  It was hardly surprising, they’d run into each other here before.  Jade was still cautious, never publicly exposing that she could charge more than one body.  But as with Jann-sensei, she didn’t restrict herself when she was working in secret, and no one could see.

She needed to perform as Lazuli.  She had the body, the practice moving, and she even thought her personality might work out.  There was just one huge problem remaining.  She could only hold a charge for a little less than two hours.  The “Faction Three” meeting would last much longer than that.  So…  Jade finally realized that there was only one answer.

And that was why she was here, being Jamie Bond, the SpySpeck.  Squeezing her entire soul an spirit into a single speck of sand was an oddly tight fit.  It also left her with blurry vision and poor hearing.  She knew her hearing came from telekinetically sensing the vibrations that passed through her “body.”  Her vision was more of a mystery, though it was clear that the larger she was, the better she saw.  Which explained her current fuzzy vision.

But she saw well enough to track one young boy, who walked with a distinctive slump.  It helped that everyone seemed to unconsciously avoid him, leaving a foot or two of space around him at all times.  Jamie the SpySpeck tracked him through the lunch line as he picked up same food and departed, clinging to a support strut in the crystalline dome over the boy’s head.  As he left the cafeteria, she wafted behind him, staying aloft, at least twenty feet up.  As expected, he headed out to the woods just like every other time she saw him leaving lunch.  He didn’t eat the food himself, but settled and began holding his hand out.

She had her location fix.  She knew where he’d be for at least the next ten minutes.  She vanished, before the kitten could arrive.  She did that on purpose.  There was something about that kitten.  There was nothing she could spot with her unusual esper senses – at least, nothing obvious.  But she knew there was something about that kitten.  So she vanished before it could spot her.

Unsupported now, a grain of sand fell to the ground.

---

Jinn looked as innocuous as possible.  She wore her human-appearing skin, and dressed in her Whateley skirt and blazer.  She walked confidently forward, quickly spotting him just inside the edge of the forest.

As she approached, his head rose and began turning from side to side as if in search of something.

“James.” When he jumped in surprise, she realized that she’d been walking silently. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you.”

The boy was still looking a bit panicked as he turned to face her, cradling the tortoiseshell cat protectively.

“Hi, cat,” Jinn said, waggling her fingers in the direction of the kitten, which was half-concealed inside James’ jacket.

“Her name is Whiskers,” the boy said, nervously.

“Look, you can calm down.”

He shifted nervously but, as always, he was an inexplicably blank slate to her aura vision.  Even his body had less detail than a normal person – it was like an opaque shell.

“I’m not angry,” she said, “I’m not going to do anything to you, and nothing’s wrong.  Fact is, I’ve come to ask a favor.”

James considered that for a moment.  Apparently deciding that there was no point in being coy, he withdrew the small kitten and began to stroke it.  Before her eyes, he seemed to calm further, drawing steady breaths.

“First,” she began, “I’ve kept your secret for a month now.  I haven’t told your secrets to anyone.  I don’t even understand what’s so important about them, but I haven’t mentioned anything about your powers, or your pet either, to anyone.  And I know you’ve kept my secrets, too.  I appreciate that.”

James nodded, but remained sitting on the forest floor, without saying a word.

Jinn forged on valiantly.  “I need you to… do your charging thing.  You know?  Where you suck me up and then blast me into something new.  I need to be able to keep going for at least three hours, preferably a little longer.  I need it tomorrow evening, but if things work out, I might need the ‘charge’ every Tuesday and Thursday.”

He didn’t say anything, but from the look in his eyes, she knew the young-appearing boy was thinking furiously.

“Why?” he finally asked.

Jinn ran her fingers combing back through her hair.  “It’s for Jade.  You know about that.  You ‘saw’ the hormone shots, last time we touched.  Unfortunately, that didn’t work worth a darn.  A side effect of that exemplar condition, we think.  Anyway, this time we have a chance at the real thing.  A machine that could change her body template to be what she needs to become.  Something to finally make her a real, true girl.”

James nodded glumly, then suddenly sat up in shock.  “What did you say?”

Jinn sighed and sat in the air.  She couldn’t sit cross-legged, not in this skirt, but she could fold her legs back under her – sort of a half seiza position.  “Look, if we’re going to do this for real, you’ll need to know a bit more about me.  You’ll probably see it, quick enough, once we connect.”  She sighed again.  “We made up a lot of stories to explain me: ghost-girl, stuff about being the spirit of her dead sister, stuff like that….”

For some reason, James was twitching as if physically struck, as she spoke.

“….but all of that is just cover.  Really, I’m … her.  I’m Jade.  Somehow, my body image template is not properly connected or something.  This is what I’m supposed to look like.  The body – I mean my physical body – it’s just stuck.  I guess you might have something like that, too, so maybe you can sympathize a little.  I’ve done a good job of hiding it.  Most people would be surprised to find out that Jade was actually a boy.  We’ve been trying everything we can think of to transition.  You’ll probably never understand what it’s like, but I’m a girl!”  She waved a hand at her body.  “This is what I’m supposed to look like!  Not some skinny eleven-year-old guy.  Well, I mean, no offense.”

James just goggled at her.

“Oh, don’t act so surprised.  You admitted a month ago that you saw us getting hormone shots.  It’s not like I’m telling you anything you don’t know.  Though if you hadn’t already known, I wouldn’t have dared tell you.  A secret like that – I hope you never have to live with something like that.  If I didn’t have the chance to be Jinn, to escape and live as a real girl some of the time, I don’t know how I’d cope.”

Finally, James pulled himself together enough to ask, “What … what does this have to do me?”

“Well, there’s a machine to help manipulate Jade’s BIT, her body image template.  The price to use it is a ‘favor.’  I need to act as a sort of hostess, every Tuesday and Thursday.  I’m in disguise; no one will know it’s me.  But the meetings are going to last longer than my regular time limit.  I figure that if you charge me up, I’ll be able to make it through the entire meeting, and no one will be the wiser.  Aside from you and me, of course.”

“You felt it last time,” he whispered.  “Don’t you know what it does to me… to touch people?”

“James,” she said with a fierce intensity, “I’ll do almost anything to become the girl I was supposed to be!  You understand me?  I don’t know what I can offer you to make this worth your while.  I know the contact is … disturbingly intimate.  But there must be something you want!  I’ll try to help you.  Well, assuming it isn’t illegal or unethical.”

Seeing that she’d pretty much blown his mind for the time being, she stood and prepared to walk away.

“Please – just tell me you’ll think it over?”

James nodded, shakily.

“I’ll contact you tomorrow, right after dinner, okay?”

Again, a shaky nod.

“James… please consider it.  I need your help.  I don’t know what I can do for you, but I’m willing to work hard.”

She could tell the boy was closing in on himself, and she’d get no further response.  With a bow, she turned and walked away.

She didn’t hear, when, nearly a minute later he whispered to himself.  Or perhaps he spoke to the kitten.

“I thought she was trying to turn into a boy.”

---

November 20, Monday, after class

Lily spotted several of the Team Kimba girls leaving class in a group.  The core group, Toni, Fey, Billie, Jade and Jinn, all seemed to be walking together, but they oddly subdued considering what that group was normally like.  She moved to join them, thinking that Hank was bound to show up soon enough.

Surprisingly, the girls pulled aside for minute and conferred.  Jade and Jinn seemed to be convincing them of something, then the girls agreed and beckoned her forward.

“You need to be there, too,” Jade said cryptically.

No one else said a word.

Hank joined them, soon enough, but he was also oddly quiet.  He took her hand, which she liked, but aside from a supportive and apologetic smile, he said nothing, which worried her.  Other girls slowly joined – Chou, Ayla, Jamie, and Erin.  As then entered Poe, everyone seemed to be on their way to a funeral or something.

In the cottage’s front hallway, they were met by Zoe Nesmith and Belle Forbes, both of whom wore black armbands, and carried slender white candles.

Lily looked about in confusion as the group around her accepted black armbands, then they all followed the two older girls into the basement.  Everyone donned armbands and accepted a taper, which they ceremoniously lit from Zoe’s candle.  Together, they filed into the exercise room, which had been redecorated as a black-draped memorial alter.

The black draped walls showed pictures of heroes and heroines, all with dates of birth and death.

The door closed behind them, and Zoe, as one of the eldest present, began to speak.

“Today is the Day of Remembrance.  It is the day we remember our dead, the transgendered who have fallen.  The list is longer, of course, but those pictured here were killed because they were transgendered.”

She paused, collecting herself, then continued.  “Each of us has had to go through the shock of learning that we are mutants.  There are some places in this world were being a mutant is a death sentence.  At the very least, it guarantees that a portion of the general public will hate and fear you.

“Those of us in this room bear an additional stigma.  We are transgendered.  Like the truth of our mutation, this is a fact that must often be hidden from our closest friends.  And like the presence of a power mutation, the sudden revelation of the truth can have unpredictable consequences.  Friends may turn to enemies, love may turn to hatred, and people you have trusted for years may suddenly lash out in hatred.

“Another danger is depression.  Three of the people pictured here took their own lives, as their despair became too great for them to deal with.

“Tonight we will try to remember them all, as well as remembering the many non-human transgendered who have been murdered for what they are.”

There was more.  Too much more.  Lily would have preferred not to know, never to know.  As much as she feared what might happen to her, she knew that this group, at least would support her.  And she knew that Hank, at least, wouldn’t hate her.

That made her wonder if she had been as open and accepting of his past as she might be.

She resolved to be better, in the future.

41: What are little girls made of?

November 20, Monday evening, 5:50 PM

Jade could barely contain herself through dinner.  Another hour, and it was possible that all her dreams would come true.

“Whoa,” Toni commented, “usually everyone’s accusing me of bouncing off the walls.”

Jade was eating so fast that she barely bothered to chew her food.

Hank was concerned.  “Are you sure you’re doing the right thing?”

Jade nodded, without slowing her eating.

Fey had her own worries.  “Okay, I admit that my specialty is magic, not technology.  Although to be frank, some of this devisor stuff falls into a unique category of magic all its own.  But STILL, I’m not entirely comfortable about his.  Tell her, Toni.”

Jade glared at the black girl.

“Uh, I think I’ll hand this one back to you, Nikki.”

“Coward.  So tell me – how much do you know about this machine?”

Seeing that Billie was only on her second plate, Jade swallowed and talked.  “I talked to Jello yesterday.  She’s had no ill effects.  Her ‘donor’ – Heartbreaker – is also fine.  They said it feels pretty strange, but there haven’t been any problems so far.  Come on, guys, I’ve got to try this.  You know I do.”

Chou tried, “I distrust the ‘quick fix.’  The realignment exercises may be slow but—”

“Are they working?” Jade interrupted her.

“Well, sometimes these things take time.”

“Come on, Chou.  I’m really grateful that you’ve tried, and I appreciate all your hard work, but it’s another dead end.  So far as I can tell, it isn’t doing a thing.”

Chou hung her head, looking almost as if the failure was her fault.

“Hey, don’t be like that!” Jade said, trying to cheer the Chinese girl up.  “You did a great job!  It’s not your fault.  It’s just… something about me, I guess.”

“Aha!  That’s what I was worried about!” Fey realized.  “You’re building your hopes up too much.  We’ve all seen you, each time you go through one of these attempts.  Beforehand is wonderful, you’re so happy, and we all feel really hopeful for you.  But just like the earlier attempts, this might be a failure too.”

Jade’s grin faded at that.  “Yeah, I know.  But do you think I’m going to stop trying?  Do you think it’s even possible for me to stop trying?”

Toni shook her head at that.  “For anyone else, sure.  Everyone hits a point where they give up.  For you… I’m not so sure.”

---

Like many projects Thuban funded, this was underground.  They began in the main underground complex, but their guide quickly led them farther in, to tunnels roughly hewn from the underlying bedrock.  At last they arrived at a pair of thick steel doors, enamel-sprayed a pure, glossy blue.  The doors whisked aside with a gust of displaced air, admitting them to the stone chamber behind.

The center of the room was dominated by a complex, rotating stage.  Lights and projectors of all kinds surrounded the stage, focused upon it.  The walls of the room were hidden behind racks of customized electronics, patch panels, and bright computer displays of transient electronic conditions.  Their guide went to join the other two devisors.

“Hey, I know you two!  You’re second-floor freshmen!”  The deviser stepping forward had porcupine-like brown hair that stuck out to both sides.  “I’m Rafael Eagan, also from Poe.  Fourth floor.”  He held out a hand, which Jade numbly shook.

“Great, just great.”  Billie smacked her face into her palm.  “Hope you didn’t plan on keeping anything secret, Jade.”

“Actually,” Rafael said quietly, “this test run is being managed by one of our sponsors, a guy by the name of Thuban.  He’s kept everything hush-hush.  According to his cover story, you, Jade, are just looking to get something of a maturity boost.  So, Jade, provided that you let me help you with the outfitting, no one need be the wiser.”

Billie scowled at him.  “You sound like you’ve got it figured pretty well.”

Rafael grinned and shrugged.  “Folks in Poe keep track of their own.  You guys did make a big splash at the start of the semester, and then again at Halloween.  Word quickly got around that you’re all T-girls.  So what’s the real scoop?  Finishing out a transition?”

Jade was getting tired of telling her secret.  But it seemed like so many people knew now, that she wasn’t sure where to stop.  And this did seem legitimate.  “I haven’t started, actually,” she confessed.  “I’m stuck the same way I was when I was eleven.”

Rafael raised an eyebrow at that.  “Well, we’ll see what we can do.  I hope you understand, this is still very prototype.  I can’t guarantee that it’s completely safe, or that it will actually do what you want.

Billie jumped in on that.  “Yeah, about that.  I have some … differences … let’s call them.  If any of that stuff get transferred, it’s liable to blow up the whole lab.  At the very least.”

Rafael took the warning seriously.  “I’ll be careful.  First, both of you need to strip.  We’ll apply contact electrodes.  We have modesty garments for you.  Due to the electrical potential, those must be made of an insulating material.  Sorry if it’s hard to put on.”  He gestured Jade forward.  “Miss Sinclair, since I’m openly gay, the other staff members have accepted that I’ll help you prepare.  To be truthful Knick-knack couldn’t be bothered, and Kew will be helping Miss Wilson.  So, if you’ll follow me to the second changing room…”

---

Billie was long past second thoughts.  She was working on twentieth or thirtieth thoughts.  As she stepped out of her underwear, the short deviser girl approached her with a cart filled with what looked like masking tape dispensers.

“What’s that?”

“You’re one of those girls who took down the ninjas, on, like day one, aren’t you?  That was so cool!  I’m Kew, by the way.  I’ve got kind of a group of my own.  They call us the Spy Kids, but I think M-I-five-oh was a better name.  It just didn’t stick.”

As she spoke, she began to run strips of masking tape down Billie’s naked flanks.

“Anyway, these are electrode strips.  We pick up signals off what we’re calling meridian lines.  They aren’t exactly the acupuncture meridians, but pretty close in several places.  Okay, let me get the ear clips – uh, I guess I’ll attach to the tip.”

Billie got annoyed whenever anyone paid too much attention to her ears, which tended to stick out a bit.

“Our last step will be the finger and toe clips – those tend to pop off easiest.  But we need to get the chest sensors.”  She reached forward with a small paintbrush, tipped with something that looked like liquid metal.  “This may be a bit chilly.”  She reached toward Billie’s right nipple.

“HOLD ON!  What the HELL do you think you’re doing?”

“The tip of the breast is a natural energy pathway.  It’s essential for getting a good signal.  Just hold still, the conductive paint is a bit chilly, but it hardens quickly.”

Billie clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as the devisor girl painted first one nipple and then the other.

Paint hardening, my ass!  Billie fumed to herself.  If she says one word about anything else hardening, I swear I’m going to deck her!

But it was nearly impossible not to react, as the soft brush applied the metallic solution.  The solution solidified, freezing the evidence of her arousal in shiny silver.

“Now, we have four pairs of labial clips,” the girl began.  “Frankly, I’d rather let you apply them yourself, but most girls aren’t limber enough.”

“Grrr!  Gimme those!”  Billie snatched them out of the other girl’s hands.  “I’ll do it!  No way am I letting someone else… you know!”

“Whew.  Thanks.  That’s the part I like least.  And then this last probe you insert yourself.  It’s just like a tampon.”

Jade, Billie promised herself, if you survive this damned experiment, I am going to kill you!

---

At that moment, Jade was realizing roughly the same thing.  Billie is going to kill me!

“Keep those legs spread,” Rafael was saying.  “These scrotal clips will become labial inducers, when the process succeeds.  I’ve got to get them placed just right.”

“You’d better not be enjoying this,” she warned.

“What, feeling up underage boys?  Well, it is kind of a kick.  The idea that we’re trying to turn you into a girl puts a damper on it, though.  Okay, step into these rubber pants.”

Jade looked suspiciously at something that resembled a sensor-studded bikini bottom, except made out of black rubber.

“It has to be an insulator,” Rafael explained.  “Also, as your body begins to change, it needs to stretch to accommodate wider hips.  Rubber was the best choice.  Good, pull them up snug.  Now spread your legs.”

As Jade complied, Rafael fumbled with the exterior of the pants attaching a cylindrical contraption the size of a small flashlight directly under her, between her legs.

“What’s that?”

“Just a minute, let me engage the spring…”

“Whoa!”  Jade felt the contact of cold metal between her legs, just an inch or so forward from her rectum.

Raphael clarified, as he attached a thick coaxial cable to the assembly.  “In order to properly form your womb, we need to direct the signal from the closest point possible.  It will be a touch uncomfortable, but this probe will be resting just against your cervix, once you have one, that is.  That’s what the spring and gearing is for – to move the probe into place as your body accommodates.  Don’t worry, it’s lubed up pretty well.”

As Jade contemplated the meaning of that sentence, her knees went weak from glee.

“Okay, once I snap the bra into place, we’re done.”

Another strip of black rubber; this one wrapped around her chest.  Jade realized that it was constructed like a push-up bra.  It was open on the top.  It was also about at least an A cup, which meant that it didn’t quite reach her completely flat chest.

“Don’t worry about that air gap.  You’ll see some arcing of the fields, until you make contact with the inner surface of the sensor mesh there.  And, of course, the rubber will stretch to accommodate you, as you continue to grow.”

By the time Jade was “dressed”, Billie had already taken her place on the rotating stage, and was having sensors clipped onto her fingers and toes.  Billie’s attendant chattered non-stop.  “…so this is only possible because of the new ‘Variable Interface’ technology we got.  We’re able to interconnect devices in ways that were previously impossible.  Even relatively unrelated devices.  The data bandwidth is phenomenal!”

“Hey, Eagan!” Billie snapped, “get over here!  This is important.”

Two silvery robots came forward to finish connecting Jade up.  They directed her to stand on the stage, her back to Billie.  The stage had a small panel that would serve as a backrest for both her and Billie, as well as a connection point for her sensor probes.  Jade heard snatches of the conversation her roommate was having.

“—blood is not merely lethal, it’s explosive!  I mean, super un-fucking-believably explosive.  Exotic matter type explosive, you got me?”

“Right,” he agreed.  “None of this should affect you at all – we’re just doing a ‘read’ on you.  And I’ll filter for the blood, and filter for patterns that diverge too strongly from the baseline norm that we’re beginning to establish.”

“Good, ‘cause they tell me I have a couple of organs that you won’t find anywhere else.”

---

At last, all preparations were complete.  Jade watched as padded brackets were snapped shut over her arms and legs to hold her in place, as the platform rotated.  For the first time, she heard surprisingly deep voice of the third devisor, Knick-knack.

“Initiating rotation,” the older boy called out, flipping a switch.

The platform slowly began to spin.  Jade was up against the center, but that didn’t help as much as she’d like.  She knew that Billie wouldn’t be bothered at least.  Her roommate just ignored unpleasant things like gravity and rotation, moving and behaving as if those pesky physical forces weren’t actually present.

“Excitation current on.”

Jade felt a pinch of current.  It marched down her sides and in her fingertips.  It touched her in intimate locations.

“Gather template data and lock!”

Something new was happening now, only it wasn’t happening to her.  There was a blue glow forming.  It licked out like flames, or some sort of St. Elmo’s fire.  Gradually, it took on more definition, forming a cocoon, but it was only on one side of the stage, pinned in place by a large lighting projector.  As the stage spun, Jade passed into and through the ghostly object.

“Established and firm,” Raphael reported.

“Increasing resolution,” the girl, Kew, called out.

It was hard to see the energy cocoon.  It remained stationary, while Jade came spinning through it.  But abruptly, it began to take on the shape of a tall girl.  Jade thought she recognized Billie’s unique hair, as she swung around through the stationary blue image.

“Lock in!”  Knick-knack shouted.  Then, “Sensitize recipient!”

Now tiny sparks bit at her again, making her twitch and jerk as the pattern of stings traced up and down her sides, her neck, and her legs.

---

Raphael studied the waveforms that represented the body image templates of both subjects.  The technology was still quite crude; there was no way to identify individual characteristics or features.  But they could do blanket waveform mathematics, using baseline data gleaned from all the tests to date.  He studied the two screens, Tennyo on the left and Generator on the right.

“An odd pair,” Knick-knack rumbled.  “Based on these patterns, I wouldn’t even class Tennyo as human.”

“Can we get enough template data for our purposes?” Kew wondered.

“Maybe.  I’ll have to seriously filter the inputs.  Try masking based on the envelope derived from Heartbreaker.”

On the left screen, the displayed wave patterns became much simpler.

“We’ve got problems in the pattern from ‘Generator’ as well,” Raphael observed.  “The signal is filled with noise.  How is that possible?”

Knick-knack studied it.  “Another one that’s hardly human.”  Then he laughed.  “Wait, I get it.  Here, watch this.”

He fiddled with the controls for a second.  Suddenly, the signal broke into two, an upper and a lower signal, superimposed over each other.

Rafael considered the signals, musing aloud, “Could this be…?  But she didn’t say she was an avatar.”

Knick-knack shook his head, “The Signal is too clear, too definite.  I cleaned up the waveform we pulled during Trial Three and it was nothing like this, although…” He trailed off as if he had a flicker of inspiration.

Kew peered at the monitors as she finished her own preparations,  “Huh!  Now the signals look almost too normal.  Well, the lower one, at least.  That’s in the exact normal energy range, too.  The upper signal – what’s that?  It’s way out of band for a normal body image template.”

“We’ll have to ignore it,” Raphael decided.  “We don’t have to power to alter it, anyway.  Now without running a direct tap from the reactor.  Look at the power lock on that.”

“Right,” Knick-knack rumbled.  “Calibrate for the normal range signal, ignore the high band.  Let’s do this.”

---

Jade felt something in the air change.

“Prepare for superimposition!” the older deviser called.

A strobe began to flash.  It flashed once, each time her back was exactly to it.  It flashed again when she faced directly into it.  She realized that there were actually two different strobes.  It was as if one was a pull, somehow, and the other a push.  It was like a huge energy pump.  The platform spun.  Each time Billie faced the bank of projectors, the energy guns blasted her with a pull.  Then the platform turned.  When Jade reached the same position, the guns blasted with a push.  And suspended intangibly, immobile in space was the intangible blue image of Tennyo’s body.

“Initiate transfer sequence!”

The platform spun, faster and faster.  On the backside, a strobe now began operating, sucking something from Jade.  Her essence, her body.  On the front side, another strobe flashed, driving new life into her.  With every turn there was an out, in, and the sensations came faster and closer together.

An electric blue corona now surrounded her entire body.  In her dizziness and nausea, she could barely concentrate, but she suddenly noticed something happening inside the open cups of her bra.  An electric storm was taking place.  Hundreds of tiny lightning bolts formed a firestorm.  Her silver plated nipple was in the center, and the bolts arced to the inner surface of the hollow cup.  Jade felt the energy traveling like sharp jabs, straight through each breast.

A moment later, she felt a similar jab penetrating in between her legs.  The pain was excruciating.  The energy flowed into her, blossoming in a searing, burning orb in the center of her hips.

Now the energy was pulling at her from every appendage of her body – arms, legs, fingers, toes, ears, even her eyes.  The energy clawed at her everywhere.

---

Kew watched from the control stage.  She lowered the tracking goggles over her head.  The telescopic eyepieces were filtered to admit only strobe frequencies so that she could study the change.  A flip of a switch and she saw only the donor.  Everything seemed fine there.  In fact, the donor looked almost bored.  The switch flipped to the other position.  The recipient was writhing in the typical change-induction agony.  That was normal.  What wasn’t normal was that the recipient wasn’t showing much change.  In fact, Kew decided that she wasn’t changing at all.

“No traction,” she reported.  “No alteration of the recipient’s physiognomy.”

“We’re filtering the donor too heavily,” Knick-knack decided.  “Release the stage three filters.”

“Hold it!” Raphael said.  “Her body chemistry is listed as ‘exotic-extreme.’  She told me she has explosive blood – some sort exotic matter, she said.  It’s bad enough to not only blow up the recipient, but to blow up the entire lab, taking us with it.”

Knick-knack just grinned.  “That’s stage two.  Besides, we’re devisers!  We’re supposed to live on the edge.  Release the stage three filters.”

Raphael hesitated, but Kew nodded.  Reluctantly, he snapped of a sequence of switches.

---

If Jade’s throat hadn’t locked up on her, she would have screamed.  The energy jabbing into her increased by a factor of ten, clawing at her insides, stretching and pulling at every inch of her skin.

---

“Nothing.” Kew said.  “No visible changes at all.”

“Are you sure?” Knick-knack demanded.  “That should be impossible!”

“I’m sure.”

“Release the stage two filters.”

“If we do that,” Raphael protested, “she won’t even have her own face!  She’ll be a complete duplicate of the donor.”

“Do it!  Ask yourself, if she had a choice, would she chose this in preference to no results at all.”

Reluctantly, Raphael had to nod.  He’d gotten a fair understanding of Jade’s feelings.  “Releasing stage two filters.”

---

Now the lightning flickered like fire over her face, burning into her eyes, ripping her ears away from her skull.  Despite the agony, Jade could feel it.  She was taller, stronger, female!

---

“No reaction,” Kew reported in astonishment.

Knick-knack smiled, as if contemplating the last battle with a worthy foe.  “Release all filters.  Transmit the entire signal, unaltered.”

Again, Raphael had to protest.  “The exotic matter, the extra organs, that will be transmitting everything!  We’re even going to get some personality overlay, as the brain structures are re-aligned.  And if we lose control of the exotic matter component, even for a nanosecond, we’ll all be killed in the explosion!”

Knick-knack never even looked away from his board.  “Perfect.  This is where the rubber meets the road, my friends.  Ask yourselves – are you devisers?  Or are you just tinkerers, playing around with shiny toys.  Decide!  If you’re ready for the challenge, DO IT!”

With a shaking hand, Raphael turned off the last of the filters.  “Full transfer initiated,” he whispered.

---

She felt herself burning alive.  From somewhere, she heard a voice talking to her, commanding her: “You like her a lot don’t you?  Think about her.  I want to hear you talk like her.  How much can you be like her if you try?”

She tried.  She would be exactly like Billie.  Her… twin?  Her older sister?  Neither was quite right, though she reached for both.

The pain was so intense that she was beyond screaming.  She wanted to scream – anything to release the horrible pain and instability.  The world spun and fire rushed through her body and penetrated into her soul.  She had an image of her brother’s face, Thaddeus.  He was trying to talk to her, and shaking his head, but she couldn’t hear, as the world was overwhelmed in a blinding flare of pain and fire.

Then, there was a face in the fire.  So close she could touch it.  For the first time ever, the face noticed her.  Abruptly, the outside world vanished.  The pain and fire were still out there, but inside, she was far away from all of that.

“You are not the one!” The face seemed angry at first.  “I already have her!  I am her, and no one will take us from each other!”

---

“I’m getting a flare-up!” Kew shouted.  “It’s from the donor!  What the hell is going on?”

Knick-knack grinned.  “Increase power!”

---

Jade had no idea what was going on.  Not knowing how to respond, she just submitted herself and her needs.

“Ah, I see now.  The companion.  I never had need of such.  Go away.”

Jade wouldn’t leave.

“Hmph.  I see some tinge of loyalty.  You have no idea what you’re dealing with, do you?”

Jade was unable to speak, but she could shake her head.  Honestly, she didn’t have any clue about what was going on.  It felt like she was talking to Billie … sort of.  Maybe Billie in one of her mega-grouchy moods.  And more than a little, it felt like she was talking to Sara.  Sara when she exposed her darkest aspects.

“Would you show ME the same loyalty you show HER?  We’re the same, you know.  She may not realize it yet, but we are.”

No, it only felt like Sara.  It was Billie.  She knew that for sure.  She would know that forever.  She tried to understand what was being asked.  Loyalty?  To Billie?  The question was absurd.  Of course.  If only Billie could help her…

But that wasn’t true loyalty, was it?  That was a conditional loyalty.  She was being asked for pure loyalty.  No conditions, no strings.  Even if she never changed, and never could change.  She thought about Billie, and all she had learned of her roommate, all that she owed to her.  All the love she had for her.  It certainly wasn’t sexual.  As stunning as Billie could be in that department, Jade felt only envy, not desire.  And, despite crawling in with Billie when she had nightmares, it wasn’t a mother-child thing.  Not quite.  But if Billie could have only been her sister, her big sister…

Yes, that was a relationship she would grab and hold onto forever.  Loyalty to her big sister forever, no matter what.  And if the scary face was part of Big Sis?  Well, sisters can be like that.  She might never understand everything her older sister did or was.  But she would love her forever, all the same.  Even the scary face.  If it was Billie, she loved the scary face, too.

“You don’t know…  you can’t know…”  But the face seemed taken aback, under the strength of her loyalty.

Jade wouldn’t budge in her feelings.

“Do you have the slightest idea of what I am, and what I demand of you?”

The tone reminded Jade of long discussions with Sara.  Sara had discussed her mark.  “My mark of ownership,” she’d called it.

At one time, Jade had offered to take that and more.  Her price had been a female body.  Her payment would have been her body, her children, and her soul.

Sara had refused, and it had led to a small fight between them.  She wondered if this would feel anything like that.  This time, the scary face had offered no payment at all.  And although Jade’s soul hadn’t been mentioned as part of the bargain, she wondered if it might come to that anyway.  What was she giving?  Her soul?  Her life?  Everything?

But that wasn’t the issue.  The question was, who was asking.  The scary face was doing the talking, but it was Billie.  She felt, and she suddenly saw how they were the same.  It didn’t matter what the face wanted.  This was Billie.

Jade smiled, and accepted completely.

Abruptly, the face smirked.  “I see.  Then I accept, too.”

---

Things were happening too fast at the control stage.

“We have a lock!” Raphael announced in shock.  “Total match, total merge, 100% identity!”

“Power surge in the transfer link!” Kew shouted.  “It’s enough – whoa! – enough to vaporize the cables!”

“Isolate the Modular Component Harness,” Knick-knack ordered.  “That’s the only piece we can’t duplicate!”

With a burst of sparks, an entire bank of electronics along the wall exploded.

The rotating stage gave a creaking groan, then began to spin down.

Miraculously, as the devisers jumped up to unstrap the two subjects, they saw that neither girl was harmed.  On the negative side, though, neither girl had been changed, either.

Billie slapped Kew’s hands away from the rubber bandeau around her chest.  “I can dress myself!  And I’ll do it in private, thank you very much.”

Jade looked in disappointment at her flat chest.  “I felt… I thought…”

“I’m sorry,” Rafael said.  “It failed.  It completely failed.”

“FAILED?”  Knick-knack roared in amusement.  “Hardly!  Look at this place!”  He gestured around at the smoking wreckage.  “We did something great here!”  In a quieter voice he admitted, “I’m not entirely sure what, but it was big, I’m sure of that.  And look!”  He help up a piece of something from the wreckage.  “The Modular Component Harness is completely intact!”

“That’s a relief,” Raphael admitted, speaking to Billie and Jade.  “That’s the only way we’re able to handle the bandwidth required.  The harness is incredible.  If we’d lost that…”

“As it is,” Knick-knack said, “everything else can be replaced.  What do you think?  Two days?”

“I’m sorry,” Jade began.

“Two days!”  Knick-knack insisted.  “I’ll need you both back then.  And this time, we’ll get it right!”

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“Well,” he explained, “we’ll need to run the power tap from the reactor, first.  Our mistake was in trying to alter the normal-energy signal.  Clearly, her body image template has been shifted to the high energy band.  We’ll need to punch through the energy barrier, but it should work.  What do you say, everyone?  Same time, Wednesday?”

Jade looked toward Billie in growing hope.

“What?  You expect me to go through this— this— perversion again?”  She saw Jade’s face and scowled even harder.  “I want you to know that I wouldn’t do this for ANYone else!”

Jade suddenly recognized the scary face in Billie, and smiled wide.  “Thank you, oneesan!”

---

It was nearly lights-out, when the girls settled in.  Billie had been extravagant, as always, when describing the fiasco.  “Next time, just give me the pelvic exam, instead!”

“Gladly,” Sara purred.

Billie scowled at the demon princess.  “You know what I meant!”

Nikki was thoughtful.  “I’m surprised you’re not more upset, Jade.”

The smallest girl smiled.  “They’re going to try to get it right, on Wednesday.  Besides,” she bounced over to Billie, hugging her arm tightly, “I know my oneesan will be with me.”

“Hey!  Leggo!”

“Oneesan?” Toni asked.

“It means ‘sister,’” Jade informed them.

“Literally,” Sara expanded, “it’s the title used for ‘honored elder sister’.  Appropriate, perhaps.  I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you two seem a little closer, somehow.”

“You sense it too?” Nikki asked, quietly.

Sara just nodded.

“Hey, it’s almost lights-out,” Jade told them, needlessly.  “See you later tonight, right Sara?”

“Sure.”

The youngest girl bounced into her room, to dress for the night and prepare her other selves.

In her absence, the other girls were left looking at each other.

“So,” Chou asked into the sudden silence, “what really happened down in the lab?”

“I’m not sure,” Billie admitted.  “The machine, or something, felt like it was really getting to me.  I honestly thought it was working.  For just a bit, it was like I could really feel her, you know?  Not telepathic, but maybe deeper in some way.  I thought we were connecting.  I guess,” she looked down “I guess the whole ‘oneesan’ makes a little sense.  After feeling so close to her, even if it was just for a moment, I feel, I don’t know, some sort of relationship.”

Sara and Nikki shared a thoughtful glance.

The quiet was abruptly broken.

“Oneesan!  ONEESAN!”

Everyone thundered into room 202.  There was Jade, facing the cloaked white figure of Shroud.  As Shroud pulled back her hood, everyone suddenly understood.  Shroud’s skin was still chalk-white, her hair was still coal-black, but there was no mistaking that face, that figure, or the distinctive spiky hair.

The pale white duplicate of Tennyo stared at them, and said in Billie’s voice, “I think I know what they did wrong.”

42: The Truth about Jade

November 20, Monday evening, 8:15 PM

“Whoa, hold on here!” Billie said, eyeing her chalk-white duplicate.  “I think one of me is enough.”

Jinn-Tennyo threw back the hood of her cloak and announced in Billie’s voice, “That’s right!  One of us is enough, imposter!”

“Stop it, stop it, time out!” Toni shouted, moving up to Jinn.  “You don’t really believe you’re Billie, do you?  I mean, look at yourself!  You don’t even have a body!  Well, not for real.”

Scowling with Billie’s scowl and talking with Billie’s irritated rasp, Jinn said, “Way to spoil the classic mood, sempai!  Don’t you know that when this sort of thing happens, the unwitting duplicate always has to fight the original!  It’s in the rulebook or something.”

Billie pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Couldn’t we just arm wrestle?  I really don’t think we should trash the room.”

Jinn took up a matching stance, mimicking Billie’s floating position, body language, and movements with disturbing accuracy.  “Yer on, oneesan!  Uh, I mean, duplicate imposter!”

The two Tennyos clasped hands – one flesh and blood (even if it was exotic blood), the other a surface outlined in chalk dust.  With the first flex of her arms, the real Tennyo flipped her ghostly duplicate up and over, to splat against the wall.

“Ooookay,” Jinn admitted.  “I guess I didn’t get your strength.  How about the zap-stuff?  How do you make the sword?”

“Our room, remember?” Billie reminded her.  “Let’s forget about the sword.  Maybe just a little glow.”  She held up her hand, which was suddenly outlined in crimson, like St. Elmo’s Fire.  “Try this.  This should be relatively safe.”

“Right,” Jinn agreed eagerly.  “Uh, how?”

“You just… I don’t know.  Push some energy into your hand.  Not too much, just a teeny flicker.”

Jinn held out her hand and concentrated.  “Is it working?  Cause I’m not getting that weird ripple effect that you’re making.”

Jade smacked herself in the face, realizing that Jinn couldn’t see the light.  “Her hand is glowing,” she explained to her other self.

“Oh.  Am I glowing?”

“No.”

“Well, what other powers do you have, oneesan?”

Billie was obviously feeling a bit less worried now.  “Let’s see, I can fly…”

“Check,” Jinn responded in the same voice.

“…I can ignore gravity…”

“Check.”

“…walk on the ceiling and stuff…”

“Check.”

“…I’m stunningly attractive…”

“Check.”

The other girls gave a bit of a double take at this, but Billie continued blithely on.

“…I can see in the dark…”

“Check.”

“…I have mind control powers…”

“Che—What?  You don’t have mind control powers!”

“Just testing if you’re paying attention.  Hmm, what else?  I have caustic semi-explosive blood…”

“Nope.  No blood.”

“…and I can do energy blasts and the sword.”

“Nope.  That was a bust.”

Toni, at least, had been paying attention.  “Okay, so to summarize, nothing has changed!”

“How can you say that?” Jade demanded.  “Look at me!”  She gestured at Jinn while she said that.  “I look completely different!  I sound different!  How am I supposed to go to school tomorrow?”

Chou finally spoke up.  “Can you change back?”

Jinn paused.  “Good question.”  She closed her eyes, and after a moment, her entire body seemed to shake.  But there was no change.  She dropped off her black cloak and clothing, as her chalk body suddenly spun into a tornado-like vortex.  She compressed down to a small blot of compressed black and white dust, then expanded back into a person again.  But still, she looked like a ghostly duplicate of Tennyo.

“Do you mind?” Billie shouted.  “That’s my body!  I’d rather not be flashing my boobs to everyone who walks by.”

“What a grouch,” Jade complained.  “It’s not like you don’t waltz around the room in the buff yourself.”

Nikki took a quick look out the door, and upon spotting Hank, Jamie, and others drawn out by the commotion, she kicked the door closed.

“Okay, let’s think this out,” Sara suggested.  “I know that Jinn is supposed to be Jade’s Body Image Template.  If the machine copied Billie’s BIT over the top of Jinn, it should have overwritten her the BIT, making a Jinn a physical copy of Billie – or as close as you could manage.  Which is exactly what we’ve seen.  So what’s the problem, and why would you think you could change back?”

 

“But how am I going to show up for class tomorrow?”

Toni shrugged.  “Hey, it’s Whateley.”

“But you’ve changed your BIT before,” Billie reminded both her roommates.

“Of course,” Jinn and Jade responded together.  Jade continued alone, “I used self-hypnosis to convince myself I should look older.  That was part of what proved that Jinn was my BIT.”

“Give me a try.”  Floating in the air, Jinn folded her feet into a full lotus, and assumed a triangular meditation pose.

“Oh, geez,” Billie protested.  “Get a loincloth!”

“No good,” Jinn announced.  “You do it.”  She flew down to her clothes to retrieve a small, black velvet pouch.  Swirling into a miniature tornado again, her powder swirled back into the pouch.  The pouch then dropped into Jade’s hand as Jinn vanished.

Jade sat down on her bed, and seemed to nervously play with her hands while she concentrated and mumbled to herself.  After a minute, she summoned Jinn up again.  The velvet pouch rose into the air and then erupted into a fog of white and black dust which then coalesced into … Billie.  A naked Billie, once more.

“This is interesting,” Sara said.  “Maybe it was different for the rest of you, but I arrived late on the scene.  I accepted your whole explanation of Jinn at face value, and never considered it too closely.  Not until now.  But it doesn’t make sense.”

“What do you mean?” Jade and Jinn both asked.  It was unexpected to hear Jade speaking in synch with Billie, which is what it sounded like now.

Sara walked to Jade’s bed and picked up the toy lion.  “Hey, didn’t this used to be tan?”

“That’s Kimba,” Jade explained.  “The real one.  Osamu Tezuka’s Kimba.”

“Oh.”  The pale Goth girl glanced at her own skin, the white lion, and the chalk-white figure of Jinn.  “I like it.”

Under her breath, Toni muttered that the place needed more color.

“The point is this,” Sara continued.  “If Jinn is just an animated BIT, how can she animate the toy lion?  How does she inhabit things like the blanket, or other objects?”

“Well I just—”  Jade stopped with her mouth open.  “—I just do it.”

Sara held out the lion toy.  “Okay.  Just do it.  Only take the chalk powder with you, when you charge the lion.”

 

“Why?”

“Just do it.”

A moment later, the toy Kimba was animated and standing on the bed, coated in a thick layer of chalk dust.  “How’s this?” he squeaked.

“Ah ha!”  Sara sounded vindicated.

“What?”

“Jinn, ‘drop’ the toy, but keep the chalk dust.”

“If you say so.”

The stuffed toy slumped to the bed, while the chalk outline slowly pulled away from it.  “How’s this?” it squeaked in repetition.

“Now that was weird,” Nikki said.  “It looked like astral projection for toys.”

“Oh,” Toni said in sudden realization.  “I get it.”

Sara smirked.  “Uh huh.  Now, you’re holding that shape entirely on your own.  Why do you look like Kimba?  Why don’t you look like Billie?”

The lion paused in consternation.  After a moment, it closed its eyes and contracted to a point.  An instant later, the chalk cloud expanded back outward, assuming Billie’s shape again.  “Bingo.”  Her voice was Billie’s as well.

“And can you go back?” Sara asked, casually.

‘Billie’ closed her eyes and contracted into a point.  This time the cloud expanded back into a small toy lion.  “It works,” the lion squeaked.

“And can you go back to being Jade?”

This time the cloud didn’t contract into a point, it just smoothly flowed.  It expanded and stretched until a naked white 17-year-old Jade stood in front of them.  “I did it!”  She spoke in her own voice, and seemed surprised at herself.

“But how did you know?” Jade asked.

Sara shrugged.  “Like I said, the whole ‘BIT projection’ explanation was interesting, but it didn’t quite fit the abilities you displayed.  You told me that when Jinn ‘grew up’ she ripped through the costume she was wearing at the time.  So why didn’t the lion toy get ripped?  And to be honest, it was mostly a lucky guess.”

Jinn was dressing again, but Jade continued to follow the thread of discussion.  “So I’m still not sure if I get it.  What does this mean?  That I’ve got Billie’s BIT, and mine, and a toy lion?  Toys don’t have BITs.”

“No, no, no,” Sara stated authoritatively.  “They’ve been telling you that you were some sort of repressed exemplar, and that Jinn was your BIT.  Don’t you see?  That theory was wrong.  You weren’t a repressed exemplar at all.”

“But the BIT-slicer worked – at least partly.”

Sara nodded.  “Of course it did.  Because you’re actually a repressed shapeshifter.”

43: UnderUnder wear

November 20, Monday evening, Midnight

One of Jade’s great advantages was that she had enough time.  Most people talked about how they never had enough hours in the day, but she had more than enough.  And there was always one of her that was free to just think about things.  It was starting to affect her behavior, since, as Jade (physical Jade), she often didn’t bother to think deeply about things.  Jade’s job was to be alert and react quickly and properly.  Jann could watch and think.

Right now she was Jamie the SpySpeck, but maybe she should think of herself as Jann, since she was busy thinking, and that was usually Jann’s job.

After curfew, the students were supposed to be asleep in their beds.  The cottage was locked down.  Those restrictions couldn’t contain a SpySpeck, though, and she drifted under doors and out a crack in the sunroom.  Moments later she was floating in the air, high above a quiet and sleepy campus.

Her self-image had taken a major shock, and she’d been holding off thinking about it.  It was time to face the issue.

She was a girl.  She wanted that.  She needed it to be true.

When she’d first come to Whateley, it had been greatly comforting to learn that she was an exemplar.  If her BIT was female, then she was meant to be female.  It was just something that was.  There was a mystery about why she didn’t change to match her bit, but that would be solved in time.  She knew what she wanted, and she knew what was meant to be, and they were the same.

But a shapeshifter?  She could be anything or nothing.  What did it matter?  Was that why she hadn’t aged, was it a shapeshifting power?  Had she subconsciously frozen her body shape?  And when she was fully trained, would she be able to change gender as easily as she could now shift between her own shapes and Billie’s form?

That was wrong.

She didn’t want to be a boy.  She didn’t mind that other people were boys, but for her own identity she needed to be a girl – always and forever.

Was that very freedom something that scared her?  Is that why she couldn’t use her powers?

It was something to think about, but fortunately, she had the time.

There was one other issue that she’d been avoiding.

When she’d accepted Sharisha’s dare and the invitation to the hot tub party, she’d been hoping the BIT-slicer would work and that she’d be going as a girl.  It sounded like the BIT-slicer might still work, but not in time for the party.  And she had every reason to believe that Sharisha and her friends would be scrutinizing her closely for any oddities.  Her “tuck” was good enough for the gym showers, but she was careful to keep herself covered whenever possible, and to keep in motion when she was in the showers.  The hot tub would be entirely different.

It was a shame that she couldn’t go as Jinn.  Experimenting with shapechanging had shown that she could shift between her seventeen year old body and her eleven year old body, or anything in between.  With the plastic skin from costume lab, she could recreate herself as Jade, only female.

But the girls in Poe knew her tricks.  They were sure to spot that, weren’t they?  And if they did, not only would it blow the cover she’d created for Jinn, it would make the questions about Jade a hundred times worse.

And then she got the idea…

---

The bell rang for the end of costume class, but Jinn didn’t leave.  She stayed into the lab room, pre-arranged and pre-reserved.  She attended the simmering pot of plastic flesh.

A moment later, Jade came into the room and cast Jann into the pot of plastic skin.

There wasn’t enough to do a whole-body casting, but she didn’t need that.  She watched as Jann pushed the material around to where they needed it.

Like a manikin, a set of hips formed in mid-air.  Just the first inch or two of thigh was visible.

“That spot right there has the pink tinting,” Jade said.  “See it?”

The material difference was barely visible to Jinn, but she saw the plastic shift and move and the material shifted itself around.  The floating hips spread their legs wide, giving plenty of exposure and air to the area they were concentrating on.

“You got the glue?” Jade asked.

“We’ve got the two-hour, twelve-hour, and permanent.”  She reminded herself.  “Which?”

“You think the collection tube will work?”

Jinn nodded to reassure herself.  Even if the tube failed, or the glue failed, she could hold everything with telekinesis.

“Permanent, then.”  Jade quickly locked the door and then, lifting her skirt, she stepped out of her panties.  “Let’s do it now!”

“The plastic’s still hot.  We could get burned.”

Jade rolled her eyes, but the glow of emotions on her face was even more evocative.  Impatience, desperation, need, anticipation.  They quickly assembled the needed pieces, which Jinn trimmed the plastic hip flesh carefully with scissors and threaded the urethral tube in place.  Then, Jade squatted with knees wide, Jann cast into the different parts, and Jinn supervised as everything came together.

Jinn watched the collection cuff as it wrapped and glued itself tight around her body’s boy-part.  Then the tuck, with more glue to hold everything in place, permanently.  Then the final cosmetic, as the plastic prosthetic smoothed itself into place over her now female-appearing crotch.  Jinn took a brush and painted still-liquid plastic over the joint between the prosthetic and her body’s flesh.  She couldn’t miss the red glows of pain coming from her body’s flesh, as she did so.

“Hurt?”

“A bit.  How do I look?”

“Stay like that for a second while you dry.”

Jade was in about the most obscene pose imaginable, squatting with her knees so far apart.

“Don’t know what it looks like in color,” Jinn admitted, “but you look perfect.”

“Really?  Hand me the mirror!” Jade demanded eagerly.

---

November 21, Tuesday evening, 6:30 PM

James was prompt for the rendezvous outside the cafeteria.  The dinner crowd was still flowing in and out.  They all avoided him, of course.  When Jade arrived, he mentally classed her attitude as something between proud and defiant.

As she came up, Jade stopped.  She didn’t come into his “uncomfortable zone.”  No one ever did, if they could help it.  James wanted to ask her about Jinn’s unbelievable comment of the previous day, but he didn’t know how to start.

In silent, mutual agreement, they stepped around the corner and out of sight.  After glancing around, Jade held out a small white plastic box, about the size of a pack of cigarettes.

“Okay, absorb her from this, then charge her back, okay.  For as long as you can, okay?  And whatever images you see – I don’t care!  You don’t know what it’s like, and I’m going to do whatever I have to become what I was meant to be!  I kept your secret, and you’ve kept mine until now, so I’m trusting you, okay?”

He wasn’t going to get a better opening than that.  “Is it true, then?  You’re not trying to turn into a boy?”

She suddenly looked utterly dumbfounded.  “Why would I want to stay a boy?  Wait, you thought I was a girl, trying to turn into—?”

He nodded.

For a moment, she didn’t seem to know how to react.  Her mouth squirmed around as if unsure whether to laugh or cry.  Then she thrust out the box.  “Here!  Do your thing, okay?”

James reached out to grab the box.  This was so unusual.  He usually tried so hard not to absorb things.  Now he was going to do it on purpose.  He touched the box and – it was different.  Very different.  Usually the spiritual contact with immediate, too close, too intimate.  This was close, yet far.  There was a barrier in the way, like the paper wall of an oriental house.  A barrier he could see and feel, but with the least pressure he had ripped through it and taken the spirit inside like a vicious brute takes a helpless maiden.  He hated that about himself.

But she came to him willingly, flowing into him and filling him in a complete reversal of his previous tone.  She filled him, and he accepted her within him.  And the images flowed fluidly between them –

– a monster with her wings wrapped tight around her shoulders lay in a box that was as large as a coffin and as small as a fist – a Whateley Academy business card, and on the back was written “Melodious Silvertongue, class of ‘87.” – a machine held her, sending jolts of power through her body as she spun – a glimpse of the Halloween attack, as a huge figure in powered armor raced toward her – a slightly plump black girl yelling terrible things into her face: “What’s a boy doing wearing skirts like that?  Are you a pervert or some sort of diaper sissy?” – a strange symbol at the end of a tunnel, associated with utter terror – having a fantasy about a slim girl named Lily – a hairy fist punched her face and she felt great satisfaction as her face snapped shut like a bear trap – a naked man sitting on the edge of the bed telling her, “you are without a doubt the best fuck I have ever had” – she reached with a paintbrush toward Jade’s utterly exposed privates, as if to apply some sort of cosmetic down there –

Reeling under the onslaught of images, James thrust the spirit back into the box, with all the force he could muster.

“You good?” Jade asked innocently, apparently unaware of the disturbingly powerful and personal images he’d just seen.  But apparently she wasn’t talking to him, she was talking to the box, which lifted into the air and bobbed momentarily, before abruptly vanishing.

“Thank you so much!”  Jade swung open her arms to hug him, but James stepped back.

“Uh, yeah.”  He wasn’t sure he could stand another blast of images like the last one.  Not so soon.  “I … I hope things work out for you.”

As the girl practically bounced away, he was left more confused than ever.  He’d seen the images.  He’d felt the memories.  So how could she possibly think she was a boy?

---

Jinn … no, she was Lazuli in this body.  She maneuvered the small box through the network of old pneumatic tubes.  It was amazing, some of the stuff that riddled the underground.  The end of the tube exited in the base of the statue, exactly as promised.  She slid upward, through the sole of the foot, and traveled up the inside of the hollow leg.

She was inside a hollow stone shell.  Now came the tricky part.

Thuban’s tiny box was the key.  She didn’t know whether it was magic or technology or something even stranger.  Perhaps it didn’t matter.  The box worked, that was the important thing.  The outside was no larger than a pack of cigarettes, while the inside was as large as a small closet.  It wasn’t spacious, particularly for her gargoyle body, but fortunately she wasn’t subject to muscle cramps.

The magic (or whatever) happened at the opening to the box.  On the inside, things were small.  On the outside, they were large.  And just at the mouth of the “cigarette pack” was where the change happened.  There was a field there, a surface or something.  Matter passed though that zone like light went through a lens.  Stretching an arm up out of the closet caused that arm to return to its real size and weight, expanding like light through a magnifying glass.  The effect was perfectly smooth.  Looking from the inside only, she wouldn’t have even realized that she wasn’t floating up through a large hatch.  Looking from the outside, she saw the arm suddenly appearing, almost from nothing.  But looking from the inside and outside simultaneously, she could see the boundary layer, where the change occurred.

As she clambered out of her holding box, she looked around.  She was inside a small hollow cavern.  It was strangely contoured, and she heard the echo of explosions and shouting, although somewhat muffled.

Fortunately, she knew where she was.  This was a statue of her.  That is, a hollow status of Lazuli.  It was standing in the back of the theater, and the action scene that was currently playing should cover any noise she might make.  Her job was to slip into place inside the statue, and wait for her cue.

Even with the shrinkifying box, it was a trick.  Her wings were the main issue – slipping them into place required some genuine concentration.  Fortunately, she was able to switch to object mode, tugging at pulling at each corner of her body separately, until she just fit.

After that, she sit there and listened, awaiting her cue.

Her hearing was muffled inside her stony shell, but she heard the movie end, and shortly after that she heard Thuban as he came closer.

“…might appreciate a bit of a novelty.  As you will sssee, thisss work is obviously inspired by the ssshow we were just watching.  Of course, this is nothing but a prop.  This certainly isn’t a real gargoyle – if those even exist.  But perhapsss with the magic of hope, and Hollywood, and perhaps a bit of our own Whateley touch, we might imagine that this lifelessss ssstatue is just a bit more.  I present, for the adornment of the Faction Three Theater, our new mascot: Lazuli.”

She felt a slight vibration, and there was a sound, as if a cloth was being pulled off of a statue.

There was scattered applause.

“Do you all approve of our massscot?”

There were generally positive murmurs.

“Then letsss ask Lazuli to join usss.  Lazuli: awaken!”

And that was her cue.  She flexed her wings first, cracking the fake stony covering.  Flexing her shoulders and legs spread the cracks, and then one mighty heave broke the covering free, spraying bits of grit in a wide circle around her.  She stretched her arms and wings wide and pressed the “roar” effect button on her voice box, simulating that she had just awakened.  Then, belatedly looking around, she allowed herself to notice the debris-covered crowd around her.

“Oops,” she said.  “Sorry about that, but it serves you right, standing so close to someone who’s waking up.”

The emotions were mixed in the crowd around her.  Some were blasé, having expected something of the sort.  Most displayed a certain amount of surprise.  One even blazed with incandescent joy and hope.

She snapped wide her wings and fanned them for a moment, blowing loose the last of the debris, then used the loft to hop off the pedestal and drop to the ground.  Once her elongated feet were planted, she furled her wings and wrapped the wings around herself like a leathery cloak.

“Have I been gone long?  This doesn’t look like Salem.  Those uptight humans aren’t still running wild, are they?”

Thuban stepped up.  “Things have changed considerably.  But these people are the important and influential ones that you’ll need to meet.  Allow me to begin the introductions.”

“Wow,” she said appreciatively, “not a bad looking bunch, either!”

---

She was thankful for her fine memory.  She’d need it, to even have a hope of keeping the faces and names straight.  The wider variety of physical forms didn’t always help, either.  Some of the Faction Three kids had easy-to-remember code name, like Armadillo, but others preferred to use their real names.

She’d gathered an initial crowd after her entrance, and after that she had circulated around, doing her best to fulfill what she thought of as Thuban’s goal – getting the girls and guys to mix it up a bit.

At the moment, she had a trio of girls around her – Jana, Sted, and Tool.  The girls were apparently drawn together because they were all shapeshifters of a sort. The first two girls were both human-horse hybrids; Jana was a traditional centaur wearing an incongruously normal T-shirt on her upper human half, while Sted was a pony-girl, roughly humanoid but with equine legs, feet and hooves.  Sted’s halter, shorts, and hoof-boots seemed designed to emphasize her differences, rather than concealing them.  Tool was odder than either of her two companions.  She almost looked like a “Jawa” from Star Wars, hunched over within her hooded robe.  And whatever her body was like within the robe, it seemed to be in a fairly low level of shifting and alterations, since the robe’s few openings displayed hands, tentacles, or claws at various points, and the facial opening allowed the occasional glimpse of eyestalks.  Once, Jinn-Lazuli got a full glimpse into the hood, and saw her own face reflected within (or rather, the face of Lazuli).

“Okay, what’s really going on?”  Tool demanded.  “I know you didn’t go to sleep during the Salem witch trials.”

“Really?  How do you know that?”

“It’s just that Thuban was so cagey.  He hinted that you were… I don’t know…”

“What?”

“Well, a prop or something.  A fake.  Not real.”

Jinn-as-Lazuli did her best to laugh.  “Oh, come on.  Feel my hand!  It’s real, isn’t it?  I’m as real as any of the other gargoyles you’ve heard of.”  She let her voice get a bit more serious.  “But does it really matter?  What if I was a fake?  A moment ago I was talking to those two boys over there.  There were convinced that I was a ‘ro-bot,’ which I understand is some sort of clockwork soldier.  So?  What if I was?  What’s more important, what’s inside of me, or the way I look on the outside?”

“True,” nodded Jana.

She couldn’t see Tool’s face, to spot a smile, but there was a glow of pleasure from inside the hood.  Jinn assumed it was in reaction to her backward cliché.

She chatted with the trio a bit longer, interested that Jana claimed not to be a shifter, despite being a centaur.

“No, I’m not an exemplar or anything,” the girl said, confusing the issue further.  “I’m just a centaur today.”

“Okay…”  She wanted to follow up, but the Tool girl had been grilling her almost non-stop, so when another boy moved past them, she turned to him in relief.  The trio of girls backed off.

“Hi there!” she greeted enthusiastically.  “I’m Lazuli!”

“Skinner,” he mumbled back.

“Nice name,” she agreed.  “Does it mean anything?”

He stared back with distrust.  “You’re kidding, right?  You don’t need to mock me.”

“Uh… I don’t?”

She could see his emotions swirl down from anger to suspicious puzzlement.

“Are you serious?” he finally asked.  “You really don’t get it?”

“Sorry,” she confessed.

With a malicious tinge to his aura, he thrust a hand out.  “Okay, I forgive you.  Shake on it.”

She shrugged.  He didn’t seem to have the “feel” of an avatar.  Even if he was one, she thought she was solidly anchored to the gargoyle-body.  It would take an avatar Hercules as powerful as James to pull her out of this body.

“Okay.”

As soon as their hands touched, she felt something unusual.  Not the avatar-pull she’d been guarding against.  This was sort of a pressure in her hand, but different.  it was almost a burning sensation.  She realized that her spirit form didn’t have the reflexes to yank away, not like her real body had.

“Hey!  That’s pain!  I mean, I’m feeling real pain!”  Her voice was excited, rather than outraged.

The reaction seemed to confuse Skinner, who also seemed surprised that she hadn’t dropped her grip.  Abruptly, the pain faded.

“Awww,” she said, “I was actually feeling that!”

“Okay,” he admitted.  “You’re pretty different.  So, you have problems feeling things?”

She hadn’t spilled her secrets for Tool, she wasn’t going to do it for this guy, either.  “Uh, sort of.  Figures, doesn’t it?  Stone skin and all.  Is that why they call you Skinner?  You burn people’s skin?”

“Well, it’s mostly because of my transparent skin,” he admitted.  “That’s what freaks most people out.  I hardly ever get close enough to show off the touch power.”

“Oh.”  She suddenly understood.  Her spirit-vision gave her mostly shapes and densities.  She had no way of knowing that his skin was transparent to visual sight.  But it was a shame that she couldn’t get something out of his touch powers.  “Yeah, I guess most people wouldn’t be all that eager for it.  So what do you do?  My hand doesn’t look like it was harmed.”

“It goes with the clear skin,” he explained.  “Hyper-extended nerve endings.  I can connect to your peripheral nerves to feel whatever you feel, or reverse the effect, to force a sense of touch onto other people.”

“Interesting!  Can you do anything besides that burning feeling?”

He shrugged.  “I can’t do anything very complicated.  It’s not like I can really do tactile illusions, but I can do burning, simple pain, pressure, warmth, cold, stuff like that.”

Jinn nodded.  “Combined with some hand-to-hand skills, that might be pretty good for stunning or disabling someone.”  Her eyes widened.  “Hey, you can do pain, can you do … pleasure?”

“Well, it’s not like I’ve gotten a chance to test that, is it?  Why, do you want to kiss me and find out?”

She’d wanted a chance to be more flirtatious, and she doubted that a better opportunity would ever come along.

“Sure!” she announced.

The actual doing of it proved more awkward, though.  As she approached and reached for the boy, her wings lifted out, making her larger and more intimidating.  Skinner backed away slightly.  Then, when Jinn put her hands (talons, really) on his shoulders, he didn’t seem to know what to do.  So she pulled him forward, and tried to press her mouth up to his.

She wasn’t an experienced kisser.  In fact, she’d only really kissed once before.  As their lips pressed together, she was briefly disappointed to feel only the pressure.  She would have felt as much kissing a statue.  Then, something tingled at the surface of her lips.  Like a spot of ink dropping into clear water, it began with a single point, then rapidly expanded across the surface of her body.  Her lips felt his.  The softness of his lips, the texture of them, the human warmth held within, the pulse of his heartbeat – and her own.  Like a wave it washed over her, bringing her entire body to life.

She never noticed his hand touching her bare midriff, but as it moved up to stroke the outside of her halter, she expected his magic not to work.  After all, there was leather between his hand and her delicate flesh.  But she felt the touch on her breast as if his skin was stroking hers directly.  Her nipple, both her nipples, tightened with painful urgency.  The skin of her belly tingled with the need of his strokes, the tip of her tail sparked with delight, the socket where her wings seated was stroked and massaged in just the right way, there was the strangest tightening (or was it a loosening?) from inside her hips, phantom goose bumps ran up her arms, and her hair seemed to be standing on end.

The symphony of unexpected sensations was completely overwhelming.  Not realizing that she’d let go, she toppled backward.  She would have fallen on her butt, if not for her tail providing an unanticipated support, and her wings unfurling to brake her fall.

“Oh … my … GOD.”

“What’d I do?”  Skinner cried miserably.  “Are you okay?”

Jinn looked up, still feeling after-tingles and touches in places that weren’t even real, like the skin of her leathery wings.  She noticed Skinner looking fearful, and Thuban turning in their direction with an angry and alarmed expression.

“Whoa, whoa, settle down!”  With a wing flap, she pulled herself back to her feet and placed her taloned hands (somewhat cautiously) on Skinner’s shoulders.  “Stay right here.  Don’t move, don’t do anything!”

Turning around, she saw Jana the centaur girl.  Jinn almost ran to her.

“Jana!  Come here!  I need you to test something out, right now!”  She grabbed the half-girl and pulled her close.  “I need you to kiss this boy to test something out.”

Jana pulled back, looking at her like she was crazy.  “Kiss him?  Are you serious?  What’s going on?”

“Just do it!  Just for a minute!  Please?”

The horse-girl reluctantly allowed herself to be dragged over to Skinner.  By now, Thuban had arrived, as well as a slowly gathering crowd.  “What’s going on here?” he demanded.

“Just a little test,” Jinn explained.  “Everyone, please give us room.”  She turned to Skinner and spoke in a low, confidential whisper.  “Okay, this is my friend Jana.  I want you to kiss her, the way you did me.  Only maybe, not so much oomph.  At least, not to start with.  Work up to it.”

Skinner had a look of mixed terror and desperate hope, as he awkwardly approached the centaur girl.  “Uh, hi, I’m Skinner.  Is it … uh … okay if I, I don’t know, kiss you?”

Jana looked equally embarrassed by the growing crowd.  “I guess.”  She awkwardly held her arms halfway out, as if unsure what to do.

Skinner stepped forward and clumsily touched his lips to hers.  For a moment there was no reaction, then Jana began to wrap her arms more tightly around the boy, while his hands began to roam upward under the centaur’s t-shirt.  As everyone watched, shivers seemed to wrack Jana’s body, and then her hair stood up in a wave that started at the nape of her neck, jumped to her bare back and traveled down her horse-half spine, and ended in her tail which flicked straight out and then began flicking up and down in a spasmodic pattern.  Hooves clattering on the hard floor, the centaur stumbled backward before collapsing on her rump.

Jinn stuck her head in close to Jana’s.  She’d intended to be confidential, but hadn’t reckoned on a half-dozen busybody girls joining the impromptu conference.

“So was it good?”  Jinn-Lazuli demanded.

The centaur’s eyes were still dazed.  “Good doesn’t even begin…”

“Tingly everywhere?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Felt it in the chest?”

“I didn’t know nipples got that hard!”

“Moisture problems down below?”

“Is it that obvious?”

One of the other girls broke in at that.  “No way!  Skinner?”

“Don’t believe us?” Jinn challenged.  “Try him.”

The mass movement of girls to surround Skinner wasn’t quite a stampede, but it did effectively cut him off from being able to talk to any other males.  After a few minutes, and many stunned and helpless girls, Jinn gathered the wobbly survivors together in a quick huddle.

“You all felt it?” she asked, unnecessarily.

“God, yes!”

“What a power!”

“Almost makes up for the freaky looks.”

“You know,” one of the girls casually mentioned, “it would be a crime against womankind if that boy doesn’t get laid tonight.  Just as a scientific experiment, of course.”

Jinn watched the auras of all the girls in the circle bloom in embarrassment and intrigue, as they contemplated the implications.  If they’d experienced a short kiss, what would it be like to have his entire skin in contact with theirs – in the most intimate fashion?

“I think we need some rules, girls,” Jinn interrupted.  “Whoever does this better be doing it as the real thing.  I mean, boyfriend, real relationship, hand-in-hand in public on the way to classes, kissing in public, the whole bit.  Agreed?”

Around her, the girls all looked at one another, assessing the competition.

“What about you?” one of them asked.  “You were first.”

Jinn grinned back.  “Nice as he is, he’s a bit too ordinary for me.  I prefer my men to be a touch more exotic.”

“Girl, the touch don’t get any more exotic than what that boy’s got.”

“That’s for sure!”

“So are you really out of the running?”

Jinn sighed.  “You heard my introduction.  I’m not really … real.  Not like this.  I’m just the icebreaker, not competition.”

“Good enough for me!”  And in moments, the huddle vanished.

Jinn stood looking after them, with more than a touch of bemusement.  In truth, her mind was a wild whirl of thoughts.  Out of the blue, she’d found a boy who could make her a woman.  She might have a completely artificial body, but Skinner had just shown her that he could make it feel real.  And although it would have no chance of getting her pregnant, the experience would undoubtedly change her in a permanent way.

But… she was too young.  Even if the BIT slicer changed her real body, she didn’t see herself going all the way until… when?  Not for a few years, at least.  Of course, if she were a real girl, who knew how she might be tempted?  Skinner’s kiss had been very… interesting.  But she wanted a chance to treasure her virginity, before she finally gave it to someone.  And when she did give it up, it wasn’t going to be to some boy that was just a good kisser.  It was going to be to her True Love.  The person who would cherish her, curl with her in bed, hold her when she was scared and help hold her high when she was inspired.  The person who would put her children into her, and become a parent with her.   And she sure wasn’t ready for that yet!  No matter how good a kisser he was.

“Are you sure you’re only fourteen, Jade?  That thought is rather mature for such a young girl.”

Startled, she looked to the side to see an incongruously normal man, standing there in linen slacks, a smoking jacket, and wearing an ascot at his neck.  There was something else odd about him.  It took her a moment before she realized that he was in color, while everything else, aside from auras, was black and white.

“Pardon me.  I forgot about your vision.”  Immediately his image changed to match the rest of the world – a black and white image, with a colored aura appearing a moment later.

“How—?”

“Telepathic projection,” the man explained.  “None of the others is noticing us right now, and even if they did I’m projecting my words directly into your brain.  Well, your spirit, I suppose, in your case.”

“You’re a telepath?”  And behind that question was the immediate fear, Does he know my secret?

“Yes, and yes.  The whole ‘Jared’ thing in the past?  You shouldn’t worry about that too much.  I’m no precog, but this is Whateley.  I’m sure you’ll find a solution that works for you.”

Emotions in her spirit-form didn’t have quite the toxic spike that they sometimes held when she was in her physical body.  Even so, hearing someone casually taking in public about “the whole ‘Jared’ thing” was enough to brown out her vision in anxiety.

The man continued on as if she wasn’t in a total emotion meltdown.  “But I really wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself, and to give you a pat on the back for your little discovery and performance back there.  Up until a few minutes ago, Skinner was a perpetual blight on the emotional landscape.  Glance over at him and I think you’ll see how he’s lightening up.”

Jinn looked without turning her head, glancing at the complex aura of the boy.  There were strands of many different elements – wonder, anxiety, happiness.  It was difficult to pay full attention, in the throes of her anxiety.

“If what I see in the surface thoughts of you and the other girls is true, our depressed loner is about to become the most popular stud on campus.  Or at least, the most popular man in the Faction Three crowd.  I think we’re witnessing a classic Frog Prince moment.  You even triggered it with a kiss.”

“I thought telepaths kept themselves from reading other people’s minds.”  She tried to keep the resentment out of her voice.

The man beside her nodded.  “True, true.  And I do my best.  It’s just that my powers are several orders of magnitude above any other human, and even when I hold myself back it’s impossible not to hear the surface thoughts of nearly everyone around me.  Or around my projection.”

He looked at her again.  “You can calm down, you know.  I told you, no one can eavesdrop on what I’m saying to you, although they might hear your replies.  And although I may know your darkest secret, I’m not going to reveal it to anyone.  Besides, compared to the secrets that some people here are hiding, yours is innocent enough to be quite endearing.”

Jinn began to walk toward one of the more deserted corners, away from the crowd around Skinner, and steering clear of the small clusters of people.  “Look, I don’t even know your name!  Who are you, and what do you plan to do with this knowledge?”

He gave her a disarming smile.  “I’m sorry, I never really introduced myself.  They call me Fubar.  A rather rude acronym, and a bit too accurate.  ‘Gross structural deformity’ doesn’t begin to cover my case.  I couldn’t survive outside the sealed environment tank that’s installed in the Hawthorne sub-basement.  I haven’t physically moved from the site for nearly two decades.”

Jinn suddenly remembered.  “Oh, yeah!  Toni Sensei told me about you.  Twenty years, and you’re still a student?”

He gave a tolerant smile.  “Hardly.  I’m the senior instructor in telepathy and kinetics.  I also consult with several police and international intelligence agencies, although for anything other than a phone call, they need to travel up here.  I have a small office set up a bit outside of Berlin, just at the edge of my range.  But I didn’t come to talk about me.”

Jinn said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

Fubar sighed.  “The only reason I revealed my knowledge about your secret was so that you could relax and talk to me.”

“I’m perfectly happy playing the role I’ve chosen,” she informed him tightly.  “Bringing up a person’s greatest fear isn’t the best way to relax them.”

“Sometimes it is,” he said.  “For many of the Faction Three crowd, what they want is to be accepted despite their differences.  And let me add that the role that you’re comfortable in, Jinn, isn’t the role you’re playing now, is it Lazuli?”

She exhaled in resignation.  “What’s the use?  So many people know my secret now, I wonder if it’s even worth trying to keep it a secret?  Maybe you’re right.  Maybe I’d be better off just revealing the truth.”

Fubar suddenly took on an extremely concerned look.  “No, I wouldn’t go that far.  If I might show you a memory…?”  He held his hand out in offering.

Not sure what was going on, Jinn reached out her clawed gargoyle hand in acceptance.  The moment she touched his hand, reality vanished, and she was in the memory.

…

It was as if she was an insubstantial observer, and the scene was happening now, right in front of her.

Two heroic figures fought against a demonic monster.  They were in the center of campus, but some notable buildings were missing.  She realized that she must be seeing a memory from decades in the past.

The boy looked like a blond exemplar, wearing a skintight white costume with a black seven-pointed star on his chest.  The girl’s costume was stunning – a strapless silver leotard with matching silver choker, a black mini-vest that teased more than concealed, black elbow-length gloves and thigh-high boots, and twin black belts that draped her hips in an X pattern.

Jinn suddenly knew exactly what she was seeing.  It was Jan Stilton, and the date was 1987.  It was an episode they’d discussed at length yesterday at the Day of Remembrance, and she didn’t want to see it in person.

“Greg – Force-bolt – we have to put this monster down now, before it reaches the gas truck!” the girl shouted.

Jinn looked up to see a toppled tanker truck, a few hundred feet away.  She knew from Stan and Morrie that even nowadays, fuel deliveries were major security events.

“I’m trying, Paragon!”  Shoving both hands forward, the boy shot out a crimson beam.  It hit the monster like a pile driver, but that only pushed the creature closer to the tanker.

“Greg, no!  I’ve got no choice, I have to use my frenzy attack!”

“Don’t do it, Jan!  You’ll be helpless afterward!”

But the girl didn’t listen to him.  She paused for a second, as if summoning all her power.  A blue glow seemed to coalesce around her, then she suddenly shot forward like a bullet.

Whatever power she had summoned, she now attacked like a speedster, striking with fists that hit like sledgehammers.  She moved so fast that it was almost as if there were a dozen of her, striking and kicking at the demon-thing, attacking it from every direction at once.  The monster was overwhelmed and toppled onto the ground, face first, unconscious.

The girl didn’t last much longer.  She collapsed onto the on top of the monster, only barely clinging to consciousness.  The blue field around her winked out, then another affect came over her.  Her skin rippled and moved, like a sack filled with fighting cats.  A moment later, the transformation finished, leaving an androgynous boy awkwardly dressed in a girl’s silver leotard.  He looked nervously up at the other fighter.

“Uh… Greg?  I meant to tell you.  The transformation isn’t quite permanent yet, but in a year, two at most—”

“You’re a GUY?”

“Not much, these days.  Soon even that will be gone.  Which was why I was so depressed when we first met…”

The blond exemplar still stared at him in shock.  “You’re a boy, and I kissed you?”

The exhausted boy in the silver leotard could barely move.  “I wanted to tell you, Greg…”

“You LIED to me!  How could you do this to me?”

“Greg, no, you have to listen to me—”

“Noooo!”

And with a look of hatred and disgust, the blond boy shoved both his hands forward, shooting out a crimson beam.  The other boy, exhausted and helpless, didn’t even try to resist, as a hole a foot in diameter was blown through the center of his chest.

…

Jinn blinked slowly, returning from the telepathically shared memory.

After a brief pause, Fubar said, “The lesson I took from that was to be as honest as possible in my relations with other people.  I try to be clear that the ‘me’ people are meeting is not the real me, it’s only a projection.  If I’m upfront about it, I hope that I cut down on later misunderstandings.”

Jinn shook her head.  “But you were just telling me not to reveal—”

Clasping his hands behind his back, Fubar began to pace around her, pensively.  “Yes, but there are secrets, and then there are secrets.  Everyone at Poe has a secret to conceal.  The system here has been designed to give you a community, Poe Cottage, that knows that secret and still supports you.  At the same time, most Poe residents choose, perhaps correctly, to keep the details of their sexuality a secret from the campus at large.  I’m not a big fan of life in the closet – living in a literal closet myself – but I recognize that sometimes accommodations must be made for an imperfect world.”

Jinn rubbed her temple in irritation.  “So… I don’t get it.  What are you trying to tell me?”

“Well, there are secrets, and then there are secrets, as I said.  You, in particular, seem to be burying yourself under a pile of secrets that grows ever deeper.  Your sexuality.  The fact that Jinn, Jann, et cetera, are all really you.  The fact that you’re not a devisor at all, and that you’re lying about your real powers.  The fact that Lazuli is not whom she appears to be, and is someone that much of Faction Three is already dimly aware of.  The fact that you’re not here as a real member of Faction Three, but as a paid escort, with a specific role to fill.”

That last line angered her, but it was hard to deny.  “Look, I owe—” she almost said Thuban’s name out loud, before remembering that her half of the conversation might be overheard “—I owe someone.  And I pay off my debts!”

Fubar nodded to that.  He turned to leave, but gave one last piece of advice first.  “I’m not saying that all secrets are bad.  Some are well accepted, particularly things like the ‘secret identity’ and exact details about your powers.  But try not to bury yourself too deep, alright?  Don’t lose track of who and what you really are.  That’s all I’m saying.”

With that, he turned and headed back toward the main crowd.

Jinn was left to consider the disturbing incident, and his odd advice.

44: In hot water

November 21, Tuesday evening, 6:30 PM

Jade told Billie, honestly enough, that she’d be doing some study with Lily and was meeting her up on the third floor.  She felt particularly bad deceiving her roommate, but Billie hadn’t even heard about the hot-tub party.  But then, Billie had a lot of interests outside the cottage and sometimes missed some of what was going on inside of Poe.

After asking the right people, Jade had discovered that the hot-tub excursion was a sophomore tradition.  There were plenty of other excursions to the ‘secret hot tub’, but the Tuesday before Thanksgiving was special.  Most of the sophomores came.  The girls all gathered together to get to know one another before the long weekend, and apparently many long-term relationships were sparked by the mid-term icebreaker.

Jade snuck up to the third floor, where girls were already bustling from room to room, whispering furtively.  She knocked on Lily’s door.

“Come in, I guess.”

Jade slipped inside, nervously.

Lily was wearing shoes and a robe.  The robe should have been fluffy white terrycloth, but it had been dyed black.

“I’m having real second thoughts about this,” Lily admitted.  “You know this thing is supposed to be lesbian only, right?”

“Uh, well…”

Lily rolled her eyes.  “Oh, right.  Lesbians or potential lesbians.  Half of it is a recruitment drive for the sophomore T-girls, to show them the true way, the other half is a mixer to connect up with partners.  So why they hell am I going?”

“To help me out,” Jade reminded her.

“Oh, yeah.  So why the hell are you going?  Just ‘cause some PMS freshman double-dared you?”

Jade’s eyes sank to the floor.  “Well, I’m kind of committed now.”

Lily gave a long suffering sigh and tossed over a robe.  “Here.  You might as well get ready.  You can leave your clothes on my bed.  Keep your shoes on.”

Jade was very self-conscious as she undressed under Lily’s scrutiny.  As always, she felt a little sad when she removed her bra.  Taking the panties off was better.  The “permanent” glue seemed to be holding up to its name, the plastic disguise was exactly in place, and the rest of her was still tucked and tight.  She felt as right as she could be, in this wrong body.

“Sure don’t look like a boy,” the other girl commented, further heightening her embarrassment.

“I, uh, took some precautions.”

“I don’t want to know.”  Then the thin girl seemed to realize something.  “Hey, this isn’t going to be dangerous, is it?  I mean, if you were like the only boy at a lesbian hot-tubbing party, and got accidentally exposed, they wouldn’t all be after you for shish kebab or anything, would they?”

Jade shuddered even more.  “Uh, you said it was for recruiting T-girls.  They have to have some tolerance, don’t they?”

Lily shrugged.  “Beats me.  What are most of these girls like?  Your ‘friend’ Sharisha?  Hippolyta?  Or are they more like Mary and Juanita?”

Jade gulped.  “I haven’t spent too much time with the sophomores.”

“Hmmm.  Can you fly, or float?”

Jade had Jann-sensei tightly cast, holding every hair, every dead cell in her skin, and of course, the plastic.  With a moment’s thought, they connected, and Jann lifted her off the ground.  “Yeah, if I need to.”

“Good.  Worse comes to worst, grab me.  I’ll make us both invisible, and try to fly us out of there.  It’s not much of a plan, but it’s something.”  She shook her head, sending ripples down her long, silky, black ponytail.  “Besides, at least that way people won’t be catching me in the buff.”

From her experience in the showers, Jade had adopted mannerisms that were typical of a shy girl.  Her hand tended to linger, casually draped over her crotch, hiding her private area.  She spent more time than normal scratching her opposite shoulder, just incidentally covering her breasts.  Or non-breasts, in her case.  It was a relief to slip into the large robe, which came down to her ankles.

“Okay,” Lily said, decisively.  “Let’s get this over with.  They’re meeting in the lounge.”

There were over a dozen girls in the lounge, all wearing shoes and fluffy black robes.  Jade and Lily were followed by a medium-tall girl who had silver steaks in her black hair.  It would have given her a Bride-of-Frankenstein look with the right hairdo.  Instead, with her hair loose and down, it was more reminiscent of the comic-book character “Lady Lightning.”

“Okay, that’s everyone,” called a girl with long, lush, raven’s black hair.  “You sophomores and others, follow me.”

Jade recognized the girl as ‘Blackrose’, the upper-class guide for the lesbian girls that she’d seen on her first night at Poe.

With furtive whispers, the group of just over a dozen girls snuck down the stairs and out the back door of the cottage.  The night was overcast and dark, as Blackrose led them along the path toward Hawthorne.  After scarcely a dozen yards, they turned off into the landscaped underbrush, following a far fainter trail.  This led about sixty yards deeper into the trees, until they came to the large stump of some ancient oak.  Everything was easily visible to Jade, as she joined with Jann frequently to take advantage of Jann’s spirit-vision.  Blackrose carefully pushed in a knothole, and suddenly a portion of the stump seemed to vanish as it swung inward.

Still maintaining their silence, the girls moved up to and into the stump.  Jade found the rungs of a wooden ladder, and climbed down.  She descended perhaps twenty feet, into a limestone grotto.

Obviously, previous generations had gone to considerable trouble to create this secret cavern.  Splashes of amber and golden light outlined the stalactites in stark relief.  Below, three separate pools were underlit with soft blue lights.  The water glowed and rippled like some luminescent creatures.  Steps and benches had been carved into the limestone formations of the grotto; each was softly illuminated by a faint green glow.  She was reminded of Thuban’s cavern, but this was more artistic and less intimidating.

“You can put your robes there,” Blackrose indicated, waving at a set of natural shelves beside a bench.

Jade became increasingly nervous as the girls ahead of her calmly removed their shoes, folded their robes, and then stepped naked into the misty pool.  Blackrose, in particular, moved with a natural grace that dared the rest of them to emulate her.  And well she might, with her slender build, trim but rounded posterior, and athletic legs.  The girl stepped gracefully into the hot water, then, as it was just lapping at mid-thigh, turned to face them.  Far from being self-conscious, she seemed proud of her firm breasts – despite being at least a C-cup, she didn’t have a trace of sag.  And her night-black pubic triangle had been trimmed with meticulous precision, showing a perfect triangle, but not obscuring the pink furrow of her labia.

“It’s warm and comfortable,” she purred.  “Come on in.”

“Oh puh-lease,” Lily muttered under her breath to Jade.  “Whatever you owe me, double it.”

Looking around, Jade saw that they weren’t the only reluctant skinny dippers.  Several of the girls had taken Blackrose’s less-than-subtle cue, and were slipping into the warm pool.  But at least half of them were still hanging back, too shy or reluctant to take that final step and expose themselves in front of the other girls.

“No way!” Sharisha called out.  “I’m not going in that water until I know Electrode is safe!  I don’t want to be bathing with no living toaster!”

Her sponsor, Julie, tried to shush the pudgy black girl, but everyone was a little embarrassed.

From her position in the water, Blackrose reached a hand out toward the nervous girl with black hair and silver streaks at each temple.  “I was actually hoping for a little electricity tonight.”

Electrode was blushing hard enough to die from, as she stepped carefully into the water, holding Blackrose’s slender hand.

“Well,” the older girl announced.  “That wasn’t too shocking, but I did feel a pleasant tingle.”  The last bit was said with a leer.

“Come on,” Lily said, in exasperation.  “No sense being last.  That gets you even more noticed, believe me.”

With her shoes carefully stowed out of the way, Lily folded her robe and placed it on top her shoes.  Jade tried not to look, but couldn’t help getting an eyeful of the slender girl.  Lily’s breasts weren’t large.  Given the abundance of top-heavy girls at Whateley, Lily might even be considered “small.”  But standing here naked, her figure was a young girl at perfection.  Her slight mounds were topped by proud nipples, and Jade tried not to watch the nipples that grew and firmed in the cool night air.  Lily stood with her legs apart, unconsciously adopting a fighting stance in preparation for action.  Unclad as she was, the stance also revealed her adolescent cleft, barely showing a hint of the pink inner flesh, and concealed only by downy wisps of pubic hair.

Once again, Jade wondered whether she was attracted to other girls, or simply jealous.

Jade herself was more circumspect.  She kept her legs tightly together at all times, walking into the pool as if she were wearing a kimono instead of stark naked.  The girls already lounging in the pool gave her a good once over, making her thankful that she’d taken precautions, but they quickly turned to one of the girls still waiting to disrobe.

Keeping close to Lily, Jade hunkered down in the steaming water, low enough that it nearly covered her shoulders.  Finally feeling secure enough, she risked looking around again.

Everyone was now watching the final entry, a busty blonde with a figure that looked too good to be true.  If she hadn’t known better, Jade would have thought the pinup girl was a high-level exemplar.  Instead, she was surprised to recognize the somewhat klutzy form of Mega-girl, or as she was also known in Poe, Marty O’Bryan.

“You might as well come in, Megs,” Blackrose purred.  “You’re just giving us a good view standing there like that.”

“Do we have to put up with this?” Sharisha called out.  “You know she isn’t real!  That bod is just some psychokinetic projection or something.  Haven’t you seen the shrimp inside?  Hey, Marty, if you drop the skin, I want the first punch when we beat you to a pulp!  Honestly, what the hell made you think that we wanted your kind here?”

“She thought that because I invited her,” Blackrose said.  “Now, much as I enjoy the view Megs, it’s time you came on in.”

The normally vivacious Mega-girl was trapped in indecision.  “But – I mean, she’s right!  Everyone knows it!”

Blackrose’s smile grew seductive.  “Come into the pool, Marty.  Let’s talk about it.”

Stumbling forward, Mega-girl slipped, but recovered by flying briefly.  She floated through the air until she hovered above the pool, then sank down into the water.

“Now,” Blackrose spoke intimately and seductively, “before we talk, let the water caress you.  Feel it buoy and support you, girls.  Some of you, like Sharisha, perhaps need to relax a little more.  Some of you, like Marty, may be feeling insecure in your femininity.  Feel the warm waters as they wrap around and under you, opening you to new ideas and experiences.”

“I just might relax too much.”  Judy Cooms, better known as Plastic Girl, began stretch and flatten out, like a balloon deflating.

“Hold on!” Sharisha suddenly said.  “The guys don’t know about this place, do they?  Tell me a bunch of fag boys haven’t been – you know – in this water!”

Plastic Girl instantly resumed her normal shape, looking perhaps even more rigid than normal.  The other girls sat up, similarly alarmed.

“Calm down,” Blackrose soothed.  “Yes, the boys use the grotto, too.  But like many of the underground features on campus, this grotto far from natural.  The water is filtered, purified, and more processed than a Twinkie.  It also cycles through a complete change every six hours.  The grotto is actually a legacy of the class of ’83.  They made it look as natural as they could, but it’s really ferrocrete with a limestone veneer, and the water comes from the same source as our drinking water.  That too-convenient stump has a locking door on it, and there are precautions against eavesdroppers, cameras, snoops, and a host of other unpleasantries.”

As the girls relaxed again, Blackrose continued.  “Some of you already may have been down here a couple of times, on private adventures.  Probably others of you have never heard of our little grotto.  But you’re sophomores now.  Half of you are already sixteen, most of the rest of you will shortly be turning sixteen.  That, combined with your placement in Poe, means that it’s time to take a more open look at who you are, who you might become, and who you want to be.”

Mega-girl spoke up again, sounding surprisingly grumpy.  “What is this, the lesbian recruitment drive?”

Blackrose just smiled.  “Among other things.  Why, do you object to that?”

Mega-girl scowled, then pointed at Sharisha.  “You heard her!  You all know what I look like… underneath this TK projection.  I’m just…” her voice grew uncharacteristically quiet.  “I’m just some shrimpy little boy.”

Jade hadn’t moved, but her eyes were as wide as they could get.

Blackrose’s voice was persuasive.  “But what do you want to be, Marty?  Do you like being Mega-girl?  Would you stay that way, if you could?”

Megs was obviously too ashamed to answer, as she sunk lower in the water.  But everyone saw the tiny nod that was the only answer Marty would give to the intently personal question.

“Girls,” Blackrose spoke up, “you should know that Mega-girl once went for over a month without dropping her so-called ‘shell.’  Not while she sleeps, not when she’d been knocked unconscious in a training session.  Don’t worry about waking up next to a boy, think about cuddling up to a beautiful blonde who is so strong, and at the same time, so vulnerable.”

Jann’s emotional vision suddenly dropped over her eyes, so she noticed the shivery ripples of interest that suddenly covered the auras of nearly a third of the girls there.

“And Marty, let me ask you this:  Do you like girls?  Do you like looking at them?”

“Well… of course.  But…”

“You’re thinking of Iron Star, aren’t you?  We’ve all seen how you moon over him.  But girl,” she lowered her voice conspiratorially, “you’ve got to know that he’s in the middle of the biggest romantic mess on campus!  Even if he wasn’t always giving the puppy dog eyes to Gloriana, he’s still stuck in a tug-of-war between Amy Tang and Steffi Zink.”

Megs just looked miserable.

“That’s what makes this the perfect time to find yourself!  Maybe you aren’t a lesbian.  Maybe you aren’t even bi.  But you owe it to yourself to find out!  Everyone here knows the truth about you, and if you showed the slightest bit of interest, I’m sure there’d be plenty of other girls that returned that interest.”

“Is this just going to be one giant heart-warming love-fest?” Julia Krets demanded, pushing in with the manner that had gained her the codename of Shove.  “I thought this was going to be a big steamy orgy or something!”

Blackrose gave her a wry smile.  “If we’d wanted an orgy, we would have invited the lust demon from the basement.”

“Amen to that,” Naomi said.  “She is so hot!”

Electrode poked a hand up.  “Uh, didn’t Hippolyta already claim her?”

“Other way around, I think,” Lily muttered.

Jade watched in rapt delight as the girls slowly unbent around her, revealing more and more of their inner thoughts.  Given the warm reception that Marty had received, she was briefly tempted to tell them her own truth.  But Sharisha was always in her line of sight, and Jade couldn’t forget the other girl’s taunts or anger.  She had enough dangers in her life right now without giving a possible enemy such a potent weapon as knowing her deepest secret.  On top of that, she was still absorbing what she’d learned from the Day of Remembrance, the day before.  That had been a TG event, not a Poe-wide ceremony.  There was no guarantee that the lesbians (and straights, like Lily) would feel sympathy.  Between Sharisha’s attitude and what she’d learned from the Day of Remembrance, that point had been very solidly proven.

Blackrose provided heavy encouragement, and the girls began to go around the circle, explaining themselves, their powers, and their own unique sexual situations.  Jade was surprised to learn about some of the sophomore girls also being transgender.  For some reason, she’d assumed that had been mostly been confined to her class.  But it turned out that Jackie Warrwick, Electrode, was also TG.  She declined to say how much she’d been influenced by the Lady Lightning comic.

Lily was forced to admit more than she wanted.  “Look, I got in under a legacy.  Mom, Tabby Cat, was in Poe, if you must know.  But I’m interested in guys, okay?  And nothing weird is happening to me, or going to happen to me, understand?”

Pulling down her aura vision, Jade saw the others weren’t having the reaction that Lily might have hoped for.  Some were sympathetic, perhaps reading between the lines to spot Lily’s fears.  Others were repulsed, extrapolating to imagine Lily changing into a guy.  She could imagine their thoughts – So that’s why her figure is so boyish.

When the questions then turned to Jade, she readily admitted that she was born a boy, but that she was a girl now.  She wouldn’t go into details, but when Sharisha pressed her, she revealed, “I know what a speculum feels like, okay?”  That quieted the suspicions.  As for her sexual preference, everyone sympathized with the eternally-delayed puberty.

“Maybe I’ll figure it out when I know myself.  I’m still puzzled by the whole ‘lust’ thing.  What’s that like, anyway?  Is that why everyone always acts so weird around Sara?”

That gathered some shaking heads and rolling eyes.

After the introductions, they passed through a round of man-bashing.  Julia and Naomi led.  Mega-girl and Electrode protested, but Blackrose sided with the angry girls, this time.

“It’s another face of the sisterhood,” she said with a shrug.  “Some of us find men fairly useless, others have lower opinions.  Even if you don’t fully agree, you have to admit that the girls raise some interesting points.”

Naomi and Julia had obviously worked this topic very thoroughly between themselves.  They kept away from the Poe boys, focusing instead on the hetero boys on campus, their lusts, and their Neanderthal attitudes toward women.  Although Jade had no reason to trust the two girls, she had to admit that the jokes about “beer and football”, “using a remote control”, and “redneck hunters” were pretty funny.  The climax, as it were, was Naomi’s “Tale of the Haunted Penis.”

“…so the rapist was convicted and then castrated by the same women he’d tormented.  But after they castrated him, they forgot about the penis!  They dragged him, bleeding and screaming, to the pyre.  He was burned alive, swearing with his dying breath that he would visit his revenge upon every one of them, and their daughters, and their daughter’s daughters for seven generations!  One of the women finally realized her mistake.  She ran to the chopping block, where the bloody axe still lay embedded in the wood, but the penis was gone!  And at the base of the chopping block was a small hole in the ground, like a snake’s hole.

“Some say that the penis was filled with the male power of lust and hatred for women, and that it burrowed away like an earthworm.  They say it still roams the earth, waiting for the time when it might find nubile and innocent girls to penetrate and ravage.  Others say that it’s only superstition, that the penis was burned along with the rapist.  All I can do is to warn you: Beware!  Whenever you find yourself outdoors, keep your legs together!  Otherwise, you never know what might suddenly try to defile you!  Beware!”

As she peered darkly around the circle, one girl after another began to scream and leap halfway into the air.  First it was a blonde freshman named Scramble, then Mega-girl, and then Jade felt Lily, beside her, stifling a scream as she turned suddenly invisible.  When Electrode jumped in alarm everyone felt the sparks, as the girl inadvertently released a bit of electricity into the pool.  Not enough to hurt, but definitely enough to startle everyone.

Beside Naomi, Julia practically doubled over in laughter.

“Julia!  Shove!  You did this!” Scramble accused.

Julie wiped away a tear.  “What?  You mean I gave you a TK shove that was maybe an inch-and-a-half wide, right where it counts?  You should have seen yourself jump!”

As she faded back into visibility, Lily muttered, “It wasn’t funny!  Well… except for Megs, maybe.”

They talked for a while longer, but the heat was definitely getting to them.  Jade was in a good enough mood that she was even feeling generous toward the obnoxious Sharisha, as she rose from the pool to put her robe back on.

She was relaxed, but her awareness training proved its worth.  Despite her languor, she knew when Julie reached out a finger to touch her on the butt.  She moved away easily, before Julie could lay a too-intimate touch on her.

“Excuse me?”

“Just admiring the birthmark,” the black-haired sophomore replied, moving to pick up her jacket.

Jade twisted, trying to get a look.  “I have a birthmark?”  She looked at Lily, who was already wrapped in her robe.  “Do I have a birthmark on my, uh, my behind?”  She twisted around.

“Oh, please!”  Lily groaned.  “As if the night hasn’t been bad enough, I don’t need girls shoving their butts in my face.”

“Oops.  Sorry.  Just tell me if I have a birthmark.”

Reluctantly, Lily took a quick glance.  “I guess.  Either that or you sat on a bumpy rock too long.”

Jade slipped into her own robe and slid her shoes on.  “What’s it look like?”

Lily shrugged.  “A blob.”  At Jade’s long face, she elaborated.  “Oh, okay.  Sort of a thin triangle, I guess, about the size of your pinky fingernail.  A thin triangle, kind of more tan than the rest of your skin, with a dark dot behind it.”

Jade followed Lily up the ladder.  “Huh!  You go through your whole life, and then, on your first lesbian skinny-dipping session, you learn something new about yourself.”

Above her, Lily said, “Yeah, strange, isn’t it?  And keep your eyes down until I get off the ladder!”

---

From the audio, Jinn-Lazuli could tell that the movie was reaching its conclusion.  Sitting through a film that she couldn’t see was not the most interesting thing she’d ever done, but it had given her time to watch and study the people around her.  It also gave her time to think.

She wondered, briefly, how she was doing at the hot tub party.  That was one of the most nerve-wracking things about being herself.  She was afraid there had been a total disaster, perhaps a life-destroying event like her secret coming out in front of all the other girls.  It was possible that she could “let go” and rejoin her body, only to discover that her life had been ruined in the meantime.

Lately, she’d been doing her best to re-meet herself face-to-face, so that she could brace herself more gently for any shocks.  One time she’d awoken to the sudden memory of Sara’s talking decapitated head.  She’d resolved to ease into those big shocks from now on.

At least things were going reasonably well here at the Faction Three party.

Reluctantly, she turned her thoughts back to Fubar’s statements.

Being at the party, and particularly being a center of attention, had been fun.  It was true that some of the kids had gone through some pretty horrible changes.  She had to privately admit that she still had problems accepting some of them, but her time working at Hawthorne had helped.  If she couldn’t accept everyone yet, she at least recognized the problem, and was working on fixing it.  She was doing her best to act like she accepted everyone, and she definitely wanted to come to the next get-together.

But the question was, did she want to come as Lazuli, or as herself?  Obviously, Jade would never fit in with this crowd.  She was far too normal looking.  Even Jinn looked too normal.  But as Shroud, she might be okay, particularly if she did something exotic, like coming as a set of animated bones.

That was an intriguing thought – exposing herself as she really was.  Perhaps a human face or just a hood, and the collection of metal parts that Harry Wolfe had helped create for her.  She dearly loved being Jinn, and being a girl, but the truth was that she wasn’t a real girl.  As Jinn, she never would be.  Maybe it might do her some good to explore that part of herself.

On the other hand, there was no denying that Lazuli was a sexy package.  She hadn’t missed the way the boys stared at her chest, or the way they watched her backside as she walked.  Having a tail certainly added a unique movement.  And having eyes in the back of her head made it easy to see the reactions of people behind her.

And to be honest, Lazuli had a massive advantage in Faction Three.  She had been designed to be a monster, but an attractive one.  She was the image of a cartoon heroine.  Non-human, yes.  Ugly, no.  As Lazuli, it was almost an effort not to become the life of the party.

The ending theme began playing, and the people around her began to stretch.  Beside her, Tool stretched and a host of tentacles burst out of each sleeve.

“That’s pretty cool,” Jinn commented.

“Thanks.  Very believably said,” the figure hidden within the deep cowl said.  “I’d trade it away in a second, if I could.”

“As shapeshifters go, you seem pretty incredible,” Jinn offered.

“I guess.  I’m not in Jello’s league, but I can do things she can’t.  Here, check this out.”

As the girl reached toward her, Jinn was briefly distracted by the girl’s bust line.  She seemed to swell, then shrink, then she seemed to grow a set of four or six breasts, before returning again to the normal pair.  Now a normal human hand reached out of the robe.

“Watch.”

Suddenly the hand morphed into a small, oblong piece of plastic, with a metallic center, and a plus symbol on the side.  After a moment’s confusion, Jinn realized that it was a Swiss Army knife, seemingly growing out from the end of the girl’s arm.  Suddenly the blades started to flick open and closed.

Jinn was amazed.  “That’s incredible!  And you’ve got control over it?”

“Pretty much.”

The girl’s hand flicked through a variety of shapes – needle-nose pliers, a screwdriver, a coffee mug.

“The only thing I can’t do is not shift.  Like when I see something good to eat, and all of a sudden my fingers turn into a fork.  I don’t do that on purpose, it just happens.  And I can’t make it stop.”

Jinn nodded sympathetically, but she really had no idea what that might really mean for a person trying to live under those conditions.  Did it ever hurt?  How long could she pass as normal, out in regular society?  What was she like in a fight?

Tool leaned forward, too casually.  “So let me ask you about your body.  Thuban said you were just a ‘prop.’  What’s that supposed to mean?  You aren’t some sort of robot, are you?  You seem a lot more lifelike than that.  Are you another shapeshifter?”

Jinn shook her head.  “Sorry, that’s part of my deal.  Professional secret.”

“So… just out of curiosity, how disastrous would it be if you lost that body?”

The girl’s aura was anything but casual.  She was so focused on the answer that it was almost painful to look at.

“What’s that mean, if I ‘lost my body?’  What’s that supposed to mean?”

Tool shrugged, still trying to look casual.  “I’m not sure.  It was a mystic, magic thing I heard once.  You know what it’s like trying to get a straight answer out of the wizard types.”

Jinn nodded.  Trying to get an explanation out of Fey was an experience.  It was either on the level of “all nature is interconnected” or it got so technical that it was like trying imagine a world that was ruled entirely by rhyme and meter instead of physics.  And whatever the rules were, they changed whenever you wanted them to.  Although Sara was even worse, since Pattern Theory delved into high level mathematics, and she claimed you couldn’t really begin to understand it unless you could do tensor calculus while visualizing at least seven dimensions simultaneously.

“Yeah,” Jinn agreed, uncomfortably.  “I’ve had that problem with wizards.  Hey, why haven’t I noticed you on campus?”

“Ha!” Tool pounced.  “I knew you were another student!”

Jinn groaned to herself, realizing that she’d given away too much.

“First off, on campus I wear a better robe – it’s in the school colors, with a Whateley crest,” Tool began.  “More importantly, I wear a mask and these sort of gauntlets for my hands.  They’re covered in kidskin, so they look like gloves.  I can shift all I want inside, but it doesn’t show through the gauntlets.  But for Faction Three, I figured I’d let people see more of the real me.”

The two different horse-girls had been listening, as well.  Now Sted, the pony-girl, exclaimed, “

“No.  This is the real me.  I figured, with Faction Three, I’d drop the suit and come as I really am.”

“Yeah, that’s why I’m a centaur today,” Jana added unexpectedly.  Seeing the look everyone gave her, she explained.  “On campus I usually look either human or sort of a were-squirrel.”

Sted nodded.  “Multiple form shifter?  I’ve got four, but ponygirl and centaur are the most human, so that’s what I use on campus.”

“Not exactly,” Jana told them.  “I’m an avatar, but I ended up capturing a spirit that thinks he’s a trickster god.  I can go back to human for a couple of hours, but I mostly end up being half-and-half, in some way or another.”  She shrugged.  “It’s not too bad.  People don’t get too freaked out by the catgirl or squirrelgirl look.”

Tool’s aura was a mix of resentment and jealousy.  “Yeah, even in Faction Three, you get the cute girls, and the freaks.  I’m just getting tired of always being the freak.”

“So… is there anything you can do?” Jana asked.

“They’re talking about a sort of articulated armor – like a knight, but more modern.  I’d wear it, and then my shifting wouldn’t show, unless I stretched or flexed too hard.  I might be able to go out in public.  There are plenty of other kids who have to wear prosthetic faces or bodies.”

Jinn was mindful of her earlier conversation with Fubar.  “And you’d always be hiding your true face.  At least here in Faction Three you have one place where you can be your real self.”

“I wish.”  But Tool didn’t elaborate.

---

Much later, Jinn sat back to consider the night’s events.  She was Jamie the SpySpeck, and it was becoming something of a midnight ritual for her to waft up to the roof outside, while just thinking about what had happened during the day.  She knew that down below, her various selves were sleeping, or studying, or heading off to see if Sara was available.  But she got to just sit and contemplate.

Her selves had come together, quite surprised by their different experiences that evening.  Faction Three had been… imposing.  So many mutants, and so much hostility simmering under the surface.  Also, so many lonely people, just because they looked a little unusual.  If there was any group that could accept her in her normal form, it was Faction Three.

Except… what was her normal form?  She’d cautioned Tool against hiding behind an armored face, while she herself was hiding inside the gargoyle body.  As Jinn she wore a plastic face.  But she had a real face, too.  The plastic was just material that coated her spirit-self, making it visible for normal people.

She had an image of her “normal” self – it was a seventeen year old girl, naked, outlined by chalk dust.  But recent experience had shown that she might actually be a shapeshifter – at least in spirit form.  So what was “natural” for her?

She briefly imagined showing up to a Faction Three meeting as a ghost of Lazuli, outlined in chalk dust.  She’d never do it, of course.  Ever since Tansy, she’d felt naked if she allowed any hint of her unprotected spirit to be exposed in public.  And holding up a cloud of chalk dust was definitely in the “naked spirit” category.  She’d done it in front of her friends (and felt strangely naughty, doing so).  She would show off her bare face, as a screen of chalk dust, but at least the bear trap gave her some protection there.  That was as much vulnerability as she was willing to risk, since Tansy and Mongoose had both demonstrated that physical access to her spirit gave even the weakest avatar the ability to pretty much conduct spiritual rape.

And yet…

How could she think of being naked and exposed, without thinking of the hot tub party?  Was Marty, or rather, “Mega-girl”, all that much different than she was?  If Megs could find a lover, was it possible that she, as Jinn, might honestly and truly find a lover of her own?

If she made love to a boy, he should be able to find genuine enjoyment with her.  Dr. Traekham had demonstrated that she, as Jinn, was physically complete, and sufficiently real to allow a boy to make love to her.  And while she wouldn’t take any physical pleasure in the act, there would be the joy of the companionship, and the relationship, and the joy of her lover’s pleasure.

Or… could she take a girl lover, instead?  Even as a resident of Poe, she was a little more vague on the details of girl-girl sex than she was on the conventional method.  But what might she do for a female lover?  Coat the girl like a second skin, and stroke her lover across the length of her entire body?  What if she cast herself into something other than chalk.  Could she hold onto one of the many lubricant fluids that were so readily available around the girls’ restrooms in Poe?  What might she accomplish with that?

She felt confident that, given time and the liberty to experiment, she could become a rather stunning lover.

But who would love her?

Skinner could do it, but she didn’t really like him that much.  And she suspected that Fubar could do it, but that felt wrong, too.  He was so much older, and while he was interesting, she sure didn’t feel attracted to him in that way.

In fact, she didn’t feel attracted to anyone in that way.

So why was she so hung up with the idea of having a lover?

After winding the idea around and around in her head, she eventually thought that maybe it was because having a lover was a sort of proof that she was a girl.  Just like with Marty.  If Mega-girl had a lesbian relationship, then she was definitely a real girl, despite any complicated details about Marty and his powers.  The romance and crushing and tenderness and secret looks, and the act of making love – all of those would say to her that Marty was a real girl, in just about every way that counted.  And that must mean that if she herself achieved those things – a crush, that awkward dating, the first kiss, and all of that, culminating in a romantic session in which she lost her virginity – if she achieved that, then she would be a real girl.

And she desperately wanted to be a real girl.

The problem was, she didn’t want to lose her virginity.  Not yet, anyway.  Heck, she was barely up to the “crush” stage.  Well, okay, she was ready and eager for her first crush.

She let her mind drift, considering all the recent events.

Should she stay on as Lazuli, or follow Fubar’s advice?  She owed Thuban.  But what if she passed Lazuli on to someone?  And what was with Tool and her questions about “if you lost that body”?  She wondered if Tool had seen deeper than anyone had guessed, and spotted the suit that was Lazuli’s body.  Could Tool “wear” a suit like that, in effect becoming Lazuli?  Was that what she wanted?  If so, would Jade be doing her a favor, letting the shifter girl take on another identity at the expense of her own?

It would be a shame to lose the magic cigarette box, though.  She could use another one of those.  Perhaps hidden inside Ryo-oki.  Then she could follow Billie around, and serve as her secret closet, producing books and clothes just like they’d been beamed up to some secret hyperspatial starship, like in the anime.

Hmmm, if he could make a magic closet for Ryo-oki, what could he do to her purse?  It was every girl’s dream – a purse that was slim and fashionable on the outside, but absolutely huge on the inside!  She could carry her gun, and all her books, and her laptop, maybe even a change of clothes…

Oh, there were so many plans to make.  The only question was, how to convince Thuban?

45: We don’t need no stinkin’ badges!

Whateley Academy, Shuster Hall

November 22, Wednesday morning, 8:03 AM

They’d all heard rumors about the Thanksgiving assembly.  The students who’d already attended it last year were tight-lipped, but a few dropped clues.

“Introduction to fascism.”

“No big deal, unless you have plans as a supervillain.”

“Amerika with a K.”

“Same old, same old.”

“You have the right to be strip-searched.”

So naturally, the crowd for this assembly was a bit more subdued than they’d been for any of the previous assemblies. 

Unlike the first assembly, Jade knew a lot more people this time around.  Her immediate circle of friends was sitting beside her.  Naturally, Nikki and Toni were in the center of that block.  Sara and a couple of her closer friends were in the row ahead of them.  The row behind them included several of the sophomore girls and guys, and oddly, a few from other cottages.  Mary and Juanita weren’t back yet, but Lily sat nearly behind her.  She also recognized the black guy, Dredz, from the dance the previous week.  Lily and Dredz were conversing in close whispers, but Jade seemed to catch a snatch of, “Oh, is that all?” from them.

The mutterings and whispers faded to near-inaudibility as Headmistress Carson took the stage, then died out completely as she dimmed the lights and projected the first slide.

On the screen behind her was the famous Brooklyn bridge, with both ends barricaded or smashed and a full load of commuters trapped in the middle.  In the air above, a titanic battle raged.  The image had become such an icon over the past decade and more that it no longer had a single, simple association.  Heroism?  Evil?  The plight of the normal man caught up in forces beyond his control?  A metaphor for the planet?  All that and more.

“I hope none of you have trouble recognizing the images of the terrible events of April 1, 1991.”  She clicked to another slide, showing Entropy, as he created the trap, blocking off the rush-hour traffic.  “The famous ‘Fools Fight.’  While Entropy’s minions threatened civilians, Entropy finally got his face-to-face battle with his eternal nemesis.”  Another famous slide clicked into place, showing the battered hero as he delivered the final blow to Entropy.  “Of course, Entropy perished, along with most of his minions.  As did Battery, and the First City Irregulars were never reformed as a team.”  The final slide showed the craters, along with the hundreds of bleeding, weeping civilians.

“We, rather, we mutants at Whateley, tend to focus on Battery and Entropy, and what happened with the various teams.  We examine the strategies and morality, we even re-run the battle in our simulators.  What we often fail to appreciate is the impact that battle had on normal humanity.

“Of course, that was just one battle.  There are hundreds of others, I dare say, that have had similar casualty levels.  But the Fools’ Fight was unique because of the still and video images it generated, because of the live news coverage, and because it has become such an icon, particularly among groups such as Humanity First.”

That generated mutterings and mild boos throughout the crowd.  Jade heard a mutter coming from Nikki’s direction, “They should have named themselves ‘Baboons First.’”

The Headmistress continued.  “What many of you have not realized until now was how those events, which took place before some of you were born, will affect your lives.  Mutants have always had a prominent position on the battlefield.  Terrorist mutants and even mass civilian casualties have been a fact of life since the Mystic Six first fought Gasman back in 1919.  But the Fools’ Fight brought mutants into a new and frightening prominence in the public eye.  It was a key issue in the United States presidential campaign of 1992, and led to promises to track and monitor mutants.  Initially this was restricted to foreign mutants entering American Soil, but the Frankfurt train derailment in 1993 and particularly the Indonesian tsunami in 1994 made this an international issue.”

The next slide was a publicity shot, showing the MCO’s Deputy Director Kenneth Loman, standing behind one of the MCO’s well-known “intervention squads” – overhead was the distinctive powder-blue dropship that also served as a mobile command center, while crouched in front of him were a half-dozen troops in powder-blue power armor, as well as the medics and observers that had such a welcome reputation with the non-mutant public.

“Most of that armor comes from Darpa research,” Nikki whispered.  “My dad worked on it for a while.”

Someone, Jade thought it was Chou, shushed the elf girl.

Headmistress Carson continued.  “Despite the superb reputation of many heroic mutants such as Champion, the events of the nineties changed the world.  The public was left with a renewed fear of rogue mutants.  This combined politically with a growing international need for mutant supervision.  It culminated more than a decade ago, in 1995, when the various national bodies ceded authority to the MCO, which incidentally stands for Mutant Commission Office, not Mutant Control, as so many of you have dubbed them.  In late 1996, it was made an international law that mutants must report themselves when crossing national boundaries.  Identification records became standardized, and the process has continued to evolve until the present day.”

There were mutterings among all the freshmen, as they began to figure out the implications.  The upperclassmen, who’d all heard this before, watched with grim satisfaction as their younger counterparts lost a bit of their innocence.

“Traditionally this talk is given shortly before the Thanksgiving holiday.  When you came to Whateley, you fell under a carefully crafted exemption.  But with the long holiday weekend ahead of us and the winter break approaching, many of you will be traveling by plane as you go home, or visit other destinations.”  Her voice turned suddenly grim.  “Let me be clear about this.  US law is rock-solid on this point: Any mutant must carry and present their identity card before boarding any commercial aircraft.  The Mutant ID card, or MID, must also be presented at any border crossing or customs station.  It’s something of a convenience, actually, since it’s better than a passport, and will get you expedited processing.”

“Yeah,” Toni muttered darkly, “no point in having an underground railroad, when the slave states are everywhere.”

In a lighter tone, Carson added, “Of course, Whateley maintains an aggressively neutral stance toward certain elements of social order.”  She paused, not getting the reaction she’d expected.  “We coddle lawbreakers,” she explained.  The students all laughed at that, although Jade suddenly noticed Adam Ironknife, in a back row far to her left.  He didn’t seem to find the situation at all humorous.

“I even sympathize with a bit of that,” Carson admitted.  “While I have no tolerance for killers or terrorists, society sometimes needs its rebels and iconoclasts.  I am sure that more than a few of you will be tempted to travel without a MID.  First, let me say that everyone who intends to stay at Whateley will be issued a MID.  That means that we will measure and record all your biometric parameters, staff members will negotiate with you to determine an official summary for your powers and abilities, we will condense certain other records, and obtain official clearances with both your own national governments and the MCO.”

Behind her, the screen switched into a live display, illustrating a wealth of measurements.  The headmistress herself was shown, along with displays of fingerprints, retinal prints, DNA identifiers, Kirilian signature, height, weight, age, bone structure, medical statistics, and a wealth of other data.  Just before the display changed, Jade noticed the “age” entry.  Seventy-five years old?  That can’t be right!

“None of this has been done yet!  The process begins this week, prioritized for those of you who will need to travel over the Thanksgiving weekend.  It is voluntary, but if you refuse, you will not be returning to Whateley.”  She held up her hand to forestall the murmurs.  “I understand your reluctance, but this is not a negotiable point.  That’s why we’re telling you now, to give you a chance to think this over.  Even if you plan an eventual career in world domination, I think the education you will get at Whateley will more than compensate for the downside of having a public record.

She gave an ironic smile.  “After saying all that I have to tell you, having a MID is not the same thing as using it.  Some of you will always stand out.  Changes due to your mutation will make it difficult or impossible to pass as one of the ordinary rabble.  For you, a MID will often be a godsend.  It is literally your passport to interact with mundane society.  Others, however, can pass as normal if they choose.  They could board a plane without showing their MID.  Of course, you’d need falsified ID documents, since the airline computers always cross-check with the MCO.  And often, they’ll take biometric scans and cross-check those with the MCO.  And it’s a felony in the US to board a plane or cross a border without showing your MID – you’d be looking at six months for a first offense, more once you reach your majority.  Any situation of ‘covert mutant activity’ is immediately relayed to the MCO, and you may be looking at a dropship on your head with no warning at all.”

The Headmistress spread her hands, as if in apology.  “So, you have a lot to think about over the break.  The first Thanksgiving at Whateley represents a significant rite of passage for every student.  You have many options.  You can drop out, hide from the MCO and the world, and keep a low profile.  This won’t protect you from the legal consequences – every one of you in this auditorium are legally required to carry a MID, whether you stay at Whateley or lay low.  If you’re spotted, you’ll still have to comply.  But you may choose to hide.

“You can follow the straight and narrow path.  In which case your MID will evolve into much more than just an ID and passport.  As your record of good activities grows, the MID will grant a variety of privileges – sky Marshall authority on even international plane flights, expedited border and custom privileges, connections with Interpol and other police organizations, and discounts at many restaurants and clothing outlets.”  There were laughs at that last.

“Finally, if you chose a life on the other side of the law, your MID will become the first entry in your case history.  This is why supervillains are so quickly tied to a codename – it’s the quickest reference to their MID file.  Don’t worry about that part too much, your first codename is only temporary; you have until spring to finalize that.  After that, it becomes a paperwork nightmare to change your codename.  As an example, the villain ‘Wrecking Ball’ changed his name twelve years ago, and he’s still being referenced under ‘Power Pork.’”

As the lights came up, the headmistress stepped away from the podium.  “That’s all.  You’ll all find information in your mailboxes, and counselors will be available to answer questions.  You have a lot to think over.  I know these are big decisions, but I hope to see all of you back here, following the break.”

---

Class was fairly anticlimactic after that.  Like many of the other freshmen, Jade was only about 50% aware of her lessons.  That still left her with two brainpower to consider things – counting both Jinn and Jann.

I wonder if that’s a measurement like horsepower? she wondered.

The biggest question was, should she claim to be “Jade Sinclair”, or would they need her real name?  And the whole “biometric” scan was a bit disturbing.  Could that discover her true gender?  Would she need to report her true gender?  If tonight worked, all her biometrics would change.  At least, she assumed they would.  Weren’t biometrics just measurements like height, weight, and so on?  If tonight succeeded, her measurements would certainly change.  She grinned at the thought.

She was reminded again of Robert Shih’s “third path.”  Nothing like Thuban’s “Faction Three.”  Robert had said, “You don’t join the establishment, and you don’t fall to the depths of a true villain.  You walk your own ground in the middle.  It’s the toughest path, since you receive none of the advantages of either side.  Even worse, you can never simply ‘declare’ for one side or the other.  You are always walking in ambiguity, defined more by what you are not.”

But the MID made that difficult.  It recorded your every official action, clearly dividing you into the “law breaker” or “straight arrow” camps.  It was worse, because she’d have to lie on her MID.  As much as it hurt to admit it, Jade was physically still an eleven-year-old boy.  A pure male eleven-year-old.  But she’d been passing as a girl for nearly three months now.  It was nothing next to the wonderful dream of actually being a true girl, but dressing and passing was the next best thing.  She would never go back to being a boy.

It was electrifying, to realize how solid her resolve was.  If the only choice was to list her physical gender on the MID, she would refuse.  She would drop out and make a go on her own.  She would find a way, somehow.  She would not be a boy.  Never again.

On the other hand… what if the MID allowed her to declare as a girl?  A high-level international passport that clearly identified her as female.  That would be a marvelous token.  It would simplify so much – her driver’s license, credit cards, bank accounts, jobs.

The next question was: Should Jinn get a MID?

Again, there was the same set of advantages and disadvantages, except that there would be no gender confusion there.  She thought that perhaps she would get one for Jinn, but not admit the presence of Jann.  What about Lazuli?  Would her gargoyle-self be sticking around long enough to need a separate identity?  If so, then she could cross that bridge later.  Certainly, Lazuli wasn’t going to class.  Until she needed any of the school services, it seemed like a question that could be put off.

---

She was hoping to discuss it all at lunch.  The whole crowd was there, with even some of the their more distant friends like Harry Wolfe dropping in to sit beside Billie.  They had to push three tables together, and made a fair-sized crowd, but it was a little too big for the intimate and serious discussion Jade had hoped for.  Everyone looked at each other too calmly, discussing trivia and silly campus events, rather than dealing with the looming issue that they all feared to broach.  Then Harry’s girlfriend arrived and plopped into the open seat next to him.

Harry gestured around the table.  “Samantha Everheart, allow me to introduce you to my friends.”  He then proceed to go around the table, introducing everyone.

Jade spared half a glance for the new girl, a medium tall blonde of about Billie’s age, or perhaps a year older.   Her face and body said sophomore, but there was a maturity to her attitude and body language that said “senior” or maybe even older.  The girl didn’t show the ultra-violet glow of an active mutant power, but sometimes the most powerful kids never showed a glimmer of power until the last moment.  Jade hoped that Billie wouldn’t be too upset.  She didn’t know whether Billie considered Harry as anything more than a friend, but they did share a dance class and Billie might be a little upset if Harry started spending all his time with the blonde centerfold girl.

Harry’s next announcement was decidedly odd.  “Samantha is moving into the tower in Kane Hall.  She’ll be a floor or two below the observatory.  She hired Fran and me to help turn the empty room into an apartment.”

Toni asked the question they were all suddenly wondering, “How is it you rate an apartment when all we have are dorm rooms?  You look like a senior to me.  Is one of your parents on the board to the school?”

The blonde brushed her hair back, as if she were unused to the way it drifted across her face.  “Actually, I’m going to be working here.”

“Teacher’s assistant?” Toni asked, with sudden interest.  “What do you have that got you a job here at Whateley?”

Jade wondered if Toni was considering the same option.  Toni was her sensei, but Jade had more hours of old-fashioned training with martial arts.  She knew when to listen to Toni’s advice on the higher arts and deeper truths – and when to ignore her sensei’s fumblings as she struggled with simple movements and dealing with beginners.  In Jade’s opinion, Toni sensei wasn’t yet ready to become a general instructor.

But Samantha’s reply was unexpected.  “I have a lot of military experience.  I start working in security Monday.”

Toni turned to the rest of the table and gave a stage whisper, “Oh man!  It’s the cops!”

Jade wondered if the blonde was serious.  Sometimes the other girls pulled jokes on her for being the youngest and most naïve.  Was this something like that?  But then Jamie joined them, and spotting Samantha, burst out with, “Oh, don’t tell me… look, that bully thing happened a couple weeks ago, and none of those guys have dared to come near me since then.  Really!  You can tell Ms. G that I’m fine and I really, REALLY, don’t need a babysitter at school!”

Samantha was as puzzled as Jade was, but apparently Jamie had recognized the blonde right off as a bodyguard type.

“Oh, you’re not here for me?” Jamie belatedly realized.

Nikki shook her head, “No, Jamie, this is Sam.  She’s working for security.”

Jamie gave a suspicious look at Billie and Sara. “What happened?”

Billie scowled back.  “Nothing happened!  Harry’s just helping her move in!”

“Oh.”

“So I know it’s not something asked in mixed company, Samantha,” Nikki probed, “but how old are you?”

The blonde gave a wry smile as she unscrewed the lid off a mason jar.  The harsh reek of raw alcohol was immediately apparent.  The blonde chugged down half the jar, wiped her mouth, and smiled innocently at them.  “I’m forty-seven years old.”

That was a bit weird, but then, they’d seen worse.  Jade herself was older than she looked – so was that loner kid James.  And one of the teachers, Circe, was rumored to actually be a couple of thousand years old.  Jade wasn’t sure she believed that, but a forty-seven year old teenager – that was possible.  It would certainly explain why Samantha conveyed adult attitudes and body language.

“I guess it is origin time,” the blonde conceded.  “Up until about a week ago, I was working at a research lab in Washington State.  There was an attack.  After I had taken care of some of the guards, I went into the lab to check on a doctor friend of mine.  She had died.  I started coughing and went home feeling sick.  Later I woke up looking like this.  After some things happened, I ended up here with a job to work in security and a chance to work on some personal issues. “

Jade nodded to herself.  She’d heard a couple of other stories about nanotech accidents.  There were a couple of victims that suddenly found themselves reverted to their prime, like Samantha.  The girl was lucky that she hadn’t ended up with new limbs or mechanical borg parts growing out of her, like some of the accidents.

“Any of you interested in earning some extra cash?” the girl continued.

“Most of us have already gotten jobs through student services or are on a scholarship with living allowances,” Toni said.

Jade wasn’t going to miss an opportunity – not when she was so far in debt.  “I’ll be busy today, but can my sister help?”  School let out early today, so Jinn would only miss one class.  It was the Powers Theory lab, and she was always afraid that Mrs. Bohn would insist on retesting her, and moving her classification up to TK-3.  She could afford to miss that, especially if it meant more money.

“I’ll take all the help I can get.  When will she be available?”

“She could skip Powers Theory Lab,” Jade offered.  “Since school lets out early, she’d only miss one class.  So she could start right away, and work as late as you like."

Samantha didn’t sound that enthusiastic.  “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble for skipping classes…”

“Fran and I are skipping a couple of classes,” Harry pointed out.  “And Jinn might be pretty useful.  She floats, so she could help with the ceiling work.  And she might be good if we need to fish any cable through the ceiling or floor.”

Samantha nodded.  “Sounds good.  Tell her to meet me at my place in Kane Hall after lunch.”

---

She only had one more class that day, civics.  She missed Word Processing (which was no great loss) and martial arts (which she did regret).  Ito Sensei seemed pleased with her in both forms.  In her physical body, he consistently complimented her on her dedication and drive.  She wasn’t anywhere near providing a challenge for the tougher students, but her movements were starting to reach that magical state where they just came, without conscious direction.  She was just beginning to master the basics enough that she could tell that she was on the edge of being able to act and react, without stumbling over having to think through all her movements.  And even better, she’d been taught for years to center herself, channel her breathing, and focus her energy into her ki.  But now, Toni Sensei (who was assisting Ito Sensei, more and more often), said that there was actually something happening there.  She was beginning to show the first sparks of a genuinely focused ki.  So far, the most she was able to do was to make surprisingly solid punches and kicks (and even that wasn’t reliable), but it was real progress!

Martial arts had gotten just as fun for her as Jinn.  Ever since her breakthrough with the punching bag, a month ago, she’d been coming up with more and more tricks and techniques.  As Jinn, she’d stopped even trying to master her ki, or to maintain proper forms or movements.  Instead, she and Ito Sensei seemed to have come to an understanding.  What she did wasn’t the art – not as he knew it – but it was mayhem.  Jinn had been happily handed off to Tolman Sensei, who was using her as a foil for all the tougher students in class.  She couldn’t be hurt, so she made an excellent sparring partner.  In turn, many of them couldn’t be hurt by her, which was an open invitation to become ever more devious and creative in her effort to use every dirty trick, surprise gadget, and underhanded ploy that she could devise.  Her strength wasn’t enough to overpower any of them, but she was learning to compensate.  They, in turn, were learning to respect her, and to be prepared for “unfair” surprises.

As she trudged up to the second floor, her mind was split between the missed martial arts class, the thought of her MID, and the dread/anticipation of tonight’s session with the BIT-slicer.  That’s why Bunny caught her by surprise, with a tackle from behind.

You could have warned me!  She mentally sent to Jann.

The point of these exercises is to make YOU more alert, not to make ME into your permanent watchdog, the enveloping sprit answered back.

Jade grumbled, knowing that it was pointless to argue with herself.  “Hi, Bunny, what’s up?”

Bunny was hopping with excitement.  “That line needs a ‘Doc’ and a carrot to come off properly.  Oh, never mind!  I’m done!  I’m done!  You gotta come test it!”

It took Jade a moment to switch gears and realize what the bouncy girl was talking about.  When the message finally penetrated, her eyes lit up.  “The missiles?  I thought you wouldn’t be done until Friday!”  But her glee was tempered.  “Buuuny… you know how far behind I am on my payments.  Jinn’s off right now helping this new security girl, Samantha, but still…”

“Yeah, yeah, forget about that!  I finally got you some real STOPPING POWER.  Just step into my lab.”

“Jeez, talk about straight lines.”

They closed the door behind them as Bunny moved to her desk.  On it, a large egg, about three feet high, was putt-putting away.  There were sections of the shell popped open, and it was slowly delivering small baby eggs out one side.  Each baby egg was the size and general appearance of an olive.  Overhead, Sniffer Egg was patrolling around like a round helicopter, looking for unwanted eavesdroppers.

Bunny put on her “Professor Bunny” glasses, and Jade knew she was in for a lecture.  Bunny didn’t need the glasses, but somehow she got the idea that they made her look like a professor.  As if professors wore rhinestone-studded glasses.

Bunny touched an egg and it projected an image on the wall.  That section of the wall now looked like a whiteboard.

“Eh-hem.  This,” she drew an almost-oval “is a classic egg shape.  As we have discussed before, the finest, strongest, most secure shape in nature.”  She scribbled, coloring in the inside.  “Now we fill it with high explosives!  But, this is still completely safe, because the explosive mix is not complete!  It still needs a catalyst.  This catalyst will trigger a violent exothermic reaction, to wit, an explosion.”

Professor Bunny pulled out a small pen and extended it into a three-foot long pointer, which she used to tap the board.  “Und where would ve put zis catalyst?”

“Uh…”

“Think EGG.”

“The yolk?”

“Bingo!”  She drew another oval in the center.  “This is actually another egg shape, held in the exact center by shock-absorbent standoffs, and it contains a variety of creamy fillings.  In this case, the catalyst.  In other cases, a small explosive charge.  Finally, at the pointy end of this ‘yolk’ is the primer.  A set of tiny disks separated from one another by an inert gel.  Pressed together (which requires about a pound of force), they make a small bang, either cracking the yolk or igniting it, as the case may be.  Now, because of the shape, and the strength of the egg, and the shock-absorbers and cushioning fluid, these won’t ignite on impact.  I’ve tested, and it takes in excess of 500 Gs to trigger these accidentally.”  She picked up a ‘olive’ and threw it to the ground, as hard as she could.  “See?  Nothing.  But imagine if a TK was to squeeze these parts together – BANG.”

“So, they’re tiny little grenades?”  Jade was impressed.  This was exactly what she’d been hoping for!

“Grenades?  Pffft.  I haven’t even STARTED describing my brilliance yet.  I promised you missiles, you get missiles!”  She went back to her drawing and sketched in a small cuff around the equator.  “Remember those old fashioned paper swords?  A little spiral of paper, so when you flicked it forward, it telescoped out like a lightsaber?  This is sort of the same thing.  It telescopes backward, making a tube.  There’s little fins at the bottom, but you’ll have to hold them in place with TK.  The best part is the dust that I’ve put in around the paper.  On contact with air, it exhibits a temporary but significant expansion, resulting in a grayish cloud.”  She tossed the ‘olive’ to Jade.  “Try it out.  This one’s just a red color-cloud, not an explosive.”

Jade looked at the tiny black egg, still not quite understanding.  “Is it… a rocket?”

Bunny leaned forward.  “Technically, I supposed you’d call it an RPG – that’s Rocket Propelled Grenade, not role playing game.  But I prefer to call it a mini-missile!  The best part is, it’s a complete FAKE.  Look, you cast Jann into it.  She takes an olive and flies off.  At the same time, she unfolds the paper cuff and pops up the fins.  At the same time, she slowly leaks out some of the powder.  This makes it LOOK like you’ve just shot off a missile, which is zooming around on some sort of super-advanced targeting system, and leaving a trail of exhaust behind it.  And when the missile approaches its target, BOOM!  All the evidence is destroyed.  Meanwhile, Jann is instantly back in your head, and you can cast her into another missile.  Since these things are tiny, you can carry hundreds of them!  Who needs a gun when you can shoot off self-guided missiles?  Try it out!”

Jade opened the door and stepped into the hallway.  “Uh, not that I don’t trust you, but…”  She held out the ‘olive’ and dropped it on the floor, cringing back.  There was no reaction.

“Don’t drop it, throw it!  As hard as you can!”

Jade did.  There was still no reaction.  Then she held it in her hand and charged Jann into it.  On impulse, she gave a voice command for effect.  “Missile: fire!”

The olive seemed to launch off of her palm.  Before she could blink, there was a five-inch long flat-black missile with a slightly bulbous nose cone.  She could see the tail fins, and it seemed to be propelled along by a powerful propellant which left smoke in its wake.  The mini-missile zoomed down to the girls’ end of the hall, at the sunroom past Ayla’s room.  At the last second, it made a right-angle turn and vanished from sight.  They heard a voice yelling from the opposite hallway.

“What the hell?  Hey, no missiles indoors!”

Knowing what was coming, Jade turned to look behind her.  A moment later, the missile made a right-angle turn and came barreling toward them.  It seemed to fly erratically, spiraling and twisting unpredictably.  It shot toward them surprisingly quickly, then flew past them and exploded, two doors down.  The explosion sounded like a loud cap pistol, and produced an opaque red cloud that expanded to fill the hallway.

Bunny turned to her with a hopeful expression.  “So, whaddya think?”

“FanTASTIC!  Oh, and flying it was pretty damn cool, too!  So what kind of loads do you have?”

“Well, I was going to talk to you about that.”  Bunny led the way back into her room, to the large egg on her desk.  “This is ‘Betty Boom’, my latest egg.  She’s the reloader.  Well, ‘constructor’ would be more accurate.  Once I get her set up, each egg should be pretty cheap to make.  We’re only talking about fifty cents worth of materials for each one.”

“Hey, can I make a request?”

“Sure.”

“Well…” Jade fidgeted for a moment.  “The black ‘olives’ are cool, but it’s really more of Shroud’s style than mine.  If I’m going to use these, could you make them more colorful?  I’m thinking, some bright yellow, and orange –“

“How about stripes and spots?  Or stars?  I could color-code the loads.”

“Solid colors would be okay,” Jade decided, “just so long as they’re pretty.  And don’t worry about matching them to loads – I’ll be able to figure that out by ‘feel’.  I think I’ll probably cast Jann into the whole batch at once, and she’ll drop everything but the load we want.”

“I like it!  Now, we’ll have to test the real loads at one of the underground test ranges.  For fillers, I was thinking…”

And although there was no martial arts class that afternoon, it still turned out to be delightfully destructive.

46: If at first you don’t succeed…

Whateley Academy, secret underground lab

November 22, Wednesday evening, 7:13 PM

Removing the permanently glued-on appliance had been difficult, but nowhere near the challenge of dragging Billie back into the underground lab.  Jade could almost feel the other girl’s morbid shiver at the thought of the vulgar pawing they would both receive.  Billie had protested, with that flay-the-nerve-ends vulgarity that never actually descended to swearing or true obscenity.  It was one of Billie’s more unique talents.  But in the same way that Jade could sense the other girl’s fear and dread about the procedure itself, she could also feel Billie’s absolute determination to help her roommate.  It helped her, as she literally dragged Billie forward, knowing somehow that the taller girl needed the excuse of being physically coerced.  As if Jade could have pulled Tennyo against her will!

So once again, they had entered the rock-walled underground laboratory.  Once again, electrode contact points were painted on intimate areas of her body, and once again, she was strapped into the strange, insulated rubbery outfit.

The new machinery on the wall indicated how hard the devisors had been working, in preparation for this second trial.

This time, Rafael Eagan strapped a new box over her abdomen.

“What’s that?”

“Instrument package.  It’ll tell us if we’re on the right track.”

Behind her back, she heard Billie cussing up a storm.  Jade ignored the words, and reached for the feel of the emotions behind the cursing.  Form and expectations aside, how annoyed was Billie?  From what she sensed, the answer was, quite a bit.  And still, her roommate went through this for her.  Not once, but twice.

Against her back, she felt the thud of a final clamp being snapped into place.  Then Eagan and Kew stepped down from the revolving platform.

“Okay, Knick-knack.  They’re both locked up tight here.”  Both the devisors moved back behind a screen that looked like armored plate from the hull of a battleship.

“Hold on, girls,” Knick-knack called out in his deep voice.  “We’re going to need to up the power a bit on this one.  It may sting a little.”  Then, “Initiating rotation.”

As with Monday’s session, the platform began to spin and the lights shining on her began to flick on and off, like strobes.  Although she knew she was spinning, the strobe effect gave her a glimpse of the room beyond, always frozen in the same spot.

“Excitation current on.”

The bite of tiny electric shocks began dancing up and down her sides.  They traced down the back of her legs, as if following the seam on an old-style stocking.  Her fingers and toes tingled, and she could feel her earlobes.

“Commence template collection.”

Again, the blue glow began to form.  It was strobe-frozen the way the rest of the room was.  At first, it was just a fuzzy fog that surrounded her body, but it quickly solidified into a shell around her.  She could see transparent blue breasts forming in front of her, and felt as much as saw that outline that was both more mature and more feminine than her own.

---

In the control both, all three devisors studied newly improved readouts.

“We have a physical mis-alignment,” Knick knack noted.

“I can correct,” Eagan announced.

Kew adjusted a readout.  “I have template resolution at maximum.  Stage three filtration: all exotic elements masked.”

“Lock it in.”

“Done!”

“Sensitize recipient!”

Knick-knack pointed to his own readout.  “There.  The lower waveform is her energy body.  See?  They tell me our tests helped prove that the energy-body is a shapeshifter.  The physical template has been pushed way up in potential to here.”

“What would cause that?” Eagan wondered, scratching at his sideways-jutting hair.

Knick-knack shrugged.  “You’ve got me.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  But with that direct power tap from the reactor…”

“That’s an awful lot of power,” Kew cautioned.  “Is it safe?”

Knick-knack gave a demented laugh.  “Safe?  Since when is being a devisor… safe?”  He reached over and snapped closed the master switch.

“Initiate transfer!”

---

The stage was spinning fast enough that she was barely clinging to the edge of consciousness.  A motor started in the back plate she was strapped to, raising her up until her feet dangled above the floor.  The transparent energy-breasts were now superimposed precisely above her own flat chest.

“Sensitize recipient!”

Now actual arcs of electricity began to play over her body.  Looking down, she saw the hollow inside of the oversized pushup bra-strap they’d wrapped around her.  Her own flat chest didn’t come close to filling the pre-shaped cups.  Along the inside of the rubber device, a host of electrical contacts stood, removed by inches from her own skin, and the liquid metal painted onto her skin.  But now those contacts emitted arcs of current – arcs that played like lightning across her flat chest, piercing like needles through her tiny nipples.

Jade clenched her teeth and refused to scream.

“Initiate transfer!”

The strobe flashes changed, becoming more powerful.  Each time she spun into position, it pumped energy into her.  The blue energy body was being crudely forced into her physical body.

Now the pain arrived.  On the rack, that medieval torture device, a victim was stretched until their bones were pulled apart at the joints.  In contrast, Jade was being pulled apart molecule by molecule, as her bones were stretched longer.  She felt her leg bones being pulled longer, forced to become longer.  Her arms pulled out.  Not from their sockets, it was as if ever single part of her arm was being exploded larger.

She screamed aloud, but had the strength of will to add a shout at the end, “KEEP GOING!”

This time, she could tell, something was happening.

---

Billie nearly jumped out of her skin at the scream.  Sure, the damn shocks were hardly comfortable.  She didn’t mind the spinning, of course, but the flickering lights were irritating.  Then she heard Jade scream, and nearly pulled out of the cuffs and clamps.  But the scream was followed by a “KEEP GOING!”

Reluctantly, she held her place.

---

“Sounds painful,” Eagan commented.

Knick-knack grinned.  “Can’t make an omelet…”

“Trouble,” Kew said.  “Still not getting signal penetration through sigma band.”

“More power,” Knick-knack decided.

Eagan winced, as the screams increased.

---

Now her back was being broken.  She could feel it.  Someone had their knee in the small of her back, and they were shoving her spine through her belly.  At the same time, they were choking her to death around that same belly.  Giant hands were squeezing her like a toothpaste tube, and she could feel herself squirting out into longer arms and legs.  At the same time, her legs were being pulled out – sideways, as if a giant had grabbed her on each side of her hips, and was pulling her legs out of their sockets.

She screamed again, even louder, but as her head thrashed in agony her eyes looked down.

Her chest was… larger.  Her nipples had grown to double their original size, and were still growing.  And her chest itself was swelling, rising like bread in an oven, her breasts swelling as they struggled to fill the cups of her bandeau.

Her screams continued, but changed in tone.  Her throat and voice were changing, slightly, even as her emotions changed from pain to exultation.

The electricity continued to torture her nipples, to the point where they began to swell in reaction.  From their tiny, wart-like beginnings, they began to grow and expand, swelling like popcorn kernels about to explode.  She turned her head down, staring at her chest, and saw with her own eyes how her nipples were changing.  As they had when she’d first tried hormones, the small ring of flesh immediately surrounding each nipple, her areola, had darkened and thickened.  As she watched, the areola grew, increasing in diameter, thickening, and becoming darker.  Now a collection of fine bumps began to show, in a random ring through the disk of her thickening areola.  Each of those small bumps was as exquisitely sensitive as her boy-nipple had been.  As for the nipples themselves – they had size and structure.  She’d always thought they would be round little lumps.  But her nipples weren’t quite round in profile.  They were more squared-off.  The center was dimpled, pushed in almost, as if there was a duct there that would release its fluid.

Milk, she realized.  That’s where the milk comes out!  And that was why girl-nipples were larger, and shaped differently than boy-nipples.  They had to be functional.

But milk production required more than a large, functional nipple.  As she continue to watch, her neck straining painfully forward, she saw her chest beginning to develop.  Her nipples and areola were already quite large, now the flesh underneath became slightly puffy.  Already, she was losing the strict outline of her ribcage.  Now, her chest visibly swelled.  Like molehills growing into mountains, her nipples rose atop peaks of her own flesh, as Jade watched her breasts form and grow.

She was alarmed by her initial shape – far too narrow and pointy.  Then she began to fill in from the sides, and she began to take on a more conical shape.

The inside of the rubber “cups” over her chest was supposed to be the size of an A-cup.  Although she certainly didn’t fill the cup yet, as she grew her nipple finally brushed the inside surface, directly touching the electrode there.

It was like a icicle stab which turned into a soothing warmth.  With direct contact, the transforming energies poured into her like a flood.  Quickly now, her breasts continued their growth.  She filled the A-cup, and then more.  Her soft, tender new flesh began to strain at the rubbery bindings, stretching the rubber as her chest expanded.  She had no idea what she would look like unrestrained, but she could feel the soft warmth of her flesh straining at the rubbery cups, and her contours now were lush and rounded.

---

Kew reported her visual inspection.  “Morphing in progress!  I’m seeing changes in the arms and legs, height coming into alignment.  Waist and hips, yes, all secondary sexual characteristics are aligning.  We’re approaching match.”

“Let that be a lesson to you,” Knick-knack instructed.  “If at first you don’t succeed, crank up the power.”

“Hit it with a bigger hammer?” Eagan queried, in amusement.

“If you like.”  Knick-knack activated another monitor.  “I’m beginning the ultrasound.  I think we’re ready for the primary sexual characteristics.”

Eagan studied the ultrasound monitor.  “Nothing yet.  Just intestines.  I’m getting a good readout on the kidneys.”

“Primary sexual characteristics… now!”

---

The change energies were jabbing through her everywhere, like tiny knives of energy.  It felt like every cell in her body was being touched by the blue energy.  But she could see the glowing outline of Billie’s body.  More and more, her own body seemed to be matching that outline.  Then something changed.  She felt the pain begin to ebb, before it gathered together in a single point, seeming to settle within the center of her hips.  It was in the middle of her abdomen, perhaps five inches below her belly button, but inside.  The pain swelled into an orb of agony, as large as an orange.  Tendrils of energy reached out from the orb, traveling to her penis and reaching down the length of it.  Tendrils like tiny filaments stretched out and over and through her boy-sack, wrapping around the small balls inside.

Then, with an abrupt yank, the tendrils tightened.  She felt her testicles yanked up into her body, as if pulled by piano wires.  The electrical fire filled her penis and burned.  She couldn’t tell whether it was being pulled in or simply burned away.  Either way, she didn’t care.  It was so painful that she could no longer even scream, but this was it!  She was becoming a true, genuine girl!

---

“What do we have on ultrasound?”

“Nothing yet – wait.  Two small bodies… they might be ovaries.  They aren’t forming in place, they seem to be traveling upward.”

“Interesting.  Anything else?”

“Something stating to form.  It might be the beginning of a uterus.”

---

The orb of fire was now blazing, pulling all of her mind and all of her attention into the sphere inside the cage of her hips.  Her penis was gone, burned away, and a line of fire flickered back and forth along the length of her crotch.  Abruptly, there was a coldness.  A cold, hard metal rod pressed against her, at her very undermost region.  Electrical fire flickered at the tip of the rod, changing her, burning away the flesh that obstructed it, until it abruptly slipped forward and the cool hard shaft was suddenly inside her.  It was only an inch, but it was actually inside her!

She reveled in the violation.  The was proof!  She was becoming a real girl.  Her screams transitioned abruptly into hysterical laugher, as she imagined Pinocchio.  Only she was becoming a real girl.  And she couldn’t help imagining the puppet’s nose, there beneath her, growing longer and longer as it penetrated into her.  “Lie, puppet, lie!” she shouted feverishly.

Without warning, it felt like she wet her pants.  She suddenly felt moisture down there, and the cold, hard rod slid into her even farther.  All along the length of the rod, electrical fire sparked outward, filling her with sensation.  She was supremely aware of her own flesh and how that flesh had been shaped into a moist tunnel to contain the rod, now thrust nearly six inches deep into her body.

In time with the pulsations of the strobe gun, the rod began to emit pulsating waves of energy from its tip, from the deepest point within her.  Those waves washed over the burning orb within the cage of her hips, until the orb and rod seemed to be performing some type of searing duet between them, where flesh was first burned away and then reformed in a miraculous new configuration.

---

“Yes, there we go.  That’s all major structures!  If those are the fallopian tubes, that must be the uterus.  There’s the vaginal barrel, with our probe pressed right up against the cervix.”

Kew winced.  “That can’t be comfortable.”

Knick-knack chuckled.  “Not unless high voltage turns you on.”

“Not there it doesn’t.”

---

And then the fire’s work was done, and it receded.  The electricity was still there, playing over her sensitized skin, caressing her entire body from delicate ankles up her long legs, past curved hip and slender waist, up to feminine shoulder and graceful neck.

The first time she’d been so sure she was changed.  This time, she had three sources of proof to guarantee that she truly had.  First, she could look down, and see the mounds of her own bosom, pressed tight into the rubber brassier.  Second, she could feel her waist.  With every breath, with every small movement, she was keenly aware that her middle was smaller around than it had ever been.  Lastly, there was a stiff, cold, metal rod inside her.  It was a sensation utterly unlike anything she’d felt before.

As the stage spun down, the current diminished and then finally stopped entirely.  Two silvery robots drifted forward and began disconnecting the straps that held her tight to the rotating stage.  With the last cuff removed, she pulled her hands and feet free of the gloves and boots and dropped to the stage, clad in only a rubbery black bikini.

She was wobbly, and had to put her hand out to steady herself.  She’d grown vastly taller, from her own diminutive four-foot-nine to Billie’s towering five-foot-three.  She stood, feeling how her longer legs were also set wider apart in her larger hips.

Billie came floating around from the opposite side, gliding in to stand in front of her, giving her a quick once-over.

Jade was amazed to be looking her roommate in the eye.  She had always been so much shorter than Billie.  Then her eye drifted down.

Their figures were the same.  Their curves were the same.  She didn’t know about her face, but Billie seemed to be nodding at her in satisfaction.  Jade tried to smile at her roommate, but for some reason her mouth was already stretched as wide as it would go.

“Looking good, Jade.  I guess you’ve finally grown up, huh?”

She nodded manically.  “Is it real?  Tell me I’m not just imagining it!”

Billie smirked.  “Nope, that’s the real deal.  In fact, they must have amplified my figure or something, because I’m sure I don’t have that many curves.”

Jade charged herself into a speck, then flew away to get perspective, a look back at her face, and a third-person view that compared them.  After a fast look, she popped back.

“You’re too modest, oneesan.  You’ve just never seen yourself from this perspective.  We’re exactly the same.”

“You’ve still got your face and hair, except maybe a touch more grown up, and your ears don’t stick out like this.”

Before Jade’s eyes got too watery, she hugged her oneesan as hard as she could.  “Thank you!  Thank you, oneesan!  I’ll never forget this, never!”

“Yeah, I guess.  C’mon.  Unless rubber panties turn you on, let’s get into some real clothes.

Before they could reach the changing room, Knick-knack intercepted them.

“Superb!” he boomed.  “It looks like a complete success!  However, I need to caution you…”

Jade suddenly felt the smile slip from her face.

“…since this procedure is so new, we still don’t know what the long-term implications are.  If you really are a shifter, you might lose this shape in as little as twenty minutes.  More likely, you’d lose it when you sleep.  If you last the night, I’d think you’d be stable, particularly considering the solidity of your template.  Whatever happens, keep us informed.”

Jade was briefly sobered, as she returned to the dressing room.  The thought that she might lose her dream, so soon after achieving it, was too much to contemplate.  So she didn’t.  She just concentrated on getting dressed.

Her panties barely fit.  They were tight, but for the first time ever, there was no extra “junk” down below.  Once she had the panties on, she couldn’t help running a hand over her smooth contours.  Smooth and flat down the front, between her legs, and all the way back!  Well, not exactly “flat.”  Her flesh swelled slightly, with puffy, fatty lips to each side protecting and hiding the feminine gap between.  She had felt these contours before.  She wore clothes as Jinn, and she’d dressed herself often enough, even feeling her curves and contours.  But not like this!  Each bit of flesh had some new sensation to it.  And the sensations weren’t restricted to just the private bits, either.  It was the swell of a hip, the narrow dip of her waist, the play and movement of her longer and more graceful fingers.

Her old bra didn’t fit at all.  The band measurement wasn’t that different – her ribs were perhaps an inch larger around – but she’d added at least two inches of bust.  Which was to say that she’d had none before, and she was a solid B cup now – if she matched Billie.  She finally decided that it was pointless for a substantial B-cup like herself (she posed for herself once or twice, just to enjoy the effect) there was no way that she could wear a teeny old triple-A bra.  So she discarded it, and reached for her blouse.

That was the wrong size, too.  Buttoning up left her loose around the waist, and overstraining her top.  The buttons were tight, in danger of being pulled loose.

“I guess that’s why they give us a blazer,” she said to herself.  She put that off until she was finished dressing.

Despite her wider hips, her pleated skirt was loose around the waist.  She spent a moment readjusting the elastic waistband, then slipped the skirt back on.  It had far more flare than she’d ever managed with her boy-body.

It’s a shame I didn’t have this body for yesterday’s hot tub party, she thought.  But then the girls would have been definitely checking her out.  Now that she was a genuine-for-sure girl, she paused to consider, trying to determine her feelings on that matter.  The answer was… she still didn’t know.

Her socks fit, but her shoes didn’t.  She decided to leave them both off and carry herself home.  She couldn’t afford to ruin a pair of socks.

The jacket caused more problem than she expected.  Rather than concealing her new breasts, it seemed to squeeze and push them into greater prominence.  Jade shrugged and cast Jann-sensei into her clothes.  She was gently lifted until her weight was only a few pounds.  She’d done this before, but she immediately noticed a few differences that she’d never noticed before.  First, a lot of the lift necessarily came at her hips and crotch.  Even with Jann’s gentle touch, the lift was now much more comfortable than when she’d been “tucked”.  Second, she seemed to be getting extra lift at her boobs.  While she had to admit that they did provide substantial handles, it felt very odd, and she wasn’t sure she needed quite that much support.

Lofted like that, she didn’t need shoes.  It also helped as she virtually skipped over to her roommate.

“Oneesan!”  She waved, manically.  “Let’s go!  We need to get back to Poe!”

Billie turned around and almost choked when she saw Jade.  “Urk.  You aren’t going out like that, are you?”

Jade shrugged, scrunching her shoulders in together.  It was a feminine gesture that she’s used often enough in the past.  She hadn’t fully appreciated how it needed to be modified once you had boobs.

“Whoa!” Jade muttered.  “Another reason to wear a bra, or slip, or something.  To keep you from sliding against your shirt like that.  Weird.  It is always like this?”

Billie gritted her teeth as she dragged her roommate away from the devisors, who were now watching them closely.  “We’ll talk about it back in the room, okay?”

“Okay!”

The older girl didn’t waste any time, as she dragged Jade out of the underground complex and back through campus toward Poe.  Some girls might have worried about being alone on campus after dark, but no one with more than half a brain was going to bother Tennyo.  Jade was gleeful and buoyant (in more ways than one) as her roommate pulled her along like a balloon.

All the while, Billie maintained her own constant stream of disgruntled muttering.  “I don’t see how they can sell you a skirt like that!  It’s indecent, that’s what it is!  Which is just the word I’d use for the way you’re wearing that jacket – no, don’t take it off!  Gah!  It’s like you give a kid their fondest wish and they go all loopy on you!”

“It’s because I’m so happy, oneesan!  I’ve seen the best, prettiest girl on campus, and now I practically get to be her!  Who wouldn’t be happy?”

“I hate to burst your bubble, kiddo, but we’ve both seen Nikki.  In the buff and dressed to the nines, both.  And Sara was drawing the eyes of everything out there equipped with a Y chromosome, and more than a few without, even before she shifted into her new ‘more fully packed’ stackage.  There’s no way on earth I can even compete with those big guns swinging around.”

Jade spontaneous grab-hugged her roommate, releasing again almost immediately.  Another advantage! she realized.  Boobs make hugs so much more squeezably nicer!  Out loud, she said, “If you say so, oneesan.  But you know they’ve both got magic, which makes it kind of unfair, doesn’t it?  And even if I now have your wonderful, fabulous curves, there’s no way I could compete either, because most of what makes you so super-great is just you.  The person you are and the way you move and the way you talk and everything about you!”

Billie snorted.  “Geez, you ought to get an award for the sincere delivery.  Maybe I should keep you around all the time.  You do wonders for my self-confidence, you know that?”

Jade grabbed Billie’s arm like a leech.  With telekinetic lift, she only weighed a couple of pounds, so at this point anyone could have waved her around like a signal flag.  In a normal town she would have left bugged-out eyes and fainting pedestrians in her wake.  Here at Whateley, everyone that saw them just chalked it up to Tennyo’s strength, and ignored it.

Jade, in her new role as over-sized bracelet, said, “You don’t really have any problems with self-confidence, do you oneesan?”

Billie carefully settled her roommate back to the ground, before replying.  “I don’t know.  Maybe sometimes, I guess.”  They’d reached the front door of Poe, and Billie paused, waiting until they were inside before continuing.  “Maybe that’s part of being a girl – thinking that you can always be just a little prettier, or built a little better, you know?  Sometimes it’s really hard to compete here in Whateley.”

“What is it really, oneesan?”

Billie paused, looking around the downstairs kitchen.  For the moment, no one was inside.  She pulled Jade in for a quick explanation.

“Look, I’ve only been a girl for about six months now.”

“Yeah?”

“Well, Toni and Nikki and Sara, and it seems like practically everybody, I mean, they all have relationships.  Boyfriends, girlfriends, Toni’s got both.  And they’re already kissing and who knows what?  And I know that Sara and at least three others have gone lots farther…

Jade beamed at her, the radiant confidence never even wavering.  “So?  What does any of that have to do with how fabulous YOU are?”

“Well… I’m not sure I’m ready for that.  I’m not sure I’ll every be ready for it.  Is there something wrong with me?”

Jade’s smile got even brighter.  “Billie’s got a secret!” she whispered.

“What?”

“I know your secret!”

“What are you talking about?”

Jade drifted up to her ear and whispered it.  “Oneesan’s a romantic!”

“What?  What does that have to do with anything?”

“Admit it!”  Jade shook a finger at her.  “You want someone who’s going to love you and appreciate you and think gooey thoughts and get stars in their eyes whenever they look at you.”

“Huh?”  Billie thought about it.

“Wow!  Imagine that!  The dread space pirate, the most feared girl in all the galaxy, and all she wants is for someone to bring her flowers and chocolates!  If I told anyone, your reputation would be RUINED!  Ha ha ha ha!”  With a gleam in her eye, she raced out of the kitchen and up the stairs to their floor.

Billie came right behind, shaking her fist.  “Oh, don’t you dare!  You’re going to be in so much trouble!”

But by the time they reached the “gurlzone” end of the hallway, they’d run into the entire crew, in the hallway.

“Jade?” Nikki asked, her jaw hanging open.

Jade bounced around like she only weighed two pounds.  “Yep yep yeppers!”

“Is that you?”  Toni traced an hourglass shape in the air.

Jade did a front flip followed by a back flip, bounding off the ceiling both times.  That was easy to do, since she was telekinetically weightless.  “Me, me, all me, in the fabulous FLESH!”

“Dragons and immortals,” Chou swore, “she actually did it!  It worked!”

“It worked!  It worked!” the hyper girl sang.  “And now I need more money than ever, so I can buy new clothes!  I mean, look at how this blouse fits!”  She yanked open her blazer.

Bunny had come into the hall now, and got a goofy grin on her face.

Toni just looked blank.  “Yeah… I see your problems, there.”

Jade suddenly had a manic gleam.  “I’ve got to go try on some clothes!  Oneesan, can I borrow one of your bras?  After all, we’re the exact same size now…”

Billie looked back with a look of terror on her face, before she was pulled into the room.

After the door slammed, the other girls were left staring at each other in stupefaction.

“…well…” Chou finally said, “she seemed pleased.”

Toni nodded.  “I never thought it would happen quite that quickly.  One moment she’s little and … uh … not so feminine.  Then an hour later, BOOM.”

“They should package that and sell it in salons,” Nikki suggested.  “They’d make a billion.”

Hank wandered up to them, with Sara following not too far behind.

“Hey, did you see the new girl?” he asked.  “Must be another mid-term transfer.  I only caught a glimpse of her, but she looked typically stacked.  Not that you ladies have anything to fear.”

Nikki scowled at him.  “Your transition seems just about complete.  You’re acquiring the classic pig behavior, right on schedule.”

“I like to be surrounded by beautiful women.  Sue me.  So who’s the new girl, and where’s she staying?  Aren’t we just about full up?”

Sara quietly joined them, leaning forward to hear the answer.

“That was Jade,” Chou said calmly.  “She seems to have… how to put it?”

 

“Blown away her little problem?” Toni suggested.

“Undergone some new ‘developments’?” Nikki offered.

“Grown herself a huge pair of hooters!” Ayla said, from behind them.

“Oh, delicately put,” Toni moaned.

Ayla shrugged.  “It’s an art.”

Oddly, Sara seemed less pleased.  “Are you sure about this?  From my research…”

Whatever doubts she might have expressed were silenced as Jade burst back into the hallway.

“Arg!  What am I supposed to wear to bed now?”  She was dressed in her old “Hello Kitty” nightgown.  Not only had she grown six inches taller, but her expanded measurements at chest and hip also used extra fabric.  So where the nightgown had formerly reached nearly to her knees, it was now within an inch of being completely indecent.  “See?  And if I have to reach for anything overhead—”

“Don’t look, Hank!”  Toni moved to cover his eye, while Hank moved to avoid Toni.

“Oops,” Jade said, suddenly dropping her arms.

“Well, that answers that little question,” Bunny decided, smugly.

Jade ducked back into her room, emerging a minute later wearing one of Jinn’s outfits – a black halter and extremely abbreviated black miniskirt.

“Did you know that  I have almost no clothes of my own that I can fit into?”

The crowd just stared at her.

“Funny, I’ve worn this outfit as Jinn, plenty of times, but I guess I never realized how … exposed … it was.  I mean, when I’m Jinn I don’t actually have any skin, and it’s not like I could feel the air on me anyway.”

“Takes some getting used to, doesn’t it?” Nikki asked, sympathetically.

“Yeah.  Even the halter.  I never used to have anything to halt, you know?”

Toni nodded.  “Been there, done that.  It’s kind of cool, isn’t it?”

“Well, yeah, it is a touch drafty.  The weather’s definitely getting too cold for an outfit like this – Oh!  You mean the whole…”  Jade’s grin, which had never entirely vanished, blossomed again into full force.  She suddenly threw her arms around the black girl to hug her.  “Why didn’t you tell me how great it was!  And hugs are so much better, with boobs to squish!  It’s like you’re putting an extra bit of yourself into the hug, isn’t it?”

Toni tried to pull the enthusiastic arms off her neck.  “Uh, yeah, sure.  It’s not something we talk about very much.”

“Congratulations, Jade,” Sara said it quietly, but there was a note of regret in her voice.

Jade looked at the pale white sex symbol and blew a raspberry.  “See?  I did it, and I didn’t even need to carry your child.”  She grinned.  “Not to say that I don’t plan to have babies someday.”  She moved forward and embraced the surprised demoness.  “Do you forgive me?”

Sara was dumbfounded.  “Forgive you?”

“For being mad at you.  For saying… really horrible things that I never meant.  I didn’t mean them, you know, not even when I was saying them.  It was just…”

Sara patted the back of the new girl.  “It was just that sometimes your needs are so strong that you’ll do almost anything.”

The Japanese girl nodded silently, while squeezing harder.

“Believe me, I always understood.  There’s nothing to forgive.”

“In any case,” Nikki decided, “welcome to puberty, even if it was on fast forward.  And now that your body is simmering with the good old feminine hormones, you’ll be as vulnerable to her as everyone else.”

Jade let go with one arm and leaned back, to get a better look at Sara.  “The whole sex thing?”

“Exactly,” Nikki confirmed.  “That’ll definitely perk you up, once li’l miss wet dream sends her lust rays your way.”

Sara scowled.  “That’s under control now!  It’s been weeks since I leaked any of that stuff.  Has anyone here met me in a wet dream in the past three weeks?”

Several hands went up, and Sara gasped.  “No, I swear, it’s under control.”

“Uh, I don’t think it was due to psychic powers or anything,” Ayla offered.  “Cause it didn’t feel that different from the dreams with any of the other girls in them.”

Billie looked up in alarm.  “What?”  Then she shook her head.  “No.  I don’t want to know.  It’s times like this that I’m glad I’m not a telepath.”

“I have to admit being curious about that,” Jade admitted, one arm still around the pale demon princess.  “Everyone gets so wigged out by that whole lust thing.  What’s with that?”

Sara winced.  “Well, like Nikki said, now that you’ve zoomed past puberty, you’re bound to begin finding out.”

“Aw, give me a clue!  I know you can do it.”  Jade gave her friend a pouty smirk.

“You can find out the natural way.”

“Aw, come on!  Just a little zap.”  She squeezed her breasts together like a porn star.  “Does it fill my bosom with sensual heat?”

Billie winced, and covered her ears.  “I do not know this person!  She’s just a stranger!”

“I don’t think I should…” Sara said.

“Dare you!  Just a little zap.”

Sara sighed.  “Just a little.”

Jade leaned forward eagerly.  “Okay, give it to me.”

Behind her, Toni moaned.  “So many straight lines!”

Sara paused, as if expecting a reaction, then frowned, as she saw Jade was still waiting.  “Maybe I’m shielding too tightly.  Well then…”

Behind, Jade, Toni wobbled for a moment and then slammed her knees together.  “Woo!”

Nikki just waved a hand in front of her face and scowled.

Ayla was showing prominent points beneath her blouse, and now the front of her pants began to strain, as well.  “I just remembered that I hadn’t had m