Difference between revisions of "User:Sturmovik/A Brand Neo Day"

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"Listen…John…I'm sending you home, you're not fit for duty," said the supervisor as he reached for his blue Customs and Border Patrol windbreaker. "This isn't WalMart, you have sick leave."
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"Listen…John…I'm sending you home, you're not fit for duty," said the supervisor as he reached for his blue Customs and Border Patrol windbreaker. "This isn't WalMart, we have sick leave."
  
 
   
 
   
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"Hey Matt, I'm sorry but Campisi’s looking about ready to keel over here. Can you cut your meal short and grab some of his high priority alerts? One of the radiation scanners flagged a container with some strange error code, but regs say we need a visual inspection of the cargo and a Geiger sweep. Can you deal with that while I handle this?"
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"Hey Matt, I'm sorry but Campisi’s looking about ready to keel over here. Can you cut your meal short and grab some of his high priority alerts? One of the radiation scanners flagged a container with some strange error code, but regs say we need a visual inspection of the cargo and a Geiger sweep."
  
 
   
 
   
Matt nodded. "You got it, I'll just put John's high priorities on top of my queue and do up the whole west lot." Matt put his half eaten lunch away, grabbed his own jacket, tablet computer and a radiation counter before heading off into the sea of rainbow cargo containers littering acres of covered and uncovered storage. International trade was picking up after the recession and with the constant budget fights in Congress, Matt's CPB office was having to do a lot more with less. Automated systems could keep most of the major threats at bay, but even the small percentage of visual inspection flags could overwhelm the inspectors if they happened at the wrong time.
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Matt nodded. "You got it, I'll just put John's high priority tickets in with the rest of mine and I’ll get going on them right away."
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Putting his half eaten lunch away, Matt grabbed his own jacket, tablet computer and a radiation counter before heading off into the sea of rainbow cargo containers littered across acres of covered and uncovered storage. International trade was picking up after the recession and with the constant budget fights in Congress, Matt's Customs and Border Patrol office was having to do a lot more with less. Automated systems could keep most of the major threats at bay, but even the small percentage of visual inspection flags could overwhelm the inspectors if they happened at the wrong time.
  
 
   
 
   
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Matt's eyebrows rose as he reached the container still mounted on a transfer trailer and parked in what the customs agents liked to call the "sin bin" lot just past the radiation scanner. Quickly scanning the exterior revealed nothing exceptionally worrisome so Matt went in for a closer look, cutting the seal on the latches and opening the door, Geiger counter at the ready. The inside was largely devoid of cargo with the empty space being filled with dunnage, but at the far end of the container was a strange mass of black metal, wires and tubes. In front was a strange greenish tube and Matt was Genre Savvy enough to recognize it as stasis chamber or that thing the alien monster would pop out of early on in the film. Poking about inside the containers without an unpack order was against protocol, but with a large stack of overfly containers blocking the surveillance mast Matt gave a quick look over his shoulder before pulling out his phone and venturing inside.
+
Matt's eyebrows rose as he reached the container still mounted on a transfer trailer and parked in what the customs agents liked to call the "sin bin" lot just past the radiation scanner. Quickly scanning the exterior revealed nothing exceptionally worrisome so Matt went in for a closer look, cutting the seal on the latches and opening the door, Geiger counter at the ready. The inside was largely devoid of cargo with the empty space being filled with dunnage, but at the far end of the container was a strange mass of black metal, wires and tubes. In front was a strange greenish tube and Matt was genre savvy enough to recognize it as stasis chamber or that thing the alien monster would pop out of early on in the film. Poking about inside the containers without an unpack order was against protocol, but with a large stack of overfly containers blocking the surveillance mast Matt gave only a quick look over his shoulder before pulling out his phone and venturing inside.
  
 
   
 
   
Whatever the prop was supposed to be it was of the highest quality with an astonishing attention to detail and extensive use of metal instead of the usual vacuumed formed plastic. Careful not to break anything Matt gave the piece a thorough "inspection", making careful documentation for later reference. Even from behind the device looked fully functional with a number heavy duty transparent tanks filled with colored liquids adding to the illusion. Climbing back around to the front Matt peeled back the tape securing the door and opened it up for a look inside. Even there no detail had been spared and Matt continued to take pictures knowing that whatever mega franchise the prop was attached to would probably have a hoard of rabid fans eager for some rare behind the scenes views. Losing himself in the moment Matt climbed inside to get a better angle on the floor. The green tinted door lazily swung shut hitting the unblocked latch with a rather ominous ka-thunk.
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Whatever the prop was supposed to be it was of the highest quality with an astonishing attention to detail and extensive use of metal instead of the usual vacuumed formed plastic. Careful not to break anything Matt gave the piece a thorough "inspection", carefully documenting the scene for later reference. Even from behind the device looked fully functional with a number heavy duty transparent tanks filled with colored liquids adding to the illusion. Climbing back around to the front Matt peeled back the tape securing the door and opened it up for a look inside. Finding detail even where no camera could see Matt continued to take pictures knowing that whatever mega franchise the prop was attached to would probably have a horde of rabid fans eager for some rare behind the scenes views. Losing himself in the moment Matt climbed inside to get a better angle on the floor. The green tinted door lazily swung shut hitting the unblocked latch with a rather ominous ka-thunk.
  
 
   
 
   
Matt turned around feeling panicked and claustrophobic. Pushing against the door he found it sealed tight and firm. Matt felt for his phone to reassure himself that he could always just put his tail between his legs and call for help, but Matt also knew that if he couldn't get out he might face disciplinary action and after the episode of John's sickness Matt doubted that he would be able to get cut much slack seeing as how his boss was ticked off due to the short staffing situation. Matt pushed harder, wary of breaking the prop, but considering a little damage in transit was probably more acceptable than a significant career sanction. At that moment he found himself bathed in a blue tinted LED light. He looked about wondering where the switch was when suddenly he began to hear a continuous low humming sound.
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Matt turned around feeling panicked and claustrophobic. Pushing against the door he found it sealed tight and firm. Feeling his phone Matt was reassured that he could always just call for help, but he also knew that getting caught dicking around on the job while the office was shorthanded was a recipe for disciplinary action. Matt pushed harder, wary of breaking the prop, but considering a little damage in transit was probably more acceptable than a significant career sanction. Without warning he found himself bathed in a blue tinted LED light. He looked about wondering where the switch was when suddenly he began to hear a continuous low humming sound.
  
 
   
 
   
The chamber began to fill with a cold thick liquid the consistency of maple syrup. Matt freaked out, kicking against the door with all his might to no avail. The liquid rose higher soaking his phone and lifting Matt off his feet. The pocket of air in the top of the chamber began to get smaller and smaller. Matt took one last desperate breath as he struggled to comprehend his situation. His lungs burned for fresh air and soon he had no choice but to exhale and then choke back in the liquid. He found himself getting sleepy then all went dark.
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Seconds later the chamber began to fill with a cold thick liquid the consistency of maple syrup. Matt freaked out, kicking against the door with all his might to no avail. The liquid rose higher soaking his phone and lifting Matt off his feet. The pocket of air in the top of the chamber began to get smaller and smaller. Matt took one last desperate breath as he struggled to comprehend his situation. His lungs burned for fresh air and soon he had no choice but to exhale and then choke back in the liquid. He found himself getting sleepy then all went dark.
  
 
   
 
   
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John looked like a zombie as he struggled toward the manual screening lot after having re-entered the container yard from one of the side entrances. He always hated infiltration work and could never understand how he kept managing to get sent to backwater realities in jobs that prevented him from having a good time. Opening a small metal container he drew out a vial and pressed it to his neck releasing a dose of antibiotic medical nanos into his bloodstream. Proper medical supplies were nearly impossible to obtain on “low tech”Earths even if the one he was on was on the verge of attaining Class III status and John cursed that Sureulian prostitute for making him burn one of his doses. He resolved having to to "teach" her to get bio filtered more frequently on his next visit to her station after his current contract had terminated. Reaching the container John swore again as he saw that his co-worker hadn't even bothered to close and re-seal the container after the inspection. Pulling up the container on his chart he saw that Matt had also neglected to fill in the results of the hand scan. Flustered with impatience John dumped in a bunch of plausible values then went to check to cargo, pausing as his hand reached the door. Whatever was in there was something important. The way John's real boss had hit the fan when John had informed him of his infirmity had underlined the point, but he was also acutely aware that he was being left out of the loop. John was fine with his role as the little guy, even if it meant spending a year on a Class II Earth posing as some government flunky, and sticking his nose where it didn't belong was liable to get him thrown out an airlock.
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John looked like a zombie as he struggled toward the manual screening lot after having re-entered the container yard from one of the side entrances. He always hated infiltration work and could never understand how he kept managing to get sent to backwater realities in jobs that prevented him from having a sufficiently exciting social life. Opening a small metal container he drew out a vial and pressed it to his neck releasing a dose of antibiotic medical nanos into his bloodstream while cursing the Sureulian prostitute that has given him this little treat. Proper medical supplies were nearly impossible to obtain on “low tech” Earths, but John felt he had no other choice than to burn one of his doses, confidence he could get later reimbursed by the responsible party the next time he was visiting her station. Reaching the container John swore again as he saw that his co-worker hadn't even bothered to close and re-seal the the door after the inspection. Pulling up the information on his chart he saw that Matt had also neglected to fill in the results of the hand scan. Flustered with impatience John dumped a bunch of plausible values in the appropriate boxes then went to check to cargo, pausing as his hand reached the door. Whatever was in there was something important. The way John's real boss had hit the fan when he had informed him of his infirmity had underlined the point, but he was also acutely aware that he was being left out of the loop. While as curious as any other human John was also aware that some information was simply best not to know, especially since nosy underlings tended to find themselves on the wrong side of an airlock.
  
 
   
 
   
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John got no response and he made a conscious effort not to look inside. What he didn’t know could never be revealed under interrogation and moreover John never quite believed those studies that showed Delta radiation only affected non-biologic systems. John closed and latched the door, applying new seals and scanning them into his tablet. He cleared the container for immediate entry into the country then started walking back out toward the gate.
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Getting no response John made no effort not to look inside as the low levels of Delta radiation that has set off the alarm nosed no real threat to the local population. John closed and latched the door, applying new seals and scanning them into his tablet. With a quick press of his finger he cleared the container for immediate entry into the country then started walking back out toward the gate.
  
 
   
 
   
The creature groaned fighting off the intense feeling of disorientation when one awakens abruptly from a very long and very deep sleep. Pushing forward in a bid to free itself the previously unyielding green tinted door of the chamber popped open with a hiss, spilling its occupant out onto the maze of cardboard packing equipment and tie down straps. For a moment it didn't know who it was or where it was, then memories began to filter through his mind like someone was dispatched down to the archive room and brought forth the topmost boxes. His name was Matt, he had a house in Altamont, he had an ex-girlfriend and an 8-year old daughter living 2 states away. What he most likely no longer had was a job thanks to…Matt paused unsure of what had happened before he was hit with a vivid flashback of the rising water and his subsequent drowning. Yet here he was, alive, and still in the shipping container. Matt struggled to get to his feet, his vision useless in the near total darkness.
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{{Separator|k}}
  
 
   
 
   
There was a deep cymbal crash as his head hit something sending pain through his body. Ducking his neck down Matt strained to see what the hell he had run into when the inky blackness faded into a rather grey toned image. Above him was the roof of the shipping container with a rather impressive dent in the middle of it prompting Matt to ponder the build quality if his head could cause such damage. He started to reach out to touch the dent, and noticed a large, clawed hand hand reaching toward him out of the corner of his eye. Fight or flight kicked in hard and Matt freaked out, slamming his back against the wall of the container with another low booming sound effect. The crash was followed by more pain, twice as much as before seeming to come from body parts Matt didn’t remember having before. Matt raised two of his arms up to ease the discomfort, only to hit the top of the container again and generate still more pain. He felt something like a snake slithering about his feet causing him to go crashing lengthwise along the container sending both cargo and packing material flying.
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The creature groaned fighting off the intense feeling of disorientation when one awakens abruptly from a very long and very deep sleep. Pushing forward in a bid to free itself from its prison, the previously unyielding translucent green door popped open with a hiss, spilling its occupant out onto the maze of cardboard packing equipment and tie down straps. For a moment it didn't know who it was or where it was, then memories began to filter through his mind as if someone returned from the archive room and brought forth the topmost boxes. His name was Matt, he had a house in Altamont, he had an ex-girlfriend and an 8-year old daughter living 2 states away. What he most likely no longer had was a job thanks to…Matt paused unsure of what had happened before he was hit with a vivid flashback of the rising water and his subsequent drowning. Yet here he was, alive, and still in the shipping container. Matt struggled to get to his feet, his vision useless in the near total darkness.
  
 
   
 
   
Matt lay back, panting, still barely able to see much of anything in the near total darkness of the container and unable to tell exactly which direction he had come to land in after his latest attempt to to fleet. After Matt finally reoriented himself he discovered the source of the slithering to be the end of a rather long fleshy tail lolling about it the air some feet from his head. It was at this point that Matt had awakened enough for the obvious realization to sink in and he slowly brought his hand forward to touch the tail. The scary looking clawed hand came into view and as it touched the tail Matt felt a sensation in his rear…only extended out a bit further.
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There was a deep cymbal crash as his head hit something sending pain through his body. Ducking his neck down Matt strained to see what the hell he had run into when the inky blackness faded into a rather grey toned image. Above him was the roof of the shipping container with a rather impressive dent in the middle of it prompting Matt to ponder the build quality if his head could cause such damage. He started to reach out to touch the dent, and noticed a large, clawed hand reaching toward him out of the corner of his eye. Fight or flight kicked in hard and Matt freaked out, slamming his back against the wall of the container with another low booming sound effect. The crash was followed by more pain, twice as much as before as it seemed to come from body parts Matt didn’t remember having. Matt raised two of his arms up to ease the discomfort, only to hit the top of the container again and generate still more pain. He felt something like a snake slithering about his feet causing him to go crashing lengthwise along the container sending both cargo and packing material flying.
  
 
   
 
   
Matt began to panic again. Where he was just too dark and there was too much that wasn't adding up. He didn't know much, but what he did know was that he wanted out of this cargo container. Struggling to his feet Matt made his way towards the closed door and tried to push it open only to find it sealed firmly shut. A sense of strong irritation welled up in Matt as he grasped the inside of the door firmly in both of his clawed hands. At that moment he felt a strange ping move through his body that briefly reminded him of that moment when one released the tie down straps from one of the many exotic sports cars that came through the port, just before they were throttled up and driven away. Knowing his efforts were probably futile Matt tried again to force the door open, but this time after some loud pops and tearing metal sounds Matt found himself outside the container holding the bent and twisted door in his claws. He blinked, confounded by the fact that the container now seemed about as sturdy as a comic Japanese prison.
+
Matt lay back, panting, still barely able to see much of anything in the near total darkness of the container and unable to tell exactly which direction he had come to land in after his latest attempt to flee. After finally reorienting himself he discovered the source of the slithering to be the end of a rather long fleshy tail lolling about it the air few feet from his head. It was at this point that Matt had awakened enough for the obvious realization to sink in and he slowly brought his hand forward to touch the tail. The scary looking clawed hand came into view and as it touched the tail Matt felt a sensation in his rear…only extended out a bit further.
  
 
   
 
   
Standing outside the container Matt found that his grey grainy vision had been replaced by a panorama so bright, detailed and colorful that it nearly gave him a headache. It was all Matt could do to not just stand there and look around himself at the other shipping containers and cargo pallets laid out in a vast enclosed warehouse, light streaming in from a 19<sup>th</sup> century skylight system creating shadows via the forest of steel support columns. Matt had never seen the building before and his job had taken him at one time or another to every storage facility in and around the entire port of Oakland. The signage posted here and there around the facility indicated that he was at least still in the United States. There was a bit of a damp chill to the air, a welcome relief to the heat he had been dealing with before he got locked inside, but it made Matt worry slightly as he figured he had been been off the grid for perhaps a day or more.
+
The confined space combined with his strange new appendages caused Matt to start panicking again. He didn't know much, but what he did know was that he wanted out of this cargo container and he wanted out immediately. Struggling to his feet Matt made his way towards the closed door and tried to push it open only to find it sealed firmly shut. A sense of strong irritation welled up in Matt as he grasped the inside of the door firmly in both of his clawed hands. At that moment he felt a strange ping move through his body that briefly reminded him of the instant one of the many exotic sports cars that came through the port were freed from the tie down straps just before they were throttled up and driven away. Knowing his efforts were probably futile Matt tried again to force the door open, but this time after some loud pops and tearing metal sounds Matt found himself outside the container holding the bent and twisted piece of sheet steel in his claws. He blinked, confounded by the fact that the container now seemed about as sturdy as a satirical Japanese prison.
  
 
   
 
   
Casually tossing the twisted steel door to one side Matt gingerly raised up his hands again to look at what he had become. The changes didn't stop with the razor sharp ebony talons that now grew from the end of each of his long fingers. His arms, torso and legs, while still roughly human in their general layout, were built like oak trees and had a muscle tone that didn't quite match up to what Matt was familiar with in fitness magazines. Craning his head back Matt saw a pair of stout wings sprouting from his well muscled backside as well as a thick tail pushing out from above his posterior and tapering down to a prehensile point about 8 feet distant. If his shape and extra appendages hadn't convinced Matt that whatever that chamber was had altered his species the smooth silver hide that completely covered his entire body easily drove the point home. It looked as if he was made of living metal. Strong and solid in appearance, yet warm and supple to the touch. Running a non-claw fingertip along the surface of the opposite arm sent a wave of tingling sensations dashing through Matt's new body. Looking down Matt noticed that nothing remained of his clothing nor anything else he had on his person at the time he had been trapped. His nakedness was partly offset by an attractive set of washboard abs and pectoral muscles we well as the absence of any external genitalia, a discrete reptilian slit on his crotch serving in in its place. A sufficiently masculine bulge laying just beneath the surface relieved Matt of any concerns he had regarding his gender. The self inspection now out of the way Matt's eyes soon caught sight of a reflective surface and the image of an 8 foot tall or so humanoid silver dragon only served to confirm what Matt already knew.
+
Now outside the container Matt found that his grey grainy vision had been replaced by a panorama so bright, detailed and colorful that it nearly gave him a headache. It was all Matt could do to not just stand there and look around himself at the other shipping containers and cargo pallets laid out in a vast enclosed warehouse, light streaming in from a 19<sup>th</sup> century skylight system creating shadows via the forest of steel support columns. Matt had never seen the building before and his job had taken him at one time or another to every storage facility in and around the entire port of Oakland. The signage posted here and there around the facility indicated that he was at least still in the United States. There was a bit of a damp chill to the air, a welcome relief to the heat he had been dealing with before he got locked inside, but it made Matt worry slightly as he figured he had been off the grid for perhaps a day or more.
  
 
   
 
   
Of course what Matt knew and what Matt ''knew'' were two different things. Being able to apply a label to what he had become was only just so helpful and as Matt gazed at the reflected image. His expressive eyes had large Dodger blue irises with slit black pupils and a narrow white sclera around the outside. Two shiny black horns with a flat spiral pattern curved back from his his head while his mouth was filled with rows of razor sharp and similarly black teeth set which contracted with his shiny pink tongue and gums. Closing up his mouth Matt silently asked the question "What am I?" and some part of his being was only too happy to oblige throwing up a high res diagram of his body that proceeded to fill about half of his visual field.
+
Casually tossing the twisted steel door to one side Matt gingerly raised up his hands again to look at what he had become. The changes didn't stop with the razor sharp ebony talons that now grew from the end of each of his long fingers. His arms, torso and legs, while still roughly human in their general layout, were built like oak trees and had a muscle tone that didn't quite match up to what Matt was familiar with in fitness magazines. Craning his head back Matt saw a pair of stout wings sprouting from his well muscled backside as well as a thick tail pushing out from above his posterior and tapering down to a prehensile point about 8 feet distant. If his shape and extra appendages hadn't convinced Matt that whatever that chamber was had altered his species the smooth silver hide that completely covered his entire body easily drove the point home. It looked as if he was made of living metal. Strong and solid in appearance, yet warm and supple to the touch. Running a non-claw fingertip along the surface of the opposite arm sent a wave of tingling sensations dashing through Matt's new body. Looking down Matt noticed that nothing remained of his clothing nor anything else he had on his person at the time he had been trapped. His nakedness was partly offset by an attractive set of washboard abs and pectoral muscles we well as the absence of any external genitalia, a discrete reptilian slit on his crotch serving in its place. A sufficiently masculine bulge laying just beneath the surface relieved Matt of any concerns he had regarding his gender. The self inspection now out of the way Matt's eyes soon caught sight of a reflective surface and the image of an 8 foot tall humanoid silver dragon only served to confirm what Matt already knew.
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 +
Of course what Matt knew and what Matt ''knew'' were two different things. Being able to apply a label to what he had become was only the start of the process of self rediscovery as Matt gazed at the reflected image. His expressive eyes had large cobalt blue irises with slit black pupils and a narrow white sclera around the outside. Two shiny black horns with a flat spiral pattern curved back from his head while his mouth was filled with rows of razor sharp and similarly black teeth contrasting sharply with his shiny pink tongue and gums. Closing up his mouth Matt silently asked the question "What am I?" and some part of his being was only too happy to oblige throwing up a high res diagram of his body that proceeded to fill about half of his visual field.
  
 
   
 
   
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Matt began to feel relieved as his mind was given an alternative, and slightly more plausible explanation to latch on to. He tried to recall the strange "equip" screen again and it dutifully appeared almost as soon as his mind wanted it to. At first he was stymied by the strange runic text, but just as he felt the desire to change it the text changed to plain English. There was even an "about" tab that Matt quickly selected.
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Matt began to feel relieved as his mind was given an alternative, and slightly more plausible explanation to latch on to. He tried to recall the strange "equip" screen again and it dutifully appeared almost as soon as his mind wanted it. At first he was stymied by the strange runic text, but no sooner did he have the desire to change then the text dutifully changed to plain English. There was even an "about" tab that Matt quickly selected.
  
 
   
 
   
"NeoTech Industries Generation 4, Race: Dragon - Standard, Rev 1182," read the banner item. Below that were other headline features.
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"NeoTech Industries Generation 4 Neo, Race: Dragon - Standard, Rev 1182," read the banner item. Below that were other headline features.
  
 
   
 
   
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Matt's brief burst of hope was replaced by a new sinking sensation. A "more details" item expanded into a tail's length list of installed software and version numbers. The "zero light vision system" and the "intuitive visual overlay menus" both stood out as he skimmed the list. Another collapsed menu titled "genetic profile" listed every hardware measurement and physical property his body had. It began to dawn on Matt that either the developers had thought of everything or this wasn't a simulation and he had been changed into some sort of techno-realistic dragon. Matt would have explored the various technical features of his new body more if at that moment he didn't hear a door open number of gruff voices begin to move toward his position. Still unsure of where he was or even what day it was Matt took off in the opposite direction, ducking between various items in the forest of support columns and cargo as he searched for a way out.
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Matt's brief burst of hope was replaced by a new sinking sensation. A "more details" item expanded into a tail's length list of installed software and version numbers. The "zero light vision system" and the "intuitive visual overlay menus" both stood out as he skimmed the list. Another collapsed menu titled "genetic profile" listed every hardware measurement and physical property his body had. It began to dawn on Matt that either the developers had thought of everything or this wasn't a simulation and he had been changed into some sort of techno-realistic dragon. Matt would have explored the various technical features of his new body more if he hadn’t heard the sound of a door opening and number of gruff voices begin to move toward his position. Still unsure of where he was or even what day it was Matt took off in the opposite direction, ducking between various items in the forest of support columns and cargo as he searched for a way out.
  
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{{Separator|k}}  
 
{{Separator|k}}  
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Ethera sat by herself at one of the outdoor café tables slowly finishing a vegetarian wrap and sipping a large glass of hibiscus iced tea. Her Scandinavian figure with its tall thin build and bleach blonde hair cascading down her neck attracted more than its fair share of gazes, which Ethera's natural talents made her acutely aware of. However she was well disciplined to not show any reaction least she unfairly encourage some random male…or female into trying to get to "know her" better. The stress was increasing as the months of searching for the stolen hardware were dragging on and communications from her superiors were becoming increasingly less cordial. Smuggling between alternate realities wasn’t new and didn’t tend to be something that Guardian’s like Ethera were called in to deal with that regularly. With an infinite number of Earths to pick from any two bit hoodlum with a bit of marketing savvy that could manage a means of transport could just walk down to their local Walmart and spend a few credits to purchase goods that could catapult them into the 1% in whatever backwater they landed in. This time however the stolen technology wasn’t CPU’s or nuclear weapon designs, but something that required Ethera’s special skills and abilities.
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Ethera sat by herself at one of the outdoor café tables slowly finishing a vegetarian wrap and sipping a large glass of hibiscus iced tea. Her Scandinavian figure with its tall thin build and bleach blonde hair cascading down her neck attracted more than its fair share of gazes, which thanks to Ethera's natural perceptiveness, were impossible for her to completely ignore. If that irritation wasn’t enough the stress was increasing as the search for the stolen hardware was dragging on into its second fiscal quarter the and communications from her superiors were becoming increasingly less cordial.
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera felt the tingle of an inbound communications link with her "partners" back at the safehouse. She rolled her eyes as the image of a young human with shaggy hair and below average fitness and hygiene appeared in a corner of her visual field. She wasn't too keen on working with humans and had a special dislike for basic audio visual links that lacked the emotional metadata that allowed her to sync more effectively with others of her kind It wasn't that humans weren't painfully easy to read, just that physical reactions were way too easy for anyone to suppress or fabricate. Steven had been recruited from recently contacted Class 2 Earth as his extensive familiarity of such worlds was seen as an asset to the investigative process, but months of searching not turned up any solid leads. Unfortunately due to budget constraints the relatively inexperienced human operator was all she could afford for this mission with corporate forces working on a contingency basis being untrustworthy and university forces working on an exploration grant being unreliable.
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Trying to track the stolen cargo from the portal site in Russia had been next to impossible with the lack of records and massive corruption. The only saving grace was that her decision models indicated that thief would be reluctant to do business in such a wretched den as the local organized crime ecosystem would never allow a new entrant to set up shop in an already crowded marketplace. With her technical assistant casting a wide net Ethera had been leaping back and forth across the globe trying to track down any hint of its existance.
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 +
 +
While smuggling between alternate realities wasn’t anything new it didn’t tend to be something that Guardian’s like Ethera were regularly called in to deal with. With an infinite number of Earths to pick from any two bit hoodlum with a bit of marketing savvy that could manage a means of transport could just walk down to their local Walmart and spend a few credits to purchase goods that could catapult them into the 1% in whatever backwater they landed in. This time however the stolen technology wasn’t CPU’s or nuclear weapon designs, but something that required Ethera’s special skills and abilities.
 +
 
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 +
Feeling the tingle of an inbound communication with her "partners" back at the safehouse, she rolled her eyes as the image of a young human with shaggy brown hair and below average hygiene appeared in a corner of her visual field. She wasn't too keen on working with humans and had a special dislike for basic audio visual links that lacked the emotional metadata that allowed her to sync more effectively with others of her kind It wasn't that humans weren't painfully easy to read, just that physical reactions were way too easy for anyone to suppress or fabricate. Steven had been recruited from recently contacted Class 3 Earth as his extensive familiarity of such worlds was seen as an asset to the investigative process, but so far they had not turned up any solid leads. She would have called in additional resources, but due to budget constraints the relatively inexperienced human operator was all she could afford.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Hey…um…I hate to bring this up again, but can you please use my other name, Shock or ShockWolf. I'd really appreciate that," pleaded Steven a bit hesitantly.
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"Hey…um…I hate to bring this up again, but can you please use my other name? You know, Shock or ShockWolf. I'd really appreciate that," pleaded Steven a bit hesitantly.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Well, you know…given my new job and all I was just hoping to upgrade my persona a little."
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"Well, you know…since I’ve been on the job for a few months now I was just hoping to upgrade my persona a little."
  
 
   
 
   
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Steven blinked a moment, unaccustomed to what amounted to a dressing down before he looked over to another screen. "Um yeah, good news actually, I think I hit pay dirt."
+
Steven blinked a moment, unaccustomed to what amounted to a dressing down by his boss before he looked over to another screen. "Um yeah, good news actually. I think I hit pay dirt."
  
 
   
 
   
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"No, I'm serious this time. I've had Hector going at it for the last three weeks solid and we found a couple of suspicious disappearances in the port of Oakland about a year ago. Customs inspector named Matt Jackson vanished without a trace and you know that's a red flag as local foul play always leaves a trace. So I dug in a bit more and it turns out one of his co-workers seems to have vanished about a week later after the investigation into Matt's disappearance wrapped up. Of course that set off all sorts of alarm bells with the locals, but they don't have a clue where he's gone either."
+
"No, I'm serious this time. I've had Hector going at it for the last three weeks solid and we found a couple of suspicious disappearances in the port of Oakland about a year ago. Customs inspector named Matt Jackson vanished without a trace and that's a red flag as foul play of the typical varieties tends to leave a trace. I dug in a bit more and it turns out one of his co-workers also seems to have disappeared about a week after the initial investigation into Matt's disappearance wrapped up. Of course that set off all sorts of alarm bells with the locals, but they don't have a clue where he’d gone."
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera's ears began to perk up, but due to the limited AV link she had to respond with vocal encouragement. "Go on…
+
Ethera's ears began to perk up, but due to the limited AV link she had to respond with vocal encouragement. "Go on…"
  
 
   
 
   
"So I had Hector run some personal data analytics and while Matt checks out the other one, a John Campisi, was a total fab. There was some effort to blend him in, but a secondary record search yielded all sorts of inconsistencies. Anyway we went back to the day of the disappearance and found some hints that someone had been trying to make a container disappear."
+
"So I had Hector run some fraud analytics on their personal data and while Matt checks out the other one, a John Campisi, was a total fab. There was some effort to blend him in, but a secondary record search yielded all sorts of inconsistencies so we’re almost positive he was a plant. Hector and I then accessed the Customs Service computers and around the day of the disappearance we found some evidence that someone had been trying to make a container disappear."
  
 
   
 
   
Given her general attitude of superiority Ethera always got a little pang of guilt when her human partners discovered something she may have overlooked. Trying to track the stolen cargo from the portal site in Russia had been impossible with the lack of records and massive corruption. The only saving grace was that her decision models indicated that thief would be reluctant to do business in such a wretched den as the local organized crime ecosystem would never allow a new entrant to set up shop in an already crowded marketplace.
+
Given her general attitude of superiority Ethera always got a little pang of guilt when her human partners discovered something she may have overlooked.
  
 
   
 
   
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With that revelation Steven released a data transfer giving Ethera all of the information about their search and the identified location. Ethera was already getting up and looking for a way to get out of sight.
+
With that revelation Steven released a data transfer giving the female Guardian all of the information about their search and the target location. By the time the data arrived Ethera was already getting up and looking for a way to get out of sight.
  
 
   
 
   
"Thank you Steven. If this turns out to be correct I'll call you whatever you wish…or at least I will consider it. Keep looking into the possibility that this container is not the one we are looking for."
+
"Thank you Steven. If this turns out to be correct I'll call you whatever you wish…or at least I will consider it. Keep looking into the possibility that this container is some sort of trap or decoy."
  
 
   
 
   
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Ethera walked down the street before turning into a seemingly deserted back alley. Rounding a dumpster she was surprised by a local transient.
+
Paying for her food and collecting her belongings Ethera walked down the street before turning into a seemingly deserted back alley. Rounding a dumpster she was surprised by the presence of a local transient.
  
 
   
 
   
"Oh…H-hello Miss. Would you happen to have…
+
"Oh…H-hello Miss. Would you happen to have…"
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera smiled and made eye contact with the man who's expression softened.
+
Ethera smiled and made eye contact with the man whose expression softened.
  
 
   
 
   
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"That's quite alright sir." Ethera reached out and gently touched the man's shoulder extending her energy to purge him of both the substances and the dependence that drove him to them. The man's eyes brightened as Ethera made eye contact again. "Now why don't you go to the local social services organization and see about getting some assistance."
+
"That's quite alright sir." Ethera replied as she reached out and gently touched the man's shoulder, extending her energy to purge him of both the substances and the dependence that drove him to them. The man's eyes brightened as Ethera made eye contact again. "Now why don't you go to the local social services organization and see about getting some assistance."
  
 
   
 
   
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Ethera smiled. It always made her feel good to solve the social problems that humans were constantly making such a big deal about. Ensuring that the alley was now empty Ethera gathered her energy and drew a glowing circle in the air with one hand. Once she had located a sufficiently isolated exit point she opened the portal and stepped through into the cool breeze of a Bay Area morning.
 
Ethera smiled. It always made her feel good to solve the social problems that humans were constantly making such a big deal about. Ensuring that the alley was now empty Ethera gathered her energy and drew a glowing circle in the air with one hand. Once she had located a sufficiently isolated exit point she opened the portal and stepped through into the cool breeze of a Bay Area morning.
  
 +
 
{{Separator|k}}  
 
{{Separator|k}}  
  
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Miller walked in wearing a black suit and blue tie, a black leather coat worn as a cloak, the sleeves tucked into the pockets. Taking the coat off, Miller handed it back to his shadow, a hulking man in black stagehand's attire standing a good 6 inches over his ward and maintaining a constant state of catlike readiness. Miller walked forward, his leather shows echoing on the worn concrete floor of the warehouse, one hand up at his face softly running through his short beard. He kicked at the bent and broken door before peering into the shipping container itself and appraising the exact nature of the problem that he had been called down to check out in person.
+
Miller arrived wearing a black suit, blue tie and a black leather coat worn as a cloak, the sleeves tucked into the pockets. Taking the coat off, Miller handed it back to his shadow, a hulking man in black stagehand's attire standing a good 6 inches over his ward and maintaining a constant state of canine readiness. Miller walked forward, his leather shoes echoing on the worn concrete floor of the warehouse, one hand up at his face softly running through his short beard. He kicked at the bent and broken door before peering into the shipping container itself and appraising the exact nature of the problem that he had been called down to check out in person.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Forklift crushed our unit the other day, we didn't get a chance to have it replaced and the local cameras don't cover this spot, just like you wanted, but…
+
"Well, the local cameras don't cover this spot, just like you wanted, but a forklift crushed our own unit the other day and we didn't get a chance to have it replaced. Still…”
  
 
   
 
   
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"Ok," began Miller. "Taking a step back just how exactly did the precious cargo that we have had sitting on ice for the last several months manage to pop out a brand new Neodragon. Is this something these things can do?" Miller's icy stare focuses on Rolland.
+
"Ok," began Miller. "Let’s back up a step here. Just how exactly did the precious cargo that we have had sitting on ice for the last several months manage to pop out a brand new Neodragon. Is this some sort of immaculate conception?" Miller's icy stare focuses on Rolland.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Well then how the fuck did that happen? Either we just got Ocean's Elevened or there's something we're missing. Did something get fucked up 8 months ago, when we were getting this through Oakland. You assured me that everything had checked out fine. That douchebag you hired…what's his name?"
+
"Well then how the fuck did that happen? Either we just got ''Ocean's Eleven''ed or there's something we're missing. Did someone fuck up 8 months ago, when we were getting this through Oakland. You assured me that everything had checked out fine. That douchebag you hired…what's his name?"
  
 
   
 
   
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"You don't think it could be that other guy," said Rolland looking at Xia. "You know, that other inspector who disappeared. Fucking turned up the heat and I had to get John out of there."
+
"You don't think it could be that other guy," said Rolland looking at Xia. "You know, that other inspector who disappeared. Little fucker started an investigation and I had to get John out of there."
  
 
   
 
   
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"What the fuck don't I know Rolland?!"
+
"What the fuck don't I know Rolland?!" Miller demanded.
  
 
   
 
   
"Listen you needed me to remove all the software locks on this thing and that's what I did, but to do that I had to remove like almost everything in the management system, rip and tear man. All that was left was get in, close the door and boom, off to the races."
+
"Listen you needed me to remove all the software locks on this thing and that's what I did, but to do that I had to remove like almost everything in the management system, rip and tear man. All the firmware has left was sense a sentient bio in the tube with the door closed and boom, off to the races."
  
 
   
 
   
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"I said we shouldn't label it as a movie prop," responded Xia. "You humans can never ignore your curiosity."
+
"I said we shouldn't label it as a movie prop," responded Xia. "You humans can never resist being dumbass fanboys."
  
 
   
 
   
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"Listen," began Rolland. "We still have the chamber. We'll track down the neo before it blows the lid off and then sell another conversion to that billionaire dude you keep going on about."
+
"Listen," began Rolland. "We still have the chamber. We'll track down the neo before it blows the lid off our operation and then sell another conversion to that billionaire dude you keep going on about."
  
 
   
 
   
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"I can smell him sir…
+
"I can smell him sir…"
  
 
   
 
   
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"I got him, he went this way…
+
"I got him, he went this way…"
  
 
   
 
   
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It was almost impossible for Matt not to hear the group of people discussing his situation in raised and colorful language. Their verbal exposition dump informed Matt that he was now something called a NeoDragon, the process that transformed him was meant for someone else and that securing him was probably their best shot of fulfilling their contract. It was when the talking abruptly cut off that Matt began to suspect he was in trouble and should once again try to find a way out. After all, even an 8 foot tall robotic space dragon probably didn't respond well to high velocity bullets.
+
It was almost impossible for Matt not to hear the group of people discussing his situation in raised and colorful language. Their verbal exposition dump informed Matt that he was now something called a NeoDragon, the process that transformed him was meant for someone else and that securing him was probably their best shot of fulfilling their contract. It was when the talking abruptly cut off that Matt began to suspect he was in trouble and should once again try to find a way out. After all, even an 8 foot tall robotic space dragon probably didn't respond well to high velocity projectiles.
  
 
   
 
   
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The canine grin soon disappeared from the wolf's face as he realized that finding and getting were two different things, but Rex maintained the initiative and aimed a full force punch at the dragon's head. The punch would have certainly caught Matt off guard if not even succeeded at laying him flat if the world had not abruptly slowed down trapping the wolf's attack in a sort of slow motion. Matt was not exempt from this strange time dilation as he instinctively moved his head out of the way of the wolf's first, but his reaction was still quick enough that the furry fist of fury smashed harmlessly into a shipping crate sending an explosion of wood splinters at Matt. Recovering, the wolf swung again with his other arm, but once again Matt was able to counter the blow with his own shiny silver arm, deflecting it off to the side. Before that movement had completed it was Matt's turn to go on offence, bringing his knee forward with all the force he could muster, catching the wolf squarely in the crotch with an upward impact. As the wolf lifted up off his feet the strange slow motion effect wore off resulting in the wolf appearing to blast off and fly back into a force field reinforced steel roll door.
+
The canine grin soon disappeared from the wolf's face as he realized that finding and getting were two different things, but Rex maintained the initiative and aimed a full force punch at the dragon's head. The punch would have certainly caught Matt off guard if not even succeeded at laying him flat if the world had not abruptly slowed down trapping the wolf's attack in a sort of slow motion. Matt was not exempt from this strange time dilation as he instinctively moved his head out of the way of the wolf's first, but his reaction was still quick enough that the furry fist of fury smashed harmlessly into a shipping crate sending an explosion of wood splinters at Matt. Recovering, the wolf swung again with his other arm, but once again Matt was able to counter the blow with his own shiny silver arm, deflecting it off to the side. With Rex off balance it was Matt's turn to go on offence, bringing his knee forward with all the force he could muster, catching the wolf squarely in the crotch with an upward impact. As the wolf was lifted up off his feet the strange slow motion effect wore off resulting in the furry monster appearing to blast back and fly back into a force field enhanced steel roll door.
  
 
   
 
   
Matt turned to run, but didn't get far until he saw a tall thin Goth chick slide to a stop and pull out a curved knife with a crystal orb laid into the hilt. She began to speak in a strange language and the orb began to glow. Without slowing down Matt delivered a kick to one of the blue plastic barrels, transferring a sizable chunk of his momentum and propelling the barrel towards the mage at a high rate of speed. Dodging the initial attack Xia glared as her spell collapsed and then began to cough as acid spilled from the broken barrel and began to send up a cloud of noxious yellow gas. Seizing on the distraction Matt leapt up on the piles of cargo, leaping from one to another, his eyes searching for a way up to the ceiling. Jumping off from the last box in a line he felt a disturbing loss of force feedback as the container buckled beneath him. He was barely able to grab onto the railing on the gantry crane walkway which proceeded to give off a dispirited groaning noise as it bent down under the massive weight of Matt's new body. Grasping at whatever beams were in reach using whatever appendages he could muster Matt pulled himself up onto the walkway and got up just in time to see Rolland and about ten mooks carrying a mix of assault rifles and what looked like cosplay props into the warehouse. The main wearing the leather coat pointed at him.
+
Matt turned to run, but didn't get far until he saw a tall thin Goth chick slide to a stop and pull out a curved knife with a crystal orb laid into the hilt. She began to speak in a strange language and the orb began to glow. Without slowing down Matt delivered a kick to one of the blue plastic barrels, transferring a sizable chunk of his momentum and propelling the barrel towards the mage at a high rate of speed. Dodging the initial attack Xia glared as her spell collapsed and then began to cough as acid spilled from the broken barrel and began to send up a cloud of noxious yellow gas. Seizing on the distraction Matt jumped up on the piles of cargo, leaping from one to another, his eyes searching for a way up to the ceiling. Jumping off from the last box in a line he felt a disturbing loss of force feedback as the container buckled beneath him. He was barely able to grab onto the railing on the gantry crane walkway which proceeded to give off a dispirited groaning noise as it bent down under the density of Matt's new body. Grasping at whatever beams were in reach using whatever appendages he could muster Matt pulled himself up onto the walkway and got up just in time to see Rolland and about ten mooks carrying a mix of assault rifles and what looked like cosplay props into the warehouse. The main wearing the leather coat pointed at him.
  
 
   
 
   
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The sound of the weapons fire was deafening as bullets began flying past Matt, the closer the bullet the louder the crack noise. The blue balls of energy released by the sci fi guns didn't look quite as menacing, but the sizzle they made flying past convinced Matt they would hurt just the same. Identifying an exit point Matt ran for it. Sharp stabs of pain shot up from his leg and shoulder with a number of smaller tinges being registered on his wings. Matt jumped from the gantry to a roof support beam then leapt up again crashing through one of the angled skylights rolling to a stop on the roof breathing heavily from the exertion. The sun was shining and the feeling of warmth on his wings and body gave Matt a renewed burst of energy. He looked around. The warehouse was in the middle of a larger complex of buildings and outdoor storage yards. An idea crossed his mind and his spread his wings. He didn't consciously know how to fly, but his new body seemed to have a lot of built in instincts. There had to be some installed software package to handle flying. Matt ran towards the edge of the building, quickly gaining speed then leaping in a graceful arc off the edge, pushing back behind him with his spread wings.
+
The sound of the weapons fire was deafening as bullets began flying past Matt, the closer the bullet the louder the crack noise. The blue balls of energy released by the sci-fi guns didn't look quite as menacing, but the sizzle they made flying past convinced Matt they would hurt just the same. Identifying an exit point Matt ran for it. Sharp stabs of pain shot up from his leg and shoulder with a number of smaller tinges being registered on his wings. Matt jumped from the gantry to a roof support beam then leapt up again crashing through one of the angled skylights rolling to a stop on the roof breathing heavily from the exertion. The sun was shining and the feeling of warmth on his wings and body gave Matt a renewed burst of energy. He looked around. The warehouse was in the middle of a larger complex of buildings and outdoor storage yards. An idea crossed his mind and he unfolded his wings. He didn't consciously know how to fly, but his new body seemed to have a lot of built in instincts. There had to be some installed software package to handle flying. Matt ran towards the edge of the building, quickly gaining speed then leaping in a graceful arc off the edge, pushing back behind him with his spread wings.
  
 
   
 
   
For a brief moment it all seemed to work. Matt felt himself being pushed up into the air, supported by his large silver wings, which were somehow generating far more force than their movement would indicate. As he watched as the buildings and the storage yards drop away beneath him Matt was about to attempt to turn towards the mountains when his body decided to issue a warning for which an intuitive "feeling" was insufficient. The large red text that appeared in Matt's field of view informed him that his power levels were dangerously low and this was followed by a sinking sensation as all lift from his wings ceased and Matt's 500 pound body fell from the sky landing hard on some empty cargo palettes next to stacks of pipes and bricks and other bulk items.
+
For a brief moment it all seemed to work. Matt felt himself being pushed up into the air, supported by large silver wings, which were somehow generating far more force than their movement would indicate. As he watched as the buildings and the storage yards drop away beneath him Matt was about to attempt to turn towards the mountains when his body decided to issue a warning for which an intuitive "feeling" was insufficient. The large red text that appeared in Matt's field of view informed him that his power levels were dangerously low and this was followed by a sinking sensation as all lift from his wings ceased and Matt's 500 pound body fell from the sky landing hard on some empty cargo palettes next to stacks of pipes and bricks and other bulk items.
  
 
   
 
   
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"It looks like I'll be walking," grumbled Matt, struggling to get to his feet wondering who would design a synthetic body to feel such pain and soreness. It was at that point Matt heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps and rifles being made ready.
 
"It looks like I'll be walking," grumbled Matt, struggling to get to his feet wondering who would design a synthetic body to feel such pain and soreness. It was at that point Matt heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps and rifles being made ready.
 
 
   
 
   
 
{{Separator|k}}  
 
{{Separator|k}}  
 
 
   
 
   
 
Ethera peered from behind cover as several SUV's and other private vehicles converged on the parking lot at the far side of the target warehouse. A motley assortment of men spilled out of them, hurrying to ready their weapons and not bothering to conceal the Type 106 plasma rifles interspersed with more local illicit arms. Whatever was inside the building something was going down and Ethers began to look around for a sufficiently covert route inside. It was only a few minutes later when the sound of weapons fire could be heard from where she stood followed by the sound of glass breaking up high. Raising her head she was in time to see a silver NeoDragon make a running takeoff and flying a good 100 yards before plummeting into the ground.
 
Ethera peered from behind cover as several SUV's and other private vehicles converged on the parking lot at the far side of the target warehouse. A motley assortment of men spilled out of them, hurrying to ready their weapons and not bothering to conceal the Type 106 plasma rifles interspersed with more local illicit arms. Whatever was inside the building something was going down and Ethers began to look around for a sufficiently covert route inside. It was only a few minutes later when the sound of weapons fire could be heard from where she stood followed by the sound of glass breaking up high. Raising her head she was in time to see a silver NeoDragon make a running takeoff and flying a good 100 yards before plummeting into the ground.
  
 
   
 
   
"Now I've got you!" Ethera whickered in triumph. "Looks like somebody was trying to skip out on his bill. No matter, I've got first dibs on this repo."
+
"Now I've got you!" Ethera whickered in triumph. "Looks like somebody was trying to skip out on his bill. No matter, I've got first claim to this repo."
  
 
   
 
   
Standing up and giving her body a good shake, Ethera began to glow all over. The glow intensified until only her outline was still visible which then itself began to change. Her body gained significant mass, but any increase in girth was offset by increases in her height which maintained her tall slender appearance. Her lower legs reconfigured into an unguligrade stance while a long sinuous tail sprouted from her rear. Her neck expanded both outward and upward at the same time as her face pushed forward into a long equine muzzle. The light soon faded revealing Ethera's true form as a Neocorn mare with a shiny metallic light golden hide reminiscent of a biologic palomino. Her upper legs, torso and shoulders were completely covered in sleek white composite armour plates mounted on top of a form fitting black undergarment providing protection from ballistics, beams and environmental threats. On her back was a contoured backpack which along with various other attachment points held a selection of supplies and tools commensurate with her job in the elite Guardian force. Reaching behind her she drew forth a rapid fire mass driver carbine constructed mostly from white and grey composite materials which activated in her hands.
+
Standing up and giving her body a good shake, Ethera began to glow all over. The glow intensified until only her outline was still visible which then itself began to change. Her body gained significant mass, but any increase in girth was offset by increases in her height which maintained her tall slender appearance. Her lower legs reconfigured into an unguligrade stance while a long sinuous tail sprouted from her rear. Her neck expanded both outward and upward at the same time as her face pushed forward into a long equine muzzle. The light soon faded revealing Ethera's true form as a Neocorn mare with a shiny metallic light golden hide reminiscent of a biologic palomino. Her upper legs, torso and shoulders were completely covered in sleek white composite armor plates mounted on top of a form fitting black undergarment providing protection from ballistics, beams and environmental threats. On her back was a contoured backpack which along with various other attachment points held a selection of supplies and tools commensurate with her job in the elite Guardian force. Reaching behind her she drew forth a rapid fire mass driver carbine constructed mostly from white and grey composite materials which activated in her hands.
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera took off across the expanse of containers and bound stacks of construction materials, her golden hooves barely seeming to touch the ground as she covered the distance to where the Neodragon had fallen from the sky. Leaping into the air to clear a stack of I-beams she identified two humans with their weapons pointed at the silver dragon. Her finger closed on the trigger.
+
Ethera took off running across the expanse of containers and bound stacks of construction materials, her golden hooves barely seeming to touch the ground as she covered the distance to where the Neodragon had fallen from the sky. Leaping into the air to clear a stack of I-beams she identified two humans with their weapons pointed at the silver dragon. Her finger closed on the trigger.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Please…d-don't shoot. I'll come peace…
+
"Please…d-don't shoot. I'll come peace…"
  
 
   
 
   
A sound that Matt had never heard before, sort of a strange pulsating crack, filled the air and the two figures before him appeared to disintegrate into two oblong piles of bloody flesh interspersed with the occasionally identifiable body part. Matt stumbled backwards as an 8 foot tall humanoid Unicorn with shiny blonde skin and warrior princess armour landed before him, a smoking Sci Fi rifle in her hands. In his vision a label appeared next to her face along with some biographic information along the side. Her name was Ethera Windchaser.
+
A sound that Matt had never heard before, sort of a strange pulsating crack, filled the air and the two figures before him appeared to disintegrate into two oblong piles of bloody flesh interspersed with the occasionally identifiable body part. Matt stumbled backwards as an 8 foot tall humanoid Unicorn with shiny blonde skin and warrior princess armor landed before him, a smoking Sci-Fi rifle in her hands. In his vision a label appeared next to her face along with some biographic information along the side. Her name was Ethera Windchaser.
  
 
[[Image:Tokaido-ethera-actionshot.png|thumb|center|800px|Gotcha...]]
 
[[Image:Tokaido-ethera-actionshot.png|thumb|center|800px|Gotcha...]]
  
 
   
 
   
"T-thank you! You saved…
+
"T-thank you! You saved…"
  
 
   
 
   
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"No! Please! I didn't want this! M-my name's Matt…Matt Jackson. I'm just a customs inspector. I-I fell into the machine and I woke up this way! I didn't mean to. P-please don't kill me." Matt was on the verge of tears after seeing the two humans obliterated right in front of him and the recounting of his story bringing the associated emotions to the foreground.
+
Matt was on the verge of tears after seeing the two humans obliterated right in front of him. "No! Please! I didn't want this! M-my name's Matt…Matt Jackson. I'm just a customs inspector. I-I fell into the machine and I woke up this way! I didn't mean to. P-please don't kill me." .
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera instantly recognized the name from Steve's briefing and lowered her weapon knowing instinctively that the young Neo was telling the truth. Matt Jackson…I had feared you had been killed by the syndicate."
+
Ethera instantly recognized the name from Steve's briefing and lowered her weapon knowing instinctively that the young Neo was telling the truth. “Matt Jackson…I assumed you had been killed by the syndicate."
  
 
   
 
   
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"No, I was sent to retrieve our technology and apprehend those responsible for stealing it. Your recovery will be a positive footnote in my summarizing report." Ethers moved her hoof and extended a hand to help Matt up to his feet.
+
"No, I was sent to retrieve our technology and apprehend those responsible for stealing it. Nevertheless your recovery will be a positive footnote in my summarizing report." Ethers moved her hoof and extended a hand to help Matt up to his feet.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Your body and soul have been remade into those of a NeoDragon. Under my discretion as a Guardian and due to the difficulty of restoring you to your previous state I have no objection to allowing you to keep the body and stay a Neo."
+
"Your body and soul have been remade into those of a NeoDragon. As a Neocorn Guardian I have sole discretion over the matters of this case. Due to the difficulty of restoring you to your previous state allowing you to keep the body and stay a Neo would appear to be the least harmful course of action."
  
 
   
 
   
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"I just said I can hu- ::she rolled her eyes briefly:: dragon. Like I said I'm a Guardian, your intentions are pure and you're thick headed enough to fit right in with your new species." Ethera let out a little whinny of amusement.
+
"I just said I can hu-" Ethera caught herself, rolling her eyes briefly, "-dragon. I'm a Guardian, your intentions are pure and you're thick headed enough to fit right in with your new species." Ethera continued, letting out a little whinny of amusement.
  
 
   
 
   
"That's not what I meant!" Protested Matt, "And besides…how do you know my "intentions" are pure?"
+
"That's not what I meant!" protested Matt, "And besides…how can you judge my "intentions" to be pure?"
  
 
   
 
   
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"I'm a mare, it's what we do,”Ethers responded dryly, not betraying her level of seriousness. “Now will you please come along? There are several heavily armed criminals approaching our location and talking is not a free action! We can discuss things later."
+
"I'm a mare, it's what we do,” Ethers responded dryly, not betraying her level of seriousness. “Now will you please come along? There are several heavily armed criminals approaching our location and as Steven likes to say talking is not a free action! We can discuss things later."
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera began to lead Matt back through the open air storage yard towards the warehouse. Following behind the hot little Unicorn warrior Matt couldn’t shake the idea that this was all some sort of stealth shooter game the way they would crouch behind cover before dashing across open space to the safety of the next container or pallet of bricks. It was only when Ethera stopped Matt short, raised her rifle and let loose another stream of electromagnetically driven slugs at the side of a more distant container did the reality of the situation once again become apparent to Matt.
+
Ethera began to lead Matt back through the open air storage yard towards the warehouse. Following behind the sculpted Unicorn warrior Matt couldn’t shake the idea that this was all some sort of stealth shooter game the way they would crouch behind cover before dashing across open space to the safety of the next container or pallet of bricks. It was only when Ethera stopped Matt short, raised her rifle and let loose another stream of electromagnetically driven slugs at the side of a more distant container did the reality of the situation once again become apparent to Matt.
  
 
   
 
   
“Holy shit!”exclaimed Matt, looking at the 5 by 10 foot long gash straight through the container, a red mist settling on the other side. “You just fucking wiped that guy out...you didn’t even have to see him.”
+
“Holy shit!” exclaimed Matt, looking at the 5 by 10 foot long gash straight through the container, a red mist settling on the other side. “You just fucking wiped that guy out...you didn’t even have to see him.”
  
 
   
 
   
Line 501: Line 514:
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera fell to one knee as her balance and motor skills were affected by the burden of having to process the terabytes of structured information Matt had just casually dropped into her sensory feed. As the Neocorn Guardian struggled to clear her head the barrel of an AK-47 came into view as one of the gang members swung around the corner to investigate the sounds he had heard. The fight or flight response triggered by the weapon temporarily masked the painful info dump and Ethera grabbed the muzzle of the rifle yanking it out of the surprised man's hands and launching it golf ball style up and out of sight. Jumping to her hooves Ethera slammed the man against the container delivering an electric shock to each of his shoulders before allowing him to slump to the ground twitching and unconscious. She then fell back against the container to allow her mind to finish churning through the data. Matt stepped forward to help steady her.
+
Ethera fell to one knee as her balance and motor skills were affected by the burden of having to process the terabytes of structured information Matt had just casually dropped into her sensory feed. As the Neocorn Guardian struggled to clear her head the barrel of an AK-47 came into view as one of the gang members swung around the corner to investigate the sounds he had heard. The fight or flight response triggered by the weapon temporarily masked the painful info dump. Grabbing the muzzle of the rifle and yanking it out of the surprised man's hands, Ethera launched it up and out of sight into the air. Jumping to her hooves Ethera slammed the man against the container delivering an electric shock to each of his shoulders before allowing him to slump to the ground twitching and unconscious. She then fell back against the container to allow her mind to finish churning through the data. Matt stepped forward to help steady her.
  
 
   
 
   
"Ethera, I'm…
+
"Ethera, I'm…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 522: Line 535:
  
 
   
 
   
"I'm not stupid," grunted Rex as Xia placed helped him sit down on a wooden crate. "I ran into the little fuck and he kicked me in the crotch. Then he threw a barrel of acid at Xia."
+
"I'm not stupid," grunted Rex as Xia helped him sit down on a wooden crate. "I ran into the little fuck and he kicked me in the crotch. Then he threw a barrel of acid at Xia."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 558: Line 571:
  
 
   
 
   
"Then what is killing all our…
+
"Then what is killing all our…"
  
 
   
 
   
At that moment the camera zoomed in on the silver metallic NeoDragon following closely behind a white armoured Neocorn. The UAV's camera had resolution enough to show the Neo's ears perk up followed by a quick movement to point her rifle directly at the camera before the feed cut off.
+
At that moment the camera zoomed in on the silver metallic NeoDragon following closely behind a white armored Neocorn. The UAV's camera had resolution enough to show the Neo's ears perk up followed by a quick movement to point her rifle directly at the camera before the feed cut off.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 597: Line 610:
  
 
   
 
   
The Neocorn Guardian, rifle at the ready, entered the warehouse, alert for the slightest movement. Her charge moved rather hesitantly behind her wary of both the criminals trying to capture him as well as Ethera's quick temper. They soon reached the container from which he had been hatched. Ethera went inside to take stock leaving Matt to stand there and resume coming to terms with his new body. As he played a game of cat and mouse between his claws and tail tip Matt unexpectedly felt a warm softness press against the sore parts of his neck and arm which prompted a cool feeling of relaxation to wash over him. Matt's stress so thoroughly vanished that it soon felt like a cat's soothing purr was slowly running through his body. Matt soon snapped out of his trance-like state as he realized that the purr was real and it was coming from his own throat. Turning his head quickly he saw Ethera standing there smiling at him.
+
The Neocorn Guardian, rifle at the ready, entered the warehouse, alert for the slightest movement. Her charge moved rather hesitantly behind her wary of both the criminals trying to capture him as well as Ethera's quick temper. They soon reached the container from which he had been hatched. Ethera went inside to take stock leaving Matt to stand there and resume coming to terms with his new body. As he played a game of cat and mouse between his claws and tail tip Matt unexpectedly felt a warm softness press against the sore parts of his neck and arm which prompted a cool feeling of relaxation to wash over him. Matt's stress so thoroughly vanished that it soon felt like a cat's soothing purr was slowly running through his body. The dragon soon snapped out of his trance-like state as he realized that the purr was real and it was coming from his own throat. Turning his head quickly he saw Ethera standing there smiling at him.
  
 
   
 
   
“You appear to have taken some damage,”remarked Ethera, pointing at the bullet wounds in his thigh and shoulder. The glowing blue blood had stopped flowing and formed blueish-silvery crust over the damaged portions of his hide.
+
“You appear to have taken some damage,” remarked Ethera, pointing at the bullet wounds in his thigh and shoulder. The glowing blue blood had stopped flowing and formed bluish-silvery crust over the damaged portions of his hide.
  
 
   
 
   
“Oh, yeah. I guess I sort of forgot about that. It hurt before, but now it just sort of itches a little. I guess I would have expected a robot dragon body to be more bullet resistant,”chuckled Matt, giving Ethera a toothy grin.
+
“Oh, yeah. I guess I sort of forgot about that. It hurt before, but now it just sort of itches a little. I guess I would have expected a robot dragon body to be more bullet resistant,” chuckled Matt, giving Ethera a toothy grin.
  
 
   
 
   
“Our bodies are techno-biologic. That means we’re fully synthetic, but have many biologic features such as healing and reproduction. To support those features many of our body parts are soft like fully biologic lifeforms, not hard like mechs.”
+
“Our bodies are techno-biologic. That means we’re fully synthetic, but have many biologic features such as healing and reproduction. To support those features many of our body parts are soft like fully biologic life forms, not hard like mechs.”
  
 
   
 
   
Line 615: Line 628:
  
 
   
 
   
“The damage to your wings is inconsequential, they can be repaired later or just be left to heal on their own,”said Ethera as she stepped back. "Also I wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier, it's not your fault you don't know how any of this works."
+
“The damage to your wings is inconsequential, they can be repaired later or just be left to heal on their own,” said Ethera as she stepped back. "Also I wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier, it's not your fault you don't know how any of this works."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 654: Line 667:
  
 
   
 
   
"This is a miniaturized Zero Point Module, top of the line for Neo power cores. Normally these aren't just handed out to just anybody, especially if that anybody is just a few hours old, but you need power and I need backup going after whomever did this so if you agree to help me and don't destroy any large populated areas you can keep it. Deal?"
+
"This is a miniaturized Zero Point Module, top of the line for Neo power cores. Normally these aren't just handed out to just anybody, especially if that anybody is just a few hours old, but you need power and I need backup going after whomever did this so if you agree to help me and don't destroy any large populated areas you can keep it. Do I have your word?"
  
 
   
 
   
"Yeah yeah, deal. Wow, that thing looks pretty slick, how are you going to install…
+
"Yeah yeah, deal,” Matt nodded, eyeing the device hungrily. “Wow, that thing looks pretty slick, how are you going to install…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 669: Line 682:
  
 
   
 
   
Matt stopped moving, but like a squeamish person getting a tooth drilled or a cut stitched he did whatever he could to avoid the reality of what was happening to him. Ethera engaged the core into the cylindrical slot and locked it in place before re-fitting up the thick metal armour protecting the core systems in Matt's upper chest before then closing up the softer panels of silver hide and blue synth muscle. Once everything was back in place Ethera commanded Matt's body to conceal the seams in his hide that allowed for disassembly and repair.
+
Matt stopped moving, but like a squeamish person getting a tooth drilled or a cut stitched he did whatever he could to avoid the reality of what was happening to him. Ethera engaged the core into the cylindrical slot and locked it in place before re-fitting up the thick metal armor protecting the core systems in Matt's upper chest before then closing up the softer panels of silver hide and blue synth muscle. Once everything was back in place Ethera commanded Matt's body to conceal the seams in his hide that allowed for disassembly and repair.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 675: Line 688:
  
 
   
 
   
Matt did so, looking a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry, what you did was just a little too much for me right now so I just needed to block it out." Matt let out a gasp. "Woah…what was that. I think I just detected the new hardware and…wow…shit, I don't feel tired any more, like at all!"
+
Matt did so, looking a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry, what you did was just a little too much for me right now so I just needed to block it out." Matt let out a gasp. "Woah…what was that. I think I just detected the new hardware and…wow…shit, I don't feel tired any more!"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 696: Line 709:
  
 
   
 
   
"I can cast some spells to help mask our presence, but my orders only specify a Class 3 contamination protocol so if we wind up on the evening news it's somebody else's problem. My foremost concern is with the retrieval of our technology," she paused, looking at Matt, "and the perpetrators who absconded with it in the first place. So dragon, are you ready for your first real flight?"
+
"I can cast some spells to help mask our presence, but my orders only specify a Level 3 contamination protocol so if we wind up on the evening news it's somebody else's problem. My foremost concern is with the retrieval of our technology," she paused, looking at Matt, "and the perpetrators who absconded with it in the first place. So dragon, are you ready for your first real flight?"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 702: Line 715:
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera wheeled about. "I don't think you have yet grasped what has gone on here. If someone is just intending to "look" like a NeoDragon they can just transfer their mind, it takes 5 minutes. However if one actually want to be a NeoDragon you have to be reborn as one. That's why there's a conversion chamber and gallons of magically charged reproductive nannos and an 8 month gestation period. You're a dragon now Matt, in body AND soul. You don't just change back from that and expect your life to be the same as it was." Ethera turned back. "Now let's fly. I can hear the emergency services approaching. You with me? Matt?"
+
Ethera wheeled about. "I don't think you have yet grasped what has gone on here. If someone is just intending to "look" like a NeoDragon they can just transfer their mind, it takes 5 minutes. However if one actually want to '''be''' a NeoDragon you have to be reborn as one. That's why there's a conversion chamber and gallons of magically charged reproductive nannos and an 8 month gestation period. You're a dragon now Matt, in body AND soul. You don't just change back from that and expect your life to be the same as it was." Ethera turned back. "Now let's fly. I can hear the emergency services approaching. You with me? Matt?"
  
 
   
 
   
Matt could live with being a dragon. He wasn't particularly attached to his old species and he suspected that Ethera or her friends could find ways for him to "fit in" and not wind up in some government lab. However the key bit of information that was now devastating him was that he had been in that chamber for 8 months. "8 months!" Matt's mind raced round and round that figure. His job, his life, his house, everything was probably hopelessly ruined now. He had probably been declared dead. He pictured everyone he knew at one of those funerals where they have a picture instead of a casket, saying kind things about his life. He wondered if his former girlfriend would have even bothered to show up, allowed his daughter to be fully aware of his passing. Every scenario was a bad one, especially for his friends and family. At that moment all Matt wanted was to go home.
+
Matt could live with being a dragon. He wasn't particularly attached to his old species and he suspected that Ethera or her friends could find ways for him to "fit in" and not wind up in some government lab. However the key bit of information that was now devastating him was that he had been in that chamber for 8 months.
 +
 
 +
 +
"8 months..."
 +
 
 +
 +
Matt's mind raced round and round that figure. His job, his life, his house, everything was probably hopelessly ruined now. He had probably been declared dead. He pictured everyone he knew at one of those funerals where they have a picture instead of a casket, saying kind things about his life. He wondered if his former girlfriend would have even bothered to show up, allowed his daughter to be fully aware of his passing. Every scenario was a bad one, especially for his friends and family. At that moment all Matt wanted was to go home.
  
 
   
 
   
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"What's wrong dra…Matt…just tell me what's… Ethera started as she began to realize that she had made a mistake. Seeing that Matt was beginning to panic Ethera reached out to comfort him.
+
"What's wrong dra…Matt…just tell me what's…" Ethera started as she began to realize that she had made a mistake. Seeing that Matt was beginning to lost it Ethera reached out to comfort him.
  
 
   
 
   
"I have to go home…I have to go home!" Matt thought with increasing intensity. His body began to feel warm and tingly all over as a great energy seemed to build up inside him. He closed his eyes and pictured the backyard of his house with the green grass and eucalyptus trees. The Neo vanished in a bright flash of yellow energy leaving Ethera all alone outside the warehouse to whinny a curse at the empty air. Her nostrils flared with anger, Ethera cloaked herself with a spell, spread her wings and took off towards her motel while making a call to Steve over the subspace link. This time she was the one who bore the responsibility for derailing the investigation and worse than that there was an untrained, fully powered, emotionally unstable NeoDragon on the loose.
+
"I have to go home….I have to go home!" Matt thought with increasing intensity. His body began to feel warm and tingly all over as a great energy seemed to build up inside him. He closed his eyes and pictured the backyard of his house with the green grass and eucalyptus trees. The Neo vanished in a bright flash of yellow energy leaving Ethera all alone outside the warehouse to whinny a curse at the empty air. Her nostrils flared with anger, Ethera cloaked herself with a spell, spread her wings and took off towards her motel while making a call to Steven over the subspace link. This time she was the one who bore the responsibility for derailing the investigation and worse than that there was an untrained, fully powered, emotionally unstable NeoDragon on the loose.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 720: Line 739:
  
 
   
 
   
One moment Matt was standing outside of a warehouse, the next he was in a suburban backyard. The grass had long since gone to seed, turned brown and then died. The house looked abandoned and some of Matt's in progress garden projects now looked like clutter. Matt wasted no time getting out of sight under one of the trees that had low branches and offered a bit of concealment. His large frame hunched over, Matt sighed as he looked down and saw one of Kate's toys, left during one of her infrequent visits. Matt soon began to question the wisdom of his "go home now" plan as his hulking dragon body was not very useful for seeing his daughter or much of anything for that matter and the other Neo, Ethera, was probably the only person that could help him…or was she.
+
One moment Matt was standing outside of a warehouse, the next he was in a suburban backyard. The grass had long since gone to seed, turned brown and then died. The house looked abandoned and some of Matt's in progress garden projects now looked like clutter. Matt wasted no time getting out of sight under one of the trees that had low branches and offered a bit of concealment. His large frame hunched over, the dragon sighed as he looked down and saw one of his daughter Kate's toys, left during one of her infrequent visits. Matt soon began to question the wisdom of his "go home now" plan as his hulking dragon body was not very useful for seeing his daughter or much of anything for that matter and the other Neo, Ethera, was probably the only person that could help him…or was she.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 750: Line 769:
  
 
   
 
   
"Well, can I speak to Kate? I've been really looking…
+
"Well, can I speak to Kate? I've been really looking…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 786: Line 805:
  
 
   
 
   
"Hey there Ethera, I've got some news that will hopefully take some take some of your load off. You know all those accounts that Hector put watches on? You know, the ones belonging to Matt Jackson? Well they all lit up today and we traced the IP to a residential neighborhood in Richmond."
+
"Hi there Ethera, I've got some news that will hopefully take some take some of your load off. You know all those accounts that Hector put watches on? You know, the ones belonging to Matt Jackson? Well they all lit up today and we traced the IP to a residential neighborhood in Richmond."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 810: Line 829:
  
 
   
 
   
What? UGH! How did you know!" cried Steve, knowing that he had just been burned. "I guess I should know better than getting into arguments with you Ethera," sighed Steve. "I'm sending over the information, but you might want to move fast. Hector says that the local authorities were also watching the accounts and the local FBI field office dispatched a pair of agents to go check things out."
+
“What? UGH! How did you know!" cried Steve, knowing that he had just been burned. "I guess I should know better than getting into arguments with you. Anyway I'm sending over the information, but you might want to move fast. Hector says that the local authorities were also watching the accounts and the local FBI field office dispatched a pair of agents to go check things out."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 825: Line 844:
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera groaned once again lowering her face into her open hand. "How did you know…"
+
Ethera groaned once again lowering her face into her open hand. "How did you know…?"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 849: Line 868:
  
 
   
 
   
"Help? Are you fucking kidding? That Neo killed 8 of our hirelings this morning without breaking a sweat. This isn't a dystopia, there aren't just spare private armies running around for rent. Anyone from off world is going to know what we're up against and steer as clear as possible."
+
"Help? Are you fucking kidding? That Neo killed eight of our hirelings this morning without breaking a sweat. This isn't a dystopia, there aren't just spare private armies running around for rent. Anyone from off world is going to know what we're up against and steer as clear as possible."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 870: Line 889:
  
 
   
 
   
Matt sat down at the rather bare table inside the interview room at the FBI field office located on a high floor of a generic office block. Clutching a cup of coffee to steady his hand and hide the blue tinged cut that was still in the process of healing one of the two FBI agents that had appeared at his house sat down across from him while the other remained standing by the door opposite the table. Both agents wore plain grey suits and white shirts with government haircuts and all the pizzazz one might expect from someone whose job was completely humorless.
+
Matt sat down at the rather bare table inside the interview room at the FBI field office located on a high floor of a generic office block. Clutching a cup of coffee to steady his hand and hide the blue tinged cut that was still in the process of healing, Matt sat across from one of the two FBI agents that had appeared at his house while the other remained standing by the door opposite the table. Both agents wore plain grey suits and white shirts with government haircuts and all the pizzazz one might expect from someone whose job was completely humorless.
  
 
   
 
   
"Like I said Matt," the first agent began, "my name is Agent McNeil, that's Agent Thompson both ourselves and a whole lot of other people have been wondering where you've been."
+
"Like I said Matt," the first agent began, "my name is Agent McNeil, that's Agent Thompson. Both ourselves and a whole lot of other people have been wondering where you've been."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 882: Line 901:
  
 
   
 
   
"Well, I mean there's not much I can really tell you except I got stuck inside a container and, um, I just managed to get free today. I…I didn't know it was 8 months later, but, it seems that it is."
+
"Well, I mean there's not much I can really tell you except I got stuck inside a container and, um, I just managed to get free today. I…I didn't know it was eight months later, but, it seems that it is."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 927: Line 946:
  
 
   
 
   
Agent McNeil stayed seated and shook his head. "Matt, this is just a friendly interview, but if you're going to be that way," the agent gave a slight nod and his partner stepped over towards pulling out something from his belt, "then I am going to have to place you under arrest for conspiracy, you have the right to remain silent…
+
Agent McNeil stayed seated and shook his head. "Matt, this is just a friendly interview, but if you're going to be that way," the agent gave a slight nod and his partner stepped over towards pulling out something from his belt, "then I am going to have to place you under arrest for conspiracy, you have the right to remain silent…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 933: Line 952:
  
 
   
 
   
There was a metallic popping noise as matt brought his hands up to cover his ears in an effort to somehow block out the voice that was leading him down a path he did not want to go. Alarmed, Thompson reached in to grab one of Matt's arms, the now parted handcuffs still circling his wrist. Feeling the renewed pressure on his arm matt moved with snakelike reflexes, grabbing a hold of the agent and hurled him through the one-way glass of the viewing window where he came to rest in a pile of injured bodies, shattered glass and recording equipment. As Agent McNeil reached for his gun Matt's body was already expanding, blowing the handcuffs off his wrists and shredding his T-shirt as the human flesh tone drained from his skin to be replaced by slick metallic silver. Matt's pants and shoes were not long for this world either as both exploded off his still expanding frame exposing yet more rippling silver muscles. Matt's growing tail knocked over a chair as he turned toward the remaining FBI agent, his wings and horns shattering one of the embedded fluorescent ceiling lights. The agent got off three shots before Matt grabbed the side of McNeil's head in his talons and slammed it into the drywall. The man slumped to the ground, lifeless, a bit of blood dropping out of his nose.
+
There was a metallic popping noise as Matt brought his hands up to cover his ears in an effort to somehow block out the voice that was leading him down a path he did not want to go. Alarmed, Thompson reached in to grab one of Matt's arms, the now parted handcuffs still circling his wrists. Feeling the renewed pressure on his arm Matt moved with snakelike reflexes, grabbing a hold of the agent and hurled him through the one-way glass of the viewing window where he came to rest in a pile of injured bodies, bits of glass and recording equipment. As Agent McNeil reached for his gun Matt's body was already expanding, blowing the handcuffs off his wrists and shredding his T-shirt as the human flesh tone drained from his skin to be replaced by slick metallic silver. Matt's pants and shoes were not long for this world either as both exploded off his still expanding frame exposing yet more rippling silver muscles. Matt's growing tail knocked over a chair as he turned toward the remaining FBI agent, his wings and horns shattering one of the embedded fluorescent ceiling lights. The agent got off three shots before Matt grabbed the side of McNeil's head in his talons and slammed it into the drywall. The man slumped to the ground, lifeless, a bit of blood dropping out of his nose.
  
 
   
 
   
As the smoke cleared Matt looked down at his own chest. In addition to there being a lot a lot more down to look at with 8-pack abs and a couple extra feet of height, Matt saw three marks on one of his substantial pectoral muscles with one of the marks including the deformed 10mm bullet. Matt noted the damage as insignificant, the standard issue hollow point ammunition not standing a chance against his advanced metal polymer hide. Then Matt noted the FBI agent who was lying on the floor motionless and probably dead. He had mindlessly swatted the man like a fly at a picnic, yet the living, breathing, talking human had been little more of a threat to him than the same. Matt suddenly didn't want to think about what he had done and just wanted to get out of there. Alarms were going off and Matt knew he didn't have much time before the place turned into a hornet's nest and that wasn't going to end well for anybody. Ripping the interview room door off its hinges Matt stepped out into the hallway only to find another agent, younger, light hair, running down the hall with his weapon drawn.
+
As the smoke cleared Matt looked down at his own chest. In addition to there being a lot a lot more down to look at with 8-pack abs and a couple extra feet of height, Matt saw three marks on one of his substantial pectoral muscles with one of the marks including the deformed 10mm bullet. Matt noted the damage as insignificant, the standard issue hollow point ammunition not standing a chance against his advanced metal polymer hide. Then Matt noted the FBI agent who was lying on the floor, motionless and probably dead. He had mindlessly swatted the man like a fly at a picnic, yet the living, breathing, talking human had been little more of a threat to him than the same. Matt suddenly didn't want to think about what he had done and just wanted to get out of there. Alarms were going off and Matt knew he didn't have much time before the place turned into a hornet's nest. Ripping the interview room door off its hinges Matt stepped out into the hallway only to find another agent, younger, light hair, running down the hall with his weapon drawn.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 951: Line 970:
  
 
   
 
   
"Welcome to the club. Listen we don't have time…
+
"Welcome to the club. Listen we don't have time…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 972: Line 991:
  
 
   
 
   
"Don't fucking move dragon. Not even your skull is thick enough to stop a round from a compact railgun."
+
"Don't fucking move dragon. Not even your skull is thick enough to stop a round from a mass driver."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 981: Line 1,000:
  
 
   
 
   
Matt glanced down at his concealed equipment and then looked back at the wolf. "I believe someone may have already anticipated that outcome."
+
Matt glanced down at his concealed equipment and then looked back at the wolf. "I believe someone may have already anticipated that eventuality."
  
 
   
 
   
Rex let out a snarl just before he yelped in pain as an equine hand grabbed his hand in a viselike grip that paralyzed his fingers. Swinging the pistol to point into the air Ethera then grabbed the wolf by the neck and slammed him into the wall using one clean movement.
+
Rex let out a snarl just before he yelped in pain as an equine hand grabbed his hand in a viselike grip paralyzing his fingers. Swinging the pistol to point into the air Ethera then grabbed the wolf by the neck and slammed him into the wall using one clean movement.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 996: Line 1,015:
  
 
   
 
   
"Well you see Matt, poor Marvin here is a victim,”Ethera started, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “His lycanthropy is the cause of both his anti social behavior and his increased ability to harm ordinary citizens. Therefore given my limited time to act the obvious solution is to simply remove his handicap."
+
"Well you see Matt, poor Marvin here is a victim,” Ethera started, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “His lycanthropy is the cause of both his anti social behavior and his increased ability to harm ordinary citizens. Therefore given my limited time to act the obvious solution is to simply remove his handicap."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,002: Line 1,021:
  
 
   
 
   
"Watch your language least you give me additional motivation to remedy your criminal behavior," the unicorn snarled.
+
"Watch your language lest you give me additional motivation to remedy your criminal behavior," the unicorn snarled.
  
 
   
 
   
Matt could tell by some 9th sense that Ethera had already cast her spell and as he watched, the werewolf, who was of similar statue to both of the Neos, began to shrink. Matt smiled to himself as he thought of Rex being stuck back in a weak human form, but then realized that something wasn't right. Rex was shrinking, but he wasn't losing any of his lupine characteristics like his hair or teeth or yellow eyes or digitigrade animal legs. In fact those features seemed to be getting more refined. Ethera let go of Rex's neck who dropped to his two hind paws before being driven down onto all fours by a rather unsettling cracking sound.
+
Matt could tell by some 9th sense that Ethera had already cast her spell and as he watched, the werewolf, who was of similar stature to both of the Neos, began to shrink. Matt smiled to himself as he thought of Rex being stuck back in a weak human form, but then realized that something wasn't right. Rex was shrinking, but he wasn't losing any of his lupine characteristics like his hair or teeth or yellow eyes or digitigrade animal legs. In fact those features seemed to be getting more refined. Ethera let go of Rex's neck, dropping him onto his two hind paws before being driven down onto all fours by a rather unsettling cracking sound.
  
 
   
 
   
"NoooooOOOOOOO," cried Rex whose human voice changed lost all hint of human vocalizations and changed into a pure animal howl.
+
"NoooooOOOOOOO," cried Rex as his voice lost all hint of human vocalization and changed into a pure animal howl.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,029: Line 1,048:
  
 
   
 
   
"Werewolves are half man, half wolf. Either way I only had a 50% chance of getting it right."
+
"Werewolves are half man, half wolf. Whatever I did I only had a 50% chance of getting it right."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,050: Line 1,069:
  
 
   
 
   
"You have wings and a sizable security force will be on us in 10 seconds. Unless you prefer I kill them…
+
"You have wings and a sizable security force will be on us in 10 seconds. Unless you prefer I kill them…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,062: Line 1,081:
  
 
   
 
   
"Come on, as soon as we get out of sight I'll open a… Ether suddenly cursed. "No I can't…someone cast an area damping spell. I can't open a portal, we'll need to leave the radius on foot,"
+
"Come on, as soon as we get out of sight I'll open a…" Ether suddenly cursed. "No I can't…someone cast an area damping spell. I can't open a portal, we'll need to leave the radius on foot,"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,104: Line 1,123:
  
 
   
 
   
"Mr. Zepp wants everything brought back to the compound oh and he wants to be clear that he's taking the horse one and everything she came with. Consider it a small large lateness penalty."
+
"Mr. Zepp wants everything brought back to the compound. Oh and he wants to be clear that he's taking the horse one and everything she came with. Consider it a small large lateness penalty."
  
 
   
 
   
"I guess that's fair," said Miller without much hint of emotion.
+
"I guess that's fair," said Miller without objection.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,113: Line 1,132:
  
 
   
 
   
Steven, also known as ShockWulf to those that would bother to humor him, finished up preparing the fresh chopped salad he was about to have for dinner. A few weeks ago he would have settled for some sort of single serving frozen pizza, but after Ethera visited the safe house and declared the food to be unfit for compost and that eating it might "seriously weaken her astral presence" Steven decided it might be a good idea to refractor his diet even if most physical downsides could be remedied through medication and nano injections. It had been 5 years since the United Federation of Alternate Worlds decided to grant his Earth the "honor" of a first contact and it didn't take long for Steven to have his mind blown by the wide variety of non-human that showed up on his figurative doorstep. Steven had always had a love of exotic fictional worlds and at the first sight of an anthropomorphic rabbit walking through the campus he decided right then and there that he was going to get off his backwater rock and see some of them.
+
Steven, also known as ShockWulf to those that would bother to humor him, finished up preparing the fresh chopped salad he was about to have for dinner. A few weeks ago he would have settled for some sort of single serving frozen pizza, but after Ethera visited the safe house and declared the food to be unfit for compost and that eating it might "seriously weaken her astral presence" Steven decided it might be a good idea to refactor his diet even if most physical downsides could be remedied through medication and nano injections. It had been 5 years since the United Federation of Alternate Worlds decided to grant his Earth the "honor" of a first contact and it didn't take long for Steven to have his mind blown by the wide variety of non-human that showed up on his figurative doorstep. Steven had always had a love of exotic fictional worlds and at the first sight of an anthropomorphic rabbit walking through the campus he decided right then and there that he was going to get off his backwater rock and see some more of them.
  
 
   
 
   
Unfortunately Steven's ambition far outstripped his resources. What little money he did have was virtually worthless in Federation credits and his technical skills, while above average for his own world, seemed to compare to what was taught in primary school in the Federation, not to mention he would also be having to compete with AI's, Cyborgs, GELF's and supernatural beings for what job openings there were. It was little over a year ago when Steven happened upon an anthro wolf while hiking in a local wildlife reserve. The wolf was in the bittersweet position of having shot more deer than he could carry and during the conversation that followed Steve’s offer to help the wolf became thoroughly impressed by the humans uncommonly open attitude towards other species and offered to make a few calls. One thing led to another and Steven got an entry level job running a safe house on another Earth not much less advanced than his own. Sure it was pretty much the same as home in all but the most trivial of details, but being able to talk and interact with powerful Unicorn Guardians like Ethera made it all worthwhile. Not to mention that's also how he met his best friend Hector.
+
Unfortunately Steven's ambition far outstripped his resources. What little money he did have was virtually worthless in Federation credits and his technical skills, while above average for his own world, was little more than primary school fare in the Federation which was also sending all sorts of AI's, Cyborgs, GELF's and supernatural beings to compete for what local job openings were still available.
  
 
   
 
   
"How's it going in there Hector," Steven called back into the operations room, which was really just a fancy name for "basement den with a bunch of computers in it."
+
It had been little more than a year since Steven happened upon an anthro wolf while hiking in a local game reserve. The wolf was in the bittersweet position of having shot more deer than he could carry and during the conversation that followed after Steve’s offer to help the wolf he became thoroughly impressed by the human's uncommonly open attitude towards other species and offered to make a few calls. One thing led to another and Steven got an entry level job running a safe house on another Earth not much less advanced than his own. The world was almost the same as his own in all but the most trivial of details, but being able to talk and interact with a powerful Unicorn Guardian like Ethera made it all worthwhile even without considering his best friend Hector.
  
 
   
 
   
"Pretty good," but people are accusing me of being a bot again.
+
"How's it going in there Hector," Steven called back into the computer stuffed basement den they he liked to call the “operations room”.
 +
 
 +
 +
"Pretty good, but people are accusing me of being a bot again.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,137: Line 1,159:
  
 
   
 
   
As Steven ate his meal there came a "bing" noise from the speakers and he glanced over to see an urgent message from Ethera. His eyes went wide as she read the text.
+
As Steven ate his meal there came a "bing" noise from the speakers and he glanced over to see an urgent message from Ethera. His eyes went wide as he read the text.
  
 
   
 
   
"Shit, Ethera's in trouble, Hector, pull up…
+
"Shit, Ethera's in trouble, Hector, pull up…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,152: Line 1,174:
  
 
   
 
   
Looking past the fluffy Hawk chicks Steven could see a wild firefight taking place. The CG wolf leapt up in the air and Steven clapped his hands as Ethera dusted one of the sniper positions with railgun slugs, then both were abruptly silent as a white commercial grade pickup truck shot out of the garage with Ethera on the grill, dashing the Neo against a solid brick wall.
+
Looking past the fluffy Hawk chicks Steven could see a wild firefight taking place. The CG wolf leapt up in the air and Steven clapped his hands as Ethera dusted one of the sniper positions with railgun slugs, before both abruptly fell silent as a white commercial grade pickup truck shot out of the garage with Ethera on the grill, dashing the Neo against a solid brick wall.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,158: Line 1,180:
  
 
   
 
   
"Steven, I believe that Ethera has been critically damaged. We should declare a condition 3 emergency immediately."
+
"Steven, I believe that Ethera has been critically damaged. We should declare an emergency condition immediately."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,176: Line 1,198:
  
 
   
 
   
"You are aware that I am inclined towards following all operational protocols as instructed by my superiors.”The virtual wolf let the statement hang in the air for a moment. “Still, as much as I would enjoy training a new human it is unlikely that I would be able to immediately find one with such a high degree of compatible interests." The CG wolf gave a toothy grin. "Do you have any sort of plan?"
+
"You are aware that I am inclined towards following all operational protocols as instructed by my superiors.” The virtual wolf let the statement hang in the air for a moment. “Still, as much as I would enjoy training a new human it is unlikely that I would be able to immediately find one with such a high degree of compatible interests." The CG wolf gave a toothy grin. "Do you have any sort of plan?"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,185: Line 1,207:
  
 
   
 
   
"You know that by not declaring a code 3 and by leaving the safe house unattended if this little adventure goes south I will probably be joining you in your parent's basement."
+
"You know that not declaring a Code 3 and leaving the safe house unattended I will probably end up joining you in your parent's basement if this operation goes south."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,197: Line 1,219:
  
 
   
 
   
"Well I bought the head with my own money," said Steven as he removed the fully realistic anthro wolf head with burning red eyes and mottled grey fur from its carrying case. "Alright, transfer what you've done so car to the mobile environment and suspend yourself to I can move your AI core into the van. Let's be out of here in 15 minutes."
+
"Well I bought the head with my own money," said Steven as he removed the fully realistic anthro wolf head with burning red eyes and mottled grey fur from its carrying case. "Alright, transfer what you've done to the mobile environment and suspend yourself to I can move your AI core into the van. Let's be out of here in 15 minutes."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,221: Line 1,243:
  
 
   
 
   
"Yes, I'm the guy who “makes”all those phones." He then jammed the point of his cane into Matt's gut. "I'm also the guy you have to thank for creating the world you live in," Zepp had to pause to regain control of a rage that was boiling inside of him, "but yeah…phones. I do all those phones. So, where is the other one?" continued Zepp, turning to Miller.
+
"Yes, I'm the guy who “makes” all those phones." He then jammed the point of his cane into Matt's gut. "I'm also the guy you have to thank for creating the world you live in," Zepp had to pause to regain control of a rage that was boiling inside of him, "but yeah…phones. I do all those phones. So, where is the other one?" continued Zepp, turning to Miller.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,242: Line 1,264:
  
 
   
 
   
"Wonderful. Shame the unicorn isn't a stallion. It would like to try out different forms, but becoming female might permanently impact my creative spark. It doesn't matter. With all their technology and knowledge available to me I suspect that I will be producing my own cybernetic bodies before the century is halfway done."
+
"Wonderful. Shame the unicorn isn't a stallion. I would like to try out different forms, but becoming female might permanently impact my creative spark. It doesn't matter. With all their technology and knowledge available to me I suspect that I will be producing my own cybernetic bodies before the century is halfway done."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,254: Line 1,276:
  
 
   
 
   
Matt looked up again, he was still bound, but there was a lot more pain and discomfort than they had been just a few second ago. His heart was racing and he felt out of breath as he took in a deep gulp of air into his lungs. Matt felt angry like a caged animal and could feel the blood pounding through his body. He began to struggle against his restraints which caused him only additional pain and more jabs from the prod some somehow hurt more and hurt longer. Falling onto his side Matt noticed that his silver hide was suddenly much duller and had odd patches on them that looked like hard reptilian scales. Gone was the reassuring sense of body and its myriad abilities. Gone were the hundreds of software processes that Matt had instinctively relied upon to achieve peak levels of performance. He was still aware of the various life energies that those standing around him were giving off, but no more could he sample the electromagnetic waves flying through the room.
+
Matt looked up again, he was still bound, but there was a lot more pain and discomfort than they had been just a few second ago. His heart was racing and he felt out of breath as he took in a deep gulp of air into his lungs. Matt felt angry like a caged animal and could feel the blood pounding through his body. He began to struggle against his restraints which caused him only additional pain and more jabs from the prod that somehow hurt more and hurt longer. Falling onto his side Matt noticed that his silver hide was suddenly much duller and had odd patches on them that looked like hard reptilian scales. Gone was the reassuring sense of body and its myriad abilities. Gone were the hundreds of software processes that Matt had instinctively relied upon to achieve peak levels of performance. He was still aware of the various life energies that those standing around him were giving off, but no more could he sample the electromagnetic waves flying through the room.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,275: Line 1,297:
  
 
   
 
   
"Yes sir," answered Miller, but we can try to keep him quiet for you.
+
"Yes sir," answered Miller, “but we can try to keep him quiet for you.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,314: Line 1,336:
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera grabbed the access badge and then paused to grab one of the several mobile devices that had been seized from visitors looking to sneak a picture or two at whatever new device Mr. Zepp had been recently promoting. She dialed a number and hit send.
+
Grabbing the access badge, Ethera paused to take one of the several mobile devices that had been seized from visitors looking to sneak a picture or two at whatever new device Mr. Zepp had been recently promoting. She dialed a number and hit send.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,332: Line 1,354:
  
 
   
 
   
"Nice to hear you're along for the ride Hector," she replied. "I'll be happy to know someone with sense will be running the operation. Listen, I don't have much time but I am at the Clifford Zepp residence and in about…8 hours there is a mage here who is going to be performing some fairly involved magic on our new friend Matt to change Mr Zepp into a Neodragon."
+
"Nice to hear you're along for the ride Hector," she replied. "I'll be happy to know someone with sense will be running the operation. Listen, I don't have much time but I am at the Clifford Zepp residence and in about…eighteen hours there is a mage here who is going to be performing some fairly involved magic on our new friend Matt to change Mr Zepp into a Neodragon."
  
 
   
 
   
"We anticipated your need for assistance and are on our way,”Hector responded. “At our current rate of progress our ETA will give us with a few hours to spare. Do you have any tactical information that could prove to our advantage?"
+
"We anticipated your need for assistance and are on our way,” Hector responded. “At our current rate of progress our ETA will give us with a few hours to spare. Do you have any tactical information that could prove to our advantage?"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,353: Line 1,375:
  
 
   
 
   
"Um, I don't know if my wolf persona is qualified to…
+
"Um, I don't know if my wolf persona is qualified to…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,371: Line 1,393:
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera nodded and entered the room. Her body had been stripped naked, her armour and equipment laid in a neat pile alongside one of the bare concrete walls. She walked over and looked down at it, realizing that such surreal experiences were all part of being Neo. Even though her body was an artificial construct she still felt a bit violated seeing it laid out like this, wondering where exactly the hands of the techs that stripped her had wandered to. Her body didn't look too badly damaged, most of the smaller wounds had already been healed by the built in nano repair system, but the majority of the damage was internal, caused by the blunt force trauma of the truck squashing her into the wall. Snapping herself free from her pensiveness Ethera got to work opening up her backpack and pulling out an impact extruded metal bottle in the 12oz size category with a sealed screw top along with a small carrying case containing several squeeze tubes.
+
Ethera nodded and entered the room. Her body had been stripped naked, her armour and equipment laid in a neat pile alongside one of the bare concrete walls. She walked over and looked down at it, the notion that such experiences were all part of “being Neo” not doing much to make it less surreal. Even though her body was an artificial construct she still felt a bit violated seeing it laid out like this, wondering where exactly the hands of the techs that stripped her had wandered to. Upon inspection her body didn't ''look'' too badly damaged, most of the smaller wounds had already been healed by the built in nano repair system, but the majority of the damage caused by the blunt force trauma of the truck crushing her into the wall was hidden away inside. Refocusing her mind Ethera got to work opening up her backpack and pulling out an extruded metal bottle in the 12oz size category with a sealed screw top along with a small carrying case containing several squeeze tubes.
  
 
   
 
   
Opening the bottle she pressed the opening into the side of her body's equine mouth behind the front teeth and poured in the complete charge of liquid metal repair nannos. Then she got to work doing her best to set the broken joints and bones into a position that the nannos would have at least a chance of carrying out a repair. She winced each time she felt the internal structure grinding against itself as she relocated the hips and shoulders. Such field repairs would ultimately do more harm than good, rendering the body unable to be fully repaired, but Ethera had no choice if she wanted to be at least semi-ambulatory by the time of the ritual. Her time running critically low she turned the body over, filling the still open gashes with the special quick setting nano paste that would knit together torn synthskin and muscle. Quickly throwing all of the first aid supplies back in her bag she casually walked out of the lab, reminding the guard to keep the techs out until told otherwise by Mr Zepp. Once out of the lab she made her way back to the security office laying back in the chair, feet up on the desk so that as far as the Chief would know he simply dozed off before heading out for the day.
+
Uncapping the bottle, she pressed the opening into the side of her body's equine mouth behind the front teeth and poured the complete charge of liquid metal repair nannos down its gullet. Then she got to work setting the broken joints and bones into a position where the nannos would have at least a fighting chance of effecting a repair. She winced each time she felt the internal structure grinding against itself as she relocated the hips and shoulders. Such field repairs would ultimately do more harm than good, rendering the body unable to be fully repaired, but Ethera had no choice if she wanted to be at least semi-ambulatory by the time of the ritual. Her time running critically low she turned the body over, filling the still open gashes with the special quick setting nano paste that would knit together torn synthskin and muscle. Quickly throwing all of the first aid supplies back in her bag she casually walked out of the lab, reminding the guard to keep the techs out until told otherwise by Mr Zepp. Once out of the basement area she made her way back to the security office laying back in the chair, feet up on the desk so that from the Chief’s point of view he simply dozed off before heading out for the day.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,383: Line 1,405:
  
 
   
 
   
"''Hello Mathew, you need to cheer up a little. I wasn't going to let you down.''"
+
"''Hello Mathew, you need to cheer up a little. I wasn't going to abandon you.''"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,392: Line 1,414:
  
 
   
 
   
Matt immediately thought about not thinking about how hot and sexy Ethera was.
+
Matt immediately thought about not thinking about how hot and sexy the Neocorn mare was.
  
 
   
 
   
Ethers sighed and Matt felt his own eyes roll. "''I'm going to see if I can't wall myself off a little from you now, ah ok, that should do it.''"
+
Ethera sighed and Matt felt his own eyes roll. "''I'm going to see if I can't wall myself off a little from you now, ah ok, that should do it.''"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,410: Line 1,432:
  
 
   
 
   
"''Wait what? Are you saying that part of my…my mind was replaced by a computer programme when you became Neo?''"
+
"''Wait what? Are you saying that part of my…my mind was replaced by a computer programme when I became Neo?''"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,422: Line 1,444:
  
 
   
 
   
"''Philosophical implications!? Like ceasing to exist when I “blend”with my other half? Damn straight we’re going to set up a time to talk about this, but tell me now why if I am currently the original Matt why don't I feel like myself?''"
+
"''Philosophical implications!? Like ceasing to exist when I “blend” with my other half? Damn straight we’re going to set up a time to talk about this, but tell me now why if I am currently the original Matt why don't I feel like myself?''"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,434: Line 1,456:
  
 
   
 
   
"''If it makes you feel any better you are not the same person s your Neo self, but your Neo self is as much you as he is your mech brother.''"
+
"''If it makes you feel any better you are not the same person as your Neo self, but your Neo self is as much you as he is your mech brother.''"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,455: Line 1,477:
  
 
   
 
   
"''What? You just want an excuse to be all angry and violent!''”exclaimed Matt picked up on some of Ethera’s motivations.
+
"''What? You just want an excuse to be all angry and violent!''” exclaimed Matt picked up on some of Ethera’s motivations.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,461: Line 1,483:
  
 
   
 
   
“''We have a reputation to uphold…''”she replied weakly.
+
“''We have a reputation to uphold…''” she replied weakly.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,467: Line 1,489:
  
 
   
 
   
“''I guess that’s one way to embrace your new species.''”
+
“''I guess standing up against dragon stereotypes one way to embrace your new species,''” Ethera pointed out.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,473: Line 1,495:
  
 
   
 
   
“''Now who’s reinforcing dragon stereotypes?''”
+
“''And now you’re reinforcing them yourself. See how hard it is?''”
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,479: Line 1,501:
  
 
   
 
   
“''I grew up in the North American west. While the native populations had hunted our mundane ancestors to extinction my people were able to survive and prosper using those superior abilities that you speak of. However when European settlers arrived with their iron tools and weapons our advantage declined and we were forced into hiding, either by living in the few remaining wild areas or taking human shape and living among them. It was only when the Neos arrived from their reality and offered to “upgrade”us that we could feel safe from being hunted or exploited by non-magical populations.''”
+
“''I grew up in the North American west. While the native populations had hunted our mundane ancestors to extinction my people were able to survive and prosper using those superior abilities that you speak of. However when European settlers arrived with their iron tools and weapons our advantage declined and we were forced into hiding, either by living in the few remaining wild areas or taking human shape and living among them. It was only when the Neos arrived from their reality and offered to “upgrade” us that we could feel safe from being hunted or exploited by non-magical populations.''”
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,485: Line 1,507:
  
 
   
 
   
“''That that might be the only law protecting us illustrates the problem!''”cried Ethera, growing indignant. “''If I am not mistaken Rhino horn is currently more valuable than its weight in gold thanks to demand from China. Imagine if that actually could do all the things the herbalists claimed instead of just being bits of ground fingernail. Due to our small populations so called supernatural creatures have always had more to fear from advancing human societies than they do from us. Working from a position of strength allows us to remain in our traditional roles instead of being sidelined as objects of curiosity.''”
+
“''That that might be the only law protecting us that illustrates the problem!''” cried Ethera, growing indignant. “''If I am not mistaken Rhino horn is currently more valuable than its weight in gold thanks to demand from China. Imagine if that actually could do all the things the herbalists claimed instead of just being bits of ground fingernail. Due to our small populations so called supernatural creatures have always had more to fear from advancing human societies than they do from us. Working from a position of strength allows us to remain in our traditional roles instead of being sidelined as objects of curiosity.''”
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,494: Line 1,516:
  
 
   
 
   
While they talked Ethera made available a selection of memories from her childhood as a biologic unicorn growing up from the time of European settlement up through the 21st century. He watched her running free on vast plains and in woodland meadows. Then he felt what it was like for her to take human shape for the first time, her first time in a city, a montage of her learning the sum of human knowledge at an elite university. Matt felt a bit strange experiencing Ethera’s from her point of view, but was still fascinated about all she had seen and done in her 350 year lifespan.
+
While they talked Ethera made available a selection of memories from her childhood as a biologic unicorn growing up from the time of European settlement up through the 21st century. He watched her running free on vast plains and in woodland meadows. Then he felt what it was like for her to take human shape for the first time, her first time in a city, a montage of her learning the sum of human knowledge at an elite university. Matt felt a bit strange experiencing Ethera’s life from her point of view, but was still fascinated about all she had seen and done in her 350 year lifespan.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,527: Line 1,549:
  
 
   
 
   
“''So normally conversion to a full blooded Neo requires a rebirthing process like you went through. However there are some tricks that can be used to associate a new mind with an existing Neo “soul” In your case I suspect they will swap your mind with Mr Zepp’s, reprogramme your mech brother into an AI match for Mr Zepp’s psyche and then reblend the result. It’s a bit of a hack, but in Mr Zepp’s case it is certainly better than nothing.''”
+
“''So normal conversion to a full blooded Neo requires a rebirthing process like you went through. However there are some tricks that can be used to associate a new mind with an existing Neo “soul”. In your case I suspect they will swap your mind with Mr Zepp’s, reprogramming your mech brother into an AI match for Mr Zepp’s psyche and then reblend the result. It’s a bit of a hack, but in Mr Zepp’s case it is certainly better than nothing.''”
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,533: Line 1,555:
  
 
   
 
   
“''Your welfare is the last thing on any of their minds, but Guardians exist to protect those that can’t protect themselves. I have set a couple plans in motion and one way or another well will stop their plans. You must have faith that you will make it out of this and be prepared to do your utmost.''”
+
“''Your welfare is the last thing on any of their minds, but Guardians exist to protect those that can’t protect themselves. I have set a couple plans in motion and one way or another we will stop their plans. You must have faith that you will make it out of this and be prepared to do your utmost.''”
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,544: Line 1,566:
 
“''Good night Matt. Trust your instincts. Even as a bio you’ve got a leg up on every one of the apes you’ll be dealing with in that room tomorrow.''”
 
“''Good night Matt. Trust your instincts. Even as a bio you’ve got a leg up on every one of the apes you’ll be dealing with in that room tomorrow.''”
  
+
 
{{Separator|k}}  
+
{{Separator|k}}  
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,581: Line 1,603:
  
 
   
 
   
Steven slid out of the van and opened the rear doors. Due to the weight he had to move Shock in several pieces, but finally managed to marshal everything in the pool house along with a duffle bag full of weapons. The arsenal in the safe house was small, intended only for self defense and not bona fide operations, but in Steven's estimation it would do for the mission that Ethera had outlined over the phone. First out of the bag was an MG36 light machine gun with about 10 C-Mags worth of ammo and special sights designed to work with Shock's built in targeting capabilities. To provide a little more long range oomph should it be necessary Steven had also brought along a G3 battle rifle. Both bore bright red marks on their receivers indicating that they were constructed from materials sufficient to withstand the higher chamber pressures of propellants that made use of subatomic breakdown instead of more mundane chemical combustion. Matt double checked the inertial dampeners on both weapons before also checking the charge on the railgun pistol's fuel cell. An assortment of grenades and cutting devices rounded out the inventory. With everything ready and loaded Steven returned to the van to get Hector.
+
Steven slid out of the van and opened the rear doors. Due to the weight he had to move Shock in several pieces, but finally managed to marshal everything in the pool house along with a duffle bag full of weapons. The arsenal in the safe house was small, intended only for self defense and not bona-fide operations, but in Steven's estimation it would do for the mission that Ethera had outlined over the phone. First out of the bag was an MG36 light machine gun with about 1000 rounds of ammunition split between 10 “C-Mags” and special sights designed to work with Shock's built in targeting capabilities. To provide a little more long range oomph should it be necessary Steven had also brought along a G3 battle rifle. Both bore bright red marks on their receivers indicating that they were constructed from materials sufficient to withstand the higher chamber pressures of propellants that made use of subatomic breakdown instead of more mundane chemical combustion. Matt double checked the inertial dampeners on both weapons before also checking the charge on the railgun pistol's fuel cell. An assortment of grenades and cutting devices rounded out the inventory. With everything ready and loaded Steven returned to the van to get Hector.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,593: Line 1,615:
  
 
   
 
   
"I've ''been'' ready from the moment you put me in this stupid van," replied Hector, clearly irritated.
+
"I've ''been'' ready from the moment you put me in this stupid van," Hector snapped.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,605: Line 1,627:
  
 
   
 
   
Steven set about attaching the limbs of the exosuit to the central torso unit while Hector made a variety of unhelpful comments about human efficiency. After the last arm was locked in place Steven opened the front of the torso outward like a mailbox before stripping down to a pair of tight fitting black shorts and T-shirt that would allow him to interface with Shock's sensory feedback systems. Steven got down and carefully slid himself into the prone metal armour. Steven's human style feet came to a rest in an awkward position well above the suit's digitigrades paws, but nano enhancements to the joint and vascular structure of his biologic body allowed him to maintain that position without risking any long term damage. Once his lower half was firmly in the right position Steven slid his arms into Shock's arms bringing them to life. Closing up the front of the torso the human headed metal wolf waited for the exosuit's various power, feedback and life support systems to warm up before rather awkwardly getting to his feet using a nearby table for support.
+
Steven set about attaching the limbs of the exosuit to the central torso unit while Hector made a variety of unhelpful comments about human efficiency. After the last arm was locked in place Steven opened the front of the torso outward like a mailbox before stripping down to a pair of tight fitting black shorts and T-shirt that would allow him to interface with Shock's sensory feedback systems. Steven got down and carefully slid himself into the prone metal armour. Steven's human style feet came to a rest in an awkward position well above the suit's digitigrades paws, but nano enhancements to the joint and vascular structure of his biologic body allowed him to maintain that position without risking any long term damage. Once his lower half was firmly in the right position Steven slid his arms into Shock's arms bringing them to life. Closing up the front of the torso the human headed metal wolf waited for the exosuit's various power, feedback, and life support systems to warm up before rather awkwardly getting to his feet using a nearby table for support.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,620: Line 1,642:
  
 
   
 
   
Steve grumbled and lifting the lupine head fit it down carefully over his own. There was a brief moment of disorientation and discomfort as the neural link activated and connections were formed to allow Steven's biologic body to receive food, water and air, but when the yellow eyes reopened it was ShockWulf who beheld the cluttered interior of the pool room. Immediately all of the digitigrade instability vanished and the only other soft part of the suit, the tail, became alive and expressive. Shock flicked his ears around and smelled the air, checking for potential threats. Most of the new instincts that now overlaid Steven's old personality same stock with the exosuit, but, with Hector's help, Steven had coded up a personality overlay as well to make him more like his idealized ShockWulf persona as well as a more effective warrior. While technically still second in command of their joint venture Hector was still playing an active role influencing Steven's mind subconsciously or taking outright control if the situation demanded it. If anything it was Steven's natural proficiency to sync with an AI and integrate a new persona that got him qualified for field operations so quickly.
+
Steve grumbled and lifting the lupine head fit it down carefully over his own. There was a brief moment of disorientation and discomfort as the neural link activated and connections were formed to allow Steven's biologic body to receive food, water and air, but when the yellow eyes reopened it was ShockWulf who beheld the cluttered interior of the pool room. Immediately all of the digitigrade instability vanished and the only other soft part of the suit, the tail, became alive and expressive. Shock flicked his ears around and smelled the air, checking for potential threats. Most of the new instincts that now overlaid Steven's old personality came stock with the exosuit, but, with Hector's help, Steven had coded up a personality overlay as well to make him more like his idealized ShockWulf persona as well as a more effective warrior. While technically still second in command of their joint venture Hector was still playing an active role influencing Steven's mind subconsciously or taking outright control if the situation demanded it. If anything it was Steven's natural proficiency to sync with an AI and integrate a new persona that got him qualified for field operations so quickly.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Go quietly with only minor resistance. There isn't much you can do to them now and resisting will only get you zapped. We'll need this body awake and functional when the time comes."
+
"''Go quietly with only minor resistance. There isn't much you can do to them now and resisting will only get you zapped. We'll need this body awake and functional when the time comes.''"
  
 
   
 
   
Matt stood there numbly as his restraints were reconfigured to give him the mobility necessary to get up the stairs. Guards constantly at the ready with the purple energy stun sticks put any thought of resistance completely out of Matt's mind Ethera's comment notwithstanding.
+
Matt stood there numbly as his restraints were reconfigured to give him the mobility necessary to get up the stairs. Guards constantly at the ready with the purple energy stun sticks put any thought of resistance completely out of Matt's mind, Ethera's comment notwithstanding.
  
 
   
 
   
"Matt, this is very important that you do exactly as I say. You are going to feel me start to bring something up into your mouth. No matter how much discomfort you find yourself in you cannot under any circumstances swallow any of it. You got that?"
+
"''Matt, this is very important that you do exactly as I say. You are going to feel me start to bring something up into your mouth. No matter how much discomfort you find yourself in you cannot under any circumstances swallow any of it. You got that?''"
  
 
   
 
   
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"Everybody gets one Miller. You get me and old body…you fuck up the transfer. That's two. If I wasn't about to drop dead I'd have sent your sorry ass packing. Now, is your mage all charged up and ready to go? I don't want my consciousness ending up inside a lamp or something."
+
"Everybody gets one Miller. You get me an old body…you fuck up the transfer. That's two. If I wasn't about to drop dead I'd have sent your sorry ass packing. Now, is your mage all charged up and ready to go? I don't want my consciousness ending up inside a lamp or something."
  
 
   
 
   
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"Look at this thing,”Zepp scoffed, “well look at both of them. Dragons have too many features. I'll bet they're a bunch of arrogant traditionalists. I'm going to streamline and simplify this mess. Mark my words 10 years after I enter the market nobody will even remember what the "classic' dragon looked like. Hey, can these things really breathe fire?"
+
"Look at this thing,” Zepp scoffed, “ well look at both of them. Dragons have too many features. I'll bet they're a bunch of arrogant traditionalists. I'm going to streamline and simplify this mess. Mark my words 10 years after I enter the market nobody will even remember what the "classic' dragon looked like. Hey, can these things really breathe fire?"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,716: Line 1,738:
  
 
   
 
   
"''You can thank me when your meat body suffers damage and is unable to maintain consciousness and I am able to transport you to medical care.''"
+
"''You can thank me when your meat body suffers damage and is unable to maintain consciousness and I am required to transport you to medical care.''"
  
 
   
 
   
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"Alright, alright, we've got to get on task here." Shock relaxed as he allowed his two minds to flow back into sync. Scanning the imagery collected by the reconnaissance drones the wolf identified a partial blind spot in the camera network and then figured out the best route for a running jump that would minimize his exposure. Moving almost silently through the brush Shock approached the fence before accelerating rapidly on his lupine paws and making a graceful leap out of a treeline, over the fence and guard path before landing behind a line of oleander. Shock froze, ears moving about as he scanned for any sign of activity or alarm. If he was detected the immediate Plan B would be to go in guns blazing, but upon hearing nothing out of the ordinary he continued on towards his objective just a few hundred yards up the slope at the top of the ridge.
+
"Alright, alright, we've got to get on task here." Shock relaxed as he allowed his two minds to flow back into sync. Scanning the imagery collected by the reconnaissance drones the wolf identified a partial blind spot in the camera network and then figured out the best route for a running jump that would minimize his exposure. Moving almost silently through the brush Shock approached the fence before accelerating rapidly on his lupine paws and making a graceful leap out from the treeline, over the fence and guard path before landing behind a line of oleander. Shock froze, ears moving about as he scanned for any sign of activity or alarm. If he was detected the immediate Plan B would be to go in guns blazing, but upon hearing nothing out of the ordinary he continued on towards his objective just a few hundred yards up the slope at the top of the ridge.
  
 
   
 
   
The painted fur pattern combined with a bit of terrain specific supplementary camouflage rendered Shock nearly invisible to the occasional passing security patrols as he made his way closer and closer to the main house. Taking up a position behind a low hedge Shock decided that he could go no further as all that was between his current position and the main compound was a well manicured lawn. While a ninja could probably continue on without fear of detection, Shock was still just a rather bulky mech suit that would tend to stand out on open ground so he began to unpack his weapons and optimize his field of fire. Despite his clear view of the house the windows were tinted to thwart prying eyes and Shock quickly found that most other useful spectra were shielded as well. Fumbling to open a small leather case with his paws Shock fitted an inscribed filter to the front of the scope fitted to the MG36.
+
The painted fur pattern combined with a bit of terrain specific supplementary camouflage, the field manual's term for tying vegetation to oneself, rendered Shock nearly invisible to the occasional passing security patrols as he made his way closer and closer to the main house. Taking up a position behind a low hedge Shock decided that he could go no further as all that was between his current position and the main compound was a well manicured lawn. While a ninja could probably continue on without fear of detection, Shock was still just a rather bulky mech suit that would tend to stand out on open ground so he began to unpack his weapons and optimize his field of fire. Despite his clear view of the house the windows were tinted to thwart prying eyes and Shock quickly found that most other useful spectra were shielded as well. Fumbling to open a small leather case with his paws Shock fitted a rune inscribed filter to the front of the scope fitted to the MG36.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,785: Line 1,807:
  
 
   
 
   
"Hey! Hey!" called out Zepp, snapping his fingers at his security chief. "What the hell is wrong with that thing? It looks like it about to fucking shit all over my hardwood floor. Someone go get a bucket. Hey you! Mage! What the hell is wrong with the dragon? I don't want to get transferred into a brain damaged body or one that's choking on its own vomit."
+
"Hey! Hey!" called out Zepp, snapping his fingers at his security chief. "What the hell is wrong with that thing? It looks like it about to fucking shit all over my hardwood floor. Someone go get a bucket. Hey you! Mage! What the hell is wrong with the dragon? It doesn't look like it's doing so well. I don't want to get transferred into a brain damaged body or one that's choking on its own vomit."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,803: Line 1,825:
  
 
   
 
   
"You son of a b…" The guard's words stopped abruptly as did the hand that was attempting to fling the purple gunk onto the floor. The man gasped desperately for air as he fell to the floor, his body becoming stiff as a board as the violent throes of suffocation were only manifest as a series of slight tremors. The goo began to quickly evaporate into a purple cloud, expanding floor to ceiling. From across the room Miller shouted in dismay.
+
"You son of a b…." The guard's words stopped abruptly as did the hand that was attempting to fling the purple gunk onto the floor. The man gasped desperately for air as he fell to the floor, his body becoming stiff as a board as the violent throes of suffocation were only manifest as a series of slight tremors. The goo began to quickly evaporate into a purple cloud, expanding floor to ceiling. From across the room Miller shouted in dismay.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 1,809: Line 1,831:
  
 
   
 
   
Xia's arm was in mid-stroke when it suddenly went stiff. There was a brief moment of realization in her eyes before the accumulated magical energy fed back on her blowing her across the room with enough force to splinter the hardwood paneling on the wall. Rolland's hand went to his rail pistol first shooting out each of the floor to ceiling glass panels and then proceeding to pick off each of the fire sprinkler heads filling the room with a deluge of black sulfur smelling water that quickly neutralized the growing cloud of paralyzing gas.
+
Xia's arm was in mid-stroke when it suddenly went stiff. There was a brief moment of realization in her eyes before the accumulated magical energy fed back on her blowing her across the room with enough force to splinter the hardwood paneling on the wall. Rolland's hand went to his rail pistol first shooting out each of the floor to ceiling glass panels and then proceeding to pick off each of the fire sprinkler heads filling the room with a deluge of black sulfur smelling water that quickly neutralized the growing cloud of paralyzing gas.
  
 
   
 
   
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From Matt's point of view Rolland seemed to disintegrate as the finger of god started with him and worked its way around the opposite end of the room sending splinters of wood, chunks of granite and bits of flesh into a cacophony of flying debris. While Miller managed to jump into cover behind one of the water troughs the other guards were not so lucky. On its high rate of fire Shock's LMG soon exhausted the first C-Mag, but another was soon in place as he swung the muzzle to point at the pair of outdoor guards as they ran towards the sound of the commotion. A stream of hot brass shot out the side of the gun as a jet of flame emerged from the front. The two guards were knocked off their feet in mid stride as half the shed behind them was turned into blood stained kindling.  
+
From Matt's point of view Rolland seemed to disintegrate as the finger of god started with him and worked its way around the opposite end of the room sending splinters of wood, chunks of granite and bits of flesh into a cacophony of flying debris. While Miller managed to jump into cover behind one of the water troughs the other guards were not so lucky. On its high rate of fire Shock's LMG soon exhausted the first C-Mag, but another was soon in place as he swung the muzzle to point at the pair of outdoor guards as they ran towards the sound of the commotion. A stream of hot brass shot out the side of the gun as a jet of flame emerged from the front. The two guards were knocked off their feet in mid stride as half the shed behind them was turned into blood stained kindling.
  
 
   
 
   
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"Um… said bio Matt, looking over as Miller stood up from behind the remains of the water trough dripping wet from both the sprinklers and the spillage.
+
"Um…" said bio Matt, looking over as Miller stood up from behind the remains of the water trough dripping wet from both the sprinklers and the spillage.
  
 
   
 
   
"I just wanted to congratulate you three on your victory. You Neos are just full of tricks aren’t you?”Miller sneered, obviously upset, but at least somewhat honorable in admitting defeat. “While I would just love to exchange notes this investor knows when it's best to write off his losses. Give my best wishes to the government capture squads."
+
"I just wanted to congratulate you three on your victory. You Neos are just full of tricks aren’t you?” Miller sneered, obviously upset, but at least somewhat honorable in admitting defeat. “While I would just love to exchange notes this investor knows when it's best to write off his losses. Give my best wishes to the government capture squads."
  
 
   
 
   
 
Matt let out best human form roar he could as his hands suddenly "remembered" how to make the weapon ready to fire. Unfortunately Miller was faster, touching the gemstone inlaid band on his right wrist and vanishing with an orange sparkle effect as the bullets impacted harmlessly on the wood behind where he had stood a second earlier. After a few seconds of being gently pelted by spraying water the robot dragon spoke.
 
Matt let out best human form roar he could as his hands suddenly "remembered" how to make the weapon ready to fire. Unfortunately Miller was faster, touching the gemstone inlaid band on his right wrist and vanishing with an orange sparkle effect as the bullets impacted harmlessly on the wood behind where he had stood a second earlier. After a few seconds of being gently pelted by spraying water the robot dragon spoke.
  
 
+
 
"Did he really just get away?"
 
"Did he really just get away?"
  
 
+
"Men like him frequently do," sighed Ethera through Matt.
+
"Men like him frequently do," sighed Ethera.
  
 
   
 
   
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Suddenly bio Matt backed away. "No, no. No fist bumps, no hugs, no high fives. I need both of you helping me until we get out of here." Ethera turned Matt around and waved at Shock to come over. "You and Shock need to watch my…our back as we go get my things. Law enforcement is going to show up soon and there could be a few of the more loyal security guards poking about. We only have about 10 or 15 minutes before escape becomes impossible." Ethera began to walk Matt out. "I have to go, you can brief Shock."
+
Suddenly bio Matt backed away. "No, no. No fist bumps, no hugs, no high fives. I need both of you helping me until we get out of here." Ethera turned Matt around and waved at Shock to come over. "You and Shock need to watch my…our back as we go get my things. Law enforcement is going to show up soon and there could be a few of the more loyal security guards poking about. We only have about 10 or 15 minutes before escape becomes impossible." Ethera began to walk bio Matt out. "I have to go, you can brief Shock."
  
 
   
 
   
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"Your guess is as good as mine," sighed Matt, rolling his optics. "I just woke up. Ethera wants us to set up a perimeter or something."
+
"Your guess is as good as mine," sighed mech Matt, rolling his optics. "I just woke up. Ethera wants us to set up a perimeter or something."
  
 
   
 
   
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"''Alright, just hold my sphere in your hand and I'll transfer myself into it. When you feel that's done just replace the sphere and click the skull plate back in place. While I do my thing find a carrying bag and get all my kit into it. Even if Mr. Zepp is dead and buried I don't want his company getting its hands on my advanced tech."''
+
"''Alright, just hold my sphere in your hand and I'll transfer myself into it. When you feel that's done just replace the sphere and click the skull plate back in place. While I do my thing find a carrying bag and get all my kit into it. Even if Mr. Zepp is dead and buried I don't want his company getting its hands on any advanced tech."''
  
 
   
 
   
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The metal dragon and the mostly metal wolf had just about reached the grand entry room when a pair of city police officers entered, guns drawn. Matt managed a look of exasperation on his not-so-flexible face as he marched determinedly at the first officer, bullets bouncing harmlessly off his chest, before seizing her in his iron grip and throwing her against the wall as casually as one might throw a load of refuse into a skip. Shockwulf on the other hand was more animated, dodging back and forth to avoid the gunshots before crushing the male officer's weapon wrist with one hand and kneeing solidly in the bread basket.
+
The metal dragon and the mostly metal wolf had just about reached the grand entry room when a pair of city police officers entered, guns drawn. Matt managed a look of exasperation on his not-so-flexible face as he marched determinedly at the first officer, bullets bouncing harmlessly off his chest, before seizing her in his iron grip and throwing her against the wall as casually as one might throw a load of refuse into a skip. Shockwulf on the other hand was more animated, dodging back and forth to avoid the gunshots before crushing the male officer's weapon wrist with one hand and kneeing him solidly in the bread basket.
  
 
   
 
   
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"''The M-word is a life form slur and threatening to eat someone promotes negative stereotypes for both Dragons and carnivores. I would appreciate it if you modified your behavior.''"
+
"''The M-word is a life form slur and threatening to eat someone promotes negative stereotypes for both Dragons and carnivores. I would appreciate it if you modified your behavior,''" Shock admonished, channeling Hector’s sense of indignation.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,031: Line 2,053:
  
 
   
 
   
"Hey guess what. In time accelerated alternate realities the internet exists! That's also why I remembered to bring the attachment for shooting down police helicopters."
+
"Hey guess what. In time advanced alternate realities the internet exists! That's also why I remembered to bring the attachment for shooting down police helicopters."
  
 
   
 
   
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"I am an AI dragon that was activated 15 minutes ago and who has all the memories and experiences of a biologic human named Mathew Jackson. I am wondering if being…like this…is something that generally requires closer psychiatric supervision. You're lucky I was programmed to be the stable element in our "relationship" or I'd be freaking the fuck out right now given your temperament."
+
"I am an AI dragon that was activated 15 minutes ago and who has all the memories and experiences of a biologic human named Matthew Jackson. I am wondering if being…like this…is something that generally requires closer psychiatric supervision. You're lucky I was programmed to be the stable element in our "relationship" or I'd be freaking the fuck out right now given your temperament."
  
 
   
 
   
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"I saw that! You and your rollable eyes." Robot Matt raised a clenched fist. "I wonder how well dragons noogie."
+
"I saw that!" Robot Matt raised a clenched fist. "I wonder how well dragons can noogie."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,130: Line 2,152:
  
 
   
 
   
"You're damn right “''Lady'' Ethera”" she muttered under her breath. "Good, get out of here. We'll follow. MOVE!"
+
"You're damn right “''Lady'' Ethera”," she muttered under her breath. "Good, get out of here. We'll follow. MOVE!"
  
 
   
 
   
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"Oh, do you want me to show you what an energy bite feels like? Anyway we're going to fly out. Get to the back yard where it overlooks the slope down to the city. You'll need to carry me."
+
"Oh, do you want me to show you what an energy bite feels like?” said Ethera, narrowing her eyes. “Anyway we're going to fly out. Get to the back yard where it overlooks the slope down to the city. You'll need to carry me."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,160: Line 2,182:
  
 
   
 
   
"But how do we…
+
"But how do we…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,172: Line 2,194:
  
 
   
 
   
"But won't we…
+
"But won't we…"
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,178: Line 2,200:
  
 
   
 
   
"Ok now you two are just trying to piss me off."
+
"Ok now you two are just trying to irritate me intentionally."
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,196: Line 2,218:
  
 
   
 
   
"Get me out of here!"
+
"Get me out of here!" the neocorn growled.
  
 
   
 
   
Matt slipped both his arms under the neocorn's while unfolding his wings into their flight position. Lifting Ethera up off her hooves Matt gave himself a running start and launched into the air with a powerful series of flaps and anti-gravity thrust. As they rose high up into the black night sky Matt looked down at the record number of police and fire officials as they began to swarm the property.
+
Matt slipped both his arms under the uni’s while unfolding his wings into their flight position. Lifting Ethera up off her hooves Matt gave himself a running start and launched into the air with a powerful series of flaps and anti-gravity thrust. As they rose high up into the black night sky Matt looked down at the record number of police and fire officials as they began to swarm the property.
  
 
   
 
   
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"I'm counting 8 approaching helicopters in just this half of the sky."
+
"I'm counting seven approaching helicopters in just this half of the sky," Ethera remarked with more than a little exasperation.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,211: Line 2,233:
  
 
   
 
   
Matt circled in for a nearly perfect landing near a weed covered baseball diamond in the corner of a dark and deserted park. Shock was standing outside the van, tweaking the exterior coloration.
+
Quickly reaching the designated location the neodragon circled in for a nearly perfect landing near a weed covered baseball diamond in the corner of a dark and deserted park. Shock was standing outside the van, tweaking the exterior coloration.
  
 
   
 
   
"Ah, glad to see you made it. So…mission accomplished?"
+
"Ah, glad to see you made it. So…mission accomplished?" the mecha wolf asked.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,238: Line 2,260:
  
 
   
 
   
"That's Shock? He looks like that guy from IT."
+
"That's Shock? He looks like a guy from IT."
  
 
   
 
   
"That's not Shock, that Steven," Ethera corrected.
+
"That's not Shock, that’s Steven," Ethera corrected.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,274: Line 2,296:
  
 
   
 
   
"Yeah, you got me." Ethera sighed as she leaned up against the side of the van for support. "I got hit by a pickup truck and captured after losing control of my mission objective. The only reason I'm not a paperweight and you don't have cancer is because I have a bag of dirty tricks about a mile deep."
+
"Yes, you got me." Ethera sighed as she leaned up against the side of the van for support. "I allowed myself to be hit by a truck and captured after losing control of the mission objective. The only reason I'm not a paperweight and you don't have cancer is because I have a bag of high tech tricks about a mile deep."
  
 
   
 
   
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"Oh, yeah! That's the one that was guarding the Zepp compound. He followed me back to the van. I don't speak wolf well, but Hector translated and said he's sort of an Omega that doesn't have a pack and he's worried about getting caught by animal control and neutered. I figured that he could join our pack."
+
"That's the one that was guarding the Zepp compound. He followed me back to the van. I don't speak wolf well, but Hector translated and said he's sort of an Omega that doesn't have a pack and he's worried about getting caught by animal control and neutered,” Steven explained. “I kinda figured that he could join our pack."
  
 
   
 
   
Ethera sank her head letting her horn hit the roofline of the van. "You don't have a pack. You are not a wolf…you are a human and an AI that ''choose'' to have a wolf themed lifestyle."
+
"You know that you and Hector are not real wolves, just a human and an AI that have chosento lead a wolf themed lifestyle," Ethera pointed out. "Real wolves need a great deal of...looking after."
  
 
   
 
   
"Oh," said Steven, suddenly looking a bit crestfallen.
+
"Well before you hired me I did spend hundreds of hours volunteering at a local sanctuary," said Steven, "but seeing he is of the sapient variety I don't think it will be too hard."
  
 
   
 
   
"But hey, knowing my luck we'll probably need an extra set of paws to free me from whatever situation I end up in next time and seeing as there's no money for a proper assistant…
+
"That's not the best assumption to make Steven, but seeing as we don't have any room in the budget for a proper assistant..."
  
 
   
 
   
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Matt walked a few steps away from the van and paused for a moment, looking at his silver saurian arms as they caught the ambient moonlight. It was hard for him to believe that he was suddenly feeling reluctant to change to his human form, even temporarily. He recalled his conversations with Ethera the night before and briefly considered to what extent his thoughts and feelings were his own versus the result of whatever mental reprogramming came with his change. Closing his eyes Matt decided that it probably didn’t matter as he began to feel his body start body shrink down. Looking back on things there didn’t seem to be much about his old life that would warrant his stressing over. Relationships could be revived, belongings replaced and anyhow both paled when compared with an experience that was theretofor unique in the history of his human race. Matt wobbled a bit on his bare human feet, suddenly feeling unstable without his wings and tail before grabbing the towel and wrapping about his waist. he walked back over to the van and got into the passenger’s seat.
+
Matt walked a few steps away from the van and paused for a moment, looking at his silver saurian arms as they caught the ambient moonlight. It was hard for him to believe that he was suddenly feeling reluctant to change to his human form, even temporarily. He recalled his conversations with Ethera the night before and briefly considered to what extent his thoughts and feelings were his own versus the result of whatever mental reprogramming came with his change. Closing his eyes Matt decided that it probably didn’t matter as he began to feel his body start body shrink down. Looking back on things there didn’t seem to be much about his old life that would warrant his stressing over. Relationships could be revived, belongings replaced and anyhow both paled when compared with an experience that was theretofor unique in the history of his human race. Matt wobbled a bit on his bare pink feet, suddenly feeling unstable without his wings and tail before grabbing the towel and wrapping about his waist. He walked back over to the van and got into the passenger’s seat.
  
 
   
 
   
Line 2,352: Line 2,374:
  
 
   
 
   
=={{Separator|k|Epilogue}} ==
+
{{Separator|k}}  
  
 
   
 
   
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“Oh! It’s lovely!”squeed his daughter, plucking it from his hand and hugging it closely.
+
“Oh! It’s lovely!” squeed his daughter, plucking it from his hand and hugging it closely.
  
 
   
 
   
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Matt gently stroked her hair again as he laid her back to sleep, snuggled up tightly with the plush. Rising slowly Matt wiped away the tears running down his cheek, his “weak”human impulses clearly getting the better of his dragon side. Moving back to the corner of the room he pictured the yard at the end of the block with the birdbath and the copper beech tree and in an instant he found himself there, looking at the silver and copper skinned Neocorn mare as she stood in front of a terrified human, hands on her hips.
+
Matt gently stroked her hair again as he laid her back to sleep, snuggled up tightly with the plush. Rising slowly Matt wiped away the tears running down his cheek, his “weak” human impulses clearly getting the better of his dragon side. Moving back to the corner of the room he pictured the yard at the end of the block with the birdbath and the copper beech tree and in an instant he found himself there, looking at the silver and copper skinned Neocorn mare as she stood in front of a terrified human, hands on her hips.
  
 
   
 
   
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“It seems that you’ve become so famous that the government pays this poor guy to do nothing more than live in the house across from your ex and call in if you were ever to show up,”said Ethera vocally, not taking her eyes off the man. “Now then, you can tell those you work for that we’ll be in touch and it would not be positive development if we learn that the family of Matt Jackson has been in any way interfered with. You got that?”
+
“It seems that you’ve become so famous that the government pays this poor guy to do nothing more than live in the house across from your ex and summon the authorities if you were ever to show up,”said Ethera vocally, not taking her eyes off the man. “Now then, you can tell those you work for that we’ll be in touch and it would not be positive development if we learn that the family of Matt Jackson has been in any way interfered with. You got that?”
  
 
   
 
   
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“I already GREW up!” Snarled Matt.
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“I already GREW up!” snarled Matt.
  
 
   
 
   
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Checking his pending alerts he found 78 banal social messages from his first year classmates who were not at all shy about using their ability to blast random thoughts directly into the minds of their friends. Matt chuckled as he looked his shiny silver body over once more. For all the incredible technology and engineering that could make metal and plastic come to life and imbue it with incredible powers it seemed that all the young people were looking for was a new and better smartphone. Clifford Zepp would be proud.
 
Checking his pending alerts he found 78 banal social messages from his first year classmates who were not at all shy about using their ability to blast random thoughts directly into the minds of their friends. Matt chuckled as he looked his shiny silver body over once more. For all the incredible technology and engineering that could make metal and plastic come to life and imbue it with incredible powers it seemed that all the young people were looking for was a new and better smartphone. Clifford Zepp would be proud.
  
 +
 
 
={{seperator|k|The End}}=
 
={{seperator|k|The End}}=
  

Revision as of 16:12, 24 June 2014


A Brand Neo Day

Author: Sturmovik


This story is part of the UFAW Story Setting and is intended to introduce readers the concept of NeoMythicals as well as be an exciting transformation tale in its own right.


Matt pushed his tuna sandwich away as behind him he heard the signature delay between the anguished grunt and the liquid splatter as a stream of vomit landed in the toilet. Through the open door the white shirted supervisor stood back as one of his second shift inspectors grasped the rim of the bowl and heaved up his insides.


"Listen…John…I'm sending you home, you're not fit for duty," said the supervisor as he reached for his blue Customs and Border Patrol windbreaker. "This isn't WalMart, we have sick leave."


"I…I'm fine. I just need a few minutes," stammered the man, trying to hold back another wave of nausea.


"John, I can't have you here like this, you're going to infect the whole office. Either go home on your own or I'm calling an ambulance. Hell, I might call an ambulance anyway. Have you seen yourself in a mirror?"


John's protests were cut short by more dry heaves and the supervisor turned back to the operations lounge focusing on the only other person in the room.


"Hey Matt, I'm sorry but Campisi’s looking about ready to keel over here. Can you cut your meal short and grab some of his high priority alerts? One of the radiation scanners flagged a container with some strange error code, but regs say we need a visual inspection of the cargo and a Geiger sweep."


Matt nodded. "You got it, I'll just put John's high priority tickets in with the rest of mine and I’ll get going on them right away."


Putting his half eaten lunch away, Matt grabbed his own jacket, tablet computer and a radiation counter before heading off into the sea of rainbow cargo containers littered across acres of covered and uncovered storage. International trade was picking up after the recession and with the constant budget fights in Congress, Matt's Customs and Border Patrol office was having to do a lot more with less. Automated systems could keep most of the major threats at bay, but even the small percentage of visual inspection flags could overwhelm the inspectors if they happened at the wrong time.


"TLCU 848006…Error 526…Hand Inspect." Matt read from his tablet paging over to the suspect container's manifest. "Motion picture props, Odessa to San Jose."


Matt's eyebrows rose as he reached the container still mounted on a transfer trailer and parked in what the customs agents liked to call the "sin bin" lot just past the radiation scanner. Quickly scanning the exterior revealed nothing exceptionally worrisome so Matt went in for a closer look, cutting the seal on the latches and opening the door, Geiger counter at the ready. The inside was largely devoid of cargo with the empty space being filled with dunnage, but at the far end of the container was a strange mass of black metal, wires and tubes. In front was a strange greenish tube and Matt was genre savvy enough to recognize it as stasis chamber or that thing the alien monster would pop out of early on in the film. Poking about inside the containers without an unpack order was against protocol, but with a large stack of overfly containers blocking the surveillance mast Matt gave only a quick look over his shoulder before pulling out his phone and venturing inside.


Whatever the prop was supposed to be it was of the highest quality with an astonishing attention to detail and extensive use of metal instead of the usual vacuumed formed plastic. Careful not to break anything Matt gave the piece a thorough "inspection", carefully documenting the scene for later reference. Even from behind the device looked fully functional with a number heavy duty transparent tanks filled with colored liquids adding to the illusion. Climbing back around to the front Matt peeled back the tape securing the door and opened it up for a look inside. Finding detail even where no camera could see Matt continued to take pictures knowing that whatever mega franchise the prop was attached to would probably have a horde of rabid fans eager for some rare behind the scenes views. Losing himself in the moment Matt climbed inside to get a better angle on the floor. The green tinted door lazily swung shut hitting the unblocked latch with a rather ominous ka-thunk.


Matt turned around feeling panicked and claustrophobic. Pushing against the door he found it sealed tight and firm. Feeling his phone Matt was reassured that he could always just call for help, but he also knew that getting caught dicking around on the job while the office was shorthanded was a recipe for disciplinary action. Matt pushed harder, wary of breaking the prop, but considering a little damage in transit was probably more acceptable than a significant career sanction. Without warning he found himself bathed in a blue tinted LED light. He looked about wondering where the switch was when suddenly he began to hear a continuous low humming sound.


Seconds later the chamber began to fill with a cold thick liquid the consistency of maple syrup. Matt freaked out, kicking against the door with all his might to no avail. The liquid rose higher soaking his phone and lifting Matt off his feet. The pocket of air in the top of the chamber began to get smaller and smaller. Matt took one last desperate breath as he struggled to comprehend his situation. His lungs burned for fresh air and soon he had no choice but to exhale and then choke back in the liquid. He found himself getting sleepy then all went dark.


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John looked like a zombie as he struggled toward the manual screening lot after having re-entered the container yard from one of the side entrances. He always hated infiltration work and could never understand how he kept managing to get sent to backwater realities in jobs that prevented him from having a sufficiently exciting social life. Opening a small metal container he drew out a vial and pressed it to his neck releasing a dose of antibiotic medical nanos into his bloodstream while cursing the Sureulian prostitute that has given him this little treat. Proper medical supplies were nearly impossible to obtain on “low tech” Earths, but John felt he had no other choice than to burn one of his doses, confidence he could get later reimbursed by the responsible party the next time he was visiting her station. Reaching the container John swore again as he saw that his co-worker hadn't even bothered to close and re-seal the the door after the inspection. Pulling up the information on his chart he saw that Matt had also neglected to fill in the results of the hand scan. Flustered with impatience John dumped a bunch of plausible values in the appropriate boxes then went to check to cargo, pausing as his hand reached the door. Whatever was in there was something important. The way John's real boss had hit the fan when he had informed him of his infirmity had underlined the point, but he was also acutely aware that he was being left out of the loop. While as curious as any other human John was also aware that some information was simply best not to know, especially since nosy underlings tended to find themselves on the wrong side of an airlock.


"Is anybody in there? I'm closing it up here."


Getting no response John made no effort not to look inside as the low levels of Delta radiation that has set off the alarm nosed no real threat to the local population. John closed and latched the door, applying new seals and scanning them into his tablet. With a quick press of his finger he cleared the container for immediate entry into the country then started walking back out toward the gate.


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The creature groaned fighting off the intense feeling of disorientation when one awakens abruptly from a very long and very deep sleep. Pushing forward in a bid to free itself from its prison, the previously unyielding translucent green door popped open with a hiss, spilling its occupant out onto the maze of cardboard packing equipment and tie down straps. For a moment it didn't know who it was or where it was, then memories began to filter through his mind as if someone returned from the archive room and brought forth the topmost boxes. His name was Matt, he had a house in Altamont, he had an ex-girlfriend and an 8-year old daughter living 2 states away. What he most likely no longer had was a job thanks to…Matt paused unsure of what had happened before he was hit with a vivid flashback of the rising water and his subsequent drowning. Yet here he was, alive, and still in the shipping container. Matt struggled to get to his feet, his vision useless in the near total darkness.


There was a deep cymbal crash as his head hit something sending pain through his body. Ducking his neck down Matt strained to see what the hell he had run into when the inky blackness faded into a rather grey toned image. Above him was the roof of the shipping container with a rather impressive dent in the middle of it prompting Matt to ponder the build quality if his head could cause such damage. He started to reach out to touch the dent, and noticed a large, clawed hand reaching toward him out of the corner of his eye. Fight or flight kicked in hard and Matt freaked out, slamming his back against the wall of the container with another low booming sound effect. The crash was followed by more pain, twice as much as before as it seemed to come from body parts Matt didn’t remember having. Matt raised two of his arms up to ease the discomfort, only to hit the top of the container again and generate still more pain. He felt something like a snake slithering about his feet causing him to go crashing lengthwise along the container sending both cargo and packing material flying.


Matt lay back, panting, still barely able to see much of anything in the near total darkness of the container and unable to tell exactly which direction he had come to land in after his latest attempt to flee. After finally reorienting himself he discovered the source of the slithering to be the end of a rather long fleshy tail lolling about it the air few feet from his head. It was at this point that Matt had awakened enough for the obvious realization to sink in and he slowly brought his hand forward to touch the tail. The scary looking clawed hand came into view and as it touched the tail Matt felt a sensation in his rear…only extended out a bit further.


The confined space combined with his strange new appendages caused Matt to start panicking again. He didn't know much, but what he did know was that he wanted out of this cargo container and he wanted out immediately. Struggling to his feet Matt made his way towards the closed door and tried to push it open only to find it sealed firmly shut. A sense of strong irritation welled up in Matt as he grasped the inside of the door firmly in both of his clawed hands. At that moment he felt a strange ping move through his body that briefly reminded him of the instant one of the many exotic sports cars that came through the port were freed from the tie down straps just before they were throttled up and driven away. Knowing his efforts were probably futile Matt tried again to force the door open, but this time after some loud pops and tearing metal sounds Matt found himself outside the container holding the bent and twisted piece of sheet steel in his claws. He blinked, confounded by the fact that the container now seemed about as sturdy as a satirical Japanese prison.


Now outside the container Matt found that his grey grainy vision had been replaced by a panorama so bright, detailed and colorful that it nearly gave him a headache. It was all Matt could do to not just stand there and look around himself at the other shipping containers and cargo pallets laid out in a vast enclosed warehouse, light streaming in from a 19th century skylight system creating shadows via the forest of steel support columns. Matt had never seen the building before and his job had taken him at one time or another to every storage facility in and around the entire port of Oakland. The signage posted here and there around the facility indicated that he was at least still in the United States. There was a bit of a damp chill to the air, a welcome relief to the heat he had been dealing with before he got locked inside, but it made Matt worry slightly as he figured he had been off the grid for perhaps a day or more.


Casually tossing the twisted steel door to one side Matt gingerly raised up his hands again to look at what he had become. The changes didn't stop with the razor sharp ebony talons that now grew from the end of each of his long fingers. His arms, torso and legs, while still roughly human in their general layout, were built like oak trees and had a muscle tone that didn't quite match up to what Matt was familiar with in fitness magazines. Craning his head back Matt saw a pair of stout wings sprouting from his well muscled backside as well as a thick tail pushing out from above his posterior and tapering down to a prehensile point about 8 feet distant. If his shape and extra appendages hadn't convinced Matt that whatever that chamber was had altered his species the smooth silver hide that completely covered his entire body easily drove the point home. It looked as if he was made of living metal. Strong and solid in appearance, yet warm and supple to the touch. Running a non-claw fingertip along the surface of the opposite arm sent a wave of tingling sensations dashing through Matt's new body. Looking down Matt noticed that nothing remained of his clothing nor anything else he had on his person at the time he had been trapped. His nakedness was partly offset by an attractive set of washboard abs and pectoral muscles we well as the absence of any external genitalia, a discrete reptilian slit on his crotch serving in its place. A sufficiently masculine bulge laying just beneath the surface relieved Matt of any concerns he had regarding his gender. The self inspection now out of the way Matt's eyes soon caught sight of a reflective surface and the image of an 8 foot tall humanoid silver dragon only served to confirm what Matt already knew.


Of course what Matt knew and what Matt knew were two different things. Being able to apply a label to what he had become was only the start of the process of self rediscovery as Matt gazed at the reflected image. His expressive eyes had large cobalt blue irises with slit black pupils and a narrow white sclera around the outside. Two shiny black horns with a flat spiral pattern curved back from his head while his mouth was filled with rows of razor sharp and similarly black teeth contrasting sharply with his shiny pink tongue and gums. Closing up his mouth Matt silently asked the question "What am I?" and some part of his being was only too happy to oblige throwing up a high res diagram of his body that proceeded to fill about half of his visual field.


"What…what the fuck is that," Matt stammered as he reached up and banished what looked like a video game equip screen with a shake of his head.. An idea flashed through Matt's mind. "It's all some sort of VR simulation. It has to be! The fluid…I…I'm in a VR tank or something."


Matt began to feel relieved as his mind was given an alternative, and slightly more plausible explanation to latch on to. He tried to recall the strange "equip" screen again and it dutifully appeared almost as soon as his mind wanted it. At first he was stymied by the strange runic text, but no sooner did he have the desire to change then the text dutifully changed to plain English. There was even an "about" tab that Matt quickly selected.


"NeoTech Industries Generation 4 Neo, Race: Dragon - Standard, Rev 1182," read the banner item. Below that were other headline features.


Wings: 1,250 millicochrane.


Power core: not installed.


Spirit core: Twin crystal, 2250 solans.


Energy Storage: 180 kWh


Digestive System: Class 3


Matt's brief burst of hope was replaced by a new sinking sensation. A "more details" item expanded into a tail's length list of installed software and version numbers. The "zero light vision system" and the "intuitive visual overlay menus" both stood out as he skimmed the list. Another collapsed menu titled "genetic profile" listed every hardware measurement and physical property his body had. It began to dawn on Matt that either the developers had thought of everything or this wasn't a simulation and he had been changed into some sort of techno-realistic dragon. Matt would have explored the various technical features of his new body more if he hadn’t heard the sound of a door opening and number of gruff voices begin to move toward his position. Still unsure of where he was or even what day it was Matt took off in the opposite direction, ducking between various items in the forest of support columns and cargo as he searched for a way out.


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Ethera sat by herself at one of the outdoor café tables slowly finishing a vegetarian wrap and sipping a large glass of hibiscus iced tea. Her Scandinavian figure with its tall thin build and bleach blonde hair cascading down her neck attracted more than its fair share of gazes, which thanks to Ethera's natural perceptiveness, were impossible for her to completely ignore. If that irritation wasn’t enough the stress was increasing as the search for the stolen hardware was dragging on into its second fiscal quarter the and communications from her superiors were becoming increasingly less cordial.


Trying to track the stolen cargo from the portal site in Russia had been next to impossible with the lack of records and massive corruption. The only saving grace was that her decision models indicated that thief would be reluctant to do business in such a wretched den as the local organized crime ecosystem would never allow a new entrant to set up shop in an already crowded marketplace. With her technical assistant casting a wide net Ethera had been leaping back and forth across the globe trying to track down any hint of its existance.


While smuggling between alternate realities wasn’t anything new it didn’t tend to be something that Guardian’s like Ethera were regularly called in to deal with. With an infinite number of Earths to pick from any two bit hoodlum with a bit of marketing savvy that could manage a means of transport could just walk down to their local Walmart and spend a few credits to purchase goods that could catapult them into the 1% in whatever backwater they landed in. This time however the stolen technology wasn’t CPU’s or nuclear weapon designs, but something that required Ethera’s special skills and abilities.


Feeling the tingle of an inbound communication with her "partners" back at the safehouse, she rolled her eyes as the image of a young human with shaggy brown hair and below average hygiene appeared in a corner of her visual field. She wasn't too keen on working with humans and had a special dislike for basic audio visual links that lacked the emotional metadata that allowed her to sync more effectively with others of her kind It wasn't that humans weren't painfully easy to read, just that physical reactions were way too easy for anyone to suppress or fabricate. Steven had been recruited from recently contacted Class 3 Earth as his extensive familiarity of such worlds was seen as an asset to the investigative process, but so far they had not turned up any solid leads. She would have called in additional resources, but due to budget constraints the relatively inexperienced human operator was all she could afford.


"Hello Steven," Ethera said silently into the feed, barely masking her irritation.


"Hey…um…I hate to bring this up again, but can you please use my other name? You know, Shock or ShockWolf. I'd really appreciate that," pleaded Steven a bit hesitantly.


"Why? There is no need for cover names when communicating over a secure link."


"Well, you know…since I’ve been on the job for a few months now I was just hoping to upgrade my persona a little."


"If you wish to upgrade your "persona" you can start by tracking down that cursed conversion chamber. Now, do you have any new information that is relevant to my investigation?"


Steven blinked a moment, unaccustomed to what amounted to a dressing down by his boss before he looked over to another screen. "Um yeah, good news actually. I think I hit pay dirt."


"If you're going to send me on another wild chase looking for valuable dirt can you please make it a location with better food?"


"No, I'm serious this time. I've had Hector going at it for the last three weeks solid and we found a couple of suspicious disappearances in the port of Oakland about a year ago. Customs inspector named Matt Jackson vanished without a trace and that's a red flag as foul play of the typical varieties tends to leave a trace. I dug in a bit more and it turns out one of his co-workers also seems to have disappeared about a week after the initial investigation into Matt's disappearance wrapped up. Of course that set off all sorts of alarm bells with the locals, but they don't have a clue where he’d gone."


Ethera's ears began to perk up, but due to the limited AV link she had to respond with vocal encouragement. "Go on…"


"So I had Hector run some fraud analytics on their personal data and while Matt checks out the other one, a John Campisi, was a total fab. There was some effort to blend him in, but a secondary record search yielded all sorts of inconsistencies so we’re almost positive he was a plant. Hector and I then accessed the Customs Service computers and around the day of the disappearance we found some evidence that someone had been trying to make a container disappear."


Given her general attitude of superiority Ethera always got a little pang of guilt when her human partners discovered something she may have overlooked.


"Please tell me you were able to lift the cloaking field."


"Well that's the point. They didn't literally make it disappear so Hector and I tracked it visually using local surveillance grids. There's a 92% chance that the container in question is in a warehouse complex near San Jose."


With that revelation Steven released a data transfer giving the female Guardian all of the information about their search and the target location. By the time the data arrived Ethera was already getting up and looking for a way to get out of sight.


"Thank you Steven. If this turns out to be correct I'll call you whatever you wish…or at least I will consider it. Keep looking into the possibility that this container is some sort of trap or decoy."


"Roger," replied Steven before closing the link.


Paying for her food and collecting her belongings Ethera walked down the street before turning into a seemingly deserted back alley. Rounding a dumpster she was surprised by the presence of a local transient.


"Oh…H-hello Miss. Would you happen to have…"


Ethera smiled and made eye contact with the man whose expression softened.


"I…I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you."


"That's quite alright sir." Ethera replied as she reached out and gently touched the man's shoulder, extending her energy to purge him of both the substances and the dependence that drove him to them. The man's eyes brightened as Ethera made eye contact again. "Now why don't you go to the local social services organization and see about getting some assistance."


"I…I think I'll go do that," said the man, his voice a bit trancelike before he turned and wandered away.


Ethera smiled. It always made her feel good to solve the social problems that humans were constantly making such a big deal about. Ensuring that the alley was now empty Ethera gathered her energy and drew a glowing circle in the air with one hand. Once she had located a sufficiently isolated exit point she opened the portal and stepped through into the cool breeze of a Bay Area morning.


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Rolland looked up anxiously at Xia, running his palm through his thinning hair and pulling his flannel overshirt tighter around himself to ward off the morning chill. Xia, tall, slender and dressed like a Goth chick, exhaled before nervously lighting up a cigarette as the door opened and footsteps approached. The two knew their employer only as Miller. Well versed in economics he was skillful at exploiting various differences between worlds to make tidy profits without having to resort to the most uncouth methods of traditional criminals. This isn't to say that Miller didn't know how to knock a few heads if he needed to, but generally he found it easier just to cut opponents a check and properly align everyone's incentives.


Miller arrived wearing a black suit, blue tie and a black leather coat worn as a cloak, the sleeves tucked into the pockets. Taking the coat off, Miller handed it back to his shadow, a hulking man in black stagehand's attire standing a good 6 inches over his ward and maintaining a constant state of canine readiness. Miller walked forward, his leather shoes echoing on the worn concrete floor of the warehouse, one hand up at his face softly running through his short beard. He kicked at the bent and broken door before peering into the shipping container itself and appraising the exact nature of the problem that he had been called down to check out in person.


"There is no point throwing a fit because I know each and every one of you has the same desire to have this deal work out that I do. Now, before I allow my own emotions to get the better of me perhaps someone can help explain what exactly happened here?"


Rolland stepped forward without hesitation. "Xia and I were in the office when we get this general alarm from the container. We come in, it's like you see here."


"Ok…and what happened? Didn't you have this thing under surveillance?"


"Well, the local cameras don't cover this spot, just like you wanted, but a forklift crushed our own unit the other day and we didn't get a chance to have it replaced. Still…”


Xia chimed in to complete Rolland's sentence. "It looks like a Neodragon broke out of the container after being gestated from the conversion chamber."


"Ok," began Miller. "Let’s back up a step here. Just how exactly did the precious cargo that we have had sitting on ice for the last several months manage to pop out a brand new Neodragon. Is this some sort of immaculate conception?" Miller's icy stare focuses on Rolland.


"Not a chance in hell sir. The process requires a biologic being to go into the chamber."


"Well then how the fuck did that happen? Either we just got Ocean's Elevened or there's something we're missing. Did someone fuck up 8 months ago, when we were getting this through Oakland. You assured me that everything had checked out fine. That douchebag you hired…what's his name?"


"Campisi sir," responded Rolland.


"Yeah, the one we needed there for like one fucking day and he comes down with some STD. What the hell did he do?"


"He checked it Miller, I was there. I picked him up after he went back in to finish his job."


"His seal was still on the door, it couldn't be him even if he did look in and see what the cargo was," Xia offered.


"You don't think it could be that other guy," said Rolland looking at Xia. "You know, that other inspector who disappeared. Little fucker started an investigation and I had to get John out of there."


"Are you telling me that some random customs inspector managed to get into our shipment and turn himself into a robotic space dragon centuries more advanced than his own pathetic Earth?"


Rolland looked a bit sheepish.


"What the fuck don't I know Rolland?!" Miller demanded.


"Listen you needed me to remove all the software locks on this thing and that's what I did, but to do that I had to remove like almost everything in the management system, rip and tear man. All the firmware has left was sense a sentient bio in the tube with the door closed and boom, off to the races."


Miller exhaled angrily. "Fuck me…FUCK ME. Of all the half assed bullshit some local hick gets into the cargo and turns himself into a Neodragon. Un-fucking believable."


"I said we shouldn't label it as a movie prop," responded Xia. "You humans can never resist being dumbass fanboys."


"I don't remember hearing your alternative suggestion Xia," retorted Miller. "What would you have called it…a tea kettle?"


"Listen," began Rolland. "We still have the chamber. We'll track down the neo before it blows the lid off our operation and then sell another conversion to that billionaire dude you keep going on about."


"What do you know about Neos, Rolland?" inquired Miller pointedly.


Rolland shrugged. "I don't know…they're shiny?"


"The conversion chamber is worth shit to us. I could build one using parts from Home Depot. What is irreplaceable is the charged nanofluid. The reason you don't see neo-beings walking around all over the place is because you need specially programmed nanobots, using a special blend of raw materials and infused with a large dose of very complex magical energies. Getting a hold of one of those charges unlocked for general use was a near impossibility and it's all been ruined because some yokel just walked in and drank our milkshake."


At that moment another realization dawned on Miller, who immediately lowered his voice to a whisper and beckoned everyone present to come in closer.


"Did you two get any grid alerts of someone trying to leave the facility since you noticed that the container had been opened?"


Rolland and Xia shook their heads no.


"He's still in here somewhere. Listen, I'm going to call in everybody in the local area I can get my hands on. You three sit tight and if he tries to leave pin him down. We might still have options if we can catch the Neo."


While they were talking the big man carefully put down Miller's coat and dropped down on a bended knee over by the broken door and other debris that had spilled from the container when Matt had made his escape.


"I can smell him sir…"


"Are you sure Rex? They're synthetics remember."


Rex nodded. "They are still alive so I can smell them. In fact I can tell that this one is afraid."


"Alright," said Miller, pulling out his phone. "I'll be back with reinforcements, you track down the Neo, but don't try to fight it or harm it. There might still be a way to put some lipstick on this pig, but we have to capture the Neo intact.


Xia came over as Rex began to hurriedly strip out of his clothes.


"I thought you said you could smell him?"


"I can, it's just easier with my other nose."


"Don't you have shift capable clothing?"


"Would you like being all itchy and uncomfortable?"


Xia sighed as Rex got down to just a pair of tight fitting black underwear shorts. He then closed his eyes and lifted his chin up toward the ceiling. Soon long grey fur was sprouting all over his body while it began to melt into a more bestial shape. The hands became paw-like with sharp claws, his legs appeared to reverse as his feet elongated to form a digitigrade stance, a tail burst through the strategically placed hole in the back of his stretchable underwear and a lupine muzzle full of sharp teeth pushed forward from his formerly human face, the eyes now yellow and predatory. As the transformation completed Rex reared back to deliver a triumphal howl before Xia reached up and grabbed his muzzle to silence him.


"Zip it and just find him. Remember don't try to attack it. It may be young, but it's still a Neodragon. You find him and I'll deal with him. He's got no magic yet, it will be simple to bind him up and stick bow on."


The werewolf nodded and dropped to all fours to reacquire the scent.


"I got him, he went this way…"


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Ethera walked across the busy road and up to the security gate outside the large warehouse and transloading facility that her partner had identified. She was wearing a moderately revealing white sleeveless dress and although her shoes were of the sensible variety she still walked with that seductive hip wiggle they she knew would weaken the will of the typical male.


"Can I help you miss?"


"Yes, I'm here to meet my boyfriend. He was having a bad day and I wanted to surprise him with a special lunch."


"What's his name and I'm going to need some ID."


"Is all that really necessary…I mean…I don't want to get him in trouble with his work." Ethera knew her excuse was weak, but all it took was eye contact with the hapless human and she soon had his untrained mind completely in her grasp.


"Well…um…I'm not supposed to, but, just don't get caught without a visitor's badge, ok?" said the security guard, a slightly dazed look on his face as he buzzed gate open.


Ethera walked in, maintaining her seductive feminine body language until she was sure she was out of sight. Pulling out a smaller hand held scanner from her purse Ethera mentally groaned thinking about how Steve would have probably badgered her to say that thing about droids when she mind pressed the guard. She began to scan the area for energy signatures not consistent with the ambient level of technology.


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Matt crouched down behind a stack of plastic barrels near the corner of a long open part of the warehouse that supported a large gantry crane. It was taking all of his effort to keep his new body under control and not leave an errant part of a wing or tail poking out from behind cover. After the first people had entered their curses and general panic indicated that they were probably upset by the turn of events surrounding his transformation and escape. Unfortunately his attempts had been thwarted so far by a strange energy field permeating the exterior wall of the building. After being rebuffed physically at first, Matt came to be able to "see" the field as a subtle glow penning him in with his potential captors.


It was almost impossible for Matt not to hear the group of people discussing his situation in raised and colorful language. Their verbal exposition dump informed Matt that he was now something called a NeoDragon, the process that transformed him was meant for someone else and that securing him was probably their best shot of fulfilling their contract. It was when the talking abruptly cut off that Matt began to suspect he was in trouble and should once again try to find a way out. After all, even an 8 foot tall robotic space dragon probably didn't respond well to high velocity projectiles.


Carefully looking about the room Matt noticed that the glow seemed to stop at the roofline of the building and that in each of the corners there were what appeared to be drainpipes glowing strongly with the force field energy. Matt realized that this wasn't a prison, but a secure storage facility looking to keep out casual snoopers and thieves or just delay a more determined force. He could head up to the unprotected roof where any number of skylights or vents would provide him with an escape route or attempt to disable one of the field generators. The former would expose him to his captors while the later would cause more than a little noise. Preferring the cover of the ground floor Matt began to work his way towards the closest corner.


He had almost reached it when he found himself face to face with a bestial humanoid wolf of similar size and build to his own. Matt's red eyes met the wolf's yellow as the wolf proceeded to mouth the words "got you."


The canine grin soon disappeared from the wolf's face as he realized that finding and getting were two different things, but Rex maintained the initiative and aimed a full force punch at the dragon's head. The punch would have certainly caught Matt off guard if not even succeeded at laying him flat if the world had not abruptly slowed down trapping the wolf's attack in a sort of slow motion. Matt was not exempt from this strange time dilation as he instinctively moved his head out of the way of the wolf's first, but his reaction was still quick enough that the furry fist of fury smashed harmlessly into a shipping crate sending an explosion of wood splinters at Matt. Recovering, the wolf swung again with his other arm, but once again Matt was able to counter the blow with his own shiny silver arm, deflecting it off to the side. With Rex off balance it was Matt's turn to go on offence, bringing his knee forward with all the force he could muster, catching the wolf squarely in the crotch with an upward impact. As the wolf was lifted up off his feet the strange slow motion effect wore off resulting in the furry monster appearing to blast back and fly back into a force field enhanced steel roll door.


Matt turned to run, but didn't get far until he saw a tall thin Goth chick slide to a stop and pull out a curved knife with a crystal orb laid into the hilt. She began to speak in a strange language and the orb began to glow. Without slowing down Matt delivered a kick to one of the blue plastic barrels, transferring a sizable chunk of his momentum and propelling the barrel towards the mage at a high rate of speed. Dodging the initial attack Xia glared as her spell collapsed and then began to cough as acid spilled from the broken barrel and began to send up a cloud of noxious yellow gas. Seizing on the distraction Matt jumped up on the piles of cargo, leaping from one to another, his eyes searching for a way up to the ceiling. Jumping off from the last box in a line he felt a disturbing loss of force feedback as the container buckled beneath him. He was barely able to grab onto the railing on the gantry crane walkway which proceeded to give off a dispirited groaning noise as it bent down under the density of Matt's new body. Grasping at whatever beams were in reach using whatever appendages he could muster Matt pulled himself up onto the walkway and got up just in time to see Rolland and about ten mooks carrying a mix of assault rifles and what looked like cosplay props into the warehouse. The main wearing the leather coat pointed at him.


"There! Don't let it get away!"


The sound of the weapons fire was deafening as bullets began flying past Matt, the closer the bullet the louder the crack noise. The blue balls of energy released by the sci-fi guns didn't look quite as menacing, but the sizzle they made flying past convinced Matt they would hurt just the same. Identifying an exit point Matt ran for it. Sharp stabs of pain shot up from his leg and shoulder with a number of smaller tinges being registered on his wings. Matt jumped from the gantry to a roof support beam then leapt up again crashing through one of the angled skylights rolling to a stop on the roof breathing heavily from the exertion. The sun was shining and the feeling of warmth on his wings and body gave Matt a renewed burst of energy. He looked around. The warehouse was in the middle of a larger complex of buildings and outdoor storage yards. An idea crossed his mind and he unfolded his wings. He didn't consciously know how to fly, but his new body seemed to have a lot of built in instincts. There had to be some installed software package to handle flying. Matt ran towards the edge of the building, quickly gaining speed then leaping in a graceful arc off the edge, pushing back behind him with his spread wings.


For a brief moment it all seemed to work. Matt felt himself being pushed up into the air, supported by large silver wings, which were somehow generating far more force than their movement would indicate. As he watched as the buildings and the storage yards drop away beneath him Matt was about to attempt to turn towards the mountains when his body decided to issue a warning for which an intuitive "feeling" was insufficient. The large red text that appeared in Matt's field of view informed him that his power levels were dangerously low and this was followed by a sinking sensation as all lift from his wings ceased and Matt's 500 pound body fell from the sky landing hard on some empty cargo palettes next to stacks of pipes and bricks and other bulk items.


Matt groaned as he rolled over onto his side, one of his twin black horns making a clink sound as it dug into the asphalt. It was at this point that he became aware of the damage he had suffered during his escape. There was one bullet graze on his shoulder and another gunshot wound on his thigh. Both looked minor, but a bright glowing liquid that Matt assumed served a similar function to blood, leaked from each wound. Looking over at his wings revealed more holes and one nasty looking burn mark, but none of them still appeared to be grave.


"It looks like I'll be walking," grumbled Matt, struggling to get to his feet wondering who would design a synthetic body to feel such pain and soreness. It was at that point Matt heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps and rifles being made ready.

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Ethera peered from behind cover as several SUV's and other private vehicles converged on the parking lot at the far side of the target warehouse. A motley assortment of men spilled out of them, hurrying to ready their weapons and not bothering to conceal the Type 106 plasma rifles interspersed with more local illicit arms. Whatever was inside the building something was going down and Ethers began to look around for a sufficiently covert route inside. It was only a few minutes later when the sound of weapons fire could be heard from where she stood followed by the sound of glass breaking up high. Raising her head she was in time to see a silver NeoDragon make a running takeoff and flying a good 100 yards before plummeting into the ground.


"Now I've got you!" Ethera whickered in triumph. "Looks like somebody was trying to skip out on his bill. No matter, I've got first claim to this repo."


Standing up and giving her body a good shake, Ethera began to glow all over. The glow intensified until only her outline was still visible which then itself began to change. Her body gained significant mass, but any increase in girth was offset by increases in her height which maintained her tall slender appearance. Her lower legs reconfigured into an unguligrade stance while a long sinuous tail sprouted from her rear. Her neck expanded both outward and upward at the same time as her face pushed forward into a long equine muzzle. The light soon faded revealing Ethera's true form as a Neocorn mare with a shiny metallic light golden hide reminiscent of a biologic palomino. Her upper legs, torso and shoulders were completely covered in sleek white composite armor plates mounted on top of a form fitting black undergarment providing protection from ballistics, beams and environmental threats. On her back was a contoured backpack which along with various other attachment points held a selection of supplies and tools commensurate with her job in the elite Guardian force. Reaching behind her she drew forth a rapid fire mass driver carbine constructed mostly from white and grey composite materials which activated in her hands.


Ethera took off running across the expanse of containers and bound stacks of construction materials, her golden hooves barely seeming to touch the ground as she covered the distance to where the Neodragon had fallen from the sky. Leaping into the air to clear a stack of I-beams she identified two humans with their weapons pointed at the silver dragon. Her finger closed on the trigger.


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Matt faced the two humans who were pointing assault rifles at his waist.


"Please…d-don't shoot. I'll come peace…"


A sound that Matt had never heard before, sort of a strange pulsating crack, filled the air and the two figures before him appeared to disintegrate into two oblong piles of bloody flesh interspersed with the occasionally identifiable body part. Matt stumbled backwards as an 8 foot tall humanoid Unicorn with shiny blonde skin and warrior princess armor landed before him, a smoking Sci-Fi rifle in her hands. In his vision a label appeared next to her face along with some biographic information along the side. Her name was Ethera Windchaser.

Gotcha...


"T-thank you! You saved…"


With lightning quick reflexes Ethera kicked Matt onto his back and stood with one hoof on his chest and her rifle pointed right at his head.


"Did the thieves you hired ever think to tell you that Neos don't take kindly to undeserving humans stealing their technology? Hmmm? You just made a billion-credit purchase of pain my friend."


Matt was on the verge of tears after seeing the two humans obliterated right in front of him. "No! Please! I didn't want this! M-my name's Matt…Matt Jackson. I'm just a customs inspector. I-I fell into the machine and I woke up this way! I didn't mean to. P-please don't kill me." .


Ethera instantly recognized the name from Steve's briefing and lowered her weapon knowing instinctively that the young Neo was telling the truth. “Matt Jackson…I assumed you had been killed by the syndicate."


"Were…were you sent to find me?"


"No, I was sent to retrieve our technology and apprehend those responsible for stealing it. Nevertheless your recovery will be a positive footnote in my summarizing report." Ethers moved her hoof and extended a hand to help Matt up to his feet.


"What's going to happen to me? I just want to go home. I don't even know what day of the week it is!"


"Your body and soul have been remade into those of a NeoDragon. As a Neocorn Guardian I have sole discretion over the matters of this case. Due to the difficulty of restoring you to your previous state allowing you to keep the body and stay a Neo would appear to be the least harmful course of action."


"What? You can't just do that!"


"I just said I can hu-" Ethera caught herself, rolling her eyes briefly, "-dragon. I'm a Guardian, your intentions are pure and you're thick headed enough to fit right in with your new species." Ethera continued, letting out a little whinny of amusement.


"That's not what I meant!" protested Matt, "And besides…how can you judge my "intentions" to be pure?"


"I'm a Unicorn, it's what we do."


"You just killed two people!"


"I'm a mare, it's what we do,” Ethers responded dryly, not betraying her level of seriousness. “Now will you please come along? There are several heavily armed criminals approaching our location and as Steven likes to say talking is not a free action! We can discuss things later."


Ethera began to lead Matt back through the open air storage yard towards the warehouse. Following behind the sculpted Unicorn warrior Matt couldn’t shake the idea that this was all some sort of stealth shooter game the way they would crouch behind cover before dashing across open space to the safety of the next container or pallet of bricks. It was only when Ethera stopped Matt short, raised her rifle and let loose another stream of electromagnetically driven slugs at the side of a more distant container did the reality of the situation once again become apparent to Matt.


“Holy shit!” exclaimed Matt, looking at the 5 by 10 foot long gash straight through the container, a red mist settling on the other side. “You just fucking wiped that guy out...you didn’t even have to see him.”


Come on, keep moving and stop talking. Just communicate directly...like I am now."


"Um…how do I do that? This body didn't exactly come with an owners' manual."


"You should be aware of my presence near you. Just think about me, then think at me. If that's too hard for you just use the visual interface and send me a text message," thought Ethera, more than a hint of condescension in the voice that sounded in Matt's head.


"I got it, I got it," said Matt, selecting Ethera's icon in his visual field before thinking at her.


As they continued Matt watched Ethera's ears flick about, scanning for threats and other dangers prompting him to chuckle into the mental link.


"Heh, your ears do all the horse things."


Ethera immediately pinned her ears flat back and held them there for a few seconds. "What are they doing now dragon?"


"Sheesh, sorry," replied Matt.


"I need you to provide me with information regarding the interior layout of the warehouse.


"Um…ok." There was a brief pause. "Err, Ethera? How do I send you something that I like, "know"?"


"You need to change the information from a cognitive format to a concrete format," responded Ethera, trying to mask her own irritation as she realized that Matt had no reason to understand any of this. "Just sort of think of the building interior and ask for a diagram. You have software installed that handles that sort of thing so you won't have to construct the diagram yourself."


Matt formed a mental image of the warehouse and sort of willed it to become a diagram. To his delight a small semi-transparent box opened in his visual field and a floor plan of the building appeared. Matt was aware of the process getting flashes of the warehouse interior as something accessed his memories, but while that constituted only a mild distraction as he moved along behind Ethera the process continued unabated adding each and every last detail Matt had been aware of the ever more complex 3D model that was growing somewhere in his mind.


"Do you have it yet?"


"Um, one second," said Matt, stumbling a bit as the process caused him to "remember" every word of text on every label on every bit of cargo he had passed close enough to read. Matt began a frantic search for whatever passed for a mental escape key when the process seemed to complete on its own. Not wanting to anger Ethera any more Matt dragged the box in his visual field representing the warehouse model onto the icon representing Ethera.


Ethera let out a sharp equine squeal as she fell against a container and grabbed the sides of her head, dropping her rifle in the process. "You ASS! What did you just send me?! Ahhhh!"


Ethera fell to one knee as her balance and motor skills were affected by the burden of having to process the terabytes of structured information Matt had just casually dropped into her sensory feed. As the Neocorn Guardian struggled to clear her head the barrel of an AK-47 came into view as one of the gang members swung around the corner to investigate the sounds he had heard. The fight or flight response triggered by the weapon temporarily masked the painful info dump. Grabbing the muzzle of the rifle and yanking it out of the surprised man's hands, Ethera launched it up and out of sight into the air. Jumping to her hooves Ethera slammed the man against the container delivering an electric shock to each of his shoulders before allowing him to slump to the ground twitching and unconscious. She then fell back against the container to allow her mind to finish churning through the data. Matt stepped forward to help steady her.


"Ethera, I'm…"


In a blur even to Matt's vision Ethera swung her head around and bit the silver dragon hard on the neck and then struck a second time biting his arm. Matt lurched back, a look of shock and pain on his predatory face as he reached up to rub the affected areas. Ethera immediately unpinned her ears and turned away, instantly embarrassed that she had allowed a dragon to evoke such unprofessional behavior from her. She picked up her rifle and peeked around the corner to see if the coast was clear.


"Come on, let's go."


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Miller gave his best "WTF" look as he watched Xia come around the corner struggling to support the weight of Rex who was having some difficulty walking.


"What the hell happened? I thought I told you two not to capture the Neo, at least not physically."


"I'm not stupid," grunted Rex as Xia helped him sit down on a wooden crate. "I ran into the little fuck and he kicked me in the crotch. Then he threw a barrel of acid at Xia."


"I guess that's why it smells like a swimming pool in here," remarked Miller as he pulled out a tablet. "We're trying to capture someone with the likely intent of wiping their mind and somehow giving their body to someone else so don't expect him to fight fair. Remember if Neos were pushovers we wouldn't have one of the local plutocrats offering us $4 billion dollars to get turned into one. Hopefully that will be less of a factor now since he's bound to running on fumes by now."


Miller looked down at the display that marked the location of each of the hunters and the last reported location of the "prey". Suddenly two of the hunters vanished from the display with a "contact lost" error.


"What the hell," muttered Miller, "are these transmitters crapping out again?"


Miller began to try to raise the two vanished hunters, directing several nearby ones to their last known position before noticing the reports of weapons fire that appeared as text alerts on the screen.


"Who the fuck is firing their weapons! I told these yahoos…Xia, Rolland, get out there. I need eyes, is that UAV launched yet?"


"Yeah yeah, I'm launching it," replied Rolland. "There, it should be synced up with your tablet."


Rolland turned to head outside with Xia when another of the hunters vanished from the display.


"Wait you two," said Miller, "something's not right. I'm pulling up the UAV feed now. Now we can see what the hell…is…going on…here."


Miller maneuvered the UAV steering the camera in the location of the last vanished operative and cursing when he saw the torn up containers and gibbed remains of one of his hunters.


"Rex, Xia…our dragon didn't get his hands on any weapons did he?"


"No Sir, when he kicked my ass he didn't have anything on him."


"Then what is killing all our…"


At that moment the camera zoomed in on the silver metallic NeoDragon following closely behind a white armored Neocorn. The UAV's camera had resolution enough to show the Neo's ears perk up followed by a quick movement to point her rifle directly at the camera before the feed cut off.


"Shit…SHIT! We need to leave now, as in right NOW."


"What's wrong?" asked Xia, "The cops here or something?"


"I wish, it’s a goddamned Neocorn Guardian and she looks pissed."


The word Guardian got everybody's attention and the whole gang began to scramble to get their equipment together.


"Just leave what you can't carry," yelled Miller as he threw various bits of tech into a hard shell container before slamming the lid down."


"But sir," came the pained voice of Rex," half of our stuff is here."


"Stuff is no good to us if we're dead. Now get to the vehicles, we'll have to regroup on this one. There are many more Earths where this one came from."


"I…I don't think I can change back right now."


"The bus is leaving Rex. We can just throw a blanket over you. I've already told our reinforcements that the job's over and they are on their own."


The werewolf, face scowling in pain, along with the three others beat a hasty retreat towards the exit just as a small detonation sent bright shockwaves through the wall forcefields causing the emitters to explode in showers of sparks.


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The Neocorn Guardian, rifle at the ready, entered the warehouse, alert for the slightest movement. Her charge moved rather hesitantly behind her wary of both the criminals trying to capture him as well as Ethera's quick temper. They soon reached the container from which he had been hatched. Ethera went inside to take stock leaving Matt to stand there and resume coming to terms with his new body. As he played a game of cat and mouse between his claws and tail tip Matt unexpectedly felt a warm softness press against the sore parts of his neck and arm which prompted a cool feeling of relaxation to wash over him. Matt's stress so thoroughly vanished that it soon felt like a cat's soothing purr was slowly running through his body. The dragon soon snapped out of his trance-like state as he realized that the purr was real and it was coming from his own throat. Turning his head quickly he saw Ethera standing there smiling at him.


“You appear to have taken some damage,” remarked Ethera, pointing at the bullet wounds in his thigh and shoulder. The glowing blue blood had stopped flowing and formed bluish-silvery crust over the damaged portions of his hide.


“Oh, yeah. I guess I sort of forgot about that. It hurt before, but now it just sort of itches a little. I guess I would have expected a robot dragon body to be more bullet resistant,” chuckled Matt, giving Ethera a toothy grin.


“Our bodies are techno-biologic. That means we’re fully synthetic, but have many biologic features such as healing and reproduction. To support those features many of our body parts are soft like fully biologic life forms, not hard like mechs.”


Matt held up one of his new hands again and wiggled the fingers. “That seems like a lot of effort to go to. Did you have problems with people going nuts in more mechanical bodies or is this more of an aesthetic choice?”


“If we were not this way we could not do this.” Ethera’s iridescent pearl-like horn began to glow and she leaned in to touch the razor sharp point to the wound on Matt’s shoulder. He watched as the silver hide knitted itself back together expelling the deformed projectile. Ethera then repeated the process on his thigh.


“The damage to your wings is inconsequential, they can be repaired later or just be left to heal on their own,” said Ethera as she stepped back. "Also I wanted to apologize for snapping at you earlier, it's not your fault you don't know how any of this works."


"Snapped? You bit me! Twice!"


"Technically I "corrected" you. That's the time tested way Unicorns have learned to correct dragons or humans or any other species that doesn't know the proper modes of behavior."


"So when you're rude or mean I can correct you in the same way?"


"I would hope not! Your sharp teeth would rip me apart not to mention your status as an apex predator and a male would make you look like an unsympathetic bully."


"What? Double standard much?!" responded Matt in mock outrage.


"More like adequate compensation for subsisting on grass and other vegetables." Ethera turned, playfully flicking her tail floof in Matt's face. "Now, I'm willing to bet that you're feeling rather tired right now."


"Yeah, I feel like I've been up for like two days straight. When I got up on the roof and tried to fly I was feeling fine, but 5 seconds after I took off all my energy just vanished and I've been dragging it ever since."


Ethera pinned hard again. "No puns! Additional puns will bring additional bites."


"What? Oh!" Matt chuckled. "I guess I'll have to watch out for that one."


"Neos aren't born with supplementary power cores…for obvious safety reasons. Given your large mass and almost complete lack of aerodynamics flight requires large amounts of either magical or physical energy. It's like," Ethera paused, searching for an example, "running your vehicle's environmental system off the battery."


"So what am I supposed to do then?"


Ethera walked into the container and emerged with a Pelican case removing from it an object about the size of a soup can and made from a mix of metal and crystal.


"This is a miniaturized Zero Point Module, top of the line for Neo power cores. Normally these aren't just handed out to just anybody, especially if that anybody is just a few hours old, but you need power and I need backup going after whomever did this so if you agree to help me and don't destroy any large populated areas you can keep it. Do I have your word?"


"Yeah yeah, deal,” Matt nodded, eyeing the device hungrily. “Wow, that thing looks pretty slick, how are you going to install…"


Matt's eyes went wide as saucers as Ethera reached down and touched the center of his chest. A web of glowing lines formed that seemed to betray the artificial nature of Matt's body and telegraphed what Ethera was going to do next.


"Oh no, oh no! Wait…wait, wait, wait!" exclaimed Matt as he caught the first glimpse of his muscled upper chest beginning to open up like a pair of cabinet doors. Clamping his eyes shut Matt kept shaking his head back and forth as he tried to block out the sensations of what Ethera was doing to him. "No…no…no no no…you did not just do that. I can't see it…you did not do that. Nope…nope."


"Stop squirming around you oversized hatchling. You're making it hard for me to fit this in place!"


Matt stopped moving, but like a squeamish person getting a tooth drilled or a cut stitched he did whatever he could to avoid the reality of what was happening to him. Ethera engaged the core into the cylindrical slot and locked it in place before re-fitting up the thick metal armor protecting the core systems in Matt's upper chest before then closing up the softer panels of silver hide and blue synth muscle. Once everything was back in place Ethera commanded Matt's body to conceal the seams in his hide that allowed for disassembly and repair.


"All done, you can open your eyes now."


Matt did so, looking a bit sheepish. "I'm sorry, what you did was just a little too much for me right now so I just needed to block it out." Matt let out a gasp. "Woah…what was that. I think I just detected the new hardware and…wow…shit, I don't feel tired any more!"


Matt stood up and tried out a few jumping jacks and running in place while Ethera rolled her eyes before going to rig the conversion chamber for destruction.


"Hey, what are you doing in there," called Matt, breathing a little harder from his faux activity.


"Rigging thermal detonators, I don't want to come back for a clean-up job and I'd prefer not to have this wind up in your Area 51-A." Ethera emerged from the container. "Let's get out of here. I can only track the people who did this for a limited amount of time before we're back into needle and haystack territory again." Two sheets of sparkling pinkish energy emerged from Ethera's backside and slowly solidified into two white feathered wings with quite a bit of sparkle effects and an airless wind that puffed up her mane. She turned allowing one of her wings to brush Matt's face so that he could pick his jaw up off the floor and follow her.


"Where the hell were you keeping those?"


"Pocket dimension, where else do you think dragon?"


As they walked out of the warehouse Matt heard a muffled explosion behind him wipe out the most glaring evidence of extraterrestrial hijinx. "So wait, we're just going to go flying around? Won't people see us?"


"I can cast some spells to help mask our presence, but my orders only specify a Level 3 contamination protocol so if we wind up on the evening news it's somebody else's problem. My foremost concern is with the retrieval of our technology," she paused, looking at Matt, "and the perpetrators who absconded with it in the first place. So dragon, are you ready for your first real flight?"


"Wait, why do you keep calling me "dragon"? First my name is Matt, second I know I have wings and a tail and all, but just because I look like a dragon doesn't mean I am one. As great as this is I think I might prefer just to get changed back to plain old boring human Matt after all this is over."


Ethera wheeled about. "I don't think you have yet grasped what has gone on here. If someone is just intending to "look" like a NeoDragon they can just transfer their mind, it takes 5 minutes. However if one actually want to be a NeoDragon you have to be reborn as one. That's why there's a conversion chamber and gallons of magically charged reproductive nannos and an 8 month gestation period. You're a dragon now Matt, in body AND soul. You don't just change back from that and expect your life to be the same as it was." Ethera turned back. "Now let's fly. I can hear the emergency services approaching. You with me? Matt?"


Matt could live with being a dragon. He wasn't particularly attached to his old species and he suspected that Ethera or her friends could find ways for him to "fit in" and not wind up in some government lab. However the key bit of information that was now devastating him was that he had been in that chamber for 8 months.


"8 months..."


Matt's mind raced round and round that figure. His job, his life, his house, everything was probably hopelessly ruined now. He had probably been declared dead. He pictured everyone he knew at one of those funerals where they have a picture instead of a casket, saying kind things about his life. He wondered if his former girlfriend would have even bothered to show up, allowed his daughter to be fully aware of his passing. Every scenario was a bad one, especially for his friends and family. At that moment all Matt wanted was to go home.


"I…I need to go," he said softly against Ethera's growing concern.


"What's wrong dra…Matt…just tell me what's…" Ethera started as she began to realize that she had made a mistake. Seeing that Matt was beginning to lost it Ethera reached out to comfort him.


"I have to go home….I have to go home!" Matt thought with increasing intensity. His body began to feel warm and tingly all over as a great energy seemed to build up inside him. He closed his eyes and pictured the backyard of his house with the green grass and eucalyptus trees. The Neo vanished in a bright flash of yellow energy leaving Ethera all alone outside the warehouse to whinny a curse at the empty air. Her nostrils flared with anger, Ethera cloaked herself with a spell, spread her wings and took off towards her motel while making a call to Steven over the subspace link. This time she was the one who bore the responsibility for derailing the investigation and worse than that there was an untrained, fully powered, emotionally unstable NeoDragon on the loose.


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One moment Matt was standing outside of a warehouse, the next he was in a suburban backyard. The grass had long since gone to seed, turned brown and then died. The house looked abandoned and some of Matt's in progress garden projects now looked like clutter. Matt wasted no time getting out of sight under one of the trees that had low branches and offered a bit of concealment. His large frame hunched over, the dragon sighed as he looked down and saw one of his daughter Kate's toys, left during one of her infrequent visits. Matt soon began to question the wisdom of his "go home now" plan as his hulking dragon body was not very useful for seeing his daughter or much of anything for that matter and the other Neo, Ethera, was probably the only person that could help him…or was she.


Looking back on his previous teleportation and drawing from an assortment of fantasy novels he had read Matt wondered if he couldn't just change back to being a human himself. He wanted to be home and poof, he was home. Picking up the toy Matt closed his eyes again, focusing on his old body…his daughter, anything he could to try to get his body to shift back into the shape that he wanted. At first it felt like nothing was happening, but then he felt that strange tingle which soon began to cover his entire body. Data from all over his body began to inform his mind that something was happening. Opening his eyes Matt saw himself shrinking down, his tail and wings slowly getting sucked toward and then merged into his body. His fierce predatory muzzle began to pull back into his face, the teeth turning into the more child friendly omnivorous type. His sharp black claws melted back into useless fingernails, his metallic silver skin changing both texture and appearance into the mundane pink human variety. Matt was nearly elated when he felt the rough texture of small rocks and twigs under his feet although it faded somewhat when he realized he was stark naked. Breathing a sigh of relief when he found that the spare house key was still in its hiding place Matt quickly slipped inside.


It took Matt several hours to deal with the pile of mail and an even larger pile of official e-mails trying to sort out what had happened to his life while he had been away from it. It turned out that he had not yet been declared dead, but there was quite a significant missing person hunt. Fortunately his parents had taken over paying the most important bills and the majority of the passwords and other means to access his various accounts had been left unchanged. Matt first tried calling his parents, but ended up having to leave a message when they were not home. He was somewhat thankful for that, not sure how he could explain what happened to him or what he could even say to people who probably assumed he was dead. Having recently moved across the country for his job he didn't have many local friends, but there was one other person Matt felt he should call and after taking a moment to compose himself he dialed the number for his ex-girlfriend, Samantha. The phone rang and he heard a familiar voice on the other end.


"Hello?"


"Sam? Hey…its Matt, how have you been doing?"


"Matt? What? Is this really you? Where have you been, everyone's been worried sick!"


"It's a long story and you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but long story short I got stuck in a container and wound up having to deal with some unsavory characters."


"Oh my god…did you call the police? Do your parents know?"


"Yeah, yeah. Everything's fine, but I just wanted to call and make sure you weren't worrying."


"Oh, well, yeah. I'm glad you're safe. Thanks for calling."


"Well, can I speak to Kate? I've been really looking…"


"Wait Matt, listen, I'm sorry, but this whole thing has been sort of awkward for her and I really can't have you speaking to her now. It would just be too confusing."


"Wait Samantha, no! I really need to talk with her…please!"


There was an awkward silence and Samantha exhaled deeply. "I know, I'm sorry, but, it just won't work out right now. I'll let you know."


"Sam!" Matt yelled into the receiver as he heard the click on the other end of the line. All at once Matt was faced with a tidal wave of anger the likes of which he had never felt before. He heard the sound of shattering plastic and then a stabbing pain from his hand. Dropping the shattered remains of the phone he grasped one hand in the other and ran to the bathroom cursing and generally incensed. What Matt saw next most definitely did not help matters any. Opening up his hand he saw quite a nasty looking gash on his palm from which flowed a trickle of glowing blue blood.


"What the fuck is that!!" yelled Matt, horrified by what was coming out of him. "No! I'm human now…HUMAN!"


Matt stared at himself in the mirror, hoping to somehow prove to himself that he was as he always had been, but the more he looked the more small differences stared back at him. His hair was a bit longer and it had a few shiny silver locks here and there. Ripping off his shirt Matt managed to get a look at his backside and noticed the unmistakable glint of silver on several patches of skin running down his spine. He hadn't noticed it before he got dressed, but he was also in astonishing shape, easily meeting the popular definition of being ripped. It looked like he had just spent most of the last 8 months in a gym instead of being reborn as a dragon inside a cargo container. The anger and confusion running through Matt's mind gradually subsided leaving him propping himself up against the sink in the bathroom, wanting desperately to cry, but not finding any tears available from which to do so. He wasn't sure how long he stayed there for until he heard a knock at the door. Putting a shirt back on Matt headed downstairs and opened the door two find a pair of men in suits.


"Matt Jackson?"


"Y-yes?"


"Mr. Jackson we're from the FBI. There have been a lot of people looking for you. Do you mind if we have a talk with you downtown?"


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Ethera sat down at the desk in the cramped motel room, her contextually oversized EM rifle laid out before her as she carefully fitted it back together after a careful cleaning and recalibration. Despite the day's earlier events Ethera was allowing herself some relaxation time while Steven and Hector were tasked with tracking down both the wayward Neodragon and the criminals who made off with the rebirth chamber. The afternoon sun was getting low in the sky and Ethera wanted to take a quick nap to be ready for a possible mission during the height of the nighttime lull. Fitting the barrel assembly in place and checking the aim Ethera responded to an incoming call on her subspace link.


"Hi there Ethera, I've got some news that will hopefully take some take some of your load off. You know all those accounts that Hector put watches on? You know, the ones belonging to Matt Jackson? Well they all lit up today and we traced the IP to a residential neighborhood in Richmond."


Ethera smiled and lifted her hands, palms out, to either side of her head as a wave of relief passed over her.


"Ethera? Hey, you there? Ugh, did you just do that stupid ear thing with your hands? "


"It's not my fault your human bodies don't have appropriately expressive ears."


"Why don't you just say something like "Yeah!" or "Woo Hoo!" or "Way to Go Steve!"?


"Civilized creatures use body language to communicate emotions."


"No! They use their words!" said Steve, getting exasperated.


"Did you just do that thing with your eyes?"


“What? UGH! How did you know!" cried Steve, knowing that he had just been burned. "I guess I should know better than getting into arguments with you. Anyway I'm sending over the information, but you might want to move fast. Hector says that the local authorities were also watching the accounts and the local FBI field office dispatched a pair of agents to go check things out."


"I'll be on my way shortly," Ethera projected through the link, already getting to her feet.


"Oh, that's another thing. I don't know what you did this morning, but it caused a massive shitstorm. Weapons fire…explosions. Your little stunt attracted a record number of police and fire officials and don't think the local "men in black" aren't aware that all the going on weren't exactly kosher."


"First the dragon then you," huffed Ethera, getting irritated. "Listen, my mission parameters clearly state Class 3 containment procedures."


"Minimum!! That's minimum! You know, in case of emergency break glass MIN-I-MUM. It's not a license to go all shiny in plain view of security cameras. Nice wings by the way."


Ethera groaned once again lowering her face into her open hand. "How did you know…?"


"This world is networked Ethera. The government is running around pissing itself because it finally has evidence of alien unicorns to suppress. You have to be more careful…ok? Stick to portals and stay out of sight."


"I'll do my best," said Ethera as she became more cognizant about not dismissing the advice of her human partner. "Keep watching my back. I don't want to run afoul of a capture squad. Thanks Steve…err…Shock. Wait what did you want me to call you?"


"We'll talk about it when you get back, just stay safe."


Ethera got her kit together and began to cast the spell for the portal that would take her directly to Matt's house. However, as a prudent backup, she also noted the location of the local FBI office.


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"Hey Miller, I think I have him," called Rolland from across the room. "A one Matthew Jackson has been found at his address and is being taken downtown to the FBI field office for an interview."


"I guess the fact they aren't calling in the Marines implies our friend has figured out the fine art of shapeshifting a neobody. I want everybody equipped with hand scanners to spot this guy in case he tries to sneak out in some body we aren't familiar with. Rex, the FBI aren't going to be complete pushovers, how much help can we get for this?"


"Help? Are you fucking kidding? That Neo killed eight of our hirelings this morning without breaking a sweat. This isn't a dystopia, there aren't just spare private armies running around for rent. Anyone from off world is going to know what we're up against and steer as clear as possible."


"So how many can you get?"


"Aside from us? Two or three max."


Miller turned to the corner of the room where Campisi was trying to make himself invisible. "Looks like you just found yourself back in gainful employment. You can work for the privilege of me not shooting you in the head for fucking everything up."


"L-listen man, I can't just waltz into an FBI office. The locals are looking for me! I got to get off world."


"Deal, you're working for me not shooting you and a ticket off world. Rex, get him a weapon," Miller began to walk away, then turned. "Preferably something that can help us capture a neo…and the same goes for me."


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Matt sat down at the rather bare table inside the interview room at the FBI field office located on a high floor of a generic office block. Clutching a cup of coffee to steady his hand and hide the blue tinged cut that was still in the process of healing, Matt sat across from one of the two FBI agents that had appeared at his house while the other remained standing by the door opposite the table. Both agents wore plain grey suits and white shirts with government haircuts and all the pizzazz one might expect from someone whose job was completely humorless.


"Like I said Matt," the first agent began, "my name is Agent McNeil, that's Agent Thompson. Both ourselves and a whole lot of other people have been wondering where you've been."


Matt stared numbly into his cup of coffee. "I…I don't know where to begin. It doesn't even matter what I say because you're never going to believe me."


"Why don't you just try us Matt, I mean this is great. Usually missing person cases have unhappy endings, yet here you are. Thompson over there was convinced that your co-worker, um, Campisi, had dumped you somewhere seeing as he skipped town soon after you vanished."


"Well, I mean there's not much I can really tell you except I got stuck inside a container and, um, I just managed to get free today. I…I didn't know it was eight months later, but, it seems that it is."


"Well were you taken by anyone? Held against your will for that time?"


"I could make something up, but I just went in to inspect something unusual and sort of, you know, passed out I guess and the next thing I remember it was this morning and I got out of the container and made my way home."


"You didn't think to call the police?"


"I didn't have my phone and I like I said I thought it was just like a day or two. I just wanted to, go home."


"You know that you couldn't have just been passed out in a container for 8 months."


Matt nodded weakly.


"Do you remember where you escaped from, before you got home?"


"I don't know. It was like this warehouse, it may have been in San Jose."


With those words Thompson quietly excused himself from the room for a moment and then returned a short while later. Matt looked over at the wall with the one way glass window and wondered why that part of his tale had set off alarms.


"Listen, you know I'm in Customs. There are any number of illicit compounds that could have fucked me up. I could have been back and forth to China twice by now without knowing it. I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful, but anything else I could tell you beyond I don't remember would just be a fabrication."


"No, of course. We don't want you making anything up. Perhaps we can take a blood sample and see if that can help shed some light on the situation."


Matt suddenly looked up, horrified by the thought of some nurse drawing a vial of the glowing blue liquid that now ran inside of him. "No…no…I don't do well with…blood. Listen, I don't know what else I can tell you and I need to get home so I can call my family."


"Listen, Matt, I know you've been through a lot, but I'm going to be honest with you, it doesn't look good. The easiest explanation is that you are involved with certain elements that either compelled or abetted your absence. If you were drugged and kidnapped or are suffering from some sort of psychological condition that needs to be documented."


Matt stood up. "I know how this works and at this point I am going to go home and consult with an attorney. Lord knows I need one already due to my life being already fucked up beyond belief."


Agent McNeil stayed seated and shook his head. "Matt, this is just a friendly interview, but if you're going to be that way," the agent gave a slight nod and his partner stepped over towards pulling out something from his belt, "then I am going to have to place you under arrest for conspiracy, you have the right to remain silent…"


Agent Thompson snapped the a handcuff on one of Matt's arms, pulling it behind his back to be married to the other one while Matt just stood there, a look of shock and disbelief on his face while McNeil read him his rights. The prospect of being arrested as a smuggler after his life was already circling the toilet bowl may have sent the old Matt into a spiral of despair, but this time something was different. It was as if Matt has been assigned his own motivational coach standing in the shadows in the deep recesses of his mind and only bothering to come out and let his presence be known when Matt was somehow disappointing him. The voice was deep and gruff and about as intimidating as a marine Corps drill instructor. His message was simple and clear. Matt was weak. Matt was pathetic. Matt was these things because he was letting himself be bound and confined by prey.


There was a metallic popping noise as Matt brought his hands up to cover his ears in an effort to somehow block out the voice that was leading him down a path he did not want to go. Alarmed, Thompson reached in to grab one of Matt's arms, the now parted handcuffs still circling his wrists. Feeling the renewed pressure on his arm Matt moved with snakelike reflexes, grabbing a hold of the agent and hurled him through the one-way glass of the viewing window where he came to rest in a pile of injured bodies, bits of glass and recording equipment. As Agent McNeil reached for his gun Matt's body was already expanding, blowing the handcuffs off his wrists and shredding his T-shirt as the human flesh tone drained from his skin to be replaced by slick metallic silver. Matt's pants and shoes were not long for this world either as both exploded off his still expanding frame exposing yet more rippling silver muscles. Matt's growing tail knocked over a chair as he turned toward the remaining FBI agent, his wings and horns shattering one of the embedded fluorescent ceiling lights. The agent got off three shots before Matt grabbed the side of McNeil's head in his talons and slammed it into the drywall. The man slumped to the ground, lifeless, a bit of blood dropping out of his nose.


As the smoke cleared Matt looked down at his own chest. In addition to there being a lot a lot more down to look at with 8-pack abs and a couple extra feet of height, Matt saw three marks on one of his substantial pectoral muscles with one of the marks including the deformed 10mm bullet. Matt noted the damage as insignificant, the standard issue hollow point ammunition not standing a chance against his advanced metal polymer hide. Then Matt noted the FBI agent who was lying on the floor, motionless and probably dead. He had mindlessly swatted the man like a fly at a picnic, yet the living, breathing, talking human had been little more of a threat to him than the same. Matt suddenly didn't want to think about what he had done and just wanted to get out of there. Alarms were going off and Matt knew he didn't have much time before the place turned into a hornet's nest. Ripping the interview room door off its hinges Matt stepped out into the hallway only to find another agent, younger, light hair, running down the hall with his weapon drawn.


"Don't even fucking think about it," snarled Matt in his most threatening tone of voice as he increased his pace toward the human. His gambit worked as the man hesitated allowing Matt to rip the pistol from his hands. "Get out of here…NOW," bellowed Matt, tossing the gun back down the hall behind him and prompting the agent to take off like a jackrabbit back the way he came.


Matt continued on towards the end of the hall where he hoped to find a window or fire exit, but nearing a corner a uniformed security officer stepped out and leveled an assault rifle at him. Matt braced himself for whatever was to come next when suddenly the man stiffened and slumped, dropping out of the grasp of a pair of metallic blond hands. Ethera stepped out into view, a smile on her equine muzzle.


"Hello dragon, nice to see you again. You appear to have suffered a wardrobe malfunction," she said dryly, pointing to one of the scraps of cloth that had become stuck on one of his elbow spikes.


"This isn't funny Ethera…I just killed a guy! Maybe more than one…I don't know."


"Welcome to the club. Listen we don't have time…"


"I'm not a killer Ethera!"


The look of panic on Matt's face prompted Ethera to take Matt’s concern seriously, even if he was playing strongly against type.


"Show me where, I might be able to fix it."


Matt nodded and led her back into the interview room. The Neocorn knelt and put her hand on the agent's head.


"He's suffered a skull fracture. I can heal him enough so that he'll live. Just watch the door."


Matt looked out into the hallway, but it was empty as procedures generally called for a full building lock down while armed officers grouped to coordinate and contain the threat. He turned back to watch Ethera as she touched her glowing horn to McNeil's head and allowed her magic to knit his broken body back together. Stepping back out into the hallway for a look around Matt found himself greeted by a snarling werewolf with big yellow eyes, sharp white teeth and a strange looking pistol he had jammed into the side of Matt's head.


"Don't fucking move dragon. Not even your skull is thick enough to stop a round from a mass driver."


Matt froze, assuming that the wolf was serious about his threat. "Hey, I know you," he said, vocalizing the first thing that popped into his head.


"Yeah, I'm the guy you kicked in the crotch. Maybe we should see how you like it?"


Matt glanced down at his concealed equipment and then looked back at the wolf. "I believe someone may have already anticipated that eventuality."


Rex let out a snarl just before he yelped in pain as an equine hand grabbed his hand in a viselike grip paralyzing his fingers. Swinging the pistol to point into the air Ethera then grabbed the wolf by the neck and slammed him into the wall using one clean movement.


"Well well, I believe I have a positive ID for one Marvin "Rex" Tamland. You're wanted on so many worlds they'd have to clone you 5 times to give everyone their pound of flesh."


"Fuck…you," gasped Rex.


"W-what are you going to do with him Ethera?" asked Matt, recovering from the new experience of being held at the point of something that could really hurt him.


"Well you see Matt, poor Marvin here is a victim,” Ethera started, more than a hint of sarcasm in her voice. “His lycanthropy is the cause of both his anti social behavior and his increased ability to harm ordinary citizens. Therefore given my limited time to act the obvious solution is to simply remove his handicap."


Rex began to struggle in her super-supernatural grasp. "What?! NO! Let go of me you bitch!"


"Watch your language lest you give me additional motivation to remedy your criminal behavior," the unicorn snarled.


Matt could tell by some 9th sense that Ethera had already cast her spell and as he watched, the werewolf, who was of similar stature to both of the Neos, began to shrink. Matt smiled to himself as he thought of Rex being stuck back in a weak human form, but then realized that something wasn't right. Rex was shrinking, but he wasn't losing any of his lupine characteristics like his hair or teeth or yellow eyes or digitigrade animal legs. In fact those features seemed to be getting more refined. Ethera let go of Rex's neck, dropping him onto his two hind paws before being driven down onto all fours by a rather unsettling cracking sound.


"NoooooOOOOOOO," cried Rex as his voice lost all hint of human vocalization and changed into a pure animal howl.


The change completed leaving the non-were wolf staring up at Ethera, a look of pure hate in his eyes and a snarl on his lips.


"Get out of here Marvin, unless you enjoy being darted by animal control."


Rex hesitated for a moment before taking off back down the hallway.


"What did you just do to him!?" demanded Matt.


"I eliminated a dangerous lycanthrope without resulting to death or confinement. Do you have a problem with that?"


"You just took away his humanity…that's not right."


"Werewolves are half man, half wolf. Whatever I did I only had a 50% chance of getting it right."


Matt felt he needed to object to that line of reasoning, but at that moment they became aware of a significant amount of gunfire both inside and outside the building.


"It appears that Rex's friends have arrived as well. I suggest we exit via the closest window. There is a nearby parking structure that can shelter us enough to make a stealthy getaway."


At that moment another officer appeared from around a corner and opened fire at the two neos. Ethera spun around with her railgun rifle and let loose a burst of slugs at the floor in front of the man, sending up a cloud of dust and debris as well as chewing a hole in the floor.


"Come on!" Ethera grabbed Matt and pulled him into a conference room. Another few rounds from her rifle cleared the glass from one of the windows and she ran up and looked out.


"Perfect, here," she said lifting her arms out, "grab me under my arms and land us on the parking deck there."


"What?! I…I'm not qualified to fly! You know what happened last time."


"You have wings and a sizable security force will be on us in 10 seconds. Unless you prefer I kill them…"


With that Matt ran up behind Ethera sliding his powerful silver arms under her more refined frame and looking down at the parking garage some distance away. "This is a bad idea!" Matt yelled, jumping out into nothingness.


As had happened before Matt's wings knew what to do, unfurling and extending to their full length they caught his fall and supported him on a graceful glide down to the distant rooftop. This time there was no sudden loss of power and he was easily able to carry both his own weight and Ethera's. As he came in for a landing Ethera wiggled free and performed a perfect rolling landing coming up on her hooves. Matt was not nearly as graceful, winding up in a dragony heap.


"What!" protested Matt, taking note of Ethera's amused ear position. "I'm new to having a tail. It threw me off balance."


"Come on, as soon as we get out of sight I'll open a…" Ether suddenly cursed. "No I can't…someone cast an area damping spell. I can't open a portal, we'll need to leave the radius on foot,"


"Wait, let's just fly. I'm not that retarded at it."


"Can't you feel the electro-magnetic mass drivers being charged? They'll pick us out of the sky like waterfowl, now come on!"


The two Neos sprinted to the nearest stairwell and made their way in leaps and bounds down to the ground floor. Ethera took the lead, her own rapid fire railgun rifle at the ready. There were few people left in the parking garage this late in the day and those that saw Ethera and Matt either stared in disbelief or figured that there was a nearby Con or movie shoot. As they were approaching the back entrance to the garage Ethera stopped and pushed Matt back just before hyper velocity slugs fired from an elevated position turned the scene into a mass of exploding concrete. Ethera tried to return fire, but staying out of the path of the deadly projectiles limited her response to spraying and praying from behind cover.


"What should I do!?" yelled Matt amongst the din.


"We might need an alternate exit…um." Ethera began to verbally stumble a bit as the complexity of the evolving situation began to overtax even her own abilities. Linking sensory feeds, calling Shock and Hector, even just accessing a map on the Internet were all basic tactical tasks that Matt simply did not know how to do in his new form. Ethera drew a bead on one of the snipers located on a pedestrian overpass some distance down the street using the cashier booth for cover. She let loose a long burst of slugs pulverizing one end of bridge into a mass of twisted metal and gore before sending a message to Shock for assistance and loading in a fresh magazine of slugs. Matt found watching Ethera's partly ballet-like performance with her rifle to be somewhat mesmerizing as he stood back under the cover of the parking structure tuning out the wild screams of the humans as they ran for cover, unfortunately by the time he became aware of the speeding F450 truck it had already passed him. He awkwardly tried to send a mental warning to Ethera, who managed to turn just as the truck crashed through the plastic gate, lifted the Guardian her off her hooves and then slammed her into the wall of the building across the narrow street.


It took a few seconds for the driver of the truck to recover from the airbag deployment and slide out of the smoking vehicle. He saw Ethera's weapon lying on the ground and picking it up he made little show of pointing it at the helpless Neocorn's head and pulling the trigger. Ethera managed a defiant smile as the weapon failed to function, the electronics being keyed to her use only, before her head collapsed on the hood of the car. Matt on the other hand was already moving, completely unconcerned with either the snipers or the potentially armed mercenary in front of him. The driver turned just as Matt wrapped his hand around the man's neck and pushed him up against the wall.


"Hello John," Matt snarled his voice only a dim echo of his old human speech. "I believe you still owe me for that shift I took for you."


"M-Matt?" squeaked John, struggling to breathe.


Matt tilted his head, the plight of the small struggling creature in his grasp suddenly fascinating to him. He read his body language, looked into his eyes, felt his presence. Then he turned slightly and saw Ethera, her head laid on the hood of the truck, a trickle of glowing blue blood escaping her lips. Matt ripped out John's throat as casually as one might open a bag of chips, allowing the blood to spray on him before throwing the still twitching body to the ground. He turned toward Ethera, sinking his claws into the body of the truck and hauling it backwards with all his strength.


"I'll get you out of here," said Matt, a hint of panic creeping back into his deadly calm voice.


Suddenly Matt's body was filled with an intense pain that morphed into a numbness that dropped him to the ground. Looking up he saw the man in the leather coat holding another strange weapon that reminded him of a Sci Fi cattle prod. Miller fired again, two beams of purple energy arcing into Matt's body causing another surge of intense pain that mercifully resulted in unconsciousness.


"Get him into the van…both of them. No comms blackout is going to stop the police from noticing a god damned public firefight."


Rolland and a crew of fresh meat rushed out as a white cargo van pulled up and began to manhandle the heavy bodies into the back. As Miller watched a second man dressed all in black and sporting a retired military haircut walked up next to him.


"Mr. Zepp wants everything brought back to the compound. Oh and he wants to be clear that he's taking the horse one and everything she came with. Consider it a small large lateness penalty."


"I guess that's fair," said Miller without objection.


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Steven, also known as ShockWulf to those that would bother to humor him, finished up preparing the fresh chopped salad he was about to have for dinner. A few weeks ago he would have settled for some sort of single serving frozen pizza, but after Ethera visited the safe house and declared the food to be unfit for compost and that eating it might "seriously weaken her astral presence" Steven decided it might be a good idea to refactor his diet even if most physical downsides could be remedied through medication and nano injections. It had been 5 years since the United Federation of Alternate Worlds decided to grant his Earth the "honor" of a first contact and it didn't take long for Steven to have his mind blown by the wide variety of non-human that showed up on his figurative doorstep. Steven had always had a love of exotic fictional worlds and at the first sight of an anthropomorphic rabbit walking through the campus he decided right then and there that he was going to get off his backwater rock and see some more of them.


Unfortunately Steven's ambition far outstripped his resources. What little money he did have was virtually worthless in Federation credits and his technical skills, while above average for his own world, was little more than primary school fare in the Federation which was also sending all sorts of AI's, Cyborgs, GELF's and supernatural beings to compete for what local job openings were still available.


It had been little more than a year since Steven happened upon an anthro wolf while hiking in a local game reserve. The wolf was in the bittersweet position of having shot more deer than he could carry and during the conversation that followed after Steve’s offer to help the wolf he became thoroughly impressed by the human's uncommonly open attitude towards other species and offered to make a few calls. One thing led to another and Steven got an entry level job running a safe house on another Earth not much less advanced than his own. The world was almost the same as his own in all but the most trivial of details, but being able to talk and interact with a powerful Unicorn Guardian like Ethera made it all worthwhile even without considering his best friend Hector.


"How's it going in there Hector," Steven called back into the computer stuffed basement den they he liked to call the “operations room”.


"Pretty good, but people are accusing me of being a bot again.”


Steven walked in with his salad. On the desk were several computer monitors one of which showed a photorealistic animated image of a wolf lolling about on a virtual forest meadow. On another was an MMOFPS that seemed to be playing itself.


"Kick their ass Hector, they're using racial slurs."


"To be fair I believe the spirit of their comments are accurate. Perhaps you should achieve your own achievements."


"Some of us have biologic needs to take care of," said Steve, laying back in his sofa and turning on the TV.


As Steven ate his meal there came a "bing" noise from the speakers and he glanced over to see an urgent message from Ethera. His eyes went wide as he read the text.


"Shit, Ethera's in trouble, Hector, pull up…"


"I'm already on it," the wolf on the screen was alert and looking around as Steven pulled up a chair to look at overhead imagery Hector had already found.


"Can you get me eyes on? It would help if we had real time info on her location."


"I am trying, but I am running into what appears to be a malicious cyber attack, all networked cameras appear to be down…wait, searching secondary sources." There was a bit of a pause as Steven looked for the best escape route. "I found a hawk's nest camera that shows a view of the area that Ethera is pinned down in."


Looking past the fluffy Hawk chicks Steven could see a wild firefight taking place. The CG wolf leapt up in the air and Steven clapped his hands as Ethera dusted one of the sniper positions with railgun slugs, before both abruptly fell silent as a white commercial grade pickup truck shot out of the garage with Ethera on the grill, dashing the Neo against a solid brick wall.


"No…no, no, no Shit!" cried Steve, his hands flying to the sides of his head in disbelief.


"Steven, I believe that Ethera has been critically damaged. We should declare an emergency condition immediately."


"W-what? Shit no dude…we can't. We have to fix this but we can't call in a fixit squad."


"Steven, we have insufficient resources to affect Ethera's rescue. Hostile forces have taken both her and the target Neodragon into custody. We must call in outside help."


"Listen, Hector, remember when you were telling me about the containment protocol not being followed to the letter and I said not to worry?"


"I remember everything Steven."


"Yeah well that wasn't quite true. If this mission gets audited she's fucked…no…we're both fucked. If we request a bailout she'll be riding a desk and I'll get sent back home."


"You are aware that I am inclined towards following all operational protocols as instructed by my superiors.” The virtual wolf let the statement hang in the air for a moment. “Still, as much as I would enjoy training a new human it is unlikely that I would be able to immediately find one with such a high degree of compatible interests." The CG wolf gave a toothy grin. "Do you have any sort of plan?"


"Get whatever information you can from the video feed. I'll pack the van and if you can do the driving we can probably make it to California by sometime tomorrow. Hopefully by the time we get there we'll have a lead on wherever they are taking her."


Steven got up, entered the code to unlock the weapons locker and began to pull out their limited yet formidable arsenal of small arms.


"You know that not declaring a Code 3 and leaving the safe house unattended I will probably end up joining you in your parent's basement if this operation goes south."


"Maybe they'll let us keep the Exo?"


Steven opened up another closet and began to heft out the various parts and pieces of a wolf themed powered exosuit. The suit was jointed metal with an external fusion core power supply supplementing the limited internal batteries. Steven had done with he could with paint to make it more awesome with airbrushed fur and lightning bolts, but despite the improved appearance the hard exterior had very limited tactile feedback for the wearer.


"I find that prospect to be highly doubtful."


"Well I bought the head with my own money," said Steven as he removed the fully realistic anthro wolf head with burning red eyes and mottled grey fur from its carrying case. "Alright, transfer what you've done to the mobile environment and suspend yourself to I can move your AI core into the van. Let's be out of here in 15 minutes."


"Why do I have to be the van?" Hector complained. "I hate being the van. Maybe you should try loading your mind into a lifeless hunk of metal for hours and hours on end. Just load me in the Exo, that's at least designed to be a body."


"We don't have time and how the fuck am I going to explain that if we get pulled over? I'll make it up to you ok? Just do it for Ethera, she needs our help."


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When Matt came to he felt crummy in a way he would not have thought possible for a synthetic body to feel. His arms, legs and muzzle were bound by tight metal restraints and his wings and tail has lesser mechanisms to keep them from flailing around. His surroundings were not commensurate with his treatment as he found himself a room just dripping with designer decor. One of the long walls had about two thirds of its length consisting of floor to ceiling glass and looked out onto a well manicured garden and providing a distant view of the hills. Music was playing somewhere in the background, the notes seeming to perfectly compliment the sounds from the indoor water feature consisting of a 3 foot high black granite tub that ran the length of the room opposite the glass wall conceptually dividing a walkway from the floor space. The room resembled some sort of exhibition gallery with a raised platform at the far end where the glass wall didn't reach.


Matt's claws clicked on the polished hardwood floor as he began to try to move and as his eyes became accustomed to the light he became aware of voices and then the people standing around him. There was the man with the leather coat and the magic using girl with the tattoos. There were also a good number of security guards, all of them well dressed and more than one holding the stun weapon that had made such short work of him out by the parking garage. The "principals" didn't seem to be paying him too much attention as they were engaged in an intense yet private conversation with the sorceress who was nodding and trying to provide some reassurance to the man with the coat. At that moment a door that was made to blend into the wall at the far end of the room opened and a man walked in flanked by what appeared to be personal assistants and, judging by the haircut and demeanor, the chief of security. All the conversations ceased as the man made his way towards Matt and the others. While he didn't look to be particular elderly, the man had the general appearance of a prison camp survivor. He was gaunt with pale skin and sunken cheeks. He walked haltingly with a limp, supported by a cane, but there was still fire in his eyes as they set upon Mark.


"I know you," began Matt, his voice somewhat muffled by the device that restricted his ability to open his mouth. "You're Clifford Zepp…the guy who makes all those phones."


Mr. Zepp hobbled up to stand in front of Mark and nodded his head.


"Yes, I'm the guy who “makes” all those phones." He then jammed the point of his cane into Matt's gut. "I'm also the guy you have to thank for creating the world you live in," Zepp had to pause to regain control of a rage that was boiling inside of him, "but yeah…phones. I do all those phones. So, where is the other one?" continued Zepp, turning to Miller.


"Right here, we removed her neurosphere so she won't be interfering with our plans anymore."


At the sight of Ethera's seemingly dead body Matt tried to leap to his feet and rend both Miller and his billionaire friend into little chunks of man meat, but his restraints and a jab with the purple energy stun gun stymied his resistance. Zepp didn't even bother to look back at him, instead bending down with some difficulty to run his hand over an exposed section of her soft metallic skin.


"It's amazing, the perfect union of soul and technology. I hope to one day meet the person who designed all of this. Even I might be able to learn a thing or two from them, of course anything that seems perfect can still probably stand a for a bit of improvement." His aide helped him back into a standing position. "And what did you say happened to the mind that inhabited this body?"


Xia brought forth what looked like a jewelry box made of exotic dark and light woods and inscribed with runes. She popped it open to reveal a crystal orb about the size of a tennis ball within which glowed a flickering blue light. Mr. Zepp reached out and gently picked up the orb which appeared to react angrily to his touch.


"So you say that after the conversion I will be transformed into a similar state?"


"Yes Mr Zepp," answered Miller, "your mind will become pure energy, contained within the sphere which will also allow you to interface with the cybernetic body."


"Wonderful. Shame the unicorn isn't a stallion. I would like to try out different forms, but becoming female might permanently impact my creative spark. It doesn't matter. With all their technology and knowledge available to me I suspect that I will be producing my own cybernetic bodies before the century is halfway done."


"You bastard!" growled Matt.


Zepp turned to Miller, handing off Ethera's sphere to his assistant. "Didn't you say you were going to do something to him? Why are you not doing it then! My time is extremely valuable."


Miller nodded and snapped his fingers at Xia who took a deep breath and began to chant in a language Matt couldn't understand. A complete silence fell upon the room as Xia began to weave a pattern of glowing runes in the air behind Matt who felt a strange static electricity begin to flow over the surface of his skin. He briefly had the rare positive thought that they had found a way to reverse the process and make him human again. Xia laid her hands on Matt's silver shoulders and he felt a sudden and profound sense of disorientation.


Matt looked up again, he was still bound, but there was a lot more pain and discomfort than they had been just a few second ago. His heart was racing and he felt out of breath as he took in a deep gulp of air into his lungs. Matt felt angry like a caged animal and could feel the blood pounding through his body. He began to struggle against his restraints which caused him only additional pain and more jabs from the prod that somehow hurt more and hurt longer. Falling onto his side Matt noticed that his silver hide was suddenly much duller and had odd patches on them that looked like hard reptilian scales. Gone was the reassuring sense of body and its myriad abilities. Gone were the hundreds of software processes that Matt had instinctively relied upon to achieve peak levels of performance. He was still aware of the various life energies that those standing around him were giving off, but no more could he sample the electromagnetic waves flying through the room.


"Uuugghhh…w-what did you do to me."


"I believe that they have used a magic spell to split us into our constituent biologic and non-biologic entities," answered a somewhat emotionless voice that sounded almost exactly like Matt.


Matt looked up to see a gleaming silver metal dragon sitting calmly on the floor staring at its unbound hands with flat glowing optics, each containing an expressive "virtual" eye. Unlike Matt's Neobody which was shiny and metallic yet warm and soft, this new dragon was hard metal with segments, joints and seams that nevertheless flowed together with all of the sophistication of a solid metal sculpture.


"Power off Einstein," said Rolland, quickly sticking a small blinking device onto the back of the robot dragon's head. The robot stiffened, its glowing eyes went dark and its head sunk down into his lap, both arms making a heavy clunk as they hit the floor.


"What the fuck did you do to me!?" roared Matt expressing more rage than any sort of actual confusion.


"Does he have to be awake for this," complained Zepp.


"Yes sir," answered Miller, “but we can try to keep him quiet for you.”


"Why can't we just finish this now?"


"Xia, our mage, needs time to rest and recharge her power. The alternate method of conversion is quite a bit more complicated than our initial plan and even after you swap bodies with the dragon we'll need to reprogram the robot so that the AI matches your personality otherwise when you re-blend into a Neo you might not still be you."


Zepp glared at Miller. "I am not at all happy with your performance here. If I wasn't standing on death's door I would send your ass packing. I swear if one iota of "me" gets fucked up in this little conversion process I am going to withhold a portion of your payment. Do I make myself clear? I am what I am because of what I am. If I lose any of that I might as well be dead."


"Yes Mr. Zepp, you have my word."


Clifford Zepp began to hobble back out the way he came as a number of the security officials began to manhandle the still bound Matt out in the opposite direction.


"Mr Zepp," called Rolland, "what do you want us to do with the robot?"


"Leave it there for now. It really ties the room together. Oh, put that other neo body down in the lab before it drips the blue stuff all over my teak floor."


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The assistant placed the dark wooden box on a shelf in Mr. Zepp's private study next to a collection of the man's other "inspirational" items before walking out, the light automatically flicking off behind her leaving the room in near darkness. There were a few stubborn flickers of light from various blue and green LED's embedded in all manner of wonderful devices that had been dreamt up by the mind of Clifford Zepp, but there was one source of light that didn't quite match the rest. Had the perfectionist inventor sought out this heretical bit of design nonconformity he would have seen it escaping from a gap where the box lid fitted with the body. The gap had probably formed when the box had been inadvertently left all day in a hot humid vehicle and for most people the flaw would have been inconsequential. Unfortunately the particular containment spell etched onto the surface of the wood assumed a continuous surface around the item intended to be contained and it wasn't long before a glowing cloud of blue energy flowed out of the box assuming the shape of a rather see-through and very ticked off anthro unicorn mare.


For a sufficiently powerful and properly trained Neo the astral form was the ultimate get out of jail free card, however it was a card that Ethera was loathe to play. While Neos were partly energy beings they were not yet ascended and projecting one's mind outside the safe confines of the neurosphere had the same effect of taking a glass of water out into a vacuum, the mental energy boiling away until there was nothing left. Staying too long in astral form would result in Ethera's complete and total death with the only "out" being the possibility that some small remnant of her mind might get incorporated by some object or lesser life form. With all of these new considerations plus the more mundane ones like not being caught in mind Ethera wasted no time ghosting through a nearby wall.


The head security officer was just reaching for his coat when suddenly his body froze, hand outstretched. There was a brief look of surprise on his face before his expression first changed into one of triumph and satisfaction and then general disgust as Ethera felt out her temporary new body. If being in a biologic human wasn't bad enough, being an older male human was just the icing on the crap cake. Compared to her typical magazine cover existence Ethera felt droopy and saggy and gassy and there was just something disconcerting about the dangly bits between her legs. Neos weren't strangers to experimenting with body mods, but there was a good way to be male and a bad way to be male and this host was squarely in the middle of the latter camp. Ethera was used to spending time in human shape with feet, a short face and no horn, but she was still in a unicorn body even if it was just shifted to look like a human. This human body was the real deal and to her unicorn spirit it had all the appeal of mushy hay.


The security chief's consciousness, lacking even the most basic training to resist takeover by a spiritual entity, had been quickly isolated and put to sleep leaving Ethera in charge of his body and with access to all his memories. She quickly evaluated and then discarded the possibility of using his authority to quickly deal with the situation. There were simply too many security personnel and the vigilance of the criminals from her world would derail any such attempt. While Ethera was no longer leaking energy like a sieve, using a mundane human as a host was not much better and she probably had less than an hour before she become so weakened as to be unable to leave her host and what might happen after that was anyone's guess. Ethera shuddered as she pictured the schizophrenic security chief being ushered into a cell while his personality mixed between angry unicorn and terrified human.


Grabbing the access badge, Ethera paused to take one of the several mobile devices that had been seized from visitors looking to sneak a picture or two at whatever new device Mr. Zepp had been recently promoting. She dialed a number and hit send.


"Hello?" came a familiar voice at the other end.


"Green Grocer."


"Holy shit…Ethera??!! Are you ok?! Where are you…and why do you sound like an old dude."


"Please don't ask. I really don't want to go into certain…um…details."


"Ah Lady Ethera, I am pleased you are not dead," came another voice, a bit more formal than the first.


"Nice to hear you're along for the ride Hector," she replied. "I'll be happy to know someone with sense will be running the operation. Listen, I don't have much time but I am at the Clifford Zepp residence and in about…eighteen hours there is a mage here who is going to be performing some fairly involved magic on our new friend Matt to change Mr Zepp into a Neodragon."


"We anticipated your need for assistance and are on our way,” Hector responded. “At our current rate of progress our ETA will give us with a few hours to spare. Do you have any tactical information that could prove to our advantage?"


"Yes, there will be upwards of 25 security personnel on duty, but only about half of those will be anything beyond "observe and report". Security is top of the line for local capabilities, but you should have no problem evading it assuming that you will be playing Shock for the evening."


"We will be playing Shock for the evening," chided Hector.


"Speaking of that it appears that our friend Miller has hired a new guard dog. Let me just send out a quick e-mail to the security department…ah…there we go. That should help you out if it spots you."


"Guard dog?" asked Steven.


"Remember that werewolf who was working with the gang? He and I had a little meeting and now you can scratch the "were" part. So if you run into him, just try to be the alpha."


"Um, I don't know if my wolf persona is qualified to…"


"Listen I have to run, but you must do everything in your power to disrupt the ritual. I've seen your artwork so just do what Shock does in those. Don't try to be James Bond."


"Alright, good luck Ethera."


Ethera ended and call and cleared the phone number. Walking swiftly out of the room she made her way down to the extensive laboratory space on the lower floor. Several layers of guards protected both the room with her Neobody and the cell that Matt was being held in, but using the badge, passcode and physical appearance of the security chief she was able to quickly gain access to all of it.


"Mr. Zepp wanted me to take inventory of the extra special hardware before any of the techs are allowed in to examine it," she admonished the guard who was about to follow her into the final room.


"Um, yes sir, I'll be right outside."


Ethera nodded and entered the room. Her body had been stripped naked, her armour and equipment laid in a neat pile alongside one of the bare concrete walls. She walked over and looked down at it, the notion that such experiences were all part of “being Neo” not doing much to make it less surreal. Even though her body was an artificial construct she still felt a bit violated seeing it laid out like this, wondering where exactly the hands of the techs that stripped her had wandered to. Upon inspection her body didn't look too badly damaged, most of the smaller wounds had already been healed by the built in nano repair system, but the majority of the damage caused by the blunt force trauma of the truck crushing her into the wall was hidden away inside. Refocusing her mind Ethera got to work opening up her backpack and pulling out an extruded metal bottle in the 12oz size category with a sealed screw top along with a small carrying case containing several squeeze tubes.


Uncapping the bottle, she pressed the opening into the side of her body's equine mouth behind the front teeth and poured the complete charge of liquid metal repair nannos down its gullet. Then she got to work setting the broken joints and bones into a position where the nannos would have at least a fighting chance of effecting a repair. She winced each time she felt the internal structure grinding against itself as she relocated the hips and shoulders. Such field repairs would ultimately do more harm than good, rendering the body unable to be fully repaired, but Ethera had no choice if she wanted to be at least semi-ambulatory by the time of the ritual. Her time running critically low she turned the body over, filling the still open gashes with the special quick setting nano paste that would knit together torn synthskin and muscle. Quickly throwing all of the first aid supplies back in her bag she casually walked out of the lab, reminding the guard to keep the techs out until told otherwise by Mr Zepp. Once out of the basement area she made her way back to the security office laying back in the chair, feet up on the desk so that from the Chief’s point of view he simply dozed off before heading out for the day.


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The situation of being bound and locked in a dungeon cell facing the prospect of being somehow ripped out of his body before the moon rose again in the sky had left Matt's hybrid dragon-human psyche despondent. Unable to sleep and unable to cry Matt sat in the corner of the cell staring at the floor mentally bouncing back and forth between resignation and murderous rage. Suddenly he felt himself bathed in a warm blue light and he gained the distinct feeling that he was no longer alone.


"Hello Mathew, you need to cheer up a little. I wasn't going to abandon you."


"E-Ethera? Where are you?" asked Matt, convinced he was now starting to go crazy.


"Shut up and use your mind. I'm inside you now so I can hear everything you think."


Matt immediately thought about not thinking about how hot and sexy the Neocorn mare was.


Ethera sighed and Matt felt his own eyes roll. "I'm going to see if I can't wall myself off a little from you now, ah ok, that should do it."


"How are you in me?" thought Matt. "Wait, why are you in me?"


"Ancient Unicorn secret, but as for why I needed a proper host to avoid being drained of my spiritual energy and you're still a magical being even if you are no longer Neo."


"No longer Neo? What did they do to me Ethera? My emotions are all over the place. I…I feel like I'm losing my mind not to mention that I ache all over, my heart is racing and I think I have to use a bathroom."


"They split you," Ethera explained. "Neos are equal blends of biology and technology. It is an innate ability for a neo to be able to split into their two aspects, but a sufficiently clever human mage can replicate that ability creating the effect you saw in the gallery. You have not only lost some of the powers and abilities granted you by the tech part of your body, but the elements of your personality that were provided by the AI in your mech half. "


"Wait what? Are you saying that part of my…my mind was replaced by a computer programme when I became Neo?"


"No, not at all."


Matt breathed a mental sigh of relief.


"I'm saying that when you were turned Neo your personality was fully combined with an AI version of yourself to create a brand new neo-Matt. We can set up a time to debate the philosophical implications of that and the exact definition of personhood, but for accounting purposes Bio-Matt, AI-Matt and Neo-Matt are three separate people."


"Philosophical implications!? Like ceasing to exist when I “blend” with my other half? Damn straight we’re going to set up a time to talk about this, but tell me now why if I am currently the original Matt why don't I feel like myself?"


"Because you were also changed into a dragon which gave your human mind a new helping of instincts and subconscious personality traits. In the conversion chamber you underwent two parallel changes, Human to Dragon and Dragon to Neodragon. Of course that's not literally how it worked, but logically that is what happened. Neos that are created through a conversion process usually have the AI that is merged with them tweaked to counteract the effects of the mental hybridization that comes with the species change. Without your other half to provide stability you are probably feeling a bit scattered."


Matt thought about that for a while then nodded weakly. "Does that mean it's not my fault?"


Ethera caught Matt replaying his memory of confronting the man who hit her with the truck and the satisfaction he felt when he ripped out the man's throat.


"If it makes you feel any better you are not the same person as your Neo self, but your Neo self is as much you as he is your mech brother."


"That doesn't really make me feel better about what I did you know."


"The duality of a Neo's existence is not a mechanism to make any one of the three incarnations feel "better". Your humanity and your human personality will always be a part of you. Your new dragon traits may add a dash of seasoning, but they won't change the main course. The old you might not have killed in that situation, but I feel that he certainly was capable of it."


"I understand that humans are capable of many things Ethera, good and bad. What worries me is the satisfaction that I felt before, during and after the act. There are names for people who feel that way and none of them are very good.


I understand your concern Matt and there is certainly no lack of evil dragons out there, but judging from what I feel in you right now I believe the satisfaction you felt comes from a new sense of justice and not a desire to kill for its own sake. You are no longer entirely human and you now have a different psychological makeup. Nevertheless the human model of being a good and moral person isn’t the only model out there. This is also why becoming Neo usually involves years of training and socialization after the fact. We will help you learn to use your natural impulses for good and not evil. This is the very reason why we cannot allow this Mr. Zepp carry out the conversion. His mix of brilliance, charisma, anger and megalomania will be exceedingly dangerous if combined with both the physical and spiritual abilities of a Neo."


"I don't know what I can do Ethera, I'm not trained to be a warrior," said Matt, trying to keep focus on the problem at hand.


"You don't need to be because for one night only you get to ride with a professional. I'm actually looking forward to trying things out as a dragon for once."


"What? You just want an excuse to be all angry and violent!” exclaimed Matt picked up on some of Ethera’s motivations.


Matt felt Ethera’s sudden embarrassment at being called out.


We have a reputation to uphold…” she replied weakly.


And apparently dragon stereotypes to reinforce. I think I’m offended.


I guess standing up against dragon stereotypes one way to embrace your new species,” Ethera pointed out.


I just don’t want to embrace it so much that I start seeing everyone as food or prey.


And now you’re reinforcing them yourself. See how hard it is?


Matt snorted as he tried to get comfortable in spite of the various bindings that had been applied to his body. “So what’s your story? Why did your people upgrade themselves with all the crazy technology? One might think that dragons and unicorns would be pretty happy regarding their position in life.


I grew up in the North American west. While the native populations had hunted our mundane ancestors to extinction my people were able to survive and prosper using those superior abilities that you speak of. However when European settlers arrived with their iron tools and weapons our advantage declined and we were forced into hiding, either by living in the few remaining wild areas or taking human shape and living among them. It was only when the Neos arrived from their reality and offered to “upgrade” us that we could feel safe from being hunted or exploited by non-magical populations.


You really thought that modern day humans would hunt you for your horns or whatever? We have an endangered species act you know.


That that might be the only law protecting us that illustrates the problem!” cried Ethera, growing indignant. “If I am not mistaken Rhino horn is currently more valuable than its weight in gold thanks to demand from China. Imagine if that actually could do all the things the herbalists claimed instead of just being bits of ground fingernail. Due to our small populations so called supernatural creatures have always had more to fear from advancing human societies than they do from us. Working from a position of strength allows us to remain in our traditional roles instead of being sidelined as objects of curiosity.


Do you think there are supernatural creatures like yourself hiding out on my world?


Anything is possible, but in my travels I haven’t seen any evidence of it. Some worlds just don’t have the conditions for supernaturals to develop. Other times the stuff of myth and legend are based on extraterrestrial species that visit for a time and then leave or just ancient species that wind up going extinct for one reason or another.


While they talked Ethera made available a selection of memories from her childhood as a biologic unicorn growing up from the time of European settlement up through the 21st century. He watched her running free on vast plains and in woodland meadows. Then he felt what it was like for her to take human shape for the first time, her first time in a city, a montage of her learning the sum of human knowledge at an elite university. Matt felt a bit strange experiencing Ethera’s life from her point of view, but was still fascinated about all she had seen and done in her 350 year lifespan.


Wait a second, why do you look different? I thought you were sort of blonde?


Oh, well that’s because I use a different body for Guardian missions. As you can see it is not advisable to use one's birth...rebirth body in dangerous situations. My natural coloring is that of a paint.


Aren’t unicorns supposed to be white?


I was born after the Spanish arrived with their horses.


Matt felt Ethera’s answer only raised further questions, but decided to let the matter drop.


Speaking of your body, is it ok?


I attempted basic repair procedures, but it will most likely have to be scrapped when i get back home.


Oh, well I guess that’s not a huge deal for you Neos.


Ethera snorted angrily. “We’re not machines. It took me a year of training to build up an acceptable level of magical and physical skill in that body to qualify me for field operations. It is like a high performance vehicle or aircraft. One must be intimately familiar with every detail of the body’s operation or you will quickly fall to your adversary. I am not looking forward to replacing it.


Do you know what are they planning to do to me tomorrow?


So normal conversion to a full blooded Neo requires a rebirthing process like you went through. However there are some tricks that can be used to associate a new mind with an existing Neo “soul”. In your case I suspect they will swap your mind with Mr Zepp’s, reprogramming your mech brother into an AI match for Mr Zepp’s psyche and then reblend the result. It’s a bit of a hack, but in Mr Zepp’s case it is certainly better than nothing.


Mind swap?! Are you fucking kidding me? That dude looks like he’s about to fall apart.


Your welfare is the last thing on any of their minds, but Guardians exist to protect those that can’t protect themselves. I have set a couple plans in motion and one way or another we will stop their plans. You must have faith that you will make it out of this and be prepared to do your utmost.


Matt was silent as he took some time to carefully consider his own situation and the things that Ethera had revealed to him. Eventually he sighed as he tried to lie down comfortably on the hard floor.


I think I am going to try to get some sleep now Ethera. If I stay up I think my mind will just spin itself to pieces worrying about what ifs.


Good night Matt. Trust your instincts. Even as a bio you’ve got a leg up on every one of the apes you’ll be dealing with in that room tomorrow.


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As the van turned up the road that lead to the top of the ridge and the high rent district's high rent district Steven set the active display film that covered most of the exterior to mimic the appearance of a well regarded local pool cleaning service.


"Hey Hector, did you cross reference the credit card billing information for the addresses near the Zepp compound? I'm going to need those soon."


"351 Holly Oak Drive exhibits spending patterns that indicate that the entire family is several thousand miles away and has only one intervening property between it and the Zepp compound."


"Ah, I see it. Looks like it has a security gate."


"I am breaking into the home network via the wireless access point. Sending unlock command."


As the van rolled up the gate slid open to admit it. The property which had a sort of retro 1970's charm and a number of Asian style decorative items and water features spread about the western style grass and landscaping.


"Disable any security systems as well…just in case. I'll look around for a place where we can get changed," said Matt as he maneuvered the van to face outward in the driveway.


"You know I'm making you look good," sighed Hector as he went about hacking through the feeble security measures of the primitive consumer grade equipment.


"Hey, you know the division of labor. You do the computer stuff and I supervise and do things that require hands."


"So when I am able to afford hands of my own you'll help out with the "computer stuff?"


"Um, hey look, I think I see a pool house. That should work perfectly."


Steven slid out of the van and opened the rear doors. Due to the weight he had to move Shock in several pieces, but finally managed to marshal everything in the pool house along with a duffle bag full of weapons. The arsenal in the safe house was small, intended only for self defense and not bona-fide operations, but in Steven's estimation it would do for the mission that Ethera had outlined over the phone. First out of the bag was an MG36 light machine gun with about 1000 rounds of ammunition split between 10 “C-Mags” and special sights designed to work with Shock's built in targeting capabilities. To provide a little more long range oomph should it be necessary Steven had also brought along a G3 battle rifle. Both bore bright red marks on their receivers indicating that they were constructed from materials sufficient to withstand the higher chamber pressures of propellants that made use of subatomic breakdown instead of more mundane chemical combustion. Matt double checked the inertial dampeners on both weapons before also checking the charge on the railgun pistol's fuel cell. An assortment of grenades and cutting devices rounded out the inventory. With everything ready and loaded Steven returned to the van to get Hector.


"Everything ready Hector?"


"As instructed I have tapped into the area communications grid. I didn't have time to get fancy so when the time comes I rigged it to just shut down. I have set the van's jammer to interfere with digital wireless communications, but analog signals will be harder to jam and may give away the location of the van so I have set that to be a manual process via Shock's remote link."


"Are you ready for me to move you over?"


"I've been ready from the moment you put me in this stupid van," Hector snapped.


Steve reached in and flipped up the center dash console screen revealing a metal panel with circular metal plug in it about an inch wide. Using a screwdriver to unlock the plug with a half twist to the left Steven then withdrew a crystal cylinder about two inches long and the color of amethyst. Locking the van he walked the cylinder back to the pool house and after gently setting it down he picked up the lifelike anthro wolf head and clicked open a fur covered socket in back into which Steven inserted Hector's AI core. A few seconds later Shock's yellow eyes came to life.


"Ahhh, that's more like it," said the Wolf as it opened its jaws wide in a yawn. "Now when are you going to use those hands of yours to reassemble my body?"


"Our body…remember?"


Steven set about attaching the limbs of the exosuit to the central torso unit while Hector made a variety of unhelpful comments about human efficiency. After the last arm was locked in place Steven opened the front of the torso outward like a mailbox before stripping down to a pair of tight fitting black shorts and T-shirt that would allow him to interface with Shock's sensory feedback systems. Steven got down and carefully slid himself into the prone metal armour. Steven's human style feet came to a rest in an awkward position well above the suit's digitigrades paws, but nano enhancements to the joint and vascular structure of his biologic body allowed him to maintain that position without risking any long term damage. Once his lower half was firmly in the right position Steven slid his arms into Shock's arms bringing them to life. Closing up the front of the torso the human headed metal wolf waited for the exosuit's various power, feedback, and life support systems to warm up before rather awkwardly getting to his feet using a nearby table for support.


"Woah, woah woah. I need to practice this more," said Steven, looking a bit wobbly on his digitigrade legs.


"It's just like being on tip toes," said Hector, giving Matt a big toothy grin.


"Yeah, in the abstract," said Steven, taking a few steps and checking that he had full range of motion and all the proper sensory feedback. The hard metal plates covering the suit had an appearance that mixed the drab functionality of armour with biologic realism of the synthetic muscles the plates covered. Steven, getting more and more comfortable on his paws did a few jumping jacks and threw a few punches. Using a hard metal claw he carried out a quick inspection of the more flexible black ballistic material that covered a number of the joints that were important for agility.


"Can you hurry up?" chided Hector. "You standing there with the head off is ruining the magic."


Steve grumbled and lifting the lupine head fit it down carefully over his own. There was a brief moment of disorientation and discomfort as the neural link activated and connections were formed to allow Steven's biologic body to receive food, water and air, but when the yellow eyes reopened it was ShockWulf who beheld the cluttered interior of the pool room. Immediately all of the digitigrade instability vanished and the only other soft part of the suit, the tail, became alive and expressive. Shock flicked his ears around and smelled the air, checking for potential threats. Most of the new instincts that now overlaid Steven's old personality came stock with the exosuit, but, with Hector's help, Steven had coded up a personality overlay as well to make him more like his idealized ShockWulf persona as well as a more effective warrior. While technically still second in command of their joint venture Hector was still playing an active role influencing Steven's mind subconsciously or taking outright control if the situation demanded it. If anything it was Steven's natural proficiency to sync with an AI and integrate a new persona that got him qualified for field operations so quickly.


Shock began to equip the various weapons, keeping the MG36 in hand with the G3 over his shoulder. Loading the gun Shock took aim at a number of non-human animal targets with steady precision. With so much on the line the mild mannered Steve might have been having problems keeping his hands from shaking, but for Shock this was his most exciting mission to date and the only thing shaking was his tail. Still, he was still some hours early to the party and tipping off the adversaries to his presence would probably destroy their chance to resolve the situation. Preparing a small UAV for some recon Shock laid back on an inflatable pool mattress and waited for some indication that the party was about to begin.


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Matt was left to stew in his cell for all of that night and the better part of the next day. Sleep proved elusive for both him and his live in guest as he was too anxious to settle down and equines naturally require little sleep. As best he could figure it was getting into the late afternoon when a security contingent armed with both lethal and non-lethal weapons showed up to extract him from his cell.


"Go quietly with only minor resistance. There isn't much you can do to them now and resisting will only get you zapped. We'll need this body awake and functional when the time comes."


Matt stood there numbly as his restraints were reconfigured to give him the mobility necessary to get up the stairs. Guards constantly at the ready with the purple energy stun sticks put any thought of resistance completely out of Matt's mind, Ethera's comment notwithstanding.


"Matt, this is very important that you do exactly as I say. You are going to feel me start to bring something up into your mouth. No matter how much discomfort you find yourself in you cannot under any circumstances swallow any of it. You got that?"


Matt nodded mentally as he felt Ethera begin to manipulate the back of his throat in a fashion similar to when a human needs to hock up phlegm. Matt felt a strange tingle in the back of his throat and not long after a foul bitter taste began to fill his mouth. Still bound hand, foot, wing and tail, Matt was lead back upstairs into the glass fronted room overlooking the valley below the ridgeline. Ethera reinforced Matt's own resolve to stay calm and not betray anything of their actions to the watchful eyes of Miller or his off world henchmen. As they entered they saw Mr. Zepp standing next to Miller looking down at the robot version of Matt that still sat slumped over and deactivated on the floor.


"You see this?" Zepp poked at the robot with his cane. "Totally unacceptable. Yeah it's got nice lines, but there are just too many of them, too many segments, too busy. It's also too heavy, there's no elegance. Sure you could do worse, but I could easy remove about 20% and have something that look 100% better. Where did you get this thing anyway, it looks old."


"It is a 4rd generation neobody. They are switching over to Gen 5 so it was possible to make off with an old Gen 4 nano charge without anyone noticing. I know your penchant for design Mr. Zepp, but there were practical limitations with the type of body we could obtain for you."


"Everybody gets one Miller. You get me an old body…you fuck up the transfer. That's two. If I wasn't about to drop dead I'd have sent your sorry ass packing. Now, is your mage all charged up and ready to go? I don't want my consciousness ending up inside a lamp or something."


"Of course not Mr. Zepp. Xia here graduated in the top 10% of her class. I assure you, you're in good hands."


"If she is so talented then why is she working for you?"


"She's a Drow, a dark elf. There is still a lot of discrimination against her kind so it is not hard to find talented magic users in need of work and possessing a healthy level of resentment."


"Maybe she'd like to work for me. I'm more enlightened than to ascribe to old prejudices and I'm going to need someone to help me reach my full potential after all. A creative vision isn't worth anything without some people to iron out all those pesky little details."


"Feel free to make her an offer. I don't tend to bind my partners with long term exclusivity deals, but if this goes well she's going to have a sizable nest egg and any future employment offers would have to take the increased value of her time into account."


"You don't mince words, do you Miller? I can see you're not one of the people who would tend to buy my products."


"I'm not really cut out to be a consumer Mr Zepp."


Zepp tapped the dragon robot again with his cane. "When will you have this lump reprogrammed? I'm doing this for the technology, not a set of extra limbs and a tail."


"I have a guy coming. He'll be here in a week or two. Just don't attempt to re-blend with the mech until it's reprogrammed or you'll end up as a confused hybrid of yourself and Matt over there."


Miller wasn't sure if Zepp heard him as the visionary continued to fuss over Matt's robot half.


"Look at this thing,” Zepp scoffed, “ well look at both of them. Dragons have too many features. I'll bet they're a bunch of arrogant traditionalists. I'm going to streamline and simplify this mess. Mark my words 10 years after I enter the market nobody will even remember what the "classic' dragon looked like. Hey, can these things really breathe fire?"


"This particular species breathes something like ice."


"And that will work even if I'm like a Neo, right?"


Miller nodded.


"Hmmm, good good, although in the final product that should definitely be an optional extra to separate the base body from one of the premium ones."


"Xia is ready when you are," said Rolland, walking up from across the room. "Just stand over there next to where our subject is being arranged Mr. Zepp."


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"Wake up!" echoed the voice inside Shock's head when the natural intelligence usually known as Steve was jolted back into consciousness by his AI co-worker. Shock proceeded to let out a yelp of confusion as he looked around trying to orient himself.


"What the…where am I?" The wolf looked around at the partially pruned patch of the trees and bushes he was currently crouched down in.


"30 meters south of the perimeter fence surrounding the Zepp compound. You dozed off so I decided to see to what extent I could operate our body without needing your conscious inputs. As we are now about to enter hostile territory I figured your awareness might be required."


"Gee, thanks so much for including me," said Shock out loud, rolling his eyes.


"You can thank me when your meat body suffers damage and is unable to maintain consciousness and I am required to transport you to medical care."


"Just don't go testing out the emergency upload procedure. I don't really feel like having to share a processor crystal with you as AI code."


"Neither would I. You know if your mind were held to our standards you would probably be labeled as unstable and potentially dangerous and then sent for decompilation."


"Alright, alright, we've got to get on task here." Shock relaxed as he allowed his two minds to flow back into sync. Scanning the imagery collected by the reconnaissance drones the wolf identified a partial blind spot in the camera network and then figured out the best route for a running jump that would minimize his exposure. Moving almost silently through the brush Shock approached the fence before accelerating rapidly on his lupine paws and making a graceful leap out from the treeline, over the fence and guard path before landing behind a line of oleander. Shock froze, ears moving about as he scanned for any sign of activity or alarm. If he was detected the immediate Plan B would be to go in guns blazing, but upon hearing nothing out of the ordinary he continued on towards his objective just a few hundred yards up the slope at the top of the ridge.


The painted fur pattern combined with a bit of terrain specific supplementary camouflage, the field manual's term for tying vegetation to oneself, rendered Shock nearly invisible to the occasional passing security patrols as he made his way closer and closer to the main house. Taking up a position behind a low hedge Shock decided that he could go no further as all that was between his current position and the main compound was a well manicured lawn. While a ninja could probably continue on without fear of detection, Shock was still just a rather bulky mech suit that would tend to stand out on open ground so he began to unpack his weapons and optimize his field of fire. Despite his clear view of the house the windows were tinted to thwart prying eyes and Shock quickly found that most other useful spectra were shielded as well. Fumbling to open a small leather case with his paws Shock fitted a rune inscribed filter to the front of the scope fitted to the MG36.


"Alright Ethera, let's see if your mail order gadgets actually work."


The low magnification optics allowed Shock's own eyes to do most of the work, but this time when the yellow eyes focused through the reticle he could see a number of glowing blobs through the opaque class as the filter converted spiritual energy signatures to visible light. The signatures were very faint, as if the room was somehow shielded against magic as well, but at this range Shock could still make out at least two major sources of energy. With Ethera's suggested deadline now within the hour Shock clicked off the safety.


"Give me some guidance Ethera or I'm firing blind," remarked Shock to no one in particular. To his surprise he got a response in the form of a low menacing growl. Slowly turning his head Shock found himself staring nose to nose with a biologic grey wolf of above average size.


Had Steven just been a human in an expensive fursuit he may have panicked or been forced to make a move to kill the wolf, but as Shock, Hector could bring his own programming directly to bear on their synced minds. Shock stared straight back at the wolf, lifting himself onto all fours, his tail going straight out. For Rex the elation of having caught an intruder morphed quickly into fear as he felt himself suddenly intimidated by the strange man-wolf. Rex's body lowered and he averted his gaze. As Shock deliberately moved forward to subdue the other wolf, Rex's latent human mind screamed loud enough to snap him out of submission and take off toward the house where a pair of guards that were rounding the far corner of the compound.


"Shit!" cursed Shock, as he quickly brought the sights of his gun in line to track the wolf as it ran, ready to pull the trigger and kick open the hornet's nest.


Rex approached the nearest guard, growling and barking to get his attention and trying to point in the general direction of the intruder. Still not used to a mouth that couldn't fit human words Rex's frantic attempts at communication seemed strange and aggressive to the low wage rent a cop not used to animals with partly human minds.


"Woah, calm down dog. What the hell's wrong with you?" said the first guard backing up slowly. Rex followed, trying to grab the man's pant leg and pull him back to the edge of the yard.


"Dude! Don't let it touch you!" cried the second Guard. "That's a fucking werewolf. The e-mail said not to get near it."


A look of terror washed over the first guard's face as he kicked at Rex's muzzle and stumbled backwards. "Get the fuck away from me!"


Rex made another attempt to speak which again came out as a series of menacing growls before going back to pulling at the guard's pant leg.


"Tase the fucker!"


There was a pop, then Rex felt a small pain before an incredibly large pain that elicited a yelp and left him twitching on the ground. From his vantage point Shock winced as the guards repeatedly zapped the wolf until it went inert and lifeless. Shock was aware that electricity was a big part of his planned characterization and ability set, but the way the guards took glee in tasing the wolf before locking it up in a shed struck him as needlessly cruel. Shock silently made a note of things and turned his sights back towards the great glass room. Something was going on as the two distinct energy signatures has moved together with the faint blobs of light getting a lot brighter. Shock knew that this was it, but if he couldn't find some way to differentiate the targets he would have to risk firing on Matt and Ethera.


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Matt glared daggers at Mr. Zepp as the frail man hobbled by, hoping that somehow he could find a way to make his looks kill. The dragon was trussed up on a metal frame, his arms spread out and his held legs together supporting his weight on the floor at the base. Behind him his wings and tail were secured to prevent them from thrashing around while his muzzle was shut tight by an adjustable polymer band and his horns shackled to prevent excess head and neck movement. Mr. Zepp stood on the raised dais, slightly behind Matt and out of his line of sight, while Xia was busying herself with drawing a circle of runes around him. At the far end of the room Miller stood with Rolland, clearly not wanting to be within earshot of Mr. Zepp and his various observations. A number of security officers were also present and at least two were equipped with the powerful stun devices. By the time Xia began chanting and drawing glowing patterns in the air Ethera had accumulated a sizable ball of the nasty liquid in Matt's mouth.


"Ethera?"


"Hold on Matt, events are going to move quickly. I'm going to need your help in making you appear ill."


"No problem there, I already feel sick to my stomach."


Matt's body began to moan and squirm around. Despite the limited range of motion Ethera was able to mimic signs that Matt was about to spray out of both ends and rolling his eyes back made it look like Matt was about to have a seizure.


"Hey! Hey!" called out Zepp, snapping his fingers at his security chief. "What the hell is wrong with that thing? It looks like it about to fucking shit all over my hardwood floor. Someone go get a bucket. Hey you! Mage! What the hell is wrong with the dragon? It doesn't look like it's doing so well. I don't want to get transferred into a brain damaged body or one that's choking on its own vomit."


Xia glared at Zepp, but continued her incantations, unable to stop the spell casting process.


"What the fuck nobody is listening to me. Hey you, Greene," Mr. Zepp pointed at one of the guards standing close to Matt with a shock stick. "Find out what the hell is wrong with it."


Greene stepped forward and loosened the band holding Matt's mouth shut a notch to allow him the ability to speak, the shock stick held at the ready.


"Are you ok in there? What's going on?"


Ethera opened Matt's lips just the centimeter the band would allow as Greene leaned in a bit. Without warning Ethera discharged the mass of liquid held in her mouth squirting it out through Matt's teeth and covering the guard in an oily purple goo.


"You son of a b…." The guard's words stopped abruptly as did the hand that was attempting to fling the purple gunk onto the floor. The man gasped desperately for air as he fell to the floor, his body becoming stiff as a board as the violent throes of suffocation were only manifest as a series of slight tremors. The goo began to quickly evaporate into a purple cloud, expanding floor to ceiling. From across the room Miller shouted in dismay.


"Gas! That's fucking Gas. Get out of here!"


Xia's arm was in mid-stroke when it suddenly went stiff. There was a brief moment of realization in her eyes before the accumulated magical energy fed back on her blowing her across the room with enough force to splinter the hardwood paneling on the wall. Rolland's hand went to his rail pistol first shooting out each of the floor to ceiling glass panels and then proceeding to pick off each of the fire sprinkler heads filling the room with a deluge of black sulfur smelling water that quickly neutralized the growing cloud of paralyzing gas.


The explosive death of Xia had the side effect of nullifying several of her previously cast enchantments and as soon as Ethera felt Matt's innate abilities return to him she willed his body to reassume its human shape. Matt felt himself shrinking, his tail and wings retreating into his body. His silver hide losing its luster as it became weak human flesh, the powerful muscles that moved under them wasting away until they matched his new human frame. For a moment Matt was confused why Ethera would shift him to human form, but in weakness the Guardian found strength, easily slipping out of the dragon sized bonds and delivering a roundhouse kick to a partly paralyzed guard that stumbled up with a stun stick.


"You've fucked things up for the last time you little cocksucker!" screamed Rolland as he leveled his pistol at the naked human form dragon from across the room.


Meanwhile across the lawn a yellow eye lined up the crosshairs on its plainly visible target.


"Boom."


From Matt's point of view Rolland seemed to disintegrate as the finger of god started with him and worked its way around the opposite end of the room sending splinters of wood, chunks of granite and bits of flesh into a cacophony of flying debris. While Miller managed to jump into cover behind one of the water troughs the other guards were not so lucky. On its high rate of fire Shock's LMG soon exhausted the first C-Mag, but another was soon in place as he swung the muzzle to point at the pair of outdoor guards as they ran towards the sound of the commotion. A stream of hot brass shot out the side of the gun as a jet of flame emerged from the front. The two guards were knocked off their feet in mid stride as half the shed behind them was turned into blood stained kindling.


Grabbing a shock stick Ethera ran Matt’s body through what was left of Rolland, sliding to a stop behind the still deactivated mech dragon sitting on the wet floor. Lifting the stick she delivered a blast of energy to the puck shaped device on the dragon's neck frying into a puff of blue smoke. Within seconds its eyes lit up and it began to look around the room just as one of the armed security officers burst in the door. Bio Matt couldn't help but be in awe as the 8 foot tall silver robot dragon launched himself toward the guard, bullets bouncing harmlessly off of its hard metal skin. Pulling the gun out of the stunned guard's grasp the mech delivered a well aimed head butt that sent the man to the floor. Turning back the robot dragon tossed the weapon to his other half.


"I see you've been busy while I was offline," said mech Matt, looking around the thoroughly destroyed room. "Looks like you took a few levels in badass."


"Ethera kind of hijacked my body," said bio Matt, fumbling with the weapon.


"I see," said the dragon, nodding. "Perhaps you should find some clothing or change back to a body that doesn't require them. That is not our most dignified shape."


"Um…" said bio Matt, looking over as Miller stood up from behind the remains of the water trough dripping wet from both the sprinklers and the spillage.


"I just wanted to congratulate you three on your victory. You Neos are just full of tricks aren’t you?” Miller sneered, obviously upset, but at least somewhat honorable in admitting defeat. “While I would just love to exchange notes this investor knows when it's best to write off his losses. Give my best wishes to the government capture squads."


Matt let out best human form roar he could as his hands suddenly "remembered" how to make the weapon ready to fire. Unfortunately Miller was faster, touching the gemstone inlaid band on his right wrist and vanishing with an orange sparkle effect as the bullets impacted harmlessly on the wood behind where he had stood a second earlier. After a few seconds of being gently pelted by spraying water the robot dragon spoke.


"Did he really just get away?"


"Men like him frequently do," sighed Ethera.


Meanwhile outside, Shock had turned his attention to the rest of the house, hosing it down with bullets that passed through wall and window without hindrance causing many of the interior furnishings and decorative items to explode into splinters and shards. Those members of the household staff and security detail not too injured to move, quickly made their way to the exits before screaming in terror as they ran down the driveway. Loading another ammo drum Shock relocated to a better position from which to cover Ethera and Matt as the former began to shift from human back to dragon.


"Is this better," said Matt in his deep dragon voice as he faced his robotic double, his legs making unnerving cracking noises as they finished reshaping.


Mech Matt looked "himself" over. "Much. Now, how did that bit do with the Wonder Twins?"


Suddenly bio Matt backed away. "No, no. No fist bumps, no hugs, no high fives. I need both of you helping me until we get out of here." Ethera turned Matt around and waved at Shock to come over. "You and Shock need to watch my…our back as we go get my things. Law enforcement is going to show up soon and there could be a few of the more loyal security guards poking about. We only have about 10 or 15 minutes before escape becomes impossible." Ethera began to walk bio Matt out. "I have to go, you can brief Shock."


Ethera left just as the exo-Wolf entered, the barrel of his MG36 clearing the corners.


"Hey…I'm Shock. What the hell happened in here?" he asked, looking around at the damage.


"Your guess is as good as mine," sighed mech Matt, rolling his optics. "I just woke up. Ethera wants us to set up a perimeter or something."


"We should probably head to the front entrance. There's only one way up here and any police response will have to come up the driveway."


"Lead the way wolfman."


Shock nodded and checked the hallway before heading towards the main part of the compound.


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"Where are we going?" asked Matt, his body still sore from the previous day's confinement.


"To get me back into my own sphere and then into my body. No offense, but your body is uncoordinated and ungainly." As if to emphasize the point Ethera smacked Matt's horns into another door lintel. "I would also prefer to be adored by little girls instead of sending them screaming."


"Does everything you say have to end in a backhanded dragon joke?"


"I don't know. Can you get something to eat that doesn't somehow involve hurting an animal?"


Ethera entered Mr. Zepp's study to find the room riddled with bullet damage from Shock's sustained effort to empty the house of potential threats. Ethera prompted Matt's heart to skip a beat when she saw the wooden case holding her sphere lying on the floor, the top partly blown off by a bullet impact.


"The fool!" Ethera swore as she picked up the box and found the physical interface between her mind and body to be thankfully undamaged. "An inch more to the side and my sphere would have been about as useful to me as gravel. Remind me to "correct" that boy when we get back to the safehouse."


Matt chuckled to himself seeing that humans could be just as aggravating to Unicorns as Dragons evidently were. Ethera moved quickly out of the study and down to the laboratory spaces on the lower levels. While rather crude, Shock's methods had been effective in clearing out the entire compound with most of the doors left unlocked or wide open. Entering the room where her body was laid out, Matt began to feel awkward as Ethera used his hands to thoroughly inspect the body she had tried to repair the night before.


"Oh grow up you big baby."


"You're naked!"


"So are you."


"It's…it's not the same!" said Matt, getting flustered.


Moving the limbs and body Ethera saw that the nanos had done a near miraculous job repairing the shattered skeleton, but she could also feel all manner of stiffness and other movement defeats that would limit her capabilities. The damage to the skin and muscle had also been fixed, but those repairs had left rather nasty looking scars on the otherwise flawless metallic hide. Reaching the head Ethera pressed Matt's fingers down firmly on a number of points around the top of the skull triggering an audible click. Matt watched as a number of seams appeared and Ethera lifted away a thick metal plate exposing the socket for her neurosphere.


"Alright, just hold my sphere in your hand and I'll transfer myself into it. When you feel that's done just replace the sphere and click the skull plate back in place. While I do my thing find a carrying bag and get all my kit into it. Even if Mr. Zepp is dead and buried I don't want his company getting its hands on any advanced tech."


Matt nodded as he took control of his body and held the sphere out at arm's length. As awkward as it had been over the last day Matt felt a bit let down as Ethera's mind left his own. As much as Ethera had managed to erect barriers between their two minds, having someone share his body brought Matt a sense of intimacy that he had never before experienced. Staring at the sphere as the blue flicker grew steadily inside it Matt let out a sigh and when he felt the process was complete clicked the tennis ball sized crystal back into its socket and closed things back up.


Ethera's body began to moan softly and move about, but remembering her instructions and their time situation Matt located a body bag and began to shovel her armour and other pieces of equipment into it. Then Ethera sat up sharply, clearly in a great deal of discomfort she closed her eyes to take stock of what parts of her body were still functional and which were not. Sliding her hooves off the edge of the metal lab table she gingerly put weight on them before dropping to the ground and coughing up all sorts of blue tinted nasty from her digestive system.


"Ethera! Shit...are you ok?" said Matt, stopping for a moment to try to help her up.


"I'm fine…just…fine." She shook her head and neck to clear the cobwebs from her sensorium. "Not going to go out and win any gold medals, but I'm functional enough."


At that moment the sound of gunfire could be heard from somewhere in the compound.


"I think that's our cue to exit," said Matt, hefting the bag of stuff up onto the table to zip it closed.


"Wait, hand me my rifle. I have one more thing to take care of."


"Ethera..."


The Unicorn gave Matt a look that cut off further debate as he handed over her pulse railgun.


"Just give me five minutes. Now go, help out the others."


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The metal dragon and the mostly metal wolf had just about reached the grand entry room when a pair of city police officers entered, guns drawn. Matt managed a look of exasperation on his not-so-flexible face as he marched determinedly at the first officer, bullets bouncing harmlessly off his chest, before seizing her in his iron grip and throwing her against the wall as casually as one might throw a load of refuse into a skip. Shockwulf on the other hand was more animated, dodging back and forth to avoid the gunshots before crushing the male officer's weapon wrist with one hand and kneeing him solidly in the bread basket.


"With the way I locked down area comms they must have been patrolling and ran into the people fleeing down the driveway," said Shock as he gathered the man's radio and gun.


"I wish my neighborhood had this level of police response," said Matt, casually relieving the woman of her handcuffs and then attaching her to a nearby staircase.


"What the fuck are you!" coughed the male officer, clutching his broken wrist.


"No talking meatbag," growled Matt trying to sound as dangerous and intimidating as possible.


"One more word out of you and I will rip off your head and EAT it!"


Shock gave the dragon a look commensurate to his name.


"What?" sent mech Matt via his data link. "I don't want them fucking around with us."


"The M-word is a life form slur and threatening to eat someone promotes negative stereotypes for both Dragons and carnivores. I would appreciate it if you modified your behavior," Shock admonished, channeling Hector’s sense of indignation.


Matt grumbled something about no fun.


"Come on," continued Shock getting back to business. "I'm going to take up a position right outside the door. You watch my back from in here and take my rifle. You should be able to handle it."


Shock unslung his G3 and handed it to the anthro robot dragon who took a minute to figure out the best way to fit it into his rather large hands.


"I hear sirens," Matt thought out to Shock.


"Yeah, I was hoping we'd get a longer grace period. We just have to get out of here before they completely lock down the neighborhood because I didn't park that far away. At least it's getting pretty dark out," said Shock as he took up his position outside behind a low wall in the landscaping.


"So I guess you're Ethera's little friend who helped track me down?"


"That I am. It's nice to finally meet you in person…or at least half of you."


"Likewise. Do you do this sort of thing often?"


"Nah, actually it's my first time on a field mission. Well, non-simulated."


Mech Matt blinked and took note of the fact that his rescue might not be getting the level of resources or official interest that he had initially thought.


"You're in good company Shock, seeing as everything is new to me since I have only about 10 minutes of up time."


Scanning the horizon his optics actually managed to visually detect the approaching aircraft before he could hear it.


"Chopper, 1 o'clock and coming in at our height," Matt called out to Shock.


"In Soviet Russia Chopper Gets to You."


"Really?" said Mech Matt, looking surprised.


"Hey guess what. In time advanced alternate realities the internet exists! That's also why I remembered to bring the attachment for shooting down police helicopters."


Shock swapped out the scope for a lead computing reflector sight and shouldered the MG36 just as the chopper approached the ridgeline and switched on its spotlight. A deadly accurate stream of tracers erupted from the gun streaking up through the air and impacting the aircraft behind the crew cabin and below the rotor. A ball of flame benched out of the turbine exhaust and the spotlight cut out as the pilot began to auto rotate towards a crash landing.


"That ought to get us four stars," quipped Shock as he replaced the magazine.


As robot Matt scanned the driveway for any sign of approaching vehicles he heard a familiar voice behind him.


"What the hell is going on up here?"


"Police helicopter, but we're still good," said the robot dragon turning to face himself. The two "brothers" stood there, each looking the other over, not quite sure how to begin.


"So…you're me?" started the biologic Matt.


"Hey look, we didn't say the same thing at the same time so I guess there's some difference. I'm also an AI computer program with your memories and personality and you're a bunch of electrical impulses in a 6 pound box of flesh."


The flesh dragon approached the metal dragon, hesitantly reaching out to tap his brother's hard nose. "You do kind of look like me. Well, look like me in my dragon shape. Do you know what your human shape looks like?"


"I don't have a human "shape"," said metal Matt, his glowing eyes narrowing, "I'm a robot. I don't have magic with which to squeeze my body around with. Hmmm, I can see why Ethera can become so irritated with you."


"But, you are me. You have my memories and experiences so that makes you me, right?"


"I am an AI dragon that was activated 15 minutes ago and who has all the memories and experiences of a biologic human named Matthew Jackson. I am wondering if being…like this…is something that generally requires closer psychiatric supervision. You're lucky I was programmed to be the stable element in our "relationship" or I'd be freaking the fuck out right now given your temperament."


"Oh great, I finally get a big brother and it's my robot dragon clone," said bio Matt, rolling his eyes.


"I saw that!" Robot Matt raised a clenched fist. "I wonder how well dragons can noogie."


"Hey! We've got a vehicle headed up the driveway," called Shock from outside.


Mech Matt immediately snapped back to business as he grabbed the rifle and went to the window. "Where's Ethera, we have to get out of here."


"She said she had something to take care of first."


"Well she'd better hurry. You stay inside and stay out of the line of fire. I can take a bullet, you can't."


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Ethera walked down the empty hallway on the laboratory level, her gait a bit uneven due to the lingering damage to her hips. With the security officer's knowledge still rattling around inside her mind she paused before a glass case displaying an example of the pioneering home computer that Mr Zepp had designed. Raising her rifle she opened fire, the slugs ripping through the case and shattering the concrete behind it creating a cone shape hole in the wall. Ethera pushed her shoulder in above the damage and the seemingly solid wall pushed inwards revealing a hidden safe room. Dust hung in the air as she walked into a hallway and turned the corner.


"Stay back!"


The security chief fired twice, hitting Ethera once in the shoulder. Resisting her instinct to dash the man and skewer him with her horn she released a simple spell detonating all the remaining rounds in the pistol. Ethera continued forward, trying her best to hide her limp. Mr. Zepp was similarly resolute, standing behind his now fallen muscle who was on the floor trying to apply pressure to his bleeding hand.


"Here, let me help with that," said the Unicorn in her kind voice. Reaching down she pulled the collapsible baton from the man's belt and extending it on the upswing she brought it down shattering the man's knee. Tossing the baton aside she stepped over the howling chief and brought herself nose to nose with Clifford Zepp.


"Ironic isn't it. After all that game did for my tablet line who would have thought I would be brought down by a Robot Unicorn Attack. So, are you here to kill me? Extract some measure of revenge by beating a crippled old man?"


"I wouldn't give you the satisfaction of a quick death. Your body is so riddled with cancer I can smell it from across the room. I just wanted you to know that you could have been cured and on your way to a nice long life if only you hadn't been an arrogant prick. Miller could have sold you a cure without needing to steal a neobody. You could have called off your little mercenary dogs once the human was accidently changed. But no, you had to have it all for yourself."


"You're damn right I wanted it all! There's no point in trying if you don't try for perfection," shouted Zepp, his voice rising. "You…you walk around as children with the power of gods. Wasting all the potential…all the possibilities…everything that takes someone like me to realize. In two decades this world would have been unrecognizable. In ten your people would have been begging ME to give them the next big thing."


"I've seen your kind before Mr. Zepp. One man's utopia quickly devolves into another's oppressive dictatorship, but of course I'm not so naive to think that outcome would in any way lead you to reevaluate your position. Goodbye Mr. Zepp."


With that Ethera turned and walked away, dismissively swishing her long tail behind her and ignoring the increasingly vitriolic diatribe emanating from the surprisingly frail man. Once out of the safe room she moved as quickly as she could back up to the main level, following the increasing sounds of gunfire.


"Where the hell have you been!?" cried biologic silver dragon as she entered the grand entry hall. "Shock has been doing his best to keep the cops back with fake radio calls, but we think they are getting ready to storm the place."


"Shock! Get in here, we're moving out!"


The exo-wolf dashed in through the front door sliding to a stop, mouth agape as his eyes came to rest on the naked Neocorn mare in front of him. Ethera cursed and slammed the flat part of her hand upside the back of Shocks head.


"No! Bad dog!" she said, pinning her ears back. "All you males need to get a grip. Now, Shock, do you think you can grab that bag and get to the rally point yourself?"


"Y-yes…yes Lady Ethera," he said, nodding.


"You're damn right “Lady Ethera”," she muttered under her breath. "Good, get out of here. We'll follow. MOVE!"


Shock grabbed the bag full of Ethera's gear and ran out toward the back yard while the two Matts began to help Ethera in the same direction.


"How do you suggest we get accomplish our exit M'Lady."


"Mocking me with my title is punishable with bites Dragon."


The mech dragon just smiled and tapped a claw against his bite-proof metal neck.


"Oh, do you want me to show you what an energy bite feels like?” said Ethera, narrowing her eyes. “Anyway we're going to fly out. Get to the back yard where it overlooks the slope down to the city. You'll need to carry me."


"Woah woah," exclaimed bio Matt. "There's no way I'll be able to fly with or without carrying you. I just know I don't have the energy to do it. I'm just tapped out."


"My flight systems have never been tested and I have no experience using them," said the robot. "I would not advise trying to use them now."


"By the ancestors," Ethera cursed. "YOU'RE ONE PERSON. Did you forget already?!"


The two stopped, dropping Ethera onto the grass.


"But how do we…"


"…get ourselves back together?"


"High five, hug, tag team tag, you just have to want to be back together and make physical contact." said Ethera struggling back onto her feet. "The harder spell is splitting a neo. Getting one to go back together is comparatively easy."


Bio Matt looked at Mech Matt.


"But won't we…"


"…cease to exist or something?"


"Ok now you two are just trying to irritate me intentionally."


The two brothers positioned themselves, clawed hands outstretched.


"Hi five?" asked the robot.


"Don't leave me hanging."


At the point that the two hands, one metal, one flesh, met in mid air the two anthro dragons seemed to blur. With an inrush of air where two had stood there was now only one with a silver skin both shiny and soft. He turned slowly towards Ethera.


"Hey, I think I'm back."


"Get me out of here!" the neocorn growled.


Matt slipped both his arms under the uni’s while unfolding his wings into their flight position. Lifting Ethera up off her hooves Matt gave himself a running start and launched into the air with a powerful series of flaps and anti-gravity thrust. As they rose high up into the black night sky Matt looked down at the record number of police and fire officials as they began to swarm the property.


"Wow, that was cutting it a little close," said Matt. "I see the van. Looks like Shock is getting away clean. I'm heading for the rally point…although…it’s a nice night, we could keep flying like this."


"I'm counting seven approaching helicopters in just this half of the sky," Ethera remarked with more than a little exasperation.


"Gotcha, rally point."


Quickly reaching the designated location the neodragon circled in for a nearly perfect landing near a weed covered baseball diamond in the corner of a dark and deserted park. Shock was standing outside the van, tweaking the exterior coloration.


"Ah, glad to see you made it. So…mission accomplished?" the mecha wolf asked.


"Mission accomplished," replied Ethera, a deep weariness underlying her voice.


Matt gave Shock a strange look. "Did you drive here that way?"


"What way?"


Ethera looked at Shock and tapped her head.


"Oh oh, shit, I forgot about that."


Shock reached up and grabbed a hold of the sides of his head. There was one of those refreshing hissing sounds as the wolf head twisted to one side and then came off revealing a rather pale skinned human face.


"Fuck, its dark out here," said Shock, suddenly deprived of his enhanced night vision.


"That's Shock? He looks like a guy from IT."


"That's not Shock, that’s Steven," Ethera corrected.


"I'm Shock," said the wolf's head.


Matt's wings flared as he jumped back a bit. "What the fuck?"


"That's not Shock either," said Ethera, "that's Hector, Steven's AI partner. Shock is the wolf character they play."


"Character?!" said Matt getting alarmed. "This isn't a game! I saw him shoot down a police helicopter with a machinegun."


"The more technologically advanced the more we had to bring technology people into real world operations. Using a neural interface, AI sync and personality overlays Steven and Hector can create a custom persona that helps them carry out missions," Ethera continued. "You know that persona as Shockwulf."


Steven gave a little wave in the rough direction of Matt.


"You're not kidding about this are you?"


"I hate to break it to you Matt, but the multiverse is a big place and the Federation can't always afford to send out the best of the best to whatever backwater burg is having a slight criminal justice issue. Stolen black hole torpedoes, you get Seal Team 12. Stolen neodragon body you get Shockwulf. "


Steven waved again.


"Well I got you Ethera."


"Yes, you got me." Ethera sighed as she leaned up against the side of the van for support. "I allowed myself to be hit by a truck and captured after losing control of the mission objective. The only reason I'm not a paperweight and you don't have cancer is because I have a bag of high tech tricks about a mile deep."


The scene suddenly got so awkward that even the insects seemed to stop making sounds. Suddenly Matt began to laugh in that deep rolling way that dragons do


"Who the fuck cares! You're alive, you're alive and I'm alive. The mission is accomplished and we have a great story to tell…at least once we edit out the embarrassing bits. Do you really need a pep talk Ethera? You're over 3 centuries old, but you're ready to get all mopey because you have to spend some extra time training in a new body? So you fucked up. I fucked up…I'm sure Shock fucked something up. If you feel that bad we can swing by a bodega and pick up some apples and carrots."


Ethera tried to grump, but eventually just rolled her ears and pinned at Matt.


"Don't think I'm not keeping track of all your insults Dragon."


"I guess we're going back to the safe house now," said Matt in a resigned tone. "Can these bodies still get drunk?"


"Oh yeah," said Ethera emphatically, “but you need a source of Delta radiation.” As she opened up the rear of the van to find a grey wolf staring at her before quickly tucking its tail and backing off in fear. "Shock! Why is there a wolf in the back of the van?!"


"That's the one that was guarding the Zepp compound. He followed me back to the van. I don't speak wolf well, but Hector translated and said he's sort of an Omega that doesn't have a pack and he's worried about getting caught by animal control and neutered,” Steven explained. “I kinda figured that he could join our pack."


"You know that you and Hector are not real wolves, just a human and an AI that have chosento lead a wolf themed lifestyle," Ethera pointed out. "Real wolves need a great deal of...looking after."


"Well before you hired me I did spend hundreds of hours volunteering at a local sanctuary," said Steven, "but seeing he is of the sapient variety I don't think it will be too hard."


"That's not the best assumption to make Steven, but seeing as we don't have any room in the budget for a proper assistant..."


"Sweet!"


Ethera looked back at the wolf, making eye contact. "Just keep an eye on him…you never know when they might fall back into old habits." With that she slid herself into the van, giving Rex a playful scratch.


Steven went around the driver's side and put Hector down on the middle jumpseat and coming back up with a towel that he tossed to Matt.


"What's this for?" asked the Neodragon holding the towel between two clawtips.


"I have to take off Shock so there's no more room in the back. That means you have to sit up front and I'm not driving back to Texas with your junk hanging out."


"Wait why…oh I have to change back…ugh fuck I don't have any clothes!"


"Yeah, but at least you have shirt off privileges."


"Damn straight. Speaking off, maybe you should just keep Shock on."


“I’d like to have a driving position that won’t cripple me and be able to get out of the car from time to time. Just get yourself changed. I want to get out of here before the local men in black show up.”


Matt walked a few steps away from the van and paused for a moment, looking at his silver saurian arms as they caught the ambient moonlight. It was hard for him to believe that he was suddenly feeling reluctant to change to his human form, even temporarily. He recalled his conversations with Ethera the night before and briefly considered to what extent his thoughts and feelings were his own versus the result of whatever mental reprogramming came with his change. Closing his eyes Matt decided that it probably didn’t matter as he began to feel his body start body shrink down. Looking back on things there didn’t seem to be much about his old life that would warrant his stressing over. Relationships could be revived, belongings replaced and anyhow both paled when compared with an experience that was theretofor unique in the history of his human race. Matt wobbled a bit on his bare pink feet, suddenly feeling unstable without his wings and tail before grabbing the towel and wrapping about his waist. He walked back over to the van and got into the passenger’s seat.


“Glad you could join us,” chided Ethera from the rear as Steve loaded his exosuit into the back.


“What’s going to happen to me now? It’s a safe bet that I can’t go home again.”


“I’m sure there’s a protocol somewhere about how this sort of thing gets handled that I can proceed to ignore,” sighed Ethera. “Think you can simply enjoy the ride back to Texas before we nail down all the details?”


“Sure, I’ve always wanted to drive across the southwest.”


“Well just relax and rest assured that I’ll take care of you Dragon Matt. I’m a unicorn. It’s what we do.”


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Matt walked around the darkened bedroom festooned with pink accessories and posters featuring cartoon equines. Softly sitting down on the bed he reached over and gently stroked the long brown hair of the small figure sleeping under the covers. Slowly the little girl began to stir before sitting up and trying to focus her eyes on the disturbance.


“D-daddy?!”


“Shhh shhh...yes, it's me darling, I’m right here. How are you doing?”


“Mommy...”the girl yawned, “mommy said that you had to go away and that I wouldn’t see you again.”


“Well, I did. I did have to go away and I’m probably not going to be able to see you for a while, but I just…um…" Matt began to get a bit choked up until the Dragon parts of his psyche stepped in with some emotional support. “I just wanted to say that I still love you and one day I’ll be back. No matter what mommy or anyone else says I’m still out there and I’ll always be thinking of you.”


Kate smiled and reached up to give her father a satisfying hug. Matt embraced her for as long as he could before gently laying her back in bed.


“Here, I brought you a little gift. You can tell mommy I got it for your last birthday,” said Matt as he handed his daughter a quad palomino unicorn plush made from a shiny soft material.


“Oh! It’s lovely!” squeed his daughter, plucking it from his hand and hugging it closely.


“Shhh, shhh, I have to go now, but always remember that I love you.”


Matt gently stroked her hair again as he laid her back to sleep, snuggled up tightly with the plush. Rising slowly Matt wiped away the tears running down his cheek, his “weak” human impulses clearly getting the better of his dragon side. Moving back to the corner of the room he pictured the yard at the end of the block with the birdbath and the copper beech tree and in an instant he found himself there, looking at the silver and copper skinned Neocorn mare as she stood in front of a terrified human, hands on her hips.


“Um, Ethera, who’s this?”


“It seems that you’ve become so famous that the government pays this poor guy to do nothing more than live in the house across from your ex and summon the authorities if you were ever to show up,”said Ethera vocally, not taking her eyes off the man. “Now then, you can tell those you work for that we’ll be in touch and it would not be positive development if we learn that the family of Matt Jackson has been in any way interfered with. You got that?”


The man nodded.


“Good, now run along.”


“Wait!”called out Matt, stopping the undercover agent. “If you see the girl, Kate, coming home with any sketchy looking guys...deal with it.”


The man nodded again and took off running back down the street.


Ethera whickered as she began to cast the spell to open a portal back to their homeworld. “You know she’s going to be pissed when all her dates start disappearing.”


“Just because I’m living on an alien world and her mom wants nothing to do with me doesn’t mean I can just abandon my responsibilities as a father. Thanks for the doll by the way, she loved it.”


“I figured she would. I put a boomerang enchantment on it in case she loses it or it gets taken so it will find its way back to her. As long as she loves it, and by extension loves you, that should keep the spell fully charged. I got the idea from that Twilight Zone show.”


“You know I hadn’t asked this before, but since I’m a Neo now does that make it, you know, easier to get direct family members...citizenship?”


“You know "unicorns and horses" is a phase that most girls grow out of. Your daughter might not be too keen on becoming a Neocorn when she is older.”


“Hey, I’m not doing any firm planning. Just thought I’d ask is all.”


The portal shimmered to life and Ethera pulled Matt through before the effects show woke up the whole neighborhood. The two neos stepped out into an empty stone courtyard behind an imposing structure that looked like it had been formed out of solid granite. Ethera handed Matt a large duffel bag.


“Here is the last of the personal items you asked me to recover. As I suspected the surveillance setup was...impressive.”


“Hey, I guess that makes a job creator,” said Matt as he took the bag. “Do you think we’ll get much time to see each other between my classes and your classified missions?”


“I’ll try my best, but I’m going to insist that you come down to the Uni lands. All the stone and metal here gives me goosebumps.”


“I can’t believe I’m having to go back to high school. I don’t know what’s worse, the fact that I’m 31 years old or that every class here is over my head.”


“I know you’re used to being a fully mature human, but as dragons age more slowly you are only a young adult in their eyes. Technically you’re only a year old so you actually came out ahead in the matter.”


“It’s my first week and already I have assignments to compare and contrast the unified field theories of 11 major universe types, build a robotic cat that can double as a hover bike, compose a paper on 10,000 years of dragon history and write the genetic code for a bacterium without using standard libraries. I don’t even know if that last one is computer science or biology! I complained to my guidance counselor and she said that if I was having trouble I could “go live with the grass munchers and learn to splatter paint on walls.”


“See! You see?! Dragons actually act that way. It’s not a stereotype if its real.”


“Yeah yeah,” said Matt as he gazed off into the distance towards the snowcapped mountains that functioned as Dragon suburbs.


“Hey hey, relax. After all the training you’ve received you should know better than anyone how much you underestimate your new abilities. When your mind is fully integrated with a supercomputer all the mundane parts of learning go out the window allowing you to concentrate on the more enjoyable stuff. Anxiety is a normal part of growing up, but you need to keep perspective.”


“I already GREW up!” snarled Matt.


Ethera moved in and gave Matt a gentle nuzzle, calming him down. “I need to get going. I’ll try to make myself available when I have UniNet access, but just relax and try to enjoy yourself. This is a new beginning, not some detour on a path that no longer exists. Make the most of it.”


Matt cracked a toothy smile then returned a very un-dragonlike equine nuzzle. “Goodbye Lady Ethera, good luck on whatever missions you are assigned to.”


The Neocorn mare waved farewell as she reopened a portal and stepped through leaving on his own Matt to get to his first class of the morning. Students were already starting to fly in from the countryside landing on the stone courtyard of what could easily be mistaken for an elite east coast prep school. Walking through an ornate arch gateway Matt leaned back against a wall and watched as his “peers” screwed about like any mundane animal, human or non-human, from his native home.


Checking his pending alerts he found 78 banal social messages from his first year classmates who were not at all shy about using their ability to blast random thoughts directly into the minds of their friends. Matt chuckled as he looked his shiny silver body over once more. For all the incredible technology and engineering that could make metal and plastic come to life and imbue it with incredible powers it seemed that all the young people were looking for was a new and better smartphone. Clifford Zepp would be proud.


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