Insert standard disclaimer here: The one that reminds everyone that this is a work of fiction. No one is real and any resemblance to someone who is real is just the reader's imagination. This is also a Fan Fiction set in the Whateley Story Universe. No Canon characters were permanently harmed in the making of this story. I hope. :)

Monday, 19-Feb-2007 0322 hrs

I cringe as Sara squeals with girlish excitement as she bounces up and down on the couch. “Ooohh, shopping!  I can’t wait to see you in a little black dress with some three or four inch heels.  Hubba hubba!”  

My head is spinning now.  Where in the heck did that come from?  It’s like the Exorcist.  Sara went from full on spooky, to serious and mature, to giggly school girl in less time than I care to measure right now.  I fully expect her head to start spinning around any second, but as a demon, maybe that would be normal for her?  That mental image makes me laugh.

Sara tilts her head to the side and looks a little unsure about my reaction.  I think that she expected me to resist a little more.  “Okay, girlfriend, what’s so funny?”

There she goes again.  She really missed her calling.  She should’ve been a shock jock DJ.  “Say huh?!  Girlfriend?”

Sara smiles again now that she is back in control.  Oh, she is most definitely evil, but I am not going to let her get away with it. I affix my best stern glare and point my finger at her. “I’m on to you!”  

She looks back at me with a shocked and obviously fake innocent expression. “Who, moi?”

“Oh, don’t play the sweet and innocent girl with me.  I know better and I know what you’re really trying to do.”

She leans back with a very cute smirk on her face.  “You do?”

I stand and turn my back to her to keep from losing it. Against her mad skills, it’s really hard to maintain my mock anger. I’m pretty sure that she’s trying to help me and I am grateful for it.  I’ve really only known her for a total of 47 minutes, but I feel so close to her. I decide to attack.  I spin in place and level my best accusing look at her. “Of course!  You’re here to turn me to the girl-side and that’s so not going to happen! Not on my watch!”

Sara’s eyes widen with surprise.  She pouts at me as she stands and walks toward the center of the room. “Oh shucks.  Defeated by a newbie.”  She spins back to face me. “Or, am I?”

I watch as she begins to grow taller and her clothes morph into a witch’s costume, complete with pointy hat.  She points her finger at me and cackles.  “So, you think that you have defeated me?  I’ll show you. I’ll get you my pretty...muh ha ha ha ha!”

Oh, so now Sara is the Wicked Witch of the West.  Well, two can play at that game.  I switch over to Dorothy’s blue checkerboard dress with poofy sleeves, white socks, ruby red slippers, pigtails tied with blue bows and a wicker basket holding a stuffed dog.

Sara, I mean the Wicked Witch, just smiles at me.  “That’s a very yummy look for you my pretty, but nothing can save you and your mangy dog now! Muh ha ha ha ha!”

Okay, it takes everything I have not to burst out laughing.  Sara is so over the top, but I think that I have something for her.  I summon a nice, tall glass of water to me and give her a pleased smile.  

Sara licks her lips and looks a little nervous.

“Poor poor Wicked Witch. You look a little thirsty.  How about a little water?” I say just before I splash it on her.

“You cursed brat! Look what you've done! I'm melting! Melting! Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness? Oooooh, look out! I'm going! Oooooh! Ooooooh!” says Sara as she melts into a puddle on the floor just like in the movie.  Impressive. She even managed to quote the Wicked Witch’s line exactly.

I walk over to the Sara puddle. “Sara?”  I’m starting to get a little worried when I feel her sneak attack hug me from behind.

“That was pretty good, Bree, and you look absolutely to die for in that little dress, but I think you would look better if you shortened the skirt, a lot.  Added some knee high socks and dropped the neckline, a lot.” Sara whispers in my ear.  

I can’t help it.  I find myself imagining what I would look like as she suggests it to me.  

She chuckles softly and steps back.  “Oh, yeah. Now that is the right look. If Dorothy had worn that in the movie, the Wicked Witch wouldn’t have stood a chance!”

I look down and realize that I’m now wearing a naughty version of the Dorothy costume.  Just above the knee white socks with little blue bows on the top. The skirt part is now a very short mini-skirt and I can now see right down to my cleavage. I feel myself start to blush.

“Oh, don’t feel like that!  Just look at yourself in the mirror!  You’re beautiful!”

I turn and face the mirror.  I do look pretty hot and for some strange reason, that makes me start to smile.  I can see Sara’s pleased grin behind me.   I spin around. “You sneaky little devil, you, you...”

She stops me with a pleased laugh. “Just admit it, Bree.  You’re a girl, you’re beautiful and you like how that makes you feel.”

Damn it.  She’s right. “Well...maybe a little.”

Sara gives me another hug, stands on her tiptoes for a second and gives me a quick kiss on my forehead.  “See, that wasn’t so hard, now was it?”

I try to resist. I really do, but it sneaks out. I start crying.  I can’t help it, but it feels like every dream I had as a guy has been crushed. I can no longer dream about being the star quarter back on the football team, the dashing fighter pilot or the super suave spy who gets the girl in the movies.  Now, I can only be the bouncing cheerleader who cheers on the football team, the clingy girlfriend of the dashing pilot or the helpless girl that the suave spy rescues.  It’s just not fair!

Sara just holds me as I cry my eyes out on her shoulder.  “It’s okay, Bree. I know what you’re feeling. But, you can still be the person that you wanted to be. You just have to take a different path.”  

I lean away from her so that I can see her face and try to slow down the wet works. “Huh?”

“Just because you’re a girl now, it doesn’t mean that you can’t be what you wanted to be when you grew up.  There are women astronauts and CEO’s ya know?”

Damn it.  She’s right.  She’s making it harder to feel sorry for myself.  “Well...”

“And...did you ever think that you could do half of the wicked cool things that you can do now?”

She is right about that.  I fantasized about being able to shoot guns and cast spells at bad guys, but I never actually thought that I would ever be able to really do it. “Nooo....”

Sara smiles at me. Even with her fangs showing and her scary Goth demon girl look, I just feel like she cares for and maybe even loves me.  She feels like a sister to me.  A very sexy and attractive sister who I will have to constantly remind myself that she is a “sister” to keep from thinking dirty thoughts, but that’s okay.  I’m glad that she’s in my life.  “Thanks, Sara.” I say in a low tone of voice.

Sara pulls me forward into another hug. “See?  Now that wasn’t so hard was it?”

Dang it, she’s right. “Nooo” I reply with just a hint of hesitation.  I can’t let her think that I am completely defeated.

“Okay then.  I need to be going.  I’m not sure if I will be able to visit you again before you get to Whateley, so how about a little hug and a kiss for me before I go?”

I start to tear up again as I give her big hug. I move to give her an affectionate kiss on her cheek when she turns her face at the last second. I end up kissing her on the lips instead.  Her lips feel good to kiss.  Real good.  I feel my body responding.  

I jump back. “Sara!  You’re evil!”

She just smirks at me. “I know, but ya love me anyway. Right?”

I can’t help it.  She’s just so darn pretty and cute and evil and nice all rolled up into a confusing ball of friendship.  “Yeah, but don’t think that I’m going to be going all soft on ya now!  Remember, I’m on to you!”

“Oh, I hope so, girlfriend. I. so. hope. so!”  

What did she mean by that?  Now I’m confused again.  “What?”

She fades away with a wave and a smile. I hear, “Ciao!” just before she disappears from view.

It takes me a few minutes of just standing there trying to figure out how I am feeling before it really sinks in that she has left.  That makes me start to feel a little lonely.  So, I decide to switch back into some comfy sweats and distract myself by finishing the book that I tried to start earlier.  

After I finish the book, I have just over half an hour before the alarm clock wakes my mom up.  As uncomfortable as Sara’s teasing makes me, I can’t stop myself from feeling grateful for her help.  I also miss her and find myself looking forward to her next surprise visit.  I wonder if there is something I can wear that might surprise even her?  I cycle through a large variety of movie costumes that might do the trick, from Trinity all the way to Cat Woman. I even try out the ‘5th Element’ cloth band outfit that Milla wore.

I am in the middle of testing out a very revealing little black dress with some three-inch heels when the alarm clock wakes my mom. I sigh with regret. Not only does the alarm clock surprise me, but my feelings about my dress-up session being cut short surprises me even more. I’m about to exit when she hits the snooze button. Awesome!  

Besides the kick-ass Selene vampire cat suit, this is the first outfit I have tried that somehow ‘speaks’ to me.  Once I saw myself in the dress, I just had to add the heels and some jewelry.  With the heels on, I feel like I am standing on my tippy-toes, but I guess that my reflexes are pretty good because the first few steps that I try, I feel surprisingly balanced.   I end up feeling more than a little embarrassed when I fall on my butt after I catch a glimpse of how sexy I look as I strut my stuff.  Once I get my feet back under me, I check myself out in the mirror and wonder how I would look with just a touch of makeup.  Maybe I can use my illusion magic too for that in the real world?  

What a minute!  What in the hell am I thinking?!

I am spared further girl angst by the sound of the snooze alarm blaring.  My mom’s sleepy voice calls to me. “Bree? It’s time to get up, dear.”

I feel pretty good when I sit up and smile at my mom. “Morning, Mom!”

She just looks at me like I’ve grown two heads. “Okay.  Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?”

I hold back a giggle as I pretend to be exasperated. “Mooomm.  I’ve only been waiting for you to wake up for the last 5.3 hours!  About time you woke up, sleepyhead!”

That causes her to sit up with alarm. “What?  You couldn’t sleep again?”

“Well, I slept, but I only needed one and a half hours.  I’m wide awake and don’t feel a bit tired.”

She turns on the lights and as my vision settles, she scoots over, tests my temperature, and looks at my eyes to see if I am sick.  “Well, you don’t feel like you’re running a temp and you look healthy to me.  Maybe one of the doctors will have an idea?”

“I dunno, mom.  I feel fine and if this is now normal for me, think of all the extra study time I will have for school.”

She laughs. “Nice try, Bree, but I know that having extra study time is not something you would look forward too.”  She stands and points to the bathroom. “Now, hop in the shower. Don’t get your hair wet and I’ll pull out something for you to wear today.”

My mom pops in to use the bathroom right after I get the water started.  “Make sure you brush your hair and your teeth when you are done in there, hon.”

I wonder what she is going to pick for me to wear today. “Okay, mom...”

The shower goes pretty fast without having to go through the complex wash and condition process. I’m not used to not getting my hair wet. As a guy, I always washed my hair.  I step out of the shower and I am surprised to see a pair of the silk panties sitting on the counter.  They taunt me with their blatant femininity, but I... Oh well.  Camouflage.  I slip them on and I have to admit, the silk feels nice against my skin.  I quickly brush my teeth and trying to emulate Nikki, I calmly exit the bathroom wearing nothing but the dreaded silk panties and a smile.  Camouflage...be the girl...na na na na.

My mom tosses me an athletic looking bra thing.  I’m guessing that it is one of those ‘sports bra’ things.  She helps me put it on and I think that it is more like a tight t-shirt than a bra. I am pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it feels on my shoulders and around my chest, but it does squish my boobs a bit more.  Rut Roh.  Why did I just call them that?

My mom distracts me from that question. “I set the rest of your clothes out on your bed.  Go ahead and get dressed while I take a quick shower.”

I find a set of black sweat pants matched with the black sweatshirt I wore last night laying on my bed.  The sweats pants are not the loose fitting pants I expected them to be.  Instead, they are a curve hugging stretchy piece of clothing that do nothing to hide my figure and if it wasn’t for the silk panties, I’m sure that people would be able to see the lines of my panties too.  

Oh, isn’t that just awesome!  Now, I’m glad to be wearing the silk panties due to a concern about VPL’s.  I wonder if I am starting to take this camouflage idea too close to heart and if trying out all those costumes for Sara was such a good idea.  My male psyche seems to be suffering a serious smack down here.

That question is answered when I put on the sweatshirt and realize that it is too short. It wasn’t an issue when I wore it last night due the cami, but now I have an inch gap between the top of my sweat pants and the bottom of the sweatshirt. I’m showing off my belly button.  The hell with camouflage! I storm into the bathroom. “Mooommm!  What is up with this?”

She pokes her head out of the shower. “What?”

I point to the obvious deficiency in my skin coverage. “This!  What is wrong with girl clothing?”

She just smiles. “Oh Bree, that is just how it fits.  It looks nice on you. Go put your shoes and socks on and I will be out in a few minutes.”

“Grrrr” I am more than a little frustrated after I put on my new girl tennis shoes.  The damn mirror isn’t lying to me.  I do look pretty damn cute and Sara is right.  I do have a nice butt.  I debate trying to find some cartoons on the TV, but the risk of being exposed to one of those feminine hygiene product commercials is just too much for me to bear. I decide to sit on my bed and meditate until my Mom is done getting ready in the bathroom.

I find my center pretty fast this time.  I think the exercises with Sir Wallace helped.  It is like flipping a switch.  Suddenly, I can see the magic in the air.  The room isn’t full of it, but there are small traces of it just randomly floating around.  Due to the ward thing, I didn’t get a chance to experiment with it yesterday, but I want to see if I can use the ‘free’ magic instead of the pool inside of me.  

I begin by pulling up the blur spell icon again and will the magic to activate the icon.  It proves to be harder to use the free magic than I expected.  When I had to use my own magic it just popped out, but the free magic is resisting me.  Maybe it is harder because the magic is more dispersed and in raw form?  I dunno, but I guess it doesn’t matter because the initial resistance just disappears as the magic fills in the icon and my blur spell activates.

I walk back over to the mirror and try to look at myself.  It’s not easy.  I’m all blurry.  What a pleasant surprise.  I’m not sure how well this effect will work in real life.  If someone is going to shoot me, they would still just aim for the center of the blurry girl target instead of the not blurry girl target.  Maybe it would help more with hand-to-hand combat?  I cancel the spell and that reminds me of my magic makeup idea.  

I pull up the alter-self spell icon and concentrate on what I want to look like. Once again, I will the magic in the room to fill it.  This one is a bit harder and I gasp from the effort when the spell activates.  I don’t know why I’m so surprised by what I now see in the mirror.  I’m starting to get used to seeing a pretty elf girl in the mirror now. What I am not used to seeing is a pretty human girl wearing light makeup and small diamond stud earrings in her normal human ears staring back at me.

I’m still me. Well, the new girl me, but I look human now.  Actually, I look like Whisper used to look like before she was changed by the Font.  That makes me really worry about why my first thought wasn’t to try and look like my boy self.  It makes me start to cry, but I manage to stop it before I go full on water works.

My mom exits the bathroom with a concerned look on her face. “What’s wrong...” She falters as I look at her. “Bree?”  She looks a little confused. “How? Why do you look like that now?”

“Umm, well, I was just trying to see if I could do some make-up tricks with my magic and this is how it turned out.”

She looks worried now. “You didn’t actually change yourself did you?”

A slightly hysterical laugh escapes me. “Oh, no.  This is just an illusion.”  I cancel the spell and I feel the magic fade away as my mom’s eyes widen with surprise. “See?”

“That is pretty neat, but why are you so upset, honey?”

“Why did I imagine myself as a girl, when I could’ve made myself look like a boy?”

“Would that have worked?”

“I think soooo.”

“Oh, but it wouldn’t have been real, right?”

“Noooo.”

“So, not that I want you to try right now, but if you made yourself look like a boy, underneath, you would still be who you are, right?”

“Well, yeah, but...”  Oh, I see where she is going with this.  My mom smiles and gives me a hug.

She hugs me for a few seconds before she steps back with a stern look on her face. “Okay.  Well, I’m glad that you’re okay, but please don’t try that again until it is safer for you.”

I feel a little disappointed, but she’s right. “Okay, Mom.”

“Oh, I know honey.  It’s cool, but I just want you to be safe.”  She gives me an encouraging smile.

“I know.”  I really do, but I still can’t help feeling a little dejected.

“Okay then. I just need to put on my clothes and we can head down to meet Mr. Reilly in the Lobby.”

I am a bit surprised when my mom puts on workout clothes too. “Umm, Mom?  Why are you wearing workout clothes too?”

“Oh, they want me to test, too, and I agree that it would be a good idea now that my power seems to be a bit stronger since your transformation.”  She shudders. “And I wouldn’t want the MCO coming after me for being an unregistered mutant.”

“Oh.”  I never really thought about the MCO.  My social studies teacher spent a week going over mutant history.  I never expected any of those lessons to apply to me.  I learned that except for first emergent exemptions, being caught as an unregistered mutant is a minimum five-year federal prison sentence.
 

**

The ride over is nothing to write home about and I am a little disappointed that we didn’t get Jessica as our driver.  I am a bit surprised when we pull into the base hospital’s parking lot.  I look over at Mr. Reilly and Dr. Edmundson for confirmation that we are in the right place.  I expected something a little cooler and secret looking.  You know, like some cool underground bunker thing complete with a big vault door and lots of armed guards standing by.

Mr. Reilly just smiles at me.

Okay, I guess that I will just play along then.  As we enter the hospital, my system automatically alerts me to the hospital’s Wi-Fi system and I am surprised to discover that there is a node to the C3 thing.  I quickly try to login and I feel relieved when I am successful.  I am just about to explore what is on the local node here at Langley when we are greeted by an attractive woman with short brown hair wearing some colorful hospital scrubs.  Hmmm, I decide that I probably should not play around with that right now.  I minimize the C3 thing so that I can pay more attention to the lady that is attempting to greet us.

Her brown eyes smile at the sight of us.  She walks over to our group and looks at Mr. Reilly. “Hi, I’m Barbara Townsend.  You’re Deputy Director Nicholas Reilly and Dr. Edmundson, right?”  She asks as she shakes their hands and receives confirmation.

>DOD/R&D/Research Analyst/GS10/Barbara/Lynn/Townsend/xxx-xx-xxxx/B+/FALSE

She turns her attention to my mom and I. “And you must be Jennifer Peters.” She shakes my mom’s hand before turning to me. I watch as her eyes widen with surprise as she focuses her attention on me. “And, oh my, the General never told me that you would be so pretty. You must be Brianna?”  She smiles at me with genuine warmth as she holds out her hand for me.

I tentatively shake her hand and smile. “Umm, yes ma’am.  I’m Brianna or Bree if you like.”

She looks surprised and turns to my mom. “Oh, you have such a lovely young daughter, Mrs. Peters and she is so polite, too!”  I start to feel a little embarrassed when she continues. “Well, I certainly look forward to spending more time with you two, but I need to get you all to the testing facility so that we can get started.  Please follow me.”  She turns and heads for the elevators.

The hospital is kind of big, but it doesn’t seem big enough to have some super cool mutant testing facility in it.  As we enter the elevator, I wonder which floor we will be going up to.  The elevator’s control beeps as Barbara waves her name badge over a proximity sensor embedded in the elevator’s control panel.  After that, she pushes and holds the basement L2 button until it dings.

As we descend, I lean up against the side of the elevator and I can sense the electronics for the control panel.  In addition to the obvious video camera in the corner, I also feel some audio and video feeds hidden in the walls.  I just start to get a feel for the special security circuitry for the badge reader when I am interrupted by Mrs. Townsend.  Oh well, it is probably a good idea to not mess with that stuff in here.

“So, Bree.  Is this your first powers testing?”

“Umm, yes ma’am.”  We have definitely gone past the 2nd basement floor.  “Umm, how far down is this place?”

She smiles at me and holds her finger over her lips. “Shhh, that’s a secret.  Not allowed to tell.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Almost there...I think you will like this place.  It’s all new and way better then the last testing facility that I worked at.”  A barely detectable grimace flashes across her face as my voice stress gauge spikes there at the end of her statement.  I am about to ask her where she worked before when the elevator stops and the doors open with a ding.

“Okay, follow me.  I’ll get you two started on the dreaded paper work,” She nods toward my mom and I, “while I take Mr. Reilly and Dr. Edmundson to meet General Adams.”

We pass a small guard station where we are required to sign in before we are allowed to continue down the hallway.  At the end of the hallway, we enter a small lobby area with a woman dressed in hospital scrubs sits behind a short receptionist’s station.  She glances up and smiles at us as we enter the room.

“Hey, Barb!  Are these two ladies the ones that are going to be tested today?”

“Hey Jane, Yepper.  Can you get them started on the paper work while I run Mr. Reilly and Dr. Edmundson to the General’s office?”

“Sure!  I have everything ready right here.”  She reaches down and pulls out two clipboards with some forms and a pen on them.  She hands my mom and me a clipboard.

Mrs. Townsend calls over her shoulder as she leads Mr. Reilly and Dr. Edmundson away.
“Thanks Jane.  I’ll be back in 10 to 15 minutes to help get Mrs. Peters and Bree started with their tests.”

Jane smiles at Mrs. Townsend as she leaves before she turns back to my mom and I.  “Let me know if you have any questions or need any help filling those forms out.”

The medical forms seem pretty normal to me.  I stumble over the race and ethnic group section.  Sidhe/Caucasian?  Is that a valid option?  Height? 5’ 4”, damnit.  Weight, 110, crap. Now I have to worry about strong winds.  For Sex, I briefly toy with the idea of putting “Occasionally”, but I know that my mom wouldn’t find that remotely funny.  Sex, Sigh, Female, Check.  Allergies?  Umm, man-made synthetic fibers and cold iron?  How weird is that?  I haven’t personally tested the iron thing, but I will take Nikki’s word for it since she was right about the clothing thing.

Mrs. Townsend returns just as I finish with my forms.  My mom finished a few minutes before I did.  I guess she just knows herself better than I do. She outlines all of the tests planned for today and then she explains that the final test of the day is the big one.  

“Since this facility is so new and we wanted to come up with a faster, minimally invasive and more accurate way to measure powers.” She looks at each of us with an excited gleam in her eyes. “We have a new powers testing module that the DOD has in the final acceptance testing phase.”  

I nervously glance at my mom as she glances at me.

“Is the machine dangerous?” My mom asks.

Mrs. Townsend laughs and places her hand on my mom’s shoulder to reassure her. “Oh, no.  It’s perfectly safe. We have run tons of volunteers through it already. All it does is scan you.  No poking, prodding or anything dangerous.”

“Why do we need to do the old tests?” My mom asks.  I nod my head in agreement. I would much rather not have to go through a bunch of tests if a single test would work.

“Well, since it is still officially in testing, we need to perform the standard tests as a control result to compare against what the test module reports.”

“Oh, okay. I guess that makes sense.” My mom says with a smile.

With that issue resolved, Mrs. Townsend leads us to a lab station where a nurse takes a few blood samples.  It takes me twice as long due to the nurse needing to use a new main needle thing after what is left of the needle falls out halfway through the second sample.  She is a little perturbed at that, but I guess my nanites like the taste of stainless steel.  On the plus side, I heal up faster than she can grab a new needle to stick into me.  That irritates the nurse more.  She has to re-find my vein each time.

The urine sample, everything comes out just fine there.  I have that test down cold.  It’s still a yucky and messy pain in the rear though.  Can I say again how much I hate having to sit down to pee and wipe?  It’s just so damn inconvenient.  I do like my silk panties though.  They are so damn comfortable.  Wait a minute, what did I just call them and what did I say how they felt?

Crap, I’m doomed.

The first real examination is the full body MRI. I’ve seen MRI machines on TV and they look cool.  The images that they can get of the inside of the human body are pretty darn incredible.  I was looking forward to it, until they tell me to strip down to my underwear and put on one of those flimsy hospital gowns that are open at the back. I am really starting to dislike hospital gowns. Follow that up with the uncomfortable sliding bed thing that they use to feed me into the MRI, and I decide that getting an MRI sucks. To top it off, due to the magnetic fields and the nanites, Dr. Edmundson isn’t sure if it is a good idea for me to be scanned at all. Eventually, he decides they can try if I start out feet first with the operator holding his hand over the emergency stop button in case something goes wrong. 

“Just let us know if anything, umm, weird starts to happen, Bree.” Doctor Edmundson says, looking a little worried.

As the machine starts, I can feel my legs and feet start to tingle.

>Communication Channel Error!

>Communication Channel Error!

The error messages kind of worry me, but I don’t feel any pain so I decide to just let it go, for now.  Besides, the MRI machine itself is distracting me. It is so cool!  I can see inside the machine and watch it as it scans me.  The electronics and programming is so complex, yet simple at the same time.  I sort of get lost just watching all of the commands that the main control system is issuing to the scanner part and the information that the scanner is passing back to the control system. That reminds me of Nikki’s warning, so I back out the MRI machine and starting paying more attention to my own, umm, systems.

>Communication Channel Error!

>Communication Channel Error!

 
“Umm, my legs are feeling weird and I’m getting some error messages.”

The bed thing stops moving me closer to the scanner, but it doesn’t shut down.

“What kind of error messages and are you in any pain?” I hear Dr. Edmundson over the intercom speaker.

“Something about a ‘Communication Channel Error’ and no, it just feels funny.”

“Can you wiggle your toes?”

I try that and they do wiggle, but they feel a little disconnected somehow.  It’s weird.  I guess that they see my toes wiggle in the control booth.

“Okay, we are going to start it back up.  If you feel any pain, let us know immediately.”

“Okay...” I say as the bed starts to move again.  I’m not sure if this is really a good idea. As more of my body begins to pass through the scanner, the Communication Channel errors overwhelm my little status display window. The tingling sensations also increase, but it still doesn’t hurt so I don’t say anything.  As the scanner get closer to my head, that is when I really start to feel funny and not funny-ha-ha.  

>Memory Parity Error!

That message doesn’t sound good and now my HUD is acting all crazy. It is like a bad TV picture as it distorts, scrolls and loops back around. That makes me start to feel dizzy. I do not like this ride anymore.  

“Looking good Bree. Almost done.” I hear Dr. Edmundson say from the control room.  He sounds so far away and distorted. 

I barely understand him and I try to say something, but I am having trouble getting the words out.  Any word really.  I try to say “Help” or “Stop”, but nothing even remotely intelligible comes out of my mouth.  I don’t even know if my mouth moves.  This is totally not good!  Nothing  comes out of my mouth.  I don’t even know if my mouth moves.  This is totally not good!  

Umm, MRI Machine. STOP!

Red emergency lights start flashing as the MRI Machine shuts itself down. My HUD snaps into focus, completely empty, except for a single window open, displaying the following message:

 
>Communication Channels and System Memory Parity Errors exceeded threshold...Automatic Reboot in >10

>9

>8

>7
>6
>5
>4
>3
 

I can only lie there as the system counts down to reboot. I have no idea what that is going to do, but I am not looking forward to it.

Stop!

I breathe a sigh of relief when the countdown stops, but my body doesn’t seem to want to obey my commands.  I try to wiggle my toes again, but instead of my toes wiggling, I feel my arm try to move.  I also get blasted with error messages again.

>Communication Channel Error!
>Communication Channel Error!
>Communication Channel Error!
 
Lots of them.

I can hear people saying stuff and I can see movement, but nothing is making sense.  Okay, okay, I get it. I need to let my system reboot.

Continue.

>3
>2
>1
>Reboot Starting...
>Please do not remove power during reboot process or core file damage may occur...

Well, isn’t that just peachy?  Everything stops and I can hear, see and move again, but all my senses feel muted.  

“Is she going to be okay?” I hear my mom ask from somewhere nearby.

I turn my head and I see Dr. Edmundson at my side. He is helping the other people lift me out of the MRI machine and onto a rolling bed of some kind.

“Wha...What happened?”  I ask, feeling woozy and strangely detached from my body. There is no way that I am going to admit that I shut the MRI machine down.  I hear that those things are expensive and I do not want to be stuck with the repair bill if I broke it.

“We’re not sure, but the scanner shut down just as I was getting ready to hit the emergency stop button.  Are you okay?” Dr. Edmundson asks as he peers into my eyes with concern.

“Not really. I feel, umm, muted and I think that I am rebooting right now or something.”  

Dr. Edmundson’s eyes widen with surprise before he looks around to see how much attention the other medical folks are paying to me right now.  “Hmmm, That’s interesting Bree. Let’s go over that when we get you to a more secure location.”

In other words, I think that he is saying, “Ix-nay on the top secret-nay” but I know that he wouldn’t actually say it that way.  I just think it’s funnier and a giggle escapes from me before I can stop it.

Dr. Edmundson expression turns more serious. “We are taking you to a room right now. I want to go over your observations and monitor your condition as soon as results are available a little bit later.”

I think he looks a little worried about me. Aw shucks, I didn’t know that he cared. That makes me giggle again. “Ya know Doc; you should take a vacation or something.  You’re looking pretty stressed out right now.”

There is a wheel on the bed that is squeaking.  That is so annoying.  Hey!  Why are the lights in the hallway blinking?  Is this magic carpet thing speeding up and why does a magic carpet have wheels.

“Whoa, Nelly.  Can someone please stop this hearse, I mean horse?”  Oh man, that’s funny. I wonder if they noticed the play on words there?  I laugh at my joke, but everyone else just gets more serious.

>System Start Sequence Initiated...

Say what?  Where did that come from?  Oh yeah, that thing in my head.  That’s so cool.  Does it do that all the time?

>Performing Memory Test…
>Physical Memory Total: 2,684,354,560 kb
>Physical Memory Available: 2,040,059,229 kb

Wow! That’s a lot of memory. “Hey, Doc?  Did you know that I have Physical Memory?”

He doesn’t look amused, but think it’s hilarious and I giggle some more.

>Initializing Boot Image…Do Not Turn Off Computer

Oh, that’s not funny.  Why did I think that having Physical Memory was funny?  Oh god.  Hearse?  That is so lame.  What in the hell was I thinking?

>Initializing Kernel...complete
>Init Run Level 3
>Applying User Settings from /etc/config.ini

“Umm, Dr. Edmundson?”

He leans over my bed and begins to check my vital signs. “Yes, Bree?” He says with a guarded, yet patient tone of voice.

I think that he is expecting me to say something dumb again.  “Sorry.  I don’t know what came over me back there.”

He looks relieved as he smiles at me. “That’s okay, Bree. I wish that I could hook you up to a computer so that I could run a diagnostic on you, but I guess that will have to wait until we figure out a way to do that and we get back to the labs where I have the computers to run a diagnostic. How are you feeling?”

I am not going to mention that I can probably just give him what he needs by touching his laptop, but maybe I can offer something else instead. “Umm, I’m feeling much better now.” I say, still feeling a bit embarrassed about my walk on the silly side.  I perform a quick check on the C3 thing and discover that it is active. “Ummm, Dr. Edmundson?”

Dr. Edmundson looks expectantly at me. “Yes?”

“I can connect to the C3 thing. Maybe I can use that to download some diagnostics for you.  Would that help?”

“Hmmm, you know, that might just work.” As he thinks it over, he begins to look excited. “Actually, you were showing up as a node back at the labs.  Stay online.  I will be right back. I need to call Major Thole and Dr. Johannson.”  He quickly leaves the room with a spring in his step.

Mystified, I glance over to my mom and all she can do is smile and shrug.  She walks over and holds my hand. “You had me worried there.  How are you feeling?”

“Okay now Mom, but that was a bit scary.  I guess that I should have complained a little more about the funny feelings.”

“Yes, you should have, young lady!  You need to notify people as soon as anything out of the ordinary happens.”

“Yeah, but what is ordinary now?”

My mom smiles affectionately at me. “Anything that seems strange or not right, no matter how small, you need to tell someone. Okay?”

“Yes, Mom.”

Dr. Edmundson chooses that moment to rush back into the room.  He’s carrying his laptop and he looks pleased about something.  He sets it on a table and makes a call using the room’s regular old-fashioned hard-line phone.

“Okay, Dr. Johannson.  I’m here and my laptop is booting.  See if you can ping her.”

That makes me sit up and pay attention.  Dr. Edmundson looks over at me expectantly. I wonder if he is expecting a light bulb or something to light up on me.

>Ping request from user DJOH003X node larl.darpa.us.mil
>[A]ccept, [R]eject, [I]gnore?

I quickly accept it on the assumption that it is Dr. Johannson doing that ping thing on me. “I think Dr. Johannson just, umm, pinged me.”

Dr. Edmundson smiles with satisfaction. “Did it work?  It did?  Good.  Let me get connected here, then I want you to try running the standard health diagnostics package on, umm, Whisper.”

Oh, so he’s going to try running something on me.  “Whisper?”  I ask, both pleased and alarmed at the same time.  It’s one thing to play Whisper and now look like Whisper and have some of Whisper’s powers, but now I am being called Whisper too?

“I’m sorry, Bree, we just assumed that you were going to use Whisper as your alias for your MMID.”

“Oh.”  I never really thought of that, but I guess it makes sense.  I will need to have an alias for my MMID card. “Is Whisper available? I’ve heard that it can be hard to get names due to other heroes using them already.”

“Mr. Reilly and I checked the database this morning and reserved Whisper for your MMID.  Is that okay?”

I feel conflicted about that decision. “Can I change it if I decide that I don’t like it?”

“Of course, but you will need to make that decision before we leave today.  All of your test results are currently being entered in using the Whisper alias, but I think you can change it later too. It is just harder and takes a lot more paperwork.”

“Oh...okay.  I will think about it and let you know before we are done today then.”

His laptop beeps and I watch as he logs into it.  I really want to know what he is doing, but his screen is kind of hard to see from where I am sitting. With that thought, something inside of me just clicks and I can somehow see the inside of his laptop. Almost like I was able to do with my parent’s PC, but not as immersive, it feels more passive and view only. I am able to easily catch his login ID and password as he types them using his keyboard.  I kind of recall hearing about the Russians capturing keystrokes at an Embassy by listening to the electronic signals of the keys being pressed.  I can feel and see everything that he is doing on his laptop and what his laptop is doing internally, but I can’t change anything. I guess I have a range and I have to touch the computer to really do anything with it.  Hmmm, that could come in handy, but, per Nikki, one more discovery to keep to myself.

He connects to a shared screen that must be Dr. Johannson’s computer back in New Mexico.  I watch as Dr. Johannson clicks on an icon that looks like my health system icon.

>Health Systems monitor request from user DJOH003X node larl.darpa.us.mil
>[A]ccept, [R]eject, [I]gnore?

Umm, Accept?

It’s real weird watching what Dr. Edmundson is viewing remotely on Dr. Johannson’s computer while I monitor what information that Dr. Johannson is pulling down from me.

After five point two minutes, I start to get a little bored watching Dr. Edmundson and Dr. Johannson watch me. I decide to take a look at the C3 thing again.  I wonder if there are any games that I can play?

>Searching....
>Active Blue on Red Force Game in Progress
>Join [Y]/N?

Umm...sure, I mean Yes.

A window opens up in the middle of my vision that displays a huge map with divided mostly in half by a jagged line.  One side is red, while the other side of the map is blue.  The blue side has a few spots where the red is deep inside its territory.  Who is playing who?

A small window overlays the map that displays:

>Server 1
>Red Op-Force
>National Chinese Peoples Defense Force
>Commander: Colonel John Adams
>
>Server 2
>Blue Op-Force
>U.S. Army
>Commander: Colonel Roger Ashton
>
>Please Pick a Server to Join:
>

Ummm, I guess I can see what the good guys are up too?  I pick Server 2 and watch as the red side disappears while the blue side of the map zooms-in.  I see lots of symbols that represent all of the different units available to the blue force commander.  I ‘touch’ each of the funny symbols to find out what they are and as I do that, information floods in telling me what they represent.  He’s got artillery; air support via A-10 Warthogs and Cobra gunships, armor units with M1-A2’s supported by mounted infantry in Stryker vehicles and supply units.

It’s all pretty cool, and I’m no Patton, but it looks like Colonel Ashton is getting his butt kicked.  His units are reacting too slowly to his commands. I can see him issue a command, but it is taking the system between 1000ms and 3000ms to parse a simple command before it initiates the command.  Additionally, his recon units are calling in movement reports, but by the time, they are parsed by the system, the enemy has already moved out of the area.  I check my latency and discover that I am sitting at 147ms.  Not too bad. It looks like I have a pretty good connection to the server.  Hmmm, it is just a game. I wonder what would happen if I tried to help him out...