---

February, 2008

I tried to contain the tears as I rocketed through the clouds but, as usual, it didn't work. One by one they dropped, glittering in the sun as they fell from my eyes like little jewels. It was kind of pretty, but I wasn't in any mood to appreciate it.

Thankfully there was nobody up there to see how pathetic I was being. I could get used to this flying shtick, if only that was the only thing going Wyld did to me...

My speed was amazing! In moments I was out over the Pacific, leaving the California coast far behind. How fast was I going?! I'd heard the Wyld had weird powers but nothing like this! I was like Superman... or I guess more like Supergirl...

I shook off my melancholy in time to see the islands off in the distance. I wasn't headed the right way, but I seemed to be able to see strangely far from up here. Somehow I was sure those islands were my destination; Hawaii. Rumor had it that Wyld were welcome there, so I turned towards it with what hope I could muster.

Soon the islands were growing as I flew rapidly towards them. I could see at least three Japanese gunships and an aircraft carrier moored at Pearl Harbor. It still seemed weird to think that Hawaii was part of Japan. But no weirder than California becoming one of the most ultra-conservative states in what used to be the United States of America. Real united now, huh?

My musings were interrupted by a beam of red light shooting up from one of the islands. I tried to dodge, but it was too fast. It seemed to pause about a foot in front of me, as if hitting some kind of barrier, but then it plowed through and everything went black...

---

I groaned when I woke; pain pounding in my skull worse than any hangover I'd ever experienced. Not that I'd experienced many.

"How are you doing?" a woman's voiced said, startling me so badly I almost fell out of the bed I found myself in. Glancing around quickly I figured I must be in a hospital. The woman was a nurse by the looks of it.

"My head hurts." I said.

"I'm not surprised, you got blasted pretty hard. I'm surprised you're even alive." she said.

"Yeah, about that...?" I said, annoyed at my 'welcome'.

She shrugged, "I'm told that you look an awful lot like a missile on radar. And you were moving really fast. What did you expect us to think, coming at that speed from California of all places?"

"Oh, yeah." I said, shrugging. "I guess I didn't think that far ahead."

"It's lucky for you that someone with the right powers was nearby to save you. However you survived the blast, I doubt you would have survived the fall into the ocean." the nurse said.

"Yeah, that would have been bad. Where am I, anyway?" I asked.

"Honolulu. All the new Wyld are brought here, though they don't usually arrive so spectacularly." she said with a grin.

"Yeah, I bet." I groaned. I was glad to see I was still wearing the clothes I'd had on when I ran... or rather flew, away from home. Not that I could call it home anymore...

"I'll see if I can get you some aspirin for your headache." the nurse said, turning and walking out. The door was wide open, so it would be easy enough to split. But I figured I'd give them a chance. They're supposed to be welcoming to Wyld in Hawaii, so maybe I wouldn't get the same kind of welcome as I did at home? Hopefully. Especially if I kept the weirder stuff the change did to me to myself.

A few minutes later the nurse returned with a guy in a dark suit. I'd expected she might bring a doctor back, not a spook. That's what he looked and acted like, anyway. I glanced around real quick to spot any windows in the room. There was one and I figured I could get out at any time if things went bad. Which they almost always did with spooks.

The nurse gave me a couple pills and a little cup of water. I swallowed the pills and washed them down, never taking my eyes off the spook. Weirdly enough, though, he didn't seem as intimidating as the spooks I'd seen at home. Sure, he was big and imposing. But he was actually smiling slightly. It wasn't even a cruel smile, something spooks back home often had.

"Relax kid, I'm not going to hurt you." he said. "We do things differently here than back on the mainland."

I didn't relax, much, but I was starting to think the rumors just might be true after all. That would be nice.

"What's your name kid?" he asked when I didn't say anything.

"Erin." I said softly. I was thankful I had a gender neutral name. It made things so much easier!

He nodded and held his hand out in a friendly fashion, "My name's Joe. Nice to meet you."

I looked at his hand doubtfully, but he just held it there. Reluctantly, I reached out and shook his hand. I was kind of embarrassed by the rather girly way I did it, but he didn't act like I'd done anything odd. Oh yeah, girl... Got to get used to that, I thought, mentally kicking myself.

"So... what's your story?" he asked, taking a seat in one of those uncomfortable hard plastic chairs hospitals everywhere seem to have.

I shrugged, "I went Wyld, people freaked, so I ran."

"Or more accurately flew?" he asked with a chuckle. I shrugged again. He nodded and then settled down to business. "Okay Erin, here's the deal. Every Wyld that comes here has to get interviewed, that's the rules. My job is to find out who you are, or were, and how you came to be here. Then we'll get you entered into our system and you can start your new life."

"Just like that?" I asked, shocked by how simple he made it all sound. Surely they'd want to know about my powers and stuff, wouldn't they? I'd heard that some countries were building a database of the powers of all their Wyld. Supposedly for scientific reasons, but everyone figured it was just another way to control them.

He shrugged, "Pretty much. We try to leave the Wyld alone to live their lives like everyone else. Everyone's happier that way. But you need an identity, legally, here in order to work, open bank accounts and all that. We also like to know what things are really like in other countries for Wyld. We can't trust the media; a lot of it is state controlled anymore. So the stories of Wyld like yourself are really helpful in getting an idea what is going on out there."

"State controlled?" I repeated, frowning. "Where is the media state controlled? I've never heard of that except in, like, communist countries or something."

He smiled sadly, "Unfortunately, it's a lot more common now than it was before. Most of the remnants of the USA have state controlled media. It's part of their program to indoctrinate everyone into the ideology that those countries are based around. Calivada is actually one of the worst from what we've heard from refugees like yourself."

"That can't be..." I protested weakly. But really, I wasn't that surprised. California used to be liberal, but the height of that was before my time. Things had been going slowly downhill for a while before the Wyld started showing up. And once they did, all bets were off.

He seemed to know what I was thinking, nodding sadly, "Yeah, lots of people are surprised by how far California has fallen. Used to be one of the greatest places to live, now it's one of the worst. At least, in America. California's a paradise compared to some countries, like Iran."

I shuddered at that. Everyone knew how bad Iran had gotten. Not that they were ever all that great, but still. "So, what do you want to know?" I asked.

"Well, to start with, what's your full name?" he said, pulling out a notepad and pen.

"Erin..." I paused, realizing my middle name would bring up questions I really didn't want to answer. "Lynn Carlson." I finished, hoping he didn't notice my pause.

He did, I could tell, but he didn't make a big deal out of it. He just wrote it down and looked back at me, "So, Erin, why did people 'freak'? Were you seen when you went Wyld?"

I nodded, "Yeah, it happened right in the middle of my philosophy class."

He winced, but just asked, "What happened?"

"It... wasn't pretty." I said, shuddering at the memory of the looks my classmates and teachers had given me. Not that I'd ever been popular or anything, but even in high school I was never reviled that much. "Everyone jumped out of their seats and backed away from me like I was a bomb that could go off at any moment. But they looked at me like I was a demon or something..."

When I didn't say anything else for a while he nodded, "Yeah, we get that a lot. At least you don't actually look like a demon. Some do, you know. You're a beautiful woman."

I looked away, wincing at his words. "Yeah, well, things just got worse from there."

"Did someone in the class attack you?" he asked.

I shook my head, "Not really. There were lots of insults and some people held crosses up like they would keep me away or something. I think someone was actually praying, too. Anyway, when I realized what happened I ran out of there as fast as I could."

"Not flew?" he asked.

"No, I ran. I didn't find out I could fly then." I replied.

"So where did you go?" he prompted.

"Home. I knew it wouldn't be safe at the college, everyone would know in minutes. And the dorm wouldn't be safe, either. So I went straight to my car and drove home. I passed a bunch of police cars with lights and sirens going on my way out, so I figured I escaped just in time." I said, remembering my fear as I tried my best not to react to the police cars. I was so relieved when they didn't stop me!

He nodded, "Yes, most of the old American states still react to Wyld as if nothing has changed."

"What do you mean?" I asked, wondering what kind of change he could be referring to.

"Haven't you noticed?" he asked, glancing in surprise at the nurse. She looked just as surprised as he did.

"Noticed what?" I said.

He shook his head, "Wyld aren't the same as they were. Did you blow anything up when you Changed?"

I shook my head weakly as I took in what he was saying. When the Wyld first appeared they did a lot of damage. People tried to subdue them until a way could be found to control their powers. But they couldn't find a way. So eventually most countries took to killing Wyld on sight. Things weren't as bad as back then, but people still tended to panic at the sight of a Wyld transformation.

"Haven't you ever wondered why Wyld aren't as uncontrollable as they used to be?" the nurse said, surprising me since she hadn't said anything since Joe came in.

I shrugged, "I hadn't really thought about it. I mean, I've never actually seen a Wyld before. I heard about a couple of them showing up in town before, but they were dealt with quickly."

"What do you mean by 'dealt with'?" Joe asked.

"I... don't know, actually. That's how they always talk about it on the news, 'dealt with'. I just figured they were locked up somewhere or something." I said.

He shook his head sadly, glancing at the nurse for a moment before turning back to me, "When they say 'dealt with', they almost always mean killed."

"What?!" I yelped. "I thought they weren't doing that anymore!"

"Some aren't, some are. Calivada still does as far as we know. It's like they don't even know that Wyld have changed." he said.

"How have Wyld changed?" I asked, glad to find an excuse not to think about what I'd learned.

"When the Wyld first appeared they were incredibly powerful but had absolutely no control over that power. You're a Wyld yourself, is that the way it is with you?" he said.

"Well, no, not really. I mean, I didn't know what my powers were right off the bat, or how to use them. But I wasn't out of control... Why is that?" I asked, realizing things could have been much worse. I wouldn't want to be responsible for something like Bakersfield. I shuddered at the thought.

He sat back and shrugged, "We honestly don't know. About two years after the Wyld first started appearing things just... changed. They started appearing with much greater frequency, but at much lower power levels. And most of them have pretty good control over their powers, like you. There's no reason to lock up or kill Wyld anymore. They aren't a threat, mostly."

I took a moment to take in what he'd said. It fit my own experience, and the fact that things weren't as bad as they were with the Wyld, even if they were still killing them back home. "But... if that's true... why doesn't anybody know about it?" I finally asked.

He leaned forward again, "Oh, they know. The ones in power, anyway. They know Wyld aren't a danger anymore. But some of those countries formed around the fear of the Wyld more than anything else. Without that fear they could fall apart. So they keep the fear going. But that's probably not what's going on in Calivada. At least, not all of it."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Haven't you noticed how fanatically people have been acting over the last few years? Aren't there more churches than ever?" he asked intently.

"Well, yeah, I guess. I've never understood why so many people are getting so forceful about their religion, but what does that have to do with anything?" I asked cluelessly.

"A lot of the American countries that came out of the USA are leaning towards theocracy. Either out of genuine belief, because it's a useful tool to control people, or more likely a combination of the two. Fear of the Wyld, and the religious fervor associated with it are very powerful right now." he said.

"That's why people were holding up crosses and stuff?" I asked.

"That's right. People are being taught that Wyld are demons, or possessed, or just really evil people getting punished for their sins. Haven't you picked up any of that?" he asked, looking confused.

"Well, yeah, I guess. My parents have been on about it a few times. I didn't think it was that widespread though. Or that bad." I said, but realized it made a lot of sense. News articles and broadcasts were getting more and more religious references in them. I thought it odd a few times, but hadn't really paid attention. Surviving high school and trying to get good grades in college had taken up all my attention.

"You were reclusive, weren't you?" the nurse said. "Didn't get out much?"

I shrugged, "I guess so. I never had a lot of friends or anything. And my parents were really pushing me to get good grades. They were threatening to cut me off if I didn't."

Joe look at me oddly, "I'm surprised a pretty girl like you didn't have lots of friends."

"Late bloomer." I replied with a shrug, mentally patting myself on the back for the quick save.

He gave me an odd, knowing look before shaking it off and saying, "So, what happened when you got home?"

It took me a minute to get my thoughts in order, "Well, it took me a while to convince my parents of who I am. I looked a lot different before. Once I had convinced them, though, I wished I hadn't!"

"Did they hurt you?" the nurse asked softly.

"No, but not for want of trying." I said, wincing at the memory of Mom coming at me with a kitchen knife. I'd ran away from her, but found Dad in the living room loading his shotgun. That was all I needed to see!

"Are you invulnerable or something?" Joe asked.

I shook my head, "No, not that I know of. Once I realized they were seriously trying to kill me I ran for it. But Mom cut me off at the front door, so I had to take the back door. It was locked and while I was fumbling with the lock I heard Dad cocking his shotgun behind me. I jumped out of the way just in time to not get shot. Fortunately for me the blast blew the door open."

"So then you flew?" he said.

"Not immediately. I was trying to get around to the front yard, but Mom beat me to it again. I was frantic, trying to get over the fence when I saw Dad follow me out with the shotgun. Mom was blocking the front yard with a big knife in hand, and Dad was blocking the only way back into the house. There was nowhere to run and he was about to shoot me. I closed my eyes, thinking I was about to die. I heard Dad's shotgun go off again, but I didn't feel anything. When I opened my eyes I was floating about twenty feet up." I said, more tears coming out as I relieved the fear and shock of those moments.

The nurse came over and sat on the bed next to me, taking my right hand in both of hers and stroking it. She didn't say anything, but it helped. I really hated how easily I cried.

"Are you okay?" Joe asked. He actually sounded like he cared. I wondered if maybe I was wrong about him being a spook. Though I couldn't imagine what else he would be.

"Uh, sure." I sniffled. The nurse handed me a tissue and I wiped my eyes and blew my nose. I felt a little better after that and continued, "So, I found myself floating. My parents looked really shocked at that, but also even more determined to kill me. They looked at me like I was worse than scum. I couldn't take it anymore and tried to run. Next thing I know I'm like, ten thousand feet up or something."

"Did you come straight here from there?" he said.

"I guess so. I mean, I kind of flew in circles for a while to get a hang of this flying business, but then I flew up even higher so I could see better and headed west. Then I got here and some red beam of light swatted me out of the sky." I said.

He grimaced, smiling apologetically at me, "Yes, sorry about that. When we saw you on radar and realized how fast you were moving we all assumed you were a missile. We were afraid it was nuclear. It wouldn't be the first time Calivada has taken a shot at us. So my boss sent me to shoot the missile down."

"You?!" I squeaked, annoying myself yet again with how girly I sounded.

He shrugged, "Yeah. I'm Wyld, too. I didn't change physically, I just got this blast power. Frankly, I'm amazed you survived."

I found myself edging away from him, not that there was much room to move on the bed. The nurse grabbed my hand again, "It's okay, he's not going to hurt you. Not if he knows what's good for him." She smiled at me and then turned to frown at him.

He held his hands up defensively, "Hey, how was I to know? I thought I was shooting down a missile. Give me a break here." He didn't sound too serious, though. It was more like a game between the two of them. I realized they must know each other, which was kind of odd. Surely Wyld didn't arrive like I did very often for the two of them to have met like this before?

Anyway, I relaxed a bit at their banter and stopped trying to get away from him. I was angry at myself for being such a wuss, not that it was anything new. "So..." I started, clearing my throat when my voice squeaked again, "what happens now?"

He smiled, "That's the easy part. We get you a place to stay, some clothes, food, etc. Then we work on finding you a job and get you back in college if you want. How does that sound?"

"Really? All that?" I exclaimed in surprise. I had figured things would be really tough, for the little time I had to think about it. It almost sounded too good to be true.

"Sure." he agreed. "You only get the help for six months, though, so it's best to get working as soon as you can. Then you can save up some money for when you get your own place. If you start soon enough, and just live off the government money in the meantime, you can get a pretty good head start."

What could I do but agree? It's not like I had any better prospects. Hell, if I flew somewhere else I might get shot down again and there might not be anybody nearby who cared enough to save me!

So, Joe left to get some forms for me to fill out. Government's the same everywhere in that regard, after all. The nurse, I finally got her name, Nancy, went to find me some clothes. While they were gone I sat and thought. It was weird the way Nancy had been comforting me like that. Nobody had treated me that way since I was little.

When Nancy got back she had some sweatpants and a t-shirt for me. I went into the bathroom to change, closing the door behind me to keep Nancy from following as she seemed inclined to. Did all women act like that?

Anyway, I got my clothes off and that's when I found out somebody has a sense of humor. All my life, it seems anyway, I've been called a girl, fag, fairy, etc. I've always been weak, physically and emotionally. Crying all the time and generally making a fool of myself. So, what does the Change do to me? Turns me from a girly man into an... erm, manly girl? Yeah, still got the goods down below, and they're bigger than ever!

There was a mirror in the bathroom that was angled kind of low, I guessed for people in wheel chairs or something. Anyway, I was able to get a pretty good look at my new body and I was shocked to say the least. I'd heard of she males and guessed that's pretty much what I was at this point. But why did I have to be such a babe, and so well... well, you get the idea!

After gawking for a minute or two I decided to throw those clothes on and do my best not to think about it for a while. The clothes fit okay, but I was worried what would happen if I got... excited. Why did I have to be such a freak?!

When I came back out of the bathroom Nancy was still there; tidying things up for the next patient I guess. As usual I must have been wearing my heart on my sleeve, because she obviously noticed something was wrong. "Are you okay Erin?" she asked, walking over to me.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." I lied.

She didn't buy that, "It will get better, you'll see. It was hard for me at first, too, and I didn't have to deal with my parents trying to kill me! I'll be with you for as long as you need me."

I looked at her oddly at that, "Why?"

She laughed, "What, you think you're the only one to have a rough time? Some of the Wyld we get here are way worse off than either of us could even imagine! A couple months ago we started this buddy policy thing. Every newbie gets a... mentor, I guess, to help them get settled."

"Oh, okay." I said, feeling a bit let down. I was starting to think she liked me, but that was silly. No girl had ever shown any genuine interest in me before, why should that change now that I looked like one of them?

She finished cleaning up and led me out into the waiting area to sit until Joe got back. "So..." I said hesitantly, "you said you're Wyld, too?"

She shrugged, "Yeah, but I didn't get much out of it. I look a little better than I did before, different color hair and eyes, and I can do some minor healing. If I have any other powers I don't know about them. Certainly nothing as impressive as flying!"

I blushed, ducking my head, "Uh, yeah. That part is kind of cool, actually."

"Kind of?! I know there's at least a few other fliers here, but I've never heard of anyone who can fly at your speed. Do you realize how fast you were going?" she said.

"Uh, no? You guys said I was mistaken for a missile, so I guess it was pretty fast?" I said, surprised that I hadn't really thought about that yet. But then, it had only been twenty four hours, if that, since I changed.

"Pretty fast she says!" Nancy humphed, "You were more than pretty fast!"

"Uh, sorry?" I said, not sure how to respond to this weird girl.

She laughed, "I was just kidding with you Erin! You really were a recluse, weren't you?"

I just nodded, not knowing what else to say. It's not like I could tell her I was a guy, was it? I needed her and Joe to get me going in this place. And the fewer people who knew about me the better.

We sat in silence for a while after that, until Joe returned. Nancy decided to go do something after one look from Joe and I started to worry. He looked kind of serious, though not angry or anything. He sat down next to me, holding a file folder in his lap.

"So, can you guess what I found when I looked up your name Erin?" Joe asked.

I gulped, "Uh, no?"

Then he laughed. At first I thought he was laughing at me. I mean, who wouldn't? But then he patted me on the back like we were sharing some great joke. "Relax, Erin! You're not the first gender bender we've encountered over here! You're not in any trouble or anything. I just wanted you to know that I know, okay?" he said.

"Uh...okay?" I stammered, not sure why he was acting so normal about this. But then what he'd said sunk in. There were other people like me? Then reality caught up with me; he didn't know. He thought I was all girl or something.

"Sure." he smiled, "It's rare, but it happens. Some people are thrilled with it, some don't much care and some hate it. But almost everyone gets used to it eventually. It's your body now, after all. And don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Not even Nancy. I'll leave that up to you."

"Okay?" I said, still stunned by his reaction. Still, I figured if he knew how messed up I really am he'd be acting differently. After all, at least a normal 'gender bender' is a boy or a girl. Not both!

He laughed again, "Come on, let's get the paperwork out of the way."

He handed me the folder and a clipboard with a pen attached, like you see in hospitals everywhere. Then he left to get a coffee, asking if I'd like anything. I told him no and got to work.

When he came back he sat down a few chairs down and waited patiently. Didn't this guy have anything better to do? But when Nancy came back he said good luck and left. Huh, guess he didn't want to leave me alone for some reason. Maybe they thought I'd try to escape or something.

The paperwork took ages. I had to ask Nancy for help on some of it. Legalese I do not speak!

Finally it was all done and we left, dropping the paperwork off with someone at the front desk. I was surprised at that. Wasn't this government stuff, not hospital stuff?

"Don't look so surprised." Nancy said, startling me. "This hospital specializes in Wyld issues, so naturally it works closely with the government to help refugees. We get a lot of them, after all."

"Really? I didn't think there were that many Wyld out there." I said.

"Remember what Joe told you? We're not as powerful as the first ones were, but we're much more numerous. It looks like everybody under a certain age is going Wyld these days." Nancy said.

"What age?" I asked.

She shrugged, "We're not sure yet. But it looks like it's fairly young. Nobody over the age of thirty has gone Wyld in a few years. It may be younger even than that. It's hard to say; especially since a lot of Wyld look younger or older than they are, or age slower or faster than normal people do."

"B-but... there would be... thousands!" I stuttered in surprise.

Nancy laughed, "More like millions, I think. A lot of people think everyone will be Wyld eventually. I think that's one of the big things that scares a lot of people."

"I had no idea it was that bad." I said.

"Bad? What's so bad about everyone being Wyld? It's different, but I don't think it's really bad. The real problem is the way so many people react to us." she said.

"I guess." I said, shrugging. But I couldn't help but wonder how different a world full of Wyld would be. Especially if there were really Wyld who looked like demons like Joe said. I shuddered at the thought. Mom and Dad would have really gone ballistic if I'd turned out like that!

Nancy took me to the DMV first. I was surprised it was still called that here. Back home Homeland Security had taken over the role of supplying most forms of identification like driver's licenses.

It was weird being in the DMV office. It was like something from a movie, or vague memories from when I went with my parents when I was a kid. It seemed so normal, until I noticed the other people. There were a couple of catgirls in line in front of us. There was also what I could only call a goblin! I just about freaked out when I saw him.

"Relax Erin." Nancy said softly, grabbing my arm. "You'll see lots of people who look very different or even scary here. But they're just like everybody else. You will get along better if you treat everyone the way you'd like to be treated, instead of just reacting to their appearance."

I nodded weakly. There were a few other odd looking people there, including a woman with two heads! She was normal otherwise, which I think only made her seem more strange in a way.

The rest of our time at the DMV I spent trying not to stare at anybody. Although that was really hard with the catgirls. As odd as they were, they were also really good looking. They also were wearing short skirts and their tails sometimes flicked upwards, causing their skirts to flip up. They would grab their skirts and pull them down every time it happened, looking around in embarrassment, so I figured they hadn't been catgirls for very long.

Nancy nudged me at one point, "Don't stare Erin, it's rude."

I muttered, "Sorry." But I figured she thought I was staring for a different reason than I was!

Finally, we got up to the counter. Nancy had held onto some of the forms I'd filled out and handed them over. The woman who took them seemed normal enough and completely unfazed by the oddness around her. I could only guess that she saw a lot of it.

Much to my surprise, I got a drivers license right then and there. You had to wait at least a month at home, but they just printed it out on the spot. I also thought they'd have me take a test, but apparently they still had some access to computer records from California.

The picture was actually pretty good for a government ID. I was depressed to see the F for gender, but even I realized it would be simpler to let everyone think I'm really a girl.

Once out of the DMV I sighed in relief. I hadn't expected it to be so easy, but I also hadn't expected it to be so strange! "So, now what?" I asked.

"Now," Nancy said, "we go to the refugee housing. It's a group of apartments that have been set aside for refugees to use until they get settled. Don't worry though, they're not as bad as you're thinking."

I glanced dubiously at her at that but kept my mouth shut. I doubted 'refugee housing' was going to be very good. But it might not be as bad as my old dorm room. And maybe I wouldn't have a roommate?

It was finally starting to sink in that I'd be living here from now on, so I started paying a little more attention as Nancy drove me to my new home. What I could see of Honolulu was a strange mixture of tourist paradise and freak show. On the one hand it was sunny and beautiful, but there were so many Wyld around it totally transformed the place. Many looked pretty normal, of course, but some were really weird!

When we arrived at the refugee housing I received a shock! First, we had to pass through a fairly impressive wall to get in, complete with security gate. And the gate wasn't automated, it was manned by two obviously Wyld guards. One looked like a werewolf and the other looked more like an ogre or something. He was big and ugly, anyway.

The next thing that shocked me was that it wasn't run down looking at all. There were six buildings interspersed with palm trees and some bushes and flowers I didn't recognize. The buildings themselves were fairly recently painted and in good repair. Nancy guided me to apartment number 52 and handed me the key.

"So... this is mine?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yep, for the next six months anyway. Go on in."

Hesitantly, I put the key in the lock and turned it. When I opened the door I found myself in a pretty simple apartment, but definitely not the dump I expected. The door opened into the living room/dining room. There was a small table with four chairs around it at one end and a sofa and end table at the other. I could see the kitchen through one doorway and a hall on the other side. The kitchen was small but equipped with refrigerator, dishwasher, stove, oven and even a microwave. Definitely better than my dorm room already!

After walking around the kitchen I headed down the hall. It bent at a ninety degree angle almost immediately with a closet on the right side. To the left it continued for another ten feet or so with three more doors. One was the bathroom and the other two were bedrooms. Although only one of them was furnished with a bed, dresser and book shelf. The other room was completely empty.

"All of this?!" I squeaked after getting the grand tour.

She smiled, "Yes, all of it. A bit better than you expected?"

"Uh, yeah. A bit." I said, still in shock.

She laughed, "Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction, too. I figured any kind of government housing would suck and I would be eager to get out. That's what they want, after all, is for you to move out on your own. But for some reason they set aside some pretty decent apartments for it."

"Weird." I said.

She nodded in agreement. "So, all done looking around?" she asked. I nodded. "Good, then we can go get your account started and do some shopping!"

I groaned, "Shopping?" But I knew she was right, I didn't have anything but the clothes on my back. Well, that and the clothes I was wearing when I arrived. I didn't know what had happened to them, though, and didn't care. They didn't fit anymore anyway.

She laughed again and dragged me out of my new apartment. Soon we were pulling up in front of a fair sized bank. "You said something about an account?" I asked.

She nodded, "Yes. Every refugee gets a bank account set up for them with regular monthly deposits for six months. After that you're on your own."

"How can they afford to do that?!" I said.

She shrugged, "It's Hawaii. Even now we get a lot of tourists. Even more than before in some ways, since everyone is curious about all the odd Wyld we have here. We have to turn some of the less friendly away, but we still make a lot of money. Plus there's all the regular businesses. And on top of all that Japan helps out. Nobody's more wealthy than Japan these days."

I had to nod at that. I'd heard that Japan owned more of the old US than the old US did even before it split up. Whether that was actually true or not I didn't know but everybody knew Japan was doing well.

The bank was a repeat of the DMV office. A long line, lots of weird Wyld and me trying not to stare at them. Especially this one cute catgirl. There seemed to be a lot of catgirls around for some reason.

I got another shock when I found out how much the first month's deposit was. It was a fortune!

Nancy laughed at my expression, "It's not as much as it looks. We use Yen here now." At my confused expression she said, "Part of Japan now, remember? Take a couple zeros off that number and that will give you a pretty good idea of how much it is in US dollars."

"Oh, okay. That makes more sense. Still seems like a lot, though." I said.

She shrugged, "You need a new wardrobe, food, toiletries, the works. The first deposit is larger for that reason. What you get for the next five months will be a lot less since it's mainly to cover the costs of food and transportation. The other bills are covered."

"So I don't have to pay for electricity or water or any of that?" I asked.

"Not for the first six months, it's part of the free housing. After that you have to pay for everything just like everyone else. So don't get too used to it." Nancy said.

I nodded, still in shock at how generous they were being. The Calivada government would certainly never do anything like this! But then, they were pretty poor since the break-up. Both California and Nevada had a lot of tourist income before the breakup but that dropped off a lot after the US broke up. Even so, they wouldn't throw money around like that. Especially on Wyld!

I couldn't believe how lucky I was to find all this. I'd only had rumors to go on, but it worked out better than I could have possibly anticipated. Even with getting shot out of the sky. That got me thinking, "Hey, who saved me anyway?"

"Another newbie, actually. She arrived only a couple of weeks before you did. She's telekinetic. You're lucky she was here; I doubt anybody else would have been able to save you before you hit the water." Nancy replied.

"What's her name? I'd like to thank her sometime." I said, wondering if she was another weird looking freak or not. Not that I was one to talk!

Nancy looked at me intently for a moment and shook her head, "I'd like to tell you, but she asked me not to. She's really shy."

I sighed, "Alright, I guess I can understand that. Will you tell her thanks for me if you see her?"

"Sure, I can do that." Nancy said.

We were silent after that until we arrived at some clothing store I didn't recognize. I groaned as we walked in. Nancy was dragging me straight towards the undergarments and that was exactly what I wanted to avoid!

I was pleasantly surprised when she didn't try to come in with me to the changing rooms. I ended up trying on a stupid number of bras before finding what fit right. Which seemed to be different in every style and manufacturer! It didn't help any that I'm rather... large, up top now. Just like I am below...

I told myself to quit thinking about that, but shopping for panties kind of screwed that up. Nancy kept pushing me towards the ones that didn't cover much, but I knew I'd need something a little more substantial to help hide my... differences. She just thought I was being a prude, but I didn't care.

After that ordeal was thankfully over we moved onto jeans and skirts. At first I intended to refuse skirts no matter what. But after trying on a few pairs of jeans I realized they were way too tight fitting! Wearing them would have been like wearing a t-shirt that said, 'look at the freak!". That left me with skirts, unfortunately. They were surprisingly comfortable, though, as long as they weren't too short. The short ones left me feeling naked. And that's not a good thing when you've got something to hide.

That place didn't have many long skirts, so I didn't get many. Then we moved on to shirts. Or tops. Or blouses. I wasn't really clear on what term was right for what item so I just kept my mouth shut about it.

That part wasn't as bad, but so many girl's clothes emphasized my new attributes and I didn't want that. I finally found a few styles that were loose enough to take a little of the attention away from my chest. It wasn't much, but I'd take whatever I could get.

Nancy was clearly not liking my taste in clothes, but she didn't do more than voice an occasional opinion. I was glad for that, and glad she thought I was really a girl. A real girl would have already established a style, so she probably figured this was mine. It worked for me.

Dresses were another issue. Most of them wouldn't work for the same reason the jeans didn't. Besides, they tended to be designed to direct attention to my chest which wasn't much better. I ended up only getting one dress and wasn't sure I'd ever ware that. I didn't really want to wear girly clothes but I had little real choice in the matter. Well, no good choices, anyway.

Finally, that ordeal was over. Or so I thought. Next thing I know we're at another clothing store! I almost asked if we hadn't already gotten enough but stopped myself. Would a real girl say that? Didn't they love to shop?

The second store had a lot more long skirts, though, so that worked out. Nancy wanted to peruse the entire store, but I was good after the skirts. But then we had to get shoes!

The shoe store was... interesting. Nancy seemed to think I should only get flats since I'm almost six feet tall. One nice thing about my change is I didn't lose any height. I was just as happy to avoid heels so I went along with her. But she thought I should buy fifty pairs of shoes or something! She was obviously disappointed when I only got two.

Just when I thought we were finally done, she reminded me that I needed food. At least that was something I had some small experience with!

The grocery shopping was simple enough, until Nancy tried to stop me at the 'feminine care' items. I had to think fast to avoid that one, but finally managed to convince her that I'm really self-conscious about that kind of thing and would come back later. She looked at me oddly for that one but thankfully let it go.

Finally, finally, we were done. It took a few trips to get everything into the apartment from her car. Nancy insisted on helping me get everything put away. By the time we were done it was getting dark out. I hadn't even thought about food, but I was starving!

Nancy was, too, "I've just realized I skipped lunch. I'll come by tomorrow and help you with your job search, okay?"

I nodded tiredly, "Sure, thanks."

With that she left. I was exhausted and starving. After eating a slightly overcooked microwaved meal I went to bed.

---

To Be Continued...