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February 2008

Thankfully Nancy didn't come over early, I'm not a morning person. I woke up around ten, I think. After getting dressed I made some eggs and bacon for breakfast. Or brunch, whatever. Nancy knocked on the door while I was still eating.

"Hi Erin." she said when I opened the door. She sniffed, "Am I interrupting your breakfast?"

I shrugged, "I'm almost finished, come on in. Want anything?"

She shook her head as she followed me in, "No, I already ate."

"So what are we doing today?" I asked, sitting down and stuffing another forkful of eggs in my mouth. She frowned for some reason.

"We'll go over to the Wyld Employment Assistance office. It started up last year to help new Wyld find jobs. Not everyone is willing to hire a Wyld, especially a new one who might not have a handle on their powers yet. So it's really helpful." she said.

I nodded, "Cool."

She waited patiently while I finished eating and threw my dishes in the sink. She frowned again. "Aren't you going to wash them?"

"Sure." I shrugged, "When I get back." I thought it would be rude to keep her waiting any more than she already had, but she didn't seem to agree. But she didn't argue, either.

We got back in her car and she drove us over to the WEA. Inside was even weirder than anywhere else I'd been. A long line had already formed and everyone in the line was Wyld. And most of them looked it. There was a guy with three fluffy tails, though he looked normal otherwise. Another guy was really misshapen, like he had turned into play-dough and some kid had played with him and he stuck that way. He moved really awkwardly. I was glad I hadn't become so obviously freakish.

The line moved slowly at first, but picked up after a while. I was so distracted by all the weirdness around me I didn't even notice when we got to the front of the line. Nancy pulled yet more papers out of her bag and handed them over, making me extra glad she was along since I had no idea what to do. Apparently that stack of paperwork Joe gave me covered just about everything.

The woman at the counter went over the papers, entered some stuff in her computer, and then gave me a little piece of paper with a number on it. Then we had to sit and wait.

"What exactly happens here, anyway?" I asked Nancy once we were seated.

"They keep track of open jobs that are available to Wyld and try to find something that fits you. Then they'll send you over for an interview. It's pretty straightforward and they do most of the work for you." she replied.

The wait wasn't all that long. When my number was called it was by a woman who came out of an office down the hall. We followed her into her office and sat in the chairs facing her desk.

"Hi Erin, I'm Jacky. Your records don't show that you've had a job before. Is that right?" she said.

"Uh, yeah. I was a college student and my parents were paying for everything." I said.

She nodded, "Okay. How far along in your studies were you? I don't see any record of any degrees."

I shook my head, "No, I was just in my second year. I was still working on general requirements and hadn't settled on a major yet."

She typed something into her computer and turned back to me, "Well, that means you're pretty much stuck with retail or restaurant work. Pretty much all the other jobs that don't require education or training get gobbled up fast. Fortunately we have a lot of restaurants and stores for all the tourists so there's plenty of that. With your looks I'd say that waitress is your best bet."

I just gaped at her. Never in my life had I anticipated being a waitress! Once my brain rebooted I realized it made sense, though. I'm kind of a knockout now. Pretty girls get good tips, so that could work. I didn't like the idea much, but since I didn't really know how to do anything I figured I'd better make use of my looks for lack of any other assets.

I still didn't like the idea, but I went with it, "Okay."

She smiled, "Good! There are lots of openings for girls like you, since so many of the Wyld we get here are... unusual looking. They never do as well at service jobs like these."

She handed over an application for me to fill out. Once that was done she wrote down the name, address and phone number of the restaurant I would be applying at. With that we were done. She wished me luck and we left.

"That was easy." I said.

Nancy nodded, "Yes, it really is. This is the first time I've mentored anyone, and I came here before the office started up, so I've never actually been inside myself. I wasn't sure what to expect either."

"So, do I go to..." I look down at the note, "Rami's Diner now?"

"Might as well." she agreed.

I told her the address and she drove me over. It was halfway across town from my apartment, so I realized I was going to have to learn the local bus routes or get a bike or something. I didn't think the money they were giving me would cover a car.

Once we got there Nancy pulled into an empty spot and walked me to the door. She stopped there and looked around, pointing down the street, "Over there is the nearest bus stop, I think. There's a bus stop inside the apartment complex, so you should be able to take the bus over here without too much trouble. I'll find out what the times are while you're applying for the job, okay?"

I nodded nervously, "Okay."

With that she headed towards the bus stop while I went inside. I'd never worked a day in my life and had no idea what to expect. The first thing I noticed was that Rami's Diner was actually pretty nice. It wasn't a really expensive place, but it was no greasy spoon, either. It was nearly one o'clock, so there were still a lot of people from the lunch crowd. I was glad to see the waitresses were all wearing skirts, fairly long ones. That would make things easier.

The hostess saw me standing there, looking around and not knowing what to do, "Hello, welcome to Rami's. How many in your party?"

"Uh, I'm here for a job?" I said hesitantly.

She smiled a little brighter at that, "Oh good! We've been shorthanded for weeks. Follow me." With that she started walking. I hurried to catch up and soon found myself at a door that said 'Employee's Only'. She opened it and ushered me through. "First door on your left is the manager's office. I'll let him know you're here. Just go on in and have a seat."

She turned and left. I walked over to the door, which was unmarked, and opened it. It was a small office with a desk, chair, filing cabinet and computer. There were two more chairs facing the desk. I sat in one and waited.

A few minutes later the door opened and a small man walked in. He was quite a bit shorter than me; maybe five six. He was also really androgynous looking. I wasn't even sure he was a guy at first. He had long brown hair and slightly pointed ears. He also had translucent wings!

As soon as the door was closed he walked over to me with a smile and held his hand out, "Hi, I'm Jake. The WEA called ahead, so you must be Erin?"

I shook his hand weakly, "Uh, yeah, that's me."

He nodded and sat; sideways, I noticed. Must be hard having wings. He pulled a sheet of paper out of his fax machine and looked it over before looking back up at me. "So, have you ever worked as a waitress before?"

"Uh, no, I haven't." I said.

He nodded, "That's not a problem. I'll have Tessa show you the ropes. When can you start?"

I shrugged, "Any time, I guess."

"Just arrived?" He asked. I nodded. "Okay. Well, Tessa doesn't get in until two, so how about you come back at two tomorrow?"

"Sure, that's fine." I said, not realizing I'd be starting so soon. Not that I had anything better to do.

"Excellent!" he beamed. "We've been looking for a while, but most of the people who have applied have been, well, a bit different." At my incredulous look he laughed. "Yeah, I know, pot calling the kettle. It's not like I have a problem with people who look different. It's just that the customers don't take well to them. A few, like the catgirls, can get along okay sometimes. But mostly it works best to use normal looking girls like yourself."

"Uh, okay. See you later?" I said, not sure how to take this guy. He seemed really upbeat, grinning all the time.

"You got it, kid!" he agreed. He shook my hand again and ushered me out. Next thing I know I'm standing outside the door, wondering what I'm getting myself into.

"That was quick." Nancy said, startling me.

"Yeah, it was. Did you find out about the buses?" I said.

She nodded, "Yes, I did. We'll pick up a schedule for you on the way, but the bus comes by here pretty regularly so you shouldn't have any trouble."

After getting the bus schedule she drove me back to my apartment. It was weird to call it that. I'd never lived alone before. Heck, I'd only been in the dorm for a little over a year and I had a roommate there.

"So, I guess I'll see you around?" I said as I got out. But she surprised me by getting out too.

"What, did you think I was going to just cut you loose on your own? It's my job to make sure you get settled in here. You don't even know anybody yet besides me." she said.

"Oh." I said lamely. "Uh, so what now?"

She shrugged, "Not sure, really. There's not much in the way of training for mentoring. We've pretty much exhausted what I know. So I figured we could just hang out and talk, or go for a walk so you can get a better feel for the area?"

"Uh, walk, I guess." I said, not having any ideas myself.

She smiled, "Cool."

We started walking in silence for a while. Finally she seemed to get tired of the quiet and asked, "So, did you have any idea what you wanted to do? Career wise?"

I shrugged, "Not really."

"I've always wanted to be a nurse myself, but going Wyld kind of changed all that." she said.

"Yeah, I can see that. Were you in school yet?" I asked.

"No, not yet. I hadn't started college yet when I changed. I was due to start a few months later, but I never did." she said.

"Why not? I mean, aren't there colleges here?" I asked, remembering what Joe had said.

She nodded, "Sure, but it seems kind of pointless now."

"Pointless? How?" I said.

"I can heal people now. My power really isn't affected by how much or how little I know about an injury or illness. So learning all that would kind of be a waste of time. That's why I got into mentoring. It gives me something to do when I'm not healing people." Nancy said. She looked a little sad about it, oddly enough.

"Couldn't you work as a nurse full time with your power?" I asked curiously. I would have thought a hospital would be thrilled to have her.

She laughed, "I kind of do. But there's little point to standing around waiting for someone to get hurt and come to the hospital. I'm not the only healer, you know. When someone comes in we heal them and send them right back out most of the time. There's really not that much call for traditional doctors and nurses here any more. I work four hour shifts every other day. Somebody with healing powers is always there, and they'll page me if they need me. So I'm left with a lot of free time."

"Wow!" I said, not sure how to respond to that! I'd never imagined Wyld would completely wipe out the medical industry. "I wonder why they didn't have Wyld healers back home."

She laughed humorlessly, "Oh, they probably did. But they probably only healed the people in power or the very wealthy. I wouldn't be surprised if they were slaves, either."

"The people being healed?" I asked, confused.

"No, the healers. Some of the Wyld who were 'dealt with' might have been locked up to be studied, experimented on, or used as slave labor. Especially those with useful powers like healers." Nancy said, sounding like she knew a lot about it.

Neither of us spoke for a time as we walked down towards the beach. It was a beautiful beach. I could see why everyone liked to come to Hawaii. But it was still weird to see all these freakish Wyld walking along.

We stopped to get something to eat and continued walking. We didn't talk much for a long while, which was fine by me. It gave me time to think about what I was going to do. I hadn't really thought about the future since all this started, only a couple days before. I wasn't even sure what options were available to me. Could I work in any industry I wanted, or would being Wyld restrict me? What kind of jobs were even available in Hawaii? Would I have to learn Japanese and go to Japan to work if I chose the wrong kind of job?

Thoughts like that flew around in my mind until Nancy derailed them, "Do you want to continue with college, once you get settled into your job and everything?"

I shrugged, "I don't know. I guess? I was just thinking that I don't even know if being Wyld, and living here, would restrict the kinds of careers I could get into."

She shrugged, "If you stay in Hawaii there would be fewer options. But you could always go to Japan. Lots of people do, though you'd have to learn the language."

"What's it like there?" I asked. I really didn't know anything about Japan except what I'd seen in movies. I doubted movies about ninjas were good research material.

"I don't really know." she said. "But I know that being Wyld there isn't a barrier like it is here. Being white is probably a bigger barrier, really."

I laughed, "Isn't that a switch? Being a Wyld freak is okay, but being white isn't!"

She turned on me angrily, "We aren't freaks!"

"Okay, sorry!" I said, but I still felt that way. After all, she didn't know. Nobody did, and I intended to keep it that way. Only Joe knew I was a guy, and he thought I wasn't anymore. That suited me just fine. Not that I ever wanted to be a girl or anything, but being seen as a girl is a lot better than being seen as the freak I am.

Nancy seemed mollified and we walked in silence for a while. Eventually we got tired of walking and went back to my apartment. I hadn't paid as much attention as I should have, so I still didn't know where things were very well. Though Nancy did point out the bus stop in the apartment complex and I managed to pay enough attention to remember it. I'd need it to get to work after all.

We hung out and talked about our lives before going Wyld. I had to edit my story a lot to cover up the fact I'm a guy, but she didn't seem to catch on. At least, I hoped she didn't!

She told me she'd lived in Oklahoma, another bad place to be Wyld. Her transformation, such as it was, took place in private. She looked enough like her old self to get by for the most part, but she couldn't hide the fact she'd changed, either. A sympathetic relative paid for a ticket to Hawaii, and here she was. A much smoother move than mine, to say the least!

She had to leave shortly after that for a date. I was just as glad to see her go, though I felt kind of guilty about feeling that way. But I felt like I needed some time alone to think. I hadn't figured out what my life was going to be like before I changed and now I had an entirely new situation to get a hold of. The hardest part was being seen as a girl. The rest I'd get used to easily enough, I figured, but the girl stuff sucked. I'd already gotten a lot of looks from guys and I didn't like it. I could only imagine how many more looks I'd get if I dressed more like Nancy wanted me to.

I heated up some frozen pizza while I thought, but my thoughts just went in circles. After eating I decide to go for another walk.

This time I paid a little more attention to my surroundings. I decided to stay inside the apartment complex walls; fewer people that way. I wandered for a while until I found myself in a small park. It was easy to miss, being surrounded by all the apartment buildings. There was a playground for kids, but it didn't look like it was used much. Mostly it was just grass with a few trees.

For lack of a better idea, I wandered around the park. One thing I did figure out during my walk was that I needed a computer as soon as I could get one. Just to kill time surfing the net or playing games, if nothing else. I figured I was going to have a lot of time to kill.

I was just heading back to my apartment when I noticed a group of guys watching me. At least, I thought they were guys. They were all monstrous looking so it was hard to say. They were all over six feet tall with bulging muscles and greenish skin. They also had ugly faces with almost pig like snouts and big tusks sticking up. In fact, they kind of reminded me of those guys from Star Wars, in Jabba the Hutt's palace. The guards with the axes. Except these guys looked a lot more menacing.

I picked up my pace, but they started walking towards me. I kept one eye on them as I hurried towards home. They all wore similar clothes with identical tattoos on their forearms. I got a sinking sensation in my stomach as I realized they were probably some kind of gang. Just what I needed!

They altered their course to intercept mine. I realized they were closer to my apartment then I was. I thought about running, but figured with their muscles they could probably catch me easily enough. Then I remembered I could fly. That gave me a boost of confidence, so I decided to relax and see what happens. I could always fly away if they got violent or something, I figured.

They smiled when they noticed I had slowed down. Their smiles were frightening enough I almost took off right there. They didn't just have tusks, they also had sharp looking teeth.

"Hey babe!" one of them called out in a deep, guttural voice. I winced and tried my best to ignore them.

"Hey, we're talking to you!" another yelled angrily a moment later.

"Leave me alone!" I yelled back.

"Bitch!" the third one growled, reaching out to grab me. I decided enough was enough and took off. Or tried to. Oh yeah, haven't practiced this part yet. When I didn't start flying I really started to get scared. I'd been beaten up lots of times before, but it was obvious they had other things in mind.

I started running and they were right on my heels. I knew I'd never get away from them, but the next thing I knew I was airborne again and moving fast. Too fast! I nearly smashed into one of the apartment buildings, veering to the side at the last second. Then I had to pull up to avoid the wall. Before I could even think about stopping I was already outside the apartment complex and something like five hundred feet up in the air.

I could just hear those guys yelling in the distance, but I wasn't worried about them anymore. I was more worried about if I'd be able to land or not! After all, I'd never actually done that before.

Not wanting to lead them back to my apartment, I decided to explore the city from the air. I got a much better idea how things were laid out from there. And I also realized that I didn't have to take the bus. I can fly!

That really cheered me up and I flew around in loops and dives for a while, just for the fun of it. I could really get used to this!

I saw a couple of other people flying around while I was up there, but they were way slower than me! They also didn't stay in the air for very long. Whether that was because they didn't have far to go or just couldn't fly for long I couldn't tell.

Eventually I got tired and decided to head home. I was a little worried about those guys, but there was no sign of them. Landing turned out to be pretty easy. I found I could stop and hover in place easily. From there all I had to do was fly down slowly. I started out too fast, but quickly got the hang of going slow. Flying faster seemed to be easier than going slow, but I figured that could just be a control thing. With more practice I might not have any trouble.

Once safely inside I quickly locked the door and sighed in relief. I decided then that I would have to get some practice flying so I would be able to react more quickly in the future. Those guys might try something again, after all.

I was exhausted, though, so left such worries for later and went to bed.

---

I didn't wake until just before noon. Maybe all that flying wore me out more than I thought? I was a little surprised Nancy hadn't been by and wake me up but then I remembered that she would be working today, since she wasn't yesterday.

Feeling a little grungy, I took a quick shower before getting dressed. Quick, because my body still freaked me out a lot. At least I hadn't lost one part, though it looked a little freakish on my new body. But then, my new body looked freakish on it's own to me. At least, on me it did.

After my shower I accidentally saw myself in the mirror and nearly screamed. How could I ever get used to this?! I threw my towel over the mirror when I was done with it and felt a little better.

Walking around my apartment naked was something I thought should be natural, but my chest was bouncing around uncomfortably reminding me why I needed to wear a bra now. Like I couldn't see that clearly enough with these giant things!

Once I was finally dressed I grabbed some cereal. By the time I was done I still had over an hour before I had to be at work. Enough time for some flying practice, I thought.

I was a little nervous leaving the apartment, but there was no sign of the guys from before. Sighing in relief, I tried to fly. Again, no dice. Fear had triggered it before, but I didn't really want to have to rely on that. If I could fly at will it would be a lot better. And it would save me a fortune on bus fare!

I thought about going to the park to practice, but decided against it. I might look strange standing in front of the building looking up like that, but I felt safer there.

I tried jumping, willing myself up and everything else I could think of. Finally I got so frustrated I screamed. I closed my eyes when I screamed and when I opened them I was five feet off the ground. What the...

I floated there a minute just trying to figure out how I'd done it. But I was no closer to figuring it out, it seemed, except that it didn't have to be fear. Apparently frustration works, too. Maybe any strong emotion? A thought, anyway.

Feeling silly floating there, I flew up. I did a little experimentation, but really this part was easy. It was getting going in the first place that was hard. So I landed and tried again. This time I tried thinking about my parents attacking me. It took a few minutes, but I managed to get myself worked up enough to float again. Then I landed again. What other trigger could I use?

I didn't come up with anything, and I found using thoughts of my parents a second time was harder. I really needed to find a better way to fly.

I didn't know how long I'd been practicing, so I went back inside and checked the time on the microwave. It was the only way of telling time I had. Getting a cell phone would probably be a good idea, I thought.

It was only twelve thirty, but I decided being early might not be a bad thing. Besides, I had to figure out where it was. Things look different from the air.

So I worked myself up again and flew. I knew the way by car, mostly, but from the air it was hard to follow the same route. Especially since it was difficult to keep my speed down to the point I wouldn't overshoot everything. It took me most of the time I had left to find the place.

I got a few looks when I landed in front of the diner, but not nearly as much as I would have expected. But I was glad for that.

When I went inside I found it wasn't as busy as last time, though there were still some people lingering over a late lunch. The hostess recognized me and waved for me to go in the back, "Go on through, he's expecting you."

"Thanks." I said. After a short walk I was back at the manager's office. I knocked, and this time he was in.

"Come in." he called out.

So I did. "Hi." I said, standing awkwardly, not sure if I should sit or what.

He smiled, "Hi Erin, good to see you again! Let me get Tessa in here and she can get you a uniform and start your training."

He made a call, saying just, "Send Tessa back here." A few seconds later there was a knock on the door. "Come in!"

The door opened and a woman in the diner uniform walked in. She looked kind of familiar, but I couldn't place from where. The fact her hair was down, obscuring her face, didn't help any. She was another cat girl. I was starting to wonder if there was a whole nation of catgirls out there or something!

"Ah, there you are!" Jake said happily, smiling at Tessa. "This is the new girl, Erin."

She turned towards me but as soon as she'd gotten a look at me she suddenly turned away. "Hello Erin." she said, so softly I barely heard her.

"You okay Tessa?" Jake asked.

She nodded, but kept her eyes away from me. What was that about?!

Jake cleared his throat, breaking the awkward silence that threatened, "Okay, so Tessa I want you to get Erin a uniform and start her training. It hasn't been that long since your own, so you should remember how it goes, right?"

She nodded again, "Yes."

He nodded, looking oddly at her, then me, and back at her. Shaking his head he waved us out.

She was quick to get out of the room. I rushed to keep her in sight since I didn't know my way around. I got the feeling I made her uncomfortable for some reason. Which didn't make any sense. If anybody was going to be uncomfortable I would have thought it would be me. After all, she's the one with cat ears on top of her head, a long furry tale sticking out from under her skirt, and slitted eyes. I'd only gotten a glimpse of them, but they nearly glowed like cat eyes sometimes do.

Before long I was changed, thankfully where nobody could see me, into the diner's uniform of dark green vest and skirt with a white shirt. Or blouse, whatever. The skirt was a little over knee length and not tight, so there wasn't much danger of anybody seeing anything I didn't want them to. That was a relief.

After that Tessa started my training by having me follow her around while she did her job. She kept up a commentary the whole time, but it wasn't always easy to hear her. She kept her eyes averted from me the whole time and spoke softly. But not with the customers. She was easy to understand with them. Weird.

I was picking things up okay, though I'd need to study the menu. Thankfully she wasn't going to have me working any tables on my own my first day.

We took a break to get something to eat around seven. I tried to get her talking while we ate with little success. She'd talk about the job, but that's about it. I was really wondering what was up with this girl. And I really didn't understand why she kept her hair covering most of her face all the time. She was actually really good looking, once you got used to the eyes and ears and stuff. Her canines were also a little longer and sharper than normal, but they were actually kind of cute.

She had a good figure, too, though the uniform didn't display it to best effect. For which I was grateful for myself, though the shirt was a little tighter than I'd like. Or top? Whatever it is.

After eating it was back to following Tessa around and trying to hear her over the noise of the diners. It was hard to keep my attention focused since it was just the same thing over and over again. Mostly. We did have to deal with a couple of guys trying to get grabby. Fortunately Jack was walking around at the time and put a stop to it. If I had to somebody was probably going to get hurt and, realistically, it probably would have been me.

I was relieved when the work day was finally over. My feet were killing me and I was tired. Although Tessa had done most of the talking and everything, I'd done most of the carrying of food and empty(ish) plates. I guess being the new guy I should have expected that.

As I was getting ready to leave Tessa disappeared. That girl might be part cat in appearance, but she was more like mouse in attitude.

I flew home, finding it a little easier to get airborne this time. I didn't even really have to think about something specific. I just dredged up some feeling and whoosh, there I went. Maybe it wouldn't be dependent on emotion eventually?

I flew a few lazy circles to get a feel for the area before heading home. Once there I dove into bed as soon as my clothes were off and was asleep instantly.

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To Be Continued...