But upon arriving in GD, Ross went berserk, and knocked Jack into Section Nine where, because of some chemicals and equipment falling and exploding on him, spontaneously changed him into a blonde hottie.

And now, the continuation...

- - - - -

Morning came, as it usually does. But that was the only similarity to other mornings for Sheriff Jack Carter.

For one thing, he woke up in his best friend Henry’s guest room, and he was wearing a pair of pajamas loaned to him by Henry’s wife, Grace.

For another, she was now a girl.

He swung around and put his feet on the carpet, slipping them into a pair of Grace’s fluffy bedroom slippers.

He stood up and noted, as he did last night, that Grace’s pajamas were too big for him but, noting how short the sleeves and pants legs were, he was clearly much taller than Grace. He stood up, trying to estimate how tall he was.

His best guess told him that he was the same height as before – a little over six-one. Yesterday, he was a bit taller than Henry, as before, so whatever happened to him, it didn’t change his height, at least.

He decided to go to the bathroom for his usual morning routine, but his hand went to his cheeks and chin. At least a shave wasn’t needed. Or at least not on his face. If ever he would need it – as far as he could tell, that’s not necessary yet.

He yawned and went to the room’s en-suite bathroom. Instinctively he lifted the toilet seat and then, when he lowered the pajama bottoms and his new panties, he remembered and sat down instead.

After doing his business, he decided on a shower but, as he stood up, he saw his reflection. He screamed.

- - - - -

Henry and Grace pounded up the stairs and barged into the bathroom.

“What!” Henry called and he and Grace stopped short.

They saw a new girl in the bathroom, which, at the moment, was wearing Grace’s pajama shirt and no pants, and was pointing at the bathroom mirror with a shocked look on her face.

They looked at each other and came to the same conclusion.

“Is that you, Jack?”

“Uhuh...”

“Well, that’s a new aspect of the problem.”

“All right,” Grace said, and started pushing Henry out. “Let’s give Jack some privacy so she can finish showering.” She turned to Jack. “Jack, you finish your shower, get dressed and we can have breakfast downstairs. Okay?”

Grace noticed that look on Jack’s face, and she gave him a hug. “You’re not alone, Jack,” she whispered into his ear. “You’re with friends. Henry and I will be here for you, and when Allison and the kids come back, we’ll have more help to get you back to normal.”

“I haven’t even told Sarah.” Sarah was the AI for Jack’s automated house made from an abandoned fallout shelter (“SARAH” actually stood for “Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat”).

“You haven’t?”

“No. But I asked Andy to update her on my ‘condition,’ and she told him she understood. Maybe I should go home later tonight.”

“You don’t have to. Henry and I love having you here.”

She pulled back and smiled at him. Or rather smiled up at him. Jack was fairly average for a guy, but for a girl, she was pretty tall.

“So,” Grace said, stepping away, “how about that shower?”

Jack giggled. “Okay. Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you guys downstairs for breakfast.”

“Great.”

“Hey, Grace?”

“Yeah?”

Jack reached out and gave her a hug herself.

“Thanks,” he said.

She hugged him back. “What are friends for?”

- - - - -

“So,” Henry said as Grace came back downstairs, “how’s Jack?”

“She’s pretty scared, Henry. And I can’t blame her.”

Grace probably had the same number of PhDs as Henry. But that didn’t matter to their friendship with Jack.

She probably knew Jack as well as Henry, and, like Henry, respected Jack for his being a good person, and for being smarter than all of them combined in the one thing that mattered most in Eureka – keeping the peace and keeping people safe. She, like most everyone in the town, knew Jack wasn’t the smartest person around, but he was street smart and street savvy, and he was second to none in that particular area, and would make intuitive leaps that no one ever could, and it helped him do his job, and he did it well.

But, like Henry, she mostly liked him because he was a good person. And she worried, Just like Henry, that such a good person had to endure this kind of thing.

“I just wish we could help her more,” Grace continued.

“I know, honey,” Henry said to Grace. “I would be scared, too. This new thing... He’s changed again! But not into himself, or to a guy. He’s changed into another girl!”

“I saw. But did you notice that she’s about the same height? Totally different girl but still the same height.”

“Yeah. That’s a major clue. Dammit, this isn’t my area! It’s more yours and Allison’s. I wish she were here. Maybe I should give her a call. Get her to come back from her vacation.”

“Well, I think you should ask Jack first. If she hasn’t called Allison by now, maybe she doesn’t want her back, at least not yet.”

“I think you’re right, Grace. Okay, I’ll talk to Jack first. In the meantime, I’ll ask the Section Nine guys what they found out. And we need to get him in for another checkup.”

Whatever happened to Jack yesterday happened in Section Nine, GD’s Epigenetic, Electrogenetic and Recombinant DNA Lab, so Grace and Henry knew that whatever caused this would be genetic in nature.

Hopefully, the people he had from Section Nine working on it would have some more information when they get to the office today.

- - - - -

Jack finished his shower and stepped out, rubbing his still-blonde but straighter hair dry.

It wasn’t as long as yesterday’s hair but long enough. Keeping in mind what Pilar told him yesterday, instead of just towel-drying it, he took the hair dryer from the top of the bathroom cabinet and proceeded to dry his hair. When he felt his new, blonde hair was dry enough, he used the brush he found and started to comb it out. He didn’t know much about hairstyles so he just settled for combing it out plain and straight.

He looked at the mirror, and he wasn’t really blonde the way he was last time. This time, his blondeness was closer to silver than yesterday’s. And the hair was much shorter now, and was in what he knew was called a bob cut.

This new face of his was also a bit older. Maybe about twenty-five at most, just like Zoe, and seemed more sophisticated. At least she wasn’t jailbait anymore. But still a hottie. In his opinion, he thought he was pretty enough to be a model. He sighed. What to do, what to do, he thought.

He went and got the big GD gym bag Henry gave him yesterday, which had his old guy clothes, the clothes Pilar bought for him, and other things from his car.

Pilar Reed and his daughter Zoe were best friends in high school, and though they went to different colleges later, the two kept in touch.

Whereas Zoe went to Harvard (she eventually transferred to Johns Hopkins for her medical degree), Pilar went to France, and was currently finishing up a degree in fashion at the Institute Francais de la Mode in Paris, as well as getting a graduate degree in industrial chemistry and physical therapy specializing in neuromuscular facilitation. This wasn’t too unusual, actually - many from Eureka often take degrees in multiple disciplines.

Jack was glad Pilar was in GD for her six-month internship, not just because she could help him out with picking out clothes, but because he liked the kid, too.

But Pilar’s tastes in clothes were a little too... fashionista for Jack. Looking at what she got for him... Jack worried about the rest of the clothes she was going to get.

He didn’t have much to pick from at the moment. He picked a stretchy ice blue cashmere sweater and a pair of spandex ivory leggings that he wore over a stretchy t-shirt bra and bikini panties. He also picked the Doc Martens over the sneakers. Of course, he didn’t know these details. All he knew was that these were the ones Pilar got that fit best – apparently, his new... look was not as slim as yesterday’s. Not by much, like, he would later find, instead of being a Size Zero like yesterday, he was now a Size Two.

In fact, he would have preferred to wear the sneakers from yesterday but his feet were just a tiny bit too big. In fact, the only way the boots fit was because he used the nylon knee high socks he found, still in their wrapper when he brought them out.

Jack prayed what he picked matched and he didn’t look like a clown.

He packed up the rest of his stuff in the bag, leaving his leather jacket and gun belt out. Being a good guest, he made the bed, folded the pajamas Grace lent him, and put the towel he used in a plastic shopping bag he found, and put it in his bag with the intention of washing it later.

Walking down, he went to the kitchen and saw Henry and Grace. The two looked at him in some amazement.

“You... look pretty good, Jack,” Grace said (in fact, she looked pretty good, she thought). “Henry, close your mouth.”

“I know,” Jack sighed and put his stuff down. “Ahhh! Coffee!”

And they had a pleasant though slightly awkward breakfast. Henry commented on Jack’s appetite, but Jack didn’t understand it either.

Afterwards, they all got ready to leave. While Henry and Grace finished getting ready upstairs, Jack got ready as well. He pinned his sheriff’s badge on his new sweater, put on his gun belt and waited for the Deacons by the front door.

When they walked down, they noticed Jack again.

“Looking good, Sheriff!” Grace giggled, and Henry gave him a thumbs-up.

“Shut up, guys,” Jack said, smiling wanly, and shrugged on his leather jacket. Since it was his leather jacket, it was a trifle too large for him, but, instead of looking bad, Grace thought the jacket seemed just fashionably loose on her. And its looseness went well with his... bosoms.

Jack’s adjusting pretty good, she thought, and she was sure he’d get along fine with the kids. But I wonder what Allison will think?

On the way to GD, Jack asked to be dropped off at his office, and said he’ll just catch up.

As they drove off, people turned to look at him. He nodded and waved to the people that he knew. Though puzzled, they smiled and waved back at the pretty new stranger.

He pushed through the door to the Sheriff’s Office and sighed, happy to see something familiar.

“Boss? Is that you?”

“Andy!” Jack said. “Glad to see you!” He reached out and shook his deputy’s hand. Andy was actually a robot but, aside from a slightly literal way of dealing with things, no one would know he was a “synthetic person.”

“And you as well, Boss. If that is you...”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Forgive me, but the security camera pictures showed a different person yesterday. What happened?”

“You have access to GD’s security cameras?”

“No, but I download them and other data when there’s been an incident, in case we need them for any investigative work. It’s part of my regular security protocols.”

“Well, to answer your question, I don’t know. This morning, I just woke up and found out I changed again. I don’t mind telling you, I’m more than worried.”

“That is more than unusual.”

“So... speaking of which, anything unusual happening I should know about?”

“Nothing really. I’ve also updated Sarah about your condition. She has told me she’s worried about you, but she said for you to take your time. She’s ready to provide you with any support that you need.”

“Good to know. Tell her that I might be ready to go home soon.” He hung up his jacket and went to his desk to check on any paperwork.

“I will. Boss? Any thoughts on a uniform?” Andy gestured at his current outfit.

“I will. As soon as I clear up my paperwork...” He looked at his pristine desk and the empty in-basket. “... which I apparently have done so already...”

“I took the liberty of finishing up all of your paperwork earlier, as well as file the latest incident reports.”

“Thanks, Andy. I appreciate it.”

“So, perhaps now is an opportune time to go and take care of the uniform?”

“Oh, all right. Hold down the fort while I get some new duds.”

“Okie-dokie!”

He went to Mary’s Uniforms and Fashions a few doors down on Main Street. Mary’s was GD’s go-to supplier for all of their uniforms. In fact, Mary’s supplied the uniform needs of the Sheriff’s Office as well.

Quaint chimes clinked and tinkled as he opened the door. It always made him smile that Eureka still tried to maintain its small-town ways in the face of all the high-tech whiz-bang that they were capable of.

“Hello?” he called out.

Mary herself came over. “Yes, can I help you?”

“Hi, Mary, it’s...”

“Ohmigod,” she said, “it’s the sheriff! We heard what happened to you.” She made commiserating sounds, gave him a hug and then called her staff. “Everyone! It’s Sheriff Carter!”

Mary’s people came over and surrounded him, ooh-ing and ahh-ing, and giving him hugs.

Just like most of the people in Eureka, Mary and her staff were double, maybe even triple PhD holders, and had IQs well within the genius level. They probably only worked in the shop for fun, but their day jobs were working for GD, as everyone around town were.

“How did you know it was me?” Jack asked.

“Well –“ she gestured at the Sheriff’s star on his sweater, and at his gun belt.

“Ahhh!”

“So, you came to pick up your new uniforms, Sheriff?”

“You already made up uniforms for me?”

“Yes. Andy called last night, and told us. He gave us your measurements and we got to work on it right away. In fact, we have a couple of them ready for you.”

“Ahhh! So that’s why Andy was so anxious to get me here this morning.”

“If you’ll step this way?”

“Ummm, I think you better take my measurements again.”

“I’m sure Deputy Andy’s measurements are correct. He got them from biometric scans the GD people made.”

“Trust me.”

Mary nodded to one of her people, and she ran what looked like a high-tech flashlight over Jack – it was a GD-issued portable biometric scanner.

Mary looked at the numbers from the scanner. “Hmmm. I don’t understand how Andy could have been so off.”

“Well...” He then explained what happened.

“Oh, wow...” Mary’s staffer said. “That’s amazing! Ummm, I mean that’s terrible... but amazing, too!”

“Are you okay, Sheriff?” Mary asked.

He shrugged. “I feel fine. And Henry said I should be fine. I’ll get myself checked out in GD later.”

“Sheriff, I don’t know if we can get you another uniform right away. And what about the ones we’ve already made up?”

“That’s all right. I can wait until tomorrow, and as for the stuff you already made, I’ll take them with me now.”

“But they won’t fit!” Mary said.

“Well, you already made them up, and you never know – what if I change back?”

“Okay... shoes, too?”

- - - - -

Andy drove Jack to GD afterwards, since Jack left his patrol jeep in GD the previous day. After they parked and he transferred his stuff to the jeep, Jack and Andy went to Henry’s office. From there, they went to Section Nine and visited with the people that Henry had studying what happened.

The people from Section Nine told them what they found - they had ascertained that the liquids that Jack was drenched with when the first shelf fell on him were essentially genetic samples - DNA.

They were provided by GD employees who volunteered samples of their DNA, or some of their family members’ DNA, for the Cloned Organs Program. All volunteers: Eureka’s sense of civic duty was high. After all, they moved to the town because of their sense of duty. Aside from the great living conditions, great pay and a chance to work at the best research facility in the world, of course...

The Cloned Organs Program’s objective was to be able to grow individual organs from a person’s DNA as a viable and reliable alternative to donor organs. With the need for them ever growing, not to mention the rejection issues that organ transplants currently have, the program was an important one. It was even a big potential moneymaker for GD, actually.

When that shelf fell on Jack, he was drenched with dozens of gene samples currently being grown using artificial stem cells. That particular shelf contained samples from female employees (the shelf beside that, which had the male samples, was untouched).

What triggered the change was the equipment on the next shelf that fell on Jack. On it were prototype “genome editors” based on CRISPR technology. The main difference was that they edit and rearrange DNA fragments and epigenetic markers via electromagnetic means instead of chemically or other more conventional ways – meaning to say, the changes were induced by light, energy fields and electricity. This accounted for the multiple flashes of light that they saw in the security footage.

“Can we see that footage?” Henry asked.

The lead scientist typed on the laptop they were looking at and they saw the video of Jack fighting Dr. Connery’s robot. They saw the first shelf with the DNA fall on top of him, and then the second shelf with the equipment. What followed was what looked like several flashbulb flashes firing in rapid-fire succession from underneath the second fallen shelf.

“We counted thirty flashes, maybe thirty-two,” the scientist said. She repeated the video, but slowed it down by a factor of fifty, and each flash became more distinct.

“What’s the significance of that?” Grace asked.

“Those flashes looked just like the ones from Dr. Barrow’s device -”

“Dr. Barrows?” Jack asked.

“Anna Beatrice Barrows – the previous head of Section Nine,” Henry said.

“Anyway,” Section Nine’s lead scientist continued, “Dr. Barrows designed one of the genome editors on that shelf. Her device initiates DNA morphing via a maser. Light flashes accompany the effect. Just like those we saw in the video. But her notes also say her genome editor wasn’t functional yet...”

“But if it was functional?”

“Well, then, it means it initiated DNA remapping thirty times in ten seconds. Maybe thirty-one or thirty-two.”

Everyone became quiet.

“Is that dangerous?” Jack said.

“Extremely, Sheriff. In fact, it can cause uncontrolled mutations. That’s how Dr. Barrows died actually.”

“She’s dead?” Jack exclaimed.

“Yes,” she nodded sadly. “In fact, we’re all amazed that you are even here still alive.”

“These are all just theories, of course,” Grace said,
“so...”

Someone cleared her throat.

“Yes, Dr. Craig?” Henry said.

“We did some further digging,” Dr. Craig said. “There were samples of forty Eureka residents on the first shelf. In fact, Anna gave a sample, too. And here’s the list.”

Henry accepted a printout. He didn’t understand. “Ummm, okay?”

“Okay. Now do you notice that Ms Dawn Cameron and Dr. Jessica Hartley are on that list?”

“Yes...”

“Dawn is the daughter of one of the researchers in Section Fourteen, and Jessica is one of the primatologists from Section Three.”

“Doctor, I don’t see what this has got to do...”

Dr. Craig interrupted him by handing him a couple of glossy eight-by-ten pictures, just printed.

“The picture on top is Dawn and the other one is Dr. Hartley.”

Grace, Jack and Andy crowded around Henry and looked at the pictures.

“Oh, my goodness...” Andy said.

Dawn looked very much like how Jack looked the other day, and Dr. Hartley looked very close to how Jack looked today.

“You mean...” Henry said.

“Yes. Dr. Barrow’s device apparently worked, and it used these two girls’ DNAs!”

“Oh. My. God!” Grace exclaimed.

“But, Dr. Craig,” Henry said, “Jack doesn’t look exactly like Dr. Hartley...”

“Yes. Per Dr. Barrows’ notes, there are specific gene sequences that couldn’t be overlaid by her device, or can’t be activated. It basically made the device’s effects unpredictable and therefore, ultimately, extremely dangerous.”

“But now that the transformation has been triggered, can the effects be mapped out, at least?”

“Yes, indeed. We have Sheriff Carter’s original DNA on file, as well as Dr. Hartley’s. We will be doing that now. What’s worrying is –“ she gestured up and down at Jack, “- this. A new gene map! This is unprecedented! We have to check this again!”

“Dangerous?” Henry said.

“Probably not. If it were, it would have been instantly fatal. And here she is!”

“Still, we need to check this out.”

“Definitely! So, Sheriff Carter, if you can come this way?”

“Wait!” Jack said. “Can you reverse it?”

“I’m sorry, Sheriff Carter,” Dr. Craig said, “we don’t know, yet. We’re going through the wreckage right now, as well as whatever data we can glean from Dr. Barrows’ records. That, and our new examination of you will give us a better handle on this.”

“Okay,” he said, and turned to Andy. “Andy, I’m sorry but you have to hold down the fort again.”

“No problem, Boss,” Andy replied. “Good luck.”

Grace gave Jack a hug and wished him good luck, too.

“Listen,” Henry said, “I got Connery in isolation and Jo’s interrogating her.” Jo Lupo was GD’s head of security. “I’ll be going over her robot’s specs now...”

“Where is it?”

“It’s completely deactivated inside Section Ten. Why?”

“Well, not that I’m accusing her or anything, but I think, given she was trying to hide weapons, I wouldn’t put it past her to fiddle with the specs. It would probably be best to compare the specs with the actual robot.”

Henry looked at Jack. Clearly, Jack hasn’t lost any of his Sheriff mojo. “I’m gonna get on that right away. Hey, good luck with the tests.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you later.”

- - - - -

Sometime later, as Henry pored over the specs of Dr. Jennifer Connery’s robot, Larry, Henry’s assistant, buzzed him saying Dr. Craig and Sheriff Carter had come by.

“Send them in, Larry.”

Henry shut off his computer and gestured for them to have a seat.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” he said, “... ummm, I mean Jack and Dr. Craig. I was expecting it to take longer.”

“Well,” Dr. Craig said, “we did, too, but after the first test, we knew what to look for. Like we said before, Sheriff Carter’s a totally normal and fully functional female – nothing to worry about, but we found that there is something we didn’t see before. Well, two things: one is that we found traces of ionizing radiation – not in amounts that can be dangerous to anyone, and it’s been going down, and we predict that all of it would be gone in a week or so.

“As you know, Doctor, ionizing radiation can produce genetic mutations. Radiation can alter the DNA within any cell. Cell damage and death is the usual result. But any mutations in the somatic cells occur only in the organism in which the mutation occurred and are therefore termed somatic or nonheritable.”

“Meaning?” Jack asked.

“Meaning, any changes that you experienced will not be passed on to any children you may have in the future.”

Henry nodded. “What else?”

“It definitely was the ionized radiation that Dr. Barrows’ machine fired into the sheriff that initiated the change, and powered with enough high frequency photons to complete it. And it fired enough times to impart enough energy to allow further changes.

“So this second change was probably inevitable, and there are probably more that Ms. Carter will experience in the next few weeks.”

“You mean I will be changing again?” Jack said.

“Yes, into one of the forty people whose DNA was on that shelf.”

“Do we at least know –“ Henry started to ask, but she interrupted.

“Given there were thirty flashes,” she said, “and there were forty samples, that’s like twenty-five percent chance we can predict who she’ll change into. Oh, wait – since she’s changed into two of them already, that’s now twenty-seven percent chance.”

“When do you think the next change will happen?”

“We don’t have enough data yet, but I can assume it’ll happen when she’s asleep. That’s when she won’t be using much energy, and therefore have enough supplemental electrical energy to power the next change.”

“Electrical energy?” Jack asked.

“Brain activity is electrical. After the first hour, when the brain goes through all its sleep cycles and goes back to Stage One, this is usually when brain activity is closest to the waking brain but there’s no muscular activity.”

“Ahhh. What if I touch a live wire or something?”

“Ummm, I suppose that can initiate a change.”

“Okay. Avoid electrocutions, then. Good safety tip.” They all laughed.

“The changes – as we can see, Sheriff, the change isn’t a hundred percent. You look very close to your DNA donor but there are enough changes that people can see differences. Between the two changes you’ve undergone. For example, your voice seems to be the same, also your height – you’re still six-one, just like when you were a man. That leads us to conclude it’s the interaction between the donor DNA and your original DNA.”

“Any other things that would remain the same?”

“We’ll be able to catalog those when we’ve seen you morph into other women.”

Jack shrugged. “Okay.”

“Wait,” Henry said, “Dr. Craig, you mentioned that there were two things – what’s the second one?”

Dr. Craig brought out a pad, and on it was displayed an MRI scan of Jack’s brain.

“This is an image of Sheriff Carter’s pituitary gland. You will notice an extremely small tumor on it. Not even the size of the head of a pin. So there’s nothing to worry about - such tumors are fairly common with adults, and they’re almost always benign, just like this one. They pose no danger, except if the size induces mass effects – that means they become large enough that they affect the normal functioning of the brain. This one has a ways to go before that even becomes a factor, but we don’t expect this one to get big enough to affect her. The usual practice here is to just leave it alone.”

Henry shrugged. “I don’t get it - then everything’s good?”

Dr. Craig nodded. “That’s correct,” she said, “except that the scan from the sheriff’s physical last month didn’t show it, nor the one we took yesterday.”

“Oh...”

“Yes. That means the thing grew sometime between yesterday afternoon and this morning.”

“That sounds bad,” Jack said.

“Not necessarily bad,” she said, “but it’s suspicious.”

“What do you think the next step should be,” Henry said.

“She doesn’t appear to be in danger so she can go about her business. But we want her to stay here tonight, and keep her under observation while she sleeps. Hopefully, if another metamorphosis happens, we can see it happen, and have scanners on her.”

“Is that okay, Jack?”

“Yes, it’s okay. Allison and the kids are with her folks anyway, so that’s fine with me.”

“All right. I’ll make the arrangements, then.” Dr. Craig stood and shook hands with Jack and Henry. “See you tonight, Ms. Carter.”

And with that, she left.

“Ms. Carter...” Jack mused.

“Well, you can’t blame her, you know, looking the way you do now.” Henry gestured at Jack.

“I guess.”

“You know, Jack, maybe it’s time to tell Allison.”

He held up a dainty hand. “Let’s hold up on that, Henry. At least until tomorrow? Hopefully, tomorrow, we’ll have some more information.”

Henry nodded. “I understand. Okay, Jack. Grace and I won’t say anything to Allison. But! Tomorrow, you’re gonna call her. Okay?”

Jack sighed in relief. “Okay.”

“But, what about that?” He pointed to his door and to the just-departed Dr. Craig. “You can’t be Ms. Jack Carter forever.”

“It’s not permanent! Or... at least we don’t know if it’s permanent yet. Let’s hold off on that until we know more.”

“Okay.”

The two best friends looked at each other.

“So!” Jack said suddenly. “I guess I should get to work now. Oh! I almost forgot – did Jo get anything from Dr. Connery?”

“No, nothing. Jo says Dr. Connery is clean. But she told me that she’s acting suspicious. Her responses were clean and there’s nothing in her records, or any other records. Jo’s currently chasing down some clues back in Connery’s old office in Area 51, but she’s not hopeful she’ll find anything. She’s assuming they’re dead ends, but she has to check them out just to eliminate things.”

“Oh.”

“As for the robot, I haven’t really had a chance to check it out but I’ve looked over the specs. Ross seems just a tad too big and overpowered for an all-purpose robot. But otherwise, the specs do seem to show that Ross is indeed an all-purpose robot.” Henry frowned.

“But?”

“But the robot’s too big and overpowered! It’s like... it’s like using a dump truck to go grocery shopping! Or using an oil tanker when all you need is a rowboat!”

“Give me a for-example.”

“Ross uses 50-millimeter armor plate for its shell. It’s armor plating, Jack! I doubt regular weapons can penetrate its hull. And its hydraulics allow it to lift about two tons per arm, and its power generator can keep it running for months! It doesn’t fit, Jack!”

“There’s got to be another ‘but’ there,” Jack said.

Henry nodded. “Yes. Be that as it may, at this point, all I have are just suspicions. Who knows? Maybe armor plating is necessary in Area 51. Maybe doors in Area 51 really do weigh two tons. I really need to check out the robot itself. I’ll do that tomorrow. How about you? What did you find out about the two cases of weapons?”

“Well, there’s nothing new there. The weapons were all derived from GD technology - just amped up by a whole hell of a lot by the Area 51 guys. But you were right. They’re designed to connect to receptacles in the robot’s hands.”

“Ahhh! That’s not in the specs!”

“The people from Section Five are actually asking what you want done with the weapons.”

“What was that you used to blow off the robot’s head?”

“That was a portable rail gun. Based off the Astraeus launch vehicle system designed by Holly Marten.”

“Wow. That’s amazing. But... too dangerous to have just lying around. Those weapons should be destroyed. Wait! I have a better idea.” He waved Jack away. “You go work. I’ll take care of it.”

Jack nodded and left his office.

- - - - -

Pilar spotted Jack as he crossed the rotunda. He was going to the parking lot. At the moment, he was wearing his badge on his light-blue sweater and his gun belt around his waist. It was a little too large for his waist so it hung low around his wider hips now. He wasn’t wearing his leather jacket since he seemed to be a little more sensitive to heat and cold, and in the temperature-controlled offices of GD, the jacket seemed too warm, so he carried it in his hand.

“Sheriff!” Pilar called but he was too preoccupied to hear.

“Sheriff Carter!” she called again. Finally, she yelled, “Jackie!”

Jack finally noticed and turned around.

“Hey, Pilar,” he said.

She came up to him, carrying a big cardboard box. When she was right in front of him, Jack saw that she was pissed off.

“What’s up?” he said mildly.

“What have you done, Jackie?” she exclaimed. “You go and morph again after I just went through the trouble of going through all the stores in this one-horse town to hand-pick you a wardrobe specifically intended to enhance your...” Pilar noticed Jack chuckling. “Why are you laughing at me, Jackie!”

“Well, one, there are exactly three clothing stores in town, and one of them is Mary’s, which is exactly eight doors down from my office, so I don’t know if that’s a hard thing to do. Two, you can always check the Internet and have stuff delivered directly, and three, I didn’t ‘morph’ intentionally – this just happened! Besides, why would I want to change myself a second time? If I could change myself, don’t you think I’d prefer to change back to the old me, or at the very least, to a guy?”

“Well! ... well... Oh, Jackie, I’m sorry!” She hugged him. “It’s just that, since you changed again, everything I bought would be the wrong sizes now... and the stores don’t have a return policy!”

Only Pilar, Jack thought. The fashion-obsessed girl is taking this far too seriously. And does it really matter? Why is it a problem if they’re not an exact fit? But...

“Well,” Jack said, “how about this - just give the clothes to me – who knows? I might change back. So don’t worry about them.” Despite Pilar’s worries, he knew they’ll all probably fit, or fit well enough. He’ll try them all out later. He reached out and got the box. Despite being big, the box wasn’t too heavy. It was just clothes, after all.

“But they would be the wrong fit,” Pilar continued.

“Well, you still have my credit card, right? Maybe you can buy me another set of clothes?”

The fashionista and shopper in her was smiling. She looked at him. “You sure?”

“Sure, I’m sure. You can get my new measurements over at Mary’s, or maybe at Medical – I was just given a checkup. Now, go! Go shop and buy more clothes.”

Pilar hugged him around the neck.

“Thanks, Jackie!” she said, and ran off.

“And the name is Jack!” he called. “... or Sheriff Carter...”

- - - - -

After he got to his jeep and left GD’s parking structure, he called Andy on the radio.

“Hey, Andy,” he said into the handset. He wasn’t too strict with the radio lingo.

“Hey, Boss,” Andy replied. “What did the doctors say?”

“Clean bill of health!” he said. “Well, aside from being turned into a girl and all... Anyway, I’m going on patrol and see you in the office in a few hours.”

“Well, since you’re out there already, Boss,” Andy said, “I just got a call. Seems we have a missing person.”

Jack sighed. “Don’t tell me – someone got lost in the woods again.”

“Not exactly. It’s at the EM shield facility on top of Mount Von Braun –“

“The EM building? Hasn’t that been closed up since the government took our shield generators?”

“It was, but a GD team has been out there for a month now, installing a new generator, and they’ve been doing tests the past week.”

“Okay. And someone got lost in the surrounding woods?”

“Well, not exactly... The whole building seemed to have disappeared, as well as anyone else that was inside.”

“Just another day in Eureka,” Jack muttered.

Andy agreed to meet up with him at the EM building, and Jack turned the jeep around and started driving towards Mount Von Braun. It wasn’t really a mountain but more like a hill, but people wanted to have their own mountain so...

As he drove, he thought of his encounter with Pilar. He couldn’t believe how girls take their fashion so seriously. But given it was Pilar, he guessed it was more understandable.

Mostly, though, he thought of how Pilar treated him. It was like she thought of him as her besty, like Zoe. But he supposed Pilar was missing Zoe, or something like that. He kind of liked it, actually, even though he found being called Jackie a bit unsettling.

He arrived at the place, but the building was indeed missing. There were about a dozen people standing around. He pulled up and got out of the car.

“Afternoon, folks!” he said.

One of the people walked up to him.

“So, who are you, lady?”

“Jane!” one of the others called, went to her and whispered into her ear.

“What?” Jane reacted. “That’s not Sheriff Carter!”

“I’m afraid it is,” he said.

“Really,” Jane said sarcastically, and pointedly looked him up and down.

“Yes! It’s me! Jack Carter!”

Just then, Andy pulled up.

“Ah, thank god! Andy!”

“Yeah, Boss?” Andy came over.

“Tell these people who I am.”

“Okay, Boss.” He turned to the crowd “Good afternoon, everyone! I’m Andy – deputy sheriff for the town of Eureka, as you know, and this is my boss, Sheriff Jack Carter. We’re here to investigate the disappearance of the GD EM facility.”

“Ahhh...” most of the people said. They had to believe Andy. “Wow,” said a few. “Ohmigod,” some said. As for Jane, she shook her head. “I still say that’s not the sheriff,” she said.

“But Andy said she is!” the guy beside her said.

“She’s too hot to be Carter,” she whispered to him.

“Yeah, she is!” he agreed. “Hey, sheriff!” He called. “Lookin’ good!” He made a thumbs-up sign and grinned.

Jack waved the guy to simmer down. “So who’s in charge here,” he asked the crowd.

“That would be Dr. Brosnan,” Jane replied.

“Okay – where’s Dr. Brosnan?”

“Ummm... he was inside the building when it disappeared.”

“Damn. How many were inside when it happened?”

“Almost everyone in the control room. That makes it six in there when the building disappeared.”

Jack nodded. He and Andy approached the area where the building used to be, and they both heard a kind of electric hum – the kind you hear near a transformer.

“Hear that?” Jack asked Andy.

“Yes, Boss. Sounds like a capacitor. There must be an enormous charge in that field. I suggest you don’t get any closer.”

“But we need to get closer...”

“That’s the problem, Sheriff,” Jane said. “The building’s still there except it’s invisible. But we can’t get close enough to rescue Dr. Brosnan and the others.”

Jack looked it over. He noticed a thick cable strung on a telephone pole. The cable looked like it was floating in the air and disappearing into the invisible building.

“So what’s that,” Jack asked and gestured at the cable.

“That’s the cable supplying power to the building,” Jane replied. “And...” Then she looked at Jack with a look of shock!

“Ohmigod! If we shut off the power, then we shut off the EM field. Why didn’t we think of that! Sheriff, you’re a genius!” Jane hugged Jack.

“But then...” She suddenly thought of something. “If there’s no incoming current but the EM equipment wasn’t properly powered off, feedback might travel back through the cable. That’d be real bad.”

“Ahhh!” Jack said, “But what if we disconnect the cable instead?”

Jane put her hands on her hips. “Oh, yeah? That’s a high-tension power cable, with a zillion volts under a thousand amps flowing through it. How do you propose to do that, Miss Sheriff Jackie Carter?”

’Jackie’ again, he thought. He turned to Andy. “Can you find me an axe, Andy?”

“Be right back,” Andy said and went to look for one.

“What do you plan on doing?” Jane asked.

“We’re in the forest, right? And forests are full of trees. And trees sometimes fall down, right? What if one of them falls on that power cable?”

Jane looked at him in amazement. “You’re a genius,” she said again.

“Well,” he said, superciliously looking at his nails, “what can I say? I am a genius.”

“It’s funny, but you didn’t used to look like a genius.”

“How do I look now?”

“You look familiar, actually.” She thought a bit. “You look very similar to Dr. Jessica Hartley from Section Three.”

He frowned. “I do? I mean, do I look exactly like her?”

“Not exactly. Your features are very similar, but no one would mix you two up. Plus, you’re like six inches taller. And your voice is totally different.”

Andy came back. “I found an axe, Boss,” he said, “but I found this chainsaw. This might work better, so I got it instead.” He handed it over. “They were in the ranger’s box nailed to that tree over there.”

“Good. Now get everyone to move further back.”

Jack looked around for a likely tree, and found a really thick and tall one that was right at the tree line.

“What do you think?” he asked Andy when he got back.

“Hmmm,” Andy said, as he looked the tree up and down, and then at the electric pole and power cable. Jack imagined hearing the gears turn as Andy undoubtedly started computing angles and such.

“Excellent choice, Boss,” Andy said after a moment, “and your cut should be here and here.” He gestured against the trunk of the tree.

Jack sighed. “Thanks, Andy,” he said, “but I know just where to cut.”

He bent down and started setting up for his cut, and then he heard someone wolf-whistle.

He straightened up quickly and turned to the crowd several meters away. Dammit, he thought.

“Move back some more,” he said and gestured the crowd to move further back, and he moved to the left side of the tree instead, to take his backside out of their line of sight.

“Awww,” the men groaned.

“Oh, shut up,” he said. “Can you do me a favor and get me my jacket? It’s in the jeep.”

“Sure thing, sheriff.”

Jack revved up the chainsaw and started making his cut. He didn’t think it would be hard, especially with a chainsaw, but it wasn’t easy at all. The saw needed strong and steady pressure, and he had less control. But Andy said he was doing fine.

After he finished cutting out a wedge, the back of the cut started creaking and popping.

“Run!” Jack cried, and ran for where the others were standing and Andy followed. Jack ran in the comical way he usually does.

“Now,” the guy who made the comment earlier said, “if you weren’t convinced that girl is Sheriff Carter,” he gestured at him now, “that run should convince you.” The rest nodded. Of course, Jack’s new figure made the run less like Rowan Atkinson in Mr. Bean and more like Pamela Anderson in Baywatch, so the guys’ expressions were more like slack jaws instead of grins.

Jack and Andy got to the others and watched as the big tree slowly creak and fall down.

As planned, the big tree crashed down on target, missing the telephone pole and hitting the cable. With an explosion and a shower of sparks, the cable was disconnected and power to the invisible building was cut off.

But, instead of the building becoming suddenly visible, it only became so in parts and patches, but the parts that were visible kept on moving.

“What’s happening?” Jack asked.

“I didn’t think of this!” Jane exclaimed. “The EM effect takes a while to go away, depending on how long the various materials inside take to give up their individual fields.”

“So we just wait for it to dissipate?”

“Well... I don’t know. Anything in there with the right kinds of metal might retain their fields longer, and the longer they do, the hotter they will get.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning kaboom.” She gestured an explosion with her hands.

“A big kaboom?”

“Probably not, but definitely many kabooms. Both small and medium-sized kabooms. And lots of electrical arcs. Those explosions have been happening for a while now, but the people inside couldn’t get out because of the EM field.”

“Dammit! Then we need to get in there and get those people out. Andy!”

The two of them rushed to the partially visible building.

“Where are the doors?” Jack asked, accepting his jacket from Andy and putting it on. He would definitely need it – his sweater wouldn’t be much protection against flying shrapnel.

“There!” Andy exclaimed as he saw the main doors partly revealed, and they rushed to it.

The two of them fetched up against the invisible wall near the doorway, and Jack felt around and touched the metal doorframe. An electric arc sparked from the metal doorway to Jack’s hand.

“Ow!” He cried, and brought his fingers to his mouth. “That stings!” he said.

“Boss,” Andy said, “I don’t know if I can go in there. The arcing static electricity will burn out my electronics...”

“No problem. You stay here and I’ll herd the others to you.”

“All right, Boss.”

Jack grabbed the door handle, grimaced against the short shock, and pushed the door in. That kept the door open and allowed Andy to check on him.

“Anyone here? Hello! It’s Sheriff Carter! We’ve cut the power off so you can get out now!”

“Sheriff Carter?” someone replied in confusion.

“I know, I know!” he said. “Forget the voice and just listen to what I’m saying. The power is off now so everyone out! Follow my voice, everyone out!”

About four people came out and went to him.

“Sheriff?” one of them asked.

“Yes, it’s me.” He pointed to the open door where Andy was waiting. “Go to the door, get out now!” Somewhere inside, there were several small, new explosions. “Now!”

“Sheriff!” one of them said, “Mikey’s still with Dr. Brosnan – he got knocked out! Someone has to go back for them!” She pointed to one of the offices inside.

“I’ll take care of them – you guys go to Andy.”

Jack crouched down and started making for that office. Several explosions rang out, and he ducked the flying debris.

In a minute he was in the control room, and he saw Mike shielding someone lying on the floor from sparks and flying debris.

“Mike!” he said. “Get out of here. I’ll take care of Dr. Brosnan.”

“Who’re you?” he said.

“I’m Sheriff Carter.”

“But...”

“This is getting pretty old,” he said. “Yes! I am Jack Carter. Now, go! I’ll take care of Dr. Brosnan.”

Mike shrugged and ran out.

Jack saw a big gash on the guy’s forehead, but someone expertly dressed it. He checked for a pulse and it was strong though slow.

Something exploded above him and showered them with sparks and soot. Jack covered the scientist with his body, but it wasn’t anything dangerous. All it did was cover Jack with dirt, dust and ash.

He took his jacket off and shook out the soot but as more explosions started, he hurried and tried to lift the scientist, but he found that he didn’t have the same upper body strength as before.

“Dammit!” Jack muttered in frustration. He looked around and saw a dust cover for some piece of equipment.

As Jack flipped the sheet off the device, a massive shock of static electricity hit him, making him fall to the ground.

“Ow! Goddammit!” At least the sheet had discharged all of its static.

More explosions went off around him as he laid the tarp on the floor and rolled Dr. Brosnan on it. This allowed him to drag the unconscious man out of the control room using the sheet, and towards the main doors.

More and more pieces of equipment started to explode and Jack had to practically crawl. At the boundary of the main doorway, Andy was finally able to reach in and helped Jack drag Dr. Brosnan out.

“So, is everyone finally out, Sheriff?” Andy asked.

“Yes,” Jack said, finally standing up. A couple of the people came over and carried Dr. Brosnan over to an ambulance.

“So, what now?” Jack said.

Jane came over. “Nothing anymore. We just need for all the remnants of the field to dissipate.”

“Ahhh, good. How about the explosions?”

“Well, as soon as the field is gone, the thermal levels should dissipate and there would be no more explosions. We can then go in there and discharge the remaining static electricity.”

“Good.”

But, in the meantime, we just have to let nature take its course.”

“All right. Then let’s get away from the building.”

At that moment, there were several new explosions, and more smoke billowed out of the open doors. A piece of equipment that looked like a metal shoebox hit Jack’s back and there was the sound of a loud crack of electrical discharge.

“Owww!” Jack said and shook his head. “That was the biggest charge so far! Come on, let’s get away from the building.” Then he saw people staring at him.

“Yeah, yeah, I know – the soot and the dirt.”

“It’s not that, Sheriff,” Jane said. “It’s...” she pointed at his face.

“What!”

“Sheriff,” Andy said, “it’s happened again.”

Jack’s hands went to his face. “Oh, no!”

- - - - -

Jack did, indeed, turn into another girl. The difference now was that people saw it happen.

He sat in his jeep and looked into a hand mirror one of the scientists lent him. As far as he can tell, he was still six-one, and his voice was still the same low and sultry voice that he had the first time. As for other things - everything else was different.

She was yet another blonde, but it was a different darker shade and length, and her face was totally different. Her build was also different – she was slimmer now and seemed longer-limbed (but maybe that’s just an impression because of her slimmer build). This’ll piss off Pilar for sure.

Her eyes were now blue, as opposed to the light brown before and the green from yesterday. And she didn’t know what to do.

She used her blue sweater to wipe her sooty face and neck, which made Jane and all the others cringe. He didn’t understand – the sweater was all dirty already. But he heard comments like, “isn’t that cashmere,” or “she can’t wear that poor sweater anymore.”

So he checked and he found the still-moist towel in his bag from this morning. He also grabbed the last of the unused clothes Pilar first bought, and went to the back of one of the trees to change.

After he shook most of the crap from his hair and wiped his face, neck and arms with the towel, he took off the sweater, leggings and underwear, he changed into what he got – which turned out to be a sports bra and panties, white shorts and a black middy sweater with three-fourths sleeves. Guess he’ll wait until he gets back home for a shower. Or GD, since Henry, Grace, and the rest of Section Nine insisted that he come in for another checkup. Andy had already squared it with Sarah and Jack already promised Henry so it was all set.

After three changes, though, he was starting to feel this might not be a temporary situation anymore. What if he couldn’t get back to normal?

He told Andy to supervise everything, and to tell Henry he’ll be in after a couple of hours. He just needed some time alone to think.

Andy gave him a thumbs-up and stayed to help supervise the ... “de-staticking” of the building.

Jack decided to drive into town but, after seeing the Archimedes monument-marker, it reminded him of when things were still normal. He looked at the brass Archimedes in his brass bathtub, and remembered everything since he and his daughter Zoe first arrived in Eureka. He smiled - it wasn’t perfect but, if he was being honest, he knew he wouldn’t change a single minute of the past nine or ten years.

In fact, he was all set to continue this life of his in Eureka, especially with his new family - Allison, Kevin, Jenna, baby Kim, and their extended family – Allison’s brother Marcus, Allison’ folks, his sister Lexi and her family, and his ex-wife Abby.

Then, of course, there’s his best friend Henry and his wife Grace, his ex-partner, ex-deputy and current friend Jo Lupo, and all the other people in his life. He even included Sarah in it.

But, in the back of his mind, would his life still be his life if he never gets back to himself? What about Allison?

Henry and the Section Nine people were doing their best, but if Allison or Zoe were here, they’d probably be able to figure it out in half the time. But then how can he face his family looking like this?

And what if there was no way back? What would he do? Would he and Allison have to break up? What would happen to the kids? Even just the possibility of it made him shudder in worry.

Eventually, he found himself at the town border. He pulled over at the town limits sign.

He sighed and stepped out.

“Hi, Allison?” he said into his tiny phone. “It’s Jack. Yeah – Jack. No kidding, it really is me. You can call Henry to verify, but before you do, let me tell you what happened..."

to be continued in Episode 3: “Tests, Tests, and More Tests” Jan. 8, Tuesday 8PM Eastern On the BTTV Network