Tina Shepherd was in the final stages of dying a slow death due to cancer when she met the Martins and their friends.

sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

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Chapter One: In The Ashes

I woke up feeling lousy, as usual.

No, I'm not talking about the vomiting and nausea that comes with MORFS -- though I do get to experience plenty of vomiting and nausea. Actually, I wish it was MORFS. If it was MORFS, my death sentence might just be stayed. If it was MORFS, maybe my body would be rebuilt and the cancer would be gone.

But I come from a long line of pures.

We are not connected those obnoxious people who think that resistance to MORFS is somehow indicative of moral superiority. We have no problem with MORFS survivors. We seem to be immune to the condition, but that's just the luck of the draw. Of course, that doesn't stop people from trying to recruit us into their self-righteous organizations. But, like I said, we're not interested. We would have to give up too many friends to cop an anti-MORFS attitude.

I went outside and tried to enjoy the summer. After all, it would probably be my last. When I think about it, it's hard to keep from dissolving into tears and just staying that way.

But, I have to be strong. No matter how hard it is for me, it's even harder for my parents. I have perused the web for resources on terminal illness enough to know that losing a child is probably the hardest thing that any human can go through. I can feel sorry for myself, but at least it'll be over for me once I go. My parents, unfortunately, will be left to pick up the pieces. Maybe their marriage will survive, and maybe it won't.

I went over to the gate and walked out into the pasture. My pony came to see me, nudging me gently with her nose. I had always wanted a pony, but there was always some good reason that I couldn't have one. Then, just a few days after I was diagnosed, there she was. Somehow, all those reasons seemed less important.

I finally have my pony, but I can't ride her. I put my arms around her neck and cried. She stood perfectly still and seemed to cry with me. Through my tears, I said a prayer that this cup should pass from me. I chose those words because they reminded me of the scene of at the Garden of Gethsemane. He prayed for the cup to pass, but accepted that it just wasn't to be.

As I wept bitterly, I was reminded of another scene -- a scene where Lazarus lay in his tomb. Everyone was sure that he was gone for good, but he walked out.

It's never too late.

I wanted to get on my pony and ride, but I was too fragile. With all the tumors in my body, even Ginny's gentle gait would hurt.

Will I ever get to ride my pony? Will I ever get to do anything other than stumble around and try to smile through the pain? The streets of gold are getting more and more appealing as I go through this. My life is being stolen away from me. I still live, but I can't do what I want to do.

Ginny waited patiently as I cried myself out. After my last sniffle, I gave her a hug and stroked her velvety nose. I reached into my pocket and gave her some of her favorite treats.

I walked over to the chicken coop. By the time I got there, I had quite a following. I reached into the feed bin and scooped up a handful of scratch grain. I tossed it to the chickens, and they ate it up like candy. I noticed that they had plenty of water, but that their food bin was almost empty. In the past, I would have filled it with laying pellets. I'm not allowed to do that anymore. All I can do is let Mom or Dad know that they need feed. I gathered the eggs and walked back into the house. The goats bleated at me as I walked past their pen. They like attention, too. "I'll pet you later, noisy girls," I said to them.

I walked stiffly back to the house and set the eggs by the sink. "Breakfast is almost ready, Kitten," my mom said.

"Thanks," I said as I walked past, carefully avoiding her gaze. I went to the bathroom and washed so that Mom wouldn't have to see my tear-streaked face.

After breakfast, I went into the goat pen and sat on one of the piles of rocks that Dad put there. The goats like to climb, and the rocks help keep their hooves worn down. Soon, I had goats climbing all over each other to see me. They wanted to climb on me, but they knew better. We had trained them well. The kids were growing quickly. The bucklings had been wethered at a young age. If they hadn't, they would already be trying to mount the does. Bucklings mature quickly. Unfortunately, they get stinky when they hit puberty. The musk gland gets active, and they start to pee on themselves.

Puberty hadn't been kind to me. When puberty tried to fill out my curves and develop my breasts, it succeeded in filling me with cancer. What was supposed to be the start of my life as a woman ended up being the beginning of my death. I cried with the bitter irony.

Mom had already milked the goats, so their udders were loose and floppy. I had often wondered if that makes them feel a little lighter and more energetic. I might find out myself -- if I live long enough have a baby and breast feed her.

I was trying to enjoy the day, but the thoughts of my situation kept coming back. Doctor Josephson had managed to secure the services of a powerful bio elemental -- a lady named Betty Wilson. I looked her up on the web, and was excited about the prospect of finally being cured. I remember the excitement of that day -- the day that I rose early to go to the clinic. I went into a treatment room and changed to a hospital gown half an hour before she was due to arrive.

Hope faded slowly as the hours went by. Eventually, the teleport who had been retained to transport Betty Wilson called to inform us that she had disappeared, and that she hadn't made any of her appointments that day. To say I was crushed would be an understatement. It was almost as if my grave had been dug and the tombstone placed. The only thing left was for me to be lowered into it.

Try as he might, Doctor Josephson couldn't find another bio elemental at any price. My last remaining ray of hope was snuffed out.

It's never too late.

My hope hangs by such a thin thread.

Then it's cut.

Mom looked out the window at me, so I put on my happy face. I think she saw right through it.

The rest of the day went on pretty much like this. I did what chores I could. Mom and Dad don't make me do them, but I can't just lay around. I can't just give up.

I went up to my room and fired up my computer. Gregory, the kitten that Mom had gotten for me a few months ago, walked over and sat on my lap. I read through the email from the on-line support group that I frequent. I didn't get much from my old friends. It's almost as if they're afraid to get too close -- as if putting distance between them and me will make it easier when I finally pass away. Maybe that's part of it, but my friends in the support group tell me that they simply don't know what to say to me.

That doesn't make it any easier.

After dinner, Mom helped me shower. She told me that we're going to go to a church that's about an hour away. Uncle Mark and Aunt Janis had set up a special prayer session for me. I'm grateful, but I wonder if going there to pray will work any better than praying right here.

Mom and Dad tucked me in and prayed over me. I could tell that they were working hard to hide their tears. It's almost easier to have no hope than to have hope dashed.

Chapter Two: A Glimmer of Hope

When we got there, my first impression was that it must be the Church of MORFS or something. Aunt Janis whispered in my ear that their church welcomes morfs, and that helping difficult changes is a part of their ministry.

We sat near the front, next to a family of morfs. Or maybe it's more than one family. There were three girls that looked almost like elves. One had violet hair and eyes, and the others had blue hair and eyes. They were sitting next to four of the most adorable kitty people I have ever seen. One of the blue haired girls looked kind of cozy with the cute kitty boy.

A wave of envy and sadness hit me. Would I ever have a boyfriend? Who wants to start a relationship with a stringy-haired and haggard looking girl who's dying? Even my face is misshapen from all the tumors. Why is my life being stolen away from me like this? It's bad enough that I have to go, but do my last days have to be so miserable and lacking?

It's never too late.

I barely listened as Doctor Josephson introduced me and told them about my situation. Mom and Dad helped me walk up to the front. About a dozen people stretched out their hands and put them on my head. Everyone else stretched their hands toward me. The pastor gave a very impassioned prayer asking for my deliverance. I felt warmth spreading through me.

Was that God healing me? Was there an empath in the congregation? Was it just my imagination?

After it was over, I did feel some peace -- as if something good is going to happen. I saw Mom and Dad having a whispered conversation with Doctor Josephson. They all had smiles on their faces. They looked hopeful.

After the service, the seven people I had noticed before came to us and led us downstairs. The raven-haired kitty girl put her hand on my shoulder and whispered, "You're going to be all right."

I believed her.

They sat me on a couch and introduced themselves. I couldn't believe that Doctors Kim and Sara Martin, the straw blond and raven haired kitty girls, were as old as my grandparents; and that the blue haired girls were mother and daughter. They explained that Amy Cox, the girl with violet hair, was a bio elemental. Hope started to kindle within me. They explained that Sue and Cara Jones, the blue haired girls, are telekinetic, and can control their powers so well that they can remove my tumors one by one.

Surgery while I'm awake? I was nervous, but excited. Even if it's painful, it's worth it. I'm no stranger to pain.

*Don't worry about the pain. We can deaden it as soon as it happens.*

I looked around. *Are you reading my mind?*

Amy waved at me. *Sorry,* she sent. *I guess that wasn't very polite. Still, everything will go better if you can open completely to us.*

I just smiled. *No harm done. I'm really grateful that you're willing to help me.*

Soon, they got to work. I felt a sharp pain that quickly went away. I felt my flesh moving deep within me as the tumors were liquefied and removed through narrow tubes of force. They shared what they were doing with me so that I could watch their process. Sometimes, I would feel pain as something shifted. It wasn't any worse than the pain I am used to feeling from just walking or moving, but they seemed to sense it and squelch it almost as soon as it appeared.

*That's exactly what we're doing,* Doctor Kim told me. *We are all monitoring you and helping any way we can.*

It was taking a long time, and I was getting tired.

*Do you want to sleep for a while?*

I drifted off almost as fast as I formed the answer in my mind.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was that there was no pain. I felt kind of drained, but I still felt better than I had for a long time. I yawned and stretched, reveling in the ability to move without pain.

Everyone was smiling at me and munching on power bars and other snacks. They told me that the tumors weren't cancer in the classical sense, but are caused by a curious interaction between the MORFS DNA that has been foisted upon humanity, and my own DNA -- perhaps the very DNA that makes me resistant to MORFS. The tumors seem to be caused by the same mechanism that triggers the total rebuilding of a morfing body. They told me that the cancer would come back if I didn't go through MORFS, then asked me how I would like to morf. I didn't know that anyone could do that. I soon found out that it's a deep, dark secret, and that Amy's life would be in serious danger if that secret ever got out.

It didn't take me long to decide that I wanted to be a kitty person. I have always loved cats, and the Martins were simply adorable. I have also dreamed of flying like a bird, so I asked for wings. When Amy offered me powers, I told her that I want to help people the way that they helped me. After some discussion among the adults, Amy offered to zap me with MORFS. Of course I accepted. She told me that I would come down with MORFS in two days.

After she zapped me, she zapped Doctor Josephson with the same powers, but no physical changes. She made the bug sexually transmittable so that his wife, the other Doctor Josephson, would get the same changes.

Chapter Three: A New Life

I think I drove my parents nuts on the ride home. They were happy to see me cured, but I was just bubbling over with enthusiasm. After living with constant pain for so long, its absence was positively intoxicating. They didn't seem to mind, of course. The smiles never left their faces. As soon as we got home, they gave me a sandwich hug. Then, they sent me out to say hello to all my animals.

I went straight out to Ginny and hugged her around the neck. She could sense my happiness. I so wanted to ride her right then and there, but we never bought any tack for her. By the time I got her, I was too sick to ride. I hope she remembers her training. I hope I remember my training. It's been a long time.

After making my rounds; petting the goats, playing with the dogs, tossing scratch to the chickens, and hugging the barn cats, I went to my room and fired up my computer. What should I tell everyone? I don't want to blow my benefactors' cover, but I'm not going to pretend that I'm still sick.

Really, there's no need to talk about my illness at all. When I come down with MORFS in two days, I can tell them that. Then, they can assume that I was cured by MORFS.

I really hate to hold back on them. Some of the people in the support group are as desperate as I was. Maybe I can help them myself once I get my powers. Or, maybe I can refer them to the Doctors Josephson.

We need more doctors with powers.

That night, Mom and Dad tucked me in and prayed over me. They didn't try to hide the tears in their eyes as they said a heart-felt prayer of thanksgiving. I smiled and snuggled down into the covers.

The next morning, Mom had a surprise for me. She took me over to Mustang Sally's to buy some tack for Ginny. She also arranged to have a trainer come and make sure that she is ready to be ridden. I was disappointed that we couldn't get an appointment for today or tomorrow. I guess I'll have to wait until after I have changed.

Sure enough, when Tuesday came, I started to feel ill. Still, I didn't feel as bad as I had when I was full of cancer. Doctor Josephson already had me in his appointment book, of course. He commented that it's mighty handy to be able to schedule MORFS appointments. He put the stim pack IV thingie on my arm and sent me home. I crawled into bed and snuggled under the covers while Mom prayed over me. She pushed the 'go to sleep' button, and I went out like a light.

I got up a couple times to empty my bladder and shower the guck off of my body. It wasn't as bad as all my morfed friends made it out to be. I don't know if I had a particularly easy case, or if I'm simply used to more pain than this wimpy little case of MORFS.

When I got up on Friday, I felt wonderful. I pushed the release button on the IV thingie. The needle retracted and the latch released. I removed it and set it on my bedside table.

I was astonished by the beautiful girl in the mirror. After watching the life drain out of my body for so many years, it was wonderful to see an adorable seal point kitty girl with radiant blue hair and piercing violet eyes staring back at me. I examined myself carefully. I concentrated on my fingertips and let my satin black claws slide out. I admired the way the color of my skin varied from creamy white to velvety seal point black. I moved my seal point kitty ears and practiced focusing my hearing on the quietly humming computer, the barnyard noises outside, and the kitchen sounds downstairs.

Amy had told me that the Martins only have fur on their ears and tail, but that I might want to consider having fur on my back. That way, my back will stay warm when I am flying, even if the cool air gets in around the wing slits of my clothes. She assured me that I'll be able to dry my fur with telekinesis once I get the hang of using my powers.

I turned around slowly and looked at the mirror over my left shoulder. My wings are the same satiny seal point black as the fur over the middle of my back. They blend almost perfectly -- with only the difference in texture betraying anything at all. My silky glossy fur merged smoothly with my flight feathers.

Controlling my wings took a bit of practice. I wasn't at all used to their look and feel yet. The joint at the very top of my folded wings looks like it should be an elbow joint, but it's really a wrist joint. When I touch it, it feels like a wrist joint.

This is weird.

But I'll get used to it.

I blew myself a kiss and went into the shower.

Showering with wings was weird. I was still struggling to control them. I unfurled them enough to allow a scrubby on a stick to be slipped under them. I had to make sure that I scrubbed down, but not up. Rubbing my fur the wrong way is unpleasant.

I walked out of the shower with wet hair, a soggy tail, wet fur, and a drenched pair of wings. I toweled off as best I could. Mom came and helped me with my wings. Apparently, she had done some web research on wing care. She had also done some shopping. I found clothes laid out on my bed. The panties and shorts each had a hole for my tail. The bra was specially designed to be worn by women with wings. The t-shirt had wing slits cut in the back. This particular one was set up so that the wings reside outside the shirt, rather than being hidden underneath.

I remembered what the Martins had told me about UV vision when I noticed that the colors were different -- more vivid and complete, somehow.

I dressed quickly and went outside. I spread my wings and reveled in the way they felt as the breeze blew around them. I flapped them vigorously, and lifted off the ground a bit. I decided to wait before actually trying to fly, though. It wouldn't do to break my new body right off the bat.

Mom came out and enfolded me in a warm hug. I leaned into it and hugged her back, enjoying the warm glow of her love and happiness. "I think we need to go celebrate by getting you a new wardrobe," she said.

Hey, who am I to argue?

Chapter Four: Making Changes

While I was sick with MORFS, Mom had cleaned my closet. All the medical paraphernalia was gone. All of the clothes that I had outgrown were gone. All of the clothes that weren't worth modifying for my new appendages were gone.

Before buying any clothes, Mom marched me into the beauty salon. The ladies there told me that they love taking good care of new morfs. By the time they were done with me, I was positively radiant. I walked out of there with a smile on my face and a book of cloth swatches in my hand. I could tell that I was attracting stares. I could almost feel the their gaze. I enjoyed the appreciative glance, but not the lustful stares, envious looks, or the hateful glares of the radical pures.

I was used to buying clothes that would cover me and disguise the fact that my body was getting eaten from the inside out. Now, I bought clothes that enhanced the lithe and graceful look of my new body. It took some getting used to, but I have always been a willing learner. Mom, much to her credit, didn't even flinch at some of the more daring styles I wanted to get. I think it's still sinking in that her only child is now healthy and full of life. Far be it for me to take advantage, but I have a few years of living to make up.

I noticed that Mom was glancing at her watch on occasion. Somehow, she managed to time it so that we were done shopping in time to grab a quick meal and head to my appointment at the post-MORFS testing center. As expected, I was healthy and whole. As expected, I got the same physical enhancements as the Martins. As the Martins had warned me, the telepath couldn't read me.

Once we got home, Mom helped me stash my loot. We ended up cleaning out even more clothes. We packed away the stuff that I had worn to hide my dying body. The contrast between my old clothes and my new wardrobe was so great that we could see that I wasn't about to wear the old stuff; except for a few of the more formal items.

She took great delight in making me model a bunch of my new stuff, and I took great delight in modeling it for her. She took a number of pictures. After we were tired of that game, I fired up my computer. As usual, Gregory curled up on my lap and started purring.

I sent email to everyone, telling them that I had gone through MORFS, and that I was now free of the cancer that had dominated my life for way too long. I sent along one of the cuter pictures. I was wearing a short mini and a crop top. I was posed with my tail held high and my wings half unfurled. The smile on my face said it all.

Very soon after I sent it out, I got a number of emails from the Martin household. They congratulated me on my change, and sent me a few articles that explain how to find out if I have any powers. They knew what I had gotten, of course, but they didn't want to make that obvious to anyone who might intercept their messages. I did the exercises that they recommended, and sent back an email telling them what I thought I had. They then sent me some online courses and articles. Reading all of that stuff kept me busy until it was time for bed.

Mom and Dad tucked me in and congratulated me on my first beddy-bye time as a full-fledged winged kitty girl. I giggled at the appropriateness of the term 'fledged'. I snuggled down under the covers, settled my wings, and smiled sleepily as they prayed over me.

Chapter Five: Settling In

I woke up to the smell of breakfast. I was famished. The Martins had warned me that I would have a big appetite, and that I shouldn't be shy about feeding myself.

After breakfast, I was surprised to see the trainer calmly riding Ginny around the corral. He brought her up toward the house at a trot when he saw me. He congratulated me on my change, then got down to business. He gave me a quick refresher course, then helped me mount Ginny.

I had tears in my eyes. I had wanted to do this for a long time. So had Ginny. I could almost feel her happiness at finally being ridden by me.

Then, I suddenly realized that I could feel her happiness. It was as if a veil was suddenly pulled away from my eyes. The trainer was smiling, and I could tell that he meant it. Mom and Dad were positively beaming with pleasure.

I patted Ginny on the neck and sent happy thoughts to her. I nudged her forward and let her walk around the corral. Once the trainer was satisfied that I was doing OK, I headed for the gate. He opened it and we walked through. I rode Ginny over to the lane, and toward the back of the property. We walked along a field of CNT hemp that was pretty much ready to harvest.

Dad had been working on the special harvester that uproots and washes the plants before they are dried and bailed. Hemp is a traditional fiber plant, and this variety is genetically engineered to produce fibers that are reinforced with carbon nanotubes. Uprooting the plants reduces the amount of CNT fibers that end up in the soil and have to be decomposed with special genetically engineered bacteria.

As Ginny carried me between the field and the planted CNT pine forest, I felt myself relaxing and enjoying a peace that had eluded me for years. I yawned and stretched, unfurling my wings to their fullest extent. Ginny wasn't bothered by this at all. Living with chickens and ducks and guineas had made her pretty much immune to being startled by feathered fluttery things.

We walked between the field and the forest until we reached the creek. We walked along the creek to the bridge, crossed over, and went to the back forest. I used to go there all the time when I was healthy, but had been there all too seldom lately.

Ginny carried me along the trail and seemed to understand how much I was enjoying the cool green calmness of the natural woods that had been in our family for generations. She carried me back to the pond, where my great grandfather had set up a picnic shelter. I dismounted and let Ginny graze while I sat at a picnic table, munched on a power bar, and watched the sunlight glint off of the water.

I noticed that when I was reading my eCom, the glints in the water were tall and skinny -- sort of like skinny footballs standing on end. As soon as I tried to look at them, they disappeared. All I saw was the normal glinting of the sun on the water. I experimented a bit. I looked out at the water and allowed my eyes to lose focus. When they lost focus, the highlights took on the shape of cat's pupils. They shrunk as I focused on them, and got bigger as I relaxed my focus.

After enjoying our old family picnic spot for about an hour, I mounted and rode back. I brushed Ginny down, gave her some grain, and put the tack away. Then, I went inside and helped Mom prepare lunch.

Chapter Six: Up and Away!

After lunch, I decided to try my wings. I stood in the open pasture, spread my wings, and flapped them. I could feel them grab the air. I took a running leap, and I was flying! I pumped my wings and gained altitude, laughing out loud with exhilaration My emotions must have been leaking, because all of my favorite animals were looking up at me and reflecting my feelings.

I flew over the forest and to the back of the property. I circled the pond once and flew back. I swooped down, flared, and landed in front of Mom and Dad, who treated me to a sandwich hug.

I spent the rest of the day alternating between flying, playing with the animals, and learning how to use my powers. Cara had told me about some of the things she did with her telekinesis and remote sensing, and I was eager to try them. Soon, I was looking at the world in a different way. It was confusing at first, but I soon learned to distinguish between the different kinds of remote vision.

My bio senses saw only living things -- the animals, the trees, the grass, and even the microbes on seemingly sterile surfaces. My telekinetic senses were almost like a three dimensional sense of touch. I cold feel the hardness or springiness or mushiness of everything. The remote sensing that went with my telepathy was the most complex. I could see current in the wires, magnetic fields, and a kind of essence of each substance. As I used each sense, it became stronger and more detailed. It went from the vague tickling in the back of my mind that I had felt when I woke up to a fully three-dimensional view of my surroundings.

I reached out with my empathy and felt around. The animals had feelings, but they were kind of simplistic. The cats, dogs, and my pony felt the most like people. I guess that's because they have been bred as companions for many generations. The goats weren't far behind. The chickens were reachable, but simpler. The wild animals that I felt skulking around didn't display much more than the basic drives for survival and reproduction.

I tried casting about with my telepathy. Mom and Dad were easy enough to find, but I quickly backed off -- being careful to only sense the fact that they are there. The wild animals didn't have much in the way of complex thoughts. The domestic animals had more, but were a far cry from being human. By far the most interesting thing was the ability to sense what they were sensing. The cats and dogs could see clearly, but their color vision was limited. The birds circling overhead could see very clearly, and had very good color vision. 'Eyes like a hawk' is a common expression. I smiled as I read them and felt the wind flowing around their feathered bodies. The moles couldn't see, but they sensed their surroundings with an almost three-dimensional accuracy. The chickens could see just fine, but it was weird seeing looking eyes that were pointed in opposite directions.

I managed to find a whole lot more animals than I had imagined lived here. Some, like the insects and worms, had only the vaguest hint of a nervous system. Viewing their thoughts was more like viewing a running computer program than a living thing. Their brains were little more than automatic control units. The worms perceived little. The bugs had very fragmented vision, and no real processing behind it. If I wanted a coherent image, I had to put it together myself.

It was interesting spying on all the animals, but there's more to telepathy than that. If I want to learn to control my telepathy properly, I need to go among a bunch of strangers and practice.

Of course, I'm not totally unfamiliar with telepathy. I had experienced it first-hand on the day that I was cured of that accursed cancer. I remembered Sara's soft voice -- so kind that it almost broke my aching heart. She is a hugely successful and well-known researcher, but there was no pride or pretentiousness in her voice -- audible or mental.

*Hello Tina. You sound wonderful!*

*Sara? But how?*

Her warm chuckle drifted through my mind. *You called me, silly! Two telepaths can talk over quite a distance. When you thought about me with the desire to talk to me, I heard and answered.*

*I didn't mean to disturb...*

*Don't be silly," she replied. *I always have time for my friends. What's on your mind?*

I giggled. She 'heard' me, of course. I recounted my day to her, complete with images, sounds, and emotions.

She favored me with a telepathic smile. *It certainly looks like you have been studying and practicing. If you need help with something, don't hesitate to call one of us. Amy can help you with the bio stuff, Cara or Sue can help you with precision TK, and any of us can help you with telepathy.*

I returned her smile. *Thanks!*

She then suggested that I ask Mom or Dad to take me to the mall or some other public place so that I can practice my telepathy.

(End of part one)

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sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

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Chapter Seven: Expedition to the mall

Mom and Dad took in a movie while I wandered the mall. Just as the Martins had warned me, I received a crash course in the depravities of the human mind. Just as they had suggested, I withheld judgment. After a while, I managed to get somewhat of an idea of what's normal and what's dysfunctional. It isn't uncommon to have strange thoughts and desires. Unfortunately, some people will put those thoughts into action if given half a chance. Those are the people to worry about. I'm getting used to the lustful stares, but the people who would rape me if they could get away with it creep me out. The radical pures were just as bad.

I wandered the mall, taking in everything I could. I read the people; learning their secret thoughts, gleaning the details of their lives.

I saw some people that I knew, and refrained from reading anything but their surface thoughts. Soon, it became automatic. Soon, my mind automatically filtered out the thoughts of anyone that I recognized. Still, I could read them if I chose.

While I was at it, I followed Cara's advice. I read everything I could with my bio, TE, and TK senses. The pictures became clearer as I practiced. I found a secluded place near the rest rooms and sat on a bench. I looked around, then closed my eyes and tried to reproduce that image with my remote senses. The colors were difficult, but I got it with a bit of practice. I tried sensing within the restroom, but I couldn't get all of the colors. I went in to see the colors with my eyes. After that, the colors showed up. Once I have seen a surface once, the colors show up in my remote vision.

I sat back down and closed my eyes. I felt a wash of different emotions from around the mall. A lot of people were in a kind of pleasant daze as they surveyed the merchandise Some were tense and counting every penny. Some were lonely and just wandering. Some were enjoying the company of their loved ones. Some were looking longingly or lustfully at the other shoppers. Some were hurriedly making their choices and running off to pay for them.

I shifted gears and looked at the mall itself. I could feel/see the currents going through the wires, though I couldn't really make heads or tails out of the network, speaker, or surveillance camera wires. I did notice that there were more cameras than met the eye. If there was a place that seemed to be hidden from all cameras, there was a well hidden camera focused on the spot. That was true of the place I was sitting. I looked straight at the camera and smiled.

"When are you animals ever going to learn that this mall is for humans?"

I was startled out of my reverie by my first encounter as a morf with radical pures.

*Help!* I sent to the Martins and Joneses. Immediately, it was as if I was plugged into a big power grid.

*In essence, you are,* said Kim. *We're here to help you. You can draw upon our power if you need to, but you should be able to take care of those ruffians by yourself.*

*We'll show you how,* said Cara. She plugged into my remote senses and guided me to the carotid arteries of the nearest attacker. *If he makes an aggressive move, press there.*

Feeling as if my friends were right here with me, I smiled. "You guys seem to have it backwards. Morfing doesn't take away your humanity. Acting like an animal does."

I felt smiles of approval from my friends. They have all had enough trouble from the radical pures to know that backing off is a mistake.

The one who was closest to me growled, "I'll teach you a lesson, you uppity animal!"

As he lunged, I compressed his carotids as Cara had taught me. He went down. The others rushed me, and they went down -- just as the security guards came into view.

They made haste to cuff the offenders while one came to me. "Are you OK?"

"I'm fine," I told her with a smile.

"Can you wait here until the police come?"

My friends were still with me, and I could feel them smiling. *We'll stick with you for as long as you need us,* Sara said. *Officers Saouda and Trowbridge will be there soon. It seems that they have been assigned to watch over us wayward morfs,* she chuckled.

Two police women approached. One checked on the suspects and used her radio to confirm that some ground units were coming to pick up the prisoners. The other walked toward me and did a double-take. "You wouldn't happen to know the Martin family, would you?"

I couldn't help but smirk. "I met them almost a week ago -- just before going through MORFS. It would appear that some of their genes rubbed off on me."

"Well, I should say so!" she replied. "It also looks like you inherited their talent for finding trouble."

I heard a warm chuckle in the back of my head. *Did I hear our name being taken in vain?* Cindy asked.

*I should have known!* Officer Saouda replied with a smile.

*We're training her well, don't you think?* said Cara.

Officer Saouda rolled her eyes. *I guess I should thank you guys for being so talented at finding trouble. The department gave Trowbridge and me an aircar just so we could keep up with you all.*

Kim somehow gave a bow over our telepathic link. *We're only too happy to help you fill your jail with bigots.*

"Well," Officer Saouda sighed, "It's time for the inevitable..."

*Paperwork!* chorused Cara, Cindy, and Larry.

Officer Saouda smirked and handed me a clipboard and pen. Taking a hint from Cara, I used TK to write a statement as I dictated it. It didn't take long -- the incident didn't last long. I signed the report by hand, and Officer Saouda stuffed it, along with an audio recording of my statement, into an envelope.

"You might want to get the surveillance photos from the mall," I commented.

"There are no cameras here."

I pointed to the two well-hidden cameras. "That's what they would like potential perpetrators to believe."

She smiled at me. "You're as good at nosing around as Cara, I see."

Cara said, *Hey! I resemble that remark!* Amy and Cindy started giggling. Cara tried to sound indignant. *Well, I never!*

Officer Saouda chuckled. *You guys are always a trip.* Out loud, she said, "Come on, Miss Shepherd, I need to get you to your parents."

"I'll be OK," I said.

"I know, but I gotta follow procedures."

I glanced at my watch. "The movie ought to be about over now, anyhow."

We got to the theater just as everyone was getting out. Mom and Dad were concerned when they saw me in the company of a police officer. *It's OK,* I sent to them. *I had a slight run-in with some radical pures, but they won't be bothering anyone else for a while.* For some reason, that didn't reduce their anxiety.

Officer Saouda introduced herself, then said, "Your daughter seems to have a good head on her shoulders. She knows when to call for help from her friends, too."

*We're only a thought away,* Sara said to my parents. *Tina didn't really need our help, but it never hurts to have some backup.*

*But, six to one?*

Officer Saouda smiled. *Believe me, the Kitties and Elves have won against greater odds than that. You have little to worry about.*

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Your daughter is learning fast, and can pretty much take care of herself."

She smiled at me, and I pulled her into a hug. "Thanks for your help!"

"Just my duty," she said humbly. Then, she smiled. "And a much more pleasant duty than some things I've had to do, I must add."

It was getting late, but Mom thought that I could use a little 'retail therapy.' Hey, who am I to argue?

Chapter Eight: Retail Therapy

On the way to the clothing store, I noticed a recently morfed hybrid that had a bit of a different signature. She wore clothing that covered more of her body than I might have expected for the season. She wore a hat and a wig. I looked at her with my remote senses and noticed that, hidden under her hat, she had the stubs of horns on her head.

AMORFS. I was looking at the first AMORFS victim I had ever seen. I smiled at her. She scowled back. She was feeling angry and humiliated. She had been ridiculed from the altar of her church, then kicked out. I said a quick prayer that she would find peace in her new form and find people who accept her for who she is.

I was only too happy to expand my wardrobe, but I also dragged Mom and Dad to an art supply store. I got some of the paints that Cara uses for her 'human camera' trick, along with some papers, canvases, a number of pens and pencils. I made my purchases and we went home.

Mom and Dad watched as I played with my new toys. I made a portrait of the two of them surrounded by a heart and hung it on my wall. Mom asked me to read her mind and create the portrait that she imagined. In her mind, I saw a picture of a kitty girl, wings spread wide as she flared for a landing. She had me put a heart identical to the one on their portrait around it. They hung the portrait in the living room.

I fired up my computer. A couple of my friends sent nasty letters expressing disappointment that I had turned into a filthy animal, but most were happy for me. The people in the support group congratulated me, and said that my cure gave them hope.

I'm going to have to talk to Doctor Josephson about seeing some of those people. I can tell that his practice is going to become very busy indeed -- at least for a while. Hopefully, he'll be able to take care of some of his repeat customers for good so that he can have time for new ones.

I should say 'they,' of course. He's my pediatrician, so he's the one I see all the time. I keep forgetting that he shares a practice with his wife.

I decided to make another portrait like the one I had made for Mom and Dad. I scanned it in and sent it to my real friends. I removed the ones who rejected me from my address book. It's time to shake the dust from under my feet and move on.

I shut down the computer and went to the kitchen. Mom was boiling some eggs that had been sitting in the refrigerator for a couple weeks. Well-stored eggs can last ten years or more, so we don't worry about letting them accumulate. We actually age some on purpose because eggs that are less than two weeks old are difficult to peel when boiled. Mom generally takes our excess eggs to the food pantry every week, but she likes to keep a couple dozen ready for boiling at any time. In this case, there were four dozen eggs bubbling away in the large stock pot. They were white, blue, several shades of green, several shades of brown, tan, and almost pink. I always enjoyed taking the 'natural Easter eggs' to pot lucks and the like. Most people are totally unaware that the descendants of the South American Araucana chickens lay blue eggs, and that all kinds of colors can be gotten through cross-breeding. In our case, we have a yard full of free-ranging 'barnyard cross' hens -- mutts, essentially.

After they were done boiling, we set them aside to cool. Meanwhile, I used some of the tricks Cara had taught me to clean up. Once they were cool enough to handle, we drained and rinsed them. We ate the three that were cracked, and put the rest in an Easter basket.

"What are the eggs for?" I asked her.

"It's a surprise," she smirked. I rolled my eyes, then yawned.

"OK, Kitten, I think it's time for you to get ready for bed."

I giggled. "You know, that nickname is a whole lot more appropriate now."

She smiled at me. "That occurred to me when you were making your wish with Amy."

"I noticed that you didn't make any attempt to change my mind."

Her face was serious when she looked at me. "I could see the sincerity in your eyes. I was going to say something, but you're the one who will be wearing that body for life. In the end, it's up to you." Then she smiled. "I haven't seen any indication that you regret it."

I grinned at her. "I have never been happier. The last few days has been like a dream."

She led me to my room and suggested that I give myself a quick rinse to freshen up and wash off the day's exertions. I took a quick shower, then used Cara's trick to push the water off of my body. The fur on my back and tail came out silky soft. As I was snuggling down into my bed, I looked up at my parents. "You'll never get tired of praying over me at night, will you?" They just smiled at me.

Chapter Nine: Meeting, Making, and Helping Friends

The next morning, I got up early. I threw on some work clothes and grabbed an energy bar on the way out the door. The guinea fowl decided to scream at the top of their lungs, as usual. "Hey, ya noisy birds!" I yelled at them cheerfully. They just squawked louder. It's a good thing nobody in our family is prone to getting hung over.

"Good morning, noisy girls!" I said to the goats. They were waiting for me just outside the milking parlor. I led the herd queen in, and she hopped up on the milking stand and started eating her grain. I gave her teats a quick wash, then put a squirt of milk from each one into the stripping cup. Yep... all clean. I put a stainless steel milking pail under her and started working. I hadn't done it since I first got sick, so it took me a while to get into the rhythm of things. Still, it's an easy and calming task. Unlike cows, goats only have two teats -- one for each hand. I would pinch off the top by circling it with with my thumb and index finger, then use my other three fingers to squeeze out the milk I had trapped. In a couple minutes, she was done, and I was ready to lead the next goat in. Before I did that, I weighed the milk and poured it into the filter funnel. The filtered milk ran through tubes bathed in cold water, and into a collapsible container, which reduces its contact with the air. After I had finished the second goat, Mom came in and lead Libby over to the other milking stand.

"You want to do the loud-mouthed floppy-eared Nubian, eh?"

She grinned at me. "You know Libby's my sweetheart."

I smiled and got Moose, our mild-mannered but slightly clumsy LaMacha. I patted her and said, "Come on, ya funny lookin varmint."

"You don't milk the ears, Kitten," Mom said with a smirk.

I grinned. That's the unofficial motto of LaMacha aficionados everywhere because those big, friendly, and deceptively smart goats have little in the way of external ears. They are very good producers of creamy milk, though.

Moose wanted to be stubborn today. She's used to being milked by Mom, and doesn't like having her routine changed. I tried sending calming thoughts to her, and was pleased at how well it worked.

When we were done, we stashed the container of fresh milk in the refrigerator that we keep in the milking parlor and did the rest of our morning chores. I gave grain to Ginny and brushed her down. Perhaps I spent more time than was strictly necessary, but it's been way too long since I could do that.

Dad filled the watering trough and pitched hay. Mom gathered eggs, gave a quick rinse to any that were smudged or soiled, and stashed them in the milking parlor's refrigerator. Then, she drained about a quart of fresh milk from the collapsible container and brought it in for breakfast.

By the time Dad and I were done, there were pancakes on the griddle. Dad set the table while I whipped up some scrambled eggs and sausage. It might not be much fun taking care of the pigs, but you can't beat the taste of meat that you raise yourself.

After breakfast, Mom told me to get showered and ready for church. We usually don't go quite this early, but what the heck. I decided to take a long, luxurious bath instead. I used special bath beads designed for people with fur or feathers. Mom came in, saw me luxuriating in the tub, and shook her head. "Come on, Kitten, or we're going to be late."

"What?" I was confused. "Church doesn't start in over an hour."

"We need to be out the door in ten minutes," she replied.

I shrugged, hopped out, and TK'd myself dry.

"I'm glad you learned that trick. We might just make it in time."

I walked to my room and found a nice sun dress laid out on my bed. I donned it in short order, and Mom applied some light makeup for me. In five minutes, we were on our way. I got suspicious when, instead of turning left, we turned right and headed for the freeway. "We're going to Aunt Janice's church," Mom confirmed. I smiled. I was looking forward to seeing my friends again so that I could thank them personally.

As we walked in, I spotted them right away. I ran up and gave each of them a hug. We all sat together at the front of the church.

After the elder read the announcements, Kim went to the front. "I have been declared the official announcer of changelings," she quipped, then telepathically called me up. "Today, we are welcoming a changeling and giving a praise report at the same time." I stood next to her. "Tina Shepherd was rapidly dying of cancer when she came here a week ago. We were able to offer her some respite from the pain, but what she really needed was the somatic reconstruction of MORFS." She blushed a bit. "Professor mode comes when I least expect it..." Everyone chuckled. "Anyhow," she continued, "Tina left here feeling better, but still very much in danger. Two days later, she came down with MORFS. Apparently, our genes must have rubbed off on her, because she's looking mighty cute." I curtsied, much to the amusement of the congregation.

"I'm pleased to announce that she has been completely cured."

Kim handed the microphone to me. With tears in my eyes, I said, "I don't recall ever being happier. This past week has been like a dream. Thank you all for your prayers!"

Everyone applauded as Kim and I went back to our seats. I had just barely planted my tush into the chair when the elder went back to the front and said, "Everyone please rise and greet each other."

It was a free-for-all, just like last week. This time, I could enjoy it. It was wonderful to be able to hug people without being racked with pain. I was astonished with the sincerity of everyone as they congratulated me and wished me well.

After the service, they had a pot luck in my honor. I was touched. The Martins and the Jones led me up to the serving line and told me to pig out. I kind of smirked as I passed Mom's basket of eggs. I selected an olive green one just to prove that they are edible. "Green eggs, but no ham," I quipped.

I enjoyed hanging out with the Kitties and Elves. Cara and Amy had interesting stories to tell. They both were the kids of deacons in the Church of Genetic Purity. They both came close to getting killed by the people of that church. Now, I know what Officer Saouda was talking about when she commented about their talent for finding trouble.

I got to meet some of the people from their old church. Apparently, they saw the error of the church's teachings. I also got to meet Cindy's boyfriend Jim. He lives just down the road from the Martins. As people drifted out, the teens got together and chatted and generally goofed around. I don't ever remember feeling so welcome in a group of people that I had just met. When they asked me to come with them for the youth group meeting, I gladly accepted. Mom and Dad were a bit worried, but it didn't take long to convince them that I was no longer fragile.

I guess you could say that we all went out to do work, but we had a blast. We helped a lot of the older members with things that they could no longer do. We cleaned houses, did yard work, repaired things, and did anything else we could think of that would help. Amy, Cindy, Cara, and Larry made sure that I used my powers. It made things easier for everyone, and was good training for me. I ended up eating lots of pizza and power bars to keep my energy up. They told me that it's best not to flaunt my powers. In fact, Amy and I both used our bio elemental powers to make life better for a number of people; but we never gave even a hint that we were responsible for making them feel better.

After we were done, we all went to the Martins' place. I heard a few people calling it the 'Kitty Mansion.' Larry and Cindy weren't offended at all.

You would think that all the work we did today would have worn us out. I guess we were, but it didn't take us long to get our second wind and enjoy the pool. The Kitties and Elves made a kind of fountain in the pool with their TK, so I joined in. It was good practice, and lots of fun.

The Martins, being good hosts, fed us all. I shudder to think how much it must have cost to feed this horde of hungry teens -- some of whom were feeding MORFS-induced powers.

Chapter Ten: Building and Rebuilding Relationships

After everyone left, I found that my parents had yet another surprise for me. While they're away at an unnamed resort ummm... renewing their marital relationship, I'll be staying at the Kitty Mansion with all my new friends.

"Who's going to take care of the animals?" I asked them.

"Your grandpa and grandma will be staying at our house for two weeks, and some of the local 4H kids will be coming to do the heavy stuff for them," said Mom.

"I guess your mom and dad aren't the only ones getting away for a week to renew their marital relationship," commented Kim.

"Those are my grandparents!" I squeaked. All the adults laughed as my face turned red.

Kim decided to rescue me and change the subject. "What are your plans for the future?"

That was a very good question. I hadn't thought beyond seeking a cure since very soon after I was diagnosed. "You've given me my future back," I said to them, overcome with emotion. They smiled patiently as I gave my future some serious thought. What do I want to do, aside from riding my pony and flying around?

Then, I remembered why I had chosen the powers that they offered to me. My reasoning was sincere then, and that hasn't changed. "I think I'll go into medicine," I decided. "I need to find a way to get into a good medical school."

"The University of Sun City has a special scholarship program for people who want to get an education related to their powers. They'll probably jump at the chance to enroll you," Sara said.

"Especially after we pull a few strings," Kim smirked.

I smiled my thanks. I was overwhelmed.

Markus, Cara's winged seal point kitty, was purring on her lap. Noting my interest, she tossed him over to me. He spread his wings and landed gently in my lap.

What a beautiful animal.

Amy seemed to think for a minute, then came over to touched me on the arm. My bio nature sensed that she had given me a virus packet, and automatically isolated, stored, and analyzed it. My eyes grew big as the answer came to me. The bug she gave me will morf a young cat into a close copy of Markus, and the changed cat will imprint on the first person to show it kindness. I was thrilled.

"Thank you!"

I can't wait to get home and give it to Gregory

"Will I be able to make custom morfs like that?" I asked.

"No," she replied. "It takes a component that I can't give you. It's a kind of a computer made out of the same stuff that elemental powers are made out of."

"Stuff?" I asked. "That's kind of generic. Are we talking about matter or energy or what?"

"Or what," Kim smirked. "It's some kind of a pattern or potential. There is a brand-new branch of physics that studies it, but I'm afraid that they haven't gotten far."

"Don't be disappointed," Sara soothed. "You probably have the best suite of powers in this room."

"Oh, I'm not complaining," I smiled. "I have been high as a kite ever since I morfed. I still don't know what to do with myself."

"Well," commented Cara, "We have a week to think up some things to do."

On that note, we went to bed for the night. Mom and Dad led me to my room, tucked me in, and prayed over me. This marks the my one week anniversary of being free from cancer.

Mom and Dad were gone before I woke up. I hope they have a good time at the resort.

Everyone decided to head to the park with their skateboards. I used Larry's old one. It was perfectly functional; just a bit rough around the edges. He assured me that it would be even more rough around the edges after I got done with it. Spills and bumps are a fact of life when learning something like that.

After letting me practice for a bit, everyone used TK to move themselves down the road. Amy could use Cara's TK almost as if it were her own. Actually, any of us can borrow power from anyone who trusts us enough to let us in deeply.

We met some morfs that Amy had changed inadvertently. I guess they grabbed her, and she released a virus packet before she realized what she had done.

That led to a discussion about powers. I decided right then and there that I would be careful about revealing my powers. It doesn't pay to flaunt them, though I'm not going to hide them like I'm ashamed of them or something. I kind of wished I had a big support group like they all do. They assured me that, with my empathic powers and my ability to distinguish morfs powers, I'll find kindred spirits soon enough. In any case, I can always chat with them telepathically.

I had quite an eventful week with the Kitties and the Elves. They took turns training me in the best use of my powers. I also got to do some lab work and learn a few things about the various sciences. They encouraged me to work hard at school so that I could catch up. When I was sick, it was hard to concentrate on my studies. I managed to pass, but my performance wasn't brilliant. My new friends assured me that school would be a lot easier when I wasn't fighting the pain.

The week had gone by pleasantly, but way too quickly. Still, I had a lot of fun and learned a lot. I also came to appreciate some of my blessings -- like my parents.

Cara literally had to be rescued from her dad. If her mom hadn't had the fortitude to take Matthew from his home, he probably would have ended up getting stoned to death after he changed into Cara. Now, Cara's dad is in jail, and she has to deal with some serious forgiveness issues.

It was worse for Amy. Both her parents turned her over to the preacher, and she was stoned. Only her bio elemental powers and sturdy body allowed her to survive until she was rescued by Cara. Both her parents are in jail. Thank God the Martins were there to pick up the pieces.

*It's our calling,* Sara told me. *We chose a life where we nurture growth and learning.*

I smiled. *I like that. I want to make a difference, too.*

*You will,* she assured me.

When Mom and Dad came home, I leapt into their arms. I had been having such a busy week that I didn't realize how much I missed them. It made me sad to realize that Cara and Amy don't have this.

*Don't grieve for me,* Cara said. *My life is richer than it has ever been.*

*The same goes for me,* Amy agreed. *I grieve the loss of my family, but I have a new mom and a new sister. The Martins are almost like family to me, too.*

Mom and Dad noticed that I had suddenly gotten quiet, so I told them what we were talking about. They hugged me even tighter.

Mom and Dad were kind of tired from their trip, so we just lounged around until it was time for bed. They had sly smiles on their faces as they left my room and headed for their own. I guess they weren't as tired as they let on.

I helped Cindy, Amy, Cara, and Larry make breakfast and set the table. We had gotten pretty good at working together. Actually, they were good at working together before I met them, and I learned to work with them. Mom and Dad were impressed with the flying dishes show as we cleaned up.

The eleven (including Jim Reynolds, Cindy's boyfriend) of us seemed to take up a whole section at church. I somehow felt that I belonged there. After just three services, I was more at home in the Martins' church than I was at the church I had attended for my whole life.

After the service, we hung out with the other church members. I went with the youth group again. I was relishing the time I spent with them, somewhat envious that they would be coming back week after week.

But I have no call to be envious. I have my life back, and it's time to start living it.

After youth group, we lounged around in the Kitty Mansion until it started to get dark. It was fully dark by the time we got home.

(End of part two)

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sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

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Chapter Eleven: Home Again

A bit less than an hour later, we were walking through the front door. Grandma and Grandpa met us at the door. They had tears in their eyes as they greeted me with hugs and kisses. "We thought we were going to lose you," Grandma sobbed. She had to hold me at arm's length and look me over. Then, she made me twirl around and pose. She smiled and pulled me in for a hug. I could feel in her mind that she was profoundly relieved that I was cured.

We went to the living room, and I sat between Mom and Grandma on the couch. Gregory came and sat in my lap. I mused briefly about the ethics of infecting him without his knowledge or consent -- not that he would be able to have an opinion about it. Anyhow, we routinely neuter and declaw our pets without asking for their opinions. That is, some people do. Gregory has been neutered, but we would never declaw a cat; especially one that may have to defend itself outside.

I zapped him.

If he could make a decision, I'm sure that he would make the same one I did. He's going to enjoy flying with me. He might even enjoy the fact that MORFS is very likely to give him his balls back.

Before long, it was time for bed. I had kind of missed having Mom and Dad pray over me. This time, Grandma and Grandpa did, too.

The next morning, I showered off quickly and put on shorts and a tank top with an open back. The open back allowed my wings to emerge naturally without sleeves. Ginny came galloping up to the fence as soon as I emerged from the house. I ran to her and hugged her around the neck. I could read in her mind that she had missed me. I drained, rinsed, and filled her watering trough. Grandpa had used the tractor to put a round bale of hay in her feeder yesterday, so she still had plenty. I led her to the barn and let her munch on some oats and alfalfa pellets while I brushed her down.

By the time I was done, Grandma and Mom were finished with the goats. Mom smirked at me as she took a half gallon of fresh milk into the house. I went to the coop, tossed some scratch grain to the chickens, and collected the eggs. After cleaning them and putting them into the milking parlor refrigerator, I walked over and petted the goats. They had missed me, too. After that, I had to cuddle the barn cats. They seem to think that I'm their mascot or something.

By the time I got back into the house and washed my hands, breakfast was pretty much ready. We said grace and had a good farm-style breakfast of hot cakes, sausage gravy and biscuits, eggs, and whole wheat toast. It just doesn't get much better than that.

After breakfast, I went upstairs to study for a couple hours. The Professors Martin had emailed some online courses to me that I will try to get started before school. I have a week to assess where I am academically and try to make sure that I'm ready for my sophomore year. If I can make some good progress this coming year, I can start on the advanced placement classes in my junior and senior year.

But it's late summer, and the cold weather will be coming soon enough. Out here in the country, away from the extra heat generated by the city, winter starts sooner and hits harder.

On the plus side, there will be many summers in my future. I smile whenever I think about that.

My parents and grandparents were out in the back yard lounging around the table that sits under the old maple tree. I went over and hugged them all. Then, I broke out in a dead run, spread my wings, and leapt into the air. I pumped strongly to gain altitude, then swooped down by Ginny. She looked up at me, but wasn't alarmed. I gained altitude again, and flew back to the pond. I circled it twice and came in for a landing at Great Grandpa's picnic shelter. I sat there for a few minutes thinking of how things have changed.

Just over two weeks ago, I was looking at a dead end. I was still reeling from the bitter disappointment of spending all day on the exam table waiting for Betty Wilson to come heal me. Then, in a whirlwind of events, I got a glimmer of hope, then freedom from pain, a new body, and finally some really cool powers. I made new friends, lost a few phony ones, and managed to make myself an enemy of the radical anti-morfs movement. Instead of trying to smile past the pain and make the best of what little life I had left, I am reveling in my new freedom and making plans for a long future. Tears formed in my eyes as I though of prayers that were not just answered, but exceeded. I walked around the picnic area, enjoying the warm fall air. I'll have to bring a picnic lunch out here sometime soon, like before winter sets in.

On the way back, I decided to see how fast I could fly. Our 160 acre parcel of land is a quarter mile wide by a mile long. The house and pond are near opposite corners, and they are just over a mile apart. I flew past the pond, turned around, and pressed the stopwatch button on my watch just as I passed over it. I clicked it again as I passed over the house.

Forty seconds. That's 90 miles per hour! I wonder what I can do if I really try to sprint, or if I give myself a boost with TK.

I circled around, came in low under the maple tree, flared, and landed in front of my parents and grandparents.

"Trying to race the hawks?" asked Dad.

"Just doing a time trial," I replied. "It looks like I can maintain a speed of 90 miles per hour without overdoing it."

Dad let out a low whistle. "Does this mean that you won't be needing to borrow the car much?" I just smirked at him.

Grandpa started to get up out of his chair, but a crick in his back forced him to sit back down. I could feel the sharp pain as he collapsed in his seat. I was at his side in an instant.

"Don't worry about me. Old age does that to you."

I put my hand on his. *Let me help,* I sent to him. I quickly scanned him with all my senses. I let my bio elemental nature process the data. His back was out of alignment, and some of his nerves were pinched. A few were inflamed. I reached in and moved things around a bit and cured the inflammation. Then, I led him into the house and asked him to lay on the couch.

"I'm feeling OK now, dear."

"I know, Grandpa, but it'll come back if we don't do something about it."

I called my friends at the Kitty Mansion and let them scan Grandpa through my senses. After some discussion, we healed all the places where there was damage. We realigned joints, strengthened muscles, tightened connecting tissue, and regenerated cells. In general, we gave him a tune-up. After we were done with him, we rested, then did Grandma. I thanked my friends, then quipped to Grandma and Grandpa, "Now, you need to come visit me every few weeks for a tune-up."

I rested by going up to my room and firing up my computer. I read through some of my course material for an hour or so, then got on the web. Jerry Wright, one of the guys from the support group, was on line. He was home alone and feeling kind of depressed. He had a condition known as tubular sclerosis that is generally nonlethal. In his case, though, it looked like it was rapidly becoming lethal. The growths were spreading.

I tried to cheer him up, but it wasn't working. Still, he was glad that I was there to talk to him.

After a while, he had to leave. I made him promise to get back online later, and to call me through my eCom. When we exchanged voice information, I looked up his home address. It turns out that he is only about ten miles from here. I might just drop by for a visit sometime.

I went downstairs and suggested to Mom that we have a picnic out by the pond. I figured that Grandma and Grandpa could ride there in the ute, but they told me that they feel fine, and that a nice walk would do them good.

I helped Mom and Grandma get everything together. Instead of the traditional picnic basket, we put everything into containers that would fit into Ginny's saddle bags. Ginny had been telling me, in no uncertain terms, that she wanted to be ridden, and she wanted to be ridden soon.

Everyone got a head start while I brushed Ginny down and saddled her up. I decided to take the long way around, so we rode along the creek that runs between the planted CNT pine forest and the natural forest. Near the edge of the property, there was a wide shallow section that we could wade easily. We then walked along the property line until we met the creek as it turned back into our property. We followed it through the natural forest until we got to the pond. My family wasn't there yet, so I took the food out of Ginny's saddle bags, then let her graze.

By the time everyone arrived, I had the table set. We had a nice lunch, and enjoyed lounging around the pond. Grandma and Grandpa told us about the things that they did when they were younger. We had a good laugh over some of their antics.

Grandma was a bit tired, so I suggested that she ride back on Ginny. She hadn't ridden in years, but allowed that she felt good enough to give it a try. Ginny was a perfect lady, of course. She walked sedately behind us. Grandma really enjoyed the ride.

After unsaddling Ginny, brushing her, and spoiling her rotten, I helped Mom milk the goats. Once all the chores were done, I flew around for a while to strengthen my wings and build endurance I pulled up a map on my eCom and flew over to Jerry's house. He was still the only person inside. He was sleeping, and his dreams weren't all that pleasant. I circled a couple times and went home.

On Tuesday afternoon, Gregory started to get sick. The Martins had given me some carnivore stim packs from their lab, so I gave one to Gregory. If they can make tasty stim packs for cats, why can't they do it for humans?

It was interesting watching him grow and change. His gray striped fur fell out and was replaced with beautiful seal point fur. His wings started as little nubs just behind his front legs, and grew rapidly over the next two days. The tip of his tail sprouted little feathers that grew quickly.

On Friday morning, he was up and wandering around my room. I picked him up and cuddled him, then gave him some food. I could feel the link form in his mind. Now I know why Cara is so attached to Markus.

*It's great, isn't it?*

*You startled me!* I sent to Cara. *Was I thinking that loud?*

Amy sent me a telepathic giggle. *We both knew what to expect when I gave you that virus packet.*

*Thank you!* I sent to her. *Gregory has just become the best pet I ever had. I hope Ginny doesn't get too jealous.*

*Should I make her morf into a Pegasus?*

*I would love it, but I'm afraid that something like that would attract too much attention.*

*I'm afraid so,* sighed Amy.

I took Gregory into the bathroom. He was a bit nervous because he doesn't like water, but I calmed him with a thought. I adjusted the faucet in the bathtub to a small stream of warm water, and set him next to it. I projected to him the pleasant feelings of a warm shower, and diverted the stream to his skin. I caused it to flow along next to his skin and lift off the crud that he picked up during his transformation. Once he was clean, I turned off the water and dried him with TK. His fur came out wonderfully silky and soft.

I carried him downstairs and outside. I calmed him again and leapt into the air with him in my arms. He was all claws for a second, but soon calmed down. I held him around the chest and allowed his wings to extend themselves. He was enjoying himself, but wasn't quite ready for me to release him.

I landed and set him on the ground, then took off and flew a few feet away and called him. He came running, spread his wings, leapt, and did a somersault. I tried not to giggle as he righted himself and looked at me indignantly. He kind of shook himself and gave me that cat look that means, 'I meant to do it that way.' He sat down and licked himself with great dignity for a while. He finally decided to walk toward me, so I hopped up and took to the air. I swooped low over him and called to him. He ran after me, spread his wings, and leapt. He glided for a few feet, bumped down hard, leapt again, bounced, and was finally in the air. He flapped his wings hard as I encouraged him.

Soon, he was flying as if he had been doing it all his life. He surged ahead of me, so I lost a little altitude, flipped over, came up under him, and tickled his soft belly. He took a swipe at me, but I was too fast for him. Besides, I could read the intent in his mind before he made a move. We flew around for about half an hour, then I landed. He landed in my arms and started purring.

The next day, when I was gathering the eggs, a fat buff orpington hen puffed up her feathers and growled at me.

Yes, hens growl. It sounds about like you would expect.

I petted her and said, "Give me your eggs, you grouchy old thing." She stared daggers at me, but didn't peck me. Most breeds of hen would have given me at least a few half-hearted pecks, if not some seriously painful jabs, but buff orpingtons tend to be rather easy going.

After I collected the eggs and set them aside, I picked up miss grouchy pants and put her into a brood pen. Then, I went back to the eggs. As I was sorting through them, I realized that I could tell whether the eggs would hatch into hens or roosters. Then, my bio senses gave me a picture of the chicken inside and the color of her eggs.

I saw a light pinkish egg that contained rooster that had genetics that would result in lavender eggs -- if roosters laid eggs. Well, I can fix that! A few changes in the genes, and he became a she. Much encouraged, I started goofing with the rest of the eggs. Using the genes for blue eggs from Araucana hens, along with those from leghorns (for white eggs,) and from various American breeds (for brown, tan, and pinkish eggs,) I was able to come up with quite a variety of egg colors. By the time I was done, I had modified about three dozen eggs.

Oops.

It's easy to get a hen to hatch about a dozen eggs, and maybe a few more for a fat girl like a Buff Orpington, but there's no way I'm going to be able to put three dozen eggs under her feathered butt. Too bad I can't get more broodies.

Or can I?

I went back out to the coop and started reading the hens. I found a couple that were starting to produce the hormones that cause a hen to go broody. I tossed them each into a nest box in the brooder pen and changed their biochemistry a bit. It took about ten minutes for them to start acting broody. I divided the eggs out between the three hens.

We have an incubator and brooder, but I much prefer letting a hen do the job. Babysitting a bunch of eggs and young chicks is fun and educational, but it gets old after a while. Besides, a hen calling to her little puff ball chicks is just too cute.

I went to bed satisfied that we would have another three dozen hens and three roosters in twenty-one days. Being a mommy is kind of neat.

I woke up in the middle of the night to a feeling of hot desire. The feeling was centered around a body part that I don't have. As the fog of sleep left my mind, I realized that it was coming from Gregory. I guess he got his balls back when he morfed.

I looked through his eyes and saw him advancing upon Snowpuff, a beautiful white long-haired barn cat. She was caterwauling at him and displaying her receptiveness. I could detect her pheromones through Gregory's senses. He wasted no time.

I blushed. As a farm girl, mating behavior is by no means new to me. Still, I had never seen it from the inside. Gregory got the job done and hopped off. Snowpuff turned around and swatted him. He walked off with a silly grin on his face. He didn't go very far, though. Queens are known to mate with several toms when they are in heat, but Gregory wasn't going let that happen. He guarded her until she went out of heat.

I slept in the next morning. I explained to Mom and Dad that the caterwauling in the barn kept me up. I didn't lie, exactly. I just didn't divulge all the details.

"That's never bothered you before," she said.

"Gregory was in the middle of it," I replied with a sigh.

She raised her eyebrows, thought for a second, then said, "Was it good for you, too?"

I put my hands on my hips and glared at her. "Mother!"

She didn't make a sound, but her shoulders were shaking. I didn't need to use my empathic powers to tell that she was way too amused. Finally, she snickered, "My little girl is growing up."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Mother!"

She couldn't hold it any more. She started laughing so hard she almost fell down. I finally sighed and walked out to do the chores.

I checked on the mother hens and the eggs. The zygote in one of them was failing to divide. It still was alive, though. I decided to leave it there for at least another day. The eggs under the induced broodies were behind the others by about twelve hours because the hens had still had their breast feathers. The feathers were gone now, so the new broodies can now keep the eggs warm and incubate them properly.

After taking care of all the animals, I found Snowpuff and picked her up. She was still feeling the effects of having been in heat, so she was extra friendly, and tended to lift her butt, move her tail to the side, and take on a bow-legged stance when I petted her. Still, she was no longer receptive and had seven little embryos growing. While I have seen litters of up to eight kittens, four is the most common number. I guess Gregory and Snowpuff are a fertile couple.

I looked carefully at the genetics. It was easy to see which chromosomes came from Gregory, and which came from Snowpuff. I tried to figure out which genes gave Gregory his wings and powers. I managed to figure most of it out, and Amy was only too happy to help. I copied the genes in question to the chromosomes that came from Snowpuff. Then, Amy helped me find and fix all the genetic errors. Finally, Amy designed a change to the psi-linking code. She modified it so that the kittens won't link to a person until a telepath forges the link. That'll make it easy for us to keep the kittens with the mother until they are old enough to give away, then forge the link.

The kittens are going to be gorgeous. Snowpuff will be giving birth to a male and two female seal points, a male red point, a female cream point, a male chocolate point, and a pure white female. All of the kittens will have long fur and be very silky to the touch.

We decided to make a few more changes. I changed Snowpuff's pheromones so that she will attract Gregory, but won't have any effect on a normal tomcat. I also copied Gregory's changes to her ovaries and cleaned up the genetics.

*For the sake of genetic diversity, maybe we ought to give Gregory a couple more mates,* I sent to Amy. I found and called Coalpuff and Creampuff -- the rest of the 'Puff Sisters.' Coalpuff is a beautiful long-haired black cat, and Creampuff's long silky fur is the same color as the points of a cream point Siamese.

*So much for genetic diversity,* Amy snickered.

*They aren't really sisters,* I said. *Creampuff was born here, Snowpuff was a stray that we found half-dead at church, and Coalpuff was given to us by one of our customers.*

The week passed pleasantly. I enjoyed spending time with my grandparents. I also enjoyed flying, riding Ginny, studying without pain, and generally living the rural life. I was starting to settle into a new routine, but it wasn't to last. In just a few days, I would be starting my sophomore year.

Chapter Twelve: Rejection, and Shaking Off the Dust

We said our goodbyes to Grandma and Grandpa on Saturday, and went to church the next morning. I attracted a few stares as I walked in with my parents. I could sense a fair amount of animosity. Apparently, there's a reason that there are no obvious morfs at our church.

The sermon was insipid. He managed to work up a bit of passion when talking about purity, but the message was otherwise dead. I hadn't realized before how lifeless our preacher's messages were. Was it my newfound empathic senses? Was it the fact that I am no longer distracted by the pain? Maybe I have been spoiled by listening to the passionate and sincere messages delivered by Pastor Dan.

After church, we tried mixing with our friends. Some seemed to still like us, but appeared to be embarrassed to be seen talking with us. Some were downright hostile. Even the preacher didn't want anything to do with us. I wanted to share the joy of my cure, but nobody cared.

The Church of the Frozen Chosen.

Sadly, we walked out the door. Some of the teens were hanging out in the parking lot. As we headed for our car, they surrounded us. "We don't want your kind here."

"We noticed," my dad said.

"If you'll excuse us, we'll go to a church where love is not just preached, but practiced," I said as I shook the dust from my sandals. Sadly, none of them got it.

*Just keep walking,* I sent to Mom and Dad. We headed straight for our car, and the teens in front of us found themselves being gently pushed aside. They were forced to leave a path just wide enough for us to pass. *Don't worry. They can't touch us,* I assured my parents.

"I'm not going back," I said to them with a sob. They assured me that they felt the same way.

"It's worth a two hour round trip to go where we are loved," Mom said.

I smiled, thinking of all the good times ahead. I'll be joining the youth group and hanging out with the Martins, the Joneses, Carol, Linda, and all the cute boys. Meanwhile, Mom and Dad can spend time with Kim and Sara and Sue.

I spent the last day of summer vacation just hanging out -- flying, riding Ginny, and playing with the animals. Gregory was my constant companion, and did a good job of keeping up with me. I got a little studying done, too.

Whenever my treatment at church started to get me depressed, I thought about the future good times at my new church.

After putting my book bag together and laying out my clothes, I snuggled down into my bed. As always, Mom and Dad prayed over me. I closed my eyes and was out.

Chapter Thirteen: School Days

The next morning found me waiting at the usual bus stop on the corner. When I was a kid, I used to walk the half mile down our dead-end dirt road. After I got the cancer, Mom or Dad would drive me. Now, I have the choice of walking or flying. I have to carry my backpack in my arms because it would otherwise interfere with my wings. I managed to attract a few stares on the bus. I wasn't dressed provocatively, but neither was I hiding inside the frumpy shapeless clothes that I used to favor. I felt like every eye was on me as I settled my wings and sat.

A couple of the guys were undressing me with their eyes, but Cindy had warned me about that. Besides, they weren't as bad as some of the people at the mall. If anything, it was flattering. Anyhow, fair is fair. After all, I don't have to use my imagination to look under their clothes. It's gotten to be pretty much routine, actually. I wasn't even looking at them. I looked around the bus so that I could practice my telesense, not to go boy watching.

The first day of school was hectic, as usual. I think someone programmed the computer to arrange the schedules for maximum distance. It seemed like I had to go across the entire school to get to each class. Someone referred to it as 'hidden PE.' Instead of regular gym class, I had to report to advanced gym class for testing. As predicted by the Martins, I passed the tests and will qualify for advanced PE.

For some reason, I was signed up for home economics. I have been helping Mom cook for so long that a basic cooking class isn't likely to teach me anything new. The teacher pointed out that sewing will come in handy because I'm going to find myself modifying clothes to accommodate my tail and wings. In the end, we decided that I should take the class. The teacher will allow me to concentrate on sewing and art, and to act as a teacher's assistant during cooking class.

As I was washing up before lunch, I was accosted by a group of girls, some of whom used to be my friends. "This bathroom is for humans, kitty bitch!"

This is getting really old.

"Human is as human does," I said to them. Then, I finished what I was doing, walked past them, and left. They wanted to come after me, but somehow couldn't work up the ambition.

*I wish I had thought of that,* Cindy sent to me. *I kind of like Cara's artery pinching trick, but using empathy to sap their enthusiasm has a certain elegance to it.*

Cara, Larry, Jim, Amy, and Carol agreed. I sent them a telepathic bow.

Even though they're forty miles away, I still have friends with me. A tear leaked from my eye. They sent me a telepathic smile. *Hey, we'll see you this Sunday. I'm so excited that you're joining us!*

I walked into the lunchroom and felt a familiar mental touch. I couldn't place it at first. I have never talked to this person, but I felt his touch recently...

Then, it hit me. I had felt Jerry Wright's mental touch as I circled his house last week. He had been sleeping, so I didn't drop in.

I located him. He was sitting alone in the corner of the lunchroom. That area has often been dubbed, 'the misfit corner.' I walked over and sat next to him. He turned to look at me. I could see the confusion in his eyes. "You don't happen to know any recently morfed flying kitty girls, do you?"

His eyes lit up. "Tina?"

"Got it in one!" I said with a smile. I hugged him gently, remembering all too well how painful it can be. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Be my guest," he smiled.

We compared our class schedules. Since he was a junior, we didn't have any classes in common.

I could feel the envy of some of the guys; wondering how this bedraggled looking guy in the misfit corner rated the attention of a cute kitty girl. Most of them were guys who wouldn't have given me a second glance last year.

As I was talking to Jerry, I scanned him and conferred with my friends. I found some of the more dangerous and painful tumors, then quietly liquefied them and drew them out. I kept the goop together in a ball under the table, then quietly levitated it over to the garbage. I sterilized it so that it couldn't be considered a biohazard.

Over the next couple weeks, we made it a point to meet at 'our' table for lunch. He would often comment that he always felt better after seeing me. I just smiled. If he only knew.

A couple times, someone from the supers table or a popular clique table would come and tell me that I don't need to sit in the misfit corner. I would just smile and thank them. A couple of the jocks tried to hit on me, too.

I kept my powers mostly quiet, but it was never a deep, dark secret. I ended up healing some cuts and burns in home economics class. On occasion, a student will come to me and ask for help with a boo-boo. I even ended up zapping a few zits. Jerry was privy to more than the rest of the students because we liked to communicate telepathically.

*That guy at the jock table is undressing you with his eyes,* Jerry sent to me. We looked at each other in puzzlement.

*Wait a minute! I thought you were a pure.*

*None of my parents or grandparents have morfed,* he agreed. *How the heck did that happen?*

I called up my friends at the Kitty Mansion so that we could figure out what is going on. It turns out that I trust Jerry so much that I unconsciously look for his mental touch and allow him to read my natural and metaphysical senses. They have been doing that with each other for quite a while, so they were able to teach us to improve and solidify the link.

When I got home, I told Mom and Dad what had happened. We decided to try an experiment, and I did the same thing with them. The process required a good amount of trust, and I would never be able to do it with someone that I don't like.

A couple days later, I could tell as soon as I got to school that Jerry wasn't feeling good. I could feel it. When lunch time finally came, he came over to our table and plopped himself down with a sigh. "I don't know why, but I'm just dragging butt today!"

I looked him over. "Oh, it's not a big mystery," I told him. "You're coming down with MORFS."

I didn't tell him that it's actually the AMORFS bug that was biting him. Since he wouldn't have naturally morfed into a hybrid, he would be getting the simian genes that come with AMORFS. I don't think he would like waking up as an absolute monkey hybrid. I'm sure that neither of us want him to wake up as a girl. I kinda like him as a boy. I called to my friends for help as I tended to him.

I could sense the panic rising in him. "But Mom and Dad are staunch pures! This can't be happening to me! Nobody ever morfs in our church!" He heaved all over the table.

Making sure that nobody saw me, I used TK to remove the little bits of vomit that had hit him and me. I helped him up and led him to the nurse's office. By the time we got there, they were ready for us. Apparently, one of the lunchroom monitors had called ahead.

The nurse was about to shoo me out of the room when Jerry asked her, "Please! I want her to stay with me!" She didn't want to, but I reminded her that I was a bio elemental. The nurse got a stim pack from her stores and gave it to Jim. "I can't prescribe a sleeping pill, but I can at least start you on the stim packs," she told him. He ate it, but he didn't enjoy it.

I had kind of kept a remote eye on our book bags as I was sitting with him. Someone came over and started to rifle through his bag, so I flung some of his vomit on the perpetrator's face. I asked the nurse if she could have someone rescue our bags. Soon, my home economics teacher came in and set them down.

One of our topics of discussion over the past few weeks had been MORFS, and what he would like if he were to morf. I linked with Amy. *AMORFS, eh? Looks like he's been hanging out with a bad crowd.*

*Can you help him?* I asked. *I hope it isn't too late!*

She took the preferences that I had gathered from Jerry and did the best she could. She got rid of the facial changes, forced sex change, most of the fur, and added wings and technopath powers. Without the tubular sclerosis, he'll reach his genetic destiny of being a well-muscled six foot two or six foot four; along with the enhanced musculature needed to move his big golden feathered wings. Like me, he'll have fur on his back.

I waited with him until his mother arrived. I smiled at her as she entered.

"Jerry is going to be fine," I said. "MORFS tends to clear up genetic disease and rebuild the body, so his tuberous sclerosis complex is as good as history. He's going to he healthy as a horse and almost as strong."

I could sense the conflict in her mind -- her love for her son against the teachings of her church.

"You have to choose between your son and the doctrine of the genetic purity church," I said gently as I enhanced her feelings of love for Jerry. "You don't have to choose between Jerry and God. MORFS isn't a judgment on Jerry. It's a blessing."

I took Jerry's hand and looked him in the eye. "The tubular sclerosis is as good as gone. You won't even be passing it on to your children. Furthermore, you're going to love your new form."

"You can see what I'm going to look like?"

"It's a bio elemental thing," I told him. "Some of us can do it, anyhow."

"Can you change the direction of MORFS?"

I gave him a wry grin. "Unfortunately, no. The doctors Martin tell me that it would take a lot more processing power than is available in a standard human brain."

I looked up at his mom again. "I know what Jerry has been going through for all these years. I had terminal cancer, and was in pain all the time. Just getting rid of the pain is intoxicating."

"So don't keep me in suspense! What am I going to look like?"

"You're going to be a hunk," I told him with a smirk. "I'm definitely asking you to the Sadie Hawkins dance."

His mother was still wrestling with herself inside. I gave her love for her son another nudge, and slipped her an image of what he will look like.

"My parents pray over me every night. I have been praying for Jerry. What's happening is definitely a blessing. He's going to be so happy with his new life!" I gave him a kiss on the cheek.

I helped Jerry off of the cot and led him to the door while his mother brought the car around. "If you have any problems at all, give me a call," I said to them. *Keep in touch and let me know how things are going,* I sent to Jerry privately. After they were gone, I used my eCom to send Officer Saouda a message. There's not much they can do legally about the situation, but they can at least keep an eye on things.

*Thanks for the heads-up,* she sent to me. *Can you contact him now and get permission for me to monitor him?*

*Hey, Jerry. How ya doing?*

*Lousy,* He replied. *We're almost to the doctor's office, though.*

*Do you mind if a police telepath monitors you for safety reasons? After what happened to Amy and Cara, they don't want to take chances.*

*Sure, no problem,* he sent to me. *I'll be able to relax better if I know that someone's watching.*

I introduced them and let them hash things out. Then, I called the Martins and the Joneses.

Obviously, I was late for my fourth hour class. I was only half paying attention, anyhow, because I was busy monitoring Jerry.

Jerry made it home without any mishaps. I watched through his eyes as his mother tenderly put him to bed and prayed over him. Apparently, she took some of the things I said to heart. She pressed the 'go to sleep' button, and he went unconscious. I listened to the mutterings of his sleeping brain for a moment, then let my awareness of him fade into the background.

(End of part three)

---

Tina Shepherd was in the final stages of dying a slow death due to cancer when she met the Martins and their friends.

sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

---

Chapter Fourteen: Welcoming a New Butterfly

The next two school days were long. I studied and did my work as always, but I was worried about Jerry.

*Oooooo girl, you got it bad!*

I rolled my eyes. *Come on, Cindy. You know I'm just worried about my old friend.*

*A likely story,* said Cara.

Amy giggled. *I knew something was up when she gave me that image of what Jerry should look like after he morfs.*

I blushed. *You guys are having way too much fun.*

Of course, they were kind enough to keep me company as I took care of Ginny, took a ride out to the pond, and made my daily flight. As I was gliding down from about 12,000 feet, I felt the stirrings of Jerry's mind as he started to come out of his sleep. I folded my wings back and went into a steep dive, reveling in the feel of the wind as it whipped past at two hundred miles per hour.

I can't wait to share this with Jerry!

I automatically scanned the area as I dove. There were two men in a parked van near Jerry's house. They didn't want to be there, but they felt that it was their duty. Mostly, they were bored. I contacted Officer Saouda telepathically and let her know. She was off duty, but she immediately called it in.

Up high, I can easily be mistaken for a bird. I made sure that I was out of their line of sight as I lost altitude. I leveled out and skimmed low over the rooftops, dodging the trees. I landed in Jerry's side yard, out of sight of the van. I sent feelings of boredom and tiredness to the two men, and walked up to the porch when they were both looking away. Jerry's mom answered when I knocked at the door. "Hello Mrs. Wright," I said to her with a smile. She invited me in and introduced me to Jerry's dad.

"I was hoping to meet you," he said. "Jerry has been telling us all about you, but he left out a few details."

I smiled. "I can only imagine."

We just stood there awkwardly looking at each other. Nobody could think of anything to say.

"I was flying around when I felt Jerry starting to wake up." I listened to his brain briefly. "He should be conscious in a couple minutes. Do you want to be with him when he wakes up, or do you think he would be better off discovering his new form without any distractions?"

They looked confused. "We don't have any experience in stuff like this. What do you think?"

"Considering his personality, he'll probably do better by himself for a couple minutes. I can monitor him and let you know if he gets upset."

They nodded. I was reading a curious mixture of confusion, submission, and determination in their minds. Motivated by their love for their son, they were willing to scrap a whole bunch of indoctrination and listen to a high school girl that their former church would have stoned, or at least rejected as hopelessly evil. If I was sure that they could handle telepathic communication without becoming unhinged, I would have asked the Professors Martin to talk to them. As it was, I was definitely calling upon them for advice.

I heard Jerry's mind become fully awake. I sent comforting thoughts up to him, but stayed in the background. I let him know that I was there for him without forcing myself upon him.

"He's awake," I told his parents.

I watched as he sat up, checked himself over, and walked over to the mirror. He had some trouble getting his wings to behave, but he soon got the hang of it. He sniffed a couple times, made a face, and walked into the shower. After he was done, he dried himself. He had some initial difficulty working around his wings, but he soon figured it out. Still, he had damp hair, wet fur, and soggy wings. He sighed, then put on the pair of shorts that his parents had provided for him. They barely fit.

"He's all showered off and has his shorts on," I told his parents. "If he's anything like me, a hug will be much appreciated right now."

They went upstairs to see their son. They were ecstatic to see him healthy and free of the tubular sclerosis that had plagued him for his whole life.

*Come on up,* he sent to me. He stood up as I entered his room, and enfolded me in a warm hug, wrapping his golden wings around me -- something I had done with him a number of times in the past.

And he did look good. His wavy golden-blond hair blended smoothly into the silky golden fur on his back. It was almost a shame to cover that fur with his wings.

"Well, good morning, handsome," I said to him with a smile. "Welcome to the world of the butterflies!" I stood back and eyed him critically. "Yep, you came out just fine! I think you'll do."

He smiled at me. "You don't look so bad yourself, Kitten."

I looked at his parents. "So, what's the plan? Should we carve some wing holes in an old t-shirt and drag his tail off to the clothing store?"

He turned and looked at his butt. "I have a tail?"

"Alas, no," I said with a smirk. "The good part is that you won't have a hard time finding pants."

"Know any good places to buy shirts with wing sleeves?"

"Funny you should ask," I replied.

Then I remembered the guys out in the van. I told the Wrights about them, and supplied an image of them to Jerry.

"It's Brothers Simms and Geralds," Jerry said. "They're probably here to officially boot us all out of the church."

"They aren't intending on stoning you?"

"That congregation in the city has given us all a bad reputation," Mr. Wright said.

"Amy and Cara and Sue are good friends of mine," I told them seriously. "I don't doubt you, but I can't help but be a bit paranoid."

"Why don't I invite them in for coffee?" Mrs. Wright asked. "We're not going back to that church, anyhow. We might as well get it done and over with."

I followed her with my remote senses as she went out to talk to the men. They came in, looking embarrassed and apologetic.

"Go ahead and serve us with notice that we are officially excommunicated," Mr. Wright said.

Brother Simms stood up. "First, I want to congratulate Jerry on being cured." He went over and shook Jerry's hand. Brother Geralds followed suit.

"I know you have to follow orders," Mrs. Wright said gently.

Brother Simms pulled out a small leather-bound book, opened it to a page that he had bookmarked, and read it solemnly. Then, he handed the Wrights an envelope, apologized, and walked out the door.

"My old church did it without ceremony, but I was rejected just as soundly, and much more sincerely," I commented to them. "Our new church is about an hour away, but it's well worth the drive. I feel more welcome and loved there than I ever was at my old church." They looked at me with hope.

"You're more than welcome to come. We can pick you all up tomorrow and introduce you to our friends."

After feeding Jerry a good lunch, and eating something ourselves, we dragged Jerry out to the mall. Mrs. Wright and I had a great time picking out clothes and forcing him to try them on. Mr. Wright just looked bored and gave his son moral support.

Jerry decided to ride home wearing his 'flying clothes' -- a snug-fitting jump suit with a smooth finish to reduce drag. He looked really strong and muscular.

Once we got to his home, I led him to the side yard. I stood facing him and spread my wings. He spread his beautiful golden wings, displaying two feet more wingspan than I have. I watched as he tested his wings. Then, I ran toward him, spread my wings, leapt into the air, and flew low over his head. *Can't catch me!*

"Oh yeah?" he said out loud. He leapt into the air and was on my tail in a flash. We linked up telepathically so that I could help him learn the finer points of flying. With someone there to help him, he was able to learn a whole lot faster than I had. Soon, we were gaining altitude, doing loops and rolls, diving, and generally having a blast.

We went up to fifteen thousand feet, taking advantage of our increased lung capacity to get oxygen from the thin air. We dove down, skimmed the housetops, came to his side yard, flared, and landed in front of his parents. They had really proud looks on their faces as they hugged him.

I surveyed the three of them with tears in my eyes. "I'm really happy that things have worked out so well!" They all thanked me and gave me a hug.

After checking with Mom and Dad, I let them know when we would be picking them up for church.

Gregory met me in the air about the time I got about half way home. I landed first, and he landed in my arms. He was purring loudly as I carried him in. Mom and I started dinner, then went out to help Dad with the evening chores.

Chapter Fifteen: Introducing a New Butterfly

The next morning, we got an early start. I mentally checked with Jerry between chores and breakfast. After a quick shower, I put on a nice dress with an open back. I have come to favor open-backed clothes because my wings settle more naturally. I put some flying clothes and a swimsuit into a duffel bag, and suggested the same to Jerry.

When we got to the Wrights' house, I introduced Mom and Dad to everyone. The Wrights were a bit overdressed compared to us, but certainly not more so than some of the more conservative members of our church. I sat in the very back seat with Jerry and conversed with him mentally. Dad and Mister Wright sat up front, and the ladies sat in the middle row of seats.

Before we knew it, we were pulling into the parking lot at church. As we were approaching the building, I spotted my friends standing just outside the door.

*Design your own boyfriend; what a concept!* Cara sent not quite privately enough.

*Hey!* said Larry.

*If I was going to design a boyfriend, he would look just like you,* Cara said with a smirk.

*Awwww!* chorused Amy and Cindy.

*I'll have you know that it was a collaborative effort. He doesn't know it, but I used most of his ideas when I imagined his change to Amy.*

*A likely story,* smirked Cindy. *I have to admit that he's quite the hunk, though.*

*Hey!* said Jim.

*You're a hunk, too,* she said as she gave him a kiss on the cheek. He blushed.

Jerry gave me a confused look.

"My friends are picking on me," I said to him out loud.

"We were just wondering where Amy found such a hunk," Cindy said to him. He blushed.

"I like him for who he is inside, I assure you," I told them. "Of course, I ain't complaining at all about what MORFS has done to him."

He was starting to feel like he was being discussed like a piece of meat, so I gave him a hug, then introduced everyone. Mr. and Mrs. Wright were welcomed warmly by the adults, who led them up to the front. Cindy and Larry, meanwhile, dragged us off to a knot of teens that was congregating in the back of the sanctuary. We chatted for a few minutes until we heard one of the elders clearing his throat. We looked up at the front of the church, blushed, and made haste to take our seats.

The fourteen of us definitely took up a good part of the front. I sat between Amy and Jerry. We watched respectfully as the elder read the announcements.

Kim walked up to the lectern. "I, the official announcer of changelings, greet you," she quipped. We all chuckled as Jerry walked up to join her.

"Last week, Jerry was suffering from tuberous sclerosis complex. Generally, the people with that genetic condition can live a normal life span, some with hardly any symptoms. Jerry came close to dying from it, however. Somehow, he started to get better. It's a good thing, too, because he wouldn't have survived MORFS in his earlier condition."

She looked up at Jerry. "As you can see, he's now as healthy as a horse, and almost as strong." We applauded as Jerry and Kim returned to their seats. I gave him a hug before he sat down, much to the amusement of certain people.

The elder took the podium again. "Are there any guests today?"

My father stood up and motioned to Mom and me to do the same. "Two weeks ago, we were guests. We have decided that this is our home church now.

Everyone applauded. They were sincere, too.

Mom and I sat down. Dad remained standing, and motioned for the Wrights to stand up. "We brought some new guests who are currently without a church home. I'm sure we can do for them what you did for us."

More applause.

Other guests were introduced. Some people had brought visiting family members to church with them. One couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Harrond, came in with their recently morfed squirrel hybrid son Tom because of our church's reputation of accepting and helping MORFS survivors. Larry coordinated with the teens to make sure that we welcome him properly.

The elder made a final announcement. "The grub committee has outdone itself again. I think we need to start calling them the the fast response team." Everyone chuckled. "Jerry woke up from MORFS on Saturday morning. On Saturday evening, the Martins found out that the Wrights would be coming here. I have to hand it to our dedicated food preparers; they set up quite a spread in a short period of time." We applauded to show our appreciation. "Now, everyone please rise and greet each other."

I'm beginning to like this part of the service best of all.

The message was about growing where God plants you, and sharing and spreading His blessing. I had to smile about the appropriateness of the message.

After the service, we led the Wrights to the fellowship hall. They were overwhelmed. Instead of aloof suspicion, they were greeted with sincere welcome. There was no initiation or period of probation.

"Don't be ashamed to stuff yourself," I told Jerry. "We morfies need to feed our powers."

"What powers?" he asked.

"You mean I didn't tell you? You're an electrical elemental and a technopath. That ought to go well with your chosen career path, don't you think?" I told him with a smirk. He just looked at me with a boggled expression.

"Overwhelming, isn't it?"

"In more ways than one," he confirmed.

As we passed the eggs that my mother had brought, I picked up a green and a blue one. "Which one do you want?" He looked at me funny. "If you don't like them, I'll tell my hennies on you and they'll peck your toes!" He rolled his eyes, then took the blue one.

As soon as we were done eating, we joined some of the other teens who had gone to welcome Tom, the new boy.

"I know how hard it can be," I heard Carol say soothingly. "I was a boy before I got worked over by the bug. That changed all my relationships. I lost some friends to prejudice, or just due to the fact that they aren't comfortable with my change." She put her arm around Cara. "I've gained some new friends, though -- real friends who will stand by you."

He started to look hopeful, but added. "I was kicked out of my old church."

"So was I," I said to him. "They just kind of quietly rejected us, but Jerry here was officially excommunicated."

"That's a real shame, but not quite as painful as getting stoned," commented Cindy.

"Tell me about it!" Cara and Amy said together, then giggled.

"You're..."

"The ones," Cara confirmed. "We're the troublemakers who managed to convince the local Genetic Purity Church to disband, and hopefully save some lives in the process."

"Painful, but worth it," Amy said.

"You probably saved my life," he said. "The preacher lamented that it wasn't safe to do what they are supposed to do, so they could do nothing but ridicule us and kick us out." Then he smiled. "I guess I don't have it so bad, after all."

"The bad part is that some of your more superficial friends will leave you. The good part is that you'll know who your real friends are," said Larry.

"The best part is that your parents are standing with you all the way," said Amy.

They started discussing some of the physical enhancements that come with being a hybrid, and what abilities are useful for what sports; which quickly turned it into a guy fest. I was getting bored with the discussion, so I wandered off.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that Myra was leading Tom's parents downstairs. *Tom seems to be doing better,* I told her.

*That's good to know,* she replied. *I think you guys are better therapy than any dozen psychologists.*

*Karen might be good therapy, too,* I commented, referring to that cute prairie dog hybrid that was making cow eyes at him.

Carol walked up and caught my eye. "Whatcha plottin?"

"Oh, I was just talking to Myra. It looks like Tom is going to do OK."

"Especially if he happens to notice Karen," she giggled. Then she looked at Jerry. "I understand we have another technopath in the flock. If you want, I can help you develop your powers."

"Hey, he's mine! No poaching!" I said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes. "You can come too, if you like. After all, it looks like you guys are getting cozy enough to be sharing powers." Jerry looked at us and raised an eyebrow.

"You have been sharing my powers, so now I'm going to share yours," I said to him. We checked in with our parents, who were about to go with the Martins, then went to the sound booth with Carol.

The first step was to help him find his powers. After that, the three of us linked and Carol showed us all the tips and techniques. She showed me a trick that Cara had taught her. Jerry provided high voltage at a low current, and I provided containment for a kind of neon light. After a while, we were invaded by the rest of the youth group. They informed us that it's time to go to the lake to take advantage of one of the last warm days of the year. We had just enough time to change.

We had a great time at the lake. I found that my wings make swimming a bit of a challenge. I also found that I could take off straight from the water with the help of my TK. Jerry doesn't have TK, so he swam as fast as he could with the crawl, did one butterfly, then quickly spread his wings and made a powerful downstroke. After a bit of practice, he got quite good at it. Hey, if ducks can do it, why can't we?

I found out that I'm pretty good at volleyball, but not spectacular. Jerry was better, largely because he has practiced more recently. I hadn't been able to participate in any kind of sport since I was about ten years old.

One of the teens wasn't feeling very good, and got sicker as the day went on. Amy and I looked at him, and told him that he needs to got to the doctor for some stim packs and sedatives. We could see that he was going to be an absolute hybrid -- a dog, complete with a furry face and muzzle. Amy quietly toned things down so that he'll only have fur on his torso and tail, and will still have a human face. She also changed things so that he'll keep his human color vision, rather than be stuck with the limited color vision of a dog. One of his friends dropped him off at the urgent care clinic, where he met his parents. That left us all short one car.

Jerry and I volunteered to fly over to the Martins' home rather than taking up room in a car. After one last swim, I TK'd us both dry and we slipped our flying clothes on over our swimsuits. Cindy took our bags and gave us the GPS coordinates of their home. We took off a little after everyone had left, but still beat them home.

When we got there, I was surprised to find that Jerry's parents were nowhere in sight. "They came down with AMORFS," Sara told us gently. "We had one of our colleagues, Doctor Mary Jacobson, come over and set them up with stim packs. They're going to be fine in a couple days."

Jerry looked stunned. "But... their voices!"

"Don't worry, Jerry," said Kim. "They seem to have picked up a variant. They'll get about as much fur as you have, but no horns. Their vocal cords will be fine."

"It looks like some of your changes rubbed off on them," Sara added. "They're going to have wings, and the physical strength enhancements that go with them."

Jerry smiled. "Thanks for taking care of them."

I sent to Kim and Sara privately, *Thanks!*

*You suspect of us of something?* Kim sent to me.

*I think that Jerry's changes 'rubbed off' on them the way your changes 'rubbed off' on me.*

Kim smirked, then nodded.

We relaxed with our friends until it was time to make dinner. Then, Jerry and I helped Larry, Cindy, Cara, and Amy. Dinner is always so much better with good company.

When it was time to go home, Jerry came home with us. We stopped by his house to pick up his tablet, school backpack, and a week's worth of clothing. We were pretty geeked to be spending the week together. Mom and Dad just rolled their eyes. "Don't be getting any bright ideas, young lady!"

We went to the kitchen table and studied. We went though our school work quickly, then worked together on our FAA studies.

The Federal Aviation Administration allows human flyers to freely flit about uncontrolled airspace under rules similar to those that govern unlicensed ultralight pilots. We're expected to wear a transponder, carry a radio, and know the 'rules of the road' when we enter controlled airspace, however. The easiest way to fly where we want without excess restriction is to get a pilot's license. We think of the 'ground school' training as extra homework.

Chapter Sixteen: Maggots Spin Cocoons, Too.

The next morning, I went to school by myself while Mom took Jerry for his post-MORFS testing. Out here in the country, there is less waiting. He was certified safe for school, and was able to meet me for lunch at our normal table in the misfit corner. We had slowly been collecting friends, and have taken to referring to our table as the 'sane but not normal' table. We were considered to be almost cool, but we would need to be more exclusive and stuck-up to be really cool.

Our friends congratulated Jerry on his change, and made some snide remarks about "fly united".

"You filthy animal! You brought the degradation to church, and now my parents are cursed!"

We turned around and saw one of the boys from the pures table. He looked angry, but I could sense that he was trying hard not to cry.

"It doesn't do any good to blame Jerry," I said. "AMORFS attacks pures only, and is very contagious."

"If your parents have it, you probably do, too," said Jerry. "Maybe your former cronies will start calling you 'Monkey Boy'... or maybe 'Monkey Girl.'"

I put my hand on Jerry's shoulder. "He's suffered enough. Let him be." Silently, I added, *It's going to be 'possum girl,' by the way. He's going to turn into a halfie with opossum features and a very female shape.*

I turned back to him. I silently projected sympathy and kindness to him. "I know some people who can help you after you change. You're welcome to come join us. Meanwhile, take good care of your parents so they can take good care of you in a few days."

He scowled, turned around, and stomped away. I watched him walk back to the pures table. I looked and noted that most of them were infected with AMORFS. Some will be starting their change tonight, while it's still a few weeks away for others. Jerry and I recognized people from both of our old churches.

I waited until he sat down and started eating, then walked over. "Most of you will be morfing soon. Some of you will be changing sexes." I pointed to the misfit corner. "We'll be here to help you if you want it." I walked away, leaving them too stunned for the usual rude jeers. Some of them were angry, some were worried, and some were even grateful. I contacted the Professors Martin and let them know about the two churches that were about to get hit hard by AMORFS.

Once we got home, Jerry helped me with the chores. We rode Ginny together to the pond and did our homework under Great Grandpa's picnic shelter. When we were finished, we rode back and stashed our books. After dinner, we got into our flying clothes and took to the air. We went to Jerry's house and picked up the address list for his old church. We also picked up some extra clothes for Jerry's Mom and Dad. I felt funny sorting through Mrs. Wright's clothes, but I needed to find a bra that would work with wings, as well as a dress with an open back. Fortunately, I have experience with that. Jerry, meanwhile, chose a couple of his own shirts for his dad. Back home, I added one of my looser flying shirts.

The next day, we flew together to the bus stop. I could sense the disappointment of a couple of the boys sitting near the back of the bus when Jerry and I sat together. I smiled. Jerry kind of smirked, too.

We had to split up when we got to school. He went to his first hour class, and I went to mine. We could keep in touch telepathically, but we kept it to a minimum because we were supposed to be paying attention to the teacher. When third hour came around, Jerry went to advanced gym for testing. He passed, of course. Now, we have a class together! Yay!

After a good workout in third hour advanced gym, we showered and went to lunch. I noticed that Karen, a dear friend who abandoned the pures table and stuck with me after my change, had the unmistakable signature of AMORFS. Like most adolescent AMORFS victims, she was going to be an absolute hybrid -- a cat, in this case. It broke my heart to think of this sweet girl being changed into a scruffy tomcat. Fortunately, Cara was able to provide the template so that I could reduce the severity of the changes and let her enjoy some of the strength advantages of normal hybrids. I flashed different images just above conscious level to note her subconscious reactions. Cara worked the results into her changes. She's going to be an adorable leopard-spotted kitty girl with a prehensile tail and regular human ears. We decided to give her wings and fur on her back since that will help reinforce the already common notion that people who hang out together tend to get similar changes due to exposure to similar DNA. Anyhow, nobody will have a clue that she was changed by AMORFS, and not MORFS.

As I predicted, a few of the pures were missing. The process has started.

As we were flying home, I felt some excitement coming from Gregory. He was looking at snowpuff, who was in labor. She was nervous about being in labor, and also because Gregory was there. Tomcats generally don't hang around when the babies are being born. In fact, toms have been known to eat kittens that were fathered by another tom. I used projective empathy to calm her down.

Two of the kittens were out by the time we got home. Snowpuff gave birth to the other five as we watched. She cleaned them off and started nursing without any help from us. Gregory looked so proud, watching protectively over his mate and babies. It didn't bother him at all when Jerry and I picked them up and cuddled them.

"Which one do you want?" I asked Jerry.

"What do you suspect?" he asked as he picked up a little seal point girl. "I have a certain fondness for flying seal point kitties."

After that little bit of excitement, my parents, Jerry, and I had a virtual meeting with the Kitties and Elves to discuss the impending AMORFS epidemic. Kim and Sara decided to meet with some of the other elders at our church to make plans for a special mission to help the two churches.

Jerry and I did our homework in the picnic shelter again. After dinner, we flew around and checked on some of the members of our old churches. We didn't actually visit any of them. We used my remote senses to see who was coming down with AMORFS. Ironically, Brothers Simms and Geralds were down. They will be done changing in a couple days. Jerry's old preacher was right behind them.

(End of part four)

---

Tina Shepherd was in the final stages of dying a slow death due to cancer when she met the Martins and their friends.

Note: The suicide caution is not for a central character, nor is it for a sympathetic character.

sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

---

Chapter Seventeen: Begin a rising exponential

The next day, even more of the pures were down for the count. I went over to the table and reiterated our offer. "When your friends come back, don't reject them. Almost all of you will be changing within the next few weeks."

Karen was feeling a little under the weather. Jerry and I took her to the school nurse, who called her parents. By the time her mom got out of work and came to pick her up, she was feeling pretty lousy. We had just helped Karen into her mom's car when we sensed the stirrings of Mr. and Mrs. Wright. They would be waking up in about half an hour. We went to the school office, signed out, and flew straight home to pick up the clothes we had selected for Jerry's parents. Then, it was off to the Kitty Mansion. *Just walk in,* Sara told us as we were coming in for a landing in their front yard.

We handed the duffel bags to Kim, who laid them out on the bed. When Jerry's parents finished their showers, they spent some time drying themselves, then put on the clothes. When they came out of their room, Jerry surprised himself by giving them each a hug. I gave them a hug, too. "Welcome to the world of the butterflies," we said together, then started laughing.

After feeding the hungry butterflies, we all retired to the living room. Jerry was just bubbling over with enthusiasm, telling his parents how much fun they were going to have.

After a while, Jerry couldn't hold it any longer. He insisted that they come out to the back yard with us. We faced them and encouraged them as they unfurled their wings fully for the first time. Soon, we were all flying.

We came down when my parents pulled into the driveway. I greeted them warmly, then stepped back for a good look. "Um... Mom? Dad? Did you know that AMORFS is contagious, and seems to prefer people who are naturally resistant to MORFS?"

They frowned a bit. Mom asked, "If we lose our vocal cords, will you be able to fix them?"

I nodded. "Yes, that should be no problem. Hopefully, though, you'll come out similar to the Wrights. After all, you probably caught it from them, and have been living close to me."

*How do you want to MORF?* I asked them. *I'm sure that Amy or Cara can give you what you want, but it'll cause less suspicion if you choose something similar to me or the Wrights.* Mom and Dad looked at each other. "Let's go down to the lab and see what we can figure out," I said to them out loud. *I know it's kind of scary, but I'm excited for you,* I added as I led them to the conference room that the Doctors Martin had set up earlier.

"We may be kind of prejudiced, but we like the flying kitty person look," Mom told me.

"That's good, because people will assume that it runs in the family," I replied. "Of course, from now on, it will". I started forming pictures of what Mom might look like in my head and flashing them to Mom and Dad. "You two seem to think alike," I told them. I formed a picture of Mom as a leopard-spotted kitty girl, and Dad as a handsome tiger-striped cat man. I gave them each cat eyes, tails, and black wings, but left their ears human. Mom will have emerald green eyes, and Dad will have eyes the color of liquid gold. I showed them the images, and they liked them.

I had a quick conference with the Doctors Martin, and they sent Cara down to do the honors. We decided that it would work best if they start morfing a week from Sunday in the evening. That will be consistent with the normal incubation period of AMORFS, and allow them the time to help get the local churches through their AMORFS epidemic.

After dinner, the Wrights changed into nicer clothes and we all piled into the minivan. We drove to our old church, almost making it there in time for the Wednesday evening service. Generally, the Wednesday evening service attracts the more serious church-goers. People who want to learn and worship go there, while those who mostly want to play the game, posture, and pretend, tend to limit themselves to the regular Sunday service.

Heads turned as we walked in. Pastor Steve was startled, but I also sensed embarrassment and determination from him. He startled the heck out of me by getting down on one knee in front of me and saying, "Please forgive me for the way I treated you two Sundays ago."

He startled the heck out of everyone else, too.

I smiled at him. "You're forgiven," was all I could think to say. Then, I added, "I forgave you before we came in today." As he stood up, I hugged him. "That must have been hard."

He looked at me seriously. "After that Sunday, God laid a heavy burden on my heart for the way you were treated. I prayed hard for a chance to make it up."

"Your prayers were answered, but probably not quite the way you imagined," my Dad said dryly. At the pastor's questioning look, he said, "My daughter noticed at school that a bunch of the kids that go to church here will be coming down with AMORFS soon. I imagine it's the same with the adults."

"We're not an exception," Mom added. We'll be down for the count in a week and a half."

Pastor Steve looked startled.

I looked around, focusing on the thirty or so people here -- about a quarter of the standard Sunday attendance. "It looks like the majority of the people here will be morfing."

One of the elders shook his head sadly. "Divine retribution."

"Perhaps," said Pastor Steve. "Or, perhaps it's His way of winnowing out the chaff and building the rest."

"We know some people who can help you with your changes," I said. "The teens will have a rougher time because most of them will become absolute hybrids, and some will change sex. Still, I know plenty of people who have switched sides, and it's not the end of the world."

I walked up and down the aisle as I spoke. "You all remember me as that sickly girl who was hurting all the time. MORFS cured me of that, so I have to admit to being biased. Still, I have met so many people whose lives have been improved by MORFS. It's not a punishment. It's not a judgment. It's not a death sentence. I should know, because I was once under a death sentence." I took a deep breath. "The biggest problem that MORFS has caused is the turning of us against each other. If you grow fur on your body, the biggest problem is that some people will treat you like an animal." I saw a number of people cringe when I said that. "Still, in this church, we're going to outnumber the unchanged." I looked around the sanctuary. "That's the inclusive 'we.' Most of us here are going to be wearing fur in the next few days or weeks. Believe me, it's not that bad. In fact, it's kind of nice." I smiled and went up to my mom and hugged her. She smiled and stroked the fur on my back.

"I have never seen my girl speak so passionately about anything," Dad said proudly. He took a deep breath. "I have to admit to being just a bit afraid about what is going to happen to me. Still, it's something that the teens face every day. Compared to them, we have it easy. Microsurgery or a quick visit to a medical bio elemental will cure our voices, and the fur is no big deal."

The Pastor Steve stood up. "This is the core group," he said, indicating everyone in the sanctuary. "The Shepherds have been kind above and beyond the call of duty. We rejected them, but they came back to help us in our hour of need." He looked at his flock with an intensity I have never seen from his pulpit. "We have been faced with a crisis. The Chinese histogram for 'Crisis' consists of two characters -- one meaning 'danger,' and the other meaning 'opportunity.'" He took a deep breath and let it out. "This crisis can tear us apart, or build us up like never before!"

Instead of holding a regular mid-week church service, we spent our time making plans for facing this challenge head-on. We decided who to contact before next Sunday, and what would be done at the service. Meanwhile, I was having a virtual meeting with Kim and Sara. They thought that it would be a good idea for some of the MORFS survivors from our church to come to the next service and talk about their experiences. We also decided to alter the pattern of the AMORFS changes on a select few people in order to draw attention away from my parents and the Wrights.

The impromptu meeting went longer than a normal service. It had been a long day. We dropped the Wrights off and went home. It's a good thing Mom had milked the goats before driving to the Kitty Mansion. They were milked early, but being off schedule once in a while shouldn't hurt their production.

Chapter Eighteen: Some Maggots Want To Stay Maggots

I had kind of gotten used to riding to school with Jerry. I missed him as I landed at the bus stop.

*I miss you too, Kitten,* he said.

*I'll meet you half way between our houses, or maybe a bit closer to yours if you dawdle,* I said to him with a smirk.

"Tell the bus driver that I won't be riding today," I said to the other kids at the bus stop. I leapt into the air and headed straight toward Jerry's house at about a hundred and ten miles per hour. It would be exhausting to keep up that kind of speed for very long, but a little telekinetic boost does wonders.

We met in mid air. Noting that the buses wouldn't be arriving at the school for better than half an hour, decided to fly around. We checked on some of the church members.

Brothers Simms and Geralds were still down for the count, as were their wives. Their kids would be changing in a few days. Jerry's old preacher's household was down. A few more students were down, and none were waking up yet.

We were a bit sweaty when we landed at the school, so I TK'd us clean. We walked in and went to class. *See ya in gym class,* I sent to him.

When third hour finally arrived, I couldn't wait to get to advanced gym class.

*You're quite hopeless, you know that?* Cara smirked.

*I heard that!* Jerry said.

*Yeah, but you don't deny it,* Cindy teased.

Jerry and I walked into the gym at the same time. He saw me padding in wearing my 'cat suit,' and did a double-take. Then, he flashed the image, colored by his feelings, to all of our friends.

*It would appear to be mutual,* Larry commented dryly. I smiled.

We were startled back to the here and now by the sound of a coach's whistle. The teacher gave us a stern look, then waved us over to the area where the rest of the students were lined up. The fact that we have similar enhancements made a good excuse for us to work together. We went around the various stations that work on strength and agility, but we enjoy the monkey bars the best. We had a great time flying from bar to bar. Jerry had to literally fly once because he couldn't grip the large wooden bar that I generally grab with my claws. He cursed, tucked, dropped a couple feet, then untucked and spread his wings. His muscles rippled as he glided gracefully to the floor and flared for a landing.

*It appears that someone is appreciating the sights,* Cindy said.

*Don't you guys have class or something?*

*Advanced gym, just like you,* Cindy confirmed. *We're resting after a particularly hard set, though.*

I snorted and jumped up to the next bar. My claws caught, and I swung around and gracefully flipped up and landed on top. I heard telepathic applause, so I took a bow.

*Jerry seems to be appreciating the sights, too.*

I ran the length of the bar, took a flying leap in a 'swan dive' position, tucked, rolled twice, and landed on another bar. Meanwhile, Jerry flew up to the bar he had missed. He repeated my performance, but without the claws. There is something to be said for raw strength and extra height. As he landed on my bar, I took a flying leap to the next one. He did the same, adding a couple rolls. We heard applause drifting up from the floor.

I took a running leap to a couple rings that were dangling from the ceiling, grabbed them, and did a handstand. I released them, dropping head-first toward the floor. Just before I hit, I spread my wings, swooped within inches of the floor, and used the speed to climb back up. A couple flaps of my wings, and I was near the ceiling again. I deftly landed on a platform dangling from the ceiling right at the center of the gym. Jerry followed suit, and landed next to me. Then, he leapt off the platform and flew back to the monkey bars. I followed him as he went from bar to bar. We followed each other around the jungle gym until the coach blew his whistle and pointed at the clock.

Class had let out five minutes ago.

Time flies when you're having fun. We flew down, thanked him, and headed to the locker rooms. We kept in touch as we changed and showered. When he was done, I let him use my TK to dry himself.

*This is quite handy. I wish I had TK.*

*As long as you stick with me, you do,* I replied.

*Awwwwwww* came Cindy's unmistakable mental voice.

*You guys are having way too much fun! We're going to our place in the misfit corner now, thank you very much.*

*We're already eating lunch, you slowpokes,* Larry smirked.

We walked out of the locker rooms at the same time, and held hands as we walked to the lunch room. *No comments from the peanut gallery,* I sent.

As we walked into the lunch room, a couple of the students who had gym with us smirked and sent us a mock salute. We smiled and took our place at the sane but not normal table.

"What was that all about?" Charlie asked.

"We kinda got carried away on the monkey bars and ended up getting out of gym class late," Jerry replied.

"It was quite a performance," Tom commented. "You guys ought to come up with a routine for the talent show."

When school got out, Jerry and I decided to fly around. We let our parents know that we wouldn't be taking the bus home. We flew around and checked on the various butterflies in making. Sure enough, Brother Simms was awake, and Brother Geralds wasn't far behind. We landed in Brother Simms's front yard and knocked on the door. "We just stopped by to see how you're doing," Jerry said.

"Are you going to gloat at us now?" he whispered. Try as he might, he couldn't manage anything but a rough whisper.

The changes to his body were complete, and the virii were leaving quickly. There are no phases in adult AMORFS, so it would be no trick to make some modifications. "No, we don't want to gloat," I said. "Is it OK if I try to fix your voice?"

He nodded.

I concentrated on his vocal cords, and tried to convince them to be 'right.' Unfortunately, according to his new genetic information, they were right. I searched and found a vague cellular memory. I used that as a pattern to thin his vocal cords and make them usable again.

"Try it now," I said.

He cleared his throat. "Aaaaaah... I can speak again! Thank you!"

I smiled. "Do you want me to fix your wife, too?"

He hadn't lost his sense of humor. "It's tempting to say no."

Just then, Jeannie came in and gave him a playful swat on the head.

I looked at her. "Do you want your voice fixed?"

She nodded.

I fixed hers, too.

"I can't do too much of this without incurring the wrath of the AMBE."

"AMBE?" Brother Simms asked.

"The Association of Medical Bio Elementals," I replied. "I know two medical doctors, and a few bio elementals who can act as assistants. The usual office visit costs will apply, but they should be able to get everyone fixed up as the AMORFS epidemic spreads through the two churches."

"Two churches?"

"Yes; yours, and my old church," I replied. "We're working with some people from our new church to try to keep this AMORFS epidemic from causing too much damage. I think things will work out in my old church, but yours may be a problem."

"You ain't kidding!" he agreed. "There's no telling how some of our more radical members will respond."

"Brother Geralds is coming out of it," Jerry said. "Do you guys want to help us welcome him back to the land of the living?"

We all got into their car and rode over there. Brother Geralds and his wife both looked depressed, but getting their voices back perked them up considerably.

Next stop: the preacher. Mom and Dad were almost there, so Jerry and I flew over while the Geralds and Simms families drove.

I felt fear and betrayal when we landed on their front lawn. I heard a gunshot, and felt pain. Someone had been shot in the gut. I turned my telesense to the inside of the house just in time to see the preacher put the handgun under his chin and blow the top of his head off. His mental touch disappeared.

*Help!*

I found myself connected to the power grid again.

I used my TK to totally shatter the lock and burst into the house with Jerry right on my heels. I flew up the stairs and was greeted by a grisly scene. Blood and brains and bits of skull and skin and fur were scattered all over the place. The preacher's brain was totally destroyed, but the cells themselves were still alive. My telepathic senses felt a kind of ghostly presence as the clumps of neurons randomly fired. My bio senses registered the rapidly fading life as a kind of shell around the room.

On the floor was an AMORFS victim with the top of his head blown off. Across the room was a rather cute raccoon hybrid with a gunshot wound in her belly. She was curled up on the floor and almost unconscious.

I ran to her and scanned her. I healed a severed artery, then a few smaller vessels. That took her out of immediate danger. I blocked the pain, then set to work. I carefully worked the bullet out and healed the areas behind it. Fortunately, the round didn't mushroom or shatter. Still, there was considerable damage from the shock waves. She was still wearing her stim pack IV thingie, so I was able to use the extra nutrients to replace the lost blood and fix her wounds. Jerry used his technopath powers to increase the flow. It took a lot of my energy, but I finally got her insides straightened out.

Officers Trowbridge and Saouda showed up, followed closely by the EMTs.

I took the girl's hands in mine and looked into her eyes. "You're going to be OK now. The EMTs will be taking you to the hospital for observation, but your wounds are healed."

At least, the physical wounds are healed.

Officer Saouda asked her a couple questions, then motioned for the EMTs to take her. I scanned the house with my telesense and found that the preacher's wife was dead on their bed, and that their other two children were cowering in the closet of their shared bedroom. Officer Saouda and I tried to calm them. It took a hefty dose of empathy to get them reasonably calm. They were then taken into protective custody until some sympathetic relatives could be found.

I had done all I could. Officer Saouda walked me out to where my parents were waiting. I latched on to Mom and Dad and cried my eyes out. Officer Saouda put her hand on my shoulder and said, "You did great! You saved that girl's life. You've earned a rest."

I looked at her. "What about the paperwork?"

"We can deal with that tomorrow. You need to get home."

Jerry came over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. "I'm proud of you!"

I took his hand and squeezed it. "Thanks!"

Mom and Dad took me home. I showered and showered and showered, and still couldn't get rid of the picture of slowly dying pieces of brain splattered all over the room.

*Let me help,* Sara said.

I opened my mind to her. I heard her calling for help, and soon felt another presence. *Doctor Myra?*

*I'm here, Tina. You had a rough time of it, but you'll be OK.*

As I was talking to them, I got out of the shower and drew a bath. I put in some naturally scented bath beads that are designed for morfies with feathers or fur. I must have fallen asleep, because all I remember is waking up later with the vague memory of them telling me that I'm going to be OK now, and that they're proud of me.

*I'm still here,* Sara assured me.

I groggily climbed out of the tub, TK'd myself dry, got into a long white silky nightie, and crawled between the covers. Sara must have been talking to Mom and Dad because they were there just as soon as I had settled myself. They prayed over me, kissed me, and left quietly. I drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Nineteen: The Aftermath

I slept soundly for a long time, but morning still came all too soon. Mom and Dad had decided to let me sleep in, even if it meant missing some of my morning classes. As it turned out, I had time to fly to school if I got ready quickly enough. The bus was long gone.

I flew quickly to the school, landed right next to the door nearest my first hour class, and rushed to the classroom. I almost expected the bell to ring just as I walked through the door. Instead, it rang just as my butt hit the seat. The teacher raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

*Dedication above and beyond the call of duty,* commented Larry.

*That's for sure,* said Jerry. *I would have definitely been taking a long weekend if I had gotten hit that hard.*

*You were there, too,* I commented.

*I was, but you were the one who worked so hard on little Ruthie, and you're the empath who felt everything -- the death of the preacher, the pain of Ruthie, and the fear and betrayal of Esther and Michael,* said Jerry.

*You did a wonderful thing last night,* said Sara. *You saved one life, and helped ease the pain of two others.*

*You all know about saving lives,* I said with a soft smile. *Because you saved my life, I was there to save Ruthie's. You all can share in the credit.*

*The chain goes back further than that,* said Amy. *My adoptive mom saved Matthew, who morfed into Cara and saved me. My powers allowed you to live and get the powers that saved Ruthie.*

*Not to mention me,* Jerry said.

*You were already doing better by the time you got hit by MORFS,* I said to him.

*And I was doing better because you were quietly curing me with your powers.*

I was stunned.

He smiled. *I can't tell you how much I appreciate what you did for me.*

*How did you find out?*

*Do you really think you could keep something like that from me? You kept the thoughts from me, but I could sense your feelings of... accomplishment? Satisfaction? Anyhow, you didn't hide those feelings. I noticed that I always felt better after seeing you. I put two and two together...* He trailed off.

*It doesn't pay to underestimate your boyfriend's intelligence,* Amy smirked. I blushed.

*What I want to know is how I got such a favorable transformation from AMORFS. You said that you can't change the course of MORFS,* he said to me.

*I can't,* I said. *Think about what would happen to anyone who was found to be able to control the direction of MORFS. Think about what would happen if it was even rumored that someone could do it...* I trailed off.

Jerry turned white -- a curious thing to 'see' through a telepathic link.

*I can't do it. Look into my mind and feel the truth in that statement.*

*Cara and I can do it,* Amy said quietly. *We trust you to keep our secret, but we really want to let as few people as possible know about it.*

I could tell that Jerry was touched. *I won't betray your trust,* he said. Then, he turned to me. *I'm so proud of the way you didn't play the gratitude card. You helped me without drawing attention to yourself.*

*I want you to like me for who I am, not what I do,* I replied.

*You did what you did because you are who you are,* he said.

"EARTH CALLING MISS SHEPHERD!"

I looked at the teacher. "I'm sorry! I was lost in thought. I had a really hard night last night."

"Would you like to share it with the class, Miss Shepherd?"

I sighed. "OK, if you insist."

"I do."

"Well, the preacher at the church my boyfriend used to attend committed suicide, but only after killing his wife and nearly fatally shooting his oldest daughter." I said.

"What does that have to do with you?"

"I couldn't save the adults," I said softly.

He just looked at me. Then, his eyes got big. "You're the young bio elemental that saved his oldest daughter's life, aren't you?"

I nodded. "It was a really ugly scene. Those poor kids..." I put my face in my hands.

*We're here for you,* Sara said.

"I'm sorry," the teacher said. "I shouldn't have brought it up." He looked like he didn't know what to do next. The computer on his desk beeped, indicating that he had a message.

"Apparently, you have a visitor in the office. You're excused for the rest of the class. I'll email the material to you."

"That would be Officer Saouda to get my statement," I said.

"Uh... Miss Shepherd?"

"Yes sir?"

"That was a wonderful thing you did. I'm proud to have you in my class."

"Thank you sir."

*I second that,* Officer Saouda said.

*I third that,* said Kim. She was followed by a chorus of assents.

When I got to the office area, I was led to a side office. Officer Saouda handed me a clipboard. Officer Trowbridge sat back, sipped her coffee, and munched on a donut.

*You know the drill,* Cindy smirked.

*You were linked to me when all this was going on, right?*

*Yeah, so?* Cindy asked.

*That means that you need to make a statement, too,* I smirked.

Officer Saouda raised an eyebrow. *If any of you have anything to add to Tina's statement, please do so.*

After that, it was pretty much routine. I dictated the statement while TK writing it, answered some questions, then signed the statement

I still had better than half an hour before second period, so I went to the study hall. I tried reading, but I couldn't concentrate.

*Just sit back and relax,* said Sara. *You don't have anything to prove. You can even skip the next class if you need to. Your parents will back you up.*

*I'll be OK,* I told her.

*You'll be OK faster if you relax,* she replied.

I tried to relax, but the grisly scene just kept wanting to play itself over and over. Finally, I went ahead and let it play. I let the facts replay themselves in my mind. I let the feelings come and have their day in the sun. Each time they came, they dragged up some little chunk of the past with them -- a forgotten television show, the first time I participated in butchering chickens, the time our dog got hit by a car...

After a while, it was all exhausted. All the junk that scene had hooked into had been yanked loose, displayed, relived, and allowed to dissipate.

It was all exhausted, and so was I. I slumped in my chair and did nothing for some unmeasurable span of time. I was drained of energy, but I was also drained of all those old bits of pain that come back whenever something new resembles them.

The bell rang. I got up and wandered to my second hour class.

*Feel better?*

I smiled. *Yes. Yes, I do. I think I really needed to do that.*

Second hour went pretty normally. I sat in class, took notes, and even managed to retain most of the material. Considering how busy this weekend promises to be, it's going to be hard finding time to study.

*Sunday is pretty much taken up,* Sara confirmed, *but we're purposely leaving all the teens plenty of time on Saturday.*

When I got to advanced gym class, I had plenty of steam to blow off. Jerry and I went through the obligatory regimen of weight training, calisthenics, and stretches. Then, it was time to (literally) fly around the monkey bars.

After exhausting ourselves, Jerry and I hit the showers. I felt him borrowing my TK to dry himself off. We chatted as we each got dressed in the separate locker rooms. We headed out the doors at about the same time, joined up, and walked to our usual table in the misfit corner.

As we expected, even more people were missing from the pures table. I walked over and made my usual offer. They were rather subdued. It didn't look like anyone felt like jeering. They were watching their friends disappear, and were coming face-to-face with the fact that they themselves may end up becoming that which they despise and ridicule. It's hard to take, I'm sure.

I went back to our table and ate lunch with my friends. Jerry and I didn't mention yesterday's adventures. We just chatted about school work, shows and movies, singing groups, various social events, and other teenage stuff.

The rest of the day was uneventful. After school let out for the weekend, Jerry and I decided to take advantage of the remaining good weather and fly around a bit. We were heartened to see that the kids that had come down with AMORFS were being properly cared for. We were also happy to find out that Karen was well on her way to waking up as a leopard-spotted flying kitty girl. We dropped in to talk to her parents, who were both infected with AMORFS. We conferred with the Professors Martin, and they told us that giving the parents changes similar to the Wrights will help set a pattern that will hide our meddling from the epidemiological programs. Hey, they're the experts. Amy made the code for the genetic bomb, and I assembled and quietly delivered it. I gave her mother some advice on getting clothes for Karen to put on when she wakes up, then we took our leave.

After a little more flying around and stretching our wings, we checked in with our parents, then went to Great Grandpa's picnic shelter and did our homework. While I was leaning back into Jerry, I used my eCom to read through the lesson that my first hour teacher had sent. It didn't take long to read through the material. Studying the material as Jerry absently stroked my hair and back fur was certainly more pleasant than sitting up straight and paying attention in class.

(End of part five)

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sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

---

Chapter Twenty: Breaking Bread and Making Plans

*Time to come home!* we both heard at once. Mom invited Jerry to our house for dinner, and let him know that they had already arranged it with his parents.

When we got there, we were immediately struck by the delicious smells that were coming from the kitchen. In the dining room, the leaves had been put into the table. It looked and smelled like a holiday dinner had been set up.

"The fatted calf?" I quipped.

"Not quite," replied Mom. "Dad processed one of our turkeys right after we got home last Wednesday."

"Ah, aged just right to be tender. Are we having an early Thanksgiving dinner?"

"More like the Last Supper," quipped Dad. "We did some planning when you were recovering last night, but tonight's the night we put it all together."

"You, meanwhile, will play hostess for a horde of teens and help babysit the youngsters," Mom added.

"Does that mean we have to sit at the kid table?"

Mom rolled her eyes. "What do you think?"

Jerry and I went to the basement to get everything ready. We cleared off the bumper pool table and the ping-pong table, picked up the clutter and stashed it, and generally straightened things up. I used my powers to give the place a good dusting and washing. I tried the old flatscreen that we had taken to the basement when we got the vid wall. It was still functional. We noticed that Mom had turned on the basement refrigerator and stocked it with various soft drinks, juices, power drinks, and the like. The cupboard was similarly well stocked.

When I was a little girl, we had turned one of the small storage rooms into a little club house. Grandpa had even made some kid-size furniture for me. We ended up putting a lot of my old toys there when I outgrew them, but the room was still pretty much set up the way it used to be. We straightened the room out, gave it a good cleaning, brought down a couple of our old computers, and set them up for games and videos. We still had all of my favorite old vid chips -- classics like Bugs Bunny, Veggie Tales, and 3-2-1 Penguins; plus the shows of my childhood like The Twonkeyville Ghost and Morf Avengers.

Satisfied with our preparations, we went upstairs and helped Mom and Dad with theirs. Jerry's parents had come to help Mom and Dad when we were busy downstairs, so things were pretty much finished.

Soon, people started to arrive. The entire Kitty Mansion household came, which increased the noise level and filled the house with warmth. It always feels good to be around them. I gave each of them a hug.

Markus was sitting on Cara's shoulder, as usual. When he saw Gregory, he leapt down and introduced himself in the usual cat style. Cara and I monitored our pets closely to make sure that they didn't get aggressive with each other. We needn't have worried. They got along just fine. Pretty soon, they went outside to play.

Pastor Dan came, along with his family and a number of the elders. Brothers Simms and Geralds brought their families, and two deacons from their church that were definitely going to be wearing fur in a few days. They were introduced as Brothers Barryhaven and Merriweather. Pastor Steve showed up with his family. Elders Jim and Mark from my old church brought their families. A few of the teens from the youth group came, too. It was quite a crowd.

"Hey! The cats are having a dogfight!"

I linked to Gregory. He was flying around with Markus and having a blast. I smiled as everyone went out to see the show. Cara and I had the best view.

After a while, everyone got bored with their antics. That's good, because everyone was getting hungry. Mom called us all in for dinner by ringing the little brass bell that she keeps in the kitchen. Pastor Dan said grace, giving a rather impassioned prayer. He thanked God for bringing us together as one body, and commissioning us to spread His blessings.

Dinner started out as a solemn affair. When I pointed out that those who have already morfed were happier than those who haven't, the mood lightened considerably. We ate a leisurely meal and got to know each other.

After it was over, I led the teens and kids downstairs. By the time I got the younger kids settled into my old clubhouse, the ping pong and bumper pool tables were in use. There was a small group in the corner playing Antares Mercenary. I saw Carol, Cara, Cindy, and Larry smirking at each other. *You wouldn't ambush those poor unsuspecting guys, would you?*

*No, but we might give Jerry a lesson in high-speed shooting later,* smirked Cara.

*Did I hear my name taken in vain?* asked Jerry.

*We were just talking about challenging you to a game of Antares Mercenary,* Cindy giggled.

*Be afraid, be very afraid,* I said.

Throughout the evening, we were called up one by one to discuss our testimony. I was asked to give that rather impassioned speech that I had given last Wednesday. The other teens would discuss the difficulties and blessings of their transformations. We decided to avoid mentioning our powers, though. AMORFS doesn't hand out powers, so we don't want to bring them up.

Occasionally, someone would go in and check on the little kids, or maybe keep them amused. After a while, they started to get tired. We got out some mattress pads, cots, blankets, pillows, and the like. They went down readily enough after we tucked them in and prayed over them.

As the evening went on, it started to become hard for us to stay awake. The adults were showing no signs of slowing down, though. Soon, sleeping teens, in ones and twos, were scattered all about the basement. I put a blanket on Cindy and Jim, who were curled up in the corner on a large beanbag chair. Cara and Larry managed to claim one of the love seats in front of the flatscreen.

Jerry and I quietly padded about the basement, picking up the clutter and putting away uneaten snacks. Then, I grabbed an old camping mattress and laid down on it. Jerry curled up behind me, put his arm around me, and covered me with one of his wings. As I was nodding off, I felt Kim and Sara's mental touch as they remote sensed the basement. Mom and Dad opened the basement door, peeked down at all the sleeping teens, shook their heads, and gently closed the door.

Chapter Twenty-One: Preparation

As I slowly came out of blissful slumber, I felt Jerry's golden feathered wing over me. While he stroked the soft fur on my back, I laid there, content to rest in his warm embrace. I felt rather than saw his peaceful smile as he laid behind me. I also sensed my friends. Some were giggling.

"Shhhhhh. She's purring."

"That's one of the things I love about feline hybrids," Jim whispered. Cindy swatted him with her tail. Cara just smiled and scratched Larry behind the ears.

As I became more awake and aware, I realized that they were talking about me. I opened my eyes and sat up, stretched and yawned theatrically, then wrapped jerry in a warm hug.

"Well, it's good to see that the lovebirds are finally conscious," Tom commented as he walked over from across the room.

"Golden Eagle and Catbird," Larry said with a chuckle. He turned to Tom. "So, are sleepovers as fun as a boy as they were as a girl?"

Tom blushed. "I certainly had a good time. I didn't miss playing dress-up and make-up, either."

"Nor did I," Cara agreed.

"We'll make up for lost time next time, dear sister," Amy said.

"You loved it and you know it!" Cindy added.

"Well, time for chores," I said, changing the subject. "Who wants to come yank udders with me?" I walked up the stairs, followed by the horde. As we passed through the kitchen, I snagged a banana and a power bar, then passed fruit and snacks out to everyone else. When we got outside, the chickens started following us around. I bit a brown spot out of my banana and tossed it to them.

I noticed some activity at the old ag-worker barracks where Grandpa used to quarter the migrant farm workers when he raised vegetables so many years ago. Apparently, Mom and Dad opened it for all of our guests.

I let everyone grab a handful of scratch grain. Some tossed them to the chickens, and others held the grain out and tried to lure the chickens over. Some hens, like the buff orpingtons and silkies, came right over for a free hand-out. Others, like the flighty leghorns and the almost wild guinea fowl, stayed at the fringes and grabbed any grain that they could without getting too close.

Some people grabbed more grain and went to the brood pen, where three mother hens were sharing a flock of thirty-four chicks. With the exception of the one egg that had refused to grow, all the eggs had hatched. Neither the mothers nor the chicks seem to care who initially hatched them. It's common for flock birds to share chick-rearing duties.

Cindy grabbed a coffee can from the feed bin, stuffed some hay on the bottom for padding, and proceeded to collect the eggs. "I see you learned something from mentally following me around," I commented.

Not to be outdone, Larry pitched some hay to the goats. Cara used her powers to scrub the inside of the watering trough, then drained and refilled it. Amy took some grain to Ginny, who was very appreciative. She may be my horse, but she isn't going to reject grain from anyone.

I walked over to the goat pen. They started begging for a handout, as usual. I gave them my banana peel. A few other people followed suit. The goats acted as if banana peels were the most delicious treats in the world.

Jerry and I went into the milking parlor and started yanking udders. A couple people wanted to try, so I gave them quick instructions and let them go for it. Soon, the eggs and milk were properly stashed in the refrigerator.

Mom came over from the ag-worker quarters and let the teens and kids know that the adults were done with the showers. They all followed her over, so Jerry and I leapt into the air for our morning flight. We flew at full speed over to the pond, then over to Jerry's house. He picked out some clothes and stuffed them into a duffel bag. We flew back and dropped them off in my bedroom. Then, we were in the air again, doing some complex aerobatics and having a blast.

Mom had managed to recruit a few kitchen helpers, and Dad was busy giving pony rides to the kids. Everyone was fresh and clean -- except for Jerry and me. I sent Jerry up to my room to shower and change while I walked around made sure that everything was going smoothly. After Jerry was done showering, I took a nice hot shower and dressed in flying clothes. I expect that Jerry and I will be playing host to everyone while the adults are out visiting the various members of the two churches. Fortunately, Larry, Cindy, Cara, and Amy were familiar enough with the farm to help out.

Breakfast was a big affair, just like Dinner. Pastor Dan said grace and commissioned everyone in their mission. Soon, we were digging into scrambled eggs, mini omelets, hot cakes, waffles (with real maple syrup), sausage gravy, and biscuits. We washed it down with freshly squeezed orange juice and apple cider.

After dinner, we did the 'flying dishes' cleanup -- much to the amusement of everyone. Amy borrowed Cara's TK, and Jerry borrowed mine.

Soon, the adults started driving out to visit the members of the two churches. Convincing the members of the Church of Genetic Purity to attend tomorrow's service was easy. One of the deacons who hadn't morfed yet simply told them that attendance was mandatory.

As all of this was happening, I got the teens pretty much settled in the basement and out under the maple tree. Some of my friends from my old church were helping me prepare and pack a picnic lunch when I heard the faint stirrings of Karen's mind. My friends agreed to hold down the fort so that Jerry and I could go welcome the new butterfly.

"We're coming too," said Cindy.

"Jerry and I are flying over. I guess you can drive over if someone will lend you a car."

"Oh ye of little faith," said Cara as she levitated herself a few feet.

"OK, come along then," I said just before I leapt into the air. They all followed, flying sedately in formation with us."

*You guys need capes or something like that,* I said.

Within minutes, we were at Karen's front door. Her parents couldn't miss the ruckus as seven teens landed in their front yard.

"Karen's about to wake up, and we're her official self-appointed welcoming committee," I joked. They looked a little nervous, so I told her that Karen knows Jerry and me, but not the others, and that they can stay outside if anyone is nervous. They invited us all into the house, then asked me what to expect when Karen wakes up.

"She'll be a bit disoriented, but she'll feel good physically. She'll want a shower right away." I turned to her mother. "Knowing her, she'll probably appreciate it if you're right there when she wakes up." I listened in on her mind. "She'll be up in about two minutes."

I followed Karen's mom up with my remote senses. Karen woke up and saw her mom sitting next to her with a broad smile on her face. She got up, hugged her mom, and looked herself over. She was pleased.

Her first shower was similar to mine. She had to concentrate to control her wings. She used a scrubby on a stick to clean under them. After she was done, she struggled with the problem of drying fur and feathers. Her mother tried to help her, but she was new to the task, too. When she found out that I was here, she called me telepathically and asked me for help.

"Well, aren't you just the cat's meow!" I said to her. "All of the boys are going to be asking you out."

She blushed.

I gave her what help I could with her fur and feathers. I didn't mention to her that I have used TK to dry off since my second day as a kitty girl. Soon, she was dressed and ready to face the world -- or, at least, she was ready to face some of her fellow morfies.

I led her downstairs and introduced her to my friends. We chatted for a little while, but we all had to get back to the farm. I gave her parents a few quick pointers about shopping for clothes to accommodate Karen's wings and tail, then invited them to the picnic that we were planning for the pond. I gave them my eCom contact information, and pointed out that Karen knows how to contact me telepathically. While we were there, we let them know about Tomorrow's service, and pointed out that Karen might be able to provide some moral support to some of the kids that were destined to morf soon.

We all flew back and joined the party. Jerry ended up getting his tail kicked in Antares Mercenary -- at least for a few games. He soon figured out how to control the game with his technopath powers, and turned the tables. In the end, the matches were pretty close.

Lunch time was approaching, so we loaded up the back of the ute and drove it to Great Grandpa's picnic shelter. Actually, Larry drove it. Jerry and I flew there, and everyone else walked. It didn't take us long to set everything up. With the coolers and warmers and covered dishes, we were able to set everything up and leave it. We expected people to be coming and going all day, so having a nice spread of food was a good idea.

Jerry sat at the base of an old oak tree and gazed out over the water. I sat in front of him and leaned back against his muscular chest. I sighed with contentment as he put his arms around me. We sat there and conversed mentally until my eCom beeped. It was Karen.

Jerry and I flew over and met her and her parents at the house, then drove them back to the pond in the ute. Some of the teens from my old church relinquished a picnic table so that they would have a place to eat.

About an hour after they were done eating, Jerry and I led Amy and her family to a clear area near the pond. We encouraged her to spread her wings and test the breeze. Then, we leapt into the air. She followed us. It didn't take her long to become proficient at flying. I could feel the pride in her parents' minds as they watched their daughter fly around the pond and over the forest.

People drifted in and out for the rest of the day. Karen's parents went out with Pastor Steve at one point to talk to some of the members who had kids out with MORFS.

By the end of the day, everyone was tired and emotionally drained. The adults had been out all day talking to various church members and officials, and most of the teens had taken their turns when appropriate. The evening spread was more like a boarding house dinner than a holiday meal. Still, it was no less tasty. Roast beef, mashed potatoes, gravy, a variety of vegetables, salad, and dessert were all eaten with gusto. All of the people who live locally left after the meal to prepare for a busy day tomorrow. Some of the people from Pastor Dan's church also headed home, but those who will be making the earlier service at the Church of Genetic Purity stayed here.

There was no slumber party this time. There was plenty of room in the ag worker quarters to put everyone up. I slept in my own bed. Alone.

*I miss you too, Kitten,* I heard as I drifted off.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Day of Reckoning

We got up early for what promised to be a long day. With the help of the other teens, we got the chores done quickly. Soon, we were all eating a hearty breakfast. Pastor Dan said grace and prayed for the success of today's mission.

After a quick shower, I changed to a conservative dress that falls below the knees, but has an open back designed to accommodate wings.

Brothers Simms, Geralds, Barryhaven, and Merriweather soon arrived with a pile of hooded robes. We all chose a robe that fit reasonable well, piled into four minivans, and headed to the Church of Genetic Purity.

I was kind of apprehensive. After having run-ins with people from that church, actually entering it was kind of like going into the lion's den.

Cara and Amy were nervous wrecks. I turned to Amy and held her. She was shivering. "It's OK. We'll keep you safe," soothed Sara. I caught glimpses from her mind of what it was like to be chained to a stake and stoned. I don't blame her for shivering. I shivered, too.

While Sara and I were holding Amy, Larry and Cindy were comforting Cara. We were all pretty much linked together at that point. By the time we got there, they had calmed down considerably. We all put our hoods up, got out of the vans, and walked into the church. The four deacons and their families took their places in the deacon section, and the rest of us went to the 'honored guest' section.

The bells in the tower tolled, and the six deacons solemnly got up and walked to the back of the church and into a small room. The organ started playing a dirge, which was their cue to lift the coffin and slowly walk to the front. They set the coffin on a platform in front of the altar, paid their respects, and took their seats. A preacher that had been sent from another congregation took his place behind the altar. He motioned for everyone to rise, then read the funeral service from a large leather-bound tome. After he finished the reading, he lifted the staff of office and proclaimed, "The honored leader of this church has been laid low. He went with honor."

The six slowly filed from the deacon section and took their places around the casket. With great ceremony, they lifted the casket and walked it to the waiting hearse. The visiting preacher handed the staff of office to Brother Simms, entered the hearse, and motioned to the driver. As they left, Brother Simms led the five deacons to the front of the church, then took his place behind the altar.

"Today, we learned a great lesson. MORFS claimed Preacher Merrifield, not by killing him directly, but by making him think that life was no longer worth living. Had he not made the tragic decision to take the lives of his wife, daughter, and himself, they could all be here celebrating this service."

The members of the church looked surprised. This was not what they expected to hear.

"MORFS didn't kill our beloved preacher, but a MORFS survivor did save the life of his daughter Ruthie. I have met her, and she treated me with more respect and compassion that I deserved. She treated the members of this church much better than we would have treated her. She displayed to me, an honored deacon, the kind of love that we Christians are called to embody. To say that I was humbled by this young teen would be an understatement."

Some of the church members were chewing on this really hard. Some were accepting it. Others were getting upset at what appeared, to them, to be blasphemy. The two deacons who had not been involved with yesterday's planning were whispering to each other. They planned to stand up and denounce Preacher Simms. Kim passed this information on to him. He was ready when they stood as one.

"Brothers Sanderson and Cichetti; do you rise against me? Either take your seats, or take your leave."

As they started to leave, Preacher Simms dropped the bombshell.

"Brothers Sanderson and Cichetti; you and your families are infected with AMORFS."

They stopped, then continued their walk. Their families fell in behind them.

"I have been told that all but twenty-one people in this church are infected with AMORFS. Of those twenty-one, seventeen have already gone through MORFS, but never told the church about it." He let them digest this for a bit, then continued. "If you fall in behind Sanderson and Cichetti, and you aren't one of the seventeen hypocrites, you are taking a risk. You are taking a risk that you will have to eat, not your words, but your actions."

Forty-two people followed them out. Everyone was silent as they left the building and closed the doors.

*And the third of them followed after Lucifer,* Kim said sadly.

Preacher Simms addressed the congregation again. "We have some guests who will help us in these difficult times ahead. They, and some people they know, can help us adults get our voices back. They can help our kids cope with the changes that will not only alter their appearances, but perhaps their genders. Comparatively, we adults have it easy. A visit to a microsurgeon or bio elemental will give us back our voices, and can even rid us of the fur that most of us will be wearing."

I could sense a lot of nervousness in the congregation. Also, there were a bunch of people reevaluating their earlier convictions.

"For years, I was guilty of pride. I thought that getting through my teen years without morfing was proof that I was somehow superior. It was hard to be hit in the face with that false assumption, but I don't regret it. I would rather live with humility than die of pride."

He threw his hood back, displaying his furry face. There were gasps from the congregation. Some were surprised, but others expected it.

The other three deacons stood as one and threw back their hoods.

"Brother Geralds changed when I changed. Brothers Barryhaven and Merriweather will be changing soon."

Kim walked up to the podium, still robed.

"I would like to introduce to you the honored Professor Doctor Kim Martin. She could be at home preparing to go to her home church right now, but she has chosen to help us in our hour of need. Please honor her with your attention."

Kim threw her hood back. "Good morning, everyone. We are not here to taunt or ridicule you. We are here to help you."

Kim gave them the good news first, that we have arranged with Doctors Josephson and some bio elementals to fix their vocal cords. "You have to understand that life-threatening illnesses will take precedence, but the good doctors and the bio elementals that we have recruited are willing to put forth extra effort to make sure that everyone can get back to some semblance of normal as soon as possible." She let that sink in a bit, then stated, "The only practical difficulty with AMORFS in adults is the loss of your voice. The fur and horns are only a problem because there are people who make it a problem." Some people cringed as she said that. "If you insist on getting rid of the fur and horns, Mrs. Tabor's spa in Denver employs a low-level bio elemental who can do the job for you."

Kim called Sara up. Sara gave some practical hints on adjusting to the changes caused by AMORFS, and the more extensive changes that the teens must undergo.

Sara called Jerry up. Jerry gave a speech similar to the one I gave on that Wednesday service. Was it really only a few days ago? With his wings hidden under the robe, he still looked like an unmodified human.

I followed, and essentially echoed what Jerry said.

Cara came up and addressed the teens on the issues faced when changing gender.

All in all, things went OK -- if you ignore the forty plus people who absconded. Interestingly enough, most of the seventeen fakers stayed here. They even confessed and promised to help their brothers and sisters with their changes.

Preacher Simms started a new tradition -- new, at least, for his church. He, the deacons, and the honored guests all went to the back to meet with the people as they filed out. A bunch of people hung around and chatted. It kind of reminded me of our new church.

After the crowd had died down, we said our goodbyes to the deacons. I surprised myself by giving them each a hug. I looked at the Barryhaven and Merriweather families and gave them each my best estimate of when they would start morfing. We piled into the remaining three minivans and headed to our church. I guess it's still our church, since we committed to attending the Wednesday night services.

Pastor Steve met us as we were walking to the front door. He led us to the church basement, where a pot luck lunch was being set up. I smiled when I noticed a basket full of various colored eggs. I smirked and handed a blue one to Jerry. We all grabbed some food and sat around a table and made our final plans for the service.

It was a weird homecoming for me. I sat in the front with my parents and everyone else who came for this special service. I was in my old home church with a lot of my new home church friends. The sanctuary held more people than I had ever seen in one service.

Apparently, they have pretty much revamped the service. Even the announcements were different. Along with the usual dry administrative stuff, they made birthday and anniversary announcements.

After the announcements, Pastor Steve walked to the front. For the first time I remember, he had a smile on his face as he took his place behind the lectern. "Thank you for coming. As most of you already know, this service marks a change in the way we do things." He looked out over the congregation. "If you look around, most of the people you see appear to be untouched by MORFS. Over the next few weeks, that is going to change. AMORFS has hit the area, and the majority of you will be wearing fur soon.

There were a couple gasps, but there were more sighs of resignation. The majority of the people know the purpose of the special service.

"I'm ashamed to say that I allowed myself to get infected by the self-righteous attitude of radical anti-MORFS movement. I became concerned with pleasing the crowd instead of doing what's right."

He surprised me by calling me up. This hadn't been part of the plan, as far as I knew.

"About a month ago, Tina was infected with MORFS. Far from being a curse, it was an unmitigated blessing. MORFS literally saved her life by curing her of the cancer that had plagued her for half a decade and stolen much of her childhood, not to mention the joy of changing from a little girl into a young woman. I think that most of you remember her." A picture of me before my change appeared on the video wall behind him.

"Her cure came not after one of our half-hearted prayers for her, but within days after the congregation of another church prayed over her. We couldn't take care of our own, so they had to go elsewhere -- and thank God they did!" He looked over at me, then back to the congregation. "She came back to share her joy with us, and we rejected her. I'm ashamed to say that I went along with the crowd." He turned and addressed me. "As the pastor of this congregation, I would like to apologize for their actions, and for my failure as a spiritual leader."

I was ready for it this time. I smiled at him. "I have already forgiven you and the congregation." I gave him a hug, then started to go back to my seat. He motioned for me to stay and asked me to address the congregation. I was ready for that, too.

"Some of us consider MORFS to be a curse and a symptom of moral depravity." I paused for a moment and looked out over the congregation. "I was dying, and MORFS gave me a new life. I have never been happier. MORFS saved my boyfriend's life, and we are both living life more abundantly than ever before. It's not just the commuting of a death sentence. We both have the health and energy to enjoy life like never before, and we look forward to a long life together."

I was startled by the spontaneous applause that erupted from the congregation.

"As for moral depravity" I paused to gather my thoughts. "Well, I have been privileged to meet dozens of MORFS survivors in the past few weeks, and they are anything but morally depraved. They are some of the most loving and upright people I have ever met." I took a couple deep breaths and added, "If wearing fur or feathers is a problem, it's because some people treat us differently."

After that, the service went pretty much like the one we did earlier. Kim and Sara gave them advice about handling their changes and the changes of those around them. The MORFS survivors from our new church told their stories and answered questions. I was impressed by the courage of some of the gender change morfs. I know that I would have a hard time standing up and announcing it if I were to switch sides.

Pastor Steve stood up to close the service. "When we worry about contamination, we need to worry about the contamination of our souls, not our bodies. Our bodies, after all, will be left behind when we go on to the next world."

After the service, we went to the fellowship hall for a pot luck. I was overwhelmed by the number of people who congratulated me and apologized for their earlier coldness. Some people asked me to tell them how they would change. A few people had changes that would really mess with their minds. By reading their minds and looking at their changes, I could see that they would suffer from severe somatic dysphoria (to use a term taught to me by Doctor Myra.) With some consultation with the Doctors Martin, and with the help of Cara or Amy, we were able to quietly fix things. The Doctors Martin kept careful track of the modifications we made so that we could keep them from showing up in epidemiological programs.

While we didn't have the mass exodus of a third of the congregation like we had at the Genetic Purity church, we did have a few dissenters. One of the dissenters, a short middle-aged lady, started asking some pointed questions. It didn't take long for it to degrade into a theological debate.

I had heard all the arguments before, of course. Like most cult-like belief systems, it was based only loosely on the Bible. I kept annoying her by asking her for Biblical references, and by looking up the ones that she could supply so that they could be read in context. As she started to run out of ideas, I told her that she would be changing in a couple weeks, so she really ought to take a second look at what she has been taught.

It was then that I noticed that we had attracted a crowd. "You seem to know your Bible," Pastor Steve commented.

"She was terminally ill for better than half a decade," my father commented. "To her, reading the Bible was sort of like studying for the final exam."

As people were leaving for home, we got back into our minivans and headed for our own church. We went to the church's web site and looked for Pastor Dan's sermon. As usual, the tech crew had it posted before the service was over. We listened to it on the way. After dropping the teens off at church for youth group, the adults went to the Kitty Mansion to relax and discuss today's Good Works.

The youth pastor, knowing that a bunch of us would be coming back from a busy morning, planned activities that didn't tax us too much mentally or emotionally. He didn't take it easy on us physically, though.

Because so many of us were dropped off, there weren't enough cars to take everyone home without making extra trips. Jerry and I decided to free up a few seats by flying to the Martins'. Larry, Jim, Cindy, Cara, and Amy did the same. I still think that they ought to get capes.

It didn't take us long to get there, but we were still pretty wiped out. We all took showers to freshen up. The water couldn't wash off the fatigue, though.

I rummaged through my duffel bag. Nothing clean. I sighed and dragged all of the clothes into the shower. After wetting them down with soapy water, I forced everything out with TK, rinsed them, and then dried them. I grabbed some loose comfortable sweats, then thought about Jerry and decided to wear something a bit more flattering. A telepathic giggle drifted through my mind. *Oh hush, Cindy,* I sent back with a smirk. That resulted in a chorus of giggles.

I sat down next to Jerry with a sigh of contentment; or maybe it was fatigue. He, seeming to read my mind, reached over and started to massage my shoulders. This time, it was definitely a sigh of contentment. Pretty soon, I was laying face-down on the couch as he worked the kinks out of my back and shoulders. I had to lift my wings a bit so that he could get at all the knotted muscles underneath. Soon, I was melting into a puddle of kitty girl. There's something to be said for a masseur who can read your mind and knows exactly where to put his strong hands.

"Hey, Catbird."

"Uhhhhhh?"

"You gonna let me sit down?"

"Uhhhhhh..."

He gently gathered me up, cradled me, sat down, and set me on his lap. I tiredly put my arms around his neck and rested my head on his strong shoulder. I sensed rather than saw his smile as he stroked the soft fur on my back. I felt his love as a palpable presence. I let it sink deeply into my soul. I felt the love and approval of my mom and dad, and of Jerry's mom and dad.

I listened to the murmur of conversation more with my telepathy than with my ears. There were a couple comments about someone purring, and Cindy giggled something about "They're just so cute." Mostly, though, they discussed today's activities. Everyone was tired, but quite happy with the way that the day went.

Kim's eCom dinged. She looked at it and scowled. "It looks like the pures are trying hard to hang on to their bigotry," she sighed. I climbed off of Jerry's lap and sat next to him as Kim piped the video clip that she had received to the vid wall.

The preacher that had started the service at the Genetic Purity Church was saying, "The infidel morfies went to considerable trouble trying to destroy the One True Pure People. Their evil bio elementals worked hard to craft a virus that would morf us, but it doesn't work!" He tried to look triumphant, but merely looked defiant. "While true MORFS rewrites, rebuilds, and corrupts the entire body, right down to the very soul, AMORFS isn't able to touch the Pure People. No, AMORFS merely causes the superficial growth of hair and vocal cord. Even the horns are nothing but hair!"

The camera zoomed out, revealing two AMORFS victims flanking the preacher. "AMORFS is an attack on the Only Pure People. AMORFS only affects the Only Pure People. Getting infected with AMORFS is proof that you are one of the Only Pure People. Therefore, wear your affliction with pride! Wear your fur proudly like a battle scar! Come join us, and together we will rise up and defeat the immoral morfies who dared to attack the One Pure People!"

Kim turned off the vid wall with disgust. "They are nothing if not cunning."

"And determined," agreed Sara.

"Not to mention prideful," said Sue.

(End of part six)

---

Tina Shepherd was in the final stages of dying a slow death due to cancer when she met the Martins and their friends.

sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

---

Author's Note: Joreymay kindly allowed me the use of some of her characters. She wrote much of the dialogue and actions of her characters. Thanks, Joreymay!

Chapter Twenty-Three: Mopping Up

The next day, there were some changes in the lunch room. It may be merely symbolic, but it served to consolidate our efforts to wipe out the prideful elitist attitudes that had poisoned so many of us. When the few pures who stubbornly clung to their beliefs came to sit down, they found that the former pures table was occupied not only by their former cronies, but by everyone from the 'sane but not normal' table. We were also joined by some of the people who had changed over the weekend. When they found that they were outnumbered, they slunk off to the former misfit corner.

When sixth hour rolled around, we filed into the autatorium for a special assembly. Everybody did, too, because the principal assured them that roll would be taken, and that anyone who was missing would serve a special detention to watch a video recording of the assembly. Anyone who had an unexcused absence would serve an extra hour of detention beyond that.

The principal started the assembly by announcing that the school was being hit hard by MORFS, and that we expect a disproportionate amount of gender changes and absolute hybrids. He turned the meeting over to the Doctors Martin, who gave their well-practiced spiel. Then, Doctor Myra Winters took the podium and announced that she, along with a team of counselors, would be spending several hours a week here help students with their changes, and to facilitate several support groups. She then introduced several parents that she had recruited to help kids and parents with their changes. Finally, she called up those of us who had taken our turn in front of the churches yesterday. She reminded the assembled students that we had already gone through MORFS, and that we were more than willing to help anyone who asked.

After the assembly broke up, Jerry and I walked over to where our parents and the Martins were chatting. We hugged them goodbye as a dark-haired girl approached. Without any fanfare, she disappeared, followed closely by the Martins.

Kim sensed my startlment. *Don't worry. Robin is a professional teleport. She took us home so that we can get ready to teach our evening class.*

*That sounds like a really handy trick! I wonder...*

*Not any time soon,* Kim said. *We have pretty much pushed the envelope here. If we aren't extremely careful about handing out powers, people are going to start getting suspicious.*

Jerry and I were busy all week. Fortunately for us, we got a lot of help from the friends that we had made in the few short weeks since school started. With all the people in a panic over coming down with MORFS, and with all the disoriented and depressed kids coming back, we barely got a breather. Fortunately, the teachers were lenient when we were a bit late with our homework. We worked hard to get it done on time, but what can you do when someone panics and needs you right now? Also, our daily flights helped keep us sane. The freedom of flying kept us from feeling trapped by our self-imposed responsibilities.

School was a madhouse. Thank God for all the help we got from Doctor Myra and her colleagues. Thank God for the loving support of our parents, the Martins, and our other friends. As the week continued, we continued to get more and more frazzled. Meanwhile, the school was getting furry. I never saw so many absolute hybrids in one place at one time. Our church attracts MORFS survivors, but it still doesn't have the concentration of absolute hybrids and gender changes that come from AMORFS. I'm sure the testing center is going nuts. The state school board sent an army of speech therapists here to help the kids learn to talk with their new face shapes. The national swap shop chain rented a couple unused classrooms and stocked them with teen clothes.

Jerry and I were elated to get an invitation to spend the weekend at the Kitty Mansion. We were told that, while we are undeniably valuable as peer leaders and counselors, we need not spend our time flying around and monitoring people at home. We are no longer working virtually alone. We are part of a team.

Chapter Twenty-Four: New Friends

When the last bell rang on Friday, Jerry and I ran out of the school and leapt into the air. Our new friends waved at us as we flew away. We didn't have to worry about monitoring AMORFS victims, preparing to address groups of people, or anything like that. Somehow, the Doctors Martin convinced our teachers to give us a weekend without homework. Even our clothes were already at the Kitty Mansion -- compliments of Doctor Myra.

As soon as we got there, we were led to the big conference room in the basement. It was set up informally -- more like a lounge than a conference room. The table was loaded with soft drinks, snacks, and the inevitable energy drinks and power bars. Jerry and I sat in the love seat next to the one that Cindy and Jim occupied. Cara and Larry sat together in another love seat. Amy and Sue came in with a stack of pizzas and closed the door.

"I Suppose You're Wondering Why I've Called You All Together," Kim said.

"Oh hush, you!" Sara said as she swatted Kim with her tail.

"Now you get to see why we spent a good part of yesterday visiting the Denver area," Kim said. "We met five remarkable teens for the first time, and chatted with each of their parents. They should be arriving any second now." She paused for a second. "The teens, not the parents."

Without fanfare, two people appeared in a circle in the corner of the room. On the left was the same dark haired girl that had teleported Kim and Sara so that they could teach class after the assembly last Monday. The other was a very pretty blond with innocent blue eyes. I could tell that she was a low-level bio elemental with that same extra processing talent that allowed Amy and Cara to make custom morfs. She was wearing a necklace with an angel figurine on it. It looked different, somehow. I focused my senses on it briefly. It appeared to be made from a single crystal of titanium alloy, except that the crystalline structure was deformed to match the figurine. The coloring was interesting, too. There were no pigments. Instead, a fine pattern of ridges selectively absorbed some light wavelengths and diffracted others so that the desired colors appeared. I made a mental note to ask her about it later.

The two girls stepped out of the way, and two other people appeared. The girl, slightly taller than the bio elemental, had blond hair and blank white eyes. I sensed in her a strong telepathy/empathy/telesense suite similar to the one that I enjoy. I smiled at her knowingly.

Her companion was imposing -- about as tall and muscular as Jerry, with large white wings that stuck up above his shoulders and went down to his thighs in the back. Those large wings must get in the way and make it difficult to find a suitable seat. They made me appreciate my own wings that, while not very big, are able to settle neatly on to my back.

I sensed in him some serious power. He has a kind of a remote sensing ability that differs from my own. In addition, he's a powerful illusionist and can transmute matter. If it wasn't for his kind heart, he would be scary. I sensed a bond between him and the telepath. She smiled knowingly at me as that thought crossed my mind. I'm so used to being among telepaths who are friends that it never occurred to me to shield from the people in the room. Of course, if the Martins invited her into their house, I can probably consider her to be a friend. She sent me a friendly telepathic smirk.

A fifth person appeared. She had black hair and light skin, and was tall for a girl -- about 5'10". I could see a little precognition sense in her, and also something weird. I saw some kind of limited but powerful telepathy that would only receive, and would send all the information into the same kind of unconscious processor that allows some bios to see the path of MORFS, gives technopaths their ability to control electronics, and stuff like that.

The Doctors Martin walked up to them and greeted them warmly, then invited them to be seated. They had been thoughtful enough to provide a love seat with a gap between the seat and the back that accommodated the tall illusionist's beautiful white wings.

"Sanura has told us a lot about you," Kim said to them. "It isn't easy to impress Doctor Miller," she couldn't quite stifle a giggle, "but you five managed to do it."

Sara turned to us. "These five are responsible for the umm... anomalies that we noted in the Denver area.

We had gone through the epidemiological data when I was here a few weeks ago, so I knew the implications of what Sara was telling us. I was impressed, as was everyone else. I filled Jerry in telepathically.

Sara addressed us all. "We hope that this will be a fun, relaxing, and informal weekend, but I think we need to start by introducing ourselves.

Kim hopped up and said in a whiny little girl voice, "Hi my name is Kimmy and even though I'm half boy mommy Sara makes me wear skirts and dresses and other girly clothes..."

Sara put her hands on her hips and glared at Kim, trying not to crack a smile. Kim assumed her exact posture and expression, then smirked and said, "You know, you look mighty cute that way." Sara couldn't hold it in any more and dissolved into a fit of giggles.

The blond bio elemental had a concerned look on her face. *Don't worry. Their sense of humor might get the best of them on occasion, but they're really wonderful people,* I sent to her. She looked back at me and smiled.

"Seriously, though, I am Professor Doctor Kim Ma..." Kim made a face. "I'm Kim Martin. With the exception of some formal situations, or if you are unfortunate enough to take one of my classes, you should call me Kim." She smiled and continued. "I was born Howard G. Martin, but the bug worked me over late in life and turned me into the fuzzy-eared varmint that you see before you." She assumed a posture that I have seen in the classroom many times. "Somehow, we got infected with the same bug that got our lovely children. We got the same suites of genetic changes -- DNA group 1255C high density muscles, DNA group 3266B carbon nanotube reinforced bones, nails, and claws, seal point feline genes, and a few others. Appearance wise, our hair color is our original hair color, but increased in intensity. My lovely bride went from dark brown to raven black. I went from dark blond to straw blond. My handsome young boy's mousy brown hair morfed to dark blond, and that fire-haired beauty over there used to have auburn hair."

Sara folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, doctor Martin."

"Yes, Doctor Martin?"

"Are you going into professor mode again, Doctor Martin?"

Kim blushed. "It's a hard habit to break, Doctor Martin."

She waited for the chuckles to die down, then continued, "Anyhow, the bug got me, but didn't give me any powers that I could find. Then, our young friend Cara woke up our telepathic and telekinetic powers. Later, Amy remorfed us all so that we have pretty much the same suite of powers -- telepathy, telekinesis, empathy, remote viewing, and bio elemental. Alas, we couldn't remorf Amy because she's a bio. She is quite adept at sharing our powers, though, so it really isn't an issue."

Kim sat down and Sara got up. "I'm Sara Martin, and it's my job to keep these three" she waved at Kim, Larry, and Cindy "reined in. Alas, Kim is the most difficult of the bunch." This caused a chorus of snickers.

"While the bug did add some interesting new parts to my anatomy, I haven't had to change my mannerisms or the way I face the world. I did have to toss out all my old lady clothes, though." She paused and thought for a few seconds. "My story is about the same as Kim's, and we enjoy the same powers."

"I'm Sue Jones. My husband was a deacon in the Genetic Purity Church, so I had to take Matthew from the home when he got MORFS. Soon after he morfed into Cara, I managed to get the exact set of changes. Cara and I both started out with empathy, telepathy, telekinesis, and two types of remote sensing. Cara did a wonderful job of helping ease me through my transformation and teaching me to use my powers. I can't thank the Martins enough for taking Cara and me into their home and taking us under their wings. Amy, too, has been a wonderful addition to my family."

"I'm Cara. As my mother mentioned, the bug changed my sex when I wasn't looking. This was just one of many adjustments that I had to go through. I can honestly say, though, that life is better than ever before." She smiled warmly as she looked around the room. "I can't thank the Martins enough for welcoming me in my hour of need. They have taught me much. They seem almost like a second set of parents to me, and Cindy is definitely like a sister to me. Amy used to be my girlfriend, but she has become my adoptive sister." She put her arm around Larry and pulled him close. "I have also become quite fond of this kitty boy." She gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

"I'm Larry Martin, and what can I say? Mom and Dad took good care of us when we morfed. Soon after they morfed, they brought some new people to us who have filled our house with warmth." He thought a bit. "Adventure, too. These past few months have definitely not been boring.

"I'm Amy Jones. When I morfed, I wasn't as fortunate as the Martins, or even Cara. My parents turned me over to the church." She sniffled a couple times, then said in a low voice. "They tied me up like a dog, humiliated me, and threw stones at me. They buried me alive." She took a few deep breaths, then brightened. "But I have to count my blessings. Cara, after getting stoned herself, dug me out of the ground and literally infused life back into me." She sniffled. "Cara and Sue invited me to join their family. I owe them, and the Martins, so much." She paused and thought for a while. "Oh yeah, I'm a telepath and a bio elemental; and I can create custom morfs." She paused again. I could tell that she was communicating with someone. "Um..." She paused for a few seconds. "The first time I created a human morf was by accident. We were thinking of nasty things to do to the pures when I realized that my bio nature was putting together a morf package. When some pures grabbed me a couple days later, I accidentally released the virus packet. That little experience taught me to be more careful with my powers in the future."

"I'm Cindy Martin. I can only echo what my dear brother said. It's definitely been fun -- most of the time. It's also been a joy watching Cara blossom as a young lady. I look forward to having her as a sister-in-law some day." She looked over at Cara, who blushed cutely.

"I'm Jim Reynolds. My story is rather boring. I morfed with no great fanfare. My parents took care of me like parents should. I was just starting to get used to the new me when I met this wild bunch on the school bus." He pointed to Larry, Cindy, and Cara. "It didn't take long for Cindy to become a bit more than a friend."

Everyone looked at me expectantly. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I'm Tina Shepherd. I had spent the last five and a half years slowly dying of some form of cancer that isn't really cancer. Mom and Dad took me to the Martins' church for a special prayer service. After the service, I was escorted downstairs." I sniffed, then continued. "The whole crew of them, Kim, Sara, Cindy, Larry, Amy, Sue, and Cara, worked together and stripped every tumor from my body." I paused a bit to let my breathing settle. "They said that the tumors would come back unless I went through MORFS. They took a chance and let me in on their secret." I stood up and slightly unfurled my wings. "I chose this form. I chose the wings because I have always wanted to fly. The wings represent a freedom that I never had before. I chose the rest because I want to be like the people who gave me back my life. The past few weeks have been like a dream, and I owe it all to my new friends. I owe them my very life." I sat down and put my arm around Jerry.

"I'm Jerry Wright. Like Tina, I was plagued with a disease that made my life miserable." He got a dreamy look in his eyes. "I remember talking to Tina on the email support groups for young people with terminal or chronic illness. I remember feeling happy for her when MORFS commuted her death sentence, even while I was feeling sorry for myself, and maybe just a bit jealous. I remember sitting in the misfit corner eating lunch at school when this adorable flying kitty girl, who could have joined just about any clique she wanted, decided to sit next to my poor battered body." He looked at me with love in his eyes. "It took me a while to figure out that it was more than her personality that made me feel better every time I saw her. She had been quietly curing some of the symptoms of my disease. When I came down with MORFS, I panicked because my parents were members of the Genetic Purity Church. She took me to the school nurse, eased my fears, and helped my parents come to realize the errors of the church's teachings. She sought Amy's help to change the course of MORFS." He took a deep breath. "It wasn't regular MORFS. It was AMORFS, and I was going to turn into a monkey girl."

I felt a pang of... something from the blond bio girl, but it was quickly hidden.

Jerry stood up and slightly unfurled his beautiful golden wings. "Tina, with the help of her friends, gave me this form. She didn't tell me, though. She says she wants me to like her for who she is, not what she does." He pulled me into a tight hug. "She does what she does because she is who she is. The Martins and Joneses chose well when they decided to give Tina her form and powers. She has a heart of gold."

I blushed, then wrapped Jerry in a hug, furling my wings around him.

"That's why we call them The Lovebirds," Larry said dryly.

"Awwwwww," swooned Cindy. "Ain't they just sooooooo cute?"

I stuck my tongue out at her and sat down.

The bio elemental was suddenly aware that everyone was looking at her. She shrugged, and began, "We should probably go in order of change. Um... " She looked at two of the other girls, and had a brief telepathic conference with one. "Penny?"

"I'm Penny Johnson. Some people call me Cassandra. I was eleven, almost twelve when I came down with MORFS. At first, all that seemed to have happened was that my hair changed color from auburn to black. Then the evaluation came back with a little bit of precog and some sort of psi ability they couldn't identify. It turns out that I get, on a subconscious level, all the special sensory and extrasensory perceptions of every morf within my range. All the time. I tried to learn to make some of it conscious, but it nearly burned me out. The special part of my brain that handles the whole thing looks for potential trouble that I would be concerned with, and makes me aware of it. They think the process somehow ties in with my precog." She paused a moment, then shrugged and sat down.

The blond indicated the telepath.

"I'm Lena Morgan, AKA Radar. I got MORFS when I was twelve. Even before that, I was a full-of-myself little snot despite the best efforts of my parents. When I woke up from the change, the world was screaming at me and I couldn't see right. I didn't know how long I was in that nightmare place, but it seemed like forever. With a lot of help, I recovered and started to learn how to use my new abilities and compensate for my new disabilities." She waved toward her white, pupil-less eyes. "I would like to say that the experience turned me into the fine, upstanding citizen you see before you, but it ain't so. When I recovered from the shock, I reverted to form. I was gonna rule the world! Everyone else would acknowledge my supreme power, and do whatever I wanted. That lasted all of a week before another telepath -- a very powerful telepath -- took me in hand and taught me the facts of life. She didn't just take me down a peg, she dropped me off the fracking board. But she didn't just teach me to use my abilities responsibly. She helped me find my way back to being human. She also pointed me toward ways I could learn to leverage my abilities even more powerfully. She taught me that knowledge and understanding were far more powerful than anything MORFS could provide." She paused and took a deep breath. "Since then, I have helped other morfs when and where I could, and tried to be a good friend and person."

She sat, and the bio elemental spoke. "I'm Angel O'Connor. Before the change, I was a latino."

I could tell that there was something more to the statement. My friends agreed, but nobody felt right about speculating or probing deeper. We just let it slide. We have all been well trained about the importance of respecting privacy.

"The MORFS hit while we were moving to GV - a suburb of Denver. We were going to be visiting family on the way, so it just changed our plans a little. I started changing in the car, and the nice little drugs the Doctor gave us kept me out cold. We got to our first visit, and I finished changing there. My family helped me adjust to my changes and learn to use my abilities. I had to learn a whole new culture."

She paused for a second to think. Again, we could tell that she was leaving something out. Also, something was making her uneasy.

"Since I didn't look obviously morfed, my cousins and I decided to try out my new identity at a big rally the Pures were holding. The night before, we sat around BS'ing about divine retribution -- what would be the most fitting thing to happen to the Pures. I hadn't been tested yet, and I didn't know about my powers. I just... had to go to the rally, and work as an anonymous volunteer. There were a lot of them. I had to meet and touch a lot of the more prominent and social of the Pures there. And something happened."

She stopped, and looked at Lena. They locked eyes for a second.

"AMORFS."

I could tell that Lena knew what was going on. Still, she played the straight part. "You spread AMORFS there?"

"No. Yes. But... I created it. I didn't know I was doing it. I didn't know I had done it. I didn't even know I had these powers -- not yet. I didn't know I had any powers. We were just joking around, and then I went to that rally, and then... later... everything was there."

Amy asked, "You didn't know about your powers?"

"I didn't seem to have any, other than the physical changes. I just had some funny stuff with my vision. And the pamphlets said that was normal. And temporary, in most cases. It wasn't until later, when I got my evaluation, that I found out that I had bio elemental abilities. Very weak bio elemental powers."

She paused, and seemed to start over again.

"We have a family thing about taking stuff we have very little of, like money all too often, and making the most of it. I couldn't do big things, so I went the other way. My grandmother helped me learn to recognize different kinds of microbiota, and I accidentally learned that I could modify them as well as move them around or even destroy them. From there, I eventually figured out I could do custom MORFS. I also figured out what I had done at the rally. When I heard about the anguish, and the suicides..." she choked back a sob, and took a moment to regain her composure. "I finished the move to our new home, and met this crazy telepath. She introduced me around, and soon I had a whole bunch of friends. And two good jobs."

She looked over at the winged boy, then sat down.

Before he could speak, Amy interrupted. "I was personally trained by two of the preeminent MORFS experts in the world. I had the support of a community -- make that a family of people who helped me make the most of my powers. Ever since Cara dug me from the ground, I was surrounded by a strong support group." She looked over at Angel, then down at her shoes. "When we were joking around about how we would like to morf the pures that gave us so much trouble, I could feel my bio nature putting it together. I knew what was happening, and I was scared." She looked Angel straight in the eye. "And I still messed up! I knew what I was doing, and I still messed up! When those two pures grabbed me, I released the bug without even thinking. Instantly, I knew what I had done." She lowered her voice and almost whispered, "but it was too late."

Angel looked down at the floor. "I did that too," she said quietly.

Amy looked over at Kim and Sara. "They never judged me. We are in and out of each others' mind enough that I would know if they disapproved. They couldn't hide it without shutting me out." Cara got up and went to her. Amy continued, "The Martins have more integrity than anyone I have ever met, and they didn't judge me. I can feel... I can tell that nobody here judges you, either."

Sara looked at Angel. "There is no sin in making a mistake. If you were to let that incident scare you away from continuing to develop and use your powers, then there would be a problem."

Kim added, "But we both know that you have gone to considerable trouble and risk to help others... to use your powers to help others." I wondered what she was talking about, but I figured we would find out some time this weekend.

Kim nodded to the winged boy. He stood, flaring his wings slightly to regain his balance. "I'm David Streight. Someone was going to call me the Angel, but the name was taken." He grinned. "So I ended up with Captain, or CP for short."

I caught a brief image of an action figure in a modified package, and of using telesense to peek into the girls' locker room. I couldn't help but snicker. The other telepaths in the room thought it was funny, too.

"I didn't know it at the time, but I was the first trial run of this strange idea my friends here had. They used the rumors about Pope Hill for a cover, to let Angel use her custom MORFS power in secret. I got what I wished for, but I didn't realize what it would be like when I woke up from the changes. If it wasn't for Lena and the others, and my family, I would have lost it entirely."

"He got better," Radar grinned.

David continued, "I also got a girlfriend out of the deal." He caressed Radar's cheek with his hand.

"Our own lovebirds," Angel declared, with a cheeky grin. Right on cue, the "Awwwww's" sounded again.

The dark haired teleport stood. "I'm Robin Brown, or Flit. I was the final dress rehearsal for Pope Hill."

I looked at her. "What is Pope Hill?"

"A place near our homes, where a Pope who later became a Saint had a big gathering and supposedly did something special. Off and on since then, it's had a reputation for strange things happening. The perfect cover for our plan." She made a face. "Anyhow, I saw what happened when David woke up, and didn't want any part of that. I can teleport, get invisible and/or intangible, and do some limited time traveling."

Cindy asked, "Limited?"

"So far, I can only go back a week or so. It's getting better with time and effort, though." She sat down.

"And on that positive note," Kim said, "I think it's time to put a serious dent in our supply of pizza."

Rather than taking up room at the table, I TK'd two plates and several slices over to Jerry and me. Flit looked at me and smirked. A plate appeared in her hand, closely followed by a slice of pizza. An empty glass appeared on the wide arm of her seat. A fraction of a second later, the glass was filled. The liquid rippled just a bit as it settled to the shape of the glass.

*Show off!* I said to her as I floated two two full glasses over to Jerry and me.

Soon, we were all chatting like we had known each other for years. I listened to their fascinating descriptions of how they pulled off the Pope Hill caper. They also told us about how they met Doctor Miller, and how she managed to uncover their scam. She definitely has the patience and instincts of a stalking cat. I made a mental note not to cross swords with her. Cara had a number of stories to tell, too. Her old church really had it in for her. Sara encouraged me to talk about the afternoon when I rescued little Ruthie. That led to a discussion about our efforts to help the people affected by the AMORFS epidemic.

Angel was feeling bad -- not really guilty in the sense of feeling that she deserved punishment, but she felt regret about the trouble caused by AMORFS.

I walked over to her and took both of her hands in mine. "Angel, you're a good person. I'm not delving into your thoughts because I respect your privacy, but my empathic sense can't help but see a kind soul that wants to help others." Before she could answer, I continued. "I'm grateful for AMORFS. AMORFS gave me my boyfriend. AMORFS rescued his family from the seductive clutches of the Genetic Purity Church."

She looked at me, not quite wanting to believe what I was telling her.

"It's not a salvage operation that we've been engaged in for the past week. We weren't just picking up the pieces after a disaster and trying to save what we could." I looked at her earnestly. "It wasn't disaster recovery. It was rebirth. It was painful for some, but that's a characteristic of the birth process." I had pretty much everyone's attention at this point. "We went into Jerry's old church with the news that they were about to wear fur. We gave them good advice and offered to help them. We can mourn the third who chose to hold on to their old bigoted pride, but I prefer to celebrate the two thirds who were delivered from that mess. I celebrate the people who, when faced with a choice, took the right path."

Kim came over and added, "Tina's right. It may have been an accident, but I can't think of a better solution for the problem with the pures. AMORFS didn't simply wipe them out or scatter them. AMORFS gave them a much needed wake-up call and allowed the majority of them to free themselves. It's one thing to smite your enemy, and another thing entirely to heal them and make them your friends. World leaders crave the ability to purposely separate the weeds from the flowers the way that you did accidentally."

Angel looked at me, than at Radar. I slid out of the way. Lena and Robin held her and let her cry herself out.

*Thank you,* Radar sent to me. *She needed to hear that.*

The rest of the evening was considerably less intense. After trading more stories and letting our food settle, we all hit the pool. It was chilly outside, but the Martins had a dome over their pool and a large part of their yard to extend the swimming and growing season. Jerry tried to demonstrate to David how to take off from the water, but he almost ran into the side of the dome.

"Don't run into the glass, bird boy!" I yelled to him. Everyone laughed as he banked sharply to avoid the glass, swooped down, grabbed me, and dropped me in the deep end. I came up sputtering, then dove down and pushed off of the bottom. I rose to the surface like a shot and came out of the water like a submarine launched ICBM, TKing myself dry as I emerged. Just before I got to the glass, I arched backward and flew upside-down and parallel to the glass. Before I hit the ground, I rolled back and flew low over the dirt, then the plascrete pool deck. I flared, landed in front of Jerry, and stuck my tongue out at him.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Swapping stories and techniques

We continued to swap stories, as well as some tips and techniques. We learned from Angel how to isolate injected, ingested, and inhaled drugs. She also taught us a self-defense trick where we lock the attacker's nerves on so that they feel heat and pain. We compared our knowledge of microbiota. We had learned a number of bugs from cultures that the Professors Martin brought home from the college labs, and Angel had come across quite a few in her travels and experience at the theater chain. She taught us how to make natural tattoos, telling us an amusing story about how she had marked some party crashers. We, in turn, passed on the templates for a bunch of biochemicals and microbiota that provide quite a palate of colors -- including some bioluminescent bacteria that the Martins brought from the school. It soon degenerated into a female paint fest. Jerry snorted and rolled his eyes, so I painted his body with outlandish colorful stripes. "Save the baby polyesters," I quipped.

We learned a lot from Radar. She has been a telepath for a long time -- longer than any of us. In fact, she morfed at about the same time my body tried to morf. My body tried to morf, but it ended up making tumors instead of rebuilding itself. I was thinking of that, and the long years of pain, when I felt Jerry's arms fold themselves around me. "If going through that made you the person that you are, then it was worth it. Take it from someone who has been there."

"He's right," said Sara. "You have a level of maturity and caring that's unusual for someone your age. I think you realize that you're the youngest one here."

"These abilities that we have aren't everything," Kim said. "MORFS gave you some tools that helped you play a major role in this past week's project, but it's your heart that recognized the need and motivated you to contact us and get the ball rolling."

Jerry added, "When the future Possum Girl first accosted me, I was just going to toss some insults at him and send him back to the pures table. You're the one who reached out to them all and worked hard to help them."

"I couldn't have done it without your help," I said to him.

"I followed you," he replied. "If you hadn't had the compassion and recognized the need, nothing would have happened until things started to really hit the fan. Then, it would have been too late for a lot of people."

"It ain't what you got, it's how you use it," Jim intoned.

"Well I wouldn't know about that," Cara said, trying to sound indignant.

"Certainly your memory isn't that short," Amy said dryly.

Angel stifled a giggle. I caught a brief mental image of a similar scene with her mom and grandma. Pieces started to fall into place. Latino, not Latina. A new culture. Her reaction to Kim's little speech about being dressed like a girl. Her reaction when Cara mentioned her sex change.

I smoothly hid those thoughts. I don't know why Angel would want to hide her sex change from us, but it's not for me to judge. If she wants to keep it a secret, I'll have to respect that.

Radar smiled at me knowingly, then distracted the telepaths by continuing her lessons. We had already swapped some of the processing procedures that we have developed, but there are a whole lot more things that need to be learned the old-fashioned way. Some tasks require creativity and judgment.

Soon, the subject returned to the scam that our new friends had pulled at Pope Hill. Angel was a little concerned that the Doctors Martin had managed to track her down by looking at the DNA signature -- even if it did require access to the elemental database that even they don't have.

This brought up a discussion of DNA signatures and the way that Angel, Amy, and Cara make custom morfs. Kim surprised us by announcing that they had been doing some secret research in their basement lab.

"Custom morfing works by making a genetic change in every cell of the body, then forcing the somatic reconstruction. We don't have the processing necessary to actually create custom morfs, but we can read the DNA, predict what will happen, and do some dicing and slicing." Kim assumed her standard professor posture and continued, "We sliced and diced all of our samples and came up with a couple dozen other virii that will work. Any bio elemental who can read morfs can use the virii if they are also supplied with the DNA 'payload.'"

Sara picked it up from there. "The reason we did that was to muddy the waters for anyone trying to hunt down Angel, Amy, or Cara." She nodded to Amy, who touched each of the bio elementals in the room and delivered the virus packets. When I received mine, I let that unconscious part of my mind analyze and store them. I noticed that there were another dozen packets that already had a payload that would cause the recipient to receive powers, but wouldn't otherwise change. To design a custom morf, the bio elemental generally needs to read the recipient. I later found out that the Doctors Martin, Amy, and Cara managed to get around that requirement by carefully limiting the scope of the morf.

Kim said, "The virii you just received are similar to the AMORFS component that overcomes natural resistance and triggers the somatic reconstruction. When it is administered, it will read a large number of cells to determine the base genome of the patient. It will then modify that template by removing known genetic defects. If there is a payload on the virus, it will add the paylod. It will then update each cell with the new code -- incidentally stopping any cancerous cells dead in their tracks. If there is a payload, the virus will finish the job by forcing somatic reconstruction."

"How does the virus do all the calculating?" Jerry asked. "It's not like a virus has any processing power."

"The processing part was created by Amy and Cara," Kim replied. We think that it comes from n-dimensional patterns that are attached to the Virus DNA," Kim replied.

Sara said, "While everyone thought we were just flying around and playing with our new LBSC Swift, we were infecting carefully selected medical people with bugs that would give them a carefully designed suite of powers, and also, to draw attention away from our recent activities with the two churches, modifying the changes of some AMORFS patients. We would like to recruit you all to help us spread what will no doubt be referred to as 'AMORFS 2.' The plan is to use a variety of signatures so that there is no way to trace a particular signature to a specific person."

We spent some time brainstorming, then decided to take care of the specifics later. That turned into a discussion of various ways of infecting someone without their knowledge. The Pope Hill Gang used a number of techniques, but now generally have Flit and Angel do the job while invisible and mostly intangible. When Angel mentioned that they wanted to have a big blow-out on Halloween night, Kim suggested that we all fly over to Denver and do it together. That will allow us to try a variety of techniques, and to muddy the waters by using a variety of signatures.

We talked well into the night, then finally went to bed. I bunked with Cara and Amy, and the other guests stayed in the various guest rooms. Saturday morning, breakfast was cooked by whoever got up first. Angel taught us her special recipe for pancakes that keep well for snacks. Flit made omelets by teleporting the filling into the pre-cooked eggs.

We were all having lunch in the shielded conference room when a large black oval disk appeared. A second later, a very petite kitty girl stepped out of the hole. I immediately recognized her as Doctor Miller, the elementolgist that wrote so many of the online courses that I have taken. I also noticed that she was a very powerful elemental -- something that wasn't mentioned in any of the literature that I read about her. What puzzled me is that I couldn't determine what element she controls. I was totally boggled.

"Pick your jaw up off of the floor, dear," she said with a smirk. I blushed and stammered an apology. Her glance flicked over to Angel and back to me. "The question you want to ask is, 'What the hell ARE you?'"

I blushed. Angel blushed even darker, and it showed up very well on her fair features. Kim and Sara tried to hold back their mirth, but couldn't quite do it. "You definitely have the cat's instinct of toying with her prey," Kim commented with a chuckle. She turned to me and said, "Someone in this room, who will remain nameless, actually asked Doctor Sanura that question."

I didn't think it was possible, but Angel's blush deepened.

Doctor Miller looked at Kim. "I seem to recall a certain professor who took great pleasure in toying with people's minds, and this guy didn't even have the excuse of having been enhanced with feline genes."

"I will neither confirm nor deny..." Kim intoned.

"I have taken way too many of your classes for you to get away with denying anything," Doctor Miller interrupted. Then she turned to me. "To answer the question that you have way too much grace to ask," Doctor Miller said as her glaze flicked briefly at Angel again, "I am a dark energy elemental. I have researched it extensively, but even I don't know quite what it is. It's very useful, though."

I could only nod. I guess dynamite comes in small packages. I picked up glimpses from the Pope Hill Gang's minds of having been out-maneuvered by her, then toyed with. I did note, however, that she seems to be rather fond of them. I decided right then and there to be totally straight-up with her. Trying to hide something from her would most likely just give her way too much entertainment.

We finally got down to the business at hand, which was discussing plans for spreading AMORFS-2 to selected people in the medical community, and of muddying the waters in general so that we can better get away with making custom morfs on occasion. After all, Doctor Miller and the Doctors Martin had independently tracked down Angel. They were, therefore, best qualified for the task of keeping others from tracking us down.

By the time Sunday came, we were all acting as if we had been friends for years. After some discussion, we decided to skip church -- except for Sue and the Doctors Martin. That left us teens to just hang out.

When everyone came back from church, Jerry's and my parents were with them. Mom and Dad looked rather pekid, and were already wearing portable IV units on their forearms. I helped them up to a guest room and gave them some privacy so that they could change into their night clothes. They pushed the 'go to sleep' button and were soon sleeping peacefully. I listened to the mutterings of their unconscious minds for a while, then went back downstairs. When I got down there, Angel smiled at me. "Looks like flying kitty morfs run in your family," she said with a smirk.

"They do now," I replied."

I noticed that Dad had parked the car in the garage. That makes sense, since it will be sitting there for a few days. I grabbed my parents' luggage and took it to their room. I spent a few moments looking fondly at them. I knew that they already had some clothes that would fit their new appendages because Jerry and I were there when they bought them.

All too soon, it was time for us to say our goodbyes. I rode home with Jerry and his parents, and they dropped me off at my home. My grandparents greeted me at the door. I'm always happy to see them. They looked really good, and had a spring in their step. A quick scan with my bio senses showed that they were still doing well after their earlier 'tune-up,' They were doing even better, in fact.

(End of part seven)

---

Tina Shepherd was in the final stages of dying a slow death due to cancer when she met the Martins and their friends.

sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

---

Chapter Twenty-Six: Chaos at school

Jerry and I were glad to have had a restful weekend once we got to the chaos that had taken over the school. Over the weekend, a dozen kids went down, and a dozen more woke up to their new bodies. Some freaked out, and some just sighed resignedly. All of them had to see one of Doctor Myra's colleagues, and all of them had to spend some time with me or one of the other peer counselors. Some were pleasant to talk to, while others were downright nasty. They were either openly envious of my favorable transformation, or acted like it was my fault that they morfed. I wonder what they would say if they knew that I could actually introduce them to the person who caused them to morf.

Fortunately for everyone, the teachers have been instructed to go easy on us. We'll have to make up for it later, but it's the only way to keep things relatively sane while AMORFS makes its way through the student population.

Jerry and I were relieved when gym time rolled around. We blew off a lot of steam. By the time we hit the showers, we were bathed in sweat. We were done showering and on our way to lunch when our friend Mary came out of a classroom. "Hi Tina, Hi Jerry."

"It's good to see you smile again," I said to her.

"It's hard to stay depressed with you guys around to help me," she replied. "Besides, it's not like I'm the only one around here wearing fur."

I reached around and stroked the soft golden fur on Jerry's back. He lifted his wings a bit so that I could reach under them. "I've gotten rather fond of fur," I smirked.

"I guess I really ought to call it wool," she said. "I wonder what it'll be like in the summer. Maybe I should shear myself and knit a sweater for my mom next spring," she joked.

"That actually sounds like a wonderful idea," I said. "She will probably treasure it forever."

"Maaaaaary! Who's your daaaaaaady?" Tyler bleated. "Mary was a little lamb, her fleece as white as snow, and everywhere that Mary went, her fleas were sure to go."

I scowled at him. "You'll be wearing fur soon enough. With all the payback you're going to get, I almost feel sorry for you."

"Says you, kitty bitch! My righteousness will protect me."

I rolled my eyes. "Just keep telling yourself that until the fur starts to grow."

I felt Jerry accessing my bio senses. "What irony," Jerry snorted. "You're about to turn into a real bitch -- a poodle, to be exact!"

Mary turned to Jerry. "A poodle? Girl, I presume."

By way of answer, Jerry looked at Tyler. "You might as well call your mommy and tell her to come pick you up. You'll be puking your guts out by the end of the day." Then he kind of chuckled. "Meanwhile, you need to go into the bathroom and say a proper goodbye to your most prized possession. by the end of the day, you'll be too sick to give it a proper send-off."

"Jerry! That's mean!" I tried to sound stern, but a giggle escaped.

"Look me up after you change," Mary said. "The woolly fur under your clothes will make you look fat, but I know some tricks for dealing with that little problem."

"I'm sure you know all about losing your most prized possession," he scowled at her.

"Not really," Mary replied. "I got to keep it. Twice the goodies, twice the fun!" Then, she looked a little more serious. "I still had to deal with the appearance of switching sides. You'll know about that soon enough."

Tyler stomped off and disappeared into the bathroom. We continued on to the lunch room and sat with our growing group of friends. We had to eat quickly because we were both scheduled to counsel some new changelings. The school counselor tries to disrupt class as little as possible, so we end up with a lot of sessions scheduled during home room, study hall, lunch time, and even after school.

At the end of the day, we changed into our flying clothes and took to the air. The fall colors were starting to come in, especially some of the higher areas. The crisp air made us glad to have fur and warm flying clothes.

Since our ground training was complete, we both carried our Personal Avionics Packages. A standard PAP contains a transponder, aeronautical radio, GPS, library of aeronautical charts, and even some instrument landing electronics. It has a small display, but works best with the heads-up display built into the flight goggles. Since our flight adaptations include a telekinetic shield that keeps our eyes safe from the wind and small flying objects, we generally keep our goggles stowed in our flight utility belt.

While we don't have to carry our PAPs in unregulated airspace, we like the extra factor of safety. Also, it's easier if we just keep them with us at all times.

When we got home, Jerry helped me with the chores -- the few that were left, anyhow. Grandma and Grandpa were feeling so good that they took great pleasure in doing the farm work. They haven't said anything, but I can tell that they would love to move back and live the rural life again.

After the chores were done, Jerry and I did our homework, then rewarded ourselves by loading up the flight simulator programs and goofing around with the various airplanes. Some, like the old Piper Cub, are slower than we are. The Supercub is a bit faster, and the Cub IV, with its lightweight fuel cells, carbon nanotube based motor, and carbon nanotube composite body with an ACNR coating, can pretty much do rings around us. Nothing in the air has the agility of a human flyer, of course.

Our favorite aircraft is the Lockheed-Boeing-Scaled Composite Swift III. The unique Synergy thrusters, along with the lifting body design, allow this aircraft to take off and land without a runway, hover, and break the sound barrier. Jerry and I like to take turns simulating various mechanical failures. We look forward to the day when we can purchase one for ourselves. Meanwhile, we'll have to content ourselves with the simulator -- or maybe the Martins will let us fly theirs once we get our pilot's licenses.

I was busy trying to land the Swift without the lift repulsors when Grandma called us down for dinner. I froze the simulator and, holding hands with Jerry, went down to dinner. Grandma smiled at us as we worked together to set the table. I could feel her approval for our relationship, and the pleasure she takes in cooking for family. I'm going to have to talk to Mom and Dad about asking them to move back in. They seem so happy to be here. They look good, too. Apparently, cleaning up the damage due to aging and renewing their cells allowed their bodies to renew themselves. They even lost the extra weight that often comes with age.

After clearing the table and loading the dishwasher, Jerry and I flew to his house. As usual, his mom had a nice dessert for us. Jerry and I eat at each other's house quite often, so our parents are quite used to having us eat dinner at one house, and dessert at the other. Everyone seems quite content with this arrangement. In fact, our parents have become good friends in the short time that they had known each other.

After chatting with everyone for a while, I flew back home. Grandma and Grandpa were snuggling on the couch when I walked in. They looked startled and embarrassed, then shrugged and continued. I just smiled at them. I had long since gotten over the idea that grandparents are somehow above feeling the urges that we mere mortals feel. I gave them each a kiss on the cheek and went up to my room.

Chapter Twenty-Seven: More Butterflies

Jerry and I landed on a concrete pad that had been designated as the official school landing area for flyers. Leave it up to the administration to try to turn everything into a big production.

As we were walking into the school, we were greeted by Tom, who had recently morfed into a rabbit hybrid. "Hi Bugs," Jerry grinned at his old frined. Tom grinned back, pulled a carrot out of his pocket, and chewed on it. "Ah, what's up, Doc?"

I giggled. "It's a good thing you and Tammy like rabbits. You two are going to make a big hit when you show at the next 4-H fair."

"Speaking of Tammy," Jerry said, "How is Miss Hunny Bunny?"

"I'm doing just fine," came a voice from down the hall. She quickly walked up to us and enfolded Bugs in a big bunny hug.

"Awwwww, the Snuggle Bunnies," I said with a smile.

Bugs and Hunny looked at me and smirked as Jerry wrapped me with a warm hug. "Far be it for me to ignore inspiration," he said. I was just enjoying a nice kiss when the bell startled us all. We sighed and walked to our classes.

Our gym teacher had to evaluate a new morfie today. He was strong, but not superhuman. Still, as a flyer, he was entitled to take advanced gym. I looked at him carefully. He didn't have a hair on his body, but his head and back were covered with striking feathers -- black with white spots. I flew over to him. "It looks like you picked up some guinea genes."

He looked at me and smirked. "Yeah, now everyone expects me to be loud and obnoxious."

I chuckled. Well, that would be a good description of guinea fowl. Still, there's no guarantee that you're going to pick up their predispositions.

"Just my luck," he scowled. "I saw them once at a petting zoo, and AMORFS gave me their genes."

"Maybe it's because you were always loud and obnoxious," commented one of his friends. "MORFS often expresses a kind of Karmic justice."

"If that was true, you would have morfed into a rat," he retorted. Then, he turned to me. "I'm Rodney Harmon, by the way."

"Tina Shepherd," I replied. "Jerry and I are thinking of starting a school club for human flyers once all the hubbub dies down. Are you interested?"

"I'm afraid I'm not much of a flyer," he commented.

"Real guineas will fly up into a tree when startled, but they prefer to walk," I confirmed. "Still, with practice, you may very well become a strong flyer." I smiled. "In any case, you are a flyer, and therefore welcome to the club."

He smiled back. "Thank you." He thought for a bit. "How do you know so much about guineas? Do you know someone who has some?"

"We have a small flock of them at home. You're welcome to come take a look at them if you like. I can even get you some keets next spring if you have the room for them."

"Keets?"

"Baby guineas," I said. "Guineas tend to be half wild, but people have been known to tame them."

He smiled. "I guess it makes sense to keep a pet guinea. Lots of hybrids keep pets like that."

After a good workout in gym, Jerry and I ate lunch quickly. We had each just started a counseling session with some recent morfies when we got a call from the Martins. My parents are about to wake up. We really wanted to leave right then, but we needed to finish the sessions.

We got to the Martins just in time for my parents to come down the stairs. I was stunned. They walked with a lithe grace, and looked absolutely wonderful. I ran up and jumped into their arms. They caught me, and seemed startled that I felt so light. "Surprised at how strong you are?" I asked them with a smile. "You guys make a really good-looking couple!"

After feeding the hungry butterflies, we went outside so that they could try their wings. They caught on very quickly, and were tempted to fly home. We had to get the van home, though.

On the way home, we talked about my grandparents. This led to a discussion about my scholarship at the Sun City Preparatory School, followed by the University of Sun City. It seems that my parents are interested in living at Sun City for a while. We're going to ask my grandparents to do us a favor by taking over the farm so that Mom and Dad can move to Sun City while I attend prep school and college. We'll have to visit them at the farm a lot, of course.

When we got home, my grandparents were every bit as pleased with Mom and Dad's changes as I was. We all agreed that getting rid of the pain and infirmities that have plagued us all to a greater or lesser extent was well worth the price of a bit of fur. I commented that, since they can expect to live for a good long time, they ought to go to college in Sun City when I go next fall. When Dad said that someone needs to run the family farm, I suggested that Grandpa and Grandma sell off that senior citizen condo that they no longer need and move back to the place where they belong. They made a show of hesitating, but we could tell by the grins on their faces that it wasn't going to be a hard sell. They made it clear that we were all expected home for Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and summer vacation.

You would think that we planned it or something. hee hee.

They were still planning the details when I wandered upstairs to prepare for bed. Somehow, they all came upstairs just as I was slipping between the covers. They prayed over me and went back downstairs to continue their deliberations. I basked in the glow of their happiness. Grandpa and Grandma were coming to realize how much they had missed the farm, and were looking forward to spending time with their family. Dad was happy to once again have access to the wisdom of his father, and was looking forward to working the farm with him. Grandma had felt comfortable and happy to once again have possession of her kitchen, and was even happier to share it with her daughter in law and granddaughter.

Their thoughts and feelings soothed me better than the world's best bed could have. I drifted off with a happy smile on my face.

Chapter Twenty-eight: Halloween

On the Friday before Halloween, Jerry and I flew to the farm and picked up Gregory and four of the kittens. They are old enough to give away, so we are taking three of Snowpuff's flying kittens over to the Pope Hill Gang. Jerry, of course, is keeping one of the seal point girls for himself. Mom and Dad chose the other seal point girl, Jerry's parents got the seal point boy, and Grandma and Grandpa chose the pure white girl. This leaves the Chocolate point boy, the cream point girl, and the red point boy for Angel and her friends.

We took two kittens each and cuddled them inside our flight suits. We flew to the airport that is near the Martins'. We had no trouble calling the tower and navigating in the controlled airspace. We came in low -- just high enough for the radar to reliably ping our transponders, then landed next to the Martins' minivan so that we could help move the luggage to the Swift. We needn't have bothered. They had already levitated the luggage, including the extra clothes that we keep at their house, and loaded it.

Kim handed Jerry the pre-flight checklist, and watched as we carefully went through the list. After we finished, she signed it off and motioned for us to board.

Jerry and I were about to take our seats when Sara motioned for us to go to the cockpit. Once there, we found kim sitting in the jump seat with a smug look on her face. She had Jerry and me to sit in the pilot's and copilot's seats. Jerry called the tower and obtained clearance for takeoff. We followed Kim's flight plan and headed for Denver. The flight was uneventful, but it was still a thrill to make it in the hot seats. I handled the radios on the way in and landed the aircraft.

We all piled into a rental van and headed to a hotel near the university. Kim and Sara had purposely planned a seminar for Friday evening and Saturday morning to act as cover for excursion to Pope Hill.

The next day, while the Professors Martin were teaching, we gave the three kittens to Angel, David, and Flit. Angel's blue eyes got big when I put the little cream point ball of fluff in her arms and forged the link. The kitten purred, crawled up on her shoulder, and nuzzled her neck. Her colors went very well with Angel's blond hair. I smiled dreamily, remembering the day that Gregory had woken up from MORFS.

Radar forged the link between the little chocolate point boy and David. Somehow, probably because she is so close to David, she ended up being part of the link. I thought that the kitten set off David's brown hair very nicely, but didn't say anything.

*I heard that,* David sent with a smirk. I don't know if he read me through Radar, or through his kitten.

Flit fell in love with her little red point kitten, and smiled even wider when the link was forged.

Once we were done, Angel took all the bios to Mrs. Tabor's spa while David, Radar, and Flit showed everyone else around town.

Mrs. Tabor was very happy to have our help because a lot of her customers wanted to look their best for their upcoming Halloween parties. Some of them wanted temporary changes -- bio costumes, essentially.

The day's work earned us each a nice wad of cash. Some of the customers tipped very generously. Also, Mrs. Tabor gave us all gift certificates that we could pass on to our friends and families. We were also offered contingent positions. The Doctors Martin didn't need the cash, but it would give them a handy excuse to come to Denver. The rest of us... well, what teen can't use a little extra cash? I know that my Christmas list is going to be huge this year, so I'll be only too happy to spend some time getting the spa's rich customers ready for the holiday season. Flit assured us that she can pick us up from anywhere we might be. What started out as a cover story and a way to help Angel out a bit turned out to be a nice opportunity to earn some extra cash.

Mrs. Tabor treated us all to a massage and mud bath, which left everyone limp as a rag. After showering and dressing in nice clothes, we met everyone at one of Angel's favorite restaurants.

On Sunday, October 31, 2060, we prepared to make a lot of dreams come true. People have been whispering about Pope Hill for weeks, and a lot of kids were dreaming of the powers and bodily changes that they would like to have. There were a lot of hurting people who needed to make some changes in their lives. Radar had been 'listening in' ever since they planted the rumor that Halloween would be a Big Day. We spent a couple hours in the Martins' hotel suite working out exactly what we would do for those people, and who would do the work. It would be up to Angel, Amy, and Cara to actually design the DNA changes; crunching a ton of data and coming up with the actual DNA code that would need to be attached to the engineered virus. Another bio would then create the DNA, attach it, and deliver it.

Cassandra alerted us to a few groups who were trying to find out how the custom morfs were made. A few of the people involved were known to the ASA. Kim passed that information on to Doctor Miller, who passed it to the ASA agents. The people involved were quietly removed. That took care of those with nefarious intents, but there were still people who, like Doctor Miller, simply wanted to know what was going on. We left them alone, but their instruments had some unfortunate failures. Jerry was getting quite creative.

I was standing in the crowd around Pope Hill, dressed as Caitlin from Morf Avengers, when I sensed someone approaching shyly. He was a chubby twelve year old boy who was trying to put his wish together in his mind. I checked with Radar and found that he wasn't on her list.

The more I studied him, the more confused I became. My bio senses detected an overweight boy with poor muscle tone, but my telepathy detected a sad little girl who was bullied constantly and who felt out of phase with the rest of the world. The more I delved, the more pain I found.

I had been working on creating a mental voice that sounds like an angel. *Welcome,* I sent to him. He jerked just a bit. *Don't be afraid. I'm here to help you. Picture in your mind the girl that you want to be, then walk toward the hill.*

He nervously started walking toward the hill. I interacted with his mind to help him get a good image of his new form. As soon as the form was clear, I conferred with Amy. We decided to give him limited empathy and extra strength, balance, and flexibility to go with his new lithe body. That should help him... her gain confidence and repel the inevitable bullies.

He was resistant to most forms of influenza, and to MORFS itself, so I chose the virus carefully. I had to selectively lower his resistance to allow the virus to get a good bite. When Amy gave me the DNA code, I put it together and attached it to the virus. I used telekinesis to carry the virus suite over to the boy. At the same time, I created an image in his mind of a vague ghostly shape that lifted from the ground, went to him, and merged with him. I gave him an intense image of his new body for a small fraction of a second, then I withdrew from his mind. He went to his knees and started sobbing. Soon, two adults helped him to his feet and led him to their car. I could see in his parents' minds that they didn't really believe that he would find help here, but that they had decided to make the trip because they didn't want to stand in the way of his hope; no matter how thin the thread may be. I could sense their worry for their child -- and their love. I sent vague warm feelings to all of them.

A few of the people who had intended to misuse the powers that they wanted refrained from going to the hill at the last minute. As they walked away, they developed a compulsion to try to debunk the Pope Hill legend -- to tell everyone that nothing happened. Those that went through with it and asked for powers that they intended to misuse ended up with changes that they wouldn't like. There were three researchers who didn't particularly want to morf, but were there simply to figure out what is going on. They ended up with no changes, and never saw any of the light shows or felt anything. They also felt slightly compelled to tell anyone who asks that nothing happened at the hill.

As midnight approached, Radar caused all those who hadn't yet approached the hill to get the feeling that time was running out. She enhanced their feeling of hope, while letting them know that they need to try now or forever wonder if it would have worked. There ended up being a rush just minutes before the stroke of midnight. David and the telepaths did the light show thing (whether visible to all or just in the mind of the recipient,) and the bios passed out bugs. The last light show happened at the stroke of midnight, and the last bug was passed out perhaps a half an hour later.

We hung around as the people left. Jerry used his technopath powers to alter or erase the instruments that were being gathered up by the researchers.

"That new engineered virus makes it a lot easier to get the changes we want," commented Amy.

"I suspect that that's because the virus cleans out all the exterraneous DNA before inserting the new stuff. That means we have less junk to work around."

Angel nodded. "I think so, too." She smirked a bit, then added, "It sure is easy to overdo the powers. It's almost as if the virus is taking what we want and giving us more."

Amy and Cara nodded.

Finally, as the last of the trick-or-treaters were leaving, we went back to our hotel and crashed.

Chapter Twenty-nine: Back to School

We got up late on Monday morning had had a leisurely brunch. While we were eating, Kim had Jerry and me make the flight plan and file it.

Kim drove all the bios to Mrs. Tabor's spa so that we could remove the bio costumes that we had made earlier. We also worked on a few new customers that were impressed by what they saw at yesterday's parties. When we were done, we found that our luggage was already stowed aboard the Swift. Jerry and I did the pre-flight, and took our seats in the front. Kim didn't bother watching us this time. She just sat in the jump seat and waited for us to radio for clearance and take off. This time, I took off and Jerry landed.

Once we got home, Jerry and I caught up on our homework and prepared ourselves for school.

Things have started to calm down a bit at school. The edge of panic is gone. Everything is in place to help the changelings, and those who haven't changed yet are pretty much resigned to their fate. Also, the epidemic has slowed down.

On Friday, I was called over to the middle school to look at a boy who was coming down with MORFS. I got there just a bit before his parents. Yep, he's going to come out just as planned.

Once his parents got there, I explained that he would be going through a sex change, that he would be eligible for advanced gym, that he would be slightly empathic, and that she would be a real cutie. He tried to play it cool but, to my empathic senses, he pretty much lit the room with his joy. I gave him a hug and sent him home with his parents, telling them that I would be willing to help him adapt to his new self, and that they can set it up with the high school office. That pretty much wiped out my second hour class, so I went to the study hall and caught up on my homework.

Jerry and I had a blast in Gym, then it was off to lunch and more counseling.

Jerry spent a lot of the weekend at the farm with me. His kitten, Brianna, was learning to fly. It was quite amusing to watch.

We tried to do the chores, but Grandma and Grandpa got them done before we got a chance. They have settled in, and had their condo up for sale. Grandpa and Dad were already planning out next year's crops, and are setting up some equipment to process them before sale. It looks like the farm is going to be even more profitable.

All too soon, Monday rolled around again. As usual, Jerry and I met in the air and continued on to the school. We landed in the designated area and walked in. We wore our heavier flight suits to fight off the chills of November, so we were a bit overheated by the time we reached the locker room.

I was asked to come in early on Tuesday to help orient the latest changeling, who had chosen the name Caitlin. Jerry and I met her with a smile when her parents brought her to the middle school office. "Wow, what a cutie," Jerry said.

"Behave yourself, bird boy," I said as I swatted him with my tail. "You're taken, remember?"

Caitlin giggled. I don't think I could have wiped the smile off her face if I tried. I took her into one of the offices while Jerry sent smart remarks to me telepathically.

I looked at her as she sat down on a comfortable seat. "I know you wanted this," I said to her. She looked kind of nervous, and nodded her head. "It's nothing to be ashamed of. I was born a girl, too. The only difference is that I managed to kind of get the right body."

"Kind of?" she asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Everything was fine until I got some kind of weird cancer that almost killed me. MORFS gave me a new life, just like it's giving you a new life."

"But what are my friends going to say?" she asked.

"Are you happy with the new you?"

"Yes," she said with a big smile.

"Then don't worry about it. Your real friends will stick with you. Also, I suspect that each one you lose will be replaced with a dozen new ones."

"I guess. Now that I look good, I'll be more popular," she said.

"It's not just that," I replied. There will definitely be those who want to be around you because you're so cute, but the ones that you want to hold on to are the ones who like you for the girl inside."

That caused her to flash a smile.

"You'll find people wanting to hang around you for the sake of social status, but that has little value. You can trust me on that one because it happened to me."

"I don't know what to do."

"Just be yourself," I said. "Be friendly to everyone, and listen to your heart. Your best friends will be the ones who are attracted to you because you are a warm and happy person. The fact that your body now matches your mind frees you to be yourself. Be that person. Cherish her. You have to get to know yourself all over again. Once you feel, deep down in your soul, that you like the new you, others will like you, too."

"What about the bullies?"

"They will always be there. You have a bit of an edge now, though."

"What is that?" she asked.

I held my hand out to her and helped her out of her seat. I picked up the heavy recliner, set it down, and asked her to do the same. She was surprised at how easy it was.

"You are now stronger than most of the students here. Don't brag about it or show it off, but allow yourself to realize that you are more than a match for any bully. Once you realize that, people will see the confidence in your walk and leave you alone.

She gave me a wicked grin, then balled up her fist and slammed it into her other hand. I shook my finger at her, then pulled her into a hug. "You'll like being a girl. Girls are allowed to give hugs for no reason."

We chatted for a while. It turns out that one of her cousins in the Denver area told her about a girl that got her wish and morfed into a boy. When she heard the rumors about Halloween, she begged her parents to take her there.

Caitlin and I said our goodbyes and left the office so that each of us could attend our first hour class. "I'll see you in advanced gym," I told her.

Sure enough, she came made it to advanced gym. She did well, too. After she was done with her evaluation, I gave her some tips about dealing with bullies, and using her projective empathy to get them to leave her alone. She could also use her empathic senses to tell who likes her, who is being phony, and who wants to bully her. We were still chatting as we went through the showers.

It looks like I have a little sister now. Too bad I can't take her home.

(End of part eight)

---

Tina Shepherd was in the final stages of dying a slow death due to cancer when she met the Martins and their friends.

sex: 1/10
violence: 6/10
profanity: 2/10

Categories: Hybrid, Elemental, PSI

Timeline: 2060

---

Chapter Thirty: Fly higher

"Hey FOD, this lounge is for real pilots."

I didn't turn my head to look, but it wasn't difficult to locate the source of the insult.

"Timmy, you need to go apologize to those people. I don't want to hear you spouting any more of your Uncle Joe's bigoted nonsense."

Jerry and I turned to look at a group of people who were approaching us. An older gentleman had his hands on both shoulders of a young teen. "I'm sorry for my rude comment," he said with a distinct lack of sincerity.

I sighed. "Apology accepted."

Jerry fixed him with a glare and pulled out his log book. "We're fully instrument rated, and just finished our check flight on a Piper Cub IV. It's a bit faster than we are, but it's a pain having to land at an airport.

I smirked at him. "Hey Bird Boy, he did apologize."

"Yeah, but I think he still believes that 'Foreign Object Damage' cut -- as if we were going to let ourselves get sucked into a jet engine." Jerry paused for a second. "Hey, wait a minute! What's with the 'Bird Boy' comment?" He sniffed dramatically. "It's 'Golden Eagle,' I'll have you know!"

I snickered at him. "Some of us get to choose our nicknames; and some, like our good friend Captain Peeper, have it bestowed by others."

He rolled his eyes. "Anything you say, Catbird."

I smirked at him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Then, I fished my Personal Avionics Package out of my utility belt and took a look at the small display. "It looks like our ride will be here in about ten minutes."

Jerry pointed to a small dot that was visible through the large observation window. "There they are."

Despite himself, Timmy walked over to the window and looked out. "Where?"

Jerry pointed. "Compass heading 282. They're moving pretty fast, so they ought to be visible with normal, unaugmented vision soon."

A couple minutes later, Timmy pointed. "There it is! It looks like one of those LBSC Swifts."

"Yep, a Swift III. The Martins have one so that they can travel hither and yon giving lectures at the various colleges around the country."

"World," I said. "They lecture worldwide."

"Aren't those things dangerous? I mean, what happens if they lose those fancy-dancy lifters of theirs? They can't have much of a glide ratio."

Jerry reminded me of Professor Kim as he went into geek mode. "There are enough lift repulsors to carry three times the Swift's gross weight, and each lifter is supplied with no less than four power cables. The power is supplied by a dozen power cells that are scattered about the airframe. Two thirds of them can fail and the Swift will still have enough power to hover and land. If the computer fails, there is a very simple backup system hooked up to the cyclic and collective controls. It's a bit tricky to fly it that way, but it can be done with practice."

"My boyfriend the geek," I said with a smirk.

"You studied all this stuff, too," he replied. "Don't try to tell me that you don't enjoy it."

"I do," I admitted, "but not to quite the extent that you do."

"If I recall, you're the one who gleefully engineered that little failure where the lift repulsors died and I had to land the thing on its tail. Now that was just mean!"

I gave my best evil villain laugh. "Aren't you happy that you know what to do in the unlikely event of a total lift motor failure?"

He rolled his eyes. "Maybe you ought to set the computer to simulate holing by a meteorite. That, at least, is slightly more likely."

Timmy's father followed our conversation with some amusement. "I see that you two know your aircraft. What got you interested in flying?"

I grinned and unfurled my wings. "I studied the ground school books to avoid becoming FOD. That motivated me to acquire and learn to use a PAP." I pulled the small instrument from my utility belt. "Since we already had a large fraction of the training required to become a pilot, Jerry and I decided to get some flight simulation programs and go all the way. Watching the Martins flit about the continent gave us additional incentive."

"Are these Martins the famous husband/wife team of MORFS researchers that got turned into kitty girls a few months ago?"

"Yep, those are the ones," I said. "It's easy to be impressed by their intellect, but I can tell you from personal experience that they are wonderful people that don't let all that stuff go to their heads."

He looked at our wings. "Can I ask you a kind of personal question?"

"Sure," I said.

"How do you maneuver without any kind of rudder or tail?"

"Our wings are fully mobile. We can adjust the position and angle of attack on each wing independently," Jerry replied as he spread his wings and demonstrated by moving them forward and back, and twisting them independently. "We move our wings forward to climb, and back to go into a dive. We increase the angle of attack on the outward wing when we want to bank. It's kind of like controlling a sail board, but a whole lot more intuitive."

Timmy, fascinated despite himself, said, "It sounds like a whole lot of fun!"

"There is nothing like it," I assured him.

The Swift III approached the main runway like an ordinary fixed-wing aircraft, but veered at the last second and hovered over a large helipad. We walked to the door of the pilots' lounge as it settled to the surface. *We'll meet you in the lounge,* Kim sent. *It's time for the Swift's annual inspection. Once the Airframe & Powerplant mechanic is done with it, the flight instructor will get you for your check flight.*

We walked back to the big window just in time to see Kim and Sara exit the aircraft. They were followed by Cindy, Larry, Cara, Amy, Jim, and a whole crew of people. Even Mom and Dad were there, carrying Gregory, their kitty Sevannah, and Jerry's kitty Brianna. We walked and met them at the door, and Gregory and Brianna immediately attached themselves to us. "What's up?" Jerry asked.

"We're taking a bit of a trip after you two get certified," replied Sara.

"Where?" I asked.

"It's a surprise," smirked Cindy.

"And don't even think of peeking in my mind," said Amy.

"I wouldn't even dream of it," I said as I made a show of looking around. "Now, where's a pillow when you need one?"

Kim chuckled and led us over to a table that gave us a view of the helipad. A waitress came and took our orders. We watched as the A&P mechanic crawled all over the Swift, using special scanning instruments to check for hidden cracks in the airframe, plugging into the computer system, and meticulously checking each power cell, Synergy thruster, and aerodynamic control. The computer had a complete diagnostic program that checks all systems, but a good inspector likes to see things first-hand.

After about an hour and a half of going through the inspection check list, he made some random checks of his own. Finally, he got into the pilot's seat, taxied to the runway, and lifted off. He took a quick flight around the airport -- perhaps a bit longer than strictly necessary. After putting the Swift through its paces, he set it down on the helipad. The inspector wore a big smile as he walked in the door.

"I thought you were off today, Joe," Kim commented.

"I'm always on duty when you need something done with your Swift," he replied. He looked around and asked, "Where's those two kids that need their check ride?"

"That would be us," Jerry replied as we stood up and handed our cats to Mom.

"I'm sure you guys will do just fine. You look like naturals to me," he chuckled as he led us out to the Swift.

He watched us carefully as we each did a preflight inspection. He quizzed us about the aircraft and asked us to explain each step. Finally satisfied, he asked us to get behind the controls.

"You seem to like the Swift," Jerry commented.

Joe grinned. "The first Swifts were as safe as any other craft of the time, but they still ended up getting a bad rep. 'Glide ratio of a rock,' people liked to say. Since the people who buy business jets are big on safety, the LBSC engineers went into total paranoid mode. This thing has redundancy on its backup systems. You're safer in the Swift than in your own living room."

"Yeah, I can definitely appreciate that," Jerry said. "I'll be going for my engineering degree in a few years, so I like to get into that engineering mind set."

"You have succeeded with that one," I said to him with a smirk.

Jerry took off first. Joe had him go up to 24,000 feet, then simulated some failures. Jerry handled everything with practiced ease. Much impressed, Joe asked him to land. Then, it was my turn.

I was cruising easily at 30,000 feet when Jerry whispered something to Joe. "Don't give him any bright ideas," I said to Jerry.

Joe set up a virtual floor at 28,000 feet. The Heads Up display showed what looked like a flat plain two thousand feet below us. I had to use the manual controls to land on that floor. I landed, then lifted and hovered a thousand feet above the virtual floor. I was about to switch back to computer control when the bottom dropped out on me. The Synergy Lifters had failed.

I pushed the throttle for the forward thrusters all the way and pulled back on the stick. The aircraft started to go forward, but it was dropping rapidly. As the nose pitched up, the thrust started lifting the Swift. As it started to gain altitude, I backed off on the throttle. Soon, I was balancing the craft on its tail. I stuck my tongue out at Jerry, then increased the thrust. When the Swift was going fast enough to fly aerodynamically, I pitched it forward and cruised along as if nothing had happened.

Joe restored power to the lifters and asked me to land. He signed our paperwork and used his eCom to send the information to the FAA. He shook our hands. "Congratulations. You are now rated to fly the LBSC Swift III." We exited the Swift and high-fived each other.

*I take it you both passed,* Sara sent with a chuckle. *You might as well turn around and get back in the cockpit. We need to get moving.*

*Where are we going?* Jerry asked.

*Go ahead and file a flight plan for the University of Sun City airstrip with a departure time of twenty minutes from now,* Kim said.

It took us less than five minutes to check the weather, type everything into the computer, and transmit the plan to the control tower. Fifteen minutes after that, we lifted off.

Chapter Thirty-One: Sun City

As we were approaching Sun City, Kim came into the cockpit and sat in the jump seat. "This is your captain speaking." She looked at the two of us as we flew the plane. "Correction: This is your admiral speaking. The captains are busy flying the aircraft."

Of course, we weren't that busy. We were about to be, though. It was time to take the Swift off of autopilot.

"Ladies and gentlemen. If you look out the port windows, or on the display screen, you will see Sun Valley. Sun Valley looks like an East-West gash in the mountains and is about one hundred miles long by twenty-five miles wide. The founders searched long and hard for a suitable valley. The cliff to the North keeps the worse of the winds from the city, while the gentle slopes to the South allow the sun to fully illuminate the valley. The fact that the valley goes from East to West allows the city to be illuminated by the low sun at the beginning and end of each day. The flat floor of the valley is mostly silt and sand that was deposited by the river that runs through it. Sun River, as it has been renamed, supplies the city with municipal water, and keeps Sun Lake full. The climate controlled area is an ellipse about twenty-five miles North/South by fifty miles East/West. The area of the city is just shy of 1600 square miles. Since Sun City is home to just shy of a million souls, the population density is about 630 people per square mile, or slightly less than one person per acre. Of course, some of that area is taken up by Sun Lake."

I took manual control of the Swift. I reduced altitude and speed and flew over the cliffs.

"We are currently flying over the North Cliffs, which are climate-controlled to the top. If you look carefully, you will see balconies. There is a whole hive of apartments, offices, research laboratories, and agricultural caves dug into the rock. The homes with balconies are expensive, but worth it for the view. Since they are built vertically, and handle a large fraction of the city's population, the rest of the city looks less crowded than would otherwise be expected."

We continued to circumnavigate the city. I was careful to keep well away from the climate controlled area. The city is a haven for flight-enhanced morfs because it is warm year 'round. Some human flyers can't fly well in colder air. Membrane wings, like those found in bat and dragon hybrids, tend to lose lots of heat to the ambient air.

"Sun Lake is one of the crowning jewels of Sun City. It was purposely created with a convoluted shore to allow for as much coastal area as possible. The shore is taken up by condominiums, private homes, parkland, nature areas, fishing piers, marinas, and the university. Most of the shoreline is sand beach."

I further reduced our altitude as we rounded the Western edge and headed for the university's airfield. Jerry contacted the tower and obtained clearance for landing.

"If you look at the crosshairs on the view screen, you'll see a peninsula jutting into Sun Lake. That peninsula contains about two dozen detached condominiums that are administered by the University of Sun City. Two of them will be coming under new ownership after the end of this school year, and another will change hands a year later."

Kim smiled at us, but didn't say anything. Her public mind showed nothing but generalized smugness.

"The university and prep school jointly own a strip of land two miles long and half a mile wide that goes from Sun Lake, through the climate control border, and part of the way up the Southern slope. The edge is about half a mile from the convoluted shore, so the school jointly owns a little more than a quarter of a square mile of warm area -- 168 acres, to be exact. Also, the the schools own about a mile and a half of shoreline. This is taken up by an office building, several buildings full of classrooms, a bunch of dorms, some docks, and plenty of swimming beach."

The airfield was easy to spot because it was cleared of snow. I landed on a helipad and switched to taxi mode, which made the Swift handle like a wheeled vehicle. I pulled it into the assigned slip and let it settle to the ground. As Jerry and I were going through the shutdown checklist, a group of people emerged from the pilots' lounge. They greeted the Professors Martin, then introductions were exchanged. I hadn't realized how many friends that the Martins had in Sun City.

After we checked into the university's guest hostel, the Martins' friends dragged us to a coffee shop that seems to be a favorite among the students and faculty. We kept getting interrupted by faculty members and researchers who recognized the Martins. I could tell that they were getting overwhelmed by the warm welcome that they were receiving. We would have felt like we were on the outside looking in, except that the Professors Martin made a point of introducing all of us in glowing terms.

We were introduced again to Doctor Miller, who introduced us to her wife Amy. She wasn't showing yet, but my bio senses told me that she was pregnant. I got the impression of a cute little white kitty hybrid. The baby should come some time near the end of June.

Sara glanced at her watch and looked at Kim. Kim nodded, then stood up. "My other half informs me that we need to get moving if we are to make our appointment. I asked Mom what the appointment was all about, but she just gave me a knowing smirk.

Soon, we were all packed into the van and heading toward Sun Lake. I called up a road map on my PAP and used the GPS function to put a 'we are here' dot on the screen. "It looks like we're heading for that peninsula with all the detached condos," I said to nobody in particular.

Soon, we were driving slowly through a residential loop. Kim pulled into a driveway and announced, "We're here!" As we were piling out of the van, we were greeted by an older couple. Kim introduced them as Professors Jim and Dinah Stanfield, and said that they would be retiring to their family home in Hawaii after the end of this school year.

With obvious pride, Jim and Dinah showed us their yard and house. The back yard, which is the part that can be seen from the road, contains a garage, small vegetable garden, and a small play yard with a swing set and playscape that they built for when the grandchildren visit. The front yard is large, and contains a deck, pool, several palm trees, lots of tropical flowering plants, and a hundred feet of sandy beach. Jutting out into the lake is a dock with a pontoon boat, a twenty foot sloop-rigged sail boat, and a number of small 'jet ski' type personal watercraft. "We have buyers for the watercraft, but we can arrange for them to go with the house," the Stanfields commented.

The inside of the condo is every bit as impressive as the outside. The basement is actually bigger than the rest of the house, and will serve well for the Martins' labs. The ground floor is dominated by a great room with a large expanse of glass overlooking the lake. Both Kim and Sara were delighted by the large and well laid out kitchen. The top floor contains six bedrooms, all with en suite bathrooms, and all opening to a balcony that overlooks the great room and, through the huge window, the lake.

They had already pretty much settled on a price through the real estate agents, so it was a simple matter to sign some paperwork and set an appointment for the final closing on Monday. The was for the Stanfields to finish out the school year in their house, and for the Martins to take possession a week after school lets out.

"You mean we don't get to spend one last summer at home?" complained Larry.

"You have a job to do here," Kim smirked. "You'll be getting out of school just in time to help take a load off of Doctor Sanura so she can concentrate on the birth of her baby girl."

"It's a good thing you're a fast learner," I said to him with a chuckle. "It's also fortunate that first pregnancies tend to go a bit on the long side."

Our next stop was right next door. The details of the house and yard were different, but it was every bit as nice. Amy and Cara squealed with delight when Sue told them that this would be their new house. Cara then hugged Larry and said, "Being neighbors is almost as good as living in the same house."

To my surprise, we rode a quarter of a mile and pulled into a third house. I mentally went through the list of people in this little expedition. Kim, Sara, Larry, and Cindy would be living in the first house. Sue, Cara, and Amy would be living in the second.

"Who's going to live in this house?" I asked.

"We are," Mom replied.

"What about the farm?"

"Grandpa and Grandma will be taking care if it," Dad said. "You'll be living in the dorms at the prep school for your junior year, and we'll be living on the farm. The summer after that, after the people who live here retire, we'll move in. You'll still technically have to live in the dorms for your senior year, but you'll be coming home for the weekends."

I boggled, then looked the house over in earnest. While I was going to miss our 160 acre farm, this home would be a great consolation prize. I looked at the beautiful yard with a pool and lake access, plenty of room to fly year 'round, and wilderness to explore during the summer.

I was sure I'd see my grandparents as often as I had before, and they'd be healthier and more fun to be around. It'd be hard being away from my parents for that year when they're still at the farm, but I'd be able to talk to them through their links with Savannah, their flying kitty. I'd miss Ginny, but not the winters. This place is beautiful.

"Earth calling Tina. Come in Tina," Jerry said with a chuckle.

"Sorry. I'm just thinking about how things are changing." I smiled, then leapt into the air. I flew out over the lake and looked at the three houses that would be home for my friends and family. I could sense the climate control boundary overhead. Since we were less than a mile away from the edge of Sun City, it wasn't very high.

Jerry leapt after me, followed by my parents. We took a few loops around our future neighborhood, then landed in our future front yard.

"So, why are you waiting an extra year?" I asked my parents.

"For one thing," said Dad, "I want to run the farm with your grandpa for a year so that we can make a smooth change of management."

"The main thing," said Mom, "is that I want to be there when you become a niece again."

I sat there dumbfounded while my parents smirked and positively radiated smugness. "I already am a niece," I said.

"The key word is 'again,'" said Dad with an aggravating chuckle.

I looked around and noticed that everyone seemed to be enjoying my confusion. Mom decided to drop another hint. "Grandma and Grandpa have been enjoying their newfound health so much that it didn't occur to them that certain long dormant parts of their bodies had started working again."

I puzzled over that one for a moment, then my jaw dropped. "Grandma's... pregnant?" Dad caught me as I staggered a bit. "I guess this isn't the best time to be running off to Sun City."

"Grandma assures me that she has done it without my help before, and that she can do it again," Mom said. "Still, I'm sure that she's secretly happy that we'll be around for the birth and the first few months of your new little uncle's life."

"I'm going to spoil him rotten when I visit for the summer and holidays," I said with a smirk. Then, on a hunch, I focused my bio senses on my mother. "I'm going to spoil my little brother rotten, too."

This time, it was Mom who looked like she was about to faint. "You're kidding," she said to me.

"Nope," I said with a smirk. "MORFS tends to fix everything up."

"Well, Dear, we always wished we could have more children," Dad said to Mom.

Mom's face went through several emotions -- shock, disbelief, hope, then radiant happiness. She wrapped her arms around Dad and me, held us tight, and sobbed. I cuddled in closer and Dad stroked her hair.

"Flying kitty people definitely run in our family now," I told Mom an Dad. "The genes are going to breed true. My little brother is going to be a very energetic little red point. Keeping him busy is going to be a challenge." Mom smiled softly and put her hand on her belly.

The sun was heading for the horizon when several lights appeared in the sky. "During the winter, light elementals make sure that Sun City gets at least thirteen hours of light. There was some controversy about the practice at first, but most people like it. The extra light helps keep people from getting depressed in the winter, helps the plants, and helps the tourism industry," Professor Kim commented.

"How can winter depress people around here?" I asked.

"It's called SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder," said Doctor Kim in full professor mode. "When the days are short, people naturally get depressed. Some people aren't bothered much, but others are profoundly affected. It is often treated with lots of bright lights in the home -- especially the bedroom. That isn't necessary here, thought."

"Don't some people miss the sunset?" asked Sue.

"You can see plenty of sunsets in the summer. Besides, there are a number ski lodges and restaurants outside the main city -- some of which are domed. Anyone who wants a romantic dinner with a sunset can go to one of those. They are especially popular on nights with a full moon," Sara said.

"Speaking of nice, cozy dinners," said Kim, "We need to have dinner and settle in for the night. Tomorrow promises to be a long day."

(End of part nine)

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