It's already 10 o'clock in the morning and my tummy is announcing that it's time to start looking for food.
But it unfortunately needs to wait a a little while,
because Katie asked me if I wanted to give the shower a quick test run, to which I wholeheartedly agreed. She said she would take care of some last minute stuff, so I should take my time and relax.
I step into the bathroom and take in the scenery. The shower is pure luxury, there's a rather generously sized bath in here too.
Did they design this place for royals or something? I think I can get used to this life, even though I don't really have my freedom anymore.
I undress and fold the training suit, then put it on a small table in the corner. I put my slippers aside and am standing barefoot on the floor, while still in my underwear.
The white tiles on the floor are warm to the touch...floor heating! Yes !
This place really has all the creature comforts a....a....'person' could wish for.
I'm not really human anymore now, or am I?
I decide not to think about that and open the shower doors. Yep, a glass door with privacy coating keeps the rest of the bathroom dry. I drop my underwear where I'm standing and just enter the shower, closing the door behind me.
After a very relaxing, but longer than usual shower, I feel ready to get dressed again.
It might be a good idea to remember that I need more shower time than before, as I now need to take care of my longer hair.
And don't forget the extra time I need for my tail and ears. Why the ears you say? Simple, they are covered with plenty of hair, or should I say fur, unlike human ears.
Speaking of my tail...my reflection in the bathroom mirror relentlessly shows the state of my freshly washed tail.
It's wet to the core, looking more like a drowned cat than a tail. How am I supposed to dry that thing, it's not like this body came with an instruction manual, now did it?
White, fluffy towels are neatly folded, ready for use. And I take several to dry all this hair and fur. My tail is now at least dry, but it's not very fluffy.
Whatever, maybe it just needs some time to recharge its fluffiness power?
The water in my ears is anything but comfortable, it reduces the sounds I can hear to nothing more than whooshing and sloshing sounds of water.
The tip of the towel worked to some degree, but there's still some water left where I can't reach with the towel. Another issue I need to find a solution for.
For now I'm just violently shaking my ears while bent over my head.
"Brrrr," I shudder...that's just too sensitive but it's at least good for now.
"Ouch!," within seconds I find myself feeling dizzy and sitting on the bathroom floor in an unladylike fashion: on my bum.
Note to self: don't shake your head to dry your ears like a dog.
Wait....did my underwear mysteriously vanish into thin air? Where did the fresh underwear on the table come from? And more importantly, my clothes...where's my training suit?
This can mean only one thing.... I quickly put on my underwear and shout "Katie?"
"Yes, I'm right here. Did you find the underwear?" I can hear her reply, but her voice sounds a bit muffled from the water in my ears.
"Yeah, thanks. But where's the rest? Did you take my clothes?"
"Yes, come here for a minute. I want to show you something here."
"But Katie, for gods sake. I'm naked here!" I open the door so we can understand each other without shouting, and Katie can barely see two furry ears poking out.
Did she giggle? Nah, it must be my imagination right.
"Panties and a bra don't make you naked, now get in here!"
I open the bathroom door all the way and may or may not have cursed at that moment, but I bravely walk in my underwear to Katie nevertheless.
"See, you're not naked. Look what...wait....what happened to your tail? Is it still alive?"
Oh she was grinning alright.
It took one of my death glares to quiet her down.
"Do you want some help with that?" She looks at my tail, which tries moving to the opposite direction of where she's looking.
"You think you can fix that?" My sorry excuse for a tail really seems utterly lifeless.
It's a disgrace for my race, whatever they may be.
"I'm sure of it. Now look what Swan got for you~." She pointed at something behind me.
I turn around and see a pretty large clothing rack, filled with kimonos, dresses and other unmistakingly feminine looking attire.
I swallowed...this is going to take some time getting used to.
There's no going back, there's only one style I can choose from: feminine.
In a way this is what I always wanted, but still...so suddenly. I can't even get used to things and am already forced to dress as a woman.
At least the training suit was more neutral, and quite comfortable though.
"Ehhh...you mean he picked this out for me...himself?" I said while letting my hand touch the fabric of a kimono. It's definitely soft, but maybe also too cold for this time of the year?
"What? NO! Now stop daydreaming and choose something already." Oops, I think I hit a nerve there. Did I really insult her? Nah, she seems fine again.
"You really want to see me in a kimono, don't you?" I squinted my eyes for a second to show my dissatisfaction.
"Ah ha ha!. Of course I do. How about....this one?" Katie settled on a pink, cherry blossom style kimono.
"Ah that's a no, Katie. That's more for a special occasion or something." I shook my head and touched another kimono.
Well at least let me pick the style and color myself.
"Oh ho...a special occasion you say, huh? So you already picked your kimono?" She crossed her arms and gave me a warm smile. What is that woman up to now?
I keep looking at a dark blue kimono, not much different from what I wore when we met.
"Dark blue again? Well it certainly looks good on you. Try it on!"
Minutes later I was dressed in a blue kimono. I can't believe they made me wear this. I mean, kimonos are usually for special occasions only, and they want me to wear them all the time.
You know what?
I will wear it for this time only, then find something else entirely.
My tail is very visible...and for some reason it's swaying vividly.... You traitor!
"Wow, that really suits you. And I think you really like it, too. Admit it, I was right~, you do look good in a kimono."
I choose to ignore that comment and only nod.
I see my reflection in the mirror and then fasten the ribbon around my waist a bit more.
"Katie, only this once, alright? I think that kimonos should not be used as everyday clothing, they are too special for that. Can't you find me some more regular clothes for me to wear?"
"Yes and no. Again, your tail is the limiting factor here. Or do you want me to cut it off for you?"
"No!!!" I quickly grab my not so fluffy tail in a reflex and cuddle it as if I were petting a dear plush toy.
It seems my tail is also perfect to hide a blushing and pouting face behind too...
"Easy there..it was just a joke. But still, you got used to that tail pretty fast huh?. First you wanted to get rid of it, now you want to protect it. Or was that instinct?
The way you are hiding your face is cute by the way. My daughter has the same reaction but she mostly hides behind her teddy bear."
I drop my tail and my mouth is agape.
"Y-you have a daughter?"
"Well, don't look so surprised. Yep. Little Alex is three now. I'm sure she would love to pet you."
"Mmmm, yeah. Wait...pet me? Ah why not. Maybe one day I guess?"
"Sure, one day." She smiled
The next fifteen minutes are spent enjoying Katies combing of my hair and my tail fur.
We are both sitting on my bed where it's easier for Katie to use the comb on me.
She then uses two blue hair pins to keep my hair together, so it no longer ends up in my face or even worse...in my mouth.
"There, all done!."
"Wow..That's...totally different." The blue color nicely contrasts against the silvery white hair.
"You like it? Also your tail?" Katie points to my tail with the hairbrush still in her hand.
"Yes! It's fluffy again!" I take it in my hand and it's fluffiness is back to 100% power!
"Told you. It honestly is not much different than brushing the fur of a big dog haha." Katie shrugs, as if this is the most normal thing to say.
"What? You compare me to a dog?" I faked being upset by putting my hands against my waist
Our little giggle is suddenly interrupted by the most hideous dark and evil monster you can imagine.
Meow ~
Yup, a cat
It just entered this room.
"Awwwwww, Snooooowball, what are you doing here, you lazy cat? Did Ben leave you alone again?"
My eyelids wide open and I jump back from the bed to end up standing a few feet away from...THAT!
"Oh no.... A cat..... What's it doing here...?" I said, now walking backwards until I hit a wall.
"It's Ben's cat. Remember? The security guard?" She saw me nod.
"Well, they allowed him to keep Snowball up here, but it seems that she got out. Eh...don't tell me you're afraid of cats?"
"No-no...I just don't like them and they don't like me either. See these scars? They attacked me when.....wait.
My scars, they are gone!" I inspect my arms by pulling at the kimono's sleeves.
"Interesting. But back to the cat, maybe try petting her? Who knows She's really nice. And fluffy." Katie keeps petting the creature.
"Ahh....I don't know about that, Katie." I shake my head while focusing on the cat.
For some reason, Snowball comes over to me and starts sniffing my legs, then my tail.
Eeek!
The cat then puts her paws on my tail but isn't doing anything to hurt me. My tail sways left and right, trying to get away from the cat, who sees it as an invitation to start playing with it as if it were a prey.
Then without warning, the same thing that has happened many times before,
happened to me again.
Uh oh
Oh no!
Snowball hisses at me,
"Hiss grr!" the hairs on her back are standing up straight, like if she were being electrocuted. I coincidentally know that feeling because I had experienced that before.
I'm still standing with my back against the wall, feeling somewhat threatened.
"Snowball!" Katie tries to get the attention of the cat, but it's fully focused on me.
Then something unexpected happens. My vision..it changes.
I can suddenly see the cat in even more detail than before. Her eyes now seem to glow, just like nocturnal animals do at night in documentaries, when someone points a flashlight at them. The rest of the room is a blur.
My hands suddenly hurt, and when I look at them, I can see that my nails have extended to form actual claws. Then I lose all common sense. My body switches to some kind of primal mode and returns the hiss to the cat.
"Hisssss!" Then my mouth opens wide, showing my fangs that I didn't know I had.
I can feel my tail straightening, all hairs are standing up, just like Snowball did a moment ago.
The cat suddenly backs off with a loud screech "mwaaa!" and then decides to retreat at near-light speed as if her life depended on it.
"Snowball!" Katie runs after the cat but Snowball is just fine. Maybe one life less, so probably only eight cat lives remain. She pickes up the now trembling cat and starts petting it again.
Then she asks me "what happened?"
I blink and come to my senses again. Of course I keep my distance from the cat.
"I...I don't know, Katie. This must be instinct or something, I didn't even know I could extend my nails. And my teeth felt really sharp for a second."
"Let me see....yes you're right. You have four fangs visible now, they are slowly returning to wherever they came from.
You were scaring me for a second there! And it looked like your eyes were glowing red for a moment."
"Eh...I guess that's exactly the purpose of whatever this was, to scare the cat away. Let's just say that cats and I don't see eye to eye."
"I will add this to your file and get Snowball back to Ben. Then you and I will need to see Swan, he's probably already waiting for us."
"Won't we have lunch first, Katie?" I put my right hand on my tummy.
"What, you're hungry already?" There's that mischievous smile again.
"Yeah, it's about noon, so why not?" I shrugged. Is it really that strange to be hungry now?
"It's barely 11 o'clock. And after such a breakfast... We will have lunch soon, I promise."
At this point, my stomach insists to join the conversation and tell her that it really is running out of fuel,
*growl~*
"I guess you really are hungry. Okay, I will fetch something for you, see you in a minute. The mirror is on ground level."
"Thanks Katie!, you are a lifesaver. Literally."
She didn't think I would see her rolling her eyes, but I did nevertheless.
While she got rid of that darn cat, I made sure that my kimono was looking the way it should. I will ignore the slippers for now. But whatever. Now I'm probably expressing a more homey kimono style.
I met Katie at the elevator after I had sufficiently recovered from whatever happened to me a few minutes ago.
The mirror in the elevator shows that my fangs and claws have fully retracted, all is back to normal again. No pain, no visible marks or signs of scarring where my claws were.
Katie says I don't have to fold my tail in here as this elevator is for staff only. No public can see me.
My tail is proudly swaying left and right behind me while I'm munching happily on the sandwich Katie managed to obtain for me. Katie doesn't say a word, but I can see her smile in the elevator's mirror.
The elevator's floor indicator slowly reduces the floor number until we are at ground level.
The elevator doors slide open and we step outside.
We now seem to be standing on what looks like a parking deck. If you told me it's late at night, I would have believed you.
This is one of those huge paid parking decks, where the only visible light is coming from an enormous array of fluorescent lights spread out over the area. Without those it would be utterly dark here.
Sturdy looking concrete pillars, each about thirty feet away from the next, keep the place from falling apart. There are seemingly endless empty parking stalls available.
But why aren't there any cars here?
I follow Katie to the front entrance of the parking deck, which is completely sealed from the outside world.
This place is quiet, too quiet.
Katie's classic heeled shoes are click-clacking all the way to our destined destination, while my slippers are completely quiet.
If she wears an Air Force uniform, shouldn't she also be wearing boots or something?
Maybe it's just me,
The sound of her shoes on the concrete reverberated all through the parking deck, announcing our arrival to the armed guards I just spotted. And now I see Swan too.
"Major Dove and not-Ayako, nice of you to join us." Swan said with a grin.
"Sorry, I was hungry." I shrugged and tried to make an excuse, so Katie wouldn't get into trouble. I also ignored the not so funny joke about my name.
The way she smiled for a second told me she appreciated the gesture.
"Well, we can't work on an empty stomach, now can we? Are you ready?" Swan seems to be ready for business.
"Yes, ready as I'll ever be, Swan. Where's the damn mirror?" I look around, but don't see anything remotely resembling a mirror here.
"We placed it right in front of the exit. In case things go south we have some backup on the outside as well.
You learn to be prepared in this business." He casually points at the sealed exit behind him with his thumb.
I didn't want to ask what kind of business that was, as he would surely evade the question anyway.
Swan then points towards a square object near the exit...it seems to be covered in a hardwood shipping crate.
We follow him to the crate where he orders one of the guards to lift the top of the crate by using a forklift.
There are hooks on top of the crate for that purpose, creative bunch, these people are.
The protective locks on the crate are removed and the forklift's engine starts.
The top part is slowly moved upwards and the fork lift reverses ten feet while beeping, to warn people it's backing down the parking deck.
The forklift's engine is then stopped and everything goes quiet again.
In front of me is the source of my misery.
The mirror.
The gateway to hell.
My personal nemesis.
Oh how much I want to introduce it to a nice hammer, but I can't.
"You seem to hold a grudge against it huh." Swan understood the expression on my face all too well.
"Yes, it's the source of my misery. I would love to destroy it completely, right here, right now, before it can do any worse."
"You really are serious, aren't you?" Katie says with obvious concern for my well being.
"You betcha!. But I am here to do as I'm told. What are your orders, Mr Swan?" I asked him without losing my focus. I keep staring at the mirror all the time.
"First...relax. It's probably just a mirror. We have armed guards all around us here and armored vehicles are waiting on the outside.
See there, at the end of this parking space? That's an armored vehicle with a roof-mounted machine gun. Trust me, nothing is going to leave this place alive if we don't want it to.
And look there, see that man in army uniform? He and his buddies have ten stinger missiles, ready to blast the mirror to high heaven. Are you feeling better now?"
I grinned. "Honestly? Yes, I'm happy that you don't underestimate the potential threat of that thing."
"Excellent. Now that you know that we take your and our safety seriously, can you please approach the mirror? Nice and gentle. One step at a time. Don't do anything without discussing it with me, okay?"
I glanced at him, then focused on the mirror again. "Yes, Swan. I will do as you ask."
"Splendid. Now slowly approach the mirror and stop three feet before it."
I slowly approach the mirror. It's the exact same thing.
What will happen this time?
Will it be a gigantic waste of time and effort? Or will it zap me again?
I hope I don't end up somewhere else like last time. I swallow my saliva, created from my nervousness.
"And stop." Swan's voice helps me focus again. I stop instantly and don't move a muscle.
"Can you confirm that it's the same one?" Swan asks.
"Yes Swan, I can confirm. There's no doubt, that's the one. What do you want me to do next?"
"Nothing happened to the people who brought it here, but it may react differently to you.
There's only one way to find out what will happen. I want you to slowly extend your right arm....and prepare to touch the top right side of the mirror.
Whenever you're ready, make a fast movement from left to right so your arm will leave the mirror by your momentum alone, thus preventing any possible electrocution."
I nod and slowly extend my right arm and hand. The index finger of my right hand is only inches away from the right hand top side of the mirror. Then I make a swift movement from left to right while only barely touching the mirror. Nothing happened.
But then....*ZAP!*
Like being struck by lightning, I'm thrown back and land right before Swan's feet.
"Ouch! You piece of shit! You are so fucking dead!" I stand up and want to hit the mirror, but Swan grabs my right arm.
"Easy there. Are you alright? Did it hurt you?" Swan asks.
"Did it hurt me? Really? Yes it freaking hurts, Swan! Can't you see it's toying with me?!"
"We don't know that. Let's wait a bit. Katie, did you see that spark coming from the mirror?" Swan said.
"Yes I did. There's absolutely no logical explanation for it. It has no powersource and it was brought here without any issues, so why does it react to her alone?"
"That's the one billion dollar question." Swan said, his hand covering his chin while thinking about the next move.
Only now do I realize that the armed guards were ready to shoot the mirror, just waiting for the command to be given.
Lucky for them I'm unarmed, I don't think I have that much restraint anymore.
Then something happened, which removed the need for Swan to make up his mind. The mirror....it came to life.