What is happening with the others?
     

     
--- Amy ---
     
     
     Amy looks over at Sara again.

      “Have I dried enough yet?” she asks.

      “Not quite,” is the response as the woman pokes at the thick gel encasing Amy’s body from her neck down. “Give it fifteen more minutes and we should be able to peel you out of there.”

      “Alright, fine. It feels like this body form is actually holding me up better so I was hoping it’s ready to get me out.”

      “Nope. With having to do pretty much your entire body we did have to make it thicker than some of the others, but that means we have to let it set and dry longer too.”

     Amy grunts as she tries to shift a little to get more comfortable.

      “Yea, well it’s not exactly fun being stuck up on this pole.”

      “You’ll be free of it soon enough.”

     Amy frowns then a moment later giggles a little.

      “Well, hearing that shriek from over in Susan’s stall was kinda funny. Right up until you informed me exactly what you were about to do to me that is. I could pretty much figure out exactly why Susan shouted after that.”

     Amy looks down at the stand she is suspended above. Finding out that to fit all of the computer parts in the suit they would have to create an insert into a very private part of her body was a shock. Having the gel injected deep inside her body was an experience she hopes to never repeat despite the fact the gel was warmed. Then they had to shove the pole up inside the same passage so the gel could be pulled out once it solidified and having the end of the pole on the outside connected to the platform to suspend her a few inches up off her feet was even worse. She had to hold herself spread eagle while they sprayed on multiple layers of the gel then hold that pose as it dried.

      “This thing is really uncomfortable up inside me like this. While the gel may be holding me up some, all of my weight feels like it’s pushing down on the pole at this point.”

      “I know Amy. Those of us who were brought in for out gynecology expertise had to go through the same thing that the customers would experience so we’d know what it would be like. We did that voluntarily by the way. Once we went through the process we all were able to suggest changes that were implemented to make it easier for you and future customers. Imagine what it would feel like if the gel was still cold like it was when I did this.”

      “Oh god, are you kidding me?”

      “No, I’m not. The stuff was being kept refrigerated to a pretty low temperature because of the initial formula they used. They started with the intimate injection first thing too so I had no warning from getting some of the gel sprayed on my external parts. I just about hit the roof when that frigid gel hit my uterus. They quickly reformulated the ingredients so they could instead warm the gel and still keep it liquid. It meant a longer drying time, the cold formula used my body heat to firm up and set pretty quickly, but the trade off was so much easier to deal with.”

      “I don’t even want to imagine what that was like. So tell me just what all is going to go into this costume since I can’t exactly go wander over to look at it for myself at the moment.”

      “Okay. The costumes are pretty sophisticated. Yours will have feathers from the top of your head down to your knees. Your face and chin will remain free and visible from your hairline down to the top of your neck. Everything else will be inside some part of the outfit. Your chest will be expanded a little bit to make room for the additional musculature the suit will include to assist you with flight. It does mean that you will probably appear flat chested in your case.”

      “Well, I’m not all that big to start with. It won’t be that big of a loss I guess.”

      “You really are tiny. For this costume that is a good thing though. Less weight to worry about having to offset and lift.”

      “Yea, I’m short, waifish even. I’m only four foot eight and a half and my boobs are a B cup at best. More like a B minus really. I top out at around eighty-five pounds when soaking wet. I have a really hard time finding clothes in the women’s section that fit me, which is pretty annoying at times. I have to shop in the teens section most of the time so some of the outfits that appeal to me from the women’s aren’t always available.”

      “Well in this case your small size is going to be a positive instead of a negative. You’ll have less trouble with getting airborne since you have less mass to lift.

      “Your lower legs and feet will be in boots which will hold your toes pointed nearly straight down. You’ll actually have talons that you will stand on, so you’ll gain a couple inches in height. The wings will fit over your arms and extend out a good deal farther past the tips of your fingers. In fact your fingers will be held spread out to help form the wing’s bony structures and give you more control over them. You’ll also get a proper avian tail to help with steering while in flight.”

      “And what type of bird did you model this off of?”

     Sara smirks and tells Amy, “I’m going to keep that secret until it’s time to get you into the final costume so it’s a surprise.”

      “Well then just be that way,” Amy giggles.

     She tries to wiggle again and the gel seems to be even firmer than last time.

      “Please tell me that it’s been long enough and I can get down off this thing.”

     Sara takes another look at the gel body form around Amy’s body and calls over a couple more of the technicians to take a look at it as well. They poke and prod for a minute and declare the gel set and ready. It takes a solid fifteen to twenty minutes to carefully pry Amy out of the solidified gel without tearing the form that will be used to create her full body sleeve for the costume.

      “Oh my god, I think you pulled out every single hair on my body with one notable exception. Do you have some kind of moisturizing cream or something I can use?”

      “I can do you one better. We have a special body wash formula that includes a mild anesthetic. You can go take a shower and get clean all over. It’s also safe for intimate body parts.”

      “Ooo, that sounds wonderful. I’ll be back on a couple of hours,” Amy giggles.

      “The body sleeve is going to be about an hour and a quarter getting made, but you should be back here before that if you don’t mind. And I’m pretty sure the others would appreciate having some hot water to use for their own showers,” Sara says with a smile.

      “Gotcha,” Amy responds as she wraps a fluffy bathrobe around herself.

     Stepping out of the stall they are using, Amy sees Susan walking back down the aisle from the shower room wearing her own bathrobe. Her hair is obviously damp from taking a shower. Amy lets her go without calling to her and heads into the shower room to take her own.

     A little while later, but still well before the time limit Sara had announced, Amy returns to the birthing stall. Peter is leaning against the wall by his stall and Amy waves at him with a smile and an excited skip in her step which makes Peter laugh and shake his head.

      “You are such a kid at times Ames,” he teases with a grin.

     Amy just giggles and sticks her tongue out at Peter as she walks into her stall.

      “It’s kind of fitting that we’re using birthing stalls to do this, don’t you think?” Amy says out loud as she walks back in.

      “How do you mean?” Alan, one of the techs responds with a confused look.

      “Well, while this is all just an elaborate costume and all, in a way we are still giving rise to the most realistic and accurate version of mythological creatures the world has ever seen. We’re giving birth to something new and amazing.”

      “I guess we are,” he replies with a nod and a smile.

      “So, care to give me a sneak peek at the costume? Or maybe a description of what it looks like?”

      “Nope, Sara would kill me if I ruin the surprise.”

      “Aww, not even a little bit?” Amy pouts and does her best impression of puppy dog eyes.

      “Alright, alright, I’ll tell you this much. Just turn off the little girl begging stare,” Alan says with a laugh. “It has three main colors in it. One is dark, one is light, and the other is in between.”

      “Oh, you meanie! That doesn’t tell me hardly anything!” Amy laughs.

     Amy talks with the technicians in the stall while they wait and eventually Sara comes back carrying a wadded up pile of cloth in her arms. Placing the bundle on top of the case that contains the costume she turns around and looks at Amy.

      “This is it girl. Time to get the first stage of the costume in place.”

     Amy bounces on her toes in anticipation and a little squeal of joy slips out.

      “Eee! Okay, what do I need to do?”

      “Drop the robe and come stand over here by me. The first thing is to get the unpleasant bits done. The very first one is the spinal strip for the micro computer interface. Then, we need to insert your catheter and enema tubes along with the uterine insert. If you want you can lie down on the cot here for this. It might make it a little easier in fact.”

     Amy drops the robe to the floor and quickly gets onto the cot face down. A foam cushion is provided for her to put her head on with a cut out for her face then her hair on the back of her neck is shaved clean.

      “Having short hair like yours will make getting the wig portion of the costume on pretty easy,” one of the female techs states.

     A cool creme is rubbed into Amy’s skin down the length of her spine from the base of her skull to the top of her butt crack. They wait a minute then carefully lay a strip of cloth that has micro thin wires and circuitry embedded in it down her back, making sure to keep it perfectly aligned along her spine. Once it is in the right position several pairs of hands gently but firmly press the strip down against her back and Amy can feel a multitude of tiny pin pricks that barely penetrate. The feeling is like an intense itch that takes a couple of minutes to go away.

      “First part on. Go ahead and roll over on your side facing the wall and we’ll get the enema in place.”

     A few minutes later and Amy is wondering if they were able to get the tube all the way up to her stomach from how long the enema tube felt like it was going in. Rolling onto her back she lifts her knees and spreads her legs as instructed so the next two parts can be inserted. The catheter tube is odd and uncomfortable, but not unusual since she had to have one from a prior experience when she had surgery in the hospital a few years ago. The next thing they insert into her nether region is quite a bit more invasive and feels huge as it goes in. Amy reaches down and tries to help by pulling her knees out to the side and up, but it is still takes a good strong push to get the form to squeeze down and slide up inside.

      “Get up and walk around for a few minutes Amy,” Sara tells her. “It’ll help to get that settled in place.”

     Amy stands up and at first feels like she has to keep her legs spread out with the device inside of her nether passage. She gingerly takes a few steps while gently rubbing her lower abdomen with one hand. It takes several minutes of slowly pacing around and rubbing for everything to shift until it is less uncomfortable.

      “I think that’s about got it, but damn I feel just a bit full or bloated right now,” Amy tells Sara with a frown.

      “I know. I promise that you’ll get used to it soon enough and will barely notice it. We had to put the micro-comp and another proprietary device somewhere that it would not ruin the look of the overall costume. Even as small as we’ve been able to get them, there would still be a noticeable lump anywhere on the outside.”

      “Having these wires shift around between my legs while I walk is a bit strange.”

      “Those will be taken care of when we get the body sleeve on and they connect to the right ports. The wires will get pulled up tighter and held in place by the inner suit. Also, once the costume is all on then you’ll have to wear the entire thing for a minimum of twelve hours.”

      “Come again. I’ll have to do what?”

      “The costume needs twelve hours of continuous wear so it can adjust to your body and settle in. There should be some shifting and hopefully resizing of some of the internal components to make them fit in there better and be even more comfortable.”

      “What exactly is this proprietary device for? What’s it do?”

      “Well, that’s something of a trade secret. It’s something our R ‘n’ D division came up with. I can’t tell you what or how it actually works, but I can say that locating it in your center of balance is essential to assisting you with creating and maintaining the ability to fly if it works as intended.

      “This is so far past the cutting or even bleeding edge of technology nobody on earth has seen anything like it as far as I know. It’s going to do something to either make you lighter somehow or provide additional lift for you. I don’t really understand all of the technical explanations I was given, and I’ve got the clearance to know all about it.”

      “Wow, that is actually kind of cool. The geek in me is definitely interested.”

      “Well I hope little miss geek can be satisfied with that for an explanation, because I’ve told you all I can. Actually a little more than I should have, I think.”

      “Fair enough, I guess I’ll just have to accept that. Can we get to the next part now? I’m about as comfortable as I’m going to get with my abdomen filled up like this I think, and it’s putting pressure on my bladder. I’m going to have to pee real soon and from what I can tell you’ve got my catheter plugged up.”

      “Yes, we do. That’s so you don’t constantly leak while we get you into the costume. The body sleeve is next, so let’s get you in it.”

     The full body sleeve is made from a material resembling spandex that is colored in a flesh tone. Amy can see that there are thin wires and what looks like small circuitry embedded in the material as well along with what looks like small connection ports around the waist and genitals. Sara and several other technicians help her to get into the suit through the neck opening which is able to stretch enough to squeeze her whole body through. Once they get her legs in place she is told to bend over for a moment while some of the connections are made to the leads from her internal devices and her tubes are pushed through openings in the sleeve for them. Amy pushes her hands and arms inside the suit and finds the sleeves to get them situated in and the bodysuit is pulled up around her neck, then the people helping all tug and shift the entire thing until it is perfectly form fitting.

     Amy takes a few steps around while moving her arms about and flexing her fingers to get it settled where it is comfortable on her, not realizing she is walking on her tiptoes. When she relaxes her hands her fingers spread out wide on their own. When she stops moving she remains up on her toes and is bent forwards very slightly at the waist to maintain her balance.

     Looking at Sara, Amy’s eyes seem to sparkle as she says, “Give me my surprise. Open it up and show me. Please,” she almost begs.

     Sara nods with a smile and removes the lid to the case with the costume in it. Standing behind the box she reaches in and pulls up a brown feathered costume and holds it up. Alan reaches in from the side and pulls out a white feathered piece that he arranges so that it is obviously the head piece. Another tech pulls out and holds up the two foot pieces which are colored a deep orangish-yellow.

      “Oh wow, is ... is that a bald eagle?” Amy softly asks with near reverence. “Where are the wings?”

      “Yes, you’ll be a Bald Eagle Harpy once the costume is all on,” Sara informs her. “The wings are still in the case.”

      “And I’ll be able to fly?” is asked so quietly Sara almost doesn’t hear it.

     Amy’s body trembles, her hands are clasped together tightly under her chin, and she is biting her lower lip waiting for the response; hoping to get the one she wants and dreading it will be a negative answer instead.

     Seeing the anticipation and uncertainty in the woman before her, Sara drops the suit and walks around to hold Amy in a tight hug.

      “Dear, we intend for you to fly. We want you to, and hope you will be able to. Everything we’ve done and created here is for that very purpose. In theory it should work. But, we don’t know if it will in active application. It could still fail to achieve our expectations.”

     She feels a nod against her chest from the head pressed to her bosom. Amy pulls away and wipes at moist eyes.

      “I know. I understand that nothing like this has ever been done before.

      “I have dreamed of being able to fly, in any form, all my life. I’ve gone parachuting, paragliding, hang gliding, I’ve even tried out those wing suits base jumping. I tried to get a pilot license but got denied because of my vision, plus I’m actually just a little too small to naturally reach all the pedals and controls in the cockpit. I actually need an extra cushion and pedal extensions to drive a car depending on the model.

      “I want to be able to fly so bad I can’t stand it. I’ll do anything I can, endure any discomfort, pain, or even surgery to achieve my dream. This thing in my uterus is nothing compared to some of the things I’ve imagined I might have to go through to let me fly. And now, here before me, is a chance to truly fly. Unassisted and under my own power. Something no human has ever done before. And I get the chance to make it come true.”

     Amy looks up to Sara, her eyes shining, “It just has to work! It has to!”

      “Amy,” Alan says firmly from behind Sara, “If there is any way we can make this happen, no matter what adjustments we need to make or how long it’ll take, you will fly. I promise.”

     Several of the other techs in the room murmur their agreement or nod their heads.

      “Well, you’re already on your way to becoming a Harpy, Amy.”

      “I am? I haven’t put on any of the actual costume yet.”

      “Haven’t you noticed? You’re walking around on your toes.”

     Amy looks down and gives a little gasp when she realizes Sara is right, she is standing comfortably balanced on her toes.

      “The body sleeve has elastic supports woven into it that make you more comfortable to walk on your toes, so you’ve already adopted a somewhat more bird like stance. Let’s make you look more bird like too.”

     The main body of the suit is brought over and with a little help Amy is soon covered in feathers from her shoulders down to her knees, although there is a piece missing in the back over her butt. Sara has to reach inside the costume a few times to make sure all the connections from the computers and tubing get hooked up in the right spots through that rear opening and Amy is initially surprised to find that both the catheter and enema tubes get routed around to the same place in back. When Sara pulls out the tail which is covered with long feathers she sees there is a small physical part the feathers are connected to. This gets attached onto the body portion and covers Amy from the small of her back to the bottom of her buttocks and includes connections for the waste tubing.

     With two people standing at her sides to steady her, Sara and Alan work the boots onto her feet and lower legs. Her toes actually stop a half inch before reaching the bottom of the avian foot, and while the talons spread out to provide a fairly stable contact with the floor, the feet are still awkward due to being unfeeling and unmoving. Sara tells her that will only be until the whole suit is on and they can activate the processor to get everything working together with her own body.

     From the base of her neck down, Amy now resembles a bird more than a person in many ways. She is tilted forwards so she is standing at a small angle from her hips and waist while technically standing in a ballerina en-pointe position with her feet although the boots that form her talons are doing most of the work to help her maintain that. Her head and arms still remain free from the costume for the moment.

      “We made the head piece and wings modular so they can be removed separately from the body. The feathers are long and thick enough to easily hide the connections to the body, but we still went through the trouble of making them look seamless anyways,” Sara explains as she starts to pull the head piece down over Amy’s light brown locks.

     Amy’s face appears in the opening provided for it and she reaches up to get the neck collar and wig portions comfortable on her.

      “No beak?” Amy queries.

      “Nope. Too many potential problems and it would hide half of your face,” is the response.

      “Now, before we get to the wings, I have these for you,” Sara tells Amy as she holds up a contact lens case. “Can’t have a Bald Eagle with puny blue eyes, no matter how cute they are. You need to have that intense golden yellow stare to intimidate your prey with!”

     Amy giggles as she takes the case and opens one side of it. Inside is a large contact lens that looks like it will cover her entire eye.

      “How big are these things?”

      “These are called full sclera lenses. They will cover your entire eyeball from top to bottom and side to side. They should also help protect your eyes enough so you can keep them open while flying, even in a strong head wind, so they’re a bit thicker than normal. That might take a little getting used to.”

     Amy nods as she expertly takes out her own contact lens from one eye then inserts the new lens in its place. A quick moment later and Amy is blinking both eyes trying to get used to the feeling of having the new lenses in. It takes several minutes of rapid blinking and the application of several drops in each eye using a solution that Sara tells her has been specially formulated for these contacts before Amy is able to look around clearly again.

     When she looks directly at Sara the woman steps back a pace.

      “Whoa. Okay, those things really do give you an intense stare. That’s almost creepy. The guys who developed them also said that you should have much better and sharper vision from up in the clouds, but probably not quite as good as a real eagle.”

      “Sounds good. I’m kinda surprised that I am seeing as well as I am right now. My prescription is pretty strong and you can’t have gotten it to make these things just for me. While everything is a bit blurry and off, it’s not quite as bad as I would expect.”

      “No, we did not get your prescription. The lenses are extremely sensitive and another proprietary development. If they’re right though, then your vision should actually improve while you continue to wear those for the twelve hour adjustment period.”

      “I hope so. One, or is it two, more pieces to go. All that’s left is the wings,” Amy says eagerly.

     Sara and Alan just smile and turn to pull the wings out of the case. With help from two more people they slide the wings onto Amy’s arms and all the way up to her shoulders where they move aside feathers to find and seal the wings onto the body. Amy’s hands fit into tight gloves that force her fingers to spread out wide while the wings are stretched out. Once the wings are properly attached and she is allowed to bend her arms she finds that it feels almost natural to fold them up against her sides just like they were real wings, her fingers pull in together and her hands flex down sideways at the wrists to align all of the flight feathers appropriately.

      “You’re almost done, Amy. You’re now in the full costume. Take a few minutes to shift and adjust to it then I’ll initialize the micro PC,” Sara instructs.

     Amy tries to take a step but wobbles and stops.

      “Oh. I’m okay standing still but trying to walk just does not feel right. My feet are numb and don’t seem to move.”

      “That’s alright; it should change when the costume gets powered up.”

     For the next five minutes Amy shifts about in the costume, extending one arm at a time to spread out a wing, twisting her head around, or carefully lifting up one foot at a time just an inch or two off the ground while Alan supports her.

      “Time to activate the processor I think,” Sara tells her as she reaches for a probe like device.

     Going around behind Amy and lifting the tail feathers out of the way, Sara finds the opening she is looking for between Amy’s legs and gently pushes the end of the probe up inside. Amy gives a little grunt as it goes in deep before Sara stops pushing when a small LED on the end turns red. With the flick of two small switches the LED turns yellow for a moment then goes green and Sara pulls the probe out.

      “Oh. Oh! Oh my!” Amy exclaims as a shiver goes through her entire body from head to toe, the feathers covering her body actually ruffling.

     She twists her whole body around from side to side as her tail suddenly rises and spreads out. She spends another five minutes twisting, moving, and bending like she just did a moment ago, but this time the people watching her can see that her movements slowly become more bird like as she receives feelings and signals from all over.

      “This ... is ... so ... strange,” Amy haltingly says as she takes her first step.

     Her talons flex as she lifts her foot up then spread out again to take her weight as the other foot lifts up.

      “I can feel ... the air ... blowing through my feathers.”

      “Air?” Alan asks.

      “Yes, from the AC fans blowing. Can’t you feel it?”

      “No, not really,” he admits.

      “Odd. I can.”

     Amy spreads out her wings to their full extent and looks at how far they extend from her body.

      “Wow, those are long. Just how big is my wingspan now?” she asks.

      “Your wings are a good six feet each, so between thirteen and fourteen feet from wingtip to wingtip,” Sara answers. “They need to be that big to provide enough lift along with the device inside you so you can fly.”

      “I want to fly. Take me to the roof.”

      “Not yet,” Sara stops her. “You have to wait one hour before swimming, or flying,” she chuckles.

     Amy giggles, “That’s the rule for digestion after eating, but okay, I get it. Speaking of digestion, I really feel like I need to go. Can we get these plugs out of me now?”

      “Of course,” Sara says walking around behind Amy. “Lift your tail up if you would,” and Amy complies effortlessly. “Good. Now this is going to be uncomfortable I’m afraid. I’m going to pull on a couple of strings here that are attached to the plugs inside. You’re going to feel them slide through and come out.”

     Amy nods then practically squawks a moment later as first one then the second plug pops out.

      “Holy crap! How big were those things?” She exclaims. “And where can I go? I’m not going to be able to hold this in any longer than another minute at best.”

     Sara points her to the corner where there is hay piled up. Amy quickly hops over and scratches her talons through the straw then turns around to relieve herself. Glancing down behind her she says quietly to herself, “Huh, just like a bird. Both together. Nasty.”

      “Well that was certainly different,” she states as she moves back over to the group. “Someone else is going to have to muck out the stall, I’m afraid I can’t do it myself” she comments as she partially spread out her wings.

     For the next hour Amy talks with the group who has helped to transform her into a creature of mythology. She moves around and become more and more comfortable in the costume and the people watching her note that her movements slowly seem more and more natural as the hour goes by.

     Looking at a clock once again Amy tells Sara, “It’s been an hour Sara. I want to fly.”

      “Alright,” Sara smiles. “Let’s see if this thing works. Follow me.”

     Sara leads Amy and several other out of the stall and over to a temporary lift that takes them up to the hay loft in the barn. From there a second lift has been put up which allows two people at a time to ride up through a hatch onto the roof. The sun is setting in the west as Amy and Sara stand in the strong breeze that is blowing.

      “Over here,” Sara points to the back end of the barn.

     Amy waddles up to the edge of the roof and looks down to find a large air filled mattress, the kind used by stunt people on movie sets, has been setup on the ground below.

      “If you’re going to try and jump from the roof to take off, please do it over the crash pad below for your safety,” Sara tells her.

     Amy backs up several steps then turns sideways. She extends her wings out fully and slowly starts to flap them up and down, testing how it feels. She can feel the air being caught in her wings and with a slightly stronger downward push can feel herself lifted up very slightly. She practices the motions for several minutes then kicks up off the roof as she gives several very strong wing beats and is able to lift herself even higher for a moment before coming back down.

     Looking over at Sara, the other woman can see an almost maniacal grin that threatens to split Amy’s face in two. Turning to face the back of the roof, which also puts her face directly into the available wind, Amy gets to within three steps from the edge. Taking two running steps with her wings spread out wide, she launches herself up and out off the edge of the roof and immediately begins to beat her wings furiously.
     
     
--- Peter ---
     
     
      “A shower would be nice after that experience,” Peter notes.

      “Use the body wash in the green bottle,” Mike tells him. “It’s a special formula to get you extra clean and soothe your skin after having that gel drying it out.”

      “Alright. I am a bit itchy after getting that stuff off me. And not telling me that you were going to stick it up somewhere private was just rude.”

      “Sorry. Like I said, we needed to get a sizing for the enema insert.”

      “Well no warning it was coming is not cool.”

     Peter pulls the bathrobe around himself and walks around to the shower room to find that someone is in there, although it sounds like the person is finishing up and should be out soon. He goes back over by the door to the stall being used for his costume fitting and leans against the wall, semi lost in his own thoughts.

     A short time later he notices Amy come skipping down the hall from the shower room and she waves at him with a grin.

      “You are such a kid at times Ames,” he teases with a return grin and a laugh.

     Amy just giggles and sticks her tongue out at Peter as she walks into her stall.

     Peter takes his turn in the shower and after washing thoroughly with the green body wash he is back in the stall with his costume. He walks over to the pile of green scales and lifts up parts of it to take a closer look.

      “This thing is huge,” he says out loud. “Just how long it is?”

      “It’s pretty long,” one of the other technicians responds. “Think about it. Your chest and hips are around thirty-six inches in diameter. That’s close to the normal for an average adult male who isn’t a bodybuilder. To support and match that size while not looking like something is off the tail has to fit a ratio of around ten-to-one meaning that you need about a thirty foot long snake body and tail to match your body.”

      “Wow, I didn’t know the tail length to girth was so high.”

      “We modeled our costume off the anaconda which tends to have a higher ratio being a constrictor species. Actually, the tail of a snake is just the portion below the cloaca and only makes up maybe one-eighth of the overall length at best; the rest of it is the body. Being limbless gives the impression that the animal is all tail which is a common misconception,” the technician instructs Peter. “Sorry, that’s the herpetologist in me talking out of turn again,” he finishes saying sheepishly.

     Peter laughs kindly, “No big deal, that’s actually interesting.

      “So I’m going to be a constrictor type snake and not a venomous one then?”

      “Right. We tested both types and the initial results with a venom producing species were ... not conducive to a good product. There were some problems encountered that we didn’t think could be satisfactorily overcome in the time we had.”

      “Well at least I don’t have to worry about needing to have fangs shoved into my mouth then,” Peter jokes.

     The tech simply nods in agreement while quietly muttering under his breath, “You have no idea what kind of trouble that was causing.”

     Peter puts the portion of the tail down that he is holding, saying “Heavy too.”

     Wandering over to the small table and chairs setup to one side the talk turns to other subjects.

     After a while Mike returns with a bundle in his arms.

      “Your body sleeve is ready, let’s get you into everything,” he announces.

     The doctor assigned to this group prepares the kits to insert a catheter and modified enema tube and in fifteen minutes Peter is lying down on the cot feeling slightly uncomfortable in both front and back nether regions. He is rolled onto his front so a cold creme can get spread down the length of his spine from the base of his neck to the top of his butt.

      “Time to place the sensor strip. Hold still and don’t wiggle for a few minutes. This won’t hurt, but from what all of the others are reporting it’s probably going to itch like crazy for a couple of minutes.”

     The strand of circuitry embedded tape is carefully positioned then firmly pressed down. The micro spikes pierce Peter’s skin and for about three minutes he experiences the most intense itching he can ever recall feeling. When the irritating sensation subsides he rolls onto his back and indicates he is ready for the inner body sleeve.

     The body sleeve is rolled up and he can see that while his legs will go into separate sleeves on the inside his legs are going to be bound together once the cloth is pulled on. With some assistance from the team around Peter the inner suit is pulled up his legs and when they reach his groin the tubes that emerge from his intimates are routed to and through fasteners and openings for them.

     With the body sleeve pulled all the way up to his armpits and smoothed out to remove wrinkles the group pick Peter up and carry him over to the large green pile of scales he was inspecting earlier.

      “Alright Pete,” Mike says. “The best way for this to work is if you lay on your belly and we’ll help you to crawl backwards into the opening of the body. I’ll stop you when you’re almost fully seated inside so I can reach in and get the final connections made then we can get the last foot or so pulled up and secure your torso. The sleeve should reduce friction some and help you to slide in easier, but it’s still going to be a bit of work.”

     Rolling onto his front, Peter lines himself up with the opening into the costume that a couple of the technicians have pulled forwards and are holding open. Lifting his feet up some he pushes himself backwards with his arms as Mike and a couple others lift and pull his body at the same time. Working in small steps Peter’s legs slowly disappear down inside a seemingly headless snake as if the costume is trying to swallow him whole.

     It takes a short bit before Mike calls a halt. At this point the rolled up edge of the outfit is just above the crack of Peter’s butt and Mike has to stretch the costume some to get his hand and forearm in so that he can locate and join the parts that need to be connected. After getting the internal items settled and confirming they are tight Peter is pushed down the last several inches into the snake body and he feels his feet and legs firmly squeezed together as they reach the end of the internal cavity for them. He tries to wiggle and spread his legs out some but the weight of the costume along with the tight embrace around his legs stops him. Peter is unable to separate his legs at all, and can only press against the internal musculature of the snake body enough to get a slight wiggle to be visible from the outside.

     The torso for the costume is unrolled up his body until it covers everything up to his shoulders. The fake skin is smoothed down so the edges are flat around the very tops of his arms and a neck piece is wrapped around under his chin that joins to the top of the main costume.

      “Just one last piece to finish off the total package. I’ve got some special contacts here for you to wear that will give you a snake like glare. Have you ever worn contacts?”

      “No, I haven’t,” Pete tells Mike.

      “Well then I’ll give you a quick run down. These are considered costume contacts. Where prescription contacts are designed to just go over the pupils these are called full sclera contacts. They are going to cover the entire front of your eyeball so none of your normal white or color will be visible.”

      “How comfortable will those be if they cover everything?”

      “Since you’ve never worn contacts before then they are probably going to be a little irritating at first and will probably take a bit of getting used to. But really it shouldn’t take all that long. I’d be surprised if you don’t forget they’re in after an hour, and your eyes will probably settle down in less than fifteen minutes.”

      “Okay. I guess that’s alright then. How do they go in?”

      “It’s pretty easy, but I’ll have Tom here do it for you this time since you’re laid out flat on your belly which would make it a little harder to do. Especially for your first time.”

     A technician kneels down in front of Peter and carefully inserts the two lenses into his eyes. Pete blinks furiously and several drips from an eyedropper are allowed to fall into each eye to help moisten and relieve the discomfort.

     While Peter lies on the ground Mike indicates to another tech to continue. They go around to the far side of the costume and locate the tail of the snake which has been set so it stretches out away from the main mass. Locating the cloacal opening, a long probe is inserted deep into the body until an LED lights up to show it has reached the intended target of the micro computer inside.

      “Hey Peter, just to warn you,” Mike gets Pete’s attention. “We’re about to initialize the processor in the costume and it’s going to start interfacing with the suit and you. It’s probably going to tingle some.”

      “Thanks for the warning,” Peter responds and holds up one hand with a thumb up as he gently wipes the tears from his eyes with the other.

     With a flick of a small switch a yellow LED lights up on the probe and a gentle tingle begins to run up Peter’s body starting at his toes. The tingle does not grow any more intense than when it started, but as the sensation travels upwards and more of his body reacts the lower portions continue to tingle which starts to become a bit uncomfortable. Peter is able to withstand the feelings for a few minutes before he finally tries to shift or move his body inside the costume to try and relieve it. He raises his head and shoulders up onto his elbows in shock when he realizes that he cannot move his legs. He tries again but once again they will not respond.

      “What the hell? I can’t move my legs Mike. It’s like I’m paralyzed!”

     The tingling starts to fade and with it all of the feeling in Peter’s body from his waist down goes away with it.

      “Holy shit!” he yells. “I can’t feel anything at all now! I’m paralyzed from the waist down! Mike! Help me! Something’s gone wrong! Get me out of this!”

     Mike quickly kneels down and grabs Peter’s hands as he starts to struggle.

      “Pete! Peter! Calm down! It’s alright!”

      “Calm down! Why?!? I can’t feel or move my legs!”

      “Can you feel anything else? Do you maybe feel something different or new?”

      “There’s nothing Mike, not a thing! I don’t want this to be permanent! I don’t want to be paralyzed for the rest of my life!”

      “You won’t be paralyzed for life. Technically you’re not even paralyzed right now. It’s the interface to the costume getting integrated into your own nervous system. We knew that this was a possible reaction when it connected into your own functions. We just didn’t think it would be this strong, or delayed. Give it a few more minutes and you should start to feel some responses from the snake body. It may just be taking a bit longer due to the extreme size of your new body.”

     Peter calms down, noticeably forcing himself to gain control, but he continues to grip Mike’s hands strongly. In a few minutes he shakes his head and a look of confusion crosses his face followed by a shiver across his shoulders.

      “What the ... That’s, strange. I ...”

     Peter gives an even stronger shiver through his upper body.

      “Whoah, okay, it’s starting to dial in I think,” He tells Mike. “This is really odd. I’m getting sensations coming in from a whole lot more body surface than I’m used to.”

     His face wrinkles in concentration for a moment then he looks up at Mike.

      “I can’t feel my own legs anymore, but I do feel a lot of flesh that is telling me that it’s mine and somehow it’s like it is supposed to be my legs but at the same time it isn’t. And I still can’t move anything. I want, no, I need to move, and I can’t Mike,” Peter says with a worried expression.

      “Okay, you’re doing fine Pete. We didn’t want to initialize the motor control to the costume at the same time it was waking up the sensations. That’s a lot of snake muscle and it could be bad for us if you were to start thrashing around unexpectedly.

      “Do you think you’ve got a handle on the sensations you’re getting?”

      “Yea, I think so. It’s confusing, but I’m starting to reconcile it in my head,” Peter says looking down, and then he grunts. “Damn, what the hell is that? It feels like there’s a ten foot pole up my butt.”

      “Um, that’s the probe to reach and turn on the PC. Sit still, please, and try not to jerk around next. We’ll enable motor control and if the light goes green the probe will get pulled out right away and we’ll all step back to give you some room. The micro PC will slowly give you control to move over about a five minute period.”

     Mike nods to the tech with the probe and the final switch is toggled which illuminates a green LED.

      “EEP! Hey there!” Peter exclaims as the semi flexible metal rod is pulled out from the costume. “Dang, that was not something I was expecting. Woof.”

     Looking around Peter notices that everyone has backed away creating a wide clearance around his now massive body. Twisting around further on his hands he catches sight of the end of the tail.

      “Okay, let’s start small then, shall we? If that’s the end of me down there now, then that is sorta where my toes are so to speak. Hello Quinton Tarantino here I come. Wiggle your big toe,” he says while staring at the tail.

     A couple more intonations of the line that Uma Thurman made famous and the tip of the tail sluggishly starts to twitch then jerks unevenly a couple of inches to the side.

      “This is hard. Yet at the same time it feels like it should be easy, natural even,” Peter comments. “I can move it, but it’s not the same thing as if it was my toes. In the back of my mind I almost feel like this should be nothing, a lazy day where I can wake up and stretch from a good nap, but it’s not clicking.”

     The twitching and small jerking movements move further up the length of the tail and into the mass of scales coiled up.

     Peter is starting to sweat a little bit from his hairline when Mike says, “You know what Pete, do just that.”

      “What?”

      “Stop looking at it. Close your eyes and don’t think about anything. Just feel. Then do exactly what you just said. Act like you’re waking up taking a nice loosening stretch in the morning.”

      “Okay. I’ll give it a try.”

     Peter turns back around to face away from the costume and lays his head down on his arms and closes his eyes. Mike motions to everyone to back up some more. A minute later Peter raises his head and arms just like he is sitting up in bed and reaches out to stretch.

     His whole body lifts up into the air as he imitates a jaw cracking yawn and the snake body gently begins to slither and uncoil. He opens his eyes and scratches his chest as he moves forwards, his serpentine body undulating as it slithers out to the middle of the enclosure.

      “Hey Pete, how’s it feel?” Mike softly calls out with a grin.

     Peter turns to look at Mike, his coils balancing his upper torso effortlessly.

      “I feel -” he beings then cuts off as his entire body goes rigid for a moment along its entire thirty foot length.

      “Holy crap. I’m standing upright,” Pete says astonished.

     A second later the tenseness leaves him and he looks at the mass of scales as they move and provide a more stable surface to support him.

      “Amazing. Mike your suggestion did it. That moment where I forgot for just a second that this body isn’t mine made the whole thing kinda click in place. Right now, it IS my body. From the top of my head,” and the end of the tail comes around so Peter is able to grab it, “to the tip of my tail.”

      “Nice. So, you’re good now?” Mike asks hesitantly.

      “Oh yea. I’ve got this. It should be safe to come in close now. And I’ll have to agree that separating the sensations from the movement was probably a good idea. Getting that stick pulled out of my new butt was decidedly shocking. If I had been able to move already when that came out I just may have had a very strong spasmodic response.”

     Peter tries to move again but his movements are stilted and hesitant.

      “Well, I kinda got it I guess. Now that I’m trying to think about it again things aren’t quite as smooth. It’ll take me a few to get used to moving around like this I think.”

      “No problem. Just as long as you don’t go slamming that body around then we’ll be safe. You’ve got twelve hours to work it all out and get used to that body.”

      “What do you mean twelve hours?”

      “You have to stay in that costume for twelve hours now. That’s to give it and you time to integrate with each other and make it more natural. More ... you.”

      “Oh, so now you tell me. So I’m stuck in this thing for the next half a day?”

      “Yep.”

     Peter sighs.

      “Guess I can’t do much about it. I can’t get out of this thing without your help.

      “Changing the subject a bit. You’ve been saying that this is a custom job on the inner body sleeve. And now you tell me that the costume has to integrate itself with me. Just how custom are these costumes?”

      “Well, these specific four costumes, five actually but your other friend couldn’t make it today, are very custom. We pushed development on them ahead of schedule so that we could get them done on time to have you all get fitted and have them working smoothly in time for the annual Halloween party where we want to do our big reveal.”

     At that moment they all looked up as they heard a yell of pure, unadulterated joy ring out from somewhere outside and strangely also from above.

      “Um, I’m going to guess from the sound of that someone is pleased with their new costume,” Peter says with a smile. “And correct me if I’m wrong here, but these are going to be our costumes to keep, aren’t they?”

      “Heh, figured it out did you?” Mike chuckles. “Yeah, these are yours to keep. We had to skip a few things in producing them that we will be including once we complete the final development for our regular production costumes the general public will get to rent out. Your costumes are too customized to you for us to take them back and have someone else be able to use them.”

     Another exuberant cry of joy seems to swoop down and rush past the barn from the outside again.

      “WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!”

      “We may want to be careful how you tell Amy she gets to keep her suit. It sounds like she’s really enjoying herself at the moment and she just might explode from finding out she can do that whenever she wants to,” Peter announces with a happy grin for his friend.