Notification Service 2 - M.C.E.

In every age, in every city, there has been the risk of disaster - fire, flood, or plague, there has always been a chance that many could be injured, killed, or have their lives changed forever. In recent times, there has been an attempt to make plans for such disasters, to cope with them, or even to prevent them if possible. So it is with a new disaster looming, a trio of experts from the group called notification service have been called in to prevent if they can a M.C.E. - a mass casualty event ......

Chapter 1

The three people in the gym were a study in contrasts. The man in the uniform of a colonel in the Canadian army sat with a detached air while occasionally looking at his watch. The older woman focused her attention on the center of the gym, and her expression flickered between concern and curiosity ....

Then there was the younger woman in the center of the gym dressed in a leotard, was trying to ignore her audience, and then she took a deep breath, and began a routine. Tumbles, rolls, poses, all done with grace, skill, and amazing strength. Once the mat routine was finished, she went to a set of uneven bars and began a routine that would challenge a gold-medal-winning athlete. No sooner did she land the dismount from the bars she ran to a pommel horse and began to spin and pose, and as soon as she finished there she ran to a set of rings and did the same thing. Once each apparatus was complete, she finally ran to the center of the gym and took a bow in the direction of her audience.

“Remarkable! And you dont even look tired, Ann.” The older woman said.

“I’m not tired at all, Karen. What did you think, Colonel Griffin?”

“It is impressive. If we could find the formula Dr. Divine used, I’m sure we could make super-soldiers with it.”

“Even if it also turned them into girls?”

“That could be a drawback, yes. But in any case, I have to get back to my office. We’re still looking for Dr. Divine’s second in command, and you know she has some of the formula with her. God only knows what she will do with it if we dont find her first.”

“I totally understand.. I .... just wanted to show you I can be useful.”

Colonel Griffin smiled, and said, “You will be. No worries about that. And speaking of being useful, I want you to sit in on the next debriefing. I want you to give a first-hand account of what happened to you. You up for it?”

“Let me shower and change, I’ll be there.”

“See you in ten minutes then.” The Colonel said, and then left the room.

“And once you’re done there, please come see me. You have adjusted well, but you still have work to do, and I have some news for you.” Karen said.

“Okay. I better run.”

Ann decided against a shower, and just toweled herself off quickly and changed into a peasant skirt and tie-dye blouse. She slipped on a pair of low heeled sandals, and tied her hair into a simple ponytail. She looked at her face and considered makeup, but then decided she was good enough as she was, and smiled at the pretty teen in the mirror, who of course smiled back at her.

“Hard to believe at this time last year I was pushing forty, and a guy.” She thought to herself, and then shook herself out of her memories, and went to the colonel’s office.

She met the colonel at his office, and he said, “Decided to hold the briefing next door, because everyone wanted an update. You dont mind sharing what happened to you to a larger group?”

“I’ll be fine, it might be easier than sharing with people one at a time.”

“There is that. “

The two of them went to the room next door, where Ann found a sizable group of people waiting. Some were dressed like soldiers, some like lab techs, and some were dressed in casual clothes, and the ratio of men to women was almost exactly two to one. Anne tried to organize her thoughts while the Colonel went over how his organization became aware of Dr. Divine, and how they were tracking her when Anne had been kidnapped by them.

At that point, he paused, and said, “But maybe Ann can tell you about that.”

Ann cleared her throat, and began to speak.

“I ... I was working as a security guard at the local hospital when Dr.Divine came in, looking for this doctor she blamed for not getting research grants. When she saw the doctor, she produced this hypodermic needle and went to stab him with it.

I ... got in the way and got poked instead.

Within moments of getting hit by whatever she had, I started feeling hot, and could barely stand. So when she said she was the only one who could save me, and the doctor agreed, I didnt fight going with her, not that I could have won a fight with a paper bag at that point. She pushed me into a van, and drove me around for a while. By the time we got to her destination, I was in rough shape, and she had to practically had to drag me into her hideout. She threw me in a room, and just was about to leave , when I managed to ask her about saving me, and she said, and I remember it perfectly, ‘I said I could save you, not that I would. Enjoy your last hours on earth.’

I fell back, and felt like crying. Then the pain started. Every part of my body hurt worse than anything I had ever felt before in my life. I screamed, and started hoping I would die soon, but instead I turned into .... this. Then her second-in-command, came in, said her name was Carolyn, and they treated me totally differently. They kept calling me ‘sister’, and seemed to expect me to just fall in with them because I was a girl now.I tried to act like I was seriously considering it, but wasnt sure how long I could fake it. Fortunately, Colonel Griffin here broke in with his team before I could find out. I ... I guess that’s it.”

Ann stood back, and Colonel Griffin stepped forward, and began speaking.

“We had a contact inside Dr. Divine’s organization, and they were lucky enough to get off a message with the location they were holding Anne. We were able to rescue Ann, and Dr. Divine herself was killed, but her second-in-command got away, and we’re pretty sure she has a stash of the formula that was used to change Ann here. Unfortunately, we lost our contact person, and so we have no clear leads as to what exactly she intends, except we’re reasonably sure they havent left the city limits, at least not yet. Its the opinion of our experts that they intend to use the formula here, but what form their attack will take is something we dont know.

But we better find out, before they use it. Or suffer the consequences.”

Ann stepped forward and said, “I was lucky. I ... wasnt really happy as a guy. Struggling with my gender cost me my marriage, and if someone had asked me if I could be turned into a girl if I would have taken it, I would have said yes. But its had consequences I was not prepared for, including being permanently separated from my ex and my child. But from the conversations I overheard after I transformed, they plan to use the formula in a way that would infect a large number of men at once. And most are not likely to be as good with becoming girls as I was. We .... we gotta stop them.”

Colonel Griffin put his hand on Ann’s shoulder, and said, “We will.”, and then he said to the room, “All right people. Lets get to work.”

The meeting broke up, and Anne went to Karen’s office.

It was time for another appointment ....

*******

Chapter 2

Anne knocked on the door of Karen’s office, and heard “come in”.

Once inside and the door closed behind her, Karen gestured to a comfortable chair, and Anne tried to relax in it.

“So, Anne. How are you today?” Karen asked as she handed Anne a cup of tea.

“A little bit shaky, to be honest. Having to recount my story to everyone brought all the memories back to the surface.”

“Well, maybe we can get those memories in order, and see what we can make of them.”’

“Well, I’ve told you I struggled with my gender most of my life. I tried to to the ‘manly’ thing, but it never felt right. I even got married, had a child, in the hope of making the struggle go away But it never did.”

“Then your wife found out.”

“And divorced me. I hadn't even tried doing anything, I just had some websites with information on trans people. It ... almost broke me totally.”

“And then you got transformed into a girl.”

A girl my family doesn't recognize. I’m ... a stranger to them. That part sucks.”

“Yes, it does, hon. I promised we would do all we could for your family, and that’s happening, but we cant take away the fact they lost a husband, a father. And they cant know that you survived in this changed form, at least not yet. The government has declared the whole thing a secret, so we’re stuck with it.”

“I understand it, I just dont have to like it.”

“Other than your family situation, how are you adapting to being a girl?”

“Its ... I feel so much BETTER like this than I felt as a man. Its like this huge weight has been taken away from me. And then there’s the fact I have practically superpowers. That’s pretty cool.”.

“I guess it would be. Anything else you’re feeling now?”

“Well, I told the Colonel and his team everything I could, but .... I wish I could do more to help. I mean, I got these awesome powers, and here I sit. I am on the sidelines.”

“I’m sure the Colonel will find a use for your abilities, hon. “

“I hope so.”

When Anne’s session ended, she headed back to the gym to work out some more. She had never imagined herself a “gym rat”, but since her transformation she had found herself spending more and more time testing her limits.

But she was fully aware that she had been doing it for the same reason she had used to haunt libraries.

She wanted a place to hide, something to keep her mind occupied.

“Better than just moping.” she thought, and got changed for a workout.

She tried pushing herself to her limits, but found it difficult. She as stronger, faster, and had much more endurance than she would have thought possible for a human being.

And all the time she was working out the image of her son looking at her with confusion after she had called him by his nickname Pickle when she went there to tell them that he was now minus a father ....

Finally, she couldnt take it anymore, and collapsed to the mat, and started weeping. She cried for a long time, until she reached a point where no more tears would come. She sighed, picked herself off the floor, and wiped the tears off her face. Then she showered, and changed, and made her way to the colonel’s office.

She knocked on his door, and heard him say, “Come in.”, and she entered

“I was wondering if you would come to see me, Anne.”

“I have to do something, Colonel. I can’t take sitting much longer.”

“It wont be much longer, Anne. As soon as my team has a lead on the remainder of Dr. Divine’s group, I want you with the team I will send to confront them. “

“Thank you, Colonel.”

“Dont thank me too hard. I expect you to follow orders, and be a good soldier out there.”

“Yes, sir!”

She left his office, and went back to her room to wait. She hoped it wouldnt be very long ...

*******

Chapter 3

As it turned out, her hopes were right.

It was less than an hour later that there was a buzz on her room phone, and once she answered she was told to go to the Colonel’s office.

When she got there, he was actually waiting outside, and he motioned me to follow him. They made their way to an exit of the compound that had been her home since she had been rescued from Dr.Divine, and soon she found myself facing a large helicarrier and a group of armed men getting ready to board it.

“You sure you’re up for this?” The Colonel asked.

“Better than sitting around.” she said.

The colonel smiled, and led her aboard the helicarrier. Once she was strapped in, she asked him, “Where are we going?”

“The Brazeau dam, about two-hundred and fifty kilometers away. If they succeed in putting the formula into the water there, it will infect every town in the north half of the province.”

“Let’s hope we get there first, then.”

Ann was dropped off a half-mile from the dam, and the Colonel told his men to wait.

“I want you to go first.” he said to her “See if you can talk them out of doing this. I would rather solve this situation peacefully, if we can. “

She nodded, and headed up the road.

It didnt take her long before she saw Carolyn Sparks, Dr. Divine’s second-in-command, and it looked like she had been waiting for her.

In her hand was a controller which Ann assumed would unleash the feminizing nanobots.

“Ms Sparks” Ann said as she approached.

“I hoped they would send you.”

“What will it take to make you not do this?” Ann asked.

“Why shouldn’t we? Clearly becoming a woman has helped you, just look at you.”

“It cost me my family, my life. And I was lucky because it could have been worse. At least I had thought about being a girl. I had even considered doing a transition. If I had been a regular guy I probably would have freaked out and never recovered. So don’t do this.”

“The time of men is over. Women need to rule, and the only way to do that is to tip the scales in our favour.”

“And if most of those women cant cope? Then what?”

“Its still a few less men in the world.”

“And their wives, girlfriends, daughters? You think they’re gonna be happy with you?”

“They will suffer only for a short time. Once they see the better world we make, they will thank us.”

Ann found myself feeling sorry for this woman. “How can you be so smart, and so self-deluded at the same time?” she thought to herself.

“You do this, I promise you, I will bring you in. You walk away right now, and I will let you go.”

“You’ll let me go? You should know I exposed myself to Dr. Divine’s process. I am now the ultimate woman!”

Ann prepared myself for a fight, but realized that she was larger and more-than-likely stronger than she was. She thought “ would lose a straight-up battle, I was sure of it. Unless I do something unexpected.” Then she thought of the old movie where this gymnast turned his floor routine into a fighting style, and made her move.

Ann ran toward her, and at the last possible instant she vaulted over top of her, landed behind her, and swept her feet out from under her with her leg.

As Ann had hoped, Carolyn had to drop the controller.

Ann got to her feet, and waited to see what Carolyn would do - go after the controller or go after her.

Carolyn chose Ann.

She rushed at Ann, and at the last possible instant Ann dropped to the ground letting her go over her.

Her momentum carried her right over the guardrail ...

Ann looked over the railing at her broken body, and sighed. “I hadn’t wanted that to happen.”

She went over and picked up the controller, and signaled the colonel.

When he came up, she handed him the controller, and said, “It’s over. Your team can disable the explosives that was supposed to release the formula.”

And then she started weeping.

*************

Epilog

It felt to Anne like things had gone full-circle. She sat in a car outside the home of her ex, looking at it with longing, and Colonel Griffin and Karen were in the car with her.

“It’s your call, Anne. I’ll find a way to clear it with my superiors.” The Colonel said.

Ann stepped out of the car, and Karen followed suit. Ann took a handful of steps toward the house, and then fled back to the cars sobbing.

“I can’t. They need a husband and a father, not me. I ...”

Karen gave her a hug, while the colonel looked uncomfortable.

“We’ll get you through this, Anne.” Karen said.

“You are needed, Anne. We stopped Ms Sparks, but there will be others out there. And you’re our best line of defence.” The colonel said.

“All ... all right. Back to base, I guess. “

“Back home, you mean.” Karen said.

“Yeah, home.” Ann said, and got in the car.

Moments later they were driving off, and Ann watched her ex’s house grow smaller in the back window.

“Home.” Anne repeated, and wept.

End