Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. (That's the latest Copyright date I could find.)
Something rather different, which I started before Masks and still occasionally add to.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 1
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. (That's the latest Copyright date I could find.)
Freddy stepped off the bus with eager anticipation. A quick glance showed his girlfriend, Karen standing nearby. They were both grinning.
Moving here to attend high school with aliens had been his father's idea, but once Freddy heard it he was enthusiastically in favor. Contact High was one of only half a dozen schools on Earth participating in an exchange program with the alien civilizations who had made their presence known to humanity just a few years previous. The building had originally been an older school marked for remodeling anyway, and after this area was selected by the UN for the program the remodeling plans were changed appropriately and the school renamed. (Though there were still a few folks who for some reason objected to that name.)
Freddy had moved in with his aunt and uncle - his closest relatives to the school - shortly after the selection was announced, six months earlier. This meant changing to a new (but non-alien) school during a school year, but Freddy had willingly accepted the problems this brought, just so he could live in the area long enough to meet the residency requirements. Not only had he subsequently aced his grades, he'd made several new friends, including his first actual girlfriend, Karen. To Freddy's delight, when the list of students for the new school was released she was also on it. Freddy was just about in heaven.
"Looks good, doesn't it?" he asked Karen, over his shoulder.
The building looked new and neat and clean and inviting. It gave the impression of being a true place of learning.
"Well, it's a school building," she countered, shrugging. "I mean, c'mon, it's where we're going to school."
"Yeah, shorty, it's uncool to stare at your school building," said a tall, well-dressed boy behind them, "so move it."
There was plenty of room for him to go around Freddy and Karen, but this guy wanted their space. Not even looking at him, Freddy stepped a bit to the side. Karen didn't move. The boy went around her, then cut back in, deliberately bumping Freddy. Still looking, smiling, at the school, the shorter boy ignored him. The tall boy moved in front of Freddy, blocking his view.
"Around here when someone bumps someone, they apologize," the tall boy said, staring at Freddy.
"Apology accepted," Freddy said, nodding, as he looked around the boy at the school.
The tall boy needed a moment to realize what had happened. Then he got mad.
"Make fun of me!" he yelled, swinging wildly.
Freddy caught his arm, grabbed his belt, shifted his left hand to the tall boy's shoulder, and hefted him into the air, over Freddy's head.
"I don't need to make fun of you," said Freddy, still smiling. "You do a good enough job of that yourself."
"Put me down!" the boy shrieked.
"Sure," said Freddy.
He took a couple of quick steps and heaved. The boy landed, rolling and sliding, on the wet grass beside the walkway, getting mud, grass stains and actual grass on his fancy clothes. He blew his cool and rose, screaming like a girl.
"I'm getting a teacher! You can't treat me like that!"
"There's already a teacher here," growled a stocky, middle-aged man, walking up, "and he's right. When you act like a fool, people can get away with treating you like a fool."
"Coach," said the boy, suddenly straightening, his voice and manner those of a cool, mature 17 year old. He pointed an accusing finger at Freddy. "This kid is trying to sideline one of your star players!"
"When did that happen?" asked Coach, sarcastically. Ignoring the tall boy's sputtering, he stepped over to Freddy, shaking hands. "Hello, Freddy. Good to see you again. I'll get with you later and introduce you to the other team members."
"Thanks, Coach."
* * *
"It's hard to believe he's only 14," said Mrs. Mueler, after Coach briefed the faculty on the incident. "Except for his height, he could be eighteen."
"That's what happens when a boy who is a quick developer skips a couple of grades," said Coach, nodding and smiling.
"I understand his great-grandfather started a family eugenics plan back early in the Twentieth Century," said Principal Tolliver, expression carefully neutral. "That's one reason the Selection Committee chose him. The aliens were curious about the family."
"Well, we haven't got time to worry about that now," said Mrs. Mueler. "The alien delegation will be arriving in just over half an hour."
"I'm looking forward to meeting them," said Coach. "I want to see if those heavy gravity boys are as good as I've heard."
* * *
The spaceship landed on the large field next to the track. Besides the school faculty and students, a full delegation of Earth officials was there to greet the aliens, including a general and an admiral. A large door opened in the previously seamless hull at the rear of the craft, a ramp sliding out to the ground. Out came the newcomers. Some appeared completely human. Some looked mostly human, except for a detail of coloration, size, shape or number of visible components. Some were vaguely human in shape, being approximately bipedal and mostly walking upright. A few looked nothing like humans.
One of the real weirdies was in the lead, a strange creature which looked like a four foot tall purple fireplug, with four stumpy legs at the bottom and four muscular tentacles at the top. It walked straight to the school band director and offered a tentacle. The startled man shook the proffered limb, and the fireplug creature began its prepared speech.
"Am Doctor Sumt'ang I. Of to delegation leader the am alien school this I the. Be happy am I to here."
An alien diplomatic aide approached, and quietly spoke with Doctor Sumt'ang. If a purple fireplug could look confused, this one did.
"Uniform but is he the fanciest wearing!"
Aside from that minor glitch, the welcoming ceremony went fine. Freddy stared at the aliens, students and teachers alike. One of the latter particularly caught his attention; she looked like a humanoid cat. She was also nearly naked. Well, except for her fur.
"Wow," breathed Freddy. "I bet she could teach me some interesting things."
Unfortunately, he forgot Karen was standing right next to him.
* * *
The rest of that first day was for getting acquainted with each other, and being given tours of the school. Freddie scratched under the bandage wrapped around his head, winced in pain, and sighed.
"I didn't mean it the way it sounded," he whispered to Karen, as they shuffled into the science lab.
"It sure sounded like you did," she huffed. "Anyway, I'm sorry you hurt your head. I just meant to give you a playful shove."
There were sounds of wonder from the human teachers and students as Doctor Sumt'ang and Mrs. Mueler explained how alien and human scientists and engineers had worked together to design a facility for teaching science to a combined human and alien student body. Actually, most of those there hardly heard them; they were too preoccupied with staring at the weird and wonderful gadgetry, some of it elaborate machines the size of small buildings. No-one could understand Doctor Sumt'ang, anyway...
"This looks like it's gonna be fun," chortled Freddy.
"This looks like a combination of Dr. Frankenstein's lab and an electrician's worst nightmare," said Karen.
"It does appear to be rather cobbled together," said a new voice.
Freddy and Karen looked around, to see that the speaker was a big blob of purplish jelly.
"Hello," it announced, extending a pseudopod and forming a crude hand at the end of it. "I'm Hrpblple."
"Uh, hello," said Freddy, shaking "hands" but not too vigorously. The thing felt squishy. "I'm Freddy Luger."
"Karen Polstice," said Karen, gingerly taking a second "hand," extruded while Freddy was still shaking the first.
"I'm so excited!" Hrpblple burbled. "Actual Earthlings! You're so famous, you know."
They did, but only vaguely why. The whole thing involved something about Earth being the only known source of Chuck Berry.
"So, uh, what are you?" Freddy asked the strange creature.
Karen elbowed him, but not too hard. She wanted to know, too.
"I'm a Hrpblple, from the planet Hrpblple," Hrpblple replied. "We're amorphous."
"So, are you a boy or a girl?" Freddie asked, feeling more confused than he had after his first question.
"No," Hrpblple explained.
Freddie and Karen gaped, but before they could ask for a clarification, the tour group started moving again. Freddie and Karen were surprised to note that to move around, Hrpblple simply pulled in his appendages and rolled.
Next stop was the gym, which was even larger - and much more open - than the science lab. Coach and his partner - Miz Klupper, a female alien who looked completely human except for her green skin, pink hair and pointed ears - explained how the room provided complete environment control, including gravity. Miz Klupper turned the gravity down about halfway to demonstrate, which led to some unfortunate hijinks. The gravity was quickly turned back up, causing several people to drop to the floor with undignified thumps.
"We have the latest Earth and alien training equipment, stored neatly away in these wall cavities," Miz Klupper explained, demonstrating by pulling a ping pong table out into the room. "Everything needed for a wide variety of games, sports, and exercise, to train young bodies to ultimate fitness."
"Yes!" hissed Freddie, pumping his right arm and grinning like an idiot.
"As with the rest of the facilities here, the latest in security equipment ensures safety and modesty," Coach announced, walking towards the locker room doors. "Once the sensors and actuators are turned on tomorrow, only males will be able to enter the male facilities, only females the female, only neuters the neuter, and only herms the herm. So if you've ever been curious about what the showers for something you aren't are like, this is your only chance to find out."
That brought a small laugh. As well as Karen grabbing Freddie when he started for the girls' locker.
"But..." he protested.
"You are not going in there!" she hissed. "I don't care if it's open house."
"Okay. What about the neuters' room?"
"You can check that out if you want. I'm going into the boys' locker room."
"Hey! Howcum it's okay for you to go in there, but not for me to..."
"Because I'm not a pervert," was Karen's smug reply.
Freddie sighed, and went with her. He was curious about what alien equipment might have been installed. To their mutual disappointment, all of it turned out to be very mundane, except for the sonic dryers just outside the showers.
"What are those?" Karen asked, as they entered the restroom.
Freddy thought about lying to her as a joke, but they were with several other people and he figured one of them might call him on it.
"Urinals," he told her, shrugging. "For guys to - uh - urinate in."
Karen frowned, looking confused.
"But how do you sit on them?"
"They're for guys to urinate in," Freddy repeated.
Karen glared at him.
"You told me that already. I asked you a question, and you didn't answer it. Twice."
"You do know guys can aim, right?" said Freddy, with a smirk.
Karen opened her mouth to make an angry retort, then left it open as she turned bright red.
"Oh," she said, weakly.
They tried the neuters' room next, but that was so weird they quickly exited. The herms' room appeared identical to the males'. Karen relented, since so many non-females were doing it, and went with Freddy into the females' room. Again, little difference from the males', except for the lack of urinals in the restroom.
"This is going to be great," Freddy announced with a contented sigh, taking a last look around the gym before the group headed to the cafeteria for lunch.
"You and exercise," teased Karen.
"Hey, I thought you liked my muscles," said Freddy.
"I do. I also know they need a lot of work. Sometimes, though, you seem obsessed with them."
"Only sometimes?" he asked, with faux concern.
Karen glared at him.
"Sorry," said Freddy, with a shrug, "that's just the way I am."
The cafeteria also had a mixed Earthling and alien staff, as well as mixed types of food. Freddy eagerly grabbed two trays, three plates and two bowls, plus silverware. He then went down the line, taking a bit of almost everything.
"Uh, Freddy," said Karen, looking worried, "some of this stuff might not be safe for humans."
"I asked," Freddy replied. "See that symbol? That's for stuff that's toxic to humans. I'm avoiding those."
Though nothing else, it seemed. Freddy carefully carried his trays to an empty table, put his dishes out and sat cheerfully down to eat. Karen sat gingerly next to him, her plate holding mostly uncooked vegetables, which she nibbled on as she watched Freddy. He dug in with relish, and mustard, and ketchup, and a number of alien condiments and spices neither of them could put a name to. Some dishes he did no more than taste, and a couple he rejected by smell alone, but a few he obviously found delicious.
"You're going to make yourself sick," said an alien boy at the next table, twisted around to watch.
He was almost entirely human in appearance, except for his colors. He had chocolate skin and grey eyes, which weren't really unusual, but with those went pink hair. Bright, almost fluorescent pink hair.
"I'm Ramet Genet. And that's Ldbotelf with Hskmert sauce. It's normally only eaten by Hrpblple."
"We met one," Freddy mumbled around a mouthful of the unpronounceable stuff. He swallowed, considered for a moment, then nodded. "Say, this stuff is all right."
He spooned another load into his mouth, as Ramet stared in wonder.
"Man, you don't know what that stuff will do to you!" said one of Ramet's tablemates, a creature which looked like a giant daddy longlegs. "I know one of Ramet's people who tried some of that on a bet, once, and dissolved into a puddle of goo."
"Yeah, but that's because they're shapeshifters," said another, this one humanoid but extremely stocky, with heavily wrinkled, grey skin. He looked vaguely like the mutant offspring of a humanoid rhinoceros and a bipedal whale. "Stuff probably triggered an allergic response which caused an undefined state change."
"Freddy..." said Karen, becoming more concerned.
"I bet he won't eat the gronk!" said the spider.
A betting pool quickly started, on whether Freddy could eat particular dishes he had yet to try. Two of them had twenty-to-one odds. Except for one of the latter, Freddy actually swallowed at least one bite of all the remaining dishes. Though he made clear his dislike for some of them.
Finally, he finished, delicately belched and dabbed his lips with a napkin. Applause broke out.
"Thank you, thank you," said Freddy, grinning, standing to bow. He sat, still smiling, looking quite content. "Y'know, I think I'm gonna like it here."
End Part One
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 2
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc.
The first real day of school started out almost distressingly mundane. Oh, meeting the alien kids and teacher in his home room was interesting, but school turned out to be school, even with aliens present. Something even the alien kids muttered about. The only other interesting thing about this first period was that the students were issued their hyperspatial library cards. Freddy didn't see how those were much different from a smart phone with Internet access (except that you couldn't take photos or play music - except for boring, school approved stuff - or even make calls) but whatever. Mostly, home room was pretty, well, normal. Fortunately, it was also busy, and the period passed quickly. As he hurried to his first real class, Freddy encountered Karen. He was happy to learn that she had nearly the same schedule he did, despite being in a different home room.
First class was English, which was as dull and boring as it would have been in a normal school. It didn't even have an alien teacher. History was next, and Freddy's first class with alien stuff in it. As he stood to leave after the bell rang his head swam with billions of years and light years. Feeling eager, now, Freddy headed to science class.
Unfortunately, his science teacher was Doctor Sumt'ang. Freddy gritted his teeth and concentrated. He liked science, but often had trouble with it, due mostly to teachers being so dry. Well, Doctor Sumt'ang certainly wasn't dry. In fact, he looked a bit slimy. When Freddy could decipher the alien's speech, most of what Doctor Sumt'ang said was interesting. For instance, just now, he was explaining basic perceptions of reality.
"Polarities there and continuous variations, are non-continuous variations," he announced, a holographic display over his head displaying examples of what he was describing. Said examples about as understandable as his lecture. "Because sciences to focus on non-continuous grasp tend variations they are easiest to most."
Doctor Sumt'ang opened a case and produced an odd gadget, something which looked like the mutant offspring of a Super-soaker and a piece of modern art.
"Polarity volunteers for a need I a pair of demonstration."
Students glanced around, partly to see if anyone had untangled that, partly to see if anyone was actually going to volunteer. Freddy looked at Karen, who shrugged. Freddy shrugged back, and stood. Karen hesitated a moment, then followed. They walked to the front of the classroom.
"Excellent!" announced Doctor Sumt'ang. "Stand please there. Harm you assure to you no will I come."
He pointed the gadget at Freddie and zapped him. Instantly, Freddie found himself on the other side of the gender equation. Before anyone could react, Doctor Sumt'ang zapped Karen, producing a handsome teenage male.
"Is and reversed polarity!" Doctor Sumt'ang declared.
"Ah!" yelled Karen. "I'm a guy! And you're a girl!"
"Easily the is change reversible," Doctor Sumt'ang assured him.
Well, okay. While he might be hopeless at English, Doctor Sumt'ang was supposed to be quite competent at science. Karen and Freddy relaxed a bit. In fact, Freddy seemed to be enjoying herself.
"Whoah!" said Freddy, cupping her new breasts. "I always wondered what these felt like from the inside."
Karen flattened her with a desk. Unfortunately, Hrpblple was still sitting in it.
* * *
"Are you okay?" asked Karen contritely, as Freddy joined her - a bit late - in Civics/Social Sciences class.
"Oh, yeah," said Freddy, with a casual shrug. "The nurse had a lot more trouble with Hrpblple than with me. They had to scrape it off the floor and off me, pull the desk parts out of Hrpblple and put it all back together. Quite a mess. It was still trying to unscramble itself when I left. Then I had to hurry back to the lab and get re-malefied."
"Well, I'm sorry," Karen told him, lower lip trembling just a bit. "I guess I was just feeling confused by being changed like that. I'm really glad Doctor Sumt'ang changed me back right away."
"No problem," said Freddy, with a shrug. "I got to meet the school nurse. What a looker! You'd never believe she was oviparous."
Karen shifted position, glaring at him, but not quite ready to clobber him. She wasn't certain what that last word meant.
"Actually," continued Freddy, with a slight smile, oblivious to his near-flattening, "I'm kinda disappointed that I got changed into a girl and didn't even get to find out what it's like. I wouldn't mind being a girl for a while. It could be a voyage of discovery."
"You just want to get into the girls' locker room," was Karen's accusation.
"That, too," Freddy admitted.
They had to stop whispering then, because the teacher finally was ready to start class, having finished resorting the stack of papers she had knocked off the desk. She took roll - doing a pretty good job on the human names - then began the lesson.
This class was being taught by Miss Furrpect, the felinoid who had attracted Freddy's attention the morning of the arrival. Someone had apparently told her about Earth mores, because she was actually wearing quite a bit more clothing now than then. Almost enough to be allowed in a public pool.
"One of the most important tools in the study of cultures different from your own is going native," said Miss Furrpect, her English impeccable, her purring voice threatening alternately to anesthetize and arouse. "The better an observer can fit in, the more that observer is able to learn things about the culture. Things which the natives might not even notice in their routine lives. Today we will cover the methods used to do this, including one of the most important: the exchange program."
She opened a box and brought out two pairs of what looked like ear muffs.
"I need a volunteer for a demonstration of how the exchange program works."
Freddy had had enough of volunteering for one day, but someone goosed him from behind and he stood up with a yelp.
"Oh, excellent! It's good to see young people with such an enthusiasm for science!"
Well, there was nothing else to do, now, unless he wanted to look completely uncool. Freddie forced a smile onto his face and sauntered up to Miss Furrpect, acting as calm and collected as possible. She smiled briefly at Freddy, put one pair of earmuffs on him, the other on herself, then tripped a switch.
Freddy had a moment of vertigo, then an odd feeling of displacement. The feeling persisted, as Freddy realized he was standing to the right of where he had been. Oh, and there were other things wrong. Like the fact he was in Miss Furrpect's body!
"I am now in Freddy's body, and he's in mine," Freddy heard his voice say, from the left. "Normally this sort of exchange is only made after careful negotiations and binding agreements, but for short-term classroom demonstration purposes this sort of casual arrangement is allowed."
Freddy was not paying much attention to the explanation. It was all she could do to keep her claw-tipped hands off her furry breasts. She was blatantly staring down through Miss Furrpect's ample cleavage. Only Karen's familiar, irate throat-clearing brought Freddy out of it in time to look up at the class as Miss Furrpect switched them back. Freddy blinked himself back into alignment, and noticed Karen glaring at him. He sighed. Again, female for a few moments, again switched back with no opportunity to explore, and again his girlfriend was mad at him over it. It wasn't even noon yet!
* * *
Lunch brought more chances to try alien foods. And another betting pool.
"Will Freddy eat it?" was becoming a popular pastime. Karen, partly in disgust at his diet and partly to gossip with other girls, was sitting elsewhere. Ramet and his group were again at the next table.
"I heard you had your first experience with a Boy/Girl Gun today," the chocolate-skinned alien snickered.
"Yeah. I also got to know Miss Furrpect from the inside, if you know what I mean."
"You got mind-switched with her?!" exclaimed the spider, whose name was Bl'fff T'chrrrttt. "Wow! She's hot!"
"Does this sort of thing happen often?" asked Freddy.
"That and a lot of other stuff," laughed Ramet. "You get used to it. Though I guess it's a lot less strange to us natural shapeshifters."
Ramet shifted form into a female version of himself.
"See what I mean?" she said, shrugging and pushing her long, pink hair back out of her face. "It's no big deal."
"Hubba-hubba!" exclaimed Bl'fff, quickly sidling up to Ramet. "So, are you seeing anybody?"
"Back off, fang face," said Ramet, good-naturedly pushing him away.
"Is that a complete change?" Freddy asked, as Ramet shifted back to what appeared to be his normal form. "Physiological, genetic, everything?"
"Everything except history," said Ramet. "Some folks can do even that, altering reality. Most shapeshifters can only change their shape, though; only a few of us can go down to the genetic level."
The alien boy seemed a bit smug about this.
"Whoah," said Freddy, boggled.
"Do Miss Furrpect!" demanded Bl'fff.
"I don't do requests, you horny bug," muttered Ramet.
"Horny?" said Bl'fff, puzzled. "I don't have horns."
* * *
Arts and crafts class was right after lunch. Freddy at first paid little attention, thinking this would be a boring, sissy class. Until, that is, the instructor, a female and nearly human alien, said something about learning basic anatomy, stood on a pedestal and took! Off! Her! Clothes!
Freddy was just about to hemorrhage from the nose, when he realized she didn't have anything but bare skin. That is, she was no more anatomically correct than a doll. A kid's doll.
There was an odd stillness in the class, followed by a sort of wordless confusion.
"Uh..." began one human male, "how are we supposed to learn anatomy for drawing and such, if you don't have any?"
"Well, you're all under age by local laws," the teacher explained, smiling. "Once you're 18 I'll show you more."
Yet another disappointment.
On the other hand, it soon became apparent the teacher was not only an artist, but a shapeshifter. She ran through (blandly innocent) examples of the most common sentient species in the universe, even providing examples of sexual dimorphism, before returning to nearly human female. Which appeared to be her base form. Freddy wondered how much a model like that could earn from artists. Or men's magazines.
* * *
Finally, the best part of school. Gym was the last class of the day, and Freddy was really looking forward to it. If nothing else, he had a lot of sexual frustration to work off.
Miz Klupper - looking very striking in her nearly skin-tight leotard - took the females and neuters in hand, and Coach the guys and herms. Most of the exercises were pretty basic, though that didn't necessarily mean they were easy. Coach took notes, and commented that he'd handicap those more physically able in later classes.
Freddy's first partner was a herm, a gul built like a linebacker and sporting both sizable breasts and a bulge in the front of hir pants. Freddy found the experience very confusing. One part of him wanted to flirt with hir female side, and another to pal around with the male aspect. He felt really confused when the gul patted him on the rump. Just what did sie mean by that? Also, what would a Boy/Girl Gun do to one of them? Did he even really want to know?
Fortunately, they changed partners often, and the true hermaphrodites were rare, with just 3 of them in the class. Freddy worked with human guys, and alien guys who appeared human, and even Bl'fff. The arachnid was both stronger and tougher than he looked, and quite fast.
One of the more interesting exercises was the rope climb, which none of the aliens seem to have encountered before. Their different approaches were quite instructive. Bl'fff did particularly well at this, skittering up it like a spider up its safety line. One human-looking guy simply flew upwards, one hand trailing on the rope. Coach made a lot of notes for him. Hrpblple got up the rope by the simple (well, for it) expedient of flowing around it, extending some of itself along the length of the rope to the top, then flowing the rest up after it. For some reason, no-one wanted to go up the rope after he was finished.
Freddy almost missed his turn; he was busy staring at the girls doing their rope climb. When Coach called his attention, Freddy did quite well. Though he did wonder why the rope was a bit damp.
In the last quarter of the hour they all got together for soccer, several nets being produced and several teams being formed. Freddy proved himself to be a holy terror. That is, until the other team realized putting their most buxom girl at the net and having her jump up and down a lot produced a significant detriment to his performance.
Finally, gym period was over. As the students separated into their various gender groups and wandered towards the appropriate locker rooms, Freddy found out what happened when someone tried to enter the wrong door. One of the neuters accidentally approached the herm entrance, and was struck by a fat, blue-white bolt of lightning, while warning lights flashed and a siren whooped. The poor thing was left a smoking pile of goo on the floor.
"Hey, Ramet," Freddy called. "What would happen if you changed into a girl and tried their door?"
"I'm in no hurry to find out," the alien boy replied, with feeling.
"Guess I can understand that," said Freddy, grinning.
Still, he couldn't help but wonder... and think about all that luscious, female flesh, wet and soapy and bare...
Freddy was almost to his locker when he realized he would have to wait a bit before stripping to shower. He sighed, and tried to think about something else. Fortunately, that was easy, as various alien guys were stripping around him, with varying degrees of modesty. Freddy wasn't interested in guys - well, not in that way - but he was curious.
Most were fairly normal. They either looked like human boys, or various Earth animals. Bl'fff, of course, didn't wear clothes at all, and simply walked into the showers straight from the gym. Freddy was a bit embarrassed about wanting to look at these guys, but soon realized that many of them - even some of the aliens - had never seen some of the species present in the locker and were also curious. Fortunately, Freddy had his libido back under control by now, and stripped with little thought.
A large part of the group spent a few minutes comparing notes and anatomy. Freddy was pleased to see that he was about the best endowed human in the room, but a couple of the aliens - one almost human, the other really weird - made him look like a girl. One of the non-human bipeds proudly demonstrated that his was prehensile!
"I've heard that males of Bl'fff's species have two," Ramet muttered to Freddy, grinning.
Grimacing a bit at that thought, Freddy headed for the showers.
* * *
Freddy smiled as he walked out the side door, towards the bike racks. No bus for him today! He'd pointed out to his Aunt that the trip to and from school was actually a bit shorter than his morning paper route. She'd agreed he could ride his bike in nice weather, without defining what she meant by "nice." Which meant Freddy was free to use his definition.
The bike was his pride and joy, a top of the line mountain bike as rugged, functional and unpretentious as its owner. Freddy had earned every penny it cost, working several odd jobs and scrimping and saving. He patted the seat as he approached, then bent to work the combination.
"You treat that thing like a pet," said Karen.
"Oh, hey!" Freddy greeted, rising to give her a hug, lifting her, giggling, off the ground. "I thought that was your bike over there. Want to ride with me? We go the same route part of the way."
"Sure," said Karen, earlier irritation forgotten.
As the two youngsters rode off together, Freddy looked back on his day and smiled again. Sure, there had been some rough spots, but overall things had gotten off to a good start.
End Part Two
One of the tenets of the game Teenagers From Outer Space is that while there are sexual situations there's no actual sex. Writing these tales I kept walking the line between mildly salacious and outright porn. Sometimes, after posting to TSA and TG Stories I had to make things a bit milder before posting to my Web page.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 3
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright Rodford Edmiston Smith.
By the end of the first week the students were settling into the routine. Friends and enemies were made, alliances formed, some school-related information was learned, and some education even occurred. There were still adjustments to make, of course, but all-in-all Freddie was enjoying the school... particularly the co-ed gym classes. Though the time he'd been paired off against a husky alien woman from a high-gravity planet in wrestling had left Karen not speaking to him the whole rest of the day. Even though there was absolutely nothing (well, almost nothing) sexual about the situation.
Lunch was another part of this school which Freddy enjoyed. The human food was actually good, at least most of the dishes. The alien foods were quite interesting, and some of them tasty. He'd amazed several of his new friends with his ability to eat alien food without unpleasant side effects. Unfortunately, this tolerance meant that some of the alien dishes he recommended to humans weren't actually edible by most of them.
Freddy was trying some horrible-looking, spicy brown stuff, when one of his new friends sat down across from him.
"Hi, Jim," said Freddy, waving with his fork. "Say, have you tried this brown stuff? It's pretty good. Tastes like cinnamon baked apples."
"Actually, I think that is cinnamon baked apples," said another of Freddy's tablemates.
"You remember the Boy/Girl Gun Doctor Sumt'ang used to switch you and Karen's sex?" asked Jim, somewhat ungrammatically, as he spooned Jell-O into his mouth.
As usual during lunch the boys and girls segregated, but Jim's question had been aimed at both Freddy and Karen, and therefore loud enough to be heard by both of them. As well as by everyone near them.
"How could I forget?" said Karen, with a grimace.
"Yeah, I've still got the scars," said Freddy.
Karen glared at him, and he knew he'd done it again.
"I still have the Hrpblple," said Hrpblple, shuddering at Jim's consumption of something resembling him, and glad it was lime and not grape.
"Well, it's a commercial product, available from alien catalogs and stores. There's been a lot of people buying them and using them to snipe."
"You mean change people without their consent?" said Freddy, a bit startled.
"Yeah. They apparently have a range of several hundred feet, though the beam doesn't go through most solids. Anyway, the snipers have caused some panic in a few places. The things are still rare, too, so some folks have stayed the other sex for days until they could get changed back."
"Well, it's not that big a deal," said Freddy, shrugging. "I mean, I much prefer being a guy, but there could be some advantages."
He grinned. Leered, actually.
"Like using the girl's showers."
He had the nerve to be surprised when the pie Karen threw hit him in the side of the face.
* * *
"I'm really glad your parents let us go on this picnic today," sighed Freddy, laying on his back and contemplating the sky.
"Well, they figure you're safe enough in the daytime," said Karen, grinning and wrinkling her nose at him.
"I just wish my paper route paid more," said Freddy, rolling over and looking at her, "so I could afford to take you on a real date. Now that school's started I'm having trouble finding another job, one I can work after school."
"Picnics are fun," said Karen, shrugging. "I thought your parents were rich, though."
"Yeah, but Dad says I should earn anything over and above basic expenses myself, instead of getting an allowance for them." Freddy sat up. "Is there any more of that potato salad left?"
Freddy was just reaching for the bowl when he felt a momentary disorientation. Then a strange, but somehow familiar, sensation.
"Aw, no," groaned Freddy, "not again!"
Freddy stared in disbelief at her bulging t-shirt, the large nipples topping her generous breasts making distinct knobs in the fabric. Karen giggled. Then let out a very unmanly scream as the mysterious gender sniper struck again.
"Ow. Ow. Ow," said Karen, fumbling at his bra. "This thing is digging into me."
"Well, don't damage it," muttered Freddy, blushing as she hunched her shoulders forward to take the pressure off her t-shirt. "I may need it."
"It wouldn't fit," muttered Karen, glaring at her as he finally got the undergarment free. "I'm glad I wore slacks instead of that skirt I was first thinking of."
Despite the situation Freddy snickered at the concept of Karen being envious of her chest.
"Looks like it's just us, got zapped" said Freddy, glancing around. "Which isn't surprising. We're the only ones nearby. Don't even see any sign of the sniper."
"He must be over in those trees," said Karen, rising clumsily to his feet.
"Don't bother," sighed Freddy, pushing her hair back out of her eyes. "If that's where they were they'd be long gone before we got there."
"If we don't find who did this, how do we get changed back?!" demanded Karen, agitatedly. "The only other Boy/Girl Gun I know of is at school. I'm not gonna be a boy all weekend! Not to mention how my Mother would react if I came home looking like this. Though my Father always did want a son..."
"Yeah, they'd never let us date again," said Freddy, with a grimace of distaste. She suddenly brightened. "Hey, the mall with that new alien goods store is not too far from here. They'll probably have one!"
"Yeah, but how much do they cost?" was Karen's glum rejoinder.
"I guess we'll just have to go and see," said Freddy, starting to pack.
"Wow, you've got a great ass," said Karen, enviously, as he watched Freddy moving around on her hands and knees.
"Not as good as yours," Freddy replied quickly.
"You can't even see yours to tell," snickered Karen, "but thanks."
"This is really uncomfortable," groused Freddy, fighting the swing of her large breasts as she gathered their picnic gear. "This is one time I wish I took after Mom's side of the family. They're not nearly this well endowed."
"I never thought I'd hear a guy say he liked small boobs," snickered Karen.
"Well, it's different when you have to wear them."
Riding their bikes to the mall was an... interesting experience. They were both about the same height as before, which helped, but other anatomical differences caused problems.
"These boy things are killing me," groaned Karen, standing on the pedals. "I can't sit; I'll have to stand the whole way!"
"This is actually kinda... nice," said Freddy, rocking on the saddle, a strange, silly smile on her face.
"You pervert!" yelled Karen, wishing he had something appropriate to hit her with. "That does it. You're standing up the whole way, too!"
"Aw, gee," sighed Freddy, obeying.
* * *
"Well, they're *Clang!* 30," said the clerk, staring at Freddy's chest.
The pair (Freddy and Karen, not Freddy's breasts; get your mind out of the gutter!) needed a moment to remember that the clanging sound was the untranslatable name for the intergalactic currency. They conferred quietly for a moment, counting their funds.
"Uh, we only have *Clang!* 12.50 between us," sighed Karen. "Could we just rent one?"
"Sorry, no," said the clerk, the subject of money momentarily drawing his attention away from Freddy's attributes. "Also, we don't sell on credit. Do you have any credit or charge cards?"
"I'm 14 and she's 16," muttered Freddy.
"So you have some," said the clerk, nodding.
"No!" the pair snapped in unison.
"What the problem is?" asked a new, and quite sonorous, voice. A vaguely reptilian alien with dun orange skin approached. It wore the same sort of silvery outfit as the clerk, though cut quite differently. "I am Sooltong, manager. You have problem?"
"We got zapped with a Boy/Girl Gun, and need to get back to normal," said Freddy.
"Only they don't have enough money."
"You are normally boy and girl, but other way?"
"Yes!" said Karen.
"Hmmm..." said Sooltong, scratching his throat in a thoughtful - and greedy - manner. "Maybe we can work deal. We need models/demonstrators for products. You agree to let people watch when I change you, I change you back."
Freddy and Karen agreed, not mentioning that they were both underage.
"They're underage," said the clerk.
"So?" said Sooltong, with an odd movement which sent a serpentine ripple from his head to the tip of his scaly tail. "Underage can still work if parents allow."
He turned back to the pair.
"You parents allow?"
"Mine have been telling me to earn my own way," said Freddy, quickly.
Karen simply nodded.
"Good. You have time for this now?"
"Uh, we were just finishing a picnic when this happened," said Karen. "I guess we've got all afternoon."
"Good. Here is proposal. You work here for three hours each. At minimum wage, and employee discount, you then get item. During each hour I promote product demonstration. At end of hour I change you. Okay?"
"Sounds good to me," said Freddy, shrugging. "Long as we wind up what we're supposed to be."
Karen nodded.
"Good! Now, we get you in proper dress."
"I'm not wearing a dress," said Freddy, firmly, folding her arms. Then wincing and recrossing them under her breasts.
"That's not what he meant," snickered Karen.
Sooltong lead them into the back of the store. He went to a storage bin and pulled out two silver eggs, handing one to each of the pair. Who examined them, baffled.
"Turn to open. Put on skin. Makes clothes, like clerk and self wear."
Freddy shrugged and complied, dumping the silvery slime from the clear container onto her hand. She then watched, fascinated, as it crawled up her arm, leaving a strangely warm, silvery coating. The sensations as it covered her breasts made her shiver, but that was nothing compared to the sensations produced when it moved between her legs. From the odd sounds Karen was making he was having a similar experience. Finally, it was over.
"Please to remove civilian clothing, now," said Sooltong.
"Eep!" exclaimed Karen, as they complied. "It shows everything!"
Indeed, the silvery outfits were extremely conforming.
"Remove tab from inside container, place where wanted on uniform and set modesty level to desired," Sooltong instructed. "Self-sticky it is. Will stay."
Accomplishing that required some additional instruction, but the youngsters soon had the hang of it. Karen put his tag under his left arm; Freddy stuck hers between her breasts. Until Karen glared, and she sighed and put it in her left armpit.
"Wow! I'm a knockout," said Freddy, posing in front of a mirror. She glanced at Karen and grinned. "You're pretty handsome, too. Uh, from a strictly academic point of view, mind you. It's interesting that I have arm and leg hair and you don't."
Karen had set his outfit for a full jumpsuit look. Freddy, on the other hand, was wearing a silvery one-piece swimsuit, which looked like it was painted on.
"I always knew you were an exhibitionist," said Karen, not sure whether to be amused or disgusted. "Freddy, besides leg hairs, I can count your pubic hairs."
"Pervert," she snickered.
"No, seriously," said Karen, "I think you better tone it down a bit."
Freddy groused, and fumbled at the tab. The costume turned from silver to hot pink.
"Oops. Didn't even know it could do that."
Two more tries, and she had something Karen stated was acceptable. Barely.
"Too bad these things don't have a high heel setting," Freddy joked. "That'd really show off my legs."
"Yeah, well, remember, you'll be wearing the same thing after you change back to a guy."
"Which is why I picked this instead of the bikini setting."
Forty-eight minutes later their new boss called them out, to face a small crowd gathered in the store. Sooltong made a short presentation, then pointed a Boy/Girl Gun at Karen and pulled the trigger. The change occurred instantly, Karen's outfit adjusting neatly to her newly feminine form. Freddy was masculinized shortly after.
"So you see, safe, fun and completely reversible," said Sooltong. "Feel free to ask questions of subjects."
"You still have breasts," one sunken-chested man objected in a nasal tone, pointing to Freddy.
"No, those are my pecks," Freddy replied, posing and grinning as he tapped a rock-hard muscle.
A rather butch-looking woman came up to Freddie, moving in close and speaking softly.
"How does it feel, being a man?" she asked.
"Well, I'm normally a guy," said Freddy, a bit confused but game to promote the item. "Karen and I are doing a series of demonstrations, changing once an hour."
The woman looked startled, and quickly moved over to Karen. They spoke quietly for a few moments. The strange woman, smiling, walked away, straight to the section with the Boy/Girl Guns. She grabbed one and headed for the sales counter.
Eventually the crowd of gawkers thinned a bit, and Karen stepped over to Freddy.
"I'm gonna go to the restroom while I'm a girl," she told him, quietly. "Hold the fort for a moment."
She went in the back, returning shortly after.
"You better go, now," she told Freddy. "We'll be switching again soon."
"Oh, I can wait," was Freddy's casual reply.
"You're not gonna wait 'till you're a girl, again," Karen firmly countered. "If you waste time back there playing with yourself we'll get in trouble."
"Okay, okay," muttered Freddy, sourly. "I think you just don't want me finding out what girls really have down there. Well, for your information, I already know. My whole family likes saunas, and we even go skinny-dipping together on occasion."
"So it's hereditary," said Karen, nodding.
"What is?"
"You being a perv. Now go, and go!"
Freddy sighed, and went.
The next presentation went much the same. After being girlified, Freddy made a show of stretching, at one point raising her arms over her head and arching her back.
"Did you see that guy in the suit?" she smirked, later, to Karen. "He 'bout creamed his jeans!"
"I really do not need to hear you talking like that," snapped Karen, snarling. "I REALLY don't need to see you acting like that!"
"Ah, c'mon," said Freddy, contrite. "I'm just having fun."
"That's not fun. That's... sick. You flirting with guys."
"I'm sorry," said Freddy, relenting and hugging him. "I'll behave. Promise."
"You call this behaving?"
Freddy released him, looked confused.
"What? You like getting hugs from me. I've seen you and other girls hug, too. What's wrong?"
"You're making me... uncomfortable."
"Okay," she sighed. "No physical contact until I'm male and you're female. No flirting with guys when I'm a girl."
"You also better not flirt with girls besides me, whether you're a girl, a boy or a small, blue, furry thing from Arcturus!" snapped Karen.
"That's what I like about you," laughed Freddy. "You always think of every possibility."
Eventually they were finished. Back in their original genders and civvies, the silver goo back in the eggs, they approached Sooltong. He smiled (at least, Freddy hoped that was a smile) and held out the Boy/Girl Gun. Freddy reached for it, but Karen grabbed it first.
"You're out of your mind if you think I'm gonna let you have this!" she snapped.
"Ah, c'mon!" said Freddy, pouting. He suddenly had an idea. "You know how you complained when we went to the hockey game about the line at the girls' room? Well..."
"Which I can do to myself with this; you don't need to have it."
"Okay, okay." Freddy frowned, suddenly curious. "Just what are you gonna do with it?"
"Well, you know that guy in my biology class who keeps trying to feel me up?" she asked, smiling craftily. "Next time, I'll tell him he can have all the tit he wants to grab."
"Oh, yeah!" laughed Freddy. "That'll be cool!"
End Part Three
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 4
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Why does this keep happening to me?" sighed Freddy, picking at her lunch.
"It wasn't just you, you know," Ramet pointed out, reasonably. He glanced briefly at the unconscious Bl'fff, plastic bouquet laying nearby and carbolloy tray still wrapped around his arachnoid head. Wisely, the alien shapeshifter decided not to try and console Freddy by telling her she looked quite attractive. "It never has been, actually. Karen changed with you two times, and even Miss Furrpect wound up male when she switched with you. Right after you got changed this morning, 3 students getting off the bus were also zapped."
"Yeah, but they weren't riding a bike," groused Freddy. "I almost wiped out. I just wish Doctor Sumt'ang hadn't dismantled the school's Boy/Girl Gun to try and figure out how to improve it. So, I really hope Karen brought her Boy/Girl Gun today. Since this is a Tuesday we don't share any morning classes, and I haven't even seen her yet."
"What's the hurry?" asked Hub, the rhino/whale guy. "You're healthy, and functional..."
"I have football practice after school," sighed Freddy. "Not to mention afternoon gym class."
"Oooh..." said Bl'fff, stirring, "naked girls in the locker room..."
"Like they'd let him in," snickered Karen, walking up to the table and giving Freddy a sisterly hug. "Wow, Freddy; you're looking good today. Did you change your hair?"
"Very funny," muttered the part-time girl. "Did you bring it?"
"Bring what?" Karen replied, innocently.
"The Boy/Girl Gun," sighed Freddy, realizing it was going to be one of those exchanges.
"Right here," said Karen, smiling as she drew the gadget out of her hyperspatial handbag. "Are you sure you want to change back, though? You'd get a lot more dates this way."
"Yes," said Freddy, looking her in the eye, "but not with you."
"Aw, how sweet," said Karen, smiling. "But, you know, I'm not the selfish type. I'm willing to share you with the boys."
"There's hope!" cried Bl'fff, rising shakily to his eight legs, snatching the bouquet.
Freddy grabbed the carbolloy tray, lifting it from the arachnoid's head to high over her own, then bringing it down with great violence again on Bl'fff's cranium. She even turned it over, so that the previous dent was mostly straightened.
"Do you have to hit him in the same place every time?" asked Hub. "He's getting a soggy spot."
"Now," gasped Freddy, turning back to Karen. "Would you please zap me?"
"Gee, I dunno," she snickered, looking at the arachnoid's twitching limbs. "Seems to me you're a much greater service to huwomanity this way. You're certainly teaching them manners."
Freddy sighed as she realized this called for desperate measures. Lunch was nearly over, and music class was next. She really didn't want to be singing in the soprano section. She sighed again, and looked up pitiably at Karen.
"Please?" asked Freddy, eyes going wide and developing multiple highlights, her lower lip protruding just a bit and trembling slightly.
"AWWWW..." said all within eyeshot, in reflexive response.
"Wow," gasped Karen, "you're really good at that.
"Yeah, well, I learned to do that as a kid. Got me out a lot of trouble, and made my parents do just about whatever I wanted them to. Only I really hate to do it, now that I'm older. Makes me look like a little kid."
"Not when you're a girl, it doesn't," said Ramet, feelingly.
"Okay, you win," sighed Karen, flipping the safety off. "Why the high anxiety about changing back, though?"
"Football practice, among other things," said Freddy, shrugging.
"They already have a couple of girls on the team," said Karen, puzzled.
"Well, yeah, but their uniforms fit," muttered Freddy. "Also, knowing what happens when I tackle them, I don't want the other guys doing that to me."
"And just what happens?" said Karen, voice icy.
Freddy groaned inwardly, knowing she'd done it again.
"Ah, well, you know," she stammered, lying frantically. "Being gentlemen we're always reluctant to tackle a female, and when we do we apologize afterwards. Really slows the play of the game."
"Uh-huh," said Karen, flipping the safety back on and shoving the gun in her purse.
"Karen!" said Freddy, frantically.
"Tell you what," said Karen, sternly. "They're having cheerleader practice after school. You do good at that I'll think about it."
"But... but... but..." sputtered Freddy.
"You do have a very nice one," Karen assured her. "Since there are still two openings for cheerleading, I'm sure they'll be happy to have someone as pretty and athletic as you join them. The time will count, right, since it's still football related? Oh, and you better see the school nurse about a sport bra, or you'll have problems with all that jumping up and down and everything. Since these sniping attacks have been going on she carries bras... and tampons. See you later."
"Argh..." groaned Freddy, sinking down onto her chair, head in hands.
The bell rang.
"You better hurry, if you want to get that bra before class begins," Hub said mildly.
* * *
Freddy jumped up and down, shaking her pom-poms, forced smile frozen on her face. She went through the routine perfectly, ending with a leap and a drop into full splits.
"Much better," said Suzy, nodding, "but keep smiling! You made a face there, right at the end."
Well of course I did, thought Freddy. I just shoved my crotch against a hardwood floor.
Something guaranteed to make any human male wince, even if (hopefully) temporarily female.
"Do you want me to try again?" asked Freddy, forcing herself to smile sweetly.
"No, we're just about out of time," Suzy announced. She giggled as the bell sounded. "See?"
"Okay," said Freddy, with relief.
She held back as the other girls herded into their locker room. That was the arrangement Miz Klupper had worked out, after Freddy's first appearance in there had caused a near-riot. Freddy hung miserably by the door, waiting for the female gym teacher to give the all-clear.
It wasn't like Miz Klupper wasn't trying to help. She'd listened patiently while Freddy and Karen explained the problem, the usually-boy being very careful not to make it seem like the latter's fault, even though it was. Miz Klupper had nodded, and told Freddy to wait in the hall until called in. Having one of the cheerleaders teach Freddy the basics after the group warm-up had been Karen's suggestion, Freddy learned after being properly outfitted for the task. Miz Klupper had found a cheerleading outfit which fit Freddy, which she had to wear in gym class, too, since her usual gym clothes didn't fit too well just now. The female coach had even explained Freddy's absence to Coach, though the look he gave Freddy didn't bode well for tomorrow's gym class. Then, while the other girls were doing fun things like playing volleyball and such, Freddy and assistant cheerleading captain Suzy (who didn't seem to understand that Freddy was really a boy and thought she was a new transfer student) went through the drills.
Of course, the arrangement wasn't all bad. Freddy really did not want to engage in sports with other boys just now. Especially since many of them would deliberately tease Freddy about her current gender situation. Some might even try to get fresh, just to annoy her.
As she stood there, waiting her turn, some of the boys looked like they wanted to approach Freddy, either to tease or because they hadn't gotten the word yet and wanted to flirt. However, Freddy had made sure to stand right beside the door to the girls' locker room. Any boy approaching close enough to speak in conversational tones would get fried.
Finally, Miz Klupper opened the door and told Freddy to come in. She obeyed, blushing furiously. The non-cheerleaders had all showered and changed into their civvies and were on the way home. The cheerleaders were in their cheerleading outfits, and almost ready to go out on the field. Freddy didn't need to change, of course, but she did need to attend to other business. Miz Klupper didn't actually come into the stall with Freddy, but she did stay right outside. Ready to offer advice... and to make sure Freddy didn't do anything improper. Freddy resented the implications (it wasn't that hard to pee as a girl, and she wasn't stupid enough to play with herself under these conditions) but decided having an adult present to certify that nothing naughty happened was a good thing.
Shortly thereafter Freddy found herself out beside the football field, with Suzy and Buffy and Bamby and Debbie and several other giggling airheads. Since Freddy was also quite blond she fit right in. Which did nothing for her equanimity.
The practice actually went well. Freddy loved being active, and learning new physical activities. She hadn't previously thought of cheerleading as being particularly challenging, but the routines required stamina, flexibility, agility and even some strength, while performing them with the others was very much a team effort. Towards the end, Freddy was actually starting to enjoy herself. Though that drop into splits was still unnerving.
Then, it happened. By chance or deliberate act, one of the players went out of bounds, heading straight for the cheerleaders. The others, through experience, knew what would happen, and scattered. Freddy turned to look. The guy ran straight into her, and both fell down. As the dazed Freddy regained her senses, she realized two things. The football player was laying on her lower body. He had his head up her short skirt, and his face planted flat against her crotch.
Freddy screamed like a girl (well, yeah...) and began kicking the boy about the head and shoulders. Football players dragged him one way, and cheerleaders dragged Freddy the other.
"Okay, I think that's enough," said Miz Klupper, sympathetically. "Hit the showers."
The still shaken Freddy had enough sense to hang back as the others streamed towards the locker room. However, Suzy grabbed her arm.
"Come on! You need a good, hot shower and some feminine commiseration!"
"Uh, but..."
"Oh, come on," said another of the girls, taking Freddy's other hand. "You behaved during practice, then had... that happen. After that, you're one of us, now!"
Freddy looked appealing at Miz Klupper, but the girls' coach was busy speaking with Coach, and when the chorus of cheerleaders called out to ask if it was all right she just waved them on. Freddy looked for Karen, but she was already down from the bleachers and heading back inside, oblivious to what was happening. Freddy managed a helpless squeal as she was dragged into the gym.
* * *
"Are you all right?" Karen asked, suspicion and concern mixing as she saw the dazed smile on Freddy's face.
"Ohhhh, yeah," she replied.
"Well, I guess it's time," she sighed, taking the Boy/Girl Gun out of her purse. "You don't still have the bra on, do you?"
"Huh?" Freddy snapped back to reality. "No, of course not, it's in my gym bag. The nurse said I can keep it, just in case, since there's been so much gender sniping going on."
Actually, she was absent-mindedly pulling the Velcro straps tight when one of the cheerleaders reminded her. However, Freddy wasn't about to tell Karen that.
The change back was actually a bit of a shock, but a much larger relief.
"Whew," Freddy gasped. He smiled in appreciation at her. "Thanks."
"You're not mad at me?"
"Not really," said Freddy, carefully, as they walked towards their bikes. "I got to learn some new athletic skills, and some exercises I might even try as a boy."
"Well, I hope you don't get switched again," she muttered, holstering the Gun. "I think you're beginning to like it."
"Really?" replied Freddy, thinking fast. He put a bit of girlishness in his movements and his voice. "Well, you know, I think it would be wonderful if everybody had a chance to experience life from the other side. Why, it's opened whole new areas of experience for me."
Karen stared at him, not sure if he was kidding. Which was just fine with Freddy.
* * *
"More gender sniping?" said Freddy, alarmed, a couple of days later.
"Yeah," said Ramet, "but this time they were going for adults. A few teachers, but mostly parents dropping their kids off."
"There's got to be some way to stop this," muttered Freddy. "This is happening so often I wonder if I'd even notice changing any more."
"I would," Bl'fff volunteered, helpfully.
"There might be a way..." muttered Hub. "Don't know about stopping the sniper or snipers, but I might be able to kludge together some form of protection."
"Now that," said Freddy, feelingly, "would be a genuine contribution to science."
"The problem is that no-one knows how the boy/girl guns work," said Hub, scowling like an irritated statue. "Literally. We can make monkey copies but the original designer is unknown and the operating principles are only vaguely understood."
"You mono-forms are so somacentric," scoffed Ramet. "Freddy, you aren't even old enough to have a solid gender identity, yet."
"Hey, I've been shaving since I was nine!" he protested. "I'm an early bloomer."
"Nine?!" said Ramet.
"Yeah, and I've been noticing - if you know what I mean by 'noticing' - girls since I was eight. Though the girl was fifteen..."
"Ooookay," said Ramet, impressed. "That contradicts what we were taught about mono-forms and gender. Of course, that just means your gender identity is so solid that being switched shouldn't be a threat to your mental image of yourself."
"It isn't," Freddy said, firmly. "It's not being a girl that upsets me. It's being a girl and not being allowed to... y'know..."
Ramet snickered.
"So that's it. You haven't been with a real girl yet, and you're curious."
"Are you saying Karen isn't a real girl," countered Freddy, voice dangerous.
"Uh, no, not at all," was Ramet's hasty retraction. "I just meant... she's too much of a lady to have let you... uh, y'know."
"Oh," said Freddy, relenting. "Well, you're right about that. Anyone who says otherwise will answer to me! Got it?"
"Got it," all those present enthusiastically chorused.
End Part Four
Next time: Everybody but Freddy changes! :-)
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 5
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Ready?" asked Hub.
"As I'll ever be," sighed Freddy, unable to keep from tensing as Karen aimed the Boy/Girl Gun at him.
"Don't be such a pessimist," said Karen, smirking.
"He has good cause to be," said Hub. "No-one alive knows how these things actually work. We can measure something happening when these are activated, though, and if you can measure it you can affect it."
"Hopefully, that means you can also capture it," said Freddy. He braced himself. "Okay. Go."
There was a faint click as she pulled the trigger, and the pendant around his neck made a slight chirping sound. Freddy looked down, and saw that the indicator light on top had changed from green to red. More importantly, the bulges under the fabric of his shirt were pecks, and not breasts.
"Yesss!" hissed Freddy, pumping his fist up and down.
"Now test the discharge," said Hub. "Keep in mind that the charge won't be released unless there's something in the field which can have its gender switched."
Freddy lifted the amulet and mischievously pointed it at Hub. He shied back, ducking behind Bl'fff. Freddy shifted his aim to Ramet, only to find the smirking alien already female. Aiming at Karen produced a "Don't you dare!" look that made Freddy cringe. Aiming at Hrpblple was also a wasted effort.
"Okay," he sighed, pointing the thing at himself and pushing the button.
"Success!" cried Hub, running up to the now-female Freddy.
He grabbed her in a rib-crunching hug and spun around, in a celebration dance which registered on the closest three seismographs.
"Heeee..." said Freddy. "Put - Gasp! - me down, you heavy-gravity gorilla!"
"Oh, sorry," said the rhino-whale type guy, obeying. "Anyway, it works. Hand it over so I can run some checks. Then you can get turned back."
Freddy slipped the amulet off and handed it to Hub, then looked pleadingly at Karen. Fortunately, she obliged, and Freddy was soon a grinning boy again.
"Well, our troubles aren't over by any means," said Hub, from where he worked, "but if we can mass produce and distribute these, gender sniping will fade to nothing more than a bad memory."
"So what do we call 'em?" asked Bl'fff.
"Sex Savers!" cried a joyous Freddy.
"We can't have 'sex' in the name!" exclaimed Karen.
"We can in the advertising, though," muttered Hub, pulling the gadget out of his scanner and handing it back to Freddy. "Here. You keep the prototype. My little assembler, here, can produce about one every 68 minutes, if we keep it fed with raw materials. I'll talk to the principal about getting facilities to make more."
"Gender Guard?" suggested Hrpblple.
"Might work," said Hub, nodding.
Freddy put the amulet back around his neck.
"No more boobs," he sighed.
"That's even worse!" snapped Karen, reaching into her hyperspatial handbag. "Not only does it sound disgusting, it ignores the people who might want them!"
"I meant for me!" yelped Freddy, frantically.
"Well, unless they get smart and shoot more than once," said Hub, grinning as Karen relented. "These can only hold one charge. Even if they do shoot twice, though, you can use that captured charge to change back!"
"How many charges does this hold?" asked Karen, holding up the Boy/Girl Gun.
"Oh, it doesn't use charges," said Hub. "It's self-powered. That's one reason they're expensive."
"Can you make these to hold more than one charge?" said Freddy, as he slipped his Gender Guard (™) on.
"Later," muttered Hub, absently.
* * *
Freddy was in a good mood for hours after the lunch-period trial. As he followed the stream of boys going towards the locker room door he was even humming. No, sir, nothing could ruin his good cheer. Though the odd cries from beyond the door did penetrate a bit.
Because of some mishaps with the security system, barriers had been placed on either side of the locker room doors, and students instructed to enter one at a time. Freddy obediently awaited his turn, stepping through and letting the door close behind him. He froze as he heard a faint chirping sound, and noticed that everyone else in the room was female.
For one panicked moment, Freddy thought he'd accidentally entered the girl's locker. Wait, though; the security system would have fried him, and besides, his Gender Guard had beeped. So someone in here was gender sniping. Which meant Freddy had to find the culprit before he was fired on again.
However, someone else came in right behind Freddy. He reflexively ducked out of the way, turning to call out a warning about the situation. Unfortunately, the following boy - Jim, one of Freddy's semi-regular table mates - had roughly the same experience as Freddy, only he wasn't wearing a Gender Guard. Well, at least Jim made a cuter girl than most of those in here...
"Ahhh!" said Jim.
"Oh, calm down," said Freddy. "All we have to do is find out who's sniping us."
"We tried that!" exclaimed one of the girls who had been there when Freddy walked in.
The door opened again to admit another boy, this one rather unpopular. Those already in the room watched the progression of events silently.
"Ahh!"
"Y'know, I think this is a - if you'll pardon the expression - booby trap," said another girl.
"Okay, somebody guard the door!" Freddy instructed. "Hold it closed! The rest of us search for a switch, or an electric eye, and the Gun."
The search proved fruitless. As the girls and Freddy milled about, uncertain what to do next, the girl guarding the door became distracted, and failed in her duty. It swung open again, but this time the boy walking in just stood there, looking at the odd scene, mouth slowly dropping open.
"Hey," said Freddy, noticing something. "There's at least two people standing in the spot where the changes happen, but neither of them changed!"
The boy at the door slowly backed away, letting the door close. And one of the girls in the spot was suddenly male again.
"Yay!"
"Nobody move!" yelled Freddy.
He stood between the boy who had just been zapped and the disappointed girls who hadn't. Frowning, he looked all around, even standing on tip toe to get a look on top of nearby lockers. Which brought another thought. Freddy looked up.
The beam from a Boy/Girl Gun was weird in more ways than one. For instance, it would not penetrate most materials. Peering at the ceiling acoustic tiles, Freddy saw a small, neat hole above the door, and had a thought. He hurriedly fetched a chair, and put it down in front of the door. Standing on it, he lifted the tile and looked through. There, in the dimness, he spotted a Boy/Girl Gun, connected to some sort or mechanical gadget which was also connected to the door closer. The device obviously cocked when the door was opened, then pulled the trigger when it closed.
Carefully, mindful that his Gender Guard was full, he disconnected the Gun and brought it down.
"Okay," said a grinning Freddy, "line up."
Minutes later everyone was back to their original gender. Freddy cradled the Boy/Girl Gun like a prized possession.
"Mine, all mine," he chortled. "This one I'm keeping!"
* * *
"You can't keep it," said Principal Tolliver, after examining the Boy/Girl Gun. "It's stolen property."
"Awwww," sighed Freddy.
"A few days ago the police gave us a list of items stolen from an alien goods shipment," Principal Tolliver explained, indicating a thick sheaf of papers. "We were supposed to keep an eye out in case the thieves tried to use them on or sell them to students."
"How many were taken?"
"A baker's dozen," Principal Tolliver explained. "Only three have been recovered, including yours and the one from the girls' locker room. The other one was also found in this area, by the way. There were a lot of potentially much more dangerous items taken, too."
"Ewww..." said Freddy.
He'd actually seen some of the girls turned into boys running into the gymnasium when he'd gone out to tell Coach about the problem. Unfortunately, flight was the wrong reaction because the door security didn't distinguish between normal gender and current gender, and entering or leaving. Which resulted in several smoldering piles of temporary boy and even more panic. A few of those in the boys' room had made the same mistake. Freddy had been about to use the charge in his pendant and go into the locker room to get the Gun which he realized must be in there, when the panic suddenly quieted. Karen, it seemed, had done much as Freddy before her, and now was changing the stricken non-girls back.
Oh, there'd been some confusion, with the occasional person being "corrected" who didn't need it. (Some of those events weren't accidents, either.) Altogether, though, the situation had been resolved pretty quickly and competently. Freddy had even remembered to use the charge in his pendant, in case of more sniping later. Coach and Miz Klupper had, unfortunately, decided to cancel class. Students were asked to remain in the gym - and stay out of the locker rooms - while the matter was investigated. A few of the students - like Freddy - had been invited to the principal's office to make a more detailed statement. The police were on their way, and wanted to speak to a few of the students, as well.
"I just know my aunt is gonna find some way to claim I'm now in trouble with the police, when I tell her why I stayed late."
"We'll give you a note, explaining everything," Principal Tolliver assured Freddy.
"Doesn't matter," said Freddy, shaking his head. "Neither she nor my uncle like me. I think they're a bit afraid of me."
Considering how much Freddy could bench press, Principal Tolliver could understand that.
"Well, they are your legal guardians while you're living away from your parents," said Principal Tolliver. "I could recommend we all have a counseling session."
"Thanks, but it's not that bad," Freddy assured him. "I mean, they don't abuse me or anything. They just don't get along with me."
"If you're sure..."
"Yeah," sighed Freddy. "Making them come here for a counseling session would just annoy them."
* * *
Karen was waiting for him, which was nice.
"You're going to be late for your job," he reminded her.
"I would've been, anyway," she sighed. "I called and explained, and he told me to just take the evening off."
"Y'know, for a giant, orange lizard, Sooltong is all right."
"He says his offer to you still stands," Karen told him, as she mounted her bike. "He says we make a good pair, and he could use another product demonstrator. Oh, and when I told him about how you were protected by Hub's invention, he was very interested in it. I just wish I'd picked mine up before gym class, instead of after."
"Hey, it's all right," grinned Freddy. "You make a handsome guy."
"Ooh! I just had a thought!" announced Karen, as they peddled away. "For the costume dance week after next, we could go as each other! I can get a set of those Exchange Program ear muffs..."
"No," said Freddy, flatly. "No way. You're the one who said I shouldn't be a girl any more!"
"C'mon, it'll be fun!"
"Uh-uh!"
And thus, into the night...
End Part Five
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Another two months and I'll have enough for a car!" Karen enthused, as she pulled her bike up even with his.
"Now what do you want with a car when you have a bike?" asked Freddy, grinning.
"Two words: Bad weather!"
"You don't even have a license, yet," Freddy pointed out.
"I'm taking Driver's Ed," said Karen. "I'll have it in a couple more months."
"Either that's an interesting coincidence, or you've been planning this for a while."
"Think what you want," said Karen, smirking a bit. "So, when are you gonna start working there?"
"I'm thinkin' 'bout it," drawled Freddy.
* * *
The day went uneventfully, for a change. For the most part Freddy breezed through his classes, mostly paying attention, but he was always thinking of gym class in the back of his mind. Eventually, it actually arrived.
As usual, the class started with the boys sitting in the bleachers on one side of the gym being addressed by Coach, and the girls on the other being addressed by Miz Klupper, and the others being addressed in smaller groups off in the corners. Freddy noted that Coach looked uncomfortable, and wondered if this was going to be another "hygiene" class.
"We're having a new, one-time special program for gym, Friday," said Coach, obviously unhappy at the prospect, "inspired by what happened yesterday. All the boys will be girls and taught by Miz Klupper. All the girls will be boys and taught by me."
"Huh?" said Freddy, whose reaction was quite mild compared to those of most of the other boys.
"Sorry, it's mandatory," said Coach, after waving down the noise. "If you're at school, you get changed for the class."
"Argh!" was the consensus.
"Appropriate wear will be provided by the school."
"How come you and Miz Klupper aren't changing?" came the shout from someone obviously hoping to remain anonymous.
"Because I'm not certified to teach girls and she isn't certified to teach boys," said Coach, reasonably. "Besides, this is for you students, not us. Remember, your parents or legal guardians, as a prerequisite for you being admitted to this experimental school, signed waivers which allow - uhm - educational experiences not found in other schools. Oh, and the neuters and herms are, of course, exempt from this."
All during class the students were talking about Friday's planned exchange program. Some kids - mostly girls - were looking forward to it. Even after the bell rang, it was still the major topic of discussion.
"Great," muttered Jim, as they headed for the locker rooms. "We finally get a way to stop someone from changing us, and now we have to change!"
"Only a few people have the pendants so far," Freddy pointed out.
"It's all a plot, I tell you!" said Jim, in mock paranoia. "They're trying to weaken the moral fiber of America by teaching non-traditional gender roles!"
That brought some snickers. As well as some glares from a few who thought for a moment he was voicing their own, fully legitimate concerns.
"My dad's gonna go apeshit!" one boy exclaimed.
"Just tell him you've been a girl and it's not so bad," said Freddy, grinning.
"I didn't get changed! The door was blocked before I got inside!"
"Then just tell him it's required emergency training," said another boy. "I mean, if we do get sniped again, we'll know how to handle it after this."
"You just want to be a girl, you pervert!"
The consensus shifted back and forth for a while, and finally settled on the majority stating that anyone who couldn't stand being a girl for one hour of gym was a sissy. Freddy thought that was probably more a matter of sour grapes than people being reasonable, but kept quiet.
* * *
"I'm so glad you decided to start working here," said Karen, hugging Freddy as he walked with her into the back of the store. "Even just one night a week. It gets creepy here, sometimes, with all these strangers staring at me."
"Not a problem," said Freddy. "Not only am I keeping you happy, I get access to all these weird alien gadgets!"
"Yeah, well, please don't buy a Boy/Girl Gun with your pay," said Karen, making it clear this was not a request. "With all that's happened lately, and that special gym class coming up Friday, I figure we'll have enough gender swapping by the time that's over to last a good long while."
"Oh. Okay. I still want one, but guess I can put it off." Freddy grinned. "Besides, if I need to, I can always get you to charge my Gender Guard."
"Oh, that reminds me: Sooltong says the contract negotiations are finished, and the Gender Guard factory units should start arriving by next Monday."
"Wow," said Freddy. "That's great. Hub is gonna be rich, though."
"Yeah," grinned Karen. "I hope it doesn't go to his head."
"So, what are we demonstrating today?"
"Pretty tame. Just some alien clothes."
* * *
"'Pretty tame,' she said," muttered Freddy, during lunch the next day, discreetly reaching under the table to rub the bandage on his crotch through his clothes. "Thing nearly ate my thing..."
Ramet snickered unsympathetically.
"How are you peeing?" Hub, ever the engineer, asked.
"With great difficulty," growled Freddy. "They put in a tube until the stitches come out."
"Doesn't seem to have affected your appetite," Ramet judged.
"Yeah, but everything tastes like medicine," muttered Freddy. "Bleah."
"It does taste a little Whoop!"
Ramet disappeared with a pop, reappeared instantly just under the ceiling and dropped to the floor. He bounced, almost to the ceiling again. From what Freddy could see, he'd was also losing control of his shape. Noises from around the cafeteria revealed that other aliens were having similar problems. Freddy stood to look around, confused.
"It's Tsoob!" exclaimed Hub, with alarm.
"Huh?" said Freddy, ducking as Bl'fff flew overhead, spinning, with fire shooting out of his mouth, accompanied by a tiny, tinny ringing.
"It boosts powers! Boy, am I glad I hadn't eaten anything, yet!"
"I didn't think you had any powers," yelped Freddy, as an alien at a nearby table was suddenly encased in a large lump of ice.
"I don't. This is minor, compared to what happens when someone without powers takes the stuff."
There was a two-beat pause as they stared at each other. Then Hub began rapidly backing away.
Carefully - very carefully - Freddy sat down, unconsciously pushing his plate back.
"Hey, don't worry," said Hub, quickly. "The effects are temporary, and after the initial reaction they're controllable."
"Yeah," said Freddy, faintly, "don't worry."
He jumped as Karen screamed. He looked around quickly at her as the sound died in a burble. Freddy jumped frantically for her, seeing her form go limp and fall backwards. He caught her by the waist, the head and the rump... and, confused by the crowd, looked up to see there were now three of him. Then he (They?) looked back down as Karen flowed out of his (Their?) hands. And her clothes.
She was now a tan puddle on the floor! The Freddies watched helplessly, clutching at the empty clothes. With a surge of relief, they saw the puddle shift, and form itself back into Karen. A naked Karen.
She looked up, saw three hemorrhaging-from-the-nose Freddies, and fainted, melting back into a puddle.
"C'mon, Karen," the Freddies plead in chorus. "Wake up! I don't think you can breath like that!"
The Freddies watched for a reaction, but before that could happen experienced a flash of dizziness and were suddenly one, again. Freddy felt a moment of relief, then returned to worrying about Karen. He put his hands tentatively on the tan puddle; it felt like warm, soft Silly Putty.
"Eewww," said Freddy, unable to help himself.
Still, he tried to push her slowly flowing substance together, to keep her from running all over the floor, or getting stepped on. He was caught by surprise when the puddle suddenly gathered itself and returned to Karen's shape, with Freddy's hands on her bare thigh and hip.
"Wow," was all he could think of, staring at his naked girlfriend.
"You pervert!" she screamed, grabbing for her clothes.
"It's not my fault," said Freddy in chorus, suddenly triplets again.
The three Freddies were so startled they looked at each other, instead of the frantically dressing Karen.
"What's happening?" she demanded, looking in confusion back and forth between the three copies of her boyfriend.
The Freddies sighed, and gave her the digest version.
"I bet this is some of the alien stuff that was stolen!" Karen declared.
Any further speculation was derailed, as a barely humanoid, dark brown blob shambled up, burbling at them. Karen screamed and threw herself at the middle Freddie, going liquid again.
Great, thought the Freddies, I'm gonna one-third drown inside my girlfriend...
Fortunately, Karen seemed to have some control, now. Her semi-fluid mass began crawling under the table. Since middle Freddy wasn't liquid, he bumped to a painful stop, while Karen continued. Freddie, now able to breathe with all his bodies, suddenly re-united. He looked up at the brown blob, thinking vaguely that at least he only had one-third the headache middle Freddy had had.
Something about the blob looked familiar. Sure enough, as Freddy stared it resolved itself into Ramet.
"I hate when that happens!" the angry youth yelled. "I'm gonna p'taghl whoever did this to me!"
"Us, Ramet, us. In case you hadn't noticed there's a lot of other people affected. Also if you're gonna be naked, could you at least turn into a girl?"
Ramet looked down, glared, and shifted to a non-anatomically-correct form of himself.
"Okay, that'll do," Freddy nodded. "Y'know, the Ken look suits you."
"This isn't a joking matter! As you so recently pointed out, nearly everyone in here is affected! Just look!"
Most of those in the cafeteria had already eaten at least some food, and all of it must have been dosed. There a pretty cheerleader was Monstering Out. (Though, oddly, the sight of her naked, 50-foot, obviously female body - or at least the part of it not rammed through the ceiling - did nothing to stimulate nasal bleeding in the males watching. Perhaps because of the leathery green skin.) There a boy ricocheted wildly around the room, emitting screams which were occasionally punctuated by meaty thuds and oofs as he collided with someone. To the left one of the teachers was floating upside-down, frantically trying to hold her skirt in place with one hand and her breasts with the other. To the right a guy was cowering in a corner, while a small, floating demon asked what he wanted this time.
People were breathing fire, shooting electric bolts from their fingertips and spraying webbing from places Freddy didn't want to think about. And the noise! The air was full of screams, yells, bangs, clangs, crashes, chirps, bops, urps, flops, pinging, ringing and singing. Freddy even thought he heard the trumpeting of an elephant.
Any further inspection was curtailed, however, as something slammed into Freddy from behind, sending him spinning into the table. He dropped to the floor, dazed. Karen, once again human, and still naked, crawled over to him and lifted his head.
* * *
"Oh, Freddy! Are you all right."
"Oooooh, yeah," said Freddy, a small trickle of blood coming from his nose as he stared at Karen's bare chest.
"You pervert!" sobbed Karen, too upset to clobber him.
"You seem to have temporarily gained the power to shapeshift," said Ramet. "Try changing into something less revealing."
Karen frowned... then smiled. She looked down at Freddy... and shifted into his shape.
"All right," chortled Karen. "This is payback for all the times you've looked at me naked! I'm gonna show everything you've got to the whole school!"
He stood, letting the weakly protesting Freddy's head clunk to the floor. Karen barely had time to stand and grin, when half a dozen girls screamed "You pervert!" and clobbered him with a table, three chairs, four trays and the Thursday Special.
Ramet lost his Cool, and fell to the floor in a fit of giggles, going rather soft around the edges in the process as he lost his concentration.
"Karen?" said Freddy, crawling over to the pile of debris.
He started to lift it, then noticed the familiar tan goo oozing out from under it. Freddy gently began pulling it from under the pile, alarmed at the way it stretched. Karen was completely limp, apparently unconscious. Freddy dragged/pushed her back under the table, and this time piled her clothes on top of her.
The chaos was dying down a little as people slowly gained control of their powers, new or improved. Freddy noticed Karen pulling herself back into her normal shape, but slowly. Deciding not to spy, Freddy began helping with the closest of the mess, putting tables and chairs back upright, performing first aide, and so forth. Until Ramet - now male again, and wearing makeshift clothes - called Freddy's attention to the table where he'd left Karen. Looking under there, he saw that she was back in human form, and wearing her underwear, but it was much to big for her. Or rather, she was too small for it.
"I shrunk!" Karen piped.
"Actually, I think Freddy left some of you under the pile of debris," said Ramet.
"Ewwww..." said Karen.
Freddy looked back and forth between them for a confused moment, then realized what they were talking about and turned to the pile. Frantic to uncover the rest of Karen, he suddenly multiplied again. Just accepting the help, the Freddies quickly unpiled the stuff (being very careful with the Thursday Special; it was already trying to escape). There, under the tabletop, was a small, tan puddle. The Freddies sighed with relief, and pulled themselves back together.
"I'd help," said Ramet, concerned, watching from beside Freddy, "but it's a bad idea for two shapeshifters with malfunctioning powers to touch. They might not be able to untouch."
Meanwhile, the puddle shifted into Karen's shape, at a much reduced size. The Mini-Karen looked up at Freddy, screamed shrilly and tried to cover herself with her hands.
"You pervert! And how'd I shrink?" she cried, in a voice so small and high-pitched Freddy could barely hear it.
"Uh, you didn't" said Freddy, staring. "Most of you's over there."
Mini-Karen winced, covered her ears from his (to her) thunderous voice, and turned to look in the direction indicated. She stared at Most-of-Karen, who was peering wide-eyed out from under the table. Mini-Karen quickly grabbed a napkin, wrapped it around her small self and ran to her larger portion. Once she neared, however, Mini-Karen stopped, staring in confusion at her larger self. Most-of-Karen hesitantly reached out to touch her smaller self, who shied back a bit, then nerved herself and reached out a tiny hand to the larger one. For a moment they just touched. Then they flowed together, Mini-Karen making a tiny shriek, and Mostly-Karen a strange sound of wonder.
"You mean that could have happened between you and...?" asked Freddy, nauseous.
"It sure could have," Ramet confirmed, nodding.
"That was so weird," Karen said, shaking her head. "Are you sure that's all of me? I'd hate for any to be left out when this quits."
"You seem to be filling out your bra okay," said Freddy, admiringly.
"Hey!" snapped All-Karen, grabbing her dress. "You turn your back! In fact, scoot over here to block everyone's view!"
By the time Karen was ready to crawl out from under the table the chaos had settled down considerably. People who hadn't been affected and those who were getting their powers under control were helping the rest; the injured and the still out of control.
"What a party!" gurgled Hrpblple, rolling drunkenly by.
* * *
"Well, that sure ruined my appetite," sighed Karen, staring at her hand as she shifted it.
First she simply made it larger; then she made it small, slim, three-fingered and elfin; then big and hairy-knuckled; then a claw.
"That's really freaking me out," said Freddy. "Hub, how much longer did you say this would last?"
"It varies with the individual and the amount eaten, and the specific effect," the big alien replied. "Some people are already back to normal."
Karen, tired of playing with just her hand, turned her skin green and her hair chartreuse. She stuck her purple tongue out at Freddy when he snickered at her. Then she doubled her chest size. Then quickly changed back when several guys, including Freddy, suddenly started gushering blood from their noses.
"This could be fun, actually," she announced, turning herself blond and very tan. "What happens if I'm in another shape when it quits? Would I be stuck that way?"
"Probably not," said Hub. "Also, you can feel it wearing off, too. The direct effects of the drug are pretty safe."
Karen turned her entire right arm into a tentacle, complete with suckers.
"Yeah, but the indirect effects..." said Freddy, glancing at the gym floor. Then, as Karen slid her tentacle up the back of his shirt, "Hoo-wooop!"
Following the event the whole school had been assembled here. The non or slightly injured students were put in the bleachers. The seriously injured were lying on the gym floor, being tended.
The Alien Control Office had been called, and large numbers of their operatives - investigators and enforcement people - sent to Contact High via the emergency teleporter in the basement. Under their supervision the drugging of the food was already being investigated. Meanwhile, medical people with appropriate experience were on their way. Freddy shook his head over the investigation people arriving before the medical ones. Apparently, whoever took the call had a strange sense of priorities.
Karen changed into a werewolf girl, threw her head back and howled. Freddy slid cautiously away from her.
"Y'know, this is different from the gender sniping," mused Freddy, trying not to stare at Karen, which would only encourage her. "That was pretty harmless. This, well, it might have been meant as a prank, but it didn't turn out that way."
Karen turned into a bald, spindly, big-eyed alien, and made squeaking noises while posing. The effect was lessened by Karen's dress.
"If whoever is doing this meant it as a prank, without anyone being hurt, maybe this result will make them stop," said Hub. "Uh, Karen, don't let them catch you making fun of them like that."
The alien shrugged, and changed into ET.
"Don't count on it," snapped Ramet, who had been ominously quiet until then. "Besides, I still must exact my revenge!"
Karen turned into a Klingon. A *male* Klingon, who, wearing Karen's dress, was in drag.
"I shall help you avenge this insult to your honor."
"Oh, boy..." sighed Freddy.
End Part Six
The stuff was originally named Boost, but since this was first written a certain energy drink has become popular. Therefore, it is now Tsoob.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 7
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"I can't believe they're going ahead with the plan, in spite of what happened yesterday," muttered Freddy, sourly.
"They're going ahead especially because of what happened yesterday," Karen replied. "The administrators feel that students - especially the non-alien ones - need to learn how to handle weird stuff."
"Great," the boy muttered.
Compared to the reactions of some of the other students after the announcement in home room, Freddy's response was mild. Still, youngsters tend to focus on the immediate, and just now trying to decipher what Doctor Sumt'ang was saying took priority over worrying about the distant future of that afternoon.
"Hyperspatial today's on phenomena is lecture," Doctor Sumt'ang announced. "Phenomena these curiosities to tools to dangerous useful menaces from range."
The lecture went downhill rapidly from there, with obtuse technical words and phrases complicating things. Still, what hints they did get left the students excited, anxiously waiting to see what Doctor Sumt'ang would do with the experiment set up in the corner. Finally, Doctor Sumt'ang finished the preliminaries. He went over to the device - which resembled a particle accelerator designed by Salvador Dalí - and turned it on. The lights dimmed, then brightened a bit without regaining their full vigor. A deep hum filled the air, rattling the desks. A strange, shimmering circle appeared inside the large metal loop attached to the apparatus.
Doctor Sumt'ang picked up what appeared to be an ordinary fly fishing rod, which had an unusually large hook attached to the end of the line. After a few practice casts, the hook was sent zizzzing into the circle. Almost immediately, the line went taut. Doctor Sumt'ang reeled it back in. On the hook was a large, covered glass jar, containing something vaguely shaped and pinkish grey in color. Doctor Sumt'ang placed this with a glassy thunk and rattle on the counter.
"Around gather students!" the purple fireplug announced, making tentacular summoning motions.
The jar and its strange contents were examined with morbid interest. Freddy noted that the browning label bore the typed letters "A. Schicklegruber". He also noted there was no place for the hook to actually attach to the jar.
Meanwhile, their teacher had cast again. This time the catch was an old silk top hat, with a label inside reading "Judge Crater." The third item was a soaking wet and badly decayed wallet stained with oozing mud. Searching through this resulted in the discovery that the owner's last name was Hoffman, and little else. Looking up to see what would be hauled out next, Freddy saw Doctor Sumt'ang struggling with the line.
"One big a!" Doctor Sumt'ang gasped, starting to slide towards the hole.
Freddy jumped to help, grabbing the far end of the pole and pulling. For a moment, the odd couple held their ground; then they both started sliding towards the hole. Fortunately, by this time several other students were arriving. Together, the stopped the slide, and began to make progress the other way. Finally, the hook came out, connected to a shoelace. The lace was on a hiking boot. The boot was on a foot. The owner of the foot was obviously struggling. Only the lace was slipping...
"Grab my belt!" yelled Freddy to whoever, as he reached for the foot.
Fortunately, some of the students not helping with the line moved to aide Freddy. He got a good, two-handed grip around what seemed to be a human ankle, and held tenaciously as the others heaved on various parts of his anatomy. The foot turned out to be connected to a long, thin leg in a blue jumpsuit. The leg, naturally, belonged to a long, thin guy, who suddenly popped free of whatever had been holding him.
Roughly half the students in the class, plus their teacher, plus the stranger, wound up piled against the counter, the brain jar rocking perilously from the impact. Fortunately, after a few nervous seconds it settled, neither tipping over nor slipping past the edge.
The pile on the floor began sorting itself out into individuals. The stranger, being on top, was first off. He quickly - if a bit too energetically - began hauling people to their feet. Freddy could see, now, that he had black hair, and black disks floating in front of his eyes, obscuring them. He chattered excitedly as he help people upright, patting them and asking if they were all right. Fortunately, all were.
"ThankyouThankyouThankyou!" the stranger exclaimed, hyperactively, shaking hands (and, in Doctor Sumt'ang's case, tentacles) all 'round. "ThoughtI'dnevergetoutofthere! Ioweyouallabigfavor,justask!"
"Is no necessary reward," Doctor Sumt'ang assured the strange man. "By you caught mistake we, trouble were and helping someone simply in."
"Doesn'tmatter," claimed the stranger, seeming to have no trouble deciphering this. "Youhelpedmeandifyoucan'tthinkofarewardnow,I'lljustwaitunitlyouneedhelplater."
Following their teacher's lead, the students declined naming a reward. (Well, a couple of the less socially ept boys asked for dates with supermodels, but they were ignored.) The stranger nodded, smiled in a preoccupied sort of way, bowed and vanished.
"Okay," someone asked, "what was that?"
"Unknowns with universe the is filled," Doctor Sumt'ang said in an ominous voice.
* * *
"Wow, Freddy; you've got a rack!" exclaimed Jim, staring at her friend's chest.
"Yeah, yeah," sighed Freddy, pulling the sport bra embarrassedly over her generous bosom.
"I mean, if I've got to be a girl, I'd like to be a girl," sighed Jim, staring down at her own modest mammaries. "You can hardly tell the difference from normal."
"You're looking in the wrong place," someone snickered.
"Also," said Hub, who was better endowed than even Freddy, "the word you're struggling for is woman."
The usual boyish horseplay was subdued this gym class, mostly because the boys were girls. Whether the current occupants of the boys' locker room were experiencing a corresponding increase in hijinks was a matter of speculation. Freddy and Miz Klupper had to help several of the new girls with their undergarments. One new girl became hysterical when she went to pee and couldn't figure out how. Apparently, the school's "hygiene" classes needed improvement.
Finally, everyone was ready. They filed out into the gym on the girls' side, facing the new boys. There was a great deal of nervous stirring and shifting among both parties, including Coach and Miz Klupper. The teachers looked at each other, sighed in harmony, and began.
For the most part, it went well. There were a number of painful but fortunately minor accidents on both sides, usually involving a lack of care by a student with new anatomy during certain exercises. Oddly, four of the new girls started menstruating during the... period. This led, first, to some panic, before the cause was determined and explained, and then some ribald comments as the victims of female cycling were escorted into the locker room and tended by Miz Klupper.
After the warm-ups the two sides combined as usual for some friendly games. Mixed teams for volleyball occupied most of the students, though there was also free-throw practice and some weight training. Several of the new boys enjoyed the latter, to the extent that a couple injured themselves showing off.
"People who aren't used to testosterone shouldn't 'do' it in public," Freddy snickered to Karen, watching as Coach helped one tearful, very muscular new boy off to the nurse's office.
"You know what's really weird?" Karen muttered. "That's Debbie. "
"The captain of the cheerleaders?" asked Freddy. "Well, I knew she was an airhead, but not that he'd be a dumb jock."
"Oh, give him a break," growled Karen. "He's not used to being a guy."
"Didn't I just say something like that?" asked Freddy, sweetly.
"You are getting much too good at being girly," muttered Karen, shifting uncomfortably. "I've been a guy before, several times, once for over an hour at one stretch. I still don't like it."
Freddy stood back and pretended to examine her boyfriend carefully.
"You look fine to me," she assured him. "In fact, I'm thinking that costume party idea you had was a good one."
"You mean go as each other?" said Karen, frowning. "Nah. I don't think either of us could be convincing as the other; we'd both be doing parody, not imitation. If we just switched genders people would figure that out immediately, tpp."
"Or maybe," said Freddy, slowly, as if something was just occurring to her, "now that the shoe is on the other foot you aren't so happy about the idea."
She snickered, giving an impish grin.
"Or maybe that should be 'the dic...'"
Karen got hit in the back of the head by a soccer ball and pitched forward. Freddy tried to catch him, but the combination of surprise, a bit less strength than usual and Karen being even taller in comparison now resulted in both of them falling to the gym floor. Freddy, of course, wound up on the bottom. Karen had his face between her breasts, and his right hand between Freddy's legs.
Karen, fortunately, was only stunned, and quickly recovered, blushing and stammering apologies. Freddy resisted the urge to scream "You pervert!" and clobber him with something only by remembering all the times the situation had been reversed. Still, the fact she didn't resulted in repercussions in the locker room.
"So, Freddy, was it good for you?" snickered one new-girl, as she stripped off her top.
"You're just jealous 'cause none of the guys felt you up," muttered Freddy, causing her tormentor to turn scarlet.
"You have to admit, Freddy, it looked pretty strange from where we were," said Ramet. He laughed. "You had the weirdest expression on your face!"
"I just had someone do a face-fault on my chest! The fact that this was my girlfriend, and that we were both gender-flipped at the time just made things weirder."
Freddy noted with mild interest that some of the new-girls seemed inordinately eager to leave the locker room and get switched back. Others, however, seemed to be delaying, a few of them even spending extra time in the bathroom.
Well, whatever floats your boat, mused Freddy.
Personally, she was about in the middle. Being a girl was no big thing for her, either way, and while she'd be glad to be male again, was in no hurry.
Once outside, Freddy joined the line going through the checkpoint which had been set up for the usually-male students. Girls would step up, get zapped back to guys, retrieve their possession (confiscated for the duration of gym class to reduce the pranks) and go on. The other way down the hall the usually-female students were going through the same routine. The herms and neuters were simply leaving as usual, of course. Freddy noticed, as she glanced in the other direction, that Ramet was in the line two places behind her, and still female.
"I thought you'd shapeshifted," Freddy muttered to the chocolate-skinned alien.
"Nah," said Ramet. "This saves me the trouble of holding a different form for that long. Of course, if I change with the zap once, I need to do it again or my default will be female."
Freddy considered her for a moment. Tall, leggy, moderately shapely...
"That wouldn't be so bad," she grinned. "It'd make Bl'fff happy, anyway. Oh, and speaking of everyone's favorite arachnoid, where is he? I heard he got an excused absence."
"Because females of his species are non-sapient, carnivorous, and cannibalistic," Ramet explained.
"Oh," said Freddy, stunned. "No wonder he's always hitting on human girls. It's safer."
* * *
"Well?" asked Principal Tolliver. "Did our plan work?"
"No dice," sighed Mrs. Mueler. "There were only five absences, and they all checked out. We thought we might have our man - so to speak - when that one kid panicked, but that turned out to be for other reasons. So our idea that whoever set those Boy/Girl Gun traps in the locker rooms might reveal themselves by refusing to change or by reacting strongly to being changed didn't pan out."
"Too bad," sighed Principal Tolliver. "I'd hoped we could trip up whoever it was."
"Well, it pretty much has to be a student," said Mrs. Mueler.
"I agree; so do the police. It's someone with easy access to the school, and our staff - Earthling and alien - has been too thoroughly checked for any of us to have such inclinations."
"So we have to just wait for the police to catch whoever it is," said Mrs. Mueler, exasperated.
"Or think of something else," said Principal Tolliver.
End Part Seven
I've been somewhat ill for over a week. I finally went to the doctor and was put in antibiotics for an upper respiratory infection. I'm feeling better, now, just in time to promote the Doppler Press release of the first Masks novel! Yay!!
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
Adventure 8
The four guys - one an Earthling, the others aliens - waited outside the alien goods store. Freddy sat on a bench, Hub sat on the edge of a sturdy planter, Ramet leaned back against the planter beside Hub, arms folded across his chest, and Bl'fff simply stood on his eight spindly legs.
"So, anybody know anything?" asked Freddy, getting bored.
"Our large friend, here, mentioned something earlier, about discovering who the strange visitor to yesterday's physics class is," Ramet announced.
"His name is Yehudi," said Hub. "They say he's from the Brassier Nebula. I did a search for information last night, after I got home."
"Huh?" countered Freddy, not sure if he was being had. "'Brassier Nebula'?"
"Earthlings call it the Ant Nebula, because they think it looks like the eyes and antenna on the head of an ant," said Hub, who knew about such stuff. He pulled out his library card, called up a book on astronomy, searched for the proper image, then displayed it. "It really does look like a brassier, though. See? Two round white blobs, with white streamers going off either side, like straps."
"That is freaky," said Freddy, vaguely aroused and embarrassed about it. He frowned, thinking of something. "Say, I wouldn't have thought you folks would have bras."
"What, you think we're savages, and let our women run around lose?" snickered Bl'fff.
"Your women actually are savages and do run around lose," muttered Ramet. "They also don't have boobs, so they don't need bras."
"That was a pun," said the arachnoid, offended. "You know... no bras... running around lose..."
"We got it," sighed Ramet, rolling his eyes, "we just didn't want it."
"Seriously, we do have bras," said Hub, to Freddy.
"I'd'a thought you'd have something more... scientific," countered Freddy. "Karen told me the other day about how she modeled some sort of forcefield thingy..."
"We have the more advanced stuff, definitely," said Hub, nodding. "Some people are traditionalists. Sometimes all you need is fabric and a few bits of metal."
"Say, how come you know so much about bras?" asked Bl'fff, suspiciously.
"I'm an engineer. I've made an extensive study of the cantilever structure of females' breasts."
"That figures," said Freddy, grinning as the others groaned at his pun.
"So why didn't you wear one, yesterday?" asked Ramet, of Hub. "Miz Klupper was a bit upset at you about that."
"Because there are no females of my species on this planet, or other aliens here with our robust build," the rhino/whale-looking guy replied, a bit smugly. "Though some of my family are planning to move here, later. Partly so my little sister can also go to an Earth school.
"Anyway, our tissues are denser and firmer than yours; our females don't really need support in a one-gee field. Oh, and the bras on our world are made of steel. Or something stronger."
Karen came bouncing up (though not in the way Bl'fff meant, since she did wear bras) and plopped down next to Freddy, giving him a hug.
"Say, did you hear? Turns out that bit about us switching for gym class yesterday was to try and get whoever in the school is sniping people to tip their hand," she announced. "They figured since they were doing it to scare or upset or hurt people, they probably think changing genders is a bad thing and wouldn't go through with it."
"Makes sense," said Freddy. "If you're gonna pull a nasty prank, you do something to someone you think they'll hate. Which probably means you hate it."
"Only it didn't work," said Karen.
"Oh, well," sighed Freddy, shrugging. The matter simply wasn't that big a deal with him, so he changed subjects to something which was. "Now that you've finished work, wanna go somewhere?"
"Ooh, yeah!" said Karen, suddenly standing. She grabbed Freddy's hands and hauled him off the bench. "There's a new restaurant over in the next wing, caters to teenagers!"
"I've heard about this place," said Ramet, also rising, but with more dignity. "Calls itself The Evening Club, since it's mostly for high school kids and closes before 11:00. Supposed to have a dance floor."
"Great!" said Freddy, smiling. "I haven't been dancing since I moved here!"
"I thought this would just be us," muttered Karen, as they all trooped off en mass.
"Hey, you didn't specify," said Freddy, also a bit disappointed but cool enough not to mention that. "Besides, if Bl'fff or Hub can't find their own girl, I'm sure Ramet will shapeshift to accommodate."
He grinned at the chocolate-skinned alien, who glared haughtily at him.
The Evening Club turned out to be moderately crowded by the time they got there, a bit after 5:00. The public area was one big room, with the dance floor at the far end, the dining room in the middle and the bar near the entrance. A notice at the bar warned that alcoholic beverages were served only at the bar and that a selective forcefield barred entrance to anyone under age. Yet another benefit of alien trade.
Since none of them had had supper yet, they sat down at a table and checked the menus. Freddy enthusiastically noted that not only did they have some alien dishes which were familiar favorites but some he hadn't tried, as well. A waitressrob promptly hovered over to their table to take their orders. Freddy had a bit of difficulty convincing it that he could safely eat one of the dishes he ordered.
"No wonder you're always broke," muttered Karen, after the waitressrob left. "You eat enough for three normal people, and a lot of it is exotic and expensive."
"Hey, I'm a growing boy!" cried Freddy, grinning.
"Did you get a look at the chest on that waitressrob?" drooled Bl'fff. "Hubba-hubba!"
"If you folks will excuse me," said Ramet, pushing his chair back, "I'm going to have an apéritif."
"A which?" asked Karen.
"Before-supper drink," Freddy supplied. "Hey, you're not old enough."
"Sure I am," said Ramet, with a smug smile, as he shapeshifted into an older version of himself. "I even have appropriate ID."
"You'll get in trouble," snickered Bl'fff.
"Not unless one of you rats on me," said the alien boy, with a warning glance around.
He sauntered casually off towards the bar, and returned a few minutes later with a bottle and glass, the latter already partly drained. He sat back down in his chair, refilled his glass, and set the bottle by his plate. He then half-emptied the large glass in one long draw.
"My, you Earthlings certainly make strong wine," he announced, when he stopped for breath.
"That's Jack Daniels," said Freddy, examining the bottle.
"I'll certainly remember that name," said Ramet, nodding.
"It's not wine, it's..."
Karen was interrupted by the waitressrob bringing their (non-alcoholic) drinks. By the time it (She?) left, Ramet had emptied and refilled his glass.
"Not many alien customers here," said Freddy, looking around. "You'd figure this place would be popular with 'em."
"There are only a few hundred of us on your planet," said Ramet, appearing completely sober in spite of having (by now) downed half a bottle.
"You better go easy on that stuff," said Karen.
"Nonsense. My species handles alcohol quite well, thank you."
"Hey, Karen, wanna grab a quick dance before our food gets here?"
"I don't think we'll have time, if the way they brought the drinks out is any sign," she countered.
Sure enough, not long after (while Ramet was at the bar buying another bottle) the waitressrob returned with their meals. All five dug in enthusiastically. As they ate, someone started the disco ball spinning, fixed lights in the edge of the ceiling and floor reflecting off it. Freddy thought this was a bit tacky, but no-one else said anything so he kept quiet.
"This stuff grows on you," Ramet announced, punctuating his declaration with a loud belch. "Think I'll have another."
He stood and weaved his way back to the bar, somehow managing to force himself to stand straight and walk steadily as he approached.
"I'm sure glad we took my SUS," said Hub, referring to his sport-utility saucer. "I really don't want him driving."
About this time, the disco ball gave an odd flash, and cries of alarm and surprise sprang up from several parts of the room. Freddy looked around, puzzled. The ball flashed again, and there were more cries from new areas, as well as additional vocalizations from the first set. Then it flared a third time, and Freddy saw the gorgeous stacked blond at the next table go flat- and hairy-chested.
"Sniper alert!" he cried, as their table was illuminated.
Freddy's Gender Guard beeped, as did those of Bl'fff, Hub and Karen. Come to think of it, he'd heard a few others beep, as well, during previous flashes. Freddy looked quickly around the room, feeling a bit smug about being protected. All they had to do was find who was sniping them before he could get back to their table... only Freddy couldn't tell where the primary beam was coming from. As the reflected flashes approached them again, Bl'fff wrapped himself in his legs and rolled out of his chair, under the table. Since that took all the available room, the others resignedly braced themselves for a gender switch.
It hit, and Freddy sighed, looking down at his chest. Only something was wrong; they weren't big enough. A cautious feel between the legs told Freddy that his thing was still there, but seemed... smaller. Feeling around a bit more brought a gasp, higher pitched than usual but not as high as when Freddy was female. Because there was what felt suspiciously like a girl thing below Freddy's guy thing.
Freddy looked over at Karen, and for a moment thought she was still a girl. Only she did wear a bra, the cups of which would support her shirt even without breasts. From the way she was feeling her chest she was without breasts. A quick glance at Hub showed him - her - apparently completely female.
Their turn came around again while they were still trying to sort things out. Now Freddy was completely female up top and completely male below, while Karen seemed to be in the hermaphroditic state Freddy had just left. Hub seemed unchanged.
"What is going on here?" Freddy demanded, irately pursing her pretty lips.
Another flash, and Freddy was completely flat-chested, while Karen appeared normal. Hub also seemed to be normal, but was grabbing at his crotch with a look of alarm. Freddy also checked his crotch, and was puzzled to find nothing! Oh, wait; there was a small, sensitive area, just a little hole...
Their table was flashed again, then a couple of other areas, and suddenly the disco lights went out. Somebody had finally managed to hit the switch, if you'll excuse the expression.
Freddy was now back in true hermaphrodite state. Karen appeared male but in a girly sort of way, and Hub seemed fully female. They were sitting there, stunned, when Ramet returned, dropping drunkenly back into his seat. He drained what was in his glass, refilled it a bit messily, then thunked the bottle down on the table and took another deep drink from his tumbler. Only after he lowered it did he notice anything was amiss.
"Hey," he slurred, "where's the spider?"
"Is it safe to come out?" Bl'fff asked, his voice muffled.
"It looks like it," said Freddy, clearing hir throat at the strangeness of hir voice.
The arachnoid crawled out and resumed his seat, looking both rumpled and relieved. Ramet, staring at him in confusion, reached blindly for his bottle, only to encounter Hub's left breast, which extended out over the table just above the plates. Ramet drunkenly fumbled at the huge, inhumanly firm mammary for a long moment, before finally turning and looking at what he was groping. He stared a moment... then screamed, rearing backwards so hard he knocked his chair over, going down with it. Compared to what was happening at some of the other tables, this reaction was mild.
Ramet lay on the floor for a stunned bit. Then he matter-of-factly stood, set his chair back up, sat in it, and stared in confused shock at his tablemates for several long seconds.
"I feel sick," he calmly announced.
He turned, leaned over and out of his mouth and onto the floor poured what seemed to be several gallons of purple-grey liquid. After a surprisingly long time of this, he stopped, and turned back to his friends.
"I feel better."
He rolled up his eyes, and passed out in his salmon soufflé.
"I didn't know he could do that," said Hub, in a delicate, feminine voice a couple of octaves above his normal rumbling base, looking quite sick at the mess.
"I didn't know anything could do that!" gasped Karen.
* * *
Freddy felt far more uncomfortable entering the herm restroom in the club than sie had ever felt going into a female facility as a girl. Still, sie had to go, and this was the most appropriate room.
Interestingly, there were what looked like urinals in here, which weren't present in the herm restrooms at school. Freddy, uncertain how to select which hole to pee out of when possessed of two, chose a stall. The toilet in there was a bit unconventional by Earth standards, but quite similar to those at the school. Freddy dropped hir pants and sat. Hir caution was rewarded, as pee came out of both holes. Freddy sighed, and let nature - if that's what this was - take its course. As sie sat there after finishing, letting the toilet's automatic cleaning systems do their business, Freddy noticed the Gender Guard dangling between hir smallish breasts, and sighed. The green light was cheerfully on. It's captured charge had done nothing to return Freddy to normal.
Karen's had also failed it, though Hub's had worked just fine. Apparently, the standard charge had no effect on herms and neuters, which wasn't surprising. So how had the beams from the disco ball created this situation? Could those same beams fix it?
Freddy sighed again, stood and pulled hir clothes back in place.
Karen was exiting the neuters' room at about the same time Freddy came out of the herms'. It looked quite disgusted.
"Nothing! Nothing between my legs except this little hole, like the one in the end of a guy's thing! Nothing on my chest, either! Not even dark circles; just smooth, pale skin!"
"Is that your bra?" asked Freddy, noticing the white undergarment flapping in Karen's waving hand.
"Yeah. You want it? It's not doing me any good."
"I, uh, don't think it's my size," sighed Freddy. "Didn't you say something about the alien goods store have bras which automatically fit themselves to the wearer?"
"Yeah. I'm not leaving here until Hub figures out how to change us back, though!"
"Well, if he can, we won't need the special underwear," said Freddy, reasonably.
Shortly after the disco lights had been killed the manager announced over the PA that the police and the Alien Control Office had been called and would everyone please stay where they were and stay calm.
Fortunately, calm prevailed. While most of the club's occupants were upset or even frightened, enough kept their cool that a panic was avoided. With a police detective and a captain of the Alien Control Office watching, Hub - who, due to his work on the Gender Guard, was the most qualified - found and examined the device which had caused all the confusion. He was opening the case as Freddy and Karen left to relieve themselves, the police-issue rubber gloves stretched nearly to breaking on his huge hands.
"Anything?" asked Freddie, looking over the heavy-planet boy's shoulders.
"This is brilliant," Hub enthused. "This is not some crude mechanical cock-and-fire mechanism. Whoever rigged this used a sophisticated polyonic sensor/control system to run everything. Which is nothing compared to the mods on the gun!"
"Can you fix us?" asked Karen, pointedly.
"Yeah," said Freddy, with feeling, "and how come the Gender Guard can't?"
"The first beam must have been a standard Boy/Girl charge," judged Hub. "That was deliberate, to fill the Gender Guards. Then the variant beams started. Those are... strange."
Freddy nodded. The people turned into neuters and standard herms didn't change when exposed to the standard beam, just like born neuters and herms. The mix-'n'-match victims, who were male on top and female below, or vice versa, switched to the other arrangement when zapped with the standard beam, staying mix-'n'-match but the other way.
"Could you do me a favor? I'm too heavy for the stepladder they brought in. Climb up and check the disco ball for me."
Freddy agreeably complied, though not sure what to look for. As it turned out, Hub handed hir a sensor wand set for what he obviously suspected to be there. All Freddy had to do was wave that around the ball and its ceiling mount.
"Uh-huh..." said Hub, nodding as he read the scan results. "Just what I thought. The mirrors aren't regular silvered glass, which wouldn't reflect the standard beam, anyway. They're fast-glass."
"Sounds like a fast-glassed idea to me," muttered Freddy, climbing down.
"It's a pretty complicated arrangement. As simply as I can put it, the new type of beam has the same destabilize-and-nudge effect as the standard Gun, but when it is reflected from the glass the direction of the nudge goes quantumly random."
"Okay," said Freddy, feeling dizzy.
"With this rig there's no way to determine ahead of time what will happen when the modified beam reflects off the fast-glass," Hub continued. "We can change back people with a simple gender swap easily, with a standard Boy/Girl Gun, a Gender Guard, or the standard setting on this gun. However, for everyone else we'll just have to keep zapping 'em until they get what they want."
"We'll be here all night," groaned Freddy.
* * *
Things didn't turn out quite that badly. About a quarter of the people affected were simply gender-switched, and most of those had already been changed back with Gender Guards. Karen and one other patron of the club had Boy/Girl Guns, so the remainder of those who had been simply gender-switched were quickly corrected. The rest stood in assigned locations while Hub triggered the modified beam at the unmoving disco ball, waiting long enough between shots for those affected to evaluate their state. As soon as someone got switched back to normal they stepped quickly out of the area of effect and someone not yet corrected took their place. This arrangement required about half an hour to set up, and about ten minutes to finish.
Having their statements recorded by the police took longer, but since most of the victims' dinners had been interrupted, those not being quizzed simply sat down to finish eating. The mood was helped considerably by the manager announcing that no-one changed by the trap would be charged for their food.
Ramet had by now regained consciousness, but was still quite drunk, and in a rather silly way. At first he did imitations, of famous personages and people he knew. However, at one point he turned into a buxom centerfold, and became distracted. (If you know what I mean by distracted.) Hub was busy operating the changing process; Bl'fff was in the little arachnoids' room; and Karen was in the girls' room, putting her bra back on. Freddy, who hadn't changed back yet, hustled Ramet into the herm restroom and disgustedly shoved her into a stall. Ramet seemed quite happy with this arrangement; as Freddy left, sie heard her squealing with female pleasure.
Finally, everything was settled. Hub was publicly thanked by the manager, to a standing ovation from the other customers, the staff and the police. Alien Control Officers were Officially Grateful. He seemed rather embarrassed by this, but took it well. After the police and Alien Controllers left, as Freddy's party was getting ready to leave, the manager - an alien male named Fugosh, who looked like a blue-skinned human with grey hair, including a *huge* handlebar mustache - approached.
"Could you modify that thing for safe use?" he asked Hub. "I think it has entertainment value. Maybe I could even host dances where people get changed at random, and have to pick a partner accordingly."
"Uh, sure," said Hub, startled. "I think the Alien Control Office is confiscating all this stuff, though."
"Do you think you could reproduce this rig?"
"Maybe."
"Give me a call Monday," said the manager, handing him a business card.
They were climbing into Hub's SUS when Karen remembered something.
"Where's Ramet?"
They looked around at each other, confused. Freddy realized all the others had been busy when Ramet was taken to the herms' room. He decided to play innocent.
"Should we go look for him?" asked Hub.
Karen bit her lip, looked at her watch, and fidgeted for a moment. Then got mad.
"No. It's his fault he got drunk. He's a big boy, and can take care of himself. Let's go."
Freddy could barely keep from grinning. With a little luck, the shapechanger was so drunk he wouldn't even remember how he got left behind.
End Part Eight
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 9
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Ah, lunchtime!" exclaimed Freddy, gleefully rubbing his hands together as he prepared to dig in. "My second favorite part of school!"
"With gym class being the most favorite, right?" snickered Karen, wrinkling her nose very cutely.
The meal went quietly, for the most part. This being a Monday, students were still a bit subdued. However, some were quieter than even that accounted for.
"Whatcha' doin'?" Freddy asked, noticing how Hub kept staring at the screen on his pocket computer.
"I'm supposed to get my first royalty payment for the Gender Guard today," the big alien replied. "I'm waiting for it to show up in my bank account."
"Any idea how much it will be?" asked Ramet.
"No. The sales figures aren't published until the end of the GREAT! GALLOPING! GHU!"
"Purple Be His Name!" several of the aliens (and, surprisingly, a few of the Earthlings) present chorused.
"Lemme see, lemme see," demanded Freddy, managing to be the closest of those crowding in.
The numbers didn't make sense. Until Freddy remembered his scientific notation.
"Heep!" was all the youngster could manage.
"I... I can get that fuel booster I've been wanting for my saucer," said Hub, numbly. "Forget that, I could buy a whole new saucer!"
"You could buy a whole dealership," squeaked Jim, looking faint.
"You could buy the whole school new saucers," Freddy finally managed.
Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but only a bit.
"No, no, first thing, I gotta put some away for college," said Hub, desperately.
"This is only the first payment?!" said Ramet.
"How often do they make those, anyway?" Freddy inquired.
"End of every business cycle," said Hub, still numb. He shook his head. "Uhm, about every three Earth months."
"I bet the next one will be even higher," said Ramet. "There's several trillion people out there who would potentially want to buy these things, and they're just getting started making them!"
"There must be a lot of sniping going on," said Jim, quietly.
"I feel kinda selfish, now, about patenting that new Boy/Girl/Whatever Gun," said Hub. "I mean, I know the plan was to see if whoever really built it will challenge the patent, so we can find out who they are, but..."
"Hub, my boy, you need a business manager," said Ramet, putting his arm around the rhino/whale guy's shoulders in a friendly, self-assured manner. (Well, as far around as he could reach without changing shape.) "I happen to be from a very old and respected family of wealthy people. I'm sure we can help each other."
"So you're gonna recommend a business manager for me?" Hub asked, confused.
"No, I mean I can be your business manager!" said Ramet, irritated. "I know all the basics. Diversify your portfolio! Buy low and sell high! Use inside info whenever you can! Tolger market! Spoogle market!"
"Uh, thanks, but I think I'll just use the same mutual fund agency my father uses," countered Hub.
The others gradually went back to their meals as Ramet continued to badger Hub.
"So, Freddy, you up for the big game this afternoon?" asked Jim.
"Not really a big game," Freddy said, shrugging. "Pretty minor one, in fact. They're a lot lower ranked than we are. Of course, there's always a chance of an upset."
"I'm still trying to figure out why Hrpblple is on the team and not the halftime show," snickered one of Jim's tablemates.
"It's only about as strong and fast as a human, so it doesn't have an unfair advantage," said Freddy, patiently, "and its shapeshifting is just something it does naturally. It doesn't work like the Shapechange power; it just moves its stuff around."
"Ewww," said Karen.
"About the only advantage it has over humans and most other aliens who are allowed to play is that it doesn't have to worry as much about getting hurt. If it's hit hard, it just spatters out, then pulls itself back together."
"Eewwww!" said Karen.
"Which, understandably," Freddy continued, grinning, "makes other players reluctant to tackle it."
* * *
The game that afternoon went about as expected. At one point Hrpblple did, indeed, get hit hard, and spattered. As the referee called a penalty, the various parts of the gooey alien began regrouping inside the regulation uniform. All except one blob which was trapped in the regulation helmet. That had been thrown almost to the bleachers. Freddy hustled over to retrieve the helmet and Hrpblple part, after seeing some kids poking stuff into the latter.
"Now, that's not nice," Freddy chastised, picking up the helmet.
He returned quickly to his dismembered teammate and plopped the helmet down against the neck of the uniform.
"Ritual thanks are presented," Hrpblple burbled.
"No prob," said Freddy, grinning.
Apparently unsettled by that event, the opposing quarterback lobbed his next pass too low. Freddy jumped into the air and intercepted. Only, when he hit the ground, he ran in three directions at once!
I thought that wore off! the three Freddys thought, as they ran toward the goal.
They spiked the 3 balls, did a little victory line dance, then merged. Oddly, there were still 3 balls on the ground.
Understandably, the opposing coach went ballistic. Because Freddy had used a power - even one he didn't know he had - the other coach claimed that Freddy's team had an illegal player, and must default. Coach reluctantly agreed. There was a distinct murmur of disgust among the home crowd over the announcement, many glaring at the hapless Freddy.
"Coach, I swear, I don't know how that happened!" Freddy protested, as the team headed sourly back to the lockers.
"It must be all that alien food you eat," said Karen, comforting him.
"We'll have the school nurse check him out," said Coach, face and tone neutral.
* * *
"It's permanent," sighed Freddy, at lunch the next day. "The nurse put me in the school's new alien Medical Analysis And Treatment Unit, and it sent the data off to a specialist. Unless they can figure out a cure or a way to suppress it, I've got a permanent power. Which means I'm off the regular team."
"What about the unlimited team?" asked Karen, arms consolingly around Freddy.
"You have to be at least sixteen for that, and that's with a waiver," sighed Freddy. "I may have to apply for team manager or something, to get my hours in."
"You could always join the cheerleading team," Karen teased.
"Oh, please..." groaned Freddy, rolling his eyes.
"You have a useful power," said Ramet, dead serious. "Why, using a Boy/Girl Gun, you could actually date yourself."
Bl'fff collapsed and rolled around on the floor, laughing. The others - even Ramet - just stared at the arachnoid.
"Seriously, there are ways to remove powers," said Ramet, casually spooning some Jell-O into his mouth. "It's done sometimes to criminals. Don't know how well it would work on an Earth human, though."
"Blue Flu," said Hub, snapping his fingers like a tree branch breaking in a wind storm.
"What?" asked Freddy, blankly.
"Blue flu. It's a pretty minor illness. One of the side effects is that it negates powers."
"Yes, but only while you're actually sick," said Ramet. "It's also highly contagious. I certainly don't want it going around."
"Why is it called..." queried Freddy.
"Oh, the main effect is that it turns you blue," said Hub, shrugging.
"While you're sick," guessed Karen.
"No, that's permanent."
"No way!" said Freddy. "Uh-uh."
"Well, maybe the doctors can figure out how to cure you," said Karen, rubbing his arm.
"The thing is," said Ramet, looking thoughtful for a change, "Earthlings aren't supposed to have powers..."
* * *
"Okay," Karen told Freddy, "take your clothes off."
"If you knew how many times I've dreamed of you saying that," sighed Freddy.
She unbuttoned her shirt and tossed it away. Next came her sport bra. She reached for her slacks zipper, but stopped as Karen gasped.
"What?"
"You're huge!" Karen exclaimed.
Freddy looked down at her breasts, frowned, and cupped them.
"They don't look or feel any bigger than before."
"Stop playing with yourself!" exclaimed Karen, disgusted.
"This is not playing with myself," said Freddy, with exaggerated patience. "This is playing with myself."
She gave an evil chuckle and mimed grabbing her breast and crotch.
"Very funny. Now hold still and raise your arms, so I can get your measurements."
"This is so sick," muttered Freddy, sourly. "I haaiieee! Great Ghu!"
There was a momentary pause as both unconsciously looked around for the chorus. Then, a bit embarrassed, they relaxed and got back to what they were doing.
"What?" said Karen, looking up innocently from where she had the tape wrapped around Freddy's breasts.
"Ah... ah... ah..." said Freddy, suddenly certain Karen would clobber her if she said what she really felt. "That tickles!"
"You are such a wimp as a girl!" Karen muttered in irritation, pulling the tape lose and turning to write down the number.
The sensation of the cloth tape sliding across sensitive skin made Freddy go up on her toes. She barely resisted making a strange sound, not of pleasure but of alarm. The feeling was so intense, it actually hurt. Fortunately, Karen was preoccupied and didn't notice any of this. Or maybe she just ignored it. Freddy had herself back under control by the time Karen turned around to take the next measurement.
"Wow," said Karen a few minutes later, as she contemplated the figure(s). "There are centerfolds who aren't built this well."
"Oh, joy," muttered Freddy.
"Now, listen, you agreed to this," snapped Karen, slapping the pad down on her desk. "When Coach told you he already had a team manager you said you'd do anything to get your football credits. Well, this counts as anything!"
"I know, I know," sighed Freddy. "I'm sorry. I'm not blaming you. I just... well, it's going to be really awkward. Why couldn't I just be a male cheerleader?"
"That's weird," snickered Karen.
"No, it's not! There were male cheerleaders at the school I would have attended if I hadn't come here."
"Well, you better be extra glad you came here, then," Karen replied, nodding.
She peered at the paper again, and frowned.
"Y'know, I bet we have trouble finding stuff to fit you. You're a bit short for someone with chest and hips like yours, and you're certainly more developed than most girls in your age group. Oh, and that reminds me; I need to teach you how to shave, too."
"I've been shaving since I was nine," growled Freddy.
"Your legs? Your armpits? No, this is something you need to be shown."
"It's going to be a long day," sighed Freddy.
"Just be glad my parents are out for dinner and a play," snickered Karen. "Can you imagine trying to explain this to them? Or getting their permission?"
"Easier than either with my uncle and his floozy wife," said Freddy. "Say, what did you tell your parents?"
"Just asked if I could have a female friend over for the afternoon, that we were going to work on homework and on some clothes, makeup and other girl stuff."
"Ain't that the truth," muttered Freddy.
"You brought your homework, right?"
"Yes, mother," Freddy sighed.
They had made the arrangements at school. Karen zapped Freddy, charging his Gender Guard. He went home, told his aunt he was going over to a friend's to work on their assignments for the next day. Once in his room he stripped and used the Gender Guard. Then Freddy dressed, grabbed her stuff and snuck out. The bicycle ride over had been... interesting.
"Say, where'd you get these panties?" Karen asked, frowning.
"School nurse, just like the sport bra."
"So you've never actually bought women's clothes."
"Well, I did buy my Mother a scarf, for her birthday, last year," said Freddy, innocently.
Karen glared at her.
"Look, I've never been a girl for more than nine hours at a stretch, and never had any reason to expect to need any more girl clothes than stuff for if I get sniped. Even with that, I thought I didn't need any more girl clothes, after Hub invented the Gender Guard."
"Okay, well, that's next," said Karen, decisively.
"What's next?" asked Freddy, feeling a sense of dread.
"After we get you cleaned up - and by that I mean shaved, your legs and pits are a disgrace - and some makeup on, we go shopping!"
Karen's mood by the end of that sentence was incredibly cheerful. Freddy's was incredibly gloomy.
"Calgon, take me away..."
End Part Nine
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 10
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Cheerleader practice again this afternoon," Freddy sighed, setting his heavily-laden tray down on the table.
"Yeah, that's just terrible," snickered Jim. "You not only get physical with the prettiest girls in school, you get to go in the forbidden land of the girls locker room with the agreement of the girls!"
"Oooohhh..." groaned Bl'fff, trembling.
"The worst part of it is, I have to work at the alien goods store to pay Karen back for all this girl stuff she made me buy!" Freddy groaned. "Do you know how much feminine hygiene products cost?"
"I can't believe you're complaining about this!" gasped an increasingly agitated Bl'fff. "You get to shower with some of the most beautiful fems in the school! Intimate physical contact during practice and games! Skimpy cheerleader costumes! Peeking up and down and hooka-hooka-hooka-Hooka-HOOKA-*BLORTCH!*"
"EEEWWWWWW..." cried everyone in the cafeteria.
"Not again," said Freddy, looking sick.
"At least this time I can confirm," said Ramet, whose color had gone from dark chocolate to a sort of brownish grey, "that their blood really is that odd puce color."
"Oh. In that case, I'm only losing my appetite, and not my lunch."
* * *
"Yaaaay, TEAM!" fem-Freddy chanted, in perfect time with the other girls.
She then dropped into full splits, as did every even-numbered girl, while the odds threw their arms out so their pom-poms touched where the evens' heads had just been. It was a nice, well-time stunt, and drew quite a cheer.
"All right!" cried Debbie, the team leader and the only member better endowed than fem-Freddy, after they completed the cheer. "Good job."
The girls relaxed on the sidelines as the next play began. As the ball was snapped, though, something else fell to the field. Something which gave off a huge crackle of electrical energy. Everyone within a hundred meter radius dropped to the ground.
Freddy woke to sounds of chaos. She tried to sit up, but dropped back, off balance.
Thought I was used to having boobs, she thought, dazedly.
She tried again, this time succeeding. She looked around, pushing her hair out of her face. Only she almost put her eye out with her thumb doing so. Also just stirring were Suzy and Bamby and Freddy and Buffy and... wait a minute. Freddy?! Suddenly suspicious, Freddy began examining herself. First thing she noticed, her chest was too big.
Okay, thought Freddy. I'm in Debbie's body...
How had that happened, without the mind-switching Exchange Program earmuffs?
"Bamby" suddenly grabbed her chest and screamed.
"You're a guy, right?" Freddy asked, in Debbie's voice.
"Ah! Ah! Ah!" was the only reply she got.
"I'm Freddy," Freddy called out, staggering to her feet and raising her hands.
All over the field and through the bleachers, similar activities were taking place as people tried to sort themselves and each other out.
Freddy caught "Bamby's" arm and got her attention.
"What's your name?"
"George Hanby!" the person in the gorgeous cheerleader's body yelled.
"The water boy?!" said Freddy, who couldn't imagine a less-appropriate mind for occupying Bamby's bod. "Okay, listen, everybody's been mind-switched, so you're not alone."
"Who are you?"
"Freddy."
"The new cheerleader?"
"Uh, yeah," muttered Freddy.
She released the now calmer George and turned slowly around. Something caught her attention: the water boy's body was sitting cross-legged by the cooler, writing on a large piece of white paper with a black marker, tongue sticking out of the corner of his mouth. Freddy moved closer - a bit awkwardly - and looked. He'd written "Paul Godanski."
Okay, they hadn't just been switched; they'd been scrambled. Which made things a lot more complicated.
Freddy waited until the boy finished, then borrowed the pad and marker and wrote her own name. She passed the paper and pen to someone else, and held her name on high. The idea spread rapidly, and within minutes most of those affected were holding various signs. Freddy quickly realized that people had switched with someone near them, which did simplify things a bit. For instance, Debbie had switched with one of the football players on the bench, who had switched with Coach, who had switched with another of the players, and on and on. Freddy's body was currently occupied by Suzy. Freddy figured that was fortunate, considering what some of the girl bodies with male minds were currently doing. Also, not all of the switchers were human, or even near human. The new occupant of Freddy's body might've been the team mascot; a small, blue, furry thing from Arcturus. In Suzy's body was the school's human history teacher, a guy who seemed to be completely baffled by the switch.
Freddy wandered around, holding her sign and wondering what to do next, when she saw a female Ramet coming towards her, holding a sign which read "Karen."
"Let me guess," said Freddy, "you were sitting beside him in the bleachers."
"Yes," Karen sighed. "Ramet switched with Jim, who switched with Bl'fff, who switched with some girl behind us. Hub switched with my father, who got my mother, who got Hub. Some old guy sitting in front of us got me, and the others are busy keeping him from feeling herself up."
"Eewww..." said Freddy, wrinkling her nose. "So, I guess the time you got shapeshifting powers let you know how to change to female. Why didn't you just make Ramet's body look like yours?"
"Well, duh!" said Karen, making a face (definitely one different from hers), "then there would've been two Karens running around."
"Oh, right," said Freddy, giggling. She stopped, shook her head and frowned. "Do I sound sillier than usual?"
"A little," judged Karen.
"I wonder who got Hrpblple," said Freddy, glancing at the twitching blob out in the field. "Poor guy looks kinda sick."
"I'm kinda sick!" exclaimed Karen. "This is terrible! How will we ever get back to normal?"
"Well, Miss Furrpect and some of the other teachers know where the school's mind-switching headbands are," said Freddy. "They should have them here soon."
"That's only one pair, for hundreds of people!" yelled Karen. "We'll be here forever! What if someone decides they like what they got better than what they had and leave?"
"Well," said Freddy, frowning in concentration, "why don't we get the people we know who switched with us, and all go see what's taking so long?"
"Well, you're not a complete airhead," said Karen, smiling and giving her a hug. "C'mon, you get yours and I'll get mine, and we'll meet at the side entrance to the school."
This proved more difficult than anticipated. Suzy wouldn't leave unless they also took her body, and the history teacher wouldn't go unless they also found his. Fortunately, the chain broke there, and Freddy argued, successfully, that it was better to switch some people back now than to wait until everyone was sorted out. Debbie was quite eager to get his body back, but the owner of his current body (who had switched with Coach) also insisted on coming along, and so did Coach, and the owner of the body Coach occupied, who was now one of the female football players. Again, fortunately, the chain broke there.
Freddy and crew met Karen with a similar large group at the agreed place. They two looked at each other, sighed, and herded into the school.
* * *
They reached the property room to find a teenage girl fussing with the lock. Leaning against the wall beside her was a sign which read "Miss Furrpect."
"I can't get in!" she wailed. "I told them we should pay the extra for identity-keyed locks, but they insisted the somascanners were good enough! Stupid fleave counters!"
"So we need to find your body?" said Freddy, feeling confused.
"Or any teacher's body!" Miss Furrpect cried.
Fortunately, Doctor Sumt'ang they now saw wandering up. Or, at least, his body was. Who might be in it was still unknown. Though the fact that the driver was doing well with all those legs and tentacles gave hope.
"Mess this in we're is some," Doctor Sumt'ang muttered.
"Doctor Sumt'ang!" exclaimed Miss Furrpect. "You didn't switch?!"
"Not course of!" Doctor Sumt'ang harrumphed. "Allow stranger brain wouldn't my a in."
"Then please open this door!" Miss Furrpect pleaded. "We need to get the Exchange Program gear and start correcting this."
Doctor Sumt'ang complied, and Miss Furrpect hurried into the storeroom. Shortly, she had the ear muffs. Immediately, people began clamoring to be first.
"Is anybody here who is a direct switch?" Miss Furrpect asked. "I mean, they switched with the person who got their body?"
A quick check resulted in a negative response.
"Okay, we need to set up a spreadsheet and determine the most efficient sequence#," said Hub, from inside Karen's Father.
"Hold it," said Ramet, from Jim's body. "We also need to find as many teachers as fast as we can. So first thing, put Freddy back into his body... I mean, her body, and she can split into three and cover three times as much ground."
"Idea good," Doctor Sumt'ang judged.
Freddy winced a bit as the earmuffs were placed on her head and Suzy's. A brief flicker of disorientation, and she was back home.
"I'm on it!" she cried, in triplicate, as she hurried out the exit.
"That reminds me," said Miss Furrpect, as the Freddys left, "there's a duplicator gun somewhere in here. We can have more than one pair of Exchange Program units going at once!"
* * *
The Freddys hunted for teachers' bodies and people holding cards with teachers' names. The first half dozen came quickly; finding the next one took so much time one Freddy decided to head back to the storeroom. By then a number of exchanges had taken place.
Coach was back in his body, and using a copy of the earmuffs to help with the switching. The football player whose body he had occupied was now in the body of the player who had switched with the female player. Since the body she now occupied had not been found the second player was stuck there for the moment. Meanwhile, the other Freddys returned with more matches.
George was back in his body, but this meant Paul was in Bamby's, which was not making him happy, since no-one would let her out of sight long enough for a little cross-gender exploration. Paul also whined she thought she was having her period, but since Bamby's current whereabouts were unknown Paul was stuck.
Hub was back in his body, which meant Karen's Father was in the body of Karen's Mother. That left an even switch between her parents. However, they were magnanimously holding off to let others go ahead.
Ramet had switched with Jim, and so was now in Bl'fff's body, while Jim was back home.
The old guy in Karen's body was switched back to his own form, which left the teenage girl in Karen's.
The three fem-Freddys watched as Debbie was put back in her rightful body, which left Suzy in the body of the first football player. Satisfied that things were well in hand here, she went back out and looked for some more of the missing, now being accompanied by some of the folks who had been returned to their rightful bodies, plus Karen's crossed parents.
One Freddy found several females under the bleachers daring each other to play with themselves. Under the reasonable assumption they had boys inside, she escorted them (forcibly in some cases) back to the storeroom.
By now most of the teachers, including the principal and associate principal, were back where they belonged, and the exchanges were well-organized. Bl'fff, in spite of claiming she actually was one of the girls Freddy found under the bleachers, was put back in the right body, which put Ramet in some unknown girl's. Ramet then switched with Karen, which left him at home and Karen in the unknown girl.
Freddy decided to take a break. She pulled herself together, and watched as Karen finally got switched back to her own body. Freddy and Karen hugged in reunion.
"I think they've got enough help," Freddy told her, quietly. "Let's get out of here."
They went to the girls' locker room, which was momentarily empty. Freddy stripped to take a shower, and was startled to see Karen doing likewise.
"I've been so many people today I really want to get clean," she muttered in explanation.
Freddy didn't sneak a peak while they showered; she looked openly, and with far more curiosity than lust. This was the first time she had seen her girlfriend naked in a situation where she was free to examine the goods. Karen just didn't seem to care, right now. Soon finished, they dried and dressed, Freddy in her boy clothes. Just in time - as other girls were entering - they left the locker room. Karen fished around in her hyperspatial handbag for her Boy/Girl Gun.
"I can't find it," she stated, digging more frantically.
"This isn't funny," said Freddy. "My Gender Guard isn't charged. I was expecting you to change me back."
"I can't find it!" Karen repeated. "My wallet's gone, too! And some of my other stuff!"
"You had your purse in your locker when we were in the shower," said Freddy, "so one of those girls who had your body must have taken all that stuff!"
They hurried back to the storeroom where the last few people were still being switched back.
"I'm sorry, but we didn't get their names," said Miss Furrpect, now back in her proper - and very sexy - feline body. "We've also found a lot of equipment missing. Hub's taking inventory."
"Let me guess," sighed Freddy. "One of the missing items is the school's Boy/Girl Gun."
Freddy turned out to be right. Also, no-one currently present had a charged Gender Guard. While Karen reported her missing items to the police (called to the stadium much earlier, but only now arriving at the storeroom) Freddy searched for some way to recover her lost manhood. With no success.
"How am I going to explain this to my Uncle and Aunt?" Freddy wailed.
"Just say you got sniped," Karen groused. "Listen, what are you complaining about? I lost my wallet, my Gun, and a whole bunch of other stuff."
"Yeah, but I lost my thing!" countered Freddy.
Their impending argument was aborted as Karen's parents walked up.
"Well, everybody ready to go home?" asked Mrs. Polstice.
"Not really," sighed Freddy.
Since Karen's parents weren't supposed to know fem-Freddy and male-Freddy were the same person, the two girls didn't bother to explain.
"Can we offer you a lift?" asked Mr. Polstice.
"Thanks, but I rode my bike here," said Freddy.
She and Karen hugged briefly, then parted.
As Freddy peddled home, an odd thought intruded into her gloom. She couldn't recall Karen's parents getting switched back...
#I had to write a spreadsheet just to keep track of who was whom. :-)
End Part Ten
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 11
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
As per their usual routine, Freddy and Karen met near her house to ride together to school on their bikes. Unusually, both looked rather sleepy this morning. Even more unusually, Freddy was a girl.
"Hi," said f-Freddy, a bit shyly, as she saw Karen.
"Hi," sighed Karen, who then yawned. "Sorry. Did you notice, after all that mess at the game yesterday got settled, that my folks were still in each other's bodies?"
"Uh, yeah," said Freddy, with an embarrassed grin. "I wasn't going to say anything about it. They obviously wanted it that way."
"Well, they were up half the night, 'experimenting,'" groaned Karen, rolling her eyes.
"Eewww..." said Freddy, screwing up her face in a very cute expression of disgust.
"Yeah, well, that's how we got here, remember," grinned Karen.
They completed the journey in silence, except for an occasional mutter of irritation from Freddy. Finally at school, they were just locking their bikes, Freddy bent over, hair in her eyes, when a tall guy sidled quickly up behind Freddy, staring at her rump.
"Whoah, hey, are you new here?" said the guy, seeming to materialize instantly from nowhere.
Freddy straightened, turned and blinked up at him in a moment of confusion. Then she flushed with an odd mix of emotions as she A) realized what was going on and B) remembered that this was the guy who'd picked a fight with Freddy - and lost badly - the first day of school.
Not even bothering to reply, Freddy screamed "You pervert!" picked up a trash can and slammed it down over his head so hard he wound up as short as her.
"Wasn't that...?" asked Karen, hurriedly following as Freddy stormed into the school.
"Yes!"
"Oh..." Karen giggled. "Not too bright, is he? Though I admit to being a bit envious. Boys don't usually react that way to me."
"Yeah, well, some guys like the zaftig type, and sometimes they mistake muscle for something softer."
Freddy yawned so hard she nearly walked into the handrail at the bottom of the steps.
"You still haven't told me why you're so sleepy," said Karen. "Or should I guess?"
That last was said with a dirty smirk, and Freddy flushed again.
"Okay, I did some 'experimenting' of my own," she admitted, quietly, as they reached Karen's locker. "Not that much, though. I've been a girl enough that it's not a novelty any more. No, what happened was, this was the first time I've slept as a girl."
"Had trouble finding a comfortable position with those in the way, huh?" snickered Karen, glancing at Freddy's generous endowments.
"Not really," said Freddy, shifting uncomfortably, as Karen closed her locker. "Well, y'see... I started having one of... those dreams. I was with you and we were studying at your place, and things got hot 'n' heavy. Only they also got really confused, cause I started out a boy, but then I was a girl, and then you were a boy, and... well, I still... wanted to. Only before we could, your big brother's waterbed fell through the ceiling, burst, and washed us naked out into the street."
Freddy braced for a clobbering, but Karen's reaction surprised her.
"Oh, how sweet," said Karen, smiling. She turned and started for Freddy's locker, leaving the confused blond hastening to catch up.
"You mean you don't think that's disgusting?"
"No. I think it's very romantic. Even though you knew in a dream you were a girl, you still wanted to be with me."
"I will never understand women," sighed Freddy, glancing down at her own chest in an ironic gesture.
* * *
Fortunately, Freddy soon found Hub and got both changed back to male and changed back into male clothing. Which greatly improved Freddy's mood. He was humming happily to himself as he settled into his seat in Civics class. The students quieted, and their teacher began the lesson.
"Today, class, we are studying the social institution of a free press," Miss Furrpect announced.
As usual, she had the full attention of every male - and many of the females - in class. Today she was wearing a loose-fitting caftan-type thing, which under certain lighting conditions threatened to become (but never quite became, though it got close enough that her lack of any other clothing was obvious) completely transparent. Freddy figured that someone had told her to cover more of herself without telling her why.
"We are also combining with the shop class for an exercise they're working on, which is repairing, operating and maintaining an actual printing press. So, can you guess what this means?"
"We're studying yellow journalism?" asked Buffy.
"No, it means we're starting a school newspaper," Miss Furrpect corrected, still smiling. "An exercise in the Fifth Column!"
"Uh, shouldn't that be Fourth Estate?" asked Freddy, a bit concerned.
"Oh! You know, I think you're right!" said Miss Furrpect. "Sorry; I'm still getting used to Earth terminology."
She went on to explain how every member of the class would be expected to participate, either in physically producing the paper, or in writing articles for the first few issues.
"After the class project is completed, volunteers will keep publishing a paper or newsletter in some form as a school institution."
The whole thing sounded rather dull to Freddy, but Karen volunteered so he decided to as well.
The class split into two groups. The smaller, composed of the paper's staff was instructed by Miss Furrpect to select who would serve which position. She then went off to work with the larger group - which was to provide sample articles - giving them examples from famous papers and journalists and describing the history of journalism.
"Ooh!" said Jim, excitedly. "I wonder if I can do a comic strip!"
Karen was quickly selected editor, on the basis of previous experience in junior high. An alien Freddy didn't know, Flinkpoid, was selected as events reporter, mostly because it (He?) was a cute little fluffy white bunny of indeterminate gender to whom no-one could say no. Talli Illat, a gorgeous alien babe who looked entirely human, was social/fashion editor. Freddy asked to be made sports editor, but that went to Jim. Freddy tried to get selected as news reporter, but that went to Ramet. Freddy tried next for technical reporter, but that went to Hub.
"There's nothing left for me!" an exasperated Freddy cried.
"Sure there is. Layouts, proofreading..."
"I want to be a reporter!"
"Okay, write commentary stuff and if it's good we'll print it," said Karen, with a shrug. "Mostly, though, you're going to help with the actual making of the physical newspaper."
"You mean the typesetting? I don't want a dirty, inky job! I want to write!"
"No, that's what the shop folks are doing. I mean figuring out how things will be arranged on the paper." She smiled sweetly at him. "You're good at fiddly stuff like that. Sometimes I think you're a bit OCD."
"Hey, aren't you that guy who has to be a girl on the cheerleading squad?" asked Talli. "You could do a column on that! You know, a sort of 'My life as a girl' human interest bit."
"Oooh, I like that," said Karen, with a sudden, fierce grin. "You work on that angle first, Freddy. If it's good, we'll let you do other stuff."
"I don't want..."
Miss Furrpect returned, having given the others enough to keep them busy for a while.
"Everything settled? Good. The room we've set aside for the newspaper office is this way."
She led them out of the classroom and down the hall, to another room which contained tables and computer gear at one end, and a small rotary press at the other. Freddy noted that the shop classroom was adjacent, and could be entered through a door beyond the press. The press looked old and dirty, but intact. Though he did wonder why they were using an actual printing press instead of a modern, digital printer. Maybe a shop class needed something both mechanical and complicated.
"For the next two weeks our class will meet briefly together, then your group will come in here and work. The goal is to produce one issue by this time next week, then repeat. The other group will criticize the issue, then you will answer the criticisms. Okay?"
"Sure," said Karen, eagerly rubbing her hands together. "Okay, team, let's get busy!"
* * *
Hub was already in the cafeteria, avidly reading a car magazine, by the time Freddy arrived for lunch. Freddy filled his tray and sat across from the big rhino-whale guy. The usual crew quickly assembled.
"You look like you're in love," said Freddy.
"Oh, they've got an article on the new model Zamboni," said Hub. He sighed, a wistful smile on his face. "What a work of art."
"So, buy one," said Freddy.
"He'd have to buy two," said Ramet, snickering. "One for each foot."
"Yeah," said Hub. "They are very small. Are Italians all midgets or something?"
"Ah, no; you're thinking of the French," said Freddy, tongue in cheek. "I remember my Dad saying something about the Italians liking their cars intimate."
Karen, bearing her tray, bore down on the group, which was unusual, since she normally sat with some female friends.
"We've already got a scoop!" she announced eagerly. "They've tracked down the guy who made that switcher bomb!"
"Already?" said Hub, startled. "I mean, the talent needed to build something like that is rare, but..."
"He had his name and business address inside the thing!" said Karen. "They think he didn't know what it was going to be used for. If so, he should be able to tell the police who hired him to make it!"
"You heard this where?" asked Ramet.
"Dilly Pickle was running an errand for Assistant Principal Mueler, and heard Principal Tolliver talking with an Alien Control Officer about it."
"Well, that's good news," said Freddy. "Even if there's more than one person or group doing this stuff, this should stop one cold and put the others on notice."
"One can hope," sighed Ramet.
"I wonder if we can get an interview with the guy for the paper."
"Dilly didn't hear the name," said Karen. "Besides, we have to wait our turn, after the police talk to him. Otherwise we might damage their investigation."
"No, no, aggressive reporters..."
"No."
* * *
"Finally, I get my own," chortled Freddy, as he and Karen left the alien goods store.
"Oh, stop drooling," muttered Karen. "And stop fondling that thing."
"Mine, all mine," sighed Freddy, reluctantly yielding to Karen and putting the Boy/Girl Gun back in the shopping bag. "Next step: that hyperspatial holster."
"Yeah, that would be neat," agreed Karen, "but since I already have a hyperspatial purse I don't really need one."
"How long until you can afford another Boy/Girl Gun?" Freddy asked.
"Oh, since you have one I'm not going to bother," she replied, shrugging. "I mean, its not like I need one for anything except to help you."
"What if you get sniped?" snickered Freddy, meaningfully sneaking a hand into his shopping bag.
"You wouldn't dare," said Karen, casually.
Freddy sighed again and removed his hand.
"Wanna go over to The Evening Club?" asked Freddy. "Your treat, since you got paid with money but I took mine out in trade."
"Okay, but only if we get to dance some!"
As it turned out, she decided to drop that last requirement. This was "random night." While the pair sat and waited for their food to arrive, they watched the dancers. Thanks to Hub's modified version of the Boy/Girl/Whatever setup, it now only affected those actually on the dance floor. Most of them were in unisex clothes, though some wore gender-specific garb, apparently for the humorous effect produced when they changed inappropriately.
"The things some people do for fun," muttered Freddy, shaking his head.
"Hey, it is fun!" said a girl in a jumpsuit, at the next table. "You have to stay on until you get back to normal, which can take a while. Makes it a challenge."
"Hmmm..." thought Freddy, perking up a bit at the word "challenge."
"Oh, no, you don't!" said Karen. "I've had enough changing lately to last a good, long while. So have you, for that matter! Especially since you've got cheerleader practice tomorrow."
"'Cheerleader practice'?" the girl repeated, looking confused.
"It's a long story," said Freddy, in a tone which implied he wasn't going to relate it.
"So you like changing when you dance?" Karen asked, curious in spite of her own unwillingness to participate.
"Yeah. I admit, most people who come here don't go on the floor on random night. Well, a few who don't know what it means do, and it's fun to watch them when the get zapped! Anyway, yeah. My boyfriend and I both enjoy it. A couple of times we've even gone home changed! Of course, that was usually because we were drunk and forgot to change back, or just didn't realize we weren't quite back to normal."
"Well, we were at the football game yesterday, and got caught in that Switcher Bomb," Karen explained.
"No kidding!" the young woman exclaimed, looking suddenly more interested. "You two got switched?"
"Well, not with each other," said Freddy, a bit wistfully.
"Wow! Y'know, my boyfriend and I were planning to go to the game, but we got sidetracked and missed it."
"It wasn't very fun," said Karen.
"Yeah, but, y'know, the idea of switching bodies with someone..." she shivered with imagined excitement.
Just then a rather grungy-looking guy, also in a jumpsuit, arrived. He mumbled a greeting to Freddy and Karen, then he and the girl went onto the dance floor. Interestingly, the guy made a moderately attractive girl.
"Y'know, that might be fun, switching with each other," said Karen, thoughtfully. "We trade places for a day or two, and see if we can fool everyone."
"I'll pass, thanks," said Freddy. "Besides, you'd hate cheerleader practice."
"Yeah..." sighed Karen.
Just then their food arrived, and they dug in.
* * *
During their next journalism class Freddy was talking to Hub about how he and Karen went to The Evening Club and how well the big guy's work was being received.
"Oh! That reminds me!" said Jim. "You folks know Senator Kraighearn?"
"Not personally," said Karen, wryly.
"I mean you know who he is," said Jim, rolling his eyes. "He's on a rant against alien tech in general, transforming tech in particular and The Evening Club specifically. Says all these changes are 'unnatural.'"
"There's a lot of that going around," said Karen, nodding. "A backlash against alien technologies and the weirdness they sometimes bring. Lots of folks are claiming 'It ain't natural!'"
"Isn't Kraighearn the guy with two cornea transplants, a heart valve, a hip replacement, a knee replacement, false teeth and who dropped his bottle of Viagra when trying to seduce a Senate orderly?" said Freddy.
"Page," said Jim, nodding. "They're called Senate Pages. Yeah, that's him."
"Ooooh," said Karen, eye gleaming. "Our first political exposé!"
"Let's get busy," said Freddy, rubbing his hands together.
End Part Eleven
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 12
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Wow, Hub, thanks for inviting us over," said Karen, looking around admiringly as she and Freddy entered the back yard.
"No prob," the big, rhino/whale guy replied, grinning to reveal teeth like miniature - and well-polished - grave markers. "You two are my closest Earth friends. I figured, with weather being so unseasonably hot this weekend, it was a good time to try out our new pool."
Hub was unusual among the alien exchange students here on Earth in that he was staying with his family. Hub's father was a business entrepreneur, and saw his son's acceptance in the program as a chance to explore the opportunities Earth offered. Therefore, Hub's parents and little sister were also on the planet, the four of them currently living in a moderately fancy ranch-style house on the outskirts of a nearby city. Hub, old enough to have a license, needed only a few minutes to commute in his Sport Utility Saucer.
"Where's Ramet?" Hub asked, as he led the pair to the his 'n' her cabanas put there for guests to change in.
"He had trouble finding a place to park his sport saucer," said Freddy. "He let us out and will be here in a few minutes."
Freddy entered the guys' cabana and closed the door. Moments later, he exited, now wearing Speedos and a smug smile. He'd done some weight training just before leaving home, and was looking pumped and buff. The reactions were gratifying, with the Hub nodding in appreciation and Karen staring with obvious lust.
"If you get any more fit we'll have to preserve you for science," said Karen, admiringly.
"Oh, he's not that husky," said the much bulkier Hub, chuckling like an amused semi.
Hub's mother came out the back door, bringing snacks, and Hub introduced her to the group. Freddy decided she was rather attractive, for a female built like a safe. She was also notably bigger than her son. Karen grabbed a carrot, and munched that as she headed for the gals' cabana.
Ramet arrived just then. He greeted Hub and Hub's mother (he already knew Hub's folks) and Freddy. He briefly complimented the latter on his looks, then headed for the guys' cabana. Karen exited hers at about that time, and Ramet came to an abrupt stop to stare.
She was wearing a neat and attractive one-piece which accentuated without exaggerating. She smiled at the expressions on the guys' faces.
"Wow," Ramet gasped, admiringly. "Why don't you dress like that more often?"
"Because then Freddy would have to beat you up more often," she replied, smiling sweetly.
"Oh," said Ramet, glancing over at the husky younger boy. "Right."
He hurried in to change.
"I'm surprised you didn't wear that variable thingy you were displaying at the alien goods store, the other day," said Freddy, admiring Karen's form. "Not that I'm complaining."
"Well, I found out it was vulnerable to interference from certain radio frequencies," Karen replied, grimacing. "Makes it change at random."
"Oooohhh..." said Freddy, imagining.
Doctor Sumt'ang was next to arrive, carrying a small box which he handed to Hub. He then walked directly to the edge of the pool, fell in, and sank to the bottom.
"Is he all right?" asked Freddy, worried.
"Oh, yeah," said Hub, distracted as he opened the box. "Yow! He finished it!"
"That looks like a Boy/Girl Gun," was Freddy's wary comment.
"Well, we used the casing from one to house it," Hub replied. "Those haven't been made in millions of years; it's a lost art."
"House what?" Karen asked.
"When I studied the Boy/Girl/Whatever Gun I got an idea," said Hub. "I talked with Doctor Sumt'ang about it, and he helped me work out the math and then design it. We've applied for a joint patent!"
"But what is it?" Freddy demanded.
"A Buster Gun!"
Ramet finally emerged from the cabana, wearing a weird orange, green and purple plaid outfit which covered his whole torso so snugly it looked like it was painted on. Karen and Freddy spared him a brief glance, then turned back to Hub.
"But what does it do?" they demanded in unison.
"It adjusts the bust!"
Karen and Freddy looked at each other, then down at Karen's chest.
"Oh, no!" Karen stated, firmly, backing away. "You keep that thing pointed in some other direction!"
"Oh, don't worry," said Hub, putting the device back in its box, "we have to do some tests before we're ready to use it on people."
"Okay, that's why Doctor Sumt'ang stopped by," said Freddy, "but why is he staying?"
"We have to have a teacher present to verify that we're spending time on a class project for the hours to count," said Karen.
"He's also amphibious," Hub added.
"That must be handy," muttered Freddy, looking at the submerged teacher.
He did, indeed, look like the occupant of some alien reef, sitting there on the bottom, his tentacles floating about.
"We're working on another project, too," said Hub. "One of the reasons Doctor Sumt'ang came to Earth is that a lot of things aren't illegal, here. Well, not yet. So we're gonna actually do some things people have been just thinking about for centuries. Like the Ultimate Babysitter project."
"The which?" said Freddy.
"No!" gasped Ramet, turning a pale brown. "You wouldn't dare! Model 307L is banned on all civilized worlds for good reason!"
"Relax, we know what we're doing," Hub assured him.
"That's what the Allotians thought! They're still rebuilding!"
"What happened to them?" asked Karen, concerned.
"Oh, it wasn't that bad," said Hub, shrugging the question off.
"My experience has been that when someone says 'Oh, it wasn't that bad' it was usually worse," said Freddy.
"Oh, look!" said Hub, not in any way attempting to change the subject. "There's Talli! And Flinkpoid!"
The party's host stepped quickly over to greet the new arrivals, with Karen and Ramet following. Freddy tried to accompany them, but was stopped by a large block of granite catching him by the shoulder. He turned, and looked up-and-up-and-up at what had to be Hub's father. Freddy faintly remembered someone saying something about Hub being small for his age. This wall of structural material he now faced confirmed this.
"Hi," said Freddy, his voice coming out as an embarrassing squeak.
"Are you youngsters having a good time?" the mobile mountain rumbled.
"Oh, yes, sir," Freddy gushed, nodding vigorously. "Wonderful time."
"Good. If you need anything, just yell. Oh, and don't let Nugget bother you, just because she's Hub's little sister. She can come out and play, but if she gets annoying, tell her so."
"Yes, sir," squeaked Freddy.
He watched as the giant walked off, wondering how he'd missed the shock of the approaching footsteps.
"Hey," said Ramet, startling Freddy.
"'Hey' yourself," Freddy replied, annoyed at being caught with such an uncool expression.
"Why do you shave your legs and armpits but not your chest?"
"Because when I'm a girl I don't have any hair on my chest," Freddy explained patiently.
Ramet took a moment to work that out, then nodded.
"Gotcha."
He walked away, muttering something about primitive, hirsute Earth humans.
The party got underway with enthusiasm about that time. The ostensible purpose was for the members of the newspaper staff to get together and work on their project, but Freddy figured - rightly - that little of that would happen.
Then Talli stepped out of the cabana, stretched briefly, limberly bent over to place her towel on a lounge, and undulated casually toward the pool. A dead silence fell as the others saw her idea of a swimsuit. It looked like two strung-together paisley eye patches and a paisley handkerchief.
"Hummahummahummahumma..." said Freddy, feeling the blood trickle from his nose as he stared.
Talli unexpectedly sprang into the air, did a double forward somersault, and straightened out for a perfect entry.
"Are you a pervert?" asked a new voice.
Freddy jumped, and looked around to see a miniature version of Hub. "Miniature" in this case meaning she was under two meters tall.
"You're Nugget, right?" asked Freddy.
She nodded.
"Are you a pervert?"
"Uh, no," said Freddy, wiping the blood from under his nose. "That's a normal reaction among human and near-human males."
"Yeah, right," the "little" girl said.
Freddy ignored her and went back to looking at Talli, who was now doing backstrokes. He barely noticed when Karen glared at him. He definitely noticed when she poured ice water over his head.
Freddy wasn't the only one staring at the shapely alien girl. Ramet had shifted form, buffing himself up even more than Freddy, which made him look a little ridiculous. Jim was also preening, though with little success. Even Flinkpoid seemed to keep staring at her, though the pair of cool neon shades he was wearing made that difficult to tell. That and the fact that he looked like a white rabbit.
Hub's father making an appearance early on was probably a good thing. There were some pranks, but they stayed pretty mild. Ramet occasionally did imitations (revealing why he'd worn something both covering and elastic, since some of those were female). Freddy did some fancy dives. Doctor Sumt'ang occasionally used his telekinesis to pull a snack underwater to eat, and twice even came up to greet people.
"Okay, I think we've got enough swimming in for a while," said Karen. "Let's talk business for a bit, then we can go back to partying."
There were some mild protests at this, but everyone except Doctor Sumt'ang moseyed over to her. The kids were just sitting down around an umbrella-equipped table with their notes when someone else came in through the gate.
"See? I told you this was it!" the teenage girl in a bikini called back over her shoulder to someone. "Hi, I'm Barb!"
She casually walked over to a lounge and put her towel down on it. Hub half-rose, opening his mouth, but before he could say anything three more kids - another girl and two boys - entered.
"Uh, this is a private..."
Five *more* kids entered, the combined chatter now drowning out the rhino/whale guy.
Hub rose and started over towards them, just as the first newcomer dove into the pool.
"This is a private party. How did..."
There was a scream and a yell from the pool.
"There's something in there!"
"That's our teacher, Doctor Sumt'ang," said Hub, starting to get irritated. "This is a class party."
"That's not what the sign said!"
"What sign?"
From the confused babble of voices they determined that someone had posted flyers all around the neighborhood announcing a pool party.
"Well, those aren't for here," said Hub. "Like I said, this is a private meeting of a school project group."
There was some pouting and some mild protesting at this, but the strangers gathered up their gear and left. Or tried to; more were attempting to enter, blocking the gate.
"We better go out and take those flyers down," said Karen.
The girls grabbed robes and shoes or sandals, but the guys just walked out in their suits, Freddy not even bothering with footwear. Hub stayed behind to make sure no-one else came in who wasn't supposed to.
Freddy padded around, shivering a bit since there was a breeze outside the fenced-in back yard. He quickly found several of the flyers mentioned by the intruders. They did, indeed, describe a pool party, on this day, starting at a time which had passed just a few minutes before. They did not mention an address. Freddy wondered if this was someone playing a prank on Hub and the group, or if it was an honest mistake. Shrugging, he started pulling down signs.
"Hey, there," said a breathy, female voice. "You're new around here."
Freddy looked around to see a pretty young housewife in a tube top and hot pants.
"Uh, hi," Freddy replied, smiling. "I'm just in the neighborhood visiting a friend, and we had some people think these meant his pool."
"Oh?" the woman asked, obviously paying more attention to Freddy's Speedos than his words. "Well, I guess that could be confusing."
Freddy nervously turned and headed for the next flyer, which he could see on a mailbox a block away. The woman came with him. In fact, she moved very close, almost rubbing against him.
"So, what's your name?"
"Freddy."
"Well, Freddy, I hope you'll be visiting your friend often."
"Uh, yeah," said Freddy, growing increasingly uncomfortable. "We're..."
"What the Hell are you doing?" a loud, male voice demanded.
Freddy looked around to see an overweight, balding guy hurrying towards him. Thinking this was the distributor of the pool party flyers, Freddy held out the one he'd just removed.
"You didn't put an address," he started to explain.
"You stay away from my wife!" the man roared, yanking the pretty young woman away from Freddy.
"Huh?" said Freddy.
The man snatched the flyer Freddy was offering.
"What is this? You tryin' to lure her to some poolside orgy?!"
"Those aren't mine..."
"Don't you lie to me!"
The guy threw a punch, which Freddy nimbly dodged. They guy - Freddy could smell the alcohol on him, now - lost his balance, staggered a few steps, and fell head-first into the mail box. He dropped to the ground and lay there unmoving. The woman started screaming.
Freddy decided flight was the best course of action. He took off, running down the sidewalk and around a corner. When he heard no signs of pursuit he slowed. Only now he realized he was in a section of the neighborhood he hadn't seen before. He turned down a street he thought would lead in the right direction. Ahead, he saw a muscular teenage guy standing at the end of a driveway, scowling as he looked around.
"Uh, hi," Freddy began.
The guy turned, saw Freddy and the handful of flyers, and his eyes went wide.
"You're the one!" the guy yelled, face going red. "I'll teach you to pull pranks, you little...!"
As he drew back his hand Freddy, by now both fed-up and on edge, threw the flyers in his face and punched him hard in the stomach. Then he turned and fled.
Behind him he could hear the guy yelling (a bit breathlessly) for help. Freddy glanced back in time to see half a dozen guys in their late teens come pouring down the driveway. Freddy turned the corner before he saw what they were going to do. He figured he didn't need that confirmation. He looked where he was going just in time to slide to a stop (bare feet stinging on the concrete) before running into the angry mob approaching from ahead of him.
"There he is!" the fat, balding guy yelled, pointing.
* * *
The other members of the school project pool party were rather startled when Freddy scrambled over the fence.
"You gotta hide me! I think I lost 'em, but they won't give up easy!"
A few confused questions and frantic replies later the rest of the group had a fair idea of what was happening.
"Freddy, only you could wind up getting chased by two angry mobs at the same time," snapped Karen.
"It's not my fault!" cried Freddy, suddenly looking Incredibly Cute.
"Awwww..." said everyone else.
"Oh, I'm sure it is," said Karen, recovering more quickly than the others, due to more exposure to the effect. "You didn't mean it, but it's your fault."
Angry voices could be heard approaching the gate. Karen looked up, then turned around and went into action. She grabbed Freddy's gym bag, her gym bag and Freddy, and hurried towards a cabana.
"I saw the holster for your Boy/Girl Gun in your bag. Don't know why you brought it, but... Well, change yourself and put on my other suit."
Freddy didn't even protest, just took the two gym bags, ducked inside the cabana and slammed the door.
Hub went over to the gate and calmly opened it.
"You got a short, muscular blond guy about twenty years old in here?" the chubby, bald guy demanded.
"Nope," said Hub, who figured Freddy was no longer a guy by now, and was definitely not "about twenty."
He started to close the gate, but the guy shoved it back open.
"Listen, we saw him running this way! You better not be hiding him!"
Hub shrugged and stepped back.
"Look for yourself."
The man entered, accompanied by several others. They were all male, and divided into buff guys in their late teens and overweight guys in their twenties or thirties. They stood for a moment, looking at the back yard and its contents, then started milling around. Several of them were distracted by Talli, but the rest were too angry for that just now. The angry ones checked under the snack table, then approached the cabanas. One was open, and after a quick glance inside they were satisfied. The other was being guarded by Karen.
"There's someone changing in there," Karen told the approaching men.
"Well, we want to look," snarled the fat, balding guy Freddy had punched earlier.
"It's a girl, you pervert!" yelled Karen, causing him to shy back.
"I don't meant look like that!" the guy quickly amended. "I mean when she's finished we have to look for the guy we're after. Just to make sure."
Karen frowned, then turned and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?" asked a female voice.
"Some guys need to check in there for something."
"I'm having a bit of trouble with the suit."
"Well, you better hurry," said Karen, uneasily eyeing the angry men crowding around the cabana.
There was a slight pause, then a click, and the door opened slowly. f-Freddy timidly exited the cabana, towel draped over her shoulders, gym bag dangling from her right hand. Even with the towel, nosebleeds started almost immediately. On Karen the spare suit would have been far more daring than the one-piece she actually wore. On f-Freddy it made Talli look modest. It also left no doubt as to Freddy's current gender.
"Ooooohhhh..." the assembled males breathed, as Freddy blushed furiously.
"When you told me you had a suit for me I didn't realize it would be so... risqué," huffed Freddy.
She glanced around at the assembly and sighed in resignation, realizing she better play the role for all it was worth. She started forward, the men automatically yielding before her, and sauntered across the pool deck to the lounge beside Jim. The watching men turned as one to follow her progress. Jim had both hands firmly clamped over his nose. Freddy smiled and blew a kiss at him, draped the towel over the back of the lounge (in the process bending from the hips in an exaggerated manner) then lay down. Jim by now had actually passed out. Several of the invading males were in only slightly more conscious conditions.
"Didn't you come here to do something?" asked Karen, pointedly.
Some of the men shook themselves and looked quickly in the cabana. They muttered apologies, gathered their compatriots and left in embarrassed - and distracted - silence. Freddy smiled and waved as they exited through the gate. Hub quickly closed and fastened it, then leaned against it, sagging in relief.
There was a moment of silence. Then they all (except Jim, who was still unconscious, and Doctor Sumt'ang, who was still submerged) burst out in muffled laughter.
"Oh, my, that was cool!" snickered Hub. "Freddy, you deserve an Oscar!"
"I never thought learning to flirt with the crowd while doing cheers would ever be useful for something else," she laughed, flushed with embarrassment. "Karen, where did you get this suit?!"
"I wear it to sunbathe," said Karen, blushing delicately. "I just leave it in the bag so I'll know where it is."
Normally, such a comment would have elicited a lecherous reaction from the males, but since Freddy was in said skimpy outfit their libidos were too distracted.
"I can't believe how good she looks," whined Ramet. "I've had a lot of experience shifting into female forms, and I never can manage to look that sexy."
"Is that a compliment or an insult?" muttered Freddy, sitting up and reaching for the towel. "Well, they're gone, so I guess I can change back."
"You better stay that way until you leave," said Hub, uneasily. "I can still hear them prowling around out there. You don't want them to see the regular you getting into Ramet's saucer."
"Argh," sighed Freddy, covering her head with the towel.
* * *
"That's it," sighed Karen, leaning back and closing her notebook. "Our first issue is completely planned! Now all we have to do is print and distribute it."
"Well done," said Doctor Sumt'ang. "Have well, youngsters, fun. Home heading I'm. Your the Hub thanks of pool, for use."
"You're welcome!" Hub called out, as the fireplug-like alien left.
Freddy sighed and stood to remove the towels Hub had found for her. The group had quickly realized the only way they were getting any work done was for all the girls to cover up. The others had brought robes, expecting this situation.
"Hoo!" yelled Jim. "More pool!"
He quickly jumped up, stuffed his notes in his gym bag and jumped into the water. He was first by only a small margin. Freddy was the last, since she wasn't sure just how stable that top would be in a run. She also eased herself down the ladder, rather than jumping in. She turned to see all the males staring at her rump.
"Hey! C'mon, guys!"
"'C'mon,' yourself," snickered Karen. "You're the one who keeps telling me it's instinct and that you can't help yourself."
Freddy sank into the water, grumbling. Then came right back up, buoyed by her built-in floatation. Growling in frustration, she leaned forward and tried to swim. Only her arms kept hitting her generous chest, threatening to dislodge her top. She tried to find a better position, and rolled onto her back.
"Oooohhh..." said the guys, watching her bob in the waves their activity had stirred up.
"This is ridiculous!" Freddy fumed. "First I had to wrap myself in 3 towels so the guys could concentrate on our paper, and now I can't even swim!"
"Oh, Freddy, deal with it!" snapped Karen.
She turned and neatly knifed through the water, swimming away strongly.
"Yeah," said Talli, smirking. "At least with you here, they aren't staring at me."
Freddy tried a few more types of strokes, but found them either too awkward or too stimulating to the guys, or both. She tried just floating, but that was too stimulating, as well, and not just to the guys. She tried just standing in the shallows, but that left her chest deep in the water, and she bobbed as it waved, which caused nosebleeds. Disgusted, Freddy climbed out, forgetting what had happened when she climbed in until she heard the reaction.
Gritting her teeth, Freddy strode as mannishly as possible to her lounge and wrapped herself in a beach towel, sitting there fuming while the others swam. For a while, she thought about using her Boy/Girl Gun to make all of them female, but the thought of a topless Hub made her wince. Then she remembered something else.
Carefully, waiting until the others were involved in some impromptu game, she snuck over to the box with the Buster Gun. She retrieved the device and hurriedly examined it. Freddy had expected the usual trigger plus a slider switch, going from small to large, but instead found the trigger and two three-position switches. Both of the latter were labeled with alien symbols. Most of those she didn't recognize, but one meant "support." Well, Freddy had plenty of that, for a girl of her build. So, the other must control size. Now, which way to turn it for reduction? Freddy guessed, pointed the gun at herself, braced for impact, and briefly squeezed the trigger.
Freddy yelped as her now-much-larger boobs threatened to rip her top off. She fumbled for the button, flipped it the other way, pointed, and squeezed. Not realizing she'd accidentally moved the "support" switch instead of the "size" switch. Freddy's breasts were now even larger, and sagging to her navel, actually sliding out of her top. Quickly, almost dropping the gun, she flipped both switches to the opposite settings and used the gun on herself.
"Much better!" gasped Freddy, hurriedly pulling her top back in place.
She had to retie the strings, since her boobs were now only a little over half the size they usually were, but that was quick and easy. She put the gun in its box and turned to sneak back to her lounge. Only to find all the others staring at her, open-mouthed.
"Freddy," said Hub, quietly, "you really shouldn't use untried gadgets on yourself."
"What, did I grow a tail or something?" she asked, twisting to hurriedly examine her body.
"Ah, no. But, well, you know this doesn't wear off. That's now your normal size."
"So? I didn't like being so zaftig, anyway," said Freddy, defiantly.
"What will that make you look like as a boy?" asked Karen.
"I don't have boobs as a boy, so there shouldn't be any difference," Freddy replied.
"Well, that's probably right," said Hub. "If she'd stayed bigger, though, m-Freddy would have had problems."
"What are you going to tell the girls on the cheerleading squad?" Karen demanded.
"Oh, c'mon. We can change me back before we leave." Freddy laughed, and bounced up and down a bit, feeling the weight loss. "Right now, I'm enjoying getting a load off my chest!"
Of course, the fact she was now a few cup sizes smaller didn't change the fact that Freddy made a striking girl. Blood was flowing from that bouncing display as she dove in.
* * *
"Okay, zap me," sighed Freddy.
After a bit of discussion, she had wrapped the towel around her and removed her top under it. Handing the top to Karen, she was irritated to see the guys reacting strongly to the concept that she was topless under the towel.
"Hub!"
"Oh! Sorry..."
He checked the settings and tripped the trigger.
"Yipe! Hey, I told you that thing worked fast!"
Karen turned Freddy around and opened the towel for a look.
"Wow," was all she'd say, but that and her wide-eyed expression spoke volumes.
"Go down for about half that long," said Freddy, looking over her shoulder. She frowned and felt herself. "But don't change the firmness!"
"You pervert," snickered Karen.
She quickly stepped out of the line of fire. Hub flipped the size switch to smaller and the firmness switch to off and tried again, shooting at Freddy's back.
"Too small," sighed Freddy, looking down.
Karen stepped in, took a quick look, and nodded.
Hub flipped the size switch to bigger and tried again.
"Too big!" exclaimed Freddy.
"Yeah," said Karen, after an evaluating look. "You're getting closer, though."
"I don't think I can trip it for any shorter time," said Hub, anxiously.
"Here, let me try," said Ramet. "I've got smaller fingers and quick reflexes."
He took the gun, pointed casually in Freddy's direction as Karen fled, and pulled the trigger.
"Wrong way!" yelled Freddy, suddenly leaning forward. "And too long! Boy, was that too long!"
"Oops," said Ramet, grinning.
After several more tries Freddy was finally as close to normal size (confirmed by Karen with a tape measure borrowed from Hub's mother) as she was likely to get. Now came the acid test. Karen stood in front of Freddy and used the Boy/Girl Gun.
"Well?" asked Hub, anxiously, as Karen stood silently staring.
"Oh, my," was all she'd say.
"Hey!" yelped Freddy, closing the towel as he realized where Karen was looking. "I knew I should'a put my swimsuit back on!"
"Oh, quit fussing," Karen snickered, blushing. "Those Speedos don't cover much more."
"Yeah, but that little difference means a lot," Freddy muttered.
"Is his chest okay, though?" Hub insisted.
Freddy opened the top of the towel. Karen looked, then felt.
"Well, he seems a little swollen and soft, but that could be from the water."
"Okay, for now, then, we'll settle," said Hub, nodding. "I'll work on reducing the speed of effect, and we can fine-tune Freddy's chest later, if we need to."
"Wait a minute," said Talli, as something occurred to her. "Does that thing change guys, too? I mean, could it give a normal guy boobs?"
"Well, of course," said Hub. "It affects all mammals."
"Interesting..." said Talli, grinning.
Karen zapped Freddy again, then handed the gun over.
"Hey!"
"Those guys are still out there, remember."
"Oh. Well, okay."
"Get changed into what you wore here. They were loose enough they should fit girl you. You can zap yourself back to a guy once we're in Ramet's saucer."
"Yes, ma'am," sighed f-Freddy.
She headed for the cabana.
End Part Twelve
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 13
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"So, how was your away game trip?" asked Karen, as she invited Freddy into her home.
"Horrible," he replied, rolling his eyes. "Three days and two nights mostly cooped up in a bus or a motel room with a bunch of ditzy cheerleaders, and we lost the game anyway."
"Yeah, I knew about that," said Karen. She hugged him. "Well, if you were on the team they'd be doing better."
They meandered into the living room, arm-in-arm, sat on the couch, and greeted each other a little less casually.
"Mmmm, that feels good," sighed Freddy, continuing to hug Karen after they broke off from their kiss.
"Do I detect someone desperately needing to reassert his masculinity?" Karen asked, smirking.
"Yeah. Especially after the girls decided to give me a makeover."
"They didn't!" exclaimed Karen, trying not to laugh and failing.
"Took me hours to get the polish off after I got home, yesterday," sighed Freddy. "That was just my fingernails. I didn't even bother with the toenails."
Karen lost her Cool, and fell back on the couch, laughing.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh at the boy forced to live as a girl for 3 days," groused Freddy. "If you weren't helping me with the homework I missed I wouldn't put up with this."
"Oh?" said Karen, eyeing him from where she lay. "Just what would you like to do?"
"How about this?" said Freddy, grinning fiendishly as he mimed tickling her.
"Like that's gonna do anything," said Karen, daring him to.
Freddy reached out, briefly tickled her belly and snatched his hand back.
"Ha. Ha. I can't stand it."
"Okay," muttered Freddy, emboldened.
He dove in with all ten fingers, first on top of her shirt, then under it. Karen shrieked and bucked, then laughed helplessly as she tried to get away. In seconds, though, their play changed nature, and the two of them were rolling passionately on the couch.
Freddy was ecstatic. Not only were they French kissing, she was letting him feel her up under her bra with both hands! Was he finally gonna?! Karen started sliding her hand down the front of his pants, and Freddy went faint with excitement. Only then he went faint with something else, as Karen's hand kept going without hitting his thing. Freddy suddenly noticed a lot more tit between them than there had been a moment before.
"Oh, NO!' Freddy yelled, sitting up and staring at the wobbling bulges under her shirt. "Who sniped me this time?"
"Ow," said Karen, mildly, trying to wiggle her trapped hand free of Freddy's suddenly much tighter shorts.
Carefully, Freddy unbuttoned and unzipped her shorts, and Karen freed her hand.
"How did this happen?" asked Karen, bewilderedly looking vaguely around the room. "The drapes are closed. My brother went with my parents. We're alone!"
She was startled as Freddy buried her face in her hands and broke down into tears.
"I don't believe this! Why do these things keep happening to me?"
"Are you all right?" asked Karen, her concern making her forget her irritation.
"Yeah," sighed, Freddy, sniffling and wiping her nose. "I'm sorry. I just suddenly feel really shitty, and I've got this cramp in my gut, and..."
"That sounds like a full-blown period," said Karen, startled.
"Oh, shit," groaned Freddy. "I was just starting to feel my period coming on when I changed back on the bus during the return trip. I've always managed to avoid them before, by changing back into a guy."
"Well, unless you brought your Boy/Girl Gun with you, you're going to feel this one, for at least a while," sighed Karen. "Eewww, I think you're already spotting."
"Huh?" said Freddy, confused.
Karen pointed to her crotch. Freddy looked down, and could see a bit of blood staining her shorts.
"Aw, no..." she groaned.
She looked like she was about to start bawling again, so Karen quickly took her by the hand and led Freddy into her parent's bathroom. She opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out some Midol, handing this to Freddy. While Freddy gulped the recommended dose, Karen searched through the cabinets.
"I use tampons, but I bet you don't want one of those inside you when you change back," she muttered. "My Mom, though, almost always uses pads. Here we go!"
Freddy, unusually passive, allowed Karen to strip off her shorts and underwear, clean her, and get her outfitted with a pair of panties with a "heavy flow" pad inside.
"I'll put your things in to soak," sighed Karen, far more familiar with the routine than was usually-boy Freddy. "Then I'll find you something to wear. Though I guess a bra is out of the question; you're bigger than me and my Mom put together."
Soon, with Freddy feeling much better thanks to the medicine and a bit embarrassed thanks to a pleated skirt, they returned to the living room.
"Well, at least we'll actually get my homework done," sighed Freddy, trying to find a bright spot.
"You know, if you weren't having your period..." muttered Karen. She stopped, shaking herself. "Never mind."
Freddy just looked at her, wondering if she actually meant...
"Wait a minute!" said Karen, suddenly. "What about your Gender Guard?"
Freddy dug the pendant out from between her breasts.
"Still green. I don't remember hearing it chirp, either. So what's going on here? Has someone figured out a new way to switch people?"
"Well, you've got your own switcher at home," Karen reassured her.
"Yeah, but getting there's gonna be a problem," sighed Freddy. "I still feel bad, and too sore to ride my bike. Like I'd ride one anyway when I'm wearing one of your skirts."
"Not to mention a pair of my Mom's panties," snickered Karen. She feigned histrionics. "Oh, the horror! My boyfriend is wearing my mother's underwear!"
By the time Karen's parents returned home Freddy's shorts and underwear were clean and dry and the homework done. Unfortunately, Freddy was still a girl.
"I really wish you'd replaced your Boy/Girl Gun after it was stolen," she sighed.
Karen's Mom called her in to do some chores while Freddy gathered her things. Freddy was almost ready to go when Karen returned, an odd, mischievous look in her eyes.
"So, your Dad going to give me a ride?"
"Actually, Mom asked if 'your little friend' would like to stay the night," said Karen, voice and manner carefully neutral.
Freddy's eyes, dulled by menstruation and medication, grew slowly wider as the import of that sank in.
"You... she... we... how..."
"C'mon, it'll be a sleepover!" said Karen, eagerly. "You already have your school things here..."
"But no bra. More importantly, no Boy/Girl Gun."
"Which is the only reason I'm inviting you," was Karen's pointed rejoinder.
Freddy actually considered it. Then shook her head.
"No. Sorry. I'm feeling really bad about this whole being a girl thing just now, and just want to go back to being a guy."
"Okay, let's do it the other way, then," said Karen. "I spend the whole night at your place, with both of us as guys. We can tell crude jokes and see who can fart loudest and all that stuff."
"Now you're just being silly," said Freddy. "And it's belch loudest."
"Yeah," said Karen, grinning. "You sure you don't want to sleep with me tonight? The bed's big enough..."
"Karen, please!" said Freddy. She stopped, took a deep breath. "Okay, even though I'm a girl I still like girls, so it wouldn't be proper. Besides, the way I'm feeling now it wouldn't be any fun for either of us."
"Okay," sighed Karen. She gave Freddy a sisterly peck on the cheek. "I'll ask Dad to drive you over. We can put your bike in the back of the minivan."
* * *
Freddy knew he was dreaming, which actually made it more fun, since he knew they wouldn't have the roof cave in or something. Then, just as he and Karen were about to consummate their relationship, Freddy's dream self was a girl. There followed a some confused fumbling, then a hot lesbian love scene. Freddy woke slowly, enjoying the afterglow but feeling disoriented. A quick head shake and a quick self-grope explained why. Freddy was again completely female.
Too groggy to feel more than confused and angry, Freddy used the Boy/Girl Gun - still laying on the dresser from earlier - to change back. The clock showed more than three hours before the alarm, so Freddy cleaned up as best he could and went back to sleep.
In the morning, showering, Freddy remembered the dream. Had it been caused by how close he'd gotten the afternoon before? Or Karen's hints that she was willing to give f-Freddy a good time? Also, how had he changed?
Thinking about the dream, and Karen, made Freddy feel a lot better than wondering about these strange gender flips. Made him feel so good, in fact, that he got turned on. Only, as Freddy started playing with his thing, it suddenly went away. Freddy looked down and gasped at the sight of two suds-covered breasts.
"What in Ghu's name is going on here?" she whispered.
Freddy was still turned on. And all soapy. But she was also still having her period. She finished rinsing, dried quickly, and wadded some toilette paper to hold between her legs while she considered her next course of action. The main objective was getting back to her room without being seen. Wearing her boy clothes, toilette paper precariously held in place by her shorts, she listened carefully at the door, then cracked it open and peeked out. Her aunt was definitely in the kitchen, making breakfast, and her uncle was probably in the den reading the paper. Freddy made a dash for her room, jiggling mightily. Once there a quick switch was made.
"Eewww..." said Freddy, as he disposed of the blood-stained toilet paper, and cleaned himself.
This was definitely not normal. As soon as he got to school, he was going to see the Nurse. Or, the way things were going, she would.
* * *
"Well, all the readings check out normal," the Nurse told him, frowning. "Are you sure you didn't get sniped?"
"Yeah," sighed Freddy.
The Nurse undulated over to her desk and sat, leaning forward to query her computer. Her voluptuous breasts took advantage of the opportunity to shape themselves in a way which really pushed Freddy's buttons. Her head feathers - the only part of her which did not look human - draped sexily around her shoulders, lending an exotic touch. Freddy found himself really wanting to get to know her better. Then realized it would have to be a platonic relationship at the moment, since they were both female.
"Uhm, Nurse?" f-Freddy asked timidly. "Do you have anything for menstrual cramps?"
She looked up at Freddy, first puzzled then startled. She rose abruptly and hurried over. She then proceeded to give Freddy a thorough examination.
"Are you sure you didn't zap yourself just to pretend something is wrong?" she asked suspiciously after a few minutes.
"You've still got my clothes - with my Boy/Girl Gun in the holster on the belt - on the chair over there," was Freddy's testy reply.
"Sorry. It's just that... well, unless someone's come up with a new effect, this isn't sniping. According to both my own experience, and my references, this is exactly the sort of thing which happens when children of shapeshifting species start developing their powers."
"Earth humans don't have powers!" Freddy exclaimed.
"Except you already have one. If this is a power developing, that'll make two for you."
"But... but the triplicate power was the result of taking an alien drug!"
"Except that the effects of Tsoob are temporary," said Nurse. "I'd say that maybe it triggered latent powers. There's no documented instances of Earth humans having powers, but there's plenty of anecdotal evidence. I'll send your biodata off to some specialists, and see what they say."
"So, meanwhile, I can't think about sex?" was Freddy's plaintive inquiry.
"This is triggered by sexual thoughts? Interesting..."
She went to the medicine locker and brought some things back for Freddy, stopping on the way to fill a paper cup with water.
"These pills will work better than any Earth medicine, and these pads will fit and work better than anything from an Earth pharmacy."
"Can't I just change back?" whined Freddy, sitting up, then wincing. She quickly swallowed the pill, and stood so Nurse could help her fit the pad. "I don't have cheerleading practice today, and I really don't want to be a girl right now."
"You should avoid using the Boy/Girl Gun until we know more about what's happening," Nurse told her firmly. "There's a chance that could aggravate the situation."
"So I just have to live with switching unpredictably until your experts can come up with something." Freddy heaved a big sigh. "I don't even have any girl clothes with me. Which doesn't matter, anyway, since I'd probably just switch back."
"Oh, I can help you with that," said Nurse, smiling sweetly.
Freddy felt an immediate sense of dread.
End Part Thirteen
Note that in the rules of the Teenagers From Outer Space RPG titillation and teasing are allowed, but any attempts at actual intercourse always fail.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 14
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
Freddy - fortunately male again - walked into class wearing an odd outfit, a snug-fitting, short-sleeved blue jumpsuit. Most people gave him no more than a puzzled glance, but Ramet and a couple of others looked startled, and Ramet actually gave a short, sharp laugh.
"Hey, Freddy," said Karen. "Did the nurse fix you up? And what's with the jumpsuit?"
"It's a shapeshifter's training suit," snickered Ramet, before Freddy could speak. "It changes shape with the wearer, and helps maintain a particular shape."
"Huh? Oh, because you keep..."
"Yeah, yeah," said Freddy, quickly. "I have to wear this until the medical people figure out what's going on."
Fortunately, most of the day went pretty uneventfully, Freddy not even changing once. In the middle of the afternoon, however, people began talking about the latest development in alien affairs. Civics class had moved on to other things, but those doing the work on the school paper decided to continue it. In their scheduled meeting during what for most people was study hall, the newspaper group was excited about the new arrivals, of whom Freddy had never heard.
"We'll have to re-write our front page," said Karen, with a mixture of excitement and resignation.
"Who are these Benzemen, anyway?" Freddy asked.
"They're an intergalactic force for law and order," said Talli, sounding both impressed and resigned. "They can be recognized by the triform symbol they wear on the backs of their hands. Or other body part, for lifeforms without hands. Get your mind out of the gutter."
"What do they do, though?" Freddy demanded. "Why are they here?"
"They said something about saving the Earth," said Jim. "Whatever it is, you can bet it's big. They don't get involved in small stuff."
"Well, if they don't tell us anything more by tomorrow we'll just mention that they're here and we don't know why," muttered Karen, staring at the computer screen where she was doing the layout. "Maybe the next issue we can print more."
"Maybe we should try and do some investigative reporting," said Freddy, a bit too enthusiastically.
"Oh, no," said Talli. "Bad idea. "They really don't like people spying on them."
"Don't, Freddy," said Karen, firmly. "Just let it go."
* * *
After their planning session, Freddy was on his way to gym class when Talli stopped him.
"Hi," she said, smiling. "Say, can we talk for a bit?"
"Not for long," said Freddy, glancing meaningfully at the clock in the hall. He then resumed staring at her blouse.
"Well, I can do part of it quickly now, and the long stuff later," she said, smiling as she pulled her shoulders back a bit more. She looked around, then to Freddy's surprise shuffled the two of them into the little cubby formed by a recessed storeroom door and the lockers on either side. "Listen, Karen said something about you changing into a girl without being zapped."
"Yeah..." sighed Freddy, distracted by their closeness.
"You actually did, then?" said Talli. "Okay, well, I need to see you after school. It's about why that - and you getting that triplicate power - may be happening."
She winked at him, then sauntered off, the sight of her wiggling rear under her short skirt doing interesting things to Freddy's body chemistry. Things which, unfortunately, meant Freddy had to take gym class with the girls. Freddy noted, sourly, that her jumpsuit was now pink.
* * *
Freddy slowly and carefully unlocked his bike. He was moving slowly and carefully mostly because of all the bandages, though the pain certainly was a contributing factor. He was so preoccupied that Talli's approach caught him by surprise.
"Oh, hi. That's right; you wanted to talk to me."
"Yeah," said Talli. "If you want, we can ride together."
"That's okay," said Freddy, with a bit of a sigh. "Karen's not riding with me anyway, because of what happened in the girls' shower."
"Y'know, that's really not fair of her," said Talli, sympathetically. "You can't control the changes, can you?"
"Not really," Freddy admitted, slowly and carefully mounting his bike.
"Well, anyway, I wanted to tell you something, but you've got to promise not to tell anyone else."
"Okay," said Freddy, absently, as he slowly and carefully peddled away.
"Okay," Talli echoed, moving in close and lowering her voice. "I'm a spy."
"Huh?" said Freddy, nearly wrecking despite the low speed and care, as what she had said registered.
Talli nodded.
"There's several of us here, from several different governments. Flinkpoid is another one, from a group that's a rival of the one I'm with. Most of us are really teenagers, trained since childhood. Some are a bit older but can pass. A few are older shapeshifters, who shift into a younger form to come to school."
"You're not joking?" said Freddy, confused. "I mean... Why?!"
"Well, there's a lot of reasons, but the one that mostly concerns you, personally, is so we can gather data on the emergence of super powers in a new population."
"Uh..." replied Freddy.
"Look, most mature civilizations have at least a small percentage of their population who have powers," Talli explained, as they peddled along. "Most young civilizations may have scattered individuals with powers, but even those are usually presented as legends. However, whenever a young civilization has been introduced to mature ones they have all had people develop powers very quickly. We're here to observe how and why this happens, and maybe learn how to cause or prevent powers deliberately."
"Oh," was all Freddy could say.
"Just... well, we've tapped into the school's medical records, but some people may not think that's enough. So just be careful. You may be kidnapped for examination."
"Well, that's reassuring," said Freddy, suddenly much more alert.
"The Greys are really bad about that, but at least they don't dissect, like some do."
"Yow!"
* * *
Freddy and Ramet crept carefully along the ditch towards the center of the camp the Benzemen had set up in the woods outside the city. The pair had been chosen - by the guys of the paper staff; they'd tell the girls later - for this reconnaissance mission for a combination of reasons: Both were pretty good athletically, and could hold their own in a fight, and both could change their shape without needing to use devices. They were both currently in human male form, and wore ordinary Earth clothing, all made from natural materials. They wore heavy cotton t-shirts, cotton pants, and shoes of cotton, leather and/or rubber; no metal, no synthetics. Given all the plant and animal life and plant debris in the area, they were practically undetectable by the Benzemen.
"They depend so much on high-tech stuff that they assume everybody does," Talli had explained - late in the paper planning session, when they were talking more about the Benzemen - without explaining how she knew this. Though Freddy thought he could now make a pretty good guess as to the how.
One of the first tasks performed by the Benzemen in setting up their camp was to dig drainage ditches. Even though this was the dry part of the year. Which was fortunate for them, because their camp was in a low area and the drainage ditches would just bring more water in faster than what would happen naturally. Still, it did offer Freddy and Ramet an easy path in. All fresh, hard-packed dirt, bordered by tall undergrowth and the occasional sapling.
Stopping frequently to peek carefully over the edge, they reached the main hut without incident. They waited, listening to the quiet sounds of a sleeping camp and the woods around, timing the guards' patrols. Once sure that A) the hut was currently unoccupied and B) they could get in unseen, they made a quick dash across the open ground. The door wasn't even locked.
"That was lucky," whispered Freddy, as they closed the door behind them. "Uh, how do we see what's here? We can't turn the light on, and..."
"I'm giving myself owl eyes," said Ramet. "There's enough light coming in from the windows that I can see pretty good."
Actually, there was enough light that even Freddy could make out some details, though not enough to actually read anything. He did note that Ramet's eyes were *HUGE*.
The alien boy turned on the holodisplay, with the brightness so low that all Freddy could see was a faint glow. Ramet made fussy sounds as he searched for something which would reveal the Benzemen's mission. Suddenly, he stiffened, with a sharp intake of breath. He quickly looked at something else, apparently seeking confirmation. Then, his expression grim, he switched the display off and turned to Freddy.
"The Big G is coming," was all he said.
"That's nice," said Freddy, confused. "Do we need to bake a cake?"
"I'll explain later. Right now we need to get out of here."
Ramet returned his eyes to normal, and they moved back to the door. Ramet listened and, hearing nothing, opened it a crack. Seeing nothing, he slowly opened it and he and Freddy sneaked out. They closed the door and scurried back to the ditch. They were almost there, when a bright light blinded them. A blaster shot rang out, the beam passing right between their heads, singing their hair.
"Halt! Or I'll fire!" a voice cried.
"You've already fired, you idiot!" said another voice.
"Oh. Well, I've always had trouble with that."
"What's so difficult about getting things in the right order?"
"Oh, don't be so picky. It's not like I hit them."
"That's another thing! You need more gunnery practice!"
By this time, Freddy and Ramet were in the ditch and halfway back to the edge of the camp.
"Hey!" cried a distant voice. "I told you to halt!"
Now blaster beams criss-crossed the air above the ditch. Not just where the two boys were, but all along the length. These were accompanied by multiple screams, as the beams found inappropriate targets. Just about the time Freddy and Ramet reached the edge of the camp, however, they heard a deeper, louder voice yelling orders. The random fire ceased, and lights began playing along the ditch. Flying craft were also taking off, and heading towards the woods. The boys reached the end of the ditch, jumped out and ran into the woods.
"Wait," said Ramet, as the reached a hiking trail.
Freddy looked around in time to see Ramet change into a buxom blond teenager. She winked, and yanked up her t-shirt, showing her bare chest to Freddy. He was just starting to feel the blood begin to run from his nose, when suddenly it was her nose.
"That was a dirty trick," f-Freddy muttered, as Ramet lowered her shirt.
"Sorry," she giggled, grinning. "No time to be polite."
They waited a moment to catch their breath, then began jogging along the trail. Sure enough, within moments a flyer swooped down and spotlighted them.
"Hi!" Ramet called out, vapidly, bouncing up and down a bit as she waved.
Freddy, realizing what she was doing, joined in.
There was an odd, strangled sound from the flyer, which wavered unsteadily. The light snapped out.
"Have either of you ladies seen some men come running through here from the direction of our camp?" asked a somewhat strained male voice.
"Which way is that?" asked Freddy, in his best Suzy imitation.
"Never mind," mumbled the voice.
The flyer moved away.
* * *
"We encountered two more flyers and a foot patrol," said f-Freddy, after she and a now-male Ramet met the others at the designated spot. The girls were very upset over what the guys had done. Though Freddy had the impression that Talli was mostly acting. "Same tactic worked every time. Even the female Benzemen just rolled their eyes and waved us on."
"You were lucky," said Talli. "They've had a lot of groupies in the area, mostly girls trying to get a look at the handsome Benzemen."
"The Benzewomen are handsome, too," snickered Ramet.
"So who is this Big G?" asked Karen, impatiently.
"A cosmic being who feeds on distilled quintessence of ectothere," sighed Ramet, suddenly looking depressed. "He's practically unstoppable. Just shows up, drains a planet dry, and moves on."
"What... what happens to the planet?" Freddy asked.
"It becomes dull, lusterless and mundane," said Flinkpoid, startling them by speaking for the first time in their experience. "Centuries are required to recover."
"That's right," said Ramet, sympathetically. "Lapine, your homeworld, was victimized by the Big G about two thousand years ago."
"Yes," said the bunny guy. "Several centuries of no art, no fun, not even comedic used car salesmen, just bureaucrats and politicians."
"I think he's already been here," muttered Jim.
"No," said Ramet, firmly. "Believe me, Earth is a relative paradise compared to worlds ravaged by this monster."
"So what can we do?" asked Freddy, desperately.
"I have a plan," said Ramet, with a grim smile.
End Part Fourteen
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 15
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"His coming is foreshadowed by the arrival of his scout, the Silver Scorcher, riding on his Cosmic Sled," said Ramet.
He called up an image from his library card. In it, a naked, silver guy riding an odd contraption soared across a background of stars.
"That looks like an ironing board," Freddy offered.
"It's his Cosmic Sled," Ramet insisted. "It has folding landing gear underneath and a padded, heat-resistant protective layer on top."
"Yep," Freddy nodded, "an ironing board. Why is he naked?"
"Many cosmic beings go without clothes," said Talli, staring at the image with a slight smile.
"Because they have advanced beyond the concept of good and evil and no longer feel a need to cover their nakedness?" asked Jim.
"Uhm, actually, many of them can't hold a regular job so they have no money for clothes," said Ramet, a bit embarrassedly. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, we need to consult an expert. There's a Junior I know who's a cosmic entities trivia buff."
* * *
"Yes, I've been listening to the news reports," said Argy Bee, a sort of armadillo-looking guy, blinking sleepily. "In fact, a local video station this afternoon interviewed the commander of the phalanx of Benzemen here on Earth, while they were setting up their camp. I recorded it, just like I have been recording everything connected to this event."
They had burst in on his exchange family, claiming a desperate emergency. Forgetting that this was what teenagers always did when they wanted to talk to someone. Still, they were directed to the Junior's bedroom, where they explained why they were there. Argy shared their opinion of the situation, but not their sense of urgency. However, he did agree to tell them what he knew. After relating the above, he turned on his entertainment unit and fiddled a bit with it. Soon, the recording of the segment began playing back.
"I am here today with Major Harm, a Senior Commander of the Benzemen," said the reporter. "Major, there has been a lot of curiosity in regard to why your group is here. Can you tell us?"
"Certainly," he said, boldly.
The reporter waited, but Major Harm said nothing else; he simply stood there, looking noble and handsome.
"So, exactly what are you doing here?" asked the reporter, finally.
"Our mission is part of a long-term plan for dealing with the Big G," Major Harm boldly announced. "We call it Ultimate Denial. You should feel honored. This is the first world where we have tried this."
"Wow! How does it work?"
"When we determine that the Big G is heading for a planet to feed, we get there first and blow it up."
"You blow up... the planet..." said the reporter, numbly, his frozen smile thawing a bit.
"That is correct."
"But... Earth is inhabited!"
"That is also correct," Major Harm acknowledged, matter-of-factly.
"What's the big idea?!" the man cried, shocked.
"The idea is to deny the Big G his source of nutrition. Eventually, he'll starve to death. Hopefully, this will happen before we run out of habitable planets."
"But... But... What about the people?" The reporter's voice was now a squeak.
"Well, they'll have to leave, of course," Major Harm harrumphed. "Casualties of war, for the greater good, and all that."
"How... how long do we have?"
The Major looked at his watch. The image went blank and the sound went "Beeeeeeee..."
"We are experiencing technical difficulties," an anonymous voice announced.
"They're going go blow up the Earth?!" screamed Karen.
"Oh, now, that's just silly," said Talli, fists on hips. "Even for the Benzemen."
"If you hadn't been tramping around in the woods, you'd have known this already," said Argy, sourly. "The Alien Control Office has been yelling at Benzemen Command, so far without much result."
"I wonder if that's why we got in so easily and out with such difficulty," mused Ramet. "At first they were distracted by the protest, and then decided to go on alert when they realized the ACO was seriously pissed."
"I can't believe they're just going to... and they just said it, out plain...!" stammered Freddy.
"That's why the Alien Control Officer at the station cut them off," said Argy. "They want to avoid a panic."
"Too late," said Talli, rolling her eyes.
"We can't get everyone off the planet in..." Ramet frowned. "How long do we have?"
"The Silver Scorcher was sighted over the Pyrenees Mountains a few hours ago. The Big G will head straight here as soon as the Silver Scorcher completes his survey and reports back. We've got maybe sixteen hours."
"We've got to do something!" yelled Freddy. "Can't we pay this Scorcher guy off, or something?"
"No," said Argy. "He's bound to serve the Big G, no matter his personal feelings on the matter. And, boy, does he keep whining about it!"
"Listen, the Big G is after this essence stuff, right?"
"Distilled quintessence of ectothere," said Ramet.
"Well, can't we find some and use it as bait to lure him away?"
"It is impossible to synthesize," said Ramet, pompously, "and even if we had the time, extracting enough from your world to sate him would have the same effect as if he went ahead and fed."
"Is there any somewhere else we could use? To get this... stuff from?!"
"No. Like I said, it can't be synthesized. It also is only present on inhabited worlds with a large population of creative people. They certainly wouldn't welcome us taking theirs to keep the Big G from taking yours."
"We can't just sit here!" exclaimed Karen. "Even if the Big G doesn't come, the Benzemen are still gonna blow up the Earth!"
"Well, actually, the plan is to wait until the Big G lands and starts feeding, then do it," said Argy.
"Would that kill the Big G?" asked Freddy, eagerly.
"No. Though they think it might give him heartburn."
"Okay," said Freddy. "We need to get Hub and talk him into taking us to the Big G in his sport-utility saucer. We'll find some way of stopping him, or at least delaying him. We have to!"
"That's a fool's mission!" exclaimed Ramet. "No-one even tries to enter the Big G's domicile, the Way-Station!"
"Well, maybe someone should!" said Karen, firmly.
* * *
Bleary-eyed, they met at Hub's early the next morning. Ramet had agreed to go with them, but only if he flew his own saucer. The team had assembled a wide variety of equipment, most of it certainly useless against the Big G, but it was what they had to work with. Fortunately, this was a Saturday, so they didn't have to worry about school. Perhaps ever again...
"Everybody ready?" asked Hub, as he climbed into the driver's seat.
They all answered in the affirmative. Hub started the engine, turned on the radio and prepared for liftoff.
"This is useless," whined Argy. "Since we have a saucer, let's just leave!"
"You're not going anywhere except with us," was Freddy's firm reply. "You Know Stuff about cosmic beings, so you're our expert."
"Shush!" said Karen, in the passenger seat beside him, as she turned up the radio.
"Major, what is the status of your mission?" asked a reporter. "I understand there was a significant incursion of your base last..."
"We took heavy casualties and there was considerable damage to the camp, but we routed the attackers," rumbled Major Harm. "We are almost back on schedule, and we *will* be operational on time."
"Wait," said Freddy. He glanced at Ramet. "Are they talking about what we did?!"
"Apparently."
"Well, there's lots of people on Earth who would rather you weren't on schedule," the reporter observed timidly.
"Humph. Civilians. Don't understand the concept of sacrifice."
There was some yelling in the background and then some muffled sounds near the mike.
"I must go now. Good luck to all of you on getting off on time!"
"I would imagine that's what a lot of people are attempting to do this morning," Hub sighed.
Several of those in the van snickered. Then they all burst out laughing, except for Hub and Argy.
"What?" asked the big rhino/whale type guy.
* * *
Hub had spent his money well. His saucer had enough performance that even Ramet's smaller, sportier one had trouble keeping up. Which was probably a good thing. Three hours out, with perhaps seven left before the Big G reached Earth, Hub was anxiously watching his forward scanners.
"Are you sure we're on the right course?" asked Hub, eyeing Argy suspiciously. "If you've steered us wrong..."
"No, I swear," the nervous, armadillo-looking guy replied. "The Way-Station is dead ahead! Remember, he won't be heading for Earth until the Silver Scorcher reports back, so he may simply not be on his way, yet."
"So we'll have to keep going," muttered Hub.
"I heard that some people were trying to delay the Silver Scorcher," Argy offered. "If they succeed - which won't be easy - that will give us more time."
"I'm getting something," said Hub, suddenly. "I'll put it on the main display."
The windshield flickered, and they found themselves looking at a strange, white shape with black markings.
"Is it getting bigger?" asked Freddy, confused.
"No; it's rotating," said Hub. "The display is keeping it about the same size. It's a shiny, black sphere with a white circle, and a symbol in the circle. Right now, only the circle and symbol are actually showing; the rest is too dark, this far from a star. It resembles Earth's infinity symbol."
"So how do we get in?" asked Karen.
"That's... something we have to figure out," sighed Hub.
The object continued to rotate, and became visible in greater detail as they approached, Hub slowing his saucer to a crawl.
"We're over ten thousand kilometers away, and that's about the size it actually looks from here," he announced. "It's... pretty big."
"Wait a minute," Freddy, frowning as he finally saw circle and symbol face-on, "that's a giant 8-ball!"
"I may have an idea..." said Hub, not paying him much attention. "Ramet can teleport, right?"
"Well, yeah," said Karen.
"And Tsoob can increase someone's powers."
"Don't I know it," muttered Freddy.
"If we had some Tsoob, and a megabyte modem*, which we could combine with my portable computer and its cranial interface, we could get Ramet to teleport us in there."
"Where would we get all that?" asked Freddy.
"Oh, I brought some communications gear with a megabyte modem built in," said Argy.
"My portable computer already has a cranial interface," said Hub, a bit smugly.
"I have some Tsoob," said Talli, quietly.
She cowered a bit as the others turned to stare at her.
"Hey, I found what was left after that episode in the cafeteria a few weeks ago. Whoever doped the food threw the box in the kitchen garbage. There were two unopened packages still inside. So I kept them."
"Okay," said Freddy, not sure whether to believe her, but deciding to save that for later. "So, all we need to do now is convince Ramet to cooperate."
* * *
"No! No way! Do you know what that stuff will do me?!"
"It's the only way we can think of to get inside!" said Hub, urgently. "We have to hurry. The Way-Station will head for Earth as soon as the Silver Scorcher returns!"
"No! That's final! You'll just have to find another way!"
"Let me talk to him," sighed Talli.
She pushed forward, to the front console. She then looked expectantly at the others.
"Privately," she said, firmly.
The others crowded into the back of the passenger compartment, not an easy feat considering Hub's size. Talli proceeded to speak quietly with Ramet. Occasionally, the others could hear a bit of something she or he said, but for the most part the conversation was a mystery. Finally, a few minutes later, she turned to them, smiling.
"He'll dock with us in a moment. You better get all your stuff ready."
"What did you say to him?" asked Hub.
"Sorry; that's private."
That was all she'd say.
Ramet didn't look very happy when he entered through the mated airlocks, but he didn't protest.
"Y'see, the areas of the brain through which various powers work are pretty well known," said Hub, as he fit the colander-looking thing on Ramet's head. "What Tsoob does is stimulate those areas randomly, causing the equivalent of a seizure. Using this device, I can induce regular patterns, even with the stimulation of Tsoob!"
Ramet scowled but said nothing.
"Okay, this is all ready. Give him the Tsoob."
"Here," Talli, holding out a squeeze bulb. "I mixed it with Tang."
"Bleah," said Ramet, screwing his eyes closed and sticking out his tongue, to illustrate his opinion of either Tang, Tsoob or both.
Talli quickly shoved the sipper between his lips and squeezed. Ramet's eyes flew open, and he swallowed reflexively. Once committed, he quickly drained the bulb.
"Okay, Ramet, when you feel the buzz starting just relax and let the machine and the drug work. Don't try to do anything until I tell you."
"Right," sighed the chocolate-skinned alien. He suddenly looked queasy. "Ohhh, I don't feel so good."
"Almost there... Okay, push!"
Ramet's eyes glazed over, and his body went rigid. Those in the group felt a strange moment of dislocation, and then felt a crunch and a jolt. The saucer's lights flickered and went out, and down was suddenly that way. Then all was still.
End Part Fifteen
*A Dr. Who in-joke.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 16
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Did anyone get killed besides me?" groaned Argy.
"Ow," said Hub.
"Please get your foot out of my stomach," said Karen.
"Sorry," said Freddy.
"There's still a foot in my stomach," said Karen. "If whoever it belongs to doesn't move it, I'm gonna dig my nails in."
Someone screamed like a girl.
"Hey, Karen, go easy," said Freddy.
"I haven't done it yet!"
"That was Ramet," Hub supplied. "I think the cranial interface fell off. I better see to him."
They very carefully - but quickly, due to the continuing screams - untangled themselves.
Indeed, the alien boy was shifting randomly, and with increasing loss of definition. Hub got the helmet on him and made sure the equipment was still working. Fortunately, it had built-in batteries, because the saucer was currently dead. Ramet stabilized as a vaguely female blob, rested for a moment, then shifted to the usual.
"I... won't be able to take this off until the Tsoob quits," he gasped.
"Say, Freddy, you still wearing that training bra?" asked Jim.
"Training suit," muttered Freddy. "No. I thought I might have to change as a disguise, like I did last night."
"Too bad. We could use that to stabilize him, right?"
"Oh. Well, I brought it with me," said Freddy. "I just didn't put it on."
With some minor difficulty, they stripped Ramet (Talli helping eagerly while Karen blushed, looked away, and went to see if Hub needed any assistance repairing the saucer) and got the suit on him.
"Thanks," he said. "That helps. I'm still not taking off this helmet until I need to. The suit doesn't work on my other powers."
The lights and ventilation came on as Hub got the power plant working, but he wisely left the artificial gravity off.
"Hey, I just had an idea!" Freddy announced. "Talli has Super Strength. We can give her some Tsoob and she can..."
"Whoa, whoa," said the alien girl. "Yeah, I have Super Strength. I also have Super Speed, Force Field and Swap Shop. While the other three could be useful, you don't want me swapping bodies randomly and repeatedly."
"Could you swap with the Big G?" asked Hub.
"Nope. Doesn't work on cosmic beings," said Argy, firmly, shaking his head.
Hub muttered something rude under his breath.
"Does that mean that Doctor Sumt'ang is a cosmic being?" said Freddy, suddenly struck by that thought. "Ow."
"I think our first step should be getting out of this saucer," said Karen, rubbing her elbow.
"Just a minute," said Hub, checking something on the control panel. "Okay, air's breathable. I'll see if I can force the door."
Fortunately, the saucer was a standard model, and not one made for high-gravity worlds. Hub shoved once, hard, and the driver's door squealed open.
"Last stop. Everybody out."
They had landed in a large corridor, running both directions as far as they could see. The two saucers together were too big to actually fit the space available and were jammed solidly at an angle between the walls. The group could also see side corridors, branching left and right as well as up and down.
"Oh, great," muttered Freddy. "This place has no stairs."
"Well, it was built by a guy who can fly," Argy explained, smirking.
"Yeah, but none of us can," muttered Freddy. "Hey, wait! Ramet can Shapechange into a flying creature. Ramet?"
He looked around, then remembered the subject of his quest was still in the van.
"I'm not removing this thing until the Tsoob wears off!" came Ramet's echoing response.
"Nobody here can fly?!" said Talli. "Great. We're scrod."
"These corridors all look the same size," said Hub. "Wow. This is big construction even for my people. We'll need transportation. I could probably cut down Ramet's saucer into a flying platform."
"Hey!" Ramet yelled. "Nobody touches my saucer! Use your own!"
"We can't all fit in yours to fly back," Hub responded reasonably. "Besides, yours looks like it's totaled. I could probably get mine flying again with a little work."
Fulminous profanity wafted out through the sport-utility saucer's open door.
Hub reached inside, standing on tip-toes to reach, and pulled out a large tool kit.
"Sooner started, sooner finished."
* * *
"Look, I'll buy you a new saucer," said Hub, placatingly, as they rode along. "I can afford to, remember?"
"I liked that saucer," said Ramet, almost pouting.
"At least with the platform you could bring the stabilizing gadget along," said Freddy, trying to distract his upset friend.
"Okay, Argy, where can we find the Big G?" Karen asked.
"Most likely in the very center," the armadillo-type guy responded.
"Down it is, then," said Hub, directing the platform to the nearest vertical shaft.
"Wait!" said Ramet. "Do we know for sure? This place has artificial gravity. Down could be in any direction. The corridors curve in multiple ways!"
"Ouch," said Hub, frowning.
"So how do we tell?" asked Talli.
"I could probably use the sensors from the saucer to find the center of mass," Hub muttered, rubbing his chin, which produced a sound like someone sanding concrete.
"I have an idea," Ramet smugly announced. "Talli, you still have one dose of Tsoob, correct?"
"Yeah," she said, cautiously.
"Well, give it to Freddy. Then, instead of 3 of him, we'll have a dozen or more, and he/they can scout for us."
"Yeah, but I also have another power," Freddy pointed out.
"So you keep flipping gender. Big deal."
"You just want revenge on someone because you had to take Tsoob," growled Freddy.
"That might cause long-term problems," was Karen's concern.
"If we don't find the Big G and stop him from eating the Earth, you'll have bigger long-term problems," Ramet pointed out.
"Argh," said Freddy, squeezing his eyes shut.
Talli looked at the others, who shrugged collectively.
"You mix the stuff and give it to him," said Hub. "I'll work on the sensors."
"Here," said Talli, shortly, as she handed a squeeze bulb to Freddy. "I mixed it with some of the soft drink you brought. Figured you'd like that better than Tang."
"Oh," said Freddy, accepting the bulb reluctantly, "thanks."
"Wait a minute," said Karen, as Freddy started drinking. "Freddy, wasn't that Nitro Cola?"
Freddy nodded, mutely, busy swallowing.
"Won't the caffeine have some effect on the Tsoob?"
"Oh, no," said Talli, waving the concern aside. "To do that it would have to have a huge amount of caffeine."
"Nitro Cola does have a huge amount of caffeine!"
"Oh, boy..." said Freddy, as he finished gulping the potion.
He hiccoughed... and suddenly there were a lot of Freddys. They poured outward, shoving the others off the platform, then flowing outward to fill the corridor and spill down the nearby vertical shaft.
"Ow," said a cacophony of Freddys, the resonating echo from a multitude of throats threatening to deafen all of those present.
"Well, that's him all over," said Ramet, quickly clamping the colander back on after the stampede had stopped.
* * *
"Well, Ramet was right," said Hub, looking at his gadget as they hovered in the vertical shaft. "The center of mass is up, not down."
"Oh, great," chorused the five Freddys on the platform. "That means most of me will be left behind!"
"I'm just wondering why you're all guys," said Ramet, looking puzzled.
"Surely you aren't that hard up for a date," snickered Talli.
"Well, the rest of you can spread out horizontally and into the outer layers, and warn us if the Silver Scorcher arrives," said Karen.
"Gotcha!" said the Freddys, nodding.
Upwards they flew, though not nearly at the highest speed of the saucer the platform was made from. That would have blown them all off. Instead, Hub ran the speed up to where the others were uncomfortable, but not actually in danger, and held it there. He was too solid to be bothered by such a trivial wind.
"Hey!," said the 5 Freddys on the platform, suddenly. "I think I found the gadget the Big G uses to suck that essence stuff from planets!"
"Distilled Quintessence of Ectothere," sighed Argy, rolling his eyes.
"Are you sure?" asked Hub.
"Well, it looks like a giant flexi-straw," said the Freddys.
"That's it," Argy confirmed.
"See if you can sabotage it," urged Karen.
"I'll try."
"Y'know, he may not be able to help us find the Big G, but he does give us a jam-proof, instant communication system," Hub observed.
"What happens if he's still scattered everywhere when the Tsoob wears off?" asked Karen, worried about her boyfriend.
"I imagine they'll be drawn together to one point," guessed Hub. "That most likely being their mutual center of mass."
"There's walls between lots of them!"
"Well, that could pose a problem," Hub admitted.
"Hey!" said Talli, who was looking up. "Looks like it opens out above!"
They all fell silent as they entered the central, spherical hollow of the Way-Station. There, in the distance, in the shadows, on a massive, shadowy platform, sat a massive figure in a massive chair. It was unmoving, appearing asleep.
"Uh... do we try talking to him?" asked Karen.
"He wouldn't notice us," huffed Argy. "Higher cosmic beings only pay attention to other cosmic beings."
"Another reason they have trouble holding jobs," said Talli, with a snicker.
"So what do we do now?" asked Ramet, testily. "I don't think we have enough firepower to even wake the guy!"
"And I/we haven't been able to make a dent in his sucker gadget," said the Freddys, forlornly. "Oh, great; there's that Silver Scorcher guy. He just shot by on his ironing board, heading inwards."
"It's a cosmic sled," snapped Argy.
"Guys, we're running out of time," said Karen, anxiously. "What can we do?"
"Hmmm, I could rig the power unit to overload, and send the platform flying at him on autopilot," mused Hub.
"We could bring all the Freddys up here and see if they could outnumber him," said Talli.
"We could search to see if we can find a weapon," suggested the Freddys.
"We could plead with him for mercy," said Karen, "appeal to his cosmic nobility."
"We could run for our lives while there's still time," muttered Ramet.
"Oryoucouldjustsitdownandenjoytheshow," said Yehudi.
The kids all gasped and jerked around, to see the strange, tall, thin, human-looking creature who had appeared during Doctor Sumt'ang's science demonstration, standing in the air beside the platform. He was holding a large bucket; a strange, silvery light shown from under the lid.
"Hey,ItoldyouguysI'dhelpyououtsometime," Yehudi babbled. "Well,hereIam."
"How are you going to help?" was Ramet's dry inquiry.
Yehudi lifted his bucket.
"GottapotofDQE,righthere.Enoughtokeephimhappyformonths."
"Just where did you get Distilled Quintessence of Ectothere?" Ramet huffed.
"Oh,IbreweditupwhenIheardaboutthetrouble," Yehudi shrugged. "Fortunately,he'saquietdrunk."
"Distilled Quintessence of Ectothere is impossible to synthesize!" exclaimed Argy.
"Yeah,yeah..." said Yehudi, waving him off as he started towards the seated figure. "Youhavetobewillingtotrytosucceed."
The giant seemed to shift, slightly, and lights came on as Yehudi approached.
"Hey!Bigguy!Gotsomethingforyou!"
Now the Big G definitely stirred, looking down towards the relatively tiny figure at his feet. A smile slowly spread across the massive, craggy features.
"Yehudi!" the Big G rumbled. "I haven't seen you in millennia! What brings you here?"
"Iowesomefolksfromthatplanetyou'reabouttosuckdrylikeatangerineafavor,andtoldthemI'dsavetheirworld," Yehudi explained, standing with the bucket hanging from both hands behind him.
"You know I must feed," said the Big G, his smile vanishing. "That... is my curse."
"Yeah,well,Igotsomethingtodealwiththatthirstofyours," Yehudi countered, beaming as he brought the bucket around and held it up.
The Big G gave a gasp of surprise which made the kids' ears pop. Carefully, he reached out and took the bucket, which looked like a thimble in his hand. He carefully removed the cover (now reminding Freddy of someone opening one of those little tubs of nondairy creamer) and his face lit from the reflected glow of the contents. He closed his eyes and sniffed, then with surprising delicacy sipped at the bucket.
Even that tiny amount, no more than a liter, created a drastic change in the Big G's demeanor. His face relaxed, the creases disappearing, he leaned back in his chair, beaming, and the wax melted and ran out of his ears.
"Eewww..." said the kids.
"Come, my friend, join me. There's enough here for both of us."
"Don'tmindifIdo," Yehudi replied, 'porting onto the arm of the Big G's chair.
He reached into a pocket of his jumpsuit and produced a telescoping cup, which he extended and dipped, just slightly, into the bucket. Within minutes the odd couple were singing a mournful, ribald song, each off-key in a different direction.
"Who are you people?" demanded a new voice. "What are you doing here?"
The kids whipped around to see a naked, silver man, holding a silver ironing board - sorry, cosmic sled - under one arm.
"Uh... leaving?" said the Freddys.
"Yes," said Hub, ushering everyone quickly onto the platform.
As the irate but baffled Silver Scorcher watched, Hub guided the platform back out the way they came.
* * *
"Where did you guys meet Yehudi?" Argy demanded. "Do you know how cosmic he is?"
The others ignored him, being otherwise occupied.
"Wow," said Freddy, as the last of him came back together, "is that a relief."
He patted himself down.
"I think I'm all here!"
"Yeah, it'd be bad for you to be leaving bits of you around," said Karen, hugging Freddy. "Some gorgeous space gal might find one of you, and I'd get very jealous."
"Saucer's fixed," Hub announced, wiping his hands on a rag.
"Not mine," muttered Ramet.
"Oh, put a sock in it," snickered Talli. "You got all your personal gear out, and Hub promised to buy you a better one. We even tied all the parts of yours to Hub's luggage rack!"
"Home," sighed Karen, sagging a bit. "Can you believe it? We saved the Earth!"
"No, Yehudi did," said Freddy, feeling a philosophical turn. "All we did was watch."
"Well, if we hadn't come here, he wouldn't have come here," was Karen's firm counter.
"She may have a point," said Ramet. "It could be that our efforts attracted his attention."
"Hey," said Hub. "We've been gone all day, and Freddy hasn't flipped gender once!"
"Don't mention a no-hitter!" cried Freddy, and he quickly checked his anatomy.
There was general laughter - Freddy's relieved - as the youngsters filed into the saucer.
"Which way?" Hub asked, as he fired the engine up.
"I saw the way the Silver Scorcher came in," Freddy informed the big, rhino-whale sort of guy. "It's big enough for us to get out."
"I wonder if the school will count this as an excused absence," whined Argy.
"Shut up, Argy!" the others chorused.
End Part Sixteen
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 17
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2001 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
Adventure 17: Karen Gets Drunk
"I really don't like this," muttered Freddy, tugging her costume into place.
"In the first place, promoting some of the store's products with a magic show was your idea," said Karen. "In the second place, you show almost that much as a cheerleader!"
"Yeah, but that little difference is pretty significant," said Freddy, pouting.
"Well, just remember the bonus we're getting for this," Karen pointed out.
"I just want to know why I have to be a girl."
"It's traditional," said Karen, rolling her eyes. "All magicians' assistants are attractive females."
Freddy examined herself in the staff dressing room mirror and nodded.
"Not bad. I don't like showing cleavage, but I'm man enough to admit that I've got enough to get a man's attention."
"Hey!" said Karen.
"In your case, it's quality over quantity," said Freddy, smoothly. "I mean, you're a natural girl, you know how to use it automatically. I have to fake it. I need every advantage I can get."
"Flatterer," said Karen, blushing. She gave her currently-female boyfriend a sisterly kiss. "Okay, it's showtime!"
"I just wish we'd had time to practice," muttered Freddy. "We don't even know what this guy's gonna do!"
"Oh, hush!"
There was just time for the girls to be introduced to The Great Marvello! before the first show started. There was already a crowd in the store, thanks to the flyers Freddy, Karen and others had placed earlier. The trio - magician and assistants - climbed onto the back of the small, temporary stage at the rear of the store while Sooltong introduced the act out front.
The magician went on stage to a modest round of applause. He thanked the crowd, and engaged in some patter while he performed a few warm-up tricks.
"This guy's terrible," whispered Freddy.
"And now, if my lovely assistants will give me some - uh - assistance..."
"That's our cue," said Karen, stepping on stage.
Forcing a smile, Freddy followed.
The Great Marvello! did a few more simple, standard tricks, not very well. Then he brought Freddy forward.
"Of course, a science which is advanced enough looks like magic. Here at Alien Goods, we sell items which are very advanced, indeed! Here's an example."
He took what looked like a length of flexible metallic rope off a stand, whipped it through the air with a flourish, then snapped it around Freddy's waist.
"This is a pair of linked rings. Unlike a magician's linking rings these... well, let me show you!"
He stepped behind Freddy, grabbed the startled sometimes-girl under the arms and lifted. There was a gasp from the crowd, but at first Freddy couldn't tell what had happened. Then she realized that her legs were still standing there.
"Yipe!" yelped Freddy, giving a little jump.
Unfortunately, that was enough to cause her bottom half to fall over. Her lower body lay there, legs kicking, while Freddy helplessly waved her arms.
"You see, there's no distance between the rings, no matter how far apart you move them!"
"It's a fake!" said a fat, drunk guy in the front of the crowd.
The Great Marvello! set Freddy's top half on a table, took something else from the pile of gadgets, and approached an understandably wary Karen.
"Shouldn't we put her back together, first?" she asked.
"Oh, I'm sure she can pull herself back together," said The Great Marvello!, waggling his eyebrows at the audience. "Now, I'm sure some of you have used the Timestop Makeup Kit (R). What you may not realize is that it comes in several grades. Observe!"
Freddy tried to twist around to see what this creep was doing to her girlfriend, but the motion caused the table to wobble alarmingly. Instead she concentrated on her legs, kicking her lower half over towards her upper. The feeling of dislocation was quite bizarre, but Freddy was determined. Even when she realized she was giving a prize view of her panties to the audience she was not deterred.
"There!" said The Amazing Marvello!, stepping back to reveal his handiwork. "If this kit can do this to a pretty girl, imagine what it could do for you!"
Freddy jerked around, and had a glimpse of a confused Karen wearing clown makeup just before the table toppled. Freddy's top half wound up falling onto her bottom half. She landed with a grunt, and her top half rolled away. As Freddy gathered her senses, she realized she was looking at her own crotch from a very unfamiliar angle.
This has possibilities... Freddy realized. But first...
She shoved the fallen table out of the way, dragged her two halves together, and searched for a way to take the ring off. After several fumbled attempts, and a couple of repositionings, she managed to find the latch. There was a click, and the ring went limp in her hands and fell free. Freddy, together again, stood, outraged.
"Ah, I knew you could do it! And just in time!"
Before Freddy could react, The Great Marvello! dragged her over to the table with the gadgets. He deftly snapped a choker around Freddy's cute neck. Freddy tried to express her outrage, but to her surprise couldn't make a sound!
"Have a wife, kid, or pet who makes too much noise? This silencer collar will solve the problem! Or, for extra amusement, you can use the converter option."
"GET THIS THING OFF ME!" shouted Freddy, in a basso profundo which rattled the stage. "EEP!!"
She closed her mouth in wide-eyed surprise. She saw The Great Marvello! push a button on some sort of control he had in his hand, and tried again. This time her voice sounded like a donkey's braying. The Great Marvello! smiled, nudged something, and nodded. Freddy, face bright red, jumped up and down in place, screaming like a full orchestra falling off a cliff. Abruptly even that stopped, leaving the young woman unable to make a sound. Freddy desperately tugged at the collar, but it wouldn't come off.
"Aren't mute buttons wonderful? Oh, and the lock switch is on the remote!"
"It's a fake!" opined the fat, drunk guy.
Karen, meanwhile, had scrubbed the clown makeup off on the backdrop. She wheeled on The Great Marvello! stomping towards him with murder in her eyes.
"Ah, a volunteer!"
He took a Grabbit Stick from his collection of alien goods and used it to lift Karen helplessly into the air.
"You've all seen juicers of various kinds," he announced, as he whipped the cover off a gadget which looked alarmingly like a giant blender. "Well, here's one that will work on the kids! It's a great way to keep them out of trouble - or out of your hair - on snow days!"
Freddy stared, unable to believe what he was seeing, as Karen was lowered into the maw of the machine. The Great Marvello pushed a button, and the lid snapped closed. A deafening grinding noise began, and Karen dropped, startled, out of sight into the body of the machine. The machine abruptly stopped. There was no sign of Karen.
"Not only does this reduce your loved ones reversibly to liquid, it concentrates, for easier storage or transport. Behold!"
The Great Marvello! opened a small door in the machine and pulled out a beaker of thick, pinkish-grey fluid.
"It's a fake!"
Freddy stared, mouth open, silent without needing the collar to produce that state, feeling faint.
"I did say it is fully reversible," The Great Marvello! announced, placing the beaker on yet another small table. "As I will demonstrate in a few moments.
Freddy, berserk, launched herself in a silent scream at the magician. Who, unfortunately, still had the Grabbit Stick. He smirked at the floating Freddy, then turned back to his audience. And paled.
"I'll prove it's a fake," said the drunk, reaching for the beaker. "That's just a chocolate milkshake!"
Before anyone could stop him he poured the liquefied and concentrated Karen down his throat. Unfortunately, she went in one indivisible glomph. The drunk nearly choked to death before the stuff slid down into his stomach.
The Great Marvello!, startled, let Freddy drift too close. Freddy grabbed for him, and was startled when the magician's hair came off in her hands... along with his entire face! The Great Marvello! turned and fled through the backdrop before anyone could get a look at his actual appearance, and Freddy dropped to the floor with an undignified thump.
"Whoa," said the fat, drunk guy. "I feel strange."
Sooltong was standing beside the wide-eyed man, frantically reading through something on a datapad. Freddy groaned, rose to her feet and grabbed the remote, which - fortunately - The Great Marvello! had dropped. She took a moment to find the off button, then yanked the collar lose. Freddy then turned, hopped off the stage and confronted the drunk.
"You drank my girlfriend!" Freddy exclaimed.
"Huh?" said the drunk. He sneered. "Oh. Yeah, I thought you two were a couple."
Freddy colored, and sputtered, but before she could do anything was interrupted by Sooltong.
"We to the juicer must bring him immediately! Recoverable from this is, but of essence is the time expired!"
"Don't say expired," yelped Freddy, grabbing the drunk.
"Hey, cute thing, whatcha' doing," said the drunk, confused. "Sorry, babe, you're cute, but too young for me."
"Get him in the juicer! Find something I must!"
While Sooltong hurried into the storeroom, Freddy made her Cool roll and thought of something.
"You're the one yelling that it's a fake. If you're so sure, come up and try it!"
The drunk guy was suddenly wary, but the combination of challenge and derisive comments from the audience forced him on. He was so drunk he and Freddy took several tries to get him on the stage. In the process his hands repeatedly went places they shouldn't have. Freddy was livid by the time she got him on the platform and reached for the Grabbit Stick. Freddy made sure to squat demurely instead of bending over, and kept an eye on the man the whole time she was vulnerable. Finally, she was able to use the Grabbit Stick to lift the startled man into container, then shut the lid.
"Hey!" the man yelled, pounding on the transparent wall of the container. "I've changed my mind! Let me out!"
Sooltong reappeared with an attachment he put on the bottom of the juicer. This had two spouts leading out at wide angles. The store owner put a large cup under each.
"Please, one moment for special adjustment," he informed Freddy, bending to open a panel and tinker.
"And now, ladies and gentlemen, for our next trick," said Freddy, turning back to the audience. "We will separate an ugly jerk from a pretty girl!"
As if on cue, the machine ground to life. The drunk, wide-eyed with terror, dropped out of sight. Two streams of sludge, of slightly different colors, poured out of the spouts, into the cups. The machine stopped.
"My husband!" screamed a woman in the crowd.
Freddy glanced at Sooltong, not sure what the next step was. The shop owner took one of the cups and poured it into a spout on the side of the machine. A button was touched, and the machine dnuorg ylision into life, Karen suddenly rising up from the bottom... wearing the drunk's clothes.
The audience went crazy with applause. Freddy and Sooltong, playing to the crowd, smiled and bowed. Freddy put a table beside the device, climbed on and helped Karen out. She had a great deal of trouble, and not only because of the oversized clothing, fumbling several times before finally standing on the table, weaving.
"Wow," she said, "I feel really, really strange."
"You're drunk!" Freddy hissed, smelling the alcohol on her breath.
"No, no, no," said Karen, waving a finger back in forth in front of his face. "You know I don't drink."
She turned and walked off the table, Freddy barely able to get under her to break her fall.
Sooltong, meanwhile, had poured the drunk's remains into the blender and was now reconstituting him. Naturally, he appeared wearing Karen's magician's assistant's outfit.
"Ooh..." he groaned, disoriented at his sudden, forced sobriety. "What happened? Yah! I'm wearing girl clothes!"
"No problem," said Freddy, smiling sweetly, as she grabbed a Boy/Girl Gun.
While Freddy took Karen back stage to tend her, Sooltong used the Grabbit Stick to move the fat woman out of the blender and onto the store floor. Fortunately, the costume was of the self-adjusting variety.
* * *
"So Sooltong let us unpack and use an autodoc. Me to heal the bruises and contusions, Karen to get undrunk," Freddy finished, as he and Karen finished relating their adventure to the newspaper club, later.
"Oh, I wish I'd been there," snickered Ramet.
"I don't understand why people get drunk," muttered Karen. "I couldn't move right, I couldn't talk right, I couldn't even think right!"
"Well, most people don't get drunk the way you did," said Hub, manfully keeping a straight face.
"Did they ever find the real The Great Marvello!?" asked Talli.
"Yeah. He was tied up in a dumpster in his underwear," Freddy explained.
"How they got a dumpster in his underwear I'll never know," said Hub, right before bursting out laughing.
"You sound like a concrete mixer having an asthma attack," muttered Freddy.
"I wonder if this is connected to all those 'pranks' which were going around the school a while back," mused Talli.
"You think that was the guy?" asked Freddy, startled.
"Or one of them. Or someone they hired."
"Argh. I let him slip right out of my hands."
"Well, you did have more urgent things to worry about," purred Karen, cuddling up to him. She gave him a very non-chaste kiss on the mouth. "Thank you."
Freddy colored, grinned, and suddenly flipped genders.
"Oh, no! Not again! I thought I was stabilized."
"Well, that was quite a kiss," snickered Talli, sidling up to him on the other side. "Let me try."
She turned Freddy's head to bring their mouths together, and gave her a passionate lip massage. When she broke off, Freddy was back to male, and looking a bit faint.
"See? You can thank me later."
"You have got to get that fixed," huffed Karen, glaring alternately at the alien girl and Freddy. "I can't have you going girl on me every time we... uh, you know."
"I guess using the Boy/Girl Gun on me for the magic show gave me a relapse."
"Well, Karen, you'll just have to be sure and kiss Freddy twice each time," smirked Ramet.
"Sounds like a plan to me," sighed Freddy, dreamily.
"Well, I'm not kissing a girl, even Freddy!" said Karen, firmly.
"I will volunteer, and spare you that burden," said Ramet, nobly.
"Well, I'm not kissing a guy!" huffed Freddy.
Ramet shifted into a blond, buxom young woman, in effect an older version of female Freddy.
"Who's a guy?" she asked, coyly, batting her eyelashes.
"You're still a guy inside!" snapped Freddy.
"You're still a guy inside when you're a girl, too," said Talli. "That's why I kissed you!"
"I'm not kissing a girl!" snapped Karen.
"What if you were a guy at the time?" asked Hub, curious.
Karen started to reply, then paused, looking uncertain.
"Well, I wouldn't kiss her if she were a guy," said Freddy. "It'd still be Karen inside. Uh, I mean..."
"Yeah, I'm getting confused, too," sighed Karen. She hugged her boyfriend. "Well, right now you're a guy and I'm a gal, so let's kiss while we can!"
"Now that I can agree to!" laughed Freddy.
End Part Seventeen
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 18
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright 2001 and Trademarked R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2002 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"Bleagh!" said Freddy, spitting out the bite of the new cafeteria dish. Naturally, it was something from a standard, US, human school. "That's awful!"
"Such manners!" exclaimed Debbie. "Girl, you really need to work on your social skills!"
"I'm not a girl," muttered Freddy, quickly reaching for a cup of generic juice.
Debbie tapped Freddy on the side of the head.
"Hello-oh! Earth to Freddy! Have you looked in a mirror lately?" She frowned, thinking of something. "Incidentally, why are you a girl? Cheerleader practice isn't until later. I know it's not an accident, 'cause you're in girl clothes. By the way, those jeans look really hot on you."
Freddy quickly took a bite of something and mumbled around the food.
"Manners, again!" chided Debbie. "Don't talk with your mouth full! Now, chew, swallow and answer."
Freddy sighed, and obeyed.
"Okay, since I'm spending about a quarter of my time as a girl, my guidance counselor and the school nurse decided I needed to take, uhm..."
She lowered her head and her voice, finishing reluctantly.
"Feminine hygiene class."
"Oh," said Debbie, a bit boggled.
"Why are you a girl now, though?" asked Suzy. "Hygiene class was simply hours ago."
"Because I have to be a girl for the class," Freddie enumerated, "and I'm not supposed to change more than twice a day until they can figure out more about what's causing this. So I have to change for the class and stay a girl until after cheerleader practice."
"Oh..." squealed Suzy, delighted at understanding the situation. She gave Freddie a sisterly hug. "That's good. It's always good to have another girl sit at our table for lunch."
"I guess it's a good idea," said Debbie, brightly. "I mean, you taking feminine hygiene classes. I remember the problems you had with your period, the first time one started while you were in practice."
"Don't remind me," sighed Freddy.
* * *
"Hey, Freddy," said Hub, as she entered the lab. "You're a little... Why are you a girl?"
Freddy sighed and explained, again.
"Oh. Well, never mind. Want you to see how far along we are."
He led Freddy over to a table with a sheet draped over what seemed to be a human form. Hub whipped the sheet away, to reveal a nude but only vaguely female shape.
"We just finished the structural work," said the big, rhino-whale-looking guy, proudly. "Now we need to do the imprinting."
"'Imprinting'?" Freddy asked, curious. She looked around. "Aren't we going to do all of us at the same time?"
"Huh?" said Hub, train of thought audibly derailed. "We only need to connect one person's mind to that body for a while, to imprint the neural pathways so it can develop its own sentience."
"Wait a minute!" said Freddy, backing away alarmed. "You're not thinking of putting *me* in there!"
"Sure," said Hub, puzzled. "You mean you didn't know? What did you think we were talking about?!"
"I thought you meant imprinting like with ducks," said Freddy, still backing away.
"Huh?" said Hub.
"Ducks imprint on the first large, moving thing they see when they hatch, and think it's their mother. I thought you were going to imprint us on the android so it would know we were its masters."
"That's not a bad idea," said Hub, nodding. "We still need to do the other kind of imprinting, though."
"But... why me?" Freddy squeaked.
"We went over that," said Hub, patiently and a bit tiredly. "You're the best candidate. You're smart, you're used to being female, both physically and socially, and you're a moral person."
Freddy wondered who'd told him that.
"Can't you use one of the cheerleaders?"
"Remember the 'smart' qualification," Hub smirked.
"Uh, Ramet does a pretty good girl. Oh, never mind; you want someone moral."
"Look, it has to be someone who's human, so she will act human and not attract attention, here on Earth," explained Hub, ticking items off on his stubby fingers. "For the same reason, the subject also has to be someone from Earth so she'll be able to pass as an Earth human. You can't do that kind of stuff with programming. Since the design is inherently female, we need someone who can pass as female. And, let me tell you, right now you're doing a pretty good job of it! Since she can also adjust her shape, it needs to be someone who is comfortable with - or at least used to - changing shape."
"I'll... think about it," said Freddy, finally reaching the door.
* * *
"Don't they mind that they're undressing in front of and showering with a boy?" asked Jim, as Freddy opened her locker.
They had started talking at the end of the previous class, and since their lockers were close together had walked to them together. Neither gave a thought to the fact that they were a teenage boy and a teenage girl walking slowly along, talking. Rumors were already spreading.
"Do I look like a boy?" Freddy demanded, turning to face him, hands on hips and shoulders back.
"Gluh..." said Jim, grabbing his handkerchief and shoving it at his nose.
"That's enough, Freddy," said Karen, though she smiled as she approached her own locker from the other direction. "Have some mercy on the poor boy."
"Bud, dond't you ged turned on and change bag?" Jim persisted.
"Nah," sighed Freddy, turning and standing on tip-toe to reach on the top shelf for her gym bag. "There's nothing erotic about it. Just people changing clothes and showering. I admit it was pretty distracting at first, but that was back before I started changing on my own, so it wasn't a problem then. I'm used to it, now, so I don't risk changing. Besides, I am learning to control the changes."
"Guh!" said Jim, quite distinctly, turning pale and passing out.
"You still have a lot to learn about being a girl," snickered Karen, as Freddy looked down, puzzled, at the unconscious boy. "Or were you deliberately trying to turn him on, posing like that?"
"Like what?" said Freddy, confused.
"What happens to your boobs when you reach up like that? Not to mention your calves?"
Freddy, puzzled, looked down as she raised her arms. She got an "Oh!" expression on her face, and half a dozen guys in the hallway got sudden nosebleeds. Freddy quickly lowered her arms.
"Okay. Sorry. I'll be more careful."
"Y'know, your 'getting used to it' probably has a lot to do with the fact that girls aren't as visually oriented," said Karen, thoughtfully, as they headed for the girls' locker room. "Try staring at the same centerfold when you're a guy and a girl, and see what happens."
"I'd rather stare at you," Freddy replied, leering.
Karen giggled, and playfully pushed her usually-male friend away.
"Now, quit. You and I both know that you're just playing; you were just talking about that. You also know that I don't like girls that way, even you, anyway."
* * *
"Who's that?" asked Buffy, pointing at someone in the stands, watching the practice.
"Some new guy. Human, but alien. Forget from where," replied Freddy, doing splits as part of the warm-up stretching. "Saw him in home room this morning."
"Didn't you hear?" demanded Suzy. "He's a prince. Of his whole planet. How could you not know that?!"
She leaned closer and began speaking in a low, conspiratorial tone, while watching the new guy from the corners of her eyes.
"They say he's here to find a bride."
Freddy stared idly down Suzy's cleavage, noting that Karen was probably right about that visual thing. She was still really turned on by sneak peaks of boobs as a guy, but as a girl, even staring at those warm, soft, jiggly masses for this long from this close only made her a little aroused. She shrugged, and turned to look at the new guy.
She noticed with a start that he was staring at her with an avaricious glow in his eyes, practically drooling.
"Eeww..." said Freddy, feeling a bit nauseous.
She quickly finished her warm-up and joined the other girls in practicing their routines. The whole time, she could feel the new guy's gaze on her.
During a break in cheerleader practice Freddy walked over to watch the track team. Karen was running three events this semester, and doing quite well. Freddy cheered as she came in second in a dash. As Freddy turned to head back to the cheerleaders, however, she literally ran chest-first into the new guy.
"Yeep!" said Freddy, bouncing back and protectively raising her pom-poms.
"I beg your pardon," the guy said, smiling apologetically. "I'm Huron Superior, of Clarion Prime. You are...?"
"F-Freddy Luger," Freddy squeaked, like a nervous schoolgirl.
He bowed. He actually bowed.
"It is my great pleasure to meet you. I hope we will be seeing more of each other. Soon."
Freddy stammered something, and stepped nervously around him, then turned and ran back to the squad.
"I think he likes you," teased Buffy.
"Don't say that!" shrilled Freddy, as she turned to see Huron back in the bleachers, watching her with a slight, pleased smile on his face.
They resumed practice, Freddy concentrating on the routines. Her pride and joy was one she had suggested, where she went triplicate and formed the base of a human pyramid. Then it was off to the showers.
Freddy felt... strange, as she washed. She was flushed, her breasts felt sensitive and swollen, her nipples were erect... all definite signs of female arousal. Yet she wasn't being turned on by any of the girls, or the physical stimulation of washing. Oddly, neither did she feel like she was about to change back. She fought the notion, but finally had to admit to herself that she was aroused because she was thinking of Huron. An uncomfortable concept, but also an inescapable one. Not all that surprising, either; he was really handsome, and a prince! What girl wouldn't...
Freddy vigorously shook her head, actually whimpering a bit in emotional distress.
"You really found him arousing?" said Karen, startled, as they biked home.
Freddy just sighed and nodded.
"Wait a minute... even now, when you're a boy?"
"No," said Freddy, after thinking a moment, and feeling relieved. "I remember being aroused by him when I was a girl, like I remember being aroused by things that turn me on when I'm male when I'm a girl. Uh..."
"I get it," snickered Karen, nodding.
They rode in thoughtful silence for a bit.
"Maybe... maybe you didn't change back to a guy in the shower because you're finally all girl when you're a girl," Karen ventured. "Maybe you kept changing back and forth because you hadn't gone all the way, yet. Uh, I didn't mean that like it sounded..."
"Well, there's one way to find out," said Freddy, grinning.
The next time they stopped, he leaned over and kissed her, full on the mouth. Karen cooperated, turning and putting her arms over his shoulders, leaning into it. They only broke when Freddy noticed she was a girl again.
"Ah, c'mon!" she exclaimed, staring down at her chest.
"Eewww, I kissed a girl," said Karen, making a face.
A car pulled up behind them. They sighed, and started peddling again, Freddy a bit awkwardly.
"This is ridiculous," said Freddy, exasperated. "I mean, I could live with the idea that when I'm a girl I am a typical, healthy female. That's just a small part of my life. I'm still a guy when I'm a guy. Why can't I figure out the rules about my changes?!"
"I'll say," sighed Karen, still a bit flushed. "That you're a guy when you're a guy, I mean. Uh, are you turned on? I can see your nipples through your shirt."
"Well, hey, that was quite a kiss," was Freddy's embarrassed reply. She looked over at Karen. "I don't suppose..."
"No! No way. Sorry, when you're a girl you're still a friend but not a sex object. Just tell your aunt and uncle you got sniped again."
Freddy sighed, then waved farewell as their paths parted.
"Oh, Freddy," sighed her aunt, "did you get sniped again?"
"Something like that," she sighed.
"Well, the prankster certainly has a weird sense of humor. Not to mention being willing to spend so much money on a joke."
"Huh?" said Freddy.
Her aunt pointed to an elaborate bouquet on the dining room table. Freddy, with a growing sense of unreality, approached, picked up the card, and read it.
"To Fuh-Freddy: Your exquisite beauty, delightful shyness and perfection of form and fitness leave me breathless to experience more. May I take you to the dance this Saturday?"
It was signed "Huron Superior."
End Part Eighteen
I have nearly 11k words written in Masks XVIII, but it's gonna be at least short novel length. Meanwhile, I hope folks are enjoying these bits of whimsy.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 19
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2002 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
Freddy entered homeroom with an unaccustomed nervousness. Not only was he very sleepy from an unsettling night, but what had made him unsettled was still operating. He barely nodded to Karen and his other friends, looking for the subject of his unsettlement. Freddy was actually relieved when he realized Huron was not there, and dropped into his desk. That relief fled when the alien boy arrived just before role-call.
There was no opportunity to confront him during class, but when the bell rang Freddy hurried to the door and managed to catch Huron as he left the room. He stepped with Huron into the hall and guided him to one side before the knot of students heading for first class flooded out. The alien boy frowned a bit at this impertinence.
"Hi, uh, I'm Freddy," was Freddy's nervous introduction.
Huron looked confused for a moment, then got an "Aha!" expression and smiled warmly, offering his hand.
"Of course. You are Fuh-Freddy's twin brother!" he said, grabbing Freddy's hand and shaking it firmly.
"Huh?" was all Freddy could say, before they were broken apart by the swarm.
Freddy tried to get back to the other, but when he saw Huron leaving down the hall in the other direction from where he had to go, he gave up and joined Karen on the way to their lockers.
"What happened?" she asked.
"He thinks I'm my own sister," groused Freddy.
"Oh," said Karen, startled. She suddenly burst out laughing. "You do realize that you're one of the few people on this planet for whom that sentence makes sense."
* * *
"This is most puzzling," said the Nurse, frowning as she read the instruments.
"That's not the word I'd use," muttered Freddy, sitting uncomfortably on the edge of the examination table.
"You say that in your female form you are attracted to him... are you sure of this?"
"Well, yeah!" Freddy snapped. He shuddered. "I kept dreaming about him - nothing really erotic, but... warm, cozy, affectionate dreams. Every time I woke from one of those dreams I was female. Couldn't change back on my own, either, had to use my Boy/Girl Gun. Finally just gave up and stayed female. It was after that when I had the one about having his baby."
Freddy shuddered in an odd mixture of disgust and remembered satisfaction.
"You should not be feeling this way about males, whether you are female or not," said the Nurse.
"You're telling me..." Freddy muttered.
"You don't understand. Our evaluations showed that your sexual identity was already set. Oh, if you stayed female for a few years you might change, but switching back and forth like this should reinforce your existing sexual identity, even as you adjust to a new gender identity."
"So what's happening to me?" was Freddy's desperate plea.
The Nurse hesitated.
"I don't know. I'm sorry. My training includes helping adolescents - including shapeshifters - learn to deal with sex and its complications, and according to my training this should not be happening to you."
She sighed, looking as tired and worried as Freddy felt.
"I'll forward your case to some specialists and see if they can help."
* * *
There was no cheerleader practice today, and no feminine hygiene class, either. Freddy was looking forward to being a guy, with no interruptions, the whole day. He was actually feeling cheerful by lunch time. He sat at his usual guy table, greeting the usual other guys.
"Hey, Hub! How's it going?"
"Well, Dr. Sumt'ang finalized the process to imprint you on our - ah - experiment," the big, rhino-whale type guy responded.
Freddy nodded, only half listening.
"Don't say 'period' around Freddy," snickered Bl'fff.
"So if you can stop by the lab during your afternoon break, we can do it then," Hub continued, ignoring the spider.
"Uh, wait a minute," said Freddy, suddenly focusing completely on the topic. "How long will this take?"
"We don't need you for the testing - in fact, it's better if you're not there when she comes online." He shrugged. "Say, five minutes to set up, a few seconds for the imprinting, then you can go."
"That's not too bad," Freddy decided. "Sure. I'll be there."
"Great!"
* * *
"Hey, Freddy," said Hub, as she entered the lab. "You're a little... Why are you a boy?"
"Well, when the sperm and the egg unite to form the zygote, the..."
"That's not what I mean! You know you have to be in female form for this to work."
"I do?" said Freddy, startled. "I thought that with this new thing..."
"Pattern for the in android to be the formed neural net properly same prepared that gender emulate android you must be in state we as have the to," said Dr. Sumt'ang.
"Ah... yeah," said Freddy, mildly boggled.
"He's right," sighed Hub. "Well, flip over and we'll get started."
"I can't do it just like that!" said Freddy. "I need a Boy/Girl Gun, a charged Gender Guard or some time to... concentrate."
"Hold on," muttered Hub, turning to open a cabinet. "Oh, take your Gender Guard off."
"Hey, make sure you get the right one," Freddy urged, putting his protective device aside.
"It is," Hub assured him, making a show of checking it.
Seconds later f-Freddy sat demurely in a piece of furniture which looked like a cross between an electric chair on LSD and the worst nightmares of an orthodontophobe.
"This isn't going to hurt, is it?" she asked, a bit timidly.
"Sensation stinging slight feel might you," Dr. Sumt'ang assured her.
"It's going to hurt," sighed Freddy.
"Okay, all circuits check," said Hub. "Three, two, one, on!"
"Gleep!" said Freddy, as her fine, blond hair stood on end and sparks shot from the tips.
"Perfect!" exclaimed Dr. Sumt'ang.
Hub shut off the device and joined the teacher in examining the android.
"Urk?" said Freddy, eyes glazed and hair-ends smoking just a bit.
"Okay, thanks, Freddy," said Hub, absently, as he ran a scanner over the vaguely female shape.
Freddy struggled weakly against the restraints.
"Eelb."
"Oh, sorry," said Hub, touching a control.
Freddy staggered to her feet, looked around confusedly for a moment. Then she heard the bell ring. Shaking her head, she pulled herself together, reflexively grabbed her books and started for the next class. She was halfway there when she realized she was still female.
* * *
"Do I smell smoke?" asked one of the girls, as she paused while putting her gym shorts on.
"It's a conspiracy!" snapped Freddy, as she yanked her bra into place. "There's a plot to keep turning me into a girl!"
The other girls in the locker room snickered as Freddy frantically dressed in her emergency stash of female school clothes.
"You better quit complaining and get to class," one of them noted. "You're already late."
"Oh, I stopped by the class, dropped my books off and got permission from the teacher," sighed Freddy, reaching for a fetching peach blouse.
"I think you did it deliberately," one of them teased. "We're in a different gym class from you and you haven't seen us naked before this."
"None of you are naked," Freddy pointed out, as she hurriedly fastened her pleated skirt around her waist and reached for her brush. "You're just changing into gym clothes. If I'd wanted to see you naked I'd've come in at the end of the period, when you were showering. I'm the one who had to get naked, to grab a quick shower and get into my girl clothes!"
A few quick strokes put her hair in order and got rid of the singed ends, though the obnoxious burnt hair odor was still hanging around from before her shower. Freddy's nose was overloaded and she couldn't really tell.
"Oh, so you did it because you wanted to expose yourself to us," the same girl snickered.
There was a round of giggles. Freddy growled in a most unladylike manner and stomped out. Her skirt swirled around her calves as she turned left down the hall, reminding her to move in a more ladylike fashion. Paradoxically, the more girly she dressed and acted when female the less notice people took, a lesson hard-learned and reluctantly applied. Also, skirts were cooler than long pants in warm weather. Freddy wondered if she could get away with wearing a kilt as a guy in warm situations where shorts weren't allowed.
* * *
"So that's why I'm taking gym class as a girl," Freddy explained to Coach and Miz Klupper.
"No-one had a Boy/Girl Gun or a Gender Guard?" said the latter, dubiously.
"Well, private Boy-Girl Guns aren't allowed in school," whined Freddy. "The school's one is in the science lab, but the door's locked and nobody answers. Sniping's 'way down, so nobody's Gender Guard is charged. Wish I'd thought to charge mine, earlier. Of course, if I'd been that aware after the scan I'd have just had Hub change me back, but..."
"All right, all right," sighed Coach, raising his hands in a warding gesture. "Try to cut down on this, son..."
"I am trying," was Freddy's exasperated reply.
Gym class actually went pretty well. By now most of the boys had learned not to hit on Freddy, even as a joke, and the girls were used to someone being with them who was only a part-time member. Besides, there were some things the girls did the boys didn't, and Freddy liked variety. Though the stares generated by her escapades on the trampoline brought a reality check and some advice.
"A girl as well endowed as you shouldn't jump on a trampoline in public," said Suzie, firmly. "Not unless you strap your chest down with an elastic bandage first, and then put on a sport bra."
"Yeah, I am kinda sore," sighed Freddy, resisting the urge to rub where it hurt.
That brought a chorus of giggles.
"That's another reason."
Freddy was walking towards a recently-acquired piece of alien training equipment useable only by girls, eagerly anticipating being able to try it out for the first time, when someone stepped in front of her. Someone Freddy really didn't want to see just then.
"Good day," said Huron, his smooth baritone voice making her shiver, and in a really good way. "Did you receive my invitation?"
"I... uh... yes?" squeaked Freddy, confused and embarrassed by her reaction to the alien boy's presence.
"And...?"
"'And?'? said Freddy, dazed by his presence.
"Would you allow me the honor of accompanying you to the dance?"
"Sure!" Freddy blurted.
While she was still registering that she'd just agreed to a date with a boy, before she could even begin to start wondering why she had done that, Huron smoothly lifted her hand to his lips and genteelly kissed its back.
"I will be at your home by six," he told her, holding her hand in both of his. "I am very much looking forward to this."
With a final smile, he released her hand and walked off, leaving Freddy staring after him in open-mouthed fascination.
"Girl, you got it bad," said one of the other gals in the class, from behind Freddy.
* * *
"Spontaneous movement!" cried Hub.
"Is alive it!" Dr. Sumt'ang confirmed.
Hub leaned over the android, speaking into its ear in a low, clear voice.
"Your identifying label is 'Yubi,'" he stated. "Respond 'yes' if you can hear me."
"Yes."
"Yes!" yelled Hub, straightening and trying to give Dr. Sumt'ang a high five.
His hand whipped through empty air, since A) Dr. Sumt'ang was much shorter than him, B) was too preoccupied to notice the celebratory motion and C) had tentacles, not hands.
"Acceptable neural within activity is parameters," said Dr. Sumt'ang. "A is imprinting the success."
"So, Freddy has a sister," laughed Hub.
"Freddy?" asked the android, startling and confusing her builders.
It sat up unexpectedly, startling and confusing them even more.
"That conniving bitch! How dare she court my one true love!"
End Part Nineteen
It's contagious. :-)
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 20
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2002 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"That's when we turned her off," Hub finished, as he morosely spooned Jell-O into his mouth. "Good thing we had the clock speed turned all the way down. She was halfway to the door before I could hit the button."
"That is just bizarre," sighed Freddy, morosely picking at his own food.
"I warned you about that android," said Ramet, fervently. "I think I'll leave before you turn her on again."
"You said 'turn her on,'" said Bl'fff, snickering.
"It's dangerous enough that you'd leave the school?" said Freddy.
"I mean leave the planet."
"Y'know," said Jim, thoughtfully, "this pretty much proves that there's something weird about Freddy's attraction to that new guy."
"Old news," muttered Freddy.
"No, I mean that it has to be something pretty compulsive, or it wouldn't have affected the android that way."
"He has a point," said Hub, thoughtfully. "So, we need to find out what's wrong with Freddy and fix that, before we can turn Yubi on again."
"'Turn Yubi on,'" said Bl'fff, with another snicker.
"You said that," said Ramet, irritated.
"'Yubi'? asked Jim.
"UB; stands for 'Ultimate Babysitter,'" Hub explained.
"Okay, why are you building an android babysitter?" Jim countered. "Most kids our age don't like babysitters. Think they're redundant, and an impediment to our burgeoning independence."
"Well, that's just following tradition," said the big guy, with a shrug like a minor rockslide. "The unit was originally intended to be a completely trustworthy and capable babysitter. The basic design is very flexible; even without special programming, Model 307-L can do things like substitute teach."
"So what's the big deal about building it?" Jim was quite puzzled.
"I've told you," muttered Ramet. "It destroys civilizations."
"One little android?!"
"Yes," was Ramet's firm reply. "One little android."
"The model has been used successfully," insisted Hub. "The disasters were caused by incomplete and/or improper programming. Some builders didn't teach her when to stop. So she just kept going until she had babysat the whole planet into submission."
"Okay, can we get back to me?" asked Freddy, impatiently. "I'm the one who A) keeps changing gender, B) is falling in love with an alien prince when I'm a girl and C) have a date with said alien prince and Karen, at the dance this Saturday."
"I've got it!" Said Bl'fff, excitedly. "Freddy, you go triplicate, change one of you to a girl. Then the she-you dates Huron, one of the male yous dates Karen and the other male you is a spare!"
They stared at him for a long moment of stunned silence. Then began shaking their heads.
"So what happens when Karen sees she-Freddy at the dance with Huron?" asked Ramet.
"Wouldn't work anyway," said Freddy. "Even if I could hold being in triplicate for that long. When I'm in three parts I'm still one person. Changing one of me wouldn't work unless it changed all of me."
"Oh." Bl'fff shrugged two pairs of shoulders and went back to sucking up his pre-liquefied food.
"Just how did you find this out?" snickered Ramet.
Freddy flushed and was about to say something, when he heard Huron's voice from a nearby table. Freddy instantly flipped genders, startling both her and her tablemates.
"Quick, Hub," hissed Freddy. "You got your Boy/Girl Gun?"
He had it, indeed, since he was allowed to carry it due to his school science projects with Dr. Sumt'ang and was aware of Freddy's predicament. With a smile he whipped it out and zapped Freddy. His smile faded when he notice Freddy continued to fill out her shirt in a most unmanly fashion.
"Well?" said Freddy, impatiently.
Hub tried again. With the same result.
"What the hey..." the big rhino-whale type guy muttered.
He opened a small compartment on the Gun and checked something. Then he zapped Jim, who gave a yelp at being suddenly female. Hub zapped her back to him, then tried Freddy again.
"It's working. You're not."
"I'm getting out of here before he sees me," muttered Freddy.
"You, leaving without finishing your lunch?" said Ramet, smirking. "You must be desperate."
"Well, I'm close enough to finished, I can go with you," judged Hub. "Let's get to my lab."
Hub rose, and moved with Freddy to the trash cans in such a way that his bulk shielded her from Huron's gaze. Unfortunately, as they finished dumping their trays they saw that Huron had finished his lunch and was heading for the same trashcan.
Freddy knew, logically, she should flee, but her currently all-girl brain refused to cooperate. Instead, she stood her ground and smiled dreamily up at the tall, handsome boy.
"H-hi!" she stammered.
Huron smiled in surprised delight.
"Excellent! I was hoping to see you again before Saturday. Is our date still on?"
"Oh, yes," cooed Freddy.
She impulsively held out her hand, and giggled, blushing delicately, when he kissed it.
"Until next we meet," he murmured, leaning in so close to speak in her ear that Freddy feared/hoped he'd kiss her on the lips this time.
Instead, he smiled, released her hand, turned with a graceful swirl of his cape, and walked away. Freddy sighed and stared after him, entranced, silly smile on her face, until Hub nudged her with an elbow.
"You all right?" Hub asked, as Freddy rose from the floor, more than a body length away.
"Oh, don't worry. I'm used to roughhousing, even as a girl. Also, thanks for shocking me out of that state."
"That's not what I meant," Hub countered.
"Oh." Freddy shook herself, as if trying to waken from a bad dream. "Well, no, in that respect I am very much not all right."
"That would explain why you were deliberately standing in a way which emphasized your feminine assets," said Hub, sounding both amused and bemused.
"You're kidding," was Freddy's dismayed reaction.
"Nope. You threw your shoulders back, tossed your head to arrange your hair, cocked your hips and tipped your head a bit to one side as you smiled at him. You even got those cute, multiple highlights you get in your eyes sometimes."
"I can't take much more of this," sobbed Freddy, suddenly afraid she was going to break down and cry right there in the cafeteria.
"Then let's get to the lab."
* * *
"Watch this," said Hub, playing back the recording he'd just made of Freddy being zapped.
In the display, f-Freddy was standing against one of the lab walls, scowling. Hub was only partly visible, the hand holding the Boy/Girl Gun coming in from off-camera. Hub fast forwarded to just before the trigger was pulled, then advanced very slowly. Freddy shifted to male form, stayed that way for three microseconds, then was back to being female in the next.
"The Gun's working," he explained. "In fact, it's working on you. You're just changing back immediately, too quickly for most organic eyes to see. I had to use a special, high speed and resolution camera to catch this. It's that fast."
"AARRGGHH!!" was Freddy's anguished analysis.
Hub absently drummed his peg-like fingers on the work bench, causing vibrations which registered at the two nearest seismograph stations. Which wasn't as impressive as it seems, since both were located at the school as part of the Alien Control Office's early warning system.
"I suggest you go see the Nurse," he announced, finally. "This isn't an equipment problem; it's something biological or psychological. I'm only fair with biology, and poor with psychology."
"I'm gonna change clothes, first," sighed Freddy. "This boy shirt is rubbing my nip... uh, sensitive parts."
"It does look rather uncomfortably tight," Hub judged.
Unfortunately, just about then the end-of-period bell rang. With another groan Freddy hurried off to the girls' locker room.
"What, you here, again?" one of the girls teased.
"Be nice to me. I'm having a hard time."
Freddy opened her locker, and proceeded strip naked except for her socks (no way was she going to wear hose, and she shaved for cheerleader practice, anyway, so she didn't need them) draping her boy clothes over a bench. Panties and bra went on first, then a nice white top with lace trim, followed by a modest plaid skirt. Then her shoes.
"That's convenient, being able to wear the same shoes," another girl commented.
"Yeah. Well, my feet are narrower as a girl, but with lace-ups that's not really a problem."
Freddy checked herself in the mirror, and nodded. She bundled her boy clothes into a gym bag and zipped it closed.
"No makeup?" asked the second girl.
"Not on your life," Freddy muttered. "Besides the fact that I don't want to look any more attractive to boys, how would it look if I changed back and had makeup on my boy face? Bad enough I have to wear it when I'm cheerleading."
"Okay, two things," said the first girl, coming over to Freddy, looking a bit peeved. "Not all girls wear heavy makeup, some boys wear makeup, and a bit of foundation and some minor touch-ups wouldn't even be noticeable, boy or girl."
"That's three things," said Freddy, rolling her eyes. "If it wouldn't be noticeable, why bother?"
"And people say girls are bad at math," a third girl giggled. "Makeup can not be noticeable and still improve your appearance. Here, I'll show you..."
She and four other girls gave Freddy a quick coating, despite her vigorous protests. Freddy, being raised as a boy and taught not to fight girls, was at a serious disadvantage in such situations.
"See?" she said, as they led Freddy to a mirror.
Freddy, realizing the force of nature she was up against and running out of time quickly and enthusiastically agreed that she looked both wonderful and completely natural. She finished dressing and hurried to class.
Freddy entered class after the bell but before the teacher started taking role. She timidly went up to the desk and quietly explained that she needed to go see the Nurse.
"What's wrong?" asked Mrs. Tessmocker.
"I'm a girl," whispered Freddy.
The teacher needed a moment to parse that, but after she did she scowled at Freddy.
"We're covering material important to the mid-semester standardized tests. You can wait until after class."
Freddy sighed and took her seat, unconsciously smoothing her skirt.
* * *
When Freddy finally entered the Nurse's office that worthy wasn't there. Wondering if she'd had to deal with an emergency or just a need to use the restroom, Freddy sat and waited patiently. The bell for the beginning of the next class rang, but Freddy ignored it. She'd just explain to the teacher later and hope it was all right. For now, she wanted to find out what was wrong with her and, more importantly, how to fix it.
Nearly twenty minutes after Freddy entered, the Nurse returned, looking worried, harried and exasperated. She started when she saw Freddy.
"There you are! I've been all over the school looking for you. I was about ready to have an announcement made, despite not wanting to embarrass you. Why didn't you tell anyone where you were going?"
"I did tell..."
"Never mind that," she huffed, moving to sit at her desk and gesturing for Freddy to move in close. She showed Freddy the portable display she was carrying. "The results of your tests came in. It doesn't look good."
"It doesn't?" squeaked Freddy, nervously playing with the end of a strand of her short, blond hair.
"You have been given an implanted compulsion," said the Nurse. "The only way to get rid of it is to fulfill its conditions."
"What conditions?!"
"You have to marry Huron, love him as a wife and bear his children."
End Part Twenty
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 21
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2002 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"WHAT!!" yelled Freddy.
"Well, you can do that without actually doing that," said the Nurse, quickly. "We can arrange to put you in a virtual reality simulator with Huron, and the two of you can fulfill the conditions in fast forward, without actually, physically doing so. Since the compulsion is in your brain, and the virtual reality would make your brain think the experience was real, the compulsion would, too, and be satisfied."
"There's no other way?" asked Freddy, sourly. "I mean, wouldn't being in there with him mean we'd have to, y'know..."
"Oh, yes, certainly," said the Nurse, nodding very seriously. "There are several other possible cures. However, none would be as quick and easy as using the VR. Most involve removing the part of the brain the compulsion is embedded in.
"I did some research on Huron's people," said Nurse, even more quickly, on noting Freddy's reaction to that bit of news. "Some - especially members of the royal family - have an ability to empathically and emotionally bond with others. It's like falling in love for both parties, but amplified, and distinct. It becomes a compulsion for the target, but the person with the ability is also affected, though to a lesser degree. His culture has a great romantic attachment for the phenomenon and considers any coupling which results from it to be blessed. So we would need to place both of you in a fulfilling VR simulation, then afterwards explain to him that you're not really suitable bride material."
"Well, okay. How long would this take?"
"Well, first we have to get Huron to agree. Then we take you two off planet..."
"We can't do it here?" wailed Freddy.
"Well, no. It requires a 12th order effector* computer for a suitably realistic simulation. Don't worry. The nearest available one is only a week's travel away. Oh, and we'll need consent forms for both you and Huron."
Freddy sat there, dazed, as she took all this in. She shook her head.
"Give me a couple of those forms and I'll see what I can do," she sighed. "Meanwhile, I need to get to class."
* * *
Freddie caught up with Hub between classes, and quickly explained the situation.
"A 12th order effector?" the big rhino-whale sort of guy asked, a slow smile spreading across his large face.
"You know where we can get one on Earth?" asked Freddy, excited at the implications despite a nagging worry caused by her friend's reaction.
"Yeah. Got one in the lab. Using it will fix two problems with one solution. Y'see, that's what Yubi's brain is."
"Wait a minute," said Freddy, who had some knowledge of alien technology. "You mean you hook Huron and me up using Yubi's brain to run the simulation, so her copy of the compulsion is satisfied, too?"
"Exactly. Also, I can do all this without you needing consent forms or to go off planet."
Hub frowned thoughtfully.
"You have cheerleader practice this afternoon, yes?"
"Yes."
"Well, Huron will almost certainly be there. I'll grab a couple of the guys, we'll put him under with a sleep ray and take him to the lab. You come there after practice is over."
"You're going to kidnap him?!"
"Hey, he put this compulsion in you without asking. This just evens things out."
"I hope the jury sees it that way," Freddy muttered.
* * *
Cheerleader practice did not go well for Freddy that afternoon. Besides being anxious about the plot, she was distracted by romantic thoughts about Huron. Who was, indeed, sitting in the bleachers, watching. Or, more accurately, leering. Not just at Freddy, either, though she got most of the attention.
"Watch out, Freddy!" snapped Suzy, as Freddy accidentally whapped her in the face with a pom-pom.
"S-sorry," whispered Freddy. "Listen, I need to tell you something..."
Freddy quickly explained about Huron, the compulsion and the plot.
"Oh, I get it," said Suzy, glaring over at Huron. "I'd wondered what was bothering you, lately. Y'know, that's cheating. I'll have to spread the word about that compulsion thing."
"Just leave me out of the tale," said Freddy, desperately. "Please?"
"Well, I won't mention your name, but all the girls in school have noticed you mooning after him so they'll guess pretty easy."
"Oh, great," Freddy sighed.
They resumed practicing their routines. Freddy, unable to keep more than a intermittent watch on Huron, actually missed the abduction. One glance, the Prince was there, the next he wasn't. When Freddy saw he was gone she spun around for a better look... catching Buffy, who was bending forward as part of her maneuver, right in the face with her left breast.
"Ow! Tit-lash!" Buffy cried, in mock pain. "I'm gonna sue! Those things should be registered as deadly weapons!"
"Very funny," muttered Freddy, absently rubbing her injured mammary.
"Don't fondle yourself in public," scolded Debbie.
"You know that was an accident, right?"
"Yeah," said Buffy, grinning. "If I didn't, I'd've screamed 'You pervert!' and smashed you with something."
Freddy made several other mistakes during the rest of practice, though fortunately none as embarrassing as that one. Finally, the girls finished and headed for a shower.
"Ow," said Freddy, mildly, examining her left breast. "I've got a bruise. It looks like Buffy's nose."
"Let me see..." said Suzy, who generally acted as the team's first-aid person.
She manipulated Freddy's breast with one hand to get a better view, and prodded the injury with the other. Freddy idly noted that she, herself, was naked from the waist up (well, except for the ribbons confining her twin pony tails) and that Suzy was wearing just a pair of panties. Normally, this would have been a rather erotic situation, no matter what Freddy claimed about being a girl around girls. Now, all she felt was a bit of embarrassment and some discomfort. Most of the latter came not from the bruise, but from the way Suzy was holding her boob.
"You'll be all right," said the other cheerleader, dropping the breast after a brief check.
"I wonder where that will be when you're a boy again," giggled Bamby.
"Oh, that reminds me," said Suzy, suddenly, turning back to Freddy. "Do you know how to do a self-exam?"
"Yes," said Freddy, rolling her eyes. "They've already covered that in hygiene class."
"Good. I mean, I know girls as young as us don't generally worry about that, but it's a good idea to get into the habit early and often."
"You know, some times you can really be a preacher," snickered Debbie.
Freddy rushed through showering and dressing and hurried to the lab. There she found Hub, Jim, Bl'fff and Dr. Sumt'ang waiting for her. Oh, yes; the inactive Yubi and the unconscious Huron were also there, the latter in a twin of the chair Freddy had been in for the imprinting. On the other side of Yubi was the original, waiting for Freddy.
"Uh, hi, folks," said Freddy, suddenly nervous. "I didn't realize there would be such a crowd."
"Well, I did need help, both for the set-up and the abduction," said Hub, evenly. "Besides, it's probably better to have a teacher present."
Freddy wasn't too sure about that, but sighed and climbed onto the weird-looking chair.
"Your hair's damp," said Hub.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I didn't have much time to dry it!" Freddy snapped. "I just want to get this over with."
"Hey, don't get cross with me," said Hub, a bit irritated. "You'll have to dry your hair before you connect, or it could short something. We can go ahead and start Huron while you're doing that."
"Right," sighed Freddy. "Sorry."
Fortunately, Freddy's girl supplies included an alien technology blow dryer. She brushed and blew until her hair was not only dry, but hot to the touch, and her scalp uncomfortably warm. Given what she'd experienced before in that chair, she didn't want to find out how bad it could hurt her when things didn't go right. Finished, she climbed back into the chair. Hub felt her hair and nodded.
"How long will this take?" Freddy nervously asked, as Hub lowered a wired and weird helmet onto her head.
"We'll start out at a real-time ratio," said Hub. "After a few minutes of that we'll start advancing the clock rate. You'll lose definition once that starts, probably just get brief, lucid flashes with the rest being a blur having few details. Maximum rate will probably be about a month per minute. We aren't monitoring or recording, but the program is interactive and will alter the rate in response to certain cues."
"Okay," sighed Freddy, closing her eyes.
There was an odd sort of blink and Freddy re-opened them, startled.
"What hap..."
Freddy sat up, looking around, bewildered. This wasn't the lab! It was some sort of luxuriously-furnished bedroom. She turned, exploring with her eyes, and saw that she was the only one here. She was also on a large bed, wearing a negligee which concealed nothing, only blurred some of the naughty bits a bit. Freddy decided this must be the VR, but it seemed so real! No wonder they'd needed some sort of super computer to run it. Suddenly thinking of something, Freddy pushed the filmy fabric of the negligee aside and examined her left breast. The bruise was still there!
Now Freddy was really confused. Was this real or not? Had someone burst into the lab to rescue Huron, taking her in the process? Did the chair include some sort of sensors which scanned her body to that detail? Or had she subconsciously included the bruise, because she expected it to be there?
Exploration of the room revealed that one of the doors led to a huge closet, one to an elaborate bathroom... and the last one was locked. Freddy looked through the closet for something comfortable to wear, but all of it was really frilly girl stuff, and most of it of alien style and manufacture. She laid out the most conservative dress and shoes she could find and started looking for underwear.
A dresser had some items reasonably resembling stockings, panties and pantyhose. Freddy picked a pair of panties, and started looking for bras. Her search was futile - unless some of the weird pieces of fabric she didn't recognize served that purpose. However, when she switched her attention to the vanity beside the dresser, what she thought was a row of perfume bottles to the left of the mirror had simplified images showing a woman applying the bottle to a breast, and the breast being covered by what looked like paint. The print was in an alien language, but one Freddy knew the rudiments of. The bottles on the right turned out to actually contain perfumes.
Freddy stripped off the negligee, stepped into the panties (which were really soft and comfortable) and sat on the vanity bench. Following the simple directions, she twisted the top of the bottle a half-turn to the left and touched it to her breast.
A liquid the same color as the body of the bottle - in this case, powder blue - spread quickly over her breast. This was similar to the liquid clothing she sometimes wore on her job at the alien goods store. The weird part was that she felt nothing, with her breast or her hand. Even running her finger tip back and forth across the edge, she could feel the rubbing perfectly well with both her breast and hand, and could tell no difference between the covered and uncovered portions, except... Freddy frowned, and fingered the smooth, blue surface over her nipple. She could feel the rubbing with her finger and her nipple, but it wasn't... stimulating. In fact, no matter how she groped herself there was no resulting sexual sensation.
"Now that is just weird," said Freddy.
"Are you awake, my lady?" asked a female voice.
Freddy jumped and looked around, but saw no-one.
"Ah, yes," she stated, quickly. "I'm getting dressed."
"Very good, my lady," the voice responded. "If you require assistance just speak out. This voice link may only be activated from your end."
"Where am I?" Freddy asked.
"We are still 3 hours from Adacia," the voice informed her.
That was the name of Huron's home world! She was on a space ship! So, was this real, or not?!
"Th-thank you," Freddy responded. "What time is it?"
"The third hour past dawn, Adacia time."
That sounded late for getting out of bed. Well, she supposed princesses-to-be were allowed to sleep in occasionally. She didn't feel hungry. In fact, neither did she feel like she needed to pee, which she should have, right after waking. Huron's homeworld was over a week's travel from Earth, Freddy now remembered. So this had to be the simulation. In which case, she better go along with the setup. The sooner she fulfilled the conditions of the compulsion, the better. Of course, according to the Nurse that meant having sex with a guy and giving birth to his children. When Freddy agreed to this, she hadn't expected the experience to feel so real.
Freddy sighed, and glanced at the dress she'd selected. A warm green, it wouldn't go with this blue "bra" at all. Freddy turned the cap back, then continued another half turn in the same direction. Touching this to her breast, she did feel something, as the blue material made a slight crackling sound and pulled away from her skin. She peeled it the rest of the way off and dropped it into waste receptacle built into the vanity. She replaced the first bottle, gave her nipple a quick rub to make sure it really was working, then considered the selection.
None of the colors matched the dress, but there was a subdued off-white which would be suitable. Freddy picked up the bottle, turned the cap and touched it to each breast. She examined the results in the vanity mirror. There sat a well-endowed young woman with sleep-tousled blond hair, and white-covered breasts, lifted and separated proudly. Freddy sighed. She'd have to get used being a woman, completely and full-time, until the sim was over. Smiling prettily, she began carefully applying just a touch of makeup...
Freddy blinked, as she looked at her dressed reflection in the full-length mirror. Okay, this was definitely the sim, and she was having a lucid moment after about half an hour of fast-forward.
"Where is the Prince?" she asked, a bit timidly.
"In the forward lounge."
"How do I find that?"
"The aide outside your door will take you."
A knock on the door and it was opened. She expected the aide to be a guard, but instead he looked like some sort of butler. He already knew where she wanted to go. Soon, she was entering the lounge, her heart singing as she saw her love. Huron rose and moved gracefully to her, taking and kissing her proffered hand. He led her to a seat at the main window, under the swiftly moving stars. They were the only people here; the aide had left and all the attendants were robots, none of whom wore the clothing which would have marked them as sapient. Freddy nervously wished she'd go back into fast forward, but no such luck.
"You look beautiful, my dear," breathed Huron, holding her hand and gazing deeply into her eyes. "Though I wish you would let your attendants prepare you. That better suits your position than doing it yourself."
"You're right," said Freddy, reluctantly playing along. She smiled back at him. "I'm just so used to doing things for myself..."
He put a finger on her lips to silence her. Then replaced the finger with his lips to kiss her. Freddy quailed, but only on the inside, manfully continuing to follow the compulsion's lead. Actually, once committed, she had to admit that Huron was a good kisser. He was certainly doing things for her guys didn't normally do.
Huron broke the kiss, and looked at her silently for a moment, smiling.
"I hope we're not rushing things too much for you, having the ceremony the day we arrive."
Ceremony? Wedding ceremony?! Kee-ripes!
"As far as I'm concerned, the sooner the better," breathed Freddy, meaning it in a different way internally than she did externally.
Huron laughed, and started making small talk.
* * *
Freddy flashed forward through the rest of the trip, the landing, the cheering crowds, the introduction to the family, and came to a lucid moment as she was being dressed for the wedding. Formally dressed. In garments the likes of which she had never before even imagined. Freddy felt like an idiot, but the garments had symbolic meaning, and she had to put up with them to...
Another flash forward, to a brief lucid moment during the ceremony. Then another, to being ceremonially locked in the ceremonial wedding chamber with her new husband. Freddy frantically wished for a fast forward, but didn't get one for the next three and a half hours. By which time she was royally...
Freddy blinked, as she considered her swollen belly in the mirror she stood naked before. Huron lounged, also naked, on the bed behind her, smiling proudly. She sighed, realizing what this meant. Then gasped as she felt the baby kick. That was...
"Aahhhh...!" Freddy cried out, as another contraction hit. "Waaauuugh!!"
"You are doing excellently, your highness!" the birthwife encouraged. "Rest for a moment."
Freddy panted, swiveling her head around to take in the scene. There lay hubby, passed out on the floor. A swarm of nurses and doctors, well, swarmed around. The contractions began again. No fast forward this time; Freddy completed the birthing process with full awareness. It felt like it was worth it, though, when they placed her new son on her chest, and he began nursing. Freddy's tears changed from pain to joy...
"...formally present the prince, the princess, and the new heir to the throne!" the herald announced to the throng gathered in the plaza beyond the balcony.
Freddy smiled proudly, holding her son to show them...
There was an odd sort of blink and Freddy was back in the lab, in the weird, wired chair.
"Wow..." was all she could say.
"You all right?" asked Hub.
"Yeah. I think."
She semi-reclined there while the others unhooked the still-asleep Huron. Strange. Now that the compulsion was gone, she could tell she had been deeply, desperately in love with him. Fortunately, that feeling was gone. Though she still had a sort of lingering affection for him. Yes, he was presumptive, vain, self-important, a bit pompous, but he was also affectionate, caring, a loving husband and father, and really good in be...
Freddy flushed as that thought hit. The sooner she got back to being a boy the better. She waited until the others left - them carrying Huron back to the bleachers, where he would awake thinking this whole thing had been a dream - then closed and locked the door. Freddy stripped, zapped herself with Hub's Boy/Girl Gun, and dressed in his boy clothes. Noting as he did that the bruise was, indeed, still there, on his left pec. Unlocking the door, he waited for his friends to return, feeling very pleased. Yes, all his immediate problems were over, he could get back to school work, and normal boy stuff, like taking Karen to the...
"Shit!" yelled Freddy, whacking himself on the head. "I still have to get out of that date with him!"
End Part Twenty-One
*A Brainiac joke.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 22
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademark 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2002 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"I am so glad Ramet agreed to go on that date with Huron," said Freddy, as he changed back into his civvies, talking a bit loudly so Karen could hear him. "In spite of the fact that I'll be paying him off for over a month."
"Well, I think it was worth it, too," said Karen, in the next cubicle, where she was similarly occupied. "I really enjoyed going with you. Also, having someone else pretend to be the female you for that date made it clear to him that 'the magic was gone.'"
They left the small cubicles - installed by Sooltong to maintain propriety for staff changing clothes, something which had to be politely explained to him - simultaneously, which made them start and laugh a bit.
"I am also very glad Sooltong hasn't had any of those special demos recently," said Freddy, as the pair left by the employee door in the rear.
"Hey, I thought you looked kyuuute! as a ham-ham," snickered Karen.
"Well, it wasn't that I minded so much, but when he started talking about 'breeding stock...'" Freddy shuddered.
"He was joking," said Karen, laughing and hugging him. "Anyway, I'm glad we were able to work extra during Spring Break. The money will be handy, especially for you. However! I'm also glad school starts back Monday."
"Yeah," said Freddy, grinning. "We're supposed to get new, high-tech lockers."
They exited the service corridor into one of the main sections of the mall. Though closing time was just a few minutes away, the area was still full of last-minute shoppers. The pair, arms linked, dodged through the flow expertly, heading towards the exit where their bikes were parked. However, before they were even halfway there, something odd began.
A wave of disturbance swept across those nearest the main exit, at the front of the mall. In fact, the noise and motion scanned back and forth, moving further through the crowd each time. As the scan came closer, Karen and Freddy could hear that part of the noise was chirping Gender Guards and see that people were changing sex.
Freddy sighed resignedly.
"I'm glad I have my Gender Guard," was all Karen had time to say.
The effect scanned past them, Karen's Gender Guard chirping. Then she changed into a guy. Oddly, Freddy was still one, too.
"What the Hell?!" said Freddy, making a quick check to assure he was still all male. "I didn't change!"
"And I did!" said Karen, in a pleasant baritone. "I think it zapped me twice, real quick. I heard the Gender Guard, and nothing happened, and then I changed."
"Maybe that's why it missed me," said Freddy.
The crowd was getting a bit ugly (especially with all the involuntary cross-dressing) so they ducked back into the service hallway. Karen pulled out his Gender Guard, only to have it snatched by a really homely woman in men's clothing who ran past them. She got swept away by the crowd before either of the teens could react.
"I bet Sooltong's already gone home," sighed Freddy.
That he had. The doors - front, side and service - were securely locked, the lights were out and the spot assigned by the mall for their boss' saucer was empty.
"Oh, well," said Karen. "You have your Boy/Girl Gun at your home. I'll just ride with you to there, then on to my home. It's not much out of the way."
"Just don't expect me to hold hands with you, like usual," teased Freddy.
"You could if you switched," snickered Karen.
"Looks like this was set up to work rapid fire, and to hit people with Gender Guards twice," said Freddy, peering out at the teeming mass in the mall. "Clever. Playing dirty, but clever."
"So why didn't you change?"
"Y'know, I think I did," said Freddy. "It was like when I was a girl because of Huron's spell. When I got zapped I just automatically changed myself back right away."
"Or maybe you've just building up an immunity to it," Karen guessed.
"Hey! If so, that means that not only did I not change, for once, but I didn't change when everyone else did!" said Freddy, triumphantly.
"Except you just said you think you did change. Twice!"
"That's not... I mean, I didn't get stuck!"
"Come on, let's get out of here," said Karen. "Looks like the crowd's thinning out and I want to get back into the right chromosomes."
* * *
Flinkpoid hopped towards the entrance of the school, nimbly maneuvering under the skirts of several girls in the process. He realized, too late, that his next target was not only one of the teachers, but a predator. He hit the brakes but slid helplessly between her feet, flipping over on his back, looking up. He decided that even if she killed him now, his life had been a full one.
Ms. Furrpect grabbed the pink bunny boy by the scruff of the neck and held him at eye height, snarling.
"Where I come from, we eat little pink bunny boys who peek under females' skirts," she told him.
Flinkpoid thought about apologizing. He thought about pointing out that Ms. Furrpect habitually wore so few clothes that everyone in school had seen practically her entire body, anyway. He even thought about pleading for mercy. Instead, he turned to look at the girls gathered around him, cute little bunny eyes big and moist and showing multiple highlights. This time, they weren't buying it.
"Is he the one?" demanded a brunette. "I told you I felt a draft!"
"Let's get him!"
Flinkpoid gave a terrified bunny squeal of pure fright, zapped Ms. Furrpect to make her let go, then scampered wildly between female feet to escape.
* * *
"You heard that the cops found the Boy/Girl Gun at the mall?" asked Karen, as she and Freddy got off their bikes.
"Yeah," said Freddy, locking his front wheel to the bike rack. "Heard that my guess was right. Modified, rapid-fire Boy/Girl Gun, hooked to a sensor and an aiming device. Scanned and zapped everyone, and those who had Gender Guards were zapped twice. Guess I'm lucky it wasn't measuring whether the target actually changed, or it would've stuck on me. No telling what that would have... What's going on up there?"
"Looks like a riot," said Karen, worried.
The pair hurried up to the tangled knot of girls to see if they could help. Unfortunately, the girls were so busy A) trying to catch the cute little pink bunny boy and B) trying to keep the cute little pink bunny boy from staring up their skirts in the process that they were in the collective act of falling en mass. Karen jumped out of the way, but Freddy, chivalrous fool he, tried to catch them. And wound up on the bottom.
"There's a guy with his hand on my hip!" one girl screamed.
"It's just Freddy!" another panted, as she tried to wiggle herself free.
"Well, he has his face under my chest, so he better be a she, right quick!" said a third.
Freddy actually didn't need much effort to change, since the third girl was one of the most buxom non-cheerleaders in school, a gorgeous, dark-skinned teenager from California. Once the pile was unpiled the "under my chest" gal lifted herself and took a quick look, then laughed. She helped f-Freddy to her feet.
"Sorry about that. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," said Freddy, a bit breathlessly and in a higher voice than usual even when a girl.
Then she yelped and jumped, and shook herself. Flinkpoid dropped out of her shirt and scurried away.
"You pervert!" screamed over a dozen girls in perfect unison, one of them Freddy.
There followed a mad chase as the girls tore after the hapless bunny boy, more females joining in on the way on general principles. Unfortunately, Flinkpoid was experienced at this sort of thing, in addition to being able to fit places most of the other students couldn't. Shortly before first bell the chase wound down, a panting Freddy leaning against a wall as Karen finally found her.
"Here!" she snapped, shoving Freddy's book bag at her. "You dropped this!"
"Why... are you mad... at me?" gasped Freddy. "I'm the one... who had a bunny... in her bosom."
"Oh, stop being such a girl!"
The bell rang, and Freddy had no choice but to trail behind the angrily-marching-away Karen.
* * *
"First day of school after Spring Break, and I'm a girl again," sighed Freddy, quietly, to Ramet.
"So change back," the shapeshifter advised.
"I'll need to catch my breath, first, so I can concentrate," said Freddy.
"You may remember that we are supposed to start using the new school lockers today," said Mr. Hoomdorm, the teacher for this home room. "They look exactly like the old ones, so much so that many of you may have already used them without realizing it, but there is now no more need for combination locks. So please remove your lock at the first opportunity. Each locker recognizes its assigned user - and, yes, you shapeshifters, it's ID keyed - and unlocks when you stand in front of it."
_Cool,_ thought Freddy. _Oh, wait; automatically? What if a bully holds a victim in front of his locker and..._
"These lockers are more secure in other ways, too, now having integrated sensors to detect break-in attempts, fires, illicit chemicals and devices and so on," Mr. Hoomdorm continued.
That brought a mixed reaction, but a muted one. Freddy still didn't hear anything which would prevent bully abuse, either.
"So, please take a few minutes now to go and examine them. Then proceed to your next class at the bell."
The big, egg-shaped alien simply stopped and closed his one big eye, settling down on his singular hopping foot, a signal that he was finished.
The students rose and exited in a more-or-less orderly way, Freddy torn between staying behind in the quiet and trying to change or going to see the new lockers. Curiosity won. Besides, she wanted to see if it actually would open for the female her. Uh, him. The female Freddy!
* * *
Inside his locker, Flinkpoid chuckled deviously to himself. He'd fooled them all, with that triple-double back, and the detour through the wiring channel under the floor. Even if they figured out he'd ducked into his locker, they'd never get it open, not with the new security mechanisms. Of course, he did have to pee... He listened carefully, noted that the time was middle of home room class, and decided the halls were safe for now. He'd sneak out of here and into the boys' restroom on this floor. He pushed on the door.
It didn't move. Flinkpoid blinked. Then tried again. That was impossible. He knew about the new lockers, and how they worked; the same type had been in his last school. The sensors were beyond malfunction; they infallibly unlocked when the locker's assigned user... approached... from... outside...
Flinkpoid gave yet another little pink bunny scream, and began to panic.
* * *
Freddy approached her locker and was pleased to note that it did, indeed, open freely, even though she was still female. She closed it and tried the locker next to hers. Locked tight. Ramet, at Freddy's smile and gesture, sighed and tried to open Freddy's locker. No luck.
"This is so cool," chortled Freddy.
"Simple minds and simple gadgets," said Ramet.
Freddy started to approach her locker again, when there was a disturbance down the hall. It started as muffled banging, then odd cries of panic, then louder banging and roaring. Then, with a huge crash, a towering pink bunny monster burst out of the wall of lockers.
"Eep..." said Freddy.
Others were saying other things, mostly variants on "Run away!" Freddy vaguely recalled that Flinkpoid could monster out, but the little guy usually ran in terror instead of getting mad. She turned and bolted. Or tried to. A giant, pink, furry hand grabbed her around the middle and hoisted her into the air for inspection.
"Prrrrettyyyy," rumbled the giant pink bunny monster.
It began kneading her attributes with a thumb. Her shirt promptly tore free, leaving sensitive skin bare to being rubbed by soft pink fur. Not the most unpleasant experience in the world, but one Freddy was not in a position to enjoy just then.
"Put me down!" squeaked Freddy.
"Want girl," rumbled the giant pink bunny monster, leering.
Freddy began to do a little panicking herself. She didn't know how long Flinkpoid would be like this, or what would turn him back. However, she knew what would turn him on; after a look down she immediately wished she hadn't taken, she could tell he was definitely interested, in the biblical sense.
Fortunately, before Flinkpoid could even begin to find an isolated romantic spot, school security arrived.
"Help," wheezed Freddy.
The mixed-species crew quickly but competently set up what looked like an anti-tank weapon, aimed at the distracted Flinkpoid, then ran around a corner. Just as Freddy was starting to think she'd be blown to pieces along with the giant pink bunny monster, the device activated, with a soft "Paf!"
A warm, off-white foam blew around them, cradling and comforting them. Freddy relaxed, and drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Freddy woke in the Nurse's office, the Nurse nearby. After a brief moment of mild confusion, she remembered everything. Her omniscience quickly faded as the lingering narcotic effects of the tranquilizer foam wore off.
"Ow?" she tried.
"Oh, good. I thought you should be waking soon. How do you feel?"
"I was mauled by a giant pink bunny with a dirty mind," said Freddy, with surprising mildness. "How do you think I feel?"
"Well, it wasn't his fault. It takes a lot to make someone from his species monster out, and when they do they go farther into the beast mind than most. Though he will be disciplined for the things he did before that."
"I should hope so," muttered Freddy.
She sat up, and as the covers fell away realized she was both naked and squeaky clean.
"Eep?" she stated, still a bit fuzzy headed.
"Oh, your clothes were ruined. I would have had to remove them anyway, to get the foam off. I put your personal effects over here."
"Great. The only other clothes I have at school are my emergency girl clothes. Unless I want to wear my boy gym clothes all day."
"You're not the only one inconvenienced," said the Nurse. "When he broke out of the lockers Flinkpoid did so much damage that the fancy new system shut down. No-one can get into their lockers until that is repaired, which won't be until tomorrow morning, at the earliest."
"Y'know," said Freddy, contemplatively, "that little pink bunny guy will be lucky if he's not lynched."
* * *
The next day, as Freddy and Karen approached the school, they spotted a new girl being swarmed by guys. She was petit and very curvy, with long, fluorescent-pink hair. Extremely kawaii. She looked miserable and embarrassed, and seemed to be having trouble walking.
"Who is that?" Karen asked Ramet, who was standing nearby, smirking, "and why aren't the teachers helping the poor girl?"
"That's Flinkpoid," said Ramet.
"Oh," said Karen.
"Serves him right," snickered Freddy. "I don't recognized half those guys, though."
"That's because they're usually girls."
"Oh," said Freddy. "Oh!"
He resisted the urge to participate. Instead, Freddy and Karen went on inside to their lockers.
"Looks like they're fixed," said Karen, opening hers.
"Great. I never even got a chance to look inside mine yesterday. See you in home room!"
Freddy walked around the corner to his locker, and reached for the latch. It didn't open. He checked, made sure he had the right one, tried again. Nothing. He looked around, and noticed other people opening their lockers. Freddy's, however, remained stubbornly secured.
"This isn't fair," he sighed.
End Part Twenty-Two
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Part 23
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2002 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
"So why can't I get into my locker?" asked Freddy.
"You aren't the only one," said the repairman, as he ran a scanner over the door. "Several people are having problems."
He had light purple skin, white hair, and a face like a stretched prune. Not to mention a forked tail.
"You mean they can't get into theirs, either?"
"Some can't. Some can, but find weird things inside."
"Huh?" said Freddy, startled.
"These lockers use hyperspatial technology to increase the room available for storage," the repairman continued, as he put the scanner away and pulled out something resembling a skillet with a goiter. "When the circuits blew, some of what were isolated hyperspatial pockets suddenly weren't."
"Isolated?" asked Freddy. "Or hyperspatial pockets?"
"Yep," the repairman answered, distractedly.
He whacked the door with the weird skillet, producing a huge, surprising noise. He then checked his scanner again, and started muttering.
"Weird. This thing insists you're a girl."
"Well I am, sometimes," said Freddy, shifting posture uneasily. "It's... a condition I have."
"Oh. Were you a girl when the damage happened?"
"Uh, yeah," said Freddy, wincing at the memory.
"Well, that's the solution. Just change to a girl and it'll open." He began packing his bags.
"Wait a minute! It's supposed to recognize shapeshifters no matter what their form!"
"Not now, it won't," he said, lifting his bag. "That feature got completely burned out. We're on the backups, which use soma identification. Main system won't be fixed for a while. So, be a girl and it'll open."
After he left Freddy spent some time banging his head on the locker door. Then he got mad. He wedged his clipboard into the crack between door and frame and heaved. The clipboard was a novelty item, made of clear Polycarbonate and quite strong. The process made enough of a gap that Freddy could wedge the fingers of one hand in and hold the door while he dropped the clipboard and added his other hand.
Freddy heaved, and the door popped open. Only, Freddy's grip slipped, and as he stumbled back a bit the door bounced closed. Freddy screamed in anger and frustration, and grabbed the clipboard again. This time, when he pulled he as more careful, and kept his grip. However, after the door opened a bit it was suddenly yanked shut again, catching Freddy's fingers. He yelped and let go, and the door shut with a distinct click.
Growling, Freddy repeated the process. Only, this time, as the door suddenly tried to close, he yanked hard. After a few seconds of back-and-forth, he managed to get the door all the way open. He was half expecting to see some creature or device inside, but everything appeared normal. Keeping a cautious eye on the door, he switched books, then backed away and pushed the door closed.
It promptly re-opened a bit. Freddy realized he hadn't heard the latch click. He closed the door again, shoving hard once it was shut. This time it latched. Freddy gave a sigh of relief and headed for his next class.
* * *
Freddy was almost there when he spotted someone else having locker problems.
"Hey, Hrpblple!"
"Hello, Freddy," blatted Hrpblple, creating another eye on the part of his gelatinous body which faced Freddy's direction. "Can you help me? I can't reach my books."
Freddy stepped closer, and stared as he realized what he was seeing. The locker extended several times further in than normal, and the formless alien's stuff was all piled against the back wall, as if gravity was rotated 90 degrees in there.
"I don't see how," said Freddy. "Maybe you can find someone with a grabbit stick."
"That would work," wobbled Hrpblple.
Whether he had more to say was unknown, because there was a frightened yell from down the corridor. Freddy looked in time to see a male human student get sucked into his locker. The door slammed shut behind him.
Freddy quickly ran over and pulled on the door. Naturally, it didn't open. He repeated his clipboard trick, and - thanks to experience - got it open on the first try. Warned by what had happened to the other student, Freddy braced himself, and avoided being sucked in. Through the open locker door he could see an alien landscape, one he was looking down on from above. The russet-colored ground cover showed signs of disturbance, and there were some school books scattered around, but Freddy could not see the guy.
"Anybody got a rope?" queried Freddy.
Nobody did. Freddy sighed, braced the door open with his clipboard, and carefully climbed in, leaving his book bag laying on the floor below the locker. Freddy reoriented so he was feet-down with respect to the other world, and lowered himself carefully. Gravity seemed a bit high, besides having a different direction, but neither was something he couldn't handle. He dropped the last bit of distance - snarling as he heard the bang of a closing locker door above him - and collapsed to the ground, because his feet weren't working.
Freddy, confused, sat up and stretched his legs out. Feeling slowly returned, and in a few minutes he was able to stand with no problem. Looking around he could see a huge building of some sort in the near distance, but still not the other student. He also noticed that the color of the moss-like vegetation came from a covering of thick, heavy and somewhat clingy dust, which was now all over his clothes.
"Whoah..." said Freddy, impressed. "My first alien world."
He looked up and was a bit surprised to see a vaguely rectangular-shaped opening in the sky. Looking closer, he was not at all surprised to see that the locker door was closed. Muttering under his breath, Freddy began tracking the other student, who had headed towards the building. He thought about piling some rocks under the door in case he had to make a quick retreat, but there weren't really many rocks lying around. Besides, there were already books and such the other student had dropped.
He'd covered less than half the distance to the building when a group of the blondest, tallest, most muscular and most astoundingly buxom women Freddy had ever seen sprang up around him. After several frozen seconds the apparent leader appeared, standing dramatically on a large rock. Freddy looked up at the most hugely-endowed (Well, in real life. Standing on her own.) woman he'd ever encountered. The woman snarled something, and the language sounded familiar, but Freddy was having trouble making out the words. The woman's intent was obvious, however: My face is up here!
They were all Valkyrie types; tall, blond, fair-skinned, muscular, and very well endowed. They were wearing bizarre costumes, resembling Greek armor but only covering tiny portions of their bodies, like bronze bikinis with filmy, transparent skirts. They were also carrying an assortment of weapons, archaic in form and apparent function, but futuristic in execution. Despite the militaristic theme to their accoutrements, there were some interesting feminine touches. Like those sheer, pastel cloths draping downwards from their waists, and the modest amount of jewelry.
"Wow...," said Freddy, boggling at all that buxom bobbling. "Uh... Take me to your leader?"
Without saying anything, the women moved in close and started herding Freddy towards the building, the leader waiting a short distance ahead. Since that was where he was heading, anyway, he went along quite willingly. He did wonder at the rather stiffly upright posture and odd marching stride they used.
Once inside - the door was impressively thick, and the wall it led through was even thicker - Freddy was marched around several right-angle turns of corridors to a lift tube. This was big enough to hold all of them, though only with some crowding. Freddy was actually enjoying the intimacy as they went up perhaps a dozen levels. Then through more corridors, past a series of doors with armed guards - also all female - outside them. Finally, they stopped at one, the leader of the squad formally announced herself in that tongue Freddy still couldn't follow, and she was allowed in. They waited a few moments, and she returned, with an older - and even more buxom - woman. Unlike the guards Freddy had seen, she was wearing something very softly feminine, and a bit less revealing than the armor.
She examined Freddy up and down, her scowl fading a bit as she felt his arms. She and the squad leader spoke back and forth in low voices.
"I'm a student," said Freddy, trying English first. "I came to rescue another student."
There was no sign they understood him or were even listening. Freddy tried Spak, Succor All, Mblbb, and even Hooshfir. That was all the languages he was even modestly fluent with. He could have tried ritual greetings in a few others, but decided not to bother. They just weren't paying attention to what he said.
The older woman finished her examination and nodded. She said a few curt words - Freddy was starting to recognize the language but still couldn't pin it down - and went back into her office. The squad marched Freddy back to the lift, the leader again ahead, and they went even further up. Then he was marched down a hall which had unguarded doors. Doors with open grills in them. Cell doors.
"Oh, great," sighed Freddy.
"Who's there?" an echoey voice demanded, in English. "This is Daryl Grives, student. Who are you?"
"It's Freddy."
"The male cheerleader?! Great..."
"Hey!"
They stopped in front of a door next to the one the voice came from. This opened as the leader stepped to it. Freddy was prodded from behind, and quickly got the message. Once he was in, the squad leader backed away, and the door closed. It stayed closed when Freddy approached, naturally.
"Great," Freddy repeated.
"Well, at least I know it's repeatable," sighed Daryl. "Getting through that dimensional gateway, I mean."
"They're all nuts!" Freddy exclaimed. "Not only do they not make any effort to talk to me, no matter what I try, they've got their dungeon in the attic!"
"Well, maybe," Daryl temporized. "How much is simply cultural differences? I mean, they are a matriarchy, full of muscular, dominant women and wimpy men. Oh, and if your enemies have aircraft, putting the prisoners in the highest part of the fort makes sense."
"You've seen some of their men?"
"Yeah. A couple. I'am also starting to understand what they say. Their language is an odd variant of GalFix," said Daryl. "Which means they are descended from the ancient Geeks. If I recall correctly, that society had a number of cults, one of which promoted matriarchy as the solution to the universe's problems."
"Yeah; I've had a GalFix implant. It's starting to come back to me."
"What's odd is, as far as I can tell, we're not only the only prisoners they have, we're the first people they've seen from offworld in a good, long while."
"So who are they?"
"I think they're something from 'way back in early Geek history," said Daryl, quietly. "A cult so bizarre, and vanished so long ago that most people don't think they're real."
His voice dropped to a hushed tone.
"The Mamazons..."
* * *
Further conversation with Daryl brought little additional information. He was more interested in either speculating on the sociology of their captors, or whining about being in this mess, than he was in planning an escape. Freddy eventually tired of trying to get anything else useful out of him and lay down to sleep. One of the few interesting things Daryl had said confirmed a guess of Freddy's, and he planned to try it out as soon as he thought night had arrived.
Neither of the students had any idea how long the local day was or even what the local time had been when they got here. However, when Freddy woke not only was the place subtly quieter than before, but the lights had dimmed. According to Freddy's watch over three hours had passed. Which led him to wonder why he still had said timepiece; he hadn't even been searched. Of course, given the evidence of advanced tech they could have scanned him down to the DNA and he'd never have noticed.
Freddy concentrated for a few moments, and shifted to female version. She stood and stretched, her shirt, oddly, feeling tighter than usual. Were her boobs larger due to something on this planet, perhaps explaining what she had observed earlier? Oh, wait; the shirt was new, and deliberately a bit tight to show off Freddy's male pecs. She sighed and approached the door... which opened obligingly. With a smug grin, Freddy walked out into the corridor. She moved to Daryl's cell. The door opened and Freddy leaned in and hissed for the boy. Who clobbered her over the head with something large, heavy and hard, dragged her inside, and ducked out as the door closed.
"Oooooh," groaned Freddy, sitting up and gently prodding her abused cranium. "Why did he do that?!"
She staggered to her feet and went to the sink. Tearing a strip from the tail of her shirt she rinsed it in cold water, folded it and gingerly held it to her head. As the pain subsided a bit, she began to think. Obviously, the brilliant upperclassman hadn't realized he was being rescued, thinking Freddy was one of the locals. By himself he'd probably be caught soon and brought back here. Freddy sighed and headed for the door.
* * *
Two hours later Freddy was completely lost. The doors opened for her, so moving around was no problem, but she couldn't read the writing and there were some Mamazons up and active whom she took pains to avoid. Following Daryl's logic about putting prisoners in the highest levels, she'd head downward whenever she could, hoping to reach something important and therefore protected by the mass overhead. Or at least find a ground level exit. Just now she was in a darkened area which appeared to be living - or perhaps just sleeping - quarters. Her head was still hurting and she had a knot the size of half a golf ball, but Freddy was used to dealing with such injuries.
She sidled up to a door, then moved to where the sensors would activate, prepared to step quickly back if the room beyond were occupied. It wasn't. Instead, it appeared to be something she desperately needed. Freddy ducked quickly inside.
The plumbing was odd, but much less odd than some of the other alien facilities she'd used. Relieved, she began exploring the room. It appeared to be a combination restroom, locker room and training room. There was no shower room as such, but a row of upright booths with glass fronts appeared to be shower stalls. Freddy stripped, opened the door to one and stepped in. The door closed and latched behind her. The booth rapidly filled with warm, soap-smelling foam, and mechanical appendages sprang out from the walls.
She turned out to be right, and also wrong. The booth did, indeed, clean her very thoroughly, not only on the outside but inside her mouth, nose, ears and, uhm, other orifices. The process wasn't just pleasant; Freddy had a multiple orgasm. Seconds later, the foam went down the drain, the appliances retracted, a blast of hot air dried her and the door unlatched with a subtle click. Freddy staggered, weak-kneed, back out into the room.
Does it do that every time?! she wondered. Maybe that's why they walk funny!
She shook her head... and realized it didn't hurt any more. A quick feel confirmed the bump was gone. So were several other minor injuries. She didn't even feel hungry any more.
"Now for something to wear," Freddy murmured.
There was no way she was putting her filthy, ill-fitting boy clothes back on. Besides, native clothing would help her escape notice. She wandered around the room, naked, trying several of the small cabinets which appeared to serve the same function as lockers She quickly found one which wasn't locked. It was also empty, but the shelves inside confirmed her guess. Several tries later she found a locker which was not only unlocked, but contained clean clothing.
Unfortunately, the clothing inside was Mamazon battle gear. Freddy sighed, and started pulling stuff out, half-hoping it wouldn't fit. Naturally, it fit perfectly.
"Ah! Cold!" Freddy gasped, as she brought the filigreed breast cups up to her chest. "Jeez! How can they stand to wear these things?! They're cold and hard and don't have any padding..."
Figuring out the harness took a moment, but once she had that properly adjusted she had to admit that, whatever its shortcomings, the garment supported well.
"I bet it wears like iron," snickered Freddy.
Next came the brass crotch plate and its diaphanous skirts. Again, the metal was cold and hard, but fit perfectly. Freddy added a few of the bangles and other decorations in the cabinet, then stepped over to the mirror.
"Not bad," she said, staring at her reflection.
She rotated slowly, checking to see that the clothing and jewelry were properly arranged. Then she posed, standing straight and stiff, taking on the haughty demeanor typical of the Mamazons. Freddy nodded, satisfied. She wasn't quite as buxom as even the least-endowed of the full adults she'd seen, but could probably pass for one of younger ones. As long as she wasn't challenged, and didn't try to have a conversation. Of course, this outfit was going to cause some serious nosebleeds if she ever got back to the school.
Freddy briskly turned to head back to the cleaning booth, intending to dispose of her boy clothes. And almost fell over. The brass brassier thingy might offer good vertical support, but did little to dampen lateral breast movement. Also, all the extra mass of the metal cups actually amplified the usual side-to-side wobble of unsecured breasts.
"Gotta watch my balance," muttered Freddy, using her hands to steady her rebellious boobs. "Wonder if that's why they walk that funny way?"
Freddy transferred the important stuff from the pants pockets to the outfit's fannypacklikething and tossed the old clothes down a disposal chute. Then, back to exploring.
Freddy soon decided that it was less night shift here than evening. There were barracks, but no-one in them. Unable to find a way further down - and having the definite feeling she was already well underground - Freddy began heading back up, exploring one level at a time. She saw several of the Mamazons from a distance, and as a test deliberately let them see her. None gave her a second glance.
Three levels up from the dorm she heard crowd noises. Following them, she found herself entering a huge indoor arena. The entrance was at the topmost level of the benches, with the arena itself a full floor below. Many were dressed in non-military clothing, though nearly half those in attendance were wearing the armor. She also saw, for the first time, sub-adults, from infants to late teens. None of the youngest were armored, but a few of the teenagers were. Everyone was female, except possibly some of the youngest. Those who were Freddy's size and apparent age did, indeed, have less up top than the adults, with many having chests smaller than Freddy's. That meant she could make her way through the crowd unnoticed.
Freddy finally reached the rail, and saw what was going on. Several groups of Mamazons appeared to be vying for males, one of the latter per group of the former. Those males were, indeed, a sorry, scrawny lot. Yet the women seemed desperate to defeat their opponents and win a man.
Daryl was there, wearing a skimpy, slave-garment sort of thing. Freddy couldn't help but smirk, seeing this scrawney upperclassman being argued over by buxom women. Of course, he was larger and better built than the native men. The Mamazons weren't actually fighting, yet, but looked about ready to start.
Mamazonia needs men!, Freddy thought, smirking even more.
"Lot #396, make ready!" came a voice over some sort of PA.
A gong sounded and they began.
Freddy watched with keen interest as the women in a group beside the one where Daryl was began pairing off. The basics were pretty similar to terrestrial sport wrestling, but some of the, ah, techniques were female-specific. Freddy knew about a few, such as the Titty-Twister, from previous experience or talk with Karen or cheerleaders, but the rest... Most of the female-specific attacks were more effective the better endowed the defending female was. While Freddy had a great chest for an Earth female, compared to the average Mamazon she was only modestly endowed. No punches or kicks could be used, but open-hand strikes and shoves were fair. Freddy was very good at that sort of thing. Especially when a girl.
"Coming up next, lot #397!" a voice announced. "An alien male spy, captured today! There are still three openings; anyone else who wishes to contend for him must enter the battle zone immediately."
Oh, well..., sighed Freddy.
She vaulted over the low railing and hurried towards him, really wishing she had a sport bra on. She saw one other woman approaching, full-grown but less endowed than even Freddy. Now that she was closer to Daryl, it seemed all those in competition for the student were on the low end of the local scale.
Looks like Daryl's less desirable than I thought, smirked Freddy.
She had just reached the circle - at about the same time as two others - when the announcer declared that event closed. The other woman who had been hurrying over was turned back by guards. A quick look around showed that Daryl had apparently recognized f-Freddy; he had a startled sort of "Oops!" look on his face. He must have suddenly realized who he'd clobbered earlier. Further up and further out, Freddy could see that one section of the seating was different, sectioned off and occupied by guards and a handful of extremely buxom women, older than any of those she'd seen before. In the center of that area was a middle-aged-looking woman with breasts so large Freddy wondered how she could stand.
"Lot #397, make ready!"
A shift in those around her brought Freddy's attention back to the immediate situation. She aped the fighters she was among, taking a guarded stance and eyeing the others. A gong sounded, and they began.
Freddy had wrestled in competition plenty of times, but never with girls, or as a girl.
Freddy and her first opponent came together with a crash, the metal pieces of their tops clanking from their vigorous contact as the larger woman tried for a front bear hug.
It the situation weren't so serious I could definitely enjoy this, mused Freddy.
Being smaller and more agile, Freddy was able to not only evade capture, but to trip her opponent and then pin her. The woman was counted out, and Freddy stood, only to be challenged immediately by another, even bigger-chested Mamazon.
Fortunately, their tactics depended mainly on strength and mass. Freddy was small, but strong for her size, and also much quicker and more maneuverable the Mamazons.
Using these advantages, and every other one she could think of, Freddy slowly began whittling down her foes. Which was why the last two decided to double-team her.
However, that very cooperation proved to be their undoing. Realizing they couldn't change course very easily, Freddy waited as they charged at her from either side, then suddenly bolted out from between them. The two pairs had a clangorous collision, both women bouncing away and dropping. Freddy turned (Cautiously!) to face them, ready to resume.
Freddy noticed the Mamazon to her left staggering to her feet. Just as the woman lunged forward Freddy spun around to confront her, momentarily forgetting what she'd learned about how to move while wearing that %^@^$%#+!! metal brassier. Her breasts swung wildly, the left one hitting the Mamazon squarely in the side of the head with its bronze cup. The Mamazon dropped, out cold, and Freddy barely manage to not fall on top of her. A quick glance showed the other woman sitting up and shaking her head, obviously dazed.
"Whoa!" said Daryl, wiping at the blood trickling down from his nose. "Where'd you learn to fight like that?!"
"Yes, that's a question I'd like answered, as well."
The amplified voice boomed out across the arena, and all activity therein ceased. The speaker was the absurdly buxom woman in the good seats.
"The Armored Tit Strike is one of our most sacred and traditional techniques," she continued, and, yes, she did stand, and had little trouble doing so.
"Would you believe it was an accident?" asked Freddy. Seeing the reaction to this, she sighed. "Didn't think so..."
"So, outlander, you are actually a female," said the woman. "I will have to make sure the guards who searched you receive better anatomy training. How clever, to send someone who was so poorly endowed she could masquerade as a harmless male."
"Look, we just want to go home," said Freddy.
"I am Queen Cleavanger, and you have intruded onto my realm. If you want your mate, you will have to fight for him, to prove you are worthy."
"He's not my mate," protested Freddy. "We just go to school together!"
"Freddy! Don't argue!" hissed Daryl. "Just win me and get me out of here!"
Freddy sighed, and dropped into a fighting stance. Her remaining opponent had managed to get back on her feet, and now circled warily, moving slowly closer. Freddy relaxed, and let her gaze unfocus. When the woman started her attack Freddy ducked, lunged between her legs and straightened, dumping the woman over Freddy's shoulders, to land flat on her back with a huge thump.
Freddy spun around, again on guard, and careful not to overshoot in the turn this time. She froze, distracted by the sight of those heavy bronze discs on her prone opponent's breasts wobbling, like saucers on mounds of gelatin. Fortunately, the woman was just as thoroughly stunned by the impact. She was reluctantly counted out.
The Queen gestured and half a dozen guards bounced into the arena. Worse, a couple of the other Mamazons in circle #397 were recovering. Freddy scowled, and went triple. Which caused considerable consternation among the Mamazons.
"We're leaving," said the Freddys. "We didn't even know about your misandronistic little society before we came here. We don't want to know. We. Are. Leaving."
"You misunderstand," said the Queen, irritated. "You have won the right to leave, with your mate. Go in peace."
* * *
"I still don't see why you wouldn't let me ask for my clothes back," whined Daryl.
The upperclassman had tried to, but Freddy, still in triplicate, had put a hand around his mouth, picked him up and carried him off. An action which had caused the Mamazons to express amused approval. The guards had guided the three Freddys and Daryl back out the same door they'd come in, and followed along behind for a bit, then stopped and watched to make sure they left.
"Well, there's your books," said Freddy, stopping and looking up. "And there's the door. Now, how do we reach it..."
She glanced over at Daryl, to find him looking down. At her inadequately covered chest.
"Hey! Eye-to-eye, geek boy!" Freddy snapped. "You keep staring like that, you'll fall in!"
"Huh?" said Daryl. He looked up at her eyes. Then even higher. "Oh. Oh! Look out!"
Freddy looked up just in time to see a ladder descending through the hole in the sky.
* * *
"Ow..." Freddy opened her eyes. She felt surprisingly little pain. When she realized she was in the school infirmary the surprise vanished. She waved to Nurse. "Hi. How long was I out?"
"Only about twenty minutes. Most of that was from the delay in getting you here. The rescuers had to send for female staff to move you, since all the males kept getting disabled by nosebleeds. Then there were the crowds who had gathered to see what was happening, and stayed to stare at you."
"Oh," sighed Freddy.
"You really need to stop getting hit on the head," said Nurse. "Or at least how to turn your head to lead with a different part. Even with our healing technology, you're getting a soft spot."
A quick check showed she was now wearing an examination gown, but still female.
"I hope you saved those fancy duds of mine," she remarked. "They'd make a nice souvenir. Also, my stuff is in the fanny pack."
"We did save them," Nurse said, nodding. "Since your male clothes are missing I also had Miss Klupper go to the girls' locker room and get your emergency clothes. They're over there."
"So I'll be a girl until I can get home," muttered Freddy. "Oh, well; better than being a prisoner of the Mamazons. How long were we gone, anyway?"
"I told you," said Nurse, looking puzzled. "About twenty minutes."
"Wait..." Freddy thought furiously. "Okay, I think time runs faster there. 'Cause when I looked through the locker door Daryl was already gone. Then my feet went to sleep in what were a few seconds to the rest of me, but was probably several minutes of reduced blood flow to them. We were in that weird place for more than five hours, according to my watch, and my sense of time."
"Ah! That explains how you were able to find such bizarre clothes in such a short time," said Nurse, brightly. "Everyone in the school was marveling at those. People lined the halls to watch as you were carried here, many of them recording the event. I have over a hundred calls for nosebleed treatments pending."
"Wait a minute. Didn't they put a blanket over me, or something?"
"No," said Nurse, again looking puzzled. "That would have kept the EMTs from visually checking you."
Oh, Freddy just bet they were visually checking her! While they carried her through school on a stretcher. Wearing that kinky outfit. Flat on her back, breasts wobbling like her opponent's had...
"Oy," groaned Freddy, lying down and pulling the sheet over her head. "Just send me back through. I'm going to join the Mamazons and become a devout lesbian."
End Part Twenty-Three
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Story 24
The Tomb of Khum-Waht-Meh!
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked 2001 R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2015 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
The Big G and the Observer sat at a giant table on giant chairs in the giant room, playing a giant game which was related to chess in approximately the same way that Tic-Tac-Toe has nothing to do with brane theory.
"It begins," said the Big G, ponderously, as he contemplated the playing field.
"It has always begun," said the Observer, ominously. "It always will begin. It has always been beginning."
"Okay," said Yehudi, rolling his eyes at the pretension which filled the giant room. He pulled out the remote and pushed a button; the exhaust fans whirred quietly. "Enoughwiththeverbaltenseforms."
Having little interest in hyperspatial logic games he was playing Pong on his home entertainment center. Against himself. He was already irritated, because he kept losing and was a smug winner.
"Yehudi has a part to play, though he knows it not yet," said the Big G.
"Eh?" said Yehudi, startled.
Yehudi took advantage of his distraction and scored the winning goal, then jumped up and did the Snoopy dance.
The two visitors nodded in unison, as if half of Mount Rushmore had reached a dread consensus.
"He has yet to fully embrace his role in the Omniverse," said the Big G.
"Isthisaboutthatawardsshow? 'CauseI'mNOTdoingit."
"Until he does he remains little more than a nuisance to those of us who have."
"Hey,guys,I'mrighthere!"
"Yeah,righthere!"
"Once he does, he will be far less annoying and far more useful," said the Observer.
"Guy,Iletyouusemygameroomasacourtesy,notsoyoucanbadmouthme."
"Perhaps this current crisis will bring about his fulfillment," said the Big G.
"Eh?" said Yehudi, monosyllabically in stereo.
"Yes. With those young high school friends of his being endangered he may finally have sufficient motivation."
"Wait... thosekidsareindanger?!"
"The intergalactic plot they have been victims of is about to reach fruition," said the Big G, careful to look only at the other giant.
"OK,gotit.Thanks,guys!"
Yehudi, unanimous on this, vanished. Twice.
"I thought he'd never leave," said the Observer. "Did you bring it?"
The Big G reached under the table and pulled out a twelve-pack which would have swamped a small oil tanker.
"Fantastic! The big game starts in less than twenty minutes and his entertainment center has one of the largest screens and best surround-sound systems in the omniverse!"
* * *
Once again, the school paper's student staff was having a pool party at Hub's home, the huge alien teen glad to play host. Once again, one particular member was objecting to both the garment she had to wear and the fact that she was currently a she.
"Why do I have to be a girl?!" Freddy demanded, sourly, as she exited the changing booth.
"Because changing into a guy accidentally when you're in a girl's suit isn't nearly as bad as you changing into a girl in a guy's suit," was Karen's practical answer.
"I tell ya', I got it licked! I don't change unless I want to no more!"
"Unless you get sniped," said Karen, ticking things off on her fingers, "or too aroused, or..."
"Besides," said Jim, "there aren't enough girls on the staff now to meet the regulations. With you female while working on the paper, we can fudge things."
Freddy fussed, tugging at the comparatively modest two-piece swimsuit she wore. Well, modest compared to the tanning suit of Karen's she'd worn at their last pool party. Her actions were still threatening to cause nosebleeds for the males present.
"If you're that worried, why not wear a suit like mine?" queried Ramet.
He had on the same bizarrely colored suit he'd worn their first time at Hub's place. It covered his whole torso and parts of his arms and legs, and was stretchy enough to change with his shapeshifting, if he didn't go too far. To demonstrate, he changed briefly into f-Freddy, then enlarged the breasts to cartoonish proportions before shifting back, smirking.
"Couldn't find one that fit," Freddy muttered, ignoring Ramet's slanderous caricature. She continued silently, Not to mention one in an acceptable color. Eeewww...
"Yeah," sighed Karen, tired just remembering that debacle. "We tried over a dozen different suits in three stores. If they fit her torso, they were too small around the chest, and vice-versa. Which is weird; you'd think a garment designed for shapeshifters..."
"Hubba-hubba!" cried Bl'fff.
They assumed the spidery was leering at Freddy, though with his face you couldn't really tell. Not only whether he was leering, but who he was looking at while doing it. Or not doing it.
"Listen, spider-boy, I'm getting really tired of your stupid jokes," snapped Freddy.
"Who's joking?" asked the arachnoid, baffled. He was suddenly sympathetic. "Oh; is it that time of the month?"
It took four of them to hold Freddy back. Her mood was not helped by the fact that at least two of them seemed to deliberately put their hands in places they shouldn't have been. One of the two being her girlfriend.
"Anyway," panted Karen, once they had Freddy subdued, as she resumed checking her notes, "we have some news for our paper. We've got a new student starting, an Earth girl named Brenda, uhhhhh... Kuggle... Koogler..."
"Brenda Kuglewicze," muttered Freddy in a surly tone, from where she was tied to a lounge with towels.
"What Freddy said," Karen continued. "She's gonna be in Freddy's home room, so I want you to be sure she has a warm welcome."
Freddy muttered something unintelligible but most likely profane. Something about plenty of warmth for all of them.
"Good. Next, we're having a field trip later this week. To Egypt."
"Oh, goody," said Freddy. "'Bloody, sandy, hot Egypt,' as my Uncle Leonard calls it."
"I want all of us on the paper's staff to be sure to remember to check out a press recorder, and each of us to write a short article on the trip," said Karen. "Besides documenting the field trip I want everyone to note any damage which might have been caused by the meteorite impacts."
"Some protectors of humanity your guys are," said Talli, with a laugh. She smiled proudly. "Team Alien did far better in that shower than Team Monster did!"
"Go Team Alien!" shouted Bl'fff, Ramet and Hub, in unison.
"Yeah, yeah..." said Karen. "Okay, that's business taken care of. Time to party!"
* * *
"This is *Hic!* embarrassing," said Freddy, flipping gender yet again. "Not to mention *Hic!* exhausting."
Once again male, Freddy sighed as he sat on the exam table.
"Lie flat, please," said Nurse, absently, as she watched the display.
Freddy sighed again and obeyed. S/he lay there for several minutes, flipping gender with each hiccup, while Nurse viewed the medical scan.
"All right," she said, finally. "You can stop, now."
"I wish I *Hic!* could," said f-Freddy, tiredly. "This is really wearing me out. Normally I can only change a few times a day. Howcum this just keeps *Hic!* happening? And howcum nothing I try works to stop these *Hic!* hiccups?!"
Nurse - humming absently to herself, head feathers whipping as she moved briskly around her little domain - assembled a rather bizarre appearing device of semi-threatening appearance. The core of it resembled a blocky submachinegun, only it had broadly curved wires and small-diameter tubes sprouting from various places and connecting back to it at others. There was also an eerie glow from its innards, and as she approached the student Freddy could hear an Ommmmminous Hummmmm...
"Here we go," she said, all too cheerfully. "Hold still. You may experience a slight stinging sensation."
"KREEEEEGAAAAAAHHH!" said Freddy, screaming like the girl she currently was.
"Excellent. That should take care of the little buggies."
"Wh... whu... what?"
"You probably caught this at that pool party you mentioned attending a few days ago. Hub's species are a known carrier."
"Wait... Hiccups are contagious?!"
"I'm astounded that Earth science still doesn't know what causes hiccups. Or that you haven't covered this in health class. Anyway, you're cured, now, but don't change back until this time tomorrow at the earliest. Not even with a Boy/Girl Gun."
"Again," said Freddy, with a sigh, pushing her long, full, blond hair away from her lovely, heart-shaped face. "Argh. It's a conspiracy, I tell ya'!"
"I beg your pardon?" said Nurse, obviously startled.
"I was joking," said Freddy, puzzled at her reaction. "I know it's just a combination of people pulling pranks and preposterous probability."
She felt rather proud of that promiscuous alliteration.
"Well, I'll write a note for you, excusing you for being the wrong gender."
"Thanks. They're getting picky about that for some reason."
She heaved a great, much put-upon sigh.
"Now I have to get my emergency girl clothes and change."
* * *
The next morning dawned bright and beautiful, but some folks were far from appreciative. After homeroom a large assembly of the students filed outside to wait for their transportation to arrive. The teachers chaperoning the trip were all huddled in the small smoking area, getting one last, desperate hit before the trip. Fortunately, they were down wind.
"Of all the days to be stuck as a girl..." muttered Freddy, as she and Karen stood in line outside. She gave vent to a heartfelt sigh, making her bosom heave and attracting unwanted attention. Which Freddy - still largely a novice at being a busty female - was oblivious to.
She was wearing an attractive and comfortable unisex outfit Karen had helped her pick out a few weeks previously, for just such situations. Fortunately it was meant for hot weather.
"At least you usually have a choice," Karen wryly pointed out.
"Oh, uh, I mean, at least you know how to deal with this sort of thing."
"Putting up with a male-dominated society? Yeah, that's pretty much my whole life."
"Huh?" said Freddy, not getting it. "I thought you'd lived in the US your whole life."
"Yes, dear," said Karen, rolling her eyes and leaving Freddy confused. "Okay, lets try this. You're going to be in a small group, all of whom know you're normally male, rather than having to mingle with the general student population all day, many of whom don't know that or don't care."
"Some of these guys don't care," said Freddy, scowling, as she looked around. "You're right, though. Just hope I remember to use the right restrooms, with all the distractions."
"I'll be with you the whole time," said Karen, with mock reassurance. "Let's see, what else do we need to be concerned about? You should be a week after your period, so that won't be a concern. You can eat anything whether you're male or female. You can still physically rebuff the people you don't have the feminine social skills to rebuff that way or the awareness to avoid..."
"Hey!"
There was a rising whine and they saw a bus pull out of the garage. The shape was close to that of terrestrial school busses in general, though there were obvious differences. It was the right color - yellow with black trim - though from the poor paint job it appeared to have been hastily repurposed from a previous purpose. The craft rolled casually to a stop in front of the assembled students and teachers and the door opened.
"Welcome, one and all!" shouted the guest guide, from where he stood at the entrance to the school bus. "I'm adventuring archeologist Kentucky Smith!"
Yeah, real original, thought Freddy, scowling again.
"Today we have a special treat for you! Through a one-time-only arrangement we have permission to show your special group the recently discovered tomb of the long-lost Pharaoh Khum-Waht-Meh!"
"For this we're missing Bikini Calculus?!" said Ramet, under his breath, as "Smith" continued.
"As well as Pet Bonsai," said someone in the back of the group.
"I love field trips," sighed Karen. "Especially to romantic, historic places like Egypt."
"It's nothing special," said Freddy, shrugging, as "Smith" continued his spiel like a carnival barker. Or a car salesman in a commercial. "It's a lot cleaner than it used to be and there aren't as many peddlers and beggars, but..."
"You've been there?" demanded Karen.
"Well, yeah. You know my dad's business involves antiques, right? He and his agents travel all over the world. He's taken us to Cairo and some of the other big Near Eastern and Middle Eastern cities several times, and even to China."
"I did not know that," said Karen. "Wow..."
"Why can't we just look it up online," said Brenda Kuglewicze in her incredibly annoying, incredibly nasal whine, somehow managing to make the lenses of her huge glasses reflect sunlight into the eyes of those around her even though she wasn't actually speaking to anyone in particular.
Less than three days at the school and she had pretty much already alienated everyone, including the teachers. Her perpetual whine and sour expression were bad enough, but her attitude made those seem like positive characteristics.
"She's like the mutant love child of Ben Stein and Edna Mode," muttered Freddy.
"That's very... unkind," said Karen, unable to bring herself to mount a stronger defense on the irritating girl's behalf.
Freddy had tried to make her part of the school's social scene, s/he really had. So had others. Brenda wasn't just not interested, she didn't seem to even notice the attempts.
"All right!" their guide said. "Everybody on the bus!"
"Does he ever use any punctuation besides exclamation points?" said Talli. She frowned. "There's something familiar about him."
At least this was an alien built school bus, rather than some dilapidated, old human bus. (Of course, one of those couldn't have made this trip.) The air inside was cool and pleasantly scented, the lighting even and subdued, the view out the windows...
"Uh, that's not..." said Freddy.
"They're displays, not windows," said Ramet, smugly. "Though you'd think they'd be showing what's outside right now, rather than the default setting."
The view in all the "windows" was of a totally alien landscape, with molten skies and cloud-filled seas.
"I think I'm getting nauseous," said Bl'fff, bobbing his head as he watched the beach roll gently onto the sea and roll gently back.
"Change the image!" several people shouted at once.
The bus driver - a not very near human with faceted eyes and string-like hair - started, and began frantically pounding the control panel. The alien landscape/seascape flickered and changed to a commercial for an alien herm hygiene product.
"That's worse!" everyone chorused.
More pounding. The displays went blank.
"Thank you!" came the chorus from the students.
"Let's get under way," said "Smith."
"We can't see out!" someone near the back yelled.
There followed several minutes of combined fiddling by "Smith" and the driver, accompanied by occasional flickers from the displays. Finally, they called up the images from the external sensors. Only the displays were each showing the same scene - a view of the school grounds from the nearby highway - upside down and backwards. There was muffled G-Rated cursing from the two and several more flickers. Finally! The displays acted as windows, each showing the view appropriate to its position in the bus.
"Now can we go?" asked "Smith" in a petulant tone.
"Yes!" the students chorused.
"I'm hungry," said Brenda. "When do we eat?"
"There will be snacks provided at the site," said one of the teachers.
"There will?" said "Smith."
"I have a bad feeling about this," said Freddy, in a low voice. "Did you bring any snacks?"
"No, sorry," said Karen, absently.
There was a singing sound, and multiple muffled thumps and bumps, as giant wings unfolded from the top of the bus, and a pair of huge engines unfolded from those. The driver gave a countdown and the rockets ignited, turning the pavement behind the bus to flaming asphalt lava. The vehicle rolled forward, picking up speed rapidly. Just before the curb the nose lifted and they soared into the air.
"You'd think they could at least arrange for a modern, inertialess drive vehicle," muttered Hub, who had an entire three-person bench seat to himself, behind Freddy, Karen and Talli. "I'm assuming the school can only afford refurbished old tech."
"Are you kidding?" said Freddy. "This is so cool!"
"Boys," said Karen, rolling her eyes.
The still female Freddy stuck out her tongue at her.
* * *
In a surprisingly short time they were dropping back into the atmosphere, engines on idle, nose high and wings glowing orange to scrub off speed.
"There's the Nile!" said Freddy, excitedly, as the plasma faded.
"I thought you were the one who thought Egypt was ho-hum," said Talli, with a smirk.
"I've never seen it from space before. Wow..."
"Are we supposed to be going this fast?" said Karen, a bit worried.
"You want to get there before lunch, don't you?" said Hub.
"Why do you keep checking your watch?" said Talli.
"Counting down the minutes until I can change back." She sighed. "There's still a lot of 'em to go."
"That's why you wore unisex clothing and skipped the bra," said Karen, nodding. She giggled. "Which is also why you're bouncing so much inside that snug top."
"Don't remind me," muttered Freddy.
"Oooh, remind me!" said Bl'fff, from six seats away. Where he also had a three-person bench seat to himself, and only partly due to his size.
"We'll be landing soon, at the foot of the recently discovered Third Valley," said "Smith." "We've long known that there were two neighboring valleys used to bury important people who were supposed to be venerated after death. Offerings were made there for thousands of years and even in ancient times tourists came to visit. There were permanent staffs who maintained the dikes and channels which managed the floods caused by the rare desert rains - and they also kept tomb robbers out - until well after the conquest by the Romans. However, this third valley seemed to be intended for those who had to be buried in a respectful manner but whom they didn't want anyone to remember. The Egyptologists are still trying to figure that one out. It was never mentioned directly in any records and only indirectly in a few. For decades folks thought it was a myth. Yet there it is! A team found ruins here a year and a half ago and got permission for a more thorough search. They found funerary temples, workers' huts and so forth at the beginning of the current dig season. Just a couple of weeks ago they finally located an actual tomb entrance and have been excavating that ever since. So far, they've only found one formal name in any of the records they uncovered here: The Lost Pharaoh Khum-Waht-Meh. Mention of whom is only known from three other documents, all of them papyri documenting his unpaid bills."
"So, like most politicians, he ran up debts during his term in office and left the cleanup to his successors," said Talli, smirking.
"Politics is eternal," said "Smith." He frowned. "Are eternal?"
The bus circled their destination once as it descended, then stuck the landing, dropping almost vertically and stopping with a jolt as its tires hit the soft sand.
"Everybody out!" shouted the driver, opening the door.
* * *
"I have to admit," said Freddy, "this is interesting."
The students and teachers were guided first through the work area, where dirt and sand were sifted and objects large and small examined, photographed and cataloged.
"They haven't found any mummies, yet," said "Smith." "Not even a sarcophagus. There was so much debris in the entry corridor that just clearing it has taken most of the time and effort. Mostly due to having to sift all that for artifacts. However, early yesterday they broke through into a large chamber, almost free of debris. Dr. Quirk - cultural archeologist for the dig - has generously offered to show us this area. There's no-one working in there today due to a combination of factors. Nothing has been removed but the room has been photographed and laser scanned. Just remember that none of us are allowed to touch anything."
Dr. Quirk was a small, mousey man of late middle age and quiet manner. However, as he spoke during the walk up the steep, dusty slope to the tomb entrance he became more animated and enthusiastic. By the time they entered the large chamber he was able to present it as the grand discovery it was.
The newcomers to this scene stood and stared, craning their necks, shining the lights they had been handed around the chamber. The floor was dusty and there was a scattering of debris, but for the most part was clear of objects. A section from the entrance to the center of the room had been cleared, leaving an area large enough for the entire group. There was a sealed doorway across from the entrance. However, what grabbed their attention was the murals on the walls and ceiling.
Slowly, they shuffled into the center of the room to have a good look all around.
"Wow," said Karen, joining several others to stare at one of the images. "That looks just like Brenda. Well, her in ancient Egyptian garb."
"I didn't know they even had glasses in ancient Egypt," said Freddy, stunned.
"Could be time travel," said Ramet, in a musing tone, rubbing his chin.
"That doesn't look a thing like me," said Brenda.
"Just a coincidence," said Dr. Quirk, confidently. "What look like glasses is actually a type of ceremonial makeup."
Suddenly there was an ominous creak.
"I hope I'm not too heavy for this floor," said Hub, uneasily.
"Don't worry," said Dr. Quirk, stamping his foot. "This is plain, solid rock. A herd of elephants couldn't damage this! Go ahead! Try it!"
"Is he related to 'Smith'?" said Freddy, as a grinning Karen, Talli and Ramet joined the others in stamping their feet.
Freddy, also grinning, joined in. All four impulsively hopped up and came down together. There was a loud Crack!
"What was that?" said Brenda, in the stillness afterwards.
"That sounded like it was right under our feet," said Karen, in a quiet, squeaky voice.
The pavement under the five students split down the middle and hinged open, dropping the teens screaming into darkness.
* * *
Their screams cut off abruptly as they crashed into a huge pile of something soft but very dusty. Sneezing and coughing, the five crawled out of the pile. After several stunned moments, the students stirred and gathered their lights.
"Eeewww!!!" said Karen, as she turned her beam towards where they had landed. "Are those mummy wrappings?!"
"Looks like," said Freddy. She turned her light upwards. "I can't see where we fell from. It's a blank ceiling."
"I got a glimpse of something closing behind us as we fell," said Talli, with a sigh.
"Owwwwwww..." said Brenda.
"You can teleport," said Karen, to Ramet. "Go up and tell them where we are!"
Ramet nodded, and concentrated for a moment. Then frowned, and concentrated harder. Then scowled and concentrated really hard. Freddy thought about making a joke that he looked constipated, then decided the situation was too dusty and dark for humor.
"Uh, I can't," Ramet said, finally. "There's something blocking me. Feels like mundanium, which blocks all powers."
"That's some pretty sophisticated materials tech for an ancient Egyptian tomb," said Talli, doubtfully. "Well, even if that actually is the cause of the problem, it only blocks powers. It won't stop them from working in here; only working through the walls."
Karen pulled out her phone and tried it.
"No signal. Figures."
"None of us can fly," said Freddy, frowning as she thought things through. "Talli has super strength, so she could force doors if we need to."
"I only see one way out," said Karen, shining her light around. She pointed. "Open doorway over there."
Carefully - even timidly - they crept to the opening and shone their lights through. A corridor led into darkness.
Perhaps because she was reluctant to leave the relative safety of the known if repulsive room where they had landed, Freddy turned around and used her light to get a good look at it.
"If I didn't know better," she said, frowning, "I'd say this was the bottom of a laundry chute. One serving multiple chutes, actually."
"What we fell through has all the hallmarks of a trap for tomb robbers," said Talli, firmly.
"So maybe they double-purposed the room," said Karen, with a shrug. "Anyway, I don't see any way out except for those chutes and we can't reach them. So, it's wait here for them to break through from above, or find our own way out."
The sensible, adult thing would have been to wait. So, naturally, the five teenagers chose the hallway.
"Why did they let children into a place so dangerous?" said Brenda, even more sourly than usual.
The others ignored her and continued to creep forward. Oddly, the floor was swept clear down the middle. The floor was also oddly swept clear down the middle. It was even swept oddly clear down the middle. It was clearly an odd situation. It was even an oddly... Okay, okay, I'll quit.
"D'you think there's someone in here?" said Freddy, in a whisper.
"Who'd want to live here?" said Brenda, at normal volume and nasalness.
"Maybe they don't want to," said Ramet, a bit tentatively. "Or maybe they don't actually live here... 'cause they aren't actually alive."
"Oh, c'mon," said Karen, angrily. "You don't actually believe there's anything supernatural going on here, do you?"
"Yeah," said Talli, though she didn't sound as certain as she wanted. "It's just old counterbalanced stones and... Air currents?"
They all froze as one as they heard movement ahead. A tiny figure came hurrying down the corridor. It looked like a human, an ancient Egyptian worker, only it was barely a sixth the height of one. It suddenly froze as well. Then edged forward, the expression on its mysteriously mobile carved stone face showing wonder.
"Your Highness? Is that you?"
"Huh?!" said the five teens.
The others turned as one to stare at a baffled Brenda.
"Uhhhh..." she said, in her distinctive, whiney voice.
"It is you! Why didn't you let me know you were coming? Please, you and your friends follow me. There are refreshments and seats in the den."
"I think that's some sort of ushabti," said Karen, quietly, as they followed the chattering figure.
"Uhhhh..." said Brenda. "Am I supposed to be some sort of princess? I don't know how to be a princess."
"Sssuuurrreee you don't..." muttered Talli.
"Hey," said Freddy, smugly, "don't worry, I know how to act like a princess! I can give you pointers."
"Oh, right," said Karen, nodding. "That simulation."
"Uhhhhh..." said Brenda, uncertainly.
The small creature led them into a medium-sized chamber. Like the hallway it had pathways swept through the dust, dirt and debris on the floor.
"What is it you do here?" said Ramet, the epitome of calm, cool and in control.
"Day after day, it's the same old thing, over and over," moaned the little figure. "Feed the cobras, chink the walls, check the mummy for fungus. He was a Pharaoh! You'd think he could've afforded some athlete's foot medication while he was alive!"
"Well, with all those unpaid bills we know he was spending money on something," said Karen.
"Oh! Where are my manners? Would you youngsters like some refreshments?
"We're fine, thanks," said Karen, quickly. "They gave us lunch before we entered the, uh, here."
"No, they didn't," said Freddy, confused. "We were supposed to get a snack after visiting the tomb, remember?"
Karen and Talli glared at her.
"You and your appetite," muttered Karen.
"Hey, I'm hungry, too," said Ramet, wondering why the girls were being so hard on Freddy.
"I've been hungry since before we left the school," said Brenda.
"No trouble at all," said the ushabti.
The odd little creature dove into a pile of apparently miscellaneous debris and began rapidly digging, hurling bandage fragments, bits of broken pottery and things less identifiable behind it, while stirring up a huge cloud of dust. The teens recoiled.
"Here we go," it said, finally, dragging out a large, sealed pot. It heaved a bit, and with an odd pop the top came off. "Drink up!"
"It smells like soda," said Freddy, frowning as she sniffed the contents. "Even has some fizz."
She dipped a finger into the brew.
"Freddy!" said Karen, outraged. "Don't you dare taste that!"
"Bleah," said Freddy. "That tastes like Tsoob!"
"Uh, oh," said Ramet, backing into a corner.
Freddy hiccoughed... and suddenly there were a lot of Freddys. Not nearly as many as that time with the Big G and the Silver Scorcher, but well over a dozen.
"Awww, nooooo..." groaned the multiple Freddys.
"Haven't seen that before," said the ushabti, not appearing the least bit surprised.
"Getting crowded in here," said Talli, dryly.
"It's not my fault!" the Freddys chorused. She sighed, the multiple gusts of breath stirring the dust which had just begun to settle. "Ack! Gonna sneeze!"
"DON'T YOU DARE!" the others yelled. Too late.
Fortunately, the old tomb was built very sturdy. Mainly because it was dug into good quality rock. Ears popped and eyes watered as the sneeze stirred even more dust. The Freddys sneezed again... and this time something gave.
* * *
Once the tumult finally ceased - mainly because everything which could shed dust had, and the dust been blown away - the survivors groggily rose and took stock.
"Freddy..." said Karen, wearily.
"Not my fault," said the multitude. "Oog, I don't feel so good..."
"Why don't you try that technique Nurse told you about?" said Ramet.
"Oh, yeah! Good idea. Clear me some space, folks; I need to get all of me together in one place for a group hug."
Some shifting in the debris-strewn room was required, the ushabti helping where it could. Finally, all the Freddys were pressing together tightly. She concentrated, and slowly began to merge back into one body. Only something didn't quite go as planned.
"Whoah!" said Karen, looking up, wide-eyed. "It's the attack of the amazing colossal fifty-foot Freddy!"
"Ow," said Freddy, in a deeply-deep voice, rubbing her head. "I feel really strange."
"I'm not surprised," snickered Ramet, trying unsuccessfully to peer up Freddy's shorts.
"No, not just that I'm so big. Really weird. Like... I'm forgetting something."
"*AHEM!*" said Ramet. "Think small?"
"Oh! Right..."
There was an odd sound, like air squeaking out of a balloon, over the next couple of minutes as Freddy shrank back to normal size. The others gritted their teeth and covered their ears. Except for Brenda and their host, neither of whom seemed to notice the shrill noise.
"Whew!" said Freddy, finally. "Though I still feel odd..."
"Hey, I don't remember that doorway!" said the ushabti.
Sure enough, what had given way was a wall panel, beyond which was another corridor.
The small group cautiously moved down the dusty hall - this one without a center path cleared by millennia of use by an ushabti on trash detail - into another large room. This one was obviously more ceremonial than functional, and the walls were covered with painted bas-relief carvings similar to those in the big entrance chamber upstairs. There was also something else, something of more than esthetic and historic interest.
"Guys, look," said Talli, in a tone of relief. "Stairs. Up stairs."
"Huh," said the ushabti. "So that's where they hid the exit. After all these years I can finally take a vacation!"
The stairs were literally carved into the stone wall. There was no bannister, so all six figures crowded against the wall as they proceeded single-file upwards. They soon passed through the ceiling of the chamber and were in a rather confined space with only the steps, vanishing into the darkness overhead.
The stairs topped out at a small landing with a counterweighted door on the far side. It was jammed from millennia of disuse but Talli forced it open - carefully - with some effort. The teens and ushabti found themselves on the hill above and to one side of the tomb entrance, blinking at the early afternoon Egyptian Sun. Once their eyes adjusted to the brightness they saw Dr. Quirk below, organizing a rescue team of workers.
"There they are!" shouted Hub, pointing.
The students, teachers, Dr. Quirk and several workers hurried up the slope, meeting the returning teens part way.
"Are you all right?" said Dr. Quirk, excitedly.
"Mostly," said Talli.
"Speak for yourself," said Freddy, who was still not feeling well.
"I'm hungry, I'm dirty, I'm scared, I'm..." said Brenda.
The five were escorted to the first aid tent and given a quick check.
"Well, they're dirty, dehydrated and obviously stressed," said one of the US members of the dig, who was a paramedic in his regular job. "They should be checked more thoroughly by a real doctor but I don't see anything of immediate concern."
Meanwhile, Hub was running a portable scanner over the ushabti.
"It's some sort of construct," said the large inventor, looking back and forth between the ushabti and his readings.
"Utilimat Mark MMMMCMXCIX Subseries 128!" it said, proudly.
"Wow. You're thousands of years old!"
"Hey, my model was made to last!"
"Now," said "Kentucky Smith," "what happened?"
"Well, there was..." began Ramet.
Unfortunately, the other four were also talking at the same time. Dr. Quirk called for silence, got it, then turned to the prodigals.
"What happened to you kids?"
"Here, I recorded everything for the school paper!" said Karen.
She rewound to just before the floor collapse and hit Play. A holographic video with quadrophonic sound began playing. After it was all over everyone was quietly contemplative for a moment. Well, almost everyone.
"What was that horrible noise in that recording, just before the accident?" said Brenda, making a face. "It almost sounded like some real weirdie trying to talk."
"Brenda..." said Freddy, "that was you."
"No, it wasn't!" she snapped. "That didn't sound anything like me!"
"Would you please stop doing that?!" said Freddy.
"Doing WHAT?!"
"Using your glasses to reflect the Sun into my eyes! How are you even doing that inside a tent?!"
"Huh?" said Brenda, startled. She turned towards her, causing the Sun to reflect into Freddy's eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"You don't realize you do that?" said Talli.
Angrily, Brenda whipped her glasses off. Her hair fell free, and turned out to be much longer and fuller than they expected. The muscles of her face relaxed, and her physiognomy went from scrunched up and bitter to round and smooth and a bit pouty.
"It that better?!" she snapped, in a throaty, sonorous voice.
"It's the glasses!" said Karen, in sudden revelation. "It's been the glasses, all along, pinching her nose! Holding her hair in and squeezing her face!"
"What are you talking about?!"
They continued arguing as Dr. Quirk escorted them out of the first aid tent and towards the kitchen tent. "Kentucky Smith," the bus driver and the teachers trailed along.
"Now, what is alien technology doing in an ancient Egyptian tomb?" said Dr. Quirk, fretting. He peered at the ushabti. "Where did you come from?"
"The factory," it replied, proudly.
"No, I mean... Why were you tending a pharaoh?"
"Somebody has to! The schmuck can't take care of himself! Not even when he was alive! Inbreeding, if you ask me."
While Dr. Quirk grew increasingly frustrated and agitated trying to get useful information out of the small figure, Miss Furrpect spoke quietly to Talli and Ramet. Even after they were all seated at tables in the tent for a meal those three huddled together.
The meal was quick and actually more of a snack. However, it was enough to satisfy for the moment. Afterwards people began wandering outside. Still the trio of aliens kept to themselves, chatting quietly, for several more long minutes.
"Is there something you'd like to tell us?" said Karen, when they finally broke.
"Well, it's a bit embarrassing," said Miss Furrpect, uneasily. "You see, it's illegal for anyone from galactic culture to visit a pre-spaceflight planet. However, there are always some tourists who are more adventurous than others. I think some of them either left some tech behind or traded it for local artworks."
"I suppose it's useless for law enforcement to investigate at this late date," said Karen, with a sigh.
"Yeah, the statute of limitations is long expired. Though we could make a case about making them return any artifacts they took."
"Huh?!" said Freddy, obviously startled. "You mean they could still be alive?"
"Why wouldn't they be?"
"Well, looks like another puzzle solved," said their tour guide, cheerfully. "It's good to know that you managed to escape without damaging valuable historical artifacts, which will confirm that ancient aliens came to Earth in antiquity to view the monuments and marvel at how primitive humans could have constructed them and speculate that they must have had powers which have since gone latent."
"Who are you to know about that?" said Freddy, confused.
"Kentucky Smith" reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out some sort of wire thing, which he clipped to the bridge of his nose. Immediately, his eyes were covered with two black discs.
"Also,Iusuallytalklikethis!" he chattered.
"You!" said Talli. Not in recognition, but in anger.
"Oh,hey,thoughtthatwasyou,T..."
She quickly lunged forward and covered his mouth.
"You don't mention that, got it?" she hissed before carefully uncovering his mouth.
"Didyouknowthafff..."
"Not a word. Not a syllable."
Again, her hand came away.
"Ijustwantedtosayffff..."
"Nothing!"
"You'restandinginscoropiondung."
"What?!" Talli shrieked, jumping back. "Why didn't you say something?!"
"Well,myworkhereisdone," said Yehudi, with a manic grin. "Seeyouinthefunnypapers!"
He vanished.
"Uh..." said the bus driver. He shrugged. "I guess the trip's over."
"We didn't see anything!" most of the group chorused.
"Sorry. Everybody back on the bus."
"Seriously," said Freddy to Brenda, as the line filed onto the vehicle, "didn't you ever notice the changes when you put your glasses on?"
"The only changes I ever noticed was the tightness in my face," said Brenda, glasses back on and voice again nasal and whiney. "I can't see well enough without them to notice any more than that."
"I bet," said Karen, thoughtfully, "that they somehow distort your sinuses and ear canals, so you can't tell from inside that your voice sounds like that."
"Sounds like what?!" said Brenda, angrily.
"Like you heard earlier. That was you."
They argued about it most of the way home, the matter only being settled when someone recorded Brenda talking with her glasses on, then taking them off and repeating herself.
"Oh," she said, stunned, peering at the second sequence with her glasses on. "I look... beautiful."
"I think you need contacts," said Karen.
"Can't wear 'em. Tried."
"Then new, lightweight glasses, properly fitted," said Freddy, nodding. "High-index polycarbonate lenses, titanium frames... You'll probably feel more comfortable, too."
Several glasses-wearing students made recommendations for brands, styles, shops and so forth, which Brenda carefully noted.
* * *
Freddy woke to darkness, her head pounding.
"Hello?"
There was no answer. Just the smells of dust and ancient decay.
"Great..."
End Story Twenty-Four
This is the last completed Freddy On The Loose story, and it was completed over a decade after the previous one. I made a start on the next installment, but it's on hold for other writing projects.
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Story 25
Return to Khum-Waht-Meh!
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2017 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
At school the next day the trip and its events were still major topics among both staff and students. Many others were also discussing those events, but we'll leave them out of this for now.
As usual, the cafeteria was filled with odors unidentifiable by humans. There were also the scents of the foods meant for the alien students.
"The Utilimat Mark MMMMCMXCIX Subseries 128 should really be a gem of a data source," said Hub, as the gang got together for lunch. "Those units are actually highly valued collector's items. They're small enough to get into tight places but strong enough to move large stone blocks if that turns out to be necessary. They also have a huge amount of memory for data storage."
"That ushabti, or whatever?" said Karen, only partly paying attention to the big rhino-whale guy due to being worried about Freddy.
"Yes. It's an old model, been in use for millions of years. Not made any more because it's so reliable the company went out of business."
"So where is it right now?"
"Our lab. Dr. Sum'Tang wants us to wait for him to be able to help accessing its memory. We should be starting that after classes today."
"How did you wind up with it, anyway?" said Talli, frowning. "You'd think the archeologists would have kept it."
"They wanted to," said Hub, "but didn't have the equipment to interface with it. We do, here. We promised to copy its memories and send them to the archeology institute sponsoring the expedition, then bring the ushabti to them for an exhibit. It should make a good story teller for visitors."
"It does seem to love to talk," said Talli, grinning. "I guess after all those thousands of years alone in that tomb it has a right to feel that way."
"It's just a device," said Ramet, stiffly.
"Maybe," said Talli, her tone teasing.
As the friendly banter progressed, Karen glanced over at Freddy, expecting him to jump in, but he was just staring gloomily at his soup. It wasn't even any sort of alien soup; just generic terrestrial chicken noodle. At least, that's what the placard had claimed. Karen had her doubts.
"Are you feeling unwell?" she asked, gently. She already knew the answer, had known it since the trip back, but Freddy never liked to admit he was sick.
She was about to say more, but Brenda came sauntering into the bustling cafeteria and further conversation was impossible for several seconds. Ever since Brenda had discovered why people were so dismissive of her - and why she always had those headaches - and taken corrective measures she had come to the self-realization she was actually a bombshell. She had begun dressing and acting the part. No glasses; instead she wore custom contacts. Along with a dress as short as she could get away with, high heels, well-applied makeup, the works. Of course, the real change was her voice, which was no longer that annoying, monotone whine. For that she had actually started taking online voice lessons. All this had produced quite a change in just a day.
"Hello, folks," she said, in a smooth, deep, sultry voice as she sat at the table. "How is everyone?"
"We think there's something wrong with Freddy," said Karen, scowling.
"We know what's wrong with Freddy," said Hub, also scowling, but in a very different way. "He must have left part of himself - or herself - behind in that tomb."
"Buh!?" said Brenda, so confused she dropped character. Then skillfully picked it back up. "Well, what does Nurse have to say about it?"
The others looked at each other, all doing the species-appropriate version of metaphorically kicking themselves.
"Yeah," said Karen, standing and grabbing Freddy's elbow. "Let's find out."
He barely protested not getting to finish his meal.
* * *
The nurse ran a scanner over Freddy, frowned, and repeated the action. Muttering - and still frowning, her head feathers twitching in a display of irritation - she went to the supply cabinet and got a different scanner. She turned it on. "You might feel a slight pinching sensation in your frontal lobes."
"Gleimeoihbfoir!" said Freddy, body arching as Nurse made the scan.
When she saw the results it gave her eyes went wide and she turned a delicate shade of puce.
"What?" said Freddy, as he managed to uncross his eyes, a little more alert now, thanks to that stimulation.
"What?!" those waiting outside the door chorused.
"Quiet!" said Nurse, firmly, as she moved quickly to her main computer, ignoring the slight scorched odor which followed her examination. She frowned even more. "This says you are... incomplete."
"Yeah, that's what I've been saying," said Freddy. "I just don't understand how that could happen. I mean, I turned the power off, in the tomb, pulling all of me back into one. I shouldn't have been able to turn back male, either, if a female me was still around. I've tried before."
He didn't say why he'd tried before, but those listening could imagine various salacious reasons.
"You also said that things were rather confused, and you were under the influence of Tsoob. If one of your bodies were somehow rendered mentally or physically unable to reunite with you then that would explain your current situation. The fact that there were so many of you would have reduced the impedance of changing gender afterwards."
"Uhm, well, there was a lot of confusion," Freddy stated, frowning with the effort to remember the exact situation. "Also, there were a lot more than three of me, thanks to the Tsoob. And, yeah, a lot of physical disturbance. It was also really hard to change back."
"I suggest you contact the people at the dig site," said Nurse, emphatically. "Tell them there's someone still in the underground there who needs rescuing. Get permission to go back for her, if you can. The sooner you are reintegrated the better."
"What if... Well, what if something has... happened to her?" said Freddy fidgeting.
"They you wouldn't be in nearly this good a condition."
* * *
"It's no go," said Ramet, sourly, once they were all back in the cafeteria. He'd been working his phone the whole way there, looking increasingly frustrated as they walked. "We even can't talk to them on the phone to get permission. The whole site is locked down. All the workers are being held at the site by the Alien Control Office. No explanation given. The ACO is denying all of that, of course, despite cell phone videos which came out of the initial activity before they started jamming, plus live coverage by several networks since."
"My sources say the same thing," said Talli, scowling. She had also been trying to find out more about the situation during the short trip. "Nothing and no-one gets through. Not even coms. There are even reports of the ACO destroying local cell towers. The families of the staff actually have already filed reports with the local police, since they haven't heard anything from their loved ones and the ACO hasn't notified them those loved ones are being held incommunicado. They say that they hadn't heard a word from those working there since late yesterday! The local police, of course, haven't been told anything by the ACO and are infuriated at this violation of their sovereign authority. It's all over both the Net and the news."
"The worst part is," said Argy Bee, "no-one knows what's behind all this. Though there's sure a lot of speculation."
"It's probably due to the alien tech we found there," muttered Freddy. "Oh, well..."
"I don't understand," said Hrpblple, carefully poking Freddy with a pseudopod. In a strictly platonic manner, of course. "If part of yourself gets lost you just hrpblple it back."
"Yeah," said Jim, "but he's not the same species as you. Would that even work?"
"I can try to teach him," said Hrpblple, with a gelatinous rippling which the others by now knew was its equivalent of a shrug.
"I could swap shop a couple of times and put you in Freddy's body," offered Talli.
"That wouldn't work, 'cause then I'd be trying to pull part of Freddy into me, when I'm not me. I mean he's not him. I mean..."
"I get it, I get it," said Talli waving her hands and sighing.
"I really doubt humans are capable of learning this," said Hub, tiredly. "If only you could do it for him."
"Well, of course I can," said Hrpblple. "How do you think adults show the young ones what to do? Do you want me to?"
"Yes! Please!" said Karen, just ahead of several others.
Hrpblple spread itself out on the cafeteria floor into a large sheet and hummed for several seconds. Students walking by had to be warned to detour around the amorphous organism, thinking it was just spilled food, as usual. Then Hrpblple resumed its usual nearly spherical form and looked at Freddy, obviously puzzled. (At least, obviously to those who knew Hrpblple.)
"Nothing?"
"I... sort of felt something weird going on," said Freddy. "It actually felt like I was... uhm... badly constipated."
"Aha! I forgot you humans are a gendered species. You must be physically the same as the portion we are trying to recall."
"OH!" said Freddy, in sudden revelation. "Yeah, that makes sense."
He frowned in concentration for a moment, then sighed.
"I can't do it."
"Well, take off your Gender Guard and I'll zap you," said Hub, reasonably.
"We need to hurry," said Jim, looking around the rapidly emptying cafeteria with concern. "It's nearly time for next period."
Freddy was quickly femaled and Hrpblple repeated its previous display. Almost immediately, f-Freddy gasped, then cried out. Before anyone could react there was an odd sort of blurring, as if a larger, vaguer version of f-Freddy suddenly formed around her then shrank to her size. There was a moment of stunned silence.
"Why am I wearing two sets of clothing?" said f-Freddy, before fainting.
* * *
Freddy was out for nearly three days, the whole time spent in the nurse's office being constantly monitored. Nurse had even called in a couple of specialists to work in shifts, helping her watch Freddy. Her uncle wanted the boy - uhm, girl, actually - in a proper hospital... until the nurse asked what human hospital had the appropriate monitoring equipment, then casually mentioned how much getting it installed would cost.
Finally, Freddy - unified and again male - was released to go home. The next day at school he was a bit miffed to learn he wasn't even the major topic of gossip. Though he was a topic of gossip.
"There are people saying the reason you got so sick was that you were pregnant," said Talli, with a vicious grin, as they formed up for home room.
"Been there," said Freddy, rolling his eyes, "done that. In simulation, anyway, though it sure felt real. Not gonna do it again if I can help it."
"Well," said Hub, grinning, "now that you're feeling better we need to find out what's going on with that dig. What can you tell us?"
"I'm having a lot of trouble unscrambling what happened to whom," said Freddy, still obviously a bit confused. "Especially when it all happened to me!"
"Such confusion is normal for these situations," said Hrpblple, confidently. "It will fade in a few decades."
"What?!" said the others, in a fair chorus.
"Excuse me; there was a math interpretation problem. A few tenths of a year, not tens of years."
"You did that on purpose," said Ramet, suspiciously.
Hrpblple simply sat there (if you can call that sitting) humming and burbling.
"Anyway," said Freddy, with a sigh, "I remember I was found soon after you folks left. With me. (This is really confusing.) The archeologists were talking about taking me back to the school when what looked like every Alien Control Office aircraft and saucer on the planet landed around their camp. They wouldn't listen to anyone, just yelled orders, only they kept contradicting each other. I actually saw two of them get into a fistfight. Most just got mad at us for not understanding them. Eventually they put us all into their portable jail cells - Black Mariahs? - and just left us there. I was feeling worse and worse. I think I actually passed out for a while."
"That's horrible!" said Karen.
"There's been a lot of news about a major increase in ACO activities all around the world, lately," said Talli, thoughtfully. "Especially at ancient dig sites."
"There's rumors," said Argy Bee, leaning in and speaking in hushed, conspiratorial tones. "That the Angels and the Architects were on Earth, many millennia ago. Having one of their contests. Which is likely not only how that alien tech got into the tomb, but could explain why some humans have powers, rather than just knacks."
"The who did what?" said Karen.
"The Architects of Life," said Talli, with a sour expression, "and the Angels of Mercy. They have very different ideas about how to bring primitive sapients into starfaring society. Sometimes, they both pick the same world, which is very much not good for the locals. Almost Big G not good."
"Eeewww..." said Karen.
"There aren't a lot of either group around any more," said Argy. "They're some of the oldest cultures still in existence, but they've worn out their welcome in pretty much every star system. Even though their tech is superior to that of most cultures, other species have the advantage in numbers. Of course, other species also want the higher tech both factions possess, and major wars have been fought over the scraps they have left laying around."
"Wow," said Freddy, looking concerned. "I hope this won't cause any aliens to come to Earth looking for stuff to loot."
"They've been doing this long enough to have influenced Ancient Egypt?" said Karen.
"Oh, a lot longer than that," said Talli, with a blithe wave of her hand. "They both became starfaring species at nearly the same time, and soon encountered each other. They say they don't fight each other directly because they're too advanced for war - though the real reason is that they realized that each could wipe out the other if they started something - so they agreed that the best way to show the other up was to 'help' pre-technical intelligent species to advance. They started all this something like a million and a half years ago."
"Why isn't this covered in Pan-Galactic History?" said Jim.
"Decent people try to ignore them and their projects," said Argy, looking as if he had tasted something sour, "since they've ruined so many beginning cultures."
"Could any of them still be around on Earth?" said Karen, worried. "I mean, you said they're rare, but could there be any here, still messing with things?"
"Not likely," said Talli. "You'd notice."
"Things could be even worse than they are now," said Argy, ominously. "A lot worse. Especially if they get into one of their competitions."
* * *
The next day the usual gang got together at their usual table for lunch. The whole room was quietly abuzz, and not just about the ACO activities in Egypt.
"I'm telling you, Principal Tolliver has been in his office meeting with Alien Control Officers all morning," said one of the school's human rumor mongers.
"Do you think, maybe, we should go and tell them what happened?" said Karen.
"Absolutely not!" said Ramet, quite firmly.
"Yes," said Hub, more slowly but just as firmly. "Tell them. If you don't, once they figure out who was there, they'll arrest you for being there. Then again for not telling them you were there."
"But we didn't do anything!" protested Freddy.
"We fell through a trap door into an ancient pile of dirty laundry," said Ramet, ticking things off on his fingers. "We did a significant amount of damage to the contents of an ancient tomb. We..."
"None of that was our fault!" said Karen.
"Even if they eventually accept that," said Ramet, "by that time we'll have missed the rest of high school. Probably college, as well."
Freddy sighed and hurried to finish his lunch. He hated to rush a meal, especially since his appetite had only come back within the past couple of days. Still...
* * *
As it turned out, most of the regulars - including all those who had actually fallen into the tomb - went with Freddy. They arrived at the Principal's office, intending to tell the secretary why they were there. However, they were at first too stunned by the volume of sound coming through the closed door - and walls - of the principal's office
"I'm telling you there's no such student registered here!" yelled Tolliver.
"She vanished from our custody!" the ACO officer yelled back.
"What does that have to do with her being registered here?! If she was able to get away from you so easily, why couldn't she have given you a fake name?!"
"She didn't get away from us easily! She must therefore be a master spy!"
"So why are you looking for her here?! All our spies are accounted for!"
"They've been going at it for over an hour," whispered the secretary, quickly, during a lull in the noise.
"I appreciate the principal sticking up for me, but why are we whispering?" said Freddy, also quietly and quickly. "They wouldn't hear anything less than a minor explosion."
"Uhm, the principal doesn't realize you have a female ID," said the secretary, uncomfortably. "Count yourself lucky."
"What did he mean about all our spies?" said Hub, confused. "Why would we have spies?"
"Later," said Freddy, leading the others away from the scene of vocal carnage as the noise resumed.
* * *
"At least we're on record as trying to tell the principal about our involvement," said Freddy, as the group got together again after classes. "The secretary has our names."
"That's what worries me," said Ramet, in a stage mutter. "If the ACO seizes her records they have our names but not our intent."
"Hopefully, we'll be able to straighten things out tomorrow," said Hub, waving as he headed for his saucer in the student parking lot.
Freddy and Karen, as was their custom on nice days such as this, rode their bikes home. The season was starting to turn; they wouldn't have many more opportunities for these lazy trips this year.
"What are you thinking about?" said Karen, after a few minutes.
"Just... still trying to get all of that separate me stuff straight in my head."
"I think you need to talk about it," said Karen, gently. "Especially from the viewpoint of the one you left behind."
"It was... weird," said Freddy, shivering. "I could remember being part of someone else, but it didn't seem real. I could remember being a boy, but that didn't seem real, either."
He gave Karen a wan smile.
"I was definitely glad to be back together, though. Because I knew I was incomplete."
"That had got to be one of the weirder powers," said Karen, shivering, herself.
"You said it."
* * *
The next day the weather was still good enough - and the forecast promised that it would stay good enough - for Freddy and Karen to share a bike ride to school. However, when Freddy rode to where Karen was waiting he looked rather irritated.
"What's wrong?" said Karen, as they peddled away.
"The ACO sent a whole squad to my Uncle's house during the day, yesterday, while he and his floozy wife were both out," said Freddy. "No warrant or anything, and the housekeeper tried to keep them out, but they forced their way in. Then tried to stop her from calling 911. She ran, screaming, with them chasing her. 911 had no idea who was calling or why, but since it was a cordless phone operating through our landline they knew where. They sent the whole SWAT team. There was almost a shootout before orders came down to both groups that they were supposed to be cooperating to stop a terrorist attack against the Earth. So both groups then cheerfully cooperated in tearing the house apart!"
"That's horrible! Were you swatted, or something?"
"They won't say why they did this. They wouldn't apologize for tearing up the house. Though they did confiscate a bunch of stuff, most of it from my uncle's home entertainment system. They claimed it was evidence. They weren't even there when my aunt got back, and the poor housekeeper had to try and explain - keep in mind she's still semi-hysterical - why the house was a disaster area."
"So... I assume this is tied into their visit to the school yesterday."
"Well, yeah. They got my ID from the me whom they grabbed at the dig site. They didn't believe it, since the ID was for a boy, but finally decided to check anyway. With a full-blown raid."
"Did they take any of your stuff?" said Karen. "Is that why you're in such a bad mood?"
"Well, they took some of my stuff, but the reason I'm in such a bad mood - sorry about that, it's not directed at you - is that my uncle blames me for this whole mess and I'm grounded except for school and work until this all goes to court."
"The ACO is is taking your uncle to court? Or you? Or both?!"
"Uh, no," said Freddy. "The ACO is refusing to admit they were even in town yesterday. Despite the house and the school. Even despite the local police posting photos and videos online of them working with the ACO to confiscate dangerous alien technology. My uncle is suing them and the ACO and everyone else he can think of."
"'Dangerous alien technology,'" said Karen, with a snort. "I just hope they don't connect you with the Alien Goods Store. Poor Sooltong would plotz."
"Don't even joke about that," said Freddy, sourly.
As they neared the school, however, they slowed, coasting to a stop.
"What is that?" said Freddy, so distracted he actually put his foot down, instead of just balancing on two wheels to show off as was his usual practice.
"ACO," said Karen, sourly.
Indeed, there were several Alien Control Office vehicles, including a sizable cargo saucer, parked in the service lot behind the school. Students and staff were milling around, watching them, much to the displeasure of the ACO officials.
"Guess there's nothing for it," said Freddy, resuming peddling.
He and Karen locked their bikes in the spaces closest to the front entrance, grabbed their bags and went inside.
* * *
In homeroom there was a notice on the big display at the front of the room that all students and staff were to proceed immediately to the gymnasium for a special function.
Freddy and Karen looked at each other, shrugged, and joined the throng heading that way.
Every person who was on the school grounds was crowded into the gym. A few of the upper staff were seated on the stage, but the rest were all sitting on the bleachers.
There, in the middle of the floor had been placed a large, complex and rather sinister looking machine. If the evil drive sphere from the movie Event Horizon had a love affair with Frankenstein's lab the mutated result would look about half as menacing as what the ACO had dragged across the floor of the gym. Damaging the finish severely in the process, by the way.
"Deja vu all over again," muttered Freddy, recalling many previous adventures and misadventures which had involved this large chamber. "I wonder how long this will take?"
Not long, actually. Only seconds later several people in ACO uniforms marched onto the stage. A scrawny looking man in the uniform of an Alien Control Office official officer strode onto the stage at the front of the gym and grabbed the mic stand.
"I am Leonard Scoville!" the man shouted. Freddy immediately recognized that voice from the principal's office the day before. "We of the ACO are investigating a theft of alien technology by parties from this school! To facilitate this investigation we will now activate this device - newly acquired by the ACO on my authority for just such situations - which will temporarily neutralize all alien technology with a five-block radius! Activate!"
Several people - students, school staff and even some of his own staff - tried to stop him but the woman at the machine switched it on before they could make themselves heard.
Fortunately, none of the students currently at the school required alien technology to sustain their lives. However, many students, school staff and all the members of the ACO who were present depended on alien technology to sustain their clothes.
There were cries of outrage, screams, and not a few nosebleeds as clothing began dropping. Some of each came from members of every gender present. Many secrets were revealed that day, including that some students - and a few teachers - were wearing holographic clothing over otherwise naked bodies.
A few of those in attendance were revealed to be using holographic disguises. All of them members of the Alien Control Office.
Chaos reigned, as several hundred sapients frantically grabbed for falling clothing. Since some of those doing the grabbing were actually naked, they were grabbing for clothing falling off someone else, which led to a few fights.
For the first time in many months Freddy lost control of his gender change power and flipped female without wanting to. Fortunately, Freddy was otherwise with the majority of those present, and was wearing Earth-normal clothing.
While some helped those affected - with varying degrees of cool as well as vested self-interest - many simply sat, stunned. Some of those had stupid grins on their faces, as the blood trickled down from their noses (or species equivalent orifice) from the unexpected display of human and alien fettle. All of which proved that this school did, indeed, possess some of the finest student bodies in the galaxy. Many of the teachers were also revealed to be quite, uhm, fit.
* * *
Those left with non-functional clothing in all or part were evacuated to the appropriate locker rooms. About the only teacher affected by clothing loss who wasn't actually affected by a sudden attack of modesty was Miss Furrpect, who never had understood what all the obsession with cloth coverings was about, anyway. Nearly an hour was needed to either find substitute clothing or for the abnotech effect to wear off. Finally, though, the assembly was reassembled. Mr. (Or was it Officer?) Scoville was in an even worse mood than before. This wasn't helped by many of his men and women and others somehow winding up with the wrong uniforms when they finally got redressed. In fact, many of their uniforms went missing, and later appeared for sale online. Those officers were forced to dress - all or in part - in some of the clothes the school had learned to keep on hand for just such emergencies.
"Well, they're going to be in a lot of trouble," said Freddy, who had managed to switch genders back in the interim, "for strip searching a bunch of underage kids in a public forum."
That brought a few snickers. Which quickly died as Scoville resumed his stranglehold on the mic stand.
"There will be no prisoners!" Scoville screamed. "You will all pay for this..."
His phone rang. Loudly. With a very distinctive ringtone, which sounded quite serious and authoritarian. This evaluation being supported by the reactions not only of Scoville but all the other ACO personnel present.
"Hello?" said Scoville, who in a sudden about-face of mood now sounded actually timid. "Well, yes, but it wasn't..."
Several seconds passed. Though what was said over the phone was not discernible, the volume at which it was said meant that all in the otherwise silent gym could hear the tiny, tinny voice on the other end. Whoever - or whatever - was the source of that sound was not happy.
"Yes, I understand," said Scoville, coming to attention. "Yes. I will handle it. As my last official act. I understand."
He put the phone away, closed his eyes and simply stood still for a long moment. Then sighed and resumed.
"I have been informed that..." He shuddered, tears appearing in his eyes. "Uhm, if whoever took the information cache from the Tomb of Khum-Waht-Meh will simply return it all charges will be dropped."
"What charges?" said someone in the assembly.
"Someone," said Scoville, heat returning, "took a valuable data cache from that tomb! It is secure information which needs to be under the control of the ACO!"
"We didn't take it," said Hub, confused. "The archeologists told us to bring it back here so we could download its memory. It's their property; we have it with their permission."
"All alien technology is under the control of the ACO!" Scoville screamed, now back in full cry. "You have to have our permission to do things like that!"
"Nobody told us," said Hub, startled. "That also contradicts the UN's agreement with..."
"I don't care what it contradicts! If you have that device you will turn it over to us immediately! It contains data which must be kept secure!"
"We finished downloading all that data two days ago and uploaded it to the archeological institution in charge of the dig," said Hub, irritated. "It's available for free download to anyone who logs in. We'll even give you a copy while you're here. If you ask politely."
"You can't do that!" shouted Scoville, face even redder.
"We already did it," said Hub, shrugging like a minor avalanche. "We still have the ushabti, but we've agreed to take it to the institute this evening."
"Operations are such illegal not," said Dr. Sum'Tang, with certainty.
"Who cares if it's against the law?!" screamed Scoville, shrilly. "You can't just... share that information!!!!"
"It's guaranteed both under the Constitution of this nation and the UN Charter for the Free Exchange of Information, as well as the agreement between Earth and the rest of the universe," said Ramet, boldly.
Freddy tried to recall if he was right, or determine if he was bluffing, but was interrupted by the events on stage.
Scoville tried repeatedly to express his outrage, and finally just let out a scream which not only blew the microphone but sent flames spewing from the PA system's amplifier and speakers. He had to be helped from the stage - still gripping the mic stand - by his aides.
* * *
"If he had just bothered to ask," said Hub, irately, "he would have learned that the Angels and the Architects left here over half a million years ago. They called their work here a draw, realizing that hundreds of thousands of years would be needed for either of their plans to reach fruition."
"In other words," said Talli, dryly, "about now."
"Yes. The data included backup copies of files with the locations of all the deposits of tech they left behind. We even found out how the ushabti came to be in possession of that lost Pharaoh. From what I'm seeing in the recordings it made, at least when they were working here their competitions were more friendly contests than hostile activities."
"Let me guess," said Ramet. "Khum-Waht-Meh found one of those caches, used the tech to make himself king, and after he died was buried with it and deliberately forgotten."
"Uhm, not exactly but close enough." Hub laughed like an amused concrete mixer. "He'd figured out how to impress himself on some of the equipment, and reburied the rest. Since it would only obey him, it was all buried with him."
End Story Twenty-Five
Okay, okay, we didn't actually return to the tomb. It's artistic license! :-)
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose, Story 26
Things Get Serious! (Yeah, Right...)
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyright and Trademarked R. Talsorian Games, Inc. The characters and story are Copyright 2020 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
The ornate hall was far larger than required for the comparatively small gathering of disparate species using it, and far more ancient than any of the participants or even most of their civilizations. The very light from this world's elderly sun seemed a bit tired as it streamed through the high windows.
The meeting was comprised of fewer than thirty sapients, of a wide variety of forms. The hall was capable of automatically and comfortably accommodating all of them, and many others, as well. The attendees were influential heads of government agencies, or respected elders whose advice was considered invaluable in the matters to be discussed at this meeting. The leader - computer-chosen President Dat'ang - was in her accustomed, clear-walled, tubular tank, chosen for this function because of intimidation factor and the fluid buoyancy it provided. Given that she was among the largest and oldest of her species it just wasn't healthy for her to appear without either the support of the water, or antigrav from the hall. The water was simply more comfortable for her.
"This meeting of the Grand Highest Council of the Galaxy is now called into session!" the elaborately engraved robotic herald announced, before ritually vaporizing itself for the offense of such a lowly entity speaking before this august body.
"Alright, who dealt this mess?" was the first comment spoken on the record in the meeting by an actual member of the Council, and that came from the venerable President Dat'ang. Part of the reason for the computers choosing her as leader was due to her refusal to stand on ceremony when important things needed to be done. "We find a new planet, on the cusp of becoming a contributing member to starfaring society. Moreover, they're just starting to exhibit true powers, as opposed to knacks. The idea was to guide them into being part of and partners in interstellar culture, while learning from their development. My own nephew is on that planet, working towards that goal! What?! Happened?!"
"Well, it certainly wasn't our fault," said Supreme General Gnueton, leader of the redoubtable Benzemen. He stood and approached the President. Without asking permission, I'd like to add. He appeared too angry to stand on ceremony, though he was definitely standing to violate protocol by unnecessarily walking closer to the President. "Those meddling kids ruined our plans for dealing with the Big G!"
"Said plans would have resulted in the destruction of a planet we are trying to nurture and protect," said President Dat'ang, acidly. "You didn't even come before the Council to discus the matter. I had to learn about it from the news reports!"
"Exactly! It was a situation demanding action, not debate!"
"The entire Earth is just lucky those youths did exactly what they did," said Director of Empathy, Sardel. "They not only saved the Earth - in spite of your best efforts - they gave us important information for dealing peaceably with the Big G in the future."
"It figures that a touchy-feely wimp like you would take such a position!"
"If members of this Council weren't immune from legal prosecution I'd have you arrested for wanton endangerment of billions of lives," said Dat'ang, tiredly. "Not for the first time, either. As it stands now, you're accountable for nearly a billion sapients being displaced from their homes by your 'measures'!"
"Thank you. I try."
"That wasn't a compliment!" Dat'ang's synthesized and translated voice made the hall ring. "Argh. You are incapable of understanding the true magnitude of your incompetence."
"Again, thank you. I am well on my way to my goal of setting the record."
The oblivious Supreme General Gnueton had no idea of the looks he was earning from the other delegates. They were all behind him, and despite his frequent brag, he did not have a psionic danger sense.
"Let's come back to this later," said Dat'ang, tiredly. "The next matter on the agenda is that aliens and humans on Earth have collaborated to build an Ultimate Babysitter."
"The unit is currently inert," said the Minister of Mechanics. "Thanks in large part to your nephew. The plans are for it to stay that way for the foreseeable future. Hopefully."
"Excellent. What about evidence uncovered of past meddling on Earth by the Angels and the Architects?"
"Despite suggestions - and even actions by the Alien Control Office - to conceal important information in this matter, the interference was long enough ago that we consider the matter currently irrelevant," said Gaze, the Minister of Revelation.
"Connected with this, let's consider the failings of the Alien Control Office on the planet Earth."
"It was sabotage, I tell you!" shouted Director Hungadunga, lurching unsteadily to his feet. "Incompetents and character assassins are conspiring against me!"
"Well, now that you know, you can clean house and make certain the ACO does its job properly," said Dat'ang, firmly. "Without needing any excuses for not doing it properly from now on! Next!"
"Uh, yes, I, uh..."
Fortunately, most of the officials there had at worst done their jobs competently, with several able to report considerable progress in their part of the project. Unfortunately, by the time the others were finished Supreme General Gnueton had somehow left without being noticed. Well, he did often brag about his psionic ability to "cloud men's minds" but that didn't explain how he'd left without the females, herms and neuters in the meeting noticing. Maybe he had just snuck out while the others were distracted.
"Naturally, he leaves before I get to the part of the meeting where we consider a problem his organization will likely have to deal with," muttered the President, sourly, when she realized what had happened. "In connection to that, Minister for Criminal Activity, we will hear your report, now."
The MfCA had a way of speaking which was a bit dry and long-winded (actually, in his case long-chlorinated) but his summary left those in the meeting (well, those still there, after the Supreme General abandoned his post) worried. Even though they had expected something like his closing revelation.
"In conclusion, all cogent indications lead to intimate involvement and manipulation by the Cello Siderea crime syndicate," he finally said. "The appropriate law enforcement agencies have been notified of this and warned to watch for their additional interference on Earth. However, even if Supreme General Gnueton were still here, his organization could not be authorized to take action, since that would mean attacking the entire planet where the Cello Siderea are based, and we simply do not have sufficient justification for that. At this time.
"As for how to defend Earth from these thieves, we strongly recommend the appointment of an Inspector General. Who would then be given independent control of all our forces on Earth, including the local ACO."
There was some protest at this, mostly from Director Hungadunga. However, his objections seemed more pro forma than validly held. The other attendees realized he was actually relieved to have the thorny problem of the Earth given to someone else.
"I want to close this meeting by emphasizing that we must keep a closer watch on the Earth," said President Dat'ang. "Beyond appointing an Inspector General, which I will do immediately once I return to my office. Not only is protecting them from the depredations of special interests the right thing to do, it will benefit society in general. Including all of us, personally."
* * *
"What are you reading?" said Karen, reaching across the small table in her room and lifting Freddy's old-fashioned hardback a bit to see the cover. "Climbing Up the Eiffel Tower and Other Adventures by Semolina Pilchard."
"She was a pioneering BASE jumper," said Freddy. "Professional acrobat, human fly, etc. I'm writing a book report."
"On an old book?" said Karen, confused.
"Yeah. That was the assignment. A report on an old, actual, physical book. Not everything is digitized, even still. My uncle had this in his library. He says there's even a song about her, by some Sixties band."
"Huh. Glad that's one class we don't share."
Freddy stretched, then - reminded of her current physical condition by that action - looked down at herself and sighed.
"I'm buying a lot of unisex outfits these days."
"Well, yeah," said Karen, smirking. "My parents won't let us study together in my room unless you're a girl, and changing clothes back and forth just for that is silly.
"Oh! That reminds me. Have you signed up for the that new feminine hygiene class next semester?"
"Yes, Mother," said Freddy, rolling her eyes. "Honestly, how many of these do I need to take?"
"With all the zapping, they've added a couple," said Karen, reasonably. "Besides, I know people born female who could use them."
She gave Freddy an evil grin.
"One of the things they're teaching is safe and effective masturbation."
"They're the what?!"
"They're serious, and you can't say it isn't needed. I mean, with all the oblique questions you've asked..."
"Yes, well, that's next semester," said Freddy, blushing cutely. "We need to concentrate on the current work."
Karen nodded and pulled up the next assignment on her pad, idly thinking about how handy it was to have a boyfriend whom her parents would let her have in her room with the door closed. As an additional bonus, she and Freddy got to socialize privately without the distraction of sexual attraction. Well, theoretically. Freddy figured that as a girl she probably counted as bisexual. Though sometimes...
"Hey, you awake?" said Karen, playfully. "You're the one who said we need to get to work."
"Sorry; you derailed my thought processes with that remark about masturbation," said Freddy, in an embarrassed mutter. "So unless you're willing to give me some early instruction..."
Freddy turned bright red as she realized what she had just said. Fortunately, Karen laughed.
Eventually, they finished. Not just with homework but with socializing. This even included - to Freddy's mild distress - some girl talk. Finally, though, it was time for the part-time girl to get home.
"Oh, great," muttered Freddy, as she looked out the window. "Still raining."
They went out to the garage, where Freddy had left her bike and her rain gear.
"At least with that outfit on no-one will notice you changing," said Karen, smirking, as Freddy donned the slicker. "Just remember to change back on the way home, this time!"
"Yes, Mother," Freddy repeated.
Freddy did remember, actually. While also remembering to be thankful for the Alien Goods store, and her employee discount. In the case of clothing sold by Sooltong, "unisex" meant something different than the usage for terrestrial clothing. Freddy's bra became a thin t-shirt, her shorts reshaped to fit him, the panties grew a fly in the front. Other changes were more subtle, but within a block of Karen's house Freddy was completely male and in passably male clothing.
* * *
As school headed towards Summer vacation there was an odd feeling of tension among the faculty. The students, of course, had their own concerns, but these rarely reflected anything the adults considered important. With the occasional exception.
The school had bought a large swatch of land before beginning construction. On one part of this land, well away from all the function areas, was a stand of woods. This mostly had been left to grow wild, with only a minimum amount of management. The overgrown area was sometimes used as a place for students to indulge in unofficial activities. However, it was primarily used as a shortcut to the closest minimart. Those left unsatisfied by the official lunch would sometimes sneak through the woods to the mart to grab something more attuned to their appetites. Like a half-pound bar of chocolate. With almonds. Even Freddy - with his ability to consume pretty much anything edible - sometimes indulged. Just because he could eat something the cafeteria served didn't mean he enjoyed eating it.
On this particular covert operation Freddy, Horth Fethe, Ramet Genet and Talli Illat were quickly devouring their unapproved snacks as they hurried back to class.
"Earth food can be pretty good," said Horth, with a satisfied sigh.
"Some of it," said Ramet, almost reluctantly. Perhaps because his chocolate skin color was so close to the color of what the other alien was currently eating.
"So," said Talli, sidling up to Freddy with a scheming smile on her face. "You up for that big political rally tonight?"
"Sorry," said Freddy, absently. "Can't make it."
He actually had no idea what she was talking about, but knew better than to say so. She for some reason expected Freddy to care far more about politics than anyone actually should, at least in his opinion.
"What do you mean? I was counting on your support!"
"Now, hold on," said Freddy, protesting. "I have a date tonight!"
"Karen will understand," said Talli, firmly.
"What makes you think it's with Karen?" said Ramet, smirking. The smirk deepened. "Or even with a girl?"
Instead of responding to the friendly (?) insult, Freddy was distracted by some odd sounds from a short distance away in the woods.
"What is that? Some non-human talking to itself?"
"I don't hear anything," said Talli, doubtfully.
Freddy wasn't certain he had, either, but figured that checking would at least get him out of talking about the rally, or whatever. Besides, someone might really be in trouble. Or at least doing something the others could make fun of. He set off, the others trailing along with varying degrees of reluctance.
Soon they all heard it. What they heard was not reassuring, either. Going into stealth mode, they crept towards the sounds.
In a small clearing they found a very odd creature. It was, indeed, talking to itself, in GalFix. It was large, and looked rather fearsome, being covered in plates, spikes, fins, claws and fangs. It was also not happy.
"Stupid pirates, hiring me for my talents then prohibiting me from using those to their full expression," the thing muttered. It wasn't pacing or anything, but staying in one place. Perhaps because it had sunk partly into the forest soil. "Why hire someone as formidable as me unless you want total destruction?!"
"Is that a... Mercotan?!" said Freddy, quietly but with rapidly rising alarm.
They could all sense Horth tensing, taking a deep breath before screaming out "We're all gonna die!" the way he always did. Three pairs of hands clamped over his mouth, and the teens pulled away while he was still rigid with fright and before he could start fighting to get free and run, shrieking.
"I heard the Cello Siderea crime syndicate hired one of those monsters as an enforcer," whispered Talli, once they were far enough away from the clearing to converse quietly.
"You can't... they aren't... it isn't..." said Ramet.
"Exactly," said Talli, nodding. "Those things can claw through neutronium!"
"No, they can't," said Ramet, scornfully. "That's impossible."
"They biologically generate gravity fields so intense they can displace even condensed matter such as neutronium!" snapped Talli.
"Could you... Swap Shop it?" said Ramet, obviously realizing that wasn't likely but hoping.
"Are you kiddin?" Talli hissed. "It would twist my mind into a pretzel, then stuff it into a rat or something to torture!"
"We have to tell the police!" said Freddy, now even more alarmed.
"I doubt the entire military resources of this whole planet could stop one of those things," said Ramet. The others could tell he was already plotting how he could sneak off to his saucer and leave the planet while the getting was good.
"On that we agree," said Talli, waving her hands in desperation. "Worse, the ACO is a hopeless mess and there's not enough time to call in anyone else."
"Wait," said Freddy. "What about Yubi?"
"That might just work," said Talli, frowning.
The started to creep away, but Talli stopped them.
"Listen," she whispered. "It's talking again."
The held quiet for a moment.
"Wait ten hours then capture all the students," it muttered in GalFix. "Bring them back here for pickup. Bunch'a nonsense, y'ask me. Wait ten hours. Capture all the students. Come back here. Hey, wait; they didn't say anything about what condition the students should be in. I'm hungry! Maybe I can eat a few arms and legs on the way. Or just save the brains! That's all they really want! I mean, that's the best part, but I guess I should make some sacrifices to give my employers what they want..."
By this time Talli had grabbed all of the others with her super strength and was using her super speed to vacate the area.
* * *
"Call everybody!" yelled, Horth, as the quartet - all but Talli rather bruised and winded - rushed into Hub's lab. "There's a mercotan in the woods!"
"Yeah, right," said the big guy, rolling his eyes. "I'm not in the mood for one of your pranks."
"It's true!" gasped Ramet.
"You're even less of a reliable source than Horth," said Hub, turning ponderously towards the new arrivals. "Though for different reasons. He's merely excitable, but you scheme..."
"Look, I saw it and heard it, too," said Talli, quickly. "So did Freddy! It is here to kidnap all the students. Not necessarily intact, either!"
Okay, that Hub believed.
"What do we do?!" screamed Horth, actually vibrating in place. "What can we do?!"
"Can Yubi take one of those things?" said Freddy, getting back to his previous idea.
"Hmmmm, probably," said Hub, rubbing his chin with a sound like a concrete scrubber at work. "We'd need Dr. Sumt'ang to provide the pass..."
"Can't you just enter the password?" said Talli, exasperated by what she saw as the large student's too-strict adherence to the rules in an emergency.
"Uhm, Dr. Sumt'ang set the password," said Hub, looking embarrassed. "With his unusual - uhm - impediment, he's the only one who can actually type it correctly. I'll call him."
"Do it!" yelled Ramet, perhaps realizing the others would not let him sneak off to escape. "We don't know how much time we have!"
He was already edging towards the outside door - probably to head for his saucer - only to find Talli and Freddy in his way. Thus confirming his evaluation of both their own lack of any sense of self-preservation and their willingness to sacrifice others for their delusional nobility.
"Well, it was supposed to wait ten hours, but we don't know when the timer started and it was getting, uhm, hungry..." said Freddy, as he and Talli herded Ramet back towards the others.
Dr. Sumt'ang didn't like being interrupted from teaching, but trusted Hub enough to hurry to the lab in spite of that when the huge rhino-whale type guy sent him an emergency call. By that time, Hub had a drone flying over the small patch of forest.
"Okay, there it is," he said, sounding (well, for Hub) very distressed. "It's a mercotan, all right. Oh, Dr. Sumt'ang! Good, you're here. I just verified that there is, indeed, a mercotan in the woods."
"Warned about I was this," said the a four foot tall purple fireplug, as he trotted in on his four stumpy legs, excitedly waving the four muscular tentacles surrounding his top. Even though no official announcement had been made - or even an unofficial one - quite a gathering was forming in the room, of mostly students; fortunately, the AI lab was intended to be very roomy. "Believe attack so soon come would just I didn't. Impressive so neither it would be did I believe."
"It wants to eat the students!" was Horth's hysterical contribution.
"We think that Yubi can either stop it, or delay it long enough to at least evacuated the school," said Hub, quickly.
Dr. Sumt'ang thought furiously for a couple of seconds, then moved to the storage tube for Yubi. He ripped off the cover.
"She's naked!" said Freddy, Ramet and Talli, staring.
"Call an ACO emergency to place the," Dr. Sumt'ang said, as he quickly began working at the control panel, ignoring the randy youngsters.
"She extrudes the clothing from her skin, once activated," said Hub, distractedly, as he pulled out his phone.
Dr. Sumt'ang fired up the equipment and began the process of making Yubi operational again. Hub helped after finishing his rather rushed call to the ACO. The other three decided that maybe keeping tabs on the threat might be a good idea, and moved to the viewplate showing what the probe saw.
"Power to batteries atomic," said Doctor Sumt'ang, checking things off on his pad. "Speed turbines to. Reactivated function G.K.R. Function spindizzy reactivated emulation. To maximum clock processor speed set. A worse not monster hope we're making than the we want her to just, let's subdue one."
Abruptly, the android Model 307L opened its eyes.
"Children danger in are!" shouted Dr. Sumt'ang, quickly, hoping to trigger the Ultimate Babysitter's priority protective codes before she could decide to do something else on her own. "Mercotan a woods the in is!"
Fortunately, Yubi was able to parse that. She left with a bang. Leaving a large hole in the roof. Debris rained down on the athletic field, startling several students and the school's two gym teachers.
"Do we still have visual on the mercotan?" said Hub.
"Huh?" said Freddy. "Oh. Yeah. Oh! There she is! Wearing what looks like a jumpsuit!"
"I just hope the drone can survive what those two will be doing," said Hub, pulling the small probe back some. He actually sounded eager. "I want to see this!"
Yubi almost caught the mercotan completely by surprise, coming in feet first with a stomp attack, going for a purely physical opening maneuver. However, the strange creature managed to dodge, if barely. Yubi shot a plane of force at it from short range, which it barely parried. In response, it then clawed at her, nearly piercing her own protections. The battle escalated quickly from there. In fact, the two combatants were soon moving with such alacrity that there was no way the merely organic observers could keep up. Generations of analysts would study the recording Hub made of the battle, microsecond by microsecond.
Beams, planes, wedges and corkscrews of lambent force speared the air and dug deep into the soft earth. Only the school's defensive screens in one direction and the curvature of the planet in the others kept the damage from extending beyond the woods (well, the minimart lost its roof, and was fortunate that was the only damage it suffered). Woods which soon were reduced to homogenous, pulpy, steaming muck. All students and staff outside headed into one of the buildings very, very quickly.
Fortunately, even those two titans could not maintain that level of output for long. After only seconds, the magnitude of effects began fading. Soon, they were only detectable by the probe and a few instruments at the school.
The observers in the AI lab could see that both combatants were still active, but had been so reduced by the stresses and strains of the opening phases of their fight they were currently limited to occasionally slapping ineffectually at their opponent's face.
"Mercotans have fast regeneration," said Hub, studying the display. "Yubi has quick nanotech repair functions. The fight won't stop just because they're exhausted, injured or damaged. What we need is a stasis bubble, only I don't think there's a field generator at the school. They're too easily used to cause damage."
"So who do we know who has one?" said Jim.
"It might actually be faster to build one," said the rhino-whale guy, looking through his library of gadget plans. "We have a fablab here. If I can just find an appropriate plan..."
"That be necessary not may," said Dr. Sumt'ang. "ACO on is way the."
"They are?!" said all the students present, surprised not only that the ACO could respond so quickly, but that their teacher thought they might actually be useful.
"Exactly job this sort of purview within their is. Aliens their controlling part job dangerous of is."
"Well, something's happening!" said Hub, pointing back to the display.
A silvery sphere formed around the combatants. As well as a good chunk of the now-homogenized woods. Hub quickly swerved the point of view of the drone around to reveal the largest saucer any of them had ever seen, hovering over the area of devastation.
"Wait. That's not an ACO ship," said Horth, always eager to point out something to worry about. "In fact, I don't see any markings on it, at all. We're doomed!"
"Could it be that whoever sent the mercotan is trying to retrieve it?" said Freddy, alarmed. "With Yubi along for the ride?!"
"If so, they now hold captive two of the most dangerous types of creatures in the universe!" said Horth, even more alarmed than Freddy. "Now we're really doomed!"
"Not yet, they don't!" said Hub, as he frantically started working on something.
However, before he could even get whatever this quick project was properly underway, the thieves were interrupted. An even larger saucer appeared, and used its drive field to force the merely huge vessel to the ground. Very forcibly. With a huge Splat! and splash of muck from what was left of the former woods. The newcomer did have markings, which translated as "Inspector General for Earth."
"The stasis bubble is still stable!" said Hub, relieved. "Though I bet they don't let us have Yubi back."
"Good riddance," said Ramet.
"Is it just me or is it hot in here?" said Freddy.
"We're on the side of the school closest to the woods," said Hub, with a casual shrug like a small rock slide. "Just some waste heat leaking through the screens."
ACO agents in powered assault armor jumped down onto the pirate saucer and began forcing the hatches. The pirates tried to fight back, but the larger saucer simply used a force plane to start slicing the pirate vehicle into sections. They pirates soon surrendered, and could be seen marching out of the various hatches, gaps and rents, masks askew and paws in the air.
"They're robber mice*?!" said Freddy.
"Some people hypothesize that the reason they're so nasty and ruthless is that they feel inferior to larger species," said Hub.
A very dignified, human-appearing alien walked down a glowy force ramp from the ACO saucer to the ground near where the prisoners were being gathered. He was in a customized version of the Alien Control Office uniform, with added short cape. He made the garb look both comfortable and fashionable.
For the most part he simply observed, letting the field officers do the work while ignoring the gibes of the pirates. When the prisoners were finally loaded aboard the ACO saucer the officer in charge of the operations to mop up the pirates went to the high officer, saluted and reported. After receiving the report, the high officer nodded, then gave some orders with gestures. While those on the ground finished the cleanup, he turned and marched towards the school. He made it look like a casual walk.
* * *
"Good afternoon. I am ACO Inspector General for Earth Igroeg," said the tall, handsome, very dignified man, every blond hair in the exact right place. "I want to assure you that the current threat to this institution and its students and staff is over. Furthermore, the ACO will from now on focus on doing its dual job of protecting the natives from outsiders, and those from outside who choose to live here from inappropriate native actions. Instead of being obsessed with committing politics, as the previous ACO administration for Earth was."
This was one of the most interesting gymnasium assemblies the school had ever hosted. As well as one of the quietest. This Inspector General radiated friendly but firm charisma. Even the normally rowdy students were paying respectful attention. Freddy was favorably impressed. Looking around, he could see that so were many of his classmates and even many teachers. Of course, the more skeptical remained, well, skeptical. Ramet and Talli chief among them. That cynicism being one of the few things they had in common.
* * *
Things got back to normal pretty quickly after that. The school announced that the mulched woods would be turned into a carefully manicured park, complete with a barrier fence which would extend all around the
school property. Which upset pretty much everybody a bit, since that would make sneaking off to the minimart that much more difficult. Those who had sicced Yubi on the mercotan needed several hours to realize that there had been no mention of her or the creature in any official statement from the ACO. Hub and Dr. Sumt'Ang immediately filed a request for the return of their school project upon this realization, but admitted there was little chance of even getting anything beyond a formal and undetailed reply, much less compliance.
The next day, as lunch was winding down, Freddy was sitting with his friends in the cafeteria when Miss Furrpect pointed the small group out to a visitor.
"Now what?" said Freddy, as the smiling man approached.
"Freddy Luger? Good afternoon," said the man, as he offered his hand. "I am Nicholas Robert Steele."
"Nick, Rob, Steal," said Jim Connors, startled. The others smirked. Horth actually laughed out loud.
"Uhm, yes," said the man, smile slipping. "Well. I am a field representative for the United Nations Nutritional Supplementation Program. (No, it is not pronounced 'unzip.') We - the organization I represent - want to make use of your unique perspective on matters of current social relevance."
"You're not from that gender normalizing group again, are you?" said Freddy, both suspicious and hostile. "I told you that not only would I not support your propaganda about gender polarity but to never come back. You're not even from the actual government!"
"Uh, no," said the man, looking confused. "We want to evaluate the palatability of alien foods as emergency rations for troops and refugees."
"Uh..." said Freddy, audibly clashing his mental gears.
"What sort of pay are you offering?" said Ramet, barely beating the slightly less mercenary Talli.
Freddy had no current interest in another job, but as the man and Ramet negotiated and Talli occasionally asked questions and made suggestions he began to realize he might have very little to way in the matter. Soon, Hub - the closest thing to a tycoon among the students - started chiming in.
"Why are you helping them?!" Freddy hissed at the big guy.
"Huh? Don't you want to earn more money?"
The two of them got into a huddle, over the lunchroom table, while the human bureaucrat and pair of alien teens talked.
"Okay, from what this guy is saying I could earn a nice bit of change, but I have a good job at Sooltong's and don't really have more time for working than I already spend there. Also, how could importing alien food be cheaper than growing it here?"
"You missed something," said Hub, smirking. "They are planning to install imported alien nutrient synthesizer machines where needed to make the food locally, from sources humans don't have the tech to exploit yet. They just want your evaluation of how palatable certain things - which I'm pretty sure you've already eaten - are."
"Oh. I did miss that. I'm still not sure..."
"It would benefit the poor and hungry!" said Karen, emphatically.
With a slow, sinking feeling, Freddy realized he was about to get another job.
*With apologies to Breaking Cat News: http://www.gocomics.com/breaking-cat-news
This story is Copyright 2020 Rodford Edmiston Smith. Anyone wishing to reprint or repost it must have permission from the author, who can be reached at: [email protected]
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose
Part 27
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the Teenagers From Outer Space role-playing game, Copyrighted and Trademarked R. Talsorian Games, Inc. It also uses properties Copyrighted DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures. The original characters and story are Copyright 2022 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
Fall Happenings
Cheerleading practice over, Freddy headed to the showers with the other girls on the squad. This was, of course, at the end of one of the regular gym classes, so the locker room was full of noise from chatting young females, many of them human or near human. These were some of the fittest gals on Earth and much of the rest of the galaxy. Most of whom were at least partly unclothed. Freddy reached her locker and also began taking off her sweaty cheerleader outfit. She felt a bit proud that she actually belonged in with all these very fit young women. The whole process was normal and routine, completely unremarkable. Almost.
Should I be worried this doesn't turn me on much any more? wondered Freddy. She smirked. Well, right now.
Left unthought (some of those in here could read minds) was that this scenario would provide grist for male Freddy's mill later that evening.
Still, the perfunctory business of stripping and showering was not as routine as it would have been in other schools on Earth. Both humanity and the other species participating in the special project this school was a very important part of had sent their best and brightest to this new school. In many cases "best" meant the closest to what the sponsoring culture considered the physical ideal for their species. The presence of so much idealized femininity and masculinity had become almost routine, here. However, there was a new girl in school who attracted attention in spite of this. Though an alien, she appeared completely human. Except for one thing.
For whatever reason, she had three breasts.
Even the completely straight girls had stared the first few times they saw Adiadal, and that was when she was fully clothed. In the showers they tried not to, but some still couldn't help it.
Adiadal, of course, stared right back. Where she was from all the girls had three, and she found the appointments of the doubly-endowed girls here to be very strange.
Freddy managed not to stare when Adiadal entered the showers completely naked. She instead focused on finishing her own washing. That was just good manners. Besides, she had no idea which way the alien babe swung, if she did so at all. Freddy did note that like most of the females (and many of the males) at the school - including Freddy - Adiadal had no body hair. For some - mostly the extraterrestrials - this was their natural state. The others so not bedecked removed their body hair for various reasons, most of them aesthetic.
Freddy sighed, turned off the water and grabbed a couple of towels on the way out; one of them for her hair. Dealing with long hair was a part of feminine hygiene she found irritating, but only slightly. Especially compared to some of the other things. Soon she was dressed in boy clothes and ready for her next class. Well, except for one thing, and that had to wait until she was out of the locker room. In fact, as she passed through the door into the hall, Freddy had a specific destination in mind.
Finding a place to change gender without incident was becoming more and more difficult for Freddy. There were people - male, female and other - who wanted to watch. Some out of prurient interest, some out of relatively innocent curiosity, some simply because they knew doing so annoyed Freddy. Fortunately, the nurse's office was near the locker rooms. (The theory behind this placement had been that most injuries at the school would happen in gym class. Which was proving completely the opposite of the actual situation.) Through a standing agreement between Freddy and the Nurse, if there were no actual patients in the waiting area of the infirmary Freddy could use that to change. Unfortunately, several students had begun to develop recurring ailments at the precise times Freddy usually wanted to use the room.
Freddy ducked into the nurse's office. Nurse was busy with some normal-looking Earth guy in one of the treatment rooms, but the waiting room was thankfully empty. Freddy moved into a corner where she was out of sight, sighed, took a moment to concentrate, and changed to male.
Feeling relieved there were no complications this time, Freddy left and headed for his next class, whistling tunelessly as he walked. Winter was here, though the weather was still very warm, and there was a school-sponsored Hallowe'en party a week from the next Friday night. Freddy was supposed to meet with Karen that afternoon at her place to work on their costumes, as well as some other stuff. However, there was still a lot of school left for the day. It wasn't even lunchtime, yet.
* * *
"So, what's that new girl like?" said Talli, as Freddy joined the usual group at their lunch table.
"Which new girl?" said Freddy, innocently. "Brenda? She's not even new anymore."
"I meant Adiadal," said Talli, rolling her eyes. "I haven't met her, yet. But! I've heard some of the boys say she makes them wish they had three hands. Perverts. Of course, she's not helping, making full use of all that attention."
Talli was lean and athletic rather than curvaceous, which Freddy and many others definitely appreciated about the alien gal. However, most boys - being boys, whether from Earth or elsewhere - wanted to see breasts. The more the better, of both size and quantity. Especially if they were of high quality. Freddy, as a part-time well-endowed gal, was intimately familiar with this phenomenon. From both sides. Freddy had been flirted with - and, rarely, worse - by males and females, as a male and as a female. He had to smirk as he remembered some of the Terran reactions to the alien hermaphrodites - whether students, teachers, business folk, tourists and other - when the
Earth-born realized those individuals were not only well-endowed upstairs but were also packing downstairs. Even some of local females had been upset. However, some humans had the attitude "best of both worlds." Most herms - for some reason collectively referred to as Barr Guls or just guls - felt uneasy about both attitudes; by their standards "normal" humans were the freaks, whether terrestrial or alien. Of course, some of the guls were into freaks, as well.
"Is it true that all three are completely natural and exactly the same size?" said Bl'fff, whose spidery species had no breasts or even nipples, disrupting Freddy's speculations. Why the alien was asking was probably more a matter of academic interest or perhaps trying to fit in. Or pure perversion.
"Oh, yeah," said Freddy, nodding, and missing that Karen - also lean and athletic - was paying that kind of attention to what her boyfriend was saying. "I just don't get it, though. Nearly all the other non-Earth females with breasts normally only have two; even those who aren't all that close to human. The rest all have some other even number. Why does her species - which looks completely human otherwise - have three?!"
"There was an accident with a time machine and a vial of cosmetic-alteration viruses," said Argy, the sort-of armadillo guy, conspiratorially. He frowned. "Virii? Your language is so weird."
"Viruses," said Karen. "It's from Latin, not English."
"So do all the males of her species have three nipples?" said Freddy, frowning. "Vestigial, I think is the term."
"Uh, I guess," said Argy, uncertainly.
"I just hope she's not contagious," muttered Karen. "Bras are expensive enough as is."
"Tell me about it," Freddy muttered back. "Especially sports bras."
For some reason, both Karen and Talli snickered at that.
"I've heard some people refer to her endowments as the mother, the daughter and the 'Holy cow!'" said Talli, smirking.
"Why are you so interested?" muttered Karen, glaring at Ramet, due to noticing him paying rapt attention to the conversation. "You're a shapeshifter. You can be male or female, and as a woman have as many breasts as you want. Or even as a guy, for that matter."
"Yeah, but that takes all the fun out of it," said Ramet, with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You can change shape, too. Why not give Freddy a thrill on your next date?"
"Because that requires a dose of !tsooB, which is currently illegal on Earth," said Karen, with forced calm. "Also, if you suggest anything like that again you'll be wearing this tray around your head."
"Yes, ma'am," said Ramet, who had a very well-developed sense of self-preservation.
* * *
"Okay, it's on and on," sighed Freddy.
"It" was a "gift" from Karen's parents; a locking choker with special properties. Alien properties. Karen's mom had the key.
"Let me make sure," said Karen. She fiddled with the nape of the choker for a moment. "Yeah. It's locked in place and the switch is on and under the protective cover. Okay, try to change."
Freddy obliged, with the same sense of constipation she'd experienced previously when testing similar items.
"Nope."
Karen nodded, reached into her bag, then suddenly drew her Mark II Boy/Girl Gun and shot it at Freddy.
"Yagh!" Freddy exclaimed, feeling like she was being squeezed outward in all directions from the inside.
Like much of the other alien technology recently made available on Earth, many human governments were trying to ban the gender changing devices. However, the main impediment to such actions was the often complete denial that such a thing was even possible on the part of many (mostly male) human politicians. That the UN had required members to pass laws ahead of time preventing the banning of specific examples of alien tech - mainly due to the medical benefits of some of it, but also due to demands from the Galactic Trade Union - was also helping.
Karen gingerly reached down and touched Freddy. She received a bit of an electrical jolt but nodded in satisfaction when she didn't change.
"Okay, I'm satisfied," said Karen, putting the Boy/Girl gun away. "Hey, are you all right?"
"Five more minutes, Ma," Freddy groaned from where she lay on the floor. "I'll get up then. I promise."
Fortunately, the side effects of the test were quite temporary and Freddy soon recovered. The operation of the collar was definitely different from the Gender Guard. For one thing, it didn't have charges, which could be filled. Instead, it actively countered the gender changing effect. Whether from a Boy/Girl Gun or Freddy's similar - and still unexplained - power. It was also a bit different from the previous collar Freddy had tried, which hadn't been used much, due to side-effects caused by that one. This appeared to operate as claimed, and only as claimed.
"Okay, strip and let's get you measured," said Karen.
"That has such a different meaning when I'm a girl," muttered Freddy. "Ow."
That last as Karen lightly smacked her on the arm.
"Now, come on. We don't just have to get your costume ready," said Karen, "you need some girl sleepwear. For our slumber party, if nothing else."
"I don't know why I can't just wear the panties and nightshirt I wear as a cheerleader rooming with the other girls for away games," said Freddy, muttering under her breath as she complied with Karen's direction.
"You want to wear something new - and nice - for a slumber party," said Karen. She smirked. "Especially one being hosted by your girlfriend!"
Freddy muttered some more, then caught her breath as the cold measuring tape went across her generous nipples. As it turned out, they weren't the only currently generous parts of Freddy.
"I don't believe it," Karen stated, a moment later, as she examined the tape measure. "You're bigger!"
"I'm not surprised," sighed Freddy. "I'm still in puberty, after all. I've told you before, the women on my dad's side are all pretty well-endowed and I tend to take after his side of the family."
"You keep this up and you'll be the biggest girl on the cheerleader team," Karen warned. "Say, why don't you use that gun of Hub's to make your chest smaller when you're female?"
"They found out it's not permanent," sighed Freddy. "Hub explained why the Boy/Girl effect is and the Buster effect isn't, but it made my eyes glaze over."
"Oh. Well, I guess you'll just have to live with being well endowed." She blushed. "Um, as a girl, I mean."
"Hey, after my visit to the Mamazons I'm not complaining!" Freddy exclaimed, with feeling. "Compared to those gals I'm almost flat-chested!"
"What did you do with that outfit, anyway?"
"Oh, I've still got it," Freddy replied, mysteriously. "Figure if nothing else, it might make a good Halloween costume."
"It might at that," snickered Karen. "If you ever work up the nerve to wear it again. Anyway, we need to get going if we're gonna get back in time to finish the preparations."
"Oh, joy," sighed Freddy. "Shopping for underwear with my girlfriend."
* * *
"I'm still smirking over you wanting a teddy," said Karen.
"I didn't know what you meant!" snapped Freddy, blushing. In part because Karen had made her try on and eventually buy one, after showing Freddy what they were. "I've been a girl off and on for less than two years. I'm still not an expert on female sleepwear!"
"A lot of boys your age are," Karen pointed out.
"Well, I'm not a boy at all right now," said Freddy, with a smirk, oomphing her chest out.
Karen snickered. Both of them ignored the gushing noses of several innocent bystanders. Most but not all of them male.
"Anyway, you won't be the most inexperienced girl at the slumber party. That would be Brenda."
"You invited Kuglewicze?!" exclaimed Freddy.
"Well, she needs some friends," said Karen, her tone a bit plaintive.
"She needs some personality," said Freddy, emphatically. "Even after we figured out that her badly-fitting glasses were what were making her so sour and whiny, she's still got a lot to learn. I swear, she's like the mutant offspring of Ben Stein and a Vulcan."
"That's pretty good," said Karen, giggling. She suddenly shook her head, as if getting rid of the idea. "No, Freddy! That's terrible."
She tried to give the other a stern glare, but they quickly both broke out in a bad case of giggles.
* * *
Karen's home had a finished basement which her parents had agreed could be used for the purpose of a slumber party. Her father hadn't been too certain about this, but Karen's mother had agreed, with a knowing smile at her daughter. With one condition.
"Okay, it's on and it's on," said Karen. She handed the key to the choker to her mother. "See you in the morning."
"Now, be good," said her mother. Who then leaned in close to speak in a lower voice. "Though not too good. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Karen, rolling her eyes.
"What the what?" said F-Freddy, after the older woman had left.
"Mother expects lots of gossip, and maybe a bit of naughty behavior. She says that's what her slumber parties were like, and that such behavior is part of a girl's growing up."
"Naughty behavior?" said Freddy, hopefully.
"Don't count on it," said Karen, firmly.
* * *
Indeed, Freddy found the slumber party rather sedate, compared to what she had experienced on road trips with the cheerleaders. So did some of the other participants. At first.
"To quote the Great Groucho, 'You call this a party?! The beer is warm, the women are cold and I'm hot under the collar!'" said Talli.
"What do you suggest?" said Buffy, who - along some of the other attendees - seemed as unimpressed as the alien gal.
"Well, remember that I have Swap Shop," said Talli, with a smirk.
Talli turned and looked at Karen, who ducked behind Freddy. Talli rolled her eyes, and looked at Buffy. "Buffy" suddenly smirked while "Talli" looked confused. Then panicked. Then angry.
"That's not funny!" said "Talli."
Once the others caught up, they actually did think it was funny. Talli must have thought it was especially funny, because in a matter of minutes no-one was in their own body.
"Ow," said Karen, in Debbie's body, leaning forward and wiggling her shoulders. "Debbie, how do you stand hauling these things around all the time? I mean, sure, it's nice to have a rack the boys will stare at, but don't you get sore in the shoulders and back?"
"Huh?" asked Debbie, from inside Freddy's female body. Which was almost as buxom as her usual.
"Never mind," sighed Karen, barely resisting the urge to giggle.
"Okay, this was fun," said Louise, "but can you put us back now?"
"What's the rush?" asked Talli, lounging sexily in Bambi's filmy nightgown... and voluptuous body. "We should spend the night like this, get to know each other better."
"Oh, I know how you plan to get to know me," snapped Bambi, from Joyce's bod.
"I'm certainly not in any hurry," said Freddy, from Karen's bod. She snickered. "I feel like I've gotten a big load off my chest."
"That's another reason to change us back," snapped Karen. "It's just not right for my boyfriend to be in my body all night. I mean, that's too much temptation."
"Okay, okay," sighed Talli. She sat up and switched with Joyce. Then Karen.
She took more time and shifts than was really necessary to get everyone back in their own bodies, but eventually they were.
"So, what do we do now?" asked Joyce.
"We could give Freddy another makeover," giggled Dawn.
"No!" snapped Freddy. "No. Uh-uh. No way. The other cheerleaders do that every time we have an overnight trip. Give Brenda one."
That proved disappointingly quick and easy, as Brenda was eager to learn about such things. So, what next?
"Oh! I got this great game from the Alien Goods store," said Karen. "It's made just for parties. It's got a lot of weird special effects. Harmless, but very disconcerting. As well as entertaining."
"What's it called?" asked Debbie.
"You Bet On Your Consequences is the closest English translation I've seen."
"That sounds weird," said Freddy, cautiously.
"Which means it's just what this get-together needs," said Talli, firmly.
The game turned out to be long and involved but quite entertaining. Especially with some of the hijinks it encouraged the girls to engage in. Freddy was left rather overheated, and she wasn't the only one. Finally, though, they called it a night (or, rather, an early morning) and got to sleep.
"Well, I'm ready to hit the sack," said Freddy, not bothering to stifle a yawn. Hers was one of the last comments before lights out. "Freddy and her teddy are going beddy."
Which at least earned her some snickers.
* * *
"Wow," said Freddy, once again male, to Karen as they rode their bikes to school the next morning. "I've never been to a slumber party like that before."
"I have to admit, things got a lot more daring than I was expecting," said Karen, as they peddled casually along. She suddenly did a double-take, and smirked at Freddy. "Wait a minute. Wasn't that your first slumber party?!"
"Well, I think the overnight trips with the other cheerleaders count," said Freddy airily. "Some of the other gals sure thought they were.
"Maybe," said Karen, her tone dubious. "Having never been on one of theirs - but having heard you talk about them - I think they might."
They soon reached the school, locked their bikes in the rack and went inside. The day proceeded fairly normally from there.
Which meant that Freddy got a lot of kidding about attending a function "for girls." (Who spread the word about the slumber part was something Freddy never learned.) When Freddy responded with a sly smile and noted that the previous night "he" had slept with 10 girls in one evening the kidders looked confused and found an excuse to leave. Quickly.
Freddy sighed and continued on his way to the next class.
* * *
"Okay, this is weird," said Horth, as he joined the usual suspects for lunch in the school cafeteria.
"Even for this school?" said Karen, mildly.
"Yes. Even for this school. They're putting up a circus tent. In the big field they made from the battle site where Yubi and the Mercotan faced off."
"Which battle still did not officially happen," said Ramet, pointedly.
"Why would they put up a big tent?" said Karen, looking confused.
"No idea," said Freddy, with a shrug, between bites of something both alien and pleasantly spicy.
"You realize that stuff is worse coming out than going in, right?" said Ramet, dryly.
"Oh..." said Freddy. "Uhm, it's not all that bad. I should be okay."
"Anyway," said Karen, to Freddy, "getting back to what you were complaining about, I've had similar accusations - or compliments - from girls who weren't there about having a boy at my slumber party. They're asking all kinds of leading questions."
"I'm not surprised, actually," said the part-time girl. "One of the things which I was most surprised to learn after all this gender-switching started was that girls could be as bad at bullying and intimidation as boys. As well as that they weren't really any worse at gossiping than boys, despite the reputation."
* * *
Even the week of the Hallowe'en party the weather was still unusually warm. In fact, it was warm enough that the staff of the school paper decided to squeeze in one more pool party/planning session at the home of Hub and his parents and "little" sister. Though this time they had an added guest.
Doctor Sumt'ang, as usual, was at the bottom of the pool. The water of which, fortunately for him, was not chlorinated.
"I still don't understand why you invited the new gal," said Hub, in a mutter, after his mother and sister had delivered enough snacks for a swarm of hungry teenagers.
"Oh, I understand why," said Karen, archly, glaring at Ramet. "Why do you think I insisted Freddy be a girl for this school paper meeting/pool party?"
"I thought it was still because there aren't enough girls working on the paper," said Jim, confused.
"I don't think you're being fair," said Ramet, the image of offended dignity. "Adiadal's society does not have a free press. This is our opportunity to show her some of the benefits."
"I'm just curious about what she'll do with that third boob in a swimsuit," said Freddy, who was currently wearing a bikini supplied by Karen. She had already suspected that her girlfriend might have an ulterior motive. Especially given how risqué the swimsuit she had provided for Freddy was. However what several people besides Freddy were currently wondering was whether the alien gal could even find a top with three cups. As well as speculating on what she would do with the middle breast if she couldn't.
"I am definitely not complaining," said Tali, who wasn't bothering to hide her admiration for f-Freddy's shapely form.
"You do realize she can hear us in that changing booth?" said Karen, rolling her eyes.
"Oh, I don't mind," said Adiadal, exiting said cabana.
"Blobble yobble yobble!" said Ramet.
"Blobble yobble yobble!" said Jim.
"Blobble yobble yobble!" said Talli.
"Blobble yobble yobble!" said Bl'fff, possibly copying those three just to try and fit in with the mammals.
"Holy cow!" said Freddy, her voice a squeak as she quickly sat up.
Freddy had thought she'd be resistant, due to exposure in the girls' shower and currently being a girl, herself. However, the shower was a non-salacious situation, involving washing after athletics. This was a deliberate enticement, and Adiadal was working it.
It would be inaccurate to describe Adiadal's top as having three cups. It had three triangles, which actually didn't cup much. Though there was much there which by some standards of morality should have been cupped. The middle triangular section of her top had its own set of two strands, attached together at the top corner and Veeing up to join the usual ones just before the combination went around her neck.
"Holy cow!" said Karen, also staring.
Adiadal just smiled.
"I've never been... exotic before," said the alien gal, modestly. "I'm enjoying it while I can."
"Oh, you aren't the only one enjoying this," said Tali, passionately.
"All right, people," said Hub, whose own, very large and rugged species considered all the others present to be fragile and undesirable, "let's get the work done first. Then we can party."
"All right," said Karen, in agreement. "For Adiadal's benefit, let's review how all this started."
"In the beginning..." said Ramet, pompously.
"Not that far back," said Karen, rolling her eyes. "I mean, contact between Earth and the rest of the universe."
"Well, a giant robot appeared in the..." began Freddy.
"I thought that was a hoax," said Jim, suspiciously.
"You think everything is a hoax," said Karen tiredly. "Including that world-wide broadcast which accompanied the appearance of the giant robot. Both of which were well beyond the technology of Earth at that time."
"Anyway," said Freddy, firmly and loudly, "the robot started a rampage, which for reasons unknown took it straight into San Francisco. There it had a fight with a giant alien girl, and it then chased her out to the bay, where it destroyed the Golden Gate bridge."
"There was some sort of near-human and a not-very-near-human with her, but given her size she got all the attention," said Karen. "Even though the giant grub which soon arrived was much larger."
"Probably because the grub didn't also have enormous..." began Ramet.
"Wait," said Talli, holding up a deceptively delicate hand. "Only the robot probe and Gallaxhar were actually alien. The giant woman, the fish man, the blob and the grub were all local. In fact, it was their unexpected appearance which caused the Grand Highest Council of the Galaxy to decide to contact your planet."
"Not possible," said Ramet, sternly. "They had to be from off planet."
"Well, I've never heard of or seen any non-Earthers like them!" said Talli.
"There are thousands of starfaring species in galaxy," said Ramet. "You surely aren't claiming to be familiar with all of them! You didn't even know about Adiadal's species until after she showed up, here at school."
"Well... no, but..."
"There you go. Besides, have you heard of any Earthers like that, anyway?"
"Surely, though, with five such... striking species, I'd have heard of one of them if they were actually from off Earth and representative of entire planet!"
Karen decided to get everyone back to working on the paper by changing the topic.
"One persistent rumor is that we're going to have a special guest at the school, and that this is somehow connected to that circus tent."
Ramet and Talli ignored this attempt, and kept arguing. With a tired sigh, Karen gave up. While the pair of aliens continued their heated discussion, the others swam and intermittently worked on the school paper. Adiadal later stated she learned a great deal about the free press that afternoon. Whether what she learned was actually appropriate for the institution was a matter of dispute.
* * *
The official school Hallowe'en party was hosted in the gym, starting on a Friday evening a couple of hours after class. Since only students were invited there weren't any problems with outsiders - including parents - trying to enter the wrong locker rooms and being caught by the security systems. Something which had repeatedly happened at functions where outsiders were present. Apparently, some people in the greater population - including many from off-planet - could neither read the multilingual signs nor understand the universal symbols. Both of which contained warmings of dire consequences if someone tried to enter the wrong locker room.
Not that the event was entirely free of problems...
"That's not someone dressed as a Metaltron!" hissed Argy, at one point, to several of the Usual Suspects. "It's an actual Metaltron!"
He was costumed as an actual aardvark, to take advantage of his natural resemblance. So maybe Argy was projecting.
"Are you sure?" muttered Freddy, who was definitely not sure. She was also looking especially cute. "That guy barely looks sharp enough to point and click."
"And how is it whistling?!" said Karen, his voice a pleasant, if oddly timbered, baritone.
"It's all right," said Miss Furrpect, who happened to overhear them. Like all the teachers, she was not in costume but dressed normally. Of course, for her this meant she was wearing very little on top of her natural coat. "That's a special guest, checking out the school and after-class activities. It's a pacifist."
"I never heard of a pacifist Metaltron!" said Argy.
"They're a disciple of the Lama Rama-Ding-Dong."
"Buh?!" said Freddy, Karen and Argy.
"The whistling is from a modification of its sound emission modulator. That's how you can tell. Now, please, explain your costumes. I am still not completely familiar with Earth culture."
"Earth has a lot of cultures," muttered M-Karen.
"I came as Futaba-chan, and Karen came as Ranma-Kun," said Freddy. "Originally, she - uh, he - was going to be Indiana Jones and I was going to be the leader of the Mamazons, complete with authentic Mamazon battle garb, but we found out that skimpy costumes aren't allowed."
"That will be a shock to Ramet," said Horth, who was dressed as a Wookie, stopping as he walked to the snack table. "He's doing the werewolf queen from that movie. Wearing only fur."
"If there's enough fur that might pass," said Freddy, with a shrug.
She looked around the large room, mostly with an eye for the costumes. Hub was actually dressed as a large, craggy boulder. He would stand unmoving in one place until some incautious person leaned on him or otherwise indicated they thought there was an actual rock on the gymnasium floor. Then Hub would make some appropriate snide comment and move away. This worked a surprising number of times.
With some costumes the identity of the wearer was obvious. With some Freddy could only guess. A few were complete mysteries. Since there were no awards or ritual unmasking at a designated time, who was in some costumes remained unknown.
Of course, there were many people there who were far less perspicacious than Freddy. A human guy in a cowboy outfit sidled up to her. She immediately recognized him as Calvin Ormsby, one of the human males who enjoyed "kidding" Freddy.
"I have an idea I want to run by Freddy," said Cal.
"Shoot," said Freddy.
"No, I want to talk to Freddy not you."
"I am Freddy," said Freddy, puzzled.
"Listen," said Cal, his tone incredibly condescending and belittling as he smirked at Freddy, "just change. Freddy will know what I mean."
Slowly, it dawned on Freddy that this guy couldn't wrap his head around the fact that she was the same person as her male self. Or that a female could possibly understand what he wanted to talk about.
"Yeah, if you want to talk to the male me you'll have to wait 'till I'm dressed in boy clothes," said Freddy, patiently. Then she turned her back on him.
Eventually, the party reached the scheduled end time. Surprisingly, it actually ended not long after that. To the relief of those who had noticed its nature, the suspected Metaltron left without causing trouble.
* * *
At lunch the next Monday there was a lot of buzz about events of the previous few days. However, none of them were connected with the school Hallowe'en party!
"Did you hear?" said Argy. "The giant girl, the giant moth, the cockroach guy, the fish guy and the blob were all seen in a town near San Francisco over the Hallowe'en weekend! Fighting giant, mutant vegetables! The news is saying they're all from Earth! Even the vegetables!"
"Not possible," said Ramet, firmly. "They have to be non-Terrestrial."
"I guess the truth will come out," said Freddy, "eventually."
End Part Twenty-Seven
TFOS: Freddy On The Loose
by
Rodford Edmiston
Note: This story uses background and concepts from the _Teenagers From Outer Space_ role-playing game, Copyright and Trademark R. Talsorian Games, Inc. This particular installment of "Freddy on the Loose" also uses properties Copyright and Trademark by DreamWorks Animation and Universal Pictures. The original characters and story are Copyright 2024 Rodford Edmiston Smith.
Big Events
"What is with this school?" demanded Freddy, from where he lay, mostly on sun-warmed grass. "Not only do you have to look long and hard to find any girls who are less than a C cup, even a lot of the guys have a crowd in the balcony!"
"I am certainly not complaining about athletic boys," said Karen. She grinned as she patted one of Freddy's firm pecks. "That's one reason I like you."
They were in a park, about as far as they could get from their school and still be in the same city.
"Yeah, but most boys don't have to worry about finding bras that fit and are comfortable," muttered Freddy, more quietly.
"That's another reason I like you," said Karen, her smile turning impish. "You know first-hand about a lot of the problems _I_ have."
"You're fit and athletic," said Freddy, looking up from where he rested his head in her lap and not mentioning that she was much less well endowed than Freddy was as a girl. "Which are some of the things I like about _you_. You're not like those over-inflated bimbos I have to work with on the cheerleading team. They're agile, but..."
"Are you looking at my boobs from below?" said Karen, suspiciously.
"Well, yeah."
"Don't you get enough of looking at boobs in the girls' locker room? Or the mirror?"
"Not from this angle."
They were lying on a blanket in a level area of the park, having just completed a rather large picnic lunch. On the last day of Spring Break from school. Freddy sighed.
"Thinking about getting back to school tomorrow?" said Karen.
"Well, sort of," said Freddy. "I'm just wondering about that big circus tent in the grassy area beyond the track field. Which used to be a woods before Yubi and that Mercotan homogenized it. What is it for? The tent, I mean."
"Did you hear that an absolutely huge VTOL plane made some sort of delivery to that area last night? Long after school was out?"
"No? What I heard is that the government bought the tent from a defunct circus. Of course, the tent is nearly defunct, too. It's covered in patches, some made from old sideshow banners. Only they've been cut up so that they make funny combinations. 'COME SEE ONLY HERE GREATEST GEEK EXISTENCE PHOTOGRAPHY!' and 'LARGEST LADY EAT YOU ELECTRIC GLOW!'"
Karen giggled, and playfully smacked Freddy on his muscular belly.
"That's another reason I like you. You make me laugh."
"Back to showering with overinflated bimbos tomorrow," said Freddy, with a 'yielding gracefully to the inevitable' sigh. Not fooling Karen for a moment.
"Most boys your age would kill just for a chance to look in that shower while the cheerleaders are using it." Karen sighed, and stretched. "Remember, you fit right in, or they wouldn't let you in. Oh, well; at least, thanks to all the sniping, I know I *ahem* measure up as a guy."
"Something I hope to confirm from personal experience, one day," said Freddy, grinning. His face fell. "Uhm..."
"Oh, I wouldn't mind experimenting once we're married," said Karen, grinning at him. She gave Freddy another playful whack on the belly. "Someone has to be the man in our relationship."
"Hey!"
* * *
Back at school the next day the tent was still there, still with no explanation. Speculation about its purpose was a hot topic among many of the students, and even some of the staff. Freddy's usual gang at pre-class assembly was not immune from all this speculation.
"There's definitely something alive in there," said Horth, as usual worried. "I heard it breathing!"
"It was the wind," said Ramet, tiredly.
"No, they did put something alive in there," said Hub, knowingly. "They also arranged for Nurse to examine it. Dr. Hoomdorm let that slip."
"Some sort of huge alien?" said Karen.
"You people are missing the obvious," said Freddy. "Giant VTOL plane? Something big and alive? Do you need General Monger to address a school assembly in the gym to figure this out?"
"Insectosaurus?" said Talli, frowning.
"Tent's not nearly big enough," said Ramet, tone and gesture dismissive. He had somehow, without explanation, come to accept unquestionably that the four strange lifeforms who had defeated Gallaxhar and his robot probe were from Earth. "Neither was the plane."
"It's for Ginormica!" snapped Freddy. "Geez, I feel like I need to draw a diagram! Besides, Insectosaurus was adopted by France and is staying there. So it has to be Ginormica."
"Yeah, prove it," said Talli.
"What cup size would she be?" said Ramet, frowning in deep thought.
"You guys..." said Freddy, angrily.
"Who was it just yesterday talking about the cup sizes of girls at this school?" said Karen, lifting an eyebrow at Freddy.
"Uh," said that worthy, feeling like he should remember something important but failing. "Say did you hear that the Mice Girls and the Pixie Chicks are having a combined concert in this city next month?"
"Stop changing the subject!"
"You two were talking about cup sizes?" said Jim, eagerly.
Fortunately for all concerned, the bell rang for the first class just then.
* * *
In spite of her complaints from the day before, Freddy - in female form - found herself showering with several other full-figured girls after cheerleading practice.
"So have you heard?" said Debbie, as they were toweling off.
"Heard what?" said F-Freddy, trying not to stare at
Debbie's chest, as the other vigorously dried her hair.
"That several of us are going to try and sneak into that tent in about an hour," said Debbie, oblivious to the effect her gyrations were having on F-Freddy and couple of the other females present.
"Oh, that's a very bad idea," said F-Freddy.
"C'mon it'll be fun!" said Debbie. She winked at F-Freddy. "Are you one of us or what?"
"Very much 'what,'" said F-Freddy. "Remember, I'm only a temporary girl."
For some reason, at this declaration Kathy spun around to make some irate comment. Only to catch F-Freddy full in the face with her still-wet right breast. Since she was holding her towel instead of drying, Kathy was completely naked.
"Ow," said F-Freddy, staggering back and dropping her towel, dazed and wondering why that had not been more fun.
"Hey!" said Kathy, irately, dripping wet and now completely naked, having also dropped her towel. She rubbed her injured right breast. "Ow. Why were you standing so close?!"
"She wasn't standing too close," said Debbie, amused by the accident. "Remember, your lockers are right next to each other."
Kathy made a retort to Debbie. F-Freddy, momentarily free of her ire, bent to grab her towel. Only someone snapped her on her shapely ass with a wet towel. F-Freddy yelped, and straightened suddenly in reflex. She caught Kathy under both breasts with the back of her head.
"OW! Hey! Once could be an accident, but twice..."
Someone toweled-snapped Kathy on _her_ shapely ass. She yelped and jumped, catching F-Freddy face-first in her cleavage.
"You were saying," said F-Freddy, blushing all over, as she backed away.
"That wasn't my fault!" cried Kathy, also blushing all over.
There was now a rash of wet towel snapping. F-Freddy grabbed her clothes and managed to be mostly dressed by the time she got to the door.
* * *
"You're still a girl," said Karen, a few minutes later.
"I grabbed the wrong clothes in the locker room," said F-Freddy, still a bit breathless. "However, this is actually useful. I have an idea..."
* * *
The three young medical personnel - a doctor and two blond, shapely nurses - were stopped at the entrance to the tent.
"We need to see your ID," said one of the Army security men.
The "doctor" handed over a small booklet. However, as the soldier looked at it the ink began running.
"Okay, this is still warm and wet from the printer," he said, handing it back. "Get to class."
The "doctor" protested, but the "nurses" were already walking away, looking disappointed. He hurried to catch them.
"Great," said Talli, as she turned off her image inducer and resumed her normal appearance. She glared at the other "nurse." "If Horth had just..."
The other "nurse" turned off her own image inducer, and was revealed to be Horth Fethe.
"His disguise worked," said Ramet, un-shapeshifting to drop his own disguise as the doctor. "Thanks to the image transducer he looked just like a female human. No, we just had bad luck."
He now glared at Horth.
"You were supposed to give _them_ bad luck," said Ramet.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" he said, whining desperately. "It's hard to focus that when I'm nervous! Especially when there's a pair of boobs _right there_!"
"That's the fifth group of teenagers we've had to send packing, just this morning," grumped one of the privates on security duty. "_They_ came closer than any of the others to actually getting in! I thought these kids were supposed to be bright."
"Yeah," said another, also sounding and looking grouchy. "They must be lining up and waiting for their turn, somewhere inside. The stupidest ones first. Those being the cheerleaders."
They both laughed at the memory.
* * *
Meanwhile, two other students had a better idea. F-Freddy and Karen arrived at the school nurse's office to find Nurse packing equipment on a cart. Some of the equipment was very large and obviously heavy. F-Freddy noticed, with a wince, that one item looked like the mutant offspring of a woman's sex toy and a douche nozzle, in giant size.
"That's an ultrasound transducer for elephants," said Nurse, perhaps too quickly, when she noticed the two girls staring at her equipment. "If there's too much tissue in the way the ultrasound can't penetrate."
"So your patient _is_ Ginormica," said F-Freddy, triumphantly.
"Uh, do you need any help moving this... stuff?
said Karen, with a vague gesture.
"Oh, yes, thank you. I asked the school and the Army for help, but each said I'd have to ask the other, and also said I'd have to fill out forms in triplicate just to ask."
The load included the school's Medical Analysis And Treatment Unit. As they wheeled - with some effort; F-Freddy could readily understand why Nurse wanted help - the cart outside the feathered woman explained what was going on.
"The monsters had a lot of trouble over Hallowe'en, something involving vegetables contaminated by alien waste," said Nurse. "The US government has publicly denied all of this - including that the monsters even exist - but has asked for help with the aftermath from off-world resources. Including finally doing a proper analysis of Ginormica."
"It took this long to arrange?!" said F-Freddy, surprised at the delay.
"Remember, these are civil servants," said Nurse, sagely.
She took them outside, and to an entrance for the tent on the far side of the large, temporary structure from the school.
"No wonder none of the students were able to sneak in!" said Karen, in revelation. "They were using the wrong entrance!"
"Just don't tell anyone," said Nurse, as she used her school ID to open the unguarded, automatic door which had been installed in that side of the tent.
The three of them walked through the door, horsing the cart along. In fact, F-Freddy was so preoccupied with this process that she almost ran into Karen. Who had stopped and was looking up. 'Way up. F-Freddy followed her gaze, then also stared.
"That," said F-Freddy, stunned, "is the biggest underboob I have ever seen."
Karen elbowed her. Hard.
"Hello," said the giant woman. "Are you finally here to examine me?"
"Yes," said Nurse, the image of calm routine, as she also looked up. "I'm the school nurse, and I am trained and authorized to use this equipment. These two are assisting me."
"Uhm, why are you sitting here naked?" asked Karen.
"They don't have exam gowns in my size."
"Aren't..." F-Freddy swallowed nervously. "Aren't you cold?"
"No, I'm fine. Well, I'm bored..."
"We'll have you checked out and ready to go shortly," said Nurse.
"I don't think I can do anything shortly these days," said Ginormica, wryly.
* * *
"There," said Nurse, finally. "All done."
"Thank Ghu (Purple Be His Name)," said F-Freddy, feeling completely squicked.
"Ditto," said Karen, only slightly less affected.
"Now I suppose I have to wait a week for the results," said Ginormica, with a sigh which made the tent billow.
"Nonsense," said Nurse, with a bland smile. "I have the results already. The advantage of non-terrestrial technology."
"Don't keep me in suspense!"
"Well," said Nurse, staring dubiously at the display, her assurance replaced by confusion. "Well, it says you're 99.99th Percentile in size."
"No kidding. Wait... there's someone bigger?!"
"Ah, the scale only goes to 99.99. I don't know why. However, you're the biggest humanoid I've ever examined. Sort of."
"'Sort of.'?"
"You're not actually as large as you seem. When the Quantonium first entered your body it began altering it to make you a proper storage vessel. One side effect of this is that the presence of Quantonium in your system distorts your geometric interface."
"Which means?"
"Well, you aren't actually any larger. The universe just acts like you are. Mostly. That's why your voice hasn't changed. You're also lighter than you should be, unless you're concentrating on being heavy. Uhm, an actual human your size; well, you'd break both legs just trying to stand, if you were still as fragile as a human. My first point is that your voice would sound like the bass pipes of an organ if you were really that large. How has your appetite been?"
"I don't actually need to eat, though I can to be sociable. I just figured the quantonium was supplying any energy I need. Or at least that's what Dr. Cockroach said."
"Well, he's probably right. About that, anyway. You don't really need to breathe, either."
"What's all this about me not being human, though? I mean, I don't mind; I already mentally count myself as a Monster."
"Remember when you fired that plasgun and went flying backwards, knocking those Gallaxhar clones aside and coming to a hard stop, without getting hurt?"
"Yeah, and I later fired one of those guns one-handed straight up and my arm hardly bent. So I know I'm stronger than I should be, whatever my size."
"The quantonium reinforced your body to make it a sturdy container. You're tougher and stronger than you would be otherwise. Even without any quantonium inside you."
"You make it sound... alive," said Susan, concerned
"It might be," said Nurse, again appearing uncertain. "One reason it isn't used much - aside from being very rare - is that it sometimes seems to have a mind of its own. However, even if it is alive, it's probably just blindly responding to external stimulus. The consensus is that it's about as bright as a slime mold.
"Anyway, while the sort of alteration you underwent isn't hugely unusual (sorry about that) another change it made to your body is. In fact, it's unique. You're unique. You take ambient energy and convert it to quantonium. Which is why you got taller when Dr. Cockroach zapped you. Even completely empty of any quantonium you would still be so altered, since the changes are permanent. You will slowly - very slowly, since quantonium is so potent - become larger, just by absorbing ambient energy. However, you can offset this by expending energy. As you have been doing.
"If all the quantonium were again extracted from your body you'd need decades of energy absorption to regain your current size. Well, unless you had some sort of enormous, short term input of energy. However, a sudden input like that would likely be enough to destroy half the Earth."
"Which half?" came a concerned voice from outside the tent.
"Quiet, Ramet!" someone - apparently Talli - hissed, from the same location. "Do you want them to know we're here?!"
"I'll take care of this," said F-Freddy, with a tired sigh.
She strode quickly to where the sound had come from, and yanked the bottom of the tent up. Realizing that she was exposing the naked Ginormica, F-Freddy quickly stepped through, letting the hem of the tent fall back to the ground. Beyond were, indeed, Ramet and Talli, as well as several of the other regular mischief makers. All standing in the grass of the field outside the worn and patched circus tent.
"Go!" said F-Freddy, in a tone which brooked no argument.
Of course, Ramet still gave her some.
"Somebody got up on the wrong side of the gender bed this morning," he muttered, as he and the others got.
* * *
That was just the morning. Lunch (with Freddy and Karen being given excused absence notes for their late morning classes by Nurse for helping her, and Freddy back to male) found the usual suspects gathered for some deep discussion of secret conspiracies.
"There must have been more going on when they captured Susan than they've said there was," said Argy, the sort'a armadillo guy, who was off on another tangent.
"Oh, come on," said Karen, rolling her eyes at the familiar voicing of suspicion by the other student.
"You don't find it suspicious that the team which captured Susan - not yet renamed Ginormica - came equipped for a giantess?" said Talli, pointing with her fork.
For some reason all the alien kids in the school like forks. They especially liked waving them carelessly around. Perhaps because sharp and/or pointed eating implements were banned in most of the galaxy. Yet they seemed very reluctant to even touch a knife. Even a butter knife.
"The way it was explained to me," said Jim, carefully, "is that the facility has access to advanced technology. Some of it was developed independently, and some was developed by humans from captured or abandoned alien technology. That explains things like Monger's jetpack and the Atomic Plane. They also have a group of human psychics, who warned Monger about what preparations would be needed when they went to grab the meteorite."
"Wait..." said Karen. "There was prior contact with aliens?!"
"Purely unofficial," said Monger. "Like those Men In Black movies, only real."
"Ah!" said everyone but Monger.
"When did you come in?" said Karen, angrily.
"I've always been here."
"He does that," said Jim, rolling his eyes. "He likes to scare and startle people, and is very successful at doing that."
"Good," said Monger, seeming satisfied. "It's nice to be appreciated."
"So all the human technological advances of the past century - jets, computers, atomic power - _did_ come from aliens!" said Jim, triumphantly.
"Of course not," said Monger. "Our mandate is to keep everything secret. Nope, you can blame all that on the nerds."
The General walked away from the stunned group of teens to the serving line, took a tray and plate, and began filling the latter.
"Just like Mom used to make!"
* * *
There was a special school assembly two days later, well after the tent and visitors were gone. All the staff and most of the alien students were greatly impressed that the guest speaker would be a representative of the Grand Highest Council of the Galaxy. Many of the human students were also impressed. However, there were some at the school who weren't. Even among the aliens.
"We don't _need_ a briefing from the Council," muttered Ramet, as they took their seats on the bleachers. "They never tell us anything useful, anyway. Just mumble vague platitudes while all the sheep cheer."
The speaker turned out to be the Ambassador to Earth from the Council. There had been much debate among members of the Council before choosing who would represent the galaxy on Earth. Some Council Members had taken the position that a Real Weirdie would test just how flexible and accepting humans actually were. Others said the uncanny valley effect would mean that a Near Human would actually be a better test. In the end, the Council chose someone who was apparently an exact match for a subtype of human. Which eventually led to terrestrial conspiracy theories that this just _proved_ that there were no aliens, 'cause what were the odds that they had someone who looked just like Spaniards?!?!
Ambassador Kinter didn't really care about any of this. He was too busy being concerned about revealing information which he had previously been instructed to keep from the Terrestrials at all costs.
_The larger and more draconian the bureaucracy, the more likely it is to completely reverse a set-in-stone policy without explanation,_ he thought, sourly. _Worse, if I asked for an explanation for the reversal I'd be told, emphatically, that this had_ always _been the policy and how dare I even suggest it had ever been different!_
Worse, this was an open forum, with _anyone_ allowed to ask questions. Some of which were sure to be awkward. Well, nothing for it but to plunge ahead. He stepped to the primitive podium and microphone and cleared his throat. The murmuring in the large chamber quieted.
"It was Gallaxhar's attack on this planet which led to galactic society making formal contact with Earth," said the Ambassador. "Largely due to guilt. I mean, nobody liked his species, the Maxilonians, so when his home planet blew up a few million years ago the reaction was 'Well, that was strange; but good riddance.' By the time we realized Gallaxhar had actually done that deliberately, he had vanished, along with their largest and most advanced ship. Which turned out not to be a huge cargo hauler - as the Maxilonians claimed - or even a warship - as many others suspected - but a colonizing ship. We didn't know why Gallaxhar did any of that. How could we know he had a plan to hijack his people's most advanced spacecraft, kill all of the other Maxilonians so there was no competition for it, then put himself into stasis until his automated probes found Quantonium, which the ship needed for its main engines and he needed for his egotistical plans of conquest? Yeah, the stuff is powerful, but it's so rare that science as a whole wasn't even sure it exists! Or it wasn't...
"Anyway, many millennia passed with no sign of him, so law enforcement figured he was long dead. Imagine our surprise when he showed his squishy face again, here on Earth! As well as that he had actually found Quantonium?! On an interdicted planet?!?!"
A student stood, and was recognized.
"So the whole thing is the Galactic Council's fault," said Ramet.
"What!? No!! How did you get that?!"
"Well, you're here, making excuses. You even said it was due to guilt."
"There's a huge difference between making excuses and providing an explanation!"
"C'mon, let's get out of here," hissed Talli. "Ramet's people hate the Council. They'll be at this for hours."
They weren't alone, but all the staff and most of the students remained behind, until the exchange was over. Long after the end of the school day.
* * *
People were still talking about all these revelations the next day. However, most of the students
considered the events involved with Gallaxhar's failed attempt at the conquest of the Earth to be ancient history. Most of them had been pre-teens when Gallaxhar made his ultimatum!
Not all the students were so blasé about the information, however. Some were even critical of those who were.
"Yeah, what did you expect?" said Jim, sourly. "The school cheer is 'Shookum hip RALLO dyne!'"
"Is there something wrong with our school cheer?" said Ramet, icily.
"They finally awarded the contract to repair the Golden Gate Bridge," said Karen, hoping to head off an argument. "Thousands of new jobs are involved."
"I think it's more of a rebuild than a repair," said Jim, with a grimace, willing to be diverted. "Also, most of the 'jobs' are supplying the materials."
"So now you think there's something wrong with aliens helping your planet!" snapped Ramet, who was not so willing.
"Just another day at school," said Freddy, with a sigh.
End Part Twenty-Eight