Alice Powers Up, Chapter 1

Alice Dillon wheezed along the trail, amazed at how far a mile and a half can be when forced to run it.  The distance seemed like nothing in her car, and she was even able to puff out three miles on the treadmill in her gym, but trail running was a new, and unpleasant, experience for her.  Still, she was determined to see it through.  Losing twenty pounds was the goal she had set for herself three weeks ago, when it seemed like all the world was against her. Her boyfriend had left her, she had her hours reduced to half-time at her clerical job, and her last remaining friend, the orange tabby Count McSparkles, had died from a liver infection.  Alice considered taking up drinking in response to that series of misfortunes, but instead she decided she would take control of her health.

It was going well so far. She dropped two pounds in the first three weeks. Not quite as much as she had hoped, but at least it was a step in the right direction. Her exercise program was a tad too ambitious, though, as this trail run was painfully demonstrating to her. Her legs felt like they were on fire, and each breath was a labored wheeze.  She moved slowly, hoping to catch her breath at a relaxed pace, but the hills on the wooded trail prevented her from doing so. When she tripped on a stone and bruised her shin, she decided to call it quits for the day.  Drenched with sweat, she found a small stream at the base of a gully where she could cool off for a few minutes before limping the remainder of the trail back to her car.

Alice grunted as she removed her running shes and socks. The cool stream water felt good on her sore feet, but her breath was still coming in dry rasps. She briefly considered drinking the water directly from the stream, but then fears of parasites held her back. She was still a half a mile from the cooler in the back seat of her Civic, and she hadn't seen another runner in over twenty minutes, so she had little hope of mooching a sip off someone else's water bottle.  Alice sighed. She would have to tough the dehydration out and walk the rest of the way back. She dried off her feet and was pulling her socks back on when she saw the answer to her prayers. There, in a wooden bridge under the trail, was a six pack of energy drinks, cooling off in the stream water.

Ordinarily, Alice would never dream of stealing someone else's property, but her  ethics proved flexible following the most miserable workout of her life.  Surely, she reasoned, this was an emergency, and the person who left these drinks in the stream surely could stand the loss of one. Besides, what if they had been placed there and forgotten? Alice was doing a public service, by removing littler from the park.  Her conscience thus assuaged, Alice pulled one of the bottles out of its holder and drank the sweet orange liquid down. That was when she started to change.

++++++++++++++++++

Eleven hours earlier

Dale Montgomery walked calmly past the security desk, waving to Jake the guard as he left the labs for the evening. Jake looked up from his Angry Birds and unlocked the secure exit for Dale.  Dale hoped the guard would not notice his rapid breathing or the beads of sweat on his forehead. But he had worked for the firm for over ten years. He was beyond suspicion, wasn't he?  But the abrasive new boss and increasing doubts about the ethics of his research had eroded a decade's worth of loyalty. So, grimly determined, he had decided to unleash a virus on the firm's computers and steal the only prototype of the Delta Serum. He wasn't even sure what he was going to do with the awesome power once he had it in his hands--would he test it on himself? Sell it to the highest bidder? Offer it up as open source information?  All he knew was that it represented a danger to the entire world if he left it in the care of Evan Donner, the firm's new CEO.

He did not breath easily again until he saw the gate to the parking lot swing shut behind him. he patted the bottles on the seat next to him, hardly believing that it could be so easy to smuggle the source of such awesome power out of his secure lab. But he worked with fitness nuts, and no-one gave a six-pack of Gatorade a second glance.

Then he saw the cars in his rear-view mirror as he headed down the mountain road.  Black sedans, he thought. How cliche.  But when he turned down a side street and both followed him, he knew that they had to be following him. Once again, his heart raced. If they found the Serum in his car, he was certain that they would not simply fire him. Even criminal charges might be getting off easy.   Donner played for keeps, and the "administrative assistants" he added to the payroll were clearly hired muscle to ensure the ruthless businessman got his way.

Dale had hoped for a few hours before the virus was discovered. Now he had to figure out how to avoid Donner's clutches.  There was still a chance that they could find no wrong-doing on his part.  All he had to do was ditch the Serum.  But the cars were just a quarter-mile behind him. They would see if he threw the bottles out of the car, or if he tried to make a break for it. 

That's when Dale saw the entrance to a state park. There was a gatehouse where a ranger collected admission fees.  Dale realized that if he timed his turn right, he could pull in right before a large RV turned coming the other way. The screening the other vehicle provided might just extend his lead long enough for him to find a hiding place.

He could hear the thugs searching his car as he ran down the hiking trail.  He was not a fit man, and he realized that if they came after him, there would be little he could do to get away. Furthermore, on the lightly traveled trail, he realized that he might fall victim to an accident that they might arrange. He stashed the bottles under a footbridge, and continued up the trail. Hopefully, he could convince them that he was going on a perfectly ordinary walk to Lookout Point to watch the sunset.

Dale's body was found at far below the scenic overlook three days later.  It did not make the news.

__________________________________________

The Present

Alice found herself flat on her back, looking up at the sky.  She did not remember falling, and for a second she wondered if the sports drink she had downed had somehow been tainted.  Then she realized that she did not feel nauseous, and counted herself lucky that she was apparently uninjured from her fall. In fact, she felt far better than she had moments before, as if she had somehow been completely replenished of the energy she had lost during her run. No...it was better than that. She felt more full of life than she ever had felt before. The bruise she had obtained earlier was gone.  Her vision seemed sharper and the world around her seemed more intense and full of color.  She could hear the buzzing of every single insect, and she could hear the wings of a sparrow beating over a hundred yards away. Alice got to her feet expecting to feel weak and dizzy, but she felt like she could take on an army. It was only then that she got a good look at herself.

Her formerly baggy sweats had grown tight. Her pants barely came to her knees and stretched tight over powerful calf and thigh muscles. Her college sweatshirt barely contained a new set of breasts that stood out proudly and firmly from her chest. Alice had always said that she had never minded her modest A cups, but now that she was apparently stacked, she nearly tore off her shirt out of a desire to inspect her new assets.  Her sports bra strained valiantly to contain her new breasts, but even through the sweatshirt, her new curves made themselves known.  Had the drink done this to her?
Because of her immense bosom, Alice's sweatshirt now exposed her midriff, and with delight Alice ran her fingers over her rippling abs. "A workout in a bottle," she mused aloud, her voice sounding slightly unfamiliar to her. She glanced down at the ground and realized that she was now taller than before, much taller. Judging by how much smaller her clothes were, she had to be at least seven feet tall. Alice didn't know whether to be amazed or terrified by this sudden transformation.  She decided that she couldn't process everything here, so she decided to take advantage of her new energy and run back to her car.

The trip took no more than a few seconds.  Alice was not even winded, but the cloud of dust she had raised on the trail stood witness to the speed at which she had covered the half-mile back to the car.  She stood perfectly still for a few minutes, only half-believing what she had just done.  Then, she realized that she had left the other five bottles of drink behind her on the trail.  It was time for a test, she decided, and she began the loop again.

This time, Alice covered the mile to where she had left the bottles in about a second. She let out a whoop of joy. She was now gorgeous, tall, and had just shattered the world record in the mile.  Life looked much better for her than it had this morning.

The Maid's Game, Part II

At forty, the Duke of Bregoyne was nearly twice Lady Catherine's age, but most women of the court still counted him the most handsome member of the nobility. And, with the untimely demise of his sickly first wife, he was now one of the richest and most eligible bachelors in the kingdom.  But now, his chiseled features by the frown he wore as he tapped his foot impatiently in the Count's audience chamber.

"Did your servants go to fetch your daughter by way of Timbuktu?" he asked.  The Duke's position in court was sufficiently high that he could ignore the usual formalities of courtly manners.  Catherine's father, Count Remy of Arcole, could only smile and fawn.  He owned extensive estates, but he could never hope to match the influence of the man who now offered to take his daughter and her dowry.

"Patience, your grace," Remy said.  "All women make men wait. It's in their nature. But the betrothal is done. Lady Catherine will be thrilled to know she is to wed you next month."

Bregoyne raised an eyebrow. "Indeed? She did not seem quite so eager when we last spoke at the Midsummer Ball.  If I recall correctly, she promised to cut off my privates and feed them to her dog."

Remy tried to laugh it off.  "A maid's jest, no doubt.  She will do her duty, have no fear."  The Count had hoped that the Duke of Bregoyne would invite him to call him by his Christian name, but the arrogant duke showed no sign of granting equality to his future father-in-law.

Fortunately, the awkward pause that followed was brief, being interrupted by the arrival of Lady Catherine and her maid, Cosette.  The young noblewoman was fair and elegant, but she was overshadowed by the goddess who walked behind her.  No demure posture could hide the exquisite features of the domestic servant. Lord Remy gaped. Surely this was not the mousy and timid serving girl who waited on his daughter.

"The answer is still no, Father," Catherine announced when she was in the room. "Your Grace, I'm sorry you traveled so far to our home, but I have made it clear to my father that I am not ready for marriage, not to you or to any man."

Her father stammered as he sought the proper words to break the news to Catherine.  Bregoyne spared him the effort.

"Objection or no, you will be my wife. Your father and I have agreed to our betrothal. We shall be we early next month..."

"Unmake the arrangements.  I shall not go."

Bregoyne softened his manner, engaging his well-honed manners. "Perhaps you hesitate to leave the household you know and love? You will find my palaces quite comfortable, I assure you, but if you desire some reminder of home, why not bring your maid with you? She could help you make the transition to your new role as wife and mistress."

Catherine and Cosette shared a glance. From the way the Duke had eyed the maid, it was clear that he hoped to win two bed-warmers with the marriage contract. Catherine decided it was time to show her hand.

"And I believe you shall find my maid Cosette a most beneficial addition to your household, your Grace. Cosette, would you please show the Duke how effectively you can clean under the most heavy furniture?"

Cosette's eyes remained down and demure. "Yes, m'lady," she said. Striding behind Count Remy, she grabbed his ornate throne with one hand. With a smooth motion, she lifted it off the ground and held it high overhead, as if it weighed no more than a loaf of bread.

"Trickery!" the Duke said. Remy just gaped. He knew that the throne weighed at least half a ton.

"M'lady, my apologies," Cosette said. "I fear I shall be unable to demonstrate my cleaning abilities, as I have left my broom in my quarters."

Catherine could not suppress a smile.  "Think nothing of it, Cosette. You may set the throne down, now."  Cosette brought the heavy object down gently, but it still made a distinct thud when it hit the floor. The Duke ran over to it, but despite using all of his strength, he could barely budge it.

"Are you making sport of me?" he asked, losing some of his composure.

Catherine smiled. "Nay, your Grace. I could not make you look any more a fool than you are." The Duke turned beet red.  Catherine's father tried to save the situation.

"Catherine, apologize to the Duke this instant!" he demanded.  "Our family has long sought a place in Court, and the Duke has offered us a chance to elevate our family's station."

"By selling me, you mean," Catherine said. "Father, I'm afraid that Cosette has grown quite fond of me, and she could not bear to see me marry one so unworthy of me."

"Your maid?" the Duke asked, quivering with rage.  "This...monster?  Has she so witched you with her sapphic wiles that you lost your wits?" He advanced on Catherine, only to find his way blocked by Cosette. Up close, she towered over the finely dressed courtier.

Catherine ignored him and turned to Remy. "Father, I simply could not marry a man with such a temper. Turn my dowry over to my direct control, and I shall show his grace a thing or two about just rulership."

"Perhaps this display was to my advantage," Burgoyne spat. "I might otherwise have found myself wed to a deviant man-ling, attended by her freakish maid."  He drew his heavy sword, which rang in the large hall.  Catherine and Cosette seemed unperturbed, but Remy nearly fainted at the sight of the blade in his home.

"Cosette, please escort the Duke to the gate. It is time for his departure," Catherine said calmly.  Cosette advanced, but the Duke raised his blade.

"I strike not a woman but a hell-spawn," he cried. "God had abandoned this hall,. When the king hears of your monstrosity, he will humble your father and claim his lands, giving them to a more worthy lord. Like me."

Catherine yawned at the Duke's grandstanding, and a flick of her wrist urged Cosette forward. The maid now did not seem quite so servile. She looked down into the Duke's eyes, defiant and insolent.  For just a second, the Duke hesitated. But then his rage took hold, and he swing.

The sword bit Cosette on the neck, just above the shoulder. It rand like it was hitting an iron gate, and the Duke of Burgoyne nearly dropped his weapon from the shock of impact.  The blade of the sword bent at a severe angle where it hit Cosette, rendering it useless as a weapon.  Cosette grabbed the blade with her bare hand and squeezed. Though the edge was still razor sharp, it drew no blood. Instead, the blade made a screeching squal as it deformed under Cosette's elegant fingers, compressing under her grip as if it were made of warm butter. The Duke dropped the blade, and Cosette let it fall to the floor with a clang.  The Duke then threw himself at the maid, but the burly man could not even force her back a half a step. Instead, Cosette grabbed him by the arm with the same iron grip. A gruesome sound of snapping bone filled the hall.

"Catherine! Stop this at once!" her father commanded, but Catherine pretended not to hear over the Duke's screaming.

"Cosette, please throw his Grace out. He bores me," Catherien said.

Cosette smiled at the Duke. "This will hurt," she advised, drawing him back as if to throw him.

"Please," the injured noble whimpered, but the maid's heart was hardened.  Cosette hurled him at the stone wall behind the throne.  He punched through the solid fieldstone, then through eight feet of rubble, and then through the outer wall just above the moat, creating a new window in the Count's audience chamber. There was the sound of a sad little spash as the Duke's body landed in the moat, followed by sizeable chunks of the castle wall.

"He's right, you are a monster. Both of you," Count Remy said, shaking with both fear and anger.

Catherine shrugged.  "No more a monster than a father who sells his daughter for a seat in the royal court," she said.  Cosette came to her side. "Father, I have reconsidered my earlier offer. In addition to the lands of my dowry, I also demand your abdication, and naming me as your sole heir."

"Why, never in a million years..."

"Cosette, you know what would make this room more cheery? Another window behind the throne."

"Indeed, my lady."

"Call me Catherine."

Cosette beamed triumphantly. Remy thought about resisting further, but he scampered to his study, to gather the documents he would need to meet Catherine's demands.

"You did well, Cosette."

"Thank you, my...Catherine."

Catherine returned Cosette's smile. She stepped closer and gazed up at the maid.  Despite herself, she found herself attracted to this living goddess.   She reached up to touch Cosette's cheek. Cosette pressed her hand gently against Catherine's.

"We are indeed Sapphic monsters," Catherine said. "But since I have no soul to lose, I see no reason to stop. Cosette, I free you from your service. I want you to rule by my side, as my equal."

Cosette leaned down and kissed Catherine softly on the lips. "You are kind to offer, Catherine, but I ceased to be a maid once I received my gift from Abbadon.  But I love you, Catherine. And I will protect your freedom and independence for as long as you will love me in return. You will be the most beautiful and powerful liege lady in my kingdom."

"Your kingdom..." repeated Catherine. There was a gleam in Cosette's eye.  Catherine was not sure whether to be elated or frightened.

Accidental Hero

This is a story I wrote about ten years ago. It's pretty clear that a lot of it survived in It's Only a Game.  Enjoy!

 

 

            I don’t remember the accident.  It still seems unreal to me.  From what I gather, I was driving along River Drive late one Saturday night when I lost control of my car.  I guess I had been drinking.  You would, too, if your wife dumped you for another woman.  I was looking to drown my sorrows, and I nearly drowned myself.  The newspaper report said my car was found wrecked at the bottom of White River Gorge, charred beyond repair.  The report also stated that no body was found.  I was pronounced dead three months later.

            I was unconscious all this time, of course, in a secret lab in the mountains.  Basically, I was kept alive in jars, as there really wasn’t much left of my physical form to save.  Months passed as Dr. Sergius and his team worked to find a way to save me.  I suppose I’m being egotistical.  Most of the people in the lab couldn’t care less about me.  They simply saw me a subject with which they could put their theories to the test.

            My first memories were of the doctor’s voice coming to me through an inky void.

            “Mr. Anderson, can you hear me?”

            I couldn’t answer.  All I could sense was the nothingness, and the voice.

            “Try to speak if you can, Mr. Anderson.”      This went on for some time.  I felt helpless and alone.  Then the voice stopped, and I was left with nothing but my own fears.  Then, after what seemed like days, the voice was back, asking the same questions over and over.  This cycle repeated several times.  Finally, I was able to get through.  I wasn’t able to speak, but somehow I had made my presence known.

            “Excellent, Mr. Anderson.  We have read your affirmative.  That is the first foundation stone in our communication.  Let’s try something else.  Are you a dog?”

            I could see where he was going with this, so I tried to say “No” as loudly as I could.  Nothing again, but they seemed satisfied.

            From that point on, these sessions increased in length and frequency.  I was able to establish that Dr. Sergius had me on life support and was working to restore my body.  They said they were going to make me better than before, but I would have settled for being fully conscious at that point.  Since I could not form words on my own, I could not ask the thousands of questions which haunted my in the hours I was alone.

            One day, Dr. Sergius told me that they were going to try to give me a physical body again.  I took his word for it.  I could feel nothing.  I suppose my brain was kept alive in a jar, but I could not feel that they were moving me.  Suddenly, however, everything was black.  I could not even sense my own thoughts.  They had pulled the plug.

 

            The next thing I remember, I could hear—really hear—others talking.  They were cheering their own success.  Apparently I had been restored by their treatment.  I could feel—really feel—myself floating in water or some other liquid.  I opened my eyes, expecting them to sting from the sudden burst of bright light, but they adjusted instantly.  Through the wavy blur of water, I could see about six people in lab coats shaking hands and clapping each other on the back.  Suddenly one of them looked at an instrument panel and shouted “She’s conscious!”  She?

            They rushed to the tank and stared in.  One reached into the water and lifted me to the surface.  “Can you hear me?”  He asked.  “I am Doctor Sergius.”

            I tried to talk, but I still did not have total control of my muscles.  I tried to sit upright in the tank, but I could only twitch my arms and legs.  With great effort, I could turn my head to look at Sergius and the others.  It seemed strange to me that I was submerged in a water tank and that there was no respirator on me, or any wires or tubes that I would have expected. 

            Sergius was a man in his fifties, portly and balding.  He wore a tiny thin moustache that made him look sort of pathetic.  Most of the others were men, young guys about my own age who I probably suspected were grad students.  They were unshaven and dumpy.  Yeah, I knew the type.  The only woman in the room was another story, though.  She was a cute Asian woman in her early twenties.  If she lost the lab coat and glasses, she might even be hot.  They all gaped at me.  Some of the guys were grinning stupidly at me.  I struggled to grab the sides of the tank, which made them all look surprised and alarmed.   “Oh my god!” one of the nerds shouted.  “She has some motor control already!”

            “She” again.  What was with these people?

            I grabbed the sides of the tank and propped myself upright.  “Be careful,” Dr. Sergius said calmly.  “Your muscles have never been used before.  You can’t expect them to work perfectly right away.”

            I must have looked quizzically at him, because he answered my question.  “Your physical body was damaged beyond repair.  We managed to save your brain on life support.  Then we regrew a body for you using cloning technology…and a few little techniques known only to the people in this room.”

            Even as he was talking, I could feel the muscles in my limbs start to respond to my commands.  My tongue and mouth also felt like they were working for me again, and that I could form words.  I pulled myself over the side of the tank, and the scientists scrambled.  They clearly weren’t expecting this.

            “I’m OK,” I said as the tiny Asian woman rushed to help me.  Once again, they seemed excited by my speech.  Something about this setup seemed wrong.  I decided not to show them too much until I learned more.  I let them lead me to a plastic chair and I sat down, since my balance seemed off.  Dr. Sergius brought me a mirror.  “There’s something else you need to know,” he said.  He showed me my reflection.

            Staring back at me was a woman. A beautiful woman, probably not even twenty years old.   Short red hair, yellow (!) eyes, luscious lips (which, for some reason, were also yellow).  Some of the largest and most perfect breasts I have ever seen.  A tiny waist and long, athletic legs.  If I still had a penis, it would have been fully erect looking at my beautiful naked form.  But I didn’t have a penis.  All I had was a slit which was not even covered by pubic hair.

            Sergius looked embarrassed by my reaction to my reflection.  “Ah,” he stammered, “You see, we had a contest in the lab as to what your new body should look like…”  The leers of the nerds told me everything I needed to know.  I desperately wanted something to cover my nakedness.  Fortunately, the Asian woman brought me a bathrobe.

            “There’s more,” Sergius added.  “Although your old body is gone, we have enhanced the form you now have.  You should be faster, stronger, and more agile than any human being on the planet.  Your body will be highly resistant to disease, poison, and all forms of damage, including, I believe, the ravages of time.  You have almost no need to eat, breathe, or sleep.  In other words, my dear, you have become the world’s first super-heroine.”

            “I’m not your dear,” I said bitterly.  “My name is Kevin Anderson.  I didn’t ask for this, and I didn’t ask for you to turn me into a chick.  I want to call my lawyer, I want my old body back, and I want out of here…NOW.”

            “I’m afraid you don’t understand,” Sergius said.  “Your old body is gone.  You are now the woman you see in the mirror.  Forever.  We will help you get used to your new body, and when you are ready you will be free to follow your own path.  Until that time, there is to be no contact with the outside world.  Is that understood?”

            “I guess,” I said.  I fully expected to bust out of this joint, female or not, at the first opportunity.  But, as I said, I had decided to take things slowly.  I had smelled a rat, and I was right.

            The next few days were filled with tests, mostly in a gym.  I deliberately held back, but them seemed impressed by what I could do.  Hell, I was impressed with what I could do.  In my male body, I was pretty strong, and I could bench over three hundred pounds.  In this new body, I could easily clear eight hundred, and I knew that I was only exerting a fraction of my strength.  I passed 40 mph on the treadmill, and the puffing I did was purely for show (I didn’t need to breathe, remember?).  When no-one was looking, I shot the treadmill up past 100 mph.  And I still wasn’t going full.  I also seemed to be getting stronger every day.

            They stopped giving me blood tests on day five.  The needles couldn’t penetrate my skin.  They tried knives and even a gun on day ten.  I barely felt it.  I was becoming superman…or superwoman.  Whatever.

            I couldn’t get used to being a woman.  Despite the strength and other powers, changing genders was the weirdest thing.  I still thought of myself as male.  The woman (her name was Amy) showed me the rudiments of female fashion.  I even needed to be taught how to go to the bathroom.  I was grateful for Amy, for she had a gentle sense of humor and made my time there bearable.  As for the guys, I felt their eyes constantly on me.  They had turned me into their wet dream, and it seemed as if they hoped I would act the part.

            On the twelfth day, things went horribly wrong.  They were running a test on me to test my resistance to “extreme  elemental conditions.” In other words, they set me on fire.  My clothes disintegrated, but I was unscathed.  Even my hair looked like it had been freshly washed.  After the test, I went to the showers to wash off.  I was soaping myself up (and I have to confess that my new body felt pretty good.  I had discovered the joy of masturbation on day six.  Did that make me a lesbian?) when two of the technitians, Larry and Jaroslav  appeared behind me.

            “We’re, uh, here to test your response to sexual stimuli,” Jaroslav stated.  He and Larry then made abrupt grabs at my breasts.

            “Get off, you assholes,” I shouted, but they seemed determined.  To do what?  To rape me?  I could probably kick their asses, but they didn’t seem to consider that.

            They ignored my shout and continued to paw at me.  Ugh.  Reflexively, I shoved them back.  Hard.  They went sailing away and through the tiled wall.  Then through another.  Their corpses weren’t pretty.  I felt great though.  Using my strength at full throttle gave me a sense of power…and something else.  A sexual rush accompanied my action.  I was powerful, and nothing could stop me from doing whatever I wanted.  The water was still running, and, ignoring the catastrophe I had just caused, I started masturbating right there.  When Sergius and the others found me, I was on my knees, one hand playing with my breasts and the others with three fingers up my cunt.  They were wise to let me finish before taking me away.

            Sergius decided to keep me under restraints after that.  I agreed, and not just because I was playing along.  When I had calmed down, I was more than a little freaked out by what I had done, how I had lost complete control.  They put me on a bed and held me down with steel restraints.  I swear to God I cried myself to sleep that night.

            A gentle nudge on my shoulder woke me up.  It was Amy.  She was carrying a tray of food.  A look of concern was on her face.

            “I brought you something,” she said, offering me a baloney sandwich. 

            “Sorry if I don’t get up,” I muttered.

            She sighed.  “I think it’s terrible what they’re doing to you.  Even before they strapped you down.  They’ve been treating you like an experiment.  They’ve taken your old life.  Now they’ve taken your freedom.  I think they believe that you should consider yourself lucky to be alive, but you didn’t ask for any of this.”

            “Thanks for understanding,” I said, as she tore off pieces of the sandwich and placed them in my mouth.  She offered me a sip of iced tea through a straw.

            A long pause followed, then she said: “There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.  Remember when they told you that the staff decided what your appearance would be?  We each submitted a design.  They picked the one I came up with…”  her voice trailed off.

            “You mean that you made me look like this?  Why?”

            “Well, we each designed a body that corresponded to our sexual fantasies, like a game…”

            “And you’re a lesbian.”

            “Bisexual.”

            I sighed.  “Well, it could have been a lot worse.  I mean, waking up as a woman was quite a shock, but you sure did a great job.  I’ve never seen anyone as beautiful as I am right now.”

            “Thanks for understanding,” she said.  She kissed me lightly on the lips.  Not in an overtly sexual kind of way, but in a nice, comforting way.  I had never been so turned on.

            The next day, tests resumed, but Dr. Sergius and the surviving staff refused to undo the straps.  I was sore and more than a little annoyed, but I chose not to test the bonds.  The day’s battery of tests was mental.  I found I could read many times faster than before and solve math problems that were way beyond anything I had been taught in school.  It all seemed so easy.  I could even get a sense of surface thoughts and emotions of the people in the room with me.  They tried those old ESP cards on me.  Each time, I got a clear picture of the correct answer—three crooked lines one time, two stars the next.  Each time, though, I lied, as I had done with all previous tests.   The results didn’t seem to surprise them.  After all, my original brain was still intact.  From what I had learned, though, the changes to my body had caused new neural pathways in my brain to form, creating new mental powers along with them.  In my heart, I realized that I knew more about Dr. Sergius’ inventions than he did himself.  An escape plan formed.

            That night, Amy brought me my food again.  She was a little embarrassed, after her revelation of the previous night.  I tried to put her at ease.  Once again, she fed me (even though I didn’t need food, it was a comforting ritual).  Once she was calm and joking with me again, I decided to play my hand.  I sat up in my bed.  The steel restrained snapped as if they were tissue paper.

            “Please don’t call for the others,” I said.

            “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Amy said.  She had watched my display of raw power with rapt attention.  “You’re a lot stronger than you’ve let on.”

            “Very good,” I said.  “I’m a lot stronger.  They think my strength has gone up by a factor of five or six.  I think it’s more like five or six million.  I could barely feel the last few bullets they fired at me.  I’m pretty sure I could take a direct hit from a nuclear blast and walk away looking fresh.”

            “So why are you still here?” Amy asked.  “You should leave.”

            “I will,” I said, “but there are some things I would like to take care of first.  I would also like to take you with me.”

            “But I would just get in the way,” Amy protested.  “I’d slow you down.”

            “Not if you had my powers.”

            “But I…can we do that?”

            “I’m pretty sure I can.  It would mean killing your current body and regrowing you in the tank, but I’ve learned a lot since I’ve been here.  More than you can possibly imagine.”

            “I don’t know…” She was hesitant.  I could feel her wanting to back down in the part of me that could sense her emotions.

            Come with me.  Trust me.  Be my lover.  I projected the thoughts into her head, then waited to see if they would take effect.

            “I’ll do it,” she said.  All I could feel from her now was intense sexual arousal.

 

            The door to the lab was locked, and only Sergius had the key.  I ripped the door off its hinges as if it were butter.  Amy stripped off her clothes and got into the tank.  She had a nice body, I thought.  She was going to have a nicer one.

            It took but a few moments to program her new body into the machine.  The setting for my body were still programmed in, so all I had to do was tweak the numbers.  Was it ego which caused me to set her maximum strength at fifty percent below mine?  That I set it so that she would gain none of my mental powers?  Probably.  She had been good to me, but she was still part of the team which used me like a lab rat.  Her punishment would be having to live in my shadow.  It was not ego, but lust which caused me to make the final changes to her body.  I gave her my golden eyes, but gave her green lips instead of my yellow ones.  I toned her body, slimmed her waist, and gave her impossibly large breasts.  Now she would be as much her dream girl as she had made me out to be.  I found I could adjust her level of sexual stimulation.  Mine had already been pretty high.  I doubled it for her.   As a final touch I added a streak of pure white to her lustrous black hair.  Then I let the program run and I watched it work.

            It was pretty gross.  Amy convulsed once, obviously in severe pain.  Then she went unconscious.  I watched in morbid fascination as her flesh melted away, then her muscles, and finally her bones.  All that was left in the murky tank was a brain.  Then, the liquid in the tank turned blue-green and the brain started to glow.  Little bits of plasm adhered to the brain, forming a skull, then muscles, and finally skin and hair.  The whole process took about two hours. 

            There in the tank was the new, improved Amy.  She was still recognizably the person she had been.  But her body was leaner, with more curves at the right places.  She was indeed lovely.  I knew from my own experience that she would be unconscious for a few hours and weak for a few hours more.  I pulled up Tetris on the monitor and began whiling away the time until she was ready.

            About a half hour later, Dr. Sergius showed up.  He was still in his pajamas but he was clearly incensed.  Behind him were Vince and Raj.  They were holding heavy weapons.  Vince had an M-16 and Raj was holding a flamethrower.  It was clear that they meant business.

            “How the hell did you escape?” Sergius fumed.  “What are you doing in the lab?”

            “Well, Doc,” I drawled, “things are going to be different from here on out.  I’m leaving, taking back the life you took from me, and I’m taking Amy with me, as interest.  You can’t stop us, so you might as well put your hardware down like good little boys.”

            “How dare you!” Sergius shouted.  “I made you.  I gave you life where none existed before.  You owe me that life, not the other way around.”

            “No dice.  My life is my own.  Any assertion to the contrary is slavery.”

            “You make me sad, Anderson.  I had hoped that it wouldn’t come to this.  You have clearly had a psychotic reaction to your treatment, and I’m afraid that my little experiment must be terminated.  First, though, we must not compound the errors of the past.  Vince, shoot the tank.  We must kill Amy before she grows too powerful too kill.”

            I saw Vince pull the trigger and I saw the muzzle flash as thirteen rounds streaked towards the tank.  Things seemed to move in slow motion as my super-reflexes kicked in.  I was, after all, able to count the bullets as they left the rifle.  In a flash, I crossed the room and jumped in the path of the bullets.  They bounced harmlessly off my breasts.  Indeed, the sensation was more than a little erotic.  Sergius fumed.  His two assistants looked worried.

            “I underestimated your power, Anderson,” Sergius said, his voice full of icy rage.  “But you underestimated me.  I planted a chip in your system with a radio transponder.  All I have to do is push the button on my remote unit, and, in layman’s terms, a firecracker will go off in your brain.  No invulnerability will help you then…”

            Drop your remote unit.

            Sergius was powerless to resist my mental command.  The unit fell from his fingers.  Now he panicked.  He ran for the exit, screaming at Raj to turn the flamethrower on me to cover my escape.  Raj panicked and ran, too.  I picked up a lab table and broke off the leg.  It bent under my efforts as if it were made of foam rubber.  I then threw it with all my strength through the tank strapped to Raj’s back.  The projectile passed through Raj as well, so he was spared the torture of burning to death.  Sergius was not so lucky.  His clothes caught fire, and he screamed for a few seconds.  Then his flesh melted off.  I waited to make sure his brain was destroyed before I turned from the scene.  Despite the horror of what I had witnessed, I felt no remorse at what I had done. 

I had nothing to fear from the fire, which had begun raging out of control, so I turned to Amy, who was just starting to move her eyes beneath her eyelids.  The room grew progressively warmer as she regained consciousness.  I was dimly aware that the oxygen in the room had burned up, but without the need to breathe, it didn’t concern me at all.

When Amy began to move her limbs, I climbed into the tank with her.  I gently lifted her to the surface of the water.  She opened her eyes.

“Kevin?” she asked.

“Karen,” I stated.  “I had better take a female name if I’m going to be your girlfriend.”

She smiled.  “I take it the treatment worked.”

“Yeah.  We’re both superchicks.  Wanna use our powers for good or evil?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” she said.  “Um, you know that the lab is on fire, don’t you?”

“Yes.  Does that bother you.”

“Not as much as it should, I guess.  Where do we go from here?”

I thought for a second.  “Well, first I want to make sure that the records in this place are all thoroughly destroyed.  Anyone who knew the secret of our existence is now dead (I’ll explain later).  I don’t want an army of federal agents following our every move.  Then, I want that damn chip in my head deactivated.  I don’t want my head going foom when some little punk plays with his walkie talkies.  For now, though, we need to get you to where you’re fully functional.  How do you feel?”

“Not bad, I guess, especially considering the fact that I was dead earlier today.”

“Good.  Now let’s see if we can stimulate your muscles and nerves.”  I began running my hands along her body, starting at her legs and working my way up.  I had been massaging her breasts for over a minute when she said “Um, Kev…Karen?”

“Yes?”

“Are you coming on to me?”

“Is it obvious?

“Yes.”

“Well, then, yes I am.  Do you mind?”

“Well, yes.  Yes I do.  I had intended to come on to you.”

I laughed.  “Well, then.  Go right ahead.”

She sat up in the tank so she was facing me.  She showed little sign of her physical ordeal.  She grabbed me and planted a long, slow kiss on me.  Her tongue explored my mouth.  I was more turned on than I had ever been in my life.  I returned the kiss with equal passion. She slipped off the hospital gown I had been wearing and pressed her body against mine.  Our breasts were so huge that our torsos were some distance apart, even when we were pressed firmly together.  Amy grabbed me by the ass with both hands and pushed me back into the tank.

“I’ve been waiting to do this to you for days,” she said.  Climbing on top of me, she began to suck on my nipple, which was so large that it barely fit into her mouth.  My body responded.  Electric jolts seemed to run up and down my spine.  I could feel the juices in my pussy start to flow, and I felt a need down there which swiftly became urgent.  Most of all, though, I felt desire.  I had to have more, and I had to give myself thoroughly to Amy.  I pulled her head firmly down, locking her onto my breast.  She responded by sucking harder and by playing with my other nipple.  The force she was exerting on me was probably enough to melt steel, but all I felt was pleasure.

As the fire raged around us, the instincts of my body took over.  As my pleasure grew, I pushed her head down.  She took the hint, and she moved her mouth down my torso, planting kisses on my belly, my navel, and finally my cunt.  She dove right in, and I was ready for her.  My first explosive orgasm rocked me seconds later.  I started to turn to return the favor, but she waved me off.  Still underwater, she continued to work me time after time, refusing to let me come down from my orgasm.  She must have been at it for twenty minutes when I finally got the presence to twist around under her in order to return the favor. 

The water was boiling around us from the fire as we slipped under the water in a 69 position.  I lapped at her pussy as she continued to work mine.  I could feel her body tremble.  Obviously, she enjoyed the modification I had made to her.  With each orgasm, her fingers dug into the flesh of my butt.  She would probably have left fingerprints in granite, but all I felt was a desire to work her harder.

We must have been at it an hour.  When we finally took a break, walls of flames surrounded us.  Sergius had long since been reduced to ash.

“Go make sure every data storage medium in this place is destroyed,” I said.  “I’m going to deactivate the chip in my brain.”

We walked through the flames casually, enjoying the tickle of heat intense enough to melt the steel girders.  I found a working terminal in a part of the lab which had not yet been consumed by flames and which still had functional power.  I downloaded Sergius’ personal files.  It contained the codes and frequencies necessary to turn the chip into an inert lump of silicon.  I loaded them onto a usb card.  While I was at it, I downloaded some of his research notes as well.  Who knew?  After a while, I might want to create an army of superwomen.  Then, I broke the hard drive into rubble with my fingers.

I met up with Amy outside.  It was snowing, and we were both still naked, but we felt no discomfort.  She greeted me with a kiss.  “Well, I broke every disk and every hard drive into atoms.  I don’t think it was necessary, since the fire will turn this place into a slag heap.  It will take the fire department hours to reach this place.”

“Speaking of which,” I said, “where are we?   I haven’t been outside in six months now.”

“You’re in the middle of a national forest in upstate New York.  Dr. Sergius wanted to make sure he had privacy.”

“Well, too bad for him,” I said.  If he had been a little less secretive, we might still be prisoners there.  So what should we do now?  I mean, there’s nothing really stopping us from conquering the world, is there.  However, it’s not like we’re going to die or get old.  The world can wait, I say.  Instead, how often are we going to be in this situation, where the world is ignorant of us and our power?  Let’s keep it a secret as long as we can.  I want to have some fun.”

“I think I know what you mean,” Amy said.  She hugged me and fondled my breast.  “All kinds of fun.”

 

We looked at it as an exercise in problem solving.  We could easily have taken what we wanted from whomever we wanted, but that wouldn’t have been as much fun.  Instead, we laid out our problems: how to get clothes, money, a car, and meld back into society without letting anyone know about our powers.  Amy didn’t know about my mental powers.  I decided to keep them a secret from her as long as I could.  You never know.  Besides, just forcing someone to hand over their wallet and clothes wouldn’t have been much fun.

My plan was to wait for the fire truck and steal it while the firefighters were battling the blaze, which was still raging just behind us.  Despite my super-intelligence, Amy nixed the idea.  Instead of being two naked chicks trying to blend into society, we’d be two chicks in fireman’s ponchos driving a fire truck trying to blend into society.  OK, so we were going to be elegant about it.

Instead, we decided to run to New York City.  It was about two hundred miles away, but we were faster than your average bear.  Even though Amy was still not at full strength, she could jog along at about ninety miles an hour without too much effort.  It was two in the morning, and by sticking to side roads we were able to avoid any traffic.  We didn’t need rest, but we stopped every hour for a quick fuck anyway.  It felt a little different in the snow than it did in the fire.  I was in no hurry.  It was almost dawn when we got to the Jersey Palisades.  Across the Hudson River, we could see the skyscrapers of Manhattan. 

“Behold Metropolis,” Amy said dramatically.

“Cute,” I said, “but I’m still not sure whether I want to be a superhero or a super-villain.”

“Well,” Amy said, “You have killed five people already…”

The tone in her voice was reproachful.  It hurt me that she saw me as a killer.  The bastards in the lab had all deserved to die, pure and simple.  I felt no guilt for having killed them.  Indeed, the power I had felt gave me a rush.  I’m sure I could kill again, even an innocent, without feeling much remorse.  It was as if I was now so far above humanity that they were beneath my notice, except as playthings.  I couldn’t explain that Amy.  Not yet.  Not until she felt the same power that I did.

“OK,” I replied, “I’ll restrain myself for now.  Remember, we’re undercover.”

“Good luck hiding these bad boys,” Amy laughed, cupping her breasts in her hands.  “We’re not exactly inconspicuous.”

We decided to swim the Hudson and start out in Manhattan.  The physical task of crossing the river was much easier than overcoming the mental hurdle of getting into an icy and polluted body of water.  But we were immune to such concerns, and minutes later, we stood on a wharf near midtown.

“OK, Braniac,” I said.  “Tell me how we’re going to get some clothes.”

“Well, we’re not far from the Fashion District,” Amy quipped.

In the end, we decided to visit a Victoria’s Secret shop not far from Times Square.  We darted from alley to alley, keeping out of sight.  I thin ka few homeless people and a startled delivery boy might have seen us, but no-one probably believed their eyes.  No-one who would report us anyway, which meant we were still safe.

We went around to the back of the store, in a filthy alley littered with garbage.  The service door had a sign from an alarm company.  Rather than bring the rent-a-cops, I knocked a hole in the wall next to it.  Amy and I spent the next half hour trying on lingerie.   With our massive breasts, our selection was limited.  I found a nice black lace set and Amy claimed a lace-up bustier.  Then, we each found a pair of jeans and some comfortable shoes.  Amy then squeezed into a chemise that emphasized her cleavage.  I didn’t bother with a blouse, I just put a yellow cardigan over my bra.  We checked ourselves in the mirror.  We looked good.  Despite the snow outside, we decided to go without coats.  We couldn’t find a cashbox, which was rather disappointing.

How to get money?  I suggested that I start pressing lumps of carbon into diamonds, but sadly Superman comics did not give an accurate depiction of how super-strength might be used.  Amy wanted to rob a bank, but we couldn’t think of how to do that without blowing our cover.

Our problem solved itself, as luck would have it.  We were walking towards the bus terminal when we saw a drug deal go down.  Not a petty street deal, but a major score.  We saw two briefcases change hands.  Amy’s eyes met mine, and we knew then what we would do.

The dealer was latino, his buyer was white and was dressed in a business suit and overcoat.  They picked a side street where they thought no-one would see them.  Amy and I walked brazenly up to them.

“Hello, boys.  You’re doing business early.  So nice to see the wheels of commerce turning at all hours,” Amy said.

“What the fuck,” the two said in unison.  The buyer started to run, the dealer whipped out a pistol.  I caught up with the buyer in less than a second.  “I’ll take that,” I said as I snatched his briefcase full of money.  Then I picked him up by the necktie and slammed him into a wall.  His body broke before I could have more fun.  Pity.

Meanwhile, Amy was taunting her opponent.  “Come on, I’ve never been shot before.  Pull the trigger,” she said.   The dealer was clearly confused and panicked.  He pumped three rounds into Amy’s chest.  She flinched but the bullets bounced off of her harmlessly.  She looked at the holes the bullets had torn into her new blouse.

“Now that made me angry,” she said.  She pounced on the man, grabbed him by the neck, and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.  Fear lit his eyes.  She tossed him fifty feet into the air and caught him again before he hit the ground.  Now the dealer was pissing himself.  Somehow, he had still held onto his gun.  He put it to Amy’s temple and squeezed the trigger.  Amy’s head jerked a little, and powder stains appeared on her face.

“That was just rude,” she said.  She smacked the dealer across the face.  Not knowing her own strength, she decapitated him.  Blood gushed across her.

“Messy,” I said.  Amy covered up with the buyer’s overcoat.  I checked his briefcase.  Fifty thousand in small bills.  Not bad for a start, and we had performed a public service.  We left before the cops responded to the shots.

We dashed downtown, making it to the Village in less than a minute.  Amy was laughing her head off when we stopped. 

“This feels so fucking good!” she said.  Her eyes were wild with glee.  I could tell that she had the same rush I did from killing.  “His head came off like it was nothing!  I wanna do it again!”

“Remember we’re under cover,” I said.  “You don’t want to spoil our game by lopping off heads.”

“Why not?  Who could stop us?  Bullets bounce off of us.  We fucked in the middle of an inferno and felt nothing.  Why not rule the planet?”

“Don’t worry,” I said.  “We will.  But also remember that we are immortal as well.  When we take control of this planet, it will be our playground forever.  Let’s enjoy our anonymity as long as it lasts.” 

Amy was difficult to persuade.  In the end, I had to go into her mind and convert her bloodlust into plain old lust.  We broke into the back of a delivery truck and made love again.  Amy was ravenous.