MermaidsTail
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Extended Vacation
🕑 Added 2021-10-25 13:15:29 +0000 UTCWoman: MJ Ranum
Beetle: Creative Commons: Dr. Raju Kasambe
Cassie had looked forward to her vacation for months. She was from the south, of course, but the program she wanted to study was only offered at the universities at a couple of northern universities. Still, there was always the summer and most especially the spring break. This year, she and her friends had decided on Fort Lauderdale. Her last midterm was now behind her (and she was the last of the group with a midterm). She had two days to pack before they all met at the airport for an early morning (6AM --- yawn) flight to the St. Paul-Minneapolis hub, a quick transfer of planes and then the flight leg to the vacation!
It all went better than she'd ever expected for such rushing about. It didn't hurt that they'd not need anything heavy to wear in Florida. A single bag was all she needed. Mostly light clothes and her pair of brand new bikinis. They met at the ticket counter, were hustled through the process by the tour guide and made their way through security. Even that most necessary of evils went quickly (How could it not? Most of what everyone had packed stopped no more X-rays than a sheet of paper anyway)
The flight, though bumpy at first, quickly smoothed and the last few hours were an absolute joy. They touched down at the hub and dashed, it seemed halfway across a small city, to get to their departing flight. The second flight was better than the first and they were soon on the ground at Fort Lauderdale. They hailed a cab and were soon (along with hundreds of other students from across the US) in their rooms, unpacked and heading for the beach.
The week that followed was fun and sun with only a few minor glitches. Cassie caught a cold and had to stay out of the water for a day. The cold didn't have any lingering effects that Cassie could feel so it seemed one day was more than enough to throw it off. The second one was when she discovered a really weird bug in her room. She cornered it, attempting to catch it alive to release it outside. The bug though had other ideas and sank its mandibles into her thumb. She had a sore spot there for nearly an hour.
Cassie thought no more about either the cold or the strange bug until months later. She'd finished her second year and was now working like so many students to save up enough to stretch their savings to allow another year of education. She awoke one morning with a strange bump at the base of her spine. She had her roommate take a look at it and the pair of them concluded it was nothing more than a pimple. Over the next few days, though, it grew longer and turned black. This change was a cause of worry and Cassie quickly arranged to see a doctor.
The doctor examined the strange growth but admitted never having seen anything like it. He arranged for a specialist to look at it a few days later. The strange growth, during those few days becoming increasingly large and pointed. The specialist, while nearly as in the dark about the growth as the general practitioner had been had just finished reading the latest journal articles about the strange transformation disease that had started in the mid-East and spread world-wide. Although a strange bump wasn't the usual course for the disease as the transformations in the mid-East had largely been confined to porcine characteristics such as tails, ears and hooves. Still he didn't want to take any chances. The current official policy was containment so Cassie soon found herself and her belongings transported to a small desert town and a shabby apartment in an old Army barracks.
It was apparent that the base was abandoned no longer and that there were nearly a dozen other people in the camp with her. Strangely enough, most were from a wealthy Moslem family from Oregon. They were all, save the youngest son, showing the changes wrought by the virus. The mother was now fully quadrupedal and unable to walk upright. Her face distorted by a large pig-like snout was not the worst of the change. Considerably larger and rounder now, it was apparent she had rows of teats instead of breasts, furry ears and her body was covered by the bristly hair of a wild pig. The three daughters, though less affected, still had tails, pigs ears and hooves instead of feet. The husband, too, had been affected. He was more boar than human now and had lost his mind in the change process. He now charged about in the dry field behind the apartment building rooting in the dirt for tubers and anything else edible. The two remaining sons, although still able to walk upright, had hooves instead of feet and small tusks growing from their mouths. The only other person present had horses ears and a horse tail. She was beginning to grow the sleek hair coat of a quarter horse.
Everyone was understandably wary of each other. Although Bishop Theodric's harangues against Islam were nothing new, he'd been on the news several times in the past few weeks claiming the transformations were punishments from God. Merely seeing someone so changed was shock enough but, even if you didn't believe the madman's conclusion, it tended to make the ones affected less trusting than they might otherwise be. Cassie struck up a friendship with Bridget who'd started changing nearly three weeks earlier.
Over the next few weeks, Bridget continued to change. Her middle toes and fingers began to grow longer and become stronger. The nail began to broaden and thicken. It was soon apparent that it would soon develop into a hoof of some sort. Cassie, too, began to change. The growth from her spine lengthened and broadened day-by-day until it was so long that it dragged in the dust when she walked. The tail soon developed a series of segments and Cassie discovered that, by concentrating on it, she could move it about. Plainly, it was some kind of insect tail.
The Moslem family kept to themselves. Only at mealtimes would one member come to the cafeteria to get the meals for everyone. This was usually the lot of the youngest son and the least changed daughter. Every time Cassie would attempt to talk with them but they refused contact. Cassie soon gave up the attempt even though she felt for them all. Bridget and Cassie continued to change, however. Soon Bridget's arms lengthened and the middle finger became the fetlocks and hooves of a small pony. By the end of the second month, she could no longer stand upright and, like the unfortunate mother of the family, had to walk about on all fours. The fur covered her hips, arms and legs and her ears grew to the full size of a horse’s ears. She discovered she could wiggle them about and could soon turn them in any direction just like any horse. Cassie's body, too, continued to change. Once her insect abdomen had reached its final length (nearly 2 meters long), it began to harden and a pair of huge pincers started growing from her tail.
Cassie made an unwelcome discovery over the next few weeks. Six small bumps were starting to grow from her stomach and her legs were getting progressively weaker. She tried to keep their strength up by doing anything and everything that the physiotherapist suggested. The regime of exercise slowed the progress of the degeneration of her legs but it was all too apparent that it didn't stop it. As time progressed, her six bumps slowly grew into six legs.
It was nearly five months after her Spring Break that her changes had progressed far enough to twig her memory. Her shape was just like that strange bug that she'd tried to corner in her room in Fort Lauderdale. Somehow she was becoming that bug. She told the chief researcher about the events and he quickly took a blood sample for DNA sequencing. Her guess proved correct unfortunately. Somehow her DNA had become contaminated by the DNA of an earwig. What's more, it wasn't the whole bug's DNA that she'd been blended with. Only those portions controlling the development of the creature had been imported into her cells.
On one of her walks in the hills, she'd had a chance to see the husband and wife in the field. Both were now more pig than person and responded to her more as feral pigs than people. In terror, she ran back to the compound. She barged into the researcher's office and demanded to know whether she was going to turn into some kind of huge bug.
"Ms. Del Rian," he began quietly. "No one knows. All we know for sure is that the first infection acts like a mild cold. Up to a few months ago, we thought we had it contained to the mid-East where it seemed to make people into pigs, dogs, pig-human or dog-human hybrids. Some that get the infection have almost now changed. Many develop slight points on their ears and a short tail and that's that. Other's, like Mr. and Mrs Sarinam, become almost totally animal. There's just no rhyme or reason to this virus."
"A cold. I caught one in Florida. But it lasted less than a day."
"That could be useful information. Both the Sarinams had the cold for nearly three days. Bridget Greer was affected by the first infection by only a day as well."
"And what does that mean exactly?" Cassie's panic was growing again.
Bridget, though still human in her face and body, now had horse's legs instead of arms an legs. She even was starting to develop the horse equivalent of an udder.
"What it means is that we just don't know anything yet. It seems the shorter the initial illness, the less the final change. But that isn't any more than anecdotal now."
"So all you can say is 'Wait and See'?" Cassie just about shouted her question.
"Calm down please, Ms. Del Rian. Labs all over the world, including this one, are working to understand this virus and find a way to stop it."
"And cure it? Get us back to our original bodies?" Cassie demanded smacking her hand on the desk.
"That would be the ultimate goal. But containment is key now. We have to stop it before any other women are affected."
"Women?"
"The virus doesn’t to affect men. They catch the first phase but never develop the second phase. No one knows why yet. But I assure you it is being worked on."
"What would you have me do then? Just wait and turn into some kind of perverse bug?"
"Right now, there's little you or I can do. We can watch, keep you comfortable and help where we can. Aside from that, we're all just waiting. Waiting for the breakthrough that will help us understand this perverse creation."
"Creation?"
"Yes," he shook his head. "Someone's perverted a transcription virus into this monster. Someone who didn't care that the tVirus is unstable and mutates rapidly and unpredictably."
"It was made!" frowned Cassie. "Who?"
"All the governments of the world are tracking it down. At first, some thought it terrorism but that didn't make sense as all of the early infectees were Moslem. There are several fundamentalist and very militant Christian sects that are under investigation now."
"And if its one of them?"
"They'll be brought to justice, of course. And we'll get our hands on the original virus. That'll help a great deal in breaking this thing down and stopping it."
"You said this was a lab. So I'm some kind of lab rat then?"
"Not really. You can't leave though. The new Containment Laws are very strict about that. If you choose not to help us by taking all the tests we ask, then that's fine. The Sarinams all opted out weeks ago, except the youngest two daughters."
"But if no one affected helps..."
"It will take a lot longer and there will be a lot more women affected."
"Okay. Count me in. Can I help in any other way? Walking the hills is fine but its getting boring."
"Have you done any biology studies."
"Third year pre-med," replied Cassie.
"I think we might have a place for you in the labs. Follow me.”
He led to a large freight elevator at the rear of the medical building and, after Cassie had managed to drag her cumbersome tail into a position that wouldn't cause problems, proceeded to select one of the other four buttons. Within minutes, they were deposited on a lower floor. She was ushered into a small room where her picture was taken. Minutes later, she had an identity badge and was escorted to the lab complex proper.
Once past a pair of heavy blast doors, Cassie found a complete biochemical research laboratory. The tour included all of the research in progress. She saw, with increasing horror, the effects of the virus. The women in the various compounds were clearly human no longer. Mixtures of pigs, cattle and sheep were the most numerous. But there were plenty of others. Snakes, dogs, cats and birds, too, had supplied DNA for the virus. In all cases, the spark in the eyes was gone. The victims acted the part of the animal they'd been blended with. They trotted about on all fours, growled at handlers, attacked each other if they perceived a threat. In short, their animal side was now in complete control.
"These are the worst of it," she was told. "The most extreme cases are shipped by families to secure sites like this one now. It's the only way to stop the virus and help them."
"Help them get themselves back?"
"I truly hope so."
In the end, Cassie found herself working the computerised DNA sequencer. There were hundreds of samples every day that needed processed and her lab background, though not quite up to the level to do the research, freed others from the task of sequencing. Cassie took to it. It was her way of fighting back, of doing something to help. Having something to do helped Cassie adjust, too. Even though the changes continued, she had a purpose. It gave her hope. Even if she couldn't change back, maybe she could help someone else avoid the change.
Her own changes didn't stop, of course. Over the months that followed her assignment to the lab, her tail became hardened and shiny. Her back was a beautiful black and red pattern. Even her sides and tummy, though brownish, were shiny. In its own way, it was pretty. Her own legs thinned and were eventually absorbed back into her body. This didn't matter as much as it might have earlier for Cassie now had six strong insect legs to get about on. The final change she had to endure was the growth of antennae. She knew that all insects have antennae but she also knew that they were part of the sensory system of the creature, too. It was confusing at first for her brain to deal with the input from her antennae as she waved them about. Eventually, the new input began to make sense. It was almost like a sixth sense telling her where and who was around her.
The carpenter for the lab adapted her workstation for her new form (for which Cassie was very thankful). She spent twelve hour days in the lab as a matter of course. She was determined to let as few women face the virus as possible. Whether she would succeed, only time would tell...
