So, I got this itch to write something. Something I had always wanted to revist, and just never thought I'd have the actual desire to do so. But I was wrong. I got it earlier this week.
After scrapping two re-writes, I think I'm going to settle on this. It's not finished yet. But many of you who know me, and have read my stories. Especally my 'really old' stories may reconize what this is.
Yes I will be finishing this first chapther by next week if possible. Hope some of you find it interesting. ^_^
Prologue:
Eighteen year old Jake looked outside through the window at the dark cloudy sky and sighed. The boy didn't look special or anything. His hair was a light shade of brown, and his eyes, while a bit deeper blue then most, didn't look all that special. He was currently sitting atop a Hyper-thermal chamber of regeneration that had been stored away, along with many other gadgets his father had invented, in their attic. He sat there in the dark contemplating his own high school graduation that was just a few months away. The only thing breaking up the stillness of the shadows being an occasional bolt of lighting. His thoughts quickly moved toward what he was going to go tomorrow with his friend Jeff. The reports, and his father's weather monitor said it would rain through the night. Everything he heard told him that the rain would let up early next morning, but even his father the great Dr. Zizu, couldn't predict the weather to a point. Behind him the hatch that lead up to the attic slid open. His father having replaced the original hatch, with a modern electronic one.
"Jake?" Came the familiar voice of his friend Jeff. Jeff Edwards had been his first friend, and for a while he feared Jeff would be his only friend. You see, not too many people in the town really liked him. That is to say, it's not like they hated him, but more feared him and what he could do. Jake had long ago accepted that was just how things were for a Bio-Android such as himself.
Now a few of you may be wondering just what a Bio-Android is. Or where he even came from. So we'll take a break from the story to go back about eight years ago. To a day when Dr. Zizu and Jeff took a trip to a near by cave to search for an escaped invention of the doctors...
* * *
Jeff and Dr. Zizu had known each other long before Jake had come around. Jeff's father, a Mr. Tom Edwards, had been long time friends with the man known as Doctor Albert Zizu. While Tom had met a wonderful woman named Catherine, Albert had never met anyone. It was often wondered by Jeff and Jake how their fathers had met. Being Dr. Zizu was pushing sixty, Jeff's father was just entering his forties. Unfortunately for both Jeff and Tom. Catherine had died in her mid thirties. Leaving Jeff without a mother. His father worked for large corporation that sold a whole catalog of electronics. Many of their merchandise coming from Dr. Zizu himself. This forced Jeff's father to constantly be traveling overseas to insure the companies future. Leaving Jeff all alone. Dr. Zizu had offered to build a house next to his, so he could keep an eye on the boy while Tom was away. Being old friends, Tom agreed to this immediately Jeff hadn't been so young that he had thought Dr. Zizu to be an uncle or anything, but the doc did hold an important place in Jeff's heart and life.
Jeff wasn't the most popular or outgoing of kids either. So even during this time, when he was just starting middle school, did he have any friends to really go hand out with. It wasn't that he wasn't good looking or anything. His father was very handsome, and Jeff had inherited that exceptionally. He had his father's short reddish hair, and his mothers clear hazel eyes. His build wasn't so bad either. Still people tended to not notice him, so Jeff found himself spending most of his free time helping out Dr. Zizu (Though Jeff was one of the few people who could call him Albert. Something Dr. Zizu preferred only family or close friends to address him by.) Tonight was no different for Jeff, and he had come over early with the promise of helping the doc test out a new invention of his.
Dr. Albert Zizu on the other hand, looked exactly as you might imagine a mad scientist to look. He was well into his fifties, (which often made people wonder how he and Jeff's father had met). He would always wear a lab coat over a black t-shirt and black dress pants. His hair had already gone completely gray, but the oddest thing about it was how Zizu would wear it. He was mostly bald, having the little hair he did have, located just over both his ears. For whatever reason, the doctor loved to have his hair in what kinda appeared to be puffy stacks of ice cream going from large to small, the farther away it got from his head. This combined with his sharp brown eyes, and longer then usual yet angular nose, made him look rather goofy. But appearances aside, he was a very brilliant inventor.
The invention that Dr. Zizu had created that night was suppose to have only one function. It was designed to read human emotions and give a rough idea of what a person was feeling. Instead the thing had launched itself up and sideways, going right through the only window in the basement lab where Zizu did his experiments in. (The window was removed after that to prevent future escapes). Both Zizu and Jeff had tracked the thing to a near by cave by the ocean in which Zizu's house overlooked via a cliff. Dr. Zizu was rather well known in the town of Vinsbay nearby. He was the head of development after all. But However, the town's folk also knew his habit of inventing random stuff and the inevitable failure rate of ninety percent of his prototypes. To keep people from being alarmed, he had built his rather magnificent house near a cliff by the ocean located just outside of town. This worked rather well for Zizu, as he scenery was amazing, and he got all the privacy he needed. Course it did get lonely every now and then which had led him to create a type of robotic companion, later called Igor, that was really just a floating orb with a face and loaded with artificial intelligence. (Robots were a common thing in this world, though his one was a few leagues above the rest in terms of personality.) Course once Dr. Zizu was charged with watching young Jeff, he rarely found himself lonely. Though he still, at times, would dream of a family of his own.
"You SURE it entered this cave?" Jeff asked the doctor as they climbed over the few rocks that made a make shift path into the cave. They had been arranged long ago by the town to allow access to the cave, given the cave's history. Though even then, not many ever made the attempt.
"Yes I'm sure, this is where the tracking beacon is coming from." Dr. Zizu said matter of factly. He was currently tracking the invention via his watch. Something the doctor had altered. (Which he tended to do to a lot of his things.) Instead of showing a digital display of the time, it instead showed a small map of the area along with a small blinking dot, indicating the location of the missing invention. Being that the map displayed the workings of the cave in the first place may be a question among most people's minds. Jeff however was quite use to things like that when around Dr. Zizu.
"Wait, you built a tracking beacon into the thing? You weren't expecting it to launch off like a rocket were you? I mean how was it even able to DO that? The thing didn't break or anything, I saw it as it left the window. It's like you built a rocket on it's bottom for no reason!" Jeff could never understand just why it was that Dr. Zizu built things the way he did. Yes he HAD grown up around the doctor, so he was use it by now. But it always seemed that for every three things Zizu built that worked as they were suppose to. He built twenty that had odd attachments or odd malfunctions and would either explode after being switched on. Or they did something like this one had.
"Yes, I started doing it after I lost a hybrid toaster - freezer, when it walked off. Turn right here, come on now Jeff." Dr. Zizu continued to stare intently at his watch, as he ducked and weaved his way through the cave. Jeff knew better then to ask the doc why he would even bother to invent something like a hybrid toaster - freezer, or how it could have walked off in the first place. Instead he watched the doctor weave his way through the cave in amazement. The doc was seriously not watching where he was going while he looked only at the display. Despite this he never bumped or scrapped against anything in the cave. It was like he had done this many times before.
Then again, Jeff thought, Knowing the doc's track record with inventions, this might not be the first time he's come here...
"You know Jeff..." Dr. Zizu said suddenly as they traveled through the cave. "You didn't have to come with me to look for this thing. I'm sure a wet dark cave isn't the best place to be. I could have just asked Igor to come."
"Maybe, but it's not like I had much else to do. Besides, Igor is busy cleaning up the mess of the window." Jeff said shrugging. He swung the flash light he carried around carefully, making sure they didn't find any sudden drops in the floor. Dr. Zizu wore a miners cap himself. Jeff knew immediately that the doctor had made it himself when an umbrella had deployed from the thing earlier as they had been traveling to the cave. He only hoped it didn't do that again while they were in here. It was so dark, that he kept thinking that something could leap out at him at any moment, and didn't need the surprise.
"Made any friends?" Dr. Zizu asked quietly as they walked down another corridor. The doctor knew that Jeff wasn't the most well versed in the subject. He was only so open with him because they had known each other for so long. Jeff wasn't exactly a failure at dealing with people, but his shyness did provide to be quite the obstacle.
"No... I'm afraid not." Jeff said quietly. It wasn't a topic he liked to discuss much. "Not that it matters right now. You give me enough excitement in my life as it is. Who else could invent something that blasts off like a rocket when it wasn't even designed to do that!"
"You're not going to let that go are you?" Dr. Zizu asked with a smile. Jeff grinned back.
"Not for a while." They were quiet after that for a while. When they finally found the machine, it was still blasting energy from it's bottom. The very problem that had caused it to fly off in the first place. For whatever reason, it had arched down and flown into the cave. The machine was pretty beat up from it's constant bouncing around off the walls of the cavern. Jeff was surprised that the thing was even still functioning in any sort of form, and at the same time wondered if the damage to the cave would cause any cave ins. He made a mental note to keep an eye on the ceiling.
"Here we are." Dr. Zizu said, patting the machine on it's side the action somehow stopping it from producing a jet flame via it's bottom. "A night's work, and I'll have the bugs ironed out."
"Let's hope so, I don't want this thing crashing through my window tonight while I slee- ACK SKELETONS!" Jeff exclaimed suddenly having swept his light over a couple of bodies that had quiet clearly been dead for ages. Very little of their clothing remained intact and undecayed, but from what Jeff could see they had probably been bandits. Not surprising given what the town called this cave.
"Bandits by the look of it." Dr. Zizu commented before echoing Jeff's thoughts about the cave. "No big surprise there. This IS known as Bandit Cove. The impact of the machine must have revealed their hiding place."
"Yeah, one of the impacts. It's weird really. They teach us all about how bandits would use this cave as a hiding place from whatever authorities pursing them. There were reports of people not actually making it back out, but I never thought we'd find some..." Jeff said, still a bit shaken. The skeletons however were mostly buried, allowing him to ignore the fact he was looking at dead bodies. This allowed him the calm he needed to keep his voice and spoken dialogue the way it sounded. But not by much.
"We can deal with that later, I'll let the officials in town know." Dr. Zizu said as he began to survey the machine. After pushing a few buttons the machine began to vibrate much like it had when they had first turned it on. (Well before it blasted off anyway)
"Hey, I think it still works after all!" Dr. Zizu said adjusting the controls on the machine. The machine itself was a cylinder around the size of a water cooler bottle. The only decorations on the thing were the screen obviously meant to display it's data. (The screen of course had cracked during it's trip.) Then under it, were a ton of small knobs and buttons that Jeff couldn't hope to figure out. The propulsion system the machine had developed came from a large burnt hole on it's bottom. For whatever reason, something inside had fired off like a rocket booster. Shooting the machine to it's currently location.
Jeff had just been preparing himself for the thing to launch again, when he noticed that various spots of the cave had begun to glow. All around them were spots of green, blue, and yellow. He didn't have to point this out to the doctor however, as Zizu noticed it almost immediately
"Fascinating! The crystals here seem to be reacting to the machines frequencies. It's said that some crystals can affect or even alter the emotions of an individual. This machine WAS designed to read the emotions of humans. There is definitely a connection between the two! Now if I could only figure out exactly what the machine is doing to cause this... Surely there must be more to it then just a glow..." Dr. Zizu was quickly drawn into the mystery of the phenomenon, but Jeff was more aware of their surroundings. Shortly after the crystals began to glow, they began to pulse. Each giving off larger and larger flashes of their strange light. Before he knew it, small bits of electrical energy, (or some type of electrical LOOKING energy) began to dance along the walls of the cave. Occasionally firing off between two surfaces.
The rest of what happened in that cave was still a blur to the memories of both Dr. Zizu and Jeff. Jeff remembered pulling Zizu to the ground as the machine all at once, overloaded and exploded. The resulting power surge nearly caused the section of the cave they were in to collapse. They never did find the parts of the machine or even the two skeletons belonging to the long deceased bandits ever again. However, what they did find instead is what eventually lead to the creation of Jake. Though he wasn't exactly clear on the how.
Inside that cave, they had found a very strange black mineral that seemed alive. Small neon green lines would streak across it's surface in random patterns. While Dr. Zizu had decided to keep the discovery of the mineral a secret till he had learned all it's secrets. It had been destroyed during the creation of Jake. Not even Jeff knew exactly what had happened in the lab on that night. Dr. Zizu didn't like to talk about it. Though Jake swore that one day, he would get his father to tell him all the details.
* * *
.
As such, we now return to our present story, with Jeff opening the hatch to the attic in which Jake had been watching the sky. Though this is still not where our story truly begins. No this is just a stepping stone in time that's necessary to understand how it all began. Jeff had been looking for Jake so they could discuss their plans for tomorrow. Which happened to be a Saturday, a normal day off of school. They didn't know it then, but the conversation they had this night was one of the catalysts for it all.
"So what do you think? Video games? Or fishing at the ocean?" Jeff suggested while they sat at the kitchen table eating ice cream. It was the very reason Jeff had come to find Jake in the attic in the first place. They had been planning to discuss their options anyway, and Jeff had wanted Ice cream. As for his suggestions of what to do tomorrow. Neither of them had really seemed like a bad idea, but Jake really felt like getting out and away from the house this time.
"Eh, I was thinking more of going somewhere really." Jake said as he ate ice cream. Now one would think that a Bio-Android wouldn't be able to even EAT ice cream. But that's just what the 'bio' part meant. Bio-organic. Not only was Jake able to eat ice cream, but he was able to bleed, cry, even reproduce just like a normal human. Of course the 'android' meant he was able to do so much more. He was of course a lot faster and stronger then any normal human. Also, he was able to create a strange type of electrical energy. With it he could do anything from shoot a lightning bolt, to concentrate it into a sword made of the energy. He could even create a ball of it that would function just like a grenade.
The other thing people might have found themselves wondering is why Jake seemed like a normal teenager, when he had only been alive for around seven years. This was something that still amazed Dr. Zizu. Not only was he able to use that mineral to create Jake, but Jake had taken to being human rather quickly. Again, Jake didn't know all the details, but from what he could piece together from what little he could get out of his dad. It appeared that the mineral was almost like some sort of living database. To be honest, Jake didn't really know what that meant. Was his personality stored in the mineral? He tried not to think about it too much. Especially since all further attempts to find any more of the mineral in the cave had ended in failure.
"So what, the mall?" Jeff suggested while eating another spoon full of ice cream. This would be a good plan for normal boys, but for Jake it presented a bit of a problem.
"Good place to start, but at the same time, I'm not sure I want to deal with what it would include." Jake sighed.
"Yeah, step one foot in there and people would go nuts at the sight of you." It was Jeff's turn to sigh. "I don't get it. I've known you for all your life, (He didn't like mentioning that technically that wasn't very long) and it's pretty clear you aren't going to destroy the town or anything, so why can't people just get over the fact that you're a bio-android?"
"Wish I knew. Too bad everyone doesn't see me as the guy you do." See while Jake acted like your normal teenage boy, well when he wasn't using his powers to help people out, the rest of the town had a hard time seeing him that way. Jake hadn't been able to keep his powers a secret. Having saved a boy named Alex from getting hit by a car shortly after he had been born. Though he matured fast, at the time he hadn't thought that people might become scared of a person who could do things like he could. True robots weren't exactly uncommon in this world, but one that was practically human was. Especially considering Jake was the only one. His father had made up a story that Jake was an orphan he had met in a hospital. It was believed that Jake was paralyzed and Dr. Zizu had used his genius to 'fix' the boy before adopting him. This was kinda true in a way if you thought about it. If Jake's personality was in that mineral, then the doctor did 'fix' him from being paralyzed. Regardless, he was afraid of being hurt or even killed if the truth got out that he had never been human before becoming a bio-android. So he stuck to the story. Only his father, Jeff, and Jeff's father Tom knew the truth.
"Yeah, but if we invite Alex and his brother it might take away from the stares. I've noticed that people seem more relaxed if you have a group of people around you. Maybe it makes you look more human." Alex, the boy Jake had saved, had become a close friend of Jake's and Jeff's after his rescue. He had heard of Dr. Zizu many times before, as it was kinda impossible to not know the doctor if you lived in the town. While most tended to want to avoid the doctor, Alex had always thought it would be neat to meet him. Though Alex didn't know the truth about Jake, he didn't think there was anything weird or frightening about Jake at all. He always thought it must be cool to have powers. Jake had to admit it was in a way, but he also knew the downsides.
Alex's brother Paul, was also a friend of the family. Like his older brother Alex, he didn't have any problems with what Jake was. Paul had been a good friend to Jake during his high school years. Being that he was the same age as Jeff and himself. Though while it was nice to have these few friends that Jake did. Jake knew that Jeff would always be his best friend. He was the first person besides his dad that he had ever met, and the fact that Jake was very different then most people, never seemed to cross Jeff's mind. Jake didn't really see Jeff as a brother, but he was the closest friend a person could want.
"Either that, or they think with you all keeping an eye on me, I can't get into trouble." Jake replied finishing his ice cream. By this time his dad had come up from the lab to get a drink from the fridge. Upon hearing what he said, he quickly scolded Jake.
"Now, now, none of that talk." He said grabbing a milkshake from the fridge, "They'll have to get use to you eventually. There are people who have you know. Not everyone fears you."
"I know dad, I'm sorry." Jake said as he carried his bowl to the sink to wash it out. "There are my friends who don't, and the people at the market place I always go to actually seem happy to see me now. But they aren't the majority of the town..." Dr. Zizu didn't have a come back to that. As much as he hated to admit it. It was the truth. There were still too many in the town that still felt wary of Jake.
"Well if it really bothered you that much Jake, we could have your dad make us some sort of image disguise thing. Er, I mean like a type of thing that you put on and it makes you look like someone else. Come to think of it, hey Doc, any chance of making something that would make us appear as girls so we could sneak into the girl's locker room?" Jeff grinned at the suggestion. Jake did too, but it did give him a rather odd thought.
"I think I'm better off NOT aiding you in such activities." Dr. Zizu said as he began to head back downstairs. Jake was quick to voice the thought before his dad was gone.
"That reminds me dad. There is something I've been wondering for a while now. Why did you make me a boy anyway? Did it have something to do with the mineral?" His dad stopped pondering this. As he did so, he absently drank a part of his milkshake through it's straw.
"Never really thought about it. Guess it was just chance." He replied finally with a shrug of his shoulders.
"You mean there was a chance I could have been created a girl?" Jake asked mildly curious. True he had spent his entire seven something years as a male. But considering he hadn't grown up as one, he didn't really feel as attached to his sex as he was sure most people were. Would his life have been different if he had been made a girl? It was something that would always cross his mind from time to time. This was just the first chance he had to actually ask his dad about it.
"Not really, I mean it was just the sex I chose to make." With that he continued on down the stairs to the lab. Both had thought he had stopped listening to their conversation after that. Little did they know that he not only heard the next few things they said. But it had in fact given him an idea.
"Huh, guess instead of me here, you could have been talking to a girl instead. Sorry to take away the only chance you had at that." Jake teased. His teasing was awarded with Jeff throwing his bowl at him. Jeff knew that Jake would catch it perfectly, which he did, so he had no fear of hurting his friend. Not that Jeff thought a mere bowl could hurt a bio-android anyway.
"Sorry sorry," Jake said laughing as he began to wash Jeff's bowl in apology, "But in all seriousness, I do wonder how things would have been if that was the case. You think people would be less afraid of me?"
"Dunno," Jeff said while leaning back in his chair, but not enough to cause the front legs to lift from the ground, "There is that silly notion that girls aren't as dangerous as boys, so maybe. Regardless, this isn't helping us figure out what to do tomorrow."
"Right, back to business." Jake said sitting back down, the dishes washed. They eventually figured out what to do the next day and headed to bed. Neither of them realizing that the final words of their conversation had set into motion something that would change all of their lives forever.
Foreign Life: Remade
Episode 1 - A new set of curves
It had been over two months since that conversation. Both Jake and Jeff had graduated High School and were looking at what to do with the rest of their lives. While this question was pretty important to any person's future, for the moment at least, there was an entirely different problem on the mind of Jake.
The middle school both he and Jeff had gone to, hosted a special dance two weeks after graduation for the high school Jeff and he had moved on to. It was a dance intended for those who had graduated. The idea was that it allowed them to look back at where they had been before going to high school, and allow them contemplate where they may be headed now. Jake wasn't really sure if it worked or not, but nearly everyone from the graduating high school class would go to it. So Jake had wanted to go as well. The problem was, Jeff really didn't.
Though it wasn't officially part of the dance rules. The graduates who attended had started a sort of 'underground rule' that you had to bring a date. Those who didn't generally got mocked. While Jake was sure he himself wouldn't be, given the uneasiness he caused in people. He wasn't sure that they'd let Jeff off the hook, even if he was with him. Therefore Jeff had just decided to skip out on it. This saddened Jake, as he didn't want to go by himself. Alex had graduated two years ago, and dus had already attended his dance then. Paul was going, but he was going with his girlfriend Jesse. and Jake didn't want to be a third wheel. He didn't want to FORCE Jeff to attend, so it was looking more and more like he'd have to skip out, or just go alone. The prospect was depressing. Being that he wasn't sure of just what he was going to do this night, he hadn't even dressed fancy. His pants were a simple pair of everyday blue jeans. His shirt being a red t-shirt with a black zig zag line going down the right side of it's front.
"Jake, your father requests your presence in the basement. He says he has a present for you." Came a voice from his bedroom doorway. Jake had been lying on his bed staring at the ceiling while going over his options. He hadn't closed his door though, and now by turning his head, he could see what appeared to be a golem made of rock with a strange black mechanical oval with a digital face, standing just outside his room, peering in.
"A present? That's odd..." Jake said getting out of bed. He crossed the distance between him and the golem without even blinking. "Lead the way Igor." The 'golem' nodded it's head, which looked very weird. Before Jake had been born, Igor had gotten and upgrade from the floating sphere, though his face had remained the same. It had always been a weird digital display that would change depending on which expression Igor wished to show. One of the things Dr. Zizu had created while studying the mineral that had lead to Jake's creation was the substance Igor was (sort of) made out of. Upon trying to duplicate the mineral, Zizu had failed time and time again. But he had managed to gain enough information of the mineral to alter the properties of normal rock. If given the right electronic commands, this new substance would shift it's form, and change it's density at will. Dr. Zizu had quickly upgraded Igor's matrix to produce these signals and used the material to give him a type of morph-able body. The result was a very useful assistant, and friend.
"I'm sure you remember the way to your own basement." Igor said in his monotone voice, but his face display was smiling. True Igor couldn't display his emotions via voice like Jake could, but it was easy enough to understand what Igor was feeling. Though advanced as Igor's personality was. He didn't quite have the very human like emotions Jake had. Jake absently found himself smiling at the origin of Igor's name as he did from time to time. It was actually Jeff's fault. Jeff would constantly make mad scientist jokes at Dr. Zizu's expense. When Zizu had created Igor, Jeff had asked: "So Dr. Frankenstein, what you gonna call him? Igor?" Zizu had actually found the thing rather funny, and decided to do just that. Luckily Igor really enjoyed his name.
Not only did Igor still actually lead the way to the basement, but he even entered the thing as well. (Reshaping his body as necessary to fit down the hallway.) This was a rather odd thing for Igor to do when Jake was sent down here to see some invention his father had created, (Jake had long ago made the connection that if he was to receive a 'present' in the basement. It was something his dad had invented) So whatever was going on, was something even Igor wanted to see. This peeked Jake's interest exceptionally.
"You wanted to see me dad?" Jake asked as he watched his father. The lab was as it usually was. Machines everywhere, some complete, some not. There were several work tables with various things thrown about them. Though some would find it surprising that one of those tables didn't include that random set up of chemicals and tubes. In the section around the center of the basement, where his dad currently was examining a control panel to a machine Jake had never seen before, stood a large 'something' slightly to the doctors right, and Jake's left. He wasn't able to tell what this something was though, due to a very large white cloth covering the thing. Could this be what his dad had made from him? What on earth would he do with something so big?
"There you are Jake!" His dad said, displaying his usual amount of excitement whenever he had something new to show people. He walked up to the cloth covered thing and waved his arm at it.
"This here is the answer to your question!" His dad said grinning broadly. Jake was taken aback by this statement. What question? The only question he could think of was wither or not he was going to the dance tonight. What? Was it some sort of machine that would weight the pros and cons, and then give him a decision? It would be much easier to just flip a coin if Jake wanted to go that route.
"Uh, I'm afraid I don't follow ya," He said with a sweatdrop. His dad actually looked surprised that he didn't immediately understand.
"Why, it was YOU who gave me the idea! During that conversation you were having with Jeff over those bowls of strawberry banana ice cream with caramel you were eating. You know around two months ago."
"That was two months ago! How am I suppose to figure this out from that conversation? I may be a bio-android, but my memory isn't picture perfect! Also, how is it that you can remember exactly what type of ice cream we were eating, but you can't remember to put a kill switch on an automatic lawnmower? I had to blast the thing before it hunted down and killed that family of squirrels!"
"That's not importantly right now!" Dr. Zizu said, swatting the question aside, "You asked me a very specific question that night, and while I'm sorry it took so long to get you an answer, you can finally find out for yourself!" Jake had to go over this in his head a bit, as none of it was making sense right away. But as he thought about it more and more, the details of that conversation came back to him. He had asked his father a question that night. But, how could he see the answer for it himself? Unless...
"That's right!" His dad said, reading his facial expressions perfectly. With that he reached up, and grabbing the sheet, pulled it off what it had been concealing. What Jake saw caused him to gasp. The sheet had been concealing more machinery, along with two very large glass cylinder tubes. Though it was actually what was IN one of the tubes that had really caused the gasp. The one on Jake's right, and closest to his dad, was empty, a comfortable flat padded surface being the only thing inside. Though in the identical tube to the tube, and Jake's LEFT was a vision of pure beauty.
It was a girl of what he guessed to be his own age. Her hair was raven black, and was simply stunning. It was just long enough to slightly collect atop her shoulders. Her arms were slender and smooth. Her hands small and dainty. She had a very generous chest size of what he guessed to be a D cup. He blushed when he realized he had focused on them a bit too long. She was wearing a white dress that seemed to be a mixture of a tank top that became a rather elegant skirt. One which just barely covered her knees. From what he could see of her legs, they were long and elegant. Though he could see that she was slightly shorter then him by at least an inch. Last of all he focused on her face, which was shaped and angled so perfectly, he could hardly recall seeing a girl who had ever been prettier. Her lips were full and red, only adding to her beauty. When he had finally gotten over how she looked, he finally asked the question that had been on his mind the entire time.
"Who... Who is she?" He asked. His dad's grin widened.
"You!" He said simply. This caused Jake to physically jerk in surprise
"WHAT!?" He exclaimed, looking at his dad like he had gone nuts.
"I said you'd be able to see the answer yourself. You were wondering what it would be like to be female. That got me to thinking. As you know, the loss of the mineral prevented me from ever making another like you. But I still have all the data of what you are. While I can never re-create the thought patterns that make up your consciousness. I CAN remake your body if it was ever damaged beyond repair. Then when you asked me that question, I got to thinking. What if I could not only remake your body, but CHANGE how it appeared? Could I in essence, make you a female body? Well the answer lies before you. She is everything you are now. Just female. You'll have all the same abilities and powers, but be capable of what females can do instead of males. This uh... DOES include the ability to become pregnant, which is something I hope you DON'T go testing..." His dad finally stopped his explanation to give Jake time to soak this all in. He blushed at the warning his dad ended it with. Pregnant? He could not only just suddenly become a girl if he so desired, but he could also give birth if he wasn't careful? It was a bit much to take in. Even for him.
"I... I don't know what to say..." He said slowly. It was true that he hadn't expected his dad to actually be able to change his sex like this. But then... at the same time he couldn't deny the fact that the idea was appealing. As he had thought before, being he hadn't spent a life time as a guy, it wasn't like he was really attached to the idea of sticking to being male. But would it really be that easy to just become a girl? One thing was certain. He had to give it a try. Even more so, He had to show Jeff! Before he realized what he was doing, he had pulled out his cell phone and had hit speed dial.
"I hope this isn't some sort of plan to get me to go to the dance. I'm sorry Jake but I really don't feel like it." Came Jeff's voice on the other end as he picked up. Jake grinned, happy that Jeff couldn't see that.
"Much as I wish you would, no this isn't what I'm calling about. My dad just showed me something that's IMPERATIVE I show you!" Jake said with more excitement then he felt he should be feeling. Was he really THAT eager to become female?
"Really? Ah man, you know I can't resist seeing what new contraption your dad has come up with!" He sighed before continuing. "I'll be right over! You're just lucky I can't resist these kinda surprises!" With that he hung up. Jake's grin widened, much like his dad's had earlier.
"If you only knew..."
* * *
It was a half hour later when Jeff was herded down into the basement lab lead by Jake. Igor had moved to stand in front of the female body, to hide it from Jeff's gaze. Dr. Zizu stood smiling by the control panel. If Jake's apparel had given the impression that he wasn't going to the dance, Jeff's apparel gave no doubt to the fact that he didn't plan to go. His shirt was a white t-shirt with the picture of a brown haired anime girl in a school uniform. Underneath her were the words 'Angel Fire'. She was one of the main characters from an anime that both Jeff and Jake had become engrossed in. Jeff's pants were a bit more formal, being he wore a pair of black dress pants, but coupled with the t-shirt told everyone that he wasn't going anywhere formal.
"Alright so what's this big deal you need to show me? You checked to make sure it's not going to blast off right?" Dr. Zizu frowned while both Jeff and Jake smiled. Though Jeff HAD stopped bothering Zizu about that mishap, he still found himself making a quip about it from time to time.
"I can't tell you. You have to see for yourself. We already ran over all the systems while you were on your way here. So there won't be any problems." Jake said. Jeff was getting rather jittery at all the suspense. He KNEW something big was going on, and he wanted to know what it was. The excitement was beginning to get to him.
"Ok, so show me already!" He said throwing his arms up in defeat. Jake just smiled some more and motioned for Igor to step aside. When he did, Jeff gasped in many the same manner that Jake had earlier. Jeff had seen the open glass cylinder tube between Igor and Dr. Zizu when he entered the basement. He hadn't actually paid it much mind, even though it did cross his mind that it may have something to do with everything. But anything he could have been expecting certainty wasn't what he saw in that second tube that had been behind Igor.
In it he saw the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. Though she was so still he could have sworn she was a very life like looking statue. As he tried to figure out what she had to do with any of this. Jake stepped into the other other capsule, it closing around him shortly afterward. This didn't help Jeff figure out the plan at all, as he watched his friend smile at him from inside the tube. Dr. Zizu tapping out a complex string of commands into the computer panel he had been standing by.
As he watched he saw two round metal rods shoot out of the padded surface both Jake and the mystery girl laid upon. The tabs were positioned just an inch from each side of the heads of the tube's inhabitants. Soon, he saw electrical energy begin to emit from the tabs, striking the heads of both his friend Jake, and the girl. While Jake twitched at the electrical shocks, (Though not violently enough that he could be considered 'thrashing') The girl made no movement at all despite the barrage of zaps.
Then, slowly as he continued to watch her, did she begin to twitch ever so slightly. Within seconds she was shaking more and more rapidly much like Jake had been. Jeff noticed at that moment, that as the girl began to twitch more like a real person. Jake's body seemed to become more and more still. Until it was just as statue appearing as the girl's had. Finally the shocks stopped and the tabs retreated back from whence the came. Jake's body stood unmoving, but the girl's had begun to move just like any other human body would. Before Jeff knew it, the girl let out a soft moan of sleepiness before opening her eyes.
They were just as blue as Jake's had been. As Jeff watched the girl blinked a bit, looking around the room as if her vision was new to her. She then went on to look over her body with a mixture of nervousness, excitement, and fear. Jeff doubted she realized what she was doing, but before he knew it, she was running her hands all over her body, the aspect of her body obviously interesting her exceptionally. She had just been squeezing her breasts, when she blushed and dropped her hands back down to her sides. She then looked at Jeff with extreme embarrassment.
The tube opened, and she took her first few wobbly steps before getting her bearings. This body was indeed strange to her, but at the same time she felt a thrill at possessing it. As she looked at Jeff to talk to him, she noticed something odd. She didn't feel like a different person despite the new body, but there was something different about the way Jeff looked now to her. But try as she might she just couldn't figure out what.
"Jeff," She said surprised by the angelic voice that escaped her lips. Jeff himself felt his knees weaken a bit at the mere aspect of this girl saying his name in that voice. "Do you know who I am?" She continued. The blush never leaving her cheeks. Jeff could only stare at her for a few moments before he was able to make himself answer. He knew who this girl was alright. But even with everything he had seen his friend and Dr. Zizu do. He would NEVER have believed this, had he not just seen it happen.
"Jake?" Jeff said dumbfounded. "Is that really you in there?"
"It is..." Came the timid reply, "Though I have to admit. Being called Jake when I look like this seems weird."
"THAT'S what seems weird?" Jeff said rather calmly, but with obvious amusement. "You just flat out change sex, and what's weird is that you were called by your male name?" Jake blushed.
"Point, but I really think I should have a new name while like this. Any suggestions?" Jake thought he should point out that he wasn't even sure WHY she was a 'she' right now. But decided to push that aside for now. He didn't know why the name just leaped out in his mind like it did, but before he knew it he had already blurted it out.
"How about Sandra?" He suggested. Jake smiled with her new feminine lips. The vision of her smiling was just as appealing as he figured it be. He didn't know how long his friend wanted to remain a girl, but he hoped he'd see that smile again. Only to just as suddenly wonder if he should be weirded out by the fact that his friend had just become a girl, and it was apparent that he found her attractive? He didn't want to think about that right now on the fact he was sure his mind wouldn't be able to take it and shut down on him.
"Sandra..." She said thinking it over. "It's perfect! Very well, that shall be my name." She then gave Jeff a curtsy, causing Jeff to wonder why she knew how to do that.
"Hello Jeff. My name is Sandra. I was wondering if you would be so kind as to escort me to the dance tonight?" She asked her face a mixture of hope and nervousness. Jeff noticed that his friend was acting very differently then how he usually acted. He couldn't help but be surprised at how feminine this girl appeared. It was literally like she was a different person.
"Sure!" Jeff found himself saying before he could stop himself. The answer not only shocked him, but Sandra as well. Jeff had never been this relaxed with a girl before. Obviously he figured it was because he knew who Sandra had just been. He guessed he had been friends with Jake for so long, that even like this he couldn't feel nervous around him. Er her.
"I-I mean... uh" Jeff found himself stammering, trying to get his thoughts back together. That's when another one crossed his mind.
"HEY! Wait a minute!" He exclaimed pointing a finger right at Sandra, any lingering awkwardness he had felt at Jake now being a girl calling herself Sandra completely vanishing. "This IS a plan to get me to go to the dance! You tricked me!"
* * *
