Strange Shifts

[Mystic Mina]

Lindegreen. Once a simple farming community off in the American midwest, this obscure little town has quickly bloomed in a bustling metropolis in the past three decades. It's relatively sudden success is no doubt due to the presence of Next Shift, Inc., the research corporation behind several revolutionary scientific breakthroughs. Even today, an extraordinary experiment is taking place deep within their underground labs, one that will change the world as we know it. Literally.

But for the many, many regular citizens of Lindegreen, it's just another typical weekday morning in the city...

[Harri-chan]

Elliot Jones was on his way to work. He was a freelance photographer that did a range of photography, from clothing catalogs, holiday brochures to magazine article shoots. Today it was going to be taking pictures of a 'happy family' posing on a furniture store's newest line of living room products. He wore a knitted white beanie hat, a baby blue t-shirt, a pair of snug jeans and blue canvas sneakers, with a large white backpack hanging from his shoulders. He was a skinny guy in his early twenties, sometimes mistaken for a girl at first glance with soft features, blue eyes, and long, straight, pale blonde hair that went well passed his shoulders.

The studio was in some high rise tower block that was packed with other businesses and offices, and he enviously admired some of the expensive cars parked along the street as he made his way towards his destination, and lowered the pair of headphones down around his neck as he got ready to cross the road when he saw the building he was looking for was just on the other side.

[Mystic Mina]

Countless men and women passed by Elliot, paying him no mind. To them, he was just another obstacle on their way to work, another face in the crowd. But soon, his face would be different. Much, much different. As the slim photographer prepared himself to cross the street, reality shifted in an instant.

Suddenly, the people around the boy towered over him like giants, their tall figures casting shadows upon him. His clothes still fit, but they were somewhat looser, less snug, more comfortable, and his backpack seems to have become slightly smaller, almost purse-shaped. In the reflection of a nearby taxi's chrome bumper, he can see a reflection: A little boy (or was that a girl?) who couldn't be any older than 10 years old stared back with wide blue eyes.

[Harri-chan]

Elliot stepped off the curb and was startled by how high the drop felt. Blonde hair swished as he turned suddenly to look back at it... only to see a sea of legs on the sidewalk. His blue eyes widened a little as he tilted his head to adjust, and his mouth fell open with a gasp as he saw everyone else now towering above him. He stumbled slightly, turning to catch the youthful, girly reflection in the bumper, and both hands rose to press to his now slightly rounded, and very red cheeks. His gaze travelled further down, and he held his arms out slightly, stepping his feet just a little apart as he examined the similar but smaller and looser clothes that clad his small body.

He didn't have too much time to examine everything as a crowd of business men and women had stepped off the sidewalk behind to cross the street. He felt himself herded along amongst them, moving forward to avoided getting pushed over in the rush. His heart was racing inside his chest as he looked up, and through the towering adults he saw the building he was meant to be heading for looming high up into the sky. How could he go in there looking like this? But if he didn't go in... what else could he do? Pushing hands down into the pockets of the jeans, he wriggled his fingers about to try and feel for his cell phone, wallet and apartment keys.

[Mystic Mina]

Little Elliot would be able to find his old possessions, though they were far from how he remembered them. His phone and keys were molded in bright, pastel plastic, and the winking face of a superhero graced the front of his cheap nylon wallet. They were playthings now... Mere toys. Beside him, he heard childish yelping. A young lass right around his new age was pulling at her mother's sleeve, an excited glint in her eyes.

"Mommy, mommy! I saw a lady turn into a little girl!" She pointed a tiny hand at Elliot. "Look! She's right there!"

"Of course, dear." The older woman replied back, not even bothering to take her eyes off her phone. She continued down the busy street, dragging her still-hollering child along with her, and soon the two were lost in the seemingly endless morning rush.

[Harri-chan]

Elliot breathed a sigh of relief as his fingers closed around the keys and the phone, but that quickly turned to horror as he pulled out the plastic toys. "No way...", he moaned. He was just examining the wallet when he heard the squealing and turned around. It was quite bizarre to see a little girl standing the same height as him, and he felt his heart skip a beat when she yelled out what had happened, his cheeks going even more red as she misjudged his gender not once but twice.

He wasn't quite sure if he should feel relief or panic as the woman continued without even glancing at him. Of course, he'd never have believed the little girl's story either if he hadn't been the main character of it! Pushing his toy phone and keys back into his pockets, he wandered into the building's foyer, his knees a little weak from the shock, small fingers shaking as he searched through the colourful wallet for his ID badge from the studio.

[Mystic Mina]

Luckily for Elliot, his ID badged seemed to remain unchanged; it even had his old photo, oddly enough. How he could use it to enter was anyone's guess, but at least it wasn't reduced to a children's playing card.

The foyer was white, clean, and chic, exactly what one would expect from a building that appeared to focus on arts and design. Some of the walls sported wood paneling with artwork hung among them: One, a blown-up photo of a mother bluebird tending to her lone chick, another, a blossoming red flower amidst a sea of azure petals. Behind a tiny white security desk stood a smiling young man, and behind him laid a row of elevators, the path to Elliot's job. But he would have to get past the man first...

"Hello? Are you lost?" The man called out to Elliot. He had an impeccable appearance, his black hair cut short and neat while his clothes were bright and perfectly spotless. He almost looked a mannequin, in a way. "Did you come in by yourself? Little boys shouldn't be wandering around alone..."

[Harri-chan]

Elliot had never been good at fast thinking. He knew his story wouldn't be believed, the woman out in the street had been proof of that. Pushing the ID card away, he slipped the wallet back into his pocket. His chest tightened, his body's way of warning him he could just be about to make the situation worse, not better.

"My Mom just dropped me off. I'm... here for the Fukea store photo shoot...", he says, cheeks bright red as he approached the security desk. Maybe if he could just get up there he'd find a familiar face, someone that it would be a little easier to explain to than a complete stranger. Biting his bottom lip, he peered up at the good looking man hopefully.

[Mystic Mina]

The well-dressed man mentally swooned as Elliot marched his tiny self to his desk. He was absolutely adorable!... but there was something wrong with his story.

"Fukea? But your mother just walked in 10 minutes ago." Though the little androgynous child was ridiculously cute, the man still had a job to do, and he leaned over his little desk, a hand outstretched. "That can't be right. Let me see your ID card."

And reality shifted.

The world felt even larger around Elliot now, though nowhere near as much as before. His outfit kept that roomy, cozy fit, but a strange, cottony sensation rubbed at him down below beneath his jeans, and that white bag by his side seemed to grow incredibly light. If he pushed against it, he would no longer feel the hard contours of his expensive camera equipment, but something soft, springy...

[Harri-chan]

Elliot's blue eyes widened just a little as the well-dressed man questioned his story. He could feel himself getting rather hot beneath the knitted white hat, and he squirmed uncomfortably. "No, that was my... ", he began to say, when he came over all dizzy. He leaned into the desk slightly to steady himself, shivering as things seemed to change, but he couldn't quite figure out what was different, his cheeks red as he eyed his jeans, feeling the not unpleasant, but strange sensation beneath them.

Feeling the bag lighten on his back, he sucked in another deep breath and grasped at the shape of the wallet inside his pocket again. As he looked down, his long blonde hair dangled and swished, his hand fumbling the wallet the out, holding it close to himself as he hesitantly pulled the ID card from it's little slot. "I think they might have sent me the wrong card in the mail... ", he says in a shaky voice.

[Mystic Mina]

But as Elliot held out that card in his smaller hands, he saw that it was now startlingly right. A smiling picture of his new face, albeit one with a touch more roundness and baby fat, stared back at him, and on the sides lied a different name and age: Ellie Jones, 8. Even odder, the "boy" in the photo seemed to be wearing bright blue ribbons in his long, flowing hair!

"Ah, Jones! Wait just a moment, little miss. Someone will be down in a minute." The mannequin man picked up a phone from his desk and swiftly dialed several numbers. "Cheryl? The replacement girl is here. Could you send someone down to pick her up? Thanks!"

[Harri-chan]

Elliot stared at the card, bringing it closer, squinting at the face on it... and then he looked up with a bright blush as the smart-dressed man took a glance before going back to his phone. He felt a little light-headed as he saw the ribbons in the photo... the name... and the age. The words 'little miss' seemed to echo in his ears as he reeled from the surprise. The change in himself had been one thing, but that little girl had seen it happen... how on earth had this new ID card appeared... and why were the expecting him? The thought of slipping away to have a quiet word with someone now seemed a far more daunting prospect. His vision was a little out of focus as he slowly lifted his gaze from the card, watching the man as he spoke to someone named Cheryl on the phone.

[Mystic Mina]

After a short while, an elevator behind the man sprung to life with a "DING!" It's shiny chrome doors opened, and out stepped a brunette woman, somewhat aged but still beautiful. She was dressed in a fairly conservative white business dress, though there were enough of her slightly tanned curves on display to excite the senses.

"You must be our little star." Her warm brown eyes gazed down at the child in front of her while she wiped a lock of her loose amber-streaked hair to the side. "Come along. The photographer is waiting for you."

Before Elliot even had a chance to react, the nameless lady bent down, took one of his tiny hands into her own, and led him a wood-lined elevator. Soon, the two were shooting up, passing floor after floor as they came ever closer to the boy's job. But if he wasn't the photographer, what was he doing there?

[Harri-chan]

Elliot had always been easily distracted by a pretty female, and he realised when the chrome doors of the elevator slid apart, that was still true. It didn't feel exactly the same of course. The fact she towered above him filled him with a sense of awe, and his lips parted slightly as he watched her walk closer, and his cheeks flushed bright red as she bent forward and his blue eyes were sucked towards her chest. He felt a shiver run his spine she took his little hand and began to lead him back into the elevator, his knees still a little weak from the rather huge shocked he'd received.

Biting his bottom lip, he admired her white dress as they shot upwards towards the photography studio, and his tummy felt like it was twisting as he thought about what he was going to find up there. He was pretty sure they'd hired Lisa for the lighting, so maybe he could tell her? They'd worked together for a few years now and had even hung out together occasionally. How would he even begin to explain this, though? And so much had already changed, maybe she'd no longer even be working this job.

[Kether]

Jack Hamali was a somewhat overweight, white man in his 30s and he was to put it bluntly in the industiral espionage game. Some might call what he does hacking but that's not quite cover what he did. More he picked up the right pieces to set up serious break ins. So that's why he was there at Next Shift that day making use of the confusion with the photoshoot to find vunerabilities, written down passwords, little things.