TRANSFORMERS (SORT OF)
By Cathy_t_
Chapter One
Where to begin this journal, that's the real question. Whether or not I
should even write this down is a moot point. If I DON'T write it down,
no one will ever believe that it happened, so I guess, here goes.
It all started one bright, beautiful day, about a year ago. I was out
of school for the summer and, being a 17 year old boy and full
of...well, you know what I was full of, I was busy planning a summer
full of fun, debauchery(or as much of that as a 17 year old boy could
get away with) and general goofing off. Little did I know that the
events which would unfold in the following week would change my life
forever.
My Father, bless his old fashioned heart, had insisted that I find some
sort of gainful employment for the summer, saying and I quote:
"You're old enough to learn the value of money and an honest day's
work, my boy. I'm not going to discontinue your allowance, but you are
going to have to earn it from now on. I expect you to find a job for
the summer in addition to keeping up with your chores here at home. The
lawn and keeping the cars washed and waxed, will be your primary duties
here at home and I've arranged for an interview for you at Acton Labs.
They're hiring summer help and I think you'll fit the bill for them.
You'll not only learn what it's like to have to work for a living, but
you'll also have a chance to work with some of the finest minds in the
country."
Now, I knew that Acton Labs were a high security "think tank" on the
outskirts of town, but what they did there was pretty much unknown to
virtually everyone I knew. My Father was a supplier of vending machines
and he knew some of the people who worked out there, thus the chance
for my interview. Dad's machines vended everything from carbonated
beverages to snacks, to sandwiches and even hot soups and coffee.
My reaction to this announcement by my Father was, I suppose, typical
of your average 17 year old boy who was looking forward to a summer of
fun before his senior year of high school.
"DAD! No WAY! I've got plans for this summer and they don't include
making myself a wage slave to some mega brains at some government geek
club! C'mon, Dad! Don't make me do this!" and so forth, but Dad's
reaction to my impassioned plea was,
"Tough noogies, my boy. I've made my decision and, as long as you live
in my house and eat my food, you'll do as I say. Look, Donnie," he
continued. "I know you wanted to spend the summer goofing off and
having fun, but you have to think about the future.
You're going to be a senior next year and you need to consider college
and beyond. Working out at the Labs will be excellent job experience
for you and will net you a considerable paycheck to boot. You'll still
have plenty of free time on the weekends and after work and who knows.
You might actually learn something from those "geek, mega brains", as
you called them. Some of the best minds in the country are working on
things out there that I don't have the slightest clue about, but I'm
sure you'll be in a position to find out some of what they do and maybe
even be included in it."
'Whoopie.' Was my only thought at that revelation, but I didn't voice
it. I knew Dad only had my best interests at heart and I also didn't
wanna risk a smack upside the head for being what he called,
'impertinent', so I shut up and accepted my fate.
He left for work and left me to wallow in my misery.
I pushed my cereal around in the bowl for a little while, trying to
think of a way out of this disgusting turn of events, but nothing came
to mind and nothing showed up in the cereal bowl besides the usual mush
of corn, wheat, milk and sugar. Sigh. What a revolting development!
WORK!!!! All summer! Oh well.
Mom had already left for her job and I was alone in the house. I didn't
have to go out to Acton Labs until 2 in the afternoon, so I spent the
time just chilling around the house and calling my friends to report
the bad news about my summer plans. Several of them commiserated with
me, but Jerry, my lifelong buddy said,
"You're SHITTING me! You TOO? My old man set ME up to go out there too!
This SUCKS, Donnie! This is gonna screw up our summers ALL to hell!"
"Yeah, I know it Jerry, but what can we do? If your Dad is anything
like my Dad, there's no way out of it. We can't even purposely mess up
the interview because they'll call both our Dads and tell them. Looks
like we're gonna have to grin and bear it for this summer.
Hey, we can still mess around after work and on the weekends, right?
Besides, if we're both working out there, at least we'll have each
other to lean on and complain to and we'll have some bucks to take our
girls out for some fun as well. I've heard that they pay pretty well
out there. Something like 10 bucks an hour, just to the flunkies like
you and I will be."
"Yeah, I heard the same thing Don. Still, it sucks to have to work for
our last summer as high schoolers. I was really looking forward to
lazing around at the lake with Cindy, you and Debbie, drinking a few
illegal beers and maybe even getting laid. You might be right though.
With the bucks we'll earn there, we'll be able to impress the girls and
take them out to some nice places instead of Mickey D's."
"That's what I was talking about, Jer. I mean, I know that my Dad is
gonna want me to put some of what I earn into some kind of savings
account for college or whatever, but that'll still leave a lot more
than my allowance was gonna net me and I know that Debbie'll be pleased
to be taken to some nicer joints. So will your girl, Cindy, so what the
hell. Let's make the best of this and try our best to get the jobs.
What do ya say?"
"Okay. I guess you're right. What time do you have to be out there for
your interview?"
"2 PM." I answered. "How about you?"
"Mine's at 2:30, with some guy named Howard Fine.
Sounds like one of the Three Stooges to me. Who's yours with?"
"Same guy!" I responded. Maybe we'll get to work together! Now THAT'D
be cool, don't ya think?"
"Yeah! Even if we only get to clean offices or labs or whatever, at
least we'll be together and it'd make the work go a little easier and
faster. Okay man.
You got it. You wanna ride out with me?"
"Nah." I replied. I'll drive my beast out there and meet you after your
interview. That way we'll be able to compare notes and find out if
we're gonna be working together or what, okay?"
"That sounds tight, Don. I'll borrow my Mom's car, or maybe just have
her drop me off and then ride back with you if that'd be okay by you.
If you don't mind waiting for me, that is."
"Nah. That works for me, Jer. I'll see ya out there then. Be cool,
man."
"Yeah, you too, man. See ya there." And I hung up the phone.
'Well, maybe this working thing wouldn't be TOO bad.' I thought to
myself. 'At least I'll be working with Jerry, so it'll SEEM like
hanging out together.'
I spent the rest of the time planning what I was gonna wear for the
interview. I figured that I'd better try to go for a somewhat better
look than my normal torn jeans and t-shirt, considering that this WAS a
job interview and all. I grabbed a pair of dress slacks and a white
button front shirt from the back of my closet and put them on the bed
while I showered. I even used a deodorant, which I never did unless I
was taking Debbie out.
I got dressed and went out to the driveway where my 'beast' awaited.
The 'beast' was a 1960 Cadillac, Sedan De Ville with power everything.
That thing weighed in at 5400 pounds with no one in it! It had the
biggest V-8 engine I'd ever seen under the hood, but was surprisingly
good on gas, getting almost 15 MPG in town and close to 20 MPG on the
open road, IF I kept my foot out of the throttle, that is! If you
remember the old detective/cop show called "BERETTA" with Robert Blake,
you'll know exactly what my 'beast' looked like. Yeah, it was a land
barge, but that back seat seemingly had enough room to play SOCCER, so
there was plenty of room for "other" things, if you get my drift.
Debbie and me'd had some pretty good times in that back seat! In the
front seat too, as I recall!
Anyhow, I climbed in and fired the 'beast' up.
Pushing the button on the radio for my fave classic rock station, I
cruised on out of the driveway to the beat of Inna Gadda Da Vida by
Iron Butterfly and headed out of town towards the think tank. I had
plenty of time to get there since, being one of those people who HATES
being late for anything, I started out a half hour before anyone else
would've. I always figure something is gonna happen to make me late, so
I allow plenty of time whenever I go anywhere. The think tank was only
ten minutes out of town, so I knew I had plenty of time anyway.
Cruising in that great big car had its advantages.
Most newer cars would give me plenty of room on the road for one thing
and I didn't have to worry about anything smaller than a dump truck
hitting me.
Anything smaller would lose the confrontation. It was smooth as silk on
most roads, too. That big Caddy just seemed to float over minor bumps
and potholes.
Then there was the stereo system I had installed.
Now it wasn't one of those "I can hear it four blocks away' kind of
systems, but it WAS a really tight stereo, with CD player which would
handle MP3s and Cassettes, along with the AM/FM stereo radio and I
COULD turn it up to ear splitting decibels although I seldom did.
So, with the drum solo from that great old Iron Butterfly tune
thundering out of the custom speakers, I pulled up to the guard shack
at Acton Labs. I turned it down so I could hear what the guard was
saying to me. He seemed almost disappointed to hear the sound decrease,
but he came up to the car and said,
"What can I do for you, kid?"
"I'm Donald Franklin." I replied. "I've got an appointment for an
interview with some guy called Howard Fine, at 2 PM. Where am I
supposed to go, do you know?"
"Yeah. Go down this street until you see the Admin building. You can't
miss it. It's the big ugly place with the mirror like windows in it.
Park in the visitor's lot and go in the main doors. There's a
receptionist there and she'll direct you from there.
You wanna rewind that thing a bit and let me hear that drum solo before
you go? That song takes me back to my days in the service, in Germany."
"Sure, man, I would if it was a tape or a CD, but it's on ROCK 100 on
the FM and I can't rewind the radio station. Sorry about that."
"Aw, that's cool, kid. Thanks anyway. Lemme give ya a visitor's pass so
you won't get busted by the other security here. They're real pricks
about passes and such."
He gave me a placard to put in the front windshield of the car and a
little tag on a clip to attach to my shirt pocket. I stuck the one in
the windshield on the dash and clipped the other to my pocket and
signed the clipboard he shoved at me. Then I drove on down till I found
the building he had described to me and he was right. You couldn't miss
the thing. It was big and ugly and it reflected the afternoon sun like
a mirror. The windows were gold tinted and it shone like some kind of
beacon. I figured you could probably see the damned thing from orbit,
on a clear day!
Finding a parking spot for the 'beast' was no easy task. It seemed as
though, with the advent of smaller cars with good fuel mileage, the
parking spaces had shrunk somehow. Anyway, I finally found a place
where I could park the Caddy and, getting out and locking it, I headed
on into the main doors of the Admin building. It was fairly warm, with
the sun's heat being absorbed by and then reflected back up by the
black asphalt surface of the parking lot and I was glad I'd decided not
to wear a jacket or sport coat.
Entering the building was like going from day to night, temperature
wise. It was cool and dry in there and I paused to soak up a little bit
of the coolness before continuing. Straight ahead of me was a circular
desk deal and, seated behind it was a really pretty woman. She looked
to be about 25 or so and she had really great blonde hair, all hanging
loose down her back, which I love anyway. Something about long hair on
a girl just turns me on, especially when it's well cared for and wavy
like hers was.
I tried to be cool and not look like some fool kid when I talked to
this vision, but I'm afraid that it came out all wrong. Something
happens to me when I see a really great looking girl and I, well, I
start to st-st-stutter a bit. So what came out of my mouth was;
"G-g-good af-af-afternoon. I-I-I'm D-D-D-Donald F-F-F-Franklin. I-I-
have an a-a-a-appointment for t-t-t-two P-P-PM with M-Mr. F-F-Fine."
Wonderful! I sounded like Porky friggin' PIG in front of this gorgeous
woman! I could feel my face getting red and I was about as embarrassed
as I had ever been.
She just smiled at me and said,
"Yes, Mr. Franklin." (MR. FRANKLIN! No one EVER called me MR.! Cool!)
"DOCTOR Fine is located on the fifth floor in office 501. I see you
already have your visitor's badge clipped on. That's good. You can't go
anywhere inside this building without it, I'm afraid. When you reach
the fifth floor, just follow the red line to Dr. Fine's office. Please
don't try to go anywhere else. Security here is VERY tight."
She smiled at me through this whole little speech and I felt a little
more at ease.
"O-Okay. I'll w-watch my s-step then. T-Thanks for the help."
"That's okay, Mr. Franklin. Don't be nervous, okay?
Dr. Fine is a really nice person and I'm sure you're going to like
working here. I'll look forward to seeing you each morning. You're
kinda cute!"
Well, that just made me blush all the more. It felt like I was gonna
need a CO2 fire extinguisher to cool my face off with! I kinda stumbled
away from the desk and headed for the elevators she pointed out to me.
Once I got inside and the door shut, closing off the sight of that
beautiful woman, I started to relax a little bit. 'GEEZE!' I thought,
mentally kicking myself. 'WHEN am I gonna NOT do that in front of great
looking girls?' It was WAY embarrassing and it made me look like some
kind of nerd or something!
I tried to put that experience out of my mind on the ride up to the
fifth floor and, by the time the doors opened, I was feeling a bit
better again. I followed a red line painted on the floor, like I had
been told, to an office with '501' on the door. I didn't know whether
to knock or not, so I took a chance and just walked in.
Inside I found another good looking woman seated behind a desk. 'CRAP!'
I thought. 'I'm NEVER gonna get this job! I'm gonna be stammering and
stuttering all over the place and they're gonna think I'm some sort of
mentally handicapped dweeb!'
Well, I tried my best.
"I-I-Is this D-D-Dr. F-F-F-Fine's of-of-office?" I stammered.
"Yes it is. Please come in. Are you Mr. Franklin?"
This vision asked me.
"T-T-Thanks. Y-Y-Yes I-I-I am D-D-Donald F-F-Franklin." DAMN! I HAD to
get this under control!
I decided that honesty was the best policy and I said,
"P-Please excuse my st-st-stuttering. I-I-I'm not usually l-l-like
this. I-I-It only hap-hap-happens w-w-when I m-m-meet a b-b-beautiful
wo-wo-woman l-l-like y-y-you." 'Oh, THAT was cool!' I thought to
myself, disgustedly. 'That'll REALLY impress her!
CRAP!'
To my surprise though, she didn't laugh at me. I guess you gotta be
cool and collected in a job like hers. She just smiled at me and said,
"Why thank you, Mr. Franklin! I believe that's the nicest compliment
I've gotten all this week! Listen, if it'll help at all, my name is
Nancy and I'm nobody important here. I'm just Dr. Fine's secretary. I'd
like it if you'd call me Nancy and I hope, if you get the job here,
that we'll become friends. Now if you'll just have a seat, I'll go tell
Dr. Fine you're here. You're early! That's good. Punctuality is highly
prized around here. Just make yourself comfortable and I'll be right
back."
Well, that smile and what she said, did a lot to help me get over my
jitters and stuttering.
"T-Thanks." I said. 'I a-appreciate it." And I took a seat in what
turned out to be, a comfortable chair.
"OH!" She exclaimed. "I almost forgot! You have to fill out one of
these questionnaires. Dr. Fine would have my HEAD if I forgot that!"
She scurried back to her desk and rummaged around in a pile of papers
until she found the one she was looking for. She handed it to me, along
with a clipboard and a pen.
"Now, you just fill that out sweetie and I'll tell Dr. Fine that you're
here."
Sweetie? She called me sweetie? Hey! Things might be looking up! I mean
yeah, she was older than me, but what the heck, some women LIKE younger
guys, right? She WAS very good looking. Maybe not quite as gorgeous as
the one downstairs, but very, very cute, nevertheless.
The form was pretty much standard and I won't bore you with the details
of it. It took a few minutes to fill it out and read the security
warnings and such. Nancy came back before I was finished and just sat
down at her desk and continued with whatever she had been doing before
I came in. When I was done, I got up and walked over to her desk,
handing the form, clipboard and pen back to her. She went over the form
quickly and showed me where I'd forgotten to sign one of the security
warnings. I signed it and she took the form with her, leaving the outer
office.
She returned just a couple of minutes later and said,
"Dr. Fine is waiting for you, Donald. Just go right through that door
and turn left. It's the second door to the right after that. Good luck,
honey and don't worry about a thing. Dr. Fine is a little gruff, but
he's really a pussycat. Just be yourself and I'm sure you'll be just
fine."
"T-Thanks, Nancy." I said. I ap-appreciate all your help."
I left via the door she indicated and followed her directions, coming
to a closed door with Dr. Fine's name on it. This time I figured I'd
better knock and I did. A strong male voice answered, saying.
"Come in, Donald!"
I entered and saw a 50ish looking man with graying hair and wearing one
of those tweed jackets like you see in the old movies, coming around a
desk with his hand held out. I stepped in, closed the door and grasped
his hand with a good, strong male handshake like my Father had taught
me to do.
"Dr, Fine, I presume?" I said and then I groaned to myself. 'Swell! Who
do I think I am? Some kind of African explorer? GEEZE!'
He just smiled at me and invited me to have a seat. I grabbed a squat
in a chair opposite his desk and he went beck behind the desk, sitting
down there.
"So, Donald. He began. Your Father tells me that you're looking for
summer work and you'd like to give us a try? He's a good man, your Dad.
Always puts in the kind of sandwiches I like in those machines of his.
Would you like a soda or a glass of water or something? NANCY?
...NANCY?" he kind of yelled.
Then, grumbling to himself, he pushed a button on his phone. "NANCY!
NANCY! Where ARE you, confound it!
These contraptions never work right!"
I tried to get in a word edgewise, but he was sort of rambling and
complaining about not being able to get hold of Nancy on the intercom
or whatever it was.
"Sir? Sir? Dr. Fine? Really, I'm okay. I don't need anything to drink,
Sir. Please don't both..."
But I seemed to not be getting through to him.
I finally gave up and let him rant until Nancy came in with a can of
Pepsi?.
"Dr. Fine?" She said. "I figured this was what you wanted, Dr. Will
there be anything else?"
"Harumph! No, Nancy, that'll be all for now. Thank you. Now please
leave us alone. How will I ever get through this interview with this
fine young man if you keep on interrupting us?"
Nancy gave me a look that said, 'This happens all the time. Pay no
attention to it.'
Surprisingly, I got it. She was trying to tell me that Dr. Fine was a
little bit...um...eccentric. 'Okay.' I thought. 'I can deal with this.'
After Nancy left and Dr. Fine had settled down again, he continued.
So, my boy, what do you think? Do you want the job?
Fine. Fine. I knew you'd be perfect for it. So nice to meet you,
Ronald. Please see Nancy on your way out and she'll give you all the
things you need.
Wonderful meeting you, young man." Then he leaned in toward me and
whispered, "You wouldn't have a tuna on rye on you, would you?"
"Um, no sir, I don't." I responded, also in a whisper.
"Well, well, no matter." He said in a normal tone of voice. I'll get
one from one of the machines downstairs. Well, have a nice day young
man. I'll expect to see you bright and early Monday morning at the
lab." And he went back behind his desk, muttering to himself. "Now HOW
does this blasted machine work again? NANCY! NANCY!" He yelled at the
phone.
"Say, Ronald is it? Would you mind very much sending Nancy in here on
your way out? There was something I needed from her, but I'm damned if
I can recall how to work this confounded machine!"
"No problem Dr Fine." I responded. "I'll send her right in for you.
Thank you sir for the job and I'll try to do my bes..." but he cut me
off saying,
"Fine. Fine. Yes that's my name...OH! I see what you mean, young
fellow. Haw. Haw. Very funny indeed! Fine-Fine. Very amusing." And off
he went again, muttering and laughing to himself as he closed the door
behind me.
'WOW!' I remember thinking. 'This guy is WHACKED! I hope he's a LOT
better at whatever scientific crap he does here. If he's as bad at IT
as he is with that simple phone/intercom, I'm gonna stay FAR away from
whatever he does!'
I quickly negotiated the distance back to Nancy's office and let myself
in. She was sitting behind the desk, seemingly trying to stifle the
giggles.
"Oh, Hon, I WANTED to warn you better, but I thought you'd better find
out that Dr. Fine is more than a little bit, um, eccentric. He's
WONDERFUL in his lab, but outside it, he seems as crazy as a bedbug, as
my Grandma used to say." And at that point Nancy collapsed into
helpless giggles.
"Wow!" I said. He IS a bit 'out there' isn't he?
That HAD to be the strangest interview for a job I've ever had! He
didn't even ask me any questions, except the one about did I want
something to drink! I'm not so sure I wanna work for him! He's liable
to blow the lab up or something!"
"Oh, no, hon." Nancy responded, getting over her giggles. "Dr. Fine is
one of the world's BEST at what he does! It's just that, with people,
he's somewhat scattered and, well, socially inept. He's a brilliant
theoretical scientist and is YEARS ahead of everyone else in his field,
which is exo-skeletal research and development. In fact, you WILL be
working directly with him in his lab. Don't worry. He hasn't killed or
crippled anyone yet!" and she started giggling again. "At least no one
I've heard about!"
'Great!' I thought. 'This whole place is infested with loonies! Dad's
gonna get an EARfull when I get home!'
"Well, I'm outta here, Nancy. I'm glad you had a laugh at my expense
and I hope that I can be just as amusing when I'm working here!"
'Oh, c'mon, Donald. Don't be that way! I'm not laughing at you! I'm
just laughing because I know how Dr. Fine is and I knew you had the job
before you ever walked in here. Why all morning he talked about the
"son of the vending man" coming to work here!"
She rose from behind her desk and came over to me, taking my hand in
hers.
"Please don't think badly of me, Donald. I REALLY didn't mean to laugh.
You seem like a really nice guy and I'd hate to think that you think
I'm mean or cruel. Please?"
Well, how could I be mad as such a lovely woman?
Especially when she was practically pleading to be forgiven?
"Welllll...okay, Nancy." I finally said, in a kidding manner. But I owe
you one! One of these days, I'll get you back for this, I promise!"
"Tell you what, Donald. Your first day here, lunch is on me, okay? Will
that make up for the little joke I played on you?"
'WOW! Lunch with Nancy on my first day here? Heck YEAH!' I was
thinking.
About that time, Jerry entered the office. He came over to me and we
did the teenage handshake thing.
You know. Fist on fist, forearm on forearm and then the handshake with
thumbs up?
"What's up my man?" He said enthusiastically.
'Not a lot, dude." I replied. I got the job! Hey, look, when you meet
this Dr. Fine? Make sure you're VERY respectful to him, okay? He likes
that. Nancy here turned me on to that. Listen VERY carefully to what he
says and don't let him scare ya, okay? He seems real mean, but he
isn't."
I shot Nancy a look that said, "Go along with me on this and you're
forgiven."
She jumped right in saying,
"Oh yes! You must be Mr. Jenkins, right? Your interview is next. Just
do as Donald here told you and you'll be fine. Here, fill out this form
and I'll be right back. Donald? I'm looking forward to our lunch
Monday. Byee sweetie!"
She left and Jerry looked at me with an expression of awe on his face.
"DUDE! You scored lunch with that babe already? You haven't even been
here an hour and the gals are hittin' on ya already? Way to GO, My
man!"
"Hey Jer. Some of us got it and some of us don't.
I GOT it! What can I tell ya? Look, I'll wait for ya in the lot. You
meet me there after your interview and we'll hit the Golden Starches
for something, okay?"
"Solid, duder! Congrats on landing the job, man.
Hope I can say the same about myself when this is finished. Wish me
luck, man okay?"
"You got it, Jer. You know that. Knock him dead!
I'll catch ya downstairs out at the 'beast'."
I left Jerry filling out the form and headed downstairs, finally
letting out some laughter that I had been holding back. Then, something
curious occurred to me. All that time I had been talking to Nancy after
my 'interview' with Dr. Fine, I hadn't stuttered ONCE! I couldn't
remember the last time THAT had happened with a pretty woman! Maybe
this working thing was gonna work out for me after all.
Chapter Two
Well, Jerry's interview went about the same as mine and he swore that
he was gonna GET me for it! I just laughed and, eventually, so did he.
We played little jokes and some NOT so little jokes on one another all
the time. We were both scheduled to work for Dr. Fine, starting the
following Monday so we used the weekend to party HEARTY! My Dad was
proud of me for landing the job and he made me promise to do my very
best. Of course, that was the only way I knew anyway, but I promised
just the same, just to make him happy.
He even gave me fundage for partying that weekend.
Awesome!
Cindy, Jerry's girlfriend and Debbie, my girlfriend were sorta bummed
about us having to work all summer, but they cheered up when they
realized that we'd still have evenings and weekends with them AND we'd
have more bucks to spend. Women. Go figure them out!
We had a great time all that weekend at the lake and, by Sunday night,
I was worn out. I hit the bed and was asleep almost immediately, even
though I was a bit nervous about starting work. Monday morning I was up
before the alarm went off and was out of the house even before my
Father! I fired up the 'beast' and headed over to pick Jerry up. We'd
agreed that he would ride back and forth to work with me and we'd split
the gas fees.
We arrived bright and early. So early in fact that the parking lot was
almost empty. I had my choice of spots to park that land yacht. Cool!
We sat in the car until some of the other employees started to arrive
and then we fell in with them and entered the main building. That whole
first morning was taken up with security warnings and paperwork and
briefings.
BORING!
Finally, when lunchtime arrived, Nancy showed up to escort me for our
lunch date! Well I CALLED it a date anyway. She looked AWESOME and I
was getting flustered again when I recalled the way I felt when I was
there last and used that to try to overcome my stuttering tendency.
Lunch went VERY quickly and Nancy filled most of the time, telling me
and Jerry about the work that Dr. Fine was doing and how far in advance
of everyone else in the world he was. In fact, she told us,
"Dr. Fine is SO far ahead of everyone else that he's working in areas
they haven't even recognized yet!
Why do you know that he's already working on the 10th generation of
exoskeleton suits? I've heard that they're amazing! You know, the first
ones looked like something out of that movie Aliens, where Sigourney
Weaver used one to fight the Queen alien, but the new ones, I've heard,
look so real, so much like a real person, that it's hard to tell
they're just mechanical suits!"
Jerry and I looked at one another and I know that our minds reached the
same conclusion at the same time.
TRANSFORMERS!!! You know, that cartoon show about the mechanical robots
with people inside them, that can transform into other things, like
cars and trucks? I suppose, if I'd stopped to think about it then, I'd
have wondered why Nancy knew so much about Dr. Fine's work and why she
was telling us about it, but I was so fascinated by what she was saying
AND with her great looks and voice that the little voice inside me that
SHOULD have warned me, went unheeded.
Then she dropped the REAL bombshell on us! See, Jerry and I thought
we'd be just cleaning up the lab and stuff like that, but Nancy told us
that we were gonna be trained to operate the suits! Our pay scale was
gonna be WAY more than 10 bucks an hour PLUS danger pay! She said we'd
probably be making about a thousand a week and more if there was any
real danger involved! WAY COOL! Jerry and I looked at one another again
and we did the high five thing, right there in the cafeteria.
Then, some of the words she'd said kinda snuck up on me and hit me in
the back of my head. Danger? Like REAL danger? Like life threatening
danger? The expression on my face must have told Nancy that my mind had
gone there, because she turned to me and took my hand saying,
"Oh, Honey! Don't worry. There's never been an accident in Dr. Fine's
lab, not EVER! Why he's so careful that he triple checks every little
thing, twice, before he allows anything to begin. There's no real
danger there at all, but that danger clause has to be there to protect
the facility, just in case, you know?"
Well, despite what Nancy told us after that, there was the beginning of
some serious doubt about what Jerry and I were gonna be doing. I mean
it WAS exciting, yes, but that hint about danger that she had dropped
on our heads, kinda let some of the air outta out balloons, you know?
Let's face it. Jerry and I were just a couple of kids. Now I knew that
my Dad wouldn't let me get into something too far over my head, but I
was still a bit apprehensive when we reported to Dr. Fine's lab and it
took the edge right off lunch with a beautiful woman, lemme tell you!
In the course of that afternoon, Jerry and I learned a lot about
exoskeletons and what they were as well as what they weren't. What they
weren't, they weren't TRANSFORMERS. Well, not in the cartoon sense they
weren't. They couldn't transform themselves into trucks and fighting
robots and like that. What they WERE, was incredibly capable working
machines and they DID look VERY human. One person, wearing one of Dr.
Fine's current crop of exoskeletons, could do the work of 5 regular
forklifts and do it more efficiently.
One person, wearing one of those suits could lift over two tons of
properly loaded stuff and walk over a hundred yards with it, depositing
it safely in whatever location you'd care to name. Additionally and
perhaps more importantly, the suits were very light. They weighed no
more than 100 pounds and, once wearing one of them, you didn't even
notice the weight. They had servomotors in them that kept them always
upright and you couldn't knock one over with anything less than one of
the other suits or a truck!
You could even run at an almost normal speed in them.
They fit sort of like I imagine an old time suit of armor would have
fit, but were much more flexible than that old armor would have been.
There were currently four suits in existence, with former models having
been destroyed in testing or when the newer ones were ready for use and
tests. In the first two weeks, Jerry and I were trained so thoroughly
in their uses and operations that we probably could put one on, use it
and take it off in our sleep!
In the following few weeks, Dr. Fine lived up to his reputation. He was
as flighty as a long tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs out of
the lab, but inside the lab he was a real pit bull! NOTHING got past
him and he allowed NO horseplay or fooling around in the lab at all! We
found THAT out the first time Jerry and I tried a mock fight with two
of the suits on. I'm surprised I had any skin left on me after Dr. Fine
got through ripping it off me!
Whatever else Dr. Fine might have been out of the lab, he was a real
theoretical genius inside that lab. He was constantly coming up with
improvements and additions to the suits and Jerry and I tested every
one of them. Along with the improvements came more real looking suits
and more agile suits, as well as stronger ones. By the time one month
had gone by, the suits that we were testing made the ones we started
with, look like model Ts as compared with racing Ferraris. Of course,
all this development was strictly monitored and controlled by numerous
security people and regulations and there were severe penalties
connected with telling ANYONE outside the lab, ANYTHING about the suits
OR the work going on there.
Now, I didn't mention, although I probably should have, that Dr. Fine
DID have a little eccentricity that carried through into the lab. See,
in his designs for the suits, he made four in each series.
Two that looked male and two that looked female.
Why? I don't have a clue. All I know is that Jerry and I had to test
every one of them, including the female ones. That was somewhat
embarrassing the first time we had to test the female ones, but we
quickly got used to them and, after the first month, it didn't seem odd
at all to look like a girl inside one of those suits. Now they didn't
make us ACT like girls, just LOOK like girls.
With all the improvements and more coming, Dr. Fine was more and more
scattered outside the lab and made almost no sense at all if you tried
to talk to him then. Inside the lab though, he was increasingly more
and more centered and focused on improving the suits and he kept the
fabrication shops working overtime, for sure. The latest suits were
amazing, just amazing.
Their load capacities had doubled, their agility was incredible and
their weight had been reduced. They were damn near bulletproof and as
tough as a Bradley Fighting Vehicle! They even had grappling hooks that
they could shoot out to grab hold of things, connected to cables with a
four ton tensile strength! You could tow a TRUCK using them and hit
that truck from 50 yards away! Just incredible stuff!
Of course, our girlfriends were constantly trying to get us to tell
them what we were doing and my parents even tried, but Jerry and I had
been warned often and continuously about what to say and what not to
say.
The pay was too good and the penalties were too great to get us to say
anything we weren't allowed to say and that pissed the girls off a
little bit, I think.
Fortunately the money that Jerry and I were making and spending on
them, kinda kept them from getting TOO curious. Besides, it was kinda
neat to have this big secret, you know? It kinda made us feel like we
were some kind of James Bond spy kinda guys, even when we were wearing
the female exosuits.
Now, as the summer came to an end and the suits were getting more and
more sophisticated, it got more and more difficult to tell from the
outside, whether one was wearing one or not. They were so lifelike
that, when Jerry or I were wearing one of them, you really couldn't
tell whether or not we WERE wearing an exosuit! The female ones even
moved like a girl and, through some interesting technological
breakthroughs, our voices SOUNDED female, although we still had our
male speaking patterns. We DID have some fun messing with the guys in
the lab, flirting with them and stuff though, while wearing the female
suits.
Dr. Fine was so pleased with our work and the way things were going,
that he offered to bring in tutors for Jerry and me so we wouldn't have
to go back to school and break up the flow of progress, but our parents
nixed that, saying that we needed the social intercourse as much as the
actual educational part of school and Jerry and I agreed with that.
Hey! We were both 17, about to be 18, year old guys with raging
hormones and a need for the company of our own peers. The money we made
through the summer enabled us both to buy better cars though and THAT
enhanced out social standings no end!
Well, Jerry bought a new car. I improved the 'beast'. I upgraded the
stereo system for one thing. I also had it taken into a specialty shop
and had the engine, suspension and drive train upgraded to WAY beyond
anything GM could have dreamed possible. Then I had the whole car
detailed and redone inside, but I left the outside pretty much
untouched except for repairing a few rusty spots. I wanted it to LOOK
like it was bone stock, but that car could turn a quarter mile in 9
seconds flat by the time I was done with it and would top 150 with no
problem on the road, while handling like a racing Porsche! It sure
surprised a lot of Red Light racers, I can tell ya that!
Anyway, Jerry and I continued working at the facility, after school
three days a week and on Saturdays until 5PM. It sorta pissed Dr. Fine
off a bit to not have us available on a more regular basis, but he had
to accede to our wants and needs as well as those of out parents.
Time went on and so did the improvements to the suits and, each time
Jerry and I tested a new model, we were astounded by how far Dr. Fine
had advanced them from the last models. By Christmas vacation time, the
suits we were testing were so advanced that we couldn't believe it. To
all intents and purposes, while wearing one of them, no one could tell
you were wearing it! They were absolutely lifelike! Their load
capacities had increased to the point of almost supernatural. One could
easily lift and carry over 6 tons of dead weight without any strain at
all and the grapple systems had been upgraded so far that they began to
resemble weapons! You could shoot a hook with a line attached to over
150 yards with pinpoint accuracy and you could tow a fully loaded
tractor-trailer after you hit it! Their agility was so advanced that,
when wearing one of them, you weren't even aware that you WERE wearing
one. You could move just as easily with one on as you could without it
and fast? Lemme tell you, those suits, with all their strength and the
self leveling servos meant that when we were wearing them we could run
VERY fast indeed, sometimes reaching 60 MPH or better, depending on the
surface we were running on. Even our reflexes were quicker. It seemed
that Dr. Fine had somehow managed to key the suit's abilities right
into our own nervous systems!
Now I'm sure that the military had a hand in those suits somewhere, but
I could never prove it. I mean, I never saw anyone in any sort of
uniform in all the time I spent there and no one ever mentioned
anything about the military, although with all the security
precautions, no one would have dared to say anything to anyone who
didn't have a 'need to know'. Dr. Fine was frustrated at what he called
the "slow" progress in further developments on the suits, referring of
course, to the fact that Jerry and I weren't working there full time
during the school year.
He got flakier and flakier until his weirdness began to insinuate
itself into the lab itself! He started shortcutting certain things he
never would have before and I guess that's what led to the "accident".
What happened was this. Jerry and I were in on a Saturday, testing the
newest models of the suits. He was wearing one of the male models and I
was wearing one of the female ones. We were fooling around, like we
shouldn't have been doing, but Dr. Fine didn't seem to mind so much
that day. In fact, he was encouraging us to 'play around a bit' in the
suits! Well, you know what that meant to two teenage boys, right? We
were throwing 50 pound weight plates around like Frisbees and lifting
stuff that shouldn't have been lifted. Jerry grabbed hold of one of the
supports for part of the roof and yanked on it, just fooling around,
you know? Next thing we knew, that part of the roof just collapsed! I
mean, it came down like an avalanche, snow from the outside and all!
Jerry and I weren't hurt at all, in fact, neither of us was even
knocked off balance by all that weight that came crashing down, but a
couple of the techs were buried by the falling debris and Jerry and I
had to dig them out.
Of course, the ambulance had to be called and Jerry and I had no time
to get out of the suits before they got there. The police came along as
well and, along with the security force at the facility got involved as
well. They immediately closed down that section of the lab and that
created a real problem for everyone.
See, Jerry and I were still in the damned SUITS when they closed
everything down! Now getting into the suits was pretty easy and quick,
but getting OUT of them was a little involved and took considerably
more time. Like about a flippin' hour!
Dr. Fine was no help at all, having freaked right out when the roof
came down. He was taken away for observation, leaving me and Jerry
standing there, still in those stupid damn suits. Now, ordinarily, that
wouldn't have bothered me SO much except that the suits were made to
look...well, naked. That is to say, they didn't have clothes on them.
They were also anatomically correct, another one of Dr. Fine's little
quirks. So Jerry and I covered ourselves with some blankets while
outsiders were around. After the ambulance and cops left, we took off
the blankets and kinda stood around, staring at the wreck of the lab.
It was pretty bad, I gotta tell ya. There was no way in hell it was
gonna be back in operation for several weeks.
The worst part of it was that the part of the lab that had the
equipment to help get us out of those damned suits was dead center in
the midst of the pile of debris, so there was no way to get OUT of the
things!
We were pretty much stuck until the lab was rebuilt or until Dr. Fine
was released and figured out another way to take them off of us!
So there we were. Looking like God's own designs of Adam and Eve, as
perfect as Dr. Fine's genius could make us look and, oh yeah, still
NAKED! We talked about what we could do and we both realized that, with
the capabilities of those suits, normal clothes would be ripped to
shreds in minutes of putting them on.
See, clothes can stretch a bit, even the stiffer kinds of clothes, but
they can't stretch fast, or at least as fast as the suits could move
and there was NO give in the suits like there is in a human body. The
things were virtually bulletproof and you couldn't hurt them OR their
wearers by running them over with a big rig!
So regular clothes were right out. That left us only a couple of
options. Since we couldn't get out of the things without the help of
the special equipment and going naked was NOT an option, we could
either find some kind of clothing that would stretch and do so fast
enough and far enough so the enhanced strength of the suits wouldn't
rip them to shreds, or we could stay at the facility until the lab was
rebuilt or Dr. Fine was released from the hospital. The latter was NOT
a real option. We still had school to attend, but that presented a
whole NEW batch of problems for us.
First of all, we didn't look anything like ourselves.
Jerry and I looked like perfect specimens of male and female, but
neither of us had ANY resemblance to what we REALLY looked like,
especially ME! Another thing was that with the advanced capabilities of
the suits we had to be VERY, VERY careful not to hurt anyone while
wearing them. I mean, even something as simple as a handshake could
cripple someone if we forgot who we looked like and what we were
capable of! Then there was the security angle of the whole thing.
Security wasn't keen at all about letting us walk off wearing those
suits. They represented countless hours of development and countless
dollars of research money and they weren't at ALL happy about letting
us out of their sight! The upside of that was, at least for us, that
they couldn't very well force us to stay. I mean, we were, to all
intents and purposes, self-contained minitanks! Even the full force of
a police taser felt like no more than a mild tickle to us, since the
suits were fully insulated from heat, cold and electricity. They even
had emergency air supplies built into them, good for at least two
hours!
Now I don't really remember which one of us came up with the next
thought first, but ONE of us said it.
We were the next best things to real SUPERHEROES!
Tough, fast, damned near invulnerable and strong as hell! We even had
weapons, for God's sake! The grappling hooks! What were they really
like? Well, picture Spiderman's enemy in Spidy 2, Doc Ock. Well they
were a LOT like Doc Ock's arms, only we each only had three of them and
they weren't as fully usable as his, but after all, this was real life,
not some Hollywood movie! Basically we could shoot with them, grapple
and pull with incredible force, while still retaining the use of our
own arms inside the suit's arms. Don't even bother to ask me HOW all
this got contained inside the suits, okay? I haven't a CLUE how Dr.
Fine did it and even if I did know, if I told you, I'd have to kill
you! No, not really!
Well, I wasn't too keen on the superhero thing, I can tell you. I mean
it MIGHT have been okay for Jerry.
He still looked like a guy. An incredibly well built and handsome guy,
about 6' 4" and looking like he weighed about 250 VERY solid pounds,
but still a guy when all was said and done. Me? Well, imagine your
dream woman. I was about 6 feet tall in the suit and looked to weigh
about 160 VERY well built female pounds, with curves everywhere a woman
is supposed to have curves and so forth. My face was right out of
someone's wet dream with big puffy lips and high cheekbones and all the
rest of the things that make a woman's face really beautiful. Hell, I
made Nancy look like a friggin' boy!
Add to that the fact that the female suits were built slightly
differently from the male suits. The articulation was such that, while
wearing one of them, you were forced to walk and move the way a female
would. Dr. Fine's little predilection, no doubt, but there it was. Then
there was the voice. Yeah, the voice. If you've ever called one of
those 1-900 numbers and heard one of those really sexy female voices on
them, you have some idea of what my voice sounded like while I wore
that suit. Dr. Fine had really worked overtime on the movement and
voices of the suits and I can tell you that they were completely
convincing to anyone seeing them move, or hearing them speak. Yes my
speech patterns were still my own, but, modified by the suit, even THAT
sounded almost unbearable sexy! Hell, even when I got MAD, I still
sounded sexy and cute! A TRULY revolting state of being for a 17 year
old, wanna-be, macho man like me!
Well anyway, we called our parents and told them as much as we could
about what had happened. Just convincing them of who we were was a
MAJOR undertaking, although we did finally get that accomplished. We
left the decision about whether we were to stay at the facility or come
home in their hands. We convinced security that whatever our parents
decided, we were gonna do, with or without THEIR approval! We did agree
that they could send a man, or a woman, with each of us to help and to
keep a close eye on their investments and we told out parents about
that part of it.
Now bear in mind that NO one outside the facility and damned few INSIDE
it had ever seen the suits or what they could do and we couldn't even
tell our parents ALL of what the suits were capable of. In fact, we
couldn't let on at all that we weren't what and who we appeared to be,
except to our parents and immediate families and that would create
problems for us as far as school went. We still, after all, had several
months to go before graduation. Add to that the very real danger of one
of us harming someone, even completely unintentionally and you have
some idea of out dilemma.
Now we both knew that no one could really harm either of us without
some serious horsepower and we weren't concerned for ourselves, but we
also knew that one mistake, one hug too tight, one handshake too
strenuous, one high five delivered with too much force and we could
seriously hurt or even kill someone else and to say that we were scared
would be the ultimate in understatement! Still, we thought that our
best choice was to try to act and behave as though we were what we
appeared to be and even though for me, that meant a MAJOR change in
behavior, it was still better than the alternative, which was
internment for an indefinite amount of time, at the facility. When our
parents called back, they agreed with our assessment of the situation
and they wanted us home, regardless of the way we looked. I knew it
would be an uphill battle, getting MY parents to accept that, for the
foreseeable future, they had a new daughter, but there was no other way
to go, so we fashioned some makeshift tunics from the blankets and
climbed in the 'beast' to head home, followed by two of the vehicles
from security.
I don't think I mentioned the heads up displays, built into the suits
yet. I don't understand the technicalities of how they worked; I only
know that they DID work, very well. They were tough to get used to,
but, once we did get used to them, it was a kind of culture shock to
take the suits off and NOT have the HUD to depend on. Everything from
temperatures, to distances, to the amount of load being carried, to
power remaining, as well as infra-red and enhanced hearing were built
into the HUD's. We could basically hear better than a dog and see
better than any animal, night or day. Quite the pieces of work were
those suits and completely off the scale as far as putting a dollar
price on them.
I didn't spend a LOT of time bemoaning the fact that I was stuck
looking, moving and sounding like a woman.
I mean, it was a roll of the dice anyway. It could just as easily been
Jerry in the female suit and me in the male one. It just happened that
I was the one testing the newest female suit that day. The one thing I
DID know was that this was gonna put a serious strain on my
relationship with Debbie, my girlfriend.
I didn't know HOW I was gonna explain this to her, at all. If indeed I
COULD tell her anything about it! I also knew that, if ANYONE tried
anything on the lovely lady that I appeared to be, they'd be in for one
HELL of a shock! They'd be at the least disappointed or, at the worst,
seriously injured!
Well, after we got everything worked out with the security force and
our parents, Jerry and I again wrapped those blankets around ourselves
like some kinda togas and headed out to the parking lot where the new,
improved 'beast' awaited. We had managed to grab our own clothes from
the lockers where we usually stored them while we were working, testing
the suits, so I we had our wallets and IDs and keys. I climbed in the
driver's side and Jerry got in the passenger side, almost ripping off
the damn door handle in the process!
"JERRY!" I screamed at him in my higher, feminine tones. "Take it EASY,
willya? Jeeze! I just got this car the way I WANT it! Don't go tearing
stuff off it already, okay?"
"Hey Don, my man, or maybe I should say my Woman? Ha ha ha. It's not
like I have a LOT of experience at being this strong, you know? I mean,
yeah we've used this new strength in the lab and stuff, but never out
here in the real world. In the lab, stuff is built with the power of
these suits in mind, but out here in the real deal, things are built
for the strength of an average human being, which we AIN'T right now,
in case you forgot or something! So lighten up, okay?"
"Oh, HA friggin' HA, you moron!" I screamed back at him. "You think
it's funny that I'm stuck in this sexy babe suit, huh? Don't forget,
dimwit, it could just as easily have been YOU in here and ME in that
babe magnet you're wearing! How would you like a swift kick where it
hurts?"
"Go ahead, you dummy!" Jerry yelled back at me.
"You can't hurt me and I can't hurt you, in case you forgot THAT little
detail, you dipstick! And what the hell are you yelling at ME for,
anyway? This wasn't MY fault, you know!"
"Oh REALLY?" I shot back at him. "Just WHO was it that pulled the
goddamn ROOF down on us you shithead?
It sure as hell wasn't ME! This is all YOUR fault and, if I didn't know
it would be an exercise in futility, I'd kick your ass all over this
parking lot!"
"Well, why don't you just give it a try, SWEETCAKES!
Maybe you'd rather KISS me than kick me, huh? You look sweet enough to
kiss, I'll tell ya THAT!"
Well, I ALMOST got out of that car and I would have TRIED to kick his
stupid ass, but I started thinking again. Something I hadn't been doing
for the past few minutes, having given myself over to some kind of
panic attack. Finally, cool reason took hold of my mind again and I
just shut my mouth and GLARED at Jerry for a couple of minutes.
Okay, maybe I shouldn't have hollered at Jerry, but this whole deal was
really stressing me out. I mean, here I was, an average, 17 year old
teenage BOY, trapped, for the time being and for the foreseeable
future, in an extremely sexy, beautiful WOMAN'S form!
Granted I had a lot of abilities inside the suit that I didn't have
without it, but it was STILL a case of MAJOR culture shock, okay?
"Look, Jerry." I finally said. "We're both really freaked out right now
and it's probably not a good idea for us to get ANY kind of physical
with one another right now. We'd likely wreck half of the area, trying
to kick each other's asses. I'm sorry I yelled at you. We've been
friends WAY too long for us to be at each other's throats over this,
right? Let's just take a couple of chill pills and work out how we're
gonna deal with all this, okay?"
Jerry just sat there for a couple more minutes and then, finally gave
one of those big, tension relieving sighs.
"Yeah, Don, my man. You're right, ya know? I mean this is freaky enough
without you and me going at each other. I'm sorry I laughed at ya, but
you ARE damned sexy in that thing, ya know?"
"Well Jer, don't forget who's really IN this thing, okay? No matter
what I look like right now, I'm still your best bud since kindergarten,
right? So don't get too freaky about how I look and I'll try not to get
freaked out by how YOU look, okay? Shit man, you make Arnold
Schwarzenegger look like the original 98 pound weakling in that damned
suit!"
"Yeah. This thing's the bomb, alright! The chicks are gonna be all over
me for however long I gotta wear it, that's for sure. How are YOU gonna
deal with guys coming on to YOU in your suit, though? That's gonna be a
real freakout trip, no doubt! Man, that suit makes Paris Hilton look
like a damn BOY! You're gonna have your hands full, for certain,
duder...or should I say dudette? WHOA...WHOA, Don! Don't go nuts on me
again, I was only kidding about that dudette thing, but DAMN man, I
wouldn't wanna be in YOUR shoes, that's for sure!"
"Okay, Jer, OKAY! JEEZE! You think I don't KNOW that? Just back off and
let me deal with this my own way, okay? You screaming the freaking
obvious at me isn't gonna help! Look, we're gonna have to help each
other a lot, in the next few days, or weeks, or whatever, until we can
get the hell OUT of these damn things, right? Let's just get home and
try to figure it out there. For now, though...shake?"
"You got it, Don. Whatever happens, we're friends till the end, right?
Just like we said back in the day and every day for our whole lives.
You back me, I back you. Although, my friend, with you looking like
that, I'm gonna have a whole new reason to back you up. The view from
behind you is...well, WOW!
Hahahahaha! KIDDING!!! KIDDING!" He yelled, as I drew back my fist like
I was gonna swat him.
"Jerry, you idiot! JEEZE, man. What the hell am I gonna do with you?
It's a damn good thing we're friends, that's all I gotta say about it.
Ah, forget it. I guess if things were the other way around and YOU
looked like my wet dream, I'd be acting the same way you are right now.
Let's just drop it and get home, but not another WORD outta you about
my looks, okay? I can't help how Dr. Fine designed the suits, ya know?"
"Okay, Don. You got my word. Not another word outta me about...that. I
AM sorry, duder. I can't help how I feel about the way you look right
now, ya know? I mean, shit man! If you and me had seen a babe who
looked like you, before we got involved in all this job crap and these
suits, you KNOW we woulda been all over her, yes?"
I sighed and said,
"Yeah, you're right. I'm just stressed, ya know.
Just shut up about it for now, willya?"
Well, he did shut up, at least about...that and I fired up the 'beast'
being very careful and tentative about every movement and pressure I
used. I didn't wanna put holes in the old girl, right? I drove, very
carefully out of the lot and the first thing I noticed was that it took
a lot more concentration than usual, to do something as simple as
driving a car. If I moved JUST a little too quickly or suddenly, the
car would either swerve wildly, accelerate too fast, or stop too hard.
I took a few minutes, just driving around the parking lot, getting used
to using the suit in ways I had never used it before. Jerry bitched a
bit about what I was doing, but after I explained it to him, he got it
and agreed with me. We both agreed that we were gonna need a bunch of
practice before we were comfortable with our enhanced abilities.
We HOPED that we wouldn't be stuck in the suits for very long anyway.
We figured that Dr. Fine would be out of the hospital in no more than a
couple of days and then things could get back to what we laughingly
referred to as normal. Well, after about ten or fifteen minutes of just
driving slowly around the parking lot, I felt a little more secure in
my ability to control my strength while driving and I headed out for
home, at a reduced rate of speed. The LAST thing I needed was a cop
stopping me for speeding or reckless driving while I looked the way I
did right then!
We were our own little parade, consisting of Jerry and me in the
'beast' and two regular cars which contained the man and woman from
security who were gonna stay close to Jerry and me until something
happened, like the lab being reopened or Dr. Fine coming back. While
enroute home, Jerry used my cell phone to contact his parents and mine
and arrange to have everyone get together at my folks place. We both
figured that we'd rather get everything over with all at once than have
to explain everything two or three times to both families.
We decided that what we were gonna tell our folks would be almost the
truth. We were gonna say that these suits were just bodysuit kinda
things. We were NOT gonna tell them about their enhanced capabilities
unless we absolutely HAD to. We'd say that, because of the accident,
the special equipment we needed to take them off with, had been damaged
and we were stuck for a little while in them. We knew that we'd have to
be VERY careful not to forget and display any of what the suits could
really do, even with our families. If they knew, they could tell
someone else and that would NOT go well with the people at the think
tank or the security people.
Jerry and I talked about it all the way home and, by the time we made
it to the driveway at my parent's home, we had it pretty much down pat,
what we were gonna tell them. We talked it over very quickly with the
security people who had followed us home and they agreed with our plan,
so into the house we went.
I had barely opened the door before both our Moms were right there,
followed by our Dad's and Jerry's sister, Claire. Claire was 15 at the
time and was getting to be a real looker in her own right. I was even
thinking of dating her, sometime down the road, she was getting that
cute. 'Guess THAT'LL have to wait a little while!' I thought to myself.
It took a few minutes to re-introduce ourselves to our families, but
they seemed to accept what we told them and who we really were, pretty
quickly. They did ask us about the 'togas' we were wearing, but we
explained that by saying that the clothes wouldn't really fit our
changed appearances and that seemed to satisfy them on that point.
Claire just kept staring at Jerry and particularly at me. I don't know
what she was thinking, but I thought I caught just a little bit of
actual jealousy in her eyes when she looked at me. Well, I WAS better
built and better looking than she was just then, so I kinda understood,
although I wasn't pleased by the fact that a cute teenage girl was
jealous of MY looks.
We finally made it into the living room, where we all got comfortable.
We introduced the two security people, Jim and Penny, to our families
and explained that they were there to make sure no harm came to us, or
the suits, until we could get them off. Our folks seemed to accept that
as well. Actually, I was kinda shocked at how well our families were
dealing with all this. They were doing better than Jerry and I were!
My Mom seemed to actually be smiling a little bit at me and I wondered
about that as well. Well, I had other things to worry about right then,
so I just wrote it off to her being Mom and being glad that I wasn't
hurt or something.
Now seems like a pretty good place to tell you the rest about these
suits that Jerry and I were stuck in. I guess Dr. Fine was a little
weirder than anyone knew, because, well, see these suits...well, while
you were wearing one, you could FEEL stuff. I mean, for instance, when
I touched my arm or leg or whatever, I could feel the touch on both my
arm or leg and on the hand or finger that was doing the touching. Now,
you couldn't feel like, pain for instance, if the suit got cut or hit,
but you COULD feel the touch of whatever cut it or hit it and it felt
very different from someone just touching it. Look, I ain't a tech nerd
or anything like one and trying to explain this is really strange and
beyond my capabilities, really.
What I'm TRYING to say is that, I could feel every touch on this body
as if it were my own body BEING touched. We could even use a bathroom
and shower and stuff, as well as, um, well you know, urinate or poop,
while wearing them. THERE, I finally said it! MAN, that was difficult
for me to write.
Now, all the time I had been wearing one of the suits, I hadn't ever
experimented, particularly with the female suits. I mean, we knew that
we COULD feel stuff, like being touched and all, but we never really
ever had a chance to experiment with that part of it at all. We were
always too busy testing the other functions of the suits to have any
time to try...other stuff. Besides, it was just too weird a thought
that you could touch privates that weren't your own, especially those
on the female suits, you know?
Anyway, we could eat and all that other stuff as well. We could even go
in the water with them on, like if we hadda do some underwater work or
whatever and you could feel the water like it was on your own skin, as
well, but you didn't get cold or hot and even deep water with high
pressure didn't seem to affect us, inside the suits. I suppose, we
could have made a lot of money, raising sunken boats and ships and
stuff, or salvaging stuff from sunken ocean liners if that was part of
the final plan for the suits.
Well, back to the story. It had been a very long day for me and Jerry
and we were feeling really beat, so I suggested we turn in and get some
sleep. We decided that it would be best if Jerry and his family went
home, so Jim went with them and Penny stayed with me and my folks. When
they left, I caught that "look" from Claire again when she said
goodby