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This is a serial story that was written and posted over several months to my Yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Morpheuscabinet2/ Augmented By Morpheus Part 1 I leaned back in my recliner, watching a movie on TV and feeling annoyed. I'd been looking forward to this movie since I first heard it was coming out, yet now that I was seeing it I could only feel disappointed. It starred an actress that I'd once had a crush on back when I'd been a teenager, back before I grew up and before she'd aged rather ungracefully. But then last year she'd gone through the augmentation process and had made this movie as her return to acting. "What a pile of crap," I muttered with a grimace, hardly able to believe I'd wasted my time with this. Thanks to being augmented, the star was young again and far sexier than she'd ever been in her prime. However that was part of the problem. The entire movie was nothing more than an excuse to show off her new body, but was completely lacking in a good script, decent acting, and even the 'girl next door' charm she used to be famous for. It was hard to believe this was made by an actress who'd once been nominated for an Oscar for best actress. "Another great ruined by perfection," I said with a sigh, then shaking my head and turning off the TV. Sometimes it seemed ironic that the biggest problem with augmentation was that it created perfection...or at least the appearance of it. The augmented were the new celebrities, the ones normal people idolized and envied. Of course a lot of augmented started off as celebrities, so this was just taking things to the next level. I shook my head again and mused, "How did we ever get here...?" Of course I already knew the answer to that. Fifteen years ago we humans met up with an alien race who called themselves the N'vash. There was only a single N'vash ship which came to Earth and they claimed they were on an exploration mission, but suffered an accident that threw them badly off course. They only asked us for the resources to repair and restock their ship as well as a safe harbor while they were doing so, and then in exchange, they gave us some of their technology, most notably, the augmentation process. The augmentation process was a way to improve a human body, giving anyone the physical abilities of an Olympic athlete and the looks of a super model with the added benefits of never having to exercise or worry about getting sick again. In fact an augment should be able to live for up to several hundred years and keep their body in perfect condition the entire time. Of course the augmentation process hasn't been around on Earth long enough to prove that last, but the N'vash assured us this was the case. There was only one major problem with the augmentation process...the cost. It was so expensive that only the very rich could afford to go through it. Becoming augmented was like owning a Ferrari...something that most people dreamed of, but only a fortunate few could usually ever afford. "It looks like half of Hollywood has gone augmented," I grumbled, still disappointed that my onetime favorite actress had traded substance for style. And unfortunately she wasn't the only one. It seemed that more and more movies were made with absolutely perfect looking people...even by Hollywood standards. I was of course one of the people who could only imagine being able to become augmented, since there was absolutely no way I could afford it short of winning the lottery. My name is Nick Spaulding and I am 35 years old, 6 foot 3, and have a stocky build that is equal parts fat and muscle. My brown hair was starting to thin noticeably so I made up for it with a thick goatee. I am also a plumber, though not the kind who usually comes to your house to fix the sink. I work for a construction company doing new installation, though I have occasionally done some moonlighting when I need some extra cash. Plumbing pays well, but not nearly enough for augmentation. I got out of my recliner with a grunt, then absently rubbed at my lower back which still had a knot in it. One of the problems with my job was that all the bending over and trying to get into tight spaces sometimes gave me a sore back. I was used to it though, so didn't give it much thought as I tried deciding what to do now that the movie had turned out to be a bust. The next two minutes were spent slowly walking around my small apartment looking for something to do. There were several projects that I'd been meaning to get to for awhile, though none that were small enough that I felt like doing them at the moment. I even looked at my leaking sink and smiled faintly at the irony of a plumber having a leaky sink of his own. Of course the leak wasn't bad and I wasn't being paid to fix this one, so it fell like of low on my priority list. Then I ended up back in my living room where I picked up the half read book that I had sitting next to my recliner. It was a cheap romance novel, a guilty pleasure that I'd never admit to any of my friends or coworkers. I felt a little embarrassed as I looked at the cover and considered where I'd left off in the story, but I was also tempted to continue. "Later," I mused aloud, setting the book back down and deciding that what I really needed right then was some exercise. "I think I'll take a walk..." A few minutes later I was standing in front of my apartment building, pausing for a moment as I considered which direction to go since I didn't have any destination in mind. I could go north and hit a nice little park in a about half a mile or I could go south and end up near some nice restaurants. Instead I started walking east towards nowhere in particular. I was about two blocks away from home and walking past a pizza shop that smelled particularly delicious when I suddenly heard the roaring of a car engine followed by the sound of glass shattering. I quickly looked in the direction of the noise and saw two cars racing each other...or at least that was my first impression before I saw a guy leaning out the window of the front car and shooting at the one behind him. I didn't really hear any noise from the gun, but bullet holes appeared in the other car almost as if by magic. "Oh shit," I exclaimed in shock, hardly able to believe what I was seeing. It was like I was in the middle of some action flick. The passenger of the rear car returned fire through the now missing windshield, though his shots missed the car in front more than they hit. Some guy on the sidewalk suddenly collapsed to the ground just a moment after the entire front of his shirt exploded in red. A store window shattered and nearly everyone on the sidewalk began to either dive for cover or run away. I immediately dropped for cover behind a hot dog cart, suddenly feeling like I was back in the army. I'd done a tour in Afghanistan a long time ago, just months before the N'vash had arrived. My heart raced and the smarter part of me said I should get even better cover, but I couldn't resist watching. Everything happened so fast that I barely had time to absorb what was happening. The car in front slammed into another car and was brought to a violent dead stop. The car in the rear immediately slammed on the breaks and two men jumped out and ran for the first car, both opening fire with hand guns as they ran. I couldn't help but noticing that these men were twins, both being tall and muscular with short dark hair and identical features. The driver of the front car looked to have been killed by the gunmen, but the passenger staggered out of the car, obviously shot himself though still alive and moving. In one hand he held a metal briefcase while in the other he held a gun which he tried firing back with, but not before he got hit again in the shoulder. He was thrown back, dropping the gun and then falling to the ground himself. "You...won't...get...them," the obviously dying man gasped, reaching into his pocket while glaring at his killers with an evil grin. Suddenly the crashed car exploded, catching all three men in the powerful blast and leaving no doubt that they were all dead. I dropped down flat, letting out a stream of profanity and thinking that this was just like Afghanistan. My heart raced and I knew that I hadn't been this scared shitless in a very long time. People were screaming and panicking while debris from the car began to rain down everywhere. Something hit the brick wall of the building near me then dropped to the ground and rolled across the sidewalk until it hit my leg and stopped. I sat up and just stared at the chaos that surrounded me, having flashbacks of several incidents that I'd rather not remember. "Damn," I exclaimed, clenching my fists and feeling scared, angry, and frustrated all at the same time. It was a dark mix of emotions that I'd thought I'd never have to feel again...at least not in this way. Then I noticed the piece of debris which had rolled into my leg, seeing that it was a metal sphere about the size of a tennis ball. I picked it up and noticed it was warm to the touch as well as scorched from the blast, but seemed otherwise intact. However I was confused about what it actually was, since it sure as hell wasn't any car part that I recognized. I had absolutely no idea what it was. After a moment I looked back up and stared in horror at the burning car and the charred bodies just a short distance away. I grimaced and clenched the metal ball tightly in my hand before turning away with the feeling of having a lump of lead in my stomach. I was sure the police had already been called about this and there were countless witnesses so I didn't give it much more thought before I started walking away, just wanting to get as far away from this as I could. Part 2 I held a hot pack to my lower back and winced at how much it ached, thinking that I should probably take some pain killer as well. Between diving for cover yesterday during that strange incident and being bent over all day today for work, I'd really irritated my back. I sat down in my recliner and picked up my romance novel, then paused to look at the metal sphere that had been sitting beside it. After hesitating a moment, I set my book back down and picked up the sphere instead. It had been blackened and scorched yesterday when I'd brought it home, though I'd cleaned it up since and it looked a lot nicer, though I still had no idea what it was for. Now that the sphere had been cleaned I could see that it looked like it was a darkened chrome. It was lighter than I'd guess just by looking at it, so it obviously wasn't solid steel or anything of the sort. Instead I guessed it might be aluminum or some other light metal and was perhaps even hollow. There an indentation in it that reminded me of the window of one of those old magic 8 balls and around this indentation were imprinted the letters 'GF PRO' After a minute of examining the sphere for what had to be the tenth time, I frowned and thought about the strange scene before the explosion. The news last night had said this was just gang violence though it hadn't looked that way to me. It looked like a scene straight out of an action movie and everyone involved had seemed just a little more profession than I would have expected of gang members. "And what are you?" I scowled at the sphere. The man who I assumed actually triggered the explosion had said something about not letting the other guys get something right before then. Was this what he didn't want them to get? Again I had absolutely no idea but I did know someone who just might. Mike was a friend of mine and one that I'd known since high school, though we hadn't really been friends back then, just classmates and acquaintances. After high school I didn't see him again for years and never even thought about him. Then about 8 years ago I was in the middle of a messy divorce and was doing some moonlighting for extra cash when I got a call to go to his place for a plugged toilet. We recognized each other and began talking about old times and catching up on what we'd been doing since. It turned out he'd just gone through a nasty divorce as well so we ended up drowning our mutual sorrows in a half case of beer and have been friends ever since. The reason I thought about Mike when it came to the sphere wasn't just that he was my friend but because he was always looking up everything he could about every new technology. He was like a Wikipedia full of useless facts when it came any kind of tech device. I figured if anyone would know what this sphere was it would be him. A short time later I was at Mike's place, describing the shootout I'd seen yesterday and then showing him the sphere that had damn near landed on top of me. Mike wasn't very tall at 5 foot 7, but he made up for it by being over 300lbs, almost none of it muscle. He might not be much physically but he was a pretty sharp guy. And as soon as I held up the sphere for him to look at I could see the gleam of recognition in his eyes. "No way," Mike suddenly exclaimed, going from calm to excited in the blink of an eye. "No fucking way..." He stared at me for a moment with a suspicious look on his face. "You bastich... You're fucking with me...aren't you?" "What are you talking about?" I demanded in annoyance. Mike took the sphere from me and very carefully held it in his hands, staring at it with an intense expression. "Do you know what this is...?" "Of course not," I snapped in annoyance. "That's why I asked you." "This is an augmentation package," Mike said after a taking a deep breath. "It looks like it's still sealed so everything you need to become augmented should be inside." "Really?" I asked in surprise, staring at the sphere and scowling. "How does that work?" "How much do you know about how augmentation works?" Mike asked me, his expression looking just a little distant as he was lost in thought. I just shrugged. "Not a whole lot." "It's all about nanocytes," Mike explained, "microscopic robots that they put into your body. They get into your blood stream, your bones, your nervous system, and everything else. They change your entire body however they were programmed to and then keep it that way. That's how you become augmented." He held up the sphere and added, "Of course you also need the core..." "The core?" I asked, feeling like I was back in school getting a lecture. Mike just grinned, then went to his computer. It actually had three monitors in front of it, which was kind of surprising because most people didn't bother having any monitors. Then he put on a pair of goggles that looked something like swimming goggles. These were display goggles, the technology that had made computer monitors obsolete. With those on, Mike had a virtual 3D monitor that wrapped around him like a bubble that only he could see, letting him place countless windows around him in every direction and move them around as was convenient. I couldn't see any of that though, since I wasn't wearing display goggles which was why he still used the old fashion monitors. A moment later some images of spheres similar to the one I found were presented on the monitors. "The augmentation core is..." Mike started, then paused as he tried to think of how to explain more clearly. "Well, it's the core of the whole augmentation process...." He showed pictures of a silver metal marble with silvery strings coming from it on the monitor. "It wires into your nervous system and uses it to control all the nanocytes in your body. It's the brain that has all the programming and tells the nanocytes what to do...and it even functions as a factory making new nanocytes." "This," Mike said, lifting his goggles and pointing at the sphere, "should have the augmentation core, a shitload of nanocytes, and even some nutrients inside. Everything you need to become augmented..." "Holy shit," I exclaimed, suddenly feeling a lot more nervous about this metal sphere. I carefully took it back from Mike, my heart racing as I did so. It was like holding a few million dollars. "Of course," Mike suddenly said with a sigh and a look of disappointment, "I wouldn't risk this one..." At my blank look he gestured to the indentation. "If this was from one of the Big Three it would have their logo right here... It doesn't, so that means it's black market..." He shook his head and shuddered and I knew exactly what he meant. When the N'vash gave humans the augmentation technology they also gave us three small units which could make whatever was needed for the process. Now I realized that meant they made the cores and nanocytes. The people who got control of these units quickly formed their own companies and became the only ones who could augment people. Each of the companies had their own specialties too, so that they didn't directly compete against each other. Advent International was known for doing the high end augmentation that was completely customized for each and every customer, often turning them into idealized versions of themselves. GCA was known as being a little more economical, though still outrageously expensive for someone like me. They would create different models and everyone who used the same model would end up looking identical to each other. A group of three women who used the same model might come out looking like identical triplets. Of course they made a number of different models so there were different looks to choose from. The last of the Big Three was Ares Inc who specialized in military applications, though I didn't really know exactly what that entailed. And then there were the black markets, illegal groups that could turn people augmented without the direct use of the units the N'vash gave us. I didn't know anything about these people for sure, but rumor said that before the three companies formed, the N'vash units had been used to create duplicates of themselves. These duplicates could augment people as well, but were flawed copies that sometimes resulted in mistakes in the augmentation process. These were completely illegal, but that didn't stop people from using these duplicated units...or duplicates of duplicates anyway. After all there was a high demand for augmentation and even some desperation. People were often willing to take the risk of being augmented this way since it was much more affordable than what the Big Three could do. I stared at the sphere with a scowl, realizing that I had absolutely no idea who this augmentation package had been meant for or what was in it. I knew a guy who'd bought a black market augmentation and he ended up looking fantastic but his entire nervous system had been screwed up leaving him virtually paralyzed. And that had been with him at least thinking that he knew what he was getting. "I guess using this thing is out of the question," I finally said, not having the first idea of how to actually use it anyway. "But it's still worth quite a bit," Mike mused, his eyes seeming to nearly gleam with the obvious greed. "I bet I could find a buyer no problem. In fact I bet those guys you saw were black market dealers..." I shook my head at that, seeing the wheels turning in Mike's head. Neither of us would risk using this thing, but Mike didn't seem to have a problem with selling it to someone who would. There were a lot of desperate people who'd jump at the chance to use this thing no matter what the risks were. However I didn't think I could just sell it like that. It would be like selling a gun to someone who you knew was only going to play Russian roulette with it. "I'll think about it," I lied, thinking instead that I might be better off just giving it to the cops. Of course if I did that I'd have to explain why I took it in the first place and why it had taken me so long to turn it in. After this I sat down and had a beer with Mike as we talked about the shootout I'd seen and he offered his theory that it was either a black market augment package deal that had gone bad or were two dealers who were fighting it out over territory. Both ideas seemed possible to me and a bad idea to get mixed up in. The whole time Mike kept looking at me as though expecting me to give in and agree to sell the sphere just so I could get it out of my hands. He seemed disappointed when I finally left without agreeing to anything, though he didn't actually say anything about it. Since it was getting late and I hadn't had dinner yet, I decided to just pick up something quick on the way home. I ended up stopping at the pizza shop that had smelled so delicious yesterday, though this was partly just an excuse to take another look at where the explosion had occurred. "Like returning to the scene of the crime," I muttered, though I wasn't the one who'd committed the crime...unless you counted walking off with the sphere. I looked around, noticing that the street had been cleaned up pretty well. The cars and bodies were gone of course, but most of the debris and glass had been cleaned up as well. The only immediately visible signs of what had happened were the badly scorched asphalt and what looked like a nasty pot hole. There were other signs as well such as the shop window which had been shot out was now all boarded up instead. I stared at the street again with a scowl then looked over at the spot where I'd gone for cover. The ache in my back increased slightly as I did so. It was only then that I noticed I was being watched. I looked over and saw a little girl who was about 10 years old leaning back against the wall and looking at me. She had blonde hair that was pulled into pig tails and was chewing bubble gum. When she saw that I was looking back, she gave me a defiant look and blew a bubble with her gum, then looked away as though she'd never been watching me at all. "Kids," I chuckled to myself, grateful I'd never had one with my ex-wife yet oddly regretful as well. A few minutes later I had my pizza and was about to start for home. I looked at the girl who was still there and saw that she was watching me again, this time with a curious expression. She stuck her tongue out at me, then went back to pretending I wasn't there. I just shook my head in amusement and continued on my way. Part 3 It seemed ironic to me and just my luck that I'd finally land the opportunity of a lifetime...the opportunity of several lifetimes and I didn't dare use it. I'd never been a heavy drinker, but the more I thought about this the more it seemed like an appropriate time to just get drunk. I had already finished my pizza and half a six pack, not including the beer I'd had at Mike's. As far as I was concerned, this was just a good start. I actually had an augmentation package in my possession, something that could augment me and potentially give me the body of an Adonis and fantastic health, taking away all the aches and pains I had and which would only get worse as I got older. There was a reason the augmentation process was often called perfection in a bottle. Unfortunately this was a black market augmentation package made not by the first generation units that the N'vash had given us but by second, third... or even higher. Each unit was capable of making a copy of itself and a new generation, but the further away you got from the first generation the more unstable and risky the final augmentation product was, which was why all but the first generation units were illegal to use. I had no idea which generation this one had been created by. It could have been tenth generation for all I knew. Of course black market augmentation was risky not just because of the units they used to create them, but also because of the people. The Big Three hired medical professionals and expert programmers while the black market people had somewhat less qualified people making them. That gave black market augments a second major strike against them. I might not be willing to risk using this myself but I knew that there were a lot of people who would. The more I thought about it, the more I wondered if maybe Mike was right. If I couldn't use it myself I should probably sell it to someone with cancer or who was old and dying, someone who had little to lose and everything to gain. I sat down in my recliner and opened another beer while I considered what to do. While I was sitting there, I began examining the sphere again, the first time I'd really done so since finding out exactly what it really was. Part of me whispered that I should probably just leave it alone but another part reminded me that I'd already examined the thing several times without a problem. The sphere didn't look any different from the previous times I'd looked it over, though the fact that I now knew what it contained gave it a different feel to both my hands and eyes. Before it had been a mystery, but now it was something valuable. While I was holding the sphere, I suddenly noticed something that I hadn't before. There was a ring around the indentation that actually moved. I grew curious and rotated it further until there was a faint click. Suddenly the bottom of the indentation popped open and there was a hole into the sphere where I could see something silver colored inside. The practical part of my mind screamed that I should carefully set the sphere down and step back and if I hadn't consumed so much beer already I probably would have done that. Instead I found a pen and poked it through the opening and into the silvery insides. Suddenly a thin strand of silver ran up the pen, looking almost like mercury, but going the opposite direction that gravity said it should. Before I realized it, the silver had gone up the entire pen and was touching my hand. I jumped back in surprise, dropping the pen. However the silver stayed connected to my hand and formed a silver metallic string that led back to the opening of the sphere. "What the hell?" I gasped in surprise, trying to shake it off to no effect. I tried dropping the sphere and shaking the silver string off even harder, but that didn't work either. Instead the sphere just hung there dangling like a yo-yo, while more silver ran up the first line making it thicker and then forming several new threads to my hand. Then a silver metal ball the size of a large marble came up the threads and right into my palm. In the back of my mind I realized that this had to be the augmentation core, though I didn't have time to give it any consideration. My palm suddenly burned and before I could try wiping it off, the ball somehow burrowed unto my skin. I let out a scream of pain and stared in horror as the ball moved under my skin, leaving a strange looking lump under the surface that was quickly moving up my arm. It burned like hell as if moved, yet after it passed I felt a powerful cold sensation. My hand felt nearly frozen, as though I'd soaked it in the snow for an hour and the coldness didn't stop there. It spread up my arm right after the ball. I winced in pain, looking to my palm which still had silver strands going back into the sphere but they all seemed to be drawn into my body through the hole the core had made, almost like spaghetti being slurped up. The strange lump that pushed out from my skin was now in my upper arm and hurt like hell. I suddenly thought that I could cut it out with a knife before it went any further, but I was too slow to move and it was gone from my arm entirely, moving into the core of my body. The pain was absolutely immense and I screamed again. Then my scream was cut off as my breath was knocked out of me with a massive chest pain. I clutched at my chest and gasped, sure that I was having a heart attack. Just then the strange cold sensation filled my chest and began to spread out so that in just a minute my legs and other arm felt cold and sort of numb too. By this point I could barely feel most of my body, much less move any of it. I lay motionless on the ground where I'd collapsed during my 'heart attack', realizing that it was far too late for me to do anything. All I could do was wait until the darkness claimed me a minute later. Part 4 I awoke on the hard uncomfortable floor feeling dazed and confused as to how I got there. However a moment later I suddenly remembered what had happened, how I'd accidentally activated the sphere...the augmentation package. "Shit," I gasped, realizing exactly what that meant. I'd been augmented whether I wanted to be or not. For a moment I just remained where I was, feeling a mixture of dread and relief. Whatever was going to happen, it already had. All I had to do now was find out what the damage was. I took a deep breath, then slowly sat up, realizing as I did so that my entire body felt strange and different. I also felt good...damn good. There were no aches and pains at all, not even in my back regardless of the fact that I'd been laying on the floor for who knows how long. But it was more than just a lack of pain. It was as though my entire body felt fully charged and super healthy. Then I finally noticed the fact that my clothes were all very loose on me. I paused, feeling a bit confused by that until I noticed two bumps pushing out from the front of my shirt. My eyes widened at the sight and I quickly grabbed them, feeling that they were indeed real and indeed my own flesh. A cold chill ran up my spine and the only thing I could think to say was, "Oh shit..." I quickly grabbed at my crotch but couldn't feel my usual equipment. I winced and tried again, this time slipping my hand down the front of my overlarge and very loose pants. I grabbed at my crotch, but my cock and balls were completely gone. Instead my fingers found a slit, though I immediately yanked my hand out with a short stream of muttered profanities. "Oh no," I grimaced, closing my eyes and taking several deep breaths, trying to tell myself that I'd known this was a very real possibility. After all there was probably a fifty percent chance that the augmentation package had been meant for a woman. In fact the odds of this turning me into a chick were probably a good deal higher than they were for something being wrong with the package. I certainly wasn't happy at realizing that I'd been turned into a woman, but I was relieved at the fact that I hadn't noticed anything seriously wrong yet...other than the obvious. I could feel my arms and legs with no problem. My nervous system seemed to be intact which was real good news. "What the hell was I thinking?" I groaned as I remembered drunkenly playing around with the sphere. But as I remembered what I'd done, I also hesitated a moment and wondered if maybe it hadn't been entirely accidental. After all the temptation to become augmented was a very large one and perhaps my subconscious mind had decided to take the risk. "No," I grimaced and shook my head, not wanting to think of that. There was no way I'd do that to myself...even subconsciously. At least that's what I tried telling myself though I wasn't sure I believed it. At this point I decided that I absolutely had to get a better look at my body. I felt a cold dread along with the curiosity as I climbed out of my clothes and then looked over my naked body. There was absolutely no doubt that this was a woman's body and a very attractive one at that which was to be expected. Most augmented women I'd seen on TV were absolutely gorgeous. The first thing I really noticed beside the sheer feminine nature of my body was that my skin was very soft, smooth and pale. I didn't seem to have a single hair follicle on my body below the neck and my skin was a creamy white color that looked as though it had rarely seen sunlight. I ran my hands over my smooth skin, noticing that it was more sensitive than before as well. Then my hands ran over my naked breasts and stopped there. I cupped my new tits in disbelief, guessing that they were C or D cup as well as being nice, round, and firm. I noticed that even the nipples were larger than before. I couldn't resist giving one of them a gentle pinch and then gasping in surprise at just how much I felt the sensation. As I continued exploring my body, I noticed just how hard and solid all my muscles were, though they didn't really seem to show it. It was as though my skin and new curves hid a very athletic body underneath. Of course I realized that I shouldn't be surprised at that either. After all most augments were in absolute peak human physical condition, even if they were designed not to really show it. "Incredible," I whispered, wondering just what kind of shape I was really in now. I felt so light, strong, and supercharged somehow. I definitely wanted to check this out. With that I dropped to the floor and tried a few push-ups, doing so with ease. I continued doing this until I'd done more than 40 push-ups and was still barely feeling it. After this I decided to check my flexibility. I got back to my feet then reached down and put both of my hands flat on the floor with no effort. I quickly stretched in several other directions, finding that I was now very flexible. I was even able to do the splits, something that would have made me wince at the very thought before. "Damn," I muttered with a grimace, feeling a tiny phantom pain as I considered why I could do the splits now. I hesitantly felt my crotch and took a deep breath, immediately feeling the wrongness in the absence of my old friends. Instead there was smooth skin and a slit between my legs. I ran my fingers over the folds and felt a tingle of excitement shoot through my body. I was suddenly tempted to explore a bit more thoroughly down there which only caused me to yank my hand away quickly instead. I shook my head and sighed, "I can't believe this..." For several minutes I just stood there, staring down at my transformed body and feeling completely stunned. I had no idea what to think or feel of this new body. On one hand, I was horrified at having turned into a chick, but on the other I don't think I'd ever felt this good in my life. That only made me feel guilty as well, as though I were somehow betraying my manhood and all that was masculine. Then I realized that I'd looked my body over, but still had no idea what I actually looked like. I reached up and felt my face, gulping slightly as I did so. In what seemed like mere seconds I was in the bathroom and staring at my reflection in the small mirror above the sink. All I could do was stare and absorb the face that was looking back at me. The woman in the mirror was very beautiful in that ice queen or vampire sort of way. It wasn't that I looked cold hearted or evil, just pale and a little exotic. Not only did I have creamy skin, but my hair hung down to my shoulder blades and was a platinum blonde. Add to that my crystal blue eyes and I could have perhaps passed as some sort of Nordic ice princess. "No fucking way," I whispered, running my fingers over my cheek while still staring into my striking blue eyes. I suddenly wondered if the pale skin and hair were intentionally part of that augmentation package or if they were some sort of albino thing that was caused by a flaw in making it. At the moment I wouldn't really be surprised either way. I continued staring at my reflection for another few minutes before I was finally able to tear myself away from the mirror and notice some other details. For one thing, my hands were of course feminine and my fingernails were a bit longer and manicured into nice ovals. "Instant manicure," I mused, knowing that some female augmentation packages even came with built in permanent makeup. I hadn't really considered that before, but now that I thought about it I did sort of look as though I had a little on. There was a shadowing around my eyes and my lips looked just a little more full and shiny than they probably should, perhaps as though I had on some gloss. At the moment I didn't give a lot of consideration to whether I was or was not permanently made up since it seemed rather subtle. Instead I turned my attention to the fact that the sink and my mirror both looked higher. Of course I shouldn't have been at all surprised that I'd shrunk since my clothes had been so loose on me. The question was, just how much shorter was I? It took me almost no time at all to get the tape measure out of my tool box and only a little longer to actually measure myself. According to my tape measure I was now 5 foot 9, 6 inches shorter than I was before. "It could be worse," I tried telling myself though at the moment I had a hard time seeing how. Then I took a deep breath and reminded myself, "At least I'm not paralyzed." Part 5 I sat on the edge of my couch, holding the metal sphere that I'd found on the floor a short time ago. Of course it was empty now. Everything that had been inside of it was now inside of me. I felt a little creeped out by the thought of it and couldn't resist feeling my chest, thinking of how the core was now lodged between my heart and spine where it would have wired into both. At least that was one of the things Mike had told me about them back when I'd been talking to him last night. "Damn," I sighed, setting the now empty sphere down and looking over my body yet again. It had been several hours since I'd woken up like this and it was still something of a shock every time I saw myself. This whole thing felt kind of unreal. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I certainly wasn't the first person to through a sex change while being augmented and I wouldn't be the last. Of course most of those who changed gender did so intentionally. Then I chuckled as I remembered a comedian who used to make a lot of wild 'frat boy' type comedies but had then become augmented and turned into a woman so now made romantic comedies. In fact he...or she had taken full advantage of this in one movie by filming half of it before augmentation and half after in order to play two completely different characters. The fact that several well known celebrities and politicians had gone through this as well did little good for me, though admittedly I felt a little less like a freak. In fact I realized with some irony that I had just been unintentionally caught up in the latest augmentation fad. "What the hell am I going to tell the guys?" I asked myself, wincing at the thought of explaining my transformation at work. First they'd all give me shit for turning into a chick and then they'd give me even more for using a black market augmentation package when I didn't even have a clue what it was designed for. "Damn..." At the moment I had no real idea of what I was going to do, though I knew I needed to tell someone and maybe get some help figuring things out. I wasn't very close to what little family I had left and the only friend I could think of at the moment was Mike. He already knew about the augmentation package, so would be the perfect one to talk to. Unfortunately I knew he was going to be pissed at me for using the damn thing even on accident when he'd really been wanting to sell it. It would have been easy to just call Mike, but something like this required that I show him in person. That meant getting dressed so I could leave the house, though that wasn't going to be a simple matter. I was well aware of the fact that none of my clothes fit me anymore. I briefly remembered that my ex wife had left some clothes behind when she'd left, but then I also remembered that I'd thrown all her crap out years ago. I spent nearly twenty minutes digging around my closet and dresser in order to find some clothes I could wear. All my pants were too long, but I did find a pair of gym shorts that I could keep up with a belt and a shirt which I'd outgrown years ago, but which was now too big for me. However it covered me and fit better than any of the other shirts I owned. Last were a pair of boots that a co-worker had given me when he retired because he mistakenly thought they were my size. Normally the boots were half a size too small and really pinched, but now I had to wear three pairs of socks in order to keep them from sliding around too much. "I look like an idiot," I grumbled as I looked over my clothes, knowing that I didn't have much choice. It wasn't like I had a lot of clothes around that fit my new body. Unfortunately I was well aware of the fact that would have to change. After all augmentations were permanent and irreversible, which was one of the reasons a failed black market augmentation was so frightening. Then I grimaced and reluctantly reminded myself, "I'm gonna have to get used to this." A few minutes later I was in my truck and adjusting the seat to my new height, grumbling and cursing as I did so. At 5 foot 9 I was certainly no midget, but I still hated how short I now felt. I continued muttering a steady stream of profanities under my breath for nearly the entire drive to Mike's place. I was eager to see Mike so I could at least talk to someone about this, but at the same time I was also dreading it. I was more than a little embarrassed by how I looked now and I was absolutely certain that he'd take advantage of the opportunity to rub it in and make fun of me. I also wasn't certain whether he'd be sympathetic or pissed that we couldn't make some money selling the sphere. Either way, I was positive he'd call me a dumbass and I'd deserve it. When I parked in front of Mike's condo I grew even more nervous and took several deep breaths to brace myself for what was to come. I quickly walked to his front door and then froze as I saw that it was not only wide open but that there was a hole where the handle and lock had been. My heart jumped at the sight of that. "MIKE?" I called out loudly, stepping through the door and hoping he was all right. I took one look around the living room and gasped in surprise. The entire living room was trashed with the book shelf being turned upside down, the couch cushions having been cut open and the stuffing yanked out, and everything including his computer laying scattered about the floor. The whole place looked like a disaster and my first thought was that Mike had been robbed...until I realized that his computer and TV hadn't been taken. "MIKE?" I called out again, this time more frantically. My mind was full of fear and worry for Mike as I rushed through his condo, calling his name but receiving no answer. One quick look in each room was enough to prove that Mike was not there and that whoever had destroyed his living room hadn't stopped there. The whole place was trashed. And then to make me even more worried, I found several drops of blood on the kitchen floor, though fortunately no more than that. If I was worried before, the blood only made me more so. I hadn't been able to find any sign of Mike actually being here though, so told myself that could be a good thing. Maybe Mike hadn't even been here when this was going on. Maybe the blood had come from whoever had destroyed the apartment. Of course there was also the dark thought that maybe there was another reason I couldn't find Mike. Whatever was going on, I knew it was very bad news. I gulped, suddenly realizing that if this wasn't a robbery, it had to be something else. Then I realized that this had to be my fault. It had to be about the augmentation package I'd found. A high quality augmentation normally cost in the tens of millions, while even the low quality black market augmentation sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. With that kind of money at stake something like Mike's TV would be seen as just small change and probably not worth bothering with. And as I reminded myself with a gulp, people had already been killed over that thing. "Oh shit," I whispered, shaking as I stood there and suddenly feeling very paranoid. "Mike must have tried asking around about it..." That was the only thing I could think of. I froze for a moment, suddenly worried for myself. I suddenly turned and hurried out of Mike's condo as fast as I could, absently thinking I should call the cops but deciding that could wait until I was back home and safe. I kept glancing behind me, now feeling paranoid as well and I continued doing this the entire trip back to my apartment. When I finally reached my own apartment door I froze and stared at it with a cold chill running down my spine. It was wide open with the lock being destroyed almost exactly the same way Mike's had been. I would have immediately turned and ran, but I could hear voices inside, so I hesitated a moment to listen. There seemed to be two men talking, though they sounded almost identical with only a few inflections of their words being different. I quickly peaked around the corner and saw the two men standing in my living room, both looking almost identical to each other with only their clothes and haircuts identifying them as being different. They also looked exactly like the two men I'd seen the other day during that shootout. One of the men held the metal sphere in his hand and scowled as he told the other, "He must have used it..." I winced at that and slowly backed away, knowing that I didn't dare stick around and get caught. I had no idea what they'd do to me for using the augmentation and I had no interest in actually finding out. I had barely taken three steps back when I hit something...or someone. I snapped around and saw that I'd backed into a large, muscular, and intimidating man who looked just like the two men in the room. He stared at me for only a moment before suddenly grabbing my shoulder. "Out here," the man who held me called to those inside my apartment. His grip was so hard that I winced in pain. I felt a momentarily surge of panic, but then clamped down on it, reminding myself of my old army training and how panic would get you killed faster than anything. I couldn't afford to just flail around wildly, so tried to think through my fear and focus on what I could do. I grimaced and then hit the man in the solar plexus, only making him grunt slightly. However I followed that up with a punch to his throat which got him to let me go. "Bastich," I snarled, giving him a swift kick between the legs before turning and running. A minute later I was out of the apartment building and hitting the sidewalk when my leg suddenly exploded into pain. I collapsed to the ground, realizing that I'd been shot when I hadn't even heard a gunshot. I quickly looked back and saw all three of the men coming at me, each of them holding a gun in hand. Suddenly a girl's voice said, "Hey there... You look like you need help..." I looked up and was startled to see a blonde haired little girl of about 10 years old standing there, holding a sucker in her hand. She looked familiar and it took me a moment to recognize her as the same girl I'd seen several days ago...no...that I'd seen last night. It just seemed longer than that because of everything that had happened since. The girl casually put the sucker into her mouth and then reached into her pockets. She suddenly pulled out a pair of hand guns and in a smooth motion began to fire them at the men chasing me. One of them flew backward with his head exploding into red. The second one was shot several times in the chest and staggered back. Still he raised his gun and fired back at her. The girl jumped to the side though and continued firing several more shots until he went down as well. "Holy shit," I exclaimed, suddenly noticing that there was no sound of gunfire either from her guns or those of the men, only a strange buzzing. The third man had been hit in the shoulder, but barely seemed to notice it. He took cover behind a car and fired back, but suddenly he flew out from cover and hit the ground with half his head missing. The shot that killed him obviously hadn't come from the girl, though I had no idea who else might have made it. My leg was feeling strangely numb where I'd been shot, so I began carefully getting back to my feet, making sure to keep my weight on my good leg. I stared at the girl in shock and disbelief, not to mention more than a little confusion. What I'd seen her do made absolutely no sense. There was no way a little girl could take down those men that easily. The girl calmly put one of her guns back into the pocket and then did something to the side of the other gun. She looked at me for a moment before taking the sucker out of her mouth again, saying, "I hate to do this to you but I'm not taking any chances." Then she swiftly pointed the gun at me and fired. There was a burst of pain in my chest and I was sent flying back and hit the ground hard. I could barely breath. Suddenly there was a man standing over me, looking like yet another clone of the three men the little girl had just killed. He reached down and put something around my neck before saying, "Say night night..." A moment later unconsciousness claimed me. Part 6 I awoke in a jail cell which is what I immediately recognized it as the moment I looked around. It was a small concrete room about 15 feet across in each direction and painted white on the walls, floor and ceiling. There was a small cot that was bolted to the floor and wall, a toilet in the corner that was missing a lid as well as any privacy, and even a sink embedded into the wall. As a plumber I couldn't help but noticing that the exposed pipes on the sink were all welded together, probably to keep anyone from taking them apart and using them as weapons or for an escape attempt. I also knew that would make it a real pain in the ass trying to work on the sink if anyone lost a ring or something down it. Of course no jail cell is complete without a way to lock people inside. In this case, it was a metal door that had a slide door in the middle where food could probably be slid in as well as a peep hole so that people outside would be able to watch me. Of course they wouldn't really need the peep hole...not with the cameras. There were two plastic bubbles on the ceiling, one of them in the corner near the door and the other on the opposite side of the room. I'd seen bubbles like that in banks and casinos, so immediately recognized them as containing video cameras. With two cameras that way they'd be able to cover the entire room and leave no blind spots. When I woke up on the cot I was completely naked not to mention extremely self-conscious and confused. I was also terrified since I had absolutely no idea where I was or what was going on. However I felt at least a tiny bit of relief when I saw that whoever had locked me up had at least provided something for me to wear. There was a one piece blue jumpsuit folded up on the cot and a pair of shoes that were almost like slippers. I wasted no time in getting dressed. I was just pulling the zipper up the front when I suddenly remembered being shot. I'd been in such a hurry to get dressed that I'd barely even thought of that. I put a hand on my leg and winced at the memory, though at the moment I felt no pain. I hesitated a little, then glared at the cameras before pulling the jumpsuit down so I could actually look at my leg. There was a bandage on that spot, but when I poked at it there was still no pain, just a slight sensitivity. So I took a deep breath and removed the bandage, only to find that the injury was almost entirely gone. There was the faint hint of a scar, but not much. "I'm healing," I whispered in amazement, knowing that I probably shouldn't have been too surprised. That was one of the benefits of being augmented. In fact before long there probably wouldn't be any scar or indication that I'd ever been hurt at all. Then I remembered being shot in the chest by the little girl, though there was no bandage or even the hint of a scar. It was as though I'd never been shot there at all. That was a relief and so was the fact that I could finally get dressed. I was more than a little uncomfortable with the idea of people watching me sit around naked through the peep hole or cameras. Once I was dressed I took more care in looking around my little cell, trying to see if there was any way I could think of to escape. I knew that was probably a fantasy, but at least it gave me hope. The other thing I tried doing was thinking about who had me locked up. I was pretty sure it wasn't the police because I hadn't seen any badges nor had any rights read to me. However that certainly didn't make me feel any better about my situation. I sat on the bed and tried hard not to show just how scared I was about what was going on. I was in a strange body, in a strange place, and being held prisoner by strangers for some unknown reason. I had more than enough reason to be both scared and confused but I was also angry and stubborn as hell. I was determined not to let them see how I really felt. I decided that I was going to wait them out. After all they were probably watching me so knew I was awake. It was only a matter of time before they came. My determination lasted several hours before my frustration overwhelmed it and I began to yell to whoever was listening. "LET ME OUT OF HERE," I screamed out several times along with, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" and "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?" I repeated these and several other demands but there was no indication that anyone was actually listening. Eventually someone did come, though not because of my yelling. I didn't even see who it was, only that the slot on the door opened and a tray of food was slid inside. It wasn't until that moment that I realized just how hungry I was. After all I hadn't eaten a thing since the pizza before I got augmented. I was pleasantly surprised when I looked over the food, finding that they'd provided me a plate with fresh steamed broccoli, mashed potatoes, and baked chicken. There was even bottled water and a slice of cake for dessert. I was just a little confused since this was more like home cooking than jail food. In fact this was better than I usually ate. It was several hours after I'd finished eating when someone came to the door again, though this time the door actually opened. I got to my feet and gulped, trying to look tough and confident though at the moment I didn't feel either. The man who stood in the doorway with a gun in his hand looked exactly like the ones I'd seen the little girl kill. "Come with me and don't try anything stupid," he told me. "Who are you people?" I demanded, not making any move. "What do you want with me?" I stared at his gun nervously, only half sure that he wasn't going to shoot me just yet. If they were just going to kill me they'd already had plenty of chance to do it. "No questions," the man insisted, gesturing for me to come with him. Then he paused and nodded to the tray my dinner had come on and added, "If we were going to kill you we wouldn't bother giving you a final meal..." I didn't resist anymore and went with him out of my cell and into a hall. I could see several more metal doors identical to the one I'd just exited, all on one wall. There were two other doors on the opposite side of the hall that looked a little more normal. My guard led me to one of those and had me enter before closing the door behind us. This room was nearly three times as large as my cell with a table in the middle and a chair on either side. There was also several video cameras on the ceiling and a large dark window on one wall. I'd seen enough cop movies to recognize an interrogation room. My guard directed me to take a seat and I nervously did so, having a very bad feeling about this. A minute later the door opened again and a woman came in, limping noticeably and using a cane. She was a black woman who appeared to be in her mid to late 40s and who looked as though she might have been very attractive when she was younger. She had shoulder length black hair that was sprinkled with gray, was dressed in a dark professional looking suit and had a black eye patch over one eye. The woman didn't say a word as she took a seat opposite me though she did give me a cold look with her one eye that sent chills up my spine. "Who are you people?" I asked again, hoping this time I'd get an answer. "What is going on?" "I am not here to answer your questions," the woman told me calmly before giving me a steady look that made me want to squirm in my seat. "You are here to answer mine. How well you cooperate determines what we do with you." She gave me a few seconds for that to absorb that then asked, "Do you understand?" When I slowly nodded my understanding she continued, "Good. Now what is your name?" For a brief moment I considered lying, maybe giving her the name of one of my female neighbors. However I almost immediately realized that would be a bad idea. I was pretty sure these people already knew who I really was since they'd been to my apartment. "Nick Spaulding," I answered quietly, feeling extremely self-conscious as I did so. The woman didn't blink or look the least bit surprised which only confirmed they already knew my identity. That made me wonder just how much they already knew and how much of this was for show. The next question was, "And how did you come into contact with the augmentation package?" I took a deep breath and began telling her about how I'd witnessed the car chase and gunfight, pausing in the middle of my story to glance nervously at the large man who stood guard at the door. I soon finished my story and she began asking more questions as well as making me retell the story several time while she did so. The only thing that seemed to surprise her at all was when I told her how I was drunk and playing around with the sphere and accidentally activated it. She raised an eyebrow slightly at that which was the most emotion she showed during the questioning. The questioning lasted for about two hours before the woman seemed satisfied that we were through. Once she had enough, she stood up and left the room, saying, "Thank you for your cooperation," as though I'd had any real choice. A minute later I was escorted back to my cell with no more answers than when I'd first woken up. I was left in my cell again for a long time, though I had a hard time telling how long since there were no windows or clocks. In fact I had no idea how long it had been between being shot at my apartment and waking up here. The only thing I had to guess time by at all were the meals they brought me. The first meal had been chicken and mashed potatoes and eventually they brought me a tray with pancakes, bacon and orange juice. Finally they brought me a sandwich with chips and a Coke. This was obviously dinner, breakfast, and lunch, but for all I knew they were intentionally trying to keep me confused about the time. I spent all this time by myself alternately sitting on my cot, pacing my small cell, looking in desperation for some way out, and napping. I also spent some time stretching, doing pushups, and trying out my new body in other ways though the fact that I was being watched kept me from really familiarizing myself with it. My fear slowly faded away, replaced more and more with frustration over the helplessness of my situation and a growing anger. It was about an hour after the 'lunch' meal and about 24 hours after I'd first awoken in this cell when the door finally opened again. I was actually relieved when this happened because it meant that at least something different was happening. After all this boredom, something different was exactly what I needed. The now familiar looking man stood at the door, though the only reason I was sure this was the same man as the last time was the hair cut. When I stepped out of the cell, I was startled to see the woman who'd interrogated me standing there as well. I was more surprised though when they led me not into the interrogation room again but down the hallway and through several doors that required her to enter a combination in order to open. After we'd gone up an elevator and through a short maze of hallways I finally asked, "Where are you taking me?" I wasn't actually expecting an answer, but the woman smiled faintly and said, "You're going to see the Judge." Almost immediately afterwards we stopped at a door and the woman knocked before opening it. She gestured for me to go inside and I did so, pausing for a moment to see that I was in a nice looking office with a large wooden desk in the middle of the room. There was already someone sitting behind the desk as well, a stocky man with white hair who looked to be in his late fifties. He gave me a cool once over with his eyes, then nodded to the woman who left the room, leaving me alone with this man who somehow intimidated me even though he didn't actually look very dangerous. "Nick Spaulding," the man behind the desk said, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of it. "Sit down." I sat down and stared at the man for as moment guessing that he was the one in charge. I immediately felt a surge of anger though I tried to keep hold of it knowing that it wouldn't do me any good. If anything, it would get me shot...if they weren't going to do that already. Instead I took a deep breath and asked, "What are you planning to do to me?" The man smiled so faintly that I almost missed it. "For the moment I plan on answering your questions as much as I can and explaining exactly what it is you've become involved in." "So who are you?" I asked, emboldened by what he'd just told me though feeling skeptical as well. "Why am I here?" "My name is Harold Judge," the man told me. "You can call me Director Judge or Sir. I am the head of a small government agency that deals with certain abuses of augmentation technology." "You're the ARA," I gasped in surprise. "The Augmentation Regulation Agency..." The ARA was the government agency that monitored the Big Three and went after the black market augmentation dealers. "Not quite," Director Judge explained. "This organization does not officially exist and was created to deal with issues that the ARA are unable to for one reason or another. Their primary role is regulation and public relations, not enforcement." He paused for a moment before adding, "Their hands are too often tied by rules and politics. We do not answer to them, but do coordinate with them at the highest levels." I gasped in surprise and just stared at him, wondering exactly what the hell I'd gotten involved in. I suddenly had the realization that these were the people who could put me into a hole and make me disappear without a trial or anything of the sort. In fact that was probably what they'd already done with me. "The situation you have become involved in is far more complicated than some black market augmentation dealers," Director Judge said carefully, giving me an intense look. "You understand that this is all highly classified and I shouldn't tell you any of it. However there are other organizations involved who already know most of what I'm telling you, so I have decided that the best course with you is to be honest." "I...I appreciate that," I responded carefully, becoming even more confused over where this was going. Director Judge leaned back and frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "About eight years ago," he started carefully, "it was discovered that the N'vash left a satellite in Earth's orbit...perhaps more than one. It is stealthed and keeps changing orbit, so we were lucky to discover it at all. Even now that we know what to look for we can only catch an occasional glimpse of its location." "It is not public knowledge," Director Judge told me, "but once a person is augmented their core transmits a signal. It is a weak signal and very difficult to detect, but we believe this signal is being picked up by the satellite. We also have reason to believe that the signal contains sensory data tak