They stopped at the guardhouse where a startled looking soldier stared at them, then just waved them through. They returned to the building with the auditorium. The Colonel, the General, Hugh, and the lab coats were waiting for them. Corporal Dane handed the camera back to the technician, who accepted it excitedly. He immediately reviewed the recording and made excited sounds to his colleagues.The General was trying to school his expression but wasn't too successful."How... how are you feeling, son?" he asked softly from his tight throat.The big marine saluted him with a wide smile. "I feel really good, sir! So much better than I was after the explosion and maybe better than my best day."Hugh's expression was satisfied. "I know a lot of other soldiers who might appreciate the same chance."Mick stepped forward. "Sir, what we saw today was just short of a miracle. His body rejected the conversion, and we almost lost him. The injury he sustained created a break in the flow, and he a
Stanley Garin was a serious young man. He wasn't a big man or a powerful man or even a particularly handsome man but he was intelligent and passionate.What was he passionate about? Not sports. His 5' 7" slimly built body and lack of athletic abilities made him despise team sports as he'd always been excluded. Politics? Boring! Women? While he yearned for female companionship, he did so in silence as his tongue betrayed him around women he found attractive.No, what Stanley loved most was computers. He loved programming them. He loved building them. He loved connecting them together. He just... understood them! He knew what to expect from them and for him, they behaved in rational, expected ways. That wasn't to say he'd never encountered a faulty piece of equipment but he had an innate ability to quickly identify the flaky bit, replace it, and restore order to his life once more. Simple! Much simpler than relationships with people.Having such a serious nature, he'd struggled with the
The elevator stopped and they stepped off into a lobby. The woman nodded to the two large men in dark suits standing on either side of double doors. They nodded and opened the doors for her. Stanley looked at them with wide eyes as they trained their eyes on him the entire time he walked past. He got the impression they were watching for just the slightest hint that he was a threat and they'd take him down. Hard.Ms. Villamor led him down a long hallway and stopped before an opaque glass door with another sensor. Once she tapped her access card to it the liquid crystal in the glass cleared and he could see a large board room table and many chairs around it. The room was empty otherwise. She opened the door and walked in. Stanley followed. When the door closed there was a sudden hush as the room was soundproofed."We are on the top floor. This room is in the center of the floor away from all the windows. It's used once a month. Otherwise it remains empty. If we were to build the new ne
"Welcome aboard, Mr. Garin," the woman said with a smile and she gave the CEO a questioning glance. Villamor shook her head almost imperceptibly but Stanley caught it and Gunderan's raised eyebrow response. He wasn't sure what that was about but he was in a bit of a daze. The woman's voice was surprisingly feminine. He had been expecting a much deeper octave that comes from body building and possibly taking enhancers. On closer examination though there was nothing masculine about Gunderan. She was lovely, just big!"Th-thank you," he stumbled and she grinned at him."I'm not scaring you, am I?" she asked sweetly, ignoring the scowl from her boss."N-no, I get like this around puh-pretty women," he forced out then froze, wide eyed at what he'd just said. To the head of HR none-the-less. AND the CEO! He closed his eyes and put his face in his hands."Oh, I like this one!" Gunderan chuckled happily."Sigrid!" her boss snapped."Fine but I can't help it if he's so cute," she chuckled at V
Stanley was a little worried about what that might mean when he did his visual inspection and inventory of the network and systems equipment which he would have to rely on without the documentation.He turned to look into her lovely dark eyes as she pushed the drawer closed. "Can you get me an org chart? I n-need to know the size of the c-c-company and how many wuh-workstations I can expect we'll be su-supporting." He looked away with a scowl.He felt a hand on his arm and looked back in surprise."You don't have to be nervous around me. I'm here for you one hundred percent," she said gently, her compassion showing in her eyes.He did feel himself calming a little and smiled at her gratefully.She bit her plump lip and pulled her hand back from his arm reluctantly. "What do we do now?"He cleared his throat and nodded, feeling his nerves settle down. Now he was in his comfort zone. "We do an inventory manually. We start at the bottom and work our way up!" She smiled at his enthusiasm
Seeing the older man was unsettled Stanley saw an opportunity to go on the offensive. "I noticed that all of the workstations on this floor are current where all of the lower floors are struggling with ancient equipment. Can you explain that?" he asked.The man wasn't really paying attention to him as he fussed with his rings. "Their workstations are perfectly functional. There was no need to upgrade them."Stanley looked at the man in surprise. "That decision falls under the purview of the CIO."Mr. Pfister was beginning to look a little desperate to get the rings off but they looked stuck. He was also beginning to look a little... green. "Yes, but the PO's are approved by me so nothing is purchased without my say so. So, I decide."Paloma took Stanley's arm and quickly pulled him away as she could see he was starting to get angry.She got him into the elevator and they rode it up to the top floor. "We need to speak with your mother," Stanley grumbled to Paloma. She nodded and they m
Stanley gagged on the odor of its breath. The stench of diseased rot and death dripped from the being and Stanley tried to move but his limbs weren't responding."You're small but you'll be an adequate snack." Sharp teeth flashed in its wide grin."PERHAPS I'D MAKE A MORE SUITABLE MEAL, FOUL DEMON!" boomed a voice from the entrance of the alley.Stanley turned his eyes over to see a large woman running towards them. The naked figure hissed in anger and spun, looking for an exit but the alley was closed at this end. It turned to face its attacker and leathery wings ripped from its back. It leaped into the air desperately flapping to get altitude. Shadows were filling the alley, cast there by its wide wings.The woman running towards them gave a thunderous battle cry and leapt upwards. Huge wings of white burst from her back, their light driving back the shadows. The demon hissed louder and threw something dark at the woman.A shield of light appeared on her arm and deflected the black
Its face had Stanley's features but they were just a little longer. Still youthful in appearance but definitely no longer slim and slight. He now had a broad, muscular chest and powerful arms with three thick fingers and a thumb on each big hand. His clothing could not contain his new configuration and lay on him in torn shreds. Most dramatic of his changes was his lower half from his waist down. Densely furred and powerful, his legs had become those of some kind of goat right down to his large cloven hooved feet."What- what is he?" Paloma gasped."I think he's a Satyr but his horns are bigger than I was expecting. I've never seen one before. They- they're supposed to be extinct!" Sigrid said quietly. "He, or I think more likely someone else, went to a great deal of effort to keep him disguised. I've never seen that kind of glamor before. It wasn't overlaying his true self with a false image. It was actually altering reality around him so he could... be... a Human. That's magic at a