By Jonathan S. Coolidge, D.O.

Suidhne backed away as much as she could from the crowd before her, but the chain to her neck held fast. Just beyond her reach was a set of mirrors, showing the group her frustrated, frightened expressions even as she turned her back to them. She could see in her reflection her bleached white skin and her spiraling horn, the stigmata that caused her ostracism. She could also see her otherwise enviable and well-defined figure tightly encased in her vinyl body suit, its collar continuous with her chain. Another figure paced around her, anticipating an answer from the audience. She kicked several times at the pole to which her chain was affixed, and pounded her fists on the silver orb clamped down on top, preventing her from slipping her chain off the rod.

"I give three hundred for the unicorn girl!" Someone called out.

"Three-fifty!"

"Four hundred!"

"Five hundred."

The man on the stage took Suidhne's chain and turned her abruptly towards the group. "Five hundred thousand dollars, for this unique specimen. Gentlemen, that's not a lot. Look at her!" He caressed her slightly, stroking her long, stark white hair, displaying it gracefully. "I've never seen such a creature as this! This is quite possibly the only chance any of you ever will have to own a unicorn!"

Suidhne shoved him back, screaming. "No one owns me!" She lunged forward, gritting her teeth as she pulled against the chain to her vinyl collar. She then desperately tugged at her bust line, on the rim of the glossy membrane enveloping her. As the crowd started murmuring among themselves with increasing loudness, Suidhne cried out, "I'm not going to be a slave!" She felt surges of anguish and humiliation as the murmuring gave way to chuckling. A single voice stood out from the crowd, carrying a certain focused intention for Suidhne.

"One million dollars."

As Suidhne stumbled back with disbelief, the announcer responded. "That's more like it! Now we're getting close to the bids that pay justice to this unique creature."

"I am not a creature!" Suidhne lunged, shouting, and then sank back, continuing to tug against her tightly fitting coating. She then looked up again to the audience, with watery eyes. "I'm not a monster."

"One million, one hundred thousand!"

"One point two million!"

"One and a half million dollars."

"This is insane!" Suidhne shrieked, yanking frantically against her chain. She then knelt, head down, with growing tension welling within her, unable to escape.

"One and a half million dollars. Do I hear more? For any other being, that may be a lot, but that is a small price to pay for such a creature as this." Suidhne fought to catch her breath against her flurry of emotion and the vinyl squeezing against her chest, as the auctioneer continued. "Do I hear one point six million, to own this creature?"

Suidhne lunged again, this time with her left leg, side-kicking the auctioneer, who had just made the mistake of getting too close. He fell back, stumbling, arched into his crushed abdomen while dropping his microphone and a key chain noisily to the floor. Suidhne reached for it, but her chain held her back. She lowered to the ground, using her foot to reach for the set of keys. She strained to reach, nudging them slightly towards her, but then a hand grabbed them away. The auctioneer slowly pulled himself up, coughing, while the audience murmured again, stirring with enthusiasm.

"One point seven million!"

"One point eight million!"

"One million, eight hundred and fifty!"

"Two million dollars," the same intentful voice towards the front offered.

Suidhne stood back, becoming increasingly conscious of the fortune some people were willing to pay to own her. It was a strange, backhanded compliment, and yet it still insulted her, reducing her.

"I hear two..." The auctioneer struggled to stand upright. "I hear two million." He grimaced as several people in the audience chuckled. Suidhne scowled towards him, glaring. He then regained his composure. "Two million dollars! We're closing in on the record. Will anyone offer two point three million, and set the new world record tonight?" The audience was silent for a moment, as was the auctioneer. All that could be heard was the slight clink of Suidhne's chain and the gentle rubbing sound of Suidhne's outfit as she stirred slightly, tense.

"Two million, three hundred!" Someone called out.

"Behold! Two million, three hundred! The new world's record! It's a shame that no one above will celebrate it, because I have never seen a prize more deserving of this honor than this being." He cautiously circled closer to Suidhne, who stood, looking intently back at him. "Two million, three hundred going once..."

"Two point four million." The audience gasped and mumbled in response, as the person towards the front placed his responding bid. Suidhne looked closely towards him, seeing a gaunt, dark-haired figure. He carried none of the stereotype features one would expect from a millionaire. He was dressed with a black leather jacket and pants, and wore his hair in a short, semi-wild, wiry fashion, flailing about as his head turned. His facial features were course with prominent eyes, but his voice was deep and richly textured.

"Two point four million," the auctioneer gasped. "From the gentleman up front. Is there anyone in this house tonight who can top that, to have the rare, unique unicorn woman? Going once... going twice..." he paused, and again there was silence, as Suidhne looked towards him. "Gone, for two million, four hundred thousand dollars, the white woman with the unicorn horn!" A tall, muscular woman entered, unlocking and removing the silver ball on top of the pole to which Suidhne was affixed, while two men grabbed her, carrying her as she began thrashing and squirming in vein for freedom. The woman then helped the two men carry her off, as three more people escorted a similarly struggling small, oriental faerie-like woman towards the column in the center of the stage.

"I'm pretty confident that Suidhne, Pengarthe, and Melody are doing better than we are," Danit stated to Nialle, as they accompanied their Lykosan and Ehlan Sidhe companions through the woods outside the colony of planet Shohan. Most of the foliage had been imported from Danit's and the Ehlan's home-worlds, as had been the small animal life buzzing about and jumping out of the way as the four of them marched along. Danit had withdrawn his royal plumage appearance in favor of a more slick appearance with tufts of fur across his chest, back, and abdomen.

"Just in case, though, I say as soon as we get to the encampment, we do that Crossover thingy to Suidhne's. We could probably use Melody's kookiness and Suidhne's random past life regressions about now, not to mention Pengarthe's huge sword." As the four progressed through the blue-green woods, they pushed brush aside. Nialle suddenly shrieked, flailing her arms about. "Spider! Agh!"

"A what?" Danit answered, looking at her as she calmed down. "I don't see anything."

"I felt a spider web!"

"Whatever those are, we don't have any on our world, and probably not here either."

"They're these little monsters with eight eyes and eight legs," Nialle explained, widening her eyes crazily while gesturing mock fangs with her hands in front of her face. "They have these huge fangs, and they squirt stuff out of their butts to build nets to trap their victims." She began searching through her torn and ragged red dress, and then her long, black hair. "They always go for your hair."

"They sound quite frightening," the Ehlan Sidhe answered, speaking through the vertical slit in his chest, while his grotesque skeletal form pushed away foliage before him. He turned his two eyestalks towards Nialle. "You have a vrogil on you."

Nialle jumped back, slamming into Danit. She looked at her belly, noticing a small creature climbing up-something that vaguely resembled a hybrid of their Ehlan Sidhe companion and a small lizard. It looked up at her with two beady eyes on miniature stalks. Nialle grabbed it and tossed it onto a pile of leaf-like appendages on nearby foliage, muttering in disgust. "Do you have any pictures of where we're going? Some way we can get a clear image in our mind exactly where we're going, the way one would when meditating and employing certain metaphysical powers involving teleporting through different realms?"

"Why do you ask?" The anthropomorphic wolf-like Lykosan asked.

"Because I'd really like to skip this part," she answered, swatting at a strange insect buzzing about her wide, slender face.

"There it is," the Ehlan answered. He pointed with his bizarrely shaped lateral portion of his forearm towards a small cluster of tree houses, closely blending in with their surroundings and suggesting somewhat giant lichens and shelf fungi, with a single Cuna Sidhe barely visible, walking along one of several larger ridges.

"Very good," Danit replied. "Perhaps now is the time to locate Melody, Suidhne, and Pengarthe."

Pengarthe felt groggy for a moment, disoriented, as he awoke from sleep. He felt comfortable, and yet the bed he was in did not feel like his, and he had no covers over him. As he became aware of the leather harness binding him, he became alert, jolting upright, leaning forward. He then noticed that his harness strapped him to posts at the head of the bed. He was in a garish, luxurious room, decorated with animal prints. Nearby were three other men in glass cages, each in harnesses chained to the walls in three alcoves. One was an adolescent with a pale body with dark highlights around light features, and fluffy black hair. Another was a well-built feral man with a thick, dark amber mane covering his head, neck, and back. Additional tufts of golden fur formed a V shape across his chest and down his belly. He looked towards Pengarthe as a predator might view a rival. The third was another young male, one with iridescent skin covered by ornate abstract designs, and a pair of folded blue and violet butterfly-like wings. The three each viewed Pengarthe with curiosity.

Pengarthe tugged on the straps for a moment, and then at the harness, and then sat upright. "I am Pengarthe Ash. Who are you, and how did I get here?"

The man with the golden mane simply growled at him, pressing his open hands against the glass confining him and jingling his chain binding him to his alcove. The person with the butterfly wings addressed him, however. "This is the lair of Kimberly Maury. You probably saw her overseeing the auction. She is the caretaker of the Awakened." His voice sounded somewhat muffled inside his chamber.

"Isn't it enough that we care for ourselves?" Pengarthe answered. "I haven't needed a caretaker so far," he said, bitterly.

"Maury has cared for us for several years, now," the slender, light remaining figure answered. "None of us have to worry any more. Since Maury came, we no longer have to worry about money, nor do we have to spend day after day, month after month, year after year squandering our vitality sitting around in a classroom. We don't have to fight to get and keep a job. Now, the only thing we have to do is to be enjoyed."

"It's a dream job for a lot of men," the iridescent one answered, sitting down and laying back, fidgeting with his chain links.

"You can tell this Maury that I am already taken; I am committed to Suidhne Dreamsail, and I have no intention of betraying that commitment or being anyone's prostitute."

"It's a shame you feel that way," a woman answered, walking in. It was the same lady who inspected him and his companions earlier, before the auction. She had traded her formal white dress in favor of a thin silk evening gown. "Pengarthe Ash, I am Kim Maury, your new owner." She sat down at the edge of the bed, stroking Pengarthe's furry leg and thick hoof. He pulled his foot back as far as his restraints would permit, and then tried to push her aside, but his arms could not reach far enough. She continued stroking her ankle. "I can see it's going to take you awhile to get used to me."

"I don't think they're here." Danit said to Nialle as they wandered around Suidhne's apartment, looking for signs of her or the others.

"They're not online, either," Nialle answered, fidgeting with a small device, glancing at a series of images projected from a triangular apparatus resting on the floor. "But they left us a note." An image of Suidhne, Pengarthe, and Melody appeared, along side three other people-one a blue elf and the other two humans in punk garb.

"To Danit and Nialle, in case you should return before we do, this is Blue Ghost, Clarissa, and Spike 99. They are helping us locate a person using the online name 'Creator.' We believe this person has information relating to Melody's past. We should be back by midnight."

"Well, I guess that's that," Nialle commented. "Do you think we should chase them down and pester them about the mission?"

"Not yet, Nialle. Rather than interrupting them, we should probably let them finish what they're into, checking by in the morning. No need to uproot them from what they're doing just yet."

"I just hope they're not into any trouble."

"I'm sure they're fine," Danit answered.

Nialle sighed and looked around. "My place is a few blocks over; I'm going to need something else to wear." Danit exhaled and looked at her, but Nialle responded before he could comment. "Sure, easy for you, since you never had to wear anything other than your texture of the day."

The two walked out, locking the door behind them, and came down an irregularly shaped wooden hallway. At the end of the hall, they exited out a pair of wooden and glass doors, standing at a suspended entryway. The building behind them, which they had just exited, was a large apartment complex suspended in several trees, with complex, weaving walls and numerous ornate struts, lit by numerous windows and scattered lanterns. The two climbed down a series of stairs carved from ash, oak, and stone, built into the landscape. They passed by several others of such places along a stone-lined trail, with evening woods lit by fireflies. The shrill of bugs intermingled the sounds of frogs and birds. Danit and Nialle passed by a large pond, waving at a light golden figure, waist deep, wading in the waters. She waved back and then dove in, flapping an ornate orange fish tail instead of legs as she swam under. They made their way to Nialle's building, near the edge of the Morgana residence, with the complex city of Collinwood visible beyond. She and Danit entered a cave-like entryway, passing down a corridor, entering a subterranean lair lined to one side with running water and an indoor garden of ferns and mushrooms accompanied nearby with more traditional furnishings.

Nialle picked up a shiny, slick black dress with wings over the arms. "Here's that thing that Wolven One made for me. I'm going to bring it just to make sure I don't need it." She folded the dress up, and then stepped over behind a translucent screen, sorting through a rack of clothes. Danit watches her silhouette behind the screen awkwardly lift her dress over her head, flopping its dirty and somewhat burnt form to the ground. She then gracefully applied several articles and emerged in light, sporty attire, carrying a large handbag. She tilted her head and gestured in a swirling motion as a whirling blue field of energy appeared in the air before her. "Shall we go?"

Suidhne groggily awoke, feeling warm hands gently shaking her to consciousness. She looked up to see Melody's three eyes looking down upon her. As Suidhne's thoughts became less cloudy, she looked at Melody, seeing her visible neck and torso. Melody was nude, her small, elegant but weathered features fully exposed. Suidhne felt naked as well, and as she sat up, she realized she, too, was unclothed. She sat up slowly, looking around. The two of them were in an indoor garden, bordered with rock on three sides and a glass wall on the remaining one. A small stream trickled through, and several small insects chirped in the background.

"We're in some sort of terrarium," Melody explained. "I haven't been able to find a way out. I can't even open a Crossover portal-we're magically sealed in."

Suidhne walked over to the glass wall, looking into the room beyond. It was a richly decorated living room with ornate wooden furniture and a large, cozy chair beside a fireplace. A large, geometric red and brown rug was draped across the floor, and a small chandelier hung from the ceiling. Suidhne had the impression that she and Melody were now considered exotic decorations. To the left of the glass panel was a smaller glass door leading to a small side room containing several drawers, a pantry, and a case with several keys, and featuring a second door leading into the room outside the terrarium. Suidhne tugged on the door, but it was locked. She pounded on it several times, causing the glass to vibrate slightly, but it was unbreakable. The then struck at the main glass wall, first with her fists and then with several side-kicks, to no avail. Suidhne looked around, finding a large rock, which she lifted and hurled at the barrier. It bounced off, causing the transparent partition to shake slightly. However, the rock left not even a scratch.

Then, Suidhne noticed that they had a third person with them. In a smaller hexagonal glass cage within their larger enclosure, a wild elf woman patted her hands against her confinement, evidently trying to catch Suidhne's attention. It was the same feral maiden Suidhne, Melody, and their friend Blue Ghost had tried to rescue earlier. She too was bare, but apparently more concerned with her captivity. Suidhne placed an arm across her breasts and her other hand over her pubic region. As Suidhne came closer, the feral being paced within her tight space briefly, her clawed feet clicking against a smooth, mirrored floor. She then peered at Suidhne, pressing her hands against the glass.

Melody approached as Suidhne and the feral elf woman looked closely at each other. "Her name is Ocelot," Melody explained. "She was captured from the wilderness."

"Why is she in a cage?" Suidhne asked.

Ocelot shifted back and forth slightly with cat-like gestures, blinking her large black eyes and twitching her prominent ears. "I bite." She sat down, pressing her feet against a small locked rectangular glass door at the base of her chamber.

Lights came on outside the enclosure, from the chandelier in the room beyond. Two people entered-a man in his early forties with long, curly, black hair and elegant attire and a small brown-haired lady with large, pointed ears, wearing a colorful, frilly skirt and bra with chain mail accents. Suidhne recognized the man as the gentleman in the front row at her auction. He gestured towards his young elf companion. "I am William Floyd, and this is Hillary, your caretaker. I want to assure you that unlike many of the people at the auction, I do not intend to use any of you for prostitution or for my own sexual purposes."

"Then how come you have locked three naked women in an aquarium?" Suidhne interrupted. "I don't see any men in here."

"I'm not yet ready to deal with breeding," he answered. "If I put a male in there with you, sooner or later at least one of you will almost certainly end up pregnant."

Hillary unlocked and entered the side room, and then locked it behind her. She obscured from view a five-digit combination lock to the key rack, and placed the first key in there. She then closed it, using a second key to enter the enclosure with Suidhne and Melody after picking up a basket in the pantry. Hillary brought in several assorted fruits and vegetables, as well as several dried herbs. "It's all organic; pretty soon, you won't need to be on adaptation supplements any more." She pointed towards the left side of the back wall, where the water stream poured gently down a series of rocks. "You can use that as your toilet; the water drains out there past the waterfall, eventually to a sewer line. It's definitely too small for any of you to fit through, however."

"Why are you not kept caged like us?" Melody now inquired.

"Will knows I am not going to run off. I believe in what he's doing for our kind."

"And what is he doing?" Suidhne asked bitterly, "besides decorating his condominium?"

"We are an endangered species. As humankind expands more and more, and wilderness gives way to suburbs, we are losing the kind of environment we need to survive. Most people care little for what happens to the Awakened unless it happens to them."

"That's not true!" Suidhne countered. "What about people like Morgana, who set up the reservation for people like us?"

"They're too much of a minority. Morgana has a good heart, and we applaud her. But, you're still vulnerable out there. There's too many hate groups and Traditionalists who would like to see us gone-not to mention land owners who want to develop what little wilderness we have left." Hillary unlocked the small door at the base of Ocelot's cage and slid in a bowl of food. Ocelot picked up an apple and began nibbling away. Then, Hillary made her way back to the series of doors. Suidhne followed her towards the entrance, but Hillary pushed her back before closing the glass entry behind her. After Hillary exchanged keys and passed through the second door, she turned to face Suidhne and Melody across the transparent barrier. "I will be back in a few minutes to pick up any leftovers."

"How long before we can be outside, like you?" Suidhne asked Hillary.

"I'm afraid you misunderstood," William said with a sigh. "I've been working with Hillary since we started collecting. We're not letting you out-you're too rare and valuable." Suidhne bared her teeth and slammed her palms against the glass. William Floyd sorted through some articles that were once in Melody and Suidhne's purses. "You're 'swid-nee' Dreamsail?"

"It's pronounced 'swith-nee' Dreamsail," she answered, covering her breasts with her hands.

He looked at her across the glass, taking in her elegant features. A few bluish veins were barely visible on close inspection, but her skin was otherwise a stark white. Her black fingernails and deep blue-violet lips contrasted sharply against her bleached skin. Her shape conveyed graceful sensuality, though her face displayed anger giving way to sadness. She pounded her fists violently against the glass a few more times, causing it to warp and reverberate gently. "Let us out!" She shouted in vain.

"I don't think you realize just how special you are, Suidhne. You're worth more than two million dollars. You are quite possibly the only being of your kind in existence." He then walked over across from Melody. "You're Melody Dreamsail?"

She came up next to him across the glass, pressing her hands against the barrier. She gazed at him with her third eye. "I am." Her features were more mature, suggesting the toned, arcane beauty of a high priestess. She was tanned with an occasional cluster of freckles across her breasts and thighs. She exhibited a potent psychic presence. Across the glass separation, she stood somewhat shorter than William, but she conveyed a sense of hidden power.

"Are you and Suidhne related?"

"She is one of my descendants," Melody answered.

"I'm surprised I was able to get you for only one point three million. That's not as much as your friend, but still a lot more than most. You've been around a very long time. You're immortal, aren't you?"

"Yes," she answered, tapping her fingertips slightly on the glass. She held her head down somewhat. "I was born from two half-elf, half human parents on a far away land, and I am over five hundred years old."

"Are you the daughter of Spiritwalker, founder of the House of Dreamsail?"

"Yes, I am." Melody paced back and forth slightly, inspecting the edge of the enclosure, as though searching for weaknesses. "It would seem you are familiar with the Dreamsail family, then?"

"Somewhat," William answered. "There is still more I want to know, however. I have many questions to ask."

"Then I have something you want."

"Please enjoy your food," William answered, changing the subject. "Hillary will be back in a little bit."

"I have no intention of betraying my love of Suidhne," Pengarthe stated sternly, virtually ignoring Kim Maury's swaying gestures and beckoning features behind her thin gauze gown. "Your other pets may see joining as mere entertainment, but I share only with the deepest of trust. I have no commitment with you or to anyone except my beloved Suidhne."

Kim grunted with disgust. "Suidhne! That's all I ever hear about from you! Leave it to me to find the one hopeless romantic left on this world!" She grabbed Pengarthe's collar, yanking him towards her. "I want you to make love to me!"

"Having sex and making love are not the same," Pengarthe answered stoically.

What's so special about this lady? Why is she so important to you?"

Pengarthe sat down in his alcove, as Kim backed away slightly, lying down recumbent down beside him. "I met her during my Awakening...."

Daniel Ash combed his hair, fulfilling the part of his morning routine before heading to high school between brushing his teeth and eating breakfast. He usually thought nothing of what he was doing as he did it, taking such rituals for granted as being the same from one day to the next. However, today he was briefly interrupted. Daniel noticed a small, thick nodule on his left temple. He picked at it, assuming it to be one of many skin lesions often associated with adolescence, but it was firmly embedded, almost as though rooted to the underlying bone. He noticed a second one, strangely enough almost exactly on the other side of his scalp. The lesions puzzled him briefly, but he quickly dismissed them and continued his routine that morning.

However, by that afternoon, Daniel started to worry; both lesions had doubled in size. He looked at his reflection in the rear view mirror of his oversized old sports car, looking at the mysterious keritinized nodules. His facial hair had grown out as well; he shaved that morning, but appeared as if he had let his face grow several days. As Daniel thought about these changes and became more conscious of his body, he noticed that his legs were cramping as well.

He drove his usual route through the Collinwood freeways, covering the half hour commute between the school and his home. His graying-haired mother greeted him, but quickly picked up on his appearance. "Daniel? What's that in your hair?"

"I wish I knew. I first noticed it this morning." As she inspected the left side of his head closely, sifting through his hair, he became resentful of the exam. "Mother, I'm fine." He neglected to mention the second one on the right side.

"Well, we should keep an eye on this. If you wouldn't dabble in magic so much, these sort of things wouldn't happen." She pushed on the nodule slightly. "Gosh, that's thick."

The two of them ate supper together, a routine he took for granted, though in the future he would reflect upon these moments. Then, he went to work for the evening, selling technological equipment on the fifteenth floor of a massive shopping complex. For the most part, the lesions on his head passed from his consciousness; at least until the wall of televisions to the right of his checkout counter drew his attention. He happened upon a news documentary.

"...As we go into the lives of the adaptively impaired, we'll look at the newly erected Morgana Residence." An interviewer stood at an ornate iron gateway surrounded by lush forest. Across from him were three people. One was a graceful middle-aged woman, another a tall, slender man with pointed ears and a white streak in his light tan hair, and the other a young, teen-aged girl with stark white skin, white hair, and a small, white pearly horn over her forehead.

"Good evening, I am here with Morgana, founder of the new reservation, as well as Kodama Dreamsail and his daughter Suidhne, two adaptively impaired individuals who are among the first to move into the new community. Any comments?" He gestured towards the woman Morgana, an empowered presence.

"First, I have learned not to use the term 'adaptively impaired'; these people much prefer the term 'Awakened,' in reference to a belief in emerging magical forces. However, I do have to clear up a misconception this term carries. Not all people Awakened were born otherwise; both Kodama and Suidhne here came into the world with the same features that you see now." Suidhne smiled at the camera, pulling hair out of her face as the wind blew. "Only some people undergo the metamorphosis of Awakening later in life; others are born into it."

"And you, Kodama, any comments?"

"I've been looking forward for some time now about moving in here. The landscaping and atmosphere were all carefully planned to work with the unusual needs of people like us..."

As Daniel stared at the TV, the image of the girl with the horn seemed to stare back at him. He felt a tense pallor overcoming him as he realized what was occurring. He was experiencing the Awakening. He sighed deeply and returned to work, finding himself none-the-less obsessed with what was happening.

A week later, Daniel Ash stood one evening, looking at his reflection in a vertical mirror in his mother's bathroom. His toes had fused into two digits on each foot, each coated with a thick layer of keratin, forming hooves. A thick, dark brown, almost black coat of fur covered his remodeled legs and pelvis, up to his waist. He was re-learning how to walk, since his knee and ankle joints were in new positions. He had also formed a small tuft of a tail. His face and chest grew out black hair, and he had two large, prominent horns beginning to curl.

Suddenly, he had become aware of himself and his own existence. Daniel had never paid much attention before to either himself or the world around him. However, now the routine was interrupted. Suddenly something that was not there before now was, and something that was there was now gone. A realization was dawning on him that there was more to the world around him than getting by from day to day or being popular in school. Suddenly, there were a cosmos and strange forces scarcely understood.

"I knew you shouldn't have been playing with magic," his mother interrupted, almost tearful. "Now, look at you! You're going to get rid of all of that Pagan crap of yours right now, before anything else happens!" She stormed into his bedroom, swiping her arm across a small altar table, knocking over two ceramic figures and several bowls of articles, sending them crashing to the ground. "The devil took my husband, and now he's taking my son!"

"Please, don't bring Dad into this again." Daniel grasped his frantic mother's hands, exerting a calming influence. "This is an imperfect world. Things happen. Good people die young sometimes."

She looked up at him, tearfully. "I know that, son. But this is really pushing it. I really wish you would give up all of this magic stuff. It can't be coincidence-think about it. How many other adaptively impaired are also into this?" She looked around his room, tossing several books off of a shelf. "I really want this stuff out of the house!"

"Fine!" Daniel answered. "I've been doing some budgeting, and I think I can afford an apartment. I'll get all of this stuff out, all right. I'm moving to the Morgana place."

"My name is Pengarthe Ash," the young man stated, as he carried a large box over his shoulders, carefully navigating up a series of stairs embedded in one of the large tree trunks supporting the building above. The white lady with the unicorn horn smiled, gazing at him as he stumbled along.

"Need any help with that, Pengarthe?" The lady asked, following him upstairs, opening a door in front of him as he worked his way into a front room.

"I've got it, thanks." He dropped the box somewhat hap hazardously onto the floor around a cluster of other boxes, and then took a breath. "As I was saying, when I saw you on the news and looked at your unicorn horn, that's when I realized I was Awakening." He opened the large box he brought in, revealing several smaller boxes inside, plus a stack of clothes. He pulled out a pair of sports shoes and handed them to the lady. "Can anyone you know use these?" He gestured towards his cloven hooves with a sigh.

As she took the articles, she asked, "Ever heard of 'Crossover'?"

"That's when two chromosomes break up and rearrange. I took a Biology test two weeks ago."

"That's not what I meant," she answered. "My family has a long history, and some of our folk legends tell about people who could travel into alternate universes."

Pengarthe looked out his new window, viewing a lush garden below and woods beyond, with the Collinwood downtown skyline in the distance. "I think I know what that would feel like."

"If you find out any more about it, I'd be grateful."

"I'll keep my eyes open. Why do you ask? Are you wanting to go to other places?"

"I may already have." As she said this, Pengarthe stopped unloading and gave her his full attention. "I tried a meditation on past lives a few weeks ago, and I saw myself as some sort of being with cat-like features and four legs-sort of like a centaur. Someone was showing off a gigantic circular machine glowing a bright blue light-some sort of new power plant or drive system for a gigantic space ship. They were very secretive about it, because they were at war with someone, and enemy spies were everywhere. If you're willing to accept the idea, I think this actually happened, in another realm."

"I've got a few books on meditation; I'll be happy to work with you some time on it." He looked around. "I tell you what. I just need to finish unloading; I can unpack tomorrow. I've got about an hour before I have to go to work, and I'd like to get a look around the Morgana Residence. Would you like to show me around?"

"...Some of the others, Daniel, have expressed some discomfort about your presentation." Pengarthe stood in the store's hidden office, as the manager spoke. "I'm sorry to even have to bring this up, and I feel awkward having to ask you about this."

"It's about my Awakening. Surely that hasn't affected my work in any way."

"No, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to hold that against you in any way. I'm merely offering this as advice, as a friend."

"What do you have in mind?"

"How would you feel about shaving off those horns?"

"My horns?"

"Well, someone-and I can't really say who-expressed their concern about it. They feel that some customers would feel, how shall I say...uncomfortable being served by someone who looked, well...intimidating."

"You mean, like the devil."

"Exactly. I feel it would be in your best interest if you could cut off your horns."

"I understand," he answered, nodding. "You will have my letter of resignation in the morning." He stormed out, shoving a bookshelf over on his way out.

"That was stupid of me, Suidhne," Pengarthe stated, sitting with her at a small coffee bar within the Morgana Residence. "I just moved in, and now I may not be able to pay the rent."

Suidhne leaned over to one side as she handed him an espresso, pointing her eyes toward a sign posted on the wall behind him. Pengarthe turned around to look. "Looking for a job? Baristas wanted, ask for Debbie."

"The complex is still getting set up," Suidhne stated. "There are dozens of jobs all around working construction, setting up the computer networks, and hiring at all the local businesses inside. I'm not living with my parents, by the way. They're in another building."

"But, you are on good terms with them. One of mine is dead, and the other is convinced I'm possessed by demons."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Your mother-is she a Traditionalist?"

"Full blown-anything that isn't in the holy books is an attempt by the devil to divert attention away from God. She's quite convinced my Awakening is because I've studied magic."

"Then she must really hate Keller University, then."

"Oh yes. The very idea of a university offering a degree in magic drives her crazy."

"Is it OK if I ask what happened to your father?" She leaned forward, her interest obviously drawn towards him.

"It was an industrial accident; he was replacing a corroded pipe when a nearby crane malfunctioned and fell, knocking over the scaffolding. He and three others were killed. They were upgrading a refinery to comply with environmental standards. Since then, my mom has been resentful of any and all environmental movements. She's even convinced that there was a cover-up in the accident, and that environmentalists were responsible."

"It's so much easier to be a fanatic than to consider the fact that we live in a chaotic world." Suidhne answered, with an ancient presence underlying her young demeanor. "It takes work to each individual thing into perspective and to find balance between two extremes. It's a lot easier to favor one end and forsake the other."

"But, her view of the world doesn't make sense. She considers magic and sexuality both evils. Who invented them?"

"As long as you don't have to stop to think about them, a few contradictions here and there are often allowed to slip in. They're easier to live with than taking the time to iron out a polished, internally consistent philosophy."

"How old are you again?"

"Sixteen. But, I've got a lot of past lives that keep popping up. I think I was once this gigantic thing that had hundreds of bodies. Before that I was a werewolf."

Pengarthe finished his espresso and set the tiny cup down into its saucer, nodding. "I see."

"We were friends long before we were lovers," Pengarthe told Kim.

"But, it's clear that from the start, she was interested in you. She followed you around." Pengarthe allowed her to stroke his hair gently as he finished recounting his memories. As she got up, Pengarthe tried to follow her out of his alcove, but his harness restrained him. She pushed him back slightly and closed the transparent panel, locking him in his cage. "Very well, then. For the moment, I guess I'll have to settle with just looking at you."

"How did you do that?" As Danit, Nialle, and their companion Lykosan and Ehlan viewed the complex, one of the slender Cunan guides asked Danit.

"That's classified," Danit answered, looking out a window at several clusters of small buildings veiled by foliage.

"Danit and I have a special ability that allows us to travel to alternate realms," Nialle blurted out.

"Nialle!"

"Well, if they want to keep it secret, they shouldn't call you Ambassador to the Crossover Realms, now, should they?"

They settled into a bunker hastily dug and assembled using crude materials, accompanied by jury-rigged creature comforts including lighting, air conditioning, and simple electronics. The structure was not intended to be permanent fixtures, and was instead simply created out of the surrounding ground-a surreal mixture of tribal huts and portable post-modern devices.

"As the Lykosan ambassador," Danit explained, "I'm ashamed of what has happened. I just want you to know that the Lykosan Empire is not like this."

"What about your heritage?" The other Cunan asked. "Don't you think the Cunae Sidhe and our Ehlan brethren need independence? There are plenty of others who would die for it."

"Have you ever been to Cuna?" Danit answered.

"Not first-hand. My parents told me a lot about it, though-about fleeing the coming Lykosan regime."

"Maybe they didn't tell you the full story."

The young boy Danit ran with the others as they fled their village. Behind them, several ornate spindle-shaped Ehlan fighter craft flew out of the rising smoke, rolling their central spherical fuselages as they passed overhead. People scattered and ducked, but the warplanes passed by with disinterest, proceeding to their next target. The surrounding blue foliage took on a dull gray color, dampened by the smoke in the air. The rest of Danit's family was gone already, but he did not yet have time to mourn; all he could do now was flee.

Danit ducked down a series of slopes and steps, leaving the open fields, hiding as several roaring aircraft approached. He looked up and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw several sleek Cunan fighter jets flying in overhead. He then continued bounding several leaps and jumps, into what he first believed to be an abandoned military camp. As he moved along, however, he could hear someone speaking in Ehlanese, so he hid next to a cluster of bushes, assuming its leafy yellow texture as he huddled, listening.

"...Around us we see the devastation of a Cunan village, after the attack of our forces. As you can see, there are more than just military casualties in war. The weapons depot facility struck today was also an integral part of what was once a Cunae Sidhe community."

Danit looked up to see a single dark gray Ehlan with a levitating camera and transmitter device following him around. In spite of its strange, monstrous appearance, the being conveyed unexpected emotions-regret and sympathy. A single tear caused a glisten down one of its eyestalks, and its animalistic body language suggested a certain sense of fear as it looked around, trying to stay out of harm's way. None-the-less, it vigilantly made an effort to chronicle its surroundings. It then apparently noticed Danit, and the floating camera pointed towards him.

"It's OK," it reassured. "I'm simply a reporter." The skeletal form approached slowly and quietly, making an effort to appear as non-threatening as possible. Suddenly, a loud gunshot sounded, and the Ehlan stumbled back as dark green material started to pour out of a hole in its chest. Its vertical mouth in its chest began to cough. Then, a few more rounds fired and the creature fell, lifeless. Several Cunan soldiers in plated armor and conical helmets ran in. As one jumped over in front of Danit, she picked him up.

"I've got the boy; he doesn't look too badly injured."

Another soldier looked at the remains of the Ehlan and then at the floating camera, grabbing it out of the air and fidgeting with it. "Damn! He was just a reporter!"

"Can we get a medic down here?"

"Too late; he's gone now."

"We'll get this boy to safety." Suddenly, one of the soldiers fell back, bloody material erupting through his left shoulder, staining his armor dark green. As he fell, he began groaning and writhing.

"Get down!" As one of the other soldiers shouted, the one holding Danit grabbed him and shielded him with her armor while making her way into a small trench. A few gunshots thundered in the distance, and then the soldiers responded in kind with closer, louder machinery fire. The soldiers blended into their surroundings, as did their dull armor. Danit watched the remaining wounded soldier attempt to crawl under the rain of gunfire. The other soldiers watched helplessly as well, unable to risk exposing themselves to the same fire. One of them finally ran out in a vain attempt to rescue him. "Tetnom! Don't!"

The second soldier ran out, ducked behind the first, and crawled along the ground, trying to drag him to safety. A second bullet finally struck the wounded man in the head, and then another one hit the would-be rescuer. Both now laid lifeless only a few meters away.

A few more shots burst nearby, and something in the distance plopped to the ground. Several moments of silence passed, and then the soldiers emerged from their surroundings. "Austi, get the boy to shelter; Gress, Namp, Exa, help me with Tetnom and Bexa. We'll meet at the M.A.O.I. as soon as we're done."

The soldier accompanying Danit picked him up, looking at him with her deep black eyes. A few stray tufts of silvery magenta hair hung erratically out of her pointed metallic cap. "My name is Austi."

Countless refugees gathered in clusters of jury-rigged tents and huts as soldiers distributed food and first aid. A large central tent supported several hundred people, as well as serving as a source of information. A projection screen displayed news updates and scrolling banners of names and locations, while the surroundings were filled with bustling activity. Danit watched the screen with interest, still shivering with fear from his ordeal, while a physician examined him and a nurse washed the smudges and stains off his face.

"We interrupt our regular newscast to bring you this special news bulletin. The Cunae Sidhe Global Defense Network has just declassified information pertaining to the unidentified space faring object that entered orbit yesterday afternoon. In a few moments we will hear a decoded, translated message that the CSGDN indicates came from the object." At this point, nearly everyone in the tent was watching the screen, and people were pouring in from the surrounding huts.

"Greetings to people of twin worlds." An oval image appeared of a dark gray, furry creature with triangular ears and a long muzzle ending in sharp teeth and a wet black nose. "I am Verella, Functionary R-7 of the Lykosan Empire. I represent unification of over two hundred star systems and twenty-three civilizations. I wish to meet with representatives of your two worlds to discuss offer for each of you to join our empire and gain benefits of our shared technology and knowledge. Our intention is peace, and we will not force you to decision. However, strongly I encourage cessation of war among yourself, as it represents the greatest obstacle to all our wishes and hopes. From my initial contacts, I to understand neither side wants continued war."

"Over the next sixty or so Lykosan years, we've had relative peace between our two races," Danit continued. "And the Lykosan Empire stayed true to its promises. Within the empire, we've traveled throughout the galaxy and created a name for ourselves. Without their support, if we didn't wipe each other out, we'd surely still be struggling within our own star system. Both our homeworlds for the most part do have their own rule, and we each have spots on the Imperial Parliament. Back home, most people do not want the revolution; they may be dissatisfied with the current political state of things, but they see the 'revolution' as pointless random terrorism and want no part of it."

"This is not about terrorism," the Cunan revolutionary answered. "Take a look around. How many incidents like these have happened? In how many ways has the Lykosan Empire struck out against our identity, our pride?"

"How many times have we done the same?" Danit answered.

A flurry of evening celebrations on Ehlan commemorated fifty years of membership in the Lykosan Empire. In a complex, beautiful festival, hundreds of costumed figures in countless various shapes and colors paraded as hundreds of thousands crowded streets. Bright lights glimmered from the towers around them. People danced to loud, blaring stage musicians and rock bands performing. A battalion of elderly veterans paraded, old gray-furred Lykosans, wrinkled Ehlan Sidhe, and experienced Cunae Sidhe marching in a loose formation in ceremonial uniforms, some not worn for years. People cheered for them as they advanced, carrying heirloom swords and waving at the crowd.

Suddenly without warning one of the buildings exploded in a flash of light. Rubble collapsed over the parade and crowd as it transformed into chaotic panic and confusion. Old instincts awakened in some of the war veterans, who began rescue efforts in search of their comrades and audience. Others sank back into the turmoil of shellshock, old memories of past horror reawakened. Still others ran for cover, looking around for an adversary to fight. Rescue crews arrived on the scene, and party lights gave way to searchlights and warning sirens.

"Eleven people died that evening," Danit added. "Some were bystanders who came to watch. The others were veterans of war, who defended our lives and freedom against the Nanlaheer, the Scora, or the Orelli. One of those persons was a Cunan woman named Austi."

"Our own nationalism has always been our greatest enemy." Danit continued. "The arrogance that we were better than the Ehlan kept us at war with them until the Lykosans came. And now the arrogance that we're better than the Lykosans has caused and is still causing senseless destruction and turmoil."

"What about Viceroy Koheen?" The other Cunan countered. "Take a look around. It was not the Cunan revolutionaries who vanquished the Yuri priests and destroyed their temple! Where were your precious empire's ideals when Koheen's followers captured the Yuri Fhadhard, their spiritual leader, and forced her to fornicate in public? Where were they when Koheen forced children to murder their parents?"

"We're here now," Nialle answered. "Maybe we're a little late, but we're here. And, we're getting reinforcements."

Suidhne paced back and forth as Melody bathed in the warm pond towards the right side of the enclosure. "Even if Pengarthe is restrained somewhere, surely Nialle and Danit will be looking for us." Suidhne thought out loud.

Melody rested at the side of the pool, lifting herself up against a grouping of rocks bordering the artificial pond. "As long as we're inside this chamber, magical homing probably won't work. They won't be able to find us the easy way. I'm not even sure where we are."

Suidhne grabbed a long, thin twig, bending and flexing it, and then headed to the other side of the chamber, to the glass panel door. "You seem awfully resigned about staying here." She inserted the tip of the twig into the lock on the door, picking at it.

"This isn't the first time I've been held captive, or even the second. I'm actually kind of amused this time around."

"Amused?" Suidhne half-shouted, continuing her efforts to open the lock, with frustration. "Don't tell me; you're also jealous that I'm worth more than you." She kicked at the door a few times and then threw herself against it, causing the glass to wobble slightly back and forth. She then approached Ocelot's cage.

Ocelot was curled up at the base of her container, sleeping. The furry mane of her back gently rose and sank as she breathed, while her limbs were sprawled against one side of the cage. Her eyes gradually opened as Suidhne approached, and she pulled herself up, shaking her head and back, fluffing her hair. She stretched her arms, flattening her palms and fingers against the glass while releasing a large yawn, passively displaying her large fangs. As she sat up, Suidhne sat down beside her outside the cage.

She looked at Suidhne with feral black eyes. "Get me out?"

"I can try," Suidhne answered. "But I haven't had much luck so far."

Ocelot pressed her face against her small enclosure, rubbing back and forth, while emitting a low, rumbling purring sound. Suidhne used her twig to pick at the lock on Ocelot's cage, and on the lock for the small food slot at the base, but neither would give. Suidhne tried several more times and then finally sighed and sat down. Ocelot stirred, circling around, and then patted her hands against the glass, looking at Suidhne. "Please, out."

Suidhne fell back, with a distant expression for a moment. Ocelot tapped at her cage, looking at Suidhne longingly at first, and then with concern. "Alright?"

"I've been held captive before, too...."

In his black-gray wolf form, Scott Gardener ran down a corridor, glancing past turns, looking for hidden cameras and sniffing for the scent of any armed soldiers. He scanned the hallway door labels with his eyes, looking at their numbers. As he turned one corner, he could see the one he wanted, 404-B, but a security camera was pointed at the entrance. Furthermore, as he was warned, an electronic lock held the door. Scott stood for several minutes, pulling himself upright, assuming a transitional form between wolf and human, waiting for someone to emerge.

An older man in a professional uniform incidentally passed by the hallway, approaching Scott's temporary hiding place. Scott inhaled deeply, fearing the man would turn the corner and find Scott lurking, having no choice but to hurl himself upon him and once again portray the role of the vicious monster that European legend had made him out to be. The man came closer and closer, finally turning the corner.

However, he quietly turned left instead of right, and with oblivious naivete whistled to himself, lost in his own thought processes. Scott held his breath for a few minutes longer as the man moved on, and then he gradually exhaled.

Scott stood, waiting, peering at the door with his ears darting back and forth, listening and smelling for others. Then, someone exited room 404-B and approached. As he rounded the corner, Scott grabbed his mouth and bit into his throat, pulling his heavy, stunned form aside. He began to panic and tried to cry out, but Scott made sure he could not be heard.

Scott needed the man's engineering uniform, and he could not let blood spill on it. As his victim's red fluid began to spurt out, Scott had to improvise a way to control the blood spill; he had to drink the sour-sweet elixir. The man's panic gradually gave way to unconsciousness, and his muffled cries quieted as Scott Gardener lapped and gulped from his open neck wound. He looked around for a place to drag the now limp body, a place not likely to be occupied. He backed a few feet, pulling his victim with him, and came upon a women's restroom. He backed inside.

Once inside, Scott's found himself suddenly nauseous. He dropped the body and ran to a sink, retching and vomiting back up the thick red fluid. Then, he made the mistake of stopping to look at his reflection in the mirror for a moment; he saw staring back at him the horrific image of a werewolf with lips drenched in human blood. He sank back, horrified. But, he had to continue.

He stripped the body of its clothes, donning them in an imperfect fit. He took on his human form, but retracted his normally long, flowing hair, replacing it with a less conspicuous mat of his lupine fur, passing for a more conventional style. Then, he located the electronic key, resembling a credit card, and kept it on hand.

Scott exited the restroom and turned back down the hall, turning the corner and approaching the camera. Maintaining a confident composure, he passed directly into view and swiped the card across an electronic scanner. A green light showed, and he opened the door, entering room 404-B. The door then swung abruptly closed behind him, to guard against intruders.

Elodea stood naked inside a glass chamber, entrapped by thick panels held together with heavy hydraulics. With watery eyes, she smiled, pressing her hands against the barrier, leaning forward.

"Scott!" Her voice was somewhat muted inside the chamber. "You made it out?"

He approached her, matching his hands to hers on the other side of the glass. "I got help from the inside. There are a few people here who haven't lost humanity."

"Can you get me out?" Elodea asked. Scott threw himself forcefully into the barrier between them, but it simply rippled and wobbled. He struck it twice more, but to no avail. Finally, Elodea responded. "You'll have to go on your own. Maybe you can come back for me."

Scott looked around the room, frantically. "I'm not leaving you here!" He looked at a nearby computer terminal in the otherwise blank, dimly lit room. Without a password, it would do nothing, however. He then jumped at the hydraulics themselves, beginning to resume a partially lupine form. As he clawed desperately at the mechanisms of Elodea's chamber, she tried to calm him.

"Please, Scott! You could set off alarms!" As he jumped down, resuming his human features, she stroked the barrier between them. "You have to flee from here; you have to be free, for both of us. You have to tell the world about this place, about us, and about the secrets kept locked away here." Scott tearfully placed his hands across from hers again. She replied with sorrowful desperation, "you have to go, now!"

Scott heard footsteps outside, and someone swiping another card. He turned around, and in that moment, another person entered. As the door closed behind him, he gasped at Scott. "Who are you?"

Scott immediately shape-shifted into a half-wolf form, grabbing the person and throwing him in front of the computer terminal. "Release her!" He growled.

The man, a technician wearing a laboratory coat, pulled himself up in front of the terminal, quivering with apprehension. "Oh my God," he sighed, looking at the creature staring back at him, angrily breathing hot air over him. He gasped, and then spoke with obvious tension. He placed his hand over a button on a keyboard. "This button...sets off an alarm. Come any closer and..."

Scott grabbed him by his neck, forcing words through his animalistic mouth. "I know you're lying; I can feel your wretched body's heat. I can hear every quiet difference in tone." He turned the engineer's head towards Elodea, who was pounding her hands against her cage, pleading for Scott to stop what he was doing. "Now, get her out."

Scott observed closely as the person entered a series of keystrokes, passwords, and several confirmation windows, before a giant mechanical assembly began lifting the entire hexagonal glass chamber up, leaving Elodea on an open platform. She leapt out, running over to Scott and his captive. She then gazed at him with her cold, amber eyes. He could see his own reflection in the dark, nude woman's black stare.

"Without us, they're going to need a werewolf to experiment on," Elodea said, placing her hands on his shoulders as Scott held him in place. Scott felt him vibrating, shivering, as though he knew what was about to happen. Her features rippled as her face stretched and a coating of black fur enveloped her. As she bit into his arm, he cried out in pain, and began squirming. As he sank, Scott dropped him, and Elodea picked him up, dragging him onto the hexagonal platform of the cage. Scott then moved a cursor on the terminal screen to the word "reverse." The panels closed around the engineer. He tried to run out, but Elodea clawed at him, forcing him back. He tried backing out the other side, but Scott intercepted him, shoving him as the glass dropped around him. He ducked down one last time, but Elodea bit his hand, causing him to reflexively pull back. Then, the chamber sealed him in. He sank back, quivering, clutching the bite wounds in his arm and hand as Scott and Elodea paced around him outside.

Elodea in half-wolf form pressed her hands against the barrier, now from the outside. She became somewhat more human in appearance, and spoke. "Yes. Take a good look. You wanted to find out more about us. Now you will know."

Nialle carefully positioned the contact lens in her hand, pulling her eyelid open. As she inserted the small, gelatinous article in place, her hazel brown right eye became bright cyan-blue along side its already covered companion. She then resumed applying cosmetics over her cheeks and eyelids. Black roots were barely visible beneath an overcoat of yellow-dyed hair.

As she headed out of the bathroom, she stopped and backed up, walking back towards the toilet, where she had moments before induced emesis of a large lunch. Occasionally, she binges when she's under stress, and this was one of those times. However, she made certain that her body did not have the chance to metabolize it into any additional weight. She was down to 115 pounds, but she was still nowhere near where she wanted to be.

As Nialle exited passed down the cramped high school hallways, swaying her hips and holding her head up, she still felt nervous inside. She found herself preoccupied with the image of a person-a single person named Mitchell, with a wide torso, angular features, and large blue eyes.

"We are in simply one of a hundred million star systems in one of a hundred billion galaxies in the known universe..." As the Astronomy lecture continued, Nialle simply daydreamed about Mitchell. Her face staring blankly at her laptop in front of her, plugged into the multimedia accompaniment to Mr. Setti's narration. The teacher continued his oration, with the optimism that it might reach and influence at least a few people in his captive audience. "...And we seldom give much thought to the awesome might of the universe around us, to its vastness, or to the numerous celestial bodies that occupy it-the stars, their countless planets, the many moons orbiting them, or further still the endless sea of comets that slowly, which are the topic of today's lecture, patiently travel the void between the stars..."

Nialle's girlish face pointed towards the screen in front of her, and at certain angles it reflected her meticulously generated features towards the rows behind her, against its backdrop display of stars. Nialle thought only of Mitch, however. He was among the high school girls the ultimate prize conquest. Nialle was confident she could win him, but she wanted to be sure; she wanted the perfect figure.

The laptops in the room suddenly flashed with an explosion of light. Nialle looked up, startling, seeing an image of the world on fire, huge plumes of flames rising from a growing circular crater of magma. "...Should one of these comets impact our world, then it would force the issue. What would become of us? It has already happened many times in history; it could conceivably happen again in your lifetime. Comets for this reason are another reminder that we must become better aware of the universe around us."

"Would you like to go out with me?" Nialle leaned flirtatiously as her idol figure Mitchell exchanged textbooks to and from his particular unit amidst a congested hallway lined with lockers.

"Sure," he answered, simply, continuing about his way, unaware of the great significance of his response to the girl to whom he replied. "Where do you want to go?"

"Maybe a movie or something."

"How about Saturday? Mobitz: The Weinkebach Horror starts showing this weekend."

Nialle nodded. "That sounds like fun." She cared little for horror movies, but for a date with Mitchell, it was worth it.

She then made her way back to a restroom to comb her hair one more time, and to recheck her makeup. She looked carefully and discerningly at her reflection in the mirror, seeing if anything looked imperfect. For some reason, her ears stuck out rather prominently. She wrinkled her brow with disgust, exhaling with frustration, brushing her hair over them. Nialle then dropped her hairbrush back into her transparent purple plastic purse, next to her key-chain depicting a winged faerie. She started to walk out, but stopped, backed up, and looked at her ears a second time.

"Have you seen that new girl, Suidhne?" Jennifer chatted with Nialle outside the Trigonometry classroom. She shared Nialle's emaciated, starved appearance.

"No, I haven't, but I heard we've got Math together." "She's one of those 'adaptively impaired.' She's really weird-she has this unicorn thing on her forehead, and her skin is, like, pale bluish white like a corpse."

"Ewh!" Nialle answered. "She's probably sitting right next to me, too!" She quickly changed the subject. "Do my ears stick out too much?" The sound of a beeping overhead signaled a two-minute warning before the next class begins. The two dispersed, and Nialle entered the classroom, fumbling through a pair of notebooks and her laptop computer, pulling out a printed sheet listing her classroom and seat assignments. "A-5." She took her seat up front.

A few seconds later, the bizarre Suidhne Dreamsail walked in. Nialle tried not to stare at her directly, but she could not help but look at her. Suidhne unfolded a sheet of paper, looking around for her seat assignment. Her eyes fell directly upon Nialle, and she came closer. Nialle found herself self-conscious, trying not to notice Suidhne's obviously visible features. The strange girl mumbled to herself, "B-5."

Suidhne sat down directly behind Nialle. Nialle turned her head slightly, viewing the strange lady with the edge of her peripheral vision. She, like Nialle, was in the process of organizing her notebooks, preparing to take notes for the first day of class. Nialle faced forward, looking at the front of the class, sighing. She then decided to look around, at the rest of her classmates. She could get a better look at Suidhne while she did so, without appearing to stare.

"Hi." Suidhne greeted Nialle as she turned around. Nialle's heart paced as she twisted herself around, making eye contact.

"Hi." She answered, and then rapidly twisted back around to the front. A second series of overhead beeps indicated the beginning of class. A pleasant, longhaired, heavyset older lady walked in, surveying the class. She walked over to her desk, thumbing through some papers and lifting up a computer panel. She then stepped over to the front center of the class,

"OK, we'll start with roll call... Let's see who's here. Kevin Addler?"

As people began answering in succession, Nialle opened up her laptop and prepared it for note taking. She listened as the lady up front called out names, one by one. Suidhne Dreamsail's name rolled by, and the enigmatic figure behind her answered. Several more names rolled by, and Nialle had started to settle into her seat. Then, something brushed against Nialle's back. She ignored it for a moment, until it happened a second time. Suddenly, she realized the strange lady behind her wanted her attention for a moment. Nialle turned around, feeling uneasy.

"You dropped your pen." As Suidhne passed the small writing instrument over, Nialle noticed her stark white hand with bluish black fingernails. She looked at her for a split second, seeing her black, discolored lips and prominent, pearly white, iridescent horn. Nialle could not tell whether or not she had on any makeup, but if she did, she made no attempt to hide the fact that she was not human.

"Thanks," Nialle answered.

In that instant, the bizarre woman glanced at Nialle and then back to her own notebooks. Nialle turned around, her heart sinking. For some reason, Suidhne viewed her with the same regard-trying not to notice the obvious. Could she be playing some sort of cruel mind-game with her? The adaptively impaired often were involved with magic. Was she playing upon some subconscious fear by returning Nialle's sense of disquiet? Or, did she notice something? Were her ears sticking out that much? Nialle reached down into her clear plastic purse and pulled out a green compact mirror, depicting a small, cute, cartoon elf on its cover. She opened it up and looked at herself, at her reflection. She looked closely at her ears.

They hung out even more prominently now than they did a few minutes ago. Nialle began to sweat. Then, she noticed Suidhne, the ghostly woman with the unicorn horn, in its reflection, seeming to stare at her.

"Nialle Trellaine? Is there a Nialle Trellaine here?"

"Oh, here!" Nialle answered the woman up front, dropping her compact kit in front of her. The rest of the class laughed, and Nialle fell back, feeling welling anxiety consuming her. The strange Suidhne, however, was quiet. Nialle's compact fell to the ground, and the mirror inside splintered across the floor.

"Why is this happening to me?" Nialle cried out, though no one was around to listen. She was alone in her room, late in the evening. She sat on her bed, head down, crying. She looked up, and then over at her reflection by her vanity again. But, it was not she. Tears trickled down her face, which before was somewhat wide had now become exaggerated to the point of disfigurement. Her eyes were becoming larger, and her ears were becoming those of some form of animal. She stared at herself, and then thrust her hands over her face, crying, "no!" Her fifth finger on each hand felt weak, numb, and tingly. These digits had in fact shrunken down, receding into the sides of her hands. She feared she was losing these digits altogether.

She took off her shoes, and the same was happening to her fifth toe on each foot. She then threw her shoes across the room, screaming. "Why me? Why does this have to happen to me?"

Her tall, dark haired mother came up, offering reassurance. "Mitch is here. He said you and he had a date."

"Mother," Nialle answered. "I can't go out like this. Look at me!"

"We'll get you through this. You'll be fine." She spoke softly, reassuringly. "Come on, please," gesturing for her to come downstairs. "Mitch has been looking forward to taking you out, I bet." She took a handkerchief from Nialle's vanity and handed it to her. Nialle wiped her eyes, and then blew her now smaller, more delicate nose.

"He wants to go out with Nialle Trellaine, not this weird-looking creature."

"Is that any way to talk?"

Nialle leaned over her vanity one last time. "Serves me right." She shoves her stacks of facial crèmes and powders, her small shelves of numerous nail polishes, and her array of lipsticks and eyeliners forcefully over, scattering across the room. She stomped downstairs, walking past her father, facing Mitchell standing at the doorway. Outside, gentle rain trickled against the backdrop of night.

"Nialle?" He asked, startled by her appearance.

"I'm waking up, or whatever they call it." She stood next to him, stroking his hand. He looked at her, shaking, evidently trying not to appear nervous.

"Are you still feeling up to coming?" He asked.

"Yes, but can we stop by the local Byrd's?" Her eyes began to water again. "I'm going to have to start on adaptation supplement."

The screen jostled and flickered, following the irregular camera motions of amateur photography as several teenagers ran through the woods in panic. Nialle tried to suppress her obsessive thoughts about her metamorphosis, by scooting closer to Mitch or concentrating on the confusing plot of the movie, as well as the vertigo its erratic cinematography induced. Mitch offered no comfort, however; he was more interested in the movie than her. The film's hypnotic quality only served to add to her growing sense of displacement. She felt as though she were in a dream, or as though her own life were the movie and the confusing blur of images on the screen was reality.

Her awareness of existence shifted dramatically at that moment. She suddenly became cognizant. Reality around her was an illusion; even her body was an illusion. Someone behind a curtain had pulled a switch, and she changed bodies. The movie screen was a window to another reality just as real as her own. Or, put another way, her reality was no more real than the movie. She was a character in a surreal story.

"We should soon get a transmission from the Lykosan communications grid," Danit stated, glancing at a nearby monitor while listening to Nialle telling her tale.

"That's not all there is to it," the Ehlan Sidhe asked Nialle as they sat in the bunker, in the dark of the night.

"I was still growing into myself, and I had a few more things to learn before I really fully got out of being a ditz."

"Nialle," Mitch explained. "Yes, I enjoyed our going out to the movie. But, I'm really not ready to go out with you again."

"Why not?"

"Well... How shall I put this? It just doesn't feel...natural."

Nialle's ears twitched back. By this point, her transformation had finished; her pupils expanded, consuming her entire visible eyes, and her hands were now slender and four-fingered. The black roots of her blond-dyed hair were prominently visible at the top of her head, creating a strange, two-toned effect. "What's unnatural about it?" She asked, with welling anger.

"Well, I just want to be with, like...you know, my own kind."

"I see." Nialle nodded, turning around and walking away. She then threw herself back around towards him. "You're looking for the ideal model, and you're going to be disappointed again and again, dumping one girl after another once you see that every one of your girlfriends either needs therapy or has no personality."

"We can still be cool, can't we?" Mitch offered in return.

She turned around. "Just leave. Let me know when you find a point to your existence."

"How about you, Melody?" Suidhne asked. "What secrets do you have?"

Melody climbed out of her bathing stream, walking past Ocelot's cage, to the barrier between their habitat and the room outside. She pressed one hand against the glass. "I used to be an Ehtaehrian priestess. Then Ehtaehr came to all of us one day and told us not to worship her anymore. I had to put my faith elsewhere-I had to find another Goddess. So I searched, and searched."

Melody turned around and leaned back. "I used to be afraid of silence, but now I find it as beautiful a sound as any other. I used to be mute, but in order to speak, I had to agree to see as well." She turned back around, stroking the glass gently with her hands. Her voice changed tone slightly. "To be held captive is to hold power over your captors, because they have a vested interest in you-enough to keep you under their power. To be a leader is to be a servant; to be a slave is to be a master."

"How does that help us get out of here?" Suidhne asked.

Melody moved with a swaying, mysterious, trance-like grace, as though dancing, stroking the barrier in front of her. "We cannot escape by breaking the glass. Therefore, we must go around it, by breaking the one who holds the key."

"Greetings, ambassador." Danit, Nialle, and their allies in the bunker viewed a screen of a Lykosan figure. "This is a classified transmission, encoded under protocol nine."

Danit placed his hand over a panel and spoke. "Protocol nine enable, authentication: J 279 CXR. Password: Akira."

"I have received word of the circumstances, and I have reviewed the images you have collected regarding the actions of Viceroy Koheen. We are sending the Imperial Armada cruiser L.I.A.S. Treyella and a full battalion to remove Koheen's regime from power. Treveska will maintain contact and plan according to your status. Pending their arrival, you are advised to use whatever means you have available to assassinate Viceroy Koheen and assume power as transitional governor of the Shohan colony."