Conversion
"Conversion," Laura decided with an air of finality in her voice. "I'll take the conversion."
"Excellent," Alex said with an unsettling smile. "Follow me."
After a brief walk and an elevator ride, the two had arrived at the ship's conversion tank. It resembled an egg, except that instead of a shell it had an amber-colored membrane. It rose from a slightly raised platform on the floor, which was marked only by a large drain grating. Above, the membrane disappeared into a confusing mess of alien machinery.
Alex looked at Laura awkwardly for a moment, and then said, with a sheepish attempt at professionalism, "I'm afraid you'll need to take your clothes off." Laura began to protest, but stopped herself. What did one more indignity matter, really? She undressed hastily as Alex began working at a nearby computer console. He wasn't looking at her, but Laura had never felt more exposed before.
There was a gentle tearing noise, and a hole appeared in the tank's membrane. "Step in, please," Alex said, still engrossed in the computer. Laura did, and the rip closed seamlessly behind her. A tube descended gracefully from the top of the tank and sealed itself over Laura's mouth and nose. She panicked for a moment, trying to force the thing off of her, until Alex spoke from outside the tank: "Stay calm and breathe normally. You'll need that." Laura immediately saw why, as a warm, honey-like liquid began oozing up from the grates in the floor. Another tube descended. This time, the end hovered near her belly button, and then clamped onto her navel with a flourish. An intense stabbing pain accompanied this. She would have doubled over, except that the tube on her face prevented this.
The liquid in the tank was now at about the level of Laura's knees. As quickly as it had come, the pain in her navel subsided. The tube connected to it started throbbing with an almost soothing rhythm. A large helmet-like contraption descended next, and affixed itself over Laura's head. Her ears were completely covered, and there was a visor over her eyes that she could only barely see through in the dim light of the ship. The liquid was at her waste, and rising rapidly.
Dimly, muffled by the helmet, Laura heard Alex's voice once again: "The helmet is going to be giving you a crash course in Radinri life while you change. Don't worry if you don't understand everything right away. The information is supposed to sort of soak into your subconscious and resurface when you need it." The water was over her head, and the soothing throb from the tube in her stomach was stronger and more rapid. Her joints started to ache. Laura was now floating, completely submerged in the viscous goo. The helmet activated, plunging Laura into an unsettling dream.
The world of of the Radinri washed through Laura's mind. The Radinri have a long history. Humans count their history in the thousands of Earth years. Radinri count theirs in the millions. Laura witnessed the hypnotic ebb and flow of time as the fortunes of the Radinri changed. She saw them evolve from startlingly human-like bipeds to the fierce taurs they had become. She watched as they fought each other, in war after war after war, until finally and seemingly spontaneously, they made peace. Almost immediately after unifying the planet, the Radinri boarded their starships and sought to conquer and subjugate all the neighboring planets.
Laura took in the Radinri language, their customs, and their laws. She knew that her new name would be Thess Laura. Thess was her caste-name, denoting her place in Radinri society. She was a slave, owned by the Radinri government for use in menial labor. Still, there was opportunity for advancement--a private citizen could buy her contract from the government, and she would become a Quara, a wage-earning servant.
As her mind grew accustomed to the new world she was entering, Laura's body changed as well. It swelled and reshaped itself in time with the throbbing of the tube, and she began to feel suffused with a strange new sense power. Before, accepting the conversion had been a practical decision. But now, she had seen the creature she would become, and for the first time she was truly glad to join the Radinri.
The twin moons of the Radinri Homeworld whirled past an eerie lava field in her mind's eye for an eternal instant, and then everything went dark.
After all the sensory overload Laura had just experienced, it took a while for her to reacquaint herself with the real world. The ooze was draining out of the conversion tank. It lowered her, slowly, until she touched the bottom of the tank...with her four newly-formed paws. The tubes let go of her and returned to the top of the machine, and for the first time, Laura saw her new body. There was a large mirror set into the wall opposite the conversion tank, for obvious reasons. She studied herself intently as she stepped out of the now open tank. Her body was coated in goo from the tank, but she was able to see herself well enough.
As Alex had said, Laura was mostly the same above the hips. She ran her hand down the smooth skin until it reached the damp fur where her legs should legs should have been. Beyond that, curving away from her human part, was the sleek yet powerful body of a big cat. A predator. It was almost all black, save for a thin yet unmistakable marble pattern in white. Her hair, too, had changed subtly. Instead of her former dark brown, it too was now jet black, with a single white streak starting around her temple. And, she noticed that even the human part of her was a bit more toned and athletic. There was, undeniably, a strange sort of grace in this new body.
Rysthin Ka'Ar was there now; he must have arrived while Laura was transforming. Alex was still there, too. The two of them stared at the newly formed Radinri in amazement. Ka'Ar turned slowly to Alex. "What did you do?!" He roared. With a flourish, he bared the claws on his humanoid hands. Alex jumped back in shock.
"Nothing, sir," Alex answered, cowering.
"Then why is she--" Laura would have liked to hear the rest of the conversation, but at that moment she passed out. This came as a great relief to Alex, because it gave him an excuse to cut Ka'Ar's tirade short. Alex was sure...well, pretty sure...that he was too expensive a servant to hurt. At least, Ka'Ar had never done more than threaten him before. Still, there's a first time for everything, and Alex would take no chances. He immediately sprang to help the unconscious Laura, hoping the interruption would give Ka'Ar a chance to calm down.
Written by Zodiac on 25 October 2008
