Sally watched as Tina nibbled on the sugar cookies, strangely quiet for once.
She was deep in thought, trying to decide what she wanted to do.
“I don’t BLAME her, 9902. This is overwhelming...”
“Are you curious, Sally? At least...that’s what I’m reading off you.”
Sally sighed and brushed a loose lock of her hair back over her ear. “Yeah, I AM. I’m almost at the point where I’d want to JOIN her...just so I can make SURE she stays safe...”
“You both can stay here...if anything happens, you both would have 01, Triple Zero and the others to help out. We take care of our own.”
“What about repairs, 02? If I changed into one of you at YOUR size, I’d guess you could create repair parts easily, but...the size SHE’LL become...”
“We’d put you into the ‘beanbag’. It has a repair/maintenance setting.” 9902 looked at her. “We can get them smaller than the 17 inches scale, by the way, but the two prospective Sisters that agreed to TRY that size out found out the smaller scale negatively impacts cognitive functions, so the Engineers and Medical are working on that. THAT size is off the table for now.”
“Negatively impacts? Like how?"
"Think 'simple-minded' or 'bimbo'. Happy and giggly but CAN'T really do anything in life." 9902 sighed. “Not really helpful for YOU or US.”
“What are they doing with you guys if they have that…uhmmm…?”
“Deficiency.” 9902 fell silent for a few moments before continuing, with sadness in her eyes. “It was one of the VERY rare cases where there was a Caste change for individuals that was studied and voted on by the Sisterhood. The two of them were switched from the Engineering Caste over to the Entertainment Caste. They became singers and dancers. They’re two of the happiest Sisters in that Caste, and the most LOVED, but…ohhh…what they lost!”
“THAT bad?”
“They were genius-level organic engineers…on a mental level of Stephen Hawking, but they…PUSHED hard…WILLINGLY…trying to get the small fairy form online…but…it wasn’t…workable…” 9902 fell silent, reviewing something in-head. “It degraded their intellect SUBSTANTIALLY. They became…ugh…!”
“Oh…”
“THAT’S why We’ve taken that size off the table. It’s one of Our failures…” 02 cleared her throat. “And it took two of Our potentially BRIGHTEST Sisters away from Us…”
“They’re…’mentally challenged’?”
“Severely.” 9902 looked up. “That’s a kind way to put it. If you Link up with them, you’d never tell…They’re happy…innocent…like her…” She nodded at Tina. “…but…STILL…!” She sighed. “Anyway, what would you dream of doing, Sally?”
“I…don’t know. What do the Gardeners do? I mean, if we go for them...What do they learn? How do you keep busy?”
“Well, the Gardeners as a Caste is a relatively recent development. Up until the Sisterhood’s vote 2,721 Earth years ago, they were a branch of the Science Caste. To a degree, they still interact frequently with their ‘parent caste’ and have strong ties with them, since Gardening is a specialized science, basically. They learn about plant genetics, environmental conditions, geology, tectonics, as well as what plants need for their health, growing zones.” 9902 looked in her eyes. “Often, as you’ve seen among YOUR people, there’s a LOT to be learned from the way nature does things, from building materials that the bees or wasps use, to how to replicate the AMAZING strength of spider’s silk...” She shook her head. “And we LOVE learning. It’s not going to be you and her fluttering around, bored, watching the grass grow. This planet is an AMAZING closed system that helps the plants grow, diversify and flourish...”
“What’s ‘diversify’?” Tina asked. 9902 and Sally looked at the suddenly intent little girl staring at them.
“It means to make many different beautiful things from one source, honey. The roses that you saw at Grandma’s all came from one type of rose in the past, and then were tweaked and changed to make them different pretty colors and shapes. Gardeners like Grandma like that. It’s pretty.”
“Oh. Can Gardeners learn about bees and ants and stuff?”
“Sure!” 9902 tousled her hair with a smile. “The bees help the plants grow and produce food for humans. Gardeners can help make sure they're healthy.”
“Would we work all the time or can we have friends?” Tina asked, concerned.
“Of COURSE you can have friends...AND hobbies! I still have friends HERE, at my church and where I work at the Station, Tina! Work IS life to us, and it’s a main focus of our lives, but its not the ONLY thing. You have to have time to play, and fly through the air. If you like to dance, you can do that, too.”
She grinned. “Engineer 600 LOVES to create and fight battle robots...and create 3D objects. Artist 402 loves drawing and painting, but occasionally finds time to go out to a movie, or talk about comics. Medical 799 and 800 love to knit or do Tai Chi, Laborer 157 is a Grade A comic book nerd and keeps up on the comic message boards, Laborer 156 practices Tae Kwon Do and varied martial arts, Entertainer 158 is interning with one of the Artists and learning how to make coherent light sculptures...” She sighed. “NEITHER of you will be bored, trust me on that...”
Tina stared at the floor, then up at her mother, just as the front door chimed, and a unsettled white-haired woman walked in. “Uhm...Hello? Is Sally...?!”
“Grandma!” Tina was over and hugging her like a shot, rambling on a mile-a-minute. The older lady hugged her granddaughter and gave her a kiss on the forehead as Sally got up.
She looked at Sally. “Did she decide?” as 9902 got to her feet and walked over.
“Not yet, mom...she’s got...WE’VE got ‘option paralysis’ at the moment...But she wants to be a fairy.”
“This is your mother?”
“9902, my mother, Elise Baker, gardener supreme, and mother with the patience of FOUR saints.”
9902 held out her hand, and the woman shook it hesitantly.
“Honey...wait...you said ‘WE’VE’ got option paralysis..! Are you going to...?!”
“I’m NOT letting her go ‘fairy’ all by herself, mom. I’m thinking of, maybe, becoming a Scientist Fairy, myself, or…SOMETHING…but I'm not sure yet.”
“Grandma?”
“Honey?”
“You’ve been sad since Grandpa died...You’ve been in your garden A LOT...Uhm...I...I want to be a Gardener like you...I’d REALLLLLY like it if you’d join me and mommy.”
Elise hesitated, scared.
“A Horticulturist doesn’t HAVE to be Fairy-size, Mrs. Baker...” 9902 reached out her hand and gave the older woman’s hand a squeeze. “That is, IF you want to Join them…”
Sally got up, walked over and hugged her. “Mom...You’ve been feeling alone since Dad died and Mildred and Joan passed. We can be together this way, and you can learn more gardening tricks from across the universe…IF this is gonna happen…We should really go all in. Can we...do this together?”
“Grandma...PWEEEEEZE?!” Tina looked up at her with big green eyes. “You could be HAPPY...and you could teach me more about plants...an’ you could FLY!! Pleasepleaseplease!!!”
Elise fell silent. Do I want to do this? she thought. Right now, they’re all I have...What if...?
“Grandma?!”
What the hell...you only live once, as Dad was fond of saying...
“What...do we have to do?”
“Can you show Mom the Gardeners on the HeadLink, 9902?”
“Sure...Sit down here, Elise...Would you like tea or coffee to calm things?”
An hour later, Elise finished her tea AND her magical digital tour, and gave her consent. The paperwork took the three of them another hour to do and to be legally checked.
“What are we doing about personal possessions? Cars, house, clothes…my job?” Sally raised a brow. “I KNOW we won’t be able to DRIVE…Our house would be like a Mall at that size…Clothes won’t fit…Tina REALLY would have a hard time in school.”
“We have connections to companies that can sell the house, the car and clean and sell the clothes. (We can donate the clothes and car, too, if you prefer.)”
“Oh…”
“As far as special personal items: They can be recorded, in high detail in your minds, so it’s like it’s still there, or you can bring a few of them with you physically. It can be done either or both ways. If you want more detail, we can call in Triple Zero. She did both when she left her old life.”
“I can keep my stuffed ‘My Tiny Horsees’?” Tina said.
“You might wind up big enough to RIDE them when you’re done, but YEAH, Tina.”
“Photo albums?” Elise asked.
“You can KEEP them, but also have Triple Zero scan them in high resolution, so they won’t deteriorate.” 9902 said. “The scans would be FAR more manageable at Fairy size than the albums.”
“Where would we LIVE, Miss 02?” Tina said, looking worried.
“Follow me…”
For the next five minutes, they walked through what WERE offices in the back of the building.
“They’re small for normal-sized Sisters, so they’ll be POSITIVELY roomy for Barbie™-sized Sisters…You just need to let Us know how you all want it set up. We can ask 601 and 400 for design feedback. They can help you make this an awesome apartment…”
Tina looked up and noticed some of the doors on the first and second level had gold plaques on the doors. She pointed at them. “What’s in those?”
“We have a few Sisters living here for the moment, 9901 in particular. A few of the others are quiet areas/recharge stations for other Sisters when they stop by…” She stopped by one with the door cracked open. “When she’s not on tour or in the studio, 027538 comes in here and uses this to brainstorm lyrics.”
“She’s the lady that looks like C3P0? The singing lady?” Tina said. As 9902 nodded, Tina peeked into the room.
It was clean. Light green and white walls. Diaphanous green curtains hung from the window. A simple bed with light green and white sheets, with a pink and white stuffed bear resting against the pillow, a table lamp on the top of an night-table, sharing space with a notepad. A chair, with a pair of purple, 3 inch heels under it.
Boring looking.
“That’s IT?!” Sally looked over at 9902, who looked perplexed at her reaction. “I mean, the room is so…empty. It’s very CLEAN, but…”
“She has a physical family album in the drawer of the night-table…And her favorite stuffed bear.”
“I just figured…a rising star like HER, selling all the albums she has…that she’d be living the high life…Big cars, big houses…” Sally said.
“We have something BETTER than that. If she WANTS that, she’s free to get the cars or houses if she wants. She hasn’t needed them so far, though. She’s happy.” 9902 sighed. “She REAAALLY wants to see if she can coax Sir Paul to Join us…”
“He was her coach in ‘The New Voice’, right? I seem to remember her winning the duel in the season finale.” Elise raised her eyebrow and looked in herself.
“Yep. She’s stayed in contact with him since then.” 9902 looked at each of the three. “Anything else you have questions on?”
“Not that we can think of now, at least…” Sally said.
"Before we start, you three need to hash out the details. You want to see what you'll look like?" 9901 raised a gold brow.
She got a nod from all three.
"Come over here..." She led the family to one of the converted offices, where a black-topped table stood, surrounded by cushy sofa chairs. After they all sat down, 9901 told them, "Hold still."
A little white polymer ball ejected from the table, and scanned the faces one after the other, as 9901 input body build height from each from her sensors.
Three gynoid forms appeared in hard light on the table, facing them. One by one, the faces adjusted, till they were recognizable as Elise, Tina and Sally.
"THAT'S cool!" Tina enthused, watching as the heights adjusted, and two of the skins took on a light pearl green color, with the other taking on a rich chocolate brown with light purple optics and lights.
"We color-code each Caste...just so we have variety, and, as was mentioned a few months back, by 157...it's like Star Trek." 9901 said.
She watched as Tina gingerly poked her fairy, and pulled back with a surprised jolt when the fairy’s body reacted to her finger.
"Green and purple?" Sally said, looking at 02 and raising an eyebrow.
"When the Horticulturists...the Gardeners...became their own Caste, they voted on what would represent them aesthetically..."
"Aesthet - what?!" Tina asked.
"It means how things look...honey...how colors and shapes go together so it looks all nice and pretty." Sally said.
"Oh. Got it. Thanks, mommy."
"Anyway...They chose greens...for nature. Since they were...and ARE...still Scientists, in a way, they chose to keep the purples/lilacs of the Science Caste."
"What about you, Elise?"
“If you can get the green skin a bit darker, I’m all in...”
"Okay."
"What about you, Sally?" 9902 said.
Sally was silent, her brow screwed down in thought.
"Sally?" 02 prodded.
"Sorry...I'm just...trying to fit this together in my head, 9902. I'm NOT as into plants as mom and Tina are...and I probably wouldn't be TOO helpful of a Scientist, due to size." She stared at her gynoid. "I NEED something to do…but…I don’t know where I’d FIT…”
"What do you do now?"
"I'm a minor reporter for the Daily Gazette...Not famous like YOU yet, but..."
"Why don't you Join the Laborers?" came a voice from the doorway.
They all looked over to see an adult gynoid in sparkling light silver and magenta, cradling a small silver and magenta bundle in her arms.
Tina was out of her chair and over there like a shot. "Ohmigawd...you guys can have BABIES?! Like US?! WOW!"
The adult gynoid cracked a smile. "Sorry for eavesdropping. I'm 791154...and THIS is 155."
Elise reached out to the child, who cooed and grasped her finger. "You...change babies?!" She said, worried, looking over at 9902.
154 sighed. "NOT what you think. She was my baby. I was her mother...and we...had a poisonous life, so to speak. A Murphy's Law Special." She hesitated. "I took advantage of the option to have my memories archived...just bear in mind that I'm running off notes I LEFT for myself...but, I CAN say...It was BAD. I wanted to give us BOTH a better life, and we've GOT that now..." She smiled as Tina stuck her finger out, and watched as a little silver hand curled around it and squeezed gently.
Sally looked into the the cherubic silver face. "So...she'll NEVER grow up?" she said, sadly.
"NOPE. I'll be physically updated as time passes." The little mouth said, looking amused at the shock on all three human's faces. 155 giggled hysterically at her prank. When she calmed down, she sniffed and said, "We learn language faster than humans do...but..." she frowned a bit. "I wish we didn't NEED it...Our headComms are sooooo MUCH better than actually TALKING…”
"But your socialization is a work in progress, Sister." 9902 said firmly.
155 grunted. "I have my Sisters in-head...I don't NEED it." She folded her chubby little arms grumpily.
"There's NO substitute for REAL LIFE interaction, Sis...It's part of being well-rounded." 9902 gently poked her in her chubby little belly, watching as 155 giggled.
"N-No! St-stop! 02! STOOOP!! Heeheeheeheeheeheeheeheeheehee!”
154 sighed, rolling her optics at the squirming hysterics taking place in her arms, as 9902 segued into happily tickling her little Sister. She looked over at Sally with an embarrassed smile. "Aaaaanyway...You would have greater flexibility in OUR Caste, Sally. Anything that's a learned life skill translates well to the Laborers...We're the Jills of all Trades." She smiled. "Plus, silver and hot pink looks PLENTY cool." She sobered a bit. "If you're not SURE of where EXACTLY you belong, this is usually the best choice. We have cops and members of the military in here so far...and, in 5 days, 155 will go in the beanbag and be upgraded to her 5 year old body, so she’ll be able to move on her own. We have to build out the Embassy a bit more, anyway. 402 and 601 are already getting ideas..."
"FIVE days?! I'm counting the NANOSECONDS..." 155 grumbled. "I'm so tired of being carried around...And crawling is just...just so…slow…and inefficient...Just to be in a body that's capable of WALKING...!"
154 shook her head. "We'll be in Our room...Room 35." IF...When…you all Join, come see Us, hmm?"
The three humans could just nod.
____
"What would I look like as a Laborer?" Sally asked.
The 'Sally' gynoid adjusted. She was now a bright silver gynoid with bright magenta accents.
"Oh, yeahhh. THAT'S better."
“Lastly...One of the big points of being a fairy...” 9902 raised a brow and smiled. “The wings...”
“Oh, yeahhhh...! Let’s go!” Tina enthused.
They watched as 9901 handed what looked like a wireless game controller to each of them, and the family saw as three boxes appeared behind the hard light fairies.
The fairies all started out with what with a pearlescent, six wing setup...looking a bit like dragonfly wings.
“We have a few options, which can be modified, to a degree. Each will have an effect on your new body’s ability to cool itself as well as top speed and arial maneuverability.” 9901 said. “Push the black cross pad to go through what We have.”
Tina pushed through a few wingsets until she landed on butterfly wings.
"THIS is cool..!"
"They're pretty, and they'll help your body run cooler, but you'll be MUCH slower in flight..." 9901 noted.
"Why?"
"Have you EVER seen a FAST butterfly, Tina?" Elise asked. "All the ones I've seen in my garden are VERY leisurely...very slow."
"What if we play 'tag'?"
"Simple. Your mom and grandma will catch you EASILY..." 9902 said.
"Oh..." Tina's shoulders sagged as she thought quietly.
“I think I’m good with the default...THESE.” Sally said, looking at the six-wing setup with prismatic wings that greatly resembled a dragonfly's. She scrolled through the rest, one at a time, then shook her head. “Yeah, I’ll stick with these.”
“Those will give you the great speed and maneuverability...They’ll absorb the most energy to power your systems, and will be one of the best in removing heat from your systems.” 9902 noted. “They were the template wings made when We were able to bring that world into the Sisterhood.”
“A WHOLE WORLD of fairies?!” Tina’s eyes went wide.
“Think more a cross between Tinkerbell and a wasp. They are NOT to be messed with. They were capable of swarm attacking, stinging and bringing down predators TWICE their size.” 9902 raised an eyebrow. “Get on their GOOD side, they were as laid back as honeybees...be foolish enough to ATTACK them? You’d be taken down in short order. We met them when they came of age, technologically. At THAT point, their Air Forces basically used technology to augment their bodies and aid in long distance communication. Plane and pilot became ONE...”
Tina’s eyes were wide as saucers.
“What did they look like?”
“You met them. Remember 661 from Arullia 3?”
“The happy one that loved flying?!” Tina’s face lit up.
“She was a sweet lady. VERY protective. She sounded like a veteran.” Sally said.
“She IS. She fought QUITE a bit in their Air Force until peace was declared, and she STILL is ready for the recall to active service if needed...”
“THAT was one thing I was concerned about, 9901. I LOVE Tina’s idea, but I’m not liking the vulnerability factor.” Elise frowned. “We are going to need MORE defense capabilities to compensate for our size.”
“You are welcome to move in here.” 9901 said somberly.
“I appreciate that, 9901. And we might WELL take you UP on that." She smiled. "Too big for a birdhouse, to small for an apartment. We'll be a bit bigger than Barbie™ dolls."
"Our house will be a MANSION at that size, mom...And we'll have to ditch the car, obviously..." Sally said.
Elise stared at the floor for a beat. "But we can’t stay in HERE all the time, either. ESPECIALLY as gardeners. And, if we go THROUGH with this, I’d imagine we’d become a liability...a weakness...for all of you if We're THAT weak.” She frowned. “Channel 3 is known for stirring the pot, stirring up fear. I’ve SEEN their tripe recently...They are all-in for this group, ‘Earth For Humans’. They’ve been scared of EVERY ONE of you, since 9901 GOT here.”
“IF you are concerned, Elise, We can incorporate more of the Arullian design into yours, so you have greater defenses for your size...” 9901 sent a mental command, and they saw ‘Elise’ on the table morph...
They saw the hands morph to three main fingers and a thumb, each with what looked like claws. What looked like chitin grew up her arms and legs and her abdomen. A bulb grew on her tailbone, tipped by a nasty stinger.
Sally whistled. "Remind me not to tick you off when we wake up!"
"You'll be creepy looking, Grandma!"
"You've got speed and natural defenses there. We COULD add armament, but THAT...would present a PR issue..." 9902 sighed.
Sally thought for a minute. " 'The gynoids are arming themselves!' "
"Exactly, there has to be plausible deniability. If its based on a body design elsewhere in the cosmos...something We can SHOW and PROVE, We can point to THAT and say, 'She got THAT because THAT'S part of that option package...Closest we can get outside of THAT is a natural stealth package that bends light around you, rendering you invisible, courtesy of the Exullia, former enemies of the Arullians.“
"Fairies generally ARE invisible, according to legend..." Elise noted, interested.
"True. But this will place a DECENT drain on your energy reserves. The MORE you USE it, without re-charging or solar charging, the weaker you will be..." 9901 frowned.
"Even for YOU guys, there's no magic bullet?" Sally said wistfully.
"Nope." 9902 shook her head with a grin. "A constant of the Universe."
"Are there any OTHER wings that'd be FASTER, Ms. 02?" Tina asked, her brow wrinkled in thought. "I wanted something bright and pretty, so I picked the butterfly...but I don't want mommy to CATCH me EASILY..."
Elise frowned. There's got to be something that would work...Fast and colorful... She closed her eyes. What’s in my garden at home? We’ve got the bees, the wasps, the gnats, robins, blue jays...and a few of...
Her eyes widened.
“What about hummingbirds, Tina? They’re small & fast with brightly colored wings?!
Plus, if they can duplicate that, your wings could fold easily.” She looked at 9902. “Challenge PLACED, my dear...Do you ACCEPT?”
9902 glazed over and went silent for a long minute, then came back. She concentrated at the table, and the family saw input screens flashing on and off.
She smirked. “Challenge accepted, Sister.”
The existing hard light ‘Tina’s’ wings fritzed and reformed into a bright green, black, white and red hummingbird wings. The wing’s feathers were shiny and translucent.
600 walked in with a suitcase. She put it on the ground, and pressed a button on the case. It began to hum, and everyone heard a beep from the table.
She went and picked up the headbands, as three small, black spheres ejected from the suitcase and hovered in the air.
“What is this?” Elise said.
“This is a more advanced version of a VR video game system that will be hitting shelves by this Christmas. You all are going to sit back on the couch...relax...and the headbands will allow you to simulate flying in your future bodies...This should help lock in the details. It’s a test of flying and maneuverability. Anyone want a go?”
Tina nodded, followed by Sally and Elise.
600 placed and calibrated Tina’s, then Elise’s, and then finally Sally’s headband.
They hummed as they powered up.
“One thing: If you want to try out the characteristics of the other wings: The Butterfly, Dragonfly, The Hummingbird or the Arullian, just say ‘pause’ and then say the name of the wings. Then say ‘PLAY’ when ready. Other than THAT, just close your eyes, relax and have FUN. We’ll give you twenty minutes, and then bring you out...”
They nodded and closed their eyes.
________
Elise opened her eyes to her shoulders twitching and a buzzing behind her. Looking around, she was standing in a sun-dappled field with buildings in the distance. she saw what looked like a big rock to her left. She looked down at herself.
Lifting her arms, she had dark, shiny, kelly green polymer skin, and purple accent lights. Her shoulder blades twitched and the buzzing came again. She looked over her shoulders to see the six iridescent wings pause before they blurred into action beating the air again.
Hard to believe this is virtual reality...she thought. She looked down.
Her feet weren’t touching the ground.
Oh, Mother, if you could only to BE here and experience this..! she thought as she tried willing herself up.
Slowly, she gained altitude...
_______
Sally opened her eyes up in a tree, sitting on a branch.
Startled, she lost her balance and fell forward.
“AGHHHHHHH!” she yelped as the ground rushed up to meet her.
But the impact never came.
Wha?!
She opened her eyes to a gentle humming from behind her. Twisting her head, she looked back past her silver polymer shoulder to the six black, yellow and magenta wings beating the air behind her.
She regained her balance, and hovered there...looking at the blue sky overhead and the shafts of sunlight breaking through the canopy of leaves overhead.
Well...Let’s see what I can do... she thought as she lifted into the sky.
_______
Tina opened her eyes sitting under a flower. She caught movement out of the corner of her eye, and looked to see a cat that seemed big enough to ride bareback.
Thankfully, it was asleep.
Tina looked down at the light green skin.
“This is SOOO cool!” she chirped, then looked behind her.
The giant fuscia, dual-lobed butterfly wings fluttered in the breeze. She felt her shoulder blades twitch, and then the wings pulsed.
Concentrating, she slowly lifted into the air.
“Sooo cool!” she muttered.
“Mrrrreeeeewwww...”
She looked to her left to see the cat awake, and it’s golden eyes fixed on her.
Uh, oh...
She willed herself higher, and just as her wings started pumping, the cat bolted at lightning speed to her.
C’mon! Go UP! Please!
Tina felt the world spin as she was swatted from the sky, and moments later the cat was looking down on her with amusement.
“HEY! No fair!”
The cat swatted at her head with one paw, and then went to swat with the other.
Somehow she caught it, and, on a hunch, YANKED.
The cat yowled as it tumbled to a stop a few feet away, pausing as if dizzy.
Tina beat her wings and headed skyward. Slowly, she rose.
The cat crouched and lept...and missed her by a hair, and then turned around.
It crouched again.
Wait! Wait! she thought frantically, as the wind current cradled her and held her aloft like a glider. ‘PAUSE!’ she barked.
The wind stopped. The cat stopped. Everything froze.
Think I can see what Grandma was talkin’ about! This is BAD! I’m TOO slow with these wings! I WANT ‘em, but...if THEY’RE too slow, I’ll get caught! She sighed grumpily. She said we could try the OTHER wings...howabout...’Hummingbird!’
There was a buzzing and she looked over her shoulder. The red, white and black feathered wings of a hummingbird beat out a blurry shape behind her.
“PLAY!”
The cat leaped out of its crouch, but Tina was already a few feet away.
Tina laughed as the cat looked puzzled. It tried again.
Tina seemed to vanish and appear where she was previously.
“This is AWESOME!” she crowed.
“Mwroowr...!” The cat grumbled and slinked off into the bush again.
THESE...are awesome! she thought.
She experimented for what seemed like an hour.
The butterfly wings had the edge in lazily gliding with minimal energy expended, and they made her feel more energetic, but they were FAR too slow. (As she found out with the cat.) Her mom and Grandmother would fly RINGS around her. If a bad human got her, well... :(
Pluses: Power Supply, Gliding. Minuses: Vulnerability, Slllloooowwwwww.
The Hummingbird wings were CRAZY fast. She felt a bit drained, but found she could hover in the air and dart from point to point like she had a sportsplane on her back.
Pluses: speed, control, maneuverability. Minuses: Energy intensive, almost TOO fast.
The Arullian modifications made her feel invulnerable...she felt like an airborne tank.
It was weird having the bulgy behind that she saw on bees and wasps coming out of the base of her spine...and wasn’t too fond of the looks of the six transparent black wasp-esque wings...but it seemed to be smoother in motion than the hummingbird, if not as fast. She felt protected, though.
Pluses: Protection, power, agility. Minuses: Not as fast.
The dragonfly wings were...cool. The iridescent play of light off them WAS pretty.
And they were like the insect version of the hummingbird wings. What was the expression her father was fond of? ‘Stop on a dime, and give nine cents change.’?
She felt light...and faster than the Arullian form, and had more energy, to boot, but they SEEMED fragile.
Pluses: Speed, agility. Minuses: Lack of protection, fragile.
_______
“Well, how’d it go?!” 600 bounced on the chair cushions, as the family came out of it 20 minutes later, looking dazed. “Tina?”
“Hunh? Oh...600…Yeah…It was SO cool but it kinda...sucks. Grandma was RIGHT about us being hurt. I WANTED the butterfly wings, but...I didn’t realize they were SOOOO slow.” She looked up. “If we were smaller, we could hide...an’ it might work, but...”
“The pictures and the stories of fairies don’t show too much danger, and when they DO, fairy magic can solve it. But we don’t HAVE fairy magic, right?” Sally looked over at Tina.
“Yeah. I was attacked by a kitty, who batted me around. I grabbed his paw and threw him, but the wings were still TOO slow...Until I switched to the hummingbird ones!” A smile grew. “And THEN, he couldn’t keep UP! ZIP! ZIP! SWISSSH!”
“Did you try the other ones, dear?”
“Yeah, Grandma. I felt like...Supergirl....with the Arullian one, an' the dragonfly ones were cool and fast, but...I felt...I dunno...”
"Fragile?"
"Yeah, Grandma. Big thing was...I dunno...It's that they're so...boring." Tina shifted on the couch a bit. "I mean, they WERE fast...easy to control, and it felt like I got more energy, but they're just like Tinkerbell's."
"What about the hummingbird ones?"
"They were cool...but they were almost TOO fast, Grandma. I felt drained and almost...dizzy."
"The dragonfly wings are like the Arullian ones. They have SHARP edges, so they're NOT as fragile as they felt, kiddo." 600 said. "Plus, your SPEED is a major advantage." 600 frowned. "There is a light-bending field generator that can be added, so you can go invisible, but it's a drain on your systems."
"Hmm..." Tina went quiet, thinking.
“Sally?”
“I agree as far as the butterfly wings. I LOVED how they looked. I LOVED being to...laze in the air and let the currents pull you along with minimal flapping. I just felt...vulnerable...slow. I felt...like I had a pretty target on my back. I loved the Arullian 3 body. I felt strong, and the stinger bulb only helped. Dragonfly...Probably the 'happy medium' of them all. Hummingbird...It was like driving a Ferrari, but it freaked me out how fast I could change directions.”
“Elise?”
"I agree with Sally. I'd go for the dragonfly ones, but...is there any way to spiff them up?" She thought for a few seconds and looked at Tina, then you could see her eyes light up. She re-seated her glasses on her nose. "Could you put butterfly patterns on the dragonfly wings, 600, without weakening their ability to charge us or let off heat?"
600 nodded. "THAT'S no problem. If ANYTHING, black butterfly patterning might HELP energy absorption...Buuut... one problem…just so you all know…”
Elise looked at her curiously.
"The way they're set up normally, they're thermochromatic AND emotochromatic..."
Tina looked at the Engineer blankly. "Thermo-what? And WhatWhat?!"
Sally sighed. 'Thermochromatic': They change color with temperature, sweetie. 'Emotochromatic': They change colors depending on how we feel..."
Elise chuckled. "Mood wings, in other words."
Tina's eyes lit up. That...sounds cool... she thought. "Is there a way to see, like, how that looks?"
"Oh, SURE..." 600 looked at the table, and their three avatars fluttered and landed in front of them. The wings frizzed and switched to the Dragonfly wings, and then the wings took on black-accented patterning like the Monarch butterfly.
The three of them started jumping around excitedly, holding hands. The wings colors went rainbow, changing smoothly like water washing over them.
The avatars became sad. The color drained out of the wings, leaving them blue and gray.
The avatars calmed down and just smiled. The wings shifted to medium reds, greens, yellows and pinks.
The avatars became RAGING angry. The wings shifted to bright red and orange.
"What's the normal colors?" Sally raised an eyebrow.
“You can set a default color scheme that they go back to when you're calm, or if you opt to disable the chromatics for whatever reason..." 600 looked over to Tina.
She had a giant grin on her face.
9902 looked at Sally and Elise with a smile. "She's convinced. What about you two?"
They both nodded. "Works for us."
_________
The family took two weeks, and, with the help of the Embassy, they liquidated their assets. 9902 said she knew where Sally would be able to work…and for better pay than she was getting at the Gazette, so she updated her resume and put in her two weeks notice.
It took a lot of effort to sort out what they REALLY wanted to keep, and what they had to let go of. 9902 showed up one Saturday with a small, vulpine gynoid…a petite foxgirl in black & white. Tina was AMAZED and peppered her with an endless stream of questions, but, eventually, Triple Zero got to work, hyper scanning all of the valuables they HAD to keep…The family albums with the old pictures…a few of Elise’s Hummel™ ceramic figure collection, and her husband’s journal.
As the two weeks progressed, all three got more and more nervous…and Tina was practically climbing the walls.
Eventually, the day arrived…
_________
Elise, Sally and Tina watched, as the balding, somewhat overweight man talked quietly…NERVOUSLY…with 9902 over by the ‘Beanbag’.
“A bad case of nerves…” They looked over at 9901. She smiled. “Happened to ME, too, all those years ago.”
The man handed his wallet to 9902 and got into the device, and they listened as it hummed to life.
They watched as he sank into the liquid silver fluid with an increasing smile on his face, until he eventually slipped below the surface.
9902 walked over.
“Someone you know?” Sally said.
“Our boss at Channel 7, Sally.”
Sally looked over at the golden-eyed gynoid with surprise.
9902 shrugged. “It’s a GIFT…I AM a Diplomat.” She looked back at the form, as it got progressively slimmer and more feminine, writhing in the liquid as it did so. She looked back. “He asked me questions about it, and LIKED the answers. He’s a workaholic…so she’ll fit in nicely…but Murray will have some adjusting to do socially. He’s…not lucky in love, to be kind..."
They heard the machine power down, and saw the hands with glowing magenta nails pull the light pearl silver form from the device. They watched as she examined herself curiously, then froze, her face lighting up.
She became a statue for ten minutes, overcome, then slowly returned to reality, blinking her magenta optics.
“S’cuse me…” 9901 said and walked over, talking to the new gynoid quietly.
The silver and magenta gynoid seemed to get excited, and then headed over toward them. When she got there, she reached out her hand to Sally. “You’re Sally Sanderson? I got your resume. I’m 917998-111-791159. I’m a Laborer…Just call me 159, please. 9901 was telling me you all want to Join Us today?”
“YEAH! We’re gonna be gardening Fairies!” Tina enthused.
159 tousled her hair. “That’s going to be fun. ALL of you?”
Elise hugged Tina. “Me and Tina. Sally is going to become a Laborer Fairy…”
159 thought quietly, then looked over at 02, who nodded.
“I’ve got to get BACK to the station…Louie’s not going to BELIEVE I DID this!” She grabbed her wallet and keys, and then paused. “Maybe I should wear slacks…This body is AMAZING, but it’s a bit short on storage…” She looked at the three and smiled. “Relax and ENJOY this…and I’ll see you at the station, Sally…” 159 skipped happily toward the front doors.
_____________
“Who’s first?!” 600 asked, walking over.
"ME!! ME!!" Tina jumped up and down.
“Okay, Tina...c’mon...let’s go...” 9902 said.
She was practically DRAGGED by Tina toward the ‘beanbag’, with her mother and grandma following a step or two behind. Sally and Elise gave her a big hug and kiss, and then she stepped into the silver liquid.
They watched as the machine started to hum...
Two minutes later, they watched as Tina slowly relaxed...and...strangely enough, appeared to be dissolving into the liquid.
“T-Tina?! Oh…G*d! W-what’s going ON?! She’s melting!” Sally said, panicked.
She felt a warm hand squeeze her shoulder. 600 looked over at her.
“No. Easy, Sally. It LOOKS like that, but she’s just shedding unneeded mass...REMEMBER, she’s going to be a LOT smaller and lighter..."
As the minutes ticked by, Sally and Elise watched, nervously, as the squirming, silver-covered figure got smaller and smaller until she disappeared from view.
Eventually, the machine beeped.
600 reached into the liquid silver mass in a set spot and carefully felt around for a few moments, before withdrawing her hand with what looked like a large grapefruit-sized, lime green polymer ball with violet accents, and six folded dragonfly wings with strident, butterfly-esque patterning.
As they watched, the the colors shifted from a dim gray on the wings to a more vibrant rainbow of colors, swirling through them as the new Fairy Gynoid 'woke'.
Tina and Sally drew closer as the ‘ball’ unfolded to a kneeling position, ruffling her wings, and making them hum. She looked up, stunned speechless, with a spaced out look on her face, followed by a happy smile for a few moments, as she looked down at herself and over at her wings.
The colors went almost neon in happiness.
Sally noticed the longer head, and, with a shaking finger, gently stroked the gynoid’s cranium. She looked over at 9901, as ’Tina’ squealed happily. “01, why the longer skull?”
“This helps keep your intelligence at an acceptable level, helping to counter the size factor a bit more. She should be up to Einstein or Hawking levels now.” She sighed. “Unfortunately, that’s the best We can do...given the size.”
“JUST to Einstein levels?!” Sally raised her eyebrow. “Underselling this, much?”
"You guys will be able to mind link to US or do it with each other to help bolster your intelligence capacity further.” 600 said. “Remnants of the Arullian 'hive mind' or composite mind..." She raised an eyebrow. “From what I KNOW…you guys can…merge, mentally…and become a gynoid gestalt when needed. You’ll feel like the same person in three independently operating bodies.That MIGHT be helpful in dangerous situations…”
“Ah…”
As they watched, the euphoric look on the cyber-Fae’s face slowly faded to a smile...and then SHOCK as she took in the sight of her NOW-huge grandmother and mother.
She ruffled her wings again, and then they began to beat the air with a hum.
Slowly, she lifted off of 600’s palm, adjusting her balance. She seemed to be deep in concentration, listening to an unheard voice. Moments later, she took in that she was actually flying, then she swooped into the air with a giddy yell.
"Flying mood rings...whoda thunk?" Sally said, watching her daughter zoom and pirouette.
"That was part of the Arullian culture...they announced they were looking for mates that way, and broadcast how they felt..."
"Wow..." Elise murmured.
For the next three minutes Tina zoomed all over the lower floor of the embassy, like a child playing ‘catch me’…600 and Sally had to duck a few times to avoid getting hit. Then she returned, hovering in front of a stunned Sally.
“Uhm...Put out your hand.” 600 prodded her.
Sally put out her hand, and her now-14.5” tall daughter alighted on it with a giant grin on her face...
And she began to excitedly talk and gesture...
But not in English.
What came out was basically a tinkling voice singing musical phrases, with a few buzzes and hums and other sounds interspersed. She ended it with what was clearly a question.
Her family looked at her, baffled.
Tina asked the question again, now looking worried, then a ‘Ah-HA!’ look crossed her face, she smiled, and a second later, she asked, “How do I look, Mommy? Grandma?”
“What were you…speaking in?”
“Arullian, Mommy. I just realized that I have multiple languages in my head now! I can speak ANY Earth language! This is SOOO cool!” She paused. “Je ne peux pas croire que cela m'arrive!”
“That…sounds like French…” Elise paused. “I’m RUSTY here, but I THINK she said, ‘I can't believe this is happening to me!’ Right?!”
The fairy nodded, happily.
“Tina...how do you feel?!" Elise said, as Tina lifted off from Sally's hand and hovered over to her. She watched as Tina settled down comfortably on her right shoulder, folding her wings.
She felt a tiny left hand resting on the back of her neck. “Grandma! How do you THINK?! We have our OWN language! AND We can FLY! This is SOOO cool!” She enthused. Elise saw the tiny gynoid lean in, and, moments later, she felt the tiniest of kisses on her cheek.
9901 raised a brow. “Try activating your light refractor.”
“Uhm...yeah...” She murmured, concentrating. “Is it THIS? Nope...WAIT! Hold ON! HERE it is!”
She rippled and then mostly vanished, only a very slight distortion in the air and the weight on Elise’s shoulder indicating that she was still there.
“Now you SEE her, Now you DON’T.” 9901 grinned.
The air seemed to speak. “Can you see me, Grandma?”
“Not really, NO, dear, but I can still FEEL that you’re sitting there.”
9901 looked in her direction. “Sister, you might want to turn it off for now, Unless you’re out in the sun, it’ll start draining you in a half hour or so...”
“Kay!”
The air rippled, and the light green fairy shimmered back into existence. The purple optics fastened on Elise.
“Grandma...You wanna do it next?! C’mon! This is SO AWESOOOMMMEE!”
Elise sighed, and nodded, handing her purse to Sally. “Let’s do it...”
_______
The two cyber-Fae watched quietly, each one sitting, wings folded, on one of 9901's shoulders.
'Tina' watched nervously as Sally seemed to 'melt' into the silver liquid of the 'beanbag'. Ten minutes later, 600 stepped forward, her hand once again entering the silver fluid at a specific spot, pulling out a silver-and-magenta ball, again the size of a large grapefruit. Seconds later, the cyber-fairy fully woke from her blissful fugue and stood up on 600's palm.
She stopped and examined herself, staring in wonder at the pearlescent silver skin and the magenta accents. She heard a humming and looked up to see the other two Fae hovering nearby. 600 directed them over to a nearby cabinet for them to land on. Each one alighted, and folded their wings down their back.
They studied each other, noting the elongated head, and the difference in coloration.
"Sisters?" 9901 said, walking up, extending two fingers and gently rubbing each of their heads. "Welcome to the Sisterhood..."
She looked at the light green fairy. "You and your grandma are Horticulturists, like you WANTED to be...YOU are now 727959-911-421326/Hrt…’421326' or '326' for short." She looked over at the kelly green fairy. "YOU are now 727959-911-421327/Hrt…’421327' or '327' for short...AAAAAnnnd..." She looked over at the silver and magenta fairy. "YOU are now a Laborer, like you wanted. Your serial number is 917998-111-791160/Lbr…’791160' or '160' for short. Welcome...ALL of you..."
01 watched as the three new gynoids were greeted by the Family. She could feel the 'wave' roll up on them. All three of them automatically held hands, happily, as it hit. The euphoria showed in their wings, which synchronistically rippled through a blinding rainbow of colors, lasting for a good 10 minutes.
They came out of it, neon green tears rolling down their cheeks. They turned to each other and began to excitedly chatter in high-speed Arullian for another minute, hands interlaced, bouncing up and down in the air.
"Went off without a hitch, huh, Big Sis?”
01 looked over at the doorway. Lounging against the doorframe was her Sister, 260316-423-520802/Mdc. 802 was a Medic, in silver and medical blue. Unlike the other Earth Medics, she was notable due to her chosen anthropomorphic felinoid form. She smiled as her tail slowly swished back and forth.
"What could go..." 01 managed before her sensors picked the blur and the light green shape whistling by her with a buzz. She watched as 802 was suddenly presented with an excited fairy gynoid. 802 sighed as the fairy darted from spot to spot, studying 802 from all angles, amazed that something she had seen on the World-Wide Web and her cartoons ACTUALLY existed.
9901 smiled and went back to talk to the other two hovering fae.
______
A WEEK LATER:
"You okay, 160?” 9902 shot a quick glance at the Barbie-size silver fairy, securely [if uncomfortably] belted into the front seat of her Camry, staring at the eye-level wonder that was known as the glove box.
She shifted uncomfortably, shifting her view upward to look at the blue sky. "Are you SURE they're not going to have a problem with me?! I mean, Channel 8 has become fairly prominent since you were Reborn..."
"I already checked with 159 and Louie. Anna's out on maternity leave, so you'll be filling in as weather girl, for the time being."
"Surprised they're not hesitant about another one of Us...”
"They know We're good for ratings AND behind the scenes. 600 is the station’s Tech Guru, and pretty much EVERYONE in the area knows me on sight. They've re-branded the station to 'News 8: Home of 9902'..." She blushed. "But...You'll be fine. Could see you getting an anchor position eventually, if you want..."
_____
"Our News8 Weather Wonder, Anna, is out for the next few weeks..." Shiela smiled into the camera. "As of now, we'd like to welcome a new member of our team…” She gestured with her left hand and the camera panned over to the right.
The viewers were treated to a light pearlescent silver-and magenta fairy gynoid with an elongated skull, a little bigger than a Barbie™ doll, sitting, for the moment, on a peanut butter jar topped with two round tea bags as cushions on the shiny glass of the news desk.
The camera focused in, with a bit of effort.
"This is 160...Say hello..."
"Uhm...Hello, everyone! It's good to BE here." 160 said nervously, waving. She then hopped nimbly off the jar, and lifted into the air, her wings gone a shade of lemon yellow. “L-Let's get to the Accu-Local forecast for the coming week..."
She flitted over in front of the green screen, and looked at the monitor facing her depicting the graphics, maneuvering herself to allow the viewers to best read the weather.
Shiela watched in amazement as the nervous little fairy darted from place to place on the map, showing the movement of the coming rainstorm. She noticed that the fairy's wings were slowly shifting from yellow to a green.
She could hear Mike in the control booth swearing.
"...And that's that. Back to YOU, 9902!"
The silver and gold gynoid smiled. "Thanks, 160...In other news, The President, today, sat down with with Kim Jung Un, the leader of North Korea…”
_____
"How are you doing?" 9902 looked down quickly, before snapping her eyes back up to the road. The fairy was quiet all the way home to the Embassy, her folded wings rotating through shades of yellow. She could FEEL the nervousness rolling out of 160 like a tidal wave.
“Given that Mike was chewing me out for a good 20 minutes, it wasn't the most auspicious beginning for me." She sighed and stared up through the window at the darkening sky. “My AudPods are STILL ringing…” She sighed, and looked up. “I feel like an IDIOT, 02. I was SOOO damn nervous, I didn't realize the wings would be a problem."
"Just disable the chromatics. Make them a pink or a gray. THAT shouldn't interfere with the green screen."
The fairy was silent, and nervous. "I just hope that 159…”
“She WON'T. 160, We were getting mostly positive phone calls to the station. She's FINE with you. If you wind up doing that for a MONTH, THEN she'll want to have a chat, but NOW? Just change the setting tomorrow and you'll be FINE, Sister..."
9902 could sense the worry still coming from her. “I wouldn’t worry about THAT for now…I think you’d better brace yourself. I’m pretty sure Our Sisters saw your television debut, so I think you’re in for some celebrating tonight…!”
She shot a quick side-glance at 160, who was blushing heavily, and grinned.
9902 thought as she piloted the car toward the Embassy…