Jessie pulled herself out of the pool and looked down at her strange body. It had been a week since her transformation, and she was no closer to being used to it. Her scales were so uncomfortable when dry that she had taken to sleeping in the pool at this remote estate.
For that, at least, she was lucky. Motivated by the fear of not knowing what changed her and perhaps even more by the fear of even more panic, the government had gone to extraordinary lengths to keep her out of sight. With surprising speed, it had purchased a house and pool as close as possible to the middle of nowhere and surrounded it with secret service agents. The only condition was regular poking and prodding by doctors still trying to find out what had happened. Jessie tried not to complain because she wanted to know, too. "Not that they've ever said they can cure me," she reminded herself.
Instead of just fins and gills, today Jessie had to deal with a more familiar discomfort: butterflies in her stomach. For the first time since her transformation, she'd agreed to give a TV interview. As an athlete, she was used to pressure, but knew she'd never been the subject of scrutiny like she would today.
The gods, meanwhile, thought this might be an excellent time to announce themselves.