"If it wasn't the medallion then how could this happen?" asked the cheerleader
"Perhaps a virus?" speculated the girl in the green dress
"Not a virus I've ever heard of" replied the cheerleader "You're the medical person Julia" she was looking at the former Mrs Hastie. Have you any theories about what has happened to us?"
Now that Julia Hastie had realised she was not alone in her predicament, she finally started to calm down. She was ashamed about how she had reacted. The principal had experienced a bigger change - losing his gender - than she had, but had apparently taken the change in her stride, as had the former gym teacher. Julia fought to get her emotions under control and tried to think rationally. After a pause she replied "I have never heard of such a virus. It's hard to comprehend how such changes could occur. Perhaps Ruby has been participating in scientific experiments with powerful nanites? And they have somehow got out of control? It would be the only rational explanation I can think of. Do we know if anyone else is affected. Has the whole school already changed into copies of Ruby?"
"Ruby?" asked the cheerleader of the schoolgirl
"No! I haven't done anything! I didn't cause this!" Ruby became defensive. "Until I came into this room I didn't know I had twins" Everybody always blamed things on her. "I certainly haven't done any scientific experiments"
The cheerleader replied "Mmm. Science or magic? Either could be responsible but this is way beyond my realm of expertise. I think we need to alert the authorities. But first thing we need to do is contain the outbreak and determine the extent of the problem. There are at least four of us who have been changed into copies of Ruby, that includes the student who claimed to be Jake. Do we know where she has gone?"
"Do you mean the girl I found in the shower?" asked the green dress girl.
"Yes. She clearly was not the real Ruby. Where has she gone? Perhaps she is a super spreader?"
"I thought she was the real Ruby. She was wearing a girl's school uniform. I asked Gareth Jones to escort her to the infirmary. I thought that was where Mrs Hastie had returned and I thought that 'Ruby' must have suffered a head knock and needed to be checked out properly. She wasn't making sense"
"So 'Jake' was sent to the infirmary with Gareth? How did she get a school uniform? She was only wrapped in a towel when I last saw her"
"I gave the girl I thought was Ruby a change of clothes. I dropped by lost property and found a uniform for the girl and bought it here. That was what Mr Cotter asked me to do" Julia looked at Mr Cotter "It seems weird to call you Mr Cotter still when you look as you do"
"Yes, I need a more appropriate name. How about you call me Mary"
"Mary?" asked the cheerleader "Where did that come from?" The former Mr Jacobs was puzzled by how well Anthony Jacobs was handling being changed into a teenage girl.
"It's my grandmother's name. I don't look like an Anthony any more. You should choose a more appropriate name as well. You no longer look like principal Jacobs"
"I guess" the cheerleader mused "Perhaps just call me Kim. It is my name and it can be masculine or feminine. The student body at large don't need to know what has happened to us"
"So what do we do Kim?" asked Ruby. Ruby did feel more comfortable calling this girl Kim rather than Mr Jacobs.
"Get to the front office and find 'Jake'. I have an contact who works for the FBI. He might know how to proceed"