PONID-21 Day 5 · 9:49pm Apr 14th, 2020
#general
Lisa 1/10/2021 4:21 AM
Woke up in the middle of the night and find my hair to be all streaky with blonde coloring. Then I go to the bathroom to see what's going on and find my right hand has started to sort of meld together. I can still wiggle my fingers, but the closest bit of each finger to my hand has just sort of melted into each other.
Anyone else awake?
Penny 1/10/2021 4:26 AM
You're probably going to want to meet me to see what I have going on.
You know how we left your room just before midnight? I haven't slept yet, and this is all getting weird.
Lisa 1/10/2021 4:35 AM
Cafeteria then? Are they even open?
Penny 1/10/2021 4:37 AM
The coffee machine is always on and we can always turn the lights on.
#day-5
G-man 1/10/2021 6:55 AM
So my hair is falling out. This is fucked up. What was that, some kind of radiation stuff? Now my hair's falling out and my feet are feeling really odd and my toes are stuck together. Seriously! WTF?!?!?!
#general
Petra 1/10/2021 7:01 AM
Hey, how about holding the swearing?
G-man 1/10/2021 7:07 AM
Tiyr bir rge ibw
Your not the one going bald!
Lisa 1/10/2021 7:10 AM
Calm down, G. Mine isn't falling out, but it is getting way softer and going blonde in streaks. That's not radiation poisoning.
G-man 1/10/2021 7:16 AM
Even the hair on my arms is falling out.
Lisa 1/10/2021 7:30 AM
Make sure to let @Karen know. She'll get the other docs to get something worked out for you.
Bob 1/10/2021 7:33 AM
Lisa, you want to have breakfast?
Lisa 1/10/2021 7:41 AM
Way ahead of you. Me and Penny are at the cafeteria already. Come down and show us your latest freaky changes.
That goes for anyone. Come down cafeteria two and we'll push some tables together.
#day-5
Lisa 1/10/2021 7:53 AM
My fingers and toes on my right side are starting to merge together. My hair is really soft and has turned blonde in streaks.
Penny 1/10/2021 7:54 AM
I have the toe-merging thing going on with my left foot, while one of my toes has started to shift down my other foot. Both hands have my smallest two fingers merging together, but my right hand's fingers are getting odd. Oh, and I have a tail.
Subject: Day 5 morning exam results
1/10/21
10:13 A.M.
Subject: 113823102021Everything seems backwards. Both the primary subjects I picked as anomalies are continuing to be such, but Robert Cowell in particular is being remarkable by not being remarkable. His fingers and toes still work, he doesn't use these strange terms of address (seex pony notes) the others do. He's unique for not being unique.
So far the only odd thing is he has grown nearly ten centimeters since we started measuring.
—Doctor Howards
Subject: Day 5 morning exam results
1/10/21
10:41 A.M.
Subject: 113823532021Subject is losing their hair. All the others that fall into classification 1 are merely getting a change of color, but this one is losing his hair. I recommend a further examination as whoever did this one failed to follow up on mentions of losing body hair.
All other body structure is showing similar effects as classification 1, although their eye is still very different. Will continue to track.
—Doctor Howards
Subject: Day 5 morning exam results
1/10/21
10:59 A.M.
Subject: 113823902021Miss Penny DeSanto continues to be a hive of divergent changes.
One of her feet seems to be following the same changes as the others, but there the similarities stop.
The most significant change has been the addition of two new vertebra that seem to be fully formed and continuing her spine into what we think is a growing tail.
The hair on her head has started to shorten and darken, and it looks like there are pale streaks in her eyebrows.
While other subjects have seen increased stiffness in their fingers and toes, she has only lost one digit on each limb (other than her left foot). The strangest thing is not a single one of her limbs seems to be changing the same.
—Doctor Howards
Subject: Day 5 morning exam results
1/10/21
11:21 A.M.
Subject: 113823882021Aaron Styles is a new addition to my special cases.
The most distinct changes this young man has shown is that his feet are undergoing a similar change to 113823902021's (Penny DeSanto) right hand, his hands are showing more signs of being like 113823102021's (Robert Cowell).
That alone would put him firmly in this file, but some of his hair is growing barbs and vanes like feathers. Definitely one to watch. Also reporting back pain.
—Doctor Howards
Subject: Department Memo
From the very moment this new kind of virus was synthesized our world was going to change forever. Seen individually, each subject looks to be suffering from a host of degenerative bone and muscle diseases as well as mental. Seen as a whole, I can't help but see a new age of humanity. What are our subjects becoming?
Better.
—Anon
Subject: Last memo
We don't need this kind of unprofessional nonsense. Please keep this email group uncluttered.
—Doctor Howards
Interview with Penny DeSanto
female
age 28
ID: 113823902021Transcript of conversation with notes added from my clipboard.
KS (Dr. Karen Simpson): I hope you're comfortable, Miss DeSanto?
PDS (Penny DeSanto): Miss DeSanto was my mom. Call me Penny.
KS: Well, Penny, I wanted to invite you in to talk next. We had a rather interesting chat last night.
PDS: *snorting laughter* You could say that. I noticed you moved.
Notes: The incident in question relates to the subject apparently being able to see me in my office/bedroom. I have since moved quarters.
KS: Well, I can't make it too easy on you. Now you have to set things up all over again.
Notes: I'm fishing to see if she'll admit she installed a camera or that she hacked some that might have already been there.
PDS: Sure, doc, sure. So what's going on today? My butt getting longer, my hands and feet getting weirder, and everyone's hair getting freaky.
Notes: It was about this point when I realize she's leading the questioning. I have two tactics I can use. Either I can try to take back the initiative or I can let her keep going and give her everything she wants, then analyze what she asked and how she reacts to the answers. Mom always said honesty's the best policy.
KS: Indeed. Two new vertebra, from what I understand. Quite the achievement.
PDS: Thanks! I gotta say every day is a surprise here. What'll happen tomorrow? Will I grow another set of arms from my back? Maybe tentacles? What do you think?
Notes: She's fishing for outrage I think.
KS: While I am a doctor of medicine, I don't gamble. What do you think might be happening?
PDS: You mean if I just let my imagination go wild?
KS: *nods*
PDS: I like to think I'm turning into something. Maybe some kind of monster. I don't know. You know what dysphoria is?
KS: I certainly do.
PDS: It's nothing like dysphoria. I just like the idea of being different.
Notes: What she was giving me was very little. Somehow she knew all the terms and phrases that make me dive down a rabbit hole of supposition, then she reverses it just before I'm at the point of diagnosis.
KS: Well, according to Dr. Howards' reports, you're certainly proving to be that.
PDS: *excited* Do I get a prize? Is there a contest to see how many limbs we end up with? Tentacles? I wouldn't mind a prehensile tail!
Notes: Sure. No dysphoria. I could spend the rest of my life studying Miss DeSanto and only end up with a paper on how poorly research projects can go.
KS: You're a strange person, Penny. I still don't know how you saw into my room, but I don't think you meant anything by it. Would you mind not doing so again?
PDS: Your room? The new one in Block 3?
KS: *slight pause* Yes, that one.
PDS: No problems, Karen! I won't look into it anymore.
Notes: A personal opinion, but I believe her. She seems on the edge of every disorder I could name, but it's… I don't know how to explain it. She's a person, a real person, and I believe her to be completely sane and honest, though her morals might be subject to change without notice.
KS: Thank you, Penny.
PDS: So, am I crazy?
KS: *chuckling* No. You're as sane as anyone else.
PDS: I'll try harder next time. Are we done?
KS: Do you want to be done? We can talk about anything if you'd like.
PDS: You sound like a shrink.
KS: I am a shrink. Do you need shrinking?
PDS: Hrmm. Nah, I think I'm good for now. Maybe if this gets a little crazier, or I don't turn into something cool.
Notes: That was interesting.
KS: You believe you're turning into something?
PDS: Makes sense, doesn't it? Genetic mutations lead to slow, small changes. Cancerous mutations can lead to large ones, but they have no purpose or form. This feels like it has a purpose to it. Mark my words, doc, all our outsides're turnin' in. All that's left is to take bets and ride the train to wherever it will stop.
KS: Changes? But the only changes have been slight adjustments in height and—
PDS: These? *she held up her hands to show where the flesh of her digits was melding together*
Notes: We both agreed to call it quits there mostly because neither of us had anything else to say. I could have led her into a full session to find all kinds of problems in her past, but I don't think she has a problems with her past so much as her future.
—Doctor Simpson
#general
Penny 1/10/2021 4:22 PM
Thanks, Karen.
Karen 1/10/2021 4:28 PM
For our talk?
Penny 1/10/2021 4:29 PM
Yeah. It helped me work through a few things. I know you weren't specifically trying to get into my head, and you didn't, but it let me look at a lot of things from a different light.
For what it's worth, I'm sorry I looked into your room. I mean it when I said I won't do that again.
Karen 1/10/2021 4:33 PM
Don't doubt yourself, Penny. You have your head on right.
Penny 1/10/2021 4:35 PM
That was one of the things our chat sorted out for me. Sometimes you get a little worried that all the thoughts and ideas you have might make you a bad person or lead to doing bad things, but I'm pretty sure I have a lot of good thoughts too. There's a balance, and it's up to me to sort out which pile I use.
Lisa 1/10/2021 4:36 PM
Hey guys. I can't believe I'm actually working out, but here I am getting fit for the first time in my life.
Karen 1/10/2021 4:36 PM
Hi, Lisa.
Penny 1/10/2021 4:38 PM
Welcome back.
Wait, working out? Eww!
Lisa's turning into a jock!
Bob 1/10/2021 4:41 PM
Nothing wrong with feeling good about your body.
Penny 1/10/2021 4:43 PM
Alright, you got me. I feel great about my body!
😉
Lisa 1/10/2021 4:44 PM
Hey, @here, looking at playing some card games tonight if anyone's up for it. They don't close the cafeteria, and there's plenty of tables in there.
Bob 1/10/2021 4:44 PM
Don't worry, I can do the dealing.
Penny 1/10/2021 4:45 PM
Sounds good. Count me in.
Devon 1/10/2021 4:45 PM
I'll come.
Ass 1/10/2021 4:46 PM
Playing for money?
Lisa 1/10/2021 4:49 PM
If you can find someone who wants to, sure. I talked to one of the docs and they had a whole mess of decks for us to use.
Penny 1/10/2021 4:51 PM@Karen You should come too!
Karen 1/10/2021 4:52 PM
I guess I could count it as studying you all. Don't tell the other doctors!
Penny 1/10/2021 4:53 PM
Never!
Karen 1/10/2021 4:53 PM
Okay then, I'll be there.
Lisa 1/10/2021 4:57 PM
Well, we can have dinner early, or even discuss games while we eat. If anyone else wants to join us, we'll be in cafeteria two.
Subject: Socializing With Test Subjects
Lisa Trent (113822402021) has invited me to play some card games with a group of other test subjects. I believe this will be a good chance to observe them acting in a group setting outside of the semi-anonymity of a digital presence (I know they're not actually anonymous within this chat, but the mentality of assumed anonymity is a documented facet of online interactions).
I will report my findings when I am done.
—Doctor Simpson
Subject: Socializing With Test Subjects
They are all healthy humans dealing with a stressful situation. Penny DeSanto (113823902021) seems to be a ringleader of sorts. When anyone attempted to withdraw from the fun without saying they were leaving, she'd go out of her way to include them.
Lisa Trent (113822402021) spent most of her night coming up with different games to play, she seems to have an encyclopedic mind when it comes to knowledge. Once she memorizes something, it stays memorized.
Robert "Bob" Cowell (113823102021) seemed protective of Lisa, seemingly stepping to her aid whenever anyone tried to talk over her or bully her (and thus the group) into a particular action. For what it is worth, I believe he may be trying to pursue her romantically.
Sally Jeffers (113822512021) was the source of a good chunk of friction tonight. When she didn't get her way, several times, she sought to manipulate the group to her own ends. Lisa always solved her problems and dug her out of any situation she put herself in. There is some bond between the two. Sally wouldn't step down when confronting anyone but Lisa.
Aaron Styles (113823882021) was the other major antagonist in the group. He wanted to play games of chance for money, but no one was interested. He was the youngest in the group, and it showed in the ways he tried to coerce people into playing. Penny was the key player in keeping him happy and from upsetting the others. He seemed interested (romantically) in her by the end of the night.
This group has its warts, but I don't think you could pull a group of twenty different people together and have them settle their differences as quickly.
—Doctor Simpson
So I do this "Ask X" thing. X can be any pony within the story. You can ask them anything and they will definitely, hopefully reply. Keep the questions appropriate to the age-rating of the stories, and they will answer the best question in the author notes of the next chapter. The more votes a comment has the more likely I will get it to the right pony to answer. Try to keep it to one question per post! They will pick one question per chapter.
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Lab
Have you thought about chocolate chip waffles
... How did I not realize that G-Man was getting griffonized? I'm mildly ashamed of myself.
It took about three tries before Dr. Howards could type something more professional than "Holy f
k, you guys, her f
king spine is growing new vertebrae what the f
k."
Five tries to get past "His hair, the stuff that already died before it passed out of the skin, is mutating. What on God's green earth did we unleash!?"
And it says something when it's the nascent draconequus keeping the group together. We'll see how long that lasts...
Penny, you seem awfully fixated on the possibility of tentacles. What would you even do with them?
Karen: Are you at all concerned about Penny's abilities and repercussions from this experiment?
(Any Doctor): With some of the patients there appears to be a break in the conservation of matter, unless they happen to be eating a good portion of their body weight every day. Perhaps this is worth looking into?
Also, turning into Chrysalis (or another changeling) will definitely not be a fun process at all... Wonder if the doctors will start paying a bit more attention when they start growing holes...
5242600
But griffons are not bald, aren't they? They have fur and feather. I am thinking of changelings.
Ask the Doctors: Have you pinpointed where does this mysterious virus originated from?
5242665
Point, that might be the dragon.
Sally=diamond tiara?
To Karren
The agent in question is retroviral in nature right, arn't you afraid in doing these interviews that you may be infected yourself if it becomes airborn?
0_0
Hmm. So far, we have:
Lisa--Pony, back pain means wings.
Bob--Dragon
He’s Spike, which makes Lisa Twilight.
Penny--Draconquus, hopefully Discord, because God knows we don’t need two of them running around.
And yes, the sheer, unspeakable irony of her being the only sane one did not escape me.
G-man--Changeling
Aaron Styles--Griffon
Not sure of any of the others. Sally’s immaturity might suggest Pinkie Pie, but…
5335344 You got a few right, but a few very wrong. Keep reading!