DING
I jump slightly in surprise at the unexpected noise, having been fully engrossed in my coding work. Looking around in confusion, I finally see the blinking light on my phone that indicates that I have a notification. A quick check shows that I had just gotten a text from my sister.
/Hey Ty, work has me in your neck of the woods for today, want to meet up at the usual place tonight?/
Oh, that's a nice surprise, it's been a while since I've seen her last; I've been meaning to catch up with her lately.
\Hey Bri, sounds great! will probably be working late tonight though\
\but I'll be able to make it there by 6:30 if that works for you\
/Thats fine, I'll do some quick shopping before hand then/
\cool, see you there\
/đź‘Ť/
I look over at the clock to see the current time as "1:42 PM". Huh, I guess I worked right through lunch then; usually I'd have noticed because I'd be really hungry by now, but the odd thing is that I'm not. Must be my new changeling biology and whatnot with different eating habits.
Although, am I not physically human when I'm transformed like this? It sure feels like I am, but it could be that it's just a surface change.
Actually, that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask.
Hey Skitter, you available to answer a quick question?
Seeing as I have about another two hours of boring travel to go until I reach Manehatten, nothing would please me more.
Well, alright, I respond with a laugh, I just wanted to ask before I did anything stupid, are there any common foods that are poisonous or deadly to changelings that I should know to avoid?
Food? No, nothing like that should be able to harm you. In fact, we're immune to poisonous stuff in general since anything we consume just turns into resin anyway. Do note, though, that if you get poisoned while transformed, you'll have a mimicked reaction that's triggered by your transformation magic with the purpose of keeping your disguise consistent.
Hmm, I think for a moment, then ask, What's resin?
A mucus-like substance we naturally produce that's very versatile. It's mainly used for hive construction by itself, but many more options become available when combined with magic.
So we don't need to eat anything to survive, just subsisting off emotions is enough?
Non-changeling emotions, but yes. That and water is really all we need.
Interesting, I say, mulling over her words, Alright then, thanks Skitter.
Happy to help, My Queen.
I glance back at my computer, debating on what to do next. I could just continue working, there's a lot of slack to pick up, after all, but Chris normally gets mad when employees skips their breaks, not wanting them to burn out early just because they feel they need to show initiative.
However, Chris isn't here... and one skipped break isn't going to hurt me.
I sigh; better to savor the moments I have left with this work before I inevitably have to quit to focus on the hive.
Thankfully, I managed to finish work with enough time left to drive to the appointed destination, Caroline's Corner Cafe; the usual hangout spot that Brianna and I go to whenever she's in town. She had actually discovered this out-of-the-way place accidentally when she got lost trying to find my apartment to help me move in. It's been our favorite stop ever since she first dragged me there to show me how nice it was.
As I enter the cafe, I suddenly get a weird taste of something sweet like fresh fruit, albeit as a non-physical sensation; like experiencing the memory of a flavor, but far more vivid. At the front counter, the aforementioned Caroline waves to me and says with a smile, "Good evening Tyler! The usual, I presume?"
I could somehow tell that the taste was coming from her direction, and I quickly deduce that I was feeling her emotions with whatever it is that changelings use to do so. If I had to guess by the flavor and her demeanor, I would say it was the emotion of happiness.
Hesitantly smiling back, I answer, "Yes, thank you," then, quickly glancing around, I find my sister sitting at a booth by a window.
As I walk over, Brianna brushes aside her wavy auburn hair and looks up, hearing my approach. Moving to stand up, she grins and says, "Hey Ty! Glad to see that your boss didn't kill you with the overtime."
Laughing, I reply, "This is nothing out of the ordinary for my industry, so I'm used to it."
Embracing each other in a hug, I taste love for the first time. A pleasant warmth spreads through me as I'm practically force-fed this energy that tastes like... the best flavor. There is no comparable food for this. Really, the only suitable comparison I can draw up is just like how blue Gatorade tastes like the color blue, love tastes like the peak of flavors, and it's all downhill from here.
"You sure bro? You seem pretty out of it right now," she says with a giggle after sitting back down.
Shaking myself from my food coma, I sheepishly reply, "Having a ten-hour workday always leaves me a little tired, but I'm fine," then, sitting down at the other side of the booth, I ask, "So how about your work, anything new?"
Leaning back and looking up at the ceiling, she sighs, "Not really. Even in the world of tech consulting where I get new clients relatively often, everything just seems to blur together," looking back at me, she quickly continues, "Don't get me wrong, I still love the work; but, you know me, always hoping for something interesting to happen."
I chuckle, remembering her passion for science-fiction, "Well, considering that 'interesting' for you is something like the A.I. Singularity or making first-contact with aliens..."
Waving me off, she scoffs, "Yeah, yeah, 'Don't hold your breath', I get it; we've had this conversation before."
I grin, realizing that I could finally make her wishes come true, but rather than entertain that thought for now, I change the conversation topic to something I'd prefer to just get over with, like ripping off a band-aid, "So... have you talked to mom and dad recently?"
Grimacing, she hesitantly says, "Yeah, um... Sorry, Ty, they're still... sore about you coming out to them," At the same time, I taste something new coming from her, something mellow and slightly bitter; sadness, maybe? Pity?
I sigh, "I had hoped that me being bi might have been more palatable for them compared to the alternatives, but I guess I'm not really surprised, knowing them. Interesting how something as simple as that can ruin a relationship so badly."
She reaches across the table and holds my hand comfortingly, saying, "And absolutely none of that is your fault; it's on them for having shitty beliefs and for not accepting you for who you are."
"Yeah, I know...", I reply wistfully while gazing out the window. To be honest, I hadn't really meant to tell them about it in the first place; it just kind of came up in conversation, and I got tired of having to lie about myself. It seems, though, that some things are better left unsaid to those who can't handle the truth.
I look at my sister and smile, and she does so in return. I'm incredibly fortunate to have her in my life, she's always supported me and has made it clear that I can trust her with anything.
"Here are your shakes, dears," I hear Caroline say as she walks over to our booth, setting our drinks down in front of us, "if you need anything else, give me a holler!"
"Thanks, Carol," Bri says, grabbing her own.
Caroline walks back to the front counter, and I look back down to the table and take my shake. Cookies-n-Cream, the objectively best flavor, of course.
Giving it a taste, I thankfully realize that my senses in that area haven't changed; well, in this form at least. I don't know what I'd do if I couldn't enjoy some of my favorite foods anymore.
"So, changing the subject from our stupid parents, what's new with you these days?" Bri inquired.
"Oh, uh... nothing..." I start, but then hesitantly begin to reconsider; should I tell her?
After all, if there was anyone I would tell about something like this, it would be her. We did everything together growing up and always had each other's backs when either of us got into trouble.
I'm an alien on my home planet, and, despite the fact that I can talk to my hive whenever I want, I'm still ultimately alone here. If anything goes wrong, it'll just be me against the world. To have even only one person on my side would be worth it, more so if it was my sister.
But, how would she react?
"Hmm, I don't know... seems to me like there might be something on your mind," she says, eyeing me with a smirk, "Let me guess, Mr. 'I'm-married-to-my-work'; you've finally started dating someone and are too embarrassed to bring it up."
"What? No!," I quickly say, "It's... Well, it's a bit more unbelievable than that."
"Oh really? This should be fun then," she says with a glint in her eyes, "Is your apartment being haunted by ghosts?"
I lean my head on my hand and sigh, "I know you're just teasing me, but you're actually a little closer with that guess. Well, closer in its outlandishness, anyway."
She blinks in surprise, then frowns and asks, "Aliens?"
I give a small smile, "That's technically the right category, but you're going to have to be more specific."
"Oh, come on, don't tell me you're somehow the one person to make first-contact with an alien species."
I frown indignantly at her, "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I mean, no offense, but you're the most recluse, workaholic person I know; when you're not at work, you're at home." Her eyes wandered about the room, "Aside from hanging out here with me, when was the last time you went outside for fun? I highly doubt that aliens are focusing on one-bedroom apartments in the middle of random cities."
I put my face into my hands and groan. I had figured that telling her of my situation would be a hard sell, despite her love of science fiction, but I never expected the unbelievable part to be the chance of anything fantastical happening to me in particular.
She crosses her arms and grins, "But I want to see where this is going, so let's assume that the aliens have chosen you as the representative of our species of which to have discussions. Please, elaborate."
"Ugh, fine..." I say, beginning to massage my head and trying to figure out the best way to phrase my tale. "So, it all started in a dream."
"Oh, it was all just a dream, then; that makes way more sense," She sagely nods.
I just roll my eyes and say, "Shall I continue, or are you going to snark at the end of every sentence?"
"I reserve the right to be snarky for every cliche you spout." She jokingly says with a haughty look, "But, please, go on."
And so I did, telling her of the first time I spoke to Skitter, the story of the changelings, and the tragedy of the invasion. Though, as I convey the story to her, I realize that I actually remember far more than I thought I did; feeling similar to what I experienced that first day as I became connected to each of the changelings, but far less vivid and more like standard memories.
Growing a little perturbed, I do some quick experimentation and somehow instinctively grab an old memory from Skitter; it consists of a rather mundane moment of her speaking with another changeling while relaxing on a hill in some desert. But before delving too deep into that rabbit hole, I'm brought back to reality as Bri starts waving her hand in front of my face.
"Hello, earth to Ty, are you okay in there?" she says, looking mildly concerned.
"Oh, uh, sorry. I'm fine," I say, clearing my throat, "where was I again?"
"You just finished telling me about the near-destruction of these 'changelings' and how they were all basically thrown to their deaths." She says with a frown, "You seem pretty torn up about it; did the dream really feel that real?"
"You have no idea...," I mutter, glancing away from her.
After a beat, she continues, "So... The survivors go dimension-hopping through dreams to find help, but to what end, and why you?"
"Well, she claimed that it's because I was the only one who answered their call for help, and as for what they needed..." Oh boy, the moment of truth.
I look into my sister's eyes, ones that I've known for as long as I've lived, to both see and literally feel her curiosity, concern, and anticipation for my coming words. I have a moment of hesitation, wondering if I should really tell her, but I quickly dash those thoughts aside. I need to have her on my side, not only just for help, but also for sanity's sake.
"As I just mentioned, the failed invasion resulted in the death of most of the changelings, that includes their queen," I say, starting to explain, "Because the queen is so vital to the hive, they were essentially crippled until they got a new one."
"So, they were searching for a new leader? Why didn't one of them just pick up the mantel?" She asks, confusion etched across her face.
"It seems drones aren't capable of becoming one."
"Hmm. And what did they do when they found out that you weren't changeling royalty?" She continues, "If they can't tell dreams apart based on species, I'd imagine that it'd be like searching for a needle in a haystack."
I avert my eyes and anxiously play with my drink's straw, "My humanity was... irrelevant to what they had in mind."
"Wait, but..." She trails off, cocking her head in bewilderment. After a moment, though, her eyes widen in understanding, "Oh, they wanted to turn you into one of them, didn't they."
"Yup," I say, nodding, "and I accepted."
Caught off guard, she says, "Really? And how'd that work out for you?"
"Oh, got hit with a transmorph spell, became their new hivemind and queen, and made quite a mess breaking out of the bug-pod; you know, the usual," I replied. Then, after taking a drink of my shake, I mutter, "Carpet is stained to hell, though. If I don't find a way to wash that goop out, I can kiss my deposit goodbye."
"Wow," Bri just laughs and says, "that's definitely an odd and fascinating dream, to say the least. Wish I had some like it more often."
"That's the thing, sis, it actually ended up not being a dream," I say, looking her in the eyes, "Well, their initial call to me technically happened in a dream, but everything that follows it is real."
She gives me a disapproving look and says, "If you want me to believe that, then you know that I'm going to ask for proof right? I'm not as gullible as I once was back in the day."
"I know, I figured that I'd just have you come to my apartment to see it. Don't really want to be in public for this, for obvious reasons."
She sighs and looks at her watch, "I suppose I could visit for a few minutes, for what is almost certainly a prank."
I smile and say, "How often have I ever pranked you in the past?"
"Very little that I can remember, which is why I'm even entertaining the idea; but there's always a first time for everything," she says flatly. Then, after standing up and tossing her empty cup into a nearby bin, she concludes, "We'd better get going now, then; I have to wake up really early for a morning meeting."
She takes out her wallet to pay for the shakes and we make our way back to my apartment
Bri and I enter my home and settle ourselves in the living room, her on the couch and myself on a side chair, she starts by saying, "So how is this going to work?"
I nod and reply, "It's a pretty simple situation, I'm a changeling now but am currently 'changed' into my human self. All I have to do is revert back, which should be adequate proof for you."
"Alright, I'm ready, get to it," She says with a bored expression, clearly not expecting anything to happen.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes, preparing myself. This is it, there's no coming back after this; but I've made my decision and I'm just going to have to live with the consequences, good or bad.
With a small applied force of will, I drop the transformation.
"Holy shit!" I hear Bri stand up and yell.
I look back up at her, confirming that her reaction is almost exactly what I expected, seeing shock and disbelief; what comes next is the unknown part, though.
I cough awkwardly and say, "So, as you can see, my story is entirely true. Just know that I'm the same Tyler I've always been, except now in new packaging."
"You- you're..." she barely manages to squeak out, trying to find the right words.
"I'm a changeling now, yes; something this world has never seen—"
"You're so cute!" she finally exclaims, causing my train of thought to hopelessly derail and crash with mass casualties.
"Buh-wa-*thbbptl*," I sputter to a halt. Desperate to come up with some sort of reply while my mind is rebooting, I pout and say without thinking, "I-I am not cute."
Obviously not deterred by my protest, she crouches to eye level and starts petting my head, "When you said 'Alien Bug-Horse' earlier, I was picturing something similar to the Alien franchise and definitely not nearly this adorable."
Still overwhelmed with her reaction, I say indignantly, "What are you- Changelings are not for petting!" Although, I don't really do that much to stop her beyond that; I'm too busy trying to ignore the fact that it was actually sort of pleasant.
What I said did seem to reach her, though, as she suddenly realizes what she's doing and begins to blush, embarrassment washing across her face. "Uh, sorry, I didn't..." she trails off, slowly moving back to sit on the couch, and, after a moment, says with a far-away look, "This is crazy, Tyler. Do you know what this means?"
Having finally recovered, I quickly make to get out of my human clothing, as it was getting fairly uncomfortable. Once I put them to the side, I ponder back to her question briefly and reply, "I can think of many things that this means, such as: 'The Many-Worlds theory is real' and 'Magic is real' and 'I'm fucked if the government finds out about me'. I could go on, but there's too much to mention."
She quietly chuckles and says, "Yes, I suppose that-," then cuts herself off and blinks, refocusing on me, "wait, are you a girl now?"
"I did say that they needed a new queen, didn't I?", I say wryly, "Although, I think I would more consider myself gender-fluid; literally, considering the fact that I can become whatever I want, whenever."
Glancing down at myself, I conclude, "But, yes, this is my default state. Could be worse, all things considered."
Bri hums in agreement then eyes something behind me and asks, "What's it like to fly?"
"Fly?" I echo confusedly. Turning to my back, I come to a realization, "Oh, right, I have wings now."
"Wait," she says in astonishment, "you're telling me that you're the first person to have ever acquired biological wings, and you haven't tried to fly yet?"
"Hey, give me a break, it's been a congested couple of days and I've had my mind on other things," I say with a frown, "Besides, it's not like there's a lot of room to do that here, and I definitely can't do it outside."
"I guess..." she concedes.
A companionable silence stretches between us, both of us digesting the current situation. I have to say that I'm a little surprised that she's taken this so well, although I probably shouldn't be, considering her love of the weird and unknown. Still, you never really know until it actually happens in real life.
...Am I actually cute, or is that just Bri being Bri?
"So whats next?" she asks, bringing me out of my thoughts, "I mean, the other changelings needed a new queen, but they're in their own world, and you're here. Aren't they still stuck at square one?"
"Ah, so that's the part that no one has an answer for," I explain, "Apparently my hivemind can span across different worlds for an unknown reason, and none of the changelings had even considered it a possibility. Because of that, we're kind of in this nebulous situation where there's no clear path to take.
"As it sits right now, I'm most likely going to need to quit my job eventually and go construct a hive somewhere in the wild, or at least somewhere incredibly inconspicuous."
"Why would you need to do that?," she asks, gesturing to me, "Can't you just stay here disguised as your human self and continue to go to work until you figure something out?"
I sigh and say, "My biology is going to eventually notice my lack of underlings and will begin to prioritize... egg production," I shudder, "I can stave it off for a while by basically starving myself of energy, but that's really only a temporary solution. Either way, it's not going to be fun, and I very much don't want to be in the middle of a big city when it starts."
"Oh, wow," she says, clearly surprised with my answer, then quietly continues, "This isn't going to become 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', is it? Are changelings going to take over the world?"
I want to laugh, but now knowing changeling history...
"Not if I have anything to say about it," I say, giving her a serious look, "I told you of the previous leader, Chrysalis, and her heinous actions and cruelty. It's clear that with the right—or rather—wrong ruler, changelings can be used to do horrible things and have horrible things done unto them.
"I want to do things right, treat them right, and, in the end, have the world benefit from my actions," I finish with a wistful sigh.
"Then I'll help you in any way I can," she determinedly states, "I've always had your back in the past, and that's definitely not going to change now."
"Thank you so much, sis," I say with tears in the corners of my eyes and quickly hug her. She gladly returns the embrace and I bask in her comforting presence and emotions.
And I just now remember that I should start limiting the amount of love I consume—
BEEP BEEP
Brianna's wrist watch suddenly beeps, notifying us of the turn of the hour.
"Ah, dammit!" she curses in frustration, then gives a resigned sigh, "Sorry, Tyler, I really need to get going, but if you ever need anything, please call me. I'll be there."
I release her and we both make our way to the front door.
"I'll probably be taking you up on that offer sooner rather than later to help me move again, depending on what happens, anyway."
"I'll keep my schedule open for the foreseeable future, then," she says with a smile, then giggles, "Tyler, the Changeling Queen. Quite the interesting name."
I grin back, "Way ahead of you, sister. I've given myself the royal changeling name of 'Mothra'."
Her giggles turn to outright laughter, "That so figures. If it turns out that Godzilla is real too, I'm totally blaming you for jinxing it."
"Let's hope not," I reply, then, with a more serious tone, say, "Thanks again for everything, sis."
"Anytime, bro," she nods and walks out the door, closing it after her.
I sit there for a while, staring at the door, not really thinking anything in particular.
Eventually, though, I get up and walk down the hall to my bedroom; it's time to check up on my changelings.