The Conversion Bureau: Transhumanism

by Leobracer

Leonard Silva - Nephilum

"Pull!"

With a KA-CHUNK! the ball shot out of the catapult into the air. Before it could descend, a white beam of light had fired at it from a hand that was glowing a similar white light. In an instant, the ball exploded into chunks of rubber. "Steer-rike!" the owner of the hand, Leonard called out.

"Nice shooting Leonard." Matthew, Leonard's brother, said as he stood next to the catapult.

"Thanks Matt. I've been practicing." Leonard responded.

"I noticed. That makes thirteen in a row." Matthew said, as he marked another line on a marker board, under the 'Hit' section.

Leonard smiled at the sight of the marker board. It was definitely an improvement from the last time he had done this. Last time, he had six hits, and seven misses when he got to thirteen launched balls from the catapult.

Leonard was a Nephilum.

But he wasn't always a Nephilum. He became a Nephilum on his twenty-seventh birthday in February. He had chosen to become a Nephilum because he had always wanted to use magic. Sure there was the option of becoming a Unicorn, but he didn't want to have to get used to having a new anatomy, which was why he chose to take one of the new versions of the potion, called the Transhuman Potions, that was recently released to the Conversion Bureaus. Leonard was amazed at how quickly Princess Twilight Sparkle was able to create those potions. He figured it would have taken decades before such a thing was made, but Princess Twilight Sparkle was able to make it in just eight years.

Of course, he was the only member of his family to actually take the potion. The rest had chosen the other option. "So, I heard that you and Karuna had booked a seat on the Mars Initiative." Leonard said.

Matthew looked on solemnly. "Yeah. We did." Matthew said somewhat soberly. "So did the rest of the family."

"I know." Leonard replied grimly. "Its too bad I can't go with you guys."

Leonard brought his hands close, and made a ball of energy hover in between them. "I may be able to use to magic now thanks to the Nephilum potion. But it came at a price." Leonard said. "I can no longer leave the planet, because my body is now depended upon the very energy that was slowly killing me up until months ago."

It was common knowledge that the biggest price one had to pay when taking the conversion potions of any version, was that they were now incapable of leaving the planet. As their bodies were now depended upon the very energies that were coming from the now awakened leylines under the surface of the Earth. "Yeah. That is too bad." Matthew said.

Leonard let out a snort in response. "You know what's even sadder?" He asked, as he dissipated the ball of energy. "Many people don't seem to get that the awakening of the leylines is a force of nature, and not the work of the Equestrians."

Matthew nodded in response. "Yeah, I heard about that. Many people were quick to blame the Equestrians for something that wasn't even their fault. Despite overwhelming evidence proving otherwise." A small snarl escaped Matthew's mouth. "Like those HLF yahoos."

"Tch. Don't remind me." Leonard said crossing his arms. "I've lost count the number of times I've had to put up with those lunatics after I became a Nephilum."

Leonard wasn't joking. After he had become a Nephilum, many members of the HLF had harassed him. From saying he was not a 'Real Human Being', to calling him a 'Soulless Shell'. For the most part, he didn't let it bother him, and he actually thanked them for their 'Wonderful Compliments'. "Of course, the HLF weren't the only ones who I've had to put with since I became a Nephilum." Leonard said.

Matthew placed his left hand on his hip. "Let me guess; The PER?" He asked his brother.

A low growl escaped Leonard's mouth in response. "Yep." Leonard replied. "The PER claim to know to situation 'better' than the HLF, but really, they're just as bad as the HLF are."

Leonard knew from experience just how bad the PER were. One day while he was at work, a number of PER members had ambushed him and tried to force him to drink the Unicorn potion to 'Complete' his transformation. Fortunately it had no effect on him, as he had already taken the Nephilum Potion, preventing him from turning into a pony. After that, he used his magic to pin them to the wall, and called the police. The PER members were arrested and were awaiting trial at the time Leonard and Matthew were at the park. "Are you sure you're okay?" Matthew asked. "Because from what I've heard you got hit pretty bad when you were attacked."

Leonard let out a groan in response. "I've told people this time and time again, it wasn't as bad as it looked." He said. "I took the time to learn some healing spells after I became a Nephilum in the event that something like that happened."

"I know that." Matthew replied. "But from what I hear, those spells are incomplete."

"They work well enough." Leonard said, as he got into his stance. "Pull!"

Matthew launched the catapult again, and Leonard shot a magical bolt at the ball. Leonard's aim was off by a hair, but he still hit the ball, causing it to explode. "Even so, I wouldn't risk using an incomplete spell with no way of knowing if it would work." Matthew said, marking another hit.

Leonard lightly chuckled at that. "Easy for you to say." The elder brother said, taking a drink. "You're the one whose going on a trip across space to the Red Planet."

It was Matthew's turn to chuckle. "Yeah. Its a risky venture, but they've worked out all of the kinks, so it should work." Matthew said.

"Almost hard to believe that it took the apocalypse to get the Mars Initiative off the ground isn't it?" Leonard asked. "Though I got to admit, I was amazed to hear that a large sum of the donations for Elon Musk's dream to come true came from Equestria."

"No kidding." Matthew said. "Really shows that Celestia truly is the benevolent ruler that the Equestrians say that she is."

"Tch. Tell that the HLF members who say that it was all just a publicity stunt." Leonard said, as he cleaned out his right ear with his pinky, remembering the time a couple of HLF members spent twenty minutes yelling at his face when he said that.

Leonard then pulled his pinky finger out, and flicked the ear wax away, before getting back into his stance. "Pull!"

Matthew launched the catapult another time. Leonard quickly conjured up a fireball this time, and launched it towards the ball. The fireball exploded upon impact with the target ball, but thankfully, the flames dissipated before they could start a fire on the grass. Back with Leonard, he closed his hand, and the fire was dispelled from his hand. When he opened his hand, Leonard saw that there were no burns on it this time. Leonard spent months trying to create a fire in his hand without burning himself, and just recently, he was finally able to do it. Others didn't take as long as Leonard did, while many were still trying. "Heh. No burns this time." Leonard said rather smugly.

Matthew chuckled at the sight as he marked another hit. "Kind of makes me want to take the potion myself." He said as he placed the cap on the marker. "But I have a wife and daughter that I need to take care of. So I can't take it if I'm gonna go to Mars."

"Indeed." Leonard said, as he took another drink. "I'm gonna miss you brother."

"And I will miss you." Matthew said. "And so will the rest of the family."

The two brothers then shook their hands together. The launch of the Mars Initiative was still a year away, but even so, they shook their hands like it was the last time they were going to be together. "Let's go get something to eat." Leonard.

"Lead the way, brother. Lead the way." Matthew said.