Rebel

Chapter Fourteen

"...so then I was like, 'Be rational!' And he was like, 'Get real!'" Dr. Tran laughed at his own joke, and then gestured to a door to my right, "In that door over there."

I turned and opened the door. Behind it were many holographs and people in white lab coats tapping on them. There was a large panel of glass dividing the room in half. Behind the panel was what looked like a large bathtub with a complicated light fixture hanging above it.

"Is this Sage?" One of the scientists asked. She was particularly short with glasses that made her eyes look nearly three times bigger.

"Yes it is." Dr. Tran said.

"This way Miss Sage." The short scientist said, beckoning me towards a door on the side. This place gives me the creeps. I thought, following her into the door and into a completely empty room that was entirely white.

"Take off your clothes." She said, closing the door behind me.

I blinked. "What?"

"Take off your clothes." She said, pulling a white bottle out of her lab coat.

I hesitated for a moment, making up my mind, but then decided that it's not like I'm in a public room or anything. I pulled off my pants and shirt, willing myself not to blush, and threw them in the corner. After an awkward silence, the scientist said, "All of your clothes."

I blundered, "My underwear included?"

"Yes yes." She said, impatiently, "All of it. Underwear included. Hurry up, we're on a schedule here."

Something about her impatience angered me. I set my jaw and yanked off my remaining undergarments until I was standing naked in front of this complete stranger. She poured the contents of the bottle on a rag and began rubbing it all over me. The stuff smelled of mint and chemicals and made my skin tingle wherever it touched.

When she was done applying it she walked over to a door on the side of the room and opened it. In the next room was the bathtub thing and the light fixture. The scientists were typing on the other side of the glass. "Off with you." The lady said, gesturing into the next room. I walked into the room feeling way too many eyes on my naked body.

"Lay in the Morphing Capsule please." I looked around and saw Dr. Tran holding a microphone to his lips on the other side of the glass. I figured that the Morphing Capsule was the bathtub, so I walked up and climbed into it. It had a small podium that acted like a pillow, so I was relatively comfortable.

"Alright Miss Sage," Dr. Tran said, "The process will commence in thirty seconds. I recommend getting comfortable and closing your eyes. The chemicals will prevent any movement, so don't fret about that. Each metamorphosis takes different amounts of time, so we can't tell you how long it will take. Any questions?"

I didn't say anything, so I guess they assumed I didn't have any questions. "Alright, metamorphosis time. Initiating filling sequence. Starting in 3... 2... 1..."

There was a soft humming sound that seemed to be coming from all around me. Curiosity got the best of me, and I raised my head to look at my feet. A blue gel-like substance was flooding in from tiny holes in the side of the tub. The strange part about it was that wherever the substance touched went numb. I started to panic, trying but failing to move my feet.

I'm trapped! I thought, This was all a trap and they are gonna drown me in this tub because I told Alexsandra! I forced myself to lay back down, thinking that I might as well die comfortably. I stared helplessly as the gel climbed up past my torso and up my neck. The light fixture thing above me was slowly lowering down, surrounding me in darkness. I remembered to close my eyes just in time, before my face was submerged and my mind went blank.