Morph [EDITING] || Wattys 2017 Winner

~NINE~

~amelie~

"How many zips are on this thing?"

I pull yet another zipper up and wince at the scraping sound it makes. All the spy movies I've seen have got nothing on the reality - instead of sleek jumpsuits you can pull on easily, apparently the rebels' outfits are black, bulky and have twenty thousand zips. Ryan laughs from across the room as I grit my teeth and pull again, fastening Lila's leg up.
"Remind me why I have to do this again?" I ask.
Lila snorts and crosses her arms. "Well, Amber's not here, and I need a suit, and it's really difficult to fit your own, and the boys are prepping each other. Guess who that leaves? I'll give you a clue." She leans in close and grins. "It's you."
"Stop freaking her out, Lila!" shouts Hunter as I roll my eyes. He's doing the same job as me, with one difference - he's already done with his stuff. I watch, distracted from my job, as he finishes, springs to his feet and moves over to a long row of lockers. Ryan goes after him, and they start opening, taking and closing in near-perfect synchronisation. They load their pockets with gadgets, and it's so strange I can't help laughing. But it's stopped by a loud click in front of my face, and my head jerks up to see Lila gesturing to her back.
"One more, Amelie."

I sigh and yank the final zip up, and immediately Lila winks and thanks me. She walks confidently over to the same lockers Ryan and Hunter are looting, and she starts copying them. I follow her.

"Why am I not getting one of those?" I say, crossing my arms and watching the trio.
Ryan says, "You're not going to be doing any fighting. Recon only. You get a couple of tools, but we're going to need you to wear the exact same clothing as your sister - so no spy outfit for you. However, you are wearing one of our latest inventions."
"We have a guy whose IQ is through the roof. Literally," explains Hunter. "He thinks of something, and he can build it  - whatever it is. We asked him to think of a way to disguise you while allowing for size change, and he produced it in a few hours. Pretty amazing, right?" he says, a dopey grin plastered across his face.
"Sure," answers Lila drily, smirking at him. "Jackson, I really don't think she cares."
A bang echoes through the room as Ryan slams one final locker, and he tosses a piece of fabric at me. It hits my face and falls down, and I manage to throw my arms up awkwardly and catch it. It's a shimmering, iridescent, silvery material that sparkles and changes in the light. My face must be priceless, because all of my teammates stifle laughs as I stare at it.
"What is this?"
"Camo suit. We can make it mirror any other clothes on someone else. Right now, you can clone our outfits, but when we get to your sister you've got to shift into her and then copy her clothing. It can also stretch and shrink according to your size, but the Professor assures us it won't rip or sag. Apparently."
"The Professor?" I say doubtfully.
"He calls himself that to make him feel clever," drawls Lila. "He's twelve."
"Oh."
Ryan takes back control of the conversation and says, "We don't really have time to answer any other questions. Just trust us, okay? Put that on, and these."

He hands me a box, and I press on the latch and lift the lid up. Inside, there's two small white stickers, one with a tiny wire coming out. I smile at the sight of the gadgets - even though I haven't got a clue about what they're for, they make me feel like a real-life spy. And that's not a bad feeling.

I circle my finger around, glaring at my teammates, and all three get the message. They turn round, Ryan stoic, Hunter grinning, Lila smirking, and I wait to make sure they stay that way before I quickly take off my normal clothes and pull on the suit. This one's a lot more like in the movies - there's no extra fastening required. It hugs my body, head to toe, covering me in beautiful, subtle colour, and reminds me of the time Dad took me diving on holiday. But as soon as I think of him a shard of pain pierces my heart, and I shut down all memories of him and his betrayal. I feel heavier as I turn back to my friends, and they swivel around too. They must notice what I'm feeling, because their faces change just a little. I guess they understand what pain feels like.