Test Tubes

Part III - Growth and Development

     I heard Wayne clear as crystal, it startled me how deep and raspy his voice was.
     "Hey bro, you made it into the tube, epic," Zach told me.
     "You can talk back by, y'know, talking to them, Bruce." Dr. Stone informed me. She could hear them, too, I learned. "I'll leave you three to get acquainted." She left the room.
     "Hey guys, how's it going?" I asked them both. They both started talking at the same time and I didn't make out a single word. "Wayne why did you choose drider or whatever it is you picked?"
     "I dunno, I was given a list and drider sounded cool to me, only until I entered the tube I found out what it was," Wayne replied.
     "What about you, Zach, why a mermaid?" I asked him.
     "It was the only thing on the list that I knew what it was," he answered, "what did you pick bro?"
     "I picked what sounded coolest, lamia, still no clue what it is though. Maybe I'll find out tomorrow," I told him, "how do we sleep in here? We can't lay down."
     "You'll get tired eventually and you'll just fall asleep. You'll wake up paranoid that you'll drown for the first couple days, but that'll go away." Wayne said to me.
     "I'm already tired man, I'm just gonna try to fall asleep, then. Goodnight." They both said goodnight, and I fell into a shallow sleep. Constantly hearing the moving of the liquid is just something I'll have to get used to.

Dream Sequences will be in all italics, and start and end with -+-.

-+-
     I wake up in my bed in my apartment, as I get out of bed I fall to the ground. I look at my legs and instead I see a scaly tail with flippers at the end, then I started to choke. A second later I'm in the middle of the ocean, seeing nothing but a rich, deep blue. I look down and see a light, I swim down to examine it. I hear a bellow and turn around. An anglerfish appeared out of the dark to swallow me whole. I couldn't get away.
-+-

     I awake in the middle of the night in complete exasperation. I'm gasping for air and my heart is beating a mile a minute. I realize that in my tube I'm safe from hellish fish, and I quickly fall back asleep.

-+-
     I'm alone, seeing nothing but black, then I open my eyes and can see that I'm in a cave, and that I can see perfectly throughout it. I've got night vision.  I attempt to walk but end up falling forward. I look behind me and see eight spiny legs and a large backside. Realizing what I am, I try to grasp walking. At that moment I hear a woman screaming for help, and I traverse down the cave to find the source of the shrieks. Just then I see Dr. Stone, tangled in a web, presumably mine. I walk in the web and over to Dr. Stone. I tell her, "you're mine now," and spin her in a cocoon. She begs for mercy as I plunge my fangs into her neck.
-+-

     I awake yet again, but not from fear, from delight. I wanted the dream to be real, but as I saw the glass and my fellow roommates I realize it was just a fantasy. I can't stop thinking about it, and I decide how to tell Zach and Wayne about my dreams, and how they'll react. I can't fall back asleep now, so I start to think about what a lamia is. As I'm listing off ideas, the lights in the lab come on, and in walks Dr. Stone.
     "Good morning, everyone. How are we all doing today? Good? Good. Bruce, how was the first night? Any dreams?" Dr. Stone speaks to us through a small microphone.
     "It was good, and yeah, I had a couple of dreams that I can remember. Two of them very vividly." I reply to her.
     "Well go on, then Bruce, tell us what you dreamed." Wayne said to me.
     "I dreamed of being a mermaid, swimming in the ocean, free as could be, then I got eaten alive by an anglerfish. Then, I dreamed of being a drider, and I had prey entangled in my web! It was spectacular, it felt so real!" I said to everyone in excitement.
     "Well Bruce, those dreams are going to become realities for your roommates! Besides the anglerfish, hopefully. Thank you for sharing," Dr. Stone thanked me, "Oh my! What do I see on all three of you that I did not see yesterday? Why don't you all take a look!"
     I looked down at my body and saw two medium sized breasts formed, I looked over at Wayne to see him just as shocked as I was, then I glanced at Zach, and he was already playing with them. They never told me I would be a girl, and by the looks of it Wayne didn't know either.
     "You never told me that I would be a girl!" I cried out to Dr. Stone.
     "Surprise?" Dr. Stone said, trying to sound like she meant to not do that, "Right, well Bruce, today is the day you figure out what a lamia is! Ready?"