Aerodactyl TF - Rocket Science

Aerodactyl TF

“Doctor Lapis, I know we’re running late with our gene replication project,” the Rocket Scientist (yes, his occupation title was capitalized… at least, it was on his business card) said placatingly, “but this is not the way to speed things up.  Applying more electricity will not only impede the results of the Experiment, it will be extremely dangerous.”  Taking a handkerchief from the pocket his lab coat, the scientist dabbed at his receding hairline.  “Surely you understand.”

“Are you implying there was even the slightest possibility that I didn’t understand?” The male scientist suppressed a shudder at Doctor Lapis’s quirked eyebrow.  The tall, raven-haired scientist had quickly risen through the ranks of Team Rocket’s noncombat divisions, proving equally skilled at Pokemon genetics and cracking the metaphorical whip.  Her steely grey eyes headed up a similar attitude – she would spare no emotion for even the most pitiful sob story.  In her eyes, the price for failure was termination – and termination was rumored to be a more fitting word when you were employed by Team Rocket.  Ironically, she hated Pokemon herself, describing them as “disgusting, stupid beasts.”  Currently, she had been assigned to lead a cell replication team on the Mewtwo project, which suited her just fine – she thought of Psychic types as “the same [as other Pokemon], but less so”, reigning in her revulsion to a mild distaste.  Still, there hadn’t been much progress, and tensions were running high.

“N-n-n-no, sir… ma’am… I just thought-“

“Think about how we can speed up the project if you still want to be capable of thought by the end of the week.”  The statement was smooth, but didn’t have the desired effect of ending the conversation, so she decided to explain herself..  “I know simply increasing the voltage and amperage is a poor idea at best.  It is also exactly what I’ve been ordered to do by superiors that haven’t the slightest grasp of Pokegenetics.  So first we WILL do it – a few times, for the sake of scientific method.  Then, once I have hard evidence that it doesn’t work, we’ll start trying things that actually might.”

“But safety-“

“Is a secondary concern here.  You should know this already.”  She adjusted low, rectangular spectacles that gleamed in the light.  “Now get back to your desk, or your next chat will be with Human Resources.”  Gulping, the man stumbled and nearly face-planted on the way back to his desk.  “And what’s that chunk of Old Amber doing atop your monitor?  That’s valuable company property.”  She seemed instantly to be right behind him, pointing disdainfully at the clear brown stone.

“A-actually, ma’am, that shard belongs to me.  It’s a good luck charm.”

She snorted at the superstition, as if readying herself to spit a metaphorical loogie all over his beliefs, but satisfied herself instead with stomping back to her own desk, a larger one behind those of the four other scientists on the team.  All five desks faced a large tank filled with raw genetic material; a cocktail of elements and compounds, and just a few very special cells.  They were introducing chemicals, shocking it as a catalyst, introducing other chemicals, shocking it again, removing still more chemicals, adding some electricity… you get the picture.  So far, this process had failed to coax any of the valuable Mewtwo skin cells to begin replicating, and things were starting to look grim.  “Begin the procedure,” she finally said.

“Sensors online,” one of the scientists reported.

“R-regulation systems at full ready,” another scientist, the stutterer Lapis had been chewing out, added.

“Knaster Coils are Pareto-Optimal,” a third confirmed.

“All systems nominal,” the fourth concluded.

“Alright,” Doctor Lapis ordered, “Give it twenty.”  The third scientist turned a knob and gave the team a thumbs-up.  Lapis turned a key in her console, and the fourth flipped a switch, sending a bright flash of current through the tank.

“Cut it,” Lapis said after a few seconds, and the electricity faded.  She waited, motionless as a statue, for several moments, and asked, “Status?”  The first researcher shook his head, the only indicator Lapis needed.  “Alright, give it thirty.”  Another knob-turn, another thumbs-up, another switch, another flash.  “Cut it.”  Another fade, another long wait.  “Status?”  Another head shake.  “Fifty this time.”  The flash was noticeably brighter this time; fifty was the highest they’d taken it yet… until today.  “Cut it.”  She only waited half as long before asking, “Status?” and getting predictable results.  “How are the regulation systems?”

“Aah…. Holding at ninety-two percent,” the stutterer managed.

Lapis sighed and pushed up her glasses again.  The tension in the room rose suddenly.  “Okay then… give it sixty.”  The flash this time was almost blinding; only Lapis and one other scientist neglected to put an arm up over their eyes.  “Cut it!” Lapis yelled, with some anticipation creeping into her voice this time.  “How are the shields?” she asked as soon as it faded.

“Th…thirty and rising.  Should be back up to sixty, seventy by the time we get results…” he sounded uncertain, but then again, he always sounded like that.

Lapis nodded curtly and began impatiently tapping on the desk as she waited for the cells to begin activity.  Her four underlings exchanged significant glances; Lapis was normally the picture of emotionless scientific discipline.  What was so special about today’s experimenting that she would not only let her mask crack but put their safety in jeopardy?  “Results?” she asked after what seemed like an eternity to all involved.

The first scientist slumped.  “No activity… no change at all!”

“And the shields?”

“Are only at fifty-five…”

“On my mark, take the lightning up to seventy-five.”  Everybody stared at her.

“Ma’am,” the first scientist protested, “we’ve already pushed the envelope.  If we go any further, we’ll be endangering ourselves, and the Mewtwo cells in the tank will most certainly be destroyed.

Doctor Lapis smiled a chilling, thin-lipped smile the others had never seen before.  “That’s what I’m counting on.  If that bastard boss of mine gets the Mewtwo cells destroyed because we were following his exact orders, his ship will sink without endangering us.  The records show that I recommended against it… which makes me very likely as a candidate to take his place.  Now that I’ve explained why I’m letting so much ride on this, the shields should be high enough.  Seventy-five, now!”

The third scientist cleared his throat.  “Okay, boss… if that’s what you want, seventy-five it is.”

“Thank you.”  Doctor Lapis sat down, wondering briefly when she had stood.  The fourth scientist flipped the switch, and it was as if ten Raichus had been left in the tank to use Flash all at once.  The light was deafening, and the roar was blinding.  “OKAY!  CUT IT!”  Lapis cried, almost immediately.

The fourth Rocket Scientist reached for the console, only for the switch to shock him when he touched it.  He kicked himself away from the desk on instinct, knocking himself over.  “DAMMIT!”

“Shields at fifteen, ten, five!”

“I said CUT IT!”

The entire building shook with the force of the explosion.

---

“Ughhh…” Lapis opened her eyes, struggling to regain her connection with the world around her.  Her ears were ringing like she’d had her own tiny little hunchback installed in her temples, and her glasses were gone.  Luckily, she only used them for reading, but she was having trouble focusing her eyes.  Finally, she succeeded, only to find with some disappointment that the room was full of smoke.  “Hello?” she coughed.  “Is anybody hurt?”  Stupid, I should be checking myself first.  Lapis pulled her protesting body into a sitting position, and managed to wiggle her fingers and toes without much incident.  Her arms and legs were fine as well, if sore and a little singed.  “Well, I seem to be – ohhhh…”

Her voice trailed off as she looked down at her chest. Nestled neatly between those B-cups that had so faithfully stuck with her these last twenty-five years was the chunk of Old Amber that fool barrier specialist had kept on his monitor.  The brown fossil had been obelisk-shaped, about seven inches long – and it looked as if at least three inches were stuck in her skin, probably right through her breastbone.  Worse, the Amber seemed to be sinking slowly farther and farther inward.  Lapis grasped it with a kind of numb curiosity, and tried to pull on it, but it wouldn’t budge.  At least it didn’t really hurt – there was only a dull throb of pain around the wound, and no feeling at all right where it was.  It wasn’t obstructing her movement or breathing, so she decided to leave it until a trained medical doctor could have a look at it.

Prioritizing rapidly, Lapis forced herself to her feet to see if she could stand.  She could, and she staggered out from behind her desk, coughing and supporting herself on the walls.  The sprinklers on the ceiling finally came on, quickly soaking her; she didn’t see any real fire, but the smoke was clearing, so it was probably for the best.  “Hello?”  She tried again.  “Anybody else alive?”

There was a moan on the ground to her right, and she turned to find one of the scientists (the one who had failed to pull the switch) forcing himself into a sitting position and clutching his right arm.  He had a lot of glass embedded in the right side of his body, but his head and vitals seemed more or less unharmed.  He gave a kind of hollow chuckle.  “I don’t care if you were following orders, Lapis, you’re soooo fired…” he wheezed.

“If I go down, I’m taking you with me!” Dr. Lapis snapped, and she moved forward, thinking she might kick him in the head with her flats.   However, the Old Amber flashed and sank deeper into her chest, sending a wave of agony coursing through her.  She screamed and stumbled, falling to her hands and knees on a patch of floor that only had enough debris to slightly cut her hands up.  At the new angle she sprawled at, she could see a gruesome new sight.  One of the scientists had been impaled against the desk behind his with a piece of rebar from the tank’s front wall.  He was most certainly dead, his eyes wide open in shock behind his glasses and a huge piece of glass sticking out from his forehead.  Lapis suppressed the urge to vomit.

“Uh, can somebody help?” another scientist called in a strained voice.  He appeared mostly unharmed except for his arm, which was crushed under his own fallen desk.  “I think my arm’s broken, I can’t lift this.  Please?”

Dr. Lapis tried to stand again, but another wave of pain wracked her body and she doubled over.  “I think we’re just going to need to wait for the guards to come.  Hopefully, they’ll get a nurse or something.”  Again, she forced the bile down.

“Ma’am!  What’s that sticking out of your chest?” the scientist with the crushed arm gasped, his own pain suddenly forgotten.

“It’s that stupid bastard’s Old Amber,” she growled, pointing to the impaled scientist behind her.  “The explosion launched it right at me.” Suddenly, a strangled gasp escaped her throat as the Old Amber disappeared with a golden flash, leaving behind unmarred skin – not so much as a scratch.  “Well, that’s probably bad.  It doesn’t hurt anymore, though.”

“I wish I could say the same for myself,” the scientist with the broken glass wounds groaned.  With a shaking left hand, he reached awkwardly for a Pokeball on his belt – the other side of his belt; he was obviously a righty.  “I think I’m going to ask my Electrode to euthanize me,” he said distantly.  “Anybody want in?”

“No, man, listen – urgh – listen to me.  We can get through this,” the other surviving scientist pleaded.

Lapis just listened to it all with a growing numbness, scratching the growing itch on her chest.  What was the point?  Her subordinate had been right – surely she would be fired for this.  Even if Team Rocket didn’t leave the people it fired tied up in front of the police station, or worse, simply kill them, she had poured her whole life into her job.  What did she have to live for now?  She was distracted from her depressing chain of thought when she scratched at something rough.  “What’s – eh?”  She looked down at her chest.  Through the irregular hole in her coat and shirt caused by the Old Amber, a bit of her bare skin was visible.  It had turned rough, hard, and stony grey.  “AHH!”  Acting on instinct, she tore off the coat and shirt to see how far it had spread, distracting the other (male, of course) scientists as she did so.

The rocklike patch of skin was six inches across, and spreading.  “What the hell is this?!” screamed the coldhearted woman.  She tried pulling on it, but it wouldn’t budge; it was her skin, like it or not.  As the rocky flesh spread, Lapis’s breasts shrank away to nothing, and her breastbone and stomach began to swell out. This shift in shape caused her bra to strain against her skin, and she undid the clasp almost instinctively, leaving her completely topless.  Not that there was anything to show anymore.

The rocklike mutation reached her arms, and they instantly began to stretch and distort.  Her pinky finger merged into her ring finger, and her middle finger bent itself backwards and separated from her others, sticking out of the back of her hand.  Her arms, already thin from lack of exercise, withered and shrank down to stony skin wrapped around hollow bones, but a new flap of purple skin began to grow downward from the bottom of her arms, stretching from her sides to her transformed backwards finger.  Her two-fingered hands curled into talons at the tips of her imposing new wings, over eight feet from tip to tip.

Her legs shortened and thickened, her feet shrinking into her pants.  As the grey skin, which was solidifying into tiny, rocklike scales, advanced, it ate away her legs, pulling the mass upward into her abdomen for a new use.  Frantic beyond words, Dr. Lapis attempted to pull her remaining clothes away, but her new wings were difficult to maneuver downwards and she was unable to reach her legs.  Instead, the long, sharp talons of two-toed feet burst through her shoes, and she had to wriggle her way out of her pants after they split at the hips.

“What are you waiting for?!” she cried to the other scientists.  “Get help!”  But they just watched in awe.  Lapis collapsed, screaming as her spine felt like it was on fire – the stony scales had reached her back.  Pressure built up in the now-rounded base of her torso, and the bottom began to stretch outward as her tailbone pulled out, taking her entire rear end with it.  Her neck stretched until it seemed impossibly long, her throat burning as new muscle tissue ringed it.  A single, flat-tipped ridge burst from the center of her back, the better to stabilize her new body during flight.  A spade shape formed at the tip of her new tail – a long, powerful appendage that dominated the rear end of her body.  Her hips were forced to shift position to make room for it, forcing her torso downward into a more horizontal position befitting her new body.

Finally, the scaly mutation spread to her head, which was beginning to look awfully small and awkward at the end of a thirty-inch neck.  Lapis screamed as she felt her head being pressed downward and forward, her skull taking on a more streamlined form.  Her jet-black hair fell away in great clumps, leaving her graying scalp bald.  Two hornlike protrusions extended out and back above her ears, even as the ears themselves melted away into mere holes in the side of her head.  Her nose flattened against her face, but her entire face was stretching forward, forming into the new beaklike muzzle that would dominate her face.  Her teeth sharpened into interlocking triangular points, and many more of them grew in the extra room her mouth now afforded.  Slitlike nostrils, all that remained of her nose, formed on the side of her hooked upper jaw, and her lower jaw became wider and more shovel-like.  She blinked as her pupils took on a slitted shape, her eyes having settled into a new position closer to the sides of her head.

And then it was over.  Her body had been transformed into something strange and unfamiliar, a scaled grey… creature.  “Help!” she yelled again to the scientists, but she saw no comprehension in their eyes, only glazed shock and horror.  Team Rocket grunts flooded the wrecked lab, and she cried to them for help as well, but they were grim-faced and gave no acknowledgment to her words, no indication of understanding her. They were armed; a few tranquilizer darts bounced harmlessly off her dense Rock-type scales before one flew into her open mouth and began to pump sedatives into the inside of her cheek.  Her last words before passing out were, “why won’t you help me?”  Or at least, that’s what they sounded like to her.

---

Only later, in the darkness and silence of her new Pokeball, was the Aerodactyl formerly known as Dr. Lapis able to piece together what had happened.  Thanks AGAIN to that RAT BASTARD barrier scientist and his Old Amber, she had been transformed into a huge, ugly monster!  Then again, she thought to herself, there wasn’t much left for me as a person.  Rocket abuses some of their Pokemon, but something rare and powerful like an Aerodactyl?  If I don’t give any trouble, they’ll treat me fairly well.  I’ve lost my humanity, but I still have a purpose, and damn it all, I’m going to fulfill it.

End