Good god it has been too long since I've been here

[grtcaligal]

Where has the time gone? Damn near 10 years at this. BE has always been my soft spot, no matter how far off the map I may go with some of my work.

I'm in the midst of Before It All Ends, a work involving strange happenings at a chemical factory that have ... very intriguing results. It's a mix of different tfs, but don't worry, BE is represented pretty well.

It, and all my other works, can be found at http://grtcaligal.deviantart.com

I'm also thinking this may be my last big piece. I've been at this for awhile, and as much as I've enjoyed contributing, I think I've done all I can. I keep looking for that next spark, but it's just not there. The reception on my work has also been dwindling, a sign it may be time to pass the torch (Or just a sign that people prefer digital art to having to actually read ).

Anywho, favorites, comments, other forms of appreciation are, well, appreciated.

[Mr_melons]

Welcome back!

[Ashton]

Sorry to see you go, I guess I'm not the most active member of the community, but I always enjoyed your work. I was just reading through some of your stories on Deviant Art now, and they are all really great!

Reading will always be one of my favorite ways to experience BE and everything else!

Good luck with everything and let us know if you ever feel the urge to share your work with us again! It's always appreciated, I guess not as vocally as it should be, but it is

Thanks again!

[LivingBattery]

Welcome back!

[grtcaligal]

Originally Posted by Ashton

Sorry to see you go, I guess I'm not the most active member of the community, but I always enjoyed your work. I was just reading through some of your stories on Deviant Art now, and they are all really great!

Reading will always be one of my favorite ways to experience BE and everything else!

Good luck with everything and let us know if you ever feel the urge to share your work with us again! It's always appreciated, I guess not as vocally as it should be, but it is

Thanks again!

Thanks for the kind words.

I've even considered a collaboration with an artist, but those always seem to fall through, so it's been all about the words for me. My attitude has always been that I do this for the hell of it and if someone is inspired to create something based on it, then go for it. All I ask for is a hat tip.

[grtcaligal]

I've taken a brief respite whilst I deal with this stupid cold, but I'm up to part 15!

[grtcaligal]

I'm getting going again, but I'm going to post them here so people can play catchup.

Part 1
If there ever are history books again, I feel it's important that I get my side of the story out. If there aren't, at least I'll have this weight off of my chest.

I didn't know what I was signing up for that day. I'd been living off of ramen for weeks after my last job fell through, and I was willing to do just about anything for money. Thankfully underneath the "escorts wanted" ad, there was a slot at a small lab in town. I was going to school for environmental engineering at the time and somehow that ended up applying to what the job entailed.

As to what the job was, I couldn't quite tell at first. There were all sorts of nondisclosure agreements I had to sign, which I guess aren't really going to be enforced anytime soon, but most of the stuff I did didn't seem to be worth the paperwork. It was a bunch of tinkering with enzymes and catalysts and all sorts of potentially interesting stuff, but only if you were really, really psyched about science.

The best part was what it set out to do—it was supposed to be this new, 100 percent environmentally friendly hair spray that lasted as long as you needed it to. Wasn't exactly waterproof, but it had a great hold that could last in the rain a good while.

Well with promises like that, it wasn't hard to find potential buyers at the college. Eco-friendly, looks good, and it's cheap? It went like gangbusters. Somehow without going through any kind of approval process, the work we did in the small lab was spreading to campuses nationwide. I got a promotion and even made my way out of the lab at one point. I'd even thought about quitting school, since I'd already found success.

Two years passed, and I'd made my way back to the lab. Even with all of my promotions and title changes, I still knew about as much about the work going on as I did when I started. Most of it was fairly elementary and seemed geared toward as little environmental impact as possible. But at one point, the work we did was sent off somewhere else, then sent back. Never could figure out where that was.

One night, when I was getting ready for bed, there was a knock at my door. Nobody was there, but there was a DVD and a handwritten note left on the doorstep.

PART 2
I don't remember much of what was written on that note. The warning on it might have made for a strong dramatic effect. But the gist of it was that something wasn't right. It mentioned the product I'd poured a good amount of time into, but it also mentioned some other project I hadn't heard of.

One part stuck out the most to me: "unpredictable effects on DNA; reactions vary too wildly for controlled use." It was clear whoever this was had thought they were giving it to someone who knew much more about this than I did and wanted them to blow the whistle and put an end to it. But I had just stepped back into my role with the lab, and none of what was mentioned aside from the hairspray had anything to do with me.

I popped in the DVD out of curiosity. It was a shot from a test in what looked like a sterile room with a camera fixated on a subject. There was no audio, but at one point the lights began to flicker and the woman the camera was fixed on looked to be in pain, reaching for her sides. She appeared to be pleading to the camera when out of the blue, her eyes turned savage and she swung at the camera, knocking it to the floor. Not much else could be seen but the floor for a few minutes with lights flashing and even a little smoke—really exciting video—and then a large foot appeared in front of the camera. It was difficult to ascertain how large, or whose it was until something happened I couldn't believe—it was getting smaller, and narrowing to something more petite, until it collapsed, bringing the woman down with it, clothes in shreds.

I couldn't tell what had happened to her, but she at least appeared to be breathing.

I turned off my TV and paused. I needed to know what happened.

PART 3

The next day at work left me in a cloud. I had reviewed the documents and some of the findings that were smuggled out were a combination of disturbing and unrealistic. Even though I had just watched what happened to that girl in the video, I didn't see a whole lot and the idea that the chemicals we were using were having adverse effects that would cause a person to change were absurd.

Then two men came down to the lab to get me to bring me up to the main office. I tried to play it cool, but that wasn't happening. I was being brought upstairs and judging by these guys, my presence was not optional, and was for an important purpose.

In my time away from the lab, I had some experience with the big boss. She wasn't the most physically imposing person in the world. In fact, much like myself, with the right haircut and suit, we could probably pass as men—effeminate men, but men for sure. I like to think we bonded a little over that, even though we didn't speak to each other much.

She invited me in very cordially. I'd almost forgotten how firmly I'd been brought in. She told the men and her assistant to leave the room while we talked.

"We're in trouble," she said.

I looked at her trying to feign confusion.

"Oh don't try to play coy, I had my assistant drop those off for you last night. By the way, this is all off-the-record."

I was relieved yet still worried.

"That video was a test subject we flew in from the outskirts of one of those old Soviet states—ended with a -via or something. We've been testing a new formula, and well, it's had some interesting results."

"Wait, you mean that video was real?"

"I know, this is a lot to take in, but yes. She reportedly had an adverse reaction—something about waking up with her room a mess, things torn apart, and her clothes in tatters. Thankfully, we'd paid off the local cops, so when she reported something like this, we got a phone call. We flew her in and did some tests. At first, nothing was happening. But then, out of the blue, something set her off."

"Set her off?"

"Well that's putting it gently. She umm, got bigger."

"Wait, what?"

"She got bigger. Her yelling was turning to growling, something just wasn't right. Before it got out of control, we hit her with a tranq. Unfortunately our other camera corrupted, so we only have that video you saw."

"That... that's impossible."

"Yeah, that's what I thought. And then it happened. If I wasn't there, I wouldn't have believed it either."

"So why am I here?"

"Well, this is your project now. I've worked with you enough that I know you can get the job done."

"Well, what if I don't want to do it?"

"Well, you kind of signed off on the project."

She showed me the documents and sure enough, there was my name.

"Well shit," I said.

"Well said. I'll give you whatever funding and resources you need, except for manpower. You're on your own. I can't risk this getting out. I can loan you my assistant, but that's it."

"How long do I have?"

The phone rang. She looked both surprised and expectant when it came to the call.

"Well, I wasn't expecting this so soon, but it sounds like your test subject is here."

PART 4

My first experience with the subject was an interesting one. What you have to realize is she was pulled away from her home after what she thought was an attack, and she's been experimented on who knows how much since then.

So needless to say, seeing me in a lab coat wasn't a highlight of her day. Honestly, there wasn't anything that exceptional about her. She was a bit on the lanky side, tall-ish, and a bit on the pale side with striking dark hair. She quickly recoiled when she saw me, which meant it was going to be a long day.

Before I met her, I had a chance to go through her records and tests. Everything looked normal, except for something in her bloodwork. It was something I hadn't seen before, but seemed to have its roots in the mystery product they were testing on her. It seemed to have thrown her DNA out of whack somewhat.

But the goal of today wasn't to do anything to agitate that, it was the hopes of building trust. There was a bit of a language barrier, and she didn't seem to be ready to warm to me at first, but after a half hour of near silence, she seemed to be trying to describe what had happened before. It was then that the lights started to flicker.

Her eyes widened and became fixed. Her body seemed to be trembling before one of the most unbelievable things happened in front of me—the things that seemed to happen in the video were happening once again. Her arms were stretching longer, and thickening as her legs began to do the same. Her chest also appeared to be swelling, testing the limits of her clothes. They began to rip and tear along the seams. Her face seemed to contort and stretch wildly. The pale skin around her mouth began to twist and move as her teeth grew longer and sharper.

She seemed to be screaming something over and over, clutching her head with her hands as her body swelled larger and more imposing. Now she was at least twice my height and the once-wispy girl had at least three times the mass on me.

I backed away toward the door, still stunned by what I was watching. The meek girl I had come to interview was now a hulking beast, with her humanity seemingly slipping away as her head neared the ceiling. It was then that the room began to fill with gas and I blacked out.

[jimi20]

This is excellent! It's great to see you round the forums again too

[grtcaligal]

Part 19 just went up, and it's of big importance to this forum

http://grtcaligal.deviantart.com/art...t-19-520048486

[jimi20]

That was highly enjoyable, keep it coming

[grtcaligal]

Aww thanks hun. It's now up to part 25, which is much longer than I thought it would go. Might end up being the longest one I've ever done. I just finished packing the previous biggest up in two separate DA posts.

And as always, any artists out there who want to play with what I've written, feel free. I love to see what my work inspires. And I'm happy to do it the other way around too.

[jimi20]

It's now up to part 25, which is much longer than I thought it would go.

25 damn good reasons to keep going