New TF Story

[SoylentOrange]

So, my first ever TG. It wasn't even really planned, Katie's off-hand comment about wanting to nut the Body a few chapters back coming to fruition. ^^;

[SoylentOrange]

Katie suddenly spun to Mary, grabbing her by the arm. "The phone!" She exclaimed.
"Phone?" Mary echoed, "What phone? Where?"
"In the bushes!" Katie said, heading for the front of the apartment. That cop gave it to me right before you snagged me, he said the CDC was on the line."
"The CDC?" Mary asked, brows raising as she followed Katie to where the door of the apartment used to be.
"Yeah, he had somehow gotten a line patched through to the phone I was carrying." Katie patted the wall of tentacles. "Any chance I can get through?" She asked, looking over her shoulder at Mary. "I think if I can get the phone, we can call the number back. Sure it's flimsy, but what else we got to go on right now?"
Mary thought for a moment, putting a finger up at Katie. "One sec," She said, "lemme check first." She looked up towards the ceiling and closed her eyes, her vision blinking back open on one of the exterior walls of the apartment, the tentacles that had wrapped around the outsides of the windows and door sprouting eyes to allow her the see all around outside their unit. It was early morning still, a heavy fog blanketing the parking lot. The silence unnerved her at first, until she realized she was still only listening through the ears on her physical head. A short mental nudge and she could hear the birds chirping and other early-morning sounds.
Mary opened her eyes and shook her head as her senses returned to her original set, blinking her eyes.
"Okay, looks like you're all clear," Mary said. "You remember where you put it?"
"I didn't 'put it' anywhere," Katie said. "You grabbed me through the door and the thing went flying. I'm betting it landed in the shrubs between here and Mrs. O'Rourke's place."
"Oh. Okay," Mary replied, stepping up to the door. "Actually, here, let me," She said, sticking her arm into the door, the appendage exiting out the other side as a lengthening tentacle winding its way through the air towards the bushes on either side of the walkway leading up to the two apartments. "Now lesse..." Mary said, biting her tongue in concentration as she sensed through the tentacle, looking between the leaves and branches of the shrubs for a cell phone.
"I'd ask what you're doing, but I'm not sure I want to know," Katie said, hands on her hips.
"I'm looking for the phone," Mary said, her tentacle now slithering snake-like along the ground, worming its way between the branches and roots of the foliage. "Oooh, spider. Bonus," She continued as her tentacle snared and consumed a small spider whose web she went through.
"Spider?" Katie asked, brow furrowing at her friend.
"Hey, anything that will keep the body satiated a little longer is all right with me..." Mary replied. "Ah! There!" She exclaimed, pulling away from the door, er arm stretching like a rubber band until it snapped back through the wall, the phone that she'd entwined in her tentacle now being held in her hand. KAtie's eyes popped wide, amazed.
"You know, if you could ever get the Body under control, you could make bank as a magician," Katie said, grinning slightly.
"Yeah, yeah, nothing up my sleeve," Mary said as she flipped open the cell phone. Mary raised an eyebrow at the picture on the phone's background, an athletic and attractive redheaded woman, looking to be in her thirties. "Whose phone is this, again?"
"The detective, uh, the guy on the bullhorn," Katie said, scratching her head. "You know, from yesterday."
"Right," Mary replied, wandering over to the "table" Katie had made in the middle of the room as she fiddled through the cell phone's menus. "Okay, 'call log'... 'incoming calls'... there we go." Mary looked up at her friend. "So, it looks like I can just call back and talk to whoever was supposed to talk to me."
"Worth a shot," Katie said, "Though I have to wonder why we went with the cloak-and-dagger vagueness before and now we're just calling them up?"
"We're unfortunately past the point of subtlety," Mary said as she dialed. "If it wasn't for those two cops- wasn't for *her*- this would still be an annoying carpet in the upstairs apartment." She put the phone up to her ear, tossing her hair away from her head. "Back then I could afford to go slow enough that people wouldn't think I was crazy. Now that the whole world's seen me get half my head blown off, I can't afford- yes, hello!" She said as someone on the other end picked up.
"Hello?" A woman asked, sounding confused.
"Yes, is this the Center for Disease Control?" MAry asked.
"What?" Came the confused reply. "No."
"Oh!" MAry said, blushing, "I'm sorry, I must have the wrong-"
"Where did you get this number?" The woman asked. "And where'd you get that phone?"
"I, uh, sorry, wrong number!" Mary said, clapping the phone shut.
"...What was that all about?" Katie asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Wrong number," Mary simply said, blushing.
"Wrong number?" Katie echoed. "Who did you call?"
"I dunno," Mary said, though she had he suspicions as she opneed up the cell phone again and saw the wallpaper of the thirty-something blonde. "But whoever it was I should have known a 503 area code wasn't the CDC." She scrolled up therought the incoming calls again, this time not picking the most recent number but one from the most alien area code. If it wasn't one she'd ever heard of, it was probably to an area she'd never called, which Atlanta, Georgia certainly was. Finding a 404 area code, she hit the "dial" button and put the phone back to her ear, shooting a glance at KAtie and Shandra. Katie was pretty due for a shot, though Mary knew the best thing would be for her to get rid of all her milk first. It still seemed gross to be drinking her best friedn's breast milk, but if it kept the Body happy she couldn't really complain, especially with how ghastly the alternative was.

"Center For Disease Control Main Switchboard, how may I direct your call?"
Mary let out a silent snarl as she staped her foot. Of course the call would go back into the switchboard!
"Uh, hi, yes, my name is Mary Carver, and I'm calling on behalf of uh, Oregon State Police... Officer..." Mary looked at Katie and nodded urgently.
"Uh... uhh... Jefferies! Lieutenant Jefferies!" She whispered.
"I'm sorry, Lieutenant Jefferies," Mary said into the cell phone. "We contacted one of your researchers yesterday and I seem to have lost their name."
"Hmm... One moment please," The receptionist said, putting Mary on hold.
"Anything else you can tell me that might help me fake my way through this?" Mary whispered to Katie as she wrapped the hand around the lower half of the phone.
"Got nothin'," Katie said, spreading her hands.
Mary frowned and just hoped the receptionist would be easy to deal with.
"Yes, hello," The receptionist came back on, "I can't seem to find who you're looking for- do you remember what department the doctor you talked to was from?"
"Uh... Parasitic infections?" Mary ventured. "Er, Parasites and, uh..."
"Parasitology?" The operator suggested.
"Yeah, that's it," Mary replied. "Thanks."
"No problem, ma'am, I'll transfer you now. You have a nice day, now."
I don't think anyone calls the CDC when they're having a nice day, Mary thought.

"Parasitology," A man's voiced came over the phone a few seconds later.
"Yes, hello," Mary said, pacing the floor as she talked. "My name is Mary Carver, and I need one of you guys to come to Eugene, Oregon, because I've found an extremely lethal parasite that needs to be-"
"Wait, wait, how'd you get this number?" The man said.
"It doesn't matter!" Mary exclaimed. "Listen, two people are dead already, three more are infected, and there will be a lot more if somebody doesn't come down to contain this it's going to get a hell of alot worse!"
"Okay, okay," The man said, "Just calm down. Now, are you sure it's a parasite?"
Mary looked up at the ceiling, the mat of tentacles slowly pulsating and undulating. "Oh yeah, definitely."
"And you're sure this parasite you're seeing is harmful to humans?"
"Look, I've watched these things be born, enter a host, kill it, and emerge from the corpse tenfold more. These things are *lethal*."
"Okay..." The man said, now sounding a bit more curious. "And where are these parasites located?"
"They're in my apartment."
"And where are you now?"
"In my apartment still."
"But how-"
"Believe me, it's where you want me," Mary continued, anticipating his question. "I seem to be immune myself, for the most part, but the people I've come into contact with have had... *very* adverse reactions. I'm asymptomatic but extremely contaigous." Mary paused for a second, biting her lip. "Look, all I'm saying is that when you guys get down here, you need to be wearing full-bore haz-mat suits. This thing can go airborne, it can go through the skin... If any part of your body gets exposed to this stuff you can get infected."
There was a long silence on the phone. Mary wondered if she was coming off as insane.
"...How many dead so far?" He asked.
"Two dead, three infected, and this thing looks like it's not gonna stop spreading any time soon. You guys really need to get down here as soon as you can and quarantine this whole area."
"And have you seen a doctor locally or anything?"
"Are you kidding? One foot inside a doctor's office and you'd have a dozen more cases by the end of the day, if you're *lucky*."
"Well, I can't just order a full quarantine-"
"Listen!" Mary snapped, bending down as if attempting to physically crush the conversation. "People. Are. Dying! Send someone to 2330 Rosewood Park, Apartment D-6, right now, or else these damn things are going to kill everyone they can get their hands on!"
"All right, all right! Calm down!"
"No! No I won't be calm until you send someone down here in a haz-mat suit to take care of this! I don't want to see anyone else dead because of this and we need your help! Rrrgh!"
Mary clapped the phone shut in her hands and threw it across the room, a quick lurch and catch from Katie the only thing keeping the phone from shattering against the far wall.
"...What was *that*?" Katie asked as Mary dropped to her knees, putting her face in her hands. After a few moments of silence, Katie took a step towards her friend, brow furrowing. "Mary? You okay, honey?"
"...You know, it kinda sucks being all emotionally strung out and not being able to cry because tentacles don't have tear ducts," Mary said as she rubbed her palms in her eyes and stood.
"Honey, what was that back there? What got into you?"
Mary shook her head. "I dunno. I guess I'd just been placing so much hope in the CDC, like they were some sort of genie who would swoop down in here and figure everything out in a puff of smoke. To just hear them talk to me like a nut or something..." Mary shook her head. "Well hey," She continued, turning to look at Katie, "At least when I blew up I didn't have to hit anyone."
"Oh, hush," Katie said, holding the phone back out to Mary. "You wanna call back?"
MAry thought for a second, then shook her head. "Nah. I think this might actually be the better way. They'll come. They can't afford not to. Sure, the first guy might just be checking it out, but one demonstration of the 'parasite's' effects and they'll give me the attention I deserve."

[SoylentOrange]

I'm apparently on a roll. Enjoy!

[Tinn]

Hmm... Things seem to be coming to a head. What with all the news reports and everything there's bound to be some CDC attention on the Body sooner or later.

I'm reckoning the CDC won't be able to do much but maintain a ceasefire, though, probably after enraging the body a few times. No, I believe the ultimate resolution of this story will be Mary's doing. The Body is not a pleasant debate partner, but given a few lucky breaks she seems to be able to run rings around it, intellectually.

On an unrelated note, I wonder how good the body is at photosynthesis? I suppose a fair few of the alien words it's visited would have had some life form or other that got its energy from a sun. Maybe that's how the body avoids starving to death once it's eaten a world?

I just thought of something. Given the body's highly adaptive nature and its method of spreading via extreme long range interplanetary seeding, there's a fair chance that Mary's Body would be quite different to other versions of the Body found elsewhere, depending on their individual migration paths. What would happen if two different branches of the evolutionary tree met? Fight-to-the-death? Mutual seed sharing? Some kind of slime merge? And how would the minds come into it?

[SoylentOrange]

You're right that a lot of the higher-order intellectual tasks are beyond the Body's comprehension, and MAry's going to use that to her advantage later on.

Yes, the Flesh can sustain itself via photosynthesis, but only just. It needs to eat something in order to grow larger. That's how the meteorite "seeds" stay alive, first by devolving to an extremely primitive form and second by surviving just off of photosynthesis.

As to what would happen were two seeds ever to cross paths on the same planet, I will say the The Body is the same wherever it goes. It's knowledge of various DNA strands might differ,but the core personality and drive would be identical, and in point of fact the two "Bodies" would probably merge together and not even know the difference- one Flesh is all Flesh, after all.

Whatever poor victims the "Mind" might be, however, is quite another matter... ^^;