Chapter 1

I didn't set out to be evil. I wasn't one of those kids that tortured small animals for fun that just made the leap to humans one day.

It was a gradual path, a slip into villainy by degrees. It wasn't even the shock of my change that did it, though it played its part. Without the powers that came with it I doubt I would have managed much, as my previous body would have been little help in a life of crime beyond petty crime. I just slowly found that a life of super villainy was my most appealing career choice.

Anyway, perhaps it's time I introduced myself, I go by the name Interface. You may have seen me on the News. I am not a technopath, well not really, I do have some abilities that seem to be in that area but anyone that takes that as the implication of my name earns my unending wrath! Well OK, more a nasty glare, but it makes me annoyed and cranky, and an annoyed and cranky super villain is no fun to be around.

I was born as Alex Jones only son of a teacher and a mechanic. Dad, Peter Jones, was a science teacher. He was an engineer by training and in his spare time loved tinkering with machines. From old cars to steam engines, he had mucked around with them all. This was how he met Mum, Mary Jones. She was a also mechanic, into repairing and restoring old cars for fun and profit. The two of them kept meeting at car meets and the local scrap heap, (scavenging bits for their respective projects), and eventually they began working together. They bonded working on a car so old that it ran off compressed dinosaurs, and pretty soon it was wedding bells.

I followed soon after and the two of them tried to raise me to be a grease monkey. Unfortunately I was a bit of a sickly child. I had asthma, bad eyesight, a list of allergies so long it was easier to list what I wasn't allergic to, crooked teeth requiring braces, and was a bit overweight. I also disliked getting dirty, so though I liked machines, I was more comfortable reading about them. My passion was little robots, and I made little electronic friends to substitute the lack of real ones. I had always wanted to have a pet a cat or a dog or even a hamster. Unfortunately my allergies didn't let me go near them. To compensate, I had a go at making a robotic pet instead, though so far my attempts had been pretty poor with intelligence barely above that of a cockroach, able to avoid or follow lights and avoid obstacles.

I didn't really have any friends. I was a dreamer, and shy. At school, people thought I was weird, and bullies saw me as a soft target. No one wanted to be friends with the odd fat kid who sat on his own fiddling with his little machines lest the unpopularity rubbed off and they became a target by association. I wasn't very popular with teachers, either. I tended to sit there daydreaming and very few saw past that to see I was reasonably bright, but uninterested. As a result, school was a fairly unhappy place with bullies and annoying teachers where I had no friends, and certainly no girlfriend.

I did my best to live in the time outside of school hours, where I could do more or less what I pleased. My parents would occasionally take me to car events, or try and get me to join in more. Most of the time I preferred to read or play on my console.

However soon, all that changed. My path to super villainy began one weekend in March, a few months after my 15th birthday.

~~~

I was walking through a thick forest, my assault rifle out ready. My comrades were at my sides, moving slowly through the undergrowth. Suddenly, hearing a noise, we all stopped and ducked, taking cover, listening. I caught the eye of the man to my left. He gestured with his hands indicating I should take a look. I nervously responded in the affirmative and slowly moved forward, trying to penetrate the thick foliage as silently as possible.

There was a cry to my right and shots rang out. I turned to see who was shooting when a slug of hot lead hit my leg. I cried out as I tumbled to the floor and one of my comrades pulled me back out of harm's way. I was shoved against a tree for cover while the squad medic patched up my leg as my squad returned fire.

It was an enemy patrol. With my bleeding stopped, I propped myself up and returned fire. Now that they had lost the element of surprise we managed to pick our attackers one by one, and soon there was only one left. Not fancying his chances, he turned and ran. I winged him with a lucky shot and limped over to where he'd fallen. He was still alive, blood flowing from a wound in his torso. He was crawling towards the gun that he had dropped when I hit him. He was obviously in agony, but determined to try and take more of us with him.

I was taking aim to put him out of his misery when suddenly a woman's voice said, "You're not still up here playing that game!"

Distracted, I hesitated, and the dying soldier got the gun and shot me, everything faded to red. Two words filled my vision: game over.

I flipped up my visor and glared at the tall blonde woman in overalls standing in the doorway, her arms crossed, her blue eyes glaring at me "Mum!" I moaned, "You made me lose!"

She moved over and picked up a colourful game box sat atop a humming machine, "Well you can take a break then. It's a lovely day outside, you're not going to waste it all up here!"

"But Mummm!"

She examined the game box which had scenes of imagined combat all over it and "Call of Duty 14" emblazoned on it.

"Besides I'm not sure I approve of you playing this game. It's too old for you. Uncle Tommy should know better!" she said setting the box back down where she'd found it.

Uncle Tommy was her brother, who did his best to be as bad an influence on me as possible.

"But I wasn't feeling that well so I decided to stay inside."

"Probably too much playing on this thing. You know it aggravates your motion sickness. Come on, some fresh air will do you good." she was clearly set on making me go out.

I took off the visor and slipped the haptic gloves off, (Haptic devices are the ones that offer force feedback), then grumpily made my way outside into the garden to look at whatever thing she was up to. The front part was fairly normal, with washing line and even a few garden chairs, but the back part was full of machines in various states of repair. I sat on the wall next to the car she was working on, squinting in the sunlight. My tummy was doing turns, maybe she was right about the motion sickness.

"Come on, cheer up, Sweetie. I'll show you how to replace a brake pad, and you can do the other one if you like," she said brightly, indicating the wheel with her spanner.

She demonstrated how to remove the wheel and then replace the pad while I began to feel increasingly ill.

"I don't feel so good," I said, rubbing my tummy.

"What's the matter, Sweetheart?" Mum sounded concerned.

Before I could elaborate, I felt like I was going to be sick, and barely made it to the toilet in time. I was ill for what seemed like several hours, but was probably more like a minute, tops. Mum came in just as I was finishing cleaning up, and put a hand to my forehead.

"Oh, you're burning up, Darling. You must be coming down with something. You get yourself into bed I'll see if I can get you a doctor's appointment," she said, cleaning the oil smudge her hand had left on my forehead.

I went back upstairs to my room feeling a bit sickly, where I put on my pyjamas and lay in bed. I was beginning to get the chills I wrapped my self up making sure I was completely covered to keep warm. I tried to sleep, but I couldn't doze off.

Later Mum came up to see me, "How are you feeling,, Sweetheart?"

"Cold and sick," I replied from my duvet cocoon.

"Well the Doctor is a bit busy, so they can't see you till Monday. They said your symptoms don't sound life threatening. They said to just keep you comfy and unless you get any worse, come in to see them on Monday," Mum said.

I groaned and snuggled up tighter, "But I'm ill. I need medicine or something."

"I know, Sweetheart. Let me see if we have any stuff to make you feel a bit better for the time being."

She wandered off, returning some time later with some pills, a glass of water, a blanket, and a bucket. "Here take these it should help a little, and here's a bucket in case you need to throw up again and can't make it to the bathroom."

She helped me take the pills, then tucked me in tighter, pulling the blanket over me to keep me warm.

"Now you try and get some rest." She ruffled my hair. Her hands smelled like oranges from the heavy duty cleaner she'd used to get oil the oil off. Some of the gritty particles that made it clean better were still on her hand and scratched my forehead.

I managed to sleep a bit, surfacing for some soup at lunch, then in and out of sleep for the rest of the day.

I woke up in the middle of the night and was sick again, making it to the bathroom, thankfully. I staggered back to bed meeting my Mum on the way checking I was alright.

Sunday was no better, and I was thoroughly miserable by the time I got to see the Doctor. He did the doctoring things, listening to my breathing, feeling glands and taking temperatures. Then he got the MORFS testing kit out. I recognised it since I had been tested before, due to some bug that presented the same way. I didn't like needles, but I duly stuck my finger in the tester and steeled myself for the pain. After putting a plaster on my finger, the Doc performed the test and then waited for the result.

When it came back positive, it was a bit of a shock. I wasn't listening to the Doctor after that, more considering what this meant. I had seen people a bit like me, not very popular social outcasts, go through MORFS and end up popular with friends. I had seen some of the reverse too, where a popular kid became a loser like me.

I figured this was unlikely to hurt my social standing. It might mean I got a different set of bullies but I couldn't see how it could make things worse. Even if it made me into a hybrid, they tended to stick together to the extent that people who had been enemies before became close friends. I tentatively labelled the possibility of changing a good thing in my mind which made me feel better about the illness, it was illness with a purpose now.

When the doctor was finished talking he wrote a prescription and we left. There was a pharmacy nearby so we picked up my drugs and then headed home. On the way back Mum kept glancing over at me.

"You're very quiet Alex. Are you alright?" she asked gently.

"Just thinking," I replied. I had been wondering what it was like to have a tail, could you use it for things like an extra arm? Could you use a screw driver with it?

"Well there's no need to be worried, only 50% of people change at all. Even if you do change your father and I will still love you," she said earnestly.

I nodded distractedly. 'Would having wings let me fly? How do people with wings cope with them?' There was a girl in my year who had little bat like wings, but she didn't ever seem to fly. Maybe she couldn't or maybe she just didn't like showing off.

'If I had wings I would fly everywhere, ' I thought to myself.

I continued thinking about possible changes and what they might mean till we got home. I was just imagining what having gills or tentacles would be like when Mum tapped me on the shoulder. "Alex? We're home."

"Oh yes," I answered, not having noticed.

I got out of the car and walked back up to the house. Mum put her arm around me as we walked, perhaps thinking I was upset. I wasn't really. I was hopeful, a little scared, but also a little excited. I figured maybe she was a little worried, so I returned the hug to comfort her a bit.

We went up to my room together and I changed into my pyjamas. She gave me one of the energy drinks and a pill to take. The drink was revolting. It nearly made me throw up again just smelling it. I choked it down, then took the pill.

Mum tucked me in and gave me a kiss on the head. "Sweet dreams Alex. I love you."

"I love you too, Mum," I said, feeling very drowsy. It was a fight to keep my eyes open.

I blacked out suddenly and slept dreamlessly for what must have been most of the day.

When I woke I ached all over. Even my teeth ached, and my skin felt grimy like I hadn't washed in days. I put on my glasses and had a look around. My clock said it was late evening, I grabbed my dressing gown and staggered along to the bathroom to have a wash. As I was washing I noticed a load of hair going down the drain. My short blond hair and what little body hair I had was falling out.

I finished my shower and inspected myself in the mirror looking excitedly for any other changes. My hair was almost all gone, leaving me with only a few patches. Even my eyebrows had fallen out. I looked like I might have lost some weight. A quick weigh in confirmed it.I was slimmer. I couldn't see any other changes so I slipped back into my dressing gown, grabbed my messy pyjamas, and headed back.

I found Dad stripping my bed down and putting on new sheets. He stared at me for a bit, then shook himself. "How are you doing, Tiger?"

"Okay, Dad." As I spoke I found my teeth felt funny. I reached in my mouth and found some were a bit wobbly, like they were going to fall out. That was an interesting development. Maybe I would get new teeth. I fiddled with them for a bit, wondering if my braces would get in the way.

"I just want you to know no matter what happens, your Mum and I will still love you, son," Dad said while I was fiddling with my teeth.

I extracted my finger from my mouth. "I know, Dad."

He gave me a hug and then went back to sorting out my bed, I grabbed a clean set of pyjamas and put the old ones with the dirty washing. Then I grabbed a drink and pill from the stash on my chest of drawers. I knocked the stuff back, grimacing at the taste and took my pill. I went to bed wondering what changes tomorrow would bring.

I woke up to a terrible pain in my gums. I reached into my mouth and found all my teeth were getting wobbly. There must be new teeth growing in under them. A few of my front teeth had come loose but they were held in place by my braces. I climbed out of bed then went to relieve myself and have a shower, plus check out any changes.

On reaching the bathroom I examined my self closely, I had short black hair growing out of my head. My eyebrows were also growing back in a dark colour. My eyes looked a little different, darker than before, though still blue. My glasses seemed not to be right any more. Even with them on the world was a little fuzzy. I seemed to be even slimmer. My pyjamas, sized for my previously larger body were loose on me. After further examination I realised I wasn't just getting slimmer, I was getting smaller. The legs of my pyjama bottoms now fell down over my feet. I couldn't be sure but I thought I must have lost at least two inches. I stripped off my now over-sized pyjamas and examined the rest, I noticed none of the rest of my body hair seemed to be growing back and my skin looked lighter, and it felt softer and smoother.

I spun about this way and that, looking for other changes. My previously flabby waist seemed to be pulling in as I lost weight, but I didn't seem to be losing as much from my behind or chest. I hoped that would be next to go. I had my shower and took care of a call of nature. Was it my imagination, or were my private parts getting smaller, too.

I headed back to my room and began changing my sheets for the ones Mum had left out. Having run out of clean pyjamas, I put on an old t shirt that had been loose before, and now looked like a tent. To better judge how much I was shrinking, I made a mark on the wall at my current height and then took my meds and went to sleep.

I woke up with a mouth full of teeth, well more so than usually. My new teeth had displaced most of the old ones with a few of my molars still hanging on. The braces kept them together though, so I had two strings of teeth in my mouth. With a little wobbling of the final molars, the teeth came loose and I extracted an upper and a lower set of teeth. I decided to give them a wash, then keep them as a souvenir. I slipped on my glasses so I could get a look at what was going on but if anything, now things seemed better without them. I took them off and put the glasses back on my table.

I was keen to get a look at my new teeth, which my fingers told me were starting to protruded through my now gummy mouth. They felt quite sharp and pointed, which was interesting. I checked the clock and realised it was late at night, too late to be showering and making a load of noise. I decided to keep my self-exploration till the morning, I chucked my teeth on my night stand and then grabbed another hit of meds. My back was really itchy for some reason. I scratched it idly then drank the drink down and took my pills. I was off to sleep again dreaming about big game hunters riding miniature elephants, hunting me for my teeth.

I woke up the next morning my back feeling really itchy, I swung my legs out over the floor. I had to bend my legs further before my feet touched the floor, maybe my legs were getting shorter. I wandered over to the mark on the wall and drew another line. I seemed to have lost at least another inch since yesterday, the hem of the t shirt was lower down. It seemed I was destined to be a short arse. I hadn't been that tall before at 5'6" and I would guess I was probably 5'3" to 5'2" now. I wandered out to the bathroom eager to get a look at what changes had happened.

I stared in the mirror, I had a head of ear length shiny black hair, my eyes were very dark blue and seemed to be slightly larger than before. My face looked slimmer and more delicate I seemed to have lost weight again, but my features had altered slightly making the effect more dramatic. My skin was getting increasingly pale. I opened my mouth, noticing my lips looked a little puffy, and took a look at my teeth. A line of sharp points stuck out of my gums at the front. My back teeth were still more or less grinding teeth, but the front ones looked like they were more vicious. I slipped out of my t shirt to get a look at the rest of me. My waist had pulled in some more but my behind and chest almost looked like they were gaining weight. I poked my chest and grimaced. It was sensitive and my nipples seemed swollen.

That led me down a whole different alleyway of thoughts and I checked my privates. They were definitely smaller. That probably meant my chest and behind were growing because I was being turned into a girl. I felt my behind and found that the padding I had gained there seemed partly to do with wider hips.

I hadn't considered turning into a girl as an option when I was going over the possible changes. I thought it for a minute or two, and decided this might work out okay. Girls seemed to get more attention, I hoped I would too. With this new bit of knowledge about the direction my changes were taking, I looked myself over again. The changes to my skin and the alterations to my face all seemed to fit the puzzle, even the body hair thing seemed consistent. I turned around to get a better look at my slightly enlarged behind and noticed a patch of dark colour on my back. With some twisting I found that I had a little patch of what looked like feathers sticking out of my back.

'Maybe I will get those wings after all, ' I thought excitedly, and stroked the soft feathers, feeling the odd sensations as they pulled on my skin.

I jumped in the shower and cleaned myself off again. I padded back to my room in my dressing gown which seemed more voluminous on me as time passed.

I ran into my mother coming out of my room with an arm full of bedding. "Hey, Sweetheart ... are you shorter?" she said looking at me.

"Yes, couple of inches," I said, finding my voice was in a higher register than before.

Mum frowned but said nothing, maybe thinking I hadn't realised I was turning into a girl and not wanting to make me face it while I was still changing. I wandered back into my room and put on a fresh t shirt, took my meds and slept.

I woke up in the night and found I could clearly see my room even though it was dark. It was like the lights were on, only different. I wondered if my eyes were more sensitive now, I took my meds and went back to sleep.

The next day I found I was another inch shorter and was thinner still, looking almost delicate. Where as most of me had been shrinking, other parts had been growing. First, my hair was now down to my shoulders. As I swept it back out of my face I noticed my ears were slightly pointed as well. The feathers on my back had spread down to my tail bone and across my back, forming a triangle. Next, I now had breasts, little handfuls that stuck out from my chest capped with larger nipples, and my behind was more rounded. That, with my small waist gave me the beginnings of a girl-like figure. My teeth were now a fearsome array of sharp points, almost blade like at the front and then needle like as they went round. They were all pearly white and straight, but my smile would probably put people off due to its predatory look. My eyes had darkened some more, such that they were a very dark blue, only just above black and they seemed bigger. The effect was quite odd it left me with a fairly pretty face, if somewhat predatory. So long as I didn't smile and show my teeth, I looked OK. I resolved to practise smiling without opening my mouth.

I was disappointed not to see any wings growing. I had a feel around and felt some small bumps but they might just have been some more feathers or something. I had rather been hoping I would be able to fly. I took my shower and checked over the rest of my progress, I couldn't quite call myself a she yet, but it wouldn't be long.

I padded back to my room, keen to get the changes finished with so I could see what I would look like. I changed my sheets and pulled on another t shirt. Now even clothes that had been normal sized on me before were tent-like, now. I hoped I didn't shrink too much more.

I drank down my energy drink and took a pill then was off to sleep again. I woke up sometime late at night, but almost immediately took my meds to get back to sleep, wanting to leave exploration till it was light.

When I woke up again I didn't feel sick any more. From what I had been told this meant the changes were over with. I stayed in bed under the covers for a bit to revel in the moment. Hopefully, this would be the first day of the rest of my life. I would put the old friendless unpopular Alex behind me and be this new Alex, who was popular and had many friends.

After I had appreciated the moment for a while I threw back my covers and jumped out of bed. I checked out my height, I was a bit shorter but not much. I made a beeline for the bathroom to clean up and check out the rest of me.

I took a look in the mirror. A small girl with shoulder length raven black hair, large midnight blue eyes, and pointed ears stared back at me.

I smiled at myself, revealing an array of brilliant white razor sharp teeth. The effect was a bit disturbing, I closed my mouth and tried a smile like that. That was better, less I'm a monster come to eat your children, more I'm a dark haired mysterious girl. My face was good looking, a touch angular, but the big eyes and the full lips looked pretty nice. I now had a cute little nose rather than my old large one, all in all, cute seemed to be an apt word to describe my face so long as I didn't spoil it by smiling. As I slipped out of my t shirt for a better look at the new me, I examined my hands which were now small and delicate, with soft almost chalky white skin.

My curves had grown some more overnight. I cupped my now larger breasts which were fairly prominent, or at least they seemed to be to me. I didn't think they were enormous, but in relation to the rest of me they seemed fairly large. My waist was now small, and my tummy flat. I giggled internally at the idea that I had been on the MORFS diet. My hips now flared outward to give me a shapely behind. I briefly explored my privates, which looked much like I would expect, having been taught about the different sexes at school. My legs were now smooth and seemed fairly long, but only relative to the rest of me. I turned around to check out my feathers, I noticed they seemed to protrude a bit more. I reached back to touch them and the area of my back flicked and moved out unfurling.

It was a little wing! I examined it and found a companion on the other side, that with some effort I managed to deploy that one and even flap them a bit. They were unfortunately very small, even fully extended they were barely big enough to reach my elbows. I scowled at them disappointedly, I knew enough about science to realise there was no way they were going to be carrying me aloft. Still, just in case, I worked out how to flap them, then spent five minutes flapping away like mad. Nothing much happened except I wore myself out and made a slight breeze. I folded them back and then had another look in the mirror. I stared at my reflection, a small curvy dark haired girl with the intense eyes and very pale skin. I was fairly happy with my reflection. I looked pretty sexy, well at least I thought so, and I wasn't too far from a normal girl.

I took a shower, finding my new feathers got pretty waterlogged. I wasn't sure what to use to clean them, either, so I just used shampoo and hoped that would do the job. I then had to work out how to dry myself off. My more sensitive skin didn't like the normal vigorous rubbing technique, so I was more gentle.

I slipped on my dressing gown, which was now ridiculously big on me and padded off to my bedroom. I wondered what I could wear. I was smaller and a very different shape, did I have anything that would fit me?

I started going through my clothes, humming a happy tune looking for things that would fit me. Most of my stuff would look ridiculous on me, but I eventually located enough stuff so I was at least covered. I wandered downstairs feeling hungry, hoping that Mum or Dad was around to cook something for me.

I hummed my way into the kitchen. I saw Mum standing there making tea. She called to me without turning around, "Is that you Alex? I was just going to come up and see how you were doing."

"Yeah it's me, I think I'm done," I said, hearing my girl voice for the first time. It was a little higher and more melodic than my previous voice.

Mum spun round to look at me on hearing my new voice. "Oh my!" she said, clasping her hand over her mouth and staring at me.

I smiled at her in an effort to reassure her, forgetting my new dentition. Her eyes went even wider for a bit, then she came over to hug me.

"It'll be alright, Sweetie. Being a girl isn't so bad."

"I know," I said noticing I now had to look slightly up to meet her gaze. "Oh, I have little wings now. Let me show you!"

I quickly shrugged off the t shirt and unfurled my little wings, giving them an enthusiastic flap.

"I don't think they will be much use. They are too small, maybe I can use them to glide or something," I said absently.

Mum stood there looking confused and a bit shocked. Then she seemed to shake herself out of it. "You shouldn't go topless like that, Alex dear. You'll get into trouble now you're a girl."

"Oh yes," I said thoughtfully, and put my t shirt back on. "I think I need new clothes, I'm smaller and differently shaped now."

"Yes that's true, we need to get you checked out by the doctors, too, to make sure everything is OK. I'll see if we can get an appointment, and then we'll go to the shops. Why don't you make us some tea while I call the centre."

I nodded and smiled, this time remembering to keep my mouth shut, then went into the kitchen. I immediately found my new smaller stature to be an issue. The tea was at the back of a reasonably high cupboard, and I couldn't quite reach it. I had to get a chair and stand on it to reach. I had hardly been a giant before, but now I was small, and this was one of the first glimpses of how my changes would impact my everyday life.

I set the kettle boiling and after warming the pot I put the tea on to mash. I got the milk out ready and stood humming happily watching a pair of red kites soaring around.

I poured the tea, added milk, then stood by the window sipping and watching the big birds of prey soar on the wind.

Mum came back into the room.

"Tea is on the counter," I called without looking round.

"Oh lovely, thank you, Sweetheart." She walked over, "What are you looking at?"

"A couple of red kites flying around," I said.

Mum stood next to me and stared out of the window for a bit, "Whereabouts? I don't see them."

"Over there," I pointed.

She looked again, "Oh I see two dots way over there. Is that what you mean?"

I paused, frowning. I could see the birds quite clearly, then shifted my view and realised that the birds were indeed a long way away, but that somehow I could see them clearly.

I figured it had something to do with MORFS, "My eyes must be better now."