Overlords
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Thunder woke him. George grumbled and looked over at the clock. It was still early morning and he really just wanted to sleep in. He rolled over, adjusted the covers and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to drift off there was another crash of thunder. This one made the house shake.
"What the fuck?" He stumbled from bed, caught his foot in the covers and fell into a heap. Outside car alarms were going off and dogs barked. After he untangled himself he yanked back the drapes to see what the hell was going on. It was slightly cloudy, with no wind or sign of a storm. A few neighbors had come outside. They chatted to each other and looked around in confusion.
"Sonic boom?" He asked himself aloud. Completely awake now he snatched his phone from the nightstand. No signal. "Huh."
While he got dressed he turned on the news to see if they had anything worthwhile to say about this. Or he would have if there were any channels. Cable was out and so was the internet. Ok, now he was worried. What the hell was he going to do without the internet? Read a book? He stepped outside. The car alarms were all off by now but more people were out of their homes.
"Hey, George!" It was Alan. One of the neighbors he actually knew. It looked like the man hadn't even run a comb through his thinning hair yet. "Your phone working?"
"Nope. You know what that noise was earlier?"
"The hell if I know. Sonic boom?"
George nodded his agreement. "That's what I was thinking. I dont have TV or internet either. You?"
"Nope. Might head into town and see what's up. Maybe something blew up."
Samantha. A big woman with an excellent selection of tattoos joined them, "Either of you got a working phone or anything?"
"Nope. No phone. No TV. No internet. Alan here was thinking of going into town."
Alan fished through his pocket and pulled out car keys. "Yeah. To see if something exploded."
Samantha looked surprised. "Hell man, that's a bit morbid. I don't see smoke or anything. Sounded more like a sonic boom."
"See, that's what I was thinking." George tried his phone again but there was still no signal.
The ground jumped sending George onto his ass in the lawn. The moment he hit the ground a shockwave smashed through the neighborhood. It sent George rolling across his lawn till he ended up flat on his back staring up at the sky. A sky that had grown darker with gathering clouds. They spun around massive black shapes that began to descend from the sky. People screamed and ran while he watched in shock. Another shockwave rattled the houses. Glass shattered. He heard tires screech as someone raced off in a car.
The descending shapes looked like slabs of polished black stone. Each was absolutely massive. They were long and lean. Thickest in the center and tapered to a narrow chisel like tip at the ends. Once free of the clouds they hovered in place vertically. So that one end was touching the clouds and the other near the ground.
From the lower end of the craft orange dots appeared. A few at first but within seconds it was a stream of thousands that spiraled downwards. George scrambled to his feet and staggered towards the front door of his house. Behind him Alan bolted out of his own house with his bugout bags tucked under his arms.
"George! Let's go! Cmon!"
George looked back in time to see a stream of orange dots, each about the size of a ball bearing, swarm Alan. The man dropped his suitcases and stood slack jawed. Eyes rolled back in his head. Some of the balls entered the man's mouth. His throat bulged as the balls moved further into his body. George stumbled back through his front door and slammed it shut. Shaking in panic he ran through the house to the basement door and flew down the stairs. He had built a safe room here. All he had to do was reach it. Something moved in the corner of his vision. Something orange. George didn't have time to scream as he was swarmed just like his neighbor.
He stopped. It wasn't that he was contained or controlled. Rather it was that his mind had been emptied of concerns. There was an understanding that everything would be fine. He just had to stand here and comply. It was that easy.
*Bond established*
His jaws opened and dozens of those orange balls slid effortlessly down his throat. His stomach grew warm as they filled him up. From his stomach a tingle began to spread. Followed by a momentary chill felt as the swarm of orange balls, still spinning round him, evaporated his clothing. He closed his mouth and waited while the warm tingle spread to every point in his body.
*Reconstruction begun*
George understood he was being granted the freedom to observe the process if he wanted. With a mild curiosity he lifted his arms to watch as brilliant purple scales grew out of his skin. Each small scale folded neatly over the next as they spread. Down farther his beer gut shrunk. The swarm repurposed it into the building blocks of his new form. He watched with continued lack of concern as his balls and penis withered. They were reduced to a fraction of their original size before being folded inwards. A slit left in their place as his gender was reassigned. Scales spread over her crotch and left her slit all but invisible.
*Reconstruction at fifty percent*
George's sense of smell, hearing and vision distorted as her head began to change. She felt like she was experiencing the world through a weak connection. Like one of those old TV's that used an antenna. When things cleared she made several discoveries all at once. First she now had jaws that were long, strong and tapered to a vertical chisel shape. A bit like a dinosaur. Second, her slitted eyes could now see a much wider spectrum of light. Third, her ears had turned into flexible frills that could hear an increased range of sound. Lastly, as she drew in lungfuls of air, she discovered her sense of smell was much sharper. There was an incredible range of new smells to discover and catalog. The higher level of input might have driven a human insane but to her altered mind it felt perfectly natural.
*Seventy five percent towards completion*
George was granted the ability to move. She took a step back and looked herself over. An athletic build that stood five feet. Legs had been reshaped for speed and agility and her three toes ended in short sharp claws. Her hands retained five fingers but they also had similar claws. There was even a tail which she found to be flexible and strong. Her entire body was coated in those vibrant purple scales.
Several of those ball bearings were still with her but now instead of circling her they hovered at eye level in front of her. Each one showed a different pattern of purples, blues, blacks. There was an understanding that she was being given a choice in her markings. Quickly she found one she liked and plucked it from the air, popped it into her jaws and swallowed. A tingle washed through her as her scale pattern altered to match the one displayed on the ball. Vibrant purples were now joined by lighter freckles and darker spots. Especially on the face.
With the last of the physical changes finished information began to flow into her mind. The clumsy English language was made secondary to a new language that was more easily spoken with her current arrangement of jaws and vocal cords. Her mind was filled with a variety of new skills. Not just raw data but the understanding to use those skills properly. Whomever was doing this did not steal who she had been. George's old memories remained but when she thought about them it was like looking at a different person. A person who seemed primitive compared to who she was now.
*Reconstruction complete.*
More orbs zipped towards George. One expanded and formed a slender band around her throat. Another splintered to form markings along her upper arm. These came to life in a skin tight holographic display of her ID number, status, position, assignment and other relevant data. All in an alien language that would have been a mystery to her a few minutes ago. None of this phased George in the slightest. Everything that had happened so far felt routine. Her old body discarded like dirty laundry into the wash. She spotted a floor length mirror the old George had kept down here for whatever reason. She took a look at her new self and liked what she saw. She turned back and forth to get a good look at the markings she had chosen. With a smile George went back upstairs, through the mess of her former house and back outside.
All the neighbors were here now. Purple scaled former humans exited their homes, cars or wherever they had tried to hide. They gathered quietly in the center of the road but kept their distance from each other. Curious glances shared as each examined the others. Finally George couldn't take it anymore and approached one she recognized.
"Alan?"
The figure in question turned to face George and meekly nodded. "I guess it wasn't an explosion."
"No. No it wasn't." George embraced her in a warm hug.
With the ice broken the group mingled. Excitedly they explored each other, shared hugs and commented on each other's color patterns. Someone noted aloud that they didn't feel nudity anymore. All agreed that it was nice. Another commented they should pick new, suitable names. Everyone thought this was a good idea. Still another commented they were all female now.
George felt that needed expanding on. "Yes, but I think we're Asexual as well."
One that she recognized as Samantha spoke. "That feels right." And everyone agreed.
All stopped as they felt a mental pull.
George felt a tingle of excitement. "It's time!"
The overlords above granted them more information. The entire population of Earth had been converted. No more borders, no more wars, no more waste. A great plan was to be set in motion. So it was that billions of people stood silently as they were given instructions. Terraforming. Cities. Infrastructure. The plan was vast but the new people of Earth found that they could understand it all. They had, in fact, been custom made to carry out this plan.
The last page of humanity had been written and while it might not be the best ending at least now they were united.