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BOONNGGG

"The time is now: two o'clock. AM. A curfew is in effect for the following districts: Madison. Lansky. Sarkoris. Bankston. Landry. Repeat; a curfew is now in effect for the following district...'

Lindsey tightened the straps on her hoodie, checking the street sign reflection for any of the tell-tale blue lights. No cops; no media. Mm.

She strode across the sidewalk, nodding up at the familiar building's neon signage. LAND'S BAY AQUARIUM. It was as stereotypical a place as could be managed for someone like Keys, but there was that comforting familiarity about it. The luminari had warmed her to aquatic life over the years with his lengthy tales of his old shipping yards and the marine life present at each.

The free samples hadn't hurt either.

She fished her identity card and swiped at the glowing red keypad, humming as the system went through its paces. "ID: LINDSEY STELZER: CITIZEN. ACCESS DENIED AFTER HOURS.

P-PLEA-

PL-" The voice dissolved into static, the light soon changing to a brighter neon green. "WELCOME, MS. VICE PRESIDENT. HAVE A NICE EVENING." The door swung open.

She snorted. Vice president. Last time, it had been senior manager. Keys was clearly having fun with the system.

She headed downstairs, pausing to admire the nearby greenery in the tanks. Land's Bay was one of the few ethical centers left in the country; it had long ago sold off its dolphins and larger sharks, leaving only the thousands of fish that swam peacefully in its regulated waters. Better still if the lot were released to their home lands, but given the state of the world, it was probably safer here in the first place. A smirk crossed her face as she paused at the otter tank, the bronzed plaque shining nearby. Sponsored by Jansen Hawke. One of the luminari's many aliases.

He always had found them cute.

Her walk took her to a storage unit, swiping the card again to gain access to the stairwell, then a four-floor hike to the roof.

Keys was perched at the edge of one of the tanks, talking to the nearby group of nesting birds. "How about you, miss pigeon? You've been staring at me for the past twenty minutes. Surely you're not entirely what you seem."

Lindsey barked a laugh. "It was one time, Keys."

The luminari turned halfway, grinning back at her. "Hey, in a city where you can be anything, one time's enough to make me wonder. Plus, you were late."

"Curfew." She waved a hand, plodding over. "And they're on lookout for anything more exciting than pigeons, anyway."

"I'm sure a snow leopard wouldn't look too out of place on the train." He chortled, leaning back and pulling his flippered feet from the water. The luminari was lightly dressed as usual, down to shorts and his trademark coat, plus a new set of glasses. She noted the tinted green at the edge; AR. "New treat for yourself?"

"It's the closest thing you can get without plugging in, and I liked how they looked." He grinned back at her. "Still no cyber for yourself?"

She stuck her tongue out. The two had that in common, at least; the pair both refused body modifications. She, for the disruptions to her shifting, and him, from the fear of losing yourself to the machinery. Still, he was a gadget fiend, constantly buying new screens and toys he'd get bored of in a month. "I assume you've got something for me."

"Mm! Payment." He produced a credstick from his coat. "From your last little terrorist act."

She blinked. "That was...just an animal breakout. It wasn't a job."

"Mm! And, of course, a lesser fixer would be charging you for the media blackout. But!" He gestured wide. "You've got me. Turns out the place had a lower level you missed, so I sent someone else to poke around while the police had their yellow tape up, and, wouldn't you know it..." He leaned forward, poking her nose. "You uncovered a little stem cell laboratory. The animals were for mythos production. Highly illegal."

She sighed, scowling. "And you monetized the data."

He shook his head. "I called Mythica and told them what I had, then offered them the first shot at the bidding block. They had me bury it."

"...really?" She blinked. "They didn't want it?"

"Word was starting to get out that there was a subbasement. If they went live with anything they'd found, the media gets the story and ties it back to the operation, and Mythica's back in the hot seat...again. Better bury it and start over. So, they paid me very handsomely to ensure the story wouldn't go anywhere. So!" He held out the credstick. "Your share for making it happen."

She took it, hesitant, looking over the numbers. Twenty thousand. "Holy hell."

"Call it a finder's fee." He laughed at her gaping expression.

"This is...this is a lot." She gaped. "Are you..."

"Lindsey." He placed a hand upon her shoulder. "It is because you are the only person in the world who would hesitate at twenty thousand credits out of nowhere."

"W-well, yeah, because...good heavens." She ran her fingers through her hair. "Keys, this is insane. This is...this is a car, or two years at my apartment, or...or...."

"I'm sure you'll make some good usage of it." He took the stick from her, placing it in her hoodie's pocket. "Maybe actually buy something nice for yourself, for once. Oh, one more thing." He patted around his own pockets for a few moments before producing a glass slide, holding it up to the light. "Thought you might be tickled by this one."

She peered more closely, seeing the thin, silver-grey texture stretched thin over the glass. "What is it?"

"They nuked the place, but I had to get at least this one. Dolphin skin, freshly made. Probably part of the research into making leviathans or bigger sea serpents, but this one wasn't used." He handed it off. "Who better to make usage of it?"

She chuckled, holding it up. "Dolphin, huh?"

He held up his hands. "Seemed like a bit of fun."

"A bit." She laughed. "You didn't just get this for my benefit, did you?"

"Did you know these glasses can take video?" He grinned more broadly, though the faint line of pink was aglow in his cheeks.

"Oh, so it's the voyeurism business, now? You're gonna sell me shifting to WildLadies.com or something?" She laughed.

"Noooo, no, no no, hey, c'mon." He protested. "Maybe it's just for the scientific study. There's maybe fifty of you in the country, and the others I've worked with are...less pleasant."

"To the eyes?" She teased. It was his turn to stick his tongue out. "In general, but, okay, okay, fair. It's fascinating, though. You can't say what you do isn't the coolest thing around. The 'looking really good while you do it' thing is a pleasant bonus."

She shook her head. "You are incorrigible, Keys." Still, she scratched at the glass a moment, pulling the flap of skin loose. "...but dolphin does seem pretty interesting, if nothing else. I guess I could give it a try."

"The lady doth protests too much." He teased, though it was clear by now that she was as curious as he. She was already wrapping the sample around her index finger, closing her eyes as the flutter of new animal DNA rippled over her consciousness. She could see the flicker of possibility in her mind - the original dolphin's own enormous, sleek silvery body, a juvenile's equivalent, less than half the size, or something that stood upright, tail dipped low...

There. She concentrated, her breathing slowing as the familiar twinge tickled her senses. This form was...easy, like it had been constructed specifically to make her change more straightforward. Already, the skin was merging into the growing webbing, the silvered pelt welding her fingers together as the skin upon her arms softened, taking on a pale, waxy appearance as the texture mutated, the cetacean rubber digging deep into her. She shivered, pink glowing in her cheeks as animal strength soon followed. Her fingers tightened into a fist, straining as she bit her lip - ooh, that was strong, the dolphin's powerful swimming speed being redirected into more useful anthropomorphic purpose as power flowed into her arms, the silver texture racing up and over her shoulder.

"nNH." She grunted as the power flowed lower, down into her rear. Her spine abruptly realigned, the bulge of cetacean flesh abruptly tight against her jeans as her fingers hurried towards the zipper. Thank goodness for familiarity; she already had on the green bikini beneath, given the pair's predilection for swimming in the rooftop tank. Her fingers fumbled, pushing the growing tail beneath the fabric as it lurched forth, carrying along the stretch of spine as her hoodie tightened, the dolphin's natural size an obvious mismatch for her own. She shucked the clothing with practiced ease, stripping down to the bathing suit just in time to see the luminari's faint flush.

She couldn't help but grin fiendishly back at him. "As good-looking as you hoped?"

"It could get better." He countered, but his eyes were much too wide to keep the pretense up. She shuddered as more power flowed in. "GhhNNh..." Muscular texture was layering under her chest. Her stomach, already slim, was tightening further as gray rubber rippled in veins, coating her opposite arm and chest as she drank in the dolphin's capabilities. Fascinating. Whatever effect the customized cells was synergizing unusually well with her shapeshifting - normally, she'd have to slip into a feral form in order to access such power. But here, her thighs were already tighter, thicker, growing spongy and pliable as she ground her webbying feet into the rooftop, biting her lip. She'd changed so much that the sleek power of the snow leopard had felt natural, but packing such animal strength into her human frame...

"HhHff..." She huffed, nosier as she pressed her fingers into her knee, feeling the springy rubber squeak faintly against itself as her thighs thickened further, the tightening frame growing nonetheless as the bikini tightened over her swelling frame. Cetacean rubber squeaked against itself, pushing in across her spine as the bone bulged slightly, adding to the texture as the fin emerged from her backside, taking up much of her back. She grunted again, shifting her weight as the tail bent under her, already pushing past her knees and squeaking against the concrete flooring. "HOoh, that's...a l-lot..."

"Too much?" Keys' captivated expression softened, briefly uncertain.

"God, no, j-just...HHFf..." She leaned forward. "H-hurry, help me up, f-fore I..."

The luminari hopped up, leaning over and grabbing - then blinking in some shock as she came up with him, teetering as her sudden new weight bowled him over. The fish was short for his race, but Lindsey was built like a board when human. This was...big, husky, built like a bodybuilder.

And still growing. Lindsey grasped onto the luminari's shoulders, nearly bowling him over as her teeth began to merge and twist, giving her smile an odd appearance as she steadied herself, looming a few inches taller than he. The form could be kept compact, but there was still power yet to make use of, and why stop there? Keys' bug-eyed expression only spurred her further as she stretched her muscular arms, giving him view enough of her tightened bikini and washboard abs as her back fin grew even larger, the tail slapping wetly against the concrete. She concentrated, the sqiRRRRRK of its growth resounding even louder as the appendage slithered even further, her tail swaying with glee as Keys took an instinctive step back, his face burning with flush as her head deformed further; nose, mouth, and teeth stretching into the bottlenose snout nearly a foot long. She quivered, allowing one last surge as the tail pressed to seven feet behind her - and found herself looking down at him, grinning with her new animalistic features.

"Too much?" She echoed, grinning fiendishly.

"W-well, I didn't say that..." He managed, still in some awe. "That's. Wow. Um. That's way better than I anticipated. How big does this thing go?"

"If you wanted to share some more of the reward money, I might let you find out." She giggled, leaning forward until her nose nuzzled his hair. Oh, how funny it was, seeing the coy fish so flustered.

"W-ha - oh, heyyy, very funny. Clearly they made something from some sort of confident dolphin..."

"They did do something. I've never had a form integrate as easily as the snow leopard did, and that took years." She held up an arm. "It's like...like they designed it just for me. What a rush! I'll have to try that at home."

He shook his head. "I really should've taken video of that. Yow."

"I think there'll be a next time." She giggled. "For now, though, swimming?"

"Swimming." He nodded. "I'll, uh, be right behind you."

"Try to keep up!" She teased, and dove into the water, eager to explore just how strong the form was....