The Appraiser
I've always thought the interview process was ridiculous. I'm sure there are a few people who wish going to an interview would have this kind of result. I'm amongst them. As always comments are welcome!
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Tom fiddled with his phone. It was an older model when he bought it so it didn't have much power. It could stand the one game he had on it. Solitaire. So that's what he played while he sat in the waiting room. He had just won another game when the secretary announced.
"They are ready for you Mr. Harris. Room eight."
Tom glanced at the time. Forty minutes late to start an interview was probably a red flag but man did he need the job. He stood up and slipped his phone back into a pocket.
"Thanks. So just down the hall?" The secretary was already on the phone chatting with someone and seemed oblivious to Tom's existence.
"Alrighty." He muttered to himself before heading down the hall he assumed would take him where he needed.
Tom wasn't exactly an example of a man in good shape. Middle aged and overweight. Even well groomed, his brown hair somehow looked messy. His suit was wrinkled in places and clearly didn't fit. Especially around the waist. Being a jeans and tshirt person he wasn't used to fancy clothing.
What Tom did have was smarts. A grasp of engineering and design. He could always figure out how something worked even if it meant taking it apart first. His parents had gone crazy raising him. Nothing had been safe from disassembly. Despite these qualities he managed to walk right past the correct door and had to quickly backtrack.
"Well, here we go." Tom muttered to himself. He swept his hands over his suit in a useless attempt to make it look better then opened the door.
An intense disorientation robbed him of his balance. In an instant he fell through the open doorway and kept falling. The world blurred as he tumbled through the air. A panicked shout just before he impacted the ground.
"Shit!"
For a moment he just lay there, stunned. What got his attention faster than anything else was how quiet it was. Not a sound except his breathing. When he sat up Tom found himself in a circle of light beyond which was only darkness. In place of normal cheap office carpeting there was smooth cool metal under him.
"The hell is this?"
As Tom went to stand he felt his hands tingle, then go numb. He settled on his rump while he gave his hands a little shake then held them up to take a look at them. The tingle changed to a pressure. Like he was wearing gloves that were too tight. His eyes went wide as he watched the two center fingers pull together. The skin fused before the fingers merged into a single digit. At the same time his nails began to compress. In moments they had reformed into short, sharp claws.
"The fuck!?" He cried out. "No, seriously. What the fuck!?"
He stared at his hands in shock. Trying to find a way to deny what he was seeing. Midnight blue scales sprouted along the back of his hands then moved down his arms. Hair and skin vanished under the glossy spread of smooth scales. It felt like a cool wave of silk was washing up his limbs. The fear of what was happening warred with wonderful sensation as the spread of scales accelerated. They were quickly out of view under his clothing. He went to stand again but as he did a shoe fell off. It was too large to fit him now. In fact everything was too large. All his clothing hung loose on his body.
"Shit." Tom breathed. The silken sensation had reached his chest. His heart raced. One four fingered hand touched the other. Feeling over the smooth scales that had replaced skin. "It- It feels so nice."
He had to watch. Had to see whatever was happening to him. New hands fumbled with his shirt and tie. Pulled at them frantically till they were yanked free and tossed aside. His belted pants fell away on their own. He noticed how big the pants were compared to him now.
"I'm so small!"
Scales washed down his chest and in their path his nipples faded away. He felt over where they had been but found no sign of them. Farther down his belly button was coated in scales and it also vanished. Eyes wide as he watched his rounded belly melt away to match his lean frame. Everything human about him was being replaced but he was too busy enjoying it to care.
A burst of laughter "I feel- I feel so light!"
Tom squealed as his genitals contracted. He looked down to watch as they began to shrink while at the same time his phallus rapidly rose to its full height and grew hard. A low groan at the rush of lust that hit him. His hand wrapped around his cock as he shot straight to climax. A loud cry as he shot a stream of seed over the floor. Then as fast as that arousal had hit him, it cleared. As he pulled his hand away he saw that his cock had been reshaped to a simple tapered pink tool as small as the rest of him. Now with no sign of any balls hanging under them. His cock withdrew into his body and was zipped up out of sight.
A pressure pushed at the base of his spine and he somehow knew that he was getting a tail. So he quickly rolled over to his knees to give it room to grow. He reached back to wrap a hand around it so he could feel it thicken while it took shape. A big smile on his face as he watched it form. The very tip of the tail flicked back and forth with his happiness.
He shivered in anticipation as the scales spread towards his face. "Oh boy. Here we go!"
Tom flexed his jaws as they began to extend. His facial features were pulled along with them. First his nostrils separated to a wider position on the snout that was being formed. While at the same time his eyes moved to fit a reshaped skull. In a single blink slitted reptilian eyes replace the human ones. The feeling was not painful. Quite the opposite. It felt like his face had always been cramped and now was finally being allowed to relax. He let out a gasp and snapped his new jaws. Tongue passed over his teeth, now short and sharp. Tom couldn't help but grab his own face. To enjoy the feeling of all the changes happening to his head. He felt the start of horns push from his skull and took hold of them. A trill rose into his throat as he felt those horns slide through his fingers while they grew. It was all so dizzying. Especially when his mind was altered as well. Perceptions, thoughts, instincts, were all shuffled to fit what he was becoming. He wobbled in place, his eyes unfocused and body twitched.
When he regained his focus the scales were well on their way down to his knees. Tom rolled to his side and tucked himself tight so he could grab his legs. To feel them narrow as the scales swept downwards. A strange internal itch as more bones shifted position. His legs had changed to a more animal shape. Finally the scales reached his feet where, like his hands, he felt a strange pressure. Like gloves being too tight. Toes merged one into another until only three remained. Each capped with a short but sharp claw. Tom let out a little yip as he felt over his toes. Explored the pads that now cushioned the underside.
"Wow!"
The changes were done. He was complete and man did it feel good. Like some huge weight had been lifted from mind and body. He fumbled his way to his feet. Stumbled a moment as he looked down over his nude self.
"Ok." Tom spoke to himself. "This is crazy."
He picked up his old shirt and held it up to himself. If he tried to wear it now the bottom would almost touch the ground. He no longer felt a deep need for clothing so he just tossed the shirt back back to the floor.
Once more he was looking at himself. Turning this way and that. Trying to see every angle he could. "Fucking Fantastic!"
A new voice cut through the darkness, "Isn't it?"
Tom spun towards the voice. New clumsy feet caught one against the other and he tumbled. Hands thrown out to catch himself against the bars. Bars? The darkness peeled away and he found himself in a metal cage. One fitted with slender bars and a high ceiling. The cage was set upon a massive desk. A desk covered in books, scrolls and loose papers. A large map spread half unrolled across the top. Beside him an egg, larger than him, sat upon a stand. Crystals and gems scattered about. Tom pushed off the bars and stumbled back. Until his back was against bars on the opposite side of the cage. He turned once more. Taking in the room as more was revealed. A place packed with tapestries, chests and tables covered with every sort of trinket. At the end of the room a massive fireplace burned. Which filled the room with warm light. Everything here was impossibly big.
"Over here." The voice returned.
Tom turned towards the voice. Behind the desk, where no one had been before, sat a massive figure. One dressed in rich robes of gold and purple. Hands decorated with gem covered rings. Tom's eyes widened as he looked up to the creature's avian head. Sharp eyes set behind a wicked curved beak. Its feathers were a mix of white, gray and golden brown.
"W- Who are you?" Tom managed as he looked up at the creature in awe.
"I'm called the Appraiser and you, little kobold, are my guest." The creature's feathers flared slightly along with long ears.
Tom once more took hold of the bars. He felt no fear of this giant creature. "A kobold? So that's what I am now. Why do this to me? And, why do I feel so-" He trailed off. Finding it hard to put into words.
"Well. You feel well. Like you have just recovered from a sickness you didn't know you had. Before you ask me more questions, let me ask you one, little kobold. If I offered to turn you back right now, would you take it?"
"No!" Tom shook his head sharply. "You're right about how I feel. I wouldn't ever want to go back."
"And that's why I did this to you. I seek out those who are better suited to a different life. Then give it to them."
Tom felt a moment of guilt. "What about my family? My friends? Am I abandoning them?"
The appraiser answered. "You mean your parents? Who manipulated you when young. Taking your time, energy and money. Then, when you were no longer relevant they lost interest in you? You're friends who, if you didnt work with them, would likely ignore you. Maybe your sister who you only see at family reunions and she only talks to you to brag about her life. Most of which you know are lies. The fact that you still worry about them after how they treat you is just evidence of your own good character. That being said, it's time to put your own future first."
"How do you know all of that?" Tom was mystified by the creature's knowledge of his life.
"I can see such things easily. Such is my power. It's how I find people in need of a new life such as yourself."
Tom once more looked down at himself. There were so many questions bubbling in his mind. "I'm sorry. This is all so much. So fast!"
"It's ok to be overwhelmed. You will have plenty of time to ask me whatever questions you want."
"So, I am staying here? Not going back?"
"You will go back, but for now-" The giant avian leaned in a bit closer, "I will keep you here. Teach you. Train you. A fraction of my knowledge and power will be yours. I ask only that you aid me in my plans. A length of time in service to me."
A grin crept onto Tom's muzzle and the end of his tail wagged. "You're talking magic? You're going to teach me magic?"
"Yes. Interested?" Tom could swear the avian cracked a smile.
He chirped in his excitement, "Yes. Serve you? Sure. I'd be happy too. Just one more thing?"
The appraiser canted his head in expectation of the next question.
"Why the cage?" Tom gestured to the bars.
"A sad necessity. Once in a great while I am wrong about someone. Either they carry a dark secret so deep that even I cannot see it or some other entity hides within them. The change, you see, unleashes an aspect of your real self. So when tainted people are brought here they become monsters. The cage keeps such mistakes from escaping."
"I see." Tom replied.
The Appraiser opened the cage. "Come. I have things to show you."
Tom looked back at the pile of clothing he had been wearing maybe ten minutes earlier. The remains of an old life. How sad that he couldn't think of any reason to miss it. He left the clothing behind and stepped from the cage.
LORE-
Entity Investigation Division
Entity overview: The Appraiser - Primary Entity
File: E-P-008-GC
The Appraiser is an entity that first appeared at the start of The RSE (Reality Sundering Event). Commonly known as the Shuffle. It is theorized that they are one of the primary entities responsible for the Shuffle as well as many other events that followed.
The first records of the entity came with the appearance of Kobolds on the North American continent. April 8th 2023. During interviews all Kobolds described an incredibly tall avian with apparent endless mystical power. They all seemed to be former humans who suffered from abuse, abandonment or other social issues.
These interviews were naturally cut short as the Shuffle spread across the globe and the resulting chaos led to a loss of valuable records. As such it is unknown just how much this particular entity affected earth during that period.
We know little about the Appraiser. Its species, gender and age are all a mystery. It does seem to have a goal. A plan. Yet the details elude us. Its relation to any of the other greater entities that appeared during the Shuffle are unknown.
Attempts to contact this entity are ongoing. It is considered a top priority to establish some form of contact. Any leads concerning the entity are to be investigated. Any information discovered is to be documented no matter how trivial.