Six fingered hands clutched once pristine sheets. A gray slime now stained the fabric. Uneven breaths were broken by choked whimpers.

Saræ was used to loss of composure from their patients. It was normally uncontainable pain. But they knew this was something entirely different.

The egg began to emerge. Saræ focused on what the diagnostic magic showed.

It was far from the first time they observed this process. The last three days gave a concerning abundance of opportunities.

“Anything?” Alve asked as the egg settled on the sheets. The force-mage avoided looking at the new genitalia between the patient’s parted legs.

“Nothing we didn’t know an hour ago.” Saræ picked up the egg and dropped it in a basket already full of glossy orbs.

They had grown used to the clear fluid that initially coated the eggs. It was entirely steril.

That applied to everything in the bodies of the infected. There were no pathogens, harmful or benign. Even normally vital symbiotic organisms were gone.

Kes let his fingers and toes relax. The smith’s knees pulled back together. He sat up on the cot.

“That should be the last part. I will need to perform a few final tests, and you’ll be free to go.” Kes nodded tensely at Saræ’s words.

“Do whatever you need.” The once heavy set smith sounded higher and carried the familiar musical tone to his voice. He was still proportionately wider than the other patients. But more slender than most alma.

Saræ suspected they would be dropping the masculine prefix when referring to Kes. The healer knew personally how inapplicable it felt. Habit was all that kept it in their mind this long.

The spells required no contact or action from their patient. Kes was soon stepping through the flap leading to the improvised bathing tent.

They would need to remove the waste material covering their skin and acquire clean clothes. Saræ remembered doing the same before a system was in place.

“There is no parasite to remove. Not by the time I get to them.” The acolyte of Nala dried their hands on a cloth.

“It merges perfectly. I could cut it off, but I don’t think it would matter.” The idea caused their own tail to twitch under their robe. It instinctively felt like mutilation.

Alve sighed. “That is not good.” He sat on the stool beside his impromptu work table.

The journey-mage was both the most holistically trained and combat capable mage in the outpost. That made him an obvious choice to assist Saræ in seeking a solution.

The fact he was also the only one who could open and close the quarantine zone and best guard for the compromised workers inside remained unspoken. Compromised workers that included Saræ themselves.

“Every cell changes completely. I don’t recognize half the enzymes. And all the organs restructure. Most just disappear.” They were beginning to realize how beyond their skills this was.

They were essentially a new organism. One that defied basic biology.

Saræ felt like they were the same person. Or rather they felt as if they should feel that way. But they could tell clinically they were not.

There were new instincts the acolyte never had as an alma. Instincts that became easy to identify when Saræ dwelled on them.

Their sexual desires had always been exclusive to the male anatomy. Interest in the same sex mattered little in the heavily settled east of Rojin.

Only the rural Western Rojin was outside Habe’s influence and had strong stigmas against such acts and relationships. The senior acolyte grew up culturally and geographically removed from that bias.

Yet nothing about the female form held interest outside the performance of their duties. That had changed.

They noticed the elevated awareness of their female coworkers a few hours after their transformation. It was especially pronounced when they saw or thought about the genitalia of women or the other infected.

Their hindbrain willingly provided an idea how their new tail could be used. And the flush of heat and sensitivity near the end backed it up.

It was not some overwhelming compulsion. They could ignore it and act professionally the same way they did around males they objectively found attractive. Yet it was clearly there when they ruminated on it.

The egg laying was similar. Saræ had only done it four times since the first. Each time was so they could magically analyze what happened inside their body.

But not everyone was so clinical. And the difference between how transformed victims responded to the sight and the reactions of alma onlookers suggested a fundamental shift.

It may have been caused by knowing what the process felt like. All the infected had lain an egg after their physical changes were over. And they knew it was far from painful.

Saræ suspected there was more to it. The adjustment was too consistent and immediate. It felt natural. As mundane as eating or drinking.

“How is it on your end?” Saræ looked to the crude fiber bracelets forming two piles on the table. The finished pile was much smaller.

“Slow. Too slow.” Alve was clearly frustrated.

“They want me to make more than a hundred defensive charms while most of my energy is going into the barrier over the pit and around the quarantine.” The pit was the now unfinished latreen that started this crisis.

The excavation unexpectedly broke into a chamber containing the parasites. Those parasites caused instant panic in the workers and escaped before the barrier was erected. Not without one attaching to Saræ and anyone with the misfortune to be in the area.

“These won’t last more than a few days or uses. Whichever comes first. The initial batch will be failing before I’ve equipped everyone.” Alve leaned back. Saræ assumed he had run out of magic again.

“The manager is buying time. He needs it contained until we get help.” The nature of that help was a sword hanging over them.

Saræ knew the truth behind the mysterious outbreak. It was not a curse or curable pathogen. They spent the last few days proving that. Despite hoping to do the opposite.

The healer had not told anyone. But they were not alma anymore. They were something else. Changed down to the most fundamental level. Even their magic felt different.

Alve knew it too. Yet neither of them dared say it out loud. Not when that meant acknowledging that the help would be capture or extermination.

The force mage had good odds of being released after the authorities confirmed he was untainted. The chance of everyone being killed as a precaution was small. That did not apply to Saræ.

“Have they learned anything from the body?” Alve was now their primary source of news from outside the quarantine.

“Nothing useful. It is too decomposed to determine much physically. They’ll probably give up and let you examine it soon.” The degraded corpse was found in the uncovered cavity.

The only other things discovered were the parasites and numerous shards now thought to be egg shells. Saræ suspected the eggs they produced would eventually be more of those parasites.

It lacked clothing or any other items. And festering underground had made it difficult for anyone at the outpost to identify.

“Everyone knows he is the right height. And his tent was directly over the pit. I could match the remains easily.” The lack of physical evidence had not prevented the dots from being put together.

“What would the timeline be? We all know his behavior was consistent since he arrived. Was he replaced after, or did he smuggle the corpse into camp.” The frustration in Alve’s voice was obvious.

Rekon was their best lead. The alma had been under scrutiny since shortly after he awoke without memories. Yet suspicion was all they had. Nothing about the available evidence made a clear course of events.

“I don’t know. Maybe it would make sense if we knew what he really was.” Saræ started taking the soiled sheets off the cot. Kes left the same enzyme slurry that everyone did.

“They told me how dangerous it would be here. But I never really got it before. You can lose everything by the dark gods’ whims.” A long silence passed.

Saræ bundled the cloth and turned. The sight of Alve slumped on the table took a second to sink in.

They dropped the sheets. The healer was casting diagnostic spells by his side a moment later. Alve’s abrupt and unnatural position could not be good.

Nothing seemed wrong. He was deeply asleep. Too deeply.

The body took time to move through the stages of rest. It was a dangerous sign that he had reached such an inactive state so quickly.

Saræ tried to understand the cause. It was risky to magically wake anyone up without knowing why they lost consciousness.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

The tent flap opened. They glanced at it. Then their attention snapped back.

“Ginger, go tell one of the guards that Alve passed out.” The red haired woman waved dismissively in response.

“Don’t worry. He is perfectly safe. Ginger-42947L is harmless. It flips a little switch in the brain until its out if the bloodstream.” Ginger pointed at her head to demonstrate where the supposed switch was.

The implications slowly dawned. “You did this?” Saræ felt numb for a moment. Then burning anger took over. “Why the fuck?”

The research student raised her eyebrows. “Because we will need him to escape.” Saræ blinked.

“What?” Ginger ignored the question.

She strolled over to the healer and unconscious mage. An orange hand dipped into the satchel at her side and pulled out a faintly glowing glass cylinder.

Ginger held the item up. “If I don’t disarm this in the next two minutes, or if it is removed from the grounds of C5 or broken, everyone in a quarter mile will vaporize. So please don’t knock me out before that.” The supposed bomb had metal caps on both ends. Unfamiliar symbols marked the dials on each cap.

“You’re mad.” Saræ had no idea what the device was. But the unnerving glint in her eyes made them reluctant to doubt the psychotic mage.

“I prefer inspired and driven. But I can be mad if it helps.” Ginger returned the bomb to her bag and pulled out a large jar. The ceramic vessel must have taken up most of the space inside.

“We both know you are going to be killed in a week. Fortnight at the most.” The student set the jar on the table.

“That or dissected by talentless hacks with no vision.” It sounded as if she found the lack of vision the most offensive part of that prospect.

“Do you want everyone affected to die horribly? Knowing the kingdom, the rest of us will be silenced to cover their asses.” She lifted Alve’s limp hand and slid a bracelet off.

“No, but we can’t just leave.” Saræ did not disagree. They simply knew the manager could not let them escape.

“Of course we can. All we need is to get through the barrier and run while everyone is distracted.” Ginger hooked her arms under Alve’s own.

She hoisted him off the chair and lay the mage face down on the tent floor. Saræ almost stopped her. But the student was right. And there was the bomb to consider. “Why did you drug him?”

Ginger pulled up his robes and tugged his pantaloons down a few inches. “Because he’ll need to take down the barrier around the quarantine.” The acolyte frowned.

“He won’t do that. It would make him an enemy of the state.” Ginger picked up the jar and turned it upside down.

“Yes, they will.” She deftly rested the edge against his crena. Saræ only realized what the orange woman meant as she pulled off the top and pressed the opening flush with Alve’s lower back.

“You…” The healer trailed off. Ginger held the jar for a few moments. Then she pulled it away.

A small tail flopped limply to the side. As limp as all the mage’s other limbs. Saræ silently kneeled and started stripping the unconscious mage.

Ginger nodded in understanding. She did not help. Instead she sat on the ground and took out the bomb.

Adjusting the four dials caused the slowly increasing glow to dim. “That was close. I did not want to become loose atoms today.” Saræ looked over at her.

“It was actually a bomb?” They had been hoping the unhinged mage was bluffing.

“Of course, it wouldn’t be much of a deterrent otherwise.” Saræ could have argued that the possibility was enough deterrent. They decided to focus on getting arms through sleeves.

“Take the front.” Ginger nodded and helped lift Alve onto the still bare cot.

“How long will it take? I need to leave before the antidote runs out.” Saræ gave the mage a side-glance.

“Between a few hours to half a day. That was the range for everyone else.” Ginger nodded.

She retrieved a metallic cylinder slightly smaller than the bomb. Unscrewing the top let her slide out a wooden rod.

The item was only four inches long and the width of Saræ’s pinky finger. A divot had been carved part way through at the center.

“Break it when he is ready to take down the barrier.” Ginger handed the crude messaging item to Saræ.

“How did you get through the barrier?” The red haired mage ignored them.

Ginger strolled to the tent flap with the same casual ease she entered. “Remember to get everyone out during the distraction. I’ll see you on the plains.” She stepped outside without giving any hint what that distraction was.

Saræ was left waiting. They watched gray gradually overtake Alve.

“Fuck it.” They undid their robe. It was tossed on the table along with their underwear. Their mind felt less turmoltuous after the eighth egg.

The acolyte of Nala dressed as Alve’s skin began to dissolve. The force mage stirred as the final stages rebuilt their body.

They opened obsidian eyes. “Saræ…?” Alve brought a hand to scrape the sludge out of their vision.

“I’m here.” They placed a gentle hand on Alve’s forehead. “Don’t get up. It’s not over.” The downward pressure was just enough to suggest they stay prone.

“Did you knock me out?” The question did not sound accusatory. As if they were simply curious.

“No. Ginger did. She is trying to get us out of here. She threatened me with an explosive, if you can believe it.” Alve inhaled, choked and spat slime and teeth to the side.

“I can.” They lay back down.

“I thought you might attack me. Although I didn’t expect this. I wouldn’t have blamed you. I think I was hoping you would. So I wouldn’t have to live with the choice, you know.” Saræ stroked their scalp. Hair and goo came away.

“Thank you. I’m sorry this happened.” The mage laughed. It was clear not all the residue had left there airway.

“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. It’s not really Ginger’s either.” Saræ took their hand. A few minutes later the grip tightened.

“I think it’s starting.” Alve sounded uncertain.

“Don’t worry. It won’t hurt.” Saræ remembered the growing impulse that Alve was experiencing.

They watched the mage part their legs. It was an instinct the healer knew well.

Small gasps and the clenching of their hand on Saræ’s let the acolyte track what Alve was feeling. Soon the egg crowned and their body shuddered.

The journey mage relaxed. Then sat up to inspect the egg and tail tucked between their legs. “Not hurting was an understatement.” They commented.

“I didn’t feel like getting into exactly what it’s like. But now you know.” Saræ laughed.

“I guess I do.” They repositioned and stood.

“Ginger is going to make a distraction when you are ready to deactivate the barrier.” Alve shook their head..

“I bet she is.” They started moving their hands and muttering arcane components.

The slime pealed away from the top of their head down. A ring of goo was left around there feet.

Saræ had always found Alve attractive. But their leaner and more angular gray form stirred something the healer had no time to examine.

“That felt different…” They looked pensive.

“Like your magic is trying to do what you want before you make it.” Saræ added.

Alve nodded slowly. “Maybe? It was as if I had to hold it back. Like the spell had its own will.” They sounded apprehensive.

“It has been making things easier. My spells do what I want, even if I slip up.” The change was strange at first. But the spells Saræ made now were faster and more effective.

They held the messaging rod out to Alve. “We are supposed to break this when you are ready.” They inspected the carved wood.

“I am ready now. Except for my clothes. We are going to want a distraction before I walk outside like this.” Alve turned to the pile Saræ left their pants and robe in.

The force mage dressed quickly. The looser garments requiring their belt to be tied far tighter. They did not comment on the eggs Saræ left in the middle of the floor.

They shook out their hands. Then nodded. Saræ snapped the rod in half. There was a long moment where nothing happened. That moment continued.

“Do you think it sta…” Saræ was cut off as the world went white.

No. It was not white. It was a color. One that shown so brightly they could see it through their eyelids. But Saræ had never seen that color before.

Everything was vibrating. Or was Saræ vibrating. They could feel their teeth shaking.

It all spun. But there was nothing to spin. Only Saræ themselves.

The healer realized they were lying on the floor. They must have fallen during the complete sensory overload.

Sitting up revealed an unchanged medical tent. There was no sign of the destruction Saræ half expected.

“What was that?” Alve pulled themselves back to their feet.

“I guess it was the distraction?” Saræ did not know what to think. It had certainly been distracting. But would that be enough to let them escape with all the infected?

“Let’s go.” Alve left the tent without another word. Saræ followed.

The few thousand square feet within the barrier were crowded by confused infected. There were originally tents, bedrolls and food for everyone.

But the problem had expanded beyond what the small patch of contained land could support. Now the patients were limited to a blanket and a couple feet of ground to call their own.

Alve cut through the milling gray figures. The enchantments on their person let them push past even those larger and heavier.

Saræ followed in their wake. The force mage was already casting when they reached the invisible line no one could step past.

The evenly spaced guards outside the barrier had collapsed where they stood. They twitched and jolted periodically. It reminded the acolyte of the thrashing that could accompany fever dreams.

“What did she do?” Saræ muttered. The infected had recovered from Ginger’s distraction quickly. Or at least quicker than the alma. But it was impossible to know how much longer the effects would last.

The senior acolyte turned back to the crowd. Most looked confused. Yet they spotted several that had inferred what was happening. Those people were already gathering the few belongings they still had.

“Everyone! There is no cure. Alve’s dropping the wall. If you don’t want to face execution, run for the wilds when it comes down.” The yelled instructions carried over anxious questions.

Most looked surprised or uncertain. It was obvious the extent and implications of their transfiguration was not clear to everyone.

Alve violently slashed their hand through the air. “Go!” They broke into a run.

Saræ started after them. They did not know how many followed. There was no time to convince the apprehensive.

It was immediately apparent they should have left their robes behind. The long flowing garments were poorly suited to speed.

Alve headed directly away from the central fortress. The outbreak started on the edge of the outpost, where Rekon’s followers were camped. The commotion behind suggested some of their patients had heeded the healer’s advice.

Packed earth became grass beneath their feet. Alve headed towards the tree cover.

Saræ slowed enough to look back. Gray people in ill fitting clothes were spreading out from the outpost. Many chose a random direction or stuck with a handful of others. But a little less than half were close behind.

They returned to running and not tripping on their robes. The manager would try to track them down. More so once support from Rojin arrived.

Yet the unclaimed lands were vast. A couple dozen gray tailed and black eyed fugitives could be swallowed entirely.