Pausing halfway through typing an email, Jeph considered the animated hand that had just appeared inside his computer monitor. As he watched, a version of Kitbash that looked like her anime adaptation, as opposed to her usual photorealism, pulled herself up into view, sitting on his task bar. "Don't you have better things to do?" he asked wryly.
"Eh, I'm multitasking," she replied, pulling a lunchbox out of nowhere and taking out a sandwich. "For starters, I'm passing on a message." Taking a bite of her lunch, she held up an appointment book in her other hand. "Dad made an appointment with Sheriff Roberts for later today, around three pm. The sheriff also suggested that, and this is direct quote by the way, 'stop pretending you're not involved and get your variable gender ass down here already.’"
"Ha!" Nene called out from where she was working on her laptop
"She's a rather lively person," the AI commented.
“That’s one way to put it,” the man agreed. “Is Chris still in that staff meeting?”
“Yeah. I’m not going to go into detail, but I think it’s going well. Maybe.” The other two people looked over, but she shrugged. “Sorry, part of my awareness is still trying to gauge their reactions.”
Nene thought about things for a moment, then decided to roll the dice. “How’d the call to your grandparents go? I mean, if you don’t want to talk about it-”
She didn’t even finish before Kitbash jumped to her feet, a massive grin on her face, narrowly avoiding bashing her head against a chat window Jeph had open in the process. “I have the best grandparents ever!” she announced. “I’ve always loved them, but today, they proved they were awesome!”
Leaning back in his chair, Jeph smiled at her delight. “Well, there’s a good sign,” he noted as Nene stood up and walked over.
“So, Mum was really nervous about making that call,” Kitbash told him, walking back and forth across his screen. “She was trying to act calm, but it looks like most of her tells have more or less the same starting point. When she gets really nervous, her nose itches. Even if she tries to ignore it, it starts twitching. She really doesn’t have a good poker face,” he noted to Jeph with a grin. “Probably didn’t help that we got them a ‘waved television for Christmas that does video calls.”
Suppressing a wince, Nene nodded. “I can see how that’d be a problem right now.”
“I know, right? It seemed like such a good idea at the time too,” she grumbled. “So, I was handling the call first. I thought that I might be able to explain it enough to at least lessen the impact. And then Poppa says that if I’m the one calling, the biomod must be pretty extreme.” Smiling, Kitbash stepped into the current wallpaper, leaning against the closest of Starbug 1’s legs. “He figured it could be anything from Catgirl to xenomorph, and no matter what, he was willing to deal with it.”
Considering that for a moment, Jeph paled slightly. “Are there any xenomorphs in Fenspace?” he wondered.
“I’d rather not know,” Nene replied.
Kitbash gave the pair an irritated look, then pushed on with the story. “So Dad gets on the screen, and, well, yeah, it didn’t just wash over them. But they dealt with it.” She smiled again, shaking her head. “They’re not Fen, they don’t deal with the Weird as much as we do. But when they have to, boy do they deal.” Clapping her hands together, she laughed, then quickly repositioned herself to avoid falling over as the wallpaper changed, jumping back onto the taskbar. “Gran even had even tracked down all the paperwork you need for a ‘handwavium induced physical condition change’ back home. She did that years ago, and kept it up to date for a rainy day.”
Laughing, Jeph glanced over at Nene. “Well, I’m impressed.”
“I know. So few people understand the need to plan ahead properly,” she agreed.
“They did rip her a new one over getting in that mess to start with, but Mum totally deserved that,” Kit noted with a smirk, “so I’m not complaining about her getting told off for it. I mean, she’d scold me it I was that reckless, right?”
Snorting, Jeph made a shooing gesture with his hands. “Hop onto another screen, could you? I am supposed to be working here,” he pointed out. Grinning, she stepped off-screen, appearing on his second monitor instead. “Thank you.”
Curious, Kitbash glanced back at the first monitor. “What’re you working on anyway?” Frowning, she ran a hand through her hair. “Or should I not be asking because I work for another company and looking too hard would be considered questionable?” she asked.
“It’s not JMC-related… sort of,” he replied. “I told your dad there’s a lot of noise on the SMOF channels over this mess. Well, I was keeping quiet there until I calmed down a little and thought about it.” Glancing over at the girl on the second monitor, he rolled his eyes. “Not everyone took the time to catch their breaths. It seems the Professor’s a more volatile issue than I realised.”
Leaning over Jephs shoulder to consider the email, Nene chuckled darkly. “Doesn’t help that a few of the SMOF crowd know Chris one way or another,” she commented. “It adds a little more impact to it when you can put a face to a disaster.”
Kitbash glanced over at the other monitor, then decided against going and taking a peek anyway, instead pulling out a chair and sitting down. “Hey, can I ask you guys something?” she asked, her voice now much more serious. “With Dad… Do you think she’s coping okay? I mean, she told me earlier she was a bit freaked out, and I know she’s not entirely comfortable, but…” She waved a hand, searching for words.
“I know what you mean,” Jeph replied, pausing in his typing. “And really, I’m not too sure. The thing is Kit, there’s no consistent way on how people react to biomods. Or even on how it affects people mentally.” He frowned, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “When you throw in gender and species changes, it’s even worse. I speak with some personal experience on the former issue,” he added wryly.
Resting against the desk, Nene looked over at the monitor. “I’ve known people who never managed to deal with their change,” she said, voice regretful. “It didn’t always end well there either. I’ve known people who adjusted one way or another, or just… deal with it. Like one guy who’s been physically female for about five years, but still considers himself male.” She smirked slightly at that, drawing an odd look from the other two, but continued before they could ask about it. “Then there are people that get changed, and feel and act normal. Could be one of a hundred reasons. Maybe they had identity issues beforehand and the ‘wave changed their bodies to match.”
“I can think of a few there,” Jeph agreed.
“And then there’s the people that the wave altered to fit their new bodies,” Nene said. Kitbashes eyes widened in alarm, but Nene smiled and patted the top of the monitor. “Not extensively. Think of it more as smoothing out any rough edges. Making it so they can handle who they are now. After all, depending on the biomod, that could be their body for a long time.”
“And that doesn’t mean it’s what happened to your dad,” Jeph pointed out. “It’s just a possibility. Whatever it turns out to be, we’ll just have to wait and see. And if and when she needs us, we’ll be there. All of us,” he promised the AI, who nodded slightly in gratitude.
Sighing, Nene stopped leaning on the desk and walked back over to her laptop. “I just wish Chris had met Takami before all this happened,” she complained. Kitbash gave her an odd look, while Jeph nodded thoughtfully, and she shrugged. “Look, she’s not the best at dealing with people… in fact, sometimes she’s hilariously hopeless,” she muttered, “And she’s got a lot to learn still, but her pattern-detection abilities are scary. She’s like some kind of freaking wizard at noticing things, even if she can’t always understand the context.”
“And she saw Chris as a woman,” Jeph mused. “Not just physically either…” He glanced at Kitbash, who had a thoughtful expression on her face. “And you’ve called her ‘Mum’ several times since you wandered into my computer,” he noted. She blinked, clearly having failed to notice that. “I’m going to give you the contact details for a few counsellors I know that have some experience with biomods, just in case she gets stubborn.”
Kit nodded slightly. “That might not be a bad idea…”
"Eh, I'm multitasking," she replied, pulling a lunchbox out of nowhere and taking out a sandwich. "For starters, I'm passing on a message." Taking a bite of her lunch, she held up an appointment book in her other hand. "Dad made an appointment with Sheriff Roberts for later today, around three pm. The sheriff also suggested that, and this is direct quote by the way, 'stop pretending you're not involved and get your variable gender ass down here already.’"
"Ha!" Nene called out from where she was working on her laptop
"She's a rather lively person," the AI commented.
“That’s one way to put it,” the man agreed. “Is Chris still in that staff meeting?”
“Yeah. I’m not going to go into detail, but I think it’s going well. Maybe.” The other two people looked over, but she shrugged. “Sorry, part of my awareness is still trying to gauge their reactions.”
Nene thought about things for a moment, then decided to roll the dice. “How’d the call to your grandparents go? I mean, if you don’t want to talk about it-”
She didn’t even finish before Kitbash jumped to her feet, a massive grin on her face, narrowly avoiding bashing her head against a chat window Jeph had open in the process. “I have the best grandparents ever!” she announced. “I’ve always loved them, but today, they proved they were awesome!”
Leaning back in his chair, Jeph smiled at her delight. “Well, there’s a good sign,” he noted as Nene stood up and walked over.
“So, Mum was really nervous about making that call,” Kitbash told him, walking back and forth across his screen. “She was trying to act calm, but it looks like most of her tells have more or less the same starting point. When she gets really nervous, her nose itches. Even if she tries to ignore it, it starts twitching. She really doesn’t have a good poker face,” he noted to Jeph with a grin. “Probably didn’t help that we got them a ‘waved television for Christmas that does video calls.”
Suppressing a wince, Nene nodded. “I can see how that’d be a problem right now.”
“I know, right? It seemed like such a good idea at the time too,” she grumbled. “So, I was handling the call first. I thought that I might be able to explain it enough to at least lessen the impact. And then Poppa says that if I’m the one calling, the biomod must be pretty extreme.” Smiling, Kitbash stepped into the current wallpaper, leaning against the closest of Starbug 1’s legs. “He figured it could be anything from Catgirl to xenomorph, and no matter what, he was willing to deal with it.”
Considering that for a moment, Jeph paled slightly. “Are there any xenomorphs in Fenspace?” he wondered.
“I’d rather not know,” Nene replied.
Kitbash gave the pair an irritated look, then pushed on with the story. “So Dad gets on the screen, and, well, yeah, it didn’t just wash over them. But they dealt with it.” She smiled again, shaking her head. “They’re not Fen, they don’t deal with the Weird as much as we do. But when they have to, boy do they deal.” Clapping her hands together, she laughed, then quickly repositioned herself to avoid falling over as the wallpaper changed, jumping back onto the taskbar. “Gran even had even tracked down all the paperwork you need for a ‘handwavium induced physical condition change’ back home. She did that years ago, and kept it up to date for a rainy day.”
Laughing, Jeph glanced over at Nene. “Well, I’m impressed.”
“I know. So few people understand the need to plan ahead properly,” she agreed.
“They did rip her a new one over getting in that mess to start with, but Mum totally deserved that,” Kit noted with a smirk, “so I’m not complaining about her getting told off for it. I mean, she’d scold me it I was that reckless, right?”
Snorting, Jeph made a shooing gesture with his hands. “Hop onto another screen, could you? I am supposed to be working here,” he pointed out. Grinning, she stepped off-screen, appearing on his second monitor instead. “Thank you.”
Curious, Kitbash glanced back at the first monitor. “What’re you working on anyway?” Frowning, she ran a hand through her hair. “Or should I not be asking because I work for another company and looking too hard would be considered questionable?” she asked.
“It’s not JMC-related… sort of,” he replied. “I told your dad there’s a lot of noise on the SMOF channels over this mess. Well, I was keeping quiet there until I calmed down a little and thought about it.” Glancing over at the girl on the second monitor, he rolled his eyes. “Not everyone took the time to catch their breaths. It seems the Professor’s a more volatile issue than I realised.”
Leaning over Jephs shoulder to consider the email, Nene chuckled darkly. “Doesn’t help that a few of the SMOF crowd know Chris one way or another,” she commented. “It adds a little more impact to it when you can put a face to a disaster.”
Kitbash glanced over at the other monitor, then decided against going and taking a peek anyway, instead pulling out a chair and sitting down. “Hey, can I ask you guys something?” she asked, her voice now much more serious. “With Dad… Do you think she’s coping okay? I mean, she told me earlier she was a bit freaked out, and I know she’s not entirely comfortable, but…” She waved a hand, searching for words.
“I know what you mean,” Jeph replied, pausing in his typing. “And really, I’m not too sure. The thing is Kit, there’s no consistent way on how people react to biomods. Or even on how it affects people mentally.” He frowned, trying to figure out how to phrase it. “When you throw in gender and species changes, it’s even worse. I speak with some personal experience on the former issue,” he added wryly.
Resting against the desk, Nene looked over at the monitor. “I’ve known people who never managed to deal with their change,” she said, voice regretful. “It didn’t always end well there either. I’ve known people who adjusted one way or another, or just… deal with it. Like one guy who’s been physically female for about five years, but still considers himself male.” She smirked slightly at that, drawing an odd look from the other two, but continued before they could ask about it. “Then there are people that get changed, and feel and act normal. Could be one of a hundred reasons. Maybe they had identity issues beforehand and the ‘wave changed their bodies to match.”
“I can think of a few there,” Jeph agreed.
“And then there’s the people that the wave altered to fit their new bodies,” Nene said. Kitbashes eyes widened in alarm, but Nene smiled and patted the top of the monitor. “Not extensively. Think of it more as smoothing out any rough edges. Making it so they can handle who they are now. After all, depending on the biomod, that could be their body for a long time.”
“And that doesn’t mean it’s what happened to your dad,” Jeph pointed out. “It’s just a possibility. Whatever it turns out to be, we’ll just have to wait and see. And if and when she needs us, we’ll be there. All of us,” he promised the AI, who nodded slightly in gratitude.
Sighing, Nene stopped leaning on the desk and walked back over to her laptop. “I just wish Chris had met Takami before all this happened,” she complained. Kitbash gave her an odd look, while Jeph nodded thoughtfully, and she shrugged. “Look, she’s not the best at dealing with people… in fact, sometimes she’s hilariously hopeless,” she muttered, “And she’s got a lot to learn still, but her pattern-detection abilities are scary. She’s like some kind of freaking wizard at noticing things, even if she can’t always understand the context.”
“And she saw Chris as a woman,” Jeph mused. “Not just physically either…” He glanced at Kitbash, who had a thoughtful expression on her face. “And you’ve called her ‘Mum’ several times since you wandered into my computer,” he noted. She blinked, clearly having failed to notice that. “I’m going to give you the contact details for a few counsellors I know that have some experience with biomods, just in case she gets stubborn.”
Kit nodded slightly. “That might not be a bad idea…”