“It’s all fine. We understand the unique set of circumstances you are under. I merely ask because now, in a time during which so much is occurring in our world, we need to the help of someone with your special position. You see, because we don’t have much information on the inner workings of Osborn Inc. , there is not much we can do to actually stop their horrifying practices. Which is where you come in. We need you to gather information for us and help us to destroy their audacious company.
I’m sure you want to help your fellow shapeshifters in this fight. “I’m not the biggest fan of the people that work there and I definitely want to study shapeshifting here,” Autumn said. “I guess I wouldn’t mind, but after that I never want to go back to that god forsaken place again. ” “Perfect! ” Charlie exclaimed. “Then we can be done with this conversation. You can stay here tonight and then tomorrow morning, we will give you a quick lesson before you return to Osborn Inc. ” Autumn smiled, but her exhaustion was returning. Charlie stood up and held open the door to his office.
Autumn stepped into the noisy and large room outside and followed Charlie to one side, where more doors stood, though these were plain white, nothing fancy. He pointed to one of the doors and then walked away, leaving her standing tiredly in the doorway. She found on the other side rows and rows of bunk beds, but not one of them was filled. Picking one at random, she collapsed into a dark and dreamless speech. Morning came so quickly, it was as if the night had never existed. Charlie woke her up early by crashing two metal plates together several times and she stumbled out of bed, clumsily wiping sleep from her eyes.
Smoothing her crumpled clothes and running a thin hand through her tangled hair, she followed Charlie from the room of beds into a room with a giant projector screen at the front. “What is today’s lesson? ” Autumn yawned. “Animal Physiology 101,” he replied, marching up to the front of the room, and turning on the projector. “Now listen up and be quiet,” Charlie began with a crisp voice. “In order to shapeshift you must understand the basic parts of the inner animal, such as its bones and muscles. Why? Because in order to properly transform into an animal, you must concentrate on each part of your body changing.
For example your hand turning into a paw. So I will teach you the different functions of bones and body parts in a bear and then you will practice concentrating on turning into a bear, focusing on each part of your body shifting into a bear. We will be starting with one of the most essential parts of any life form, but the easiest part of transformation: the stomach. A bear’s stomach is monogastric, just like a human’s stomach. They are also omnivores, making the shifting from human to bear quite simple. Because the stomach is so similar to a human stomach, you don’t concentrate on it as much as you would other systems.
However, it is necessary to mention for two reasons: firstly, if you don’t partially focus on the stomach when you shapeshift, there is a small possibility that you may feel stomach pain when transformed, and secondly, I believe it is necessary for you to learn about everything so that you may truly master your animal form. ” For the next five hours Charlie droned on about the parietal bone, the ilium, the calcaneus, the intercostal nerves, and other things and names that got lost in Autumns head. He released her from class with homework to study the different bones and nerves, and to try to shapeshift whenever she felt ready.
Then he sent her back upstairs into the outside world and asked her to return in the night. Autumn felt exhilarated as she pranced through the woods, thinking about all that she had seen and heard in such a short period of time. It was as if everything stressful about shapeshifting had melted away and the world had suddenly become free and open to abundant new possibilities. The excitement rushed through her and she felt the bear come out and then poof, she was an animal. It seemed so simple now. No anxiety, no pain, just happiness. Control may not be present yet, but it was easier to be a bear now.
Autumn took off into the forest, rushing through the trees and rejoicing in the favorable weather. The minutes flew by and suddenly she was in a part of the forest she thought she knew, by the Osborn Inc. headquarters, crashing towards one of the many sparkling rivers the forest held. Bursting from the trees, she intended to jump and play in the cool refreshing waters, but then she saw him. Eli. Looking at her with fright and confusion, as if he didn’t recognize her. Autumn briefly felt upset, until she realized her bear form and turned back quickly into the woods.
She frolicked around for a couple of hours, eventually going back to play in the river, before she decided that it was high time she returned to work. Eli seemed rather flustered when she walked in as if he had just finished yelling at someone. The world was too new and exciting for her to care at the moment and so she settled down to work. She had tried to determine exactly what Charlie wanted from her earlier in the day to no avail. Work contracts? Employee records? She settled for expense reports and company complaints, typing them into her computer and emailing them to Charlie.
It was monotonous work, but Autumn felt rather important to be helping people just like her. She felt eyes fixed upon her and glanced up. Eli was gazing at her with a frightening intensity; his eyes seemed to be burning holes right through her facade and accusing her of betraying him. She knew she couldn’t tell him, but she almost wanted to. Autumn felt sorry for him and his entire family situation; she also thought that they might be developing some sort of relationship. She tried to go back to work, but still felt him staring at her, until he abruptly stood up and left.
As the day wore to a close, Autumn worked over a particularly lengthy expense that didn’t quite seem right. The door slammed open and Eli sauntered in. She didn’t look up at him and tried to focus on connecting the missing pieces of the report. He said something unintelligible. “Hmmm? ” she said, slowly pulling herself out of the stacks of papers in front of her. “I asked you if you wanted to have dinner with me tonight? ” Eli replied. “Like in the dining hall as we have been doing every night? ” she asked. What was he doing? “No. Just you and me. Somewhere nice,” Eli said. “Ummm…. what? ” “As in I’m asking you on a date. “Right… ” Autumn said, edging away from him.
“So I’m just going to walk away and pretend this never happened, so bye. ” He just asked me out! He’s my boss and he just asked me out. Is he crazy? What does he think, that I like him? I’m trying to destroy his company for goodness sake. Autumn shook her head and distractedly walked upstairs. In the fresh night air, her brain seemed to calm just a smidge. She began to focus, concentrating hard on all of the things that Charlie had taught her just that morning, all of the bones and nerves and muscles. Then, with great effort, she began to change.
Her body fattened, her fingers shortened, her nails grew into claws. The freedom was just as incredible as it had been, the anxiety about Eli had dissipated and she was galloping through the forest, through the tall trees that cast long shadows. Autumn loved the forest at night. The tree branches overhead tangled so thick that everything below was as dark as obsidian and Autumn had to rely on her other instincts to carry her safely over rocks and underbrush. When she reached the rock that was the outside of Shapeshifting International, she found Charlie leaning languidly by the rock. She transformed back into uman form.
Together they descended into the large chaotic room below, conversing about the day’s work. As much happiness as Autumn felt, as much as she felt the rightness of being here, there was a seed of doubt planted in her mind. Was it right to destroy someone else’s life for her own sake? Was it right to take down Eli’s company when it was the only thing giving him sanity and putting distance between him and his family? Autumn wondered. And as much as she wanted to deny it, as much as she wanted to stay away from Eli, she couldn’t help but wondering, if it would be so crazy to go on that date with Eli.
