As I entered my apartment, I was greeted with a surprised “Brrup!” by Pepsi, as my little kitty rushed over and gave me an anxious head-butt to my leg. She was glad to see me!  Then, to my surprise, she backed up and hackled – and ran off.

 

                “Hey Pepsi!  What’s wrong?”  I called, before I realized the answer.  I looked and smelled different.  I learned pets recognize us by smell a long time ago – but they also recognize us by look.  Back when I was married, my wife had a dog – and one year, at Halloween, I put on one of those Serial Killer with Knives for hands masks – and my dog literally FREAKED OUT and would not come near me.  Oh geez!  Did I just scare Pepsi half to death?  My heart felt like it broke a little, and I rushed over to my bedroom and got one of my old shirts that still smelled of me, and went to find Pepsi – hiding under the bed, shaking and mewing in fear, like I thought. 

 

                I offered her my old shirt, and tried soothing her – but nothing seemed to work, at least for the moment.  Dammit, I thought.  I didn’t realize this would be a problem.  I scared my furbaby!  I such an asshole!  I stood, and sighed sadly.  There’s nothing to be done right now, I guess.  She’ll have to adjust at her own pace.  Hopefully my smell on the shirt would calm my little girl.

 

                I stripped off my clothes – they still stunk, mostly of smoke, but now a little bit of garlic too.  I smiled, remembering dinner with Eddie.  A lot of things were going to be more complicated now, I thought.  Soon, I was naked – and I headed to the bathroom for a shower.

 

                The hot water was nice, and I could feel the sting of the showerhead on my breasts as being a little painful.  Weird, I thought.  I can bounce literal bullets, but the shower pressure feels like stinging?  I adjusted the shower head and suddenly the stinging went away, and I relaxed in the warm flow.  I’d always felt relaxed by showers before – but this time, my sensations were firing on overload.  Everything felt more sensitive, from my scalp, to my breasts, to the water running down my new slimmer body.  As I felt my hands slide over my new feminine curves, I couldn’t help but smile, and feel good.  This is right, I thought.  This feels like I should feel.  I felt so happy, I think I started to cry a little, but the tears were washed away before I could tell.

 

                I washed quickly, but carefully – and I kind of enjoyed the way my breasts felt when I washed them.  I was careful about ‘down there’ too.  What is it that my ex-wife used to say?  More than a minute is playing with yourself?  I don’t know – but I wasn’t ready to play around.  I was dirty, tired, and stressed out.  Maybe another day, I thought.  I just wanted sleep – and Pepsi to be okay with me.

 

                I dried myself off with a towel, and I couldn’t help but notice the towel felt rough and harsh against my skin.  I shrugged.  What’s up with the selectively sensitive skin versus bulletproof skin? I wondered.  It didn’t really make sense to me.  At least I hadn’t lost all sensation – that would have been awful.  Bed looked appealing, but my new mop of blonde hair needed drying, so I spent the next 15 minutes with a blow dryer in my hand, brushing my locks.  Oddly, my hair wasn’t in the same style of haircut I had that morning – but I supposed if that weird storm could change me so drastically, changing a haircut was small potatoes. 

 

                Finally satisfied my hair was dry, I headed to bed, grabbing a pair of boxer shorts and a T-shirt to sleep it.  They sort of fit enough to sleep, and I crawled into bed, and turned out the light. My mind kept replaying memories of that day – saving Mike and his Grandma, Melissa the otter girl, Trash Panda and Rhino… and the dozen or so people that were crushed when I accidentally caused a building to fall upon them.  I felt tears seep out, at first a little, then more, and then I was sobbing.  I killed them.  I did that.  I should have saved them…  I cried for the people I hurt, and the people I couldn’t save.  I cried until I was exhausted.  Eventually I passed out.

 

 

*              *              *

 

                I woke to feel a warm fuzzy ball purring gently on my stomach, and I smiled to myself in happiness.  Pepsi is okay, and all is right with the world, I thought.  As the little bundle of fluff snoozed, I looked around the room a bit.  It was sunny – so I must have slept in.  You didn’t exactly set an alarm, did you, genius?  I thought to myself.  I also couldn’t help but notice my old scent smelled different from the scent I gave off now.  I guess different DNA and female hormones would affect that.  I relaxed, and lay there while Pepsi slept, smiling at my little girl.  I was not fully refreshed – lasts night’s sleep was troubled and light – but I did feel better than I did when I got home last night. 

 

                It came to me as I watched my little sleepy cat, that I had nothing clean to wear that would fit.  I sighed, causing Pepsi to stir, and say “Brup!”  She came over and kissed my nose, and I returned the favor with skritches.  Soon, she rolled over and presented her tummy, but I wasn’t about to play with her murder button.  “Not today, Pepsi!”  I said, laughing.  “No… No murder button for you today!” I said in a childlike voice.  Pepsi meowed in frustration, but recommenced kissing my hand.  She was trying hard to get my guard down, I had to give her that.

 

                I gently shifted her off my chest, and put her down next to me, and she curled up meowing in annoyance, stealing my spot once I pulled myself out of bed.  She liked sleeping in the warm spot for a while after I got up every day, so I was really glad to see normal behavior. 

 

                I stretched, and worked a few kinks out of my back, and idly noted I might have to flip the mattress soon – it was starting to feel lumpy again.  I headed to the kitchen, and grabbed my usual – a glass of ice water and some cereal with milk.  Pouring myself a bowl of Fruity-O’s, I sat in my tiny living room, and turned on the TV.  I hoped I’d be better at handling the news after my big cry last night.  It oddly made me feel a lot better.  I guess bottling up stress doesn’t do you any good?  Who’d have thunk it?  I asked myself, smirking. 

 

                The TV came to life, and CP24 was showing that many people in city hall had been transformed yesterday.  Two City Councilmen were now a Lizardman and a very confused woman, respectively – and the Premier of the  Province himself had been transformed into a Pig-man hybrid that sort of looked like a stereotypical Orc or what have you from D&D.  Way to go Doug Ford, I thought. You be you. Seriously?  Now we have Boss Hogg running Ontario?  I guess he’s going to have to treat all the people that changed at least halfway good, or else he’ll be in deep trouble himself.

 

                As if to mirror my thoughts, the screen switched to a recorded broadcast that had taken place at 9am – it was currently 10:30am, so I had slept in pretty fiercely.  I turned up the volume to hear what Premier Ford had to say about yesterday’s events. 

 

                “Yesterday, the people of Ontario witnessed an event so outside our understanding that few if any can comprehend just what happened.  Shortly after 4:30pm yesterday, many people mutated into other forms – some human, and some only partially human.  I am one of those people, as are several members of Toronto City Council, and hundreds, if not thousands of Ontario citizens across the province.”

 

                “I assure you, although I look very different, I am the same Doug Ford the people of this province elected in June of last year.  My government will not rest until all Ontario citizens who have been transformed by this disastrous event have been able to reclaim their identities.  The Provincial Conservative party is also forwarding legislation that will ensure the basic human rights of everyone affected and transformed in this “emergence,” and is assigning a budget to aid common Ontarians in getting legal aid to reclaim their identities.”

               

                “Some of the people that have been transformed have been changed mentally as well as physically – and these ‘monsters’ are using their powers to cause havoc and destroy our infrastructure, our people, and our emergency services.  I have asked the Federal Government to send Ontario troops to help ensure order in this time of chaos, and I ask for all your assistance in finding and tracking down the dangerous mutants out there so the rest of us can live in peace.”

 

                At that point the Premiere’s speech was cut off by the flashes of cameras, and dozens of hurled questions.  Ha! I thought.  What a load of horse shit.  He’s going for basic human rights because he’s one of us – and the ‘monsters’ will be defined as anyone who steps out of line.  Jeez.  Talk about two faced – with one hand he says he’ll fight for emerged rights – and with the other he says ‘monsters will be hunted down and dealt with harshly.’  What the hell is he doing?  I had never liked our Premiere, and now I liked him a whole lot less.

 

 

 

                Whatever the Premiere had in mind, I wasn’t sure it boded well for Ontario, but for now I had seen enough.  The rollover news said that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau would be addressing the nation at noon.  I’d tune in then and see what he had to say.

 

                By the time the recording of the press conference with Premiere Ford was over, I had finished my light breakfast and got up to put away the dishes.  I tried to keep my place tidy, but sometimes it was a chore.  Maybe super-speed would help me keep it clean?  I wondered to myself.  I won’t have an excuse to not clean anymore, that’s for sure. 

 

                I dug through my clothes in the bedroom until I found an older, too-small pair of pants and T-shirt, and tried them on.  The pants were casual tan slacks, and were too tight in the hip and butt, and too loose in the waist and everywhere else – and the T-shirt was too small in the bust and looked wrong on me.  I looked like I was dressed in my male cousins’ hand-me downs.  Ugh.  Still, it would have to do until I could buy some more clothes – and this time I would need to find out my official sizes, so measuring myself was step one after tossing my sweats into the washing machine.

 

                At least I had a clean pair of panties and the XL sports bra still clean, inside my hoodie’s pockets.  I gave them the sniff test, and they didn’t really smell like smoke much at all, so I figured they’d be good enough for today.  Twenty minutes later, my clothes were in the wash down in the basement of my building, and I was sitting in front of my laptop, measuring my sizes.  I was apparently 34-24-34, with frigging E-cup breasts.  I knew enough to know that was larger than most, but too little to know what it really meant.  I did some web-searching, and quickly realized how breasts looked – natural or unnatural, too big or too small, depended mostly on the size and shape of the body carrying them.  I went to the bathroom and looked in my mirror.  I looked good, sexy even – and although my breasts seemed large, they didn’t seem freakishly large.  I decided to put the letter size out of my mind, and simply try to find clothes that fit.  I did wince a bit though at the thought of how much good bras were going to cost.  My Ex-wife had large breasts and her bras often cost upwards of 80 to 100 dollars each, and sometimes more.  Ouch!  At least I had some money saved – but at the rate I would have to spend it to outfit myself with new clothes and sundries and such, it wouldn’t last long.  And that didn’t even bring into account that myself and everyone else at Precision Telecom was pretty much out of work for the moment.  I tried not to think of what happened there yesterday; it was too painful.  I only partially succeeded, and brushed away a few errant tears.

 

                It was almost eleven thirty.  If I wanted to watch the Prime Ministers address, I had better get to the TV and sit my butt down.  I had just enough time to throw the wash into the dryer before the address started. 

 

 

*              *              *

 

 

                The announcement looked like it was taking place on the steps of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.  It definitely looked serious – there were members of the federal cabinet standing behind the podium to show the Prime Minister their support, and you could see the soldiers in their fancy uniforms standing guard nearby. 

 

                As the minutes ticked by, and the talking heads tried to guess at what the Prime Minister’s announcement was going to be, Karen sat on her couch and watched.  A few moments later, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived behind the podium and began to address the crowd – first in English, and then again in French, the second official language of Canada.  When he arrived, there was a smattering of applause, and then silence.

 

                “Thank you, members of the press, for attending this public statement.  Yesterday, the people of Canada – and indeed, it seems the entire world – were affected by something we’re calling The Emergence.  The exact details of how and why it happened are as yet unknown, but its devastating results have been seen in TV and News across the nation.  Tens of thousands of Canadian citizens – millions of people, worldwide – have been transformed by unknown means, either into different versions of themselves, or into animal-human hybrids, and also sadly in some cases, dangerous monsters.”

 

                “In response to this cataclysmic event, the Government of Canada has decided to respond by being the first to attempt to understand and incorporate these events into our country.  Beginning today, I have given instructions to my cabinet to begin the formation of the Ministry of Emerged Affairs – which will be headed by Jill Stearn, a member of my caucus and cabinet.  The Ministry of Emerged Affairs purpose is primarily to both assist the Emerged in regaining control and access to their normal life – through recovering their identities due to their transformations – and in policing and if necessary incarcerating Emerged criminals, who pose a greater threat than most criminals to the public at large.”

 

                “But in addition to Emerged criminals, there have also been Emerged who have risen to be heroes, whose efforts on that chaotic night have saved countless lives.   We as a nation need to understand, that these Emerged – although many of them look different, are not our enemies.  They are our brothers, our sisters, our mothers and fathers, and our cousins.  They are us – and it is my party’s intention to table legislation that will enshrine their civil rights into law later this week.  It may be difficult for us all to adjust to these new kinds of humans – but I have confidence that Canada and its public will rise to the occasion.”

 

                “To that end, we intend to create several Metahuman Response Teams – made up of heroic Emerged who wish to put their amazing powers to good use by policing other Emerged who decide to use their gifts to sow chaos, commit crimes, and assault others.  These Metahuman Response Teams will be federal police officers attached to the RCMP, and will have jurisdiction over Emerged Crime.”  The Prime Minister paused a moment.  “I put forth a call to any and all Emerged who wish to serve Canada, in our time of need.  If you are willing to join us – join the Metahuman Response Teams – and become a police officer for other Emerged, then we need you, and welcome you to apply at your nearest RCMP office.  You will be trained as a police officer and RCMP agent, and you will be expected to work with a varied team of other unique individuals who may be unlike you.  Your training costs will be covered by the Government of Canada, and at the end of your training you will be enlisted in the RCMP for a period of 5 years – in addition to any time spent on the job during training.  At the end of that time, you can choose to stay on, or retire as you see fit.  For those willing to enlist, the RCMP offices will be instructed to conduct interviews and referrals as soon as Monday morning.”

 

                “I also bear news of dire changes to the fabric of Canada itself.  It has become evident that since the Emergence, much of the topography of Canada has been altered – in both big and small ways – and that strange ruins have appeared in many parts of the country.  It must be stressed that these ruins are exceptionally dangerous, and unauthorized civilians should avoid them at all costs, if possible.  As we speak, the members of Canada’s armed forces are sealing off access to these ruins.  I am told there have already been several casualties amongst the troops.    My office will release a list of changes to Canada’s topography and a list of known ruins to the press at the end of this statement.”

 

                “What we do know is that two large rivers – comparable in size to the Mississippi river in the United States – have appeared, one in Manitoba that stretches as far north as Nunavut and Hudson’s Bay, and one in Alberta, that seems to have carved canyons through the Rocky Mountains all the way to the Pacific Ocean.  I’ve also been told that the magnetosphere of the planet has been excited, meaning that sightings of the Aurora Borealis will be more common, and be seen farther south.  What other effects the altered magnetosphere will have on our technology is as yet unknown, but we do know that some shipping and navigation has been adversely affected.”

 

                “I urge all Canadians to not panic, and to cooperate with law enforcement officers and personel until such a time as this crisis can be contained and dealt with, and the people of Canada can get back to the business of living their lives as best they can.  For those citizens who have been physically altered, such that you aren’t recognizable as the person you were before, information will be made available for the process with which to reclaim your identities, should you wish to reclaim them.”

 

                “I thank all of Canada for its strength, and the bravery it showed in weathering the trials and tribulations of the Emergence – both now, and in the future.  The world is changed – but it need not be seen as a change for the worst.  Together, I believe we can strive for a brighter future than we could have ever imagined.  I hope you all will join me in seeing that future come to fruition.  Thank you.”

 

 

*              *              *

 

With that, the Prime Minister left the podium, and the news went crazy.  I turned off the volume, because the talking heads would be discussing everything just said all day and into the next week.  I nearly couldn’t believe it!  In that moment, I felt very proud of Mr. Justin Trudeau – and wondered what if anything the miserable excuse for the American President would have to say.  It made me proud to be a Canadian.

 

I couldn’t believe the news, too!  An entire ministry to deal with Emerged affairs?  Metahuman Response Teams?  It seemed like stuff out of comic books – but that seemed to be the kind of world we had just been forced into.  Maybe comic book responses were needed, when comic book reality took over?  I wasn’t sure, but his speech had given me a lot to think about. 

 

I sat and wondered.  I wondered what it would be like to be one of those MRT officers.  Would I like it?  I liked helping people last night.  I bet the pay would be a hell of a lot better than working minimum wage at Precision Telecom did!  Just to satisfy my curiosity, I looked up the annual pay of an RCMP officer online, and was surprised to see it began at over 50 thousand dollars a year, and within three years of beginning your career it could be as much as 86 thousand dollars a year.  Holy crap!  I thought.  That’s a lot of money – but it’s also a lot of danger and responsibility too.  I wondered how my life might change with a career instead of a dead end job – and a job I could be proud of.  I thought of all the people I could help, and how I could help make the world a better place.

 

I sat and thought about it for a very long time.