Growing into the Job, Post 553: A Wakening, Reprise, p3

What…what’s happening…?

I was…I was waking up. Or more, like, regaining consciousness. The first thing I noticed was the soft pressure of a blanket over me, its warmth struggling to shield me from a tingling chill that clung to my limbs - like restless pins and needles. I could feel the weight of my body, but not in the way I was used to. It was as if my senses were dulled, as if I were somehow locked in my own skin. I felt unable to move anything, at the moment, but my eyes.

I blinked, trying to make sense of what was going on. What had happened to me? Where had I been? Was that a dream or had I actually been inside Melissa’s mind?? I was, I was pretty sure, back in the real world now, but everything still felt...strange. My head, my body, my limbs - it was like they weren’t entirely mine. The realization hit me with a sickening wave of panic: I couldn’t move. Not a bit. Why can't I move?!?

A soft rustling sound next to me broke my spiraling thoughts. I turned my eyes to the side and saw her sitting there above me, her shapely figure silhouetted against the dim light, the faint glow of the moon seeping in through the curtains, highlighting the size of her bust. Was this Melissa??

No.

Randi.

Randi, dressed in a filmy white nightgown, the fabric clinging to her slender but well-developed body in just the right places to set off her curves in the deep shadows and accentuate the perfect swell of her large breasts. Her deep black hair cascaded down her shoulders and back, perfectly tousled. Her dark eyes were locked on me, calm and knowing.

This is the woman who, earlier, nearly ate me whole. 

Though I couldn’t turn my head to look, I somehow knew we were alone. I opened my mouth to speak, but my voice came out hoarse, barely above a whisper. “Randi..? Wh-what... happened?”

She placed a hand on my arm, surprisingly gentle, her touch cool against my skin. She gave me a soft, reassuring smile. “Relax, Squirt. Just take a deep breath, okay?” she told me, “It’s probably gonna take a minute for your body to come back.” She paused. “After what Melissa did to you.”

My heart raced at the weight of her words. That wasn’t a dream?? That was real?? If Randi somehow knew about it, it must have been.  I didn’t imagine it? I was…there?? I remembered the connection, the strange disembodied experience, the sensation of seeing through Melissa’s eyes, being imprisoned in her mind, unable to move or look anywhere but where she wanted - which was, of course, at her, in the bathroom mirror of where they were keeping her at the Evolution labs. I remembered us talking, of her starting to…to change. But what had happened after that? And why can’t I move?!?

I tried to calm myself, but the panic only escalated as I realized how little control of my own body I had. The anxiety set in like a quicksilver flood rising in my veins. My mind screamed at me, move, move, move, but my limbs didn’t respond. I couldn’t even twitch a finger. Oh my god please let this be a dream!

My voice trembled as, still swimming in confusion, I asked Randi: “H-how do you know what happened? A-and…what did Melissa do to me?” My voice - for what it was worth - was returning. Less hoarse now, more plaintive.

Randi’s expression softened more, and she ran her thumb along my forearm, fingers lightly grazing the sensitive skin of my inner wrist. Her touch - or maybe it was her perfume, too - was warm, reassuring, and I realized that the panic was subsiding just a little bit, as if her calmness was slowly seeping into me, filling the cracks where the terror of paralysis had taken root. “Missy spoke to me,” she said, her voice deep with its typical husky smoke, but steady and quiet, “She told me it was too much for you. You weren’t ready. Your head couldn’t handle it when she strayed too far from the real world...from what you could tolerate.”

Images started to come back to me, as I remembered those last moments in the bathroom mirror….how her body changed, grew, grew huge. How her outfit shifted, to some sort of…costume…

“When she tried to...alter the image of herself too much, the way you’d see her…”

…when it became robes, when her eyes lit like dark supernovas…

“…the connection glitched.”

I frowned, confused. I was starting to get some feeling back, in my toes. I wriggled them. 

Randi gave me a slow, knowing smile, her own eyes now glinting with something that I couldn't quite place. “I guess she tried to show you something more than you were ready for. She was pushing her limits, and it messed with your mind.” She said it so simply, like she had no doubt that everything, the strange powers, the connection, was just part of life, part of the plan. Like it was all just a natural step forward.

I swallowed hard, feeling a wave of unease settle in my chest. What had Melissa been trying to do??

“But she said don’t worry…” Here, Randi’s smile darkened wryly. “...she’ll be better at it next time.”

The idea of being so vulnerable, of being trapped in someone else’s mind - even if it was Melissa, who I know loved me and wanted me safe in a way that was deep and absolute - made my skin crawl. Next time???

Randi noticed my growing agitation. “Take it easy, Squirt,” she murmured, her fingers gently squeezing my wrist, “You’re still processing. Just breathe.”

On the hand she was grabbing, I flexed my fingers. At least I was getting some motion back. As I focused on the small movements of my body, I was suddenly aware of how Randi’s hand still rested on my wrist, her fingers slightly squeezing. I clenched my fingers experimentally, feeling the small tremors that still rattled through my limbs. It was something - anything. I focused on it, feeling each muscle in my body finally begin to wake again. The feeling, though small, was a spark. 

But the unease wouldn't leave. I could still barely move, and even worse, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something far bigger than I could understand was unfolding around me. I did, though, manage to lift my head just a little, just enough to take in the room. The pillow beneath me was soft, but the movement felt foreign - my muscles still protesting against the numbness. I blinked a few times, trying to focus. The light was dim, the shadows of the room stretching around me, but it was quiet. I could now sense the other girls nearby, though - Aubrey, Josie, Lakshmi - faint murmurs from the other room. Somehow I could tell they were talking about me, like a soft buzz of anticipation.

It made my pulse quicken.

With Randi watching me, I turned my head a fraction more, careful, as though any wrong move would send me spiraling back into the state of helplessness I’d just escaped. My throat tightened, and my words came out in a hushed whisper. "Can, uh, she hear us?"

Randi didn’t hesitate, but she did pause, then spoke with that casual, steady tone of hers, the one that always made her sound so confident. "Missy? I don’t think so. In fact she said they were going to drug her up, put her out, make her rest. I have a pretty good feeling that she’s asleep." She paused again, like she was testing the air, then added, almost to herself, "Yeah. I feel like she’s asleep."

I let out a shaky breath. If Melissa was really asleep, in the lab at Evolution Pharmaceuticals, maybe there was a chance to have a conversation without being watched. Is this what it had come to for me? Worrying constantly about watching what I said, even thought?? Nonetheless, if she was asleep, maybe Randi and I could speak freely. But even then, there I was, awake, helpless, caught in this odd web that I didn’t know how to escape - or if I even wanted to, truth be told.

I looked at Randi, her body so close to me, the softness of her nightgown painted over her curves like liquid silk. It was hard to focus on anything other than her, the underbosom of her large chest rising and falling with each breath, her presence a steadying force. I knew what fears were swirling around my mind, what uncertainties, but I didn’t want to ask the question. I knew, though, that I had to. My voice was tight, but I managed to push the words out. “Wh-what’s happening to her, Randi?” I managed, “Is she turning into something…dangerous?”

Randi snorted, and her lips curled into a wry smile. "Missy? Oh, she’s been dangerous since 10th grade," she said with dry humor. There was, though, an undertone of something deeper. "Seriously. It used to be funny to her, entertaining, to watch herself change and develop, so fast, and so much more than the rest of us. The guys - friends, teachers, bosses - just got more and more flabbergasted by her. Sorta like you.”

“H-hey! I’m not-” I complained, but was promptly cut off.

“So - is she getting dangerous? With what she can do to men, she’s always been. But now Squirt, you’ve seen it. It’s gone beyond that,” Randi said, “She’s not just letting it happen. She’s, like, chasing it. Encouraging it. Embracing it like it’s what she was always meant to do.."

I felt my heart pound harder in my chest, my breath catching as her words etched new fears into my mind. Dangerous. That word seemed to hang in the air, almost mocking me with its implications - you’re dating this girl. You’re in love with her! You’re being foolish! But I had to know more. “She…she is embracing it,.” I agreed, recalling the look that would light up her face when she experimented with some new ability, “But…but why?” The word slipped from my lips before I could stop it. My head was spinning, my neurons still catching up to everything that had happened. Did I really want to know??

Randi’s smile curled again, but her gaze softened as she looked down at me, her fingers still gently brushing across my wrist. "Why? Why does she want to be Wonder Woman, She Hulk, and Superman all rolled up into one?” she mused, pausing to give me a thought, “She tells us all it’s for you." Her tone was matter-of-fact, as if this was just another piece of the puzzle that didn’t need further explanation.

I felt the weight of her words settle in my chest like lead. For me?? The idea that she was doing all of this for me - breaking through every layer of her humanity, embracing whatever she was becoming - it was overwhelming. At first, I refused the notion. But then, I realized I’d known it all along. Melissa was becoming like these superheroines from my childhood comics. She Hulk, yes, but also Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, Emma Frost. Countless others - villainesses included. My breath caught in my throat, and I choked it out: “Oh my god...”

“Yeah huh. Trippy, right?” Randi agreed. Her expression shifted, though, and her fingers tightened ever so slightly around my wrist. "Watch your language, though,” she said softly, with the warning in her voice unmistakable. I knew she wasn’t being harsh, just...reminding me of something. Not a command, but it felt like an unspoken rule. A boundary. Which made one think - if it was a boundary, what lay on the other side?

“Yeah, trippy,” I found myself conceding.

Randi chuckled, and shifted slightly, adjusting her position on the bed as she leaned closer, her face hovering just over mine. The neckline of her negligee dared me to glance down into it - which, god help me, I did. She really did have remarkable breasts - large, a beautiful olive tone to her softest skin. She let me appreciate the view for a moment - leaning in even a little bit closer - before she spoke again, her voice quieter now, laced with amusement. "Yeah. Like, she texted me just a little while ago, right after her goodnight to you." Randi’s eyes flickered, almost fond, but there was an edge to her words. "She said she didn’t like the limitations of what she was able to do with you, and said she wants to change that. I think her exact words were..." Randi leaned in closer, whispering the last part almost conspiratorially:"‘I have to start getting better at this.’"

“B-better at what?” I stammered, confusion making my mind reel. The thought was outlandish. “Better at…at being my dream girl??” 

”What I think she meant,” Randi replied, sitting up straight over me again, “is that she wants to get better at everything.” She peered down at me.  “At all of it.”

I shuddered, as the thought of it - the thought of Melissa ascending into some sort of greater being, one of those superheroines I used to daydream about when I was the kid in the corner of the comic book store,  awe-struck, useless, watching gods rise - made me feel even smaller. And even though I couldn’t move much, I felt something in the pit of my stomach - an unease - make me writhe. I had no idea what was happening, but I knew it was something far bigger than I could comprehend. The pressure to understand, to keep up with whatever Melissa was becoming - was becoming suffocating.

My toes flexed again. I could feel the numbness receding now, melting gradually off me in layers. The room was still quiet - soft, dark, private. The muffled voices of the other girls had faded; maybe they’d gone to sleep. Maybe they were just giving us space. Randi hadn’t moved from her perch at my side, her body close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off her through that sheer little white nightie. It smelled faintly of her perfume, or maybe just her skin - something sweet and peppery, impossible to ignore.

“Jesus Chri-” I caught myself, blinking up at her, overwhelmed by the whole thing,  “...Crikeys.”

Randi raised an eyebrow. “Crikeys?” she said with a smirk.

“Yeah, I - sorry. Just, uh. So what now?” I exhaled through my nose, trying to sound calmer than I felt. “What do I do? Just…sit back and watch?”

Randi’s fingers were still tracing circles against the inside of my wrist, her touch as surprisingly soft as her voice. “Kinda sounds like what you’ve been doing for the past few months anyway,” she teased, then shrugged, the motion lifting her generous chest against the sheer fabric of her nightgown. “But no, I think…I think it’s supposed to be us. You and me and, like, Lakshmi, maybe Aubrey and some of the others. We’re her…I dunno. Guide rails.”

“Guide rails?”

She nodded, hair falling forward around her face like a curtain. “Missy? The girl’s not exactly the brightest, if you haven’t noticed. Well, actually she’s brilliant at certain things - like instinct and emotions and making people like her, do what she wants, and feel good about themselves. And also sex-”

“Hey…”

“...and becoming a goddess, apparently. But like, do we really want her turning into a giant superpowered bimbo with no, like, moral compass?”

I blinked at her, startled, a bit shocked by her frankness. But I knew what she meant, and considered the notion. “And we’re supposed to be that compass?” I asked, eventually.

She gave a shrug like it was obvious. “I kinda think that’s part of our job, yeah.”

“But…we’re gonna let her keep going?” I asked. “To…to..?”

“To take over the world?” she said. 

I stared at her. She was being droll and deliberately playful, but when I considered that as a notion, something dark lit up inside me. “Oh god.”

She enjoyed my reaction but had to admonish my response. “Dude, c’mon.” But then she leaned back just a little, letting her nightgown pull tautly across the chest, a knowing smile tugging at her lips as my eyes - of their own accord - darted to it. “But yeah. As far as her still growing, becoming a…whatever: you really think we could stop her?”

There was a pause.

“And,” she added more softly, “would you really want to?”

My breath caught. I didn’t answer right away, because the truth had already risen in me like something instinctive. So I paused, and in the moment realized something about myself. 

“Oh my god no,” I said, shivering in my own humbleness, my own submissive passivity, “I don’t.”

Randi’s smile turned a little softer, a little more honest. “Me neither.”

A beat. Randi was waiting for me.

“And sorry for the language,” I murmured, suddenly sheepish.

“Don’t sweat it, Squirt,” she said, her tone warm now, affectionate. She leaned over and pressed a kiss to my forehead, her dark hair falling around my face, her lips warm and lingering as I looked unabashedly now down into her top, for solace. “You’ve had a long night.”

==============