[Fonk]

I like the look of that right shoulder. 😀

[Fonk]

I love how simple yet evocative your art is. Thanks for sharing this new piece with us, sir!

[Fonk]

Wowza. It's strange how uncomfortable reading that has just made me. *shudder*

[Fonk]

Very happily, my workload has eased up in the past few days, so I've had a chance to come back to this story. This is only the first half of the second chapter (the rest of it has not been planned yet!), but I just wanted to show you guys that I was still thinking about it!

Hope you like this little bit…

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This is the story of Callie Ann Morris and the choices that she made. Some of them were big, and some of them were small, but there was not one that was insignificant. This chapter will show the second choice she made, the second of many on the way to her surprising destiny.

Miss Morris – Chapter 2A

“Very well,” the Professor smiled, clasping his hands. “I think we should start immediately.” Callie nodded, a touch of fear on her face. Things were happening a little quickly for her liking. “Please follow me and we will take your baseline measurements.” He stood, neatly removing his napkin and placing it in a nearby waste paper basket, and held the door for the pair of them. They stepped through, nodding their thanks to him.

Keith and Callie collected in the corridor as Professor Scitts locked his office. Callie raised her eyebrows at her pumped friend, who gave a little shake of the head, his mouth turned into sucked-in half-smile. They looked up and smiled as the Professor turned around, stashing the key in the inside pocket of his jacket. He frowned.

”Why aren’t you…” he said, and smiled. “Of course, of course.” He coughed. “Please, let me lead the way.” And off he went. Callie, still reeling a little from the speed at which things were progressing, decided to fire a few more questions. She was beaten to the punch, however, by her bodyguard.

“Excuse me, Professor,” he said. The older man turned to flash him a brief smile before turning a corner. “I know a few things about building muscle,” he continued, “and I know you have to get a lot of sleep for your body to increase muscle mass. How are you going to get around that? Callie literally can’t sleep.” Even though she couldn’t see his face, the young analyst could tell that the Professor was smiling indulgently. He seemed to do that a lot.

“Young man,” the scientist began, “the work we do here operates at the very limits of scientific knowledge. I do not wish to offend you, but explaining the principles behind our compound to even the finest science graduates would take hours… suffice to say that the compound will take care of everything.” Keith frowned at the putdown. A few moments later the Professor stopped in front of one of the doors on their right. It was not as fine-looking as the door to his office; in fact, it looked positively forbidding. The strip lights reflected vaguely off the dull metal. A card reader was positioned at a suitably ergonomic height to its right. Professor Scitts fished in his jacket pocket as the pair stood around him, eventually producing a standard-looking security card.

“Here we are!” he said, sliding it through and so opening the door. The trio stepped through into a large, well-equipped operating theatre. The walls, ceiling and floor were all spotlessly white; so much so that they all had to blink to adjust. Various pieces of medical apparatus were littered across work benches, tables and slabs. An insistent set of bloops, warbles and whistles put Callie in mind of a sort of electronic dawn chorus. The Professor led them to a large pair of scales and a height chart, the likes of which Callie hadn’t seen since the age of ten. Keith plonked his burly frame on a dilapidated swivel chair, and turned to face the scales.

“Do I have to undress?” Callie asked, trying to sound casual. The Professor smiled benevolently and shook his head.

“That will be unnecessary,” he proclaimed. “The machine has been programmed to remove the weight of your clothes from its calculations. You must, however, remove your shoes.” Callie obeyed and stood on the scales whilst Professor Scitts powered up a nearby computer. The machine booted up surprisingly quickly, so Callie guessed that Scitts & Vithell had high-end computer technology. “One hundred pounds exactly,” the Professor read from the screen. He turned to face the waif on his scales. “That places you in the underweight category in several different measures,” he stated, looking over the top of his half-moon glasses at her. Callie blushed and turned away, scratching absently at the sleeve of her jacket.

The Professor continued to read statistics from the screen, each slightly more shameful than the last. He concluded that Callie was literally just skin and bones. By the end of his monologue, the young analyst was in tears. Keith hugged her gently, bringing her frail body into his warmth.

“We’re going to fix you, though,” he whispered. “Right, Professor?” He turned to the scientist, who was still sitting at the computer, staring thoughtfully at the figures he was scrolling slowly up and down. His left hand stroked his chin occasionally.

“What?” he said, looking round slowly at them, as if surprised to see them. “Oh. Yes. Yes, of course. Miss Morris, a moment’s delay is a moment lost. I will fetch the first batch of the compound immediately.” With that, the elderly man stood and left the room. Callie frowned.

“What’s got into him?” she sniffed, slowly lifting her head from Keith’s chest. He stroked her hair in a gesture she found surprising.

“Don’t worry about it,” he whispered. After a moment’s snuffling, the Professor returned. He was holding a soup bowl in both hands, complete with spoon, and smiling confidently at the pair. Keith lifted Callie off the scales, placing her gently on the floor. She smiled weakly at him before turning to the Professor.

“Here we are,” the Professor said, beaming at them both. The twosome could now see the contents of the soup bowl, which was filled with what looked for all the world like blue rice pudding.

“It just looks like blue rice pudding,” Callie said, frowning. She leaned closer to it and sniffed. “Doesn’t smell of anything.” The Professor shook his head. “May I?” Callie asked, nodding towards the spoon. The scientist nodded without hesitation. Nodding back once, the brunette took the spoon and put a bit of the compound into her mouth. After a moment’s chewing, she announced that it didn’t taste of anything either.

“Good,” Professor Scitts replied, handing the bowl to Callie before sitting at the computer and launching another program. “Exactly as we thought.” He sat still for a moment, hands almost trembling over the keyboard. “Miss Morris,” he said, quietly, turning to face the young analyst. Callie paused mid-chew. “I hope you understand how momentous this occasion is. The results we gain from this experiment may prove beneficial to thousands of people worldwide.” Callie nodded, stunned. “Please continue eating,” the scientist said, looking at her over his half-moon glasses and smiling gently.

“Of course,” she said, scooping up another spoonful of the blue stuff. She continued eating in an eerie silence. Keith went to sit on a nearby work bench, pushing some of the more wire-covered equipment out of the way to do so. Callie finished eating the compound in under a minute. She handed the bowl back to the Professor.

“Thank you,” she said, in what she hoped was a solemn voice. “I can’t tell you what this might mean to me.” Professor Scitts nodded.

“Do you feel any different?” he asked, tilting his head to one side. Callie shook her head. “That’s to be expected. Our simulations suggest that the real results of the compound will not reveal themselves for another week or so.” He stood up, ramrod straight. “Now we come to the difficult matter of money.” Callie’s eyes widened briefly. The Professor caught her meaning immediately, and laughed.

“No, Miss Morris, we are not expecting you to pay for this!” he said, eyes twinkling. “Any medical research comes with risks attached. As this is the case, one must compensate those prepared to take those risks. My accountancy department has authorised me to award you compensation of five thousand pounds per dose of the compound.” Callie goggled at him. The Professor smiled indulgently again as he withdrew a cheque from his inside jacket pocket and offered it to the young woman.

Callie took it gingerly, her legs shaking. “This… this is… wow,” she breathed. At this point, the Professor put a hand on her shoulder and leaned towards her slightly.

“I must make this clear, Miss Morris,” he whispered. “If there is any unexpected change to your physical condition, anything whatsoever, you must telephone me immediately.” She nodded, still in a state of shock. “Much as I detest using the blessed machine, your health is of paramount importance.” Callie swallowed, and looked the man in the eye.

“Thank you, so, so much,” she said, just loud enough for him to hear. Then she hugged the Professor. When the young woman released the scientist, she smiled gratefully, and turned on her heel. “Come on, Keith,” she said, suddenly awake and alive, “we’ve got a workout routine to plan.” The two friends saw themselves out of the building.

[Fonk]

I think you might be right – one gaffe too many, really. 🙁

[Fonk]

Hee! The second Kigo picture is cool.

[Fonk]

Wow, that second one is a-may-zing! 😮

[Fonk]

That's really neat. Thanks for linking us up!

[Fonk]

Oh boy. ;D

[Fonk]

That last panel is so beautiful. In fact, the last page is beautiful, full stop.

[Author]

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