Small Jokes and Jabs from the Pale Maidens of the Moon...

Lilith

“So....before now these two chicks were big honking female giants?” Crichton sputters, looking at Gilda and Hilda wide eyed in shock. “And even before that one of them wasa frelling GUY?!”

The others of Moya who are present also look a bit flummoxed by this but remain silent, simply watching things as they proceed. For the moment, anyway.

“Yes . . .one of us had been not only human but a human male,” Hilda says in a neutral tone of voice. “That part of our lives is over and done with and I cannot say I or my sister EVER wish to return to being either Frost Giantesses or human . . .much less male. Frankly, we feel rather blessed having come into our rightful forms and to be even MORE frank I rather feel like thanking whatever gods or goddess out there for correcting such a . . .oversight.”

“Same here sister,” Gilda adds, smiling slightly as she walks up next to Hilda and then frowning at the blinkered Crichton. “Is that a problem?”

I step in before the foolish man can say something he’ll . . .find the elven women will make him regret.

Sigh, I do wish I hadn’t rearmed them somewhere along the lines but then again that had been needed equipment for their duties to me and mine...

It wouldn’t be an issue or a worry if this Crichton is like not only his literary counterpart but just about any OTHER John Crichton I’ve ever met: with an unfortunate tendency to being rather deficient in diplomatic skills.

I don’t think Hilda or Gilda will actually castrate Crichton for an insult, but then again . . .I’m still rather getting to know about the newest members of the Clan here.

Wonder how they’ll react once they meet the Fred and Astra clans. Who’ll be shuffled into which house and all that.

That’s later though.

“Let me explain before you say something stupid,” I say firmly but softly to only where he can here.

. . .

Well, him and the elves and gryphon, anyway.

“It has nothing to do with any kind of deviancy or secret wishes to having been born another sex,” I explain, still holding his arm. “It’s to do with magic. Of which I will explain in further detail . . .in my own way.

“It’ll be something of a view on the rest of your sister as well back in Rei‘s version of Tokyo 3,” I add, glancing over at Hilda and Gilda. Granted, only ONE of the sisters has a sister back there (technically since only ONE is actually an apparent Fred analog), but why confuse things even more? “It shall give you a fuller understanding on why I and my sisters were rather . . .startled about how blasé you and your sisters were about going to hire a mage to transform you all.”

We’d told them it had been dangerous, but not just HOW dangerous and why, you see.

This story is to also illustrate to Crichton (who according to my erstwhile Kalish friend over there made quiet a nuisance of himself a few times down dirtside) just EXACTLY why annoying people on magical worlds can be a bad thing. Some of the people he’d insulted had been wearing . . .mage robes.

My God. Does the man think that just because magic and magery is real that it only involves small things like poisoned apples and sleeping princesses awaiting to be woken up by their prince Charming? Hope this will wake him up.

Either way, I’m . . .tired of dealing with him.

He’s . . .something more of a jerk than the other analogs I’ve met of him by far, I fear.

Slight nods from the elves to the affirmative and silence from the rest of the group I take as the go ahead, I begin.

“The transformation that was done upon them all--some more than once-- is of a VERY high caliber and frankly dangerous one,” Lilith explains to her listeners, thanking Reika softly as she hands her some much needed tea (laced with LOTS of caffeine) to keep her focused. “It’s a Matrix based transformation.”

She goes and explains about how a Matrix is something of a mystical connection between the physical world that everyone living walks around and breathes, eats, and sleeps in and the spiritual realm, where the soul dwells.

“Whatever exactly a ‘soul’ is I’ll leave to the priests and philosophers for now, being that it’s beyond the scope of this discussion,” Lilith drawls. “Let us just say that with there being magic in the air and all us mages have a better means of at least detecting such things than most.”

“Let’s not mention our special background while we’re at it,” Reika mutters, smirking slightly.

Priests from those fantasy realms like Terra Prime can do similar things as well, but again that’s beyond the scope of this discussion as well. Though it should be added that Rei and her sisters had been inclined to believe in such metaphysical matters of souls, what with having been forcedly reincarnated several times there after dieing and such during the Angel Wars.

Once at the hands of a mad woman and once from a devastating explosion that had killed that Neon Gen Angel codenamed Armisael in a delightful little reality that is known as Neon Genesis Evangelion in some circles. A controversial piece of anime (and manga) of interesting transpositions, double dealings, dealings clouded by interpretations and out and out mind f*ckery!

Angels trying to destroy humanity and biomechanical monsters called Evas given the features of “onis” (Japanese devils) trying to save the world (ostensibly). Let‘s not go into the whole freaky mess about God being Adam and having....

. . .

Nevermind, that‘s . . .also beyond the scope of this discussion but it does explain just WHY some of the Angels of the “Office of Good” might have been a bit . . .vexed when they visited Tokyo 3 a while back.

Didn’t like the bad press or something I believe...

Anyway.

Ah, as some readers may remember from earlier in other story threads a Matrix is an interface between the non-material soul and the material world and body. That and it also acts as a translator and foundation for what kind of body a soul inhabits. Sort of anyway. Close enough for government work. If the Matrix is magically altered then the body gets altered as well into a new shape. Can be a simple change (like a change in eye color or hair color) but most of the time those who’d use (or abuse) the power that can bend a Matrix into a new shape go WAY further than that.

With a small gesture a scaled down image of John Crichton appeared before them, dressed for some reason in a red silk Chinese shirt and black trousers. Those in the know would recognize the outfit as being somewhat similar to what one Ranma Saotome (ala Ranma ½) would wear.

Crichton has an odd feeling about this and looks like he’d like to protest the choice of using his own face for this demonstration but Lilith plows on before a word can be spoken.

“A changed Matrix alters it’s owner in mind and body,” Lilith begins, in a clinical tone. “Transform a human male into female human initially results in a woman who has for wont for better terms a male outlook. We would literally have a man trapped in a woman’s body.”

Crichton mutters something as he watches his magical double’s form blur and change. Hair lengthening and turning a darker coloration. Hips widening and waist narrowing. Breasts growing fuller and feminine. Basically, the image has morphed into a duplicate of Aeryn Sun in homage to the TV episode where John’s and Aeryn’s consciousness got temporarily exchanged between each other’s bodies due to an odd side effect from an enemy’s beam weapon interacted with the energy shields that Moya had acquired from a salvage operation a bit ago.

Frankly, Rei and her sisters weren’t exactly sure HOW such a transference had been possible, given everything involved. However, it hadn’t been Matrix based AND probably wasn’t something one would want to have done to them anyway. There was indication that the host body of the new consciousness might have some kind of lethal reaction, snuffing out the life soon afterwards.

Reika and Lilith didn’t go into that little bit of joy, not wanting to muddy the waters.

“However, since there has been a change here the Matrix is a translator as well as a determiner of shape and form it means that soon enough the victim’s mind and psyche will be altered into that of a human woman,” Reika says, taking up the lecture thread. “Meaning that while the victim here would be basically the same person . . .it would be as if she’d been born female. Her outlook and personal tastes would be basically rewritten by the Matrix transformation as female. So if the victim here got Matrix transformed into a woman had been hetero-sexual his orientations, it would flipflop.

“If the victim’s lucky that is,” Lilith adds. “And that’s just a gender change!”

“And why would that be considered lucky?” Crichton blinks, after gapping at the transformed image of himself.

“This one I’d like to frelling know myself to be truthful,” Aeryn adds, putting in her two cents worth.

“If I recall it may have something to do with homicidal rage and insanity,” the red haired Kalish woman says softly, recalling it being exactly that from what she recalled overhearing so long ago on that one dieing prison Leviathan where she’d met some of Rei’s family.

“It’s exactly that,” Lilith said solemnly, shaking her head. “Resisting the change in mentality would eventually shred something inside the matrix and would cause an insanity which would reduce the victim to something little more than a murdering, mad animal. The risks are even higher with a change in race!

Lilith plays with the idea of making a small gesture which transforms the image of a feminized John Crichton into that of a female centaur is considered but discarded. Oh, it would do well to illustrate that last part of what she’d said but . . .why bother? The astronaut’s got the point well enough here, she at least hoped.

Why beat him over the head with it? And IF he still didn’t get it, then why bother with it?

If he didn’t get the point now

“At last I had heard of there was no cure for it,” Reika adds. “Mages who are both powerful enough to do it and twisted enough to do it usually do it as a form of revenge against those who’ve angered them. Like say transform a noble knight into a pretty and young peasant lass?

“It’s so rare that even IF the victim’s not driven insane that the victim will probably be considered insane by anyone they run across if she claims to have been a man transformed into a woman.

“That’s happened to a LOT of Fred D’Honaire and a few Astra Thessamer analogs,” Lilith says, looking at both Hilda and Gilda as she pulls up pictures of the Fred and Astra clan.

She feels that it’s safe enough to do this now. The elves had been somewhat . . .hesitant in confessing at to just what they’d been so afraid of to have risked everything they’d risked in coming here, magic spells cast upon them and magical spells (incomplete ones) to teleport and all.

This nameless female dragon who’d chased them sounded like one heartless b*tch, but the description was more of a salamander or newt in appearance than the more lizard like/serpent of the dragons of Terra Prime. That and despite everything dragons had done to the elfin family, they’d at least given her and her sisters the benefit of the doubt about dragons being in her family.

About such things as their being good dragons, anyway.

http://www. geocities. com/ rule179 /imagesoffred. Htm

“TRUE dragons?!” Nightfall blinks, pointing at one of the female dragons on the screen. “You have those noble beasts in your family instead of the bastardized descendants of the First Ones? The Civilized Ones who taught the Young Races the written word and the Artes?”

“Well . . .the race of dragons, both Eastern and Western never had anything about a decline or degeneration of their species if that is what you’re implying,” Reika blinks, not sure exactly what the story is about that one is. Oh, for a while there the Western Dragons society (by and large) had grown corrupt and twisted but . . .after the Alliance/Enemy War had hit Terra Prime the Alliance had done a REAL number on the Western wyrms....

The more trusty and honorable Easterners had risen to dominance and pretty much ruled what was left of dragon kind upon Terra Prime, putting down wyrms who’d try to go back to old and evil ways.

That is . . .if the high tech (and maybe trigger happy) Military folk didn’t get to them first...

If those non-dragons of Terra Prime didn’t hunt them down and kill them dead with their high tech tools garnered from their Military friends...

Bottom line, being a mean old evil dragon ain’t exactly healthy any more upon Terra Prime. Not like in the old days.

“I . . .guess I withdraw whatever reservations I have about going to meet your parents,” Nightfall said in a slight daze, rocking her sleeping child as she says that.

Good . . .one less hassle, Reika smiled to herself. Just wonder when the other shoes going to fall here.

Something bad always seemed to happen sooner or later to those who lived upon Moya. Rather explained some of the outlooks of the characters upon her.

Crichton, meanwhile, has looked at the pictures. Looked at the elves. Looked at Aeryn. Looks over what has been shown to him. Looks at what the implications of what could have happened to him with the transference of identities between bodies....

“I’m going to go get drunk now thanks,” he croaked, going off to do just that.

“You do that,” the Kalish merchant says softly, somewhat glad the annoying human had departed.

While not wishing the human man harm, the guy had gone a long way at annoying her today. AND there was the fact he was rather like that idiotic human she’d met aboard that Leviathan where she’d met the Champions.

Gods, how stupid she felt when she’d learned just how BAD Crichton had been with certain things. She’d learned English through hearing it from the spaceman and had picked up a LOT of bad garbage along the way. Totally screwed up even simple biological terms.

“Veins carry blood to the heart,” she muttered to herself, grinding her teeth. “Arteries carry blood to the muscles to run better, not the reverse.”

Old story. Don’t ask.

Well enough. Eventually the winged sisters recover somewhat from their ordeals in healing Zhaan (who’ll be out for a while yet). Enough to be more than ready to leave Moya when Sikozu’s merchant ship arrives.

Especially after something of a parting shot from Rei, who’s grown rather annoyed with our good ol’ astronaut buddy here.

Crichton should not have let slip about his thoughts about a certain anime magical girl here because it gave her and a certain Nebari woman ammo.

Oh, the idea had come up somewhere when Chiana has asked about getting the details on how to make a plug suit as she’d seen in the anime Rei had given her to watch. She basically said it would be so very drad to have that to parade about for fun as . . .fetish wear to attract the boys.

Rei had one upped her in suggesting a Sailor Moon outfit. The miniskirt outfit showed her figure off rather nicely, Rei had said AND it would drive Crichton up the walls.

Especially IF Chiana kept saying clips and phrases from the anime...

Yeah, she almost wished to hear Crichton’s screams about that!

But then again it might be why what’s happening right now with meeting some of Sikozu’s crewmembers.

1. “Well, you really didn’t think I would have left them behind?!” the red haired Kalish woman asked a wide eyed Lilith as she looks at a rather disgruntled coupled who’d at one time been known . . .as the Second and Third Children.

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