Playing with Fire: A Magical Romantic Comedy (with a body count)(19)
He paused for a moment to let his words sink in. “Neutralizer, please.”
The ceiling sprayers released a cloud of vapor, and I lifted my head, flared my nostrils, and breathed it in. Professor Yale did the same. From his pocket, he pulled out a meter, which he activated. It squealed, and only when the wretched device stopped making noise did the chamber operators cut off the vapor flow.
Returning the meter to his pocket, Professor Yale gestured to the bloodied scraps of my hospital gown on the tile. “The gown she was wearing didn’t survive the transformation process, and her blood was contaminated with the substance. When you’re in the field, you need to be aware that contamination can easily spread. All surfaces the victim touched must be neutralized to prevent accidental spread. Any questions?”
On the other side of the glass, many hands went up, and the students eagerly leaned forward.
“Third row, fourth from the left. Ask.”
“Why is Miss Gardener black and red? Aren’t unicorns supposed to be white?”
I snorted and stared at Professor Yale, hoping he’d let me demonstrate something rather than just stand around looking pretty for the amusement and education of a bunch of green recruits. With a faint smile, he nodded.
Twisting around so I faced the glass, I lunged a stride forward, tossed my head back, and stamped my hooves. I gave a swish of my tail and eyed the humans, faery, and other supernatural hiding behind the barrier, safe and sound. Most of the time I hated my dirty little unicorn secret, but the body came with one ability I loved: fire. All the fire, fire for me to breathe, enjoy, and even roll in if I wanted.
I loved fire, and I shared my love with the students, blowing a gout of flame over the glass. Those in the front rows recoiled. A few even screamed, and I enjoyed every moment of it.
“For the record, Miss Gardener classifies as a vanilla human. Transformative substances with an A or greater grading temporarily transfer the abilities of the new form to their victim. This is why these substances are often so dangerous. The higher grade substances come at a great price, including the complete and total loss of personality and identity. In short, should you be exposed to A+ or greater transformative substances, you will irrevocably become a new species. Questions?”
Every hand went up, and Professor Yale picked on a woman. “Yes?”
“Does transformation hurt?”
Since unicorns couldn’t shrug, I shook my head before nodding.
“That depends on the individual. Bailey is often quite vocal when subjected to extreme pain. If she isn’t cursing, it’s typically a tolerable discomfort. However, as I’ve witnessed her transform numerous times, I’m confident she was sparing your gentle young ears from the profanities that usually spew from her mouth. Today’s transformation went better than others.”
“Stings a little,” I contributed, giving a shake of my mane and relaxing my stance.
Professor Yale pointed at someone in the first row. “Ask your question.”
“Can all unicorns talk?”
“No.” I stomped a hoof. “Wilds do not. They hunt. Eat. Burn.”
Oh yes, did they burn. The desire to snort flame and bask in its heat writhed under my skin and heated me from within. Until the transformation reversed, my favorite place in the world was somewhere with a fire. I turned my head to Professor Yale. “Fire?”
The professor chuckled, stepped forward, and gave my shoulder a pat. “Yes, Bailey. I’ll take you somewhere with a nice fire. If you haven’t noticed yet, Miss Gardener is keeping to short, easy words, and will often degrade to the simplest methods of communication possible. Unicorn anatomy, while somewhat compatible with human language, makes speaking difficult. It’s actually uncomfortable for her to talk. In addition to that, unicorns have a different thought process and base personality, which does blend with Bailey’s inherent personality. While at base level she is the same person while human, complete with her memories, she picks up a few elements of a unicorn’s temperament. In regards to language, when we were initially evaluating her while she was a unicorn, it took her several weeks of effort to master basic English.” Professor Yale pointed at someone in the audience, a young woman who stood up.
“How long will Miss Gardener remain a unicorn?”
“It varies. No matter which grade you’re subjected to, duration is dependent on the individual. She might reverse back to human within ten minutes, or she could be stuck for a week. While many people have a more consistent response to transformative substances, hers is widely variable. I will lose my new ears within two hours. The longest time she has remained a unicorn has been eight days. In emergency situations, A grade and weaker substances can be reversed through treatment in a glass coffin. The procedure takes two hours, but it’s expensive and risky.”
I remembered those eight days far too well. Mary thought it had been funny to use me as a coffee roaster and charged customers a premium for the honor of having a cup made by a fire-breathing unicorn. She often enjoyed my various mishaps with the CDC, finding some way to earn a profit at my expense.
I really hoped the reversal happened sooner than later. Trotting around as a unicorn wouldn’t make it easy to find a new job or a place to stay, but at least I could sleep just about anywhere, especially if I stole one of the CDC’s horse blankets. Then again, I could also swallow my pride and take a nap in their stable. Wait. Did I even need to ask them for approval? They had turned me into a unicorn in the first place. I’d just invite myself over for a free stay and bite anyone stupid enough to disagree with me.