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Story Boards / Getty Images Harvard
« Last post by Aklima Khatun on September 03, 2023, 12:57:51 am »
The FTC added that Microsoft’s decision to acquire Enema Media and Bethesda, and make their upcoming games exclusive to the Xbox, underscore the antitrust concerns. “Microsoft’s Zen Imax decision is powerful evidence as to Microsoft's incentives here and should give this Court significant pause,” the Commission added. Harvard's New Computer Science Teacher Is a Chatbot The university is encouraging students to use 'CS50 bot' as their 24/7 learning assistant. Emily Dreibelbis.

By Emily Dreibelbis June 22, 2023 HARVARD CAMPUS(Credit: Bloomberg  Contributor embraces generative AI in the classroom, adopting it as an official learning tool for its flagship coding course. Starting USA Telegram Number Data this fall, students enrolled in Computer Science 50: Introduction to Computer Science (CS50) will be encouraged to use AI to help them debug code, give feedback on their designs, and answer individual questions about error messages and unfamiliar lines of code. “Our own hope is that, through AI, we can eventually approximate a 1:1 teacher [to] student ratio for every student.



providing them with software-based tools that, 24/7, can support their learning at a pace and in a style that works best for them individually,” says CS50 professor David J. Malan, as reported by The Harvard Crimson. It's a swift turnaround from the last school year: Harvard did not have an AI policy at the end of the fall 2022 semester. CS50 classroom The hugely popular CS50 course is taught in a large hall Boston Globe  Contributor Getty Images The new approach will not use Catgut or GitHub Copilot.
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Story Boards / Re: Not All Dogs Go To Heavan 2: Lost in Phoenix
« Last post by WitchyPangolin on August 20, 2019, 03:48:09 am »
Quote from: WitchyPangolin on August 17, 2019, 12:57:52 am
   Max was a good dog. Even when he didn't look like a dog. He sat on the floor, slept in a kennel, ate dry food from a bowl on the floor. Whenever his master gave a command Max was more than happy to obey. Max's master gave him all sorts of rewards that felt very good. He always thought of his master and only of his master.
   This pleased Dex, who had stopped seeing Ronnie as a person after their first time using X-Change. He had bought a kennel and pet bowls, and a special audio track. He decided Ronnie wasn't a very good pet name and renamed him Max. He walked Max/Ronnie every day on a leash around the neighborhood. Every night he had Ronnie/Max wear earbuds and played the audio track on loop. He made sure his dog stayed a happy dumb dog.
   It only took a few days for Ronnie to give in. The pills only lasted a few hours and this was the only time Ronnie was allowed to see his own reflection and when they went on walks. People paused, patting his head and calling him a dog. Dex always called him Max, Dog, or Boy. The audio track did it's work, pushing the messages deeper and deeper. It wasn't long before the boy began to forget his name, his job, his family, his life.
   After a few weeks Ronnie was completely gone. Max was always there with big, empty, dark eyes, and a big dumb smile. It was then Dex took his dog, on the 1 week X-Change pill, to the vet, got him all his shots, and had him spayed. Max took some time to recover, but after that was back to Dex's obedient and happy dog. This pleased Dex greatly and he continued to use his pet man as a personal toy.
   Though Dex was still popular. On nights he went out he made sure Max was a dog in his kennel in case he brought someone home. No one knew about what had happened to Ronnie, and that's how Dex liked it.

   It was several years later. Dex got a promotion at work and would need to move to Phoenix for it. He didn't see the problem in it. Though when he got home and remembered Max he got a little agitated.
   He had to make plans, find a new place that allowed pets, set up for someone to watch Max while he moved everything, and make sure no one found out.
   He started by going through their pill stock. The longest he could find was a month, which he thought would be long enough. Then he went through his friends list. A close friend wouldn't work, if something happened and he needed to go to Emergency Plan it would look to suspicious.
   He narrowed it down to a few of ex girlfriends.

Penny: a pale nerdy type with short, wavy ginger hair and big blue eyes. He had always though she would look cute with a collar.
Maddy: A dark athletic type. Her black hair spiralled around her face like a cloud. She was energetic and bold. Dex thought she would make a great pair with Max.
Theresa: A small woman with long dark hair, dark eyes, and crimson lips. She had a dominant nature and had made him feel like a dog begging for her attention.

   All three were perfect to watch Max for him. He could even see himself keeping them around after. He smirked at Max, picturing each of the women in that position. Mindlessly obedient, eager to please, empty headed and crawling around. He smiled and whistled for Max. The pet eagar as ever was delighted when Dex pulled out his length and set Max to work.
   Meanwhile he looked for apartments, still thinking about the women.

Hello audience, this is your chance to take the story where you want it to go. Which girl will Dex choose? You tell me. I'll write how it goes.Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed.

Theresa Route:

   Max was so excited! He spun around, chasing his tail, waiting for Dexter. All week Dex had been packing, and Max didn't understand. All his stuff was in his crate, bed, toys, bowls, food, and now Dex was going to take him for a second morning walk!
   Dex whistled and Max paused, now dizzy. Dexter knelt, clipping his leash to his collar and rubbing his floppy ears. "You're gunna be a good boy while I get our new home set up." Dexter did not wait for a reply. He checked his phone and grunted.
   That morning he had made sure to give Max the full month pill. He was tempted to give him a second, just in case. Paranoia gnawed at him. Finally he shook his head, Max was standing there, waiting, staring up at him. Dex smiled and gave him another pat. "Good boy, let's get going."
   Dexter met Theresa half way. Her truck was already in the park parking lot when they pulled up.
   As Dextar cut the engine he noticed the woman step out. She was a hear shorter than him, her long black hair fell like a curtain around her shoulders. Even from so far away her dark eyes bore holes into him. She walked head held high, shoulders back, and a sway to her hips. Her white dress flowed on her terra-cotta skin and topaz stone glinted around her neck.
   Temporarily awe struck he forgot to move. Max became impatient, nudging and whining, bringing Dex back to the present. He quickly got out, Max quick to follow. Theresa smiled, red lips parting, flashing white teeth. "Hello Max!" She greeted kneeling as the hound ran to her. She hugged him and rubbed his face, cooing. "Hello pretty boy, yes hello!"
   Dex quickly pulled Max's thing from the car while they were greeting each other. He looked over the list he had made, just waiting really. Finally Theresa stood, laughing. She turned to Dexter, "This everything?" She took the list and looked over it, her mouth twisted as her brows furrowed. "I thought you were going to bring all of his stuff." She looked up at Dexter, raising one eyebrow. Dexter looked away, "I did."
   Theresa gasped, her hands going to her hips. "He only has two toys? Dexter!" She turned back to the dog, leaning over and rubbing his ears. "Don't worry baby boy, Mama's gunna treat you right."
   Dexter didn't argue, just helped put the crate in her truck. After Dexter left Theresa spent plenty of time playing with Max at the park. They were both so worn out by time they made it to her house they took a nap on the couch.
   Max didn't wake Theresa when he got up. Instead she woke a bit later, watching the dog wander about, sniffing everything. He had been to her place before, but that was a while back and things were a bit diffrent now.
   After a bit she got up, set his thing out, something that surprised her was a medication bottle. Dex hadn't mentioned it, ever. She sent a text asking, but didn't get a response. She was about to try calling, worried that Max had something wrong with him. She read over the label, grabbing her glasses from her desk. "X-Cgange wild?" She had to say allowed. It sounded familiar, and under the description it simply said Week Lasting Dog.
   She looked it up on her phone, it was shocking. She wondered how long Dexter had been using them. He probably hadn't meant to give them to her. As she was thinking on it she realised how late it was. So she made them both dinner, some grilled chicken and veggies. She fed Max bits of food under the table. That night she let the dog up in her bed, sleeping with one arm over him.
   The forgot about it the next day when she took Max to a pet store and bought some more toys and some treats. They came home and spent the day playing and going for runs.
   The next week went about the same. Playing and running all morning, then she had to work on her computer for the afternoon, and at night sleeping in her bed.
   Max had been there about a week when Theresa woke up to find Ronnie in her bed. She panicked and screamed. The man yelped and jumped down into the floor, crawling on his hands and knees. Her heart was racing, even as she recognized him as her missing friend Ronnie. She then noticed he was wearing Max's collar. Ronnie was still crawling around, sniffing and searching. Theresa pulled the blankets around her, biting her lip before quietly calling, "Max?"
   Ronnie turned, mouth hanging open with his tounge out. Theresa didn't understand. She sat completely still, her mind trying to figure out why her missing friend thssought he was her ex's dog. As she worked through it Ronnie laid on the floor, watching her and whining quietly.
   "Okay, let's just go along with this." She slowly got out of bed and walked to the kitchen to make breakfast. Ronnie sat near her, same place Max always did, as she cooked. She turned to grab a plate and saw the pill bottle. Everything clicked. She slammed the pan of eggs on the counter, "THAT SON OF A B-" Her phone rang.
   She moved back to the room to grab her phone, speak of the devil it was Dexter. Before answering she took a few deep breaths. "Hello?" She gave a small fist bump that her voice sounded normal. "Hey! Tea! Just calling to check up on you two. How's it going?" She wondered what kind of weird game he was playing, "Oh, well everything was fine until this morning." She sighed, thinking more on the whole thing. Getting a fun idea she smiled, listening to Dexter panic. "What? What happened? Is Max okay?"
   She walked back to the kitchen, looking down at Ronnie/Max and patted his head. "I'm afraid not. Max started acting really weird. I think I need to take him to the vet." She feigned worry. Dexter either didn't notice or she was that good at faking. "I'll be there as soon as I can!" He half shouted before hanging up.
   Setting her phone on the counter Theresa laughed.

  Dexter was pounding on the door a little past midnight. Theresa opening it with a small smile, "Hey," and let him in. In his kennel Max wagged his tail. The dog was wearing a plastic cone and was having a hard time staying awake. "Vet said it's nothing serious, just a cold. He gave him some meds, the cone is just to keep him from chewing at the spot." Theresa had a hand on Dexter's arm.
   Dexter sand to the couch with a relieved sigh. "Oh thank goodnes." She nodded, "Nothing to freak out about. Did you eat yet?" When he said no she brought him a plate of food. Dextar thanked her before digging in.
   Theresa's smile curved higher as she went into her room for a moment.
   Dexter had been to worried to eat. Everything kept racing through his head about what could have happened. The food was good though, very good. He set his fork aside to lick and bite. It was hard with his flat face, but was getting easier. He set the plate on the floor, dropping to his knees to scarf down the last if it.
   Theresa walked out of her room, holding a collar and leash. She leaned against the door frame, watching. Dexter's body was now covered in soft silvery fur, his face was elongated, his legs popped and shifted. His tail sprouted as his pants began to fall around his paws. By the time he finished licking the plate clean he was already a dog.
   Theresa laughed as she strolled over, clipping the collar around his neck. "Much better!" She chimed, as she helped him out of the rest of his clothes. Dexter looked up at her with a whine, confused as to what happened. She gave him a pat on the head. "I think I'll call you....Blue. That's a much better name for a dog." She lead him outside so they could take a walk.
   Over the next few days Theresa put Blue through rigorous dog training and exercise. He was so tired by time she put him in the kennel at night he fell asleep before she shut the door.
   Max was happy to have a playmate, though Blue was pretty grumpy.
   After a week and still no changing back Blue started to give in. After two weeks he actually started to enjoy himself. After a month he forgot he hadn't wanted this. After a year ge had forgotten about Dexter.

   
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Story Boards / Re: Not All Dogs Go To Heavan 2: Lost in Phoenix
« Last post by Lknauwnek on August 19, 2019, 08:06:04 pm »
Cool!
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Story Boards / Re: Not All Dogs Go To Heavan 2: Lost in Phoenix
« Last post by WitchyPangolin on August 19, 2019, 03:37:34 am »
Well it's been a couple of days. Looks like Theresa is stepping onto stage.
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Story Boards / Re: Not All Dogs Go To Heavan 2: Lost in Phoenix
« Last post by Lknauwnek on August 17, 2019, 10:47:45 am »
I like Theresa actually. She sounds like she'd make a great husky or german shepherd.
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Story Boards / Not All Dogs Go To Heavan 2: Lost in Phoenix
« Last post by WitchyPangolin on August 17, 2019, 12:57:52 am »
   Max was a good dog. Even when he didn't look like a dog. He sat on the floor, slept in a kennel, ate dry food from a bowl on the floor. Whenever his master gave a command Max was more than happy to obey. Max's master gave him all sorts of rewards that felt very good. He always thought of his master and only of his master.
   This pleased Dex, who had stopped seeing Ronnie as a person after their first time using X-Change. He had bought a kennel and pet bowls, and a special audio track. He decided Ronnie wasn't a very good pet name and renamed him Max. He walked Max/Ronnie every day on a leash around the neighborhood. Every night he had Ronnie/Max wear earbuds and played the audio track on loop. He made sure his dog stayed a happy dumb dog.
   It only took a few days for Ronnie to give in. The pills only lasted a few hours and this was the only time Ronnie was allowed to see his own reflection and when they went on walks. People paused, patting his head and calling him a dog. Dex always called him Max, Dog, or Boy. The audio track did it's work, pushing the messages deeper and deeper. It wasn't long before the boy began to forget his name, his job, his family, his life.
   After a few weeks Ronnie was completely gone. Max was always there with big, empty, dark eyes, and a big dumb smile. It was then Dex took his dog, on the 1 week X-Change pill, to the vet, got him all his shots, and had him spayed. Max took some time to recover, but after that was back to Dex's obedient and happy dog. This pleased Dex greatly and he continued to use his pet man as a personal toy.
   Though Dex was still popular. On nights he went out he made sure Max was a dog in his kennel in case he brought someone home. No one knew about what had happened to Ronnie, and that's how Dex liked it.

   It was several years later. Dex got a promotion at work and would need to move to Phoenix for it. He didn't see the problem in it. Though when he got home and remembered Max he got a little agitated.
   He had to make plans, find a new place that allowed pets, set up for someone to watch Max while he moved everything, and make sure no one found out.
   He started by going through their pill stock. The longest he could find was a month, which he thought would be long enough. Then he went through his friends list. A close friend wouldn't work, if something happened and he needed to go to Emergency Plan it would look to suspicious.
   He narrowed it down to a few of ex girlfriends.

Penny: a pale nerdy type with short, wavy ginger hair and big blue eyes. He had always though she would look cute with a collar.
Maddy: A dark athletic type. Her black hair spiralled around her face like a cloud. She was energetic and bold. Dex thought she would make a great pair with Max.
Theresa: A small woman with long dark hair, dark eyes, and crimson lips. She had a dominant nature and had made him feel like a dog begging for her attention.

   All three were perfect to watch Max for him. He could even see himself keeping them around after. He smirked at Max, picturing each of the women in that position. Mindlessly obedient, eager to please, empty headed and crawling around. He smiled and whistled for Max. The pet eagar as ever was delighted when Dex pulled out his length and set Max to work.
   Meanwhile he looked for apartments, still thinking about the women.

Hello audience, this is your chance to take the story where you want it to go. Which girl will Dex choose? You tell me. I'll write how it goes.Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed.
7
Story Boards / Re: X-Change Wild Account 006: Run away to the Zoo!
« Last post by WitchyPangolin on August 16, 2019, 11:59:59 pm »
Loved it! I can easily see Candy turning into a permanent resident of the zoo.
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Story Boards / Re: Money Ticket Mare
« Last post by WitchyPangolin on August 16, 2019, 11:48:47 pm »
I don't know. I keep playing with diffrent ideas for it, but playing them out in my head they don't seem to form quiet right. Hopefully posting it sooner rather than later.
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Story Boards / X-Change Wild Account 007: Gonna need a bigger boat
« Last post by Lknauwnek on August 07, 2019, 06:36:23 pm »
-I-
            X-Change Wild, in its early days, was not quite so popular in the States when it first came out. Activists questioned the point of a pill that would not only swap out your species, but would also very likely leave you so addicted that you would eventually go for the Plus Pills. Internationally, however, it was a different story. Many tourist attractions across the world would get their hands on them to allow vacationers to try a different kind of experience, one that would change their lives forever.
            Never was it more popular than in Oceania.

            The Winter Sun blazed across the highway as a red Subaru rental purred east through Northern Queensland, Australia. From inside, the family of four looked out peering at the great expanse of blue lying well beyond. After touring through most of the continent's natural landmarks and a near deadly encounter with a funnel web spider in a toilet, everything about this vacation led to this moment.
            Nancy sat in the backseat by her brother, trying to get a decent signal on her smart phone. Wearing the summer attire of short shorts, flip flops and an oversized Van Halen t-shirt, her dark hair was pulled back and held in place with a pair of hair sticks. With no luck, she instead looked on at their destination.
            The Sea. More specifically, the Great Barrier Reef. A country almost to itself, Nancy had long dreamt of exploring the reefs and seeking dangers and treasures unknown. It had been her life long dream and her parents took advantage of that by trying to get her to work hard in school.
            “Work on getting you GPA up to 3.6 and we'll pay your way to have a trip out to Australia. We promise,” They had said to her five years ago.
            Nancy was only eleven at the time. Living most of her life in Michigan, a near death incident where she fell into one of the Great Lakes left her fascinated with the water. Taking swimming courses, learning about marine life and even taking up diving, she swore to her family that she wanted to become a marine biologist one day. She spent every day in her academics studying hard to get to this point.
            Yet now, at sixteen, she found herself more fascinated with checking her twitter account. She looked out at Australia and found there was a whole lot of nothing to be seen out here. The mystery and wonder was gone just from being here and everywhere she went, there were poisonous toads, spiders and snakes to be found.
            Not that she had said anything to her parents about changing her mind halfway to the airport. It remained bottled up inside her, building up little by little. By the time they got to Ayers Rock, she finally made it clear to all of them that she wanted to just go home. They were all dismayed.
            “Here we come to the Great Barrier Reef,” Her father looked behind from the driver's seat with an excited smile on his face. “You excited, baby girl?”
            Nancy dropped her phone into her lap so he could see her roll her eyes. “Dad, don't call me that, please.”
            “You're excited, though, right?” He repeated himself.
            “Yes,” She hissed, barely able to hide her irritation. Part of her already regretted the choices she'd made in her life as a child. Were they going to torture her about it?
            “Harry, eyes on the road. We're getting near our exit,” Her mom chided.
            Her father shrugged and focused back on the road, checking his GPS to while her Mom continued talking to Nancy. “We got something really special planned. We're planning to swim with the Great Whites! That's something you always wanted to do, you know? Check out the reefs, look for buried treasure?”
            Nancy sighed, biting down on her lip. It was useless to fight about it. She couldn't even look at her mom as she nodded solemnly in defeat. Inside, she was hating every moment of this. Her body was shaking with tension. When her brother bumped her into her shoulder, she nearly got ready to claw out his eyes.
            “Nancy's just being a ****!” His brother laughed. “I'm so looking forward to watching her **** her pants in the water.”
            “Reese! Language!” Her mother scowled, shaking a finger disdainfully.
            “Well, what? Am I supposed to say scaredy-cat? I'm not eight, anymore, Mom!” Reese snapped back at her. Her disapproving glare of death finally got him to shut up. Her mom looked back at Nancy's frustration and shook her head.
            “You can stay on the shore, if you want. You're a big girl now. Nothing says you have to go out there with us.”
            Nancy had a look of bewilderment, eyes wide with offense. “Look, I'm going to do it. I'm sorry for even saying anything about it back at Uluru. G--”
            She was nearly about to swear before her Mom pointed her finger at her to stop. Pulling out her duffle bag, she found herself staring at the Great White Shark patched onto the zipper. She had prepared her whole life to meeting her favorite animal up close. It would Reese, not her, who'd be peeing into the water.
 
-II-
            Why had Nancy opened her mouth at all? This was what she'd been waiting for her whole life and now she found herself at odds with the whole family for bringing her along at all. She couldn't bring herself to apologize about it, either. While the rest of the family was getting arrangements for the ride out into the water, she sat by the docks to sulk in self-pity.
            There was a time long ago where she would've been more than excited about pursuing her dream. Then Middle School happened and the cruelty of her peers and the animosity and contempt of her teachers beat it out of her. Her family didn't deserve her lashing out, though.
            She looked out into the ocean, peering at how empty and serene it was and the mysteries that lied underneath. If she could breathe water, she secretly wished that she could disappear where no one could find her. Looking at her reflection in the water, she saw something bitter glaring back muddy and distorted. 
            The longer she reflected, the more her mind grew muddled with resentment. The reflection seemed to change with her mood, turning more grey and the eyes turning black and lifeless, like a doll's eyes. When she found herself staring at rows of more teeth than she could count, it dawned on her that her reflection was alive, staring back at her. Then, with a mighty splash, it leapt out, enormous maw flying straight at her.
            Nancy shrieked, barely getting out of the way as it landed against the dock with a loud, wet thump. It was a great hammerhead shark and, going off her best insight, it was at least twenty feet long from tail to snout. She watched as it flapped anxiously against the dock, gasping for breath. What was it doing so far inland and what compelled it to jump out of the water?
            That was when Nancy began to notice the oddest thing about the creature. Normally Hammerhead Sharks had five gill slits on each side of their head. This one only had no less that three. As she watched closely, it was now just two. The remaining slits faded into its scaly hide as the shark began spitting out entire stream of teeth out of its maw, the black eyes beginning to change color to something uncharacteristic of a shark.
            Now, she was just largely perplexed by what she was seeing. The shark was diminishing in size, the scales on its body seemingly disappearing completely. It's head crunched in on itself as its dorsal fin withered into its body, and the fins around the underbelly began stretching out like putty, shifting into something reminiscent of human limbs. She found herself almost disgusted by what she was watching, barely able to keep watching as the creature shifted into a human.
            A very lanky man, to be exact. He looked to be no more than in his late 20s. His skin was pale and wrinkled up, his body slim and lithe. His stomach was covered in bald human hair, his backside speckled with discolored splotches around his shoulders. As his hair grew in, Nancy could see he had a mop of dirty blonde hair, bangs going over his eyes.
            He slowly looked around, shakily trying to balance himself on his legs. Bracing himself with his arms, he hurriedly tried to stand but fell back over. It was as if he had forgotten how to use them. Out of all reason, Nancy hurried over and helped him get back on his feet.
            He wet his lips as he tried to say something quiet. Nancy leaned in, “I'm sorry, what did you say?”
            “Shack. Get me...to my shack. I got clothes in there all ready.” He said.

            “Thank you for that. I'm honestly glad no one was around when they saw me change back. That would've been honestly embarrassing.”
            The stranger and Nancy sat together in his small beach house, surrounded by nautical memorbillia. Now that he was properly clothed in a fisherman's outfit, Nancy felt far less embarrassed to stare at him and admire his features better. He was certainly rather handsome to look at, though he still had the smell of seawater and fish oil on him.
            Pulling out a hatch from the floor, he unveiled a secret refrigeator stash, filled with australian beer. He took one out and took a large swig. He let out a small gasp, smiling big. “Ah, that's nice. Blimey. Sure beats seawater and tuna. Can I get you one?”
            “No, thanks,” Nancy declined. “Who are you, though? What are you? You some kind of a...were...shark?”
            “A wha? Nah, not at all. Name's Leon. I'm a warden at the Great Barrier Reef, see. I run a boat tour for divers out north, but lately, I started a different kind of business,” He fished through his pockets and pulled out a glossy green pill. Nancy stared at it, almost wondering if he was giving it to her.
            “What is it?”
            “That's X-Change Wild right there. Quite a funny little thing, this pill. It changes your species for however long the pill lasts. Take it, go on. My token of thanks,” Leon waited until she grabbed it and he laid back in his seat. “After a certain fiasco with a pair of tourists, I decided I needed a break from it all. So I took an Xtra-Strength pill, closed down shop and have been cruising the pacific as a Hammerhead for the past couple of months. Now I'm back and I need to start getting ready to open up for business. Bet I've got a line of people all waiting to sail out, eh?”
            Nancy's head was hatching all kinds of ideas about the things she could do with such a pill. She couldn't believe she'd never heard of such a thing before until this stranger came to her about it. She remembered her parents mentioning an eccentric Skipper who had disappeared for a couple months, only being able to book a ride out to sea recently. Leon's something, she recalled. It couldn't have been this coincidental.
            She then asked him, “You take people out to swim with the sharks? In cages, and all?”
            “That I do, lass,” He winked. “The sharks used to be pretty scarce until some of the consumers of the pills got a bit too overexcited. For a while they were helping keeping things entertaining but my two best mates, Cassie and Genis...I don't know if they're still swimming around here, no more.”
            There was a sudden pause as he saw the strange grin on Nancy's face and he then waved his hands in dismissal. “Ah, no. I know what's going on in that head of yours. It ain't happening. You've got a pretty face, you do, but I'm not letting a minor out there in the ocean. I'd rather--”
            “Please?” Nancy asked him, holding her hands up to beg. “I've always...I always loved the ocean and this would be so cool! Plus, I think you'll be driving my family out there.”
            He sighed, rubbing his hand against his head, looking back at her several times, saying. “I might be able to arrange something, but only because I like you. Just follow my instructions and don't stray too far out at sea.”
            Nancy already could tell this was going to be an amazing day for her.

-III-
            Nancy had no idea today was going to end anything at all like this. One moment she was going to begrudgingly get on a boat to fulfill a lifelong dream with her family, and the next moment she'd run into the guy running the boat, revealing he had a secret addiction to shapeshifting pills. Now, taking a private jet ski 10 miles away from his boat, they would enact a plan to mess around with their family.
            She could make out the tiny glimpse of a boat out in the distance, the land far behind her. She had been told to come out bring nothing with her but an expanding radio collar/tracker and basic snorkeling equipment in case of an emergency. Fitting the collar around her neck, she fitted an earpiece receiver listening keenly for Leon to let signal her when to dive in.
            For what felt like an eternity she waited idly with the wind in her fae and the sea spraying on her feet. The sun was cooking her delicate skin and the life vest covering her naked chest seemed to chafe against her breasts. Finally, at long last, the earpiece came to life.
            “Right, then. Family's getting suited up to take a dip. Showtime, eh!”
            Nodding to herself, Nancy put the earpiece away into the jet ski compartment, making sure she had a extra tracker placed in there so that Leon could find it later. Taking the pill into her mouth, she swallowed it quickly as she dived feet first into the sea.
            The salt burned away at her eye as she fought against the current to push her further down—as deep as she could. When she realized she wasn't sinking fast enough, she realized that she'd forgotten to take off her lifevest. She had no time at all to pull it off when the transformations began to take effect, causing her chest to expand rapidly.
            The vest came off with an audible pop, rising up over her head and well to the surface. She fought to dive further down when her lungs collapsed. She suddenly panicked, seawater rushing into her lungs. Yet she didn't suffocate. As her webbed hands felt the side of her neck, she breathed a sense of relief. Her gills were starting to come in.
            That wouldn't do, however. If she knew anything about sharks, it's that they needed to stay mobile in order to breathe. As a human and without diving equipment, she was slow, but her growing caudal fin allowed her to propel herself forward with a strong thrust. At first she swam using the breast stroke; however, soon her arms began to wither into her streamlined, sleek body and found she needed to use her pectoral, pelvic and other fins to a minimum.
            Her blackening eyes moved to the sides of her head, her neck now nearly nonexistent. As the bones in her body softened into cartilage and her organs rearranged, the majority of her face merged into a large predator's maw, rows of teeth the size of shotglasses forming behind her human teeth. Eventually, those fell out in favor of the more powerful teeth of the Great White.
            The pale human skin covered her large body drifted behind her and she kept swimming until it had completely peeled off her gray hide. Remoras nearby drifted closely and began feasting off the dead tissue and she powered on ignorant of their busy jaws. If she could look at herself, her squaline heart would swell with pride. As a strong female Great White Shark, she was at least twenty-eight feet in length—feared by all dwellers of the pacific.
            All of her senses worked at full throttle. She could smell, see and hear keenly everything going about her. But there was more to that—she could feel them. She could sense the movement of the water, the splashing of fins pushing against her. It was like she could hunt purely on sound alone.
            The radio collar around her thick neck began beeping quickly as a voice began to speak to her “ear”. It was her master—no, Leon, speaking again. “Right, so we're going to spread some chum around the boat to draw you in. Feel free to get a bite before you start entertaining the family. Just be gentle, remember; you don't know your own strength as a shark.”
            If she were still human, she would've rolled her eyes at that. She could smell that fresh meat and blood from here. She was so close now. Her jaws were practically “drooling”.
            The boat soon came into view and the shark cage with it. Seeing her family drift helplessly around the cage at her very presence back away at her presence gave her such a sense of power. She munched away at that chum practically drunk from her ego trip. Then, when she was done feeding, she began to make her way around the boat for a quick wind up before she began chomping playfully at the cage, her family screaming through their devices. This would go on for at least a half hour.
            There was a scent in the water she didn't quite recognize. When she reverted back to human form, she had it confirmed that her little brother had indeed peed himself at the very sight of her. It was the best vacation she ever had.
10
Story Boards / X-Change Wild Account 006: Run away to the Zoo!
« Last post by Lknauwnek on August 07, 2019, 06:35:00 pm »
            The Zoo was one of the best places that Candy would have ever wanted to be. She loved animals ever since she was a kid and having an aunt that worked there made things all the more awesome. She had decided that, when she would grow up, she would work there and help with her Aunt.

            However, there were just some people who didn't understand. Her Mom and Dad used to let her go there all the time. It was their place to go to when she was upset or after she got some nice grades. She went so often that she knew all of the animals names by heart. Lately, however, her family was beginning to think that she needed to grow up. What was that supposed to mean, she'd ask, except that they didn't want her going to the Zoo anymore for...well, reasons!

            The nerve of it all. She was seventeen, now! How long were they planning to keep her caged inside that house these days? Her grades were fine in school and she was going to graduate with perfect attendance. When she was eighteen, she'd be heading off to a college her parents paid for. These were her finest moments. She had to make them last while she still could!

            It also made things harder between her and her Aunt. Last night, she had had the worst fight with her family and she ran off to her Aunt for comfort, the only person who knew anything about her. Like always, she was compassionate and kind. She knew exactly what Candy wanted from her and she would give her exactly just that.

            “Your parents only want what's best for you,” which was how it started. That didn't help anything at all. What could they possibly know what was best for her? The Zoo meant a lot to her! When that didn't work, her Aunt offered an alternative.

            “Meet me at the Zoo. I have something special just for you—something where you can really lend a hand and help me. You don't even need to graduate from High School or College to do it! Take the bus there; in fact, I'll pay your way over there. Just keep this quiet...and please, don't be so upset.”

            So, after school, she used the fare she had to make her way into the city towards the public zoo. Her parents were under the impression that she was going out on a field trip out in the wilds with her professor. According to her story, they would be gone until Sunday.

            Of course, that was only partially right. She had the slip from her teacher confirming this to be so, but she was not going. Her grades would suffer for it, but she didn't care about that or what her parents would think if they ever found out. It was high time she started making her own decisions. So, getting off the bus, she made her way through the parking lot of the Zoo.

            The Zoo was a rather large and expansive area, built at the foot of the Rocky Mountains. However, while there were some building made from wood, a large majority of the Zoo was actually carved out from the mountain, with dirt and water pour in to make the ground base for the animals to romp about in down below. The tourists walking through would watch from towering ramparts at the animals down below, where activity between the two was largely minimal.

            Only in the Aquarium or the House of Reptiles were people anywhere close to the animals, shielding by safety glass. Of course, there was the Amphitheatre which was directly connected to the Birdhouse, a tall bird exhibit sealing off exotic birds by nets and fences. Few people ever got to see the birds that came in here up close and personal, the prime exception being during the hourly shows occuring on the hour every hour between Ten AM to Two PM and Three PM to Six PM.

            Here, from the stage down below, Candy's Aunt would show off some of the specially trained birds to an audience of about a hundred or so, comprised largely of parents and overexcitable children. The majority of these birds were raptors, ravens, and the ever comical parrots. She was always the best at her job, and Candy always did her best to watch her shows when she could. Today, the amphitheatre was empty. Two PM was the intermission where she would feed the birds and have her own personal break. Candy knew exactly where to find her.

            The staff knew her well enough to let her get through the faculty security, but she knew better than to simply walk in. So she had her zoo volunteer uniform on. Along with the pine green shirt displaying a decal of its logo, she had a pair of khaki cargo shorts with one too many pockets, a wrist band on her right wrist, a pair of long white socks going up to her knees, and a pair of brown heavy boots. Her strawberry blonde hair use to fall over her shoulders until an incident with some bats prompted her to get it cut to a boy's crew cut. Her sun-tanned skin was coated in lotion and her specialty hat from the merchandise store blocked out sunlight from her green eyes.

            The security door to the break lounge was locked by a security card grid; only those permitted to care for the animals, with VIP status, or custodial, were authorised to access these doors. Fortunately, for Candy, her aunt had given her a special card that allowed her to go to certain parts of the Zoo as long as they wouldn't put her niece at risk. Sliding her ID card into the panel, the light flashed from red to green and she walked inside. Sure enough, she found her.

            As usual, her aunt was sitting in her personally designated corner of the lounge and eating her usual lunch—a banana fluffernutter sandwich with a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and freeze dried strawberry chips. She wore her standard brownish-gray uniform with the zoo emblem sewn on the right shoulder along with some heavy cargo shorts, tall white socks and a pair of heavy boots. Her hair was a dark burnette, sleek and straight and flowing below her shoulders. Her oily pink lips were smeared with marshmallow crème.

            On her left hand was her wedding ring. Candy always found it so striking to look at and was often something she noticed first on her hand. It was a custom made silver filgree with a bird's head crafted in the center, a large topaz glistening in the eye socket and four small diamonds circling around it. It somehow didn't seem to be comfortable on her Aunt's hand as she was accustomed to adjusting it often. It was like she was never quite used to wearing it, yet she denied ever taking it off.

            “I've always worn it on me at all times,” She would say. “Your Uncle—may he rest in peace—would not like it if I ever stopped wearing it. Oh, but there are those times those ravens grab it. I know what you'd say and you're right. They're always grabbing my ring tightly in her claws. Thankfully, you're there to get it off from them and bring it back to me.”

            Upon hearing the door open, her Aunt rose to give Candy a hug. She had already raced over to tackle her. “Aunt Ginger, it's good to see you.”

            “Candy, honey, come on! It's only been yesterday since we spoke,” Aunt Ginger patted her back before pulling her off. She began fishing through her pockets. “Well, then. Let me show you my little secret.”

            “You mean how I can help out here and never have to do what my parents tell me to, again?” Candy asked excitedly.

            “Something like that. Ah. Here we are.”

            From the back of her pocket, Aunt Ginger pulled out several small orange prescription bottles. After sorting through which one to use, she put the other two away and fished out a small green capsule. It was no bigger than a tylenol capsule with one half lighter in shade than the other, and a thin grey ring splitting the two. There was some dialogue engraved on the capsule but she couldn't read it.

            “What is this?” Candy frowned, curiously and almost concerned. “You always said this was your personal pain medication for your back.”

            “Oh, not quite. These pills are...something special.” She said smiling. “They're called X-Change Wild pills. They let you become an animal within minutes and you can stay that way as long as a day. During my days off, I come here to spend time with the birds. I think it's time that you shared in this. Come on. Meet me out in the bird cage. We'll have plenty more room there for you to fly.”

            Candy followed after her into the bird cage, not really sure whether to think Aunt Ginger was crazy or high off her ass. Her parents might have been right about her all along. Yet why would she be sharing this with her? There were other things about her past times with her Aunt that didn't add up. Was there a connection to the crow that always wore her wedding ring and the pills?

            There was no time for those kind of questions, however, as Aunt then told her quickly to take the pill and be amazed at what it did. Candy was almost certain this was more just a major acid trip she was about to embarge on but since her parents weren't here to stop her, what did she have to lose? Downing the green pill with a bottle of water, she stood quietly for what felt like half a minute, waiting impatiently. Apart from a sudden discomfort in her jaws, however she was fine.

            “Well, when's it going to start?” She asked Aunt Ginger. The look on her face left her slowly uneasy. “Why're you smiling like that?”

            “Look behind you,” She said. “In the water.”

            Unsure of what she was talking about, she looked at herself in the water pool. It was hard to make out, but her eyes didn't look the same. They had the most piercing, unsettling appearance to them. Her vision seemed to distort that she could almost see past the reflection, zooming in further on the pool.

            She shut her eyes wildly and yelped in surprise. She grabbed her throat. What was that shriek? Was that her voice? As a sudden pressure began building up in her mouth, she looked down and in front of her face as she felt her nose disentegrate, pressing against the bridge of her eyes as her jaws pushed out forward and out of her cheeks. Pale at first, they soon became a golden hard uniform beak. She tried to touch it but her fingers were melding into her arm, golden brown feathers shooting out of her limbs. Where had her ears gone?

            “Aunt Ginger! Help me!” Candy tried to say but it only came out as the frantic squawks of a bird. Her aunt was simply laughing at how panicked her niece was during this transformation. There was nothing funny about this!

            “Oh, quickly. Let me get those clothes off of you,” Her Aunt said as she quickly pulled her shirt off over her forming wings. Carefully, she pried the bra off soon after. There was no worries of indignity; the feathers spreading all over her body now covered what remained of her chest.

            “I probably should have told you that your clothes don't change with you. This isn't like that Animorphs story I used to read to you all the time, you know.” Her Aunt apologised.

            Candy simply glared at her in annoyance. That might have been something useful to know, indeed!

            As her body shrank down in frame rapidly, her tail feathers now grew and fanned out behind rump. She was so small now that her talons could freely step out of her enormous boots. She made a couple irritated squawks before she walked around in a circle, shaking her whole body until her feather all ruffled up. What had just happened to her? What did she look like?

            Getting a good look at herself in the vanity mirror, from a distance this time, she quickly looked at her new avian body and spread out her wings this time. The anger she had before was now surmounted by the revelation that the X-Change Wild pills, as far as she knew, really worked. She was a bird! And by the looks of it, she was a golden eagle—one of the largest birds of prey in the world!

            Part of her wasn't sure if she felt good or bad about it, at first, but she had to be put on a leash and escorted out immediately to the amphitheatre. Her Aunt Ginger stroked her neck as she spoke to her gently. “Sorry about this, but the next show's about to start. I'd hoped to get some flying time in for you, but I think you'll pick it up naturally. I know I did.”

            Show? She was going on her Aunt's show? All of this was happening so fast! She never agreed to this and candy certainly didn't appreciate having to be lead out there like an animal, even if she were roosting on her Aunt's arm. Her Aunt Ginger would later justify it by saying that appearances had to be maintained. Still, seeing the large crowd of people out there excited to see what she could do...that brought a strange warm fuzziness to her chest.

            People all wanted to see her fly around. She never thought that she'd pick it up so quickly. There must have been some instincts imprinted in those pills that let her just figure these things out without having to think to hard on it. She took off like a shot, soaring over the crowd's heads several times before landing back on her Aunt's arm, careful not to hurt her. The people roared with applause.

            She actually found being one of her Aunt's trained animals rather pleasant, between the treats her Aunt fed and the families who who would come up to stroke her feathers. This was so much more attention than what she was accustomed to, but then again, being in the limelight was quite to her liking.

            After the show was done, her Aunt brought her back inside the exhibit and let her rest on a tree branch while she gave her a glowing approval of her performance. She then laid out how her schedule worked and the birds she rotated and, when this day was over and Candy reverted back, she was always welcome to sign up for future shows.

            Candy would have to consider this.
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