The Demo

The screen was moving as Naomi talked, showing textured mass exiting the holes on each end of the ellipse. Soon it resolved into what look like strands of silk, which wove among themselves and strands that, when the display zoomed out, evidently came from many more "C.A.T.s". The screen panned further out at a dizzying rate to show the strings becoming a solid sheet, molding itself and expanding until it to shape: A human hand. It waved cheerfully. There was another wave of excited murmurs from the onlookers.

"Because we're using base elements as the ingredients, there really isn't much we can't create. Working on this small a level, it's really only a matter of finding out what the recipe is, and we've known, say, what makes an arm, for decades. If we've got the time, we can even match the creation to the hosts own DNA, so that it might as well have been their own from birth. I'll mention now, just so there's no misunderstanding, that we cannot create real life with this method. Still can't actually be gods yet, sorry."

There was some more laughter, but it was subdued. Alice got the feeling most, like her, were imagining what could be done with this technology. Certainly, it could be applied to cancers, defects in most organs, virus'. It could probably be used, Alice thought, as a diagnostic tool as well, tracking inconsistencies in patients and treating them. Would they be able to stop aging with all of this? Violet, next to her, was as wide eyed as she was. Obviously she had been as clueless as Alice about the level of importance today would have.

"I'm sure many of you are beginning to get how many applications this has. You might wonder, too, why has no one done this before? There are two answers: First, we are among the first to have the tools to make something like this, both regarding mechanical issues and, to be less than humble, mental ones. Every employee here is qualified beyond doubt and absolutely dedicated to this cause. The second reason is that some have thought of what we have. However, in the past, such a machine was not efficient enough to warrant use; too much work for a result worth mentioning. The difference is scale; making something out of blocks a millimeter wide is just slower and more expensive than making it with bricks. Working on a microscopic scale, though, we can make things we would never dream of crafting with tools.

The largest effort on our part hasn't been in development of the C.A.T. system, though. It has been in making it safe. As many applications as this has for good, it would be destructive in ways that make me shudder to contemplate if used incorrectly. So, we spent well over half of the time this project has taken insuring that could never happen. I'm not going to go in depth on our security system for, well, security reasons. Just take it from me that our technology will not ever function in any way other than intended."

Naomi continued into a speech about the different approaches they would take in moderating and distributing their product, but Alice didn't catch much of it. Her focus was drifting, thinking about what all of this meant. She tried to imagine the world as it would be without the need for any medicine, with food available to everyone who needed it. What else could be done? Certainly body augmentation- Naomi even now was discussing a system for ranking the severity of different changes to physical form. Alice reeled at the casual nature with which Naomi, when asked by a reporter near the front, said that gender reassignment procedures would be one of the services offered to all who sought it out. Free of charge, of course. The implications were not lost to Alice; the hangups that had so long permeated culture regarding what people should look like, identify, act like, were doomed. There may still be sexist people now, but how could that mindset continue when there would not longer be any relevance in original biology?

Would the prejudice simply shift to any who used this miracle to- No, there wouldn't be any person left after release who could ignore it. There may be some resistance from religious groups of some kind or another, but by and large this would inevitably become the core of life from now on. And, Alice realized, by making this available for free, Technerve would almost definitely tank any economy that relied on basic human needs: All of them, of course.

Violet nudged Alice. The younger woman blinked and focused on reality once more. There was applause surrounding her, deafening her. Naomi had stepped back from the podium, apparently having answered all questions. It had been two hours. Violet looked worried. Alice smiled at her, eyebrows raised: some show, huh? Violet grinned, nodding.

Apparently, the rest of the event was purely social. Naomi and Eli drifted through the crowd, shaking hands and taking animatedly with guests. Trays were carried in by waiters- Alice saw Nikoli, the receptionist, among them- laden with snacks and drinks. She wondered if maybe this food was crafted, not by a chef, but by C.A.T.s. She chuckled as she remembered the Acronym. At least it'd be easy to remember. Soon, her and Violet were standing near the eastern wall.

"Dang Aly. I knew this was gonna be interesting but. This is, just." Violet shook her head. "This could change everything."

"It absolutely will, if it succeeds" Murmured Alice. "No food issues, never needing to get sick. This could redraw the boundaries of humanity itself." Violet whistled.

"You sound just like Naomi, twig girl. You really think so?"

"It may well mean that we abandon our bodies as the limits of our lives. What would you be able to do, when you could become the best tool for the job? Technerve is gonna have a hell of time fighting that current."

"I don't think they want to... That system made it sound like they wanted to push 'augs' or whatever. Unless it's dangerous or changes how your mind works, they're for it."

"Violet, we aren't even limited by energy any more!" Violet looked puzzled.

"How do you figure that? It can build stuff, but..."

"Think about it! They can fuel processes much more intense than our own cells, without draining too much heat from the host or combusting. To do that they'd need such an efficient system, there's no way that they can't great generators from solar or tectonic energy that will blow coal and gas out of the water."

"Oh, you caught that, huh?" Alice jumped as Naomi's light voice spoke up from just behind her. "We didn't mention it, but you're right. We've even got a prototype for a gaseous generator, pulling energy from the air and transmitting wirelessly. You been doing your homework or what?" Naomi started walking toward the back of the room, an arm casually draped over Violet and Alice's shoulders.

Alice blushed a little. "I, uh, like this kinda stuff. Sci Fi, and all that, though I guess it's not so Fi anymore... Um, where are you taki-"

"Shhh. We're off to your secret little preview. I know it's early, but I'm too hyped up to wait. Big day, y'know? Unless... you wanna wait?" Alice shook her head, wide eyed suddenly. She'd actually forgotten the promise of an actual experience with this new tech. She felt warm suddenly. Naomi laughed. Then suddenly Naomi's hand snaked down, and Alice tensed as fingers brushed across her chest. Then the hand was gone as quickly as it had come, and there was something sticking out of the breast pocket of Alice's sweater. A business card.

"After today, if you want, hit me up. You seem like you got a good head on your shoulders, and we can always use another brain. For thinking, not mad science." She cackled, and Alice smiled, laughed quietly. She almost missed Violet turning to give Naomi a stink eye, though she beamed when she met Alice's gaze.

They walked past the stage into a back area that seemed much more practically decorated. White walls and a grey floor, no hint of the showmanship that had been present before. They passed through a door in the opposite wall into a hallway. From there, they walked past several doors until they reached an elevator. There wasn't a button to the side. Naomi simply reached out and pressed a palm into the center of one of the doors. There was a small delay and then the door slid open without a sound. Naomi grinned.

"Fingerprint, pulse, and DNA. Every building here connects downstairs, so we keep security as tight as we can." She was obviously very proud of this system. Maybe she had designed it, being, apparently, the chief engineer of the most advanced company in the world. Alice frowned.

"Couldn't someone with access to C.A.T.s fake all that, now? Create a copy of your hand and fake a pulse?" Naomi laughed.

"Damn, you really are observant, aren't you? You're absolutly right, someone could get through this door with that method. However, to do that, they'd either have to be able to program them, which means they already have their name in the system anyway, or they'd have to break the security on the C.A.T.s themselves. And that system makes this defense look like tissue paper. They break it, and we've got much bigger problems."

Alice shrugged and shuffled into the elevator with the other two women. The door slid shut. No buttons were visible on the inside either. Only one stop? The doors slid open again, and Violet blew a low whistle. They hadn't felt the elevator move at all, but they clearly were on a different floor. They walked out into another hallway, much longer than the one they had been in earlier. The walls were some kind of dark stone, with plates of metal covering them as they joined with the floor and ceiling. Light strips lined the middle of the wall, giving a surprisingly gentle glow to the space.

Naomi led them past only three doors before they turned into a room on the left. Alice was somewhat disappointed; there room was especially spartan, just a narrow area with two chairs sitting against opposite walls. The wall opposite the door seemed to be made of black glass.

"Well, here we are!" Naomi exclaimed, clapping her hands together once. Violet grinned, walked to the leftmost chair and sat down. Naomi gestured to a thoroughly befuddled Alice, and the younger woman did the same in the other chair. It wasn't especially comfortable. Naomi opened a cabinet above Alice's head that she hadn't noticed early and began busying herself with something inside while she talked.

"I understand you've made good use of the samples I provided for Violet, yeah?" Alice was confused for a moment, before Violet clarified.

"Those patches, Aly. Naomi's the one who set us up with 'em, remember?" Alice blushed, suddenly. Of course. The patches had to be C.A.T. technology. How else would they have been able to function as they had, allowing anyone who placed them on their body to grow a fully functional set of male genitalia, a living strap-on? Now that she knew what C.A.T.s where capable of, she had to wonder: why on earth had they created something so... frivolous? She asked Naomi.

"Right. When we could solve all the problems of the world, why first create that product? A few reasons. Primarily, it served as a sort of test. If we can make all those nerves sink up correctly, create a working extension to the human body, all of that, we can make basically anything. Second, we have to pay for our more necessary services somehow, and, well, sex sells. Of course, they'll be provided for free as trials for people who are trying to transition, but they aren't our only... Novelty product. Oh and I wanted to, so we did."

Violet laughed, the sound echoing through the room. "You're such a freak, Mimi." Naomi only held Violet's gaze for a few seconds before they both burst out laughing again. Of course, it would be silly for Violet to think so after her and Alice had made such extensive use of the patches.

"Anywho, it's time to fill our more clueless guest in. Can't have you freaking out, and you'll enjoy this more if you're not nervous, Alice." Naomi's eyes were glistening. "You're about to be the first person to try our most ambitious product yet. Brand new." Naomi finally moved away from the wall, and now she was carrying a syringe. Alice's eyes went wide.

"Uhm."

Violet chuckled. Naomi grinned, and then continued explaining.

"This contains a pretty hefty load of C.A.T.s, as you might expect, but they aren't going to change your body at all. What they are going to do is latch on to as many of your nerves as possible. It'll feel weird, but this has been tested extensively: It won't do any damage. They're not going to do anything, then, but log and transmit all the signals you send between your body and your brain. Each one actually has the ability to send data to each other, and to other C.A.T.s on the same frequency."

Alice's eyes went wide. She was starting to understand. The engineering alone was mind bending in its difficulty. There might be more than a million of those things in that syringe, and they all could send data, without it getting lost in the cloud? Naomi nodded.

"Yeah, you see where this is going. Once we get a decent mapping of what signals do what in your native body, we'll pull the switch. The receiver was prepared based on the survey you filled out, so it should be pretty much ideal for you. Violet's, she asked for specifically. Evil, but I think you'll love it."

Alice's pulse was racing as she thought about this. If what she thought was going to happen was going to happen, she was in for a truly unique experience. She looked over to Violet, who nodded, obviously impatient to get started. Alice nodded. Naomi grinned, and with little fanfare, stuck the syringe into Alice's arm. It was fairly small. The little pain she felt quickly faded, to be replaced with a wave of tingling that spread outward from the point of impact. As Naomi removed the needle and moved over to Violet, Alice felt a little dizzy. The wave of pinpricks quickly washed over her entire body, and she thought she saw snow in the corners of her vision. Then it passed, and she only felt a little colder than before. The C.A.T.s draining her body heat for fuel?

"Woah..." Murmured Violet. "That's not especially pleasant." Naomi just shrugged. She pulled out a tablet from some pocket and turned to Alice.

"Alright, let's get these calibrated. Raise your right pinky for me?" Alice did so, and Naomi read something, tapped the screen a few times. "Index finger, next." So on and so forth. Fingers, toes, certain stretches and exercises. It started to become tedious, trying to move individual muscles, though Alice was sure that Naomi would be checking off muscles and movements in groups. She couldn't help but blush a little when Naomi asked her to do a few kegels. Violet laughed at her consternation, and when it came her time to follow the same method, she met Alice's eyes with a sultry smile. Alice laughed.

"Alright, all done! We've got about 80% of it worked out, and we can get the rest on the fly." Naomi held a finger dramatically over the screen of her tablet. "Just say the word and I start it up!"

Violet couldn't keep the laughter out of her voice, she was so anxious "Yeah yeah, let's go!" Alice swallowed, hard, trying to prepare herself.

"Alright."

Naomi's finger barely touched the tablet.

And Alice was no longer sitting in her chair.

Naomi and Violet, as well as the room they had occupied, where gone. She was standing in a clearing of... A forest? Tall trees rose around her and soft moss covered the ground at her feet. She could hear water flowing off to her right, as well as a background of birdsong and noise from insect life. She looked above her and saw warm sunlight filtered through the leaves above her, dapling the area with golden spots. Something seemed off, though, and it took her only a moment longer to realise that the sky was actually a display that covered a high ceiling. As real as the heat and light seemed, the clouds lacked the depth of real skies. So she must still be in the compound. Then she looked down, and all thought of where she was vanished.

Her body wasn't her own.

Alice's vantage point was higher than she was used too, and it didn't take her long to understand why. Her legs were longer, and she was taller. More importantly, starting at her waist, she was covered in a dark brown fur. It moved downward, thick and glossy, all the way down her legs to her- not her feet. She had hooves! She shouted in surprise, and her voice came out a little deeper than she remembered. She staggered backward like she was trying to escape her own legs, but something else wasn't right. She looked back and the full scope of the change hit her: she was a centaur!

Out from her lower back sprouted a horses back, supported several feet back by another set of legs. She lost her balance then, falling to the soft ground in a flailing heap. She fought to keep her breath under control as she swung her frontmost legs in an attempt to scramble back upright, to no avail. She closed her eyes. She took a deep breath, then another. Calm down. Holding her panic at bay she opened her eyes once more. She took a moment, examining her new body.

The horse segment was all a dark brown, with black hooves. Across her back there were white spots, like a Sika deer. Alice reached down and ran her fingers along her side. The fur was soft and warm, like a cat's. She twitched as she felt the touch on her... Hip? This really was her body. She looked over her human half, noting differences there as well. Her arms were a little longer, more heavily muscled. Her hips were wider, joining fairly evenly with the horse segment. Her breasts were much larger, too, heavier. She brought a hand to the back of her head, finding her hair to be longer, much longer, so that it fell down until could brush against her equine back. She shivered.

Looking around, she saw a dark green vest hanging from a branch in a nearby tree. She grinned, glad that Naomi had thought of that much. She tried to get up and walk over to it, but her new anatomy didn't cooperate, and she simply shifted her weight on the ground. She sighed and was more than a little started when the rush of air came out as a horse's blow. She couldn't help but laugh at herself.

"Well, what do you think?" It was Naomi's voice, coming seemingly from the sky and startling Alice. Alice could hear the laughter in her voice, could only imagine the grin that must be plastered across her face right now. "Pretty good for a last minute build, yeah?"

Alice nearly shouted back. "Moon above, Naomi, you couldn't have told me that I wasn't gonna be a biped? Also yes, fine, it's fantastic, how do I stand up? How did yo-"

"Alright, alright. Let's calm down. Since the back legs aren't part of your normal 'moveset', we've got to map them now, instead of having them ready. Take a second to think, then try and imagine what bending your back right knee would feel like."

"Back right... Naomi, horses don't... I don't kno-"

"I understand, but just trust me. The C.A.T.s in your actual body are hijacking the signals you try and send from your brain and transmitting them to receivers in this one. So, if you try and move something, we can link that signal to actual doing it now. Make sense?"

Alice didn't really get it, but it was worth a shot. She sat for a moment, then concentrated, imagining moving a muscle that she had never felt before. She felt silly, as tensed an imaginary joint back and forth. Then there was a tingle on her rear leg, and it jerked. She gasped, finding suddenly she was able to bend one of the legs.

"That's... Naomi, how on earth did you..."

"I. am. Really. Good. At my job. Now, let's get the left leg." There was another salvo of tests, moving individual muscles that hadn't existed in Alice mind. Then, when Naomi declared over the intercom that she was done, Alice tried to stand. Slowly, carefully, she got her front legs in front of her, braced, and tried to rise. She was wobbly. She fell again once, twice, and on the third attempt, finally got to her feet (hooves?). Oh, this was so weird. Alice moved, one quivering step at a time, until she was able to reach the vest she had seen earlier, and covered herself. Having exerted herself quite a bit, she wasn't nearly as cold as she had been. Though...