* Boardroom Banter
Simon Foley had been again woken in the middle of the night and dragged into an emergency boardroom meeting called by Reed Kendrick. When he walked through the door, the room was empty, the other participants only virtually present via images on the wall. Reed was already heated and mid-rant to Gerard, "last time we spoke you said we should do nothing. Now look what is happening. If we don't act, and act now, this whole thing is going to lose containment. This isn't just going to be about press." Reed barely acknowledged Simon entering the room. "This is going to be about what happens when Patron-113 realizes what he's truly capable of."
Reed's attention was focused on Gerard as if he should have an immediate response, but he simply paused, causing a gap that Simon filled with a yawn. He was still incredibly tired. When it finished, he found Gerard addressing him, not Reed. "Welcome Dr. Foley. Thank you for joining us again during your nighttime hours." Reed looked about ready to throw something, as if it would somehow hit Gerard thousands of miles away. Gerard simply held up his hand as he spoke, acknowledging he hadn't forgotten about the monologue. Reed seemed to settle down. "You're security team has produced some new footage of Patron-113. I didn't think much of it, but our colleague here is ruffled." Gerard held his hand higher, cutting of what was sure to be another interruption from Reed before it began. "Please please. Let the good doctor review the footage first."
Simon stretched the muscles of his face, widening his eyes in an attempt to wake himself up. A video feed appeared on the wall panel. The footage was grainy, obviously shot from outside the open-window of an apartment, Simon guessed from a floor above on a neighboring building. A man and a woman were talking. The man's back was to the camera, and the woman was merely a shadow behind the window curtains. At the moment their faces were not even visible, but a high-tech titling overlay indicated them to be Patron-113, Chris Rothchild, and his girlfriend Suzanne Oliver. She handed him a small unrecognizable object, then moved closer, her hands falling on his hips.
Even with the window pane and curtain obscuring her, their height difference was apparent. She looked to be perhaps six inches taller than him. What happened next was further confirmation of what they already knew. She lifted him off the ground with a lack of effort that would only be possible because of the Rashja. The window cropped his head out of view, but they were obviously kissing. As strange as all of this might have seemed to someone else, Simon's fatigue was setting back in and he yawned again. He had already seen footage proving this woman had experienced a sernasa just the day before. They had already decided to watch and wait. Reed responded to his his disinterest, "just wait Simon, it's coming."
The woman stepped forward, still holding Patron-113 six inches off the ground as if he weighed nothing. Her head was still hidden from view, but the fact that she was topless was not. The two quickly crossed the window frame exposure and disappeared out of view. A moment later the camera cut to a different angle. A shot through the same window, but from a very different location, higher up, further away. She was sitting on the bed as she stood close between her spread legs. They were talking again. If there was any captured audio it was muted, but text subtitles flashed across the screen. "Will I ... bigger? .... bigger for you." The woman laid back on the bed for a moment, touching herself and pressing her tits together in a perfectly rehearsed way that made this start to seem less like surveilance footage and more like a porno.
Simon was still fighting fatigue as his attention drifted away from the video. On the conference panels, he could see Gerard was watching with more than a hint of interest. It was hard to blame him, even through the grainy footage the woman was half-naked and obviously stunning. Reed's expression on the other hand was shifting to a superior look as if a murderer was about to confess and he had it all on tape. By the time Simon looked back at the video feed, he realized they were already having sex. The woman was sitting up again, her hands pumping him in and out of her at a quick pace that was unexpected given they had just started.
A moment later she collapsed on the bed, arching her back, and Simon realized the sernasa was already on her. He felt a flash of empathy for Patron-113 and how quickly she had taken the Rashja from him. Simon's thoughts flashed to Cheri, standing guard outside the conference room door, and how she had never been so impatient, no matter how much she wanted the Rashja. A moment later the woman was staring down with a prepared pose that was so sexy it again made the footage seem like a porno, and then the growth began. The way the window-panel framed her on the video made it even more apparent, her head quickly approaching its edge. As her body elongated, it tugged at the bed covers, causing shimmers in the grainy footage. Then she looked unexpectedly right at the video feed. It startled Simon a little, because it felt like she was looking right at him. A moment later Patron-113, Chris Rothchild, turned to the window. The window went dark and the footage froze at it reached it's end marker.
Reed let out what he had been holding in. "I hope you see Dr. Foley, that we clearly have a problem we need to deal with." Simon really didn't get his point. They already knew Chris' unique lack of Rashja falloff in his bloodstream. They already knew his girlfriend had experienced Sernasa a day before. They watched him carefully smuggle her to his apartment to keep her from being seen. This just looked like they were having a bit of fun, incredibly sexy fun. He tried to mentally put himself in Chris' shoes, and figured he'd probably be doing the exact same thing. More than once. He realized Reed was still ranting and he had missed a little of it, "...calculations she is now over seven foot two! What if they go for a stroll. She is more than a spectacle, she is our undoing!"
Simon looked over at Gerard. He looked bored. Reed was still ranting to himself as Simon addressed Gerard directly. "I don't see a problem here. Do you see a problem here?" Gerard just shook his head. This time it was Simon that took command of the conversation, fueled by his annoyance at being woken up in the middle of the night, again, this time for no reason. He held up his hand and started scolding Reed. "That is quite enough Mr. Kendrick. I have seen the footage. We are in the same state we were yesterday. Has Patron-113 exposed Rashja to the world? Has he exposed our operation? Has he done anything that might put either the resort, or your precious profits at risk?" Reed stared dumbfounded, not expecting to be on the outside of this decision; knowing the answer was 'no' on all counts but not willing to say it. "Patron... Chris Rothchild is a free man. We have no legal right to do anything to stop him. What would you have us do? Arrest him? We are not the police. If we're through here, I could really use the sleep I'm missing."
Simon was almost to the door when Reed mustered up a response, "Wait. Wait. Can't we reason with the man? Appeal to his judgement. Encourage him not to do anything.. rash?" Simon turned staring silently at Reed on the video wall. Too tired to think anymore, waiting for something actionable to come out of the babble mouth. "Can't we, invite him back here. No, I guess that wouldn't last long. Can't we send someone to him. An employee, or perhaps someone he bonded with here at the resort? Someone who could influence him." Reed seemed exasperated. "Can't we do something? I can't afford for this investment to fail."
At least the source of Reed's behavior was always clear. Money. Not only was there no sign of a problem, there was certainly no conclusive sign Rashja going public would hurt the Resort's profits. It might even help. Right now though, Simon really just wanted some sleep, so much he was willing to appease Reed's paranoia. "Perhaps. I'll look into it tomorrow. However, no more emergency conference calls to spy on former resort guests in their privacy of their own homes. It might make me question your loyalty to the project and have to delay your next resort visit." It was an entirely empty threat. Gerard had never visited the resort, but Reed was a bit of a frequent flier, and he knew that would get his mind off financial return. "With that, I am now truly off to bed. Thank you gentlemen."
* Preparing to go Public
When the video conference ended, Gerard carefully stepped out of view of any cameras. This room was specially crafted for these conference calls. When he reached the makeup desk, he began to pull the costume beard and eyebrows off his face, setting it onto the holder where it and the other parts stayed at rest. He moved without thinking, having repeated the methodocial process forwards and backwards many times before. Offering him complete privacy and secrecy for his alter-ego. Slowly but surely Gerard was hung on the rack while Wendel Varden re-emerged in the mirror in front of him. Once complete he washed and rinsed his face of the leftover latex adhesive, and headed for the door.
It opened directly into his high-rise office. Kat's over eight-foot-frame was barely clothed and lounging on the far side of the room like a piece of art he'd almost bored of, almost. Her head turned to see his intention. When he made directly for his desk, she closed her eyes and settled back into the almost meditative state of statue-like stillness Wendel had asked of her. He pressed his hand down on the intercom. "Judy, have the guests for my next appointment arrived yet?" Her confirmation squawked over the intercom. "Excellent. Show them in. You're to join as well this time." He rustled his hair, as if still fixing himself after removing his Gerard Lutont costume. A moment later the door far across the room opened, and a group entered. Judy; Derek, his chief scientist; and Gia, the most promising of the four new recruits he'd hired for the protectorate.
Standing next to Judy and Derek, Gia wondered if she had pushed her rendition of business attire too far. Their clothes were so conservative, even the boardroom grey of her skirt couldn't hide how short and tight it was. She followed behind them, giving her a chance to tug on the hem. She didn't know if it would keep her garter from showing or not, but she felt it worth the attempt. Finally, her eyes scanned the room. She had never been in Wendel's office, and she doubted she had ever seen one so opulently sized. Her wardrobe concerns melted away, however, when she saw the side of the room housed asexy giant female statue. It's slender and scantily clad figure was far more distracting and overtly sexual than her undone blouse buttons.
The middle of the room was adorned with couches, and Gia followed Judy and Derek to them, only realizing after that Wendel was gesturing them all to sit from aside his desk. "Welcome. Welcome." Judy and Derek sat on opposite sides of one of the couches, leaving Gia the other all to herself. She resisted the temptation to occupy it lewdly. "You are each here for different reasons, but if you'll bear with me, you will understand why it's important that you be here together." His eyes scanned back and forth between them as he spoke. "Gia, you are to be the newest member of the Protectorate. You may look back on today as your initiation of sorts. Judy, you wish to understand more about the Protectorate. In a moment you will learn that which you wish to know." Gia wasn't used to her clients setting up so much pretense, and the conservative nature off the situation, aside from the gorgeous tribute of female beauty across the room, made her very unsure where this was going.
Judy was lost in thought, hardly listening to Wendel anymore. In a moment she was going to see the transformation. She wondered to herself what it would mean when she had seen it with her own eyes. She had already seen enough to know what Wendel was doing here was going to shock the world, both the science and the spiritual. His companion Kat was proof of that, lying motionless across the room, like a living breathing piece of art. The moment made Judy feel like she was teetering on the edge of something that would change her world, change the world. But was she ready? Or was this all just a stall tactic of her subconscious? She'd know soon enough.
"Which brings me to Derek." Gia followed Wendel's eyes over to the man on the opposite couch. He looked calm, sure of himself without seeming necessarily confident. He looked smart, if it was possible to tell that from looking at someone. Wendel had pulled something out of his pocket and moved towards him. "You're recent supply increase is outstanding. It's the first step towards exactly what we need to get this program off the ground. Next, I need a trusted partner. You have already done more for the program than any other. I would like to broaden that responsibility. I would like you to be that partner." Derek's face showed appreciation, but not surprise. Gia watched him nod, as if accepting a compliment he had seen coming. "I warn you, this role comes with some -unconventional- responsibilities and risks. I previously insisted you live here, and assigned you protection for your own safety. I'm glad to hear how completely you have embraced it."
Judy felt pulled back into them moment when Derek suddenly turned to face her with a look of discomfort. Was it embarrassment? He didn't linger, glancing at the woman on the other couch briefly before turning back to Wendel. As Judy looked at Gia, she felt a sear of female envy. The woman obviously dressed to flaunt her enviably unattainable body. A tinly veiled attempt to look business-like was overshadowed by a provocatively short skirt showing off too much of her chiseled slender legs and by the way her open blouse buttons didn't just show off cleavage, but a deliberately plumped curve of bustline.
Judy was seldom distracted by such comparisons or judgements. In fact, her dispassionate perception was a prime requirement for being Wendel's assistant. What had got the better of her? Her subconcious answered instantly, as if it should have been obvious. To be transformed was to become a spectacle. What would she look like next to these women? Judy realized Wendel was continuing some kind of serious offer to Derek.
"If you become my partner in this, you will have to give up your life outside these walls. You will be assigned additional protectors. However, they will no longer be solely for your benefit. They will need you. You will be a vessel, supplying them the Rashja. And to do so, you will need to embrace their companionship as fully and frequently and as you have Protector Sarah." Judy hadn't previously known he was bedding his giant sexy female bodyguard. However, if Wendel's inunendo wasn't clear enough, the way Derek's face flushed beet red was abundant confirmation. Wendel's close was thick with sarcasm as he held out a vial towards Derek. "You see, intimate contact is the only effective Rashja transfer mechanism we have. Do you think you can endure the hardship?"
Gia was beginning to bore of the whole monologue, wondering why he was paying her such an incredible sum of money to just sit around in waiting rooms and listen to speeches. However, her interest peaked up at the mention of topics closer to her field of expertise. After the man on the couch had finished downing a shot of something from a much too geeky looking vial, Wendel was almost back to his desk when he waved his hand for her to approach. "It's time Gia." It was about time all right. Gia was normally very demure, and would have glided off the couch with a touch of casual reluctance. However, glad for her part in this freakish little play act to finally start, she found herself springing up a little too eagerly.
"Sure thing boss." The words slipped out of her mouth before she realized how much the hilarity of it all had put her in a bit of a punchy mood. Her steps were determined and sassy, almost a sexy stomp, and as she reached Wendel, five inch platform heels helped her easily match his height. Dropping any pretense of business, she pulled in intimately close, laying both hands against his chest, and holding her arms tight against herself to nudge her tits and make the view down her shirt that much more irresistible. She pursed her lips inches from his, and hushed her voice just enough for it to seem private, "how can I be of service?"
As Judy watched the sexy woman throw herself onto Wendel, she had a moment of second thoughts. The fantastical draw of her desire to experience the transformer warring with the improperness not only of witnessing, but partitipating in this kind of indescent exchange.
Wendel's reaction to Gia was matter of fact, "remove your shoes please." She lifted each of her enviably perfect legs in turn, gratuitously leaning her body into Wendel as she slipped off her shoes and settled down to her natural height. Without the hooker heels, Judy guessed they were similarly about five-foot-six. She also realized that fake-height accounted for more of her dominant sex appeal than Judy realized. Wendel turned them both, placing Gia against his desk, "it's time for us to have sex." Judy almost coughed in surprise. She knew that was why she was here, but somehow she had denied it, until now.
Gia changed her posture, subtly turning her face and her body towards Derek, "so we'll have an audience then?" Gia inched her skirt up. Judy couldn't help watch the sexy garter appear as Gia sat back on the desk and spread her legs. When she realized the woman was staring right at her, she felt a wave of embarrassment Gia simply blew a kiss before pulling Wendel forcefully against her crotch. Her legs hooked behind him, she rubbed her tits into his chest, again looking to her audience, making a show of it. "Can they join us? I'd love to give your assistant a little -- unwinding."
The comment made Judy felt even more self-conscious but at the same time flattered that Gia had even noticed her. "No. No fanfare please. This time just the deed." Wendel's words and body language caused Gia to release her legs. A moment later, Wendel had already unbuttoned his slacks and unzipped his fly. The pants stayed exactly where they were, almost as if by magic, and Judy realized it was the inner button holding them in place. Judy was thankful that the angle, the flap of his pants, and Gia's spread leg all conspired to keep her boss' equipment out of her view.
"Ohh, how formal of you." Gia was caught a bit off-guard, but then she hadn't known what to expect from the beginning. "Go ahead then." She laid back on the desk, spreading her legs out, opening herself. Wendel moved in closer, but was obviously not ready yet. For a few moments she took no action, almost defiantly giving him exactly what he asked for. Almost a minute later Wendel still wasn't inside her, so she sassed at him. "Maybe a little fanfare then?" He didn't respond, but then he didn't refuse it either, which was the same as permission in her profession.
Derek had already been embarrassed enough by his boss's full knowledge of his sex with Sarah. Now he was watching that same boss get ready to have sex with this sexy, impossibly sexy, woman right in front of him. It was almost too much for him to deal with. If his brain wasn't already stretched from having accepted the fantastical reality of the Rashja himself, he might have objected, or stormed out, or something. The truth was, nothing in the room was more shocking than the eight foot tall woman lying motionless across the room. A woman his science had helped create. His mind had been partially focused on her the whole time.
Having decided not to excuse himself, or perhaps having decided he didn't know how to do that at the moment, Derek gave in. He watched Gia unbuttoning her shirt. Speaking softly enough to imply her words were for Wendel, but loudly enough they could all hear. "Let me get you ready." The fabric of her blouse slipped to the desk surface, held on only by the sleeves, and revealed her taunt body. Her arms came to her sides. His view from the side was limited, but he had an idea what her hands were doing. That idea was confirmed as she started vocalizing with sexy sounds that seemed only semi-fake. "Uh.. Is that okay? If I touch myself for you? Uhh." Derek felt his inner animal instinctively responding to the sight of this beauty exciting herself. "It that getting you ready?" Derek was surprised how fast it was getting him ready, and felt increasingly uncomfortable sitting only arm's length from Wendel's female assistant Judy.
Judy had given up her resistances, and was now almost fascinated at Gia's actions. The woman undoubtedly exuded sex. Every tiny movement. The way she unbuttoned her blouse, her sexy come ons, and watching her fondle herself right there gave Judy a sympathetic flush of blood to her skin. When Wendel entered her a moment later, she realized Gia hadn't even touched him. Now on top of the body, she could envy that too. The pedistal Judy's mind and senses were building Gia up onto was shortened a bit by her next outburst. "Yes. Drill me baby." Wendel was moving in and out of her, and Judy realized he hadn't acknowledged them since this began. She considered that it might be as awkward for him as it was for her and Derek.
Wendel's motions were increasing in pace while Gia colored the moment with her sounds. Letting out her "uhn, uhn, uhn" in pace with every stroke. Judy wondered how long Gia had been holding her legs up and spread in mid-air, ready to be again impressed and envious, when something shifted about the cadence. "Yes. Uhn. Yes." Gia's hands came to her breasts, cupping the side of them in a motion that seemed designed to show them off for Wendel. It wasn't many more pumps and Wendel visibly yet silently stiffened. Like he had done something painful, thrown his back out, only Judy knew better. Gia's sounds ending, having done their job. A moment later, with as much decorum as one could have in the situation, Wendel retrieved himself from Gia and closed his pants.
Judy noticed Wendel meeting their attention now that he was recomposed, waving them closer to the desk. Gia looked to her audience silently and momentarily. Her expression didn't show any hint that she knew what was coming, because she didn't. Then she made a sound and her eyes went wide. "Ohh, what is what?" Gia looked back towards Wendel just as Judy stood up to move closer. The expression on her face was, pleasure? Then she let out a sound that was much more viceral, uncontrolled, "Uhhhn!" Gia arched on the desk, the muscles of her body tensing and straining as she responded to the sensations.
Judy knew what she was supposed to see, but struggled to see it. Was this the transformation? Right now the woman seemed to be experiencing some kind of intense after-climax. Either that, or intense pain. The two were hair-threads apart in the mind. A few feet away from the desk Judy felt she was close enough, and she could swear she noticed something. Gia's skirt momentarily stretching then sliding against her legs. Judy threw away her propriety and looked over her torso and chest. Her breasts seemed plump and strained at the bra moreso than expected.
Gia was almost humming now as she writhed a little on the desk, making it hard for Judy to spot anything specific. A splitting sound came from her skirt. Not a tear, more like like individual strands were breaking. Judy was so focused on watching for change, that she had missed how obviously different Gia looked now. Her legs and arms were undeniably longer, her body subtly bigger, than they had been moments before. Judy felt butterflies growing in her stomach. As if she had somehow not believed any of this was real until this moment of seeing it for herself. Knowing she could have it for herself.
Before they had entered the room, Gia's tall heels had made Judy feel the dominance of her fictional height. Now standing next to her, Judy was struck by the overwhelming and much more real feeling of her now dominant size. Looking over her frame again in fascination, they way her chest and tits were straining at her bra was becoming unreasonably apparent. Her nipples sliding into view, and the cups appearing dis-proportionally near each-other on a torso that was widening around them. When Gia's body relaxed, Judy guessed the whole process had taken maybe ninty seconds, but it had seemed like an eternity.
"Oh my god. What was that?" Gia propped herself up on her elbows as she regained her senses. "I have never come that hard. fucking ever." As her waist bent, her skirt couldn't handle the stress and it let out a ripping sound. "God. I tore my skirt." She continued sitting up, her skirt tearing further in the process, then stopped with a look of shock as her feet hit the ground long before she expected them too. Wendel was standing just a step away from her and silently motioned for her to finish standing. She took his hand for balance, and stood herself up awkwardly, finding herself somehow looking down at the top of his head.
"Welcome to the order, Protector Gia. There is no reason for surprise or alarm. From here out you will be dedicated to protecting and serving our members and our charges, via any means necessary." Derek looked at the woman towering a few inches taller than Wendel, and quickly put the facts together. Of course, he should have realized them sooner. This was Rashja transmission. How incredibly fantastical!
For a moment Wendel seemed to be sizing up Gia. "You look to be about six-foot-three. That's a nine inch response, and quite typical." Wendel looked to Judy, who was now standing with them up by the desk. Derek felt improper sitting on the couch and moved to join them. "Have you been convinced?" Derek was too distracted to notice her response. Gia was now scantily clad, bursting out of her bra, and diminatingly taller than him. He had no choice but to conspiciously adjust his manhood, something Gia obviously noticed and seemed to revel in, her lips cracking a little smirk.
"Derek," Wendel noticed him enthralled by Gia's sexy state, and expected his attention to take a moment. "I apologize if that crossed some boundaries. I felt a demonstration was the swiftest method. You will now be responsible for Sarah's dose, once a day, as well as two others I will send to you." He turned his attention to Judy, not sure whether she would take up the offer having seen the demonstration. "And there may be one more. Judy may come to you when she's ready." Judy and Derek shot each other a glance that was unreadably a mix of awkwardness and something else, uncertainty maybe.
"Derek. There is one more thing." His mind wondered if he should say this in front of Judy before she was initiated, before she could be compelled not to share it. She had shown herself to be unflappably loyal. And maybe he needed to tell her, wanted to know before she made her choice. "The Rashja is not just about the transformation, the Sernasa. It offers something more. A compulsion of sorts." Derek's expression was of blank non-understanding.
"I picked you to join me because I need partners I can trust completely. The Rashja ensures the Protectorate will always obey the vessels. A fail-safe of sorts I suppose. They could, after all, be a dangerous weapon in the wrong hands." A glimpse of registration crossed Derek's face as he glanced back at Gia, who met his gaze intently. Wendel saw her quickly and wordlessly read him and respond, opening her posture, reaching her hand to grip the waist of Derek's pants. Wendel was surprised how fast it happened, though he shouldn't have been. The Rashja was already coursing through Derek from the vial he drank earlier. He laughed as Gia moved in, tilting her head down to kiss Derek passionately.
Wendel thought to let her finish, but he had a schedule, and a timetable, and this was not on it. "Not now Gia. You can have him later." Wendel could see the disappointment in both of their faces, and a bit of shock in Judy's. He simply shrugged his shoulders at her, as if to say -- see, I told you it was a big committment. "Judy, please show Derek to the recruits I've assigned to him. You may go to him when, and if, you wish." Wendel took Gia's hand, separating her from Derek even as he look at her a bit wantingly. "Now if you'll both excuse us. Kat, come meet our newest recruit."