"Wait a second!" I said as I looked at Iris in surprise. "You have a human form?"
"Yeah yeah, I do," Iris chuckled sheepishly.
About half an hour had passed since the little incident, and everyone had gathered around at this point. We were now just waiting for ED72 to return from whatever he was doing.
Currently, however, the mentors were standing off to the side, talking amongst themselves about something. I couldn't overhear them, as some kind of invisible force was stopping me from catching anything they were saying. As for me and the other pupils, well, we had been sitting and chatting when Lucius suddenly mentioned that Iris had gotten a gift that let her take on a human form.
"When did this happen?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"I got the gift in question a few days before you came back from your expedition," she explained with a shrug.
"Can I see?" If I had eyes, they would have been sparkling right now.
"I can, but..." Iris muttered, but I wouldn't give up that easily.
"Come on, you can't just tell me that and then not show me."
"Fine, if you insist," she sighed, shaking her head and standing up.
She took several steps away from us before saying. "Here we go, I guess." A moment later, her body was engulfed by a green flash of light.
When the light vanished, I couldn't stop myself from coughing up what I had been drinking. In front of me now stood Iris, except she was obviously no longer a humanoid entity made of pink gas surrounded by glowing green crystals.
She stood at about 4'9" and took the form of a young and rather stunning woman in her early twenties. She had rather short hair for a girl, hair that was mostly raven black but had several dark pink highlights running through it. Additionally, she had bright emerald eyes that seemed to glow like the crystals surrounding her other form.
As for what she was wearing, well, she had on a black hoodie and jeans that turned into pink smoke around the edges of the openings, like the armholes and hood. However, despite all of this, what truly caused me to become so flustered was, well, a certain part of her. While her chest wasn't that big, the same couldn't be said about her lower half, if you get my drift.
So yeah, saying that this wasn't what I was expecting would be an understatement. "Is t-this... is this what you used to look like... b-before, I mean...?"
"If you're asking if I changed anything about my original appearance, then no, though this is a somewhat younger version of my older self," she answered with a slightly smug look. Apparently, my reaction was quite amusing to her. "The only things that are different are my eyes and hair. The green glow and the pink highlights are apparently a byproduct of my true form, similar to the pink mist coming from my clothes."
"G-good to know..." I stuttered as I looked her up and down.
(Damn...) I thought, as my attention lingered on a certain part of her for a little too long.
"Enjoying the view?" Iris asked teasingly, and I was suddenly glad I was physically incapable of blushing because I would have been crimson in that moment.
"I... ermm... l-let's... let's just move on..." I muttered, causing Lucius and Brain to laugh their asses off in the background.
"Whatever you say," Iris chuckled. It was very clear that she was enjoying this.
"A-anyway..." I coughed, trying to change the subject as I glanced toward Decker and the other mentors, who had finally finished their conversation. "Now that honestly makes me curious."
"About what?" Yennora asked.
"Is this what you looked like in your old lives? I mean, you had to have gotten a similar Gift at some point, right?" I asked causing Decker to glare at me.
"Didn't I tell you before not to ask about an Alternative's past life?"
"S-sorry." I coughed awkwardly.
"To answer your question, no, our current forms are completely different from what we once were. Most Alternatives manifest into a form that is unlike what they used to be before their rebirth," Yennora explained as she sat down next to me.
"What? Did you think I was always a massive bear made out of liquid metal? Did you think that damn cat was always an overgrown stray?" Decker asked, the last part causing Anna to gasp, sounding somewhat offended.
"Hey!"
"Well... no. I'm just confused why you'd stay in that form if you can turn back into what you were before," I said, wearing a puzzled look.
"Iris, care to explain it to our little acid-blooded friend?" Basil said with his usual toothy grin.
"Alright," Iris hummed in response, taking a second to think. "How to put this..."
"It's like wearing a Halloween costume, in a way. It's fun for a few hours, sure. But eventually, it starts becoming more and more uncomfortable until you just have to take it off, if that makes sense anyway." She explained, and I finally understood somewhat.
(Interesting...)
"There are gifts that don't have this downside, mind you," Yennora added, her words followed by further explanation from Decker.
"But they're bloody expensive, and most Alternatives simply become used to their new form by the time they can afford them."
"Very correct, my friends. Most simply use transformation gifts to make infiltration and diplomacy easier," Basil mused with a nod.
(Yeah, that also makes sense, I suppose...) I thought to myself.
We talked for a while after that, nothing of real note, though. It was all just whatever came to mind in the moment. Eventually, however, after waiting a bit, ED72 did end up arriving. After filling him in on what had happened, we decided to head off, and as promised our next destination would be the breeder's place I had wanted to check out.
It didn't take us long to get there, mostly thanks to Decker's mastery over spatial-type abilities. In fact, it didn't even take a minute. Unfortunately, while I had gotten somewhat used to teleportation, it still made me feel awful, to say the least. On the other hand, I wasn't the only one suffering this time, my fellow newly manifested Alternatives weren't doing any better.
Once we had all calmed down enough to focus on our surroundings again however, we finally saw what we were here for. In front of us stood a truly massive structure that looked like a mixture between a hospital and a storage facility of some kind. It was mostly marbled white, with a large number of blue stained-glass windows.
(At this point, I'm used to seeing these massive, law-defying structures...) I thought with a sigh.
"So, here we are," Yennora announced, leading the way inside.
"Brain brain, brain." (°○°)
"Fancy indeed," Gringus nodded in agreement.
"Honestly, I prefer the arcade from before," Lucius said, causing Iris to shake her head at him.
"Of course you do."
While everyone else was focused on the structure before us, my attention was elsewhere. (Guess I should ask now before we head inside and I get distracted.)
Making my way over to Malice and Sapphire, I tapped the former on the shoulder to get her attention. "D-do you need something?"
"Do you mind if I talk to Malice for a second?" I asked.
"Okay, g-go ahead," Sapphire nodded and stepped away as it was clear to her that I wanted some privacy.
"Thanks."
(Now I just need to ask without sounding like an ass...) I thought as I turned to the armored figure in question, who had turned her attention to me.
"What is it?" she asked, tilting her head.
"Well, first I just wanted to say thank you again, for saving my life, I mean," I answered with the most genuine smile a xenomorph could muster.
"It's no problem at all," she mused, her voice soft and calm. "Is there something else?"
"Yeah. In fact, there's been something I've been wanting to ask you for a while now."
"And what would that be?" she said, gesturing for me to continue.
"I don't want to sound rude, especially after you saved me, but... why do you keep staring at me?" I asked after a moment of hesitation. "You've been doing it ever since we met. It kind of freaked me out at first, but now I'm just curious."
For a moment, she stopped moving and went completely silent before coughing and looking away from me. "S-sorry about that..." she muttered under her breath. Honestly, I hadn't expected her to get embarrassed. "I was just worried, is all. After all, I know how it can be to deal with him during your trial..."
(Him? Is she talking about Goldy? Did she have to deal with him in her trial as well?) I thought to myself.
"I can't even exist outside of this suit without hurting everything around me..." she sighed, barely loud enough for me to hear.
Before I could ask what she meant by that, the familiar voice of my mentor spoke up. "Are you two just going to stand there all day? Hurry up already."
"Let's continue this conversation at a later date," Malice said as we moved to catch up with everyone else.
"Sure..."