Round Robin: Crossovers

Crossovers

A "Winds of Change" Story

I heard the crackle of tires on cement, and recognized it as the tires of my own car.

Sometimes having ears this big can be wonderful.

Although I looked very out of it under that tree, because of what I am I'm a very light sleeper (no pun intended). Any little sound will awaken me, or smell. I'd gotten used to it over the past few months.

I'd heard Bryan's dad leave (his rhino footprints shake the ground!), then what appeared to be Collin (by the canine scent drifting from the general direction of the front door). Leaving just Jack and me alone at the house. I was so tired, and concerned about finding Maxine, but frankly at the moment I was enjoying my return to deer-hood way to much to let things bother me at the moment. I took a moment to nibble the sweet grass around me and stretch once before getting up and changing back to morph.

I got up feeling rested, and I unconsciously ducked my head as I went through the sliding glass door into the kitchen. There was a note on the 'fridge. It said, "Help yourself to breakfast, Jon. There's a lot in the house nowadays. We should be back from the campus around noon. Bryan."

As I rummaged around in the 'fridge Jack came down the stairs. I turned an ear towards him, and said, "you want some orange juice? Or maybe some oats and honey?" With a bit of a smirk.

"Sure thing, Jon. A bit of both please." He was grinning widely, as usual. I handed him the fixings.

Looking at the note again, I saw a P.S. It said, "Oh, if you want to surf the 'net a bit waiting for us to return, go ahead and use my dad's computer. It's only a 786, but fast enough. But I'd stay away from my email box. I bet I've got a TSA overflow you can't believe!"

No kidding. Though a day or so after Brian had flown down everything went black on the List, and the Archive. Those of us who knew each other's addresses wondered what had gone on, but it was a mystery. I sat down (noting the chair had a tail hole) and signed on I discovered a note from Thomas. I read it, and hit "reply"

From: bderksen@gpu.srv.ualberta.ca

To: "tsa-general" <tsa-general@netbase.t0.or.at>

Subject: Re: We're back!!!

Date: 24 Sept. 1996

Thomas Hassan wrote:

>I'm back up everyone!!

Glad to see it! But first I should say that this isn't Bryan Derksen here. It's Jon Sleeper, and I'm up here in Canada doing what I do best: absolutely nothing. :)

>But there have been a few changes since the building where the TSA sever was located

>burned down. (Yes, you read right. Burned down.) It was quite an adventure, I can

>tell you. Especially since I was in the building at the time...

>Otherwise, I've been hounded enough to finally say something about my species. Let's

>just say that I look on the world with a certain "equine-imity" now. :)

"'Equine-imity?' Haaaw! I guess Thomas is an equine of some kind," Jack said behind me. "I should tell you that Bob is a horse morph, too."

"He is?" I said, astonished. "Heh. And I thought this thing was supposed to be random!" I smiled.

"Yeah. It's a funny thing. Maybe God has a sense of fairness, eh?"

I looked at him critically. "Maybe so, considering you're a mule morph. I don't know. I never had any deer tendencies myself. I always kind of imagined myself a dinosaur."

"Well, I guess I'd better come clean, then. I've got a dinomorph friend back in Malibu. You seemed to like dinomorphs a lot, and maybe I should introduce the two of you!"

That'd be great! I had an odd thought, funny, I was getting a lot of those lately... "Don't tell me he's a velociraptor!"

"Okay. I won't." He grinned again, but seemed almost disturbed. Like I'd said something he kind of expected, but not really.

I guess he is a raptor. Huh. Pure luck, I guess. I thought. I mean, considering how few dinomorphs there are, and how numerous raptor-types seemed to be, maybe not so lucky. I went back to my reply...

"Equine-imity" huh? Well, I'm glad to hear it. But Thomas... ten different mailing lists? I guess that's fine, considering. But ten?? Oh well. Considering that there's already six hundred subscribers to the general list alone (and it's only been up a few hours) that seems a good idea. I mean, I just scanned a message in the "tsa-hoofer-advice" ML archive about antler care. Just my cup of tea, eh? :)

>In other news, the web site itself is going to be completely redone, (like I should have

>done months ago anyway) with it's own domain name! Of course its all NON-fiction

>now, but hay :), everything Changes.

Yep. I guess so. But I'm afraid "Titanic" is going to have to remain unfinished. At least until I talk to some real orca morphs! :)

I went on to block in a little of what I'd been doing in the past few months, that I was in Canada right now doing something vague, and then posted it. Jack decided to do his own reply while I ate.

He didn't say very much, but he turned around and looked at me kind of funny. "What is it, Jack?" I couldn't feel him messing with my mind any.

"You know, Jon, and I've been wanting to say this for a while, but there's something really strange about you."

My ears went back and I tilted my head in query. "Oh really? How so?"

"Well, take what happened back in Oregon with that one kid. For a while, (and I wasn't actually reading your thoughts, it was just obvious) it was almost like..." The doorbell rang. Jack looked surprised. "How did he get here so fast?"

"He who?" I asked.

Jack just got up from the computer and went to the door, I followed. When he opened it I saw a fox morph. "Fox! You really didn't have to follow me up here!" Jack said, a little bit peeved.

"So sorry, dear boy," the fox-man replied. "But you're taking a bit too long. We have an appointment elsewhere coming up soon, and your teachers are starting to miss you." He looked at me with a sly grin. "I take it this dear friend of yours is the one?"

"Yea. He's a tough nut. And I don't know how he knows what he knows. Heck, he doesn't know, I gather. So I don't think our little mission is in jeopardy. And I'm doubly sure he isn't working for you-know-who."

I was having another one of those feelings. Like I should be knowing what they're talking about, and it was just on the tip of my tongue, but for some reason it escaped me completely. And I felt like I knew that fox-man. I can't believe this... I thought.

You know, Jon. If this disturbs you a lot then I'll do a search in your mind, if you'll let me. Jack sent into my mind.

I don't think so, Jack. I think I need to figure this out on my own. But I think I should say. Whatever you and your friends are doing, you'll succeed in it. Just... don't ask me about this anymore. I'm not a threat to whatever you're doing. But if you ever need any help in it, I'm here. I sincerely meant that last part. Being immune to things like bullets and knives is a good thing indeed.

Jack looked at Fox a moment. "We'll think about it." Jack said.

Then the phone rang, and I let the machine answer it. "Jon! Pick up! It's Brian. We found Maxine!"

Immediately, I jumped towards the phone in the kitchen and picked up. Briefly, he blocked me in on what had happened (I've never heard a stranger set of coincidences in my life!) and gave me directions on where he was on campus. "Bryan's a bit dazed right now. So if Jack can come over with you..."

"Sure thing!" I said quickly, wanting to get moving. "We'll be right there!" And I hung up. "Jack, let's go..." but he was shaking his head. "Come on!"

"Not yet, Jon. I'll be along, but I've got to talk with Fox here first. If you have any inkling about what we're doing, it's more important than any one man. But I'll be along in an hour or so. Fox just needs to test me. So I'll see ya later?"

I was a bit taken aback by his refusal. But I got another one of those odd feelings, so I shrugged. "I can get there faster running anyway. Nice to meet you, Fox."

"Likewise, I'm sure old boy." We shook hands. "I'll be in touch." And I was sure that he would be. There was something in his manner that would I would trust with my life, but not my wallet. I kept that to myself, though.

As I closed the front door behind me, I heard Fox say, "did you know that David has a relative in town? I think I might just stick around for a while..."

I knew the general direction of the campus, so I shifted and trotted off. I passed a mall, and wound around on a few pathways. There were obvious signs, so I had no trouble. God did it feel good just to run again! Sure, flying had its advantages, I'd have to experiment to see if I could change back into a Golden Eagle later. I sort of liked the contrast, actually. A "peaceful forest creature" on one side, and a "fierce predator" on the other. I mused over that as I went... and quickly discovered I was lost.

Damn! I always do this! I get so tied up with my own thoughts I forget where I'm going! I'd ended up near some dorms, and glancing up I caught a sight of a buffalo-morph looking forlornly out a third floor window. Just then, two other people (a Hi-D wolf morph and a Low-D camel morph) appeared out the entrance. They were talking about someone named Cindy, and how depressed she was, and I realized that they might be talking about the person in the window. Not everyone was comfortable with their Change, after all. I continued to get my bearings, but to no avail.

I of course smelled and heard them as they walked up to me. They smelled concerned, but I'd figured out that if I acknowledged someone's presence before they'd introduced themselves (And I hadn't given any indication that I'd sensed them first) then it could be quite disturbing. It seems that not everyone has gotten used to others having enhanced senses yet, even though they had them themselves.

I busied myself with looking around, then I noticed the camel morph out of the corner of my eye, and looked at her as she came forward, the wolf morph remaining further off. "Hey," she said in a kind voice. "You look a little lost. Need some help?"

In response, I changed back to morph and rubbed the back of my head. "Yeah, you could say that. Thanks." All the while I was getting another one of those odd feelings, but they weren't nearly as strong as anything to do with Jack and his friends, nor that kid in Oregon. It was more sense of casual familiarity, almost like how I knew Bryan at first... And in fact, the feelings seemed associated with him. Chalk up another one for the "Weird" list, I guess. Oh well. "Why's your friend standing off like that? I know he's not going to eat me."

Sheepishly, the wolf morph walked over. On all fours, no less. "I'm Janice, that's Dan." the camel-girl said.

"Pleased to meet you." I replied, we shook hands, and the weird feelings grew again. "I'm looking for someplace called 'The Barn.'"

"The barn?" the wolf (Dan) said. "Why would you want to go there?"

"Well, I'm up here looking for my girlfriend. She didn't lose herself, but she has a brother who did, apparently. I had to follow her up all the way from California!"

"California? Long drive." Janice said. "You're not all that far away, though. My friend and I are about to go back to our apartment, and unfortunately we have to pass by there anyway. Why don't we walk together?"

"Sure thing. I've never been to Canada..."

As sometimes happens, we were friends immediately. Sometimes it doesn't take much. Although it wasn't far to the Barn, we talked about the Change. Compared a few notes. I had more strange feelings, but they were decidedly vague. "And," Dan said, "I'm starting to run out of money. And I just don't have any way to get more." He finished.

"Hmm... I wish I could help. But you never know. Help may come from unlikely source, you know. I got that $20,000 and bought myself a new car. Of course, I had to almost kill myself to get it. But do you have any rich family members? Out of curiosity?"

He thought a moment. "Um... Only as a last resort. He's a total butthead when it comes to money, though. I have a few more options I want to try first, however."

"Do that. But again, don't be adverse to help from unlikely sources. I'd say don't look a gift horse in the mouth, but I don't know if your relative is one. Heh."

Janice laughed, but Dan didn't. We arrived at the Barn, stopping outside. "Well, this is it." Janice said. "Can I get your email address? I'd like to keep in touch, I think. Once I get a new computer, that is..."

"Sure! I think I'll be in town a few more days anyway. So maybe we can get together again." I took the addresses, and those two walked off. "Nice couple. I hope that relative of his comes through." I said aloud, then I turned to go into the building.

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