Nefarious Nanobots - Part One

A small bell rings overhead as I meekly pace into the almost oppressively empty cafe, the offering of stale muffins and the coffee stains coating the display cabinet doing quiet a bit to show me just why the place seemed so dead. I catch movement from behind the counter in the corner of my eye, a large man wearing a poorly fitted hair net quickly poking his head through from small window leading to the kitchen before scowling at me.

"Girl not in" he barks in a thick Greek accent, nodding his head towards the heavily worn and tape covered seats dotting the dimly lit cafe. "Thirty minute, you wait and she serve once here."

Swallowing hard I give the man a nod, slowly shifting towards a nearby table as the man watches. However, as he slips back into the kitchen proper and out of sight I quickly shift my path, inching closer and closer towards a dark booth nestled right in the back corner. Pacing closer and closer I pull my phone from my pocket, quickly opening up my messages in the hopes of double checking I had gone to the right place.

As I slide into the booth, the cheap plastic table creaking beneath me as I lean my weight on it, I feel my leg bump something tapped to the central slender metal leg holding the sticky slab of plastic aloft. Reaching down I place my phone on the tabletop, the glowing device almost locking in place thanks to the sickening residue coating the tables surface as I grasp as the warm metal device tapped to the leg. With no small amount of twist and peeling I finally pull the cylinder free, the weight constantly shifting as the contents slosh around inside and a heavier weight jostles affixed to the bottom.

Heaving the object up I find myself staring at a fairly non-descript thermos, at least until you see the strange box tapped to the bottom. As I peel off the tap I'm soon met with a blinking light, the flashing red LED flickering ominously on the bottom object. A seam runs around the length of the box, though try as I might I can't seem to pry it open.

"Could just be that easy" I mutter under my breath, my gaze slowly turning to the thermos and my unlocked phone beside it as I read the last message.

FGM: 13 Edwards Avenue, 7:10AM

FGM: Drink the Nanites like we agreed to get your reward

FGM: I'll meet you once you're done

Lost Clinic - Part Two

As I step through the smashed in wall I tentatively approach the towering device, the shiny exterior catching the light of my torch and reflecting it back into my eyes. I jump with a start as a delightful tune crackles over a set of hidden speakers, the screen flickering to life as it lags its way through a Swap Clinic loading screen.

"Wel...come... toooooooo" the device crackles, the massive cylinder opening with a grinding hiss. "The Swap Clinic 'User Unknown'. Timesheet inaccessible... Update server inaccessible... Trait Bank inaccess... Partially accessible... Begin procedure?

Flinching at the harsh crackling coming from the speakers I watch as the dust covered touch screen finally flickers off the stuttering loading pinwheel. The interface shifts for a moment, freezing on what appears to be some crisp and clean corporate user interface before crashing as a series of folders and explorer windows pop onto the screen. 

Inching closer I spy the names of the folders, long strings of hyphens and numbers with the occasional word like 'hair' or 'chest'. Two large folders sit up the top, each apparently empty and numbered to always be easy to find.

'001. Input'

'002. Output'

Lost Clinic - Part One

Floorboards creak underfoot as I pace into the cramped dank apartment, a deep moist funk clinging to room as the stagnant air slowly circulates for the first time in who knows how long. Clutching the last of my boxes in my hands I slowly trudge towards to pile in the center of the mall central living room, a series of three windows illuminating the rather open space through a set of sickly green curtains.

"This..." I begin to huff, inhaling sharply as the sickening moist scent begins to overwhelm my sense. Looking at the pile of boxes I place the one in my hands the floor, watching as the loose board shift beneath its weight, before rushing over to the pile. One by one I read the labels, my gaze soon locking to one before I move to rip it open.

In one swift motion I pull free a full bottle of air freshener, spraying wildly as the room soon fills with a caramel and cinnamon scented mist. Sighing to myself I look around, my heart sinking as it slowly dawns on me that this was my new home. Rents were high and only getting higher, and without a job to help me pay for the drastically increasing cost of living I had been made to make sacrifices. Thankfully, before it had gotten too bad I had found this place, a severely neglected apartment sitting above an equally empty and forgotten storefront.

"Should have just sold pictures of my feet or something..." I grumble, eyeing up the L-Shaped kitchen counters sitting beside front door and opening up into the sparse living room. The mint green counters are scuffed and damaged, small specks and dark spots either being stains or some kind of mold infestation that I'd need to deal with later. The over and stove top sit beneath one of the windows, the green tinted light highlighting the rusting edges around the metal appliances.

Look back to the front door I slowly tun left, looking at the tiny heavily outdated bathroom with a soap-scum coated shower and bath combo sneaking just into view through the slightly ajar door. To the left of the bathroom sits the one and only bedroom, the small room struggling to even fit a wardrobe alongside a single bed.

Pacing deeper into the apartment I keep spraying the scented mist, knowing full well I would need to be doing this for days and weeks to come in order to remove the disgusting fuck clinging to the orange shag carpeted bedroom in particular.

"Or married rich..." I chuckle weakly, making light of my situation as I step onto the well worn and filthy carpet in the bedroom. "Maybe I just a fresh start or..." I continue, pausing as I gag at the sensation of the carpet shifting beneath my feet. The aging flooring almost squelches under foot, the plush pile shifting as whatever glue had held it to the floor boards had eroded long ago.

Full Form Fitness - Dumping Ground - Part Two

Suddenly, the machine roars to life as plumes of mist erupt from within. Despite the cold I feel hundreds and thousands of pinprick like bursts of heat begin to tease and dart across my skin. In a matter of moments I feel my muscles seemingly turn to mush, the mixture of targeted heat and surrounding cold easing my body beyond the realms of belief.

"Ten inches? Lucky you" the dark haired woman chuckles, the clattering of keyboard strokes barely reaching me as the machine continues to hum and whir around me.

"How did you..." I begin to croak, my throat soon refusing to make any sort of utterance as it too grows overly relaxed and numbed.

"Oh it's all here" the dark haired employee giggles, a key more keystrokes quickly following. "Don't worry, we know someone who will enjoy it far more. Thank you for filling that order for us, we needed another Show Room Body and that bulge will be peeeeeerfect. But as for you...We've been needing to have a bit of a clean out for a while now."

Full Form Fitness - Work-In-Progress - Part Two

Suddenly, the machine roars to life as plumes of mist erupt from within. Despite the cold I feel hundreds and thousands of pinprick like bursts of heat begin to tease and dart across my skin. In a matter of moments I feel my muscles seemingly turn to mush, the mixture of targeted heat and surrounding cold easing my body beyond the realms of belief.

"Ten inches? Lucky you" the dark haired woman chuckles, the clattering of keyboard strokes barely reaching me as the machine continues to hum and whir around me.

"How did you..." I begin to croak, my throat soon refusing to make any sort of utterance as it too grows overly relaxed and numbed.

"Oh it's all here" the dark haired employee giggles, a key more keystrokes quickly following. "Don't worry, we know someone who will enjoy it far more. Thank you for filling that order for us, we needed another Show Room Body and that bulge will be peeeeeerfect. But as for you...We've been needing a success story for our latest 'franchise'.

Full Form Fitness - Show Room - Part Two

Suddenly, the machine roars to life as plumes of mist erupt from within. Despite the cold I feel hundreds and thousands of pinprick like bursts of heat begin to tease and dart across my skin. In a matter of moments I feel my muscles seemingly turn to mush, the mixture of targeted heat and surrounding cold easing my body beyond the realms of belief.

"Ten inches? Lucky you" the dark haired woman chuckles, the clattering of keyboard strokes barely reaching me as the machine continues to hum and whir around me.

"How did you..." I begin to croak, my throat soon refusing to make any sort of utterance as it too grows overly relaxed and numbed.

"Oh it's all here" the dark haired employee giggles, a key more keystrokes quickly following. "Don't worry, we know someone who will enjoy it far more. Thank you for filling that order for us, we needed another Show Room Body and that bulge will be peeeeeerfect. But as for you...We've been needing a bit of eye candy with some brains." 

Full Form Fitness - Part One

Rain spits down from above as I trudge up the street, my hands pulling and picking at my clothing with each step as I find the material pinching and riding up in the most uncomfortable ways. I hadn't worn something like this in years, at least not for their intended purpose, my preferred size for sweat pants being 'too large' and 'comfortable' as opposed to being made for exercise.

However, after months lazing about at home and even longer being largely sedentary in the office my body had finally started to show the signs of my lounging lifestyle. Glancing down I look at my hoodie covered body, my free hand prodding at the small little bit of belly flab that had started to form over the past who knows how long.

"Maybe I could just eat a little less..." I begin to mumble, already growing tired after my little walk to the deep innards of the city in search of my new gym. "Or like a little jog... in the morning... with no one around to..."

I pause my train of thought as my phone buzzes in my pocket, the small device trying to alert me that we had arrived at our destination. Looking up from my stupor I find myself staring at a large rounded wall of glass, the large corner plot looking more like a view platform for passersby to gawk at the people inside. Pink, blue, and purple cladding run along the edges of the window, framing the gym within with bright eye catching colors.

I can't help but stare for a moment, my gaze locking to the men and women inside as the rain begins to beat down at a heavier rate by the second. Slender yet stacked women bend and twist into all manner of yoga poses in full view of everyone, towering muscular men seem to effortlessly lift weights, women with powerful thighs squat while a group of cyclists power through a stationary workout at high speeds.

For each of these paragons of fitness I spot several more common places persons, most seemingly catching glances at the men and women around them while a scant few seem more so focused on their workout as they hammer out sets and make notes in a little branded pad.

Looking at the treadmills by the window I spot a young yet somewhat doughy blonde woman, her tan face red and drenched in sweat. Her eyes meet my own, her lip twitching and her face wincing as she suddenly slows her stride and steps to the sides of the machine. In a huff she looks down at her flabby frame, muttering something before pulling out a purple notepad with black highlights with a familiar branding.

Full Form Fitness