This is set in the City of Heroes MMO - which I play way too much. But you do not need to know the game to understand!



A Little Drift
by Christian O'Kane

The woman had black hair that hung down in on either side of her head in long braids. Her slim body was covered by form fitting battle armor painted with tiger stripes. On her back were two wickedly sharp katanas. "Explain to me what you had in mind?" Alicia asked the man standing next to her in a white lab coat.

"Cellular regeneration," Doctor Philipson said. "We have been working on a patient with severe injuries, healing those wounds completely. Even to the point of regrowing lost body parts like internal organs and lost limbs." The two were standing in front of a large tank whose clear walls allowed an easy view of the contents. Inside the tank was filled with a mint green fluid in which floated a large tiger. She noted the tiger was missing a hind leg. It was moving slowly telling her that it was still alive.

"Is that a tiger?" she asked.

"Oh yes, that's Sasha from the city zoo. He was wounded in a super fight last week. In a few days he should have all four legs again and be back to full health."

She smiled and nodded. "I've always been a cat person. Even as a child I loved the big cats. What is that green stuff he's floating in? It looks like Jello."

"It's a special biogenentic gel," the doctor explained. "It has the consistency of Jello but it supplies all the daily needs for oxygen and nutrients. Also it's the perfect medium for the regenerative systems we use."

"So if I'm badly hurt you'll drop me into this stuff?" Alicia asked without looking away from the tiger.

He laughed. "Yes, that's the short version. But we can regenerate your body regardless of how badly hurt you are. We could theoretically do this even if all that's left is your head. But I'd rather not test the system in such an extreme way."

"No argument from me on that!" she joked. "But I do like the idea of being able to regrow body parts. We superheroes tend to wind up being chopped, sliced and mashed in all sorts of imaginative ways."


***********


Alicia regained consciousness slowly. She lingered for a long time in that twilight area between sleep and wakefulness. She slowly became aware of the world around her. The woman was floating weightlessly. The world around her seemed to be entirely green. The woman realized that she was floating in a tube of green liquid.

"Oh good!" a voice said suddenly. "You're awake. I'm sure you're a little confused."

"Yes I am. Where am I?" she managed to ask.

"I'm Doctor Philipson and you're in my lab," the voice said.

"I remember now," she said. Her mind was clearing and the memory of their previous meeting returned to her. "I guess it worked. What happened to me?"

"The police report mentioned a death laser of some sort. How do you feel?"

"A little confused but all right. Did everything go all right?"

"Oh fine but it is not done yet," the doctor responded. "So sleep."

The woman tried to answer but her body's need for rest go the better of her and she drifted back to sleep.


*****************


Alicia woke up when she felt hands slowly pulling her from the tank. When she came fully awake she was resting in a soft bed.

"Good morning!" the doctor said cheerfully. He was standing next to her bed with a large smile on his face.

"It worked!" she said excitedly. "It actually worked."

"Yes it did!" the doctor answered and the smile suddenly left his face. "There were a few complications."

"What?" Alicia said and sat upright in bed. "What complications?"

"I did warn you that this procedure was experimental," the doctor said slowly.

"You said it had been done before!"

"Well. It has been done before but only with animals," he said and hesitated. "There was an issue with the cellular reconstruction. It seems your DNA drifted a little."

"Drifted?" She snarled.

"Just a little. Only some 20%. We had the drift issue resolved with the animal subjects but it resurfaced during the later stages of your treatment."

"What 20%?" Alicia asked as she swung her legs out from under the covers and onto the floor. He two long legs were now covered with red fur and ended in perfect feline paws. She looked in the mirror hanging on the wall and a tiger's head greeted her. "I'm a tiger!" she shouted and the feline in the mirror opened her muzzle and moved in unison.

"Well," he said. "You are stable genetically. And you did say you were a cat person."


The end