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Disclaimer! While small amounts of the information presented in this story is founded in hastily done research into the real world study of zoology, the author is not a zoologist and is also taking his own creative liberties as to make the story make sense in his own fictitious setting.
—
Button Presses.
Mild flame flickering.
P: Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
D: “Slrrrrrrrp. Here he comes…”
Footsteps
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
D: “Slrrp More prepared today?”
P: *Distant* “Got here by bus”
D: “Good on.”
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
Fast footsteps. Coaster plonking. Fast footsteps.
P: “I see you also prepared this time!”
D: “Huh?”
P: “Nothing
D: “Did you bring anything with you?”
P: “No, why?”
D: “Well I usually have visual aids, but it’s okay if you have nothing”
P: “Well I don’t have them”
D: “Have you ever seen the supernatural?”
Pause.
P: “...P- Probably?”
D: “Okay.”
P: “Do you know what-”
D: “Well, hang on, let’s sit down first.”
P: “Oh, right, yeah, we’ll sit”
Footsteps. Cushions plump.
P: “I was gonna ask where you think it all started.”
D: “What? The supernatural?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “No idea.”
P: “Well neither do supernaturals, but it certainly didn’t come from them.”
D: “My assumption was a Natural started it all.”
P: “Yes, but where’d they get it from?”
D: “Exactly. I don’t know”
P: “But the assumption supernaturals have is looking at a different historical event. Why are dragons half divine?”
D: “A rogue divine put it onto them.”
P: “Right. And now they’re stuck being divine.”
D: “And so supernaturals assume there were other rogue divines that put their supernaturality on them”
P: “Right, but it also varies. Some people really are playing god with the supernatural arts they’ve learned and in those cases we have the origins just recorded.”
D: “Well yes.”
P: “You know what hypnosis is, right?”
D: “Yes.”
P: “Hypnosis is not supernatural on its own, but some species certainly are better than others and some species are even better than them.”
D: “At what point does it become supernatural?”
P: “Well some people can just do something and immediately their subject is hypnotised. That’s never normal.”
D: “Isn’t that mind control?”
P: “That’s something else entirely; mind control isn’t just a shortcut, it’s an active meddling with the way an unwilling person thinks.”
D: “So that’s always supernatural.”
P: “Just because something is always bad doesn’t mean it’s always supernatural.”
D: “Ah. right.”
P: “Why are some species better at hypnosis than others?”
D: “They have traits that just kind of work for it.”
P: “Precisely. And why would certain people be better than even them?”
D: “Because they’re using it as a supernatural art.”
P: “Sometimes, but also sometimes people use other arts for it or their traits which just so happen to be considered supernatural.”
D: “Considered?”
P: *Breathes.*
Pause.
P: “Um… Y- yes..?”
D: “Are some traits only considered supernatural and not actually?”
P: “Probably. But it goes back to what you kept telling me; of what the government thinks”
D: “What if they all are?”
P: “I think lava monsters disprove that.”
D: “But the process of resurrection itself?”
P: “Oh. Um… I don’t know, but it probably isn’t natural most of the time.”
D: “Most of the time?”
Slap.
P: *Muffled* “Oops…”
D: “No no, do some beings reanimate things naturally?”
Pause.
P: “Yess?”
D: “Are there things you can’t tell me?”
P: “Isn‘t it obvious?”
D: “Well… I can’t tell if it’s a personal conviction or lack of trust or someone has told you not to.”
Long Pause.
D: “Pooka… you can trust me. I promise. And I know that’s what they all say, but come on… I’ve wanted my whole life from the moment I found out it was real, to figure out the Supernatural and revolutionise the world's understanding. Because I know damn well, deep down, supernatural people cannot be so bad as the world would have me and everyone else believe.”
Pause.
D: “And I know you must have to withhold some of it. And I know your sources probably are supernatural themselves. Make my promise to you, the promise to respect their ways and their secrecy, also a promise to them.”
P: “And what will you do with the knowledge?”
D: “Learn. And by myself I would like to continue the job I already have, but keep it to myself for as long as that’s what the subjects intend to preserve. And if my work is useful or needed for the supernaturals, work with me to get it to them.”
P: “Would it upset you to know I’ve lied about some of it.”
D: “Oh god you haven’t been lying to me this whole time, have you?”
P: “No! No no!”
D: “What are you lying to me about then?”
P: “I-... uh… ok.”
Clothes ruffling.
D: “What is-”
P: “Hang on. I promise this is good.”
D: “But you need your shirt off why?”
P: “It’ll get in the way.”
D: “Of what?”
Long Pause.
Drip.
D: *Gasp.*
Pause.
Drip… Drip.. Drip..
Cushion ruffling.
Drip… Drip… Drip…
D: *Whispered* “What the-...”
Drip… Drip… Dripdrip… Wet sounds. Clothes ruffling. Wet sounds.
D: *Panting.*
Wet sounds. Dripdrip. Wet sounds.
D: *Panting.* “Pooka!? What is happening?”
Wetsounds.
P: “It’s okay”
D: *Hyperventilating.* “What is going on?”
Wet sounds.
D: *Hyperventilating.*
Wet sounds. Sloshing. Squelching. Schlck.
D: *Hyperventilating.*
P: “I should have given a warning, shouldn’t I…?”
D: *Hyperventilating.*
Clatter.
P: “Dion!”
The tape fast forwards through Pooka picking Dion up off the floor and resting him on the sofa.
D: “Unnghh…” *Heavy breathing”
P: “Dion?”
D: “Pooka???”
P: “It’s me. You’re okay, right?”
D: “Lightheaded… what… achh… what is… This?”
P: “Fuck what I am, what are you? Okay, or not?”
D: “I think I am? What are you?”
P: “I am sorry, first and foremost, for what just happened. Secondmost, I am an Anthropomorphic Slime. I’m not a natural with a taboo interest, I AM the taboo interest. I am a Supernatural. I have been the whole time. I came up to the Surface just over two months ago.”
D: “B- But. But you’re a dog”
P: “I was never a dog.”
D: “But it’s still in your muzzle!”
P: “And I will tell you all about why after you understand that I am a slime.”
D: “But that doesn’t make sense!”
P: “It’s Supernatural! That’s the point!”
D: “Are you an animal?”
P: “I don’t know what I technically am. The life in my species is a mystery even for the Underground. But at the very least I am a living slime.”
D: “Are you a slime mould?”
P: *Laughing* “We’re just getting straight back into the lesson?”
D: “My curiosity has no bounds! I have to know about this now!”
P: “Well-”
D: “Actually, let me get a pen…”
P: “No! If someone finds you’ve been writing about this stuff, we’re both fucked.”
D: “They can already hear it if they find these recordings though…”
Pause.
P: “Oh yeah…”
D: “But also, I think I told you already people know I’ve been interested in categorising this stuff.”
P: “But actually talking to a Supernatural and then not telling anyone you did it? Surely that’s a step out of line.”
D: “You’re right…”
P: “You need to find a way to make sure these things stay hidden forever…”
D: “I never uploaded the last one to my computer, so… uhh…”
P: “A safe! Do you have a safe?”
D: “I’ll get one.”
P: “And then get bigger ones. And padlocks. If you write notes today, write them in pencil so that you can encrypt them and replace them all later.”
D: “Maybe that’s pushing it.”
P: “Banks do it.”
D: “But it’s not suspicious to keep a whole community's money in a high security bank. It sure as hell is suspicious to keep your personal hard drive in there.”
P: “Fuck…”
Pause.
P: “Fine… Write some notes and then we’ll worry about that later”
[Footsteps…footstepspapersturning]
P: “What was your question?”
D: “You said you’re a slime. Are you a slime mould?”
P: “No.”
D: “Are you a Eukaryote at all?”
P: “Probably not.”
D: “What are you? Because you’re definitely a living thing.”
P: “I am a living thing. My species can reproduce naturally, so I’m not sustained by magic like the lavamonsters are. We at the very least know why my species is anthropomorphic, but why we are a living thing is a complete mystery nobody has solved.”
Writing.
D: “Is it supernatural life?”
P: “Probably. We were shoved underground, after all.”
D: “Does your species come from the Surface?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “And how do you know that?”
P: “Because slime is from the Surface. We’ve found one of the types of fluid that comprises me on the Surface before occurring completely naturally.”
Writing.
D: “Was it living, like you are?”
P: “No. And We don’t think it ever was because it didn’t contain DNA”
D: “Do you have DNA?”
P: “We don’t think so.”
D: “I can test that!”
P: “If you test it on me you’ll find all sorts of random stuff, and we know this because the DNA in my species is full of all kinds of other DNA that does not come from slimes. In my DNA you’d quite prominently find dog DNA, which is because of how we utilise DNA for the very purpose of shapeshifting.
Writing.
D: “What do you mean?”
P: “I’ll plan you a lesson on how I work fully. That can be the first real genuinely fully thought out lesson you actually get from me. But I will tell you at least this; in order to gain a shapeshifting form we first need a large DNA sample. We study that DNA in and out and then use the information and all of the different ways our slime can transform to create a body that can convince an anthro we’re one and the same.”
Writing.
D: “This is huge information and I have questions.”
P: “Hit me.”
D: “You’re not cloning the exact species of your sample, right?”
P: “No, I got my DNA sample from a Dal.”
D: “So you can make yourself look like anything from that species, yeah?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “And that’s why you’re not of any identifiable breed!”
Writing.
P: “Yes!”
D:“So you are technically not indistinguishable from a real dog.”
P: “I should be, but it’s my fault; I kinda got creative with my canine form. We’re trained to adhere to the biological structure of a real thing so as not to get caught though.”
D: “How do you study DNA?”
P: “According to ex DNA researchers who were shunned for engaging with Supernatural arts, the process of studying DNA in slimes is remarkably similar to what DNA researchers do in a laboratory, but much faster; we organise the sample and get rid of the stuff we don’t need, and then we use a process of massaging it and heating it and cooling it to make it clearer to us, and then we organise all of it and study that to find all of the details we need to get the right shape”
Writing.
D: “How do you change the colours?”
“Well, I can just do that for the most part. It’s a feature of my species.”
Writing.
D: “Your purple hair was never hair dye, was it?”
P: “No. So, not all of my slime is able to change colours. My eyes will always be yellow, and some of my purple slime is always going to be purple. I can mix any of my purple with other types of slime in my body, and that will allow me to make it at least a different colour, but the undercurrent of purple is always going to be there no matter what.”
Writing.
P: “No. So not all of my slime is able to change colours. My eyes will always be yellow, and some of my purple slime is always going to be purple. I can mix any of my purple with other types of slime in my body, and that will allow me to make it at least a different colour, but the undercurrent of purple is always going to be there no matter what.”
Writing.
P: “And if my father was to transform into another species, that undercurrent would be blue.”
D: “You’ve a father!”
P: “I have two parents.”
D: “Biologically? I mean, not through adoption?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “And one is blue?”
P: “Yes. My birther is red.”
D: “And that’s why you’re purple?”
P: “No. If we mixed colours, the species would all be black. My dad’s dad is orange and his mum was grey.”
Writing.
D: “Where does the colouration come from?”
P: “We don’t know.”
D: “And you can make new slime? Like you’re actually reproducing and it’s not like you’re adding more fluid to it?”
P: “Yes, and I can regenerate slime that I lose and slime is constantly dying and regenerating.”
D: “And so, when two slimes mix in some way during a process like sex, that triggers a process to create an entirely brand new slime?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “Do you have a cat form?”
P: “No.”
D: “Why is one of your ears a cat ear and the other a rabbit ear?”
P: “The first species my dad transformed into was a rabbit. My birther’s first species was a cat. I retain the ability to form some of the basic shapes of my parents' primary forms and we wear that on our heads, but that’s basically all we pass on.”
Writing.
D: “Where did your slimy dog-like muzzle come from?”
P: “That comes from my first form. It’s also my only form.”
D: “That would have been my next question. So why don’t you just collect forms from the patients you massage and coworkers and people who are just around?
P: “We can’t really do that without it raising suspicions or getting us in trouble, which is in part because the sample has to be really big. And so for the most part we’re taught and trained to avoid gaining more forms after the first; the process of getting such a big sample in the first place, as we're trained, is to take it from our subjects with a big shocking gesture totally unwillfully, but I couldn’t even do that in the first place. I’ve always wanted more forms, but I just can’t in good faith make those big moves like that.”
Dion note taking.
Pause.
D: “You want more?”
P: “I’d love more. I’ve always wanted to pioneer something about the way we treat gaining forms.”
D: “Because that process is not very moral.”
P: “Well… yeah”
D: “Well… I consent…”
P: “Huh?”
D: “I’ll allow you to take it to another room. And I’ll allow you to take some of my DNA. And I want to see you as an owl…”
P: “You’re serious?”
D: “Well it’s not gonna hurt me, is it?”
P: “No, once I’ve got DNA I can just do my thing.”
D: “So, take my DNA.”
Feathers ruffling.
D: “Ack-... These are rich with DNA. This part in the middle is the rachis, and at the base of the rachis is the calamus; it’s this hollow bit. That is a fantastic source of DNA. Study it. And get your new form.”
P: “What do you want in return?”
D: “This isn’t a transactional gesture, but if it was you’re already paying me enough by simply being as you are, Pooka.”
Footsteps. Clothes ruffling.
D: “Oh!”
Pat. Pat. Wet sound.
P: “Thank you, Dion.”
D: “And thank you too. Now come with me and we’ll find somewhere you can do this comfortably. I’ll pause the recording for this.”
P: “Oh, good idea! I forgot we were doing that. Also this takes, like, an hour, I gotta call my boss.”
D: “Do everything you nee-.”
Button press.
Not Detecting Audio Input.
Button press.
D: “Have you got it?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “I timed it. That took 50 minutes. At a lab, DNA research would take days.”
P: *Chuckle* “It’s just what we do.”
D: “I was expecting to see an owl come through."
P: “And I thought you might like to watch it more.”
D: “Good point!”
P: “Okay…”
Wet Footsteps.
P: “As messy as this is about to look, the slime will all be clean and back within my body at the end.”
D: “I have questions about that.”
P: “Save it for next session, just get a pen ready or something.”
D: “Okay. I’ll write my questions after. Do you mind if I just commentate what I’m looking at and then copy it down in writing later?”
P: “Go ahead.”
D: “And how long will it take?”
P: “Maybe like 3 minutes as I’m new to the owl form? After doing it a lot I’ll be able to get it done in seconds, but initially, a few minutes.”
D: “Hit me.”
Wet sound.
D: “Oh! Okay, so, he’s like thinned out into a puddly consistency, but he seems to be able to, like, contain it within a small area and there’s a lot of movement going on right now a bit like the ocean on a very windy day, but it’s all slowly, like, shrinking in on a spot in the centre where… the middle is, like, rising out of the ground… and… it looks like he is forming… maybe, like, a rounded conical type of nubby shape as he rises from the puddle. And then on the front I can see a protrusion formin- oh! That’s a beak, he’s shaping out the beak… and now it’s opening a bit and… there’s the tongue… And there are now space in the eyes where there’s a yellow slime coming through and they’re not beijing sealed in with he eyelids”
Wet sounds.
D: “And now he’s forming the big conical nub into the shape of a bird's head. He’s got no feathers yet, it’s just the bald head of an owl and I can see now he’s pushing that shape upwards with a slim pillar I can only assume is the neck as it curves down into the general shape of what that looks like…”
Wet sounds.
D: “Okay now there’s this egg-like shape forming beneath that neck and at the sides there’s these kinds of long, flat… combs? They look like combs. They’re clearly the wings. And then, goodness, these are legs, two pillars breathing the torso, really long legs. He is forming, like, the exact shape of an owl's torso without any feathers, except the detail isn’t quite primed yet it's still a little plump on the surface, but you can tell very clearly what he’s making… Ah! And I spoke too soon because now it’s almost sinking inwards and molding around the shape of a skeleton and I can also see a few holes making their way up the torso as-...”
Wet sounds.
D: “Oh my goodness... It looks a little bit trypophobic up top, but I can see from the bottom up there are spines forming and pushing out of each hole and the holes are tightening around these spinies and from the base of each spine… Yes, these are feathers, from the base of the rachis and upwards each feather is forming and it looks like the blooming of a flower. And the whole thing is still purple, I don’t think I brought attention to colour yet, but it’s been at a stable warm-violet the whole time, but all of the feathers are still coming out in this moment and as they approach his wings they begin forming at the top and look to be moving in a symmetrical fashion down these, and they’re starting at the fleshy mass of each wing before cascading down to form the shape of the wing and I’m sure when it comes time to colour it all it’ll be exactly like any other owl…”
Wet sounds.
D: “And now the puddle at his feet is really starting to disappear as the feathers at his head are forming… And the facial disk is really showing well too, and at the top he’s god these huge horns, it’s showing up a bit more Great Horned Owl to me than Rock Eagle Owl somehow and I can see some of the head feathers are curling upwards, kinda of how some students have their headfeathers stylised… Oh and now the colour is coming through! The purple is turning into warm browns and whites and light browns and… the facial colouration is purplish which- okay the eyes are opened… is it complete?”
P: “Feel it.”
Feathers ruffling.
D: “Holy shit!”
Feathers ruffling.
D: “How on Earth… Pooka this is insanely well made…”
P: “I know! You said I’m giving Great Horned?”
D: “Yes. What makes a Great Horned Great Horned is its great horns! If you compare with me, mine are a lot less prominent. But I think this is a good thing! It’s not a criticism, it’s adding to the fascination for me and, also, the stylising! Is part of the process just observation?”
P: “Yeah. Sometimes on my way to your classroom I go past students who have their feathers curled up top and I thought it looked cool so I replicated it a little. And then when I heard you say it was giving Great Horned, I kept the purple around the face and some feather tips and went for a darker palette.”
D: “Incredible… and will you go around as an owl now? How will you utilise this form?”
P: “Well I could, but I’d need to find a place to hide so that I can transform and then I cannot go by the same name or personality, I’ll need to workshop that stuff so that I can be present without arousing suspicions.”
D: “Is Pooka your real name?”
P: “Yes it is, but for our first forms, we tend to keep our names because nobody knows us as slimes and it’s not suspicious. But if there were several different people of different species all seeming to have an affinity for the same shades of purple?”
D: “Right… What kind of name are you thinking of? Come, look in the mirror.”
Footsteps.
Pause.
P: “I really liked how you called the creation of the feathers like blooming flowers. I think maybe something about flowers could be nice.”
D: “Yeah?”
P: “Yes… back home some would call flowers in the native tongue Blodyn. I think that would be a good name for this form?”
D: “Don’t ask me! This is your choice. I will call you whatever you come to.”
P: “Okay… keep it at Blodyn for now I think. Any other time though? I’m Pooka. You should treat this owl form as a separate person.”
D: “I can do that.”
P: “It’s getting a little dark out…”
D: “Are you thinking of going home?”
P: “Yeah… but I really appreciate you letting me do this. I’ve been dying to just be free like this around someone.”
D: “And me too! Just having someone to talk to who isn’t putting me to shame for the fondness I have towards the supernatural has been the relief of a lifetime.”
Feathers ruffling.
P: “Alright… I’ll have to go home as the dog I came in as, but I think next time I’ll come in as Blodyn.”
D: “I can’t wait to meet you next time. You go change back and I’ll take care of the audio. Oh, also! You’ll need looser clothes for this owl body. If I can take some measurements really quick, I can make you one myself”
P: “You’ll do that? I’d really appr-”
Button press.
—
Button Presses.
Mild flame flickering.
P: Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
D: “Slrrrrrrrp. Here he comes…”
Footsteps
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
D: “Slrrp More prepared today?”
P: *Distant* “Got here by bus”
D: “Good on.”
Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp. Clomp.
Fast footsteps. Coaster plonking. Fast footsteps.
P: “I see you also prepared this time!”
D: “Huh?”
P: “Nothing
D: “Did you bring anything with you?”
P: “No, why?”
D: “Well I usually have visual aids, but it’s okay if you have nothing”
P: “Well I don’t have them”
D: “Have you ever seen the supernatural?”
Pause.
P: “...P- Probably?”
D: “Okay.”
P: “Do you know what-”
D: “Well, hang on, let’s sit down first.”
P: “Oh, right, yeah, we’ll sit”
Footsteps. Cushions plump.
P: “I was gonna ask where you think it all started.”
D: “What? The supernatural?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “No idea.”
P: “Well neither do supernaturals, but it certainly didn’t come from them.”
D: “My assumption was a Natural started it all.”
P: “Yes, but where’d they get it from?”
D: “Exactly. I don’t know”
P: “But the assumption supernaturals have is looking at a different historical event. Why are dragons half divine?”
D: “A rogue divine put it onto them.”
P: “Right. And now they’re stuck being divine.”
D: “And so supernaturals assume there were other rogue divines that put their supernaturality on them”
P: “Right, but it also varies. Some people really are playing god with the supernatural arts they’ve learned and in those cases we have the origins just recorded.”
D: “Well yes.”
P: “You know what hypnosis is, right?”
D: “Yes.”
P: “Hypnosis is not supernatural on its own, but some species certainly are better than others and some species are even better than them.”
D: “At what point does it become supernatural?”
P: “Well some people can just do something and immediately their subject is hypnotised. That’s never normal.”
D: “Isn’t that mind control?”
P: “That’s something else entirely; mind control isn’t just a shortcut, it’s an active meddling with the way an unwilling person thinks.”
D: “So that’s always supernatural.”
P: “Just because something is always bad doesn’t mean it’s always supernatural.”
D: “Ah. right.”
P: “Why are some species better at hypnosis than others?”
D: “They have traits that just kind of work for it.”
P: “Precisely. And why would certain people be better than even them?”
D: “Because they’re using it as a supernatural art.”
P: “Sometimes, but also sometimes people use other arts for it or their traits which just so happen to be considered supernatural.”
D: “Considered?”
P: *Breathes.*
Pause.
P: “Um… Y- yes..?”
D: “Are some traits only considered supernatural and not actually?”
P: “Probably. But it goes back to what you kept telling me; of what the government thinks”
D: “What if they all are?”
P: “I think lava monsters disprove that.”
D: “But the process of resurrection itself?”
P: “Oh. Um… I don’t know, but it probably isn’t natural most of the time.”
D: “Most of the time?”
Slap.
P: *Muffled* “Oops…”
D: “No no, do some beings reanimate things naturally?”
Pause.
P: “Yess?”
D: “Are there things you can’t tell me?”
P: “Isn‘t it obvious?”
D: “Well… I can’t tell if it’s a personal conviction or lack of trust or someone has told you not to.”
Long Pause.
D: “Pooka… you can trust me. I promise. And I know that’s what they all say, but come on… I’ve wanted my whole life from the moment I found out it was real, to figure out the Supernatural and revolutionise the world's understanding. Because I know damn well, deep down, supernatural people cannot be so bad as the world would have me and everyone else believe.”
Pause.
D: “And I know you must have to withhold some of it. And I know your sources probably are supernatural themselves. Make my promise to you, the promise to respect their ways and their secrecy, also a promise to them.”
P: “And what will you do with the knowledge?”
D: “Learn. And by myself I would like to continue the job I already have, but keep it to myself for as long as that’s what the subjects intend to preserve. And if my work is useful or needed for the supernaturals, work with me to get it to them.”
P: “Would it upset you to know I’ve lied about some of it.”
D: “Oh god you haven’t been lying to me this whole time, have you?”
P: “No! No no!”
D: “What are you lying to me about then?”
P: “I-... uh… ok.”
Clothes ruffling.
D: “What is-”
P: “Hang on. I promise this is good.”
D: “But you need your shirt off why?”
P: “It’ll get in the way.”
D: “Of what?”
Long Pause.
Drip.
D: *Gasp.*
Pause.
Drip… Drip.. Drip..
Cushion ruffling.
Drip… Drip… Drip…
D: *Whispered* “What the-...”
Drip… Drip… Dripdrip… Wet sounds. Clothes ruffling. Wet sounds.
D: *Panting.*
Wet sounds. Dripdrip. Wet sounds.
D: *Panting.* “Pooka!? What is happening?”
Wetsounds.
P: “It’s okay”
D: *Hyperventilating.* “What is going on?”
Wet sounds.
D: *Hyperventilating.*
Wet sounds. Sloshing. Squelching. Schlck.
D: *Hyperventilating.*
P: “I should have given a warning, shouldn’t I…?”
D: *Hyperventilating.*
Clatter.
P: “Dion!”
The tape fast forwards through Pooka picking Dion up off the floor and resting him on the sofa.
D: “Unnghh…” *Heavy breathing”
P: “Dion?”
D: “Pooka???”
P: “It’s me. You’re okay, right?”
D: “Lightheaded… what… achh… what is… This?”
P: “Fuck what I am, what are you? Okay, or not?”
D: “I think I am? What are you?”
P: “I am sorry, first and foremost, for what just happened. Secondmost, I am an Anthropomorphic Slime. I’m not a natural with a taboo interest, I AM the taboo interest. I am a Supernatural. I have been the whole time. I came up to the Surface just over two months ago.”
D: “B- But. But you’re a dog”
P: “I was never a dog.”
D: “But it’s still in your muzzle!”
P: “And I will tell you all about why after you understand that I am a slime.”
D: “But that doesn’t make sense!”
P: “It’s Supernatural! That’s the point!”
D: “Are you an animal?”
P: “I don’t know what I technically am. The life in my species is a mystery even for the Underground. But at the very least I am a living slime.”
D: “Are you a slime mould?”
P: *Laughing* “We’re just getting straight back into the lesson?”
D: “My curiosity has no bounds! I have to know about this now!”
P: “Well-”
D: “Actually, let me get a pen…”
P: “No! If someone finds you’ve been writing about this stuff, we’re both fucked.”
D: “They can already hear it if they find these recordings though…”
Pause.
P: “Oh yeah…”
D: “But also, I think I told you already people know I’ve been interested in categorising this stuff.”
P: “But actually talking to a Supernatural and then not telling anyone you did it? Surely that’s a step out of line.”
D: “You’re right…”
P: “You need to find a way to make sure these things stay hidden forever…”
D: “I never uploaded the last one to my computer, so… uhh…”
P: “A safe! Do you have a safe?”
D: “I’ll get one.”
P: “And then get bigger ones. And padlocks. If you write notes today, write them in pencil so that you can encrypt them and replace them all later.”
D: “Maybe that’s pushing it.”
P: “Banks do it.”
D: “But it’s not suspicious to keep a whole community's money in a high security bank. It sure as hell is suspicious to keep your personal hard drive in there.”
P: “Fuck…”
Pause.
P: “Fine… Write some notes and then we’ll worry about that later”
[Footsteps…footstepspapersturning]
P: “What was your question?”
D: “You said you’re a slime. Are you a slime mould?”
P: “No.”
D: “Are you a Eukaryote at all?”
P: “Probably not.”
D: “What are you? Because you’re definitely a living thing.”
P: “I am a living thing. My species can reproduce naturally, so I’m not sustained by magic like the lavamonsters are. We at the very least know why my species is anthropomorphic, but why we are a living thing is a complete mystery nobody has solved.”
Writing.
D: “Is it supernatural life?”
P: “Probably. We were shoved underground, after all.”
D: “Does your species come from the Surface?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “And how do you know that?”
P: “Because slime is from the Surface. We’ve found one of the types of fluid that comprises me on the Surface before occurring completely naturally.”
Writing.
D: “Was it living, like you are?”
P: “No. And We don’t think it ever was because it didn’t contain DNA”
D: “Do you have DNA?”
P: “We don’t think so.”
D: “I can test that!”
P: “If you test it on me you’ll find all sorts of random stuff, and we know this because the DNA in my species is full of all kinds of other DNA that does not come from slimes. In my DNA you’d quite prominently find dog DNA, which is because of how we utilise DNA for the very purpose of shapeshifting.
Writing.
D: “What do you mean?”
P: “I’ll plan you a lesson on how I work fully. That can be the first real genuinely fully thought out lesson you actually get from me. But I will tell you at least this; in order to gain a shapeshifting form we first need a large DNA sample. We study that DNA in and out and then use the information and all of the different ways our slime can transform to create a body that can convince an anthro we’re one and the same.”
Writing.
D: “This is huge information and I have questions.”
P: “Hit me.”
D: “You’re not cloning the exact species of your sample, right?”
P: “No, I got my DNA sample from a Dal.”
D: “So you can make yourself look like anything from that species, yeah?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “And that’s why you’re not of any identifiable breed!”
Writing.
P: “Yes!”
D:“So you are technically not indistinguishable from a real dog.”
P: “I should be, but it’s my fault; I kinda got creative with my canine form. We’re trained to adhere to the biological structure of a real thing so as not to get caught though.”
D: “How do you study DNA?”
P: “According to ex DNA researchers who were shunned for engaging with Supernatural arts, the process of studying DNA in slimes is remarkably similar to what DNA researchers do in a laboratory, but much faster; we organise the sample and get rid of the stuff we don’t need, and then we use a process of massaging it and heating it and cooling it to make it clearer to us, and then we organise all of it and study that to find all of the details we need to get the right shape”
Writing.
D: “How do you change the colours?”
“Well, I can just do that for the most part. It’s a feature of my species.”
Writing.
D: “Your purple hair was never hair dye, was it?”
P: “No. So, not all of my slime is able to change colours. My eyes will always be yellow, and some of my purple slime is always going to be purple. I can mix any of my purple with other types of slime in my body, and that will allow me to make it at least a different colour, but the undercurrent of purple is always going to be there no matter what.”
Writing.
P: “No. So not all of my slime is able to change colours. My eyes will always be yellow, and some of my purple slime is always going to be purple. I can mix any of my purple with other types of slime in my body, and that will allow me to make it at least a different colour, but the undercurrent of purple is always going to be there no matter what.”
Writing.
P: “And if my father was to transform into another species, that undercurrent would be blue.”
D: “You’ve a father!”
P: “I have two parents.”
D: “Biologically? I mean, not through adoption?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “And one is blue?”
P: “Yes. My birther is red.”
D: “And that’s why you’re purple?”
P: “No. If we mixed colours, the species would all be black. My dad’s dad is orange and his mum was grey.”
Writing.
D: “Where does the colouration come from?”
P: “We don’t know.”
D: “And you can make new slime? Like you’re actually reproducing and it’s not like you’re adding more fluid to it?”
P: “Yes, and I can regenerate slime that I lose and slime is constantly dying and regenerating.”
D: “And so, when two slimes mix in some way during a process like sex, that triggers a process to create an entirely brand new slime?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “Do you have a cat form?”
P: “No.”
D: “Why is one of your ears a cat ear and the other a rabbit ear?”
P: “The first species my dad transformed into was a rabbit. My birther’s first species was a cat. I retain the ability to form some of the basic shapes of my parents' primary forms and we wear that on our heads, but that’s basically all we pass on.”
Writing.
D: “Where did your slimy dog-like muzzle come from?”
P: “That comes from my first form. It’s also my only form.”
D: “That would have been my next question. So why don’t you just collect forms from the patients you massage and coworkers and people who are just around?
P: “We can’t really do that without it raising suspicions or getting us in trouble, which is in part because the sample has to be really big. And so for the most part we’re taught and trained to avoid gaining more forms after the first; the process of getting such a big sample in the first place, as we're trained, is to take it from our subjects with a big shocking gesture totally unwillfully, but I couldn’t even do that in the first place. I’ve always wanted more forms, but I just can’t in good faith make those big moves like that.”
Dion note taking.
Pause.
D: “You want more?”
P: “I’d love more. I’ve always wanted to pioneer something about the way we treat gaining forms.”
D: “Because that process is not very moral.”
P: “Well… yeah”
D: “Well… I consent…”
P: “Huh?”
D: “I’ll allow you to take it to another room. And I’ll allow you to take some of my DNA. And I want to see you as an owl…”
P: “You’re serious?”
D: “Well it’s not gonna hurt me, is it?”
P: “No, once I’ve got DNA I can just do my thing.”
D: “So, take my DNA.”
Feathers ruffling.
D: “Ack-... These are rich with DNA. This part in the middle is the rachis, and at the base of the rachis is the calamus; it’s this hollow bit. That is a fantastic source of DNA. Study it. And get your new form.”
P: “What do you want in return?”
D: “This isn’t a transactional gesture, but if it was you’re already paying me enough by simply being as you are, Pooka.”
Footsteps. Clothes ruffling.
D: “Oh!”
Pat. Pat. Wet sound.
P: “Thank you, Dion.”
D: “And thank you too. Now come with me and we’ll find somewhere you can do this comfortably. I’ll pause the recording for this.”
P: “Oh, good idea! I forgot we were doing that. Also this takes, like, an hour, I gotta call my boss.”
D: “Do everything you nee-.”
Button press.
Not Detecting Audio Input.
Button press.
D: “Have you got it?”
P: “Yes.”
D: “I timed it. That took 50 minutes. At a lab, DNA research would take days.”
P: *Chuckle* “It’s just what we do.”
D: “I was expecting to see an owl come through."
P: “And I thought you might like to watch it more.”
D: “Good point!”
P: “Okay…”
Wet Footsteps.
P: “As messy as this is about to look, the slime will all be clean and back within my body at the end.”
D: “I have questions about that.”
P: “Save it for next session, just get a pen ready or something.”
D: “Okay. I’ll write my questions after. Do you mind if I just commentate what I’m looking at and then copy it down in writing later?”
P: “Go ahead.”
D: “And how long will it take?”
P: “Maybe like 3 minutes as I’m new to the owl form? After doing it a lot I’ll be able to get it done in seconds, but initially, a few minutes.”
D: “Hit me.”
Wet sound.
D: “Oh! Okay, so, he’s like thinned out into a puddly consistency, but he seems to be able to, like, contain it within a small area and there’s a lot of movement going on right now a bit like the ocean on a very windy day, but it’s all slowly, like, shrinking in on a spot in the centre where… the middle is, like, rising out of the ground… and… it looks like he is forming… maybe, like, a rounded conical type of nubby shape as he rises from the puddle. And then on the front I can see a protrusion formin- oh! That’s a beak, he’s shaping out the beak… and now it’s opening a bit and… there’s the tongue… And there are now space in the eyes where there’s a yellow slime coming through and they’re not beijing sealed in with he eyelids”
Wet sounds.
D: “And now he’s forming the big conical nub into the shape of a bird's head. He’s got no feathers yet, it’s just the bald head of an owl and I can see now he’s pushing that shape upwards with a slim pillar I can only assume is the neck as it curves down into the general shape of what that looks like…”
Wet sounds.
D: “Okay now there’s this egg-like shape forming beneath that neck and at the sides there’s these kinds of long, flat… combs? They look like combs. They’re clearly the wings. And then, goodness, these are legs, two pillars breathing the torso, really long legs. He is forming, like, the exact shape of an owl's torso without any feathers, except the detail isn’t quite primed yet it's still a little plump on the surface, but you can tell very clearly what he’s making… Ah! And I spoke too soon because now it’s almost sinking inwards and molding around the shape of a skeleton and I can also see a few holes making their way up the torso as-...”
Wet sounds.
D: “Oh my goodness... It looks a little bit trypophobic up top, but I can see from the bottom up there are spines forming and pushing out of each hole and the holes are tightening around these spinies and from the base of each spine… Yes, these are feathers, from the base of the rachis and upwards each feather is forming and it looks like the blooming of a flower. And the whole thing is still purple, I don’t think I brought attention to colour yet, but it’s been at a stable warm-violet the whole time, but all of the feathers are still coming out in this moment and as they approach his wings they begin forming at the top and look to be moving in a symmetrical fashion down these, and they’re starting at the fleshy mass of each wing before cascading down to form the shape of the wing and I’m sure when it comes time to colour it all it’ll be exactly like any other owl…”
Wet sounds.
D: “And now the puddle at his feet is really starting to disappear as the feathers at his head are forming… And the facial disk is really showing well too, and at the top he’s god these huge horns, it’s showing up a bit more Great Horned Owl to me than Rock Eagle Owl somehow and I can see some of the head feathers are curling upwards, kinda of how some students have their headfeathers stylised… Oh and now the colour is coming through! The purple is turning into warm browns and whites and light browns and… the facial colouration is purplish which- okay the eyes are opened… is it complete?”
P: “Feel it.”
Feathers ruffling.
D: “Holy shit!”
Feathers ruffling.
D: “How on Earth… Pooka this is insanely well made…”
P: “I know! You said I’m giving Great Horned?”
D: “Yes. What makes a Great Horned Great Horned is its great horns! If you compare with me, mine are a lot less prominent. But I think this is a good thing! It’s not a criticism, it’s adding to the fascination for me and, also, the stylising! Is part of the process just observation?”
P: “Yeah. Sometimes on my way to your classroom I go past students who have their feathers curled up top and I thought it looked cool so I replicated it a little. And then when I heard you say it was giving Great Horned, I kept the purple around the face and some feather tips and went for a darker palette.”
D: “Incredible… and will you go around as an owl now? How will you utilise this form?”
P: “Well I could, but I’d need to find a place to hide so that I can transform and then I cannot go by the same name or personality, I’ll need to workshop that stuff so that I can be present without arousing suspicions.”
D: “Is Pooka your real name?”
P: “Yes it is, but for our first forms, we tend to keep our names because nobody knows us as slimes and it’s not suspicious. But if there were several different people of different species all seeming to have an affinity for the same shades of purple?”
D: “Right… What kind of name are you thinking of? Come, look in the mirror.”
Footsteps.
Pause.
P: “I really liked how you called the creation of the feathers like blooming flowers. I think maybe something about flowers could be nice.”
D: “Yeah?”
P: “Yes… back home some would call flowers in the native tongue Blodyn. I think that would be a good name for this form?”
D: “Don’t ask me! This is your choice. I will call you whatever you come to.”
P: “Okay… keep it at Blodyn for now I think. Any other time though? I’m Pooka. You should treat this owl form as a separate person.”
D: “I can do that.”
P: “It’s getting a little dark out…”
D: “Are you thinking of going home?”
P: “Yeah… but I really appreciate you letting me do this. I’ve been dying to just be free like this around someone.”
D: “And me too! Just having someone to talk to who isn’t putting me to shame for the fondness I have towards the supernatural has been the relief of a lifetime.”
Feathers ruffling.
P: “Alright… I’ll have to go home as the dog I came in as, but I think next time I’ll come in as Blodyn.”
D: “I can’t wait to meet you next time. You go change back and I’ll take care of the audio. Oh, also! You’ll need looser clothes for this owl body. If I can take some measurements really quick, I can make you one myself”
P: “You’ll do that? I’d really appr-”
Button press.
Category Story / General Furry Art
Species Unspecified / Any
Size 120 x 120px
File Size 233.7 kB
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