She asks a Question

Ashley looked at the man in front of her, who had so casually threatened herself and her friends, while at the same time claiming he was doing her a favor. She knew something strange and disturbing was happening, but at the same time, she had her doubts. Despite the strange things she had seen Jess do, she still wasn't quite convinced that the two people they had rescued the day before weren't just crazy and hadn't somehow threatened Jess into doing what they wanted. Despite all that, she could see the man was waiting for her answer, and felt fear grip her: on the off chance that he was telling the truth and they were planning to do something to them that would change them like they had changed Jess, how did she answer? Did she give one of the boys' names, just to see what would happen, and then base her reaction off of that? If so, how did she choose which one? Either way she went, if it turned out this was some horrible prank or something, the one she chose would always remember that. She could see the man losing patience and panicked; if she gave no answer, what would happen then? Would he decide she was to go first, just to punish her, or would he simply **** her to chose one of the boys, removing her opportunity to help them and making her feel as if it was her fault? She needed more information!

"Before I choose, can I ask what you plan to do to us?" The man laughed lowly, a sound that simultaneously sent a thrill through her and frightened her.

Smiling widely, he forwent answering her question to speak to the woman at his side. "I do believe that I made the right choice with her, she will do nicely in aiding me in our conquest." Turning back to Ashley, he spoke once more, a strange note of almost fatherly pride in his voice, as if she were a pet that had done something particularly intelligent and pleased her master. "Well, that depends, it will be different for you as compared to the others. The others will be transformed into useful workers, while you, you my dear, will be receiving a more personal touch for your change."

Ashley tried to ignore the bolt of excitement that shot through her at the implication, and instead tried to gather more information. "If my change is a personal approach, what will happen to them?"

The man smiled, but wagged a finger at her, "Ah, ah, ah, I think I've said enough. If you want to know, you'll simply have to chose one of them and find out that way."

Before she could formulate a response to that, Mike spoke up. "You're sick, you know that?! Sick for trying to make her choose like that! Ash, don't listen to him, we'll get out of this, just hold on..." He was interrupted by a harsh strike to his face, delivered by a scowling Jess.

"Silence, worm! Your betters are speaking, your voice was neither asked for nor wanted." The man simply nodded towards Jess before looking once more to her.

"Well, my dear? Who will you choose, who will you save?"

Ashley felt the world closing in, unable to comprehend the choices she was being **** to make. Her breathing sped up and she could see blackness beginning to encroach on the edges of her vision. She was pulled out of her panic by a slight movement to her side. Looking over, she saw Mike with a look of fear and understanding on his face. 'Me', he mouthed to her, trying to put a reassuring look on his face. She began to slowly shake her head, not wanting to say it, but he nodded gently at her. Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she spoke quietly, "Mike."

Inclining his head towards one of the bound figures, he looked at her "Him?" She nodded wordlessly, unable to speak as she waited for whatever was about to happen.

"Na'ti, prepare the other one." The woman spoke, before he did. Ashley felt her stomach drop.

"What the fuck!? You heard her, pick me, you crazy bitch! Leave him alone!" Mike ranted and raved, but the woman merely smirked at him, a cruel light dancing in her eyes.

"I may need you alive for your part in our plans, but do not think for a moment that I can forgive the insolent tongue you carry. Consider this your punishment for both speaking out of turn and disrespecting your Empress. Na'ti, do it."

Bruce seemed stunned, and could only watch numbly as Jess placed a large leathery orb in front of him, Mike, however, seemed determined to go down with a fight. "Empress, are you serious, you lunatic? You're no more an empress than I am the queen of England!"

The man laughed, a dark and menacing tone to it, "That's where you're wrong, boy. She is indeed an Empress, just as I am an Emperor. We took these forms to go unnoticed, but soon you will see us as we truly are, just as you will see Na'ti and A'da as they truly are, or will be. If you are able to open your eyes to the possibilities of things beyond your comprehension of how the world works, perhaps you will keep a part of your mind when it is your turn. Ah, but it seems as if my child is just about ready to come out to play." With a smirk, he gestured to the leathery orb, which had opened at the top with four petal-like segments pulling back to reveal a fleshy bulge inside that was softly pulsing in time with Bruce's breathing.

Ashley stared at the alien looking object, hearing Mike softly mutter, "What the fuck?" before, with horrifying speed and accuracy, the fleshy interior split apart and something jumped out of it onto Bruce's face, wrapping its limbs around his head and neck. He convulsed briefly before going limp, two pockets of either side of the creature seeming to act as respirators, slowly inflating and deflating at a measured pace. "What the fuck is that?!" Mike cried at the two, who merely smirked, before the woman spoke.

"That is one of my children, one of many hundreds that are in this house. Right now, it is implanting a concentrated sphere of a transformative strain of a virus that we were infected by the night before last. Unfortunately for poor Bruce, he is getting a much different strain than either of us or what Jess was given. He will be turned into a Drone; a male such as himself will be tasked with protecting our nest, and later our Hive, as well as procuring new victims for the same treatment he is undergoing."

Ashley and Mike looked at her soundlessly. She sounded like an insane woman, but the proof was right in front of them as they watched as Bruce slowly began to change, joints and bones snapping and cracking before reforming in different formations, skin darkening and taking on a soft sheen, head elongating and the beginnings of a tail seeming to grow from right above his lower cheeks. It took around ten minutes or so, but once Bruce looked to be fully changed, the thing around his now completely alien looking face dropped off and curled up, looking like a very big and very ugly dead spider.

Looking on in disbelief, Ashley and Mike stared at the creature that used to be Bruce. Standing around seven feet tall on digitigrade legs, a black, chitinous shell had replaced his skin, his now lengthened arms ended in spindly hands that were capped by sharp claws, a sharp looking tail had erupted from just above his ass, and he had cylindrical protrusions coming from his back. His head was the most changed, being shrunk into a cylindrical shape before then being dramatically lengthened behind his neck. Most of his facial features had been removed, and in their place his mouth had grown to take up around half of his face, silvery teeth visible in a horrifying facsimile of a smile as the creature looked around. Vaporous breath escaped its maw towards Ashley and Mike, and the penis she only just noticed grew erect, though she also noticed it was much smaller than it was when he was a human, before turning towards the three unbound being in the room and taking on a more subservient stance.

The woman was looking on with a disgusting caricature of maternal pride while the man had taken on a more academic appearance, walking around it as he inspected it from all angles. It started as he suddenly grabbed its erect member, seeming interested in the change, before negligently letting it go and moving back towards his partner. "Interesting, it seems that though we designed that strain to be a warrior class, in keeping with what we know, the sexual base of the virus remains. If I had to guess, I would imagine he has a sex drive still, potentially becoming bisexual as well, but it is lowered to allow him to focus on his primary task. This virus truly is fascinating, I grow more and more eager to experiment with it once we are established. I imagine when they are not on duty, as it were, they will find female Drones or even other male Drones to fuck. I am rather curious to see if it can turn uninfected by itself through sex. I rather doubt it, as it takes an Ovomorph to make a Drone, but I do wonder if perhaps in large enough quantities its fluids could have an effect. Something to look into later I believe. Right now, my dear A'da has a new choice to make."