You're in control--for now

Dazed and feeling incredibly ill, you groaned out as you sat up, holding your head. Quite a few oddities registered in your mind as you did even that simple act. The most obvious one was that you could feel the ground, the atmosphere, you could smell the smoke in the room and see and hear everything clearly as if you weren't wearing a helmet. These were all senses of the exterior body, not your original senses, but they were somehow being given to you as if they were your own. There's no way that should be possible, that any of this is even plausible! And yet, you couldn't deny it.

The next observation was that you were in full control of yourself, or whatever self you'd become. You slowly rose to your feet, groaning again--a higher-pitched groan than usual, sounding suspiciously like Zoe as you did. "What the hell..." Zoe's voice was heard although they were your words. Every indication was that you were controlling Zoe's body, and that you looked precisely like her. A wave of embarrassment washed over you as you realized you were staring down at your nude body, one that wasn't even yours but was a colleague's you trusted. With slightly trembling hands, you rested them on your stomach, gliding up first to the jiggling chest--realizing you had sensation in the breasts as well. You felt your arms and body twitch lightly as you touched yourself, but those involuntary movements could have been anything from the body's natural response to the sensations of your hands upon your newly-acquired breasts, to the monster that surrounded you trying to make a move instead.

But with no real resistance, you had to know something else, as your hand glided down between your legs, running a finger along the slit that was formerly owned by Zoe. You shuddered and gasped, this time clearly a response to the stimulation. The vagina between your legs was a foreign sensation, but a sensation nonetheless. More notably, your own male anatomy wasn't at all present, you couldn't even sense that you were still male on the inside. Everything about this body made it clear that you had no expressed male traits, not even a hint of it anymore.

Despite the pleasurable sensations, you felt strange doing anything with this body right at that moment, especially as you were still gripped with fear and confusion. What 'destiny' was this that the monster talked about? You were made into someone else, for what purpose? Were you going to even survive whatever this was, or were you going to be digested or something by this beast and this was simply a side effect of your demise?

Stepping along barefoot through the debris to try and get out of the wreckage, you yelped as you clumsily stepped on a shard of glass. The pain was unmistakable, and you hopped away on your good foot before instinctively reaching down to pull the shard out. The frustration of compounding problems ate away a little more at you, as you looked around for a first aid kit. Frustration briefly morphed into wonder as the wound almost immediately sealed itself up, not even leaving a trace of the injury. There wasn't much time to be impressed, though it did make you realize that you weren't coughing on smoke or anything like that. This body must be able to keep you somewhat protected from various hazards. That brought you a pinch of cold comfort.

You eventually reached the locked lab door, punched in an override code to open it, and let it close again once you exited the room. Free of the debris and danger, you collapsed on the floor, rumpled in a heap as you tried to understand your predicament. You didn't have to wait long, as a voice began to echo in your ear, with the same tone as the slime monster.

"Very good work, Logan. You're pretty adaptable after all! This so far hasn't really gone as I'd planned, but I didn't plan very far at all."

Your tired self bolted upright again, looking around for where the slime monster might have been--and seeing nobody next to you made you conclude you were hallucinating, but the real answer was far worse.

"Calm down, friend! I'm a part of you, in a way. Zoe and I both are. Only you can hear me in your ear, I'm speaking directly into it. Nice trick, huh? One of many that you've discovered with this body, oh host of mine."

"What... what do you want!" you yelled out, rather loudly. Nobody else was on this floor, however, so your words simply echoed throughout the hallway.

A low, guttural laugh filled your ears. "Well, originally, I was going to take over Zoe, then take over you, and then walk over to Shaw Sciences and deliver the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time to someone who can actually make use of us. If you didn't have this hazard suit on, it would have been easy, my slime could've invaded your body and I'd have been in full control of both interior and exterior. If I didn't have need of a human host to bond to for energy, I'd have left you out of the equation, believe you me."

Your face contorted, making you look like a disgusted Zoe--likely a sentiment she shared, if she's still conscious somewhere in this mix. "Well, I'm not taking you to Shaw, so you can get off me right now, fix Zoe, and stop this nonsense."

"Ah ah, don't be so hasty, Logan! I'm sure we could work out an arrangement that suits us all! After all, there's no reason I'd have to dispose of you in the end if we end up working together. My life becomes so much easier with a willing host, and you could be that for me. In return, I'll share all my superpowers with you, like a team would. And we're most certainly a team now, my friend. Not to mention, both Zoe and I have always had a little crush on you, so I'd much rather we work on friendly terms and go work for Shaw all together. It would be an opportunity like you wouldn't believe, and the pleasure will be insurmountable what I can do with, or to, or as, or for you... you just have to take off the hazard suit, at least the helmet, so I can make sure we're symbiotically linked in the fullest capacity."

In the calmness of the hall, and in your confused mind, that almost sounded like a good deal compared to what you had just witnessed. Becoming this super-powered person and also not dying? A strange win-win, given the circumstances. She sounded truthful in the offer, but you couldn't be sure.

"And if I refuse? If I don't believe you?"

"Well... I guess then we'll have to play a little game! I hate to admit it, but that might actually be the most fun... you see, I can't control the movements like you can unless I control you, which means I need to get some slime into you. If you wanted to play along I'd do that just so we're working together, but if you are resistant then it'll be for a hostile takeover. The hazard suit prevents me from entering you... for now. Eventually I'll be able to seep in some slime that will let me open things up further, and further... until I have a direct channel into your body and can finally stream in enough slime to gain control of your motor functions. I estimate that in about a week of work, I could have enough slime in you to do that, if we play fairly. Until then, I suppose you're in control! Of movements, at least. Your appearance is mine." To demonstrate, Zoe's normally brunette hair turned a shade of purple, which you noticed trickling over your shoulder.

"I don't like the sound of that game at all, Chloe. If you are still Chloe at all."

Another low laugh, seeming to echo in your ears menacingly. "It gets better! Oh, the plot really thickens when you hear this. You're trapped in that hazard suit inside this body. It looks like everything's normal on the outside, but the reality is, you're still breathing in canned oxygen, and you've no water or food supply. You'll suffocate in a day, dehydrate in three, starve within six, give or take estimates on how you choose to expend or conserve energy. The more slime I have inside you, the more of that I can fix, isn't that interesting? A little tendril of slime would make it so I could supply you with oxygen from the outside world, but it's not enough for me to take you over. It just would let me speed up the process. Repeat for water intake, and then solid food... by that time, you'd have to have enough slime in the body to survive, but then you'd have about a day of autonomy left."

"But!" The slime chimed in further, after give you only the briefest of pauses to absorb all that information. "It wouldn't be much of a game without stakes. If you figure out how to remove me from you within a week, then I let you go free. I'll even give you hints for what you might be able to do, and see if you can play along with the bodies I shape you into! Or you go your own route, and deal with whatever bodies I create to stop you. I'm not limited to looking only human, so you know... and if you expend too much oxygen or can't get enough water or food in time, then while you're on the brink of ****, I'll simply unravel and take you over then. I'll even let you remove your oxygen tank or mask and only penalize you one day for each! That's five days, no restrictions to your basic necessities, to figure out how to free yourself from me. How does that sound?"

This is madness. With no option to simply walk away, you could either team up with the monster Chloe has become, or play a very twisted mystery game. That is, of course, if you believe she'd play by the rules, or if you do so as well. You could lie, pretend to take the offer to remove your gear just long enough for her to open up the body again and try to figure out a way to escape, but that was risky... you could appeal to her affections, and try to find a way to sweet-talk your way out of this situation. There were already so many problems you had to deal with at home with Kim, this was only going to make things worse... but you had to make some tough choices for what you'd be willing to do to get out of this situation.