Meet and greet, first!

The elevator door swung open, and you were greeted immediately with a big hug by a smiling green slime! "Ah, it's so good to see you up here finally!" Chloe said as you hugged her tightly--so tightly that your hands briefly slipped inside her green exterior. Oh well, you simply yanked your hands out through her front, Chloe didn't seem to mind. "I feel like it's been a minute since we've really talked, how are you and James doing, you're all settled in and all that?"

You nodded, beaming. "Yeah, the first apartment wasn't great, but you're gonna have to see the new condo, it's really something. James is really good too, he's settling into whatever that secret project at the Tech campus is, sounds like that's going well."

"I'm glad you mention that, because I'm sure you have put two and two together that we would want you working on the same project from our end due to your, well, intimate connection to speed along overcoming development constraints on both sides. We'll get to that in a minute. I want to introduce you to the team up here first. Do you mind going orange? Just so everyone, y'know..."

You blinked, and nodded. Looking down, your skin shimmered to an orange translucent gel, much like Chloe's green slime. Having read up on many slime girls since your creation from some files Chloe had provided as part of your development of your abilities, you knew that they came in a variety of consistencies. Some were really gooey and runny, often looking like they were melting or dripping. You and Chloe were on the other end, seemingly able to hold a shape very well with little effort, enough to form full feet and wear clothes instead of gliding along the ground in a puddle. You looked at yourself in a reflection--pure orange, gooey hair, but still shiny like glass yourself.

Once you'd changed, Chloe gave you the tour of the fifth floor, which was like an R&D playground. So many unique biotech projects were in progress up here, it surprised you what was going on behind the scenes! Everyone else downstairs just thought Hideki Labs was making innovative medical solutions, but some of these test chambers looked like they were growing entirely new species of creature...

Chloe stopped outside one of the lab doors, opening it with a keycard. Lab 9A was the personal space of Dr. Zoe Hildebrand, both a high tech laboratory and personal living quarters. Chloe had briefed you on this before, when she knew she could trust you with her true nature as a slime, that she and Zoe grew up in the labs, gained their doctorates, and then continued on as Hideki employees where they were free to pursue special projects as well as live comfortably. Chloe hoped at some point to be able to get a place outside the lab, but until Hideki was ready to reveal their existence to the world, the lab was home.

Dr. Hildebrand was seated around a table with two other girls--a blonde girl of average build and modest clothes, and a pink-haired woman who looked similar in facial features to the blonde but looked like the 'wild side' variant of the two. Zoe herself seemed to be sipping on a mug of coffee, in just a tank top and yoga pants for the morning. You couldn't help but stare--Zoe's body was something to aspire to, her curves were incredibly shaped and her face so sweet and kind. Part of you wanted to rush right over and get your hands on her... that would be the horndog part of you. Frankly, quite a big part... but you still had the wherewithal to keep a professional head about you. Besides, you didn't think your husband would like you groping random women without his participation in your body--one of the agreements you two had was that it wasn't cheating if you were both in the same form at the same time when it happens!

"Zoe, Emily, Ela, I'd like you to meet Ivy, she'll be our newest recruit up here on the fifth floor," Chloe said with a broad smile.

The three waved, and you waved back, a little nervously. You'd heard about all three of these girls, to various degrees, but seeing them for the first time really solidified how unique this group really was. And you got to be the rookie out of all of them.

"So, you're her little phoenix," Zoe said with a smile. "The girl reborn at the edge of ****, is that how it went? Lovely to meet you, Ivy."

"Yeah, it's great to see the girl Chloe's always gushing about," Emily said, looking you over. "I can't say I've ever seen her so happy than when she can talk about the progress you've made to get here, not a hint of sarcasm in anything she says. Almost like you're an adopted daughter or something." You knew the demeanor Emily was referring to, that was how Chloe was on the first day, but after each weekly check-in, her mood softened and brightened over time. She really was like a parent in a lot of ways...

"I love your hair!" Ela blurted out. "...oh, also, she knows about our special situations, right?"

You blinked, and looked at Chloe, who turned to look back at you. "Only in the vaguest of senses," Chloe said. "Zoe's physiology is designed to encase another living being. I know you've done that with James, so it's not too dissimilar when you let him assume direct control that way, but in Zoe's case she doesn't need to briefly turn anyone into goo to do it, they remain solid in her as they control her. Ela here is a living elastomer, sort of a hybrid between myself and Zoe, able to reshape and envelop and transform, even extra-dimensionally. She shares a link with Emily, borrowing some of Emily's brain in order to organize her thoughts, that's one of the limitations of her design. You'll often just see Ela, as Emily will wear her when assuming the role of Dr. Lockard, purely because for as smart as Ela might be, she gets... easily distracted without some mental guidance."

You grin, looking at the group. That's an interesting mix of ladies, for sure! Ela and Emily's situation felt very similar to the connection you and James had, although theirs sounded more essential than yours. Still, control is control, and you hoped working with them would help you figure out how to keep improving how you and James function together as one--as strong as your relationship connection might be, there's always ways to improve it.

"Is this all of the team on this floor?" you asked, looking out the glass pane of the lab to another empty and darkened room. "It does feel a little quiet up here..."

Zoe shook her head. "There's more, they'll be in later. You've met Amanda, that's Chloe's typical human host. Something else to know about Chloe and me, we need human hosts for energy transfer at least one day out of the week to be at a survivable level. So we have to have other people around, though Amanda and Emily often lend themselves for what we need. We'll try to make it easy for you to know who's who at any given time, but you'll probably get a sense of it given you can do all this stuff too, so once you get to know us you'll know when things are slightly off. ...Anyway, on the human side, we've got Amanda, Daniel, Jason, Willow when we need extra hands... sometimes Logan comes up to fix something, he's well aware of our nature and Chloe's always had a bit of a thing for that guy even though he's married." Chloe immediately interrupted before you could ask about that one. "And! We often have Kazumi around here, because of the collaboration with Tech. She's James's boss, right? Which, by the way, James will be allowed up here, but not in an official capacity... we'll have to bring him in covertly so he can work directly with us at times."

You grinned, liking the idea of being told that you could break the rules already when it came to your husband. What a good promotion!

"Don't forget the others!" Ela said. "On the bodysuit front, Yuki also helps out even though she's not too big on working on projects. Lina and Tina, you'll also meet them, they came down from the sixth floor after their research projects ended and they needed a place to keep working on things while they start something new upstairs. Lina's a silvery nanobot cluster, still trying to get her to be a little more social. Tina's very friendly, but she's a living exo-suit and she's going to undoubtedly remind you of a sci-fi alien when you first meet. She's really sensitive about that so don't freak out, okay?"

With a nod, you looked back to Chloe. "Is that everyone?"

Chloe grinned. "Not quite..." she pulled out a phone, tapping a button. You shuddered, as you felt a familiar connection happening, as control over your own body vanished. You solidified back to your normal flesh-toned shape and brown hair, feeling your body move regardless of what you yourself willed.

"Hey, I'm James, I'm Ivy's husband," you were made to say, realizing what was happening after you were **** to wave at the others all over again.

Chloe pat you on the back, leading you over to sit down at the table with everyone. "It's only fair that you all meet James too, since he'll be controlling Ivy from time to time in the lab as well as working up here when we need him for collaboration."

You smiled politely, your demeanor changing in ways few would recognize but you. James was more cautious and reflective upon certain behaviors than you at times, being the 'grounded' one of the two. The way he sat, even the way he smiled, all of those little tiny movements felt so different to you. It thrilled you from the inside, knowing that your husband was in full control of you in front of your coworkers, taking charge and there's nothing you could do as he piloted you via the Ascend tech you'd absorbed into both bodies!

The meet-and-greet happened one more time, to catch James up. Everyone's behavior was slightly different when they talked to James too, just because of the different way he talked via you, coming from an electronics background instead of a biotech one. Chloe, for example, was more playful with you when James was in control, while when you were by yourself she was more like a proud mother. It was a fun dynamic to see! You were already feeling very satisfied for the day, as whether James is in direct control or just issuing voice commands through the AI module installed in your brain, being made to do something counter to your original intent always made you unusually happy.

You felt your hands clap together, and you smiled at the rest of the group. "Good to meet you all, I have to work on more of this code, and it's going a bit slow while you all have my best laptop working in your lab now... I'll see you all later."

"Drop in anytime!" Zoe said with a grin, as you felt James's presence vanish. You took a deep breath, and looked back at Chloe and the others, all of them just smiled right back, they could tell you were back to just being yourself. "You really are one of us, huh? Control, or being controlled, is really almost part of our DNA. It might literally be, given our original medical purposes for humans. I'm guessing when Chloe made you all gooey, it amplified that side of you by orders of magnitude, even though I hear part of you already seemed to like it from the start."

With a nod, you cleared your throat, shaking yourself out from the rush of losing control of yourself. "Ah, uh... yeah. I'm glad you don't think it's weird. But I think it makes James and me work so well. He can walk a mile in my shoes, whenever he wants."

Everyone at the table giggled a bit, and the casual talk continued for a while. Eventually, after it felt like you knew everyone well enough to work with them, Chloe put a three-ring binder down on the table, with the words 'classified' written across the front. "We do have to talk about work today, though. So let's start with the project you are going to be working on."

You were excited, there might be anything within this binder! It had to be some sort of project that involved Kazumi's tech team as well as the lab R&D team. The possibilities fluttered through your mind as you reached for the binder.