Fox(girl)ificated 2 - Ch.3 - Forgetting (How To) Words (Patreon)

** content warning: brief flashback / anxiety attack **

Needless to say, between Doctor Fawkes' information on the front of the card and Luna's little note on the back, I actually forgot all about my breakfast sandwich for a while. Along with my latte.

Instead I spent the next fifteen or twenty minutes with my eyes glued to my phone, as I read and re-read every scrap of information I could glean from the Fawkes clinic's modest web site. Then I dug up Rachel Fawkes' social media account. And finally I searched for any other references or mentions I could find relating to her. Basically I wanted to know everything I could about the good doctor.

Her official website was as reserved and professional as the business card. There was little hype, very few photos, and as near as I could tell the site had only been active for under a week. That detail was confirmed by mentions on her social media about her practice's grand opening last Thursday.

For that matter, even her social media presence seemed suspiciously new. The account was set up a few years earlier, but it looked like she really only began using it about a year ago. The activity started off slowly, but it looked like she'd spent the last eleven months gradually adding to her circle of friends.

Once again there were very few photos, so I still had no idea what she looked like. Same with her friends, they seemed to be just as shy about that sort of thing. All that would have seemed odd, except I already had my suspicions about this 'Rachel Fawkes'.

She was obviously another meta, and she probably only manifested last year. Although it was possible she'd had her abilities longer, maybe last year was just when MaR-AID finally caught up with her. Her meta power was clearly some sort of transformation ability, so it was no wonder the capes had snatched her up and were doing their best to keep her to themselves. Odds were that handful of shy friends she chatted with online were all capes. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if they were her assigned as her handlers, rather than actual friends.

I was less sure about the public practice she'd just opened, but the 'GAMA ray' had to be a cover story. And a bad one at that. It was exactly the sort of ridiculous nonsense idiots like my coworker or that obnoxious streamer would believe though. In fact I almost wondered if the practice and the website were meant to be some sort of diversion, so the public had something they could get worked up over and protest, while the real action continued behind the scenes.

At that point my eyes drifted away from my phone, and back to my forgotten breakfast sandwich. And next to that was the card, with Luna's message on the back.

That was the piece that didn't fit. I couldn't believe Luna was part of some MaR-AID scheme, she seemed to genuine for that. Unless my heart was clouding my judgement. On the other hand I could believe the capes somehow duped her, then dragged her into their plot as an unwitting participant.

I ended up quietly munching on my ham and egg croissant as I contemplated my next course of action. And in the end the best I could come up with was to go ahead and make an appointment. Knowing it was probably a trap I'd just have to keep my guard up. And I figured if things went south I could fall back on my own special talent, to create some sort of diversion. It was kind of funny but nobody really thought twice about power failures. They happened all the time, yet they were almost always a really good distraction.

Maybe a real villain would have come up with a better idea. Actual supervillains certainly had a lot more resources than I did.

So as soon as I was finished my late breakfast I took one more look at the business card, then typed the number into my phone app. It rang twice, before being answered by someone with an attractive young voice.

"Hi there," I responded nervously. "I got your business card from someone named Luna? And I'd um, I'd like to book for a free consultation please."

• • • • •

"Hello!" the cute blonde foxgirl greeted me with a friendly smile as soon as I stepped in through the door.

She was seated behind the receptionist desk, on a chair that had been raised up as high as it would go. She looked to be in her early twenties, and while she certainly had the curves of a fully developed young woman, she couldn't have stood much more than a meter and a quarter tall.

That wasn't the only reason I spent the next few seconds staring at her with wide eyes and a slack jaw. The height was one thing, but what struck me even harder were the tall fuzzy vulpine ears sticking up above her hair, and the long floofy fox tail slowly swishing back and forth behind her.

"How can I help you?" the cute little foxgirl added, and even though two days had passed since I made the appointment I recognized her voice from that brief phone call on Monday.

"..." I tried, and failed, to formulate a response.

My heart was beating a mile a minute again, but this wasn't another case of love at first sight. It wasn't like when I met Luna in the cafe, this was a different feeling. I didn't want to get to know this adorable little foxgirl, so much as I wanted to be her. Luna looked awesome with her feline ears and tail, but this girl had almost everything I wanted for myself.

After another second or two she gave me a cute knowing smile and asked, "Are you Kit? You're here for your eleven o'clock appointment?"

"Yeah," I finally mumbled as I remembered how to words. "I called on Monday..."

My voice trailed off for a moment then I asked hesitantly, "Are you Doctor Fawkes?"

The cute blonde foxgirl was still smiling as she shook her head, "Nope! I'm Talia, her receptionist and sometimes assistant. Why don't you have a seat? I'll let Rachel know you're here, and I'm sure she'll be with you shortly."

I slowly nodded again, "Thanks."

The waiting area was all clean and comfortable and very empty. As in, there wasn't anyone else waiting to see the doctor. Some old magazines lay spread out on a coffee table, but I couldn't bring myself to try and read any of them. Instead I just quietly looked around, as I compared the place to other medical offices I'd seen. This one was definitely the nicest and fanciest, by a long shot. There was even a bowl of individually-wrapped hard candies on an end table, free for guests to help themselves. So I did.

"Kit?" a different attractive feminine voice asked from off to my left, just after I popped the sweet treat into my mouth.

I awkwardly manoeuvred the grape-flavoured candy into my cheek as I stood up and turned around, then found myself staring once again.

Standing at the back of the reception area was another tiny adorable young foxgirl. She looked to be about the same age as the receptionist, and in fact there was enough of a resemblance she could have been Talia's sister or cousin perhaps. The two main differences were this new one was a tad smaller, and her hair ears and tail were red rather than blonde.

The foxgirl's eyes swept up and down over me as she gave me a warm friendly smile. Then she gestured, "Please come with me?"

After I nodded she turned and led me past the receptionist desk and into a little hallway. The foxgirl led me through the open door on the right while the door on the left was closed. And another door at the end of the hall was also closed.

We ended up in a small but comfortable-looking office, and after closing the door behind us the foxgirl motioned for me to sit in a large comfortable-looking leather guest chair. Then she moved past the desk and hopped up into a smaller swivel-chair back there. Her tail wrapped around to one side as she got settled, then she positioned a laptop off to one side of her desk so we could easily see each other across the polished walnut surface.

Once we were both comfortable she gave me another warm smile, "I'm Doctor Fawkes, but please call me Rachel. And please try and relax, alright Kit? I promise there's nothing to worry about. This is a safe place, and I'm on your side."

"I understand you heard about us through a referral?" she added after a glance at her laptop screen. Then without waiting for an answer she looked at me again and asked, "Why don't you tell me how we can help you, or what you're hoping the GAMA ray can do for you?"

At that point I realized I'd completely lost control of the situation. I was supposed to be learning more about this so-called GAMA ray, and more importantly about what was really going on. Instead I'd let myself get totally side-tracked by a couple pretty foxgirls, and more or less forgotten everything I'd planned to say and do.

I stared blankly at the cute little foxgirl for a second or two before asking the most idiotic question possible, "Are you really a doctor?"

"I'm not a medical doctor, if that's what you mean?" Rachel responded calmly. She gestured over her shoulder at the framed doctorate on the wall behind her as she continued, "My PhD is in applied electronics, although my studies included some physics, bio-chemistry, and genetics."

I nodded slowly, "And that education let you build the 'GAMA ray'? Which is how you got your ears and tail? How you helped people like Luna?"

The young doctor obviously recognized the barista's name, but didn't comment on that. Instead she replied calmly, "That's correct. I created the Gender Affirmification Metamorphic Augmentation ray specifically to help trans metas, although it's perfectly safe and effective on normal humans as well. And as I'm sure you've already guessed, it can do a lot more than just physical gender manipulation."

After a brief pause she continued, "I don't like to make assumptions, but I have noticed the way you've been looking at my ears and tail. Are you interested in vulpine enhancements? Or some other demi-human modifications, such as feline, perhaps?"

"Fox," I blurted out, then immediately grimaced. My cheeks were burning as I admitted, "I want to be a foxgirl, like you and Talia. Not as short though? And with black fur instead of red or blonde."

Rachel gave me another friendly smile, "Then you've come to the right place, Kit. So how about we start discussing your specific requirements? As I said, the GAMA ray is very capable. Why don't you begin by describing your ideal body? If there's anything we can't do I'll let you know."

All that sounded almost too good to be true, which meant it probably was. I hadn't forgotten about my earlier suspicions, that all this was some sort of trap. I obviously couldn't just ask if she was really a MaR-AID front, but I figured there were some other less-obvious enquiries I could make.

"Can I ask first what all this is going to cost?" I responded. I wasn't lying as I continued, "I can't really afford that much, and this place already looks like it's way out of my price range..."

The foxgirl maintained her friendly smile as she shook her head, "We operate on a donation or 'pay what you can' basis. My goal is to help trans metas and trans humans, not make myself rich at other people's expense."

"Oh wow," I responded as my eyes went wide. Once again that seemed too good to be true, which made it even more likely to be some kind of trap.

"So you said this works for metas and normal humans?" I asked next. "Does it... I don't know, is there any risk to people? Like can it accidentally turn a human into a meta? Or vice versa?"

Rachel shook her head, "Not at all Kit. I promise, the GAMA ray is completely safe."

"I do need to know up front if you're a meta or not," she continued, "So I can calibrate the device accordingly. That's for your own safety though, and I assure you that information does not leave the premises. In fact, I should have made this clear up front but everything you discuss with me is held in the highest confidence."

I tried to joke, "So you're not really a MaR-AID front? And this isn't some scheme to trap unregistered metas?"

The foxgirl responded with a polite little laugh to my 'joke' as she shook her head, "Not at all Kit. I can assure you, we have nothing to do with MaR-AID -"

Both the young doctor and I flinched as her office door was suddenly flung open. Two men forced their way in while Talia followed behind them shouting angrily, "Hey! I said you can't go in there! That's private!"

Suddenly my heart was pounding again as I stared in wide-eyed shock. The first guy was in his late forties, dressed in a suit and tie but holding a badge in his hand. The other was a tall burly guy in his thirties, in full uniform with both lethal and non-lethal side-arms on his belt.

There was no mistaking the logo on the badge or the uniform, and just like that I knew this was a trap after all, and I was busted.

"Inspector William Peck, MaR-AID," suit-guy stated angrily. "Rachel Fawkes, you're hereby ordered to cease and desist all operations, and surrender your GAMA ray device. Along with any related technologies, research, and other materials..."

By that point the office practically erupted into pandemonium, with the inspector shouting orders while the receptionist kept yelling at the two men to leave. Rachel was talking too, although she was doing her best to stay calm and defuse the situation. She also moved to put herself in between me and the two cops, as if her tiny body could somehow protect me.

The clinical setting, the raised voices, and the abrasive MaR-AID assholes were all way too similar to what happened sixteen years ago. Next thing I knew I was back there again, an eight-year old kid curled up in a ball on a chair, sobbing my eyes out while some EMTs, a couple regular cops, and some pricks from MaR-AID argued over my head.

Then there was a flash of red, and I found myself in the arms of a cape. I couldn't even tell if she was real or if this was some buried memory resurfacing after all this time. Except a moment later I realized I was outside, with the sun on my skin.

Fiery Femme Fatale sounded concerned as she asked in a gentle voice, "Are you ok? Can you get home alright?"

"Wha?" I blinked. I found myself in the parking lot in front of the clinic, standing face to face with one of the city's A-rank heroes. Another shock of fear went through me, so I quickly nodded. "Yes ma'am. Thank you ma'am."

She gave me a friendly smile, then turned and dashed past the two MaR-AID squad cars and back inside Doctor Fawkes' clinic.

Meanwhile I could barely believe my luck. Instead of being caught and imprisoned as an unregistered meta, I'd been rescued and set free by a powerful cape. She must have assumed I was just a normal human civilian. I knew better than to stick around though, so I hurried away at a brisk pace.

Then a half minute later I had my next surprise, as I rounded a corner and almost walked headlong into the gorgeous young catgirl who sent me into that mess in the first place.

"Oh!" Luna gasped as she caught hold of me. "What happened Kit, are you ok? You look like you've been scared half to death!"

I found myself staring into her beautiful eyes, but this time it was the last of the panic that left me unable to words properly.

** This chapter is brought to you courtesy of Camille, who commissioned it! **