Feeling cold, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night. I was thinking about standing up and searching for something I could use as an additional blanket when I heard someone giggling. I quickly sat up and scanned the room, looking for the source. No one was there.

Shrugging it off thinking my mind was playing tricks on me, I took off my cover and moved my legs to the edge of the bed. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a silhouette emerging from the darkness. A small pair of bright golden lights stared at me. I couldn't make out the face, but its shape was that of a young girl.

How did she get in!?

I pulled my legs back and covered myself with the blanket at the sight of the mysterious figure, somehow expecting the thin layer of fabric to protect me from whoever, or whatever, that was. I was frightened, but still calm enough to attempt a conversation. "Hello?"

She cocked her head to one side and took a few tentative steps in my direction until she stood in the middle of the room. She kept staring at me silently after that. I was more than slightly nervous and uncomfortable at this point.

"What do you want?"

Tilting her head the other way, she took a few more steps towards me, sending a chill up my spine. Gripping my blanket fearfully, I returned her stare. She raised her hand to point at me and then moved to the foot of my bed.

All of my instincts were screaming at me to run, yet I was frozen in place. Climbing onto my bed, she crawled along me until we were face to face. Suddenly and inexplicably, I was in excruciating pain.

"Go away!" Screaming was the only thing I could do as she dispassionately stared at me with her glowing yellow eyes.

"Nora..."

A distant voice called out to me. The girl reacted by jumping off of the bed and darting into the bathroom. She acted as if she was scared of the voice. She peeked around the door frame to stare at me once again.

"Nora!"

The voice was louder now. The girl walked further into the bathroom and giggled mischievously before climbing into the mirror over the sink and disappearing after a blue flash of light.

"Nora, wake up!" I opened my eyes to find myself being violently shaken by Anna.

She sat beside me and took me in her arms, then rubbed my back as I cried. "Shh... It's okay now. It was just a nightmare." She leaned back to look at me. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Hesitantly, I sat next to her at the edge of my bed and told her about my nightmare. While I was explaining, I noticed the small finger-like protrusions coming out of my ankles had grown to be about six centimetres long. I tried moving them, unsuccessfully.

Anna tapped a finger against her chin once I was done narrating. "Yellow eyes, you say?"

She thought about it for a short while, then smiled. "Don't worry, I think I might know who she was."

My eyes widened, "You do?"

She nodded. "Yup. Why don't you wash your face while I go and get my stuff for today's examination? I'll tell you more about her in a bit."

Despite not wanting her to leave, I nodded. If she knew that person, perhaps that meant I caught a glimpse of her at some point during our tour and didn't remember. I once read dreams used the faces of people we saw at one point, so it actually made sense if that was the case.

Wait, she had yellow eyes!

Before I could ask about it, Anna had already stood up and walked out to get her things. I stayed in bed looking at the bathroom in trepidation. Yes, despite her words, I was hesitant about going to the place where the ghost in my dream went before Anna saved me.

After convincing myself it had only been a nightmare, most likely caused by all the horror stories I'd been reading, I walked into the bathroom. I glanced at the mirror and screamed when I saw those same terrifying eyes staring back at me. I fell on my butt and quickly dragged myself out of the bathroom.

Anna returned after that and laughingly said, "You have one hell of a scream, Nora."

More than a little confused by her statement, not to mention upset, I looked at her through my tears. "What are you laughing at!? That thing is still in the mirror!"

She crouched and stroked my hair with a gentle smile. "That's your reflection, silly."

"Huh?" Her words stunned me briefly.

I stood up and went to look into the mirror to confirm what she said. There they were again. Those bright eyes stared back at me. Yellow like a canary and with a vertical slit for a pupil, just like Anna mentioned previously. I knew they were mine and yet, they made me feel uneasy.

My teeth had been entirely replaced as well. They were jagged, although nothing too extreme, thankfully. I was expecting them to look more like a shark's, so I was glad they weren't all that different from a normal person's. I wondered where the old ones went, though.

My hair was a lot longer and somewhat messy, and my ears became pointy, like a much shorter version of Anna's. My face seemed to be quite a bit younger, too.

"How is this possible?"

Anna came over and stood behind me as I looked at my reflection. It was then when I noticed she was much taller than I remembered.

"You've been unconscious for eight days, Nora. We thought you would remain like that until your mutation was over. That was until I heard you scream."

I wiped away what was left of my tears and turned to look at her with a frown. "Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"Well, you scared the hell out of me when you collapsed the other day. I simply took the chance and returned the favor."

Giving her a hurt, pouty expression, I muttered, "You're so mean. It terrified me, you know?"

She merely smirked at me. "I'm sorry, but I couldn't help myself. Anyway, I don't know why your dream was so creepy, but I think it was some sort of premonition about what you'll end up looking like."

"That makes little sense. Why would she act like that? She had no wings either."

She began taking measurements as she answered. "Look, I'm no dream expert, so this is merely my guess. Speaking of wings, have you seen yours? They're 43 centimetres long already! The tail is not far behind either."

How did they grow so much in just eight days!?

I looked back to the mirror so I could get a better view of them. Not only were my wings bigger; they had also developed two ends, like a slingshot without handle. The first one looked like my upper arm, so it was obvious that a forearm and a hand would eventually grow from there to complete the set.

The second one was strange, though. While it also grew from the wing's shoulder, it was much thinner and went straight down from there. It barely had any muscle, so it looked more like a very long finger. One that couldn't bend.

As I stated before, I liked bats, and I knew their wings are very similar to our arms. Their hands are huge and they have a huge membrane connecting everything, from fingers to legs. Such a skin membrane did grow from this upper arm and the mysterious bone.

"What are these things for?" I asked, pointing at the skin covered sticks.

Anna gave me an apologetic look as she replied. "We aren't completely sure, yet. Even after three weeks, the first patients who share your condition have yet to finish their transformation. This is only speculation but, from what we've seen, we think they're meant to give your wings additional surface area."

My tail had also grown to be quite long and thin, somewhat like a whip. While I remembered some bats having similar tails, mine was unusually long in comparison. It was closer to that of a rat.

I tried moving my new limbs like I did with my ankle protrusions. Needless to say, it was equally successful. I didn't even feel them. They simply hung from my back like the arms of a puppet whose strings had been cut.

"Any other things I should expect?" I asked as I played with my limp tail.

"There are," Anna answered. "You should expect a pair of black horns to come out in a few days."

"Why would a bat cause that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged. "Why would it give you blue hair? Not even my father could come up with anything other than them being random side effects of the mutation. They will be too small to affect your daily life, so don't worry about them."

Wings, horns, a tail...

No matter how I look at it, I'm starting to resemble a...

I kept playing around with my unmoving limbs while deep in thought. Anna noticed this and she stared at me briefly before saying, "Your wings are probably just underdeveloped. I'm sure you'll be able to move them once your transformation is complete."

That's not what worries me, though.

"Alright, time to take some pictures, Nora," she said, flaunting the camera at me.

"Yeah, sure." After a couple of sessions, it no longer bothered me that much, or so I thought. I wasn't so sure when I realized my underwear was gone. I quickly closed the gown at the sight.

Seeing my face, Anna snickered. "Oh right. We took those already. They didn't fit you anymore, and since you weren't waking up, we didn't think of getting a replacement."

I gave her a pleading look and asked, "Any way you can get me some? I don't feel too comfortable with this."

She gave me a wry smile as she replied, "Not right now, sorry. We don't have anything you can wear other than gowns. I'll check with some of the staff and see if we can get things you can use until your transformation is over, but it will have to wait until tomorrow."

"Okay, I get it." I replied, as I shyly removed the clothing once more. Her comment, however, reminded me of the other three patients. "Speaking of which, how is everyone else doing? Has anyone besides me woken up?"

Anna replied as she took the pictures. "Dave did four days ago. He's a lucky metahuman and already returned home believing he was in a sickness induced coma. There's no need to tell him the truth yet. We'll keep him under surveillance in case he somehow learns how to use magic, though.

"Allison, on the other hand, is about to reach three metres tall. The good news is that the first giants are finally waking up after a month, so we got an approximation of what her final height will be and prepared her room accordingly. We relocated her two days ago. What a mess that was!"

She didn't mention the girl they brought in the day I passed out. Instead, she remained silent as she grabbed a syringe.

Exasperated, I finally asked, "What about Lily?"

Her ears dropped as she replied, "She's shriveling up. We know the culprit is a dragonfly carrier, and we have received reports of other dragonfly victims going through the same mummification. I tried to use my healing magic on her, but I only sped up the process. I don't know what I did wrong! It hadn't failed before!

"We told her parents she would be fine. That they didn't need to worry about her. How are we supposed to tell them their daughter will really die after all!? We can't even do anything about it because they're forcing us to wait until she either withers completely or miraculously recovers."

I didn't know her, but it was sad for Lily to suffer such a fate when she was so young.

"It's not your fault, Anna. If someone is to blame, it would be the people who created this thing. If she's still alive, then there is always a chance for you to save her, so don't lose hope just yet!"

Even though I wasn't convinced by what I said. Still, I didn't want her to feel bad when she had done nothing wrong.

Anna silently hugged me for a few minutes. She eventually let go, forcing a faint smile. "I have to take this sample to the lab before it goes bad. I'm sorry, I didn't bring your breakfast because I didn't know you would wake up like this again."

"It's all right, Anna."

She nodded and wiped the few tears that came out with her sleeve. "Say, I'd rather have you rest here for safety, but I know it can get boring for you. How do you feel right now? Do you want to come with me downstairs and join us at the cafeteria?"

"Sure thing, I feel great!"

While I was still in some pain, it was only at a mildly annoying level. It was the same as every time I woke up.

"Actually, wait..." Giving me a concerned expression, she continued. "You did mention having a lot of pain during your dream. I don't want you collapsing on me again. Don't you want me to bring the wheelchair?"

"Why did you ask if you won't believe me? Anyway, there's no need for that. I'm telling the truth! It was intense during the dream, but now it's barely there. I think the pain may get stronger when I sleep."

She tapped her chin as she thought about it. "Well, that makes sense since the changes are stronger at that time too. Excluding the scream, you do act like the rest of the patients while you sleep. The pain is evident. I don't remember having any dreams or nightmares, though. What worries me, if so, is that you being awake is slowing down the process. Let's keep an eye on it."

We headed out into the hall where Anna forcibly led me to the elevator. She still didn't believe me, even when I assured her I could walk down the stairs without a problem. Once we arrived on the main floor, she went into the lab to drop off the sample while I waited for her beside the entrance. With that task completed, we made our way to the cafeteria.

The place was nothing extravagant, but also not as lame as my school's cafeteria. There were plenty of sturdy looking dark wooden tables and cushioned chairs in the middle, while the walls had the typical booth seats you would find in restaurants. Despite the large windows, it wasn't too bright. It was just enough to eat comfortably.

As we stepped inside, we saw Dr. Blake sitting alone at one table. He was reading something on his tablet when he heard us walk up and raised his head.

"Good morning, Anna." Then he turned to me. "I'm surprised to see you again so soon, Nora. I thought you would stay asleep until the end of the process this time."

"Good morning," we both replied.

He left his tablet on the table and stood. "Well, now that you're here, shall we go get our food? "

Was he waiting for her all this time?

It made me feel a bit guilty for taking so long. It didn't last, though. I was quickly distracted by the large selection that awaited us at the food warmers. Seeing my amazement, Anna chuckled and mentioned it was nothing compared to what they would serve for lunch and dinner. Confused by all the options, I decided on something simple instead, so I went with scrambled eggs, a glass of milk, and an apple.

Once we filled our trays, we went back to our table. I had trouble finding a comfortable position to sit as my dangling wings and tail kept getting in the way.

Thankfully, Anna ended up getting a small stool for me so I could sit comfortably and, since I was much shorter now, its increased height compared to the chair allowed me to reach properly as well.

Dr. Blake looked at me as he ate. "What do you think of your wings, Nora? They don't seem to be in a good mood right now."

I shrugged. "I can't move or feel them at all. If it weren't for Anna, I probably wouldn't even know they are there."

He continued eating quietly with a thoughtful expression. Then stared at me once again and nodded to himself. Standing up with his fork in hand, he walked around to stand behind me.

"Don't move," he told me whilst grabbing my fork too. I started fidgeting, suspecting what he was about to do. I had a bad feeling about it.

A moment later, I felt some pain in my back as Dr. Blake poked my wings with the forks. They jerked in response, hitting his hands and knocking one utensil away. I hoped it was his.

Thanks to his actions, however, I could finally feel and move them normally. It was just like an additional, and rather clumsy, set of arms. A little bizarre, to put it mildly.

I looked at him in confusion. "How did you know that would work!?"

Dr. Blake laughed and immediately tried the same to my tail, only to get smacked by it before making contact. He shouted briefly from the pain and rubbed his hand.

"Honestly, I didn't. I'm as surprised as you are. I merely wanted to see if you truly felt nothing. You're welcome by the way." He then took a new pair of forks from an empty table and handed me one.

I rolled my eyes as I accepted it, which made his smile widen. Anna quietly watched our exchange with an amused expression. It only took a few seconds of looking at each other for all of us to crack up. I barely knew these people, but I found it easy to get along with them. They reminded me of my family.

We continued eating and talking about the animal carriers. Dr. Blake told me they began appearing a few days after the first infection. Only cats and dogs at first, then bats a few days later. Before the dragonfly got Lily, there were only a total of four types of known carriers. The fourth being a species of lizard called a 'Skink'. They identified it as the first reptile carrier a couple of days before my infection.

He further explained that the increasing number of carriers made it difficult to prevent the MAV from spreading. They still had it under control, but it was only a matter of time until the truth was made public because of them. Things were worse now that insects could become carriers, too. As if that weren't enough, the virus also made animals prone to biting.

Once we were done eating, Dr. Blake headed off to the lab. Since I had no trouble moving around yet, Anna took me to perform a hearing test once more. My hearing still wasn't nearly as good as hers, but I could see it had improved when comparing it with Gary's. She also had me blow on a weird machine to measure my lung capacity.

After that, Anna needed to continue with her morning duties of checking on the other patients. I offered to help her since it was much better than sitting in a room alone while doing nothing.

First, we visited Allison's room since it was the closest. It looked like a much bigger version of my own. It had two doors next to each other. Needless to say, one was meant for her exclusive use.

I imagined they would place the normal door within the bigger one to save space, but when I mentioned it to Anna, she replied by saying that it was an accident waiting to happen, as Allison could try opening her door at the same time someone else did with the small one. It made sense.

Looking at her when we entered, the rejuvenation had already made her look as if she were in her early twenties. The way the virus did this kind of thing was impressive, to say the least. Her black hair had also grown back some. Each strand thicker than normal.

Anna mentioned that she'd look around sixteen by the end of her transformation since it was already known giants aged at half the rate of a human.

I remembered when she said that my race had an even stronger age regression. I hoped they were wrong in their calculations. I was already down to 1.45 metres tall after just ten days, and it scared me to think I could even go back to being a baby if my transformation took too long.

We followed the same procedures as Anna did with me. Allison couldn't stand up while sleeping, so we used a long measuring tape to get her height. We skipped weighing her; She was so big and heavy it would have taken far too much effort to do anything about it. Anna also mentioned that getting data from her was a formality more than anything, since they already had plenty of information about the transformation process from other giants, so it was fine to get it once she woke up.

One thing I noticed whilst helping with Allison was that there was no serum or anything to supply nutrients while she was unconscious, which I found weird considering the amount of energy and matter needed to change someone like that.

When I asked Anna about it, she explained that it wasn't necessary. Apparently, the virus didn't need any external help when transforming someone. They initially thought they could accelerate the process by supplying said nutrients, but they hadn't gotten any proof of it making a difference. More importantly, it took mere minutes for the body to expel any foreign object like the needles they used to administer the serum. It was a mystery how the body created its own resources when mutating, although many believed it was due to the mana itself.

Once we were done and dropped off Allison's blood sample at the lab. I followed Anna to the living quarters.

We stood in front of Lily's door in silence when we arrived. We needed to check on her status by orders of the government. Anna had that grim face again, though. The situation was too much for her. It made me wonder why she became a doctor if she couldn't deal with this sort of thing.

Jack was supposed to be the one checking on Lily, but he was late since he was still out patrolling the city as he did every day. I didn't like the idea either, but I offered to check on her so Anna didn't have to.

It truly was a horrendous sight. The poor girl looked like a flat mummy. Her head, limbs, and abdomen were nothing but pieces of dried grey skin. Neither meat nor bones were present anymore, and her fingers were already disintegrating. I couldn't even imagine how they could consider her to be alive.

The only part that had any volume was her chest. I assumed it was because of her ribs and poked it out of curiosity. I regretted my decision when I discovered it was nothing but a leathery bag full of a viscous substance. The sensation alone almost made me puke. I was glad there was no odor, or I probably wouldn't have been able to resist.

Looking around the room, I saw a thermal camera and a screen displaying the image it picked up. Whatever was inside of that bag appeared as a yellow, orange, and red image on the screen. This must have been the reason they thought she was still alive.

I kept looking at the screen for a while. There was nothing important. Convinced that I wouldn't see anything else, I turned to leave when I saw some movement out of the corner of my eye. I rubbed my eyes and blinked several times. It wasn't all that clear, but I could see something moving on the screen.

I looked at the door and, even though I wasn't sure if it was a good idea, shouted, "Anna! Come quickly!".

She rushed into the room the instant she heard me. I would have hated myself if I was wrong, since her expression was bad enough after seeing Lily's current state. She had obviously not looked in on her for days.

"I know she looks terrible, but I saw something move on the monitor just now!"

Her eyes widened, and she placed her face right in front of the screen while grabbing the frame with both hands. I could barely see anything with her blocking the view, but it happened again. They were slow, erratic movements. If I had to relate them to something, it would be like those of a baby.

As we kept looking at the screen, an idea came to my mind. "You said your magic sped up the process, right?"

Anna knew where I was heading with this and approached the mummy. She took a deep breath and placed her now glowing hands on Lily's 'chest'. It was my first time actually seeing magic, so I was excited.

The result was strange, though. The sack shrank slowly. I turned to look at the screen again and noticed the movements inside became faster, violent even.

Something is wrong.

"Wait!" I yelled.

Anna stopped and looked at me confused.

I sat down and prepared myself mentally. "Cast it on me first. I want to check something."

She raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Can't you wait until I'm done with her?"

I shook my head furiously. "I have a bad feeling about it. I don't like how she moves when you heal her."

She nodded and placed her hands on me. I clenched my teeth, somewhat expecting what was coming. She applied her magic once more, and it happened. The excruciating pain almost made me feel as if I were disintegrating.

"Stop!" I shouted at the top of my lungs.

Once her magic stopped, the pain slowly began to fade. At first, I was curled into a ball on the floor, unable to move or speak. What I felt eight days ago wasn't anywhere near this horrid. It surprised me that I didn't lose consciousness immediately. I would have preferred that. Anna was saying something, but I couldn't understand anything. She sounded frightened.

No wonder Lily moved around like that when she was being 'healed'.

A whole hour passed before I could finally sit back up on the chair. Even then, I had to fight to keep myself awake. I brushed away my tears and looked at the still worried Anna, who kept trying to get a response from me.

"Never use that on someone while they go through this again, okay?"

She hugged me while crying. "I'm so sorry!"

Returning the hug, I weakly told her, "It's fine. I didn't know it would be this bad, but it was me who asked you to do it. It's not your fault, and I'm glad we didn't continue hurting her."

We acted far too rashly. Hope blinded us.

Anna turned to the bed and looked at the now smaller sack. "I owe you an apology too, Lily. I'm sorry I made you go through this."