Nothingness.

Abyss.

Oblivion.

A girl's purse.

Ken Found himself... is it himself? Who is Ken? Why is Ken? There is no Ken, only void.

No time had passed, or did it, yet time itself held no meaning. So it WAS.

The Void WAS.

But then the Void Wasn't.

It was replaced by a humm growing louder.

Then there was white blinking into existence along with a choppy feminine voice, and the "color" started to be brought back into view...

-~Rise and shine, Mr. Empizie. Rise and shine.

Not that I wish to imply you have been sleeping on the job.

No one is more deserving of a rest.

And all the effort in the world would have gone to waste until...well, let's just say your hour has cum... PFFFGHUEHEHEAHAHHA! OH GODS! That was too much! Hehaha! Oh how we have waited to do something like this!~-

The stranger's voice returned to normal, though with tears of humor, as the only thing that could explain the actions of this voice is that "She" was LMFAO. Ken finally woke up fully to the Wheezing lady.

"Wha... What happened to me? Why does my body hurt so much?"

He attempted to get up off of the smooth cold floor but found that his muscles weren't fully responding to his commands.

"Wh... Why can't I move my body"

He started to raise his voice as the expected panic of being mostly paralyzed started to flood his brain. The stranger finally stopped her breathless laughing as she noticed Ken starting to panic.

-~Whoa there. Steady now. I wasn't joking about how you woke up. Let's keep our voices down, okay? Fourteen days of inactivity can do that to a person, especially when by legal definition they are dead. Just take it slow and start trying to wiggle your toes and fingers.~-

Ken somewhat remembered the last time he raised his voice and attempted to comply with the wishes of the stranger, though he still wanted some answers.

"What do you mean 'fourteen days'? And what do you mean 'legally dead'? Better question still; who are you?"

-~Oh so we're playing 50 questions again? Alright I can play. The first one can answer both questions, and allow me to finish what I was going to say before the emergency happened. SO I was going to tell you that I could feel the infection mutating our body, and more than likely, is the reason as to why we heard Mardy's roar. 24 hours seems to be the full incubation period for the infection.

As to how this pertains to the current situation, I put you into a "sleep mode" to both conserve power and to prevent Mardy 2.0 from outright Murking us. Good news is that we lived, YAY! Bad news is that our phone is full on D.E.A.D. DEAD. Like no more charging this hunk of plastic. As for the other question... I used this fortnight to think of a name. How does "Kendra" sound to you?~-

At this point Ken was finally able to get to his feet, though it still looked like a newborn foal, as his legs trembled.

"Okay... Kendra, how did you set me to 'sleep mode'?"

He stabilized himself by leaning on his body against a smooth vertical surface, though as he did he could now start to hear, and feel the buzzing emanating from the lounge. It was at this point he also smelt... honey?

-~well regarding that, I found I could access our brainwave connections and shut down or set to low power a lot of functions. As to why the phone was sacrificed, it appears that is due to our mutation, and is also one of the reasons why we AREN'T a desiccated corpse right now. We were able to draw energy from the battery!~-

The squealing Kendra was jumping up and down with her reveal, though how Ken could "see" her doing that, he did not understand, as he could NOT actually "see" her. She continued her spiel with a zeal in her squeal.

-~ We. Have. Electro kinesis! *Squeal* JustLikeThatDudeFromTheGameNotorious! Actually that isn't an appropriate comparison... You would have thought that with 14 days by myself while slowly imprinting us into Mardy's brain whenever she came by; I would have come up with a better explanation... Actually, now that I am properly thinking about it; a vampire would be a more appropriate answer, more specifically an energy vampire. Yeah that does fit a lot better seeing as we got fangs now.~-

Finally, finally getting his senses in control he did find his mouth very unusually cramped. running his tongue along his upper set of teeth, he found his two canines have indeed grown longer, though it was a very interesting aspect what truly caught his attention was that the restroom was lit up in shades of white with a dash of blue. While off-white walls were expected, what wasn't was the previously blue and white checkered tiles also being shades of Off-white. He would have trumped it up to being a black and white filter except for two things. One, the darkest the shades got was an ashy grey, and two, everything had a tinge of blue to it.

The bizarreness of his current circumstance didn't stop there sadly, as he approached the mirror above the sink he found that he could barely make out a slightly blue outline of his body in it, with two Glowing electric blue irises bathing his face, and then his body with the light as he drew closer to it. Stepping within a palms breath of the mirror he saw the blue glowing irises were his, and indeed were producing a visible blue light. When he looked at the previously off-white wall next to the mirror he saw that the intensity of the blue tint grew to become a bright blue wall section instead of the "egg shell" it truly was.

"Kendra, what the actual fuck is happening, the fangs I can somewhat believe but what is all this... this white and blue, and fuck, what is going on?"

-~I am not quite sure myself as I only know what you know since I am you, but you aren't me. So my understanding of the laws that govern the universe doesn't go beyond the limits of our high school education. It's not like I’m the narrator of your life or anything. *Wink*~-

"Why did you wink? How did you wink? wha-whatever. Obviously you know more about this situation than I do, so do your best to explain it to me."

-~Okay. I'll start with the easier logical explanation. The blue glow/ tint is coming from our eyes, Don't know why, but best guess is the whole "Vampires have glowing red eyes" thing is literally applied to us, only it's blue since we specialize in energy. The whole "Black&White" thing seems to be our version of the archetypical vampire's night vision, though it appears to not be based off of light, since if it were the blue glow would have drowned out most of our vision, so I'mma use our 12th grade science class to theorize we are seeing using the electrons of our surroundings, based on the whole idea of "vampire's blood sense" added to the fact we drink energy~-

"Okay, I can see where you would get that idea, however if that is true then..."

He raised his hand in front of his face and sure enough his nervous system lit up like lightning beneath his skin. His eye-glow now tinting the "white" skin was still beat in vibrancy by his rapidly pulsing nervous system. He looked back at the mirror and saw that he could not see the branching system in the reflection. With the second glance at the mirror he saw that while not a desiccated corpse he did have a gaunt appearance. He bared his teeth and saw his fangs actually reflect some of the glow, indicating that they were polished to a mirror like reflection. He tapped one with his index finger and heard it ding like metal.

-~To sum up all the changes to our body: we got literally glowing blue irises, Electro-vision heheheh, Electrokinesis... Although YOU have yet to try that out yet, I have. And yes, those are indeed metal fangs. I would suggest you find something to eat that gaunt appearance isn't entirely due to our new form. The stasis mode fed off of your body fat, and if not for the phone's battery would have done more damage to your muscles. How about we get out of here, and find ourselves some din-din?~-

"I couldn't agree with you more, I definitely could go for a cheese burger"

Ken went to the door, unlocking it, and opened it wide...

Only for him to immediately close it.

"What the fuck is that?"

-~ Ope, sorry should have warned ya about that. Mardy 2.0 has been busy. While I didn't know exactly what she was doing, the buzzing sounds and constant honey smell explains why the lounge is full of wax and honey. Not sure why the couch was left alone, or our Lichenberg, maybe due to the imprinting process She associates it with us and left it untouched by her redecoration.~-

Ken took a deep breath of Sweet air and opened the door again.

It was not a very pleasant site with his Electro-Vision TM, Without color the room took on a sinister appearance with "honey" dripping from the ceiling in certain places, Mounds of "wax" engulfing the other furniture and a few, definitely NOT fake, skeletons merged with the "wax" That covers parts of the walls. He looked at the exterior of the restroom door and found it barren of the waxy infestation. Sure the room smelled of honey and pollen, and sure the grotesque decor looked like wax, but with the lack of color, and the fact that there were corpses merged with some of the wax, he couldn't help but say "This is some Lovecraftian horror shit".

He took a hesitant step into the Flesh room. Placing his weight on the fleshy floor let out a very wet squelch. The place reminded him of the Power substation level in the "Citizen Vile 3" remake.

He made his way slowly to the untouched "White" leather loveseat, and grabbed his shotgun. He attempted to lift it and found it to be a bit heavier than before, or more likely, him being weaker than before. He shook as he attempted to rack it, but was able to complete a full cycle, and found it to be empty. What wasn't empty, however, was the gun store apparently. After the very audible *Click-Clack* of the action, he could hear the ever present buzzing intensify followed by scuttling, and fairly loud, and angry, footsteps approaching from the hall.

As the sounds grew louder and closer, He finally saw what was making it, as they rounded the corner. Dozens of foot tall anthropomorphized bees. Came charging in followed by a six-foot-six tall version armed with Lucille and wearing a JPC Vest. The figure let out a loud authoritative voice

"WHO DARES ENTER THE CHAMBERS OF HIVE-QUEEN MARTINA?!"

It surveyed the room before locking eyes with Ken. It lowered her upper arms that held Lucille and pointed with her two left hands at him, before lowering her face shield.

"Ken... is that you?!"

"H-hey Mardy? Long time no speak?"

He stood there rubbing the back of his head with his shotgun held limply in the other. There was a brief tense moment as the Bee-lings and Mardy stared at Ken. She shook, He shook. All at once Mardy dropped Lucille and lunged at Ken enveloping Him in her embrace, and smashing his face into her armored vest. The size difference caused Ken to be lifted several inches off the ground as she hugged his torso and head with her two pairs of sleek four-fingered, carapaced arms.

Mardy pulled Ken slightly away from her and looked at the state of him.

"My god you're just skin and bones, Ken. What happened?"

Before he could reply Mardy continued.

"Well I ain't gunna’ let one of mine go hungry, best we get you somethin’ to fill you up."

Mardy was about to adjust his head to bring him back closer when the starved man tore free from her upper arms and sank his teeth into her shoulder, bypassing the chitin that protected it with his two elongated canines. Immediately she could feel numbness spread from the area down her upper arm. She lost the ability to move the arm and started to panic as the numbness started to appear in her lower arm on the same side.

"Ken Stop, please!"

He didn't respond to her, and she watched as with every passing moment more and more of her body fell numb and he started to slowly fill in. Her mind started to get foggy as her perspective started to lag like she was drunk.

-Is this how I die? What's goin' to happen to my girls? Will they attack Ken when I pass? Oh God please help me.-

Tears welled up from her two compounds, and three ocelli eyes, and began to cascade down her face. Just as her consciousness slowly started to fade, however, Ken's body went limp, still attached to her shoulder. Her girls that were encircling them finally started to approach the pair, seeing that the assailant was motionless. Finally the paralysis started to retreat from her body, and with it her silence was broken. Her Mandibles quickly unfolded covering her face in their chitinous plating, shielding her tear stricken face from her girls, and ensuring they would not be too upset.

"Girls, would'ya mind gettin' him off of me?"

A deluge of tiny reluctant "Yes mum"s rang out before they got started prying the two friends apart.

Ken woke up to a dimly lit "fleshy" room and found it to be less "fleshy" and more "waxy" and himself lying on the leather loveseat. Before he could do anything else, Kendra butted in.

-~Good job ya idiot. You almost killed Mardy, AND by extension us. Jeez Louise, I tried to get your attention, BUT NOOOO! You just had to have a snack on one of the few people you know. I literally had to put you in sleep mode again before you drained her dry. We are sooo lucky Mardy views us as part of her hive, else we would have been filled with mutant bee venom ten times over. Hopefully we got enough fuel to not go into a frenzy.~-

"H-hey I tried to warn her, but she kept going"

His audible comment stirred the other occupants of the room, and three ~one-foot tall Bee-girls crawled on top of his chest.

Their tiny bodies looked like they were wearing striped fur-trimmed sweet Lolita dresses. Their antenna rose into the air making it look like the tiny figures had bunny ears, while their almost identical Bob-cuts framed their tiny pixie-like faces. And just like with Mardy, Ken could see all the energy inside their miniature frames. Though unlike Mardy's energy, the trio were a candle to her campfire. Sure he COULD consume their energy, but between the small amount, and the fact that he was no longer a completely starving animal, he'd restrain from nibbling. The middle one who had a slightly rounder body folded all four of her arms and stomped her heel into his chest, which at their size felt like someone jabbing him with a ballpoint pen.

"Awake, awake he is"

Lefty, the scrawny one, butted in with her own stomp, and arms crossed leaning on roundy, nodding along.

"Yes, yes he is."

Righty, the taller and bulkier one, followed her sisters' example with another stop, and arm cross.

"Blue, blue he is"

"Can I help you three?" Ken asked with only a fair amount of discomfort.

Shifting himself to a seated position caused the three to stumble and fall on their butts, and their bulbous abdomen-tails. Thankfully their stingers were not extended.

Roundy puffed up with indignation. Her tiny nose pointed straight up, Arms cross of course.

"How rude, how rude!"

Lefty, playing the YESman followed suit.

"Mhm, Mhm"

Righty, seemed like the slow one and got distracted.

"Shiny teeth, shiny teeth he has!"

She started to climb up from his lap where they had landed prior, as he spoke again.

"So who are you three, and where is Mardy?"

Roundy stood up and gave a Proper salute before declaring.

"First Mobile Heavy Auto-Rifle Crew, we are, we are!"

Lefty pitched in to answer my initial question.

"Sent by The Queen, The Queen, we are."

Righty, finally reaching Ken's mouth, started to pry it open to get a closer look at the shiny teeth. Kendra pipped up with a comment.

-~hehehe, imagining those tiny girls with tiny little rifles is an adorable thing we have to see!~-

Before Ken could ask another question, that would probably take forever to answer at this rate, Righty achieved her goal and spoke.

“We have been assigned, assigned, to you as guards and escorts. Umhm, Umhm!"

She grabbed ahold of one of his "shiny teeth" and began to examine it all over. She continued her explanation as she inspected the tooth as "payment".

"I'm Sergeant Violet, Violet. The Tubby is Specialist Savannah, Savannah. And last and definitely least is Specialist Harper, The Rat, The Rat! He HI!"

Both Savannah and Harper shouted in unison at Violet, who apparently is the leader of this ragtag group.

"Hey! Not fair, Not Fair!"

Any sign of professionalism vanished as the two subordinates started to drag Violet from where she was working. Like a well-known royal lion, violet was torn away from her ledge, and plummeted to the depths of treachery by the hands of her sisters.

Ken just sat there watching the cat?-fight play out. The two shorter sisters pushing back the stronger Violet; all three with their face-shield-Mandibles now extended. Though individually they are inferior in strength, they barely beat the stronger when they team up.

His first-row seat to the MMA match ended abruptly as the fight got too rough and violet started to cry. While Violet definitely deserved pay back for the insults, she didn't deserve to be kicked while curled up in the fetal position.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Break it up you three!"

He separated the SPCs from the still crying SGT by sweeping the two by their waists with one hand and then scooping up the abused with the other. Violet latched all four of her arms around Ken's thumb as she cried into it, her face shield retracted revealing her tear stricken and quivering face. A small part of his heart was crushed seeing such a small thing crying in his arm. He trapped the two insubordinate girls with his left arm as he held the ball of tears with his right; keeping both out of arms' reach of each other, he looked like a man holding three small dogs as he stood up from the couch.

"Hey! Hey! Not fair, not fair!" Savannah squawked out.

"She started it, yes! Yes, she did" Squeaked Harper.

"Lies, Lies all of it!" Violet proclaimed.

"Okay, OKAY! Now, which one of you will show me where Da Queen is so I can give you three to her?"

The three faces fell at hearing this, knowing they would be in trouble for fighting again.

-~wait didn't they say "Rifle crew" not "Rifle squad"?~-

Ken stopped his train of thought and spoke again.

"Actually, would you three show me your guns?"

The three immediately sprouted gleeful smiles. Violet finally wiping away her tears corrected Ken.

"Gun, gun not 'guns'"

That, got his attention.