Part 15: April Mutations And Nightmares

Part 15: April Mutations and Nightmares!



Hey, Cam, what’s up? I was just about to get my hair cut, then go into the tanks to get my electro-skin!
Monique, I, uh…I had a very…VERY bad nightmare involving you. I’ve been scared to death to think of what those Chryssalids would have done if I hadn’t been there first… I’ll spare you the details, but, uh…


Brrr… Those things scare the shit out of me. And you’ve been a pretty good friend during all of this, no, a great friend during all this. So be careful, okay?
Well, all the more reason for me to get modded up, so I can help you out, right? I’ll be fine. See you in three days, okay? *hug*





And now to blow most of the rest of our hard-earned cash on a thermo generator, a new weapons development center for Dr. Shen, and, I guess, another interceptor over South America. With the new Phoenix Cannon weapon installed on it just to be safe.

TIME PASSES!





Ah, here Monique Leroy comes! How do you feel?
Ahhh…gaaah… I feel so…funky!
Could you please disrobe so we could give you a full-body scan?



Oh, this is good, very good, no toxicity, deformation or cancer detected. Can you describe how you feel?
It’s…crazy, but not bad, not bad at all! I can feel all the electricity flowing through the machines around me, the heat in your bodies… Heh. I bet I could feel an alien through a wall like this. Detecting a metal squid like a seeker should be no problem.
You’ll even be able to send out a small electromagnetic pulse to disrupt their invisibility.
Speaking of which…



Your turn to go in the tanks, Hilda. I just sold a lot of valuable alien equipment on the Gray Market to be able to afford this, and you’ll be soaking up most of the meld we’ve acquired so far, too. So you are FORBIDDEN to die, do you hear me? I could buy several satellites for what I’m spending on you.
It’s okay, sir. I promise I won’t waste your money or time, and besides, if the invisibility pans out, it’ll be all that much easier to hide.
Take care, okay, Hilda?
Sure, Cam. No problem. Right? We’re going in one at a time so we don’t need to worry about any more crazy body-switches…yeah…

MORE TIME PASSES!



Another success!
Gaaaaaahhhhh…blaaah! That…that was weird. I dreamed I was flying through a city made of spaghetti…but it’s over now.
Please disrobe, Ms. Van Doorn, so we can examine your body in detail.



The procedure cost this much because human skin is the largest organ on the body; your skin is able to produce the same invisible smokescreen that the seekers emit, from your pores.
So cool…but it’s not perfect.
No, sadly. Your best strategy for vanishing would be to do it out of sight of the enemy, and to hold still against a flat surface when they are looking at you. You’ll also need to wear the stripped-down “sleeveless” armor that Watkins and Leroy are utilizing, because it will make it much easier for your skin to emit the smokescreen.



Well, I haven’t noticed any particular mood changes in myself…
Your arm is disappearing.
Oops, that does that sometimes…but yeah, I feel great. I’ll let you know in the future if it seems like this is psychologically affecting me.
And Cam and Monique, too. Don’t think of it as snitching, we’re dealing with too many unknowns here.
Oh, I know, I know.



Ladies and gentlemen of XCOM: We have lasers!
YESSS! YEAAAAH! LASERS! LASERS! LASERS!



Only a laser assault rifle and pistol for now, I’m afraid, but I’m working on equivalents to a sniper rifle, a heavy laser that could replace our machine guns, and so on.
Let’s try to build some armor in the meantime, now that our troops are getting too valuable to lose.



Commander, you’ve brought the world a step closer to stability.
Thanks, Mr. Councilman. I’m hoping to completely stabilize Asia next…the Foundry’s electronics are going to get really expensive without the help of the Asian tech sector.

To be continued…