Chapter 4
"Tech?" Zadavia uncertainly asked, unsure if what she was seeing was some trickery of her eyes. "Is that you?"
The man looked down at his tanned-skin palms incredulously, as disbelieving as Zadavia about what he was seeing. Zadavia absorbed the sight of the strange man. He was of a warm sun-tanned skin colour, broad shouldered on a regular body build, but his face was the most outstanding feature of all, almost like that of a chiselled Greek god sculpture, and falling strands of short, desert brown hair curved over his forehead. She cautiously approached the hunched form of the strange man, tentatively lifting her fingers to his shoulder. He looked so vulnerable in his apparently disorientated mental state. Ace and the others looked on speechlessly as Zadavia's hand gently came to rest on the man's shoulder. The man jumped back instantly like a frightened animal at her touch, his surprised, but familiar, vibrant lime-green eyes staring right back into hers. Tech's eyes! On the face of a human!
"Zadavia! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to jump! But it felt…'different' when you touched me." a human Tech stammered.
"I wouldn't be surprised given…your drastic change of form…" Zadavia carefully commented, a hand rising to cover her lips.
Tech turned his sight to the reflective metal wall on his other side. His expression plummeted into one of terror as he looked upon the image of an unknown human man sitting in his place. He gasped sharply and jumped off his bed in sudden fear, backing away from his new reflection. Ace and the others rushed up behind him to make sure he didn't stumble over himself. Ace and Lexi caught a hold of his wrists as he nearly fell backwards in shock, and Slam supported his back. It was then that they noticed how much taller Tech was compared to them now, human-sized rather than anthro-sized. He was even slightly taller than Zadavia.
"I'm…I'm human!" Tech cried in disbelief.
"It would appear so…" Zadavia confirmed, still in awe herself at the 'humanized' Tech.
About an hour and a half later, Ace, Lexi, Duck, Rev and Slam were back in the main control room, discussing amongst themselves what had happened when Zadavia and Tech entered. The human Tech was in new black trousers and a dark blue top overlaid with a slim-fitting long grey jacket. He was still glancing down at himself in disturbance frequently. Zadavia looked at him sympathetically then turned to Ace and the others.
"He needed new attire. With his sudden 'growth spurt' his old outfits no longer fitted his form anymore." Zadavia explained.
"Y'know, it's kinda strange but…Tech doesn't look half-bad as a human." Lexi commented looking the freshly dressed human Tech up and down.
With a curled hand raised to her slim chin, Zadavia caught herself unintentionally nodding slightly in agreement with Lexi as she regarded Tech also. She corrected herself quickly though before any of the Loonatics saw her reaction.
Ace glanced at Lexi out of the corner of his eyes momentarily with a slight look of displeasure at her comment.
"Regardless of how 'better-looking' Tech may be in his current state, we still need to find a way to change him back to normal." Ace asserted.
"Agreed. I can't go through life like…like this!" Tech firmly agreed looking distraughtly at his human palms once again. "Do you know how much easier it is to get cold without a natural fur coat covering your body? And I feel disproportioned without a tail!"
Tech needlessly waved his hand behind his lower back to gesture his discomfort.
"We'll-need-to-start-searching- for-Dr.-Wilde-again." Rev logically determined. "Maybe-he'll-have-a-cure!"
"I'll begin surveillance and tracking work." Tech routinely informed stepping forward.
"Eeehh, I don't think so Tech." Ace disagreed.
"What?" Tech asked puzzled.
"Well in your current state, I think what you need more is rest and time to…adjust to your changes." Ace reasoned.
"Yeah, no telling how long you're gonna be stuck like this coyot…err, I mean, Tech." Duck bluntly remarked.
If Tech had still been a coyote then, he'd have whimpered in an unhappy manner like a rejected dog, but he had to settle with just a downcast facial expression instead.
"Ace is right Tech." Zadavia agreed. "You'll have to be careful in your current human state. You'll need to learn to adapt to your new form."
"Easier said than done." Tech sadly breathed looking to the floor.
Zadavia glanced at Tech sympathetically once again. Then an idea suddenly entered her mind and impulsively, she reached for and took a hold of Tech's human hand.
"Come Tech! A walk would be ideal! Some fresh air will do you good!" she proposed with sudden eagerness, more than she had intended to show.
Before Tech could say anything, he was lead out of the main control room by his female Frelengian co-ordinator. The other Loonatics just looked on at the couple in puzzlement as they left the room, then they glanced and shrugged their shoulders to one another.