Two weeks.
Two weeks since Oda had 'turned.' Two weeks since she'd been found encased in a glowing green cocoon, supposedly trapped in some sort of metamorphosis.
Jean's face was a mask of worry as she once again entered the dimly lit room to find that Oda was still in the same state as yesterday. What was happening?
"I-is she okay?"
The young scientist looked behind her to see Vanellope Von Schweetz stood there, looking just as worried. The candy racer and Cy-Bug had become best friends throughout the month and a half they'd known each other, and now one of them was presumably trapped in some sort of limbo.
"No different from yesterday," Jean sighed. "I'll scan her and then we'll head back to the lab."
Vanellope just nodded and watched sadly as Jean did her job, making sure Oda was alright at least physically. The scan that the scientist carried out showed the same readings as the day before. And the day before that, and that, and that…
"Come on, we'll get some snacks or something. We have more than stinking war rations, you know."
On any other day, Vanellope would have laughed at the joke, but now? She just wanted her friend back. She hugged her arms to her chest and slowly followed the scientist back down the gloomy hallway.
When they were halfway down the corridor, a wet smack met their ears, followed by the sound of spluttering and choking. It was coming from Oda's room.
The scientist and the president rushed back the way they came and came crashing into the room in a panic.
What they saw made Vanellope nearly faint with shock and Jean gasp so harshly that she thought she'd swallowed her tongue. The cocoon was split open, and lying sprawled on the floor was a young woman, around eighteen judging from her build. Dark, roughly shoulder-length hair was plastered to her scalp and face by some sort of watery liquid, her face turned away from Jean and Vanellope as she hacked and coughed in an effort to purge her lungs of fluid.
The most noticeable thing about her was that she seemed to be wearing some sort of… body armour. It encased her lower arms, shins, chest and shoulders, the exposed skin being a dark, purple-black colour decorated with neon lavender rings. The armour itself was a dark plum purple colour with rosy highlights, and perched on her back was a set of four golden-yellow insect wings, structured like spiked leaves and criss-crossed with veins of a darker shade of yellow. A tail grew from the base of her back; it was yellow and streaked with neon orange, twitching with every throaty cough the woman forced out of her throat.
"What the..?" Jean breathed. It was the first word anyone had uttered in the whole two minutes she and Vanellope had been standing there gawping at the woman who'd seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Said woman heard Jean's voice and turned her head to look at the scientist with big, golden eyes. The pupils were a darker shade of gold than the rest of her eyes.
"Oda?"
At the sound of Vanellope's voice, the woman pushed herself back towards the corner of the room, wrapping her arms around her knees and revealing the long, sharp talons on her hands.
"I-I…" she stuttered. It was as if she was struggling to get the words out of her mouth. Eventually she settled on one simple word. "Yes…"
Oda sat in silence on the medical table, a thick towel wrapped around her shoulders. She'd dried off a little, but her hair; which was a comparable colour to Jean's; was still quite damp and stuck out all over the place, reminding Vanellope of Sonic. In the brighter green light of the science lab, it was obvious that the skin of her face was a very, very pale purple, and she had a similar facial structure to Jean, but obviously she looked a good deal younger, perhaps in her late teens. She also possessed a height that was near equal to Sergeant Calhoun's, at least several inches taller than Jean. It still didn't stop the eccentric scientist from constantly checking the bemused Cy-Brid over. Once or twice, Vanellope had seen her wings flitter about, but the reason was unknown to her.
"This could… this could explain your behaviour two weeks ago," Jean muttered, not expecting a response. She'd yet to move onto the vocal exercises, and had advised Oda not to talk until then. "I'm guessing your code became extremely susceptible to what you ate, so that's why your physical form has changed so much. This is…"
"Unreal?" Vanellope suggested.
"Yes, unreal…"
Oda gazed up at Jean, her golden eyes filled with the same curiosity she almost constantly possessed. Despite the fearsome reputation of Cy-Bugs having been instilled in her, she looked positively adorable.
Suddenly, Vanellope asked a key question.
"How are we going to explain this to the others?"