Aza, from flesh to steel

... and here we are! Pheew. Wasn’t as easy as i thought.



It was early in the morning. So early in fact, the sun wasn’t shining through the darkness of the night just yet. People from all around the country, and even some from other countries were slowly gathering near the entrances of a mega complex. Comic con always held quite large masses, and it never stopped growing over time. People of all ages were joining in on the fun. Comics, games, costumes, arts, and oh so many more reasons to come around. A young woman, just like so many others, joined in for the costumes. Ah, the costumes. So much worked put into an outfit to show off only a few hours per year. Still, they made pride and joy of the owners and entertained the clusters of people.



Alexis was no exception. Her costume took an impressive amount of time to build. Made of foam sheets of different thickness and some 3D printed hard plastic parts, it had took well over two hundreds hours for the young builder to achieve her goal. The woman in her early twenties worked day and night, carefully folding each pieces with heating tools, realized precise cuts for accurate shapes and sizes, thoroughly bent everything, fixed everything together and tested with care, joy and pride each time a piece was moving forward in its conception. Once the build was over, the perfectly shaped android costume needed paint work to hide the black, green and purple layers of foams and harmonise them all under one color scheme. Painting alone took more time then necessary, well over a hundred hours, but the woman wanted nothing but the best. She wanted perfection, and though it was impossible to reach, she could very well try, and she try she did.



The end result was, while not being perfect, astonishing. One could easily see the hard work, sweat and tears put into the outfit just be judging its overall quality. Of course, some parts weren’t formed as well as others, some pieces weren’t quite fitting properly and Alexis never figured a way to include a robot-like voice box into the helmet, forcing her to give up on one of many ideas she had in plan. The thick dark plastic lenses was a little too dense for the outfitter to see properly in front of her, but none the less, she couldn’t be prouder.



Perhaps she was even, too proud. Uneasy around people, the costume wearer didn’t quite accepted people touching her hard labor, though it was understandable she didn’t want her precious costume to be ruined by other’s careless behavior. Alexis, knowing her behavior was a little extreme, had to tell herself to relax, since her reaction was exaggerated. In the waves of people gathered at the Con, she would eventually get in touch with others. She would have to get used to being rubbed, squeezed, grabbed but also loved and maybe even photographed or interviewed. Yes, she would, eventually during the day, be rubbing herself unintentionally against others, would squeeze herself through people and some child would surely grab her arms for a quick ‘’You’re awesome’’ of some sort. Oh yes, all this and more during the entire weekend. Certainly her outfit would be put to the test, but wasn’t build to be wear? It had to get through this to be a worthy costume.



The sun roze over the horizon, shining down the tall white walls of the city. Masses were finding their way to the main doors, which were about to open for the first day of the festivities. Meanwhile, in her hotel room, Alexis was getting into character, checking every little details of her apparel before finally making her way down the streets. What first felt amazing, fun and exciting quickly turned into a bit of shame once the long black tail got caught into the automatic door, leaving the cosplayer in a bit of despair. It took the help of a good samaritin to open the door from the other side for the woman to finally be set free into the asphalted world and, just ten minutes later, she arrived at the exposition’s site, quickly fitting in with the other colorfull characters.



Inside, time passed awefully fast. What seemed like just a few minutes was turned into a few hours and soon, noon approached. Hungry, the tall young woman searched for a food stand and a able to sit at. Unsurprisingly, there were even a lane for tables, but the wait was worth it, as Alexis really needed to sit down for some time. Standing for so long had gotten her feet to tingles. Not to mention her costume’s feet were made of hard plastic she printed. Unable to bent like shoes, the woman was forced to walk on her toes all day long, though it also insured she could walk ‘’in character’’ all day. A well deserved time sitting was a gift from the heavens and the 6 inches sub in her hands was the cherry on top. Oh what a glorious time! A quick pull of a short pin above the back of the neck and Alexis removed her helmet, about to enjoy her lunch. Herr est was short lived, as someone approached her after only the second bite.



Wow. Your outfit is so awesome! You must’ve work real hard on it! Said a teenager dressed head to toe in a game character. Her costume wasn’t bad at all, though it look bought in a store.



Well, hey, thanks a lot. Yeah, it was pretty hard to build, but, it looks cool, it’s all worth it.



Heck yeah! Mind if i sit?



Oh yeah, sure, go ahead.



The other woman also had a lunch bag from the store across the line of people waiting.



I’m Alexis. Replied the yellow cheetah between two bites.



I’m Addisson, nice to meet you.



Addisson was dressed head to toe in fur. Her character looked rather tribal, equiped with a long bow on her back, a quiver a some sponge arrows. It was really hard to figure what specie she was supposed to be, but then again, so was Alexis’ character. Th two cosplayer ate in silence, looking around at other’s costumes and pointing out the most extravagents.



Bits of time later, the two seperated and went back to their own businesses, leaving Alexis to wonder into the intriguing ‘’upcoming’’ booths. A whole section of the immense fair was designated to upcoming comics, games, projects and even technologies. So cool new gadgets for everyone to enjoy before it even reaches the shells. After some time roaming around, the ‘’android’’ cheetah found an interesting table. The booth was empty, though it was decorated with banners of the latest games and highly acclaimed movies. Nothing out of the ordinary if it wasn’t for the logo printed on every poster. ’’Coming to life soon’’ . Odd campaigning words. What was this supposed to be for? Were they planing to throw all those movies into virtual rality? And what about the games? Some of them were already VR games. The cosplayer looked around and found no one else interested in the mysterious empty booth. Looking inside the small walls turned out to be useless as nothing at all fast in there.



¨Maybe they’re having technical issues or something.¨ Said Alexis to herself before moving on. A couple hours later and the cheetah became slightly bored of the fair and decided to find something else to shove her interest into. As she looked into the papers, searching for the daily schedule, a voice came to her ears, or rather, pierced through the helmet’s plastic before faintly reaching her ears. Apparently, the contest had started. Which contest? The young woman had no idea, but it was already started. Curious, Alex searched her papers for what she was missing. Costumes. The costume contest. Oh she had to see that. Surely it was too late to participate, but she could still try the next day. For now all that mattered was to get there and watch in awe the most surprising, amazing, original and funny cosplays and costumes that were on stage. Before that, she needed to find the stage itself, which wasn’t an easy task in such a huge place, through such crowds.



Sadly, the bright orange feline never reached it. While swimming through the waves of people, a strange odor came to her nose and while she first thought it was her own smell, since it was pretty hot inside the oven she was wearing, it quickly turned out to be affecting more then just her plastic and foam self. A lot of people seemed to be searching for the smell’s origin, before most of those people quickly turned sick that was. Indeed, it seemed most people were sick all of a sudden, while the others were sleepy. There was sure way to tell what was happening and Alexis had for only idea to get out, reach for fresh air. Her head began to hurt, before she started losing balance. She felt drunk, and soon enough began feeling stomach cramps. Others around the young woman were experiencing similar effects, some holding themselves up while resting on the floor, others puking into trashcans and few, sleeping… or unconscious.



The cosplayer soon stopped walking and collapsed on the floor. Her entire body was in pain. She felt herself getting bigger, her body now tightly pressed under the already cramped costume. Her eyes, mouth, ears and nose were burning severely and her shoulders and hips felt broken. Soon, her body felt even more compressed inside the costume and the young woman began hating the thing she was so proud of earlier. She wished to take it by any means, but was unable to move. Why was the foam so rigid? Why wasn’t it expending? Soon the glue would break under all that pressure. What was happening to her anyway? The pain was unbearable and the young woman could feel herself on the edge of drifting unconscious as well. Her last vision was of her right arm, before her. The foam seem oddly shiny and … straight.



Woo. Rough wakening. Alexis awoke, on the floor where she was, surrounded by dozens of people. Her pain had disappear and she no longer felt sick. Her eyes opened up slowly, tiredly, as if she hadn’t slept in days. Hey vision was first slightly blurry, but it quickly made way as she took over herself. Something felt different, slightly odd, but the woman couldn’t put a finger on it. For the present moment, the most important was to get up and check on others. Most seem to be wakening at the same time and, while everyone was confused as to what happened, those who were getting up where also checking on others. Things quickly went sideways when a man screamed his lungs out, capturing everyone’s attention, including Alexis’. It seemed the man was scared of himself, looking at his deformed hands, his jaw wide open in horror. Everything fell into play, everyone had the same reflexes, to have a look at themselves. Some seemed happy, others displeased, some in delight and others again, seemed horrified.



According to everyone’s behavior, Alexis figured out what was happening without even looking herself out, she could already feel different. She had changed and she knew it, though she wasn’t able to accept it, or rather, her mind wasn’t able to process it. No longer a living being, the once woman had turned into what she was disguised at moments ago. Her body feeling bigger in bigger probably was actually being crushed into her new frame and body. Looking at her own hands seemed to confirm her theory, plus the hundreds of thousand others in the same situation were.. kind if proving it as well. Unaware of her current looks and too curious to wait, the once young lady escaped the masses and made her way to the bathrooms, which were nearly empty since not everyone wanted to see what they’d become, or they were too shocked to even consider checking themselves out.



Facing the mirror, the android was more pleased the she ever was before in her life, well, her last life. A new life was now starting, not as Alexis.. but as.. mmh. She still needed some time to find a good name, fitting of her new self. The most striking difference was her face, or rather, her lack of face. Alexis was a woman inside a costume and while it was hard to find a face underneath the mask, it certainly was there. This time around, there was no mask. The visor was still there, though it seemed thicker and, most likely of much, much greater quality and under were a large number of lights, which could ( and were ) forming the eyes and facial expressions. As soon as the android got her ‘’eyes’’ off of her new head, she quickly realized the entirety of her body was much better then her imagination could ever foresee. Indeed, the foam and 3D printed plastic made way to what seemed to be steel, or some kind of hard and shiny metal. Her forms were more refined then they previously were. Bolts were replacing the blue were two plates and more were fixed on each others and a multitude of wires could be seen from many joints. A yellow light was visible from her hips and what Alexis designed as ‘’core ventilation’’, which never was more then a place to put pretty lights. Now, it held a much more significant reason to exist.



What was once Alexis vanished and the once woman hoped it would remain that way for the rest of her days, no matter how long her remaining days were to actually last. There was only one last thing to see for herself before moving on to other matters; her back. The woman designed the back of her costume and it took her so long, oooh so long to build. It was pretty and she was proud of it, but the android, the android certainly wanted it to be even greater. In order to see what she wished, the robotized feline checked the counter, in hopes in could resist her weight, since she had no idea how much her new self weighted, though she could guess a good three or four hundred pounds. After applying some pressure on the wooden object, the android carefully lifted her right leg and slode it on. She slowly sat down and turned her head back, o face her reflexion. Immediatly, the yellow lights of her face showed joy and happiness as she was more the served in terms of greatness from her backside. Lines of wires, light from her core and some sweet, sweet curves. Oh thank whoever turned her into what she was.



Speaking of which, how did she became her costume? Who or what was able to turning people’s costumes into living… ‘’living’’ things? Did it had anything to do with the strange smell? Was it some kind of gaz they’d all inhale, which had the power to transform whole bodies and anatomies? Wait.. ’’Coming to life’’ Could the authors of this great transformation be the ones behind the mystery booth? The cheetah had to find out and with this in mind, she gracefully jumped off the table, her new paws allowing perfect balance somehow, and she headed off to wonder back to the empty booth she found a little while back. Along the way, the android came across crying monsters, overly happy thieves, cunning super soldiers and more. It seemed, overall, people were happy with their new selves, though, the unhappy ones were more then simply displeased. As she was looking at all those new people exploring their new bodies, the yellow mechanized being bumped into a woman and stopped, while the other person was pushed down on her ass.



Ow. Hey! Watch it will ya? Wait. Alexis?



Down on the floor was Addisson, which was easy to recognize since, except from her fur being real one, nothing had changed. She looked more like some kind of dog, though. Her clothes remained the same and so did her personality, just like Ale… mmh.. Still needs a name.



Alexis. Not. Found. Please. Add. Data. While the cheetah was messing around, speaking in sequences like a cheap robot would, she found herself enjoying her new voice. Clearly mechanized, much like a pretty cool robot in a good science fiction movie, while keeping a feminine touch, it was perfect. Suiting for a perfect new frame and life.



Oh no, poor girl. I’m so sorry… I’m so very sorry you-



Tss, don’t sweat it, i’m not sorry at all. cutted the android. Its just, I don’t think Alexis is suiting. Just huh… mmh. Call me… Aza. Yeah. Aza, i think that’s better.



Oh you bitch! I was getting real sad for you!



Well, don’t be. Check me out! How can i possibly not enjoy this! How about you?



The two of them discussed for a moment and while both were happy with the end results, Addisson seemed a little disapointed. Perhaps she should have made her costume herself in the first place, she’d look more like what she wanted to be, but, still, she was pretty happy. While the two newly found friends were chatting a third person arrived, quickly followed by a fourth and so on. All were happy of their changes, though none were quite as extreme as Aza’s. While there were some cyborgs, there wasn’t any other fully mechanized being like her, or at least, not in the little group they had become.



So.. anyone’s got an idea how we became this amazingly awesome? Asked a spartan.



I’m not sure, but i think it has something to do with the smell from earlier. Replied a witch.



That smell must have been a gas, no pun intended. Added superman.



I think i know who release it Closed Aza while winking for the little pun she just made.



I should have been the one inventing that.. Replied Tony Stark.



Oh shush, you couldn’t have been smart enough to imagine that before being the invincible iron man. Added Naruto



The cybernetic wasted no time watching the two pickering each others and left, followed by the wolf woman and some others, to the science booth, which had completely vanished. The three thin walls were still there, as well as the table, though it was all empty. The posters had disappeared, leaving no traces behind and when asked, the nearby shops, none had noticed anything. Some did saw the someone in there in the afternoon, though he supposed that person was a customer, or at least, not someone working there, since he or she was in costume. Now clueless, the gang turned to each others and discussed possibilities as to what happened, how long it would last, why them and many more theories until one came with the wacky idea this was a Cinderella copy paste and all would turn back to normal after midnight. Though many disagreed, some were finding some sense into it. Aza, on the other end of the gathering, didn’t care for what, why, how and when. All she wanted was to be able to thank whoever changed her, though she may never be able to, and it was okay. Her core was in debts to whoever di dit and if she was to fin dit out some day, she would repay her debt, but until then, she would live as one heck of an happy android.