At the time of this writing, I have three chapters done. One posted yesterday, one today, and stay tuned for the one tomorrow.

And A retroactive note, yet an important one. The idea of Drethran and the costumes came from Transryu.

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Issue II: Disaster on the Set
The special effects are a bit TOO special…

It was a warm, sunny Monday morning. Most teenagers, at this time, were at school, listening to lectures, writing their essays, and socializing with their peers. However, Perry was a different matter. He had graduated from college over a year ago, back when he was fourteen. He was fifteen now. Instead of school, he worked diligently at his lab, his home.
Perry was friendly and liked having company over, but despite this fact, he was usually left to work alone. And work he did. His chalkboard was always filled with formulae, his counter almost invariably covered with beakers and test tubes with various chemicals solutions, bits of equipment, along with other things depending on the situation. He almost always had a window open, as he needed to avoid the room being filled with toxic gas. However, though his lab was part of his house, he made sure to keep the two fairly separate. His lab looked like a lab (and quite a nice one, at that), but otherwise, his home looked like a perfectly normal, albeit large, urban home… with some technological security features, of course.
Perry wasn’t exactly alone, though. He had a robotic assistant, Patch, with him. Patch was built to look like a bird (a six-foot-tall bird, but a bird nonetheless) and while he was built of metal, he did seem to have an actual soul, a theory that was near-proven by the fact that Patch came to life before he was given any form of software, yet exhibited advanced intelligence capabilities.
The next Monday would be a very special day for Perry: his sixteenth birthday. He was not very much concerned with getting his driver’s license – the fact that he didn’t travel often and lived within walking distance of a supermarket made a city bus more practical, anyway. His primary reason for being so excited about his birthday was that it was a chance to see his other creations again. They had moved out of the lab about a month ago, back when they were but five months old, and he had missed them greatly. Shortly, a month after they left, he was finally going to see them again. It was only a matter of a week.
He had also sent the three invitations out to his creations. He had decided to add a bit of a twist to his birthday to make it more unique and fun. He was going to make it a costume party. He didn’t know how any of his creations, even Patch, were going to be able to obtain a costume ready by that time, but this was okay, because he stated in the invitations that costumes were not required. He, on the other hand, had his costume all ready and laying on the counter, ready for use when the day arrived.
Perry had always been fond of bunnies. He himself tended to imagine what it would be like to be a bunny, or at least a half-bunny (being a full bunny would deprive him of his ability to experiment). It was only natural that what he would look for would be a bunny suit. At first, he was afraid that he would have to wear bunny pajamas for it, something he was not willing to do, but then, he saw a store called “The Second Identity”. There, he easily found a bunny costume, but there was none that was his size. Fortunately, the store owner, an old and kind-looking man, offered to make a custom order for him. The store owner even offered to give the suit for free. Perry was shocked – it was an offer that he could never refuse.
That was a week ago. Now, he had the suit and it was all ready to go. And speaking of “go”, he had promised a college buddy that he would come to see a show. The show was a live performance, broadcast on TV, known as “Jake’s World”, primarily geared toward younger audiences, though some teenagers and even adults also watched.
Perry and Patch had been offered a front row ticket and backstage passes. Once again, it was an offer that he could never refuse.
And now, it was time to go.

“Sorry, Patch, but you won’t fit in the taxi,” Perry said.
“So, what can I do?” Patch asked.
Perry thought for a moment. “You can always fly overhead. You have a quick enough flight.”
“Are you sure?”
“Well, I’m sure the taxi driver won’t mind keeping below 50 miles per hour, especially since he charges by the minute,” Perry said.
“I guess,” Patch said, a bit hesitant.
“Don’t worry. Your battery has a solar recharge and it’s bright outside. You can always use the hyper-thrust if necessary and not have to worry about running out of power.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
“Yo! I ain’t got all day!” the taxi driver yelled.
“Oh, right. Sorry,” Perry said. He got into the taxi and closed the door. Patch spread his wings and flew up into the air just as the taxi was starting to leave.
“Fasten your seatbelt. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride!” the taxi driver said.
No sooner had Perry fastened his seatbelt than he heard the engine roar into life much louder than he thought it should. “On second thought, I think I’ll…”
The taxi moved forward at a moderate pace. The driver chuckled. “I always get ‘em with that gag.”
Perry breathed a sigh of relief.

The ride went on uneventfully. As promised, the driver did not exceed 50MPH. Patch didn’t even have to use his hyper-thrust to keep up. After paying the job, Perry approached the building that the show was to take place in, Patch walking by his side.
Perry knocked on the back entrance to the backstage area. Normally, this was a staff-only entrance and people who were not staff would have to come in from the front to reach the back area. However, getting in through the front would mean having to get through the thick crowd, a feat that he knew would require nothing short of a jetpack. Thus, he decided that knocking on the back door and hoping he could get through that way would probably be the better choice.

A guard answered the door, staring at Perry in a very intimidating way. Perry had expected this, but found himself completely unprepared for it. “What is your business here? Only staff members are allowed to come through here,” the guard said in a deep, clear voice which made him all the more intimidating.
“Er… you see… well, I have a…” Perry faltered. He was struggling to quickly find a way to express his reasons briefly, quickly, and most importantly of all, convincingly. However, this lack of confidence only brought a scowl to the guard’s face. As far as Perry could see, this was not going to end well.
It was to his immense relief, then, that he heard his friend from within the room. It was older than he remembered, as would be expected with the passage of time, but still unmistakable. “Who’s at the door?”
“Some kid in a lab coat and his robo-pet,” the guard said firmly.
“Let them in. They’re invited.”
The guard stepped aside, still scowling at Perry menacingly. Perry decided it would be best to just ignore the guard as best he could. He set the box down next to the door and sat down in a chair near his friend.
“So, what have you been up to since I saw you last? How have your projects been coming along?”
“Well, you know the genetic experiments I’ve been doing? They’ve come up very successful.”
“Good. Knowing you, your creations won’t ever feel any reason to rise up against you. So, who are they and what are they capable of?”
“Well, Amy is a gray wolf capable of great physical feats. She’s a really cheery one, always fun to be around. Shadow, the black wolf, is expert in the arts of stealth and agility. He’s the more proud type and is probably the one who works the hardest to improve his skill.
“Ankh, the white wolf, has a much more unusual power in that she is capable of psionics. She’s not very practiced at it yet, but she’s a pretty powerful force with what she has. She is, as you may have guessed, the wise and serene type. She’s a good person to just have a calm talk with or to relax with.”
“So, those wolves are yours, eh? They’re a pretty amazing group, alright. I heard they solved the case of the missing pets. Turns out some lady kidnapped them while possessed by one of her cats. Nobody knows how she did it, though, ‘cause the pets were just vanishing without a trace.”
Perry was confused by this. Because he had not had the chance to read the newspaper in the morning, he did not see the article explaining it. However, he decided not to mention the fact but opted to read that article later in the day.
Suddenly, there was a dinging sound from the intercom and Perry’s friend rose from his seat. “Well, it’s time to prepare for the show. I’ll talk to you after it’s done. Leave the way you came and come in through the front entrance. It should be easier to get to the front.” With that, Perry’s friend left, followed shortly by the guard. Perry was now alone in the room.
It was just then that Patch noticed something strange. The lid to the box that Perry had set next to the door was now beside the box, even though Perry himself had not opened it. Patch looked inside the box and found that the costume was still inside, safe and sound. Confusing, but he decided that it was of no immediate concern.
“You know, when we were in college together, I never thought he would be the owner of a children’s show…” Perry began.
Patch saw something in the box begin to move. He leapt back in surprise. After a few seconds that seemed to be stretched into full minutes by fear, a furry hand grabbed the edge of the box, followed by another that grabbed the opposite edge. It wasn’t a normal hand shape, either. It looked a bit like a paw and, even more surprising, looked almost… deflated. Dent tried to speak, but found that he could not. Fear had stolen his voice. The hands pulled up, and out came the body, definitely deflated-looking, yet otherwise, it seemed quite realistic.
The costume continued to climb out of the box, “inflating” itself as it did so, until it was completely out of the box, now looking more like a humanoid white rabbit than a costume. Were it within his physical design, Patch’s lower beak would have hit the floor. Even so, his beak and eyes were as wide as his structure would permit.
“In fact, he had a great interest in monster movies. Can you guess what he often said to me as a greeting?”
“It’s aliiive!” Patch exclaimed.
“Exactly! Only it didn’t sound so full of fear, more like one of those mad scientist thi-yaugh!” Suddenly, Perry felt his arms and legs being held by something. He tried to struggle against it, but it was very strong and wouldn’t let his limbs budge an inch.
The costume’s arms and legs were actually parting a bit to envelop Perry’s limbs and force them inside. The same was starting to happen with the head, though it was progressing at a bit of a slower rate than the limbs. This caused Patch to regain himself a bit. “I’ll save you, Perry!” He flew at the costume and pecked at its head.
“Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!” Perry exclaimed. Alive or no, The one-fourth of an inch of fur-covered rubber-like material that was the costume’s thickness was not enough to absorb the shock of Patch’s pecks.

Perry’s friend and the guard, meanwhile, were behind the curtain. The crowd, though not yet chanting “We want Ben”, was fairly loud.
“Did you hear someone yelling just now?” Perry’s friend asked.
“Probably just someone from the crowd,” the guard said apathetically.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I mean, it’s not like Perry and Patch could get into any trouble in this place.”

Perry heard a voice: “Will you please stop him from pecking? It’s really hurting me and I can tell it’s hurting you, too!”
He couldn’t believe his mental ears. The costume just spoke to him! Wait, it was the costume, right? Could it have been, or was Perry’s racing mind just playing tricks on him?
Patch, realizing his error, stopped pecking immediately. “Sorry, Perry!” He started planning his next move. He was in a near-panic at the sight of Perry being further enveloped by the second. What would he do? He would have to think really fast or else Perry would be… well, he didn’t really know what would happen, but it was bound to be bad.
“Do not panic. My speech is real,” the costume spoke to him. As much as he hated to admit it, the advice the costume gave was sound advice. The thing was continuing to envelop his limbs and was starting to envelop the rest of his body, as well. There was no way for him to struggle his way out of this situation. He would have to think. Panicking would be counter-productive.
“You are planning your escape? But why would you want to leave? I thought you would be happy to become a half-bunny. It is what you dreamed, after all,” the costume spoke in Perry’s mind.
“Be”? What, Perry wondered, did it mean by “be”? Envelopment or no, putting on a costume doesn’t turn one into a half-rabbit. He decided that it would be safe to assume that the costume was speaking more figuratively than literally.
As for the dream… Yes, he had dreamed of being a half-bunny, but in one’s fantasies, there are no complications. This, unfortunately, was reality and the rules were immensely different in reality. And now was probably the worst time for him to be transformed into a half-bunny, at that.
“Bad time? Oh no, trust me. Now is not a bad time. How could it be a bad time for it? I don’t see it. Now is as good a time as any.”
Suddenly, Patch had another idea. “Don’t worry! I’ll save you, Perry! And this time, it won’t hurt!” He bit down carefully on the hand of the costume, trying to grab only onto the surface, only onto the costume. Perry felt an incredibly sharp pain in his hand, coupled with a cry of pain (from him, of course). He could not even feel any cushioning or protection from the costume. It felt as if his skin was directly being pulled. Then a jolt of realization struck him. His skin was being directly pulled. His hand was no longer a human hand in a bunny costume, it was the hand of a half-bunny. The costume was transforming him, slowly, but surely.
This was not good.

“I could have sworn I heard someone scream,” Perry’s friend said.
“Fans tend to do that. Haven’t you ever heard the term ‘screaming fans’?” the guard explained.
“Well, if you say so…” He had to admit that the guard’s explanations were quite valid. However, all this was a bit unnerving. He decided it would be best to try to ignore it and to focus on the upcoming show.

What would he do? What would he do? Patch’s mind was racing. When he bit the hand, he had felt how real it was now. He had been able to deduce what the costume was doing. How could he stop it? There had to be a way.
Perry’s mind, too, was racing. He was asking himself the same question. What could he do to get out of this situation? Time was running out for him. His entire right arm and left leg were transformed now and his other limbs were nearly so. The rest of his body was also being enveloped.
“Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it fast. You’ll find that being a half-bunny will be quite enjoyable to you,” the costume consoled, “Thanks for not struggling too much, though it really hurts when your bird tries to peck at me. This would be much quicker, but there’s so much clothing in the way.”
Despite the situation, the awkwardness, and the all-around oddity, the voice was so soothing, so comforting, that it actually calmed Perry down a little.
“There’s not really much you can do at the moment. I won’t let you go without at least trying it for a bit, so you should just relax. It won’t be so bad, I promise,” the costume communicated. Perry felt differently about that last part, but he had to agree with the first part. There was not much he or Patch could do.
By now, his limbs were fully transformed, his almost fully enveloped. The costume began enveloping his head, as well.
Patch was very sad now. He could not think of any way to remove the costume without hurting Perry. The only thing he could do was watch as his friend was engulfed and transformed. He wondered what sort of sinister purpose the person who gave the costume away had in mind. Was this some sort of mind control? Was anyone who was transformed like this easily able to control and use in some sort of half-animal army? This could even be some sort of plot by aliens to take over the Earth or something! Okay, so that was probably not the case, but still, something evil was happening, he could just feel it.
Perry took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He figured that if there was no way out of this, he might as well look at the situation in detail and decide what to do during this little “trial period”. He found himself unable to breath for a moment when the face of the costume was aligning to his own, but that, fortunately, did not last long. Once the face was finished aligning, his entire body was enveloped. All that was left was the remaining transformation. There were few parts of his body that was now separate from the costume.
“Perry, speak to me! Tell me you’re not possessed by aliens or something!” Patch exclaimed, on the verge of panic.
Perry, of course, was quite confused. “Possessed by aliens? I don’t think…”
“Oh, I was afraid of this! You’re so possessed that you don’t even think! The aliens do the thinking for you!” Patch cried out in despair.
“What?” Perry asked, a now non-existent eyebrow raised.

“You know, all this shouting sounds like it’s coming from the back room,” Perry’s friend said.
“I will check, then,” the guard said. He started toward the back room.

It was about that time that Patch regained his senses. “Oh, sorry. I guess I’ve been watching too many monster movies,” he said, embarrassed.
“There. The transformation is complete. That wasn’t so bad, was it?” the costume spoke. Well, bad or no, he was at least confident that things probably won’t be getting any worse or more awkward.
Suddenly, the door opened and through the door came the guard. Things had just gotten worse and more awkward, potentially even dangerous. Perry expected the guard to freak out and take out a gun, but no such thing happened. In fact, the guard had no sign of surprise on his face at all. “New guy, huh? What are you doing back here? The show’s about to start.”
Perry had not expected this, though, when he thought about it, it was really not all that illogical. He had been told by his friend that the (very expensive and custom-fit) costumes that the actors used looked very realistic, so much so that one would have to be up close to be able to tell that the actors are not really half-animals. As a result, nobody would be able to tell that Perry had actually been transformed into a half-bunny unless they got a close look. He hoped that nobody would get a good look.
“You don’t want people to know about me?” the costume asked. The answer, of course, was obvious. “I’m nothing to be ashamed of, Perry,” the costume said. He wondered how the costume knew his name, but then quickly answered his own question: It was the same way that the costume knew what he was thinking. He deduced that it must have been reading his brain waves to an advanced degree of sensitivity in order to gain a clear signal. In short, it was reading his mind.
“But guard guy, that isn’t who you think it…”
“What are you still doing here? You’re supposed to be out by now”
“But…”
“Out!” the guard demanded, pointing a finger angrily at the door. Patch sighed and left through the door, still trying to think of some way to fix this, but coming up with no ideas. Perry hoped that Patch would come up with something soon. It was a bleak hope, but he hoped there was some way, any way, to get him out of this situation. He was in risk of discovery and, more frightening still, he was about to be placed in front of an audience of many thousands of people with no knowledge of what his lines were supposed to be and no knowledge of proper acting. Oh yes, this situation had become very awkward, indeed.
The guard led Perry out of the room and to the stage, where a single red curtain was all that separated him from millions of eyes. He just hoped that seeing Patch in the audience would calm him down a bit.
There were four others on the stage, as well, even after the guard had left. They were all in costume, so Perry could not see their faces.
“Whoa, that is one realistic costume. The designer really stepped things up a notch,” the man in the squirrel costume said.
“I’ll say. If I didn’t know better, I’d think that guy was really some sort of half-rabbit,” the woman in the robin costume said. Perry was very glad that these people were attached enough to reality to “know better”.
“The costume designer must have really pulled out the stops on this one. This guy is pretty lucky,” the man in the skunk costume said.
“This is baffling, though. I don’t really recall hiring another actor,” the man in the raccoon costume, whose voice clearly belonged to Perry’s friend, said with a shrug. Perry breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe he wouldn’t have to perform after all. His hopes were dispelled, however, with his friend’s next words. “Oh well. He looks like a darn good fit. A bunny among us will be a fine addition. Welcome aboard, kid!”
“Ch-charmed,” Perry stuttered. His voice, oddly enough, sounded higher than his own. With that, He knew that even if he were to tell them his true identity, they would not believe him at all. He was stuck between something that he really didn’t want to do, perform on stage, and something that he could not allow, the secret being given away. The answer, unfortunately, was quite obvious.
“Well, normally, a show owner would probably say for you to sit this one out since you haven’t been given a script, but we never worked by scripts, so if you’re of Fantasies of Sun caliber, you’ll do fine without a script at all. What’s your name in the show going to be?”
No script? Well, that would be one less explanation to come up with, but a script was still a fairly bad thing to go without. Now a trouble was added to the list: He was going to be expected to come up with his lines on the fly and do them both quick and accurately. Any failure would permanently tarnish the reputation of his friend’s show, something he really did not wish to do, but something that he was afraid would be absolutely unavoidable. As for the name, he decided to go with the first name he came up with. “It’ll be Jamie.”
“Alright then. Ready for the show, ‘Jamie’?” Perry’s friend asked.
“Yes,” Perry lied with a nod. The only thing he was ready to do was run for the hills. No, scratch that, he wasn’t even ready to do that, for doing so would get him caught out in the city streets, where people were far less likely to think that he was merely in a costume. The only solution that he seemed ready to do at the moment was to disappear from the face of the Earth for a while, literally. What a fine mess he had gotten into.
“Yeowch. I guess I really did get you into a big mess from all this. Sorry about that, I just wanted to fulfill your dreams, that’s all. But I only ended up getting you into a nightmare. I’m really sorry…” the costume said.
“Well, I guess I can understand that. Can the transformation be undone? Now isn’t the best time to undo it, of course, but I don’t wish to remain a half-rabbit forever,” Perry responded in thought.
“You don’t?”
“I mean, yeah, I’ve dreamed of being a half-rabbit and this could be enjoyable once I get used to it, but as you can already see, there’s a wrong time for being a half-rabbit.”
“Yeah, I guess you have a point there. Listen, I got you into this mess, so it’s only fair that I help you get out,” the costume offered. Perry did not know how the costume intended to do that, but any help would definitely be greatly appreciated.
“Alright, Jamie. Since it’s your first time, I’ll let you do the introduction,” Perry’s friend said as he and the other actors started walking off the stage.
“But I…” Perry began, but it was too late. In but a mere moment, the curtains rose, leaving Perry standing alone in front of thousands (millions, if you count the people watching the show on their television screens) of fans. This was not turning out to be a good day, not at all.
“I should have a good line for you to use. Just give me a moment, okay?” the costume said. Unfortunately, Perry did not have a moment to give. The fans were all staring expectantly at him, waiting for him to make a move. He would have to make a split-second decision as to what to do next. He was not very good at making such snap decisions in front of a large audience. He was beginning to regret not taking a drama course in high school, or at least public speaking. It was too late for that now, though. He would just have to try something and go with it.
“Um… I mean… well… you see… Look, a distraction!” Perry said, pointing behind the audience.
“He’s laying an egg…” Patch muttered ironically from within the audience. The rest of the audience, however, had not yet caught onto the fact that the “actor” on the stage had no idea what he was doing. They thought this was all part of a well thought out act.
Boy, were they mistaken.
“Quick, do something funny! You can save this act yet!” the costume encouraged. Perry, unfortunately, was still at too much of a standstill as to what sort of funny thing to do. “Alright, I think I have something. Just do what I say, okay? I can make it so you look like the stage fright is all part of the act,” the costume instructed. Perry wholeheartedly and with great relief agreed. The costume began the instruction at that point and Perry played along with it.
“Alright, alright… It’s okay, Jamie. Just pretend the audience is in their underwear,” Perry said. He looked at the audience. “Huh. No, I just don’t see it.” He then looked down a bit, at himself, then jumped back in shock. “Yikes, I did it backwards! Oopsie…”
This was greeted by laughter from the audience. Perry actually smiled a bit inside. The costume’s plan was working. He actually looked as if he had a clue what he was doing.
Then another actor came on stage. It was the woman in the robin costume. “Relax, Jamie. It’s only a few million people, nothing to worry about,” the robin said.
Fortunately, the costume had a line for this situation, as well. “I’m relaxing as hard as I can!” Perry said, acting as unrelaxed as he possibly could. This gained further laughter from the audience. Perry couldn’t believe it. This was actually working! He was becoming a star. However, now was the worst possible time to let it go to his head. Besides, Perry wasn’t the egotistic type of person, anyway, so there was no real risk of him letting this get to his head. He just wanted this to be over as soon as possible.
“Alright, let’s try this again, Jamie. This time, let’s make it actually work,” the robin said.
“But they’re scawy…” Perry said, looking timid.
“I can be scarier. Talk to the audience. Now,” the robin said, giving Perry an intimidating look that the audience was meant to and did see.
“Eep!” Perry exclaimed. What the costume instructed him to say next was very long and quick. He had difficulty repeating it fast enough, but it was not outside his range of ability. “Hi, audience people and welcome to the show. My name is Jamie. I don’t know what to say next, but I need to keep talking or the scawy robin person is going to eat me. So, how are you guys doing? Did you remember your homework, last summer, the Alamo, an…”
“Ahem,” the robin said, clearly growing upset. Either she was a very good actor, or it was about time for Perry to leave the stage before he did any further damage.
“Eep! Gotta go! Exit stage thataway!” Perry exclaimed, rushing off the stage and into the backstage.
“You did pretty well out there, Jamie,” his friend congratulated. Perry breathed a sigh of relief. It turns out that the robin really was just a great actor. He hadn’t screwed up the act at all. He had actually done well. “Yeah, I know the feeling. I was pretty nervous my first time, too. You’ll get used to it, though,” Perry’s friend said. He reached out and shook Perry’s hand for a moment, but then recoiled his hand as if he had just touched something scalding hot. “What the!?”
“What is it?” the person in the skunk costume asked.
“Is something the matter?” the person in the squirrel costume asked.
Perry could already tell by the expression on his friend’s face that he had been found out. When his hand came into contact with that of his friend, Perry could feel that the costume was definitely not real. His friend must have felt, likewise, the fact that Perry’s costume was not a costume at all, but was quite real.
This was not good.
“His hand… I could feel… He’s real. That’s no costume. He’s really real,” Perry’s friend said, confirming Perry’s fears.
“I think you’d better lie down for a bit,” the person in the squirrel costume said.
“Yeah, there’s no such thing as half-bunnies, unless that one kid, Perry, created one,” the person in the skunk costume said, “And we would have heard of it if he did.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But it felt so real, so very real,” Perry’s friend said.
Then, the person in the robin costume showed up. “Someone else’s turn. I’ve spent enough time on there right now. I need to take a quick breather.”
“You and Damien go on out. I need to stay with Benny for a bit,” the person in the squirrel costume said. Perry could tell by the context that Damien was the character name of the skunk and Benny was the character name of his friend. He also knew his friend’s real name, Kevin, but for now, he was apparently supposed to call him Benny. Perry actually felt an urge to tell Benny the truth, but perhaps now was not the best time. Maybe during commercial break.
He and Damien headed out and onto stage. Oh great, back in the furnace. Once again, Perry greatly hoped that the costume would be able to come up with new lines on the fly.
Damien saw a single table in the center of the stage, upon which was a single chocolate bar, partially unwrapped. The table looked very clean, so the candy bar probably was, too. Not that Perry would want it in this form, of course. Chocolate was poisonous to normal rabbits, so it would probably be harmful to him, as well.
Damien grabbed the candy bar. “Huh. This candy bar is pretty good. Yeah, the label says ‘Marshana Candies’. I love this stuff!”
Though it was cleverly disguised, Perry could clearly tell by Damien reading out the brand name that this was an advertisement of a sponsor’s product. After all, he couldn’t think of any other reason that they would read out the brand name.
Damien pointed at the candy bar and said to Perry, “Alright, you can have the first bite, since you’re new around here.”
The costume also seemed to know how dangerous chocolate was to rabbits, which made sense, considering the costume’s mind reading capabilities. “Red alert! Red alert! Evacuate immediately! This is so not good! Very bad! Very bad!”
Perry, fortunately, had a plan. He could hear the costume breathe a telepathic sigh of relief. Perry walked over to the candy bar and sniffed it a bit. He then broke off a small piece of the chocolate.
“A bit reserved about chocolate, huh?” Damien commented, as Perry had apparently broken off a much smaller piece than Damien intended. However, Perry had a surprise up his currently non-existent sleeve. After breaking off the piece, Perry set the piece back down on the table. He then lifted the rest of the candy bar and started walking off with it. “Yeah, I know it’s a bit small of a cut for me, but I thought I’d leave at least a small piece.”
“Heeey, wait a second…” Damien said, “That’s my candy bar!”
“I saw it first,” Perry said. He was actually surprising himself. This far all on his own. The costume was not feeding him lines this time.
“No, you did not,” Damien pointed out.
“Well, it’s still mine.”
“No, it’s mine,” Damien said, snatching at the chocolate bar.
“Get your own!” Perry said, rushing off the stage, back to the backstage area.
“Get back here with my Marshana Candies chocolate bar!” Damien exclaimed, rushing after Perry. Damien did not get far, however, without going back for the small piece of chocolate that Perry broke off. “Mm, good,” he said after quickly swallowing the chunk. He then went backstage in pursuit of Perry.
Perry, meanwhile, had not really eaten the chocolate bar at all. It was resting safely on a nearby table. Damien noticed this and said, “Good call. That stuff is way too rich.” Perry breathed a sigh of relief, as did the costume in Perry’s mind. Perry was safe.
“Alright. I think it’s time for you and me to come on stage, Den,” Kevin said to the person in the squirrel costume.
“Alright, Benny. If you think you’re okay enough for it now,” Den said. With that, the two of them walked out of the backstage area, onto the stage. Perry was quite relieved at the fact that he would get a break from all that pressure. His heart was still pounding from his time on the stage.
“I guess the costume designer must have learned quite a few new tricks if he was even able to convince Benny that it was real. So, how real does it feel? Let me have a feel, Jamie,” Damien said.
“Well, I…” Perry began.
“Don’t worry, I won’t freak out or anything. Just hold out your hand for a moment,” Damien said. Perry saw no other choice but to obey this request. Damien felt the hand with his own. “Whoa. Man, this is realistic. It really does feel real. My hands are in my costume and I can still tell that this is something really good quality. I must have cost the costume designer a fortune to make.”
Perry was relieved enough. They were still unaware that a real half-rabbit was in their midst.
“Really? Let me see,” the woman in the robin costume yet. It looked like this wasn’t over yet. The woman in the robin costume grabbed Perry’s hands with her wings, then nearly jumped back in shock. “Whoa. Oh my god, you are so right.”
“Well, as long as you guys don’t actually believe it’s real, there’s no problem. I don’t want to be too famous, now,” Perry said, following that with a short, forced laugh. His words were the truth, of course, but the laugh was a lie.
Patch, meanwhile, was still in the audience, paying close attention to the show and somewhat enjoying it, but his mind was still with Perry and his predicament. How long could Perry keep up the act? Someone was bound to find out eventually. In fact, with the subtle, yet noticeable, contrast in realism between the costumes of the actors and Perry’s transformation, Patch was very surprised that nobody had already found out. It must have just been the fact that nobody has any reason to even suspect. However, he had heard some unnerving muttering from people impressed with the realism of Jamie’s costume.
Perry knew that the danger was not yet over, but perhaps it could be if he played his cards right. He reviewed his options for a moment. He could pretend to be sick, an undignified, yet simple way out. He could go with the rest of the act, a risky and difficult choice, but the path of least resistance. And last, but not least, he could go with the riskiest choice of all, explaining the situation to them. They seemed quite caring and they probably wouldn’t turn him in, but what if they did? What would happen to him?
“I don’t think you should risk getting caught. It’s just not worth it. Maybe if we both focus on it, though, I can make you feel a bit nauseous,” the costume suggested.
“Actual nausea? Is that a safe thing to do?” Perry asked mentally.
“Oh, right. Good point. Well, you’ve done pretty well at acting thus far. Why don’t you just fake it?”
“That was my plan.” Perry’s plan, fortunately, was not put into action, due to a great stroke of luck from Kevin.
“Well, Jamie, I think you’ve done pretty well, especially for a first try. You can have the rest of the show off, since this is your first time and we don’t want to give you all the responsibility at once,” Kevin said, smiling at Perry’s expression of relief.
“Yeah, the first time can be pretty hard, but trust me, it’ll get better after this. And we only come out with a new episode once a month, after all,” the woman in the robin costume said.
“You’ll get a full run next time around, though,” Kevin said. Perry’s heart skipped a beat. He nearly fainted, but he felt something holding him back from it. “Bad time to faint! Not a good idea to faint right now!” the costume exclaimed.
“N-next time?” Perry echoed.
“Yes, next time. If you want to go out into the audience and watch, go on ahead. The dressing rooms are through that door there,” Kevin said, pointing to the doors.
The woman in the robin costume looked at the clock. “We’re wanted on stage soon.”
“Alright, then. Mary, you go on stage with Den and Damien. I’ll have a chat with Jamie while you’re out there,” Kevin said. With that, Mary, Den, and Damien walked out of the backstage area, headed to the stage.
“So, when did you sign up, anyway? I don’t even remember calling for another actor, not that I don’t like that we have one now,” Kevin said. A chill ran up Perry’s spine.
“Well, you see, I…”
“And come to think of it, how in the world did you make your costume so realistic? I’d swear it was real. It takes all of my will to shove the thought out of my mind and I still can’t shove it out all the way.”
“Well…” Perry muttered. His mind froze up. This was too much. He just couldn’t think of anything to say. This was it. He would just have to tell Kevin the truth. It was his best friend, after all. He and Kevin had kept secrets before and Kevin, he knew, was very good at it. Kevin was probably the best person to confide in and was in a good position to help him out of this fix.
“You’re really going to tell him about me? But what about what could happen?” the costume asked.
“He’s my friend. I know it may sound risky to you, but I know he’ll never tell a soul about this. He’s my best friend. I know he’ll come through and help us get out of this,” Perry responded.
“Yeah, but think about what could happen if this goes wrong.”
“It’s less likely to happen than it would be if I were not to tell anyone. I mean, with us on-stage once a month, somebody’s sure to catch on… on live national broadcast.”
“Oh. I hadn’t really thought of that. I suppose this really is the best thing to do. I still don’t like it, but we have no choice. But please, be careful.”
Perry did not plan on being reckless. He knew just how dangerous this situation could become and how fast it could happen.
“Kevin…” Perry began.
“Yes?” Kevin responded, listening attentively.
“I need to tell you something. I… never signed up.”
Kevin leaned back in his chair, shocked. “So our costume designer didn’t design your costume? And you snuck into this back room pretending to be an actor? I heard of actors who are dedicated to acting, but I never heard of someone going this far before.”
Perry shook his head. “No, no. I didn’t want to be an actor. And I didn’t want to wear this costume. It just… happened.”
“Just… happened? What do you mean?” Kevin asked, setting the front two legs of his chair back on the ground and leaning forward, listening to Perry’s every word.
“Well… I’m Perry. Remember that box I came here with? It was a costume that I had bought to use in a costume party on my birthday. But then, the costume came to life and… well, it engulfed me… and transformed me into what you see now,” Perry explained hesitantly. That was it. He had said it. There was no turning back.
“Alea jacta est,” the costume said, “The die is cast.”
“I see… Well, normally, I would never believe it, but you’re way too realistic to be false. But it’s still amazing. It came to life and engulfed you? What kind of costume does that?” Kevin said.
“I don’t know how it works. I just need you to help me out of this situation. I’m not an actor and I don’t want to be. Every time I walk onto the stage is a time that I risk being discovered,” Perry said.
“I see. I’ll take care of that part. But what will you do? How will you live as a half-rabbit all your life? Even if you go into your lab, you have to come out sometime,” Kevin said. Perry’s heart skipped a beat again. He had not thought of that. This was not just a matter of a show; this was a matter of hiding from all of society. Kevin was right. How was he going to do it?
“Well, I guess I at least have some good news for you. The transformation isn’t permanent. We can end it whenever we both agree to do so,” the costume said. Perry was tremendously relieved. So, he was not going to have to spend the rest of his days in hiding, after all. “Actually, it’s not permanent. The costume just told me so,” Perry relayed.
“The costume told you so?” Kevin repeated.
“Yeah, I kinda forgot to mention, but my costume and I can kinda communicate mentally. Like a shared mind, almost, except that the costume seems more able to hide its thoughts from me than vice versa. It has complete access to my thoughts,” Perry explained.
“I see. That doesn’t sound all that fair, but I guess you’re not the one who’s making the rules. So, why did the costume want to transform you, anyway?” Kevin asked. That was a good question. Why, indeed, did the costume engulf him? How was it to benefit from it?
“Perry… I should have known you were going to ask that question. And the reason is, well, I needed to be able to feel. Before I met you, I didn’t feel anything. I didn’t think anything, either. It wasn’t that bad, but only because I didn’t know what I was missing. But now that I am out of the void of thought and sensation, I… well, I don’t want to return. After you take me off, I’ll last a few hours in consciousness before I slip back into the void. So please, wear me often. Or even just a touch once in a while can sustain me for a bit. But of course, a touch is not as good as being worn, for in being worn, I have at least an influence on something and the gift of sensation. Without being worn, I am powerless and, while I have full awareness for a while, I cannot experience new things,” the costume said.
Perry could fully tell that the costume was speaking the truth, he could just feel it. He felt sympathy for the costume. He decided that he was going to fulfill the costume’s request as best he could. He would even sleep with it on when he could.
“Thanks. I knew you would agree,” the costume said, “The zipper is on the back of the costume. You can take me off whenever you want to.”
It was strange. A zipper? On his back? But he couldn’t feel it, if he was there. The point was moot at this very time. After all, it was best for him to change back when he was alone.
“It was because it wanted to actually be able to feel, to live,” Perry explained.
“I see,” Kevin said. “Well, if you’re going to change out now, you should probably do it now, while we’re the only ones here. After all, you, as Perry, aren’t supposed to be back here. You’re supposed to be out there in the audience, enjoying the show,” Kevin said.
Perry nodded. Kevin definitely had a good point. Besides, the show was already more than halfway over and he didn’t want to miss another moment of it.
Perry went into the dressing room and checked his back. There was, in fact, a zipper there that was most certainly not there before. He unzipped the zipper and started taking off the costume. It felt quite strange. The costume was unmerging from him as he was taking it off, so it felt like he was peeling off his skin. He wondered for a moment if this was how snakes felt when they shed their skin. No, this was probably much stranger, for snakes did not have to worry about how different the two were. The skin he had as a half-rabbit was covered with fur, while his skin was much less covered.
The process of taking it off, just as in putting it on, was fairly slow. Not only did the costume have to separate from him, transforming him back to normal as it did so, it also had to worry about reconstructing the clothing that Perry was wearing when he was transformed.
The parts of the process that felt particularly strange were the head and the tail. When his tail was no longer there, it almost felt strange to not have it, now that he had spent so much time getting used to it. The head was stranger, though. The nose and ears of a human were quite different from those which he had during his time transformed. Not to mention, he could immediately notice the change in his sense of smell.
After a fairly long moment, the costume was off and Perry was completely back to normal, outfit and all. He walked back out of the changing room, folded the costume up, and gently placed it back into the box. He put the lid on the box, picked it up, and walked back out of the backstage area and outside the building.
Surprisingly, it did not take him long to get to the front entrance and to his seat. The crowd was all seated, after all, since the show had already started. He took his seat next to Patch, who looked at him with utter shock. “How did you… is the costume…?”
“Shh… I’ll explain everything later. Everything worked out fine in the end. Let’s enjoy the show for now,” Perry explained. Patch was still very uneasy, but did not say anything more. They both watched the show, though Patch’s eyes often strayed to the box in Perry’s arms. Patch was not willing to let the costume do anything further to his friend.
Despite the tension, though, Patch and Perry did enjoy the remainder of the show. Patch even laughed once or twice, though his uneasiness prevented him from doing so more. Perry, though, was far more inclined to laugh, for he knew that there was no danger in the costume. He wished that he could tell Patch that, but that might disturb the people around them (and get him some stares), so he would have to wait until their departure, when they were alone.
And alas, the show ended. People started clearing out. Perry and Patch wisely chose to stay seated for a while until most of the people had already exited, so they would not be part of the initial chaos to get to the exit. There was another reason they stayed behind. After everyone was either backstage with their passes or out of the room, that left Perry and Patch alone.
“So, what happened? How did you get back?” Patch asked.
“Well…” Perry began. He told the tale of all that had happened, omitting the parts that Patch had already seen.
Patch was silent during the explanation, but after Perry was done, that all changed. “A living costume is sort of strange. How can a costume be alive, with feelings and everything? Shouldn’t it be impossible for objects to be alive?”
“You’re technically an object,” Perry pointed out.
Patch paused for a moment. “Good point. But Perry, what are you going to do?”
“Well, I guess I’ll do what I told it I’d do. I’ll wear it as often as I safely can and I’ll make sure and come into contact with it every so often. Well, that… and a few experiments now and then. I might be able to learn a lot about this phenomenon, not to mention biology in general. This may very well open entirely new doors for genetic science.”
Now, one can only imagine what Drethran, the person who created this costume, thought as he scryed on Perry through his crystal ball. This most certainly must have been a different development than he expected. This was magic, of course, so he might have thought that Perry hadn’t a chance at learning much, but if he knew the power of science, he would know that perhaps there was some way that Perry might be able to learn more of this costume than even he himself had been able to learn through his magic and observation alone.
Of course, this is merely speculation. What he was thinking, or even if he was scrying on Perry at all at the time, is unknown to anyone but himself. However, if Drethran was scrying on Perry, he most certainly must have thought that this was going to end up, in some way, to be very, very interesting.
Perry, however, was just wondering how he was going to conduct his birthday party when it came up. Would he choose to wear the costume during that time?