A Form That Fits (TransFun)

(Woman to Dolphin)
(Woman to California Sea Lion, Kraken, Mermaid)

“Help, help!” The cry pierced the ocean air like a seagull’s squawk. A woman floundered in the surf, her arms barely breaking the surface as she continued to bob up and down, slowly sinking. She was a mile out, too far to reach in time for any swimmer to reach.

Or, rather, she was too far out for any human swimmer to reach.

The lifeguard on call, a stereotypical busty blonde, jolted upright. Her eyes picked out the drowning woman and leaped from her tower. Her arms pumped at her sides as she ran towards the surf. As she did, she pulled a small vial from her belt, uncorking it and downing it in one go. Then she placed an injector in her mouth, a cocksure grin on her face.

Then, just like that, she dove into the surf. As soon as her body went fully underwater, a quick transformation swept its way across her body. Her legs merged into a powerful tail, her arms shrinking back into her chest to leave her with a pair of fins. As it did, a small clasp on her bikini bottom undid itself, leaving her with a skirt.

She shook her hair out as it pulled back into her skin, leaving it with a smooth and bald dome of a head. It cracked upwards, her lips already pulling from her face into a familiar bottle-nosed snout. Her nostrils flared a little on her new snout, and the woman snorted, surging forward with a new burst of speed.

Her body continued to expand as she moved, but her suit simply stretched to accommodate her new form. It barely shifted along her body as her breasts sank back into her expanding chest which barreled out, streamlining her shifting shape.

Her tail swept from side to side, and her fin-like arms swept out to beat at the water. Finally, a large dorsal fin stretched its way from her spine, and the lifeguard sent her body spiraling through the water.

The whole change took less than ten seconds, and she reached the drowning swimmer in only three minutes. The woman in peril was just about to go under, and the newly changed dolphin bobbed under her, keeping her afloat.

However, the woman in trouble still sputtered, and it was readily apparent she wouldn't be able to make it back to shore, even with a porpoise's help. The dolphin quickly let her go, turning to place the injector against the drowning woman's belly.

Changes rippled across this woman's body as well, and she let out a loud squeak as she became a baby dolphin. She darted around nimbly, her small tail flicking up and down as she affectionately nuzzled the transformed lifeguard.

The adult dolphin chirped with amusement, doing a quick dart around her rescue to see if the woman was safe. A moment later, she bobbed her head with a nod; then gestured towards her charge's rapidly sinking clothes.

The other dolphin let out a cute squeak in surprise, diving down to reclaim her fallen swimming suit. One by one, she picked them up with an adorable nibble. Then, biting them tightly in her mouth, then followed the lifeguard back to shore.

It was an impressive display, and Sandra was utterly bored with it. She mouthed along as the instructional video played its next line: “Introducing Rescue Serums, from TransFun.”

It was, in all fairness, a brilliant idea. The transformative potions were more than capable of saving lives. And combined with a trained professional like this, they allowed for daring feats hitherto unknown to man.

They were completely safe, allowed lifeguards to always reach their charges at speeds four to five times that of the fastest person. Plus every change was well-received by all demographics.

Better yet, they were engineered to change the users back when they were safe. Which, in this case, meant on land. It was a remarkable achievement of oceanside safety, and beaches across the world had begun using Rescue Serums.

The only problem was that Sandra couldn't get the hang of them. The young brunette always wanted to be a lifeguard, and she even passed her basic certification classes for poolside assistance. But the woman could never get the hand of changing into an animal form.

She hated how easy that some people made it look.

There was something in the human brain that made it easier to give into an animal's instincts, some complicated section scientists were still struggling to give voice to.

All Sandra knew about it was that she lacked it. She could never fully give into the animal's insticts; could never reach the ideal speeds desired of a TransFunned lifeguard. She was a fantastic swimmer, but somehow that didn't quite translate.

Sandra looked over to her friend irritably. Gabi had always had a talent for changing into animals; she made it seem natural. Hell, there were times that Sandra couldn't tell the girl apart from any other animal after she'd transformed.

At the moment, the blond girl was staring in rapt fascination at the training video. This was Gabi's first time taking this course, and Sandra knew that the blond would pass it—especially because the girl wanted to go for recovery training.

That was another clever use for serums. Some people would become octopuses, combing the ocean floor for lost items. It also helped deal with some recently changed rescues forgetting to pick up their clothes. Gabi had stated time and time again that she'd love to be a part of Recovery; put smiles on people's faces.

Even if she seemed a little bit enthralled by Ocean Defense. Sandra glanced back to the screen in time to see a TransFunned kraken pick up a shark and toss it back into the depths of the ocean. That scene always cheered her up, even though this was her third time retaking the course.

Typically, they only allowed three transformations per person, but TransFun had just introduced a new seal Rescue Serum. It was her last chance at becoming a lifeguard, and she wasn't going to waste it. She'd heard time and time again that TransFun was all about finding a form that fit, and this was her last chance.

She glanced up to see Lucas, the instructor, smiling as he watched the kraken change back to a human and give the camera a friendly wave. The man glanced over to Sandra and he winked at her, giving her a quiet thumbs-up.

He wasn't a lifeguard himself, but he was a master of using TransFun serums. It was with his help that Sandra had come so close to passing her competency test the last time she'd taken it, and she owed him dearly for all of his help.

But there was only so much he could do, and even with such a great tutor she could only get so far. Sandra sighed, mentally bracing herself as the video drew to a close.

“Rescue Serums!” Lucas clapped his hands together, getting the class's attention. “They're a new product, and just like everything else from TransFun, are a hundred percent safe. Better yet, as a TransFunned lifeguard you've no need to worry about any nudity.”

Sandra watched as he bent down, picking up a pair of men's swimming trunks. “All of your uniforms will come undone where the legs meet, giving you what's essentially a skirt. Or a kilt, for those men who need a little reassurance.” He chuckled, undoing the little clasp that gave them the appearance of shorts.

“That said, you will need to worry about passing a competency examination.” Lucas looked out to the class, and his gaze lingered on Sandra for a few moments. Then he began again. “All of you will be issued a standard belt holding five serums. Your station will have a container with more, should you run out. Additionally, you all get an injector.”

He pulled out a small tube which was attached to a mouthguard. “This is the brilliant stuff, right here. You clasp it in your mouth and it transforms with you, the rubber stretching in time with your growing muzzle. Once you get to someone who desperately needs assistance, tap it against your charge and it'll safely change them into a smaller version of your animal form. Swim them back to shore and you'll both change back when you get on land.”

Lucas clapped his hands together. “And I can see I'm already starting to lose some of you, so let's get started. We'll start with the practical exams first. All dolphins go to the red pool, sea lions to blue, krakens to green, and octopuses to yellow.”

Gabi was positively giddy with glee. She looked over to Sandra with a huge grin. “I can't wait to be an octopus! It's so great that they had a place for people who aren't strong swimmers!”

Sandra smiled back, though hers was a little forced. “Yeah, but remember; you don't need to be a good swimmer to be good at TransFun.”

Gabi's face paled and she hugged Sandra tightly. “N-no! Not like that! I mean, I didn't want you to... I mean...”

Sandra laughed. “Relax, Gab. I know you didn't mean to rub it in. It's just... I really want this to work.”

Gabi nodded fervently. “I'm sure you will!” She said with a huge grin.

“Yeah. Sure.” Sandra waved good-bye to her friend, following the blue-marked line on the room's floor. As she headed out, Lucas joined her.

“So, breathe. Stay calm. And remember to just kind of zone out.” Lucas said confidently. “You need to lose yourself a little, knowing that you'll be brought back when the changes end.”

Sandra turned to the curly-haired blonde with a grin. “You make it sound so easy.”

“Yeah, well I'm positivel you can do it. Hell, you always beat me in those after-practice swims, didn't you?” Lucas looked back to her, smiling kindly.

It was a kindness she didn't entirely feel that she deserved. “Yeah, but that was as a human. You swam laps around me as a dolphin.”

Lucas's smile widened. “I did, didn't I? It's almost like I was hired by TransFun for a reason!” He laughed. “Let's just hope that a sea lion really seals the deal for you.”

Sandra rolled her eyes and slugged him on the arm. Then she paused. “Sea lion? I know you said it earlier, but I thought you meant seals.”

Lucas nodded. “California Sea Lion. They're almost as fast as dolphins when they try. Even though they can't maintain the same max speed for too long, they really get up there.”

Sandra nodded contemplatively. “Sounds like fun.” She looked back to him with a huge grin. “And at the very least, I'm sure I'll have fun with the form, right?”

“Of course.” Lucas beamed. “Good luck, I'll be watching...” He paused, trailing off. “Actually, come with me.” He pulled her out of line, ducking her into an alcove.

“W-what's this about?” Sandra frowned, her face a little red as Lucas pulled her close. Though she wasn't attracted to him, she couldn't deny that he was an attractive person. Their proximity was making her heart race despite herself.

“You're really dead set on this, right?” Lucas looked her in the eyes, waiting her resposne.

“Of course I am! It's been my dream to be a lifeguard ever since I was a kid. And not just some pool life guard, I want to be out there in the big leagues!” Sandra slapped a fist into her palm.

“Okay, then. Well... I might be able to help you out a little then. Come with me, I'll take you to the trainer's pool for a private exam.” Lucas gestured for her to follow and she squeaked, snapping to attention.

“Trainer's pool? What's this about?” Sandra looked at him, leaning in a little suspiciously.

“It's about getting you a job.” Lucas said simply. “In case you don't pass the sea lion exam, I mean.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence.” Sandra muttered, doing her best to mask her gratitude. She looked up to Lucas to tell that she wasn't fooling him for even a moment.

“You picked me up as a tutor because I'm a realist, not an optimist. Besides, I like to play things sage. Especially when they matter to people.” He opened the door to a pool and her eyes widened at how large it was.

“Whoa! You mean you get to have this for your own personal use?” She asked, staring.

“Well, yeah. It has to be this big for when we have kraken fights.” Lucas laughed, heading to what looked to be a wall-mounted coffee machine. He pressed in a code on its keypad, and it whirred as it poured a serum into a cup.

He turned with a huge smile, holding it out to her. “Here you go, one dose of sea lion, freshly made.”

“Fresh?” Sandra arched an eyebrow, taking the cup gratefully. She set it down to strip naked, and Lucas averted his gaze.

“I guess I should have let you go to the changing room first.” He mumbled, holding up a hand to block his vision.

She laughed, taking up the cup again and downing its contents. “Relax, it's nothing you haven't seen befooort! Ort!” Her head jerked upwards slightly as she let out a pair of sea lion's barks.

“Oh, forgot to mention. The trainer's serums aren't your typical rescue serums. You'll need to touch that pad to change back. Or spend a few hours in your form.” Lucas pointed to a set of tiles in the far corner of the room and Sandra followed his gaze, her eyes already darkening.

Sandra shivered a little, looking down to see that her body was already beginning to bulk up. Her skin began to turn a dark brown, and she fell to the floor as her legs began to seal up. It was as though someone was running a zipper down from her groin to her feet, and she watched in awe as they fused.

She couldn't believe that technology had advanced so far as to make her into an animal. Even now it was still a little remarkable to see. She stared on as her feet flattened out, becoming a tailfin.

Her thighs were bulking up too, and Sandra barked once more as her skin became positively blubbery. This was a lot different from being a dolphin. Those were always so graceful, while this was... Well, pudgy!

She let out a mildy distressed ‘ort’, poking her flabby side with one of her increasingly fin-like hands. Much to her dismay, her fin sank more than a little into her side, and she groaned as the noticed how her fat was lumping up a little in little clumps.

Sandra looked back up to Lucas, her eyes getting round and tubby as her face pushed out to a stubby muzzle. Her teeth sharpened a little and she groaned a little in surprise, sending her sea liony tongue across her new mouth. The transformed girl looked herself up and down, then turned to Lucas with another contented bark.

“Yeah, I think you’re done. Now, let’s see what you can do.” Lucas poked her flabby body with a huge grin. His finger sank in deep and he laughed aloud as Sandra swatted his hand away with irritation.

“See that?” Lucas grinned, rubbing her pudgy cheeks. “That’s you instinctively swatting my hand away. Which I’d like to call a nice amount of progress from your last transformation.” He then pushed her into the pool.

Sandra let out a loud bark in surprise—she hadn’t expected the pool’s side to be so slick. Then she splashed into the water, her blubber acting as a flotation device and sending her back up to the surface. She paddled with her arms and tail, treading water and pouting.

“Unfortunately, you’re still treading water like a person.” Lucas sighed, running a hand through his hair. “And we can’t use anything really mind-changing, either…” He paused, crouching down to the poolside. “Try clapping!”

Sandra did as asked, slapping her fins together and barking excitedly. She really did like this new form, for what it was worth. Or, at least, she liked it until she went under. Sandra wasn’t able to have good enough control over her tail to keep herself from submerging beneath the cool surface of the pool, and she let out a loud blub in distress.

Lucas sighed, whipping his shirt off before diving into the pool himself. “Honestly, who ever heard of a lifeguard who had to be rescued?” He muttered, holding Sandra up with his left arm.

She coughed in response, looking up at him sheepishly. Or, she thought with a grin, ‘sealishly’. She bumped her nose against Lucas’s chin and he got the hint, letting her go gently. Sandra closed her eyes, dipping below the surface again. Then she re-emerged, treading water with her fins again.

Lucas sighed, massaging his temple. “You’re not getting it, even now. You need to really get into the animal mind, let your swimmer’s instincts go.”

Sandra’s response was to lower her muzzle a little below the surface, sulking as only a sad sea lion can. She let out a few bubbles from her mouth, her nostrils just high enough to let her breathe still. It was meant to be a muffled bark, but it worked just as well as bubbles.

Lucas sighed. “Yeah, yeah. Do some laps, okay? I guess if you can still be as good of a swimmer, then we… I dunno, can find some place for you until you get really used to transforming.”

Sandra’s head bobbed excitedly, and she barked. Then she sent herself forward, starting to swim in quick circles around the pool. Despite how blubbery her body was, its smooth skin acted like an amazing bodyglove.

She was fast like this; far faster than she’d been before! Sandra barked excitedly underwater, surging forward. She paddled with her fins and kicked with her tail, swimming faster than she’d ever swum before. Yet she knew it wasn’t enough.

She was getting a little into it, but her tail’s motions were still too human. Moreover, her paddling fins were actually slowing down her body’s progress. She was going faster than a person could, but Sandra was still far too slow to become a TransFun lifeguard.

She stopped swimming, bobbing back to the surface to look at Lucas and let out an interrogative snuffle. Sure enough, Lucas sighed, not even looking at his stopwatch. “You’d break any human record, but that was still too slow to be used for any of our lifeguards.” He broke it to her flatly, pointing over to the red pad. “Head over to the Return Pad.”

Sandra watched him walk back to the TransFun maker, and she sighed, lowering her head. Despondently, she bobbed her way back to the side of the pool, pausing as she tried to slide up. Unfortunately, her fins were just a little too short, and she wasn’t able to quite get out.

Even worse, the woman-turned-sea lion could tell how she was supposed to get out. If she just used her tail like a sea lion would, it would let her pop enough from the water to get her center of mass over the edge. Unfortunately, she still couldn’t swim with just her tail, and Sandra remained where she was until Lucas returned.

He sighed audibly, rolling his eyes. “Okay, let’s try this instead.” He set the serum in his hands to the side, bending down to pick her up and help her out.

Sandra flushed in embarrassment, nuzzling her whiskered cheeks against Lucas’s face. He grunted, but pressed his nose against hers for just a moment. Then he hefted her out from the pool with a loud splash.

Sandra barked eagerly, flopping her way over to the Return Pad. The second she made contact with it, her whole body shivered. She changed back on the spot, dropping dozens of pounds and gaining a pair of legs once more.

“I think I know what the problem is: you're not used to changing to something else. So, we've got two options.” Lucas knelt down to the dripping girl. “Either you’re still too human, or you’re not human enough. So let’s test the latter with a dose of kraken.”

Sandra’s eyes widened as she looked down to the vial in his hands. Granted, she’d never tried this herself, but could it really be so simple? She hastily downed the cup, almost snorting some of it as Lucas scrambled away from her.

“Something wrong?” She asked with a faint burp, the serum’s fishy taste still strong on her tongue.

“Yes!” He exclaimed, his eyes wide. “Krakens are really big, get in the pool!”

“Relax, will you? The changes haven’t even—” She burped again, her hand flying to her mouth. She looked down to it to see that her fingers had already fused, leaving her with a tentacle attached to her shoulder.

“Oh.” Sandra said meekly, turning to do as he asked. She had meant to stand, but her legs gave way beneath her. The transforming woman dropped to the floor, gurgling wetly as her organs began to reshape. She could feel her eyes bulging out on her head, becoming wider and wider.

And more than that, her mouth was changing too. She could feel her human jaw become a slavering maw, row upon row of fangs pushing out from her skin. She realized that she could contract them just a second before she realized that she didn’t have a tongue anymore.

The woman shuddered in horror, her limbs flapping about wildly. By some stroke of luck, these spasms happened to carry her towards the direction of the pool, and she spilled inside with a loud splashing. Her arms and legs shuddered at the alien sensation of lengthening; of bones dissolving.

Sandra splashed into the water, feeling her body begin to change further and further. Dozens of extra tentacles sprouted from her sides, and her head began to balloon out like a disgusting octopus’s. She burbled in a panic to reach the surface, only to find that she could breathe just fine beneath the water.

With that settled, she sank to the bottom, shuddering as she felt her mouth touch the base of the pool. Her torso had slipped higher up her body, now nestled around where her jawline used to be. She could feel her massive eyes glazing over as she flailed all of her limbs blindly.

There was just too much stimulus, she couldn’t even come close to fathoming how this form worked. It was like when she tried to blink she’d send a limb across the pool. And when she tried to control her arms, her mouth would begin opening and closing.

Slowly but surely, she began to descend into a delirious haze, her mind unable to grasp what she’d become.

“Okay, can you hear me?”

Lucas’s voice pierced through the fog that had clouded her thoughts. Sandra refocused her eyes, looking up to find him at the pool’s edge with a headset on.

“Well, I’m assuming you can.” He tapped the headset. “It’s a miracle with what you can do with a bit of science.”

She tried to work out how to wave at him but could barely manage to accomplish a feeble twitching of the tentacles along the right half of her body. Sandra raised them a little higher, twitching some of them like she would her fingers.

Lucas sighed into his headset. “Wow. All right, that answers that. I was going to have you run the basic trials, some shark defense. But I think right now you can barely function, let alone catch a shark-shaped pool toy.”

Sandra bobbed her head, proud that she could do that. It wasn’t her fault; people weren’t meant to become such multilimbed monstrosities! She had more legs than she knew what to do with! More than that, she was big, too. She knew that this form was meant to fight sharks and win, but it was still way too disturbing for her to have changed into one personally.

“Raise one tentacle.” Lucas offered, crouching down and meeting her gaze.

She tried to do as he asked, raising a half-dozen to the surface. She’d intended to control them just as she would her fingers, raising them just a little above herself. Next, she tried to wiggle a toe, but that only sent her body lurching forward.

“Do what you did before. Raise your tentacles. But this time, do it higher, above the surface.” Lucas urged.

It was a lot easier said than done. Her nerves were all jumbled up, and without the benefit of animal instincts, she was completely lost. Still, she wasn’t a quitter. Sandra focused again on her right pinkie, working those six tentacles of her above her body.

It still wasn’t even close to good enough. Sandra tried harder, managing to get the six tentacles she’d first raised up to Lucas’s height. She could feel them breaking the surface, then feel warm hands cup around one of them. Her suction cup prickled at what could only be Lucas’s touch, and she looked up to him appreciatively.

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t thank me yet.” Lucas grunted, hefting her tentacle over to the Return Pad. “This might sting a little.”

With that, he slapped her tentacle on the pad, and Sandra’s whole body stiffened as though it was shocked. All of her tentacles went limp, and most of them started to pull into her body. To her amazement, some of them twisted to reform her arm, each suction tendril becoming a finger. TransFun never did the same change twice, but for a change back, too? That was incredible!

Her head returned to a normal size, and her torso slid back to where it should be. All the while, Lucas kept holding down her tentacle, and as her body lightened it began to pull her up to him. Her gills sealed over just in time, and she sputtered a little as her hairless head broke the pool’s surface.

She shook her head out, feeling her hair lengthen from her scalp and leave her with a glittering light-brown corona. Then she held up her left hand, staring at how long and thin her thumb was. She followed it to find that it was the tentacle Lucas was still holding, and he let it go with a sigh of relief.

Lucas then walked over to the TransFun maker, keying in a different code. Sandra watched him with interest, swimming over to the edge of the pool.

“What’s next? Something more human, I hope?” She asked.

Lucas nodded. “Something a lot more human.” He leaned down, giving her the cup. “These aren’t officially used by our rescue teams yet, but I think if you’ll be a success story… Well, not to give you hope, but I can say for a fact that TransFun would directly employ you for our beaches.”

Sandra hurriedly quaffed the serum, more than a little excited. This was her chance to be something; to get what she wanted! She only hoped that it would work well for her…

The thought raced through her mind even as a ripple of change worked its way across her body. The woman looked down to her hands to find them webbing over slightly. It looked like she was wearing hand-flippers, and Sandra poked at them curiously.

They felt a little wet and slimy, almost as though they were scaled. It definitely wasn't like the rough skin of a dolphin or a sea lion's blubber. “Am I becoming some sort of fish?” Sandra asked, looking up to Lucas curiously.

“In a sense.” He grinned, sitting by the poolside.

Sandra furrowed her brows at his response, but she didn't press him further. Instead, she focused on the changes, looking down to find that her feet were thinning and widening into what could only be a tail.

Her feet felt odd, and she clenched her hands a little as a wave of small, silver scales slithered up from her nearly nonexistent toes to her ankles. As they reached the ends of her feet, Sandra found her feet were being inexorably drawn together.

The swimmer watched on as her legs began to merge, flesh joining irrevocably with flesh. There was that odd sensation of he rmuscles reshaping, followed by the even stranger sense of her bones conjoining and shifting. She knew that it was a necessary shift, but it was still beyond bizarre.

A faint breath escaped Sandra's mouth as her legs fully conjoined, beginning to bulk up with scale. Yet it looked like the scales stopped at her waist, a little below her navel. She glanced down, her eyes widening as she realized that the scales wouldn't continue any further up her body. Instead, her skin seemed to be turning a stunning shade of azure.

“Wait... If I'm only going to have a fishy lower half, then doesn't that make me...” Sandra trailed off, her eyes wide as she pet her belly more. It was just as slick as the webbing between her fingers; streamlined beyond the most advanced swimming suits.

“I think you're catching on.” Lucas beamed as he spoke, his feet kicking gently through the water.

“A mermaid.” Sandra breathed, her webbed fingers flying to her face. She'd never been particularly enthralled with them as a child. But now that she was becoming one she realized that she'd never wanted anything more in her life.

Sandra only stared on in fascination as her skin continued to change in color. As the blue reached her forearms, they began to tingle as well. She gasped in surprise and delight as she sprouted a pair of silver fins. These were soon joined by a third: a long dorsal fin that slowly escaped her spine.

Flushed, Sandra rached her hand back to trail against it. As she did, she noticed that her arms felt a little different, too. It was like they had a wider range of motion, and that her shoulders were a little more streamlined for swimming.

By now the scales had reached her head, and she brushed some of her hair from her eyes. As she did, she noticed just how soft and silky it felt. Moreover, it felt remarkably dry, like it was hydrophobic.

The woman beamed with pleasure as she tucked her hair behind her right ear, noticing that even that seemed to be different. It felt longer; almost elongated. She checked her left ear to find that it was almost exactly the same and let out a faint coo of delight.

“Hey, Sandra?” Lucas grinned, distracting her briefly.

She turned, an amphibious set of gills fluttering on her sides. “Mhmm?” She responded with a dazzling smile.

“You're not using your arms.” Lucas's smile widened as Sandra looked down.

She squeaked in surprise—he was right! Sandra's fishy tail was moving naturally, keeping her bobbing well above the water's surface.

“No way!” Sandra exclaimed, staring excitedly. She was really doing it! This was the first transformation which had finally clicked with her!

“Way.” Lucas winked, leaning back and tossing her a red slip-on top. “By the way, you'll need this.”

A red blush crept across Sandra's face as she realized that she was topless. Not that she wasn't as a sea lion or as a kraken, but those didn't have breasts in the traditional sense. The woman slipped on the top, her eyes only widening further as it settle din snuggly around her breasts.

“What's going on?” She asked, feeling the top tighten around her torso.

“Hm?” Lucas asked with amusement.

“It's a perfect fit!” She exclaimed, looking down at her chest to find that it had even pressed her breasts closer to her body, further streamlining her form.

“Sandra.” Lucas leaned over to tap her on the nose. “We make people into animals on a daily basis and this is the part you can't believe?” He leaned back to have a good laugh at her expense.

Or at least, he started to. But as the first guffaw escaped his lips, Sandra spun, using her long tail to whip a torrent of water in his face.

He coughed as he accidentally snorted some water, his face scrunching up in discomfort. “You know this is a salt-water pool, right? That really stings!” He groaned, twitching his nostrils in disgust.

“Oops.” Sandra laughed. “But aren't you proud of how instinctive that was?”

Lucas rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Let's just see how fast you are.”

Sandra nodded eagerly. “Glad to!” She dipped beneath the water and a thin membrane formed over her eyes. The mermaid beamed with delight: she had a natural set of goggles! Perfect for distance swimming, she thought with a huge smile.

Her gills flared as she began to breathe underwater, and the woman rocketed forward with a rapid revolution. She let her arms drift to her sides as she spiraled, and her smile only broadened. This was way faster than anything else she'd changed into before!

Sandra set off at an incredible pace, slicing through the water as though she'd been born in it. She did a full three laps around the pool before beginning to tire. She burst through the surface, blinking her eyes as the nicitating membrane slid back.

“How was that?” Sandra asked, knowing full well that she didn't need to.

Lucas grinned back. “Well, it wasn't as fast as some of our sea lions or dolphins. But it was damned close.”

“Is that a good thing?” Sandra frowned, doubt beginning to creep into her mind.

Lucas washed her fears away with his next remark. “It's beyond good. Congratulations; you're hired.”

She tackled him into the water, bringing him into a deep, submerged kiss. Her dream had come true, despite the twists and turns her transformations had taken.

*** EPILOGUE ***

“Help, hellbp!” the cry drowned to a stuttering burble as the swimmer went under.

The lifeguard on call grabbed her Change Kit and injector, sprinting out into the water. As soon as one of her legs splashed into the surf, she downed her serum and slung her extras over her shoulder.

Already her hair was beginning to change into an amazingly bright silver; her legs merging as she dove underwater.

Sandra beamed confidently, surging forward. It had taken some time, but she'd finally found a form that fit.