(I am at a loss for what Matt wants at this point, so I am just assuming he is following in gas mode.)

I sit down against a tree, myself probably more tired and the Saint. “Yeah, that’s new. I’m not sure what it is. The second time I touched the cube, I just saw a bunch of flashes. Different shapes, bodies. Nothing what you would expect. I can turn it on and off, but I can’t really control what I get out of it. Still, it's good to see you're okay Jess.” With that I just close my eyes for a minute, finally letting my body feel the soreness and strain of the past day.

Vivienne looks up to the sky, “It looks like our old friends still want to say good bye. The drones are back overhead.” I hear her and get up and begin to walk slowly away from town, deeper into the woods. “Where do you think you’re going like that?”

Maddie reaches under my shoulder and helps me walk further. “Vivienne, give me a hand. Jack seems to have become a bit of a fatty.” I grunt, but do not complain too much while I focus on staying roughly human.

“Yeah, I’m not carrying him until he fixes this tattoo. Lucky you? I know he was pissed at the time, but it needs less trailer park now,” Vivienne retorts as she keeps glancing to the sky. “Our robotic chaperone hasn’t shown up at least.”

“Well, since I’m doing the heavy lifting, do you think you can give a a bit of cover twig tickler?” Maddie asks in a teasing tone. A smile comes to my face as I remember how things were before this cube changed us, and am glad to hear a bit of the old normal again.

Jess does not give any verbal reply, but the branches overhead begin to twist and grow to mask any change that we would be seen moving through the patchy forest. After about an hour of walking we have moved far enough to feel safe enough to sleep. After Jess creates a canopy that should shield us from detection I make her promise to tell me who my nemesis is and why she won’t do anything but stab me.

With that I drift off to sleep. My dreams shift from what had become the normal temptations of power, wealth, and control to a more primal debauchery. Twisting bodies touching, licking, probing everywhere and being probed. They are simply lost in their pleasure unsure of even who they are with. Their thoughts given completely to impulse. I woman in fine victorian attire is having a polite conversation with woman clothed only by her miniskirt length hair. Fat old men being fed by lithe girls, who then in turn eat their meals off him.

I am dead to the world until around noon the next day. When i wake up, my eyes have settled into a shifting dance of jade and royal purple. My hair has lost all pretext of its old blonde color and settled into a jet black, but my youthful tan seems to have remained and only deepened.