tf-side-story-major music malfunction

SHRIMP Agency TF Stories: https://pastebin.com/Pdzmv2ej

Dr. Wagner had spent most of the afternoon slaving away in his private lab. Word had finally got out that Dr. Easton discovered how to transfer mass through the power of transformation. Although no official release had been made yet to the scientific community Dr. Wagner knew just how much of an impact it would have on research across the globe. Dr. Easton would get yet another award for his advancements in the field of transformation. Just thinking about it almost made Dr. Wagner snap the cassette tape in his hand. But the doctor knew the real truth behind Easton’s discoveries. They were all accidents from brute force testing with no true research behind them whatsoever. All Dr. Easton had was luck on his side.

“So, Dr. Easton thinks he can make such a monumental discovery, huh?” Dr. Wagner said out loud to himself. “Well, two can play at that game. I have something that Mr. Lucky doesn’t. I have actual blood, sweat, and tears poured into all my work!”

Just then the lab doors slid open and Dr. Wagner’s two lackeys walked in carrying a few boxes. Brayden and Axel, two young assistants under the wing of Dr. Wagner, had just came back from a supply run ordered by the doctor. They set the boxes down and exaggerated their discontent for the simple task.

“Ugh, we got those cassette tapes you were looking for doc, but it was not a fun trip,” said Brayden as he plopped down into a chair.

“Yeah, we had to go to, like, three different storage rooms just to find them,” said Axel. “What do you need these old tapes for anyways? It’s 2020 doc, get with the times and go digital!”

“Well, you see thing one and thing two, I’ve made an astounding discovery in the field of transformation. There’s just one small problem and that has to do with its format,” said Dr. Wagner. He walked over to the two assistants and huddled together to address them further. “Because of my hard work I found out a way to transform people through the power of music!”

“Music? That sounds kinda lame to me doc,” replied Brayden as he nudged himself away from the clingy doctor.

“Nah dude that’s super rad! Imagine being at a rock concert and halfway through a song the guitarist turns into some fire-breathing dragon,” Axel said with excitement.

“Aww man that would totally rock dude!” said Brayden and the two gave each other a high five.

“Will you two metal heads let me finish?!” Dr. Wagner yelled. “Look, right now I’m only able to transfer the information needed onto analog media. So that means stuff like records and tapes, which is why I ordered you two to bring me all these cassettes. Thankfully, I had a few tapes lying around here already so I was able to conduct a few experiments. Now with these new stacks I can continue my progress towards victory and showing that Dr. Easton who’s boss!”

“Dr. Easton? Isn’t he that guy who turned somebody into a giant king cobra? That was pretty wicked.” said Brayden.

“Yeah man you’re telling me. I wish I could get turned into a cool snake but ol’ doc holiday here just keeps sending us to do boring stuff like completing his shopping list,” Axel said back to Brayden.

Dr. Wagner filled with rage after hearing Axel's snarky comment. Then a devilish idea came to his mind. “Alright fellas, if you’re so eager to transform then how about I just sample some of my tunes for you two? Both of you will do nicely as my guinea pigs for the day,” said the doctor as he prepared a tape player.

“Nice! We’re finally doing something exciting for once! See I told you this would all be worth it Brayden,” said Axel.

“Yeah maybe doc here will turn us into cobras too! We could put together a band or something, call it... 'Poison' maybe,” Brayden replied back.

“Uhh, that’s already taken dude,” Axel said.

“Oh, you’re right, I totally forgot about them. I should give them another listen sometime,” Brayden said.

“Okay, all set. Are you punks ready for this?” the doctor asked. He had already equipped some headphones and held the tape player out in front of him. “Just press play and watch the magic commence!”

“Dibs!” Brayden yelled and pushed the play button before Axel could react. A mellow tone started to play and the two listened for a bit. Nothing happened after a few seconds passed.

“Man this stuff’s boring. I thought you said it would transform us?” Axel asked.

“Uhh, speak for yourself dude. Look at my arms,” Brayden replied and stretched out his arms. Blue outlines started to etch themselves across Brayden’s skin. They quickly took form and popped out as an array of feathers colored a range of blue. More feathers could be seen forming all around Brayden’s body with his arms and backside turning blue while his face turned white. The feathers continued down from his chin underneath his shirt. Brayden’s face then started to poke out a little as his lips darkened, eventually forming into a pointed beak. Almost no trace of his nose could be found except for two small nostrils right above his reformed mouth. The top of his head turned blue while a black ring of feathers formed from where his ears used to be circling around his neck. A few more black accents on his face and Brayden’s head had fully transformed into that of a blue jay. The transformations weren’t done yet as the feathers continued down his body. Very suddenly a tail jutted out from behind in a plume of blue feathers with black stripes. His legs thinned up a bit and darkened similar to his beak, soon forming into a formidable pair of claws. Finally Brayden’s changes were complete and what stood before the doctor was a bright blue jay-anthro. The clothes Brayden were wearing managed to survive the transformation, albeit stretched from the puffy feathers. He spread his brilliant wings out and flapped them around for a bit.

“Hey hey, look at me. Guess I’m a bird brain now ha ha! I’m lovin’ these shades of blue!” Brayden chuckled. He turned to Axel to notice that his transformation wasn’t as expressive. Underneath a pile of clothes sat a medium sized border collie. It whimpered for a bit before Brayden made the connection that this dog was Axel.

“Interesting, I didn’t expect a feral form to come out of this. I’ll have to experiment with it some more,” said Dr. Wagner and fumbled with his portable tablet for a bit. Axel was in great distress as he wined some more. Brayden reached down and swooped him up in his bright blue arms.

“Hey doc, can’t you do something for poor Axel here? It’s not fair that only I turned into something remotely human. Dogs can’t play the guitar you know! Or sing, though they could probably play the drums or something,” Brayden chirped and got a bit lost in his thoughts. Axel barked at Dr. Wagner in frustration, gritting his canine teeth.

“Alright alright, let me see what I can do. Just stay put for a moment,” said Wagner and began to write to a new tape. Soon the new song was recorded and the doctor pressed play before speaking up again. “Oh, if you want to stay like that Brayden then I suggest covering your ears.”

“Gotcha boss,” Brayden said and had to put down poor Axel to cover his ear holes. The new changes quickly took effect as Axel started to gain mass. His black and white color scheme remained while his body changed its form, taking on a more humanoid look. Bones shifted around and pretty soon a naked border collie-anthro was standing right beside Brayden.

“Phew, thanks doc. It really sucked not being able to talk,” Axel said before realizing just how naked he was. Quickly he threw his clothes back on, looking to be a better fit than Brayden due to his slimmer size.

“If only I could keep you both shut up,” Wagner said to himself. “Oh the wonders of music! Thank you boys for taking on such a valuable experiment for me. Now, want me to turn you both back or what? It might take a little bit.”

“Uhh, I think I’m fine. These wings are pretty awesome,” Brayden said, admiring his new form.

“Yeah I bet I can run pretty fast now that I’m part dog. Oh, I know! Lets have a race,” Axel proposed to Brayden.

“You’re on! But the loser has to pay for dinner tonight” Brayden replied.

“Deal! But I hope you pick out some good dog food because I’m going to roast your tail feathers!” Axel said. The two then rushed to the door in their new forms. Brayden stumbled for a bit and knocked a bunch of tapes and papers over the place with his ginormous wings. The doctor didn't seem to notice the mess he had made and continued with his research. Quickly, Brayden attempted to sort the mess by sweeping a bunch of the tapes into a blue container before catching up with Axel. On his way out the bumbling blue jay almost knocked over Dr. Wagner’s most trustworthy assistant Angela. Bewildered by the encounter she continued inside to talk with the doctor.

“Was that...” Angela began to ask.

“Brayden and Axel? Yes, those two delinquents just helped me with a very important experiment. Don’t worry though it’s only temporary, or at least it should be,” the doctor said, interrupting Angela mid question.

“Well they seemed to be in quite the rush. Lets hope they don’t cause too much havoc... Do you have those relaxation tapes ready for my therapy session?” Angela asked.

“Oh! Yes, those tapes... Uhh, they should be over there in the blue container on the counter," Dr. Wagner said while glued to his tablet. He gestured over to the nearby counter that had been totaled by Brayden's mad dash out. "I'm glad you came to me for help because writing those tapes also proved beneficial for my current research. They should be the perfect tool for any distraught individuals just like you asked."

“Thanks, Dr. Wagner! There’s quite a selection here so hopefully something will cheer my patients up,” Angela said then waved goodbye and left with the box of various cassettes. The doctor was still fixated on his research and didn't even wave back. There were two major components left that he had to figure out to complete his work. First, get the music working in a digital format. And second, refine the transformations to not be completely random. The second feature would take a lot more work to achieve but the doctor was ready for anything. Dr. Wagner was going to let nothing stop him from beating Dr. Easton to the scientific punch. Unfortunately, the seemingly unrelated relaxation tapes would soon prove to be quite a mess for the industrious doctor.

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The Rehabilitation and Integration department, or R&I for short, was winding down for the day. Working at SHRIMP isn’t always about research and development. Most team members are also part of the very important R&I department, tasked with helping those afflicted by transformations. It’s such an integral part to the agency that almost all new personnel start off work in the R&I department. Any aspiring employees have to rise through the ranks inside R&I before moving on to more lucrative roles and Angela was sure her next promotion would come soon enough. She had just got back from her visit with Dr. Wagner and was almost ready to end her shift. There was just one more client she was helping and hoped that some musical therapy might relieve the poor man. Roger was one of the many people affected by the contaminated suburb earlier in the week and was just now recovering. The whole ordeal had shaken him up greatly. During Roger’s mid-day shower he sprayed contaminated water all over himself and transformed into a spider-person. Not only did it freak Roger out but also his girlfriend who left him screaming in terror. Despite being human again Roger was still in the last few stages of rehab. He was resting in his assigned room when Angela came in with music in hand.

“Hey, Roger! How are we feelin’ today?” Angela asked and set the box of cassette tapes down.

“Better, I’m just glad it’s sunny out today,” Roger replied and stared outside the pristine window.

“Well, I managed to get something special for you. You were telling me how much you loved music so I thought I would get you something to listen to. Here, a whole box worth of custom made tapes to pass the time,” Angela said and passed a portable cassette player over to Roger.

“Aww, you’re the best Angela. It was getting pretty boring around here,” Roger said and started shifting through the mess of tapes.

“No problem Roger. If you have any more requests just let me know,” Angela said and sat down in a chair across from Roger.

“Well, would it be okay if I went out for a jog? I really need to stretch my legs a bit,” Roger said.

“Go for it. I think I’ll stay right here though, my entire day has been pretty stressful,” Angela said and took a seat.

“Okay, I shouldn’t be too long. Thanks again!” Roger said as he grabbed a tape and left the room. While Roger left for his run Angela laid back and got some well-deserved rest. She put on a pair of headphones and started listening to some music of her own.

Roger made his way to the private park and did a few stretches for warm up. Ready for his jog, Roger put in his earbuds and pressed play on the cassette tape. The tape he selected was labeled “Pop Experiment” and hoped it would be some nice music to jog along with. His intuition proved to be correct as a funky beat started playing. Just a few laps around the winding path would be enough for Roger. As he began jogging the music started to put him in a trance of sort. The trance was almost too powerful though because Roger failed to notice his earbuds weren’t plugged in to the cassette player. It was playing through it’s speakers at full volume for everyone to hear. Unfortunately, there were a few other patients in the park enjoying the clear skies and fresh air. Slowly but surely Roger began transforming once again. The tape he had picked was actually one of Dr. Wagner’s experimental recordings. This time he was too absorbed in the music to even notice what was happening to him or his surroundings.

Roger’s skin began to harden into a thick, almost leathery hide. His skin color shifted into something more dull and gray with brown stripes across his forearms. The change of color continued as his chin and underbelly turned more white than the rest of his skin. At this point Roger had made it about a quarter of the way around the park. There was another patient he passed by who was reading a book on a nearby bench. His ears caught the sound waves emitting from Roger’s cassette player and began changing form as a light fur starting growing all over his body. Now Roger was almost halfway around the park when his hands and feet began reshaping themselves. Nails turned into sharp claws while he lost a few digits as fingers and toes merged to give him a new total of three on each hand and foot. The sudden growth in his feet caused his shoes to rip apart revealing some massive talons. Roger was still oblivious to the changes and stumbled for a second before continuing with his run. There was a gazebo with a lady drawing on a notepad when Roger suddenly passed by. The artist began to undergo changes similar to Roger but also began increasing in size. Her skin turned a bit more reddish than Roger’s and the gazebo felt smaller and smaller with every passing second. A complete loop had almost been made as Roger passed by a water fountain with another girl resting beside it. The girl fell victim to the music as well and started transforming. Her skin turned rubbery while a huge dorsal fin popped out of her back. Such a sudden change caused her to fall back into the fountain.

Roger’s jog wasn’t done as he completed his first lap and his transformation continued. Bones started to reform and Roger’s upper torso hunched over with a long tail growing out of his legs to help balance his new body. At this point Roger’s pants were no more and his legs took on a digitigrade appearance. Passing by the man on the bench a second time showed his transformation into a lion-anthro to be almost complete. The final changes to Roger’s skin crawled up his neck and caused his head to morph. His neck arched upward, perpendicular to his horizontal body while his head began to elongate. More teeth formed inside Roger’s mouth and his eyes pushed out to the sides. Still running along the path Roger passed by the remnants of the gazebo. The lady inside had finished transforming into a t-rex and was befuddled by her new form, trying to pick up her notepad with her tiny forearms. Roger's changes gave him more speed and he rushed down the path while his transformation finished up. He sped past the fountain where an orca-mermaid rested inside the water. A scorned look could be seen on her face as she watched the raptor speed by.

Roger had made a second lap when the music finished along with his transformations. What stood at the finish line of Roger’s run was a fully grown velociraptor with a few bits of torn clothing dangling off him. When the music stopped Roger’s trance had ended and he finally noticed the full extent of his changes. This time around Roger wasn’t terrified at all though, not only because he thought dinosaurs were cool but he was also perplexed at what might have caused the transformation. He looked down into his right claw that still grasped the cassette player and soon made the connection. In a burst of speed Roger made his way back to Angela, scaring a few other patients and workers in the hallways along the way. Angela was about to fall asleep when a loud thud came from the door followed by some quick tapping. She got up and opened the door to be greeted by Roger’s saurian form staring back at her. Disgust swept across Angela’s face as she started to comfort the curious raptor.

“Oh great, what happened to you now?” Angela said and leaned in to give Roger a big hug. “You’re never going to catch a break will you? Roger, I’m so sorry this happened again. Turning into a dinosaur was not part of the program. It’s not as bad as the last time though, is it?”

Roger shook his head and tapped on the cassette player. Angela took it out of his clutches and saw the label on the tape. A huge sigh escaped Angela’s breath and she took out her phone, speed dialing Dr. Wagner.

“Hello, Dr. Wagner? Yeah, about those tapes you gave me...”

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The pale office door loomed over Dr. Wagner. After rushing over to the R&I department to help clean up the events his incompetent assistants set in motion the doctor was called to Mr. Franklin’s office. Everyone respected Mr. Franklin, especially when he was out helping field teams first hand. But everyone also knew it was bad news to be personally called up to his office. Mr. Franklin governed the agency with an iron fist and any mess of this magnitude was sure to get his attention. The doctor slowly opened the door and stepped inside the cold office.

“Mr. Franklin? You wanted to see me?” Dr. Wagner said in a slight tremor.

“Come in, come in Dr. Wagner. Have a seat,” Mr. Franklin replied. The doctor cautiously approached the chair and sat down. Mr. Franklin just stared in silence at the trembling doctor for a moment. Finally, the poor doctor cracked.

“I’m completely sorry about what happened earlier! It was a terrible mistake that one of my clumsy assistants made! I did all I could to help out and I’ll be sure extra precautions are made so nothing like this ever happens again, I promise!” Dr. Wagner spurted out in a fraction of a second. Sweat started to pour down the doctor’s face like tiny bullets.

“Oh yes, the mistake that your assistants made. The same assistants you transformed who also made an entire mess of not only the third floor cafeteria but also the surrounding labs. But I’m sure that these were also honest mistakes and that you didn’t use your assistants as lab rats to run free causing mayhem. It’s not like we have standards in place to keep this establishment from turning into a cesspool of madness,” Mr. Franklin said.

“Well… what about Dr. Easton? His last experiment cause some chaos and unexpected transformations but I don’t see him getting punished for it!” Dr. Wagner remarked back.

“This isn’t about Dr. Easton, this is about you,” Mr. Franklin said then stood up for a bit. “You just caused some of our patients in rehab to repeat the one thing that brought them here in the first place. We bring them here so that they can recover from these terrible transformations, not relive them over and over!” Mr. Franklin said to Dr. Wagner in an ever increasing tone. He paused for a moment and cooled himself down before speaking again. “Doctor, do you know why this agency was formed? To help these people in need so that their lives can continue on as normal. Just think about their lives for a second. You could be walking down the street when suddenly you transform into some kind of beast for any reason. Did some chemicals pour out of the back of a tanker and spray all over you? Did one of your friends prank you with a spiked drink? Maybe the universe itself glitched out and you just happened to transform for no reason at all. It doesn’t matter how it happened but now your whole life has changed in almost an instant. What if people are afraid of your new form? What if your new body doesn’t have arms and you can’t work any more? What if those closest to you leave your life just because some incident transformed you into something you weren’t meant to be? What is any former human being supposed to do in these situations? To the average person there is nothing they can do and all hope is quickly lost. That’s where we come in: to give hope to those that have suffered even the slightest from unwarranted transformations. But if we can’t even give out hope to those afflicted then what's the point of this agency and wasting everyone's time?” Mr. Franklin asked before paused again to let everything soak in.

“Doctor Wagner, you’re a brilliant scientist. I could not stress it enough how valuable your research has been to this institute. It would be a terrible loss to kick you out over some rule breaking. This recent finding is one of the first of its kind as a ‘wireless transformation.’ Dr. Easton’s discovery? It’s nothing compared to yours. All he did was prove that transformations aren’t breaking the fundamentals of our reality,” Mr. Franklin said and sat back down. “But you managed to transform others through the power of music! Nothing like that has ever been done before. Up until this point hard contact had to be made to transform somebody on demand. Just think of the research this will spark. The more we progress the more we discover why people transform and how we can help them. Sometimes accidents do happen, but nobody learned anything without taking a few risks. I just want to ensure your accidents are for the better of this field. Dr. Wagner, please make sure nothing like this happens again.”

“Y-yes, sir. Is there anything else you wanted to talk about?” Dr. Wagner asked in a trembling state.

“No, doctor. That will be all,” Mr. Franklin replied.

“Thank you, s-sir,” Dr. Wagner said and left the room. Mr. Franklin knew that the doctor completely understood. This groundbreaking discovery of his could prove to be useful in many applications. Perhaps it could be used as a safe way to quell rowdy individuals or to clam down riots. There might even be some therapeutic use for their patients, but Mr. Franklin always examined both sides of the coin. He knew just how terrible something like this could be used in nefarious ways. The agency was racing against the clock to beat some unknown threat just waiting to spring up. Any advancements they made was just one step closer to staying on top of the chaotic competition.