Volunteer flatmates

It was a clear and sunny morning in May.  The sun was high with not a cloud in the sky.  In Peterborough in the United Kingdom, there told of two teenage boys who were living as next-door neighbours in a block of flats.  On the second floor in room number 217, a young 15 year old boy was under the covers of his bed with the curtains still closed to the outside world.
His name was Jason Terrell.  He was currently dressed only in a pair of boxer shorts and a sleeveless black T-Shirt.  He woke up from his slumber and got out of bed, tidying his covers and then going to open the curtains at the window.

Meanwhile, next door in apartment number 216, there was another young boy at the age of 17.  His name was Elliot, but unlike his next-door neighbour he was already up and dressed in his favourite clothes.  He wore a purple t-shirt, blue denim jeans, and a white hat.  He was sitting on the side of his bed rubbing his feet, and putting on a pair of beige shoes.  Elliot brushed his teeth, ate some breakfast, and decided to pay a visit Jason next door.  Elliot knocked three times on Jason’s door...he opened it, now also dressed in a red sleeveless jacket and a pair of red combat trousers, but as of yet, still barefoot.

“Hello Elliot.”  Jason greeted.
“Hey Jason.”  Elliot replied.

Elliot entered Jason’s flat and closed the door behind him.  They sat themselves down together on the side of Jason’s bed, and put their arms around one another as they conversed.

“How’s things with you Pal?”  Asked Jason.
“I’m good.  And how about you?”
“I couldn't feel better.”

Just then, the phone rang.  Elliot went to answer it.

“Umm, hello?”
“Hello Elliot.”  Said the voice on the other end.  “Good to speak to you again.”

Despite it being Jason’s room that the man rang up, it seemed strange to Elliot that the man knew his name.  But Elliot decided it would be best to sound discreet and non-suspicious.

Elliot tried to speak in a lower voice than his.  “Well thanks for calling.  How did you know I was here?”
“You’re a good friend of Jason Terrell are you not?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I know that you’re next door neighbours with one another.  I’ve got the details of the both of you on the British Census you filled in last year.”
“Oh, now I remember those British Census forms.”
“Could I speak with your friend Jason please?”
“Sure.”

Elliot passed the phone to Jason.

“Who is it Elliot?”
“I have no idea, but he says he would like to speak to you.”

Jason nervously accepted the handset from his friend and answered the call.

“Hello?”
“Jason Terrell?”
“Yes.  Who’s calling please?”
“My name is Alan S. Pelley.”
“Alan S. Pelley?”

Jason pondered over the name for a moment.

“Wait a minute.  You’re that scientist we spoke to last month aren’t you?  How may I be of service to you Sir?”
“Actually Jason, I’d like to be of service to you.  Do you remember those applications that you and your friend Elliot sent in to us last month?”
“What about them?”
“I am pleased to announce that your applications have been accepted.”
“Oh wow Mr. Pelley, that is so great to hear!  So when would you like to see us?”
“We’ve already sent a taxi out to come and collect you.  The driver will bring you straight to us, and we will give you the details once you get here.”
“We’re really looking forward to this Mr. Pelley, thank you.  Goodbye.”

Jason hung up the phone, and then turned back to Elliot.

“I can’t believe it Elliot.”
“What did he say?”
“Do you remember those applications we sent in to Mr. Pelley’s lab last month?”
“Yeah.”
“We’ve been accepted.  He’s sent a taxi to come and pick us up and take us there.”
“That sounds awesome.  But how long will we have to wait for us to depart?”
“I have no idea.”

Elliot then looked down at Jason’s feet, realising he was still barefoot.

“Wait.  You haven’t put your boots on yet Jason?”
“I wasn’t quite ready to go out anywhere.  I wasn’t expecting that phone call either.”
“Well now that you mention it, I didn’t either.”

Jason got off the side of the bed and looked underneath.  His boots were not there.

“Now where did I put my boots?”
“Did you try checking in the closet?”

Jason stood up and went around the bed to the wardrobe.  He opened the doors, and looked at the bottom.  As Elliot had correctly suspected, Jason’s favourite red and white boots were in there.  He took them straight out and closed the doors.  Jason sat himself down on the side of the bed, rubbed his feet, and put his boots on.  Once he tied the laces together, Jason grabbed his keys, wallet and phone from the drawer of his bedside table, and put them in the front pockets of his jacket for safekeeping.  He then turned back to Elliot again.

“Have you got your stuff Elliot?”

Elliot reached into the pocket of his jeans and showed Jason his keys.

“I believe I’m prepared to go.”
“Then let’s go downstairs and wait for the taxi.”

Elliot and Jason headed out of the flat.  The door closed itself behind them.  It had an automatic locking mechanism for extra security, to prevent unwanted intruders from entering.  They both took the lift down to the ground floor, sat themselves down together on the seats at reception, and waited patiently for the taxi to arrive outside.  They waited together for another five minutes, until a black London-style cab pulled up in the driveway outside the building.

“That must be our ride.”
“After you Jason.”

Both Elliot and Jason stood up, and went outside to meet with the taxi driver.  They entered the taxi together, sat down, closed the doors, put on their seatbelts, and the taxi drove away.

~ ~ ~

About half an hour later, Elliot and Jason had arrived at their destination.  From the outside, the lab looked old and decrepit.  There were lots of broken walls, glass, and needles.  But it still looked new in a few areas, such as the test room.  As they walked inside and took a seat together in the waiting room, both Elliot and Jason began to wonder exactly what they had committed themselves to.

“Elliot?”
“Hm?”
“Are you getting some strange vibrations?”
“No I don’t.  Are you sure you’re feeling them?”
“I don’t feel so good about this place.  It doesn’t look very welcoming.”

Just then, a man came through another door and entered the reception to greet the boys.  It was Alan S. Pelley, the chairman of the lab.  He was an elderly gentleman in his mid 50’s, wearing a white lab coat, formal trousers, black shoes, and glasses.

“Alan?”  Elliot asked.
“Hello Elliot, and Jason.”

The boys stood up and shook hands with Alan.

“So glad that you could make it.  Please follow me.”

Alan led the boys straight into the test room.  There were two experimenting tables in the room, one bearing Elliot’s name, and the other bearing Jason’s.

The names were actually rips on the tables.  Those tables were there for years.  Alan used a knife on them the day before, so when Elliot and Jason entered, they would know where they would be placed.

As such, Elliot and Jason laid on these tables.  Two other supporting scientists came and strapped the boys down to the tables by their arms and legs.  They didn’t know what was going to happen, until Alan brought out two syringes from a cupboard.  Both of the syringes had Jason and Elliot’s names on them, so that he knew which serum would apply to which boy.
Alan’s aide’s each took one serum and went over the boy whose name was marked on them.

“I’m so glad that the two of you could agree to this experiment taking place on you.  If you both put your trust in me and my aides, I promise you that this will not hurt.”
“You have our trust.”  Said both boys in unison.

The aide with Elliot’s serum took the cork off of the needle, rolled up Elliot’s sleeve, inserted the needle into the upper arm, and began to inject the serum into his bloodstream.  When the needle came out, his arm was becoming a beige color.  It went from his upper arm to his hands.  His hands also changed, most notably his fingers.  They changed from 5 to 3. His wrists became brown, and another bit of brown grew underneath.

The changes proceeded to his head.  His head was changing to a beige color.  It became oval-like.  His hair fell out, replacing it with a beret.  The hat managed to survive.  His ears were next.  They went inside his body, and pushed out on the bottom of his beret, but as brown flaps.  Below his eyes also became brown.

“What’s going on?” Elliot said.

His body started to change.  It was becoming a beige color.  On the back of his body, a brown pawprint appeared.  His body also shrank a tiny bit.  Below his body, a force was coming out of his back.  It was actually a large, thin beige tail with green paint on it.

Elliot couldn’t bear the pain anymore, but the last part of his transformation was coming.  That was his legs.  His legs shrank to about half of his size.  Most of his legs became the same beige color, except around his ankles.  His ankles became brown.  His feet were next.  They also became brown.  Something else was happening.  His toes were also changing, but instead of having 5 toes, there were only 3.

The clothes buried Elliot.  Alan removed all of his clothes, except the shirt and his hat.  The hat was Elliot’s favorite item.

When Elliot’s transformation was complete, he was freed from the straps, and his shirt, and allowed to stand up again, admiring his new identity in the nearby mirror.

The second aide took the cork off of the needle containing Jason’s TF serum.  But just as he was about to insert the needle into Jason’s upper arm, he took note of the bionic arms that Jason had.

“Oh, what’s with the arms Jason?”
“I had an accident some time ago and had to have my arms amputated.  But rather than leaving me without arms, they gave me the bionic arms that you see now.  You won’t be able to get the needle in them.”
“Very well, let me try here.”

The aide injected the serum into Jason’s neck.  When it came out, Jason’s neck became white, and a bit smaller.  Between the top and bottom of his neck, a tube grew.  Jason’s head also changed, with it becoming completely white.  His ears moved on top of his head (if they were still ears), and his nose and mouth had pushed out.

Jason’s bionic arms fell off of his body, for he was actually growing real arms, but they weren’t human.  Instead, they were white.  The ends of his new arms became palms, and 3 round fingers grew out of each.

Jason’s shirt and jacket ripped off, as his body was changing.  His chest actually became slightly bigger, in the form of something like a muscle chest.  The rest of his body also became white.  Then, his trousers ripped off, as a purple tail grew out of his lower body.  It was long, and extended about 2 to 3 feet from his back.

Lastly were his legs.  The top of his legs didn’t change much, but only that they were becoming a white color.  The bottom of his legs were changing more.  Instead, they were still becoming white, but they were also becoming thinner.  As his boots snapped off, his heels also started to change as they were getting smaller, and his ankles became more round.  His toes merged from 5 to 2, as his feet became white.  Jason was now a Mewtwo.

Jason was unstrapped safely and he was helped to his new feet, also being given a chance to look in the mirror at his new identity.  Elliot looked at him.

“How do you feel Jason?”
“I feel good.  You?”
“Brilliant.  I’ve always wanted to be a Smeargle.”

Elliot and Jason thanked Alan for doing this to him.  But Alan had one last thing to say to them before they left.

“A word of caution you two, these serums will wear off after 2 weeks.  If you want to go back to being Pokémon again, just come and see me again.”
“Thank you Alan.”  Answered Elliot.

Elliot and Jason shook hands with Alan, and then headed out the lab to meet up with the taxi waiting outside to take them back home.