Halloween Party 2004



     Pheobe's asked me to say a bit about last annual staff Halloween party
which was held on Friday night (Oct 29 '04) and Security has finally cleared
most of the pictures taken during it. Which took awhile as Pheobe debuted some
real bleeding edge tech that was fresh from her lab and so new that we didn't
have patents on any of it.  So we had to hold off on revealing any details
until the legal tangles were resolved.  Which was a shame because it was a
really cool party and I realy wanted to talk about it.  Well better late than
never, now I can finally tell all the juicy stuff.
     Ivy had passed the word that she and Pheobe would be arranging the party
for '04 so all I had to do was show up.  Which I did and I have to say that I
wasn't impressed since it looked a lot like my party last year without the
games.  Which was okay by me since I figured afterwards everyone would be
comparing it unfavourable to my big blowout.  Boy, was I wrong!
     Anyway it was a pretty good turnout, plenty of staff, most in costumes
and a lot of invited guests.  It was nice to see that Grimbor brought a date
for a change, he's been hung up on that Charma character for way too long
(especially since far as I can tell she was a greedy, manipulative crook) and
it's way past time for him to move on.  He's been hung on her much longer than
I was with Mister J... I mean that guy I used to be obsessed with.  What was I
taliking about, oh yeah, Grimbor's date.  We had a chat and she seems okay,
just wish her real name wasn't classified.  It feels weird calling her MOM.
     There was no sign of Pheobe when Suichiro and Gold Team arrived late.
They all looked a bit battered, especially Rie and Suichiro.  They didn't want
to talk about it much, just said that it'd been harder than expected to nab
somebody named Felicia.  It was a bit of a downer and the party needed
something to liven it up.  Which was when Pheobe made her entrance. 



     It was such a radical change that everyone stared.  Until then I would
have said Pheobe was the most modest woman in the Institute and they'd all
have agreed with me.  I mean it took her months to get comfortable with a mini
skirt so hell should have frozen over before she wore such a revealing
costume.  But there she was, reveling in the attention and not the least bit
embarrassed.
     About then I got past the costume and realized that her skin and hair
looked very shiny and she squeaked when she moved.  It looked as if she'd
coated herself with a layer of skintight latex (also very out of character)
but when she was asked if it was Beta or Delta coating she dropped her real
bombshell.  According to Pheobe it wasn't a coating, her skin and her entire
body was now composed of a living organic latex!
     It's safe to say that she had everyone's attention as she explained that
for some time she had been working on a private project that she called Latex
Splicing to merge DNA and Delta Latex Nanites creating a transmutation into a
living being composed organic latex.  Once she had developed the technique and
ensured that it was a safe and reversable process she had worked on expanded
the capabilities inherent in the transmutation using herself as a guinea pig.
As we could see the process worked and she had treated herself to what she
called an "anatomical" transformation.  Which meant that her body's shape was
identical to her pre-splicing form but it was composed of latex and polymers
rather than flesh and bone.
     While we were still digesting that she rolled out her next surprise.



     Pheobe introduced her Automaid, which was essentially a rigid plastic
bodyshell atop a remote controlled ball.  Whoever was inside it wasn't getting
out without help and it was about then that I realised that I hadn't seen Ivy
all day.  I asked and Pheobe casually mentioned that Ivy had been intending
for her to attend the party as the Automaid but she had decided to reverse
their roles.  Again very out of character but it seemed that for Halloween it
was anything goes!
     Pheobe redirected our attention to the dermal air-jet injectors on the
tray.  All of them were loaded with the Latex Splicer and using compressed air
would fire the formula through the skin's pores directly into the bloodstream
without breaking the skin and any worries about needles.  The contents of
every one looked identical but according to Pheobe while one would transform
the user to become an anatomically correct latex version of themselves like
her the others would have more radical effects.  All of which she assured us
were safe and fully reversable but would be more that a little surprising.
It would also leave them at the mercy of the party-goers.  The first
indication that you'd picked the wrong one would be that nanites of any Delta
Latex clothing & costumes (always popular with the staff and guest) would
revert to default mode, become liquid and flow to the floor to gather into a
puddle that would harden into an inert sheet.  This would leave the victim
exposed but their body would resemble a barbie doll's so nudity wouldn't be
an issue.  Pheobe mentioned that not all the injectors were on the tray, there
wasn't room.  When only three were left the Automaid would depart to the
dispenser she'd built which would randomly sort another batch for the tray and
the Automaid would return.  It (or should I say Ivy) could make four trips
before the supply was exhausted.  Even she had no idea which injector was the
right one.  The only way for anyone to tell what was in an injector was to
use it on themselves so it was up to the bravest and most adventurous among us
to investigate.
     It was a definite challenge and as far fetched as it might have sounded
Pheobe was living (and squeaky) proof that the process worked.  Sebastian was
the first to pick up one of the injectors but Pheobe snatched it away from him.



     She reminded him very forcefully that she'd explained that only tested
the formula's effects on females and that past experience on Prank Days had
demonstrated that assuming something would have the same effect on both
genders could have unfortunate side-effects.
     What that?  Oh, you know ... stuff happens sometimes.  Anyway I'm not
talking about Prank Day.  Let's get back to the Halloween Party.
     Anyway Sebastian must have taken Pheobe's advice because he snuck up
behind Erica (who had dressed as a catgirl) and used the injector on her.



     The effect was sudden and dramatic and Erica grew thinner and thinner
and collapsed to the floor as if her bones had melted away.  Which seemed to
be what had happened, amazingly there didn't seem to be anything left of
Erica but her skin and hair which were now made of latex.  While we were
staring at the site Emma reported that astounding as it seemed Erica was fine
and rather confused but alive, well and conscious.  Then Pheobe casually
mentioned while someone was in this state it was possible to stretch the
mouth very wide which wouldn't tear the skin.  Using that as an entry point
you could then step inside and wear the victim as a costume.
     Most of us just looked at her in disbelief but without hesitating for a
second Melanie scooped up Erica's skin and stepped inside, then scooped up
Ishy (who she'd tricked into attending in a Melanie costume that she couldn't
open from the inside) and strolled away to show off her Erica costume to the
rest of the party.



      There were a few moments of silence.  Then a sudden rush as half a
dozen people tried to grab injectors at the same time.
      The night was young and there a lot of transformations still in store.
      
Would you like to know what happened next?
      If not I'll just hand things back over to Pheobe and you can continue
your tour with her.




     Thank you Harley
     Incidentally We had a great time at the 2003 Halloween party too!
     Well If you don't want to hear anymore about our staff parties then
unless you want another look at the Staff Lounge let's move on to something
else.

Perhaps for human interest purposes you'd rather hear about some of
the pranks our staff pull on each other outside of the parties

Would you like to meet the Support Staff workers who attended the party?

Or our doctors and nurses who were also there?

So were the members of our involuntary patient acquisition
team, many of whom participated in Harley's game

Of course our Physical Trainer's assistants helped out Harley.  Curious where
they usually work?

Or we could change the subject entirely and I could give you the scoop on
our advances in humane capture technology

Alternately some visitors have been fascinated by the specifics of our patient
restraint and control equipment

Others have wanted to hear all about our use of robotics

If you insist we could take a look at our underground high security storage facility

Of course you can always return to the Open Wards

Finally there's one more option.  The place most everyone wants to see.


Do you still want to see the Grimbor Ward? 

If you really want you can return to the Lobby 

Or we can end the tour