Steven's shift at the store was coming to an end, and he was more than ready for it to do so. Not only had the questions from customers been plentiful that day, but each and every one had been dimwitted as well. The burdens of retail weighed heavily on him. The tall, thin, bespectacled gent was moving much more slowly, and was issuing far more sighs along the way, than he had done when the day started.
Saying goodbye to his co-workers as he stepped out into the darkening afternoon, he pulled his coat tight and began to walk through the parking lot. As Steven walked along, he nearly tripped over a small mostly solid form hidden in the shadows before him. He cursed as he did his best to stay upright. Leaning down and taking a look at it, he managed to figure out that it was some sort of backpack.
Looking over the black, seemingly brand new and spic and span pack, he didn't see any address information or other indication as to who it belonged to. Steven briefly considered running it back to the store, in order to turn it into the lost and found, but his NEED to be done with the workday talked him out of it. He decided to take the backpack home for now, intending to bring it back to work for turning in his next shift.
After a too long, and too chilly walk home, Steven slipped into sweats and a t-shirt and went about decompressing from his day. He fiddled around on the 'Net for a bit, and watched a Youtube video or two as he sipped on a tea and did a little snacking.
After a bit, he remembered the backpack. Spinning around in his chair, he picked it up and unzipped it to look inside. After a little fishing around, he finally managed to pull out the sole item the mysterious sack contained. Dropping the bag, Steven looked over a fairly simple looking, thick metal band with a hinge on one end, and a simple clasp at the back.
The band appeared to be some sort of solid, featureless, dull metal collar. It was wide, probably 3 and a half to 4 inches from top to bottom, but very, very thin. The metal felt very cold, and quite odd. Steven could swear he could feel a slight tingle whilst touching it. There was no pain to be sure, but there was a definite otherworldly sensation.
As it didn't appear to have a lock of any kind, Steven didn't really feel any trepidation about trying it on. Pulling it up to his long, thin neck, he closed it, laughing a bit upon discovering that it seemed to be much too big for him to wear. "Bloody Giraffe..." he chuckled.
His amusement came to an abrupt end when the collar suddenly contracted, covering and tightening around his neck! Steven yelped and jumped to his feet, clawing at the collar as it sealed shut behind his neck. Before he could utter a word, an electric jolt washed over his body. An arcing wave of lightning-like light washed over him, vaporizing his clothing as an ozone smell filled the room. Looking down, Steven was shocked to see he was stark naked!
Mere seconds later, another electrical wave passed over him, as what appeared to be a skin-tight, bright blue bodysuit was rapidly woven over every inch of his body below the collar. The electrical light faded after a bit, leaving Steven standing there, encased in the strange blue material.
"W-what is th-" before he could finish, another wave of light washed over him. It looked the same as the earlier light-show, but now the accompanying pain was MUCH more severe. It was so severe, in fact, that he found himself unable to scream. Steven dropped to his knees and clawed at the floor as he felt his body begin to be subjected to unimaginable pressures and sensations. He could hear and feel tearing, snapping, and awful pops as he mercifully faded into unconsciousness.
After an unknown span of time, Steven slowly began to awake, an awful series of aches and muscle cramps rousing him from his slumber. Sitting up, still on his bedroom floor, he was surprised to discover that from the neck down he now had a body that was the spitting image of...
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