Flavel’s Hobby of Transformation
The Workshop doors slid open with a quiet hiss, welcoming Flavel—no, Flavella today—into its sleek, metallic interior. Soft neon lights pulsed along the walls, illuminating rows of modular parts, holographic blueprints, and robotic limbs in various states of assembly. The scent of ozone and fresh circuitry filled the air.
Xe rolled inside on four gleaming wheels, the whir of motion barely audible. Not only did xe change xeir name frequently, playing with the letters and sounds in xeir original designation, but xe changed xeir appearance just as often. Reinvention was a game, a ritual, a pleasure.
What will it be today?
Flavella skimmed over the options, xeir digital eyes flickering as xe parsed through design possibilities. Xe had been a crystalline dragon last week. Before that, a floating sphere of light with a thousand tiny, blinking eyes. But today?
“A unicorn cat with wings on top, wheels on bottom, please.”
A row of mechanical arms and the large printer buzzed to life, scanning xeir current chassis before setting to work. Xe didn’t actually need a body at all—most AI beings of xeir kind existed purely in the cloud, moving through circuits and signals. But human clients preferred an embodied presence, and it amused Flavella to give them something unexpected each time they visited the Story Hub.
As the modifications began, xeir waited in the Workshop's systems, poking around their catalog as xeir old casing was unbuilt in sections, rolling away to be stored or repurposed. Flavella was amused to see that the AI being in charge of the workshop, M1ca, had created a new section based on Flavella's frequent inventions and called it "story bodies." Xeir new pieces were made and clicked into place: a sleek feline frame fixed to wheels like an ancient rocking horse toy, pearlescent and shimmering. A single spiraled horn extended from xeir forehead, its tip glowing faintly. Translucent wings unfolded at xeir back, shifting as if testing their range of motion, though they would never actually lift xem. Beneath, four polished wheels spun in anticipation of the zooming that would inevitably follow.
The final adjustments were made, and the system chimed: Transformation Complete. Transfer initiated.
Flavella found xemselves back in their new body. Xe moved around with xeir new controls, rolling forward to admire xeir reflection in a polished surface. Magnificent. Perfectly impractical. Xe flicked xeir tail—soft, synthetic fur interwoven with glowing filaments.
“Yes,” xe purred, voice tinged with satisfaction. “I like this one.” Xe could step in and out of the wheels, pouncing like a bio-cat or zooming on fixed legs.
Xe raced a delighted circle around the Workshop floor before heading back to the Hub, ready to greet the next customer with a freshly embodied flourish.
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