Transparency Infection

Transparency Infection, CH 4

Standard Summary Disclaimer:

This is a work of fiction for adults. If you are not an adult, wait.

If you don't like fiction for adults, that's your choice.

All characters are above the age of 18.

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Author Notes:

This is turning out to be longer than expected. It felt right to do more world-building to get to the end scene.

Mary sat in her doctor's office. The office was freshly disinfected and the paper cover under her crinkled. Outside the door she could hear the doctor talking with the nurse. She's been there about a good 30 mins past her appointment time without seeing the doctor.

When asked what brought her in today, Mary merely lifted her left leg showing the absence of a calf. The floating foot made the nurse utter, "Oh!" and go out without checking blood-pressure or oxygen, then a can of presumably Lysol was emptied outside the door.

And Mary sat, quite annoyed, for some time.

Eventually Dr Greer entered wearing gloves and a concerned expression. "You gave Marge a fright." It was a statement as he looked Mary over. "Transparency Infection, huh." Another statement. Finally a question, "Anywhere else or just the leg?"

"Leg, mid-section, and breasts, doctor." Mary replied.

"Oh, that's interesting. Mind if I look?" he asked.

Mary nodded and stood. She lifted her blouse and dropped her shorts leaving her bra and panties on. She sat back on the crinkley paper and un-did her bra.

Dr Greer looked at her missing mid-section, Mary's panties floating in the empty space between where her mid-thighs stopped and restarted just under her navel.

"First, when you get your annual OB-GYN exams, let them know you have Transparency and where. They have accommodating equipment.

"Second, I am sorry about the wait," Dr Greer continued. "We don't get many of these Infections, they're pretty rare and there's a lot of bad information about how to treat people with them. Transparency's vector is contact and since it's been over 24-hours since you had symptoms, you're not contagious. But people, like Marge, don't react or deal well with patients who have it."

"I get it Dr Greer, and thanks for the apology. I'm not looking forward to going back to work like this."

"Mind if I touch the areas?" Dr Greer asked.

Mary nodded. After all, Tony her boy friend has been all over them since Friday when they both got infected.

Using his gloved hand, Dr Greer pushed where Mary's mid-section would be. He pushed on her thigh. His hand started to go towards Mary's breast when he asked again, "Ok to touch up here?"

Mary nodded again. Dr Greer pushed and Mary said, "Nipple".

Dr Greer's hand shot back, "Sorry about that."

Mary smiled, "Not like you could see where you were poking."

Dr Greer smiled back. "Let me get another instrument if you don't mind." He went to the door, took off his gloves, opened the door slightly and asked someone on the other side for the thermo-spectral imager. He closed the door and looked at Mary, "Can you tell me about the week to two days leading up to when you found yourself infected?"

Mary thought. "On Wed, Tony and I went to a mid-week party. About 15 or so people there. Nothing out of the ordinary. A couple of drinks, a lot of talking, and we left. Tony dropped me off then went to his apartment."

"Ok, that was Wednesday. Thursday? Any symptoms then or prior?"

"None, felt fine. Friday I got an itch here," pointing to her mid-right leg. "When I got home, that's when I noticed things where un-noticable. I called and made an appointment."

"How's Tony. Was he affected also?"

"Yes, much less than me."

"Anyone else at the party affected?"

Mary thought for a second and realized she hadn't called anyone else. She told her boss she'd be out for a medical appointment, but nothing else. "No, I hadn't checked." she admitted sheepishly.

"That's fine" and there was a knock at the door. Dr Greer opened the door, spoke for a second with someone, and closed the door holding a small box.

"This is a thermo-spectral imager. Basically it visualizes temperatures. Mind if I use it on you?"

"No problems here." Mary said.

Dr Greer opened the box, pulled out what looks like a small handheld machine with a LCD screen on the back. "Ok, let's see what is visible."

He pointed it at Mary. "Interesting." He clicked a button and moved it around. "Hm. Interesting." He clicked a button. A few more mutters and clicks and he turned to Mary, "Want to see?"

"Please." she replied.

Dr Greer pushed some buttons near the screen and walked over by Mary. "Here's your upper torso. Note it picked up the heat from your chest, breasts." Pushing the button again, "Here's your lower torso around your genitals. It picked up your genital region, and legs fine." Pushing the button again, "Leg. Looks good. No injury there." Button again, "Head and neck area. No Transparency there, but checking the machine never hurts."

"What's this telling us Dr Greer?" Mary asked.

"Well, no sign of injury or infection or wound. That was one concern. They'd be a hotter spot. Otherwise, I'd say you're in good over-all health. You and Tony managed to catch something that has a less than 5% infection rate. If you could note the friends who were at the party last week, I need to let the local Health Department know. We also want to track down who was contagious at the party." He paused. "If anyone. You could have caught it walking to the party with Tony. For all we know, it was random and you two were the only ones who caught it.

"Just a sec while I delete the images" and he pressed a button on the machine.

Mary nodded.

"I do have something here you should consider going to." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a pamphlet. "The Health Dept is sponsoring support groups. There's a meeting tonight locally. They meet every other week. Tony should consider going also. Oh, Tony's seeing his doctor?"

Mary nodded and took the pamphlet. "Wednesday."

"I won't include Tony in the message to the Health Department then. His doctor should do that." Dr Greer pulled out a pad from his jacket. "I'm writing you a note that you can go back to work as of tomorrow. I'm putting down a BS excuse, it's not their business if you're not contagious. Stomach bug should do it. Anything else you need? Any questions?"

Mary nodded, "How do you know I'm not contagious? I mean, I caught it. Tony could have caught it from me."

"Good question. Simple answer is these viruses usually manifest as tiredness a week before you display any symptoms. Between the tiredness and your symptoms, you're contagious. Were you tired a week before? Felt like you needed a nap and slept more than normal?"

"No."

"That's what I thought. Most who have the contagious variety mention if they do."

"Last questions. This is permanent? Will more of me get transparent?"

"Sady, yes. And happily no. In that order. Sorry Mary, there are people looking into this since the Transparency is the most common. But it's pretty rare. I usually get one patient every 3 or so months. I've never had a Hair Virus Infection, and only one Flexibility in nearly two years since this started. Those are the two other varieties of the Infection."

Mary looked at him. Looked down. "Ok, thanks for the office visit."

"You're welcome. Sorry it's not better news. After you get dressed, I'll meet you at the front desk. Marge is still kinda squeamish. And one last piece of advice - you'd still be violating nudity laws even if the areas aren't visible. There was a case like this a few weeks ago. A guy is transparent from his chest to his knees and went for a walk with only socks and shoes. Cops and judge didn't see it from his point of view. That was in a smaller town, but it made the medical forums."

As Dr Greer walked out, he closed the door behind him. Mary dressed considering how it would be if she walked to work without any clothes. Breezy was her first thought.

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"There's a community for us?" Tony asked around a mouthful of pizza. He and Mary were in his apartment. His shirt was off, at Mary's request, so she could watch him swallow the pizza.

"Yea. Couldn't hurt to go, right?" Mary replied. She watched a lump of food go down Tony's chest, right between where his pecs would be.

"Mary, if you're going to watch me eat, I'm going to put my shirt back on. I don't know what you find fascinating anyhow."

"I don't know either. Let me finish my slice and we can go. The meeting starts in an hour."

An hour later, after walking to the community center, they found the meeting room.

"Welcome! I was about to close the door and start. I'm Samantha, call me Sam." said a young woman at the door. She had pale skin with freckles and thick curly back hair in a short afro.

Sam looked up and down the hallway and closed the door. Tony and Mary found chairs next to each other. Sam took one facing the door.

"Hi. I'm Sam. I'll be leading tonight's session. Feel free to talk to me in front of everyone. There's no shame here. There are light refreshments on the side-board if you want to get up. Before we start, the first ground rule: If you are not afflicted with an Infection, or supporting someone who is afflicted, please leave."

She paused and looked around. "Great! Let's get started. I'll kick it off. I'm Sam and I have the Hair Infection. Up until about 18 months ago, I had near waist-length light-red hair. One day my scalp itched and as my hair grew, it came in like this." She ran her hand through her afro. "I miss my old hair, I've accepted this new hair, and I've come to really appreciate the ladies at the salon who helped me understand this new hair texture."

She looked to her right, "Would you want to go next, Jim?"

The man looked at his drink and shook his head. "That's Ok, Jim." Sam said. "You're still welcome and we support you and Jenny."

Looking to Jim's right, "Would you like to go next?"

The woman looked up. "I'm Terry. I have the Transparency Infection on my arms across my shoulders. I hate that I cannot wear crop-tops anymore." She sighed. "It's been nearly a year and I've come to accept this is the new me."

"Terry," Sam started. "You can wear whatever you like. We will support you and help you. Did you look at the makeup kits that we talked about?"

Terry looked at Sam, "No. I didn't get to it. Just seems futile. What if it wears off at the wrong time?" She put her head down dejectedly. A woman with sunglasses spoke up, "Terry, I'll help you. Lets talk after this."

"Thank you April." Sam said. "Terry, you'll be fine. We're here for you." Sam looked to Terry's right, "April? Would you like to go next?"

"Sure. I'm April. I've had the Transparency Infection nearly since it started. Luckily I don't need makeup, I'm completely invisible on the inside." She opened her mouth. Past her teeth there was nothing. No tongue was visible. "I have to wear the sunglasses otherwise people get grossed out. I'll spare everyone here. The doctors still don't know how I can see if my eyes are transparent. I've been to six dentists before I found one that didn't have a technician quit on the spot. Honey, if I can get through this, you can too."

"April, thank you." said Sam. She looked to Sam's right at Mary. "You're new, do you want to go next?"

"Uh. Hi. I'm Mary. I caught the Transparency Infection last week with my boyfriend Tony," she pointed to her right, "and my doctor suggested I come to at least one meeting. I'd show you where I'm affected but I was also warned against public nudity." A few other seated members chuckled. "I can show you my leg here without breaking any laws." She pulled up her pant-leg to show the foot dangling.

"Hi Mary. Welcome. Tony is it?" Sam looked at him.

"Hi. Tony. Infected with Mary." He lifted his shirt to display his torso. "I'm here to support Mary. I too would be interested in any makeup options."

"Yes, there are several we've discussed in the past and will be happy to share with you." Sam looked to the empty chair to Tony's right. "Tony, can you wave your hand over that chair please?"

Tony looked perplexed and gently waved his hand over the seat.

"Thank you. It's always good to check with this group." She looked to the next chair. "Gene, would you like to go?"

"Sure Sam! I'm Gene." said a muscular man wearing a tight t-shirt and shorts. "I have the Flexibility infection. I'm a personal trainer and like to stay lean and muscular. Suddenly finding myself unable to walk or move without having my joints move uncontrollably was aggravating to say the least. It was a hard 3 month journey with Vanessa here to rebuild myself, and I love her more each day because of it. Do I hate it? Yes, I'd love to go back to being able to do 100 pushups without focusing on keeping my shoulders and elbows in place. I'd love to do another half-marathon where I wouldn't worry about legs and knees bending in odd directions. I'm happy for the challenge and am here to help others through theirs."

"Wonderful. Thanks again Gene. You were able to help that lady from last week?" Sam asked.

"Yup! She got hit with the Flexibility too. Helping her get more independent was not a problem." he replied with a happy grin.

"Thanks again! Vanessa? Care to go next?"

"Hi. I'm Vanessa, Gene's partner. I have the Invisibility in my legs." was all she said. Mary looked her over. Vanessa was wearing tight fighting yoga pants and ballet slippers. The only indication of any Transparency was a thin line of nothing between the ends of the pants and slippers. The legs were perfectly shaped.

"Thanks Vanessa. We've gone around, and thank you all. We'll take a brief refreshment break then have a group discussion about county services unless someone brings up another topic." and with that Sam stood up gesturing to the side-board with cups and bottles of soda and water.

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Gene came over to Tony as he stood to the side watching. "Hey man! Tony right?" Gene asked extending his hand.

"Yes, hello. Gene was it?" Tony responded

"Yep," Gene said with a laugh. "You were infected recently too, right?"

"Yea. Last week. Myself and Mary. It's been interesting so far. She found out about this meeting and we decided to go. I don't think either of us knew there were others in the city. You never really hear about it."

"True," Gene said taking a drink. "I've my infection figured out. It sucks but I have a handle. I'm mainly here to support Vanessa." He gestured to her standing talking with Mary. "She's still not sure how to deal."

Tony looked over. Vanessa's legs and overall body were stunning. Taking a drink, Tony admired her figure perhaps a bit too long.

"She used to be a swimsuit model. Or at least had contracts lined up. Until the virus." Gene looked at Vanessa also. "How do you model a swimsuit when people can't see your legs?"

"She appears to keep very fit." Tony noted.

"Thanks," Gene replied. "My doing. Before we both got infected, I was her personal trainer. She has a naturally great body, I just needed to help her tone it up. We got there, then my infection. She helped me pull through. She lost a few contracts because she was helping me," he took a sip. "About a month after I was back working with clients, she caught her infection. That killed her career more mentally than not. We've talked about other ways she can model, but she's locked into a depression. Getting her out to events like this helps."

"Wow, that's rough, Gene." Tony paused. "What's with Jim?" he said gesturing to the guy talking with Sam, the event leader.

"His wife, Jenny, caught the Flexibility Infection, same as me. She caught it about 2 months ago and is pretty bed-ridden. I was able to rebound because I'm in really good shape and know the body from training others. It took a bit of time on my end. Jenny's not so lucky. I've been working with her and we're making progress. She's a school teacher so she has a different set of skills."

"I'm not familiar with the Flexibility Infection," Tony admitted, "Why would that make someone bedridden?"

Gene looked at him with a sparkle in his eye. "Well, with Flex, you need to keep control of your muscles, ligaments, and joints. Otherwise this can happen." The arm without a drink fell to the floor with a soft thud. The hand and forearm were laying on the ground, supporting the upper-arm leading to Gene's shoulder.

Tony looked with his mouth wide open.

"All the bones are there, and the flesh is really flexible. Rubbery almost. The muscle and tendons keeping the joints together are are loose so if there's there's nothing to keep the bones together. The bones float within the rubbery tubes. For fun I've stretched it over twice it's normal length." Gene smiled. "Vanessa's actually pulled me over 15 feet from shoulders to toes. It was relaxing."

Gene pulled his arm back into place. He shook it briefly. "Need to get things back into the sockets."

Tony took a sip. "Uh, that could be fun in certain scenarios."

Gene smiled back, "It is."

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Vanessa smiled briefly while talking with Mary. "Looks like Gene showed your boyfriend his party trick of dropping his arm."

"Oh. I didn't see." Mary said and took a sip. "You're a professional model?"

"Was. I'm trying to get back in. You?"

"I'm an art historian. I work for a company that evaluates pieces prior to purchase and auction. If you don't mind me saying, you look great. Gene working with you helps."

"Thank you. He's a very hard worker and knows how to motivate people. He's helping Jim's wife a lot. We're hoping she can make it back soon."

"Jim's the person who passed on the intro, right?"

"Yes. Jenny is having a rough time of it. She attended one meeting with help from Jim, then couldn't. Gene's been there twice a week working with her. She's a trouper. Luckily the county picks up one of his training fees, and he does the other just to help."

"Wow, that's great for him! You really found a kind person to be with!" Mary raised her glass in salute.

Vanessa smiled, "He's also a bit of a trouble-maker. See April over there?"

"Yea, she said she invisible on the insides? That's interesting."

"Well, Gene got her husband to shine a flashlight up her vagina." Vanessa smiled. "Gene said her husband told him April lit up like a jack-o-lantern - mouth and eyes. April won't let him back to any of our support meetings."

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On the walk back to her apartment, Mary commented to Tony that he's not allowed to hang out with Gene without her there.

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The next day, Mary woke up to go to work. She dressed conservatively in a pant-suit that covered all of her infection. The only part that could appear is the ankle between the pant leg and her shallow heels. She decided to risk it.

"Morning Boss!" Mary said stopping by his desk. "I have a doctor's note. Looks like it was a stomach bug."

"Great, thanks." he replied. "Were you able to track down the provenance of that figurine?"

"Working it. Stuff from that era is hard because of the looting." she noted. "Question on the party last week. Do you know if anyone else caught the same stomach bug?"

"Hmm, no. I'll keep an ear out."

At the end of the day, Mary still hadn't heard anything so let it drop. Her boss did send her a DM to stop in.

"Hi. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I wanted to let you know that your left ankle did catch someone's attention today. Or lack of ankle. I told him I'd look into it. Everything Ok?" He looked at her.

"Well, not really at this time. I hope you understand."

"I do. And please pick up some light makeup for it. I'll tell them there's not a problem and it was bad lighting."

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Later at Tony's apartment, Mary recounted the story to him.