(An encounter with John)

As they all sat there, deep in thought, something startled them—it was the sound of a car door slamming behind them. They all quickly turned around and what they saw was a man quickly walking towards them. He looked to be about 25 years old and about six feet tall. He had short, shaggy, slightly curly brown hair, bright green eyes, creamy white skin, glasses and was wearing a white lab coat. He held a wooden clipboard in his right hand and a pen in the other. His keys dangled off of his left fourth finger. They made a metallic jingle as they swayed back and forth. As the three girls got up off of the bench he called over,

“Are you three girls Ava Hill, Sage Robins and Sarah Underwood?” He had a light British accent.

The three girls each exchanged confused and worried glances with each other.

“Umm...yes...” Ava said cautiously.

The man’s face brightened.

“Brilliant!” He replied happily.

The three girls exchanged nervous chuckles.

“Um...” Sarah started, “D-do we know you?”

The man looked her straight in the eyes—there was something off about him.

He smiled, “No, I wouldn’t expect you to—I’m John, John O’Connor. I work for The Mad Scientist Laboratory, or “MSL”, as you may know it.”

A pit dropped in the girls’s stomachs. They exchanged anxious glances with each other. “He knows!!” Ava mouthed to the other two. “I know!!” Sarah mouthed back.

“Wh-what are you doing here?” Sage asked timidly, “What do you want from us?”

He smiled again. “I’m glad you asked. You see, our surveillance cameras picked up footage a few days ago of three girls coming into one of our “off limits” rooms and then proceeding to mess with some of our equipment—elixirs and such.” He stopped.

The three girls each had kind of a stunned, scared look on their faces.

He chuckled. He then proceeded to take his glasses off and start to clean them with the cuff of his sleeve. He continued, “May I ask you girls what you were all doing in there all by yourselves and why?”

The three girls all started to stammer, each of them fighting for an excuse or at least some words to say. Finally they had come up with something to say, (the truth of course, because what’s even the point of lying, and anyway, they would’ve gotten in trouble if they had ended up lying.) and told him everything that had happened. After they had finished, they each started to take small steps back. They were all blushing deeply, ashamed of what they had done.

John inhaled and exhaled deeply. He put his glasses back on and tried to find something to say.

“Well, that was not what I was expecting. You see, shortly after our surveillance cameras detected motion in the room you were in, they stopped working, they must’ve shorted out or something. But that must’ve been when you activated the machine that injected you, right?”

The girls stood there awkwardly and silently nodded their heads. Their cheeks were now a faint rosy pink instead of a “full-on” blush.

“Okay now, changing the subject!” John started again,”What was it like when you were injected?”

The girls exchanged confused glances.

“Um...we passed out when that happened...” Sarah stated quietly.

“And the transformation?” John asked.

“Well, I mean I think we were all asleep. I do remember having this really weird dream before I woke up on the ground over there.” She pointed to the spot where they were going to start setting up their stuff.

“Interesting...very interesting...” John said distractedly as he jotted down some notes on his clipboard. “So, how do you feel now?”

“I mean...I feel okay, a little weird, but otherwise okay. What about you guys?”

Sage and Ava nodded.

“Uh huh...and what about the clothes you’re all wearing right now?” He asked, still writing down more notes.

“Well...” Ava started, “After we all woke up, we were wearing these. Our normal clothes had just...vanished. We don’t know how we got these or anything...”

“It was probably after or during the whole “transformation thing” or something...” Sage stated quietly.

“Indeed. It was.” John replied. He was done writing notes down. “So, overall are you girls okay?”

“Yeah, I think so...” They all replied in unison.

“Good. Now, back to the problem at hand, the fact of the matter is, you three strayed away from your class and into a top secret government room. Now, I could have you arrested for this.”

The three girls gulped. The pit in their stomachs grew larger.

“But, seeing as there seems to be nothing broken or missing, except for the elixirs in those three giant glass cylinders, and you did go back to your class. I think I can let you off this time.”

The three girls stood there shocked. They couldn’t believe their ears!

“Wait...really!?” Ava started. “You’re going to let us off that easy? We strayed from our class, broke into a secret government room, and messed with stuff we shouldn’t have! Not to mention we did it without permission. And you’re going to let us off that easy? Why?”

Sage let out a deep sigh and Sarah did a facepalm.

“Well...” John started, he took a deep breath, “For one thing, those elixirs you messed with, the ones in the big glass jars, were my own creation! They were actually prototypes. I had never made something like it before, let alone tested it on something (or someone). You three, (he gestured to the three girls) gave me something to test it on. Though this was not planned, I am thankful that you were my, how should I put it, “test subjects”. Secondly, you three have been very brave during all of this. You may not know what’s happening or what’s going to happen, but I can assure you it will be worth your while. Lastly, quite honestly, I am very curious to see how this will turn out.” He finished and smiled at the three girls. They all gave him anxious smiles.

“Now that that’s out of the way, we can—“ His phone rang.

He answered it. “Hello? Yes, this is him. Yes, I’m here now, why? They. did. WHAT!? Did you catch them? No? Well did they take it? *sigh* Of course they did...we need to get it back from them! If they get ahold of the sec—yes, yes I’m well aware of that. Well I don’t think there’s any need to—*sigh* I’ll be right over. Okay. Bye.” He hung up. “Sorry, girls I’m afraid our little “meeting” must be cut short. I will be back later. Good luck on your adventure! See you later!”

The girls quietly said their “goodbyes” and John started quickly walking back to his car. Before he got in, he waved one final time. His face had a concerned expression on it. Then he got in and drove away.