Changed Redux Pt. 05

"I don't know what you're getting so worked up about. You only do field work and run the lab. Any trained monkey could do that." Justin sneered.

"You couldn't." Mary snapped, referring to Justin's many mistakes when he was working in the lab last year while 'learning the ropes'. Mary had almost lost three clients because of his incompetence and had to pay one government fine.

"Enough!" Jacob barked. "The decision has already been made Mary, I'm taking my son's advice. I'm sorry."

Mary seethed. Idiots, both father, and son. "Well then, I guess you don't need me." She stood to go.

"Yeah, go back to testing dirty water and mud." Justin sneered. "Leave the managing of the company to men who know what they are actually doing."

Mary turned, a sharp rebuke on the tip of her tongue as she thought to herself, Maybe this company would be a better place to work if it wasn't run by idiotic, self-absorbed, sexist, childish men!

Before she could utter her retort, there was a hard thump to the air in the room and everything swam before Mary's eyes. She felt dizzy and sick. Stumbling, her hand grabbed for the door frame as she almost went to her knees. After a second, everything came back into focus but it was all changed. All of it.

"Are you ok Mary?" said a distinctly feminine voice, laced with concern. Mary turned her head to see a middle aged woman sitting in the seat that only a few seconds before was occupied by Jacob Mires. The woman was attractive and dressed in in a pant suit of a very feminine cut that was stylish while still being professional. She had dark brown hair that was done in a short, no nonsense cut and minimal makeup. Across from her sat what appeared to be a younger version of the same woman wearing a more feminine outfit of a short skirt, well-fitted blouse and heels. Her hair was the same shade of dark brown but was worn long and pulled back in a thick ponytail.

The room had gone from a dark wooden cave to a bright, open, inviting office with new, trendy furniture and painted in light, neutral tones. The decrepit old wooden chairs replaced with comfortable looking, padded leather seats. Even the flooring was new. The horrible orange carpet replaced with whitewashed pine boards. Overall it was about as stylish an office as Mary had ever seen.

But all of that was taken in with a glance, almost peripherally. What grabbed Mary's attention was the name plaque on the desk. It read Jackie Mires, President.

She looked at the woman again and studying the face closely, the resemblance was obvious, she looked like Jacob Mires, could easily have been his sister in fact. But Mary had a horrible realization that this wasn't Jacob's sister, this was Jacob. Changed into a woman by the magic.

"Mary?" The woman, Jackie, said with concern rising in her voice. "Are you ok?" She took a step around the desk, "Please come sit down, you're pale as a ghost." She turned to the other woman who Mary now realized bore a strong resemblance to both the woman and Justin, and said, "Jessica, get me a bottle of water, please. Quickly."

"Of course Mother," Jessica said rising with a smooth, fluid motion and going to a small fridge in the corner. Even through her mental haze, Mary noted that the young woman was very beautiful and moved with the grace of a dancer.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened. That feeling just came over me." Mary tried to explain as she sat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. She noted that they were even more comfortable than they had looked at first glance. "I... uh, haven't had lunch yet. Maybe I'm just hungry." She said lamely, fumbling for an excuse for her odd behavior.

Jackie clucked her tongue, "You need to take care of yourself, Mary. I can't run this place without you." She smiled down at her and handed over the water bottle that Jessica had just brought over. "Why don't you sit here a few minutes and I'll get us all some lunch. We can talk while we eat."

We'll be back in a minute, you just sit here and take it easy." Jackie said and guided Jessica from the room.

Mary sat alone in the stylish office and began to tremble. She tried to take a sip of the water but was shaking too much to even get the cap off.

"Marcellene?" She whispered.

"Yes Mistress?"

"What the fuck just happened?"

"It would appear that the magic interpreted your desires and acted on them." Marcellene said in a matter of fact tone of voice that irritated Mary. "Were you not thinking that you wanted the company owner to be a woman instead?"

"NO! I...I... " Mary snapped but her words quickly stumbled to a halt as she tried to recall what she had been thinking. She closed her eyes and tried to recall exactly what had been going through her head just before everything changed. "I was angry and I had just thought it would be so much better to not heave to deal with this chauvinist bullshit. Especially the kid."

"The ring acted on your thoughts."

"But how could it change... well... everything?" She looked around, "I mean, the office, the people..." she trailed off thinking. "I mean, Jacob Mires had a wife, he was married. What about her? It's not like she won't notice that her husband is now a woman!" She got up to look at the pictures on the table behind the desk. Her eyes caught on the largest photo and she stopped. "Oh, dear Goddess." She whispered breathlessly. "They changed too."

In the photo, a younger Jackie stood arm and arm with pretty, shorter woman that Mary had met several times before. Lacy Mires, Jacob's wife, now apparently Jackie's wife.

"The magic changed it all. I suspect that you would find that every photograph, every letter, every toy and memento, every memory associated with Jacob Mires going back to his birth has been changed to Jackie Mires."

"But how?" Mary whispered fiercely, moving to the chair and dropping heavily into it. "This isn't like giving Julia bigger boobs or even making Cassandra go down on her mom! This is about changing everything about who a person is... was! I just changed two men into women! It changed their families, this office and the Goddess only knows what else!"

"Yes Mistress." Marcellene said calmly.

Becoming aggravated with the blandness of the replies she was receiving, Mary snapped "How can you be so fucking calm about this?"

"I think it's a good idea if one of us remains calm. Since you're apparently not going to be the one right now, I decided to fill in that role."

Her matter-of-fact reply and slightly dry delivery brought Mary up short and after a second she made a snorting laugh. "Ok, point taken." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an effort to regain control. "So, is this... normal? I mean, this is kind of... well... bigger than before, right?" She fumbled for words. "I mean, ok, I know it's not normal, none of this is, but is this like... worrying to you at all?"

There was a long pause before Marcellene replied, "Actually, this concerns me deeply. As you said, this is bigger, much bigger than any previous change. This kind of drastic realignment of two peoples lives, their whole beings really, if beyond what I suspect the ring can handle by itself. This essentially confirms what I have long believed, that you have innate magic and the ring is tapping into that power."

"Magic? Me? Marcellene, I just don't..."

The sorceress cut her off. "I don't think the issue is really up to debate anymore. This proved it. But that is an issue for later. For the moment we need to decide what we are doing about what just happened."

"So what are we going to do about this?"

There was another long pause and Mary heard Marcellene sigh heavily before saying, "For now... nothing I think. This was a much greater use of power that you have done before. It drained you far more, attempting to change it back now would be dangerous. We will have to wait."

Mary took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "So I thought that becoming a priestess was supposed to help me control the magic? It seems to be more out of control than before?"

"Pledging yourself to the Goddess was to protect you from other gods and goddesses, mainly Kazorra. I had thought, or hoped, it might help you control the magic but that may not be the case. The magic may have been created with divine power, but we know it has it's own will. Apparently it still does."

"It seems to be getting worse if anything," Mary said nervously.

Marcellene's reply was interrupted by the sound of heels on the hardwood floor of the hallway and Mary turned to see Jackie walk back in.

"We will deal with it together. Patience." Marcellene whispered into Mary's thoughts.

Nodding imperceptibly, Mary smiled up at her boss, noting with something between apprehension and relief that even considering the major shift in reality that had just taken place, she was already much more at ease with this version of President Mires than she had with the previous version. Was it just because she was a woman?

"Feeling better?" Jackie asked, "You look like you have a little more color now at least."

"Yes, thank you. Sitting down seems to have helped the most."

"Well, lunch will help more I'm sure. Sandwiches will be here in about twenty minutes. While we wait, shall we talk about the intern candidates? When I briefly talked with the candidates, Tony Charles looked like our best bet. I'd be very interested to hear your thoughts on her since you spoke with her at length the other day."

* * *

Part Three ~ Fieldwork

"Last stop of the day," Mary said, stepping out of the truck and stretching her back. She had been sitting in the driver's seat for about half the day now and the bottom-feeder, no options, company pickup truck was not the most comfortable vehicle she had ever driven. The padding in the driver's seat had long since given up and the whole inside of the cab smelled like feet.

"Looks like you saved the best for last at least." Tony Charles said as she dropped out of the passenger's seat, her boots thumping into the dirt.

"Yeah, this is one of my favorites," Mary said, opening the tailgate and pulling out her gear. As she did so Tony came over and started helping. Mary noted with some satisfaction that the intern was actually gathering up the correct gear without being told what to do. Apparently, she had been paying attention these last few days.

It had been about two weeks since the incident in her Boss's office and Mary was finally getting used to the changes that she had inadvertently made. It had surprised her at first just how much changing her boss and son from male to female had changed everything at the office. The whole mood of the place was better. People seemed happier, the work seemed more satisfying, the whole outlook better.

It took Mary a few days to realize that it wasn't just the sex change that brought about all the changes, although maybe it had helped.

Jacob, now Jackie, had gone from disinterested and lackadaisical to involved and driven. Where he had coasted, she was working. And Justin to Jessica was an even more dramatic change. Where he had been a sexist, ignorant, self-interested bully, she was brilliant, warm hearted and hard working.

Mary had come to the conclusion that something else had been changed by the ring that day, not just their respective sexes. The ring had fundamentally changed who they were and how they functioned. It had basically made them into whole new people.

This had really dismayed Mary at first and she wondered if she should, or even could, change everything back. But she had hesitated, partially out of fear, partially out of confusion, and let a few days slip by. After the first few days, she began to realize how much better everything was for basically everyone involved and thoughts of turning it all back started to fade. Even Jackie and Jessica seemed far happier and fulfilled with their new arraignments. She had never seen Jacob laugh and smile even a tenth of what Jackie did.

Mary also had to admit that her newly elevated position in the company hierarchy was a pleasant surprise. She had found on that first day that while she still ran the lab and the field operations, she now held a position of far more influence than before with the management. Where Jacob had basically regarded her as the 'girl who ran the lab and collected samples', Jackie regarded her as the Field Operations Manager. The difference was subtle but the effects were vast. She had always been a bit of a rising star in the company but now that rise seemed like it would be even faster.

One of the effects of that new influence and her manager's new dedication was looking expectantly at her now, holding the rack of sample bottles and her laptop, ready to go. Tony Charles had eagerly accepted the position of intern for the field staff and had started a few days ago. She had proven to be as smart and hard working as Mary had figured she would be based on their first meeting. Mary already knew that she was going to be her new favorite in the field staff from now on.

Looking around, Tony said, "This place is beautiful. I might stop by here even if it's not for work."

Mary had to agree. They were parked in a conservation area that ran along the banks of the river for several miles. A bike path ran along the river and several picnic areas were scattered along the route. The area was heavily forested and after the seemingly endless rain of the past spring, it appeared as if everything in sight was a brilliant shade of green.

The project they were there for was just a ground water sampling job for an old, abandoned gas station that was now long gone. Unfortunately for the neighborhood, park, and river, the groundwater contamination it had created with corroded, leaking fuel tanks had remained even after the abandoned building was leveled and a coffee shop was built in its place.

Much of the mess had been cleaned up over the years but there was still contaminates in the ground and they were monitored on a regular basis to make sure the underground mess wasn't spreading. A series of sample wells ran all along the river in this area and samples were taken and tested by Mary's lab every few weeks. This project was to become one of Tony's assignments so Mary was showing her where all the wells were located today.

"Ready?" Mary asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yup. Which way?" Tony asked.

"Down the trail to the left, I'll tell you when to turn."

A few hours later they were on the sixth of eight samples. The last few wells were located close to the river and the bike path. Tony was doing well in remembering all the procedures and all the information that hand to be collected and entered into her report. So well in fact that Mary had almost nothing to do and her mind was starting to wander. She caught herself thinking about her session with Julia last night and realized with some embarrassment that she was getting a little wet.

Trying to get herself back on track she returned her attention to what Tony was doing but the girl was doing everything right and needed no guiding. Mary caught herself trying to look down the vee neck of Tony's tee shirt into her cleavage and wrenched her attention away.

Not now! She told herself firmly. Julia will be more than happy to see me and screw my brains out when I get home.

But the thought of Julia had been a mistake. It only planted more ideas in her head and she felt herself becoming more aroused.

Thankfully, Tony chose that moment to snap the cover to the sample kit closed and stand up. "All set, on to the next one?"

"Yes," Mary said, perhaps a bit too quickly. "Let's go."

As they walked Mary found herself watching Tony's backside as she made her way along the trail. She was dressed in work boots, jeans and a vee neck tee shirt that overall did very little to accentuate her in any way. The boots were big and clunky, the jeans were pretty baggy and now stained with dirt and the tee shirt, though cut a little low, was pretty loose fitting as well.

Mary found that despite the unflattering jeans, she was really enjoying watching the way Tony's full, round bottom swayed as she walked. She liked the way her buns stretched the jeans and curved up the sides of her wide hips. Her mind drew a mental comparison between the big breasted but slim Julia to the thick hipped, curvy Tony and she decided that variety was definitely a good thing.

Inevitably, the thought that it would be nice if Tony was wearing something a little more attractive slipped through Mary's mind.

The air shimmered.

"Fuck," Mary muttered as she stumbled to a stop.

Tony turned around and looked back at her. "Something wrong?"

Mary suppressed a groan as she looked over her work partner. The work boots were the same but the baggy jeans were now replaced with tight fitting, cut off denim shorts. Very... short... shorts, of the kind that would definitely not pass the company's safety policy. Similarly, the loose, vee neck tee shirt had been replaced with a tight tank top that was cut equally low. The girl's breasts, while not overly large, were more than ample and were now well displayed by the fitted top.

"I... uh..." Mary stammered, trying to take her eyes off Tony's chest, "I just stubbed my toe on something, that's all."

"Oh, you alright? Need me to carry anything?"

Shaking her head and forcing herself to look down, Mary said, "No, I'm fine. The next well is just up ahead."

As Tony moved off Mary couldn't help but sneak a peek at her ass which looked even better in the tight shorts. She felt herself getting wetter and she bit her lip to suppress another groan.

"Should I assume you didn't intend to do that?" Marcellene's words slid through her thoughts and almost made her trip for real this time.

"No." Mary whispered fiercely. "Of course I didn't. She's one of my employees! I shouldn't be doing that to her!"

"I suspected as much. The magic seems to be taking greater and greater liberties with your inner thoughts and not just your actual wishes. You will have to be more careful with your desires until we find a way to control this."

"I AM trying!" She hissed. "I just... I can't seem to hold back these thoughts. They just... I don't know... pop into my head." She threw out her hands in exasperation, "I mean what do you expect of me? The ring goes and boosts my sex drive off the top of the friggin' charts then you expect me not to have naughty thoughts?"

"No, of course not. But we will just have to find a way to control this." Marcellene said gently.

"I thought pledging myself to the Goddess would help make this better!" Mary growled.

"As I have said, I hoped it would but made no promises." Marcellene said patiently.

Taking a deep breath Mary said, "I'm sorry. I know it's not your fault. I'm just..." she hesitated then said, "I don't know... frustrated." She smirked to herself then snorted as she admitted, "And now I'm horny as well."

"I'm sure Julia will be able to help you out with that later tonight." Marcellene said wryly.

At the mention of Julia, another jolt of arousal shot up Mary's spine and she said, "Oh, please don't mention her right now. I'm already soaking wet, thinking of her just makes it worse."

"She is quite talented..."

"Stop it!" Mary hissed as another thrill shot through her.

In her head, she heard Marcellene snickering quietly but the sorceress said nothing more.

"What?" Tony said, looking over her shoulder. She paused and set down the heavy toolbox as she waited.

Mary felt her cheeks heating with embarrassment. In her flustered state, she half imagined that Tony fully realized just how turned on Mary actually was right now and was enjoying the effect she was having on her new boss. Mary shook the ridiculous thought from her head and opened her mouth to speak...