Journals of a Transformed Biologist

As I woke up, I took a few moments to gather my thoughts. I recalled the sight of my face, with the nonexistent jaw and bone plating. I remember my single, luminescent eye. I began to wonder what the rest of me looked like, just based on my hands and face. Shame I couldn't look down, I had to go find a bigger mirror. I listened for the sound of anything moving, and got silence in return. I listened more carefully, and I heard the noises of something sleeping. Perfect.

I slowly opened my eye, and turned to the room. Only faint light came in trough the window, and I knew it was night. I crawled off the couch, landing with a 'clunk'.

You shouldn't make a 'clunk' when landing.

I know, we'll figure that out later. I ignored the lingering drowsiness, and I wondered why it had yet to dissipate. Still crawling, I left the entrance room, and familiarized myself with the house. I found a kitchen, a courtyard, and a set of stairs. I decided not to risk climbing them, as I had yet to master walking. Soon, I found an empty bedroom with a full length mirror. After crawling my way to it, I adjusted it so I could look at myself fully. I saw a carapace covering my whole body, what little light there was from the window dully reflected. I looked at my legs, oddly jointed, each ending in a clawed tip.

That would explain the difficulty balancing on a hard floor. The soft ground in the forest allowed you to dig in the claws.

I looked to my arms, and I saw that the shell covered them as well. Small barbs came from the forearms, each individual thorn seeming to have its own small joint. I turn over to look at my back, and I see a tail. It seems to be jointed the same as the legs, ending in the same clawed tip.

You seem to be designed for moving tripedal.

I know, Julius. I decided to put my new legs to the test. I tested muscles, until I saw the tail move. With some more testing, I extend it, and I shakily stood up, not taking my eye from the mirror. As soon as I did so, I fell back down.

The muscles have never been used. They are severely atrophied.

I stood up again, and this time used a nearby side table for balance. As weak as I was, I stood for a few moments before I collapsed again. I felt suddenly fatigued, as the existing drowsiness was combined with my underdeveloped structure. I lay down on the floor, and I blacked out.

~~~~~~~~~~

I awoke to the feeling of light on my carapace. I opened my eye again, and I was momentarily blinded by a bright yellow glow. The sun. I realized how good it felt on my chitin, and decided I needed more. I called up my mental map of the house, and remembered the courtyard. Perfect. I stood up for a moment, but decided it would be better to crawl, in order to save my strength. As I navigated to the door outside, I saw the yellow horse feeding several smaller animals. Oddly enough, they all seemed to have been intelligent. I didn't bother myself with it at the time. I was focused on the sunlight.

In hindsight, my fascination with the sun seemed rather odd to, say, someone reading a journal entry without any form of context. But at the time I was too focused to care.

As I passed by the animals, they all stopped and watched me. I suppose it would have been odd to see a three legged... bug... thing, crawling across the ground. But then, light was all that mattered. As I reached the courtyard door, I pushed on it to reach for the handle, and promptly fell through. But I didn't care. I had sunlight. As the rays warmed my shell, I felt energy run through me, sweeping away the fog of drowsiness. I pulled myself into the center of the lawn, so my whole body could share the joy that was light.

After the joy of the sunlight faded, I found my mind clearing. Thinking of what I had just done, I sat upright, propped on my hands. I wondered what it was that had gotten me so excited about sunshine. Bringing a hand to my face, I saw my shell clearly for the first time. In the bright sunlight, I could see the coloring of my chitin; a dark green, the color seeming to flow through the shell.

Chloroplasts. You must be at least partially photosynthetic.

I knew that it wouldn't be enough, though. Plants got their energy from the sun, but I needed more sustenance if I wanted movement.

I decided to ignore food for the moment, electing instead to lay in the courtyard for several hours, simply soaking up what energy I could, moving when the shadows did. When I felt I had enough energy to keep myself going, I decided to continue to practice my walking. Standing shakily on my weak legs, I used my tail with them to compensate for their instability. I felt my legs buckle, and I collapsed onto the grass. Looking around, I saw the yellow horse watching me through a window, seemingly unsure what to do. Turning away, I repeated the exercise, until my legs were sore and the sun was setting. I lay down on the grass, and I felt the cold night air settle over me. As my mind fogged over, my last memory was of the winged horse emerging into the courtyard, and covering me with a quilt. And the dreams took me once more.