By midnight , the customers grew less , with only a few students who hid their faces and bodies , not availing their student discounts , which made Charlie earn some extra money .
" It's gonna be disappointing when they find out that I'm lax about their internet identity's . Aren't these people very open about being a furry " Charlie complained and scrolled through the news to continue getting updates on everyone unable to control their profiles .
" Maybe some of them are beginning to feel shame when they suddenly experience a change in their life . Usually , if it was the classic cliche awakening story , they'd be glad , but this is completely different it's complete change in body "
" Or maybe their family just couldn't accept it . There are a lot of traditional values in our world despite everyone having access to the internet " Charlie said " And they don't have the privilege of being an orphan like we do so we have no one to come out to " Rune said .
" I wonder how those kids are doing back home at the orphanage " " I'm sure they're fine . We're earning so much money in this convenience store , it's kinda crazy "
Charlie then recalls the ID logs of several different students that purchased food and checks it to see some of these students having a different profile picture that reflects their internet and community profiles .
" This is a lot of new data " " Good thing you own the place " Charlie reads the data and figures that the reason there was the Impression of an owl was that there was a handful of customers part of the furry community .
" That explains these impressions " Rune looks at the pocketbook that had several wooden owl figurines and Charlie just wished that the day would end so that they could go straight to sleep at 6:30 am .
" It's not even dawn yet " Rune said " I know , but it's dark outside and I'm not an actual owl " " How about you figure out how to take only the attributes of an owl without turning into one ? "
Charlie takes a moment to think " That doesn't sound so bad , although I should only get the part of not sleeping at night because it would be scary if I could turn my head around 180 degrees "
Charlie tried to imagine how sleep works and even searched on how nocturnal animals stay awake at night .
" This is really hard to visualize , might need to do more research " " At least now we have something better to do instead of reading cliche comics " the rest of the night ended quite easily and after updating the inventory , Charlie waited for the part-timer to come .
" Enjoy your shift ... uhh what are you exactly , a tall squirrel ? " " Fennec fox " " Okay whatever , tell Liam that I'm expecting him to return the jacket I gave ya'll "
Charlie left while Rune caught some impressions of strangers ' Looks like we're popular now ' Charlie eventually got in their apartment and took a bath . " It doesn't look like my body is experiencing any changes " " I did catch some impressions , assuming you were a guy or gal "
" It's fine " they got out of the shower and dried themselves before putting on some plain pajamas . They closed the curtains and set the air conditioner on a timer before going to sleep . After sleeping through midday and waking at three , they opened the curtain and stripped , leaving their privates covered as they soaked in the sun while listening to the news .
" Seems like the protection products ran out " they checked the tablet and ordered some more of these items " It looks like the construction came this morning " Rune said and Charlie sped through the security cameras to see some construction already taking advantage of their profiles .
" Bears , Rhinos , Hippos and Elephants " Rune said and Charlie got ready for work " Not gonna think about it ? " " Nope , it just shows that people are getting used to their new life . I'm glad the suicide headlines are not bigger than the other news "
" That is a bright side " Charlie gets back to the convenience store and looks at the long line of customers . Charlie gets in and tries to get around the line and finds Liam packing everything as quickly as possible .
" What's happening? Why is there another line when there's only one cashier ? " Charlie asked and Liam looked at his hooded roomates " They're my roommates , they want to get a part-time job here "
" Sorry , you'll have to wait until this store gets bigger . I'm not accepting any part-timers and Liam , don't you take your jacket to your dorm , I only have two of those "
' They look awfully worried . You think the reason they are hiding their furry identities is that the government would experiment with them even though pretty much everyone has their respective internet profile masquerading them ? '
Charlie recalls the news and then they look back " Are you here as customers ? " " But we really need this job " " No , you don't , go study or something " Charlie takes over Liam's job and looks at them .
" Shoo " Liam gets Charlie's attention asking " Can I keep this jacket at least " Charlie sighs and zips open their jacket , handing it over " You can borrow my jacket , just give me the store's back " Liam hesitantly reached for the zipper .
" I need to go to the bathroom " Charlie pretended to be done with the nonsense the boys were making and continued working as a cashier . Liam got out wearing Charlie's jacket " Uhm manager , here is the store jacket , I promise to get your jacket back "
' What kind of talk do you think they went through ' ' Probably something about jackets hiding their fursonas ' Charlie handles the customer line while talking to Rune .
' Do you think we can call the people who aren't turning into something else Normies ? ' ' Sounds about right ' Charlie looks at a few non-normies not minding their Profile's appearance as they submitted their ID's .
' At least some are getting used to their new appearance . But the problem is if the government figures out about this imaginary power , they might do some of that experimentation on the Normies and non-normies ' Charlie thought and hoped that their position as a manager could stop that kind of problem from getting to them .
' Won't they prefer to target those who have some form of control and adverse effects before they proceed to you ? ' Rune mentioned ' Then they'd have to get people who know how to build boundaries between friends and families . '
' But it's not like they'll be able to figure something like that so easily since this isn't like a power with clear rules . Plus , if anyone can easily control this new imaginary power might do something to get all the attention ' Rune said .
' Do you think we can produce a device for that ' ' We might , but we don't know the source of this imaginary power . Do you think the source might be somewhere we have been able to access ? ' Rune asked and Charlie thought of a space where imagination goes and said .
' What about dreams ? ' Charlie mentions ' Now that's the hard part about it , you always forget or vaguely remember the dreams . We don't even know what they mean because it's one of the mind's mysteries ' Rune says , but Charlie felt like that was the only reasonable place .
' It certainly can't be a subterranean god that gave us powers because if it was , then the news would've shown something like a hole rather than a mysterious phenomenon unveiling everyone's alter ego profiles , internet personalities or fursona's ' Charlie thought
' Or one of the governments has been testing on tapping into another dimension and some kids escape the testing grounds and are living among us ' ' Then do you think there is a possibility that some people were already affected but never knew ? '
Rune ponders about it and finds it was possible ' maybe you could be one of them , even when everyone was turning into their internet personalities , fursonas and getting influenced by others' impressions . I only appeared when you read the news '
Charlie wanted to test how far they could push this imaginary power " first let's try to test out the Owl impressions " " We even got other nocturnal animal impressions too " Rune said and Charlie first visualized the other details of the impressions .
" So they use Owl as a base , but they don't know how " the Visualized details were cloudy because of how few thoughts were put into these impressions " and I wasted so much time learning about nocturnal animals "
" It's not a wasted trip , can't you influence the impression by adding more details into it ? The Owl impression only imagines you as a nocturnal with the Owl as the base . So maybe you can try to add the 180-degree head turning ? "
" Hmm , that could work " as Charlie imagines the traits and influences the impressions . The wooden owl's head and body separate with a clearly visible gap between them " the problem is how to absorb these "
" Maybe do what every dead celebrity do , let the criticisms get to you or in this case , be the person people think you are " Rune said while pausing to stare at Charlie " I got it from a short we saw online before " Charlie tries that and the Owl Impressions disappear " Hoo , looking good " Charlie and Rune both turned into Owls .
Charlie tested their neck as it turned all the way to the back and then turned back " It's disappointing I can't just let one part of me change " " Maybe you'll get better at it and soon you get to look like that chimera streamer " Charlie explores the changes in their body .
Like their feet , which have turned into Talons but their rubber shoes seem to not have been torn but was rather hidden by the veil the owl Impressions provided .
" This wing placement is inconvenient " Charlie said and Rune watched as the wings , which were part of the hands , stretched to the back down to the back of their stomach " Now that's more like it "
Charlie glances at the security camera and sees Bone outside , who was looking at the scene dazed . But Charlie calmly waits for them to come inside " Are you coming in ? " Charlie asked and Bone walks in .
Charlie greets them like normal while Bone asks " Uhm Charlie , since when were you a furry ? " " I always was , I just never felt the need to show it " " Then why are you an owl ? " " Please buy something , I'm supposed to be working here "
Bone wanted to continue , but Charlie made it clear they weren't going to talk unless their demands were met . So Bone bought some food and asked again " I was wondering what it would be like as an owl . It's nice to have feathers covering me , but it feels like a hassle especially the wings but it's a good thing I can easily move it "
Charlie casually reverts to their human form , surprising Bone even more " How did you do that ? " " I just think about it , just like how I thought about your impression of me as an owl ... Maybe I can turn into a bat too ? "
Charlie turns into a bat and Bone was amazed by how charming they were " You look hot " " Thanks " Charlie blankly said , then reverted back to human " Now your change " Charlie counts the coins for Bone .
" Wait , can you turn into a bat again ? " Bone held his phone and Charlie said " No " " I'll pay you " " Not a hooker " Charlie said and pushed their change into their paws .
" Have a good night customer " " Come on , I want a photo . You look hot as a bat and as an owl " Charlie walked out of the counter and said " Have a good night customer " like a robot and Rune caught the impression of a robot from Bone .
" Come on " Bone pleaded , but they were already pushed out of the door . When they were done , they waited for a long time , waiting for Charlie to turn into another one , but it was getting late , so they left .
" Next time , watch the cameras for me " Charlie said " Or you could just imagine your photos being deleted " Rune said and held a robot figurine " That looks complicated "
" Duh " they continued working while Charlie kept looking up at the worldwide news " Don't you think you should look at the community news instead ? "
" Why ? " " Maybe they're talking about the mysterious convenience store that strangely has some things that hide their fursonas or internet Profiles " Rune said " I don't feel like going into those groupchats for those kinds of updates "
" That's what you get for being satisfied with having no friends " Rune said with a sigh " Sorry , it's just more important to know about the news worldwide than in a community ... Even if it might be more relevant "
Charlie then proceeds to look into some news " Won't group chats be more reliable " " It would be , but I don't like the suffocating maintenance effort I have to put into them . And if they are like Bone , I would have to answer questions and take a lot of pictures like a mascot in an amusement park "
" So just the community news ? " Charlie nodded " Even so , there's so little news about the community because of how narrow my searches are " Charlie sets it aside and decides to just play around with imaginary powers instead on their phone's gallery and edits some photos with thoughts .
" It looks like I can project imaginary power into devices . Maybe this will be a good way to train " " It's mostly drawings unless it turns into real things " Charlie tries it and a sparrow drawing flies out .
" Oh damn , it looks very real " Charlie then takes the impressions and pushes it into the sparrow as it turns into a bat " How creative " Rune said and Charlie tries the other impressions of a robot and it turns into one .
" Maybe it's possible to edit this one much further " " What you planning to do " " Sure we already edited the Nocturnal Impressions how different is a Robot Impression ? "
" But ? " " But we don't know how much imaginary power I have , but since you can use it easily , wouldn't it be better for you to use it " " Nope , I can only do things you actively or subconsciously wished for and just to be safe it would be better for you just to make a simple use of imaginary like turning this bird into a surveillance camera "
Charlie sighed and thought of how to minimize the use of Imaginary by lowering the functions " It does make sense to use this new power cautiously , and information gathering is useful "
" Won't there be some connection since you are preserving this bird ? " " Do you know things I don't " " Please , we're both the same person , it's just that I speak whatever is deep in your mind out loud "
" So what connection are we referring to ? " Charlie asked and Rune pointed at a transparent line that was made visible " Can other people see it " " No but it's kinda like the connection you and I have , although it's superficial at best because we are the same person with clear differentiating factor between us " Rune said .
" Can I see the rest of this connection ? " " Nope , you'd be blinded by how much space it occupies because the connection very clear and strong because of how in touch you are with yourself , which is me " Rune said and Charlie looked at the sparrow's thin line connecting to them .
" I don't feel any headaches , so I can just keep making copies " " Is it really a headache that should be the consequence of overuse " " Don't know , but I can assume that this imaginary power might be relevant to how much our mind can think of at once "
" So like you can maintain a house if you can imagine the whole thing ? " Charlie nodded " The birds are the same thing , but I would prefer for them to be more autonomous , so I'm using Bone's Robot Impressions to automate them . The owls and bats should be good enough as basis to preserve it's existence , while the robot impression can be edited even further to optimize the functions "
" Do you think these impressions can last ? " " Don't know , but it's present from what people think of me because they can't forget that I'm working for the money , but also that I'm good at customer service and sold them the things they needed and saw me as an angel " Charlie says .
Once all of the owls and bats were made and an app made from Bone's robot impression of Charlie was functioning like normal in the phone " Wouldn't they be suspicious ? "
" Pretty sure it'll be fine since I used imaginary power that our products for covering up had , so they'll look just like city pigeons to anyone or invisible because that's how I feel in gatherings "
" Now that you thought about it , how about we look for things that were influenced by your imaginary power ? It would be very well hidden , but I can show the connection "
" Have you always been able to do that ? " " No , but you subconsciously thought there might be a connection or maybe it could be a lasting effect that your imaginary power gave "
" So like an aura ? " " Imaginary aura " Rune added and began to show the imaginary effect in the convenience store , which is very prominent in products that cover people .
" Oh that's a lot " " yeah and to think you were afraid of using this power " " This new power we have really is strange " " No one can see it , so we can look around to see what each of them do " Rune said , but noted that the only affected products were for covering and the other things like the instant food or ready-to-eat products were not affected .
" Maybe it's because I never had a lasting impression on them " Charlie said " You did watch a lot about how artificial some of these foods are , but it didn't matter because you kept telling your customers who keep buying so much to eat real food , bad for business but we can't intentionally hurt the customers " Rune said .
" It's a good thing I didn't view these processed products as poison or by the Geneva Convention I'd be in prison " " But doesn't that also mean that it will be dangerous if everyone's impression of processed food influences it " Rune pointed out and Charlie then imagines several people's imaginary power poisoning these foods .
" ... Then I better filter out the imaginary food that's coming tonight " " Good call , maybe we should figure out how to see these imaginary auras first " " So I can't see other people's imaginary aura ? "
" I mean , I don't let others see me , so that would make sense right ? " " But we still have to think of some countermeasures for this poisoning imaginary aura that's left through Impressions of objects "
" Why not think of a sponge to soak it in " Rune said " Yeah , but that's so boring and it's probably more beneficial if we add more details to these solutions , like how artwork is easier to understand with more details "
" How about insects ? " " That could work . Maybe we can put them in a pot , but I don't have one " " You could just use your phone " Rune said " Oh yeah , maybe the phone is the best medium to create Imaginaries "
" Good name " so while doing the work with a few customers that came at night , Charlie was drawing with Imaginary power to create Imaginaries that will sequester the poisonous aura .
' It's very nice of you to use trees because they do sequester carbon , but how would you know the results ? ' Rune thought ' The branches will grow , but I'm worried it might be visible to the others . '
' There is another shipment that we have to worry about , but you can just use your masking aura to keep our part-timers from knowing ' ' Ooh ' Charlie thought in agreement .
When the shipment came , Charlie put on a mask with a protective layer of aura to filter out the poisonous ones and placed them in the storage while leaving some seeds around it .
" Don't trees need sunlight to grow ? " " They do , but we're not sure what these are and for good measure I added some insect larvae for good measures " " That's gonna be a very dangerous poison garden "
" And zoo " Charlie closes the storage doors and when they put their mask aside , they went out to check the progress of the construction team " Maybe because they now have bears and rhinos , it's going smoothly . Should we offer them food as thanks ? "
" Maybe we can , but we gotta expand our inventory " Charlie looks at the unfinished construction , imagining what it would look like " CHARLIE STOP "
Charlie snaps out of their thoughts as they look at the construction site , which had finished . They quickly reverted it as it faded into the background " Did anything happen to my body ? "
" Not yet , for all that talk we had about minimizing its uses , you somehow used so much you changed the terrain " Rune complains and Charlie goes back inside .
" Maybe we should also watch out for the poisonous aura in fresh food , they can rot too and there might be unique ones from meat that the vegan community Labels their impressions with "
" Oh god , I hate those naturalist " " There might be druids or people with actual powers from what's happening , but in the end the source would be these imaginary powers with a source we still can't confirm "
Charlie looked at the keys to the storage room and wondered how long it would take for the poison to be absorbed and then Rune asked some questions deep in them .
" With the air quality so bad , don't you think that the impressions will spread through the air too " Rune said and Charlie began to imagine all of the news that people were reading about the air quality .
" Are you suggesting that the garden would also sequester the poisonous aura around us ? " Charlie asked " Yep and soon enough this place is going to become a green zone because of the garden and because of everyone's uncontrollable use of this new power " Rune said and they both paused until Rune says .
" Should we check on it ? " " This is not like a fridge that will spawn food just because you opened it five minutes later " Charlie said and then Rune argued with .
" You never know with the strange things happening , food might just appear in our fridge " Charlie looked at the store's cameras and locked the door " May as well just to see how good it is "
Charlie unlocked the storage door and when they opened it , they were met with a lush garden " First off , it's beautiful , but second , how screwed is the world ? "
Charlie sighed as the butterflies , centipedes and other colorful insects swarmed the place while the branches of the trees stretched around bearing flowers of poisonous aura .
" I mean , this could be good depending on how we see it , there is always a thin line between medicine and poison " Charlie says and they looked at the roots " The only problem is I'm not that smart in terms of chemicals as a uneducated citizen "
" Maybe you can steal some impressions at the hospitals ? " " Can the birds even do that ? " Charlie asked worried it might not work " You'll never know unless you try " Rune said while revealing the connections to Charlie .
" You're right , let's give it a try "
...
" ER we have another one " a nurse felt overwhelmed as more and more of their patients were becoming less and less humans . They even called the veterinarians because most of them were more like animals now , but because of the mix of human and animal biology in some of these transformed patients , they couldn't administer the right medical care .
The hospitals were swamped by other independent clinic doctors because of this and thanks to that , it was a perfect hunting ground for Doctor Impressions . Charlie received several impressions and through them they were able to stack the layers of impressions , which took the form of a coat and began experimenting with it .
" Okay , so I made some of them already " " How in the world did you transform it ? " Rune asked and Charlie thought of an explanation " Maybe it's the combined effort of clear image , like how magic works with a clear image and the doctor's layered impressions of the thin line of dosages "
" So fake it till you make it , then wouldn't you be able to be a doctor with these impressions " " I can , but I'd be a quack doctor because I'm processing imaginary aura , not real chemicals . The layered Impressions only gave me the ideas and mindset , but it doesn't provide me with the greater skills like being able to convert the joke about oil and water into two specific chemicals " Charlie said .
" You got that one out of that romance show , didn't you " " Duh " Charlie placed all of the medicine they made and stored them in a notebook and wrote the effect on the top .
" That pocketbook is gonna be our storage unit for Imaginaries now , isn't it ? " " Yep , I would like to put food in , but at this stage we don't have to worry about that yet , plus with this garden sequestering the poisonous aura we'll be fine , but we need to figure out ways to sequester them properly "
" Being a hero , are we ? " " If we plant a tree in a desert , it would be easy to spot unless we plant several around it " " but then the government won't progress with their imaginary research "
" Oh , they certainly will , they will see plants and insects possessing imaginary aura and will assume it's a natural cause " Charlie lets out the storage door open as insects fly out while the pollen was carried out .
" But the problem is people will begin to assume everything is just insects and plants , so let's make some Blank Imaginaries for anyone's impression to influence it "
" Great idea , are you planning to send more of these Blanks out ? " " Why not ? This world will be chaotic , so it needs some order to hold them down even if it might be at my expense " Rune suddenly caught a self-impression from Charlie like how they caught a cold .
" Oh look at this , angel " Rune showed their new look as a biblically accurate angel with several eyes , but instead of the basic gold and white design , it was colorful with eyes and feathers of different colors and wing design " What is this ? "
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