Play the Part - Wolf O’Donnell TF Themes: latex suiting / willing / mascot gig / personality takeover Word count: 4,182 ———————————————————————————
Brad felt nervous as he walked in for his new job. He’d been denied so many times, and had no one left to turn to for comfort or advice, not even his parents anymore. But then, out of the blue, this company had contacted him, telling him that he qualified for the job. He didn’t understand how he could possibly be the right choice, having no real resume or acting experience under his belt. But whatever the reason, he’d been given a chance to prove himself, and he was ready to seize it.
He didn’t actually know much about what went on there. He’d definitely heard of it before; it was basically this new cutting edge motion capture technology that created insanely life-like 3D models and projected them onto employees wearing the equipment, who then went around being extra-immersive cosplayers of sorts for events like E3 and furcons and such. Oddly enough, they always looked like they were made of some rubber-like material, which presumably had something to do with the limitations of what the projections could create. Brad never really questioned it, and he didn’t feel the need to start now. As long as it brought in the paychecks.
He walked timidly up to the front desk, and presented the flyer he was given. “Hi… just coming in for this job opportunity?”
“Ah, good,” said the employee, taking the flyer eagerly. “We just need you to fill out some details, then you can go ahead and choose your character from the list.”
He flew through all the check boxes, then was presented with the list. There was a large assortment of characters, quite a lot of them resembling animals. After some deliberation he decided to choose Wolf O’Donnell. He’d played a couple of Starfox games in his childhood, and thought it’d be pretty cool to get to relive those memories in a more direct way. “I’ll go with Wolf.”
“Alright then, just a moment.” The employee turned, opened a door behind him, and stepped into it. A few seconds later, he reemerged, carrying a large box full of black and purple latex gear. He set it down on the counter in front him, then pointed to his left. “Changing rooms are right down there to the left. Just try it all on, and we’ll have one of your new co-workers come to help you out with the orientation.”
“Okay, thanks. Wow, this looks an awful lot like the real thing! I kinda expected to get hooked up to one of those weird green screen suits or something?”
“Oh, hah, the motion capture isn’t for the entire body. It’s really just for the face and a few other places. You know, the parts you wouldn’t expect to be alive and moving. This stuff’s made of actual latex just to match the look.”
“Gotcha. Guess I’ll be seeing ya then,” Once again, he wasn’t going to be a stickler for details. Brad grabbed the box, which was surprisingly light, and made his way to the changing rooms. He walked into one of the stalls, a simple and spacious area with smooth wooden walls. He set the box down, and locked the door behind him. With the occasional nervous twitch, he reached down and grabbed the large, full-body latex bodysuit, and began to put it on.
He slipped his feet carefully into the leg holes. It was tight and awfully clingy, making it a mighty struggle to get all the way in. As his feet finally emerged on the other sides of those black rubber tunnels, he hoped to god it wouldn’t be this agonizing to take it back off. He stood back up and inserted his arms into their holes, slowly and haltingly fitting them all the way through until his hands surfaced at long last. Finally, he reached for the zipper on his back, and awkwardly pulled it all the way up to his neck.
Now that the hard part was over, Brad took a moment to see how it felt. The suit felt quite cozy, covering his body down to his ankles and wrists. He breathed slowly and deeply, feeling his muscles relaxing and his mind being cleared of nervous thoughts and fears. It was almost... hypnotic, how comfortable the suit felt on his skin. It should’ve raised some alarms, but he felt so calm that he didn’t really care enough to be suspicious.
With the suit all the way on, he turned his attention back to the box full of accessories. First he grabbed the pink scarf, and wrapped it around his neck. It seemed to settle quite comfortably in place, with the corner sticking out perfectly toward the center of his chest. Next he pulled out the jacket, bearing the familiar purple and pink stripes and starwolf insignia. It was remarkably stiff, sitting wide open as if it were meant to be placed on a mannequin. He slipped it on rather awkwardly, his arms brushing against the loose shoulder pads, and he rotated his shoulders to settle it properly into place. On cue, the jacket seemed to slacken, settling comfortably onto the surface of the suit, until it seemed to stick. He found that a little strange, and absentmindedly tried to tug it off of his body. It held fast, unwilling to separate from the suit. In his light daze, he decided to just carry on; surely he’d figure out how to get it back off later on.
Next he grabbed the fingerless gloves with buckles and slick metal blades on the back. He plunged his right hand in, and heard a squish sound. In a brief moment of awareness, he froze. What the hell was in there? Whatever it was, it… felt kind of nice… curiosity got the best of him, and he pulled the glove all the way on, his fingers emerging covered in a strange sort of gray goo. This should’ve been alarming to him, he knew it... and yet he found himself unable to react. He flexed his fingers around, and the goo held tightly to them, sloshing gently around his skin, not a single drop of it getting flung loose. It felt… strangely appealing. This should’ve seemed so wrong... and yet he somehow felt his mind becoming more and more relaxed as the goo began to harden, fusing to his skin. Within seconds it had become a solid layer of rubber, completely encasing his digits. He gazed at them, almost in a trance, and rubbed his new fingertips together. They created a rather pleasant squeaking sound, and rather startlingly, he could feel them just as well as he could feel his bare fingers. Suddenly, small white claws began to materialize on their tips, big enough to look menacing, but small enough to not be an inconvenience. Without a word, he reached for the other glove, and pulled it on, allowing the goo to do its work on his left hand as well.
Brad’s body was changing, there was no denying it now. The suit was somehow pressing even more tightly now, and he seemed to be losing the feeling of his skin beneath it. This ordinarily would’ve sent him into panic mode, desperately attempting to claw it all off of his body, and yet… he felt so passive, complacent, almost lethargic. As his left hand solidified, he allowed the surreal sensations to keep surrounding him, breathing calmly as he plugged away at his task to gear up.
He grabbed the large boots with silver blades running all down the front, and slipped his feet in. Surprisingly, they fit in quite easily, and the insides felt oddly squishy... and so very comfortable. Then he felt his feet being squished, much like the suit had done. He felt the same liquid goo that had covered his hands forcing their way between his toes, pressing into his heels, coddling his skin more and more tightly, until his feet began to grow numb. His legs buckled, and he quickly sat down, marveling at the sensations in his feet... until he couldn’t feel them at all. He lifted one leg and let the sole collide with the floor. He felt the impact just as well as he would’ve with his bare foot, if with less sensitivity... and yet he couldn’t wiggle his toes or any part of his foot anymore. Bewildered, he reached down and gingerly touched the boots with his rubbery fingers, and jolted slightly as he did; it felt as if his nerves had been ripped straight from his skin and placed on the surface of his gear. It felt more dull, which seemed to make sense given how thick it was, but nevertheless it was quite surreal. It truly seemed to be becoming one with his body... and he was quite loving it. In his dreamy state, he simply saw no reason to stop there. If he was going to just straight up become Wolf O’Donnell, he wasn’t going to stop it from happening.
With almost a newfound eagerness, he swiped the belt, with its jingling chain and holster, and fastened it to his waist, hardly able to notice or care that the same liquid rubber was now emerging from the scarf, creeping up the back of his head. He snapped the buckle in place, and as the belt fused itself to the suit, he pulled out his blaster and examined it. It was a rather harmless plastic prop, able to shoot little fluorescent purple bulbs that light up as they travel through the air, mimicking a laser blast. He knew because he’d seen these things in action once before he was even selected for this job. It felt quite cool to hold one in his hand, and as he re-holstered it he was struck by how natural the extra weight felt on the side of his body; as though it was always meant to be there.
His attention was grabbed by something materializing at the back of the belt: yet another gray blob of goo, dripping out in front of his buttocks, steadily growing longer and thicker until it formed into an impressive, thick 2 foot long tail. Suddenly, its base detached from the belt, rapidly maneuvered straight down toward the tail hole of the bodysuit, and began forcefully attaching itself to his backbone. He groaned as the most surreal and intense sensation yet pounded at his lower body, and the tail twitched spastically, establishing its connection to his mind. His body shuddered violently, slowly but surely accepting the new limb as part of its collective. Eventually, the shivers ceased. Breathing heavily and staring wide-eyed at the tail, he attempted to make it move. Sure enough, it swished back and forth gently, just as comfortably as his arm would move. He gasped quietly at just how alien it was; he could feel the weight of it on his body, and the gentle air brushing against his rubbery tail as it glided back and forth. It was amazing.
Still in a state of absolute wonder, he looked at the box again, and only one object remained; the eyepatch. He reached down, grabbed it carefully, and studied it for a moment. Was he really going to have to give up one of his eyes for this? He decided to trust that everything would work out, and pressed it gently onto his right eye, and heard another *squish* as suddenly, even more of the goo emerged from behind the patch, and began to ooze outward in all directions across his face. He recoiled in surprise, only just becoming aware of the rubber creeping up from his neck, which had already completely coated the back and top of his head with a solid gray layer and even created a sort of white mohawk all across his scalp. The rubber on his face quickly coated every little surface it could find, completely sealing him in. He sensed exactly what was coming, so he closed his eyes and braced himself.
He suddenly felt a massive tugging sensation all over his face. He made a rather inhuman sound with his mouth as it began to stretch outward, creating a pointed, canine shape. The goo surged into his mouth too, turning a pink color as it enveloped his gums and teeth, and created a whole new set of fangs to accompany his snout. It briefly clogged his throat, causing him to panic just a little as it went all the way back, thoroughly coating everything inside. His ears were forcefully tugged higher up on his skull, growing larger and sharper. He somehow wasn’t in pain, only feeling the incredibly strong pressure of his skull and face being reshaped.
After what felt like an eternity, it all came to a stop. His windpipe became clear, and he breathed heavily, quickly noting how gruff it sounded. He slowly opened his only eye, and was greeted by a long gray wolf nose partially in his vision. He quickly reached up to feel it, and sure enough, he had full feeling in his new, rubbery snout. “Woah… H… Holy crap…” He was immediately startled by how different his voice sounded. It was deeper, more rugged, more... animal-like. “Heh, that’s cool...”
Now that the look was complete, Brad decided to examine his new “skin”. He gently pinched at his leg, gripping the surface of the suit in his fingers. He tried to pull the suit off of his skin, but it wouldn’t happen. He couldn’t feel anything underneath the latex, and he felt the pain from pinching himself. It was quite obvious, this stuff was his skin now. He clutched the flaps of his jacket and pulled. They seemed to be allowed to hang just a little bit loose, but beyond that it was firmly attached to the bodysuit. With shock, he realized that he could feel his JACKET as a part of his body too. “Woah… jeez, this is weird!” It was like the entire outfit was him. He rubbed his fingers all along his body, and every little piece of gear sent signals to his mind as he touched them. His body shivered. It was so incredibly bizarre, and yet it also felt quite nice in an odd way. He ordinarily would’ve been sweating bullets in all this equipment by now, but his sweat glands were a thing of the past now.
It took him a moment to remember that one of his eyes was gone. With some concern, he held a finger in front of his face, opening and closing his eye and lamenting his lack of depth perception. And yet, as he brought it closer and farther away, he still seemed able to judge its distance pretty well. In fact, he somehow didn’t feel disoriented at all… he felt USED to this, as if it had been like this his entire life. He was astounded. He didn’t know how he could be so comfortable with being stuck with only one eye, and yet the fact that it took him so long to notice the change seemed to speak volumes to him.
He stood back up shakily, and began to walk around. Everything felt... so natural, so normal, so right. Even though he’d hardly worn this gear for 5 minutes, he felt like he might as well have been wearing it for 5000 years. It just felt like he was meant to wear it, like the gear was every bit as much a part of his body as his skin and bones. As he continued clomping around gently, he was amazed by how easily he kept his balance, and then realized that it was because of his new tail. Almost automatically it twitched back and forth, correcting the tiniest imbalances in his step. He smirked a bit, and began stepping more erratically around the room, jolting his body around in precarious ways. His tail swished more strongly in response, accompanying his arms in keeping his body firmly balanced at all times. He couldn’t help laughing out loud at how cool this was.
Just then, he heard approaching footsteps from outside his stall; squeaky just like his, but slightly lighter. Brad held still in order to listen. They stopped just outside the door, and were followed by a light click of metal that sounded like a blaster, and then a familiar voice:
“I’ve found you, Wolf! It’s time to put an end to your little schemes!”
Hearing that voice seemed to trigger something… primal inside of him. He could feel his demeanor changing on the spot, his face twisting into a smug, evil grin. In a swift motion, he swiped his blaster from his belt, kicked the door open, and stood in a dynamic pose pointing his gun at the latex Fox McCloud standing before him. He felt the words well up inside him, and he allowed them to burst forth:
“Ha! We meet again, Fox. You won’t be getting away from me this time.”
For a few seconds they both stood still, both barrels and eyes trained intensely on each other. Then, with striking unison, they both lowered their weapons and laughed, smiling at each other with neither heroism nor cruelty, dropping their over-exaggerated poses and stepping casually toward each other.
“Well? What do you think?” said “Fox”, grinning widely.
“This is… incredible,” Brad responded. He still sounded exactly like Wolf O’Donnell, yet the manner in which he spoke still reflected his former self. “So, it’s, like…”
“Yup! It’s permanent. Don’t worry about losing control or anything, though. You’ll pretty much identify as Wolf now, but you still get to keep your memories, your personality, all that good stuff.” Now that the act was down, “Fox” seemed like much more of a bright little chatterbox than Brad knew his character was supposed to be.
“Huh, really? Then why do I feel like-“
“Your mind’s being taken over? Nah, that’s just your built-in instinct to act like him. Within a few days, you’ll get better at controlling it, and you’ll be able to turn it on and off completely at will! So, by now you’ve probably noticed that your brain is being filled with information about him, right?”
“Umm… woah, yeah. I remember- wow…” Brad clutched his head in shock. He racked his brain, and encountered memories he’d never had before; they weren’t born from his human self… no, they belonged to the fictional character he’d physically become. Space stations, talking animals, starships… it all felt so real, though he still knew full well they never actually happened. He began to recall Wolf’s entire life story, every significant event in his life that made him who he was. He knew with striking intimacy how Wolf functioned, what made him tick, and all his likes, dislikes and fears. It all seemed to be stored in some reserved memory database in his mind, completely separate from his own human memories and feelings.
“You could call it a download in progress,” quipped Fox, “Within a few hours, you’re pretty much going to know wolf every bit as well as he’d know himself! You’ll be able to play the part so well, people could swear that you’re really Wolf O’Donnell in the flesh. It’s really cool.”
“So, all that motion capture stuff…”
“A farce, yeah. Public opinion probably wouldn’t be real positive about this whole permanent, radical transformation thing, so they pretty much came up with the idea to claim that it’s simply visual technology that makes us look so lifelike. It’s not like anyone on the inside is interested in busting the secret or anything, so we’re good.” Fox chuckled.
“Hmm… how long have you worked here, anyway?”
“About 5 months now.”
“Wow… so you really just, go around, performing for people all the time?”
“Yup! The con staff provides everything for us. Sustenance, regular cleaning, place to sleep, even a bit of allowance. Every little thing you could want or need, really. Our only obligation is to get out there and play the part!”
“Huh. This sounds fun! So, am I just going to work for this company, like… forever?”
“Pretty much, yeah. Like, you don’t really have anywhere else to go, right?”
Brad’s eye widened. “Whoa, wait a minute... how do you-… Is THAT why I was chosen for this?!”
“Yup... you see, the staff didn’t want to subject anyone to the awful guilt of leaving their loved ones behind for this job… so, they decided the best solution was to just find people who don’t have any loved ones to begin with!” He began to shuffle nervously, his tone softening. “And maybe, you know... be... that... for them… I guess?”
It was true... he’d had nothing left at all to live for the day prior. He’d recently lost his mom and dad in a tragic accident, and all his life he was never good at making friends with anyone, and wasn’t even on very good terms with his parents either. More than anything, all his life he’d felt so lonely, and it seemed like no one would miss him if he disappeared forever. At the thought, his ears drooped, and he sighed deeply.
Fox picked up on it, and his goofy demeanor began to fade. “Yeah… believe me, I was there too. Before I was approached by the company, I really had nothing left to live for... but then out of nowhere, they gave me purpose, they gave me employment... and they gave me... a family. And I… guess you’re a part of it now, too. Like, you don’t... want to go anywhere else, do you? I don’t want to feel like we’re, you know-“
“Oh, no no! I totally understand. I... I guess it would be nice to have some real company for once…” he stared down at the floor. “In fact, I’ve, uh, never really had an actual friend before...” Fox walked up and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Well... you’ve got us now. You’re in good hands, Wolf. I promise.”
Wolf looked him in the eyes. He reached out to Fox, and they came together in a hug. It would’ve been a rather incongruent sight, two characters always depicted as enemies embracing each other with such amity. Nevertheless, it was the first time Wolf had ever held someone he could properly call a friend. And he loved it almost more than he loved his new body.
After a while, they separated. “So,” Wolf said, “you said ‘us’?”
“Oh, yeah! Me and all the other guys. We really are kinda like a big family together, just rubber clad permanent cosplayers just being buddies behind the scenes, heheh. We may be mortal enemies in the script, but we can just hang out all we want as long as people aren’t watching!”
“Heh, sounds like a good time!” Wolf laughed. “So can I, like, go grab all my things? Like, from my apartment?”
“Oh! Yeah, we’ve already arranged to have all your personal belongings taken to your new quarters. You’re totally covered.”
“Oh, awesome.” Hearing “Fox” talk, it amused him how little he resembled the real Fox McCloud behavior-wise. The person in front of him was a chatty, goofy kind of guy, with a touch of shyness mixed in. None of those traits matched the stoic, valiant figurehead of the games he played in his childhood. He reflected on his own character: a creepy, tough, wartorn asshole. He didn’t see any of that in himself, and the funny thing was he had both minds on hand for a direct comparison. It was quite reassuring to see Fox maintaining his former human personality even after having played his role for so long, and to know that his own identity would remain untouched despite all this radical change he’d been subjected to.
“So, do you really just go by Fox? Even though that’s not, like-“
“Yeah, pretty much. I just don’t really see the need to stick with my old name, you know?”
“Yeah… of course. You’re right,” It was strange. He didn’t expect to be this willing to cast his old name aside, yet it felt as though he was being mentally conditioned to accept this new label. He didn’t see anything wrong with it; he could give up his name as long as he was able to remain essentially the same person he always was. He quite liked the idea of being able to pretty much start his life all over, and he liked how symbolic it was to be taking on a new name in the process. “And I guess I’m Wolf O’Donnell now. Heheheh.”
“That’s the spirit! So, you ready to head on out and learn the ropes, then?” Fox said. He then visibly turned on his “Fox McCloud” act, his posture straightening and his face turning stoic. “Adventure’s out there, and it’s time to face it head on!”
Wolf responded with his own act, his voice becoming evil, cocky, and suave. “Well, let’s not keep the crowd waiting.”
They both chuckled as they walked out together, squeaking along toward the rehearsal area.
Additional disclaimer: The preview does not retain italics when I copy/paste, and there's no way in hell I'm going back through each and every one of these uploads in order to fix it. As a result, keep in mind the RTF file might make for a more readable experience.
