Hybrid Vigor, Part 2

Notice:  This story has been rated "NC17" for adult language, nudity,
strong sexual content, violence, and explicit smoking.  If you find any
of this objectionable, I suggest you try another fetish.

Copyright 1997 by G. M. Sullivan.  All rights reserved.  This story may
be copied and distributed for the uncompensated amusement of others
only.

Author's note:  This story takes place during the spring before the
events described in "Dying for a Cigarette" and "Phoenix Ascending."
While it is not necessary to read those stories to enjoy this one, I
recommend them to you with full prejudice.

Dedication:  For Sstoryman, with deepest respect.


"Hybrid Vigor"  Part Two of Five


Part Two:  Interiors

4.  Tarheel Beauty

Shelly drove through the darkened streets of Hilltop, anxiously
gripping the wheel.  Today had provided one rude shock after another.
First, the almost disastrous interview with Dr. Ryan.  Then she had met
with Virginia Marshall, who had fitted her for a Racal containment suit
just like the ones the doctors wore in all those horrible disease
movies.  Another near-panic ensued until Dr. Marshall assured her that
the suits were rarely needed, since no microorganisms dangerous to
humans were present in the lab.  It was only a regulation, that's all.

Then Shelly had signed Mary Lou's name to an endless series of forms.
She did not fear that the phony signatures would be exposed; she had
practiced all weekend, and had often forged her parents' signatures in
high school.  What had scared her was the forms' content.  She (or was
it Mary Lou?) had basically agreed to risk a miserable death every time
she entered the lab.  Despite Dr. Marshall's assurances that this was
all pro forma and that the "real" risks were minor, she was left
nervous and shaking.

Then there were the biocontainment procedures she had been required to
study...endless hand washings, showers before and after working in the
lab, the use of disposable paper clothing, the endless precautions, the
emergency drills, all speaking to her of dire peril.

Shelly, however, was determined to regroup.  They hadn't kicked her
out, and at the end of the day she had been awarded an ID badge bearing
her picture.  She could still do this.  She should do this.  It was
beginning to look like Brickman was right; whatever was going on at OST
did not bode well for the public.

The first step in her rally was to do something about the smoking
issue.  Dr. Ryan was sensitive to it, and she had observed that almost
everyone at OST smoked.  It would be a critical tool for getting to
know her coworkers.  Smoking was permitted anywhere except in the BL4-P
containment area, but most people seemed to use smoke breaks as an
excuse to wander around and socialize.  She had to master the skill.

She had called the real Mary Lou and asked if she could visit her after
dinner.  It was not the first time Shelly had spoken to her, and Mary
Lou seemed very friendly and outgoing.  Shelly knew she was a heavy
smoker, and felt sure she would help Shelly get the knack.

Mary Lou's parents greeted her warmly at the door, marveling at the
close resemblance.  Shelly thought they should be warm...after all,
their daughter was getting paid for lying in bed while she did the
work!  They showed her to the bedroom where Mary Lou was still largely
imprisoned.

Shelly winced when she entered the room.  Frilly curtains on the
window, a frillier pink canopy over the bed, stuffed animals piled
everywhere, Sailor Moon wallpaper...even "Little Mermaid" sheets on the
bed!  It looked like a room for an eight-year-old, not a pre-med
sophomore.  The only jarring notes were the layers of stratified
cigarette smoke that drifted lazily through the room and the
accompanying odor, mixing unhappily with some sort of fruity cologne.

"Well hi, honey, we meet at last!  Is that you, or did someone bring a
mirror in heah?"  Mary Lou was stretched out on the bed, wearing (of
course) a cute, pink-flannel nightgown.  It did not entirely conceal
the plaster cast which completely encased her right leg.

Although she knew what to expect, it was still a shock for Shelly to
see "herself" already in the room, dressed in something she gave up
wearing at 13, surrounded by such cloying decorations.  Mary Lou's red
hair, slightly longer than Shelly's, was arrayed prettily on her
lace-trimmed pillow, her face freshly washed and innocent of any trace
of makeup.  It was Shelly Aronsen in her farmer's daughter disguise,
she thought.

"Pull up a chair, honey, and tell me all about my new job!" said Mary
Lou.

Shelly moved a small vanity stool close to the bed, sat down, and
filled Mary Lou in on what she was missing.  Despite herself, Shelly
found herself warming to Mary Lou's down-home ingenuousness,  and soon
the two girls were giggling together about Shelly's first-day
misadventures.  Mary Lou was most interested in her meeting with Dr.
Ryan.

"Doesn't he just sound darlin'-hearted!  Curse this old leg, anyway!"
Mary Lou banged a small fist against the cast.

"Darling-hearted wasn't the word that came to my mind!" said Shelly,
and laughed.

"You'll have to excuse me, honey, but ah must have a cigarette.  Would
that be too much to ask?"

"No, please do, it's your house!  Besides, that's the main reason I
came tonight..."

"How so, sugah?"  Mary Lou picked up a large, choked, glass ashtray
from the sheet and dumped it into a small wastebasket near the bed.
From the cloud of ashes that arose from it, Shelly guessed that the
basket was getting full, too.  Shelly told Mary Lou about her
determination to become a comfortable smoker.

"And here ah thought you wanted some pointers on biology!  Ah'm glad
it's something simpler and more fun!  Smokin' is darlin'-hearted,
Shelly, and easy like fallin' off a log...it's goin' in the othah
direction that's hard!"  Mary Lou set the ashtray between them and
fetched a pack of Premium Deluxe 100s.  "These are pretty strong to
start with..."

"That's perfectly okay, that's what everyone seems to smoke there..."

"All right then..."  Mary Lou extracted two cigarettes, placed both in
her pink, round lips, flicked her disposable lighter and lit both.  She
drew hard on both cigarettes, removed them, and extended one to
Shelly.

As Shelly bent forward to take hers, Mary Lou let loose her enormous
double puff and smoke swirled around Shelly, making her eyes water.
She raised a hand to wave it away, then stopped.  That was just the
sort of thing she must learn to avoid.  Blinking rapidly, she took the
cigarette and held it, watching Mary Lou.

She had never closely studied anyone's smoking, and was surprised to
see that despite the large exhale Mary Lou still had more smoke to blow
out on her next breath, and her following words were accompanied by yet
more smoke.

"Ah, that feels sooo good, sugah!  Ah almost envy you for stayin' a
virgin 'till now!"  Shelly was almost shocked at such a "suggestive"
word from Mary Lou, but it seemed to fit her attitude toward smoking;
she made it look like a sexual experience.  Shelly thought back to Dr.
Ryan's intense gaze during her abortive smoking that morning.

Mary Lou propped herself up in bed a little and took another long, slow
puff.  As Shelly watched, Mary Lou removed the cigarette, turned toward
her, and opened her mouth.  Shelly could see a milky, opaque cloud
within that suddenly withdrew down Mary Lou's throat as she inhaled.
Mary Lou smiled, pouted her lips, and blew out a long, thick stream
that seemed to go on for minutes.  Still, there was more smoke to come
as she started speaking again.

"That's how it's done, honey!  Now, you'll never learn by lettin' it
burn away in yoah hand...go on, take a small puff, and don't worry
about breathin' it down just yet."

Shelly raised the cigarette to her lips and drew lightly.  Somehow,
with Mary Lou here, the taste did not seem quite so bad, and she drew
in a little more.  She took the cigarette out and blew out some
uninhaled smoke, trying to purse her lips as Mary Lou had.  Shelly
could see that her exhaled smoke looked different from Mary Lou's,
thicker and if anything more irritating.  She blew some air out after
it to clear it away from her face.

"No fair, sugah, you've been practicin'! Don't stop now!  Take two or
three more just that way, maybe draw a little harder each time..."

Shelly did as she was told, matching her puny exhales against Mary
Lou's billowing clouds.  Each time it was a little easier, and each
time she drew on the cigarette a little longer.  There was something
about this, smoking with a friend...it was almost natural, almost fun.
If the air in the room had been smoky before, now it was getting
opaque, but somehow even that wasn't too bad.  All of the windows were
shut, since the natives found anything below 50 degrees to be freezing,
but Shelly decided not to make a point of opening one...

"I think you're just like me, darlin'...in so many ways!  Now, don't
take this the wrong way, we're purebreds down here, but ah know how to
make the next step a little easier...want to try?"

"What's that?" asked Shelly.  Her cigarette was half gone now and she'd
been thinking about putting it out, but she needed to press on if she
was to reach her goal quickly.

Mary Lou spoke through soft white clouds.  "Just this, hon...I'll
inhale some smoke, then you bend real close-like and put your lips
right up to mine...no tongue now, I'm not that way!" she laughed
pleasantly and Shelly joined in.  "Then when I blow, you inhale my
smoke as it comes out.  That's how my mama taught me..."

"Your mother?" Shelly was shocked.

"Things are different here, sugah, just you pay it no mind.  If we do
it this way, it will be much easier for you to get used to the smoke."
That said, Mary Lou took an extra-long drag, and waved Shelly to bend
close.

Feeling a little silly or worse, just a little turned-on, Shelly bent
forward until her lips were just brushing Mary Lou's, emptying her
lungs as she moved.  Imagine, she thought, this "hick" was more
open-minded than she in some ways!  Then Mary Lou began to exhale a
thin stream into Shelly's open mouth, and Shelly breathed it in.

This was far different from Shelly's earlier attempt to inhale...the
smoke was more diffuse and did not trigger her gag or cough reflex.
She felt a warmth in her throat and chest that was far from unpleasant,
and the intimacy of the process was definitely reaching her nether
regions now.  Finally, Mary Lou's lungs were empty and Shelly leaned
back, holding her breath and savoring the sensation.

It was strange...like breathing an alien atmosphere that could not
sustain her life, but for this one breath was quite enjoyable.  She
pursed her lips and blew slowly, and watched a natural-looking stream
of smoke leave her mouth.  Not nearly so thick as Mary Lou's, but far
better-looking  than her earlier puffs.  She felt an odd sense of
accomplishment as her smoke joined the swirling layers above the bed.

"Well, I'll be, ah think you are a smoker now, Shelly!  Let's try a
couple more like that, and then well be done with these, and you will
need a rest."

On the next two puffs, Mary Lou double-dragged on her cigarette and
Shelly noted the technique.  Shelly's exhales from these smoke
exchanges were thicker and longer-lasting.  On the last puff Shelly did
not straighten up, but let her exhale wreath Mary Lou's face instead.
As she expected, Mary Lou did not flinch away.  It seemed this was also
a part of how smokers behaved together, and she indulged a brief
fantasy of smoking this closely with Dr. Ryan...

Shelly was feeling quite light-headed now, and the room spun a bit as
she sat up on the stool.  While Mary Lou stubbed out her cigarette and
Shelly followed suit, she asked if that was normal.

"Normal as Summer following Spring, hon.  That won't last though...wish
ah could get that feelin' again, myself!  Let's wait a spell until you
settle down, then we'll let you try it on yoah own."

The girls chatted for a while about nothing in general while the smoke
cleared somewhat and Shelly got recomposed.  Mary Lou was quietly
getting desperate, and finally said, "You ready for another cigarette,
sugah?"

"Oh, why not!"

This time Shelly lit her own and puffed out some uninhaled smoke, while
Mary Lou vanished behind her customary, cloudy exhale.  "Now hon, try
to inhale on yoah own.  If it's too much, we can go back to the other
way."

Surprising herself, Shelly almost asked for another smoky "kiss" right
away, but decided that she had best get on with the process.  After
all, she could hardly ask Dr. Ryan...!  Instead, she brought the
cigarette to her lips, drew for a full second, then breathed it in
deeply.

This was definitely a more intense sensation, and Shelly felt her
light-headedness return immediately.  When she blew out the smoke, it
was thicker and much more opaque than before.  She could see the shadow
her plume cast on the bed this time.  She felt almost exhilarated.  Now
at last she understood some of the appeal of this strange activity...it
was unlike any other shared experience, but it was...fun, yes, and just
a little naughty, as well!

While Mary Lou loosed a languid smoke stream into her canopy, Shelly
defied her dizziness and took a two-second drag.  When she blew the
smoke out this time it pooled in a cloud over the bed, mixing with Mary
Lou's exhale in a way that somehow made her giggle with the
excessiveness of it all.  To her surprise, she saw more wisps of smoke
escape her mouth and nose while she giggled.

By now, though, the room was seriously whirling, and Shelly had to slow
her pace.  She could not keep up with Mary Lou...not yet, anyway.
However, she was now sure she could put on a convincing show at work
tomorrow...and who knew, she might even come to enjoy the occasional
cigarette.  There were certainly worse risks in life...

Two hours later, Shelly left the Demming residence and re-entered her
car.  From his vantage point in the parked car across the street, Dane
Peters breathed a sigh of relief.  He had been ready to conclude that
this was Mary Lou Demming after all, and that would have meant telling
Dr. Ryan he was wrong, something which never sat well with the boss.
But then again, Dr. Ryan was never wrong.

Peters started his car and followed at a discrete distance.


 5.  A Morning Smoke, Part One

Scanning his early e-mail, Dr. Ryan turned first to the report from
Dane Peters.  As usual, the man had done his job well.  "Mary Lou
Demming" was actually one Shelly Aronsen, a summer intern at the
Hilltop Journal.  Peters admitted he was at a loss to explain how the
Journal had, with virtually no notice, found a woman who was such a
close match in appearance with Demming.  Despite being suspicious of
coincidences, Peters was forced to conclude that this was just a lucky
accident for the paper.

Dr. Ryan was also a disbeliever in coincidences, but in this case he
had to agree.  If anything had been done to alter Aronsen's appearance,
he would have seen the signs.  It was simply a fortuitous
circumstance...for him, now that he understood it.  He made a mental
note to have all interviewees fingerprinted on their first visit to
OST.

Dr. Ryan usually made plans and decisions quickly, and this time was no
exception.  He wrote back to Peters instructing him to maintain
discreet surveillance on both Aronsen and Demming, watching especially
for any contact with that idiot editor Brickman, and to re-code
Aronsen's badge to allow her unrestricted access to the BL4-P lab.
Peters would choke at that one, but it only added leverage.  If she
entered the containment area against his orders, that would be a
violation of federal law which would also apply to Brickman.

He intended to make the most of this opportunity.  He would reveal far
more to Aronsen than he ever would have to the real Mary Lou.  That way
he could discover what interested her and her "sponsor" the most.  He
would also allow her to taste a sample of his work to date....

That thought gave him pause.  Spy though she was, that did not give him
license to treat Aronsen like an animal.  He had never asked a patient
or human subject to take any risk he would not take himself.  Since he
did not intend to ask this time, he must act instead.

He unlocked a drawer in his desk and slid it open to reveal several
dozen packs of Premium Deluxe 100s.  Withdrawing one, he examined it
closely.  There was nothing to distinguish these packs from any normal
production cigarettes, except for three small initials printed on the
back:  RCJ.  Yet if there was a sale value to these cigarettes, it
would be in excess of $10 thousand per pack.  He opened it and withdrew
one, rolling it between his fingers.

He had delayed this step for some weeks now.  The consequences were
potentially so vast he had, uncharacteristically, paused to check and
re-check his own work.  Few doubts remained in his mind, and now his
hand was forced. Perhaps that was for the best.

He thumbed his desk lighter to life.


 6.  A Morning Smoke, Part Two

"Mary Lou's" tiny cubical was located in a small room with seven others
all occupied by interns.  Five of the seven were female and attractive,
which made Shelly wonder just what the hiring criteria were here.
Also, she noted that even at 8:30 AM the room was visibly smoky.

Her office came with a new desktop computer, a complete set of
regulatory and procedure manuals, and a large ashtray.  After last
night, a cigarette was the last thing she wanted.  Her throat was
scratchy and her mouth had been unbearably dry since awakening.  Still,
she knew she could not wait long if she was to maintain her momentum.

She logged on to the system as she had been shown yesterday and checked
her e-mail.  There was a single message, from Dr. Ryan, requesting her
presence in his office at nine o'clock to continue her lab
orientation.  This would be the real beginning of her assignment, her
chance to find out just what was going on.

Sighing, she removed a pack of cigarettes from her purse.  She should
have one before seeing Dr. Ryan again, if she wanted to have any hope
of making up for her performance yesterday.  Using a lighter lent her
by Mary Lou, she lit her first cigarette of the day.

Since her goal was to smoke in a style comparable to Mary Lou's, she
dragged for just under three seconds.  Surprisingly, the puff was much
less irritating than she had feared.  Removing the cigarette, she
breathed in, more deeply that she had to date, held the smoke briefly,
then exhaled at the fluorescent tube above her desk.  The smoke pooled
and swirled there in the bright light, and she smiled with
satisfaction.  She drew in a little more air, then blew experimentally
again, producing another small cloud.  Good, she thought, my work is
paying off.

"Hi, Mary Lou!  May I come in?" asked a voice behind her, making Shelly
start a little.  She swiveled around to see Alicia, another intern,
standing at the entrance with an unlit cigarette in her hand.

"Sure...sugar, pull up a chair!" said Shelly.  Alicia moved the single
visitor's chair close to Shelly's, sat, swept back her straight, blonde
hair, and placed the cigarette in her lips.  Shelly had the lighter
ready and lit her up.  Alicia pulled hard at the smoke, then leaned her
head in towards Shelly.

"So...what's he like?"  Alicia's words were accompanied by thick bursts
of white smoke that broke against Shelly's face.  She tried not to
blink too much, succeeding better this time, and took a pull of her
own, trying to match Alicia's technique.

"You mean Dr. Ryan?"  Shelly's words were smoke-wrapped now, and she
kept her face close to Alicia's.  Not surprisingly, Alicia took no
notice.  Shelly blew out the rest of the smoke downward, watching it
gather between them.

"Who else, ninny?  You're his assistant, aren't you?  Isn't he just a
dream?  So smart...so dominating..."

Shelly allowed the girlish gossip to continue while they smoked their
cigarettes.  It was definitely getting easier, and having a smoking
buddy was a great help.  It was even becoming somewhat pleasurable, in
a perverse sort of way.

Soon the cigarettes were done, the air in the cubical thick with
smoke.  Shelly mentioned she was due to see Dr. Ryan and would have to
go.

"You lucky thing!"  said Alicia.  "You got the plum assignment!  Well,
we won't hate you too much if you give us a full report..."

"I will, don't worry, and thanks for stopping by!"  Shelly stood,
grabbed the master lab manual, and was on her way.

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