Melty Mercury From Outer Space: Chapter 6

Summary: Nikki is taken over by an extraterrestrial symbiote that changes her into a metal slime girl. While this comes with great power, she's unsure if she can control herself, or handle the extra baggage that comes with it.

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Melty Mercury From Outer Space

Chapter 6

"No no no no no..."

Nikki paced around her apart, her smooth, metal heels clicking against the linoleum. She hugged herself, her arms melting into her chest as she clutched herself tightly. 

"I can't just let him in, what if he saw me like this!? H-he'd panic, or run out, or call the police! The national guard, or... I-I could get put in some research lab! O-oh god, they're gonna ship me to Area 51 or something...!"

She clutched her head, her twintail tendrils writing anxiously. Her eyes lifted to the window.

"Wh-what do I do?? I can't go out the window! There are street lights, a-and I'm so shiny, and I'd be spotted, a-and then it'd all be over..." Nikki lamented. "Maybe if I ignore the buzzer, he'll go away on his own..."

BEEEEEEEEEP!

Reflexively, Nikki's hand shot to the button. It was in her nature to answer as quickly as possible, and not keep her guests waiting. 

"Uhhhh, Nikki? You okay up there? I heard screaming, and then you just-"

"Give me a second!!" Nikki blurted.

"Well okay then-"

Click! Nikki hung up on him again, before crouching to the floor, her hands reforming to cover her face.

"NRGH! All I had to do was stay quiet..." Nikki whined, rubbing her hands down her cheeks. "Now he definitely knows I'm here! I'm screwed..."

She collapsed to her knees. She pulled her twintails anxiously, but they only seemed to stretch further as she tugged. She hissed at herself for being such a stupid, airheaded idiot. It was only a matter of time before she'd have to fess up, and accept a relocation. 

She couldn't go out in public like this, and she wasn't nearly close enough with Brad to trust that he'd keep a secret like this. They hadn't known each other that long. Hell, the meeting at the gym today was, what, their fifth meeting together?

Thunk! She pounded her fist against the floor, making more of an impact than she expected. It left a small, circular indent in the linoleum as she withdrew her hardened knuckles. She stared at her fist with marked astonishment, momentarily concerned that she couldn't move her hardened fingers. But then, right before her eyes, the material softened back into its fluid state. 

She frowned, lowering her arm. This was too much for her, too freak. She really just wanted to curl up into a ball and die. 

Hugging her legs, she brought them up to her chest and curled up tighter and tighter. Even her hair tendrils snaked around her back and legs, wrapping her up as they went.

Nikki gasped upon the realization that she was going a bit beyond the typical fetal position. She could feel her limbs melting together, the space between them disappearing in time. The shape of her hair tendrils massaging against the rest of her form flattened all across her. 

Before long, it was just her head sticking out of a perfectly spherical orb. She glanced down, reminded of the workout balls people used for stretches at the gym.

"...Wait..." Nikki wondered. Her eyes widened with realization. "Th-that's right, I... I'm a shapeshifter now!"

The idea intrigued her, and sparked her imagination. If Brad saw her moving around as a humanoid metal slime, he'd freak out. But she could disguise herself as something else, and he'd be none the wiser!

"Yeah... yeah, I think I have... some kind of idea." Nikki nodded to herself. "I just have to make sure he doesn't see me. Or... if he does see me, he can't recognize me." 

She thought some more. If she could just get Brad in and out in a rush, he wouldn't have time to stand around and gawk at the state of her apartment. The wheels were turning in her head. She smiled to herself, definitely onto something. 

Getting a rolling start, her body quickly reformed itself into a more bipedal form, scrambling to her bathroom. It was a pretty modest bathroom, equipped with all the usual components any person living by themselves needed. It was a little overdue for a cleaning, but there wasn't time for that right now. 

Her arm elongated with purpose towards the shower, turning the water on at its hottest temperature. Her hand felt for the water and waited until the water flushing out from the showerhead was nice and hot. 

"...C'mon..." Nikki muttered. It took way too long for the water to come out hot with this finicky thing. Not to mention the water pressure was pretty lousy... 

In about 30 seconds, the water had reached its hottest temperatures. She could feel the water gradually heating up in her palm, but, strangely, she didn't feel any pain or discomfort. If anything, the heat was comforting, warming her to the core as heat flushed through her viscous body. 

She hurried out back into the hallway, closing the door behind her, but ended up hesitating briefly. She realized she didn't lock the door. And if Brad walked in on that...

Well, she didn't really suspect Brad to be that kind of person. But, better to be safe than sorry. 

"But how am I support to lock the bathroom from the outside..." Nikki felt along the door frame, the gap between the door and its frame not even wide enough to fit a finger through...

Gloop. Her index finger slid effortlessly into the crack. She blinked.

"Oh. Right, duh." She rolled her eyes, pressing her arm deeper and deeper, leaning over until she was literally up to her arm handling the issue. She carefully, blinding felt around for the locking mechanism, giving it a quick twist. 

The door clicked, locking shut. She smiled to herself. The pieces were all coming together. She then hurried out back into the living room, and hurried over to the panel on the wall. Her thumb landed on the intercom button.

"Hey, Brad??" Nikki blurted, pretending she was in a huff... even if she wasn't actually short of air. She wasn't entirely sure she needed to breathe anymore. "Y-you actually caught me at a bad time, I was in the shower..."

"Really? Aw, shit, didn't mean to interrupt you." Brad responded, sounding a little embarrassed over the intercom. "I can come back another time if you're busy-"

"No, no, you came all the way out here! You brought my things over, right?"

"Yeah, got your bag right here." Brad confirmed. "I can sit tight and let you finish up in the shower-"

"NOOOO... I-I mean, I don't wanna waste your time like that, you got stuff to doooo..." Nikki tried to play it cool. "H-how about I leave the door unlocked, and you just drop everything off, okay?"

"Uh? Well, sure, I can do that..." Brad sounded a little disappointed, but recovered quickly. "I'll be in and out in a jiff. Can you buzz me in?"

"SURE THING!!" Nikki was letting her anxiety get the best of her, trying (and failing) to play things 100% cool. She pushed the button that would unlock the front door for Brad. "See you soon!!"

She hung up, resting her hand on her chest. That was nerve-racking.

"He... hehe, d-d-doesn't suspect a thing~" She stammered, trying to calm down. She had to, if this was going to work. After unlocking her own door, she turned around to look over the rest of the room. 

If this was going to work, she'd have to disguise herself as something completely inconspicuous. And she didn't have much time to work out the nuances of her shapeshifting. She only had one idea in mind that was simplistic and wholly unremarkable. 

She closed her eyes and mentally unlatched herself. With a nod, her body began to melt down and lose its shapely form at a quick pace. Her feet spread outwards into expanding puddles of mercurial ooze, the digits on her fingers and toes melting together. Her knees gave out on her, her torso sliding over and landing into the growing puzzle of liquid metal ooze with a wet splash. 

In mere seconds, the humanoid figure had completely dissolved into a large puddle. It wasted no time in spreading across the floor, keeping to the linoleum as best as it could. Nikki grunted, her faint voice's placement difficult to discern, as she felt all kinds of tactile sensations around her. She could feel her body hugging the walls all around her, she could feel the marbelly texture of the linoleum intimately.

"Mm..." Nikki moaned, feeling her body consuming a few small objects as she did. She wasn't sure what that was about, but it was nice, not unlike the silverway she consumed earlier. 

When her body came to a halt, the puddle had spread to cover the entire floor of her apartment... or at least, where the linoleum stopped and where the carpet began. The puddle quivered and undulated, a layer of liquid mercury now covering her kitchen floor.

"Humph!" Nikki tensed up her entire body, and the viscous liquid began to tense up in turn. Like an arctic wind crossing the northern seas, her fluid body began to harden into a solid mass. The light reflected off the surface of her supremely flattened body. 

In just one minute's time, Nikki had replaced the linoleum flooring in her apartment with a stainless steel equivalent—a home renovation job that would've taken a skilled contractor hours to get done! She was pretty pleased with herself...

...She just had to stay focused, and make sure she kept this charade up until Brad had well and truly left the apartment. Nikki waited silently for the front door to open. 

She waited. And waited. And waited a bit more. She knew the elevator was slow, and that it'd be a decent walk from there to her room. She found herself beginning relaxing her body to not get fatigued...

Knock knock knock.

...That is, as coincidence would have it, the exact moment that a cautious drumming at the door startled her enough to get right back to tensing up every muscle in her supremely distended body. She couldn't even allow herself to make a sound...

"Nikki? It's Brad. I'm coming in with your things, so, I dunno... put on a towel if you're naked..." Brad muttered, before opening the door just a crack. It took him another agonizing 10 seconds just to peek his head in. 

C'mon, just get it over with... do it, do it, doitdoitdoitdoitDOIT...

Nikki thought to herself, mentally exasperated. This really wasn't like Brad to go around walking on eggshells like this. She held her breath as the door opened wide enough for Brad to peer his head through.

Brad took a look around the seemingly empty room. True to Nikki's work, he could hear the shower running in the bathroom down and over to the left. His mouth flattened.

"Really should've waited for another time. Ah well..." Brad sighed, letting himself in. He had a lime green gym bag slumped over the shoulder. "Guess I'll drop it over here..."

Brad stepped into the apartment and headed right, looking to drop the bag next to the dining room table in the middle of the kitchen. This, of course, meant that his trajectory would take him directly over Nikki's flattened, hardened form.

"!"

Nikki felt a heavy pressure somewhere on her. Brad was walking all over her, sandwiching her between the linoleum tiles. She had to maintain her concentration to keep up the rigidity of her form, but the pressure...

"Ohhh..." 

The pressure felt really good. She couldn't help but let out a moan in response to Brad placing his entire weight on her body. She was almost about to relax then and there...

...Except she remembered the situation she was in, and redoubled her efforts, silently tensing up. 

Brad, meanwhile, lifted up his head suddenly. He swore he heard Nikki moaning somewhere. From the bathroom, presumably. His mouth flattened, before dropping the bag to the ground.

He stared for a second at the ground, an eyebrow perking up. "Mm. Nice flooring. Sleek."

Agh, what's taking you so long?? You dropped off my shit, so just go! Nikki silently pleaded. She wasn't sure how long she could remain disciplined like this, especially knowing her voracious episode in the kitchen...

Oh no. He was walking over to the kitchen. She could feel vibrations coursing through her body with every step he took... excitement and terror welled up in her in equal measure.

Oh God, what's he gonna think!? I-I don't have any pots and pans left, i-if he checks the drawers, he's gonna... he's gonna figure out something's up!

"Heyyy, frosted wheaties!" Brad cheered, reaching for a cereal box on the counter. He tipped it over his enormous spread palm and poured a few on his hand, before raising them to his mouth.

Hey, don't eat my food! Is this what you do when nobody's watching!? Nikki wanted to shout, but she was otherwise predisposed...

"Mm..." Brad was enjoying his little snack at the counter, lowering the box back down. "Not like she'll notice a few bites missing~" 

Says you! Nikki whined mentally.

Nikki reeeeally wanted to put Brad in his place... but she had to stay quiet. Brad placed a deep red thermos next to the box of cereal, and decided it was time to leave then. 

Brad walked back across the kitchen and to the front door of the apartment, taking the same route as he did before. Once again, he stepped upon a particularly sensitive area of Nikki's body.

"Haaa~..." Again, Nikki couldn't help herself from moaning in pleasure, and she immediately regretted it when Brad came to a stop again.

"..." Brad glanced to the bathroom once again. He definitely heard Nikki that time. "Some shower she's taking..." 

Nikki tensed up again at that comment. Not because she had to retain her rigid form, but primarily out of cringe and embarrassment that he heard that. Brad stood in the door frame.

"HEY NIKKI! Your bag's in the kitchen, okay!? And the thermos is on the kitchen counter!" Brad called out towards the bathroom. 

"THANKS! Thanks so much, I-I'll talk to you later!!" Nikki instinctively called out to respond, trying to play it cool. 

Brad paused for a second. In that moment, it sounded like Nikki's voice was coming from this very room. It was hard to place her voice. Maybe sound bounced off the walls in here in a weird way.

Or maybe he just heard it wrong. Something wrong with his ears or something. He figured he probably shouldn't be dawdling in a woman's apartment, unsupervised.

"..." Brad shrugged, and closed the door behind him. 

Nikki flattened form cautious relaxed from its total rigidity, remaining absolutely still in case Brad suddenly reentered. In this form, she could feel the vibrations occurring all around the building, including Brad's heavy footsteps down the hall and towards the stairwell. 

When Nikki couldn't sense Brad's presence any longer, she finally exhaled in relief. The stainless steel floor rippled and coalesced in the middle of the kitchen. The metal slime piled up upon itself, writhing and wobbling and giving itself familiar shape as it reformed back into Nikki's humanoid form.

Before she forgot herself, she whipped an arm across the room. Reaching over fifteen feet, her hand quickly locked the door back up, before zipping back to her normal proportions. She leaned her back against the counter housing the sink, relaxing as she did. 

Holding a solid form for that long was exhausting—she looked on the verge of melting back into a puddle. Her legs were already doing just that from her knees down. She stared at herself in a dazed state, idly lowering a finger to draw along the surface of the silver material. 

"Hah... can't believe that worked." Nikki sighed, rubbing her head. "So stressful... I need a drink."

Almost reading her thoughts, her hair tendrils writhed to life, each one planting itself into the ground next to her. They then tensed up, pushing her body up from the ground, and onto her feet. Her legs had simply merged into one column of slime—an adjustment Nikki didn't have any clear objection to. 

Nikki turned on the cold water, watching as the nasty brown water from before poured out, staining the sink as it splashed.

"Sheesh. They still haven't fixed the water..." Nikki rolled her eyes. "Oh well. I'm not complaining."

Understanding how her body worked, she didn't even bother reaching for a glass. She simply cupped her hands together under the faucet and let her thirsty body handle the rest. The murky water filled the space in her cupped hand, and a familiar pleasurable feeling coursed through her. It flowed from her hands, up her arms, and into the core of her being. 

She closed her eyes, drinking in the feeling as well as the water without even having to open her mouth. From the bottom of her hands, crystal clear, perfectly filtered water dripped down into the sink, flowing into the drain.

Nikki peeked through one eye, watching the filtration process happen right before her eyes. She wondered why she was taking to the dirty water like... well, water.

"...Oh, right." Nikki nodded. They mentioned it during a health advisory. "It's got iron in it, and that... that's something my body wants."

She splashing her hands into her face, massaging it as she did. The beads of water sunk into her skin as she absorbed everything she could. She looked down into the sink as she turned off the faucet. 

"I should be good for now," Nikki muttered. She pivoted around atop the pillar of slime that made up her lower body. She looked over herself once again, taking in her appearance. Slowly, she was coming to adjust to her strange new form, but... it was all a process.

"The weird dreams I had. " Nikki returned to her earlier thoughts. "The last one, it... it felt real. They all felt real, but... the last one, it... it was different."

Her hands lowered to her stomach, her fingers feeling for her nonexistent belly-button. "There's something inside me, and it... wanted to tell me something. But I don't really get it. I-it can't be just to... consume."

Nikki was hesitant to broach the issue. Ever since she had transformed, there was some craving scraping at the corners of her mind. It was like a hunger pang, that no matter how much she ate, she never felt completely full. It was like her stomach would make space for her, and she could go on indulging herself. 

Sometimes the hunger pangs got quite fierce, and her body would go on its own to seek new material. She felt like she lost herself when she tore into the kitchen, but... another part of her felt like this was what she wanted.

Nikki looked down all over herself. She was worried she would forget herself, and lose herself to the muck. What would happen then? Would she become feral, eating everything in sight? Would anyone even be able to stop her if she did...?

She didn't have a solid answer. All she knew was, right now, she was in control. And she didn't want to lose herself. Or forget herself, for that matter. 

"Well... I have to live like this, now." Nikki reassured herself, a pang of trepidation in her voice. "I should learn how to use this body." 

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