The Berry Resurface Effect (Patreon)

The Berry Resurface Effect

Christen stretched her arms as she walked towards her class. “It is nice to be back here after the whole blueberry indecent.” She rolled her shoulders. “It has been months since I have been able to have the time to actually come here and attend the classes for game design, but I can finally work towards my dream again without worrying about being blue or juice again.” She smiled and gripped her laptop. “I think from now on, the world is going to be much brighter thanks to that juicing station.”

She turned the corner to see a young lady sitting on a bench with blue skin crying. Christen jumped back before taking a deep breath and asking, “Hey, what is wrong?”

The lady looked up and blinked her blue eyes. “I was about to have my final, and then this happens. I have seen the news and have heard about all of the people turning into giant berries all over town. Why did it have to happen to me?” She shook her head, blue tears streaking down her cheeks. “I can’t even think about another year here. It will devastate my family trying to support me.”

“Why can’t you just go and take your class? I don’t see anything wrong besides some blue skin color.” Christen laughed. “Trust me, it could be much worse.”

The lady lifted her finger. “Read the sign. The school has put up a no blueberry policy.” She shook her head. “All that happened is some strange fly bit me on the ass a few minutes ago.”

“Wait, a blue fly?”

She stood up. “How am I going to tell my parents?” She walked down the hallway. “Or my landlord? Oh god, my cat. How is he going to react to this?”

Christen sighed. “Well, umm, nice talking with you. Hope things work out.” She looked at her watch. “I still have a good fifteen minutes until my first class starts.” She took a few more steps down the hall. “And considering I am already here, I have plenty of time to get situated.”

She was greeted with a strange spray as she walked through the door. “Hey.” Christen swatted at her assailant as she coughed. “What are you trying to do?”

“When you step into my place of learning, you will be sanitized.” She was spayed once more. “No telling what kind of blueberry germs you might have brought with you.”

Christen shook her head. “Excuse me?”

She looked up at a towering woman in a green and red vest. The lady stared down at Christen with dark green eyes. “Haven’t you seen the news?  Giant blueberry people popping up all over the place?” She set a silver can down by the door. “What have you been living under a rock?”

Christen shook her head. “If I could go one day without someone trying to remind me of that.  Of course, I know that. I have had people turn into blueberries at my work.” She was spayed once more. “Oh god, stop that.”

“It is this campus policy to keep that vile blueberry disease out of these walls. I made sure the board saw it that way.”  She pointed to the other end of the room. “Now, if you don’t mind, please go take your seat. We will start our delve into game design here shortly.”

Christen rolled her eyes. “I can’t imagine what that woman would think if she knew I had spent the last week with blueberry juice in my system.” She shrugged. “Maybe I would be better off.” She turned her head to see the professor spaying the next person to walk through the door. “She is very, very nutty.”

As Christen sat down in her chair, a crinkling sound erupted. “What in the world?” She looked down to see everything covered in bubble wrap. “What kind of nonsense did I walk into?”

“Nonsense is right.” She looked up to see a young man in the seat next to her playing with his reddish-brown beard. “Did that kooky lady spray you when you entered too?”

Christen sighed. “I don’t know if I would call her that, but yes.”

He crossed his pale arms. “Hey, come on now. Look at this place. It looks cleaner than any hospital I have been in. The professor is scared of these “blueberries.”

Christen shrugged. “I mean, people are swelling into giant berries all over town. Why wouldn’t people get a little bit nuts over it?”

“You mean clean freak nuts? I mean, that sounds a bit harsh and might be the wrong thing to say, but something is a bit odd and just watch how the professor over there reacts to the word blueberry.” He raised his voice. “Hey, professor. I think I see a little old blueberry in the corner.”

The professor, who was in the process of spaying another student, jumped up and screamed before using the bottle to hammer away in which she had been directed. “No, no, no. Get out of here before you spread your juice in here, you vile, vile thing. Get out!”

He laughed. “See.”

Christen shook her head and opened her laptop. “So she has a blueberry phobia.

Also, that was really rude.”

He extended out his hand. “My name is Mike, by the way. What is yours?”

She didn’t take his hand. “It’s Christen.”

“Well, you are cold.”

“I don’t generally warm up to jerks.”

“Hey, I just am trying to have some fun in this situation. Can you blame me?”

She shook her head. “This is not what I expected my return to campus to be like.”

“What were you expecting a parade? Maybe some dancing flower people?”

“Just shut up?”

Christen narrowed her eyes as she noticed something small and blue dart around on the edge of her vision. “What was that?” She turned her head only to see another young lady sit down at the back of the class and take out her laptop. “Hmm, maybe I was imagining things.”

“Imagining what?” Mike asked.

“Nothing. I just thought I saw a blue fly. A blueberry fly, to be exact.”

He laughed. “Oh, that is funny.” His amber eyes widened. “And a good one.”

She turned to look at him. “What are you talking about?”

The professor walked to the front of the room. “Ok, everyone. I am sorry for the unusual entry, but these are extraordinary times. The world is gripped in a blueberry nightmare. But I don’t want to dwell on that too much today.” She turned around and took a deep breath. “My name is Ms. Everol. Whenever you speak to me, you will address me as so. Is that understood?” She turned back around. “Tell me that you understand.”

The room responded. “Yes.”

“Good.” She walked forward. “Now, over the course of the next few weeks, we will be delving into the basics of how to construct a game from the ground up.”

“Hey, Ms. Everol, professor lady.”

She raised her eyebrow. “It is just Ms. Everol. Who said that?”

Mike sighed. “Look, we are sophomores in college. Can you lay off a bit?”

Ms. Everol narrowed her eyes at him. “I will run my classes here however I see fit.”

Mike shrugged. “Can’t I just say—

“I would like these interruptions to stop so we can stay on schedule.”

“Then what are you going to do about that blueberry fly on your arm.”

Ms. Everol’s eyes went wide. “What?” She looked down at her body. “Get it off.” She screamed. “Get it off of me now. Oh god, where is my disinfected spray? Kill it.” She began to slap herself. “Won’t someone kill it?”

Christen stood up. “For goodness sake, there is no blueberry fly in here.” She felt a sudden pain in her arm. “Oww.”

Mike turned towards her. “Hey, what is going on?”

Christen sat back down. “I don’t’ know. Something bit me.” She rubbed her arm. “Damn.”

“Well, in a place like this, it should be easy to see.”

Ms. Everol was suddenly looming over them. “I am not going to stand for this kind of mischief. Do you really think this is funny, Mr. Davinshirt?”

“I umm?” He gulped. “So what if I do?”

She raised an eyebrow. “Well, you can stay here with me after we are finished here and help me scrub the classroom down since you are so concerned for my health.” She turned back around. “Now, can we please get things moving?”

Christen powered up her laptop as she felt pressure build up in her chest. “Ugh, I think my lunch is starting to get to me.” She held her hand over her stomach. “I am not sure I feel good anymore.”

Mike glanced over at her. “Well, if you hurl, aim for the person on the other side. I don’t want to deal with it.”

As Ms. Everol began to speak, the edges of Christen’s vision began to turn blue. “Ugh, what is going on?” She blinked her eyes. “I feel so strange.” She looked down at her hands. “Don’t turn blue.”

Mike looked over at her. “Are you ok?”

She nodded her head. “Perfect as can be. Why?”

“You are saying some strange things. That and you are starting to smell.” He sniffed the air. “If I would have to say for certain. . .”

Ms. Everol’s voice filled the air. “Who dared to bring blueberries into my class!?”

Christen gulped, now tasting blueberries at the back of her mouth. Ms. Everol began to walk around the class. “I want to know who would dare bring these vile berries onto this collage. Come now. Speak up.”

Christen looked down and could see the back of her right hand begin to turn blue. “Oh no, not now.” She slid her hand underneath her butt as Ms. Everol walked by.

“Don’t be afraid now. Come on and speak up.” She shook her head. “Ugh, maybe I was mistaken. Something smells bad, but I. . .” She threw up her arms. “I don’t know exactly. It kind of smells like something has died.” Ms. Everol turned around and walked in the other direction.

Christen pulled out her hand from underneath her body. “Oh no, what is wrong?” She looked at the dark blue coloration of her skin. “It has never been this shade before.”

“What are you mumbling about?” Mike asked.

Christen slid her hands into her pockets. “Oh, nothing.” Her stomach groaned, and she felt a sudden thirst for water. “I just feel sick all of a sudden.”

“Oh, not that again.”

Christen stood up. “Hey, I need to step out and see about heading down to the hospital or something.”

Ms. Everol whirled around. “Sit back down. No more interruptions for this lecture.”

Christen groaned. “But I can feel my insides drying up.”

“I am sick and tired of you people treating this like some. . . some high school. This is a respectable college course. One more outburst, and the person will be kicked out of the class for the semester. Is that clear?” Christen sat down as her skin began to wither. “Good. Now please make sure your laptops are turned on, and we can finally get started.”

Christen put her head in her lap. “I need to do something. My body is turning into a blueberry again. I can feel it, but I am wilting because of a lack of water.” She slammed the side of her table, and the person next to her slid further away from her. “I knew going to that juicing station was a mistake. It just made things worse in the long run. How am I going to get the liquid I need.” She raised her arm. “I need to think fast before I can’t move. It is hard enough to bend my arms right now.”

She looked up at the fire sprinklers overhead. “No, no, no.” She winced as her entire left arm became hard and wilted. “Ugh, I don’t think I have a choice.” She looked around as the professor continued to rant at the front of the room. “But how?”

She looked over at Mike’s mess of a laptop. “Hey, can I see what you are working on?”

He pulled his computer away from her. “No way. I don’t want to catch whatever it is you have.” He pointed at her hands. “That can’t be healthy.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Just give it here.”

“Hey.”

Christen held up her hands. “Stay back unless you want to catch my umm. . .” She tapped her hand on her chin. “Blueberry ishness.”

He tapped his fingers on the table. “You are making that up.”

“Well, remember that in a few moments.” She held the laptop over her head and smashed it against the side of the table.

“What the hell are you doing?”

She blinked her eyes. “Umm trying to start a fire.”

He pulled his laptop back. “Well, that isn’t how you do it, you crazy woman.” He pulled out a lighter. “You would have to use something like this.”

Christen could feel her torso withering away, so she did the only thing that made sense, kick Mike in the gut. The lighter flew out of his hands and onto the bubble wrap floor. A few moments later, a roaring flame erupted, sending the room into a panic.

Ms. Everol failed her arms about. “Everyone, please. Stay calm. The sprinklers will be on in just a moment.”

Christen jumped to her feet and ran to the door just as the water came on. “I am not sticking around here in this madhouse.” Soothing water rained down onto her skin as she rushed out into the hallway with everyone else. She held her hands up in the air, her skin color turning a bright blue. “That feel’s so much better. Ahh.” She opened up her mouth to drink as much water as she could. “Soo nice and soothing.” She didn’t even care that the water caused the rest of her skin to turn blue even faster.

“Oh god. Look at her. She is all blue.”

Christen turned around to see everyone staring at her.

“She is going to turn into one of those blueberries, isn’t she?”

Christen held up her arms. “Hey, wait now. Things are not that bad.”

A book was thrown at her. “Get out of here. Didn’t you read the sign? No blueberries on campus grounds.”

“Hey, wait a minute here. Being a blueberry or even part blueberry isn’t all that bad.

Calm down.”

They pointed at the door down the hall. “Just go. You will make Ms. Everol go insane anyway.”

Ms. Everol walked out of her room at that very moment. “Ok, everyone. I think it’s ok to come back inside.” She turned around. “Oh my god. No, no. Not a blueberry woman. Everyone run inside where it's safe.” She screamed. “Nooow.”

Christen threw up her arms. “I am sick and tired of this.” She ignored the building pressure pushing her stomach outward. “This is insane. When I had a giant blueberry swell up at my work, people didn’t freak out this much.”

Ms. Everol pulled out her cellphone. “Hello? Get me the campus police. There is one of those dreadful blueberries walking about. What? What do you mean this isn’t a real emergency.” She pointed at Christen as she ran down the hall. “Come on, I help fun this place more than anyone else now; get some people to deal with this blueberry mess.”

Christen turned a corner and took a deep breath. “Well, this is quite a first day back.” She winced as her jeans began to tighten around her berry body. “Ugh, and I just felt comfortable wearing tight clothing again too.” Her blouse began to rip apart. “I need to get out of here before I burst my clothes apart.” She pushed her way through another set of doors. “Also, when I get home, I am completely re-doing my wardrobe. This is the last time I going to be caught out like this.” She winced as a button snapped off her blouse and flew right through a nearby window. “I am sure they make clothing for expanding berry people.”

As she walked into the next room, she felt a sudden surge of juice fill her rear end. “Whoh.” Christen took a few steps back, her enlarged ass hitting the wooden double doors and causing them to swing open. “Come on, get a hold of yourself.” Once she found her footing, the doors flung back the other way and hit Christen in her ass. She stumbled forward as a giant tear appeared on her butt. “For Christ’s sake.” She put her hands on her knees. “Can my clothes stay intact until I get out of here?”

“Hey, you there.” Christen turned her head to see an elderly man in a blue outfit at the far end of the room. “You need to come with me.”

She shook her head. “Can’t you see what is going on?” Another button burst off her blouse and almost hit the campus guard. “I need to get out of here before the swelling gets any worse. As it is, I have so much juice inside my body.”

He sighed. “Look, it isn’t anything personal. I just need you to come with me.” He put his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t need to go and have some training seminar and risk the school losing funding because I let you just go.”

“Oh, come on.” The button on her jeans snapped off to reveal her blue waist. “What is it with this school and being afraid of giant blue people? Seriously all I have to do is leave campus.”

He shrugged. “If it was up to me, I would let you, but hey, I want to keep my job and all.”

Christen turned her head to look at the doors which led out of the campus. “Well, I don’t want you to lose your job and all.” She pulled up her pants and then pushed the officer backward. “But I don’t want to spend my time while I swell up in this place. Sorry.” She ran for the doorway, each step harder than the last. Finally, her hands fell onto the giant doors, and she used her strength to push the doors open. “Ughh.”

As the giant oak doors creaked open, she felt hands grab her backside. “Hey, you are not going anywhere. I won’t let you jeopardize my job.”

“Hey, let go of me.” Christen felt her body swell into the sides of the door. “You are just making things worse.” Another button burst off her blouse flew across the grass and hit a tree. “Great, I am one button away from losing my shirt. Let go of me now.”

He pulled on her once more and wedged her body further into the doorframe. “No. I am not going to let you or anyone else break the school policy again. I have been blamed enough for the lax nature on campus, and I will not take another pay cut.”

The last button on her blouse burst off her body, and the upper half of her body exploded outward as her blouse burst apart. “Ugh, great.” Her arms patted the sides of her body. “I am officially stuck. Are you happy?”

The officer continued to pull at the back of her body. “Not until I get you into the campus jail I won’t be.” She turned her head as her body continued to swell and take a more spherical shape. “Oh, come on. Give it up. I am not going anywhere.”

He fell down onto his rear end as her growing body hit him in the face. “Oh god.” He looked up at Christen. “This is a nightmare. You are starting to really grow.” He stood back up. “We need to stop this.”

Christen threw up her shortening arms. “Hate to break it to you, but I just have to ride this juice wave out.”

He ran to the other end of the hallway. “I saw what to do on television. I will be right back.”

Christen continued talking. “So, as much as I hate to say it, I will just be a big blueberry in this door for a while.” She blinked her eyes. “Wait, what?” She turned her head as her arms and legs finally vanished into her blueberry mass. “Television? You don’t mean that newscast. Hey, come back here. Don’t you dare get something to poke me. Hey!”

The foundation of the building began to cry out in agony as her body continued to swell. “Oh no.” She raised her head as it came close and closer to the ceiling. “I am running out of space fast. I am going to be pressed together soon by this door.” Christen gulped. “I don’t’ want to know what it is like to be squeezed.”

She pressed her head against her blue body as she swelled into the ceiling above. “Ugh.” She could feel the juice in her body push her upward as the ceiling pushed her back down. “So much pressure.”

Christen felt a new sensation coming from her breasts. “Ugh, what is going on?” She could feel something dripping down her body. “It feels like someone is showering me in water.” The foundation of the building shuddered as even more juice grew inside her body. “Bahhh.”

Suddenly she rolled forward after something sharp struck her in the rear end. “Oww.” Light filled her sight, and she could once again see her surroundings. “Oh my god. I am so huge. I must be a good nineteen feet tall, and goodness knows how wide.” She closed her mouth as her head rolled over the grass. “Ugh, yuck. Why is there juice covering all of my body?” She licked her lips. “Mhhh. It tastes delicious, though.”

She rolled to a stop next to a water fountain, the waters tickling her body. “Ahh, that feels nice.” She looked at herself in the glass window of a nearby campus building. “Oh my god. My breasts.” She blinked her blue eyes. “They are leaking blueberry juice.” She took a deep breath as the juice that seeped out of her seemed to slow down. “It looks like it is stopping, though. I think it was only coming out because I was being crushed to death.” Christen shook her head. “Still a weird place for the juice to come out of me.”

She felt a sharp pain in her backside again. “Oww.” She twisted her head to see the security guard poking her with a rake. “Stop that. Don’t you dare pop me.”

“Nothing personal, but I need to get you out of here.” He poked her once more.

“Stop that.” More blueberry juice poured out of her nipples. “I was just beginning to keep all of this juice inside of me. You are making it worse.”

“Almost got it.”

Suddenly her body slipped off the edge of the fountain, and she began to roll. “Oh no.” Her massive body quickly picked up speed as she rolled downhill. “Make. . . it. . . stop.” Her body bounced over walkways and through hedges like a giant blue bouncy ball. “I. . . am going. . . to. . .” She threw up blue juice. “Ughh.”

She suddenly found herself rolling onto the street, her blue body striking a car and crushing it. The force of the impact caused her to come to a stop. “Ugh, finally.” She shook her head from side to side. “I don’t think I could take much more.”

“Hey, there, are you alright?” She felt a hand touch her round body.

“Ugh, I have been worse.” Christen blinked her eyes. “But I think I am going to be ok.”

“Well, good.” She felt someone climbing her body. “Would hate to think you were hurt.”

“Hey, who are you.”

“Oh, just a concerned citizen.” A cloth was put in front of her mouth, and she suddenly felt light. ‘Someone who is looking to take advantage of this big blueberry boom going on.” She saw a dark figure on the edge of her vision. “I am going to make a killing with my new stockpile, and I thank you for your services.”

Christen blinked her eyes. “Hey!” Everything went dark.