There were endless things one could do for an income, much to the delight of many transformation fans. For a vast majority of everyone, the TYL collars were utilized for work uniforms, medical emergencies and even the mundane quick clothing change. However the nanite based device was just one application of the technology, being the most direct. Suits, uniforms, devices, liquid appliers and clothing could all be made from them.

It allowed more mundane transformations to happen daily. One working in an area with chemicals may choose a form that was resistant to the materials. A forge worker may want some form resistant to heat, or sanitation workers encased safely from biological hazards and able to be washed with harsh cleaning chemicals later. Anyone equipped with any TYL tech can quickly feel themselves shift in case of a gas leak, or even retrieved from the bottom of an ocean in the rare case of a ship or craft wreck over water, taking over to transform you into a synthetic being where vacuum or pressure mean little to you.

However, today the TLY nanites were being used rather differently. A custom blue toned concrete slab laid out on the ground, the base for this new job. The feral form zebra stood nearby, along with an official 'Curator' to mediate and monitor the transaction, the final of the three was the customer.

The job was simple, for two years the feral-shifted zebra was to be transformed into a stone statue, one of two, for the newly renovated lobby of a high rise. The owner had two statues there before, but both lacked the 'special' tone a petrified person brought when their form was altered and inanimate. Willing or not, those trapped as geological based figures radiated a warmth, perhaps the liveliness of a being brought that extra aura.

The zebra was guided to the plinth, once all four hooves touched the base the tell-tale blue ring flashed in it's right eye. The TYL began to re-arrange the zebra's elements, tiny groups of the bots between the atomic structure began to resonate at a different frequency, 'trapped' in the epicenter of the magnetic torroid, they were at the mercy of the nanites.

A wave of energy pulsed through the entire body, the signal to 'bend' the bio-matter of the zebra's structure. The nanites turned, arranging to specific locations to alter and frequency within, letting the natural electro-biological resonance shift as it passed through the nanite's field surrounding them. Muscle, sinew, bone and organs were forced to shift along the field, becoming minerals, silica, a portion of them became metals for reinforcement. For now they were still separate, individual groupings of physical attributes one could still identify.

Long ago it was thought any transformation be the end of one's consciousness. Altering the body's structure to be inorganic, it could no longer support whatever complex web that formed consciousness. But the body was much more than a place for intelligence to spring from. Early scans along certain spectrum of electromagnetic fields showed a 'torroid' around one's body, a 'Bio-Field'. Not only did this field effect the body, the body could also effect the field, a union of the two. One didn't house the other, but rather both were dependent, one couldn't exist without the other.

Movement occurred first in the field, subtle changes that pre-emted the nervous sytem's own electro pulses for movement. Most large bodily organs had their own signature. The heart, the digestive system, the lungs, even the brain and reproductive system had their own magnetic pulses that sent and received 'signals' from the bio-sphere and subdivisions within.

Some early tests showed the opposite in terms of conspicuousness. Once the transformative elements of Onnerite were discovered, it wasn't long until the medical application of attuned nano-particles of the element were used differently. The particles could be 'charged' with a specific instruction, or frequency. The effect of flooding your body with an ample amount of the particles attuned to frequencies produced physical effects beyond just repair. The super conducting material could effect and alter matter within the bio-field. Unlike medical purposes, these nanites had to stay 'in body' for continued effect.

What the first tests showed was the bio-field, while connected, was also separate from the composition of the physical form. Even when all of one's physical elements were altered, the bio-aural field was still entrained within the changed materials, paired to them on a completely different phase outside of the material, with a stronger magnetic wave bond that was able to pass through the nanite's matter shifting field.

The zebra felt their entire body tighten, a gritty gravely sand sound coursed through their ears, eventually quieting down to leave them in a body made of stone. There was still some posing to do, which is why mobility was still an option, if extremely difficult and slow. The nanites were only half 'locked' into the phase, not fully aligned towards the frequency of stone, letting the body 'flow' in a manor similar to half-cured concrete. In heavy slow motion, as musculature and stone were opposites on a mobility scale.

Even with it's sensory organs being stone, the nanites stepped into 'relay' information. In place of a biological eye, the nanites acted as light receptors, taking in what little it could. The light on the statue's 'eyes' was turned into the same signal their brain normally received, allowing it some sight, even if it looked like viewing the world through a mess of granules and stone. It could just barely make out the surface of the wall several paces away, knowing it was white, but washed in a dark hued shadow, could have been any color now.

Stones can 'hear' sound, they vibrate with audio resonance. However the pebble has no greater context for the vibrations of water, sand or wildlife. To a natural stone, it is just a vibratory experience. To a sentience as stone, it was able to apply the higher dimensional concepts of communication and interaction to it. Just as the photo receptive nanites in the eyes, vibratory sensitive nanites were in it's ears. The stone's construct wasn't as complex as the hammer and anvil of the ear drum, just like sight, the statue's hearing was severely limited. The normal volume conversation taking right in front of the zebra's ears was harshly muted. It could pick out portions of whole words, the deeper bass of some of the language was clear as it pulsed across the stone. Some of the higher notes were lost, bouncing off the dense stone without vibrating enough to relay any translatable sound. It felt like everyone was muzzled and its ears were plugged tightly. Enough sound to be aware of, but not enough to hear the entire 'picture' words painted.

The customer walked around the plinthed zebra, darker stone stripes amidst the lighter colored base coat. Their TYL flashed blue in the eyes, asking the zebra to take control of their system totally, to adjust a few things. The statue accepted, and quickly watched as colors were adjusted.

The statue's dark stripes turned to a golden yellow, the lighter switched to darker. The wolf then walked around again, circling to the front with a toothy grin. The statue felt itself tighten a bit more, nanaites moving his body more towards stone. They watched as their muzzles rounded shape become flatter, angular, sure that the rest of its body was made the same as 'muscles' tingled with change.

Another grin from the wolf, running a paw down the flattened nose bridge. The Curator giving a nod. The zebra tried to wag it's tail, but the stone only flexed so far, wiggling instead.

For the last part, the wolf adjusted the statue's lower body through the TYL. The legs softened up, allowing a great amount of movement, though the torso and above were still nearly immobile. It started to 'sink' down, as if the blue concrete was depth-less water, causing the golden muzzle to raise slightly in surprise.

More and more it appeared as if the statue was sinking downwards. However the nanites were simply shifting themselves and the trapped atoms into a 'spaceless' form. They had no physical representative wave-form, nothing to occupy space, and began to 'disappear'. The only trace of their existence were the web of nanites pulsing at a frequency to maintain connection with the bio-field. Without a physical form to relay interactive information down the field, the zebra statue lost all feeling in the hooves, ankles, lower legs and knees.

Lower and lower it sunk, their chest hitting the concrete and collapsing in partially. Along the underside, the zebra could feel it's flat half-torso, sensations of stomach, waist and genitals disappeared as they vanished. It could still feel the shoulders, neck, hips and most of the upper legs, as stiff as they were.

The wolf got right on his muzzle, speaking to ask if they could raise a hoof, making a curled 'leg' in the shape they wanted with their arm. The zebra strained hard, lifting upwards and fighting the rigidity. The leg reformed as the motion passed the top plane of the concrete plinth, near black and gold glinting as it phased back into the physical. Once emerged the wolf took careful hold of the smooth rock, easily and effortlessly maneuvering it up against the side of the plinth, pushing it to merge just a bit inside.

The statue saw the wolf making more adjustments, raising the tail, setting the ear angles and finally raised and posed its head. Perfect. With a click of his paws the statue become completely solid, the nanites fully vibrating in the same frequency of stone. Whatever physical structure remained had merged into the surrounding stone, bones, muscles, skin, those distinctions all disappeared. All became a mixture completely identical to the chemical and physical compositions of natural stone.

The wolf's TYL flashed blue in their eye, a pale phantom blue ring flashed where the stone zebra's eye would have been. The statue saw itself through the wolf's eyes, a smooth and angled upper half of a zebra, hoof curled up on the blue plinth. The wolf was happy with its form, the statue agreed. The Curator's eye flashed, and they entered the wireless communication to finalize.

The zebra was to remain in this form for two years. A timer was on, but paused in its TYL system. They accepted the timer and as a consequence, the system locked him out of the menu to change their form and composition. Along with the timer came a trigger, when it reached zero, it would send a message to both the Curator and the Wolf, as well as give full control back to the zebra. This allowed for a de-centralized release, regardless of presence or command from the other parties.

Once all agreed to the arrangement, the zebra statue's TYL was shut down. No connection, no messages in or out, no checking the timer. They were just a stone statue for two years, minus the several minutes already ticked down.

The zebra statue stayed there, watching as the two talked, and then walked off for the night. As the sun rose the next day, the two appeared with another presumable statue, they all walked around the zebra to admire it. Soon another blue plinth was brought in, placed in front of the zebra, a bit distant. It watched as a female feral gazelle was petrified and merged much like it was.

They let the two look at each other overnight before tossing white sheets over the statues, and wrapping a delivery tag around their necks.

An unknown time later and the zebra had the sheet pulled off. They'd been moved to the installation area, and the two statues were facing each other just as before at nearly the same distance. They were flanking the doors of the main entrance, right and left as one would walk in, met with massive ornate statues. Most couldn't help themselves, giving the gazelle statue a patting rub as they walked in, and the zebra the same on the way out. The zebra was beginning to think about the two upcoming years, and that it may be a bit too short.