As Lucie and Tabby left the hospital, Doctor Tucker returned to the lab reviewing what she had uncovered with regard to Lucie's DNA and the "potion" that had been provided. She thought extensively of her adoptive daughter, Rikki, as she walked, as the present scenario for Lucie had put herself in was potentially worse than Rikki's. Rikki would grow up to be a healthy werecheetah and would be able to enjoy everything about Moon Lake. But from what she found in her tests, whatever reason that Lucie and Tabby had done to be together had doomed them. The werecat virus in Lucie was heavily altered and changed, and instead of infecting normals it would infect weres and would kill any were, including other werecats. They may have gone along with it to be together, and by a consequence they couldn't. The virus in Lucie would infect and kill Tabby if they tried, as the only person that Lucie could be with was a normal thanks to the alteration of the virus in her system.
It was frustrating, as there were still residual issues related to Henry Wendz's actions regarding Rikki's transformation and the people the geneticist had manipulated, and at times, even the soft movements of the child within her, as she was five months pregnant, didn't fully change things. There were things that needed to be cleaned up from all those actions that would require some work on her part, and the "mother" in her was still furious at the local Moon Lake news agencies for butting their noses into Rikki's privacy, and this latest event had only added into all that. She had talked with Samantha Twist on the phone, and the city would be wanting a full explanation of her findings regarding Lucie's DNA, the nature of the werecat virus within her, and how the potions worked. It was simply adding more to what Doctor Kathy Tucker held as an already full plate for herself.
"You doing okay, Doctor Tucker?" her main nurse asked as Kathy returned to the lab.
"Personally... I'm fine," Kathy sighed, "though it would appear that we've got another problem on our hands regarding Luc/Lucie Damocles..."
"The tests we ran first thing this morning and last night?" her nurse asked.
"Yes," Kathy answered, "and the report we're going to have to give to the city. I'm going to be on the phone for a few minutes to try and sort all this out."
"If any base orders come in, I can handle them," her nurse assured her.
Kathy nodded and picked up her phone and dialed the number that would get her straight to Samantha Twist's office. She got the Town Chancellor's secretary first. Kathy explained her call and was soon put through to the Town Chancellor.
"Hello," Samantha said slowly over the phone.
"Hello, Mrs. Twist," Kathy spoke, "this is Doctor Tucker with the results you requested regarding Lucie Damocles."
"You have the results?" Samantha asked.
"Yes, and we will send you the paper records for your own records on the issue if you wish to keep them for whatever files you will have on her," Kathy spoke, "this call is just to tell you what I've discovered."
"Okay, go ahead," Samantha spoke slowly. "What sort of mess do we have?"
"Well... the actions that Tabby and Lucie have undertaken have completed a full transformation from a human male to a healthy werecat," Kathy spoke, "that is the good news."
"There is bad news, I take it?" Samantha sighed.
"That would depend on your point of view," Kathy spoke, "Lucie is in no danger of herself dying... but the werecat virus is drastically different from the werecat virus in Tabby or yourself."
"Can you elaborate on that?" Samantha asked, "is she NOT a werecat?"
"No, she IS a werecat," Kathy answered, "Her DNA strands align with any other werecat DNA strand. The issue with Lucie is the werecat virus within her. Normally, the were-virus will only infect and alter normal human cells. For mono-gendered were-beasts, it'll also mean that that particular were-beast can only safely change a normal of the same gender. You can't turn a normal human male into a werecat. You'd need one of the "male werecats" to do that."
"Yes, I know that," Samantha replied.
"The virus in Lucie's system is different," Kathy explained, "within affecting her... the virus seemed to "die" after her transformation, though not in a way that removed or changed her into a human normal. The virus is still present, but it seems inactive under most tests. I ran tests with donated blood from various were-beasts and normals. With normal human blood, the virus in Lucie's system showed no reaction beyond what might be the case if she gave blood to someone with a different blood type than her. If the blood types are the same, there was no change. I've run it several times and checked to see if the reaction was delayed, as was in the case with Rikki."
"So, she can't turn normals into werecats?" Samantha mused.
"No, she can't," Kathy answered, "the nature of the were-virus in Lucie has changed and is no longer infectious to normals."
"Interesting, but what did it change to?" Samantha wondered.
"Her form of the were-virus is now infectious to other weres, but not transformative," Kathy answered, "she cant turn a wererat into a werecat. It's more that the virus in her system would be akin to what would happen if you were to have sex with a normal human man. Every test I ran would indicate that if Lucie were to have sex with a were... the virus in her system would kill the were she is with."
"Did you..." Samantha began.
"I told her this," Kathy spoke, "and she did seem to understand, hopefully she understands this and doesn't do anything foolish... again."
There was a silence for a few moments before Kathy heard Samantha speak again.
"What do you think caused this?" Samantha asked.
"My guess it was a reaction to the "potion" that Lucie claims that both she and Tabby took," Kathy answered, "the potions were all full of natural ingredients that can be gathered and mixed together, and it is that mixture that created a reaction that is previously unseen in the were-virus. It had to have altered the virus in Tabby to allow the werecat virus in her to fully change Luc into Lucie and established the new strain for the werecat virus that is presently in Lucie. I would equate the reaction in the virus to an allergic reaction to the ingredients in the potion..."
"Not magic?" Samantha asked.
"Not magic," Kathy confirmed, "something in the potion, either an individual ingredient or the combination of ingredients that created an unknown alteration in the were-virus... similar to how diseases have changed over time. The one that Luc drank had no visible effect beyond what would see with a placebo. My guess is that superstition required both partners to drink the "potion" for symbolism. Only Tabby truly needed the "potion" to get the virus in her system to change."
"Diseases change?" Samantha asked.
"Yes," Kathy answered, "though the natural mutation of viruses aren't quite so rapid and so drastic as what this "potion" has done. It's a scientific change, that is drastic... but the results are that the virus in Tabby had to have changed to allow for Lucie's full transformation."
"I see," Samantha sighed, "Do you know on whether or not the were-virus in Tabby underwent any permanent change? As if it had to change in order to change Lucie into a werecat...?"
Kathy sighed and blinked. She had made the assumption that Tabby hadn't changed while Lucie had changed, and perhaps the effect on the virus in Tabby's system was only temporary, but then, with all the questions on Lucie, Kathy hadn't thought to test Tabby to be sure. If she could kick herself, she would.
"I... I didn't test Tabby," Kathy said slowly, "with all the attention being made on Lucie, I didn't think to test Tabby... it could very well be possible that in altering the virus in Tabby to allow her to change Lucie... that her werecat virus is just as different as Lucie's!"
Kathy heard a frustrated sigh, but eventually Samantha did answer.
"I'll see what I can do to get in contact with Tabby," Samantha spoke, "let them know fully what you've found and that you'd need to check Tabby's system."