When Abby turned around, she had to remind herself she had to look down as well. She saw Dana was standing not three feet from her. "Hey Dana," said Abby, "What's up?"
"Well...I kinda wanted...to ask you something," said Dana a little hesitatingly.
"Sure, what is it?" asked Abby.
"Well, you see...I was wondering...well, we were wondering but I was the one to ask..." said Dana.
Abby frowned. It wasn't like Dana to skirt around the issue. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"No, nothing's wrong, it's just that...I was wondering what it'd be like to be an animal," said Dana, "I mean, not a full animal, but something like you are."
"You want to join Animalia?" asked Abby in mild surprise. Sure, she liked being a horse woman and Jaime seemed pretty happy with being a wolf, but she wouldn't have expected Dana to want to willing become an uplifted animal.
"Well, not just me," said Dana, "Mei and Delores were also talking about it, but I decided to ask if it's possible."
"Well...I suppose it's possible," said Abby, "I'm not sure what the rules about people wanting to join are, but I don't think they've said anything against people who willingly get infected."
"Ok, so, do you have any cool animals like lions or zebras?" asked Dana.
Abby lifted an eyebrow and said in a meaningful tone, "My parents own a farm, not a zoo."
"Oh, right," said Dana.
"I mean, I'm not trying to discourage you, but the only animals available are farmyard and woodland creatures," said Abby.
"Well, I suppose I could work with that if there's something good enough," said Dana.
"I guess you'll have to come to the farm to see," said Abby, "Try to get your parents' permission first. They might not be able to accept it as easily as mine did."
"Don't you worry about that," said Dana, "We'll head to your place after school."
Abby nodded before heading towards her next class. While she was urging caution, she admitted it would be great to have her friends be fellow citizens of Animalia. She'll have to think of appropriate animals.