As the old year drew to a close, everyone in Animalia was surprised that the community had already lasted six months, the virus having been confirmed to have been released in July. They were also surprised at how their community was changing rapidly.
Because the Animalia virus had been confirmed to both cure ALS and end drug addictions, so many people were coming to Animalia, and Project Phoenix in particular, to both save and reinvent their lives, but that wasn't all. Many people were also bringing beloved pets that were suffering from serious diseases, not to mention life-threatening health problems. Horizon Labs was almost getting buried in new volunteers that they decided to transform the Labs into a proper large hospital, both to study the virus, help new "converts" and uplifted animals adapt to their new status and forms, and to serve as a proper hospital for the Animalia community. It's centerpiece was a massive fountain-and-mural with a bronze statue of a Phoenix Animalian (the pheonix symbolizing rebirth) rising from the fires and ashes, while the mural behind her depicted Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed symbolically welcoming her into their midst.
Another decision was to move the physical training rooms from the Great Hall and into Claw Coliseum, and add on a health spa. This would not only free up space to add a kind of "tourist reception area", but also free up space to serve as the Record-keeping Department for Animalia. Claw Coliseum would serve to represent both gaining and maintaining good health, and friendly competition with each other without violating the Ten Edicts.
There was also a new addition to the front of the St. Francis of Asissi church. It was a monument depicting both the Ten Commandments of God, and the Ten Edicts of Animalia, side by side. This was to show how similar they are to each other.
New businesses were also popping up in Animalia. Entrepreneurs and major businesses alike were setting up shop in Animalia, but food chains had to get creative with setting up shop there. McDonalds, for example, had come up with new "veggie patties" that looked and tasted like real meat, but were in fact made of vegetable matter, for herbivores, and "fish patties" for those who had a primary diet of fish.
Lover's Woods Campgrounds also had to make an expansion, due to many lovers and "bondmates" coming over to consummate their new lives. But there were also several hotel chains opening up in Animalia. It was rather challenging to meet the needs of so many people, Project Phoenix volunteers or otherwise, but they were able to adapt.
The Animalia Construction Company had to expand to meet the new demand for housing so many new members of Animalia, but they also had to build a new school for Animalians. The decided-on plans for the International School of Animalia was that it would be a large school complex that would educate Animalians from Pre-K all the way to High School. It was a good thing that there were so many unemployed construction workers coming to Animalia, both to become part of Animalia, earn an income, and help Animalians learn about constructing other structures.
---
New Year's Eve in Animalia was shaping up to be a great thing, also marking the end of the ACE. The Great Snow War was ended by a faux signing of the Treaty of Versailles at the Great Hall. There was also a celebration of the success of Animalia Aquatica, with a formal welcoming of Ariel (the lake trout) and Ran (the great white shark) to the world above the waves, as both called it, and confirming that bone marrow was the key.
To kick off the nighttime festivities, Clara and her new mate Rick (her public name for him) read a modified version of Emma Lazarus' poem that celebrated America as a land of refugees:
"Give us your crippled, your maimed, your poor souls mangled by the whims of fate. The poor souls harmed by sin and crime, then abandoned on this blessed shore. Send these corrupted, ill-luck souls to our gate. The fires of rebirth shall be your door. A door to new life, and illumination."
There was also the showing of the dropping of the ball that marked the start of the new year. At the start of the new year, Rick read an Animalian version of Lincoln's second Inaugural Adress, which also showed the anxiety that Animalia faced in the coming year, but promising "malice toward none, and charity for all." Robbie also read Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I have a dream speech", but the only addition was that "Animalians and humans" would join in in the negro spiritual. But what was really surprising, not just for Clara and Rick but for everyone in Animalia, was the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to Clara and Robbie on New Years Day, the first Animalians to do earn such an award.