Clara looked out the window to her offices in the Great Hall in Animalia. Despite all the issues and fears regarding the present US government, so far things had remained fairly safe for Animalia as no one had come to storm the town and take it down. Legally they were safe and that was enough for Clara at the moment, and with it presently being Valentines Day, a day of love, she felt it was a wonderful day for all people who had mates. In fact, she and Richard had a nice hike planned for that evening so that they could go up to a nice point and look out at the stars from. She smiled at that as thought on that. Valentines Day was a nice human holiday that she liked, and that spurred on some recollections on their time of Mieni Atoll...
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"So... Ran said it'd be three fish?" Robbie asked as they walked away from the airfield on the Nimitz Air Force base that had once been part of the former American military facilities on Mieni.
Their group had left Lt. Colonel Lance Corporal to his business of figuring what was up with the sunken battleship that the uplifted Pilot Fish and Remoras had found and had gone in the opposite direction from Ran and Gaz. Ran and Gaz had gone toward the central lagoon inside Mieni Atoll while Clara, Richard, Robbie, and Martha were headed for the beach on the outside portion of the island facing the great expanses that was the Pacific Ocean.
"Yes," Clara nodded, "A Pilot Fish and two Remoras. From what they reported and from what Gaz told us... they should be named Joe, Ralph, and Rita."
"Would they know where the island is?" Martha wondered.
"I'd assume that when Gaz was uplifted they were all close enough to see the island we're on now," Clara answered, "and thus they remember how to get here... just as they remembered seeing the ship after Gaz had swam over it..."
"And that was BEFORE their uplifting," Robbie said to his mate, rubbing her forearms gently.
Martha nodded as they arrived on the beach. She actually liked the feeling of the sand squishing between her toes. In the past, she'd never been able to really enjoy that, and came to be another thing that Martha liked about becoming an Animalian. Sure the sand might be tough to clean out from between her furry padded feet, but it was still a slight tickling sensation that she'd never gotten to feel before. She was already running through ideas that when Ran and Gaz got things running that Mieni might be a good place to come to and enjoy a nice vacation.
After a few moments they all noted the approach of three large fish approaching from the sea. Normally it would mean a shark, but with regard to the Animalia Virus that would mean that there was the option that these fish weren't sharks investigating things near the shore. This fact that the three looked to be a bit hesitant gave them reason to believe that they were the three uplifted fish. They waited a few moments before the first hesitantly poked his head above the water, likely nervous about weather or not they could breathe air.
"Do not worry, you can breathe," Clara called politely, "the specific conditions in the serum for fish included DNA from the Lungfish. You have both lungs and gills."
The head disappeared beneath the waves for a few moments, but was soon followed by three figures emerging and slowly walking forward toward them. They looked a bit shaky on their feet at first, but they did seem to improve with each step. It was something of a mystery on how so many Animalians had learned to walk as bipeds without prior experience, but many Animalians weren't about to complain about it. The three were nude and Rita's large breasts were plain to see for all that were there, but Clara and Robbie, having been mundane animals before their uplifting were fine with it and generally treated clothing as a necessity just to placate the humans they worked with. Richard and Martha felt more comfortable with the idea of clothing, though both had also found themselves feeling quite comfortable with being naked as well, particularly when with their mates.
"You are Joe, Ralph, and Rita?" Clara asked as they approached.
The pilot fish spoke for the group, "Yes. I am Joe the Pilot Fish and these are Ralph and Rita. They are Remoras."
"You don't have scales," Rita said.
"Yes, we are all mammals and are animals that evolved on land," Robbie commented, "So we don't have scales... However, ALL of us are Animalians and the three of you are most welcome to our society."
"Thank you," Joe said politely and noted that the four Animalians in front of his group were pared off male and female, and were all standing close to each other. Ralph and Rita also noticed this and moved close together as well.
"Things are only just getting started here... but we'd hope that you three, Ran, and Gaz can help getting things going with regard to a resort and scientific center to study the creatures on the atoll and perhaps even the animal life beneath the waves," Clara spoke.
"We'd be glad to help," Joe commented, "but does this mean we won't be able to move away?"
"Not really... you are free to leave Mieni if you wish," Clara said slowly, "BUT as Animalians, you aren't the mundane animals you used to be and... and in being recognized as sentient and sapient creatures on par with humanity, we're generally expected by humanity to abide by their laws with regard to our interactions with them."
"It'll mean we need to get you some clothing," Richard spoke, "as humans generally don't like public nudity... and some other things... but Ran is already familiar with that, and he and those who would work to help you three understand all that will surely do their best to help all of you."
"That's nice," Rita said nodding.
Joe nodded and looked between the two sets of mammal Animalians.
"You aren't staying?" Joe asked.
"Not on a permanent basis," Martha commented, "for much of Animalia... we hope that Mieni could be a resort. A place to unwind and have fun and get away from the stresses of modern life..."
"And we do have lives that are on land that we can't leave behind," Clara added, "Promises, responsibilities, holidays..."
"Holidays?" Ralph wondered.
"Special celebrations," Richard told him, "the big one coming up is Valentines Day. It's something for lovers to share their love with each other and be together with the ones they love."
Ralph looked to Rita for a moment. The two had swum with Gaz for quite awhile, and Ralph was finding Rita to be fairly attractive as well, though he'd like to know if she liked him back first and to learn more about these holidays first, but he supposed that would take some time.
"That sounds nice," Rita stated to which everyone nodded in reply.
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And they did try to explain things to Ralph, Rita, and Joe regarding holidays and specifically Valentines Day. As she looked out her window to see couples walking along the streets of Animalia, she wondered if Ralph and Rita had actually made a decision. If they had, she hoped the two Remoras were as happy with each other as she was with Richard.