Kirana by memory already knew a lot about Mieni's geography, at least with regard to the fact that the atoll composed several small islands around a central lagoon, which she had occasionally visited from time to time before her uplifting. In this, Mieni mirrored many of the other atolls that made up the Pacific's islands. The difference now, was that the islands were set up for a sort of resort for animal people, which she technically counted as one now. That seemed odd and confusing in some way, but as she made her way through the hallways and then out onto the landing strip to see things with new eyes, she moved to ponder some of the things that were being asked of her.
The biggest thing was needing to contribute a blood sample to help uplift a Moray Eel, which was something that made her nervous. It was something that both the scientists working for Horizon and Animalia's citizens had noticed that while Animalia had actions and standards that mirrored human society in practically every way, Animalians hadn't gotten completely away from their base instincts, particularly when it came to predator/prey interaction. It had been noted that many of uplifted herbivore species in Animalia were hesitant at first with regard to dealing with the uplifted predators, with the exception of the uplifted domestic dogs and cats. But, they had also noticed that in time, many of the concerns died away, as seen in Abby's training with Durga for the IAC. Kirana was, for the moment, only at the early part of the sort of interaction that would lead to what had already been noticed in Animalia.
"You're Kirana, right?" voice asked from behind her, making her jump a little, which resulted in Kirana taking a bit of a tumble, since Sea Kraits weren't as good on land as other snakes.
She eventually turned to see Gaz standing there calmly and with her lips held so to cover as many of the uplifted Great White's triangular teeth as possible. Once Kirana got herself back in balance, she nodded.
"Hello, I'm Gaz," Gaz introduced herself and held out a hand to Kirana. After a moment she took Gaz's hand and the two of them had their formal meeting, "Some of the scientists said you were a bit uneasy about one of their experiments..."
"Well... they were talking about uplifting a Moray Eel..." Kirana began nervously.
"And you fear rivalry, I understand," Gaz nodded, "I had the same reaction when I learned Animalia had uplifted Orcas."
Kirana looked on with some puzzlement. In her experience, sharks were the dominant and apex predators in the environments she frequently saw, though they were often reef sharks, black tips and white tips. Occasionally she had seen oceanic black tips and white tips, but that wasn't too often and she still tended to avoid sharks whenever possible. She did see whales and dolphins from time to time as well, but they also had generally ignored her. As such, she had few interactions with Orcas to understand the instinctive concern the largest predatory fish would have over the largest dolphin species. Gaz, however, continued.
"But Animalia has its edicts that forbid predators from attacking other Animalians," Gaz continued, "and I did get to actually speak with the uplifted Orcas on the human "Skype." It was interesting and they were rather friendly. They even made commentary of being willing to show some tricks when they come to visit..."
"But they won't eat you?" Kirana asked.
"By rule, they won't," Gaz answered, "So... you won't have any trouble with Teela."
Kirana's answer was hesitant, but ultimately it was in the affirmative.
"Okay... though, I wonder why they are so concerned with this..." Kirana spoke, "... virus."
"Probably to see what it can do and maintain things in case of either accidents or to refine it so that isn't a virus and is beneficial for all beings, I suppose," Gaz spoke.
Kirana shrugged and after a while she did make her way back into the laboratory area where the scientists were. She found the scientists looking through various computer screens and toward a large tank that was in another room. Kirana noted that in the tank was a lone Moray Eel, swimming carefully along the bottom of the tank. She was about to announce her presence when one of the scientists turned to her.
"Have you thought it over?" the scientist asked.
"Yes," Kirana spoke, "and... I'll do it... What do I need to do?"
Kirana watched as the scientists soon came around her. One woman among them hugged her like they were long lost friends. The male scientist ultimately answered her question.
"We only need a blood sample from you," he spoke, "as uplifting Teela will be a complicated and difficult action. Mostly because of how we're having to combine animal DNA in this part. We include lungfish DNA with all fish Animalians to give them the ability to breath both air and water. However, most fish have the specific fins that develop into legs as part of the uplifting process and thus allows they could move above water."
"You mentioned that already," Kirana commented, "and you say that I could help with this..."
"Yes," the male scientist nodded, "but because we're now combining lungfish DNA and uplifted Sea Krait DNA... we need to be careful and isolate only the desired traits so that Teela remains a Moray Eel and doesn't become a fish/reptile cross. It's tricky, but thankfully, our computers are smart enough to do it."
Kirana watched as they moved around her and prepped her. This involved wiping one arm and particularly in her elbow with an alcohol swab that was designed to kill bacteria and anything that might cause infection. Eventually one approached her with what looked like a needle and a couple of specimen tubes. The female scientist held a pressure band that was wrapped around her arm right above the elbow.
"You might feel a bit of a pinch," the female scientist said to Kirana as the needle was carefully inserted into a her elbow.
There was a bit of a pinch, but Kirana watched as her blood filled the specimen tube to give the scientists what they needed to put together the formula for Teela's uplifting. Kirana was still nervous over uplifting Teela, but she figured that if Animalia's edicts had worked so far, they'd continue to work. Kirana also reasoned that it'd give her the ultimate opportunity to learn more about the world and what it was like to be an Animalian.