Sylvia had been feeling the tiniest bit of uneasiness about being on an island because she hadn't been sure how to swim with her serpentine body. But now that she had mastered that, she was able to relax completely during her spring break on Mieni Atoll. Well, it wasn't that she went to a college directly. She doubted every law school would be open for a rattlesnake to attend. So she was applying online. Hopefully, there would soon be a community college built in Animalia for Animalians who wanted a degree. Perhaps in a few years, colleges around the country could let anthro animals physically attend. But until then, Sylvia was trying to get her lawyer's degree online.
Well, right now, Sylvia was doing some sunbathing. Even as a reptilian Animalian, she wasn't 100% cold-blooded, but she still preferred warmth a lot more than coolness. She was a little tempted to ditch her bikini top and hip wrap and soak up sun in the nude, but Mieni Atoll still followed the norms of human modesty. Perhaps one of the other smaller islands might get a nude beach, but Sylvia didn't mind covering up a little bit of skin right now.
Eventually, Sylvia heard the sound of someone coming. Her hearing had changed a bit since becoming a rattlesnake. Thankfully, she didn't lose her human hearing, even if her ears had been reduced to two tiny holes in her head. But she could also hear things through her tail. Well, it was more accurate that she could sense vibrations through her tail and could sense when things are moving on the ground. She looked in the direction of the sound to see Maddie walking in her direction. The two of them had met during one of Project Phoenix's social gatherings and soon bonded over their struggle to earn degrees while not being physically at college. They've jokingly referred to each other as 'cyber college dormmates'.
"How are you enjoying the beach?" asked Maddie.
"Pretty nicely," said Sylvia, "Kirana and Teela showed me how to swim with my tail."
"At least you can move through the water more easily than me," said Maddie, indicating her huge breasts that were stretching out her bikini top.
"How often do those need to be drained?" asked Sylvia.
"A lot more often than yours," said Maddie. The Animalian virus gave all females large lactating mammary glands, but animals that were bred for their milk, namely cows and goats, had to deal with their milk surplus far more than any others. "But Theseus is always ready to drain me if I can't get to a pump. You know, since practically every Animalian here is already double-dosed, I could just give my milk away."
"Not sure how many would want their milk straight from the udder," said Sylvia, "Er, no offense."
"None taken," said Maddie, "I'm glad I didn't grow an udder though. Could you imagine how awkward that would be?" She rubbed her belly at that. Uplifted cows tended to have vestigial remains of their teats on their bellies even though all their mammary glands had migrated up to their chests. Converted humans lacked those, which was one more indication of who they were before, asides from their human hair.
"Changing the subject, how are your classes coming?" asked Sylvia.
"So far, so good," said Maddie, "Probably will get harder later though."
"You'd think your job would give you plenty of study time," said Sylvia. Inspired by the performances she and Theseus gave at the Meat Market, Maddie was trying to acquire a degree in archeology, specializing in Greek culture. While Maddie did make plenty of money at her milking job and at the Meat Market, she'd rather not have to tell her eventual calves that their parents were strippers.
"Well, learning about law must be harder," said Maddie.
"Yeah, kinda wished they would allow a snake to physically go to class, but not might happen for a while," said Sylvia, "Now if I were a shark, that'd be another story." The two of them laughed at that lawyer joke. "But seriously though, I've met the sharks here. They're actually pretty nice. Not at all like you'd think lawyers would be."
"Yeah, well, you know that eventually some lawyer will want to become a shark for the image," said Maddie.
"So long as it's not a loan shark," said Sylvia with a slight shudder. Project Phoenix had been very careful with its selection, trying to screen out anyone with criminal inclinations and who might abuse their new forms and cause negative views of Animalia.
"You know, when they get surfboards big enough for me and Theseus, we might do some surfing," said Maddie, "Would you want to join us?"
"How can I grip the board with no feet?" asked Sylvia.
"Uh...I'm not sure about that one, but I think it's more about balance than grip," said Maddie.
"Well, I'm not sure if surfing would be for me either way," said Sylvia, "I think I'd rather just lie in the sun and read."
"Mind if I join you?" asked Maddie.
"Only if you don't block my light," said Sylvia.