Shortly after her transformation, Mary was escorted outside the Horizon Labs and onto a small lawn outside the building. Mary felt quite glad to actually be tall. While it wasn't like she was truly staring death in the face before, her smaller stature had made many things difficult as things would be out of reach in any standard home or place of work. She had managed, but Project Phoenix had allowed for her to be able to adapt and being a tall Animalian, like a Giraffe seemed like a great idea. She'd get to be tall and the things that were out of reach before would now easily be within reach. Sure, dealing with low ceilings might be an issue, but from what she'd seen on the news many places, and particularly those in Animalia and Lyre were now building higher ceilings to give taller Animalians enough room to stand without having to hunch over. So height issues wasn't too much of a problem.
The biggest problem that Mary had found herself with was balancing on her feet. Like most Humans turned Animalians, Mary's feet had lengthened to allow for a digitigrade stance, meaning that she was essentially on her toes and her heal was raised, like wearing high heals. The only ones that didn't have that issue were those Humans that became either Animalians based on other primates, crocodilians, lizards, and bears as they all essentially had plantigrade feet, meaning they walked with the heal touching the ground. At the same time, while Mary found herself a bit off balance by standing on her toes, she also found some things a bit off balance based on the fact that she now had two large orbs resting on her chest, which was also something she didn't have before.
"I think you're doing remarkably well," the Horizon scientist that had been with her commented to Mary.
"Thanks," Mary answered somewhat weakly, "though there is a lot of this that is so new and from a perspective that I've never had before."
The scientist nodded as she staggered a bit away from him. Her legs shook a little and her whole body swayed forward and back as she tried to compensate for both her new stance and the weights on her chest.
"Not to mention that I never had so much weight in the front before," Mary then finished as she looked down to her breasts, covered by a tee-shirt that Horizon had on hand for her.
"I'm sure," the Horizon scientist commented, "but a lot of that is fairly normal for all humans that have become Animalians. It's one of the things that time and practice will help with. And I'm sure your donor would be more than willing to help when she gets here."
Mary slowly nodded her head as she managed to balance herself while standing still. She managed, though also finding at a somewhat wider stance for her legs and feeling almost like she was leaning back with her neck, though she also had to put her "back" into it. It wasn't actually painful, as her muscles felt more than capable of holding her up. It was just that things were so new that she was having to learn the sorts of balancing lessons that many Animalians learned. The only real difference between Mary and most other Animalians, was that as a Giraffe, her neck was also longer with the potential to throw off her balance, regardless of the fact that a Giraffe's neck had the same number of bones a a Human's neck did. It was a difference that Mary did her best to compensate for, but she hoped that when her donor arrived, she'd be able to help.
Eventually Mary turned her head to see another Giraffe Animalian approaching. She was dressed like she was out jogging and made her way toward Mary.
"So, I take it you're the one getting used to being tall now?" the new arrival spoke to Mary with a slight hint of humor in her voice.
"Heh... yes," Mary answered back with some acknowledgement of the joke, "As there are some things that are a clear difference..."
"Yes, going from quadruped to biped can be something... when I was uplifted when the Animalia Virus went from the river and into the city's water system and thus to the zoo, it was fairly tough too," she spoke, "My name is Kenya."
"I was human, actually... a "little person" as one would call it," Mary answered, "and you're named for the country?"
"I was an animal in Lyre's zoo," Kenya answered with a shrug, "but what's a little person?"
"A dwarf," the scientist spoke, "to put it simply, someone who is shorter than normal. Mary here wanted to be taller and did technically qualify for the reduced rates related to Project Phoenix..."
"And you wanted to be a Giraffe?" Kenya asked to Mary.
"Yes," Mary spoke, "After all... it would be nice to be tall... but there are certain balance issues."
Kenya nodded and gave a small smile, "Yeah... that can be something, more though with your neck than anything. Yes... your new bosom has weight, but it's really your neck that will effect your balance the most, as if you tilt your neck in any direction, its weight and your head will pull you in that direction. In this... while you're getting used to your new balance and stature, you'd be best to try and keep your neck straight and up as much as you can."
Mary nodded as Kenya came up to her and offered her an arm. Mary took it and found Kenya's grip fair strong and providing a steady influence.
"Now, walking for you won't be different for how walking was for me," Kenya spoke, "It may take practice to get used to your balance, but in the end the process is the same. Again, try to keep your neck straight and try not to let it swing, either back and forth or side to side as you look around. I'll help you hold your balance to start and as we go from there... we'll move toward you walking on your own."
"Okay," Mary said slowly and she and Kenya began making various attempts at moving up and down the lawn. As they did so, Kenya gave plenty of points here and there to help Mary retain her balance, particularly with keeping her neck firm and that when she turned her head to only rotate her head and not turn her whole neck, which was the often response for a Giraffe to do in nature and was something that apparently even Giraffe Animalians had, regardless of whether or not they were uplifted animals or transformed humans. But with each trek up and down the lawn, Mary did get a bit better. As they practiced, Mary and Kenya both talked about some of the ideas that were out there for Animalian colonies, the IAC, the Fourth of July, and other things. Mary felt she learned a lot, and by the time she managed to get her balance under control, she looked to Kenya and smiled. And Kenya smiled back as they'd actually made friends.