"Sorry. When this thing makes a mermaid, it doesn't fool around," said Jeff as he stared at the fantasy creature his friend has become.
"If you think it's so great, try it yourself -- after you've finished with me!" snapped Tony.
"All right, all right." Jeff hit enter one more time, and Tony closed her eyes in anticipation of the now-familiar electric shock...
...and opened them a few seconds later after nothing happened. "Well?"
"Template stability below safe zone," read Jeff. "Allow 24 hours for equilibration, then try again."
"What!" shrieked the new mermaid.
"You can cancel the last change and try something else, right?" suggested Jack.
"It says here that we can still cancel the last change, but then she still needs to wait before changing again. So she'd be a hippocampus for 24 hours."
Emma the turtle, being held by Eric to keep her out of trouble, started hissing again. It sounded almost like laughter. Eric smacked the top of her head and asked, "What do we do? We'll have to hide you for the next day."
"Dammit, I think I'm getting dehydrated. At least fill a bathtub or something," complains Tony as she rubs her drying scales.
Jeff keeps reading. "It says here there's an override, but TransDem Labs won't be held responsible for the result."