"Are you sure you want to do this? You know you can still back out if you want," said Jeremy.
Sophie nervously stared at the syringe in his hand. It had taken a long time, but the test serum was finally complete. Sophie didn't completely understand how it worked. Jeremy had mentioned something about stem cells, Axolotl physiology and some genetic pattern unique to Heather's family, but the truth was that the science was way above her head. Sophie was a very good student, but she was still just in high school. Despite Jeremy's efforts to educate her, Sophie still had a lot to learn.
"Are you sure it will work?" asked Sophie.
Jeremy adjusted his glasses.
"Well, nothing is guaranteed," began Jeremy.
Heather gave him a hard shove in the back.
"Way to soften the blow, Doc," said Heather. "Good bedside manner."
Jeremy turned and glared at her.
"I was just being honest. She needs to know everything to give informed consent," said Jeremy.
"But you don't have to scare her. You got it right, Doc. I have faith in you. It'll work, I know it," said Heather.
"That was just what I was about to tell her," said Jeremy. He cleared his throat. "As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, nothing is guaranteed - but this is as close as you will get. I stand by my work. This mixture should uplift you to a Pterodactyl. But if you have any concerns, we can test it on someone else. Maybe you should discuss it with your parents."
"No, I want to do it. It's just..."
The accident with Shigeko was still fresh on her mind. Heather patted Sophie gently on the back.
"I know this is tough, even a little frightening. But this is what we have been working for all this time. It's what you want, what you need. You want to be with your friends. You see how they enjoy being converted, the advantages and fun of being an Animalian. But everything worthwhile in life requires a little risk. This is the only sample we have. It might take years to make another sample. That is, if we even can replicate it. And if the result is like me, not contagious .... well, you may never get another chance," said Heather.
"And you didn't want me to pressure the girl," said Jeremy snidely.
Sophie continued to stare at the needle, trying to ignore Heather and Jeremy bickering behind her. She was used to their little disagreements by now. They were almost like an old married couple. Normally Sophie thought it was kinda cute. She had even considered trying to get them to hook up.
Heather certainly seemed interested. Although she often gave him a hard time, it was obvious Heather admired Jeremy. Her playful teasing was her way of flirting with him. But Jeremy was too focused on his research to take any notice of her. Well, other than as a source of information or a test subject.
Jeremy didn't seem to care about anything but completing the project. Sophie had gradually learned bits and pieces of the story of his sister, Polly. Jeremy didn't hate the Animalians, but he did not approve of them. It was unlikely that he could put aside his prejudice and become close with one, especially one like Heather.
Sadly, Heather's options were rather limited. Even if she hadn't been under lock and key, she was not very popular among humans or Animalians. Sophie doubted that many people would welcome her, much less consider dating her. Sophie wondered if Heather was settling for Jeremy because she had no other options. It was a shame, because over time Sophie felt she had come to know Heather very well. She was a little rough around the edges, but Heather was not all bad.
They had all grown rather close working together for such a long time. But that didn't stop them from still getting on Sophie's nerves. Even though Sophie considered Jeremy and Heather her friends, they still had their annoying idiosyncrasies. Jeremy could be aloof and uncaring, while Heather could be brash and brutally honest. Both of them could be a little egotistical and self-centered, but they did appear to care for Sophie. Jeremy took Sophie under his wing, doing his best to educate her in graduate level biomedical genetic science. He treated her like a partner rather than an annoying kid he was forced to baby-sit. Heather treated her like sister, patiently listening to the drama of her high school life and offering her advice when she needed it.
They were an odd group, but Sophie almost came to see them as her second family. And this dysfunctional group somehow accomplished the impossible. They had created the first working Dinotopia serum. Sophie had confidence in the product their friendship had created.
"Okay, I'll do it," said Sophie proudly.
"That's great," said Heather with excitement. "But you might want to take off your clothes."
"What?" asked Sophie.
"Well, unless you don't mind growing through them. You won't be able to use those clothes after today, but it can be a bit painful," said Heather.
"I am afraid she is right. I can leave if you like, " said Jeremy.
"No, it's okay. I am going to be naked eventually. And I would rather have you here. Just in case something goes wrong, " said Sophie as she began to undress. "Besides, we are all friends here."
Sophie shivered a little as she stood in the center of the large lab. It was almost the size of hangar. Jeremy held up the needle, inches from her arm. He looked at her questioningly, raising an eyebrow. Heather watched anxiously.
Sophie nodded her consent and Jeremy injected the needle.
Sophie rubbed her arm. It was a little sore, but she didn't feel any different.
"Here, drink this," said Jeremy, handing her a shake.
"Will this activate the virus?" asked Sophie.
"No, it is a nutrient shake. Your body will need a tremendous amount of energy as well as building materials to complete the transformation. It's not absolutely necessary. I am sure you are aware that many animals and people have been converted without it. But I thought it might make the experience a little easier, maybe less painful, " said Jeremy.
"I'd drink it, kid. It can get a bit rough. Wish I had been so lucky. I was starving afterwards, not the mention the cramps," said Heather, rubbing her belly.
Sophie chugged it down. The flavor was quite tasty. It reminded her of a chocolate milkshake. She set the glass down and looked up to find the others staring at her. Jeremy looked frustrated, furiously scribbling down notes in the little notebook he always seemed to be carrying around. Heather just looked a little sad.
"Sorry, Sophie. It looks like this one is a dud. The mixture is still inert in human beings," said Jeremy.
"Could be worse. She could have exploded," said Heather.
"That's not funn... whoa," said Sophie.
Heather and Jeremy turned to stare at Sophie. They were all looking at the same thing. A slight reddish discoloration at the injection site. A reddish discoloration that was getting bigger and rapidly spreading across her body.
"I think it's working," said Sophie with a mixture of fear and excitement.
Heather smiled.
"How do you feel?" asked Jeremy, scribbling down some notes in his pad.
"Um, it feels weird," said Sophie.
Jeremy rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Give her a break, Doc. She is just a kid," said Heather. "Just relax and do the best you can, Sophie."
"Sorry, it's just a little unnerving, " said Sophie, giggling a little. "It doesn't hurt. It actually feels pretty good. Like when you get a rush of adrenaline or something. My heart feels like it is racing a mile a minute."
Sophie placed her hand on her heart. She could feel it frantically hammering beneath her skin. A little more disturbing was the loose flap of skin hanging below her forearm. She tugged on it, following the growing webbing down the side of her chest.
"Well, you did want wings, kid, " said Heather, giggling a little herself.
"Oh.. oh..." said Sophie, swaying from side to side.
Sophie looked down at her feet. She could see them stretching longer with a loud cracking noise. She had to shift her weight from side to side to maintain her balance
"That kinda hurts... ooh," said Sophie, wincing a little.
"Yeah, that's one of the worst. But the end result is pretty cool, " said Heather, lifting her own clawed feet.
Sophie grunted a little as her feet continued to get bigger and longer. Her big toe, middle toe, and pinky were getting larger while the others seemed to be shrinking away. A large claw pushed its way from below her toenails. Sophie lifted her foot, wiggling her three clawed toes.
That'll take some getting used to, thought Sophie.
Sophie almost fell when she placed her foot back on the ground. Heather grabbed a hold of Sophie to steady her. The balls of her feet had enlarged while her ankles narrowed, forcing her to adopt a digitigrade stance. Unlike Heather, her short tail did not seem to help much. But then again, maybe it just hadn't finished growing.
That was when Sophie noticed something. Holding her, Heather didn't seem so big anymore. In fact, she seemed to be getting smaller.
"Something... something's wrong, " said Sophie nervously. "I am getting too big."
"You are supposed to get big. Dinosaurs are big, even pterodactyls," said Heather.
Sophie looked down at her large thigh, bulging as it grew thicker with added muscle and tissue. And still stretching longer. With images of Shigeko still fresh in her mind, Sophie began to panic.
"No, I am getting too big. You have to stop it. You have to help," said Sophie.
"It's too late for that. But don't worry, everything is fine, just relax," said Jeremy with cold detachment, still scribbling in his notebook.
Heather just stared at her, a wide smile plastered on her face.
Is this some kind of trick? thought Sophie nervously. Did they know this would happen?
Sophie's panic and fear began to overwhelm her. Her breath was deep, heavy and rapid. She pushed Heather away from her, barely noticing how easily she did it. She looked down at her chest, still growing broader and now covered in dark reddish scales. Her hands tingled and cracked as they became claws. She tried to stretch out her arms, but the developing skin flap restricted her motion. As she pulled harder on her arms, the skin grew taut as it stretched wider and finished becoming a wing. The motion created small air currents that quickly became large gusts of wind, sending small objects and papers flying around the room.
"I...I ... awwkkkk!"
Sophie's words became gurgles as her mouth stretched into a long snout. Small sharp teeth emerged along her beak. With a sickening crack a fin pushed past her receding hair. Her neck stretched longer as her ears shrank and melded away, leaving her with a smooth, scaly head.
Sophie continued to gasp and breath deeply as the changes gradually slowed and finally stopped. Heather approached her slowly.
"Sophie, are you okay?" she asked with concern.
Sophie didn't know how to answer that. She felt so much it was hard to think. The changes, the new sensations, were all so overwhelming. She felt good, she felt strong, she felt....
Sophie's breathing slowed as she ran her hands across her body. She paused as she caressed her chest.
She felt .... hungry....
Sophie approached Jeremy like a predator stalking prey, cawing loudly, with desire in her eyes.
"Oh boy, I was afraid of this. I remember it myself and I wasn't some hormonal teenager, " said Heather as she ran after Sophie.
"Now, take it easy, Sophie. You are just a little overwhelmed by your hormones right now. You don't really want to do this and neither do I!" said Jeremy as he backed away in retreat.
Sophie was no longer a petite little girl. She was now a very large dinosaur. Jeremy tried to duck under a desk, but Sophie easily knocked it away. Sophie said nothing, just hissed.
Suddenly, Heather grabbed Sophie from behind, wrapping one arm around her neck and holding one hand back with the other. Sophie was big, maybe even larger than 7 feet, but Heather was still bigger. Sophie snapped and fought, almost freeing herself a few times. But unlike Heather, she was new to her body. Heather held her tightly, gently whispering into her ear and talking her down.
It doesn't take long. Sophie soon calmed down and Heather released her. She stood in front of her friends and colleagues, feeling incredibly embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," said Sophie, a slight blush on her cheeks. "I didn't mean.."
Jeremy held up a hand as he stood up and brushed himself off.
"Stop right there. You have nothing to apologize for. It was a perfectly understandable reaction, one that I should have anticipated. It is entirely my fault. I am the lead researcher and I should have taken the necessary precautions. What do you say we just edit that part out of the recording of our experiment? " said Jeremy.
"Thanks, Jeremy, " said Sophie. "I guess I kind of understand your reaction, Heather."
"Thanks. I am glad somebody finally appreciates what I went through," said Heather. "But let's stop the gabbing and get down to business. Why don't you have a look and tell us what you think?"
Sophie slowly made her way to the mirror, still walking unsteadily on her feet. It felt like she was wearing high heels. But the reward for her effort was worth it. Staring back at her in the mirror was tall, statuesque anthropomorphic pterodactyl. She was a little shocked at her new height. Heather was still taller, but it felt funny to look down at Jeremy.
"So?" asked Heather impatiently.
"I didn't want to be small, but I didn't expect to be so big," said Sophie as she looked down at Jeremy.
Jeremy scribbled a few mores notes in his pad, not bothering to look up at her.
"Well, dinosaurs are big. You are about the size I expected. And you might get even bigger. You are still a juvenile, you know. We may not know your full size until after puberty," said Jeremy.
"Maybe even longer. Some reptiles keep growing for their entire life," said Heather with a smile.
"Great, " said Sophie, still thinking of Shigeko.
"Oh, you won't get too big. Remember, the Animalian virus blends the characteristics of humans and animals. I wouldn't waste too much time worrying about it, " said Jeremy. "After all, we haven't noted much change in Heather."
"Okay, okay. But other than the height. Come on, what do you think?" said Heather with excitement. "Is it everything you wanted?"
Sophie patted the small fin on her head.
"What's with the fin? I told you I didn't want to be pteranodon, " said Sophie.
"We had to use a combination of pterosaur DNA from different samples to get a complete genome. Some of the gaps had to be filled with pteranadon DNA - it was the closest match. But I did my best to keep it at a minimum, " said Jeremy.
"Thanks, Doc," said Sophie glumly.
"Hey, why the sad face? I think you are missing the big picture here. You are a dinosaur now. You should be happy. Isn't this what you wanted?" asked Heather. "Besides, I think it looks pretty cool. It might even help you steer when you fly. Why don't you give it a try?"
Sophie turned and looked down at Jeremy with the glee of a child in her eyes.
"Can I?" she asked, like a child begging her parents to let her open a Christmas gift early.
Jeremy shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't see why not," said Jeremy. "Just don't start too high! It wouldn't do us any good if the first flying Dinotopian ended up breaking all the bones in her body!"
Sophie and Heather made their way out of the building, giggling excitedly like schoolchildren. A few of the staff at Horizon Labs stopped to stare at Sophie, but most were accustomed to seeing strange creatures walking through the halls. Outside the building, Sophie used scaffold attached to the side of the building left behind by some window cleaners to elevate herself several stories off the ground. Jeremy would have objected to her choice of height for her first attempt, but he was not there. He had remained behind to complete his notes and begin drafting his report. Now, as she made her way to the edge of the platform, Sophie was beginning to second guess her choice of height herself.
"Come on, don't be a wimp!" shouted Heather on the ground below her. "Just do it!"
Easy for her to say, thought Sophie as looked at the ground far below her. A small crowd of Horizon Labs employees began to gather around Heather, no doubt curious about what was happening.
Great, now I have an audience, thought Sophie. Well, here goes nothing.
Sophie stretched out her arms, pulling her wings taut, then stepped off the platform. After a short but stomach churning drop, her wings quickly caught the draft and she was gliding across the sky. She was dropping rather fast, but Sophie found by flapping her wings and adjusting the angle a bit, she could rise back up. Turning was an entirely different problem and she smashed into Heather as she tried to land.
"I flew. Did you see it, Heather? I really flew!" said Sophie with excitement.
"Yeah, I did, " said Heather as she gently pushed Sophie off of her body. She brushed herself off and stood up. Then she pulled Sophie to her feet. "Your landings need some work, but I am sure you will get better with practice. Probably do even better in the open with some more wind."
Sophie's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Not right now, kid. I don't know about you, but I am hungry. Why don't we get something to eat? Even with that shake you must be famished after your transformation," said Heather.
Sophie licked her lips.
"Now that you mention it, I'm staring. Let's go!" said Sophie happily.
Sophie and Heather stopped by the lab to invite Jeremy.
"Sorry girls, but I think I will have to decline. I still have a lot of work to do. I would be like a third wheel, anyway, " said Jeremy.
"You don't have to be, not now that the Dinotopia serum works, " said Heather hopefully.
"Thanks anyway, but no, " said Jeremy.
Heather looked a little disappointed, but left with Sophie anyway. Jeremy tried to hide it, but he did feel a little sad to see the team break up. He had grown to like the eager young future scientist Sophie. And he had even come to tolerate Heather. She could be a little brash and hot-headed, but she was also quite funny at times. She made the dreary lab a little more fun. He hated to admit it, but he was going to miss them. But, duty called. Now that he had given Horizon Labs what it wanted, surely they would let him continue his personal project. He still wanted to help his sister and Jeremy thought that the answer lay somewhere in the data he had collected from Heather and Shigeko.
Heather was used to eating alone, so she was glad to have company. At the large metal table designed for bigger Animalians, Heather gorged on raw meat, swallowing it whole. Heather required a large amount of protein to stay healthy and her table manners left a lot to be desired. Sophie sat across from her, a large pile of raw fish in front of her. She looked at it with disgust.
"It takes a little getting used to, but trust me - you will like it better this way. Just doesn't taste as good after it has been cooked, " said Heather between bites. "Think of it like sushi."
Sophie nervously held up a large fish. It looked disgusting, but strangely she did not find the odor repellant. In fact, it was making her even more hungry. She drooled a bit. In the end, hunger won out. Sophie closed her eyes and dropped the fish into her mouth.
The flavor was sensational. She had never eaten anything so delicious. It was like she was tasting new flavors for the first time. Sophie wondered if she her conversion had altered her tongue in some way, creating new taste buds. Sophie grabbed another fish .... and another .... and another. Soon she was devouring them as messily as Heather.
Sophie didn't notice her plate was empty till she reached for a fish that was no longer there . Her stomach rumbled. She was still hungry, even after finishing all those fish.
"Want to try some of mine?" said Heather, holding up some meat.
"I don't know," said Sophie nervously.
"Come on, Sophie, don't be shy. Pterosaurs are carnivores, just like me. Why do you think you have those little teeth? I don't mind. I know the transformation makes you really hungry," said Heather. She wiggled a large slab of meat in front of Sophie. "Try some - you don't have to eat it if you don't like it."
Again, Sophie's hunger triumphed over her apprehension. She took the meat from Heather and nibbled at it. Sophie loved it! Her narrow beak prevented her from swallowing the meat whole like Heather, but that didn't stop her from tearing the meat away from the bone with her teeth. She ate greedily, like an animal. Sophie was so focused on her meal she didn't notice her poor table manners.... but Heather did.
Heather watched Sophie with some amusement. She was glad that Sophie had decided to be converted into a dinosaur and even more glad that the Dinotopian serum had been a success. It was lonely being the only one of her kind. She hoped that Sophie was the first of many more. Sophie was a good first choice. She had really grown to like the spunky young girl. She was not only brave, but also pretty smart for a kid.
Heather would never admit it, but she hoped that Sophie had forgiven her. She didn't think that she would be kept locked up forever. They had to let her out sometime, especially now that she had done her part in creating the Dinotopia serum. Her punishments had to end sometime. And when she entered society she didn't want to be treated like some kind of second class citizen, a pariah among pariahs. It would help to have a friend like Sophie.
And she hoped many more people chose to become converted into Dinotopians. There was safety in numbers and she would feel a lot more comfortable around her own kind. Effie was good start - she loved her grandmother, despite her somewhat strict discipline and strange new personality. But it was just not the same as a friend. And the more the merrier.
Maybe with time she could even get Jeremy to change his mind about conversion....
Sophie stopped chewing and looked at Heather curiously.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?" said Sophie. She wiped away some meat hanging from teeth. "Sorry about that. I guess my instincts got the better of me. That must have been really disgusting. "
"Nah, kid. You are doing fine," said Heather wistfully. "Just lost in thought, that's all."
"What are you thinking about?" asked Sophie as she continued to eat, this time with a little more care and decorum.
"The future, " said Heather with a smile.