Amos and Esteban's conversions were a bit more conventional from Buford's. Because of the fact that both the Texas Horned Lizard and the Alligator Snapping Turtle both came from within the US, there weren't the related "importation/immigration" issues that related to Aleta's coming to Horizon, though the declining population of the Alligator Snapping Turtle in the wild and many of the other legal issues that had come up after Heather's actions the previous fall, their conversion would also lack the personal touch that Buford got with Aleta. They went to a pair of conversion rooms with Doctor Stein and with one of the various "nurses" that Horizon employed to help with the injections.
"So... how is this gonna work?" Amos asked as he looked to Doctor Stein.
"We have two sets of needles that will cover your respective doses, though we have an individual room for your own privacy... unless..." Doctor Stein said slowly as he looked between them.
"We ain't THAT friendly," Esteban answered.
"So we have the rooms for your privacy," Doctor Stein continued, "Mr. Amos... you may be able to fit into a lot of loose clothing, even with the Texas Horned Lizard's spines, as a male's maximum size is just over three inches long... though tight clothing might become a bit uncomfortable..."
"I'd imagine the tail might still require some alteration?" Amos asked, to which Doctor Stein nodded.
"The Alligator Snapper is bigger though..." Esteban commented.
"Yes, though its sizes are also within the human size range," Doctor Stein answered, "the biggest issue will be the shell. Like the other freshwater turtles and terrapins in Animalia, we suspect you will be able to remove your shell... unlike them, however, the shell may not cover your entire underside due to how the shell is with actual animal."
"Snapper's defense is its snapping," Esteban gave smile, "and the Alligator Snapper is the biggest with little real threats... A full grown Alligator, maybe, but even THAT isn't likely."
Doctor Stein slowly nodded and gestured for Esteban to go with the nurse toward the far changing room while Doctor Stein led Amos into the closer one. The two men nodded and followed the Horizon employees politely. They wondered on how Buford was doing, but for the moment couldn't be too concerned.
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Amos followed quietly and found a lot about the room to match some of the pictures that Horizon had put into its advertisements for things related to project Phoenix and the willing conversions for those who wanted to be Animalians. It was interesting, though his focus remained on his conversion. He simply stood by the bed and simply stripped down to his underwear. He wasn't going to go naked, partially as the damage that his steroid use had made a lot of his equipment something not to actually be proud of, and even the muscles that he'd taken the drugs for weren't what they used to be. As he finished readying himself, he turned to see Doctor Stein holding a ready alcohol swab in one hand and two syringes in the other, though with their orange safety caps still over the needles.
"You may feel a slight pinch," Doctor Stein said to him as he swabbed the alcohol swab on his shoulder.
Amos only nodded and readied himself as Doctor Stein then turned to ready the needles. Once that was done, the Horizon physician provided both injections and gave Amos a small and friendly smile. It was friendly and polite and with the fact that Doctor Stein wasn't judging him, Amos returned it.
"Welcome to Animalia," Doctor Stein spoke as he finished the second injection and then left the room to provide Amos with some privacy.
Amos nodded as he felt his body begin to grow rather warm, which he didn't expect. The Texas Horned Lizard was a reptile and a rather small reptile. It wasn't like the large sea turtles or crocodilians that could through their size maintain at least a degree of a standard body temperature, and certainly not big enough to compare with the various dinosaurs that were thought to be more reptile like than birdlike. In this, as he watched tan orange scales begin to form on his arms and body, he didn't expect to grow warmer. Regardless though, he watched in an almost fascinated manner as his body began to become covered in scales. It didn't take long before his whole body was covered.
"Amazing," Amos said to himself as he felt a slight ache at his spine. With things being private for the moment, he pulled his underwear down to see short modest tail starting to form. It was sort of banded in color with some bands matching the main tan/orange coloration while the alternating band was a darker shade of brown. He also noticed that many of the scales there were growing thicker and puffed up a bit, almost looking like they were tiny versions of the thorns on a rose bush. As he looked over his shoulder, he also noticed these sorts of spikes growing in places along his back and on his sides. The horns on his back were bigger, but they didn't stand out that much. Amos figured he could probably still get into his old shirt for the moment and that the biggest issue he'd have would be his tail with his pants.
He moved carefully across the room until he came before a mirror that had been on the wall opposite the door he'd entered through. As he got closer, Amos actually felt quite amazed by what he could see. His hair was largely still there and in some places was even growing back and was returning to the color it had been in his youth. It reminded him that many Humans that became reptilian Animalians kept the hair on their heads. The only ones that lost their hair were the Dinotopians, though the full reasons for that weren't known. Amos had seen an article that theorized it related to dinosaurs' connection to birds and that in some ways their hair became feathers, as had happened with a few bird Animalians, but then this didn't happen with EVERY converted bird Animalian and at the same time, the dinosaurs that were most closely related to birds were theropods and there were a few Dinotopians that WEREN'T theropods that not only lost their human hair but didn't seem to grow feathers.
Ultimately though, Amos didn't really care on that. It'd just been something he noticed when going through the required research before joining Animalia, and the thing he enjoyed more was the restoring of his youth. His muscles were swelling taut again. They weren't huge by any means, and he didn't think he'd be able to challenge Anton... except to maybe an ant eating contest... but then, Iguanas didn't eat ants... Amos simply watched as his muscles regained the tone that had been lost thanks to steroids and aging, and now the muscle he had was all natural.
He also watched as his horns began to grow out, and become something like a crown. They started on the ridges above his eyes, which retained their color. His horns grew bigger as they moved to the back of his head. On the back of his head were the two largest horns that pointed back and stuck out through his hair, and the rest of the crown did the same as they ran along the back of his and toward his jaw. There was also a small row of thick horn-like scales that ran along the lower edge of his jaw on was now a very square-like shaped head. He noticed slightly thicker eyelids around his eyes and he could actually feel something like extra muscle groups in them, though for the moment he didn't know for sure what they did.
However, a loud noise that sounded like something hitting the wall and then the floor was then heard and it came from the room to Amos's right, which was where Esteban had to be going through his transformation. However, the sound startled Amos as he hadn't expected it and he felt those new muscle groups contract around his eye, and he soon saw a flash of red as short geyser of blood shot out from the corner of his eye. He could see it in the mirror, and normally, Amos actually would have found that "cool" as it was a defensive mechanism that was unmatched in the animal kingdom, but he'd been too startled by the sound and wondered if Esteban was okay. In that, he forgot about his "trick" and rushed out of the room to find Doctor Stein and the nurse waiting out in the hall.
"Did ya hear a crash?" Amos asked to them.
"A crash?" Doctor Stein spoke in surprise.
"Yeah, I was a just finished changin' when I heard somethin' crash into the wall!" Amos said quickly, "it had to be Esteban! Ya gotta see if he's okay!"
"We generally try to respect people's privacy," the nurse spoke slowly.
"But suppose he's hurt!?" Amos blurted, "bad enough we all made mistakes years ago... do we hafta pay for them again through some accident?"
Doctor Stein glanced to the nurse and then to Amos and shrugged and approached the door. Normally, for privacy purposes these doors were locked from the inside and that they'd only open after the new Animalian opened the door, especially in the case of a mated pair transforming together. Horizon had had no injury problems and husbands and wives often liked to be intimate as part of the transformation process. However, there were the cases where health and safety were an issue, and as such he did have keys that could unlock the door. They'd never been used before, but that didn't mean accidents that would require it couldn't happen. He slid the key into the lock and turned the bolt and the door threw open, with Amos practically barreling through Doctor Stein.
They found Esteban on his hands and knees with a lengthening slowly turning from side to side. His hands and feet were now webbed with long claws at the end of each finger and Doctor Stein could see the definitive ridges on the back of the Alligator Snapping Turtle's shell starting to form on Esteban. However, Doctor Stein did see something that did reflect Amos's worry, as the plaster in the wall was dented. However, the dent showed the shallow arch that formed Esteban's newly grown shell, but it lacked the telltale ridges that were only just forming.
"Esteban are you okay, man!?" Amos blurted as he rushed over to his friend and reached for his shoulder.
A pointed head with a bladed mouth turned back to him. Esteban, like Amos had all the hair on his head back, which carried a raven black look that actually did quite well greenish/grayish/goldish scaled head and with the banded gold and black scales around his eyes that carried the sort of eyelash look that the Alligator Snapping Turtle was famous for.
"Yeah, amigo," Esteban answered, "what's this about?"
"I believe you crashed into the wall," Doctor Stein commented looking at the damaged wall, "your friend heard the crash and thought you were in trouble."
"Oh..." Esteban said slowly, "Guess I got a bit distracted... webbing started forming between my feet and I could see the underside of my shell forming... It sorta follows outline of my muscles but is like a muscle shirt... It's meant to flash awesome pectoral muscles... I guess I wasn't paying close attention and crashed into the wall."
"You do look good," Amos commented, "Glad you're okay. We all came to get better..."
"And now we are, and it's all natural," Esteban answered, "though... I could really go for some fish..."
"Horned Toads are insectivores," Amos answered, using the common name that was often used in Texas for the species of lizard he'd become, "though... Buford might agree... Though you may have to debate between trout and walleye versus sea bass."
"Na, Bull Sharks can live in freshwater too," Esteban shrugged as he got to his feet.
"Actually... your diets may not suffer too much," Doctor Stein commented, "more carnivorous than before, but we've generally noticed that animals that naturally prey on certain foods don't suffer on other foods after becoming Animalians. In this some of the birds and lizards that are primarily insect eaters can do fairly well with meats... though favoring insects has been noticed... and there is no great restriction with regard to sea fish versus freshwater fish. Your greatest restriction will be on what plants you'll be able to eat."
"What are we, green?!" Esteban joked, which got a chuckle out of Amos.
Things looked good, though he was curious on how Buford turned out. And with the knowledge Esteban wasn't hurt transforming, he was ready to show his trick.