"There is a lot of this that we'll have to do one at a time," Doctor Stein slowly to the small group that was there in the room that were connected with Project Cameroon.
Ping stood by quietly to one corner and with her was an FBI agent, who'd they'd all found rather helpful and friendly, especially with regard to helping the five girls get new names and identities after rescue. Huoxing sat in one chair energetically tapping her feet on the tile floor, though the manner in which she did so was more like she was tap dancing rather than being impatient. Doctor Stein didn't know if she knew that and was doing so to use that sort of musical rhythm, but he did find it rather amusing. Tuxing sat next her, but was more quiet and reserved and her dark eyes often shifted between Ping, Doctor Stein, and the FBI Agent.
Jinxing was also sitting quietly, but Doctor Stein also noted that her focus seemed more on the television that was on in the background. Normally with such private meetings he'd have them in his office or in the official lab area, but with five members of the project present, Ping, and an FBI agent, his office was too small, and with Heather and other Animalians that had their mating season in the spring, regardless of whether or not the weather cooperated, the lab might not be the best place as with Ping also approaching the mating season for the Giant Panda, all of the assorted hormones could potentially lead to two theropods more interested in mating than anything else. That left one of the waiting rooms in the Horizon building being the best place for the meeting.
Shuixing was more downcast with herself and had her arms wrapped around herself. From what Doctor Stein had been told, she had not been particularly well treated and abused, though psychologically rather than physically. He made some private notes that she get a couple of sessions with Doctor Jones as things moved forward. Animalia and Lyre had both stated they had no problem with welcoming people, but between the fact that they weren't on the coast and the fact that the US Federal Government was in a back and forth legal battle with various states on the whole "sanctuary cities" issue, Doctor Stein knew that even if those states won, the conflict wasn't going to be resolved anytime soon. Beside Shuixing was Muxing who's eyes narrowed when she looked to Doctor Stein and the FBI agent and only relaxed when she looked to her sisters or to Ping. Doctor Stein figured that she would likely need some counseling as well, but for the moment that would have to wait.
"One at a time..." Ping said slowly, "Doctor... doesn't your lab have more than one transformation room?"
"We do, but they were all adapted out of the original rooms in the building after Animalia was first "created," but those were limited as at that time most of the human to Animalian conversions were actually done OFF of the Horizon property and Animalians weren't required to keep up to date on vaccinations that keep the potential infectious nature of the Animalia Virus down," Doctor Stein answered, "and the ones we had were more limited for those in Project Phoenix and other special projects... which kept many of those rooms close to the specific labs they're connected with."
"But that has since changed, am I right there?" Ping asked, sounding rather puzzled.
"Things have changed," Doctor Stein nodded, "but that's also spread out many of the transformation rooms... and I'd think it best that we keep these five together... so that they feel safer, as while we at Horizon have no intent to harm them, it IS a new and different place for them, and unfortunately one of our recent volunteers in his transformation tripped over himself and put a decent sized dent in one of the walls. We have work crews presently repairing the damage..."
"Oh," Ping said simply, but with some understanding, "then... who will go first?"
Doctor Stein didn't even get a chance to answer as a younger and energetic voice said, "Oh... me! Me! Me!"
Doctor Stein turned to see Houxing waiving her hand with some energy with a smile on her face, which made him chuckle. The five had learned a surprising amount of English, which the FBI agent had been most amazed at and had a lot of questions over, as it raised the suspicion that this cult/crime group that had captured the five had had dealings with people who knew English and thus raised the potential that the crime ring was far larger then originally expected. And while the FBI's ability to confront crimes outside the US was extremely limited, that didn't mean that he couldn't get information to international groups like the UN and Interpol that would have more resources in international affairs.
"I suppose we have a volunteer," Doctor Stein commented with a small smile, "If you'll come with me, we'll get started."
Houxing was the first to happily hop up with the others soon getting up behind her, with Ping and the FBI agent bringing up the rear. Doctor Stein made some private notes of mixed worry and nervousness among the group, but they did follow along and Houxing was the most optimistic looking. In this, he knew that Animalia was ultimately offering more than just the opportunity to heal physical wounds and all diseases that the sisters might have contracted while in captivity, but also with the psychological aid of restoring their optimism. In working with Horizon and the Animalians like Judy who had joined the company after the Animalia outbreaks, he'd found that in spite of all the potential troubles they'd run into, Animalians had retained a rather optimistic look on life. These five might need some help from Doctor Jones, but Doctor Stein had some hope that by becoming Animalians, these five would regain their health and would see a their optimism grow, just as it had for all the animals that had been uplifted out of bad places, like the horses rescued from the fighting ring and those humans that had participated in Project Phoenix.
Doctor Stein lead them to one of the transformation rooms, and it was one of the older ones that didn't have other transformation rooms alongside it and was apart from the area where the work crews were repairing the all in one of the other transformation rooms. Houxing energetically followed him, though she stopped when she noticed the bed in the room. Doctor Stein was readying the specific syringes for Houxing's double dosing with the strain for the Red Panda when he noticed her looking at it.
"A bed?" she said slowly and looking nervously to Ping who had followed.
"Yes, though, THAT is more for romantic couples who wish to become Animalians," Doctor Stein spoke slowly so Ping could translate if necessary, just as Maho Yurikazi translated for Miko Monaka. The Gigantoraptor Dinotopian was getting better with her English, but did say she wished to return home to Japan to be closer to her family once she was fully adjusted to being a Dinotopian. One of the Natural History museums in Tokyo had been in contact with her and with Rex Ramos to provide Miko with some lessons in paleontology and biology as they had the hope that Miko could work with the scientists there as an educator, and so far that had been working fairly well, but still needed Maho's abilities as a translator with English to Japanese. The five that were present to be the first for Project Cameroon would need Ping for translating English to Chinese and vice versa. "There have been some laws passed in America that have certain requirements that have most transformations with the Animalia Virus happen here at Horizon... and certain aspects of the virus do have certain effects that those who are romantically involved to mate with each other, and thus we try to keep THEM comfortable. But, because you are not with a husband... we will give you the necessary privacy you need. No one will hurt you."
"You can trust him," Ping said to Houxing after she finished translating.
Houxing then nodded and carefully rolled up one sleeve on her shirt. She watched with a bit of nervousness as Doctor Stein approached her. He applied an alcohol swab to her skin and cleaned it before delivering the injections. They didn't hurt, at least they didn't hurt much. With that, he smiled politely to her. It was a rather fatherly smile that Houxing actually felt safe around.
"Welcome to Animalia," Doctor Stein spoke politely and then walked out with Ping leaving Houxing alone in the room.
Houxing looked around the room, which she was already finding warmer. Her skin also itched a little and for the moment that made her look down. She looked down to see small claws growing from her fingertips. They slid out slowly and grew sharper and sharper, though they were shaped more like a cat's claw than anything else. At the same time, she could see dark brown fur growing on her arms which created some feelings of puzzlement.
"Brown?" Houxing wondered to herself, "but I asked to be a Red Panda..."
She slowly made her way forward before coming before a mirror. Her mind was a bit puzzled, as while she knew about the cartoon images of what the Red Panda looked like, she'd never actually seen the animal itself and animators were rarely one hundred percent accurate. As she moved her feet also felt a bit uncomfortable, like her feet were a bit cramped. Red Pandas didn't have long digitigrade legs the way a cat or dog did, but rather had a foot structure that wasn't too different from bears, but that didn't mean they had human sized feet. And from what Houxing knew on the Animalia Virus, that since Doctor Stein had given her two doses and that the Red Panda DNA that they had gathered had likely come from an adult Red Panda, likely from a zoo, the virus would have the affect to either age her make her younger, depending on the difference in ages... though that could be mixed given that not all animals aged at the same rate.
Houxing ended up hopping the last few steps to find that her feet had changed, just as her hands had. They were now covered in dark brown fur and her toes were tipped with modest sized but sharp claws. By this time, though, she'd made in front of the mirror and found more of the colors she expected. Her eyes were still the same color and they weren't changing, which was something noted in all Human to Animalian changes in that their eye color didn't change... or at least they usually didn't, but Houxing did notice some other changes. Her nose and face was slowly pushing forward into a modest muzzle covered in white fur and with her nose being colored black, like a small triangular island in a sea of white. There was also small bands of white fur on her cheeks and above her eyes. Below her eyes and between her muzzle and the white bands on her cheeks the fur was a dark brown, like her arms and legs, but the rest of her head was more what she expected.
From the front, her head was rather roundish in shape, with the only thing that broke that outline being her ears. They looked sort of like short cat ears with the fur on the inside being white and the fur on the back of the ear being dark brown, and Houxing could only watch as they rose from where they were on the sides of her head and migrated toward the top of her head, making her black hair move as they did so. The thing that made her smile though, was the growth of the red-orange fur above her eyes. This was the color that the Red Panda was known for and was part of the reason why she chose to become a Red Panda Animalian in the first place.
"I look adorable!" Houxing found herself declaring happily as she rubbed her cheeks with her hands and not noticing her musculature increasing slightly or that her hips and bosom were starting to test the limits of her clothing. The image of the Red Panda in the mirror smiling back at her was just to cute and she was soon bouncing up and down. "I look adorable!"
And Houxing was happy with that, though after a few moments there was a mixed feeling of discomfort and pleasure. That is what got her to stop bouncing up and down. She could soon spot the cause for both. The pleasure was clearly in the enlargement of her hips and breasts, though the discomfort was the fact that her clothing was managing to contain her. The worst of the discomfort was at the end of her spine, as she felt something pushing against the back of her pants. She managed to reach back to lower them a little, which soon revealed what had been pushing against the clothing. It was her growing tail, largely red-orange in color, but as it grew longer, Houxing noticed that it was banded with alternating shades of red orange, one shade was darker than the other. Once free it happily flicked behind her, looking very much like the tail that had helped inspire the Red Panda's nickname of "Firefox," even if the animal wasn't closely related to foxes at all.
"I still look adorable," Houxing smiled again, though noting that her voice was now deeper, not in a man's baritone. She did still sound feminine, but it was now more like an adult woman's voice rather than a teenagers, which made her smile.
She then made her way toward the door feeling happy, rejuvenated, and quite lively. She'd turned out quite well as an Animalian, and she hoped her sisters would be happy with the process too. They'd all be happy and free from those who could or would do them harm. She walked to the door and slid out deliberately with her arms spread out, as if coming on stage and gave a great, "ta-da" as she did so. Her sisters did come and she carefully gave them all hugs.
"You look good," Tuxing said simply.
"I also feel good," Houxing smiled back, "and I look adorable!" She looked to all her sisters and kept her smile wide and happy before she continued, "and do not worry! It didn't really hurt... some things felt rather nice! This Mr. Stine..."
"Stein," Doctor Stein corrected.
"Stein," Houxing repeated, "has spoken honestly. Everything will be fine and you'll be strong!"
"You do not look as strong as some of the other Animalians... like that one that could break a big oil drum with her legs," Muxing said slowly.
That was more a reference to the fact that while her clothing was clearly strained to contain her, it hadn't come apart. Some things like her bra and underwear felt particularly tight, but Houxing hadn't had the time to deal with that and had been so happy with how "adorable" she looked as a Red Panda that she hadn't stopped to think of it. Though, now that she thought of it, some more comfortable clothing would be needed.
"While all Animalians generally fill out the same general body type," Doctor Stein spoke, "that doesn't mean all Animalians are on the same size. Those who become animals that are smaller than people or the same size as people in terms of weight probably won't be bigger than people either. The Red Panda isn't much bigger than a house cat. So... while Houxing might be curvier than most human women and will definitely be stronger than most human women, she probably won't weigh much more than a human woman. It's those that become animals larger than humans where that strength and power would increase... the woman who broke a fifty five gallon oil drum had also become a Dinotopian, and many of them have proven to be far larger than other Animalians."
After the translation, Houxing finished, "and being this size isn't bad. I feel good and I feel happy. And it'll be the same for you! Mr. Stein is right that it can help."
With that, gradual voices of acceptance were given and Doctor Stein prepared for which of the five was to go next...