While Sophie was certainly thrilled about becoming a Pterodactyl, there was still one other thing to deal with. Her parrot, JC, was also being changed. Sophie had hesitated with having him uplifted because she might find it awkward if he felt romantically attracted to her. She also was a bit concerned that he would resent that she kept him a mundane parrot for so long.
Though when Project Mesozoic got started, it got Sophie thinking. As dinosaurs were the ancestors of modern birds, wouldn't it be possible to have JC become a Dinotopian too? Of course, she didn't want to deprive JC of the gift of flight. She did extensive research into the evolution of flying birds, finding out which dinosaurs were capable of flight. Though unlike pterosaurs, they were limited to gliding instead of powered flight. But the spin-off group that was working on Project Newrad were showing success with their experiments. They proved the concept worked with Compy, devolving him from a rooster to a Compsognathus. They also proved that paravian dinosaur Animalians were capable of sustained flight as Arcelia could still fly after being changed from magpie to Archaeopteryx. Now it was JC's turn to be transformed, from African grey parrot to Microraptor.
JC won't be the only one of his kind. Another African grey parrot had been donated to Animalia. Pauline had been the pet of a family's grandmother for about 30 years before the grandmother passed away. None of the family are capable of taking care of Pauline and they didn't want to give her to another family. Now she can be a companion to JC. Of course, Sophie wasn't about to assume they'd immediately like each other after they were uplifted. Sophie had JC meet Pauline a few times after she had been brought to Lyre. So far, the indications looked good. JC was definitely trying to get Pauline's attention; bobbing his head, doing some sort of dance, and making several chirps, whistles, and clicks. He's also said 'Pretty bird' a few times that didn't seem like mere parroting. Pauline was also paying attention to JC, though she was getting excited. She was significantly older than him, which was why she was getting a double-dose of the virus.
Sophie saw JC one last time before he was uplifted. By that point, she was already a Pterodacytl. JC seemed confused by her appearance, but he at least recognized her voice. Sophie turned to Gerry and Sal, Rex staying back due to how he could scare the parrots. "They are going to be alright, right?" asked Sophie.
"Of course," said Sal, "The process should be completely safe. There might be a bit of discomfort with their beaks being changed, but that's the worst of it."
"You might want to wait a while afterwards before talking with him," said Gerry.
"Why's that?" asked Sophie.
"I'm no expert in bird courtship rituals, but I think those two will be feeling the mating urge too much to ignore post-transformation," said Gerry.
Sophie blushed a bit at this. She had certainly felt a bit more turned on around Roland since their conversion and she could tell Roland was feeling the same way. Sophie and Roland weren't planning on having sex because of their parents' feelings, but she doubt she could stop JC even if she wanted to. "Er...right... So I suppose we put them in the changing room instead of the testing room," said Sophie. If JC and Pauline were going to mate, then Sophie did not want to watch that.
"That would be the best option in this case," said Sal, "I wouldn't worry. They're both going to fine, even if we can't watch the process."
It didn't take long to take the two grey parrots to the changing room. The parrots seemed more interested in each other than their surroundings. The only squawks they made were when they were injected with the Microraptor strain. After the injection, they were left on the bed. They were already ignoring the exiting humans. JC was doing another courtship dance that Pauline's interest. Though he'd need to do something much more impressive if he was going to get anywhere with her.
Just then, a surge went through both parrots. They both let out a quork as their small bodies suddenly started swelling in size. Though they were changing a lot more than that. All of their limbs were growing longer and altering. Their wings were being pulled back onto their back as they grew bigger. From the apex of the wings grew two claws, one significantly longer than the other. While the two fingers could move independently from each to a substantial degree, they weren't truly opposable. However, they were quite suitable for grasping the bark of trees to climb.
The legs were not being overlooked either. They grew very long, to make walking on the ground less cumbersome. Though there were some impediments to walking. The main one was one of Microraptor's most notable features. Several long feathers were growing on the legs, effectively making them secondary wings. Microraptor's four wings made it a very effective glider, but made movement on the ground more awkward. Though the encumbrance of the leg feathers for these two was mitigated by having the legs be longer and more flexible than a normal Microraptor's. The feet were also gaining a sickle-claw that was the trademark of the raptor dinosaur family, though these claws were built more to be crampons than weapons.
While the parrot features of both JC and Pauline were being overwritten by the Microraptor DNA, there were some features that still remained. Mainly, it was their coloration they retained, keeping the iconic grey plumage of their species. The long tails they were sprouting still had red feathers at the ends to act as rudders. And while their feet had the three front-facing claws of Microraptor, they still possessed the two zygodactyl parrot toes that faced backwards. Considering the forward claws could keep a purchase on tree bark and the backward claws could keep a grip on a branch, this was quite an evolutionary advantage.
However, the one avian feature that couldn't be retained was the beak. As with the others, JC and Pauline's beaks were cracking off rather painfully. The molting process was so painful that they could help but claw at their faces with the hands that had recently sprouted on newly-grown arms. Of course, this caused more pain as their new claws poked and scratched at their very-sensitive bared skin. The blood that was on the pieces of beak that were falling off wasn't just caused by the shedding process itself.
Fortunately, after the beaks have been shed, there wasn't that much left of the transformation to finish. Both JC and Pauline were feeling better after the pain was ebbing. JC was quickly getting a grasp on the situation. "So, I'm finally an Animalian," he said, looking at himself. Grey parrots are among the most intelligent species of parrots so it was not taking them long for their brains to adapt. JC was able to recall every bit of his old life with new clarity. He remembered seeing a lot of Animalia through a normal parrot's eyes. Now he was curious about what he had become.
Walking to the mirror, he could see he was definitely not a parrot. He was an anthro Microraptor, though with the coloration and backwards toes of a grey parrot. JC felt his new lizard-like face, finding it a bit surprising to not have his beak anymore. It was certainly weird to have wings on his legs and a long tail. But he had to admit, he looked pretty good. He flexed his muscles, which were a bit more built up than he expected. "I think I can get used to this," said JC.
"I can agree with that," said a female voice. JC turned to see Pauline was looking at him with renewed interest. She was also a Microraptor Animalian now. Of course, there were some differences between her and him. Namely her female figure which included a tight waist, wide hips, and a pair of large breasts that had no place on anything avian or reptilian. And yet JC could not take his eyes off of them. His body was also reacting to the sight and his cloaca opened up to let his new penis extend out. Pauline grinned as she saw it, showing her new teeth. "I'm certainly glad the feeling's not one-way," she said.
JC rubbed the back of his head and said, "I suppose I should be doing a courtship dance now."
"Oh, who has time for that?" asked Pauline, "We both know what we want." With that, she lied back on the bed, opening her legs to reveal her glistening slit. "That rod better not just be for show," she said.
JC shrugged and said, "When you put it that way..." He quickly walked over to the bed. He should be mounting her from behind. But putting his dick into and thrusting into her face-to-face felt so natural. Pauline definitely liked it, especially when JC grasped her new breasts.
During the mating, a few other thoughts came to JC's mind. There was a lot he wanted to talk to Sophie about. About how they should fly together, what kinds of things they could do now that they were both Animalian. But right now, he was just thankful to have this lovely mate.