JC and Pauline did eventually emerge from the transformation room that they'd been placed in to find a small gathering waiting for them, primarily with Sophie and Roland in front. Their parents were also present, though they were standing further to the back. Standing beside them were Gerry and Sal, while standing closer to Sophie and Roland was another group of Dinotopians. It made for an interesting sort of welcome, but JC was fairly certain that a lot of this related to acclimation sorts of issues, as he remembered Sophie telling him a lot about these sorts of things and overhearing others when he was brought to Horizon to meet those that were to be involved in the various uplifting projects.
One was Norrie, who'd arrived to great Sophie and Roland shortly after JC and Pauline had gone into the transformation room to great Dinotopia's newest Pterosaurs. JC noted that Sophie's height really hadn't changed much and that all three Pterosaur Animalians, while on the ground, seemed to have their heads oriented so that their beaks were oriented more in a downward facing posture, regardless of being the smaller Pterodactylus or the larger Ornithocheirus. Sophie remained close to Roland, though JC also noticed that she was focused on him with an almost hopeful look on her face. He also figured that Norrie was there to help with their acclimation to being Animalians.
The other two were Yuki and Sora, who were present holding what looked like a packet of clothing that JC guessed were specially made for him and Pauline. The two Velociraptor Dinotopians looked extremely excited as their feathered tails managed a slow wag and their own killing foot claws softly clicked against the floor. The sound was soft, but in a fast repetition of beats.
"Hello, JC and Pauline," Yuki said excitedly, "I hope you like what we brought for you... I hope it fits too, as Microraptor presented us with some surprises."
"Or at least what Rex, Gerry, and Sal hypothesized presented us with some surprises," Sora spoke more calmly.
"Yeah... FOUR wings!" Yuki actually began to hop up and down, "two wings on the back is easy, but the legs functioning as two more... there's both the need for loose fitting needs to protect the feathers but also tight fitting needs to preserve aerodynamic needs... A really big challenge."
"Well, I'm sure you did your best," JC said to them as they then offered the clothing they'd come up with to the two new Microraptors.
The clothing did fit, though JC found that to fit around both sets of wings and their longer tails that a lot of the clothing had to fit like a pair of loose fitting athletic shorts with snaps allow them to fit around their tails. The shirts were button down, but they did allow JC and Pauline to fit their wings in through slits in the back that their wings could fit through. Pauline had the added task of fitting on a bra to fit her breasts first, though they were of the standard sort that nearly all bird and bat Animalians wore with the cups suspended from her neck rather than around the shoulders and having to try and fit the back straps around Pauline's wings. Things didn't fit perfectly, but they fit well enough.
"We'll obviously need to take some measurements once you get fully adjusted," Sora commented as she noticed both JC and Pauline slightly fiddling with their new cloths where they were either too loose or too tight, but they weren't too bad. "And can perfect them as we go from there."
"These are rather good," Pauline said to Yuki and Sora, assuring them things were okay.
The last person there was Arcelia, who had stood quietly. The Archaeopteryx Dinotopian was obviously there for JC and Pauline's own acclimation process. Sophie had told JC about the research that had been done with regard to the Microraptor and its wings, which included the earliest guesses that it could only glide but also included some of the newer studies that suggested that Microraptor could also achieve some measure of powered flight. It may be different from what modern birds could do, but if possible, it would mean that JC and Pauline would need Arcelia's help. They could both fly when they were African Gray Parrots, though as pets, they didn't get to fly all that much. Exercise had been limited to when they'd been let out of their cage to fly between perches and other things set up for them. JC remembered that Sophie had been especially attentive to this, which drew him more to the female Pterosaur Dinotopian than to Arcelia.
"Are you happy?" Sophie asked to JC as he approached her.
"Yes," JC answered with a smile and pulled Sophie into a warm hug.
He could feel that the back of her folded wings were covered in a very fine layer of pycnofibers on his hands, but that really didn't matter. Sophie's question and her tone of voice reminded him of things he remembered while he'd been a mundane pet and struck him that Sophie was worried and that was something he couldn't let happen. He was glad to have Pauline as a mate, but Sophie was his first real friend. He remembered when her family bought him for Sophie as a birthday present. He remembered Sophie being overjoyed and treating him like a member of the family and doing things that she felt was for his best health. She fed him bottled water because she didn't want him to ingest the minerals that could be bad for him that was always a risk with tap water and she figured out games and things to challenge his mind and she talked with him. And the next words he spoke further affirmed how JC saw Sophie, despite the fact that he was double dosed and she was single dosed.
"I am happy, mother," JC spoke, "For you've been there and worried about me and cared for me. We may be different species of Animalian, but you've been a mother to me in all the ways that matter."
Sophie blinked in surprise, as that wasn't exactly the reaction she expected. There had been the fear that he might develop romantic feelings toward her, which had seemed to be the case with many male pets toward female owners, particularly if the owner had been single. Her best example there had been Abby and Samson. She didn't expect JC to see her as a parent. Admittedly he had been fairly young when she first got him, but by now he would have been an adult even without double dosing with Pauline and thus would be physically more mature than her.
"You're not mad that I didn't expose you to the Animalia Virus sooner?" Sophie asked looking up to him, as JC was a bit taller than her now.
"No, mother," JC told her, "You were worried and afraid of losing me as a friend and did what you felt was necessary to protect me. And for that, I'd happily live as I was if it made you happy, because you'd already done so much for me."
"Though I'm glad that you did decide to have him uplifted," Pauline spoke up, "even if into something that is not a Parrot."
"Microraptor," Sophie answered, "it's a species of dinosaur they relatively recently found in China. Further showing the close relationship between dinosaurs and birds."
"And one most interesting," JC told her, "For now I have four wings... It'll make for interesting flying... and... I hope we can all go together. Me with Pauline and you with your mate, mother."
With that JC released Sophie and she stepped back and looked to Roland, who smiled to her. She did eventually turn back to JC and managed a small smile. Him seeing her as his "mother" was unexpected, but the oddness of that was overpowered by some sense of happiness that he was happy. That had been the driving thing that Sophie had always wanted for JC, for him to be happy and healthy. And if he was happy, that made her happy. Though, that was soon paused as Arcelia spoke up and stepped forward. Norrie was soon to come with the Archaeopteryx Dinotopian.
"That will have to wait, I'm afraid," Arcelia said slowly.
"Huh?" JC wondered aloud.
"You and Pauline will have some adjustments to make with how you fly," Sal spoke up, "Arcelia can help you with those adjustments as she had to experiment with that herself. We think you both should be able to have some measure of powered flight, but a lot of that is more experimental than anything else."
"And Sophie and Roland will have certain adjustments to having wings and different means of take off," Norrie added.
"And you and Pauline will have to adjust to a changed tail structure," Arcelia added, "just as I did... These things aren't too hard, though the changes in flight will be bigger and different."
JC glanced over to Sophie who nodded, which gave him some comfort. He managed a small smile that related to his memories of things Sophie had told him about Project Mesozoic and its related projects as well. Though Pauline looked a bit puzzled.
"But all of us have wings," Pauline stated, "wouldn't they all work the same?"
"They're different, though," Norrie commented, "Pterosaurs... mundane Pterosaurs, do not have the strong legs that birds do, and when on the ground are quadrupeds. This lead early paleontologists to assume that the only way Pterosaurs could get into the sky was to dive off trees and cliffs and could only just fly on their own. Newer theories and analysis, however, would suggest that Pterosaurs can take off from the ground, but essentially by pushing up with their wing muscles, which does seem to play into Pterosaur Animalians. Sophie and Roland can't see it, but the muscles at the base of their wings are proportionately larger than Bird Animalians of the same size... which would mean that getting into the air from the ground will still be heavily dependent using their wings in that sort of "push up" fashion. Which I've found I also have to do when taking off..."
"There will also be the fact that you two have four wings," Gerry commented, "which I think could help with lift at low speeds... but may also complicate powered flight. In this it may be safer for both of you that you practice with Arcelia."
JC managed a nod and then glanced back to Sophie, "I'll see you at home later, mother... as there will be much to talk about."
JC and Pauline then followed after Arcelia and she took them outside onto the lawn area just outside the building. As she lead them out, Arcelia turned back to them and walked backward for a few paces.
"Now... with regard to actual flight, it may be important to actually listen to what Microraptor instincts are there," Arcelia instructed, "as they may help you adjust and adapt with regard to having four wings than just two. In a way I had to do the same when I became an Archaeopteryx and essentially found that a lot of what I had to do to fly had changed."
"But we don't want to be lost to certain instincts," JC pointed out, "that's sorta what caused the problems when Heather first came here."
Arcelia blinked and tilted her head with some confusion. While she was aware that Heather Wrex was a Syntixisaurus Rex from her time with regard to her own acclimation and meetings with Horizon with regard to the present project that had uplifted JC and Pauline, Arcelia's own uplifting was too recent to be fully aware of the incident the previous fall when Heather had made her way to Lyre. Pauline was also a bit curious, and JC remembered listening to Sophie worry over what had happened to Roland and eventually think things through to where Heather was eventually forgiven. However, for the moment, that wasn't the big thing and JC sighed and let that go. For the moment, acclimating to what they'd become was the main thing.
Practice with Arcelia would find out a few things. For one, while their longer legs as Animalians allowed for some measure of movement on the ground that exceeded what paleontologists thought with regard to the actual animal, the long flight feathers on their legs DID limit their movement on the ground. Walking at slow speeds allowed for them to function as though the wings were being folded, which JC and Pauline could remember with regard to their wings when they were African Gray Parrots, but they couldn't really go much faster than that.
Balancing their tails with the rest of their bodies proved fairly easy, and that was really more of an adjustment that involved being aware of having more tail than before. It was different from before, but adapting to it wasn't too hard. The biggest thing for them that took some time to adjust to was flight. Just as Arcelia did, JC and Pauline found that their wings didn't have as strong of an upbeat as they did as African Gray Parrots and had to compensate with a strong down beat. There was also soon the balancing of what to do with their legs and second set of wings. This was something that both Microraptor Dinotopians had to experiment on their own with.
They couldn't fold them up under them like they did before, as doing so with the long flight feathers actually increased the forces of drag and prevented them from getting more than a hop or two into the air. There was the experimentation with their more humanoid frame as Dinotopians with their legs stretched out behind them, thought that met with similar success with too much drag and not enough lift. Eventually, JC figured it out in that what worked the best was to actually have their legs stretched out and pointed slightly forward. It looked like he was trying to do the splits, but it ultimately left his second set of wings in a position that functioned like the biplane model that some scientists had used. With this position, it actually let JC get greater lift and allowed for the downbeats of his primary wings to help him into the air with more ease than Arcelia had had, and in a way the position actually felt more natural to JC. From there it didn't take too long for Pauline to catch on.
As they practiced, Pauline had a question, "I wonder what we would eat now... as these teeth are not conducive to what we were likely fed before."
"From what Sophie told me, Microraptor was carnivorous but opportunistic in what it ate," JC answered, "Her family will be more than capable of helping."