Fran and Louise sat at one of the set computers in Animalia's Great Hall and quietly looked through the list of animal species represented in the archives that were there and online. And it was a lengthy list, some of it was based on the fact that it also included a list of every individual Animalian, as the estimated population of Animalians in Animalia and Lyre alone was close to five to six thousand, mostly uplifted Animals, but there were a fair number of converted humans as well. They even noticed that those records also did identify which Animalians were uplifted animals or converted humans.
"Man there are a lot..." Fran said slowly as Louise scrolled down list of Animalians, "I'm not sure we could even narrow things down just by looking at the list."
Louise nodded in agreement. There were a large number of animal species in Animalia as well. Most of that species diversity was the result of the spreading of the Animalia Virus into Lyre's water supply and thus leading to the uplifting of pets and the animals at the Lyre Zoo and Aquarium, which then added to the various livestock and wild animals that had been uplifted in the initial outbreak. Outside of that, much of the rest of the diversity was the result of either the new colonies that were founded and thus animals local to that region being uplifted and thus adding to the species diversity that was Animalia.
Things like Project Mesozoic and Project Cenozoic would add to that, but in the earlier part of their search, they'd found that those two projects weren't fully open to the public. Joining them would require either being part of a specific species test that Horizon would want conversion data on in relation to what effects would be had on people as they changed or if they could piggyback in on Project Phoenix to be cured of some disease or injury. Age, however, didn't qualify. Though, neither Fran nor Louise really wanted to be a dinosaur or ice age mammal.
Of course, the tour guide that they had been with had a good suggestion, to go by their favorite animal. That made sense in a way, as while Animalians had the sort of build made any animal look good. Neither of them were particularly fond of rabbits, but they had to admit that Shyra looked very good as a Holland Lop Eared Rabbit and that they were sure that she'd have plenty of male attention for that alone. And from a lot of the news reports they'd seen, a lot of the human conversions were often due to romantic and/or sexual attractions to Animalians, which in many cases did lead to love or at least "friends with benefits" status. Most of the ones that didn't work out were ones where people tried to perform crazy stunts to impress an Animalian.
"So... Fran," Louise turned to her fellow "undecided" friend, "what is your favorite Animal? All the recent rules regarding how conversions handled will mean that Horizon will be the only distributer of the "virus," but if that animal is already present in Animalia, it would have to mean that Horizon already has that animal's DNA..."
"Well..." Fran said slowly, "to be honest... I've kind of always liked the Peacock with its long tail and brilliant display feathers..."
"Though, only the male would have that," Louise commented, "the female would be more drab in coloration."
Which was of course true. It was the male Peafowl that was flashy with the largely blue body with the long tail feathers with their eyespots. It was also only the male that was actually a Peacock while the female was a Peahen, but neither Fran nor Louise were biologists or even had much of an interest in science and simply went by what they could remember the species being called for years. Since they both understood each other, it seemed to work for them.
Fran sighed and nodded, "I suppose that's a nature thing, though. The male puts on the flashy display to attract attention and so on..."
She then raised her finger to her lips for a moment and thought over some of the things they'd seen both on the television news and on the Animalia Ambassadoria webcasts. One of the things that tended to get a fair amount of emphasis was that while Animalians had the build to be super models or champion athletes and were noted for a high libido, they also tended to bond rather heavily to their bond-mates. Even animals noted for being solitary and with only the female raising the young seemed to be as dedicated to their wives and husbands as Animalians and took a great deal of pride in their children.
In fact on the tour, they'd seen a pair of Polar Bears walking with a rather tall but younger looking Polar Bear Animalian. The two adults held the younger one's hands looked very much like a happy family, which in a way was true, though neither of them realized that the "adults" were Marcy and Chilly and Marcy only looked like an adult because she was double dosed, and Polly was with them as a sort of adopted little sister. Of course, even without knowing that, the image of the three of them walking along reinforced the image of Animalians having strong family bonds. Which put an image into Fran's mind of herself as a Peacock Animalian, looking impressive in a brilliant blue dress with a male Peacock Animalian in a black tuxedo with a purple colored cummerbund and looking very snazzy with his tail spread out behind him.
"Maybe," Fran said slowly, "but once happily married with a handsome husband... we'd make a wonderful looking pair and the right clothes could probably make things work."
"One step at a time, Fran, one step a time," Louise answered, "You'd need to BE an Animalian first before you can get one as a mate."
"So what about you, what's YOUR favorite animal?" Fran asked back.
"To be honest... the Ribbon Seal," Louise answered, "I remember seeing a image of one in a magazine... I think it was the cover of a National Geographic magazine, but it's been a while since I've seen the magazine... but the seal looked rather cute with its little face and black fur with white rings."
"Like a leopard's spots?" Fran wondered.
"No... it was like a giant ring around the seal's head, its flippers, and its tail," Louise answered, "I think the seal in the picture had a pup with it that was all white, which must also be a survival thing... the pup blends in with the ice while the mother is fishing. I just remember that the picture was cute and I liked the animal ever since."
"Which well then narrow down what is available or how available it is," Fran commented.
Louise nodded and then went into the search box on the archive page that would then allow them to narrow down the list in the archives. This was more a search to see what was available at present, which would then determine how long they would have to wait before they could go through with the conversion. Out of respect for her friend, Louise typed in peacock first. They found that the Lyre Zoo had had three adult peafowl at the time of the original outbreaks with a few chicks as well, and by the listing they all resided in Animalia, which made Fran smile.
"So they have peacocks here," Fran smiled, "with one being single and quite buff..."
"Easy girl," Louise answered, "remember, you'll still have to win him over."
Louise then changed the search for the Ribbon Seal, though here, the results weren't as promising. The search did turn up various pinniped Animalians, but they were based off of those more commonly found in various aquariums around the world, usually some species of sealion, which was different from a true seal. That made her sigh and look down for a moment. Horizon could probably get some sample of the Animal's DNA, but that could take some time which would mean waiting longer. She was fairly certain that Timothy, Julius, and Quarry had already left for Horizon and the assorted paperwork that related the conversion process. She and Fran had had to wait longer as they pondered over what Animalian to be and now it would seem that she'd have to wait even longer before the DNA for the animal could be acquired.
"I can wait with you, if you like," Fran offered, "even if the conversion is all done with an injection and science stuff... there's nothing wrong in going together."
"But..." Louise looked over to her, "what about..."
Fran waved her off for a moment, "Shyra's older than us, and she LOOKS like she's in her twenties again. I'd assume once we're double dosed, the same sort of thing will happen, regardless of WHEN it happens. So, I can wait till we're able to go together."
"And what if this male finds a mate in the meantime?" Louise asked, knowing that some of Fran's decision was based around the image of being with someone who looked flashy.
"Then maybe I'll draw someone to me," Fran smiled, and placed her hand on Louise's shoulder.