Uplifting fish wasn't exactly the hardest thing that Horizon had managed to do, as after all they uplifted many of the fish that now essentially ran the Mieni Island colony, and the fact that they'd uplifted Ran and Gaz, Tzan and Brazen Hammer, and Aleta had shown that even fish with ancient evolutionary lineages as sharks were well known to have appeared in Earth's ancient pre-history. Sharks swam in the seas long before the dinosaurs evolved on land and they survived many extinction events, including the one that killed off the non-avian dinosaurs.
However, as Doctor Stein came in he new that the present "test" was with a different ancient type of fish. Swimming in the tank were a pair of West Indian Ocean Coelacanths. They swam relatively slowly and were being watched over by a couple of technicians, who were dressed in scuba gear, though without the breath masks as the tank wasn't that deep, periodically checking the water and keeping an eye on the fish. Getting them was pretty difficult task for Horizon, primarily due to the fact that the two living species of Coelacanth were so rare that laws designed to protect endangered species came into play. However, the uplifting of two fish wouldn't have that much of an impact and it was agreed that once uplifted the two would play a role in protecting their mundane breatharian.
"Jeremy's not with you?" one of the technicians asked, "after all a lot of THIS is based off of some request that went into Project Mesozoic..."
"From a woman who wants to be a Dunkleosteus, which wasn't a Mesozoic Era fish," Doctor Stein gave a sigh, "It appeared in the Devonian and would be well older than the dinosaurs."
That alone would mean that any project to "recreate" Dunkleosteus would mean a lot of work that would relate to making sure the project could be done safely. There was the issue of the limited amount of DNA that would be preserved in fossil bones, and the number of bones that would be needed, even with the help of the Animalia Virus and using "related" species to fill the DNA gaps. There was also the issue that they'd found with Heather that even if there was more than enough fossil DNA was available, that the ancient DNA strands didn't naturally respond to the Animalia Virus in the same way more modern DNA strands did and that it would take an atavistic trait of some kind in order to allow for a successful conversion. That would mean another long and detailed research phase, even if this woman wanted it in connection with "Dinotopia Aquatica."
"Yeah," the other technician said slowly, "but still... Jeremy's been the one who's done a lot of the work on these projects."
"Jeremy is also on his honeymoon," Doctor Stein answered, "We'll have to go on our own... especially since progressing with this is going to be a staged project... similar to what we've done in uplifting birds into Dinotopian Animalians."
And Jeremy and Heather had left for their honeymoon earlier that morning along with Countess Irena and a male goat Animalian that the countess had made friends with. The ultimate destination was the Countess's home in Spain, which was being considered as a site for a possible European Animalian colony, and that was about all that Doctor Stein knew on that. Some of the interactions the Countess had had with this male goat Animalian, who was based off of a breed of domesticated goat would have its own potential issues if it was "romantic" in nature. The Countess had stated her wish to provide a restoration of the Pyrenean Ibex as part of Project Thylacine, but that would require that scientifically speaking, doing so would require her to be with a male Pyrenean Ibex Animalian, not cross breed with a domestic goat Animalian, which might not even be allowed under Animalia's edicts. Dogs and wolves were allowed to breed together, but that was due to the fact that many scientists were now considering the two canines to be the same species, despite some breeds of dog looking very different from the Grey Wolf. But in cases where there was a clear species difference, Animalia's Edicts came into play.
However, Doctor Stein also knew that love really didn't follow any species line or Animalia's Edicts when it came to breeding. If Countess Irena had fallen in love with young male goat Animalian, in theory they could well live out happy lives together. It would simply mean that when it came to children that they would have to adopt, and there were a few romantic pairs in Animalia that had already gotten to that particular point. Doctor Stein, however, didn't know for sure how the two truly saw each other and neither was it his business to butt in on them. For all he knew, the Countess was simply making friends, which seemed to be something all Animalians in many ways were good at, but that was different from they task they had presently, the uplifting of the two coelacanths in the tank.
"Right," the two technicians said slowly as they nodded and looked to the two fish as they swam in the tank.
They did seem fairly healthy as they swam with their thick tails slowly going side to side and with their lobed fins moving gently to help stabilize the two fish as they swam. They both recognized the importance with regard to the sort of staged project that would relate dealing with ancient and extinct animals. Coelacanths in general were seen as a sort of transitional species that would lead to the first lungfish and then to the first amphibians. The first stage was to work with these two modern Coelacanths, which until the twentieth century was thought to have died out at the end of the Cretaceous Period.
"So, what do we know on these two?" Doctor Stein asked as he looked to the two fish as they swam.
"We got them through some contacts in South Africa," the first technician reported, "we had to pay a bit to get them to capture them alive and ship them here... and I was told customs had startled surprise at their arrival, but they seem healthy, though it should be noted that we think both are female."
"Well... if this works in the way we expect it to, I'm sure we may see some people covert to join them," Doctor Stein commented, thinking on Buford, who'd become a Bull Shark. While the West Indian Coelacanth wasn't some giant predator, it's evolutionary lineage might be enough to attract some people to convert to it. After all, there was a fairly big list of people who were on the waiting list to become Dinotopians once they learned that Project Mesozoic was in the research stages.
"We have the syringes ready?" Doctor Stein asked, remembering some of the distinct ways that uplifting fish had to be done.
"Yes, sir," the second technician answered, "both sets should be on the main table over there."
The man pointed to a counter that was by the far wall and Doctor Stein nodded and walked over to it. As he walked over he watched as the two technicians climbed into the tank, though they did their best to give the two fish room to swim. They waited patiently while Doctor Stein retrieved the syringes and began to walk back toward the tank.
"Now remember, we only want to hold them long enough to provide the injections," Doctor Stein spoke, "once that is done, give them room to go through the uplifting process."
The two technicians nodded and they went right to work. It resulted in a bit of wrestling as while the two West Indian Ocean Coelacanths had been swimming fairly calmly, they didn't necessarily want to be handled. They immediately tried to wriggle away and even wrestle with the two technicians, and while they were fairly strong, a six foot long fish that weighed over one hundred seventy pounds was NOT easy to handle and wrestle with. But with some great splashing, they did manage and held them up long enough for Doctor Stein to deliver the injections needed to uplift the two fish. Once that was done the two technicians climbed out of the tank and let the two fish go through the process of being uplifted.
The transformations went the same way as any of the other uplifting of fish by Horizon. Some fins began to thicken and form into arms and legs, ending in webbed hands and toes. As their legs formed, Doctor Stein noted that both coelacanths began to reorient a bit in the water so that they had a more vertical orientation in the water rather than a horizontal orientation and began to look around. As they did so, the changes that betrayed their gender became more evident as their waist formed and narrowed and their hips flared out widely and as two impressive breasts grew on their chests complete with scaled "nipples." They looked a bit puzzled and stayed under water for a few moments, as many uplifted fish were unaware that the strains of the Animalia Virus used for fish included some element of lungfish DNA to allow the new Animalians to have some ability to breathe both air and water.
"This is strange," the first coelacanth spoke as she stood up and her head broke the surface of the war, and with wide eyes seemed surprised at being able to speak and breathe air.
"It can be at first," Doctor Stein spoke as he stepped forward, "particularly for those new to Animalia."
"Animalia?" the second coelacanth wondered as she looked to her neighbor in the tank.
"A community of anthropomorphic Animals living alongside humanity and supported by Horizon in the hopes of creating a better and brighter future," one of the technicians spoke, "you two were uplifted as part of some side projects from some humans who wish to be Animalians and specifically an extinct armored fish."
"We don't wear armor," the first coelacanth answered, placing her hands on her hips.
Doctor Stein nodded and took some note on their forms. Unlike the earlier fish Animalians that had been uplifted who had either been bony ray finned fishes or cartilaginous sharks, the lobe-finned coelacanths had noticeably stronger and thicker arms and legs. Their shoulder and hip muscles were noticeably bigger and stronger than the other fish Animalians. Doctor Stein guessed that this was in relation to the fact that evolutionary theory held that coelacanths were among the animals that would to amphibians and thus all land creatures.
"Yes, but the present project will be rather lengthy and staged, especially as converting humans into more extinct animals can be difficult there will be a lot of tests that we need to run to try and work that evolutionary line backwards as it were," Doctor Stein answered, "you're uplifting was simply step one of that process."
"So you intend to put us in armor?" the second coelacanth asked with narrowing eyes.
"No, that conversion is desired by a human and we will need some data and tissue samples from you perfect the Animalia Virus for that person's conversion when it comes," Doctor Stein explained, "It should do you no harm and won't change your species."
The two coelacanths then quietly nodded as Doctor Stein continued to look them over. The uplifting process did present the standard alterations to their form that related being more hominid than they'd been before. Doctor Stein also noted their largely bluish black scales with white spots along their sides. Their eyes were even darker than their scales.
"The biggest thing that we'll need from you in the long run will be with regards to providing help for mundane Coelacanths living in the Indian Ocean and around Indonesia," Doctor Stein commented, "which we hope you would agree to."
"Only if you tell us more about Animalia," the first coelacanth answered, to which Doctor Stein smiled.