With Spookyville over, the preparation for Animalia's Animalia Thanksgiving Exposition was starting to pick up, mainly with predators hunting in the woods. But that didn't mean that there were other things going on.
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"I'm just glad that uncle JT and Spotted Tail are getting together." said Abby as she and the 'founders' (as they were becoming known as) of Animalia Ambassadoria were called into the Foreign Affairs office.
"You'll be having a new student in your class soon." said the officer. "One of the problems is that she's a foreign exchange student from Russia."
"I've heard of the current tension between Russia and the US." said Malice, even though she didn't know much about it.
"One of the other reasons is that she has two conditions caused by a pituitary tumor, one more rare than the other." continued the officer, "One of them is gigantism, like Lenny has; the other, which is more rare, is Aromatase excess syndrome."
"Say what?" asked Sophie, having never heard of that condition.
"Basically those who have that condition become excessively female." explained the officer. "She's coming here partly because her family can't afford the medical bill to remove the tumor, and partly because there might be a link between Regressive Hypersexuality Syndrome and AES."
"It would be great to finally have some answers to that." said Sarah.
"She's chosen to be a Rhinoceros Animalian, and your group will help her overcome her crippling shyness." finished the officer. "She doesn't speak much English yet, but she's learning well."
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Iphis and Ianthe were called to the Main hall, but while slightly apprehensive, it was a relief to get away from their eighteen children.
"You're going to have a new member of your little two-headed club." began the Horizon Representative. "We've just received a new, two-headed boomslang. The difference between her and you two is that she's fully female, and also suffering from partial albinism."
"I've heard of that condition." said Iphis.
"What makes her a little different from full albinos is that where there would be black on her scale markings, it's white instead." continued the Representative. "She's going to be hired by the same company that hired you, partly because of how boomslang venom can be used in anticoagulant medicines."
"I'm sure we can be good neighbors." said Ianthe.
"Their names are going to be Medusa and Medea, which are similar to your own names." finished the Representative.
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Maggie was the final one called to the Main office, but because this was the first time it happened, she was a little worried that one of her students had caused something.
"You're actually going to get a new student." said the Horizon Representative. At that she handed Maggie a picture that showed the "before state" of the animal.
"What???!!!" said Maggie, thinking back to when she saw an sculpture by Patricia Piccinini when she was doing a show in Italy when she was at the 'starving artist' stage of her career.
"She's actually a sphynx cat." explained the Representative. At that Maggie remembered seeing a few of those. "Her name is Venus, and her owner is Sam, a ten year old boy who happens to be both the luckiest and unluckiest kid for the time being."
"Why both lucky and unlucky?" asked Maggie, not knowing that that combination existed.
"He found a strange blob on Mieni Atoll's main island. It caused a bit of a panic, because no one really knew what it was. Fortunately, Mieni Atoll's lab managed to identify it as sperm whale ambergris. Because of it's size and purity, it was determined to be worth $100,000. His parents are controlling the money made for it as parents will for their ten year old children. He doesn't mind as he's now the most popular kid in his school."
"So Venus is coming to our school... why?" asked Maggie, knowing that the most likely reason for the big price was that it was going to be made into perfume.
"Because of the special care that sphynx cats need due to not having any coat/fur, Venus drew the attention of Goldbond who are now working on special creams for her that protects her from the sun, and either keeps her warm enough during winter or cool enough during summer. But she's going to be in your class due to attracting the attention of the same music company that distributes music for both Canary Diamond and Aqua Marina