Petra O'Toole smiled along as she walked with Anne Cumbertin toward Horizon in preparation for her conversion. Much of it was to regain some measure of youth and vigor that Horizon and Animalia had both trumpeted as somethin the Animalia Virus could do. A real part of her wished she wouldn't have to give up her human form to gain it, but then with one or two exceptions, Animalians had never displayed any real aggression or threat to anyone that she could be aware of. As such, it wasn't like she would be becoming a "monster" in any sense of the word.
"I am most surprised you were willing to go through with all of this," Anne commented as they walked along, "I remember you being a bit more... shall I say... shy about many of these sorts of things."
Petra rolled her eyes back at the Striped Skunk Animalian that her former coworker and friend had become. Some of the conversations on the phone had updated her on the surrounding facts that had lead to Annie becoming a Skunk Animalian, which had started with her daughter's accidental conversion in the first outbreak, then marrying the Skunk that had transformed her and then Annie's conversion to be "family" with Janice. It made for a nice story, and Petra had heard some things that would indicate that Annie had also found herself someone to love, but that really wasn't relevant at the moment.
Petra had grown up in a very modest Irish household that had constantly struggled to make ends meet. Her mother worked as a pre-school secretary and her father worked for the post office in Dublin, and they only just got by. In this, Petra had been rather limited with what she could do and ultimately had found herself working part time as a custodian/maid for various bars and middle class families as she went through school, it didn't pay much but it did help her parents. However, because that was the volume of her work and her father soon fell onto hard times with medical issues adding on, by the time that that Petra had made it through school, she had to go full time into that work and sell her services to more "upscale" employers.
It was during that timeframe that Petra had first met Anne. The man she worked for was hosting the man that Anne worked for, and for whatever reason, Anne's employer had brought Anne along to handle his personal affairs with regard to things like laundry and his room and so on. That meeting had allowed both to form a bit of a friendship, which then continued as their employers soon entered into some joint business ventures that had soon made some of the meetings more regular. Petra continued to send most of what she earned to help her parents, which had lasted until they had died of old age some five years before Animalia came about, though by that point, Petra had nowhere else to go. And so she quietly carried on.
"It wasn't like you were running around flaunting yourself at time either, I will remind you," Petra retorted.
"Oui," Anne admitted, "but this is a new start, non?"
"That I can agree to," Petra admitted, "and that is why I came..."
"To be a mascot for Snowbunny Beauty?" Anne wondered.
"You KNOW I agreed to this for a second shot at things, get a new start and not be held hindered by everything that happened," Petra said firmly with narrowed eyes.
Anne nodded, as a lot of the work they'd done in the past had been hard and employers weren't always the kindest of people. But when she'd gotten the call from Petra that she was coming with an offer to be a mascot for a company that had been turning to making shampoos and body-washes for Animalians, particularly mammal Animalians that would have fur to care for and clean, was unexpected. Petra might want a new start at life, but given her age and that when she had retired she didn't have much and was mostly left in the care of a nursing home the Irish government ran, it wasn't likely that she would have the money to pay for the conversion on her own. The only thing this reminded Anne of were some of the mysterious circumstances that allowed her ability to come to America and be converted as well.
This was really the thing that intrigued Anne the most. It was like there was some mysterious "Cinderella Organization" that was doing these things to help people that had had gone through years of hard work and often been separated from those they cared for. For while the company that was developing these shampoos and body washes for Animalians, Snowbunny Beauty being the latest version would need someone to pitch the product to help attract Animalian customers, or for normal humans to use for pet care, they would more than likely take their pick of one of the Animalians from ASM for their spokes person. They wouldn't pick someone with no modelling experience and wasn't even an Animalian yet.
"Though, I will have to admit," Petra said slowly as Anne opened the door to Horizon's offices, "I really can't explain where the offer for it came from... I'm not complaining, mind you, but it just seemed to come out of nowhere with no rational reason for it. It's most people's experience that when people pay for a trip to someplace else, give a job offer, and pay the expenses to get said job... they WANT something out of it."
Anne nodded at that as they made their way in. Much of Horizon's day to day business was still going on, though at a much slower rate than when the Animalia Virus was first allowed on the market. Much of this had to do with the fact that when that happened most of those that would have the most interest in becoming Animalians for the simple fact of being Animalians, those labelled as "furries" had gone through the process already. Most of those now that converted either did so for a second shot at youth or to heal from diseases that were otherwise fatal or would at least render the victim in a great deal of difficulty. The successes with Project Mesozoic and Cenozoic might attract new customers, but for the moment things were fairly quiet.
This let them go through the initial process very well. Anne hung back, as she was largely there for moral support for her friend while Petra filled out the appropriate information. Things were handled well and they were directed to a waiting room near the main entry area. The seats were cushioned, and Petra actually laughed a little bit as Anne had to be careful with her tail. It wasn't so much an issue of spraying, as those glands were covered up by her clothing, but like all Animalians with a long tail, Anne didn't want to sit on her tail.
"Be glad that rabbits are not known for long tails," Anne eventually said to Petra who only brought a hand up to her mouth to try and stifle her chuckles.
Petra only chuckled again, this time almost playfully and in a way that reminded Anne of some of the better moments from their past when their employers met and they had the opportunity to do their tasks together. Anne gave a small smile at that while they waited.
"So, I heard you and a guy named Oscar..." Petra began slowly.
"Oui, he was a male Skunk that I met when I started training for the last IAC," Anne nodded mentioning Animalia's equivalent of the Olympics, and they would be coming up soon in the coming summer again, "Hopefully by the summer we'll able to be man and wife."
"He makes you happy?" Petra asked.
"Oui," Anne nodded with a happy smile, "and there will be plenty of available male rabbits for you... many of which were once wild rabbits that lived in the area. They will make you happy too, so long as you give them a chance."
Petra thought that there was some hint at something else from her past, given how long and hard her life had been. But for the moment she put that to a side. Partially because there were times where Petra had been jealous of Anne. Sure, Anne's own life hadn't been exactly easy, but Annie had managed to at least briefly find some love with Janice's father and have a family, if only for a little while. Petra had never even got that far. Her former employer kept her very busy and her efforts to help her parents kept her away from even looking for some of those things. Hearing about Annie's engagement to another Skunk Animalian seemed to only remind Petra on that issue, and privately the idea of having time for a family of her own was a part of her decision, but she had her own memories and issues to work out first.
It wasn't too long before the door to the waiting room opened and Judy came in, and looked to Petra before announcing, "Okay, Ms. O'Toole, we're ready for you."
"Can my friend come along?" Petra wondered, gesturing to Anne who sat quietly.
"I'm sure that will be okay... though..." Judy said slowly.
"We know each other from previous shared work and life experiences," Anne explained, "I think it's mostly for her comfort and security. I won't get in your way."
Judy nodded and then gestured for the two to follow her. They then made their way down through the hallways that lead from the waiting room for normal conversions and toward where the transformation rooms are. Petra took the time to then ask a few questions of assurance as they walked.
"And you have the formula for a gray colored English Lop?" Petra wondered, referring to one of the first breeds of Lop Eared Rabbit that were sold as pets.
"As with any other domestic animal strain, Horizon has had plenty of access to various color coat strains for the Animalia Virus," Judy answered, "and the Chinchilla coat pattern is among them. Though it should be noted that with many strains of the Animalia Virus... a lot of the coloration may depend on how the Animalia Virus interacts with your own cells, which could well mean that some of your DNA may influence your coloration as an Animalian within the color schemes that the English Lop is known to have. We have some scientific information on the Wesley family's conversions from the initial outbreak to reinforce that. So... we can give you the best shot at having the Chinchilla coat pattern, but we can't guarantee you will have that grayish colored pattern once you convert."
They eventually made their way to one of the transformation rooms where a Horizon nurse waited with the needles needed for Petra's conversion. Anne quietly waved to Petra as she went into the transformation room while Judy collected the needles and an alcohol swap to undergo the process for Petra's conversion. The nurse didn't stick around and soon departed for one of the lab/supply rooms for the vaccine, which would be needed once Petra's conversion was finished. That left Anne to wait on her own for Judy to come back into the hallway. When the uplifted rabbit came back out, Anne took the chance to ask a question based on what she'd heard Judy say to Petra.
"Um... Judy... you mentioned Chinchilla... isn't that a different animal from a rabbit?" Anne asked.
"The animal the Chinchilla IS a different species, yes," Judy nodded, "though from some articles I've found, it would appear with domestic rabbit breeders have sought to copy that grayish coloration that the Chinchilla has. As such, they've bread various rabbits that had some grayish coloration to their fur that would be similar to the Chinchilla. The English Lop is one of the various breeds that's had that coloration in it. It's a confusing name... but I suppose it is something makes Human naming of things what it is."
Anne admitted that was interesting and the two then waited for Petra to complete her transformation. A few moments later, Petra came out with a full smile on her face. She was still in the simple dress that she'd worn on the way in, but it was now stretched over a much more voluptuous frame with her enlarged breasts to big for the buttons at the top collar to hold shut while her wider hips had also helped raise the bottom of dress from where it reached before. It wasn't impossible for her to wear, but her transformation from a Human woman to a female Rabbit Animalian and resulted in it fitting her differently.
The new Petra was also now sported a silver-gray coat of fur and two long ears that hung down from the top of her head and even reached her shoulders. From what Anne could see, the fur on the inside of the ears was thinner and she could even see pink skin on portions of the ears. Petra seemed pleased with them though as she smiled and brushed back her hair, which had regained the vibrant red shade that she'd had in her youth, which showed how the Animalia Virus had the effect of restoring youth to the elderly or advance the extremely young to their prime. It was something that actually managed to balance out fairly well with her silver gray fur. Though the faded green dress didn't match quite as well, but Petra did seem happy.
"How do you feel?" Anne asked.
"Strangely invigorated," Petra answered, "and I think this Snowbunny Beauty shampoo will have a great model for it... Though I will need new underwear..."
"And perhaps an updated and more modern wardrobe..." Anne added, "though... given that rabbits are smaller than humans, much of your old clothing will at least be wearable should you wish to keep it."
"We'll need to do the vaccinations before you can do any of that," Judy cut in which got Petra to nod in acceptance.