Lyre had once been a small and quaint little town in northwestern Nevada. It hadn't been tiny by any means, but neither was it a big bustling center of industry or anything else. Part of the reason that Horizon had set up its operation and research that would lead to the Animalia Virus was that the region was quiet and remote enough that they wouldn't be hampered too much by potential protests over the project, which had started as a sort of hormone supplement to improve meat production on livestock. However, once Animalia got started and the Animalia Virus had offered so many opportunities, the region had grown greatly, and it wasn't just the uplifted Animals that had seen Animalia and Lyre grow.
True, their presence had led to a great deal of localized expansion for businesses to handle the increased population as well as other opportunities that went along with it. Things like the Claw Coliseum had provided for exercise equipment that the people of Lyre used almost as much as the Animalians did. This brought with it localized sports and leagues for Animalians that drew in others. It was a level of expansion that was welcome and actually turned Lyre/Animalia into a fairly active place with regard to certain industries as some of the more specialized needs of Animalians became better known. This in turn led to greater business expansion to suit those needs and to a certain extent the refining of some things based on how Animalians showed their interest in things.
The biggest thing had been Horizon's expansion. For, while the Animalia Virus had the potential to go very bad very fast, particularly after it got loose, it had soon lead into something that while accidental was actually beneficial. It allowed for those with major injuries or fatal diseases to be healed. This, along with some of the other developments in the Animalia Virus had lead into other aspects that presented its own unique sentiments. Some of it was even cases of odd partners, as political groups that had spent the past two years trying to strip Animalians of their rights had also found reasons in some situations to support Horizon and Animalia. Project Hermaphroditus was among them, though many suspected that the reasoning was with the expectation that the project actually gave people a single gender, not enabling them to be fully functional with both genders.
Though, that ultimately wasn't the biggest thing that Project Hermaphroditus had. Those ultimate related to making sure that those who had signed up with that specific project were truly those who considered themselves to be "transgendered," and weren't just someone looking for an excuse to use any restroom they wanted. Some of this was with concessions given to government officials that had "moral causes" as part of their policies, but it was something that Animalia didn't have that much trouble with. While the showers in public areas were unisex and often with the idea that mates would want to mate with each other, standard restrooms were segregated by gender, as no one wanted sexual attention while doing their business. And it was those requirements that had brought a small group of people into Doctor Jones' clinic.
Eventually one of the doors behind the front desk in the clinic and Doctor Jones stepped out, looking fairly refreshed. Especially as he'd had his additional partners in the practice for a while now, many of these added sorts of cases could now be handled in rotation, and not just him taking all of them. It gave him flexibility to work with checking to make sure that Project Hermaphroditus cases were those who were transgendered and those who were dealing with issues related to Regressive Hypersexuality Disorder along with the main things that he'd come to Lyre to open his practice.
"Okay... Greg Harle, Lysine Isard, and Ian McDermouth, if you'll all come in, we can get started," Doctor Jones spoke.
"Shouldn't these things be private?" Ian asked as he stood up, his hair tied back into a pony tail with a light brown/dark blond shade, "not a group session?"
"In a sense they are," Doctor Jones answered he continued to hold the door open, "however, since you three are all here for the same purpose... it will be easier to come and wait outside the single patient therapy room. There are comfortable chairs there and you won't be bothered by anyone that might be... shall we say less than hospitable."
That sort of thing didn't happen often, and more often than not it was some random "hater" that felt compelled to come in and make his point. For those who came in for issues related to couples counseling simply finding someone to be romantic with, it wasn't a problem, but given that Horizon had opened up things for those who were transgendered and that some of the side-effects of conversion with those who were homosexual before their conversion generating attention on the Animalia Virus being a "cure" for homosexuality, there was the potential that someone would feel the need to stir up some sort of irritation. They could be troublesome, but thankfully, they'd limited their irritating actions to making a few wild claims before being escorted out. His secretaries hadn't yet been forced to call either the Lyre or Animalia Police, but with these specific cases, Doctor Jones found it better for these candidates that they be allowed to wait where they wouldn't be at risk for abuse.
"Okay..." Ian seemed to accept that and the group followed Doctor Jones along. They then walked along the hallway behind the front desk area and only stopped at a series of chairs that were lined up outside closed door. Doctor Jones offered the floors to his guests as they slowly moved toward him.
"So... who goes first?" Lysine wondered as she looked around to the other two that were there in the group.
"Who wants to go first?" Doctor Jones asked back. That made them all pause and eventually Greg came forward.
"I'll go first," Greg said slowly.
To this, Doctor Jones nodded and opened the door into the therapy room. It was smaller than the rooms that he used for group sessions, but then with one patient in the session, he didn't need a larger room. It was one that he kept with fairly mellow tones and nothing that would come across as too aggressive. Many Animalians that had come in on some of the cases they came in with often made comments on the softness of the carpet. He made his way to a modest rolling chair while Greg moved to sit on the couch, lifting one leg up to cross it over the other at the knee.
"Now... I'm sure you understand the reasoning for this appointment," Doctor Jones began slowly.
"Yes... to make sure that I really am transgendered and that I'm not some sort of pervert wanting to rape someone in the bathroom," Greg said slowly, "of all the dumb things governments do... that's gotta be the dumbest. If someone was really that driven that they want to commit a crime like rape and will pretend to be transgender to do it... they're not going to stop because the bathroom door says "women" or "men" on it. They're just going to go through with the crime."
Doctor Jones nodded quietly but didn't even get the chance to get to the actual questions he had intended to ask. Greg simply continued on.
"And these same people that feel they need to but their political noses into other people's sex lives and how they see themselves will at the same time use the same argument to defend gun rights... that if guns are banned, criminals will find a way to get them anyway!" Greg grumbled, "they're all a bunch of hypocrites!"
"I know... but on this issue, from their point of view they are coming with good intentions in mind," Doctor Jones spoke, "I mean... would you feel comfortable if you were afraid an innocent would be harmed by someone?"
"Well... no..." Greg began.
"And that is where they're coming from," Doctor Jones answered, "their way of voicing that fear may betray a great deal of hate and animosity, but the fear that has created it is still one that is designed to protect the innocent. And it will be addressing that fear that will be the hardest thing to fix. And I don't expect it'll be fixed today, which means we must provide the proof and evidence that the fear is unfounded... which for the moment will mean abiding by the regulations that have been put in place."
Greg slowly nodded and then sighed. It seemed that he accepted the point, even if he didn't agree with it. Doctor Jones then took that to move into the questions that were part of his means to make sure that Greg felt himself to be a woman rather than as a man.
"Now... with the forms you submitted to Horizon, you simply listed the name as "Greg," would that be short of anything?" Doctor Jones asked, "Gregory? Gregorius?"
"Well... my parents named me Gregory," Greg said slowly, "but... the more I grew up... the more things just felt wrong... like... I'm not supposed to be male... this big... to be rugged or things like that. My parents never really understood, but they were loving... so I never wanted to hurt them. So, I've often gone by Greg and just Greg and left it at that. If people want to see me as Gregory... that's their mistake, while I've seen myself as Gregoria."
"Named after a Byzantine Empress in the mid 600s," Doctor Jones commented off hand.
"Mostly because it sounded more like a feminine form of Gregory... Gregoria," Greg said slowly.
"I see... do your parents know this now?" Doctor Jones said slowly.
"Yes," Greg nodded, "they... they took it much better than I thought they would. I don't think they understand it, but they took it better than I thought they would."
"So, they will respect your decision to join Project Hermaphroditus?" Doctor Jones asked.
Greg nodded. He noted Doctor Jones taking some notes as they went along. Doctor Jones did this to keep track of his sessions and as a means to double check things. So far, from what he noted it sounded as though Greg was being honest.
"Now... I need to ask this... but you do recognize that Project Hermaphroditus won't make you a woman completely?" Doctor Jones asked, "You will gain more feminine features and will be able to bear children, an improvement over gender reassignment surgery... but your shoulders will still be broader than a woman's, by Animalian standards your hips will be slightly narrower than a female Animalian's, and you will obviously still have your penis."
Greg slowly nodded, but didn't say anything.
"You must also be aware... that even if you become a hermaphrodite Animalian to be more in touch with your feminine side, you will likely still have some of the instincts that will have some male interests," Doctor Jones continued, "as Horizon has done studied with the hermaphrodite Animalians that have already been uplifted or converted."
"I am..." Greg said slowly and gave a nervous smile, "but in away... I'd feel more complete than I've felt in quite awhile."
"I see," Doctor Jones returned the smile and then flicked the paperwork Greg had filled out to the section that was part of the Horizon forms for hermaphrodite conversions, he checked the "approved" box and then signed his name on the signature line that was the therapist or physician that would be assigned to review the case.
And the same process was repeated with Lysine and with Ian. The answers proved to be the same in many ways. Lysine had at times been something of a tomboy, but in time that hadn't been enough. "She" had had interest in boys, but not quite in the way that one would expect from a heterosexual woman with some specific tastes that men she'd been with preferred. Becoming a hermaphrodite Animalian would serve to not only give her a sense of completion but was also taken as a step towards "homosexuals anonymous." Ian had actually had to deal with the worst of it, in that he'd been beat up when he'd been in High School when the fact that he was transgender became public. He'd been ashamed after that to the point that he'd actually begun repressing things about himself, and it was actually his parents that had talked him into it, as they saw Animalia as a chance to get the largely happy and open child they'd raised back. Each session had went well and had gone honestly, and that was enough for Doctor Jones to provide a favorable recommendation to the three.