Dr. Stein was worried about Ling and he was trying to convince himself he had less reason to worry. While North Korea did seem to be a belligerent country, it seems to have more bark than bite. While it did boast of its nuclear weapons, those weapons weren't as effective as they claimed. But the totalitarian nature of the government made Dr. Stein worry about how they will treat Ling when she returns. Even if Ling herself was useless as a soldier along other uplifted animals, that didn't mean the Korean government could convert their old soldiers who were far less scrupulous.
On the other hand, perhaps Ling could help start a gradual reform of the government. When people see that she can be a model citizen without having to be cruel, they may be wanting their government to change. But such political changes were beyond Dr. Stein's ability to grasp. But there was hope. The Asian colony (which has yet to be officially named and unveiled) showed that China wants to be part of Animalia's peace. And while Dr. Stein had misgivings regarding the motivations behind Elly's conversion, she didn't seem likely to return to Russia anytime soon. Perhaps they could work out something similar for Ling.
He felt something poking his shoulder and asked, "Dr. Stein." Dr. Stein looked up and jumped in his chair. Xena may be harmless and good-natured, but she could still give a fright if she caught you by surprise. While her anthropomorphic dragonfish body didn't exactly resemble a xenomorph, there were some uncanny resemblances. For instance, her tail was long and whip-like, albeit covered in spike-like fins. Her mouth had a bit of a resemblance to a xenomorph's, but thankfully there was no nested mouth inside. And while her skin was black, it was covered in piscine scales, not chitinous armor.
Dr. Stein recovered himself and asked, "Is there something you want, Xena?"
"I was just wanting to know when I could go to Meini Atoll," said Xena, "The saltwater here is...not quite refreshing as I would like."
"Well, it's a bit hard to guess the salinity of your natural habitat," said Dr. Stein, "But we only need to study a few more things. Then you can go to Mieni Atoll whenever you wish."
"Ok, that's all I wanted," said Xena, turning to go. She had to make sure her long tail curled enough so she didn't knock anything over as she left. Xena was a rather unique Animalian, but she was a rather unusual fish before she was uplifted. Her uplifting wasn't quite so straight-forward either.
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The black dragonfish wasn't long, only about a foot. It was definitely female because of its black coloration, barbel, teeth, and pelvic fins. The fact that it lacked pectoral fins caused a bit of a debate among the scientists. "No, she's not like an eel," said Harold, "Those are clearly pelvic fins. She won't need an altered formula."
"What if you're wrong?" asked the other scientist, "She'd end up with legs and no arms."
"I didn't have arms before I was uplifted," said Kirana flatly, "I didn't get legs, but I can still get about on land. This fish has pelvic fins to change into legs. I don't think we need to worry."
Soon after, the dragonfish was given the Abyssus formula. The fish shuddered as it rapidly grew in size. Before long, the pelvic fins were stretching out and forming into legs. There were several loud cracks as her hips exploded out, her rear filling out under her tail. Her legs, which were becoming thick with muscle, soon pushed on the bottom of the tank and lifted the dragonfish's head out of the water. She took a big gasp, but didn't seem to be choking. Her torso was filling up with more muscles as it shifted into a more humanoid shape. The process seemed to stop for a few moments as the fish was taking in deep breaths with her new lungs. But then with a loud snapping/ripping/popping sound, a large arm grew fully-formed out of her right side. This was followed by a matching arm coming out of her left side. Her new hands gripped the sides of the tank, the dragonfish grunting from the efforts. Her shoulders were expanding wider to accommodate new muscles and bones. Then she let out one more grunt as she threw her shoulders back. A pair of nipples appeared on her chest before new breasts ballooned out. They surged in size until they reach an E-cup.
The dragonfish Animalian was not what they were expecting. From a foot-long fish, she had surged up into a real amazon, 6'6" with huge muscles, a massive rack, and wide hips. A lot of Animalian women had similar figures, but usually a smaller animal meant a smaller Animalian. Eventually, Kirana asked her, "How do you feel?"
"I feel good, but I feel a little sore," said the dragonfish, her voice rather deep for a woman.
"Well, you did go through a rather radical change, even for an Animalian," said Kirana.
"Is that what I am now?" asked the dragonfish.
"It's what I am too," said Kirana, "We're both members of a community of uplifted animals. We even have other fish Animalians."
"That sounds interesting," said Xena as she climbed out of the tank.
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The current hypothesis for why Xena (named for both the lady warrior and her resemblance to a xenomorph) became so muscular was because the female dragonfish traveled 500 meters on a regular basis and was capable of coming to the surface as well as diving down to the dark depths. However, her exotic features and amazonian figure soon got a lot of interest. There were plenty of requests on the internet for her to dress up like a sexy xenomorph, but whether Xena would decide to do so is up to her and her alone.