Doctor Jones was rather grateful he didn't have to handle all of the psychiatric work by himself. Hiring Mr. Swarzz and Amy Add really helped with his workload. And he was receiving unexpected but welcome help with managing Homosexuals Anonymous. Chloe Matryoshka, or Madam Matyrhoshka, had been running a matchmaking service ever since her conversion. And the couples she has paired up worked very well so far. But when other countries have been sending in their gays and lesbians to be 'cured', Chloe quickly took the steering wheel and start reorganizing the whole program so it would be less like a 'gulag' and more of an integration. And with more people coming, particularly with the IAC coming up, she had her work cut out for her.
Doctor Jones stopped by her office. She wasn't quite an official employee at his office, but she required a bit of space to really work. Doctor Jones looked at the various bulletin boards, mostly covered with profiles. Each one was about a prospective patient, a brief summary of their background, personality, interests, and preference towards animal species. Each one didn't simply line up with a single other. There were more than a few that had threads connected to multiple different papers. "You know, you can just use a computer for this," observed Doctor Jones.
"Bah, I have no time for learning modern technology," said Chloe as she shuffled through more papers.
"Well, actually, you have plenty of time," said Doctor Jones. Her silver hair had returned to its original blonde color with her double-dosing. Granted, it was a platinum blonde, but there was a discernible difference.
"I mean I have no time right now," said Chloe, "So many people coming in, each needing a transformation and mate aftervards. If I stop to learn new computer tricks, it vill all pile up on me."
"I don't think we're in as big a hurry as that," said Doctor Jones, "It isn't as if every homosexual on Earth is coming here."
"Yet," said Chloe, "For all everyvun's talk about freedom of choice and equality, most countries' goverments vould rather sveep gays and lesbians under rug."
"Chloe, not every government is like that," said Doctor Jones, "And there's more than enough good ones to keep the bad ones in check."
Madam Matryoshka sighed and said, "Da, you're right. I'm just used to expecting the vorst of governments. Governments should serve people, not throw avay cast-outs and grind rest under heel."
"We just have to help those we can," said Doctor Jones, "You are helping a lot of people with your work."
"Da, that is true," said Chloe before looking at the various strings connecting to different profiles, "So many strings. Maybe I should have become spider Animalian."
"The Animalia virus doesn't work on invertebrates," reminded Doctor Jones.
"Da, snake is good too," said Madam Matryoshka, thinking back to her conversion.
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One of the worst things about Alzheimer's disease is knowing you're forgetting something important but you couldn't quite remember what. Even the reason for trying to remember can slip away. Chloe Matryoshka could feel her memories slipping, but she wasn't sure what she could do about it. She had a strong enough will to keep important memories from slipping, but she knew it couldn't last. When she heard that Animalia could cure any disease so far, she tried to talk to the people who ran it. Well, she attempted to, but there were a few false starts where she forgot what she was doing. But eventually, Horizon Labs heard she wanted to get rid of her Alzheimer's and were quite eager to see if the Animalia virus could treat that.
"Now, Mrs. Matryoshka, there aren't second chances with this, so we need you to really focus and decide what animal you would want to be spliced with," said Dr. Stein. It had been a bit nerve-wracking, the old Russian woman getting sidetracked during the conversation.
"I want good memory again," said Madam Matryoshka, "Er...what is animal vith good memory?"
"Well, an elephant never forgets," said Dr. Stein.
"Nyet, nyet, not elephant. I vill not be big, bulky, and awkvard. I vant...elegant, graceful, smooth, something that does not stumble," said Madam Matryoshka.
"Well, a snake literally can't stumble if you want that," said Dr. Stein.
"You have snakes? Vhere?" asked Madam Matryoshka, looking at the floor, as if expecting them to be slithering around.
"I mean snake Animalians," said Dr. Stein before showing a few pictures of the snake Animalians who live Lyre, "People like these."
Madam Matryoshka looked at the pictures and said, "So lovely, vhy are some of them bald?"
"Those would be uplifted snakes," said Dr. Stein.
"Vill I go bald?" asked Madam Matryoshka, clutching her head.
"Not likely. Hair loss when converting to a non-mammal Animalian isn't very common and it's far more likely to happen to a man than a woman," said Dr. Stein.
"Oh, I might like being snake," said Madam Matryoshka.
"Have you any preferences for what kind?" asked Dr. Stein.
"No venom," said Madam Matryoshka, "I do not vant to be dangerous. And...I vant colors, bright colors, like matryoshka dolls."
"I think we have something that'll fit those requirements," said Dr. Stein, "We can get started when you're ready."
"Ready for what?" asked Madam Matryoshka.
Dr Stein sighed and said, "Let's just go."
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This may be technically leaning on the edict against conversion without permission, but Dr. Stein thought it would save time to just convert Madam Matryoshka rather than keep reminding her. She had given her consent, she just had trouble remembering that. Anyways, if the double-dosing did cure her Alzheimer's, she'd remember her consent. So Dr. Stein led the Russian woman to a changing room, injected her with two doses of Animalia virus mixed with milk snake DNA. "Welcome to Animalia," he said before leaving the room.
Madam Matryoshka would have asked where he was going, but she felt a strong itch on the arm she had been injected with. She kept rubbing at the spot, but the itching didn't go away. Eventually, she noticed the injected area was red and dry. The red area started spreading before her skin started turning black. She felt a bit of panic before seeing the skin besides that was turning yellow. The pattern of red, black, yellow, black, and red spread up and down her arm. Her hand was looking less knobbly as skin smoothed, knuckles shrank, and arthritis disappeared. She did notice her fingernails now looked more like claws.
Discomfort in her feet made her lean down to pull them off. She absently noticed she could bend over with very little problem. Once her shoes and socks were off, she saw that her feet were losing all their features, including her toes. An odd numbing sensation swept through her legs as her bones splintered and reformed. Madam Matryoshka gasped loudly as she felt a surge go through her pelvic area, her hips and rear growing larger than they ever had before. They tore through her underwear in a matter of seconds. She would have felt embarrassed, but she also felt powerful pleasure as her ovaries reawakened. That combined with the sensation of her legs fusing together was very distracting.
Madam Matryoshka felt some discomfort in her shoulders as they became a little broader. Her neck was also stretching out quite a bit. Red, black, and yellow scales raced up her throat and covered her face. Wrinkles faded, along with her nose and ears, as her face started stretching out into a blunt muzzle. As her hair regained its whitish-gold color, her slit-pupiled eyes became clearer as her memories started coming back. She remember now. She was becoming a snake to regain her memories.
Then she felt a tightness in her chest. "Vhat isss thisss?" she grunted as she found it a little harder to breath. Looking down, she saw her bosom was pushing out hard against her dress. They had already surpassed the size they were when she was young and it was starting to make her dress painfully tight. She hissed with pain as she tried to reach back and undo the buttons. But her breasts beat her to it by ripping her dress open and bursting out. Matryoshka gave a sigh of relief as she could breathe with ease again. Looking down, she could see her breasts were still swelling, becoming than a handful. "Doctor never sssaid anything about thisss," she said, her forked tongue flitting out.
Eventually, she felt her changes had come to a halt. Her dress had gotten quite ripped up around her upper body and not just because of her bigger breasts. "Vell, no ussse vearing thisss old thing," she said. She peeling off the remains of her dress, rather like a snake shedding its skin. She slithered over to the mirror to look at her new self. She was a rather colorful snake Animalian now, her body covered with a repeating pattern of stripes of red, black, and yellow. Her breasts, which had swollen out to E-cups, were in a red band and capped with black nipples. "Hmm...vhat is sssaying? Red next to yellow, killsss fellow. Red next to black, venom lacksss," muttered Matryoshka as she felt her bigger breasts. To her surprise, white liquid started dripping from her nipples. For a moment, she thought she was leaking venom before she brought a drop to her tongue and tasted it. "Milk? Huh, did not think sssnakesss gave milk," she said. She looked at the mirror and said, "Vell, Chloe, old girl, looksss like you are real milk snake now."
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Chloe shook herself from her memories. She might have perfect clarity of them again, but she didn't need to get lost in them. "So, vhat is it you vere here to see me about?" she asked.
"Well, concerning the two ladies who are talking with Herman and Jason..." started Doctor Jones.
"Da, shark-man and vhale-man are chatting vith lesbian pair who vant to be shark-voman and vhale-vo-man," said Chloe, "Seem to be good match, both know vhat they vant to be. Vill they be mates or 'friends vith benefits', who can say? Is there choice who they vant to be mates vith."
"Uh, good," said Doctor Jones, "There's also Allura..."
"Big fish-man-voman or little fish-man-voman?" asked Chloe.
"You know who she is and you don't have to talk like that," said Doctor Jones, a little annoyed.
"Is all part of Madam Matryoshka charm," said Chloe with a smile, "Yes, plenty people vanting to be mate vith Allura. Am still looking for best match for hir. Am narrowing it down, may have possible matches by next veek."
"Wery vell," said Doctor Jones before stopping himself, "Oh, now you've got me doing it."
Chloe giggled and said, "Is always funny vhen happens. Now if I can have quiet, I am still looking for match for moose and squirrel, darling." Doctor Jones stifled a laugh at that. "Vhat? Vhat is so funny?"
"It's just... Oh, I guess you wouldn't know. Ask your friends about that," said Doctor Jones before leaving.