To say that Mandy, or rather Mega Megara, was enjoying her new life would be an understatement. She had been frustrated with the physical limits her female body could reach. As much as she wanted to bulk up, she didn't want to lose all her feminine beauty as well. The fat reserves that rounded out her curves, particularly her breasts, had to be sacrificed for bigger muscles. But as an Animalian, Megara now had the best of both curves and muscles. Not to mention that Heracles was the perfect match for her. She felt so satisfied with her new life that she wanted to share this feeling with others.
As such, when she heard some old coworkers from her adult entertainment days wanted to become Animalians, Meg was happy to sponsor their conversion. Or at least she would be if she had enough money. Considering how much demand there was, the pressure from the government, and the changes to wardrobe and living conditions afterwards, conversion prices have been going up. Meg herself got a bit discount because she was the first person converting into a liger. But Meg was able to look for similar opportunities to help her friends.
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Megara wore a tank top and stretch pants when she went to meet her friends at the mall. It wasn't just to show off her curvaceous, muscular body, she just felt very comfortable in them. In almost any other town, the malls wouldn't have anything for her, for clothes or makeup. But the mall has been catering to Animalians for 3 years now and was well-stocked in things that Megara could use.
But right now, she was heading for the food court where she would meet her old coworkers. She spotted them straightaway, some of them standing out in certain aspects. Perla was a very pretty woman of mixed African and Dominican heritage. She could easily have been supermodel material, something she had always dreamed of, except for one glaring flaw. Perla had vitiligo, a genetic condition that made areas of the skin very pale. This stood out a lot more on Perla with chocolate-toned skin. The paleness were in random patches across her body, though the undersides of her hands were a uniform paleness. She had many streaks of paleness on her legs, which gave her the nickname 'Chocolate Swirl' in her adult entertainment career.
Hazel could have been a prime candidate for one of the thin models that were in demand these days. However, she never made the right connections or got the right notice. But Meg had heard Hazel complain more than once how hard modeling school was for her, so maybe she just lacked the motivation to really achieve a career in that line of modeling. The adult entertainment industry hasn't been too gentle with her easier. While slender bodies may be desired in high-fashion modeling, it made a girl rather unnoticeable in areas where buxom was better. Megara assumed it was her lack of financial resources that kept her from applying to Animalia sooner.
Then there was Lunette, the one that Megara was most surprised by wanting to leave adult entertainment. Lunette was considering the local weirdo where they worked and she was very proud of it. She wore her oddity as visibly as possible. If it wasn't her clothes, it was her blonde twin-tails, one significantly longer than the other. She was also one of the kinkiest women that Megara knew. She only had the vaguest guess about why she was here.
Hazel was the first to spot Megara. "Hey, Mandy, over here," she called.
"Girls, it's Megara now," said Megara, walking over to them. She posed and flexed her arms, "Mega Megara."
"Girl, you got super-sized in all the right places," said Perla.
"Hey, Meg, can you roar for us?" asked Lunette.
"Not here," said Meg, "I don't want to disturb anyone. How have you all been doing?"
"Not as well as you," said Hazel.
"The directors getting harder on you, Hazel?" asked Meg.
"Not just her, all of us," said Perla, "They say, and I quote, 'dirty dancing is a young woman's game and you're not as young as you used to be'."
"Wow, that is unbelievably rude," said Meg.
"Sadly true, though," said Perla, "We haven't gone to seed, but sooner or later, there's gonna be some new girls taking our spots."
"Even Loony Lunette?" asked Meg.
Lunette gave a wistful smile and said, "Well, I wouldn't mind being a MILF, but that doesn't match my personality much."
"You know, you really got lucky with what Animalia gave you," said Hazel, "I'm not sure we can have the same luck."
"Maybe not the exact same, but I think you'll have some luck yet," said Meg, pulling three folders out of her tote bag, "I did talk to Horizon Labs about getting you guys a decent discount and a little bit of pay until you can get yourselves stable careers."
"What't the catch?" asked Lunette. While she may appear ditzy, she was much sharper than she looked.
"You girls will have to be volunteers for some of their experiments," said Meg.
"Whoa, whoa, what kind of experiments?" asked Perla, "I am not being bound to a lab table and getting prodded."
"Nothing like that," said Meg, "There are just a few strains of the Animalia virus that haven't been tested yet."
"Such as?" asked Perla.
Meg handed her a folder and said, "They were hoping on bringing back a more recent animal from extinction for Project Thylacine. I think a quagga would suit you very well."
"Quagga, isn't that a smaller kind of giraffe?" asked Perla, opening the folder.
"You're thinking of an okapi," said Meg, "A quagga is an extinct kind of zebra that was more brown than striped." The folder held a few historical pictures of a quagga as well as a colorized picture of what a quagga looked like. "I think Horizon Labs is planning on working with the Quagga Project to provide them a reconstructed DNA strand of the quagga."
"But I'll be part human," pointed out Perla.
"Well, apparently Horizon's helping out with bringing back the woolly mammoth somehow," said Meg, "Don't ask me how."
"So what about me?" asked Hazel.
Project Mesozoic wants more pterosaur Animalians," said Meg, "I think part of it was because they want to fill more apartments at that new pterosaur hotel." She handed Hazel another folder and said, "These are various kinds of pterosaurs that they can get make a formula for. Try to find one you like."
Hazel looked through the various pictures and descriptions of winged reptiles. She had a fantasy of being able to fly (who doesn't) without having to deal with the fuss of feathers. She also didn't want to be as oversized as some of the Animalians she had seen, so this seemed like a perfect fit. "Ooh, this looks like a good one," said Hazel.
The others looked at a picture of a pterosaur that was apparently on the smaller side, judging in the trees pained in the picture. The pterosaur had a long tail, no crest, and a beak that looked halfway between puffin and toucan. "Dimorphodon" read Meg, "Why this one?"
"It's not too flashy," said Hazel, "And I think I'd like having a long tail. Besides, Dimorphodon sounds familiar, but I can't place where..."
"So what extinct animal do they want me to become?" asked Lunette.
"Actually, they're potentially considering you for Project Hermaphroditus, particularly when those new wolves come in," said Meg, handing her the last folder, which contained some details about the project.
"Well, it would certainly suit your name," said Hazel.
"And suit your tastes," said Perla. Lunette was not shy about her bisexuality. She had proudly proclaimed to have been in several threesomes, though some sounded unbelievable.
"That said, you'll probably need a psychological evaluation first," said Meg, "Not that I doubt you're bi, but some people may be worried about your self-control."
Lunette put on a sober face and said, "Yeah, I know people think I'm not all there. I don't think I'm really crazy, but wouldn't crazy people think that too? I do want to start a new life, hopefully something more filling than what I've had before."
"I think she was being sincere," said Perla.
"What makes you think I wasn't?" asked Lunette in mock-offense.
"When you said 'filling'," said Perla.
"So I let possible innuendos slip out, so sue me," said Lunette.
"I would, but you're not worth much," said Perla. The four of them started laughing at that. It was good for Megara to see her friends again. She hoped the conversion process would work out for them all.