Mercy Elaga felt fairly pleased with her form in general. Lessons in how to fly and so on were on schedule and she had some pondering questions how to go with that. Part of her entertained the idea of trying to escape once she'd learned. The Lyre Police department didn't have helicopters and the FBI Agent, Mr. Smith, had come by car. In this it would only be the Animalia PD that would be able to keep up with her if it came to an escape. There, Mercy Elaga knew she had an advantage.
The Black Mastiff Bat could fly quickly in horizontal flight and with regard to the flying Animalians that the Animalia Police Department had, Mercy had recognized that all of them were Animalians not known for great horizontal speed. Vultures and Eagles were great for long distance soaring flight, but they only achieved greater speed when diving, and there the fastest diving birds were Falcons, of which none were on the APD. Thus there was the potential Mercy could outrun them if it came to a race. However, for the moment she wasn't in a position to really consider it, as she'd tried a few modest attempts and flight, and that amounted to a series of ungainly flapping with little lift from the ground. Thus until she had figured out flight, any escape attempt would be on hold, and that kept her in the apartment provided for her, which was presently on the ground floor and sparsely decorated, even more in favor of function over form than other Animalian residences.
"Of course... while under house arrest, as it were," Mercy thought to herself as she walked through the living room and noted that most of her décor was limited to a few modest chairs and a simple radio plugged into the wall, "it wouldn't be like I could go out and buy something... even if I had money."
That was also something that weighed on her mind as she looked down to the small anklet that was presently fixed to her ankle. The area under it itched a little and it served as a constant reminder of where she was and the situation. That she'd snuck into Animalia with the idea of a big score in a set of jewels that might be royal jewels, and even if they weren't, the jewels themselves would still be worth it. Unfortunately she'd failed in the break in and broke her leg and that brought her into her present situation, where she'd effectively be drafted into the Animalia PD... in what amounted to creating a specialized law enforcement officer who could be loaned out to other law enforcement agencies to essentially counter the circles she'd run with before. Until then, she had to stay in the apartment and wait until she'd served that period of house arrest, attended remedial training regarding flight and handling the Black Mastiff Bat's instincts, and attending various lectures and tests provided by the Animalia PD on police procedure, and from what she heard had some instructors coming up from one of the police academies that Nevada had to carry out some of these lessons and lectures.
"But then," Mercy sighed to herself, "that might be a bit better than being in jail for months... And the officers and Mr. Smith seem more than willing to bring things to eat that I can digest... Though strangely, insects seem far more tasty to me now than before..."
Her thoughts were interrupted when there came a knock on the door to the apartment. That paused her pacing in the apartment's living room as she turned to the door as she heard it knock again. She was a bit puzzled at this, as it wasn't one of the scheduled times for her lessons or anything official that would have Mr. Smith's supervision and while Animalians seemed to be known for a level of forgiveness that most Humans weren't, that didn't necessarily mean that they were eagerly coming to talk and hang out with her. Some likely didn't know her and some probably just kept their distance because they'd been told of what she'd done as "Missy." Thus, she didn't expect visitors.
She hesitantly made her way to the door and opened it to find a surprising pair of guests. One was an unusually tall and muscled female Brown Rat Animalian while the other was more easily recognizable in being a towering Syntixisaurus Rex Dinotopian. The Rat Animalian wore a loose t-shirt and a pair of jeans while the Dinotopian wore a pair of cargo paints with a black tank top over a white shirt.
"Mrs. Green and Ms. Piper," Mercy said slowly remembering what Mr. Smith had said about who had contributed to her release to "house arrest" rather than being held in Animalia's jail.
"Ms. Elaga," Mary Piper answered softly, "I trust you're settling in okay?"
"Reasonably well, all things considered," Mercy answered as stepped back letting the two enter, and noting that Heather had to duck way down to fit through the doorframe, "what brings you here...?"
"Mostly just making sure that things are reasonable for you," Heather commented slowly, "I can't stay long... as I have a flight back to Dino City... but given things..."
"We were wanting to provide some assurance that you'll ultimately be accepted," Mary finished, "in fact... you might have it a bit easier than either Heather or I did."
"I can imagine that burglary and petty theft are on a different scale from attempted murder/cannibalism and kidnapping," Mercy commented.
Heather and Mary both paused at that, as they both remembered the things they'd had to deal with that weren't exactly things that reflected well on them or Animalia in general. Heather was well aware that much of the most stringent regulations against Animalia came after her attack on Sophie and Roland. Mary was also well aware of her own actions in which she'd had Jeremy Green kidnapped and brought into the sewers as part of her desire to restore her humanity, by force if necessary.
"Probably true..." Heather admitted, "for I was already angry over earlier mistakes that had gone wrong for me and wasn't prepared for the wave of predatory instincts that happened with my transformation... In that, I wasn't really in control of myself at the time and that did generate a lot of fear... with people thinking I'd eat them, even as I started coming out of it."
"And what actually did that?" Mercy asked, "if I may be curious..."
"Ironically... it was the same girl that I'd attacked," Heather answered, "she was surprisingly forgiving, given what had happened and more than willing to be something more of a councilor rather a jailer... THAT helped a lot and let me get back toward what I'd wanted to do before... art. It's mostly advertising posters for Horizon and so on, but the pay isn't too bad and it's let me show that I'm more than what I've become physically."
Mercy looked over to Mary who stood quietly.
"Some of what happened with me was under different circumstances," Mary spoke after a moment, "unlike most of the first Human conversions to Animalian, I wasn't exposed to the modern strain of the Animalia Virus... I was working in the sewer tunnels when the truck carrying Jack... then carrying an experimental and very imperfect strain that predated the Animalia Virus strains presently used. The result was that... what I became was more disfigured and under strains... as Jack didn't gain full Animalian sentience when he transformed..."
"That wouldn't justify kidnapping, though," Mercy commented.
"It doesn't... but because my initial transformation was essentially connected to the accident that started Animalia, in a way, there were some circumstances that weren't so clear cut to measure and that I was directly wanting to be Human again," Mary answered, "and still do... and really... Jeremy Green even understood my desire. Though... for the moment, I can only make the best of it, and with my "family" now aging normally... I'll be looking at seeing that all of them are on a safe path to independence before I can seriously consider going on toward being Human again."
Mercy didn't say anything to that. Given the physical builds that Animalians had and that while the number of people converting to become Animalians was small when compared to Earth's total Human population, she'd figured that those that did, including those who were accidentally transformed, were quite happy with their new forms. She'd never heard of anyone seriously wanting to go back to being Human before.
"But in the end... both of us calmed down and earned acceptance," Heather spoke, "and ultimately, because Jeremy forgave Mary, I forgave her. There may be some difficulty in some things, as I don't know Anastasia... but if you go through with this... serve with the Rhino Guard... you'll likely earn acceptance."
"At the cost of old contacts," Mercy commented.
"If they were criminals... keeping them wouldn't be good," Mary told, "both Heather and I did face some degree of concern that we'd fall back into old habits..."
"Particularly since what lead to me becoming the first Dinotopian was having a scheme in Latin America go wrong and uncovered," Heather added, "it was for some reasons to help someone in my family... but that didn't make it right and people did initially fear that I'd either succumb to my instincts again or old habits again... And the latter probably would have been the bigger sin to most Animalians. Humans will often expect that sort of thing. Generally... Animalians tend to look and hope for the best. And when something like what I did comes along that breaks many of their norms and expectations they feel betrayed."
"And being some gung-ho Animal Cop will help?" Mercy asked.
"It'd be a step forward," Mary answered, "and while Heather will be in Dino City... I am in Animalia and am available to talk, whenever you need it."