Getting clothes that fit the new him came surprisingly quick and far faster than what Albert Slash had expected. He'd known that Dinotopians were bigger than other Animalians, and seeing that was fairly easy given those that had moved to Dino City over the course of the summer. Though, it wasn't something was going to complain about after going through with the conversion process to become a Giganotosaurus Dinotopian. He wasn't expecting the request initially, but the fact that conversion and double dosing seemed to offer another chance at life didn't seem too bad, and for the most part, Albert Slash had no real regrets in his life and was happy to be able to do more good, even as a Dinotopian.
That had been a big part of why he'd transferred from the Somervell County Sheriff's Office to take over the role of Police Chief for Dino City. It wasn't something that required a move, as much of his work with the Sheriff's Office had him in Glen Rose to begin with, and would give him the opportunity to work with others and bring people together, which was something he felt ought to be the real goal of law enforcement. He could be just as tough on crime as any other Texan, but his own military service and experiences taught him some lessons that sticking to old methods didn't always work.
And when it came to crime and punishment, while Animalia seemed to do things differently and often very much so, from what news reports he'd seen, he had to admit that they seemed to get fairly decent results. Animalia might have its occasional drunken idiot, and not always a Human tourist, but when they had had major incidents, such as that with Heather Wilcox-Green, their method at rehabilitation seemed to work quite well. The key was duplicating it, and that had also served to reinforce his acceptance of becoming a Dinotopian, even if the city officers from Glen Rose that came in to coordinate with things had taken to calling him "Sergeant Slash," either due to his last name or the fact that the claws he had now were sharp.
And that was presently what brought him to Dino City's hospital. Like many other buildings, it was scaled up to suit Dinotopians, and particularly the larger Sauropod Dinotopians, and Andrew, Jen, Luke, and Marjorie. Before his conversion, these buildings seemed practically cavernous to Albert, but now as a Dinotopian, himself, some of that wasn't as big as it was before. Of course, while he was now taller and slightly larger than Doctor Ramos, that didn't mean he was on par with Dino City's four Sauropods. They were easily bigger than him, but that was different from how the building felt to him now.
"Good afternoon, sir," one of the desk clerks at the Hospital said to him as he approached, "How can I help ya today?"
"I'm here to speak with a patient... a Tyler Pug, I believe the name was, if the reports were accurate," Albert spoke slowly and remembering his mission to talk with some supposed punk rocker that had stumbled into Dino City high on ecstasy and was thankfully found and gotten to Dino City's Hospital/Clinic when they also found documents on the guy that stated some intent of converting to become a Dinotopian.
"Ah... our rocker," the clerk nodded, "He should be in room three oh three... Would you like an escort, sir?"
"Much obliged," Albert answered as the clerk got up and motioned with her hand toward a nearby door. Albert walked toward it just as she came out that door. Things were fairly quiet for a few moments as he looked down to her, and that was one of the down side to his increase in size that he'd found. His greater height made looking people in the eye a bit more difficult unless they were other Dinotopians, but Albert generally tried to give it his best shot and thankfully the clerk wasn't wearing anything that would lend to any accusation of him trying to look down her shirt. "So... outside of this... rocker... how have things been?"
"It's been busy with flu shots and some basic checkups," the clerk answered, "though with those that we know are married... we may expect eggs being conceived in the spring, based on what information Horizon has provided us. Though for right now it's been flu shots."
"I take it that's been because Dinotopians are converted Humans?" Albert asked.
"Horizon has said that's possible that an uplifted Animalian could catch various human diseases too," the clerk answered, "it was more that while the Animalia Virus can heal a lot of damage... it isn't necessarily a vaccine. So if one has AIDS, becoming an Animalian of any type may cure them of the disease... but wouldn't necessarily mean that they couldn't catch it again later."
Albert nodded. Some of it was a bit too much science for him, but it made for polite conversation as she lead him to the elevator and then up to the floor where the man that Albert had come to see was waiting. The elevator music was peaceful and the distance from the elevator wasn't too long as the clerk lead him right to the door. She then gestured to the door.
"He should be right through there," the clerk said to him, "should I note the security staff?"
"No, I'll be fine," Albert answered, knowing that "security staff" was largely a relation to some of the officers that presently were helping train those that would be part of the Dino City police force. So far as Albert knew, some of them were willing to convert but wanted to complete their training first. However, with the fact that this punk rocker was still human, Albert also knew that he was in no physical danger.
He then made his way in to find lone man laying back on the bed watching from the television that was on in the room. Albert didn't recognize the channel, but he thought it was some kind of music channel. The main was presently dressed in a hospital gown that contrasted with his dark hair, that had a lot of it shaved and leaving some of it jelled into spikes that stuck up from his head. Some of them were a bit messy, which Albert guessed was the result of his being in the hospital bed for the past few days.
" Tyler Pug, I presume?" Albert asked to the man.
The man looked up and nodded before shutting off the television and then rolling over to a side to place the remote on a small table that was by the bed side. Like many things in Dino City, it looked disproportionately big when compared with the man laying in the bed. But Tyler looked comfortable and like he wasn't hooked up to anything at the moment.
"Yeah... and you are?" Tyler asked back, noting that while Albert was presently wearing a long black coat, it was opened and revealed a blue policeman's uniform under it.
"Albert Slash, Giganotosaurus Dinotopian and Dino City's Chief of Police," Albert answered, "some of the officers that brought you in here may have mentioned me as "Sergeant Slash," but I don't know for sure."
"And you're here to bust me for the ecstasy, right?" Tyler asked, "I filed for the conversion as a means to detox, man."
"And I'm more than willing to give you the benefit of the doubt there," Albert answered with a nod, "though, from the reports I got... you came into town showing signs and symptoms of some of the negative effects... including an elevated temperature and being dehydrated. And testing did find some level of ecstasy in your system. So... while you may wish to detox... you are still battling addition."
Tyler looked down and didn't answer immediately to that.
"And keep in mind that if it weren't for the documents from Horizon that were found on you, you would have been sent to Glen Rose, not Dino City... and by now... facing being moved to a jail cell for having taken an illegal drug," Albert spoke, "with the only thing that might reduce your sentence being you telling the Glen Rose police from where you got the ecstasy."
"And I'm to be grateful?" Tyler looked up to Albert as the theropod Dinotopian moved to stand at the foot of the bed.
"That couldn't hurt... but I'm not here to make unfair demands of you," Albert spoke, "and if you do convert... that will cleanse the drug from your system and cure your addiction to it. And as such, if you came here to detox, that's a good thing in my book."
"But..." Tyler rolled his eyes.
"But you did still take an illegal substance which you had to be treated for and we have evidence that you had been using said drug," Albert spoke, "by rule... I can't just let you go. As a lot of my job is to help keep the peace in Dino City and enforce the law. So... you can see my position, right?"
"I didn't hurt no one," Tyler answered.
"A good many addicts don't... unless you count themselves, but that's something different from the law," Albert answered, "we both know that... or at least you should be aware of that."
"Yeah," Tyler admitted, looking down.
"And that's why I'm here," Albert told the man, "to find a way that I think would help us both. Give you some encouragement that Dino City would welcome you and accept your conversion to become a Dinotopian... the paperwork says you were looking at Amargasaurus?"
"Yeah... it's a Sauropod from the Cretaceous Period in South America," Tyler answered, "and among Sauropods, it isn't that big. Only 30 to 33 feet long and just under three tons in weight."
Albert nodded. If the size was right, that'd actually make Amargasaurus at least six feet shorter than Giganotosaurus in length and around three tons lighter in weight. It'd then mean that Tyler would be pretty small when compared the Sauropod Dinotopians that Dino City already had.
"Nothing wrong with the size," Albert spoke calmly, "you would be welcome..."
"So why are you here? I am looking to detox?" Tyler asked back.
"The hope would be that you accept some community service after your conversion," Albert spoke, "it'd save you from any jail time and that's something that I'd thought you'd welcome..."
"That... that wouldn't be to bad," Tyler said slowly.
"It wouldn't be," Albert assured him with a nod, "It might mean pausing your rock career... but it'd also help you integrate with the community here."
"That's... that's more than what I've gotten from a lot of people from... from well, my dad and granddad's generations," Tyler spoke after awhile, "they never liked punk rock, even in the 70s."
"I can't say I've liked it either... but not liking something shouldn't be an excuse to ban or block something," Albert answered, "saw a bit too much of that in places... especially in Vietnam during the war. Discipline is all well and good... law and order are all well and good, but society shouldn't be like the military, and justice shouldn't simply be putting people in jail cells."
That actually got Tyler to smile a bit and actually helped him relax a bit.
"So... what kind of community service would you have me doing?" Tyler asked.
"It wouldn't be too much," Albert answered, "sweep dust and dirt out from the building fronts and the doors there... help with some of Dino City's community events for Christmas and Hanukah and so on. Things like delivering presents, working with Glen Rose with homeless projects and things like that. Nothing taxing and we could schedule it so that you're not totally taken away from any work in which you can make money."
"You got a recording studio here?" Tyler wondered, "haven't sold many albums... but those I have haven't done too bad, for a garage band."
"That I don't know..." Albert admitted, "I don't think so... that's why I said your music career might have to wait a bit."
"Hmm," Tyler managed.
"Now... have any members of your band been in?" Albert asked.
"When I was first brought in, they visited... but left when some of your officers got nosey," Tyler responded.
"Again... generations may change, but the law hasn't, at least with regard to the drug that was in your system," Albert spoke, "and they were probably more in who supplied you... or the band with it."
"Never really could tell... it might have just been a groupie or something that followed some of the gigs we got, mostly in Dallas or Houston," Tyler looked down, "sorta like a rebel without a cause. And... at first the high was... it was great... but..."
"When you came down it wasn't so good," Albert surmised, "and that's why you came here to detox... what about the rest of your band?"
"I don't think they ever got into it... though they obviously covered for me..." Tyler admitted.
"And they're not converting with you?" Albert wondered.
"Don't think there's any law, even among Animalians that says they have to," Tyler pointed out.
"Thought you might be going for a theme," Albert gave a shrug, "but that's also true. If you see them, let them know that my department isn't looking for any criminal charges. You'll have some community service and the conversion will help you detox, but nothing that would be a major black mark on your record. And as a Dinotopian ya'll get a new chance to start and make good."
Tyler nodded, totally surprised by the fact that Dino City's Police Chief, who had to be at least forty, if not older than that, was so willing to talk with him and not with the sort of authoritarian attitude that he'd often gotten from police in the past. But it was a pleasant surprise.
"So... with your request... what made you choose Amargasaurus?" Albert asked.
"The spike's on its neck," Tyler answered, "some of the Stegosaurs have had some interesting sort of spikes... but a Sauropod with them... that's rare. And they would have had to be a great weapon against anything attacking it from above and behind. And it's fit the specific look I've gone for."
"Maybe... though I'd think you'd have to talk with Doctor Ramos on that, he's Dino City's resident paleontologist," Albert commented.
He did finish with a small smile. Tyler was a young man, likely in his twenties, and probably had had his fair share of bumps in the road that went beyond just the present attempt deal with addiction and detox as it were. But there was hope, and that was something that Albert felt was worth it and crossed generations. It'd also save him trouble in the long run when it came to dealing with the paperwork for the community service that Tyler would do to essentially pay off his "debt to society" regarding the past drug use. In this, it was all a good step forward.