Darrell wiped sweat off his face with his elbow as he worked with the re-sequencer. He was getting closer to a cure.
"Maybe if I replace this Guanine with a Cytosine." Darrell mumbled to himself. His last attempt, using some sample lake water he had collected earlier, had seemed to destroy the virus, until he analysed the water. What was left was a toxic compound that would kill any living thing it came into contact with. If he could just alter the anti-virus enough to stop the toxic compound from being produced, he would have his cure.
Darrell carefully made the changes, all done using his elbows or some of his branches, whichever were easier. With that done, he carefully added the newest virus to another sample of contaminated water, and waited for a few minutes for the neutralisation to occur.
The sun was rising as he took the water to his analyser, and he watched the results as they printed out. No toxic compounds were present, and none of the original virus, either. Darrell smiled as much as he could with his pig's snout. He had done it; he had found a cure for the virus. Now all he had to do was consume some of the anti-virus, and he would be completely human again.
He quickly produced more of the cure, and then mixed it with water, so he could drink it. Something in the back of his mind said he should test it more, but Darrell's changes were spreading, if very slowly. He was hungry, but until he found a cure, he could not eat. His eyes were grainy from lack of sleep, but if he slept, he might not wake up human at all.
Darrell tipped back his head and poured the cure down his snout. As it entered his body, he sat down and waited.
The sun had risen above the treeline when Darrell felt the first effect of the cure. He felt a little queasy, and his skin itched profusely.
Suddenly, pain shot through Darrell's face, and then he watched as the large pink snout shrank from his vision. He stood up slowly, to keep from emptying his stomach, and made his way to the mirror. What he found looking back at him was his own face! He was cured!
He watched as his branches started, as it appeared to him, to melt. They flowed down toward his forearms, where they solidified into a solid lump of pinkish flesh. After this, the flesh grew and shifted, and tendrils pushed out at the end, five in all. Within moments, the lumps became hands, complete with fingers.
Darrell wiggled his fingers, ecstatic that his hands were back to normal. He then felt the itching return to his legs, and looked down to see his wool pull into his body, leaving the sparse covering of hair that his legs had originally had.
Looking to his crotch, Darrell was slightly disappointed, but nonetheless relieved, that his bull-cock was deflating back to its original size. This was accompanied by some slight stimulation, but not enough to cause a reaction.
Darrell looked over his body, confirming that everything was back to normal. It appeared that it was, so Darrell went back to his desk to prepare a larger batch of the cure for use in the lake itself. He hoped he was early enough to stop any leaching from the lake, and to cure any animals affected by the virus.
When Darrell reached his desk, however, something was wrong.