"This is so exciting..." a sixteen year old teen commented as she and her parents made their way into the Horizon offices in Dino City.
"You're sure about this, Stacey, I mean... all the reports say that once it happens there are no take backs," her father said nervously.
"Yes, of course I'm sure, dad," the teen girl, Stacey Sharpe, answered with a confident smile, "I mean who wouldn't want something like this?"
"A fair number of people, actually," her mother answered with a straight face.
Stacey rolled her eyes at that. Her parents had been reasonably acceptive and supporting with all the reports that came out about Animalia, but Stacey had always had an attraction to the community. She'd always loved animals and all the things they could do well, and Animalia's birth created something were there were beings that could do many of the things mundane animals did quite well while also doing things that Humans did well. It was like a perfect balance of nature as it were, and she'd wanted to be a part of it from the beginning. However, while her parents weren't quite the sort that supported overly restricting Animalia, that didn't necessarily mean they were in favor of converting either and this had lead to a fair number of debates at home.
Eventually Stacey won the debate to get her parents to allow her to convert and become an Animalian, but it did come with some requirements she had to agree with as well. She had to wait until she was sixteen at the absolute youngest as per a promise to wait until her next "birthday" and she would have to finish school even after becoming an Animalian. Stacey agreed and eventually found that that was a good idea, primarily because of the surprise that extinct animals could be used in the Animalian Conversion process. The dinosaurs were an amazing group of animals given all the unique adaptations that they had that no other living animal really shared. Modern birds and the theropod dinosaurs shared some distinctive features, but features of many of the other types of dinosaur didn't really carry over into the modern world. That was ultimately part of what got many ancient cultures to look on dinosaur bones as being "dragon bones" as it were. Ultimately, Stacey made her choice to be a Dinotopian, and particularly the same species as the first Dinotopian.
"Yeah... yeah," Stacey answered, "but I'd still wish to be a Dinotopian. You can't change my mind..."
"We might need a whole new car for the ride home," her father whispered as Stacey approached the front desk, got some paperwork from the woman manning it and was given a packaged set of disinfectant wipes as well.
"Well, at least for Stacey," her mother whispered back, "she did get her license and we did agree..."
"And we can't go back on our word," her father agreed.
The three settled into some of the chairs that were in the main waiting area outside the front desk of the Horizon building. Most of it was standard information that Horizon used to make sure all conversions were in accordance with the law and with Stacey being a minor, there was also the point of legal permission granted by her parents, Tucker and Grace Sharpe. It didn't take them too long to get everything filled out. From there they were left to wait for whoever would handle administering the shots for Stacey. As they sat and waited, they could only listen to the radio that played softly from speakers in the ceiling. At present it sound like country music. Eventually a large male figure did appear in the doorway that lead into the rest of facility.
"Miss Sharpe, we're ready for you," that male voice spoke making them turn to see Jeremy standing there with a large rectangular box pressing against the side of a pocket on his lab coat. He almost cringed when Stacy gave a squeal in reply, but did step back to usher the three into the hallways after the main entryway.
"This seems set up like a clinic," Grace commented as she noted that there were some small rooms along the hallway that they entered.
"Is this in connection with Horizon Light?" Tucker added to the question.
"That's more a development of Animalia in Nevada," Jeremy answered, "originally Horizon was merely a scientific company working for scientific solutions that could then be sold to farmers, hospitals, and other institutions. We essentially solve scientific problems then sell the solution. Once Animalia came about... the Lyre Clinic needed some expansions to handle the expansion of the population in the region. Thus Horizon put in some of the money that came of the conversions there, the hospital in Lyre renamed itself "Horizon Light." Dino City had it built under that name because of the partnership. Thus the connection now. We have conversion rooms for those wishing to become Dinotopians and connected labs to develop new strains of the Animalia Virus... and here for Dinotopians."
"Like Syntixisaurus?" Stacey asked.
"Yes," Jeremy gave a bit of a smile, "though that's not a new Dinotopian species."
Stacey nodded while Tucker and Grace glanced to each other. They eventually came to a stop as Jeremy opened a door into one of the conversion room and waved Tucker and Grace back to the opposite wall of the hallway. They stood by as Jeremy followed Stacey into the room. The two parents waited nervously in the hallway. They knew that Stacey would be going through drastic changes in her form very soon, and regardless on their personal opinion, they would have to support her. Though they were still a bit nervous and as they waited they didn't notice the footsteps approaching.
"Hello, you're the Sharpes, right?" a feminine voice asked.
They turned to see a towering Dinotopian female. She was slightly taller than Jeremy and was carrying a series clothes in her arms. The thing that was the most telling was that her clothing was not the same as the clothing Jeremy wore.
"Yes..." Tucker said slowly.
"Heather Green," Heather introduced herself, "since the paperwork came in saying that your daughter wanted to be double dosed... I thought I'd donate some of my clothes so that your daughter has something to wear."
"Thank you," Tucker said politely and looked over to Grace who then looked to the female Syntixisaurus Rex. Their focus remained on Heather, even as Jeremy came out from the conversion room.
"You're not wearing the same uniform as your husband," Grace spoke.
"Technically speaking, while I am employed by Horizon... it's not within any of their science departments," Heather answered, "I mostly work with developing their advertising for the sale of the Animalia Virus for those that might be interested in becoming Animalians as well as some of the other programs that Horizon still runs that would relate to things outside of Animalia."
"So you work with their board of directors or something like that?" Tucker wondered.
"Well, I may talk with them on what they want advertised and what they'd want shown, but most of what I do relates to drawing the posters that they would then place in magazines or promote in other forms of media," Heather answered, "in that, I'm more of an artist than a scientist. But Horizon has liked my drawings for the ads they want and thus why the have me."
"In that you can be assured that while your daughter will have to be aware of predatory instincts and the fact that many Animalians are either close to or in their spring mating season... in pure theory she should have every opportunity to do whatever she wants," Jeremy added as he moved to stand on the other side of Heather.
"Right now we're just hoping she makes it through high school... assuming things don't get any worse," Grace said weakly, "all these closings... You're not working on a cure or anything like that, are you?"
Jeremy turned his muzzle to Heather and pulled his lower lips down nervously. This was something that the whole country was worried about and had exploded in the space of the past month, beyond cases elsewhere in the world and coming to the shores of the US. If he were still at his old post in Lyre as a geneticist and researcher for Horizon, he might be able or willing to volunteer to work on projects that might help in that regard, if he could. In Dino City, however, he found his promotion to running the Dino City offices to be a bit different. He had the time to work in the lab and he did spend some time there, though a lot of it was also in looking for trained staff that might be willing to take on that role full time. Much of the rest of his work was now getting into Horizon's community relations, both with Dino City and Glen Rose and with large scale projects as they developed. In many ways, Jeremy was still learning that part of the job.
"We've... that is Horizon as a company... has volunteered to offer geneticist teams to analyze the present virus," Jeremy answered, "but so far... I wouldn't think that anyone has responded to our request. Though that would be something more that Horizon's CEO would know, and he lives in Lyre with the main labs and offices there. Other than that, the best Horizon can do is offer those afflicted and potentially seriously afflicted treatment through Project Phoenix..."
"Which would turn them into Animalians," Tucker said slowly.
"Without a sample of the virus to analyze, that would be the best that Horizon can offer," Jeremy answered, "offer a cure with tremendous healing power to any that may want it... with the obvious warning that in the transformation, their genetic structure will be different after the conversion. It is about all that we CAN do."
Tucker and Grace slowly nodded, just as a knock came from within the conversion room. The group turned toward the door as Stacey's voice was softly heard coming from within the room, though Tucker and Grace also noted that it sounded a bit deeper in tone then before. In fact the base tone wasn't that different from Heather's, even if Stacey and Heather's voices didn't sound alike.
"Uh... I think I'm ready... though I'll need new clothes," Stacey said through the door, "I don't think my old ones will fit..."
"That would be my cue," Heather spoke and walked forward.
Tucker and Grace watched as Heather walked across the hall and opened the door to offer the clothes to Stacey. It was likely thought to be just a simple offering of clothing and a welcome to Animalia/Dinotopia, but they also knew Stacey's full reasoning for why she'd chosen to be Syntixisaurus over one of the other species of Dinotopian that Horizon had created. When Stacey noticed just who was delivering the clothing to her, she gave something that sounded like a cross between a girlish squeal and a heavy growl before jumping to give Heather a heavy hug with a chorus of "thank yous" coming along with it. Tucker and Grace gave a bit of a chuckle at that, as it was a sign that some things hadn't changed.