Danielle administered a sedative to Dalton just to be safe. She also donned some improvised protective equipment until she was sure her new strain followed the same rules as the original.
First up was a second semen sample to confirm shi was no longer contagious. This proved easy to do, even sedated the saber cougar's cock was very responsive.
Using the election microscope, Danielle was relieved to find the telltale triangular viruses in the samples from the woods but not from the lab. Off came her protective gear.
She had seen the vets on staff do a full exam on new animals enough times to be sure if what she was doing. Dalton was in perfect health, and hir new sex appeared fully formed and functional. Blood work showed female hormone levels rising.
Relieved she took a break, and warmed up some pizza. As she ate she grimaced at a tooth ache. Last thing she needed was a trip to the dentist.
Hours passed, and follow up tests on Dalton were coming back ideal. Less than ideal was the throbbing in her upper jaw. Had she bitten some tinfoil stuck to the leftover pizza?
It was well into the night now, she should get some rest. She moved Dalton to one of the indoor pens they used for sick animals and settled down on the cot they kept in a spare office.
Dozing for a bit, she opened her eyes and found the room to be unusually bright. Thinking she had left the lights on, she slapped the switch again.
Blinding light flooded the room. Danielle sat up in confusion. Was she having a migraine? She had heard they caused light sensitivity.
No, she shook the fatigue from her mind. Migraines don't manifest as jaw pain.
Jaw pain in just her upper jaw.
Worst around her canines.
Oh no.
She ran to the bathroom. Her reflection looked normal, to her relief. Her eyes were the same gray as always. Smiling, she didn't see anything wrong with her teeth. Just to be sure she pulled her lip back to get a good look.
Her heart jumped. The gums at the base of her canines was very swollen and dark.
She turned the lights out and waited. Quickly she could see perfectly in the pitch black room.
She ran down to the lab, her formidable mind running all the possibilities of how she could be infected.
An idea came to mind. She had created a hermaphrodite, but only checked hir male genitals for the virus.
She quickly checked her samples from the gynaecological exam. She immediately found them to be swarming with little pyramid shaped Pride viruses.
She had always planned to be infected, but not to be patient zero.
Too late now, she thought as the pain in her jaw became a pressure.