Not all conversions were filled with issues related to the Corona Virus pandemic or other medical issues that seemed to come out of left field. For while Horizon stayed open and offered to provide conversions for those who wished it, partially as some state governments had marked conversion as a viable option to be used if desired, it was still wide open. And since Lyre/Animalia wasn't quite as shut down as many other places in America, that left some families quite free to splurge and for one family, splurging on a conversion was precisely what one family did. A teen named Max and his parents had come to Animalia from Florida and put forth a lot of money to convert and presented credible test results showing they didn't have Covid 19. The family had all had something of a soft spot for the Bull Shark and gave the commentary that it, along with other sharks had gotten a rather bad rep among Humans due to media coverage.
The parents made a point to remind Doctor Stein that despite the keen senses that sharks had, most bites were often either the result of the shark misidentifying a person as a normal prey item, or that seasonal or environmental circumstances had brought in more sharks to a given area and the increased number means increased contact and thus raising the chances of an attack. Needless to say this left Doctor Stein quite impressed while they waited for Max's conversion to be finished. Many Humans that came to convert to be Animalians often did learn a lot about the animals they would covert to become Animalian versions of, but they didn't necessarily talk about them that much, but Doctor Stein was calm and relatively friendly with regard to the whole issue. The fact that the family paid in cash didn't necessarily hurt either.
"Well... I must say... that is quite impressive," Doctor Stein commented slowly as he stood near the door with some clothes in his hand that would be for Max when he came out of the conversion room.
"Some of that is more Max's interest in the National Geographic Channel," Max's father said slowly, "Max likes a show that has expressly followed shark attacks and the experts piecing together why they happened. It is rather intriguing."
"And do you plan to settle down here?" Doctor Stein asked curiously.
"For a little while," Max's mother spoke, "once all this Corona stuff dies down... we may return to Florida and pick back up with our work. For the moment, we can do it remotely, and that helps... but... it isn't the same."
Doctor Stein nodded at that and then turned when he heard a soft click indicating that the door to the conversion room was opening slightly. He nodded and looked over to a pair of custodians, both wearing protective masks and gloves. They would be tasked of cleaning the room once Max was dressed and before his Barents went in for their conversion. When Doctor Stein looked back to the door he saw it was only open a crack and he could see a very shark shaped eye, but with a human eye color blink inside that crack between the door and the doorway.
"I'm ready for some new clothes... at least ones that will fit the new me," Max said softly.
"Of course," Doctor Stein spoke as he handed the clothing he had in his arms to Max, who opened the door a little more in order to reach out and take them.
Eventually Max came out in the jeans and shirt that was provided for him, he was bigger than he was when he went in, but Doctor Stein could tell he was also smaller than Animalia's adult Bull Shark Animalians, which made sense, since Max was only single dosed. He approached his parents while the two custodians went in to change the linin and spray disinfectant as needed. Even if Max and his family were "clean," Horizon had procedures they had to follow to stay open. He approached his parents slowly, while Doctor Stein remained still where he was.
"I wish you'd let be double dose," Max said slowly, "it's looked fun with some of the others... I mean even their ambassadors are double dosed."
"Maybe when you're older," Max's father spoke.
"And of Animalia Ambassadoria... only Abby, Samson, Malice, Simon, Sarah Travis, JC, and Pauline were double dosed," Doctor Stein spoke up, "Jessica, Roger, Sophie, and Roland are all single dosers... but since they've grown up since their initial conversions, the proportionate difference between them and their double dosed friends has gotten much smaller. But they still grew up the old fashioned way."
"So that's not to bad... and you aren't that far away from being an adult," Maxi's mother added, "Only like two years or so."
Max sighed and nodded.
"In the meantime, I don't think we'll have too much longer to wait," Max's father spoke, "please take some of your mother's things to the car. We don't want to lose them and it will give you something to do while waiting. We can go forward from there."
"Yes, dad," Max gave a sigh as his mother handed him her purse and some other things that she didn't want to lose post conversion. It made sense and Max accepted that. He then also got the car keys from his father at about the same time as Horizon's custodians finished with their assigned roles following Max's conversion. That was then when Max had something of an idea. He knew that the conversion had the potential for new Animalians to be even hornier than normal for Animalians as their conversions complete, and among married couples or dating couples this lead to post conversion sex. Max didn't get that as he had been alone, but he knew his parents wouldn't, and they were also young enough that Max knew that sex wasn't out of the question for his parents, regardless on whether or not they were becoming Animalians. Thus, he waited for his parents to head into the conversion room with Doctor Stein and then made his way out of the Horizon Building, twirling the key for his family's car on one webbed finger. He figured that he'd get the time for some fun driving practice and seeing some of the sights. As he reached the car, Max thought to himself, "time for a joy ride."
Max quickly set his plan in motion. He hit the key fab button to unlock the door and could hear it click as the doors unlocked. From there, he set about putting his mother's things in the back seat and then climbing behind the steering wheel. It was a bit uncomfortable with his new tail, but the chance to drive a sports car was worth it in Max's opinion. Especially since his father tended to protect his "baby" and wouldn't even let his mother drive it, and at the same time, Max's father also seemed to creep along as though he were afraid of something. Sports cars weren't made for that. They were built with a need for speed, and with his learner's permit in his pocket, Max put the key in the ignition and buckled himself in, and then pulled out of the Horizon Parking lot, the wheels squealing as he pressed down on the accelerator.
And for much of his drive, Max did fairly well at not hitting anyone else on the road or anyone that was out and about. A few people waived their fists at him as he zoomed around corners and got a look at both Lyre and Animalia, but Max knew he also had to be quick as he had to be back to Horizon before his parents were finished transforming and enjoying their post conversion bought of sex. He eventually circled into an area on the southern side of Animalia where they had purchased new land and was actually starting to build some new structures, or were at least building the foundation for new structures. This had to be the "mansions" that were proposed to be built before the summer ended for some of the new rich Animalians that were looking to move to Animalia full time. Max had heard one story about one lady from New York paying to not only join her daughter as some kind of Fox Animalian, but to move her whole personal staff to the new mansion, and their families too if they wanted that, but Max wasn't fully sure on that.
The one thing that gave him trouble though, was his tail. Like any other Shark Animalian's tail, it wasn't thin and narrow and neither could it easily fold around the way some Dog and Cat Animalian's could. Neither was it small so that it could largely be ignored the way some Rabbit, Goat, or Sheep Animalians could, and the sports car that his parents had driven to Lyre/Animalia in was bought and built well before converting to being Animalians ever became an idea, and there was no hole in the seats to allow for Animalians with thicker tails and as a result of this, Max ended up shuffling around in the seat to try and get his tail more comfortable, which didn't work out all that well. As he came up to one curve in the road, he felt his tail start to go to sleep and he moved to pivot to find a new position. He took his foot off the gas pedal to do so, but that didn't stop the speed he was going at, and with his eyes off the road, Max lost full concentration on where he was going.
The result was a few cries of surprise as drove through an area where a bunch of Beaver Animalians and others were waiving at him as he went over a small ramp and into the wet cement that was just laid down to be the foundation for one of the future mansions. The crash killed his forward momentum and sent wet cement flying everywhere with an audible splat, and as a result, Max had a very bad feeling about this.
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"You're' lucky no one was seriously hurt, including you," the gray furred Wolf Animalian growled at Max not too long after, though despite the anger at that, the thing that was the worst was his father's narrowed eyes as well.
His father had grown into an impressive male Bull Shark Animalian, and while he wasn't as big as Buford, he wasn't that much smaller. The flexing of his fingers was enough to tell Max that his father was furious at joy riding in his baby and getting it stuck in wet cement. It partially made Max wish the Animalia Police Officers would arrest him for whatever chargers they had, for fear of his father taking switch to him.
"I'm sorry, sir," Max said weakly, "I'd just wanted to drive..."
"And you wrecked my baby!" his father roared at him, "your mother and I had a good time and come out to find that you weren't waiting for us... then we find out you weren't waiting in the car and that you'd taken it for a joyride and wrecked it in wet cement!"
"Sorry," Max repeated weakly again.
"Sorry isn't going to fix my car or the damage you did to what the construction crews likely spent most of the morning doing," his father turned at him, "it's blatantly irresponsible..."
"And with only a learner's permit, you never should have been driving the car on public roads without an escort to begin with," the wolf officer added, "now... I can see that this was an accident brought on by finding out the car's seats didn't accommodate your tail well. And since no one was hurt, we can file this as a civil case with summons regarding careless driving and driving without a license… in that you might have to pay a fine for the damages here, but it shouldn't be something that goes on your permanent record." The wolf Animalian then turned again to Max's father, "and he wasn't intoxicated in anyway... and I'd think the worst of the damage would be easy to handle, so I wouldn't think the costs of repair would be that high... and no one was hurt."
"Luckily," Max's father agreed and looked down to his son, "but I am still VERY disappointed in you Max. And as of now... you're grounded. You will stay in our hotel room for the foreseeable future. And eventually you will work off the damages you've caused, both to the workers here and my car. Am I clear?"
"Yes, sir," Max answered, deciding it best not to get involved over how long he would be grounded.
Max's father then turned to the Wolf Animalian, "this court date... and the ticket that will go with it... will you take out of state checks?"
"I believe so, sir," the Wolf Animalian answered, "though paying the ticket isn't necessarily part of the court appearance. Though the date and address will be on the tick provided to you."
Max's father looked to the slip of paper that Max had handed him after he arrived and sighed and then nodded, as this had to have killed any hopes for a positive first impression.