Lobotomy may have made illegal back in 1967, but there were still a few people around for which this came far too late. Though in truth, the fact there are still some people alive after having lobotomies from before that law was passed in nothing short of miraculous. Though most of these people are in vegetative states, which is little more than a living death. Not everyone was as fortunate as Daisy, who retained a little bit of her mental faculty enough to interact with other people.
Jioni is another rare patient who possessed enough willpower to keep going after her lobotomy. Much like Daisy, much of Jioni's past is unknown, even though she was left in a mental hospital at a much later year, 1975. As far as records were able to show, Jioni had just been dropped off at the asylum right after her surgery, no account of anyone accompanying her in. The Japanese girl had nothing on her but the clothes on her back, nothing to confirm her identity, not that she could recall it at all. The hospital staff would just called her 'Jane Doe', but she misheard it at 'Jioni' and wanted to be called that. It was a rather odd name to cling to, especially when it was later researched discovered to be Swahili origin instead of Japanese. No one was sure why Jioni wanted that particular name. Perhaps she had an African-American friend of the same name, but they would never really know.
Equally mysterious is why Jioni was lobotomized and left at the mental hospital in the first place. One popular theory is that Jioni had made some enemies in organized crime, possibly the Yakuza. Or perhaps she had seen something that no one wanted her to tell about. Though theory had a few holes in it. For one thing, why go through the hassle of removing part of her brain when a simple bullet between the eyes would do? And why leave her at a hospital instead of some place more destitute. If she was to be an example to someone, there sure could have been far easier ways to do that. Though if that were true, Jioni would be safe now, considering she has no memories that could be used to convict anyone.
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Regardless of what Jioni's past was, her future was now more secure. After the moderate success with healing Daisy, Jioni was also sent to Horizon Labs to be converted. It took a bit of effort to make Jioni understand what they wanted to do with her. Doubly so because she spoke almost only Japanese, only having picked up a few English words. When shown various possible Animalians she could choose to convert to, she soon decided upon the domestic cat. She was rather exuberant about it, saying 'neko, neko, neko' over and over again.
Now, there was hardly a shortage of cat Animalians to ask for a donation. It was a little surprising that Eliza Marigold was the one to show up. Though in hindsight, it wasn't that much of a surprise. Since WSA was shut down because of the pandemic, Eliza had a lot more time on her hands. She helped out a bit with the students getting their homework and keeping their grades up while stuck at home. She was working on work-arounds for certain school events like prom and graduation. But there wasn't enough for her to do and she could only spend so much time with Beth without eventually getting bored. It goes to show that few people took an extended absence of school harder than a principal.
"You should be getting out more," said Judy with concern.
"Yeah, go on a vacation? Oh wait, that's right, we can't go anywhere because of a virus," said Eliza, "It's not even our virus that's the problem. Everyone's a potential carrier these days, even if they don't know it."
"Eliza, we're not that shut-in yet," said Judy, "The numbers are starting to level off."
"That just shows that the social distancing is keeping things in check," said Eliza, "It doesn't mean that the virus is gone. It's burning slower."
"Things aren't as bleak as you think," said Judy, "You need to relax. When was the last time you and Beth had sex?" As a scientist and a rabbit, Judy was not averse to openly discussing sex.
"We've had sex pretty often. But...it's starting to get a little routine..." said Eliza. She didn't want to say things between her and Beth had fizzled, but non-stop pleasure tended to dull.
"Sounds like it's time to spice things up," said Judy, "Have you considered asking Ashley and Jennifer if they're open for some 'sharing'?"
Eliza's ears flattened. "I can't believe you're suggesting that," she said flatly.
"I've just noticed that Animalians seem a little more open about their relationships," said Judy, "Not everyone swings, but some are more open to persuasion. It's the occasional thing to keep a sex life more spicy."
"I don't know how you got that idea and I certainly don't want to know what you've been doing yourself," said Eliza. She admitted the idea was a little tempting. After all, she and Beth were actually bisexual, even if they were committed to each other. Eventually one of them will be wanting a male dog or cat to impregnate them. But that would much further in the future, after they were married.
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Since no one was sure when Jiori was born, they couldn't really say how old she was. But living 45 years with a piece of her brain missing hadn't done her a lot of favors. While the staff at the mental hospital treated her well, it seemed old age was in a rush to meet her. Her hair had gone completely grey, wrinkles and age spots were very apparent, and she needed thicker glasses. At least the staff tried to make sure she kept in shape as much as she could.
Often times, Jiori was off in her own little world, oblivious to what was around her. But she soon started paying attention when Eliza walked into the room. She started talking quite animatedly, though Eliza only knew a few words of Japanese. She at least knew what 'neko' meant as Jiori said it several times. "Yes, yes, I am a cat," said Eliza, though she doubted Jiori would have understood her, "And I have something for you." She held out a glass for Jiori, filled with her own milk and given enough of the Animalian virus that it should ensure Jiori a double dose. "Drink it up like a good girl," said Eliza encouragingly. She hoped she wouldn't have to speak so simply to Jiori after her conversion. But Jiori had been given enough drinks during her life to know what she was supposed to do. She drank up all the milk and handed the glass. "Welcome to Animalia," said Eliza before she left the room.
Jiori soon started feeling funny. It felt a little like an upset stomach at first, but then she felt better, much better than before. She didn't realize it yet, but her body was already starting to grow younger, wrinkles and age spots disappearing before grey fur started covering her skin. But like Eliza, her grey hair wasn't turning back to its youthful shade. Though in her case, it look good in comparison to her darker fur.
Jiori became more aware of her transformation as her clothes were getting too small. She wasn't just getting curvier than the average Japanese woman, she was getting considerably taller and more muscular than one too. She flexed her pawlike hands, noticing the claws that were now coming out of her fingertips. With little thought, Jiori started tearing through her clothes, which were already ripping from her growth. Dark grey fur now covered all of her body, except for the tips of her ears and a patch on her chest just above her breasts.
Speaking of which, Jiori started playing with her breasts, which were far larger than they had ever been. In fact, her whole body was. It was pretty clear the double dose was giving her the amazonian figure Animalian women are known for. She was already well past 6 feet and her muscles were at least middleweight by now. But Jiori wasn't paying attention to that at the moment. Right now, she was preoccupied with playing with her nipples. That quickly led to playing with her pussy. Jiori let out some feline moans as her body reached its final dimensions around the same time her pleasure reached its peak. She let out a yowl as she came hard, her fur getting a little matted from the dampness.
A few moments later, Jiori looked over her new body. She wasn't a little kitty by any means. At 6'7", muscles like a heavyweight, and curves like a supermodel, she was a big catwoman in just about every sense of the term. She flexed and stretched herself, letting her feline muscles contract and expand. She thought she looked like a very pretty kitty, but she was probably a little dirty now. At that, she started licking her fur, starting with her arms.
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While the double-dose had the same level of success as Daisy's, it was quite clear that Jiori was dominated by her feline instincts. She wasn't feral, but she behaved more like a housecat than a human. Of course, most housecats weren't 6'7" and weighted CENSORED. While it didn't seem like much of a problem to have an oversized tabby, it should be remembered that housecats are the only species in the cat family that hunt for sport instead of just food. And they had noticed that Jiori tended to stare at mouse and bird Animalians a little too long. Communicating with her was still a little hard as Japanese was still her primary language. But at least she was picking English faster. Even so, they needed to keep an eye on this big cat until she started acting more civilized.