The pumps of Otter Falls' water authority were in good working order that day. They
rapidly pushed the contaminated water through a series of filters which never even came
close to removing the virus and in due time the water entered the pipes of the 500 or so
citizens who resided in Otter Falls. Soon, Jason, Ron, and Ted would have even more
friends to join them in their fight against the forces working for their destruction. By pure
chance, the first citizen of Otter Falls to drink the life-changing water that day was
Benjamin Smithson, a skinny 18-year old high school senior who was staying home sick
that day with a nasty fever, while his parents were at work. Ben had just moved to Otter
Falls from the city with his yuppy parents, who had purchased a small fixer-upper on the
outskirts of town. His throat parched from his illness, Ben went over to the faucet and
filled up a tall glass of ice water, never guessing the remarkable change he was about to
undergo. Ben lay down on the couch and watched the ridiculous soaps on TV, hoping that
the water would help his throat. In fact, sip by sip, Ben was infecting himself with
thousands of virus particles which had passed through the otter colony above the falls
only hours before. While Ben's body began the initial phase of its changes and as
hundreds of others contacted the virus, the otter folk were just beginning to make their
way into the town. As the first of only a handful of houses on the outskirts of the village,
Ben's house was located in the middle of their path. The elder odder, his grey fur
illuminated by the morning sun, was slightly puzzled at the odd looking box. However,
two of the more adventurous males in the group bolted ahead of him, claiming it was
nothing more than a large beaver dam of some sort. The elder otter had his doubts but he
allowed them to go ahead, sending his more cautious daughter along with them to keep
the two males out of trouble. He smiled a toothy smile, watching as the three chattering
otterfolk entered the strange beaver dam. Ah, if only he were a young otter cub again!