Some things didn't change, even during a pandemic, and to Doctor Stein, one of those things included the obsession many militaries had with Animalians for their physical forms. Some of it made sense, when one considered that even small Animalians were often had the physical capability to outmatch Humans in various areas, including strength. Some of that was proven during the last IAC, though more with regard to racing, where "casual athlete" would only be competitive against an Animalian species that wasn't known for running or endurance. It actually took a potential Olympic level athlete, with a far more rigorous training regimen, to beat some Animalians and even compete with others, and even there, Abby had won those races, and by a fairly decent margin. Thus that kind of advantage would always seem attractive to people looking for new ways for combat.
But Animalians had always displayed a very pacifistic nature when it came to things like war. Some did enjoy or show interest in various combat sports, likely as a vent for either territorial or mating battles that many animal species engaged in at times, but that interest always seemed to stop well short of anything lethal. Many were more than willing to work as police and in ranger type positions and had firearms training, and at the same time, man did use un-uplifted animals heavily in war, even in the modern day. Dogs were used in tracking, guarding, and various security measures, and in Africa even unuplifted Gambian Pouched Rats were being trained to help detect land mines. Not to mention the various stories of unit mascots and pets that had also served in past wars. The Poles supposedly having an unuplifted bear that served with their artillery in WW2 in Africa and Italy, the Lafayette Escadrille having a lion named Whisky in WWI, and then the various cats kept as pets and companions on ships going back centuries to deal with rats that would be on those ships. Some of those memories might also spark interest in Animalians as recruits, as while, yes, their heightened senses might not react well to certain scents, that didn't mean that Animalians couldn't adapt to them.
Doctor Stein could see the base logic in that, as Humans didn't necessarily LIKE those scents either, but they did adapt to them. There were also certain reports that gave indication that Animalians would fight if attacked, which marked a more defensive posture. In this Doctor Stein was more inclined to believe that when it came to Animalian pacifism came more from psychological reasons that happened to be shared or ingrained into them in some way more than anything else. That they were more defensive by nature and not offensive, which then made them disinclined to join the military in a time of peace. Though this didn't stop various military personal coming to Horizon with ideas, as he found with the man sitting across from him at his desk, a US Air Force Captain in his duty uniform.
"I wasn't aware the Air Force was interested in a super soldier program," Doctor Stein said slowly as he looked to the officer. He'd reviewed his paperwork, and technically it was in order, but there was also attached forms that gave an indication that this was something that the Air Force wanted and not something that was personal for this officer
"It really isn't a super soldier program as it is a recruiting effort," the captain answered, "I joined in 2007 to serve in missile defense and to serve my country. Unfortunately the previous administration had no respect for this country... in fact I think he hated it, because the military suffered with low enlistments, poor funding, no VA care, and essentially arming terrorists and letting them into the country. That left us weak and the military without any icon to rally around."
Doctor Stein inwardly sighed through the man's comment. It reflected opinions the military held of the previous administration by military personnel that weren't necessarily flattering. He'd seen poll information that indicated that military officers and personnel that supported the previous administration were within a clear minority, with the previous administration barely getting above 30% approval among service members when he left office. A lot of this was likely reflective in how the military recruited troops, as their ads for recruitment was almost always aimed at a sort of patriotism that really only was seen among conservatives. Thus the previous administration was not going to poll well among a largely Republican voting base that was bound to be in opposition to him. Which had been partially why the present administration had catered so heavily to the military in the last election, and Doctor Stein expected similar calls to be made again, and likely with equal success.
"Perhaps... though," Doctor Stein said slowly, "you will realize that you wouldn't be able to catch a missile as an Animalian or catch up with a fighter plane... or fit well within a fighter plane. Remember all flying Animalians will have their wings on their back and birds are on that can't easily wrap their tails around themselves."
"Well... I'm sure if I were actually a pilot they'd engineer a plane to allow for it eventually," the captain answered with a shrug, "a lot of my orders are to essentially help with recruitment issues. Particularly with things going down again with enlistments because of this pandemic wrecking everything. The Air Force needs it and I'll always be one to wave the flag. And the Bald Eagle is the National Bird. You need someone who represents America."
"There are Bald Eagle Animalians already," Doctor Stein pointed out.
"Are they flying the flag?" the captain asked back and when Doctor Stein shook his head "no," nodded and said, "they don't count."
Doctor Stein sighed and nodded, figuring he wasn't going to get anywhere with this Air Force captain. He had his views and Doctor Stein's job wasn't to argue on the issue. As he stood up from his chair he could only ask one last question.
"And you will realize that if you do this... it WILL be what you will be for the rest of your life?" Doctor Stein asked, "that we haven't found a way to safely reverse the transformation once it is begun."
"There are worse things than being an Eagle," the captain shrugged, "like a Democrat. They make asses out of themselves every day."
The captain than gave fairly heavy laugh and paid no attention to the fact that Doctor Stein not join in. He could tell at that point the officer was going out of his way to demean and belittle whom he felt to be his political "enemies," and something that he'd seen don far too much over the past four years. But his job wasn't to argue politics and Doctor Stein had to remind himself of that as they made their way out of his office. They stopped by one lab so that he could pick up the requested doses for a Bald Eagle conversion and then made their way to one of the conversion rooms. The captain followed close behind and looked around as he went.
"I noticed you don't have a picture of the President anywhere," the captain spoke as they reached the door to a conversion room.
"Horizon is a private company, and while we've worked with the government on certain projects in the past, we are not a government institution," Doctor Stein answered, "thus we don't put up pictures of political figures."
"You have Animalia's mayor and deputy mayor pictured," the captain pointed out.
"They're also the first Animalians... at least officially," Doctor Stein answered, "that is why their pictures are here. It has nothing to do with politics."
The captain only gave a "humph" at that, but again, Doctor Stein ignored it. He opened the door to the transformation room and ushered the captain in. The captain looked around as Doctor Stein shut the door behind them. He was a bit quiet as Doctor Stein began to ready the syringes needed for the injections.
"You may wish to disrobe a bit," Doctor Stein advised, "While Bald Eagle Animalians aren't any taller than Humans, the wings and tail feathers won't agree well with your clothing. We will have clothing you can put on that will fit your new form ready once your transformation is complete."
"Will it match my uniform?" the captain asked.
"It'll match basic civilian attire," Doctor Stein answered, "you may have to send reports in to your superiors for what they would want for their uniform requirements for Animalians... and particularly winged Animalians."
"That..." the captain began.
"At the moment that's the best we have," Doctor Stein commented, "for as I'm sure you've noticed, most Animalians have stated they don't have much interest in going and attacking other countries. They'll volunteer if America is attacked from all reports I've seen... and from those I've talked to, but they aren't interested in attacking other countries."
"What about those that serve in Animalia's police units?" the captain asked, "you make a big deal about them."
"From the wolves and dogs in the Lyre and Animalia PD, they regard that as defensive for the purposes of basic law and order, not offensive," Doctor Stein asked.
"What about that Egyptian Wolf Animalian that pretended to be the Mummy as part of your celebrations last Halloween?" the captain asked, "according to all that I could find on him... he IS in the Egyptian Army."
"And to my knowledge is assigned to security roles in New Zerzura and fulfilling a defensive role," Doctor Stein answered, "and even if he were to go beyond that... a lot of that may be different from how Egypt and the US handle recruitment. Not every country is one hundred percent reliant on volunteers for their military."
The captain only gave an accepting sigh as he sat down on the bed and began undressing himself. He wouldn't disrobe completely while Doctor Stein was in the room, but he would at least come down to where he would be bare-chested. That would at least give his wings room to grow in without being impeded by anything. After that would then depend on how the transformation went. Though as he finally got the jacket and under shirt off, he figured to add his socks and shoes, as he remembered that a bird's feet were not exactly like a Human's feet and that Animalians tended to often have their feet take more after the animal they were based on. His jacket and shirt were set down neatly on the bed while the shoes were placed neatly by the wall where the wall and the bed met. As his shoes clicked on the tiled floor, he looked up to Doctor Stein who was ready with an alcohol swab and two syringes.
"Okay... I'm ready," the captain said slowly.
"Very well... and welcome to Animalia," Doctor Stein commented and then went through the process of delivering the injections. A orange cap was fished from his pockets and placed over the needle after each injection and he made his way out.
As the doctor went out, the captain sat on the bed and looked down to his hands as he could notice some of the signs of the transformation were already there. He could hear a few clicking type noises as his feet lengthened slightly and his big toe began to lengthen and reposition to become the sort of grasping toe that eagles had with the sort of gold colored scales the Bald Eagle had on its feet. As similar development occurred with his hands, as they evolved and changed to look like a five digited version of an Eagle's foot with the grasping toe serving as the thumb, serving as the sort of odd reminder on how an Animalian's hands were often more hand-like than anything else. Though as his fingernails lengthened out to mirror the Bald Eagle's talons, the captain also noted another major change.
The change was in what he could see. He'd had good vision before, but now it began to improve even more and grew even better. Detail got sharper and sharper and he could even pick out the specific features on his talons that fish eagles had that helped them hold fish that other raptors didn't have. It was an extraordinary level of change, and one that likely heralded the changes in his eyes from... at least with their ability to see in detail, if not in color. There were other changes that he could feel. His skin itched a little and as he looked down, he could see the feathers growing out through his skin and growing larger. His new eyes could see and almost count each filament in them. It would also have to mean that the Bald Eagle's white head and tail feathers would also be coming in soon, and that got the captain to his feat.
He staggered a bit as he got to his feet as he rebalanced on the way his toes were arranged, and the clicks of his toe talons on the tiled floor were very audible. He also felt a bit of pressure on his backside, which had to be his tailfeathers coming in. As such he pulled down a bit on his uniform's pants. To work, he had to undo his belt and undo the button a bit, but he didn't have to pull the back his pants down to free up room for his growing tail feathers. As they were freed and continued to grow in, the captain felt himself smile as the scaled skin on his hands could feel the growth of his tail feathers as they grew longer behind him, and it assured him that he would now have the iconic coloration that the Bald Eagle had that made it unique as America's national bird.
The captain's pace across the room was a bit slow, and a part of him did feel rather good as he could continue to feel his body change, with muscles enlarging and as some pressure began to build up on his back, but he held back any issues that went beyond his goal. At present that was to get before the mirror so he could watch the final changes with his head in more detail. He felt like the skin on his nose was hardening and pushing forward, with his nostrils staying about where they were proportionately. As his nose moved forward, it soon merged with his lips and teeth as they began to form into the large heavy bill that the Bald Eagle used to tear open fish. He could hear some sorts of clicking and cracking noises as the bones in his head moved forward and merged with his to become the beak of a fish eagle.
"For... my... con...tree," the captain spoke when he saw his beak in the mirror for the first time and how its yellow color stood out against his white feathers that had grown past his human hair. He was a bit surprised at how slow his speech was, as he found that without soft lips and a hard beak, speaking was a bit more difficult. Though the sentiment, as his wings flared out behind him and grew out to full size rather quickly, was true. The captain didn't personally want to be an Animalian, but he loved his country and if the Air Force needed him as an Animalian for recruiting purposes, he would do it, because his country needed him. A few thoughts on actually flying also fluttered through the back of his mind as he looked himself over and was pleased with what he saw.