Madame Matryoshka was semi curious as to why she was called into Horizon as part of some of their latest experiments. She was even more curious when she was met by a lone scientist holding a decent sized terrarium that had a red, yellow, and black snake inside it. However, unlike her scale pattern, which went red, black, yellow, this snake's stripes went red, yellow, black. They were bright with now small speckles of black inside the other colors and the yellow scales were more of a pale whiteish yellow, which made it clear that this was some species of Coral Snake.
"I am rather curious as to why you've brought me here," Madame Matryoshka said slowly as she looked to the pair of scientists as they carried the terrarium.
"Some of this is a bit curiosity on how the Animalia Virus will effect on how Animalians will respond to things that look similar to them, but are yet different," the first commented, "sure one could say something about the various Dog, Horse, and Tiger Animalians, and so on, but it should be noted that they're all still working within the same species or at the very least the same genus if we're comparing dogs to wolves."
"However, various Kingsnakes and Milksnakes have the same colors as a Coral Snake, like this Arizona Coral Snake, but the order of the colors is different," the second added, "and in nature we believe that these snakes have the same colors in order or to mimic the Coral Snake and thus fool vertebrate predators that the snake is far more dangerous than it in fact is."
"So you're assuming that this Coral Snake may have some reaction to me because my scales are similar to his or hers?" Madame Matryoshka asked.
"In a way," the first commented, "since most snakes probably do not see very well as mundane snakes, relying more on feeling vibration through the ground or through their sense of smell/taste... they may know which kind of snake is which but may not truly see the similarity. But since the Animalia Virus would improve animals that have weaker vision than Humans up to a Human's 20/20 and has generated vastly increased cognitive abilities in all uplifted Animalians... we're pretty sure this Coral Snake will recognize the similarity between you and him... the game keepers from Arizona didn't say what gender the snake was... and that's what we'd want to see. See if there is some form of recognition, if you know what I mean."
"Wouldn't this have been data you got when Animalia began?" Madame Matryoshka wondered as they came up to the door that lead to one of the standard conversion rooms. With the two scientists carrying the terrarium, she slithered forward and opened the door for them. They carried it in and then placed it on the floor where there was a dish of water waiting. "And I mean... predatory and prey Animalians get along..."
The two scientists undid the latches and then lifted the top of the terrarium away, though they also made sure to give the Coral Snake space. While they weren't as active as a Rattlesnake might be, they were venomous and their venom was lethal to Humans. They set the top on the bed and then moved to usher Madame Matryoshka out of the rom and shut the door behind them. They'd then wait for the Coral Snake to drink the water and be uplifted.
"Well, with the first part... the Arizona Coral Snake doesn't range this far north, so it wouldn't have been exposed to the Animalia Virus when the animals on the Brown Farm and surrounding area were uplifted," the second man spoke, "and while the zoo in Lyre had a reptile house, pretty much all of the venomous snakes they had were exotic to the US... not native. And even there some of the animals they had were still limited."
"I think the only North American reptile they had were some American Alligators, which then paired up after they were uplifted," the first nodded, "so we wouldn't have much in the way of data that you're looking for. And while, yes, Animalians do seem to get along quite well it has been noted that Animalians that are based off of prey species have still shown some signs of nervousness around Animalians that are predators, and those instinctual worries only fade after long association as Animalians. So while we don't really expect outright aggression, there is some curiosity as to how those instincts will respond to something similar."
"I see," Madame Matryoshka answered.
"I'd best go and get some clothing," the first scientist spoke after that point, "we can't say when the snake will drink... but it will be uplifted shortly after."
The second scientist nodded and they proceeded to then wait. Normally this wouldn't take long as animals brought in and given water that was laced with the Animalia Virus often drank it quickly, and after which they would make contact through the door. It was something that was fairly routine, but one that depended on when the Coral Snake drank. This, however, took some time as the first scientist had the time to go and get a few things and returned to find his partner and Madame Matryoshka waiting quietly. It was only after a few moments of the first scientist returning that a knock was heard at the door when a feminine voice was heard from inside the room.
"Hello... Humans? Copy-Snake? Hello?" the voice asked, "What has happened to me?"
"You've been uplifted to become an Animalian, madam," the first scientist called as he approached the door, "a race of Anthropomorphic Animals. And Madame Matryoshka is a Milksnake."
"Yes, she wasn't a Coral Snake, like me, that I could smell," the voice replied, "but why uplift me?"
"To see how you would respond to a Snake Animalian with coloring similar to your own," the second scientist answered, "see if you would be offended or curious..."
"I'm more curious than anything else," the voice answered, "why "Milksnake?" Do they naturally give milk from the things I grew?"
"No," Madame Matryoshka answered, "the Milksnake got its name from stories of it drinking milk from cow's udders... which it does not actually do."
"And all Animalians, regardless of whether or not they were Mammal, Reptilian, Amphibian, Avian, or Fish based would grow features that add to a more Human-like appearance," the first scientist answered.
"Though the sizes will be bigger than what most Human women grow to," Madame Matryoshka chuckled.
"Interesting," the voice responded, "then, I suppose if I am to be Human-like, I should have some clothes. Humans seem to wear them. Then I would like to learn from Madame Matryoshka about Animalia and being an Animalian."
The first scientist opened the door a little to allow for him to pass the clothing into the room. A scaled hand took them carefully and the voice said "thank you" while Madame Matryoshka and the second scientist also approached the door.
"What shall we call you, my dear?" Madame Matryoshka spoke, "I was told you were captured in the wild..."
"A name?" the voice asked, "like Humans?"
"Well, we can't just call you Female Coral Snake," Madame Matryoshka answered, "that isn't a name and would be a mouthful."
The second scientist made a small off hand joke as the door was then opened to reveal the new female Coral Snake Animalian, "She could go by Carol." This timing then lead to the response...
"Carol sounds like a nice name," the Coral Snake Animalian commented, "you can call me Carol Snake." She then ignored the first scientist glaring at his partner for the ill timed joke and then looked to Madame Matryoshka and added, "I like your hair."