You relax a little, stepping through the hallways of the mother ship, baring all your scales, noticing that you aren't the only one naked. Some "people" seem to be hurrying busily from place to place in uniforms on some sort of mission; others are relaxed, traipsing the hallways nude as if on some kind of naturist vacation. It's kind of disturbing that no one has a butthole or a vagina: just that lone slit between their legs that, in your experience, is a fusion of all the openings someone would need down there. You also see all sorts of other strange creatures, including gray aliens, bird-like entities, and things that slither or walk on four legs. You wonder if some of these beings are alien pets or the equivalent. By the time you arrive at a closed door, you think you've seen it all, but then the door automatically slides open revealing a wolf--a black, furry Earth wolf! Is this your room? Are they going to leave you in here with a wild animal? Is it going to maul you?
Then the creature stands up on its hind legs and seems to adjust its own anatomy a bit, gaining a more human-like leg structure and growing thumbs from its dewclaws as its shoulders broaden and increase their mobility. You think you're going to be sick. Then it walks forward, causing you to step back and cling to the wall, unsure why the Serphenthians aren't moving from side or saying anything about the supernatural scene playing out in front of them. "W-w-w-w-WERE-wolf!" you stammer, suddenly raising your cloaca in the air on instinct and feeling a burst of hot fluid spray out. Confused by your involuntary reaction, and terrified that the monster is still coming after you, you stand back up in a hurry and look back into the room. The wolf man is closer to you, but it's standing still, seemingly in shock. Its fur is drenched in an inky black liquid that smells terrible to your reptilian nose. You decide the fluid smells like fear--your fear.
"Aw, man!" some of your fellow Serphenthians are holding their noses and muttering exclamations of surprise and disgust in the snake-like language you share now. "That's ripe. Why'd you have to do that? It's just Klorpthok." Some of them start running away gagging.
The spokesperson speaks again: "Okay, so, (hiss) I'm going elsewhere for a while. Enjoy your new room. I'll leave you to ... gather some control over you (gag) Serphenthian bodily functions, and we'll (cough, cough!) talk later." He turns to the werewolf, holding his nose. "Get yourself cleaned up and please, be patient with the new convert, Klorpthok."
The fur retreats into Klorpthok's skin, leaving scales, and his black nose transforms into reptilian nose slits. His claws actually get bigger, and sharper, leaving you staring in awe at a fellow Serphenthian, albeit it one drenched in nasty liquid. "What was that for?" he asks. You mumble some gibberish, trying to figure out something to say, but he talks again before you can manage. "It's okay, dude, just get in here."
He steps into a shower in the corner of the room, bathing himself matter-of-factly in full view, rinsing off the stuff you sprayed him with. If lizard anthros could blush, your face would be a tomato. He seems only mildly inconvenienced and turns to small talk. "They told me to expect someone new. I guess you just changed, didn't you?" You nod, forgetting that an alien civilization might not understand a nod, but he seems to get the point. He chuckles--well, he gives out a rattly hiss that your new instincts interpret as a chuckle. "I must have scared you pretty bad to bring out your fear juice for the first time, huh?" he says like a college jock reflecting on a prank. You apologize, but he says it's fine because "everyone" does it, they just don't usually spray each other. You didn't expect yourself as an alien lizard to have an adaptation similar to a skunk, a squid, or a bombardier beetle, and you can think of a number of questions you are tempted to ask about that. You have a more urgent question on your mind, though: "Were you really a wolf when I first saw you though? Why would you have been a wolf?"
"I don't know. Why shouldn't I have been one?" he responds. "I had to infiltrate one of Earth's political structures for my exosociology thesis, and I chose a wolf pack on one of the northern continents. I still love the form," he explains.
"You, you've been to Earth?" you reiterate, with some surprise.
"Yeah, love the wildlife there," he explains. "It never crossed my mind that wolves would be scary, though; to me they seem elegant, graceful. If you want to see something scary from Earth, you should have seen humans! I know our motto is 'Appreciate all life,' but Serph-to-Serph, humans give me the creeps. They're furry, like a lot of Earth animals, but their fur is different: it's like a ghostly layer that doesn't really hide anything, and you can see right through it to their odd, rubbery skin--except on some of their heads! Some of the fur on their heads is so long that it covers their necks! It's not just the way they look, either: you really don't want to piss the things off. Did you know they have more complicated technology than any other species on the planet, but they got most of it by figuring out new ways kill their own species? They blast themselves into space using explosives--kind of like the ones they blow each other up with! Most of them don't even think that non-Earth creatures exist, and they still fantasize about blowing us up, too!"
"Yeah, I guess we--I mean--I guess humans are pretty crazy," you comment, somewhat amused.
"Just wait until you get abducted by them," he continues. "When I was spending time as a wolf on that planet, some humans tranquilized me and one of my pack-mates in the woods. I woke up on a metal table with lights shining into my eyes and the smell of antiseptics everywhere. Scrawny creatures were gathered around me in white lab-coats, fondling my furry body with their lanky arms and eerie, flat-clawed hands. Then they sampled my bodily fluids, put some kind of tracker device on me and then just let me go like nothing had happened."
"Wow, that's messed up," you say, trying to sound supportive.
"Eh, it's fine. Some of my classmates and I had to do the same thing to a few dozen humans back in Bio 101. Even immobilized, those things are creepy. Professors always say humans won't remember getting caught, tagged, and released, but I think some of them do. I sure wouldn't want to take the same human twice, if you ask me. If you'd showed up at my door looking like one of those, you'd probably be the one needing a shower! Have you been to Earth before? Have you seen one?"
"Actually, I am a human. Or rather, I was a human until today," you finally point out, not sure how Klorpthok will react.
"Oh, uh, no offense, I guess?" he apologizes nonchalantly, drying himself off with some kind of glowing energy thing.
"None taken. I never thought about how strange we might seem to aliens until I was one."
"Have you eaten anything in that body yet?" asks your roommate. "You want to follow me down to the dining sector?"
Your stomach rumbles, and you're pretty sure you know what that means even in your new body. You agree it's a good idea. Klorpthok morphs back into his feral wolf form in front of you--asking you if its okay first, of course. You flick your tongue out for some reason, surprised to taste the scent of his wolf fur and your own Serph scales in the air. "You're going to have to teach me how to do that someday," you say about his ability to change form, and you walk down the hallway together, the scent of food growing stronger as you walk. You lick the air a few more times and find yourself wondering if some of the weird creatures you pass are really other shapeshifters.