The world had always had its capabilities for weirdness and weird oddities, often relating to when people didn't know everything about something. When things then became confusing and there was no logical explanation given immediately, some would have the tendency to invent theories as to why something happened or how something worked. In the Middle Ages this was often connected with religious beliefs that then combined with a lack of scientific understanding on certain plants and herbs leading to people using those specific plants and herbs as medical remedies being charged with witchcraft either for the use or for some other invented malady that happened later. Moving into the twentieth century, many things began to take on a more political tint in order to suit a political cause, such as whether or not German Jews "stabbed the German army in the back" in the First World War or who really shot JFK.
As the space race began, with knowledge of flight, space, and other things being limited and with science-fiction comics and movies telling a lot of alien invasion stories, there came a new avenue for these sorts of theories. That there were aliens and UFOs that were highly invested in the Earth and its inhabitants. Some merely pointed to weird lights in the night while others went as far as claiming that aliens had had some loose hand in creating the Human race through cloning or some other advanced scientific practice that Humans at the time could have never understood. The development of the Animalia Virus served to create an add on to this, as Human science had advanced enough that genetic manipulation was possible, but hadn't been expected to produce the results it did. And it was something that Horizon fiercely protected and any conversations with other genetics companies were left so that Horizon remained the only company that had the ability to work with the Animalia Virus, which then in turn left things open for those that were willing to believe in conspiracies to jump onto them.
Among them was one Professor Nova, who'd become an Indian Gray Mongoose Animalian. Admittedly her specific field hadn't been in genetics, but she'd known enough that much of what had been published gave an indication that the sort of transformations that came as a result of the Animalia Virus were not possible. The rapid muscular growth, the enhancement of secondary sexual characteristics, along with an increased libido, aging up into the prime of life or having one's youth restored, and healing any disease or even wound. All of these things were not normal or explained in what papers that Nova had had access to, which meant there had to be SOMETHING that allowed for these things that Horizon wasn't sharing or explaining. While she was Human, it was something that drove her crazy when Animalia was first revealed and that brought about various struggles in trying to adapt to it.
The biggest things had been the loss of her job. She'd held a position as a college professor and had been fairly decent with it, though some of her lectures on physics and space soon often included some discussion the possibility of aliens. At some points it was actually helpful and others not as much, and the department staff had often reprimanded her for getting off topic when students complained to other professors. The only thing that had managed to save her from being fired was that she'd managed to work a tenure clause into her contract, though that still left her looking over her shoulder over what the college would do over her theories and eventually created a sense of paranoia that developed into something that the college's psychology staff thought was "dangerous." Animalia's reveal only made things worse and it got to a point where Nova wasn't being assigned classes to teach and would merely discuss the class lists with the rest of the staff in the hopes that she would resign.
Eventually she did, more because her paranoia had gotten worse and friends who had convinced her to see a therapist had ultimately lead to the suggestion that she become an Animalian. The therapist had noted strong and directed hostility from Nova and got little real cooperation, but did provide a warning that the line of behavior that Nova had demonstrated was unhealthy enough that if she didn't change, she would end up in more trouble than getting into arguments online over aliens or arrested as a result of some action born out of paranoia. It was taken as a victory when Nova agreed to convert and become an Animalian, and in some ways it did help. She got her youth back and the worst of her paranoia and obsessions with alien conspiracies were gone. Some of it still remained and she had been referred to Doctor Adam Jones for continued therapy, but to an extent it was no longer the sort of thing that was truly hampering her before her conversion. She'd also been getting some help from Marcy White as a sort of intern with her research, which was now more of a hobby than an obsession.
Which had surprisingly came in handy over the course of the past summer, which Nova remembered and thought over as she went about buying groceries one afternoon with the thought, "I never thought I'd be on the other end of the debate..."
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"I'm not sure why you think I'm the one who should be covering up your secrets," Nova said to Doctor Stein after the Horizon scientist had showed up at her door on a hot day and looking rather agitated.
"I would think that you might understand them better," Doctor Stein commented as he pulled around a corner that brought them up to the main Horizon Labs building where the Animalia Virus was distributed and the bulk of Horizon's research was done.
Surrounding the building was a large encampment of people waving various signs about UFOs and other sorts of things. They were in large enough numbers that they blocked any entrance or exit from the building's main entrance and had others milling about in the parking lot. This was something that Nova had honestly not expected to find. She'd found online that there were some that shared her theories on how Horizon was able to engineer the Animalia Virus to be what it was, and some had some decent reasoning, though there had also been some odd claims that made less sense, namely that aliens were actually flying their ships down to Lyre, Nevada and were dropping it off. In theory it might work, but after living in Animalia for awhile, Nova found that unlikely. There were no lights or anything that would indicate that there was UFO activity in the region, and to Nova meant that any and all alien contact that Horizon had was far more discreet and likely more that Horizon had learned from them and thus didn't need further or continual contact.
"They showed up and have been blocking access to the building," Doctor Stein commented, "chased after employees if they try to go outside on their breaks and have largely kept clients that have already converted INSIDE because they're afraid to go out."
"Has anyone been violent?" Nova wondered and fearful of attack, herself, both from the potential for violence directed at her as an Animalian, and thus "connected" to Horizon's activities or from frustration in the fact that the demand was that she talk this group of people down from their cries of "take me to your leader."
"No, but it's interrupting business and could prove risky to them if they get inside and begin searching as they want to do," Doctor Stein answered, "the last thing we want is to have a bunch of accidental conversions that we would then be responsible for any damage done, even if by accident."
"You could... explain all the details regarding the origins of the Animalia Virus and where it came from," Nova offered.
"That has been given," Doctor Stein answered, "we are still unsure as to how the Animalia Virus developed as it did. We've found that the original retro-virus used in its creation was far more fast acting then expected... but nothing that we can definitively explain in detail. Much of the rest has merely been the results of what the Animalia Virus produces and there... we've found no clues as there was nothing genetically "special" in the first Animalians that appeared... not even in Subject Zero or anyone connected with him."
Nova rolled her eyes as she was sure there were things that Horizon hadn't reported, but she did accept the mission and got out to make her way on foot. Things started out quietly, as though no one even noticed her and that let her move forward toward a podium that had been set up near where the main entrance to the building was, but eventually some of the people in the group began to notice her and their response then surprised Nova even more. Many seemed to bow to her, like she was some kind of religious object or deity or something more than the normal Mongoose Animalian that she was. That unnerved her as if there was one thing Nova disliked more than the fear of punishment or being spied on, it was love or adoration that wasn't personally earned or asked for. It was why she tended to stay away from politics and the conspiracies around them... as many of those generally depended on people "loving" someone for no reason other than charisma or something like it.
She made it up to the stage where the leader of this group had noted her approach and stated into a store bought microphone that barely amplified his voice.
"And see! Here is one of the alien goddesses that Horizon and Animalia has created!" the leader of the group spoke, "come to bless us and our demands to see the ship that brings the Animalia Virus to Horizon!"
"I'm no one's goddess," Nova answered, though doing her best to hide any aggression from her voice, "I'm just an Animalian... and here to ask you to leave... or if you wish to become an Animalian, to make an appointment and follow the rules set for conversions that Horizon must follow."
"But we know they've had contact with aliens, how else would you explain... yourself," the leader answered, "we've all talked with friends and even a professor online. The connections are there!"
That alerted Nova to the fact that it was possible that she'd probably talked to some of these people online, though they may not know that she was the one they were talking with.
"And you think interfering with their business is going to make them reveal everything?" Nova asked, "I could see where there could be connections that make sense... but they're not just going to reveal them because your here. And nor do I think that they're actually hiding a space ship here or regularly have contact with aliens or that Animalians are aliens."
"We just wanna see the ship!" a voice called out from the crowd, "we know it's there!"
"And what signs have there been of unknown craft coming into Lyre or Animalia?" Nova asked, "I've been here about a year now. There have been no odd flights that I've seen at night... at least none that would be indicative of space craft. And given how open Animalian society is... I'm not sure they'd truly hide things. Some may keep their own council... but they're not going to avoid a conversation if asked or be dishonest when they answer."
"But surely they'd want to hide their alien benefactors!" the leader protested.
"Perhaps... but then given Animalian behavior, if they had alien connections, they'd probably show a clip that cannot be denied or proven fake and interview the alien," Nova pointed out, "and besides... you've all been around the building, right?"
She watched as a few people nodded, including the leader.
"Doug even had a robotic drone and there wasn't anything on the roof, not even a helicopter pad," a voice came out of the crowd.
"So... if there is no way a ship could land here, why would you think a ship IS here?" Nova questioned.
"Maybe on the lawns nearby," the leader offered.
"That would leave burn marks or some other physical evidence of their presence, be it by rocketry or some other engine system that can provide lift in the atmosphere and resist the effects of gravity," Nova pointed out, "you'd see the evidence of it, and if it's repeated visits, it wouldn't be something that could be hidden."
"But it would explain everything," the leader said weakly, "it would be logical."
"To quote a line from a movie," Nova countered, "even logic must give way to physics. Any craft is going to exert some force downward to hover in mid air. That is going to leave physical evidence that cannot be hidden easily."
"What about a transporter?" came a call from the crowd, "what if they had some way to teleport down and back up again?"
"They'd need landing and receiving platforms to do that," Nova answered, "and when I converted... there was no sign of anything close to what would be needed in the building. And what information I've been able to get in email requests... Horizon is not consuming the sort of raw power needed for such a device. Thus this is no ship and there is no way for a face to face meeting. At least not here."
That then saw a lot of disgruntlement and downturned faces in the crowd. Some of it was aimed at the leader of the cult and some of it was at Nova, but it served the main purpose of breaking the crowd up. In some ways, it struck Nova that many of these people weren't necessarily true believers in the theory. They may have attached themselves to it because it was quick and easy but they didn't cling to it when parts of the theory they followed were proven completely wrong, which Nova also saw as an improvement over political conspiracy theorists as they seemed to stick to their belief regardless of whether or not they were proved wrong. With that, Nova noted that the present mob was not going to be of too much more trouble for Horizon for the immediate future...
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And ultimately they didn't cause any real trouble. Nova noted that some still talked online about things related the possible connections between aliens and Horizon, but for the moment there were no more attempts to protest outside Horizon. Most of it was more questions on the theories that had been discussed before. It was something that Nova also noted that while this movement might not necessarily cause real problems, it probably would present something that raise plenty to talk about.