It wasn't just St. Patrick's Day that had come to Animalia, but also the infamous "Spring Break". This year, however, ALL of Animalia and its colonies were practically swamped with college students due in no small part to the last two years of the pandemic, but also because it was March Madness. Because of that, there were all kinds of strange and amusing things going on.
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One of the biggest things was the number of conversions being requested by former college students, so many in fact that some were even placing "advance orders". While the sheer number was cause for concern, the main reason was surprisingly simple: almost all of them were near bonkers from COVID quarantine. Fortunately, none of the conversion requests were for "special molds" like hermaphrodism or polymedia, so Horizon was able to begin "stockpiling" those strains.
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Another thing was one of the sad facts of such occasions.
"Why are you getting all set up?" asked Zach as Mercy was getting her Nightwatch gear on before heading out.
"APD is calling 'all hands on deck' for Spring Break due to the number of college students." answered Mercy.
"But why-yyyy?" whined Zach, much to Mercy's amusement.
"I'm sure you've seen the news about the West Point students who overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl?" asked Mercy.
"... maybe once or twice." replied Zach.
"Unfortunately, our drug detectors managed to find a packet of that stuff on one of the college students coming in for Spring Break." finished Mercy.
"Well..." said Zach, ears drooping slightly, "You'd better compensate me once you're done."
"Don't worry," teased Mercy, shaking her butt at him in a suggestive way, "I won't."
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On a similar thing, Heiya Island was facing a similar trend that Lyre/Animalia had faced not too long ago: conversion requests from people in Asia (not just China and Japan) with various degrees of obesity. Because of China's current financial crisis, as well as a new surge in Covid cases, Heiya Island was still the place to get them. Fortunately, the number of people with high levels of obesity were relatively small, and would only result from deliberate actions.
Fortunately, Rose was in her final year of high school and was planning on working full time at the Temple of the Body while getting her online degree in Sports Medicine. Also, she had become an unofficial "mascot" for the Temple of the Body due to the Quasi-Racoon Cuties coverage of it during Spring Break, though it was more like "Spring Festival".
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Mieni Atoll was similarly swamped with college students on Spring Break, though it was also one of the more "profitable" times of the year in Mieni, again showing the mixed blessings of tourists/"shoobies". This was covered the latest episode of Fun and Fins, where even Susan's perky nature was having a toll taken on it due to the number of people.
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Dino City was, after Animalia, the next busiest due to Spring Break. While this was one of the less annoying things, compared to some colonies, it was amusing to see predator Dinotopians "scare" unruly college students back into line with a single roar, though with the Jurassic Park/Jurassic World fans, this caused quite a bit of mixed results.
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Probably what was the funniest result was how things in both Lyre and Animalia were short-staffed due to the number of customers, though not in the usual ways:
"Come on, Morgan. Let us see." said Miss Fabina as some of the dancers were wrapping up their routine.
"Enlighten me." said Morgan, coming out wearing a "leafy" remix of a playboy bunny's outfit. "How did I get roped into this?"
"Because of all the college students." answered Miss Fabina, "The last two years has made them somewhat brain-fried."
"This isn't one of my punishments, is it?" asked Morgan, dreading the answer.
"No, it isn't." answered Miss Fabina, after a dramatic pause. "Besides, your 'heat' is just around the corner, so you'd better keep things up to date unless you want a litter of baby bunnies." Morgan shuddered with both fear and revulsion at that and strode out onto the stage once the announcer called her out, vowing to keep things up to date.