You wander the rest of the zoo in a sort of zombie-like state of shock, watching as the crowds begin to die down. As you view the animals in their habitats, you begin to grow paranoid. The giraffe had said others were intelligent like her. Which ones? You begin to watch closely, almost obsessively, and begin to notice odd things. Two lionesses are hiding in a corner visibly talking away from the public, complete with motioning front paws as they engage in a heated discussion of some kind. One of the zebras smiles at you and winks. A moose gives you a wary glance and motions to you with his antlers in front of his mate. A flamingo in his roped off mock tropics glances at you cautiously and raises an eye ridge. He knows you know. He shakes his head no subtly, puts his wing to his beak in a hush motion, and then pretends to preen himself. You make your way over to the arctic exhibit and one of the polar bears, a huge female, gives you a knowing smirk at the corner of her mouth. In every case, you begin to realize 1 out of 3 animals you see are clearly as intelligent as a lady giraffe you met at the other end of the zoo.
You can't wait any longer. The crowds have thinned to a few individuals wandering the path, and the zoo is going to close in an hour. You hastily make your way back to the giraffes and almost out of breath you enter the large viewing shed again. The female raises her neck into the air and her eyes widen in either excitement or delight. She gracefully but quickly trots over and for the first time she smiles.
"You've been making quite a stir, friend," the giraffe announces with a somewhat amused demeanor, "we have birds who travel back and forth among the zoo to deliver messages back and forth for us. Some of my colleagues were quite alarmed you caught their theatrics, but I assured them you had the sense not to say anything. Thank you for proving me right."
"U-Uh, you're welcome." You whisper, gulping. You hadn't considered saying anything to anybody not out of respect for the obviously intelligent animals but mostly because you didn't want to wind up in a mental hospital. "I don't think anybody would have believed me, anyway."
The giraffe snorts and nods gently, considering the point. "Hmm, perhaps."
"What are you? All of you?"
"Experiments." The giraffe whispers back, checking side to side again. "Highly illegal experiments, I'm told. But successful ones at that."
"My God," your eyes widen. "You... you were made this way?"
"Mmhmmm." The giraffe nods, grinning ear to ear. "We all used to be quite unintelligent beasts. It's a sort of treatment. Long term. Gradually increases awareness and the capacity to learn. In my case, it gives animals without the correct anatomy the parts to speak human speech. We can all talk."
"D-Do the zookeepers know?" You gasp. "Who's doing this?"
"Some, yes." She notices movement on the other end of the giraffe enclosure and snaps her head up, ambling around the shed area in a practiced and utterly convincing blank walk. When she makes it back around, it's clear once again.
"Have you heard of Dr. Olivia Lewis?"
"The naturalist?" You blink. "Yes, she's quite famous."
"Much of what they do to us is based on her secret research from the 1960's. Again, so I'm told."
"Do you need help?" You ask, suddenly concerned at the grave implications for all the animals who have been changed.
"We're safe here," she whispers, shaking her head. "Protected. Well cared for. Thank you, but no."
"You're quite polite for a giraffe."
"Would you prefer me to be disagreeable?" She grins. "You're quite open minded for a human being, I suppose."
You smile and the giraffe smiles back warmly. There's a strange connection between the two of you that makes your heart skip a little.
"I'll tell you what," she begins, glancing behind her. "We shut down soon. Look up above the bleachers."
You do so, and spy a large black security camera angled toward the male giraffes outside.
"There's a nice hiding spot in the utility building next to the shed. The code is 1-5-4-6."
"Wait, you... you want me to hide there?"
"Yes, if you'd like." The giraffe seems to shrug her front shoulders. "You seeem like a nice guy. I know I can trust you. Why not?"
"Well, what about... the staff? Or... or..."
"There will only be four maintenance workers here overnight and they all know the truth. I'll send one of them to fetch you once we're all locked up. The cameras will be off."
You stare up in shock and she grins over her shoulder as she turns back toward the males. "Unless you'd like to go, in which case, I'd ask you to keep this our little secret."
The lady giraffe wanders off to begin pacing the enclosure again and she utterly ignores you, acting like nothing more than a regular dumb animal as the last of the groups touring the zoo begin to lose interest and wander off to the exit.
You try to decide what to do.