July came through with a lot of summer heat, and Jessica could feel it rather easily. Her white fur didn't absorb as much heat, but it did hold some heat and temperatures in Lyre through the summer had been warmer than expected and steadily hotter than expected. It made the Ice Haus popular, and Sarah and Malice had commented on the whole Wesley family going there at times. But the Mountain Cottontail wasn't used to those sorts of temperatures as the Siberian Husky was, so she spent a lot of her time helping around the house. Occasionally there were spots where she and some of the original Animalia Ambassadoria cast would give the new crew an option for some time off for a vacation and the like.
Today's activity was to escort Hunni Bunni to meet with a Lana Sierkorsky at Horizon Light, which from what had been reported to Jessica from Clara would be something important or relatable to Hunni Bunni. It left Jessica a little curious, though as she looked over to Hunni Bunni, seated in the passenger seat of Jessica's "Bug," Jessica could also tell that Hunni Bunni was both curious and excited about this meeting. The massive Rabbit Animalian was still very chipper and eager for fun but had made a lot of progress in rebuilding her mind over the last two years living with the Mariana family and was something that allowed Jessica to do things on her own without having to babysit Hunni Bunni.
"Why do you think this Ms. Sierkorsky would want to meet us?" Hunni Bunni asked to Jessica as they pulled into the parking lot at Horizon Light.
"From what the email said... I think this was something more proposed by either Horizon or Animalia's city government," Jessica answered, "they thought you might be interested."
"I'm always interested in meeting new people and making new friends," Hunni Bunni gave a smile.
Jessica nodded, though she also privately hoped things would be okay with who they were supposed to meet. For while Hunni Bunni had improved greatly and was working going through a GED program that was essentially helping repair the damage that cancer had done to her before she became a Rabbit Animalian. The conversion had cured Hunni Bunni's cancer and repaired the physical damage, but it seemed that she'd lost a lot of what she'd known before then as the conversion process reshaped things. Jessica figured that the cancer likely damaged or destroyed a lot of those areas and while the Animalia Virus could then repair the physical damage, it couldn't fully remove the consequences of what the radiation caused cancer had done to Hunni Bunni. This then prompted a lot of the very perky, fun-loving, and at times very forward nature that Hunni Bunni had. Hunni Bunni was getting better with that, but it was still there.
They came into Horizon Light to find Clara standing there with a Human male in a suit. The man stood by with a small but friendly smile, while Clara waived to Jessica as they approached. Jessica was a bit nervous, as a lot of what had come out of Animalia's first four years had related to sorts of power games in which Animalians were wanted for military use as part of some super-soldier project like Captain America in the comics. It didn't help that the previous administration also tended to through tantrums when Animalians chose something other than what had been planned for them. Remembering some discussions with Sophie over certain things, there was going to be some measure of suspicion of strange men in suits.
"Hello, Ms. Mariana, Ms. Bunni," Clara spoke calmly, "this is Christopher Spike."
"Oh, he plays volleyball?" Hunni Bunni said with her ears perking up.
"Well... I... uh..." Christopher Spike answered slowly, "I played a bit recreationally for fun while in college. Usually just something for exercise between classes... but that's really something separate from my name. I'm here as a translator."
"A translator?" Jessica asked.
"Yes, for Lana Sierkorsky who has come to us from Ukraine," Christopher Spike spoke.
The mention of the word "Ukraine" really alerted Hunni Bunni. She remembered living there, the disaster at Chernobyl, and the cancer that followed her after moving to America and finally lead to her deciding to become an Animalian and become Hunni Bunni. Her conversion had resulted in her losing the ability to speak her native language and even hampered her English for a time. It had made her fairly dependent on the Mariana family to help her get far enough along that she wouldn't be left completely behind. She'd also made friends at the Meat Market and that provided some at least part time work while working on her GED.
"Ms. Sierkorsky's plane from New York came in yesterday," Clara then explained, "Mr. Spike came in with her, though it would appear that like you, Ms. Bunni, she has been suffering from some cancers connected to the Chernobyl disaster. Which is why she is presently here in the ICU."
"So... she wishes to meet another Chernobyl survivor?" Hunni Bunni asked.
"News on Animalia goes far," Christopher Spike commented, "and she'd heard about Hunni Bunni even while in Ukraine, which made her interested in meeting Hunni Bunni... but until recent events... she'd never had the opportunity to come here."
That was a given. Russia's invasion of Ukraine early in the year had brought about a great deal of trauma in a country that was still trying to find its feet and get out of Russia's shadow. The fighting also rapidly became a life-or-death struggle between the two countries. Jessica had seen all sorts of news flyers while at UNLV on who to donate to in order to help those that had fled the country at the start of the invasion. There were also reports that the US would also accept Ukrainian refugees. It was likely that Lana Sierkorsky was one of these refugees.
"What about me and Clara?" Jessica asked, "My family has done a lot to help Hunni Bunni after she became an Animalian, but none of us have Ukrainian ancestry or were affected by what happened at Chernobyl. And Clara is an uplifted Mountain Lion."
"Yes... I didn't really know anything about nuclear power, or even the disasters that have come as a result of accidents with it until after I became an Animalian," Clara added.
"Some of that, I believe, would just what amount of the Animalia Ambassadoria program made it to Ukraine," Christopher Spike answered, "which is then curiosity on her part. And to a degree, she isn't the only Ukrainian to have this curiosity, but she was the only one who decided to come the extra distance to Lyre, Nevada after the added distance of coming this way to the US after fleeing from the Russians earlier in the year."
There was a small silence that followed. As to a degree, curiosity over Animalia Ambassadoria made sense, as some of the people at UNLV that weren’t from Lyre or Animalia recognized her, Roger, Sarah, Travis, and Malice from Animalia Ambassadoria and were curious about all that. But they also all knew that they had all “retired” from being the show’s regular anchors before going to college two years prior. There had been some guest appearances here and there during the summers between college years, but none of that was still regular. Of course, Jessica also didn’t know how good of an internet connection Ukraine had and given the present strains of the war to fight off the Russian invasion, the number of people that would be allowed to leave the country had been limited. Males were being called on to fight and, in some places, people had been trapped so quickly that they couldn’t escape, even if they would be allowed to escape.
“Well,” Jessica said slowly, “I suppose it would be polite to come along. You would translate for us, Mr. Spike? I’m afraid I don’t know Ukrainian.”
"The same would go for me," Hunni Bunni said slowly and looking down, "becoming an Animalian cured my cancer... but it had done enough damage to me over time that I really lost a lot, and the Animalia Virus couldn't just magically replace it."
"That is what I'm here for," Christopher Spike replied.
They eventually made their way up into the ICU area of the hospital, which was provisioned well, largely as a just in case situation and to make sure that there would be doctors better equipped and trained to handle both Human and Animal diseases than what most normal hospitals would. The biggest workload Horizon Light had seen in recent years had related to Covid, particularly as other hospitals in the state and the area near Lyre/Animalia got overworked, but they had managed and kept things relatively sharp. Which was a good thing, given what had been said on their arrival, that Lana Sierkorsky was a survivor of the Chernobyl disaster and a refugee from Russia's present war in Ukraine. It was probable that Lana was struggling with some form of cancer that likely went into remission at times with treatment, but was still a threat, particularly in the period when the invasion started when her access to the medicines needed to treat the cancer were interrupted. The nurses were on staff and nodded to Clara and opened the door to the room that Lana Sierkorsky was in.
The room was well done, and they found Lana Sierkorsky laying on the medical bed with a couple of IVs already there. Hunni Bunni could quickly see that the woman was older, like a grandmother figure and might well have been an adult when the Chernobyl disaster happened. There were some notable wrinkles under her grey eyes while her hair was a silver-white and somewhat thin. She wore worn looking grey blouse that then disappeared under the blanket in the ICU bed. Lana gave a small smile before giving a small cough.
"Hello... I am Hunni Bunni," Hunni Bunni said slowly and let Christopher Spike follow with the translation into Ukrainian, "this is Animalia's Mayor, Clara, one of the first Animalians." She gave a small gesture to Clara and then gave Jessica a pat on the back, "and this is Jessica Mariana. An adopted "big" sister for me after I became Hunni Bunni."
There followed a small chuckle as Lana than answered in a soft voice, which Christopher Spike translated into English.
"She seems rather small to be your "big" sister," Lana said with a chuckle, "but it is a pleasure to meet those who have been amazing additions to the world. It is sad that we could only meet because of other troubles..."
Hunni Bunni paused for a moment and looked over to Jessica and then at herself. Proportionately, Jessica actually had a bigger bust, but Hunni Bunni was physically larger in general She was a bit taller, far more muscular, and thus her other features grew to match her larger frame.
"Horizon thinks Hunni Bunni's growth is from my own past... or at least my family's past in Chernobyl," Hunni Bunni answered, "I am all that survives of them. We came when the Soviet Union fell apart to start new and free."
"Be glad to be free," Lana responded, "and in a place where a madman isn't trying to restore the Soviet Union. Their mismanagement created Chernobyl disaster... killed an uncle who worked in the plant. Now Putin comes to kill us for wishing to be Ukrainian. My husband... killed in bombing attack, my sons drafted into army, and I know not where they are... if they still live... and had to be evacuated by neighbors."
"Most of the world is behind Ukraine," Jessica offered, "if that helps, Ms. Sierkorsky. My college has had all sorts of donations for organizations helping refugees and things like that."
"And various Russian-American immigrants here in Lyre/Animalia have donated a lot to those efforts as well," Clara added.
"Call me Lana, young ones," Lana coughed out after getting the translation, "and it is good to hear that not all Russians are devils like Putin. But that doesn't end the pain."
"I'm sure," Jessica spoke and looked over to Hunni Bunni before looking back to Lana.
"The one good thing out of this," Lana said slowly after a moment, "is that I got meet a fellow survivor and those who have been very popular on internet videos. My sons loved them and showed me highlights when they come for visits."
Jessica found herself smiling at that mention, "I'm glad you liked the videos."
"Yes... it is like old stories and cartoons," Lana answered and looked toward Clara, "and you've created something wonderful. If only the whole world saw things that way."
Clara listened through the translations before answering, "well, I didn't create Animalia. That was more an accident... even if a pleasant one. The rest is more from our partnership with Horizon, and we do hope to work to create a better world. Where everyone gets along. That may take time."
Lana only nodded, "Yes, and I would ask your permission to join with your project Phoenix. To fully fix all the old cancers and to see the new world come in the future."
"You wouldn't need my permission," Clara answered, "Horizon would have some paperwork for you to fill out, but that's all something for you to decide on if you want. I have no authority to deny you that decision."