The new year brought new opportunities, but while some had the celebration for the Year of the Rabbit or looked forward to Valentines Day, there were others that had fallen victim other factors that weren't always as good. The end of 2022 and the start of 2023 had seen a series of major storms hit the California coast and hit with a lot of force. On some levels, due to the severe drought the state had been in for the past few years, the rain that came from this storm was good, though indications were that they didn't reverse the water situation that the state had. It only made the drought less severe.
But on other levels, it also came down too fast. Dry ground that had lost grass, trees, and other plants to forest fires wasn't going to hold well to the massive amounts of rain that then washed out that dried ground. This led to mudslides that took rocks and other debris in the hills sliding down into towns and rural homes. Buildings that weren't destroyed were at least surrounded in muddy sludge that would make getting out difficult, but there were many that were damaged, and a handful that had collapsed under the weight of the mud that had come rushing down the hills due to the deluge of rain that had come with these storms. In other areas along the California coast, there were some places that found themselves flooded as a result of the deluge that had come down and water than accumulating in areas that couldn't allow for drainage into the sea.
These issues didn't hurt or maim everyone that had been in their path, but there were a fair number of people that were in places where they could be hurt and that was then where Horizon offered to step in. For not everyone who joined Animalia did so because of support for anthropomorphic animals. In fact, in the US, much of that community had already become Animalians. But they weren't the only ones, and in finding that conversion process from Human to Animalian would cure any disease the Human had and heal practically any wound, Horizon and Animalia had sponsored the process as a cure all for those that had been seriously wounded by things like war and disaster. Not everyone took this option, often for their own reasons, but there were always plenty that were willing, often because of either devotion to family or some other ideal. But there were plenty who still wanted to live or carry one with some path in life that their injuries would make impossible, and thus conversion to become Animalians, while it wasn't what they would have done without the injury, became their only option to continue with their existing plans. Horizon was more than happy to work with all of that.
"So, you know Bennie and Marina?" Judy asked to one woman who was there and had wanted to become a Pacific White-Sided Dolphin.
"Yes," the woman nodded and carefully rubbed at the cast and collar she was wearing, "I work at the same institute as they do in San Francisco... though I lived in a different building. It was closer to the sea... and well, when all these rains hit, the building's basement flooded. I'd gone down there with the building's super to get something that could keep rainwater from seeping in through the window frame and slipped on the staircase and landed face down in the rising water. The super tried to catch me before I could go in... and well, that twisted me around and I hit a support bar on the way down and broke my collarbone."
"Ouch," Judy visibly winced and lowering her ears before raising them again.
"Yeah... it limited a bit of what I could do at the institute... they'll keep me on, so my job is secure," the woman nodded, "but I really can't do much for a while. Then to make matters worse, as my apartment's super began to work with those draining the buildings that were flooded, they found a whole bunch of asbestos in the basement, and figured it'd also be in the other levels as well... meaning they'll have to tear down the building and build a whole knew one."
"I've heard through Animalia Ambassadoria that the new buildings would be offered as a spot for an actual "colony" district within San Francisco," Judy said slowly.
"That'd be nice... and maybe I could see more of Bennie and Marina than just at work... and I hear they have a wonderful baby Orca Animalian... would they still call it a calf, like mundane Cetaceans?"
"I wouldn't know," Judy blinked.
"Anyway... it'd be nice," the woman responded, "but from what the super told me is that even if the new building is built up to better accommodate Animalians, and particularly aquatic Animalians, I wouldn't need to become one to live there. My conversion is only to heal my bones so I can return to work and figure out where to store all my stuff until the new building can be built..."
Judy nodded...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Though not all that were brought into Lyre were Human. Doctor Stein came into one of the main loading bay/lab areas were a modest sized American Black Bear lay on its side and was giving heavy pained groans while being looked over by a couple of California State Game Wardens and a lone man in a white tee-shirt that had a bear on it. Doctor Stein also noted that all four of the bear's legs were bandaged and this came as a bit of a surprise, even more that the bear was conscious as it lifted its head, and he noted a small yellow tag in its ear with the number 760 on it.
"You were wanting to uplift a bear?" Doctor Stein asked slowly.
"Yes," the man in the tee-shirt said, "she isn't really a problem bear... and trust me, I've had to deal with them from time to time in some towns in northern California. Some, I can lead back into the woods and they're fine. Some... I have cordon off areas and get help from wardens to tranquilize and move the bear to a more rural area... and I think we had one case where I was called in with a case where a bear attacked someone. There had been others in the area, so the attack wasn't fatal... but that bear had to be put down. This bear isn't a problem bear and hasn't lived too far from my cabin, though, I've left notes with my neighbors to be careful with how they store food so as not to attract her or other bears in the area."
"And you work for the state of California?" Doctor Stein asked the man.
"More that I've been contracted out by the state or local towns to work and manage with bear behavior and try to minimize conflict as much as possible," the man said, "name's Tim Boar. The state game wardens are the ones that I most often contact whenever a bear has to be physically handled... to get tranquilizers or the appropriate traps or things that could catch a loose bear without doing it harm if it can be removed."
"And he's right that we've had no problem with THIS bear," one of the wardens spoke, "until these storms hit."
"Shouldn't she be in hibernation by now?" Doctor Stein asked.
"She was... and likely was pregnant," Tim Boar commented, "but it seems that she didn't den in a place where the rain and its consequences would affect her. So, when the storm hit... and the ground had a massive mudslide as a result of that rain, it washed her, and likely her cubs down from where she denned. The cubs would have been newborns at the time and were likely killed in it. This female was washed down from that site. By dumb luck, the mudslide carried her down into my cabin and with a whole bunch of rocks and trees with her. My windows on that side were smashed up, and I'm fortunate the wall didn't cave in... but the bear was more fortunate not to have been killed by it herself. When I made it out... I found her half buried and with all four legs broken and an injury to her spine. Which..."
"Meant that even if the mudslide didn't kill her outright, the injuries sustained as a consequence of it would," Doctor Stein said slowly and noted the telling nods from the California game wardens.
"And because she wasn't a problem bear, she doesn't deserve to die," Tim Boar said slowly.
"And with all her injuries, it should be easy to give her a shot around her rear legs," one of the other California game wardens said.
Doctor Stein slowly nodded as this was something similar that had happened with a fair number of people that had come in for Horizon to heal them of their wounds from the heavy storms that had hit California, and this American Black Bear, 760, probably was not the only animal to have suffered from the effects of this storm as well. He carefully readied a syringe and approached the bear from behind. Her rear legs didn't move, and her forelegs only barely moved as she gave pained groans. Occasionally she lifted her head, but even that seemed to hurt, and she laid it back down. That gave him time to deliver the injection into her back hip and then following that up with the second dose.
Once that was done, Doctor Stein ushered the others out of the room. 760 wasn't the first mundane animal that Horizon had uplifted in this room, though under different circumstances. The first Spotted Hyena they had uplifted, and one of the first herm Animalians, was uplifted here, as were some of the Japanese Samurai Horses that now lived on Heiya Island. In this, Doctor Stein knew that 760 wouldn't be able to damage anything while she uplifted from wounded mundane Black Bear to healthy Black Bear Animalian. It would make sense to let her have her privacy and deal with anything that came after she was done converting.
"How long will this take?" Tim Boar asked once they were out of the room and the door shut, "will it hurt her?"
"The uplifting process for animals... and the conversion process for humans generally doesn't take long," Doctor Stein answered, "it isn't an instantaneous transformation, but neither is it a long one. And for the most part, we've found that the process is largely painless. There might be some sensation of things being odd, though more often in Humans as they gain more animal features when becoming an Animalian. Thus, as a mundane bear, I don't think 760 would have that issue... If she has any pain, it might relate more to the casts that you had to put on her limbs to set her bones before bringing her here. But that would be more something that would happen in converting a Human to a Black Bear Animalian, because of their larger size relative to a Human. In her case, some proportions may get a bit smaller to fit a new form..."
There was a silence for a few moments, and Tim Boar seemed to accept that, until there came a knocking on the door from the inside.
"Tim?" a feminine voice called through the door, "are you still there? I could smell that you were here..."
"She knows me by name?" Tim Boar blinked, "how...? I've seen her around, but never got close enough to interact with her in any way. Largely because she wasn't a problem bear."
"She may have heard your name while being brought in," Doctor Stein said to him, "and Animalians have often proved to pick up a lot just by being uplifted."
"I'm here 760," Tim Boar then said to the doorway, using the designation number that scientists in California must have given her to keep track of her, "are you okay?"
"I feel strange," came 760's answer, "I remember rain... the mud... my cubs... Tim, what happened to my cubs?"
"760... I... I think the storm killed your cubs, and very nearly killed you," Tim Boar said to the door, nervously looking to the game wardens and to Doctor Stein.
"They died... they... I... I was going to show them to you," 760 replied through the door and the Humans could soon hear rather Human-like sobs coming through the door, "I was a good sow. I tried to stay away from Humans and all their noises..."
"I know," Tim Boar said to the door, "and that provided for your role in the environment and opportunities for scientists to have a means to study your behavior and see what might need to be done with other bears... that weren't as good as you. But... the storm was bigger than both of us, and I couldn't let you die too."
"I remember hearing that," 760 spoke, "I... I think will need clothes and then... we can... talk as friends."