The mind's a complex organ capable of so much, and Jeff would've been shocked if she was able to comprehend how much of her's had been sacrificed. Reduced to something more primitive, simplistic, capable of working in tandem with the now dominant fox brain, almost everything about her mind had been rewritten by the computer programme so she was able to survive as she was, whilst being a titbit smarter than what she now was, a vixen, or erased if not seen as needed.
Complex reasoning was reduced to basic instincts. Instead of working out a problem, she resorted to trial and error. And once she reached the solution, she repeated the end result without really understanding the why of it working so, or even how she arrived at the point she was able to achieve the outcome she sought. Human speech was completely beyond her comprehension, and the most she could fathom about it was it was a loud noise which sent of fleeing in the opposite direction, much like the smell of the creatures who made them. Certain words seemed to come naturally to her, like using two-legged and four-legged, but she possessed no real knowledge or depth of what these words meant, and could no more count to five in her mind than a three-year old human probably could. Just as she could think of herself as a vixen, but had no real understanding of what the word meant, such as it applying to a female fox.
Memory for the most part was simply beyond her capabilities. What she was able to recall came in brief flashes which either served the purpose of the moment, or were forgotten within seconds of the flashes coming to her. When she'd decided to stay as what she was, to give it a chance, she had no concept of how long she should do so, and soon forgot all about it as her animal instincts guided her to a male of her species, which she wasn't able to comprehend he was a Reynard, only the other wasn't like her yet was the same as her.
Losing herself to the company of another of her kind, Jeff found she wanted the other around more and more as summer gave to fall, which in turn was followed by winter. And when the landscape became snow covered, and one coat of fur was replaced by another, Jeff was startled when she realised her human mind was coming less and less forward as she adjusted more and more to what she’d become. Finding it frightening at first, she didn’t know why it was happening, and her initial reaction was somehow something was being taken from her. But then such notions slipped away from her, and as she felt the first twinges of female longings, it gradually came to her as more of feeling than anything else one of the things she was experiencing was somehow a blending of the two parts of herself.
This eventually lost to the fog of her mind like so much, it didn't hold her attention for too long as she found her interest drawn more and more to surviving in the cold landscape and the other one of her kind. Keenly aware of her female longings becoming more and more stronger, and how they seemed tied to the other, she started to call out to him. Finding it struck her as off she was now sexually attracted to males, it bothered her for some time. Feeling certain this was in some way related to what she'd forgotten, she tried to find dread, even to put off, what she knew was to come. But biology and instinct had other ideas and when the other of her kind began to spend more and more time around her, to answer her cries, she welcomed the company, as there didn't seem to be any others of their kind within hearing or scent distance.
And when she finally gave over to nature and natural needs, it seemed so right. Her two minds merging even more as she teased and played with other of her kind, it was almost as if she was waiting for something. And when she sensed it, knew she was more receptive of the other’s attention, she lifted her tail to embrace and give into the other mounting her. Wanting to recoil, Jeff found herself betrayed by what she’d become as she discovered how good it felt, as well as right. And as the other finished, and they became locked together, Jeff found she no longer felt what she'd forgotten was in any way linked to her sexual preferences. In point of fact, if she'd been able to describe everything which had gone on when the other inserted himself into her, she'd use the word enjoyment, as it seemed to ease the longing she felt, as well as the alien sensations which seemed to come from the area the other had pushed into, and leave her to want it again.
When the two finally separated, Jeff permitted the other to wash and groom her, which she reciprocated by doing the same to them. Afterward, the moved off in different directions, each going about their own business, yet never straying too far from each other. When Jeff found himself approaching one of her dens, she was aware of the other as they also approached. Finding she didn't want to chase him off, like she'd done so before, she instead sent out signals for them to join her. Curling up together, Jeff drowsed, feeling as she did, without knowing the why, like she was on the cusp of something.
Sleep claiming her, she was again thrust back into the landscape she kept visiting every time she wasn't awake. A mix of what she was used to, and what seemed so familiar, yet so alien, she started at the room before her. Not having the language to name any of the things she saw, knowing if she turned around she see the two-legged ones standing somewhere between where she was now and the place she wanted to be, she instead gazed at the object giving off light, though not as powerful as the source which often drove her indoors until it was dark, proper to go about. Seeing the squiggles and lines, not understanding they were words, she tensed when a voice she felt she should know said, "See what you've forgotten."
Her instinct to flee almost overpowering, Jeff found she didn't understand much in the same she was unable to grasp why she wasn't four-legged. Barking out her frustration, the other two-legged giggled, "Jeff. Why do you make such noises," before, in a serious tone, they said, "I'll tell mom you're trying to scare me."
She wanted to look at the two-legged, see who they were. Yet, at the same time, she wanted to know what the squiggles and lines meant. Venting in a series of barks her agitation at her ability to do both, as well as grasp what had been taken to her, she was surprised when the second two-legged said, "Don't you understand what you did? You became what you set out to, but you forgot one thing in the process. It's right there, in front of you. It's the timer you wanted to set for one year. It hasn't been set. Can't you get that through your thick head, you stupid animal. You can never go back.”