Lin twitched a little bit as she sat in the waiting area at Horizon, with a friend beside her. They looked around this last waiting room and noted that there were some others that were there, and for many of them, this was probably something that would relate to wanting to be an Animalian. For Lin had seen all the various news reports on how people were attracted to becoming an Animalian because of their build and some of the base powers that were attributed to them. It was no surprise to see people wanting greater strength or enhanced senses, and Lin assumed that was why many were there.
However, after a moment of looking to the others in the waiting room, Lin looked back down to her hands. She twiddled her thumbs in circles around each other for a bit as she fought through various tremors and other issues. It was something she often sought to conceal and control, but not always, and that was why she was here and why she had a friend with her. Mai had always been Lin's best friend growing up and was thus the one who most understood what Lin was going through at the present time. For her problems started with a car accident she'd been in in Oregon. She'd been badly hurt, and the doctors gave her a prescription for morphine, and it killed the pain from the injury, but she also found herself addicted to it, and she couldn't fight it. From there, she managed to fake having lingering and extreme pain to keep getting the drugs. Though, that only worked for a short time and Mai found out when Lin began looking for another way to get those painkillers.
In this, Mai had saved Lin potentially killing herself by accident, but had found on how far Lin had fallen into addiction and that in turn brought them to Lyre and Horizon. For one of the other reasons people became Animalians, and one that was the most common reason for conversion, was more to heal injuries or addiction. The revitalization of the body as part of assuming the new form seemed to repair all existing damage. Lin accepted that, partially because the tremors and other fears that had come as a result of her falling into addiction was enough to get her to accept the conversion. And since the Giant Panda had always been Lin's favorite animal, it made sense to go through with that, as she'd remembered reading enough on the Giant Panda to be able to handle most of the forms and present enough knowledge on the Panda's instincts to not be of concern. Now, all there was to do was wait.
After a few moments, one of Horizon's scientists came forward. Hearing his footsteps click on the tile, Lin looked up to see the name Dr. Stein written on his name tag.
"Ms. Lin, we're ready for you," Doctor Stein spoke.
"Thank you, doctor," Lin stood up and looked over to Mai, "I'll be back soon, Mai."
Mai nodded and Lin then followed Doctor Stein. They walked along a few ways before Doctor Stein spoke to her.
"And for note, Ms. Lin, while the conversion should heal you of your addiction," Doctor Stein spoke, "you may still need to attend to some therapy to make sure there is no relapse... though, with others that have converted for similar purposes, these sessions haven't lasted long and not needed after a certain point..."
"It's okay," Lin answered, "I've had plenty of interests I could move forward with... I just need to go through with the transformation."
They then made their way to the conversion room. Lin happily sat down on the bed and began undoing her shoelaces. She knew the that Pandas could be bigger than people, perhaps not by the same scale that a Brown Bear or Polar Bear would have, but Pandas were not small. And it was only with those that would be abnormally overweight where Humans would be of the same weight as a Panda, and that was often comparing a male Human to a female Panda. She paid little attention to what Doctor Stein was doing while going through the process of preparing things.
"This will require a shot... as will the vaccination after the transformation," Doctor Stein then spoke when Lin finally looked up to him.
"I can handle shots," Lin answered, "just so long as there is nothing addictive in it."
She heard Doctor Stein laugh as she lifted her sleeve as he then then wiped the alcohol swab over her shoulder to be ready to deliver the injections. After a few moments, Lin heard the "welcome to Animalia" that was something routine with the conversions at Horizon and then followed by the short "pinching" sensation as the shot was delivered. It was soon followed by a second shot, even as Lin began to feel her body starting to grow warmer. She again looked to Doctor Stein as he finished the second shot, and he was already placing caps back on the needles. Lin thought she could see black fur starting to grow out from her skin on that arm.
"We will have clothes that will fit the new you better outside when you're finished and ready," Doctor Stein said to her and left the room.
"Thank you," Lin managed slowly, though it also came with a bit of a pained grunt as her mouth began to push forward and gaining additional muscle.
As this happened, Lin ran her tongue over her teeth and could feel them changing too. Her canine teeth were growing longer, which was part of what made Pandas and all bears like other representatives of the true Carnivorans, but unlike dogs and cats, bears had different molars. Dogs and cats had thin blade-like teeth that were designed to cut meat. Bears generally had flatter teeth that were designed to crush the plant material that made up the omnivorous diet they could take on. Pandas, however, stood out from other bears in that they were predominantly herbivorous and ate things that were tough to chew and digest and that ultimately made their molars broader than that of other bears, at least when compared to the overall size of the animal. The extra muscle would help her be able to crush that plant material.
Lin didn't worry on that too much, for as she changed, she could also feel many of the things that had been there from her addiction, and particularly the withdrawal symptoms went away. As her muscles grew and altered, as her ears migrated to the top of her head, the tremors and twitches weren't there. Or at least they weren't there in the same way. At the same time, she could feel her breasts rapidly begin to swell within her bra, which soon became painfully tight as her musculature grew to match the swelling of her chest. At the same time her hips were widening, and her butt grew a bit larger and firmer, all things that were part of the Animalian transformation. Lin could also feel new muscle groups form at the base of her spine as her tail began to grow a bit. It was something that made Lin alert to her situation and where she was rapidly approaching the point where her clothes weren't going to contain the new her.
Lin struggled a bit as she proceeded to get her clothes off before she burst through them. The shirt wasn't too bad, but she found that her newly grown claws and more muscular fingers had a bit of difficulty with the clasps on her bra and the button on her pants. It was something that showed the differences in scaling and how Animalians often had much larger buttons for shirts, pants, or jackets when compared to Humans, and sometimes even when compared to other Animalians. But she did manage and felt a lot more comfortable once out of the ever-tightening clothes and let her now generous bosom to bounce freely and covered in black fur, just as her arms, legs, and rings around her eyes. The rest of her head, neck, and belly was covered in white fur and made the iconic coloration that the Giant Panda was known for and that made Lin smile.
"Lovely," Lin smiled while hefting one breast in her hand.