“There’s always one in every group,” the New You clerk smiled as you walked back through their doorway.
“I want to be a minotaur,” you blurted out. “Err, I mean- My friend just pressed random. But… It felt perfect.”
“Uh huh,” he grinned. “Have a big LARPing event scheduled for the holidays?”
You shook your head, “No, I just- I want to be part bull.”
The clerk had walked you back over to the VR stations. He tapped one of the headsets gently, “The brain’s not used to receiving large amounts of novel input. Try playing around with a few more forms just to make sure it’s the one.”
“I’m pretty sure-“ you started.
“We’ve got a 48 hour waiting period as well,” they laughed, “You’re sleeping on the decision one way or another.”
“Oh- Okay,” you sat down in the chair, “I guess one more go can’t hurt.”
You logged into the virtual storefront and spent about an hour trying on different forms. You immediately went back to the minotaur, but then you explored a few other similar creatures of legend. Satyrs were similar but… smaller in a way you didn’t like. Centaurs were huge in their own way, but they’d make public transit a little tricky. You then tried some canines and felines but nothing seemed to resonate with you as much as that first big bull form.
You spent the last twenty minutes in VR just building the perfect minotaur. When Ace had hit random, you just had a ton of random attributes thrown onto your body. Now with the extra time, you were able to get the bull’s fur just the perfect shade of brown. You managed to get some semblance of your hair’s part on his head fur, and you made the horns a little more impressive. The brown monotone was nice, but you added in some white cow spots at the last minute.
Everything was perfect.
“Alright,” the clerk tapped a clipboard, “I think I’ve got all the details here.”
You sat in a chair and listened to their gene modding spiel. A real chair this time, not a VR rig.
“Shifting feet into hooves is a pretty big alteration. You’ll have to be asleep for about six to eight hours while the modification takes place. Your mind will be rewired for the new sensations, but you’ll still need a while to get a hang of walking on hooves. I’ve got a Friday night appointment that should give you the whole weekend to experiment.”
“Sounds good to me,” you nodded.
“Ahem, there’s just the small matter of your no longer being fully human,” the clerk skimmed some text on their clipboard. “Your genetic code will be backed up if you decide to revert back to your original form. In accordance with the 2158 Human Preservation act, I must inform you that you’ll be prevented from procreating at a genetic level.”
You blinked.
“Modding adults is easy. Having half-human kids with hooves running around is a whole other ball game. We have to do this with anyone who’s received more than 3% of non-human DNA.” The laughed softly, “Relax, you’ll just be shooting blanks.”
“O-kay…“ You tried to process that new information.
“Do you like going to the gym by the way?” The clerk clearly wanted to change the subject.
“Not particularly?” You glanced down at yourself. You weren’t exactly the spitting image of fit, but you hadn’t modeled your minotaur self with an 8-pack or anything.
“Bull muscles will get restless if they’re not regularly used. There’s a nice gym rat mod we can include in your package that will increase the amount of serotonin released during a workout.”
“I want to be half bull, not half rat,” you corrected him.
“It’s an expression.” The clerk handed you another pamphlet, “I know some Fur friendly gyms I can recommend.”
“Oh! I’m not a…” Your voice trailed off.
“Did you… not realize you were signing up to become a Fur?” The clerk couldn’t help but chuckle. “Like I said. You should sleep on this decision.”
He handed over the final bundle of paperwork, “There’s just one last decision to make: So you want to do this piecemeal or all at once?”
“I hadn’t t really thought about it,” you admitted. Maybe you were getting a little in over your head, “What do you recommend?”
“Well, becoming a minotaur is a pretty big change. If you do it all at once, it’ll take a while for your genome to settle down. You’d be stuck clopping around for about a month.” He rubbed the back of his neck, “Perhaps stuck isn’t the right word. You’d be committed to that form for about the rest of the year. Alternatively, we can do it as a series of four procedures. Each one should take about a week for you genes to stabilize.”
“So I could roll things back after a week if I don’t like them?” you asked.
“Exactly,” the clerk nodded, “So what’ll it be?”