Mardi Gras is known as one of the rowdiest holidays on the calendar. As it's the day before Lent becomes and Christians start their penance, it was one last day to get all the 'sin' out of their system until Easter comes. And while Mardi Gras is always on a Tuesday, it's practically never the same date each year as Lent follows a lunar calendar. So sometimes Mardi Gras is rather early in the year or pretty late. And this particular year, it happened to be the day before Valentine's Day. The only real problem with that for Animalia is that they couldn't do some of the erotic stuff they were known for on Valentine's Day out of respect for Christian sensibilities. While they could certainly celebrate love, there wasn't as much sex being involved, at least until Thursday.
As such, the bachelor/bachelorette auction that was going to happen on Valentine's Day was moved to Mardi Gras. And just so there's less space to clean up afterwards, it was taking place in the Meat Market, where the Mardi Gras party was also being held. And between the jazz music that was playing, the cheering of the crowd, and the other noises that went on inside the stripclub, no one would be able to make themselves heard enough to place any bids. As such, it was actually a raffle instead of an auction, with hopeful rafflers dropping tickets with their names inside jars with the names of particular bachelors/bacheloretts on them. Of course, it was a possibility that someone would put tickets in two or more jars and have their names drawn multiple times. If that were to happen, the lucky winner would get a choice between the two Animalians for who they would want to date. The one who wasn't picked would get another name drawn from their jar. One way or another, every Animalian that put themselves up for bid would be going out with somebody.
In a quieter corner of the Meat Market, where one can hear themselves speak without shouting, Miss Fabina was doing a webchat with her colleagues. "So, Aiko, how is Ao Guang Island coming?" asked Fabina.
"Well, construction material does take a while to get here," said Aiko, "One of the problems with a remote island: slow deliveries. But I hope the resort will be ready by summer. At least I don't have to host any Animalia games this year."
"That could happen next year," observed Rachael, "I hear Mieni Atoll gets overcrowded during Animalia Game years."
"There is a big spike in tourist activity," said Wendy, "Ratlyne expects a lot of spare rooms on the ship to be filled up."
"Speaking of whom, how is she?" asked Fabina.
"Well, she wants me to meet her mother, face-to-face," said Wendy, "I tell her there's not a convenient time right now."
"Why are you so nervous about her?" asked Rachael, "Yes, she's a big rat, but you're a big crocodile. And it's not like she needs any more grandkids."
"Well, I don't know how accepting she'll be of her daughter dating another woman," said Wendy.
"She might welcome the variety," said Aiko.
"Rachael, anything going over at your place?" asked Fabina.
Rachael shrugged, "All of the action is happening over in Texas right now. It's too quiet over here. Right now, I'm watching something else."
"What's that?" asked Aiko.
Rachael shared a video that was apparently live in Rio de Janeiro. As was expected, there was a very festive Carnival parade going on. With so many flashy and dazzling costumes and floats, it was hard to keep track of any particular person or thing. But they could see what was drawing Rachael's particular attention. There was one float that was shaped like a big peacock and dancing on it were quite a few peacock Animalians. And considering they both have feminine curves and bouncing breasts along with the bright plumage of the male peacock, they wouldn't need to check their crotches to know these were herm peafowls.
"Well, well, Paula sure has been busy," said Fabina, "I would have thought I'd have heard if there were more herm peafowls being converted."
Wendy frowned and asked, "Paula did go through the proper channels to convert them, didn't shi? Shi didn't convert them without Horizon oversight, right?" There was a bit of tedious paperwork involved with conversions, particularly if one is going for a hermaphrodite conversion. But there is a reason for that paperwork to happen. Horizon Labs needed to keep track of how many Animalians currently exist and be able to make sure they get their annual suppression shots for the virus. Without it, there could be another potential outbreak with innocent animals and people becoming exposed and changed. And a herm outbreak could have bigger ramifications.
"I'm sure Paula wouldn't have done something that reckless," said Fabina, "But I think I'll check at Horizon Labs to be sure." Hopefully, it was only something slipped her personal radar. She'd hate to draw legal attention to someone who showed so much promise.