Ruben just woke up, and quickly got out of bed.
A new day had started, working at the zoo.
Yesterday still fresh in his mind, he couldn't be more excited to start his current shift!
"I wonder what I'll get assigned today!" Ruben said as he quickly ate some breakfast and put on some clothes.
He put on a simple t-shirt and a pair of boxers, more clothes weren't really necessary if he was going to be covered in fur anyways!
Ruben stepped out of his room's door and headed over to the breakroom.
Expecting to see all sorts of wonderfull creatures, it was instead completely filled with normal people! Apart from that some were naked or scarcely dressed in advance for their changes, it didn't seem out of the ordinary!
"Ah my boy! Hope you had a good night's sleep! And I see you have adapted well!" Russell cried out after seeing Ruben show up wearing just a t shirt and boxers.
The teen simply nodded in confirmation, but he was most curious about his new assignment!
Russell finished addressing the others, giving them their animals and off they went.
However Ruben wasn't assigned anything yet.
Had he done something wrong? Fearful of losing his job, worst-case scenarios coursing through his mind.
I hope I am not in trouble because of that sample! What if I wasn't meant to do that!
Russell walked up to him, "Word got to me, that you handed in a sample?" he asked, as Ruben's face went red.
"I.. I... Well.. I..." The boy stammered, unable to find his words.
Russell looked at him with a serious eye, 'I am in so much trouble!' Ruben thought, but then the man simply cracked a smile, killing the tension.
"Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful! I don't think you know, but that sample has been checked and approved! A farmer up north had become desperate that he wouldn't be able to salvage his horse farm, but my boy, you might have just saved that man's lifelyhood!" Russell exclaimed ecstatic.
A sense of relief washed over the boy, "I thought I was in trouble for a bit!" Ruben blurted out, a weight lifted from his shoulders.
"OH, on the contrary dear boy! I'm impressed! So impressed that I am giving you a special assignment!" Russell said happily.
A special assignment? What could that be?
Ruben just looked at Russell with curiousity, he thankfully didn't have to wait long for an answer.
"You see, one of the guests of yesterday wants one of you over for entertainment for their kids birthday party! All you have to do is wander around there, probably take pictures with them", Russell explained.
"That's all? Where will it be? Do I need to change before hand?" Ruben asked.
"No, we have a portable changer for these situations, the pills it hands out are also able to change someone temporarily, for the ones you take I recommend you still take the permanent changes, it helps you out in the long run, but it for the guests it could be fun aswell, just make sure you input the prompts on the device for safety reasons! The birthday party is actually for a boy your age, he specifically chose you as well!" The older man continued.
"Really? Why me?" Ruben asked curiously, why would someone specifically request him?
"I don't know, but I'm sure he'll tell you himself! So why don't you get a bit more clothes, and get ready, I'll prepare the portable changer, and will meet you here in a bit, sounds good?" Russell ended the conversation, and walked off.
"A birthday party huh? Sounds exciting!".
Jackson appeared out of the corridor, still human, he had blonde hair, green eyes and a small stubble beard. He was also a lot taller now then when he was as a monkey. Behind him trailed a young woman, probably around her mid twenties. She had jet black hair, that stopped around her shoulders, her eyes were a soft greyish colour.
"Be sure to take some cake back with you! Nice to meet you I'm Marlene!" she said introducing her, finally adding a face to the name the boy heard earlier.
"Oh hey, I'm Ruben! Nice to meet you! You were with Riley yesterday, right?" he asked after politely introducing himself.
She simply nodded.
They clearly had something else to say, but were a bit reluctant, eventually Marlene punched Jackson with her elbow, trying to be as nonchalant as possible.
"Ow, yeah, right... So everyone had a bit of a chat about you last night and we're happy you're here with us! We also decided it would be a good idea if you had some people around to fall back on, and Marlene suggested it should be us! Seeing how I helped you along yesterday, and we were all supposed to meet in the beginning anyway! We are also your ride to the special assignment!" Jackson explained.
Ruben simply nodded, he was glad he could catch a ride.
"That's sounds good, but don't you have your own assignments?".
"Nope, we took the day off, also a fun fact, you can take as many personal days without mentioning them up front! I wanted to go to the city for a while, and seeing how the birthday location is on the route, Marlene suggested we could take you there, also totally not inviting herself to my day off!".
It was clear that Jackson had something else to say, but after one more punch in his side from Marlene's elbow, it was clear that, that might not be the smartest move....
Ruben simply laughed it off, and quickly told them that he was gonna put some more clothes on, before they could head out.
The boy quickly got dressed properly and exited his room once more.
Russell appeared and quickly handed off a device to Jackson, it had the size and look of a laptop. 'That must be the portable changer!' Ruben thought.
Russell wished him good luck and quickly left, going back to his previous duties.
Jackson turned to the boy.
"Are you ready to go?"