Most primate Animalians are uplifted monkeys and apes either from Lyre's zoo or the natural habits near Animalia's colonies. Not many people seemed interested in converting into a monkey. It wasn't that people dislike monkeys, but most preferred to become something more exotic than another kind of primate. And there may be something of an uncanny valley effect as well, with ape Animalians looking so much like humans and yet clearly not.
Hua had a different opinion. She was wanting to become a monkey for a few reasons. The primary reason was she wanted her broken lotus feet to be changed into something much more usable. She also envied the way that monkeys could move around so nimbly and wanted to become like that. And having a prehensile tail would be a welcome thing. Though she soon learned that only New World monkeys have tails like that. She soon set her goals on one of the nimblest of the New World monkeys: the spider monkey. She was even wanting to take the extra leap and go for the four-armed package. But there were a few things about the spider monkey she wasn't prepared for.
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"I'm going to lose my thumbs?" asked Hua.
"Not at all," said Dr. Banjo, "The Dinotopian variant may cause some fingers to fuse, but never the thumbs. Most Animalians have hands similar to humans, if you don't consider paw pads, claws, and hooves. I'm simply saying that natural spider monkeys lack thumbs as they've adapted so much to arboreal life that having four-fingered hooks is more efficient for them. But that won't change your hands to the point of becoming thumbless."
"But what about my feet?" asked Hua.
Dr. Banjo avoided looking at her feet. Even though they were currently wearing shoes, seeing such unnaturally tiny feet made him feel a little queasy. He didn't even want to see them bare. "Well, your feet may not develop the prehensile shape that other monkeys have."
"Can't you do something?" asked Hua.
"Well, a little Capuchin DNA spliced can give you that kind feet if that's what you want," said Dr. Banjo.
"I do want to make the most of this," said Hua.
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Some time later, the Animalian virus was tailored to Hua's specifications. She was left alone to give her privacy as she changed. She was also give some anesthesia to ease the pain. Her bound feet was going to get more extreme change than Zhen or Ruogang. Though any lingering pain should fade once the transformation was ended. Hua tried to block out the pain in her feet by concentrating on the transformation in the rest of her body.
Black hair grew over her form. There were several pops as old age was being worked out of her bones, letting her stand up straighter. It was a little disconcerting to see her arms extending out beyond her sleeves as they became longer. Her fingers were also getting longer, though her thumbs didn't diminish. She felt her muscles tightening as her figure returned, though she became much curvier than she had before, particularly in the chest. She felt her ears get bigger while her nose flattened into that particular simian shape.
The strangest part was when her new appendages grew in. Hua wore a looser shirt that she could pull up. Her spine felt weird as it grew out. It quickly became as long as her arms, covered in black fur except for a patch on the underside at the end, not unlike her new palms. Speaking of which, she felt her sides bulge before entirely new bones started extending out. New nerves tingled as her new limbs finished forming.
Hua felt so different, so lighter and yet stronger. She lifted up one leg to look at her foot. No longer was it the distorted shape resembling a tiny shoe, now it was almost like a hand. She wiggled her toes and clutched them together. That was going to take some getting used to. Standing on her new feet wasn't too hard, though her new body shape made balancing a bit of a problem. Though her tail would probably take most of the weight off the front.
Hua looked in the mirror to see what looked like a large four-armed monkey in her clothes staring back. She still had her hair, which was black again, to show she had been human. She might see a bit of her human self in her simian face, though the fur and the flat nose distorted things. She wasn't much taller than before, mostly her spine had straightened out of its osteoporosis. She wasn't particular muscular either, her body designed more for flexibility and agility than strength. But she at least had the sizeable breasts that Animalian females typically had.
Then she heard a knock on the door. "Are you ready?" asked Dr. Banjo's voice.
"Just a minute," said Hua, her voice sounding young again. She walked to the door, teetering a bit with her new proportions. At least she had no trouble using her hands.
Dr. Banjo took in the four-armed spider monkey that opened the door. "Well, I would say the conversion was a success," he said, "How do you feel?"
"Gangly and awkward," said Hua, "Do all monkeys feel like this?"
"Well, I wouldn't know personally," said Dr. Banjo, "I'm an orangutan. But I'm sure you'll adapt in no time."
"These will need a lot of adapting too," said Hua, holding up her newer set of hands.
"Fortunately, there have been enough four-armed Animalians that we've developed a physical therapy session to help newly converted learn to develop better motor control of their new limbs," said Dr. Banjo.
Hua flexed her new tail and said, "I hope that includes tails too."