Some of the trip that Angie had made after her conversion into a Burmese Python Animalian was interesting, as had largely spent much of her life in the western parts of the US where much of the climate and terrain was dry and rugged. The green that was present in Florida was interesting to look at. The fact that the state's agencies responsible for dealing with wildlife, poaching, and related activities helped with some of the costs, and made her curious about some of the reasons why. That curiosity was enough for her to make the journey and visit with these people. For the most part they were also polite enough to her that some worries were alleviated.
However, some parts of the present mission seemed odd and perplexing to her as to why. For while Florida had a "hunting season" for the invasive Burmese Python, and rewards for removing female snakes were higher than removing males, that wasn't until the fall and much of the rest of the state's laws wanted to limit such activity beyond that. That was likely a protective measure that made sense, as some people who typically poached other animals might use the claim of "going after pythons" as an excuse to go in and shoot other animals if there weren't such hunting regulations. But outside of seeing some of these agents in action with a lot of their work, which could be seen as interesting, there hadn't been a lot that she could really provide that was going to really help. The agents already knew a lot of the behaviors and preferred environments for the Burmese Python that was on par with the requirements that Angie had go through before her conversion.
What remained were things that would be either limited or embarrassing. The limited aspect was going with some of their local teams that often had to deal with these invasive snakes from time to time, as the state law enforcement agents were trusted to be more careful in areas so as to not cause ecological harm accidentally. Some of this was to see if the snakes they encountered responded to Angie differently than they did the regular officers, and if so, why? Was it because they noted her scent as being similar to theirs? Or was there some move that she could do as an Animalian that would come off as calming to the mundane animal. Angie was relatively calm with this but suspected that much of the "calm" might only be because of the specific Animalian she was and then playing to certain circumstances. Of course, that might convince the Florida Game Fish and Parks officers that becoming Animalians themselves might be necessary and might also help with some of the other issues that dominated the state.
The embarrassing part, though, was the idea to get samples of her own sexual fluids, which could then be used to create a sort of aerosol spray that they could then use in various parts of the state to set up traps for these pythons. The scent would attract others, even though it was outside the snake's breeding season. How well that would ultimately work could be hit and miss, as pythons weren't social creatures and may not run into each other all that often. And in the swampy terrain of places like the Everglades, scent baits may not work as well as they would areas without that much water. But they had the idea and they really wanted it and felt that an Animalian would be more than happy to provide it. To Angie it seemed as though they thought that because Animalians had a higher libido than normal Humans, they were pretty much nymphomaniacs who were constantly looking to sate those lusts. She ultimately only accepted the idea when it was assured that she wouldn't have to do this in their headquarters and would have extreme privacy. She was also thankful that with the vaccine in her system, there wouldn't be a risk of uplifting animals through this.
The last bit was going on with the patrol teams as they handled calls and responded to issues. When they had to deal with Human criminal activity, Angie stayed back and let them do their work. It would only be if they got a call for a Burmese Python that she would take more action and nothing more than that, as there would often be other animals that they would have to deal with. With one unit in Jacksonville, they responded to a call from a woman about a snake in her family pool. The snake turned out to be a Cottonmouth, a native pit-viper. That snake was removed by the wardens with a normal catch pole and a sack, and earned some laughter when Angie seemed nervous near the much smaller snake. That had to bring in a reminder on Burmese Pythons not being snake eaters.
Eventually they did get some calls on some Burmese Pythons and there, Angie was given a chance to see if her being an Animalian, and specifically a Burmese Python Animalian, would make things easier in handling the large reptile. From there, Angie would be able to better assess if it was purely because of the type of Animalian she was or if there was some instinctive method that the Human officers could duplicate, as this was one of the critical points. If it was something they could learn, things like conversions and similar programs, which could cost them money to get the appropriate vehicles or adjust the vehicles they had would not be necessary. If conversions were needed, the state of Florida would likely have to spend more money to accomplish it, and from what Angie could tell, they had no interest on spending the money on anything that didn't involve attacking people they didn't like.
The first was a snake that was reported trying to get into a chicken coup on a small farm. The area was on slightly raised ground and they did find the snake outside the building. It didn't respond well to the Humans and only paused when they effectively herded to Angie. The snake probably didn't see her well, but it did likely smell her, and Angie found that as she flicked her own tongue in and out, she could find that this snake was a female, though not a really big one for a python. It did, however, seem to calm and cooperate enough for Angie to movie into the giant plastic bucket the officers had brought to carry the snake in, which confirmed that being a Python Animalian probably did the most in making the snake curious to a point that it wasn't fighting.
The second one was one that ended up being a victim of some of the flooding in parts of southern Florida as part of the storms that surged through the area. It had come out of a drainage area that was saturated in water and was seeking higher ground. It was larger than the first and had tried to cross a road that was also flooded. Unfortunately for the snake, someone had been driving on that road and hit the snake just as it reached the other side. Angie and the animal control officers got the call and had to slowly make their way over flooded roads to get to the site. Here, Angie found that while the python was badly hurt, by dumb luck, the car had managed to crush no bones near its vital organs, and it was just the tail and rear part of the snake that got crushed. Angie also was able to scent that this one was male and found it surprisingly curious about her as she tried to move it. It wasn't aggressive and some of the movements looked like what the guidebooks described as typical courtship behavior, which made little sense given that they were past the Burmese Python's mating season.
That curiosity on the part of the snake, however, was enough that Angie didn't want the snake to be put down or anything like that. And with its injuries being critical, even if not immediately life threatening, that left only one option, uplifting the snake and that brought her and one of the officers from the farmlands on the southwest coast of Florida, to the small island on the northern coast of Florida on the Atlantic side at Dinotopia Aquatica, which was where Horizon did much of its business at the Animalian colony. Some of the staff members there were a bit concerned over the officer's presence as the long box that the python was in was carried into one of the stone conversion rooms that made up part of the main Horizon offices and the medical center on the island. Angie noted the hum of the electric lights occasionally moved her belly scales on her tail to feel the rock beneath her and finding that a lot felt rather polished.
"Is this really necessary?" one of the Horizon scientists asked, "we have enough of the base formula to do the uplifting with relative ease. We don't need a bunch of armed men that may well frighten the new Animalian."
"And given its injuries, it's not going to be that much of a threat," another spoke as the box was set down.
The box had a long plastic lid that fit into a groove on the top side of the box and showed the python as it lay there. For the moment, it looked rather lethargic and inattentive. Angie was no doctor, but she figured that while the car may not have crushed a vital organ that would cause immediate death, it may have done damage to other organs that could potentially kill or paralyze the snake if untreated. As many organs were generally stretched out in order to be compressed into as narrow a frame as possible for snakes. Thus, while the visible points of compression where the car went over the snake missed a vital organ, it had to have done some serious damage to others, and by now the python was barely responding to even the Human's presence.
"It is still a Burmese Python and has the potential to be strong," one of the two officers spoke.
"It's also badly injured, and your own phone call stated that the injury likely happened sometime yesterday afternoon and you've essentially been driving all night to bring him here," the first Horizon scientist spoke, "the thing is in no condition to really threaten anyone, and the uplifting process will largely fix many of the more "feral" issues that have been there with every Animalian."
The two officers nodded, but remained long enough to begin removing the plastic lid that held the python in. It flicked its tongue occasionally but took no real movement. Angie watched as the lead scientist readied a syringe.
"Couldn't you give it something to drink?" Angie asked.
By this point the plastic lid had slid out through the groove in the box and was tipped up to get the python to slide onto the stone floor. This got a bit of a response, but it wasn't much more than a hiss and panting sort of breath that indicated that the snake was in no great shape.
"Given the condition he's in... he's not going to be up for much," the second Horizon Scientist spoke as the first kneeled beside the snake, "in a way... complications from the initial injury have him at death's door. And while many animals can prove to be surprisingly tough and hold on against a lot of near impossible odds... they eventually do reach a point where they're too weak to do much more than just wait for the end. I think that's where this guy is now. The uplifting should reverse that, and we have the charts to know where we can get the Animalia Virus into his system to uplift him. You'd best all go out to give him privacy. We'll join you once the shots have been administered."
Angie sighed and then went out with the two officers. The hallway was wider than many of the hallways in the hotels that she'd stayed at while as part of the tour to visit and confer with the various state game, fish, and parks officers. Though, some of that was to be expected. While not all marine reptiles of the Mesozoic Era were giants, and there were likely a fair number that were of comparable size to modern fish, whales, and dolphins, but there were still plenty that were big. She remembered watching the Year of the Dragon Contest and noted some of the major differences between some of the competitors, even in the swimming portion of the competition. The larger hallways and openings at Dinotopia Aquatica were likely necessary. It wasn't long after that the two scientists came out and waved over one of the aides and helpers. They offered them a bag, that had some clothing in it while they turned over the syringes with the orange safety caps put on and with the instructions for disposal.
"It won't be too long," the first Horizon Scientist said to Angie, who only shrugged.
The snake may have been curious about her, but her concern was merely for its health. She'd help it adapt to being an Animalian, and hopefully shield it from any attempt on "immigration actions" that the two Florida state officials might try, but for the moment she had no plans beyond that. The group only waited for a few moments. It didn't feel like long before there was a tap at the door from the inside. Angie barely heard it, but the Horizon doctors responded quickly.
"Are you feeling better?" the first asked the closed door. A moment later, the Horizon scientist smiled and then turned to Angie, “he’d like to talk to you first. You can take the clothing for him with you. Thankfully there was an all-night Walmart that was open when you called.”
Angie opened the door and moved in with the bag of clothes that would be for this new male. She noted that there was a Miami Dolphins tee-shirt and what looked like a loincloth and a belt in there as well. Some of that made her shrug a bit, but then, with no legs, things like pants and shorts were hard to make work. For female Snake Animalians, it made dresses and skirts more practical, while males had to go between either a loin cloth or a kilt. The new male was technically nude, but since reptiles didn't have external sex organs in the way that mammals did, and the growth of breasts with females was a result of some of the other features of the Animalia Virus and applied more to females than this male. He was wide shouldered and the vent that hid where his equipment was was presently closed. Angie also noted that he stood erect and that the areas where the car had crushed him were gone and he looked to her intently and blinking his new eyelids.
"You're the one who sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssaved me," he said in a low voice and with his voice hissing the "s."
"You were found more as the victim of someone driving in weather that he shouldn't have been driving," Angie said slowly, "the Burmese Python may be invasive to Florida... but, being put down with no confirmation of attacks on people, pets, or livestock and because you got run over by a car..."
"Sssssssssssso that'sssssssssssssssssssss what hit me assssssssssssssssssssssssssss..." he said slowly.
"You'll get used to it," Angie said slowly, "hissing the "s" seems common with new Snake Animalians, regardless of whether they're converted Humans like me or an uplifted Python."
"Animaliansssssssssssssssssss?" he asked.
"Yes, a community of anthropomorphic animals... some were once mundane animals, but many were also once Human," Angie nodded, "In my case... I became a Burmese Python because I always liked the snake. There was one in a zoo I liked to go to. But a few years ago, that snake died of old age and the zoo didn't have a replacement... and in a way, when that happened, there was a sense of loss to my childhood."
"Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssorry," he spoke as he looked to her, and Angie noted his eyes were drawn to her breasts for a moment.
"That wasn't your fault, just as it wasn't your fault an idiot decided to drive on a flooded rood and hit you while trying to swim through the water," Angie answered, "even if the species is invasive to Florida..."
"Invassssssssssssssssssssssssssssssive? I hatched here," he argued, "I, personally, am native to Florida."
"You as an individual, but your species is not," Angie answered, "many were thought to be escaped or released pets... many others were likely freed when a hurricane damaged a facility that had Burmese Pythons in it, and from there... the species has become a problem. The officers I was with are assigned to protect the state's wildlife and environmental balance, at least so far as poaching and dealing with animals not native to the state."
"And they'd let me ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssstay?" he asked.
"Maybe," Angie spoke, "though... a lot of that may end up requiring certain things that are embarrassing."
"What about you?" he wondered.
"Well..." Angie began and looked to him.
"Call me Sssssssssssssssssslick," he said.
"Well," Angie said slowly, "Slick... I normally live out in the West... When I've finished all that I can here, I'll probably go back."
"Could I help?" Slick asked, "I know thissssssssssssssssssssssssss isssssssssssssssssssss very forward... but, you're very pretty. I like your... the stringy decorative things that Humans have on their heads."
"Hair," Angie corrected, "like the fur on mammals."
"Yes... hair," Slick nodded, "it looks good."
"Well... thank you," Angie said slowly, "for now... I suppose I could help you acclimate to being an Animalian... maybe talk the state game, fish, and parks officers that you won't be a threat to anyone..."
Before Angie could finish, Slick came forward on his tail and began to vigorously shake her hands.
"Thank you," Slick said to her, "hopefully we'd at leasssssssssssssssssssst be friendssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss... dang it."
"You'll get better with the letter "s" in time and with practice," Angie said to him.