Dale had just turned 45 and was finally about to do what he'd being promising himself he would do since he was 40. He was finally gonna turn himself part animal!
You see, when the animal remodelings started, Dale had been fascinated. Everyone else read about it online and said it was only for rich idiots it would probably never catch on. But prices came down, Animal Inc. offices and competitors started to multiply, and animal transformations became increasingly available to the general public. All his friends and coworkers said it was a stupid fad and only an idiot would want hooves or fur. Dale sheepishly laughed along. Now animal people are walking around pretty much everywhere, and most people don't even take notice. And Dale has been finally building up the courage, because he has finally spent all this time wanting his very own animal part!
It's not that Dale wants to actually be an animal. He's got a more or less decent human middle-aged life. He's not itching to become an anthro (at least not yet). He's just insanely curious about what it's like to do at least one thing a non-human animal does. He literally just wants to change a single part--or maybe a pair of parts, if needed to stay symmetrical.
"This is really all you want to change?" said the doctor, who is used to people always saying, "Well, actually, while we're at it, can I also have...?" But Dale doesn't say anything like that. He only says, "Yes-sirree, doc, having ____ will be good enough for me!"
But what is this simple, targeted change? What has Dale been fascinating about owning ever since the remodeling facilities began to open? And what will become of him once he is no longer entirely human?
Dale wants: