While TF Park USA had it's own agenda, one that was sociological rather then financial, like most group entities, it had it's hidden spots. These dark spots were nothing as twisted as any of Morty's deluded nightmares, though he'd likely have not believed the human Juanita's words if she was hooked up to a lie detector.
Katie had her own doubts about the park's real intentions, but she very much doubted they were all being implanted with mind control chips. Katie believed the management was being way too reckless. Not to mention that recent medical science suggested that one gene in a living thing wasn't responsible for trait but several at once. It wasn't a simple jigsaw puzzle that a lot of science fiction writers came it out to be, things simply overlapped. But the fact they could see be homoerectus versions of animals that hadn't been on the same evolutionary trail for millions upon millions of years did suggest the genetic engineers did have some clue what they were doing.
Harry had been wrong, there had been one exception to the most basic rule of the park, you went though the gene splicer twice, once to get fur, the other to lose it. Katie remembered a wolverine morph who had joined the park, another victim of the 'random' button. Only he didn't have end up a female (there was 50/50 shot after all) he ended up a carnivore. While this might not seem awful at first glance, there was just one problem the poor guy was a vegetarian! And the poor man suddenly found his body unable to handle anything beyond tiny berries and even they couldn't effective fill him. The man (he had been in his late twenties) had done his best, he had eaten eatable wild plants and mushrooms, but his digestive track was no longer omnivorous, and most certainly was not herbivorous! He kept making himself ill. He held onto his convictions of course, after all, what was the point of following something if you only followed it when it suited you?
Katie had to give the guy credit, he wasn't one of those sunday veggies who ate hamburgers on the holidays. The huskies had finally be told to do their job when he was literally dying of starvation. After a few week in the park hospital and some intravenous feeding the wolverine was finally healthy again. After that, the park finally, FINALLY allowed him to chose another species.
'Maybe I am over complicating matters like the others say.' Katie thought from a hiding place that even the most sensitive nose couldn't hope to find. 'Just focus on the job, and pray that the least civilized this thing is gonna get is a couple broken off antler points and some bruises.'
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"Hey, what if an alien nanits infects us, and then infects the rest of the human race and think we're normal and they're the freaks and 'fix' them? Or what if WWIII happened and the park got spared because it wasn't near a military target? Or what if-"
"Zack, not now." Harry sighed before getting into their hiding spot. Zack was always coming up different scenarios would everyone on Earth would end up losing half their monkey heritage. They ranged from clever, to cliche, to amusing to weird. However, for Zack it seemed more a game he played than anything he was taking serious. After all, life, events, and encounters, were strange and hard enough WITHOUT having to rebuild civilization.
The two huskies stopped their chatter as they got into position as well. As far as Harry was concerned, all this meant was that he got closer seats to the penultimate event. Unlike some of the others, he was fully confident in his own identity as a civilized being. Human beings had to control their instincts every day of their lives in culture. So what if there was a new set on the table? Different level lay out, same goal line.
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As Jeremy and Drake whacked each other like nobody's business, two best friends somehow managed to keep a conversation going.
"Hey Rob'."
"Yeah John?"
"Did ya hear bout what Spike said?"
"Do I wanna know?" Robbie asked with dread. He remembered telling John about how Spiked planned to 'show the does who’s in charge by treating them all to a free night.' Robbie admitted a lot of chicks didn't know good stuff when they saw it, but, but THAT?! Robbie may have looked the part, but he still didn't consider himself less than human. Robbie just prayed that Spike didn't mean what Robbie thought he meant.
"Spikes wants to adopt Drake's policy, with some modifications of course."
"Spike stays the buck, and Drake becomes the doe right?"
"Yep. So... if Spike wins all this, and he manages to convince everyone to along with Drake's idea, and the park somehow decides it's better to give the baby his bottle... can ya remember to ask one of them huskies to smuggle in a coin for us to flip?"
"You.. you wanna figure out in advance which one of us ends up the girl!? What makes ya think it would only happen to one of us!"
"Wishful thinkin'."
"How about some MORE wishful thinking like the dude who used to be chick kicking Spike in those oversized bags of his!" Yes, both John and Robbie were in Sam's half of the tournament.
"Like my mom said... hope for the best, prepare for the worst."
It's times like this I almost wish Lance had picked garden weasels."
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Sam saw that Spike's wounds were beginning to scab over. Jeremy and Drake were still going at it, Jeremy losing ground from Drake's superior muscle mass. One way or another this fight was going to be over soon enough. And that meant that Sam had better think of a way to beat a guy had more experience being male, likely had more experience fighting, had more muscle, and had a pain threshold through the roof.
'Honey, if you could see me now.' Sam thought looking at the sky. Dang, not a cloud in the sky. So much for rain. 'Would you have a heart attack? Or die laughing? A month's vacation I told you. What could go wrong I told you.'
As far as buck's fighting, Sam knew that in nature, a buck like himself would lose to a buck like Spike. 'But I'm not just a buck. I have a sentient brain to boot. Come on Samantha think, how can you out wit this walking smashing machine without your antlers being fed to you in the process?'
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While there were bucks who were gems looking for a long term relationship, many of them were either freaked out, or thrown off by the fact Hannah used to be male. Either because they thought she wasn't a 'real' woman, or that she'd ultimately go back to being male, or then there were the few who held to the idea that thought that somehow souls could have genders.
Like the others, Hannah couldn't help but think of the high ranking bucks as attractive. Su Yin's theories appeared to be on the money. However, her brain was still able to process the simple fact that Sam already had a significant. And no matter how hot Drake or Spike were... she had zero intention of submitting herself to either of them.
'And here I am.' Hannah thought. 'Where I've always been. But instead of not finding Miss. Right I can't find Mr. Right. All there are here are the dumb bucks just interested in a one night fling who'd turn chicken and run if I had had fawns.' She pictured herself as the life companion to Spike. She shivered in revulsion at the thought.
'No.' Hannah thought, proving to herself at least she was still civilized, and still better than her instincts. 'Not you. Never you. I'd rather spend my life with only friends than spend my life with you.'
"Leticia where are you going?" Idle Jenny asked when she noticed one of her fellow does inch along down from their look out spot towards the bucks. Leticia nearly tripped and fell forewords onto the rocks.
"I just, I just wanted a closer look." A total lie, but a believable one.
Su Yin said sternly, "If you think they'll go easy on you because you plan on becoming male again later, don't."
Lateisha sighed, "I KNEW coming back here was a mistake, I just knew it. But I let majority rule and my own curiosity win out."
Su Yin said, "It's not wrong to be curious. And as long as look out for each other, we should be fine for now."
"I wonder if this how Vulcans feel every seven years." Said Hannah, all of her original Star Trek series info still intact in her brain. 'If that's the case, then lay this to rest Sam. Before someone does something they'll regret.'
"Ahoy!" The does were distracted from Leticia by a lynx whose voice which gender they were, and they hadn't finishing climbing to their spot yet.
"So you would say this event is having an effect on you does as wells? Would you describe it as a voice in your heads, or just something that pulls you along without thinking about it? I'm with the newshounds."
While one can wonder how a pack of dogs could accept a feline into their number, but a basic part of dog psychology was that they saw many living things as dogs also regardless of actual species. Thus, since the newshounds consciously recognized everyone as being part of civilization, their instincts recognized them all as 'fellow canines' making the hounds' instincts, ironically, the easiest to get along with.
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As was doubly evident with how Harrison was able to relax with Keith and Jackie even as he continued to mouth off questions, being sure memorize everything that cat's told him about the recent going ons in the outside world.
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"Hello." Said a small, gender ambiguous voice behind Laurie who had managed to sneak past the fox's delicate senses perfectly. The teenagers glanced behind them while Laurie actually looked. Then had to look down, at a pint sized lynx who only came up to her waist.
"My big sibling said they'd talk to the does and I could talk to you. I'm Francis, nice to meet you. Can you answer some questions about for our forest land news paper Miss?"