11: 00 AM -- First Church of TF Park USA Jessica and Katie
For a moment, Katie wondered if Jessica might have been a plant from some rival company planning to kidnap the pregnant bride. 'Okay. Stop that thought right there Katie! You are NOT gonna turn into Monty. You are NOT gonna see evil schemes in every odd thing that happens, and evil spies in every noob that the pack leader dumps on you to teach you about responsibility.'
"Please, just call me Katie, 'Ma'am' is what we call the dog bitch queen." 'It's what she is, so it's not a slur.'
"Yes Katie!" The newest husky stood at attention and nodded.
'At least the new girl isn't a complete air head.' Katie thought.
Jessica felt amazement at the sound of her own voice. Not only was the tone and inflection of everything she said different, her voice was coming out of a completely different larynx. She then mentally laughed at herself. Different? How was it different? It was the same voice she always had, she was Jessica. Another person might have had a different sounding voice, but Jessica was herself.
"I'm happy to see you're eager to please, " Katie said, "But ya don't need to respond 'hub to' everything I say. It feels a little weird." On the other hand Katie didn't mind having a bit more authority, even if it was over a newbie like Jessica.
"Yes Katie-I mean- okay!" Jesscia nodded.
"That's better." Katie said, "So you're new here?"
"Yup! This is my first day on duty!"
'Okay Naomi I get it.' Katie mentally moaned. 'Divine punishment for me being impulsive and taking after Harry, I get it.'
"All right then. Then remember, we don't interact directly with the guests unless we need to. We're a fixture to this place. We're here to just to make sure they're safe and healthy while they stay in the park. It's a vacation for them, but it's a duty to us."
"Understood Katie! Don't interact with guests unless you gotta, got it! Just like it said in the manual."
'Good! She read it! That means she won't be total trouble. Maybe she can be helpful.' "So what did Naomi tell you about the wedding?"
"Just that it's the most important thing to happen in the park in like, ever, and that I wasn't supposed to screw it up." The smile never left Jessica's face.
"All right then, let me break it down for you, a lot's happened leading up to this point in the park. The lead buck, who used to be at the bottom of the social ladder, is getting married to his doe, who used to be a male."
"Transvestite?" Not that Jessica had anything against such people of course.
"No, not really. Her DNA was changed to that of a female along with the rest of her. She's already decided to keep her new form after her time expires."
"Can she do that?" The manual didn't mention such details.
"We'll know in nine months, she's pregnant."
"Whao. You think, like, she could have waited for the wedding night."
"Actually, from what I heard, the pregnancy is what inspired them to get married, it also broke her up with her boy friend, ex-girl friend."
"Okay, my head just hurt." Jessica admitted.
"Don't worry about it, happens to a lot of newbies on their first day."
"Okay.... so.. I just stick with you?" Jessica blinked.
"Jessica, Naomi made you -my- responsibility. That means if anything happens to you, then it's my fault. I've been here longer, so I have to watch out for you."
Jessica bowed, "Okay, I'll do my best to make sure you don't get in trouble."
"Thanks. Now. If everything goes smoothly, we'll just have a good view of the wedding. If something does go wrong, or a fight breaks out, you stick next to me! Follow me like you were my shadow! And do -not- go overboard on any of the guests if you need to subdue them. You were given the basics on how to fight right?"
Jessica said, "Yeah! I know martial arts!" Jessica did a karate kick to show off.
Katie made a small laugh, "Heh, right kiddo. Just don't get over confident, most of these guests aren't used to fighting people who know more than they do, so don't go being dramatic."
"Okay, I won't." Jessica said, "So what do you guys do in the down time?"
"Mostly just talk. We're not quite as isolated as the guests, so we know some stuff on a more regular basis than the guests. There's no rule against it, but the Management frowns on us blabbing information to the news hounds. They really like the whole 'in another world' motif I think."
"The Management sounds pretty rigid." Jessica was glade she wasn't part of the Management, they sounded like a bunch of jerks.
"Yeah, some are, some aren't. Don't worry about it. As long as we do our job, they let us Huskies and the guests do their own thing. So what inspired you to get this job anyway? Me? I just wanted to learn a bit more about how dogs think."
"I just wanted to be a husky." Jessica said, "Even as a little girl I wanted to be one."
"Whao! That's interesting." 'Who'd have thought someone who want to be one of these things? She must be a furry fan on the outside.'
The Management had been very, VERY careful to make sure their true aim remained as unknown as the absolute value of Pi.
Jessica had this odd feeling she was giving away an important secret by telling Katie this, but she was her superior pack member, so she was sure it was all right.
"Yep! I always felt that being human, was somehow wrong for me, I don't hate humans mind you, I just felt it was born the wrong species."
Katie thought for a minute, "Heh, maybe you should talk it over with Father Tyminski."
"Whose that?"
"The priest whose gonna run the ceremony. Weird guy, though I'll admit I haven't met many priests in person so I can't really judge. He says that we're human as long as we continue to treat each other in a civilized manner, and only really become something else if we let go of our values of treating our 'fellow man' with respect."
Jessica tilted her head, her curiosity raised slightly. "But I like me a lot better like this."
"Always something fun about something exciting and new, I'll give ya that. But hey, Naomi I heard actually BURNED the clothes she brought in when she accepted her job here at the park on the one year anniversary of her transformation. So she's literally burned her bridges behind her." Speaking of which, Naomi had made sure Juanita's clothes were safely hidden and out of the way and not where someone else would find them. Naomi was very careful about her duties.
"Whao! That's hard core!" Jessica said.
"Don't let her hear you say that. Naomi has this thing against guys and this thing for girls."
"Geez, I wouldn't have guessed." Jessica smirked. "I'm sure she was looking at my butt when she was drilling me." Jessica was quickly filling in the blanks in her mind. She remembered hearing about a job that could let her live what she thought was a fantasy. Yes, she remembered signing her labor contract to be part of the pack. She remember being given basic training by Naomi. Yes, she was remembering her life more and more the more she talked with Katie. (Not Juanita's life of course.)
"Heheh, yeah." 'So, this little thing is a pet project of Naomi's. All the more reason to look after her. Plus, this kid's pretty fun once you get to know her. Maybe I should introduce her to Zack after the day's out. Then he'll stop two timing the twins (with the other).... though the twins seem to mind it about as much as a flower minds sunshine.'
"Uhh... Miss Katie, could you put me through a few of the katas, (martial arts practice moves), so I don't screw up or drag you down if something happens?" Jessica asked her pack leader meekly.
Katie put a hand on her shoulder, smiling "All right kiddo!"
11:01 Su Yin and Lateisha Bridal Party
Su Yin for once let the smile stay on her face. "Hannah and Marth are facing interesting delays. It seems that Hannah is going to have to reapply the body pattern on Marth from scratch, and you're likely going to have to redo Hannah's flower pattern."
Lateisha gasped, "What? How could that happen? She knows how much effort I put into that! Maybe I should have Lord Jeremy," Lateisha had picked it up from John, "have Drake do it instead, since he has practice."
Su Yin shook her head, "No. Don't do that. Those two need some privacy. And I'm sure in spite of everything they'll be here before noon." Since time in a precise manner was pretty much impossible to tell in the park, it had been agreed upon to have the wedding at high noon since that was one of the few times they could be certain of. Sunrise and sunset were always changing, but noon was, more or less, always noon.
Lateisha looked at the older doe sternly, who didn't budge an inch, before relenting. "Fine, but they had better be here! And they had better have a good explanation for how she messed up my work."
"I'm sure she will." Su Yin nodded, "Though I think you'd better ask her -after- the main ceremony."
"Why should I?"
"Because if you're upset by her answer, it won't spoil the mood." 'Realistically of course, I just feel that Hannah and Marth's special moment, might take away from Jeremy and Leticia's if the news hounds caught wind of it.'
"I... okay fine Su Yin. But after the chaos with the rings, this had better not turn into a debacle."
"Don't worry, I'll be sure they're there on time for Lord Jeremy and Lady Leticia's wedding." 'Nobility or not, calling them that just seems, right.'
11:05 AM -- Hannah and Marth's love nest
Marth dove in and explored Hannah's inner body. Hannah surrendered and gladly accepted his entrance. Her heart and his raced a mile a minute. With each joining as he mounted her, Hannah felt the waves of bliss wash over her body and into her brain. As she did, she felt new ideas entering her mind.
'I am... ashamed that I can't get pregnant right now? I am, unhappy that a fawn can't be born from this? I feel, low for taking that shot now? Even after becoming Hannah I've never wanted to have children. Back when I was, when I was, who was I before again? Harry wasn't it? I never had trouble remembering my original name before. Oh doesn't matter right now! Only He matters right now! We can worry about the details later.
'Larry. That first act of instinct inspired passion. Was it that truly transformed you into Leticia and make you walk away from that identity? I already decided that I was going to stay Hannah, so I guess this isn't really a loss.' Any mental self image she had been preserving of Harry for nostalgia's sake vaporized under the heat of passion in that moment. She'd have to look at her old driver's license to know what he had looked like now.
Marth was thinking along similar lines, 'I'm sad that I can't pregnant Hannah right now? I regret that I chose to mate with her while she was temporarily sterile? The fact we can't produce a new fawn for the next generation right now frustrates me? I didn't think of pregnancy when I was pinning for... was? And who was I pinning for? That's right, the doe who I was in love with before she was a doe and before I was Marth. What was her name again? What was my name again? Oh doesn't matter! Only she matters! The rest doesn't matter!' Every fantasy that Marth had about being with Leticia his buck produced passion was now systematically replacing with Leticia. Cultural belief in single mates, combined with his new instinct, produced an interesting effect. Marth managed somehow to conjure up an image of Leticia-and he felt nothing for her. He knew she was his best friend. And a fellow herd member. But something felt missing now. Then he berated himself for thinking of another doe while mating with Hannah.
Hannah grabbed hold of Marth's body and pressed him deeper into her.
11: 20 AM Predator Hill
"Ha! Gothca!" Harrison declared to the wolf morph he was playing against.
The Beta Male looked stunned at the board, "Hey! When did you make -that- move?"
"Right now apparently." Harrison grinned.
The wolf growled but kept himself civil. "Okay! That's it! One more game!"
As fun as it was Harrison's smash defeat of the wolf wasn't precisely all his doing. Even Harrison wasn't precisely sure what was going on.
In spite of objections from Zack, Harry, 'fiddled' with the checkers game. Mostly for his own amusement. If he couldn't join the games directly, he'd just have to do so by proxy. Harrison suspected he had a ghost on his side.
"Okay you two, you know the rules, one game per-pair, back of the line." Keith said to the two canins.
Harrison and the wolf looked at each other, then the cat, decided it wasn't worth it, and let the next pair have their turn.
"If Naomi finds out about this."
Harry didn't feel worried, "No harm. No foul. And it's not like she has omivision or something."
"I doubt that sometimes."
Harry and Zack then went back to their major peace keeping duty. Making sure any panther that looked at Chris the wrong way stubbed their toe before getting close and redirected their course a safe distance away from the new girl cat.
There was the normal rivalry between the wolf and fox clans, but the game provided a non-violent way for their to settle which one of them was 'cooler.' At least the former male nerd who was now a blue vixen wasn't trying to reenact her favored scenes from her favorite video game again.
11: 20 AM Father Tyminski
Having completed his own dressing up for the occasion, Father Tyminski bid his friend fair well for the rest of the day as he made his own way to the 'church.' He wanted to arrive as early as he could, to make his own inspection of things. Not that he doubted John or Lateisha's work. But you could never been too careful.
he walked along as he would until he realized he had a traveling companion. A rather short one. A lynx who looked like she could count her age on her two forepaws.
"And who would you be little girl?"
"I'm Lexy! I'm part of the Newshound Crier, nice to meet you! Can I ask you some questions?" The child declared happily, not breaking pace with the raccoon once.
While Father Tyminski did feel the instinctual displeasure of having a predator nearby he didn't know, he smashed this down and smacked it silly. He had been able to control his raccoon curiosity, and his fear of predator was something else his years of discipline and self control enabled him to easily over come.
"By all means by dear, so right ahead."
Lexy asked her own questions, and the question her big brother Rex had asked her to ask too. Father Tyminski's opinion on the wedding. What his own personal reactions to this new technology was. The raccoon was -very- precise to point out that these were only his personal opinions and not those of the Vatican. The last thing he needed was someone to jump to conclusion from something he said or take it out of context, it had happened before. One man had once used something the priest said about pushing aside distractions from those you loved as ammo for a war on video games. What a day that was.
As for Lexy: even if she wasn't a grown up, Lexy felt very proud of herself for doing her job like her big brother wanted.
"So how do you feel about people being removed from their true form?" She remembered this question Rex had made sure she would ask him.
"True form? Ha! No such thing! The flesh is but a vessel. What defines us as us, can never be truly seen by mundane eyes. The body is a temple, one that should be treated with respect. But is not what defines us as who we are."