Conrad stood, now a kangaroo wearing nothing but his fur. The sun was warm. He had to admit that it felt nice on his fur. Jake also looked wonderful, even desirable. Conrad felt thoughts and desires that many would consider wrong for boys of his age.
He also felt terrible embarrassment over being naked (fur or not) outside where anyone could see him.
Conrad watched as Jake went to work on Conrad's mother.
"Jake, that's enough, we need to get help," Conrad said.
Conrad was starting to see his mother in a new light. She looked almost ill to him. He needed to cure her!
No, Conrad thought, it's just the instinct telling him that.
Jake jumped off Conrad's mother.
"Are you feeling okay?" Jake asked. "Maybe you're still a little sick!"
Conrad held out his now furry arms. "I'm not sick Jake, you -- we both are, we need to get help."
"That's not what you want is it?" Jake asked.
"No, I want to help you fix my Mom," Conrad said. "I want to kiss and hug you. Maybe this thing made us grownups or something but I think we should fight this. It's making us want these things!"
Conrad's mother stood up and rubbed what was now a sore but somehow healed chest with some fur on it.
"Listen to him Jake," Conrad's mother said. "You're sick, you need to get help."
"No, I'm not sick, I need to help you," Jake said.
"Mom, I..." Conrad seemed to be fighting something. He shook his head multiple times. "I can't fight it for long. Please help me!"
"Try to focus on something," Conrad's mother said. "Jake, I know you want to help me, but even if you don't realize it, something is making you want that. You need to fight it."
"Fight what? I'm not sick! Why do people keep telling me I'm sick?" Jake asked.
Conrad did his best to think of life as a human even as the virus was determined to overwrite his memories of being human with that of being a kangaroo. Oh, he still remembered playing video games for example, but now he was remembering doing so with kangaroo paws! Even memories of eating steak or other meat were now becoming memories of veggies, fruit and grass! It seemed that the virus wanted Conrad to remember life as an intelligent pet!
"Mom, I -- run, please, I can't control it any more," Conrad said.
"I can't leave you here! What kind of a mother would abandon her son," Conrad's mother asked.
Conrad was now holding his head. His mother ran over to him and hugged him, desperate to get him to hold onto his humanity.
"I can't leave you," Conrad's mother said.
"I want to fix you," Jake said. "Why won't you let me fix you?"
Conrad was starting to see his mother in a new light. Still his mother but somehow deformed in a way that he could fix. Humans were nice and all, but she was supposed to be a kangaroo!
With his least bit of will, Conrad begged her to run.