You duck through the flap on the right. Very little light passes through the edges of the doorway, but there is enough for you to see that there is very little open floor in here, maybe a body-length and a half. Beyond that is a stack of three open-faced boxes, each with leaves/pine needles in it. You sniff again, and you can tell none of them are occupied. You yawn again and don't really care anymore as you curl-up in the bottom one using your tail as a pillow and quickly fall asleep.
You don't dream, or you don't recall any dreams you have during the night. Your stomach wakes you. You stretch, and make your way back to the room with the food. You use the bathroom and then go back to Cleo's office and find she's there.
She smiles at you. "Sleep well?" You nod. "Good. And you got something to eat, right?" Again you nod. "Good. The administrator wants to see you right away." She pauses a moment. "And I don't know how long he wishes to talk to you."
She heads back outside and you follow. She doesn't leap back up into the nearest tree. Instead, she leads you down the side of the building and drops onto a window ledge. The window is open. She leads you inside.
You instinctively chitter nervously for the room within reeks of human. Cleo pats your forepaw in reassurance. "Don't be afraid child. The worst is already over." She leaps from the window to a desk. As you follow, she steps on a button and announces you're here into a microphone.
Into the room, walks the cloaked being you saw the night before. He pulls back the hood and smiles at you. He then turns to Cleo. "Thank you, Cleo. I'll page you when I'm done interviewing the new member."
Cleo nods and leaps back out the window. The squirrel side of you is making you want to flee and follow her. Before you can act on the instinct, the administrator closes the window. He sits down on a chair, opens a drawer, pulls out a bag of sunflower seeds and sets them in front of you. He then faces you with open hands in an attempt at being non-threatening.
"You can call me Mr. Smith, if you wish. I am the administrator of this place and I'm sure you have a lot of questions. Please let me explain what I can, and hopefully, several of them will be answered. First, I need to apologize to you. I messed up. You are not who I was expecting last night. I didn't realize it until after I activated the process. Unfortunately, I can't undo the process. But it can be altered a little. More on that later.
"This 'zoo' is a large government-funded weapons research lab. You are the victim of a fast-acting touch-contact virus-like set of nanobots. The nanobots quickly invade your body, multiply and go about rewriting your DNA. Human DNA and the DNA of other mammals isn't really all that different. The microscopically small robots burn the excess parts of your body you won't need in your new form for fuel. Makes the transformation a rather clean and tidy process. It's almost perfected to where the military wants it to be. Imagine how quickly we'll be able to win wars against our enemies if we can simply transform them into animals. I'm guessing you received a couple of 'free' zoo tickets at work, correct?"
You nod.
Mr. Smith sighs. "The nanobots were on the surface of those tickets. Each ticket has a specific species program on the nanobots. If you had received a different ticket, I might now be talking to a skunk or a bear or a raccoon or..." he shrugs. "Unfortunately, those tickets weren't suppose to be for you. Your now former employer is about to lay off a quarter of its workforce. As you know there aren't a lot of extra jobs in this town looking for people to fill them. Those about to get laid off were to get tickets. You weren't suppose to be one of them. Suffice it that they aren't happy with us. However, that's beyond my control. It's your HR office that messed-up in sending the tickets to the wrong person. I have a feeling we'll be 'recruiting' the person who screwed-up in the next few days.
"You see, as part of this grand experiment, we've signed contracts with a bunch of companies that are about to downsize. We get our experimental subjects that enable us to fill the 'zoo', they get to downsize and avoid paying unemployment benefits and the resulting bad PR of layoffs. It's mutually beneficial to both sides."
You chatter and spit at the same time and lash your tail angrily. "It's not exactly beneficial to me is it?!" You suddenly realize that you didn't say a single word in English. That's what went through your head, but all that came out of your mouth was a bunch of chits and chatters. To your amazement, Mr. Smith frowns.
"Yes, I can understand you perfectly. But Joe Q. Public can't. So, this operation will remain a secret. Like I said before, it's beyond my control. We can't reverse this. I'm really sorry. There are only a few things I can do for you:
I can make sure your 'survivors' are well compensated for this mess-up. We carry insurance for this sort of purpose. 'I'm so sorry, he must have been overlooked during closing time. We found his tattered, bloody clothing in the large cat exhibit. He probably didn't feel much. Are you willing to settle for...' Well, you get the picture. Your 'survivors' may never have to work again.
I can offer you a job here at the 'zoo' either entertaining the visitors or security detail. No one would expect that squirrel nibbling on a handout is really keeping an eye on them to make sure they aren't violating any of the rules.
You don't have to remain as the generic tree squirrel you currently are. We can't alter the species family, so, a squirrel you are and a squirrel you will remain. However, prior to this evening, we can alter the final species of squirrel you become."
That last part draws your curiosity. "Why prior to this evening?"
"After twenty-four hours, the nanobots die, having completed their task. They'll pass harmlessly out of you as you urinate the next few days. Between now and this evening, I can give those nanobots one more set of commands to alter you to your final species. How do you think we've been able to acquire such a diverse collection here?"
You sit back on your hind paws a moment flicking your tail back and forth as you think all this through.
"So, let me get this straight. Because of a screw-up in my HR office, I'm basically stuck for the rest of eternity as a friggin tree rat?!?"
"Basically, yes. Except it won't be for eternity. Just the rest of your natural life. For a squirrel who takes good care of itself, that would be a couple decades. But look at it this way. You don't have to worry about food or shelter. No more debt. No more taxes. We'll even provide you with complete health care. It's like early retirement."
Again you chatter and spit at him, lashing your tail angrily.
Mr. Smith holds up his hands reassuringly. "You've got most of the day to think it through. Cleo can provide you with read-only Internet access so you can research the different species of squirrels if you wish to choose a different final species. If you're feel you were born the wrong sex, we can change that too. I'd just need your pawprint of agreement to work with me on the scan pad over there."
"And if I refuse."
Mr. Smith frowns. "Well, you're 'survivors' won't get anything. You'll simply be listed as a missing person. We'd have to tranquilize you, transport you far into the wilderness, and abandon you to live on your own in the wild. Hopefully, you'll have enough natural squirrel instincts to survive. I'm sorry, but that's what I'd be forced to do. I really don't want to do that. Please think about this and be back here by late afternoon with your final decision."
Mr. Smith, presses a button on the desk. "He's all yours, Cleo. Please give him access to your PDA if he wants to research his future."
He turns to you as he walks over to the window. "Oh, and if you try to escape the zoo, I'll know about it and I'll take that as a refusal to work with us. Please think seriously about this offer. It's as generous as I can make it."
Cleo is quickly at the window, which Mr. Smith opens to let you out to join her.