You quickly descend to the open window of the Administrator’s office. Mr. Smith is waiting for you.
“I see you’ve come to a decision. So, you’re going to work with us, correct?”
“Yes. I’ve even taken the time to read through the contract.”
Mr. Smith pauses a moment. “You’re the first other than Cleo to admit to such. You might find yourself with more responsibilities as a result.”
“That’s fine. It’s not like I’m going anywhere, huh?”
Mr. Smith pauses again. “You seem to be taking this a bit better than this morning.”
“Yeah, well, I can either fuss and moan about what I’ve lost, or push it aside and make the best of what I’ve got now, right? Better trying to be positive than miserable.” You shrug your shoulders and your tail flicks.
Again Mr. Smith pauses. Apparently, he’s not use to this level of cooperation. He types something on his keyboard and moves a small handheld scanner over to you. “Very well. Place your paw on the scanner, state what name you wish to be known by from now on and your final species selection.”
You place your paw on the scanner as requested. “Aldin Busheytail, with an e between the h and y in Busheytail.” You pause and see it appear on the screen. “Male Fox Squirrel, Delmarva subspecies.” Again, this appears on the screen.
Mr. Smith taps a few more keys. The screen goes blank and he takes the scanner back. “Kind of an odd name.”
“It’s something I found on the Internet. Some old creative writing group about intelligent killer bunny rabbits bent on world domination. They had genetically engineered squirrel slaves to the point of intelligence. The reasoning being it would be easier to boss around someone who understood you rather than a dumb animal. In this story group, several of these squirrels have escaped slavery and are now fighting against these killer rabbits. One of them had the name, Aldin Busheytail, with the e in it. I figured it was an appropriate name since basically, he and I are both genetically engineered squirrels.”
Mr. Smith nods and presses a button on his desk. Two men in white smocks appear. “These two will take you to the lab for your final change. They’ll also need to run a battery of tests on you.”
“I understand. I read that in the contract. I’ve only got one question for you at this time. “How is it that you can understand me when I know I’m not speaking in human English?” Your tail rises in a question mark again.
“Not all the nanobots will flush out of your system. A few remain in your head. They act as a link to the zoo’s WIFI system, which in turn connects you to our mainframe that does the translation. Those of us working on this project have the same deal. It also means you can communicate with everyone in the zoo who has a vocal form of communication.”
You nod and turn to the two in white. “Do I follow you? Or do one of you carry me? Or should I just ride one of your shoulders?”
The one on the right points to his shoulder. As you scramble up, he introduces himself as Dr. Mengeul. His companion is Dr. Denjea. They walk you down a corridor and into a typical lab room. Dr. Mengeul points you to a stainless countertop with a scale. You leap down and get on the scale. He writes down the figure.
Dr. Denjea goes over to a computer and taps a few keys. He shakes his head and turns to you. “You wanted to give us a challenge, Mr. Busheytail. The real challenge will be if you can handle it.”
“Handle what?” you ask. And again, that tail of yours rises in a question mark. It’s almost annoying to your human side.
“Fox squirrels are the largest species in North America. You’re going to need to gain mass for this to work. I hope you’re hungry,” he states as he points to his partner, Dr. Mengeul, who sets down a bowl of small off-white kernels and vitamin kibble as large as you. “You’ll need to eat your own current body mass in pine nuts and kibble and then maybe a little more for this to work.” Dr. Mengeul also sets down a dish of water. He then swings over a couple of hospital surgical-style lights.
“So, do I need to do anything else other than eat? I don’t need to move over under some sort of dish, or antenna to program the nanobots, huh?”
“No. They’ll pick-up the programming commands through the WiFi network. I suggest you start eating.”
You do as you’re told as all of a sudden you feel famished. Much to your amazement, you eat most of the bowl before you realize it, pausing every now and then to drink water from the other dish. At some point, you’re told to get back on the scale and then back to eating and drinking. You feel a tingling sensation throughout your body as you continue to eat. You lose track of time as a third bowl of just kibble this time is set in front of you. You eat it all without needing to be instructed to do so. One last time you’re instructed to get on the scale. Dr. Mengeul scribbles the figure down again.
“Good.” He points to a box up on the shelf above you. “Get some rest. There is a tray next to the box should you need to relieve yourself. We’ll see you in the morning.”
You realize you are very tired. You climb up, using the tray and snuggle down in the box and quickly fall asleep.
------------
Morning or whatever time it is they return seems to come too soon. You’re fed more kibble and pine nuts. You are then put through a battery of tests and they examine you in detail. Finally, they declare you’re fit to be released back into the zoo.
They point you to a mirror so you can look at yourself. Your pelt is dark peppery gray except your tummy which is off white. Patches of tawny brown show on your muzzle and ears. You estimate from the objects around you that you are now roughly 15 inches long. You flick your tail and find it’s as long as the rest of your body.
“Before you leave, Mr. Busheytail. There’s one question Mr. Smith forgot to ask you for the database. Why did you choose this species?”
You giggle chitter at question. “Call it self-preservation. I wanted to make it more difficult for you to get rid of me. The Delmarva is Federally listed as endangered in the USA.”
Dr. Mengeul nods, points to his shoulder again and carries you out of the lab and building on it. As soon as you’re outdoors, you leap for the nearest tree and climb.