Lisa sighed in resignation. Jennifer was probably right about the other girls Matt would learn all about them and they could only hope that he keeps things to himself. The problem with Matt was that he was an unrepentent gossip. Sure, they could swear him to secrecy, but his willpower could only go so far. Well, she would try one more time to make her friend see the light.
"Okay...so you don't mind Matt Hooper sitting in?" "Jen, the way things are going with us, from what I've heard, we're all going to be medical if not zoological curiosities before long anyway." "All right Sarah, see you in a bit."
Lisa squeezed Jen's shoulder gently. "How are things going?" Jenifer shrugged, "Called Sarah, Lydia, and the twins. None of them mind. Beth's cousin is coming, and she's actually been involved in some of the research."
"Jen, you know I love you, but are you sure you want to do this?"
"Lisa, yes, I really want to do this. And I know you do to."
"And what if he is afflicted?"
"That's the whole point of this meeting as far as he's concerned. He'll go in, if you will, with both eyes wide open."
Matt arrived just before the start of the meeting with three large pizzas and four bottles of cola. No parents came this time, just the girls, Matt, and Brianna, Beth's scientist cousin.
Lisa opened the talk. "As Jen mentioned to you, Matt Hooper is here to find out exactly what is happening - and what he might be letting himself in for if he dates Jennifer."
There were some suspicious mutterings, but all agreed that he could stay - for a little while at least.
Brianna stood up. "Matt, I know you have strong feelings for Jen, but I'm afraid that you'll have to keep it on a platonic level. What these girls have will change you if there is any intimate contact." Brianna took out a small vial of fluid and a small packet from a medical bag.
"This is a latex condom," said Brianna. "In this vial is a sample of Beth's...fluid."
Brianna opened the condom, and filled it with water. "See, typical latex condom. Pretty safe and solid." She emptied the condom, setting it aside, and emptied the vial into a beaker.
"Now I'm diluting my cousin's fluids with water. She filled the rest of the beaker with plain tap water, and mixed it. Using forceps, she carefully immersed the condom in the beaker.
"Matt, Jennifer, suppose you are making love. Being intelligent young adults, you love each other, but you want to protect yourselves. Matt wears a condom, like this." Brianna removed the condom and filled another beaker with water. She poured the water into the condom.
"This is how much protection a condom will give you, Matt." The water ran right through the condom as if it were tissue paper.
Mary was the first to speak. "Are you saying that our vaginal fluids will do that to any rubber??"
Brianna nodded. "Apparently the hormone is designed to replicate itself as easily as possible."
"What exactly is happening to Beth?"
Brianna sighed. "Beth is changing rapidly, but of course all of you are going to be in for the same thing." She took out a computer printout and smiled reassuringly. "It's not all bad, by any means. She appears to be able to see in both infrared and ultraviolet now. Her ears are starting to lengthen and seem to be developing points. Her body fat appears to be returning."
"And what about the downside?"
"We aren't sure that there is a downside, Tonia...but you can expect some more, well, embarassing changes. Beth is developing fangs."
An anguished gasp from everyone.
"She also has signs of horns on her head...this might be used for balance...but we'll have to wait and see. The fur is interesting, it's going to be three layers, a downy inner coat about an inch long, a middle coat that is closer to wool than anything else, and an outer layer that is basically very bushy human body hair. All told, it's going to be about six inches thick. Also, the hair on her head seems to be falling out."
"God," said Connie, trembling. "What's next, a tail?"