Doctor Jacob Adams sat alone in his office, reading over the test results that he just come in this morning
from the lab. He had a steaming cup of coffee on his desk, the fifth he'd had since yesterday. He had been
working non-stop for hours after the police had busted the operation of Dr. Changes and it was becoming more
and more difficult just to keep himself awake. They had been completely overwhelmed by the intake and had even
requested help from other nearby hospitals to assist.
The biggest problem was that he simple had no idea just what the hell they were dealing with, nothing in all
his years of medical practice had come even close to what these patients were suffering from. He'd seen
nothing like it, people who were half-fish, half-horse, half-lion... he had no words for it. Only now were
they finally starting to understand just what had happened and he was able to allow his staff some time to
breath.
Based on the information the police had retrieved from Changes' operations and from what the mad doctor had
revealed himself, these people had been altered on a genetic level. Since that was completely out of his
hands, he now focused on assessing the health of well-being of the patients, which was still a challenge in of
itself. With such an altered biology, it was no longer clear what their condition was. A number of tests had
been performed on the patients and it was at least comforting to know that none of them were suffering from
any ailments.
There were, however, a fair number who were dangerously malnourished and underweight, a testament to the poor
conditions that Changes had left them in. Until he knew exactly what kind of food they would need, all were to
be given IV fluid until further notice. He estimated that maybe three to five might need more serious
treatment, but he would have a better idea once he checked them this morning.
Of course, with all of this going on, his job was difficult enough, but he also had to constantly dodge the
press who were hungry to talk with him and the patients. Despite the best efforts of the police, he still
found himself often cornered by one or two determined reporter demanding answers that he just couldn't give
them. He had only been working with the patients for less than 24 hours, but these damn reporters expected him
to be an expert almost immediately. The only place he could find peace and quite was right here in his office,
and even that was under the threat of being overrun.
"So, did the lab find anything?" Doctor Emily Wells asked as she entered his office, noting the folders on his
desk. She too had a cup of coffee with her, along with the morning newspaper.
Dr. Adams leaned back and rubbed his face, letting out a loud yawn. "Nope, nothing. They are all free of
infection, so we can at least thank the maker for that. But, between you and me, I have no idea where to go
from here," he told her, taking a quick drink of coffee. "I've literally never seen anything like this, hell I
never thought anything like this was even possible."
"So, there's nothing that can be done about their, eh, 'condition'?" She took a seat down next to his desk and
grabbed the top folder off his desk.
"Well, there is nothing WE can do about it, but maybe someone will find something among Changes' belongings,"
Adams stood up and stretched a little, ready to get on his feet again after sitting at his desk for the past
few hours. "At this point, all we can do is make sure they're as healthy as we can get them, which is easier
said than done." He took one last drink of coffee before scooping up the pile of folders. "Come on, I could
use some help, I've got maybe a dozen or so to check up."
Adams and Wells left his office and made their way down to the emergency wing, where most of the patients were
being housed for the time being until their conditions improved. The hospital was mostly quiet at the moment,
once word reached them that there was nothing they could do about the patients' physiological changes, he
dismissed most of his staff to finally go home and get some sleep. Right now only a skeleton crew remained to
keep basic operations going. Adams himself had refused to go home, despite the long hours he had put in. He
couldn't put his finger on it, but there was something that kept him motivated to make sure these people made
in through, considering all they had been through already.
Passing through the lobby, they noticed that, in addition to the few media personnel that had remained on the
premises all through the night, there were now a small group of civilians holding signs, most demanding that
the patients not be allowed to leave. It wasn't exactly that surprising, Adams had figured that once people
learned about what had happened and had seen these people, they'd be frightened and demand that they be locked
up or something. What was uprising is just how fast that they had begun to organize; it hadn't even been 24-
hours and already they were outside the hospital, waving their signs around.
"You think they will be a problem?" Wells asked as the two of them entered the emergency wing.
"At this point, I just don't care. Let them protest out there, as long as they don't interfere with our work,
I'll tolerate them," Adams replied before stopping at the first room. "Alright, our first patient is an adult
male, of undetermined age, who seems to have been given the genes of a Great Horned Owl. When he came in
yesterday, he was not responsive at all and was just barely conscious, so we were unable to get any
information about who he is or where he's from and he came in with no form of identification," Adams explained
as he opened up his file and handed Wells the rest of the folders. "Hopefully we can get some information out
of him."
Adams gently knocked on the door, but after waiting a minute with no response, he opened up and entered with
Wells. Sprawled out on the hospital bed was basically a human-sized bird, there was barely anything to
indicate this had, in fact once been a person. Wells was a little reluctant to get close, despite already
seeing a few already, she was still a little freaked out at their sight. It was hard to believe it was a
living thing and not some cheap costume or something. Adams was so tired that he just didn't seem to care
anymore and was more than willing to approach and even touch them. "Young man, are you awake?" Adams asked as
he walked over to the side of the bed.
Ron, for his part, finally stirred, though he was still fairly drowsy. He turned onto his back and opened his
eyes, nodding at the doctor. "Yeah... ugh... but I feel horrible," Ron remarked as he moved and tried to sit
up.
"Alright, well if is of any comfort to hear, you have no infections," Adams remarked with a slight shrug. "But
I'm sure that's the least of your worries. As for your, condition, well, there isn't anything we can do about
it. Whatever Dr. Changes did to you, it affected you on a cellular level, manipulating your very DNA. That is
far beyond the scope of what we are able to fix."
"I know, one of my fellow experiments, a woman named Leona, told about it. Some kind of gene-altering serum we
were injected with, something like that. I don't really remember everything she told me," Ron replied and let
out a sigh, which ended up sounding like a hoot.
"Nonetheless, we will do all in our ability to make sure you have a full recovery. When you were brought in
you were severally underweight and malnourished, that's why we hooked an IV up to your arm. Now, while we have
the chance, we do need to get some information from you, first off your full name," Adams replied.
"Yes, of course, my name is Ron Isaac Evans. Oh, could I please have some water, I'm quite thirsty," he
remarked.
"Of course, Dr. Wells, you mind?" Adams motioned for her to get him something to drink. She nodded and left
the room. "Alright, oh and let me introduced myself, I'm Dr. Jacob Adams, I'm the senior doctor here and have
been overseeing the care of you and your fellow victims."
"I see, well then let me extend my thanks, I know if can't be easy to work around people that look... well
that look like this," Ron replied, tugging on some of the feathers on his chest.
"Please, I know it's not your fault you are suffering from this condition. Anyway, to be honest, what's going
on here, it's something big. As insane as Dr. Changes is, he's certainly accomplished something here and who
knows just what the aftermath of all of this will be. I can't help but be a little glad to be in the middle of
all this, but I digress. Now, do you have any family for friends we can get into contact with? We hope to have
you out fairly soon, and I can't imagine you have anywhere to go after being locked up for as long as you
have," Adams remarked.