Charlotte reflected on how to respond to the rabbit-girl's (they hated being called bunny-girls) question. She knew that she could get rid of the irritating documentarian with a hunching of her shoulders and a low growl that would send Terry running for the hills, but she didn't want to be a bully. Anyhow, Charlotte respected courage, and she knew that asking a wolf-woman a challenging question was the rabbit girl equivalent of charging an enemy emplacement armed only with a kitchen knife.
But she wasn't going to say a word about Naomi to this nosy enquirer.
"Think of it this way" she began "If a person is depressed, and they take an anti-depressant and it works. It works by altering the chemistry of their body from what it would be naturally. But we don't say 'You have to go back to being depressed before you decide to keep taking the drug, because otherwise how do we know you would make the decision with an unaltered brain.' We just say it works, you're happier, go on taking it as long as it works. Well, being Charlotte works for me."
"You can't compare a complete physical transformation to taking a pill!"
"Why not? This technology is going to get cheaper and more common. Someone will figure out a way to break Transformation Park's patents and come out with competing versions. Before too many more years, someone who spends their whole life in the same body they were born with is going to be considered the weirdo."
"That's going to give the people who control the tech a lot of power."
"People will figure out ways to hack it, like they do everything else. Anyway, why are you so concerned over this? Being a rabbit girl more congenial than you thought? Afraid you might start liking it a little too much?"
"No! And anyway, this isn't about me!"
"So you think you can interrupt my conversation, ask me personal questions, tell me what I should and shouldn't be allowed to do, but once the tables are turned 'this isn't about me.'?" The grin on Charlotte's face was one of a beast of prey that had worked its quarry into a corner.
And, although Terry was under no physical threat--predators like Charlotte had mental blocks installed against eating fellow-guests, although this wasn't generally known--the grin was enough to freak out her rabbit instincts, and she took off into the hills.
"You know," said Charlotte to Brian, "When I was coming out as a gay man, the conventional wisdom was that the conservative men who were most obsessed with preventing men from loving other men were terrified that if that choice were honored, they would make it themselves."
"Meaning?"
"Meaning maybe Terry's friends on the outside should be stocking up on carrots."