"To be honest, I'm tempted" replied Agent Sherman, "But I really have to get to work."
Steve chuckled. "No harm in trying. But since you're new to the fur, I'm going to have to show you how the shower works. Believe me, what we shed on a regular basis plays merry hell with conventional plumbing. And drying yourself is also a little more complicated than rubbing a couple of towels across your body."
+++++++++++++++
Vinny had had a night to recover. But it wasn't like he'd been to a regen chamber. Only the surge of adrenalin caused by the fact that he was challenging the king deer for the right to rule all the deer-morphs of Transformation Park masked the fact that his body, even with its enhancements, ached from days of fighting. Jeremy was by contrast fresh, as well as more experienced, but hadn't fought for a while. Jeremy had observed Vinny's fighting style, but Vinny really had no idea about Jeremy's. The two bucks began by circling each other warily.
++++++++++++
Lawrence and Harry--she wanted to wait and choose a name, rather than taking the easy way of feminizing the one she had--lay side by side, exhausted after passionate lovemaking. It had been a long time for both of them.
"Lawrence" Harry began, "I'm sorry I shot you. That was wrong."
"That's OK." Lawrence replied. "I mean, it hurt like hell, but here I am good as new. Better."
"Do you really think its right, holding people here against their will and giving them transformations they don't want?"
"What do you mean? It's my job, that's what they pay me to do."
"Is that really enough? Maybe we can't really fly, but the pegasus is a symbol of freedom. Is being a jailer really what you want to be?"
Lawrence knew that sex was dangerous, that it could make you relax and lose the edge that you needed in his work. But the way Harry was talking went beyond a female taking advantage of a post-coital lull to mess with your head. It was as if something about her psychological change and new, really new, species gave her an authority that transcended the walls of the prison. For some reason, he was reminded of his mother, who he hadn't seen in years. Was there something wrong with this place?
"I've chosen a name." Normally, Lawrence's first reaction to a prisoner choosing anything would have been "You'll take the name we give you, punk." but now he waited to hear the name the female pegasus had chosen.
"My name is Irene, after the Greek goddess of peace, pegasi being Greek, you know."
"Irene" Lawrence repeated.
++++++++++++++++++
Shred the bitch Shred the bitch Shred the
"Hey, scumbag, you got a visitor" said the guard.
The skunkmorph introduced himself "Agent Di--Agent Dan Sherman, FBI. Ready to talk?"
"About what?"
"About who told you to come to the Park, and who arranged for a sociopathic murderer to get the wolverine form, of all things."
"Like everyone loves skunks?"
"In other words, you want to skip eating for the next few days?" Agent Sherman turned to the door.
"All right, I'll talk. Nothing better to do" until I can shred the bitch.
+++++++++++++++
The irony, Katerina thought, was that if she had her old personality, the tough as nails, no-bullshit lawyer back, she could get through this in seconds. But of course, getting her old personality back was what the gentle, sweet rabbit-lady was trying to do. So far the best she could get is that they might be opening up a chamber for departing guests to get their old forms back that afternoon.
Zack, of course, wasn't worried about a frustrated rabbit lady, although there had been a bad moment this morning when he realized he had sent the ex-lone wolf to escort a rabbit-girl. It was amazing how quickly he had come to think of Goldie as one of his most reliable huskies, and whatever the rabbit-girl was mad about, it didn't seem to involve Goldie.
What he was worried about were the frustrations of some of the more irascible species, the predators and male hoofed animals like deer and bighorns. Katie and the twins were at the buck tournament with a contingent of huskies, so the husky coverage of the departure area was thin at best. The last thing the Park needed at this point was a riot breaking out at the departure gate, and he was begging the newly arrived head fed in charge, a female panthermorph who headed the FBI's department of anthro-related crime, to open the damn gate and let the Park get to processing people out. Damnit Harry, dealing with the feds was your job, thought the husky, and felt a wave of concern for his missing friend overwhelm him.
+++++++++++++
Damn, he's quick, thought Jeremy, as Vinny's enhancements gave him a speed advantage. But Jeremy was still dodging most of his blows, as the inexperienced stag fighter was telegraphing them before his strikes. Jeremy spun out of the way of one of Vinny's lefts, grabbed his arm, and threw him to the ground, but Vinny was up again in a blink of an eye.