"Sorry" said Eugene, gently disentangling himself from Carmen "Sometimes people who are new to the rabbit way, like the lovely and extremely flexible Roberta here, get a little enthusiastic and don't always fully respect other people's right to make choices. And you would be?"
"Uh, Carmen." answered Carmen. "It is a bit overwhelming."
Eugene laughed. "Very. Particularly for people crossing the boundaries of sex as well as species."
"Is it that obvious?"
"After you've been around a while."
At this point, Carmen was quite sure she didn't want to be around a while. But those fluffy tips were kind of cute. . .
+++++++++++++++++++
"Now, on your first visit to the Park you were male, correct?"
Goldie had been told to keep her answers to the defense as brief and factual as possible.
"Yes"
"And what species were you?"
"I was an anthro wolf."
"I see. And did you have a nickname at this time?"
"Yes, sir."
"And what was it?"
"I was called the Lone Wolf."
"So you were not part of a pack?"
"No."
"And what kind of reputation would you say the Lone Wolf had?"
"The Lone Wolf was a bully who picked on smaller, weaker guests in order to terrorize them."
"I see. And in this context, you, the Lone Wolf, met my client?"
"Yes."
"Can you describe how you terrorized smaller, weaker guests?"
Goldie swallowed hard. "Once I killed a rabbit, not a guest, just the rabbit--that's how we eat--and I smeared the blood on a helpless female rabbit-morph."
"And how would you say that poor rabbit-girl felt?"
"Objection!" shouted the prosecutor. "Counsel is asking the witness to speculate."
"Sustained" said the judge.
"How did you feel when you smeared blood on this poor, helpless rabbit-girl?"
"I felt good." Goldie bit her tongue back. She wanted to explain how different she was now, but she knew that she would just be cut off.
"How did you leave the park on that first visit?"
"I was expelled by Park management."
"And yet you returned, and this time as a member of staff, a female member of staff at that. How on earth did that happen, Miss Husky?"
"I lied about my identity, and they didn't catch me until I had been transformed."
"You lied. Would you lie again, say about my client, if your job and your new identity was threatened?"
"Objection!" shouted the prosecutor. "Hypothetical question!"
"Sustained."
"I withdraw the question, your honor." responded the defense attorney, smiling. "Do you like being female?"
"Objection! How is this possibly germane?"
"Overruled. The witness will answer the question."
"I like it very much."
"Your current gender status is very valuable to you?"
"Yes."
The prosecutor was furious. "Objection! The defense is making completely irrelevant points!"
The judge turned to the defense lawyer. "I'll allow this, counsel, but you're on thin ice."
"The park management, which knows that you lied to them, could put you back in a male body at any time, couldn't it?"
The judge responded before Goldie could answer. "You've already been warned about this line of questioning. Drop it."
"Yes your honor. No further questions for this admitted liar."
"The witness is dismissed." said the judge.
Goldie felt like a wet dishrag.
+++++++++++++++++++
It was odd to see another mer-creature, but the attending physician had to assume mer-shape to give Charlotte the kind of examination she needed. Naomi hovered about, every bit as fascinated as Charlotte.
"Well, you're pregnant." began the doctor. "As far as we can tell, mermaid pregnancies, like most humanmorph pregnancies, are accelerated. I think you should be delivering in about three months. This is a first-time pregnancy for you?"
Charlotte laughed. "Very much so!"
"Well, it should be easier on you than on a human woman. The person who designed the merfolk wanted them to be a viable species in the wild, not a novelty act. You should have about 3-4 babies."
"Ulp." said Charlotte, as the impact of motherhood really hit. Female energy indeed!
+++++++++++++++++
Wally was shocked when Terry confided that she was pregnant. Terry was excited, as she saw it as her way to stay in the warren and not go into the nasty, dangerous outside world. She didn’t seem to have the faintest interest in who the father was—“probably Tim, but who cares”—and expected that her children would be raised communally in the warren. The thought of children in the hypersexualized atmosphere of the warren was disturbing, as was the thought of Terry as now this timid, completely female-identified, rabbit girl. Would the old Terry ever come back?
What do I do now, Wally thought.
+++++++++++++++
"Is there a place with a little more privacy, where we can get to know each other better?" asked Carmen.
"Of course there is" answered Eugene.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Sam hugged the crying Goldie. "You did fine" he said. It didn't matter if it was true or not.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Hmmm, thought Tasha, looking at the bizarre bird-creature the civilians had brought in. This one has a bigger brain, and it was Tran that designed the harpies in the first place, and Harpy Mark always talks like Tran was the one in charge, it might be worthwhile putting this one in a mammalian body and seeing what it remembers.