"So... I'm to interfere with every group in Moon Lake on a hunch?" Kathy heard Mayor Stovall answer.
"Yes," Kathy spoke in a panic, "Men with Klinefelter syndrome can't survive the male only virus, because of the extra X..."
"I may not be a scientist, madam, but last I checked, men were men," Mayor Stovall answered, "You're going to have to explain this to me..."
"The extra X might cause a rejection of the male only virus which is usually only looking for XY," Kathy answered, "it relates to the present case. The present victim has Klinefelter syndrome, but because of that, it took longer for the female strain of the were-virus to reach the Y in his Chromosomes. The present risk is what would happen with regards to the all male form of the virus. Would that extra X slow things down or would it cause outright rejection because most men are only XY. XXY is pretty rare. I just want to be sure that no one is danger or that people make the right decisions, which means no further transformations until everyone is tested..."
"So every strain of the were-virus enters through the chromosomes?" Mayor Stovall asked.
"Just those that come from the were-beast species that have one gender... werecats, werecheetahs, and the various male "werecats." That sort of thing," Kathy answered, "with those that have both genders, the entrance into the cell's DNA doesn't go through the chromosomes..."
"So... this wouldn't be a concern for weremers, werefoxes, weretigers, werelions, werewolves, weredogs, wererats, and every other were-beast that has male and female members?" Mayor Stovall asked, "with regard to THEIR communities welcoming new members, correct?"
"Probably not, but..." Kathy began.
"But we need to test people that might or have chosen to join groups that have both genders because a single gendered were-virus might have trouble?" Mayor Stovall asked.
"Yes!" Kathy said exasperated.
"You do realize how dumb and panicked that sounds?" Mayor Stovall asked again, "I can understand your concern, but if we forbid the were-species that have members that are male and female because of surprises regarding the were-virus' effect on those from single gendered were-beasts, they will fight against it. Not to mention that not every normal in Moon Lake ever becomes a were-beast. Remember Simon Strong?"
"Yes..."
"Parents moved here before he was born," Mayor Stovall answered, "Older sister became the family were, a werecat. Simon was born three years later, and died of old age last year. Still a normal human and never left Moon Lake and never asked to join any were-group. Normals that won't want to be were-beasts won't comply with any such outright demand for testing regarding the transformation, because they have no intent on transforming. I'd have to turn the police into the KGB in order to FORCE people to comply, and I have no intention on doing that."
"But the risk..." Kathy began.
"I can trust that you say there is a risk, but an outright ban is not workable," Mayor Stovall answered, "the best option possible is to get a law that would make this testing you want be a mandatory step for those that want to change for any of the singular gendered were-beast species in order to let you run tests or steer that normal to choosing a were-beast species that has two genders if they test and are then judged at risk. As our laws do already state that the city must be informed of every ceremony. That'd make it very easy for us to then test those that will join one of the single gendered groups before they have their ceremonies and were are facing a massive legal battle with those were-beasts that have both genders and outright resistance from normals in Moon Lake who have no intention of ever becoming a were beast."
"That'd work, I suppose," Kathy answered. It wasn't quite what she was shooting for, but it did make sense. Testing a normal who was becoming a werewolf or werefox for their chromosomes wouldn't be necessary when the werewolf and werefox strains didn't enter through the chromosomes. Her chief concern was with the mono-gendered were-beast species. And with that the phone call ended as her nurse entered the portion of the lab that she was in with a fairly nervous look. She also held a paper print out.
"What is it?" Kathy asked.
"Someone was in the room... and did something," her nurse said nervously, "I caught the faint scent of a human male... a NORMAL human male while getting our latest sample. He approached the side of the bed opposite where we have the IVs and monitors and injected him with something... I've called security and they're shutting down all the entrances and exits and the guards looking over Yvette Smith are joining the hunt... so if they're still in the building they should be caught..."
"They?" Kathy asked.
"When I came out of the room, I tracked the scent a bit, it lead to where it met something that smelled like a gorilla... or at least what I think a gorilla would smell like," her nurse answered, "I've only seen them in the zoo."
"Great," Kathy sighed.
"And while you were on the phone, I began running tests and this is what I got..." her nurse spoke, "his Y-Chromosomes appear to be dissolving along with accelerated rejuvenation of the cells as a whole..."
"Accelerated?" Kathy asked.
"Like they're getting younger at a faster rate than normal for a were-beast transformation," her nurse answered, "Especially from a "man" of his age."
Kathy nodded, as they had seen NO sign earlier of either gender transformation or any change in age that was outside the norm for were-beast transformations.
"Whatever was injected had to be doing this..." Kathy spoke as she blinked, it was the only conclusion, but she wondered what it was.
"And our equipment did detect something in his... errrrr... her... whatever... in the blood as well," her nurse handed Kathy the paper she was carrying. "but other than what I detected... the blood is beginning to look more like what we would expect with a normal werecheetah transformation. All signs genetically are that Rick is a woman transforming into a werecheetah. The only thing extra is this thing that's removing the Y chromosome... and that's the only real thing it appears to be deliberately targeting. It's not leaving behind any signs of other were-beast DNA or odd hybridization... the accelerated cellular rejuvenation I think is just an unexpected consequence based on this new virus interacting with our treatments..."
Kathy looked at it and noticed the results. They gave a clear indication of something new in Rick/Rikki's bloodstream. From what Kathy knew, it was clearly a retrovirus... a purposed designed virus designed to alter cells and DNA codes. In theory it posed no threat to the health of a subject but could rewrite DNA code and thus change host's DNA. Typically, though, such a system would only work when cells were in a state where change was rapid and defenses against alteration were weak, which for most was during the first few states of pregnancy when the baby was limited to a collection of cells but not yet in a more human embryonic state. They might work later, but would have to be designed to overpower the human immune system and made the success purely theoretical. However, Moon Lake's were-beast population added an additional time when cells were in a massive state of flux and thus vulnerable. And only one man, to Kathy's knowledge, knew how to do that and was willing to try it.
"Henry Wendz," Kathy said slowly.
"Hmm?" her nurse asked.
"Henry Wendz, a normal who had worked under me here in the lab up until last year," Kathy answered, "pretty good, particularly with theoretical knowledge... but an ego the size of an elephant. If you talked to him, you'd think he was the greatest geneticist to ever exist... and he let a lot of his theories get ahead of him."
"So what happened?" her nurse asked nervously.
"When he began theorizing a retrovirus to help allow people to essentially change gender and become a member of one of the single gendered were-beasts of the opposite gender, the hospital began paying attention to his activity," Kathy explained, "and samples of werecat and werecheetah blood went missing from the lab and pieces of our equipment had been "active" well after our working ours in the lab. We had samples from all the all male "werecats," you know those who would turn into the small wildcats out there in there from the Subfamily Felinae..."
"With the exception of the Cheetah," her nurse corrected, "and the Domestic House Cat."
Kathy nodded as both Cheetahs and Domestic House Cats came from that subfamily, and the "male" werecats came from the other wildcat species, most of those being in Moon Lake being based off of Bobcats, Lynx, and the European Wildcat.
"But when normal human blood started vanishing," Kathy continued, "the hospital dismissed him for theft and misuse of hospital equipment."
"How did he work on it without access to the lab?" her nurse asked.
"He was here for a while before I was hired and took over the head of the Moon Lake General Hospital Lab," Kathy answered, "and there were oddities that were on the books that he urged be covered up... including the vanishing of old equipment when the Hospital last upgraded its equipment. My guess is that at some point he stole the old equipment and took them home with him for a private lab."
"But old stuff wouldn't work as well as the newer stuff... some wouldn't even have the same capacity to actually create a retrovirus..." her nurse argued.
"He probably had a base design to work from and thus had them ready when the equipment was stolen," Kathy spoke, "but that's all speculation. For all we know, he finished the retrovirus before he was fired and this was the first time he used it."
"If he did, could he have used it on someone else?" her nurse asked.
"We'd have to know HOW MUCH he made if that was the case or whether or not he has the old discarded equipment and was able to synthesize his retrovirus with it," Kathy spoke.
"Wouldn't he help in this case?" the nurse asked.
"In this specific case..." Kathy sighed, "but based on what he said at the hospital's dismissal hearing... it gave the indication that he was willing to test it on fellow normals regardless of whether or not they wanted to join Moon Lake's were society..."
"Josef Mengele copycat..." her nurse commented.
"I was thinking Doctor Leo Stanley who took testes from executed prisoners and implanted them on live prisoners at San Quentin State Prison in California from 1913 to 1951," Kathy answered, "but Mengele works too."
Her nurse only shuddered, "Hopefully he gets caught then..."
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, neither Andrew nor Henry Wendz had the full luck they had expected. Henry in fact envisioned he'd have no trouble in leaving with what he'd done to scramble the hospital's security cameras, and that they could walk out the front door. And while no one stopped them as he walked, he had forgotten one critically important detail. Moon Lake's were-beasts had a better sense of smell than normal humans. And while cheetahs might not track gazelles the way a hound would track game for its human master, scents were still critical to cheetahs in the wild. It was how they identified individuals and determined the other's gender and if the female was receptive. As such, he didn't think that Doctor Tucker's werecheetah assistant could have picked up his scent or Andrews and notified hospital security.
His walk out the front door like you own the place plan failed as they approached the main entry area when Andrew reached out with one arm. He caught the scent of a werebear, a werelion, and two weredogs, and as they approached they noted that all of them were wearing security uniforms.
"They know we're here," Andrew answered, "or that someone who shouldn't be here is here..."
"But I shut down their security cameras," Henry whispered, "they should have no reason to look for us and the hospital wouldn't check on that guy for a while yet... I think..."
"You think..." Andrew said slowly.
"They fired me, remember," Henry answered, "I haven't been able to know exactly how they're caring for him... as I haven't had access as anything other than a patient."
Andrew gave a groan. His brother, Adam, and their elder sister, Mary had come to Moon Lake about a year ago, though in secret and had rented a cabin near here the Tucker ranch was. Mary got a job at a hotel and he and Adam and worked to clear out a small area of forest to establish an orchard of apple trees that would handle Washington's climate. Their parents had been fans of Dian Fossey's work to save the wild gorillas and had paid a trip to Rwanda to honor the conservationist's grave site. While there, they had come across a small village, not unlike Moon Lake in that the people there were all were-beasts, but unlike Moon Lake, which had a wide variety of species, everyone in the village were weregorillas. The family all became werebeasts to the enjoyment of their parents and themselves, being 17 at the time. However, their parents decided to remain full time in the village while Mary, Adam, and Andrew returned to the US and had mostly been in hiding for fear that they might be found out...
Moon Lake offered some hope for that, since they were all werebeasts as well, but it took a lot to dodge being recognized as new werebeasts, but a chance meeting with Henry Wendz in the woods had allowed for it. He had been camped in an old cabin that was actually OUTSIDE Moon Lake's city limits and hidden on an old farm road, but they'd found that he'd been living in Moon Lake before and had managed to help them essentially sneak into the town without there being any record of them. Though, now Andrew got the sense that while Henry Wendz was good at a fair number of things, he wasn't good at everything.
"I can't get caught," Henry whispered.
"And I can't take on a werebear, a werelion, and two weredogs at once," Andrew answered, "best to find another exit."
With that Andrew suddenly turned and began walking back into the hospital. It was the wrong move. The security men hadn't moved much, but the sudden turnaround was enough to raise suspicion and the two weredogs came forward first. At this, Henry panicked.
"RUN!" he yelled and bolted.
Andrew did so, but fell behind Henry at first. For an older normal, he moved surprisingly well. One of the weredogs caught up to Andrew and reached for him, but he managed reach under the security man's arm and gave a shove that sent the weredog sprawling. And tripping the other. He followed Henry as he ran toward the back entrance. People screamed and jumped out of the way as they ran by. However as they reached the back entrance, Andrew noticed two more security guards, both werewolves guarding that door. This time, the guards recognized Henry.
"Doctor Wendz?!" one of the werewolves gasped, "what are you doing here?"
Andrew turned off and dashed down another hall while the group behind him closed on Henry. He tried to turn to follow Andrew when the werewolf grabbed him by one arm and the werelion caught him by another arm. With that he was caught. Andrew, however, kept running and looked for another exit. He didn't really know his way around the hospital and was soon in a maze of twists and turned. Eventually he saw a sign for an exit and ran straight for it. The door he came up and while it was guarded, it was guarded by a lone male "werecat."
His scent was like that of a Bobcat, and while Andrew wondered from the handbook Henry had given why they were called werecats, when the entry for them stated that werecats were only female and that these "males" were grouped with them. Either it was that they were all based off of wild cats that were close in size to Domestic House Cats and their transformation didn't seem to have the same sort of unity that other were-beasts had or it was because these male "werecats" were at least bi if not gay. Andrew, however, didn't have time to wonder that now. He lowered his shoulder and charged, driving the male "werecat" to the floor and then rushed out the door. There was no one outside, and while he could hear sirens, they weren't close to the hospital yet. And with that he ran off.