Kylie heard her mom coming up the stairs through her slumber but didn't think anything of it until she was shaken awake. "Kylie, wake up sweetie." Her mother whispered. "Ugh, what mom?" Kylie groaned rolling over. Why was her mom waking her up, it was a weekend! She was about to snap further when she saw the tears in her moms eyes. "Mom... What is it?"
***
Everyone knew about the letter, it came, a red harbinger of doom, and you had a day left of your life as you knew it. The next day, you had to report in. Everyone knew, but no one expected it, it was still pretty uncommon, you might know one or two people, but not a ton. The unlikelihood of her receiving it though, meant nothing to Kylie anymore. Against all odds, she had been picked, and now she was doomed. There was no time to panic about it though, she thought standing up, when she might be able to do something about it. Calming down her mom took a while, but then, she had a phone call to make.
***
"Ugh, Kylie? It's six in the morning, what are you doing up?" That was James, Kylie's best friend since more or less forever. The both had pretty similar interests, primarily video games. Importantly though, James had an internship at the nearest regeneration office.
"I got the letter..." Kylie said softly. There was a long silence on the line, followed by "Oh." Another pause, then James said, "I might be able to help, not a huge amount, but a little. Let me see what I can do."
"That's all I can ask for," whispered Kylie, "one more thing though, could you please just be there to walk me through it, please?" James' next answer was firm, "I'll be there, see you tomorrow".
***
Kylie spent the day calling her friends to say good bye. Emotionally exhausted, she eventually fell asleep next to her mom on the couch.
Early next morning, her mom nudged her awake. "It's time to go." She whispered. She and Kylie ate breakfast, got in the car, and drove to the center.
***
The waiting room was empty when they arrived just before noon. Kylie checked in at the front desk and sat down next to her mom. Within minutes a kindly looking man with a name tag saying "Doctor Fredrick" came out and greeted her, "Welcome umm," he checked his clipboard, "Kylie. I'm sorry you have to be here." Smiling a little, she replied "Thanks". Sighing, the man said, "I'm afraid you're mother can't come any further, so please say your goodbyes. Kylie and her mom embraced for the final time, before Kylie followed the doctor through a door.
They walked through a series of hallways before finally entering into a bare room with a table and two chairs. "If you'll just sit here." Fredrick said, pointing at a chair. "Normally I'd walk you through the process myself, but my assistant asked if he could use today as practice. Finding people willing to let assistants practice on them is pretty hard, but James says you know him, is that correct?" Kylie nodded and Fredrick smiled. "Alright then, if you could just sign that waiver there saying you'll let James perform your transformation, I can let him in. Kylie signed and the doctor grabbed the form and opened the door, letting James in. Kylie ran and hugged James, "Thank you" she whispered. "Glad I could help," the doctor said, bemused, "it's always difficult to let James practice." He begins to walk out the door, then pauses, "and James, I'm glad I could help, but we can't make a habit of this." James turned towards him and nodded. "I know".
Kylie watched the exchange, confused, as the Doctor closed the door. "What did he mean?" She asked as James guided her to the table. James meanwhile, seemed to be watching something over her shoulder as he talked. "He means I'm not supposed to be practicing on people who I know, it's just really hard to find other people who will let me, so he made an exception." He checked over her shoulder again, then smiled, "Alright, now I can tell you really why, sorry, I had to put on a good show for the camera." Turning behind her, Kylie sure enough, sees a small surveillance camera on the wall, now with a red light. "The real thing he was referring to was, we worked something out, it's not perfect, but it's far more than I expected. You see, every once in a while, the solution doesn't react properly with the target, and you get a partial morph where they're halfway between their original form, and the animal they were being transformed into. The trick is, I figured out a way to artificially induce this, that's been my research here. I'm not technically allowed to experiment on humans with it yet, but in extensive lab tests, it's been safe, so I can mix my solution with the one to transform you and you'll be halfway between." James took a deep breath, smiling and Kylie hugged him, "Thank you" she said, "I do have one question though, what happens to those half-way transformed, I've never heard of it happening." James made a face, then said, "Well the government covers it up, but as for what happens to them, it depends on the animal, and if anyone's willing to buy them. Regardless of where they end up, they always have a better life. They have a human lifespan, are given human food, can't be slaughtered, are paid, and are given the ability to buy things through the internet, or at least, the government says that's what has to be done, there have still been reports of them being treated the same as animals, but the government is covering that up too." Kylie fidgeted, "And if they don't get bought". James smiled, "Well a lot of farmers refuse to buy those who half transform, since it's so much more expensive, and in that case, people in the office are given the chance to adopt them first, so I can adopt you!"
"Awesome!" Kylie smiled, "Last question though, which animal will I be?" James grabbed an envelope off of the table, "Lets see." He opened the envelope to find that it said....