Jessica Lainey had been a councillor for those exposed to the metamorphic water for quite a few years now.
She was a ‘goat’ lady, which… had some of its own odd issues every now and then (Mostly an urge to chew anything which she satiated with a bit of gum). Her ears were white and floppy, going down the side of her head. Rather furry, she was slight of build and ‘fairly’ human by most measures except for the goat-fur in odd places and other features. She had horns and a beard… which was a little strange on her feminine face. (Apparently people compared her to someone in a game called ‘undertale’’ but she never played it)
It was the beard that she had the most trouble with... and caused her the most distress when she first changed. The horns, the hooves, almost anything else she was actually ‘okay’ with… and it took a while for her to get over it and even find a bit of happiness in her new body. How she transformed was the result of a crazy ‘water gun shooter’. He splashed a lot of people before turning the water on himself. It was something that happened on occasion. Thankfully the shooters new form was a very ‘easy’ one to throw in jail, having become a tiny ‘ant man’.
After a lot of work on herself, Jessica now improved the lives of others caught up by the strange magical water. It was quite a rewarding experience to her and perhaps it satiated her curiosity on what other forms people gained.
The goat woman smiled and greeted each person, a mix of young men and women- though she took note of Anthony taking him to one side having noticed the squirrel girl. “Oh, one moment dear…” she asked carefully looking at some notes.
“Am I in the wrong place?” The squirrel girl asked confused.
The goat-woman gave a smile. “Oh, not at all. Forgive me but… as I understand It Anthony, your exposure caused you to change gender… is that right?” She asked so very delicately.
Anthony looked a bit confused at the question. Was that really important right now? “Well… yes.” Was she supposed to go somewhere else after all?
“I see.” The councillor continued to give a warm smile. “Please don’t worry. I was just very curious. Such a change is… not something that happens often you know… I personally never met one like you before working in this job. I suppose me growing a beard would be the closest to that situation,” She gave a light chuckle. “I don’t have a lot of experience with those in your situation, I hope you can understand. I just wanted to make sure you understood that.”
Anthony looked up at the goat-woman not quite sure what to say. “I… didn’t know it was rare.” To her it felt like it was the default. Then again it was true that gender changes tended to make the news a lot more… so there was a slight unconscious bias in that direction.
“Well I wouldn’t say ‘rare’ just… unusual? … um… how do I put this. I think it’s far rarer, that I have one come for counselling,” Jessica said with a soft smile again. “For some reason the gender change is the least of their concern.”
Anthony was taken aback by that. “What… really?”
Jessica nodded her beard giving a little sway. “Indeed. Well there’s one or two initial problems but they tend to go away… When gender changes ‘do’ happen… well… most do seem to adjust to ‘that’ part... some quicker than others. Weeks, months, perhaps years… One would think there would be serious psychological consequences that last a life time… maybe there is something not quite so ‘random’ in the water’s effects, or the water could be adjusting you itself. I’m curious, have ‘you’ had difficulty adjusting to that part of your change?”
Anthony gave it some thought. She had not really thought ‘too much’ on the consequences of changing gender. That’s not to say it ‘didn’t bother her. Her animal form however did bring a lot more issues in terms of how people interacted with her. “Humans… don’t really notice…” Anthony whispered and maybe part of her... some… her voice broke as she admitted that. “I um... I don’t think it matters to them. They just see an animal. Not even a particularly threatening one.”
The goat woman gave a light chuckle to that. “Well, for what it’s worth I think you make a rather pretty girl,” she said with her warm smile- which Anthony had no idea quite how to take. That wasn’t exactly what she wanted to hear either, but Jessica simply patted her head and gestured her to a seat. “You’ll be fine, I promise. Oh, and don’t mind Sally so much. She’s… a special case. I’ve got her to open up a lot recently but… she’s still working through her feelings. If she does cause you or anyone to be upset though, I’ll have to send her away of course… but can you tolerate her for a little?”
Anthony glanced at the older teenage girl, who seemed to be folding her arms leaning on a wall. “Yeah…I’ll be fine.” She didn’t know what else to say but took her seat, letting her squirrel-tail dangle behind the well-made hole for them. At least this place had good chairs for the extra appendages some people had. Though of course, it was still too big for her… and her paw-feet dangled in the air.
The group had been arranged in a circle to introduce themselves. It was a casual environment with a window overlooking the outside town a few floors up. It was a surprisingly nice view. Some food was available on a side table. “So, I know we have some new faces,” The Goat-woman began. “This is quite informal, nothing is said here with any judgement. Just say how you feel, if you’re angry about it that’s fine- and if anyone does have a problem with anyone being angry, just know it’s temporary okay?” she made a slight glance to Sally the Demon girl.
It was the strange rather large bird-woman who stood up first. “Hey, I’m… Laura.” She began, twitching her huge talons on the ground. She had nice blonde hair at the top of her head and human-like features until she got to her hips where her body just ‘expanded’ into a large bird of pretty white feathers. She had large wings on her body too… which seemed to mimic what her human arms were doing. “I wanted to be transformed for the fun of it… I’m not happy with what I got. Annoyingly my partner is ‘perfectly happy’ and I don’t even get why!” She clenched her fists in frustration. “I don’t get this.. I just don’t get it. Why is he so happy when I planned this and said I was going to be okay with ‘anything’… but got this!”
Jessica gave a sympathetic look. “Hello Laura. You’re dealing with your change better than most, don’t let it get you down. We’ll focus on the positives…”
“…how can I when there’s so many negatives.” The bird-woman asked. “I keep getting this body stuck on doorsways! People stare at me. I can’t even wear a dress.”
“Acknowledge the issues, but you have many positives to focus on too.”
The bird woman sat down glumly, her chair giving a soft ‘creek’.
“So, Anthony?” The goat-woman asked as Laura sat down again. “Please introduce yourself.”
Anthony looked around the room. Various transformed people… he could almost guess their issues… and what they thought of her. The squirrel girl was used to meetings but having the eyes of all these ‘freaks’ on her was… acutely disturbing. She tried to shrug it off. It was just another business meeting, right? “I-I’m Anfthony…” she cleared her throat. “Anthony.” Damn it! When she got nervous her tongue just went to her top teeth. “I turned into this by… accident.”
“Hey- you’re that guy that was on the news!” Sally the demon-girl gasped. “Ha! So that’s what happened to you!”
“Sally,” Jessica raised a hand to try and make her quiet. “We’re trying to be good company to each other. Why don’t you try being a little nicer? Your transformation is not an ‘excuse’ to act that way.”
Sally groaned. She was dressed in gothic clothes and had red skin, with ruby lips. She didn’t have hooves though but a rather slim build with modest breasts. She did have rather womanly hips though and a very thick tail with a spaded end. She gave a look though as if asking why ‘this’ person was someone they had to be nice to? “Okay… fine.” She gave a look to Anthony.
Anthony was a pretty good study of people. She observed Sally… taking note of her general body language. There was something off in her actions. It was something a lot more ‘personal’ … a personal feeling invoking emotions of disgust and rage. She knew people tended to be pretty simple in their motives. Everyone had a motive… if she could work out the primary emotion. ‘what is she afraid of…’ she quietly analysed. ‘…me?’ No not quite ‘fear’… but…
… ‘she knows me…’ Anthony recognised ‘manipulation’ and could tell a practiced lie when those who tried to practice the art of deception. She had employed it many times herself in business, and a teenager wasn’t going to get the better of her. ‘She didn’t recognise me -just- now… she did much sooner. She was waiting for the right moment to reveal it to make sure everyone hated me… a personal grudge?’ Timing… she had it timed. Yes it was clear in her tones…
That made Anthony question… why? As she pondered Sally’s actions though, another person came into the room.
“Sorry- I’m a little late.”
The squirrel-girl stared at her. Another animal girl? Yeah… she was a Rabbit-girl- a rather ‘human’ rabbit girl, with just the ears and a tail. She gave an easy going smile as she sat down. She was distinctly very feminine looking with a bow wrapped around her hair. She shared a look to Anthony before sitting down. She was of normal human size and could easily look like a sort of ‘play boy’ bunny girl.
“Kelly, so glad you decided to come.” Jessica waved her inside. “Come on don’t be shy.”
Anthony looked to the Rabbit-girl again. ‘She’s so pretty’, she thought to herself. She looked to be in her twenties. ‘Wait- am I ‘attracted’ to her?!’ Well- she was a rabbit-girl… who didn’t like them? She did like rabbit-girls when going at this rather nice gambling shop- the squirrel-girl was caught momentarily off guard by that odd feeling as it rippled across her form. Feminine… desires. It was different… alien… she had to force it down before anyone else noticed. She quickly looked away, faintly blushing under her fur and tried not to look at Kelly’s chest.
Kelly gave a brief look back to Anthony as she sat on her chair, the rabbit tail behind her twitching animatedly despite being rather short. “I… don’t know really if I want to be here,” she admitted as she crossed her shapely legs a little nervously.
The goat woman nodded. “It’s fine, this is more of an informal get-together. Grab a snack, feel free to leave when you want to. You’re welcome any time.”
Kelly nodded feeling a bit calmer knowing she could leave whenever she wanted. The words even calmed Anthony down. Maybe it was something in the animal-folk… that feeling of… being ‘trapped’ was so much more acute.
‘Animals’… she hated that label. She was still a person damn it! Though Anthony was still the shortest person here.
There were some boys too. George was a rather ordinary looking human male in his thirties, but had a lamia snake body underneath. He seemed rather quiet… he gave a cautious smile to Anthony though on being noticed. He slid around on his snake-body and was apparently someone who ‘wanted’ to be changed too. He was quite happy initially, but his family didn’t approve and disowned him. He had struggled with that depression for a while.
Another male took Anthony by surprise as he had not noticed him. It was some kind of ‘mouse boy’ He was sitting on the small table, snacking quietly on the cheese sandwiches that had been left there. They must have looked like buildings to him! Anthony felt a little cautious suddenly, worried about ‘stepping’ on him though he had heard, shrunken people were oddly resilient. He had never heard of anyone being ‘accidently’ stepped on… and doing so intentionally seemed to take considerable effort. There was also a new feeling of… well…
… an instinct to just… keep an eye on him? … Motherly instincts. Anthony groaned remembering what the councillor had said. Gender changed people rarely had serious psychological issues… and that perhaps the water did some adjustments on its own. She wasn’t a boy in a girl’s body… she was just ‘a girl’ … and her brain was playing catch up. What if this completely destroyed who she was! She kept her name… she insisted she always was who she was… but that might not be the case for long. Would she even know?
‘…the fact you even ask that, shows how much you have changed,’ Those words came back to haunt Anthony.
The goat-woman smiled and tried to get the group to talk. “So, I know we’ve all had some issues with our changes. Let’s focus on the positives. Has there been anything you found to ‘like’ about the transformation?”
There was some silence but eventually the Lamia-boy spoke. “I can stretch pretty well…” he said. “I mean… I always liked doing that. I was happy helping people out at work.”
“Wonderful! Maybe you can use that to arrange your furniture in unique ways. How about you Sally?”
The demon girl groaned and looked up. “I can scare the hell out of kids and people think I’m a ‘bad influence’.”
“Positives dear,” The goat-woman encouraged.
She shrugged. “I don’t get sunburned.”
Anthony watched her again… still curious on what was so personal about her attack on her. ‘Maybe she just hates squirrels… or a change that makes one look like a child?’ She did say she was saddened her transformation makes children fearful of her… she was a monster to them. Could that be related? ‘hm…’ Anthony continued to carefully work her out. That ‘felt’ possible… clearly there was a lot going on in her.
“Anthony?” The Goat-woman gestured to her. “Any positives?”
“Oh… positives…” Anthony tapped her cheek In thought. She was weaker, lost her position, respect, man-hood, clothes didn’t fit her, people thought she was a kid… and she looked like a drowned rat after taking a shower. She wasn’t like these other people in present company who were scrambling to reach the top… she ‘was’ at the top! The transformation took it all away... brought her down to ‘their’ level. How could she even explain how awful it was without… insulting them directly?
She hated how she looked… and she had to deal with being a girl.
Anthony thought of her roll on the ground when she lost her job when she scuffled with Alex. “…I guess I’m more nimble,” she whispered. “I… can move pretty quickly.”
“Wonderful! Yes, that is a positive. Many transformed people do experience a health boost. Your body is revitalised even if it’s completely new.”
Anthony sighed. Everyone talked of the positives as best they could… The rabbit-woman stayed mostly rather silent and eventually decided to go. Anthony felt a bit saddened on that. She really wanted to get to know her… but… maybe it was best not to. They all had ‘issues’… mixing other thoughts would just make a mess.
Anthony left not really sure what to think. She had gained some insights… but it didn’t really make her feel any better. She did see the Demon-girl leaving who shot her an… uncomfortable look. The squirrel girl was not intimidated though as she decided to approach her… a girl almost twice her size. She had some second thoughts but… she had to know. “What’s the deal?” She asked, her tail behind her twitching animatedly. “You seem upset with me… what did I do?”
“…my dad worked for Starsparkle’s company. You destroyed his job and he… he left.” She said angrily.
“…oh.” Anthony whispered. What could she say? It was ‘just business’ … it was someone else’s idea… it was… it was…
…it was all just an excuse.
Anthony stared into space silently realising the impact she had to those around her. In her attempts to be the best… she had done so by mercilessly pushing everyone else down around her. She was no giant… just… just a bully. A bully who had been ‘out bullied’ by another bully. “…what… can I say?”
However, when she looked the demon-girl had vanished. Somehow, she walked away from her… and Anthony felt very cold.
The squirrel-girl wrapped her coat against her fur as she began her slow walk home.
