When he next woke, it was with some relief–the pain and discomfort he’d felt the last time he’d woken before was gone for the most part. No, not woken–what he’d dreamt, of course. Certainly it had been a dream–nothing like what he’d seen could have been possible…so it had to be some odd coincidence that he was now awake in the same room where he’d fallen from his bed and had his second encounter with that odd robotic monster. Maybe…maybe it was a hallucination? Something drug induced? The company which was employing him had its fingers in any number of industries, including pharmaceuticals and genetics. Some strange vision fueled by a drug addled mind–it was the easiest explanation.
What it did not explain, was the fact that his hands, which he saw when he sat up on the edge of the bed, weren’t not, in fact, human.
“Don’t panic. Don’t…fucking panic,” he thought to himself, “Just…just a hallucination still, that’s all.”
“The patient is advised,” the robotic voice said behind him, by the door, “That he may have free use of the room and facilities within, but may not leave without being restrained and sedated. Doctor Sondew has been alerted that the patient is awake, and will be meeting with the patient soon.” He looked over his shoulder at the strange robot standing there, and then looked away.
All Kerry wanted, however, was a mirror. The room, now that he was clearer eyed, resembled a standard hospital room, and off to the side was a door which was ajar, and within, a small bathroom. He got off the bed, nearly falling over because of the strange form of his feet–he had a hard time wrapping his head around them, but the looked like…paws. What it felt like, was that he was being forced to walk on the balls of his feet, his ankles and heels lifted off the ground by force of tendon and flesh. Carefully, using bits of equipment to help him balance on the slick tile, he made his way into the small side room, and found the mirror there, and a strange, howling and moaning cry erupted from his throat, at the sight of his new face.
It wasn’t human. He wasn’t human. He didn’t know what he was, exactly, though the word “werewolf” came to mind, or perhaps more accurate, “Weredog.” He had a snout, tipped with a black nose, floppy, hairy ears on either side of his head, and without really noticing, he had been panting, a long tongue hanging out slightly. The rest of his body–he’d lost weight, which he supposed was one fact for the pro column in all of this. He’d had quite the gut before, but now he was quite lean, the black and brown hair running all over his chest, abs and back. His torso seemed largely human still, as did his arms–though his hands. He still had thumbs…sort of. He’d be able to, say, open a door–but anything more complicated, like holding a pen, would be out of the question. He was naked, and so he saw his genitals had changed as well–his cock no longer hanging out, but pulled back into a furry sheath, with two similarly sized, but furry, balls hanging below. His legs were muscular, and the joints seemed all out of place from what he was used to, but walking and standing was easy enough, now that he’d gotten used to the sensation.
“The doctor will be arriving in two minutes. The patient is advised that any violence or attempt to escape will be met with restraint and sedation.”
Kerry hadn’t seen the doctor during his brief period of waking before, but he had heard him speak, and something had seemed odd–or had seemed odd to him, but he’d been in the thick of this…transformation, so who knew what he’d heard exactly. Still–regardless of what the robot had said, he needed to get out of this insane place. Maybe, if he could find his workmates Quinn and Holden, he’d be able to convince them that inside this strange body, he was Kerry. That, or they’d probably kill him, which would almost be a relief, in some ways. He had no idea if he’d be able to change back after all…and hadn’t the doctor mentioned another serum? If it came to that…no, he’d worry about that if it came to that.
The door opened, and then closed again. “Greetings, Doctor Sondew. Subject Eta One is in the restroom.”
“Looking at yourself then?” the doctor said. It was strange–garbled somehow. “Come on out, when you’re ready, and we can chat. Or I can talk at least–I don’t think you have much ability to speak.”
Kerry emerged from the small room, keeping distance between him and both the doctor and the robot, trying not to gawk at the man’s face, and body. Indeed, Doctor Sondew’s speech was garbled by two large tusks jutting from the man’s lower jaw. Perhaps man was the wrong word, in fact, but he was as much a man as Kerry was, at this moment. Still, the doctor’s body seemed like a mismatch of various animals–the tusks were paired with a short pig’s snout, but the rest of his head looked more like a black bear, with the two rounded ears on top, as did the top of his torso. His arms were thick and corded, with short fur on a thick hide, his fingers more like hooves, and about as useless as Kerry’s new hands. The bottom half of his body was similar, but with different colored hair, the thighs thicker, and distinctly equine hooves where his feet should be. He wasn’t naked, however, wearing a set of loose fitting scrubs over his body.
“Hello there–I would ask you your name, but I don’t think–”
“Kerroo,” he tried to say, but while it was close, it frustrated him that he couldn’t even get his name across.
“Here,” the doctor said, placing a piece of plastic with the alphabet printed on it, along with the numbers zero through nine. “Use this. I’ll try to keep my questions to yes and no.”
Kerry pointed to the letters of his name, and the doctor nodded along.
“Kerry? That’s your name?”
He nodded.
“Good! You understand.”
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