Test Tubes

Part I - Waiting for Change

     As I drive my old beater to the parking lot of the lab, I think about the fact that I'll be kissing goodbye to my past life, to partake in a transformation. I have no idea if this is going to kill me, but it can't be worse than what I've been living all my life. I pull down my sun visor and look in the mirror, my short black hair and brown eyes still disgust me to this day, they always did. I can't outrun my reflection, so this is my opportunity to change it for good. I reassure myself that I want to do this, and turn off my car for the very last time.
     I walked through the front door of the lab and was greeted by marvelous technology that I have never seen before. I walk up to the receptionist and say my name, and she tells me to take a seat or look around to pass the time. To my right, I see an animated hologram of a man, slowly transforming into a gorilla. Underneath the display is a bronze plaque, engraved on it:
"Dedicated to Mr. William Howell,
          who's sacrifice to save an endangered
              species will not go untold,"
     As I marvel at the smooth animation, I hear my name called, and I walk to the other end of the lobby, and I'm greeted by a tall woman in a lab coat.
     "Good afternoon, Bruce! My name is Dr. Stone, I'll be taking care of you throughout your ambitious transition. Shall we take a tour of the lab before you move in?"
     "Sure, let's see it," I replied. As we walked through the double doors we entered a long corridor, and that's when Dr. Stone reminded me:
     "Remember, Bruce, that under your contract, you are legal property of this laboratory. Therefore, I will most likely be the only one here treating you like a human, that is until your transition is complete." 
     "Yeah, yeah, I know, let's just keep going," I replied with a hint of anxiety. I was starting to have second thoughts. After what seemed like an eternity we made it to the end of the hall and swiftly through another set of doors, I found myself in a large room with an artificial ecosystem in the middle, the only thing separating the two being a large piece of glass.
     "This is the terrarium where our savanna-bound animals are kept, right now, there is a panther inside! She's almost done with her transition." Dr. Stone told me, and I asked to look inside. She allowed me so I walked up close to the glass and looked inside. Before long I saw a woman inside, but, she was different. She was on all four hands, had three times as many breasts, a short muzzle and no hands or feet. We exchanged looks, and I felt that she was sorry for me, and what I have to go through.
     "What's her name?" I asked one of the scientists.
     "Her name is Cocoa," one told me, "she's almost ready to live in the wild. A beautiful animal, don't you agree?"
     "She doesn't look like an animal," I said, which got some frustrated looks.
     "She is an animal in the process of becoming. By the end of the week she will be a fully fledged panther, and by next week she'll be at her new home in South Africa," a different scientist told me. I looked back at the woman and she looked back at me, and mouthed 'thank you,' before Dr. Stone led me away.
     "You will undergo a similar transition, only a bit more controlled," Dr. Stone told me, as I still had no idea how they were going to pull this off, "it will be much harder for your transition as you will be the very first of your species! Isn't that exciting? You'll get to name yourself!" I stumbled after hearing her words piercing my ear drums.
     "You've never created one of them before? So I'm an experiment, huh?" I said, quite angrily.
     "Why are you acting out? You knew the risk involved. If you do not calm down the tour will end and you will be sedated so I suggest you calm down," Dr. Stone raised her voice at me, "well then, on to the next area. This next room is where you will be living."