I hold my breath, waiting for the voice to answer once more, and show me who’s on the other side. The voice lets out a slight sigh, and then, “Okay.” With the confirmation, I peer in.
On the other side of the wall, is a room that’s nearly identical to my own. However, the bed is sitting next to the door. On the opposite side of the room from where I can see. And emerging from the outside of my field of view, is the owner of the voice.
The owner of the other voice is a lanky creature, covered from head to toe in green scales. The only thing covering his body is a white shirt and torn shorts. He stands away from the hole in the wall, awkwardly holding his hands together as he averts his eyes from making contact with my gaze.
I jolt back, letting out a “Ahh!”
Without thinking, I hurry to put the piece I took out back in place.
I move back as quickly as possible before whatever creature is on the other side attempts to make more contact with me. I thought I could handle this; I knew this was a possibility, but it’s too much now.
I may not be alone, but I wasn’t ready to see… that.
Still pushing myself back, I hear a door click open. My door. Oh no, someone’s in here. I turn around slowly, as the door creaks open. The feeling of fear from when I woke up is slowly returning to me, with every inch the door opens, I can feel myself becoming frozen in fear.
The door opens completely, but I’m not met with another monster, instead I’m met with a human woman, in a sky-blue polo.
The smiles warmly at me, as if my appearance isn’t an issue to her. “Great to see you moving around!”
The feeling of fear dissipates, now, the only thought on my mind is getting help, and getting answers. I pull myself up, approaching the woman, trying my best not to scare her. “Lady, you have to help me,” I say, “I’ve been turned into some kind of monster!”
The lady chuckles, looking at her clipboard. “Being scared about your new appearance is normal, you’re perfectly fine. If anything, I think you look great!”
This lady’s confusing me, what does she mean, I look great? Are we not looking at the same thing? I saw what I look like, I’m far from great. But my new appearance? What does she mean? Did these people do this to me?
I approach the lady now, confused, I ask. “What did you people do to me?” The lady, still fiddling with her clipboard, responds. “We didn’t do anything to you! From all we know, this is some kind of freak accident. Follow me if you will.” The woman walks out of the room, stopping in the doorway before turning to me and gesturing for me to follow her.
Reluctantly, I decide to follow. I may not know what’s going on, but sitting in this room isn’t going to get me any answers. The woman in the polo seems unbothered by what’s happening, there’s a chance she might not be a bad person.
Walking into a hallway composed of the same stuff as the room I was in. My theory that this building has to be some kind of school is now confirmed. Lockers line the walls as the lady and I walk down the hallway. She turns to me and starts speaking again.
“This building you find yourself in is one of the RCC Rehabilitation facilities.”
Confounded, I ask “R…C….C?”
She grins, continuing down the hallway. “Yes, RCC, it’s short for Reform Corporation for the Changed. We’re organization that specializes in rehabilitation efforts for Changed individuals like yourself!”
“Changed… individuals?”
The lady stops in front of a door labeled “Physician”, she hands me a slip of paper, some kind of medical record. “Yep!” the woman says with a bright smile. “Changed! Humans who were affected by the astronomical event that happened 3 weeks ago. Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world all experienced a massive metamorphic event, which changed their physical appearance into hybrids of both human and animal, you’re one of those few people who changed!”
Wait…. Three weeks? Have I been missing for three weeks? I start to raise my voice up to the lady. “Ma’am, have I been out for three weeks? I need to get out of here! My friends know that I’m missing! I have to go find them! You gotta let me leave!”
The lady nods and gives me a warm smile. “We will! Don’t you worry, but we need to make sure you’re in good shape before letting you out. First step is the physician’s office. Please, go inside.”
The woman opens the door to the physician’s office, gesturing me with her clipboard. “You have nothing to worry about, it’s just a physical.” She shakes the clipboard, ushering me in. I slowly walk into the room, which is set up like a doctor’s office. The bench, the wall of medical supplies, even the jar of cotton balls. As soon as I enter the door closes behind me, and I watch through the window as the woman with the clipboard walk away down the hallway.
Just as she disappears, the sound of another door catches my attention. A man, dressed in doctor’s clothing enters the room. He doesn’t look much older than 40, he’s also carrying a clipboard.
“Ah, good to see you’re up and about, I’ll take that paper from you, please, sit on the bench.” With nowhere else to go, I take go to take a seat on the bench, however, I end up sitting on the tail I forgot I had, readjusting my sitting position, I wait for whatever is going to happen next.
The man in the lab coat sits down on one of those swivel chairs doctors have, as he takes a pen to his clipboard. “Okay miss, do you remember your name and your age?”
“Lyla, I’m 24.” I reply.
The doctor scribbles some notes onto the paper I give him. “Okay Miss Lyla, do you have a last name?”
“It’s Hagen.”
The doctor scribbles onto the page again, mumbling to himself, “patient remembers her name.” He looks up. “Thank you, Miss Hagen. Now, how much did the representative tell you?”
I start to recount the conversation I had with the woman in the polo. I mention how I’m not human anymore, and how I’ve supposedly been out for three weeks.
The man writes down more notes onto his page, it’s hard for me to not think he’s just writing for the sake of doing it. “Okay, thank you. Let me explain this a little better for you. About three weeks ago, a massive astronomical event caused a lot of people to experience a synchronous fainting spell. Somehow, this fainting spell also coincided with everyone affected going through a biological metamorphosis into what our company has been calling Changed. Somehow, everyone affected has had their biological makeup mixed with currently existing species of animal.”
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“I’m one of those people.”
The doctor nods, “Yes, that’s correct.”
“But you can change me back right?” I ask, hopefully.
“I’m sorry to say Miss Hagen, there’s no cure for what’s happened to you, but we’re here to help.” The man responds.
This was the final straw for me, hearing it from someone official, and knowing now that I can’t be changed back, this is it. I’m ruined, how am I ever going to go back to the way things were looking like this? It seems unfair. Like some cruel joke played by the universe on me.
My heart sinks, and I look down at the floor, contemplating the situation I’m in.
The man in the coats starts talking again, “But, there is a way to try to go back to the way things were.” I sigh and look up at him. The doctor gestures to a poster on the wall, of two people dressed in the same polo shirt as the woman, guiding someone who looks like a dog to a building, featuring a logo of a human hand, except, it’s cut in half, the other replaced with a stereotypical animal paw.
“The company I’m being contracted by, the RCC, is looking to help you guys get back into society as fast as possible, soon, you’ll be able to go back to your normal lives. Sure, you’ll look different, but it’s what’s on the inside that counts right?” The man in the coat chuckles, trying to make light of the situation.
The man then slides over to a desk and grabs some tools from the wall. “But first things first, we need to make sure you’re in good health, so we don’t have to keep you longer than you need to be. Don’t worry, the procedure is completely non-intrusive, just a simple checkup.”
He puts the tools onto a dish, scoots back over to where I’m at, and points at the clipboard once again. “I almost forgot; I have to ask you what your sub-species is.”
I tilt my head in confusion, “Sub-species? Like, what kind of monst- I mean, what kind of animal I turned into?” I look down at my hands, observing the gray fur on my arms. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to be. I’ve been unconscious for three weeks.”
The doctor smiles, and writes on his clipboard. “I already know, don’t worry it’s standard procedure, however, to say that you’ve been out for a few weeks, is a bit of a fabrication. What’s actually happened is that you and a lot of other changed have suffered from a special type of amnesia. The public calls it Altered Amnesia, but we’ve dubbed it Changed Confusion here, we try to be more tactful towards those being affected. Depending on the person, those who have experienced a change, but aren’t mentally ready to accept their new appearance will go into an amnesiac state. Of course, we’ve been taking care of you during the three weeks you’ve been here, however, most cases of changed confusion the person affected will spend their time only sleeping and eating when given food. Talking isn’t something a lot of people do, the working theory is that it comes from a mental battle in the mind, a mix of animalistic instinct and human thoughts clashing for dominance. Once someone makes it through the amnesia, they normally don’t remember what’s happened during their mental battle.”
The doctor, points to his clipboard. “Another interesting fact about changed confusion is that people who have been changed will forget the species that they are as well, it’s a side effect of coming out of the amnesiac state.”
“So, that’s why I don’t know what I am? This… changed confusion is the reason?” I reply.
“Yep, but since it’s been such a short time since everyone has been effected, this is all a working theory. A way to explain why some people are responding to the change in different ways. Some people will wake up, and not go through what you did.”
Okay, this seems to be making a little more sense, but I still have questions about all of this. I take a deep breath and respond to the doctor. “Okay, so I don’t know what I’m supposed to be, what am I then? How much of the old me is still here?”
The doctor sets the clipboard down and takes one of those rubber hammer things out of the dish he put them in. he holds the hammer to my knee. “Well, from what we’ve gathered during your amnesiac state, you’re a Didelphis Virginiana, also known as the Virginia Opossum. While you do look like one, and have a lot of similar traits like, eyesight, possible animal instincts and other abilities, certain identifiable human traits remain as well, such as walking upright, your hair, and torso structure. Like everyone else here, you’re half animal, half person. So there’s still some of you still there.” He then taps the hammer onto my knee, causing my leg to kick forward slightly. “We’ve done X-rays as well, aside from your skeletal structure changing slightly to accommodate your tail, legs, and your new head shape, it’s still pretty much human.
Listening intently to the doctor, the words he’s saying just crash into me. I sit there silent, as he walks around and performs more exams on me. He shines the light in my ears, passes a flashlight across my face, checks my blood pressure, and uses the stethoscope to check my breathing. I’m not paying attention as he tries to make small talk, the only thing on my mind is what he told me. There’s still parts of me on the inside, and still parts of me on the outside. But, to anyone who’s never met me, I look like a freakin’ possum. The animal that always plays dead, and eats trash. The more I process this, the more absurd it sounds. I could’ve been turned into something cool, but I got stuck with a possum. I don’t even know if I’m scared anymore. I just feel numb now. Like really? A possum? Out of all the animals ever I get one of the most BS animals on the planet? Just my luck.
The doctor’s voice calls me out of my trance. “and we’re done, you seem to be in perfect health. I don’t see a single problem with you.”
“You’re kidding right?” I respond. “I’m a possum.”
The doctor shrugs, “Health wise, you’re fine miss Hagen. I don’t know what to tell you. Between you and me, this is all new to me too. Before this, I was a veterinarian. Your physical appearance may be that of an animal, but if you were to break a bone or something, I wouldn’t be able to do as good of a job as a human doctor. But I can tell you that even though you’re a possum, you could’ve had it worse. You got pretty lucky being turned into an animal local to the region.”
I sigh, a slight anger fills my body, not enough to lash out, but to say the least, I’m upset. “I just want to get out of here now. Thanks for the help.”
The doctor responds “No problem, I know I can’t fix things, but everyone that’s working here are good people. We do genuinely want to help; someone should be here to get you soon.”
I stand up from the bench and walk to the door. I nod and open the door to leave. The anger inside starts swelling, I want to punch something, but I don’t think making a scene is going to be in my best interest. Starting to walk down the hallway, I hear a voice call out to me. “Hey miss! Over here!” Turning around, I jump back a little, It’s the guy from the crack in the wall. Now that I can actually get a good look at him, this guy is a Chameleon. He’s walking up to me with another person, it’s a human, about the same height as me, he’s dressed in the same polo as the woman who walked me to the physician’s office. “Oh it’s you. You spooked me walking up like that.” I say, trying to keep my anger to myself, I don’t want to start pissing people off, especially the guy who tried to help me this morning.
The guy in the polo shirt turns to the Chameleon, “She a friend of yours?” he asks. The chameleon looks at me, then back at the guy in the polo. “Yeah, she’s a friend.” He says, looking at me. I don’t know if he’s trying to wink, but whatever he’s doing with his eyes kind of looks like it. “Well, you know that you’re not supposed to be wandering the halls alone until after lunch, right?” the guy in the polo turns to me.
“Oh sorry, I just got done at the physician’s. Someone’s supposed to come get me. Apparently, I don’t remember the past few weeks.” I say, trying not to start something. The man in the polo smiles. “Ah, gotcha, you must’ve been suffering from changed confusion. Sorry, I didn’t meant to come off as cross. My name is Carter. Nice to meet you miss.” He extends his hand out. Reluctantly, I shake his hand. “Nice to meet you, I’m Lyla.” I say.
“Well, it’s good to have you here Lyla. James and I are about to go to lunch, you should come with us now that you’re up and around. I’m sure that’s where they were taking you anyways.” Carter says, giving a genuine smile I haven’t seen on any of these blue-polo guys before.
James nods, “Apparently Carter says that another food truck has come in, so they’ve brought in more options today.”
I look both people in front of me up and down. Something about this Carter guy seems off, but to be honest, anyone in a polo here is giving me the creeps. James on the other hand, It’s my fault I left him hanging like that back in my room, I should try to at least be his friend.
“Sure, I’ll tag along.” I reply.
Carter nods, giving the both of us a smile. “Sounds good, let’s go then.”