June 16th

Amanda

I woke up to a bright light shining directly on me. My head was woozy as it felt like I was having a migraine. The beeping of computers filled my ears as my vision started to focus on the white tile ceiling overhead. Something felt off, but I didn’t now why. Body parts felt different, but I didn’t know if they were. “Did it work?” I asked as the headache started dying down.

“It was an astonishing success, Amanda. Would you like to see yourself in the mirror?” Dr. Fox asked as he walked into view. He wore a lab coat and was holding a tablet under his left arm.

“Yes, please. I need to see how I look,” I replied. I tried to move my body, but it seemed that I was strapped to the hospital bed. They were probably scared of me now. They were right to fear. This was how terrifying I always was.

Dr. Fox moved a mirror in front of me. Unlike how my cowardly sister would’ve reacted, I gave a big toothy smile as I saw myself. It was pleasantly surprising to see that while I resembled a wolf now, I was still clearly a woman. My head was shaped like a human one with two exceptions. The first one was the pair of wolflike ears on the top. The second was the lupine, as Scarlett’s nerdy husband would say, muzzle with a black nose at the end. Gray fur covered my entire head while gray hair also flowed from the top. They got the best of both worlds when it came to my appearance.

“I love it!” I shouted with pride as I made different faces in the mirror. Whenever I wanted to make a threatening face, it succeeded far greater than it would on human me. Yet at the same time, I could still give genuine smiles and peaceful expressions that weren’t scary. With a glance to Dr. Fox, I asked, “Can you let me go so I can check myself over?”

He nodded. “Sure thing, Ms. Campbell.” As he unlocked my bindings, I took a look at my hands to see that they had nice claws at the end. The claws were black and somewhat short, but they were still there. If I sharpened them, they would be a nice natural weapon in my arsenal. The one downside I noticed was that my muscles must’ve shrunk during my rest from the operation.

Once all the bindings were loose, Dr. Fox left the room, allowing me to get up from the hospital bed. While I was a bit woozy and my legs were wobbly, I was able to hold up my own weight. I took off my hospital gown and looked at myself in the standing mirror nearby. A smirk crossed my face as I inspected my womanly features. They were still there and were visible enough that I would need to wear clothes to preserve modesty. My frame was strong but feminine, fulfilling both aspects I wanted. I was willing to throw away my humanity to get strong, not willing to throw away looking feminine.

My body shape was mostly human while covered in fur. A large wolflike tail wagged behind me, making me smile. I watched enough anime to know that men loved women with tails and animal ears. They didn’t like furry women, though, but I was sure that I could find someone. On other news was the oddity that was my hands. My fingers were still humanlike, meaning I would be able to use them like normal. The main oddity was that despite that, my palms and fingers had flat leathery paws. They wouldn’t get in the way, but it was fascinating. However, the change I least expected was my eye color. Instead of my blue eyes I had amber eyes looking back at me.

With my self-inspection over, I put my hospital gown back on before measuring myself against the wall. Compared to my previous height, I went through one hell of a growth spurt. I was now six feet five inches tall, a full head taller than Scarlett and her husband. It brought a smile to my face to think that I now towered over that b****. Once I rip her limb by limb, perhaps I’d use my new strength to live my own way. Perhaps I could even steal her husband just to add insult to injury. Just kidding, I’d rip him apart as well.

As I walked back to the hospital bed, my legs gave out and I fell to the ground. Dr. Fox ran back in with a wheelchair and whistled. Beckoning his call, two burly foxmen ran in and helped pick me up. They placed me on the wheelchair before one started pushing it. The scientist looked at me and explained, “I should’ve warned you that the operation did a number on your muscles. Your request to get this tall is what caused it. While you’ll eventually redevelop the muscles and can then exceed your previous strength, for now you need to be put in physical therapy.”

“Ugh! I wanted to leave immediately and give my sister a taste of my mind!” I growled as I punched my fist against my palm.

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Dr. Fox shook his head. “Amanda, there’s more to life than petty grievances. You’ve been given the opportunity to be a role model to a new subspecies of humanity, yet you don’t want it. All you want to do is murder someone because of reasons I don’t understand.”

“Of course you don’t understand! You don’t know what it’s like to have your father obsess over a girl he thought was still alive contrary to all evidence, only for his blind faith to be correct! And then he goes back to showing her favoritism even though she’s now a freak!” I seethed in rage as I felt myself losing control. The worst part was that it wasn’t even part of my mutation. I knew it was a thing I had where I had trouble containing my rage. When it came to my sister, however, there was nothing wrong with it. She was supposed to be dead!

Dr. Fox sighed and said, “If you wanted to know, I once had a vendetta against a man. He stole my life’s work and published it as his own. While he got all the credit, I was left with nothing. I formulated a plan to get my revenge. For several years, I sabotaged his projects and tried to make him suffer. After enough torment, he quit science entirely. At first I was overjoyed, but the victory was hollow. All I did was ruin a man’s life and now we were both worse off. You’re an adult so I don’t need to tell you the moral.”

“That was petty on your half,” I replied as I stared ahead. I hated being wheeled around, but I couldn’t do anything about it. It was made worse by that scientist believing he could lecture me. Seriously, that freak needed to shut up. I knew it was hypocritical to call a fellow mutant a freak, but in my defense, I looked cooler than him, so it nullified the freakishness.

We went through several hallways before I was brought into a large area that I had never seen before. It was a wide-open atrium with several buildings to the side. I could see people, both normal humans and mutants, picking up trays of food and sitting next to each other. The oddest thing to see was the two groups talking to each other like old friends. No one treated someone covered in fur any different from a normal human being. I swear I even saw a foxman kissing a human woman.

I was rolled up to a table as someone handed me a tray of food. It consisted of a pork chop, some creamed spinach, and a biscuit. I looked at Dr. Fox and asked, “I’m a carnivore now, right?”

He laughed heartily as did everyone else at the table. I tried to growl to silence them, but it seems that I wasn’t quite acquainted with my abilities since it sounded like a human trying to mimic a wolf’s growl. After that fiasco, he looked at me and answered, “No, you’re still an omnivore and still have a human diet. We already explained the mutation process to you. When you’re mutated, your DNA is still human. We just changed some physical properties to alter your appearance and give you new tools such as sharp teeth, claws, amazing sense of smell and hearing, and fur to insulate yourself in colder environments.”

I rolled my eyes as I grabbed the pork chop with my hand and shoved it in my mouth. Everyone looked at me like I was acting like a savage animal, but they were the ones acting unnaturally. For some reason, the vulpine mutants were still using utensils and napkins. Didn’t they see that those behaviors were now pointless? We were freaks of science that needed to embrace our new forms.

As I dug my face into the spinach, one of the mutants at the table, a young woman about my age, asked, “What sort of feral lunatic are you?”

I picked my face up and stared at her. A snarl escaped my maw as I shouted, “We’re no longer humans, vixen! Our human properties are lost forever as we must embrace the beast inside of us! That’s how we get stronger!”

She sighed and fiddled with her fork. “Says the woman as she’s talking to me like any other human being.” I wanted to snap at her, but I knew that there were enough people to keep me down. She placed her fork down as she looked at me with a scowl that reminded me of Scarlett. She said, “You need some therapy. You say I’m acting unnatural when you’re the one treating yourself like an animal. Have some dignity!”

At that insult, I tried to lunge at her, only to fall onto the table. I was covered in spinach, but it would be worth it if I could attack her. Unfortunately, she leaned back, avoiding my claws. She then grabbed a glass of water and splashed it in my face. “Bad girl! You’re acting like a feral animal instead of the human you still are!”

Sure enough, my attempt at attacking the woman ended with two guards restraining me. To add insult to injury, they handcuffed my arms to the armrests of the wheelchair before placing a muzzle on my snout. Dr. Fox frowned and sighed. “You need some help, Amanda. According to all our studies, your brainwaves shouldn’t have been altered that much. Which implies that you can control yourself but choose not to. There’s no excuse for your behavior, young lady, and it’s time you get some therapy.”

I didn’t answer as I looked down. It seemed that I wasn’t going to be able to get away with behavior I couldn’t before. “I’m sorry. I thought I was an animal now,” I insincerely apologized. It was a good try, but it seemed that everyone knew the difference.

“Now listen, you’ll attend the mental and physical therapy until you get back to normal. After that point, you’re free to go if you choose. You’ve already provided us with enough data to carry our research further. However, I’d advise that you stay with us. The outside world is dangerous and hostile to those without a team,” Dr. Fox explained as he showed the schedule ahead for me.

“Understood,” I grumbled as I looked away. It seemed that for all the abilities I was given, there were still rules. However, I would have my revenge if it’s the last thing I do!