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"Wakey wakey, sleepy human."

Peter simply grunted and opened up his eyes. Above him was the friendly face of the procompsognathus morph Karilena. She simply gazed at him with those rather cute looking eyes. Peter simply grunted again and flipped around in bed.

"I was up too late, it's what day now?" Peter grunted.

"Ahem." Karilena said, "I said, wake up."

"Mmmmph." Peter said again.

Things seemed quiet. Maybe he won. That somewhat overeager compy could be quite annoying. She always wanted him to get up in the morning bright and early for all sorts of stuff he didn't really care about. Silence. Silence. Maybe he can finally sleep again. That was until he heard an audio clip.

"GO COMPARE!!!! GO COMPARE! TO BE SURE YOU'LL WHEN YOU'LL INSURE FIRST GO COMPARE!"

"AGGGGH!" Peter grunted and then squirmed around. Sure enough, there was the compy morph standing right next to the holoscreen playing an antiquated ad. She was dancing right next to it, even singing along with the annoying singer. Seeing a

"WHEN YOUR CHOICES ARE MANY, YOU COULD SAVE A PRETTY PENNY!"

"Oh my god I'm up I'm up. Just please, TURN THAT DAMN THING OFF!"

The screen vanished. Karilena stopped dancing almost instantly.

"Time to get up. We're nearing the planet."

"Mmmph..." Peter grunted, "what's our ETA?"

"About fifteen days until we reach the station."

"Fifteen days? I think I am just fine for today," Peter said as he rolled over again.

He was left in silence for a couple moments before he heard the overenthusiastic Compy speak again.

"Play 'Superstar' by Toybox."

Peter practically bounced out of his bed.

"NOOOOOOOOOOO STOP STOP STOP!" Peter shouted.

Fortunately the computer shut off just before it started playing the annoying song from hell.

"Oh boo." A frown spread across her scaly face. "You are no fun at all."

"I thought even you abided by the rule of no cruel and unusual punishment." Peter said.

"We are in international space, buddy." The compy said, "now come on let's go let's go let's go!" She grabbed onto Peter's hand and pulled.

"Wait wait wait wait!" Peter shouted.

"Oooh what is it now?" Karilena asked.

"I am only wearing pyjamas. And for God's sake," he looked at her. "Put on some clothes."

The compy was wearing absolutely nothing. Again. Even though she had nothing to hide (Unless you got very close to her) Peter still found that kind of unnerving. Especially when she wanted to get rather close to him... which happened VERY often.

She lowered the feathery crest around her head. "Alright alright." She then disappeared from Peter's cabin. Finally, some time alone. He didn't mind Karilena at all - but she could really get on his nerves at times. He remembered the time when, out of nowhere, he was in the mess hall and then she glomped him. When she was six feet tall, that was really freaking painful. (And compies were the SMALL ones...)

Peter just wanted to settle down and hang out for the day before the door opened up again. He jumped as soon as a human walked into the cabin. He recognised her of course - a shorter than-him human girl was standing there. A very familiar face of course - that grin was definitely a giveaway. Peter took a look at her clothing - it was definitely off.

"...Karilena, did you put on any clothing at all? You just turned on a DNA cloak."

"What, I'm alright." She said, making a shy grin, gently moving the comically long braids with a hand.

"No, seriously." Peter said, "It looks so obviously faked."

"Awwww, you're no fun." Karilena said, walking out of the room.

Peter sighed again. Boy was she bothersome when she wanted to be...

~ ~ ~

Sure enough, Peter made his way to the educational facility on the ship. Most of the stuff was private tutoring and pretend lessons - but really, he got a lot of it done already. Most of it was just refinement. He always felt so... dwarfed by the reptilians around him. The only ones who didn't make him feel small were the few compies around - the ones that didn't have some other kind of theropodic heritage like Karilena, that was. They tended to be close to his size, sometimes even smaller. (Didn't stop a few from being somewhat snippy though. Barthan didn't seem to treat Peter well, he got a bit off on the wrong foot with him...)

Of course, a couple of the morphs absolutely dwarfed him. Some of them made him feel utterly small. Hardshell definitely - even for an Ankylo, she was absolutely huge. Without a doubt, the biggest one on the ship with the exception of Mister Sickles and Sopino. She absolutely towered over him and Karilena on that fine day. Peter always had the impression that, like Barthan, he probably got off on the wrong foot with her - she always did seem a little stern with him. Maybe it was Karilena though - she didn't seem to like when Karilena got active.

"Well?" She walked over to Peter.

"...Uh...."

"I am waiting an answer." Hardshell said.

"I wasn't fooling around, ma'am." Peter answered.

She placed a finger underneath Peter's chin and gazed right at him. Wordlessly, she simply nodded and then lumbered off towards another human - this one was named Chase.

"You, on the other hand. I have been looking at your logs."

Chase gulped.

"It was Thunder." He said quickly.

"What was Thunder doing?" Hardshell asked.

"Thunder was... looking up those old Earth videos late at night."

"That simply isn't needed - even though they are a bit of a fun past time." She said, before ambling off to the centre of the small (By their standards) lecture room. "Now, future integratees."

Everyone paid attention to her instantly. She had that way of gathering attention.

"We have approximately twelve more days until we reach Jarem." A hologram of the planet appeared next to her. "Your future homes will be within the small community on the northwestern coast of Juyavi." It zoomed in closer and closer, bringing up a topographical map. "That is where your gene therapy takes place."

"You must remember that before your gene therapy is to take place, you are not to wander around idly. This is a physical safety concern - Even there, the ultraviolet is strong enough that your epidermal cells will be shredded. Do not press this, even when you are modified with the protection and when you use your safety suits."

"Why's it so easy to just place traits on us like that?" one of the humans asked.

"Because of the precursor DNA we all have, dur," Peter said to the other human. That dude NEVER paid attention at all - it was a wonder if he was going to integrate at all.

"Ahem." Hardshell said. "Is there a reason you felt the need to inform Johnny about that, Peter?"

"I... felt the need to?"

"In case you have forgotten - all of you, by the way - you have been on this ship and part of the integration program just as long as the next. There is no need to be explaining such elementary facts of our universe as if there is a stranger here, or if this were some kind of a story."

"Johnny never listens though," one of the girls said.

"I do so listen!" Johnny argued.

"AHEM." The ankylo said.

Everyone immediately was silent.

~ ~ ~

While Hardshell sort of intimidated Peter, Sopino didn't, really. Sopino was also huge - then again, that was common with a spinosaurus. Sopino was quite friendly - but thankfully not as overly friendly as Karilena. The first time he met the spinosaurus, Peter was a little intimidated by his size - but that changed as soon as his grin changed to a jolly one. (And when Karilena told him that he was far from some kind of vicious predator.)

"So. You used to be from that planet too?" Peter asked, lying down on the psychiatrist's bench.

"Of course." Sopino said, "I've not been to that neighbourhood that you and the other batch of integrates are going to - since it was only constructed within the past couple years and all - but I know pretty damn well how the Juyavi treats you integrates. Enough that they put you into a small gated community."

"Really? Isn't that kind of a bad thing?" Peter asked, "I remember that on Earth, most gated communities were-"

"Ah, Peter, what did I tell you." the spinosaurus said, holding up a scaly finger, "Remember what you have been learning as part of the program. Things are different here. Gated Communities aren't seen as a bad thing, it is merely a form of organisation. We are not trying to keep things we want in, nor do we want to keep things we don't want out."

"Well even then, I take it that it's for the integration specialists to watch over us too." Peter said.

"...Yes?" Sopino looked confused.

"Yeah, I know we do have a lot in common despite you telling us about all sorts of things - there is the whole Precursor DNA and all."

"My my." Sopino said, "Have you been having trouble sleeping again? You don't need to be repeating such common knowledge."

"Eh..." Peter said, thinking back to when he first departed on the ship. He used to go entire days without sleeping. Sure, there was the whole "Space lag" aspect that made a lot of people confused with no kind of sunlight / night sky to tell peoples' subconsciousness "Night time - it's time to sleep" or "Morning sun! Time to wake up". Peter had that pretty bad, but part of the reason was also that his mind just wasn't always coping well. He jumped on board with the Integration program (since it was much MUCH easier for humans to go that way, presumably because their composition was different and didn't result in that whole "Genetic Decay" he heard people warning him about.)

"Peter?"

"Oh, nothing." Peter said, "If you mean sleeping, no, I am just fine sleeping. It's just that nobody else wants me to sleep."

"Oh, is this because Karilena has been wanting to do all sorts of exercises with you again?" Sopino asked, making a few notes on his pad, "Things may change - after all, you /do/ have to remain a bit more active than a human would be when you have your new body. Fortunately, that should be much easier when you are planetside."

"Eh, yeah. I did have some doubts... I mean, what if I don't /like/ my new body?" He looked over to the spinosaurus.

"This is why we want you to think carefully about your genetic alteration. Sure, you can always use a DNA Cloak, but we mostly prefer to use them to appear human." He then pressed a button on his watch. "Like so."

He seemed to shrink massively as a human took his place. Peter did have to admit - those DNA cloaks worked like a charm, at least when you wore clothes. He didn't know just how that bizarre fantastical science worked, but when you had things done right, it worked damn well. Of course, you had to get pretty close to tell that they were really not a human underneath that DNA Cloak. (Where did all that mass go anyway?)

"You know, I do like you better when you're scaly." Peter said, "I mean, sure, you did put those on, but I think we are past the part where we need to be 'desensitised' to scales and feathers."

He then turned the DNA cloak off, the human appearing to instantly grow scaly and much more massive. He let out a sigh of relief.

"I can tell you this - While I fully would approve of you deciding to become like me, if you wish to use a DNA cloak at all, I do warn you. These spines." he gestured over his back, "Really feel awkward when it is on. This is the same for things like horns and other spikes. There is a reason why Ms. Hardshell almost never uses her DNA Cloak at all."

"Other than that it made her look really really fat?" Peter asked.

"Ah..." Sopino stifled a comment. "Yes, that too. I would still recommend you think carefully, because that isn't a change that can be undone easily."

"Sides," Peter said, "I like the thought of being an I-rex. I know you can do mixes with the right DNA."

"Mister Sickles and Captain Indoma, I take it." He smiled, "It is a common choice after all. I am very sure that Karilena would love whatever choice you make."

"As long as I don't wind up smaller than her." Peter said, "I mean, I'd like to catch her if she glomps me. I really really have the feeling that she... well, has a real liking for me."

"Oh really?" Sopino asked, preparing another note.

"Yes. I mean, I know she is like, one of my integration partners, but she seemed to like, be immediately happy. I still remember when she hugged me and nearly suffocated me."

"We did warn her about how fragile humans are compared to us, at least physically."

"I know, how in the hell did we survive, right?" Peter asked, "Must be that magical precursor DNA."

"Ahem."

"Sorry, sorry." Peter said.

"So, are you actually apprehensive about Karilena at all? I know you will be living together, but you will not be alone. She does take her role as a bodyguard and watcher seriously."

"Eh... well, you know. Let me guess, you're writing that you think I am afraid of romance, right, because I brought all the depression I had about my last relationships here, and that they contributed to my choice to sign up for Integration?"

Sopino paused momentarily, erasing a few of the notes. Of course, Peter couldn't see what he was writing.

"No. I am simply writing about your relationship. I can indeed speak to Karilena later on and tell her to calm down a little bit."

"Good," Peter said, "Just cause I don't like being glomped by someone."

~ ~ ~

Peter groaned as he pushed Karilena's arms away from around his chest.

"You're actually doing better this time," Karilena said, letting go of Peter. "You actually kept yourself standing for about half a minute this time instead of toppling like a tower full of toy bricks."

"Karilena," Peter stood up and looked to the dinosaur.. "Can you please just... be more careful? You almost put my eye out the first time and this time you nearly took out my spleen."

"Oh fooey," Karilena said, "Besides, I didn't even announce my presence and you still were capable of standing when I jumped you. Your reflexes are doing well. Hey, you finally deciding what you wanna become when you start the gene therapy?" She smiled, getting closer to Peter as she put her scaly arm around his shoulder, walking down the hall. "I think you would look so handsome as a nice theropod or a sexy carnotaurus... Those horns, rrrrrRRRRrrr." she growled playfully, her feathery crest even waving a little bit.

"Eh..." Peter said, "I think if I did that, I would put YOUR eyes out."

"Nonsense," Karilena said, "Sides, you know what all that protein would do. It would give you quite the energy."

"Yeah, then I might be able to keep up with you. I'm still thinking of an I-rex, you know."

"Everyone loves those. I don't know why - but theropods are always nice." Karilena said, "You can also use a DNA Cloak so easily as them."

Peter simply sighed. Sure, he was a little apprehensive about what Karilena would do when he got his new body, but at the same time he was kind of liking her. There was something to be said about a rather hyperactive compy-raptor. (Well, he thought she might have had some raptor in her - the other compies were smaller and tended to be bald.)

Eventually, Karilena led Peter over to the holo-simulator. Of course it was to help design a body for himself and give an idea on just what it would look like. He tried all sorts of species, but he had settled on becoming a theropod. (The fact that Karilena and Sopino were supportive of that also helped.) Karilena stood aside when Peter walked up to the interface.

It was very user-friendly. Of course, human-friendly, as some put it as if some were implying humans were stupid. Peter simply smiled and loaded up some of the presets. He set it to the indominus rex and brought up the replica. The same kind of things used to make DNA cloaks, after all.

"Is that what you want to become?" Karilena asked.

"I'm thinking about it." Peter said, "There's also this one." he brought up a ceratosaurus. Not much different than what he thought his ideal self would be. "Or this." he brought up a raptor with a colourful feathery crest and an equally colourful tail crest.

"Or just the whole, rex thing. But hey, there's always so much more." he brought up an old rex again, a red and yellow scaled rex. Karilena laughed.

"Heeey, you'd look like Polec that way."

"Really? Oh, him again? Heh, well that's one reason why I'm thinking something grey or purple would be a bit better." He brought up the I-rex again. "Or just a hybrid of some kind. I mean there's always the addition of feathers... or the scytheclaws..."

He adjusted the figure, giving it all sorts of features. He then suddenly got a real wide grin on his face, a sergal grin. He giggled and made the hologram of the I-rex smile as well, then posed it around a bit. Peter made the figure dance, mimicked the walking animation, and then had him pose somewhat unusually.

"...Peter, what are you doing?" Karilena asked.

"Oh, you know. Johnny told me about this little command." He smiled and pressed a few commands into the system.

Karilena's feathers lowered at the display in front of her now. Peter giggled and looked at her. She held a claw up to her muzzle, surprised.

"Oh my." She said, "...Well, you know that these do use the same software as the DNA-cloak designers do. And they do have to be quite thorough."

Peter giggled again and started making it make some lewd motions at her. Karilena got over her shock and walked over to the interface as well.

"Nonono, let's play with this. Say, I got an idea. We can make him look like an Ankylo or a stego. See, watch this."

Peter couldn't help but giggle like two teenagers when he saw the display Karilena programmed the hologram to do. So lewd and so inappropriate. He hoped so much that nobody walked in while they programmed the holograms to do all sorts of bizarre things. Especially when they put in more figures.

At first, Peter and Karilena just made them 'fight', then they played with the fake voices. (Karilena seemed to enjoy making them say "B B B B B B B B B B B B B O O O O O O O O O R R R R R R R R R I I I I I I I I I I I I I N N N N N N N N G G G G G G G G G G" while Peter made him say "W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W rururururuararara. W Triple A rurururuararararararararah." It didn't take long before they started making the holographic figures do much more lewd things to one another. They could barely stifle their laughter.

Until that was, the door opened to the chamber. Right in the middle of a very VERY bad looking act. Both Peter and Karilena looked to the doorway. Oh crap. There was a huge looming figure inside the doorway. At first she looked shocked, but then she looked towards the two. That wasn't a look of shock - that was a look of... surprise, possibly anger. Peter never did really get good at reading Hardshell's emotions.

"...Having fun, are we?" She asked, "Your time is up in here, Barthan and Aneal wish to use this as well."

"...Sorry, we were just having a bit of fun." Karilena said, throwing her hands up and waving them side to side, "It was just a little innocent funny time and-"

"AHEM." Hardshell said, "You were in here for over two hours. Your time was set for thirty minutes."

"Oh... shit... sorry, we got carried away." Peter said, "Well come on Kari, let's head out." He started to walk towards the doorway with the dinomorph.

"Ahem."

"....Oh, right." Peter looked at the frozen holograms posed in quite a very inappropriate way.

"I'll fix that." Karilena said.

~ ~ ~

"So... before we started doing all of that, is that really what you wanted to be?" Karilena asked Peter after they had walked back into the cabin.

"Well, maybe not a purple one. Sure, it looks badass, but it seems unnatural that way."

"I know some blue-scaled ones." Karilena said.

"Yes, but just grey is nice enough for me." Peter responded.

Karilena sat right down on the chair.

"You know grey is a nice colour. After all, look at my feathers." She reached up and stroked her crest.

"Eh, that's not all, really." Peter said, "It just seems more like a nice classic colour. Wouldn't overheat in the sun."

"Oh overheating isn't too much of an issue." Karilena responded. "Then again I'm nice and green." She smiled - again.

"You told me it wasn't easy being green."

"Hey, it isn't." The compy responded.

~ ~ ~

The next step of the little integration was on the orbital station. Peter really didn't have many possessions, very very little. (Honestly, a lot of the integrates like him weren't going to really carry much anyway - usually some kind of keepsake.) He simply didn't want to bring much with him anyway. The sooner it was behind him the better.

He was almost going to miss that cabin. But then he thought about the time Karilena brought up some old holo-vid of two kids chanting "Dinner dinner dinner" while dancing around and those thoughts vanished. Of course, he wasn't going to shake her off that easily. He was going to have other people with him, but Karilena was more or less there to stay and make sure that he was 'integrating' properly.

Peter did think that Karilena meant for the whole 'integration' to be 'into her side like some kind of twisted hydra'. She had her arm firmly wrapped around his own and had pulled him tightly to her side. He did try to pull away from her as they walked through, only for her to grab onto him and pull him back. Sheesh, for a compsognathus she was quite strong. Then again, maybe she was just trying to keep him from getting lost.

The orbital station was made for these large reptilians after all. And it showed. His entire flat back on earth and his cabin on the ship combined would have fit into the entire docking port. He could have easily been lost - and given how much bigger some of these dinos were (Especially Hardshell) they would have easily tripped on him if he got lost. But this would have changed when he had his own set of scales.

Karilena led Peter through this utter imbroglio to a terminal. All sorts of 'security' measures - DNA checks, blah blah blah, then they would receive a virtual printout on their pads that would have told them where to go next and when the next shuttle towards the planet was going to leave. He squinted a bit upon looking at the text received on his screen - some of it was written in that dinosauric language. Not longer after that, he heard an alert noise - something he recognised quite well from Karilena's little device. She quickly picked it up and put it to her ear.

"Oh, hey Peter." She looked to the human, "We're actually going to be escorted to the home by our housemates."

"I won't be living alone?" Peter asked.

"More with me and two others." Karilena said, "More that you'll be working with the two. Hold on, what's that?" She asked again, talking into the device, "Yes, we're just waiting for the printout."

Sure enough, there it was. The virtual printout. Peter took out his own device and read over the dinosauric language. Fortunately he was capable of reading it easily - speaking it was a little hard with his mouth (plus it made Karilena giggle). Before he could make out much more, Karilena immediately grabbed onto his arm and yanked.

"Aggggh! Hey!"

"Come on! Station fifty two seven double you eff." Karilena said.

Peter was practically dragged through again, towards his departure label. He was able to make out two figures there - though at first he didn't pay much attention. That was until the much MUCH taller person walked over to him.

"You must be our pet colonist." He said.

Peter looked up. The creature was quite tall - yet he wasn't wide, like Hardshell or some of the other bigger dinosaurs. Quite willowy, actually. Peter was able to make out his species, but he couldn't give the specifics - longneck, but the tail was really /really/ long.

"U-Uh, yes? Diplodocus, right?"

"I have a name." The dinosaur grunted, "Drew." He crossed his blue scaly arms.

"And so does he, you know." Karilena said, "His name is Peter."

"H-Hey not for long!" Peter said, "You one of those integrates, too?"

"What's it to you?" Drew asked.

"Ahem." Another voice said. Peter turned to face the figure.

Boy, another theropod of some kind. Peter was at first reminded of Karilena, but then he remembered - one of the most common kinds of these people for his kind to encounter, a raptor of some kind. He had to guess by her size that she might have been a utahraptor. The scaly kind, although he could see some feathery 'wings' on her arms, as well as the telltale crest. Unlike Drew, who seemed to be wearing casual clothing, she seemed to be wearing a purple suit.

"You wearing a DNA cloak?" The figure asked.

"No. This was an education ship." Karilena said, "That will be on the planet."

"...I question them sometimes." The utahraptor said, "You can call me Scarlett."

"Peter!" Peter said, "And this is-"

"I know Karilena /very/ well. She's my cousin." Scarlett said, "Come on - departure is waiting for us. Of course, we're going to need to keep you a little sheltered until your conversion is fully done."

"What," Peter said as he was led down the hall by the larger figures, "I know it's more UV than I'm used to, but it can't possibly be that bad."

~ ~ ~

"I should have honestly just let you burn to a crisp." Drew mumbled as he ran over Peter's arm with the burn-device.

"Drew, you take this for granted." Scarlett scolded the diplodocus, "Alright, your arms were not burned too much. They got the brunt of the sunburn."

"Why oh why did I do this..." Peter grunted.

"Because you didn't believe us, and you already thought you were about as indestructible as we were." Drew said, finishing the scan over his left arm. "Alright. Scan shows that you did not receive any huge dosages. You lost a layer of skin on your arms and only a bit on your scalp. Nothing that should cause anything immediate."

"It HURTS though." Peter said.

"Right arm please." Drew grunted.

Peter unclenched his fist and held it out towards the diplodocus. He immediately began running it over his arm. Meanwhile, Karilena shook her hand back and forth. She held onto Peter's hand while he was taken to the facility and while he was being tended to.

"Who knew you also knew how to work the medical equipment like this," Karilena said, "Can you scan my hand to make sure Peter didn't break it?"

"I /fix/ them." Drew said, not looking up from his work at all, "I know how they work."

Peter looked up at the sauropod running the scan down his right arm. This might have been the person he would have been working with - along with Scarlett and Karilena. Yet the impression he was getting of Drew wasn't exactly good. The diplodocus quickly uploaded everything in, bringing up the results of the scan.

"Well, you're going to need some coolant I bet." Drew said, "We'll just bring you in on your appointment in a couple days. Scarlett, can you get some medical burn coolant? All we got here is industrial strength coolant."

"Oh, so this isn't going to work?" Karilena asked, holding up something Peter recognised as a large (By human standards that is) can of coolant.

"Put that down Kar! That isn't a toy!" Scarlett hissed immediately.

"I'll get it. I need to get some sun anyway." Drew said, setting his device down and walking out. "While I'm out, I am talking to doctor Nestair to tell him the scanners do indeed work."

With that, he walked out of the room, leaving Peter on the oversized cot... and with two theropods looking at him. Peter sat up, making sure he didn't move his burned arms too much. He looked right at Scarlett.

"Is he... always like this?" Peter asked.

"Eh... well, he used to be a human like you." Scarlett said, "It's why he still has a more 'human' name."

"You as well?" Peter asked, "You have a much more human sound-"

"No." She interrupted him. "That's one reason why you're with us. Successful integration, but he still does insist on being called 'Drew' and dresses casually like that."

Peter did have to admit that explained the contrast between their clothing.

"He kind of... hates me, does he?" Peter asked.

"No. Drew's like this with everyone. He does have a bit of a bizarre way of showing it, but he does have feelings. Besides, Kar, don't you have to tell about this little development?"

"...Oh. Right. Well, yeah." She walked out.

Peter was gently guided up by the utahraptor.

"I will show you to your room."

~ ~ ~

Compared to the cabin on the ship, this room was simply put, massive. He could probably have put his entire human house in just the room. Things were really /really/ spartan, but he was going to have to decorate them soon. All that was in the room was the bed (or rather, a nest) on the floor, the desk with the computer on it, and a sunshade over the window. He couldn't really see a lot out of it, but after his little encounter with walking out into the sun without being fully protected, he wasn't about to risk it.

Peter sat down on the 'bed', finding it a little weird that he was this close to the ground, but only after being on an elevated cot earlier and sleeping in something that was at the wall on the ship. Scarlett sat down on the floor as Peter settled into the 'bed'. Definitely like a nest, only much much more comfy. It probably would have felt better with scales for sure.

"Alright, we're going to have you assessed tomorrow. Then you will have to go through rehab as you learn how to walk, run, and get all your motor functions under control."

"How long will that take?" Peter asked.

"Until your internal clock is fully synced up with ours, and the UV-burns on your arms and scalp may push it back. We know you'll be shedding that anyway, but we don't want any risks."

"And what else will I be doing?"

"Easy - you'll be helping us out with the tech repairs and robot fixing."

"Good." Peter said, "I know quite a bit about all this stuff."

~ ~ ~

It took a little bit, but Peter's arms and scalp fully healed. Fortunately, he didn't have any serious damage. For the most part, until he was fully healed and 'acclimated' to the planet, he was essentially limited to their shop - and pretty much going out whenever one of his three hosts or housemates were with him. He didn't like that UV suit at all - but it did keep his fragile human skin from getting burned in the sun.

Still, he was starting to like this place. He felt small, but there were accommodations made for people closer to his size. Apparently, there were mostly theropods on this planet - heck, Drew was one of the few sauropods he ever saw here. Visiting the various doctors also became routine - he'd go there, give samples, start working on a few things. Finally stable. Heck, he remembered having to get calls from some of the crew on the ship, mostly checking up. (He did /not/ look forward to when Hardshell had to speak with him.)

Soon, the day came, he was finally ready. He got woken up before dawn when Karilena came into the room and played a 'Go compare' song. Once he made his way in their vehicle to the genetic facility, he finally felt himself waking up. Today was the big day - the day when he got to have scales. And when as a human, he would only be visible if he put on that DNA cloak. (good riddance to that though...)

Among these things were the fact that Peter was deciding not to 'keep' his name. Something common that some colonists did - after all they weren't all like Drew. By this point, they even called him 'Ripmaw' instead of 'Peter'. (Took a bit before Karilena would start using pronouns again - he could only take so many times where she worked in the name as much as possible. How in the heck did this dinosaur make it to the integration thing again?)

Once he made his way to the facility, he was greeted by a Therizinosaur - none other than Tharyas, Dr. Nestair's assistant.

"Well Peter," she begun.

"Ripmaw." Peter corrected.

"Sorry, Ripmaw. You ready for your treatment?"

"Ready? I was born ready." Peter said, tearing off the UV protection suit and tossing it aside. "If only so I don't have to wear this again."

"...Can you please be more careful about tossing things in the future?"

Peter looked to his left. Sure enough a water cooler had the suit draped over the tank.

"Sorry about that." Peter said, pulling it off.

"This way please."

~ ~ ~

Fortunately, the human had become a little desensitised to nudity. These reptiles did tend to wear less clothing - at times - than humans did, and he did see some who didn't wear anything at all. Less modesty, apparently. Of course, him being human and nude around these people was a little different. Especially when he spotted Drew staring at him from the other side of the chamber, with all the other doctors. He kinda wished that Karilena could have stayed, but blah blah blah, something about him not feeling comfortable about that, blah blah blah.

He laid down, letting the cool air rush over him from the conditioning. The machines all started around him, whirring to life. Peter felt several needles injecting a liquid to him, while chemicals and the like was pumped into him. He gasped as the machines ran. He had been warned - this was going to be painful, after all, he was getting his DNA rewritten. The stinging spread all the way through his body, going all the way up his veins.

He gritted his teeth hard, clenching his fists deep. He had been warned this was going to be painful. Yet why was it going to hurt so much? He tried very VERY hard not to show any kind of weakness. Tears were streaming out of his head though. When were the changes going to start? All he was feeling was pain. More and more of the scans went over him.

"You can scream if you want to, Ripmaw!" Drew shouted, "I went through this - I know it hurts."

"OHMYFUCKTITSITFUCKINGHURTSAARRRRGH!" the human shouted.

For just a brief moment, Ripmaw - or rather, Peter, felt like he might have been dying. Would all of this have been for naught? Their DNA was that similar enough that they actually could rewrite it to make them into another dinosaur. For just one brief moment, Peter squeezed his eyes shut and felt him inside some kind of a void.

His brain must have been trying to process something - maybe it was a self-defence mechanism. He saw the faces of the people on Earth - when he allowed himself to be 'recruited' for this, when he decided to leave it all behind. Of all the people who were mean to him. Of his failed suicide attempt - how he truly had nothing to live for and felt he had failed as a person, and that he would have been better as one of those advanced-reptiles or living with them. He never truly had those doubts before, but now, why?

Suddenly, he felt a pain at his palms. Peter's eyes shot wide open, sweat beaming down the sides of his face. He was able to see, through all the convulsions and the movements of his body, his hands. It seemed as if his fingertips had turned back and grew. He turned his quivering hand around to see wounds in the skin... but underneath wasn't blood and muscle. It was a greyish white skin... no, scales. He saw the skin tearing as his fingers grew more and more, soft and somewhat squishy human skin giving way to what was underneath. That was his own skin.

No. Ripmaw's skin.

"YEAAAAAH IT'S WORKING!" Peter shouted as he felt his muscles toning and reforming under his human skin. His feet snapped, elongating. The skin around his legs practically slid right off, giving way to the grey scales underneath. He no longer had feet or hands - he had talons. Vicious theropodic talons.

Around his rear, he felt a long pulling sensation - the most painful yet, almost like his spine was being torn out through his back. For only a couple minutes, Ripmaw was in agony as he felt his body siezing up. Soon, that hold released, as Ripmaw felt a very strong pins and needles. He sat up just a bit, still shaking. Behind him, was a tail. A long thick tail - not quite like Drew's, but damn. He tried to command it to move, and it twitched. He was going to have to get used to this.

That was until he tasted blood. Ripmaw let out a huge cough as whatever the hell was in his mouth almost went down his trachea. He coughed louder and louder, lungs taking in more air as they grew along with his body. He took in more and more mass, finally opening his mouth. There it was, it was cleaned out of that gunk... most of it. He still had something hard in his mouth. Ripmaw coughed it into his hand. It was a tooth - one of Peter's tooth. Ew, he looked at the mess of the floor.

Ripmaw moved his tongue around his mouth. Somehow, during his coughing fit, he did not actually notice his massive predatory teeth - or the elongating of his mouth. Wait, what was that grey in ripmaw's vision? He brought his now clean talons up and felt over it. It was a much larger dinosaur like muzzle. A wide grin came through.

His body twitched less and less, the changes must have been finishing. Ripmaw's vision blurred, before it soon sharpened greatly. He had to close his eyes. Then, came the itching. At first, it was only mild - just around his arms. Then it went all around his back. He scratched his scales, only to feel something that wasn't there before. Something much much smooth.

"Careful, those are feathers!" he heard.

He looked over his arm - there they were, grey feathers, just like Karilena's. He smiled and let out a loud roar in delight. It even rattled his own ears... before they went numb, falling right off. He had no need for external ears, he had ear holes instead. The cartilage fell to the floor. Then, the poking came. He felt it all around his head and back. Spines were coming out of his body. Two thicker ones erupted from his skull. Finally, with one big quiver, it stopped.

"Is it over?" Ripmaw asked, a much MUCH deeper voice coming out of his mouth.

"It should be," one of the doctors said, "Try to be careful."

"I feel GREAT!" Ripmaw shouted, "I feel LIBERATED!" He pulled the rest of the skin off of his shoulders - revealing a small plated scute there. (Heh, just like other I-rexes). "I FEEL LIKE I CAN TAKE ON THE WORLD!"

"Sheesh, was I like this?" Drew mumbled.

"I can't wait to show Karilena!" He swung his bulky legs off of the table and tried to stand up on his feet, "I BET I-"

CLUNK THUNK BOOM

The next thing Ripmaw saw was the claws of the doctors, as well as the feet of Drew. Then he spotted a hand. He reached and grabbed it, as he tried to support his weight getting up.

BANG. TUMBLE. CRASH.

"...Drew, I know it's instinctive to help him up, but you have to remember, he doesn't know his own strength."

Ripmaw poked his spiky head underneath the mass of scales.

"Can you stop the room please...? I want to get off." Ripmaw said.

~ ~ ~

After he found himself taking a bath to take off the dried blood and old skin from his scales, Ripmaw stumbled his way to a mirror, albeit with the help of some of the other theropods. His legs and tail quivered, before he finally brought himself into a nice stable stand. He glanced right in the mirror.

He didn't see the old frail Peter looking at him - he was able to see a grey-scaled dinosaur. Ripmaw, he thought. He stared for quite a bit, and the reptile in the mirror looked back, mimicking his motions. The theropods stepped back, though they waited to dash over just in case he fell. (again) It blinked when he did, he opened his mouth and the creature stared back at him. This was truly him now. The feathers even ruffled a bit when he commanded them to. His tail twitched, and the reflection did.

This was him now. Everything. He opened his mouth into a predatory grin. Bigger, scarier, and had more teeth. He looked right at his broad chest. Saurian strength. These muscles aren't just for show. (And he did pull Drew down on him.) He could see his tail twitch. A steering mechanism - part rudder, part weapon. Just like Drew's, or Karilena and Scarlett's. He gently said a few words.

"Aeiou."

Hypnotic voice... it didn't sound like Peter's voice, but damn if that was going to be Peter anymore. Ripmaw combined human and raptor speech to mentally subdue his prey. He looked down at his legs - talons of doom. Mess with these and you were doomed.

And the spikes. Spikes everywhere! Hugs were a bad idea... unless you were a dinosaur. He turned around to get a look over his back. Unfortunately, the next thing he saw was a hand helping him up. Damn, walking like this was not going to be easy.

"Thanks." He said.

~ ~ ~

Walking proved to be quite a challenge - it was really exhausting almost. He thought it would have been easy to just learn to walk. Sure, he remembered how to walk, one foot forward, balance shifting, but that tail was really throwing him off. He managed to knock an orderly down trying to take a sudden turn.

Right now, Ripmaw had been lying down. He finally had it - he survived the process. He was going to be soon integrated. What would others say.

His thoughts were interrupted when he felt a weight right on his abdomen. He looked down at his chest. None other than the compy-raptor herself. This actually shocked him - she shrank. No, he got bigger.

"Hey Ripmaw! So how is Ripmaw doing?" She asked, relaxing on his scaly chest.

"K-Karilena?!" he asked, "Y-You shrank."

"No I didn't." She said, "I can tell what you were thinking yourself - you just got bigger." She poked his muzzle, right between his nostrils.

"I-I... I didn't think it would be this drastic." He said. "I remember when you practically used to squish me."

"Hey." She said, climbing off of him. "The first step is the hardest. Come on, let's see if you can stand up."

A couple minutes, three tumbles, and one near-miss later, Ripmaw had stood up to his full height. He was definitely taller than Karilena for sure... heck, he was probably taller than Scarlett was even. Then again, he wasn't just a raptor - he was part Rex, too. (Genetic modification was always fun.)

"You should have been around earlier." Ripmaw said, "I pulled Drew down on top of me, he fell down with me once... and I think I nearly took him out with my tail."

"Well, that should be alright. Hey, maybe you'll be able to carry me around, too." Karilena said.

"One step at a time." Ripmaw said, "Wait until I'm out of rehab."

~ ~ ~

Rehab was never fun. He tried to go through as fast as possible, until he had to slow down. But he finally managed to do it. He was able to walk and run, and eat. (Boy did things taste just as good if not somewhat better than before.) Sure, there were tumbles, there were bruises, there were injuries, but he managed to do it. When his three housemates came to visit, he loved it.

At one point though, he had to try out a DNA cloak. When he activated it, it felt quite weird - not only did that thing simulate the clothes so poorly (sheesh, how did Karilena think that was going to fool him?). He would see Peter looking back at him in the mirror... but it just wasn't 'him' anymore. He turned it off, feeling himself grow back into Ripmaw. Much much better.

Finally, he was done. It took what felt like forever, but he walked out of the hospital alongside Scarlett, Karilena, and Drew. He smiled as he looked up at the sun, his small skinsuit absorbing the heat. No longer did he have to wear that annoying UV suit - heck, these skinsuits that some people wore felt so much better - no wonder Scarlett wore them.

"This feels so much better." He said, "What is the next thing you did after you became a reptile?" He looked up at the thin, willowy dinosaur.

"Continued on with life." Drew said, "It's only beginning now. It's all uphill from here. In the good way."

"Come on!" Karilena said, "We can always go out to the beach soon! Or the steamy tropical jungles!"

"Ahem." Scarlett said, "Don't forget that we will still have jobs to do."

"Oh yeah!" Karilena said, "You should see this robot that Drew is fixing. He calls it 'shitbot'."

"Because it is a piece of shit." Drew said, leading them to the vehicle.

"Come on, he was just in rehab. He needs to get used to the house and ease in."

"Right right... " Scarlett added, "You always were quite playful, Karilena."

"That she is." Ripmaw said, "This is when I should make some artistic statement.... But I can't. So let's just go."

With that, they piled into their vehicle - Ripmaw accidentally bumping his head just a bit. (Damn was this going to take some getting used to... but it was worth it.)