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Alex Harrow has the uncanny ability to command a room much in the way a magician might an audience. He engages a crowd with an almost overwhelming charisma and confidence about him. Through the smooth, punctuated tone of his voice he can leave even the most hardened of skeptics emotionally invested and desperate for more just as soon as the credits roll. Even after twenty years of grinding his way through the journalism scene, many likened him to a fine wine, only ripening in skill and grace with the passing of time. His journalistic expertise and willingness to dive into the uncomfortable valley of truth to ask the burning questions on everyone's mind made him a hit sensation. Tonight's episode was to be no exception as the spotlight traveled up the blue, velvety steps to center on Alex as he shook a few hands from eager audience members, making his way down to his desk with a beaming, perfect smile catered by dozens of hours at the dentist.

"Welcome all to On The Firing Line!" Alex exclaimed with an orotund voice. He calmly took his signature long sip of his lukewarm coffee while the audience roared into a flurry of applause and whistles. Alex flashed another of his famous smiles before gesturing them to quiet down. If only they had any idea what they would bare witness to tonight.

"Now I'm just as excited as all of you are for tonight's episode. Lined up for tonight was head of New York City Council Turner Rightmyer who's been at the center of some, how should I say, alluring circumstances." The crowd laughed, knowing all too well the councilman's alleged amorous exploits being broadcast on almost every major station. "But sometimes plans change, so unfortunately the councilman will not be here with us tonight." The crowd looked surprised. Alex Harrow had never announced a cancellation of the feature guest before in all his time hosting the show. "As you know, we don't pull any punches here on this show, and I'd like to use this time tonight to shed light on a much more pressing issue than the councilman's recent actions." Whispers of confusion began to run amok among the crowd, while people at home all across the world tuning into the live broadcast wondered if this was some elaborate set-up for an unannounced surprise.

"I regret to inform you that the American people and indeed the world have been deceived for over 20 years. At the core of these lies is a conspiracy that had wished to remain a cloak draped across your eyes, but that will be the case no longer. It is a plot guided by corporate greed that has toyed with and ruined human lives. My own sister Ellana who has been officially reported by military documentation as dead in abstentia was a victim of these horrid lies. However, lies have a means of coming back around to haunt us as has been seen countless times on my show from my many years of asking the hard questions needed to reach the truth. Today I bring good news. My sister is alive and well and wishes to share the nature of her ordeal with all of you tonight."

At this the crowd erupted into more whispers and the watchers at home leaned in towards their television sets.

"I don't know what the hell is going on here, but if you plan on keeping your job you'd better keep rolling. We can't miss any of this." Tom Blanche, the executive producer of On The Firing Line told the operator of Camera 2.

No one was prepared for the enormous elephant-woman walking out onto the stage. Although her heart was pounding a nervous rampage inside her chest, Ellana carried herself proudly, wearing a beautiful, custom-tailored, Tibetan-inspired dress suitable for her huge frame. Behind Ellana, two more men appeared, one walking with a white cane and eyes covered by sunglasses, and another wearing a long overcoat and large fedora disguising his metallic frame. Agent Granger helped guide the blind man down to one of the seats, then sat in the other as Ellana and Alex faced each other, reunited in person for the first time in 20 years.

Despite keeping up with his sister's whereabouts after the OSRD had changed her life forever, Alex could hardly believe she was alive despite her unrecognizable shape. He tried to think back to a time when the world seemed much more fair and bright, like when she chose to help him learn how to ride a bike, but those times were gone now. Still more important than that to him was that she was alive and well. Alex embraced his sister without hesitation. Ellana extended her trunk and wrapped it across the backs of his shoulders in return, being mindful of her profound strength and not wanting to hurt her little brother in overbearing exuberance.

"This is what your country has been hiding from you!" Alex exclaimed boldly as he stared directly into the camera.

The studio crew are astonished by Ellana's appearance and fervently discuss the realism of her costume and movements, trying to pin down which studio was able to generate something like that. Tom studies Ellana in her dress, searching desperately for some off detail that will help ground what he's seeing in the reality that he knows: a loose seem, a tuft of fuzz sticking out somewhere, edgelines where her headpiece has been sealed. Despite his stringent observations he couldn't deny that there was a gigantic elephant-woman sitting with his star host. Tom didn't know whether to be more surprised by Ellana herself or the fact that the new guest couch from Virginia hadn't instantly crumpled beneath her weight. He was going to make a memo to put in an order for two more of those when this was all said and done.

Tom realized this was no ordinary publicity stunt, and briefly considered cutting the live feed to help save face and get a handle on the situation. As much as Tom appreciated and trusted in Alex's improvisational skills with the show, this was beyond anything he had ever seen before. That was until he saw the huge figures of Dr. Carter in his weighty lab coat and the scaled body of Munroe blocking off the doorway to the control both. The orca-man blew a heavy breath through his blowhole and grinned at the middle-aged man.

"If you would be so kind to keep the cameras rolling, that would be most appreciated." Carter asked with an unnervingly polite tone. "I think that would be best for all, wouldn't you agree?" At that, several of the studio crew operators nodded, but still did not move. Munroe did his best to relieve the tension of the situation by approximating his best impression of a friendly crocodile smile, but the formidable display of teeth did little to help quell the staff's fears. To add to his efforts Munroe took a heavy step forward and showed off the silver tray held in his hands adorned with an assortment of fruit pastry squares.

"My friend here says little, but he's still one hell of a cook even as he is now. He made these fresh just for you to enjoy tonight so you will try a sample won't you?"

********

Alex and Ellana were now seated and ready to begin their interview with Granger and the strange man taking up occupancy on the spare seats brought in by the backstage crew.

"So Ellana, can you tell us a little bit about how you came to be the way you are now and the agency responsible for this?"

Ellana nodded and looked into the cameras as she gave a brief overview of her story, the nature of her change and her hardships dealing with her altered appearances. She spoke of how Ravvik had given her hope and strength and had become a leader to them all and her hopes for mutants to live alongside other people and be able to live meaningful, productive lives.

When she spoke of the OSRD, she told the world had the agency had been originally formed as a US government funded think-tank intended to draw up proposals and reports for new, emerging technologies. In its inception, the OSRD was meant to be purely theoretical to generate new possibilities for guided research, but the agency had overstepped their authority with the implementation of illegal methods to test the generated new technologies they came up with including the experimentation on human subjects. When the program was formally discontinued, they had already created the foundations for the cybernetics and genetic mutation projects that had seen immense development in the medical industry in the coming years afterwards.

However, what the OSRD had presented to the government in its reports was superficial at best, and it retained the grand iceberg of new technology it had uncovered as a secret. New funding was sought from the highest bidders of large corporations and private investors, and now independently funded, the OSRD was able to continue its projects including the creation of the animal hybridization program that had led to Ravvik, herself, and many others unwittingly becoming their test subjects. She furthered that by adding the OSRD's involvement with their cyborg soldier program and the threats that her team had faced when they had attempted to infiltrate their headquarters.

When Ellana was done with her story Alex was taken aback and had to reorient himself to continue forward with the interview.

"How can you be certain that in addition to the enhancement projects with animals that the OSRD was also responsible for cybernetic experiments on humans? You being here right now is strong evidence for the mutation projects, but it's important that we have physical evidence that we can all examine before we can come to such conclusions." Alex prodded further, but Ellana was ready.

"It's funny that you should choose to mention that. I know that seeing is often believing, so in choosing to be here tonight I didn't want that to be an oversight. My friend here has been quite patient since he arrived. His name is Agent Granger, and he is the first full conversion cyborg manufactured by the OSRD. I use the word manufacture with its fullest intent. If they had their way they would create an army of soldiers just like him."

Agent Granger stood, removed his hat and allowed his coat to fall away to reveal his metallic body. Then with a low buzz, the casing atop his robotic head opened and revealed the stark contrast of pale, human pink of his human-like brain. However, scattered throughout the space were chunks of metallic allow and circuitry woven seamlessly into the organic material.

"During conversion critical information was withheld. The nanites that sustain me, the part that I can remember from before, must eat and slowly convert organic material into new electronic parts as a byproduct. Within less than an average human's lifespan there will be no part of my original body left. I was told that when my service was completed my brain and consciousness could be transferred back into another body, but with the nanites already compromising critical regions of my brain tissue that will no longer be possible."

The crowd was abhorred at the grotesque sight of Granger's brain. He sits back down and allows the interview to continue on.

"I'm sure that was quite...unsettling for some of our viewers and home and I apologize for that, but that is the truth of the situation we are facing right now. Ellana, why did you choose tonight and this way to make yourself known? Surely there must have been some risk in exposing yourself like this before the world."

"A risk, no matter how small or large that contains within it the possibility of enriching the world deserves to be pursued. The evil that has transpired from the men leading the OSRD must be exposed and it must end before more lives are harmed in the face of greed. The other reason why I am here with you today is to be a gateway, an ambassador as it were so that other mutants like myself know that they can finally shed the dark and emerge out into the light and be among the public. The OSRD along with the cooperation of various medical technologies companies has restricted cybernetics behind a financial barrier that none but the most wealthy could ever hope to afford. This has left far too many that could otherwise be assisted disabled and unable to provide for their families in a way that is meaningful for them. This process of animal hybridization holds the promise of being able to grant many the ability to have their bodies restored. Even if that means no longer being human on the outside, I am proof as I sit here with you right now that humanity runs far deeper beneath the skin. We are of one people on this planet and it's time we bridge this gap in order that others who are suffering may be helped.

Beside Mr. Granger is Mr. Michael Foster, a man dedicated to his family that unfortunately lost both of his eyes to an industrial accident while working to provide for his wife and two kids."

Michael removed his sunglasses and the viewers got a second shock in seeing the mass of scar tissue framing his empty eye sockets. Hearing their reaction he spoke, directing his head towards the highest volume of sound.

"I was a hard worker. No one expects something like this to happen to them. The liquid metal spilled on my face so fast and....I remember swatting at it back and forth, back and forth while the searing only dug deeper into my head. I had hoped that afterward the government would be able to provide the necessary care for me that I needed and would allow me to have a new set of eyes so that I could continue doing my work and caring for my loved ones, but they denied me that chance. Ellana's team reached out to me with a different option and so I'm here today to go forward with the treatment so you may see the results and judge for yourselves."

"That is quite admirable Mr. Foster, but what do you believe your family's going to think when you tell them that you're thinking of trading away your humanity for the possibility of seeing them once more? Wouldn't you expect them to have some reservations about it?" Alex inquired as he leaned in Michael's direction, glad that he remembered the lead-in to the question they had discussed back stage before the show.

"I've gotten the opportunity to speak to them about it and they were in unanimous agreement. Yes there are risks with a treatment like this, but what wouldn't you, any of you do for a chance at a normal life again if it unjustly taken away from you?" he pleaded towards the crowd wearing long, sullen expressions on their faces that he could only imagine in his mind.

"I was on a walk just the other day with Lyla, my younger daughter, and I could feel her tug at my arm as she was skipping. She usually loves to take off and run ahead in the grass, but this time she stayed put at my side. When I asked her why she didn't run ahead today she told me, "Running ahead is nice, but I don't want you to be alone. I can run some other time." As a father, how can I continue to deny her these fleeting moments of her childhood because the government won't allow me the chance to be a full participant once more in her life? How many other moments like that do you think she's passed up on me behalf? Bless her little soul that she is able to reach out and think about the needs of others at an age so young, but I still want to nurture her in all the ways that I could before this accident. Alex, I just want to be the best father I can to them." The audience was silent as they empathized with Michael's desires.

"I believe they're here in the audience tonight is that correct? Your wife and two daughters?" Alex asked gesturing back into the audience.

The spotlight focused on a woman near the front sitting in a blue dress with two girls dressed in floral patterns on either side of her. She gave a little wave feeling a bit bashful with all of the extra attention on her, but she had wanted to be here for Michael at this critical moment. She then gave her daughters a gentle squeeze of their hands held in hers as the three stood together as one united family.

"Michael, sweetheart, you know I love you no matter what, and that I'll continue to love you no matter what body you might have after this." she voiced with a heavy tear running down her cheek and smearing her mascara a little.

Dr. Carter then approached the stage with a syringe full of the deep blue nano-virus fluid. A fresh wave of whispers at seeing a new mutant rippled through the crowd as he cradled the syringe in his hands and handed it gently to Michael. "This will change everything for you."

"I know. I happily take my life into my own hands." he answered before injecting himself as he had been shown. Immediately the nano-virus went to work as it forced its way into every cell of his body. Michael breathed hard, sucking in a mangled cough caught off-guard by the rapid filling and emptying of his lungs. With the bright lights on him he has already been transformed into a symbol for the animal hybridization cause. There is pain in this process, but compared to the pain he has had to endure in living a life below his capabilities he embraces it in the hopes of finally being able to leave this chapter of his life behind.

The change worked at his face first, pulling and stretching it forward into a sizable snout. Widened nostrils flared with each heated exhale and soon a pale growth at the top of his snout appeared as a small, developing horn formed through the inflamed pinkish-red tissue. In tandem with the growth of his horn Michael experienced an excruciating pressure in the empty sockets of his eyes; small balls of tissue pressing their way through with the force of squares forced through rounded pegs. His forming eyes grew larger and larger still to become snugly encapsulated by his new, enlarged orbitals.

The dark of the world sunk back, was blurry and smeared, then over a few precious seconds came rushing back into clarity. The power of this moment for Michael, after so many years of knowing only the dark was overwhelming and fueled his changes even more rapidly from the rush of his overflowing emotions. His skin across his body tinged gray and developed into a thick, plated, leathery hide. His clothes gave way in a series of building rips and tears with the steady growth of his bulking body. The wrinkled length of Michael's tail now freed and visible gave a few lurching tugs and whips as it continued to lengthen behind him.

Michael sought out his family and saw them looking at him with awed expressions. His girls were so big now. His wife just as beautiful. His thoughts of them were pulled back as a ripple of change traveled down his arms and legs, trickling out into the thickening of his fingers and toes. Mounds of freshly formed muscle across his arms flexed to steady himself and the last of his mental resistance to his transformation wore away until it was done and the man who had once been blind had now been given back the gift of sight as a meld of person and rhinoceros.

The world who has now watched this process for the first time is unequivocally amazed. Some desperately tried to cling to their prior sensibilities, citing visual effects or tricks of lighting, but this was the dawn of a new age for mankind. With Michael's changes finally completed, Ellana went over to assist Michael to stand on his enlarged three-toed feet. Michael's family tentatively took a few steps towards him as he studied everything around him with delight through his new eyes.

"Michael?" his wife called with hope that the man she knew was still there. Michael fixed a large, brown eye on her and shook his head a bit to work through some of the lingering tightness in his neck.

"When we get home I don't know if I'm going to fit up the stairs like this."

Trisha laughed, and then ran into his arms and buried herself against his expansive chest followed by his two girls leaping right behind.

"Oh...Trisha." he murmured as he knelt down to hold his family close.

"Woah!!!! Daddy you're cool!" Mira, his eldest voiced with glee. She was glad to see him looking directly at her again. The world had watched a man be given a second chance at his life. However unorthodox the methods may have been, there was no disputing the joy and love of a family brought back together.

********

Dr. Carter couldn't have hoped for their infiltration tonight to have gone better. He had come to realize that having the media on your side was sometimes more powerful than even science itself, as the media are the chemists of projected truth into the world. The words and actions of journalists like Alex can catalyze monumental, everlasting change. The orca-man slunk back from Foster's reunion with his family with a smile, catching out of the corner of his eyes one of Michael's daughters exploring her father's new horn with her small hands. The crowd was cheering and madly discussing what they had witnessed when Dr. Carter tapped a radio transmitter on his hand.

"It's time. Do it." he messaged over to Ferris who was waiting in a secure, discreet location across town. Ferris was chomping at the bit and eager for his time to shine. He had been watching the broadcast on a live feed from an associated site on his computer with his mouse cursor hovered over his "BoomInTheRoom.exe" file with an itchy electronic trigger finger.

"About time! I will miss you my little bee, but it's time to fly." With a click Ferris's masterpiece began its journey through registered and secured IP addresses to deliver critically important packets of information to every news and media outlet across the globe. Twenty years of secret files Ravvik's team had collected on the OSRD's mutant enhancement and cyborg programs were now worming their way to the media devices of journalists, anchormen, reporters, and more. Ferris delighted in the posts popping up just minutes later on social media sites inquiring about this strange spread of information. He cackled one of his raucous hyena laughs that only grew with each rising ping of overlapping, new alerts on the pages he had open on his screens.

Ravvik placed a muscled, webbed hand on the fur of Ferris's shoulder as he stood behind him and saw alerts of red, white, black, and yellow continuing to pop up like digital fireworks.

"Is it done?" Ravvik asked, half unbelieving that they had actually achieved their goal. His fellow mutants that had become his friends and thereafter his family all played their parts. Alone in this quest he would have languished and suffered until the crumbling walls of his sanity gave way entirely to those of the shark he had become. However, with them at his side Ravvik had found a greater, focused purpose, one both beyond himself and for his own betterment.

"The cockroaches are being dragged into the light as we speak." Ferris answered. "It's even better than we thought. Look at this."

With a lightning blaze of keystrokes Ferris had opened a new window with live coverage from demonstrations across the country. Thousands of mutants, of every size and shape, born of every realm of the animal kingdom were marching together on the streets requesting their freedom. Ravvik's stoicism as leader to their cause faded back and at that single moment Ravvik was happy to be alive. He hugged Ferris who squirmed against the uncharacteristic affection with the thought that his plan, his efforts, his allies, and indeed his family had all come together to accomplish this incredible mission. The change of the world was in full-swing now.

Now they could rest.