FSE

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"Good, good. Now we need to get a good baseline for you and begin the inspection of your body. As it will start changing back right away it is imperative we get as much information about what your current form as we can as quickly as we can. Now can you stand?" the doctor asks.

"Um, sure," I state a little shakily and sigh before shifting myself to the edge of the bed. After getting here they took me off the wheelchair and put me on a medical bed while running some bloodwork and other basics.

I look down at the ground and my legs. They had the courtesy to give me a hospital gown for the moment but that doesn't really restore much of my dignity. I stare down at my feet and half wonder how in the world I'm supposed to stand on them. What with them being easily over two feet long and as thick as my arm. My legs do seem to be slightly shorter than they were to compensate but they are probably in total still longer than before. And of course in the back of my mind is still the major crux of the matter. I have to learn how to stand on these legs and how to use them and yet at the same time I cannot grow to accept them. I have to remain defiantly against them every day for a full year. At least in a day's time they'll be more human again which will make things easier but for now I do have to learn to walk on these, if for no other reason than if I have to use that trump.

I lower myself down to the ground and begin to put weight on it. At first it doesn't seem all that bad and then I try to stand like how I'm usually used to and my balance goes all to hell and I start to fall over but the doctor is close enough that he reaches forward and catches me before I fall all the way down to the ground again.

"No, no. You're overthinking it. Your body knows how to use itself. It's been designed that way. We would never get anything done if we had to put people through therapy to learn how to use their body. So your body knows how to work. All you got to do is just let it do what it wants to do without thinking about it. Don't worry, not thinking about it will not count as accepting, so long as you don't come to like the way you walk you should be fine. Now, try again," he instructs as he lets go of me after I've re-grabbed the table.

Half grumbling at the notion of trying to not think of something intentionally. I press one foot onto the ground and it feels really weird, just how squishy it is. I can feel it press into the ground and then it keeps going down for another inch before stopping, like I'm walking on springs or something. But when trying to stand up at first I think about just trying to stand up on my tippy toes since that more or less looks like what I should be doing with this body but that makes me have a very uneasy balance. The doctor reaches over and makes a quick pass at rubbing against the appendage moving shakily behind me, causing me to jump. My arm moves quickly and reflexively to block it, to slap his arm away and in the process I turn and face him, keeping my tail as far away from him as I can.

"That was uncalled for," I retort, cringing slightly at the sound of my new voice. It's not quite something I would call particularly feminine. There is certainly quite a bit of gruffness to the voice, as if on the verge of losing it but it is decidedly not my voice and definitely female, if not feminine.

"It worked didn't it?" The doctor responds plainly, as if he hadn't done anything quite so intrusive. "You stopped thinking about how you should be standing and instead thought about keeping me from that pretty little brush of yours and so you let your body stand how it wants. And lo and behold, I do not see a single bit of shakiness or swaying in your stance. It's almost as if you knew how to stand in this body all along."

I scowl at him and have to repress the urge to growl. That would be letting too much of the animal inside of me out and that's the last thing I want to do, at least if I want to maintain my humanity.

"That is still a very dirty trick."

"I know," he shrugs. "But as I said, I need as much information as possible as quickly as possible. I don't have time to dolly on you trying to figure out how to step away from the table. Now come this way, let us get you into the scanning chamber. I imagine you should be able to let your body do the walking for you. Unless you want me to make another pass at that tail of yours."

"No thanks," I grumble, moving to the exit of the room, keeping my tail as far away from him as possible.

I will admit that putting the priority of him staying away from my tail does certainly help, though my walk is still quite a bit unsteady. I take it back, it's not so much like walking on springs as walking on stilts. Well not those really long circus stilts. It's a much more fluid stance than what I'm used to. Too many bends and every step is soft and measured but takes more effort to get it put into the right position. I doubt I would be able to run or really stand against someone pushing me well. But I can walk. The main thing is to figure out how to get used to the mechanics of walking in this manner and yet at the same time deny it. To refute the form in favor of my own, human body.

"So how do I?" I begin, not entirely sure I know how to phrase the statement.

"Resist? It's quite simple really. It's all about how far you want to take it. For feet such as yours it can be really tricky. Ordinarily I'd suggest wearing shoes anyway. With many wearing shoes is a reaffirmation of what their feet should be accustomed to. But with the size of your feet so variable it might be a bit too difficult to pull that off without having to spend a ton of money on getting shoes for different sized feet. And even then that might end up backfiring on you. I'd suggest a wrap. Color it to look like a shoe, treat it as if it were a shoe and just keep going from there. Everything else it's all just a matter of finding all the various little ways you can put off a little bit of a rebellion against the form. But if you want my advice, don't do anything that would cause pain. That is only going to backfire. Because with all the rest of the things going on, inducing pain may eventually be something you just can't handle anymore. And the moment you do that, you are admitting to yourself that you would rather have your new body than to experience the pain. And above that I will say that as much as you might not like it, cutting your tail off is by far the fastest way to end up getting stuck with it in the long run."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"Treat it as you would your own body and take non-harmful rebellions. Don't like your fur? Go buy a thing of Nair and shower with it. You'll be itchy for a day or two as all the fur falls out but it's relatively harmless and then you won't have to deal with that anymore. In any situation where how you handle something is different than how you would have handled something, try your normal way anyway. You may be female right now but my suggestion is to still try peeing standing up. It might be incredibly awkward and strange but it will be a good way to resist growing accustomed to it."

"Though about that," I pause, looking down at my chest.

That they exist is not something I can ignore. The gown does a pretty good job of covering the thick, fluffy, cream colored fur on my chest and the red and brown fur on my arms and legs but it doesn't really hide the additions to my chest. The doctor takes my pause as a reason to stop and turn to face me, as if seeing if some visual cue would help him figure out what I am trying to express. They aren't very big, I'll at least concede to that. It would have been so much a bother if they were as most would have depicted them. If I had to guess maybe an A at best, though that there are three pairs of them is quite a bit disconcerting. I gesture down at them thinking he might understand.

"Those? I'd just ignore them. They'll shrink in time and dressing to handle them by getting special kinds of bras will only be an act of acceptance."

"But will I have to ever deal with the notion of them, you know,"

"Lactating?" The doctor raises an eyebrow with a small smirk on his face. "No, no problem of that in the near future. They'll only start to produce milk once you're far along in your pregnancy."

"Pregnant!?" I react visibly, taking a few steps away.

"Well of course. That body is fully functional, you know. But relax, that won't be happening any time soon. It's really bad for what we're having to do to have to also deal with pregnant individuals, so when you go into heat you'll be given drugs to counteract the effects as well as prevent any implantation should you submit to the advances of a male. Of course after your year's service is up, should you still have the equipment for it you are more than welcome to get filled with kit as many times as you want. And the standard offer will remain. If after your year is up should you want to keep working with us you are more than free to do so and we will keep you in the rotation for as long as you are deemed fit to do so."

"Can we talk about something else now?" I ask, rather embarrassed about the direction the conversation took and at the same time really not liking the implications of what it might mean for my future. "I fully intend on regaining and keeping my original equipment."

"Good, you keep telling yourself that every day and never even let the alternative enter your mind and perhaps should you survive the full year it might become the reality. But you did ask and I answered your question plainly. Yes they can produce milk but are not likely to do so until late into pregnancy. Now can we keep moving please? We still have a lot to do and the longer it takes the less reliable the information becomes."

He grabs me by one hand to further illustrate his need for some sense of urgency and begins to practically drag me the rest of the hall before reaching another lab. He half shoves me into a smaller part of the room, surrounded by various runes and gadgets as he rushes over to the console.

"So if getting to this point was such a priority and needed to be done as quickly as you say, why didn't they just drop up in here?"

"Because," the doctor states as he begins typing into the console and some of the runes begin to light up. "The equipment and setup of this room is very delicate. Not that someone like you could understand, at least not for the moment. But the more intricate the spells are, the more sensitive they are to other spells. These things are really good at what they do but they are extremely hard to keep clean as it were. Any sort of magical residue in them will almost completely ruin any reading they give. Heck, it takes hours just trying to cleanse the area between each test. Think of it like placing a small needle on top of a bowl of water to see for any vibrations in the planet by paying attention to the ripple. If there's any disturbance near it then you can't get any readings. Even a chair in there would be problematic."

I blink and half try to shield myself from the lights of one of the devices, my ears pinning back. I look over to where the doctor is and see that instead of a standard glass it almost seems to be a one way mirror, giving me a good look at my reflection for the first time. Having not been given any instruction otherwise I move up close to get a good look. My face is definitely vulpine, that of the classic red variety. I even have whiskers for Christ's sake. I do actually still have hair and as I suppose I would have to guess given the other additions it is longer. Not quite straight but definitely a bit of a curve to it my hair comes off my scalp in about the same russet color as my fur but then further from the tip it things to fade more to shades of either red or brown.

"So then what is the point of this room, anyway?"

"It's an analytical tool. It has the ability to tap into a person's aura and be able to extract from it basic information about them. In essence by having you in the chamber while the machines douse you with faint traces of inert aetheric energy the sensors will pick up in what ways your body responds, telling us really quickly what sort of abilities we can likely expect from you, which would help us to know where best to put you tactically speaking. Ah, here we go. You may step out of there now. It'll take the machine a few time to process the results."

I shrug and step out, almost tripping over myself in the process. Clearly I haven't quite yet gotten the hang of walking on these strange feet. The doctor sits patiently at a large display as a little bar begins to fill.

"So when do I get to wear some actual clothes?" I ask.

"That'll come next. We'll provide you with a good starting uniform, one catered to your species as well as an intermediary one, for tomorrow. After that you'll have to buy the rest of your outfit on your own. Though I would suggest that you go with loose fitting clothes, preferably with a lot of elastic. After all the body you had when you put them on will not be the same body you have when you take them off. It must be able to adapt to all of the changes your body goes through in the meantime. Oh, and they've decided that your name is going to be Rose."

"But I already have a name," I complain, definitely not approving of the fact that they decided to change my name without my consent or telling me they were going to do it beforehand. And they had to pick a decidedly feminine name.

"Oh, I know you do. But that name has power. The name you were born with can have significant influence over you. There are those that can strongly sway your actions and even potentially command you completely if they know your true name. So instead everyone is given a name that is deemed to fit them well enough and must grow to respond to that name, making sure to never mention their real name to anyone."

"But why Rose? Wouldn't that be admitting to being female by giving me such a girly name? Couldn't you have had the decency to give me a much more manly name, even if well, this?"

"That was not up for me to decide. Technically it's not even anyone on our side of the gate to decide. The people on the other side, who watched and witnessed your transformation that decide what you should be called. They take a look at what your body looks to be and the initial brief assessment made regarding likely affinities and strengths and they take a vote out on what your new name will be. And apparently in your case it was decided that Rose was the name that fit you best. As for the resisting part, well, a name is not a body. Being able to respond to a name has no bearing on whether or not you have accepted your new body."

"That certainly doesn't seem fair," I continue to complain.

"Perhaps, but if life was fair you wouldn't have to go through this in the first place, correct? You were given the short end of the stick the moment they drafted you. Your only hope is to ride through that and do your best to make it to the other side at least mostly intact. And here's your results now," he states as the screen beeps slightly and shows a bunch of little star graph-like things and a bunch of text in a language that I both do not recognize and yet can still sort of read. I'm guessing it must be yet another thing tied to this body.

"Okay, so your results look fairly promising. Your main spell affinities are for fire and healing magic. Not a lot of strength based skills so we should definitely not be strapping you up with anything heavy. Best course of action for you, especially while you're still getting used to how things are done is to put you near the rear as support. Depending on how accurate you can get yourself with your spells it might be possible to set you up with a spotter and have you take pot shots with both healing spells and fire spells, though I would definitely suggest trying to pick up at least some magic from another element. Having an affinity for a spell only means that you will find casting spells of that element far easier than you would in trying to cast one of the other elements. Not sure where they'll put you as your magic wanes, possible set you up with a mid-range weapon and try to keep you out of harm's way as much as possible. Unless of course the team you get put on ends up having another healer, then that might change things a bit. Your jump looks to be pretty good. Your climbing skills are exceptional from the look of things, but compared to the rest you are kind of slow. Faster than a human for certain but nowhere nearly capable enough to really react as fast or move as fast as some of your companions would in their released state. Anyway, I'll have this thing sent out and then prepare a binder for you to look through more in depth at your own leisure. Come along, Rose. Let's see about getting you some decent clothes."