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I know this is late, but here's my writing from the prompt the other day!
I took a shaky breath as I walked into the lab. It wasn’t out of nervousness. I was always far from nervous when I started working for the day. It was more like a sense of excitement and discovery. I had been working with bacteria and viruses for years, but they always fascinated me. Especially the viruses. They mutate the fastest out of anything alive, yet they are not by scientific standards alive. One infected cell could yield thousands of new viruses with hundreds of mutations. At the time, my most recent project was studying a virus found in wolves. It didn’t outright kill the wolves, but it destroyed the fur follicles, making the wolves completely bald. This virus was proving to be a challenge to study. It did not replicate well in the lab, preferring a live wolf for replication. That day, I had hoped I would have a breakthrough and find the conditions it needs to survive.
I hurried into the lab and washed my hands after putting on my lab coat and goggles. I pulled on my gloves and started getting out the samples I had collected so far. A few plates with solid cell growth, a few test tubes with infected wolf blood, and my experimental set up. I lifted one of the plates and examined it for any signs of virus replication. I muttered profanities before putting the plate back down, scribbling in my notes.
“You okay, Connor?” my fellow researcher, Scott, asked me. I didn’t notice him enter the lab. It tends to happen when I’m focusing on something intensely. The rest of the world just fades out.
“Yeah, yeah. I’m fine.” I sighed. “I was just hoping we’d get results.”
“Hey,” he said, placing a hand on my shoulder, “You can’t expect results this quickly.”
“But we’ve been working on this damn virus for months now!”
“Just relax,” he said soothingly. “We’ll figure this thing out.” He picked up a plate and frowned. “Connor, look at this.” My brow furrowed as I looked at the plate. Instead of simply a layer of cells, there was also a thick coat of what appeared to be white fur on top of it.
“That’s odd. Maybe there was a mold in the sample?” I offered. Scott shook his head.
“Not likely. Mold doesn’t grow this tall.” He carefully removed the lid and carefully cut a few strands loose before placing them on a microscope slide. He set everything up wordlessly and peered at the magnified sample. His face paled and he stepped to the side slowly, motioning me to look at the slide. I focused the microscope and gasped. It was definitely fur. There was no doubt about it.
“How did this even happen?” I asked incredulously.
“I have no idea. Maybe the virus mutated and forced the growth of fur instead of stripping it…” he offered. I turned back to the plate and looked at the layer of thick fur. It was mesmerizing. How could a virus completely change so quickly? It didn’t make any sense. I wrapped the plate up tightly and placed it back on the bench.
“We need to tell someone about this,” I said to Scott. He nodded and looked at a few of the other plates. He gasped.
“Connor!” he shouted, holding up another plate. This one had what appeared to be fur, but the more I looked at it, the more it seemed to be small feathers. Needless to say, we were both thunderstruck. We wrapped the plate tightly and examined the rest of the plates. Many had fur of some type, but we could not identify them on sight alone. It was like the virus was rewriting the entire DNA of the sample. After just fifteen minutes of staring at our samples, we had to sit down. Looking at each other, we silently wondered what was going on. I groaned and rubbed my lower back, just around my tailbone.
“You okay?” Scott asked me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I replied. “Just my back. It’s been hurting a little bit lately.” I stopped short when I felt a bump. “Scott…” I whispered hoarsely. “I need you to look at something… It feels like a large bump…” He nodded his assent as I stood up and lifted my lab coat and the back of my shirt. He was silent for longer than I thought he would be.
“What is it?” I asked nervously.
“I… I don’t know,” he replied. “It’s a large bump, but that’s all I can see right now. There’s a small dip in the middle, so there may be two bumps there. I’m no doctor, so I don’t know what it is exactly.” I sighed.
“I’ll make an appointment for tomorrow,” I said. I stretched, trying to crack my back in hopes it would relieve some of the pressure building up. Instead, I cried out loudly. The pressure began to build up faster than before. White hot stabs of pain shot down my spine and my pants start to feel tighter and more painful. Without even thinking about Scott next to me, I hastily unbuttoned them and pull them down slightly. My feet ached in my shoes and started to build up their own pressure. I kicked off my shoes and writhed on the ground. My entire body felt like it was on fire. I vaguely recognized Scott’s shocked face until he, too, fell to the ground.
Bones cracked and I howled out loud in pain. It felt like my skin was burning, but it soon calmed to a somewhat unpleasant warmth, as if I was wearing a winter coat in the middle of summer. The pain gradually subsided, leaving me panting and sweating on the floor. I dully noted Scott roaring, but my senses were too shattered to recognize much. The world slowly stabilized and I attempted to move my hand to shield my eyes from the bright fluorescent lights. But they bumped into my face instead. I blinked a few times and looked down. Flooding my field of vision was a gray muzzle. I gasped and sat up suddenly. The world spun a few times as I tried to relax and calm down. Maybe I was dreaming. Maybe I was hallucinating. I brought my hand up towards my face, but I saw it had changed.
It was a paw. There was no doubt about it. Claws had ripped through the fingers in the glove and I could see paw pads pushing against the tight latex. My twin tails wagged in wonder until I noticed I had tails. I turned and saw them. Both were white with one tipped in dark blue and the other one tipped in light blue. I gasped in wonder and excitement. I was my fursona! But the scientist in me protested. This was bad. If this was the virus, who knows what the rest of the world would do to me and Scott. Scott! I whipped around to look at my friend.
In Scott’s place was a majestic lion. His brown mane fell back like hair to his shoulders as he twitched on the ground. His skinny tail slowly moved back and forth. He groaned and sat up.
“What happened…?” he asked hoarsely, not opening his eyes.
“You need to look,” I said. My voice sounded different to me. My new lips couldn’t form the words quite the right way, but he seemed to understand. His eyes flashed open. With an open mouth he stared at me until I gestured to him. He audibly screamed when he saw his new form.
“Calm down! Calm down! It’s okay!” I shouted. “Just try to relax!”
“Relax?” he roared. “That virus we’ve been studying has turned me into a lion!” My new ears perked up when I heard yelling and screaming elsewhere in the building. We glanced at each other and stumbled towards the voices. We slowly padded through the building, trying to get used to the new weight of our tails and digitigrade legs. As we walked, we found that nearly everyone else in the building was transforming. I noticed felines, canines, equines, reptiles, dragons, and even a sergal. I was sure there were more species other places in the building that I hadn’t seen yet.
“The virus couldn’t have spread that fast,” I said to Scott. He growled at me, unconvinced, but stayed with me. “It wouldn’t make sense!” The other people slowly began to come to their senses and started to panic. I ran down to the main office, where the scared secretary had turned into a ferret. I grabbed the microphone and turned on the intercom system.
“Everyone listen!” I said authoritatively. “I know you’re scared. I know you’re confused. But try to stay calm. I do not know what caused the sudden transformation, but we will be trying to fix this as soon as possible! I’m sure this won’t be permanent and we will get back to normal. In the meantime, we all need to meet in the conference center to discuss our options. Remember, stay calm and we can figure this out. And do not contact anyone outside for the time being. We don’t want to start a panic. See you in the meeting.” I shut off the intercom and reached a paw down to the trembling ferret.
“Hey, it’s gonna be okay,” I said reassuringly. I tried to flash a smile, but she whimpered and curled up tighter. I guessed I had fangs that scared her too much. “I’m Connor,” I said. “I haven’t changed at all. I just look different outwardly.” My words had some effect on her as she slowly looked up at me. I tried to show genuine concern in my eyes and she reached out her own tiny paw to mine. I gently pulled her out and began to guide her to the conference center. I stopped short when I noticed a group of people gathered around the TV in the break room. I let go and strode in, concerned. Maybe someone got seriously hurt by the transformation.
The TV blared loudly with an alarm. A news anchor was babbling incoherently. I understood some of what he was saying, but only small snatches. He was speaking quickly that people need to keep calm and not to panic. The CDC was on the case and the growing epidemic would be contained. I gasped audibly when he yelled and collapsed on the desk. I noticed ears sprouting on the top of his head and a feline muzzle growing outward. It couldn’t have been the virus I had been working on. It wouldn’t have spread so quickly.
The screen didn’t cut, most likely because the others running the station were transforming as well. A tail sprouted and lengthened. The anchor’s hair disappeared, only to be replaced with orange fur a few minutes later. The anchor groaned and started to look around groggily. His tail fluffed in fear when he saw his hands had transformed to paws and screamed. The screen finally cut out. I stumbled backwards, stunned with what I had just witnessed. Was it happening everywhere in the world at the same time? How could it be happening that way?
I finally walked into the conference room, where everyone had finally gathered. The variety of animals there astounded me. There was no apparent pattern among the people present. Some kept their hair, while others only had fur, feathers, or scales on their heads. I could recognize squirrels, chipmunks, cats, dogs, birds, and even a few sergals in the crowd. Some had natural colorings, while many others had varying shades of purples, blues, and bright reds and yellows. I rubbed my eyes at the bright array of colors, trying to focus on what was important.
“Listen up!” I shouted. The room was still abuzz in conversation, sprinkled with growls and roars. I noticed Scott walking up to me. He looked at me and nodded before roaring loudly, startling everyone present. I mouthed a thank you to my friend, who only smiled at me. I looked at the scientists present along with the secretarial staff who made up a small portion. Their attention was completely focused on me. I took a breath to stead my nerves and began to speak.
“I don’t know how many of you know, but the transformation that happened here is happening in other places as well. I only saw one news station, but it could be happening all over the world. Before you start panicking, there have been no reports of ill effects. It appears to be external only. How this transformation occurred is still a mystery. But I’m sure people will be working on this as soon as possible. I am unsure if this is reversible, but time will tell. Do any of you have questions? I can’t say I’m an expert, but I will try my best.” I held my paws behind my back, and looked to the people in front of me. Everyone was silent. I was sure they were all just overwhelmed with what just happened. Even I was running on pure adrenaline as I stood there. I looked around, but I could not recognize anyone. I sighed.
“I can’t speak for the bosses present,” I began, “but I think it would be best if we could all go home for the time being. What just happened is too much to process in such a short time. Adam,” I called, hoping our boss was there, “do we have permission to go home?” A very uncomfortable-looking purple and black dragon stood up and coughed, spitting some smoke and a few embers with his breath.
“Yes, you may all go home. If you need time to process things, I will understand, and I’m sure my superiors will do the same.” He attempted to sit down, but his large tail swept to the side, knocking over his chair. We all chuckled a little, but an uncomfortable silence took over the room. Scott broke the silence.
“You heard Adam! Go home!” he said. The dazed and confused people slowly filtered out of the conference room, leaving Adam, me, and Scott in the room. The dragon walked awkwardly towards me, his wings and tail throwing him off balance slightly.
“I’m sorry to ask, but who are you?” he asked me. “I can’t figure out who anyone is right now.” He scratched his bald head and attempted to smooth his business suit, but only succeeded in shredding the front with his claws.
“Connor,” I replied.
“The way you handled the situation was absolutely incredible. I’ll be keeping an eye on you in the future.” He lumbered out of the room, flexing his wings slightly. I smirked slightly. His body language suggested he wanted to try flying in the very near future. A series of loud thumps outside confirmed my suspicions. I looked over to Scott.
“You gonna be okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” he said with a small grin. “I’m already starting to like being a lion.” His grin faded into a frown. “But why do you think we turned into different animals? Wouldn’t it make sense to transform into just wolves?”
“Think of it this way. If the cause was the virus we were working on, then it would stand to reason that the mutations could account for the different species,” I replied. “But then again, we don’t know if it was the virus. Why would it start at nearly the same time everywhere? How could the entire population get infected? It could be a million different possibilities.” He sighed slightly. “We’ll find the answer someday. But for now, I think I just want to go home.”
“Be careful, okay?” he said seriously. “There could have been a lot of accidents on the road.”
“I’ll be fine. I promise.” He shook my paw and smiled softly before leaving the room. I turned my paws over to look at them. I brought one to my neck and felt the thick layer of blue and gray fur that encircled my neck. It was a lot hotter than I imagined it would be, but I wasn’t complaining. I was a real furry. No one else seemed extremely comfortable in the lab, but I couldn’t wait to see how others were adapting. I smiled and dashed off to my car, barely able to contain my excitement.
submitted by dragon567[link] [comment]
My first 'sona. And my first drawing in a while, so sorry for poor quality. Here's KC, the Husky.
Extra lifer Needs your help!
Good day fine fellow furs. I'll be participating in a Charity Event called Extra life and I'm looking to you all for help raising money. For those who don't know Extra life is a Charity event where participants game for 24 straight hours in hopes of raising money for Childrens Miracle Network.
I'll be doing a live stream the whole time where you fine people can donate to my live stream in order to get me to play a game of your choice (within reason) for a set period of time depending on the donation. Also if myself and my friend who'll be live streaming both reach $100 of donations we'll be dying a rainbow streak in our hair. When the live stream starts I'll put a link here but if you have any questions just drop me a line and if you all could be so kind as to pass this on to everyone you know.
The extra life stream starts this Saturday at 9 Am and i'll be going until 9 Am on Sunday. Twitch Stream is Twitch.tv/BaronVonEcho
Edit: Here's the link to my donation page. http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=100009
submitted by anubis418[link] [comment]
![10k Nights of Demonic Possession (And Comment Karma) [OC]](http://b.thumbs.redditmedia.com/-kkfcXBuqjQDJdcrDPtGsBpMsbCasw3jM6cyTDN7BIw.jpg "10k Nights of Demonic Possession (And Comment Karma) [OC]")
Figured I'd share my ref here! If there's somewhere else I should be posting this, please tell me!
Anyone here ever worked with animals?
Hi, I did a casual search of the sub before making this and didn't find anything.
Anyway I'm just curious if any of y'all ever worked with animals. Before i left for college I was a volunteer at the local county zoo and it was p chill. As a fur it was great to educate groups of people of all ages on things ranging from the pressure an eagle can exert with its talons to how far a mountain lion can jump. Also, it helps if the place has some examples of your fursona (in my case a coyote) to observe to give you a meaningful connection and let you be a voice for them that they lack.
I don't have any funny stories to tell, but maybe you do.
submitted by Mastectomy[link] [12 comments]
Hi guys I'm new to R/Furry - Wolfencreek
Hey guys, I've been a lurker around reddit for a while, and only just discovered r/furry but have considered myself a furry for the past year. Until recently my Fursona was a Gryphon until I discovered Sergals :3 I've been considering getting a fursuit but being unemployed means I'd be saving for a while.
Thats about it from me _^ Feel free to ask me stoofs =..=
submitted by Wolfencreek[link] [14 comments]
Coming out as a furry
I'm an almost 30 female who been interested in furry art and fandom for a few years now. I kept it under wraps because of the online bullying I see other furries and the fandom gets. Furries always get seen as the worst of the internet even though it isn't close to being true. It's been a kink I hid for years and only very few trusted people know I'm a furry. (I couldn't even say that till this summer.)
Can you share your stories with realizing your were furry or wanted to jump in this fandom?
submitted by gumithepup[link] [18 comments]
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