The Genetic Park 8 part 3

The Genetic Park 8 part 3

I sighed as I sipped my drink, barely paying attention to my surroundings as nothing that was going on around me caught my attention. It was all background really, and nothing worth looking away from my drink for.. My tail slithered and coiled around the stool as I minded my own business, the weights felt barely palpable, as if there was nothing there at all. Maybe this wasn't gonna be a problem after all. I kept minding my business until I heard a voice, a girl asking me "Are you a TG too?" My whiskers twitched as I glanced right, only to see a tigress with a beer in her hand, she seemed somewhat depressed as her ears laid hidden on her orange hair.

Ever since I've gotten this body I managed to learn how to detect emotions through subtle actions such ears falling down or standing up top, the swishing or limpness of the tail. It all managed to tell the mood of a person. Fur bristling when one was angry on cats, vapory snorts on equines and bovines when they were angered (I actually caught a sight of a couple of discussions to see that) and the ears of almost, if not every one around moved over to signal openness and curiosity or defensiveness and anger. It was pretty easy to tell that girl next to me wasn't having a fun time so far.

"Yeah... I am" I replied, placing my drink down so I could turn to see her. Looking at her, my first assumption would have been that she was a natural female, yet it took for the fact she had said the word 'too'  for it to sink in. "Um, hi. You got me, my name's Tom".

"I'm Keegan," She said, pointing to my bosom as gracefully as she could so as to not draw attention to the fact. "I have a pin like that at my place... kind of forgot it there," She said, holding out her handpaw for a handshake.

I nodded, always open on meeting new friends, especially since he's the only male to female guest I've seen… that I haven't wanted to gut. "Pleased to meet you, and don't worry about the pin. I've had my own share of with it from time to time, so easy to leave somewhere. Been interesting making sure I remember it." I gave a small laugh. I could see her sitting on the stool by herself, no one nearby. "Umm… Are you here by yourself?"

She gave a small snort of laughter "Yeah, you could say that" She turned back to her beer with a look that suggested the only thing she knew in the world right now was that she wanted to hold it. I had the sense I had somehow stroke a nerve there. "No one wanted to come with me, so I figured, might as well spend some time alone." She took a sip of her drink before glancing at me "And you?"

I couldn't help to see myself in that girl… I mean, changed guy. Memories stirred back to the first days of my time in the park. The first strolls I made alone. I was starting to think people just didn't enjoy their time as a member of the other gender, and that I was somehow just lucky right now. Either that or the misfortunes were common at the start. After the small gaze into the past I looked at Keegan "Me? I'm just a bit tired, that's all. I came here to chill out and relax." I answered while drinking.

"That's cool." Keegan said while looking at her drink. I did so too, occasionally glancing around as the slience started to make the air feel heavy between us. I wasn't much of a conversation keeper, especially with strangers. All I could do was try to figure out what non invasive topic I could ask, maybe trying to inquire on what happened with her friends. I was about to pop a question when… "Hey, wait… I recognize you…"

That was something that stopped me from talking. Had I known her before? I've seen a couple of tigers while in the park, if not several, so there's a chance I've met her, just had to figure out where. I continued to try to recall all the tigers until she cleared my doubts "You were with that… team, right? I think I saw the group of you walking by once".

Oh now I remembered, that was around 3 days ago, back when I rejoined the team. I recall that day Tania having a tough day with new TGs, chances are that she was in the group I ran into during the exit. "I think I remember, were you were with Tania walking to the park with a bunch of girls?"

"There was also a guy there, but yeah. That was my first day here" With a sigh, she blinked slightly. Probably she was right now noticing her body couldn't stand as much alcohol as she was used to. I got back to my drink before I heard her say "That was before everything went to shit…"

I couldn't help but being curious, tilt my head and ask "Really? That bad?" before reaching and drinking some more of the pina colada. I've had a time like that, so I wondered if I could probably listen to her story and give my share of advice. "Anything you wanna talk about? I'm a good listener"

Keegan smiled sadly at me before shaking her head "You wouldn't understand" she simply said. "It's rather complicated.

I gave her a smile, slightly amused by her answer "Try me. You have no idea what I've been through either" I replied placing a hand on her shoulder to reassure her.

She gave a nod and started "Well... I think it was the second day I was here when my friends and I gathered a bunch of people together," Keegan started. "We were playing baseball, and a guy followed me. He didn't know I was a TG, and he was obviously flirting with me... my friends knew I had been TG'd, and I just let him flirt..." She took a swig of her beer. "Things went to hell that night."

That made me recall the advances I got from Leo when he was a lion guy… It was less than likely that our stories were the same. I had my supportive friends and that second serum to deal with my issues. "Ok… I can see how things went." I sighed starting to picture the worst case scenario, which would have gotten to happen to me hadn't I acquired the tg serum earlier that day.

Yet she gave me a look, rather confused. "What? Oh no. Things didn't happen like that. I told Dave, the guy who was flirting with me, that I was a TG, and he understood. We're actually still friends. Sorta." She shook her head. "It was one of my friends, Frank... he started questioning my sexuality, if I was really a straight guy or if I was a straight girl... and in a drunken haze he… beat me up."

That did sound familiar to me, and I couldn't help to place myself in her situation "I'm sorry to hear that…" I said placing my hand on her beer and pushing her farther. It wasn't a good idea to test alcohol with emotional prone bodies such as ours.. "Must have been rather harsh. Did he even apologized for that act?" I said rather seriously. Maybe I could have him reported to my uncle, after all I was a sort of moving influences during my time in the park.

Keegan shook her head, still shaken. "No. I managed to fend him off long enough for Dave to rescue me... he heard me shouting for help. Frank had hit me pretty badly, though, I had a cracked rib and a concussion... and the next thing I knew, I was lying in the hospital wing the next morning."

I was hoping I could find the silver lining to this story, if there was any. "Oh… but I gues things have started going better, right? I mean, you were rescued and you are still among friends, right?"

"No. It was Frank's word against mine. By the time I woke up, Frank was already treated for the injuries I caused him and released. By the time I got out, he had told everyone that I had come onto him, and that I had pretty much asked for it." Taking a long drink of her beer after moving past my hand, Keegan said, "Most of the friends I came here with have disowned me now."

I could only gasp surprised at her comment, her situation was worse than me, especially since I wasn't neglected by my friends after some problems. I could always count on Mike and Zack, and later, on Madelaine too. "That's awful. Have you tried to talk things out with them? Present your side of the story?" I said reaching for the beer she held and dragged it away.

I was also rather shocked about why wasn't the park doing much about this matters. Thinking they should keep an eye on guests that are psychologically prone to violence. I guess that the place tends to enhance the good situations, but also, it seems that the strength or power of the animals overpowers those with egotist personalities…

"I tried that about five minutes ago" Keegan replied resting her head on her hand "But Frank pretty much convinced all of them."

"I'm sure they won't buy his story forever. They are your friends afterall…." Was all I could say to her situation while placing my hand on her shoulder.

"I hope you're right…" She said quietly. "So… what about you?" Keegan asked changing the subject. "You said you went through something before… care to share?"

"Well, I've been here for more of a week, quite a busy one. Every day something interesting happened. Basically, when I arrived here I was heartbroken, looking forward for some relax and, if lucky, get a nice anthro girl." I looked over to the bartender, singaling for him to pour another pina colada.

"Really?" Keegan asked, slightly amused by my resolve when entering while motioning to the bartender to get a one of the same. "Those girls look good by the way"

I smiled for a second, remembering what I was expecting when I first came. "You know? I never liked to pick. Coming over I thought going random would make for some  interesting and surprising fun." I chuckled "I never expected gender to be part of the 'random' option." Keegan too seemed to be amused by my words. "I came here with 3 of my friends. I considered them rather sexist guys, you know, like we all." I joked while taking another sip. "So it was logical I thought would be made fun of by them. All I could think of it was to resist the change and hope to change back."

She looked at me inquisitively. I didn't knew why, maybe because she related to the event. "I've heard doing that was dangerous… were you alright?"

I shook my head "No, luckily. I found it agonizing to keep my concentration and  try not to change until I arrived at the reception. I tried to ask for a change back when my voice started cracking, therefore blowing my cover. My friends started mocking me and then Tania, the matchmaker… well, managed to calm me down by forcing the rest of the change upon me." I couldn't help to blush after recalling that, but luckily fur covered everything.

"Sounds better than how I changed" Keegan admitted after giving a small laugh "What happened after that?" she asked.

"She took me away from my friends, as they kept laughing. She immediately enrolled me into the matchmaking system and got paired with her, that's when I started falling for her after spending some time with her. Although in retrospective, I think I was hoping so much to get a girl for myself that i got sort of too attached… blame the hormones" I wasn't gonna admit it was either that or that I plainly just sucked at love.

It seemed she figured out where I was aiming when she said. "Did she leave you?"

I nodded taking a drink "Yeah, for a guy. I guess that picturing one as a person of the other gender wasn't as easy as I thought" I actually was still having some trouble on thinking that. "Anyway, after that I sort of looked for ways to keep my mind busy. At first I reconnected with my friends who had apologized to me. One of them had gotten into the football team, which somehow ended up in/lead to me to joining the volleyball team."

"Well, I'm sorry to hear about the girl" She said sympathetically "It must've hurt a lot… but maybe when you change back , you could try and find her? See if you can get her back?" She proposed.

"I've thought about that… I tried to consider if I should try… but It's not worth it. I mean, I've gotten to think weren't meant for each other." I reached for my drink as I began to notice something out of the corner of my eye. "By this point I'm just happy I'm making new friends and I've been rather glad I've met the friends I have, including Ki-" I couldn't help but start coughing up my drink when I noticed what it was that had caught my eye.

Keegan raised an eyebrow "Who?" She asked curiously "I mean… if you found someone and don't want to talk about it, that's okay" She added obviously amused by my reaction.

"I-It's ok… her name is Kira,  she's a nice she-wolf" I waved an ok to Keegan before  glancing back over at the magazine someone had started to read at the bar. It was the park's first issue, the one that my uncle had talked about the other day. As expected, it was  sporting a whole section dedicated to the ongoing tournaments and opened with 2 pages dedicated to the team, MY team! It was giving out small bios on each with pictures taken from after the game. I was already feeling the embarrassment from seeing the picture of me. I had to admit that rat had the skill to make every picture come out naturally, I looked like a normal girl there, of course I mean in the attitude and expression.

"Hey, cool, is that one looks like you" I heard Keegan said. She was already glancing at the picture as it sank in what she was seeing. "Oh… You're in the magazine?" She asked sounding truly impressed as opposed to the laughs I pictured. I had to learn to stop expecting the worse from people.

I blushed, knowing there was no point in denying it "Yeah, that's me… I really don't like the picture. It makes me look so… feminine!" I sighed taking my eyes off the magazine hoping he wouldn't notice "I suppose that sums up what I've been up to over the last days."

"Well that sounds a lot better than my holiday here" She admitted "You're famous, and that's pretty cool!"

"Well, you arrived not long ago, and I was just lucky… of course you are saying famous considering I'm now a girl playing and pretending to be a female in a team of catgirls when underneath of all is a guy striking that pose." I said gesturing at the magazine as I finished the drink. "Give it time, there's a turnabout ahead, there always is".

"Yeah, I hope so." Keegan sighed while her voice trailed off. "It's just hard. I thought I could trust my friends, you know?"

"Tell me about it… this sort of situations does put friendships to the test" I stood up deciding it was a time to change the subject. Raising my arm into the air and stretching as I've been doing for a while by now. "Wanna take a walk? It'll be better than resorting to drinking" I offered my hand to Keegan wanting to help her up.

She looked at my hand, then smiled "sure" She answered "That's probably a good a idea, better than drinking the night away." And with that she accepted my hand so I could pull her up to her feet, pouring a little extra effort due to the weights. I took the opportunity to glance at her body, I had to admit she was pretty good looking.

"Ok, where do you wanna go? Might head to the cliff in the mountain side to explore it or go towards the lake. Those are two places that come to mind for some head clearing." I listed, guessing some outdoor time was needed in my schedule since I've spent the latest days without much of a break… and it would also count as training, so that way Lana wont pester or accuse me of being lazy.

Keegan smiled "the mountain sounds cool. I haven't been there, yet."

I just nodded. "Neat, neither have i. So it'll be the first time" I said leading the way out of the bar. Some of the anthros sitting around turned their heads to us as we started to leave., but I made sure none of the groups of bachelors were willing to follow us as we made our way towards the exit.

As we walked out of the lobby we each kept on talking about our adventures so far. "…I still have to adjust and endure to the girls trying to feminize me…" I laughed as I told out the bikini anecdote. "You can get the picture of what it was like to be at the beach resort"

"Yeah, most of the friends I made here don't try to do that. So I don't have to worry" Keegan said following her, still slightly buzzed from the drinks as she had the occasional unfeline like wobble while walking.

I glanced at her and sighed, it did brought back memories, like when I discovered I couldn't handle drinking as well as before "Lucky you… Well, they don't try that hard to force me, aside from having me wear a bikini and hang out with them." I looked back at the path while a sly smile crossed my mouth after saying that. It was then that I noticed we had been getting deeper into the forest, more worrying still was the fact that it started to be marked by warning signs saying to watch your step. I took a quick notice of my feet, so far I haven't walked on rocky surfaces but I could already picture how it would be like, I just hope I had extra padding down there or there would be help to pay at training tomorrow. Shaking my head I continued with the narration "The only condition was for them to leave me out of their girl talks."

I glanced at the sky noticing how the sun was setting and darkness was beginning to fall into the forest. Of course the twilight was nothing that we couldn't manage with our feline eyes. "Thank god for night vision, huh? I would have called it night had I've been another species." I smiled watching down, able to distinguish the path rather easily.

Keegan gave a small laugh "You bet," She said "It makes things a lot better." She said, after a moment as we passed the spot where I remember meeting Mike on my first day she asked "You've worn a bikini? How... how does that feel? All I wear is pretty much the female versions of my clothes, which aren't that hard to find, and I haven't gone in the water that much."

I laughed as we quickly made our way to the top of the cliff. They had arrived to the edge of the mountain and into the viewing area. "It's rather different. Really skin tight, compared to swimsuit shorts, at times I couldn't help to feel exposed on occasions. In my case I'm not a person that likes exposure." I blushed "So, got any idea on how to deal with your friends?" I thought maybe I could offer some help.

"Not really," Keegan admitted. "I've got... another week and a half. Not sure what's going to happen afterwards, but.. I don't know." She looked at the view of the park as they walked up the hill. "I've been pretty much doing my best to avoid them."

"Seems like the best solution for now… maybe getting to know new people might keep your mind distracted…" I said quietly while looking at the park from the cliff. I could see the elegant design of the main resort building down, on the prairie below. It wasn't too hard to see how much it dominates the local area, see how it stands out. The sports field could be seen far away under the glow of it's lights , movement could be seen in the area. There must've been teams playing there at that time. In the distance I could see that the train station was rather crowded and illuminated as the 7pm train arrived. "It's quite a sight, isn't it?" Upon glancing farther from the main resort was a big building, looking rather simple in comparison to the others "I guess that is where they experiment, the lab" I  pointed out with a small wave.

"Yeah," Keegan said, looking around. "This is quite a view..." She pointed to a small field at the edge of the reflector shower. "That's where we played baseball," She said. "That was a good day..."

I just gave a smile at that "It's good to hear that. Sports can be a really good way to relief stress."  I said taking a couple of steps forward and glancing at the cliff side, it was quite a 5 or 6 meters fall into a treeless area of the forest. Had I fallen down there I would probably end up as Dana, which wasn't a nice picture. Anyway, I was probably getting off track with my thoughts and continued glancing at the field. "And that's also the place where I made my 'debut' as a member of the team" I recalled with the smile, that night was one that lifted my spirits. I was so distracted with my thoughts to notice something that in normal conditions I would've… luckily Keegan did.

The conversation died as Keegan's ears twitched  "D-Did you hear that?" She turned around to look frantically at something. My fur was standing at the tip as if my body knew what was gonna happen.

My ears perked as I heard the sound of something creaking. It was something that put my body on alert. "I do now… what is it?" Turning around to watch the trees trying to look into the black space that was the forest for a clue when something caught me by surprise, the sight of a tree falling towards us thanks to the moons reflection. "Shit!"


I stared at the tree, slightly shaking from being in a situation like this. My thoughts raced while thinking about was what was gonna happen to me? What caused this? I was so surprised I didn't react in time. It was then that I felt an impact from my side, which sent me sidestepping to the right. It was Keegan who had pushed me out of harm's way.

The push had me wobbling and before I could react and steady myself. My foot landed on a weak spot of the cliff which crumbed as I stepped on it, leading to me falling down the edge. My lower part was hanging from the edge as I tried to pull myself up. "Keegan!" I called digging my claws on the ground for support and stopping my slide. I would have made my way up immediately if I was in top conditions, but the weights along with my exhausted upper body were dragging me down.

I squirmed for a couple of seconds, trying to pull myself up, but still not able to do anything. That was until Keegan reached forward and gripped my wrist. "Hold on! I got you!" She shouted, trying to pull me up.

Relieve coursed through me as I looked at her keeping me up. With my upper body anchored thanks to the tigress I focused on having my feet climb back up. Despite the weights and some light wounds it was easy to get back up, taking one step at the time. "That was close… " I let out once I managed to get up. I was hyperventilating as my heart pounded against my chest as I try to get the fear off me "What the hell happened?!"

"I don't know." Keegan said sitting down on the fallen tree. "But we got lucky... you nearly fell, and my leg nearly got crushed," She said, motioning to her torn pants and her leg, which was bleeding slightly.

"Yeah… A fall like that would have left me incapacitated for days" I sighed standing up and moving over to check on Keegan. I moved over and gave her leg a quick check. She was packing a nasty wound, I wasn't able to see much but I could smell the blood there. Unable to guess how bad the injury might be,  I decided on taking her to a specialist. "Come," I reached down to help her up "I'll help you to the nurse's" I said.

She didn't hesitate, accepting my hand without protest as I pulled to her feet. She limped slightly as we moved off. "This'll make my second visit to in two days" She gave a small laugh.

I played along and chuckled "Sorry to hear that, I've already stopped counting" I added after helping Keegan limp way down before I spoke, mainly out of guilt "I'm sorry if this trip didn't turn out as expected."

"Hey, that's okay. It was quite exciting, moreso than I planned." Sighing, she said. "Maybe next time we can have it a little more peaceful."

I sighed and agreed "Exciting as it was, but dangerous." I said as we manage to make it out of the hill and into the forest path. "Still, I'm glad to have met you. You're the first one with my same condition I've encountered."

We walked downhill, moving down the forest path, I was beginning to feel exhaustion from the weight but I was resilient. I wasn't gonna leave her. Using my second air I sped up, jogging lightly once the terrain was softer for my paws. Soon I was arriving the resort.

"How bad does it look?" I heard her ask. With a glance behind I could see some drops of blood falling on the carpet, It wasn't bad, but since I lacked any real any knowledge on medicine and first aid I preferred a safer approach.

"Um, It'll be ok Keegan" It was now that I noticed just how slow moving we have been down this path because of her injury, I knew something had to be done. Not even once had I thought of taking off the weights that were dragging me down, they weren't the problem right now, I could hold them easily. Which then gave me an idea to try. "Want me to carry you? It'll be faster…"

She gave a look at her leg and thought for a second before agreeing "Probably for the best. Alright" She nodded in agreement. I moved over in front of her and knelt as she pulled herself on my back, making sure she was safe and secure. Standing up, I found that using my new leg muscles I was having no problem with walking with her on.

"I'm pretty sure Lana will count this as weight carrying training for the next two days." A smirk crossed my face as I started making my way out of the forest and towards the resort with a steady pace.

"You're kinda fuzzy, did you know that?" I heard her mumble as she rested her cheek on my back. I wondered what that was about. I could only assume she was feeling tiredness from the day and the alcohol she had earlier.

"Hang in there, Keegan, almost there" Before making a slight jump to adjust the tigress on my back. I was now walking towards the nurse's office inside of the building, feeling people glance at me from time to time. I didn't care, I just sped up down the hallway.

"This is like a piggy back ride, man, those were fun when I was a kid" I vaguely heard her say. I'm pretty sure she was losing lucidity by now. She wasn't moving now and started to sound like she was falling asleep.

"Yes it is… and here we are" I said making final sprint as I saw the door to the office in front of me, I burst in as I was started to feel the exhaustion set in.

Luckily, at that time the place was empty, and doe nurse Millie was behind her desk reading a magazine. My entrance seemed to have surprised her as her ears were standing high and in alert. "Tam, what's wrong? Who do you have there?" She asked hastily noticing he tigress on my back while standing up and making her way over to the bed as I placed Keegan down.

I panted like an animal, recovering my breath, my tail and legs were out of energy. "T-there was an accident and… she got hurt… can you help her?" I asked leaning against the wall.

The nurse nodded and leaned over, starting to check Keegan's reactions to confirm for consciousness "Kelly? Still with us, sweety?" She asked while moving over to inspect her leg.

"For the last time! My name's not Kelly!" Keegan muttered, still awake, although a tad semi-lucid. I couldn't help to smirk. Her name could be gender switched, I was pretty sure the nurse did that on purpose by now.

"She's still with us" I agreed as the nurse headed over to grab some bandages and disinfectant for treating the wounds. I was rather surprised she wasn't using the regenerator serums like she had with me, but this was more of a flesh wound and having her even more exhausted from its effects would put her in a coma. The nurse looked at me as she sprayed the wound, causing the tigress to growl. "How did this happen?" My ears dropped feeling a slight pang of guilt since I felt this was my entire fault.

"We were hanging out by the cliff side, and then out of nowhere this tree collapsed next to us. She pushed me out of the way but her leg was injuried by what happened." I explained "How bad is it?"

"Barely even a scratch, it's just a flesh wound." Kelly, I mean Keegan said as the burning effect of the disinfectant passed "It'll be fine, I'll just walk it off Her mumbling start to trail off. I was concerned by this and moved over to nudge her shoulder causing her to snore lightly.

Nurse Millie patted my shoulder "It's just a flesh wound. She'll be ok, just needs to rest;, all of the medications here tend to have a lethargic effect. Ms Hero there will be given special care." She said with a reassuring smile at the tip of her muzzle.

Once she was done with Keegan's leg she went over to check over my wounds, a couple on my tail and slight cuts and bruises on my knees. "You're all well, nothing a night of sleep would fix." She noted before heading to her desk and offering me a couple of papers with a pen. They were normal documents with lined spaces. "Sorry to stall you but, if it isn't much of a problem, can you file a small report on the incident?"

I looked at the paper and shrugged. Why not? After all I was already there, might as well report the incident. "Sure." I sighed as I took a seat and accepted the pen. I could hear Keegan mumble a couple of things in her sleep, incoherent babble, well, at least she was safe, which is something. I kept on writing with as much detail as I could, not that there was enough to fill the entire page.

As I handed over the paper I glanced at the clock on the wall, it was already past 8 pm, a tad late. The nurse, who was now checking Keegan's pulse just smiled at me as she accepted the papers. "That'll be all Tam" She said "I'll have her discharged by tomorrow."

I was exhilarated on hearing that. "I'm glad for that" I said before stretching. I could feel my body sore in many places, even my tail! "I should be going, I need a nice rest." I was about to leave before turning to face the nurse as an idea came to me. "If it's not much of an issue, can I leave a message for her?"

Nurse Millie smiled as she agreed to the request. "Of course, Tam, do I need to write it down?" She began looking for a piece of paper.

"Nah" I waved my pawhand. "Just wanted to tell her that, if she needs help, or the matter with her friends makes a turn for worse then she can always contact me for assistance"

With a simple nod she confirmed the message was recorded. "Ok, I will tell her that. Have a nice rest." I nodded and let myself out.

---

I exited the office feeling tired, my limbs wouldn't have made it past another physical activity,. All I could hope was that this wouldn't hurt greatly tomorrow. As I headed for my room tried to look over to the receptionist desk to see if there was someone there. When I did I gave them a wave, and was somewhat elated when I noticed that it was Terri who was on as she waved back. Since I didn't feel in the mood for chatting right now, I kept on going until my vision disappeared as two warm hands covered my eyes.

"Surprize"