BEEP.....BEEP.....BEEP....

     From a corner of the dark room came the soft pulse of my heartbeat being
monitored by a EKG machine.  The tubes and wires snaking over my body had a weak
glow to them even in the low light level the room was kept at.  Alex softly
gasped at the sight of it all when her eyes adjusted to the dark.

"Justin....," she gently picked up my hand and held it tight, "Please don't
leave me..."

BEEP.....BEEP.....BEEP....

     Floating.  Weightlessness.  Darkness,  Where am I?  A dark abyss of
oblivion stood before me, the event-horizon between life and death.  I don't
remember anything, no, I remember Alex.... I can't leave her alone, not like
this.  The darkness surrounds me, keeping me from finding the way back to her.
I'm afraid to move, lest I fall into the abyss.  I'm afraid, Alex,.... I'm so
afraid...
 
     "Alex?"

Crash closed the door quietly behind him as he enter the room.  It had been a
good half-hour that he had spent talking to Dr. Harvard and he felt it would be
wise to check up on Alex.

"How is he?" Crash asked her.

Alex turned to him, her eyes blood-shot and her face as pail as a ghost.  It was
quite obvious that she had been crying for all of that time.

"I-I can't lose him, Crash."

"Justin's a fighter.  He'll make it.  Com'mon, it's time to go home.  There's
nothing more we can do here."

"No, I want to stay."

"Are you sure?"

Alex turned her head back towards me and then just simply nodded.

"Ok,... I'll be back first thing in the morning."

Crash left the two of us in an uncomfortable silence as the night slowly passed
on, like the silent observer it is.

     Crying.  Softly drifting through the darkness, the sound of lonely
teardrops in the distance... Alex, don't cry... I won't leave you, I will find
the way back.
 
     To Alex, the sound of the EKG no longer existed.  For hours she had devoted
all of her energy to to watch over me, ever vigialent for any signs of life.
The only movement I made was the occasional rolling of my head.  To her, it was
almost as if I was searching for something, or someone...  "I'm right here,
Justin," she softly said as she gently kissed my of the tip of my nose.
 
     I can hear you.  I can feel you.  I've found you, Alex... I've finally
found you...
 
     The sound of air being slowly and painfully drawn into my lungs awoke Alex
from her light sleep.

"Alex..." weakly escaped from my lips.

"I'm right here."

My eyes slowly opened only to stare into her's.  God, there had never been such
a more beautiful sight in all of my screwed-up life.

"Your eyes, how, when?"

I didn't understand what she ment until I remembered that my eye color had
changed to a deep green.  I broke eye contact and tried to look at anything in
the room, except Alex.

"I don't know..."

Alex grabbed my head and turned it tward her, "They're beautiful."

"Really?"

"Really..."

Alex gently picked up my head and brought her lips to my muzzle.

"I love you," she said softly and before I could even reply, embraced me in a
deep kiss that I wished had lasted for eternity.

     To be frank, I was totally caught off guard at the entire situation.  Never
had I thought anyone could love me this strongly with a body of fur and claws.
I could see the tears forming in Alex's eyes and carefully caught one on the tip
of my index-finger claw.

"Don't cry, Alex."

"I know, but I can't help it."

"Well, if you don't stop, you're going to get me started."

She gave me a weak smile in responce and wiped her eyes on her sleeves.  It was
hard to imagine a future with us together.  Ah, to hell with the future.  Right
now, it's was just me, her, and a world of possibilities.

DAY SIX, SAT.

     I awoke with the normal disorentation one has waking up in a strange room.
Looking around, I saw that I was in Dr. Harvard's examing room and that Alex had
fallen asleep with her head on the edge of the table by my arm.  As I laid
there, I stared at at the celing, trying to remember what had happened.  I could
recall being at home and talking wiht Alex, but everything after that was a
blur.  Tubes, IV's, and monitors were everywhere I looked.  Just what had
happened?!?
 
     My moving about must have woke Alex up, because she began to stur.

"Justin?" She wiped the sleep out of her eyes and found me looking at her, "My,
God, Justin.  Don't you ever do this to me again you bastard!"

She laid her head on my chest as she fought to hold back the tears.  I put my
hand on top of her head.

"What happened?  I don't remember anything..."

"I don't know... Last night, you just collapsed and we rushed you here.  God,
we, I-I, almost lost you."

I couldn't find the words to respond to that.

     The door to the room opened and Dr. Harvard made his first appearance to
us.

"Ah, I thught I heard voices," he said as he closed the door, "It's good to see
that you're awake and alert.  How are you feeling?"

"Like death warmed over... What happened to me?"

"Well, it seems that you body shut itself down from an information overload."

"Huh?"

"How can I put this?  Your body was put under tremendous stress from the DNA
mutation.  Your metabolism is running at an unheard of rate and basicly burnt
itself out trying to keep it going.  The other side of this coin is the DNA
itself.  Your body is being confused by conflicting signals on how to do it's
job.  It's being assalted by commands to be either human or skunk, not as one
fused entity.  I can't say if these problems will right themselves out or if
more drastic action will have to be taken.  Most of the IV's are only partial
solutions to your metabolism and experimental DNA medicines.  But they were all
we had."

"Experimental??  I don't like the sound of that."

"One's a hormone blocker to try and give your body time to adjust and the other
is an agent that's ment to slow or even stop DNA mutations."

"So, I take it that I'm going nowhere for a little while."

"Not for a day or two at the least."

"Lucky me."

"Lucky indeed... You were barely alive whwn your freinds brought you in.  If I
hadn't been working late with that report on you..."

I softly sighed and closed my eyes.  It was then that my stomach decided to
growl and completely embarass me.

"Sounds like you're ready for some solid foods.  I'll see what I can find, " Dr.
Harvard commented.

     Before anyone even came near the door, I could smell the aroma of
hamburgers drifting through the air.

"This wasn't my first choice, but it was all that was open this early in the
morning," Dr. Harvard said as he came into the room, carring a take-out bag from
the Burger-house.  My mouth began to water in anticipation as my stomach put
it's growling into high gear.  Everyone stood back in awe as burger after burger
dissapeared in two and three bites.  By the sixth one though, I began to eat
them at a more lesiurly pace.

"And here I sat, wondering what good that snout full of teeth were good for..."
Alex said with a look of shock plastered to her face.

     After I had finished off the entire bag, Alex asked me to open my mouth
again.

"Why?" I asked.

"I just want to see, that's all."

While I had more of them to fill my muzzle, my teeth had stayed mostly human in
shape, except for the canines.  They had enlogated and widened into a mixture of
human and animal shape.

"Can I close my mouth now?  It's starting to get tired."

"Wimp."

"Do not taunt happy, fun skunk."

"What??"

"Exactly..."

     As Alex pondered over the meaning of my mystic saying, Dr. Harvard came
back into the room.

"I'm glad to see that you're feeling better," he commented.

As I tried to say something in return, he shoved a thermometer into my mouth
just as it opened up and listened to my heart.

"Everything looks to be ok.  Hopefully, the medicines are doing what they're
supposed to.  Which reminds me, I need a fresh blood sample."

"Do you have to?"

"I know how skittish needles make you, but I yes I do.  Just close your eyes,
this won't take long."

I felt Dr. Harvard push aside a patch of fur and then the bite of the needle in
my arm.

"You can open them now, I'm done."

As I held onto a piece of gauze over the spot, Dr. Harvard took his leave of
Alex and myself.  I looked over to where she was sitting and saw that she had
fallen asleep.  Poor girl, last night must have really taken a toll on her.  I
carefully got off of the table and wrapped my blanket around her.

"Sleep tight...."

     I sat cross-legged on the table and looked at the pictures in outdated
magazines (I couldn't read the small print.)  It was something to pass the time,
until I ran across a skunk-morph cartoon in a advertizement for some company.  I
just stared at the drawing for who knows how long.  Of course, to compicate
matters even more, the drawing was female.  I caught myself wondering if that
would have been what Alex would have looked like if the accident had happened to
her, not me.  What if it had been the both of us?  I stared at Alex and tried to
superimpose the drawing onto her with my imagination.  I quietly snickered at
the image my mind came up with as I continued looking at the rest of the
pictures (minus the drawing.  I decided to keep that for myself.  Don't tell
anyone, OK?)
 
     Between the magazines and daydreaming about what I *had* planned for spring
break, the hours lazily drifted by.  Before I knew it, lunchtime had rolled
around and the nurse came in with a small cart.

"Hello, Justin.  I've brought you something from the cafeteria," she said as she
changed out the IV bottles.

"Is that safe?"

"Don't worry, the chefs that are on shift for the weekends are proffessionals
from a local cafe.  The weekend crew is small enough to allow decient meal to be
cooked."

"Why arn't they at the cafe?"

"It isn't open on the weekends, so the company made a deal to have them work for
Seir-tech and let them test out new recipies for some feedback."

"Hmm..."

The nurse set a tray on the table with one of those  sickly cute smiles.

"Here you go!"

"What is it?"

"I do believe today is one of the chef's experimental days, but he did tell me
is was a soup or stew."

She took off the lid and I could immediately smell all of the spices in it.
Gumbo, it had to be with a smell like that.  I cautiously took a spoonfull into
my mouth.  Man, was I sorry I did...

"H-H-HOT!!!!!!!!!!!"

I crammed a slice of bread into my mouth for relief.

"It's not that bad, is it?" the nurse asked me.

"It wasn't that it's bad tasting (cough, hack, weeze...), it's just too damn
spicy!  Cleared my sinuses, though..." I said as I rubbed my eyes dry and
blinked a few times.

"Oh?  I'll see if there's anything else availiable.  Be back in a few."

     As the nurse left, I thought, "Nice person, but ya got to wonder if a few
of the gears upstairs are stripped."  It was nice of her to go get me lunch, but
what the hell possed her to bring me gumbo, especially with my senses
hyped-upped from being part skunk.  My tounge felt like it had been scared for
life, not to mention that I had lost all the feeling in my mouth, to boot.
 
     The nurse finally made her way inside for the second time.

"I hope this is more to your liking.  It's fried chicken."

I put aside the magazine I was looking over and picked up a drumstick.  It
looked alright.  It smelled alright.  I took a cautious bite and it tasted
alright.

"This will do just fine," I said to her.

She flashed another smile and left.  I just rolled my eyes and continued eating.
 
     The smell of food must have gotten to Alex, because she began to stir
halfways through my meal.

"Mmmm.... whazzat smell?"

"Why, hello, sleepyhead."

"Is that fried chicken?"

I guess now would be a good time to mention that fried chicken is one of Alex's
greatest weaknesses.  She'd be willing to do just about anything to a piece and
I held all the cards.

"Why, yes it is."

"Can I have a bite?"

"Why should I?"

"Because I will rip off that tail of your's and beat you over the head with it
if you don't."

That sounded like a reasonable offer to me.  Ok, so my little plan backfured.  I
hadn't thought that Alex would have been driven mad with hunger and she would
have probably tried to get my tail in that state of mind.

     As Alex munched happily away on the remains of my lunch, Dr. Harvard came
back into the room.

"I have some very good news for you.  It seems that the medicines are working.
Your DNA seems to have finally stableized, with luck now, the rest of the
problems shoud fall into place over time."

"So, when can I go home??"

"In a day or two if everything looks good."

Suddenly, my day looked a bit brighter and I couldn't help smiling.

"Oh, and another thing," Dr. Harvard interjected, "Dr. Frons and Claris were
able to recreat that chemical compound that triggered this whole mess.  But how
and why it works still aludes them."

"Why did they need to make more of that stuff.  What are you going to do with
it?  Make more "me's?"

"Quite possibly."

"WHAT??????????"

"So, who should be the first?  You, young lady?"

"Well... I have been wondering what it's like. Ah, why not!" Alex said with
enthesiasm.

"Y-Y-You can't be serious?!?!  Alex, do you know what you're saying??"

"I know what I'm doing."

"No! I won't let you do it.  I can't... let you go through the same hell I've
had to go through."

"Justin...."

"What?"

"I was only kidding."

"You were what??" I asked as my voice lowered into a growl with every word.
"Alex, you are going to be the death of me yet."

As Alex sat in her chair and laughed, I threw my pillow at her.  It immediately
came right back at me.

     After Dr. Harvard determined that I had stablized enough to be taken off of
the medicines, a good portion of the remainder of the day was taken up by tests.
It was sometime in the evening that I ended up in the medical building's gym.

"Hop on," Dr, Harvard said to me as he pointed to a treadmill.

"Oh, come on... You've poked and prodded me all day long and now you want me to
go jogging??"

"It's to test your endurance and lung capacity, so put these on in the locker
room."

Dr. Harvard tossed me the shorts that I was wearing when I was brought in to
replace the hospital gown that I currently had on.  After I changed clothes, Dr.
Harvard tried to fit a breathing tube to my head with no such luck.  It was
either have th mouthpiece in correctly and not have the holding strap fit my
head or have the mouthpiece sideways to fit and not work properly.  Dr. Harvard
was at a loss of what to do and eventually gave up on the tube.  He just hooked
me up to a heart monitor and started the treadmill.

"Just keep going for as long as you can."

The treadmill was set at a leisurly pace and I didn't have any trouble keeping
up.  After 25 minutes though, my legs began to feel like mush and I had to get
off.  Yet as soon as I sat down, a strange force gripped me.  I tried to fight
it, but I couldn't.  I... started to pant (OK, so it's a little anti-climatic,
but it somewhat embarrassing to just sit there with you mouth wide open.)

"You look like you could use this," Dr. Harvard said to me as he handed me a
drink, "We're pretty much done for the day, so you're free to do whatever you
want to tonight."

"I think I'd like to take a shower and then get something to eat."

"Fine, fine.  There are showers in here.  I'll have the nurse brind you a towel
and dinner will be waiting for you in your room."

     The shower room was the open-space type that could accomodate about 20
people at once.  I leaned against the wall with my eyes closed and just let the
water roll down my head and body.  The cool water was refreshing and made me
forget that I was becoming a water-logged mess.  I let out a long sigh as I
though abouth the past few days.  Hell, I still don't know how I survived the
entire fiasco with my mind relativly intact.  I shut off the water and then
involentarily shook myself dry, spraying water in every direction.  I thought
nothing of it as I walked into the locker room next to the shower and looked
around for the promiced towel.  Even after finding it, I just smoothed out my
fur as best as I could and pulled on my shorts.  I drapped the towel over my
shoulder and began walking down the hallway to my room.
 
     About halfway to Dr. Harvard's office, my nose picked up a foul stench in
the air.  I instantly knew something was wrong.  The stench was body odor and
intertwined with it were a couple of scents i didn't reconigzed.  As I silently
moved closer, me ears picked up voices coming from the office.  Dr. Harvard and
one, no two others.

"Tell us where the experiment is and there won't be any need for
unpleasnatries," said one of the two voices, more than likely to Dr. Harvard.

"What are you talking about?? There are no experiments going on here!"

The sound of a face being slapped echoed through the hallway and my ears.  Pure
anger and rage began to consume me like an open flame.  My animal half began to
override every last shred of humanity left in me.  These assholes were here only
because of me and Dr. Harvard way unfairly trapped in the middle.  By God, there
was going to hell to pay.  Rage and anger were my only drining forces as I
dropped onto all four and approached the office door from the shadows.

     One of the two men heard what sounded like growling coming from the
hallway.

"Who's there?! Show yourself!" he called out.

From out of the darkness, two eyes reflected the office's light as a low
ominious growl drifted through the air.

"Your so called 'experiment' is right here..." I spat out one step above a
growl.

"What the ??  No closer or we get violent with the doc!"

"Let him go..."

"Are you deaf....SHIT!!"

There was a blur of black and white that came right through the doorway and at
the person right in front of it.  He let out a cry of pain as my front and rear
claws peirced deeply into his chest and stomach.  As gravity began to drag me
down, extending the wounds, I clamped my teeth into his shoulder.  The man
finally fell backwards and as we hit the ground, I felt the collarbone snap in
my mouth.  All the pain made the man pass out as I unlatched my claws and teeth
from his body.  I turned my head tward the other person, bearing every tooth in
a snarl that could have stopped a heartbeat.

"Let him go!" I hissed through my teeth.

"Jesus!  Call it off, doc!"

"I told you.  I have nothing to do with him.  He's acting on his own free will,"
responded Dr. Harvard.

My tail was standing straight up as the tip violently twitched about as I
circled the desk for a better angle of attack.

"Get away from me!"

I just growled in responce.  The man pulled a knife from his pants and held it
in front of him like he was tring to scare away a vampire with a cross.  I took
a step closer and he took a step back.  I could smell the fear washing off of
him in waves and it only excited my rage even more.  He was scared shitless and,
God, how I was loving it.  Some courage finally seepped into the man and he took
a wild swing with the knife that I easily avoided.

"So, you do have some balls..." I said in a low bestial tone, "Too bad I'm going
to rip them off."

The man shifted his arm back for another predictable swing.  As he began to
start his forward arc, I sprang forward and clamped down onto his wrist.  I felt
the canines scrape bone as warmth sprayed across my muzzle and into my mouth.  I
snapped my neck and expanded the carnage even wider.  I let the man go as he
screamed his head off from the pain I inflicted.  The guy backpeddled into a
wall, holding his arm against his shirt as I snarled tward him, blood staining
the white of my teeth and muzzle.  That was more than enough to make him loose
his "tough-man" image.

"Please, I give up!!  Stay away from me!" he yelled as he collapsed into a
corner and staying there, cowering from me.

"Doctor, please leave now..."

"Justin, stop this insanity!"

"NOW!!"

Dr. Harvard didn't stay around to argue the point any further.

"Now that's it's just us..." I hissed, "I've got a message for you to take back
to your friends..."

I stepped in front of the man backwards, dropped my shorts, and raised my tail.
The man'e eys popped wide open at he realized just what was about to happen,

"NOOO!!!!"

     I left the room and smell in silence.  I needed to get the bitter, coppery
taste of blood out of my mouth and the sight of red off of my fur.  As I walked
down the hall, a hand came down onto my shoulder.  I instantly spun around and
pinned the person to the wall as I raised a hand to take a swipe.

"Justin! Don't!" Crash yelled as he raised his arms to protect himself.  I just
stayed frozen in position, the only sound heard was me hyperventalating.  Crash
wormed himself free and pulled down my arm.  That's when he noticed the blood
all over me.

"What happened to you?!?!?"

I didn't say a word in responce.  I just shook myself free of Crash's grip and
continued walking, leaving a very stunned Crash standing in the middle of the
hallway.

     I stood under the shower, watching the red-tinted water swirl down the
drain.  My entire body shook as the last of the adrenaline worked it's way ount
of my system.  I was scaring myself thinking about how each outburst was
progressibely getting more and more violent.  The first two, I came back to my
senses, but this time.... there was no stopping me.  And what about next time?
Would I stop only after someone was seriously hurt or even killed?  I tilted my
muzzle into the stream and let it pelt me as I thought some more.  Alex.. how
can she be with a walking time bomb?  God, I don't want to lose her, but....
Damnit, I just don't know what to do anymore.
 
     I turned off the shower and shook myself dry.  I was so lost in my
thoughts, I walked down the hallway without my clothes on.  Sure, you may ask
how I could forget such an important thing, but when you have fur, clothes make
little diffrence and my mind was so out of it, I just did forget.  The only
sound in the hall was the clacking of my toe claws on the floor.  As I
approached my room, I could hear boices comming from inside.  I silently crept
up to the door and listened in.  Inside, I could make out the voices of Alex and
Dr. Harvard.

"So, why are you telling me this?"

"Because, I feel this directly affects you as much a Justin and I'm not sure how
to break this to him.  The medicines that he was on did work, but not well
enough.  His DNA can be made unstable again if he goes into one of his states of
anger.  That instability allows further mutation from man to skunk.  Over time
you'll probably notice changes in Justin's personality and actions as more and
more skunk traits start to seep in."

I couldn't believe my ears.  So I really was losing the last shreads of my
humanity in me with every hissy fit I threw.  The sound of someone approaching
the door snapped me back into reality.  I sneaked into the examination room
nextdoor to me and leaned back against the closed door.  As I slowly slid down,
I rested my head in my hands and just sat there, alone in the dark.

     Second, minutes, hours.... time had no meaning in the little room, nor my
mind as thought constantly raced through it.  Everytime I think I can go no
further down, somehow I find a way to sink even deeper.  I slammed a fist on the
floor several times in anger as I fought to hold back the tears.  I felt like
crawling into a hole and just staying there.  I need to get away, just to sort
things out and think things through on my own.
 
     Right then, the door jiggled and a surprised, "What the?" drifted through.
I cursed my luck.

"Justin?  I know that's you in there.  Come out, we need to talk."

"What for?  I already know the bad news."

"I know.... I saw you shadow through the bottom of the door.  No, this is about
trying to get your life back into some sort of a normal one."

"How can I live a normal life looking and acting like a skunk??"

"I would like to hold a news conference to introduce you to the world."

"And turn me into a freek show, no thank you!"

"No, nothing like that.  If the people know that this is the new you, those
animal rights groups can't lay a finger on you.  Public support is a strong
tool."

"Yea, so is public outrage.  What if I'm rejected?  What would I do then?"

"Let's just pray that it doesn't happen.  I'm sure there will be more simpathy
than hate, after all, you are the victim of an unbelievable accident."

"Unbelievable is the key word there," I said with a note of doubt in the back of
my mind.

"I can hear the hestitation in your voice.  Sleep on it and let me know what you
decide later.  By the way, dinner is waiting for you in your room."

"Doctor..."

"Yes?"

"What happened to those two?"

"The police arrested them after I patched them up.  Don't you think what you did
was a bit of overkill."

"No, no I don't.  They hurt you and were ready to hurt me, I couldn't let that
go."

I slowly opened the door with a sigh and as soom as the doctor saw me, he
stated, "Er.. where are your clothes??"

"Wha..?  Oh, jeez!"

I slammed the door closed after looking down at myself.

"Uh, doctor?  Could you do me a favor?"

"Concider me gone."

     After Dr. Harvard kindly fetched my shorts, I went to have dinner and think
things over.  Alex was still waiting for me and ran up and wrapped her arms
around me the moment I walked in the door.

"Oh, Justin! I heard what happened, are you alright?"

"I'm fine.  I really don't want to talk about it."

We ate in relative silence, but I could see in Alex's face that there was
something on her mind.

"What's on your noodle, Alex?"

"Nothing really..."

"Come on.  You've got that look on your face."

"I'm just worried about you.  You've been attacked, almost died, and have fruit
coctail for DNA.  What could be next?"

"I really don't know...  Did the doctor tell you that he wants to put me on TV?"

"Really?"

"Yea, he wants to introduce me to the world."

"Introduce?"

"I don't know if I should do it or not, though.  My last few encounters with the
outside world haven't been too favorable."

"Well then, maybe you should.  It could do a lot of good."

"I could do a lot a bad, too.  I just don't know..."

I took a few bites of my dinner and thoughtfuly chewed on what Alex had said and
my food.  For no reason at all, I impailed a carrot slice on the tip of my
index-finger claw and held it up.

"Bored?" Alex asked me.

"How'd you guess?"

"Call it a hunch.  Listen, I've been wondering, have you had any strange
yearnings?"

"What??"

"Well, like going through the garbage or wandering around at night?"

"Now, what kind of question is that?  And for you informaion, NO!  Besides, that
raccoons."

"I was just wondering, no need to get your hairs standing on end."

Alex sat on the table next to me and ruffle the fur on the top of my head.

"I've always wanted a fur coat, but I'd never dream it would have been like
this."

"Neither did I, neither did I..."

     After finally convincing Alex that I would be fine and getting her to get a
decient night's sleep in her own bed, I turned in myself.
 
     The researcher was smart this time.  He used something on the cage the I
couldn't figure out how to open.  True to his promice, he kept a close eye on me
and gave me almost no time to try and escape.

"Project 5 has now become the size of a small child and it's paws now have
hand-like qualities.  The amount of restructuring undergone has surpassed all of
my expectaions.  Phase 2 could possibly now be in hand's reach."

DAY SEVEN, SUN.

     I awole early that morning an walked to the shower with both the dream and
the press on my mind.  "What is phase 2?" I thought to myself and as I shook
myself dry from the shower, "Phase 2 of project 5, hmmm...."
 
     As I was walking back to my room, I ran into Dr. Harvard.

"Ah, Justin, I was just looking for you."

"Let me quess, the press conference?"

"If you're willing, I can have one ready by this afternoon."

With a sigh, I reluctantly agreeded to it.  After the doctor left, I looked down
at the shorts I was wearing.  GQ they wern't and that was apart from the
bloodstains, to boot.  I guess that I needed to give Crash a call and have my
new clothes brought over to me.

     After finding a phone with an outside line, I went back to my room and had
breakfast.  About midway through, Dr. Harvard stopped in and told me that
everything was set for four, but before that a few outside doctors representing
the stations wanted to examine me to determine the legiticimy of the story.

"When will they be here?"

"Around three.  Just the standard poke and prod physical, maybe some x-rays and
scans.  Nothing too major."

"It's humiliating enough that I've got to see a vet, but now I've got to be
looked over by a bunch of quacks?  I don't remember agreeing to that."

"I wasn't expecting that either, but that's the only way they will do it.  If
you don't want to go through with it, I understand."

"No, no... I've been put through enough tests, what's a few more?"

"Fine then, I'll stop by before the doctors arrive."

     A few hours later, Crash finally arrived with my clothes.

"It's about time you changed your clothes. You stink enough on your own."

"Would you like an up-close demonstration?  It can be arranged."

"Um, that's ok.  What's with the suit anyways?"

"I'm going to be on TV tonight."

"You and you're freaky self??"

"I'll let that one slide..."

     Crash and I small taled until three o'clock rolled around and Dr. Harvard
came in.

"The doctors are here."

"Already?"

"Well I'm sure you know the drill by now, but I'm afraid your freind will have
to wail outside."

"Well, then, see you later, Jus."

"Later..."

     I put on a hospital gown and sat down as Dr. Harvard let the group into the
room.  God, awkward was an understaitment for the entire situation.  Between the
shock and amazement from the doctors and my embarassment, the hour dragged on.
Finally convinced that I was real, the group left so that I could dress for the
conference.  Button-down shirt and jeans was my attire as I stepped into the
meeting room.
 
     All conversations just stopped the moment I entered the room and all eyes
turned to me.  Dr. Harvard showed me to my seat and then turned to the
reporters.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the press..."

As he talked, I saw Crash sitting in the back, smiling.

"Wihtout further ado, Justin."

I rose from my seat and into history.  Question after question was fired at me.

"What are your plans?"

"Short term, try to get things back to normal as possible.  Long term, I hope to
return to my classes after spring break."

"What have some of the reactions been of people seeing your for the first time?"

"You can answer that better than I can."

"How do you feel?"

I took a drink of water and thought for a moment.  "How do I feel?  Alone,
that's how.  I've got my friends, but no one can really know what it is like to
loose my humanity like this.  It's hard for me to wake up every morning and see
this face in the mirror."

"Do you think the public will react favorably to you?"

"I really don't have a clue."

After some time, the reporters and I stepped into the hallway for some
photographs.  Fullbody, head, profile... I felt like I was in a police line-up
than a photo-shoot.

     After the press decided that they had used enough film on me and left,
Crash came up to talk to me.

"So, how'd you like your fifteen minutes of fame?"

"I think I could have lived without it.  God, I hope everything goes well."

"Well, lets hope the press finally gets something right.  Come on, let's go see
if you can go home now."

"Good idea."

     "Well, I'm still concerned about you weak DNA stability.  Other than that,
I would have no problems with it.  Hmmm.... tell you what," Dr. Harvard shifted
through his notes and pulled out a few pages, "Let me put you on a few
medications as a precaution, but at the first sign of trouble, I want you back
in here ASAP.  I'd also like you to come in on wensday for a checkup."

"That's fine with me.  It' going to be nice to finally sleep in my own bed for a
change."

     No one waited for us back at the apartment and that was fine with me.  I
was just happy to be through with all the sneeking around and hiding.  It was
good to be home, even with the underlying tinge of musk in the air.

"Justin, that poor carpet will never be the same again..."

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry.  Like I ment to do it in the first
place.  Anyways, what's for dinner?"

"How does mushrooms with a side of friends sound?" came from inside the kitchen.

"Welcome home!" Alex, Chris and Mike said in unison as they came out from
hiding.

     Since th block party was a bit of a bust, we held our own in the apartment.
 Pizza, food, and fun, it couldn't have been better for us.

"Hey everybody, the news story's on!" Crash called out as we ate.

Everyone instantly dropped whatever they were doing and rushed to the TV.

     "I have to say that seemed to have gone fairly well, concidering the week's
track record," I said after the story ended.

"I'm glad you decided to go through with it," Alex said with a hug.

"You know, the camera actually does add ten pounds," Chris anticlimatically
stated.

"Gee, thanks...." I replied.

"Well, welcome back to the real world.  I'm sure the school's going to love ya,"
said Mike.

"That's what I'm worried about."

From there, the party natually died with time as the freinds left one by one.
Finally alone, I went to my room and enter the first easy sleep I had in a
week.