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Cynthia Hunter was in her bathroom at the sink. She pulled a small tray out of the medicine cabinet and sighed. Four different drugs, each with its own list of side effects and she would be on them for the next year at least. It was better than the alternative of not treating her condition, but she was still adjusting to it. The worst aspect was the combination of drugs weakened her immune system, making her far more susceptible to colds and the like. All she could do was up her intake of certain vitamins and minerals and play things as safely as possible. She certainly wouldn’t be attending any geek conventions anytime soon.

After taking her morning meds Cynthia brushed her teeth and finished getting ready for work. She worked at the museum at Edward University as a research assistant to both help cover her tuition and learn more about her chosen field of paleontology. Ever since she sat down and watched Jurassic Park with her father as a child, Cynthia had loved dinosaurs and everything about them. Her obsession continued through high school and even influenced which university she would attend as an undergrad at the very least.

Cynthia’s role was in the backrooms of the museum, and as such she could dress pretty much however she liked. She pulled on a comfortable pair of jeans and paired it with one of her many dinosaur themed shirts, going with the classic Jurassic Park logo. A lot of her coworkers rolled their eyes at her choice in shirts, But Cynthia knew she wasn’t the only one in the department inspired by the movie. After slipping on a heavy coat she put a mask over her face and left her small apartment to catch the bus to campus.

Cynthia rode standing, being sure to keep her distance as best she could from the other passengers before she got off at her stop. From the bus stop she hurried to make it to the museum to get out of the cold. Her badge let her in the employee door and she sighed with relief as she felt the warm air inside wash over her body. Cynthia clocked in and put away her personal items before going to check in with her boss, Peter. As she walked down the hall she noticed Lexi coming the other way. It was hard not to notice an anthro allosaurus. Anthros had been becoming more common as of late, especially on campus, but as far as Cynthia knew Lexi was the only dinosaur who had popped up

Lexi noticed Cynthia’s shirt and smirked a little, showing off a bit of her sharp teeth. “Nice shirt.”

“I ah, thanks” She blushed slightly and broke eye contact.

“I haven’t watched that movie in forever.” Lexi commented before continuing down the hall, her long tail swaying slightly behind her.

Peter was in the small office attached to his lab going through his emails. “Morning.” He greeted her without even looking up from his screen.

“Good morning, Peter. What’s on the agenda for today?”

“A few things. I have a whole stack of data that needs to be sorted and properly entered into the database for starters.”

Cynthia nodded. “That will probably keep me busy for a while.”

Peter nodded and finally looked up and saw the t-shirt Cynthia was wearing and sighed. “Another Jurassic Park shirt?”

“Oh please, you probably watched it in theaters when it came out, if for no other reason than to complain about the scientific inaccuracies with your paleontology buddies.”

Peter chuckled. “Ok, yes, I did exactly that. I’m aware the franchise has been influential to later generations of paleontologists. The thing is, it may not be entirely in good taste at the university.”

“If you’re talking about Lexi, she saw my shirt and complimented me on it. Am I also not allowed to wear my Toronto Zoo hoodie because there’s a tiger teaching ancient history?”

Peter sighed and rubbed his face. “I never thought I’d have to deal with stuff like this as an undergrad…”

“That’s life. So, after I finish the data entry, then what do you want me to help with?”

“We’ll figure that out after lunch. In fact, go ahead and take a long lunch today. I’ll be collecting various samples from Lexi today, and I’d like to preserve her privacy.”

“Oh, yeah, ok fine.” Cynthia hoped her face mask hid the blush on her cheeks. “No problem.”

“After that, I probably will need help getting the samples properly packaged and labeled.”

“Sounds fun. I’ll go get started on the data entry now then.”

Peter just nodded.

***

Cynthia was at one of the lab’s workstations. She had been compiling the data for several hours and had gotten into a good rhythm as she made sure everything was properly entered in the database. Scripting helped greatly, but even with automation, it took a person to oversee all of it. Cynthia was just wrapping up the last set when she noticed Peter, looking over her shoulder.

“Oh, hey, sorry, I was just lost in the data.”

“It’s fine, it looks like you're pretty much done at this point.”

“Pretty much.”

“Why don’t you head off to lunch and just wrap it up afterwards.”

“I’m feeling hungry, now that you mention it.”

“I think Lexi is down in the cafeteria. Would you mind letting her know I’m ready to get started?”

“Oh, sure, no problem.” Cynthia locked her workstation and stretched a bit before getting up. “I’ll have my phone on so you can text me when it’s all clear to come back to the lab.”

“Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you after lunch.”

Cynthia gathered her lunchbox and turned on her phone to let it start back up as she made her way to the cafeteria. There was a loud buzz of conversation as she opened the door. It looked like everyone had gone to lunch at the same time and the room was packed. Cynthia had no problem locating Lexi in the crowd. The allosaurus was demolishing a tray that used to be full of cheeseburgers, popping them into her mouth whole as if they were potato chips.

“Oh, hi again!” Lexi waved with one hand as she tossed another burger into her mouth.

“Ah, hi. Peter wanted me to let you know he’s ready for you back at the lab.”

“Oh right, we’re doing that today.” She tossed the last two burgers into her mouth and quickly finished them off. “Thanks for coming to get me, I accidentally destroyed my phone the other day.” She wiggled a clawed finger. “Angry texting isn’t a good idea for me anymore.”

Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “I bet. Anyway, I was coming down here for lunch anyway.” She held up her lunchbox.

“Ah, cool. Hey, do you want my table?” Lexi asked as she brushed the crumbs off the small table onto her tray with a napkin. “I was lucky to snag it. I don’t mind sharing a table, but people get a little uncomfortable sitting next to me while I’m eating.”

Cynthia looked around the crowded lunchroom. The only other way she was going to get to sit by herself would involve going outside to a park bench and eating her lunch in the cold.

“Yes, thank you. I’m trying to keep a social distance.”

“Yeah, the mask is a give away. Well, the table is all yours, catch you later.”

Cynthia settled into the vacated seat and started to unpack her lunch. Once everything was set out she pulled off her mask to eat.

I wonder what it was like going from an ordinary woman to an allosaurus? She thought as she started to eat her salad. Did it hurt? Did she tear out of her skin like a snake shedding? Cynthia shook her head slightly as she chewed. I either should just ask her or forget it, not make-up a crazy hypothesis like some kind of anti-science wack job. There are enough of them already as is spouting nonsense about Anthros. I really should get to know her better and just ask. After all, we both work at the same place, it’s only a matter of time before Peter has us working together on some project.

Finished with her salad, she moved onto the cup of hummus and pita chips. Cynthia hadn’t realized just how hungry she was until she started to eat. Before long she was wrapping up her lunch with a yogurt cup and a banana. She glanced at the time on her phone. And sighed.

I had a long lunch, and I scarfed all my food down like I didn’t have any time. Oh well. Cynthia wiped her lips with a napkin and put her mask back on.

She opened her socials and started to scroll through her feed. Cynthia was enjoying the downtime as her meal settled in her stomach at first. Then her stomach started to feel off. She rubbed her gut with one hand and let out a soft grunt.

What’s going on? Was there something off with the hummus? I didn’t think it was that old…

Cynthia tried to focus on her feed and ignore the feeling in her stomach, but it didn’t stop there. She had a hard time focusing on her screen. Cynthia’s eyes watered and felt tired like she was up all night studying. She put down her phone to rub her eyes, and as she did so she could feel the dull pain of a headache starting to build.

“Oh god…” she whispered to herself. Am I getting sick now? I’ve been so careful!

Her joints were the next thing to bother her. They were stiff and aching like she had spent all day hiking rather than crunching numbers at a computer.

Do I still have that bottle of paracetamol in my bag? The doctor said I could still take that without worrying about any bad interactions.

As Cynthia went to stand up, she felt a cold shiver run down her back. She dropped back into her seat and wrapped her arms around her torso, feeling her body shiver.

Oh shit! Do I have a fever too? Fuck! Ok, calm down. Let me just get to my locker and grab some paracetamol, that should kill the fever too. If I still feel too rough when Peter texts me then I’ll look into going home. I don’t really feel like riding the bus right now anyway.

Cynthia packed up her lunch containers and slowly got up from her seat. Her joints ached and her head throbbed, but she couldn’t do anything in the cafeteria so she pushed through it. She was breathing deeply and leaning against the wall for support. As Cynthia made her way down the hall her stomach started to feel worse. Certain she was going to puke, she ducked into the ladies room. Cynthia stumbled her way to the sink and pulled down her mask. She gripped the counter tightly and slowly looked up at her reflection in the mirror.

Cynthia stared at her reflection. She looked unwell, but there was something more, something off about her appearance. Then Cynthia saw it, not on her face but her hands. The skin was getting rough and scaly. Bringing her hand up close she saw this wasn’t just dry skin, she was growing rusty brown scales.

“What the hell?” Cynthia muttered and closed her eyes, sure she had to be hallucinating.

When she opened her eyes she saw the scales had continued to grow across both her hands. Also Cynthia’s once short cut nails were growing longer, thicker, and most alarmingly a pointed tip. The fever chill she had felt before was now replaced with a burning heat. She gripped the counter with her now clawed hands to stop from keeling over. Along with the sweat Cynthia could feel running down her skin, there was a strange prickly sensation all over her body, it made her squirm with the sensation. As the scaled skin crept up her arms she saw what she thought at first were goosebumps, that is until the tips of what could only be feathers started to push their way out.

“Oh my god!” Cynthia cried out. “What’s happening? Help!” her voice echoed in the empty ladies room.

Red feathers started to cover her arms, but she was soon distracted by something happening to her feet. They suddenly hurt, like her shoes were too tight. She tried to reach down, but the pain was too intense. Cynthia let out a cry as the fabric and vinyl of her sneakers gave way to her growing feet. A large curving claw ripped through the top and side of her sneakers. Two more claws ripped through the front of the sneakers. She managed to kick off the ruined sneakers, though the socks still clung to her lower legs.

Cynthia now had just three toes, with the innermost one sporting the oversized curved claw. Her instep had changed, lifting her up to stand on her clawed toes. Cynthia didn’t want to believe what she was seeing, but the toes wiggled at her command, so they had to be real.

“Wait, those look like…Oh my god! This is what happened to Lexi!”

She let out a groan as she felt her legs swelling with new powerful muscles, straining the denim of her jeans. Cynthia fumbled with her belt, but it was too late, the seams started to rip and tear, showing more scales and feathers underneath.

Cynthia couldn’t stand it, between the heat, the itchiness of the feathers growing in and her too tight clothes it was driving her crazy. With new found strength, she tore at the already ruined clothing, freeing her transforming body and allowing it to grow. Her chest was sprouting yellowish tan feathers that were quickly spreading down her body. Cynthia’s eyes suddenly went wide as she bent forward. Her claws dug into the countertop as a massive pressure built up at the base of Cynthia’s spine. A bump formed, pushing against her panties, stretching them out until they finally tore. She moaned in relief as the pressure was relieved. Looking back over her shoulder she could see a growing tail swaying behind her.

“I have a tail…” Cynthia was strangely not upset by that fact.

She watched in fascination as it grew longer and thicker before starting to sprout feathers. It took some practice but she was able to control it slightly. Just as Cynthia was getting used to the red with darker red stripes feathered tail, she started to feel something new. As if all the external changes to her body weren't enough, a flood of new hormones surged in her body. Cynthia bit her lip as she felt incredibly horny. In between her powerful legs her sex was practically twitching with need.

She tried to restrain herself but eventually gave in, reaching down between her legs to rub her slit and clit. The sensations overpowered any lingering discomfort. Spreading her legs slightly, Cynthia fingered herself. She closed her eyes and relaxed. Focused on her own pleasure, she didn’t notice as the changes ran up her neck to her head. Cynthia’s skin changed to red and tan scales, her teeth growing long and pointed. Her jaw along with the front of her face started to push out and form into a snout. Cynthia’s remaining skin was quickly vanishing under scales and feathers.

A bit of a growl edged into her voice as she moaned. With every stroke and caress, more of her human face was gone. When Chyntia finally reached her limit, she flat out roared, with her large mouth open wide and all of her teeth clearly in view. She panted and leaned heavily on the counter. Slowly she opened her eyes and gasped. Her hands immediately went to her face, inspecting her new snout and sharp teeth. Even her green eyes had changed as bright yellow orbs stared back at her through the mirror.

Carefully she took a few steps back to get a better view of her new body. She was definitely taller, by a good twenty centimeters. Her legs had seen the bulk of muscle growth, but there was plenty of power in the rest of her body, apparent even through her plumage. Her feathers were a yellowish tan down her front, continuing to the underside of her tail the rest of her body was red with darker reddish-brown stripes. Her head was crested with a bright orange strip of feathers, not unlike a mohawk. She still had breasts on her chest, which along with her hips kept her roughly female silhouette, but she didn’t appear to still have nipples.

What am I? She thought as she turned to the side in the mirror. I’m not an allosaurus, that’s for sure. She looked down at her feet and tapped her large claws against the tile floor. The claws are a dead giveaway. I must be some kind of Deinonychus. She ran her hands gently down her feathered chest and abdomen. I guess this proves the feather hypothesis…

Cynthia pulled the last remaining tatters of clothing off her body, then looked for her phone. She found it still in the pocket of her torn jeans. She handled the device cautiously, remembering how Lexi had accidentally destroyed her phone. She found her claws didn’t respond to the touch screen at all, but was able to use her knuckle to unlock her phone. Of course, now the question was who did she contact and what did she say to them. Her first thought was to call her dad, but then she realized what could her father do besides drive three hours to the university to get to her.

Peter does happen to have some experience with this kind of thing, and he’s with Lexi right now, who just happens to be the only other person out there who’s a dinosaur anthro. I guess I should let them know there’s been another incident.

Slowly, she tapped out a text message with her knuckle to her boss.

Cynthia wasted no time in calling her boss. She put the phone on speaker, not sure how well it would work otherwise.

“Cynthia? What’s going on?”

“Peter! You’re not going to believe this-”

“What is up with your voice? And do you have me on speaker?”

“I don’t have a choice, listen, it's happened again.”

“What has?”

“I don’t know how but-”

“Oh my god! What the hell happened here?” A woman entered the bathroom and first saw some of the tattered clothes, but then her eyes fell on the anthro Deinonychus by the sink. Ahhh! Not another one!” She quickly rushed out of the ladies room.

Cynthia sighed. “I think I caught the same flu Lexi did, if you get my drift.”

“Excuse me? What do you mean the flu, Lexi isn’t sick at all. The last time she even had any cold symptoms was…” the line went silent for a moment. “Cynthia, don’t tell me the department has two allosauruses now.”

“Still just one of those, I’m pretty sure I’m a deinonychus.”

“What? How? What happened during your lunch for god’s sake?”

“Look, I don’t know. Just come down to the ladies room in the hall by the cafeteria, and bring my lab coat, I’m kind of naked right now.”

***

Peter wasted no time in escorting Cynthia back to the lab. By the time they came back, Lexi was already answering a call from the museum director. She gladly handed the phone off to Peter and sat down with Cynthia to help the new anthro decompress. They both sat on lab stools, since unlike chairs they didn’t give their tails any issues.

“I’d offer you a cup of tea, but we’re in enough trouble without a safety violation.” Lexi said with a slight shrug.

“We?”

“You just turned into a deinonychus in the lady’s room, a condition you probably got from me, and we’re both working under Peter’s supervision. That’s a solid ‘we’ right there.”

“Are we sure I caught it from you? I mean, first of all, I’m not an allosaurus.”

“True, though you are rocking the feathered look. Do they itch or anything?”

“They did when coming in,” Cynthia brushed the feathers on her arm, “but it’s fine now. Getting back on track, why am I a different, er, species if it’s the same agent that caused your change?”

“Perhaps it mutated, it happens constantly with more mundane viruses.”

“I suppose anything is possible, especially given the increased number of anthros popping up, prehistoric or otherwise. But if you’re contagious, why isn’t Peter a T-rex or something? Or the rest of the museum staff for that matter?”

“If I was going to be a dinosaur I’d rather be a stegosaurus, that’s my favorite.” Peter said, having overheard a bit of the conversation.

“What did the director say?”

“First of all, we’re on lockdown as of right now. Not just the three of us, the entire museum. Thankfully, there weren't many visitors today. The Public Health Agency and CIHR are both on their way here. There was some talk about closing the rest of campus for the day, but that’s above the director’s head.”

“Oh my god…” Cynthia rested her head in her hands. She could feel the warmth of a blush through her scales, even if it didn’t show.

“Hey, relax, it’s more of my fault really.” Lexi said, putting her hand on Cynthia’s back.

“Nothing is anybody’s fault. Just a random chance that brought the initial samples here to this lab. Everything else was just accidents and happenstance.”

“That’s how I got infected,” Lexi said shaking her head, “but Cynthia has a point, why is she the only one after all this time?”

“Hopefully the researchers coming here can figure it out. In the meantime, we might as well just finish up our work since we’re not going anywhere anytime soon.” Peter said with a sigh.

***

Getting herself lost in her work helped Cynthia greatly. Not to mention gave her a chance to get used to having claws on the tips of her fingers. She was just starting to get used to things when there was a knock on the lab door. Cynthia couldn’t help feeling a bit of fear as she saw several men in hazmat suits being let in by Peter.

The lead research looked between the two dinos. “Which one of you is Lexi Taylor?”

“That’s me.” Lexi said, raising her hand.

He turned to the deinonychus. “And you must be Cynthia Hunter.” He tapped something on a tablet he was carrying. “We will be starting with an interview of you both as well as your supervisor. Dr Grant-”

“Please, just Peter.” He interrupted.

“A PhD that doesn’t want to be addressed as ‘doctor’. Are you sure you are feeling well?” The researcher's smirk was clearly visible though his face shield.

“I was feeling fine.” Peter said, crossing his arms.

“Peter, we need to conduct interviews with Ms. Taylor and Ms. Hunter and would like to provide some privacy. Is there someplace we can use for our interviews?”

“You can use my office over there.” Peter pointed. “Just let me grab my laptop first.”

“Very well, Once he’s done we’ll start with you, Ms. Taylor.”

***

Cynthia tried to focus on her work, but she kept looking over to the closed office door, wondering when it would be her turn. Peter noticed how distracted she was, not to mention the current time.

“Cynthia, you’ve already put in more than a solid day’s worth of work. If you just want to goof off on your phone, it’s fine.”

She looked over to her boss and then noticed the time on the clock. “It’s already after five? No wonder I’m hungry.”

“It might be more than just dinner time. Lexi had a pretty steep increase in appetite after the incident. Not to mention, she used to be a vegetarian.”

“I’m really not feeling a salad, now that you mention it.” Cynthia sighed as her stomach grumbled for food.

Peter turned towards a widow and looked out. “They can’t let us starve, lock down or not. Maybe I can get us some takeout delivered.”

“Sounds good, as long as there’s lots of meat.”

Peter chuckled. “I could use some protein myself.”

The door to his office opened and Lexi stepped out. “Looks like it’s your turn, Cynthia.”

“Great, and here I was getting excited for dinner.” She sighed as she got up from her lab stool.

“Oh, watch for your tail when you go to close the door, it took me a while to get used to that.” Lexi said as she walked past.

Cynthia was glad for the warning as she came close to slamming the door on her tail. She sat down on the lab stool Lexi had rolled in.

“I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier. I’m Dr Reynolds and I’m with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.”

“I’m surprised you haven’t come to our campus sooner.”

“Honestly, that makes two of us, but it’s nothing I have any control over. Before we get deep into the questions, how are you feeling?”

“Right now, I just feel hungry, like I could tear through an entire bucket of chicken and keep going.”

The researcher chuckled. “I was just about to get a late lunch when we were ordered to come here. I;m feeling pretty hungry myself, so I sympathize.” He smiled softly through his face shield. “What about any physical discomfort?”

“No, I feel fine in that regard. Honestly before things got…strange, I felt like I was coming down with the flu. Head and body aches, I was queasy and I’m pretty sure I was running a fever. After I was done though, it all sort of faded away.”

“I see.” Dr Reynolds made notes on his tablet.

“I was a little pissed about that. I was taking steps to avoid getting sick. I was masking and keeping a social distance as best I could.”

Dr Reynolds looked up from his tablet. “Oh?”

“Yeah, I suppose you would find out about it anyway, but I’m going through some medical issues right now. The drugs I’m on have weakened my immune system quite a bit, but I can’t exactly work from home with this kind of job.”

Dr Reynolds tapped his finger on the desk as he thought for a moment. “Do you have a list of your medications handy?”

“Sure, let me bring it up on my phone.” Cynthia pulled her phone out of the lab coat pocket and started to tap with her knuckle on the screen.

“I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, but your weakened immune system could explain how you are the first person in the staff to show any sign of infection. Assuming this is a viral based anthrofacation like what happened to Ms. Taylor.”

“I hadn’t thought of that, but it makes sense.”

“Once again, this will take more research, and that is going to require some biological samples from you.”

Cynthia cringed slightly. “Great, needles…”

“I’m afraid so.” He said as he opened a sample collection kit. “But we’ll start with the mouth swab.”

***

By the time Cynthia was done being poked, prodded, and going over her medical history in depth, Peter had managed to get food delivered. Figuring that Cynthia would share Lexi’s tastes he had ordered from a local barbecue place. When it was spread out on the table in the break room it looked like Peter had gotten enough food to cater a small party, not just the three of them. But given how Cynthia finished half a tray of chicken before Peter could fill his plate it might be just barely enough.

“I know you’re hungry but pace yourself, you don’t want to choke on a chicken bone.” Lexi smirked as she helped herself to a full rack of ribs.

“Sorry, I’m just so hungry. Thank you for getting us some dinner, Peter, I know it is a lot.”

“It’s nothing. I can’t help feeling a little responsible for what’s happened to you both. I just hope things don’t spread any further.

“I don’t know, I think it could bring a lot of people into the museum if it was staffed with dinosaurs.” Lexi smirked.

Cynthia had to laugh. “I know it would have made me beg my parents to come.”

Peter let out a sigh, but smiled slightly. “It probably would.” He shook his head before taking a bite of a brisket sandwich.

“What happens now though?” Cynthia asked. “I don’t think they are just going to let me ride the bus home tonight.”

“Certainly not dressed like that.” Lexi pointed to the lab coat, currently all the deinonychus was wearing.

“I overheard Dr Reynolds talking to his staff. They are bringing in cots and blankets so we will be bunking down here tonight. As for what’s going to ultimately happen, I don’t know.”

“In the meantime, I think I want to document this for myself.” Cynthia said as she piled her plate high with pulled pork, “After all, who else is better suited to document the change to my life? Maybe I can get a paper or two out of this.”

Peter chuckled. “Now there's the academic spirit.”

_________________________________________

Characters and setting are property of Gryphus1

Written by Syntaxerror37

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