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“Alright, alright class, settle down. You are in University now, not high school. I expect you to act like mature adults.” The Professor, a tall red dragon infected, announced as he walked in, “I am Doctor Lekker, or Professor Lekker, whichever you like. My doctorates are in viral biology, social psychology, and infected history. So please think on that before you ask if I am qualified to teach this class.”

There was murmuring from around the room as he started up the projector. He paid no mind to the chatter until he had everything set up and cleared his throat to silence the room.

“I welcome you all to 'Infected History 101', for this first lesson I expect you all to pay attention,” he commanded before sitting to the left of the screen and turned to the first slide. On it appeared the name of the virus, and some simple DNA pictures to either side. “The Mutatio Morbum Hominis virus appeared several years back, first cases recorded showing up from somewhere near china it is believed. However, records in that area are vague due to earthquakes that occurred at the same time as the virus. Its multi-helix structure, quick adaptability and fast, yet undetectable, incubation time made it extremely difficult to contain, and near impossible to neutralise. Also once the infected individual has undergone complete metamorphosis, it takes on a near symbiotic relationship with its host, making it harder to terminate without causing irreparable damage, or death, to its host.”

“It took two years to create a vaccine to the virus, in that time it caused a high death toll. Anyone who was immunologically compromised, physically weak, or didn't seek immediate medical aid upon the emergence of symptoms had a twenty percent chance of survival at best.” He was interrupted by a petite lioness in the third row putting up their hand.

“Yes, Jenny?”

She stood up slowly. “Were the chances really that low? I was told it was a rough estimation,” she asked before she sat back down.

“Yes, it really was that low. I personally lost many colleagues before the vaccine was introduced,” he answered before changing slides. “The vaccine is less a vaccine and more a simple inoculation which slows down the virus's effects. A partial infection, caused by saliva or light blood contact, can be lessened to no more than the appearance of a rash. Some fur or scales can sprout from these rashes, but these symptoms don't last much longer than a day or two.”

He changed slides again, this time showing two clocks, one with a '24' over it and the other with '1 week'. The first had a skull and crossbones under it, the other, a picture of a happy, wolf infected.

“In full infections, it slows the change from less than twenty-four hours to roughly a week, give or take a day depending on the person. This greatly increased survival rates for the infected. The two most likely causes of full infections are blood and sexual fluids. Saliva and nasal discharge do have a chance to cause contamination, however, these are unlikely to cause more than the before mentioned symptoms.

“The elderly suffered the hardest, it seemed to spread exceedingly easily through their bodies from something as simple as a kiss, or even a sneeze, in their direction by an infected or a carrier who hadn't begun showing symptoms. Mercifully they tended to pass on in their sleep, sadly this was not the same for children or those with a weak immune system.

“Opinions are divided on its origins, ranging from speculative to wild and outlandish. The most common hypothesis is that is it genetically engineered. However there are other theories that state it could have been transmitted from an unknown species, random mutation of an already, pre-existing or unknown strain, or the more loony conclusions that it is a punishment by god or brought here by aliens.”

Someone in the class made a loud whistling sound, the stereotypical whistled tune associated with crackpots, and the dragon fixed them with an irritated glare as the rest of the class started laughing.

“Thank you, Jimmy, that'll do thank you very much.” He called rolling his eyes and changed slides once more. “ Back to the lesson now. The reason for the hypothesis that it is lab-created is that it dies quickly outside the body. The exception to this is inside blood and sexual discharges, where it can survive until the fluids dry out. The other reason is the obvious cosmetic augmentations it causes upon its host.

“Reasons for the possible creation of the virus also vary wildly and is hotly debated among crackpot theorists and scientists alike.” Another slide change displayed a picture of a literal cracked plant pot and a scientist standing next to it. Whoever put the slides together clearly had fun with it and there was a chorus of giggles from the class. “Some believe that it was part of a super soldier program, others that it was simple biochemical warfare experimentation, and some by a bunch of 'Furries' who had way too much time, and-- I will point out why this one is most unlikely-- a multi-million dollar virus research facility on their hands.”

As he listed off each possibility, he changed the image displayed, starting with a picture of Rambo, to a city covered in a mint-green fog, to a person in a fursuit with giant googly eyes badly photoshopped into a high tech laboratory. He waited for the laughing in the room to die down before he continued on, although the smile on his face indicated that the images had had the desired effect.

“These changes appear to be selected almost at random, however, there has been a note of external stimuli and blood type affecting the outcome. The reasons for this are hotly debated, and a direct correlation has yet to be discovered as testing is currently forbidden. An example, however, of the environmental stimuli is that if the infected person has a pet dog or cat, they are more likely to be modified more towards those animal families.”

“The changes associated with blood type appear to affect the infected individual's change in interesting ways. Keep in mind that the change is still random, and research into possible connections is ongoing, but these are patterns that have been noticed from general observation of the population. I will explain them in order of most common blood type to least.”

“Those with type O tend to become more household, or domesticated, species. These range from dogs, to cats, to some species of bird. Type A are most likely to be wild, land-based species such as lions, tigers, wolves, and bears. Bats and more predatory avian species are also more likely with type A blood.”

Each time he brought up a new blood type he changed the slide, each containing a large letter for said blood type and around it several examples of the species he was listing.

“Type B are more likely to be aquatic or amphibian species, with everything from sharks, to frogs, to dolphins and fish. All are still capable of processing oxygen on land, but with the addition of gills for most aquatic species, they are capable of life just as comfortably underwater. The downside to these changes are they require to remain in moist or wet environments, as their skin will dry out quickly. To this end, special adaptive clothing and suits have been manufactured, and special housing technology for them.”

“Yeah, my house is a giant water tank!” one shark changed called out, and small discussions about different house designs and construction methods started up around the room until the professor cleared his throat loudly.

“Thank you, Billy now if I may continue with the lesson?” He asked, quickly getting silence. “Excellent, now moving on. Those with blood type AB are the most interesting as they have the proclivity to become what has been dubbed 'mythic' or mythological species. Dragons, gryphons, pheonixs, hippogryphs, Jackalopes, satyrs, and even kitsune have been recorded. These species tend to get large, especially for dragons, with one case reaching an impressive nine-feet tall.”

“But, Sir, I'm type O and I'm a gryphon!” came one voice from the back.

He rolled his eyes. “I did say that the changes are random. These are just generalised observed patterns. Next person to call out will get detention, am I understood?”

“Yes sir!” was the answer from everyone in the classroom.

“Moving along then,” he announced with a huff and changed the slide, a large plus and minus appearing on-screen. “Differences between positive and negative blood type also influence the outcome of the change. The positive type tends to hold onto more human characteristics, including plantigrade leg structure, average height and small, or stunted, muzzles and tails. While the negative type tends to be closer to the animal they have gained their appearance from.” A hand went up at this point and he nodded in its direction.

“Do you have any examples of the differences?” A human male asked. Professor Lekker nodded while changing the slide. This time it showed a picture of himself on the right and another dragon, standing upright on two legs on the left.

“Yes I do,” he answered and seemed to smile at the question coming up, “An excellent example would be dragons, as they can come in either bipedal, seen here on the left, or quadrupedal like most animals, seen here on the right with myself. However, the bipedal stance is exceptionally rare for dragons which is the opposite for every other type of infected.

“Then we come to the rarest blood type, AB negative, which appears to be excluded from these observations. For some reason, the virus appears to have secondary reactions when infected in those with blood of this type, and only with those of this type. Secondary changes are rare and, as like with much of the other changes caused, random from person to person.”

“This also adds credence to the belief that the virus is man-made, with many thinking that when experiments were underway with its development, they did not have access to all blood types. However it can also lean towards the other primary theories, with some stating that it comes from a species that does not have an AB negative blood type.”

“For those who are infected with the virus and have type AB negative blood, the secondary changes are usually minor, normally causing a different fur, scale, or skin colour to normal. Two such examples are a dingo infected in Western Australia, whose fur is bright blue in colouration, and a bright, sunshine yellow dolphin in the UK.”

Two pictures came up on the next selected slide of the two in question. The canine was almost sky blue in colouration while the dolphin was a happy yellow. Neither seemed bothered by having their photo taken and had posed for the camera.

“However the secondary change can be more extreme with two different possible effects,” The professor went on, now changing the slide this time showing large images of male and female symbols, two large arrows pointing from one to the other. “The first is the infected person becoming an almost completely feral form of their species. The second is complete or partial gender inversion. Everything from males becoming females and vise versa, to males with working vaginas, wombs and ovaries, and females with working penis and testicles.”

“Oddly those with partial gender inversion, dubbed by the community as c-boys and c-girls, still mature as normal even through puberty. This is due to their new genitals, despite being perfectly working in every way for their new form, with c-boys being able to become pregnant and carry to term, still producing testosterone for c-boys and oestrogen for c-girls.”

Murmuring began again around the room. The dragon seemed to let it slide this time, letting everyone talk until their attention returned to the front as the image changed to a picture of the White House.

“The political impact of the virus has been profound, with the anti-vaccination movement almost completely wiped out in most countries. This is due to the inoculation being made mandatory after several law cases involving infected children's deaths or changes after mass production and free distribution began.”

“Those people were idiots anyway.” one person called out “I mean, what were they thinking? Just letting their kids go unprotected, clearly they hated them.”

“That's enough, Eugene, You have earned yourself detention for that.” the professor called before moving on with the lesson.

“The virus also has caused multiple countries to make laws to defend their transformed citizens from discriminatory employment tactics, medical practices, religious groups, and discrimination organisations which crop up from time to time. However it is not one-sided, as the reverse has also occurred on occasion until laws were changed, although with less frequency or violence.”

“Why is that sir?” One girl, a grey cat, called out “S...sorry to interrupt, but why have there been more hate groups targeted at us than the other way around?”

“That is an excellent question, but please remember to raise your hand next time,” he replied. “As someone who lived through it, I believe the reason is that we were too busy coming to terms with who and what we had become, while attempting to defend ourselves from those trying to label us as less than human just for our appearance. I know that does not answer your question fully, but that is the best one I can give you at this time.

“Several countries led the way for these changes, with Canada and New Zealand taking the lead. The last countries to make any effective laws or changes are Australia, the United States of America, North Korea, and some of the middle east countries such as Bethlehem and Iraq.

“However large movements in Australia, as well as a wolf-infected Prime Minister, are attempting to make significant changes. The USA appears to be the last of the westernised countries making any changes in the protection of their infected citizens. This is primarily due to the president at the time of the outbreak being extremely biased, racist, and egotistical, preventing many of the proposed laws from being enacted.

“The economical impact of the virus was far-reaching as well, with thousands of businesses closing down due to the mandatory isolation laws during the breakout, or needing to restructure their business models or building layouts to accommodate different demands and safety requirements. This impacted the USA the hardest as many blatantly ignored the isolation laws put in place, meaning that their population was one of the ones hit the hardest.”

The slides progressed through examples as he spoke, of bird-infected flying around in postman uniforms, to a picture of a highway with barely any cars on it, followed by a picture of the USA with a giant frown face superimposed on it. It then moved to a picture of the planet with a smile on it before he continued.

“Additionally, global environmental concerns have also been reduced somewhat. With many larger infected species able to handle heavy lifting and flight-capable species handling many delivery roles, the demand on vehicles for transportation of goods or persons has, as a result, lessened.”

“On top of this, the oceans are cleaner thanks to aquatic infected spearheading clean up efforts. Reduced global population also decreased the demand for energy, and the combustion of fossil fuels. The urgent need for construction of new homes also reduced significantly causing less environmental devastation, although many homes, including my own, needed to be demolished and rebuilt to facilitate the new, larger frames of some species.” He looked up at the clock at this point and turned the lights back on.

“That concludes today's lecture, I expect to see you all again where we will be delving more into some of the laws that have been enacted in defence of the infected.” he called as he switched off the projector “Other than you, Eugene, I will see you in detention.”

The sound of shuffling papers and seats sounded as everyone started moving and I straightened up before I looked down over myself. I brushed the front of my suit free of dust as I got up, pulling my bag onto my back being mindful of my dorsal fin. My suit needed a refill of water soon, my grey rubbery skin was starting to feel a bit dry. I contemplated if I'd hit the pool before returning to my room. After all, what dolphin didn't love water?