Bestial Planet

Chapter 35: Testing

Having set up what was essentially a government, I hadn't been hounded for answers like I was before I left. It was nice to be able to exercise without 1000 people staring at me for answers. After a few hours however a familiar sight amassed outside the center. Curious people were looking through the empty floor to ceiling window panes and were whispering as though I couldn't hear them. I did my best to ignore them but I caught the basic gist of the conversations. "Are we all going to change?" I had didn't doubt that they would but in the back of my mind the nightmare that I'd be the only one surfaced.

"YO! Let him work out in peace, shit!"

The familiar voice was a beautiful thing. It caused some of the people to disperse which was better than the heard that amassed. Nik walked through what used to be a window.

"I like not having windows. It's more open and inviting."

"Well if nature has anything to say about it there will be new windows soon enough."

"Stupid weather... So how is it, being on two legs again?"

"Definitely not like it used to feel. Dude look at my feet, I had long toes before but these are frickin paws. Paws man! You take a step and they spread out!"

I grabbed onto one of the bars and displayed the phenomenon for Nik.

"That's weird as shit, although..." He looked lost in thought for a few seconds.

"I've never seen a dog or cat do that when they walk."

"Really?"

"Yeah man."

"But... I'm on two feet, it feels better. Weird, but better." I said trying to convince myself I was learning how to walk properly.

"Looks weird too."

His comment shot down what was left of my confidence. Then a thought came to me. "You know, when you're learning to ride a bike, going faster is better than going slow."

"I'm not sure that works with walking." Nik said contemplating how bad things could go.

I stumbled away from the bars that were keeping me up and clumsily made my way outside. I looked down the street and found a relatively flat path. I thought back to my days on the track team in school and scrunched awkwardly into position. I rested my feet-paws on a bit of road that was sticking up and concentrated on the path ahead of me.

"When you face plant, I promise to make sure you're ok before laughing."

I smirked and spoke under my breath. "I don't plan on falling."

I explode forwards, accelerating faster than I ever thought I could on two feet. The first few steps were wobbly but I shifted my focus to the road in front of me only occasionally taking notes on how my feet and legs were moving. I leaned forward and increased my stride and I really got into it. The larger pad went down and I pushed off with the pads of my toes.

"Just like running on your toes then."

My heart skipped a beat when I thought of slowing down but I slowed to a stop without incident. My breathing was fast and my legs pulsed with adrenaline. I turned around and pumped my fists into the air in victory.

"I figured it out!"

As I said the words I almost immediately fell over. I jogged back to Nik and repeated my victory phrase..

"Not completely man."

"Yeah but - close enough right?" I was still breathing heavily but with a smile affixed to my face.

"It's a little more taxing than all four."

I heard someone speak to my right. When I looked I saw a sloth with no translator.

"What happened to your translator?"

The sloth just stared at me like I was stupid, which after a few seconds I understood why.

"Do you want a translator?"

The sloth motioned to Section 6 and I nodded in reply.

After I helped him set it up, the sloth waited to get back to the center before saying anything besides his name, which was Barton Yeager.

"Are you certain we're all going to change like you did?"

The voice he chose wasn't deep or high pitched and he spoke almost as if he was bored and already knew what you were going to say before you thought of it.

"Well... I mean there's certain..." He shot me a dead-pan stare which I wasn't sure if it was because he was a sloth or just genuinely making that face. "...no. But after wandering around the planet for a few months by myself, wondering if anyone else was going to wake up, I think we'd be safe to assume that..."

"I don't deal in assumptions, I deal with facts."

"Well I'm just trying to..."

"Give false hope to the rest of us. What if only a few people change? Just because "The Great Progenitor" transformed into some human-animal hybrid doesn't mean everyone else will."

"Yo Barton, chill the fuck out."

I could sense Nik was readying a fireball.

"Woah can we just calm down a little bit?"

"I am calm."

"You seem combative to me Barton." Mei-lin said with a few council members around her.

"Just trying to keep a level head about this."

"That's not what it sounds like Barton."

The second person looked like a cross between a chicken and a raptor and not a harmless version either. The talons were terrifyingly curved, his beak looked like it could break through steel and his eyes looked like they could cut the air.

"Ganging up on me now? All I was saying is that if more people go biped like like The Great Progenitor I'd be offering up my services as a physical trainer."

"What qualifies you to do that, douchebag?" Nik snapped.

"Before we were attacked I was a war veteran and head of one of the premier rehabilitation clinics in the world. I was the guy who had the highest success rate with bio-mechanical interfaces. If I can teach someone to talk to a robot screwed into their body, I can teach anyone how to get used to their new physiology."

Nik looked unimpressed as did the raptor chicken and Mei-lin.

"How about you help me and we'll see from there. Put up or shut up is what I'm saying."

Barton smiled, which was a little off putting. "That won't be too hard. You seem to have a knack for adapting." He held out a hand and I shook it in agreement. "Let's get to work then, you've been shaky during this entire conversation.

"I hadn't noticed." I said with a bit of a smart-ass tone, trying to match his sharp personality.

For the next 3 hours we went over what exactly I was feeling physically and the best way for me to move as opposed to how I was used to moving, both before the Shinimorte and as a quadruped. Things went fairly well despite the odd rude statement every now and then.