June 22nd, 2312
9:00 am
The classroom was packed full of eager college students, excitedly chattering among themselves as they waited for class to begin. Normally, biology would be half-full at best, considering the fact that one could only look at bones, blood, and plant matter for so long without wanting to pull their hair out. However, it seemed that today was going to be much more interesting. The professor had sent out an e-mail the night prior that they would have a real, live animal to examine and learn about; something of which had not happened at the university in more than twenty-three years. The fluorescent lights cast a sickening whitish-green shade onto all of their faces.
"Good morning, everyone." The statement came from the front of the room, where a man in a labcoat had entered. He was tall, professional-looking. Certainly not the professor. "I apologize, but I will be taking the place of your professor today. My name is Dr. Price, and I am from Westmore Center of Anthropology, Mythology, and Zoology. Now," he began, "for safety precautions, I must ask that you all vacate the front two rows of seats and find a seat toward the back of the classroom. As you are all well aware, it is highly illegal to handle an animal unless you are a registered zoologist. I must advise that you never, ever approach any sort of animal in your day to day life. If you do happen to encounter an animal, call animal control right away, and that animal will be dealt with accordingly."
Dr. Price's statements were met with obedience and complacent head nodding.
"While we wait for the... animal... to arrive, I have a set of questions that I'd like to ask you. Routine, run-of-the-mill stuff, really," Dr. Price stated, picking up a piece of paper from the table behind him. "First, what year did President Ephraim pass the Animal Restriction Act, or the ARA, for short?"
Nearly every hand in the classroom shot up.
Price called on one, an overweight boy with a mop of shaggy, brown hair. "Um, that would be the year 2234, sir."
"That is correct. Now, would anyone like to explain to the class what the Animal Restriction Act meant for our society?" Dr. Price continued.
This time, a tiny girl of Asian descent spoke up. "The Act meant that the government would be able to control all animal population, that the average citizen would not be able to own any type of animal as a pet or food source, and that all animals aside from birds, insects, arachnids, and fish would be terminated from the wild."
Dr. Price nodded, a small smile on his thin lips. "That is also correct. Who can tell me why the ARA came to be in the first place?"
"Well, sir, overpopulation had a large part to play in it, but the government was also concerned with the safety of the people, maintaining healthier ecosystems; that sort of thing," replied one older woman in the group; she looked older than most of the people in the room.
"Good, good. However, those are not the only problems the government was addressing in the matter. Now, I know this is a bit taboo, but I got the go-ahead from the director of the college to bring up the subject." Dr. Price leaned back on the desk behind him. "What can you all tell me about therianthropes?"
The class was silent for a few moments, before a blond boy raised his hand near the front of the room. "Therianthropes are, um, a subspecies of homosapien that possess a certain strand of DNA labeled as the A Gene. The possession of the A Gene enables the therianthrope to change its physical form into that of another mammal. For example, it would be like me changing into a cat, or an elephant, depending on the variation of A Gene that I had in me."
Dr. Price clapped his hands, grinning. "Yes, that was very well-said. Therianthropes, sometimes incorrectly labeled skinwalkers or shapeshifters, were not discovered until the year 2228, just a few years before the Animal Restriction Act was put in place. They were a large reason for the Animal Restriction Act, actually. The government was worried for the safety of its people, and since there was no real, humane way to test and see if someone was a therianthrope, the government decided that it would be safer to simply remove all other mammals from the equation altogether." He cleared his throat. "Though, of course, overpopulation and convenience played a role in it, as well. The Animal Restriction Act was crucial for our survival as the human race. Today, however, I will be teaching you about therianthropes."
The door opened at the front of the room once more, and two police officers in full gear strode in, carrying a large, metal cage between them. Inside, there was a relatively small canine-looking creature with pale, orange-tan fur, crouched near the back and growling at the men carrying it.
"This may look like a simple dog, students, but it is nothing of the sort," Dr. Price stated as the policemen placed the cage on the desk at the front of the classroom. "This is a therianthrope in its animal form. I know you may not be aware of this specific creature, as it has never been native to America, so allow me to tell you what this animal is. We believe this to be a dingo, a specie of wild dog native to the continent of Australia."
A hand shot up in the middle of the classroom. Dr. Price nodded to the student, allowing him to speak. "Sir, how do you know that this is a therianthrope and not just a... a dingo?"
"I was hoping someone might ask that. Allow me to demonstrate." Dr. Price pulled a thin rod from the inside of his labcoat and strode over to the cage. "I will be using a small amount of electricity to encourage the therianthrope to assume human form. The current from the cattle prod will provoke the creature's cells to transform."
Without further warning, Dr. Price shoved the prod into the cage and jammed it into the dingo's flank.
The creature yelped and instantly, so quickly that it could not be seen by the human eye, morphed. In its place sat a young girl who looked no older than sixteen, or possibly seventeen. Her honey brown eyes were narrowed hatefully at the man who had electrocuted her.
"Screw you!" she snarled, getting her feet underneath her and moving into a crouched position, her muscles coiled tightly and twitching a bit from the electrical current that she'd just been assaulted with. "That hurt!"
The class collectively gasped, as though they hadn't expected her to be able to speak.
Dr. Price chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, it can mimic human speech. But this is not a human, my friends. This is, in fact, a therianthrope. Now, many of you probably think that my method of getting it to transform was inhumane-"
"Because it was, you douche," the therianthrope interrupted viciously. If looks could kill, Dr. Price would be a dead man.
"-but therianthropes, like animals, have no actual sentience," Dr. Price continued, completely ignoring the girl in the cage. "They are like plant life, or perhaps an insect. They've developed, over many millions of years of evolution, the ability to trick us into believing that they possess consciousness. You must realize that they are not on the same level as we humans. Now," he continued, "you may notice that this therianthrope's human form carries the colors of its animal form. Please note the orange-tinted hair, the amber eyes, and the light skin. This is very common among the therianthrope species, though there are a few documented deviations from that pattern."
The girl in the cage flinched back when Dr. Price gestured toward her with the prod. "If you touch me with that again, I will rip your freaking throat out," she warned, her voice trembling a bit at the end of her threat to betray her fear.
"So violent," Dr. Price teased, knocking the prod against the metal bars of the cage. "This is why therianthropes, and other animals, are not allowed to live side-by-side with human beings."
One student raised her hand, and Dr. Price nodded for her to speak. "Where did you find this subject?"
"That is a good question. We discovered this therianthrope here in Seattle about three weeks ago. She's young, approximately sixteen years old. Therianthropes can live as long as a human being in captivity," Dr. Price explained, and the therianthrope in the cage interrupted once more.
"We can live that long outside of captivity if you humans wouldn't kill us first," she grumbled, her lip curling when Dr. Price looked back to make eye contact with her.
"You are part of an innately violent species and cannot exist alongside the human race."
The girl's shoulders rose defensively. "Says the guy who advocates the genocide of entire specie."
Dr. Price took a deep, steadying breath, and turned away from her. "As you can see, class, the therianthrope species has evolved to perfectly mimic the human race in this specific form." He cleared his throat. "This therianthrope is very young, as opposed to most of our other subjects. She's still just a puppy, really - shouldn't even be separated from her pack. And, yes, therianthropes take on some specific personality traits of their animal form. Since this one is a dingo, she likely has pack mentality, which is why it was odd that she was alone when we found her."
"I wonder why," the therianthrope deadpanned, and was ignored completely.
"I would like to give one of you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Dr. Price announced, waving one arm in a sweeping motion toward the class. "Which of you would like to pet this therianthrope?"
His question was met with silence, until one bold student - a girl with dark brown hair - raised her hand.
Dr. Price smiled warmly at her. "Come up to the front of the class, please," he invited, reaching into his pocket to pull out a leather-and-metal contraption as he turned to look at the therianthrope. "Would you like to transform on your own, or do I have to encourage you again?"
The therianthrope's eyes widened and she morphed immediately back into a small, orange-and-tan dog.
"Good girl. Now, I will put a muzzle on her to prevent a bite, should she get aggressive," he announced, unlocking the cage and reaching in. The therianthrope recoiled slightly, but ultimately obeyed and allowed herself to be muzzled. "This muzzle is equipped with metal spikes on the back that go right at the base of the skull, which prevent her from transforming back into her human form."
The brunette student had reached the front of the classroom by that point, fidgeting nervously with her hands as she waited for Dr. Price's instructions.
"Am I correct to assume you have never handled an animal before?" Dr. Price's question was met with a shake of the student's head. "I must inform you that, if this situation were unsupervised, this would be highly illegal. Please never approach any animal you may find in the wild or in captivity, unless you are instructed to do so. Have I made myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," she responded, ducking her head.
"What is your name, miss?" Dr. Price asked as he lightly tugged on the muzzle's strap to guide the therianthrope to the front of the cage. The creature was trembling, her tail tucked, eyes wide, and ears pressed flat to her skull.
"Jovie Miller, sir."
Dr. Price smiled at her. "What a lovely name. Now, Miss Miller, please step forward and place your hand on the therianthrope's fur. Don't worry; this is perfectly safe."
Jovie stepped forward and stretched out a hand toward the small therianthrope, who shook harder and tried to edge backward. Dr. Price kept a firm hand on her muzzle, keeping her stationary and allowing Jovie's hand to make contact with the pale orange fur on the therianthrope's shoulder.
Jovie moved her hand back and forth against the fur, and a small smile formed on her lips. "She's soft, and very warm," she commented, then jerked her hand back when the therianthrope's tail untucked and started to wag hesitantly. "It moved! What does that mean?" she demanded, looking up at Dr. Price.
"It's a form of body language; it is an involuntary response. Don't worry," Dr. Price replied, and Jovie nodded. "Would you like to continue petting the therianthrope, or are you finished?"
"I believe I'm done, thank you," the brunette smiled, before turning to head back to her seat.
Dr. Price turned back to the cage and pushed the therianthrope back inside without removing the muzzle. He closed and locked the cage back tightly, and gestured for the two policemen to take the creature out of the classroom. They obeyed, and Dr. Price placed his attention on the students.
"Now, does anyone have any questions?"
[( To Be Human )]
Setting
Set in the year 2312, in an apocalyptic version of the United States, animals are restricted. The only ones found in the wild are birds, fish, insects, reptiles, and amphibians. However, since the world is getting progressively colder, most of the latter three have died off.
In this world, there are creatures known as Therianthropes - a human with the ability to transform into one specific type of animal. Therianthropes were hunted to near-extinction, and are continually hunted and experimented to date.
This story will follow a group of therianthropes as they fight for life in this unforgiving world, in the hopes to find a place where they can belong.
[( To Be Human ])
An - Hello, everybody! This SYOC is kind of a shot in the dark, since I'm not exactly sure how this will be received by all of you. I'm really gonna try with it, though!
The dingo-therianthrope in the chapter above is an OC of mine, who will be appearing again next chapter. Her name is Casey.
Of course, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to PM me! I'll answer those questions to the best of my ability.
Rules
1) One character per person, at the beginning. I'm not sure how many characters I'm going to get for this story, so let's start out slow.
2) Pm me the form. It will be on my profile, ready to go. Fill it out completely, and please put in detail so that I can portray your character as well as I can. c:
3) Reviews. You do not have to review every chapter, but please try to be active with reviewing. It makes it so much more fun to write if the readers are willing to contribute as well. Also, please review the first chapter of this story, just to let me know that you are going to submit. That's literally all you have to say; it does not have to be a full-fledged review.
4) Characters. I need about eight or nine characters for the main cast, give or take, and I'd like to have a pretty good variety of animals and personalities, so try and come up with something new and interesting.
5) Communication. You must be willing to communicate with me as the story goes on, especially if your character is in the main cast. I'll need to know your ideas, thoughts, etc.
6) Ideas. You are always allowed to pm me and tell me any ideas you have at absolutely any part of the story! I can't guarantee I'll use them, but I may!
7) Bad guys. You're allowed to send in bad characters. Pm me beforehand, though!
8) Humans. You're allowed to send in humans. Pm me beforehand, though!
9) Have fun. I intend for this story to be fun for all. Please enjoy yourselves and be kind to one another!
The next chapter will be a character list of sorts, and the chapter afterward will get back to the story.
God bless you!
Love,
Snowy