A.N.T.H.R.O

Consciousness came slowly; in the darkness first came a ringing, an audible cue like a high-pitched scream which began to grow with intensity. Eventually it began to morph into a deeper tone as my body began to feel cold, an empty sensation which left me confused and scared.

Over time the noise and the awareness of my body began to escalate, becoming distinguished muffled voices and unrecognizable, echoing noises.

The voices came in waves of clarity and mumble, as I tried to comprehend what they were saying. My head ached, and my body felt numb, lethargic and unresponsive to my attempts to move.

“I’m seeing activity, these brain waves are coming to life! Quickly, get Dr. Fraustfer,” A voice called nearby. It was a young, masculine voice which had a hint of excitement to it.

“I can’t believe it worked! This is a genetic breakthrough!” the voice rang again this time becoming more high-pitched in an annoying squeal.

“It’s awake?!” a feminine voice was recognizable, it was apparent this individual was out of breath from their attempts to get within my vicinity in a hurry.

“Yes Doctor! I can’t believe it, this is a historical moment!” the first voice repeated itself.

I had no idea what was going on, my vision was still black, but at least I could hear and only slightly feel. My body was cold and numb, unresponsive to my demands to move. However, I could tell I was lying upon my back and had something soft and warm beneath me. Was I in a bed?

“Ok stay calm and focus, we have work to do to keep it contained and stable, I would like to make first contact and interview him at first opportunity,”, the feminine voice stated calmly, now catching her breath. “Yes Ma’m.”

It? Why am I being referred to as ‘it’? My memories are non-existent before this moment, my life, my family or friends. I didn’t even know where I was or what my name was, or even how long I’ve been asleep! But one thing I am certain of, and I see it in images which flashed in the black screen behind my eyelids; is my own self-image. A tall, lean human being, with short dark brown hair, pale skin and blue eyes. It was an image burned deep into my subconscious from all the years I spent looking at myself in the mirror.

I was not this ‘thing’ they are calling me, I am a man, a human being. Can they not recognize that? Are they not human themselves?

“Keep an eye on that monitor, Xavier, and tell me if you see any fluctuations in response to my questions.”

“Yes Dr. Fraustfer” he replied.

Her voice then became much louder and closer to me, I can feel and smell her sweet breath upon my face as she spoke, “Hi there, can you hear me?”

Consciously I recognized she was asking me directly, and although I could not form a reply, my apparent brain waves on the monitor Xavier was watching, did it for me.

“they just spiked!” He said excitedly, “Wonderful!”

Something within me clicked, as I began to feel much warmer and could tell I was slowly beginning to regain my sense of feeling in my body. It started out as a tingle, but then soon grew warm and I could feel the air move around me as she moved away.

“A good spike for sure! It won’t be long, he will be fully awake, until then keep an eye on him…I’ll be back soon”

Why couldn’t I move? Open my eyes? Do something? It felt as though I was paralyzed, even though I felt warm inside, I was surrounded by cold. My breathing was slow and light, I couldn’t even feel my chest rise and fall with each breath. Wherever I was smelt industrial; the irony smell of metal surrounded this place, and within it I could get the musty odor of someone in the room with me, it had to been Xavier.

However, it was like a musky odor of unwashed hair, like someone hadn’t had a bath in forever. It was so acute, it burned in my nostrils. I could hear clicking and clacking, the sound was so familiar, but I couldn’t place it, although my mind began to shake the fog enveloping it, I still felt dizzy and confused.

At last, over what seemed like a long period of time I was able to finally begin to move. Things went fast by this time, before I knew it I could move and feel everything. That coldness I felt slowly dissipated, and the warmth of the room I was in enshrouded me.

“I see you are finally waking,” That gentle feminine voice returned. I felt something grab my arm, a pressure there that I hadn’t felt in a long time. It was alerting, but a true sign of hope that I was getting back to my senses and soon all my questions would be answered.

I was relieved I could finally move as I reached with my other arm to grasp what had taken a hold of my arm. Whatever it was felt warm, soft and fuzzy, I could run my fingers through the silky hair, feeling the muscle and bone beneath a narrow-rounded object, it was someone…or somethings own arm.

“Be easy…everything’s ok. Can you talk?” she asked softly

I reached up to feel my face, before I could even get my hand close enough to where I thought would be close to where my eyes were, I hit something, and I felt the sensation of my own hand striking against my nose. I felt it, caressing my hand around the end of my nose and mouth, it was rounded but unfamiliar. This was not a nose and mouth I recognize, nothing about it Human, not like I seen in the images in my mind.

I placed a finger by my mouth and could feel something cold, wet and slippery. It burned in the sensations of my fingers, it was clear my mouth was frozen shut. That burn radiated into my cheeks and lips as I held my hand there, the warmth of it melting the ice closing my jaws.

At last, I was able to open and close my jaws and mutter. My tongue still felt cold and forming words was very difficult. It felt like it was weighed down and numb.

In a short period of time, that feeling receded and I was able to begin to form words.

“W…wh…where…” I started to try and say

“Where are you?” Dr. Fraustfer completed, “You are inside ANTHRO, the Amalgam Neurological Treatment Hospital and Research Organization, a specialized hospital ship for genetical engineering and advanced neurotics; we pride ourselves in being able to revitalize those once long deceased, or in a state of comatose”

“Our researchers found you in a state of cryogenic stasis, your brain and body frozen and well preserved and locked in a dormant coma. I was set to study you and try to bring you back to life, and it seems I have succeeded.”

Frozen? How? My memory is blank, but the shock of knowing I was frozen solid and essentially mummified is taking its toll on me. “Why…can’t…see…”

“Your eyes are still frozen, here…”

I felt something warm and soft being placed over my eyes. Behind that dark veil of my vision I could see sparks and streaks, like sparks of electricity dancing and streaking. My eyelids burned, a painful sensation which pulsed throughout me.

I could feel a liquid pouring down my cheek, before stopping and soaking into my face. The ice was melting, but it wasn’t rolling off my skin, and instead was being absorbed.

“There, try to open them…” she said softly

I found I could partially do so, the light which flooded in was overwhelming! Even though my eyes were only partially opened, the lid of that black veil shielding most of my vision, I could see in the lower part of my vision, a blur.

I cringed at the blinding light, making my eyes strain and hurt which made my head pound even worse and I became dizzier. It took some time but finally I was able to open them fully, clenching them shut and trying to open them again in reaction to that light.

When finally, I could hold them open, that blurred view of my surroundings became clearer. And there before me, I saw an angelical figure standing face to face with me. She was covered in white, her bright blue eyes standing out against the white of her face with that blinding light behind her. It was a heavenly sight, but I was happy to be alive, and so relieved I could finally see! It was far warmer and more welcoming than the oppressive darkness I had been locked in before.

“There we go…much better,” she said, I could barely make out the movement of her lips, but what I could see was something familiar to me. It was a face I recognized but could not remember what it was. An elongated one, with dark black lips, rounded, leathery much like her nose which sat atop and surrounded in a sea of white fur.

It was connected by a bridge which ran from those blue eyes and her forehead and two long, pointed ears which sat atop her head. Finally, the thought registered in my confused mind…it was a canid face.

“You…you…canine?” I asked confused.

“Fox…arctic fox to be exact…and you are too, canid…but a wolf,” she corrected.

A wolf? A canine? No, I am a man! A human. My brain knows what I am, I seen it myself, what I looked like. My brain was riddled with another problem, how was a fox talking to me? With my limited memory, I knew only humans could talk and she was not human!

“W-what? I…human…” my words came out like a caveman, ancient and broken English.

A hearty chuckle filled my eyes, “No…you are a wolf, have always been…you must rest now, you are confused; you must give yourself time.”

I brought my hands to view, and seen the brown and white fur which covered my arms and the humanoid hands which had short black claws adorning my finger-tips and thick leathery pads which covered my palm and fingers. It was such a shock I soon passed out, realizing things were not as they seemed.

I awoke a while later with the room completely empty. I was alone, but my vision was much clearer, and my body no longer felt paralyzed. I was able to move freely and adjust my position. I leaned up, and surveyed my surroundings. I was in an enclosed room, lying on a hovering cot which was beneath a large, bright led light. I was a rounded room, with monitors and computers lining it, with several desk chairs between them and the walls. I was the center focus of this whole observatory.

I searched for the strength and found it, swinging my body and letting my feet dangle from the bed. I was nude, wearing only a single piece of cloth to cover my nether regions. I could see my body was covered in fur, long and coarse with a humanoid figure, but feral like feet.

My head swam in a sea of dizziness, as I recuperated. Holding my hand to the side of my head to null the ache there. It passed to the back, and that’s where I felt it. Long…slender and furred, standing erect atop my skull like a proud satellite. I could hear the frequency change as my hand passed over it, it was my ear; a canid’s ear.

I stared forth, and at the end of my vision I saw my own black tipped, furred muzzle. And panic struck me like a punch, this wasn’t right! My brain knew it…I knew it! I was human…no more, I was a wolf!

An ear shattering scream escaped my lips before Dr. Fraustfer and her assistant, a shorter raccoon came running into the observation room. And soon after them a whole bunch of others followed in, all unique, all different…all hybrids. Cats big and small, canids, equines and mustelids, different species represented, but yet all had a unique form…a silhouette of a human.

“Easy! Easy! This is normal, all our patients have this reaction, you’re perfectly fine,” she tried to calm me, but it didn’t help!

“NO! I am a human! Not…this!” I gestured to all of me, my words falling seamlessly.

“Yes, you are…” she corrected, like some sort of mind game, “You have always been”

I was almost inclined to believe her, but I knew better. My brain may be slow, but it is not damaged! I may not remember everything, but I know in the pit of my stomach and the depth of my heart I am HUMAN.

“You lie!” I prod, “Tell me the truth! What is this place and why am I like this! And WHAT are all of you?!”

A larger cat stepped forth, nodding his head, his mane standing proudly, surrounding his neck. A lion, a large male lion, nude as I am but much calmer. “We…are anthros…hybrids and you are too”.

The word struck me again and I remember the acronym. The truth of it settling in, and burning my heart, “No…” I muttered shamefully.

“You are a subject of the research here, to turn a man into a hybrid; to take advantage of the best of both worlds – the mobility and dexterity of man, and the strength, ferocity and instinct of beast…we all are,” the lion answered in a baritone.

“We…found you encased in ice, you were perfectly preserved, and it was an astonishing find. We did some DNA research and carbon dating suggested you were from the 21st century. So, we thawed you and subjected you to our genetic engineering laboratory to inject your body with the genetic code of a wolf…it’s a complicated process I cannot get into, but it was successful, our study concluded you were the perfect subject for the possibility of rejuvenation – your organs, your brain was perfectly intact, and we have the technology to bring you back to life” Dr. Fraustfer added in gently.

“Since then, we watched your body change; the fur growing, your body transforming. But we didn’t want to risk your body rejecting the genetic blueprint we provided, so we put you back into a light cryogenic stasis again to allow your body to slowly adjust. And it seems it has!”

It was all too much to take in, I buried my face in my hands and shook my head, trying to shake the reality of it. I wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, be rid of this nightmare and wake again to a different reality…but this was it, truth, absolution. “Why? Why change me?”

“Our research concluded humans were dangerous, destructive and out of tune with the laws of nature. By subjecting you to this advancement in genetic engineering we hoped you would adapt and lose your self-destructive human dispositions. The earth is no longer existent, for your kind had destroyed it centuries ago,” the lion stated matter of factly, his deep voice reverberating off the walls in the room.

“Centuries? Earth gone?! Where am I!? and what year is it?!” I howled alarmingly.

With a prudent sigh the arctic fox answered, “It is 2317, and I told you, you’re on board a specialized interstellar space ship entitled ANTHRO. We are on our way back to our home planet, light years from the Milky Way, the galaxy in which Earth once resided, your old home. But now you have a new life and a new chance on our planet…where you will find you will fit in and adjust, so long as you adapt to your new body.”

A new life? I want my old one back, even though I don’t remember much of it. Who was I before? What did I do? Perhaps though this is a chance for a new beginning, and this body is going to take some getting us to for sure!

Out of curiosity I ask, “Well what if I don’t? What if I choose not to?”

The arctic fox just gave me a disappointed look, “Then we will put you back into a coma and undergo cryogenic stasis and store you in a secret underground laboratory on our planet, like they did to you on Earth. Area 51, I believe it was called? Ring a bell?”

That name did sound familiar, a governmentally protected and sanctioned area designated for the research and sampling of classified technology and weaponry…and apparently the testing of medical advancements.

I did not want this new body, but I certainly did not want to be put back in a coma and frozen again, that was miserable!

“Alright…new life it is then…”

Dr. Fraustfer seemed happy at my decision, “Wonderful!” she cheered. “I will work closely with you and soon you will be on your feet…er…paws!”

I gently shook my head at the thought of being this new creature, a twisted experiment…a subject. But it was better than being dead or close to it. I desired to stand, to test out my new legs and get the feel of my new body, but as soon as I pushed myself off the bed and my pads hit the floor, my legs gave out from the weight of my body.

“Take it slow…there’s no rush, you must get used to your own body, after all it’s been a while since you last walked,” she coaxed.

“Yea! Over 300 years!” I snarl.

“But it won’t take long before you walk again, and before you know it you will be fully accustomed to your new life, with advancements in technology and medical practices, you will live for a long time and enjoy every minute of it!” she smiled, “no doubt you wonder who you were before? Let me show you…”

With the help of several others, I managed to scramble my way to one of the monitors, in the reflection of the screen I saw my own face, a long-muzzled wolf staring back. Beyond my reflection I saw my medical file and report; within it held a compiled description of my history and before I can even start reading it Dr. Fraustfer explained,

“It states you were a citizen, and had authorized your government to use your body for science upon your death or in a such an intensive medical state that your very own survival was a low possibility. It said you were involved in a ‘car crash’ and rushed to the intensive care unit at your local hospital. You were trapped in a coma, unable to respond, but still very much alive and on life support until your family signed a waver to take you from life support after 6 months of inactivity,” she stated plainly.

“Your government subjected you to scientific study, like you authorized on your will, and put you in the cryogenic program, to see if your body could still remain perfectly preserved and active after decades encapsulated…however, you must have been forgotten about after the nuclear war left your planet a wasteland until you were discovered by our archeological team recently when the radiation of your planet was deemed safe enough for minimal exposure.”

“…Unbelievable…”, I stared at the monitor in disbelief, I was lucky to be alive now and grateful. I was ready to leave my old life behind and start a new one, after all who wants to know they had been forgotten? With all my questions answered, only my future awaited me. One thing was for sure, I was not going back into a coma!

“I know it’s difficult to take in…but this is your past, we can forget all about this and start over, so that you may have a brighter future…”, she said gently.

“I would like that…” I said lowly, looking away from the monitor. “Good…” she reached down with a single furred finger, and pressed a button and immediately the monitor went black save for a few red letters which traversed the screen ‘FILE DELETED’.

Then with a smile she said, “Welcome to the world of Anthro”

END

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My entry for this week's Thursday prompt, the thesis for this weeks prompt is as follows: "You awaken in a high-tech hospital, only to discover yourself in an entirely new body. It is three centuries after you slipped into a coma, and your human form is gone, replaced with the half-animal hybrid form which has become the norm in this strange new future. How do you adjust? HOW did you come to be there?" set forth by  Wolfentales

I'm not sure about how I feel about this story, never before have I attempted something like this. Would like feedback. I tried to keep it short, but also felt like I needed to expand a little bit to keep it from being confusing which I am almost afraid it still may be lol

Am not very good with the 'science' behind certain things so if anything is 'off' or makes no sense in that regard, I apologize, this was a difficult one to write and I hope it's at least somewhat entertaining!

Also too, it's in 1st person view of a RANDOM wolf character, not Hunter which is the first time in my Thursday Prompts I've haven't used him in the story

Feel free to post feedback! Thanks everyone and safe Holidays!