Chapter 2

Samuel slowly awoke. His head was still spinning slightly from the tranquilizer. He sat up and looked around. He was lying in a bed in a petite room with a small bathroom and a few pictures on blue colored walls. His clothes replaced with an open-backed gown, he felt exposed.

He slowly arose and walked around the room. Finding a door on the other side of the room, he tried to open it. Unfortunately, it was to no avail as the door was locked from the outside. He consider other means of escape such as a ventilation system. Unfortunately, there were none. Why had they captured him and Jake? How did they know what had happened to them? How long had he been unconscious?

The person he worried most about was Jacob. Would he be able to survive as an animal? It didn’t seem fair that Jacob had to be alone in the woods. He could only hope that Jacob would know what to do. Hearing the door opening broke his thoughts. A few seconds later, two men in biohazard suits walked in.

"Ah, I see you’re awake." One of them said.

"Who are you? Why have you taken us prisoner? What do you want with us?" Samuel demanded.

"I assure you that all of your questions will be answered. First, we have some questions for you. Now please come with us." The man answered.

"And if I refuse?" Samuel asked.

The man snapped his finger and the other man stepped forward, revealing that he was carrying a prod of some sort.

"As you can see, it is your best interest to co-operate with us." He said.

Samuel didn’t know where they were going to take him and unfortunately, it seemed he had little choice but comply. Nodding his head dejectedly, he acquiesced. However, he was determined to find Jake and then escape, the sooner the better.

***

Jacob wasn’t sure how long it had been since the men took Samuel and Jake away. The sun was still up and he hadn’t of slept, so it had to have been less then a day. He knew however that he had to get help.

Even as he walked along the forest floor, his mind was reeling. Instincts were trying to assert themselves. They were trying to tell him to forget his human life and embrace his new form.

Even walking along the forest floor like this felt incredible. He felt so at home, it was as if he was one with the forest. Nevertheless, he also knew that he had to find a way to help his Dad and Jake. It was then that he remembered the asteroid. Perhaps it was still there and could restore his humanoid form. It did so for Jake, maybe if he stood by it for a few minutes it could work.

Either way, he had to try! He hadn’t of walked too far from the cabin and although his perspective was quite a bit different, he had a good idea of which direction to go to find it. With that in mind, he began making his way back towards it, hoping that it was still there.

***

Samuel was led through a short network of corridors. He had considered making a break for it. However, he was not about to leave Jake alone to an unknown fate. He saw Jake as an innocent in all of this and couldn’t bare the thought of something happening to him. There were also the two heavily armed guards behind him. He knew that with their armaments, any attempt at escape would be short lived.

He was led into a room with a white table with two chairs on either side. The man in the biohazard suit leading the way sat down on one end, requesting that Samuel sit down across from him.Walking arround to the front of the chair, he carefully threaded his tail though the holes in the chair and sat down. As he did so, the two guards closed the door behind them and stood ready. Folding his arms on the table, the man spoke.

"Mr. Thompson I presume. When we searched your clothing we found your wallet with identification." He asked.

"That’s right" Samuel responded.

"Very well then Mr. Thompson. My name is Doctor David Tanner. I’m sure you know what my first question will be. How did this happen to you? Last night, we saw the other one like you, the one you identify as Jake entering your residence. Did he have something to do with this?" Doctor Tanner asked.

"No, he’s innocent. In fact, we’re both innocents, this was an accident. We never intended to end up like this. We were exposed to an asteroid. Jake was just a normal animal and we were exposed at the same time. Somehow, it did this to him and to us. We don’t know why or how." Samuel said.

"I see" the man said before leaning forward. "We have taken blood samples from both of you. We have yet to detect any kind of pathogen or virus in your blood that could cause this. We also found no asteroid. So, are you going to tell us what really happened to you?" Doctor Tanner (sounding slightly agitated) asked.

"But it is what really happened. There is also the matter of my son. It completely changed him into an animal. Now he’s out there alone. He’s probably terrified and has no idea of how to live as an animal!" Samuel lamented.

"I could send my men to look for him. But if you want me to do that then I need your co-operation." Doctor Tanner said.

"I am co-operating! I’ve told you everything I know! It’s bad enough being turned into a freak, but now you’ve abducted both an innocent and me and are holding us without any reason!" Samuel exclaimed.

"We are holding you because we need to ascertain your identity and if you are a threat. We need to do some tests to make sure you are who you say you are. If you co-operate then I will allow you to see this ‘Jake’ and I will send men out to look for your son." Doctor Tanner said.

"What kind of tests?" Samuel asked.

"We’ve already taken blood tests, but we need to take some x-rays and test your brain waves to make sure you truly are a human and he is an animal that’s been changed. If we can ascertain that and can determine that this condition of yours is not contagious then we will release you." Doctor Tanner said.

"It seems I have little choice. First, I want to see Jake. I want to know that he’s okay." Samuel insisted.

The man sighed but decided to allow Samuel to see Jake as a gesture of goodwill. He motioned for one of the guards to go and get Jake. Several minutes later, the guard came back with a frightened looking Jake in tow. As soon as Jake saw Samuel, he immediately ran over to him.

"Who are these people and where have they taken us?" he asked, his voice trembling.

"They want to be sure we are not threats and want to know why this happened to us. I’ve been told that if we co-operate with them that they will release us." Samuel said.

"I don’t want to be alone again! I want to be with you. And what About Jacob, He’s all alone out there!" Jake lamented.

"I am a reasonable man and I am willing to work with you two if you work with me. If you both co-operate then I will allow you to stay together and I will send my men out to find Jacob." Doctor Tanner said.

Jake was so terrified that he didn’t know what to say or do. He had no concept of deception. He could only assume that the man was telling the truth. However, he also had no idea of why he or Samuel would be considered a threat. He had done nothing to harm this man or any of the other men. So far, his first day as a humanoid was not going well. A part of him wished he could just be an animal again and go back to the woods. He also worried about his mother. He knew that she’d be worried about him and would be looking for him. He was hopeful that Jacob would somehow find her. Maybe they could do something.

"When you say co-operate, what do you mean?" Jake asked.

"We want to do some tests, that is all. These tests will not hurt. We just want to find out how it is that you can speak and how this happened to you. We want to know how you appear to have gained human knowledge. If we learn how and learn how to reproduce this (without the being turned into an animal aspect) then we could find ways to give people years worth of knowledge in hours. We could also find ways to treat people suffering from memory loss." Doctor Tanner said, sounding honest.

"But you still took us away, you still knocked us out!" Jake said, holding Samuel tight out of fear.

"I am sorry for that. We didn’t know how this happened to you or even what you were. For all we knew, you were monsters or worse. We had to take every precaution." The man answered.

Samuel turned to Jacob and petted him on the head.

"I’m scared too Jake, I may not show it but I am. The best thing we can do, not only for ourselves but also for Jacob is to co-operate with these people." Samuel said. Although he wasn’t sure if it was safe to trust the man or not, he knew that he had to do everything to ensure not only his and Jake safety but also that of Jacob’s. He could only pray that Jacob was all right and that he would know how to survive. He hoped that Jacob would stay close to the cabin. If anywhere, the men would start looking there.

"So," the man said as he folded his arms under his chin while resting his elbows on the table. "Shall we begin? The sooner we start the sooner we can get this done. And the sooner I can begin to send our search parties" Doctor Tanner said.

Sighing, Samuel nodded his head.

***

Jacob didn’t know how long he had been walking. He knew he was getting close to the asteroid. The sun was starting to set and it was getting cooler. He was scared, terrified more like it. He knew that a predator could come running at him and kill him at any moment. He definitely didn’t to die. Even if he was going to live out his life as a wild raccoon, it was preferable to death. When he thought about it a bit, suddenly it seemed quite a bit preferable to death, perhaps even to human life.

If this was permanent, he knew that a silver lining to the preverbal cloud would be the loss of human responsibilities. He wouldn’t have to worry about homework, studying, what to wear or being a ‘good boy’ anymore. He could do almost anything he pleased, stay out all night, go weeks or months without bathing or eat whatever he pleased. The ‘bad boy’ side of him liked that. He also knew however that giving up on being human again would mean he’d never see his father, any other family members, friends or Jake again. As an animal, he wouldn’t be able to play video games, watch TV, ride a bike, and eat fast food or anything that as a human he took for granted. As much as the idea of living as an animal seemed almost appealing. Not having responsibilities wasn’t worth giving up what he had as a human. With that, he was determined to find the asteroid. Unfortunately, if he didn’t find it or a human or something soon that panic was going to set in. If he were to panic, then instincts could overcome him. He had to resist; he had to stay focused.

In the distance, he could hear something. It was a sound, the sound of a raccoon calling out for another. Something in his mind told him that it was a mother calling out for her baby. He instinctively smelled the air, hoping to pick up her scent. At first, he couldn’t but after walking closer to the sound, he could. Her scent was oddly familiar and eventually clicked. He had smelled the scent on Jake. Could this be Jake’s mother? His morale improved at that point. If he could find Jake’s mother and find the asteroid, then he’d be killing two birds with one stone.

He didn’t know how or why, but he started responding by making the same sounds that the female was making. He realized that while he was a bit older then Jake, he was still technically a juvenile raccoon. He was too young to be out on his own. Perhaps he could find a way to communicate to her that he knew Jake. Perhaps he could get her to take him in; at least he’d be warm. He was hungry and although the idea of nursing off an animal seemed morally wrong to him, his body needed nourishment. If she could provide it for him and was willing, then he’d have to let go of his inhibitions. If he was truly meant to live out his life as an animal, he had to learn to think like one.

When the female responded to his calls for help, he was elated. He immediately started running towards her. Perhaps he was going to be fine.

It took about twenty minutes to catch up to her. When he did, she stood there before him. She was about twice his size. She looked down at him before smelling him. She could smell Jake on him but knew right away that he wasn’t Jake.

While Jacob could understand the language of his new species, he wasn’t sure how to tell her what had happened to Jake. Animal language was much simpler then human language. Without any sounds for asteroid or cabin, he had to improvise. He pointed to himself and made sounds that he understood to mean ‘human’. The female looked at him oddly; she obviously didn’t know what he meant.

He tried something else. He made a sound meaning ‘baby’ and then ‘human’. Then he made a sound meaning ‘human’ and then pointed at himself. It was frustrating for him; he had the words in his mind but had no way of expressing them vocally. He also understood that the female couldn’t possibly understand them.

He was worried that she was going to think he did something to Jake and harm him. Fortunately, she seemed to take to him. Considering his age, he guessed that she was considering taking him in.

Before that though, he tried one last thing. He made a sound asking her to follow him. She looked at him, tilting her head as if in thought. He had little idea of what animal’s thoughts were like or even if they thought. However, he had to take the risk that she had no idea of anything he meant. Even with his smaller size and very different perspective, he still had a decent idea of where he was. He knew the asteroid was around there; he could sense it.

He slowly started walking in the direction it was, hoping the female would follow. He was still very hungry, and hoped that his hunger would motivate her to follow him.

As he took several steps, he looked back and was elated to see that she was following him.

*

They had been walking for nearly an hour and he was getting very tired. He was about to give up when a gust of wind picked up. He knew he was very close to the asteroid, he could recognize the area. He unfortunately, could not see it. It was then they he noticed something in the corner of his eye. Under a pile of leaves, he saw something shining. The gust of wind had disturbed them. Quickly running over to the pile, he realized what had happened.

Someone had covered the asteroid and crater with leaves! Quickly digging enough of them away to expose enough of the asteroid to cover him, he gently lay down beside it. He remembered that the last time, Jake and him had been beside it together. He wasn’t sure how much of a big difference it would make that he was now alone. He had to risk it though, if there was even a chance it could at least make him like Jake then he was willing to take it.

He found himself starting to drift off. The female walked up beside him, fascinated with the site of the asteroid but also sensing his hunger and tiredness. Lying down beside him, she offered a teat to him. This embarrassed him but his hunger overcame that quickly. Maneuvering over to her, he started to suckle.

Her milk was warm and tasted great. It was different then the milk he was used to but somehow it felt better for him.

It wasn’t long until he was full and stopped. Yawning, he curled up beside her, closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep.

***

Jake sat as various doctors asked him knowledge type questions. They had electrodes connected to his head to monitor his brain waves.

Based on the questions he understood it appeared that he had gained knowledge from Jacob. They couldn’t explain how this was possible. It also appeared that he had gained some knowledge from Samuel. However, since he was exposed to the asteroid along with Samuel for only a few seconds, he only gained a few things from him.

Based on other tests, his intelligence level appeared to be slightly above average by human standards. After a few hours of tests, he was getting bored. He wanted to go back to the cabin or at the very least to get out of that building.

In an adjacent room, Samuel had had a few x-rays done as well as tests of his own intelligence and brain waves. From the tests they did on him, it appeared that he had gained some instincts from Jake, however they were well under his control.

Both of their blood tests and shown no virus or pathogen in their blood stream. Whatever had changed them was clearly gone.

As the people came to conclusions, they gave Samuel and Jake their clothes back. When they were dressed, they were taken to a more comfortable room with chairs, couches and a TV.

The man that had talked to them earlier was watching TV and seemed delighted to see them. Standing up, he walked over to them and smiled.

"Ah, glad to see you two are dressed. From what we’ve seen of the tests of far, it looks like your two are fine. I see no reason to think either of you are a danger to yourselves or anyone else." He said.

"Thanks. Now that we have co-operated, what about Jacob?" Samuel asked.

"Ah yes, I will send a team out immediately to look for him." He answered.

"Can we come with you to look for him?" Samuel asked.

"Well, when we find him, we want to bring him here to see if he’s alright." The man answered. He saw that Samuel looked disappointed and offered a compromise. "I will however, allow one of you to accompany them while the other stays here. A familiar voice calling for him would probably be useful."

"Jake, why don’t you go? You probably know the area better then me and since you’ve been an animal for most of your life, you should be able to understand actions Jacob might take" Samuel asked.

"That sounds good. Don’t worry, we’ll find him." Jake said. Samuel nodded and they hugged.

The man suggested Samuel watched TV to pass the time. Although Samuel was feeling very nervous, he knew there was little he could do.

The man nodded and escorted Jake out of the room and to where the rescue party was waiting. By this point, it was getting dark, so they were equipping themselves with night vision goggles. Tests had shown that Jake’s night vision was excellent, and thus he could do without the night vision goggles. He did have another reason to go with them; he was hopeful that he would find his mother. He still knew her scent and was hopeful she would recognize his.

As he climbed into the back of one of the trucks, he was worried about Jacob. He was worried that Jacob would succumb to instinct. He knew how powerful the ‘call of the wild’ could be. With Jacob having completely transformed, he knew that it was a very real possibility that he could lose himself to his new body. Despite these fears, he knew that he had to find him. One way or another, he had to find him and bring him back to Samuel.

***

Jacob awoke to the sound of something calling his voice. As soon as he opened his eyes, he knew something was different. The world seemed smaller somehow. It was dark out and although the asteroid was still bright, it seemed a fair bit dimmer then before. However, that wasn’t his immediate concern.

Almost immediately, he noticed that his body was different, a lot different. It was difficult to see it in the dark but it looked as if his humanoid form had been restored!

Slowly standing up, he noticed that his height was the same as his human self. He seemed to have been restored, or more so at least to a humanoid shape. He didn’t have any clothes on but at this point, it didn’t bother him.

Turning around, he saw something else shocking. The female had also been changed and appeared humanoid! As he heard his name being called again, he knelt down and slowly jostled her. She slowly stood up and stood before him.

"What’s happening? Why do I look like this?" she asked, realizing she was speaking. "And how is it I can speak and understand your language?" she asked.

"It’s a long story." Jacob answered. "I don’t get why we weren’t made fully human again. I guess it’s not possible." He said.

Hearing his name being called again, he responded. A few seconds later, they could hear a group of people heading in their direction.

"You’re Jacob I take it?" the female asked. Sniffing the air, she seemed to recognize a scent. "I can smell him, my baby. I think the word you humans use is, son," she added.

"You can smell Jake? I saw these guys take them and my dad away. Maybe they convinced them to find me and maybe Jake convinced them to find you? Jake might have helped and might be here as well!" Jacob said.

"Then, let’s call him!" the female said.

Together, they both called Jake’s name. When Jake responded, they both walked away from the asteroid to a safe distance in the direction of his voice. Several minutes later, Jake walked up to the duo along with two of the men.

"Jacob, you’re a humanoid again! And is that my mother?" he asked.

The female walked over to Jake, immediately sniffing him and touching his shoulders and chest with her paws. After a few short seconds, she smiled.

"Yes, you are my son. However, why are you wearing clothes? Humans wear clothes not us!" she asked. At this point, she did not attempt to cover herself. She had no sense of modesty and thus, didn’t seem upset that people could see her unclothed.

"This guy told me about something humans call decency and modesty." Jake said. It was then that the female realized that she recognized those words but had no idea how or why.

"How is it that I can understand human language? In addition, I seem to understand other things as well. What’s going on? Why do I look like this? Why are you two like this? Will someone please explain this to me?" she requested.

"Ma’am, if you come with us, we can explain" one of the men said.

"I’m not sure. I’m not supposed to trust humans! How do I know this isn’t a trick?" the female asked, sounding very nervous.

"It’s okay mom, they just want to make sure your okay. Jacob’s dad is there, he’s like us!" Jake said.

"By the way, the asteroid that changed us is over there. Maybe if you guys took it with you and studied it, it could explain why all of this happened." Jacob said.

"Good idea young man. We’ll get a team with proper protection right away. In the meantime, you three should come to the facility. Miss, I assure you, we won’t harm you. We can get you something to wear a warm meal and we can get you cleaned up. And Jacob, we can reunite you with your father." One of the men said.

The female was obviously nervous, but seeing Jake and Jacob agreeing with them calmed her a bit. She still didn’t know what to think. She had all this knowledge in her head and knew know to speak the human language English. She wanted to know why this happened and what to do next and right now, these humans seemed capable of explaining it.

Nodding her head, she agreed to go with them.

***

Samuel was pacing back and forth. He had tried to watch TV, but couldn’t. Although it had only been a few hours since Jake had left to go look for Jacob, It felt like an eternity.

Finally, Jake ran into the room with Jacob behind him. Except Jacob wasn’t an animal anymore, at least not completely. Somehow, he had been restored to humanoid form. As soon as Jacob saw Samuel, he ran over to him and hugged him.

"Jacob, your okay. I’m so happy to see you." Samuel said. "But how did they restore you? The last time I saw you, you were completely an animal." He asked.

"Well, I met someone, and she stayed with me by the asteroid" Jacob said.

"Who?" Samuel inquired.

Second later, Jake’s mother walked into the room. In the full light of the room, Samuel was able to get a good look at her. Standing before him was a gorgeous female raccoon. Her fur coloring was a grayish-black. Her proportions were that of slightly chubby human, although it ‘worked’ for her. Age wise, she appeared to be around Samuel’s age, perhaps a bit younger. She still wasn’t wearing any clothing. With no sense of modesty, she wasn’t embarrassed and still made no effort to cover herself.

"Hello." Samuel awkwardly said.

"This is my Mom, she stayed with Jacob" Jake informed Samuel.

"I see. Well thank you for staying with my son." Samuel said. "There’s one thing I don’t get though, how did you and Jacob gain humanoid forms if you were alone by the asteroid? And where did you get the mass to become humanoid from?" he asked.

At that moment, one of the men in biohazard suits walked in. He asked if Jacob and the female would submit to some tests. The tests would be the same tests given to Samuel and Jake just to be sure, they were okay. He also said that the female would be given clothing and they recommended she chose a name for herself. She was a bit nervous of that, as was Jacob. Samuel and Jake assured them that they would be okay.

The female still wasn’t sure what to think. Her instincts were telling her to be afraid of the humans, yet her son and the two others like her said that they would be fine. Rather then risk causing a problem, she decided to go along with the tests.

The men also said that they were planning to run tests on the asteroid to figure out the answers to the questions the group was posed.

Because it was late, Samuel and Jake were taken to quarters to rest for the night. Jacob and the female were assured that once the tests were complete that he would be allowed to stay with Samuel and Jake with his mother.

*

The next day, Samuel awoke to the sun shining in his room though the window. He felt refreshed. Jacob was sleeping in a bed next to his and was just starting to wake up.

As Jacob woke up, Samuel walked over and sat down on his bed.

"So, how are you feeling today?" he asked.

Jacob looked down at his body, touching the fur on his chest to confirm that this was indeed his body and that what had happened was real.

"Almost human" he said stopping for a second as he quickly chuckled to himself "with bad hair day".

"I’m sure this is going to take a long time for us to get used to. But we will find a way to adjust." Samuel answered.

Jacob nodded and they two of them got dressed in clothes that were provided and were escorted into the cafeteria for breakfast. Jake and his mother (who had chosen the name Cindy) were up and were about to start eating when Jacob and Samuel walked in. Jake’s mother was wearing clothes, a black tee shirt and navy blue cotton pants.

"So, how are you two feeling this morning?" Samuel asked.

"Not bad, I’m still getting used to using your language and wearing clothes, not to mention using utensils," Cindy said. "There’s so much for me to learn, so much for me to experience."

"And I’d love to be a part of that." Samuel said.

"Cool! Looks like were gonna be brothers" Jacob said to Jake.

"So what did the doctors say?" Samuel asked.

"They said that they cannot identify what the asteroid is emanating. They’re not sure why it made Jacob and I humanoid. However, it appears that the excess mass we needed came from the energy within it. That’s why it seemed dimmer when we woke up. They’re not sure if any of us can ever be made fully human or fully animal again." Cindy said.

"Well, we will find a way to adjust to this and to take a life for ourselves." Samuel said.

"It’s strange," Cindy said.

"What’s that?" Samuel asked.

"Yesterday at this time I was a wild animal. I had no concept of language; at least nothing behind a few simple sounds based on images, sounds and smells. I had no concept of anything beyond living in such a way as to only satisfy basic needs like eating, drinking, and finding shelter and procreation. As an animal, my intelligence level was much simpler. I was happy to exist off the land, I never really thought of living any way different. Now it’s hard for me to imagine the idea of going back." Cindy said.

"Well, that’s only natural. You’ve been introduced to a whole new perspective in life. It’s only natural that you feel that there’s no going back." Samuel said.

"So, what happens to us now?" she asked. "Jake and I can’t exactly live in the woods anymore." She said.

"Well, you could come and live with Jacob and me. There is plenty of room and we’d welcome new additions to our family." Samuel said.

"Sounds interesting. But it is going to take time for me to learn to live like a human and do human things." She said.

"I’d be happy to teach you." Samuel said.

Finishing off the last pieces of food on her plate, she licked her chops and smiled.

"And I’ll be happy to learn" she said.