View source for User:Synariatales/Zookeeping, Part 1: A Matter of Otter Importance

{{title
|name= Zookeeping, Part 1: A Matter of Otter Importance
|author=Synariatales
|user=Synariatales}}

“Are you sure I should be back here?” Jane asked nervously. She rubbed her thumbs together as she glanced over her shoulder down the dark hallway to ensure nobody else was around.

“Of course!” Brandon replied. “Management always insists we let our new zookeepers socialize with some of the animals.”
	
“But I haven’t even been hired yet!” Jane protested. She was excited about working at the local zoo, but the thought of going into the exhibits without being an employee made her uneasy. The whole situation could be a disaster for the zoo if anything happened with liability and all.
	
“You’re fine,” Brandon assured her. “My boss already told me he planned on giving you a position in otter conservation. He asked me to bring you here.”
	
“Really?” Jane asked excitedly. Otters were her favorite animals. When she applied to the zoo, she had expected to get some position at a snack stand or something. The manager must have really seen her passion for animals.
	
“Yup, you’re a shoo-in for the position,” Brandon said. His key ring jingled as he fiddled with the lock which quickly gave way with a satisfying click.
	
“Now do you want to meet the animals or not?” Brandon asked.
	
“Of course I do!” Jane said. She had seen the giant otters from behind the glass. They looked so small from a distance, but they really grew to be over five feet tall. She couldn’t wait to see one up close.
	
“Now just be considerate around them,” Brandon warned. “They’re always friendly and gentle, but they have been rather reserved since we lost our only female otter. Now its just a bunch of guys with no playmates, if you know what I mean.”
	
“I didn’t know you lost an otter,” Jane said sadly. She followed the news around the zoo pretty closely and hadn’t seen anything relating to the otters recently.
	
“Yeah, we’ve been keeping it on the down-low until we can find a replacement,” Brandon admitted. “We didn’t want to break the bad news to the public just yet.”
	
“Okay,” Jane said with a nod. Brandon smiled and opened the door. He stepped inside, holding the door open as Jane followed. The room was small, just a back room behind the exhibit for feeding and rest. Most of the space was filled with water for the otters to swim in.
	
“It seems everyone is out swimming in the main exhibit,” Brandon said. “But they’ll come back here as soon as they hear me getting out their fish.”
	
“Oh!” Jane said. “Can I feed them?”
	
“Feed them?” Brandon asked. “Wouldn’t you rather swim with them?”
	
“Is that allowed?” Jane asked, confused. 
	
“Of course, we do it all the time,” Brandon assured her. “Just take off your clothes, except for your underthings of course. The otters might grab at any loose fabric.”
	
Jane nodded and nervously removed her shirt. Brandon had been her close friend for years. He’d seen her in a bikini hundreds of times, but there was still something off about the thought of him seeing her in her underwear, not that she was entirely opposed to the idea. Brandon was a bit of a hunk.
	
Jane stripped down, placing her clothing by the door. She found a small set of stairs leading down into the water while Brandon dug around in a closet for the otters’ food. Just like he had promised, the commotion had attracted several of the furry creatures into the room.
	
The water was warm and inviting. Jane let herself sink into it just as she would her own pool. Water rushed around Jane as the giant otters swam passed her playfully. Jane smiled widely as the large furry critters seemed to dance around her. 
	
“Enjoying yourself?” Brandon asked from the side of the water. He held two buckets, one overflowing with fish and another that appeared empty. 
	
“I am,” Jane laughed. An otter brushed passed her arm. She could feel its wet fur against her skin. She only wished one of the otters would be still so she could pet it.
	
“Well, let me help you enjoy yourself a little more,” Brandon said with a smile. He set down the bucket of fish and dumped the contents of the other into the water. Pink fluid poured out of the bucket and dispersed throughout the pool. It only took a moment for the pink haze to completely surround Jane and the otters.
	
“What was that?” Jane asked. She scratched at her skin as she felt her body begin to itch. She wondered if she was allergic to the otters or whatever it was Brandon had put in the water.
	
“Something special developed by the scientists we have on site,” Brandon explained. He tossed the bucket aside and carefully wiped the pink droplets from his hand. “They made it to try to help get the species off the endangered list.”
	
“How could that help your otters?” Jane asked. “All of your otters are male. What good will some fertility mix do?”
	
Brandon shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure,” he said. “I just did what boss man told me. My job is done.”
	
“What?” Jane asked. The otters were getting closer to her, almost uncomfortably so.
	
“I have to go,” Brandon said. Jane opened her mouth to protest but before she could say anything Brandon stormed out of the room, knocking over the bucket of fish and grabbing Jane’s clothes on his way out. Jane heard the soft click of the lock as the door shut behind her friend.
	
Jane rushed to the stairs and exited the water. She instinctively covered herself with one arm as she tried to force the door open.
	
“Brandon!” Jane shouted. She banged on the door. What the hell was wrong with him? He never acted like this. “Brandon!” she shouted again when no response came through.
	
The giant otters slowly followed Jane out of the water, one by one. Their webbed paws smacked against the hard artificial stone as they curiously surrounded the door. Jane swung her head around, watching the otters gather around her. They were bigger than she had imagined up close and the way they looked at her was starting to make her worry.
	
“Brandon!” Jane shouted. She banged on the door with both hands, a decision she immediately regretted as her underwear slid down her legs. That shouldn’t happen, Jane thought. She bent over to pull her clothing back up. She gripped her panties in her hand and froze as she felt a wet nose press against her womanhood. 
	
Jane released her panties and turned, swatting the giant otter on the snout. “Get away!” she cried as the creature hissed at her. She covered her private area with her hand. The skin beneath her fingers felt soft and fuzzy.
	
“Wha…” Jane whispered. She glanced down at her groin. Light brown fur covered her sex. Jane screamed as the hair continued to grow in the surrounding areas. 
	
The spread of the hair brought with it other changes that made Jane less human and more otter. A small, pointed tail extended from the end of her spine as her newly grown coat grew over her rear. Her torso extended and her legs shrank, giving her an elongated body just like the creatures that surrounded her. Jane attempted to scratch her itching skin, but her fingers and toes had melded together to form webbed paws on her now smaller hands and feet.
	
The change was rapid, so fast that every snap or growth of a new body part did not register with her brain, preventing her from feeling what must have been an incredibly painful transition. Tears ran from Jane’s eyes as the infection spread to her head, completely reforming it to fit the mold of her new body. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, Jane’s world had changed.
	
Jane panted as she lay on her side, opening her new eyes for the first time. The otters around her were moving in closer. She felt a mix of fear and curiosity as she noticed that nearly all of them were erect, ready to claim her as their own. 
	
A position in otter conservation, Jane thought to herself. This is not exactly what she had pictured when she imagined herself in that particular job, nor would it be a fate she would have chosen for herself if she had been given the choice. That is, that is what she would have felt before the change. Jane felt her mind slowly slipping away as she became more and more focused on that which she was remade for— reproduction. Helping to repopulate the giant otters would be a daunting task, but Jane’s body was willing and able to take on the challenge. 

[[Category: Story]]
[[Category: Synariatales]]
[[Category: Otter]]
[[Category: Human]]
{{DEFAULTSORT: Zookeeping, Part 1: A Matter of Otter Importance}}