Well... they'd at least been able to help. They saw Christine through college, and even after graduation, they stayed in close formation. They even held together into the professional world, even if not all of them were in the same department. Whether Christine realized it or not, they had all followed her into public service, settling into steady careers deep in the warrens of the bureaucracy.

What's more, they all did, generally, rather well for themselves. They lead what passed for illustrious careers within the ranks of public servants, being generally well respected by their peers. Even Christine had excelled, quickly getting a reputation for brilliance and efficiency. Her lack of confidence was able to be spun by her friends as a determination to never back down from a challenge. In reality, it was that she never quite managed to make herself say no.

Still, that's what friends were for, right? And they were there for each other through thick and thin, getting Christine to have as full of a life as they could get her to, even if it was a kind of... dragging her through the experiences, more than going through them with her. But they were her friends through thick and thin.

Still... the one thing that they couldn't just drag her along through was finding love. One by one, they each found partners. Some husbands, some girlfriends (gay marriage rights were still... a ways away), and despite their best efforts, there was a growing wedge between them all.

They tried to encourage her to meet people, but they just couldn't manage to get any traction on that. The last of them, Bailey, got married eleven years after they had graduated from college, leaving Christine as the last truly single person from the crew. Oh, their families were very understanding about her, and what she meant to the group, but... it was just difficult to really engage her in the couples' activities... and she almost seemed to have an anxiety response any time that she was working with the kids, so that was... problematic.

Still, at long last, they managed to... not exactly bully her, but coax her into going out on a date. The five women saw her off, waving cheerfully as she went with the man they'd managed to set her up with, only to look at each other worriedly once she was out of sight.

Joseph was a very good man, though, and took them to a lovely restaurant in the town, having not quibbled over her reluctance to eat on the waterfront. There were still some very lovely places in town. There was even one pub that he was very fond of, but... this wasn't a pub kind of date.

They rode up the elevator to the restaurant atop one of the skyscrapers, and Christine seemed to light up at the view through the windows as they stepped out of it. Seeing that spark in her made him smile. She really was a lovely woman, and he was so happy that she was able to take delight in something like this.

They were taken to their table, where they took a moment to look over the menu. “Mmm... it all looks so good... I think that I will go for the Coq au vin."

Christine would normally have just gone along with the suggestion, and ordered something similar... but somehow, she was feeling bold tonight. “That sounds great... but I really think that the rack of lamb is really calling to me... that with some lovely new potatoes and parsnips?" She said, looking up from the menu with a sense of hunger and drive in her that he'd never seen before. If her friends had seen her now, they would have cheered, recognizing some of the girl she'd once been.

They ordered soon after, and Christine was actually very animated as they waited for their food, chatting about the different movies and shows that they'd watched recently. “Oh my god, you actually watched that one?!? How was it?" She was blown away by one of the Netflix shows he'd actually watched, having seen it listed, but had always been too mortified of it to actually watch it.

“Oh, it was awful... I can't believe that it isn't scripted... but... it's next to impossible to script that kind of complete and utter awkwardness between people," he said, pulling a face and laughing as he shook his head. “It's a train-wreck from start to finish... but... I just couldn't look away until the end of the first season, and I've never let myself even touch the second season," he said, getting a hearty laugh out of her.

Honestly, it was as well that her friends hadn't been able to dine here as well, sitting like flies on the wall, because their delight at how the night was going would have been impossible to contain. As it was, they were all at a pub, just doing their best to keep themselves from worrying about her. Though, the longer it went on without an emergency call, the better.

When it was time for dessert, he ordered a rather delicate creme brulee, while she ordered a truly decadent slice of the tiramisu, and ate it with obvious relish. How long had it been since she'd last chosen something this wonderful for herself, rather than just sticking to one of the safe options, or one that her friends had chosen for her? Too long, really.

After dinner, Joseph even walked Christine back to her place, and was quite ready to wish her a good night, and let her have the rest of the night to herself, but when they got to her apartment door, the hunger and confidence that he'd noticed at the restaurant were, if anything, even more obvious than before. She was looking right into his eyes as they stood there at her open door.

“Well... I really had an amazing time tonight, Christine... I really hope that we can do this again... very soon..." he said, letting out a long breath, the delight plain on his face before being replaced by surprise when she grinned and brought one hand up to his chest.

She touched her fingers to his tie, walking them up along it before she slipped her fingers in and took hold of the top of his tie, gripping it and pulling him in closer toward her. She didn't know what was possessing her, but she leaned in and just kissed him right there in the hall. And she kissed him hard, making a deep sound of happiness into it.

His eyes went wide and then slowly closed, just enjoying this side of her... the intensity and passion of it were... honestly very attractive. When she broke the kiss, she looked up into his eyes. “I don't know about you... but I'm not ready for the night to be over... what do you say?" As she asked, she was still holding his tie, leaving him very little room to retreat.

He chuckled and grinned, “I say, 'yes, ma'am.' That sounds... very lovely..." he said, his own voice showing the need that he was feeling at that moment.

They made their way into the apartment, and Christine drew him back to the... honestly very nice couch inside. She sat down on it, pulling him down toward her, her hands starting to run over his body as she made deep sounds of excitement, nuzzling into the side of his neck.

He was more than happy to reciprocate, moving down over her, and started kissing along the side of her neck. He felt her arms wrap around him, running her nails along his back as she was arching up against him. Oh yes, he was enjoying her assertiveness right now, and he was just running his hands along her body, himself.

Only... as she raked her nails along his back, the feeling started to get more intense, causing him to wince just a little, but still, he nuzzled into the side of her neck. “Mmm... Christine... your hair is so nice and soft... but... ahh... could you... go a little easier with the nails?"

She lightened up a little, but the sound of need she was making became more intense... almost like a growl... and as he nuzzled along her neck, it slowly dawned on him... there was too much hair here...

He drew his head back and looked at her, his expression confused at first and then horrified as he let out a “not fucking around" scream of horror and pulled away from her, stumbling away from her and back toward the door.

Part of her tried to still hold onto him, but as his fear registered for her, she recoiled, herself, her eyes wide with fear as he just turned and ran for the door. Before he was quite up and out of it, she rose to her feet and was following after him, holding her hand out to him, “Wait, Joseph... what..." she started saying as the door swung shut, bringing the mirror that was on the inside of it around to point straight at her.

When she saw her reflection, she let out a loud scream of her own and ran back deeper into the apartment to escape her own reflection. She scrambled over the back of the couch to hide behind it, her hands coming up to grip the sides of her head as a panic attack tore right over her. Little by little, she started looking at herself... her hands... she felt her face... she felt the muzzle on it, and she saw the fur on her body.

“No... no... no... no..." the woman said before she scrambled to find her phone, pulling it out and started trying to call her friends... one by one, getting no answer from any of them. And when she got the voicemail on the last number, she threw her phone across the floor and just curled up into a trembling ball of fur and fear.

Christine had no idea how long she's been curled up there, or how many times her phone had rung before she'd answered it. She scrambled across the floor to where she had thrown it, and when she saw Chloe's name on it, she quickly answered it. “Christine? Christine, are you alright? Are you safe?"

Christine might have stood a chance of answering coherently, but with the emphasis on that last question, she just broke down crying, right there on the phone. There was a moment of quiet from Chloe before Pam cut in and asked, “Where are you? Are you at home?"

She managed a mumbled “Uh-huh," and there was a sound of relief from the others on the line. They were all together, it seemed.

Marilyn got hold of the phone next, saying, “Just stay tight there, girl. We're coming."

The line went dead before Christine could yell at them not to come. What could she have told them? That she'd suddenly turned into a werewolf? She scrambled, trying to figure out how to handle this, and the best answer she could come up with was to go and get one of her big, fuzzy blankets and create a cocoon around herself on the couch, with just a small opening to breathe and look out of while she turned on something to try to watch... not that she'd have any real attention to devote to it.

Werewolf... that was the best idea she could come up with, but this was nothing like the stories in books or movies... she wasn't some... wild, ravenous beast, she was more like a were-scared puppy. Still, she sat there, her mind spinning in circles as she waited for the inevitable. Against the complex's policy, she'd had keys cut for all of her friends, they were just that close, and right now she was worried that the closeness that she shared with them would put them in danger now if anything about what she'd become did anything bad to them.

Physically, her eyes were looking at the television, and yes, on some level, her brain was registering what her eyes were seeing, but it was so deep in its own little hamster wheel to really spare any mental space for what it was seeing. For that matter, she was so deep that she really didn't register the door opening or her friends' calls to her as they entered.

All five of them were still human as they stepped inside, closing the door behind them. It really didn't take them long to register where Christine was, when they saw the blanket cocoon on the couch. They just couldn't help but smile a little as they came over, Bailey resting a hand on Christine's shoulder through the blanket. “Hey, honey, it's us... it's alright, we're all still human..."

Christine made a sound of surprise and then whimpered, burrowing deeper into the blanket, mumbling something that they couldn't make out. It sounded a bit like “Huh hm hok."

Bailey blinked in surprise, tilting her head a little. “What was that, Christine? I couldn't hear what you said."

Christine stuck her head fully out of the cocoon, looking up at them with wild, terrified eyes, “But I'm not!"

They all gasped sharply and took a momentary step back before they all moved in closer to her, reaching out to stroke her back and arms through the blanket. “Oh, baby... just breathe, okay? It'll be alright," Pamela said, her tone soothing.

Christine's eyes welled up with tears and her ears folded back as she started to cry again, “I don't know what happened... I mean, Joseph was in here, and... and I just felt ready to... gobble him up... and I was on the couch, and he was right there... and I really wanted him... but then... he noticed the fur... and I think I was being too rough with my claws, and... and..." she said, having to fight to not drip snot everywhere as she cried, having to take several deep breaths in through her nose.

Some of the others exchanged looks and half grins, but they didn't really comment beyond that. She wouldn't be ready for it right now, and even lightening the mood about it a little wasn't going to go well. “Sssh... whatever happened... whatever happens... we're here for you, girl," Pam said, getting another wail and renewed round of crying from Christine.

However, rather than ball up again, she actually reached up through the blanket and started pulling them in against herself, clinging to them for dear life as she just rode out the storm of emotions that was raging through her right now, but as she held them close, she slowly felt peace washing over her, and slowly she began to settle back down, her breathing slowing and easing. “Thank you... all of you..." she whispered softly before she conked out, and they gently carried her to bed, tucking her in. They left her there for the moment, but Diana returned, depositing a box of donuts and assorted pastries on her kitchen counter along with a note of encouragement that all of her friends had signed in their own silly ways.

The next few days were rough, and Christine called out of work day after day. She had the leave accumulated for that, at least. But after a week, she got a call directly from her supervisor, insisting that she come into the office.

She'd spent the intervening time... dedicatedly not watching the news, just burying herself in Disney+ for the most part while ordering things in for delivery. It struck her just how far that industry had come along in recent years. Still, she did her best to get dressed... and was actually very glad that she'd tended toward baggier clothing that would make her femininity much less in the forefront.

That... wouldn't really be viable anymore. Not unless she got even bigger clothes to be loose and baggy on herself. She frowned, hopping onto Amazon to order a couple of new bras for delivery. They wouldn't be perfect, but they would be better than the ones she had. Still, she managed to get dressed and even found a way to secure her bra in the back to give her a little more room, even if the cups were too small.

She took a deep breath as she got to her door, seeing the mirror right there on it. She was nervous... fuck, no lying to herself, she was afraid. Still, as she looked at herself in the mirror, she couldn't keep the corner of her mouth from curling up in a bit of a grin. She couldn't resist turning herself a little, wanting a better look in the mirror. She had on a red dress shirt, with a black jacket and skirt, which she'd had to take some scissors to in order to get her tail into it. If she was being completely honest with herself, she thought she looked pretty hot like that.

But right now, she wasn't going out on the prowl, not registering the irony of thinking in terms of that word. She was going into the office, and she took a deep breath as she tried to center herself and find her confidence... which was strangely easier to find than usual. She opened the door and strode out, heading toward the office, which wasn't very far away.

She grimaced inwardly as people out on the street recoiled at the sight of her, but she'd mentally prepared herself for that. She walked confidently to the office before going up to her director's office. He was sitting on the edge of his desk, while he and a handful of other severe-looking men.

When she stepped inside, her director took a moment to register her new appearance, looking just a little surprised for a quick flash before he took a breath and straightened up, standing and walking toward her. “Good morning, Christine."

She nodded her head to him, replying simply, “Director."

He took a deep breath and continued. “Have you been following the news lately?"

“No... honestly, I haven't had much of a stomach for it, lately. You can understand why."

He nodded his head and breathed, “Yes. I can. Christine, the governments of the world have come to an agreement on how to handle the current c...situation."

He'd nearly said crisis, and she grimaced inwardly but understood why the slip had happened. “Our current plan is to re-house the impacted members of the community into a portion of the city that we are preparing right now to receive them. We are going to need leadership within the new 'district' as we are calling it, and simply put, you are the single most qualified woman in the department to take on that job."

One of the other men came forward, a bit of a grin on his face. “You see, Christine, as much as you have done everything in your ability to hide how truly brilliant and how natural of a leader you are, as have your friends, which is commendable, we're a lot better at picking out those qualities in people," he said, bowing his head to her. “This district is going to need someone of your caliber if it is to succeed."

Where normally, she would have recoiled from such an assessment, something inside of her swelled with pride as he said that to her. Still, she kept her poker face going and nodded her head slowly. “I understand. I will do everything I can to make this place survive... and thrive as much as is physically possible."

Her director smiled and nodded his head. “I have no doubt about that, Christine. For the time being, take some time to just breathe, and we'll get your eyes on the plans as soon as possible. I think that you're going to be impressed with what we've put together."

A few weeks later, when she was moved into her new apartment and office within the district... she couldn't deny that her director was right... she was impressed with what had been done. Only... it wasn't for the better. The one saving grace was that the computer systems were pretty up-to-date, and that was probably only because getting older equipment that would be able to interface with the main systems was next to impossible.

Still, with the state of everything else in the offices, she was fairly certain that if they could have given her the boxy old machines that used the CRT monitors, they would have. There was next to no powered equipment in the warehouse. At most, an old forklift in the warehouse to make getting things onto and down from the racks possible in the first place.

What was worse was that when he'd told her about a “district", he hadn't been all that... specific on what it entailed. Oh, he'd told the truth that it was a portion of the city that was prepared as a place to move the animal people like herself, but he hadn't said anything about it being walled off or the... disgusting name that they had chosen for it. “The Midwest Transhuman District." It wasn't the only one, there were three more in the United States alone, and even more around the world.

What boggled her mind was the scale of what had happened. Oh, it wasn't hundreds of thousands around the world, but it was so many even so. One of the groups that were on her registry was an entire clan of sailors and fishers from Lake Michigan, ripped away from their boats and the lake. As she read over her files, that was the recurring theme, though: people ripped away from their lives.

It was good that they hadn't been more honest with her at that meeting, otherwise, she would have been tempted to put her new teeth and claws to much better use. She was at least grateful that she'd managed to order some clothes that fit her new body better.

And what was she now? The director of the Transhuman Operations Agency. “I'm never calling it that to the face of anyone here," she decided, the name of her agency making her stomach turn. This wasn't a district set up to provide a safe space for people who had been transformed, this was a fucking concentration camp, and she'd just been made both inmate and head jailor.

Her aide came and knocked on the doorframe, saying, “Director?" His tone was nervous... though that might have had something to do with the low growl that was rumbling in Christine's chest.

She quickly stopped growling and took a breath. “Sorry, Zack. That wasn't at you. I'm just reading over everything that they were... careful not to disclose to me before I was here in the district, myself," she said with a heavy sigh, rubbing her eyes with her finger and thumb. “This is ridiculous..."

The bobcat sighed and came into the room. He was shaking his head as he looked out of the window, which looked out over one of the main parks of the district. “You're not lying there. If anything, you're understating it. It's a fucking shit show, and all that they care about is that we're somewhere that people don't have to look at us," he said, gritting his teeth as he just tried to breathe.

Christine laughed and smiled. “Oh, I hear you. And trust me, if I wouldn't get reprimanded for tearing the sign off of this office or defacing it, it would be gone in a heartbeat. Transhuman? What is that shit? I'm making it official policy that we do not refer to it by that name with any residents in the district. What hurts more is that I know why they tagged me as the director. I was the most senior government employee who changed."

Zack laughed dryly, turning to look at her. “You're not wrong there. The rest of us were junior compared to you." He shook his head, breathing deeply, “Honestly, with what I've heard, you were qualified enough to be a director even before changing. Why... why did you never go for it?"

She grimaced and gripped the edge of the desk, just trying to calm herself. “I... when I was nine... I was on a camping trip... and our raft wound up going down the wrong part of a river, and we hit rapids. The counselor was thrown from the boat... thank God that I was able to get her back in before she drowned, but she was out for the count." She closed her eyes, taking a moment before she continued. “So, I was there in a raft with an unconscious counselor and seven terrified girls, and I had to do everything that I could to keep all of them alive. I just... haven't been able to face leadership ever since."

Zack looked completely blown away, and after a moment, he brought his hand up to rub across his face. “You know... I can't say that I blame you... but, hey, some have greatness thrust upon them, right? And you did it back then, right?"

She sighed and nodded her head, looking very tired as her hands relaxed on the desk, dropping down to her lap. “Yeah. Everyone made it out safely after we found a ranger station and radioed our location to the ranger. Even the counselor was fine... nothing more than scratches and bruises on anyone, and a concussion for the counselor."

Zack laughed tiredly, “Well... welcome to your new raft, I guess. At least there's no panic this time, and you've got a lot of pretty capable people in the district to rely on."

Christine blinked and looked surprised at the bobcat, tilting her head to one side. “You know... that's... a good point," she said with a sigh, slumping back in her chair. “At least they gave us 5G and fiber in here... and didn't take people's phones and stuff, just... limited how much they could bring with them. So... all in all, it could be worse. Back then, the best morale boost we had was a bag of marshmallows, some chocolate bars, and a pack of graham crackers that we found at the ranger station," she said with a laugh.

Zack smirked and shook his head. “You know... a community s'mores party might not be a horrible way to build a bit of morale... I'm just grateful that they've learned enough to know that we didn't gain any food sensitivities or allergies for our changes."

Christine looked horrified, “Yeah... otherwise the chocolate ice cream at my apartment would have done me in before I even made it here," she said, realizing the risk she'd taken in not knowing any better.

The s'mores party was a roaring success, though they didn't limit themselves just to that. Still, setting up lots of campfires in the park for people to just hang out around and meet their new neighbors was a great suggestion on Zack's part. Christine made a mental note to keep community activities like that as a regular thing. This would only work if they all worked together.

That was one of their big saving graces as they just did their best to figure things out. Supplies were definitely a problem early on, but she was delighted to see the initiative that members of the community came up with to deal with that. She was not bothered at all to lose the factories that were demolished for the lake and the farm... it wasn't like the heavy industry was going to be of any use to them here, even if those buildings had been in any shape to be used like that.

She was amazed at the badger, Briar's, breakthrough in purifying the soil. It really defied logic, but... then again, the sudden mass transformation of people into furries defied logic, itself. “Reality trumps theory every time," Zack had shared with her on that particular point, and she didn't have any argument to offer against that.

What was more problematic was the continued influx of new furs. It wasn't a flood, but Christine spent her nights acutely aware of how much usable housing they had on hand. Kestrel's work on the factory as a home for her family, and Briar's construction of apartments above her pub (an arrival which likewise defied logic), helped with that to some degree, but Christine understood the need to make sure that they had the greatest amount of available housing within their walls.

She tasked a group of furs with experience in construction to inspect all of the buildings in the district, needing a detailed report on their condition and viability for expanded housing. Many of them were largely unusable as they were, but the team yielded several that would be easily convertible into housing, even if the plumbing would be a challenge.

She had them get to work, wanting those ones finished before they moved on to addressing the problems with the next set in order to get them ready for housing. This work left her with a tentative sense of confidence that they would be able to make this work, despite the best efforts of those in power trying to make life difficult for them.

Senator Parson was a particular thorn in her side, just about constantly lobbying for greater restrictions and reduced supplies, banging on about how the good people of this fine country were having to make do with less to support these unproductive abominations against nature. Oh, she would have loved to rip his throat out, but she was good... rising to his bait would only make his point for him.

So, she just did her best to ignore him, and ensure that her people had the supplies that they needed to live, and have something resembling a good life. At least there were several good tailors, who were able to help look after the needs of the people whose old clothes no longer fit. Christine in particular was very grateful for that.

They might just make it through this alive.