Ian woke up slowly, rubbing his head, wondering how he had such a bad hangover after just a single beer. He couldn’t recall the last time he’d been so stiff and sore. He’d been drinking with his coworker, Trevor, at an establishment just outside the zoo where they were both animal caretakers. It was a ritual of sorts, especially on days they didn’t have to report to work in the early morning. As that was the case, they’d only partaken in one apiece, maybe two at most. Then they’d walked outside…and…fuck, his head hurt!

“Hey, Ian? What the fuck?!” A familiar voice rang out. Ian looked up to see his buddy Trever, stuck in a cage of some kind. To Ian’s horror, it looked very much like the bars of the cages in their zoo, in particular the ones that protected their charges. Ian’s eyes swept over his own holding, noticing he was alone in a similar prison. There was no way he’d gotten THIS drunk!

Though it had initially escaped his notice, the cool air and the sight of his buddy’s naked body were enough to know that he, too, was without his clothes. Who had taken them?! He rubbed his hands over his body, hoping to all hope he hadn’t been raped, tortured, or taken advantage of. All he felt was a sore spot on his arm, one that made him somewhat afraid he’d been injected with something that his body was having an adverse reaction to. 

The heady scent of stinky cats wafted into his nose, and his eyes swept the room to find a pair of cages opposite their own. Pacing them were two familiar visages, ones that might frighten most men, but of which Ian and Trevor were familiar. Charlie the lion and Tony the tiger, welcome attractions of the local zoo and personal charges of the two men. It was their job to hold daily talks on the habits of the zoo’s residents, as well as perform the regular caregiver duties. 

Both cats seemed agitated at their confined spaces, which was far less than even what the zoo provided them. Charlie turned around and took a very audible piss, the pungent feline urine an attempt to mark his place in this unfamiliar territory. Much to Trevor’s disgust, a bit of cat pee splashed on the floor and got onto his skin, making him wrinkle his nose. A few splashes hit Ian as well, and he moaned, hating how dumb these two males were. They didn’t even bother to aim!

Though he needed the job and had done his best to do it diligently, lest he found himself out in the street from unemployment, Ian hated working with the cats. For some, it might be considered the job of a lifetime. For Ian, however, it was the most demeaning thing he’d ever had to do. The big cats were surprisingly messy, and Ian hated having to clean up after their meals or their leavings. It was especially begrudging since he was only being paid minimum wage! He and Trevor shared the sentiment, hence the friendship they’d struck.

Lost in his contemplation, Ian hardly noticed that they were not alone in the room. There was no sound to indicate the presence of anyone else, yet Ian couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of dread. Concern welling in his mind, he went to turn his gaze when he caught Trevor’s eye. Trevor was staring behind them, a look of pure terror on his face. It was one Ian had never seen in his friend and sent a shiver down his own spine as Ian turned to see what it was that had triggered that look of primal fear. 

The sight before them was shockingly familiar, yet horrific all the same. The beings were tall, far larger than descriptions had implied, perhaps closer to 6.5 inches in height. Yet there was no doubt in Ian’s mind that he was staring and honest-to-God extraterrestrials. Their lanky gray forms closely matched his mental image of a typical alien. Far from naked, a sort of silvery uniform covered their entire bodies, just sufficient a contrast to their ashen skin. Their arms looked weak, with four long spindly fingers adorning oversized hands. 

But it was their heads that were most alarming. They largely lacked distinct facial features or at least compared to what one might expect in a human. No mouth, no hair, with only two slits to comprise a nose. It was their eyes that mostly dominated their visages. Each being sported massive, almond-shaped eyes, shimmering with multi-colored dots that seemed to alternate colors. They were the stuff of nightmares, haunting eyes that stared into the souls of their captors. Save the possibility of a costume, which Ian was thinking was more and more unlikely, it seemed evident that these were actual live aliens!

Trevor was shaking at this point, brought down to his knees from the literal alien forms that had the two men, and cats, at their mercy. “Please, don’t probe us!” He pleaded in a voice that Ian would normally find humiliating. Yet, in this case, Ian found the response thoroughly valid!

One of the beings stepped forward, its eyes shimmering with a multitude of colors that gave Ian the impression that the being was emoting through its eyes alone. If he had to guess, the alien was showing more contemplation towards its captors, rather than the expected malice. 

All at once, a sharp pain resonated through Ian’s skull, and he raised his hand to his temple in an attempt to relieve the agony. Ian could see Trevor doing the same, and he tried to call out, when suddenly something echoed in his mind, a voice that was not a voice. After a moment, the pain started to ebb as what sounded like English words resonated through their minds. 

GREETINGS, HUMANS! YOU HAVE THE HONOR IN PARTICIPATING IN ONE OF OUR NEWEST EXPERIMENTS! YOU WERE INITIALLY SELECTED TO SEE IF YOU WOULD BE AN AID TO ONE OF OUR LONG TERM PROJECTS. THOUGH YOUR USEFULNESS WAS INITIALLY DEEMED LIMITED, THERE IS A PARTICULAR ASSESSMENT IN WHICH YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES WILL PROVE INVALUABLE. 

The frightening words echoed in his skull, making Ian shiver at the thought of what was to happen to them. They really were going to be experimented upon! Despite his fear of such a situation, he had to ask what was to become of them. Ian opened his mouth to speak, but the voice in his head silenced him before he had the chance. 

THERE IS NO NEED FOR WORDS! WE CAN HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS! ALL YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED AS THE PROCESS PROCEEDS! THOUGH WE ASCERTAIN ANY INQUIRIES YOU MIGHT PROPOSE WILL BE A WASTE OF TIME. YOUR REACTIONS, HOWEVER, WILL PROVIDE BOTH INVALUABLE DATA AND PERHAPS A SEMBLANCE OF AMUSEMENT!

Ian stated at the aliens with a look of disbelief. The words, though condescending, were far too…human? Was that the term? This was not at all what he’d expected from such an encounter. Though, without missing a beat, the voice responded to his inquiry. Its eyes shimmered color briefly, a golden shade that seemed to elicit dominance or superiority. 

WE HAVE OBSERVED YOUR RACE FOR MANY YEARS, AND HAVE LEARNED IT BEST IN THOSE DEALINGS TO EXPRESS OURSELVES IN WAYS THAT YOU CAN RELATE WITH. YOUR CRASS, RUDIMENTARY LANGUAGE, WHILE HIGHLY LIMITED, HAS PROVIDED US A MULTITUDE OF COLORFUL WORDS. AND, IN YOUR RACE’S REACTIONS TO THEM, WE HAVE FOUND IT FAR MORE ENTERTAINING TO USE YOU AS RESEARCH SUBJECTS. IT IS THROUGH YOU THAT WE HAVE PERFECTED THE JOYS OF HUMILIATION, AND ADDED AN ENTIRELY NEW DIMENSION TO OUR RESEARCH!

Ian was mildly surprised at the condescending tone the creature used. It was one thing to be unwillingly abducted, but the beings didn’t have to be assholes on top of everything else! Yet Ian hardly had time to protest. The being lifted one frail hand and pointed it towards Charlie and Tony, who, to Ian’s surprise, seemed rather oblivious to the aliens. 

WE UNDERSTAND THAT THESE CREATURES ARE IN YOUR CARE. YET, YOU DO NOT TREAT THEM IN A MANNER BEFITTING EVEN YOUR RACE’S CONCEPTS OF MORALITY. YOU GO LARGE PERIODS WITHOUT FEEDING THEM, CLEANING THEIR WASTE, AND ENRICHING THEIR LIVES! AND FROM THEIR ACCOUNTS, YOU’VE EVEN INFLICTED PHYSICAL HARM UPON THEM! THEREFORE, NOT ONLY WILL YOU PROVIDE RESEARCH DATA FOR ONE OF OUR NEWLY DEVELOPED TECHNOLOGIES BUT ALSO SERVE A UNIQUE FORM OF PUNISHMENT!

At that, Ian could feel itching on his arm from the site of apparent injection. All at once, his fingers started spasming, an audible crack in his ears as the digits receded. Ian stared in horror as his ability to move them waned as they retreated into little more than nubs, held together by a fine layer of webbing. His thumbs were perhaps worse off, receding uncomfortably up his wrists and becoming entirely immobile. Ian growled as his nails fell off, and pain wracked his stubby digits. Thick keratin erupted from one of the joints within each finger and curved out bloodlessly into thick feline claws. 

Decorations of orange and black encroached over his flesh, preceded by an intense itch as fine hairs started to lance up between his human ones. The patterns were familiar even to a layperson, and ones that Ian saw every day. They were tiger stripes, covering feline paws and spreading rapidly up his arms. Was he turning into a tiger?

As if to confirm his suspicions, a quick glance to Trevor revealed him staring at similar appendages, only covered with tawny fur instead of black and orange. He moaned, feeling the muscles of his arms tense as they swelled with power, far beyond human dimensions. His flattening shoulders and tawny, fur-covered skin looked more in place on Charlie!

Ian looked over to the cats, evidently his future if the itching up his arm and the aches in his muscle were any indications. Yet the sight before him filled him with even more dread. Both cats were flexing digits that were expanding, the joints popping audibly with renewed flexibility as their claws receded, and their thumbs extended. Rough paw pads melted into tactile skin that truly felt the floor for the first time. His lost hands now sat at the end of bestial arms!

Ian looked in fear to see two of the aliens holding devices, rather simple in design with a large knob in the center. Ian realized that the knobs were slowly turning, not manually, but with either an automatic process or perhaps via telekinesis. Were they the source of the terrifying transformation?

AH, IT SEEMS EVEN YOUR SIMPLE MINDS CAN GRASP THE PROCESS. YES, EACH OF YOUR BODIES IS BEING SWAPPED, PIECE BY PIECE WITH YOUR FORMER CHARGES. NOT ONLY CAN WE TEST THAT OUR TECHNOLOGY IS FUNCTIONING PROPERLY, BUT YOUR BEHAVIORAL REACTIONS WILL PROVIDE INVALUABLE DATA AS WELL! NOT TO MENTION, WITNESSING THE HUMILIATION AND TOURTURE YOUR RACE HAS TAUGHT US TO PREFORM HAS BECOME A FREQUENT INDULGENCE!

HOW WONDERFUL TO SEE YOUR HUMAN HANDS REDUCED TO THE PAWS OF SIMPLE BEASTS! HOW MUCH YOU HUMANS TREASURE YOUR DEXTERITY! IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE WHAT YOUR CHARGES DO WITH SUCH VERSATILE HANDS. WE ARE CERTAIN THEY WILL PUT THEM TO BETTER USE, AS THE EVIDENTLY MORE INTELLIGENT CREATURES! SUCH ABILITIES WERE WASTED ON YOU TWO, WE THINK!

“No, stop this! You can’t do this!” Ian cried, the aches of change rippling up his arms. He moaned as his shoulders popped and flattened, twisting forward and forcing his chest to barrel. Ian tried desperately to flex his arms, but as the muscles changed, the ability to rotate them seemed to be stolen from him. He sifted a moan as his ribs started to expand, and his arms were permanently forced into a forward stance as his chest and stomach streamlined into feline proportions. 

WE CERTAINLY CAN DO THIS. AND WE ARE. IT IS EVEN OBVIOUS TO THE OTHER SPECIES, THE ONES YOU DEEM TO HAVE LESS INTELLIGENCE. THEY ARE RESPONDING MUCH BETTER TO THE SWAP THAN YOU TWO ARE. PERHAPS THEY ARE MORE WORTHY OF WHAT PASSES FOR YOUR RACE AS ‘SENTIENCE’ 

Ian’s gaze fell towards Tony, watching as the tiger started exploring human muscle and flesh as quickly as it formed from receding fur. Every inch of Ian’s humanity robbed from him was being transplanted into the cat, an animal! He couldn’t watch his humanity being literally transferred as it was stolen from him. 

Ian could only moan as his gaze shifted to Trevor, whose changes mirrored his own. His buddy’s chest barreled as his ribs cracked outward, and his spine lengthened. He cried, tears running down still-human cheeks as his thinning stomach grew fuzzy with short, coarse lion-fur. Ian could see Trevor trying frantically to rub at several sensitive spots erupted from his chest, but his paws lacked the flexibility to do so. 

Ian quickly understood his buddy’s discomfort as the same sensations plagued his own striped flesh. He tried his best to look down, but he couldn’t see past his chest. Yet from seeing Trevor’s stomach, he knew he was developing lines of feline nipples, irritated by the lancing white fur coating his chest and belly. 

“Ian…I…fuck! It’s not stopping!” Trevor cried out, moaning from discomfort. Ian watched his buddy’s belly lengthening, growing thin with feline muscle. It was only a brief distraction from the changes he knew were mirrored in his own frame. The leonine features were only a smidge different from his own developing tiger body!

YOU REALLY ARE PITIFUL SPECIMENS. YOU CANNOT EVEN HANDLE THE DISCOMFORT OF CHANGE, UNLIKE YOUR BETTERS! IT WILL BE FITTING, HAVING THEM CARE FOR YOU INSTEAD OF THE REVERSE! 

The voices mocked them, laughing in their heads in a manner that was far too human from such alien-looking creatures. Their tormentors seemed to revel in the cruel fate they forced upon two innocent men. 

It seemed as though the aliens favored treatment towards the cats, and Ian hoped in vain that the cats were just as distressed at the thought of changing into weak humans as much as they were scared of becoming simple beasts. Yet a quick glance towards the former felines revealed looks of elation in their cat-like features. Deft fingers explored every inch of their bodies, excited at exploring the areas their fur and muscle had been taken. They enjoyed playing over their pecs and nipples, rubbing their new distended bellies as the changes raced onward. How could anyone be enjoying this!?

Ian wanted desperately to turn away as their hips started to expand, their thighs bulging as their pelvises began to rotate. He tried his best to force his own hips to stay in their human configuration but knew as the cats were about to gain a bipedal stance, he was soon to lose his. Shifting in his own hips made him reach out reflexively to balance himself against the bars of his prison. But forgetting he now only had paws, he stumbled forward, hitting his body on the cage and crying out in pain.

“Ian!” He heard Trevor cry out as Ian looked up, seeing his friend’s expression of fear. Trevor wasn’t faring much better as he cried out, a crack resonating through the bars of the cage as his pelvis forced itself forward. Trevor stumbled as his hips flattened and moved forward with it as he was robbed of his bipedal stance. His hips were being absorbed into his belly, and with his expanding heels and shortening calves, he wasn’t going to stand much longer!

“Fuck! Trever!” Ian yelled, doing his best to stay on two legs, but knowing it was futile as his own pelvis pushed painfully forward. He braced himself on the cage bars as his bones cracked into inhuman shapes, trying desperately to remain upright. But, even with the support, the pain in his stretching heel made it nearly impossible. His heels lengthened as his calves diminished into feline proportions. He could feel the rest of his feet contracting, his toes desperately trying to grip into the ground even as they shrank into stubs held in place by a layer of webbing. 

At last, the pain of change was too much, and Ian fell to the floor, cursing in shock as his paws hit the ground hard, and his feet continued to change. The same pads that adorned his hands were covering the bottoms of his toes and feet, blackened and course for gripping the jungle floor, not for fitting into human shoes as he’d been accustomed all his life! The backs of his feet itched as striped skin was preceded by fur, giving him a perfect set of tiger legs! 

Glancing up, he could see the former cats growing accustomed to being upright as their feet finished stretching to a plantigrade stance. They looked as bizarre as Ian felt; furless human bodies with swaying tails and perfectly formed feline heads sat atop them. Their hands were playing over their bodies, groping the new muscles as they traced the contours of their humanity. 

Unlike both Ian and Trevor, however, both of the former cats were not protesting their transformations. Ian couldn’t read their golden, yellowed eyes very well, but judging from their actions, the changes to their forms seemed to excite them. They played over arms and legs with an almost child-like curiosity, comprehending far more about the implications of the changes than Ian ever could believe a lion or a tiger could. 

YOU ARE SO SLOW, YOU MIGHT AS WELL BEEN CONSIDERED AS LESSOR CREATURES ALREADY! WE WERE EXPECTING YOU TO FIT INTO YOUR NEW LIVES JUST AS RAPIDLY AS YOUR FORMER CHARGES ADAPT TO YOURS! BUT, IT SEEMS THE REVERSE WILL BE THE CASE. EITHER WAY, THE PROCESS WILL PROVIDE US MANY YEARS OF STUDY, FOR SO LONG AS YOUR NEW BODIES SURVIVE IN CAPTIVITY

“No, you can’t…I don’t want to be a tiger for the rest of my life!” Ian cried, the reality of his situation setting in. He was absolutely helpless to prevent that fate if his captors had no intention to reverse the changes! All he could do was beg, humiliating himself further before these superior beings, to whom he was completely at the mercy of. 

Much to Ian’s shock, both men still sported feline-like cocks and testes, something that Ian hated seeing every day. As he starred in horror, he could see the tiger’s balls deflating, the inner walls of his tights spreading to allow his back-ward facing cock to drop out of a receding sheath. Its reddish shade faded to pink as the tip widened, and its flaccid length dangled atop pubic hair-covered testicles.

He tried to turn his head away, not wanting to see his buddy’s dick, even on another body. But the alternative was to turn his attention to Trevor, watching his balls swell as they moved in tandem with his anus to position themselves right below the lion-man’s spine. 

“Fuck, not my cock! Please don’t make me a lion!” Trevor called as his smaller, pointed feline dick moved back just below, facing the opposite direction. He blushed with the embarrassment that he would now piss backward, often if Charlie’s bathroom habits carried over to his new life!

Tears ran down Ian’s cheeks as his own cock shrank, his former foreskin lengthening as it spread to merge with his groin. He moaned, feeling his testes swell with tiger cum as they moved embarrassingly towards his anus, which itself was becoming larger and puckered. With Ian’s back to the aliens, his privates were on full display without even a tiger’s tail to cover them!

Ian looked to Trevor, seeing the tears reflected in his buddy’s visage. But as he did, something in the expression gave him pause. His buddy’s brown eyes started to lighten, familiar gold flecks appearing as they expanded to encompass the entirety of the pupal. The tear streaks down his face blackened as they traced around his nose, which itself was starting to grow flat. His cheeks were puffy, and fur was popping out from his beard, spreading up towards a thickening mane. His face was turning into a lion’s!

Ian cried out in vain, wanting desperately to maintain his humanity, his voice while he still could. But the deep, unexpected rumble made him close his mouth. His voice was all wrong, warped and inhuman. He wanted to cry out once more, but was afraid that his voice would sound too much like Tony’s!

Tears ran down his cheek, helpless as the streaks formed under his eyes, which he could tell were enlarging uncomfortably. He blinked a few times, his eyes watering as an unfamiliar lens crossed over them. When Ian opened them, the world was clad in muted shades that looked alien when compared to his human visual acuity. 

The rest of his face changed against his well, his jaws sore as they expanded to accommodate the lengthening yellowed fangs within. As he exhaled, he caught a whiff of his breath and nearly gagged, reminded of the smell of his charge. Several of his teeth fell away as his canines extended, while his tongue was aggravated by the growth of tiny spines. He could feel his gums growing rubbery as his puffy cheeks were irritated by the growth of feline whiskers.

He regarded his friend’s face once more, seeing the last vestiges of humanity fade into a leonine visage. The bestial eyes had a pleading look even as they glowed amber, sat above a growing muzzle with sharp teeth. His twitching ears grew rounded, triggering a corresponding twitch in Ian’s own feline ears, and both were shocked at the level of the auditory detail that the cats seemed to possess. Both men’s faces itched fiercely, a thick mane of white, black, and orange hair on Ian’s cheeks that was surpassed by the massive black mane that matched the lion Trevor had become. 

Watching Charlie’s face transplanted onto Trevor’s, seeing his nose pink and flattened, reminded Ian that his own had changed. Unconsciously, he breathed in deeply, startled by the musky odors in the room. The randy scent of cat was fresh in his nose, both from his body and his buddy’s. And he could smell the two now-humans, rubbing their hands over receding fur, extended noses, and dull primate teeth. The alien’s themselves seemed to omit no odor, the otherwise sterile scents in the room making Ian wonder if the aliens were actually present. 

The changes were almost complete, and the erect former felines ran their hands over their bodies and faces. They were nearly human, save for the tails sticking out of their backsides. As though to encourage the transfer, both former cats started thrashing their tails, willing the appenages into their spines to force them out of their former masters.

NO! Ian cried internally, not wanting the changes to complete. He had to resist, he didn’t want to sacrifice his humanity to some stupid cats! Ian focused all his will on his backend, forcing his spine to stay under the skin, not to extend into a tail. He winced visibly, prompting Trevor to take the same stance, to not let the final bits of their humanity wane.

The familiar tingle of transformation absent, both Ian and Trevor opened their eyes to see their former bodies rubbing at their tails, seemingly shocked at the suspension in their change. They frantically swished them back and forth, trying to will them away. But from the pause of the process, it seemed as though the human’s mental fortitude was working!

THEY RESIST! READJUST THE PROCESS! DO NOT LET IT REVERSE!

The words echoed in their heads, and both men tried with all their might to concentrate on their backsides. The ache of tails threatening to burst forth was ever-present, but if they held out, maybe they could change back. It was a slim hope, but it was one they had to cling onto. And in a battle of wills, they could surely best a couple of dumb cats, right?

YES, THAT MIGHT BE WHAT WE WOULD SAY, SHOULD OUR PROCESS HAVE ANY INHERENT FLAWS. IT SEEMS YOU TRULY ARE INFERIOR TO THINK SIMPLE HUMAN WILL COULD SURPASS OUR TECHNOLOGY

A burst of laughter erupted from the other cage, eerily familiar to Ian’s ears. It was a sound that echoed in the pub each night he and Trevor went there after work. Yet it had a cruel inflection to it, one that he had never heard in their own voices. 

But it was the implication that truly made him fearful. No sooner had the laughter commenced, but the force of growth erupted from his backside, an extension of his coccyx that forced itself relentlessly outward. A roar from the other cage showed that Trevor was experiencing the same thing, his fur-covered tail wagging back and forth in agitation as the tip grew tufted with fur the texture of the lion’s mane. 

Ian tried to focus his force of will on the tail, to halt its growth. But his thoughts had zero effect. It was as though his previous efforts had been meaningless. Like they had no effect, perhaps staged. Were these fucking aliens playing some sort of sick joke?!

THIS IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF THE EMOTION ‘HOPE’. EVEN WITH THE NUMERICAL ODDS FAVORING COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION, YOU ALLOW YOUR HOPE TO TAKE OVER BEFORE THE CRUSHING REALITY OF YOUR FATE SINKS IN. THIS IS NOT AN UNDESIRABLE OUTCOME FOR OUR PURPOSES, HOWEVER. IT MAKES YOUR FALL FROM HUMANITY ALL THE MORE HUMILIATING, AND ENJOYABLE TO OBSERVE!

The grim reality sank in as their spines continued to rip from their buttocks. The hysterical laughter in their heads told them all they dreaded to know. The delay in their tail growth was the last bit of humiliation towards them, one final slight. To give them the hope that they might return to their forms only to have it robbed it from them was almost worse than the changes themselves. 

Ian desperately wanted to stop his tail from moving. He didn’t want to feel the tip twitching, the enhanced flexibility as it moved of its own accord. It seemed to be swaying impatiently in response to his mental state. A soft click resonated in his ears as the tail reached its full length. The change was done. He was a tiger now, and might be one forever! He threw all his weight, his power against the cage, roaring in anger, but it was to no avail. 

AS WE SUSPECTED. SIMPLE BEASTS! WE HOPE THE TWO OF YOU MAKE BETTER USE OF THEIR PATHETIC LIVES. FEEL FREE TO TREAT THEM AS YOU LIKE!

“Oh, we have plenty of ideas, don’t we, ‘Ian’?” The man formerly Charlie smiled at Tony, both exiting the cage and picking up the piles of clothes that had materialized in front of them. Ian tried to yell out once more, but only a roar escaped his lips, echoed by Trevor’s desperate feline cries. 

But it was no use. Only maniacal laughter echoed in their heads, combined by the familiar sounds of their former voices taunting their former masters. Ian continued to roar helplessly until a prick of a needle hit his flank, and slowly his eyes fluttered shut as he drifted off to a hopeless sleep. 

*************************************************************************************************************

Ian looked on helplessly as the crowd stared at him, taking pictures and yelling in admiration. He wanted to paw at the door to his private sanctuary, but Tony had made sure it was locked. Ian was forced to go through his days, desperately resisting the urge to give in to his bodily functions. But he could not withstand the urge to sleep, to eat, to spray and mark his territory, or spend hours upon hours of licking his dirty fur, much to the delight of those watching. 

The past few weeks had been a living hell. Tony, now Ian, it seemed, had all his memories, knowledge, and experiences. He even sounded like Ian! It was eternally creepy to see someone who was him, five days a week, as he went about Ian’s former job duties. Worse than that, perhaps, was the knowledge that Tony was now living Ian’s life, leaving the new tiger unaware of what was happening outside the walls. 

Sometimes, Tony taunted Ian by telling him about the latest woman he’d slept with, some good weed or beer he’d indulged in, some extra cash he’d saved for a video game that Ian wished he could play. Ian was denied such simple pleasures. Even the possibility of sex was robbed from him, though worse was the event that the zoo got a female and forced him to mate with a total tiger!

He and Trevor had woken up in familiar zoo settings, the habitats for the lion and tiger that they had become. Ian tried to roar, hearing what he assumed was Trevor roaring in unison from the nearby lion habitat. Their cries echoed well into the morning, forcing the zookeepers to dart them, lulling them back into an uncomfortable sleep. 

Upon awakening, they did their best to come up with another way to communicate their lost humanity. Yet the former cats, now their human selves, did everything in their power to eliminate all traces of those attempts. Messages in the dirt were removed, things in their habitats were returned back to their former places. Ian did not even have the choice to attack his caregiver; whatever process used to change them would not allow them to inflict any harm upon another human. 

They had no way to talk to anyone, not even each other from their seperate cages. Each day was spent being gawked at by visitors to the zoo. Ian often wondered if it would be a mercy to lose his human awareness to the simple mind of a cat. But, instead, he remained bored out of his mind. He retained no semblance of privacy as every action of his life was on display for all to see. The simple feline enrichments such as toys and food rewards were of little reprieve to the monotony of everyday life. 

Charlie and Tony had no qualms about treating the two cats in the manner they had been treated. Missed meals, delayed cage cleaning, and worst of all, making their private retreats inaccessible during work hours. The stench of their living quarters, never preferable to their human noses, was far more pungent to their feline senses. It was terrible on the best of days when their cages were clean, but that was rarely the case for the neglected animals they now were! Much as before, their superiors paid no mind to the negligence as Ian and Trevor were forced to live in animalistic squalor. 

Worse, perhaps, was that the aliens were never far from them. He could not see or smell them, but he could hear them, each and every night from their cloaked ship in the night sky. They would remain for many months, studying how the transformed humans and animals adjusted to their new lives. It was just one more fact of their situation Ian and Trevor were forced to adapt to.

Yet, the aliens did not use their mental words to communicate their presence. That would have been a mercy, to be talked to as sentient beings. No, there was only one sound the aliens used, one that echoed through their heads each and every night. Deranged laughter at the eternal torment they inflicted towards the former humans…