Some answers, finally...

A couple of days later the phone rang, my father picked up the phone and someone said “Am I speaking to Star, Gaby Star? “

“No” my father replied, “This is Matthew Star, her father.”

“This the Cerulean Clinic, can you tell your daughter that she is expected at the clinic to discuss the final results of her test.”

“When?” my father asked.

“Oh, she can come over right now, they will be waiting.”

“Good day.“ she said and ended the call.

“Gaby!” my father called out.

“Yeah!” I say coming from the back of the house. “What's up, Dad?”.

“The clinic called, they want you to come over to discuss the result.”

“Now,” he said as he saw me frowning.

“Welp, this is it,” I say to myself. “Now I, we, finally will know what happening to me.”

No sooner said than done, I walked to the clinic and announced myself at the reception desk.

“Ok, I'll tell them you're here. Please have a seat in the waiting room” the receptionist told me.

“Them??” I said, but she had already left the room.

Left with no other option I took a seat in the waiting room.

I was just about to grab a magazine when the familiar face of the skin-doc appeared in the doorway. “Hi, Gaby, you better follow me.“

As I did so I noticed this was not the way to the doc’s office. When I entered the hallway I saw an arrow marked “Meeting Room (capacity 10 pers.)” pointing in the way we were walking, there were others too but they were pointing in other directions so I left them for what they were.

My mind was reeling by now. “What’s going on with me? Why do they need a meeting room?” crossed my mind.

I just followed the skin-doc to the meeting room.

“Anyway, I'll know soon” crossed my mind as I entered the meeting room. At a table, I saw a man and woman already, seated together with the skin-doc they formed like a triumvirate with a chair in front of them across a round table. Once everyone was seated the central man (“probably the head of this triumvirate” crossed my mind) took the floor and said, “Hi, let me introduce myself, I am Dr. Brian White head of Cerulean Clinic.”

“Bingo!” I couldn’t help myself thinking.

“This is Prof. Amy Stewart, head of the lab.” He extended his arm to the left, causing the professor to jerk her head backward. “And Dr. David Myers, who you already know,” he continued, repeating the same movement with the same result with his right arm.

“Now, what we are all here for is the result of your bloodwork. The bottom line is that what you're experiencing is normal for a PH-2 pet.”

"And so the high word was out...wait a minute...PH...There goes college!" I thought. While this sunk in, he continued saying, "I'll leave it to Prof. Steward to fill in the details."

“Gaby” the professor commenced, snapping me out of my pensiveness, “What do you know about pets?”

“Well”, I answered, “What most people know, turning 18 you get your phenotype test and either have PO pet owner or PH pethood.”

“That's right, a bit short but right,” she said. “But actually there's two kinds of pets. A majority is phenotype PH-1 with an elevated estroxin hormone level causing pet behavior, they’re the ones you usually see on the streets, and a minority is phenotype PH-2 and has a genetic disposition to incorporate animal DNA in their body”.

While I stared at her she shoved some papers lying on the table to me, and said “I have printed something out for you.”

I instinctively accepted the papers, the first one was my phenotest results, and I let my eyes drop down on the other papers and read Pet Biology 101: Phenotype.

I skimmed the text and looking up I said: “Because I don't have markedly increased estroxin levels I am not showing the usual signs, but instead I am turning into an animal?”

“Crude, but not entirely incorrect,” she said. “Actually you will only express some basic characteristics of the donor-animal. Further testing revealed it to be the Paracheirodon.”

Growing up in an aquarium and fish store, I immediately recognized the name. “So I am turning into a human tetra but else everything is hunky-dory!“ I said louder than intended and looked her into her eyes. In the meantime, I was thinking in the back of my mind that I could definitely forget about college now.

She did not flinch and said “Basically, yes. We also think that you may also have PHBS, Pethood Borderline Syndrome, which would explain your estroxin level but this is tricky to diagnose because your estroxin level may still rise, only time will tell. I will leave it to Dr. Myers to sort out the necessary paperwork with you.”

On that note, the meeting was adjourned and David came over to me and gently touching my shoulder said “We better go to my office, Gaby.”

Still stunned by the revelations I followed him to his office.

Once both of us were inside his office and seated at his desk, I asked him “Is this what you suspected?”

“Yes,” he answered. “But I knew it only from literature or discussion with colleagues. Pets are a minority, transgenic pets or PH-2 are a minority and the fish-type are not the most common ones either. So you are a minority of a minority of a minority. I had to be sure before I said something, certainly with someone who has a PHBS diagnosis.”

“Now, let's get you registered shall we,“ he said turning to the computer at his desk. “I shall do the initial registration. Someone from the SPCP will make a house call for the formal registration and have a talk about your PH-2 pethood.”

More out of ingrained habit than anything else I thanked the doc and headed home.