literature

ShortComm: Dr. Goodman and the Elephant Experiment

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Benji-Blacksky's avatar
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Literature Text

Dr. Jane Goodman was feeling rather faint after a long day and a very strange experiment.

Jane was in Zambia. She was a zoologist who had studied the savanna elephants and taken measure to make sure the creatures were well cared for. As such, she was notably wary when she was told the her she had been watching was selected for an experiment. The experiment was simply to see if a small group of scientists could perform a gene therapy to people in order to prevent Alzheimers and possibly provide people with close to eidetic memory.

At first Jane assumed that the group was only there in order to exploit the elephants and somehow make it around the rules of the nature preserve, but in time she found that they were a genuine group that cared deeply for the animals, much like she did.

As it came to pass, they had come up with a way to test the gene therapy but found themselves without a subject that matched the parameters. It would only work for people of a specific genotype, which Jane fit, surprisingly.

After seeing their time and effort that they had invested in the process, she could hardly turn them away.

It had been a week since she had finished the process, but her body felt strange. Her skin was rougher, for starters and her sense of smell was different. What was unexpected was her enhanced strength in addition to her greater memory. She could remember things more easily and call upon them almost instantly. Her hearing wasn’t too bad off either.

Nonetheless, she had been feeling odd lately. It was as if her body was gaining weight. Jane had been on a vegetarian diet for some time and had hardly eaten that much. She was perplexed by this, but soon all the answers came to her, and it was in the form of a big change.

She was outside, tending to a young elephant when she felt her changes happen. The treatments effects culminating at last upon her body.

First and foremost was the development of her trunk, which grew to great sizes as her nose changed shape and elongated, becoming prehensile in addition to its olfactory usages.

Next were her ears, which grew larger and larger, rendering previously quiet noises audible and further confusing the woman of science. She could hardly believe the changes she saw, or the fact that they weren’t causing her any pain. If she had a mirror of some sort, the expression on her face would have become more surprised due to the graying of her skin, which grew grayer and more dense. She noticed that her fingers were receding into her hand, which in turn became like the feet of elephants. Her actual feet did the same as she noticed that a tail was growing from her body.

Her mass only grew as she became both taller and more corpulent. The extra curves of weight settling on her elephantine body.

Once the changes stopped, Jane took stock of her new form, with the elephants and the researchers all taking notice of the effect.

For a brief period it seemed as if Jane would be devastated by her change. Thankfully her form was merely anthropomorphic rather than a complete change into the creatures that she studied and adored. However, it was instead an opportunity for Jane to do what she desired and protect the elephants from future harm.

Though she was not much of a threat to poachers and other dangers as her old self, her new body possessed power and an intimidating size. Even if she was unable to return to normal, Dr. Jane Goodman would be more than happy to continue her work as a protector of the elephants.

Rumor spread about how the experiment went horribly wrong, but many poachers didn’t care or did not believe the fantastic tale, but were often met with the pachyderm protector and her powerful trunk of terror.
A short Commission for :icongemble: who also provided the art.

A brief backstory for Dr. Jane Goodman, researcher, pachyderm enthusiast and elephant woman.

Perhaps we will see more of her someday?
© 2015 - 2024 Benji-Blacksky
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paulasocar's avatar
I wishI could Meet Jane as She is now, So She and I can be Elephant Boyfriend and Girlfriend. :heart: