lab at the gate, first patient encounter

"What did humans call this luxurious home place?" The 16 wheeled lorry dash board was tapped by with paws stretch forwards. It was clicking the back joints and cause a chain reaction of bone creaking. The snot pointed the the ceiling on fully satisfied with internal bone placement. The lower half which is human, twitched the left foot as the fella gets his baring to sit straighter once more.

"I don't really understand the logic of you calling this place that but it was called a Zoo. It allowed humans to see exotic creatures from other parts of the world. Here especially was ways of humans to help those creatures from being lost. Due to humans changing the places these creatures came form, this lot were no able to adapt to those changes... and started dying out. Humans felt terrible for it... this zoo is the human ways of saving creatures from being lost forever."

Kate changed gears of the lorry, as her voice was taken over with ai system in conversation. She was fully focused on the roads and nothing else. The thing beside her was freaky enough to allow her selfish human ways to get the better of her peace. The Ai was having fun talking to a creature with learning a different perspective. She eye flicked with the van automatic self driving behind this lorry, its controlled by the system and Kate main brain. Everything is as planned - the machines were right.

"Whats your story anyway? You know mine. The human half and the dog half... the daughter. So what's your deal miss half machine?" It studies her driving and puts the window down, sniffing put the air, "Will have made it past the security fence which means we don't have to be worried about being zapped." Kate sighed with some stress gone.

"I was a government employee. I lost my family... and sold myself to be used. The machine work in me is just a way controlling what they did to me. I have been around a long time. Mostly sleeping in ice or body changing from the plagues. There was a point where I became unrecognised as a human, due to the plague... I have got walk abouts since. I learned and relearned. I became family with my machine side. So... here it is... just surviving somehow. All I am is a few organs now. The rest is... his machine work or the plague." She offered a hand, "I go by Kate Nick. But I am a doctor. I studied microscopic life forms like the plague. I will learn to be a good healer. I done well do far." the paw shakes her hand and she back to focus with driving, "I don't know what going to happen to me personally. I know that someday the machines in me will no longer have me around. But its hard to tell if I am dying or not. I don't exactly have a heart, stomach or most other organs."

"That explains a lot... almost a monster. Your as scary as the fish people." Kate makes a mental note once more... another species infected. Trying to understand her purpose of use to these creatures.

"The bird is ahead." the ai stated, "Not to be confused of me using her to speak. But I am the ai whom controls her machine parts... among other things connected by my network. I am not as old as she is but I have been around a long time. I seen the start of the plagues. I hope to see its end too... or well something along those lines. I suspect that this plague is a change of evolution - adapting bodies faster to the environment changes."

"Speak simple." She spoke in stopping the ai.

"No I get it. You saying that this was a way of nature making changes faster for our survival."

"Yes."

The last turn as the road was from tar to dirt path. The wheels grinding at the pebbles, the weight swimming the grit surface. The lorry going into park, and the engine turned off. Hooded figures stand in line, the bird thing cooing at the gate behind them. Dog man jumps out the window, total disregard of the drop and landing. He runs awkward on all fours right to sniffing the hooded ones and speaking to them. The group giving nods and gestures. The van parks up, the hover drone of the system lifting to check puppet over. Returned back with no further information.

Kate opens the lorry door and climbs down, sore legs stretched. She picked up a few other things that was for trade negotiations. Walking up a 3 metre distance short of the folks huddled together. She cross arms, watching them doing their thing. No different to seeing other dogs meeting each other.

"Miss doc, you the 19th to come here. We have grown distrust of humans. For most of us, we dislike you being here at all. Yet... we are desperate for some human able to make medicines. We allow you to make research notes as long as you are trying to cure us of illness." Smart thinkers whom understand they are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

"I don't plan on staying in your home. This place is your home. You aren't confident of a stranger like me. I am just the same of you. So here is the trade you requested from machines, things I will need to help you with anything and supply of meats and vegetables... and extra. Because I want to be safe. Being safe means offering a gift inexchange of my protection while in your home."

"Very thoughtful... you show some decent promises. Its going to take you a long time getting use to us. We are no longer the cute things behind glass."

"Plague changed us all." We all can agree with this wisdom regardless of creatures types.

They got started with unpacking the lorry. These mostly humans were able to use things humans - like the forklift. Not Kate or her brother had suspected thier intellectual properties to mirror human things completely. These lot were looked human except for the off patch of skin or extra limb.

One was a fish guy, he had scales and gills. His built himself a water apparatus like a oxygen tank but water. Kate makes her mental notes but sees no injuries or issues. These aren't the ill and injured.

"In the meantime, stay locked in a enclosure for your own safety. There is some of us whom still hunt things." A half woman and something else... it was hard to register what.

Pushed Kate all the way to a building and locked her in it. They teams talked and then allows van to park in connected garage which was access to Kate. Able to take her own van supply... thankfully access to her organs box.

The layout of this out building was live in care cente. Look like a nursery for baby animals to be parented by humans. Human facilities, some lab and some spare rooms. The layout has been messed up by previous doctors here.

There was tons of tests or papers about the habitants of the zoo. Someone had cataloged every known resident and was continued by others as the different cases of 'illness' encountered. The zoos full information was here from before plague, the orginal animals records and food charts. There was a windowed room full of exact equipment... a exact meds list on a side. Notes of what creatures demanded which meds. They had failed attempts of making medicine for themselves on a mostly empty counter... there is clear sign of the window being forced open.

"Going by the meds listed here... it be wise we get started. So wherever they do show up... we can't disappoint them." The hover drone of brother has cataloged everything he needed and was reorganising the paperwork already in the other room. He had the spider drone doing the new print outs of the most faded papers. Kate had no objection towards making sure that they held their end of the bargain.

There was a lot of improvements that needed to be made if the meds were to be sustainable growth and storage. There is thankfully whole fridges and things that came in the back of the lorry. Its a matter of the zoos habitants to place them in this place. Going by how this frost week is a trail of trust - they would don't make drastic changes until they started liking her.

"Its only the first day and I can understand why they can be so desperate." Kate listening to her brother reading out some key information as she got started with following the medication recipes.

"A tiger with dental problems." shifting the most recent written problems, "Lion gender mixing cause hormones imbalances..." That isn't a easy fix unless there was something in the medical records of the before plague, "Elephant hands?"

"What about that?" Kate asking but she was startled with the knocking window. The gore column of mangled little things in one mass, the many heads staring into her.

"Miniature monkey exhibit then..." brother making quick thinking and no emotional fear, "It came for a drink of high concentration of vitamins." There was one pre-made and labeled by the window. A note of what amount to pour in a beaker or drinking glass. A few have be murdered right here... going by the clea up of the area. Poured smooth and passed through the window to a mangled looking hand of body bits. The beaker downed and handed back, the gore mountain gives a few poses and runs off. Kate vomited in the nearest provided bucket. A note on the wall - 'we can never judge them by their looks or even allow ourselves to be caught by thier mirrored human ways. These are still wild animals in a tamed zoo environment.' A sort of motivational delusion of a previous doctor. A old note that many before Kate has respected.

"I don't think I can accept myself if I think like those whom left these notes." Kate taking the note off the wall, "I knew that someday this would sort of happen... that the gap between humans and other creatures will fall. People are to idealistic if they live in that assumption of denial. Denying the existence of other thinking like minded." She sighs... and puts the note back on the wall, "Humans are the idiots around here."

She cleans up and continues working in the medication at hand. Working late into the evening hours. Thanks to the van being close by, the building was powered once more. The lights were flicked on.

"The lights and mains may had been shut down... but the security system is active indifferent." Brother remarks.

"A separate wire system and they were keepers... they would have recall to use the technology."

Kate tilted with thinking about a working study many of the previous were working on... and why this place continues to be creepy. The truth is bare to see and confusing. So many made their theories... tested. Yet went to far and were overstepping the trust. It is safer to let this information be worked out on the long run while building trust.

"This was a full working zoo when the first plague of infection came. It sealed the fate of everyone." Brother noted in his reading and summarize of all this stuff, "They were fair off the mark about the infections and how to counter - even for humans that didn't use the nanotechnology." He continues to be astounded by things humans can achieve. Kate continues to be interested in the way her brother thinks and process things.

Its the first time he ever showed curiosity towards living things in a meaningful way.

To her, it was a small celebration of finally getting her brother lively and interested with life. A first is so long... even back in the library days - lacked any interest of connecting with her. Her brother loved creatures... a fact that answers other things.