-- Vivian POV, Medtech facility --

  With a pool noodle clamped under her arms, the water carried her and she could have her lower legs in a standing position without danger to stumble and fall every moment.

  "Don't move your knees so much Vivian, focus on the ankles and feet. Pull up your feet and then stretch them down again till you can touch the bottom of the pool", Dr. Meyer instructed her.

  She tried to focus. It worked best if she tried to imagine walking on toe tips as Tom had suggested, at least her motion memory matched her new body best this way. Just the proportions were all wrong and sometimes her lower leg muscles failed to follow her will.

  She stretched her legs downwards. First she felt her claws touch the tiled bottom of the pool, then her toes, then the balls of her feet. Actually, her feet now, the next part was working as lower-lower legs.

  She tried to bounce a little in the pose. With two knee-like joints her legs were very springy, she had a much greater vertical motion range. Even now she could feel the tickle in the back of her brain. Squat to load the legs with tension, then jump into the sky like a rocket.

  Dr. Meyer watched her, "How does it feel?"

  "I want to jump", she let him know.

  "No, how's the control?" He corrected his initial question.

  "Bit wacky. I can't get my balance over the feet. Even in the water I know I'm off balance."

  "That will get better. Pull your legs upwards as much as you can, and then try to get back into a standing position. Do that a few times and see if you can find a better balance each time."

  "I'll try", she let Dr. Meyer know.

  She had never imagined to end up in a rehabilitation facility. Not that she ever had had the money for such. And now she was not even injured, just this body's legs had a different mechanic than her old legs, and she had to learn walking almost like a toddler.

  -- Vivian POV, Medtech facility --

  Pull the legs up, stretch them down, find support on the ground, check the balance, while the water keeps you from face planting.

  For hours she had been doing this and similar exercises before they had helped her back to her room. She still could not keep balance without the support of the water and a pool noodle, but she was willing to call it actual walking this time, instead of being dragged with legs that didn't work.

  And there was another new experience after rehab in the pool. She needed the blow dryer not only for her hair but almost her whole body because the fur remained damp after being scrubbed with a towel and damp fur was unpleasant. Ever tried to use a hair dryer on a bushy tail if you're insecure on your feet? Good luck with that.

  The highlight of the day though was a first piece of furniture for her room. An info terminal, so she could access news channels and most of solnet if the wanted to. Read only right now with an anonymous medtech account, but that was good enough for a start.

  She had been out for almost four hundred years, but surprisingly little had changed. There was almost no new tech, at least not any that she recognized as new. Everything was like a streamlined and improved version of what she knew. Lighter, slimmer, faster, that sort of change. The actual function had remained.

  There was no interstellar space flight past some probes sent to the closest systems, and even those had taken decades to report back. No breakthrough in research on faster than light travel, it remained a dream like it had for so long already. Colonies on all solar planets were doing fine, but population was stagnant, kept stagnant on purpose to reduce the strain on natural resources. Mind capture worked flawlessly across the system, almost no one ever died for real, except in the most horrible accidents.

  To keep the population stable, like her new body, most bodies were infertile. It was just the same old people in new bodies. She might even have a chance to meet someone from her past life, if she was able to recognize them in their new body. And it explained why for three hundred years no one has asked for her services. The job market was as stagnant as the population, declining even with better tech slowly replacing jobs. She had been all worried for the wrong reasons.

  Furry bodies like her own were a minority. And apparently a bit segregated from the more standard humans. She couldn't find any law that required that, it seemed more like that people lumped in with the like-minded. Furthermore, quite some time ago a company had started to offer replicas of one's original body quite cheaply if one deposited a tissue sample in time and that had become the de-facto standard. Just because of the cost efficiency. Most people simply opted for a younger version of themselves instead of a custom or enhanced body like hers.

  So Tom and her would be an unusual pairing, but not anything scandalous.

  Her eyesight bothered her again and for a first time her claws too. The touch screen of this info terminal didn't react well to her claws. Her claws even damaged the surface if she tried too hard. And all colors were off. She could read text just fine, anything white on black or black on white was good, infographics mostly too, but photos and videos appeared all garbled.

  Some searching had revealed that she was not the only one with the color problem. Almost all furry bodies, which were derived from mammalian predators had the same problem that she had. There were displays to show colors in full spectrum for all those who had nonhuman eyes, but they were expensive. And the cheap displays, which worked for the human red-green-blue vision failed to show colors correctly for the rest of the population, including her.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Right now she wasn't even sure if she wanted to leave this facility anytime soon, able to walk or not. In here she was safe, taken care of. Outside she only could hope that Tom remained to be the nice person as whom he had presented himself to her so far.

  -- Vivian POV, Medical facility --

  After another hard day of leg training, Tom had come to visit her. Meanwhile she had an almost normal room, just with an additional handrail along all walls, which had become very handy, even that she could walk now. She just didn't feel very secure on her feet and appreciated the idea of something to hold onto in case she stumbled.

  Now she looked at the empty plate and as usual she wanted more. Slowly the look of raw meat got assigned with the memory how delicious it smelled and tasted, which meant, it looked delicious to her now too, which was in contradiction to memories from her former life.

  Tom had brought a sandwich for himself, and she wondered how he managed to eat while she tore meat from bones, swallowed it and crushed the bones with delight, so much delight that she barely noticed anything around from the moment she started eating till the plate was empty. Like it was now.

  "Tom, this body is kinda scary", she looked up from the plate.

  "Sure, you are fast and strong now, with fangs and claws", he smiled at her encouragingly.

  "No, I meant another sort of scary. It changes how I feel and think about things", she repeated the old complaint.

  "Huh, how so?" He looked at her.

  "It started with how I suddenly liked physical activity. This just wasn't me, isn't me, but now I like it, even long for it. Then I started to like physical contact, cuddle up with someone, just because they are warm. Then came the eating. First I was disgusted when they served me raw meat. Then I smelled it and it was delicious. Now it also looks delicious. But today I had another scary moment. I saw movement from the edge of my eye. Something small, moving about. I just jumped to catch the thing. Which meant I face planted once more just to see I was about to catch a cleaning drone. I jumped without thinking, just because that thing triggered a reflex", she tried to lock eyes with him.

  He smiled back to her, "Sure, your new body has some new reflexes. You're a big feline predator now."

  She frowned, which meant her snout wrinkled and her ears drooped some, "I expected to look like one, not to be one."

  He came to her side to wrap an arm around her, "Dr. Meyer says you'll learn to control such reflexes. At the moment they are all new, first time things happening to you. So of course you don't know how to handle it. It's unexpected and new. Next time you'll know better. But if you want I can buy some cat toys for you."

  "Tom!" Her fur bristled and her ears were all perked up, "Please, don't make fun of me like this. It's hard enough as it is."

  He pulled her closer and after a small moment of resistance she just followed suit and held onto him as well. She liked to feel his warm body on her fur.

  "Sorry about that Vivian. Just relax and give it some time. I'm sure once we are home and you're no longer confronted with new things every day it will easier to settle in", he tried to comfort her.

  -- Vivian POV, Medical facility --

  She was diving, fast like a torpedo. She breached the surface to inhale once more and shot through the water. Her lungs burned, her muscles burned, but it felt just so good to give one's all. And water provided exactly the right resistance to challenge her.

  "Vivian!" A shout pierced her ears the next time she surfaced. Damn, why did they have to be so loud? She had excellent hearing.

  The water took her again, but this time she dove to the ground, coiled up and used her legs to propel herself upwards. Almost a full body length she made out of the water before she crashed back down in a big splash. This body was amazing!

  "Vivian!" Another ear piercing shout.

  It seemed the joy had to end here. She tried to swim in place, her head above the water, wet fur sticking to her skin. She certainly didn't look pretty now, but she couldn't care less with all the adrenaline pulsing in her veins.

  "Dr. Meyer?"

  "Vivian, you are supposed to practice walking. Not race like a seal on speed."

  She poked her tongue out at him. The party pooper that he was. But she knew he was right. She still had some minor problems to walk with her new legs, even after two weeks. Not only she had another set of knees two thirds down in her legs but also a much smaller zone of balance. Which was something though, that she had learned to enjoy. The smallest shift of weight brought her off balance and into motion, she could sprint or jump towards about any direction with just a very tiny initial movement. Weirdly, walking was more difficult than running or jumping.

  "Vivian come to me." Dr. Meyer was standing in the shallow zone of the pool.

  She dove again, arms pressed at her side and used her legs to propel her till she emerged from the water at his side.

  "Vivian", his voice was serious, "I need to warn you. If you cannot control your instincts your status will change from full sapient to sapient animal. At least while you are using this body."

  She sighed, which once more turned into light hiss, "I know. But I am a mere pet anyways for the next twenty-five years, and it is fun to follow the instincts. I just feels good." She put special emphasis into the last few words.

  The man had the nerve to put a finger onto her snout. She went cross eyed to stare at it, "But you have forty or more years after that. And once the classification was changed, particularly changed downwards, it will be hard to gain the status of a full sapient again."

  The party pooper that he was.

  She gave his finger a lick.

  He sighed and kept his hands to himself, "Vivian, I know this body was not your choice, and maybe it was your last chance. But ex-criminal and now moving to sapient animal is a really good way to ruin your future. You'll always depend on the good will of others."

  "I still don't understand why Tom selected this body for me. It can do everything I did as a criminal ten times better, but nothing in particular to lead a normal life. I can spy, I can hunt, I can kill. But I can't see images on a normal screen properly. And the instincts are overwhelming", she shrugged a little.

  "You really need to work on controlling your instincts better. Before you can join Mr. Morgan at his home, you'll have to go through a test at a police station. Your bite can break bones and your claws can rend flesh. You'll have to show them that you can control yourself and that you aren't a danger to other people." He sounded quite serious now.

  "And if I fail they will put me into jail or something just because I have a dangerous body?" She gave him an angry look.

  "No, but your status will change from full sapient to sapient animal. That means someone else will have to be at your side to help you with the lack of control. Briefly, to control you. While you are in the companion contract the one will be Mr. Morgan, but after that you might be given into the care of someone else. Even if Mr. Morgan is a nice man, that next one might be the worst asshole you have ever met. And if you hurt them, you will be the bad one. So work on that. Not to please me. But to protect yourself."