I could feel something.

That hadn't happened in a while.

Of course, I didn't really know that, but I could assume from the way my body felt. Stiff, tired, and...cold?

Freezing cold. I felt as though it were near freezing in here. I don't know why, but that didn't seem right. I felt as though it was supposed to be hot for some reason.

I had to get up. I couldn't stand this cold, so I would have to find somewhere warm.

I strained to get up. I moved my head up, but then noticed that was all I could move. I opened my eyes after some effort. Two pairs of straps held my arms and legs onto a table where I was lying. I was...restrained?

That's when I began to notice other things. Particularly my body.

I could see red orange fur across the entirety of it. My hands were now some sort of mixture between a hand and a paw, same with my feet. I noticed a large yellow ball curled up under my midsection.

I was not really surprised in that moment as much as I was angry for some reason. "Hello? Someone? Anyone? What am I doing here? Hello? What's going on? What happened to me? HELLO!?"

I collapsed from exhaustion and lay there for a while. Well this couldn't be right...could it?

I realized I couldn't remember anything. Other than basic memories of stuff like words and grammar, I was a blank slate apart from the memories I had just obtained.

I felt a tingling in my ears, but in the wrong place, and I heard a door quietly whoosh open.

I sat up when I felt something happening near my hands. I saw a man in a lab coat very calmly remove the restraints from my limbs. As the first one came off, I immediately pulled my hand up and rubbed it. It felt sore and chafed. 

Once again, I had a feeling something wasn't right. Like an ordinary man would not be acting so calmly in this scenario.

When he had finished, he quietly walked to the door, pressed a button, and exited.

I waited a few seconds before getting off of the table. It was then that I noticed that the large yellow ball had followed behind me. I suppose it was some sort of very large bushy tail.

That word echoed in my thoughts. Tail. No that couldn't be right. The word didn't belong with me.

I looked around and saw a mirror near the back of the room. I walked over to it.

Other than what I had already seen, there was a large ball of yellow fur around my neck, and on the top of my head, between what I suppose were my ears. My eyes were a startling black, as if it were all the pupil.

My body, I also noticed, was well built. Despite being probably unconscious for some time, I felt...strong.

I heard the door again, and turned to see a man with another lab coat step in. This time, he sat  down in a chair. "It's good to see you up."

I didn't say anything.

He waved to the table I had been on. "Please, have a seat."

I took a few seconds, but I moved over and sat on the edge.

I noticed he held a mug of something in his hands. He took a good sip of it, then looked at me. "I must apologize for the restraints. They were necessary."

I finally spoke up. "Why? What happened to me?"

"Please, allow me to explain. Your name is Carter. You lived with your mother and twin brother-"

For some reason a name shot into my mind. "Casey..."

He looked startled, almost worried for a second. But then he returned to calm. "Yes, VERY good. I'm surprised. Anyway, you and your brother were caught in a fire. You managed to get out together, but you went back in for something. Your brother, trying to help you, followed. An explosion occurred, and the two of you were caught in it. They only found you."

I looked down at the floor.

"You were in a hospital for a few days, but they knew they wouldn't be able to give you proper treatment. We gladly volunteered to take you in. We tried traditional tactics to help you, but your injuries were too severe. We had only one option to help you. A very experimental tactic, that nobody outside of the company knew about. We would modify your DNA with an extremely heat resistant creature's."

He took another slow sip. "You had dramatic reactions at first. Your body began having seizure like episodes. That was when we placed the restraints. Thankfully, after a while these died down, and your body found a way to incorporate the DNA change. Which is why you look the way you do."

I suppose I had understood it, but one thing was bothering me.

"What about my mother?"

His face showed an expression that seemed a mixture of frustration, and oddly understanding. It was very uncomfortable. "I'm afraid that when she heard the news she began driving home to meet you at the hospital as soon as possible. She was distraught, and was caught in an accident. She didn't make it."

My eyes widened. I was alone. Alone, and whatever it was I was now.

He set the drink down. "I'm afraid I should introduce myself. I am Doctor James Maine, and I am the head of research and CEO here at our company."

He stood up and put a hand on my shoulder. He quickly took it off.

"Ooh. You are very warm."

I noticed that I didn't feel cold anymore.

"What happened with that?" I asked.

"Well, you awoke without your internal heat in full capacity. Your natural body temperature is much higher now, so that is why you became so cold when you woke up. As you woke up fully, it began to function properly, and now you are extremely warm."

"Huh." I looked down at my hands. "Neat."

He smiled. "That's only the beginning. Let us take a walk, shall we?"