Kat sucked in a deep breath as she read the first line of Nira's message.
"Kat… I have no idea how you even managed to get this approved. I don't just mean the cost, which is surely exorbitant, but also permission for the procedure at all. Honestly everything in that message was a bit of a shock. I don't want to know how this is possible. I don't want to know how you got the money to pay for it. In fact don't even hint at anything. Make sure to prepare yourself and Lily to not tell me. I do not want to know. I probably shouldn't know. Let's just leave it at that.
"On the medical side of things… it's a little more complicated. I'd love the chance to be involved in a procedure such as this. They are rare things. Even if they weren't so expensive most people don't tend to feel comfortable abandoning their original race and that can really hamper the process or make it impossible. It was found out very early on in testing that you need to be completely willing otherwise the whole thing is a nightmare.
"Like… I've seen the recordings. They are ancient and very much not pretty. It's not even like we used prisoners for those experiments just animals that weren't anywhere close to sentient. It was horrific even for them. We couldn't figure out why for quite a while until someone, the name is redacted, decided to volunteer for the procedure. Everyone told them they were crazy but it actually worked. That's how we found out the creature had to desire the change.
"Never mind. You didn't ask for medical history. Still, I needed it to give you context to just how rare this is. It's expensive, which can cause feelings of buyer's remorse which hurt the process alongside a dozen other things as well if the person going through with it doesn't want it. I'm guessing that isn't the case here. That Lily does want to go through with this, and if so, I'd love to be her attending doctor.
"I'm not sure if I'll be allowed to though. This is already a high-level operation, though one I'm technically qualified for, her race choice, which we'll get to in a bit, is far above my skill level. If I was to take part, it would be just as the attending doctor. I'd be more like a glorified assistant than anything else. Still very much worth my time of course. The whole processing is fascinating to me and if I can get involved even as a secretary I'd jump at the chance so thank you for asking…
"But as I said, I'd jump at the chance. Practically everyone interested in the procedure would. The reason for that is because apparently you she was able to ask for Memphis as her Beastman heritage. To the best of my knowledge this has never been done. Never. Not once. I don't even know if there are Memphis beastmen or women that have been made naturally so Lily might be the first if this all goes through.
"So being involved in this, on top of being a rare chance and something highly sort after for Rank 5 medical professionals like myself. This operation is also likely to be historically significant. I might be able to get preferential treatment as a known entity to you but Lily doesn't know me so I'm unsure if it would be enough for me to get involved.
"In the end. I'll do what I can to assist Lily with this as well as participate myself but due to the nature of it all I might not be able to. Oh and Kamiko thinks it's really cool that Lily is changing her race to a Memphis so she can be connected to you. I don't know if that's quite Lily's reasoning and I know that Kamiko doesn't understand how big of an undertaking this is… but I suppose her heart is in the right place. Give Lily my best wishes and I hope to be involved. Nira."
Kat just stared at the flaming text for a few minutes unsure what to make of the new information Nira provided to her. *Well. This has certainly become a bigger deal then I thought it would be… system how did this happen? How was I high enough rank for this to happen?*
Checking data.
Scanning for irregularities.
Irregularity found.
Determining sequence of events.
D.E.M.O.N.S has determined that Rank 2 is enough to see race change as an option and as a Favour Token was being used it opened up the wider race options for Acquaintance Lily. However, the error occurred because instead of listing all tested and approved race changes it listed all possible race changes even those only possible in theory such as the Memphis and Memphis Beastperson options which while possible in practice have never been attempted.
Acquaintance Lily thus had access to a wider selection then possible under normal circumstances. Error will not be correct for Acquaintance Lily as Favour Tokens are promises to do all within D.E.M.O.N.S power to assist the holders once. Error will be corrected in the future however if User Kat wishes to exploit the same Error with the second Favour Token that will be allowed as the finder of the Error.
*Well that's just great. Is this procedure safe?*
If Acquaintance Lily truly desires to go through with the change it is likely within acceptable parameters. Anything short of catastrophic failure due to extremely Abnormal Cascading Errors in equipment will cause no lasting harm to Acquaintance Lily. Recovery time may vary if lesser issues appear.
*Really not sure how I'm about to feel about that system.*
Abnormal cascading errors are always possible User Kat. Abnormal cascading Errors require multiple instances of less then 0.1% chance Errors happening in concert and compounding the problem. They are such a rare occurrence that they are simply ignored. An example User Kat may be able to understand is waking up in the morning and being hit directly in the head with a meteor. The chance is so low the event in question may as well be impossible but cannot truthfully be said to be impossible. That is just one Abnormal Error, not a cascading series of them.
*So what… it's like being hit in the face with a meteor ten times in one morning?*
Yes. User Kat has suggested an adequate example.
*Ok that does make me feel a bit better. I do kinda wish you hadn't mentioned it at all… but I suppose it wouldn't be truthful to say there was no chance of this going wrong. Well, I suppose I have a bunch of things to explain to Lily now. That I'll be off training soon, that her race change is actually a huge deal.*
With that Kat tried to relax back into her bed for as long as she could. The temptation to get back up and pace was strong but with Sylvie using her wing as a blanket that wasn't a valid option. Instead she tried to think of anything she wanted to bring for her extended trip to Minor's but there really wasn't anything.
She didn't have any other clothes that fit her wings and tail so her demonic attire would have to suffice as it always did these days. Bedding was a possibility but based on the size of Enuko's house Kat doubted she really needed to. Food was the same, unnecessary. Though…
*Maybe I should bring a picnic basket with some nice stuff from Earth? Callisto would likely jump at the chance to serve food for people in another world… but I don't know what they eat. Do Kitsune have special dietary requirements? Surely they can eat more than meat. I feel like they would have mentioned it to me.*
Kat shrugged at that and decided to bring some food anyway. If they didn't like it she could eat it over the course of her stay. With food off the list though Kat couldn't think of anything else worth taking. Sure Sylvie and Callisto at least might want to come along for the ride but Kat knew she didn't have permission for that now. Maybe in the future when her Rank was higher but for now that was no go.
*I wonder when Lily will be over… actually I wonder if she's alright? Should I go and check? Normally I wouldn't but normally she'd be much further away and I wouldn't be her girlfriend. Hmm… I don't really know how that changes things if I'm honest with myself. Should I just ask Lily? I wonder if it would be better to ask someone else… though last time I made that decision I ended up having Vivian and Callisto give me the talk and that was mentally scarring.*
Kat pushed down the images that came bubbling to the surface when the dreaded words were uttered and snuggled closer to Sylvie. Hopeful her little sisters presence would chase away the bad thoughts.