Candace slid into the room, saw the TV on a news channel, and asked "What's new?"
 "More pockets of plants are dying around the world" said Alice, muting the monitor. "They're officially calling it the flora plague."
 "A plague that affects all plants and sprouted up around the world at the same time?" said Candace. "That can't be good. Want to play a game."
 "Sure" said Alice starting up the game system as Candace went to the bathroom.
 In the middle of one of the games, an alarm sounded.
 "What's that?" asked Alice.
 Before Candace could answer, the door opened and a guard said "Come on, let's go."
 "Go where?" asked Candace, moving towards the door.
 "To a truck to get you out of here, now move" said the guard.
 Alice followed behind Candace. There were a few people rushing through the corridors. They entered into a loading dock.
 "You're finally here, come on get into the truck" said a man.
 "What's going on doctor?" asked Candace.
 "The police are almost here, get to the front of the container and close the panel" said the man.
 Candace and Alice got into the truck. I was full of boxes with a narrow corridor down the middle. The gate was closed behind them, there was a light coming from an open panel in front of them. The truck started moving as they made their way to the light. The panel led to a small compartment, Alice had to sit on top of Candace to fit inside. Candace closed the panel. The truck went up a ramp, turned a corner and then stopped.
 Outside someone shouted "Police. Get out of the truck, get out of the truck now."
 "Alice, don't say anything without a lawyer present" said Candace.
 The rear gate of the truck opened up, then there was a knock on the panel. "This is the police. Open up or we cut you out." Candace opened the panel. "Alright, now come out with your hands up." Alice went out first, she stepped out of the truck and into the cold air. There were whistles as her rear end came out of the truck. When Candace slid out, someone said "That's why we call them exotics."
 An officer came up to Alice and cuffed her hands in front of her. "You are under arrest for having illegal biological modifications" said the officer, then began to list her rights.
 "Could we get some clothes or some blankets over here, it's cold" said Candace. A second officer had cuffed her and was listing her rights. A third officer came up with blankets. They placed one over each of their shoulders and one over Alice's rear end.
 After a while they were led to a police van. They were given water bottles after getting into the van. "Get comfortable girls, it's going to be a long ride" said one of the officers from the front. Alice laid down on one of the bench seats while Candace took the other. They rode through the day and night. They stopped for a bathroom break and to fuel the van in the morning. Then they rode through most of the day. Finally they arrived at a prison complex. They were taken inside and their cuffs were removed. They were taken to the showers. Alice got done showering first. Candace came out later, was fitted with a shirt and taken away. Alice was fitted with a shirt for her front body, pants for her rear legs, and after a while an over-sized shirt for her front legs and rear body. She was fitted with two pairs of shoes, the front ones had the heels cut out of them. "Not the first time we've dealt with digitigrade feet" said the officer. Then her picture was taken. After that, she was led to a small room. She sat her rear end on the ground and waited. A man in a suit came into the room.
 "I want to speak to a lawyer" said Alice.
 "I'm your legal counsel" said the man. "This conversation is confidential. I just got finished talking with Candace and from what she is willing to put on record, your transformation was forced upon you, is that correct?"
 "She saved my life" said Alice. "If she hadn't-"
 The man held up his hands "Let her lawyer deal with her defense. She told you you would die if you didn't get modified, correct?"
 "She said I would probably die" said Alice.
 "The good news is that the prosecution will probably drop your case. The bad news is that by law, you have to stay at this medical prison until your illegal modifications are removed."
 "How long will that take?" asked Alice.
 "You'll have to talk to the doctor about that" said the man. "While you are here you have the right to communicate with the outside world via phone. Any such communication may be monitored and recorded and used against you in court. You have the right to see visitors during visiting hours. Again, any meetings may be monitored and recorded. You have the right to meet with me in confidence. You will have a private cell which will be locked at night. You will be given meals of your choosing appropriate to your physiology. Do you have any questions?"
 "No" said Alice.
 The man got up and left the room. Alice got up and walked out. She was escorted to the cafeteria area.
 "Got any special dietary requirements?" asked a lady behind the counter.
 "Hay" said Alice.
 "Hay?" asked the lady.
 "It's what I've been eating for months, ever since my transformation" said Alice.
 "Vegetarian meals it is then" said the lady. "Dinner is in a few hours."
 She was escorted to a room. "This will be your room" said the escort. "Be in it at ten o'clock." Then the escort left. The room had a simple bed, a toilet and a sink.
 Alice left the room and walked around. She found Candace in a common room, lying on a couch, watching a nature show on TV. "Are we the only ones here?" Alice asked.
 "The only ones on the female side, it appears" said Candace.
 Alice left Candace and continued her walk. She found a door to a long courtyard. She went out to the courtyard, picked up her rear feet and ran. It didn't take many steps to reach the other side. She turned around and ran back, enjoying the feeling of the wind against her face. She stopped by the door to catch her breath. Then she jogged in circles until she heard her name being called. She jogged up to the door and followed the officer inside. The officer led her to a door which the officer unlocked, then through the door to a long hallway. The officer opened a door and motioned her inside. The room had a large table which was to one side of large, short metal cylinder.
 "Hello Alice, I'm Doctor Janet Franklin" said a woman in a lab coat. "I'm in charge of changing you back to human. I heard a lot about you from Candace. I want to take a current DNA sample and get a full body scan. Open your mouth please."
 Alice opened her mouth and the doctor scraped the inside of her cheek.
 "Now lie down on the table please" said the doctor.
 Alice got up onto the table and lay down on her back. The table moved through the cylinder, and then rapidly back to its starting position.
 "Thank you" said the doctor. "I understand you have a ruminant's stomach. I'm adding lots of green leafy vegetables to your meals."
 "How long will it take for the transformation?" asked Alice.
 The doctor said "You've had quite a lot changed inside you, it's going to take at least a few months of working with the genome AI to compute a reversal of the transformation that was done to you. Add on a few more months for the actual transformation itself. I'm sorry, but you're going to be here a while."
 "I understand" said Alice.
 "Candace said the parasite in your uterus should come out on its own in a month" said the doctor. "Tell an officer if you have any groin pains."
 "OK" said Alice. Then the officer led her back down the hallway. Alice went into the common room, sat down on her rear, and watched TV with Candace until they called for dinner. When Candace did not move, Alice asked her "Are you coming?"
 "My digestive system can only absorb water and some minerals" said Candace. "They're going to feed me intra-venously. The equipment comes in tomorrow."
 Alice went and ate dinner alone.
  The flora plague continued to spread. Oceanographers confirmed it was affecting sea life as well. Food riots started in the cities as people began to stockpile food. Experts agreed that the plague was probably man made due to the spread of it. There was increased attacks against zoomorphs for spreading the technology used to create the plague. A couple of weeks passed and scientists identified the virus that was causing the plague. They confirmed that it was man made. They also found that it was a delayed action virus. The virus was found in otherwise healthy plants. It was only a matter of time before all plant life was extinguished. Priority was given to finding a solution to the plague. All genome AIs were commandeered for the task. Alice's treatment would have to wait.
 Violence in the cities spread to the rest of the country. The economy collapsed. The government sent the military to protect dwindling food supplies. They started rationing out the food at refugee camps. Criminals in minimum security prisons and other low-risk prisoners had their sentences commuted to probation and were sent to refugee camps. The remaining exotics had their day in court as they were. Alice had her charges dropped. Candace and a few other exotics were sentenced to probation. They were sent to a refugee camp.
 On the way, Candace leaned over and whispered into Alice's ear "I don't think they'll have an intravenous food supply. Would you be willing to feed me again?"
 "Yes" said Alice. "You can feed on me again."
 "Thank you" said Candace, then she kissed Alice's cheek.
 They arrived at the camp and got out of the van. The other exotics took the lead, with Candace and Alice following behind. They headed into the camp and one of the other exotics asked and got directions.
 "At least there are a lot of zoomorphs here" said Candace. "Maybe we won't get attacked."
 They headed into the first floor of one of the buildings. There was a soldier behind the front desk.
 "Is what your wearing all you have?" he asked.
 "Yes" said the lead exotic.
 "Give me your sizes, we'll try to find clothing for you" said the soldier. "There are showers and towels in the health club three buildings down from here. This is your meal card, lose it and you don't get fed." He handed out cards attached to neck chains. "The buildings are all full, you'll be sleeping in the tents in the courtyard." He started giving out tent numbers to pairs.
 "We would like to tent together" said Candace gripping Alice by the shoulder.
 "You get tent 34" said the soldier. "Meals are handed out in the basement of the church. Get there early if you want a seat, otherwise you eat outside."
 There was a crowd outside the building as they left. They let the other exotics, who were mostly just big, through but gathered around Candace and Alice and started asking questions all at once.
 "Whoa, one at a time" said Candace. Candace pointed and said "You first."
 "Why are you out of jail without being changed back to humanoid?"
 "Due to the flora plague, we were sent to court early" replied Candace. "The charges against Alice here were dropped because her transformation was forced on her. I got out on probation for good behavior. Next."
 "Is that all tail?"
 "No it's mostly body" replied Candace. "My organs are spread out through it. My tail is a small flap on my rear end. Next."
 "How far can you open your mouth?"
 "Not much farther than a human" said Candace, then she lifted up and opened her mouth for all to see. She got down and said "Next."
 "What kind of taur are you?"
 "She's a foliedi" answered Candace. "Next."
 "Why are your back legs different from your front legs?"
 "Her back legs are built for grabbing things and her front legs are built for running" said Candace. "She picks her back legs up when running. Next"
 "Why do you answer for her?"
 "Because I designed her" said Candace. "Next."
 "Are you two in a relationship?"
 "Sort of" said Candace. "Next."
 "Sort of how?"
 "None of-" started Candace.
 "I'm her food" said Alice.
 After a silent pause, "She's going to eat you?"
 "Not really" said Alice. "She puts this thing inside my uterus that makes my body think I'm pregnant. Then every night as we sleep she connects to it and collects food from me. Right?" Alice looked down at Candace who had her forehead in her hand.
 "And your OK with this?"
 "It's actually rather nice inside her" said Alice. "It's warm and soft. It feels like you're floating."
 "Inside her?"
 "Yea" said Alice. "You see her vag opens like a snakes mouth and-"
 Everyone started talking at once again.
 "That's it, goodnight folks" said Candace, pulling on Alice's arm. They went over to the courtyard where the tents were. They found their tent, went inside and closed the flaps. The crowd that followed them slowly dispersed.
 Candace lay face down on one of the cots "I can't believe you said all that."
 "Did I get it wrong?" asked Alice.
 "No" said Candace. "But people will think we're freaks now."
 "No they won't" said Alice. "What do we do now."
 Candace rolled over "We wait for dinner, I guess."
 Alice lay down on her cot. After a while the church bell rang.
 Candace went outside and looked out over the tents. "Everyone is forming a line at the church. I guess it's dinner time."
 Alice got up and went outside. The ground was dirt. What little grass there was was dead. So were the bushes along the side of the courtyard. The flora plague had been through.
 The two of them went over and got in line.
 "Hey" someone behind them said, "if you feed on her, what are you doing in line?"
 "Everyone gets the same amount of food" said Candace. "If I want to give my food to Alice to make sure she has the energy to feed me, that's my right."
 "Why don't you eat it yourself?"
 "I can't" said Candace. "My digestive tract can only absorb water and some minerals."
 "Who's fault is that?"
 "Mine" said Candace.
 "Maybe you should starve then."
 "And maybe you should shut up and mind your own business" said someone else.
 Candace and Alice looked around. Most people were staring angrily at the person who said Candace should starve. Candace blushed and smiled. The line slowly moved. Once inside, Alice handed her card to the person behind the counter. The person swiped the card, gave the card back, then gave her a lidded bowl of food and a spoon. Candace got her bowl and the two of them went back to their tent. Alice ate both bowls, then they took the empty bowls back to the church. They wandered around the camp. All of the buildings had people milling around outside them. They found the health club and took advantage of the showers.
 "Hey" someone said. "You have a penis."
 "That's right I do" said Alice. "And I have a vagina." She twisted her rear body and pulled on the slit to show it.
 "Are they both functional?"
 "Yes" said Candace. "She is a functional hermaphrodite."
 They finished up their showers and went back to their tent. Candace borrowed a couple of towels. They moved the cots closer to each other. Alice took off her clothes and lay down on her cot, her legs bent up to her sides. Candace held Alice's shoulders and wrapped her vagina around Alice's rear end. She pushed Alice's rear legs into her womb, then her front legs. The breathing tentacle came out and wrapped around Alice's face. Then Alice was completely inside Candace.
 "I've missed this" said Alice.
 "I've missed having you" said Candace.
 Candace started spraying the parasite onto Alice's cervix. Alice felt Candace's pulse beating around her and soon fell asleep.