Anthro
By Dark Phoenix
To save humanity, humanity must become...furry! 

Comments? Criticisms? - Email me after you've finished reading! Feedback is most appreciated: thedarkphoenix2008@yahoo.com

***DISCLAIMER***
This story is geared towards adults. If you are NOT into female muscle growth, muscular anthropomorphic creatures, superhuman strength, intense sexual themes, and violence, then this story is not for you. But if you ARE into those things, then read on.

***NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR***
So far, I've done Popeye-themed stories, robotic-themed stories, and alien-themed stories. But now I'm going to take a leap into another theme of mine: female muscle furries. That's right, I'm talking anthropomorphic. And you want to know what inspired me to do this ... wait for it ... my cat! Yes, I know it's weird. Anyway, long story short, I wanted this story to sort of represent what might happen if my cat took on more humanlike characteristics and could actually communicate how she feels. This story is essentially based loosely on real life events, only in a fictional way. That said, all the themes are the same: females and muscles.

I must also mention that I'm exploring some dark territory here. I don't know how it will be received, but I'm going through with it. I also want to point out that this was originally supposed to be a one-time story. But when I got to the part that this story is about, I found myself putting a lot more focus on the main character's reactions to his success. And, well, let's just say that I found myself becoming vicariously linked with that main character and put a lot more emphasis on his relation to the female protagonist. I'll be blunt, when you get turned on by the female character you're writing about, you find yourself putting more life into her. Yes I know she is not even human, but that's what makes it exciting damn it!

Suffice to say, I decided that it would become an ongoing series after all. There's a lot of the intended plot still unexplored. I won't say what. Just know that this will be considered to be one of my personal favorites if this first part is any indication. But I must continue to work on one of two commissioned stories. That's really the main reason I decided to make this a series. With that said, I hope you enjoy this as much as I made it! And please, let me know what you think of it afterward. My email address is readily available. Your feedback means a lot to me! And I am very thankful to all of you who have already been emailing me about the stories so far. Here's to you lads and many more stories for your enjoyment to come!

* * *

It was a typical Wednesday morning in the year 2050 and Zephram was taking a day off from work. He was content with his life in spite of the circumstances. Zephram Reinhardt is a thirty-year-old man with an exceptional IQ. He's quite handsome with a decent build, 5'11", short blonde hair, and lives alone with only his cat, Silky. Silky is a gray short-haired domestic breed, female, 4 years old, which is like mid-twenties in human years, and just seems to adore Zephram's attention. She's always climbs up on him when he lays down and enjoys playing with him when he gets one of his long strings. Zephram is a scientist who specializes in genetic engineering. He usually spends his days off either relaxing, getting some home chores done, or doing some personal genetic research. This time it was relaxing, just him and Silky. The profession has fallen under heavy scrutiny in recent years due to the inherent risks of making humans too smart and possibly creating a person who could use any enhancements for dark purposes. Star Trek's take on genetic engineering and Khan has apparently had a real-life influence on peoples' opinions. Nevertheless, there were those like Zephram who were determined to prove that when done right, genetic engineering can have beneficial results for mankind.

It was ten in the morning and Zephram was just getting up. Given his lack of sleep during the workweek, he tends to make up for it on the morning of his days off and sleeps until he wakes up. After having breakfast, he decided to watch a movie. After some choosing, he decided on The Island of Dr. Moreau. For it was this movie that, despite its "failure," showed that the technology of today could actually make it possible to do what the movie portrays. But what Zephram had in mind personally was akin to playing God. It was something that sat in a dark corner of his conscience. But he had the tools and the means and he felt justified in pursuing this for that reason.

Humanity had already suffered worldwide losses in World War III. The population had since dwindled to less than a billion and there was another danger that now further threatened to end humanity. An extremist group engineered a new virus that specifically targets humans. It was this group that felt that humans had over-abused the planet and committed too many sins to exist any longer. And while they were eventually discovered and eliminated, it was too late as the virus had been unleashed and now all of humanity is gradually dying off. Society has fallen apart and mankind has lost all hope, since it has been proven that the virus is highly adaptive to all forms of vaccines and medicines. People tried having kids, but the virus was even more deadly towards the young and sadly, they too were quick to die. One of the few professions left in the world belong to the scientists whose collective purpose is to somehow discover a way to stop this virus before humanity goes the way of the dinosaurs. As for the rest of the world, people could only wait for the end or pray for salvation.

After the movie was over, Zephram went into the kitchen and right on cue, Silky was there ready to eat. He went ahead and fed her and made some lunch of his own. He had a lot going through his head both with work and his own ideas. Many of the world's top scientists had succumbed to the virus and only a handful remained, along with himself. When Zephram is doing a lot of thinking, he tends to talk to Silky.

"There's got to be a way to outsmart this virus. If they can cure AIDS, I'm sure this virus can also be stopped," he said to Silky, who briefly looked his way, then turned back to eating.

After finishing off his lunch, he went back to the living room and sat back down on the couch. He was going to put on another movie when his gaze once more landed on The Island of Dr. Moreau. That was when it hit him.

"THAT'S IT!" he shouted, startling Silky.

He jumped up from the couch, ran back to his computer room and booted it up.

He started thinking out loud as his computer finished loading, "If the virus targets only human genenomes, and can't be stopped by any known means..." He loaded his work software and began punching in a series of complex calculations, "What if I were to take human genes out of the equation somehow?"

At that point, Silky entered the room and hopped up on his lap, lay down, and began purring. Zephram started to absent-mindedly pet her as he typed with his free hand.

"What if I were to kill two birds with one stone and achieve both a cure to the virus and my own goals?" Zephram asked himself.

He looked down at his cat. He tried to imagine her bipedal and as tall as a human. He had always had a fascination for the animal kingdom. But in particular, he had fantasized what it would be like if animals could take on human characteristics such as human-level intelligence, a human build, yet still retain their animal qualities such as their fur and tails and such. It is why The Island of Dr. Moreau is his favorite book and his favorite movie.

Zephram continued his calculations and watched as a diagram appeared of the human genetic profile. He then pulled up a genetic profile of a few animals including a cat, a monkey, a bear, and a tiger.

Zephram again spoke to Silky, "Well let's look at chimpanzees. It's a well-known fact that humans and chimpanzees have only a 2 percent difference in their genetics. Of course, I would have to account for the intelligence factor."

Zephram's voice trailed off as he stared blankly at the screen. Silky continued to lie there on his lap, purring. After a couple minutes...

"What if... what if I can take any animal genome and the human genome and merge them together? Yeah, that may be the key. It would result in a completely new genetic profile," Zephram said.

Zephram gently put Silky on the floor, "I'm sorry Silky, but it seems that I won't be relaxing today after all. I'm on to something here and I must concentrate on this." She answered by jumping on a chair behind him and lying down.

* * *

Zephram spent the better part of the afternoon running tests and simulations on his computer using his selected animals and a few others. Some were too incompatible. But to his excitement, there were many that looked promising. Most of them were mammals. He looked at the clock and was surprised to see how late it was getting. He finally realized how hungry he was and went out to the kitchen to make dinner.

Zephram looked over at Silky, who was sitting in the dining room floor, "Just think, you and I may actually be able to communicate with each other."

Zephram stopped himself at what he just said. He hadn't considered a test subject. He could probably use another cat or even a dog. But he wasn't a hundred percent sure it would be successful. And even then, who's to say such a subject would be dangerous or not with such human characteristics. He thought hard about what he realized to be the only test subject he could safely test his experiment on. He once again looked at Silky who let out a short "Meow!?? He realized at that moment how much Silky meant to him. She had been his only companion for the longest time. He never desired much contact with other people. The world was in such disarray with everyone waiting to die or be saved that normal interaction seemed impossible.

He was torn at that moment. Here he was with the only possible key to saving humanity and he wasn't sure if he could go through with it. As if Silky could sense his torment, she walked up to him and rubbed against his legs and purred some more. Zephram picked her up and cuddled her.

"You know how much you mean to me, right Silky? You're like family to me. I love you as much as I would a human member of my family,? he said, tears streaming down his face.

"But...I... I have to do something... or everyone on Earth will die, even me. Please forgive me Silky. I love you!" he said through sobs as he held her close to him. She purred in his ear, not showing any signs of resistance to his tight hold.

* * *

Zephram came home from work early the next day. The pressure of his job coupled with the impending doom of the human race weighed more heavily on his mind than ever. So he chose to quit and do his research full time at home. He had plenty of his own material to get the job done and knew that his job would never allow it there. If this was to work, he'd have to devote all of his time to it. He went straight to work on more simulations and would need some kind of initial test subject to work with. He decided on using a mouse, despite the fact they were too incompatible with the human gene to support human-level intelligence. But since they had a simple genetic profile to work with, he could still explore the other facets.

After picking up a mouse with a cage, he returned home and set it on the table in his lab. He began running a series of calculations while trying to further perfect the formula. There was no room for error so he needed to make sure every variable was accounted for. He began by extracting a sample of the mouse's blood to use in combining the genes. Naturally, he would use himself to supply the human genes. He took a syringe, removed a sample of his blood, and put it in a secure vial. He began to put his new formula together, as he needed to create a serum that would serve as a courier to integrate the new DNA throughout the body where it would overwrite the existing DNA and restructure the body. After several hours of extracting DNA from his own blood and merging it with the mouse's DNA, he was finally successful. Now all that was left was to mix the new DNA into the serum and inject it into the mouse. It took a few days for all his preparations, but at last, he was ready to begin the actual experiment. He filled a syringe with the serum. It was the moment of truth.

Silky spent most of her time in his company as she patiently watched him go at it. She saw Zephram turn away from his lab equipment and walk over to the cage. He saw her watching and looked at her. "Well Silky, if this works at least as well as it should, then I'll feel a lot more at ease trying it on you, he said with anticipation.

Zephram opened the top of the cage and firmly held the mouse in place as he injected it with the liquid, which in its completed state, looked as red as the blood the genes came from. After pulling the needle out, he closed the cage, set the timer, and waited. At first, nothing seemed to happen. Aside from the mouse not being too pleased with just having a needle pierce its body, it continued to pace around the cage. After a couple minutes though, something happened. The mouse stopped moving as its body tensed. Suddenly, it started shaking as if in pain. Zephram's eyes went wide when he saw it actually happen: the mouse's body began to enlarge! Its front paws extended from its body as arms began to appear. The same thing happened with its hind legs. The fur stretched out with the change so it started to appear shorter, making the physical changes more noticeable. After another minute, the mouse's torso began to increase in size as well. Right before his eyes, the mouse began to literally morph into a miniature human shape as it went from three inches long to nine inches. Its head began to recede and become human-like complete with lips and a chin, though its nose remained that of a mouse's, along with the fur that still covered its body. If the growth didn't stop soon, the mouse would outgrow the cage. At last, the mouse stopped growing, though still down on all fours. But since its limbs were now structured to be bipedal, it looked more like it was lying down.

Zephram was excited. As far as he could tell, the experiment was a success. But before he began to do anything, something unexpected happened. The mouse rolled onto its back and started jerking spastically. Zephram began to panic, thinking that something was going wrong. But as he watched, his jaw about dropped when he noticed that the mouse's muscles began to swell in size. He couldn't see much definition because of the fur, but he could tell that its muscles were indeed getting bigger! He could see its newfound thighs expand as the muscles stretched and hardened. Traps bulged from both sides of its neck, and its arms also got wider. He could make out some rather impressive biceps forming as the mouse's jerking ceased and it became more like swaying back and forth. This seemed to indicate that it was no longer in pain. Finally, the extra growth stopped and the mouse lay there momentarily. Zephram didn't expect this. Sure the formula was designed to give it the musculature needed to support its humanlike frame, but to this extent was not as he had planned. Nevertheless, he was in awe at the sight. The size of the muscles made the mouse the equivalent of a middleweight bodybuilder.

At last, the mouse moved. At first, it rolled around on its stomach and back. But then, it finally responded to its frame and stood up, its head coming really close to the top of the cage. There was little room now for it to move around. This began to worry him though because, without the necessary intelligence, there was no telling what the mouse would do with its newfound strength. Zephram cautiously began to enter the results into the computer, as the mouse seemed at first to be confused with its new body. But that didn't last long. Suddenly, it started getting excited as it ran at the side of the cage, causing the whole thing to tilt. It then grabbed at the bars and proceeded to bend them apart. Clearly, it wanted out. But he couldn't let it go in that state. Zephram had planned for this contingency and regretfully grabbed the syringe filled with a toxin that would painlessly kill it, but preserve its biology long enough for him to study the results. He reached in and grabbed the mouse by the arms. He was shocked when he felt just how hard its muscles really were. He took a daring moment to squeeze the mouse's flexed arms and realized that, despite his much greater size, he was stunned to feel how hard they were. The mouse responded to his squeeze by flexing even harder as Zephram could actually feel its biceps expand under his grip! But his awe was interrupted as the mouse began to struggle hard in his grip and bite at him. He couldn't do anything further except overpower the mouse to the floor of the cage and inject the toxin. The mouse's muscles all swelled under his grip and for a moment, he found his hands being pushed away by the mouse's in a display of incredible strength. Finally, the mouse's muscles relaxed as it died.

Zephram stood there a moment contemplating what he had done. Even though it was just a mouse, he still felt a twinge of remorse. He disliked killing, even if it was just a lab animal. But with the way things were, he had to do what was necessary. Knowing that he had to act fast, he took the mouse's body out of the cage and set it on the table. Silky was starting to get curious about what he was doing and started to climb up to the table. But Zephram took her and put her in the living room and closed the door to the lab behind him. He didn't want Silky to see this, even though she probably wouldn't comprehend it anyway. He walked back over to the table to look at the transformed specimen before him. This was truly it, the first official real life anthropomorphic creature. For decades, it was considered fiction, but all that had changed. He felt really hopeful that the true test would prove to be just as successful. The only thing he could do was study the results closely. Even though the muscles on the mouse were relaxed, they were still quite hard. He had to see just how much definition was in those muscles. He took a shaver and removed all the fur. It took several minutes to do, but when he finally finished, Zephram was just amazed at what he saw. Despite being totally relaxed, he could see startling definition. The mouse's traps were really noticeable, giving its neck some beefiness. Its abs were a six-pack of muscle with grooves that were a couple millimeters thick. Its legs were as wide as his wrist. And for a mouse, even one with several times its original size, that was huge. He looked at its arms and saw just how wide they were. He took some small electrical devices that when hooked up to certain muscles, can force them to flex depending on how much of an electrical surge he put into them. He set it to eighty percent and pressed the surge button. The mouse's biceps bulged to the size equivalent to sixteen inches on a human. He put the pads on its thighs and watched as they also bulged with unbelievable definition. There were radical teardrop shaped bulges around those muscled thighs.

After taking off the pads, he stood there amazed. He didn't expect such an increase in muscle size. And the mouse was an ordinary one that wasn't even bigger than usual. He was at a loss for how and why. He stood there and took the scene in. Zephram decided to put everything away for now and went back into the living room where Silky looked a bit upset for being left out there. Zephram scooped her up and held her close.

"Oh I'm sorry baby! I know you didn't like me locking you out like that. But...but there's something that's going to happen and I'm really hoping that it will lead to the salvation of the human race.? Silky just remained there, but wasn't purring. Maybe she was still mad at him regardless, but she wasn't trying to get away from him either. Zephram was contemplating what would happen if this did become a success. Even if this works, there were still further steps to be taken. He set Silky down and made dinner and put another movie on. He knew that Silky was pretty forgiving and that she would be back to her cheery self.

And so it was over the next few days. He ran lots of complex equations on the computer while trying to determine what had made the mouse so strong. He did the best he could to preserve the body while he analyzed its newly configured DNA. Even though the mouse didn't achieve an increase in intelligence, it still reacted with human instincts by grabbing his hands and trying to push them away even though he assumed that the mouse wouldn't know what to do with those limbs. This seemed to suggest that the mouse's basic instincts were overwritten by human instincts, at least partially. That didn't stop it from biting at him. After noting for the record that the mouse was male, he came up with two possible theories about the mouse's musculature. Either it had to do with its male gender, or that the new DNA combined human level strength and the mouse's own and merged them together and amplified it. Zephram came to the conclusion that once he performed the procedure on Silky, her strength would also be intensified, though perhaps not quite as much due to her being female. And this was actually good since he would be able to have results from both sexes.

* * *

"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEE!!" came the sound of his alarm clock as Zephram hit the off button. He woke up to see Silky in her usual place at the foot of the bed next to his feet. After a few minutes of lying there, he closed his eyes and let his mind wander. Reality began to set in for him. No longer was he immune to the pressures of the dying human populace. He was beginning to realize how much everything was riding on this experiment. He didn't dare tell anyone; he knew fear would make them try to stop him. No, he had to see this to the end before he dared to tell anyone. He was at the top of his profession, and he would typically be on his way to becoming one of the legendary minds of the twenty-first century. But that was only a lost dream now. Everyone had lost hope.

And things were just beginning to truly look up for mankind. Poverty had been nearly wiped out for one. And though it took the biggest war in human history, it led to a much-needed relief of the world's resources. Before the war began, there were eight billion people just crowding this planet. Food was scarce and several animal species were driven to extinction. It sucked for him to think it, but human beings were literally becoming a cancer of this planet. Something bad was definitely going to happen.

He could see it clearly. Having grown up during the aftermath of the war, the sight of it was terrible. World War III consisted of the one thing everyone feared: nuclear holocaust. It was like something out of the Terminator movies, except without the sentient machines. Tensions around the world came to a boil and the United States had become the prime target of just about every third world country. And what happens when resources are most abundant in one country, the others get desperate enough to wage war over it. It started out as a second Cold War with all the nuclear capable nations showing their guns. Only this time, someone was crazy enough to pull the trigger. When the first missile was launched, that was it. The target would see the missile and fire back. Soon, the kettle finally boiled over. Never in his life could he imagine just how horrible it was to see the sky light up with death. In less than a day, nearly seven of those eight billion people perished. Millions more died as a result of the fallout, which lasted for several more years before it would finally dissipate. To those who managed to live through it, they described it as being in hell. People lived off scraps for food, civilization collapsed, and people were as vicious as wild animals.

Zephram was among those who were born during that particular point in the "war". But to even call it a war was stretching it a bit since there wasn't any real fighting. The nuclear missiles took care of all that. Humanity was never the same after that and it took many more years for the world to recover enough just to bring back civilization. It was decided that the world could no longer exist as separate nations despite the separate continents. People agreed that there were things far more important than their petty differences. And even though many of the technologies of the time were destroyed, new technologies emerged that were greater than ever. Maybe this was divine intervention. But even though the war wiped out so many people, it had allowed the Earth to rapidly recover its resources now that it was no longer overburdened by so many people. As for the many species that died out, even the animal kingdom was able to survive despite the losses. No longer could there be an economy since the acquisition of wealth seemed too primitive anymore and downright dangerous. They had to devise a new "economy" that didn't involve money. So people worked to better mankind and establish a utopia where war would no longer exist and humankind could survive in a proper balance with all life on Earth. The barter system was brought back and to the surprise of many, it worked well.

It was at this point that Zephram was grown up and decided to go into the science profession. He wanted to see how he could make mankind even stronger, so he took up genetic engineering. But the laws were too strict regarding it, and he felt too restricted in what he could do. And just when things were getting back to normal, the super virus was unleashed. He guessed that there were some people who, despite the world's gradual recovery, had too many mental scars and believed that mankind had to die out completely for the world to fully recover. Oh, it led to a worldwide panic all right. The fragile world peace that so many had hoped for far too long began to shatter. The medical records of the time before the war were intact which the most brilliant minds used to try to devise ways of defeating this virus, and then some. The extremists who unleashed called it the HEV, or Human Extinction Virus, due to its remarkable ability to adapt to all known vaccines and treatments. It was genetically engineered to target the human genome and break it down leading to complete systemic failure throughout the body. And there was no way to prevent its infection. Zephram saw them everywhere, people lying dead on the streets and many more falling to their final fate. He knew he was about to be next and fled. He ran...ran as far as his legs could carry him. But no matter how hard he tried, he could feel Death catching up to him. He knew that in the end, he would be just another fatality of the doomed human race...

* * *

Zephram shot up to a sitting position. His eyes were wide open, his heart was racing, and his face had broken into a cold sweat. It took several moments for him to realize that he fell back asleep and had a nightmare. Silky was sitting next to him looking up at him curiously. Zephram looked at her and finally let his repressed fears surface and broke down into tears and cried. He held Silky tight and let himself cry his heart out. He was scared. Who wouldn't be? Even though his project was looking up, he was still afraid. He was afraid of dying. He was afraid of what kind of judgment awaited him in the end. He wondered if God Himself was unleashing His wrath upon the human race for all its sins. He released Silky and laid back, tears still streaming down his face. Silky slowly walked up to him, sniffed at his eyes, and began licking at his tears. Zephram looked at his cat and began to pet her.

"I know that this may seem like a weird thing for me to say Silky, but I love you. Of all the women I could say that to, it had to be a cat. You are the only one who cares. I just don't think mankind can go on as humans anymore. We have to evolve. It all rests on you now. I wish I could do this to another cat. But you know me as much as I know you and I'm counting on you knowing me to keep a level head through it all. And if this works, I'm counting on being able to have someone to finally have a two-way conversation with," Zephram said.

He wiped his tears and looked at his clock. It was almost noon now, as he had fallen back asleep for several more hours. He had no more time to spare. The time was now. He pushed all reservations and doubts out of his mind and went to his private lab in the back of the house, leaving the door wide open for Silky this time. He would let her come of her own accord since she went out in the kitchen to eat. He took the time to set the lab back up and make some final preparations. He double-checked all of his calculations and triple-checked the formula. He extracted another sample of his blood and began to prepare the serum. Silky entered the room and jumped onto a nearby chair and lay down. Zephram needed to extract a sample of her blood. He took Silky and squeezed the skin behind her neck to minimize any pain and took a blood sample. It would take another couple of days to perform the genetic resequencing.

When the day came at last to perform the long awaited test, he got a news update on the current status of the HEV virus. Another five million people had already fallen victim to it. The world population was decreasing at an alarming rate. The human population had fallen below one billion. Time was no longer on his side. He had to make this work for there were still further steps to take upon successful completion of this one.

Zephram looked at Silky and decided that some precautionary steps were necessary. He reached for some kitty treats and mixed in some special tranquilizer that was completely tasteless. He was going to make this as painless as possible for her. But before he went to feed it to her, an idea came to him. He went back to his computer and entered a new set of calculations. His mind was onto something he considered to be... a private fantasy of his. Maybe he was letting himself get a bit overindulgent in this, but he just had to see. He then went on the Internet and opened up his web browser to go to one of his personal favorite websites, Diana the Valkyrie. There weren't many websites like these left on the web after the war. People were too focused on trying to recover society. It was simply amazing that such a website could survive like this. It stands as a testament to just how strong women can really be. And damn it if Zephram was going to die without fulfilling this fantasy of his, not if he could help it. Though the website had long since changed owners through the generations, it remained true to its original design and purpose: to emphasize women?s strength, both real and fictional.

He pulled up some galleries that showed women with morphed muscle enhancements. He looked at the many women with bodies that really turned him on. He always wished he could meet a really muscular woman, but that hadn't happened in his entire life. But then he remembered the result of that preliminary test he performed on that mouse. If the mixing of human and animal DNA resulted in a mouse that showed the capacity to be stronger than a human, then he could only imagine how strong Silky would become. If his predictions were correct, even as a female, Silky's strength would be greater than his without a doubt. He decided the hell with it. He was going to do everything in his power to not only save humanity, but actually create his own happiness. He looked up various formulas that focused on muscle strengthening. He knew steroids were out of the question. But there were many others that, while not as potent as steroids, were still capable of producing some noticeable results. One way or another, he was going to create his perfect woman. He searched all over the net for news regarding muscle enhancement. Eventually, he came across an old study of a boy who had a genetic defect that resulted in his myostatin gene being suppressed. Even as a baby, there were pictures showing abnormal muscle growth. It was perfect! With his knowledge in genetic engineering and the technology at his command, he could add an inhibitor that would suppress the myostatin genes enough to produce the same increased muscle results. But at the same time, he would need to modify the suppression enough to still allow at least a little bit of body fat to grow inside her. Because if there was absolutely no body fat, then her growth would be compromised and her life span might be shortened. But if everything went as planned, he wouldn't notice any difference either way. He would need to extract some skeletal muscle cells from her to match the inhibitor to the myostatin genes, a process he could do in relatively short time.

Zephram took the drugged kitty treats and held them out for Silky to eat. And sure enough, she happily ate them right from his hands. There was no turning back now. After a minute, Silky lay down on the floor and lost consciousness. When she wakes up, she will hopefully be a hulking anthro woman of a feline standing on two feet. Zephram gently scooped her up and placed her on the table. It eased his mind a bit to know that she won't feel any pain. The tranquilizer will keep her under long enough for the transformation to be completed.

Zephram took a new syringe, filled it with the serum containing the new DNA, and stood over his cat.

"If a mouse can become that strong just from the merging of animal and human DNA alone, just imagine how big and strong you'll become with myostatin taken out of the equation. I estimate your strength will be several times that of even the strongest weightlifters," he said.

He took one last look at his currently ordinary house cat. If this works, all of that will certainly change.

"Here's to the salvation of mankind, and the start of a new relationship." Zephram said.

He took a deep breath and pressed the needle into her neck and injected the fluid. He set the empty syringe down, scooped up Silky, and quickly carried her into his bedroom. If all goes as planned, she'll be much too big for this table. He gently set her in the middle of the bed and watched. Nothing happened at first. But then Silky began to stir. He saw her body begin to stretch; the transformation had begun! Her front legs restructured themselves into arms that became longer. Her paws turned into hands while her claws also grew a little and became momentarily exposed at the tips of her fingers before receding again. Her hind legs also became longer, as they restructured into human-shaped legs. Her rear paws turned into feet with claws now permanently exposed there. Zephram watched as she was now lying on her back, her new limbs spread out on the bed. Her torso began to increase in size as they took on more distinct human characteristics. At this point, she was five feet tall and still growing. But the biggest change yet came when human-like breasts began to swell from what was now Silky's chest. He could also see the extra nipples below them, but the top two now sat atop her new bust. Once they reached the equivalent of a D-cup, they stopped. Her height reached five and a half feet as the last of her human characteristics manifested themselves and her ass became neatly defined. Her tail grew out to match her size ratio, and it became thicker too. The most notable change came last as her face receded in on itself. Her jaw became human-like as did her teeth, although she still retained her fangs. Her eyes, nose, and ears became larger to match her overall size, but otherwise remained like those of a cat. Zephram could make out eyelashes that grew from her eyelids, giving her a drop dead gorgeous look of not just a female, but a woman. Her lips changed as they took on a human texture and shape, but remained black in color. Zephram was truly in awe at the sight of her. Much to his embarrassment, he found himself sporting a boner as his eyes now rested on her intense feline beauty.

But something wasn't right; she should be showing signs of muscle increase as well. He didn't have long to wait, though. As if right on cue, Silky stirred again. She suddenly began to undergo a second transformation, and it was what he was hoping for! She began tossing and turning as her muscles began to swell. Zephram's eyes went wide as he witnessed this. It was like she was turning into a She-Hulk. Silky's fur had become thin enough that he could actually see the muscle definition. Her chest began to expand as layer upon layer of muscle began to grow, strengthen, and harden. Her human voice began to come out for the very first time and sounded very feminine, but still somewhat high pitched; like Jessica Rabbit's (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?) voice.

"Unngh. Uhh!" she moaned as the changes took hold.

Trapezius muscles like no other grew on the side of her neck. Silky's breasts began to swell even further as her chest was now truly big. Slabs of rock hard muscle formed underneath them and abs popped out of her stomach two at a time from the bottom up, each laced with pulsing veins until she was sporting an eight-pack! She rolled onto her stomach and looked like she was laying on top of pillows, as her now triple F-sized breasts held her up a goodly distance. Zephram got a look at her back and saw every square inch of it covered in bulging muscles. Her glutes were now as solid as a rock. She continued to toss and turn and was again on her back as the muscle growth went into her arms. She subconsciously began flexing them as huge veins pressed against her skin and her forearms looked stronger than sledgehammers. Her biceps began to take on the most amazing growth yet as they increased with each flex. If he didn't know any better, he could swear her moans sounded like moans of pleasure. She bit her lower lip as she kept flexing her arms over and over; her biceps growing with each flex.

"Ungh!" Silky moaned as they became as large as softballs.

"Mmmm!" she moaned some more, as they became as big as bowling balls.

"Ahhhh!" she screamed, as her biceps maxed out as big as basketballs. A huge vein bee-lined over her peak, showing how immensely hard it was. It was clear now that she must be experiencing the growth as if in a dream. She was now flexing arms that were bigger than even several of the muscle morph pictures on the net. The final growth came as she rolled over onto her stomach again and got on her knees and stuck her extremely sexy ass in the air. Her legs became thick with muscle as her thighs expanded and shaped themselves into massive proportions. Every detail was apparent. More veins appeared to further emphasize the hardness and sheer strength of the muscles that now framed her legs.

Zephram also noticed that she had gained even more height as well. After the last change hit, she fell back onto the bed and rolled on her back. She was still out of it as he looked down at what used to be his house cat. She was anything but a house cat now! She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life. What now lay before him was nearly six feet tall, had a stunning womanly feline face that was more attractive to him than any human woman he had ever seen, and she now had the most muscular physique he had ever seen ? bar none ? both male or female. He immediately realized that if what he saw was true, then her immune system had to have also become very strong. And that means the tranquilizer...

She slowly opened her eyes. At first, she had a blank and innocent look in them as she looked around. Zephram couldn't help but smile most warmly at her as her eyes met his. Then, in what he considered the happiest moment of his life, she smiled back at him just as warmly and uttered her very first words...

"Zephram...I...love...you."

Her voice was heavenly to him. His heart was fluttering like never before. Silky's ears twitched a little as she looked at his chest and his skin.

"I'm...happy you feel the same way," Silky said.

Zephram was amazed by this. Clearly, Silky now had heightened senses. From what she is referring to, she was able to tell how he felt from how fast his heart was beating and how flush his skin had become. It's not like he didn't know how much he was blushing.

"Silky..." Zephram started to say.

"Please Zephram, I need a human name. It just doesn't feel right to be called Silky anymore,? she said.

Zephram looked into her eyes. He could see the love in them. He always knew that she greatly enjoyed his company, but this was of a whole new dimension altogether.

Zephram thought for a minute, then it hit him. "Silvia then. In Latin, it means 'of the forest'."

She thought for a moment, then smiled, "Silvia, yes, I like it!"

Zephram was quite aware of his erection pressing against his pants. He couldn't kid himself; he wanted to make love to this perfect specimen of a woman so badly. Silvia looked into his eyes some more and again, seemed to read his thoughts and desires.

"Oh Zephram, I...I don't know what to say!" she said excitedly.

"What do you mean?" Zephram asked a bit defensively.

But Silvia smiled seductively at him, "Oh don't play innocent with me. I know what you want."

She flexed her arms into mounds that none on Earth could match. It provoked quite a reaction out of him when his skin seemed to turn two shades redder and his heart was racing even faster than ever. His arousal was at its peak. But he needed time to think and digest what has just happened. He wanted so badly to take her now. But he had to make sure that the experiment was a complete success.

Silvia held her pose as her throbbing biceps kept Zephram's stare transfixed.

"Go ahead and feel it. Don't be afraid, I won't bite. Or maybe I should," she offered.

Zephram was losing his battle with common sense really fast. Alas, he caved in and climbed in bed so he could reach over and feel her bicep. It was even harder than he imagined. No matter how hard he tried, it had no give at all. He felt the really thick vein on top and he felt his own animal instincts consume him. Her bicep felt soooo sexy! It was too much for him to resist! He leaned in and saw the longing in her eyes and for the first time in human history, man and beast (so to speak) shared their first kiss. For a woman with such unbelievable musculature, she had such a surprisingly gentle touch. Zephram became lost in himself as they kissed passionately. It was like they were in love all along, but the species gap was too wide up until now; not anymore!

"Oh god, I love you Silvia! I have always loved you! I love you so much it hurts!" Zephram said in blissful agony.

Silvia wrapped her arms around him, trying to pull him as close against her muscular body as possible without hurting him. "You have no idea how mutual the feeling is. Please take me! I know you want to make sure my transformation was a complete success, and I'll answer any and all questions you have. Just let go of that now and take me!"

Zephram could feel the muscles bulge immensely on her super sexy body as he removed his clothes. Silvia of course, was already naked. Zephram began to fondle her ample breasts as her nipples rose like dough to an inch long. She started moaning with pleasure at this. When Zephram started to suck on her nipples, she arched her back, lifting him up with her.

"Oh my god, that feels sooo good! Harder! Suck them harder!" she demanded.

Zephram sucked those nipples as hard as he possibly could. He had no doubt that she was as resistant to pain as she was muscular. He ran his tongue all over them and saw them grow another half an inch. The fur didn't bother him in the least, as there was no shedding at all and it had a unique feel to it. Human flesh was pressed up against feline flesh as Zephram and Silvia embraced each other with intense passion. Silvia took his throbbing member and inserted it into her already wet vagina and began to thrust her hips back and forth on his manhood. Both were experiencing feverish ecstasy as neither restrained how pleasureful it was.

"Ohhh yeah! Oh god that feels so good! Oh Zephram, you are so hot!!" Silvia cried.

Zephram was lost in pure ecstasy. He gave it everything he had as Silvia tossed her head from side to side. As big as her physique was, her pussy was tight! And it was driving her wild to have Zephram's cock inside her like this.

"Oh!! Unngh! I love your muscles! So hard! So powerful! They feel so good to touch! I love you with all of my heart and soul!" Zephram cried.

"Ohhh!!"
"Oh yeah! Oh yeah!"
"Oh baby!"
"So hot!"
"So muscular!"
"So sexy!"

They just let it all come out of their mouths as they were consumed by their passion. Silvia's pace picked up rapidly as she began exploding in a huge orgasm.

"OH GOD!! OH GOD!! OHH!! OHHH!! OHHH!!!! AHHH!!!!!" Silvia screamed as she had an orgasm hit and her love juices made the whole area around Zephram's waist area wet! Her scream turned into a roar that sounded like a lion's! It not only sounded appropriate given her incredibly muscular body, but it served to further intensify the sexually charged atmosphere! Her pussy tightened around Zephram's member, tripling the pressure and causing Zephram?s orgasm to crash down on him!

"Ugghh!! AHHH!! OHH!!! OHHH!!! UNNGH!!" Zephram moaned as he bucked under the release of his orgasm. It lasted longer than he thought possible as he felt himself cum inside her!

Zephram was exhausted. Silvia bunched up into a fetal position and began rolling from side to side on her back, lost in the afterglow of her orgasm. Zephram watched as she was all smiles. Her eyes were closed as she turned every which way on the bed. It seems that was something that didn't change for her. He had seen her come back from having sex with this other cat in the area, and she did the same thing. Only now, she was doing it a lot more thoroughly. Zephram felt how soaked he was from her love juices, and could smell the sweet scent of sex in the air. He was on cloud nine. It was unlike any human sex he had ever had.

Silvia finally stopped and opened her eyes. Zephram could hear her purring as she leaned in and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"Oh god that felt sooo hot! Please, one more time Zephram! I want to taste your manhood!" Silvia pleaded.

She leaned in and whispered in his ear, "I'm in heat baby. Don't worry, I don't mind doing the work again. You can just enjoy the ride."

Her breath sent shivers down his spine as he made no objections. Silvia took her time with this one. She was still getting acquainted with her new body, and she was loving it. She could feel her whole body buzzing with so much strength. It felt incredible, like she could bend steel as if it were straw. Oh, she would no doubt get a chance to experiment with her newfound strength and even her speed. Her upper body wasn't the only thing that felt so strong. Her bulging thighs felt like they were hooked up to NASCAR engines. She felt like she could run faster than any man-made vehicle. And then there's leaping ability. She just knew she could do as Superman could and leap tall buildings in a single bound! Every square inch of her felt so powerful. Just thinking about it really turned her on. She remembered all her instincts of being a cat. But now with her human-level intelligence, her instincts and her senses have become greatly enhanced. With just a little concentration, she could hear Zephram's heartbeat, and it was racing! She could read his emotional state by looking into his eyes and seeing the visual signs his body put out. If he were to lie, she would be able to tell. She was more than a cat now; she felt truly complete and alive! And it was all thanks to this man who took her in and gave her a loving home. Granted there were times when Zephram would be especially busy and she would get lonely and have to find things to do to pass the time. But he would always make up for it and accommodate her anytime she needed some affection. She can't say she "loved" him the way she was capable of now. But she had trusted him completely and enjoyed his company very much. How wonderful it is that she can fully interpret her feelings for him now.

She was feeling very erotic and wanted to show her master, now her lover, the best time he would ever have. She leaned in close and once again whispered in his ear.

"Are you ready to experience this body that you gave me?" she said softly.

Zephram shuddered with pleasure. Her voice had a mesmerizing effect on him. It was like her voice could reach in and stroke his very soul. All he could muster was a shallow breath and a faint nod. And that was all she needed.

Silvia straddled him and took a deep breath allowing her huge bust to expand. She took Zephram's hands and put them on her breasts. Zephram started fondling them in every way he could think of. It was such an arousing sensation to feel such big boobs on this woman, this cat-woman. And to know that they were real made it all the more satisfying. Zephram started to knead her nipples as they responded by becoming erect. He then started rubbing his palms across the tips of her nipples and they responded by becoming even longer. It caused Silvia to grab his hands and make them seize her boobs real tight and massage them. She never imagined how much pleasure breasts like these could give her. Nor could Zephram imagine how much pleasure feeling breasts like hers could give him. After a couple minutes of this, she let go of his hands, which let go of her breasts. She wanted to give him a muscle show to remember.

Still astride him, she put her hands behind her head and flexed her abs. The ridges protruded from her washboard stomach so far, you could hide a quarter in between them. Veins bee-lined across them as she turned on the power. Silvia motioned at them for Zephram to feel them, and feel them he did. It was like feeling flesh-covered steel. The furry skin had a slight give to it, but the muscle beneath was far too hard for him to budge.

Zephram was riding a wave of arousal as he did this. He was craving more. Her muscles really had him turned on. Muscles had always turned him on, even on guys. But he of course preferred them on women. Maybe it was the way the women went from the typical housewives they used to be before the war to the ones that were as strong as the men today. So much had changed and seeing women with muscles always seemed to have an erotic effect on him. He had since decided that his ideal woman would have to be one who was very muscular, but meeting such a woman was unlikely. While there were many out there who were indeed muscular, he wanted one who was more so than even the biggest men. He had realized what was at stake, but had a chance to literally create his perfect woman. And here she was, her body was tight and jam-packed with muscle. He was so proud of how successful he was. And for the moment, he felt that he deserved this indulgence.

After Zephram had his fun feeling those remarkable abs, he ran his hands up and down her hips. Her waistline was slender in comparison to her upper body, but was equally hard. Her back flared out like a cobra as she placed her hands on her hips and flexed her pecs, which bulged impressively from her chest. This of course, caused her already ample breasts to stick out even further. Typically, such an increase in muscle would cause a woman's breasts to recede. But Zephram made sure that her breasts would be unaffected by the muscle growth when he did his gene resequencing. He wanted to make sure that she would have the same breasts as a human woman, and then some. He continued his physical examination of her musculature by reaching around and feeling her back. All he could feel were rock-hard striations and bulges all over her back.

Silvia had her eyes half-closed in a seductive stare. Her lips were open just barely, and Zephram could see her long fangs gleaming in the dim light; her breathing was shallow. She was clearly enjoying feeling his hands all over her bulging muscles. She slid back enough for Zephram to sit up so he could reach her arms as she stretched them out to the sides and slowly flexed them. Both she and Zephram watched with heavy arousal as her biceps ballooned from her arms. When she finally hit the pinnacle of her flex, she used her index fingers to touch her peaks; they were that big! Zephram grabbed one of them with both hands and felt them with feverish lust. His two hands could barely encompass just the peak of the bicep! He was craving sexual release, but Silvia was ahead of him: the erotic strength alone that filled her biceps was enough to drive her to orgasm!

"Oh wow! Sooo strong! So muscular!!" she moaned loudly as she began flexing her super arms repeatedly and watching her biceps rise up and down. She could swear that they were getting even bigger than before.

"Ohh god! Ahhh!!" she cried as she had a strength-induced orgasm on the spot.

Zephram wasn't complaining about the scene that played out before him. But he was desperately craving release himself and began to reach for his cock. But Silvia's hand caught his.
 
"No, leave it to me. Sorry about that; I never knew feeling so strong could be so pleasurable. Now it's time to get down to it," Silvia said as she leaned in on Zephram, causing him to sink back into the bed. Silvia was purring as she started sucking and licking his neck. The sensations felt great. Her tongue felt human, but it still had the friction of a cat's tongue. Silvia slowly moved her face down to his chest and began sucking on his nipples. They didn't extend to lengths like Silvia's did, but they were fully erect. She was getting quite the reaction from him as he pet her head much like he did before. She didn't mind being petted still. She kept kissing, licking, and sucking all the way down his chest to his stomach until eventually, she was at his really stiff member. She licked the shaft from top to bottom as she took hold of it in one hand and gently massaged his testicles with the other. She started to suck on his member with a surprisingly expert skill, or so that was how it felt to him. Zephram's eyes went back in his head as he was driven crazy with sexual delight at the feeling of her soft lips moving up and down contrasted with the hard feline teeth gently scraping his shaft. It didn't take long for him to feel his biggest orgasm yet well up inside him. Silva used her senses to detect how close to orgasm he was and picked up the pace, both with his cock and with his balls. Zephram went rigid as he bucked hard under the release of his orgasm that sent a blast of cum into her waiting mouth. She kept sucking until she sucked him dry. She swallowed it and licked her lips as she enjoyed the taste. Zephram collapsed on the bed, exhausted.

"Ah, protein without meat!" she said as she giggled.

Zephram just lay there and kept his focus on the feeling he was left with. He didn't want it to ever end. Silvia decided to curl up and lay right next to him. Though with her immense size, she had little room on the bed to work with. Within a minute, she fell asleep with a smile on her face. Zephram also felt tired as he huddled up next to this Amazon human-feline hybrid. He too fell asleep, and he did so with a smile on his face as well. This day would be remembered as the one day when he was free of reality's harsh grip.

TO BE CONTINUED...

In the next chapter of Anthro, many questions are answered as Zephram comes to an understanding about Silvia and her enhanced body. But the real test has yet to take place. Having been able to give an animal human characteristics, he must now make sure he can give a human animal characteristics. Will he be able to fully bridge the gap between human and animal? Find out in the next chapter of Anthro: Playing God.