It had been a week since Evan landed the job at Episteme. He absolutely nailed the interview and was pretty much offered the job on the spot. And the lion was enjoying the gig. It was pretty low-key. He sat at the front desk of the Episteme Labs building in downtown Port Zaftig where he received and transfered calls, directed guests and research participates where they needed to go, and did some basic paperwork. At first, Evan didn't look forward to the idea of a desk job. But the comfy extra-wide chair they provided certainly helped.
The only downside of the job that Evan saw were the dress requirements. Business causal, he had been told. Luckily, the lion brought with him a nice button-up shirt that did the job though now it was starting to strain against his nearly permanently bloated stomach. Evan had gone out to eat for almost every meal. Not only did he want to try out the city's many, many restaurants, but also eating out was dirt cheap. Besides, Evan reasoned, he can cut loose a little. This is a new city and he landed a posh new job, so he deserved to treat himself.
That afternoon, a fur came into Episteme Labs. Starting around 5'10", the mouse had grey fur from head to toe. He wore pretty non-descript clothes: A black t-shirt and blue jeans. What stood out to Evan about the mouse was that he was thin, exceptionally thin. Evan was starting to notice that the general population of Port Zaftig was fairly fat, but the mouse was even thinner than Evan. His cheeks were sunken, his chest and abdomen flat as a board, and he had boney arms and legs.
The mouse nervously approached the counter. "Uh, hi," he said timidly. "I'm here to see...umm..." He searched his pockets for a piece of paper and pulled out a folded up page with printed texted on it. "Doctor... Kirkpatrick? Emil Kirkpatrick?"
Emil Kirkpatrick was, from what Evan heard in the breakroom, one of the top researchers for Episteme Labs. However, the lion had no clue what sorts of things he researched. Even searching online brought up nothing substantial. All Evan knew was that he had a PhD in molecular biology and that was pretty much it.
But what was strange about this was that Dr. Kirkpatrick never actually dealt with other furs. He had dozens and dozens of furs working under him. So he never handled any small business that a lab assistant could handle. The mouse saying he had an appointment with specifically with the doctor was certainly an anomaly.
What was a greater anomaly was Dr. Kirkpatrick coming down in person collect his visitor. "You're late," he said impatiently to the mouse. Dr. Kirkpatrick was a older brown bear nearly six and a half feet tall. He had arms and legs thick with muscle that were visible through his tight shirt and slacks. An impressive gut stuck out far in front on him, pressuring the buttons on his shirts and forcing him to always leave his lab coat open.
"I'm sorry, sir," the mouse stammered. "But the airport lost my luggage and taxi driver got l-"
"Enough. Come. The procedure room has been prepped for some time." The mouse followed the doctor into the elevator, and the two disappeared.
It was only when evening arrived that Evan saw the mouse again. As the elevator doors opened, he quickly walked through the lobby desperately trying not to make eye contact with anyone. His cheeks blushed bright red. The lion immediately noticed the incredible mass that was now the mouse's belly. Looking nearly nine months pregnant, his belly stuck out nearly a foot and a half in front of him and shook with every hurried step. The mouse tried pulling his shirt down, but it wouldn't even cover a third of his grey-furred gut. His jeans were now unbuttoned and being held up by his other paw.
Evan was dumbfounded at what he saw, at what had changed so drastically about the mouse who was now exiting the building. The lion was extremely curious about what procedure Dr. Kirkpatrick had done and wanted to know more about what the doctor was up to. Being a reception, Evan had little access to files from any of the researchers. However, he did have access to some basic files about any of the lab's clientele. There may be some clues about the mouse there. If he was willing to be more risky, he could "borrow" a terminal access card. Researchers used these cards to get past all of the security measures used to protect their research, and Dr. Kirkpatrick must have something behind the firewalls, though if he got caught Evan would most certainly be fired.
Or if he acted quick, he could tail the mouse before he got too far away. His shift was up and the lion was ready to leave anyway. Following the mouse might reveal something about what procedure he just went through.
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