Chapter Text
Hybrids are not a new thing in this world.
In fact, they've been around for probably a couple hundred years already. Where they originally came from? No one knows for sure. Some say it's just evolution while others believe they were made during human experiments late in the 16th century. Today, these human-animal hybrids are very common in society.
There are different 'levels' of hybridism. Some are more human, almost to the point you can't tell they're a hybrid. Others are more animal-like and struggle to thrive in human environment. The majority is something in between, almost equally human as animal. Still, every one of them has distinctive characteristics that identify them as a hybrid.
For example; stature. Hybrids that resemble smaller animals like birds or rodents tend to have a smaller build and are shorter than the average human. On the other hand, hybrids of bigger animals like large herbivores or carnivores are usually larger in stature. Behavior is also something that helps differentiate them from humans. Predatory hybrids are more aggressive in nature and those who are prey tend to suffer from heightened anxiety.
Unfortunately, though not unexpectedly, there has always been a lot of inequality between normal humans and hybrids. Up until recently hybrids were seen as mere animals instead of a subspecies of human. This meant that a lot of hybrids ended up in zoos, the exotic pet trade or, in some cases, even on the menu of fancy restaurants. Even now, after laws have been set in place to give hybrids equal rights, a lot of these people still end up in bad places where they are exploited for money or illegal products.
Quite a few organizations have been set up to help hybrids who have been victim to such things. They rescue, rehabilitate, and help them make something of their life in this unfair world.
Bofurin is one of these organizations.
The organization was set up about three years ago by their leader, Umemiya Hajime, and his closest friends. They are not hybrids themselves, but they have always had issues with how the world treated these beings. After they graduated, they pooled money together via donations and set up a specialised center right here in Makochi. In just three years they grew to be one of the largest pro-hybrid organizations in the region, now complete with temporary housing and a rehab facility combined with a small hospital wing that specializes in hybrid care.
The residents of Makochi were a bit hesitant at first about the whole thing, but they grew to love each and every new arrival the organization brought their way. They helped the rescues with education, job hunts and other things to help them stand on their own two feet. No matter how feisty and rude the hybrids may seem at first, the people were always kind and patient. They had made it their mission to make sure these misunderstood beings finally got the life they deserved.
Because of how things in this world still are, not every arrival is a good one. There have been quite a few hybrids that have been brought here on the brink of death and didn't end up making it. The people would make sure to give them a proper funeral afterwards, no matter how short of a time they were in their town. Still, it was very sad to know that someone who was just moments away from being free never got to experience it in the end.
Moments like these were few and far in between, but that didn't make them less tragic. Which is why everyone in town always held their breath when one of Bofurin's signature transport vehicles raced through the streets with horns blaring.
Like today.
The group had gotten a tip a few days ago about an animal shelter that was involved with the illegal trade of hybrids. Apparently it was an older facility that somehow had gone under the radar until now. They advertised themselves as an adoption center for cats and dogs, but when looking into them further it was discovered that they traded in hybrids as well. Not only that, but it was a kill shelter on top of that.
It took a few days to get the local police on board since it was outside of Makochi, but eventually the owners were arrested and Bofurin got permission to 'take possession' of all hybrids in the building. There were only a couple, five in total, and most were in good health.
One, however, was in rough shape.
Nirei was already waiting at the entrance of the hospital wing as the vehicle pulled up. He nervously clutched his notebook in his hands as the tires screeched to a halt. He had only joined the organization a few months ago, so everything was still fairly new to him. Especially situations like these.
The boy was in charge of collecting data of all new arrivals at the facility. That job previously belonged to one of the founders of the organization, Mizuki, but when Nirei proved himself as someone just as, if not more, capable of doing this job they switched the responsibility over to him. And the boy was so glad he could do something like this! He wasn't any good with dealing with traffickers or aggressive hybrids, but he could collect and note down data like no other.
The doors of the van slammed open and people jumped out. They quickly but carefully lifted a gurney out until it's wheels touched the ground before swiftly moving towards the entrance of the building. Nirei spared a quick glance towards the gates as another one of their vehicles approached the facility, probably carrying the remaining hybrids, but deemed the situation at hand a lot more pressing and followed the small group inside.
He peered in between the moving bodies to look at the one being wheeled in. It was hard to see, but from what he could make out it was someone of smaller stature with dark hair. He also could see a sleek black tail laying limp across the gurney.
"What do we have?" he asked as the team situated themselves in the emergency room. One of the men who had worked with them for almost two full years was quick to update him as the others worked on hooking the hybrid up to all kinds of machines. "Feline male, likely a domestic breed. Age unknown but presumably in his late teens or early adulthood. He's suffering from a severely infected wound to the stomach." he replied while he worked.
The blond quickly noted everything down as he silently created a 'profile sheet' for the unknown hybrid. This would contain any and all information related to the newcomer and later be digitized and added to their data bank. He glanced up again and was finally able to get a good look at the new arrival. It indeed seemed to be a young man with cat-like features. What immediately struck him was how he didn't actually have all black hair. One part of it was white. How interesting.
One of the nurses working on the boy drew a few vials of blood. He looked around for anyone currently not working on stabilizing the patient and turned to face Nirei, who had just put away his notebook after writing all the information he could gather at the moment.
The man pressed the vials in the freckled teen's hands. "Here, take this to the lab and confirm his blood type and hybrid properties. I doubt he's anything other than a domestic breed due to his smaller frame, but if he's related to any big cats we need to know. You know how dangerous those can be when feeling threatened." he told the other.
Nirei quickly nodded and took off towards the small lab their facility had for this exact purpose. He would drop this off and then go have a look at the other hybrids the group had brought with them. There wasn't much he could help with here at the moment anyway. He'll leave the health of this young man up to the professionals.
The nurses continued to work on their patient as their colleague left. The hybrid's condition wasn't looking too good. One of them cursed under her breath as she looked at the wound that had been revealed by the removal of the old bloodied gauze that had been in place there. "Antibiotics alone isn't going to fix this. We have to go in and open him up." she said as she looked up at the others around her.
One of her colleges agreed and stepped away from the bed. "I'll call the surgeon and inform Umemiya-san." he said before taking his phone out to do just that. Another one also stepped away to prepare their only operating room for their patient.
They worked quick and efficiently. Before long, the OR and patient were ready and the surgeon scrubbed in. They only had one surgeon at the hospital wing of Bofurin. He was an older man who had moved to work here instead of at a bigger hospital when word came out that the organization was looking for medical professionals. He wanted to work less now that he was closing in on his retirement and this was the perfect way to slow down while still remaining active in the medical field.
Everyone was ready to start with the procedure when the door to the viewing gallery attached to the operating room opened. A tall white-haired man entered the room and gave them a small wave. "Hey, I came as fast as I could when I heard the news." he said as he moved to stand in front of the glass separating him from the sterile environment of the OR.
"Umemiya-san," one of the nurses breathed out. The young man wasn't a doctor or an official nurse, but he had taken several medical courses so he would know what was happening when he came by to watch. As the leader of the organization and the one responsible for all hybrids brought here, he found it very important to be present during any major operations. He wanted to be there just in case someone ended up not making it.
The white-haired man smiled at his friends and colleagues before turning his eyes on the limp body on the table. He hadn't been with this team when they went out to retrieve the hybrids from this particular facility, so this was the first time he laid his eyes upon the newcomer.
"What's the status right now?" he asked, voice filled with concern. The patient had been covered in a blue surgical drapes that covered everything except for a gruesome looking wound on his lower belly.
"He has a severe infection that requires the removal of the affected tissue." one of the nurses reported. "We cleaned it up as best as we could and it looks to be a recent surgical wound of unknown origin. The facility couldn't provide any records on it."
Sharp blue eyes studied the wound as the surgeon carefully began removing old torn stitches. The placement of the wound was very.. specific. It was a clean horizontal line a couple of inches below the navel. The gears in his head turned as his mind quickly went to one particular cause.
"He was male, right? Because this looks an awful lot like.." he hesitated, but the surgeon nodded anyway. "Like a caesarean section." the man finished while taking the last stitch out. "I was thinking the same thing."
One of the nurses handed the surgeon some instruments so he could go about removing the affected skin at the wound site. "He is indeed male. The patient is feline in nature, so it could possibly be a case of him being a male omega." he said.
The concept of alpha, beta and omega wasn't something normal humans had to worry about, but some species of hybrid did have these second genders. The specifics weren't that well-known yet, but it was widely theorized that it was something they carried with them from their animal ancestry.
Umemiya blinked. "That's definitely a possibility." he said with a small frown. If this was really the case, should they be looking for an infant as well? Or did the baby not survive? He'll have to ask the group that went to the facility about it after the surgery. "I'll tell the lab to check his blood for that as well. If he is an omega we may need to make special accommodations for him." he said, mentally noting down his new task.
Meanwhile, the surgeon started cleaning the now open wound thoroughly and draining the infection. He observed that there was quite a bit of dead tissue present which would have to be removed. This was probably the most severe case of infection he had encountered in years. The hybrid clearly hadn't received the proper care after his surgery, whether that be a caesarean or something else.
"I'm going to remove the affected skin now." he commented as he grabbed scalpel from one of the nurses. "Should I go in and feel around for any damage inside as well? I don't really trust anyone to do a good job if this is how they leave their patient afterwards." he said as he carefully cut dead skin from the wound. The scar the wound would leave would definitely be worse than it would have been if he had received the proper care after his original surgery.
The leader of the organization watched the surgeon work with a steady gaze. "Only if it's safe to do so." he commented. The surgeon nodded and finished cutting away the dead tissue before gently prodding his gloved fingers in the wound. Due to the extent of the infection, all layers of skin and muscle had been affected and after the tissue removal the wound was a clear pathway into the hybrid's belly.
He felt around for a bit and.. found nothing. All he felt were intestines and a bladder, which didn't seem damaged. In fact, he couldn't actually find any sign of an organ that had recently undergone surgery, which was very odd. The wound clearly pointed towards the hybrid having had surgery, so what was going on here?
An uncomfortable feeling filled him as he retracted his hands. "No further damage. I'm closing him up." he said as he was handed the right instruments to stitch the layers of skin and muscle back together. As he worked, his mind ran over all the possibilities. He normally wasn't one to immediately jump to conclusions, but he had a feeling he knew what was going on.
He made the final stitch and let out a small sigh. One of the nurses moved in to start dressing the wound, but he stopped her. "Can someone get the ultrasound machine?" he asked. The nurse frowned in confusion, but went to get it anyway.
Umemiya looked at the other man. "Did you find something worth investigating?" he asked. The surgeon took off one pair of gloves, revealing clean ones underneath. "I have a suspicion that I want to confirm." he replied.
The nurse quickly wheeled a cart with an ultrasound machine on it next to the table. The surgeon grabbed a tube of gel from the cart and applied a small amount above the wound he had just closed. The machine was already turned on so he grabbed the probe and began to press it to the hybrids skin.
Several pairs of eyes watched the screen as the man moved the probe around while being careful not to agitate the wound. There was a lot of static on the screen without any clear imagery. Yet, the surgeon clearly moved with purpose. He kept moving and pressing around the hybrid's belly for a little while until finally-
"There."
The white-haired man behind the glass frowned at the screen. "What's that?" he asked as he looked at the vague blob visible in the static. He may have some medical knowledge, but reading ultrasounds wasn't among that.
"It's an ovary." the surgeon said, down deepening. "I felt around earlier, but I wanted to confirm with the ultrasound before I said anything. Because, while there are clearly ovaries present..
..there's no uterus inside of him."
Umemiya's eyes widened. "No uterus?" he muttered. But if the boy had ovaries he should have one, right? Unless..
A low grumble left him as he felt anger rise within him. "Did they spay him?" he said in a fiery tone. He hadn't yet encountered a hybrid that had been spayed or castrated, but he had heard stories. It was a very cruel practice as, unlike domesticated animals, hybrids were just as intelligent as regular humans. They knew exactly what was going on when such practices were performed on them.
The surgeon grimaced. "Either that or it was removed due to severe complications during a pregnancy or birth." he replied. That last option was quite rare, but it did happen. It was usually due to other underlying issues or when people had kids too close after the other, giving the reproductive system not enough time to recover.
The man gently wiped the gel from the hybrid's belly before motioning at a nurse to dress the wound. "Right now, we can't know for sure without his medical records. We will have to ask him about it when he wakes up." he told the other man. "But first, he needs rest. I don't want anyone stressing him out about things like this after what's he's been through. The infection took a toll on his body and the move from that facility to Makochi will weigh heavily on him as well."
Umemiya, while definitely craving answers, nodded in understanding. "I'll make sure no one bothers him with questions until he's recovered." he stated. The surgeon nodded at that and once the wound had been dressed the hybrid was wheeled out of the operating room.
The leader of Bofurin sighed as he watched them go. He didn't know what this particular hybrid had been through, but what he had seen just now was not painting a very pretty picture..
Nirei glanced inside the room. There, on a bed that seemed to big for his small body, was one of their newest arrivals. The young man was asleep with an IV steadily dripping fluids and antibiotics into his system. One of the nurses was still checking on his condition as he watched.
"When is he expected to wake up?" he asked his superior. He still had to complete the profile sheet for this patient due to the lack of information he'd gotten before he went into surgery. He obviously wasn't going to harass the man for details right after getting out of surgery, but he'd like to know when he could expect to visit him.
Umemiya crossed his arms, eyes trained on the unconscious patient. "It's hard to say since we don't know much about what he's been through before coming here." he replied with a sigh. "Physically, he was in pretty poor condition and based on that alone I'd say it can take a couple of days for him to recover enough to regain consciousness. But, if his mental health has taken a big hit as well, his body may shut down for a bit longer to protect itself."
Nirei nodded as he glanced back at the hybrid. He'd seen the effects of abuse on both humans and hybrids in the past. In extreme cases, their body and mind just shuts down and they remain in a comatose state for a while. It was scary to see, but there wasn't much they could do about it except wait for them to wake up.
His hands clenched around his notebook. "I hope he'll be alright." he muttered. He didn't know what it was about this hybrid exactly, but this case was hitting him harder than the previous ones. Maybe it was because he looked to be the same age as him, if not younger. Maybe because he'd apparently just been dumped at a kill shelter after a major surgery of some kind by his family or caretakers.
His mind still couldn't quite fathom his colleague's words when he asked him for a detailed report on the facility. This particular shelter apparently was created for normal animals, but started taking in hybrids as well a few year back despite not being licensed to do so. And because of them doing this illegally the treatment of hybrids, and especially those who needed medical care, was less than stellar.
They couldn't get their hands on the right medications or hire people specialized in caring for hybrids, so they just treated them like they would treat the animals they received. They fed them kibble, they gave them medicine that was made for animals, and they kept them in small cages with just an old blanket and a bowl of water.
Worse than that, they were a kill shelter. They would euthanize any animal they deemed too sick or not fit for adoption. And apparently they extended this policy to hybrids as well. Too old? Euthanize. Had an illness or wounds that would require too much care or money to fix? Euthanize. Troublesome behavior? Euthanize.
Even worse? They used the same substances they would use for the animals, which often resulted in a slow, agonizing death as these means were not meant to put down a hybrid.
The police investigation was just starting as the raid was only a few hours ago, but according to the staff there was a large burial site behind the facility. Again, they didn't have the right qualifications to care for hybrids, so they couldn't get rid of the bodies in a legal way either. They would either dump them somewhere themselves or occasionally sell them on the black market for extra profit. The amount of bodies they had buried was still unknown, but it was a couple dozen at least.
The boy let out a sigh. He wanted to be surprised that people could be this cruel, but after working with Bofurin for several months he had long since accepted that not everyone was a good person. Not everyone had accepted hybrids as beings with the same rights as humans and still continued to exploit them for profit, power, or pleasure.
His eyes glanced at their new arrival again. He really hoped he would recover now that he was receiving the right care. He wanted to talk to the boy and get to know him and his story. There was barely any information on him at the facility he came from, other than a small card on his cage stating his arrival date and the identification number they had given him. Beside that, there was also a small note stuck to his cage. One that displayed some information that made the blond clench his notebook even harder.
This hybrid had been scheduled to be euthanized in two days.
If they had gone there a few days later, this young life would've been lost. And for what? Because they couldn't, or rather wouldn't, treat the worsening infection? Or because no one wanted to have him? How did he even end up in that place to begin with? He hadn't been there that long, since his card set his arrival date at just shy of two weeks ago.
From what the other hybrids had said, the boy was the last one of them to be dropped off at that place. He seemed to be fresh out of surgery and still coming down from the anesthesia when his.. owner left him there. It felt wrong to call them an 'owner' as hybrids shouldn't be owned at all, but that's what the other's described them as.
They said he never really spoke to any of them, so they just left him alone. They knew something was wrong with him though as he looked worse and worse by the day. The caretakers of the facility didn't check on him at all until yesterday, after which they apparently declared him a 'lost cause' after just a short examination and put him on the euthanasia list.
Which is bullshit because this would have been so easy to treat if they had just gotten him the right care the moment they noticed his declining health! God, just the thought made Nirei seethe in anger. He was so glad these people were going to jail for a very long time.
"I'll check up on him occasionally until he's awake and recovering, then." he replied after calming himself down again. It was no use getting upset over this right now.
He then looked up at the taller man again. "About the information about the new arrivals; I interviewed everyone and will be entering their profile sheets in the database tonight." he told him. Unlike the boy in the room in front of them, the other hybrids were all in pretty good shape, if not a bit malnourished. They will all be able to go home, move into the apartments Bofurin provided or use them to use as a temporary place to stay while they find their own place.
"Thank you, Nirei-kun. I'll have someone send you the surgery report as well as the results of the blood tests later today." the man told the other in response. "And if you have time, could you scour the web for any potential missing people that match this man? We don't know when he'll wake up just yet and if he's got any family out there that's looking for him I'd like to reunite them as soon as possible." he said, looking back at the cat hybrid.
Nirei nodded quickly. "Of course, no problem!" he replied. "I'll put any info I got on him in the database tonight and update it when we get any additional information. I'll let you know when I've finished!"
Umemiya laughed. "Take your time! You don't have to finish it all in one day." he told the teen. The blond just smiled sheepishly. "You always tell me that, but I just like to get it done while everything's still fresh in my mind." he responded.
The older man ruffled the boy's hair before bidding him goodbye. Nirei smiled and waved as the other left to deal with the many tasks still left unfinished after today's events.
The teen looked back at the sleeping hybrid one last time before turning away as well. He really hoped the boy would recover soon.
The sun was already setting as Nirei left the hospital wing. He took a deep breath as he stepped outside. After enduring the smell of disinfectant and sick people he could really appreciate the fresh air outside.
It was the start of spring and the cherry trees in front of the building were in full bloom. The first pink petals were lazily dwindling down towards the ground, signaling the start of the new season. Even if Nirei's favorite season was autumn, he could still appreciate the beauty of spring.
"There's a lot going on today at Bofurin, isn't there."
Nirei let out a yelp as someone suddenly spoke up from beside him. He whipped his head around to find a single red eye staring at him. That eased his heart immediately and he let out a sigh of relief.
"Do you always have to scare me like that, Suo-san?" he asked exasperatedly. As much as he appreciated their friendship, he could do without the constant heart attacks the other liked to provide him with.
The taller man beside him smiled. "No, but it is fun." he replied cheekily. His single eye then moved to the closed doors just behind them. "I heard they went out to close down another facility this morning. Did anything noteworthy happen?" he asked as he tilted his head curiously.
"We took a few new ones in. One was hurt pretty badly and had to have emergency surgery." Nirei replied. He watched as one of the cherry blossom petals almost fell on top of his friend, only to be flicked away by one of the elongated red ears on top of the man's head. The large bushy tail peeking out from behind the man's cardigan twitched at the mention of surgery.
"Will he survive?" the fox hybrid asked, looking back at the shorter teen. Nirei nodded. "Umemiya-san says he will, so I think so." he replied. He then smiled as he looked up at his friend. "I mean, you were probably in worse shape than him and you're still here, so I'm sure he'll be fine!"
The taller boy chucked at that. "Barely." he retorted, earning a small laugh from the other. "If the spirit in my right eye hadn't saved me I'd definitely would have been a goner~"
Suo was one of their other rescues from about two years ago. He came from a hoarder situation where his caretaker 'collected' all kinds of hybrids in his home. The rooms were filled with small cages that each housed a different kind of hybrid, all in varying stages of neglect. The house was filthy and barely livable. Rumor was that the cleaners who emptied out the place afterwards even found the dead body of a hybrid underneath all the filth and garbage.
Due to the poor conditions in that house, the teen lost the use of one of his eyes after infection ate away at it. It was a battle against time and odds to save him, but they got there eventually. Now, the boy works at a local dojo where he teaches self-defense classes to both humans and hybrids.
The blond sighed at the other's words. "Whatever you say, Suo-san.." he replied, still smiling. He then perked up again. "Why are you here, anyway? Did you finish class late?" he asked curiously.
The hybrid flicked his tail again. "No, the training class finished a while ago, but I wanted to check up on you." he admitted. "I wanted to make sure you actually went home to rest instead of pulling an all-nighter at the facility again. Seems like my worries were misplaced, though."
The freckled man laughed awkwardly. "Y-yeah, Umemiya sent me home just now.." he said. True to Suo's words, he would have stayed here all night to help out with the new arrivals if someone didn't stop him. Days like these where so much happens are just too exciting to leave behind. He wants to be part of everything!
The auburn-haired man's eye softened. "That may be for the best. Leave the nurses to take care of everything tonight. It's what they're best at." he told the other as he gave him a small nudge with his shoulder.
"Now, let me walk you home." the taller then said. Nirei nodded, happy to spend some time talking about his day with his friend as they made their way through town after an eventful day at work.
Once finally at home, Nirei sat down behind his laptop and started it up.
The first thing he did was digitize the information he had gotten on the healthy hybrids. Everything he'd learned about them was pretty straightforward so it didn't take a lot of time. He had done this quite a few times already by now so he was very efficient at it. Someone once mentioned it would be faster to just type everything on his phone or bring a tablet to work, but he liked using his notebook. It was something he had picked up at the end of elementary school and just never dropped the habit.
Once done, he prepared a new digital profile sheet for their injured patient. He named the boy, in lack of a better name, just 'cool cat hybrid' and filled in the information he already had. He then went to his email inbox to find the files Umemiya said would be sent over. Thankfully they were already there waiting for him so he could continue undisturbed.
"Let's see.." he muttered as he opened the first file. It was the surgery report he was promised. His eyes scanned the report while his hands worked on typing the acquired information down in simpler terms. "Severe infection of a recent surgery wound resulting in necrotic tissue removal." he sounded out to himself as he typed. He slowly worked his way through the surgery report, looking for the most important details, until his hands suddenly halted. He squinted at the screen, unsure if he was reading this correctly.
"A hysterectomy?" he asked out loud, brows furrowed in confusion. But.. wasn't this a guy? How the hell do you have your uterus taken out when you're not supposed to have one? Unless..
Forgoing the document in front of him for a moment, the freckled man went back to the email and opened a second file. These were the results of the blood and DNA tests. He was going to have to go over all of these later in detail, but for now he was searching for one specific detail.
His eyes scanned the page of test results until he found what he was looking for. It was a small section at the bottom of the first page. There was a whole load of unimportant details and medical terminologies he didn't really understand, but the result was clear to see.
Their new resident had a second gender.
And he was an omega.
"Huh," he breathed out. Second genders weren't a thing among humans, and even in the hybrid world it wasn't that common. Technically, there were three types of secondary gender; alpha, omega, and beta. But as betas don't have any special qualities and are basically the same as a hybrid without a second gender, no one really counted that one.
The other two, however, held some special properties. Both alphas and omegas secreted pheromones, a scent unnoticeable to humans and most other hybrids, which could influence other alphas and omegas, especially those of the opposite gender.
Another important feature of these second genders is that alphas have ruts and omegas have heats, which are periods when they are more prone to let their instincts take over and, more importantly, when they are most fertile. This is presumably all for the purpose of procreation, but as stated before there wasn't much known about this aspect of the hybrid population and the details are still up for debate.
Due to the scarcity of alphas and omegas, Nirei hadn't met many of them yet. There once was an alpha and omega couple Bofurin rescued, but they've long since moved back to their hometown. Same goes for another alpha he had met briefly before the man left a year ago. And, of course, there was Suo. A lone alpha who arrived here two years ago and decided to make Makochi his new home.
There had been others before that as well, he was sure, but he hadn't personally met any other hybrids with a second gender.
Until now, it seems.
Nirei shook his head. He could worry about the details of this later. He needed to focus and finish his work if he wanted to get a full night's rest. So, the boy moved back to the surgery report and finished noting down everything of importance.
Once he was done with that, he opened the file with the blood test results again. This time he went through everything in detail instead of just scanning it over. Most of it was just basic stuff. Blood type, possible diseases, if he had any drugs in his system, et cetera.
Then came the section with the DNA test. It was pretty standard to do these for any hybrid who couldn't verify their exact species, even if it seemed pretty obvious what they were. It was just for safety reasons. For example, some dog hybrids could have wolf DNA in them, which would make them more prone to violent and unpredictable behavior. For the safety of the staff of this facility, these things had to be established early on so appropriate measures could be taken.
For this particular hybrid that didn't seem to be the case though. He was a domestic breed of cat. A purebred Bombay, to be exact. 'Never heard of that one before' Nirei thought as he quickly googled the breed. Pictures of golden eyed black cats filled his vision. Seems like this breed was famed for their solid black fur. Even the rare hybrid pictures he came across showed hybrids with dark fur or hair.
Nirei frowned. That couldn't be right. The hybrid they took in showed a clear patch of stark white hair! He was pretty sure one eyebrow and some of the faint dusting of fur on his skin were white as well. But the DNA test was solid, no question about it. So, was this some kind of mutation? Maybe fever coat?
Another mystery to solve once the hybrid woke up.
Nirei ended up working well into the night to finish all profile sheets for the new residents. When he finally turned in for the night, he couldn't help but think back to the cat hybrid. He didn't know why the man interested him so much. Maybe it was the unusual look, maybe it was the harsh treatment he had undoubtedly faced before coming here, who knows.
What he did know was that he was going to make it his mission to befriend the hybrid.
He just hoped his past experiences hadn't messed his potential new friend up too badly..