I awoke to sounds similar to my native language, as the clear coffin opened to a number of smartly dressed....squirrels and badgers?

One of them wore a monocle, and a contraption that had multiple clear lenses that moved on a bar arm. It spoke, a sense of the feminine within it, as its foreclaws prodded the flesh of my abdomen. "Hrm. This wasn't quite what I expected - this strange coloured flesh bag. I think this is a Hugh Mann?" It was holding in its other foreclaw a clipboard with a string of spider silk attaching a pen to it; a Bic.

The badger was much smaller than I was, although the head itself was larger than those I was familiar with. I gently rippled my hand, making sure that I felt everything there, and I blinked my eyes. The badger quickly swept a claw into a pocket on its disturbingly white coat and pulled out a small LED torch, shining it directly into my eyes.

I swatted it away, saying, "Give me a minute, dammit!" It blinked back, and stepped back, hissing before shock registered on its face. "Wait....I understand you. How did you...?" It shook its head, muttering something under its breath, before raising its voice again. "No, no, no, that can't be right, it shouldn't be able to understand me."

A masculine voice called out, "Yannifer, what the Hssss are you doing, antagonising the Hugh Mann! I told you to wait for the reanimation protoc-oh." His furious flow was disrupted as he took in my gaze.

Imagine seeing a bodybuilder in the form of a leopard, complete with skin and hair colouration, and a very feline face. Then grow it to my height stood on its hind paws, which had adapted to become more like feet, and then clothe it.

It nodded to someone, who pushed something and cleared the door to my coffin. There was a surge of warm air, as the atmosphere here leaked in and merged with the air inside.

"As if that doesn't beat Great Doggi," he breathed, trying to make himself smaller. He stood and moved in close to me, making the movement in the space of a second. I shrank into the coffin as he breathed, his slitted emerald eyes widening in excitement. "Incredible....I'd heard of these unusual creatures from the long off days of Far Ago, but I didn't expect the skeletal remains to bring us something this strange and fleshy!" He breathed on me, and the smell of fresh meat ran through me as he placed his right paw on my face. I panicked a little, and he sniffed.

"An increased heart rate and something of fear," as he ran his paw along my cheeks and I felt the pads on the tips of his opposable thumbclaw slide on my skin roughly.

I couldn't help it - my hand reached up and grabbed his arm, firmly but gently. "That's enough of that, who are you, and why am I the only normal one here?" I pointed at one of the other animals here. "I can see..." and I racked my brain as the memories were coming back. "A leopard, some badgers, some squirrels and...is that an allosaur running the place?" I rubbed my eyes with my free hand, wondering what the hell had happened. My skin was a deep brown on my hands, fading on the palms, and not the colour I remembered.

"Incredible..." the cat breathed. "That was close to the Divine Writings of Jesus Manx and his Disciples."

The badger turned to him. Yannifer, I noted. She stared as though I had just become an eldritch monstrosity. "Oh my Ratatosk. I never thought you would find religion, Alkham." The cat grinned at her, and she grinned back, stepping back just in case.

"Hey, I was raised Manx, you know - Just because I don't believe anymore doesn't mean I don't know the stories!" He playfully swatted at her, as she stuck out her tongue, flicking her vestigial tail-bush at him.

She picked up the pen, and started scribbling on the clipboard. "Can you move at all?" She spoke, turning her head to me.

I nodded, making a parody of a salute. "Yes, Ma'am." She nodded to another person, as I pushed my way out of the coffin. She started to walk away as I stumbled, and cut myself on the edge of the coffin.

The cat, Alkham, just looked at the cut. He called out, "Yanni, he has red blood just like most of us. Can you get him cleaned up before you start testing him? Some of the others might get....ideas."