cozy critter 🍂🍁🍄🌧️

hypothetically, yes! i don't really have like, a quantifiable way to measure that, but there would be a noticeable difference in the transformation times between someone who contacted a trace amount (ie, Rocket getting a teeny bit in their cut) and someone exposed to significantly more at once (injected, or somehow totally drenched in the substance? idk)

the specific strain of virus also makes a difference! some take longer to work than others, so even if you were in contact with a bunch, it may take a while to notice symptoms of infection if that particular strain is slow (i'm imagining a scenario where it doesn't really become noticeable until like, a day or two later hehe)

If you'll indulge me, I suddenly have an extremely specific scenario coming to mind having read this.

The order in which parts of the body are changed by the virus seems to be based on what part of the body is first infected, so what if the changes started internally? Infection via contaminated food or water, perhaps? It starts with a craving for sugary fruits, a combination of gut alterations for the species's preferred diet and a need for energy to fuel the changes. Tiny mental shifts occur and sensitivity to touch, light, and sound change as the central nervous system is converted. The more fluid nature of Amphimorpho physiology makes their joints and spine far more flexible than should be possible, and at this point the fact that something is wrong becomes obvious. By the time any externally visible changes happen, however, their insides are nearly liquified, struggling to maintain their original form.

2-3 days after infection, the whole cellular structure gives out for just a moment as the actual shape-changing occurs in a little over a second. One moment they're normal, if a little nauseous. And the next... fwoomp. One very disoriented, very confused critter stands where an outwardly normal human had just been...

oh hell yeah, i love that idea! >:3