Animalia

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Caspian looked startled at the last bit of information, the tips of his ears flushing slightly, but nodded, taking a moment to absorb all the new information. "What if I don't want to be a weapon or a ruler?" He arched an eyebrow at her. "What if all I want to do is go back, finish my degree, get my doctorate and live a normal life, maybe get a girlfriend or discover how to cure cancer?" He gave the snake-woman a quizzical look.

"I never signed up for this. I don't think any of us did, not even you. And I don't think I'm better than anyone else. Well, not really. I'm just a really smart guy from New York." He sighed quietly. "But anyway. You run this place now? Can I see the layout of the island, at least? What the scientists were working on?" If he befriended her, and Caspian really did want to befriend her, he'd have a better shot at getting the others free, he thought. He wasn't particularly strong, nor did his powers seem to be developing at the rate that those of the others' were. He'd have to rely on his intellect.

But that was okay. That's what he'd done ever since his parents had abandoned him. And if Cecile could help him unlock a bit more of the leopard in him, he'd have much more than just his intelligence at his disposal,
 
d from away her head. She paused, and took her her hand away from her face looking to his facial expression she dropped down from the tree with the lightest of thuds. Her high ponytail falling behind her as soon as she landed. She lifted her head up and observed his expression changed as she moved closer and raised her hand onto his cheek. Her eyes scanned his face as best as they could and she spoke in an almost whisper, "I don't see you running from it." She listened to his questions, and for a slight second she thought he was interested in her. She frowned at him, and then turned to start walking away. Although she had no interest in doing any flips and tricks, she just walked at her normal pace rolling her eyes and sighing when she walked from him.
 
"What is there to run from?" he countered, mouth curving up into a sardonic little smile. "I'm not dead yet." Caspian caught her wrist as she turned away and spun her back to face him, then dropped her hand as quickly as he'd caught it-- in his haste to prevent her from leaving, he'd accidentally used his injured arm. He swore under his breath, then added earnestly, "Look-- Cecile-- please. I'm tired of being chased all the time. It's actually really boring when I'm not busy being terrified. I don't want to be some kind of hero, or anything. I just want to be me. But these powers need controlling, and you can help me with that, can't you? I don't know what I can do for you in return, but we could be... friends, couldn't we?"
 
She made a small noise as she awoke. Her body was sore, and the sounds of machines was piercing to her ears. She could smell various different people and chemicals as well. She sat up and scrunched her face at forcing her aching muscles to move. Her body was sore all over. She gave a small sigh and reached up to run a hand through her messy hair and cringed at the stinging feeling burning from her hand. She instantly looked to her hand to find scraps running down them, and instantly remembered when she had fallen trying to run away and cut up her hands. The cuts looked unclean, most likely to get infected if she didn't find a way to soon. She moved to lean against a wall but feeling the odd rod shaped feeling pressed into her back she instantly sat up and turned around, regretting it an instant later to find herself staring at locked bars. She heard the sound of voiced but held her breath for a moment before cautiously calling out.
"Hello?" Her voice echoed off the walls and rang in her ears, though almost like instinct she was used to her new sense of hearing already.
 
Kinta had barely managed to get out her pleas for mercy before she started screaming uncontrollably. The pain came in waves, but it wasn't a complete break between. It would dull to nearly bearable, then shoot right up again to a piercing crescendo that made her feel as though she were about to die. None of the other voices yelling out to each other registered in her mind, and she didn't hear the thuds of fighting outside of her cage. The sudden absence of pain from the collar left her sprawled in the middle of the cell, staring dazedly off to the side. She felt more exhausted than she had ever been in her life, but that wasn't the worst part. Her entire body ached as if she had been beaten - it was as though she couldn't move a single muscle!


The scrape of a key in a lock made her eyes shift to look at who was approaching. She blinked slowly a couple of times, unable to really accept what she was seeing at first. A.. man? No, he wasn't a man. Not really. He was like she was, but a wolf. His features were very obviously more masculine. Had he been like this for long? Did he know where they were or how they got there? She couldn't remember anything!


"Trust you? I.. I guess so.." she finally replied, confused. She didn't really know what to think about anything. This wolf.. man.. person was offering to help her get the torturous collar off her neck, and meanwhile she still hadn't really gotten over the shock of her new appearance. Nearby, she could hear the sounds of people yelling to each other about being alright and awake, or something. They obviously weren't people like the one who had been watching her. Did that mean there were others? What was going on?


Soft, panicked whimpers left her throat in tiny bursts as she really started to think about their situation. Her ears lowered and she squirmed a bit, ignoring the leftover pains.
 
Alec


Despite waking up in a unfamiliar place, inside a cage at that as well he felt no fear toward his new found situation. However her did feel slight irritation at being caged much like a animal. A frown tugged at his lips, giving his usual cheerful appearance was wrecked by the unfitting turn of his lips. He closed his eyes for a moment and listened for a moment to his surrounding. He could hear whispering voices of men in the distance. A female voice reached his ears, clearer and nearer then the men. He unwillingly decided to ignore the girl for the moment and decided to search his surroundings. However he found nothing of use and only ended up having to determine other means for escape.
 
Tamara

The hushed voices continued and paid no mind to her call. She grumbled before forcing herself to stand, and cursed under her breath before kicking the bars to force and regretting it instantly as pain shot up her leg but she only allowed herself a small whimper of pain before angerily yelling out.
"I know you're there! I can hear your voices!" She looked stared with a hard glare at the empty cage across from her.
Quickly she turned and ignored the soreness in her legs and the stinging of her hands as she paced the cage hotly for a few moments before examining the door to her cage. She reached for her hair pulling out a bobby pin and quickly moved toward the lock. She had never picked a lock before, but she was hoping for sucess.
 
Tamara

With her poor skills on what she was trying to accomplish she bit her lip as she shoved the bobby pin in farther to the key slot. With one more twist however the thin piece of metal broke and part of it spun and reopened her scrapes on the palm of her hand in the shape of a thin cut. She quickly jerked away and checked her palm, not mistaking the fresh blood coming up and running down her wrist. She sighed and reached around touching the key hole and cursed silently as she felt a piece of the bobby pin still lodged inside. This stole away that option of escape. She retreated back from the bars and sighed in defeat, allowing herself to lean against the back wall of her cage. She slipped down to the floor with a dull thud and placed her hands in her lap.

Alec


He was quickly becoming frustrated by the fact her continued to fail to think of an escape. He carried no objects on him but the cloths on his body. He ran a hand through his hair, causing the blonde tendrils to move back only to fall back messily into his face. He took one more glance around his cage, once again finding nothing he was beginning to feel defeated for a moment. He leaned forward, pressing his forehead onto one of the cool metal bars to the outside of his cage and he continued to think. He didn't have any kind of tool to use to remove hinges, and nothing to pick a lock with. The only way to escape was to be rescued, trick someone with a key, or somehow manage to break through bars. However he knew well enough the last one is impossible for an ordinary human.
 
When taking her wrist she made a grip on the hilt of her Katana strapped to her back. Her eyes came to a narrow and she noticed he had injured his arm, the tension in her brow lifted. She raised her head and paused for a moment.. "Fine" she said turning her head back forward, "But I don't make friends, I simply make acquaintances... Friends are harder to kill if something happens." She turned to look back at him for a brief second and then began moving forward, "you better follow me." She said and gestured a beckoning with her left hand.

She began walking through the terrain of forest and jungle, jumping over brief interludes of water, lakes and ponds. The majority of the time, there were stepping stones. However, other times it meant simply getting your knee's wet... Or possibly your hair. She hated it, the fungi that floated on top of the water would always find ways to weave it's way within her hair. When they got to the wasteland terrain she kept turning around to make sure he was okay. When he would look back at her, her head would spin back forward to avoid eye contact.

A cylinder rose, big enough for the both of them, she got in and held her hand out to help him in.. "Well, come on then.."
 
"In that case, I see absolutely no problem with being your friend." He raised an eyebrow, laughter in his eyes. After all, Caspian recognised that one day, they'd all die, but didn't particularly wish to speed up the proccess.

She wasn't quite as friendly before, though, as they made their way across the forest. What had he done? Caspian shelved the question and focused on the forest around, observing thimgs that could help him find his way, if he were to come by this way again. And the few times he did manage to catch her eye, Caspian's mouth would quirk upwards, just a little.

"Thanks," he said, and took her hand, hopping in. "Where are we?"
 
"This is the main institute. Or at least.. one of them. There are sectors throughout all over the island. This is Sect 16.. There are 32 in total. We are halfway across the perimeter on the island..." She took a light pause, as the cylinder lowered down under the earth. It took around 5 minutes before they steadily came closer to the core of the earth. "Our systems have to be low down.. We gain our energy from the heat under the crust of the Earth's surface. It may not look like much, but it cost the USA a good few of your candy-licking quarters." When she stepped out of the cylinder her hands raised to the blades on her back and pulled them free, and walked past two slots either side of the wall when walking out. Holding out the weapons the walls seem to vacuum them into their systems and there was a tick on a little screen. She smiled and turned around whilst walking backwards and speaking to him. "You'll most likely not recognise this place... You were forbidden to be anywhere but on the surface sector. So it was easier for you to escape..." She looked at his almost confused expression and smiled in reply, "It was all a part of the plan.. We have you escape, you go in the wild, we observe how you develop and well.. survive." Turning on her heel delicately she held out a palm to him. "Wait here.." She walked into her dorms to change.
 
Caspian didn't particularly mind being told to wait--after all, it gave him time to process all the information he'd been given thus far. So he leaned against the wall, eyes closed as he filed the information away carefully in his mind. 32 Sectors meant that there was much more going on here besides genetic manipulation. Several sectors were probably devoted to the living space of experiments and scientists, as well as the guards and guard-dogs, but as far as he could tell, things like that only took up so much space, and from what he could remember, experiments didn't exactly get suites. So what else? Weapons development was the first thing that came to mind, but if this place was really a research facility, one funded by the government, no less, many other things probably went on here. Technology, then. Medical. Communications. All of these were extremely likely possibilities. In another life, Caspian imagined he'd have ended up working for something like this, using an annual research grant to figure out new technologies to help people. Now, though, that he had the genes of a clouded freaking leopard, that didn't seem too likely.

He opened his eyes again as he heard her approach, and smiled slightly at the sight of Cecile in new clothes. "Nice," he said honestly, not seeming to mind her scales or eyes at all. Then he grinned. "Any chance of my getting a shower, too?"
 
She ran her fingers over the many jumpsuits in her wardrobe and decided to go for something a little more casual. She pulled out a plain white t-shirt, and a pair of shorts to keep the heat from wearing her down. Brushing her hair down and neatly in front of her body so it reached her elbows, then straightening out her fringe. Her face looked like it already had make-up on, so there was no need to apply more. Although she thought herself hideous she was in fact quite beautiful to everybody else's eye. Placing the tiny kitten heels onto her feet she approached the door to see him leaning against the wall. She blinked before answering him, "You can have a shower... but not in my dorms. I don't think that appropriate do you?"

She closed her door behind her and set off walking down a long pathway. People refrained from keeping eye contact with her completely, but greeted her with a gentle nod. She stopped one of the carts and pulled the man aside to whisper in his ear in a hushed tone, "How're the others doing?" He gave her a light nod in confirmation. She smiled and set off walking again until she got to a room which had "Dorm 1" written on it.. "These will be your quarters.." She said and turned the handle with a key to allow him to walk inside, then placing it into his hand.
 
Ruby was screaming in pain and there was nothing that Kendall could do. Her feathered friend was being shocked and tortured, but there was no way out. Kendall gripped the strong bars of her cage, pulling back hard, as if she was strong enough to do anything. Her hands were on fire and her back ached. </SPAN></SPAN>

"Don't be so worried number 4…" A man shrouded in darkness addressed Kendall by a title she didn't recognize. She could hear his voice and see a slight reflection within the shadows. Glasses maybe? </SPAN></SPAN>

"Hello?" Kendall called, not taking her eyes of her writhing friend, who was sweating and loosing feathers as she struggled. The man stepped forward, holding what looked to be a ipad or flat computer. The glowing touch screen reflected in his circular spectacles. He took his finger of the center of the luminescent pad, smiling as Ruby stopped flailing and just laid there; motionless. </SPAN></SPAN>

"What did you do to her?!" Kendall screamed, not sure where they had been taken. It was a separate room different from the one they had originated in. The cages were larger and placed closer together. </SPAN></SPAN>

"That does not matter Number 4…" The man's dark voice grew closer and made Kendall nervous. "you know, we are very pleased with how you've turned out…unlike this one…" The reflection in his glasses seemed to turn in Ruby's direction, a seething glare was almost impossible to miss. </SPAN></SPAN>

"What are you going to do with her?!" Kendall screamed, afraid of the man's intentions. He walked right up to Ruby's cage, placing his hand on the cold iron bars. </SPAN></SPAN>

"We are looking for the perfect blend of human and beast. So far, you are the only successful one. Number six is very close too, you know him as Garrett; I suppose." He put his hand over the computer again, watching as Ruby's breathing seemed to slow and eventually stop. Kendall began to cry, knowing there was nothing she could do for the girl she had just only begun to understand.</SPAN></SPAN>

"We cannot keep faulty experiments…"</SPAN></SPAN>

Kendall watched as Ruby's body went limp, but only after her final death rattle. </SPAN></SPAN>
 
The sounds of retaliation outside oftheir own block was... Well, to say the least, it was fuckingexhilarating! They were now a full force rather than a simple fewstragglers, which meant that individually, their chances of escapewould be much higher. It would definitely be needed if Kurt was goingto have company during the escape. But, of course, it sounded likethe rest were causing enough of a commotion in order for them to getout without any problems, which was making this situation better bythe second since Kurt already had an escape route planned. Currently,from what he could tell with the glimpses he was able to sneak duringhis surgical and bio sessions and tracing his own movements, theywere in the furthest block from a reliable entrance, but ratways andair ducts would aid him in getting the girl out while he would takethe halls. That would, at least, give the girl a better chance ofgetting out.

After all, she didn't have any reason to behere. A casualty of war was what she was in his eyes, and it wasn'tfair. At all.

With only the most quick and fluid of motions,Kurt pulled on the nape of the collar just enough to place spacebetween her neck and the blade so he could slice through the thick,nylon cord woven fabric that, to a human, would've made cutting it atask. But Kurt's anthropomorphic strength had given him an advantageand made cutting the collar easy. The same couldn't exactly be saidwith his, though, after he tossed her collar away since they hadplaced a heavier, metal choker on him. It needed a key, from what hecould feel, and his nails weren't small enough to wedge into thekeyhole. Again, after he sheathed the knife on his right bicep, Kurtpaced over to the doctor's body and searched, then after he came upwith nothing, tested the seven keys that were on his choker, in whichnone of them worked.

"Shit," Kurt cussed under hisbreath. "The doctors must have kept switching keys between them sowe couldn't get the chokers off..."

If it was one thing hecouldn't do, it was cause any more distress than they would alreadybe in. So for now, Kurt simply began to mess with his choker until itwould appear that its mechanism was malfunctioned, then pace backover to the girl and hold out his left hand, drawing the .38 with hisright. The gun felt as light as a feather in his hands, unlike whenhe was a human and it felt as if half the weight of a brick. That,though, was good. At least now he could control the recoil betterthan a human, so perhaps this had an advantage? Though it did makehimself a larger target.

He didn't have time to troublehimself over it, though.

"You ready to go?" He asked, hisvoice a bit more quiet now. "For now, my name's Kurt."
 
The glint of a blade caught Kinta's attention, and she froze in startled panic, forgetting that he was only there to help her. She didn't even breathe when he cut the collar and threw it aside, then got up and wandered away. Finally she released the breath caught in her throat and sat up slowly. People were talking, but their voices were indistinct. At the other end of a hallway, it seemed like. However, voices meant people. Were they people like them, or more people who wanted to hurt them? She bit her lower lip as she tried to control the flow of panic, yelping in surprise as small fangs punctured her lip. Frowning, she sucked the tiny specks of blood from her self-inflicted injury and watched the wolf-man walk back over to her.


"For now? If I ask later, will your name be something else?" she asked quietly, taking his offered hand and standing. She held his hand only long enough to be certain she wasn't going to fall over, then released it and ran her hands over her face. Okay. Take a look at the facts, Kinta, and stop panicking. You're in a building that has an unknown number of cages and an unknown number of prisoners and 'staff' members. There was one known person suffering the same sickness or whatever it was that she had, likely more. The ideal situation would be escaping, but what if this building was nowhere near home? How was she going to get back? Going back might not even be a good idea. What was she going to do, shave her entire body and hope she looked the same? What about the ears and tail?


"Wait a moment.." she said, walking out of the cage and over to the man who had inflicted such pain on her. Uninterested in his body, she picked up the tablet computer that he had been examining during the torture. Her own picture was pulled up - or, what she had looked like before all of this. She frowned and scrolled down, seeing all sorts of charts of progress and a lot of checkmarks in different columns. The purpose was something that she didn't understand since it didn't outline it specifically. Security purposes, she supposed. Pressing the screen a few times, she flipped through the list of other people. There were dozens. Quite a few said deceased or failed.. What was wrong with these people?!


"There are others.. We have to look around and see if there are any that we can get out of here," she finally said, looking up at Kurt. "Oh, and I'm Kinta."
 
Kendall watched as the self proclaimed god stood before her, his hands still on the tablet that he had just used to end Ruby's life. Kendall couldn't devote all of her attention at the shaded scientist, Ruby's lifeless body stole her attention. Tears welled in her eyes and she felt her armadillo skin harden in frustration over her back and neck. She wished for a moment that she hadn't pushed the snake girl, thinking that possibly Ruby's death was her fault. Ever since they were released, she felt Ruby's eyes were distant and cold, but she had just started to get to know her, and now this. Kendall could see the scientist perfectly now, her night vision finally kicking in and developing. She had only ever used it once, and it was growing on her. The scientist had chin length brown hair that was swept back with hair gel and grease, explaining the bitter smell Kendall had recognized upon waking up. His round glasses sat in front of peerless green eyes; stunningly dangerous and a bit absent.

"You need to understand number four... Number five wouldn't survive. She was more beast than man, not a equal split. We did her a favor." Kendall's mouth hung open as the man spoke, launching herself at the bars that separated them; never before had she been so angry.

"You bastard! if that's your idea of a favor then kill me too! Put me out of my fucking misery!!!" She reached out to him, swiping with her hands to grab anything she could. He laughed and leaned forward, but stayed out of her reach.

"I can't do that number four...you are one of out prized possessions. You have evolved perfectly. A fifty-fifty human to armadillo ratio; perfection..." He sucked in air as if getting pleasure from saying it. "And look at you, your plating covers you in all the right areas; genius!" The scientist held the flat computer out, showing her the screen.

The brightness stung her nocturnal eyes, blinding her for a moment. when they finally adjusted, she saw her name and identification number:
Number four-
currently evolve rate: 97%
Current armor effectiveness: 100%
Night Vision: 80%
heightened senses: 80%
Overall Progress: 89%
Current desired mate : Number 6- Garrett/Rhino
Breeding reason: Armor plating for impenetrable skin and raw power. Stamina and self preservation insinct will be ver high and resistance to poison and weaponry is effective in combat.

Kendall's eyes buldged out of her head. breeding?! what!? Don't tell me they are actually planning on combining us further and actually trying to create some sort of military entity...Kendall's breathing quickened and she got light headed.

"Isn't that what you wanted? We were watching you. You and number six seem very close..." The man folded the computer under his arm and smiled. Kendall spat at him, cursing her life under her breath.
 
Vir grumbled indignantly as the commotion outside his cell woke him. With a stifled yawn he rolled from the hard bunk supplied him and looked around the cell, a smile of amusement playing across his face. The thing was flimsy as hell a dozen different ways to get out that he could see. But hed not had a reason to try so far. The occasional electric shock treatment they tried on him barely did more than tickle, and every day he felt a little stronger.... a bit tougher... he had no idea what they were doing to him but so far.. he liked it.

With a giggle he noticed his hearing seemed to have gotten better recently as well he could hear the others in his block talking... a girl nearby and that quiet bastard across from him.... but more he could hear a few voices from down the hall.. then the sound of a fight.. Vir smiled. Jailbreak eh? Dont leave me out. He walked over to the bars and gripped them a moment, giving them a good shake... the door seemed sturdy... but still his strength had always been a point of pride with him... add to it whatever these yahoos had done to him, and you had something interesting.

With a snarl he grabbed onto the bars and pulled with all his might. His inhuman muscles bulged as he twisted and pulled back on the bars, a nearly deafening screech and groan showing his progress. With an explosion of breath and a loud crash the bars snapped away from their cement bindings and he flung them away to clatter against the wall.

He smiled again as he stepped out of his cell and walked to the cell across from him," Whats up bro? Need a hand?"

(His cell was across from Alecs so thats who hes talking to)
 
Caspian thanked her, curling his fingers around the key. Curiosity got the better of him, though, and he had to ask-- "'The others'? Who are they?" Other experiments, perhaps? Had Ruby, Kendall and Garrett been captured? Or was it something entirely? Asking may have been pushing his luck a little, but Caspian had been fairly successful thus far; he didn't think it'd hurt to ask a little more. He had always been a curious person, after all.
 
She tapped her nose and laughed to him softly, before turning on her feet and starting off down the hallway towards a room with several man observing the CCTV units and their portable holographic tablet devices. Stroking her hand over one of them and observing his screen, she removed the lit cigarette from the offering tray at her side and began inhaling observing the screens showing the several different labs. Her hand was brought up and lightly sliding length ways, obediently the man flickered between the screens and revealed some interesting results. She smiled and raised her head a moment.. "Nice, very nice.." Pressing the earpiece into her ear, she called to withdraw the lab-coats back to her summoning and they went full lock-down. Just like before, another test on their escapes.

They were idiots, left thinking 'oh this escape will be so easy.' Could they honestly think such a high funded governmental institute would have such low investment on it's security systems? A light sigh escaped her lips whilst the thick tungsten metal shutters came hurtling down. On top of them was a heated sheet of Titanium, practically bubbling like lava under the force field which held it in place. However, this was only just the beginning.
 
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