Welcome to Gaia! ::

Newton Filinas was used to working late at night when the staff had all retired, leaving their messes for him to tend to. There wasn't a large cleaning staff, but Newt didn't mind keeping busy. Sweep the labs, mop the hallways, change the bedding for the strange mutated labrats. He supposed he had kept this job for so long because he was good at not asking questions. He was a tall man, skinny as a scarecrow under his light blue Feral-Labs issued coverall complete with his last name embroydered on the chest. His hair was a constant mess of black oily curls over his pale, sallow face. He had an overbite and a pointed nose and sunken cheaks that make his already prominant cheakbones stand out, his skin pock-marked by the battle wounds of puberty. All in all, he loved his job. He was very good at it, he liked to think.

As he wheeled his trash cart down the hallway, quietly tisking the skuff marks on the linolium tile he'd have to deal with later, his rounds soon brought him to Doctor Duvert's office. Upon entering and flicking on the lights, Newt shook his head. The place was a mess, scraps of papers littering his desk, trash and countless debris all in the way. How could he work under these conditions? Oh, but wouldn't he be pleased to come in the next morning and find it nice and clean! The janitor gave a soft, self concious smile, whistling idly as he worked, his mind filled with thoughts of praise.

Sabin, meanwhile, had been working another graveyard shift down in the laboratories. He was determined to catch up in the mounds of paperwork left from his... 'hiatus'... and finally break through to being as caught up as he was before he left, leaving him time to work on the side projects that he yearned to do. IT was slow going, but he was slowly making progress.

He had learned more about microbiology than he thought was possible in the many months he had worked on the Island, and he knew that that didn't hold a candle to what many of his subordinates knew. Old-fashioned in his ways of notekeeping, Sabin prefered the feel of paper in his hands, a pen instead of keyboard. Something about it seemed more real to him. HE could pore over pages of notes all day, the smell of the paper and the ink lending itself to the learning and creative processes.

So, returning from a discussion with the research heads under his watch, Sabin was intending on sitting down to his desk to read over and add to the pile of notes he was working on.

However, when Sabin opened the door, he was not welcomed by the comforting piles of paper, what was a disarray to many visitors but to Sabin was an controlled chaos. No, he fould a polished... distinctly empty desk. And one rather emaciated janitor.

HE just.... stopped. And STARED at the scene before him. Closing his eyes for a moment he hoped that the scene might resolve itself to what it ought to be when he once again opened them, only to see the same spotless desk.... pointedly devoid of his notes. His brow twitched and his glare leveled on the man. "What..... have you done??"

Newt glanced up from where he had been tying the black trashbag shut, beaming proudly at the sight of his superior, but his expression immediatly fell into a frightened frown at the sight of Sabin's expression. "Ah... J-juh-just... ah...cuh-cuh-cluh-c-cleaning, sir-" He stammered, his nerviousness keeping his voice caught on his tongue. "I er... had th-thought-"

Sabin shook his head, seemingly having a difficult time quite grasping how to put words to his sudden anger. "Where... where are my notes??. Things on my desk are not Trash!" He gesticulated wildly as he spoke.

"Ah... " Newt swallowed, his already pale face going white, "I ah... th-they looked like... I had assumed-"

Sabin quickly closed the distance between the two of them, Sabin's blazing eyes boring into Newt's own hollow ones. "You... assumed?" His voice was hissing, his teeth clenched. "I do not generally throw garbage onto my desk. Nor does anyone else who I can draw to mind. You think that because I do not take notes with the computer that my research is trash?"

Normally, Sabin may not have been quite so harsh on the man. However, already stressed, and testy about his work, paranoid that Moreau was intentionally giving him a much heavier workload to keep him occupied, this latest 'setback' was only viewed as another intentional hurdle and slap in the face.

The scarecrow of a janitor flinched backward, his eyes wide with terror as he huddled as though to try to shrink out of sight and hide behind the bag of garbage, "I... I... I d-didn't- I had th-thought- I'm s-so sorry, sir I w-was only... I m-mean I ah..."

Sabin's mouth twisted into a mocking grin as the man shrunk back. "Then you had better recover my notes, hrmmm?"

"Ah, y-yes, sir! Y-yes sir r-right away, s-sir!" He replied breathily, clawing at the black plastic to try to get it open. Unfortunatly he had cleared the desk and THEN had emptied the waste bins, the two instantly becoming intermingled within the confines of the trashbag.

Sabin's expression soured as the smell diffused through the room. "Perfect. Juuuust perfect." Sabin barked as he looked into the semi-liquid contents of the bag. His face was reddening as the moments passed.

And as Newt's panic grew, so did his clumsiness, sending empty cans and soiled tissues and the like scattering to the previously clean carpet in search of the slightly damp notes, "Ah... ah... I... I can f-find them! I c-can ah... ah b-blast..."

Sabin's jaw clenced further as he watched true garbage spread over the floor. Reaching down and firmly gripping Newt's shoulder, and squeezing tightly, literally driving in one of the points of why Sabin keeps his nails long, he spoke lowly and far too evenly, even the accent becoming a dangerous purr. "You will take this out of my office. And then you will sort through this mess - with your bare hands if you must- until you find them." With every "will", Sabin's grip grew tighter. "And then, you will re-copy them if you need to, before you bring them back to me. Do you understand me?"

"Ah... ah... yuh-yuh-yuh-" Newt was shaking with terror, adam's apple bobbing as he tried to force his vocal chords to obey him.

Newt's display of sheer horror only seemed to egg on the white-haired doctor, the wicked smile dominating his face. "Good." He spoke lowly, yet very clearly. "Then there will be no further misunderstandings." With a sudden movement, Sabin released his shoulder, sending him towards the floor.

Newt scrambled across it towards his cart, gathering up the fallen debris as he managed to crawl to his feet, tossing the bag onto his cart, "Ah... n-no s-sir! Y-yes sir! R-right... r-right... right away, sir!" He panted, befor hurrying from the room as fast as he could.

Sabin stood in the middle of his office for a moment, tense and pissed off, watching the man scramble to get away from him before slamming the door shot, and proceeding to write a very nasty memo on Newt's personnel file.

Moreau was going through the inventory of the serums in Lab Floor 8. He'd been doing inventory himself, atleast every three weeks, since the Sabin incident. He wanted to make sure nothing was missing. As he was going through the numbers he noticed something. A serum that wasn't supposed to be in the list. He snatched it up and looked at the ID code, figuring out the formula of letters and numbers that he had himself developed he blinked at it again.

Moreau snatched it up and headed over to the computer, he needed to be sure. He referenced the ID number again. He was right, it was the Orangutan serum he thought had already been used on the recovered woman. He placed the serum into a small metal tubular receptical and hitting a button waited a few minutes for the screen to give him a confirmation. As soon as it did he snatched the serum back. "What was she given then? Who is responsible for this?" Moreau pulled out his radio, this had come from Sabin's lab. During Sabin's suspension if he wasn't mistaken, he'd find out what was going on. When they picked up the line he spoke into the radio "Yes, I'd like the tapes of Sabin's office during his suspension to be looked at. I want to know who was in there and what happened..."

It had been a few weeks earlier when Newt had once again been making his rounds. Like the many times befor that, he had not yet gotten the courage to tackle Doctor Duvert's desk, instead making sure to tidy everywhere else. Sitting on one of the tabletops lay the freshly organized and catigorized serum collection. The janitor had idly worked, vaccuuming what carpets there were about, and was working on mopping the smoother tile when suddenly the back of his broom caught the edge of the container they rested in. He felt it, and immedatly twisted to catch it befor there was a terrible spill, but one managed to slip free from the tray. Befor he could fumble, it bounced off of his arm and into his mop bucket with a heart wrenching little plunk. By the time he had fished it out, it's label had completely dissolved, leaving a sad little square of stickiness. In a dazed panic, he quickly broke out his torch fluid, cleaning the vile thouroughly and completely befor he snatched up Sabin's extra labels and a pen, scribbling down the number on another vial untill it looked as good as new. That done, he had hurried to deliver them safe and sound to the main labs, hiding the evidence of his folly among the others, hoping that he would never be found out.

Moreau watched the scene unfold on the videos. It had taken multiple technicans a few hours of skimming through the video feeds at high speeds, each of them taking seperate parts to find this in such a hurry. But Moreau wasn't feeling particurally patient. As he watched him scribble onto the label he realized there was little to no way to be sure what serum that had supposed to be, in the shuffle. He looked at the file on the janitor he'd had pulled up almost as soon as he'd seen him on screen. Moreau grabbed the file folder and stormed out "Send him to my office." he said to the security personal.

It was obvious it was Newt who knocked when he arrived at the office, the beat nervious and erratic against the other side of the door.

"Come in Mr. Fillnas, please." Moreau said to the door as he knocked on it. He'd already worked out his assignment for the bumbling janitor. The door swung open and Moreau appeared atleast to be hard at work behind his desk.

Newt was trembling as he inched in meakly, looking terrified at the sight of the attractive redhead behind the desk. "Ah... ah...er... y-you... wuh-wuh-wan-wan-wan-wanted to see me, s-sir?"

"Yes Mr. Filinas, I have an assignment for you. I need some serums out of the backroom storage. We have an entire batch that may have gotten mixed up apparently. I'm going to have to have a talk with Dr. Duvert." Moreau laughed like it was no big deal. "But would you mind going down to storage and pulling of the small trays from there, to bring up to replace this tray till we can get it sorted out. Anyone will do, we just want to keep the lab stocked, new subjects and all." Moreau grinned.

Newt seemed to relax and straightened upright, "Y-yes sir, r-righta way sir. J-just b-bring them b-back here, sir?"

"Yes, please, as quickly as you can. Don't drop them or anything of course." Moreau laughed a bit, not only was it common rumor what had happened to Lily but he was also jabbing Newt about what had happened to him. Hopefully, he'd get the hint.

Indeed, the janitor's sunken features reddened in an anxious blush, "Ah... R-right away, suh-s-sir..." That said, he turned to hurry from the office, relieved that that was all that Moreau had wanted. Unfortunatly, the rumours surrounding the incident with Lilly had not reached the poor simple man.

Moreau waited till the door closed to flip through the file, a smile crossing his face as he does. He then turned off his lights and headed up to Lab 8 where Newt would be meeting him. This was almost going to be a little fun, but Moreau did enjoy tormenting those that were so very far benieth him.

Newt returned obediantly with the random vile, looking utterly proud of himself, "H-here, s-sir! Here, I've b-brought it!"

Moreau's tone raised a bit. "I asked for a tray of vials Mr. Filinas, what is this?" Moreau took the vial and waved it in his face. "Now go back and bring me my tray you silly fool." Moreau was feeling... particuraly mean tonight, especially after that encounter with Billy. He needed to vent, and Newt was his current victim.

"Ah-" Newt squeaked, his face paling as he realized his mistake. His mind must have been... somewhere else. No. No. He was just running errands for the man. That was all. His hands were shaking as he placed the vial down on his desk, "I'll...I'll b-be back in... in j-just a moment! I'm sorry!" He babbled befor rushing out once again, feeling thouroughly flustered.

Moreau waited a bit, while prepping the needle he'd be using. He inserted it into the small needle gun and put on a gas mask. Now he just had to wait for Newt to return. He'd use the serum that he'd been brought. Moreau sat, and waited.

And not ten minutes later, Newt was back and slightly breathless, "I g-got it right this time, sir!"

Moreau walked up to Newt in the gas mask. He took the set of vials into his arms making sure that they wouldn't be spilled. "Good Mr. Filinas, thank you for your services." Moreau smiled as the door locked behind Newt and gas began pouring in the room. Moreau stepped back, waiting for the knock out gas to hit him.

"Ah- wh-what's...?" Newt staggered backward away from the swirling clouds, his eyes even wider than usual, "Wh-whuh-wh-what are you d-doing??"

Moreau smiled as he watched Newt fall. He smiled as he went down. "Your being put in for... reassignement Mr. Filinas."

"R-re...." His voice drifted off as unconciousness took the poor janitor over.

When Newt woke up he'd find himself in a duplex, a mop and bucket and other cleaning supplies in the duplex with him. The room is otherwise undecorated or interesting. A few shelves and a bookcase are on the wall and Newt would find that he has a puncture wound in the back of his neck, and on his arm. Welcome to day one of subject life.

It was early enough by the time Newt arrived at the cafeteria that no one was around just yet. All for the best! He whistled idly as he put up all of the chairs onto the tables, taking his time to sweep thouroughly, although the longer he spent in the large room, he could feel his eyes starting to water, and his nose begin to clog. Animal dander. Even if the place was cleaned daily, with the amount of hairy islanders passing to and fro, it built up.

After he finished sweeping, he gave a sharp sneeze, leaving the pile of furr and dust in the bottom of a freshly cleaned trashcan befor he slipped into the kitchen to fill his bucket to ready for mopping.

For once, Jamal had woken up super early, by his standards anyway, and had crawled out of his jungle bed with a distinct craving for something bloody and rare. He considered hunting, but he was still groggy from waking up, plus he was feeling rather lazy anyway, so the cafeteria was the next best idea.

Or so he thought.

As the man pushed open the door to the cafeteria, he was wholey displeased to see that the place looked like it was in the midst of a cleaning spree; he'd never come in and seen the chairs up on tables before. The thought never crossed his mind that the place actually got CLEANED like a normal resteraunt.

"Oh what da hell," Jamal growled irritably as he swaggered between the tables, looking at the perched chairs as he went. "Can't a guy get a ********' meal jus' b'fo dawn 'round herr?!" Jamal's nose wrinkled as a lingering scent covered the cafeteria; it was NASTY, whatever it was. He almost lost his appetite then, actually, but because he'd crawled out of 'bed' with the intention of eating, dammit, he was going to eat.

Newt resurfaced from the kitchen slopping water and cleaning solution all over his shoes in the process, somehow managing to heft it into the middle of the cafeteria befor he realized he was no longer alone. At the sight of the tiger, he gave an audible squeek of alarm, the bucket dropping heavily from his hands to clatter to the floor, sending a tidal wave of soapy water across the linolium, "Ah- Ah..."

Jamal's ears flattened back as far as they were anatomically able at the appearance of the scrawny, perpetually nervous individual hauling a bucket of water and a snarl curled at the edge of his lips. Already his human side was picking this guy out someone easy to manipulate while the tiger side saw him as a true weakling...the type that ought to be exterminated.

The tiger man approached the new face with tension clear in his expression. He wanted to give this guy a piece of his mind, alright.

However, when the man dropped the bucket, sending the chemical laced water to the floor, Jamal swerved instinctively to avoid the spray. The pungent smell of chemicals almost masked the BO and the general gross smell that had seemed to strengthen with this man's appearance.

"Watch what yer ********' DOIN', ya damn idiot," Jamal snapped at Newt as he gingerly walked through a spot that wasn't too wet. "You responsible fo' da chairs bein' on da tables?!"

Newt's heart raced, his face white as he backed away, only to be cut off from behind by a table, "Ah... ah... I w-was... w-was c-cleaning, sir!" He squeaked. "I'm... I'm th-the.. th-the..." So the monster was an islander! It- he could talk! Newt swallowed thickly, his stutter heightened by his fear making it even more difficult to speak than usual. He tapped the logo on the pocket of his coveralls, as though that could explain it.

"You was just -what-?" Jamal snapped pointedly, advancing further on the man until the table blocked the new guy's way. The tiger man was about to ask WHY he'd be cleaning, since staff ought to exist for that matter, but the tap to the little colored blob on the man's overalls caught his attention. It was one of the feral lab logos.

Jamal's eyes narrowed dangerously, but gained a rather eerie gleam to them at the same time.

"Yer a STAFF person, AIN'T ya?" drawled the tiger languidly, a clawed finger tip jabbing the offending logo viciously. The man's voice dared Newt to deny it.

Newt gave a squeak, his face positively green, "I... I... I... I'm a... I j-just... I ah..." His heart was in his throat, his face trembling at the sight of Jamal's mutated, feline features. Best be polite. Don't stare. But how could you not when the hot feline breath poured down on you with the intent to devour?

"ANSWER ME."

Jamal growled and made a swipe to try and grab the front of the man's outfit, his elongated fangs bared almost fully as his face conforted into an ugly expression of anger. If this guy was truely a staff member, Jamal would potentially make short work of the guy if he had the chance.

Part of him wondered, however, why there weren't guards around. After that whole attack with with Zach, he'd heard whispers about guards being around.

"J-juh-juh-juh-JANITOR, S-SIR!" Newt managed to wail, ducking back to try to miss Jamal's swipe, but managed to slip on his own soapy spill, landing on his back on the wet floor with a terrible, clumsy clatter.

"So you ARE staff, then," Jamal said amidst a cruel laugh as the man fell backwards and landed hard on the floor, lips still curved to exhibit his canines freely. The tiger stalked forward, hunching over slightly, and thumped a clawed foot square on the janitor's chest to pin him. He wasn't careful to not put a lot of weight down or to keep his semi-retracted claws out of the way. Oh no. Jamal could care less if there was pain involved. "I woulda thought they'd be smarta' then this ta let onna ya out wit' out some protection. Their mistake."

"I w-was j-just t-trying to c-clean up!" Newt squeaked, voice dripping with terror, but blunted by his inability to draw in proper breath, "I'm j-juh-juh-juh-just- I j-juh-just wan-wan..." He scrambled and trembled and writhed under the tiger-man's weight, trying to wriggle free. At the cat hair so close to him, Newt couldn't help wrinkling his nose despite his fear, "Ah..." His face screwed up, his eyes watering, "AH-" and he suddenly sneazed viciously upon his attacker.

Jamal recoiled and half-shrieked, half roared, as he was sneezed upon. Oh my god, that was so GROSS. Ugh ugh UGH. The tiger man was a freak about staying clean.

He clawed fiercely as his bare chest, feeling moisture clinging to the fur there, and gave Newt a positively murderous hiss. He then pulled his leg back with the full intention of kicking the nasty, germy man in the head.

"Ah- I'm s-sorry! I'm s-sorry!" Newt cried, scrambling to try to find shelter under the table, his coveralls drenched and soapy and reaking of lemon freshness, "M-my- my my my my allergies! I c-couldn't aah I'm s-sorry!!"

amal missed when he went to kick him, but that hardly stopped him. He dropped to all fours and latched onto the retreating man's pant leg and dragged him forcibly BACK to where he had been previously. "I didn't ********' tell you you could go NOWHERE," the larger man barked angrily as he spun the janitor around and grabbed him by the front of the shirt collar, careless of what sort of damage happened on the way around, and struggled awkwardly to his feet, hauling Newt up with him.

For a second, the tiger man drew the scrawny, stinky man up close to his face, dropping his tone to a silky, even tone. "Ya ********' clean up this goddamn mess 'n' get da ******** out of ma cafeteria. Yer ********' worthless as a janito'....makin' a bigger disasta' then what was herr be'fo ya came in, I bet. Maybe they sent ya herr wit'out guards cause they wanted ta get rid of ya." He smiled icily at that before shoving Newt away in a throwing motion. "Get yer s**t done 'n' get out. I ain't playin' no mo'."

"Y-yes, sir!" Newt squeeked, slipping on the soapy water as he snatched up his mop. He didn't stop to finish cleaning the wet mess, fumbling and slipping and sliding as he practically ran towards the door, "I'll- I'll j-just... w-wait f-for you t-to finish!"

"Fine. Then when I come back lata' this place betta be ********' spotless. Otherwise you ain't gonna get anotha' chance. I promise ya dat."

Jamal gave a throat growl of annoyance as the man fled for the door and licked his lips absently before turning to eye the buffet. ******** nasty a** cafeteria.....god the place reeked of lemon cleaner and body odor...

The sun was going to set soon, and Newt figured he deserved a break. He hadn't bothered dropping off his broom to his duplex after he had been busy sweeping out the work out room just befor, so he had stuck it in the sand by it's handle to keep it's bristles free. He never really had spent much time at the beach, and was thouroughly enjoying it. His socks and boots were left with the broom, the legs of his coveralls rolled up to his boney knees so he could get his ankles wet. It really was a wonderfull island, wasn't it?

The weather was wonderful, true enough, and Cass had come down out of the trees, despite the vague alertness she seemed to often get this time of day.

Today was one of those evenings, and she had the feeling she wouldn't be able to get to sleep for a long time, yet. Best to make to most of it, she supposed, and a walk... slither... whatever down the beach was as good a way to spend the evening as any.

What on earth was that, stuck in the sand?

Cass tilted her head a moment, spying the figure at the water's edge, trying to see if she recognized him. She took a gamble. "Um, hey! Hi, there!"

Newt flinched, but didn't move his legs as he turned to look at the source of the voice. At the sight of the monster near his broom, though, he gave a sharp yelp, staggering backward only to step on a shell and land in the shallow waves with a salty splash.

Cass clapped her hands over her mouth. "Sorry!" she yelped. "Sorry! I didn't mean to sneak up on you!" She hedged a moment, wondering if it was better to come offer aid, or just hang back and be non-threatening. "I thought you... oh, I'm sorry!"

He scrambled to his feet in the water, the coveralls fairly wet now as he managed to stand again, "I'm s-sorry!" He cried at about the same time as her own please for forgiveness, "I'm t-ter-ter-ter-terribly s-sorry! I h-hadn't... I had... ah... y-you had... I m-mean... n-nothing against... y-you j-just... st-startled me..." It was another islander, and the strangest looking one he had seen yet!

"It's okay, really," Cassidy insisted. She was getting used to this sort of conversation; she seemed to having it over and over again. "My fault, I'm sorry. Really. Are you okay? You're not hurt, are you? Oh, geez. I really am sorry... maybe I should go?"

"Ah... ah... n-no, I'm j-just... j-just a l-little wet," He laughed nerviously, flicking his arms off as he wobbled to the much dryer sand.

"I really am sorry," Cass said again. "I assumed that I knew you... my fault. I'm, er, Cassidy."

At least she could guess that he wasn't entirely innocent of the island, if he was taking it this well after the initial shock. "Are you, um, new?"

"Ah... s-sort of," He smiled using his spare rag he had shoved into one of his boots to dry his face. Indeed he seemed almost too at ease talking to the snake woman for a stranger to the island, "I w-was j-just taking a b-break befor f-finding something for din-din-din-dinner."

"Dinner's not a bad idea," Cass said, watching him carefully. He really was taking this well. "Though you might want to think about a fresh change of clothes, first..." She peered at his damp coveralls a moment before her brain managed to put two-and-two together. Cass pointed at the logo on the man's pocket, sputtered a moment, and finally managed, "Sort of?! You work for them!" Forgetting of course, that long ago, so had she.

"Ah..." despite her look of exhasperation, he looked proud of himself, "I s-sure do! P-past few years I've been wor-wor-wor-wor-working up at the labs! Y-you sh-should... f-first hand know wh-what... wh-what remarkable w-work they do!" He was no doctor, but he was interested. Feral Labs was working to help people, afterall. All these subjects were nothing but the embodyment of progress, and Newt did what little he could to help.

"... yes?" Cass tilted her head, and briefly forgot to not let her tongue flick out; out it came in a flash. She lowered her arm. This was not the response she had expected. "Are you, um, one of the doctors?" She was guessing not. Doctors didn't usually wear coveralls. But you never knew. Enthusiastic responses to accusations always threw her off.

At that, the tall, gangly scarecrow of a man seemed to crumple, slouching down in his usual nervious posture as he scratched at his head in an embarassed fashion, trying to hide his blush, "Er... w-well... ah... n-not as... as... such... I'm er... m-maitenence and... ah... c-custodial assistance..."

Cass stared at him for a moment, and began to laugh. Not unkindly; it was the relieved sort of laughter that came after a surge of adrenaline. "So was I. So was I, once. Oh, lord." She rubbed her forehead. "Residential, rather than labs... all a farce, though."

His face lit up, "R-really? I've n-never heard of a c-cassie befor on any of the t-teams... Oh, I'm N-newton b-by the way," He fumbled with his rag befor offering her a hand. Granted, he had generally been the man responcible for unclogging the laboratory's toilettes when there had been trouble. Someone had to do the dirty work, and unfortunatly there was a lot, leaving him little time to actually get out and around. His timid nature had made his social interaction even more sparce, leaving him inclined to believe anything. Even the farce his own beloved company had invented when it was clearly presented as such.

"Cass, or Cassidy, please. Not Cassie." Cass shook Newton's hand gingerly, still feeling rather baffled with the whole conversation. "Well, to tell the truth, I was only cleaning the duplexes for a couple of weeks after I first arrived. They, um. Sort of forgot to tell me that they really were more interested in turning me into... this, than having me work for them." She frowned a little. "I sulked for a while, and then the stairs got hard..."

Newt blushed at his own blunder, and couldn't help but twitch slightly at the feeling of her scaled, feathered hand in his, "Ah... I'm s-sorry, er... M-miss C-c-c-cassidy... I m-misheard...." He swallowed, eager to change the subject, "W-well, Ah... I've b-been here for er... y-years as I said and ah... w-well, th-this is my f-first time in the v-village, r-really! It's b-been exhausting! And n-no one's even n-needed me to fix anything j-just yet. I p-put a n-notepad on my d-door, by the way... if anyone n-needs anything I mean... er... y-you or... anyone... ah... j-just... leave me a n-note and I'll... y-yes..." he trailed off, fidgeting self conciously.

"Don't worry too much about the name. Just a personal preference." Cass had really only corrected him automatically, but it was not nice to see him blush over it. "Well, I manage most of my own cleaning, but if anything breaks, I might have to ask for help."

She'd swear that she used to introduce herself in a similar way, back in the day. Hi, I'm here to clean, don't hesitate to ask. Although she'd stuttered less. Oh, geez, the poor guy. She really hoped he wasn't going to end up like her. It sure sounded like he was a legitimate employee.

At the sound of her sounding interested in his help at least, even if she didn't have anything for him just then, he perked up slightly, "I'm b-best with electronics- I'm a b-bit clumsy, I admit b-but.. ah... I g-get th-the job d-done! They j-just moved me into n-number F-fifty two the other d-day, actually, so y-you don't have to go far!" He gave her an overbitten smile, green eyes trembling, as though yerning for her praise.

"Well, I'm awful at electronics, so that's probably a good thing." Cass smiled slightly. "Fifty-two? I'll remember that. I'm in number three. I've been around a while." If he had a duplex, it was not a good sign for him. Oh, dear.

"N-number th-three! You have b-been here a while, ahven't you?" He laughed weakly, "W-well, I w-would assume s-since y-you luh-" He cut off, clearing his throat. He didn't want to be impolite.

Cassidy winced a little, involuntarily. "Since I look like this? True enough." She forced herself to smile, trying to show there were no hard feelings. "I'm used to it. But I still shouldn't be sneaking up on people unawares."

"Oh, it... w-wasn't your fault," He blushed, tucking his rag into his back pocket for safe keeping, "I w-was er... b-busy s-sinking."

"Sinking?" Cass glanced over at the water's edge. "On purpose?" She had to suppose it was fairly muddy, but that seemed like an odd passtime.

"N-no, I m-mean... wh-when you s-stand in the s-sand and... y-you know... as the w-waves come in, y-you... er... s-sink," He glanced down at his bare, skinny, curly black hair-covered legs and sandy toes in an embarassed fashion.

Cass found herself staring at Newt's toes in a certain degree of confusion, and a vague memory of the occasional childhood trip out to the coast came to her. "I think I know what you mean," she said at last, smiling.

"T-today's m-my... f-first r-real t-trip to a b-beach... " He glanced up at the pink and orange streaked sky, wiping his sandy hands on his damp front, "N-not m-much of a s-swimmer and I d-don't exactly have a s-suit... so ah... y-yes, I n-noticed it happening wh-when I w-was standing th-there and... ah... let it... c-continue. Untill y-you startled me, I m-mean... I w-was up to my ankles!"

"The ocean was hours and hours away from where I grew up." Cass straightened a little. "I still get a little bit of a kick from the salt smell." Her tongue flickered where someone a little more human might've inhaled.

He flinched at the sight of the tongue, but remained polite, "The b-beaches n-near where I g-grew up w-were t-too cold to enjoy l-like th-this... and t-too pebbly.... and f-foggy..." He gave a little chuckle, "B-but... th-the s-sun sets here s-sure are b-beautiful."

She nodded. "They are. I'll give them that. They sure know how to pick an island." Cassidy stretched a little, her feathers fluffing. "I think I'm going to head back to my duplex, Newt, but maybe I'll see you around. Good luck," she added.

He gave her an awkward smile, bending to pick up his boots and his broom, "Ah... it w-was v-very n-nice m-meeting you, M-miss C-cassidy. If y-you ever n-need anything, f-feel free to ask!"

"I'll keep it mind," Cass promised, and with a small wave, she turned to head back towards the village in her slow, slithery way.

Today was lab;ed as a very fun day. She had recently picked up a book labled teddy bears picknic. She had read it half a dozen times before asking the lady in the cafeteria about t. She had of course aggreed to set one up for her.

Having collected all her plush creatures she had made ehr way to the cafeteria where a few tables had been cleard to the edges and a big table cloth had been laid in the center. It was of course your typickle picknic colour,red and white chekers. It had to be! Thats what colour the teddy bears was! Giggling a little she sat her plush creatures all around her and sat with a pleased gron on her face. There was a little plastic plate for each of her creatures as well as one for herself, and a very VERY big hamper full of picknick gioodies.

It wasn't too long before the little cheetah girl was making a fabulous mess. The hamper was full of make your own cakes and little snack packs which you had to put together yourself and all sorts of delecacies like whipped cream which just had to be squirted. She was having a most wonderful time though she wished somone else was there to play too. Teddy bear picknics were fine but there was noone to talk to after all plushies were great lsiteners they never replied back which just wasn't fun at all!

Newt had avoided the cafeteria as much as possible after his run in with Jamal, but finally figured it might be safe to peak in again to see if he could get any sweeping done. His allergies were at it again viciously, his eyes streaming and his nose clogged. He had a job to do, though, and he was going to do it! Broom in hand, he blew his nose on his hankercheif as he made his way into the cafeteria once more, only to be greeted by the sight of what appeared to be a rather naked young woman with a rather feline disposition at a table surrounded by dolls. He remembered her face from glimpses of files in Aubrey's office when he had been tidying, but couldn't recall her name or any details that might have been usefull. At least she appeared as though she wasn't going to eat him.

He stood awkwardly in the front entrance, though, watching her nerviuosly, eyeing the mess on the floor around her and wondered if he should just wait and come back when she was finished.

Her nose twitched when the skinny man entered the cafeteria and she lifted her eyes smiling brightly. Lifting a claw she gave a mukky giggle "Hai!" she puurred, yay somone to play with! He did seem rather new though and a bit nervous. "wan some?" she grinned holding up what looked decidedly like a tuna mayonase sandwish with jelly beans and whipped cream "s'good" Colche soemtimes just didn't have any taste buds at all. it came from her time in the celler. If she didn't eat she would ie so she ate anything. Nothjing much had chanegd though she did have her favourite items now. Chocolate cake for example.

She lifted a cake as she waited his reply, it was a little fairy cake with butter cream in it and a little butterfly top. She unceremoniously popped it in ehr mouth and chewd before swallowing and giggling "'S'good she stated with a chocolatey grin. She really was enjoying herself but perhaps the man would like to join her little 'picnic'.

Newt's thick eyebrows raised as he glanced over her affairs, keeping a good distance as he gripped his broom timidly, "Er... I'll j-just... um... w-wait for you to f-fin-fin-finish, then..."

Colche pouted a bit. That was no fun! Her ears flickered and twitched, ehr baby blue eyes going wide and pleadign "pleaseee?" she grinned toothily.

Shecould maybe convince the skinny man to come and play. He looked like he needed a bit of fun!

"Er... I d-don't... er... " Feeling he didn't really have any excuses, he inched towards the cheetah woman, holding his broom in front of him defensively just in case. As he got closer, though, he could already feel his allergies starting to pick up. Fearing being impolite, though, he took her invitation and nerviously sat across from her among the dolls. His sallow cheaks were flushed, and his hands were still gripping his broom like a life line.

Colche grinned and giggled. "wanna cake?" she grinned holding out a nice thick slice of chocolate cake with a broad grin. "Colche" she states after a moment of silence and a curious tilt of her head. the man seemed very nervous. Was he attached to his mop or something? He would have to let it go to eat the cake woudn't he?

Blinking a vew times she couldn't help but smile cheerily. It was always nice to meet somone new even if they were nervous. The man didn't seem to nervous about the fact that she was an animal though. Which was what most people were frightened about. he just seemed to be generally a bag of nerves. How odd!

"Er... I ah..." Colche. The name was definatly familiar, for once. He must have overheard it or saw something in one of the doctor's offices. Aubrey's seemed to ring a bell. Anything beyond that, though, was a mystery. "Er... n-nice to... to m-meet you, M-miss C-colche..." He cleared his throat, glancing to the side, "I'm n-not sure... er... if I'm... supposed to b-be eating with the s-subjects..." he leaned his broom down on the floor, reveiling the Feral Labs logo patch on the chest of his coveralls.

Colche tilted ehr head gently looking at the Logo. She had some scrubs with that logo on "I one like that" she purured giving a little giggle as she did so. "purty pikchor" she nods an affirmative "was you be thinny man?" Thinny man would have to do he hadn't given her his name yet but everyone out here was turning in to somethign she was always curious as to what exactly that would be.

He blushed at her broken english, clearing his throat as he poked at his cake. Food had been tasting strange to him lately, but he supposed it was just his allergies with all these animals around. "Er... J-jan-janitor, M-miss," He gave her a timid smile.

"Jan..it..ur" she grins. That was a funny name. She of course had no idea what a janitor was, she just assumed that was his name. "Janitor aminal?" she tilted her head, maybe that wasn't his name maybe a janitor was some sort of create. After all she'd never heard of several of the animals that the islanders were becoming until they changed and she saw what they looked like.

"Er... n-no, a jan-janitor... er... s-sweeps," He gave a breathy laugh, lifting up his broom again to illustrate. After a moment of this pantomime, he set it down again, wetting his lips.

Colche giggles and shook her head then . Janitor must have beenhis name. "was aminal you be janitor?" she giggled she much prefarred thinny man acctually. Janitor just didn't suit him. She would constantly think of him as thinny man until she found a more fitting name for him amongst one of her stories she was rpetty sure she could if she looked hard enough.

"Er..." Awen's warning came back to him, and he felt his stomach tighten. "I'm... er... human," He fidgeted, "I j-just w-work her.e.. I'm n-not... er... l-like you. A s-subject." Keep saying it enough and it's got to be true.

Colche tilted her head a little. "like lady" she grinned innocently. The cafeteria lady never changed at all but she worked here. Okay that was fine. Still she wondered if he would change some people didn't really beleive until they changed their first time. Shrugging it off she looked at the slice of cake before him "no eat?" she questioned with a pout. Did Janitor have to work here all the time?

"Oh... er... " He picked up his fork, still glancing over his shoulder in a parinoid fashion, as though any moment one of his superiors would pop out of the woodwork and chastize him for accepting the cake. "It l-looks lovely, th-thank you..." Tentively, he took a mouthfull. After a few chews, he couldn't hide his odd expression at the taste. His eyes had already begun to get watery at such a close proximety to the furry girl, which he then accounted to why the cake tasted so horribly foul. It was too sweet! Far too sweet! Sweet enough to make him feel ill. He swallowed thickly, if only to be polite, "Ah... is... is th-there... any w-wa-wa-wa-wa-water?" he managed to croak.

Colche gave a nod and passed him one of the bottles. it was sparkling water. She liked the way the bubble made ehr nose feel all tickly. The cafeteria lady knew just what she liked. Her long tail swayed satuisfied that the man had at least had a little bit of cake she took a big bite out of her own slice though she looked very thoughtful. The man despite his frightened appearance, reminded her of Jafar, he was tall and gangly and really think. All he needed was a weird hat. The broom would sufice as the staff. She gigles half expecting a parrot to appear. Maybe he would turn in to a big scary snake man. Time would tell. It always did.

He drank thirstily, trying to wash the taste from his mouth befor the bubbles suddenly hit his nose and he gave a sputtering cough, leaning to the side to try to gasp for breath. Fears regarding his future and allergies aside, he personally was never a fan of carbination.

Colche couldn't help but giggle when the silly man splutterd. "bubbles!" she stated with a grin stretchign a little. She had had enough of eating now and was ready to go home for a nap and to read a bit of her book.

Standing she collected ehr plushies and grinned at the thinny man. he couldn't be jafar he was much too silly, Jafarr was all scary and stuff. She would have to think of a name later "byebye Janitor" she puurrs a smile playing on her lips "seventeen is lhome" she states padding off towards the door with her arms full of plush creatures. The man was nice, a bit nervous but maybe he would be happier after he changed? She knew she was much happier whens he got fuzzy!

When Newt caught his breath, he glanced up at her leaving him alone at the messy table. "Er... g-goodbye, th-then...?" He managed, still clearing his throat.

Colche smiled back at the man and flickered ehr tail "you come?" she tilts ehr head curiously. He looked awful lonely sitting there at the table. the cafeteria lady would clean up after the big mess she had made. She's had fun at ehr picknic type deal though.

"Ah... n-no, I sh-should... er... c-clean this up," He stood, brushing his lap off befor bending for his broom. He couldn't hold it back any longer, though, the cheetah hair all about finally getting to him. He gasped, he gasped again, and then sneazed quite forcefully over his chair.

Colche blinked. She jumped out of her skin almost as he sneezed twirling around so her back was to the door. When she realised he just sneezed though she giggled quietly. "okay?" she questioned standing at the door still and looking at him with a curious eye. She was surprised something didn't fall out with that sneeze1 She had never seen anyone sneeze nearly so forecefully.

He sniffed, straightening up, "Ah... ah... j-just... allergies," He gestured for her to relax, "N-nothing... n-nothing to worry about... ah.." He blew his nose on his hankercheif from his pocket.

Colche smiled and gave a nod. As long as he was okay. She smiled and turned for the door once again "byes!" She purred one more time wonderign what allergies were. She'd ask Josh later. Slipping throught he door she padded off back to her duplex for a little reading and anap, and maybe a bath. she was a bit chocolatey.

((I kept meaning to post this-- backdated to last week right after Nita visited Cody))

Nita climbed the stairs up to Newt's duplex and set the bucket and supplies on the porch. Seeing the clipboard and pad of paper on the door, she wrote a quick note.

After hop-hobbling from helping Cody clean, that feeling of dread returned to the pit of the custodian's rumbling stomach. Dragging his walking-stick-broom behind him, he crawl-hopped back up his stairs clumsily to his duplex. Cleaning would wait. Food would wait. He needed to make a call. With a boulbous fingertip, Newt managed to connect the intercom and waited for someone to pick up his call.

A nasal-sounding male voice picked up the line after a couple of beeps. "Feral Laboratories. What's the emergency?"

Newt flushed, struggling with his tongue for a moment befor he managed to speak, "I nnn-nn-nuh-need to speak to... to... ah... an available... er... um- I n-nuh-need..."

There was an audible sigh from the other end, the receptionist apparently not one by training but more so as for the luck of drawing the short straw. "You need what??" Came the irritated voice..

"Ah-" Newt cleared his throat, "Fruh-" He swallowed again, trying to unstick the tongue from the roof of his mouth, "Sup-supervisor, p-pluh-pwease?"

"Hold on." Was the only response, followed by a few more clicks.... then a few more.... before finally. "What is it?!" Came a voice with a distinct French accent and a decided hiss to the tone.

Sabin glared down at the communicator. Why was he being patched to as an 'available ' supervisor? He was busy! He was running around getting things finally sorted out, and they were patching islanders to him? He didn't mind talking to them when he was doing moniter duty, but it was another thing entirely when he was... so close to being finally on TOP of his duties. Islanders also seldom asked for him by name... Save Awen... and he had told the receptionists to tell her that he was busy.

Newt gave a frightened little squeek at the enraged ound of Sabin's voice. "Ah- I... er... um... H-hallo, s-sir- I ah... it's... It's N-newton F-filinas, sir-"

Sabin paused in his walk between rooms to look down at the received with a blink before heading over to one of the lab computers, his fingers picking out his name on the keyboard.

Sure enough... Sabin had been rather enmeshed in labwork that he hadn't gotten the full story on Newt's.... track record. His mouth quirked up in a smile. There was the note he had added about his ineptitude and loss of research notes, along with complaints from Aubrey... and Moreau himself.

Continuing to scan, he saw the notes about his "relocation" to the village - and Newt's assumption of his location change. Some darker part of Sabin twisted inside of him, making him smile darkly.

"Newwwwtoon" Sabin rolled out his name with a grim smile.

Newt was silent on the other end of the phone for a moment, as though startled by the sudden change in tone, "Er... y-yes, sir. Th-the... ah... c-custodian f-from Evening Sh-shift d-delta at the l-labs?"

"Yes... I do recall. You're in the village now, aren't you, Newt?" The tone was now more bemused, although not exactly in a friendly way whether or not Newt could catch the subtlety of the tone.

His eyes glanced over the log, noting his first change and the results of the serum. That would be the reason for his calling. Sabin rolled his eyes. He was clumsy AND dense.

"Ah... er... y-yes, sir. I ah... had b-been transferred a f-few weeks ago- b-but I... I th-think th-there's b-been some sort of... of m-mistake, sir-"

"Mmmmhmmmm?" Sabin prodded, taking a seat by the computers and putting up his feet as he held the comm. Perhaps this would be at least a diverting break.

"I... I... I... I th-think I m-must have... s-somehow... ah... accidentally... er... or... or m-maybe over t-time or... or s-something- er... th-that is to say... I mean... um..."

Sabin growled in frustration. The man's stutter could be really irritating sometimes. sitting there, waiting for him to just spit out what he was trying to say.

"You are not making much sense, Newt." Sabin responded coldly.

"I... I s-seemed to have ch-changed, sir!" The janitor squeeked out.

"Change?" Sabin tried to make his voice sound as innoculous and curious as he could, thankful for the lack of visuals to hide his face-stretching grin.

He pondered what to say. So many delicious choices. Each one that could elicit a different reaction and affect hte man's life for the next few weeks. He steepled his fingers. "Hrmm... you haven't been interacting with the islanders much.... have you?" Sabin's voice took on a worried tone.

At that, Newt paled to a rather light green, his eyes widening even further, "I... I... j-just... j-just a couple... I.. I sp-spoke to b-breifly... and... and th-the l-little b-boy I c-cleaned his r-room.... b-but he hadn't ch-changed yet-"

"Oh... it doesn't matter if they've changed yet, Newt.... once they're injected the incubation period's already begun. Newt, Newt, Newt..." Sabin shook his head, getting into the role... with enthusiasm.

"It was in the employee manuals! Didn't you give them a thorough reading? There's a reason that the staff is to minimize contact with the islanders... a reason for the fence and a reason that we're on a damned island!" Sabin clasped his hands, pleased with himself.

The security cameras undoubatbly took in the sight of the horrified expression on Newt's face, "Wh-what... th-they're... I d-don't remember any war-war-war-warnings-"

"It was in the manuals!" Sabin said exasperated. "Everyone got them! Maybe... you overlooked it..? But yes - the serums are mildly contagious through extended contact. That's why most of the janitors do their clean-up duty while no one is around. We figured you could handle the challenge and responsibility."

"I... I... I... I h-hadn't r-realized!" He gasped, "Is.... is th-there a w-way to st-stop it? Or... or p-protect m-myself? C-can it b-be c-cured??"

"Cure it...? Well.... well, no, Newt. It's pretty much irreversible - or else all the Islanders would be clamboring for this 'legendary' cure. I mean, I know Moreau might be working on an anti-serum... but it's tricky, as your very DNA is changing - and an issue of isolating foreign DNA and replacing it with Human DNA... and how would we know that you'd even end up looking like the SAME Human..." Sabin gesticulated invisibly. "It's tricky. But... if you weren't directly infected... and you've changed once, maybe it's an issue of contact - we haven't done many studies with second-hand infections. Because even the subjects require additional injections to continue their change."

"I'll... I'll n-need more r-rubber g-gloves!"

"We can get you rubber gloves." Sabin drawled.

"B-but... b-but wh-what about the air? It's n-not in the air, is it? Sh-should I w-wear a m-mask, do you th-think? W-would it be s-safer?" Newt was hyperventilating, leaning against the wall with the intercom receiver pressed to his ear.

Sabin situated himself so that he was more comfortable in his chair, and the computer displayed the live feed of Newts' room-cameras. This was positively delicious. And he couldn't think of a better subject to use this lie on - not only would he believe it, but in Sabin's mind, it was justified. He had lost weeks of work with the destruction of those notes. many of them for his own... more personal... projects for the future.

"Well, we're not quite sure." Sabin smiled. "Studies have shown it to be spread to those with prolonged proximity... but we're not certain if it's ... absorbed, inhaled, or how it is spread precisely. This is all very cutting-edge."

Newt shifted the phone to his other ear, crouching in a very frog-like posture now as he thought, fidgeting with the cord. "I... I d-don't know if I c-could... be of any help or n-not-"

"Well... you can keep us posted of your status.... but I'm afraid that unless Moreau DOES come up with an anti-serum... that you're going to have to maintain your position in the village, for quarentine's sake..."

Panic took a hold of the froggish man once again and he hop-hobbled to squat in the chair by the intercom, "Th-then I'll... I'll n-need things to p-protect myself! I.... I d-don't w-want to get worse!"

"Just let us know what you require, and we'll see about what we can do. But, really, at least it is not so bad just yet. Just a tinge to your skin." Sabin was well aware that the changes were worse than that, however he knew that that would probably give the man a false hope - which was wonderful.

"And some contact should not be devastating, just... well... piggy back rides with an infected individual is kind of pushing it, don't you think?"

Newt gave a little wimper. They had seen that- of course they had seen that. Stupid. STUPID! "If... if I c-could... also have a n-new p-pair of b-boots... another s-size larger... American M-men's elevens? Th-these are... are a b-bit too tight now..."

"That should not prove a problem. We should have most of these things in stock and could get them out to you later today."

"Th-thank you!" He sighed, "Ah... wh-what about... wh-what about f-food? Th-the cafeteria... th-the f-food sh-should be st-sterile, r-right?" Nothing had seemed appetizing, but he had to make sure.

"the food ought to be fine... as long as you're not eating after anyone. Delia prepares the food and she's still human. She doesn't interact much with the villagers." At least give him that saving grace. Telling him otherwise might jeopardize his little lie if he thought too hard about it.

Newt nodded, with a releived expression, "And... and... er... wh-while I have you... um... s-some f-fresh j-jumpers... would be nice- I'm horribly allergic to... to the animal d-dander and-" Newt trailed off, wondering if his severe allergies might have anything to do with this horrible turn of events.

"Very well." Sabin added some notes on his file, flagging one of the workers to pick up a set from the stockroom to take out to his duplex.

"Th-thank you, D-doctor, I'm... I'm t-terribly sorry I... m-maybe y-you can l-learn from my b-blunder!"

"I am sure that it does not come as much consolation, Mr. Filinas, but this is probing to be vital information for the project. Although, of course, for your own well-being, we woudln't want to further the ... damage. There should be a delivery of more clothing for you later this afternoon."

"Th-thank you, d-doctor... th-thank you f-for everything!"

"You are welcome." Sabin was doing all he could to keep from bursting out laughing while still on the line with him. He was thanking him! This was priceless! "And good luck!" He added, quickly biting down on his lip to lot let the chuckle escape.

"I'll... I'll send you a r-report on... on any f-findings once I f-find them, I p-promise!"

"That would be quite useful. Thank you for your contribution."

"G-goodbye, d-doctor- ah th-th-th-thuh-thank you!"

Sabin quickly cut the connection after the second thanks, letting his laughter peal across the lab room, earning him some worried glances from a few passing technicians. Most had already learned that Sabin was a very special character, and something he found amusing may not prove well for the rest of them.

Newt, meanwhile, gave a terrified sigh, clinging to the receiver as he huddled in his chair. He'd jsut have to wait untill the supplies were dropped off befor venturing out again.