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Oh crap. Noah was a mouse? The poor guy was already scared; he didn't need to be told the bird next to him ate things like him. He scratched along the edge of the plate on his head where his human hair still grew. "Oh, I'm so sorry Noah, I didn't umm, realize you were a mouse..."

And apparently neither did Noah, since he seemed to be freaking out about it. The poor guy was having some major mood swings. Ryan spoke up in Michel's defence when Noah rounded on him. "Hey, calm down a bit, I think he meant the other islanders are nice. He wasn't talking about the people in the labs."

He wasn't sure what exactly Roxie was doing while she talked. Maybe she had some sort of disease? He tried to remember what he knew of japanese cranes. "A Japanese Crane? Aren't they the ones with the red spot on the back of their head?"

Ryan had started to walk forward again, so that he was actually part of the group, and not sitting outside it. That was when a HUGE fox jumped on Noah. Huge for a fox, anyways. Ryan had no time to think; his instincts took over. In an instant he had dug himself a depression in the sand, and situated himself so that only his plating was visable. He only lifted his head up when he heard Roxie say hi.

Having a fox jump on you was not the best way to facilitate relaxation. Especially when you were turning into a creature of prey that was eaten by most predators. Noah didn't think he had to worry about that quite yet, considering how human he still looked, but Bing's 'attack'-- if it could really be called that-- reminded him that predators were all around, and that dropping your guard was not wise. Neither was going out at night, apparently.

Once he was hit, Noah spilled forward, becoming a mess of flailing limbs. He gave a high-pitched yelp that was somewhere between a human yelp of surprise, and a not-so-human-- and undoubtedly rodent-like-- screech of terror. Noah felt his heartbeat race again as he flailed, even after the fox had trotted off. Instincts were shouting at him like crazy.

Run. Run someplace. Burrow like the armadillo-man had. Trees would give the best cover but trees...that was where bird-man was. Bird man was a predator too. Not safe there. Do something, stupid. Don't sit here. MOVE. Move, you dumb queer! Hide! Don't lay there like a moron! DO ANYTHING!

In the frenzy he ended up settling for flailing like an idiot, winding up on his back, with sand in his hair, down his shirt and pants...ah, what a bother. He laid on his back, staring at the sky, gasping wildly and trying not to have a heart attack. He had always been the type to startle easily, and this wasn't helped by the fact he was turning into an animal that was typically on the skiddish side-- if anything, it amplified things.

He sort of laid on his back, not bothering to get back up. He sort of rolled over and looked at the rather large fox. It...it was talking. There was a huge fox. Talking to him. That had attacked him. This island was making less sense by the minute. Was that what they'd look like in the end? The fox's build seemed different from the kookaburra's and the armadillo's builds....it seemed more animal-like. Was there something wrong with the serum? Maybe things were different from person to person...

He took a deep breath, letting it hiss out between his teeth. "Don't. Do. ZHAT." he said slowly, the irritation and seriousness offset by his accent. Who did that anyways, pouncing people? Predators. Especially when you're turning something they eat, his mind retorted.

He slumped back to the sand, looking around. The armadillo-man was peeking out of his burrow-- it seemed Noah wasn't the only one that had his instincts take over at times. But then again, armadillo-man was further along, so it was natural to have instincts, Noah figured.

He just felt stupid.

He looked at Ryan, seeming to regain the ability to form coherent speech that wasn't laced with anger or fear. "I...It's fine." he said quietly. "I didn't realize it eizher. I figured...it vas some sort of rodent...but it makes sense naow..."

He sighed unhappily.

"I don't like zhis place. Zhe islanders...some of zhem are nice. But vhat happens vhen you become totally animal? Vhat about the food chain and intsinct? Haow nice vill it be zhen?" he said hollowly.

Finally he pulled himself up back into a sitting position. He looked over at Roxie. A crane... "At least you're becoming somezhing pretty, instead of a rodent." he moped, tracing his finger through the cool sand.

A nervous laugh came from the girl. A crane was better than becoming a poodle…or insect…or as Noah said a rodent. Still it would make it harder for her to dance. Then again when would she ever get the opportunity to perform again? Let alone learn routines, or become the Prima Donna she all ways wanted to be. That dream shattered into tiny bits and fragments the moment she stepped foot on this island. And apparently no one got what she was doing.

Figures…no one was really interested in ballet these days. Whatever dance was tv became the craze for young people…and ballet to most of the population was boring and uninteresting. Now Noah got her wondering, what he was saying made sense. What if the animalistic side of them caused them to eat each other? The image her mind created send a chill down her spine and she quickly shook her head slightly to rid herself of such imagery.

“But I still have to go through…the changes and lose my sanity in the process…” She muttered, still feeling a bit on the edge since the fox entered the scene. At least he would eat Noah…or at least not yet. ‘Enough of such thoughts!! No one is going to eat anyone! I hope…’ Rolling her eyes at her own mental comments did the youth sit down on the cool sand of the beach. “Why can‘t we go home? Why are they doing this to us?” Roxie asked hoping one of them knew. The answers she tried to get out of the scientists were vague and not helpful at all. Slim fingers rose to rub her temples, now a migraine was starting to come…just what she really needed right now.

"Well," Michel mused out loud, "most people don't actually lose their sanity." He pointed to his birdlike self. "See? I'm perfectly sane. Right? And I'm pretty sure both Ryan and Bing don't feel like going crazy and talking in third person!"

What Michel didn't say was that he sometimes felt just as hopeless as Roxie seemed to be.

Suddenly, he had a brilliant (not) idea in response to Ryan comment. "You know, if we went back to civilization, we could be a band of super heroes! Like the x-men! I could fly around like Archangel! And you could dig under ground and stuff, and..." he trailed off, his comical face turning deadly mock serious.

"I'm not crazy."

"Like most things are." Bing said to Ryan, "It's hard to adjust when you're used to being above people's shins."

"Michel" The fox said, turning to him, "I'd be a mascot or a pet or something if we ever tried that, or a disposable sidekick or something." Bing was all for crazy thinking, he even thought of himself slightly off balanced, not being human anymore lowers your stability a bit, this for Bing, was for the better.

Bing stared at the mouse man for a bit, if he could smirk with that muzzle face of his, he probably would've.

"Come on" Bing said to the mouse, invoulantarily licking his chops, "It isn't that bad, I mean, look how I came out."

Okay, not exactly the best words, but hey, his form of greeting was to attack someone that seemed like prey, you can't blame him for having a lack of social skills.

He really wished that the man was a little smaller, so he could-

Eww. No. Sorry, flag on the play.

That thought made him shiver. Bing looked away from the man, instincts were a b***h, as Mr. Mouse would soon found out, and with all the predators around the island... Well, lying down in a panic induced seizure wasn't going to keep him from eaten, and he already seemed tasty.

Ahh.... Maybe he should get something to eat.

Ryan laughed a bit at Michel's comment. "The amazing burrowing man, able to dig out a swimming pool in a single day!"

Noah's feelings stuck a chord with Ryan. He walked over to the mouse and sat down next to him. "I, I kind of know how you feel. I used to be a zookeeper. I was the one with the keys to the cage... Now look at me, I'm on the other side of the bars." There was a moment of silence. "But whatever you did, you don't deserve this. Whatever you did with the mice, it was all they ever knew. This here is the same as taking animals from the wild and putting them in a zoo."

"You just got your first shot today, Roxie?" Wow, she was handling it pretty well so far. "Yeah, I got sick after my shot too. I wouldn't worry about it."

Noah eyed the fox again, drawing his knees up tighter. As much as Bing might have been trying to placate the mouse-man's anxiety...it wasn't working. Look how he turned out? A talking animal? That was supposed to make him feel better? He shuddered, watching the fox's tongue run over his pearly whites. This fox made him very uneasy, despite how nice he had been (despite the initial 'greeting,' that is).

Noah's ears twitched at Roxie's question. He remembered...he remembered the miserable sickness and the utter pain that had accompanied his first changed. he had felt so miserable that he stayed in the duplex but when the changes started...he panicked. The pain...it was so bad... He remembered he had slammed the button on the intercom trying to get through to someone...but he could reach anyone.... it had been terrifying.

And he ended up looking like...like this. Like a freak. He imagined it would only get more painful and worse.

He blinked the glazed look he had taken on away and shivered. He didn't want to think about it.

"Sometimes...you get zhe sick feeling before you change...." he murmured. He hoped the girl wasn't going to change. It would be a shame for such a pretty girl to lose her humanity.

His ears twitched again when armadillo-man came to sit near him. He stiffened a little, not liking people being so close, but he relaxed a little after a few seconds. Armadillos...didn't eat mice to his knowledge...

It did make him feel a little better, what Ryan said. It made him feel like maybe karma wasn't just messing with him.

"All zhey ever knew...it doesn't seem like a fair life..." he mumbled.

He felt bad for the mice that were subjected to the stupid tests they did..that they were bred and raised just to be tested on and eventually killed... It hardly seemed fair. He sighed. Yeah, there had been a major reversal of roles here.

Noah turned to Michel, interest piqued somewhat.

"I...I vas a geneticist back home." he said. "Not for Feral Labs...for another company. Rival company, probably. I...I alvays liked science. I found genetic interesting...the vay things vorked..." he said, a wistful look in his eyes.

He missed the days where he was just working in the lab, analyzing things, learning for the sake of learning, hearing theories and hoping to someday make new discoveries....he'd never have those days again. he sighed sadly. He wouldn't be able to have a lot of things he used to. What a downer.

Don’t worry about it they said….It’s just a passing thing they said. Well damnit, she wanted it to pass now! The lurching of her stomach and chills were bearable but to have the migraine…that was asking for too much. She hadn’t done anything to be brought here on the island. She was a dancer for heaven’s sake! She didn’t work with animals, do anything science related…or anything math related too! Unless window shopping counts…then she did a lot of that. And Bing didn’t say much about how he came here either…what, did he do that involved animals?

Which brought Roxie back to her first question…just why the frickin’ a was she brought to the island to be changed into a bird? Hearing the fox’s stomach growling only made the girl’s stomach lurch forward. Food…wasn’t the best of idea’s right now. Considering what she hardly ate wanted to come up and see the place now labeled her ‘home’. “I think I’ll just lie down instead…not really hungry.” She replied, making the effort of trying to stand on her own two feet only to feel a wave of dizziness roll over her instead.

Deciding the sand was a much better place to rest did the girl plop right back down. Maybe in a few minutes the illness would withdraw and she would be back to normal…or in a few minutes she could try again and hope to God she wasn’t dizzy anymore.