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 Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 9:14 pm
Seth listened quietly through all of Jordan's explanation, still staring at the extra paws growing out of his sides. Okay, they weren't going to lunge out and attack him, but they were still quite unpleasant to look at, and inwardly he was glad that nothing like that had happened to him. Although, his own changes ranked pretty high on the 'awful' scale...
Seth frowned in thought, pondering how close the story was to his own. I'm here because I stole too," He began. "Only I didn't steal from Feral Labs - I stole FOR them - an article from a museum. Or rather, I had a friend working in a museum, and he stole it for me to ship here. I was basically nothing but a mule. If it ever leaked back home, I'd probably be tried for Grand Theft, or treason. I don't suppose I could go home even if I wanted to. Especially not now, why just look at me. Where would I go if I escaped?" He shook his head. "Hrmph."
"I don't consider this stuff a punishment though - it's just downright stupid. We're prisoners here, they trap us like prey because we're gulliable - just about everybody I know here was promised something, and the labs never came through. Then they keep us prisoner here and experiment on us because it's convenient. They're twisted bastards with nothing better to do with their time." He snorted.
"There's no point in escaping now though." He snarled. "Why, just look at me, and you. Where the hell are we gonna go after that? What then?"
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:00 pm
The staring was making him feel self-conscious again. He knew he was becoming a mutant freak, but the reaction caused him to hide them as best he could as they wiggled into view. It hurt him visibly to smush them against his body, but he didn’t need Seth freaking out and going feral on him.
Seth’s story was so close to his own that it was frightening in comparison. One stealing for Feral, the other stealing from Feral, while each other’s partner-in-crime got off scott-free. “It was this or prison. Not that I had a choice in the matter. He could have sued me, ruined me financially for the rest of my life in legal battles. This isn’t much better, but at least I’m not getting shivved in the shower..” he shook his head at the morbid possibilities “My parents would be so proud of me: twenty-five and a felon.. I wish I could see them.. though.. I can’t imagine they’d react to my appearance any better..”
The scary thing was Seth made sense. They were being imprisoned no matter how flowery the speech was about them being taken care of or given what they want on request. Their lives were nothing more than playthings to these people. “It’s like that old Eagles’ song.. Hotel California.. 'We are all just prisoners here, of our own device. And in the master's chambers, they gathered for the feast. They stab it with their steely knives, but they just can't kill the beast.’ Sounds like a pretty good summary of the situation to me.
Jordan looked back and forth, worried someone might be overhearing this. He was pretty much committing treason by talking this way. He leaned closer to Seth, looking for a sign of hope. “What if there was a way, though? Is that even possible?” His expression was desperate for a positive response. “They watch us like hawks from their ivory tower and can buzz us before we know what’s happened.” His lips trembled. “Anywhere is better. I’m going to die of heatstroke before I’m twenty-six. I have to crank down the AC just to keep cool and I've even been sleeping on the bathroom floor because the bed is too hot with all this fur. It's cruel to change into a sled dog on a tropical island."
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 10:32 pm
"My parents would be no more proud of me, don't worry." Seth scowled, flicking his ears in his annoyance. "Duvert told me that he told my friend and my parents that I nicked off after getting the cash reward for the crap I stole. Or rather, carted across here like a drug mule. Lying manipulative b*****d." He spat the last sentence out like acid, or something equally as vile tasting. "So they think I'm either spending it up big somewhere, or dead. I don't know..." The subject depressed him and he quickly pushed it out of his mind.
"I haven't heard that song, but eh... its accurate." He frowned and scratched the back of his head. "Is there a way to what, escape? Probably, I dunno..." He shrugged, glancing out towards the ocean.
While he had a plan that had a good chance of working in motion, he wasn't just about to say that. Especially when Jordan had been so eager to help him build the Moreau statue a few weeks ago. He seemed genuine enough, but for somebody to do a 180° change of opinion in such a short period of time made him feel quite suspicious. He had tricked Jordan into believing he was for the labs before. Maybe he was tryign to trick him now?
"I can tell you though, every escape plan has failed thus far."
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:01 pm
He felt like there was an answer, a way out of this and off this island. He’d never thought that could be possible, but his hopes were being raised and then the crushing reality thast all escape attempts had failed hurt deep, like a hot knife through his body. His expression had gone from desperation to momentary hope and back to desperation.
Jordan –for his part- wasn’t trying to con the man. He’d called Seth out for genuine reasons, though he knew convincing him of that after the way he’d acted was like pulling teeth from an alligator. Jordan was no longer pretending to be someone else. He was finally being himself, but he had to crawl out of the hole he’d dug himself into. Digging? Dogs were good at digging.. Samoyeds were avid diggers, in fact! But.. was it feasible..? What could come of digging a hole on an island? His train of thought was drifting. His mind wandered back to their first meeting. Hadn’t Seth mentioned something about shovels? And the construction site? It was a long shot and it sounded completely insane, but what if..? What’d they have to lose? He blinked at Seth, then stared blankly at his paws. Was their any way to make a connection, something that would make more sense than digging a hole?
“Hey!” he whispered, looking at his paws. “Oh.. no, that probably wouldn’t work.. no, nevermind.. it was nothing..” Jordan sat himself back down and huddled into himself, looking back out to the ocean in defeat.
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:37 pm
"I suppose I've got it better than you in one sense," Seth grunted. "The Tasmanian Tiger happens to be a marsupial that comes from the driest continent on the planet. Er, besides Antarctica of course." He quickly corrected himself. "But yeah, some people call Australia 'the land of perpetual summer'. The animals are more than used to the heat, drought even. I keep having weird desires to go bask in it during the middle of the day, so I guess the animal is OK with it. I certainly don't mind it, even if it is a little humid."
He watched Jordan carefully and noted that the man seemed thoughtful as he glanced at his own paws.
"What wouldn't work?" He seemed intruiged. "Nothing's only nothing if ya' don't say what it actually is."
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Posted: Sun Mar 04, 2007 11:56 pm
“I’ve lived in very similar climate all my life, but I’ve never had two coats of thick, arctic fur covering my body. I don’t like the tropical climate. I dislike it even more now.” He shifted his body around. Just talking about it made him more uncomfortable. “The sad thing is, my home is probably only five hundred miles from here.. maybe a little more.. I’m so close that it’s mocking me.”
Jordan wasn’t sure if he should even waste Seth’s time with something so stupid as digging holes with his paws. He hesitated to say anything for a few seconds after he was asked. Was it more of a side-effect of the canine urges? Or could there be some actual validity to it? How would digging a hole help anything, though? And it’d have to be deep enough underground. Would they dig too deep and drown before they could escape a collapsing tunnel? He shuddered at the thought of dying underground from suffocation.
He looked back to his paws. “I was just thinking if it was possible to dig. I dunno if it’s just the foreign DNA that’s changing me talking here, but would they stop someone from digging if it looked like it was normal behavior taking over?” it seemed so inspired and even more insane. "I was told I'm turning into a Samoyed.. they're notorious for digging holes, even tearing up entire yards if given the chance." his tail wagged as if looking for approval of such a simple canine desire.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 12:41 am
Seth's jaw tensed at the word 'dig' in Jordan's sentence. He held it tight, clenching the teeth together, his entire form going rigid also.
Was Jordan mocking him? Several questions ran through his head as he sat there, silent, almost disbelieving of what was just mentioned. Did Jordan know about the plan? Did Gaius blab it to somebody else, or had Jordan been listening somehow the entire time? He HAD been near the man's duplex when the horse-man and him had met on the beach... Or maybe this was all a ruse, and Moreau had sent Jordan to mock him. He wouldn't put it past the lab staff if they already knew about it. Was the whole idea doomed before it had even began?
Seth made a mental note to tear into Gaius and scold him when they next met.
"s**t..." He thought to himself.
"Uh, dig? Dig where? And why?" Seth broke his silence, trying to make the idea sound like it was the silliest thing he ever heard. "I dig holes for burying stuff in. Like, my alcohol stash. Vodka, whiskey, beer bottles for example. Though beer tastes crap when it's warm."
"But digging? That's a crap idea." He watched the other man carefully now. "Where did you get an idea like that?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:08 am
Jordan felt stupid for saying anything. He suddenly looked down, almost sulking at making an a** of himself infront of the more advanced-in-change thylacine. He became even quiter after his suggestion had been shot down.
“I’m sorry.. I guess it is a pretty dumb idea..” he sighed deeply out of suggestions. “I don’t know where or why.” He honestly responded, slightly in confusion. Dogs were domesticated creatures and having knowledge over them was fairly common even for someone without his credentials. He had a few ideas of what to expect. The increased activity was no coincidence and only a first step in the process. He was becoming a sled dog, a Samoyed, bred for generations to be used for manual labor. An active breed that constantly had to occupy itself, lest boredom lead it more destructive activities.
“All I know is I’ve been more active than I have been in years and it’s started in the past few weeks and really kicked into high gear after my last change into this. I run. I swim. I work out till I’m sore and exhausted. And I like it. There’s a new part of me.. or an old part of who I used to be.. that’s being fueled surges of energy. I can’t stay still for too long. I have to move around. I’ve been exsploring everywhere I can just because I have to run. The more I do these things the more I want to do them. I don’t know if my human mind for lack of better description, is losing out to these increasingly powerful urges, but it’s becoming harder to ignore them.”
He was struck with the notion to explain in greater detail what he perceived was happening to him. It was hard enough to keep himself from diving into the water or when he was waiting for Seth, running up and down the beach.
“Digging just made sense. A stray fear of losing my humanity?” He said as he unconsciously scratched at his ear with a paw, leaning into the scratching with his eyes closed.
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:33 am
"I think its the animal mind that's messing up your patterns, that's for damn sure. I used to be a night owl, lazy, and surf the internet. Now I'm just lazy, there's no internet here, and I take lots of walks. I like having land, but claiming it almost seems bloody pointless. What am I gonna do, build a house on it?" He shook his head and snorted. "I can safely say that I think I've lost my humanity too. The looking like a bloody Tasmanian Tiger part is obvious. But apart from that? Walking around claiming land is weird. And I can fit so much stuff into my face now, I could probably win a place in the Guiness Book of Records."
"I certainly can't eat any of the rubbish I used to eat, like pizza or whatever the hell, you name it. I just chuck it straight back up, or have to lie down and feel like crap for the rest of the day." He scowled as he thought about it. "Alcohol still seems to be fine, you just chuck it back up anyway if you drink too much. On the other hand, I've developed an immense liking for rare steak, and meat in general. It's fortunate there's so much of it served up in the cafeteria, let me tell you that."
The cogs in Seth's head began to move as Jordan mentioned his desires to dig. Thylacines were cunning, calculating, and very intelligent problem-solving creatures, mostly due to their hunting style. Perhaps it was the instinct that made him think such thoughts, perhaps it was the man himself. In any case, a grin slowly spread across his maw as a brilliant idea made its way into his mind, and he looked up at Jordan once again.
"Say... I might have a use for that digging after all." He began. "I wouldn't mind a good hole, for a hoard I mean. If I could keep my entire stash in one hole, that'd be really useful. It needs to be about, oh, I don't know..." He pondered for a moment.
"Say, about eight to ten feet deep?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 1:54 am
Jordan shook his head after scratching his ear, making his ears flap against the sides of his head. “My diet’s definitely changed. My first change, I wanted more savory, juicy meats.” A bit of drool formed at the corner of his mouth and he promptly wiped it away with the back of his arm “And now, I still crave it, but with the increased activity, I’m fighting myself not to gorge myself. I drink more water, eat less food –despite still feeling hungry. I didn’t eat for four or five days after my last change and when I couldn’t fight it snymore, I let myself gorge..It’s weird.. like.. I’m being told to prepare myself physically.. but for what?”
“Unfortunately, I’ll eat anything and everything that smells good. If it’s edible and it’s in sight, I have to keep myself from scarfing it down, like if I don’t, then someone is going to steal it from me and eat it first.”
He felt better when Seth smiled. His tail wagged, uncontrollably, in response. He didn’t feel so stupid when Seth mentioned that it could useful to him and he blinked at the measurements that he’d given. That was a big hole. More like a bunker. “Hoard?” he asked, not sure what he could mean by that. Being useful made him feel important to the team, whichever side that happened to be, but digging a hole with his paws.. deliberately giving into some canine urge that would later become stronger and harder to resist.. but then.. there was the pact with Lauren and how they agreed to give in to their instincts/urges/what-have-you brought on by the changes, so it seemed less detrimental overall. “Uhm.. okay!” his tail wagged feverishly as Seth was actually warming up to him- at least from Jordan’s perceptions. “Where? When?”
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:14 am
Seth chuckled at Jordan's statement, genuinely amused. "I never owned a dog, but I know they love food, and how. If you're not going to get fat, if you're happy to run around like a crazy git, then I say eat whatever the hell you want. I sure as hell do. Or did, at least..." He glanced down at his belly, remembering how fat he used to be when he had first arrived. He was pleased it was gone now, which was one of the only small good things about his changes. "You're fortunate that you're an omnivore, though. Just don't eat too much chocolate because it'd probably end up killing you." He shrugged. "I heard about it once, a dog's liver can't handle it or something."
"Yeah, I have a hoard." He nodded and began to explain. "I bury useful stuff in the ground all the time. If I have to live out in the jungle one day, well hey, at least I'm going to be well-equipped."
He seemed a little taken aback as Jordan happily agreed to dig a hole for him. He had almost expected a comeback, an insult, maybe annoyance at the very least. But a happy agreeing response? He wondered if this was a genuine attempt at making amends, or driven by the man's own animal instincts.
"I don't know where to put a dig hole for my stash yet, but I'll let you know once I've found a great spot to hide my stuff." He grinned, seeming quite pleased with the events occuring. "I wanna make it hidden, but in an accessible place. D'ya know what I mean?"
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:36 am
“I already feel like I’m so out of shape and getting fat.” He poked his non-existent belly he perceived as more of a gut, to illustrate that point, tugging on it. He hadn’t had a problem with his image until the past few weeks. He was vane and that quality of his personality was being amplified. “I’ve got to lose weight and get back into my peak form.”
“Being an omnivore just means there’s more to make me fatter.. and yeah, chocolate would make me very sick. Not sure about now, but later it’d definitely be lethal to me. Good thing too. Means I won’t be tempted to eat something so toxic.”
At the explanation of Seth’s hoard, he understood- kind of. “Oh, yeah. I getcha. I think. Like how a fox buries it’s meal so it can eat the rest later, except with possessions in your case.” He nodded. “Alright.”
He was happy because he felt like he’d accomplished more than he’d set out to do. In the short time of their uninterrupted chat, Jordan was left with the impression that he’d made proper amends and won a new friend from a fractious acquaintance.
“That all depends how secret you need this stash to be.” Jordan scratched his furry chin. “The deeper jungle is probably a good place to dig, but that comes with its own set of dangers. I doubt you’d have to worry about cameras though. Doesn’t seem like they’d have reason to go that deep.”he tilted his head in thought. “Hmmmmm… I’m not sure where else would be a choice spot. Maybe a cave?”
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 2:46 am
"There's cameras all over the place, trust me, I've heard them. In the duplexes, in the cafeteria, in the jungle, near the cliffs. Everywhere. 'Cept I haven't heard any around here, so we're safe." He rotated his ears slightly as if to confirm the fact. "Pity sand's not anything stable to be digging in. It'd cave in first high tide. No good..."
"If you want to find out where the the cameras are, do something random, stupid or unexpected. Such as... I dunno." He shrugged. "The point is, the person controlling the camera will refocus it and then you can hear the lens mechanism whirring pretty damn easily. Then it's simply a matter of moving in, and..." He made a sharp biting motion with his powerful jaws, causing them to make a loud chopping sound as the jaw snapped shut.
"Nah, nah." He waved a dismissive gesture with his right paw. "A cave isn't good. Too rocky, too far away from my duplex. You'd bugger up your claws and rip 'em to shreds in a matter of minutes trying to dig through the rocky bits in a cave floor. Some flat land with loamy yet firm soil would be a good place to dig. I thought about digging such a hole myself, but... I haven't found a good spot yet. That's why it's better for me to just let you know when I've found somewhere good."
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 4:40 pm
He was astounded how well they were getting along. Seth was an alright guy as far as he was concerned and Jordan was seeing just how much in common they had. They were both brought to the island for theft, their partners were nowhere to be found, and both parties were being distorted in inhuman ways unlike some of the others experiencing ‘cleaner’ changes. “I misjudged you big time and I can’t apologize enough for striking you. You’re a really decent guy, Seth.”
Listening to the warnings of cameras, he thought that was rather considerate, but doing stupid things to gather their attention may not prove to be the best thing in Jordan’s case. Jordan was getting the impression that he’d been working at this more than a few days, which gave him confidence in the man’s words. He was gutsy if he was willing to put himself out there, to become a subject of interest to whomever was working the cameras. He was hanging onto his words in hopes that he could somehow avoid the cameras more effectively, without making a scene. A coincidental act of taking another route was simple enough to accomplish that, right?
The thought of tearing out a claw on rocky ground make him wince and hold his paw in the left. “Ouch.. okay, no caves.. and sand is way to unstable for digging.. soft soil.. soft soil…” he took in a refreshing breath of ocean air through his black canine nose, closing his eyes in thought. “Leeeeeet’s seeeee.. soft soil… somewheeeere secluded… hmmmmmm…:” he re-opened his eyes with a thought “How ‘bout newar the base of the cliffs. There’s still some jungle cover, but if you ever had to hide, there’s caves you could lay low for a while. Think that’d work?”
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Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2007 5:06 pm
"Yeah, digging a hole out of sand is a bad idea. Harder to cover up again, easy to kick in and fill. Anything you dig would cave in with sand." He frowned, pondering to himself whether he was talking too much and giving anything away. Jordan seemed genuine enough, but if this was all a plot to find out what he was up to, maybe he was screwed already...
He sniffed the air. The tide was coming in soon. That would result in an unfavourable outcome for this spot soon enough.
"Near the base of the cliffs?" He said, sounding highly curious. He'd never been there before and he would have to check it out soon enough. "I've never been there - you walk around the island much? I've never really noticed you wandering around, especially not around my bits of land. And I own a lot of land too, and spend a lot of time outdoors."
He seemed almost... proud of the fact. The animal within was certainly proud, it owned a lot of territory so far, and remained unchallenged to it. He once again got nagging desires to wander away and claim even more, but quickly pushed the thoughts out of his mind.
"Er, is it far away, then? Or close to the duplexes and the Labs building?"
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