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"Thank you for the enlight'ning biology lesssson," he said with obvious sarcasm. Lucas could think whatever he wanted about regrowth - Zach knew better than to continue thinking along the lines of everyday logic. The changes here were beyond nature, and therefore rationalizing that eye regrowth was impossible was amusing. It wasn't that they couldn't do it, but that they wouldn't do it. It was that catch that had him worried subconsciously. He had nothing but reverence for Sabin, but occasionally the fear that preceded it became more pronounced. It wasn't something he thought on, or admitted, but having a friend he was pretty much forbidden from saying anything negative about did lead to a little bit of bottling up.

The only person around was the same guy who'd helped to remove an eyeball from him. Did it make sense to confide in him? Not at all. But who else was he going to complain to? Sabin? God, no. He didn't want to sound negative about the labs, even if he sometimes felt a little aggravated by things they'd done. The thought of talking to Sabin led him to another thought - cameras. Microphones. Likely even if he had no intention of confiding in Sabin he'd be doing so indirectly by being in the presence of them. That would only make things that much worse. Zach pushed himself off the stool and wobbled a little as he regained his footing, turning to face the ocean as he leaned his elbows onto the bartop. His wings and spine were uncomfortably crushed for a couple seconds and he was back to standing on his own. The glass of gin he'd been drinking was by now almost empty. Zach lifted his head up a little to peer at Lucas as though through a haze. "Well... no wonner you don' know... was before you got here. Hah. Musss've been... almosss a year ago. Hasssn' been long enough."

Casually and drunkenly he took a couple of steps into the sand. He hadn't touched alcohol for four months, as every time he did he had a hard time stopping himself from getting blind drunk. Seeing as he was already feeling warmer than a cold-blooded creature should, he was past the point of sobriety. No going back now. It was only unfortunate that this kind of celebration would have him leaning over the toilet for an hour the next morning when the alcohol harshly disagreed with his meat-eater digestive system.

Zach looked over at the bar with his one eye. He was way too drunk to tell if he could see cameras, but better safe than sorry, right? Sorry wasn't a particularly ideal place to be. He had a sinking feeling that it would be unavoidable to dodge it forever.

Silently he motioned for Lucas to follow him toward where the ocean sloshed up into the sand, and out of the potential earshot of the labs. His slow movements caused his feet to sink in with each step, making it harder for him to keep his balance. His tail was moving sluggishly in a mockery of a blind grope at the ground. It was stupid and dangerous to do this, but he had the panic button. Lucas couldn't make a false move on him if he had that. No one could. In his state he figured Lucas knew exactly why he'd bother moving so far away from the bar to share a story. The fact that so few people knew... remembered... it had been a long time ago but he couldn't be the only person who knew what happened?

His feet finally sank into sand that was wet and close to solid. His large feet left funny, hand-like footprints in it. He wasn't even sure if Lucas would follow him over here. If he didn't, it was no loss. It'd just be that much longer till he pulled someone aside and forced them to listen to him as he raved where he wouldn't be heard and punished for it. He turned his head toward the bar, and then back to the evening sky.

Zach stared at the sky a little longer, even after Lucas repeated the question. From his alcohol-addled brain he was having second thoughts about getting these things off his chest. It was fairly difficult to think right now. If Sabin never found out, he'd be fine... yeah... and why would he? This was old news. People had been around for it. Most of it. Well. He didn't suppose anyone else had a chance to hear what had happened, but he wasn't even sure if he was supposed to have heard that. It wasn't exactly a prime spot for eavesdropping, wrapped up in rope and chain on the floor, but he'd heard things. He didn't think it was of any use but to be educational. Let people know what the hell had been going on before they'd arrived, even if those people were remarkably stupid and reckless. Unless Lucas could create hurricanes at will, he'd still be stuck here under Sabin's jurisdiction. Another wrong move, and he'd be blind. Zach had a slight grin on his face from the thought, but clamped down quickly enough. What he had to say was serious.

"'Bout a year ago..." he started, still slurring his speech pretty heavily. Somehow he had the sense to keep his voice fairly quiet. "Big hurricane hit. Here. The islan'. Bu' that'sss not it."

"Power went out for the night. Ssso did the chipsss. An' the camerasss too. All of it, down. An' during that time, Dr. Lockheart got attacked. Almosss died."

"No," he responded dejectedly, as if he wished what Lucas guessed was the answer. It would have changed everything. "She... wasn' there. Was out somewhere, 'pparently. No. On the road. I... we... Kaveri and I saw th' jeepsss ourselves. One was stuck in the mud, the other one was... crashed into a tree."

"She wasn' in the crashed one. That was Sabin and..." He hesitated. He knew what came next in the story, and wasn't proud of it at all. His memories of those early months came with a feeling of hopelessness he'd shrugged off by now. The alcohol he'd drank before had utterly destroyed his inhibitions at this point. He even forgot that Lucas was the one responsible for injuring him. He'd suffered so many injuries that he could have just as easily been talking to some living, breathing personification of his bad luck, rather than the dhole, and still be completely calm about it. The words simply poured out of his mouth while he rocked back and forth a little on his feet, digging them into the sand. "Me."

He gave Lucas a worried glance to see if he could make the connection yet. Unfortunately, Lucas seemed to go in and out of focus despite blinking, which left things inconclusive. He'd have to say it out loud, though not actually loud enough for a microphone to pick it up. But not yet. He'd lead up to it. It wasn't something he was proud of. "I was sssupposed t'change that night - sssecond change - I didn' know it myssself at the time. But because the power went out I was getting taken back t'my duplexss. Never got that far, I... got the jeep crashed 'cause I started changing in it. S'what I was told. Ssso. No chipsss, no cameras, jus' me and Aubrey out on the road..."

"I didn' mean to!" he hissed pleadingly but also rather drunkenly. Standing was taking a little more effort than he had in him after reliving some of those memories (or lack thereof) in his mind. He dropped down heavily on his knees and grabbed the tail he curled around himself protectively to twist between his large fingers. The wings stayed closed for now. He wouldn't make eye contact with Lucas, finding the sand beneath him a far more interesting sight. Even darkness didn't rob him of his sight, so if he were to manage a good look at Lucas's face in the dark he'd still be able to see some sort of disgusted expression on it. What if Sabin still held it against him? He began to babble and plead for his life as if a whole year hadn't gone by at all, revealing insanity he wasn't even aware of. What more did he have to say or do to show he was devoted and worth keeping alive? "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. You believe me, right? I didn' mean t'do it. I changed - I don' even remember wha' I did! I... I don' wanna die..."

It didn't seem like he even heard Lucas's second question at all at first, incoherently mumbling about his strong, if cowardly, feelings toward premature death. From his hunched figure came a simple shrug that shuffled his wings. He'd never breathed a word of what had happened, that awful interrogation, to anyone. Even Kaveri hadn't been told. But it was all out in the open now. He was too drunk and miserable to care. "Interrogation. A couple weeks later I got zapped in th' middle of an argument with Sa-sssomeone and th' next thing I knew I was roped and chained and getting interrogated by Moreau himssself. Almost died. Moreau wanted me dead. I almost was. Would've been if Sssabin hadn't done something about it. Sssaved my life."

He sighed with relief. By now it totally escaped him that Lucas was the one who'd clawed his eye out. It didn't seem to matter. He felt strangely warm in the cold and too dizzy to get to his feet. He nodded sharply at the question, still wringing the end of his tail between his hands. Wouldn't anyone feel indebted in that case? "He's saved me more than once."

"He's not... he... isn' as bad as everyone thinks he is. And he isn' involved in everything, shouldn' be blamed for everything. People hate something Moreau does but they take it out on him, or me. Not fair. They were doing some kind of 'live test' back then and he wasn' even around for that. They locked him out of the labs until they knew it was me who..." Did it need to be said? Zach's fault, of course. If only he could have handled the changes like everyone else! Just writhe around a bit and then be done with them without losing his mind for a couple days. Sabin had been quite obvious about how he didn't like it when Zach was violent. The dragon had to shape up, or he'd never get his eye back. He had to do whatever was asked of him. If he hurt anyone else, it would be a case out of Sabin's jurisdiction. He seemed to have gone back to talking to himself. "Now that I think about it... 'splains a lot. Like why she woke up nexsst t'Aubrey that day. But I don' know. I don' know what they were doing. I had problemsss of my own then. Just heard them talking about it..."

Some part of him that hadn't been completely drowned in alcohol had suddenly grown alert to the danger of talking with Lucas about such sensitive information. However, it wasn't enough to make him shut his mouth. Being able to just talk and talk and say it all was comforting in its own way. Lucas could keep secrets, he assumed. "I don' know. They tested... somethin'? I only heard a little bit. Maybe had to do with instincts, maybe not at all. Anyone's guess. I haven' heard anything about it since then, it was... a year ago."

From his slouched position on the sand, Zach made a noise that sounded more like a smoker's cough than the dry laugh it was intended to be. His throat was no longer built for laughing, but it didn't stop him from doing so. Especially not drunk, as the laugh was a little louder than he would have otherwise intended. He let the tail fall away from his fingers and dug them down into the dark, wet sand instead. He couldn't feel it. He couldn't feel the sand. He could feel the cold and the wet, but his scales were too thick for him to feel the signature grainy texture. He was trapped, encased in a natural sort of armor.

"What, you're sssurprised?" he asked incredulously. He pulled one hand free from the sand to wash off in the tide that came creeping close. The water soon pulled away with a hiss of foam. He gave Lucas a look as though he wasn't sure if the dhole had been completely serious. Had Lucas missed the most obvious aspect of their lives here? "We're exssperiments, remember? More to it than jusss' changing every couple of months. Get used to it..."