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Pyroth watched with a sort of contented smirk, Lily was clearly upset by the angry crowd in the area. Good. He knew he was a spectator on the events, but wanted to make it clear to her, just by being there, what she helped to create. If he didn't know better, already aware of the riskiness of excercising your right to violence on the island, he'd probably have been up for giving a working demonstration of the lovely fangs he'd been given by the labs.

As it was, he refrained, simply hanging back on the outskirts of the group, watching intently. He wasn't about to question Lily yet, in fact, he had every intention of leaving soon. Let her know she had been observed and that her ruse was known. Maybe that would worry her more.

He paced ever so slowly round the outside of those gathered, impatient.

No way would he ever accept an ex-scientist as an equal. She could have walked away from the project when she knew what it was about, but no, she had only made things worse.

"I hope you rrrrot here." he snarled, his tone more growl than speech. He wasn't interested in hearing a defence, all that would be to do would be to save her skin.

Valentine focused back on Zach, looking slightly melancholy as he pointed out the furriness of the river girl, and the green skin of the other woman. "Yes...I can see them, Zach. I'm sorry, um, about calling you crazy earlier." She licked her lips nervously as she went on. "I, um, just met Cassidy." She said the sentence as if it explained her apology, which in a way it did. The girl was living proof that Zach wasn't crazy, though everyone who was gathered in this location could be explained away as hairy or diseased, if not normal.

Pity crept in with melancholy, as well as doubt. The green girl had helped them all turn into animals? That meant she had worked in the labs, worked on whatever-it-was that turned them into animals. The knowledge of that must torment the people gathered, especially if they had once trusted the girl. Valentine knew that from experience. Could the girl also have worked on something that would turn her into an animal? Valentine shuddered and hoped that she would never have to go to the labs again. God, she hoped she wouldn't be turned into an animal. Zach said that she would, though, that she had been given a shot. She shuddered again.

"Who's that, Zach?" She asked, pointing to the girl in the river. She seemed particularly betrayed by the ex-scientist.

Chana just stared at Lily with the same tortured expression. "Same with the job I thought I was getting," she replied.

This was simply too much! She knew Lily wasn't a sadistic b*****d like Moreau! And yet...there was simply no way Lily could have worked here and not known what was going on.

But Lily was also a friend, and clearly turning into some animal as well. Didn't that make her an islander, not staff? Chana wrestled with the facts, trying to figure out what she thought of the situation.

Zach was so surprised to hear her apologize that he didn't realize it till a good few moments after. "I mean, I don't know what they're becoming, but they - what?"

He recalled Cassidy. Oh, man, that must've been a real shock for Valentine. He looked down at the ground for a moment to collect his thoughts, his waving hand becoming a fist as he drew it back. "She's... well... I'm not sure. The man in the jeep called her Delaney."

He looked over his shoulder at the greenish woman, and shrugged. "How could you not know about all this? Look what you've done to these people... you're not even sorry, are you? They're just 'interesting'."

He took care not to include himself in his pronouns.

Lily looks back at Chana, staying silent as everyone else falls silent. No one around her was very happy, Chana looked conflicted and she gets a bad feeling from Pyroth's furious expression and stalking off. She crosses her arms, holding onto them, trying to make herself look and feel less helpless. The next question was a logical choice, and her eyes move from where Pyroth had turned and gone to Zach.

Is honesty the best policy? Is there any way to make it believable that she didn't know what she was doing? Even if she hadn't been told what they were doing, surely she'd have figured something out from doing her job. She can't insult their intelligence by saying she didn't know.

"I- Of course I knew," she admits bitterly, her tone evolving from panic to a more defensive one- no one is going to defend her except herself, she can't just take the angry yet valid questions without trying to defend herself in some way hoping that someone may look past it and not hate her.

"I am sorry!" she says automatically at the next accusation, she doesn't comment on the 'interesting' bit- admitting she did find it interesting probably wouldn't help her right now. How was she supposed to control being interested in a project she'd helped with for so many month? She hadn't been given much information on the subjects, seeing it first hand was interesting and enough to make her realize how naive she'd been. Lily's eyes go back to the blonde woman who'd showed up after Moreau had left, looking shocked to hear someone taking her side even just on this minor detail.

Jamal decided that now would be a good time to come out, seeing that Moreau didn't seem to be coming back. He could let this woman know exactly who she was going to have to deal with.

The black man slowly slunk forward through the brush, making surprisingly little noise as he parted the branches and stepped into sight, his mouth curved into a sinister predatory smile when he looked Lily's way.

"So -you- be Lily," he drawled with amusement thick on his tongue. "I heard 'bout you from someone, but it's a shame we didn't meet sooner." He was being highly sarcastic, yet he continued to smile at her in an eerie 'I know your secret' sort of way.

He didn't say anything to the others gathered around, but gave them each a look of acknowledgement.

Valentine had known she was out of line with her comment, but she certainly hadn't expected the response she got from Zach. She recoiled as if she had been hit, clenching her fists. Without thinking, her hand flashed out in a slap, coincidentally aiming for the same jaw of Zach's that had been punched by Billy. "I didn't mean I agreed with what Moreau is doing," she gritted through clenched teeth, "after all, from what I can tell he's going to turn me into an animal too. I wish everyone could go back to being human. But the fact that he's managed to slim genetic science down to such an art is interesting. In the hands of someone else, someone kinder, this could be a breakthrough in metamorphism!"

Valentine heard Delaney's apology, but it sounded defensive and not altogether believable. Instead, she turned her attention to a new arrival. He didn't seem to have any excessive hair, but it still looked as if he had been changed. Zach's comment about escape confirmed it in Valentine's mind. She could only assume that he had done something to one of the scientists. Good for him, she thought. She flashed Jamal an uneasy smile, then shifted her weight on her feet anxiously, as if she was going to run away at any moment.

Chana's attention was caught by Jamal as well, and her eyes widened slightly. Had he broken out of the cage? Or...had someone set him free? Either way, the Jamal she faced now sent shivers up and down her spine and made her want to run. Stubbornly, she ignored those feelings, and simply nodded at him.

She knew well that occupation hadn't really come up with Lily...they'd never had too long a conversation. Still...wasn't obstruction of truth something there had been court cases over?

"I'm sure you worked hard to keep it from coming up," she commented coldly. "You could have spent all this time telling us that yes, you might have worked for Moreau, but that you're one of us now. You might even be able to tell us some things to expect from these changes."

Chana's eyes teared up slightly. "All you thought about was yourself and how to protect yourself." Her voice wavered slightly, and a couple tears rolled down to be lost in her fur.