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 Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 1:59 am
"Hah, very funny." Seth rolled his eyes. "But yeah, writing up notes and leaving them in my room for you guys to collect works fine for me. Maybe you're right about the internet, but it was always a device I relied on heavily for entertainment and to pass the time."
"I'll try to have a good afternoon. Have fun finding more gulliable people to rope in to the island." Seth smirked in amusement. "I guess we'll talk again later." And with that, he hung up.
---
He sighed and leaned back on his bed, reaching up to rub a clawed hand through his mess of very dark brown hair. The claws, he had discovered, could be used a bit like a comb and he could neaten his hair a bit easier with them. Not that he had cared much about that in the first place.
He felt strangely calm after that conversation with Dr. Duvert. Sure, he wasn't pleased about the fact he was still stuck there, still stranded, still turning into an animal. But at least he knew what it was now. Tommy had been right - it was a mammal, and a predator at that. He wasn't sure how he felt about that however, and didn't know whether or not that it would even matter if he managed to escape.
He was annoyed with one paticular statement spoken, however.
"I am not a hermit."
He rolled onto his side and yanked the covers over himself as he prepared to get comfortable so he could take a nap and sleep, not seeming to care in the least that it was the middle of the afternoon.
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Posted: Wed Nov 15, 2006 12:13 pm
A couple of days following Seth's phone call to the labs, a package is left by his doorstop.
Inside the package is a new laptop, still in the box from the manufacturer's:
http://www.dell.com/content/products/productdetails.aspx/xpsnb_m1210?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Stickied on the box is a small note on Feral Labs stationary. The handwriting is formal, and it is left unsigned.
Quote: Mr. Callaghan, Your order was reviewed and two laptops was determined to be superfulous. However, instead of two machines we procured one nicer Dell laptop for your use.
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Sabin Duvert Vice Captain
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 5:01 am
Seth had been wandering around outside for most of the day, and not at his duplex when the box arrived. For some reason, now of days his two favourite times of the day were the early morning and during the last hour of sunset. He had never really cared very much about it before, but these days he found himself going out of his way just to wander around casually during these times. He had a few paths which he liked to follow, and had begun to become familiar with the layout of things on the set paths, such as the paticular placements of rocks, trees, so on.
"I must be getting really bored out of my mind..." He muttered. "There's really nothing to do on this island if I am noticing things like that."
He was about to head back to his duplex after the sun had gone down, when he noticed the neat package next to his doorstep. He was immediately intruiged by this new object and reached over to pick it up, glancing at the label. He grinned broadly as he noticed what it was, exactly, and quickly carried it inside.
"All right, its here! Alright, maybe it's only one laptop, but this is good anyway. And it's a Dell, thank god. I'd be sending them a complaint if they sent me one of those ruddy iBooks..."
He happily set the box down on his bed, and tore off the tape to inspect the new piece of hardware, scattering packing foam beads all over his bed, and onto the floor. The prospect of receiving any new piece of computer equipment always made him happy, and now was no different. It took him no time at all to find the power socket piece in the box to recharge the battery. He plugged it into the wall and then plugged the other end into the back of the laptop and turned it on.
The O/S was already installed for him, and the machine was ready and rarin to go. He seemed quite pleased as he quickly discovered the specs of the laptop, making a mental note to himself that it probably cost the laboratories a pretty penny indeed. He would have to take it apart carefully a bit later on and transfer all the important stuff he had from his old hard drive onto this one.
Another thought crossed Seth's mind and he set the new device down on the bed delicately, not wanting to break it already, not wanting it to suffer the same fate as his previous trusty laptop. He glanced outside the door of his duplex, wondering if there was anything else for him. He had asked for other things, afterall...
...nothing. Absolutely nothing else was outside.
"Damn..." He grumbled. "I want my ATV, or a dirt bike..."
He went back inside, shutting the door behind him. He was dissapointed, but not totally. He still had a laptop out of the last conversation, a bloody good one at that too. Not a total loss.
"I still want my dirt bike, bugger it!"
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Posted: Fri Nov 17, 2006 7:17 pm
For everything there is a cost. Not long after the delivery is made to Seth's door, a very different sort of delivery is made, in the form of an injection to his arm while Seth is asleep.
After a night of miserable dreams, twisted and strange, he wakes up to a very irritated itchy spot on the back of his left arm. What follows the rest of the afternoon is a nasty fever... quite reminiscient of a particularly uneasy feeling that you had several weeks back...
Then, as your heart rate increases, this building pressure all over your body breaks loose as if some molecular floodgate finally gives up the gusto and all at once, your body is assailed by several bonewrenching altercations. In your face, in your tail, and in your feet: everything seems to be pushing out and distorting, pulling mass from your girth.
The changes in your feet are minor by comparison, but still the growing pains are far from pleasant. Your face, already 'squeezed' by your last change now wrenches forward, your long jaw being drawn out into a small muzzle. The tip of your nose tingles as the pores open and widen and darken and begin to seep a moisture. Your sinuses scream in pain as your sense of smell kicks into overdrive, jamming you into a totally new sensory world. Your ears enlarge a bit, and stick out further than before.
And of course, the wrencing at the base of your spine as your tail pushes outwards, and thickens. Finally, a few bands of darker pigment line the base of your tail and lower back - the signature stripes of a thylacine. If there was any doubt before, your recent changes confirm what Sabin told you you were becoming.
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Island of Moreau Vice Captain
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Posted: Sat Nov 18, 2006 4:59 am
Something Lost, Something Gained
Seth had gone to bed earlier than usual that night. After the sun had set, he had become tired of exploring the general area of the duplexes around the island. Pacing around and following the dirt tracks around the island was very boring, but he found himself doing it more and more lately, just making sure everything was as it should have been and that nothing was out of place or awry. Why he did this, he didn't really know. Maybe he was going insane. But it gave him peace of mind to check out his local area, being alert to danger was always rather useful.
When he finally got back inside his Duplex for the evening, he shut and locked the door, heading for the bathroom. He had a quick shower, dried off, changed into the most casual clothes he could find, and flopped face down on his bed, falling asleep fairly quickly with no trouble at all. But early in the morning, his sleep was anything but peaceful.
--
His presence in the landscape seemed much more real than it should have been considering it was only a dream. Or was it? He couldn't tell...
The first thing he notices this time is that he is being chased, and a strong feeling of panic and dread wash over him as his heart rate increases. Three quadruped animals with strange long noses and short tails, all bigger than he is, are in hot persuit of him, chasing him through otherwise quiet shadowed dense forest growth area. His front legs run like theirs, but his back legs bound in great strides in much the same manner as some of his prey, and he leaps through most of the terrain, deftly darting in between trees and rocks as he tries to lose them, somewhat able to keep ahead of them.
One of the giant monsters makes shrill angry barking noises and catches up in spite of his movements. The monster bites at his rear and he gives an almighty high-pitched yelp of pain, springing ahead desperately in his attempt to lose them. He moved ahead into the gaps of some high rocks in the upper parts of the territory, despairing as he quickly discovers that there is no exit at all, only the way he came in. Thus he is trapped now and things look bleak for him. The beasts close in on the hole, their dagger-like teeth bared, snarling furiously.
He bares his teeth back at them and makes a low hiss, causing them to back off. There he stood with his back to the end of the crevice, turning his head from side to side, keeping a keen eye on his assailants, his keen eyes checking one of the bolder monsters as it tries to butt in, looking for alternate ways to get in and attack him. But then, one of the other ones becomes brave and charges in for the kill. He does likewise, his wider jaw giving him the immediate upper hand. He bites hard - one sharp, swift bite clean through his assailant's skull. His powerful bite pressure allows him to crunch through the skull like it is nothing. The monster falls where it is, dead.
His victory is short lived however, for both monsters charge now, giving not even a moment to regard their fallen comrade. They charge in to attack and...
--
Seth awoke with a sudden jolt and tumbled off the bed, thumping onto the floor with a rough thud. His head throbbed, and his left arm was very itchy and red, as if some giant bug had bitten him. He took a moment to regain his senses and sat up again, groaning, burying his face in his hands. He was tired of these horrid dreams that bothered him more often now. They never occurred until he arrived on this island...
"Bloody nuisance..." He mumbled to himself as he got dressed and wandered out of his duplex and into the fresh morning air, already showing signs of heating up, the telltale sign of another hot and humid tropical-island day.
He wandered into the cafeteria area to acquire his morning ration of food, munching through it without much of a bother. However, he did not eat as much as he normally did, for today his appetite had waned quite a bit. He was feeling a little under the weather, but could not work out why. He shrugged this off and went about his usual morning meanderings.
After visiting the cafeteria, he headed onto the large expanse of beach at the west side of the island to spend a few hours in the sand, and to enjoy himself in the sun. This was cut short however, as the feelings of illness began to gradually sink deeper in by mid-afternoon. A raised temperature and a sickened feeling in the pit of his gut caused him to retreat back to his duplex to lie down. But it would not help him at all, nor stop the inevitable event that was about to happen in just mere moments.
It started slowly, but it did not make him feel any better. A low moan escaped the man as waves of pain began to increase, coursing throughout his body, his bones creaking in protest. He curled up into a foetal-like position in reaction to the pain, knees against his chest, head down, eyes squeezed shut tightly, as if trying to hide. His body tremored and his heart raced, his heartbeat hammering in his ears. Sweat beaded across his forehead and he moaned in pain as his ears shifted, moving higher onto his head. He twitched and gritted his teeth as it felt like all the bones in his body were being crushed, one by one. He curled up his toes as his feet twisted out of shape and grew, his foot-length growing, heels rising, old plantigrate human feet finally giving way to new dasyurid-marsupial digitigrade hind feet.
"Oh god, not again!!" His mind screamed at him, yet he was powerless to do anything. "Why now, why am I changing now?! Why me?"
"Help me!!" He yelled out hopelessly, but nobody would hear him.
He clenched his jaw shut as it buckled and made a sickening crunching sound, contorting out of shape, growing forwards, his teeth forming sharp points as they changed as well. At the same time his jaw changed shape, his entire nasal cavity grew forward also. Seth's new animalistic nose grew in, pores growing on the end of his snout as it changed shape and darkened. The new pores immediately heightened his entire olfactory sence, and he could suddenly smell a powerful and horrid acrid stench in the air. He snorted in disgust to try and get rid of the smell, but it did nothing. He would later learn that the smell was nothing more than some of his old socks, but that the last of his priorities right now.
I'm changing into that ruddy marsupial dog-thing and there's nothing I can do about it..."
The man cried out and made a loud guttural "urrr!!" noise in pain and torment as his tail grew outwards, thickening. Some of the skin pigment on his rump and back area darkened, forming eight dark-brown bands of colour, the tell-tale markings of a thylacine.
Seth remained on the floor for several moments after the changes had subsided, very unwilling to move anywhere right away. His body was very sore as a result of changing so much in such a short period of time. His muscles ached like he had run in a marathon, and just moving anything, a limb, an ankle, a wrist, each movement caused him a great deal of pain. He had also been quite weakened and tired out by the changes, and it was just much easier to lie there on his side, breathing slow and deep to calm himself once more. He opened his eyes again, but his vision was still blurry.
"I feel like I just got runover by a truck..."
Some time later, he finally gathered up enough strength to haul his weight back onto the bed. He lay out on his back and stared up at the ceiling, closing his eyes again.
"Bloody hell..." He mumbled. "Why me...?"
It would be a long time before Seth would venture out of his duplex again. He would need time to adjust to his new changes, learn how to walk all over again with his new feet, his altered centre of gravity. It would all take time, and he would need to adjust to it all over again.
He had lost another piece of his humanity to this island forever, but what had he gained? He did not know it now, but his heightened sense of hearing and smell would come in handy some day. One thing was clear in his mind however, and had not changed.
"I hate this place..."
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Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2006 8:28 pm
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Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:00 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 7:05 pm
Lost in Thought
Seth had a lot of time to think over the last few days. Since he had been to Liamh's birthday party, he had not ventured out of his duplex very much at all, and had essentially "crawled inside the bottle", so to speak. He ventured into the cafeteria when necessary, but food didn't really interest him. A weighted feeling of general discontent and sadness had come over him lately and some very unpleasant thoughts had seeped into his mind. He had tried dulling them out with the alcohol he had stolen from the beach bar most recently, but his supplies of that were already running low and soon he wouldn't be able to do that any more, not at least without another trip back there.
Besides finally facing the realization that he was condemned to live the rest of his days on this island in the middle of nowhere unless he did something drastic, his thoughts had turned to what had happened in his absence back home.
He was really missing the quiet little suburb of Melbourne where he used to live right about now. Even more so, he was missing his mother and his father and feeling utterly miserable as he wondered what they must be thinking of him after all this mess. He hated the fact that Dr Duvert had lied to his friend about what had happened to him after they made the transaction. He also wished he knew the exact story that the Feral Labs staff had weaved to his best friend, and what that friend had later told his parents, if they had learned about it at all. He supposed they more than likely would have found out in the end, or at some point.
Seth didn't know what angered him more - the fact that he was stuck here for the rest of his life, or the fact that Sabin had lied to his friend and essentially his family as well. It was totally NOT within his character to be deceitful and turn traitor on those he cared about The fact that Sabin had portrayed him as a traitor, and the fact that Seth himself couldn't do anything to prove it was any way otherwise made his blood boil.
He concluded that although Sabin seemed nice enough on the surface when they had first met, and despite the fact that he had been kind enough to send Seth another laptop, he was still a lying manipulative b*****d. Selfish also. Seth guessed that it was probably against international law to experiment on human beings, but despite that, Dr Duvert and the rest of the Feral Labs staff continued their experimentation for science purposes and their own selfish motives. A growl rose up in the man's throat at that thought. He hated them.
His thoughts soon drifted to his parents however, and his anger quite drifted away, giving into sadness. He lowered his head, one paw-hand grasping around the neck of a bottle of Johnnie Walker black label that he had been drinking from, the other hand moving to cover his eyes. He felt like he was a disgrace to his family. He wished he could do something to tell them that the story wasn't true, that he could still show them that he the same person as he had always been. But even as those thoughts surfaced, he already knew that was a lie. He had been a thief, assisted in trafficking, and he wasn't the same person as he was six, eight weeks ago. He HAD betrayed them...
He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth, a whimper rising up in his throat. But despite the fact he was completely alone and in the privacy of his duplex, he would not allow himself to cry. That was something that sissies did, and he was certainly not one of those. He blamed it on the alcohol he had been drinking, and promptly capped the bottle, tossing it onto the carpeted floor. The bottle made dull thud as it hit the floor, and fell down on its side.
He lay back on the bed and stared at the ceiling for a long time, well over an hour, his mind a tangle with his thoughts.
Part of him wanted to escape this island, but even if he did manage to achieve that, what would he do then? He couldn't go back to the mainland to live as if nothing had happened, one quick glance in the mirror alone told him that much. Sure, he could make money off the publicity perhaps but even if he did that, some other science lab somewhere else would probably snatch him up because of his differences and he would be almost back where he started. Still, he couldn't spend the rest of his life stranded here...
The man sighed as he rolled onto his side, glancing up at the new laptop computer on his desk, then reached out to close and unplug it. Okay, sure, he couldn't rejoin society on any level in his current state, but if a science laboratory got him into this mess, surely they'd be able to undo it again?
Seth sat up and began to think. Even if he looked like a freak of nature now, the idea of escaping from the island and the prying watchful eyes of the lab staff still seemed appealing to him. Even if he couldn't escape, he could cause them some heartache in the attempt. Or at least cause them some grief. They had caused him some, after all. It also gave him something to do.
Maybe he would think about it later, but for now he just wanted to sleep off the alcohol, and sleep in general because it was still daylight outside.
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Posted: Thu Dec 07, 2006 8:50 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 3:49 am
Merry Christmas Indeed. A number of days had passed since Seth had last left his duplex. He had since sunk into a slump of his own after his encounter with Newt, and had a growing feeling of not being comfortable with venturing outside. He only left when necessary, to acquire food, alcohol (usually blended whiskeys, or whatever lager he could get his hands on that wasn't that horrid Budweiser crap that the American-origin islanders favoured), and when he had the desire to go on another of his instinctive 'walks'. He felt much more comfortable these days on his own, anyway.
The growing thylacine instincts in his mind were satisfied enough with the size of his territory, which unofficially included the duplex area, part of the jungle path that led to the beach, and a path that led into the thickets on the south side of the island. He had no real way of claiming it as 'his' apart from the footsteps he made in the mud, but for the time being, it had seemed to be enough.
However, before one such walk in the early morning at the crack of dawn, he had noticed something new and unusual at the door of his 'territory base'. A small white object wrapped in writing paper, done up with ordinary twine. He picked it up carefully in his thumb and index claw, cautiously sniffing it for a brief moment. It wasn't food. He read the little note written on the paper and raised an eyebrow.
"It's Christmas? What?" Seth wondered to himself. Had he really been here that long? He hadn't really paid attention to the date in a long time. His thoughts were drawn back home to his parents, and he wondered what they were doing for it. A depressed sigh escaped him and his shoulders fell.
Best not to be thinking about those things...Cody Archer In front of the door of your duplex lies a small gift wrapped in regular paper by a string. There are some words scribbled with ordinary pen, saying: "Merry Xmas. From Cody"
Nevertheless, Seth made a mental note to himself that if he ever found this person named 'Cody' one day in the near future, child or not, he would have to thank him for the gift. With that, Seth placed the small seashell in his pocket and went on his way, holding onto the small festive token as he travelled away from his duplex.
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Posted: Mon Dec 25, 2006 5:10 am
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Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 6:35 pm
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Posted: Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:26 am
Pain and Pondering
It hurt, it hurt, it hurt.
The pain in his snout was all he could think about that evening after leaving the beach area. It was bad enough to send him back 'home' to his duplex, the thylacine instincts were telling him to hide away and recover tonight. The territory could be guarded later, the paths could be walked along again another day.
Since Seth's encounter and heated argument with Jordan, he had left the scene worse off than when he had first arrived, being rewarded with a punch in the face for his troubles also. All he had tried to do was warn the guy about the true nature of the island and about what was going to happen to him, but rather than receiving curiousity, disbelief or questions, all he had gotten was completely irrelevant information about sea currents, and then the man's mockery and anger - then finally a punch in the face. If this was how the new people were going to treat him, then he would be determined not to try to help any more of them out. Like he had told Jordan, it wasn't his reponsibility to look after them anyway.
The animal-man wandered into his bathroom area to clean up. He spent a few minutes washing off his snout and face, spending a few moments to look at himself in the mirror. There was a faint bruise mark appearing on one side of his snout, where Jordan had belted him. Apart from that, not much else of interest.
Seth didn't like to look at his reflection too much. It was still hard coming to terms with everything happening here. But now that he was in front of the mirror, he forced himself to stare back at his reflection. He scowled at his appearance, and then backed away, turning away from the mirror, shutting the door behind him as he left the bathroom once more.
"Bastards." He muttered to and about nobody in paticular as he lay face down on his bed. He rested his chin on the pillow and began to think about how to fine-tune his plan. He would drift into a state of sleep later that evening, but for now, he lay there and thought.
"My nose hurts..."
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Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 5:41 pm
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Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:54 pm
Return to the Construction Site
AIM Transcribe coming soon
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