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"I bet it did." he said with a cringe, not even wanting to imagine what they used to extract it, as far as he was concerned it could have been anything from a plastic spork to an umbrella and it would have been mind numbingly horrific. It wasn't that he was squeamish, he'd happily deal with blood and internal organs all day but the idea of someone /else/ poking around inside him made him squirm. "I know what the freedom or die feeling is like" he'd gone through dilemmas like that himself a few times while he still figured there was hope.

The idea of being untraceable was unthinkable though, Pyroth had all but given up hope that they'd ever find a way to do anything about the situation on the island, that gave him hope and made his brain race with possibilities.

He raised a paw "No worries, I'll keep it quiet. Didn't see you, didn't hear from you. I know what it's like, some of the ones you'd think were trustworthy are trying to buy their freedom by kissing up to the labs. If you need anything from the village and don't want to risk the trip then find me in the jungle, I run the east coast as my territory, the tiger'd find me no problem I'd wager, I can get you stuff you need, no one's on the lookout for me."

He smirked, if Jamal decided to use those abilities, maaaan the s**t would hit the fan.

"Ah, so you're the one that left that letter on my door. At first I thought it was a prank, was going to come after your a** to get my knife and cell phone back, but then I saw this red panda", he paused briefly because it was still hard to accept, "woman. She filled me in on the Island and what the ******** at the labs are doing. Godamn psychos." Tristan gulfed down the vodka and turned to pour himself another drink.

"Sorry, I still get a bit carried away when I think about it. I just.. had my transformation yesterday. It's.. been hard to adapt to. I meant to come around your place but things had been a bit.. hectic. " That was an understatement. This was the first time had left his duplex since the change and he still found it embarassing that he had to shave that fuzz off his back. And that hairless tail kept reminding him more and more of a p***s. He tried his best to hide the tail nub and the wrist extensions in his outfit at least. Damn, how he wanted to be his old self again.

"Five weeks eh? I don't know how long I've been here. The days sort of just blend into one another. It's Halloween though so I suppose I've been here a couple weeks at least...," Tristan sighed. At least the older man was newish too. It would be pretty bad if an islander was here so long that they grew to old age naturally.

He shook his head "I haven't seen many people lately, been hiding away in the jungle. Last time I saw Billy was ages ago." he frowned "Hope he's all right, the labs have really been messing with him from what I hear." He wished he hadn't been so cowardly, avoiding the village in favour of his precious little delusion of independence. "Maybe he'll be at the party if he's doing okay, it wouldn't be like him to miss an opportunity like this. If he's not here, then it's probably time to start worrying."

A little niggly thought sprung once again to mind and he tilted his head. "You said you saw a wolf girl rip out her chip?" He'd only ever met one wolf-girl and that had been Annie. Had she too managed to tear it out? It didn't seem like something she'd do either, she'd come across as rather meek and pleasant when he'd met her.

"I met someone like that a while ago, said she was having problems adapting, I just told her what I told everyone, don't fight it too much. I think they were testing some new serum on her, she was pretty far gone when I saw her despite only being around a little while."

He hadn't seen her lately at all, where could she be hiding out?

"Hn...yeah. I doubt Billy's gonna pass up food 'n' booze if he kin help it," Jamal agreed with a smirk even though Pyroth couldn't see it. "I'll have ta keep my eye open fer da time I'm herr."

God, what Jamal wouldn't do right now for a smoke and a drink. And a piece of a**, for that matter...he really wasn't in a position for either of the three, however, so he kept that notion to himself and instead focused on Pyroth's next question, which made him chuckle.

"Yeah...I think her name was Annie 'cause dat's what everyone was screamin'. Either dat o' Fiona." Jamal ruffled the sheet as he waved his hand in a 'eh, whichever' motion. "All I know is dat da wolf girl started changin' 'n' all hell broke lose. She made a mess outta dat rabbit chick...I ain't sure they had a piece bigger than half an arm left of 'er afta' dat. She tore out her chip 'n' took off inta da jungle. I seen 'er take it out. That's how I figgered how ta get mine out."

He lapped up more of the spiked punch, careful not to let any spill out of the sides of his mouth. He'd become used to it the way it was, though it wasn't even a sure thing it would stay like this. How long until he would change again? A month? Two? He had lost his sense of time. It couldn't be more than that. "Me too. I was hoping to talk to someone here, but she probably won't show up."

"Yeah, Nita, that's her and yeah.. I've noticed the soldiers. Nothing that dramatic has happened to me yet.. though it was quite a painful experience... as was. Yours must have been.. hell." Tristan wasn't good with words of sympathy and chose to keep the fact he passed out from the pain of his changes to himself.

"An octopus? Damn, that's rough. If you're not a squid.. then what are you, that is if I can ask? I don't know yet what.. I will be. Don't think I want to know. There's got to be a way to stop it.. or reverse it. That damn Moreau.. he said my aunt used to work with his relative, that she.. she did s**t like this. He must not have liked his relative much, or mine. Suppose I'm payback of some sort." Perhaps it was the alcohol loosening up his tongue, or perhaps he was simply fishing around and hoping someone would be able to verify if that bit of information was true. Those ******** needed to be stopped. He wondered why no one was doing anything about it.

"Yer a ********' lifesaver, man," Jamal said, true appreciation evident in his voice as he stretched his limbs and twitched his restrainted tail. "Drop what'eva ya don't need 'n' I'll grab it late tonight. Dat's 'bout da only time I get real close to da duplexes."

He glanced at the food table again. He'd have to go it alone this time maybe.

"I'll see ya then when ya get back."