Heather's attempt to reign in her temper had been going rather well, at least for her, until she heard a small voice demanding to be returned to her 'aabbo' (whatever that was).

"You've got KIDS locked up in here!" she shouted, once again rattling the bars to her cage. "What is wrong with you %&#@. You think you're so smart and strong you can do anything, give me a *$#(@ broadsword and I'll show you what I can do. You think you've done something great? Well $(%*# you. All you are a is a bunch of pathetic losers who get your kicks from kidnapping and torturing people who can't fight back. You're not gods, you're scum!"

[OoC: Okay, forgive me but I'm going to start the ball rolling so to speak]

The cacophony in room was rising to deafening levels as Will shook and shook at the bars and he was joined by the collective shouts and screams of dozens of humans and, oddly, animals. Will didn't like to be caged, and especially not with a load of animals but the lock was at least putting up some resistance.

"Well, they're a lively lot," one of the white coated humans remarked, strolling up to the row of cages, clipboard in hand. "Better than the last ones at least."

"Oi, moron!" Will snapped. The scientist glanced up and Will smirked. "Ah, so you are a moron then."

The scientist sighed and rolled his eyes. "Okay, let’s start with that one." he pointed at one of the animals. "That one." Another jab with his pen. "And our eager volunteer here," he finished with a grin.

A moment later and a pair of orderlies had swooped in and in a smooth motion dragged Will kicking and spitting from his cage.

"Hey!" he yelled as they dragged him free. "Hey!"

"Come come," the scientist chided. "Be a good boy and we'll even give you your clothes back."

"Oh you are so dead when I get out," Will snapped at him. Ceasing his struggles, it wasn't like he was going to break away from those mountains of muscle.

"That remains to be proven," the scientist said with a smug grin. "Take him away."

The noise was starting to frighten Sabra. All of the adults around her were scared and shouting; did they knew something she didn't? Someone was protesting her presence here, she could hear them saying bad words. She knew this wasn't a cartoon, but so far nothing truly terrible had happened. The men with masks had mostly ignored her, and now the people with white coats were doing the same thing. It was good to be ignored, right?

Sabra bit her lip, trying not to cry. She was going to be brave.

Some of the adults and animals were being taken from their cages, and they didn't seem very happy about it. That was bad, right? Sabra began to rethink challenging the nasty old man. She looked down at her knees, blushing to find them bare and uncovered. She tugged at her gown, trying to cover herself.

A patch of bright pink caught her eyes, and she noticed that her clothes were folded neatly next to her cage. She glared. The nasty man and the white coats were ignoring her for the moment, and she wanted real clothes. She wasn't old enough to need hijab every day, but she longed for the comfort of her modest dress and scarf. Her arm proved too short to reach through the bars, but not by very much. It was as if she was being taunted. Sabra's face took on a petulant quality that her parents would've recognized as an impending tantrum.

She would get her clothes back, even if she had to shame herself to do so. Taking a deep breath and looking both ways to make sure she was still being ignored, she thrust her long, skinny leg out the bars. It slid out all the way to her hip. She smiled in triumph and began feeling around with her toes, seeking the soft cotton of her dress. Aaalmooost...

She closed her eyes and strained her leg as far as it would go. Come on, she thought. Her big toe caught cotton. A few quick tugs had her brightly colored bundle within reach. She pulled in her leg, grabbed her bundle, and retreated into the back corner of her cage to tug on her bright pink dress and wrap her mother's favorite purple scarf around her head. She felt better now.

Settling into the back corner, Sabra began humming to herself. At least she had her clothes now. And nothing bad had happened! No one had said 'no' or 'stop it' or tried to punish her. When no one told her to stop humming - Ibrahim always told her to stop - she began to get louder. Then she started singing.

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are grey..."

Singing made her feel better, more in control. And if that nasty man tried to drag her somewhere, well, she'd scream so loud that their ears would bleed. And now her voice would be all warmed up from singing!

This rage did about as good as her last one, maybe a bit better since she didn't further injure herself. Heather sighed. This was doing no good at all, she needed a plan.

The sound of the child humming made Heather grin a bit. It was funny, maybe a bit sad, that the girl was dealing better than she was. "De inimico non loquaris sed cogites," Heather muttered again. SHe needed to think, not just react.

As the humming changed into singing, Heather remembered reading something about prisoners singing in unison and the unnerving effect it had on their captors. Heh, help the girl calm down and maybe freak out the enemy at the same time, double win.

Taking a deep breath, Heather joined it, "You'll never know, dear, how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away."

Chaos errupting all around her, people being removed from cages, screaming, the dull sound of metal banging and clanging it woke her from her frozen terror and threw her into a panic. Her heart pounding in her chest like some of her fellow inmates against the bars, she slowly crawled closer to the bars, her face almost pressing against the bars she tried looking to her right. It sounded like their was singing coming from there. She could faintly make out 'love you...don't take...ine away'. Why singing? Without thinking she called out. "Hello?...What's happening here?"

Now pressing her face against the bars she tried turning her head a further right to try and see who it was and if they'd heard. Completely forgetting for a moment where she was or to check where those white coats were. Her mind was currently focused on the whats and whys. Why her specifically, all she'd done was gotten lost, how'd she end up here?

Ethan was still throwing himself at the bars of his cage, trying to make it move just enough for him to reach his necklace. The clothes could go to hell, all he cared about was getting his charm back. He slung himself at the bars once more, and sunk down to his knees, nursing his bruised right shoulder, and looked finally took in more of his surroundings.

Ethan wasn't in jail; not in any jail that he'd ever seen on TV. Across from the cages were computer monitors showing statistics and charts one might see in a hospital. To his left and right were more cages filled with other men, women, children, and even animals. Many seemed to be asleep, a few were awake, and of those most were panicking, or getting pissed like he was. He heard the faint sound of someone calling for a 'Rook', and barking dogs. A short distance away some woman was cursing, and even further down a few of the other captives, consisting of two animals and one obviously British man, who was not going quietly.

Ethan looked around more and saw that there were other people in while lab coats and some with guns, even one in a suit. "!@*% rich prick," he said. "Thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants." A guard was walking by, and Ethan called out, "Hey, G.I. Joe!" The guard turned to look at him. "Yeah, you, Jug-head. Can you do me a favor? Pass me that necklace right there, will ya?" The guard walked over to his cage, smiled, and picked up the necklace.

"This what you want?" asked the guard. Ethan looked at the guard's name: T. Broderick.

"Yeah. Could you hand it to me?"

The guard let go a huge grin. "The way things are lookin' now, I don' think you'll be needin' this any time soon. So I think I'll be keepin' it for myself," and stuffed the necklace into his pocket, then began walking off.

"Hey!" Ethan called after him. "HEY! Get your @$! back here! So help me God, I will kick your balls up your throat if you don't give that back to me now! GET BACK HERE, YOU &*@#%^# @#$%*!!"

At the mentioning of female genitalia the guard swiveled around and was at Ethan's cage in a matter of seconds. He reached through the bars and grabbed Ethan by the gown, pulling him as close as the bars would allow. "What did you call me?" he hissed.

"One stupid guard," replied Ethan, and broke the guards hold, turning him around and putting Mr. Broderick into a choke hold. "I've been in my share of fights," Ethan said, distracting his victim as he reached into the pocket and retrieved his necklace. "You'll have to do more than that to scare me, jerk-wad!"

Ethan released his hold on the guard as two more showed up to help. "You'll get yours soon enough," T. Broderick choked out. "You'll see you little worm!" and stalked off. One of the other guards took his clothing and walked off; the third guard called over one of the men in a lab coat as Ethan slipped the necklace on over his head, hiding it under his gown.

"What do you want us to do with him?" the guard asked.

"Open the cage and put him with the others. This ought to straighten him out."

"What if I don't wanna go," Ethan chimed in. "I think I'll just stay here. I kinda like it."

"That choice isn't yours," replied the man in the lab coat, as the guard opened the cage.

"Like hell it isn't!" Ethan yelled, charging the guard. A quick hook to the jaw sent the one guard reeling, and the commotion had caught the attention of another guard close by. As the second guard got close, Ethan extended the Asp he'd picked off of Broderick and smashed it across the oncoming guard's face. The guard he'd just hooked regained his senses and grabbed Ethan in a half-nelson, while the second guard reached for his feet.

Now Ethan was going into his 'cornered mode', and began fighting even more frantically. Struggling to get free. All of a sudden his stomach became nauseated, and pain shot through his entire body and he broke free of the guards' hands, and began convulsing on the floor. He chanced to the the man in the lab coat calling his colleagues and begin writing down notes. Ethan regained brief control of one of his hands as it passed in front of his face, to see fur covering it and moving down his arm.

"Ghk... RRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!" was the only thing Ethan could make come out of his mouth as the pain worsened. The fur was still growing and his bones and muscles began to shift form until finally he screamed one last time, "GHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWOOOOOOOOOOO!!" and passed out. In the spot where Ethan had once been, lay an unconscious wolf. And around his neck was a necklace with a round coin on it, that looked like a collar.

Eyes opened quickly at the sound of a how. Turning to see what was going on, Ference grimaced as pain shot through his limbs. Moving to the wall of his cage, he looked outside and gasped at what he saw before him. There were many rows of cages, some filled with sleeping humans and animals whilst others were filled with just the opposite. He even saw what looked to be doctors and scientist scurrying back and forth, opening cages, checking monitors, and so on. Looking down a himself he noticed that his clothing had been replaced with a dull, gray hospital gown. "What's going on?" he asked himself, turning to move further back into the cage.

A few moments passed as he heard the sound of people being led out of the room and some causing trouble for themselves. The bolt on his door slid open as a couple of scientist forced their way into the cage, each holding what looked to be a taser. Eying them carefully, he began to move close to the as thoughts whirled through is mind. If I follow them, I might just be able to figure out what's going on here, he thought to himself as he moved closer to the man and the woman in the white lab coats. The next thing he knew however he began to change.

He shrieked in pain as his hands and feet began to shrink, turning into hooves. Bones and muscles cracked as his nose began to lengthen and his head took on a triangular shape. His stomach area expanded as a mane grew from his back. To complete the transformation a tail forced its way out from behind and the color of his skin turned a deep black color. At this the scientist moved closer, ready to shock him with the tasers. The woman jabbed the taser into his side, causing him to pass out on the floor. There was a brief silence as he resumed human form, then the two picked hm up and quickly carried him out of the room.

((edit: gah, ninja'ed by Javrson! can we assume this post occurred before Ference made a break for it?))

So many shouts, and screams, not all of them human. It was all so loud. He stopped calling for Caleb. The sounds in his throat were unsettling, even for a dream. He couldn't cover his ears, but he found a way to fold them back--weird feeling. It didn't help much.

When he heard a child's voice, calling from inside one of the cages, the verdict was in. Not a dream. Definitely a nightmare. And it made him very, very angry.

But up there with the anger was fear. Especially when they pulled one of the others out of a cage, and some time later, came back with a cat. That same little part of his brain was absolutely terrified, though the rest of him refused to understand why.

An explanation was forthcoming. A fight broke out at one of the other cages. Abel slunk clumsily toward the far side of his cage, away from the noise, but he still had a perfect few of the scuffle--a perfect view of the way the man's limbs started writhing, how the fur slicked over his skin like oil, how his skeleton twisted in ways that never should have been possible. Then, he was lying on the floor, nothing like what he had been moments earlier.

Bad dream. Bad, bad dream.

The few wounded guards muttered a few curses and took out first aid materials from their utility vests. The one in the labcoat made a vague grunting noise and turned around.

"Let's get this problem case out of the way next. Carson, you're up. Lupine."

Oh God, keep them away from me!

The men with guns approached his cage, and one produced a muzzle. "Can it understand us?" He asked.

"God willing," the labcoat answered. "You--" He looked at his clipboard. "Forster. You play nice, we'll play nice. Come on."

He was done. Through. Quite ready to wake up. Now would be fine. Right now. Really, now was good. But everything was too real, too loud, too strong-smelling. He couldn't find his way out.

And the other wolf--other, the thought made him wince--was thrown in a heap, back in its cage.

The guard pulled the muzzle on, tight, and a sound came out of Abel's throat that, somehow, terrified him more than everything previous. A whine. Just like a dog's.

Another guard put a chain around his neck and yanked him toward the door. He stumbled--the feet were so strange--but then he was out, on the open floor. And yet, boxed in by his own skin, he felt no more free.

Then he saw Caleb.

Caleb! Caleb, it's me! He strained against the chain and made frantic noises through the muzzle, but the soldier yanked the chain hard and choked him, pulling him past Caleb's cage and into the hallway. The door slid shut, and he whined again.

"Oh, shut up," the one with the chain said. "I swear, this is getting to be the longest day. Liked 'em better when they were vegetables."

How long have I been here? What did you do?

They pulled him into an examination room, like at a doctor's office, but with some very high-tech equipment along one wall. Before he realized what was happening the guard reached under him and hefted him up onto the table--it made him feel small. He realized his tail had curled up between his legs. He didn't remember telling it to do that.

A different doctor came in, snapping on a pair of gloves.

"Alright. This is going to be my easiest physical ever, because you understand me and know to behave. Isn't that right?" He slapped Abel on the side of the muzzle--not hard, but still. He realized he was shaking.

The doctor started going through motions--some of which were familiar, some not. Shone a flashlight in his eyes, stuck a thermometer where it was not supposed to go, shoved a stethoscope under his fur--

His fur. His tail. God, he was thinking of them as his now. He had to wake up.

"Respiration is a little irregular. Or rather, more irregular than I'd expect," the doctor said, pulling off the gloves. "Still, nothing looks too wrong. Let's try and turn him back."

Yes! Yes, please do that!

"Alright. Taser?"

"That'll do it."

WHAT?

Quicker than the thought could travel from his skull down his neck, something hard was pushed against his spine, and then his whole body caught fire. His shriek boomed, even through the muzzle, and every muscle spasmed, sending him crashing off the table.

"Christ, Peters, would you hold it down?"

"While you're tasing it? I'll get back to you on that."

Everything was blotchy, he couldn't see straight. God, it hurt so much...

"No response," the doctor said. "Hit it again."

No, please--

Fire again, through every nerve and fiber. He wanted to scream so bad, but his throat wouldn't work, and it wouldn't stop--

"Hold."

The sudden void felt like ice. Like all his bones had burned, and only bits of snow and ash were left under his skin.

"Something's wrong. I'm taking a sample."

A sting, near his rump. The blotches cleared a little, but it hurt too much to move. He saw the doctor feeding something into a slot on the wall, and moving lights...

"Hemoglobin is fine, adrenaline levels expected. Relatively high traces of fexofenadine." The doctor swore. "The technetium catalyst is everywhere. Something's blocking carbene corruption." He turned back toward Abel. "We'll have to jumpstart it."

Please...stop...

"You want me to get McFa--"

"He's busy gloating. Just get it back up on the table."

Thick arms under him again, pulling him back up under the interrogation light. Bad, bad dream...

"We'll use the same alkylation agent from the 6-18 case." Something pushed up against his flank again, and there was a shlucking sound--

This fire was nothing like the first. This fire was liquid, and thick, and it ran all the way into his bones, but the best scream he could manage was just a drawn out whine through the muzzle straps.

"Alright. You two clear out while I boost decay."

The guards hurried through the door, and the doctor pushed a button, and something loud started whirring in the ceiling. His vision was still blotchy, but he saw something large extending down on him, like the x-ray machine at the dentist's. The doctor was putting on some kind of shiny apron, and then he reached for a switch--

Nothing. Nothing like anything else, the taser and the injection hadn't been fire at all, they'd been oil, but this was sparks, and burning in everything, burning through every part of him, down into places he didn't know he could feel, and his screaming synapses managed only a single thought before blackness took him.

I'm dreaming of Hell.

As the sounds of the people and animals around him increased, Damien felt their voices pressing against his canine ears. He tried to tell them to shut up, but his own voice was reduced to a feral, fearful whimpering, incapable of forming the words he needed, and inaudible among the various foul-tempered threats and shouts.

Those small, loose objects in the room that contained metal began to move again, seemingly on their own as they had before, but more calmly this time. Some approached the coyote's cage; some retreated away from it; many were pushed and pulled back and forth, completely at random.

Then one sound rose above the rest, a powerful canine howl that was simply too much for Damien to bear. A pained growl ripped itself from his throat, and he collapsed on the floor of his cage. Convulsing, the coyote began to grow and change; his tail receded into his spine, which stretched to twice its length; his ears shortened into a rounder shape and migrated down the sides of his head; his four legs grew longer and sturdier, and the bones within rearranged themselves to support the heavier muscles of his human legs and arms; his muzzle and fangs shrank into his face, reshaping into a rounded jaw and square teeth. Then his fur receded all at once, leaving behind its color and pattern in Damien's skin.

With the coyote's magnetic influence suddenly weakened, the various moving objects slid to a stop. Now human, Damien lay naked and curled up on the floor of his cage, shivering from the cold that had come all at once when his fur had receded, clenching his eyes shut and holding his human hands against his ears in a futile attempt to silence the incessant sounds of the beasts and men around him.

After he yelled, everything got loud. Too loud. Barking and howling animals and shouting humans made him wince and grit his teeth, and the near-deafening canid wail mad his ears ring. He certainly couldn’t hear Rook over the din, if the boy was even here.

Caleb sighed and took a deep breath. Yelling, obviously, wasn’t solving anything. He ran a hand through his hair and tried not to feel claustrophobic as he glanced around his cell. His eyes caught on the folded bundle of clothes on the floor in front of him, and his expression became confused. If those were his clothes… What the hell am I wearing?

A hospital gown, apparently. He plucked at the cotton, scowling. Fine, add insult to injury. No clothes. Whatever. He could deal. Caleb moved to sit at the back of his cell; he wasn’t going to break out by sheer force. And besides, others were being taken out of their cells by scientists and heavily armed guards. That didn’t seem like a good situation to him; he’d rather fly under the radar as long as possible than find out what was behind door number two.

First point of business. Where was Abel? Caleb didn’t see him anywhere, but it was possible he was just at the other end… right? He hoped so. But his position in the middle of the line made creeping doubt difficult to ignore.

A small voice from his left made him look over; if he hadn’t been feeling nauseous already, the fact that there was a child in the cell next to him would have done it.

"Hey Mister! Hey footo delo!" The little girl yelled. "My aabbo gonna kill you if you don't give me back! My aabbo is an important man and he gonna find you!"

Christ. A kid. Apparently he wasn’t the only one outraged by that turn of events, because the next thing he knew there was another woman yelling obscenities.

"You've got KIDS locked up in here! What is wrong with you %&#@. You think you're so smart and strong you can do anything, give me a *$#(@ broadsword and I'll show you what I can do. You think you've done something great? Well $(%*# you. All you are a is a bunch of pathetic losers who get your kicks from kidnapping and torturing people who can't fight back. You're not gods, you're scum!"

As the woman yelled, the little girl got a petulant expression that reminded him of his ex’s daughter. Caleb didn’t know a heck of a lot about kids, but he knew the ‘I’m going to throw a fit’ look. Uh-oh. Just what they needed was a screaming child added to this mess. His heart went out to her, yes; but his ears were being abused enough already.

He opened his mouth to talk to her, to say something, anything, to stop the impending explosion. Nothing came out, though. What was he going to tell her? That everything was going to be ok? He wasn’t even sure where the hell they were, much less that the scientists weren’t going to kill them all in the next ten minutes. But it turned out to be unnecessary as she got up and reached for the bright pink clothes outside her cell. Then she really surprised him, using her leg to snag the cloth. Clever.

“Good job, kid,” he murmured approvingly, doubting she would hear him over the cacophony, and pointedly looked away as she dressed.

“You are my sunshine…”

The little girl was singing, and the young woman who had been yelling joined in. Good. That would help stave off a tantrum, calm the kid down and keep her from freaking out. Now if only he could keep himself from freaking out for a while longer.

Around then, a couple of scientists and guards were doing something with the large dog he had seen earlier. It was tethered with a chain and had a muzzle around it’s snout. As it got closer, Caleb’s eyes widened. That was no dog--it was a wolf, and a rather unhappy looking one at that. When it got to his cell, the animal began to struggle, wide eyed and frantic. Caleb watched it get pulled away in silence.

He looked around again, taking note of the different animals he was seeing. Somewhere among the confusion, he saw, the scientists had tossed a cheetah into a cell where a man had been earlier. A cheetah.

And… wait. Was that a horse? But there had been a person there a little bit ago. A rather short bit ago. But no, the guy was gone, and now there was a horse—but the scientists did something, blocking Caleb’s view, and then the guy was back and the horse was gone.

Um. What.

The implications of that short turn of events shook Caleb deeply, and he felt the color drain from his face as he stared. A man… horse… and then… a person… A sound somewhere between a moan and a giggle escaped him as his brain tried to deal with what he had just seen.

It was almost funny in some corner of his mind, but he had the feeling that if he started laughing it would turn to hysteria and he might not have been able to stop.

There was a woman singing somewhere close by, and Sabra relaxed a little. Somewhere in the madness there was someone who noticed her and wanted to help her, even if it was something as stupid as singing a song together.

They reached the end of one song, and Sabra immediately started up on "100 bottles of coke on the wall." She concentrated on counting, even though she was learning multiplication in school and counting was for babies.

At "87 bottles of coke on the wall," a group of scientists dragged a wolf past her cage. A real live wolf, just like they had at the zoo! She perked up, loosing count as she stared at the chained animal. She was just moving closer to the bars when it suddenly started whining and lunged toward her. She squeaked and fell back before realizing that it wasn't interested in her, it was after the man next to her. It also didn't seem like a threat. She bit her lip, sorry for the poor animal. Maybe the man next to her was its master? It certainly seemed to recognize him.

She diverted her attention to the man who may or may not be a wolf tamer. She'd stopped singing, too full of energy to concentrate on a song any more. She stood up, glad that the marshmallows had mostly gone away. A few steps took her to where her cage touched the old man's cage. She bounced on the balls of her still bare feet and stared at him. He seemed calm, mostly, though his face drained of color as he stared at something Sabra couldn't see.

Her tummy rumbled. She doubted anyone could hear it over all the other noises, but she could feel it. She was starving. Would they be fed here? The masked men had fed Sabra every few hours, and had yelled at her when she complained. She'd learned quickly that if she wanted food or a potty, it was better to wait. But that was when she was their only kidnapped person.

Should she ask for food? Or should she ignore her tummy and try to talk to the wolf tamer? Her tummy growled again, and she was pretty sure that it has just tried to take a bite out of itself. She turned away from the wolf tamer to bounce over to the bars.

She knew she should be scared - really, she did. She knew that all kinds of bad things could happen to her, nameless horrors that hooyo promised were lurking out there for naughty little boys and girls. Hunger was a powerful motivator, though.

"Excuse me?" Threatening hadn't worked. Maybe being polite would help? "Please?"

One of the white coats looked over at her. He didn't seem prepared to deal with her, but then he frowned. He muttered something to another white coat and walked over to her cage.

"How did you get those?" he asked, voice gruff. He didn't sound angry, exactly. Sabra hadn't considered that drawing attention might mean they would take her clothes back. She shrank into herself and tugged her hijab down toward her eyebrows.

"My toes," she mumbled, looking at his right ear. "Please," she added, voice louder now as she continued to address his right ear. "My tummy hurts. Are you going to feed us?"

He frowned at her, then looked at his clip board. "You speak English," he said, as though he hadn't expected it.

Sabra narrowed her eyes, balled her fists, and stamped her foot. "Of course I do you big meanie face! I'm an American citizen. My teacher says that means I have rights, and I'm hungry."

The white coat laughed at her. "Well, I guess now is as good a time as any. What's your name?"

"Sabriyya," she said before remembering that little girls were NOT supposed to give their names to strangers. She stamped her foot again, because there wasn't any place to run.

"Sabrina?" he repeated, pulling a pen out from his pocket.

"No," she glared. "Sah-bri-yaa," she repeated, carefully rolling out her 'r' for his stupid deaf ears.

He wrote something down. "Okay Sabrina, let's go." He did something to open her cage, and she considered the space between his legs and the door. "Oh no you don't," he muttered as she gathered herself for an escape. He grabbed her wrist and lifted her until her toes barely touched the floor. She cried out in pain, then terror as he half carried, half dragged her from the cell.

Then she shrieked. Shrieked as only a terrified seven year old girl can. The white coat swore, fumbling with his clipboard as he tried to free up his second hand. She continued to scream, high and sharp and loud, until the scientist finally dropped the clipboard in favor of slapping his hand over her mouth.

She bit him.

He cursed, but didn't let go. "Hey, Helen! Come help me. We need to test this little bitch for rabies." Somewhere another scientist laughed.

Then the door to the cage room slammed shut behind her, and she was alone with the white coated man.

Inky blackness... again... sounds of people and animals. Flashes of a fight scene, like in a poorly directed movie... fur spreading over his hands. Ethan's eyes shot open. He was breathing heavily and shaking hard. He tried to move to rub his head, but he could not feel his fingers. Instead, it felt like something he hadn't felt for a long time. It felt like a dog, pawing his head. Ethan closed his eyes and different images appeared. Images of a clearing in the mountains, a shallow cave -- no, a den -- and a mother wolf.

Ethan opened his eyes again and remembered a little of what had happened a few minutes ago. The guard, T. Broderick; the other guards and the people in lab coats; his body convulsing and growing fur. What in the name of the moon and sun was going on? Ethan asked himself silently. Another guard walked by, and Ethan tried to stand, but found it difficult. His legs wouldn't bend right or support his weight when he tried pushing himself up on his legs. All he did was fall on his face. His face... something wasn't right. It felt like there was more there. Ethan slightly crossed his eyes and saw himself staring down a muzzle.

Now Ethan was worried. For the first time since he'd been in this place, he was scared, truly frightened. A sort of primal fear rose inside of him. What's going on? he yelled. Somebody -- anybody -- please talk to me! But all he could hear was yipping, growling, barking, and whining where his voice should've been. Ethan finally made himself able to stand, although just barely, on all fours. But... it felt... right. Like this was the way he was supposed to be standing.

Ethan was pleased that he had began to make some sense of the situation, and felt a strange sensation near his rear end. He looked back to see a wagging tail. Wagging back, and forth. Back, and forth. Alluring... taunting. Ethan would teach it a lesson. He would get that tail, and show it who the boss was. He lunged, but the tail moved, and he lost his footing, once again falling on his face. Tail: 1. Ethan: 0.

Ok... bad Idea. Ethan sat on his haunches... since when did he have haunches? Oh well... it can't be worse than having the urge to chase my ta-- ... wait... my tail? A tail, haunches, elongated muzzle, and not being able to walk on two legs. Ethan tried to speak again, but all that came out was, "Rrr-wruff."

This is disturbing, he mused. I seem to have become a dog... Ethan sat quietly for a few moments, then got a sudden urge to sing. He could think of only one song that seemed perfect for the situation. Ethan padded over to his cell's bars, and sat down once again. Time to see if this is a dream come true, he thought, drawing in a deep breath. Then, raising his muzzle to the ceiling, he let out a howl of wolf-song. In his mind he recited the lyrics, "This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS! It's hard to overstate my satisfaction..."

The only thing that could make this more perfect was a cake he could call a lie.

The little girl's plight snapped Khar out of her Fixation on her flute, and she started to notice that there were strange things happening. She had been ignoring everything around her until now. Straightening herself up, she waved a nearby scientist over.

"Scuse me miss, can i get... ARGGGH!" Her head exploded in pain as the wolf howl rang far too loud in her skull. Still not used to it, but she needed to communicate.

The scientist looked at her, and smiled cruelly. "Experiment 36596, you are awake. Good. Hey Bill, Help me get this one to the medical room"

Looking up with Defiance in her eyes, and bringing herself up to her full 5'9" stature, she spoke clearly, calmly and with a certain note of Danger in her voice. "My name is Khar. I am a human Being, and I deserve to be addressed by my given name"

"A human you say? Let's see about that! Hahah"

An armed guard came over and unlocked the cage. Khar calmly stood there as the guard grabbed her to drag her out. Khar wrenched her arm from his grip and walked forward.

"I have no intention of causing any ruckus. You want me to follow you, fine, I will. But i want my flute"

The guard spoke this time.
"Missy, you can cause more trouble than we care to allow. I WILL be escorting you, and you WILL not resist, or I will crush your flute under my foot this very instant."
In demonstration, he placed his foot over the flute sitting on her clothes. Panic filled her eyes, and the 17 year old offered her hand to be led to where she needed to go. Grabbing her roughly by the arm, he proceeded to kick her feet from under her and drag her to a medical room.

Once in the room, they strapped her to a table, and a doctor came in. Running a series of standard health checks, the doctor smiled and said in what Khar assumed was supposed to be a calming voice. "You are in great health, Miss Car. We can move on to the next test now."
"Next test? What do you mean next test?"

Before they could give her an answer, a jolt of pain surged through her bones as a tazer was pressed to the nape of her neck. She screamed in agony as the taser was removed and began to feel strange. Her spine lengthened, her legs shortened, her joints reversed and the bones in her spine were expanded. Her screams turned into roars as her vocal cords and facial structure changed. Her entire body felt as if she was being ripped limb from limb. She was conscious enough after the transformation was complete to notice the sound of a mouse in the wall. She then promptly passed out.

The scientist stared at the clouded leopard on the table with bafflement. "Sharon, what was the chosen animal for 36596?"
The female scientist looked at her clipboard. "Bobcat. why?"
"Huh. No reason. Put it back in it's cage, we'll test it when it is able to withstand the process."

Bill the guard walked over and scooped up the body. Hoisting it over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, he carried Khar's limp body back to her cage and threw her down. Shoving her clothes and flute in the cage with her, he sneered and spat in her sleeping face.
"Damn teenagers. Can't wait till McFarland Exterminates this one."

The metal door closed and the bolt was slid home.

Cold.

Was the first thing he thought. He was freezing. Everywhere. He couldn't force himself to open his eyes. He wanted to just lay down, but he was so cold. He couldn't move either. As if his entire body was frozen. He curled himself up.

Wobbly sounds began flooding his ears. It escalated until it became a cacophony of chaotic noises. This discomforted him, so he turned his ears away. He curled up some more, desperate to give himself some warmth.

Despite the scent of fear and anger that flooded his nostrils, he oddly felt content. As if he had reached something he had always wanted.

He managed to open his eyes, once he felt hot breath reach his flank coming from beside him. He stretched his head and turned, seeing a wolf chase its own tail. He sat still, watching amusedly, and purred. He somehow felt warmer, at least. He heaved his paws up and walked to the edge of the cage. He had woken up earlier than most, but he felt miserably cold so he stayed huddled and refused to move, drifting back to sleep. He liked the room much better back then when it was quiet.

He peered outside, quietly, as the sounds became more clear. It began to irritate him, with how everyone was panicking, angry, and hysteric. He frowned and lowered his ears, then forgot about it. He couldn't do much about it in this enclosed space. Instead, he sat on his haunch and watched the wolf in the next cage, who suddenly began howling.

The lynx was startled, flattening his ears and growled at the wolf as the howl echoed around the room - accompanying the abrasive noises that continued to scathe his ears. He focused on keeping his ears down and hissed at the wolf. Then he sat down, continuing to watch, with the occasional flick.

Pushing himself to a sitting position, Kayje looked at the skin he had left on the floor before checking himself. Stretching his limbs, he noticed that his body seemed to be tighter, and that he was no longer wearing the hospital gown that had transformed with him.

An ear-splitting howl pierced the cell, and as he covered his ears, Kayje noticed an even sharper pain on his fingertips. Growling from the experience, he looked at the offending digits, immediately seeing the source. The nails were gone, and the rapid movement had ripped the sensitive skin beneath. Glancing at his toes, he noticed the same lack of nails, and over the rest of his body, he was completely hairless. Gah! Note to self, never, ever, do that again. Gonna have to go slow getting dressed.

Moving carefully, he got dressed, wincing each time his fingertips touched the clothes. He had just finished as the little girl was carried past, and after latching his voice box to his waist, opened his door and stepped out, looking over the other subjects. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guard spit at one of the prisoners after roughly dumping her back in the cell. Okay, that's enough of that. Almost like they want a riot.

Kayje calmly walked over to the man, placing his left hand on his shoulder while typing his words on the box at his waist. "William. Maher. I. Expect. More.. Professional. Behavior. From. The. Men. Under. My. Command." Turning the volume up, he addressed the other soldiers in the room. "There. Is. To. Be. No. Further.. Unnecessary. Cruelty. To. The. Subjects. Only. Use. Force. On. The. Violent. Ones." Returning his volume to normal levels, he came back to Bill. "You. Are. Free. To. Go. William. Report. To. The. Infirmary."

Removing his hand, Kayje watched as Bill walked away, arm hanging limply at his side. Gently opening his pocket, he removed a pair of lollypops, sliding an orange one through the door to Khar, and ripping the wrapper of with his teeth and sticking the white and yellow one in his mouth. Popcorn this time, huh? God I missed these.

"This one has already transformed once. Miniature horse." the woman said as she laid Ference out on the table with the help of the other scientist. The doctor nodded before shooing them to the other side of the room. Taking out a light, like the one's seen at a doctor's office, he lifted an eyelid, shining it within. This in turn prompted Ference to awaken.

"I see you're with us now. Behave and you'll get your clothes back," the doctor told him, before checking his other eye. After a few more minutes, the doctor clapped his hands. "Just one more test..." he stated, picking up a scalpel and walking towards he boy. Ference backed up, moving closer to the wall as the doctor advanced on, hoping that fear would induce a transformation. When it became clear however that this wasn't working, the doctor sighed. "You can go." he told Ference, as the scientist approached. Grabbing Ference by the arm, they led him to his cage before stopping just outside the door. Scooping up his clothing, they shoved the pile into his arms before shoving him into the cell once more. Closing the bolt, they left without a final glance.

Sighing in defeat, he turned to pull his clothes back on.

Reain continued to lie silently on his stomach as he watched the scientists move about the room, kindly they had left his glasses even if the rest of his cloths had been replace with a medical gown. As the commotion in the room increased and the noise got louder he heard the man in the cell next to him mutter “Oh just shut up. You're making my head hurt even more.” Deciding it’s best to get to know the other people in the cells Reain leaned over and introduced himself “I hear you on that one, I’d give my life savings for a pair of earplugs right now. By the way, my names Reain.”

Even while talking Reain was carefully watching the scientists and equipment, more the equipment, it was familiar to him from his orientation and training. It was basic medical stuff, the things Ovid used everywhere, the armed guards were something Reain had only seen once with Ovid, and was told to ignore them. Overall it didn’t seem like what he had seen at Ovid but he was perplexed by why he was there. Then it came to him, he still had to take his psych evaluation, this was just part of the test. He noticed a few people be dragged out of the room and their cadges replaced with animals and decided it was part of the exam, but the view of others changing in the room were always obscured because of his position near the wall.

Upon this revelation Reain asked the man next to him if he worked for Ovid.