"His fever seems to be going down. He still seems to be short of breath but at least his heartrate is slowing back to its normal rhythm."

"Is he gonna wake up anytime soon?"

"I don't know. Whatever chemicals he was exposed to really did a number on him."

"Are you sure it's a chemical?"

"I know a chemical when I smell it, idiot! There's definitely some acid residue on his fur. That's what caused the burn on his arm."

"Ohh, okay. You know, you're a really good doctor."

"I'm NOT a doctor! I'm a chemist."

He groaned as his brain finally rebooted and his eyes flickered open. Immediately, something in his throat caused him to start violently coughing. He felt a paw behind his back, keeping him tipped forward to help him clear his throat.

After a minute or so, his coughing finally ceased and his body settled. He lay back in the bed, finding two new pillows propping him up. He reached up with one of his paws and found it in a bandage, so he lowered it again.

"Do you need some water or something?" asked one of the voices he had heard earlier, the one who had said she was a chemist, not a doctor. "Are you feeling dehydrated?"

Perry managed to shake his head, clearing his already-sore throat to try and speak. "Where am I?"

He was surprised to find that his voice was fairly strong. Not as strong as it was, of course, but not as weak as he thought it was going to be.

"You're at a research facility," said the other voice, this one male. "Deep in Danville Forest."

"In other words, you're safe from whatever hit you," the female voice said.

Perry focused his vision to see who the voices were attached to, and he saw two animals in front of him. One was a brownish dog, maybe a Toller, and the other was a black cat with white paws. They seemed like an odd pair to be running a research facility in the middle of nowhere.

"Can you remember your name?" the female cat asked.

The platypus nodded. "I'm Perry."

"I'm Buddy," the dog said, his tongue hanging out excitedly. "That's Socks. Are you a beaver or a duck?"

"Neither," Perry said resignedly. "I'm a platypus."

"Are you a pet of some kind?" Socks asked.

Perry nodded. "I'm a pet, yeah. Are you two?"

Socks scowled and looked away. Buddy shuffled closer to the bed. "We used to be. But now we run this place."

"What IS this place, exactly?" Perry asked. "You said it was a facility."

"It is," Socks explained. "It's a research facility. We run it."

"What kind of research do you do here?" Perry inquired.

"Scientific," replied Buddy, grinning. "She's a chemist, I'm a computer."

"Computer programmer," sighed Socks, rolling her eyes. "I've told you so many times, Bud: a computer is the thing you work on, a computer programmer is the thing you ARE."

"Oh, right."

Socks sighed again and turned to Perry. "I'm a chemist and a physicist. He's a computer scientist. Sometimes people send us samples and stuff that they need analysed, or give us the names of computer accounts that they need hacked, or ask us to retrieve some information from a wiped computer memory. With every case we get given, we get a little more research."

"I'm trying to build my own computer!" Buddy burst out excitedly.

"And I'm trying to figure out a new element I discovered," Socks added. "Those are our two current goals."

"That's…ambitious." Perry frowned. "Is it just the two of you here?"

"Before we say anything else, I think we should ask YOU some questions," Socks said, narrowing her amber eyes. "Where did you come from? And what happened?"

Perry winced as he shifted his hurt arm. "I can't answer the second question because I don't remember. What I CAN say is that I'm from an animal organisation based in Danville that fights evil on a regular basis."

"Organisation?" Buddy's eyes darted to Socks. "What was that organisation she worked for?"

"O.W.C.A.," replied Socks slowly. "Are you from O.W.C.A., Perry?"

Perry nodded slowly. "That's…right. How do you know about O.W.C.A.?"

"The cat who gave us this place worked for O.W.C.A.," Socks explained. "She told us just before she left. She still often visits us, and she's the one who gives us the most work."

Perry's eyebrows rose curiously. An O.W.C.A. agent? That raised a lot of questions. How had the agent come by this place? Had she founded it? Why had she simply handed it over to Buddy and Socks? And where was she now?

"Do you know why she gave this facility to you?" Perry asked them. "Or where she got it in the first place?"

Buddy and Socks exchanged a glance, then shook their heads. "We asked about both, but she wouldn't tell us. The only thing she said was that we needed it more than her," Buddy explained.

"Don't change the subject." Socks scowled. "We still don't know why you're here."

"I wish I knew that as well," Perry said apologetically. "The last thing I remember is prepping for a mission with my friends. I think the mission might have been in Danville Forest, but that's all I can remember right now."

"I guess your brain is still rebooting properly," Socks said reluctantly. "Will you tell us when you remember?"

Perry hesitated. "Why?"

"We DID rescue you," Buddy pointed out.

"When we found you, you were lying unconscious next to a tree, a really bad burn on your arm," Socks said. "You had some kind of fever, you were gasping for breath, you had a pneumothorax, you-."

"What's that?" Perry interrupted.

"A punctured lung," Socks replied. "You also had a couple of broken ribs and a concussion. So whatever happened to you on that mission must have been big."

Perry slowly nodded. "Alright, I'll tell you if and when I remember what happened."

"Thanks!" Buddy beamed.

"Do you remember who you were with?" Socks asked. "There might be more injured people out there."

Perry's eyes widened in panic, as his blood froze. "I-I hadn't thought about that! I…" He racked his brain as best he could, trying to picture who he was talking to in the mission prep room while they prepared for the mission. "I…I can remember a few."

"Do you want us to look for them?" Socks asked. "If you tell us what they look like, we can find out if they're safe or still out there."

Perry nodded frantically. "Y-Yes, please! I-I can think of a white rabbit, a brown platypus, and a golden cat."

"A golden cat?" Socks seemed to freeze, exchanging a glance with Buddy, before shaking her head slightly. "Alright. White rabbit, brown platypus, golden cat. I'll go out and Buddy can stay here. If you think of any more, just tell Buddy and he'll contact me."

"Thanks so much," Perry breathed. "For everything."

Buddy smiled while Socks just looked away. "You're welcome," the dog said.