As soon as the keys had entered the ignition and his eardrums were blasted with a couple hundred decibels of industrial metal, Hugo knew that this would not be a leisurely drive. He braced himself against the dash as the tires ground into the earth leaving a dirt cloud behind them. A frantic grasp for a seatbelt confirmed that there wasn't one.
Hugo caught a sideways glance from the gap between her face and her glasses as Cai smirked. From what he could see, her eyes appeared purple, but that was probably due to the reflection of the red lenses. They could have been blue, maybe light brown.
She turned to look directly at him and yelled something he could hear, but couldn't make sense of.
"WHAT?!" he cupped a hand around his ear but had to return it to brace himself against the dash again as the truck plowed over what must have been a full size log.
She laughed, which he could hear even over the cacophony through the radio before she switched the track to a much mellower slow jazz, "Sorry! I forget most other mutes hate loud music. So! How'd you wind up in the middle of the ocean? I didn't think most primates were particularly fond of water."
"This one certainly isn't," he slowly lowered his hands from the dash as Cai seemed to be driving a little more cautiously, "It's a rather long story, though."
"Right…you'll probably wanna rest before getting into all that. OH!" Cai reached around to rummage through a dirt stained cooler in the back seat before handing him a thermos. "This should have a pH a little more to your liking."
Yellow eyes bulged as Hugo took it and fumbled with the cap, splashing some of the cold water out as he downed it in seconds.
"Woah! Slow down, Speed Racer! You'll make yourself vom doing that!"
Hugo calmed his gasping breath, leaning back against the seat with closed eyes and taking a moment to enjoy the last of the cool fluid running down his throat. It was several seconds before he felt eyes on him and reopened his to see Cai staring with a grin. He quickly righted himself and wiped the dribbled water from his beard.
"There should be one more in there I think…if you want it."
Hugo nodded vigorously, "Yes, please," and turned to dig through half melted ice to find another thermos.
"And slow your roll!" she chortled, "I don't want puke on the upholstery!"
He had been about to down this one the same as the last but decided she was probably right and attempted to pace himself. As he took small sips, the markings on Cai's exposed leg caught his eye. Jagged stripes and irregular spots tapered from beneath her open cloak nearly to her knee. He had pointed them out before but hadn't had the time to really consider why a mandrill might have such markings. Perhaps the mutagen that changed her ancestors was a bit different than the one used on him in the burrow lab. Or maybe it could have to do with cross breeding between similar mutes…
"There's plenty more water at home if you need it."
He was shaken from his musings, and felt his face grow hot, wondering if she had caught him staring.
"Stuff to eat too. We'll be there in a second; it's just up the road here."
Hugo glanced out the window as they came through the trees and onto an actual paved road. This was starting to look a bit more like some areas of Las Vistas; old, overgrown buildings, sagging power lines, all the remnants of a long gone civilization.
"You said you live alone?"
Cai shrugged, "Sort of…"
Hugo was about to ask what she meant by that before she pulled the truck over into a large parking lot. In front of them was a large stone building, probably almost the size of his palace, covered in the usual greenery and flora that had consumed most man made structures. A couple of trees stuck up from the roof, large, but practically saplings compared to what the full height of a mutated tree would eventually become. An eroded, engraved stone face next to the entrance read "Halemaumau Public Library".
"You live here? Alone?"
"I know! Pretty lucky…" She shifted into park and turned off the truck, opening the door to get out.
Hugo followed, taking in the scenery. In front of the entrance was what must have once been a fountain, now just a sheet of orange and blue stained glass that had been shattered at the top standing in the middle of a large basin with stair-stepped, roughly cubbed out rocks around it. As they rounded the other side, the glass glowed as the sun shown through from the other side.
That was when he heard stomping.
"Op!" Cai gave a nod, "Here comes my security system."
As the stomping grew louder, it soon grew faster, and from around the corner of the library, a blue, triangular head appeared, with four bulging, golden eyes.
"Gertie!"
Slitted pupils darted from Cai to Hugo, and he felt the fur stand up along his back as the mega mute's head rose up on an impossibly long neck to open its mouth into a rattling hiss.
"It's ok, Gertie; he's with me!"
The giant gecko seemed satisfied with her response and lowered its head again before licking all four eyes at once with four separate tongues. Hugo stopped himself from jumping when Cai nudged his shoulder with hers, motioning to follow her to the massive double doors.
The blue glass doors were fogged, further blurring the inside, and when Cai opened one, a warm vapor escaped. Hugo's eyes widened as they were both covered in a coating of condensation. He shook his mane, only for it to floof out into even more of a disheveled mess, which Cai politely pretended not to notice as she stepped ahead of him into the library.
The inside was a veritable rain forest. Tropical plants and trees had completely overtaken the empty shelves, and the front desk was buried under the roots of one of the trees that sprouted up into the ceiling. He also thought he heard the sound of moving water.
"Pretty nifty, idn't it?"
"Yes, NIFTY…" Hugo shook his head again, droplets of water scattering from wildly frizzing fur, "…and WET…"
Cai smirked and motioned for him to continue around the tree with her, "Don't worry, the other rooms aren't nearly as humid."
Empty shelves littered the expansive room, many toppled like dominoes and some shattered and disassembled. Some had been used to build platforms to the upper level next to a demolished staircase.
As they rounded the debris, the whole floor along the back side of the building was hollowed out to make room for a stream to flow through from outside. And around it were five more mega mutes all acknowledging their presence but seeming to mind their own business: an eight limbed sea turtle; two multi-eyed and horned chameleons; a bat with four wings and two mouths, one on top of the other; and a six winged, four legged macaw.
"That's Morla, Thing 1 and Thing 2, King Gidora, and Edgar," she pointed them out in order.
There was a discontented grunt followed by a yelp from Edgar before he flew to perch on the ledge of the second floor, and Hugo gasped. A perfectly average, completely normal sized walrus lumbered forward to take his place.
"Aaand Lil' Tubersteins got here a couple weeks ago," Cai seemed a little uneasy at the comparatively small animal, "No one messes with Lil' Tubersteins. He's got some serious inner demons he's working out, I think."
Hugo took a sudden step to stand next to Cai, "WHERE did you find that?"
Cai shrugged, "He found US. That's how any mute ends up here. He must have swam upstream from the ocean. I guess there ARE a few non-mute animals left out there…"
Hugo shook his head, "Not ones that weren't mutes before…"
If Cai hadn't still been wearing her sunglasses, he would have seen her eyes widen, "That's sinister and off-putting… It sounds like you've got experience."
"More than I'd like to have…" he trailed off as he couldn't muffle a yawn.
"You can tell me about it after nap time…" She placed a hand on his shoulder and led him toward the makeshift staircase, "I'll show you where you can sleep."
