Hey um, you…you did remember to check Dizzy's story, didn't you?

Here's the link again in case you haven't:

https:[sl][sl]www[d]wattpad[d]com[slash]1007374678(dash)changed(dash)the(dash)awakening(dash)chapter(dash)1(dash)awakened?utm(underscore)source=rss

Replace the following with the following:

[sl] means /

[d] means .

(dash) means –

(underscore) means _

Summary: Sometimes, physical work can serve as a distraction from the troubles of the mind.

Lin passed through some more corridors. Unremarkable, narrow, illuminated by cold, sterile white light. Once again he caught himself keeping his step as quiet as he could. Transfurmation was still a very real possibility, especially when facing amorphous or less eloquent latexes. The idea of merging with one of these creatures still unnerved him.

Who's to say Puro and the snow leopards were right, anyway? Had they ever had hosts? If Aura's explanation about how latexes constructed solid bodies was true, chances were they did…but were hosts the only way to produce more latexes? Their talk had mainly been about transfurmation, not procreation. What if it was possible for a human to be assimilated permanently and she just didn't know about it?

He doubted that was the case—if anyone knew how latexes worked, it were the latexes themselves—but it was better to be safe than sorry.

Lin took a turn into a slightly wider corridor. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw that one of the walls was replaced by a thick pane of glass. He frowned, observing it. Was that water behind it?

His jaw dropped when a dog swam by. No, not a dog; a latex. Its body was mostly humanoid in shape, covered in snow white fur with a total of four arms. Another four appendages protruded from its back, and Lin noticed with surprise that they were tentacles, like a squid's. When the small creature spotted him, it swam towards the glass, curiously observing him with dual white pupils in black eyes.

A…dog squid? Squid dog?

Then a shark swam by. Again, humanoid in shape, with fins on its head and limbs. It, too, slowed down and swam towards the glass.

Only then did the two latexes spot one another.

And then they started to fight.

Lin backed away from the glass a little. The two creatures wrestled in the water, trying to get the other in a headlock. There wasn't any punching or kicking though. In fact, with the occasional smiles and laughs, it seemed more like a friendly competition than an actual fight.

In their struggling and grappling, they slowly drifted away and eventually vanished from sight.

Lin just stared at the now-empty water. Well…that just happened.

Then a metal box with a single glass pane got lowered in the water on a chain. Through the glass, Lin recognized a familiar face. His jaw dropped again. "Jack?!" he said out loud.

Jack spotted him. The felid raised a hand and casually waved as much as the box's limited space allowed him. Stupefied, Lin just waved back. Was this Charlie's doing, or…?

A smaller fish swam by. Pure white in color, perhaps unnaturally so; possibly another latex. Jack followed the creature with his eyes, tapping the glass slowly.

… A cat trying to catch a fish. Not abnormal. Maybe Charlie had nothing to do with this after all.

The box slowly rose back up. Jack waved goodbye, and eventually the box was out of sight altogether.

Before Lin had the chance to process what he'd just seen, more creatures came by. And then more. And more. More sharks, squid dogs, axolotls, orcas, crocodiles—most humanoid in shape, all looking at him through the glass. Their interactions ranged from curious glances to polite greetings. In many cases, they gave both.

Lin just waved back each time. As he watched them, he found himself wondering—just how many latex species were there? How many animals' DNA did the scientists here extract—and combine—to be given to these creatures?

It took a few minutes before he snapped out of his trance. He still had to leave the facility. Besides, at least some of those latexes would probably transfur him any chance they got; it was better not to get too starry-eyed over them.

He left the glass section behind him. He turned another corner, only to stop yet again.

The floor of the corridor ahead moved down at an incline. From where Lin stood, he glimpsed wooden flooring and vegetation in the area down below. He frowned. What was this place…?

He cautiously set his foot onto the inclined ground. Once it fully supported his weight, he took another step.

With careful movements, he made his way down the incline. Once down, he looked around the room he was in. Its wooden walls and floor, combined with the flora and the pleasantly warm air-conditioning were a stark contrast to the cold, sterile environments he'd seen so far. The library had been cozy, but this was…relaxing.

He frowned. What was this place?

He spotted a door and passed through it—to be met with more of the same. Bushes sprouted from the ground on a mat of grass—not unlike what he'd expect in a greenhouse—and a window that took up most of the wall to his right allowed sunlight through. The air felt humid and warm.

This wasn't right. This couldn't be right. The people in this facility had been researching a vaccine for a super-virus—to the point of kidnapping citizens and creating weird latex creatures. A place this warm and inviting had no business being here.

He stepped forward onto a patch of grass, its stalks tickling his bare feet. Despite the mild unease his thoughts brought him, he couldn't help but appreciate the change in scenery.

His eyes gravitated to the large window, and he hesitated. Then he made his way over and gazed upon the city outside. He'd looked at it before, but that was several floors up; from here, he could see the neglect and disrepair—and the severe lack of people—in more detail.

He guessed the city just wasn't very populated right now. Not surprising; the world was busy rebuilding itself. Still, someone had to be out there. He'd concluded that before; how else could this facility still have power? How else could the lights and fans still work years after the facility was cleared out?

He retracted the hand he'd unconsciously pressed against the window. He couldn't afford to get distracted by his thoughts.

He passed the first few bushes, pushing their leaves aside.

Even if there were backup generators in this building, he found himself thinking for the hundredth time, there's no way they kept it all running for this long.

… Huh. He didn't know oranges could grow on bushes…yet here they were.

There may even be people in the facility, still.

The shrubbery turned out to be smaller than he'd expected; the other end came in view pretty soon.

How else did my life pod open? Puro said it was latexes, but there's no way they know how to operate equipment like that. How much time have they had to learn—

He heard some leaves rustling.

He stopped. Was that his doing? No, that had come from somewhere else.

More rustling. Startled, he turned his head to where it came from. Did that plant just move?

Suddenly on high alert, he hid behind a nearby bush, peeking past its leaves.

Then a lighter green came into view, contrasting the bushes' darker hues. A latex—again, humanoid shape, but with animalistic qualities. This one seemed to resemble some kind of lizard.

Its brown eyes were looking right at him. Lin froze. His instincts told him to run, but he didn't. Not yet.

The lizard gave a wave. It looked a little confused at seeing him, but not aggressive. Still a little hesitant, Lin stepped out from behind the bush, maintaining eye contact with the creature.

Then he noticed the basket in its hand. It was half-filled with oranges.

It gave a slight smile, then turned to pluck another orange from a nearby bush. It dropped the fruit in the basket. Lin observed as it repeated the process. Besides the occasional glance his way, the creature seemed fully focused on doing its job.

Lin glanced to the way ahead. He could just leave…

He hesitated. Then he reached out and plucked an orange of his own. With slow, careful movements, he stepped towards the lizard. It noticed his approach and gave a questioning look.

Lin showed it the orange. It, in turn, proffered its basket, and Lin dropped the fruit in. The lizard gave another smile. It looked…friendly. It didn't seem very talkative, but Lin didn't mind that.

They both continued their work in silence. As they did, Lin noted how calm the latex acted. It seemed mildly fascinated by him, but it didn't observe him too intently besides the occasional glance. It didn't even try to get close except when Lin offered more oranges to add to its harvest. The dark latex leaders had forbidden their subordinates from interacting with him because they weren't sure about their ability to communicate, yet this lizard was evidence that even silent latexes could be patient and collected. Welcoming, even, judging from its friendly face.

Lin headed over to the bushes nearest the window. Forcing himself not to look outside, he instead directed his focus on the bush in question. With jaw lightly clenched, he snatched the oranges off the branches.

Before he could drop them in the basket, something outside the window drew his gaze. He frowned. It wasn't the city he was looking at, but a figure flying towards the window directly.

Wait a minute, was that…?

He spotted dual white pupils in black eyes. The dark latex dragon slowed its pace at the window and grabbed onto something above it with both hands. With a grimace, it set its feet against the pane to stabilize itself.

"Fellow dragon!" it cried out. Its voice barely got through the glass, but Lin recognized it anyway.

He stood perplexed. "Fletch?!"

The dragon nodded proudly. "It's me! The Elder One gave me a mission. You were right! He does trust me!" He glanced around. "Erm…I don't want to disappoint him, so…I should go now. We'll meet again though, I'm sure of it! Until then, Colin!"

He flew off, vanishing as quickly as he'd appeared. Lin watched him go, confused. Didn't he say the Elder One wanted him to stay at the nest? Why would the giant dragon send him out? And why now? Did it have something to do with the Protocol…?

A tap on his shoulder made him turn to face the lizard. Only then did Lin remember that he was holding a half-dozen oranges in his arms. He dropped them in the basket.

Then he resumed his work. He'd get his answers eventually—to the big questions and the small ones.

Soon, the bushes were out of oranges. Lin looked to the lizard, who gestured with its head for him to follow. It then left the mass of plants. Lin did the same. It led him to the next room, where more bushes awaited. Two more rows of shrubbery, with oranges to boot.

The lizard moved to the side, where it exchanged its filled basket with an empty one. It also proffered one to Lin, who took it and moved straight to the bushes.

For minutes, there was just silence. Lin worked quickly, picking orange after orange, forcing himself to stay focused on this one goal. It was simple—get an orange, drop it in the basket, repeat—but he devoted all the brainpower he could muster on that one job. He occasionally shared a glance with the lizard, who was working on the other row of bushes with the same level of diligence. Lin found himself wondering why the creature lived here. Was it its job to pick fruits in this place, to maintain the gardens?

At one point Lin had to exchange his filled basket for an empty one. He kept working from there until all the oranges he could find were gone. He was done around the same time as his latex companion.

Five baskets full of oranges.

Lin sighed, looking at them. The job hadn't been complicated or difficult, but he felt oddly satisfied at the sight before him. The lizard gave him another one of its amiable smiles before picking up three baskets in both hands. Lin took the remaining two and proceeded to follow the latex beast through the shrubbery. It led him to a corridor with a device Lin couldn't identify.

Two devices actually. One of them was a robot, though it seemed to be modeled after the latexes, with a humanoid form and wolf-like hands, feet and head. Its head and chest projected blue holographic light resembling fur, and a holographic tail sprouted from where its tailbone would be.

It turned its head to Lin and the lizard with a screen featuring square blue eyes, a strangely amicable grin playing at its artificial maw.

It was stuffing oranges into the second device, a rectangular metal box with orange-crushing mechanisms on one side and wires—revealed through glass panes—in the other.

The lizard set the baskets down and Lin followed suit, eyeing the device. "What is this?" he asked, not expecting a response. He peeked behind the machine to see clusters of electrical cables leading into the wall.

He rounded the device and spotted a small screen on the side.

Orange Generator, manufactured by Thunder Science…

Generator efficiency…

Capacity…

Status…

Moments passed as the screen's words seeped into reality. Lin found himself staring at it. A generator…

He glanced at the robot, which was still busy with the oranges.

This device…ran on oranges…and could generate electricity…

Maintained by a robot. And a latex.

Lin felt his legs weaken, his gaze forcibly glued to the device. He placed a hand against the wall to steady himself. His stomach suddenly acted up.

What… What was…

His environment shifted. Darkened.

He heard sounds, but couldn't place them. Everything was muted all of a sudden, drowned out by the rapid thumping in his ears.

Door. Door. He had to go. Now.

He started towards it, but his step felt off. As if his body couldn't maintain balance, he found himself almost falling over. Leaning back too much, forward, to the side, head tilted— Why wasn't his body obeying him? Why couldn't he stay upright?

Through the door. More shrubbery, followed by a hard wooden floor. Planks shaped like tiles. More shrubbery ahead. Was that another door on the other side of it?

He stumbled, placed his hand against the wall again. His head was spinning for some reason.

Open the door. Go forward. Were those…voices? Muted voices.

His throat vibrated, as if he was saying something, but he couldn't hear his voice. He could barely keep his eyes open anymore.

He took another step and promptly his knee caved. He collapsed.

Then he was floating, and his chest felt constricted. He stared dumbly at the two green arms around him.

He looked up and right into the eyes of a humanoid wolf. Where had that thing come from? The orange-and-brown-furred latex took one of Lin's arms while the lizard took the other, and they guided him forward.

Maya, get him some water.

He blinked. More latexes, sitting on stools. Why were they looking at him like that, all disturbed?

Hey, buddy. Can you hear me?

I've got some water. Hey, darling, it's okay.

Just breathe, human. Relax.

He slowly became aware of the paw tapping his cheek. Then he realized the orange wolf's face was right in front of his. How had he not noticed it earlier?

He felt himself…sitting. On a stool. When had that happened?

"There ya go," the wolf said when Lin met his gaze. "I think he's coming around, guys."

"Here."

Lin dumbly glanced to the side, where another latex offered him a glass of water.

He slowly took it. His hand felt heavy.

He looked at the latex who had offered it. A blue female…wolf? He wasn't sure.

"You feeling a little better, there?" asked Blue Wolf. He realized her hand was on his shoulder.

Lin glanced up at the many gazes before him. Besides the lizard and the two canids, he spotted two rabbits whispering amongst themselves, giving him wide-eyed looks. He briefly met the gaze of the white-and-yellow dragon, who sat next to a creature with white and pinkish fur whose species he couldn't place.

"Rough party?" smirked Orange Wolf.

Lin blinked. "Erm…no."

"No? So you just can't hold your liquor then?"

Lin stared at him dumbly.

Blue Wolf placed an arm on Lin's shoulder. "Leave him alone, Dayton." To Lin she said, "You okay? You scared us a little, there."

"Yeah," Dayton affirmed, ruffling Lin's damp hair. "Still with us, bud? Man, you're sweaty."

"Uh…yeah," Lin said, slowly regaining his senses. He moved to get off the stool. "I should go."

Dayton pushed him back. "Not yet, you're not. I can't just leave you alone when you're drunk."

"I'm not drunk…"

"He's teasing, sweetheart," Blue Wolf said.

"Yeah," said Dayton. "It's just that you look and act drunk, which is almost as bad."

"I…I know." Lin squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. Why did he have such a hard time registering everything all of a sudden?

"I'll get you something." Dayton rose from his half-squat and straightened his back. He glanced to the dragon. "Ryn…"

"Way ahead of you," the dragon in question said. It set something on the counter to the side and pushed it over to where Dayton stood.

Dayton picked it up and proffered it to Lin. "Here!"

Lin took it. It was a…can? With peaches?

… He really wasn't hungry now. His stomach hurt, and he felt sick.

Orange Generator, manufactured by…

He breathed in a shaky gasp before he could stop it.

"I—didn't know humans were scared of peaches," Dayton said.

Lin glanced up at him. "I'm, erm…just not really hungry right now."

"That's okay, just save them for later," said Blue Wolf brightly.

"No," Dayton said. "You've got to eat it now, or your head will explode."

"I told you the same thing about knocking on Yanida's door, Dayton" she said. "You didn't listen."

As their banter continued, Lin's attention was drawn by the two rabbits. Their wide-eyed gazes were locked on him, and he could just barely hear their whispering.

"Is he okay?"

"I don't know, he looks pale."

"How-how do you even talk to a human?"

"He's looking this way! Er, quick, act normal!"

The white-and-pinkish creature tapped one of them on the shoulder, and Ryn the dragon said, "Really inconspicuous, you two."

The bunnies sputtered. Lin blinked, but decided not to get involved.

He then remembered that he was holding a glass of water. He took a slow sip. Tasted like water. Not surprising.

"There you go, human," Dayton said. "Rehydrate. I heard soup can help with hangovers too."

Blue Wolf nodded. "Dayton would know."

Eventually Lin emptied the glass and tentatively placed it on the counter. Then, slowly, he got up from his seat. Dayton made some space for him, but Blue Wolf and the lizard stayed close, ready to catch him if he fell.

He took a breath. He'd found his balance back, it seemed.

It's just one generator, he found himself thinking, tightly clutching the can of peaches. And just one robot. There's no way that's the case for the whole facility…

Blue Wolf tapped his shoulder. "Feeling better?"

He nodded. "Thanks," he muttered. "I, um…should really go now though."

Before he could move, his attention was drawn by the Green Lizard, who took his shoulders in its hands. The creature's head was cocked, its eyes frowned.

"Aw, he's worried," Blue Wolf said.

The Lizard ignored her.

"Relax," Dayton said, placing an arm around Lin's shoulders and leading him towards a set of stairs. How had he missed those? "I'll see him out."

They ascended the stairs; Lizard and Blue Wolf followed closely behind. Lin's step still felt just a little off, but not enough to be noticeable. Once up, Dayton turned to him.

"Human!" he proclaimed. "It's been the greatest of honors…and if you do ever actually want to get hammered, remember me as your drinking buddy."

"… Yeah, sure," Lin awkwardly said.

Blue Wolf chuckled and pointed to a narrow corridor to the side. "Anyway, that's the quickest way to the generator section. The vents can be a bit confusing though. And…try not to faint again?"

"I won't."

"Won't try or won't faint?" Dayton deadpanned.

Once again, the Lizard grabbed his shoulders and observed him with an inquisitive frown.

"I'm fine," Lin found himself saying. "That…usually doesn't happen. I, ah, just got spooked by something."

"And you know for a fact nothing in the vents will spook you, right?" Dayton said.

Lin opened his mouth to respond, but he remembered how scared he was when dealing with Charlie. He decided not to answer.

"You're free to stay for a while, you know," Blue Wolf said. "Wait until you feel better."

"Or maybe one of us should go with you…" Dayton said.

"No, no, that's not necessary," Lin said. "I'll be fine."

They shared some parting words, where the three latexes made some more attempts to convince him not to go alone. Again and again, Lin declined. Finally he entered the corridor Blue Wolf had indicated, and he stepped through a grating into what looked to be another ventilation shaft. Part of him wanted to stay in the canteen for a while—those latexes seemed like genuinely nice people…but he needed to keep going. Alone preferably, or with someone who hadn't seen him collapse just now. He didn't want to get confronted about that.

He had to go forward. No more delays, no more distractions.

He had to escape the facility.

Fletch looked at the building before him. From the outside, the facility looked a lot bigger than it felt when he was inside. Maybe because parts of it were still sealed off. Or maybe just because he rarely left the nest.

A double door sat before him. The front entrance. His destination. The place the Elder One had ordered him to go. Fletch looked at it uneasily, remembering the task he was given. He hadn't expected the leader to give the task in question to him, even if he was really just here as a precaution. Maybe it had to do with him upholding the Protocol despite his initial failure to follow it?

He felt proud at that thought. Maybe he'd proven himself…! But even so, he was nervous.

He shook himself. Then he stepped through the door, entering a small reception area inside. Maybe things were going to be okay. Chances were he wouldn't have to do anything anyway.

The idea that his involvement would be necessary was what scared him.