"It's designed to turn any animal into a human for a predetermined time." Kowalski explained shortly, before continuing again, priding on his work, "The effects won't last for more a week, and can go for as short as a few minutes. We were planning to use it for outside-the-zoo missions." He concluded, meanwhile Skipper looked like he could have had an aneurysm over in the corner. Even if they were helping Sesi with the gadget, she didn't need to know every bit of information on it. The she-wolf elected to ignore Skipper's obvious disdain for Kowalski's slip of the tongue and stayed gawking at the device.

Honestly it had already been difficult enough to believe the penguins had managed this underground base in only three months, but any device like this would be a scientific masterpiece, even among the humans. They probably wouldn't have been able to accomplish anything so prestigious within a lifetime (which for them was incredibly long especially, some would live probably four times her predicted life span,), yet here this machine sat just a few feet away from her. She could fully understand now, why it would be so precious to him. However, the question still remained…

"Does it work?" She asked, fairly perplexed. She'd never seen anything like this before, even just the idea was entertaining. It wouldn't help her if it wasn't complete, however.

"No." Kowalski admitted, and Sesi's ears dropped (but whether it was from disappointment or annoyance from having an incredible rug swept out from under her was anyone's guess,) "Well, not yet, anyways. I'm getting very close though." He reassured, but the canidae hadn't looked anymore convinced.

"No worries, White Fang, we'll have it up in running in probably a few days. You can even be the first to test it." Skipper added, and nothing of what he'd said had made the Alaskan feel any better about her situation. She hadn't particularly cared for the name White Fang, wherever he'd came up with it, but what'd really struck her was the word 'days'… And she really didn't wish to be first to test it, last thing she wanted was to be involved in some lab rat freak accident, but if she were to be getting home, this would be her only shot… So she supposed she had no choice.

It was about that time that they were joined by another animal, who'd come bowling in through the back entrance. Sesi, who'd about had a mini-heart-attack in response, had at first thought it to be the crazed lemur-king she'd had the displeasure of officially meeting with just earlier that day along with his subjects; Mort, and the other who'd she came to know as Maurice (who had mercifully noticed her hints of displeasure at the whole situation, and had tried to pry his leader from her to no avail.) but thankfully, it was instead the otter, Marlene. Sesi could have breathed a sigh of relief.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you." She said, her attention only half on the she-wolf before she gave the leader Penguin a dubious glare. "I knew it! You're interrogating her aren't you?!" She accused and started for the wolf, going to stand at her side, who had meanwhile been trying to interject and tell her own side of the story but was quickly interrupted again by the café colored mammal. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to do this to the new animals." She stated, incredulously.

"It's alright Marlene, we're helping her." Private said, defusing the situation rather quickly whilst Rico gave a grunt of agreement.

"…You are?" The otter shifted her gaze from the four, back to her canid friend, "They are?" she repeated herself, to which the wolf responded with a quick nod, they were helping her indeed… but what exactly she was needing help with had been a tad misunderstood by the chestnut animal, and it became rather apparent quickly, when she'd simply stated "I wouldn't let them help you then, they're romantically oblivious."

Wait, what?

Sesi's eyes went wide. Only now did she realize that she actually would be here to uphold her promise to meet up with the lemur king. Her eyes unfocused, giving them a dulled over appearance as she was drawn into obviously a very deep, and horrible consideration of tomorrow, should she not find a way to wriggle out of it. "You know about that?..." She'd said, but had hardly realized it'd actually left her mouth.

"Yeah, the whole zoo knows. Julien wouldn't shut up about it." She griped. He'd come over to exhibit just a bit ago to gloat in her face about how she could quit having to play off her imaginary affections for the king, because he'd have a new girlfriend very shortly. Marlene had to admit, she was a bit disappointed in her girl friend. She would have, if she could have chosen, had someone sought who wasn't so easy apparently, but would say nothing on the matter. They could still probably be friends.

"Wait," The leader penguin threw up his flippers and waved them in front of himself, as if a referee calling a time out, "hold up. What about ringtail?" Skipper quizzed. Spirits, this was embarrassing, Sesi groaned internally, but only before Marlene would continue for her.

"Sesi, here has a date set up with him." Her jaw almost hit the floor. The she-wolf could officially no longer tell if Marlene was joking with her or actually believed she was planning on going, but either way she didn't like it, and would have to clear things up soon by the horrified looks of the others if she wanted to keep any credibility as a professional person.

"No, I don't" Her ears pinned flat against her head, she insisted, straightening her posture to get herself the most convincing leverage she knew how, but then it was lost when she'd thought on the subject some "Well… I guess I do," Once again, she began talking fast. It was obviously a nervous habit, Marlene decided. "But I wasn't PLANNING on being here for it! You penguins saw, I was trying to bail before morning. I just told him that to get him to leave me alone." She almost stammered. This was near the most embarrassing thing that's ever happened to her, she couldn't think of another time. Luckily however she wasn't a human yet so she could decently hide said feelings without her face glowing red. Poor, poor humans.

"Wait, you were trying to le-" Marlene started but was nevertheless, interrupted by one of the four penguins, to which she responded by giving them a furious glare.

"So you faked him out?" Private inquired. He, being undoubtedly the most sensitive of the penguins, would probably have some objections to this kind of treatment, and Kowalski being rejected several times by his own love made him feel bad for even the out-of-sorts Julien.

"That's kind of harsh." The tallest added, whilst Rico was giving a hearty laugh from his spot in the back (that hadn't actually sounded like a laugh, but more like a few disturbing 'hu hu's) Rico would, and rather did, consider himself a taken penguin, what with having
his doll and all… so he could feel free to laugh at the single's predicaments.

"Well, well. Gentlemen, I think we have a heartbreaker in our midst." The leader penguin continued the teasing and the other penguins laughed, and somewhere deep in Sesi's mind she could have sworn she heard a voice, commanding "Kill them, Sesi. Kill them all." From the embarrassment, but that voice wouldn't win today. She'd just settle for being utterly annoyed.

Marlene was ready to finally butt her way into the conversation to ask just exactly why Sesi had felt the need to be leaving, but with the arrival of three more animals (this time through the traditional entrance) she found herself almost as annoyed as the she-wolf had been, except Sesi's expression had been replaced by one of horror at seeing now the lemurs standing before her.

"Well if that is how you are feeling then fine!" The ringtail bellowed at the pale canid, quite visibly upset. He had just been on his way to begin the gloating to the penguins that he'd found himself a much prettier woman than any of them would ever have, when he'd heard his new beloved's voice down in said bird's base. He'd also note they were talking about him, and Julien, being ever the one to love compliments had began to listen in, but nothing said about him had been pleasant, but rather the scorpion-in-disguise had merely tricked him! He had been as the leader penguin had called it: brokety-hearted.

"Julien,-" Sesi started, but he was already turned from her, letting out loud and dramatic sobs that… admittedly could have, with his accent, sounded a bit more like laughter if you hadn't been paying attention beforehand; like an "Ah ha haaa!". As much as she didn't care for the guy, she couldn't stand to see that she'd inadvertently grieved him so. Meanwhile, Maurice and Mort were trying to the best of their abilities to calm down the tallest of their three, Mort himself on the verge of tears after his leader. "Why would you say such things Sesi?"

Never before had Sesi felt so embarrassed, angry, and guilty, and so she just stood herself there not knowing quite what to do, meanwhile the penguins stared at her while she stared at nothing. Maybe this would solve itself if she just stood still. But it wasn't that easy, nay, it would never be that easy, as when Julien had went to run for the ladder out of the base he had unwittingly bowled into the genius penguin knocking his latest invention from his arms, which with he responded with a higher pitched cry than any male animal should have ever uttered, as his precious went crashing to the floor.

It seemed to happen in slow motion; like a car wreck. The minute the box had made contact with the floor, the tiny machine had roared to life, and the room quickly filled with an emerald green, graph-paper like light, with which everyone was temporarily blinded.

"My eyes!" You could have heard rocket all over the room, from various sources, and then the infamous crash of yet another of Kowalski's inventions were hopelessly destroyed resonated through the base, an undoubtedly all around the zoo (at an hour like this anyways). He could have cried, if everything hadn't gone black a second later.