It way partway through the though the helicopter ride that Robert may have thought this was a bad idea. An 32 year old office worker of average looks and build and happens to various nerd related knowledge, hobbies, and even fetishes, he had so far had a pretty satisfactory life and made no severe rational decisions up until deciding to take this offer up with the LAB. What the LAB stood for, he didn't know. Had probably still had a chance to back out when he entered the automated helicopter, but for some reason he didn't. Oh well, he was to terrified to try anything now, but suddenly he heard a noise, felt a sensation, and blacked out.
...
Robert woke up in what appeared to be an empty, whitish room. It wasn't non-descript, there was lines and indentations along the walls giving an idea that something was inside them, and one particular one which seem to lead to a door way. He saw some lense like stuff in certain spots and guessed they were for cameras and some box like items which he would guess were for speakers. He next heard something to confirm his theory.
"Welcome to the LAB." an electronic voice came out so warped that he would have no chance of telling if it was male or female behind it. "We apologize for the black-out, but we do take our secrecy seriously. Everything in the offer was true, but in return you must and will follow our experiments with animals and possibly other items."
Suddenly Robert "saw" data flowing past him, not like seeing it in thin air, but like looking at a heads-up display in a video game that he could see in his own head. He saw data of the contract that seemed to be going by like a reminder, but seemed to go away when he felt he was done with it. The hud didn't seem like it would be there if he didn't need it.
The electronic voice continued as if it was aware when he was ready.
"From your HUD we will relay relevant information to you, especially in the case a form where certain senses or concepts may no longer apply to your current ones. In the case that we give you no information on an experiment, just try your best to make yourself comfortable and go about your own business. You may even be rewarded. Complete refusal of participation in an experimentation will result in your termination."
"So even if I get my promised benefits, there IS a gun pointed at my head." thought Robert. Suddenly on his HUD appeared a selection of animals and other exotics he didn't see before.
"As proof that you're not completely at our whims, and we do have and vast about of experiments to do, please make your selection."
As he mentally went over the animals, he was given an paragraph summary overview of each animal he highlighted, and a list of "stats" that just generally told him how difficult it was to be each animal along with a "strangeness" factor. He was also shown "high" and "low" rewards for each one, although what a reward actually meant was anybody's guess. If they were serious about the contract, it meant he was getting paid a very large sum regardless if he fulfilled it.
Mentally steeling himself, the animal he selected on the HUD was...