Oh, what a fun little opportunity this is, Max thought to himself. The real answer of course was that he had no accomplices. You could get a fake ID from anywhere, just ask any drunken teenager. Had he found someone who provided quality work, he wouldn't be here. But oh, did he have a name to give. If he could only recall it. Someone with a shady past, who clearly had made at least some attempt at hiding...
"Well, I doubt you're going to offer me any sort of plea-bargaining deal, but then on the other hand, why should I be the only one not having any fun? He almost never used his real name... James something. There might have been a G. Gordon or Goldman or some such. Mostly, he used aliases. For some time he earned a reputation as 'the Lone Wolf' if I recall."
"And your connection to this individual?"
"Well, he was the one with all the big ideas, you see. He wanted to gather together all the like-minded individuals he could at the park. People with a real history of violence, possibly even some murderers. He'd sneak everyone inside with the help of some contact of his, invite them to share his amazing philosophy, brag about who he was torturing. At the time I was pulled in by his charisma, but I have since seen the error of my ways. They almost caught him in the act of murdering some poor defenseless rabbit woman you know but somehow he managed to pull through. To my understanding, his, or should I say HER new alias is something like Goldie. Managed to conceal his identity well enough to infiltrate park security. But again, seeing how he sold me out, I may as well do the same. I wasn't exactly informed of the exact details, but there was some talk of arranging 'accidents' all over the park, or seducing those in power to get help in covering things up. I'm sure you can verify all this if you dig around."
Haul her in, let's have a reunion. I just need a few minutes alone to shred the bitch.
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Lawrence wrapped his arms around Irene, nuzzling her neck. It filled her with a feeling of warmth and safety like nothing she'd ever known before. "What about us?" he asked. "Would you want to go back now, to you old body?" He started kissing his way down her neck between questions. "Give up these beautiful wings? This goddess' body? Having me here to worship it?"
It would be hard for her to say anything but no, and she knew that wasn't just because they were readying for another round of love making. Somehow just being in this body filled her with a sort of peace and serenity she'd never felt before. Like her whole life to this point she'd been in disguise, worried about being found out, and she was finally free to just be herself. On a certain level she knew these feelings were the result of how she'd been changed, some rewiring of her brain or a new hormonal balance, but it didn't make them any less real. "I could never give this up," she admitted, as he rolled back on top of her, and spread those magnificent wings again, "but not in here... being studied like a rat. We need to get out, somewhere with an open sky... and set everyone else free too..."
Her ability to speak on the matter was shoved aside by more immediate concerns, but from the look on Lawrence's face, she was clearly getting through.
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The Minotaur smiled when he heard the buzzer. These fools clearly hadn't thought this through. The guests they had abducted would be missed by someone, and easy enough to trace back here. Not to mention the various cow women, who all knew their company was always appreciated. "Do go see who that is and send them up, won't you?" He smiled to his captor.
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Vinny could hardly think straight. This cowardly little punk just kept dancing around! If he'd just fight fair, he'd crush him already! Vinny was now just throwing his whole body into swinging his antlers like a club, forgetting his arms could even come into play. It was similar to the technique that idiot Chad had used against him, but his body was built to take it. Swinging in from the side, he'd slashed this coward across the gut, maybe fracturing a rib or two, at the cost of no more than a crick in his neck.
As he bent down for a swipe from the other side, Jeremy jumped back catching his antlers in his hands and trying to hold him down. Stupid little coward, did he think he could just hold him down? Vinny's muscles strained and his skull ached as he pulled himself upright, lifting his opponent off the ground, held only by his antlers. It was time to settle this.
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Mark sighed, looking over the morning's data. Why did the timing have to be so cruel? After weeks of failed trials, he'd finally cracked the toughest problems. The merfolk were thriving, and it was very, very clear from the behavior of the female that the sexual orientation adaptation had taken hold. The male was less responsive in that regard, oddly enough. Perhaps some deep-rooted psychological issues, it was a shame he had no medical history to work with. The docility treatment also seemed successful enough that he was willing to grant the latest subjects test those wings out. There was a bit of an odd mix in their brains, but if they could glide instinctively, while remaining coherent, the next revision of the harpy template should have more success. He would prefer to see a mentally healthy gorgon or two first, ideally, but time seemed to be just about up.
That volunteer from the security staff had just been by questioning the ethics of all this. He considered revoking his freedom to leave the enclosure, but maybe he had the right idea. This facility would be discovered soon enough, and nobody would properly focus on the breakthrough work being done. They'd most likely change these test subjects back... well, not to normal, these machines weren't designed to keep a record of previous forms, but into something more pedestrian. No, the sensible move at this point would be to just release everyone into the wild. He'd track down the ones he could, eventually, see how things were going, but he'd have to leave the country. This sort of thing would operate better in Central America, and he had some ideas that would function better in a tropical climate besides.
He pondered a bit more. His name would likely be on a list somewhere... and be research materials would hard to get through airport security... the obvious answer would be so much more poetic a few months from now, but you can't have everything. Pulling Lawrence aside he whispered, "there's a ladder in the reach of the facility that will give you and your new lady friend access to the roof. With a good running start, those wings of yours should carry you a safe distance away before anyone notices." Of course, he would order everyone else to turn their backs, but an 'unplanned' escape would make it easier to slip out. After passing him a key, he made his way over to the door controls on the aquarium. When the facility had first been built, a tunnel had been excavated leading out to the ocean. The hope had been successful testing would lead to volunteers making a go of things in a less controlled environment. As it was, they'd be less likely to talk to anyone out there than in here, so why not?
Now, time for the staff announcement. "Due to sudden changes in upper management, the timetable for all trials here has been moved up significantly. Some subjects are being released for early field study. Most of the kinks seem to have been worked out on the more experimental forms, and volunteers are encouraged, particularly for those who would care to exchange their arms for a set of wings and test out a semi-avian build." Yes, it was time to fly south for the summer. His new talons would be able to hold his briefcase well enough, but he was going to need to find an assistant to construct the next set of chambers.
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Zack was surprised how many people were trying to check out today. Murphy's law, apparently. He left Goldie to stall them while hunting down the programmers, and the FBI. "OK, we don't have anyone's records here, and we don't have the software to operate the chambers but people are getting really agitated. Just hypothetically, if we could get some new computers brought in, and had software reinstalled from the Canadian branch, could we work out some sort of temporary human form for some of these people?"
The panther in the black suit whose name he still hadn't caught said "Possibly, but there would need to be some system in place to keep tabs on who's who, and I still don't want anyone leaving whose original identity cannot be verified." Her phone buzzed. "Excuse me, I need to take this.
Gunther seemed opposed to the idea. "We've always had a very strict rule against designing original human forms. Maybe just something proven to work well on the outside? Domestic dogs seem to get along fine."
His colleague Meghan retorted, "I think, under the circumstances, something could probably be arranged. It's the base we always start from, and it would save a lot of legal problems."
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Goldie was still trying to keep a handle on things. "Again, we're sorry, but the system is offline for now. If you'd like to leave as you are, arrangements can be made for that, but anyone who needs to be restored to their original form needs to wait for our computers to come back online. Obviously the park will allow any of you to extend your stays-" There was a sudden tap on her shoulder.
"Are you Goldie?" asked the panther in an out of place suit.
"Yes, why?"
"I'm afraid you're going to have to come with me and answer a few questions," she said, pulling out a set of handcuffs.