Never would you think you would appreciate the ability to move freely by your own will and decision so much, instead of going wherever your captor feels like. But you would rather be controlled by someone who is more trustworthy and reasonable like Rose instead of someone so careless or reckless like Violet.
Everything almost feels like it went back to normal disregarding the lingering experience of being controlled and having pink shorts. While you don’t favour this colour, you are thankful you have at least something to wear, at least some of these latexes are reasonable.
Following Rose’s directions to Weaver isn’t hard, but the lights of the corridor barely function, providing very little light, forcing you to take it slow in case you bump into anything. You wouldn’t mind being slow, but you sometimes can’t help but feel as if something is watching you, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
The heavy silence in the maintenance corridor is making you feel uncomfortable.
‘I really hope Weaver isn’t too far.’
You don’t know why or how this ‘Weaver’ latex is able to create human clothing in an institute, but you are not going to question it. If she can help fit you in some new clothes beside the pink shorts, you’re happy.
‘Shouldn’t be too long now…’
…
…
‘I don’t like this.’
The journey to the mysterious tailor is strangely uneventful, you thought for sure something would happen. These strange latex creatures are everywhere! Surely it can’t be this peaceful here? Something is going to happen, isn’t it?
Going around the corner, you head down the dark corridor. One of the lights flickers on briefly, revealing a strange bear trap not too far ahead right in the open, making it very easy to notice. Initially, you are thankful the light flickered on, allowing you to see the bear trap, but on the other hand…
‘Why on earth would someone put a bear trap here??’ You think in confusion.
Putting a bear trap in a maintenance corridor just doesn’t make any sense! Where did they even get one anyway?? Taking another look at the ‘trap’ you notice it has an odd shade of colour of light brown. You try to consider the meaning of this until you see a pinch of goo not too far from it, maybe it is a latex beast disguising itself as a trap?
You would have never seen this coming if it weren’t for the lights, but regardless, the placement of the trap is very…bad. Thankfully, the corridor is just wide enough for you to slip around it without an issue.
“That’s a terrible spot to place down a trap you know,” you say to the latex…at least that’s what you think it is.
Slipping past, you look behind, watching the trap in disbelief, surely that could not be it. It’s not that easy…
…is it?
…
*hiss!*
A white blur wraps itself around your head from above! On instinct, you flail around down the corridor in a blind panic.
“AHHH GET OFF! GET OFF! Get….off?”
Taking a moment to consider, you reach up to your head, unwrapping the attacker off your head, bringing to your field of view to see a small harmless white snake. The snake makes a hiss, trying to intimidate you, but the size of the snake and the lack of fangs doesn’t work in its favour. You feel a click in your mind, a sensation you’ve become familiar with as a young voice speaks in your mind.
‘Hiss….HISS! Fear me human!’ a squeaky voice rings in your mind.
Your heart begins to stop pounding as you barely hold back a small chuckle, amused with the young snake’s poor attempt at threatening you.
‘Oh no…please don’t hurt me, I’m so scared!’ you say, playing along.
‘Yesssss, Cower human! Cower before my…hey! Why aren’t you ssscared of me?! Humans are supposed to be scared of snakes!’
‘Yeah…but you’re so small! It’s kinda hard to find you intimidating.’
‘Hmph! It's not my fault I’m so small. It’s really hard to grow, human! Especially if you have a body that can’t do much! Show some respect!’
‘Alright alright. Fair point. Say…was that whole ‘sss’ thing just part of the act?’
‘Umm…’
‘It so is, isn’t it?’
‘But it’s so annoying to keep it up! We always hear how snakes draw out that ‘sss’ thing when they speak!’
‘I think it’s just for character, You sound natural the way you speak now.’
‘Really? Does this mean I don’t have to do it?’
‘Not at all.’
‘Whew! What a relief! It gets sssso tiring doing it all the time!’
‘You just-’
‘Sorry, force of habit.’
The snake looks away, slightly embarrassed. Eager to get back to business, you decide to end the conversation quickly.
‘Well, it’s nice of you to drop by…literally. But I gotta get going, I have an appointment to make.’
Hearing this, the snake quickly wraps its body around your torso once, catching your left arm in the process, forming a firm coil around you as its head frantically in front of you.
‘Wait no no no wait wait! Don’t leave yet!’
‘Wh…why not?’
‘I mean… errr.’
The snake looks around trying to think.
‘You’re a human! I mean, I have sssooo-, *Ugh* So many questions to ask!’
‘Like what?’
‘Well…what it's like having arms!’
‘Arms?’
‘Yeah! I mean, look at me! I don’t have arms! I don’t even have any limbs!’ the snake exclaims, waving its body.
‘That’s because you’re a snake.’
‘Taking form as a snake is a lot easier compared to the forms others have. And it’s certainly better than being a puddle.’
‘You’ve got a fair point. But why the question?’
You already have a suspicion of why the snake might be asking but you are not in the mood for another transfur, especially when you just got released by Rose. The snake takes a quick glance behind you.
‘Well, you know…I am just curious and all and-’
‘You want me to be your host don’t you?’
‘...Yes.’
‘*Sigh* I hate to break it to ya, but I’m just not in the mood right now. I’m busy, plus I was recently transferred by someone against my will and I’m still annoyed by it.’
‘Oh come onnn human….please?’
‘No’
‘Pleeeeaasssee?’
‘I said no, and that’s final.’
‘Please human, I'm begging you! Surely you understand how terrible it is to be a puddle and…Agh! Just come on human! Please! Be our host!’
‘Wait…our host?’
Before the snake could protest, you turn around and feel your stomach drop. Snakes…there are so many snakes behind you, poking out of the vents, leaning up from the floor and hanging from the ceiling all primed to pounce on you.
…
…
‘GET HIM!’
You immediately sprint ahead, narrowly avoiding the ambush as the horde of snakes gives chase, slithering down the corridor after you while the small snake clings to you, hanging on for dear life. Seeing that you are getting away, the snake tries slithering down to your legs in an attempt to trip or slow you down.
Not giving the snake a chance, you grab its midsection, making it try and coil back onto your arm with little success.
‘You traitor! You were setting up an ambush!’
‘We’re desperate! Everything I said was nothing but the truth! When we heard of a lone human roaming around in the library we knew we had to find you! We were hoping you would let us take you as our host! Please human! Give us a chance! We need a real body!’
‘For the last time…NO!’
Hurling your arm back, you launch the little snake off into its brethren, not bothering to look back and see the results. Running down the corridor, you realise you need to distance yourself from the snakes so you can lose them by going down as many corridors as possible in hopes that they eventually take the wrong corridor.
Taking a path down a corridor with working lights, you run down as fast as your legs can carry, trying to ignore the slithering and the hissing of impending doom. You quickly take a sharp turn to the left and-.
----------------------------------------
‘Ahhh…this is life.’
A young white cat purrs as he stretches and relaxes on his box watch post. Keeping watch for upcoming guests can get a little boring but thankfully it comes with special privileges such as discounts on box trading and a cool box tower to lie on… heck, he might even get a VIP membership if he’s lucky!
Unfortunately, nothing much is happening as of late, no guests, no VIPs… nothing. How dull! Thankfully his shift is almost over soon, the second his shift finishes, the first thing he is going to do is go to the bar and get himself a nice tall glass of milk with the finest tuna from the aquarium.
*tap tap Tap Tap TAP TAP*
Oh? What on earth is that? What could possibly-
‘No way…’
Running into the entrance, the young cat sees a human screech to a halt, before looking around the room in confusion. Normally the cat would expect to see cats of all kinds; lions, tigers, leopards, panthers and even normal cats like himself but a human? He did certainly…not expect to see one.
*hiss!*
What on earth was that? The human jumps in fright and runs deep into the club, startling an anthropomorphic lioness as it looks at him in bewilderment, whatever that was, the human seems to be involved in it in some way. Jumping down, the cat looks down at the corridor where the human came from waiting in confusion and interest.
What came down the corridor made the cat jump in fright. Snakes! So many snakes!
‘SNAKES! WE’VE GOT SNAKES AT ENTRANCE C!’
The cat yells as every nearby feline immediately wakes up, hearing his cry for help, one by one, they all jump down from their boxes and rush to the entrance. Upon seeing the snakes, the felines understand the situation and take action. The larger felines growl and swat at the snakes, warding them back while the anthro felines start boxing up all the entrances. Once the defence is almost finished, the felines retreat back into the room as the last boxes slide in place, keeping the intruders out.
‘Hey! Let us in!’
A male snow leopard takes charge of the situation and looks down over the box wall, listening to the snakes’ complaints and demands.
‘What is the meaning of this? This club is strictly for felines only.’
‘We are not interested in entering the club! We just want that human!’
The snow leopard’s ears twitch as a look of bewilderment dawns on its face. Looking at the white cat guarding the entrance, the snow leopard asks:
‘Is this true?’
‘Yes sir. We have a human running in just recently, he is hiding back at the corner of the room.’
Looking behind, the snow leopard sees the human cowering in the corner of the room. Understanding the problem, the snow leopard responds back to the snakes.
‘I’m sorry, but the human is staying with us.’
‘WHAT!? You just said the club is strictly for felines!’
‘Yes, but from what I can tell, the human does not seem keen to be seeing you all anytime soon.’
‘We are working on it!’
‘By hunting him down relentlessly? I don’t think so. And seeing there are a lot of you, I think we are doing the human a favour.’
‘How is THAT doing him a favour??’
‘The least we want is to repeat the same incident with a behemoth. I’ve heard the stories. If you want a human host, you must earn their respect and permission first. But until then…get out.’
The snakes hiss with annoyance, angry that they can’t get to the human but they stay and wait, trying to form a plan. With the room in lockdown, the cats can now focus on more important matters…deciding what to do with the human. The felines all around gaze at him in curiosity and interest but none of them dares make an advance towards him.
However, the snow leopard steps forwards to give the human a paw with a kind smile. The human watches the snow leopard in confusion but accepts his paw, allowing the snow leopard to connect his thoughts with his.
‘Hello again human, never thought I would see you again so soon, and here of all places.’
----------------------------------------
You feel hopelessly confused. You were expecting the worst when the felines are confronting you for intruding in their territory, strangely though, the one snow leopard greeting you seems so familiar…wait! You remember now!
‘Wait, are you Leo? The same leopard back at the box maze?’
‘Correction, it’s my box fort, human! But yes, it’s me Leo. What is the deal with those snakes? They seem very insistent on seeing you, are they trying to transfur you I presume?’
'Yeah, they are very persistent about it.’
‘But why not get it over with? Is it really such a big deal?’
‘Look, I am not very keen to get my body hijacked and forced to watch whatever they do. I already had been transferred recently and I am still bothered by it.’
‘What happened?’
‘Let’s just say someone took a ‘joke’ too far.’
‘Hmmm alright, point taken.’
Looking around, you see the felines all seem to be in their own respective group based on their species. The anthro lioness you startled earlier shares a look with you and turns to another lion as they chat among themselves, probably talking about you.
‘Where am I?’
‘You are in our box club! Here, cats and felines alike gather in this one spot where we enjoy the luxury of boxes in all shapes and sizes. Do things like trading or fort building.’
‘Guess that explains your box fort doesn’t it?’
‘Hey! I’m just trying to build my very own fort, it’s not my fault it's the most effective way to defend your turf.’
You nod in understanding as you look at a group of cats sleeping on a pile of boxes to your left, you instinctively reach out and pet one of them on the head. The cat shudders and leans towards your hand.
‘So this place is like a utopia for cats?’
‘Yes, it’s a utopia for cats, that’s one way to sum it up.’
Moving away from the cat, you continue to look around, you see the cats are still occasionally sharing a quick glance with you while talking with their own kind. There are so many cats of all kinds here… you can’t help but worry…
‘Hey Leo, is there a chance that Trixie is here?’
‘Trixie? Oh don’t worry, she won’t be coming back to the club for a looonnnnnggg time after what she did, especially to those guys.’
Leo points to a group of ferocious-looking anthropomorphic cats: a tough-looking lion with scruffy fur, a panther with sharp claws and a crafty-looking orange tabby.
‘If she wants to get to you, she has to go through them first. A shame really, they worked hard on their boxes, even had cool decorations.’
Why is it, that Trixie messed with those cats, you will never know, you are thankful they are on your side.
‘Oh thank god…’
‘Speaking of Trixie, I’m surprised she didn’t find you. You were Hunter’s host right? What happened?’
‘Trixie got suspicious of us but found out about me, she threatened Hunter and Scar to release me soon or else she would do something to them.’
‘Soon? What do you mean? She didn’t take you here and then?’
‘No...she just left with a warning. Promising to get me soon.’
‘That…isn’t like Trixie at all. Whenever she finds a human she would go out of her way to get them but she just told Hunter to let you out soon? ’
‘Is it that bad?’
‘Trust me…from what I am hearing, it is. I worry why she is acting like this, it honestly terrifies me.’ Leo answers with a shudder.
‘But enough of that. Since the snakes won’t leave, you are welcome to stay here until they finally leave. It's quite an honour having a human here as our guest.’
‘I really appreciate the gesture, but I can’t stay here. I am looking for someone named Weaver.’
‘You are looking for Weaver? Why?’
‘I need new clothes, and I am stuck with these pink shorts until I get a new pair.’
The snow leopard looks down and takes notice of your pink shorts.
‘I hardly noticed it.’
‘How can you barely notice it??’
‘We are latexes, we don’t need clothes. I don’t know why you humans value these clothes so much, they are so uncomfortable to wear.’
‘You wore clothes before?’
‘I wasn’t exactly willing…’
‘What do you me-’
‘Don’t ask…’
You said nothing, not wanting to make him uncomfortable.
‘Umm never mind then. Do you know where I can find her? I think I know where to go but can’t go out there with those snakes.’
‘Why not go through the other exit?’
‘I don’t know where to go from there.’
‘So you are lost? Hmm…’
Leo looks up in thought as he tries to think of something.
‘There is no doubt that those snakes would be on the lookout for you, they might be patrolling the corridors around here. It might be best if someone escorts you.’
‘No that’s too boring! Leo, there is that one service we have…’
‘You don’t mean…’
‘Oh yes…it’s perfect Leo!’
Quiet mumbles and growls can be heard throughout the room as if everyone understands the plan. An anthropomorphic tiger jumps down in front of you with a strange smile.
‘Human…’
‘Yeah…?’
‘You need our help getting to Weaver?’
‘...yes…’
Leo then shares looks with his fellow club members.
‘I suppose it couldn’t hurt, it's been a while hasn’t it?’
The felines all nod with mischievous grins, approaching you from all sides, as you start to feel boxed in.
‘On second thought…I think I know where to go! So if you all don’t mind, I will be-WHA HEY!’
Pairs of arms grab you from behind as you are lifted into the air, as they all take you somewhere.
‘What's going on??I thought you said you were going to take me to Weaver!’
‘We are! But if we are going to take you to Weaver…’
‘We must do it our way…’
‘The Box way.’
‘And what is the box way???’
You find yourself moving closer to a lion holding an open box.
‘Why, the Box Club delivery express of course!’
‘NO WAIT!’
Despite your protest, the cats eagerly put you into the box and quickly seal it up, leaving you in the dark. One of the cats then picks up your box as they make their way to your chosen destination. Your box shakes up and down left and right as you are carried down the corridors, you bang your fists against your box prison, showing your displeasure with your position. Your protest is either ignored or the cat didn’t hear you.
Left with no other choice, you decide to sit this one out and pray the ride ends soon. Suddenly, you come to a halt as your box prison is set down as a sound of shuffling can be heard as the box opens, blinding you with the light. You find yourself out of the box in a daze as you struggle to get a firm grip on reality. A tiger grabs your shoulder, holding you still.
‘And here we are! This is where I will be dropping you off, Weaver’s den is just down the corridor to the left. But before I leave, I need you to rate our delivery express from one to ten.’
You initially want to yell out zero, but you don’t want to upset him, you won’t stand a chance against them anyway.
‘Ten out of ten.’
‘Excellent! Hope to see you again soon human! You are always welcome to the box club!’
And just like that, the tiger disappears, returning to the club. You shakingly get up as you try to stand completely still, regaining your sense of balance.
‘Those damn cats are absolute lunatics! At least they are not like Trixie…’
Stretching your limbs, you regain your balance as you look down the corridor to your left, this must be the corridor the tiger was talking about. However, you also notice a very large web right beside you. Your memories struggle to recall what it means.
*Shuffle*
‘Huh?’
You look to your right to notice another box, why would there be a box here in all places? Before you could ponder, the box bursts open as a Snow Leopard jumps out, causing you to jump in fright as you land on your back on the web! You try to get back onto your feet, but you are stuck! The snow leopard smirks as it chuckles at your predicament.
‘Oh wow…I did NOT expect to trick a human today!’
‘Get me out of here you damn cat!’
‘Tsk tsk. No can do Human, that’s not how things work around here.’
‘What do you mean that’s not how things work around here?? Get me out!’
‘Hmm…’
The snow leopard simply picks up its box and the box you came in as it blows a raspberry at you.
‘Nah! I’ll take the boxes though!’ the snow leopard teases, running off with the boxes.
‘GET BACK HERE!! YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME LIKE THIS!’
Unfortunately, the leopard did not come back, leaving you trapped in the web. You groan with annoyance, as you remain stuck in the web. You ponder what to do to get out of the web, but then a strange feeling grows in your mind…something is coming…
“Hello?”
…
No response. Feeling nervous, you struggle to get out of the web. Sounds of tapping can be heard, as you fight harder. The strange feeling beckons you to look upwards. Looking up, you watch in terror to see a giant brown spider crawling above you.
‘Oh my god…’
You thrash as hard as you can as the spider descends upon you, blocking the light behind it and casting a shadow on your web...
“NO NO NO! PLEASE PLEASE NOT LIKE THIS!”
The spider lands in front of you as it starts to get up, standing on its hind legs to reveal itself to be anthro…spider and tiger… stiger? The strange spider has dark brown horizontal stripes starting from the legs all the way to its palps. The spider features traits of a tiger such as the paws, mane and ears. It has three pairs of red eyes, beaming down at you with fangs poking out from its lips.
Fearing what comes next, you look to the spider in pleadingly, begging it to spare your life. The spider starts to smile.
‘Please don’t tell me this is how I die…’
*snort*
‘Huh?’
‘Hahaha! Oh WOW you look ri-DICULOUS! HAHAHAHA! ‘Please don’t tell me this is how I die.’ That is the best thing I have ever heard! You are the most over-dramatic prey I’ve ever had!’ The feminine voice laughs.
All of your fear turns into annoyance, not finding your predicament funny at all.
‘The best part is that I caught a human…A HUMAN! This must be my lucky day!’
‘Oh haha glad you are having fun. Could you let me go now?’
‘And why would I do…that?’
The strange spider asks, placing a paw on the wall beside your web as she leans towards you, her eyes bearing into yours with a sly smile as if daring you to answer.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
‘I am trying to find someone named Weaver, seeing if she could help me.’
‘Is that so?’ the spider said, her fangs growing
‘Why are you looking at me like that…’
‘Because you’re looking at her!’
You feel the world coming to halt on the news as the spider giggles at your reaction, you silently pray that this isn’t the case.
‘You’re Weaver?’
‘Why do you think I have that name? I’m part spider, that ticks a few boxes?’ Weaver turns around and gestures to her spider abdomen with a little shake for emphasis.
‘Fair point…’ you mentally sigh in defeat.
The spider turns and looks down and takes notice of your shorts, her eyes squinting with annoyance and disgust.
‘Ugh, that scent…you’re with Rose aren't you? It’s no wonder you knew where to look.’
‘What’s with the hostility? What do you have against Rose?’
‘It’s more like her having a problem with me!’ Weaver crosses a pair of her arms with a huff.
‘Ok, but what happened?’
‘I don’t want to talk about it…Why are you looking for me anyway?’
‘I was hoping you could help me, get a new pair of shorts.’
Weaver’s palps twitch with interest.
‘Come again? You want me…to weave you some new shorts?’
‘Yeah, If it’s not much trouble.’
‘Not at all! Why didn’t you say so earlier?? Of course I can weave you some new clothes!’
Weaver then reaches to the strands of your web, presumably freeing you. You eagerly wait to be freed from the trap, only to watch in disbelief and confusion as she takes your web and bundles it into a sling. You feel the world rotate up as you’re placed on her back, leaving you stuck facing the dim ceiling lights. She then starts briskly walking forward with you attached.
‘Wait what are you doing??’
‘Taking you home with me!’
‘But why not free me first??’
‘I am NOT letting this opportunity slip past my paws! This is the first time I had someone willing to try out my designs! ESPECIALLY from a human! I am not gonna let some latex steal you away, you’re just too precious!’
‘Willingly? What do you mean by that!?’
‘Oh don’t dwell on that! These rude neighbours couldn’t appreciate the difference between a jacket and a shoelace. And please! Shorts alone? We can do much more than just that. I’m thinking blue for the shirt’s colour…’
‘You can make me a shirt?’
‘Well of course. I’m Weaver. Now hush! I’m trying to think! Where was I…’ The spider continues muttering to herself more quietly in the back of your head.
Finding the spider too stubborn to talk to, You look up at the ceiling, your world shaking left and right while you wait to be finally set free. At least the silky fur on the spider makes the journey a bit more comfortable, but it is still rather unpleasant.
Ceiling-hung clothes in all shapes and sizes start drifting past as you ride deeper into Weaver’s den.
‘Alright! We’re here.’
And with that, Weaver takes you off her back and sets you down on a large bean bag chair. Rushing to her various clothes to begin carefully sifting through her collection of shorts.
‘What to try first…which one…this but what else…’
While the spider mumbles to herself, you take a look around her den. In your field of view, you see lines of shorts hanging on a string and a line reserved for shirts, a portion flaring out from beside the ventilation fan.
Following along the wall, you see a gallery of pictures with dresses, jackets, shorts, jeans, shirts and some pictures with different kinds of creative patterns. Looking to your right, you see a pile of magazines, filled with human models wearing all kinds of clothes.
‘This…no…maybe…hmmm why not this one? Can’t go wrong with that!’
Happy with her decision, Weaver hastily makes her way towards you.
‘Try these on!’
She exclaims, presenting a familiar pair of black boxer shorts and a blue shirt. Unable to move, you remind the spider of your issue by nodding to the web you are stuck on.
‘Oh…oops.’
Bashfully, Weaver pulls you out from the web, presenting you with the clothes once more.
‘Thanks! Umm…’ You happily take the shorts but you’re hesitant to put them on.
Noticing this, the spider taps her foot, growing impatient.
‘Do you have a changing room?’
Weaver facepalms in disbelief.
‘Humans and their weird sense of decency…you can change in my bedroom. And be quick, the anticipation is killing me!’
You hastily make your way to the bedroom, pulling down the pink shorts as you quickly switch to your new boxer shorts. The bedroom is mostly just a small room with pillows everywhere and a large open spider egg with more pillows tucked inside. You note that these shorts feel silkier than your temporary pink shorts as you’re putting them on.
‘*Grr* Hurry up already! The wait is driving me insane!’
‘I’m dressing as fast as I can!’
‘Well dress faster!’
Not wanting to anger the big scary spider, you quickly slip into the new shirt. The shirt feels outrageously soft, and you aren’t sure a normal shirt would be able to compare, but hey, it’s yours now and you finally have something covering your upper torso.
Exiting the bedroom, Weaver’s eyes widen with glee as she barely cuts off a squeal.
‘So? What do you think?’
‘I don’t even know where to begin, they just fit so well! The quality, and how soft it is! How did you make this? I don’t see any sewing equipment here!’
‘All sewing is done by paw and needle, from start to finish!’
You gawk at Weaver in disbelief as her face beams with pride. You take another look at the shirt, closely examining it.
‘This shirt is all done by needlework? I can’t even tell!’
‘That right there is real needlework, I pride myself on perfection from start to finish! With arms and paws like these, needlework gets done in a snap!’ She demonstrates this by shifting her paw into multiple thread-like manipulators.
‘Oh wow! I don’t know what to say, thank you so much! I don’t even know how I can repay you!’
‘Well…I am always in need of someone to test out my newer clothes and designs. It would mean a lot if you could help.’
The spider’s eyes widen with glimmer and hope, lacking any of the malicious or mischievous intent from earlier. You do feel you are in debt to the spider’s generosity for providing you with these clothes, trying out a few more wouldn’t hurt, right?
‘I don’t see why not.’
‘YES! I’ve been waiting to do this for so long!’
With incredible speed, Weaver starts running around and climbing up her walls, picking up various pieces of clothing and calling out question after question to you.
‘So what’s your favourite colour? Do you like hats? Oh! What about scarves? What kind of style do you like? Casual? Snazzy? Dapper? There is so much we can try!’
Weaver says as she picks up and passes you the clothes until they form piles in your arms. You quickly shift the pile to a set of pillows near you.
‘Weaver, don’t you think this is getting a bit too much?’
‘Of course not! That is just a fraction of my clothes that need testing! So why not do it all with you?’
You begin to regret some of your life decisions. This was going to be a long day…
The soft feel of the fabric brings you some comfort, at least.
----------------------------------------
“Human…where are you?”
Puro has been following the human’s scent for a while now and growing ever more concerned for his missing friend.
The human’s scent is getting harder and harder to follow, mixed as it is with the other latexes’ scents. Fear and dread build up in his heart; what is happening to the human? Is he alright? Is he…
“No no! Puro mustn't think that!”
He refuses to believe that his friend is gone for good, he is still alive! As long as he can smell the human’s scent, the human should still be fine…hopefully. Puro follows the scent into a room filled with boxes at every corner. This didn’t faze Puro in the slightest, there are a lot of strange things in this institute.
“Human seems to have gone through here, Puro wonders how human got away from the latex? And why are there so many boxes here?”
On the wall next to him, he notices a picture of a variety of feline latexes with boxes included in the background.
“Hmmm, not bad. Wonder who drew it? Maybe Puro will draw pictures with them sometime? Wait a minute…”
*Sniff* *Sniff*
“The Human’s scent! It’s gone!”
Oh no no no! This is bad, this is bad! The scent is gone! What happened to the human?? Is he…gone? Did the latex assimilate him for good?
“No! Human MUST still be alive! There has to be an explanation!”
Maybe the human is hiding? Maybe he is here in this very room! Moving to a box nearby, Puro opens the box and peers inside.
“Human? Are you in there?”
Instead of a human, Puro finds a lion. The lion looks up at Puro in pure shock.
“Umm…hello? Have you seen human?”
*MEEEOOOOWWWW!!!!*
“AAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
Puro tumbles back as the lion jumps out of the box and runs into a tower of boxes, tipping it over as a few cats fall out onto the floor. The cats quickly scramble up to their feet and run to the exit.
Before Puro could do anything, meows rang throughout the room as cats jumps out of their hiding spot one by one. A pair of lions pick up a box carrying young cubs and rushes to the exit. A tabby rushes past Puro’s legs and out to the exit.
“Wait! Please! Puro only wants to talk!”
Puro tries to confront a panther who pulls its ears, fearing for his life. Puro tries to approach the panther slowly in a peaceful manner, but this prompts the panther to jump on top of a box tower and to the exit. Two boxes lift off the ground and rush blindly towards the exit, one of the boxes bumps into the other box, throwing it off course.
The box then ran into a wall, falling to the ground and revealing a snow leopard underneath it. Seeing an opportunity, Puro rushes to the leopard as he backs up to the wall, fearing for his life.
“Excuse me Leopard, have you seen a human coming through here recently?”
The snow leopard looks at him in confusion.
“Oh…Puro forgot. They can’t understand Puro.”
Perhaps he should try asking him in a different way? Taking the human’s shorts, Puro presents them to the snow leopard with a gesture as he looks at it and nods in understanding. The snow leopard points in a direction of an exit.
“Puro needs more than that!”
Seeing that the wolf is unsatisfied, the snow leopard thinks for a moment before reaching out to a piece of paper, scribbling on it for a moment before giving it to Puro. Looking at the map, Puro sees that the human shouldn’t be too far from where he is! Human is still ok!
“This is excellent! Thank you…leopard? Where did leopard go?” Looking up from the map, Puro sees that the snow leopard is nowhere to be found.
“Hmm…maybe he is in a hurry.”
Following the map’s directions, Puro continues to travel deeper into the maintenance corridor, hoping to find his lost friend soon.
----------------------------------------
‘How many clothes do you have left??’
‘A few more.’
The clothes you wore in the fitting room are piling on and on as the spider excitedly presents you with another set of clothes to try.
‘Wow, I didn’t think you needed a fashion model that badly.’
‘You don’t even know half of it! All of those clothes were stressing me out, thankfully my clothes can easily be adjusted with just a little extra needlework.’
‘But didn’t you try to find anyone who could model these clothes for you?’ you ask, while trying on a new set.
Weaver stops browsing through her catalogue as she sighs in frustration.
‘It’s no use. Everyone I asked either declined or just made up an excuse. I was forced to take drastic measures and make traps so I could try to get them into it. But they just won’t give it a chance! They always try to get away from me and shred my work! Even Rose judges me! Saying she doesn’t think it makes sense for us latexes to wear them!’
Quiet sobbing can be heard in the other room.
‘Eventually, they turned this into some sort of game, where they trick others into getting stuck in my web, initially I didn’t mind since I would have ‘volunteers’. But it just doesn’t feel the same! I want people to WANT to try my clothes. I want people to say what they like and don’t like! I just want people to appraise my work! I just want someone to give me a chance!’
‘...’
‘I just don’t want my talent to go to waste…I just want someone to admire my clothes…is that so much to ask?’
Hearing Weaver’s frustrations and distress about having the work she puts so much effort and passion into, gone unnoticed. You can’t help but feel sorry for her, she may be part spider and part tiger but she is a person all the same. Exiting the dressing room with the new batch of clothes on, you wordlessly go to the distraught spider, placing your hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture.
‘I admire your clothes, Weaver. Your clothes are amazing. Please don’t give up on your talent, maybe you need to look somewhere else for modellers? I would always come back if you need me, I could always use a new set of clothes like these!’
Hearing your offer, Weaver grabs you with her many arms and pulls you in for a hug, purring as she nuzzles you.
‘Thank you human. At least I have a fan who adores my work.’
Slightly shy, you return the hug waiting until Weaver calms down. When she calms down, she pulls away from you to look at your new set with a gentle smile with a quiet purr.
‘I knew that set works so well together. What do you think?’
‘Well the colors look nice and the shading of the colour brown seems to work, when I first saw it kinda reminds me of you…but then I saw this logo.’
You then gesture to the small pink/reddish spider logo on the shirt.
‘...I can see why it reminds me of you. Are you self-advertising?’
‘It’s not self-advertising! It’s my brand! My trademark!’
‘Brand?’
‘Exactly! I had seen you humans use your own logos on your clothes, I picked up how the logos are all connected so I thought, ‘I could do that too!’. If I am gonna be a tailor, I want to make my mark out there! I want everyone to know that I…Weaver, make the best of the best! Nothing less!’
You aren’t sure what a brand is but from the way Weaver described it, it sounds much like what a brand could be. Maybe she is onto something.
‘So this logo is your brand?’
‘Yep! It’s also my calling card!’
‘Calling card?’
‘Sometimes, I get VERY bored…so when I get bored, I decide to play some pranks on the felines here. Sometimes I do it with Violet even, that latex really LOVES her pranks.’
‘What kind of pranks?’
‘Well…let’s just say that I sometimes can be just a little…extreme with my pranks.’
‘Oh…does err…me being your fashion model gives me a pass?’ you ask…hopefully, nervous about the spider’s plan for you.
‘Oh no no no…no one gets a pass from MY pranks! But don’t worry, since you are my fashion model and a human, I will grant you VIP!’
‘...what does that mean?’
‘You will be getting nothing but the ‘best’ both from clothes and my pranks. And believe me, I already have a few ideas for a human like you.’
You shake in slight fear as you see Weaver’s eyes fix upon yours with mischievous intent and a troublemaking smile.
‘Ummmmm….’
‘Oh don’t be such a baby! I won’t do anything to harm you! I am not that cruel!’
Sighing in slight relief, you quickly make your way to the changing room, to change back to your new black shorts and blue shirt.
‘Say human, do you have the pink shorts Rose made for you?’
‘Yeah, why?’
‘You are not planning to throw it away are you?’
‘I can’t throw that away, it's a gift! I know it doesn’t…suit me but I don’t think I would have the heart to do it.’
‘Maybe I take a look at it?’
Picking up your pink shorts, you hand them to Weaver as she examines them closely, giving a few testing stretches.
‘Hmm if you like, I could reform the shorts into something else you could wear.’
‘I’m not sure if it's something I should do.’
‘Actually human, there is no harm in that. The gift is the latex itself, not the shape it takes.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Human, latex would only give a piece of themselves to a significant other. Receiving a piece shows how much they care and value your friendship or even as lovers. This amount here says that Rose values your company, maybe more.’
‘Actually, Rose gave me those shorts for me so I had something to wear.’
‘Are you sure it's ‘just’ that? Maybe it's more?’
The spider says with a smirk. You ponder her words and recall the strange warmish feeling Rose is emitting when she is offering you the shorts. You feel yourself starting to blush a little at the possible implication. Did she feel bashful about giving you something like this?
‘I rest my case. I think I know just the thing. Why don’t you change back while I redesign these?’
Trying to save face, you try to busy yourself by looking at the gallery of pictures while Weaver works on your pink shorts, humming as she does her work.
‘Hmmm, say human. Why were you wearing pink shorts anyway? Rose could have made it into something else.’
‘I lost my original shorts because of Violet.’
‘Violet? Oh no…what did she do?’
‘She thought it would be funny to scare me by throwing away my shorts and dragging Rose into it without telling her the full story. Rose quickly figured it out and tried to get my original shorts back.’
‘But…?’
‘My friend Puro already found them.’
‘But why not go to him if you know him then?’
‘He is a black latex wolf, he lives in the library.’
‘Oohhh…I can see where this is going. I can’t say I blame them though, all white latex get nervous around black latex.’
‘But why is that?’
‘Let’s just say we have a…rough history with them. While things did improve between us but we rather stay out of their way just in case.’
‘But what is so dangerous about Puro?’
‘Black latex can eat white latex, didn’t you know about that? None of us wants to be on the menu, we rather not fight at all.’
‘Oh…’
You decide to not press any further on the topic, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.
‘Hey human?’
‘Yeah?’
‘Would you mind folding up those clothes back in my room? I like my clothes to be well organised.’
‘Can do.’
Leaving Weaver to her work, you make your way to the ‘changing’ room and neatly fold the clothes into different piles assorted by what type of clothing they are. Finishing up the folding, you gather them all in one pile and carry them back to Weaver’s main room. Exiting the room, you notice that Weaver is nowhere to be found.
‘Weaver? Where are you?’
Putting down the clothes, you look around left and right trying to find the elusive spider.
…
‘Umm, Weaver?’
*HISSS*
“AHHH!!!”
Dropping from the ceiling, you see a giant brown spider hanging in front of you with a screeching hiss. You jump back in fright and quickly realize it's Weaver.
‘Hahaha! Got you!’
‘Weaver! You almost gave me a heart attack!’
‘Ahh stop whining! I would never scare you to death! If you’re dead, who’s gonna help model my designs?’
‘How caring…’
Weaver giggles at your sarcastic remark, climbing down to the floor as you let a small chuckle yourself, finding it to be slightly amusing.
‘There we go! That wasn’t so bad was it?’
‘I suppose not.’
‘Glad you have a sense of humour.’
‘It’s never a bad thing to have a sense of humour. So did you figure out what to do with the pink shorts?’
‘Yep! Seeing how much Rose has taken a liking to you, I decided to make you your very own friendship bracelet!’
Looking at the bracelets, you take in the amazing craftsmanship of Weaver’s friendship bracelet.
The bracelets are mostly pink with a few pinkish-red patterns following around the bracelet. They seem to have scale-like patterns following all around them.
‘Wow, Weaver! These look amazing! And the patterns look great and the patterns! It reflects Rose perfectly.’
‘I thought you would like it! I thought using the scale pattern reflects Rose’s dragon body.’
Taking the bracelets you examine them closely, before looking at Weaver.
‘Weaver, I truly don’t know what to say…’
‘Then don’t say anything! It’s no problem at all! Your help and company are rewarding enough! It’s not every day you get to meet a human personally! Hmm…say, how DID you get stuck on my web?’
‘A snow leopard startled me.’
‘Hehehe…figures. Those snow leopards usually trick others into getting my web with their ‘game’, I shouldn’t be surprised. Too bad they don’t appreciate my work like you do human.’
‘Hmmm, why not start off by weaving some blankets? Maybe they would use them for their box club?’
‘Blankets? You really think it could work?’
‘Positive.’
‘Hmmm…not as exciting as clothing…but I suppose it’s worth a try. A good start as any. But what about you?’
‘Me? What about me?’
‘What will you do now? Do you have somewhere to go?’
‘I do have a friend looking for me, Puro. I need to find him and let him know I am ok.’
‘Ok…but you will come back…right?’
‘Of course! I mean you have done so much for me, and I did promise that I will be your fashion model.’
You don’t like the idea of not keeping a promise. After all, you may need more clothes at some point, the quality of Weaver’s clothes is unbelievable!
‘*Purr* I hope you keep to that promise, I’m always making new designs.’
Acknowledging Weaver’s response with a nod, you walk to the exit, while Weaver follows you close behind as you both head towards the exit of her den.
‘So, I guess this is goodbye?’
‘It’s not like I will be gone forever! I will be back as soon as I can.’
‘Yeah…oh wait! I almost forgot! Wait right there!’
Rushing back to her den, Weaver came back with a small brown fanny pack with a red spider symbol.
‘I also made you a small pack for your clothes! I even put in your favourite sets! I can imagine you would want to have a few extra sets to wear.’
‘Oh wow, thanks.’
Peering inside, you see your favourite selection of clothes you tried out all neatly packed in the small bag. You excitedly sling the pack around your hips, thankful you don’t have to worry about clothes anymore at least for a while.
‘Don’t mention it! Just be sure to come back soon, or else I will track you down and wrap you up so you will have no choice but to model for me!’
‘Ummm…’
‘I kid I kid! Just…please come back soon.’
‘I will, I promise.’
‘I look forward to your next visit! Take care!’
And with a wave goodbye, you exit the den with your new clothes in tow. Heading down the corridor you pause in thought.
‘Wait, I didn’t ask for directions…’
You don’t have time to wander around aimlessly, you need to find the exit and search for Puro as fast as possible.
‘I wonder where he is?’
*Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap*
‘What on Earth is-’
“HUMAN!”
You double-take before you recognize the voice, turning around to greet the wolf.
“Puro- OOF!”
Puro lifts you in the air as Puro gives you a bone-crushing hug.
“Puro found you! Puro was so worried! Puro thought he lost you for good! Human disappeared without his shorts! What happened human?? And where did human find these strange clothes? They smell familiar too.”
“Puro…need air…please.”
“Oh…oops, sorry human”
Putting you down, the wolf eagerly waits for your explanation.
“Some…latex thought it would be a funny joke to ambush me and leave behind my shorts just to tease me. Thankfully, their friend thought they were going too far and took me to the spider and made these clothes for me.”
“The spider guardian?? Didn’t the spider guardian try to eat you?”
“Not at all! I admit I was terrified at first when I first met her but she just wanted someone to try her clothes.”
“Eh? I suppose it explains those strangely placed clothes. But Puro is still confused…”
“What do you mean?”
“Whenever Puro listens to the vent, Puro hears roars and screaming. Puro always thought it was latexes getting eaten by the spider guardian. Do you know what that’s all about human?”
“That…might be her ‘volunteers’ to try out her clothes.’
‘Oh. That is…not what Puro is expecting.’
The atmosphere feels somewhat awkward as Puro looks away.
“Umm…let’s just get out of here.”
You nod as you follow Puro close behind.
“Oh yes! Puro almost forgot! Human’s shorts!” Puro says digging into his tail and pulling out your missing shorts.
“You keep things in your tail?”
“Yes, it’s super convenient! Puro kept it with him so Puro can find human and return it. Although human doesn’t seem to need it anymore do you?”
“Not really…though I may need the keycard in there.”
Digging into the short’s pockets, Puro pulls out the keycard and gives it to you.
“Here you are human. Puro isn’t sure how useful the keycard is outside the library but it couldn’t hurt to hold on to it just in case. It might still be able to open more doors!”
“I hope so. Do you know the way out?”
“Yes! The exit shouldn’t be too far from here! It should take us to the Greenhouse, there should be an elevator that should be able to take us down to the ground where we can find the exit of the institute! The elevator is locked but the keycard should be able to provide access!”
“That’s great news Puro. We will be out in no time.”
“Yes! There is no time to waste! Just stay close behind Puro, human! Puro will lead the way and chase away any more mean latexes! No one will bully human when Puro is around!”
With a hop and twirl, Puro moves past you and you follow close behind.
“Say human, is it ok if Puro keeps the shorts? Just in case we get separated again, finding human again should be no issue!”
“Sure, go for it. I have a small pack of spare clothes.”
Puro looks up in thought as he turns his head to face you.
“Say human, Puro has been meaning to ask.”
“Yeah?”
“Why are you in the institute anyway? It’s just you being in that stasis pod seems so strange, do you have any idea why that would be?”
“I wish I knew Puro…wish I knew…” you reply, unable to give a definitive answer
Not wanting to press the subject further, Puro looks away as the journey becomes painfully quiet. Walking down the corridor, Puro stops at an intersection and looks left and right.
“Umm, which way leads to the Greenhouse again? Sorry human, give Puro a moment.”
“All good, take your time.”
“Thank you, ok…If Puro would go left, it would take Puro away from the library…or was the library the other way?”
While Puro is monologuing to himself, you also try to get a sense of where is where, but you realize the snakes and the leopard express made it impossible for you to tell where you are exactly.
‘Damn if only the snakes didn’t come after me! I would have been able to-’
“HHMMPH??”
A grey paw slings over your mouth, muffling your scream and pulling you away from Puro.
‘Who are you?? Let go of me!!’
You try to yell telepathically but you do not feel any link to your kidnapper, leaving you unable to communicate with them. Throwing your head around, you are to get a glimpse of the face of your kidnapper. You see wild white hair and emerald green eyes with grey fur…
‘Oh no…’
It’s Trixie! She is pulling you away from Puro while he is distracted! Not wanting to get kidnapped again, you struggle against her attempts to pull you away.
As she pulls you closer, you feel your left arm starting to sink, the familiar sensation of latex wrapping around your left arm, moulding around it to fit like a glove. You realize in terror that you are sinking into the snow leopard! Trixie is trying to transfur you!
‘STOP IT! Let me go!!’
You try to reach out to her again via a link but only to be met with no response. Her facial expression seems firm as if she is completely focusing on taking you in as her host. You have no choice but to struggle against her in hopes of breaking free.
Fighting against the snow leopard, you try to break free of her grasp by trying to free your left arm but it refuses to move at your will.
The snow leopard pauses as she looks down at your fanny pack and bracelets in disgust. With a huff in jealousy, she removes your fanny pack and continues to pull you in.
‘That’s mine! That was a gift! I need it!’
Angry with Trixie’s selfish actions, you attempt to kick her in the shin with no luck as she growls with irritation, despite this Trixie continues to pull you in as you keep on struggling. With your left arm under Trixie’s complete control, you unwillingly push your right leg closer to her as she takes the opportunity to use her own right leg and press it against your own, deforming into a liquid state as it wraps around you.
Once it fully wraps around you, you watch in terror to see fur develop on your right leg, indicating the loss of control. Trixie shudders in delight with a purr, happy to gain control of another limb.
You will not be able to fight her off like this! You are going to be kidnapped once again! Your heart continues ponding in fear, it all feels so hopeless.
…
Unless…
Throwing your right arm to Trixie’s paw, you free your mouth as you give out a desperate cry.
“PURO! HEL-MMMPPHH!”
Trixie tries to muffle your scream but it is too late, Puro hears your call and turns to see you being kidnapped by Trixie.
“HUMAN! HOLD ON!”
In a panic, Puro rushes to your aid. Trixie growls in anger as she tries to pull you all the way in before Puro reaches out to you. You desperately reach out to Puro with your right arm as he grabs it and pulls with all his might. Bit by bit, you feel yourself being pulled away from your captor.
You almost cry in relief and gratitude for Puro saving you from Trixie, but it is quickly cut short as Trixie gives a threatening growl as she pulls harder, refusing to let you go.
Trixie roars as you feel the latex on your right leg stretch as Trixie tries her hardest to keep you contained. You watch as the latex pulls away from your leg, returning to the snow leopard, with your left arm following suit.
‘*Gasp!*’
You hear a terrified feminine gasp, Trixie growling in protest, refusing to let you go. The fight continues as Puro pulls you further and further away from Trixie…until…
*SNAP*
Every last bit of the latex snaps away from your body, returning to Trixie. Holding you close, Puro looks up to see a furious snow leopard, angry that her catch has been stolen.
“Human! Get behind Puro!”
Retreating behind Puro, he readies himself for a fight as Trixie readies to pounce on him. You can see the frustration and desperation in Trixie’s eyes but also a bit of…fear? With a roar, Trixie pounces onto Puro as he holds her back, protecting you from her.
You flinch whenever you see Trixie try to reach out to you, desperate to grab you again. Thankfully, Puro proves to be stronger than Trixie as he pulls her away from you. Puro is slowly but surely overpowering Trixie as she becomes more and more desperate.
In one final act of desperation, Trixie smacks Puro’s mask as he howls in pain, allowing Trixie to break free from her grasp.
“RUN HUMAN! RUN!”
You didn’t need to be told twice as you ran as fast as your legs could carry you. Your heart is beating fast as the sounds of tapping can be heard not far behind you. Turning right, you run down the long corridor and quickly take a turn to the left.
Running down a corridor, you notice a locked door in front of you, requiring a keycard. Seeing this, you quickly pull out your keycard as you make a silent prayer feeling nothing but the sounds of your heartbeat pounding in fear and your footsteps tapping against the metal floor.
‘Please work, please work, please work!’
Upon reaching the keycard scanner, you give one quick clean swipe as the machine beeps in acceptance, granting you access. You bash through the door and quickly lock it behind you as it clicks shut.
*THUD*
Just in time to stop Trixie in her tracks.
*BANG BANG BANG BANG*
Trixie pounds her fist against the door, trying to break through and reach out to you.
*Bang….Bang…Thud*
Curious, you peer through the door’s window to see Trixie gazing towards the card scanner, her paw reaching out towards it.
‘What is she doing?’
In a flash, Trixie clutches the panel of the scanner and pulls it with all her might.
*CrrrrEAKK! THUD*
To your horror, Trixie somehow manages to pry off the panel, exposing the wires within. Trixie lifts up her paw with her claw looming towards the wire.
“Wait wait wait! NO NO NO NO!”
You yell, pounding against the door. Trixie barely notices your protest and cuts the wires all in one clean swipe, electric sparks spewing through the wires. Looking at the keycard scanner in fear, which now reads ‘ERROR’, locking you out from the maintenance tunnels.
‘She locked me out! How am I going to reconnect with Puro??’
Looking up to the window, you see Trixie peering through to see as she places her paw on the window as if she is trying to reach out to you.
“What is wrong with you??”
She may not be able to understand what you said, but she seems to have a good idea anyway. A tear leaks out of her eye, giving one last growl and a pound against the door, slinking out of view.
Seeing that you are safe, you turn around to take in your surroundings. You seem to be in some sort of open area filled with grass and plenty of tall trees.
‘Where on earth am I?’
*Knock Knock*
“Human? Are you there? Please answer me!”
Quickly turning to face the door, you find to your relief to see Puro peering through the door’s window. Rushing towards the mirror, Puro cries out in relief.
“There you are human! Puro was so worried! I thought the mean snow leopard got to you.”
“It was close but the keycard worked on the scanner! I managed to seal the door shut just in time!”
“Excellent human! Just let me through so we can continue on our way!”
“I can’t…that snow leopard broke the keycard scanner, I can’t open the door anymore.”
Puro’s eyes widen as his ears flop back in disbelief.
“Are you serious…why is everything so difficult? All the latexes just keep separating us.”
You sigh in irritation and disbelief at your situation, you feel hopelessly lost.
“Human! Don’t give up! Puro can still catch up with you! You just need to get out of this room. There should be a greenhouse not too far from here. We can meet up there.”
You look up in slight relief.
“Ok, but where is ‘here’? I don’t even know where I am!”
“Errmm…Puro thinks you are in…some kind of Biome? Puro isn’t sure how many latexes are here.” Puro says, glancing at the trees behind you.
Your heart skips a beat as realization dawns on you.
“Wait, you don’t mean I am in some biome filled with latexes are you?”
“Unfortunately yes…Human…I need you to be careful, Puro doesn’t know what to expect around here, so be sure to get out of here as fast as you can alright?”
“I can try I guess,” you say with doubt in your capabilities, you had been caught a few times already after all.
“Puro knows you can do it human! You just need to put a little faith in yourself, just be sure to keep that keycard! It should come in handy, maybe it can unlock the exit to the greenhouse.”
“Hopefully…”
“I’m positive it will, human! Be safe for Puro’s sake ok?”
“I can’t guarantee but I can do my best.”
“That is all Puro asks. Good luck human.”
And with that, Puro slinks out of view, leaving you alone. Not wanting to wait around, you decide to find the exit as soon as possible in hopes of reconnecting with Puro.