Turning around with a deep breath, you take a long good look at your surroundings. You notice that the amount of trees thickens as you look deeper into the biome you are in, there is even an occasional vine hanging by the branches of the trees.
‘A jungle biome?’
Taking a few curious steps towards it, you look up to see the clear sky…wait what??
‘Am I outside?? No wait…’
You quickly realise that the ‘sky’ is actually just made out of some ‘crystal-like’ that gives an artificial yet realistic reflection of what an actual sky looks like, the ‘sun’ amazingly looks and behaves much like a real sun, standing underneath the sun feels much as though you are…well…getting warm. You gaze at the ‘sky’ in awe and wonder. You don’t know how something like this even works, nor why the institute would want it to be installed to begin with, how large is this biome?
Looking back to where you came from, only to see nothing but trees and plants behind you as though you are deep in the jungle already!
‘How?? I barely moved!’
Instinctively, you ran back in the direction where you came from in hopes to see the door again. Taking a few steps, you notice something from the jungle, a door-shaped outline in the middle of nowhere. You slow down and take cautionary steps, trying to figure out what is going on. The door seems to be fading into existence as you get closer to it.
You stop as the realization hits you. The ‘jungle’ in front of you is just some illusion made by the walls to help camouflage the door. Despite this, you still can’t help but feel as though you were placed into another world entirely.
‘How big is this Jungle?’
You can't help but feel alone, the illusionary walls distorting your sense of how big the jungle really does not help at all. You want to go back through that door but you have no choice but to journey through the jungle in hopes of finding another exit.
With a shuddering sigh, you venture deeper into the jungle, unsure what you will find in there.
Coming across a set of bushes, you push through them until you reach a clearing. Taking in the sights, you see more vegetation with plenty of trees and different kinds of plants you don’t recognise. A light green lizard rushes past your foot as it disappears into a bush.
The branches of the trees stretch far and wide, while vines hang from the branches of the trees. Looking up, you see the trees mostly blocking out the clear sky view, providing plenty of shade. You see the colourful birds sitting on the branches of the trees, dropping down from the branches as they fly past you in a hurry, chirping all the while.
‘Woah.’
Following your gaze with the birds, you notice the strange plants growing everywhere, ranging from the familiar red and white flowers to small bushes with spiky long leaves and a strange plant.
This strange plant has a yellow stem with long leaves sprouting by the roots, its colours are strange from pink on the top half while white on the bottom half.
‘What a strange plant.’
Suddenly, the plant shakes and deforms right in front of you, melting into a puddle. You barely comprehend the implication behind it until it starts to take shape.
‘Is that a latex in disguise??’
Taking steps back, you see the latex take shape into a small pink and white fox, gazing up at you. You worry that the fox may attack you but luckily the fox seems to be skittish as it hops away through the bushes.
‘Could have been worse I guess.’
The least you want right now is to get transfurred in a place like this. Ignoring the odd encounter, you explore the open clearing, searching for the exit. Walking through a cluster of trees and vegetation, trying to find another clearing. The heavy vegetation slowly robs your sense of direction.
*Rustle rustle*
Hearing the plants rustling behind you, you quickly turn around dreading what's coming. What jumps out of the bushes is the same pink and white feral fox, blotting past you while a giant white feral rabbit playfully chases it down, ignoring you. While you are thankful that they show no interest in you.
‘Seems like the rabbit is chasing the fox.’
You can’t help but think that the scene before you is somewhat cute. Following the direction where the rabbit and the fox went, you push aside the vines blocking your path as you come to a clearing.
Unlike the clearing before, you come across a variety of latex animals huddling together by the river. There are a few deer drinking by the river, a rabbit pinning down the pink fox, smiling triumphantly while the fox pouts with annoyance and defeat. There is also a few squirrels sitting on the branches above you, eating fruits and nuts while watching you with mild interest, while some birds are drinking or washing themselves in the puddles.
You notice that all of these latexes are feral, not a single one is anthropomorphic. Considering your past experience with your transfers, you worry that these latexes would be keen to attack you to take you in as their host, but strangely they only have shown mild interest.
Seeing this, you carefully step more into the clearing, making sure you don’t get ambushed. Seeing the latexes have no further interest, you make your way to the stream to get a drink, feeling parched from your adventure through the institute. Kneeling down in front of the stream, you cup your hands at the river, making sure the water looks safe enough before you drink. The deer on the other side of the stream watches you in curiosity but leaves you alone, drinking water along with you.
The water surprisingly tastes clean and fresh, encouraging you to drink further to quench your thirst. Something about drinking water in the middle of a forest with peaceful goo-animals feels almost relaxing. All of that running, hiding and discomfort and being controlled against your will takes a lot out of you. Sure Hunter and Scar weren't so bad in comparison but being able to do something without fear for a change feels…nice.
‘Being able to drink without getting attacked is a nice change of pace.’ you thought while looking at the fox playfully wrestling with the rabbit.
However, they immediately stop playing and look up somewhere into the jungle. Looking at the deer, you notice that it too is looking in the same direction the fox and rabbit are facing. You look around and sure enough, all of the latex animals are staring in the same direction. You check the birds to see that they too have the exact same reaction.
‘Why on earth are they looking at? What’s going on?’
The latex animals all squeal in terror as they run or fly in the opposite direction and into the forest.
“Wait! Where are you all going?”
The animals simply ignore you as they run through the pushes, past the trees and out of sight. Unsure of what to make of this, you take another quick sip of water. Suddenly, you hear quiet sounds of…thuds?
*thud thud* *rustle rustle*
You slowly get up in fear and confusion, hearing the ground and distant plants and trees rustling, something huge is heading your way!
Instinctively, you ran in the same direction that the latex animals were heading. Pushing through bushes, you hear that the thuds are growing closer and closer, you need to hide! Seeing a hollow log not too far from you, you get on your knees and crawl backwards as you wait in anxiety.
*thud thud Thud Thud THUD THUD*
The footsteps grow louder and louder as you shake in fear, dreading what will happen. Suddenly, a large brown four-toed foot with claws steps into your field of view, you look up in horror to see what you are up against.
It’s a giant brown lion…wait…is that a goat head right next to the lion??…and a snake!? This isn’t a lion at all! It’s a Chimera!
‘Is that what a Behemoth is like??’
Fear and panic grab hold of your heart as your mind echoes the warnings that Hunter told you.
Don’t get caught.
No wonder Hunter’s body is a huge tail, that thing is massive! That thing can easily kill you! Seeing the Chimera slowing down, you immediately tear away your gaze on the latex giant, remembering that latexes can pick up that they are being watched.
You can sense the behemoth pauses, standing completely still…were you too late? Did you doom yourself?
*sniff…sniff*
‘Please don’t find me…Please don’t please don’t…’ you frantically plead to yourself.
…
The wait is making you more anxious by the second, you wouldn’t dare peek out of your hiding spot to see where the Chimera is right now. There was absolutely nothing you could do to save yourself, except hope for the best.
…
…
‘Go away…go away…’
Crossing your fingers, you wait to see what the Chimera would do.
…
*THUD THUD Thud Thud thud thud*
‘Thank you god….thank you!’ You quietly cry in joy and relief.
Waiting to make sure the Chimera is gone, you climb out of the log when you decide that the coast is clear. While you are grateful that you didn’t get caught, seeing a behemoth only urges you to get out of this biome faster.
Getting up, you look around and try to figure out which direction you should take, unsure of how close you really are to the exit. If only those damn walls didn’t disguise themselves as part of the jungle.
‘Wait…WHY DIDN’T I STICK TO THE WALLS AND FOLLOW THEM!?’
Why didn’t you think of that before?? If you simply follow along the walls, you could have eventually found another exit! And now you got yourself stuck in the middle of the forest! You quickly came up with a plan to go in one direction persistently until you can find a wall to walk along until you can find the exit. Picking a direction away from the behemoth, you set out to find the edge of the jungle.
Pushing through the branches that block your path you notice the change in the atmosphere, it feels awfully different, there is no other latex creature in sight nor any sound of birds chirping…just silence.
‘Where is everyone?’
You could only guess that behemoth scared off any living creature, leaving you all by yourself. The discomforting silence slowly drives you insane.
‘Oh come on, where is the damn wall!? Surely this jungle is not that big is it?’
Pressing forward, you notice there is a heavy amount of vines blocking your way. Looking left and right, you notice that these paths are also covered with vines.
‘If only I had something to cut them away, it would have made life so much easier.’ you thought with a sigh.
Something like a large knife would be handy for situations like this, but of course, you can’t get everything that you want. At least you have a fresh pair of shorts and a T-shirt otherwise this expedition would have been more unpleasant.
Reaching out to the vines with your right arm, you push with all your might as you reach out with your other arm. With the vines revealing a gap, you step through the vines…until your right arm gets stuck. Noticing this, you gave your arm a firm tug but your arm will not budge.
‘I don’t have time for this.’
Grabbing your arm, you try to pull with all your might but you pick up an odd slithering sensation going down on your right arm, inspecting your arm, you notice that the vine is crawling downwards!
‘The vines are alive!?’
Panicking, you struggle to pull your right arm free but the other vines are quick to hinder your progress, latching out to your other arm and restraining it.
‘STOP! Let me go damn it!’
You try to pull your left arm away from the vines before they can get a hold of it, but this accomplishes nothing as the vines further restrain your right arm while the other vines attack your left arm. Once the vines have a firm hold on you, they start to pull you up, stranding you in the air.
‘OK OK! I GET IT! Just put me down already!!’
You mentally yell but you are met with no response as the vines simply hold you in place. You mentally yell in frustration.
‘Great, now what?’
You look down below to see that the vines lifted you up quite high in the air, breaking free from the vines now could risk injuring yourself when you land. While the vines hold you hostage, you contemplate whether you should wait to see what happens or take a risk and try to break free.
*thud thud Thud Thud*
‘You have got to be kidding me…’
The impending arrival of the Chimera behemoth immediately urges you to fight to break free from the vines. You try your best to move your arms but the number of vines holding your arms prevents you from gaining any leverage to fight.
*THUD THUD*
You look ahead in terror to see the brown Chimera not too far from you. Its eyes from head each watch you with confusion and curiosity. The Chimera pauses as if in thought as you feel your head click, indicating the connection of telepathy.
‘Who’s connecting with me? Hello?’
‘...’
‘Is anyone there?’
You then recoil when you are hit with a powerful wave of telepathy as three voices rang throughout your head. You don’t understand what is going on or where the voices are coming from. You direct your focus on the voices to pick up what they are saying.
‘Hmmm, this is new…’
‘I agree, sssooo ssstrange…’
‘This latex looks so funny.’
The heads’ on the behemoth seem to react to each thought, sharing glances with each other. You realise that this telepathy connection is coming from the Chimera.
You feel the vines move you closer to the Chimera as it approaches you, the lion examining you up close with its red eyes. You can’t help but feel as though the vines are connected to the Chimera somehow.
‘They don’t seem to look like a latex beast though,’ The lion said, squinting its eyes, examining you up close.
‘But the scent! The scent is latex! There’s no mistake about it!’ The goat of the Chimera comments, its yellow eyes sparkling with excitement.
‘I wouldn’t sssaay that, my gluttonous friend. The ssscent seems to be a mix of both latex and sssomething…different.’ The cobra appears above the goat, its emerald parietal eyes judging you.
The lion leans close to you, sniffing you, the warm air blowing against you as it exhales.
The lion’s eyes snap wide open.
‘You figure sssomething lion?’
‘I think I know what this little morsel is…it seems to be human!’
‘A human? Like a latex species?’ the goat asks.
‘No, it's not.’
‘A human? Aren’t humansss sssupposed to make latexesss more powerful?’
‘I believe so!’
‘What are you all saying?!’
The Chimera stops its bickering, all of its eyes are upon you, making you immediately regret speaking out. The cobra cuts through the air, pushing its eyes right against you, silencing you as fear takes hold of you.
‘It ssspeaksss! The human ssspeaksss!’ The snake says with giddy, its curiosity growing more and more.
‘Hmm, curiouser and curiouser.’ The lion hums.
‘But what about the scent?’
‘Hmm…*Sniff* this latex seems to be different from others…perhaps some latexes treasure him?’ The lion theorises.
‘Ooohh, the human has latex friends in our domain!’
‘Do you human? Itsss that why you carry thisss latex on you? You befriended some of our kin?’
‘Yes…um, these are a gift.’
‘How preciousss, latexesss befriending a species of prey, a ssstrange relationssship don’t you think?’
The lion examines you, in thought, though all of this is intimidating you.
‘I wonder though…Have we merged some of his friends?’
‘Wait, what???’
‘Does this mean we will assimilate him?’
‘Yesss goat…he will be joining our caussse.’
‘A new friend!’
‘Allow me to do the honours to welcome him.’
‘There’s no way you are considering…’
You feel your heart plummet when the lion's lips carve into a smile with sharp fangs poking out from its lips. The lion licks its lips, the vines pulling you closer.
‘No…you wouldn’t…’
More fangs poke out from its lips.
‘No…Do not! DO NOT! NO!’
The lion opens its huge maw, exposing the red depths that the lion plans to put you in.
‘DO NOT EAT ME!!!’
You scream in terror as the Chimera’s maw looms before you, moving closer to seal you in. Without thinking, you throw up your legs stepping on the snout to halt your demise.
‘I AM NOT GOING TO BE EATEN! GO AWAY!’
The Chimera scoffs with annoyance and tries to shake you off its snout with little success. When it manages to push you off, you simply throw your legs up again, to stop it.
‘I SAID NO!’
‘Stop resisting! Why struggle? You are becoming a part of something greater!’
‘All latexesss in our domain we consssumed all became a part of us! You will make an excellent addition to the caussse! Don’t you want to rekindle with them? Is it not why they gift you a piece of themessselvesss?’
‘You’re all MONSTERS!! GET AWAY FROM ME!’
Despite your continuous protest the Chimera simply ignores you. Fighting to pull you in, the Chimera continues to try to throw you off its snout so it can eat you.
Realising that the vines on your arms are loose, you quickly throw a punch near the lion’s eye, causing it to recoil and let go of your leg.
‘If you do that again, I will make sure not to miss your eye!’
The lion growls with annoyance as the voices grow impatient.
‘You irritating little human! Why do you keep resisting?’ the goat complains.
‘It isss the law of the jungle isss it not? Ssshould we not bond together to ensssure our sssurvival?
‘But why eat me??’
‘The barrier human! Don’t you see? The barrier that trapsss us all!’
‘Many latexes desire to go further and beyond the jungle we call home. But this strange barrier keeps us out!’
‘The barrier shocks everyone who tries to fight it!’
‘That’s why we became a behemoth…so we can finally taste true freedom!’
‘Other latexesss will join our caussse whether they want to or not…but they will be thankful once we finally break through!’
‘With you joining us…we may finally have the strength to break through! We will be free!’
‘Lift him up!’
And with that, the vines react as they lift you up higher in the air, hovering you above the lion’s head. Before you could react, a vine coils around your legs, tying them together to prevent you from struggling. The lion licks its lips as it slowly opens its maw in a teasing fashion, the vines slowly lowering towards it.
‘FINALLY! No more struggling human!’
‘Embrace your new life! Becoming part of a great behemoth! You don’t have to sssurvive alone ever again!’
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
‘EAT HIM ALREADY!’
“NO NO! PLEASE GOD! NO PLEASE NO!”
The jaw stretches out as far as it could and you could feel the vines readying to drop you in, you heart pounding in fear of the sight of it. Dreading the end, you shut your eyes and wait for the inevitable.
…
…
…
But it never came.
‘Huh?’
Peeking through one eye, you look down to see the three heads seem to be frozen on the spot, unable to move, the Chimera seems to be straining itself. What is it doing? did it perhaps change its mind? You eventually notice the behemoth’s pupils in their eyes seem wide with fear? The three-headed Chimera seems to be growling in pain as they shuts their eyes.
‘Stop it…we just want…’
‘Ssstop her! Ssstop her before! Aaaaghh! We don’t mean ill will!’
‘We just want more friends! To get stronger…we don’t want to…’
The Chimera pauses as it stares up blankly into the sky, the vines slowly set you down on the ground as it pulls away from you, setting you free. You watch in confusion as the Chimera starts to step away further and further as it turns and goes into a full-on sprint, disappearing deep in the jungle, never to be seen again.
‘What…was that?’
What on earth just happened? What is wrong with that behemoth? Why was it acting so weird?
*Rustle*
Hearing some rustles above you, you look up to see a pair of glowing green eyes piercing through the branches of the trees. Is that another latex?
“Hello?”
The latex seems to respond as it starts to crawl down the branch and down the tree, jumping off and landing on the ground, keeping its distance from you. Seeing the latex, you can't help but get a sense of awe and worry.
This particular latex is different from the others you have met and seen so far, the latex is a feral black panther latex with glowing green patterns, grabbing your attention. The latex has glowing green eyes and nose, her fur donning some glowing horizontal stripes going down her torso, arms and legs. The latex has a tint of glowing green fur on top of its head.
The latex even has a few strange patterns forming around her arms and legs, replacing a few of her stripes. The latex even has a tail with the same glowing green colour with stripes, swishing behind it, showing its curiosity and interest. Despite such oddity and atmosphere, this panther looks rather beautiful with its patterns.
“Wow…”
----------------------------------------
What is this strange creature? It is unlike anything she has ever seen in this jungle before. Regardless, seeing him crying and begging for his life from the cruel behemoth, the glowing green latex didn’t have the heart to leave him like that. Using her hypnotic powers, she hypnotises the behemoth and tells it to put down the strange creature before running away. While hypnotising a single latex is easy enough, hypnotising a powerful behemoth that is in full sync, let alone three separate minds, makes it harder to captivate it under her control.
However, she was worried that the creature would get caught in the crossfire between her and the behemoth during her hypnosis but to her confusion, this creature doesn’t seem to be affected at all. This is…unusual…
Wanting to see the strange creature more in person, she climbs down the tree, taking
caution to keep her distance just in case. She tries to communicate with this creature via telepathy, but she feels no possible connection with him, her skill in telepathy is not good enough to reach the creature.
Climbing down, she notices that this strange creature doesn’t appear to be made out of latex, none at all, yet it bears the latex of others, signalling trust and relationship with others. If he isn’t latex, then what is he? The latex couldn’t help but feel like she knows what he is but she couldn’t quite put her paw on it.
Sitting down in front of him, she couldn't help but feel unsure of what to do. How can she find out what this creature is if she can’t talk with it? Slowly, the strange creature reaches he hand up towards her, spreading its fingers in a strange gesture. She quickly hunches her back, watching it with caution. What is this gesture supposed to be again? A hand-shake? Is that how it greets? The creature sees this and goes down on its knees, indicating that it means no harm.
Cautiously, the latex lifts up her paw to interact with the creature, accepting this gesture but once she makes physical contact with it, she flinches and pulls back, puffing up her fur slightly while her marks flare in fright. She quickly calms down when she realises that the strange sensation of the touch is similar to the telepathy latexes used to reach out to others.
Does this creature need physical contact to link up? How is this possible? He is not latex! Surely this can’t be right…could it?
Ohhhh this will be so embarrassing…she is fully well aware of her ability to communicate telepathy but she never had a chance to use it due to everyone being so terrified of her hypnotic powers, no one dared to approach her.
Reaching out with her paw again, the latex touches the hand of the creature as it reaches out with the link. Struggling a bit, the latex manages to connect with the link, waiting to see what happens next.
‘Hello?’
Her fur puffs out slightly in fright as she nearly breaks away from the connection. What was that?? What was that sound in her head?? It’s like it's her own thought…except it isn’t. What should she do?
‘Can you hear me?’
Strange…through telepathy, it's like the creature can use the same language as she does without knowing it, is this what telepathy does?
‘Yes…’
Not much of a reply she has hoped, but it's a start.
‘Oh good…sorry about startling you, I didn’t mean it.’
‘It’s…ok…’
‘Are you…ok? You seem kinda quiet.’
‘Yes…new.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘...First…time…link.’
‘Oh.’
----------------------------------------
You didn’t expect something like this. You are not sure why it is that this latex never had used telepathy before, but that doesn’t stop you from trying to make a conversation with her.
‘You never had someone to talk to?’
‘No…’
‘But why?’
You immediately regret asking that question as the latex flattens her ears in a sad fashion.
‘Latex. Scared…’
‘Why?’
‘I hypnotise.’
The latex shudders, waiting for your response.
‘You can hypnotise? That sounds amazing.’
Seeing how shy the latex is, you decide it's best to be quiet with your thoughts, lest you end up startling her.
‘…not scared…?’
‘Of course not, you don’t want to hypnotise me do you?’
‘No...’
You glance at the panther’s glowing marks in thought. You think back to the behemoth and recall that its eyes were glowing green. Could it be…?
‘Did you hypnotise the behemoth?’
‘Behemoth… bad.’
‘You saw it all?’
‘Behemoth…mean. Give…help.’
‘So you hypnotised it to put me down and run away?’
‘Yes…’
‘You have my thanks. If it weren’t for you I might have died!’
‘Behemoth…kill!?’
‘Kind of…? It did want to assimilate me, but I heard that a behemoth accidentally drowned someone.’
‘Your kind?’
‘Yes, one of my kind.’
The latex holds your hand firm as she looks at you from up and down, examining you.
‘Your kind? Never seen…I think.’
This comment confuses you a bit but you decide to answer her question.
‘I’m a human.’
The latex pauses as she looks at you in wonder and awe.
‘A human? Our hosts?’
‘Yes…umm…please don’t transfur me.’
The panther steps back as she examines you, she slowly walks around you, sizing you up. You can’t help but feel nervous, on the edge to start running but you remain still, why run? You can’t outrun a panther let alone a kitten!
The panther sits back in front of you as she reaches out your hand with her paw, connecting once again, her eyes gazing into yours. You can’t tell read her expression, is she considering transfurring you?
‘Unworthy.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Weak host.’
Your jaws drop in disbelief.
‘Are you saying…that I'm weak?’
‘Yes. Sorry human.’
You are split on whether to feel grateful for her not showing interest, or be outright insulted.
‘I…don’t know what to feel about that.’
‘Don’t dwell.’
‘I guess so…’
You make a quick sigh as you continue the conversation.
‘Either way, I always find it frustrating that latexes just…waltz by and take over my body, not wanting to hear whether or not I would be ok with it. Say…what is your name?’
‘Neon. Yours?’
‘My name is Colin, it is nice to meet you Neon.’
Neon looks up in thought, before looking back with curiosity and wonder as she clutches your hand tighter.
‘Colin…friend?’
‘I can’t see why not.’
Purring with excitement, Neon growls as her tail shakes while her green marks brighten warmly.
‘First friend!’
‘Glad you feel the same way!’
Neon’s happy reaction warms your heart, reminding you of Puro. Wait! You still need to get out of the jungle!
‘Hey Neon, do you know the exit of the jungle?’
‘Exit?’
‘A way to leave the jungle.’
‘Exit...jungle?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Beyond jungle?’
‘What are you saying? You never tried leaving the jungle?’
‘Beyond jungle? More jungle?’
‘Ummm…sort of?’
‘Colin. Break barrier?’
‘Break the barrier? Those things keeping everyone in?’
‘Yes.’
‘There is actually an exit to this jungle, it should be along the barrier.’
‘Secret passage?’
‘There should be yes.’
Neon’s eyes glow brighter as her jaw drops in disbelief.
‘Leave jungle?? More jungle??’
‘Yes. We should be able to-’
‘But… Jungle home…’
Neon starts to shudder, her tail tucked in between her legs as she leans closer to you.
‘Uncertain…but curious. Scared….but interest.’
Worrying for her, you start petting Neon on the head as her eyes snap open in confusion but that melts away as she purrs and leans into your hand, purring all the while.
‘Describe…beyond?’
‘It’s a lot different from the jungle. There are different kinds of latexes out there, some machines, plenty of rooms and an absurd amount of boxes lying around.’
‘Boxes? Rooms? Machines?’
‘Yeah, it's kinda the gist of it outside this biome.’
‘Confused.’
‘I think it’s best to see it rather than describe it. Something you can’t explain just with words alone.’
‘I join?’
‘Of course! The more the merrier!’
And with that, Neon jumps back on all fours as her body distorts as her body quickly changes shape. Her torso changes shape as her legs shift and changes structure giving it a less hunched structure as it stretches out straight, her tail growing longer and she slowly stands on her hind legs. You watch as Neon changes from feral to anthropomorphic. Before you can react, Neon pounces onto you, knocking you to the ground, as she hugs and nuzzles you.
‘Thank you! Best friend!’
‘But I thought I was your first friend!’
‘Best friend!’
Deciding she has done enough, Neon pulls back as she sits on your legs and looks at you.
‘What now?’
‘I think our best course of action would be to head straight in that direction until we hit the wall and follow along with it, there should be a door along there.’
‘Lead way!’
And with a hop, Neon jumps off you and heads towards the direction you were heading. Neon glances behind her, waiting for you to follow along. With a quiet chuckle, you get up and follow close behind Neon as she happily trots through the forest with you, eager to see what lies beyond it.
Following through a clear path, Neon happily hops over boulders and logs while you simply walk around it, despite the empty and quiet journey, it still feels a lot more pleasant than travelling alone. Looking up ahead, you notice there is a huge clearing but there is another large amount of vines blocking the way.
Considering last time, you do not want to go anywhere near those things, worrying that you will get stuck again. As if sensing your concerns, Neon calmly steps and sits in front of the vines as her body glows, the vines lifting up and out of the way, clearing the path. Neon looks over behind her to give you an assuring smile.
Following along with Neon, you both find yourselves in a clearing, gazing at the vegetation ahead. You both approach and sure enough, the ‘vegetation’ before you is actually just the illusionary walls disguising themselves as one. The closer you get to the wall, the more obvious it is as the walls expose their true nature to you and Neon.
Checking on Neon, you notice she looks at you expectantly as she places her paw on you, understanding her intention, you reach out to her as she connects her telepathy with you.
‘What now?’
‘And now, we look for the door! We just need to walk down along with the wall. Shouldn’t be too hard.’
Walking down along the wall, you keep an eye out for a door-shaped outline as Neon watches the wall with wonder, her tail swishing with anticipation, no doubt wondering what she will find outside and beyond.
Eventually, you finally find what you are looking for! A door-shaped exit! Patting on Neon’s shoulder, you direct her towards the exit as she gazes at it in confusion and interest. Walking up to the door, Neon stands next to you as she holds your hand and talks to you via telepathy.
‘Passage?’
‘Yep! This is it! Now I just need to open it.’
‘Tell how?’
‘These doors require a certain kind of key, which I have right here with me.’
Reaching into your pockets, you pull out a keycard for Neon to see. She tilts her head as she squints her eyes to examine it.
‘It work?’
‘Yes, I actually got into this jungle through a different door but I’m fairly certain that this should work here too.’
Heading to the door, you ready the keycard as you swipe it through the keycard scanner, expecting to hear a click.
*BEEP!*
“What…”
You try to swipe the card again.
*BEEP!*
“Are you freaking kidding me??”
In disbelief and frustration, you madly swipe the card in the keycard scanner.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEEEEEPP!*
“Whhhhhhhyyyy….” you cry out in despair of your misfortune.
You barely register Neon reaching out from behind you, placing her hand on your shoulder to communicate.
‘What’s wrong?’
‘The card…didn’t work…’
‘Why not?! We trapped??’
You regretfully nod your head as Neon frowns in disappointment.
‘Different way?’
Looking up, you see that there is a ‘security’ button sitting underneath the keycard scanner.
‘I think there is but…’
‘But…?’
‘There is a button, but I don’t think we should.’
‘Why not??’
‘It would call someone to open the door but I don’t think anyone would answer.’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t know if…maybe we should look for another-’
‘Least try?’
You take a deep breath and consider her words. There’s really no harm in trying right? There is a chance there may be no other exits in this biome, this may be your only option. Seeing no other choice, you heed Neon’s reasoning.
‘I suppose you’re right…might as well.’
Neon glows slightly brighter as she stands by your side, encouraging you to push the button.
Taking a heavy breath, you reluctantly push the button.
*Ring…Ring….BEEP*
“Hello? Hello? Is anyone there?”
You grit your teeth in disbelief, recognising the voice from the intercom in the black latex den. You quickly respond.
“Yes? Who is this?”
“COLIN?? Oh my god…it really is you! All this time I thought you were…Where were you?? I have been searching EVERYWHERE for you!”
“Wait, hold on, searching for…I…How do you know my name??”
“Of course I know your name Colin! God, this is not the time for jokes! I really thought that…oh god why didn’t I think to check sooner!”
“I’m not joking! Why would I be joking right now!? And what do you mean by checking sooner? Who are you?”
“Colin…please don’t tell me you are being serious right now? After so long since I’ve last seen you, THIS is how you show up?? Why are you acting as though I am a complete stranger??”
“That’s because you are! I don’t know you!”
“...Damn it…it’s that cryostasis side effect isn’t it?”
“Yes…?”
A deep breath can be heard behind the intercom, as the man behind it tries to recuperate.
“...fantastic…just what I needed to hear…way to make me feel like a complete failure right now.”
“Umm…”
“I can complain later…Now Collin. Just so I can get a clear understanding of this, how much do you actually remember?”
“Nothing.”
“Nothing at all?”
“Why on earth are you asking me all of this?? Who are you??”
“Colin…I get you want answers…but you need to understand how bloody overwhelming this is for me. Bear with me.”
With a pout, you reluctantly agree to this strange person.
“Well…could you at least explain why I was locked away in a stasis pod deep within an institute? Was I kidnapped or something? I honestly have no clue right now.”
“...”
In a brief moment of silence, there is a quick bang on the other side of the intercom.
“It just gets better...and better…”
The man groans as he moves back to the intercom.
“Colin…look. This is so much for me to take in all at once, and I get it…you want answers…but I need you to trust me on this alright?”
“Why should I trust you?”
“You did push the emergency security button for a reason right?”
“Yes…”
“Then at least tell me where you are right now! I can’t help if I don’t know where you are.”
You ponder for a moment, unsure whether or not you should give this ‘doctor’ the wolf chief called him a chance. Feeling something on your shoulder, you look next to you to see Neon looking at you in confusion, reaching out to you with telepathy.
‘Everything ok?’
‘Y-yeah, sort of.’
Gathering your thoughts, you speak to the man once more.
“I am stuck inside some Jungle biome and I can’t get this door open.”
“Y-you're in the biome? How the hell did you…umm never mind. Let me just search for you.”
A few typing sounds can be heard on the other side of the intercom as the doctor presumably searches through his computer. A few clicks later a beep can be heard as a blinking red light can be seen on the card scanner.
“Ahhh…there you are! And…”
The doctor pauses for a brief moment.
“Colin…who is that next to you?”
“This is Neon, a new friend of mine.”
“Colin! Do you not understand how dangerous that latex can be?? Its glowing marks are not just for show!”
“Sir, I am fully aware that she can hypnotise.”
“And yet you allow it to be with you??”
“She saved my life with the Behemoth in this biome. If it weren’t for her I would have died here.”
“...”
“Hello?”
“I’m so damn good at my job aren’t I?” the person says bitterly, seemingly scolding himself.
“Well…at least you are in good company.”
You look at Neon with a kind smile, as typing sounds can be heard on the other side of the intercom.
“Right… I have sent a maintenance robot to help release you from the biome, he should be able to open the door with ease.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me just yet. You have a lot of catching up to do, there are a lot of things that have changed around here while you were in that stasis pod. And without your memories, I cannot leave you to just wander around the institute aimlessly.”
“Why not? You want me to see you?”
“In person, believe me…I REALLY need to see you. There is a lot going on that you don’t know about.”
What the doctor said is true, there are a lot of things that you do not know. Maybe this doctor can help give you the answers to your past? But there is still something you do not understand…
“Hey, question. Why did you leave me in that stasis pod? Why not release me the second you can? Why was I there in the first place?”
“Umm, actually I didn’t put you in that stasis pod. Someone else did. I didn’t come looking for you because I thought you didn’t survive the riot. It never crossed my mind that you would be hiding in the stasis pod. As for why you are in there, I could only guess someone must have put you there for safekeeping until the riot died down, that room is very secure.”
“The riot?”
“It’s…best if I told you everything when you get here. It is a lot to take in I’m afraid. I have to know, how in the world did you manage to sneak past the wolves? When I received the log data about your release the wolves couldn’t find you anywhere.”
“The latex pups helped me.”
“The pups…really? No, no that explains it. But what about the dragons? Surely there was no way you could have gone past unnoticed.”
“Well…they sort of kinda let me go…not without playing a few games and taking me to the Elder.”
“You have got to be kidding me…I swear that elder is trying to drive me insane. Why didn’t he tell me about this??”
“You know the Elder?”
“To an extent, yes. Look, as much as I would like to chat, I have a lot to think about and I would rather do this all in person, more appropriate that way anyway. Proto should be able to escort you to my office. Just stay close to it at all times, and…do be careful…the latexes here may not be dangerous but I can’t say the same for the behemoths.”
“Don’t worry. I plan to. Just don’t pull anything behind my back alright?”
“Colin…if only you knew how ridiculous that is. I want nothing but the best for you, and I intend to keep to that promise. My only regret is not getting you out of that pod sooner. I just…I… *sigh* ...Look…Proto should be here any second now. We can talk later. See you soon Colin.”
*Click*
You step away from the intercom as Neon reaches out to you, communicating with you once again.
‘What happened?’
‘A person named Dr K is sending a robot to open the door for us.’
‘Robot?’
‘It’s ummm…some sort of machine I think.’
‘Machine?’
‘Let’s just wait to see.’
*BEEEEEP!!!*
Thankfully, you didn’t have to wait for very long. As soon as you finish that thought, the door in front of you hisses, releasing the air as the door slowly creaks open, revealing what’s behind it.
Neon jumps in fright as she tightly clutches onto your arm for protection. You watch in disbelief as you examine the robot that stands before you, holding the door open.
The robot has a grey and white humanoid body with a long rectangular screen above its nose, serving as its eyes. The robot has a strange blue holographic ‘fur’ decorating its body, giving it triangular ears, a mane around its neck and a small bushy tail. The robot appears to be an anthropomorphic lion of sorts. Its hands have five fingers much like a human but it has some blue patterns on them, giving it a paw-like impression.
The robot’s screen shows two rectangular blue eyes scanning you.
…
‘Robot?’
‘I…don’t know….’
‘!!!’
*Beep!*
The robot’s eyes quickly turn into exclamation marks as it quickly steps in front of you, extending its arm and offering a handshake.
‘What’s it doing?’
‘It wants to give me a handshake I think.’
Grasping your hand onto the robot, the robot beeps and shakes your hand up and down rapidly. Finishing the introduction, the robot claps its hands in excitement.
*Beep beep beep!*
“Huh? What are you saying?”
The robot pauses as its screen shoots out a holographic projection, projecting a picture in front of you. The picture is a picture of…you? The picture shows you holding a watering can, busy watering some of the plants while you smile at the camera.
“Where did you get that??”
*Beep!*
“Ummm dude…I can’t understand what you are saying.”
The robot points to itself and then points to its eyes as it changes to a pixel drawing of a camera.
“You take pictures? You took a photo of me?”
The robot nods happily.
“You know me??”
*Beep!*
You didn’t even have to guess what the robot was saying. Confusion gnawing on your mind. How? What is going on? Is what the doctor said true? Do you know so little?
“What on earth is going on…”
*Beep!*
Looking up, you see the robot holding the door, its eyes showing an arrow pointing to the left as it beckons you waving its arm. It’s decided, you are getting your answers and you want to know everything that the doctor has to offer you. Thankfully you don’t have to do it alone.
‘Hey Neon. We gotta get going, are you ready for this?’
…
‘Neon?’
Looking behind you, the see Neon is paralysed with confusion, fear and awe, struggling to comprehend what happened before her.
‘Metal animal…I’m scared…’
‘Neon…’
‘Impossible…illusion…impossi-’
‘Neon, calm down,’ you reach out to her, giving her a gentle nudge.
‘EHH?? What happened??’
‘We can leave the jungle now. The robot has opened the door for us.’
Looking ahead, the robot ‘narrows’ its rectangular digital eyes as it taps its foot, growing impatient. Neon looks up ahead as she points towards the exit.
‘Beyond jungle?’
‘Yep, the exit is open.’
‘But…beyond jungle…isn’t jungle?’
‘Not exactly no.’
‘Scared…’
‘You don’t have to be scared. I can help you get through this together ok?’
Neon looks at you with understanding, tightly holding your hand as you guide her outside the biome.
You and Neon then step through the door as the robot seals the door. You finally found a way out of the jungle, with a new friend by your side.