This story is part of an ongoing series. While this story can be enjoyed by itself, I highly recommend that you read the previous entries for full context. You can find them here https://www.furaffinity.net/gallery.....dWorld-Stories Thanks for reading!

This story was commissioned by Siegmar



Walking on Clouds - A Clouded Leopard tf Story


Cecil’s head throbbed. Hammers have been pounding his head on and off ever since he woke up less than an hour ago. He rubbed his temple and groaned. The room was too bright, it just made his head hurt more. Amidst the bees buzzing around his brain, he struggled to recall the events that had led to this moment. But it all merged into a blurry mess.

He groaned and splayed himself out across the metal cot that had greeted him when he first woke up into this nightmare. It took an eternity of shifting and squirming before he found a pose he was comfortable in, and the constant squeaking didn’t help. He glanced across the small room to see Brittany still sleeping across from him. Her chest fluttered up and down in soft, short breaths.

Finally he turned to stare at the sterile white ceiling that stretched above him like a blank canvas. He let his mind wander, drawing invisible patterns and shapes on the roof. All concepts of time were lost as he drifted in and out of consciousness. Sleep was the only thing he could do in here apparently. That or dwell on the hell they were apparently trapped in.

An abrupt noise broke his stupor, emanating from the other side of the room. He turned to see Brittany finally stirring. The girl sat up in bed, rubbing her head and moaning.

“ Ugh, what happened?” her voice was slurred, showing signs of a possible concussion. Given what they’d been through unseen injuries were highly possible. Given the aching in his own head, he could have one as well. Thus it was imperative to keep strenuous movement to a minimum in order to prevent reinjury.

“ We’re locked in some strange room.” He said bluntly. He didn’t want to excite her and incite a panic. He was close to panicking himself, and he needed them both to keep a level head. They needed to be ready for any situation that may arise.

“ I ran a sweep of the place but there appears to be no viable means of escape.” Cecil explained, pushing his glasses further up his nose. He waved his hand around the room. Three white walls boxed them in, with the fourth being a translucent floor-to-ceiling glass pane that overlooked some sort of laboratory. Cecil recognized some of the equipment although most of it was foreign to him. The tech appeared far more advanced than the quaint little labs at his school, with supercomputers, armies of bubbling beakers, intricate sensor displays and a chemical lab right out of the pentagon. Whoever trapped them here was very well funded. Brittany slowly surveyed the room, the dazed look on her face suddenly turning to panic.

“I can’t be here, I have cheerleading practice in an hour!” She shrieked, waving her hands in the air. Then she suddenly noticed her white jumpsuit and let out a high pitched shriek.

“What the hell am I wearing?! I look like a giant marshmallow!” Cecil tried not to laugh, to no avail. This drew on a disdained look from Brittany.

“We could’ve been in here for days, possibly weeks,” Cecil said. “ Jumping about like jackrabbits while screaming the alphabet is not my highest concern right now.” Brittany huffed, putting her hands on her hips.

“It’s important to practice daily if I want to keep in top form.” she explained dryly. “Cheerleading is an art, unlike your stupid numbers and letters. It takes a special talent to perfect.” She hopped off the bed and started stretching, bending over like a tree in a storm.

“ If anyone can do chemistry, then why are you barely passing it?” Cecil smirked as she shot a demonic stare. He knew he’d struck a chord, and he was going to exploit it to its fullest.

“ I’ve seen your face on exam day. You look like you’re kissing a puffer fish. But what would I expect from a walking Nordstrom display?” He shrugged as Brittany turned towards him. She had a fire in her eyes like the Texas sun in summer. She stormed over to him angrily.

“That’s big talk from the biggest loser nerd at our school.” She snapped, pointing a dagger-like fingernail towards him. “You’re the first person I can recall who had a negative friend count. The only thing worse than those exams was hearing your nasally voice day in and day out, screaming out answers whether you’re asked to or not!”

“I am not a loser!!” Cecil yelled, the sense of calm vanishing into pure spite. The haze in his mind cleared to reveal visions of him sitting alone at lunch, mocked by his peers for wearing a bow tie to school. The countless hours he spent cleaning meatloaf out of his hair in the high school bathrooms, trying to hold back waves of tears. Struggling uselessly in the dark of the zoo as the rag was applied to his face. It all rushed back to him now, and he stood up with a huff, his mind frothing with emotions. His body trembled as his arms balled up into fists. He was not a loser. He was better than them all. The dam broke, releasing the torrent of emotions held back for many years.

“ One day I’ll give you worthless apes what you deserve!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice bounced off the walls, giving it an added weight. “When I’m on wall street making world-changing decisions, I’ll remember you flipping burgers at Mcdonald’s for drug money and flip you a good one!” He stood there tensed, partially shocked at the words coming out of his mouth. That he could be this way. Brittany appeared just as shocked, although clearly not intimidated. She scoffed.

“The only street you’ll be on is when you’re begging for change, penniless and alone. Life’s not all about grades you know!”

“I would agree.” A new voice filled the room, causing the both of them to look around in confusion. Finally they turned towards the glass wall, where three scientists stood, smartly dressed in sterile white lab coats. The one in the middle was holding a microphone. His nametag read Dr. Edward Smiles. The way he was grinning certainly fit the description.

“ I personally got a C+ in my Organic Chemistry course at Yale. Yet here I am, the lead chemist at BlueStar Labs.” he paused, touching a dainty finger to his face. “- and brilliant innovator, I must say! I’ve made leaps and bounds in my field, as you all are about to experience!” He chuckled, his voice sounding like a frog that just inhaled a gallon of helium. Cecil cocked his head in confusion.

“ Bluestar Labs? Are you the ones behind all this?” Dr. Smiles looked like he just ate a lemon. Brittany turned towards Cecil, a confused expression on her face.

“What the hell are you talking about? What’s Bluestar labs?” Cecil turned towards her, a rising sense of panic in his voice.

“ I-I’m not entirely sure about the details, but I know they’re one of the largest pharmaceutical producers in the Western Hemisphere. Make a lot of over the counter stuff. I think they recently got acquired by some bank or other but I’m not sure…”

“ Oh dearie me, it appears I’ve given the game away!” Dr. Smiles chuckled. His enthusiasm sent a shiver down both of their spines. It made Cecil personally feel quite uneasy. “Yes, I work for Bluestar, at least in the strictest of terms. But you two are a private project… one I’m doing for a very … special friend of mine. “ His face morphed into a sly, fox-like grin. “We shall begin once our friend gives his word of approval.”

“Let us go you freaks!” Brittany was suddenly pounding on the glass wall with all her might, the reverberations sounding out throughout the room and into Cecil’s ears. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, which only besieged his beleaguered eardrums further. Dr. Smiles, however, didn’t even flinch.

“Not possible.” He stated calmly, bluntly. “You’ve trespassed upon private property and took things that were not yours. You know the name of our operation, as well as the name of me and my compatriots.” He waved a hand towards the other scientists, each with their own similar looking nametag. A stern-looking man in his mid forties jotted down notes on a clipboard, his eyes hidden by reflective sunglasses. His nametag read Dr. Duvant. Beside him was a short Latin-American woman in her late thirties who simply observed, hands held staunchly behind her back. Her name was Dr. Guartarez. Dr. Smiles gazed at the two of them stuck in the glass chamber.

“ I cannot allow you to leave and thus jeopardize our operation. Your associates have already learned this. Now it is your turn.” Brittany’s face turned ash-white as her fists ceased their assault upon the thick glass.

“Brock and Danielle…” she whispered, her face ghost-like. Suddenly she turned towards them with a renewed fury.

“What did you do to them?!” She screeched at the scientists, slamming her hands against the wall yet again. Cecil watched as one of her perfectly manicured nails broke in the assault, leaving a tiny trickle of blood running down her finger. The screaming girl, however, appeared not to notice as she continued screaming obscenities at the white-clad figures on the other side of the glass, however. Cecil just covered his ears and tried to hear himself think. This continued unabated until Dr. Smiles suddenly turned towards the equipment behind him, where there was a flashing red light. He broke out into a smile.

“Ah, that’s the signal. Now we can begin.”


“What the hell are you doing?!” Ash struggled against her restraints, wincing as the metal bit into her wrists causing flashes of pain to shoot up through her body. “I said to let them go!” The man in front of her, Mr. Warren Gould, leaned in close to where she could smell the stench of cognac and caviar on his breath. The light from the windows reflected off his gold watches and into her eyes, causing her to madly squint at the laptop displaying live feed from the scene unfolding before her eyes. His lips curled into a crooked grin. He spoke in a thick Texas drawl, the words rolling over like molasses.

“Then you’re awfully naive, Ash. Or maybe just a fool.” He leaned back just as she swiped at him with her one free hand.

“They’re just innocent kids!” She yelled. “Why would you do this to them!” She fought back tears, knowing it was exactly what he wanted. That devilish vulture smile was the last thing she wanted to see.

“They’re not innocent.” He spoke softly, almost as if he was trying to console her. It only made her more furious. “They encroached upon my park and tried to steal valuable research. It’s only right that they be punished.” He turned towards the screen, watching the two teenagers argue with the scientists. “Their age doesn’t matter. They wanted to play with the big dogs, and the big dog doesn’t hold back. Much like in nature.” He turned back towards her, pressing a key on the laptop. Immediately the footage rewound to Cecil’s argument with Brittany.

“One day I’ll give you worthless apes what you deserve!” The tiny figure on the screen shouted. Warren chuckled before playing it again.

“This is my favorite part.” he laughed. “He is so absorbed in visions of self-grandeur that he fails to see what is right in front of him. That he is nothing but a canary trapped in a cage with no hope of rescue. Almost makes you pity him, no?” Ash remained silent, and Warren continued.

“They don’t appear to be friends.” Warren observed. “I wonder how Ethan roped them into his little scheme?” Ash sunk into her seat, feeling like a jello mold.

“I-I don’t know.” She stammered. “I know they go to the same school, but Ethan’s never brought anyone home…”

“Well that’s unfortunate.” Warren stated sadly, pacing about the room. “That a woman doesn’t know her own son or his friends. Such relationships are bound to fracture.”

“Shut up!” Ash tried to scream at him but a whimper was all she could manage. Amidst all her struggles and the fact that she hadn’t eaten since breakfast, exhaustion was finally beginning to set in. She slumped against the chair like a lump of jello, breathing heavily. She felt like a five-ton weight was on her chest, squeezing every last drop of air out of her lungs.

Cecil and Brittany looked around nervously as the mechanical hum of machinery began to fill the chamber.

“What are you talking about? What are we beginning?” Cecil asked through the glass. Dr. Smiles chuckled.

“ We’re beginning to see what happened to your friends.” suddenly a mechanical hiss filled the room and the pair began to notice an odd smell envelop the chamber. Brittany sniffed the air in confusion, but Cecil immediately pulled his shirt over his mouth and nose, dislodging his glasses. He recognized the smell, at least part of it.

“Brittany, don’t breathe in. They’re trying to poison us!” His screams were muffled by his shirt, but Brittany quickly got the message. She pulled up her own shirt, exposing her midriff. Cecil turned towards the glass wall and began pounding on it. A sense of panic began welling up in his chest.

“ What the hell are you doing?!” Are you trying to kill us?”

“Oh no, no, I wouldn’t be that vulgar. Dearie me, you take us for some kind of murderers?” Dr. Smiles feigned a hurt look. “I’m simply… returning you to nature. That’s all.”

“He’s going to kill us,” Cecil whispered, wide-eyed. Already his eyes burned and his lungs begged for fresh air. Despite his attempts to keep the gas out, he had to breathe in at some point.

“Yeah, I bet “returning to nature” means being eaten by earthworms in whatever cornfield they dump us in.” Her tone was cynical but both of them could feel the dread rising within. They had to escape.

Holding his shirt up to his mouth and nose, Cecil coughed as he looked around the room. There were nothing but 2 cots and a dilapidated toilet leaning up against one of the white walls. The walls themselves were as smooth as butter, and that glass had to be several inches thick. With increasing desperation they ransacked the room, but they found nothing useful that wasn’t already bolted down. Finally Brittany collapsed onto her cot, coughing and wheezing.

“ I feel like I’m on fire,” she moaned, “ My skin feels like it’s being zapped by a million lasers at once.” Cecil made his way over to her, half blinded by the burning sensation in his eyes.

“Me too,” he said, rubbing at his eyes. “But we can’t give up or we’re…” he hesitated on the last word. A burning rage had been bubbling up since he arrived here, at the scientists who trapped him, at his circumstances, at his lack of control over the situation. The desire for vengeance was the only thing keeping him going. But his resistance was slowly being chipped away by the inevitable realization that there was no way out. However, he would keep going until he drew his last breath.

“ I know,” Brittany choked out. Tears were running down her eyes but Cecil wasn’t sure if it was from sadness or the gas. “I-I don’t wanna die. Not like this.” Cecil sat down next to her as she began to sob into the sheets. Despite his brain yelling at him to keep searching, he instead began patting her on the back.

“You won’t die, I’ll make sure of it.” Cecil said, but deep down he knew they were empty words. He scratched at his back as he spoke, those shirts could be really itchy sometimes. The khaki shorts weren't much better. “ We’ll escape this butthole of a room and go back to school. I’ll return to chemistry class and you can go back to flailing your limbs and chanting the alphabet.” Her lips shifted into a scowl which made Cecil grin. “ But we need to find a way out of this horrific nightmare. We can’t give up now.”

“ You might as well,” Cecil whipped around angrily to find Dr. Smiles was still there. “I’ve personally guaranteed that there’s no way out of this cell-”

And then the room exploded.



“What the hell?” Warren asked incredulously as the screen suddenly filled with smoke. Ash struggled to believe what she was seeing. Apparently Mr. Gould did as well. Immediately the two guards standing by her snapped to attention, ready to carry out sudden orders.

“What’s going on? What the hell happened?!” Warren let out a mother load of vulgar curses as his face swelled up like a balloon. He whipped out a golden satellite phone and pressed several numbers before holding it up to his ear. Ash could see the fire in his eyes as he waited for someone to pick up. A single spark could set him off, and this was a wildfire.

After a few moments of tense silence Warren cursed again and typed in a different set of numbers. His fingers trembled so much that it took several attempts for him to pick the right ones. The unfortunate soul who picked up was met with a battery of curses and incessant threats before Warren was able to get a coherent sentence out. The person on the other line, however, seemed calm and collected throughout all this. They had probably dealt with him before. Fortunately for Ash, the conversation was on speaker and Warren was making no efforts of being quiet.

“Where in the blazes did my lab go?!” Warren fumed into the phone.

“ What do you think?” the voice on the other side stated. He spoke in short sharp words with an Indian accent. “ Bluestar has many enemies. But our watchdog says the damage is minimal. We should be able to keep the media out of it-”

“ I don’t give a f**k about the media!” Warren roared into the phone. He sounded like an angry lion who was just disturbed from his nap. His eyes screamed bloody murder. “ It interrupted one of my pet projects!” There was a brief silence on the other end. When the voice resumed, it sounded exasperated.

“ Why did you not inform us of this? We would like to know when you carry out such illegal experiments at our facility-”

“ I don’t give a **** about your facility. I have the Chinese government licking my bootstraps; I decide what is legal. What’s important is teaching my pets to behave. If they escape I’ll have your head!”

Before the other man could respond Warren slammed the phone on the table in exasperation, letting fly another string of extremities. Ash drew back in her seat. She knew it was best to remain silent. Warren paced about the room frothing in rage, occasionally glancing at the laptop screen. The cloud of dust and debris was still there but it was slowly beginning to clear. It wasn’t fast enough for Mr. Gould.

“Of course they had to strike now, at the PERFECT TIME to ruin everything!”

“Who’s they?” Ash asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Her heart swam with conflicting emotions. One the one hand, she was deathly concerned about the kids, but seeing Warren like this sweetened the pot considerably. She just had to make sure not to provoke him.

“Those stupid bastard eco-terrorists from Green Tomorrows.” Warren snarled like a dog. “ Funded by PETA no doubt. They’ve had a grudge against me for years. Of course they had to strike today of all days.” Ash recognized the name. Green Tomorrows was a small but radical group determined to stop animal cruelty no matter the human cost. They were most well known for hunting down poachers in Southeast Asia and Africa, often using tactics more violent and cruel than the poachers themselves. Thus far, however, they’ve never blown up a building.

“Sounds unfortunate.” she remarked coyly. “Using your own tactics against you. Life really isn’t fair is it?” Ash knew she wasn’t in a state to play smart with Mr. Gould, she was exhausted and starving. But there was a fire in her now. Watching Warren boil over like a kettle gave her a strange satisfaction, as well as something even more important. Hope.


“Uuugh,” Cecil groaned. The world was a haze of bright colors and sounds flashing about before his eyes. As his vision slowly cleared, his ears rang like a bell. He felt like he had just ridden the world’s most lopsided rollercoaster. Everything was spinning around him. His hand felt like a lead weight as he brought it up into his field of view, revealing fingers tipped with bloody nails. A surge of pain wracked his body as he adjusted himself into a sitting position.

A fresh coat of soot had landed across his forearm, and Cecil tried to brush it off with his other hand. It didn’t come off. Cecil rubbed his eyes and wiped his arm again, this time sending a wave of tingling sensations throughout his body.

“What the hell?” He leaned in close to inspect his arm, and immediately did a double take. That gray stuff wasn’t soot. It was hair. And it was attached to his body. Brushing his hand over it confirmed this, as the foreign sensations filled his brain. Inspecting it further revealed that the coat was not a uniform color, but littered with miniature black markings resembling spots. More curious than alarmed, he continued to inspect this strange occurrence before his ears detected a loud mechanical hiss above him. They swiveled around to pick up the sound, growing rounder and fuzzier as Cecil recognized the source of the strange hissing. “Crap” he thought.

Immediately he surveyed the room, taking in the damage for the first time. The cots, the floor, even the ceiling were the same smoky gray color, the sterile surfaces blanketed by a cloud of dust and ash. It was impossible to tell that the space had once been two rooms, as the glass wall separating them from the outside world had completely shattered. Piles of lumbar and insulation lay strewn in piles next to collapsed walls. Sunlight poked through several holes in the roof, giving the room a supernatural glow. Cecil coughed as he tried to peer through the musty cloud, scanning for any signs of Brittany.

After a brief but frenzied search, he finally located her amongst the other dust-covered lumps. He could barely make out the slow rising and falling of her chest, and seeing her filled him with a sense of panic. Grunting in pain, he hurriedly stumbled over the broken glass and metal to where she lay, ignoring the sharp jabs of pain from shards and splinters scraping his feet. Coughing, he knelt down beside her, checking her for injuries before shaking her softly.

“Brittney, are you awake? We have to get out of here!” He kept repeating this statement as he continued to shake her, trying to make her wake up. It took several attempts before she stirred, softly moaning as she turned up to look at him.

“Uhh, what happened?” she spoke, her words slow and slurred. Cecil tenderly helped her up to her feet as she rubbed her forehead.

“Can you stand?”

“Ugh, I think so. My whole body hurts though. And it feels all weird, like I’m too tall or something…” Cecil stepped back to take a look at her and immediately a shiver went down his spine. Something was definitely wrong with her. It was hard to tell what exactly, but something was just… off. She looked a little out of proportion, almost as if a middle schooler had drawn her. Her torso seemed several inches longer, her hands looked a bit too stiff, and some of the major muscle groups were definitely in the wrong spot. But Cecil dismissed it due to the explosion. “It must be really messing with my depth perception. Great. I probably have a concussion at least. I’ll get myself checked out once we get back to civilization.”

“Um, you look great,” he said, though doubt clouded his mind. In his head he was diagnosing her with every possible injury or medical condition that he could think of. Worst case scenarios, wild fantasies. Internal bleeding. Hemorrhaging. Fractured ribs. Shattered lungs. They all ended with one word. “Death.” It only filled him with greater urgency to escape.

“I think the gas is still coming in. It’s leaking across the whole building now. We have to get out of here before it kills us.” He glanced around the room. The hissing sound still filled the room, but it was louder, higher pitched. More was coming in, and there was nobody there to turn it off. They had little time.

Cecil helped lift Brittany up over the piles of rubble as they made it to the other side of the room. They could tell because there were piles of sparking, damaged equipment shuddering and shaking as they attempted to carry out meaningless functions. And two of the scientists lay unmoving on the floor, grim expressions frozen on their faces. They didn’t have time to be shocked or surprised. Dr. Smiles, however, had vanished.

Cecil walked over to where the man lay and bent down to inspect the body. Wrinkled, emotionless eyes stared back at him from behind shattered sunglasses. They were jet black, old and tired, nestled in lumpy gray flesh. There was a lump in Cecil’s chest and he felt a brief pang of pity for the man, but then quickly pushed it aside, noting a far more interesting development occurring over the man’s body.

The man’s body was nearly covered in the strange hair that Cecil had on his arm, dark gray littered with black spots. On the front of his neck was a soft white, disappearing underneath his shirt. It looked more like a pelt than anything…what animal did that belong to? It looked familiar but currently it eluded him.

Suddenly he felt a tugging on his arm. He glanced up to see Brittany pulling him back to his feet. She had a doped out look but the urgency was apparent.

“Come on, leave him. We have to find a way out.” Cecil nodded and the pair cautiously made their way to a set of double doors at one end of the room. One of the doors was blown off its hinges, while the other leaned against the wall sadly, as if mourning the loss of its fellow. A long, smoky hallway greeted them, flashing lights piercing through the smoke. Muted alarms called out warning to those inside the building. They decided to heed them.

The pair began making their way down the hall, and Cecil immediately sighed with relief. Just a few yards in his feet returned to smooth tile as they cleared the dislodged rubble. They were already sending daggers to his brain with every step, as they weren’t given shoes in the cell. But as they moved down the hall, the throbbing in his feet began to subside. Cecil thought it was simply due to walking on smooth floors again, but his feet were physically changing into a form that doesn’t require shoes.

Callused pads began forming at the bottom of his feet, giving them a leathery texture. Pads appeared on his toes as well as they began to shift. Bones and muscle stretched, broke, and rebuilt themselves into paws meant for stalking prey silently and swiftly. His nails fell out in a bloody mess as the tips of knifelike claws pierced their way through his skin. Despite this, the pain in his new paws actually lessened with every step he took. His new paws absorbed the wounds as they emerged.

Soon Cecil found himself making his way swiftly down the hazy hallways, his feline ears twitching as they scanned the air like antennae. Any sound out of the ordinary and he would instantly be on high alert, ready to deal with any threat that may arise.

Brittany, on the other hand, was having a difficult time catching up. She wobbled about like a drunken sailor as her legs began to morph into a digitrade stance. Cecil turned around to find her stumbling about behind him, and his face filled with worry.

“Brittany, are you all right?” He rushed over to her side, getting there much quicker due to his new paws.

“ I don’t think so. My head feels all wobbly, like I’m too high up or something.” She wrapped an arm around Cecil’s shoulder as she struggled to maintain balance. Cecil urged her forwards, but it was increasingly difficult as Brittany’s legs and hips began to crack and shift. Finally they stopped as she was forced to let go. She leaned against the wall, panting heavily.

“My legs feel like stilts,” she complained. “ I-I can’t walk any further.”

“You have to!” Cecil’s voice had a mix of desperation and anger in it. He glanced down and saw that her legs were twisted and misshapen, like the back legs of some animal. Her thighs had gotten thicker at the expense of her calves, which had shortened and lost mass. The new muscles strained against her pants like a caged lion, waiting to be set free. Even her hips had twisted around into a distorted, inhuman shape. Cecil flashed back to the anatomy books he had studied for his freshman biology course. The figure in front of him varied from the models greatly. He swallowed the lump in his throat.

“Please, try to walk. It’ll feel better once we get out of this place.” Brittany took a couple wobbly steps forward before suddenly falling onto her hands and knees. Except both her hands and feet touched the ground.

“Eek, Cecil!” She cried out, “ I’m stuck!” Cecil rushed over and tried to help her back onto her feet, but this proved to be in vain. Every time he grabbed her torso and heaved her up, she would fall right back onto all fours again. Finally he stopped, exhausted.

“I’m gonna have to work out more,” He thought to himself. Brittany padded over to him on all fours with a look of discomfort. Cecil watched the way her hips and legs meshed into each other, even underneath her pants. The way they moved, it was exactly like the hind legs of an-

Cecil gasped as it dawned upon him. “ Brittney, I-I think they’re turning us into some kind of animal.” He shivered as the words left his lips. On the one hand, it was a scientist’s dream come true. But not if they were the ones becoming animals.

“Are you freaking serious?” As if in response her hands crackled and her thumbs began to recede into her hands as leathery pads emerged from her palms. This time both of them were watching. Brittany freaked out, flipping over onto her back to get a better view of her shifting hands.

“What the hell? Are these like dog paws or something? Where tf are my thumbs?!”

“Actually judging by the retractable claws and number of toes on each foot, I’d say more like feline paws.” Cecil chimed in.

“You aren’t helping!” Brittney screamed. “Shut up and just fix this! Work some of your science mumbo-jumbo and change me back!”

“It’s not mumbo-jumbo,” Cecil replied defiantly. “ Just for that, you can’t borrow my thumbs if you need a door opened. Good luck getting around now.” He stuck his tongue out at her.

“I’m being serious!” she cried. “We need to find a way to reverse this! How can I star in our school’s “Cinderella” production when I’m stuck on four legs like an animal? I look like a freak!” Sitting down on her haunches she began sobbing like a baby. Cecil turned around, a sympathetic look on his face.

“All right, stop acting like a cub. Let’s just get out of here and we’ll find a way to fix all this.” They continued down the hallway, Brittney plodding along on all fours, until they finally reached a stairwell. “Come on,” Cecil said, leading her down the stairs. To his surprise she navigated them with surprising ease, hopping down one flight of stairs at a time.

“ She definitely has the agility of a cat”, he thought, watching her land gracefully beside him at the bottom of the stairs. She looked up at him with a nervous smile.

As they walked down a spiffier looking hallway lined with offices and conference rooms, Cecil found himself scratching at his arm more and more frequently. Down here the smoke had for the most part vanished, making it easier to see just how much his changes had progressed on the both of them. Swallowing the lead ball in his throat, he trudged cautiously onwards down the hall.

Suddenly the muted, silent alarms broke out in a jarring screech as a calm feminine voice came over the PA.

“Attention all employees. The presence of chemical B129CL has been detected outside of proper containment zones. Hazardous conditions detected. All damage control units as well as any remaining associates please evacuate the building. I repeat, a hazardous chemical has been detected. Please evacuate the premises and proceed towards your designated safe areas outside the building. This is not a drill. I repeat, this-”


“Frick.” Cecil said as his ears picked up commotion in the rooms around him. “This place is about to get a lot busier.” Immediately the doors to one of the adjacent conference rooms burst open, a slew of people filing out in a hurried but orderly fashion. These people were not scientists, dressed in neatly pressed shirts and blouses with pens stuffed in their shirt pockets. They didn’t seem to notice them as they shuffled down the far end of the hallway. At the end of the crowd was a sweaty British man in his mid-fifties, dressed in a smart looking business suit. He was barking out orders from underneath an ancient looking gas mask. He was about to follow the others, but suddenly turned around to see Cecil and Brittney. His eyebrows lifted in confusion.

“What in the bloody hell?” His voice was mechanical behind his mask. Cecil was about to respond, but before he could Brittney did something that shocked him to his core.

She hissed, arching her back and baring her teeth. Cecil watched as her canines slowly extended into fangs as new teeth emerged from swollen gums. It was absolutely revolting.

“Get the f*** away!” She hissed, which sent shivers rolling down even Cecil’s spine. The man looked first shocked, then disgusted before turning around and following after the others. Once he was gone she eased up, stretching into a more relaxed position. As she did so, Cecil could watch her body pulse and shiver underneath her clothes. Her torso had quickly adjusted to a quadrupedal position, shoulders melting into her barreled chest as her back legs slid over her hips in perfect harmony. At this point from the neck down her body appeared more feline than human, albeit a furless one wearing clothes. Cecil briefly wondered what she would look like naked.

“ What the hell am I thinking?” Cecil fretted over the new instincts slowly creeping into his mind. Heat built up in his chest and back as a wave of pins and needles overtook his body. “ I can’t be in love with a freaking cat!” He watched her hips sway as she made her way down the hall. It was almost as if she was teasing him…

“No. I can’t do this. It’s wrong.” Cecil shook his head furiously. He had promised his parents that he would wait until marriage. He would focus on his schooling and career first. That’s why he had skipped every school dance and stayed home on Valentine’s day. That was what his parents wanted. That was what he wanted.. Right? And porking a cat, even if it was Brittney would bring immeasurable shame to him and his family. These new instincts, the new hormones welling up inside him were only because of the gas. So he pushed them aside, scratching at his now furry arms as he followed Brittney down the hall.

Up ahead, Brittney was facing her own challenges.

“ Did I really just hiss at someone?” She looked over her body, her clothes hanging off her lithe form. Her body fat had faded away entirely into powerful, pulsating muscles. The muscles, however, were not shaped like a human’s. The way she walked on all fours, albeit comfortable, screamed wrongness at her brain. And she had just hissed at someone. It had come naturally, like something she’d been trained to do since she was born. A natural reaction to encountering a threat.

“Oh f**k” she thought, struggling to hold back her emotions. “ I don’t want to be an animal. I don’t want to have to eat out of a bowl like a dog. I want my thumbs back. I want my life back.” A tear slid down her face, and she looked away to hide her expressions from Cecil. With her new paws she couldn’t wipe her face, the tears painting a mocking reminder of her situation.

“Stop.” Cecil’s harsh whisper froze her in her tracks. They had home to the end of the hall, a t-intersection that branched off into two other corridors. She glanced back to see Cecil still as a statue, ears flicking about like satellite dishes. “I hear someone up ahead.”

Brittney froze, instinctively settling into a haunched crouch. She focused her own ears, trying to pick up what Cecil had heard. And they responded. Gray fur began to cover them as they began to stretch, like silly putty in the hands of a toddler. As they rose to the top of her head, they wriggled to life like race cars revving their engines before a race. It wasn’t long before she picked up the sound. A silent, nervous pair of footsteps crept down the corridor to the left. She could hear each individual tap on the ground, growing louder as they approached. Crouching low to the ground, she cautiously made her way to the corner and poked her head out. Sure enough, there was a man there. But something was wrong.
First off, there were two of them, about twenty-five feet down the hallway. One of them, a red-headed man in his upper twenties, was fidgeting nervously with a set of keys. He was standing in front of a door, although it was impossible to tell what was behind it. The other was wearing a gas mask similar to the one they encountered earlier and appeared to be trying to help him. They were having no luck.

“F**k man, why can’t I get this stupid door open?” the redhead complained, pulling out yet another key. “ Why can’t we have keycards like the top level scientists? “

“You better hurry,” the other one warned. “I’ve heard this stuff is nasty. Like radioactive sewage nasty. If you can’t open that door you’re screwed.”

“I know that!” the redhead screamed, jamming another key in the hole. “I just hope it hasn’t spread this far yet.” His face grew more determined as he attacked the keyhole furiously. “Stupid management, they don’t give a crap about us interns,” he grumbled. “ They can afford to send their board of directors to the Maldives but can’t give us basic PPE.” As Brittney watched, however, she could see it was already too late.

The man’s ears began to stretch as he worked, although not into the rounded shape of a feline like hers. Instead they grew pointed ,almost like dog ears. Black fur grew along them like wildfire. For now they were both unaware of this development, much too focused on their task. The redhead’s face, however, was scrunched up in pain and she knew he must be feeling it. It sent shivers down her spine, which began to elongate past her hips. Caught up in the other transformation, she was unaware of her own changes resuming with vigor. A pressure built up at the base of her spine as a bulge appeared in her pants. First a small bump, it gradually grew out like a snake, rubbing along the back of her pants. She growled in annoyance as she shifted her back legs into a more comfortable position.

By now The redhead was annoyedly sifting through the keyring, unaware of a furry red tail beginning to peek out behind his slacks. It grew long and luxurious, slowly pushing aside the pants that held it in. By now his friend had noticed, and let out a cry of distress.

“Agh, Jonathan! You’ve got a tail!” The redhead whipped around and screamed as he finally spotted the fluffy appendage.

“What the hell? Why do I have a fricken’ tail?!” Jonathan yanked at it then yelped in pain. “ It’s friggin’ real all right.” His friend shifted about nervously.

“I’ve heard about these compounds the upper level scientists were creating. Genome-altering stuff straight from X-men. But I didn’t think it was real…”

“Oh it’s real,” quipped Cecil who had popped up behind her. His face had begun pushing out into a small muzzle lined with soft fur. His nostrils had moved up as the bridge flattened, giving his nose a more triangular shape. An indent ran down from his nose to his upper lip. Freshly sprouted whiskers twitched on his cheeks, tasting the air. They both watched as the two men jumped about frantically.

“I don’t wanna be some kind of f****in mutant freak!” Jonathan cried out. “There’s got to be a way to fix this!”

“Relax, we’ll figure something out.” his friend reassured. “Just calm down and everything will be alright-”

Suddenly a figure appeared, jetting out from behind another door. With a jolt, Cecil recognized Dr. Smiles even with the gas mask he had on. The scent pouring into his feline nose was unmistakable. His body tensed as the man looked over the redhead, slowly nodding as he surveyed the man’s changes.


“Quite the tail you got there…” he leaned in, reading the nametag pinned to the redhead’s sweater-vest, “... Jonathan.” To their surprise, he was bright and energetic, like he was meeting up with an old friend. He held it up in his hands, running his fingers through the thick fur. “ What an interesting development. Compound B129CL was solely designed to alter the subject’s DNA into that of a clouded leopard. But it appears to have taken a different effect with you.”

“ You know about this… whatever it is?” The third man asked enthusiastically. “ Do you know how to cure my friend?” Brittany and Cecil watched from behind the corner, their minds sharing one thought.

Clouded leopard. It certainly matched, Cecil noticed, taking in the pelt that had now blanketed his entire body. For the first time he noticed the soft, pleasant warmth bubbling up inside of him. The fur reflected his own body heat, keeping him surprisingly comfortable. And it was strikingly beautiful to match. He knew some people paid thousands for pelts as fine as his, a far contrast to his acne-covered visage back home. People would pay thousands to not produce children with him.

If I have to ditch my clothes, this wouldn’t be a half-bad replacement, he thought. Maybe I can live with this.

Brittney meanwhile was focused on the conversation in front of her. If Dr. Smiles mentioned a cure, maybe she could get her thumbs back. Unfortunately she was quickly disappointed.

“ I’m afraid a “cure” for B129CL is impossible at the moment. The compound breaks down your body on a molecular level and reassembles it into another form. A reversal process would not only require the original DNA of the subject, but a substantial amount of time and funding to develop. Such resources are currently unavailable at the moment.”

“ Bulls***!” Jonathan yelled. “ You blokes in upper management went on a corporate retreat to the Maldives three weeks ago, two months after the “Executive Teambuilding Workshop” in Monaco. You have the funds you selfish bastards, but apparently “employee safety” isn’t in the budget! Well try having a budget once I sue you all into the depths of hell!”

To their surprise, Dr. Smiles laughed. “ Silly little fox. You’ll have no need for money. Or anything at all really, apart from food and a fresh supply of mates. But it’s a good life, and you’ll be taken care of. But as for your friend here…” Before anyone could react the third man was one the floor, a tranquilizer dart sticking out of his chest. Jonathan fell to his side, shaking the unconscious man frantically. His ears and tail betrayed his emotions, tucked against his body.

“Dwight! Man! Wake up! What the hell?” He turned to face Dr. Smiles, who was slipping the gun back into his coat pocket. “You bastard! He had nothing to do with this!”

“He was no longer needed. He would only be a nuisance.” He pulled the man up with surprising strength. Jonathan made no move to resist, staring blankly at his friend lying on the floor.

“Bastard” is right,” Cecil whispered into Brittney’s ear. She nodded in agreement. “I’ve got a couple of other things I’d like to call him.” she growled softly as Dr. Smiles locked Jonathan in a pair of handcuffs.

“But, you, you I need.” Dr. Smile’s voice was reassuring, like a snake seducing his prey. He placed a hand on the trembling man’s cheek. “ You’re showing an atypical response to our compound. I must study you. See what makes you tick.” Jonathan stood firm.

“I-I don’t want to.” he said, jumbling his words. “I-I’m not an animal!” Dr. Smiles leaned in and whispered something into the man’s ear, then turned around and dragged him back through the door from which he had emerged. Both Brittney and Cecil looked on in horror as they watched them both disappear.

“ Of course he couldn’t die in the explosion,” Brittney hissed. “A lot less people would be hurt.”

“That’s not our concern.” Cecil responded. “We need to focus on getting out of here.” Brittney conceded, and they set off down the opposite hallway. They were silent as they walked. No words were necessary.

By now sound and smell played as much a part in helping them navigate as sight did. Cecil’s head was now fully that of a clouded leopard, covered in tawny tan-gray fur with black spots and a muzzle. Brittney’s face began following Cecil’s, nose becoming triangular and pink as it stretched out. Her long hair began falling out in clumps, replaced by short spotted fur. Brittney noticed this but said nothing, although her pace grew more urgent. She swallowed her pride. Finding a way out was the most important thing right now. She didn’t want to end up like the fox man.

It wasn’t long before a new problem arose for the girl. Her body had begun to shrink, and her legs were getting tangled up in her now baggy clothes. She had to stop constantly to re-adjust herself, shimmying her body until her clothes slid back into place. It was bothersome, but she refused to consider the alternative. Nudity. Unfortunately nature won out as her budding tail stretched her pants to their breaking point. With a loud rip, they tore apart as her long furry tail thrashed about, finally free of its confines. Finally thudded against the floor with a loud whump. Both Cecil and Brittney looked on in abject horror.

“Y-you have a tail.” Cecil stammered.

“Well duh Captain obvious.” her face turned redder than a fire engine upon noticing her lack of pants. “Stop staring at my butt you pervert.” Fortunately the transformation had been kind enough as to cover her private parts with modesty-saving fur, but that did little to erase the awkwardness of feeling a breeze beneath her tail. Cecil turned away embarrassingly.

That could be me if we don’t get out of here. Cecil thought to himself. Suddenly Brittney perked up, sniffing the air intently. Something had broken the overwhelming scent of iodine and orange febreeze.

“ I smell outside!” She took off down the corridor, with Cecil struggling to keep up. C’mon, go faster, he kept telling his body. She was getting away! As he sprinted after her his body began to shift in response to his need. His hands began to shift, thumbs losing their dexterity forever as they became stiff and stubby, retracting into dewclaws. Much like in his feet, his fingernails fell out as retractable claws pushed their way through his skin. His fingers swelled up as pads erupted from his palms, protecting his new handpaws from the rough terrain of their habitat. He stumbled as his torso and hips began to snap and shift, spine lengthening and becoming more flexible at the same time. Muscles twisted their way around his legs and torso, giving him a burst of new speed and athleticism. They pulsed under his fur like lightning bolts. His pants slid down his changing legs, his hips and knees no longer able to hold them up. He kicked them off without a second thought. After all, catching up to Brittney was what mattered.

He fell to all fours, continuing to run after her like nothing had changed at all. His spine and pelvis quickly snapped into place, as all four legs pounded on the sterile floors. His neck swelled and bulged with muscle to help support his head horizontally. The muscles in his arms and legs began to flow smoothly into his thighs and shoulders, which melted fluidly into his torso. It all clicked into place, and suddenly Cecil found himself sprinting at breakneck pace. He could see, no, smell Brittney up ahead. But as he skidded around a corner in his pursuit, he realized his changes hadn’t completed quite just yet. He had the speed, but lacked balance.


His body would quickly remedy that, however. A pressure began welling up at the base of his spine. Every time his paws hit the ground, that pressure increased until finally it broke, and a small nub appeared above his rump. This quickly began to grow out and lengthen as his body grew shorter. Thick blotched fur began to grow, covering up any exposed skin. Cecil could feel the added weight as he ran, but didn’t register it. All he knew was that he could round corners far more efficiently.

By the time he caught up to Brittney, his tail was nearly as long as his body and his changes into a clouded leopard were complete. They were in some sort of loading bay. Brittney was waiting for him, next to a door marked “FREIGHT ENTRANCE 1B”, her head cocked to the side. She had completely changed except for the fur, which was rapidly overtaking her human skin.

“You look different.” she purred. Cecil looked at her, than at himself.

“GAAAH!” What the hell? How’d I change so much? I thought I had time left!” He yowled angrily. “I don’t want to be feral!” He paced about in circles trying to get a good view of his tail. Brittney laughed.

“I think you look pretty good honestly. Who knew spots was your thing?”

“Shut up!” Cecil cried. “I can’t be a cat! What would my family say? What would my fellow mathaletes say? What would Ms. Berkeley say?”

“Our second grade math teacher? The hell you care about her?” Cecil blushed.

“Erm… we’re pretty close. I was her favorite student back in 2nd grade. We’ve kept in touch over the years.” Cecil scratched his ear with his back leg, an embarrassed expression on his face. “But to see me like this… it would make me-”

“You won’t see her at all if we don’t get out of here.” Brittney interjected. She nudged the door open with her head. “Fortunately this one’s unlocked. But we better hurry before doctor creepo comes back.” Cecil sighed before leaping out the door. Brittney followed, and the door slammed shut behind them. They were free.

They had emerged in a massive parking lot, covered in peeling asphalt and litter. They could see a dense forest up ahead. They could escape into the wilderness. With a nod they burst forwards, running towards the brush as fast as their legs could carry them.

Fortunately nobody saw them as the pair bolted across the parking lot. Either the scientists who had made it out were gone or had better things to do than chase a pair of clouded leopards. With one final leap they leapt into the underbrush bordering the facility. Only then did they feel safe enough to stop. They plopped down, panting heavily from the exertion. The new sensation of grass against fur was striking.
“ I can’t believe it.” Brittney huffed, sandpaper-like tongue hanging out. “We escaped.”

“We’re not out yet.” Cecil warned between gasps for breath. “No doubt they’re looking for us. We need to get as far away from here as possible. And then, a flight back home. To normalcy. “ he sighed longingly, but Brittney flopped over onto her back, sticking her paws up in the air.

“Ugh I feel like we just ran a marathon. Can we just rest for a bit? I don’t think they’ll find us.” she glanced towards the smoking BlueStar facility off in the distance. They could see fire trucks beginning to arrive, with hordes of people in hazmat suits flocking about like ants. “Besides, I think they have better things to do.” Cecil sighed.

“I guess a few minute’s rest wouldn’t hurt. But then we get going.” he was just as exhausted as her, and plopped down in a heap of blotchy fur. The sun was warm upon their pelts, and they had been through so much. This moment felt like a slice of heaven. They deserved to enjoy it however brief it may last.

It was dark by the time they woke up.

“Crap, we overslept!” Cecil yowled panickedly. “We’ve gotta go!” He bit Brittney tenderly on the nape of her neck, and she shot up with a yowl. They glanced back towards the facility. Through the leaves they could see military-grade searchlights sweeping large swaths of jungle. It would only be a matter of time before they were found.

“Let’s go.” Cecil urged. Brittney, however, stopped short.

“First let’s get rid of these shirts. They’d only hinder us once we start running.”

“Are you insane?” Cecil asked. “I’m not giving up my last remnant of my humanity. I’d rather not be naked, thank you.”

“Exactly.” Brittney stated. “If we ditch the shirts we look like any wild clouded leopards. If we keep them they know it’s us. Plus these white shirts are super visible in the dark. Our pelts are natural camouflage.” Cecil grumbled, hesitating.

“Ugh, fine. But don’t … do anything pervy, ok?” Brittney rolled her eyes.

“I’d never let you mount me. You can count on that.” The two of them worked together, ripping off their shirts with the claws on their forelegs. Soon their last remnants of humanity lay shredded on the ground.

“Let’s move,” Brittney said.

The jungle was pitch black, but Cecil and Brittney had the feline gift of natural night-vision. Thus they were able to make their way across the jungle floor with ease, swiftly moving on silent paws. They didn’t get far, though.

“This must be the edge of the property.” Cecil stated bluntly, eyeing up the barbed wire fence stretching endlessly in both directions. They could tell from the smell that it was electric. Touching it would result in a quick and painful death. High-tech security cameras were mounted at intervals along the wall, scanning the perimeter for intruders. Or transformed humans trying to escape. So far it hadn’t spotted them crouched in the nearby brush.

“There’s only one way out,” Cecil whispered. Brittney turned to him, ears twitching in confusion.

“What do you mean? We’re freakin’ stuck. Ain’t no way we’re getting past this thing. That’s got to be at least 20000 volts.” Cecil nodded towards a thick tree. Looking up, the canopy extended infinitely in every direction.

“We go over,” Cecil said matter-of-factly. “Climb a tree, then cross over on the branches. “

“Are you nuts? We can’t climb that!” Brittney shivered, as she surveyed the jungle roof a hundred feet above her. “We’ll break every bone in our bodies as we plummet to our painful deaths.”

“That’s where Dr. Smiles did us a boon. Trees happen to be a clouded leopard’s specialty. “ Cecil smirked, his tail twitching softly. He jumped onto the base of the tree, claws digging into the bark and keeping him locked in place. As Brittney watched in awe, he scampered up the tree like a spotted squirrel. In no time at all he was on a branch fifty feet above her.

“See, not that hard if you let your instincts take over!” He called out from his perch. “Just let your body do its thing, it knows what to do!” Brittney swallowed, before looking back towards the fence. Then back to the tree. Then back to the fence. Then finally settling into a crouch, she closed her eyes and flung herself onto the tree.

Consciously her brain was the equivalent of a windows screen saver. Completely frozen in terror, unable to do anything but await certain doom. However, deep inside her subconscious, something awoke. Immediately her feet shifted into position, claws extended. Her tail calculated angles and trajectory like a supercomputer, adjusting to the slightest shift in balance. When she finally hit the bark, her claws bit into it, stopping her from falling. Jolts of electricity filled her muscles, and she had a feeling like a race car revving its engines. Then she shot upwards.

Perhaps it was her terror that motivated her, but she flew up the tree like a rocket. Before she could even blink she had passed Cecil on his branch and was shooting upwards towards the canopy. Next thing she knew she was clinging to a branch high above the forest floor. She opened her eyes and instantly regretted it as she looked onto the forest floor far below. All four paws were wrapped around the branch as she yowled in fear, digging in for dear life. Cecil gingerly padded up to her, already an expert at using his four paws.

“Wow”, he laughed, “ I didn’t realize you were such a scaredy-cat.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Brittney screeched. “We’re impossibly high up! We’re gonna die! EEEEEEEEEEEE-”

“Relax,” Cecil purred, hopping onto an adjacent branch. By all means he should’ve lost his balance but his body expertly maneuvered itself so that all four paws were on a branch much too thin for them. His tail swished behind him as he walked up beside her.

“We’re in our natural element up here. You’ll get the hang of it once you just let go. Enjoy the scenery. Put your best paw forward.”

“I’M NOT BUDGING!” Brittney yowled. “I’M STAYING RIGHT HERE WHERE IT’S SAFE AND-”

“You know we can’t do that. We have to get away from here. Even the trees aren’t safe this close to the lab. You want to get back home don’t you?” Shaking, Brittney slowly got on her feet. She nervously balanced herself, taking teeny tiny steps.

“Y-yes” she stammered. Cecil nuzzled her gently.

“Then let’s go.”

It took a long time for Brittney to get confident at jumping from branch to branch. It was really slow progress at first, as she would only go on branches she knew was big enough to hold the weight of a human. But as time passed, her confidence grew. Soon they were both gracefully dancing through the canopy making acrobatic leaps through the trees. Sometimes they could see the moon through the leaves, shining bright and full above the forest beneath. The incessant chatter of nocturnal life provided a surround-sound high definition soundtrack far better than what any tv could reproduce. It was like a fairy tale, or perhaps a dream. But as they finally settled for the night in the crook of an ancient tree hundreds of feet above the forest floor, the reality of the situation finally dawned upon them.

“So, this our life now,” Brittney chuffed, watching the moon fall through the leaves. The moonlight sparkled and shimmered throughout the canopy, scattering into a dazzling array of lights and shadows. “Jumping about like spider-man miles above the ground.”

“Yeah, we’re truly living in the clouds now. I can see where they got the name.” Cecil purred, nestling up against her. The feeling of her warm fur against his, this high in the trees, was as good as any blanket back home. “But this isn’t the end. We gotta make those jerks at Bluestar pay for what they’ve done. They can’t be allowed to continue hurting innocent people.”

“We’ll figure that out eventually,” Brittney purred, brushing his face teasingly with her tail. “But I’m content with forgetting about it for just one night.” Cecil smiled, pawing her tail away.

“Do you think this is what happened to Danielle and Brock? What happened to us?” They both looked into each other’s amber eyes. A look of worry flashed across both their faces.

“If it is... “ Brittney paused. “ Then let’s just hope their view is as good as ours.” She pressed her muzzle into Cecil’s right flank, pushing into his fur. Cecil settled for using Brittney’s tail as a pillow. Soon the both of them were asleep underneath the dazzling moonlight symphony, purring contentedly.





There was an air of silence on the plane. They were en route back to Texas, directly from Pleasure Point on Warren’s private plane. Ash could see him across the aisle, grimly staring at the TV screen mounted on his seat. Neither of them had said a word the entire journey. Ash didn’t need to look at Mr. Gould’s screen to derive the source of his stress, the exact same imagery was flashing across her own screen as well. It was a news report from Jakarta Indonesia, although Warren’s team had translated the message into English for the sake of the passengers. In the background sat the smoldering husk of a once modern-looking building. There was about a fifty foot hole in the wall from which fire crews were pouring water into.

“ Reports have recently come in concerning an incident at a Bluestar labs facility in Indonesia that have been confirmed to be an act of terrorism. Several employees at the facility have gone missing and it is believed that they have perished in the explosion that hit earlier this afternoon. Green Tomorrows, a fringe conservation organization based in Southeast Asia and South Africa, has claimed responsibility for the attack citing use of animals in inhumane experiments over the last several years. Their leader Thomas Knack said in a statement that Bluestar is “Hiding cruelty behind a veil of progress.” BlueStar CEO Walter Ames has denied these allegations, stating that “We have always been dedicate...