'...'
"..."
"Oww...my head."
You wake up with a splitting headache, struggling to think straight. What happened? And what is it that you are laying on? Leaning up, you look down to see... green... grass?
'What a strange experience,' you think, running your hand through the blades of grass.
Looking up, you notice bookshelves lining the walls, with a large potted tree behind you. Seems like the tree was not well trimmed. You also notice three doors, but one of them is blocked off with green crystals.
Your muddled thoughts make it hard to try and figure out how you got here. There's a scrap of paper in your left hand...wait...not just any scrap of paper...a message!
Sitting up, you read the note.
Dear Colin
I was able to start the regrowth process of your memories. Some things may immediately become more recognizable to you. But be warned, you may experience vivid flashbacks as your memories fully return.
In the meantime, I recommend keeping an open mind towards the residents of this facility. They have vastly different ways of looking at things and may be hard for you to understand, but I believe giving them a second chance will help far more than it will hurt.
Just know that none hold any true ill-will towards you.
I wish you a safe and fruitful journey.
Sincerely,
Elder
That's right! You asked the elder to help restore your memories! There's a little disappointment at the fact he couldn't fix them all at once, but it's better than not at all. And what does he mean about keeping an open mind towards the residents? Is he referring to the latexes? The vagueness of it all leaves you a little worried.
But with the door behind you sealed, it's not like you can go back and ask him. With no other options, you decide to move forward and take the door to your right. Pushing through the door, you find yourself stumped by the maze of boxes filling this corridor.
'What the heck?'
Shrugging mentally, you move the boxes out of your way with ease and make your way through. Approaching the exit at the end of the corridor, there's a door with a keycard scanner.
'If this keycard doesn't work...I swear...'
To your frustration, the keycard scanner beeps, denying you entry.
'...'
With a frustrated internal scream, you turn around and march back through the box maze to go sulk in your potted tree room. That done, you go through the other door.
The next room seems like a totally normal library with lots of bookshelves, that is until you spot something white drip from the ceiling. You lift your head up and freeze in fear as you finish counting the number of white latex blobs on the ceiling. Thankfully, none of them seems to care about your presence.
You really don't want to be in the same room with these things...but there's no other choice. Starting slowly, you carefully traverse through the library and through the shelves. Any slight movement from the ceiling causes you to flinch. Passing between shelves, you almost don't notice the goo lying on the floor but you manage to jump out of the way just in time.
The goo had lazily stretched out a tendril to get you.
'Nope nope nope nope nope.'
You are staying far away from these clingy things. You don't trust them as you did with the black latex dragons. Getting surrounded by wiggly-reaching blobs is just... too alien. As you reach the end of the room, a sense of relief washes over you. Trying to watch the floor and the ceiling all at once for monsters is stressful don't you know!
As you enter the blessedly not-locked door, that relief doesn't last long.
Just beyond the doorway, there sits a large white...ball of fluff? Hearing the door creak open the...tail shuffles around to face you.
'Why does that thing have a mouth and nothing else!?'
As soon as the tail 'sees' you, it becomes very still. When it does begin ominously shivering its way towards you, you feel like maybe you shouldn't stick around. On instinct, you take a step back. Your instincts recognize the thing tripling its speed even before you do as you scramble back through the door and shut it behind you.
In a parody of one earlier situation, you hear a loud thud as the tail crashes into the door. Before you can even think of safety, you see a puddle of white goo squeezing out from under the door. Only a crazy person would stick around for that.
You hastily make your way through the rows of shelves, taking care not to get too close to the goo in the ceiling. Just before you turn the corner, one tries to drop on you but miscalculates, splatting onto the floor ahead. You quickly jump over it as the goo desperately reaches out to you with a tendril.
"NO! STAY AWAY!"
Running to the exit, the tail finally forms through the door and shrieks in frustration. Back in the tree room, you realize that if you try to run through the maze and back into the room, you will hit a dead end! With quick thinking, you duck behind the tree as you hear the tail quickly squeezing through the door you came in.
The tail briefly scans its surroundings, and grunts with annoyance. It then squeezes through the door to the corridor, believing you went there. Waiting until the coast is clear, you get up from behind the tree and make your way through the library again.
Pushing through the door again, you carefully check above to make sure there is no ceiling latex waiting for you. Seeing none you become a little confused.
As it turns out, the ruckus you made caused quite a stir with the white latex. They seem to be crawling around excitedly...wait...why are they going in circles...? One of them seems to be crawling as fast as possible while the others give chase. They seem to be having fun.
You don't know why they do this, but it makes it harder to go through the library again regardless.
Pushing through the door, you find yourself in the main library, with piles of books everywhere, starting at the entrance and deeper into the library. The place is a mess! Clearly, the staff here couldn't bother with something as simple as returning a book back to its shelf.
Wading through the piles of books, you find yourself at the center of the library. The sound of a page flipping over can be heard at the side of the library. Investigating, you discover to your amazement and confusion, a black wolf with a mask reading a book!
The wolf is busy reading a book while sitting comfortably beside a potted tree. The wolf's ear flickers as he looks up from the book he is reading, his solid white pupils widening to the max after spotting you.
*FLOOF*
"...HUMAN!!"
The wolf springs up to run behind a shelf.
*TUMBLE* *CRASH*
Only to trip over a pile of books and faceplant his way out of sight.
'!!!'
You rush over to the spot where he fell and look down to see him slowly get up out of a pile of books.
"Owie..."
"Are you okay? Need a hand?" you ask
"...Yes" he admits, reaching to take your offered hand.
"Wait! Human, shouldn't be touching me!"
The wolf quickly pulls his paw away as he scrambles to his legs and runs, disappearing behind another bookshelf.
"...Ummm...you ok?"
"No!"
Walking to the other side of the bookshelf, you see the wolf peering over the bookshelf, as if on the lookout. Approaching the wolf, you call out to him.
"What are you doing?"
*FLOOF*
The wolf's fur puffs out jumping around to see you approaching him.
"Human nooo!!!"
'He is going to run away again isn't he?'
Just as you predict, the wolf takes off in another direction. Blinking in confusion, you decide to follow the wolf.
"Hey come on! You can't just run away like that!" you call out to the wolf.
"Yes, Puro can!"
"Augh, you can't just keep running away forever!"
"Then Puro will hide from human!"
How is it...you have gone...from running away and hiding from wolves...to being the one who is SEARCHING for a wolf who is hiding from you?
'How on earth did it come to this?' You think to yourself.
Well...at least it is a nice change of pace despite how odd this seems. Stepping away from the bookshelves, you can around the room, trying to locate the skittish wolf.
...
Only to see him standing behind a tree, the thin branches doing little to hide him.
"I can see you!"
...
"No human can't."
"You are standing behind the tree!"
...
"No Puro isn't"
...
"Say...is your name Puro? You keep saying Puro, is that your name?" you call out, trying to make yourself seem friendly.
"Yes, that's Puro's name."
"Ok Puro. How about this? You come out of hiding, and we can try and talk this out ok? You don't need to hide from me." You offer, slowly and calmly approaching the tree Puro is hiding behind.
'In fact, I'm pretty sure I'M the one who is supposed to do the hiding.'
...
"Umm...ok...if Human is sure about this..." Puro mutters, coming out of his hiding spot.
"See? Nothing to worry about. So how about we calm down and try this again one more time? How about THA-!!" you cut off as you slip from one of the books, tumbling towards Puro.
"AHH!!"
You crash into Puro, sending you both tumbling to the ground, with the soft grass cushioning Puro's fall while you land on top of him.
Stuck in a small daze, you notice that you land on something soft and warm. Getting up, you see that you have landed on Puro, his fur cushioned your fall.
"Huh...that didn't go as expected but hey! At least you aren't hiding right?"
...
"Umm..."
Looking at Puro, you see that he is staring at you, his eyes wide open as he trembles, and stutters, as if in deep shock.
"Human...touched...Puro...Puro...touched...Human...Human...Puro...Puro...Human...touch...how...why...bad...bad...touch...Human...touched...!!!"
"Umm...are you ok?"
"PURO TOUCHED HUMAN!!!" Puro screams out in terror, quickly sitting up as he looks at his paws and you, back and forth rapidly.
You watch in shock as Puro stutters and mumbles in shock.
"Human touched Puro! This is bad! Puro could assimilate human! But human still here! What should Puro do?? Puro could've hurt human! What has Puro done?? Puro scared!"
"Puro..."
"What if Human gets sick??"
"Puro!"
"Oh no, Puro should have never-!"
"PURO!"
*FLOOF!*
Puro looks at you in fright, did he forget that you are here?
"Calm down, I don't know what you are on about but I'm fine. You didn't hurt me or anything, I just wanted to talk to you. You don't need to run or hide, ok?"
"Umm...ok Human."
"Alright. Now tell me, what is that you are on about?"
"Well...umm...you know how latexes search for hosts?"
"Explain?"
"Well, the Elder once told me that latexes have this ability that allows them to assimilate a human host, merging with that human and using their body as one of their own. And Puro worries that he would assimilate a human by accident."
You shudder in fear, recalling the events of a certain orange tabby.
"Well, I'm still here. Why would you be so afraid of touching me?"
"It's complicated," Puro says, tapping his paws together.
"Try me."
"Well, some time ago, Puro had woken up from this weird stasis pod, although Puro is not sure HOW he got there. Puro couldn't recall. When Puro found others of his kind, they all try to stay away from Puro, saying that I might be contagious, saying that I'm affected by...some kind of gas? No matter what Puro does to win the wolves' trust, they shun Puro. Leaving Puro all alone...
So then Puro talked to the Elder who asks what Puro would do next. Puro says that he wants to see a human, Puro ALWAYS wanted to see a human! So the Elder suggests that Puro goes to the library and learn about humans."
"But Puro always feels alone...and now Human is here, and Puro made himself look so silly."
Puro whimpers as his ears droop and he looks downward, seemingly depressed.
"You were in a stasis pod too?"
Puro looks up in confusion.
"Eh? Human says he was in a stasis pod? Just like Puro?"
"Yeah, I woke just now in fact."
Puro gasps in shock.
"No wonder how human got here! Puro thought it would be impossible for a human to get all the way here through the institute without getting assimilated by a latex!"
"Well, I did have to sneak past the black latex wolves."
That alone makes the wolf's eyes sparkle in awe.
"Excellent! Truly excellent human! No wonder human is so sneaky! Human startled Puro! The black latex wolves are no match for human stealth! But what about the dragons? If Puro knows any better, you would have seen them and the Elder too."
"They were an interesting bunch. I played a few games with them."
At first, the wolf looks at you in utter disbelief until his face lights up as if remembering something.
"Oh Puro remembers! The young ones loved to play games with me! Puro doesn't know what they were called, but they always seemed to focus on puzzle solving."
"Like the box puzzles?"
"Yes! Like those!"
"But why do they do it?"
"Erm...Puro isn't sure...Puro did read somewhere that dragons are wise beasts, maybe they were testing your wits?"
"Maybe."
Your stomach grumbles.
"Is human hungry?"
"Yeah, starving actually."
All of that running, playing games with dragons...and more running had used up a lot of energy. You're tempted to grab one of those oranges lying around now that you see them.
"No, those are for Puro and pets. Follow me and Puro will show you where you can get your own."
You oblige, stepping carefully around the books that seem to be launching a conspiracy to hide the floor beneath them. Upon reaching the tree, Puro plucks the tastiest oranges he can find and hands them to you. Nodding in thanks you peel the orange and take a bite.
Unlike those dried rations that are devoid of flavour, the fruity flavour of the orange beats the rations by a long mile, it's just simply delicious!
Looking for a place to sit and enjoy the orange, you notice the black and white latex puddles scattered throughout the library.
Puro's ears droop when he notices.
"Sorry about the mess, Puro didn't think anyone would come here. It's been so long since Puro has been able to talk to someone!"
"Really? How long has it been since you last spoke to someone?"
You immediately regret asking that as Puro seems to go still.
"Puro doesn't know."
"Is there no one you can talk to?"
"Puro tried...Puro really tried to talk to a black latex wolf."
"But why? Why do they want to avoid you?"
"It's because Puro can't use telepathy. They worry that Puro got infected and could pass it onto them and they could lose their telepathy as well."
"Telepathy?"
"Us black latex beasts should be able to communicate with each other through telepathy as long as we are close to each other, eye contact helps too. We share our thoughts and feelings with others, just like how Puro is speaking to you."
"What happened to your telepathy?"
"Puro was in another stasis pod, possibly by the same storage room you were in. Puro was looking around trying to figure out where Puro was when Puro came across the other black latex. Puro didn't even know what they were beside the fact that they all looked like me."
"It was the elder dragon that finally found a way to talk to me through a crystal. He altered my core so Puro could speak out loud, and brought in an education program so Puro could learn to speak like a human."
"You couldn't talk before?"
"Not at all! Being able to talk like this was the greatest thing the Elder has done for Puro but it was not enough to win the wolves' trust. So the Elder made a suggestion for Puro and guided Puro here."
While listening to the black latex wolf, you couldn't help but notice all the similarities between his story and yours. Like Puro, you woke up in a stasis pod with no memories of your past nor you had a clear way of communicating with others. Like Puro, you encountered the elder dragon and found a solution to your problems through him...
It is then, you notice the black streaks running down Puro's mask.
'He was crying when he told that story.'
Reaching out, you place your hand behind Puro's ears, trying to comfort him. Puro blinks in surprise.
"Eh? Human? What are you-"
*Scratch scratch*
"Murr..."
Seeing that scratch behind Puro's ear seems to be working, you continue to pet him. Puro sighs in complete contentment, basking in bliss from your generous petting. The reactions from Puro remind you a lot of the black latex pups when you pet them.
You change it up a bit by petting the top of Puro's head, in fact, Puro seems to be leaning toward your hand...he seems to be leaning closer...wait a minute...
"Puro? Pur-"
You get cut off as Puro collapses on top of you, lost in a daze from all the petting. Puro sighs in satisfaction, seemingly comfortable. You watch in bewilderment as Puro starts to snooze on top of you, seeing his white mask facing toward you.
"Puro? Could you get up?"
"No...Puro too comfortable."
"But you're-"
"Zzzz..."
This might be a problem...how are you going to get this wolf off of you? Thinking back, you recall the event where you touched a black latex pup by its mask.
...
*pet*
*FLOOF*
Puro quickly launches himself off of you, shielding his mask.
"HUMAN! PURO'S MASK IS TICKLISH!!! Why did Human do that??"
"You were sleeping on top of me! What else am I supposed to do?"
"Oh, did Puro fell asleep on top of Human? Human's petting made Puro feel better. Thank you human."
'He forgot to mention how dangerous he was,' you contemplate.
Pulling your hand away from that strange gooey fur sensation, you take another look at one of the small white latex puddles.
"Quick question Puro. Why are there white latex puddles in the room? Is there a white latex beast that goes through here?" You think back to that terrifying white tail as you say this.
"Well, not exactly... they're part of my diet."
"Diet? What do you mean?"
"Black latex beasts can eat white latex to grow and replace lost goo, but Puro doesn't want to hurt or kill anyone. Then Puro read that humans used to raise animals for something called a 'farm'. So Puro took in a small white latex beast and raised him as my 'Food reserve'. Whenever the latex beast sheds off goo they don't need, Puro collects it up and eats it whenever Puro gets hungry."
"But, why not just use the oranges then?"
"Black latex beasts need goo in order to grow big and strong! The others produce the goo using special crystals, but since Puro doesn't live with Puro's kind, Puro had to find a substitute using the white goo."
You think back and remember that you had seen a room where the wolves were producing black goo from the crystals. You aren't sure how that works but find it interesting nonetheless.
A comfortable silence enters between you and the big black latex wolf as you finish your orange.
"Human? I can't help but wonder... if you were locked in that stasis pod... do you remember anything?"
You shake your head with a frown. Whatever the elder dragon did likely wasn't a fast process.
"No, I can't remember anything... well, maybe a few pieces from just before I entered."
You remember hearing a voice that urges you into the stasis pod and say it was for your own good before the lid closed.
"That's just like it was for me. All I can remember was feeling terrified and then nothing."
You have an idea to get the mood back up.
"Hey, Puro?"
"Yes Human?"
You grin.
"Stasis pods suck."
He blinks at you, then snorts.
"Stasis pods suck," he agrees.
"But human... if you don't remember anything... what will you do?"
"Well, I'm hoping to find a way out of this institute, to see what it's like outside, and maybe find other humans like me."
"Human, Puro too desires to leave the institute and see the outside world. Puro wants to see it and to read more books in other libraries and make new friends like you! But if Puro recalls right...that one corridor is blocked..."
"The one that needs a keycard?"
"No, Puro has a keycard for that first corridor somewhere in that pile of books over there," he says, pointing to the said pile of books.
"The real obstacle is past the locked door. The barricade there is really difficult for a latex to remove but a human might be able to!"
"Well, you can count on me then!"
You somewhat judge Puro for using one of those all-important keycards as a bookmark but you let it slide, he is trying to help after all. Still, you wonder what he means by a barricade that a latex couldn't get past but a human could. Eh, you'll figure it out when you get there.
Getting up, you walk up to the piles of books Puro indicated and start rummaging through them. A few moments later you can't help but feel... claustrophobic. Speeding up your search, you quickly pick up one more book and spot the keycard sticking out of it. Turning around in satisfaction, you see Puro right behind you.
*FLOOF*
He jumps in fright as his fur puffs out.
"Human! Don't turn around suddenly! You scared Puro a lot!" he says as his fur slowly goes back to normal.
You guess Puro wanted to help you find the keycard but couldn't squeeze past you with the shelves around.
"Oh, you found the keycard Human! Excellent!"
"Uhh, thanks, I guess?"
The task really wasn't hard enough to warrant that level of praise. Maybe Puro's praise has a lower threshold? More importantly...
Puro seems a little frozen in place.
...
...
...
"Umm... Puro?"
"Yes human?"
"I kinda need to get out... could you move back a bit please?"
"Oh...sorry."
Now freed from the confined space, you step out of the bookshelves with the new keycard. Finally, you can pass through that checkpoint!
Before running off to conquer the checkpoint, you recall Puro saying he wanted to exit the institute, maybe he could accompany you on this journey?
"Hey Puro, since we both want to get out of this institute, why don't we travel together? I think it would-
"YES!"
...
"Err... yes... Puro would love to travel with you human! But there is something Puro needs to take care of in the library, Puro must be ready! Puro will be here if you need Puro so don't worry!"
"Ok, I will be back soon! Just need to check out the corridor and return here after that barricade's done! It really means a lot that you're joining me Puro."
Puro grins bashfully.
"You are an excellent human."
With a nod and a wave, you exit through the door. As you exit through the door, you keep a watchful eye on the latexes crawling on the ceiling...except you don't see any. Looking down, there are some oddly placed books scattered around the library, with latexes speeding between them.
'They actually made a racetrack...'
You quietly pick your way around the makeshift racing circuit and arrive at the exit without issue. The original room you woke up in is peaceful as always.
Opening the door to the corridor, you notice that all of the boxes have been moved back into their original places, at least you think they are. Strange...who moved all of these boxes? Despite your confusion, you start pushing the boxes again.
While you're in the middle of pushing the second box out of the way when something grabs your shoulders, spinning you around. You yell in fright as you come face to face with an anthropomorphic snow leopard! And he does not seem happy...
Before you can do anything, you feel another thought enter your mind...
'I admit...I was not expecting to see a human... but that doesn't change the fact you moved my boxes!'
'I...ahh...'
You feel so clueless... is this telepathy? This is just too much for you!
'Don't deny it! YOU moved my boxes! I just saw you leaving my home after you moved them!'
'Y-you can hear what I'm thinking??'
'Yes of course I do! Answer my question!'
'I-I didn't know anyone was living here! And why do you want these boxes as they are??' You speak...or think out(?) your thoughts.
'It...it's because I WANT them like that! It's my box fort!'
'Oh...sorry...'
'You better be...'
You honestly have no words... so many things are happening all at once and you don't want to anger the leopard further.
'Ok umm...do you mind if I pass through here again-'
'No! No way!'
'But it's the only way to get to the other parts of the library! What if I go through your box fort while keeping the boxes as they were? So you don't have to move them back again,' you try to reason
You feel the hostility through the link dampen.
'This is... acceptable.'
The snow leopard thinks for another moment before letting go, the strange alien thoughts leaving your head as it does. The snow leopard nods in agreement before jumping over the boxes to enter his much larger house-shaped box. He gives you one last glare before climbing in.
'Ok... that happened...'
You can't help but feel speechless...that snow leopard just came out of nowhere and did... all of that. You felt like a deer in headlights the whole time, you just couldn't move. Telepathy is nothing like you expect it to be.
You take deep breaths, trying to slow your racing heartbeat. You feel the promise you made burn itself into your mind. No way you're going back on your word after an experience like that!
Reaching to push the first box back into place...
*Swoosh*
A door opens, making you nearly jump out of your skin in fright.
You turn to see a familiar white mask peeking through the door. It's Puro!
"Puro was worried, so Puro followed... Is everything ok?"
"No! Nope! Nothing happened! I'm completely fine!" you say, deciding not to worry him about what just happened.
"Oh... ok... as long as nothing happened..." he says before slowly closing the door.
'Ok, now that he's...'
*Swoosh*
"Oh and human? Puro had this weird feeling back at the library, when you left the library Puro could have sworn that...that Puro felt something entering the balcony, so Puro came to check. Do you know anything about it?"
"Can't say I do..." you reply, unsure what to make of it.
"Oh...and also, be sure to stay safe, human! Puro will wait for you in the library!"
"Don't worry, I'll be back soon!"
Puro then closes the door, for real this time.
And with that, you begin the process of moving a box, walking past it, and then putting it back in place. As you go past the cardboard house, the snow leopard peeks out, giving the 'I'm watching you' expression. You hastily make your way past him, wanting to stay far away from the grouchy leopard.
After moving past and then placing back the last box, the snow leopard nods in satisfaction before disappearing into the box house. Going into the checkpoint room, you take a deep breath and scan the keycard into the scanner. A positive beep leads to the click of a door unlocking. Time to see what's on the other side...