INTRUDERS DETECTED! INITIATING STASIS GAS RELEASE!
Tracy and Becky had time to exchange frightened looks and a “not good” before the ceiling and floor vents began pumping an amber, odorless gas into the room. The concoction quickly seeped into their airspace.
“Shit!” Tracy gasped.
“Don’t breathe it!” Loupy yelled out. “This is the crap Philo used on us!”
It paralyzes-s-s you! Eve hissed, as she coiled in her cage in her futile attempt to escape the vapors.
Tracy panicked, racing about the room in search of a vent panel, and finally hitting the floor as a last-ditch response. Though she held the cuff of her shirt over her nose, it did little good against the inevitable fall. She wasn’t sure if it was from lack of oxygen or the effects of the stasis gas, but her limbs and head began to feel leaden. She wanted to sleep...
The others, including Becky and the captive werecreatures, quickly succumbed to the hibernation-like effects of the gas. Tracy was barely aware that her rescue attempt had failed as she gave up the fight for consciousness...
“Wakey wakey,” a snide voice whispered to her.
Tracy groggily found consciousness, unaware of how many hours had passed. Moving was still a chore, thought she could feel restraints making the task all but impossible anyway. She set eyes for the first time on Philo, who returned her glare with a wry smile.
“Thank you for coming here to deliver me those wonderful specimens! I greatly enjoy studying the werebat and fish-creature samples your friends provided me. That transformation catalyst you had was a wonderful find, as well. I’ve already set about replicating more quantities of it.”
The captive human’s eyes narrowed. “I take it you’re...”
“Dr. Philo Ferris,” he said with a mock bow. “Pleased to meet you, Test Subject Number 35.”
It was right then Tracy realized two things: First, she had been stripped naked, just like all her captive friends, including Weird, Kate, and Becky! Second, and even more alarming, was her current location and situation...
Thu Feb 20 00:35:16 2003