Chapter Text
'bee careful with Wolf King! He may not be fool by costume I made. Best hope is not around when you wake. Stay safe!'
'Okay, thanks for the warning, buddy,' I thought, since it sounds like this wolf king, whoever he is, is someone I didn't want to encounter.
Moving on, I came to a stop once the hall opened up in what appeared to be a security office, before I froze at the number of latex wolves kneeling on the sidelines of the room, as crystals were all over the place.
I spotted a large chair by the monitors, giving an atmosphere of royalty as the chair slowly turned around to reveal a larger and fluffier male latex wolf, who set his gaze upon me as if he were expecting my arrival. I soon saw myself on the TVs and monitors, so I assume that's how he knew I was coming, and this latex creature must be the wolf king I was warned about in the note.
The wolf king and his pack members began howling in unison, just before the wolf king snapped his fingers, and I felt the ground I was standing on ripple, causing me to quickly jump back as a cluster of crystals shot out from where I used to be.
'Holy shit, is he trying to kill me?!' I thought in alarm as I had a feeling that I did not want to get hit by those things, so I got ready.
Every time the wolf king snapped his fingers, crystals would shoot out of the black latex on the ground, and I would notice how those certain areas would ripple, allowing me to predict when the crystals would appear so that I would dodge them.
The wolf king seemed to figure out that his small tactic wasn't working, so he howled and snapped his fingers, then I saw a shadow appearing on the ground and moving towards me, so I looked up at the ceiling and spotted a container filled with black latex goo.
The wolf king proceeded to continue to try and get me with the crystals and I realized that the container was a trap to try and limit my ability to avoid the crystals so I thought about making a run for the exit, but the wolf king seemed to read my mind and snapped his fingers until crystals shot up to block the exits.
The wolf king shook his head at me, basically saying that I wasn't going anywhere, so I continued to dodge the crystals and tried to avoid the container on the ceiling as well, but it was getting difficult, and all I could do was keep dodging while praying I didn't get hit.
I glared at the wolf king as the large lupine frowned, his eyes narrowing before he snapped his fingers again. I kept dodging the crystals and the container again before the wolf king started looking annoyed as he howled again, just before he summoned another container that appeared right above me, and I dove out of the way.
'Jesus, that was close,' I thought while breathing heavily as I dodged more crystals shooting up.
I could see the wolf king was openly scowling at my defiance, and he howled furiously. Then, the crystals started appearing faster, and I was really struggling to dodge them now while they were moving at a faster rate of speed until the wolf king finally had enough and summoned a third container. Unfortunately, he didn't account for it to appear above him and paid for it as the container wasn't fully secured to the ceiling and fell until crashing onto him painfully.
The wolf king let out a loud yelp of pain before howling in agony as he collapsed back into his chair, rubbing his head, and black latex tears started welling up in his eyes while he looked stunned from the nasty hit.
The other latex wolves were in a state of shock from seeing their alpha getting injured but from my perspective, he only seemed dazed from getting hit in the head and I grimaced since that looked like it hurt, but I wasn't getting anywhere near it as the crystals blocking the path ahead sank into the latex, so I took the opportunity to leave the room while I still could.
Once I left the security office, I saw that I was in a server room that was just as covered in black latex with crystals everywhere when I caught the security cameras monitoring me and I knew that asshole on the TV screen was watching me so I raised a hand and flipped off the cameras.
'Yeah, how do you like that, prick?' I thought as I sent a glare at the cameras.
I knew that I was being childish at the moment, but I couldn't give a shit right now since I was having a lot of crap being thrown at me and it felt good to take my frustrations out on the guy who's trying to kill me. I started moving through the room, keeping my eyes open for any potential ambush, when one of the TVs turned on, and I looked to see that it was the same person who had attacked me earlier.
"I'm not...you don't...go ahead...it seems...shows...there's a problem...I...solve...immediately...come back..." the man said with the audio cutting in and out until the TV shut off.
"Whatever, asshole," I muttered and continued my way to the door at the end of the room until another TV turned on.
"Hey, can you finally hear me? Looks like I'm having no problems with this screen, so are you the kind of person who hits a brick wall and doesn't look back? While that gesture you showed me earlier was rather childish, it didn't affect me much, and your efforts will not change anything since such stupid behavior will only get you killed in the end.
This is my final warning, turn back and become one of those latex beasts since it's your only option at this point. Also, don't make things too complicated because I don't want to waste too much time on you, so it'll be good for you and me to finish your "adventure" earlier.
Otherwise...I...will...open...dammit...the signal's...getting...bad...disappointing...see you...later," the man said before the signal went bad and the TV screen shut off.
"Fuck you, nothing's stopping me from getting out of here and finding my parents," I muttered, just as I recalled the man telling me to become a latex creature, so he had no idea what's been happening to me recently before I went to check on the nearby note that was on my left.
The note talked about how the person who wrote it was pondering philosophy and what it meant to be a good human, which puzzled me since it sounded like the person who was helping me was having an identity crisis.
Still, I had more important things to worry about at the moment. Shrugging, I continued forward as I started to make my way past a bunch of servers when another TV screen turned on, and I was more than irritated when I glared at the figure on the screen.
"Okay, I don't want to waste my time again, and I'm already being kind enough by letting you come here, but I will never let you take one step out of this facility. I could've made it clear since I'm like a second-rate suspense novel, where those stupid villains like to play tricks, and now you must be wondering why I stopped you.
I could tell you the reason, but I won't because a threat like you isn't worth explaining to but I have to admit that I didn't expect you to avoid so many latex beasts, though the cameras in the area, except for these, had shorted out recently so I'm unable to see what's been going on.
Either way, I would've paid more attention to you to prevent more containment breaches, and I believe I've talked to you long enough since there's no escape from this facility anyway, because sooner or later, you will be assimilated by the latex beasts and no longer be a threat.
One question, wouldn't it feel good to be obedient? Turn back and you'll find out soon enough," the man told me before the TV screen shut off, and I scrunched my face up.
'Alright, this guy appeared to have lost his goddamn marbles a long time ago and he doesn't seem to shut up, but what the hell did he mean by me being a threat? Shit, I can't stay here since who knows what this crazy bastard is capable of,' I thought as I felt wary and hoped that I wouldn't encounter him in person next time since chances are he would try to kill me.
I passed the row of servers and was about to reach the door ahead of me when I was forced to stop at the sight of an oddly-placed row of fans on the floor, the blades looking sharp and I grimaced at the thought of being sliced to pieces by them when another TV screen on my left turned on and that pissed me off.
"Alright, since you insist on going further, I'll have to resort to different methods, so I didn't think I would be forced to use this," the man stated before the fans in front of me turned on, startling me, and I instinctively jumped back.
"Jesus Christ!" I yelped in alarm as I looked at the figure on the screen, like he had lost his mind.
"The blades of these fans are very sharp, so if you don't want to get hurt, then don't go any further. I can guarantee that your soles won't survive if you take another step further, so go back and become a latex beast. Listen, that's not a terrible thing since it won't be bad becoming a brand new being because after you're assimilated by the latex creature, you won't die or anything like that.
Your consciousness and flesh will remain, only you'll evolve through a fusion between the two, but the merging of consciousnesses will make you confused for a little bit. Still, as long as you're used to that way of thinking and achieve evolution with so little loss, shouldn't that be a good thing?
Also, don't you think that the latex beasts are cute as well?" the man asked, causing me to frown as I recalled all the times those creatures tried to transfur me before I scoffed.
"I could care less, asshole," I said irritably, and the man hummed thoughtfully.
"Interesting response, though it seems that your thoughts on the latex beasts are not important to me after all, since I need to contain you as quickly as possible. Now, you won't be able to move forward from now on, so your little adventure has only one ending at this point," the man told me before the TV screen shut off, and I frowned.
"If you didn't think my thoughts on those creatures were important, then what the hell was the point in asking me about it in the first place?" I muttered irritably, but I had another problem to worry about, and that was to figure out a way to get past that row of fans.
Studying the fans, I saw that I could get past them if I was extremely careful so I went to move over to the traffic cones on the right and removed them as I stayed on the edge and tentatively moved past the row of fans until I made it to the other side and a TV screen turned on.
"Interesting, I wasn't expecting for you to find a way to avoid the fans, but I suppose that I underestimated you. Still, I have to admit you beat me for now, but did you think fans were my only tactic in stopping you? Try to avoid this," the man dared as the TV screen and the row of fans shut off, then a red laser similar to the ones I faced in the warehouse turned on in front of the door before me.
I was startled when the laser started approaching me, and feeling alarmed, I spun around and bolted back to where I came from, moving past crystals and servers while I ran like my life depended on it, and for all I knew, it probably did.
Pretty soon, I looked back and almost panicked when I saw the laser moving much faster, encouraging me to pick up speed despite the latex on the floor slowing me down when I reached the door I came through from.
I tried to open the door, only to discover that it was locked and that scared the shit out of me as I spun around to see the laser about to reach me, and proceeded to close my eyes as I braced for whatever was going to happen. After a short time of waiting, nothing happened, and I hesitantly opened my eyes to see the laser right in front of me before I was taken off guard when it shut off.
"Warning, due to no detected escaped specimens, containment mode is shutting down. Have a nice day."
I was flabbergasted by what happened, but once it hit me, I broke out laughing in pure relief while I was glad that the laser didn't touch me, just as the TV screen to my left turned on, and I smirked at the man.
"Nice try, asshole," I said, and I couldn't tell if he was irritated or not since his face was still covered by that gas mask and shadows covered most of his body.
"Sooner or later, I will turn you into a latex beast, but not this time," the man stated calmly before the TV screen shut off. I rolled my eyes and started making my way back to the door ahead of me, avoiding the row of fans again when I spotted another note in the corner to my left and went to investigate it.
'The fan blades of those fans are so sharp...I am sure that these fans are not used here to cool down, please pay attention to the corner! I haven't given up, and you won't give up!'
'Don't worry, buddy, just keep hanging in there and you won't have to wait any longer,' I thought as I headed for the door and went through it.
Entering the next room, I was in some kind of decontamination chamber, just as I saw a white latex wolf pup go through a vent, and that made me wary as I noticed a bunch of yellow traffic cones with black stripes on them.
Looking at them and the vents, it gave me an idea, so I went to block the vents with the traffic cones and walked over to a list of instructions taped to the wall next to a button, the instructions showing how I had to press the button and wait for the disinfection to happen while the vents opened until the doors unlocked.
Good thing I blocked the vents since there was a good chance that white latex pup would've come out and attacked me if I turned on the decontamination chamber, though I went to turn it on and I waited as two white latex pups came out of the vents.
I froze since I wasn't expecting two to come out, so it was a good thing I planned ahead or that could've ended badly, but it didn't take long for the decontamination chamber to finish and I hurried over to the exit while the latex wolf pups looked annoyed that the cones were blocking them.
I went into the next room to see more black latex and crystals with cardboard boxes everywhere before I walked forward, then one of the boxes moved and I stumbled back with a startled yelp, just before the box moved back as well.
I frowned before moving to the left and right, causing the box to move in the same directions, so it appeared that the thing that was inside the box was mimicking my actions. Although it looked like it would be challenging, at least it's better than the other latex beasts that came at me when they saw me.
I'm going to need to outsmart this thing if I want to get past it, so I did a little maneuvering as I saw another tape recorder, and my strategy allowed the creature to move past me as I went to pick up the recorder and played it for more information.
"Next log, this was originally the research room, but most of the servers were destroyed during that riot and the containment breach. The rest malfunctioned because of them being covered with black goo, on top of the soldiers accidentally shooting them in a panic when the facility was overrun.
There is a good ventilation system and an open space, so a group of special black latex beasts used this as a nest. These special black latex beasts will follow certain rules, all actions following their rules like some kind of game.
I still haven't figured out a reason why they're doing that, considering I don't have a PhD in animal behavior, end of log," the man said before the recorder stopped playing.
'Interesting, seems like some latex creatures have developed certain types of behavior, good to know,' I thought before putting the recorder down and going to leave the room.
Unfortunately, I encountered more than one latex creature in a box this time and had to do this smart so that I could get past them, which was tricky to do, but I managed to get past the two of them and went over to a yellow note that had familiar writing on it.
'The black latex beast live in this airea. Their appeerance and image are very unique. They have horns and some have big wings. I have seen in the book that compound creatures like this are called "Dragons" by human beings. They are vary playful. You must win at their game!'
"I will, stranger," I mumbled before continuing forward.
I walked some more before encountering five of those latex creatures, which was starting to annoy the shit out of me, but I managed to get past them and let out a tired sigh since this was starting to get to me a little bit, though all I could do was head to the next room while wondering what would come next.