Changed - The Awakening

Chapter 2: Cat and Mouse

Entering through the door, you find yourself in a long hallway filled with boxes and traffic cones along the way and a door far away to the end of the room. Shortly after pushing some boxes that are blocking your path, you saw a giant pillow with a cream-colour kitten with brown stripes and a white belly, sleeping soundly with a food and water bowl sitting near it. You recall seeing a note from the warehouse that the workers brought in a cat to hunt some mice.

You try to quietly walk past the cat without waking it up till a box tips over and crashes behind you, waking the cat up. The cat looks up to see what made the noise, to find you standing by the box. The cat then got up, stretches, meows, and walks towards you, eager to get your attention. How adorable!

"Aww, you're so cute!" you said to the cat, petting him or her to your heart's content.

However, as you pet the kitten, you notice its fur has some strange stickiness feeling to it. You look at the cat's bed and notice some creamy colour goo on it which matches the cat's fur. But if the cat's fur matches the colour of the goo on the bed, then that means...

This cat is one of the goo monsters.

Feeling the colour drain from your skin, you start to get up and try to calmly walk away from the cat. The cat then tries calling out to you, asking for more attention from you. Walking faster, you look at the cat as it seems to catch on that it has been found out.

With that, the cat's eyes show a glint of hunger as it crouches in a pouncing stance, readying to chase its' prey. Seeing this, you ran as the cat starts to chase you.

As you run, turning left and right, and cutting corners through stacks of boxes, you are confident that you are getting away from that cat but then a thought came to you.

'Aren't cats faster than humans?'

To your horror, despite being small, the cat is a lot faster than it looks. The cat then pelts itself, smacking you on your head, knocking you down to the floor as it takes over your body. Despite being made of goo, the cat gives a warmish feeling wherever it touches your body.

Panicking, you try to pull off the cat before it is too late, but the goo is too firm to pull away from your body.

"Get...off...me!" you shout, failing around in a hopeless attempt to ward off the invasion.

You can feel the sticky sensation, flowing down your torso as it spreads out to reach your limbs, coating them in the same cream colour as well. You can feel the goo on your head as it takes shape around you, with pointy ears taking shape as well. The goo starts to form around your arms as well, turning your hands into paws while it flows down to your legs to finish the job.

You then felt a tail form by your hips, though you do not feel that it is 'attach' to you. The goo then finally flows down to your feet, forming into paws just like your hands as the goo on your torso turns into a fluffy white colour.

Opening your eyes, you see that the transformation is complete. You try to move your body, only to find that is unable to move just like before.

In the end, you can see through the cat's eyes that it is in absolute joy, as it enjoys its new body thanks to its captive prey. The cat then hops to the boxes by its bed, with a body structured like a human being, it can finally satisfy its own curiosity into what is inside these mysterious boxes.

Opening one... it discovers some clothing that piques its interest; A shiny belt, a shirt, and a cool headband with a medal on it. Wearing these items, the cat is happy with its newfound possessions as it lays on its bed, eventually dosing off to sleep.

'Really? Did it just possess my body, just to open some boxes?' you thought, mad about the cat's antics, as you listen to it purr in its sleep.

Unable to see anything, you gave in and went to sleep yourself, uncertain of your fate.

An unknown amount of time later, you find yourself waking up next to the cat's bed with the cat sleeping on its precious new possessions. Thankful that you are again given another chance, you left the room quietly as you can as the cat dozes off with its belongings.

Into a small passage, you took a deep breath, scolding yourself with the fact of how you have just been caught two times already in a matter of a few hours (More or less, depending on how long you had been unconscious). You got to be careful, your life is at stake and you may not get another chance. You need to avoid getting caught, otherwise one of these latex monsters will absorb you for real.

Taking just a few steps a vent next to you opens, you turn to look to see what made the noise to find a white latex goo attacking you! And it is climbing on your legs!

"NO! I am not going through this again!" you shout angrily.

You have just been caught by a cat, and you are not willing to get consumed by another one of these monsters already!

You kick, roll on the floor, trying to scrape off this latex that is climbing on your body. With enough effort, you manage to kick off the latex as it retreats to the vents it came from. Happy that you manage to fend off the goo, you continue down the walkway reaching the door to another room. One of these doors is weld shut, but you can hear water running behind it, so it was probably for the best anyway.

Entering another walkway with a large window, you found a pinboard with some photos on it, one is a microscopic picture of a cell, next contained a dog and a latex puddle. The other pictures show the dog then merges with the researcher into a humanoid dog.

Seems like these research projects not only include humans test subjects but animals as well.

Down the passage, there are some more notes to read. One talks about a virus that is extremely contagious, hard to detect, and can bring an end to humanity, unless a theory was proven correct, which must be those tests you saw.

"This must be the purpose behind these tests' you thought.

The second note is a message that seems to be addressed for you.

"Hello! If you read this, it mean you wake up! Great! I may not see you when you wake for first time, so use guide message. I don't know when you will wake. Months? Years? If you can, come library!"

...This stranger needs to work on their grammar a bit.

Hopeful to meet a survivor you left the room, but you can't help but wonder who he or she is and what their motives are. One thing is sure though, this adventure will change your life forever.