4 to Christian!

It says here, "Geese can hold their breath for prolonged periods of up to 45 minutes or more."" the hillbilly read slowly.

"Well then." Doomore said as she glanced at her watch. "We wait."

Time: 8:25 pm

Before the clock could turn 8:26, the glass shattered with three splats from a paintball gun. The captives spilled out onto the floor, safe for now

“Damnit!” Doomore yelled out

Louis heard the alarms. He knew he had to be quick about this. The porcupine was down. (Sorry, I don't like violence against my fellow animals).

Louis rushed to the security desk and figured out the alarm. He pushed the button to quiet it. No need to exacerbate the situation.

The alarm quieted,

Louis looked at the screen. He was drawn to his friends, Nene, Ryan and Carmen. It was very sad. They were submerged under Doomore's control.

"Percy, Percy, do you copy?"

"Steve, do you copy?"

Louis was a bit frantic, wanting to help his friends, wanting his friends to be aware.

Louis heard the despicable Dr. Doomore. She said the "geese" could hold their breaths for 45 minutes.

Fine, thought Louis. That may be your story but it's not going to be our story.

Louis pulled up the video. It showed his fellow compatriots, Nene, Ryan, Carmen, ducking down in Dr. Doomore's depths.

They had to get their friends out of this.

"Steve, can you distract Doomore?"

"Percy, what about the security?"

Louis had to think fast. The porcupine was laying before him. He did he unthinkable. Soon, he was a porcupine to all who would view him.

Louis headed out of the security room and pressed the button on his earpiece.

"Percy do you copy?"

"Steve do you copy?"

[ROLL CALL!]

Lol I didn't know if I was supposed to break the glass. But it was an emergency.

JJ @ 26/6/2022 0:45

4 to Christian!

Nene, Ryan and Carmen weren't completely safe yet, but at least they weren't drowning themselves anymore.

Steve was running towards what he thought might be the processing room.

"Steve to Percy! Hang tight. Louis, do you copy?"

"oh, thank goodness Steve. It's about time."

"Hey, man, that was a really good disguise. I would have never recognized you."

"Obviously. Where are you?"

"Somewhere in the east wing. That was where Percy said he was when he---"

Oh, shit.

If Percy's in trouble, our ability to communicate with each other covertly might be compromised.

"Actually, I'm going back to the party area now to see if...Tammy found her cat yet."

That should throw them off. Hopefully Louis is too smart for that to fool him.

He reached a door at the end of a hallway.

Should I knock? Sneak in? Bust it open, paintgun a-blazin'? Is this even the right room?

Steve put his ear to the door to see if he could hear anything from the other side.

"Looking for something?" a voice boomed from behind.

"Ahh!" Steve shouted, startled.

"A cat perhaps?"

It was one the hunters.

Be cooler, Steve.

"Ahh...ctually, is Dr. Doomore around? We're pretty good friends now. There was something I wanted to talk to her about."

The hunter stared at Steve.

"She's ahh...actually right behind that door," the hunter replied. "Here, let me get that for you."

The hunter walked past Steve, bumping him quite aggressively and opened the door to what Steve soon realized was indeed, the processing room.

"Get inside," the hunter demanded.

"O-kay," said Steve.

There was Percy in a very small cage, surrounded by a pig, a wolf and...is that a Panther wearing a headset?

"Percy, I'm here to rescue you!" Steve shouted.

The animals in front of the cage turned to face Steve.

"Oh, did you?" the pig asked.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" Steve countered.

Cool it, Steve.

The pig shouted something at the panther and the panther leapt towards Steve.

Steve was quick enough to get out of the way and the panther slammed into the hunter.

"Ooh, you're going to pay for that!" the hunter boomed as he steadied himself and aimed his shotgun.

"Do you accept interac?" Steve laughed.

"Interac with this!" the hunter said as he pulled the trigger.

The bullet whizzed past Steve.

Yikes.

And it just missed Percy too!

Phew.

It also missed the lock on the cage.

Dang it.


The panther readied another attack and lunged for Steve a second time.

Again, he was able to dodge, sending the panther crashing into Percy's cage and toppling it.

I wonder if that was enough.


Steve turned his attention once again towards the hunter and the other animals.

They all circled around him.

"Alright," he said. "Let's do this."


ROLL CALL!

5 to Christian

JJ @ 26/6/2022 1:26

Louis had to think fast. The porcupine was laying before him. He did he unthinkable. Soon, he was a porcupine to all who would view him. Louis headed out of the security room and pressed the button on his earpiece. "Percy do you copy?" "Steve do you copy?" [ROLL CALL!]

Apologies, as I only have a 1 and a 2 left and I had already given you my highest roll, so to even it out, I'm now giving you my lowest roll. lol

Have my 1.

Just counting it up I think this is what's left:

Louis rolls: 5,2,4,4
4 to Christian, 2 to Boc, 4 to Christian (5 remaining - has to go to Boc)

Christian rolls: 1,2,4,3
3 to Boc, 4 to JJ, 1 to JJ (2 remaining - has to go to Boc)

Boc rolls: 2,5,2,5
5 to Christian, 2 to JJ, 5 to Christian (2 remaining - Has to go to JJ)

(I still have to post my 1)

"Percy do you copy?"

"Steve do you copy?"

Louis listened but heard nothing. Not even static. He took off his earpiece and looked at it. It was dead. He put it in his pocket and, as he did he was reminded of his...trusted pocket watch.

He pulled out the old timepiece and watched admiringly as the big hand counted down the seconds. Still accurate, Louis smiled to himself. They don't make watches like they used to.

Louis had previously heard all the commotion surround the tank breaking. From his vantage point from the room looking into the hallway he saw the paint splattered about.

Ah, Louis thought. My friend, Steve.

He had heard Percy's communication about the server room before his earpiece stopped and he was betting Steve had heard it, also.

Louis had to make a decision.

Head to the Server room and possibly be caught along with Percy and Steve?... but maybe not?

Separate and hope his earpiece began working again? He put it back on his ear, just in case.

He would play this by ear, hopefully, pun intended.

He looked at his watch again. He calculated. The sound of the shattered glass tank was no more than three minutes ago, he guessed. If Steve was on his way to find the Server room, he would probably be there by now.

Louis looked around the Security room. He spotted some keys on the porcupine's belt. He grabbed them.

What the hell, may as well, Louis thought.

He went through the open door and into the hallway.

After a moment, he saw someone was coming down the hall toward him, he had to act now.

Louis casually headed forward. He passed the person wearing his most non-suspicious smile.

He headed toward the main room which held the tanks.

Right before he turned the corner he heard someone call out...

"WHAT THE--?"

He kept going.

Oh, I think they found the porcupine, Louis thought to himself. Not my best moment.

He saw the clock in the main hall. He tried his earpiece again. "Percy, Steve..?"

The earpiece crackled to life. He heard something... something that sounded like a.. roar?

Maybe it was just Steve being macho, he thought.

"If you can wrap it up in there and meet me out in the main exhibit hall in three minutes, I think..."

Louis came face to face with Dr. Doomore, who stood staring at him, the man from the bar at her side.

[ROLL CALL!]

aaand have my 2!

TYVM

Since Boc has 2 left and I have one, I'm going to wait until Boc posts again.

I'll need someone's roll first

although either way Christian's next update should go before mine

Boc @ 25/6/2022 22:08

"...and what could you POSSIBLY want to do in the server room?" Peter continued. "I-I...like I said, I just think it sounds...cool! I dunno, you asked what I wanted to see and I answered! Why the third degree?! You can, like, show me something else if you want to...it's no biggie, piggy..." Percival fidgeted with his collar nervously. Peter stared down at Percival for a beat before relenting. "Sure. Right this way." Percival hesitantly followed Peter down a branching hallway. The piggy remained eerily silent the whole way there. "Soooo Pete...anything you can tell me about this new destinaesh?" by this time it was becoming painfully clear something was very off. "We're here." Peter said simply as he opened a door to a darkened room and motioned Percy inside. Percy gulped and considered his options...but there didn't seem to be much else he could do. It was either enter or flee, and it was unlikely he'd be able to outrun this pig, much less any other guards that would become alerted. His only option seemed to be compliance, and hope to goose god that Peter's intentions weren't as shady as they seemed. "Oh boy...I looove...surprises..." Percy stammered before entering the room. The lights suddenly blasted on, blinding Percy amid a cacophony of whirring and clanking. When he regained his vision, he was staring back at Peter from behind bars. Above Peter's head was a sign that read: "PROCESSING". "We've gotta live one!" Peter oinked as a couple of others, a panther and a wolf, stepped out beside him. They all grinned at him eerily. "What's your location Percy?" Louis' chimed in through the headset. Naturally, it was met with no response as Percy wriggled around in futility. The cage around him was already tight for the average sized goose, but for a bird of Percival's stature...he couldn't even lift a wing. "Shh, shh...it'll all be over soon. No more schemes, no more...impropriety. I knew you were up to something the first time I laid eyes on you...Gustavo, if that even is your real name. But I was willing to see where things went, see what you were after. And then you brought up the *snort* goddamned server room! What a bold play! You know, I would ask the specifics of what you're up to, but it really won't matter soon enough. All I'm going to do is give you a little...headstart." Percival slowly moved his head, as much as he could, towards the side of the cage as he listened to Peter monologue. "You see, Her Magnificence has more modern solutions these days, but in our day..." Peter motioned to the two cronies at his side, "...in our day, things were a little more...hands on. You'll see soon enough. I'm going to start by asking you a series of questions, this will be our calibration round. Soon enough, we'll make a loyal servant out of--" Percival was finally able to get the button on his headset pressed up against one of the bars, depressing it just enough for it to click on. "Louis! Steve! Anyone! I'm in some kind of Processing room in the east wing, there's--" The panther reached into the cage and brusquely yanked the headset off Percival's head.

This one, Boc? I didn't see a roll call.

Boc @ 29/6/2022 0:15

although either way Christian's next update should go before mine

Agree.