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Survival of the Fittest - The Orientation Party

It was late evening inside the grand hall of the estate that sat perched on a cliff that overlooked the ocean's edge, the Grand Hall illuminated by the orange rays of the setting sun as lights were turned on to make up for the failing light. Inside a veritable menagerie of people mulled about within, the sounds of the string quartet wafting gently over the patron's heads as they moved from table to table. Some dwelled over near the buffet of food that sat on the table at one end while others occupied the dance floor.

The atmosphere was light and jovial, a band played on a central stage while a number of servers walked around with silvered platters filled with drinks and snacks. The entire party had a regal air about it, aside from a few ears that broke into a more traditional style of celebration. Even so as the various creatures milled around the room everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, particularly with imbibing the free food as people broke off into various groups.

In one corner of the room two Dalmatians stood with champagne filled glasses, the identical twins looking at each other before turning back to the people they were engaged in conversation with. "No, we're really not sure why we're here either." One of them said as the other sipped his drink. "Honestly I wasn't sure if we were coming, but the curiosity was too much to pass up."

"I know what you mean." A black-scaled mewthree said after picking a small treat for himself off of one of the silver trays that servers were carting through the grand hall. "As soon as I received the invite for this competition I packed my bags, it sounds like of fun. Can't resist a good challenge, right Aaron?"

"I'm Eric, Daniel." The Dalmatian replied with a coy grin, though as the mewthree started to apologize both brothers started laughing. "Nah, just kidding, I'm Aaron, that's Eric."

A gryphon that was next to Eric laughed a little, though he quickly covered his mouth before turning to the otter/raccoon hybrid that stood next to him and whispered something to him that caused them both to chuckle. Next to them a male rat glanced at the two before finishing his own beverage. "I don't know about you, but I was wondering what this competition entailed prize-wise, the brochure was extremely vague on... well, everything."

As the group began to discuss the possible momentary gains the server that had brought them treats moved back over to the area of the buffet, where two more groups went down the line of food.

"Hey, are you going to want that last shrimp?" A dolphin/lizard hybrid said to the two who were standing in front of the cocktail platter that had been set out.

"No, go right ahead." The female albino cougar said as she gestured towards it. "My name is Navajo, and the ocelot next to me is Thylin."

"I'm Procene, Procene Sartherian." The lizaphin replied as he took the shrimp. "So you two ladies knew each other before coming here?"

"I'm a guy actually..." Thylin replied.

"Sorry." Procene quickly replied with a sheepish grin.

"He gets that a lot." Navajo interjected. "And yes, we are friends and business partners, our invitation had both our names on it when it got to us. It was odd, we were in the middle of nowhere when we got it and it just seemed to have appeared where we were staying."

"I noticed that too." A male white tiger in very revealing clothing said from behind the lizaphin. "Name's Duo Maxwell by the way. It's weird how some people came alone while others came in groups of two."

Next to Duo a black fox and wolf's head perked up from the buffet. "Yeah, we know what you mean about the pairs." The fox said. "Murphy and I were with a group of people, but it was just us two that were invited and allowed to pass through that mysterious portal that appeared. Did you guys get here the same way?"

As that group began discussion of the extra-dimensional portals; a similar discussion was taking place at the desert section as several furs moved that way. "I'm wondering if this is not some sort of ruse, Kas." An arctic toned dragon said to the male coyote behind him as he put a huge slab of chocolate cake on his plate. "You know, some sort of plot by higher forces to enslave us or something."

"I highly doubt that someone would create a series of dimensional portals and cater this party just to try and capture a bunch of people." Kas replied as he took his own dessert. "Just enjoy yourself and we'll figure out why we're here soon Sebastian."

"Well I don't know about you but I'm wondering exactly what is needed with so many people, all taken from different dimensions to this place." A snow leopard passing by them and another two furs at the table asked. "I mean, what experiment would require such a varied group? I can't think that we're just here for a random party. I'm Nikoli by the way, pleasure to meet you all."

A human that had been standing at the chocolate fountain turned briefly to shake Nikoli's hand. "Dr. Helix, a pleasure. You know I was just talking to William here that there are quite the variety of races that have shown up for... whatever this is, and yet no one seems to have a clear answer of what's going on exactly. Also while all our invitations were rather simple they all seemed to come to us with slightly different instructions and they all activated portals that led right to this room, yet no one saw each other appear from one of them."

"It really is a mystery, though I have to say that the hospitality so far has been very accommodating." The dragon replied as he drank the last of his glass of champagne, then looked around a bit before handing it to a humanoid dressed in shiny clothing with no face. "Could you fill this up for me please? Thanks?"

The butler-esque man looked down at the glass, a black question mark appearing on his otherwise featureless face before he shrugged and walked off while the rest of the group talked. It didn't take long before he found a bottle, the party at the table giving the strange person a look before turning back to their own conversations.

"You know, I do hope that there is a lot of strategy in this game." A male hyena said as he grabbed the half-empty bottle and poured himself another glass. "Though I have to say that the not knowing aspect of this is far more enticing then any standard type of possible competition."

The rabbit girl at the table giggled a little, her feet up on the table. "Hell yeah Perry, this thing is awesome." She said as she leaned back while holding her own bottle of bubbly. "I almost couldn't care less about the competition, especially if this party keeps going. Am I right Rusty?"

Rusty looked up from the food he was playing with, giving the enthusiastic bunny a small smile. "Yes it is Kitarl."

The naga at the table, her scales shining with an unnatural latex quality, let out a small hmmm of approval as she looked around at the other competitors with an almost hungry look in her eye. "Now now Sslytha, try not to drool too much over the others." The dragon next to her said as he examined the flower arrangement in the middle of the table. "The invitation specifically stated that there was to be none of that during the orientation party."

"I know, I know." Sslytha replied, giving him a fanged grin. "I do hope there is some potential competitor interaction after these little games, or perhaps during. Like you said Perry, we have no idea what is going on for this particular game. For all we know it's some sort of strange sex raffle..."

"A sex raffle?" A stripy, hyena like male suddenly perked up with a small blush on his face.

"Oh she's just kidding I'm sure." Perry replied, giving the Aardwolf a warm smile that he warmly returned.

"Uh oh, love is in the air." Kitarl said before finishing off her bottle and setting it on the occupied table next to them.

The dragon at the other table looked at the empty bottle curiously before setting back down and looking at the other patrons at the table. "So as I was saying, I overheard some of the servers talking, apparently we're all going tournament style into whatever this competition is. I feel kind of nervous having to go up against some of the people in this room, especially if there's some type of theme to it."

"I don't think that there's a theme Tel'Ranis." A male wolf said as he cut into his food.

The male skunk next to him nodded in agreement. "Yeah Kai, even the contestants are all different." He said, looking around at all the others. "Some of them even look like they were made of latex... though it must be bodypaint or something."

The kinkajou at the table wrote down something, then slid it to the wolf. "Could be some sort of unseen connection." Kai read. "What if we were all affected by some sort of trans-dimensional event? Or maybe some teleporting creature managed to enter our lives in some way."

A tiger looked at the kinkajou, then took out a card himself and wrote something down on it before he slid it to the gryphon that sat next to him. "Danger agrees with you Kalvin, but wonders what it could possibly be." Skyeder retorted. "I personally can't think of anything weird in our lives or any weird people that boasted trans-dimensional capabilities before now."

"Wait a second..." Tel'Ranis said, which caused everyone to turn their head and look at him. "...your name is Danger?"

Once more the tiger wrote something down, then slid the card over to the dragon instead of the gryphon. "Um no, no problem at all with that. I'm... going to go to the bathroom." Tel'Ranis said as he got up and walked pasted a group that stood next to the bar.

"This is quite the peculiar crowd we have here." The human in the group said after watching the dragon pass by, pouring himself another drink. "Not that I mind, you guys so far have been great, there are so few other humans though, makes me wonder."

"At least there are others of your kind around here Zander." A female that was a mix of dragon and wolf replied. "Not a lot a dracowolves out in the spread."

The female fox who introduced himself as Kristen next to her chuckled. "There are a number of hybrids out there Kaelin, not exactly our types but definitely a few hybrids."

"And hey, go foxes!" A male arctic fox named Sanmer said as he and Kristen gave each other a high-five. "But I agree, a lot of... fantastic males around here. I do hope we have a chance to interact with others more later."

"Well one thing I notice that here are definitely a plethora of dragons out there." A silver-scaled dragon said as he looked around as well, swirling his drink. "When Tonza and I came through the portal we were surprised at how many like us there were. Of course with that in mind I can't imagine that species is going to play a factor in this. Otherwise the humans are going to be in trouble I would think, no offense Zander."

"None taken Dae." Zander replied as they all chuckled. "Hey they have a little gaming area set up, now that we've got our drinks we should check it out."

The group moved away from the bar and towards the back of the ballroom near a stage where a band was playing. The elegance of the ballroom gave way slightly to a more purely entertainment-oriented aspect of the party. Games of all types had been set up, from table games where a number of creatures had already started to gamble to electronic games of all kinds. It was near a racing simulator where another group was gathered, several furs watching as two of them finished a race.

"Zenny, you got me again!" One of the two dragons said as they got out of the simulator. "I hope this isn't part of the competition."

"Sorry Seran, just guess I got a knack for it." The blue-scaled dragon said with a grin before looking at the two who sat at one of the nearby media-viewing tables. "Hey Kaeln, Calel, you two want next up? We saw you eye up the machine a little while ago."

The gorilla and horse that sat at the small table with two e-readers looked up at him, both of them shook their head before taking a drink from their cups and burrowing their heads back into the electronic texts. With the denial of the two Zennith looked over at the two latex-covered creatures that were also playing some old school arcade games. "You two want a ride?"

"What do you think Garrus?" The black rubber sea snake said as he looked over at him with his orange eyes. "Fancy a ride?"

The blue latex snake gave him a questioning look, then saw where his friend was looking and give him a sly smile. "I don't think those pdtals exactly work for us Miro." Garrus replied. "Come on, I think the band is finishing up and I have the feeling that we might he getting some answers rather soon."

As the two rubber nagas came up to the stage they found the front of it already occupied with a number of people that seemed to have the same idea as they did. "Alright, another couple of nagasss in the fray." The python naga said as he turned to see the newcomers. "I am Amythystine, and this isss my friend Menagerie."

"I'm Garrus and this is Miro." The latex naga introduced as he shook the male dragon's hand, then looks over to the arctic fox that sipped on a tall drink. "And you are?"

"Artemis Alexander." The arctic fox replied. "Charmed I'm sure."

As the group of creatures continued to talk a group of three humans were also holding a conversation in the corner of the stage, one of them frowning slightly as he talked with two humans that appeared to be together. "Are you alright Bastion?" An Asian male said as he noticed the other man's discomfort. "You've been frowning for a while now."

"No no, I'm fine Grayson." Bastion replied, rubbing his temples. "Just a lot of noise around here. So you two fight ghosts, that's quite the job. And how long have you and Seth been a couple?"

The two men looked at each other, then at the other human. "We... never told you that we were a couple."

Before the two could get an explanation the lights suddenly dimmed, a spotlight appearing over the center of the stage. Several gouts of smoke poured out onto the dining area, the potential contestants stopping what they were doing and looking up at the stage. To their surprise a cloaked man walked through the smoke, his face obscured by a metallic face mask that was a cross between a gas mask and a draconic hood. Everyone began to chatter amongst themselves, some of them wondering who that could possibly be.

"Greetings everyone." The mysterious figure said, drawing a hush over the crowd as everyone's attention turned to the tall, cloaked man in a metal gas mask. "I'm glad that you could all make it, I hope that the accommodations and food have set a good tone. You have been gathered here today because we are looking for the cream of the crop to help us fight something that threatens us all. You will be put through a series of tests in order to prove your worth, designed to address the potential threats that you could be facing."

The large group of people looked at each other, wondering what the mysterious creature was talking about before continuing on. "I realize that you all have a lot questions right now, and I promise that those of you who make it will enjoy the benefits of being the victor in ways that you can't possibly fathom." The man said, which caused a murmur of disbelief to go through the crowd. "I will not lie, this is something that will test your limits, and not just physically either. But through the hottest crucible the purest gold is wrought, and that is what we are doing today. But before we continue on I have one question for you all... is anyone here allergic to sophoril?"

The group looked at each other quizzically, some of them nodding their heads while others just shrugged their shoulders. Everyone was quickly shocked however as the emergency sprinklers overhead activated, jets of white smoke dispensing into the room. The entire area was suddenly enveloped in a dense cloud of gas that caused nearly everyone to panic, some trying to hold their breath as others made a break for it. As they coughed and gasped for breath some ran towards the door, only to find that they had been chained shut and the servers stood there with gas masks on and holding guns. Those that did not go down quickly were shot, several creatures crashing into tables with darts sticking out of their necks or other body parts. Before long the entire room fell silent, all the invitees slumped over tables or lying on the ground.

Once everyone had succumbed to the anesthetic gas the doors were unlocked and large storage carts and gurneys were rolled in by more gas-masked servants, some of them loading the unconscious bodies onto the gurneys while others opened the boxes and took out strange collars that they attached around their necks. The entire time the man on the stage watched, his emotions hidden behind the metal mask as another robed creature in a silver mask came up to him and saluted. "Sir, all present company is being moved down to the test chamber as we speak." He informed.

"Good, begin the lockdown procedure." The mysterious figure replied, watching as one of servers dragged an unconscious dragon out of the restroom and loaded him onto a gurney. "By the time they've finished loading the test subjects in and leave the entire facility will be sealed off. What's the status of our gracious host?"

"Well it took some doing to crack the quantum interface protocols but we believe to have everything under control now." The other man replied. "When the lockdown is fully in place then the A.R.G.O.S. Mk2 AI system will have full, unalterable command of all vital functions to prevent any and all outside tampering."

"Excellent." The leader said as he looked out at the ballroom once more. "Then let the games begin..."