Starfall: Chapter 28: Fitting in: Epilogue: Part-Three Unknown.
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??? Collision point.
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Jerking awake while gasping for air, Usasko freezes in place as her eyes dart around the cockpit of the experimental ftl craft. ‘Wait… What? I’m back in the cockpit, did all tha…’ She stops as she looks at her hand-paw. Uncovered and bare, not the way it was back at that so pivotal moment. In fact, looking herself over, she finds herself completely naked.
Both hand-paws fly to her stomach, flat and trim even if it doesn’t feel that way. No, she can still distinctly feel her gravid state despite how she appears to be the opposite. The action itself also gives her pause as it felt nothing like moving limbs in weightlessness.
“Why is there gravity? I was… URP” If she had anything in her stomach, the arctic fox would’ve lost it as her belly grows. Matching the term she’s in, yet it doesn’t feel more cramped in the cockpit.
‘Okay, if this is a dream. It’s one hell of a lucid one.’ She blinks upon feeling cloth settle on her frame. Looking down, her eyes grow wide as she’s now wearing the nightgown she went to bed in after cuddling with Steven.
‘And getting weirder too…’
Unbuckling herself. She makes the mental effort to not question why the straps lengthened to perfectly fit her gravid frame as tight as it would her pre-pregnant one. They were ‘very’ tightly secured back then after all. With them clattering to the side of the seat, Usako hefts herself up to stand on the seat cushion. Then cranes her head up to look at the ingress / egress hatch of the cockpit.
‘Will opening it end the dream by sucking me out into the vacuum of space? Or would it keep on going?’
Her hand-paw hesitates to reach up and find out. Only for the decision to be made for her as she hears someone or something opening the hatch from the other side.
‘Okay, I’m stuck in a lucid dream. Back in the FTL craft, only now as pregnant as I am awake. While someone outside is opening the hatch. If it is an alien from that damn movie we watched before bed, I am SO swearing off what we ate for dinner! At least till I’m no longer pregnant. Because DAMN that was a good meal.’
She braces herself as the hatch lifts, then swings open, and that fact she’s holding onto the seat saves her from collapsing due to shock. The face that greets her is one she’s become familiar with, all-be-it only from photos shown to her by Steven.
Mark Mercer. Standing on, well, solid ‘nothing’ as he stares into the cockpit of the Zootopian dimension’s ‘lost’ experimental FTL craft. Wearing nothing more than the shorts / boxers he went to bed in with Vivian.
He blinks a couple of times in confusion at the gravid Arctic Vixen pilot.
“Usako Chasofito?!” Mark blurts out.
“Mark Mercer?!” Usako does at the same time.
They stare at each other for several moments more.
Breaking the silence and the staring contest, Usako starts climbing out of the cockpit. “What are you doing in my dream?” Her gravid frame proving no hindrance in exiting the craft, despite it causing her to be bigger around the belly than the opening of the craft.
Both parties just decide to flat out ignore this as both have already seen too much weirdness already to try to make sense of every little oddity.
“I was going to ask you the same thing. One moment I’m dozing off cuddling Vivian after a late day getting just a single tractor running for the farm. The next thing I know I’m back in the escape pod, just wearing my shorts. Not to mention the lid was already open with air and gravity for some reason.” He pauses a moment as the Arctic Fox vixen stands as soon as she’s out of the vehicle. Staring down at her foot-paws and the ‘nothing’ she’s standing on, yet it is as solid as stone.
“Don’t worry it’s solid. Don’t know how far out it goes though.” Mark shrugs. Pointing off into the distance, to the Vector. Surrounded by debris and other escape pods as it floats there with a big hole on the top of the bridge.
“Kinda hope it goes all the way over to the ship. Kinda what to look around.”
The Arctic Vixen looks in the direction he’s pointing in.‘Okay, this has to be a dream. I’m literally standing on nothing.’
“Then why not just fly there? This ‘is’ a dream?” Folding her ears back, Usako attempts it herself, willing her body to float up into the air. Yet her foot-paws stay firmly planted to, whatever they’re standing on. She even raises herself up onto her toes and everything short of just jumping, yet nothing happens.
Mark shakes his head, idly scratching the scar on his chest as he watches her do this. “I’m actually starting to doubt this is a dream. I mean all the photos I’ve seen of you are either in casual wear, military uniform, or the space-suit for the mission you died in. None of them had you pregnant and ready to burst while wearing a nightie.”
Tilting her head, she looks up at the mostly naked human, and dea… “But I didn’t die! I came close, yes.”
‘If that stick impaled me anywhere else…’
“I didn’t die though. You’re the one who’s supposed to be dead along with everyone else on the vector…” Usako points at the ship in the distance. “Yet, you’re here, and you have a scar on your chest that wasn’t in any photo’s Steven’s shown me of you.”
Openly staring at the Vixen, Mark just processes what she said for a moment. “Do you mean my older brother? I doubt my demise was famous enough to have photo’s of myself plastered all over the media like yours were. Then again, so were the photo’s of your Mother slapping Nick Wilde as he and Judy paid respects during your memorial cerimony.”
Now Usako’s turn to openly stare at Mark, too surprised to stop her tail from wagging at the thought of her mother doing that to ‘that’ fox. “Mom did ‘what’ to that sad excuse of a FOX?!”
Only to blink twice. “Yea, it is your brother because I kinda crashed on your family farm. Then wandered into your home for an impaled arm and a body covered in bruises from an uncontrolled FTL re-entry. Not to mention the crash too.”
Opening his mouth, then closing it. Mark sits down cross-legged in front of Usako while rubbing the side of his head. “Nick’s not ‘that’ bad once you get to know him to be honest. Still, what happened to you must’ve gone over ‘well’ with my older brother. Neither he, nor my younger sister Angela believed me that Bio-Morphs are sentient. Zootopians, at least Vulpines like you, Lupines and many Feline species can be mistaken for unusual Bio-Morphs. Like a runt or one who’re naturally short.” He pauses for a moment.
“This also cements the fact whatever ‘this’ is, isn’t a dream. Or we’re both imagining some weird fan-fiction of each other in our own heads.”
Stilling her tail, Usako takes a moment to actually look around. Everything looks like it’s fully lit with no visible light source, yet casts no shadows. The swirling technicolor dreamscape surrounding them doesn’t even shade anything despite the bright and pure colors swirling about out there in the ether.
In fact, it kinda reminds the Vixen of some early three-dimensional video games that lacked any kind of lighting that she played as a kit.
She holds up a finger to stop Mark once she’s actually looking over at him. “I… Don’t think that would be the case when I already have your brother.”
Only to raise her hand-paws to keep him quiet and let her continue. “Not initially. No, he and your sister thought I was some abused Bio-Morph kit left to die on their property and I wandered in. Even put a fucking collar on me too while I was unconscious. So yea when I woke up I’m not happy about it, one thing led to another, and they realized I’m not a Bio-Morph. Then a day or so later, your brother got drafted into a minor spat between your United States and China. Only for your sister, Angela to go full ‘crazy grief mode’ over you and him, thinking Steven wouldn’t survive deployment. She threw me in with your Bio-Morph pack.”
Usako caresses her belly and the three hybrid kits inside.
“One thing led to another after that. I got out of your family’s Bio-Morph enclosure.” She moves her ears a bit. Something that doesn’t go unnoticed by Mark.
‘Not mentioning I had to do it naked… What is it with me and not being able to scale their fences with any clothing on?’
“Got Charlie and Balto out by opening the door, before confronting your sister who was drunk at the time. Long story short, both your older brother and younger sister know they’re intelligent. Treat Balto and Anna like the second set of parents they never had along with Pippin and Charlie as long-lost siblings despite growing up with them. Not to mention your country considers me a free citizen too.”
Mark just looks at Usako’s gravid belly. “Okay, that’s a good thing, and I am happy to hear it, But…” He makes eye contact with the vixen. “I get the distinct impression you’re omitting a few things.”
Usako meets Mark’s stare, fully recognizing and long since incorporating human body language into her own. “That’s pretty much it Mark, more or less.” Smiling at him, ears up, tail only slightly twitching.
‘Don’t know how he’ll react to knowing his sister locked me in with Charlie when I was in heat. More or less forcing him to mate with me and thus why I have kits. Or how she did the same to Pippin with another, now thankfully gone, pack member. Let’s not forget I nearly cost his younger sister’s use of her arm when she grabbed me that first day. Not to mention the cherry on top of everything which happened, that damn trial and everyone going nuts. Like his neighbors’
Mark points to her gravid belly while keeping eye contact with Usako. “I’ve lived with Nick and his family long enough to pick up vulpine body habits.”
‘If he has one that he doesn’t broadcast to fool people that is.’
“You’re leaving out some big details in your story. Like who impregnated you, and how is that even possible?”
‘Though it does bode well for Vivian and me if it was my brother.’ Mark only lets his hopes rise a bit upon that thought.
“Not to mention, how can my country of birth. A fucking slave state. Can consider you sentient when to the causal observer you’d look similar to a Bio-Morph.”
Keeping her smile up, Usako eventually gulps and lowers her ears and tail with a sigh upon realizing Mark isn’t buying it.
“Charlie knocked me up. Not willingly, and not his fault. Nor do I know how it’s possible. I nearly took the use of your sisters arm on that morning I went into your house. No excuses on it, I wasn’t handling the stress very well and when she grabbed me to stop me from running. I used CQCD to disable her. Partially in retaliation to that, and partially in grief. Your sister locked me and Charlie in a residential container while I was in heat. A bad one no less, they happen after stressful situations in my family like say, nearly dying. Pippin, your childhood crush got the same treatment with another one of your family’s Bio-Morph pack. She’s carrying four cubs while I have three…”
Only to sit down and kinda splays her legs a bit as her belly prevents her from sitting in a any more dignified fashion. “Are you happy now? I know you had a crush on Pippin and felt Charlie was your brother before your human brother and sister did. I also harmed your sister.”
Mark opens his mouth then shuts it. ‘I would be lying if I said I was. I’m profoundly angry at Angela, while a little angry at Usako. I know sis likes to act rashly and can lash out in anger sometimes. This takes the cake though, even if Usako did that. Not to mention Charlie, this must be pretty bad for him. Knowing he did something because his instincts drove him and not because of his own decision. Poor Pippin too, in all we talked, cubs were not in her plans.’
His mind drifts back to the time he spent with Pippin growing up. Their friendship turning into crush, possibly only one-sided if he thinks more about it. Causing that foolish action of his that got him disowned and kicked out of the family. Onto the path that led him to ending up in the real life version of an old child’s cartoon.
Rubbing his face a few times, Mark growls in frustration as best a human can. “You’re right. I’m not happy at you or my sister. I want to go home and slap some fucking sense into Angela for what she did, yet, that doesn’t explain you being a free citizen though.”
Usako leans back, arms supporting her back. All to lessen the pressure on said back from her belly and pregnancy engorged breasts.
“Don’t need to slap any sense into Angela, but I can understand the feeling. Charlie and Balto did it for you more or less. She was the first of your siblings we convinced that they’re sentient. Or should I say lack of beat-down and only the implication that she would’ve gotten one if they were lesser people taught her that. Angela is on the long road of earning their trust back and their forgiveness…”
Politely interrupting the vixen, Mark chuckles. “Okay, now I just wish I could’ve se…” Only for his eyes to instantly dilate before finishing that sentence as he spaces out. His head slumping forward, followed by his entire upper body. Forcing Usako scramble over to him, claws digging into whatever the solid yet invisible surface is. All so he won’t fall over and hit his head.
She’s about to try to lay him on his back, only for him to gasp out.
“What the hell was that! I… I just saw and felt it all!” Blinking in confusion, Usako crawls back a bit as Mark pats himself down from top of his head to his feet, including his chest and groin. In fact the vixen’s ears blush a bit as Mark spends an extra second on his groin.
Tilting her head, Usako’s curiosity runs her mouth before her brain can stop it from saying anything. “What was what? What happened? Why are you acting like this, groping yourself?”
Mark stops, then moves to sit closer to Usako. “As soon as I said what I did. It was like a flash of light, and I was a passenger in ‘your’ body as you confronted my sister! I could see, feel, hear, and smell ‘everything’ you did. In vivid detail like it was real life, no, if it went on any longer I would’ve started to think it WAS real life.”
Usako freezes as her blood runs cold with shear humiliation at the thought of someone knowing her so intimately that ‘isn’t’ Steven. ‘That was right after I woke up from being in heat and mating with Charlie. Oh Karma…’
“Everything?”
Mark shivers. “Everything! The way it feels to have fur, a tail, and ears. Being naked… And your post heat condition, the feeling of wanting something INSIDE down there! Nope, didn’t want to know what ‘that’ feels like, I’m happy being male.” He shivers again.
Usako’s jaw nearly hits whatever constitutes a floor. “Wait. You just ended up like that ‘just’ by wishing? Like if I said. I wish I knew who this Viva….” Usako’s eyes instantly dilate like Mark’s did, only this time Mark’s able to catch the pregnant vixen as her body slumps before she hits her head on whatever this floor is.
Gently laying the pregnant vixen to the invisible ground. He’s about to check her pulse before her eyes regain focus, her muzzle opens, and she gasps loudly. Gulping in air as she pants.
Only to roll over and start to dry heave whatever is in her stomach out, making Mark thankful nothing’s actually ‘is’ coming out.
“Vivian’s a Karma damn common name Mark! When I was in Grade School as a little kit, there were five other vixens in my class with Vivian as their first name! I did NOT want to watch most if not all your dates with ‘that’ fox’s sister! Let alone what it ‘feels’ like to be a guy as you fell in love with her.” Usako forces herself to stop dry heaving.
Then moves to sit up. Only to go wide-eyed a moment later.
“Wait… that means I’ll be an in-law to that Karma damn fox…. Oh Karma no, but I love Steven…”
Putting his hands gently on Usako’s shoulders. Keeping her in place as the pregnant vixen fumbles to get on her feet and try to run off. Her gravid belly making the task harder than it should’ve been, allowing the human to do this.
“So keep loving my brother. He’s a good man and does deserve to be happy.” Moving to sit in front of Usako, he lowers himself to be face to muzzle to her.
“You ‘do’ make him happy, right?”
Usako’s ears twitch back and forth while her tail’s goes a mile a minute in agitation.
“I do. He looks and smells happy when I’m around. He’s been enjoying listening to me about the world I came from that isn’t in ‘that’ movie. I’ve also been enjoying his company, learning about your family and your world. He goes out of his way to help me, while I try my best to learn to live like he does. Farm life is ‘really’ different from what I thought or expected it to be. He’s also been trying to accommodate my love of flying. Hell, he said he’d buy a Vr set, so I can virutally fly till the kits are born then maybe get a small prop plane with some money you left behind for them.”
She finally folds her ears closed to hide a deep blush. ‘If it wasn’t for being gravid and well, the size difference that could cause issues for my unique pregnancy… I would’ve tried to start something tonight in the hotel bed with him.’
“Then I don’t see why the fact I love Nick Wilde’s sister should be a concern of yours Usako. Assuming this, well whatever this is. Is just a one time thing. Real or a some crazy weird dream, we’re not going to be seeing each other any time soon if at all. So no family reunions and needing to deal with him in person.”
Sitting there, Mark watches the expressions as they play over Usako’s muzzle and ears as they move and twitch. He does notice the folding and blushing of her ears, but doesn’t comment on it.
‘She’s embarrassed enough.’ The thought as to why nearly causes him to shiver again.
Mark Only letting go of her shoulders when he’s sure she isn’t going to get up and go running somewhere.
“So that’s two things I still would like to know. One, what is your deal with Nick to the point your mother slaps him across the muzzle that hard in public, and two. How can the country I used to live in. One, which treats Bio-Morphs as slaves. Just up and declares you a free person when by any casual glance you look similar to a Bio-Morph?”
Usako continues to look Mark in the face before sighing deciding to rip the latter bandage off first.
“Due to the way Angela treated the Bio-Morphs and I, part of how I got out of the enclosure was I figured out how to get the collars off. Turns out all you needed to do is use a little piece of metal. Having it touch your neck and the pins on the collar used to sense biometrics at the same time. Then just trigger the collar to taser you. The shock would fry it and it would come off because the metal prevents the bio-sensing pins from retracting to safety.”
She idly reaches up and feels around her neck. The neon green collar materializing around her as her hand-paw moves unknown to her. Opening her muzzle to continue, Mark beats her to it.
“And that triggered a ‘second’ wellness check on my family farm’s Bio-Morph Lease. The first one being when ‘I’ removed Pippin’s collar as a teenager.” Mark facepalms.
“Yea, then it turned into a trial of ‘if’ I’m a Bio-Morph or not because the Aquis rep wouldn’t settle for anything less. Because if they determined I was, Aquis could demand the remaining amount on the lease then and there. Money your family couldn’t afford to pay because they hadn’t yet got access to your bank account or your wrongful death settlement. I was declared, ‘not’ a Bio-Morph and a thinking being, granted citizenship for myself and my decedents. Given a collar so the rest of the world knows.”
She taps it… then blinks.
“Okay I’m chalking that up to what ever Karma damn place this is. I took the thing off before going to bed. I know I did!”
Mark opens his mouth, but then shuts it for multiple reasons relating to ‘how’. ‘I’m half wondering if I mention Vivian or someone else like Nick in a way that I would want them here, they’d appear. I’d rather not make this any weirder than it already is though.’
“And the reason you hate Nick so much Usako? I mean sure, he can get a little smug and on your nerves once in a while. He also becomes an unstoppable poker player once he gets a read on you. Besides that he’s a nice guy, a little reserved understandably considering his history, but a nice guy non-the-less.”
Now it’s Usako’s turn to face-paw before staring at the Human. “You ‘have’ seen that damn movie in your universe that I come from the real life version, right?”
Mark nods, now understanding. ‘Oh it’s ‘that’ kind of hate.’
Folding her ears back, this time in anger.
“Then more or less it’s him living up to, and perpetuating all the fucking hate vulpines of any species get by all the other mammals! Then to top it all off, after years doing it, he does ‘one’, just one fucking good deed, and he’s suddenly considered ‘one of the good ones’. Other foxes like me have to work hard to get anywhere close to what he has without handouts. Everything I did, from earning my pilot’s license, to getting into the armed forces, to getting myself placed on the FTL program. Was me doing my Karma damn best to show that not only I, but foxes in general could…”
“Stop.” Mark interrupts her by gently poking her snout. Causing Usako to go cross-eyed looking at his finger.
“Has my brother talked to you about the troubled times in the United States? Did he give you our grandparent’s journals and diaries to read to see first-hand accounts?”
Blinking twice. Usako shuts her muzzle and nods, while her tail’s lashing about in anger at being interrupted in such a manner.
Pulling his hand back, he continues.
“Then you should know it’s that kind of attitude that was the problem. You neither have the right to shoulder such a responsibility nor the privilege to do so, to use their terminology. To be able to try to shape other people or mammal’s views on your species other than each individual themselves. Doing so creates an attitude of resentment from those you try and ‘correct’, and a sense of privilege from your fellow vulpine’s. One telling them they can do no ‘wrong’. Creating a self-fulfilling prophecy of other vulpines acting in the exact way you don’t want to be seen as in other mammals eyes. They know those who decent from your attempted ‘reprogramming’, yes that’s basically what it is. Mammal’s calling out their bad behavior will be punished over them continuing that bad behavior. So they do it anyway knowing they won’t get punished.”
He moves closer to her face, partially out of frustration at such an intelligent vixen not understanding this and partially to drive his point across.
“That how ‘The Skulk’ not only became powerful in the underworld in your dimension, but also repeated the same pattern that happened to vulpines of any species for centuries in your history. It’s the reason vulpine species either were exiled en-mass or singled out in countries in the past. It’s the same cycle that happened in my world with too tolerant societies and certain religious or ethnicities. Right now there are calls, after the attempted revolution by Stallhoof and his ties to the skulk to stripe all vulpines of citizenship in the new system. Forcing them and their decedents to be legal residents and locking them out of political representation no matter what they do for the foreseeable future.”
He sighs and moves a bit as his legs start falling asleep. “Thankfully, such movements are still too small a minority to gain traction, but my point still stands. That attitude is a self-fulfilling prophecy. For what I learned so far living among your kind, is that you’re JUST like us Humans in this regard. Give a group cartre blanche so to speak, and the worst behavior most of the time will come out in the majority of the group.”
Usako’s anger gives way to some confusion, and she mimics Mark by pointing up at his face with a claw tip. “Wait, what. Go back for a second! The governor of camilforina did what now? I think I’m missing some context here Mark.”
“Oh right…” Mark chuckles.
“You explained all that went on back home, I haven’t said a word about what happened in your universe yet.”
Grunting, he stands and starts to pace back and forth to help him think.
‘Where do I start and what do I say? It’s clear Usako had at least some exposure to the ideology that Stallhoof and his family fostered and spread. The fact right now she’s not frothing at the mouth livid at me tells me she hasn’t fully incorporated it into her personality like some have.’
He also uses this musing to test how far out this ‘solid surface’ goes, and stops a couple steps farther out than he expected it too before turning back. Staring down at the night-gown wearing pregnant arctic vixen. ‘God damn, I think this surface may actually GO as far as the Vector.’
“As I asked earlier about you reading my grandparent’s journals and diaries, then do you remember how they stated how the troubled times started back home?”
Nodding once, one of Usako’s ears tilt as her mind makes the connection. “Similar things were going on politically back home… I didn’t think your dimension and mine actually paralleled so much. I mean I glanced through your world history and compared it to what I remember of mine. We only had one world war, you had two! Unlike your Russia, Purrussia peacefully transitioned from a monarchy to republic, one of the few nations in Pawurpe to do so without some kind of revolution. Not that there was….”
The arctic vixen blinks and facepaws yet again. Thinking about the subject digs up an old kithood memory she’s not thought about in octets.
Mark hides a small grin. ‘She’s kinda cute like that. Though I do wonder if she’ll do that at just about everything…’
“History class, octet and one grade. We were doing Pawurpe history. One of the other students in my class made a joke. Comparing the last Tsar of Purrussia to a Burritish comedian who despite the lucky and unlucky things happening to him, he completes every day tasks all-be-it in an overly complicated manner. Mainly because in the last few years of the Tsars rule he seemed to either just escape, or stop assassination attempts by sometimes outlandishly lucky means. One was from a Deer and Ram, who he had previously exiled.”
She speaks through her own paw as she keeps her forehead in the palm of her hand-paw till she’s done.
Mark watches as Usako raises her head. “Going by the name Stallhoof and Lambdon respectively?”
“Yea. I can’t say it’s always bugged me about their last names when I heard them trying to get elected a few years ago. Just they sounded familiar and I just couldn’t place it.”
Walking over to their respective crafts, he moves to lean against them.
“Yea that was mentioned as such in the national news exposé put up after all the chaos that night. Anyway, long story short. I saw the same things happen that were detailed in my grandparent’s writings. Combine that with the fact I mostly didn’t want to see people suffer, and partially I didn’t want to ‘live’ through those times. I used the tablet I had, checked what I remembered of the extent of the corruption back home to your universe’s analogs. Only to find they were just as corrupt. Then bundled it all up and used the e.w.s. to drop it on the systems of the people who would do the right thing. Including your analogue of who our history considers the last legitimately elected president of the country pre-troubled times.”
Usako’s ears lower, suddenly worrying about the well-being of her mother, father, and siblings. “I sense an ‘and’ coming here. A big one.”
He sighs while inwardly smiling at the fact his brother caught such an intelligent being.
“And you’re right. Instead of stopping it from happening. I caused it to happen. Stallhoof, who from extensive forensics on his personal devices. Planned to use the political shaping of camalforina he did, as a way to catapult himself to the presidency where he would do to your United States of Anamalia, that his analogue in my dimension did to Russia. Apparently doing a Herdist, or in my world, Communist revolution was their family’s backup plan if their attempt in Purrussia failed.”
He reaches up to scratch the scar on his chest. Think of the deer causing the healed stab wound to itch.
“Needless to say Stallhoof made a few mistakes. One of the biggest ones was going after me. He wanted my tablet, so he could make it look like he won not only reelection as governor, but also to ensure he got the presidency. So he kidnapped Vivian and, I, along with Nick and the help of a few others initially. Stopped him.”
He tilts his head a bit…
“Come to think of it, I’ll never see that old movie Die-Hard in the same way again. Not after more or less doing something similar myself.”
One ear of Usako’s tilts up a bit. “You mean you fought your way up the Zootopia municipal skyscraper and then shot Stallhoof off the roof?”
For a moment, Mark blinks as he remembers the ending of that film, then laughs. “No. I picked him up and threw him out the window of his office. Won’t tell you any more than it’s a quirk on how Night-Howler seems to affect humans compared to every other mammal.”
Usako winces at the mention of that flower. “Nope, don’t want to talk about that Calamity derived plant!” Before the other ear perks up, completing the curious fox look.
“So no one panicked upon learning about you? No religious nut jobs tried to kill you?” She thinks back to that initial trip to the courthouse, not to mention the multiple trespassers since.
“Oh right, that part.” Mark shakes his head to her question.
“Yea, I landed on the Hopps farm. Decided that the city would be the best place to hide with all the abandoned buildings and cash accepting businesses. Used my civilian combat suit to hide my form with some ‘acquired’ clothes and used my plasma stunners to rob mammals of plain cash. No cards or other valuables and did my best to avoid the police. It was either that or starve because I thought I would end up in some research lab.”
She’s about to open her mouth and say he could’ve hidden in the countryside and just ended up being yet another cryptozoology conspiracy theory. Only to close it as she remembers all the animals she knows he would consider ‘food’ are sentient back home. Leaving him with only birds, reptiles, amphibians, lizards and possibly a few river fish to eat. Hard to gather, and not enough in her mind to keep a human like him fed based on what she’s seen Steven and Angela eat every meal.
“How’d you get caught? Or did you come out on your own?” She tilts her head to the other side.
Chuckling at how cute Usako looks, he continues. “Frankly, I made a big mistake. I targeted the ‘wrong’ fox one day. Nick Wilde’s mother! Didn’t even know it was her til I was opening her wallet for her loose change. I mean the movie hints she’s dead, but she isn’t. Neither is his father. So yea, I shock his mother, then realizing my mistake I try to bring her to the nearest store, so she has a safe place to wait out the effects. Which ended up being her and her husband’s tailor shop. Johnathan then goes all kung-fu fox on me upon seeing his wife like that. I mean it’s understandable considering what I did for Vivian.”
‘Being able to fight like that is something he refuses to explain to me about last time I asked. I still want to know though. Sparing with him could keep my skills sharp too.’ He idly thinks while speaking.
“Anyway, as I try to stop him trying to attack me, without hurting him. Then who ELSE decides to show up to the party, but Nick and Judy Hopps. So yea, I am sure Steven’s told you Angela and me loved the movie as kids. So I wasn’t going to fight them. Come to think of it, considering the martial arts eval later, I would’ve won if I had tried. Still, I didn’t. I let them arrest me, take me in and well. Looking back, the reactions of everyone in that booking facility when Judy took off the visor and gas-mask was hilarious to be honest.”
He shakes his head. “I was then a celebrity for several months, till the public just up and forgot about me for some other piece of gossip. I also had to stay with Nick and Judy as they were my full time protection. If it wasn’t for that last bit I would’ve never met Vivian actually.”
Sighing, Usako stands as sitting down is starting to cramp her tail and make her legs go numb. “If it wasn’t for the last second ejection out of my craft, causing the seat with me in it to go through some trees, I wouldn’t have woken up with a stick impaled in my arm.”
She holds up said arm and parts her shortly shaven fur to show the scar.
“I would’ve just well, tried to hide out in the bush on your property, though with how fucking hot Texas days are. I might not of made it if I had tried. My summer coat even nearly fully shaved down is still too much for it. Can’t understand how Charlie and the others can tolerate it.”
‘I’m never going to mention the whole fence incident to anyone other than Steven, Angela, and possibly Pippin and Charlie.’
Mark winces at the large scar. Well proportionally to the size of the vixen’s arm. Then with a sigh he scratches the back of his head. “Well that’s another thing off the list.”
Lowering her arm, Usako looks up at him. “What list?”
“One of the possibilities of what this place is that I had in the back of my mind was a way for us to meet and tell each other what happened in our home universes. Yet, you did yours, I just finished up with mine, and we’re still here. Not to mention my walking away a minute ago was to test how far out this.”
He stomps his foot on the invisible surface below them.
“Goes. I’m actually convinced it might go all the way to the Vector.” Pointing to the wreckage possibly a quarter or so mile away if not farther.
With a twitch of her tail, Usako walks back over to the experimental FTL craft. ‘If this isn’t a dream, and this is actually the craft as it was back then…’ Her pregnant stomach gives her some trouble climbing back in, but she manages to pull herself up and into the craft. Pulling out the gray and reflective silver striped survival kit, Usako slides back down onto the ‘surface’, whatever it is.
Figuring out Usako’s idea, Mark gets up and jogs around Usako’s craft to where his escape pod is. Pulling out its neon orange survival gear container. A minute later, they’re both sitting across from each other with the contents of both their respective kits strewn about between them like two children with Halloween candy hauls.
“Well.” Mark mentally counts everything in front of them. Including the rations. “I hope we’re not here long enough to need the rations. Then again, I’ve not felt even the slightest bit hunger or thirst since waking up.”
“Same here.” Usako looks down at herself. “Which is kind of unusual come to think of it, the kits have made me very hungry lately.”
Idly, she reaches down and picks up one of the ration bars from her kit. Only to spend the next few minutes trying ‘everything’ to open the wrapper and failing as Mark just stares at her actions. Including stabbing it with the knife from her kit.
Dropping the knife in utter frustration, Usako looks up at Mark whose staring at her in confusion due to the package completely resisting being sliced or stabbed open. “Try one of yours??”
Nodding once, Mark picks up one of the water rations from his survival kit, only to find it in a similar state to Usako’s ration bars. Nothing he does allows him to twist off the cap, nor can he cut or pierce the bag.
“By Karma what is this place!?”
Usako throws the ration bars and her own water packets back into the kit’s container, leaving her flashlight, her sidearm, the combat knife which failed to open the packaging. Along with a two-way survival radio. Other everything else scattered about after her crash landing, still has yet to be found on the Mercer farm.
Her eyes land on the latter object as Mark just tosses his own survival food off to the side like the trash they are, since neither of them can open them.
“I think, maybe the answer is over by my former ship of employment.” He looks over to the Vector off in the distance. Trying hard to judge the distance from here. “I mean we’ve tried everything else other than just sitting and waiting for something to happen.” Turning back to look at the pregnant vixen he slightly raises a brow at her putting batteries into the two-way radio.
“That’s most likely not going to work…”
Usako shrugs, then looks back at Mark for a second. “Worth a shot. I’m not walking that far unless it’s absolutely necessary. It’s been hard enough just to walk around your childhood house with these three in me.”
Batteries inserted, she closes the compartment door, flips it over and flicks the on the power switch.
~I’m a little tea pot, short and stout.~ Panicking out of sheer embarrassment, Usako fumbles with the radio before jamming her finger into the power switch. Ears flushed, she folds them back and looks over to Mark. ‘There’s no way he didn’t hear that.’ Only to see him chuckling.
“Stop laughing!” Lightly raising her lips, Usako just gives the barest hint of a snarl as her ears fold further back. Stopping upon seeing this he scoots back a few inches while holding his hands up.
“Okay, sorry. Let’s just ignore the radio broadcasting embarrassing secrets.”
Now that she’s gotten her point across, the Vixen lowers her lips and raises her ears. Then looking at the radio with contempt, Usako tosses it away angrily. Both watch as it just clatters to whatever this invisible surface is several feet away. Only the vixen though as a look of disappointment on her muzzle.
“Was kinda hoping it would fall through to be honest.” Usako grumbles. “Anyway, let’s get going.” Looking over the rest of the kit, she hesitates and her hand-paw hovers over her properly sized firearm.
Only to shake her head slightly, she forgoes it for the flashlight considering she can only carry one or two things. ‘So far nothing’s been dangerous in this ‘dream’ has it?’ With the lighting instrument in hand-paw, She grunts as she pushes herself up onto her foot-paws.
Sitting up, Mark moves to stand before looking over at her curiously. “You’re willing to go over there ‘now’?”
She shrugs. “That radio was ‘my’ last idea. So might as well go see if your hunch is right. Just keep in mind I’m just over six months pregnant, so I’m not exactly going to be able to keep up with your longer legs.”
“Kinda hard to miss to be honest.” He rolls his eyes a tiny bit.
Huffing in response, Usako starts off in the direction of the Vector. “Didn’t stop your sister from doing it once.” A few steps later, she glances over her shoulder back at Mark. Whose stretching his arms and shoulders rather than following her.
She’s about to ask him why, only for Mark to answer it by jogging up to her and hefting her up into a piggy-back carry. She’s too stunned at the quickness and ease he does this to protest until ‘after’ she’s holding onto his neck while her head rests on his shoulder.
“Hey!”
Setting a casual jog in the direction of the Vector, Mark grins. “I could let you walk all the way their if you want. No offense, but your not any heavier than the backpacks I had to carry on patrols while at any of the colony worlds we’d be loading from.”
“I don’t know if I should be insulted or complemented at that remark about my weight, Mark.” Usako replies in a snarky tone that Mark keeps quiet about how similar it is to a certain red-fox.
Despite the seemingly steady pace, it takes longer than either of them expected to get close enough for Usako to appreciate the sheer scale of a resource runner ship. After a few minutes of silence taking in the sheer size, she breaks the silence.
“So, regarding your lecture to me about my ‘attitude’. How should I act and feel about ‘that’ fox getting off easy after years of living up to the stereotype and the perception other mammals have of foxes?” She moves her head, so she can see a bit of Mark’s face as he carries her.
Keeping his gaze forward, he slows his pace down a tad. Talking in between breaths as he inhales through his mouth and exhales out his nose. “To put it simply Usako, you do nothing. Now, I don’t mean sit there and take it. By all means, if someone attacks you or does some other illegal action against you, defend yourself.”
‘How far ‘is’ the ship?’ Mentally grumbling as he speaks with the pregnant vixen. The ship appearing to be no closer than when they started out.
“Other than that, there’s nothing you ‘can’ do. You can’t force someone by law or other means to ‘not’ judge you on those stereotypes. Right to have their own opinion and all that. Oh, and by the way stereotypes do serve a real purpose for sentient beings like us, but let’s set that discussion aside and focus on what you can do. Just forcing them to ‘not’ publicly hold onto them would cause the same situation I mentioned earlier, they’ll resent you even more, and your fellow vulpines will feel emboldened to behave worse. No, what you need to do is take their hate, and let it slide off you like sweat should be rolling off my body if this was anywhere else.”
Usako’s suddenly glad that wherever this place is, it’s not following the same rules. Her night-gown and fur would otherwise have Mark’s sweat soaking in. “That won’t do anything about the situation though? It just lets other mammals treat any fox badly even if they didn’t do anything.”
Noticing the Vector is ‘finally’ getting bigger, Mark picks up his pace a bit. Hoping to reach it soon.
“You’d be wasting your effort on them. Unlike the media back then in my world and your current media before what just happened. Someone who subscribes that much to such views can’t be convinced to change by words alone, if at all. It’s the undecided bystander, and the ‘not as devoted’ follower next to them, you need to put your effort into. Mammals that if you meet the hypothetical one spewing that hate towards you with hate in return, will either think their buddy’s right, or see you both as wrong if you just try to force him ‘not’ to hate. It’s what happened to an ethnic/religious group back home, multiple times.”
Usako opens her mouth, then shuts it as Mark slows to a stop as they approach the ship.
Moving to set Usako down onto whatever constitutes this invisible floor, he watches a series of expressions roll over her muzzle before she looks up at the Vector, then back at Mark.
“Looked smaller on the view screen, and they also looked smaller in the advertisements on your television shows.” She looks back at the towering bridge and command segment, a not so subtle way to change the subject.
It Floats there, three to four story tall rounded cube ‘segments’ with five or so of them, making up the full ship. All painted a utilitarian brown. Minus the damage where her craft clipped the bridge, killing the craft. Debris just hanging motionless point to the location and add more to the mystery of this place.
She glances back over to Mark, who’s sat down, leaning against the side of the ship as he catches his breath. Deciding to take the change of subject as it is. “That’s what everyone says the first time they see them in person.”
‘I hope she thinks it over for a bit. Her attitude about Nick and foxes in general won’t do her well back home.’
“So, we’re here Mark. Yet we’ve not woken up from whatever this place is.” The annoyance in her tone at that fact match’s Mark’s feelings on the situation too.
He shrugs away his own annoyance as it will do little for the situation. ‘Don’t get annoyed at the things you can’t change, focus on what you can.’
Returning the gaze, he smiles. “We haven’t gone inside yet either, so maybe there’s something inside we need to find?”
‘I’m starting to wonder if we’re going to be trapped here the rest of our lives.’ The both of them think to themselves.
“Okay, that’s a good point. Maybe I was a bit hasty in judging this as fruitless.” Flicking an ear, she looks over the hull, then points about a story up from their position at a large hatch. “Is that the only way in?”
Standing to get a better look at where the vixen is pointing, Mark shakes his head. “No, that’s the bridge crew and captain docking entrance. Even if we could scale the side of the ship, I don’t have the entry code.” Then points to the next rounded cube segment.
“We’re going to enter via the cargo bay-one entrance. The most forward and smallest cargo bay on the ship. Normally used for less bulky items. Captain’s discretionary items, and personal items for anyone who bought a chartered one way trip to the colony world we’re heading to. On the rare occasion they didn’t just charter a whole craft to go to a non nation state backed colony they planned on setting up. Like the Mormons, the quiverfull christian sect, or that one group of Anarcho-primitivists who thought they could have a hunting and gathering paradise.”
Usako laughs “That’s one thing I find odd about your universe and mine. The wackos are the same even if the name is slightly different. Except for that last one, they’re named the same where I’m from.”
Out of habit, Mark wipes the nonexistent sweat off his brow. “Yea. They loved the information I had about how humans used to live. Tried to claim it was evidence on how their ways are better and more natural.”
Disdainfully snorting, Usako shakes her head. “Like hell I’m going to live naked or near naked on the snow-packs and glaciers up north. Living out of igloo's and snow caves. I enjoy warm showers and modern food too much.” Walking a few feet towards the next segment of the ship, she stops. Looking back to Mark, watching him quickly catch up to her with his longer gait.
“Dare I ask how they did? Or would I be able to guess.”
Overtaking the vixen at his casual walking pace, Mark visually searches the side of the segment for the cargo-door and the controls as he speaks.
“Pretty much as well as you would expect for a group whose information only includes Hollywood and the Internet over actual scientific sources about how we Humans lived back then. Combined with little to no research on the world they wanted to go to other than it at least had green flora like earth. The scheduled check in two years later found no one alive among half built, and poorly built at that, huts and partially made crop fields. They must’ve quickly given up on their hunting and gathering paradise to try to survive.”
Stopping as he finds what he’s looking for, Mark points to the door. “Okay here’s the entrance. Now this will either work, or like that radio earlier. Just play something embarrassing from my childhood.”
‘Kinda strange the ground or whatever it is, is at the same level as the door.’ Musing as they walk closer to the door.
Usako nods, while inwardly grinning to herself at the prospect. ‘I hope it’s the latter. I mean he got to hear me sing that song after all… The one I sang in grade school in that dress, which now is super embarrassing.’
Walking up to the external frame of the door, Mark unlatches and opens a control panel. A three row, seven segment display lights up along with the keypad under it as the cover’s opened. Usako walking up beside him and watches as he uses the keypad to enter a code taking up all three rows without hesitation.
“Well the display and keypad works. Here goes nothing for everything else.”
Mark presses the enter key after a moment of hesitation. “The cargo hold should be empty, there wasn…”
Moving inward a few inches they make a loud clank, then slide into either side of the doorway. Showing instead of an empty bay, the size of school gymnasium. A filled one with a bunch of panicking people. Along with everything needed for them to stay in the cargo bay without going into the rest of the ship for the entire round trip.
Tilting her head a little, Usako snarks. “Well it isn’t empty.”
Walking up to one of the statue like people, Mark looks over the suit they’re wearing and frowns. “This is a military version of that combat suit I have. It has no marking of rank or service though, strange. Why would a covert ops group be on the Vector? We were just going to a bog-standard mineral mining colony to pick up a load of ‘rare earth’ metals.” Following him in Usako looks around before heading to one of the tables set up as Mark heads for a storage container near the frozen spec-ops marine.
‘What are they hiding in here?’
A tablet, unrolled and powered on just floats in the air. Mere inches from hitting the decking, perfect height for the vixen to grab. Which she does, plucking it out of the air and the screen illuminates the moment her hand-paws touch it.
“What was the name of the colony world you were going to Mark?”
Looking over from trying to open a container to see what’s inside, he blinks. “Thirty-Six Ophiuchi C-B. A Terrestrial world about five percent bigger than earth. No one knew it was there till we started going out on the first gen ftl drives like your experimental craft. Hidden by the other two stars in the cluster and the gas giant in the system and for some reason has twice the mineral deposits of earth per ton of stone. Why do you ask?”
Usako holds up the tablet in her hand-paws. “This tablet has on it a map of one of the mines on Thirty-six Ophiuchi C-B, with some stuff scribbled on it. I quote; ‘Possible artificial structure and ruins of unknown origin’ marked on it.”
Ceasing his attempts to open the container, Mark lightly takes the tablet from Usako’s hand-paws. “Well, I guess that explains the cave-in and closing off of that branch of the main mine on my third run on the ship.”
He taps the screen to get more information, only to find it just keeps its light from dimming. None of the on screen buttons nor finger motions cause the tablet to respond as it should.
Folding her ears back a little, Usako looks over to the table. “I was going to ask ‘why’ hide this, but then again with the reaction your species had with me. I guess secrecy is the best response with evidence of non-human intelligent life.”
Mark mutters under his breath. “Well at least it’s not revealing anything embarrassing.” Lightly tossing the tablet to the side. It instantly freezes in place, floating in the air the instant he lets go of it.
Both Human and Vulpine stare for a moment, and both chalk it up to whatever this place ‘is’.
“It wasn’t working?” Usako looks back over to him, after hearing his mutter. “How long have you lived among Zootopians to not realize that we have better hearing than humans?”
“Not long enough to ignore ingrained habits that I learned over a lifetime it seems.” He chuckles and approaches the table. Paper and other tablets are scattered about its surface.
“Seems the decapitation of the Vector took them surprise as well. Then again there’s no escape pods here in this cargo-bay. The nearest ones are a deck above. A couple minute run and that’s assuming no legit crew has already taken them before you get there.”
Usako walks up beside while pulling over a chair to climb up on. Both of them look over the scattered materials. “Looks like they found something that wouldn’t be out of place as an interior of a ship, if everything was more streamlined.”
He comments and points to a few photos.
“Looks like something out of Paw-Trek to be honest.” Usako picks up a tablet with a photo of where the mining crew drilled into the corridor. Revealing advanced circuitry along with your typical wires and pipes.
Mark nods. “Guess that’s why they were being taken in secret, to go explore this.” He shifts some things around, and picks up a copy of a hand drawn map. “Well more than some miners did. Then again they did say the collapse trapped some people. So it’s anyone’s guess if they’re still alive.”
Usako frowns and moves to climb down. “Pretty good chance they’re dead then. All governments are alike in that regard. If something needs to be kept secret, remove the witnesses and pretend it didn’t happen. At least I would’ve just faced prison time for a long while if I blabbed about the systems in planes I’ve tested before the FTL craft.”
She looks back at Mark as he continues to look through everything for a few more minutes.
He sifts through the papers and tablets. Each containing either photos, maps of other parts of the mine, or spectrograph and metallurgy reports on what the corridor’s made of.
“Well that’s not disturbing at all…”
“What is?” She stands there with her ear twitching. ‘Well, finding this didn’t wake us up. The answer should be elsewhere then. I’d rather keep looking than stay here and look through dead mammal’s things.’
He picks up another tablet. “If this is correct, a few more elements need to be added to the periodic table. Artificial or not, it means the origin is truly alien and far beyond where we’re at technology wise.” Mark gathers what he can carry, stacking everything up and holding it under his arm.
“I think we should also check on the captain’s quarters. There’s no way he’d ‘not’ know about these people. By everything I knew up till now. This bay had been sealed and shut off because it wasn’t being used, to save energy and atmosphere. Only the captain can alter records on the ship to show as such.”
That ear stops twitching as she shifts on her foot-paws from the extra passengers in her belly. “Couldn’t you just find that stuff here? Why do we have to do more walking?”
Mark shakes his head. “Maybe, but I don’t know the keys to their systems like I do the captain’s stuff. So I bet their orders and other information is down here, but if these guys were special ops, then it would be locked down and encrypted when not in use. Hitting the ship with your craft was so far out of left field it looks like it hit them while they were doing a briefing. I think that is the only reason we can see this stuff right now.”
“But you’re not the captain, how do you know that?” She internally winces. ‘No choice but to walk and climb with him carrying that stuff.’
Mark nods to the internal door for the Cargo Bay. “Because captains can be eccentric. Practically encouraged to be honestly. If they want to store all their information on paper, more power to them. Paper can’t be hacked like standard computer systems. Same with older electronic equipment to a degree. It provides a layer of security to operations or the ship would simply fall to whomever has the better electronic warfare suit as soon as you get in range. No boarding needed.”
Sighing and walking after Mark with a slight waddle. “So what was your captain in that regard?” She catches up to him just in time for him to have opened the door to the corridor.
Bathing in the strangely lit, well, everything in slight shades of red from the ship’s emergency lights. Mark slows down a tad upon noticing Usako’s slow pace.
“He loved those archaic systems of the twentieth century. Eight-bit and some old sixteen-bit non-quantum computers for god’s sake's. So old no one can make any kind of functioning bridge network to the modern sixty-for qbit systems. Not to mention a working model of those systems costs an arm and a leg.”
“Wait…” Usako breaks out in a small chuckle. “Your captain is a retro enthusiast?”
“If that’s what they were called about a century ago when your from Usako, then yes. Now they’re just called luddites.” He shakes his head as he leads down the corridor, then to a cramped set of stairs. “We need to go at least to mid-deck to go from this segment to the command segment. So yea, it’s going to be a decent walk.”
Usako frowns at the stairs but sighs. “Lead the way, and yea. That’s what they were called. Mammals or should I say people who grew up with the machines, now buying them, restoring them and playing with them in mid-life crisis's or out of nostalgia. Antari, Cammeldore-sixty-four, Skunkmiga, Even some Ibex-m machines.”
Mark pauses at the switch back, mid deck landing for Usako to catch up. “No don’t tell me, let me guess my dimension’s names for those.” When the pregnant arctic fox catches up, he heads up the second half of the steps to the deck above.
First thing he sees is some of his former crewmates frozen while getting into the civilian combat suits. He even sees Jason, just as he’s about the snap on the visor and gas-mask combo.
“Antari is obvious. Atari. I think there may be a collectors re-release somewhere in the basement back home.” Walking up to Jason, he traces the cross over his own chest while giving a silent prayer for the ’dead?’ crewmate. Mainly because he was doing this to support his wife and kid.
Usako huffs and takes a breather once she reaches the deck. “Yes, and your brother showed it to me one night. A bit louder than the Antari, but has all the same games. Simple but deceptively fun.”
Prayer done, Mark looks around. Noting the bulkheads which have sealed themselves already, and the most direct route to the captain’s quarters due to that. “Cammeldore-Sixty-Four…” He mulls it over.
‘I only know the last one because the company Atari still exists. They sell Qbit computer accessories. I hear their full VR rigs are pretty popular among teens playing the twitch reaction shooter colony wars.’
“Know him?” Usako looks up at Mark, while the human almost hides the fact she startled him. Only for the vixen to grin at the fact she got him to jump a bit.
“Acquaintance, one of the rare people who re-up after their first run. Wanted to do a second, so he wouldn’t have to work anymore to take care of his wife and kid. The first one was to pay for doctors saving his kid’s life from a genetic disorder.” He nods his head towards the aft of the ship. “It's a round about path, but the bulkhead in our way for the direct route has already sealed. Not going to open with a dead bridge even if everything was frozen.”
“Yay, more walking…” The arctic fox snarks, following behind Mark. Who keeps his pace slow for the vixen as she waddles a bit on her sore feet while spinning her flashlight in her hand-paws.
“Care for a hint? If I recall they had the keyboard built in and were a wedge shape.”
‘And I only know about them because the school’s computer lab had some when I was in first grade. Before getting Ibex-m machines.’
“Oh!” Mark laughs. “I know exactly what you’re talking about now. Commodore sixty-four! That was an entire chapter in computer history in high-school. It’s credited as one of the machines in history to get the most people interested in the field before the internet age.”
“Yup, that’s the one. I still prefer my dimension's name. I mean it’s almost camel brown in either dimension.” She then grumbles. “How much farther? My foot-paws are killing me.”
“Then walk on all fours. I did find it interesting some of your kind does that when late term pregnant.”
Folding her ears back. “No! I will retain my dignity as a mammal… That being said, I WOULD be forced to if I was carrying four instead of three.” She pauses as they round a corner, then go through a common area that looks like the definition of chaos, part party, part panic, all and everything scattered about.
Mark expertly guides her around the rest of the crew. “This was the traditional launch party. A superstition that if you don’t have one, bad things will happen on the voyage. I more or less, despite my faith, subscribed to preparedness above all.”
“Makes sense.” Her hand-paw reaches out to grab a piece of cake suspended in air, only to find what would be soft and moist, is harder than the hardest steel and lacking any taste whatsoever upon placing it in her mouth.
The action gets Mark to stop walking and observe. “Is it edible?” Only to be answered by the Vixen throwing it towards the floor with a ‘bleh’ expression. It to freezes in place once out of her hand-paw though, denying her the satisfaction of destroying it.
“Try it for your self if you want. Anyway, what is your guess on the next one? I’ll give you a hint. They had a gorgeous but nerdy looking skunk lady as their spokesmammal.” She gives the stink eye to the cake.
‘The cake is indeed a lie.’
He shrugs as he punches in the code to open the rear door to the common area, it slides open showing a similarly red tinted but light source free lit corridor.
“No clue really. Skunks were never mascots for computers nor names. The smell is considered a negative to humans and popular culture associated them with ‘bad’ products.”
Usako smirks. “One for me then and your older brother got it after a few minutes. Amiga. It was the machine that came after the Commodore sixty-four.”
He stops in his tracks, blinking for a second, then facepalms. “Oh… Right. There was a footnote about that in that same class’s text book about that machine. But, how did Steven get it and not get thrown off by the skunk in the name?” He pauses and looks around the intersection they’ve come to. Before picking a direction and heading down it with a grin because he knows he can break the tie.
“Still, I think I’ve won. The next one’s obvious. It’s IBM. After all, this ship’s FTL drive computers are from them and Ibex-m is so close to my universe’s name for them.” A moment late they pass through larger set of doors half-way closed.
“Here we are in the command segment of the ship. Not a moment too soon either, the bulkhead in-between segments was about to close.”
“About time.” She tilts her head. “So they’re still around? The most they did back home was ‘A.I.’ research and super computers. Anyway, where’s the captains quarters?”
Pointing down the corridor, Mark keeps his pace slow for the vixen. “Just down that way. Anyway if that surprises you, then I guess it will be even more of a one. GM is still around too. General Motors back home, but Gazelle Motors in your universe of course, no relation to the singer.”
The vixen smiles at the fact the long walk’s almost over. “But personal cars are on the way out in your world. With everything being full self-driving and in cities they just show up to take you where you want to go and then drive off. I mean Elon Muskrat was trying to push the tech with his cars back home, trying is the key word here.”
“Yup” Mark pops the ‘p’ as they approach a door labeled ‘captains quarters’ so that no one can mistake it for anything else.
“They pivoted from cars to ship fusion and FTL engines. Went from a failing company that wasn’t even in the top twenty vehicles manufactures to ‘the’ manufacture of fusion engines and second best FTL engines. The current GM has enough cash on hand to buy out the inflation adjusted worth of the old hay-day automobile GM. Guess that’s why they call their fusion engines the phoenix line.”
He pauses in front of the keypad to the door. The seven segment display already showing ‘open’. “Huh, the captain’s supposed to be on the bridge now, since he needs to oversee the first jump out of port. Why is his personal quarters unlocked?”
“Apt but corny name.” Usako replies, then tilts her head at Mark pausing. “Well, everything else is frozen. Open it and see whose inside. Not like there’s been anything dangerous here but boredom.”
Shrugging. “Your right. Not like anything can hurt us. Not even thirst or hunger for some reason.”
Thumbing the open button, the captains quarter’s doorway slides open same as the others. Moving in an inch then sliding into the walls.
A thing, not a creature, but something definitely alien swivels its fluffy and horned triangular head one-eighty degrees to look at them. A feat in their minds since it’s back was turned towards the door. It was busy examining the curiously, to him, archaic electronics in the room compared to the rest of the ship.
Both Usako and Mark Freeze in place, eyes wide at the sight of this alien being.
The head, looking like a cross between a vulpes-vulpes and a velociraptor blinks its reptilian slit shaped eyes at the two. They flick between the human and the pregnant Zootopian arctic fox. Tracing over the shape of the latter, finding her novel compared to these ‘Humans’ as it has learned their species is.
Large fluffy ears flick around large dragon like horns on its head. It’s body turns a moment later so the front of his, and he’s clearly a male. If the bulge in the fur and scale tight suit is any indication to both Mark and Usako, despite the wide hips that wouldn’t look out of place on a human female. Faces the two of them.
Yellow eyes focus more on Mark. Being similar to the species frozen throughout the ship and finding it curious this one is able to move despite the crew all frozen in place.
Like they should be after he used ‘that’ so he could do his job.
“He’s not frozen…” Usako mutters and the eyes flick in her direction, causing her to back up. Instantly regretting not bringing her pistol. Hand-paws tightening their grip on the flashlight.
Mark joins her in taking a cautious step back upon noticing the firearm looking object in one of the alien’s two four fingered clawed hands. Specifically the one with short claws compared to the other, which has nearly three-inch long ‘claws’ on it.
The crimson, bordering on black, fur in between rows of scales on his head stands on end as his about a meter long thick tail slowly twitches behind the alien. Capped one-inch long talons dig into the carpeting, the captain's one allowed luxury item. As he takes a step forward while raising the weapon, which looks right out of some sci-fi show.
“And he’s armed…” Mark lets go of the paper and tablets as he reaches down for Usako slowly. Fully prepared to grab her and run.
The pregnant arctic vixen gulps and nods once. Taking yet another cautious stance back. “Maybe we ca…”
Neither make it out of the doorway before being holed with a hand-held particle-projectile-cannon. The alien walks over and picks up the papers and tablets Mark was carrying, ignoring the corpses. After all, his contract states no witnesses.
Nodding once upon sight of the photo taken of the inside of an ancient research station. Exactly what he was looking for. Other than curiosity about an up-coming species, this record of an ancient station that helped put their species in the position its in was what the contract stated he should retrieve.
---
Hotel room Winnipeg Canada.
---
Gasping loudly for breath, Usako shoots up. Accidentally waking up Steven in the process as her hand-paw pushes and grips, hard, on his sternum. Panting, she lets him move her off of his chest, where she fell asleep snuggling the human as he rubbed her ears and petted her head. To his side, but still up against his warm skin.
“What’s the matter Usako?”
Getting her breathing under control, it takes the Vixen a few minutes to respond. All the while her mind tries, and fails to cling onto the tendrils of memories that don’t seem like memories. Until she blinks a few times, shaking her head to clear things up a bit.
“Just another Karma damn weird dream waking me up. I hate being like my mother! She also had weird dreams every night in her third trimester with me and my siblings, but could never specify what kind of dreams she had.” Sighing she lays her head down on Steven’s bare chest.
He’s soon rubbing her ears in that oh so gentle manner. “Tell me about it?”
Usako grumbles. “Can’t, even if I wanted too, every time I try to grasp onto what I think I remember of it, it just… Goes away, The only thing I know is that it was weird, a dream, and ended suddenly.”
“Then just close your eyes and focus on this.” Steven moves to scratch her chin now, causing her tail to wag and a leg to lightly kick despite her will.
---
Mark’s room in one of the temporary buildings, Wilde-Times Farm and Ranch.
---
Inhaling sharply, he opens his eyes. Fully adjusted to the gloom, Mark looks down at Vivian Wilde. Curled up on his bare chest with his arm over her protectively as she sleeps on him naked. Both having had some fun earlier in the night.
His mind tries, and fails to recall what he was dreaming, only recalling that something shocking woke him up. Even that bit of information quickly fades from his mind. ‘Huh, haven’t had a nightmare since the night before my first resource run.’
Gently moving his arm, he lightly pets the vixen’s head. If it wasn’t for the human like curves. Like Vivian's bust and slightly wider than their feral ancestors hips. Vivian wouldn’t look any different from a pet red-fox curled and sleeping on their owner’s chest. This comparison doesn’t escape Mark’s mind.
‘Then again, this is similarly an unsure future for me. We only just got a tractor running tonight. Whatever we can plant and later harvest will be the only income outside some surviving berry bushes for the farm. It will determine if the place has a few million in the bank as a cushion or a few tens of thousands when all is said and done with the reconstruction.’
He looks in the direction of the other temporary trailers.
‘On top of that all these young mouths to feed. With the possibility of more being dropped off by the state as other orphanages fill up. The future is just as uncertain as are the chances of one surviving their first resource run.’
Laying his head back down he closes his eyes. ‘But I promised I’d help Nick and the others, so I’ll help no matter if this succeeds or fails.’
Only for him to mentally chuckle as he realizes something.
‘I still ended up with a farm and ranch, didn’t I? Just not the one my family built.’
---
end notes
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I don't have 'musk derangement syndrome, It's just that i didn't think that an Ox or a Deer fits a a tech start-up investor turned billionaire ceo who had the foresight and intelligence to turn a startup company into the large one it is now.
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