As the late summer winds howled through the city, wracking against the buildings that be, the stars of the night drowned in the lights of the city, forced to recede to the darkest depths of the sky. The cool roads stood still in their silence, awaiting for a single body to wake them from their slumber. Though while the city may rest in its silent bliss, one man grows ever restless, as the darkness dawns upon him, consuming his every thought, contorting his every motion. His sweat dripping down his skin, seeking the glory of the fabric that was his bed. He jerked, his limbs yet again migrating across the bed, his hand hitting the bed-side table. The pain surged through his hand, forcing it to relocate, though not without a stir. The man awoke, his presence turning from one of fear and worry to that of calmness and comfort. He looked across to the source of the pain, the small white table that consisted of his bed-side, a clock blared the time at him, its light red hue bouncing off of him.

"2:33am" it read. The man felt the bed, its dampness, its wear. The covers thrown far off, his pillow seemingly vanished. He awoke in a mess, though from what? His mind wandered peacefully, at least he believed it did. Was it instinct perhaps, the worry that something might happen? His mind raced as he pondered the origin of his awakening as he left the bed to its own devices, giving it a chance to breathe. He strolled into the kitchen, pouring himself a glass of water from the tap. He leaned against the counter as he drank, yet again taking in the details of his flat. While some called it small, it suited him well. The kitchen was minimal, though had two counters instead of one, a much better sight than others. A second bedroom that was once occupied, a reminder to the lonesomeness he wilfully endures. The living room that lead to the balcony, overlooking a small street in the outskirts of the city. He was lucky enough to keep the couch, let alone the TV. He set the glass down into the sink as he began to shamble back to bed, though something caught his fancy.

A rumble, a shaking in the distant skies, screams unlike any other. Not normal screams, no. Screams of the air, screams of the sky as it begs against the torture. Screams that grew and drew upon him. Screams that tore and bored through the winds. Screams that came ever so close, until a cracking in the atmosphere. The man ran to the balcony, looking upon the sky. A meteor, an asteroid, no something different, something odd. Something that didn't belong. It bellowed through the sky as it screamed towards him. His eyes wide and his mouth ajar, he stepped back. It was coming so close. More rumbling, more screaming, more shrieking, shrieking? It hit the ground with a quake as strong as nature itself, tearing through the road. The sounds of tearing concrete, tar and metal thundering across, dividing the road with a new fault line, coming to a stop just near the building. The man looked closely, his eyes fixed on the wreckage, though unbelieving in what they laid witness upon. A mess of metal and glass and fire and fur, fur, fur? Fur that moved, fur the bled. This wasn't but a meteor, no, this was a remnant of an ancient race, one of the unknown, though a new race nonetheless.

The man raced back to his room, forcing the fabric that covers over him, a shirt and some pants, nothing fancy, no footwear. He ran down the five flights of stairs to reach the ground floor and subsequently the road. Lights puckered on all around him, the slumber of the city had been disturbed, people began to grow restless with only so few minutes of disturbance. The man approached the crash, twisted metal everywhere, shattered glass and an oozing liquid, while a mass of white with black with red lay in wreckage, looking only so slightly disturbed. It twitched. It moved. It groaned. It trembled. It lived. The man got closer, standing only on his knees to her the sounds of the mass in pain. It twisted and turned, revealing its shape, humanoid in figure, though made of fur of white and black, a snout that resembled that of a dog or a fox. Pointed ears that twitched and turned with every passing sound and murmur.
"Uh, uhn… Wh-what, what happened?" It spoke, though it didn't just simply speak, it spoke his tongue, the tongue of his people. He was baffled, amazed, terrified, yet joyous at it all. They had made contact with another intelligent species. In the distance sirens could be heard, the sounds of vehicles speeding along the once restful roads.

"Hey, your uh, ship thing crashed." He glanced at a limb, caught under the metal that continued to slice at it with every twitch.

"Just keep still, I'll get you out of here." He got a nod in response, it understood him. He could hear its breathing, trembling, uneven, waving, growing ever so distant from its will to live. He pulled at the wreckage, tugging at its skin, its weight only digging further into the creature's flesh. He can't lift it, no man can. He looked about, his gaze jumping from object to object looking for a tool, not just any tool, the tool. He looked at what seemed to be its back. A new mass, cleanly shaved metal, few lights glowering on it, like the ship, technology that until now had remained unseen. Yet, it felt familiar. He knew it. He knew how it worked and how to use it. How he did not know, though failed to take priority. He dug through the mess of metal and concrete and glass, looking for a special something, something that until this moment was nothing. A nothing that became a something as his hand scraped along it, analysing it, identifying it. He pulled it out, the sirens growing closer. A gauntlet of some type, with an orifice for a tool or weapon. The man wrapped it upon his wrist, fastening it tightly. A cord protruded from it, a cord that was quick to be collected by the other hand of the man. He pushed the fabric blocking the device, raising the interest of the creature. Its ears twitching, its head tilting towards him, giving the man a glance of the eyes, a bright blue shining in the fires of the wreck. The man plugged the cord into the device, the creature yet again reacting, its eyes widening of wonder and co-operation. A new light protruded, a light of blinding orange making the shape of a cleanly cut blade sitting against the arm of the man.

He hacked at the metal holding the creature down, tearing it asunder, gases escaping as he sliced it in two. Within seconds the metal was split, the limb separated from the wreck. The creature began to move, though with great difficulty. The man helped, dragging it away, keeping it isolated from the destruction.

"Alright, I'm gonna pull the metal thing out, okay?" The man said, grasping the sheet tightly. The creature simply nodded and groaned, slowly slipping away from consciousness. It braced itself, and the man pulled, tearing the embrace of the metal apart. The creature gritted its teeth and moaned in pain, its breathing getting heavier, its eyes tightly shut. Blood oozed from the limb, freely escaping the confines of the flesh. The man tore off his shirt, wrapping it tightly around the limb, absorbing the blood as if it were a sponge. The bleeding had a new barrier to get through, and bought it some time. Now that the creature was safe from the wreck he could see the full figure. Completely humanoid, the damaged limb appearing to be a leg. The hands and feet covered in black fur as with the ear tips, with a large bushy tail protruding from the pelvis. The man scooped up the creature into his arms, its limbs dangling loosely in the calm warm air.

"Who, who are you?" It asked, its eyelids drooping low as its mind gave way.

"Monty, the names Monty." Monty smiled at it, hoping to show it was safe, despite the proximity of the sirens. He turned with the creature in his arms, his gaze coming upon the swarm of police that surrounded him. Blinded by the headlights and his head filled with the sounds of the sirens, he flinched back, struggling to keep himself composed.

"Hey! Put the thing down!" Another man yelled, a tinge of fear cracking through the gruff, low voice.

"She needs help; we need to take her to a hospital!" Monty could only assume it was a she, he couldn't truly know.

"We don't know what the hell, it, is, put it down, now!" Monty could now see the figures through the light, his eyes adjusting to the intensity. Multiple men and women were holding guns against him, while only handheld they were more than lethal.

"That doesn't matter right now! What matters is that our first contact with aliens isn't to just leave them on the road to die. If we don't help her, then we're gonna have a political crisis twice the size of Trump! So please, let me get past, and put her in an ambulance." He remained calm, hoping that his pleading would get through to them.

The officer sighed, and they sat in an unbearable silence, the crackling of the fire irritating them ever so slightly more as time drew on. A crowd was beginning to form, people from the nearby homes, curious to the crash and the shouting that came after it.

"Sir," A woman started,

"No, he's right. Alright, fine, get in the ambulance, we can't let anyone else see it!" The man returned, showing sympathy in his voice. Monty smiled and nodded as he jogged to a nearby ambulance, ensuring to keep his arms steady so as to not disturb the creature. Though as they drew closer and closer to the blinding lights, her eyes refused to take the punishment, her eyelids growing closer together. She was safe, she could rest, and as they entered the shining white vehicle, she slipped into the ever growing darkness, as if she were an inhabitant of the city, in the dead of the night…

"Ma'am, please, I'm going to need you to calm down." Came a familiar voice. Had she made it, was she back home? All she remembered was the crash.

"Did you see anything when she disappeared?" The voice spoke again.

"Y-yeah. There, there was a loud noise, and a massive light. A giant, thing, and suddenly she was gone." Another voice arose, one she knew.

"Cherry?" She released. She could see them now, her sister and a rabbit, not just any rabbit, the rabbit.

"Cherry, I'm here…" she called out, yet the futility catching up to her. No, she wasn't home, far from it. This was but a dream, a memory of a lost world. But how? It was so clear, so precise, so perfect. She gazed around, hoping for an answer, though seeing only darkness surrounding her.

She could feel something, something that shouldn't be there, something that didn't belong. A something that was consuming her, controlling her, creating the dream. She fought hard to find the something, though the dream began to fade. Cherry turned to her, a ghastly frown moulded onto her face. The rabbit could feel it too, the two could feel each-other. It turned to her, its eyes wide and its ears as straight as could be.

"A-Angel?" She called out.

"Judy, can you see me?" Angel responded, her blue eyes glistening in the vanishing moonlight.

"Yeah. What's going on? Where are you? How can we find you?" Judy stopped, knowing the answer to them all.

"How are we talking? Hell is this even real?" She asked, fear gripping her voice. Angel's gaze turned upon something, something that didn't belong, something horrible, something familiar. Judy soon followed, turning towards it. A fox, machinery dominating its back, its stare one of disappointment, as if they've failed it.

And despite the fear that sought to drag Angel down, something else blossomed, she knew it.

"Monty." She whispered. She didn't know why, she didn't know how, yet she knew who it was. It smiled at her, a sinister smile, and with a final glance at Judy, the darkness consumed all, and entered the blinding of the light…

She awoke with a stir, her ears twitching and her eyes snapping awake. She looked around the room, it felt like home. The clean white look of a hospital, the sounds of children playing the background, maybe she had made it home. She could not tell, as the worlds looked so similar. She turned her head to see her vitals as healthy, an empty drip bag and an assortment of tubes entering into her arm. As her eyes wandered around the room they happened upon a small clock.

"1:24pm" it read, the numbers softly glowing a bright red. Her gaze continued to wander, taking in the setting of the room. An endless sea of white, white tiles, white plaster, white metal, white everything. They may be different shades, but they all bore the same colour. She heard footsteps from through the door, light yet each step making a signature click as they made contact with the ground. The door swung open as a young and rather short lady with dark skin entered.

"Oh, you're um, awake." She said, seeming nervous.

"I'll go get you some lunch and make a phone call, okay?" Angel nodded in response, only now noticing her fatigue, her lips dry and her muscles sore, refusing to move even an inch. The lady smiled and left the room, leaving Angel to her own devices. She was still with the humans, but she was safe, finally.

Like her eyes, her mind wandered, the dream from before still fresh in her mind. She felt like she spoke to Judy, somehow, through an endless amount of time and space, the two managed to talk. It shouldn't be possible, it can't be possible. She'd seen technology beyond her wildest dreams, but even then, how can two people talk to each other through a dream? How can their minds be connected in such a way to allow them to, talk, to each other? And to witness what seemed god-like, maybe her past had gotten to her head? Maybe she'd been so taken out of reality, her mind began to blend what seemed real and what didn't?

She heard a knock, her ears twisted on their joints, facing towards the door.

"Come in?" She called out, hushing away the curious voices in her mind. The door opened, and in came a tall, slender man. His hair short and messy, his eyes dark brown, and the scruff on his chin beginning to divide and conquer, claiming more and more of the land of his face.

"Hey! I see you're awake." He said with a smile, ensuring the door didn't slam. Angel breathed a sigh of relief and began to sit up.

"Yeah, hey. Monty, right?" She asked, her voice as weak as she felt.

"Yeap. Never caught your own name though." He seemed glad she remembered his name.

"Angeline, or Angel for short." She held out her paw to shake.

"Angeline Carter." She smiled, the edges of her mouth beginning to dominate her cheeks.

"Monty Boyle." He took her up on the shake, keeping his steady smile. As they shook he noticed the lack of a fifth finger, the leathery paw pads and the silk like fur that surrounded the pads. Soon their limbs parted ways and they sat in an uncomfortable silence for a few moments, not knowing where to start.

"So, I guess we should just run through the basics." Monty started, hoping to gain at least some progress, his face showing a more neutral expression.

"As you could probably guess, the whole government's got their panties in a twist over your crash. They've done a good job in covering it up, but people still saw you there, and the last thing we need is the UN coming at us again." He explained, hoping to gain her trust. She simply nodded and raised an eyebrow, not sure where he was heading.

"So, you're lucky I found you before they did. Let's just say that I'm the only reason they're only gonna interview you, instead of a proper interrogation." He finished, a small smile yet again forming on his face. Angel followed suite and sighed, she hadn't even thanked him for saving her.

"Thank you." She said, her smile genuine and her eyes glistening.

"For saving me. Not many people would do the same where I come from." Her smile began to falter, but she didn't want to drag Monty into the mess that is her home.

"I don't think many people from anywhere would do the same. The prospect of simply seeing another alien race seems to terrify a lot of people." He said, seeming to grow sympathetic. He called her an alien. She didn't feel like one, yet to these people, she was. They'd never seen anyone like her, or anything else from her home.

"So, where do you come from?" He prodded, taking a seat beside her bed. She began to hesitate, but decided to give in. He deserved at least that much.

"Mammalia." She started, but seeing Monty's obvious look of confusion she decided to continue.

"A planet covered entirely in Mammals, like me. I lived in a city called Zootopia, where-"

"Every mammal lives in harmony singing kumbaya?" He finished, smirking.

"How did you-?" She started.

"Wait that's the actual place?" He asked surprised.

"Uh, yeah. But it isn't as cheery as you said. Sure, every kind of Mammal lives there, but it isn't exactly in, harmony." She continued.

"So would you be considered a fox over there?" He asked.

"Yeah, an arctic fox. How'd you guess?"

"Well, we may have done a DNA test on you and found some, conclusive, results. Results that suggest that you're a hybrid between a human and an arctic fox." He explained.

"Human?"

"Yeah. Funnily enough, the human parts of you seem to match my own. While not perfectly, it's still close enough to be considered a match." Her eyes grew as wide as they allowed, this was new. There had been stories and ideas that every mammal came from a single species, though nobody ever believed in it. Maybe it held true?

"So what I wanna know, is how did you get here?" He asked.

"Like, chances are you've got a personal ship and everything. However, you're reactions to everything aren't exactly what we'd expect from an advanced alien race."

"Well, we aren't exactly advanced, like the pod I crashed in." She began to explain.

"I, that ship, didn't, come from Mammalia." She started, struggling to figure out how to explain everything. She sighed, she had to try.

"I was captured by other, aliens. I was out working, and was unlucky enough to see one of my clients getting abducted, so they took me too." Yet again that name rang through her. Monty, Monty, Monty, it kept popping up. She didn't want to reveal too much, but somehow, she knew that Monty was already part of the mess, that it was unavoidable.

"They weren't what you'd expect from aliens. They were crazy, psychotic. So many different races, all of them as nuts as each other. They were a cult. After they found out I was an engineer, they agreed not to do to me, what they were doing to the others..." She continued, Monty nodding along as she went.

"-if I helped them design stuff. I had to learn all about their technology, but it kept me out of trouble, at least by their standards." Her face began to contort, memories that she'd rather leave behind resurfacing.

"What, were they doing to the others? If you don't mind me asking?" Monty prodded.

"Well, at first it was to me too…" Her pulse grew greater, her eyes misting ever so slightly and her breathing beginning to waver. She tried to bury her emotions, to grow past, though they only grew, making her face contort so much more violently.

"Hey, you don't have to say if you don't wanna, I can get an idea from the look you're pullin'." He said with a sympathetic smile, calming her down. He knew how to talk in the right ways, she had to give him credit for that. They sat there, letting the gravity of what she's said weigh them down. Though Monty couldn't help to think of the benefits she could bring, she was a person, yes, but morals are only a tradition. A tradition to be kept, or should it really? Traditions get in the way of progress. They also breed culture and creativity, two likings not needed in the face of the world presented. Soon, Angel managed to compose herself, recovering from the acts of the cults.

"E-Eventually, our ship was under attack by another race. Don't know who, but they battered that thing enough to make us abandon ship. I took the chance to find a one-manned escape pod, and ended up here,"

"Where I found you." Monty finished. His smirk revealing his more playful and relaxed nature. He was one to joke and mess about, though to what extent, she wondered.

"I've already thanked you for saving me." She said with a soft smile, beginning to amuse herself.

"Maybe so, but you haven't explained the thing on your back." While thanks and talk were nice, there were still questions to ask, mysteries to solve, answers which Monty intended to gather.

"What, the HUI?"

"HUI?" Monty asked, perplexed. Just as he had imagined, was the acronym the same though?

"Yeah, Human User Interface. It's not meant only for humans, but they kept the name since it just, works." Angel explained, though curiosity taking over.

"How, did you know how to use it?" She asked, her voice adopting a more serious tone.

"Well, I've been playing with the idea of one for a while, toying with my own designs. Plasma kept in place by electromagnetic fields?"

"I see you're quite the engineer yourself then, hmm?" She let out a smile, she was impressed. The one man who just so happened to save her from a wreckage seemed as smart as herself. Or was it just luck?

Her ears twitched and began to tilt, a knock on the door that soon moved ajar. The nurse from earlier had entered, a tray of food in hand and men in suits following behind.

"Ah sir, y-you can't be here!" The nurse called out, fear stricken. Monty looked behind the nurse to see a cleanly shaven man growing of age with short grey hair and green eyes.

"Don't worry nurse, he's, meant to be here." The man said with a tinge of disappointment.

"Ah, Malcolm. Good to see ya again!" Monty called out, offering his hand to shake.

"Don't get too excited. This is still a mess." Malcolm stated as he entered the room. The nurse placed the tray on a nearby table and quickly left the room as Malcolm proceeded to enter.

"I guess you've already met Monty." Malcolm held out his hand to shake towards Angel.

"I'm Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister of Australia." He offered a smile as she took him up on the shake, and in return gave her own smile.

"I'm Angeline, Angeline Carter."

"Alrighty then, now that we're all introduced, let's get down to business." Monty started, eliciting a sigh from Malcolm.

"Well, Miss Angeline, I'm sorry to say that we're in a bit of a mess here. Our first contact with an alien just so happens to be with the UN's most wanted criminal." Angel's eyes went wide, was he speaking of Monty, who was only grinning in the background? Jesus Capybara she didn't want to know what he'd done, but she had to know, every possible voice conflicting with each-other.

"Why?" Was all she could let out in her bewilderment. Malcolm shrugged, gesturing at Monty.

"Well, a rumour came about that I'm somehow the end of the human race. Once America began to perpetuate that and the UN started to believe it, Malcolm here with the only sense of reason turned to them, told 'em to fuck off, and helped me hide here." Monty too was shrugging, as if he couldn't believe the story he'd just told. Angel was in just as much disbelief as him, her look of surprise not going un-noticed by Monty.

"I know right? Luckily my boss was willing to look past the whole 'End of the World' thing, and I'm still in a job." He finished.

"As the one thing that the rumour claimed to lead to the end." Malcolm interrupted.

"Don't tell me you're believing them. It's bad enough I had to flee America, I don't need to be running from here as well."

"I'm more worried about if the UN discovers your occupation. You're a leading physicist and executive for Star Corp., the exact job and company that came from the rumour." Malcolm stated, worry cracking through his voice. Monty shrugged, he believed it to be made up, he was in the job before the rumour started.

"And what's worse, the UN is going to want to find out what came in that crash. Our intelligence teams heard that they know it wasn't a meteorite, so they won't buy that. We could reveal the alien to them, but they'd want to, "interrogate", her, which would just create more tension and reveal that you're alive." Malcolm frowned, the situation stressing him.

"Then say it was an empty pod. Reveal that to the public." Monty suggested, Angel beginning to nod as she thought the proposal through.

"Would they believe it?" Malcolm asked, hoping for an elaboration.

"If we set up the story right, then yeah." Monty adjusted himself where he stood, beginning to lean on the wall.

"Say that a malfunctioning AI from an ancient civilisation sent the pod here, and died in the crash, its remnants being unrecoverable. We can use one of Star Corp.'s AIs and plant it in the wreck. We show the wreck to the media and subsequently the UN, Australia gets some of its trust back, and they won't poke around for an alien." Monty explained, seeming pleased with the thought.

"Oh they'll poke around. They'll have people looking in every hospital, research building and military base twenty-four-seven until they find her." Malcolm retorted, though seeming somewhat calmed.

"Well, what if she was staying at a private residency?" Monty proposed, catching both Angel and Malcolm by surprise.

"What exactly are you suggesting?" Angel asked.

"Well, you could stay with me. At least, until we can get the UN off our backs." Monty explained, with Malcolm seemingly in agreeance, nodding as he talked.

"That, would work. The UN would have no right to check a completely random apartment that has no affiliation with us." Malcolm began to smile, yet again amazed at Monty's genius.

"What about proximity? Wouldn't that be warrant enough?" Angel asked, both sceptical and interested in the idea. From what she gathered when he saved her, Monty lived close to the crash, very close.

"We've been through that area multiple times, cleaning everything out and making sure people don't remember properly. The UN wouldn't get anything out of that area if they tried, so they won't bother." Angel began to agree with them. She was both impressed and amused at the same time. A physicist had possibly just solved a political crisis. That same physicist just gained some brownie points with the Australian government. It'll make future plans easier. Plans that'll most likely fail. Or will they? The UN may be in the way, but when such plans are complete, well, the civilians will be willing to take of them.

Malcolm nodded, a smile forming. He knew there was a reason to keeping Monty alive. There was always method to his madness.

"The question is, when will she be able to leave? I've been living alone for a couple of years now, so she's able to move in whenever." A smirk began to form on Monty's face, a classic smirk seen too many times by Angel. Labelled as the "Sly Fox Grin", as a fox could not smirk without baring some teeth. Angel smiled back, her ears falling to the sides ever so slightly. This'll be an interesting stay, no doubt about it.