Revelations
"You never find out how much you actually trust someone until they do something that is on all accounts stupid and you're in the vicinity. An example of that happened when we were in the corridor. There we were, with a horde at our front, and cold blast resistant steel at our backs. In my mind we were fucked. Royally fucked-by the entire football team. If I'd been a lesser anthro I might have shitted myself right then and there.
But I didn't. Even though I was scared out of my mind right then, afraid that I would die without having fathered a child, might die without meeting the woman of my dreams. I didn't because I trusted her. I trusted her more than anyone else I'd ever known. Later I chalked it up to adrenaline but…hell..
I didn't realize it then… The woman of my dreams, the angel for which I'd have given my life for… She was standing right in front of me, with a fucking grenade in one hand, the pin in the other and grinning more savagely than the devil himself.
What happened next..I still can't explain it. She tossed the grenade into the air…and time itself stopped…" –Zachary
Clarissa opened her eyes-and saw nothing. Darkness surrounded her, and the very suddenness of it caused her to cry out involuntarily. Where was she? Was she dead, captured by the AI and in some holding cell somewhere?
No the rational side of her answered. She raised her arm to her nose, by this time she'd realized that she was nowhere else than on the Malarkey, in the medical wing. She could smell the scent of smoke and ionization…perhaps from whatever shitstorm they'd waded through down below. Then her nose picked up something warm, and intoxicating, almost exotic, like the smell of cedar logs or pine needles. It was Zachary's scent. Judgeing by the fact that she was nude he had carried her in…she had been unconscious.
Clarissa quickly did a mental self-check…nothing had been done to her. But then Zachary didn't seem to be the sort who would do that. Strange…that I should think that he would be any different from any of the males in the district…a vagina is a vajina after all. But for some reason she did.
Clarissa shifted herself over to the side of the bed and prepared to get off…and then the alarms went off. A high pitched beeping went off for about fifteen seconds, during which her mind raced, until the obvious choice presented itself.
Zachary had rigged the scanners for motion sensitivity, he'd wanted to know the moment she'd come awake. As if to prove that, she heard a loud thud from the upper level and the sound of feet hitting the deck plating. There was the loud clank of the lift doors opening and closing, then the hum of the lift's motors.
He was on his way.
Despite his extreme exhaustion, what with the events of the past 24 hours still being fresh upon his mind, one thing was still certain. He knew his ship like the back of his hand. Of course right now, the back of his hand was barely distinguishable from concrete, he hadn't had the chance to shower yet.
None of them had, they'd been to tired after ferrying the humans back to their base, referring Morris for a tribunal and receiving payment…hell he was amazed he could even balance correctly.
He didn't know why he'd rigged the sensor grid, she 'd been unconscious after…whatever had taken hold of her had run it's course. She was a fully-grown vixen, and she could take care of herself…he assumed.
As he turned another corner he sighed heavily. What the hell was it about this one that intrigued him? Sure she was pretty-hell beautiful, the best damn looking thing since- He stopped his train of thought here. She had looks yes. But she was simply another girl.
Simply another…shit… This expletive was released mentally due to the fact that he had walked directly to the medical ward of his own accord. Not that he hadn't been expecting it but…he hadn't really known what he'd expected to see.
He was almost afraid to look up, he didn't know what he'd see. Not that he'd see much, his night vision had always been a bit…off since his exposure to a selenium flare three years back. Carefully he flipped on the lights.
"You know…you picked a hell of a time to regain consciousness."
Clarissa grinned at him from the side of the bed. "What, you're not spry at-" she looked at the wall clock, "At 0400 in the morning?" Zachary chuckled. "Not after 48 hours of continuous activity…"
Clarissa's eyes lost their momentary playful glow, and the look in them spoke volumes. "And if you're wondering, yes we all got out none the worse for wear. The human forces lost five of their fire teams…they had been converted…"
Zachary crossed the room and sat down on the chair next to the bedside. "If it hadn't been for you…what you did..whatever it was…I don't think we would have gotten out." His voice was low…almost reverential in nature, and Clarissa was surprised by this. He was speaking as if she'd caused the second coming of Christ.
Clarissa looked at him for a moment and then cast her eyes downward, her hands pulling her blanket over her breasts, in order to fight off the sudden chill that came over her. "That's the thing…I don't remember it. Any of it. I remember the grenade…it was in my hand. I pulled the pin and I-" She stopped and breathed in sharply.
"I should remember this…it was…I felt…angry…and I-" Her voice halted again and when she again spoke it was in a whisper, as fragments of memories flitted before her mind's eye.
"There was light…I could feel it…"
…arcs of energy crackled round her wrists as she held the grenade aloft, waiting for the catalyst within it to ignite…
"A voice…it was me… I was talking to myself…or to you…I…"
"…She desires power…the power to retake her life, to make her mark on the world…to live…"
"I can't…"
…Localized Time Distortion Protocol Active…
Clarissa was suddenly shaken out of her fugue by Zachary's hand grasping her wrist. She looked up at him, and unexpected tears were shimmering in her eyes. "Zachary…please…I need to know…"
His free hand reached over to the bedside table and picked up a datapad. As he handed it to her, he stood and said. "She told me to give it to you…"
"Who?"
"You did."
And with that he stood and left the room, shutting off the lights as he left. The darkness reigned until Clarissa fumbled with the devices 'on' switch and booted it up, light from the display flooding the room.
Her eyes were glowing…This single image permeated the screen for several seconds, and Clarissa found herself mesmerized by those eyes. She could now see why Zachary had spoken of her in such a hallowed manner…they were beautiful-and terrifying. And then she began to speak, this secondary self, and the voice, Clarissa realized, was as she had imagined it, It was her, but with more power…she seemed stronger…bolder. This was not the Clarissa that she knew.
"Clarissa…if you're hearing this…then you have escaped the confines of the facility and are now laying in the Malarkey's medical bay And Zachary has kept his word, as I and eventually you will expect him to. You may wonder who I am…why in the midst of a battlefield I can stand and speak to you thus…behold…"
The vixen stepped back and gestured toward the background that had been obscured by her face. The wraiths behind them were frozen in their tracks, their mouths frozen open in mid breath. Motes of dust hung suspended in time, as did the first bolts of rifle fire from the front phalanx of Anthros.
What…?Clarissa stepped back into full view.
"In answer to your question…I have stopped time. Or rather initiated the'Localized Time Distortion Protocol…one of the many hidden abilities of the Quantum Matrix-and one that will be locked to you…for now" The vixen sighed and her voice took on an almost loving tone, as if she was talking to a sister.
"For years you have lived under the crushing weight of your supposed mistakes and failings. You have lusted for power…the ability to retake your life…and craft it as your own. You have acted as if there is no one who cares about your phlight…and in this you are wrong. I am the collection of all of your experiences Clarissa. Pleasure, pain…loss… All of the various variants of you floating throughout the infinite universes… And I am here to give you this message.
In the coming months you will undergo a journey…one that will test you to your limits. One in which you have the chance to achieve your unspoken goals…finding a mate…becoming prosperous. Living the life that your-or rather our fathers would have wanted for you. But this is not like in a story or fairy tale.
You are not guaranteed success. It is entirely up to you Clarissa. You must unlock these powers, and fulfill your destiny, despite the unseen hordes that defy you. Because you are special…the one who will be tested…"
"Haven't I been tested enough?" Clarissa whispered, and bit back a cough as tears of emotion streamed down her face.
"No…you have not." The 'other' Clarissa said, and the vixen's jaw dropped slightly in shock. "I know you. Stubborn. Blockheaded. Tough as nails. They made us battle-axes kid. Hell…three or four years in the Pleasure District…I'd have gone insane."
Clarissa stepped back from the camera and raised her right arm and pointed it at the wall, light beginning to build up along it's length. "This right here…is the one assist I'm allowed to give you-after this you're on your own. Good luck. I'm rooting for you…" Clarissa was only able to glimpse an energy beam suddenly flare outward from the palm of her hand and begin tunneling into the wall before the camera was thrown backward-and the image cut out.
Clarissa placed the data pad gently upon the table and drew her knees up to her chin. The tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her hands clenched the sheets tightly. She was exhilarated and afraid and bewildered at the same time.
"Clarissa?"
She turned towards him and saw his strongly muscled form wreathed in light from the hallway. In that moment she felt impossibly small, and said. "Zachary…I need you to do something for me…and I don't want you to take it the wrong way…I…"
Her voice caught and Zachary stepped forward, his own eyes radiating the same mixture of emotions that hers did. "Trust me…when I heard it I was just as confused as you were and, I-" His breath caught because when he had approached the bed she had sprung up and locked him into a fierce embrace.
Zachary felt his skin prickle as her breath seared across his neck. "I'm sorry…I'm just…" She loosened her grip and looked into his eyes. "She knew me…better than I know myself. What does it all mean, this 'quantum matrix' thing…all this shit about my destiny?"
She embraced him again and he was aware of the feel of her breasts against his rapidly beating heart. "I just don't know what to think….God…"
"Don't think…just relax…you'll discover what she meant in your own time…" And In this way, Zachary held her. He was aware of her heartbeat, of the soft rise and fall of her chest followed by the occasional hiccup when a gentle sob broke through. His hands sifted through the dirt and smoke-stained fur of her neck and back, gently stroking her, his nose taking in her scent, and registering it's heavenly aroma. He took her palm in his and examined it, amazed that not hours ago searing beams of blue energy had been channeled through them. And he wondered if what the blue-eyed goddess had said was true.
Finally…slowly…almost with reluctance the two disengaged. Clarissa's hands unwrapped themselves from around his mid-section and as she did so he felt the edges of her lips brush against his cheek. "Listen" she said, looking down at the floor rather ashamedly. "I'm sorry that I…well…"
"What are you sorry for? You reached out to someone…we all do it. You're afraid of fucking up…just like I am. Just…don't worry. You'll turn out fine." He smiled lightly, and he saw the barest hint of a grin tug at the edges of her muzzle.
"You won't tell anyone will you?"
"No."
"Good night. If you have any more questions…or want your stuff, meet me in the lounge in the morning."
"Okay."
As Zachary walked out of the infirmary and toward his room he knew that she was quite probably relegating this experience to the trash bin, it was a moment of chance, unlikely to happen again. They were not attracted to each other…not in the slightest.
But as he approached the door, and felt the vixen's phantom touch on the back of his neck, he knew that he would never forget. Even if he crushed it towards the back of his mind…he could never forget. Her smell…her touch. The look in her eyes. Could he forget, and more importantly-did he even want to?