"Is he awake yet?"
"Nope, not yet."
"I want to ask him questions."
"Well, you'll have to wait for him to be awake."
"Did you do any tests yet?"
"Yes, we took blood and did the essential physical tests. We still have to do the mental tests."
"Great. Did you call the psychologist yet?"
"Yes, she's coming in this afternoon; that is, if he wakes up."
Fox longed not to open his eyes, but he had to. He had to face the world. He had to face the despair, the anguish, and worst of all, the humans.
Fox opened up his eyes to find himself in a good-sized room. It was all white; the ceiling, walls, and floor. He found himself lying on a bed. The bed was in the corner and was dressed in thin white sheet and white blanket. On one of the walls was a long mirror that ran the length of the room. Fox knew damn well what that was. Smelling of sterilization, he sat up and scratched his nose.
"Hey, he's up! Look!" One of the men said, pointing. The other man watched. They resided behind the mirror.
"Ok, lets go get some men together and go in there." The other one said.
Fox sat on his bed, playing with a piece of thread that had come loose off his pajama pants. He was still wearing the same things he wore the day of his capture. The vulpine thought the humans would, at least, have some decency to give him some new clothes, but no.
Fox's ears perked up as he heard the door being up bolted with the many locks on it. As the door opened up to reveal men, his panic shivers returned to him yet again. As the men filed in to the room, he fell back against the wall, lying on the bed. He curled into a ball, his tail wrapping around his body. Closing his eyes, he felt a man sit on his bed, sticking something cold into his ear.
"Temperature 103 degrees Fahrenheit. It's been that for the past week." The man said, walking away.
Keeping his eyes tightly shut, another man sat on the bed. His shivers became worse.
"Are you cold?" The man asked.
No answer.
"Are you sick?"
No answer.
"Do you speak English?"
No answer.
"Sir, Agent Henning reported that the extraterrestrial spoke English." A man in the back said.
"Ahh, well, I'm Agent Freeman. I'll be monitoring you and taking care of the questioning. Are you ok?" The man asked.
Fox shook his head, eyes remaining closed.
"Lt. Brown, get him another blanket." Agent Freeman said an order. Fox heard a man leave the room. Feeling he could no longer suppress his curiosity, he opened his beautiful green eyes.
"There ya go. Open up a little." Freeman responded, fidgeting on the bed. Fox let out a whimper and closed his eyes again. The young fox just couldn't handle this any longer. This was to nerve racking.
"What is it? Why are you crying? We're not going to hurt you."
Fox slowly, whimpering, sat up and pointed down a little towards the bed. Freeman followed the point. As he followed it, he realized the problem.
"Oh, you should have said I was hurting you." Freeman said, standing up, revealing Fox's tail, which he was sitting on. As he swayed away, Freeman took his seat back on the bed while Fox returned to his shaken state against the wall. He laid on the bed shaking and shaking.
"Ok, lets start with the normal questions. State you're full name."
Fox responded by closing his eyes. He was to scared to say a word. "Ok, I see this is going to be difficult. You know, the president would love to hear where you're from or anything about you. If you could just say one word, that would be good."
No response. Freeman stared at the shaking ball of fluff against the wall. This was going nowhere. Standing up, Freeman turned to the men.
"Have the doctor prescribe Barbiturates for him." Freeman told a few men. They had worried looks on their faces.
"Don't worry, it's just an anxiety pill." He added, glancing back at Fox's shaking form. Fox listen intently. He was fully aware of what will happen when he takes the drug.
The many bolts and locks on the door were taken off and the men filed out as quickly as they filed in. Fox closed his eyes in frustration and fear. How did he get in this place? What is he going to do?
Before he could answer himself, or even attempt, the door opened up again. A single man walked into the room, holding a tray of food. He set it down next to the bed, not even glancing at Fox.
He couldn't even think of food. Emotions were mixing together, and he didn't even have an appetite. Although he wasn't hungry, he was very thirsty. Instead of getting up and reaching for the water in a glass, he closed his eyes and wished for this to all be a horrible horrible dream.
As he opened his eyes, he saw a very petite pretty lady sitting on a chair, holding a big folder in one hand. In the other hand were a pen and a clipboard. She had blonde short hair and brown pretty eyes. She must have been in her late 30's early 40's. She was looking through the files, totally unaware of Fox's stare.
Fox sat up a little bit. This got her attention. Looking up, she set her accessories on the floor next to her. Pulling her chair a little bit closer to Fox, he started to shiver and moved back. She stopped moving and smiled. The smile blew Fox off guard.
"Yeah, they said you'd do that." She said, smiling, picking up the folder and clipboard. "So, I wish I could call you something, but no one knows your name. So, I think I'll just call you Fox, because that's what you are."
Fox smiled a little at the irony. She took notice of the smile and raised her eyebrows, writing some things.
"So, you like the name I gave you, huh? Well, am I a little close?"
Fox didn't say anything, just kept shivering.
"Hmmm . . .you don't talk much, huh? Personally, I think that's the best kind of man. You know you won't have to fight over the control with him." She said, smiling.
Fox continued shivering, but back away from the wall, and lay down on the pillow, watching her.
"Don't worry, I promise I don't bite. Well, only my husband." She smiled again. Fox liked her. He smiled a little again.
"So, I heard you didn't eat. Well, I don't blame you cause this food sucks, but you were sleeping for two weeks, aren't you hungry?"
Fox shook his head.
"Are you thirsty?"
Fox nodded. The lady bent down and picked up the glass of water. "Here."
He pulled away, shaking his head furiously.
"You're an odd little creature. You are a boy, right?" She said, heartily and smiling.
He grinned and shook his head. The shivers started to slow a little bit.
"I can give you some medicine to stop those tremors."
Fox shook his head furiously again. He had a worried look upon his face and back up a little bit.
"Ok Ok, no pills. Are you sad? Is that why you don't talk?"
He nodded.
"I wish you could tell me some things about yourself. It would really help. Like how old you. Everyone is putting wagers on that your around 30 or 40. I said 33. Am I close?"
He shook his head, slightly smiling.
"Great, there goes 20 dollars."
Fox turned his head in confusion.
"Oh, dollars are our currency. Well, I'm going to get going. Oh here." She said as she pulled out a water bottle from her big purse. It was half filled. She handed it to Fox.
"Its bottled water, don't worry. I'll be back to check on you in a few hours, I promise. Oh and my name is Dr. Sheryl Henning." She said, walking to the door. "And by the way, if it's your friends you're worried about, don't be. They're not here though. We strategically placed you all on separate parts of the country." She started for the door.
"Why?" Fox asked, in a loud whisper.
The people behind the glass watching were now all eyes on the little room. Freeman walked up to the glass and stared at the fox.
Sheryl stopped at the door and turned, staring at the sitting up Fox in shock. "What did you say?"
"W-why are they n-not. . . . b-by me?" Fox stuttered, watching her walk closer to him.
Returning to her chair by his bedside, she pulled out the files and clipboard again. "We didn't know if you guys can talk telepathically to one of another or any of that sort. Just a precaution." She replied, still in shock.
"Only one of us can." He said, watching her.
Her eyebrows went up. "Oh, which one? You?"
He let out a laugh. "No. Peppy, he's the hare."
"Oh. So you do have names?"
"Yeah."
"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions. Just some simple ones." She hoped he would say yes.
"Only if Freeman doesn't come in here. Or any other military men." He said, setting down regulations.
It was her turn to laugh. "No problem. Don't worry, I don't like them either."
He smiled at her.
"Ok, so, what's your name?" She said, holding her pen at the ready.
"Fox James McCloud." He replied, watching her smile creep across her face.
"Oh, so I was right! Ha! And when's your birthday?" She said, boisterous.
"Uh, November 16th 2656." As he said the year, she looked up at him.
"What year again?"
"2656."
She set her pencil down and looked up at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I remember the year."
"Wow."
"Why? What year is it here?"
"2010." She replied, looking up at him. His eyes grew big. Looking down, she could sense he was thinking.
"Wow, Slip didn't say we slipped through a cut in time, only warp." He whispered to himself.
"What was that?" Sheryl asked. Fox looked up, catching her stare. To myself. . . I meant to say that to myself. Fox thought.
"Huh, its was, huh, nothing."
"Well, I'm sure that it was something and Freeman will want to hear everything about it. I know you don't like him, but he'll want to know as much as possible."
Just hearing his name sent the tremors back onto Fox. The shaking began again.
"Hey, honey, it's ok. Don't worry. He won't hurt you." Sheryl tried to comfort. As he closed his eyes, she petted him a little on the top of his head, trying to calm him down. His shivers started to slow.
"So, how old are you? I mean, how old will you be? You're birthday, is what, in two weeks?" She asked.
"Yeah. I'm turning 20." He said, watching her eyes widen.
"You're kidding? Wow, no one guessed that young. We all thought older."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"How old are you?"
Sheryl laughed a little. He was very amusing and great. She just hoped that he wouldn't have to be so scared anymore.
"I'm 42. Yes I know I'm old. Probably as old as your parents." She said, laughing. Fox's smile dripped off his face. Sheryl took notice and wrote it down.
"I don't have parents."
"Oh, what happened to them?"
"An accident."
"Oh." Sheryl said. Being a psychologist she knew when to stop a conversation or when it became to rough for them. Fox already overcame a lot today, no need to have a walk down memory lane.
"So why are you here, on Earth?" She asked, curious.
"Another accident."
"Nope, not yet."
"I want to ask him questions."
"Well, you'll have to wait for him to be awake."
"Did you do any tests yet?"
"Yes, we took blood and did the essential physical tests. We still have to do the mental tests."
"Great. Did you call the psychologist yet?"
"Yes, she's coming in this afternoon; that is, if he wakes up."
Fox longed not to open his eyes, but he had to. He had to face the world. He had to face the despair, the anguish, and worst of all, the humans.
Fox opened up his eyes to find himself in a good-sized room. It was all white; the ceiling, walls, and floor. He found himself lying on a bed. The bed was in the corner and was dressed in thin white sheet and white blanket. On one of the walls was a long mirror that ran the length of the room. Fox knew damn well what that was. Smelling of sterilization, he sat up and scratched his nose.
"Hey, he's up! Look!" One of the men said, pointing. The other man watched. They resided behind the mirror.
"Ok, lets go get some men together and go in there." The other one said.
Fox sat on his bed, playing with a piece of thread that had come loose off his pajama pants. He was still wearing the same things he wore the day of his capture. The vulpine thought the humans would, at least, have some decency to give him some new clothes, but no.
Fox's ears perked up as he heard the door being up bolted with the many locks on it. As the door opened up to reveal men, his panic shivers returned to him yet again. As the men filed in to the room, he fell back against the wall, lying on the bed. He curled into a ball, his tail wrapping around his body. Closing his eyes, he felt a man sit on his bed, sticking something cold into his ear.
"Temperature 103 degrees Fahrenheit. It's been that for the past week." The man said, walking away.
Keeping his eyes tightly shut, another man sat on the bed. His shivers became worse.
"Are you cold?" The man asked.
No answer.
"Are you sick?"
No answer.
"Do you speak English?"
No answer.
"Sir, Agent Henning reported that the extraterrestrial spoke English." A man in the back said.
"Ahh, well, I'm Agent Freeman. I'll be monitoring you and taking care of the questioning. Are you ok?" The man asked.
Fox shook his head, eyes remaining closed.
"Lt. Brown, get him another blanket." Agent Freeman said an order. Fox heard a man leave the room. Feeling he could no longer suppress his curiosity, he opened his beautiful green eyes.
"There ya go. Open up a little." Freeman responded, fidgeting on the bed. Fox let out a whimper and closed his eyes again. The young fox just couldn't handle this any longer. This was to nerve racking.
"What is it? Why are you crying? We're not going to hurt you."
Fox slowly, whimpering, sat up and pointed down a little towards the bed. Freeman followed the point. As he followed it, he realized the problem.
"Oh, you should have said I was hurting you." Freeman said, standing up, revealing Fox's tail, which he was sitting on. As he swayed away, Freeman took his seat back on the bed while Fox returned to his shaken state against the wall. He laid on the bed shaking and shaking.
"Ok, lets start with the normal questions. State you're full name."
Fox responded by closing his eyes. He was to scared to say a word. "Ok, I see this is going to be difficult. You know, the president would love to hear where you're from or anything about you. If you could just say one word, that would be good."
No response. Freeman stared at the shaking ball of fluff against the wall. This was going nowhere. Standing up, Freeman turned to the men.
"Have the doctor prescribe Barbiturates for him." Freeman told a few men. They had worried looks on their faces.
"Don't worry, it's just an anxiety pill." He added, glancing back at Fox's shaking form. Fox listen intently. He was fully aware of what will happen when he takes the drug.
The many bolts and locks on the door were taken off and the men filed out as quickly as they filed in. Fox closed his eyes in frustration and fear. How did he get in this place? What is he going to do?
Before he could answer himself, or even attempt, the door opened up again. A single man walked into the room, holding a tray of food. He set it down next to the bed, not even glancing at Fox.
He couldn't even think of food. Emotions were mixing together, and he didn't even have an appetite. Although he wasn't hungry, he was very thirsty. Instead of getting up and reaching for the water in a glass, he closed his eyes and wished for this to all be a horrible horrible dream.
As he opened his eyes, he saw a very petite pretty lady sitting on a chair, holding a big folder in one hand. In the other hand were a pen and a clipboard. She had blonde short hair and brown pretty eyes. She must have been in her late 30's early 40's. She was looking through the files, totally unaware of Fox's stare.
Fox sat up a little bit. This got her attention. Looking up, she set her accessories on the floor next to her. Pulling her chair a little bit closer to Fox, he started to shiver and moved back. She stopped moving and smiled. The smile blew Fox off guard.
"Yeah, they said you'd do that." She said, smiling, picking up the folder and clipboard. "So, I wish I could call you something, but no one knows your name. So, I think I'll just call you Fox, because that's what you are."
Fox smiled a little at the irony. She took notice of the smile and raised her eyebrows, writing some things.
"So, you like the name I gave you, huh? Well, am I a little close?"
Fox didn't say anything, just kept shivering.
"Hmmm . . .you don't talk much, huh? Personally, I think that's the best kind of man. You know you won't have to fight over the control with him." She said, smiling.
Fox continued shivering, but back away from the wall, and lay down on the pillow, watching her.
"Don't worry, I promise I don't bite. Well, only my husband." She smiled again. Fox liked her. He smiled a little again.
"So, I heard you didn't eat. Well, I don't blame you cause this food sucks, but you were sleeping for two weeks, aren't you hungry?"
Fox shook his head.
"Are you thirsty?"
Fox nodded. The lady bent down and picked up the glass of water. "Here."
He pulled away, shaking his head furiously.
"You're an odd little creature. You are a boy, right?" She said, heartily and smiling.
He grinned and shook his head. The shivers started to slow a little bit.
"I can give you some medicine to stop those tremors."
Fox shook his head furiously again. He had a worried look upon his face and back up a little bit.
"Ok Ok, no pills. Are you sad? Is that why you don't talk?"
He nodded.
"I wish you could tell me some things about yourself. It would really help. Like how old you. Everyone is putting wagers on that your around 30 or 40. I said 33. Am I close?"
He shook his head, slightly smiling.
"Great, there goes 20 dollars."
Fox turned his head in confusion.
"Oh, dollars are our currency. Well, I'm going to get going. Oh here." She said as she pulled out a water bottle from her big purse. It was half filled. She handed it to Fox.
"Its bottled water, don't worry. I'll be back to check on you in a few hours, I promise. Oh and my name is Dr. Sheryl Henning." She said, walking to the door. "And by the way, if it's your friends you're worried about, don't be. They're not here though. We strategically placed you all on separate parts of the country." She started for the door.
"Why?" Fox asked, in a loud whisper.
The people behind the glass watching were now all eyes on the little room. Freeman walked up to the glass and stared at the fox.
Sheryl stopped at the door and turned, staring at the sitting up Fox in shock. "What did you say?"
"W-why are they n-not. . . . b-by me?" Fox stuttered, watching her walk closer to him.
Returning to her chair by his bedside, she pulled out the files and clipboard again. "We didn't know if you guys can talk telepathically to one of another or any of that sort. Just a precaution." She replied, still in shock.
"Only one of us can." He said, watching her.
Her eyebrows went up. "Oh, which one? You?"
He let out a laugh. "No. Peppy, he's the hare."
"Oh. So you do have names?"
"Yeah."
"Would you mind if I asked you a few questions. Just some simple ones." She hoped he would say yes.
"Only if Freeman doesn't come in here. Or any other military men." He said, setting down regulations.
It was her turn to laugh. "No problem. Don't worry, I don't like them either."
He smiled at her.
"Ok, so, what's your name?" She said, holding her pen at the ready.
"Fox James McCloud." He replied, watching her smile creep across her face.
"Oh, so I was right! Ha! And when's your birthday?" She said, boisterous.
"Uh, November 16th 2656." As he said the year, she looked up at him.
"What year again?"
"2656."
She set her pencil down and looked up at him. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I remember the year."
"Wow."
"Why? What year is it here?"
"2010." She replied, looking up at him. His eyes grew big. Looking down, she could sense he was thinking.
"Wow, Slip didn't say we slipped through a cut in time, only warp." He whispered to himself.
"What was that?" Sheryl asked. Fox looked up, catching her stare. To myself. . . I meant to say that to myself. Fox thought.
"Huh, its was, huh, nothing."
"Well, I'm sure that it was something and Freeman will want to hear everything about it. I know you don't like him, but he'll want to know as much as possible."
Just hearing his name sent the tremors back onto Fox. The shaking began again.
"Hey, honey, it's ok. Don't worry. He won't hurt you." Sheryl tried to comfort. As he closed his eyes, she petted him a little on the top of his head, trying to calm him down. His shivers started to slow.
"So, how old are you? I mean, how old will you be? You're birthday, is what, in two weeks?" She asked.
"Yeah. I'm turning 20." He said, watching her eyes widen.
"You're kidding? Wow, no one guessed that young. We all thought older."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Shoot."
"How old are you?"
Sheryl laughed a little. He was very amusing and great. She just hoped that he wouldn't have to be so scared anymore.
"I'm 42. Yes I know I'm old. Probably as old as your parents." She said, laughing. Fox's smile dripped off his face. Sheryl took notice and wrote it down.
"I don't have parents."
"Oh, what happened to them?"
"An accident."
"Oh." Sheryl said. Being a psychologist she knew when to stop a conversation or when it became to rough for them. Fox already overcame a lot today, no need to have a walk down memory lane.
"So why are you here, on Earth?" She asked, curious.
"Another accident."