Nature, Nurture, Heaven and Home… Sum of all and by them driven…
To conquer every mountain shown… but have never crossed the river…
Braved the forest, braved the stone… braved the icy winds and fire…
Yet I'm helpless by the river…
Angel, angel what have I done… I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire…
I've conquered country, crown and throne… Why can't I cross this river?
Sable and the Humbling River = Pt 2
'You can't just let them starve; the people are suffering!'
'Let them eat cake…'
'If you attack those people who are just trying to find a new home, you'll be no better than those… 'barbarians' you claim them to be!'
'This is in the interests of maintaining the balance of gallic power in the region! I am acting in the service of 'Rome' and her allies!'
'You'd betray your own countrymen and what they are fighting for, what your soldiers died for you believing in?'
'We all know the war goes badly for the Americans in the south, I for one believe the British will be victorious and I'd like to be on the winning side…'
'How much courage does it take to slaughter so many in a land that is already struggling to survive? If you do this, you'll destroy 'everything' you hold dear!'
'It takes less courage to criticize the decisions of others than to stand by your own!'
'They are only rumors, they aren't proof, you can't do this!'
'I will end the lives of a thousand to ensure the loyalty of a hundred thousand if that is what it takes!'
(Sable's PoV)
His eyes snapped open as he woke up from his dreams for the eighth morning, of his 'eight' days that he was given by Taelia to redeem and change who he is for the better. He breathed heavily as he saw his breakfast sitting beside him, another square metal plate with a simple square spoon filled with some kind of paste-like slop the winged human thing called 'food'. He shook his head to wake up and sat up to eat, knowing he had little time. He still had one more key to get before he could unlock the final door, and confront his past self.
"Well aren't we enjoying ourselves here?" A snarky voice called out as he looked and saw Taelia walking toward him, smirking as he ate.
"I know I don't have much time; I'm eating as fast as I can." He told her quietly.
"Good to know." She said as she walked over to stand by the river. "So… penny for your thoughts?"
"Penny?" He asked quietly.
"Tis a saying luv, a tiny amount of currency for your thoughts." She said while looking at the door on the other side. "Feel like sharing your thoughts with me? If not, then I'll just sit quietly over here and wait for you to get going."
He sighed as he took another bite. "I'm wondering… how does Jeremy… how is he so… like himself?" He asked her. "I've seen so much suffering, so much death… how can 'anymammal'… 'ANYMAMMAL' grow up to be like him in those times?"
"Well first of all he didn't grow up in those times, so that's a bonus." She chuckled. "Second… he's a human, they adapt to their surroundings, they make the best with what they've got."
She turned toward him with a smile as she lifted a finger to show him a glittering Flutterbug sitting on her hand, gently waving its wings in the air.
"Such a beautiful… pretty… little thing isn't it?" She asked. "So gentle… so frail… so full of life… so full of hope, and yet… it can be just as easily crushed. It's a 'wonder' how someone like he is the way he is… given where he grew up and what it was like." She smiled and flicked her hand away to watch it flutter away. "You have one more door to unlock and your time is running out… I'd get moving if I were you."
With that she vanished from sight, and he took her hint and got up as well and approached the door. He glanced at the other doors, wondering… just 'who' was the last human that could possibly be worse than all the others he met and 'rescued'. First was that Emperor Ling fellow, then after him came some French Queen called Marie Antionette who was so ignorant of the peasants suffering, that she lived in a fantasy world.
After her was a truly ambitious individual called Julius Caesar who overthrew his own government, all starting with the massacre of a tribe migrating to a new home. He then had to rescue a general who was going to sell out his own countrymen and people for 'money', who were fighting for their freedom, a man called Benedict Arnold. After Benedict came Attila the Hun, who got the clever nickname 'The Scourge of God', who singlehandedly held the civilized world in fear in his time, and he had to 'redeem him' by convincing him to avoid going to war against a weakened and fractured Empire.
Then of course, there was yesterday, Ivan the Terrible of Russia, a man so fearing of rumors of a city in his empire planning to defect to another country, executed over a hundred people 'daily' to prevent it.
So much suffering and death… so much destruction and loss, for over a week he's had to witness so many atrocities of humanity, and those were only the 'six' worst examples of humankind. As he stared into the next door and looked at the keys he had collected thus far, using Ivan's key to turn the new one, he wondered… who could be worse than Ivan the Terrible?
As he opened the door all he saw was this blazing red, black and white symbol as he stepped forward, into the screams and cries of agony… and into the world of his 'next' rescue.
Instantly his eyes blinked, and he had to close them from the flashing colors, but when he opened them again, he found himself not in the forest but…
"Thirty seconds Yanks, God be with you!" Somemammal shouted behind him as the sea rocked and rattled a narrow steel boat that he and a dozen other humans were standing in, all wearing 'military' outfits and armed with more 'modern' firearms than what he was used to seeing among humans.
He looked around to see not only was he and his group of humans in a tiny steel boat but there were more just like it, each with two massive hooks affixed to heavy cables tucked into steel tubes. The sky above was a dark grey cloudy scene, filled with the smell of smoke and ash, and this sense of foreboding as his and every other boat made their way to a narrow beach overlooked by a tall rocky plateau.
"Hey Braeburn, you look like you're gonna puke." A human in front of him joked to a guy next to him, who did indeed look like he wasn't well.
"Y'know what, Donnie… why don't you just gfh…-" He said before he held his stomach and released the contents of his stomach onto the floor of the cramped boat.
"Egh…" He muttered as he grimaced.
"You okay man?" A human beside him said and they patted his shoulder.
He turned around to see alongside the concerning face of a dark-skinned human, Taelia sitting on the side of the boat with her legs hanging over the edge and smirking at him. She placed a finger to her lips and waved 'hello'.
"Y… yea I'm fine…" He muttered, this not being the first time the humans reacted to him as if he were their own.
He was wondering why they weren't reacting to a mammal when they were all humans.
"Dog Company, listen up! Men on the beaches are counting on us to take out the coastal guns on those cliffs! Move fast, get topside, and get the job done!" A man in the middle of their boat called while pointing at the rocky cliff they were heading for.
"Coastal guns… what… what is going…" He managed to whisper before suddenly flashes of light appeared the sound of bullets whizzing past and hitting metal sounded.
Within seconds he saw two men struck dead in their helmets and collapse to the ground with spurts of blood erupting from the wounds.
"GET DOOOOWN!"
"INCOMIIIIIIIING!" Their driver shouted frantically as they tried to stay on course amid bullets and now explosions.
He panicked and cowered as he tried to find cover in their boat, but there was 'none' to be had aside from the humans in front or behind him, who tried leaning to the side or against the flat front.
"Holy crap, this iiiiiit!" Braeburn, the man from before shouted in fear.
"FIRING ROCKETS!"
-Peeeeeeeeewst-
-Peeeeeeeeewst-
The rockets on either side flew after being launched toward the rocky cliff, leaving massive smoke trails that forced him to inhale the smoke 'and' the explosions of water erupting around him as they neared the beach. Once they jolted and hit the sand the front of the boat flopped open exposing metal spikes embedded into the sand and tiny explosions from bullets hitting and other explosions going off. A whistle sounded and every human surged forward.
"GO GO GOOOO!" Someone screamed and he ran forward, seeking safety in the group as he got off the boat, but not before…
-BOOOOMtsnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng-
He was flung forward as a massive explosion erupted behind him, launching him forward to land back against the sand with his ears ringing from the sound. Everything became slightly hazy and almost slowed down to a degree, as he looked around at the scene of what could only be some kind of 'hell' brought to life. Along the beach other boats landed and launched their humans who were rushing toward the cliff, being shot at the entire time.
Humans ran forward, screaming and being killed in hails of bullets and explosions. One human who had been caught in one such explosion like his boat suffered leapt out engulfed in flame, trying vainly to put it out by rolling into the water, and for his trouble was 'shot' a dozen times. Another human limped out… as if like a zombie, his weapon limply held onto before he fell forward… dead, before the bullets finished him off.
'Why… why would they 'do' this?' He thought vainly, wondering why humans would do this to themselves?
Then he felt himself being shaken slightly and looked to see another soldier with a red cross symbol on his helmet looking around and at him saying, "Hang on man, you're ganna be fine, you're ganna be just fine!"
He then started dragging him by his shoulders and pulled away from the waters, and he saw another pair making the same trip, one carrying another on his back. But moments later they were shot clean through by a hail of bullets, and dropped to the ground.
Everything was driving him to panic, he just didn't understand what was going on, what was this 'hell' that he was in and why was it so necessary that he had to endure it. The other doors did something similar, made him see the suffering, the problems happening, and whatever the setting was for the person it was that he had to save.
But how does this help make him understand who it is he had to save… why… what… 'where'…
The man eventually leaned him against a large boulder and said something about going to help the other men off the beach, and rushed off while his ears and eyes recovered from the shock of the explosionenabling him to hear again. What he heard was… in one word, 'hell'.
"Machine Gun MG 42, TOP OF THE CLIFF!"
-Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeew TNG-
"Get to cover, get off the beach!"
"MEDIC, MEDIIIIIIIIC!"
"Aaaaahg aahaaaaaaaaa."
-Pinngeeeeeeeeeeeeeew tsts-
-Rattaatatata Rtattatta-
"Climb the ropes, GET TO COVER!"
"Grenaaaaade watch out for grenaaaades!"
"I'm hiiitaaaaaaaah."
-Peeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew-
"GET UP THOSE CLIFFS, OR YOU'LL DIE DOWN HERE!"
"Charlie Fox Abel-"
That was when Taelia walked over in her dress and with her smug expression, looking very out of place amid the explosions and bullets, the screams of dying humans sounding nearby and around her.
"Where am I?" He half yelled as he flinched as a bullet struck his hiding spot, but he was still safe.
"Welcome to Pointe Du Hoc, one of multiple places along the beaches of Normandy France in which the allies of the world are launching a massive invasion force against Nazi Occupied Europe." She said with a smile, even as a boat off in the distance exploded before it could deliver its payload of soldiers. "This is just one of several vital locations, lovely isn't it?"
She turned and looked out at the sea where off in the distance he could see massive battleships.
"Over a hundred and sixty thousand soldiers are a part of this invasion force, invading this location… and before the day's end over four thousand will be dead, with another nine thousand wounded… or missing. So much death and destruction in just this one day… and there will be even more to come, and there was far more before today." She said to him while sitting on the rock he cowered behind, as if feeling tired and unaware of the setting around her. "It's World War Two… it lasted about six years, between 1939 and 1945, and would see the sum death count of over eighty-five million people die over the course of it."
"Why am I here?" He screamed in fear as a massive explosion landed beside him.
She glanced at him with a smile, a wry smile... "Oh, would you prefer a more… 'peaceful' setting?" She asked as she snapped her fingers, and in a blink of an eye, more specifically when he blinked, he was now in the middle of a burned down, damaged city.
Around him people struggled through the remains, some looked covered in ash and bearing scars and burns. Others looked like they wore rags, and some looked like they were starving. A wooden cart rolled on carrying dead, adding more as it passed by.
"Yes, this is much nicer isn't it?" She said gleefully as he looked around. "Ah… I love the smell of burned bodies and destroyed livelihoods in the morning."
He looked forlornly at the humans, at their lost homes, knowing he hadn't left the time period, they were still in this World War 2, still seeing suffering, misery, agony… everything related to war. He'd seen suffering before, seen death, seen pain and everything like this but for some reason this just felt even worse.
"Why is this happening?" He asked.
Taelia smiled sadly as she stepped forward and beckoned him to follow.
"It is the way of the world, of humanity… when differences arise… conflict emerges… when the troubles of some erupt, they seek revenge or redemption. When conflict grows too extreme some seek to end it, but the only way to end it is with 'more' violence, which creates the cycle of hate… and in the end only massive suffering on all sides ends it…"
"Then why…"
"Even I don't understand why humans commit such atrocities… but it is what it is…" She replied. "This is London by the way… thousands lost their lives in the bombings, so much that people lived in the sewers… on the train tracks… lived in basements… suffered hunger… but you know the song and dance."
He looked around at the misery, before he looked at her furiously and yelled, "Stop showing me this despair and just show me who I have to save so I can stop it!"
She looked at him with a grin and poked a finger in her ear as if to clean it out. "I'm sorry I must not have heard you, did you say, 'show me more of this despair so I can understand 'why' this war is happening in the first place', well if you insist~!"
And snapped her finger again, and as he blinked, he was now walking with a column of soldiers like from the beach, on a dirt pathway as they walked through a forested area. There was silence as they marched, and he stared before them as they looked at a… camp of some kind. It had wired fences and strong poles with barbed wires at the top.
He saw a few humans in… what only could be described as 'rags', striped rags that barely qualified as clothes. Many were bony, some bald… and every pair of eyes he saw had this almost 'dead', desperate… hopeless look in their eyes. He also noticed there were only 'women' in this camp.
"Open it up…"
"Get back, get back!" A soldier yelled.
It took the group he was in a moment, but they broke the gate blocking entry into the camp and swung it open. They slowly all made their way into the camp, and when he passed into the camp, he saw ditches on the side, filled with more bodies… dead bodies. The few living humans he could see… were so ragged and 'dead' their skin had turned pale, and their skin clutched at their shrunken muscles, a sign of atrophy and their bodies eating their own muscles to survive. The stench coming was unbelievable, and it took everything he had to avoid puking.
"Oh… no…" He whispered hoarsely as he saw in front of him…
Row after row of ram shackled, low built cabins where more humans slowly stepped out, approaching the solders.
All of the humans were in even worse state then the ones he saw initially, their clothes 'barely' hanging onto them, some had blackened portions of their bodies, indicating they had been beaten regularly. Young and middle-aged girls were among the most prominently seen, slowly trudging toward their group… all looking 'dead' on their feet. Their hair was non-existent in some cases, some had brands burned onto them, a few clothes had these yellow stars on them… and the sight of so many dying humans just pushed him to tears.
"What happened… why is this…" He muttered as soldiers helped these women, offering what food or drink they had on them.
Moans and cries that broke his heart in pieces.
"What kind of camp is this?" A soldier near him asked one of the prisoners, as one of his fellows translated.
"Quel genre de camp eeest-ce?"
"C'est un… camp de travail… pour les indesirables…"
"Eeeh something about a work camp for… I can't figure out the last word, but it sounds like 'undesirable'."
"Ask her what happened here?"
"Que s'est-il passe ici…"
"Les guars ont été alertés ce matin et sont partis, et ils ont brûlé certaines des huttes alors que les prisonniers y étaient encore…"
"Said… guards had left this morning… probably alerted by us sir." He said while translating. "Burned some of the huts down… while prisoners were still in them."
"They burned them alive…" Sable asked, aghast that 'anymammal' would do that to sick, dying, unarmed humans who couldn't fight back.
"Ils ont tiré sur quiconque essayait de les arrêter ... mais ils ont manqué de balles pour le reste d'entre nous et nous ont laissés mourir ..." The poor broken woman cried.
"They shot anyone sir who tried to fight back… but they ran out of ammo and left them to die."
He looked around in 'sadness' as he stared at all of the suffering, starving humans, left in such a desperate state… until he saw Taelia walking off into the distance, and he walked after her, knowing she was guiding him through this hell so he could understand. She stopped just outside of a hut and looked at a tiny body lying in the dirt. It was a little girl's, her body burned beyond recognition, Taelia looking at her with a sad look on her face, no trace of snark or laughter at the tragedy around her.
"Who are these people?" He begged, hoping for 'some' justification for why they were being treated this way.
"Really want to know?" She whispered, to which he nodded. "Artists… painters… singers… actors… writers… musicians… doctors… tailors, clerks, farmers, electricians, waiters… normal everyday ordinary 'people'… who's only crime was that they were… Jews, Gypsys, Polish… nothing more." She covered what 'would' have been the girl's eyes and breathed deeply, before looking at him and smiling sadly. "She would have been 'seven' years old tomorrow, Sable… does she deserve this?"
He looked down at the body and began sobbing, crying uncontrollably as he pictured a mammal being that young, being that innocent, yet 'slaughtered' like this for no just reason. This was even 'worse' discrimination than predator versus prey that he was used to. These were all 'humans', they all were the same, but even THEY treated each other like this, even 'worse' it seemed.
"No…" He moaned. "She didn't…"
Taelia smiled as she got up with him and patted his back, walking him away from the scene.
"Who… who do I have to save to stop all of this?" He begged her, wondering what kind of 'human' would do this.
She smiled at that and once again snapped her fingers, and upon his eyes blinking he found himself staring out from a balcony at a huge cheering crowd, banners flying with that symbol he saw entering, proud birds upon them all as they screamed and chanted. Beside him he saw a man with a thin mustache wearing a military uniform giving a fiery speech beside him, speaking animatedly to the crowd before him.
"Sieg Heeeeeil!" He finished proudly.
"Sieg Heil!" The crowd cheered.
"Sieg Heil!" They cheered again.
"That… is who you have to save…" She whispered with a chuckle. "His name… Adolf, Hitler… leader of Nazi Germany… man who is responsible for one of 'dozens' of Concentration camps that you just saw to exterminate the Jewish population and all undesirable. The man who plunged the world into a war, resulting in the loss of over eighty million people… possibly 'the' most hated man in the world…"
"And 'you'… have to save him." She giggled.
"How… how… can I save a man who is responsible for all of that!?" He muttered.
"How about I help you…" She muttered, and flashed his eyes with her and they were on a field riddled with corpses and holding a rifle.
In front of him a man was getting up wearily wearing a military uniform, and he was pointing his weapon at this man. As he got up, he realized who it was… a 'younger' Adolf Hitler.
"It's world war one, and this is one of 'two' points in history that you can use to change the course of history… that is Adolf Hitler… not the dictator but the simple 'soldier' Hitler in the German army." She whispered eagerly. "In his time there was a British soldier who had this chance to kill Hitler before he became the dictator and monster, he is in the future… now you have the same chance."
He looked at Hitler as he stared at him, with a dead look in his eyes, as if he had accepted his fate, knowing he was going to get shot and simply waiting for it to happen. One pull of the trigger, one bullet, one simple motion and he could leave… he 'technically' would save him, not his life, but saved his reputation. He wouldn't become that monster, commit those atrocities… he'd change history, save so many lives… but…
He wasn't that man, he didn't become that man… he was just a soldier, another face, not the leader, not a monster of that world he just left.
"What are you waiting for… do it, do it… kill him… kill him, one bullet and you'll save 'eighty million lives', you'll stop the deaths, the torture… the suffering of countless lives!" She said to him. "Do it… kill him… it doesn't matter what you do, it's already happened, but you can still save SO MANY LIVES… FIRE!"
He looked at Hitler, looked at the gun, looked at the man, and then the barrel… and slowly lowered it. Hitler didn't nod, didn't thank him, didn't react in any other way besides turning around and slowly walking away.
"I can't do it… I can't do it…" He muttered. "He's not the monster… yet… he's innocent… he hasn't done anything!"
"British soldier couldn't do it either… you have nobody to blame… it's a question that not many have the right answer to." She said warmly, patting his back. "You not killing him at this point in his life does not make you a savior or a killer… it only makes you… 'human'. Come… I will take you to a time where you 'can' save him, the second point in time where you can save him, and alter the course of history."
He breathed deeply and closed his eyes, and upon opening them he was in a city, a non-burned down city, and he looked to see Taelia standing with him, and looking around with a smile.
"Here we are… and take a look over there." She whispered, and pointed as a man across the street.
He was wearing simple civilian clothing, a much younger Adolf Hitler, looking more like a young man… peddling what looked like 'art' to passersby and having little success. As he failed to sell his art, he looked downtrodden and trudged on, trying again to anyone who would even speak to him.
"Hitler the starving artist… directionless, aimless, trying to 'survive'…" She whispered. "Can you save a man who has no path in life, from walking the path that leads to so much death?"
He didn't listen to her and just walked on, wanting to speak to him knowing everything he knew. He had helped six others before him, and he was going to save this human no matter what it took, no matter what he had to say… to stop all those people in the future from suffering even if it didn't matter in the end.
He followed him for a bit until the man just dumped his painting into the trash, and slowly walked into a tavern. He fished the painting out and looked at it, not finding it impressive but, still thinking that it looked like a good painting. He found slipped into his pocket some money, no doubt from Taelia, and followed the man he was following into the bar.
He found Hitler at the bar, taking a drink and looking at a poster that read saying how the army was looking for recruits, and knew that this was the 'moment' that Taelia spoke of, the defining moment which would change his fate, and redeem his 'humanity'.
He walked over and sat next to him and placed the money he'd found in front of him.
He looked at it before looking at Sable with a confused look on his face. "What is this for?"
He smiled and showed him the painting, "It's proper to pay the artist for a painting you intend to keep isn't it?" He replied warmly. "You draw quite well, much better than people realize."
He looked at his painting before sighing and taking the money in gratitude. "Thank you very much sir."
He chose his next words carefully because he had to in order to convince him to avoid going to the army. "So, what are you thinking?"
"The war…" He said. "My country is in need of soldiers, brave men willing to help us gain victory."
"Soldiers that aren't you though…"
"But I could be… and they are paying well... better than what I'm making… which isn't much."
"But what will it cost them?" He asked as he noticed a paper listing the death tolls. "How many other 'artists'… musicians… thinkers… good people are going to die because of this war?"
"I'm just one man, there'll be others!" He replied as he took a swig of his drink.
"But you'll lose who you are… your country will lose the artist you are now." He replied as he held up the painting again and looked at him. "People at home, away from the front line, they'll miss the artists, the musicians… everything that makes life 'beautiful'." He put it down and sighed. "If you lose that, all you'll have is 'war'… soldiers… talk of death, of horror… who will brighten those soldier's lives when they come home, who will give them a taste of home when things look bad for them? Nobody… because people like you will leave to join the war, and all the artist in them will be lost… because they had to be replaced by a soldier."
Hitler looked at the advertisement before looking at his painting and took another swig of his drink, and then got up and left a tip before going to walk out.
"Where are you going now?" He asked.
"To draw more art, to brighten up my homeland!" Before looking back and grinning at him. "So those soldiers who return victorious, will have something to return home to that will brighten their day!"
He smiled and toasted him as he left, before the whole world went black.
He woke up wearily and found himself staring at Taelia, who was smiling proudly at him.
"Well done…" She whispered to him, as a key lay before him. "You have saved the one man, so many humans would gladly have shot in the face without hesitation if given the chance. Adolf Hitler… in your timeline, did not join the army, and even though Germany would lose the war, his art would become known throughout the country that gave his people a small glimmer of hope to cling to, and he became famous overseas for his works, and rich as well. The troubles of the nation would grow, but thanks to artist Adolf Hitler, Germany would in time become a country of the arts. He would earn a commission as one of Germany's lead artisans and eventually used his fortune to fund construction efforts to rebuild his homeland's damaged infrastructure. And as for what happens 'after'… well, that's a story that I don't know 'yet'."
She smiled and stepped aside as his door now stood alone, waiting for him.
"You have just enough time to finish your door… you have redeemed the seven worst of humanity, restoring their humanity in the process. Now Sable… redeem yourself."
With that she vanished, and he unlocked the door, and stepped through it.
He closed his eyes as he did and heard the sounds of talking and laughing, and 'singing'. He opened his eyes to find himself at the Moulin Hoofton, and Aelita, the singing AI that aided the human had 'just' finished singing to the audience. Looking around he saw himself glaring contemptuously at the human Jeremy while Gazelle introduced him to her girlfriends, and they giggled at his expense as they seemed quite attracted to him.
Gulping he stepped over before his other self could walk over and begin talking to Jeremy.
"Quite the mammal, isn't he?" He said quietly, pretending to have knowledge about Jeremy or talked about him with another guest.
"Hmpf, as if." His past self said bitterly as the drinks were starting to be handed out, and Gazelle's friends walked away, leaving Jeremy alone to converse with the others. "He's just a pathetic predator, does 'nothing' himself and gets all the credit for other's work."
A waiter walked over, and he took a drink with himself.
"As far as I'm concerned, he's just some wannabe hero. What I want to know is how he knows Gazelle so well that she invited him to 'my' private premier party!"
"She saved his life." He muttered quietly, looking at the human as he nervously talked to a skunk and several other mammals. "Without her, he probably would be dead. It's thanks to her that he's been able to adjust as he is to Zootopia."
"And how would you know that?" His past-self demanded, almost disbelieving.
"I was told by Gazelle in passing…" He replied as a waiter offered him a glass of cold water and refused, even refusing the wines offered.
"What is what we offer not good enough for the 'human'?" Past Sable scoffed as he took a drink.
"He can't drink cold beverages; he's got a disease that can kill him if he comes into contact with anything cold." He explained, knowing all about his disease.
"A disease, well why isn't he being treated for it by his fancy technology if that's the case!?"
He sighed as he remembered asking those exact words, not in that phrase but something similar. "It can't be transmitted, it isn't contagious, and it has no cure. He had it the moment he was unfrozen… and he'll always have it until the day he dies. He can't drink cold water, enjoy cool baths or cold showers, simple pleasures like cool breezes, and if he even 'thinks' about going into a place like Tundra Town he risks death…"
His past-self looked thoughtful at that as he looked at the cold glass of water. "All that technology…" He muttered as they both looked at Jeremy as Gazelle now joined him, giggling as he conversed with the guests.
"And none of it can help him…" He continued.
They were silent for a bit as the party went on, Sable knowing how he thought in the past and knowing how best to talk to himself now that he knew better.
"They said in the news that his technology can cure 'every' disease known to mammalkind."
"And he risked his life to bring it to us." He explained. "When he brought that Synthorgan technology, he risked his life, by going into a very cold place to pull it out. And he even risked his life to stop that machine the police fought with… he nearly froze that day too."
Past Sable frowned as he thought about that, watching Gazelle and Jeremy converse with one another before she held his hand and walked with him toward the theatre entrance as the call went out that the movie was going to begin shortly.
"Perhaps I've misjudged him…" He muttered as he put the glass down. "I mean… he's talking to Gazelle, between you and me I've been wanting to date her for a while now."
He chuckled at that, knowing he had zero chance with her now after how he treated Jeremy.
"Just cause Gazelle talks to him and spends time with him, doesn't mean you should be jealous of him, without even knowing him." He replied.
His past-self nodded and started walking over to the pair. "Then I think I will get to know him better." He chuckled before looking back at him. "So that I have more reason to be jealous of him."
He laughed as well as he closed his eyes, and watched the scene go to black.
And opened his eyes as he stood in the forest, with the eighth key in his hand. He placed it on the ground before his door, and proceeded to place the other keys in front of the other doors, eight keys from eight souls, seven human, one mammal, all redeemed. He was told he didn't need the keys to cross, just to unlock the doors, now that he had done as needed, he needed to cross the river. Though how… he didn't know, it looked just as wide and inadvisable to cross as before. How was he to cross alone?
That was when he heard an instrument being played, and saw Taelia sitting atop a log and smiling at him. "Nature, Nurture, Heaven and Home… Sum of all and by them driven…" She sang. "To conquer every mountain shown… but have never crossed the river…"
He nodded and knew she was telling him that it was time, to cross the river… but still he questioned 'how'.
"Braved the forest, braved the stone… braved the icy winds and fire…" She sang as he stepped to the river and took a deep breath. "Braved and beat them on my own… yet I'm helpless by the river…"
He looked across the river at the door to salvation, at the chubby angelic human and demonic gremlin thing, smirking as they held the sign.
"Angel, angel what have I done? I've faced the quakes, the wind, the fire…" She sang as he prepared to jump into the river. "I've conquered country, crown and throne… why can't I cross this river?"
He chose to start at the farthest point, upstream of where the waterfall started so if he was pushed down, he'd have more room to recover, then jumped into the stream. He floundered and struggled as before, and tried desperately to make headway, but the water pushed and shoved him down.
"Pay no mind to the battle you've won… it'll take a lot more than rage and muscle…" She sang as something grabbed his hand, preventing him from going further down the river.
He looked and saw… Emperor Ling holding him while Marie Antionette held 'his' hand, and along the bank Julius Caesar, Benedict Arnold, Atilla the Hun, Ivan the Fourth, Adolf Hitler, and even himself stood by ready to help, all of them smiling confidently.
"Open your heart and hands my son… or you'll never make it over the river…" Taelia sang as he nodded in understanding, and started swimming over, knowing that those he rescued were helping him cross now. "It'll take a lot more than words and guns… A whole lot more than riches and muscle… the hands of the many must join as one…"
"And together we'll cross the river!" Emperor Ling shouted as Caesar gripped Marie's hand, while they swam forward, ensuring they didn't swim further down the riverbank.
"It'll take a lot more than words and guns…" Marie called as she kept her grip.
"A whole lot more than riches and muscle…" Caesar declared as he joined them in the water, while Benedict did the same.
"The hands of the many must join as one!" Benedict screamed as Attila did for them what the others did before.
"And together we'll cross the river!" Attilla screamed proudly.
"Nature, nurture heaven and home…" Taelia sang on the side of the river they were leaving behind.
"It'll take a lot more than words and guns…" Ivan yelled.
"Sum of all and by them driven…"
"A whole lot more than riches and muscle!" Hitler defiantly shouted as he kept them from slipping down to the waterfall, holding onto a tree as Past Sable helped him.
"To conquer every mountain shown…"
"The hands of the many must join as one…" Past-Sable screamed as he now was the anchor and the rest slowly, but surely, reached the other side of the river.
"AND TOGETHER WE'LL CROSS THE RIVER!" He shouted as he dragged himself to the other side, and now started pulling those who helped him cross up to the other side of the riverbank.
"Braved the forest, braved the stone…" Taelia sang.
"It'll take a lot more than words and guns." A chorus of their voices sang in the distance while he helped pull the others up.
"Braved the icy winds and fire…"
"A whole lot more than riches and muscle…"
"Braved and beat them on my own…"
"The hands of the many must join as one…"
"AND TOGETHER WE'LL CROSS THE RIVER…"
As he pulled himself up onto the bank of the river, he looked at those he'd helped, and those he'd redeemed. Emperor Ling, saving his people from his despotic lackadaisical rule. Marie Antionette, opening her eyes to the true plight and reality of her husband's subjects. Julius Caesar, stopping his personal desire for glory from committing war and massacres in the name of a corrupted government. Benedict Arnold, who was planning to betray his countrymen and fellow rebels for 'money'. Attila the Hun, who would have led to war his people against a fractured and broken empire, slaughtering millions and driving them into the dark ages. Ivan the Terrible, who slaughtered hundreds to maintain loyalty based on 'rumors'. Hitler, an artist turned dictator and who slaughtered and massacred those who were different.
And finally, himself, ignorant of others, concerned with only himself…
"Thank you…" He told them.
They nodded to him and turned to leave, walking through the door to 'freedom', as Taelia sat on a log beside him, appearing as if by magic.
"So that's how I was going to cross?" He asked her, and she nodded.
"When you help others… they help you." She replied warmly. "Jeremy was trained to save every life possible, even at the cost of his own. Because when you act in your self-interests, you fall prey to the very things that befell these individuals… and 'you'."
She chuckled as she gathered the keys into her hand, and they all vanished.
"No longer are you ignorant of the world, no longer do you care about yourself, no longer are you interested only in your own vanity… no longer are you a threat to Jeremy." She said proudly. "I will inform Sentinel to remove you as a potential threat to Humanity… you need not fear the drones anymore bothering you. Go now Sable… live life as you wish now, enlightened… and better than you were before."
He prepared to walk through the door before he smiled and turned to Taelia. "Before I go… I think I know what I'm going to do 'first'." He told her.
"Oh… do tell." She chuckled.
"I think I'm going to write a book, about the Final War… no, a 'MOVIE'… followed by a book!" He exclaimed. "So that all mammals know what it was truly like for Jeremy, so that 'all' can understand what life was like… so that they can learn, so they understand… and so that we don't make the same mistakes 'they' made!"
Taelia smiled and clapped her hands. "I look forward to it luv." She said as he walked through the door at long last.
He had 'redeemed' himself, and earned his freedom.
"As Aelita… I can't wait to see what you will do… as Taelia though, I 'know' what you can do…" Her voice declared proudly in his head as all went to black.
He woke up wearily and found himself lying in his bed, the boards on his window ripped down and sunlight shining on him in his bed. He groaned and grabbed his phone from the counter and had to plug it in so he could check the date and time.
He was surprised that it was 'precisely', nine days after he'd agreed to go with Taelia. He checked his finances and saw that he didn't have a lot left… and knowing his acting career was up the creak after everything, and had no hope of recovery at this point, he sighed and posted on 'Twerter' that first… he was sorry for all he did wrong to Jeremy.
Second, he was hanging up his acting career, and sent a text to his agent that he should find another actor.
And third, he ensured what money he had would last him long enough so that he could write his book, publish it with his own money, and sell it around the world, and use what was left to finance his movie.
The next days passed, and he saw one morning while he was thinking of how best to write his book and go about making his movie, knowing he had to talk to Jeremy but not sure how to talk to him, when he checked Twerter and saw the hottest trend being the hashtag 'JeremyXGazelle'. Curious, he looked at it and smiled, as he saw that Gazelle and Jeremy were now officially a couple, with her announcing it the day 'after' her birthday.
He couldn't think of a more perfect pair, as he smiled and joined the throngs of twerter users wishing them well, going nuts, drawing fanart of the two of them, sending video messages, animated images, and going crazy that Jeremy the las human was with Gazelle of Zootopia.
He sighed as he put the phone down and stared out the window, toasting his glass of warm water to the human. "You better take care of her Jeremy, or else I'll be even 'more' jealous of you!" He chuckled.
Drone Shorts – Ema and Pod Alpha 1000
(Eden Facility 17, Three Days before the Ironic War)
(Ema's PoV)
[I've run through every possible scenario Doctor Liona that my AI can formulate, and I just can't guarantee the safety of the offspring in Patient Emily Fitzgerald surviving the Cryofreeze process!]
"I'm not asking for a guarantee, I'm asking if the offspring will survive any better in their mother than they would if we extracted them and then put them in an artificial womb!" Liona shouted back.
[The odds are the same Liona, at best they'll survive the process, at worst the chances of the cryogenic crystals that will plague their fluids on the inside will puncture and kill the embryotic cells 'before' they are thawed!] Ema declared dully. [The artificial womb you could 'theoretically' construct for the cells would be substandard compared to those in Eden Facility 4, and the Ema 'there' is working with even less than I have here! That is to say if you had the time to develop one, which we don't, the Cryologists have all been chosen and they will be put into Cryogenic sleep tomorrow, we have no time!]
"We can still remove the embryo cells before she goes in and…"
"Doctor…" Emily muttered from the biobed, getting both of their attention in the dimly lit medical bay. "I'm taking my chances… my children stay with me."
"Emily… you're the only woman to have become pregnant within Eden Facility 17 in the past 'two' decades… we can't just take the risk of you surviving and your children not, we have to pursue every option before…" Liona whispered to her before the patient yelled back.
"I'VE MADE MY CHOICE!" Emily screamed. "They stay with me… the odds are the same either way…" She then held her still flat stomach with her arms and smiled happily. "Even with our medical science, we still know that the fluids in a woman's womb contain protective properties that we still don't fully understand even after all this time, designed to protect the offspring. Maybe it will keep my children safe during the cryofreeze…"
"Emily… think rationally… we can't just…"
[Doctor Liona, according to medical protocol 305 Beta, the patient carries the right to accept or deny any medical procedure or treatment upon their body as they see fit to have done to them.] Ema declared automatically. [If patient Emily Fitzgerald does not want the offspring to be separated from her, then we cannot perform the operation.]
"And of course, you won't let me even if I want to." Liona complained bitterly. "Fine Emily, but please reconsider 'before' you wake up tomorrow… this is our last chance to save those children of yours in case something bad happens to you."
Emily smiled as she got up and walked out of the medical bay.
"I have a bad feeling Ema, like I just sent her and her children to their deaths." Liona muttered as she held herself.
[You humans are a mystery to me, how you can have these 'sensations' you speak of without me being able to detect them is something I'll never understand.] Ema said dully as she walked over to examine her patients still in the medical bay.
=Time Skip, Present Day, Hours 'after' Celios is Chained=
[Pod Alpha 1000, yes, I know about that one, Emily Fitzgerald… pregnant with triplets, put into cryogenic sleep approximately thirteen days after becoming pregnant. The offspring would have been in the second stage of their development.] She declared as Jeremy finished examining the medical database for the seed's information. [Why do you want to know about her?]
"Ema… if she had been awoken in the same state that I had, being thawed improperly and thus resulting in her gaining the disease Cryogenic Sclerosis, what are the odds of her children surviving?"
She looked into his eyes and ran the simulation in her AI, after a while she had an answer.
[Can't tell you, but if they had survived the transition from being frozen to being thawed, it would be 'very' slim that they would have survived. The cryogenic crystals that were in your body became genetically embedded into your body's blood veins, making the Permafrost just as much a part of your body as any other part.] She replied honestly. [However, if they 'did' survive the transition… I don't know if they would have survived her Cryogenic Sclerosis. If she went through the disease as you did, suffering a sudden burst of cold… the embryotic cells would be at risk until they reached the eighth week of pregnancy. If she could avoid suffering until then… they'd be safe.]
She could see the look of forlorn on his face, but she couldn't save his hope, she had to tell him the truth, as required by medical protocols.
[That is 'if' they survived Jeremy… we have 'zero' medical records of any woman being frozen cryogenically in the first, or any stage of pregnancy, to tell if the offspring would have made it. The chances are equal of surviving the procedure, as they are of dying.]
"I see…" He replied sadly as he, Judy, Nick and Gazelle slowly made their way out.
Then she turned to her medical screen once the door closed, and brought up the memory of her conversation with Liona about Emily Fitzgerald, the day before she and Jeremy and the others were frozen. The knowledge that Aelita had killed Emily to save Jeremy, telling her that the doctor she so often clashed with had the right idea.
[Well… looks like you were right Liona… if you had taken those egg cells and put them in an artificial womb, even a substandard one, they 'would' have had a better chance of survival.] She said dully. [How do you humans just 'know' when something bad is going to happen… I wish I could answer that, would make my job better.]
She lifted a leg and tenderly placed it on Liona's face, as if she wanted to comfort the human.
[If only I didn't follow medical protocol that one time… the one time where if I had broken the rules…]
With that she turned off the screen and returned to her work.
Drone Short – Meet the Spiders
On a viewscreen a Goliath Class Spider Drone stomped into view to stare at the crowd.
[Hi there!] It said in a cheerful tone. [This unit is identified as TY-4, but my classification is a General Purpose Goliath Class Spider Drone. This unit is one of 'hundreds' of Spider class drones, that's why when one of our designs is listed, we are referred to as a 'Spider Drone' instead of something else.]
It listened to a random question the crowd asked.
[What does this unit do, well that's simple, we do 'everything' asked of us, but our primary purpose as GPG Class Spider Drones is to act as supplementary emergency response drones, much like how we acted in the big fire that ravaged parts of Sahara Square!]
[Yes, and you caused quite the damage upon being dropped in… didn't you.] A snide voice called out as another Spider walked onto the scene, a spider with a massive abdomen, thin legs, and a distinct black metallic composition.
[It's the Emergency Medical Augmenter Black Widow Spider Drone, welcome, how may this unit assist you?]
[By shutting up for one.] Ema said as she turned to the audience. [Much like how the Goliath Drones only use a simple category 3 AI, I use a more preferable category '4' AI.]
[This unit doesn't communicate in terminology using certain pronouns like I, Me, and My, because that infers that we are individualistic, when we aren't.] TY-4 declared.
[Whereas 'I' can because I was built with a specific personality programmed into my AI, allowing me to refer to myself in those terms.] Ema stated. [I'm designed to be a medical augment to Eden Facility's medical staff. However due to unforeseen circumstances, I, also known as EMA Alpha, now act as the sole medical staff full time while also working around the clock to treat all known mammal disease.]
[But we're not the only spider drones!] TY-4 said as other spider drones now appeared. [One of the earliest spider drones, was the General Cleaning Purpose Jumping Spider Drone…]
A spider with suction cups on the end of its legs and sporting an enormous liquid filled abdomen trudged up to them.
[Its design was to clean solar panels at the top of skyscrapers! Then came medical advances for the Spider Drone lines…]
A spider with thick legs and just as thick abdomen stepped forward and showed off syringe needles imbedded into its frame.
[Like the Tarantula Medical Class Spider Drone, which saw civilian service and military service, but was discontinued after several years.]
[On account of its 'inferior' memory capacity and ability to transport various chemicals in a stable state while moving at high speeds.] Ema muttered.
[This unit saw more field work than you did!] The Tarantula declared.
[And was shot the most because of it.] Ema countered. [My job is in the lab; I can't risk my chemicals being shot unless absolutely necessary!]
[We even had spiders who were built for construction, like the Funnel Web Construction Class Spider Drone!]
A spider sporting smaller legs but a bulging torso, head and abdomen stepped forward and waved.
[Our design was the most versatile, and the creator species built tons of us to suit the needs of the species…] They all looked around before TY-4 screamed, [But if Jeremy dies then what will happen to our design, is he going to make anymore?]
[Dunno… but until then… I have work to do…] Ema declared as she walked off screen.