Authoress Update: What can I say? I am evil incarnate for making you wait this long. NaNoWriMo didn't pan out so well-2/3rds of the month thru, I realized the story as is had too many questions left unanswered, and overall lacked the anger that inspired it, so I scrapped it and began a rewrite, so of course I never made the finish line. Didn't help either that I decided to crochet several xmas items this year.! Argh,, accursed need for cash!!! sigh Maybe next year though…..

The Future Is Wild!

By Nefertanya dragongurl Ahhotep

Chapter 23: Sorting

Wit a pneumatic hssss, the jet descended upon the sandy, cracked asphalt that once was the proud and beauteous Main Street of Borasilica. Peering through the windshield, Tech felt a pang of sadness-this street, only a scant few yeaers ago, once was crowned by the gleaming towers of the Four Corners University. Now those towers were cracked nearly beyond repair, and dingy with sand, birds' nests, and droppings.

"What a charming little hovel." Duck grumbled sarcastically, turning sheepish when the coyote coolly glared at him. "Well, now what?" he inquired.

"Lexi…." Ace said ponderingly, "…Can you hear anythin'?"

Lexi strained her ears with all her might. "No," she replied after a while, "I can't really hear much except you guys and all this machinery. If anything's out there, I'm losing it in all this background." She sunk into her seat with a pout and crossed her arms. "Damn."

"Well, den, we'll just hafta get out dere and try it again!"

"I suppose we'd have to leave the plane eventually," Tech mused as Duck and Slam exchanged shocked, worried glances at the thought of actually leaving the plane's relative safety. "But I'd be careful, Chief- there's a lot of stuff that can do damage here. No offense, but I think it best if I led the team outside."

Clouds gathered in the grey bunny's eyes. Did this desert mutt think that just because he was a desert species, he was somehow better than Ace? "No offense, but why should you lead?"

"One- I'm an alumnus of this university, so I know my way around the city. Two- I already have a device that can pick up any electromagnetic fluctuations. Three- I can regenerate my body parts. Can you?"

The four occupants gawked at the fifth in dead silence. Finally, Ace gestured grandly to the opened hatch. "After you, sir!" he called, and saluted

Tech smiled in amusement.

Chapter 24: Sorting

Twenty unspectacular minutes later, tensions were quite high as Tech's gizmo beeped regularly. You sure that thing's working, doc?"

"Yes!" the green coyote shot back, rather irritated. "Like I said earlier, it's designed to pick up electromagnetic fluctuations caused by our doctor 'friend'"

"Okay, pretend I'm an idiot-" Duck started.

"Pretend?!" Lexi teased, smiling broadly at the duck's irritated glare.

"A-Hem! How- one might inquire if they had not been so rudely interrupted- does the device find these aforementioned, ah, fluctuations?"

"Muscle tissue works by way of electrical impulses between the stimulus and the brain. Therefore, one would need an external cyclical system that would coerce the system into reactivation, and it would have to be strong enough to encourage the system to perpetuate itself. An electric charge of a sizable nature would work, but it's occurrence is haphazard in nature. Ergo, a self-contained system is required, one that would emit readable emissions."

"BRAAAAAAAAPPP!" Slam released a warm, foul wind behind the two rabbits. Evidently, he'd been lucky enough to find a fully stocked vending machine, and had 'liberated' its contents into his endless gullet.

"Now dat's what I call a 'readable emission!'" Ace quipped as he and his pink counterpart wavered on the brink of nausea, their ears and whiskers curling in the aftermath.

Bing!bing! bing! bing! bing! bing! bing! bing!!

Al heads swiveled towards the suddenly excited device in Tech's hands. "It's due south of her!" Tech cried out.

"Den let's move it!" Ace cried back as he jogged off in the given direction. Lexi, Tech, and Slam immediately followed. Duck whimpered softly, turning longingly in the direction of the parked jet, trying to make sure he'd had the memory of it's location firmly in place-just in case-before sullenly following the rest to, he was quite certain-absolute doom.

No, it's not very long, is it? And once again, I've left you on the edges of your seat. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, though, and felt I ought to give you something for your troubles as I try to break through the cobwebs of my mind and find my mental notes.