Chapter 4:
Simon Conley was having a peaceful day sitting on his front porch, looking out over the lake. There was a mild breeze going over the lake. The crickets were chirping, trying to find mates. Birds were calling to one another through the trees. The occasional fish jumped out of the lake, going after low-flying insects. All in all, it was a perfect day. He takes a sip of his beer and sets it back down on the small table beside him. He might have dozed for a bit when he heard it. The unmistakable wump, wump, sound of helicopter blades. He sighs to himself and, getting out of his lounger, heads for the small clearing a couple of hundred yards away. "What do they want now"? He thinks to himself. He gets to the clearing just as the helicopter touches down.
"Well, this is a surprise," he thinks to himself. A four-star general was coming here to his humble abode. "What do they want now"? This was his retreat from the world. General Mark Harmon jumped out of the helicopter as the blades spun down. Looking around, he sees the person he has come to visit at the edge of the clearing. He's not advancing to meet him, so he walks towards him from the helicopter. Simon turns and heads back for his house.
Simon sitting in his lounger, watches the General come around the corner of the porch of his home. He reaches into the cooler on the other side of the lounger and brings out another beer. "Care for a beer, General"? he says as he offers it. "Don't mind if I do." Replies the General taking the beer from him. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit"? "Don't get snarky with me; I wasn't in charge of your project last time." "Your right General, but you did back him up." "I had to; my job was on the line." "At the risk of seeming like a broken record, why are you here"? I'm here because something has come up with what you were working on." Simon laughs, "What did one of them come back to life? I assure you they were all quite dead."
"No, none of them arose from the dead, but something new has come to us from an improbable source." "And from where did you receive this something new"? "It came out of the portal." Replies the General as he passes over a picture. Simon looks at the picture, "This is some kind of joke, isn't it? I mean, come on, this is photoshopped. Since when do female foxes have breasts"? "We're not sure why she has breasts, but they are all much bigger than a fox. They may look like foxes but measure out from the base of their tails to the end of their snouts at around four feet. "Your joking, right"? "No, no joke. Would you like to see the video of their arrival"? The General unlocks his phone and scrolls down to a short video. He holds it up for Simon as he plays it. The first two foxes just sort of roll into the room. The third falls in but gets up and collapses beside one of the other two.
"Are they still alive? And why me"? "Why you? It's because your clearances are still valid. Would you like to study a living alien"? asks the General as he smiles at him. Simon tries not to get excited as this could trigger a seizure. "They're still alive"? "Yes, we have them in a holding cell at the moment. They appear to be just what they look like, acting the same way. They are vegetarians; they won't touch meat." "Strange, I know foxes are omnivores, and you're telling me they only eat vegetables"? "What's really stranger is they all marked the meat and shoved it back under the door." Are they sentient"? "That's what we hope you will discover for us." Give me a few to pack a bag." "No, doctor, take nothing from here with you. We have everything you need on base." "Alright, I was expecting that; give me a few to collect my wallet, lock up the house, and notify my neighbor to look after the place." "You've got ten minutes, doctor."
I wake up to a pounding head and a full-body ache. I check; Betty is awake, sitting up on her haunches and watching me. Jessica is just about to come around. I smell water and force myself up and go towards it. I don't know if we made it, but it doesn't matter. I'm going to act as I look. ("Good choice Thomas, until we know more about where we are.") I lap at the water as I respond, ("yes, we need to wait for Simon. I Wish I had a few aspirins right about now.") ("you and me both, husband.") Says Jessica as she forces herself to her paws and comes over for a drink. Our accommodations are a bare prison cell with a couple of blankets thrown in. and our washroom? That's just a hole in the floor. We're not going to try to sit on that toilet. Supper is a very meager plate of vegetables and meat. We share the vegetables, and we all show our displeasure at the meat by peeing on it. I shove the offering of meat under the door through the meal slot. How barbaric do you have to be to eat a dead pig? I know, it's just me, but that pig was a living individual in my mind.
We spent Five days hashing and rehashing what we could do. But the one thing we do is have Betty block her recent memories. And I block her link with Simon. She didn't want me to do this, but it was for our own good. We couldn't give the game plan away this early. We all pace in the cell just like a wild animal will do. Jessica and I put on a live show for whoever was watching us, not because we wanted to give them a show, but because we loved each other and wanted to reaffirm this. Betty rolls to her side, looking away from us. This wasn't our favorite position, but it was still satisfying. Finally, on the sixth day, Simon shows up.
"Before I take you to see them, I need to show you what they were wearing when they came through." General Hamon takes Simon to a small room and shows him a stringy mesh netting, also what appears to be (spandex, lycra?) Bodysuit. "So they were stripped of these garments. The chemical composition of these garments appears to be a type of spandex, but it's all organic and very breathable. As for these string things, we have no idea what they are; it might be some sort of cooling system; it was found on them under the suits." Simon runs his fingers through the suits and nets. He then brings one of the suits to his nose and sniffs. "Lilacs, I smell lilacs." "Good nose doctor, we feel it's some sort of body wash." "And this didn't classify them as sentient"? "No, they could have been washed just before they were sent through. Since their arrival, they have acted just like animals." "You know this could be a survival trait." "It could be; that's what you are here to find out." "Alright, I need to go meet them."
We hear the lock turn, and Betty can barely contain her excitement. We all can feel it's Simon behind that door. We did come out of the portal right where and when we wanted to be. We go to one corner and sit and wait for Simon to enter. We sit on our haunches, wrap our trails around our front paws and stare at the door. Simon comes in the door and is hit by a wall of fox musk. "Whew, I think they could all do with a good cleaning." Simon thinks to himself. They are sitting along the back wall with their tails wrapped around their front paws. Simon sits on the floor in the cross-leg position.
"Hello, my name is Simon Conley, and I'm not sure if you can understand me, but it's great to see you all. Do you have names"? They just continue to stare at him. "Can you tell me why you are here"? Dead silence. Then, finally, the red fox gets up and approaches him. Simon is a little scared at her approach, so he doesn't move. She sniffs him all over, and he lets her. She then does a very fox-like thing and rubs her scent glands down either side of his neck. She marks him as hers. The scent of fox is now very overwhelming. But it's not a bad thing, just different. She then rolls into his lap and, looking up at him, exposes her belly to him, expecting a belly rub. Simon chuckles as he does so. She has breasts, yes, but under her belly fur, he finds teats as well. As he rubs and scratches, Betty starts to purr. They are like this for a few; before she gets up, shakes herself all over, and goes to sit on the other side of Thomas.
("That felt so good, I want more of it.") ("later, Betty, we need to all meet him and maybe get him to understand we need showers.") ("Your right, I'm beginning to itch.") I get up and head over to him. I sniff him all over as Betty did, then I lay in front of him and place my head in his lap. Simon smiles and scratches me behind my ears. I let out a happy purr as my leg started to twitch. Simon laughs a bit as he scratches. I place in his mind the idea we would like to clean up. I then get up and sit beside my mate. Jessica goes over, but before she can sniff him, his eyes roll up into his head, and he falls back and starts to seize.
("I need help, guys. Thomas, hold his legs down. Betty, hold his chest and arms down, lick his face if you want. I'm going to see if I can stop or lessen this seizure.") The base personal panic, thinking we are attacking him. But as they come in, the doctor contains everyone, including the guards with guns. "Hold, they're not hurting him; they are trying to help him." Says the doctor putting his hand up. "They are doing what any trained seizure dog would do. They are stopping him from hurting himself on the floor. Though the head holding thing is not something you can train into a dog." Jessica held his head in her front paws, trying to stop his head from bouncing off the floor, and stop the grand mal before it worsened. She was partially successful and stopped the seizure after about a minute. We all get off him and move to the back wall at the end of that minute. The guards keep their guns trained on us as medical pick Simon up and head out the door. As the door shuts, we all sigh.
Simon comes to flat on his back in the infirmary. He can hear the heart monitor. The doctor comes over. "you gave us a bit of a scare there, Simon; how are you feeling"? "like the keyhole that I was dragged through was too small." The doctor chuckles, "Yes, I can imagine a grand mal would feel like that." "I had a grand mal"? "All our tests indicate that, so yes, you did." "How did our friends react to it? Did they try to tear me apart as animals would to a wounded pack mate"? The doctor chuckles, "They're not my friends, but they are yours. No, they didn't try to tear you apart; quite the opposite. They acted as any trained seizure dog would. They kept you safe and stopped the damage you could have inflicted on yourself." "Still doubt that they are sentient"? "I have seen nothing that changes my opinion of them." "So how long did this grand mal last"? "Only about a minute, the last one you had here lasted close to ten." "I've never had a grand mal last less than seven minutes, and it was only one"? "Yes, the silver fox held your head so you wouldn't bounce it off the floor. Get some rest, Simon; you're going to need it. I think your friends will want to see you again." Simon thinks to himself as he falls asleep, "I must thank them somehow."
The following day Simon gets up and sits on the edge of the bed. He's feeling better, but coffee would sure get his day going. The General walks in and over to him. "Morning Simon, feeling better"? "Much better, Sir. How are our guests this morning"? "The animals are doing fine; still believe they are sentient"? "Yes, Sir, everything I have seen leads me to believe they are. But, Sir, can we give them access to a shower or bath? they are a little ripe." The general chuckles, "We could arrange it, but you also need one. What did it do to you yesterday"? "They helped me with my grand mal…." "Not that; I referred to what she did to your neck."
"Oh, that, she just claimed me as her own. She marked me as her possession." "Kind of strange, don't you think"? "Not really; domesticated foxes mark their owners regularly. They are very possessive of what they consider theirs." "So now you think she wants you." "That isn't under discussion, General; my sexual orientation has nothing to do with this." "Your right, but don't get too close to them; you know how this will end." "I'm well aware of how this will end, general, and I don't need you to remind me." "See that you keep your objectivity then, doctor." The General leaves and heads for the door; he turns at the door. "I meant what I said, Simon; go get yourself a shower." The General then leaves the ward.
Simon, later in the day, returns to their cell. They are all sitting in the cell just as he saw them yesterday. He sits himself down on the floor and looks at them. The Silver fox that held his head comes over to sniff him. ("He's doing good, Thomas. I might be able to ward off seizures in the future if I'm close enough to him when it happens, but he is good for now.") Jessica goes back over and sits beside her mate. "Thank you all for what you did for me yesterday," states Simon to them all. The male looks at him and makes a noise. It sounds almost like a "You're Welcome." "So I have a treat for you today; we are moving you to accommodations that are more suited to your unusual physique. We will do the transfer without cages if you promise not to run. Do I have your word you won't run"? In answer, they swarm him like a bunch of kit foxes would do. "Do they think I'm there, daddy"? asks Simon of himself. The male rolls over with a type of barky chuckling kind of sound. Simon smiles to himself. "It almost seems like he's laughing at me. And did he hear my question? Can they read minds? More questions," he thinks.
He opens the door and motions them out. They all follow him down the hall. At the elevator, he turns and explains to them. "This is an elevator; it's a movable floor that will take us to another level of this base." They sit there looking at him when they all burst out in a barky kind of chuckling sound. "Are you laughing at me"? This has them vocalizing more. Finally, the doors open, and they all walk into the elevator.
Simon leads them down four levels to the observation room. This room is relatively big with a shower and bath, and Simon had two mattresses moved into one corner. He moves over to the shower and starts it up. We all crowd into the shower. We turn and look at him and whine; Betty paws at the brush on the floor. "I get it; you want me to clean you." Simon knows he's being watched, but it doesn't bother him.
He strips down and gets in the shower with us. He soaps us all down and works the soap deep into our coats. Once the soap is all worked in, he then rinses the soap out of our fur. Betty might have slipped her nose into his crotch a time or two. We all get out of the shower, and Simon watches as we shake to rid ourselves of excess water. He then runs towels over us all. He gives the most attention to Betty, and she just loves it. Before he can get dressed, Betty scent marks him again. Simon dresses and leaves our room. And goes to the observation side of the room behind a plexiglass divider.
He falls onto the bed that is on that side. His side has a small desk and bed and a screen hiding the toilet and sink. Our toilet is a raised platform over the toilet on our side. We walk up the ramp on one side, do our business and walk down again. They even put up a leak stopper for me. No, more missing that small drain hole in the other room. We shocked Simon when we flushed. We all fall asleep staring at each other.
The following day after our breakfast, a tech informed Simon that the body scanner was now operational, and the General wanted us all run through it. Simon agrees and comes to see us. "Now, everyone, I have been informed that the General would like me to do a full-body scan on you. This machine is like an MRI, but it uses sound and light waves to read a body's interior. It does have some magnetic waves, but they are very weak. About as much as a small one-gram permanent magnet. So, who's first"?
("Betty, can you see any harm in us going through this machine"?) ("Well, other than our reactors and your transmitters and my brain showing up on the scan, no, I can't see its harm. It would have to be a very high magnetic field to scramble my brain. By high, I mean on the order of close to twenty MRI machines running as one; I don't see the harm in this machine other than they will find out things about us. Not sure we want them to know these things.") ("It doesn't matter; if they wanted to, they could knock us all out with sleeping gas and run us through anyway. Could you possibly fudge this machine"?) ("If I can get my claws into it, yes, I could, but I can't be sure about that.") ("Alright, I guess we have no choice.") ("I'll go first, Husband.") ("Thanks, love.") I rub my muzzle down the side of her neck and give her a nuzzle behind her right ear. Jessica turns and licks me. She then steps forward towards Simon. The tech standing there puts a collar and leash on her. He opens the door, and they step out.
Betty was the last one out to the machine. She does as directed by Simon and the tech operating the machine. They don't notice when she digs her claws into the control panel on the other side of the device. After a few seconds, she releases the control panel and lays down on the machine as requested. The scan goes off without a hitch. After she gets back, I question her. ("Were you able to take care of the scanner"?) ("Yes, I was. I had the machine ignore my alloyed brain and reactors. It reported that I was all organic.") ("Well, that's one less worry we have to deal with.")
Later in the day and after lunch, Simon comes in with a tray and sets it down on a small table. "Now, everyone, I need to take blood samples and DNA swabs. I won't insult your intelligence by explaining what I need to do. But I'm sure you know what needs to be done." We chuckle a bit at him, and I sit down in front of him and raise my right paw. Simon is good at finding a vein, and after giving blood, I just open my mouth and wait for the swab. He does all three of us and leaves the room. I get frisky with my wife. Simon comes back in later as we are just about finished, and he watches us as we finish our action. Still joined, we flop to our sides and just stare at him. He has the right of it and looks a little guilty as he turns away. Not before we all notice his state of mind.
Simon gets the full-body scans and test results a few days later and happily looks them over. The General comes in later that same day and tells him he has two days to correlate all the data and present it to the commodore. Simon waves him off; he's too busy to deal with the General. The General turns and stares at us through the glass as we play with a ball we had been given. After a few minutes of watching, he turns and heads out the door.
As Simon works, he puts on his headphones and fires up his MP3 player. It had several scratches from when Betty took it out of his pocket and playfully played keep-away with him. He eventually got it back after she scratched it with her claws. He was thankful she didn't damage it, other than the scratches. He was so engrossed with the data that he didn't even notice when the sounds of surf stopped or the words began. (Simon, can you hear me? If you can, just nod.") this message was repeated several times before he became aware of it. Simon startles up and, looking around the room, sees no one. The message repeats one more time, and he does what the message says; he nods.
(Good, the nanobots have done their job. Hi Simon, I'm Betty. You know, the red fox.") he looks over to see them all sleeping. (I'm sorry we sprung this on you, but you had to know we would be communicating sooner or later. Yes, all three of us are sentient. We are from the future, and we are modified humans. I'm sure the data you have, has shown you this already. I can't go into technical data about how we achieved this; suffice to say, the portal has been broken and did not work as intended. We traveled through time, not space. The portal is the Menushions wormhole Stellar drive. It was only supposed to connect places in space. If the Menushions found out they could travel in time, we as a human race would probably be their slaves or playthings. Due to what humans did in the past.")
Simon rubs his eyes, stretches, yawns, and goes to take a leak as Betty speaks. He then lays down on his bed, making it look like he is going to sleep. Simon turns on his side to see Betty looking at him. He smiles as she slowly winks at him. ("I'm sure you have many questions, like why are we here? What has happened in the future for us to be here? And what are our intention? To answer the first one, we are here, so the past flows as it should; if we didn't come back, the world would be changed for the worst. How we got mixed up in time travel was partially your fault. You showed us your memories of past events that were future events for us. I know this all sounds incredible and crazy out there, but as the historian of this group, history has to remain the same, or none of the three of us will exist.")
"How do I know she is telling me the truth? And not making things up for their own agenda Simon thinks to himself. When a very masculine voice comes through his MP3 player and speaks to him. ("Good question, Simon. I'm Thomas, by the way. And no, you're not going crazy. What Betty has told you is the truth. Now to prove that you aren't being played for a chump by someone on the base, I'm going to get up stretch, take a leak, look at you, and return to my mate, cuddling into her backside.") Thomas does precisely what he told Simon he would do with an added wink at Simon and a lick to his mate. "THEY CAN READ MINDS"! Simon exclaims to himself.
("No, Simon, I can't read minds. I read emotions. If the emotion is strong enough, I can see the picture behind it. If you like, I can teach you shielding techniques. Shielding is a form of protection for you from me or people like me. A few ESP experiments are happening on sub-level two, but their approach is laughable. They are approaching it as if they could weaponize it.") ("Sorry to interrupt, Thomas, but the cull of all animals in the world has just about been completed, I have just got the word from over the airwaves that animals are dying worldwide. By my estimates, all animals will be gone in six months") "Cull"? thinks Simon. ("Yes, in our time, all domesticated and wild animals were killed by a virus or nanobot, not sure which. There will be a lot of geneticists trying to save animals or their DNA over the coming months. We assume the Menushions did this to get back at the human race. The bodies you studied years ago were bodies of the Menushion crew operating that downed ship. The Menushions declared a vendetta against the human race for their deaths. They are not original thinkers, and they play a long game. They want to see us suffer before they destroy us.")
"Have they done this before"? Thinks Simon. ("Entirely possible, but I don't know for sure; none of us do. I never got the chance to speak to the Tetons. They are the historians of the galaxy.") "How many species are there in our Galaxy"? ("Three that Jessica and I know of. The Menushions, the Tetons, and humans. There could be more, but these three are the ones we know of.") "You have given me a lot to think about." ("If you like Simon, I can show you all I have said in a thought transfer.") "Will you be meddling in my brain"? ("No, Simon, we won't. a thought transfer is like me playing a movie in your head. Though I could change the future by showing you this. Hopefully, I won't.") "Can we do this tomorrow? I'm falling asleep right now." (Sleep well, Simon, we will talk again in the morning.")
We get up early and go into our routine. Betty has the camera watching us on a loop, So they don't see us doing the exercise. Simon wakes up and sees us doing our practice. He sat up and watched us and marveled at our form. When Jessica and I started to fight, his mouth fell open as he watched. He puts in his earbuds. ("Morning Simon, sleep well"?) "As well as can be expected, seeing as we are all locked in a cage." ("well, you are a little freer than we are.") "True, what are you doing"? ("we are doing an isometrics routine and sparing practice.") "I thought you portrayed that you are just lowly animals,"? ("As far as the base is concerned, we are. Betty has the cameras in the room on a loop; as far as anyone else sees, we are all still sleeping.") "Ok, how long will you keep up this charade"? ("We can't change history, Simon, so we will keep up this charade till the end.") "So why are you telling me"? ("We are telling you, as we did tell you before. Simon, in the future, when you meet us for the second time, and we will meet you for the first time, you will show me our future which is your past. Yes, I know this is very confusing, but we are trying to avoid a temporal paradox. Before you ask, yes, it's a real thing.") "As in the grandfather paradox"? ("Yes, you have the right of it. Now you need to get back into bed, Simon. Betty is about to unfreeze the cameras. Can you come in after she does and wash us again"?) Can do, I assume you can speak with words as well"? ("Yes, we can, but our mouths move differently from yours, making it hard for you to understand us. but during the thought transfer, I can give you the understanding of how we speak.") "I'm sure it beats using this MP3 all the time." ("It will, now back to bed you go.") Simon crawls back into bed, forgetting about the MP3 he is wearing.
("and GO") We all pretend to wake up and stretch. Simon gets up and heads for his door, picking up his towel. We all crowd into the shower and whine at him. He sees this and laughs. Instead of heading for the locker room, he decides to shower with us. "Ok, you three, one at a time this time, please"! I go first, Jessica second, and Betty third. He spends more time in the shower with Betty. She just loves all the attention. This leaks through to Simon. My blocking of their link is not perfect. It has a few holes in it.
When he is finished washing us, he sits down in the middle of the floor, and we all come over and place our heads on his lap. Simon strokes our ears as I tell him about the future. Betty shows me what he knows, and I show him that part of our future. I then show him what our society in Zootopia is like. He shakes his head and gets up. Betty brings the ball over, and Simon spends a few minutes playing with us, throwing the ball. Then, Simon returns to his side of the observation glass and gets back to work correlating the data. Every time he has a question, he looks over at me. I just nod my head yes or no. He then nods back and returns to his data. Late that evening, Simon gets the correlation done. He's exhausted and falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow.