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"Just show me where they are!"

Johnny chased down Carbon as they roamed through the basecamp, fighting his urge to hold the hybrid back by force. "Carbon, you need rest. Hell, you still haven't let me check your wounds yet."

Carbon scowled with annoyance and then looked right over to Evelyn on her other side. "You feeling better, Eve? Mind helping for a second?"

"Yeah... Uh, sure." The flower girl groggily snapped back to attention and raised a hand to a set of tents on the perimeter. "Those weren't there yesterday. I'd try those pop-ups first."

"Pop-ups?" Carbon looked over and partially understood, the typical mental imagery not accompanying Eve's words to back her point. "I guess you mean these... Oh hey, there's Mike. Thanks, Evelyn."

"Carbon..." Finally Johnny built up the nerve to force himself directly into Carbon's path. "Don't make me order you to stop. We don't know how well you can handle these kinds of injuries yet."

The otter stopped and began unbuttoning her shirt. "I said it's fine. It's really nothing, Johnny."

"Wait! Not out here, damnit..."

"No, it's okay." Carbon opened her shirt and pulled it off, revealing that Evelyn had been quite busy overnight. "See? They're almost back to normal now."

"Oh... So Evelyn's getting better at this." Johnny gave Carbon's flattened chest a quick grope to make sure nothing was developing incorrectly and then walked his paws around to the gunshot wound. "Bandages aren't too bloody either." He quickly snagged the edge of the bandages and stretched them away from Carbon's fur and skin, only to look around once again to make sure he was actually checking the correct spot. "Hey, I can't..."

"There's a little scar for now, but Eve says it'll be gone in a few days."

"Just a scar?" The fox pulled the bandages down completely and finally found the wound. "Wow... This looks like a few weeks of solid healing. Closer to a month, actually. That Eve doing that or what?"

"It's not just her. Eve and I share a body." Carbon shook Johnny away and started buttoning her shirt again. "She needs to heal just as much as I do."

"I didn't know that." Johnny relented in holding back the Major any longer, walking by her side as she continued to the tents. "I suppose a joint effort would speed things up though. So the two of you... It's like a symbiosis? You both get something out of it?"

"You mean ~besides~ each other's company?"

"No..." The doc corrected Carbons collar as he finished working the buttons. "Well, do you know what Evelyn is exactly? Every symbiont is a unique, living creature of some kind."

"Never though about that, actually. Technically we used to be fungal substitutes for your blood, but we evolved to be born with your kind. Our kind." Evelyn picked up her pace, a slight smile gracing her face as she started feeling more like herself. "In the English language... I guess there isn't really a word for it. My kind exist as more of a... biological computer... maybe more like a 'symbiotic intelligence' that's joined at the cellular level to our hosts. Sort of like independently thinking organs, if you will."

"Well she just said a whole lot I don't have time to repeat." Carbon shrugged and picked up her pace. "Something about her being my blood though. 'Symbiotic intelligence', she called it."

"Oh. ~Oh~, wow. Well that gives me a whole new perspective on your bloodwork." Johnny slowed down and eventually stopped, causing Carbon to walk backwards for a stint. "You go ahead and do whatever it is you're set on doing. I need to check today's samples. Oh, and make sure you check your orders; I set standing orders for you since I thought you'd be down and out."

"Right... I'll just go reverse the medical hold. Go do your tests and I'll be back with new orders." Carbon nodded and was given a parting nod from the fox. "Take care, Johnny."

"And try not to get into trouble while I'm gone. You've got a look in your eye, missy."

"He's right, you know. You're not acting normal, Carbon." Eve followed behind the determined hybrid, tugging her tail harshly so she'd calm down. "I don't like the emotions I'm getting from you. Please tell me this isn't because of what I said last night."

"Well I'm not sure yet. We'll see in a second." Carbon rounded the corner of the first tent and found Mycroft talking with Adrian and Gary. "Hey, guys. What you two doing here so early?"

"Sir!" Gary stood tall, only to be waved down to a move relaxed state. "Oh... Sorry, sir. We don't have any orders so we thought... uh..."

Carbon gave the elk a slap on his shoulder. "At ease, soldier. I'm just visiting myself."

"Oh, here to chit chat, eh?" Adri smiled and moved to the side so Carbon could join the group. "Good to see you're up and about, Carbon. I thought that hit was a lot worse, I guess. Good for you, mate."

"Yeah, that's a right proper wound and you just shrugged it off." Mike heartily chuckled as he addressed those of his squad that cared to listen. "You lot might learn a thing or two here."

"Actually, that's what I came here for myself." Carbon pulled the wolf to the side so his squad wouldn't be bothered by their potentially emotion-evoking conversation. "I need some information and I think you might be able to help. You were near when things went south for your Sergeant, right?"

"Aye, right next to him. I was lucky to get away with my head, I was."

"What was the point of that? Why were you even that close if you were enemies?" The otter grabbed onto Mike's shirt and pulled him close out of desperation. "Why were you guys there?"

"Major..." Mycroft shrugged off Carbon's paws and took a breath. "We got a rumor that there was another force driving the Commies after us. We were told to sneak into Cambodia from Laos and gather info, then act if things were bad. Fourteen degrees, twelve minutes by one-ohSeven degrees flat." He looked into the hybrid's eyes and considered breaking his vow of secrecy for his savior. "He found us first, and rather than kill us there he offered a meeting. Ended up being that trap, but... we did exchange some information. Nothing relevant I'm afraid."

"Try me. It might be more relevant than you think."

Mike shrugged his shoulders and tried to remember the questions they were asked. "He wanted to know if we knew about some kind of plan. He also went on about some kind of energy thing... 'essence of energy' I think...."

"Aetii. Maybe even aetiir." Evelyn looked over to Carbon with a hint of concern as the words rang true. "The poison of life. The essence of energy."

"Aetiir? So we know what this is?"

"It's just a word. A translation that came to mind, really." Eve sat down as she grabbed her own forehead. "It has something to do with your father. I think he was searching for an Aetii deposit of some kind..."

"Eve, either give me a briefing on that language or speak English." Carbon rolled her eyes when Mycroft quirked his head, not caring at the moment about her appearance. "I can't understand how to track my father's past if it's ~encoded~."

"Aeti, Aetii--singular and plural. The '-r' means a 'creation of' so a product of the stuff. Something powered by its energy, really."

Carbon quirked her head at the prospect of creating things from this unknown substance, but turned her attention to the others around her who were also craning their necks in confusion. "Sorry, thinking out loud. That device that... killed your Sergeant..." She took a moment to carefully formulate her question before speaking it. "Did it look like it was made out of something strange? Something you've never seen before?"

"Sir, we work with borrowed equipment from around the globe and I've never seen anything like that." Mike held out his arm and used his other paw to help illustrate his point. "It fit like a long glove, but just sort of melted and turned into a blade of some kind. And the metal or whatever it was... it glowed in a way that hurt my eyes. Reminded me of one of those hippie lights."

"Like a black light?"

Eve sat down and groaned on the ground. "I can't be sure since we didn't see it ourselves... but that sounds like a fir of some kind." She curled up into a ball and started to fade away, already overexerting herself after the previous day's damage. "Chleek had a few. I think he could make them, and something's nagging me about that idea... Like something important happened related to the Fiir."

"You're still not making sense, Eve..."

"Fir are... machines, basically. Tools, robots, you name it. Your father built them." Eve thought about the other word as she faded completely, but her surprise transferred to Carbon all the same. "And Chleek was your father. I can't believe I didn't remember that."

"Chleek..." Carbon looked up now that Eve had dissolved and refocused his questioning. "I think that weapon might lead us back to something important. Something big. Your meeting didn't happen at this guy's base, did it? He was stationed further back?"

"Aye, sir. We never made it deep enough to find the place, but we gathered solid intel from the locals." Mycroft stood up straight and looked right into the Major's eyes. "Why?"

"I want to find him." Carbon stood as tall as she could, even though she was still much shorted than the wolf. "I want to track him down and I want your squad to help."

"No way. I just got word that we're pulling out from the war after that failure in Laos a few days back."

"Well you can stay another week, right?--"

Mike took a step back towards his men and stressed his point. "I have orders. Besides, I doubt my men would volunteer to go up against that maniac again."

"You don't want vengeance?" The Major stepped right up against Mycroft and looked up into his eyes. "You don't want to do what's right?"

"Not for a curious pup like you, and definitely not when we've got a ticket home. Sorry, mate... We can't help you yanks any more."

"Oh, it's not for America. My superiors don't know about this. They think I'm out on medical for a few days." Carbon reached for her brass and pulled it from her uniform. "This is for me. And last I checked you ~owe~ me."

"Wait, you're going off the books for this? You mad?"

"I have found both freedom and safety in my madness; the freedom of loneliness and the safety from being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in us."

"What?"

"A quote--Khalill Gibran. It means you shouldn't always do as everyone expects you should, lest we get too comfortable for our own safety." Carbon stepped back and calmed her demeanor, hoping to bring along a friend rather than a soldier. "I have a feeling we'll all suffer worse than this war alone could dish out if we don't track this guy down. You don't need to come along if you really think that's best, but I would ask that you give us all of your information."

As Carbon started walking away Mycroft jogged over and stopped him. "You really think this is something serious, yeah?" He sighed and looked over to his team, his mind wracked with hard decisions. "Look... I haven't told them anything yet. They still think they're out here to fight, so..."

"If you could keep it that way for another day I'll have my choppers back in action." Carbon extended a paw that was gladly taken by the wolf for a shake. "I wouldn't have any other guys with me on this. Thank you, Mike."

"Where are we, Cheat?" Carbon pulled out of her seat and grumbled, her voicebox getting harder to control as her voice slowly dropped in tone throughout the day. "Umm... What's our ETA for that landing zone?"

Cheat checked a few instruments and then looked back to the Major. "Surprised you haven't asked earlier, sir. We're just about there... Twenty minutes maybe?"

"Thanks, Cheat." Carbon slumped back into his seat with a huff of air. "Okay, not long now. Everyone ready?"

"With seventeen guys not including us? Not sure I like the numbers."

Adrian nudged Mike and tried to cheer him up. "No complaining now, big guy. Have some faith in the little lass. She's a natural at this sort of thing."

"As flattering as that is, Mike does have a point. I wasn't expecting that many guys to desert us when we told them the details." Carbon slewed her head to the side and looked over the rest of the crew on her Chinook. "And the ones that are left are on edge. They might not perform quite as well like that."

"I'm sure they're up to the challenge." Mycroft looked over to his men as well and sighed. "Not sure about my boys though."

"We'll take it slow and let them get used to the situation." Carbon finished checking each of her men but found her eyes settling upon the fox seated across from her. "Hey, Johnny? You okay? You're not looking so great."

"Huh?" The doc shook his head quickly to wake himself up and then crumpled a piece of paper he was concentrated upon. "I'll be alright. I just got some bad news is all."

"Nothing too serious, is it? We're not in jeopardy?" The hybrid sat up and stared into her friend's eyes. "Come on. Share it with me."

"I don't... uh..."

"Johnny... Out with it. We don't hold secrets between us, right?"

The fox tucked another piece of paper into his jacket and then tossed the crumpled note to his CO. "Alice found another guy. She dumped me."

"Oh..."

Adri smiled at a thought. "A literal 'Dear John' letter, eh?"

"Not the time for joking!" Carbon shot Adri a harsh look and then walked to kneel next to Johnny and comfort him. "Look... I'm no expert on things like that. I do know you're a tough guy though. Alice was nice, but you two barely knew each other."

"Just... forget about it..."

"Just think of it from her perspective. She started something with you, but then you dropped off the radar." The otter sat on the bulkhead floor next to Johnny and leaned against his seat. "It's been what? Two, three months? Maybe she had a right to go looking for someone she could hold. Some people..." Carbon peeked over to Adrian for a moment and then ducked his head back. "...just can't stand being alone once they've felt something more."

"Carbon..." The doc took a deep breath and expelled it slowly through his snout. "I know what you're saying. I care about her too, and I'm happy for her. It just makes me feel like--"

Suddenly a large bout of turbulence sent the Major flying into the roof of the cabin, only to then slide across the floor back towards her seat. "Cheat!?" Carbon held onto her seat for dear life as the chopper continued to swerve and spin. "Status report!"

"Uh... No, drop the mix on the rear!..." The Chinook slowly eased out, but very noticeably lost a large sum of altitude through various intermittent drops. "Sorry, sir! We took a hit to an engine and--Just give me more power!--and we need to set her down!"

"Do what you nee--guh!" Carbon slammed her shoulder into the nearby wall but quickly regained her hold on her seat. "Goddess, just land this thing!"

Cheat slammed the master alarm switch and ceased the ever increasing wailing of warning sirens blasting from his control panels. However the silence didn't last long, the Chinook losing enough altitude for the forward rotors to slice through the canopies of trees to the right of the vessel. A pawful of seconds later the entire contents of the helicopter jerked upward and heaved forward with a sharp roar.

Then there was silence.

Carbon's eyes jerked wide open as one of Evelyn's snaps of pinching pain finally did the trick. "Fuck! Watch it, Eve!"

Evelyn pinned Carbon down so she remained snout-down in the dirt when she attempted to move. "Not so fast, Carbon. I can only check you from the inside. Let Johnny take a look before moving."

"Johnny? Wait..." Carbon overpowered Eve's muscle control and forced herself up by her arms to look around. "We crashed, didn't we? I need to check that everyone's--"

"They're fine, Carbon." Johnny eased his paw on the hybrid's back and she relaxed, allowing him to resume his medical inspection. "Cheat managed to set us down and you're pretty much the only one that took a beating. Those seat restraints come in handy for those that ~use them~, you know."

"Very funny. What's the damage?"

"To you? Ripped up patch of fur and a cut, plus that gunshot tore open again just a bit. Not too bad considering." Johnny tapped Carbon's mask then straightened his air hose. "You're still hooked up to the on-board air system. The portable unit got a tear so Adrian's working on that for you. Be careful until he's done."

"Yeah... So everything's really okay?"

"Hey, can someone get Cheat? Major wants an update on the repairs." The fox turned back to Carbon with a frown about his face. "I'm not entirely sure. My real concern are these..."

Carbon cringed as Johnny pulled up the back of her shirt and touched something extremely sensitive on her lower back. "Gah! The hell!?"

"Sorry! I didn't think it would hurt!"

"Hurt?" Carbon squirmed in place for a moment until the strong sensations subsided. "Ah... No, it wasn't just pain. It was... everything. Tingly, actually."

"Hmm... Well I've never seen anything like this before. Maybe they're due to all the sunlight you've been getting lately?"

"Wait, 'they'?" Carbon glared at Evelyn as she tried to look innocent. "Eve..."

"I told you I was holding things back, and that they would start to show when you changed back..."

"Glow-inTheDark freckles are one thing. What the hell are 'they'?"

"Queoo. Uh... What's the closest thing..." Eve pointed to the stem of a large leaf that had pulled free in the crash. "They're tendrils of sorts, sort of like vines. Right now they're still short and developing but a queo can get to a handful of meters..." She noticed her host wasn't interested in the details and forced a more concise description. "They're flesh though; they're actually the same composition as the tendrils that line your pelt already, your queii."

"More of that language..."

"Yangurraat."

"So ~anyway~... really big versions of them or something? Well, you picked the ~perfect timing~ to give them to me." Carbon rolled over carefully and sat herself upright, using a nearby tree trunk for support. "Why do they feel like that, anyway?"

"I can't choose when some changes will happen to us, Carbon. And those sensations? They're just foreign to the both of us. We've just never experienced these nerves before."

"Carbon?"

The otter shook her head and sighed at her new potential handicap for the near future. "Sorry. Eve has been holding back parts of me that make me different and those are some of them. They're just sensitive because the nerves are new or something."

"Mental remapping. That's a pretty typical thing for skin graft patients, actually." Johnny stood up and looked around, finding one of the other men he was tending until checking on Carbon. "It'll pass eventually. Stimulation is usually a good thing, too. Hey, need anything while I'm up? We have rations and water out."

"Tell the men to set up a perimeter if they haven't. Priority rests on getting us airborne again, and quickly."

"Mycroft took command when you went out. We're safe for now." The fox looked at his soldier, but started in the cockpit's direction after some thought. "I'll grab Cheat myself. Just rest while I find him."

Carbon leaned forward and played around with the fit of her mask. "So Johnny didn't spot anything big." She took the mask off for a moment and spun it a few times, taking some torque out of the stretched feed line so the mask wouldn't pull as much. "Haaah... Okay, time to fess up. What else are you holding back?"

Eve pouted and slumped to her knees in front of her host. "Not too much. Just more of the same, really. Um..."

"Eve, I won't be angry if you just tell me now. It's part of me, so I have to accept it sometime."

Evelyn donned her head and then fell over into Carbon's lap, speaking toward the ground. "The remaining queii should show up soon. They're supposed to... protect your orifices. Not sure how it works with you being part mammal though. Don't make me mock that image up."

"Well... Okay, then. We'll deal with them when they come." Carbon straightened up as she spotted Cheat heading over, but managed a quick smile for Evelyn before the professional image emerged. "If I can be myself and make things easier for you at the same time, I'll be damn happy whatever the outcome."

"Carbon..." The flower girl curled up tightly and gave her host's leg a light hug. "Thanks. Oh, and you... most ~definitely~ have a penis again."

Carbon perked up and her--no, his--paws went to cover his bulging crotch before Eve took control to simply cross his legs. "Um... Cheat! Hey, what's the, uh?... What's the situation?"

"Sir. Gad to see you're back in action." The dart frog sat down in front of his leader and similarly crossed his legs. He tossed over a canteen of water after taking a chug and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "Damage isn't too extensive. It's barely noticeable at all, honestly. A few singed cables and some heat expansion on the drive-train."

"Really? We lost control, didn't we? What hit us?"

"Now ~that's~ the question of the day. I just saw a big bloom of light fly past us and the rear engine locked up." Cheat pointed back to the rotors near their tilt disks and showed the difference between fore and aft. "She just looks like a fire broke out, but no hull damage. It's like we were shot with a fireball. Never seen anything like it."

Carbon looked to Eve but only got a shrug of her shoulders, her head still buried awkwardly in his lap. "Well I don't know what that was either, but I think it was our target firing it. Keep a lookout for strange things like that and stay clear. Okay?"

"Roger. Keep away from flying saucers."

"Closer to the truth than he knows," Eve giggled.

Carbon shook his head with a chuckle. "Well, just let me know when repairs will be done and try not to cut off my air system. My portable's being fixed."

"Check. Oh, and I've only got a handful of system checks left. Quick spray of ether cleaned out the engines and the rest just needed time to cool off and shrink." Cheat pressed back to his feet and stretched his arms a bit. "Give me ten and I'll begin test restarting the engines again. We'll be out of here in no time."

"You're a hell of an airman, Cheat." Carbon offered a paw, which the amphibian used to lift his leader to his hindpaws. "I'll gather the men and tell them to keep clear, just in case. The moment we're ready to fly, hit me up on the radio."

"We're continuing the mission, sir?"

"Not exactly, Cheat." Carbon smirked back his pilot and nudged his head towards the north. "Tonight, we get them back for charring your baby girl."

With a newfound hop in his step Cheat grinned and headed to finish his repairs. "Aye, sir!"