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Chapter Sixteen

"The Big Fix"

By

Furry Sith Lord

The semester must have flew by because we were nearing the wend when I and the team Oziah assign me were finished with the machine. We were able to build it but unable to power it because it would start up then instantly die as the energy sent into it was rapidly used up.

I had been working on different solutions and even though Justin called me daily, we were not able to solve the problem. Justin kept his word and called every chance he got. We spoke about many things and I kept him updated on his favorite show. I had been listening to it to keep a conversation with Justin. I later learned that he fell asleep during the shows and had to be told everything that happened.

He is definitely a fill in for Lyon and even though Justin is older than me I still feel like he's a little brother. I do not think he has many friends so our friendship means the world to him. Not to mention to me also because like him not to many are like me here. I think I prefer my time period where my father helped clear rare white fur species so we are not viewed as the bad guys anymore.

Oziah seemed annoyed by my being on the phone a lot. He was increasingly agitated about Lou and I was not sure why. Oziah complained that my father could not call him because Justin and I had blocked up the phone lines with our talking.

My tummy felt strange as I realized that species might not sell their children that have rare white as slaves anymore. It made me think about my adults and how they had sold me. I suddenly wondered if they ever regretted it and if I was even thought of.

I vaguely remember I had litter mates and I kinda remember a brother that was a show off. I'd never recognize them if I bumped into them now. I wondered if they even remembered me. It was so long ago that they probably forgot about me.

"Here's where the device keeps shorting out." The foreman of the team said as he called me over. He was a billy goat and I don't remember ever seeing him before but by the time I'm alive he was probably retired, if he is still alive.

"Watch closely we sent the electricity throughout the main circuit." He said as he flipped a switch and I saw a small bit of electricity running through the wires fed to one of the amplification devices. "Now it comes out here and gets shot off into the air to... what's the word? Evaporate?? As best I can describe it." He explained as I watched it happen. It did not evaporate per say, it was shot outward and disappeared as it was used up by the force moving it outward.

"The energy is supposed gto go towards the center of the device making a kind of spider's web design as the energy if amplified. So how come it's not hitting the center?" I asked.

"Lightning is unpredictable. As soon as it leaves the tip of the bolt you have around the rim there is nothing to direct it. That's the major flaw in this design." He replied.

"So how could I direct it?"

"That's beyond my expertise. I just build the things it's up to you to get them working correctly by designing them to work." he replied. I shook my head as I walked away. I would have to talk to Justin about ways to make electricity follow certain paths rather than shouting out in different directions.

I bumped into someone and quickly took a step back then looked up to apologize. I saw Oziah standing in front of me.

"Excuse me....sir." I replied and he looked down at me and smiled as he adjusted his glasses.

"Rushing off to talk to your little friend again?" He asked. His voice held a touch of annoyance but he smiled and I felt my ears lower. I honestly could not tell if he was angry or not.

"We're having trouble with the machine and I'm going to try and do some research. It may involve talking to Justin if I can't find what I'm looking for in the library." I explained.

"Come with me," he said softly to me then directed his remarks to the workers in the warehouse. "Good job everyone, keep up the good work."

He led me out and we walked back towards his limo. He remained silent until we arrived home and he led me to his office. I was told to sit before he picked up a letter and read it silently. I sat patiently waiting to find out what was wrong.

"I received an important letter from my son. He tells me the reason why he has not been in contact is because he met someone. Someone he thinks he's in love with. He did not mention anything else. Is this the one he's going to marry? The wolf boy you mentioned?" Oziah asked me.

"If it's Leggo, then yes! Leggo will marry my... your son and become my dad." I answered.

"I'm going to the school because I want to talk about this to my son... your father. I figured you might wanna come along to speak to your little friend while we're at it." Oziah said and I wanted to jump for joy. I had been wanting to get away from all this. Plus it let me talk to Justin about my problems.

I loaded Jusin's device into the limo and we drove off towards the school. I was grateful that it was only a 4 hour drive away. Once we arrived I was feeling ill again and needed to use the machine to recharge. This was rapidly becoming a problem because I was starting to need this on a daily basis.

Today was the second time I needed a recharge in one day and I felt myself weakening more and more. I had stopped eating regular food and no longer wet to the bathroom. I had also stopped sleeping because I no longer felt tired. When my body began to drain of energy I would feel my mind getting hazy and tired like I was ready to sleep. Then a quick recharge and I would be wide awake again.

"I was afraid of this. You are losing molecular cohesion because although you keep recharging the energy isn't actually becoming your body it just fills the void." Justin explained.

"We're running out of time and there's no telling how much longer I can last. I needed to recharge twice today. It seems I'm starting to rapidly need recharges to stay whole." I explained.

"What's left on the machine?" Justin asked as he panicked.

"Everything is built but the energy in the sphere's are randomly being shot out in different directions. I need a way to focus the output to open the mini black holes and magnify the energy output. Once we fix that the machine will work 100%." I said.

"We could coat the tips of the receivers with rubber to absorb the lightning." Justin said.

"I thought of that but the energy will heat up the rubber and eventually melt causing the machine to short circuit. If the machine is on there is no safe way to recoat the tips with rubber when it melts." I explained.

"That's the problem with electricity, it's not controllable! To get from one point to another we'd need wires the energy could travel on. The metal would become hot and melt just like the rubber though it might take a little longer depending on the thickness of it." Justin replied.

Oziah knocked on the dorm door that housed his son and his roommates. A young deer opened the door and he was only in his underwear. He blushed as Oziah walked in without saying anything. He was known to them because of who Lou was.

The main living area had all three of Lou's roommates sitting on the floor with a pile of clothes in the center of their card game. There were two of them only in their underwear while the third had been stripped down to his pelt.

Oziah grunted as he saw them knowing that they were playing strip poker. He was just surprised that they were playing with each other and not with some females present.

"We're... we're practicing. We're gonna play tonight with some ladies and... we don't want to look foolish." The young man said as if he had read Oziah's thoughts. Oziah glared at him for speaking when he was not spoken to.

This made the young fawn blush and Oziah reached out and gently grabbed his face and adjusted it so that he could see how large his antlers were. He was a year or two younger than Lou and he was still a boy trying to be a man. Still too young to know what the real world was like and how he was focusing on the wrong things.

Oziah asked which room his son was in and the young fawn pointed. Oziah released him and knocked on his son's room.

"Enter!" he heard his son shout and he slowly opened the door. He was glad his son was busy studying at a desk fully clothed instead of playing a juvenile game. Lou jumped up

"Sir! I wasn't expecting you." Lou replied nervously.

"Nor your roommates it seems." Lou blushed as if he had been caught playing their juvenile game. This brought a smirk to Oziah's face. He was not completely ignorant of boys and their needs. He was just glad that his son was not the type to just go along with the crowd.

Lou sniffed dismissively and this made Oziah even happier because it definitely showed a new level of maturity he had not seen before.

"I received your letter and felt that we need a heart to heart. I am pleased that you have found someone that you love." Oziah said.

"Are you ashamed of that... I like boys and not girls? Are you disappointed that I may never give you a grandson?" Lou said as he looked at his feet. Oziah walked over and sat on the bed and pulled Lou to make him sit next to him.

"No... Not at all. I'm more concerned with what makes you happy. Eastwood was telling me that he knew you liked... other boys. I was startled at first because I realized there was much about you I had not learned. You're growing up and I've been trying to train you to become the new head of my company that I had neglected my duties as your father. For that I apologize." Oziah said firmly yet softly at the same time. He never seemed to let his guard down but he could show a tender aside when needed. This was something Lou was not familiar with.

"He did? How did he know? Even when he mentioned it I had been struggling to accept that it was true."

"There is a long story behind all this, one I will share in time. I just want you to realize that he is not the monster you seem to make him out to be." Oziah said as he put his hoof on Lou's knee.

"I'm realizing how wrong I've been... about a lot of things."

"I have yet to meet the perfect fur... though some come close." Oziah replied with a twinkle in his eye. Lou looked down as he was blushing again.

"Would you like to meet my boyfriend?" Lou asked.

"Another time perhaps. I want today to just be about us and getting to know each other better than we have in the past." Oziah said. The twinkle was now in Lou's eyes as he seemed to be tearing up.

Lou wiped his eyes as Oziah rose and asked Lou to join him for something to eat. Lou grabbed his wallet and anything else he might need.

"Good news about your garden by the...." Oziah was saying as they walked into the livi ng room and they saw one of the roommates standing and he bent over as he was removing his white briefs. The fawn suddenly froze and looked embarrassed as Oziah gawked at him. The other fawn averted their eyes and they seemed to wait for Oziah to berate them.

"I'm taking my son to lunch. Shall I make the three of you join us dressed exactly as you are? You think anyone would want to see you fools dressed... like that?!" Oziah asked. His voice seemed calm but carried the note of outrage. The boys blushed and began to beg not to be humiliated like that.

"Well be back in one hour and you three had better be dressed when I return or all three of you will go for a walk on campus with us and you will only be dressed in your pelts.... UNDERSTOOD?!!" Oziah retorted and shouted the last bit. The boys fell over thanking him and promising that they would never play strip poker again. Lou pointed to the pile of clothes and they scrambled to get dressed as Oziah and Lou walked out. They chuckled together in the hallway.

Justin and I made our way towards the school library to see what we could read about lightning. I stopped as I heard a familiar voice calling out to me. We turned and saw Leggo running towards us at top speed.

"I thought that was you," he replied as he caught his breath.

"It's good to see you!" I replied. "I heard it from his father but it seems Lou is dating someone. Seems very serious from what I'm told." I said knowing the full story but pretending I didn't in case they still chose not to make it publicly known yet. I saw a big smile on Leggo's maw and that they had been together for the first time.

It has been my experience that when couples first mount each other they grin foolishly for days, kinda giving it away that they had slept together. The first time Ben and I had made love we were the same way. We still weren't sure if we like mounting each other in the traditional way and had been looking for alternatives.

We were a mess the first time because we fumbled trying to get used to feline condoms and we had no idea about properly cleaning each other out before intercourse. Dad had to explain it to us when he overheard a conversation Ben and I had about how dirty it was.

Made me angry that there was not a proper health class dedicated to understanding how boys make love to other boys. They briefly mentioned that some boys were attracted and made love with other boys, and girls with girls for that matter, but they skipped the details.

Another detail I was not fond of was having the relationships described as boys liking other boys. I would have preferred to be called an adult for doing it. This was a problem because my reasoning was who am I to go against the culture and the bits I don't agree with.

Rare white furs like myself are just starting to get accepted in our society. There is peace, a fragile peace, but peace nonetheless. I had to think of the big picture before trying to change things to suit the way I want them to be. Maybe if I could find enough species to support my ideas then we can change things for the better.

"You think? That would be nice but I'm afraid I've never known him to have long term relationships." Leggo said as he scratched the back of his head.

"I think he just hasn't found the right person yet. I'm sure that when the right person comes along all that will change." I replied and Leggo still seemed unsure but he let out a small sigh of relief.

"What can you tell me about this special someone?" I asked knowing that he was talking about my father. I was more curious about what he had to say.

"Well... He's someone that I never thought would ever notice me. He seems so much higher and more sophisticated than I am. He's never liked me before but there was just something in his kiss.... I can't explain it but it felt like it was just meant to be." Leggo said. I was smiling foolishly because I already knew that it was destiny that they spend the rest of their lives together. It suddenly made me realize that my father was going to be murdered by the hairless apes when they are rediscovered in the future!

"Leggo, can I ask you something?" I asked sheepishly.

"What's up?" He replied.

"Suppose you know something. Like someone is going off to a dangerous place and you want to stop them so they don't get hurt. The problem is that they hate your guts and won't listen to you. How can I convince them to be careful?" I asked as I felt my ears lower. The thought that my father hated me was still unsettling.

"Have you tried asking someone that they care about to warn them of the danger? It doesn't have to be you exactly, does it? Just as long as they're convinced it's dangerous and don't do it, that's all that matters, right?" Leggo asked.

"Yeah, I just never thought of it that way. It makes sense. That just leaves one more problem." I said as I thought it over trying to find a way that someone, like Leggo, could explain. How could I convince him to warn my father not to run alone into the hairless ape village because they will kill him in the future?

"What if it was happening in the future? Like a long time into the future?" I asked.

"What?! Like years into the future?" Leggo asked.

"Yeah," I said weakly because I knew how I sounded.

"What about sending him a letter? Let's just assume you know the future somehow. If you tell them now about it they'll either forget or dismiss what you say as nonsense. Send them a letter explaining what they are going to do right before it happens and they'll remember what you said." Leggo explained.

"Sometimes you have to put aside your pride for the greater good. I'm right no matter what kind of attitude can hurt others that are not part of what upset you." I quoted and Leggo looked at me.

"Wow, who said that?"

"It was something my dad told me about. He said he learned that he needed to be more flexible for his family instead of letting his pride get the better of him. Sounds like what you are saying to me.... in a way." I said. Of course he was going to tell me this in the future when I asked why he gave Uncle Jon a second chance with us.

From what I remember being told Uncle Jon and him are going to have a falling out soon and they'll stop speaking until my father calls up Uncle Jon to be our tutors. Of course Uncle Jon will try to kill us, but that's another story. I'm just glad they set aside their differences and we all became a family in the end. I wanted to tell my dad these words to help him on his own journey until he meets us for the first time.

"We gotta hurry or the library will close." Justin said, trying to move us along. I had forgotten that he was there listening to all this. Leggo smiled and walked off but my tummy was bothering me again as I suddenly felt weak again.

"I don't think I can make it to the library," I said as I fell to the ground. I had a shoulder becoming translucent as well as my knees.

"Ut oh, when was the last time you recharged?" Justin asked with his voice full of panic.

"When we arrived here." I had to force myself to talk with my mind feeling numb inside.

"That wasn't that long ago! You shouldn't need a rechard now!" Justin said.

"What's going on guys?" I heard Oziah say and he and Lou approached us. I was feeling indifferent as Justin began to explain that I was ill and needed my 'medicine.' Oziah understood while my father was still clueless that I was a time traveler.

I felt myself being lifted by a strong pair of arms and was vaguely aware that someone was running with me to get me to Justin's dorn where we left the recharge machine. We were moving fast but none of that mattered to me. I was just groggy and started thinking about things and how things would unfold in the future. Remembering what it was like from where I was from.

I stopped looking through my eyes but eventually I felt some wires put into my mouth and I began to suck on the electricity flowing through them.

"How's he doing?" Oziah asked Justin.

"He's not doing too well. He's taking in the energy but it is having no effect on him or very little that it appears as if nothing is happening." Justin replied and his tongue stuck out in annoyance as he tasted the air. He looked about ready to cry and Lou leaned in to watch the white tiger as parts of him seemed translucent.

"What's going on?" Lou asked dumbfounded by what he was seeing.

"It's a long story," Oziah remarked.

"I'm all ears. I hope the explanation explains the things I've just seen." Lou Replied.

"Do you remember the day that we found Eastwood on our lawn?" Oziah asked and Lou nodded. "There was a reason for that. In the future," Oziah started.

"Wait, the future? Like the future; future? Set years from now at a point we have not reached yet?" Lou interrupted incredulously.

"Essentially, yes. He was taken by one of his parents to their job and an accident happened that seems to have sent him back to our present time. We first thought he had amnesia because of how confused he was about what was happening.

He explained to me that there was a machine that we were going to build that was the source of his time travel. A machine that our company built! I was skeptical at first but he intrigued me because he seemed to know things that he could not unless he was a time traveler.

What really proved it was that I brought him to the vet to get checked up and they could not draw any blood from him. It was like his body wasn't real....

Your friend Justin figured it out! The accident seemed to create a duplicate made of pure energy. That was how he was sent through time. The real Eastwood is in the future but there is something we are not sure of. That being, is he an identical clone or was some part, like his consciousness, transferred with him? We've been trying to build the machine to see if we can send him back and hopefully be united with his real body." Oziah explained and saw the cold hard look Lou was giving him.

"That explains your fascination with him. Was he picked to be a test subject because he's a rare white fur species? Or was he turned that way because of the accident?" Lou asked.

"I'm not completely sure but it seems that he was always like that."

"He's made of pure energy,'' you said. So I'm guessing that his body is breaking down because he's running out of the energy that created him?" Lou asked.

"Yes. We've tried recharging him but that no longer seems to be working. The machine is not finished so we have no way to try and send him home. He may be lost forever." Oziah said as panic touched his voice.

"Do we know who his parents are?" Lou asked.

"Yes... or rather we know who his parents will be. They are very important to our business in the future."

"Why even bother with this time traveling machine? Couldn't our resources be better used?" Lou asked coldly.

"This machine will create an almost unlimited source of energy. With that kind of power think of what we could do. Create spaceships to travel the stars."

"Like Furry Trek?!!!!" Lou asked . Oziah smiled suddenly remembering that that was his son's favorite show.

"The time travel was an unfortunate side effect of the accident." Oziah said and Lou began to pace as he thought.

"Yes, that happened on the show a few times. Starships can be tricky like that."

"Lou, focus! We need to deal with Eastwood. He's dying!" Oziah said, trying to get Lou to focus on something other than the television show.

"Guys!" Justin shouted as he ran into the room. "It's Eastwood!!!"

To Be Continued...