An Evertech Tale Chapter 7
#7 of An Evertech Tale
Trail 2 begins, what possible torture awaits the wolf this time...
** Trial Day...**
** ** Not another one... The feeling of having his balls stomped flashed through his mind. Months had passed since that first trial, he assumed, but even thinking of that sadistic otter made Splicer's balls lightly ache. The wolf whined, not having given up on finding a way to strip the cage off his sheath. No matter how much he pushed, pulled or proded it was like the cage was made for him... hell it most likely was. All the attention made a long drop of pre to form at his tip, but despite all this time, he's still never quite managed to get off, not yet at least. It was all his dreams were filled with, but he couldn't dwell long, if he had to put up with more badger bullshit, he'd need to eat first.
He went to the strange machine that was the only source of his food and pushed some buttons for what he wanted, but nothing came out. He was expecting something big and filling, with extra coffee but with a whir the machine dropped out two granola bars and the only liquid that flowed into his dish was water.
"Come on" The wolf complained to the corner, "Today?"
Cook's out puppy, sorry!
** ** So there was someone actually cooking his food, he figured there must have been some sort of weird 3D printer food going on knowing this company. Evertech... How deep were they? How many puppet companies did they own to make all the stuff here possible? This was beyond futuristic; this was pure science fiction! The wolf brought his fingers to his throat trying to feel the rhythmic pulsing of his heart pushing blood through his body, but it was always the same mechanical whirring in his veins. He grumbled as he chewed down the dry granola and washed it down with the water. He lined up in front of the elevator, foot tapping impatiently. This one wasn't going to go like the last time, he'd be ready for whatever would be coming his way. The door open, he stepped in, waiting...
The lobby? Figured it'd be an office like last time... He stepped to the front doors and pulled on them, just to make sure. Still no.
"Worth a shot..." Splicer sighed, before walking towards the only other option, the garden. He opened the door and took a deep breath, he loved this smell, was the closest he could get to freedom. But the timer in the corner of his field of view started ticking down.
30 minutes
Seems like a long time, but what was he even supposed to be doing here he wondered, there was no objective he could see. His lips curled into a nervous smile; he'd just have to up his guard. He headed towards the wooded section, the layout of the whole area was mapped out in his head, he had walked this ground many times prior. Along side the general office work he had been forced to do, he was given the occasional day of respite, well maybe that wasn't the word, more like back breaking manual labour. But still, it allowed him an outlet to burn off some of the physical energy he had built up, it didn't matter how much mulch he had to move or new plots he had to dig, it was heaven to his mind. But right now, he had no time to let his mind wander, he traced a paw along the smooth bark of a birch tree. He scanned the tree line trying to see any movement, he didn't like the idea of entering an area with so many points of contact, but it was better than standing out in the open among the flowers. Besides, knowing Laguna, if he even messed up a single flower it would be added to his total debt he owed, and he didn't want to owe that asshole another cent.
THWINK
** ** Damn it, he got lost in his anger for a moment. He felt a breeze swoop by his neck and right between his fingers, in the birch, was a dart of sorts. He jumped behind the tree and looked in the direction the dart came from, all the wolf caught, was a glimpse of a gold stripe disappearing into the tree line. He pulled the dart from the tree and turned it over in his paw, pay attention was etched into the plastic.
"Firing warning shots won't help you catch me you cocky bastard!" The wolf called after the strange gold stripe. Annoyed at the idea he was just being played with again. "What is up with these guys? It's like no one takes me seriously..."
He cracked the syringe open, getting a drop on his tongue. The area it touched instantly turned ice cold and became numb. Tranquilizers... Strong ones. He kept his vision trained on where he last saw his assailant and slipped deeper into the woods himself. Time was half up, all he had to do was keep his head on a swivel and he'd be fine. He could do this!
SCHLIK
** ** The wolf didn't see it, but he felt it, the impact hit his left shoulder leaving his entire left arm dropping to his side swinging, dead. His right paw shot to his shoulder and ripped the syringe out and threw it to the ground, the only direction the shot could have come from. He looked up in surprise, there it was. A scowling latte brown skunk was sitting on the branch above his tree, when could he have gotten there? The skunk's tail had a golden stripe running down the middle that matched the one running down his chest.
"Really you're the newest pick up? Guess sir likes to pick up any stray he sees now, no quality..." The skunk was muttering to himself, or maybe he was talking to the wolf? Splicer wasn't sure, either way, he didn't plan on sticking around to find out. He cradled his dead arm with the other as he spun around the other side of the trunk, breaking the skunk's line of sight and cutting in and out of trees. The skunk was almost taken aback.
"One wasn't enough? Hm, alright I guess I could give you a two-minute head start at least... might make it a little interesting at least." The skunk sat on the branch, watching the wolf's frantic zig zagging into the woods. Spinning the gun he had on a finger, he started to count the seconds in his head, timing it with each rotation around his finger.
Splicer was panting, why was it every time he was doing one of these trials it seems like the infinite stamina he had outside of them ebbed away. Must be part of what they're testing or something, he figured. Making his decision he wanted to wait behind a relatively large tree to catch his breath for a minute or two. He could allow himself to relax for a minute at least...
The skunk had been tracking the wolf's pawprints, their panic had caused them to make larger impressions than if they had stayed calm and covered their tracks. He crept up to the tree where the tracks stopped, held his breath before wide swinging around and point his gun at the wolf around the trunk...
Rather he would have, but the wolf wasn't around the trunk, nothing was. The fur on the back of his neck stood up.
"Looking for someone?" Splicer growled out from behind, the skunk spun around with the gun still out, he went to point it at the wolf, but it was too late. Splicer was waiting for that moment, he used the momentum of the swing to hit the skunk's wrist with his good arm, the gun clattered to the ground.
"Not bad, backtracked over old tracks?" The skunk rubbed his wrist and looked the wolf down and up, letting out a chuckle. "Nice cage, gift from Vay?"
"I don't care about you, I don't care about Vay and I especially don't give a fuck about that smug ass badger!" Splicer was done talking, his lips curled into a growl ready for the skunk's next move.
The skunk was done talking too, his once playful expression had changed to one of no emotion, masking the intense furry that caused all his fur to bristle, He didn't care what the wolf said about him or Vay, but the disrespect to his owner was unacceptable. He was prepared to take the wolf out, he made the first move, feigning for the right side of the wolf he swapped last second and hit the wolf's left shoulder with an open palm spinning the wolf around. He stopped the wolf mid spin and threw him to the ground.
Splicer was seeing stars, what just happened to him? One second he was staring the skunk down, the next second he was staring at the sky up above. The skunk returned to his field of view towering above him, eyes burning.
"apologize, now!" The skunk's voice was cold, but underneath the wolf could feel the venom. He smiled, crawled to his hands and knees, and spat on the skunk's paw. "Pity..."
The skunk raised the gun, pulled the trigger until the gun wouldn't fire anymore, Splicer's body went limp, he felt a paw kicking him back to his back. The gun hit the ground again, multiple syringes were sticking out of the wolf's chest now, drawing a smiley face.
The skunk sighed, pulling that trigger relieved a bit of the fury he had felt. He gripped the wolf from under the shoulders and drug him over to the tree allowing him to sit against the rough bark.
"Lucky for you that gun wasn't loaded with real bullets... Just kidding, I'd never hurt someone marked by sir as a new pet, my name's Aurich by the way, I'm the sir's personal chef. I suppose in a way I'm yours too... Although I'd never let my food grace a bratty pet like you, but orders are orders..." The gold striped skunk sat down letting the words sink into the paralyzed wolf.
"Ha... So that's why... I didn't get breakfast today..." The wolf could still speak, just barely managing to get the words to come from his tingling maw. He wasn't quite fond of the skunk, but he had grown quite attached to the food the skunk provided. It provided some form of normalcy and comfort, even if he ate it out of dog dishes.
"Still have quite the mouth on you I see, I'm almost curious to see how long that'll last..." Aurich absentmindedly mused as he set about pulling all the syringes from the wolf's body, each one eliciting a twitch from the wolf's finger. "How the fuck are you still even conscious?"
"Dunno... maybe the bots in me? Probably my determination to get out of here though..."
"Why would you ever want to leave sir Laguna?"
"Because... I have my own plans... and being someone's plaything... is about on the bottom of my list."
"Well that's unlucky for you because once you're marked you have no choice, if you want my opinion though, you stumbled into a jackpot. Not today though, you failed, hard. Ten minutes? Were you even trying?"
Splicer groaned forgetting about the trial at hand, Aurich had finished removing all the needles and was currently drawing lines in the wolf's chest fur leaving tingling lines all along his numb body. He wanted to squirm and get away from the skunk but most of his body wasn't responding. He could make a fist but that was about it, better than nothing, he clenched it tight.
"Well... if this isn't a cute scene, are my pet's getting along?" The familiar voice of Laguna came from just out of the wolf's vision. Aurich shot to his feet and bowed.
"Laguna! Sir! Yes we're getting along great... I was just trying to teach him a little respect is all"
"Brown noser..." Splicer managed to wheeze out between weak chuckles, right before he felt a hand slap across his jaw, knocking him from the sitting position he was in. He barely even felt it due to the tranquilizer, but as he drooled on the ground, he knew by the speed and sound that he'd be feeling it when it wore off.
"Aurich! That's enough, you've already won... don't go around letting that puppy get under your fur with a few words. You need to give him time to adjust to this all still." Laguna chided from out of view.
"Yes sir! Sorry sir! I just, what do you see in him exactly, he doesn't, look like any fun at all?" Aurich was rubbing the back of his head, maybe he had overreacted a bit.
"I mean, a few of his investigations were getting too close to digging up some connections we needed to keep buried, we had to silence him one way or another. Plus, I couldn't let a cute puppy face go to waste like that!"
Splicer couldn't see the badger beaming but he knew from that tone of voice he was smiling, the thought made him grit his teeth and clench his fist.
"F-fuck... you" It took all his strength to stammer that out, Aurich was about to kick the wolf, when Laguna shook his head no. He was enraptured by the wolf's fire. Splicer had flipped himself onto his stomach and pressed his clenched fists against the ground, using them to wedge his numb body to his knees. Then he grimaced hard, putting a palm to the tree, using that to prop his body up before taking shaking limps forward, trudging down the path back to the building.
He knew he lost, again.
He knew he had to take it off the chin, again.
It was time to retreat to his room, again.
Lick his wounded pride, again.
He just wanted to get back, add a new notch to his table and rest his body, prepare it for whatever the next round of torture would be. He didn't turn back to look at the two furs staring at him limping down the path pathetically.
"How is he?" Aurich asked in awe.
"I'm, not entirely sure?" Laguna seemed baffled as well, he looked down at the tablet he was holding monitoring the wolf's nanite and vital activity. "I mean it is the newest nanite line, but even they couldn't neutralize all that tranquilizer... I need to get a doctor or something to examine his body..."
"Whatever, still nothing special to me..." Aurich didn't like hearing Laguna praising the wolf instead of him, didn't he do a good job tracking him down and catching him?
"Can't you just accept him for what he is? In any case you can't change my mind~" Laguna sighed, before he got an idea, shouting down the path to the retreating wolf.
"OOOOOOOOOH PUPPY! Don't get too comfy back in your room, your day isn't done yet~"
Splicer sneered, coughing up his resentment, spitting it out on the path beside him.
Great, just lovely...