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It had been about a week since the suiting transpired. Some of the aftershocks of the event had ceased and the town had begun to get used to the idea that Erik was going to be there as a much more permanent fixture, but despite that, some people looked upon Kelsey with an odder gaze. Even with the public explanation of why she recognized him, she still chose to spend her life with some other species, and that was weird to many others. Still, she was a part of the town, and it was permitted to do this. Following his spectacular defeat in the ring, Colton eventually woke up. Dismayed to hear that not only did Erik survive the bout, but won, married her and mated with her before he even got out of bed, he also now had the dubious honor of having been forever crippled in one of the only recorded human attacks ever. His lung capacity was never going to be the same, and his chest was stiff as the muscles learned to move around scar tissue. The last scar, a long slash from the back of his left eat down his back, was still itchy as it healed. Following his recovery in Goldenmere, he set out to return home to Bensonville, disgraced.

Along the highway north of the town, he plodded along, groaning while his claws clacked on the road. It was the most direct path between the two towns, and while it was expedient to use it, he was still a bit slow on his feet. Few travelers were out at the moment, it was still early in the morning. His rugged outdoors clothing helped cover over his shameful wounds, were anyone to pass by and see them.

“Can't believe that little shit upstaged me. Been after her for so long, and he just walks in..." He grumbled to himself. He simply hadn't been able to let the event go. He had relived it again and again in his head. “Fucking human scum." His eye twitched and he grit his teeth. “And her... she betrayed me. We were supposed to be together."

Fate, it seemed, had a funny way of manifesting these days, and today would be no exception, as an opportunity presented itself to Colton. Cresting over the hill ahead of him was a human, clad in a grey trenchcoat, matching everything else he wore. Colton froze in position as he saw it.

“A... human. It's not him, is it?" He focused, as the figure saw Colton as well, also stopping. “No. It's another one..." He bore his teeth and ran towards the man on the road, as fast as his damaged body would allow him, who raised his hands in surrender as he saw Colton barreling up to him. He stopped short of the man, seeing his gesture of surrender. “Human! The Wildlands are not for your kind!"

“I mean you no harm, Wildlands citizen." The man remained stoic and calm, even when faced with certain death. “May I show you my badge?"

“...Badge?" Colton furrowed his brow, not lowering his claws. What an odd request. He nodded slightly, but kept his eyes on the man.

The man lowered his arms and reached into his breast pocket, retrieving a plastic protector, opening it to show his credentials. A golden symbol emblazoned on the top half, with a printed identification card in the bottom. “I am Acquisitions Agent 242, and I am only here seeking a human renegade. He escaped into the Wildlands a few weeks ago. He's considered to be a dangerous fugitive." He explained.

Colton stared at the man with bewilderment. No way could that be Erik. He broke the spell he was under for a brief moment to continue talking. “... Another human, you say?"

He tucked the badge away. “Yes, perhaps you've heard anything about him? He likes to call himself Erik Barnes."

It was an odd way to phrase it, but Colton narrowed his eyes, getting the gist of it. “Erik... is not even his name?"

The man perked up. “You do know him, then?"

“Yeah. I'm all too familiar with him."

“I must make the arrest. Take me to him. Then I will leave the Wildlands to their own devices."

Colton's face twisted into a knowing smirk. Never before had something fallen together this well. “Fine. I'll take you to him. I know right where he is."

Colton knew this was his chance to exact his revenge for Erik nearly slaying him in the arena and taking Kelsey away from him. He had to jump on it while it was available. So he led this stranger backwards on his path, back to Goldenmere. They spoke as they began to exit the forest near the town.

“So you said he's a fugitive, eh? What'd he do?"

“Besides violate the Wildlands Protocol by leaving his designated city, he removed his chip, and refused punishment for losing all of his social credit. In fact, he was in the negative when he escaped. That's credit he owes to the Emperors."

This explanation didn't make much sense to him, but he nodded. “What a jerk." Looking ahead, the town became visible. “There's the town he's hiding in. Fair warning, they're not going to like you there."

“I'm sure you'll explain to them that I'm hunting a fugitive, yes?" AA242 reminded him.

“Of course." They were silent for a moment as they walked. “What are you going to do when you find him?"

“Well, of course, he will be taken into custody. He will need to be returned to the city immediately." He explained. Colton nodded, happy knowing Erik would be removed. “... And, if he's found to have corrupted this location with his presence, the corruption will need to be erased."

A sudden spark hit his mind. “What do you mean?"

“Humans are not permitted in the Wildlands except when under permission from the Emperors, such as myself. To do so is to spread unchecked ideas like a disease into the lands. If the denizens he has interacted with are found to carry his ideas or acceptance, they will need to be culled to prevent further contamination. I am licensed to do so if I must."

Colton's eyes opened and ears flattened, his pride and ego suddenly deflated as he heard AA242's explanation. He wasn't just planning on grabbing Erik and leaving, he was planning on killing anyone around Erik, too. The townspeople had accepted Erik. Kelsey had married Erik. He made a grievous error by bringing this guy here. He had to stop this before the would-be assailant got to town.

“I see. Well, we're all capable of killing in the Wildlands." Colton muttered, then immediately lunged at his new enemy. Claws in the back took him by surprise, as he bit deeply into AA242's left arm, gnashing hard and tearing part of it away from the body. The chunk of his arm where the chip was had been ripped out. His claws worked up the back, as he moved to the neck. As he did so, AA242's right hand suddenly became armed. As if by magic - but actually by wonder of technology in his glove - a blue, hardlight bladed weapon appeared, similar to a katar, and he spun with the force of the tear to slash across the right side of Colton's chest. Colton dropped to the ground with a heavy thud as AA242 backed off, looking at his bleeding left arm in panic. He ran the laser blade across the wound to try to seal it, the weapon slowly cauterizing it, and caught his breath while he looked to Colton, unmoving in the grasses.

“Curses... aggression, duplicity, knowledge of the chip's location. It seems he's spread his ways already." His weapon vanished back into his glove, and he continued walking, without his precious chip, to the town. “Even if he was lying, now I'll still need to investigate this settlement for a new lead."

Approaching the town proper, a squirrel approached him, armed with a spear, a jagged chunk of steel wrapped on the end of it.

“You there, human! What are you doing in the Wildlands, so far from your hive?"

He offered a kindly nod as if he hadn't just been mauled a few minutes ago, and flashed his badge. “Acquisitions Agent 242, I'm seeking a dangerous fugitive, a human. I have reason to believe he may be hiding in this town."

“Go away."

“I hear you have him. Erik Barnes, take me to him."

The squirrel glared at AA242 as some other villagers took notice and began to congregate. “You don't belong here. Leave now, go back to your hive." It prepared the spear for the possibility of a fight.

AA242 shook his head and stiffened his remaining arm, also preparing for the possibility of a fight. “I am authorized to be here, by will of the Emperors, and to acquire this target. You will comply."

“I will not. Your Emperors have no jurisdiction here." The squirrel protested, steadfast in his duty. He took a step forward, ready to fight.

Just as things were about to come to blows, a voice from the crowd blurted out. “He's on the farm in the east." A rabble broke out among them, and, “What? There's too many humans around here." was finally heard from the commotion.

AA242 nodded again,dropped his aggressive preparation, and headed off towards the east, through the pathways in the town, the crowd following him and not letting him out of their sights, collecting more and more followers as he traveled.

It was another nice August day on the farm as Erik continued to work as he was before. The harvest was only a month or two away, and many things still needed to be done. As he picked more peas in the hot sun, Kelsey, Shirley and Will watched from the house. Kerry was in the chicken run, tending to the chickens, collecting the odd egg left laying about.

“Isn't he great? Even after all that's happened, he's still just working the farm, like nothing has changed." Kelsey sighed, dreamily, staring down at him working the field.

“Got to hand it to him, he's responsible. I think we're going to have a good harvest this year. Maybe you did make the right choice after all." Will looked to her with a sideways glance, her returning it with a smirk.

“I know I did. I've never felt like this before, not even close." She smiled, not taking her eyes off of him. “Do you feel bad being mean to him?"

Will waved off the question. “Nope. I was just testing him, and making sure to harden him up. It's a guy thing, dear."

She hummed. “A guy thing, huh?"

“Yeah. I don't do it much to the boys because they're still too young. But soon..." He chuckled. “So, you two ever think about getting your own place?"

“We haven't talked about it yet, but I was thinking about it recently. I'm sure there's something nearby we can work on making livable." She shrugged. “You know he's been talking about becoming a teacher?"

“A teacher? That's a good idea, I think."

“Yeah. He knows so much, I can't think of anyone better for such a job."

Kerry stopped working slowly and looked to the entrance of the farm, as Shirley took note and followed suit. The others did too. “What's that?"

A large portion of the town followed the agent in grey as he walked into the farm with impunity. The family came down the stairs, and Kerry left the enclosure, to go see what was going on.

“What's that? A human?" Erik began to take notice finally, the crowd being too big to not sense. “It is a human. Oh shit."

Will approached as the man entered the clearing at the bottom of the stairs. “Hey, hey. What do you think you're doing, bringing the whole town with you like this?"

He flashed his badge again. “Acquisitions Agent 242. I've come to apprehend a dangerous fugitive, Erik Barnes. I know he's here."

“Fugitive?" Will asked.

“Dangerous?" Shirley chimed in.

“Erik?!" Kelsey's ears flattened. She wasn't about to let anyone get between her and her man.

“Yes. I'm under orders-" He cut off, as Will interrupted him.

“How dare you walk onto my property, in my town, and threaten my family! I don't care what your orders are, get back to your hive where you belong!" He snarled.

“I must complete-"

“ Now!" The whole family shouted at him, bearing their teeth and claws. Erik was a family member, and they were prepared to fight over this.

The agent didn't budge, but prepared his hands for yet another inevitable confrontation. “I have my ord-"

He was interrupted again, this time as Erik appeared from behind the growing plants.

“Leave them be!" He called out, approaching strongly, carrying a rake.

AA242's expression finally beamed, having found what he was looking for. “Cishet Whitedevil, you have been charged with violation of the Wildlands Protocol, unauthorized tampering of your Smart ID, and evasion of punishment for lack of social credit." He explained, as the family prepared to deal with the chaos that was likely to unfold. “By order of the Emperors, I am to return you to face punishment, and purge the corruption you have wrought upon the Wildlands."

“Corruption?" Erik echoed.

“Yes, corruption. By recklessly interacting with these people, you have poisoned them."

Kelsey snarled at the notion. “Erik is the best thing to happen to this place!"

“He is an invader, and a criminal." The agent didn't even turn back.

“He's my fucking husband!"

AA242 was taken aback by such a statement. “Your... husband?"

“Yes! And I love him! You won't have him!"

He looked to Erik. “Is this true?"

“Yes. I belong here. This is my family now. I forsake where I came from, now and forever." He proclaimed, hoping it would do some good.

AA242 shook his head. “You see, firsthand, the corruption of which I speak. The Emperors have given me my duties, and I do what I must. This town must be purged." He quickly raised his left arm, pointing a fist at Erik, and instantly firing a taser, the electrodes sticking him in the midsection.

“Gah! Ffk-" He cried before his jaw locked up. He keeled over on the ground, stiffened. The electrodes had no wires, rather, contained the charge themselves, and thus didn't last long, but they definitely incapacitated him.

“ Erik! No!" Kelsey immediately jumped into action against this goon, followed by the rest of the family, and some of the townspeople. He was, apparently, a very well-trained fighter, kicking and knocking them back, and slashing and stabbing with his hardlight blades in rapid succession. But he was trained to fight against an unarmed human, not a swarm of angry anthros; they were faster and more resilient than he anticipated. A cut on Will's right arm, a large patch of fluff cut from Shirley's tail, a hole in Kerry's foot, and a small cut across the top of Kelsey's muzzle. These things he quickly dispensed as the melee ensued. The others quickly sprinted off, trying to figure out a way through his defenses, but Kelsey was not leaving. They weren't fighters, but she was no stranger to a brawl.

She went right back at him, biting and tearing at him, dodging where she could. A cut to her arm, a claw in his side. Another cut to her arm, a bite to his leg. AA242 kicked her off surprisingly hard, launching her off a few feet from the fight, where she landed with a roll backwards. Three townspeople rushed in at him. One got a blade in the face, another in the leg, and one had their tail removed, then stabbed in the belly. Jan and Brutus rushed in to the fray as well. He looked to Kelsey, though, knowing she was a priority target. As she was crouched down, ready to pounce into the fray again, his fedora suddenly sprouted a propeller out of the top and began to fly. He turned his immediate focus to Jan now, leaving the hat to do its duty.

“What the-" Kelsey snarled at it. The concept of a drone was already beyond them, but a drone hat was absurd. It began firing at her, the blue bolts from the rifles now being emitted from the drone hat. “Ah! Shit!" She panicked, scrambling out of the way of a couple of shots, one singeing the edge of her mane, and quickly hid in the toolshed, sliding the door closed and trying to make herself as small a target as possible.

Jan distracted AA242, darting around here and there, twisting and turning around his legs. She stabbed at him with a sharp wooden dagger she had at the time, her spear simply too big for this kind of melee. Blade in the knee, blade in the elbow, blade in the shoulder. He finally managed to stab her in the shoulder and kick her off, throwing her off into another villager who charged at him. Meanwhile, the hat kept hovering near the shed, tracing back and forth, trying to get a bead on its target. It switched programming rapidly, turning its focus from the shed, to a villager and firing, then back to the shed. A bear got a bolt in the chest. Some tried to throw rocks or sticks at it but were unable to get it.

“Someone get that fucking hat!" Will shouted, hiding near the porch, throwing rocks at it as well.

An owl woman leapt into action, managing to get some distance off the ground, and landing on the shed roof, then ran across it and leapt again, smacking it out of the air with a volleyball spike. As it landed, Brutus bodyslammed it for good measure. Any mechanisms that once operated in it were now annihilated.

“Heh. Got it." He chuckled at the smashed hat, turning his attention to AA242 again. If he could smash him like he did the hat, it would all be so satisfyingly settled. He tried to grab him, but the enemy evaded him, moving others into his path. He knew it was over if Brutus got ahold of him.

Brutus' chance wouldn't come. A sudden streak of white whipped past the crowd, towards the enemy. Colton, with his last bit of energy, pounced at him, tackling him and biting him several times in the face, slashing at his chest with his claws. The incredible force knocked the target to the ground harshly. The savage mauling was sure to kill most people, but AA242 was clearly a supercharged monster of a man. He ignored the pain, and lack of part of his face, squirmed out of Colton's grasp between his legs, then bounded off of the ground, spinning backwards with his blades out like a sawblade. They cut straight up Colton's back. An awful yelp belted from his mouth as he dropped to the ground again, flat on his chest.

It seemed the entire town was indeed going to get massacred by this madman, even if he was partially blinded, but there came a sudden creak of metal on metal. A click. A crack like a broken branch. Again. And again. AA242 lurched at the first one, wobbled at the second, and went partially limp on the third. The townspeople didn't know what had just happened, and backed away slightly, remaining on guard. Kelsey stood in the doorway with the rifle, the breech now open as she had emptied the mag. One hit in the shoulder, one in the back, and another in the back of the head. She tossed it aside without a thought and sprinted over to AA242, starting to fall. She insisted on getting the last laugh. She threw her jaw open and latched onto his neck, sinking her teeth deep into it and flailing the body for several seconds, like any other dog making sure to confirm their kill. Though she knew the shots had dropped him, she didn't want any surprises. She finally let go, and backed away, rushing to Erik. “Shit, Erik!" Blood dripped off of her face like she were some savage beast as she stood over him.

Kelsey loomed over Erik again. The paralysis had worn off, but he had passed out from the shock. She feverishly plucked the electrodes from his body and tossed them aside. “Oh, Erik! Why do you end up on the ground so much?!"

Gibbs approached her. “He should be. Can't you see this guy has caused enough trouble?"

“What? Fuck you, Gibbs!" She barked back. “Erik didn't do this, the human hive did this! They sent that maniac into our town!"

“She's right, Gibbs." Will agreed, still holding his arm. “Erik did nothing to earn this ire. They just arrogantly wanted their slave back. But... their slave is dead. Erik is our resident now."

Erik stirred finally. “Ungh..."

“Erik!" Kelsey changed from confused depression to joy. Her ears perked right up and she hugged him, her fluffy chest embracing his face. “I was so worried!"

“I'm... okay I think. Don't worry about me." He mumbled, then saw her face and jumped a bit. “Kelsey, your face! What happened?!"

“That agent guy fucking shot you and then went on a rampage. He..." She petered off, craning her head back over to the disaster. She solemnly stood up, as dozens of townspeople lay about in various forms of health, dozens more rushing in to help their fellows. The lone agent had initiated a bloodbath.“Oh, shit. Everyone. Colton..."

“Wh-what? Him again?" Erik held his head and he rose to his feet finally. Kelsey took him with her, holding him by the hand as she approached Colton's body, laying in a pool of blood. As if he hadn't been hurt enough lately.

“He rushed in, at the last moment, and tackled him. Delayed him. So I could get off my shots." She explained, looking down at the body. “I-is he...?"

Erik knelt down and lifted Colton's arm. There was a slight wheeze. He quickly put his hand under Colton's heavy chest, his hand immediately being covered in blood from his previous wound. The heartbeat still thumped, slowly. “He's still alive. Barely."

Kelsey was still in tears, shocked at what happened. “Poor guy heals up from your stab, only to get hacked again. We've got to get him to Lisa or something." She looked over all of the casualties nearby. Lisa would have her hands full, and any other medic around the area. Not even sure where to start, she rushed over to her family, the older ones all having taken damage of their own. They huddled around Kerry, Will trying to help her.

“A-are you all okay?!" She ignored the lightly bleeding cut across her snout.

Shirley spoke in a wavering voice, coming off of her adrenaline rush. “I'm fine, my fur will grow back... Will's fine, just a cut. Kerry... oh, honey." She didn't know what to do in this kind of situation.

Kelsey knelt down to Kerry, cradling her foot as she sat on the ground in tears. The hole punched into it was quite the severe wound. “Her paw... We need to stop this bleeding."

Erik nodded and rushed off to his shed, returning with the roll of gauze he had salvaged earlier. “Put some in the wound to stop it, then wrap it up well."

“R-right."

Kerry incoherently blubbered in the background. “My paw... my cute little paw..."

Once Will wrapped up Kerry's foot wound, he ripped off the gauze and handed the roll back. Erik quickly took it over to Colton, trying to close up his gashed back. “No hard feelings, man." Erik whispered to himself as he tried his best to cover up the wounds, applying pressure and putting strips down over the deep cuts. They turned red immediately, he might as well just put a pillow on it, but he knew he had to keep the blood inside of him.

The townspeople surveyed over all of the damage. Most were fine, but some did succumb to their wounds. After all was said and done, there were six dead, and twenty wounded. Some chose to pin the blame on Erik, for having come there in the first place. Others chose not to, knowing he was just as blindsided by it all. But they knew the village would never be the same again, not after this. Erik refused to sit idly by while this chaos went on, though. He went with the wounded, loaded up in wheelbarrows and roughly-hewn carts, to the town's hospital, as makeshift as anything else, and insisted on helping. As Lisa scurried about, applying salves and wrappings, Erik tried his best to feed her supplies.

“Dressing!" She called. Erik threw her a destroyed old shirt from a bin of cloth. She grabbed it out of the air and applied it to a wound. “Scissors! Herbs!" He didn't throw the scissors or small glass bottle of herbs. “Shit, this is a fucking madhouse!" She cursed, trying to do her best under this high of pressure. “Thread!" A roll of dental floss. Nothing stronger than that stuff.

No sooner did he get her the thread for a suture, the door opened up and Jarvis walked in, head turned sideways, flanked by Tom and Terry, and followed by the Deckers.

“Erik! What in the fuck is going on?!" Jarvis boomed, clearly livid.

“Jarvis, this isn't my fault. This is the hive's." He responded, only half paying attention, handing another volunteer a sewing needle and more dental floss.

“The fuck it isn't! That guy came here for you."

Kelsey angrily defended her husband, circling in front of him and not letting Jarvis get too close. “Jarvis, you can't blame him for this!"

Terry didn't like her movements much, and growled a bit at her to stand back. Kelsey flattened her ears back and did the same. She wouldn't let anyone get between her and Erik.

Jarvis crouched down slightly to jam his giant moose face in her comparatively dainty face. “What else am I supposed to do?! Six people died!"

She stood strong before the imposing giant. “Not blame Erik! That won't bring them back!"

He threw his arms out. “Do you have a better idea?"

“We're blaming the hive. That's final."

He shook his head, incredulous. “Then what?"

She thought for a moment. “I... don't know."

He crossed his arms. “Right. You don't know. Humans just attacked our village, to get at another one. We either get rid of this human, or we declare war on the rest of them."

“Then it's war. Erik goes nowhere!"

“Look, I know he's your husb-"

She bore her teeth at him. “ Nowhere!" The stubbornness of her father was definitely an inherited trait.

Jarvis held his head as Tom stepped forward, trying to keep his cool and be the alpha. “Kelsey, we can't war the humans. We can't attack them directly, they're thousands of years ahead of us. We don't have enough information to attack them indirectly. What sort of strategy were you thinking of, here?"

She barked at him. “I don't fucking know! I'm not a strategist! But getting rid of Erik is not an option!"

Shirley clapped her hand on Kelsey's shoulder calmly, snapping her ears back up. “Honey, please don't be so loud. There's enough to deal with here." She explained, and looked to Tom. “She's right, though; we can't let Erik go. He's one of us now. For better or worse."

Terry sighed as well, as Tom spoke up again. “Erik."

“What? We need to talk about this later, look at this place!" He responded hastily, ripping a ragged shirt into strips.

“No, we need to talk now. What do you propose we do about this?"

He continued working as he hummed, thinking about it. The situation was dire, and he wasn't fully sure how to proceed. “Kelsey's right. I'm not going anywhere, and this is their fault. We have to strike back. Somehow."

“Like what?"

He shook his hand in front of his face with the stress of being put on the spot. “I don't know yet, man. Just... let me think! I can't help Lisa and hypothesize like this, the people are more important right now! Shit... we need more information."

His thoughts weren't allowed to continue for more than a few seconds uninterrupted. Lisa shouted to him again. “Hey! Are you listening?! Hot iron!"

“Gah! Yes ma'am!" Erik dropped the thought and grabbed an iron poker out of the nearby fire, the tip bent sideways. Tom looked at him.

“Hot iron?"

“Gotta cauterize that wound or it'll keep bleeding." He responded, handing the rod to Lisa, carefully.

They watched him scurry about, helping Lisa for a few moments. “Okay. I have an idea. Kind of. I don't know if it'll work." A searing scream in the background as the iron was used.

“Let's hear it." Jarvis finally spoke up again.

“The hive wants me back. The hive will also want their agent back. They'll come back for the body, and probably me, too."

“So more will come here?"

“They'll go somewhere else if we're not here." Erik responded. He wagged his finger. “They want their agent, they want me... and I want answers. They know I'm here, and they know their agent is still here, because of his chip." He bopped his fist into his hand. “We're going to use that chip to go fishing."

“...Fishing?"

“Bait, Jarvis. We need bait. I need to get to that body before it's been sitting still too long."

Erik reluctantly took his leave from the hospital, with Jarvis and Kelsey in tow. Will and Shirley stayed behind to help Lisa tend to the wounded in his stead. He returned to the scene of the bloodbath and looked at it as he made his way to the dead agent. The area was nauseating to look at. What was once a nice clearing at the farm where he first met his wife, who erroneously mocked him for believing he had German shepherd blood, was now a battlefield. He crouched down next to the bloodied grey trenchcoat, and stuck his finger in a hole.

“Bullet hole?"

Kelsey nodded, crossing her arms. “Yeah. I shot the bastard."

“You... shot him?" He suddenly remembered the rifle and grinned. “Nice shooting."

She smirked right back, proudly. “Thanks for teaching me."

He chuckled and looked to the arm, then went stone-faced. “W-where's his chip? This spot on the arm, it's been ripped out. And... cauterized?"

“Was... he missing it before he came in?" Kelsey shrugged, unsure if she could truly help in this situation.

Erik was quiet for a second, his mind racing. “Did... did someone already attack him? Which way did he come from? From town, right?"

She nodded. “Yeah. I can probably track him by smell, maybe. He doesn't have much of a smell." She started sniffing around, but stopped to look at his head. On the back of the skull, just below the bullet hole, was a small square under the skin. “What's that?"

Erik looked at it curiously, poking it. It was hard, definitely artificial. “Another chip...?" He scratched at the skin, managing to push it out from the wound in the head. Sure enough, another chip. “Huh, yeah. This guy had a chip in his head... that's not what I had." He continued trying to pore over everything he'd seen here. These were weird details to him. “Some kind of brain chip? Communication? Deduction? Forced loyalty? Dulled emotions? It could be anything..."

Kelsey winced. “That sounds awful. Why do those humans have to make monsters out of each other?"

“They're monsters themselves, dear." He replied, not taking his eyes away from the chip. She smiled lightly at his use of 'dear'. Just the little affectionate remarks were all it took to soothe her. He stood up finally. “Okay. So not only do we have to find his other chip, but then there's this one to contend with. Can you try to track his scent?"

“Maybe." She nodded, and started sniffing the air, walking away from the property. Erik and Jarvis walked behind her.

“Didn't know you were an investigator, Erik."

He shook his head. “I'm not. Just trying to follow a path of some kind and see what comes from it. A famous fictional human character once said 'Elementary, my dear Watson', I'm just trying to focus on the basics right now. Maybe we can cobble something together before another agent shows up."

“I see. I hope so too. I'm still more keen on my idea than yours." Jarvis sternly reminded him of that fact.

They walked along for a while, before Erik opened his mouth to speak again.

“Jarvis... do you have a warehouse in town or something? Somewhere all the salvage we didn't keep gets stored?"

“Yes, why?"

“I have an idea. But I need a big-"

Kelsey interrupted him, nearing the northern edge of town. “He came in from this way!" She rushed ahead, finding a blood splatter on the ground. “Here! It's here! And... something else."

Erik ran forward to her, finding the small chunk of arm, bloodied and covered in flies. Sure enough, this was what the chip would be in. He looked to her. “Something else?"

She sniffed again. “This blood. It's... oh, that stupid fuckface." She stood up again, somewhat in shock. “This blood here is Colton's."

Erik and Jarvis both furrowed their brows. “Colton?!"

“Both their scents came from up there..." She was stunned by this revelation. “He... he brought the agent to the town. He must have found out he was looking for you and... wanted revenge. Revenge against you, Erik. Against me. Against the town, even." She stood silently, the shock of this revelation freezing her in a thousand-yard stare to the treeline, the light wind blowing over the fields just as it blew over her hair. For a moment, she was like a part of the landscape. “... They blame you, we blame the hive, but... is this Colton's fault? Is this my fault? Did my choice do all of this?"

Erik shook his head and hugged her from behind. She was stiff, and somewhat trembling, until she felt his arms wrap around her, his head against the back of her neck. “No, dear. It's not your fault." His voice and touch were all the reassurance she needed to shake her from her stupor. She dropped her head to the side and her paws held over his hands.

“I'm sorry, love. It's... just very hard to find this." She replied, turning her head to the side to lick his cheek.

“I know, I feel the same way."

Jarvis tried to ignore the public displays of affection, still not entirely keen on the human. “So... Colton isn't an innocent bystander in this."

“No. But he tackled that guy, too. Nearly threw his life away to do it." Kelsey returned. “If he got injured here, and bit out that chip in a fight with the agent, then..." She tried to connect these dots. Without Colton around, she had to deduce as well as Erik did. “He must have led him here and... had a change of heart? Then fought with the guy, got injured, and then the agent left to continue."

“Why would he have a change of heart after leading the agent here?" Jarvis couldn't quite figure out that one single part.

“Beats me. Maybe he discovered he hated the guy. Maybe he found out the agent intended to kill the 'corruption' and didn't actually want the town to get slaughtered."

Erik sighed. “I guess we just won't know until he wakes up. In the meantime... we need to get these chips out of town. I'll fill you all in on the details, I think I have the plan figured out. Remember: we're going fishing."