More Suffering and Torture
#3 of Human Enough
Author's Note: This is part three. I hope you enjoy it. Comments are always welcome. Tell your friends, and thank you for reading =) - AK
My mind raced for the rest for the rest of the day. I was so concerned about the dinner. What was this new invention going to be? What if my suspicions were right and it was something that could hurt anthros? Would my family get one? And what about seeing my ex? I wasn't exactly thrilled to be seeing her. I tried everything in my power to calm myself down, but nothing seemed to work. If I relaxed about one thing, another raised its head in my mind. Pretty soon, I figured out the only way that I was going to relax was when everything was said and done.
In my room I took my suit out of the plastic bag and put it on. I stood in front of the mirror trying to tie my bowtie. I had always been terrible at it. After about five attempts I gave up. I closed my head and laughed. I wasn't cut out for this high society stuff.
From behind, I felt two hands reach around my neck. I opened my eyes to see a pair of white, furry hands tying the tie.
"Honestly, you are helpless." Michelle's voice said from behind me.
She tied and straightened my tie. I turned around to look at her.
"Don't remind me." I said. "Think if I play sick, they'll let me stay home with you?"
She laughed.
"Probably not. But you might have a good time."
"I doubt it. Seeing some kind of anti-furry invention is not really my idea of a good time."
"Is that what you think it is?"
"Safe bet, now that Black came to the east coast. You think he'll come here?"
"Definitely. This place has more anthros who are servants than anywhere else on the coast."
I sighed.
"I really don't want to do this."
"I know. And I don't want you to go either. It's a wasted chance for us to be together without anyone around. But you look too nice in your suit."
Michelle put her arms around my neck and stared into my eyes.
"Besides. When you come tonight, I'm sure your parents will be exhausted. "
She planted a small kiss on my lips.
"And we'll be able to spend plenty of time having fun together."
"What did you have in mind?" I asked slyly.
"I'm sure we will think of something."
I grabbed Michelle close and kissed her hard. I wished we could have stood in that moment for hours, but a knock on the door forced me and Michelle apart.
"Andrew?" Came my dad's voice. "Are you almost ready to go?"
"Yeah." I answered. "Michelle is just fixing my bowtie."
As the door opened, Michelle put her hands by my neck and adjusted my bowtie a bit.
"There." Michelle said. "You're all set."
"Excellent. Your mother is waiting in the car. We'd better get going."
Michelle waved goodbye to me as I walked out of my room. I missed her already. But there was nothing I could do except to look forward to coming home and being with her. I sighed quietly and followed my dad outside and got into the car. Each mile we got closer to Mr. Harding's house made me more and more nervous. I was almost close to actually getting sick. Somehow I was able to calm my stomach as we approached the gates of Mr. Harding's mansion.
The mansion was huge. Like out of the movies huge. I hated houses like this. It reminded me of a horror movie or a slasher flick. Don't get me wrong, my house was fairly large, but this was uncalled for. It was hard to believe that just about 4 years ago, I was a mainstay of this house. It seemed like Marie and I was always together. But that was then. Now, I just wanted to be home.
The gates opened and we drove into Mr. Harding's estate. The road leading up to the front door was filled with twists and turns. After a few more minutes of driving, we finally reached the front door. Standing in front of the door was a group of anthros; a ferret, a skunk, and a horse. These were probably Mr. Harding's chauffeurs.
The three of them bowed politely as my family got out of the car. The horse anthro got into the driver's seat and drove the car off. The ferret led us inside. As I expected, the place was lavishly furnished. Mr. Harding had invited a lot of people from the town. To my surprise, a few people I went to high school with were there. I wasn't that eager to see most of them. I never fit in much in high school.
"Hey Andrew!" I heard a voice call from my right.
I turned instinctively to see a tall guy my age. He looked like he could bench press a truck. He had short black hair and was clean shaven. I recognized him the second he came towards me.
"Riley Taylor." I said as I shook the man's hand. "It's been a while."
Riley Taylor, football captain in my final years of high school; and the guy Marie cheated on me with. Other than catching him with Marie, I never had a problem with him. He was always a nice guy to me. The two of us talked about our lives. We both were in college; he had gotten a scholarship to some Division II school and was playing quarterback. He seemed happy. I told him I enjoyed my school, but of course, that was a lie.
"Sounds like your life's going pretty good." Riley said after my bold faced lie.
"Yeah, I guess." I responded.
"Hey, let me get your number. We should hang out sometime before you go back."
"Sure."
We exchanged numbers. I didn't intend to call him, but what the hell? It was the nice thing to do right?
The rest of the party was just as boring as I expected. A bunch of rich people talking about how much money they make. I almost forgot how much I hated these things. I grabbed a glass of champagne from a mountain lion anthro. She almost fell over when I said thank you. If I wasn't in "polite" company, I would have downed the glass. Still I finished the drink pretty quickly and took another one. As I did, I felt a small tap on my shoulder. It was my dad.
"Mr. Harding is about to reveal the invention upstairs. He's only invited a select group. I'm one of them. I know you were curious about it. Would you like to come with me?"
I nodded. This was, as they say, the moment of truth. My father led me up the stairs to the fourth floor of the house. We went through these two fancy double doors. Through the double doors was a small theater. There was a big movie style screen at the front of the room. It was over some kind of stage on which Mr. Harding was standing. Next to him was a man wearing a sweater vest and a tie and a fox anthro who was covered in chains. There were several people already sitting in theater chairs. I recognized a few of them. All of them owned anthros. My dad and I took our seats.
"My friends," he said, "welcome. Welcome to my house. I have asked each of you here to discuss a growing problem."
Yup, no question about it: this guy was a politician.
"As you know, a free fur by the name of Joshua Black has come to the East Coast with the intent to cause an uprising among our pets. And I know many of you are concerned. That's why I had Professor Justin Daniels research a solution. I believe you will be happy with his results."
I knew it. I just knew it. I shook my head slightly. I could only hope now that whatever the professor had up his sleeve wouldn't be too damaging. The professor smiled at us and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small computer chip.
"Good evening, esteemed guests. I am honored to be in your presence. I assume everyone knows that this is a microchip, which is hardly a new piece of technology. After all, we've been using these things to manipulate electrical pulses for a long time. So I got to thinking, if we could manipulate machines, what else could we manipulate? Could we manipulate a brain?"
I had to shudder. Something about this guy's tone was eerie. He reminded me of those mad scientists that you see in all those B-movies, even though he looked anything but.
"By placing these microchips in the brains of several test subjects, I discovered a way to manipulate the electrical energy sent from the brain. Observe."
The professor proceeded to undo the chains of the Anthro on stage. I hated seeing him in chains, but something told me they were far safer than what was about to come. The final lock taken off was that of a muzzle attached tightly to the anthro's mouth.
"HELP ME! HE'S GONNA KILL ME!" He screamed the second the muzzle was removed.
I stood up. I was ready to rush the stage.
"Have no fear, young man." The professor said. "Watch."
Out of his other pocket, the professor pulled out a small remote control.
"Please...someone...help me... hel..."
With a push of a button on the remote, the anthro was silent and motionless. He stood stiff as a board. In his eyes I could see fear. The rest of the people applauded as I returned to my seat, horrified
"As you can see, I have stopped his brain from sending the electrical impulses to his vocal cords and limbs. In addition, I can take the brain's electrical energy and use it against the fur. Behold."
The professor pressed another button and the anthro regained control of his body.
"Please...no more...I'm begging you. PPPPLEEEAASSEEEEE!"
With another press of a button the anthro began having convulsions. It didn't take a professor to know what was happening: he was being zapped. After precious seconds which probably felt like hours for the poor anthro the professor stopped the shock. Everyone around me, my dad included applauded. I wanted to be sick. The anthro was crying
As I looked at the anthro, I realized I recognized him. The one who was arrested on the news. It was him. It had to be. But he was a free anthro. Was this really his fate? To be a lab rat? The realization filled me with horror.
"Observe as I re-chain him, that he isn't fighting." The professor said. "By installing these chips in his brain, he will be the subject of my will."
"Gentlemen," Mr. Harding said, "this is the solution we have been waiting for. By implanting these chips into our furs, we will have no risk of any uprising. Things will continue to operate as they always have and our investments, our lives, and our families, will all be safe."
The applause continued again. I couldn't take it anymore. This had gone on long enough.
"Excuse me, Mr. Harding." I said standing up again. "If I may?"
"Why, of course Andrew."
"This whole microchip thing. Is this really the best route for all of us?" I asked as I walked into the aisle.
"What do you mean, son?" asked the professor.
"I mean just look at him." I said pointing to the anthro in chains. "Is this really want we want? He looks like he couldn't stand if he wanted to."
There was silence as all eyes were on either the anthro or me.
"My son is right." My dad said as he stood up next to me.
I couldn't believe it. Did my dad finally see the light? Was this display so horrific that it moved my dad to change his mind? He smiled at me, with a proud look on his face. Maybe I did something right for once.
"What you have shown us Mr. Harding is a fantastic control measure. But what are the effects? After all, furs represent a considerable investment on our part. How can we be sure this is 100% safe?"
I couldn't believe it. The only reason my dad was concerned about what he just saw is the effect it would have on his investments? The hope I had extinguished quickly. As the rest of the crowd began to ask questions, I decided I didn't want to hear anymore. I turned around and walked out of the theater with my head hung in disgust. I was so mad. How could my dad do this? I'd only been home for two days and already I was disgusted with him. I kept walking and bumped into someone, literally.
"I'm sorry." I said as I looked to see my shirt was stained red with the wine.
"It's fine." I heard a familiar female's voice reply.
I didn't want to look up. I wanted to just keep on walking, but I couldn't help it. I lifted my head and looked straight into the eyes of Marie Harding, my ex. She was a little taller than I remembered, but not much else changed. She still had long blonde hair and green eyes. Her body was as beautiful as ever.
"Oh my God! Andrew." She said. "It's been years. How are you?"
"Fine." I lied.
"You don't look it. Come to my room. We'll clean you up and you can tell me all about it."
Marie grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to her room. Marie's room was decorated exactly how I remembered it. It was painted a soft blue and had a darker carpet. There was a large bed which faced a flat screen TV with the works. A large, walk-in closet was in the far corner of the room.
"Here," Marie said as she took off my suit jacket. "Go into my bathroom and take off your shirt. I'll have it washed real fast."
"Thanks, but you don't need to..."
"I insist. Now go."
She pushed me into the bathroom and closed the door. I sighed. There was still no reasoning with her. I took off my shirt and opened the door slightly and stuck out my arm.
"Oh come on." Marie said as she pushed open the bathroom door and took my shirt. "It's not like I haven't seen you without a shirt before."
Marie handed the shirt to a servant who she had called in.
"It should be done soon." She said when the servant left. "That is if these lazy servants could pick up the pace."
She sat down on her bed and invited me to sit next to her, which I did.
"So tell me about what's making you mad." She said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"It's nothing, really."
"It's about that thing my daddy is showing everyone, isn't it."
"Kinda, yeah. I just think it's a bit...excessive."
Marie let out a small giggle.
"You're an activist aren't you?" She said as she leaned in closer. There was a strong smell of alcohol on her breath. I slid away from her a little.
"I wouldn't say that..."
Marie put a finger on my lips to shut me up.
"You know," she said, "I think activists are so, so, sexy."
Without warning she dove on top of me and pinned my shoulders to the bed. Before I knew it, she planted a hard kiss on my lips which she broke quickly, followed by a kiss to my neck. I struggled and got her off of me and stood up.
"What are you doing?" I asked her.
"C'mon, Andy." She responded. "I know you've missed me."
She tried to kiss me again, but I took her arms off of me.
"I'm not interested. I have a girlfriend."
"So? I have a boyfriend. We can have one night together."
"No we can't. And I don't want one."
There was a knock on the door. Thankfully it was the servant with my shirt. I grabbed it and my coat and walked out before Marie could say a word. I snuck in one of the open bathrooms on the 4th floor and threw everything on and wiped the lipstick off of my lips. In moments I looked like nothing had happened. I got out and began to look for my dad. I didn't care if I had to steal the car, I was going home. Between finding out that microchips were the going to be the latest in anthro controlling technology and being attacked by my drunk ex looking for a one night fling I'd call this night a failure.
I found my dad back on the main floor with my mom. Apparently, they had been looking for me for a while. They were ready to go home. I quietly thanked God and could barely contain a smile when we were finally in the car and on our way home.
"A lot of people were talking about you, Andrew." My dad said when we were on the road.
Oh great. Now I was going to get ripped apart for speaking out of turn or something like that. I really didn't want to hear any of that bull after this night.
"Oh really?" I said trying my best not to give off too much attitude.
"Yes. They were all talking about you standing up in front of Mr. Harding. And quite frankly, I couldn't be more proud."
"What?" I said, rather surprised.
"They were all impressed with your attention to detail and your level head. You spotted a problem with Mr. Harding's new toy. He has said that more tests will be done to perfect it and it's all thanks to you."
All thanks to me. More anthros, innocent victims, were going to be tortured and it was all thanks to me. More suffering and torture, all thanks to me. I didn't say a word. I think if I did, I would have burst out into tears. When we finally got home, I rushed into my room and threw myself on my bed. This night couldn't get worse.
After about ten minutes there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." I said softly.
I turned an eye to the door and saw as Michelle walked in. The second she closed the door, I jumped out of the bed and into her arms.
"Rough night?" she asked
"You have no idea." I responded.
She gave me a small peck on the cheek and helped me take off my jacket. I told her everything about the invention. How horrible it was to see that fox anthro crying. Michelle was practically shaking as I relayed the whole horrible thing.
"So what's going to happen?"
"I don't know." I said as I unbuttoned and took off my shirt. "Probably more testing an it's all my fault."
Michelle got up and hugged me from behind.
"You delayed anything terrible happening, and I think any anthro would thank you for that."
I smiled and enjoyed the hug for a little while.
"Andy," she said. "What's that?"
"What's what?" I asked her.
"That mark...on your neck?"
She pushed me away. What was going on? Then it hit me; in the bathroom. I washed the lipstick off my lips, but not my neck.
"Michelle, this isn't what you think..."
"Oh really, the lipstick says different."
"Michelle, let me explain..."
"I shouldn't have said anything yesterday. I should have known I was just a joke."
"Will you let me explain?"
"I was an idiot to think you actually cared about me."
"No it's not like that."
Michelle was crying as she walked out of the room and closed the door. What was I going to tell her? How was I going to explain to her that she wasn't just a joke, that she was the love of my life? The tears came hard and fast. How did everything go wrong so fast, and more importantly, How was I going to fix it?