{"sf1_id":576062,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Love is Hell: Prologue","author":"ArcticWolf451","words":2838,"posted_at":"2013-08-14T03:01:00.000Z","tags":["Demons","Europa","Fox","Future","German Shepherd","Guns","Kyle Blackmon","Los Angeles","M/F","M/M","Military","Otter","Plot Development","Tiger","Wolf","chicago"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/576062-love-is-hell-prologue","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/576062","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=576062\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"Note: If you haven't read either of my previous two series yet, read  this journal  first real quick to update yourself on the plot. Also, porn coming in next chapter, hence the M/M and M/F tags which are meant for the series as a whole, not the one chapter. U.S. Marine Corps Miami Air Station - August 7th,\n2195 4:54 A.M.Kyle Blackmon had never\nfelt so confused as he sat alone in a small interrogation room housed deep\ninside a U.S. military base along the Florida coast. Two hours ago he'd awoken\nnaked in an office building filled with the very demons he'd fought years before,\nonly to be rescued by a SWAT team and discover that he was now nearly two\nhundred years in the future. His mind tried to piece together what had\nhappened, but for the most part his memory was a blur up till the moment he'd\nsupposedly blown himself up back in Panama. Finally, he gave up and decided to\njust sit and stare at the silver window that hid two furs in the adjacent room.\nNo doubt the two of them were watching him, wondering just who he was. Blackmon\ncracked a smile since even he was having a hard time answering that question\nnow. \"So, what's the word on our\nnew guest?\" asked Captain Eric Boles, a German Shepherd of medium height, \"Is\nhe really like that other guy from four months back?\"Standing next to Captain\nBoles was Dr. Charles Dreier, an overweight lion with a trimmed mane and\ngrowing beer gut that hung over the belt of his pants and made his white lab\ncoat almost impossible to button closed, hence why he currently left it open. Dr.\nDreier wasn't a psychologist by any means, but rather a physicist who worked\nfor the UAC's Special Projects Division, which was merely code jargon for\nanything that would net the company another massive military contract. \"Indeed, I believe so. The\nalien outbreak in the Waltham Office Complex here in Miami was preceded by the\nsame electromagnetic disturbance we saw in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Washington\nD.C. In all four cases the buildings were completely blacked out, with every\nelectronic system suffering some sort of damage, including those with level two\nEMP shielding.\"\"Not to mention those\ncreatures. How many did they find here?\" Boles asked as he looked through a one\nway mirror into the interrogation room where their strange guest, Kyle\nBlackmon, had been sitting for the last hour. \"Most of the building was\nempty, so only a few of the employees were 'turned,' as they're calling it,\ninto those shambling zombies. Those who weren't infected were promptly killed\nby the dozen or so 'crawlers,' as in the thirteen eyed humanoid creatures\ncapable of hurling fire. We also encountered a new creature that resembled a\ncross between a feral dog and a large bull. Private Atkins suffered a severe\npuncture wound to his leg before his team could put it down.\"Boles nodded and turned to\nface Dreier. \"Doc, I know these monsters aren't your specialty, but do you have\nany idea where they're coming from?\" \"As in the source? None\nwhatsoever.\"\"What of Mr. Blackmon\nthere? He's not like them, yet he arrived in the same manner as that other\nfellow did.\"\"Indeed, it is a mystery,\"\nDreier admitted. \"The police already interrogated him, don't you think you\nshould let him get some rest and go to the hospital before you have a word with\nhim?\"\"The medics bandaged him up\ngood and proper, the most he'll need is a few stitches. He can wait another\ntwenty minutes for me to find out just what the hell is going on here,\" Boles\nsaid as he picked up a tablet PC and walked out of the observation chamber to\njoin Blackmon in the interrogation cell.\"Alright,\" Boles said as he\npulled up a chair across from the folding table where Blackmon was seated, his\npaws cuffed in front of him once more, \"I'm going to ask you a few questions,\nyou answer them as best as you can, okay?\"Blackmon nodded, but said\nnothing.\"Name.\"\"Kyle Blackmon.\"\"Address?\"\"2080 Copedge Court,\nAlpharetta, Georgia.\"Boles looked up the address\nto find it no longer existed. \"Okay then, date of birth, year included.\"\"October 8th,\n1992.\"\"You expect me to believe\nthat?\"\"Am I giving you a reason\nnot to?\" Blackmon retorted calmly.\"Occupation?\"\"Unemployed.\"\"Former occupations then.\"\"3151 Assaultman, U.S.\nMarine Corps, Lance Corporal in rank.\"\"Serial number?\"\"853-55-375.\"\"...is that it?\"\"Is what it?\" Blackmon\nasked, somewhat surprised.\"Why is your number only\neight digits?\"\"That's what they gave me.\"Boles looked down at his\ncomputer and found that a query for 00085355375 sure enough brought up an\nemployment record for a Kyle Blackmon, only he was listed as having been\ndeceased since July 27th, 2015.\"Mr. Blackmon, what\nhappened on July 27th, 2015?\" Boles saw Kyle shift in his\nseat, as if the invocation of the memory had struck a nerve. \"I...I don't remember.\"\"You're lying, Kyle. You\nknow what happened, I have the story right here. You're supposed to be dead,\nand yet here you are. What the fuck is going on?\"Kyle looked up from the\ntable to meet Boles' gaze. \"I don't know, okay? The last thing I remember is\nfalling out of a window with a member of the PRA strapped to me, and a live\ngrenade strapped to him. Then it's just specks of some nightmare I dreamt, and\nthen I woke up naked in that office building with those demons.\"\"Demons? You mean the\naliens we found.\"\"They're not...okay well I\nguess they do count as being alien in nature, but there's more to them than\nthat.\"\"How do you know about them\nthen?\" Boles asked as he chewed on the end of his stylus pen.\"I've fought them once or\ntwice.\"\"Back when you were alive?\"\"No.\"\"Then when?\"\"If I tell you, you're\ngonna have me hauled off to Belleview's psychiatric ward,\" Blackmon chuckled in\nresponse.\"Humor me, Mr. Blackmon.\nLet's just pretend that everything you say is true, and that I believe you,\nokay?\"Blackmon shrugged again and\nleaned back in his chair. \"Well...it all started back in Afghanistan...\"******An hour later Captain Boles\nwas sitting in his office, along with Dr. Dreier and a UAC fox in a gray\nbusiness suit who declined to give his name. The fox was merely a\nrepresentative of a the UAC's corporate higher ups, namely the ones who owned\nhalf of Congress and held the keys to most of the U.S. Air Force's planes and\nsatellites\"So Captain, is he just\nlike the other wolf who arrived?\" asked the fox with an impatient twirl of his\npaw.\"For all intents and\npurposes, yes. Although he seems to know far more about these creatures than\nour other friend did,\" Boles responded. \"He's got some wild story about how he\nliterally fought death to save himself and his sister, who was apparently\ncursed or something. At one point he claims to have gone to Hell itself and\nnarrowly escaped with the help of guardian angels...no, seriously.\"The fox coughed in\ndisbelief. \"And you actually believe him?\"\"For some reason...yeah. I\ncan usually tell when I'm being lied to. This kid, whether it happened or not,\ntruly believes what he's telling me.\"\"This is nothing more than\nsome child's fairytale! For god's sake Captain, you're supposed to be a man of\nlogic and reason, and here you are believing something that my sister's\nretarded kids would have heard in Bible camp.\"\"Be that as it may,\"\ninterrupted Dreier, \"He did know much about the creatures we've encountered. He\never referenced one we witnessed in Los Angeles.\"\"The Knight, as you called\nit?\" the foxed inquired. \"Yes, the behemoth with a\nskull-like helmet capable of throwing deadly green plasma bolts. None of us had\nmentioned that creature to him, and yet he seemed very familiar with its\nphysiology and methods of attack.\"The fox seemed somewhat\nperturbed by this revelation. \"What if he's one of them? A spy, or an\ninfiltrator of some sort? How do we know he won't turn into one of those\nwalking dead we always find?\"\"That seems unlikely,\"\nDreier advised, \"The other survivor we found is still okay and has not shown\nany signs of infection.\"\"And where is he now?\"\nasked the fox. \"Millions of miles away at\nour Europa facility.\"\"Europe is not that far\naway you dolt,\" the fox uttered in exasperation.\"Europa...as in one of\nJupiter's moons. We established a small colony there thirty years ago to see if\nalien life could develop there. Our first guest was sent there at his own\nrequest to assist in the investigation as to the origin of the aliens we've\nencountered.\"\"What the hell could there\npossibly be on Europa that relates to these creatures?\" the fox inquired\nagitatedly. \"The science team there,\nthey found something. Something big. We just sent an archeological survey team\npulled straight from NYU to investigate,\" Dreier explained. The fox's eyes were wide as\ndinner plates now. \"W-what did they find? What could they find?! That moon's\nbeen dead for its entire existence. Hell, we only put a colony there to harvest\nwater for our Titan orbital refinery.\"\"According to their last\ntransmission they found an alien vessel lodged in the ice. From the looks of\nit, it's been there for at least three, maybe four centuries.\"\"Out of all the places we'd\nfind an alien ship, why Europa?\" Boles asked.Dreier shrugged looked back\nat the fox. \"We only recently found it. We'll know more in a couple of months\nonce they start investigating it further. I do know that all signs of life aboard\nit are dead though. If you ask me, this ship isn't related to the creatures\nwe've found here. These things act like feral animals, not intelligent beings\ncapable of mastering interstellar space flight and aeronautical engineering.\"The fox and Boles both\nnodded in consent. \"So, what should we do with\nMr. Blackmon for now?\" Boles asked after a moment of silence.\"For all intents and\npurposes he doesn't exist,\" the fox said purposefully, \"And the last thing we\nneed is him telling anyone else this rubbish about demons and space aliens.\nFuck, half the country is demanding answers as to the last few outbreaks of\nalien activity. If he talks with anyone in the media this could turn into a\nfull blown riot!\"\"Since when does the UAC\ncare about such things?\" Dreier asked curiously.\"Because the American\npeople are idiots, and since we're the company that found the aliens we'll be\nthe ones to take the blame for pissing them off!\" \"So what then, we detain\nhim indefinitely on a government base?\" Boles asked.\"Of course not. I have the\nfull authority to register him as a UAC guest and provide appropriate\naccommodations for him at the starport facility we have here in Miami,\" the fox\nanswered with a wry smile.  Boles just shook his head\nand looked the fox dead in the eyes. \"I assume he won't be free to leave when\nhe chooses, and that I don't really have a choice in the matter?\"\"Correct in both instances,\nCaptain. I'm glad you recognize that there's no need to involve your superiors\nin this matter though, really I am.\"Boles was about respond\nwhen his desk phone rang. \"Captain Boles here.\"\"Sir, we've just received\nan urgent transmission from the Europa complex. General Morris and a director\nfrom the UAC are waiting for you and your two guests in briefing room 3C, sir,\"\ncame the message over the speaker.Boles affirmed his\nunderstanding and then ushered his two colleagues upstairs to be briefed. In\nthe briefing room was a long table with eight chairs. General Morris, an aging\nblack bear in his fifties sat at one end of the table with a tablet computer in\nfront of him. To his immediate left sat an otter dressed in a gray suit nearly\nidentical to the one the fox was wearing. Like his friend, the otter had\ndeclined to give a name. Boles and Dreier took seats to the general's right,\nwhile the fox sat next to his co-worker. \"Good morning gentlemen,\"\nMorris began, his voice groggy from exhaustion since he'd been awake for nearly\ntwenty-four hours now. \"Thirty-minutes ago, we received a message from the\nPhobos complex; a relayed distress call from Europa.\"Morris paused to operate a\nsmall control panel built into the table that controlled a hologram projector\nin the center of the table. After a moment, he pulled up a copy of the message\nfor everyone to see.BEGIN MSG: FROM - UAC Europa Complex AlphaRE: EMP DisasterUrgent! Urgent! At 15:31 hours EDST on August 6th,  2195, the Europa complex suffered a severe\nelectrical failure. Primary power and life support systems compromised.\nSecondary systems not effected, thankfully. Damage control teams working on\nrepairs. Expect replenishment ship to arrive from Mars in three weeks. Electrical failure cause discovered to be EMP pulse.\nSpectroscopes show its signature is identical to ones on Earth linked to alien\noutbreaks. No signs of alien life at the moment, but mysterious events\ncurrently occurring on base and around the artifact site. Requesting immediate reinforcements from U.S. military\npersonnel and UAC private security forces. Additionally, provide large enough\nvessel to accommodate for a possible evacuation of the facility in the event\nlife support systems go offline again. Do not delay, crew on edge and more\nelectronic activity detected in atmosphere. -END MSG\"As you can see, things\nhave escalated fairly quickly,\" Morris said once everyone had finished reading.\n\"It takes nearly twelve hours for a message sent from Europa to arrive here on\nEarth, which means for all we know that base could be dust right now.\"\"Excuse me, General,\" the\notter interrupted as he stood at his place. \"Captain Boles, Dr. Dreier, you\nboth are being sent to Europa to help deal with this matter. Captain we're\nsending 1st platoon, Easy Company with you aboard the U.S.S.\nSacramento.\"\"Sacramento? That's not a\nmilitary vessel, it's a cargo freighter,\" Boles protested.\"We know. It's the only\nvessel we currently have that's ready to leave right this minute. Plus, its\nairtight and the empty cargo space can be converted into a living area for any\nrefugees in the event you have to evacuate the facility and bring everyone\nhome.\"Boles grumbled to himself\nbut said nothing. \"Dr. Dreier, we understand\nthat you have been studying these electrical disturbances. We need you to tag\nalong and continue your research to see if you can determine the origin of\nthese events, and if it's possible to stop them,\" the otter continued. \"What about Mr. Blackmon,\nthe wolf who appears to have been brought here by one such event?\" Dreier\nasked.\"It has been decided to\nsend him along. He claims to have military training, so if Captain Boles wishes\nhe can process Mr. Blackmon and fold him into the unit. However, Mr. Blackmon's\nprimary job is to talk with the other wolf who arrived six months back and\ndiscover any common experiences between them regarding these aliens and the\nelectrical storms they bring with them. Maybe then we can finally start piecing\nthis puzzle together.\"General Morris stood and\naddressed Boles and Dreier. \"Alright then gentlemen, your mission seems pretty\nclear then. Get to that facility, do whatever it takes to protect it and the\npeople there, and find out just what the hell is going on. Dismissed!\" With that, the General lead\nthe way out of the room. The fox and otter argued amongst themselves, mostly\nabout how there had been no provision for any UAC mercenaries to tag along.\nU.S. Marines were fine and good, but they did not report directly to the UAC\ncorporate board, and therefore there would be miles of red tape to deal with to\nensure that the U.S. Marine Corps instructed every man involved to keep his\nmouth shut about anything he saw regarding the aliens. Back in the interrogation\nroom, Kyle was surprised when a marine entered, undead his cuffs, and presented\nhim with a rucksack preloaded with all his clothing essentials. Boles joined\nhim a second later and hustled him out into the hallway.\"Mr. Blackmon I know you've\nprobably got a lot on your mind right now, but it's all going to have to wait,\"\nBoles said as he marched double time down the hall.\"Why, what's going on?\"\nKyle asked, utterly confused. \"Something's gone down on\none of our off planet bases and we think it's related to the electrical\ndisturbances that brought you and another wolf here along with those\ncreatures,\" Boles explained. \"You're coming with us as we reinforce the base so\nyou can talk to that other guy who arrived.\"\"Huh, great.\"\"I'm sure you'll get along\nfine with him, he's a military guy like you who claims to have been alive in\nthe 1990s. It's funny, he's about your age and even kinda looks like you.\"\"Oh yeah? What's his name?\"\nKyle asked.\"Something really\nantiquated...ummm, George Clark, that's it!\"Kyle stopped dead in his\ntracks and dropped his bag. \"What the...Blackmon what the\nhell's wrong with you, we gotta go!\" Boles yelled before noticing Kyle suddenly\nlooked like he'd seen a ghost. \"Blackmon? What's wrong?\"\"George...Hamilton Clark?\"\"Yeah, that's him. Why?\"\"Dude...I mean sir...that's my\ndad.\""}