{"sf1_id":805065,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Time Manipulator","author":"Volcan MacAingeal","words":6224,"posted_at":"2015-01-08T16:31:00.000Z","tags":["Dragoness","Fear","Ice","Lost","Phoenix","Science","Snow Leopard","fire","genetic engineering","police","wind"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/805065-the-time-manipulator","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/805065","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=805065\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"The Time Manipulator             It was dark.            Despite her night vision, the\nunnamed snow leopard was terrified, wandering through the city parkade trying\ndesperately to find somewhere to hide. Security Guards wandered the parkade,\nwatching over the dozens of cars parked in stall on the five levels of the\nconcrete structure. Whenever she heard one nearby, the leopard would hide\nbehind a car, waiting for them to pass, before moving onto the next.            She didn't even remember coming to\nthis place, with all these machines around her. In fact, she didn't even know\nhow she knew what they were! She had no memories, no clue who she was or where\nshe had come from, just remembering waking up, cold, wet, alone, stumbl-ing\nthrough darkness, a strange energy emanating from her every so often, and\nfinally, she could at last remember waking up at the very top of this concrete\nstructure, in the black of night, and now was trying to find her way back out.            She saw a gate of steel bars,\nleading out to a ramp that led down to the ground below, but when she tried to\nsqueeze through the bars, she found even her slender form couldn't fit between\nthem, and almost got stuck at the ribs and the hips trying to get through. When\nshe finally got free, she lost her balance and fell against a car; her heart\nfelt as though it jumped from her chest into her throat when the car alarm\nsuddenly went off, scaring her half to death and making her cover her ears at\nthe noise.            \"Who's over there?!\" A male voice\nyelled; she turned towards the voice, and blinked as a light was shone in her\neyes. \"What the...? Miss, are you...?\"            The leopard didn't wait for him to\nfinish; she bolted, taking off into a run and fleeing from the guard. \"Hey,\nstop! Wait!\" The guard shouted before running after her. She heard him talking,\nalthough felt his words were not directed at her as she kept running. \"Edgar,\nwe've got someone in the parking lot; young woman, anthro-feline and she's\nfleeing across the third level. Call it in; I'm in pursuit!\"            \"Copy\nthat; is she armed?\"            \"No; she's unarmed, and also nude; I think she may be in trouble,\" the\nguard returned to the unknown second speaker. \"I'll try to calm her down.\"            \"10-4,\nNick; proceed with caution.\"            \"I will.\" And then, his voice raised as he kept running after the\nleopard even as she fled to the next level. \"Miss, please wait!\"            The two kept running about the\nfourth level until the leopard, almost out of breath, ran up to the fifth level\nand towards the concrete rail at the edge, nearly falling into it and getting a\ngood look at the drop to the ground below. She fell back from the wall, turning\nand about to run again, when she saw the guard had caught up to her, just as\nwinded as she was by the look of things, and keeping his flashlight low and out\nof her eyes, but not on her naked body.            \"Miss, please, I am not going to\nhurt you!\" The guard assured, keeping his other hand where she could see it,\nshowing he was unarmed. \"Please, don't run anymore.\"            \"Stay away from me,\" the leopard\nsaid, sliding back against the wall. Even if she could survive the fall to the\nground below, the wall was too high for her to climb over; the guard would be\nable to grab her before she could climb over. \"Please, just don't come any\ncloser.\"            \"Don't worry, I won't,\" he promised.\n\"Are you alright; are you hurt? Did someone attack you?\"            \"I... I don't know,\" replied the\nleopard, holding her arms across her chest. \"I can't remember anything. I'm so\nafraid...\"            \"It's okay, miss; I can help you,\"\nthe man said in assurance, kneeling down so that his eyes were level with those\nof the leopard. \"My name is Nick; I'm a Security Guard. Do you remember your\nname?\"            \"Something... keeps repeating in my\nhead... 'T'... it's all I can remember...\"            \"T; is that the first letter of your\nname?\" Nick asked.            \"I don't know... possibly... I just\ncan't remember.\" She grabbed her hair in aggravation, sliding down against the\nwall until she was sitting on the concrete floor. \"There's nothing!\"            \"It's okay, miss; I promise, help is\non the way,\" Nick tried to reassure her more, standing back up to his full\nheight. \"Now... I'm going to take a step towards you, okay?\"            The young lady made no protest, and\nslowly but gently, the guard took a step towards her, before he crouched back\ndown again, going no further when he saw the leopard flinch at his approach.\n\"Now... are you injured at all; did someone attack you and take your clothes?\"            \"I... I don't think so; I don't\nthink I'm hurt... my head is aching though,\" she rubbed the side of her head.\n\"And I feel so tired...\"            \"Do you remember how you entered\nthis parkade?\" The guard asked. \"The gates have been closed since eight PM; did\nyou come before the sun came down?\"            \"No... I can only remember dark;\nit's been dark since...\" She rubbed her head again. \"I don't remember seeing\nany daylight.\"            \"Okay,\" returned the guard. \"Now,\nI'm going to take another step towards you, alright?\"            If the guard came any closer he'd be\nnear enough to grab her. \"No, please don't,\" the leopard begged, causing the\nguard to stop just as he returned to his full height. \"Please, just leave me\nalone.\"            \"I wish I could but you're currently\non private property,\" the guard pointed out. \"You can't stay here; the police\nwill be along soon. They'll find out who you are, and they'll take you home.\"\n            \"H-Home?\" She asked. \"I... I\ndon't think I have a home.\"            \"Are you homeless?\" Nick asked. \"Is\nthat why you came in here; just looking for somewhere to sleep?\"            \"No,\" she replied. \"I... just don't\nremember!\"            Nick watched her for another moment,\nbefore he tried inching towards her again; the leopard looked up as she heard\nhis foot grinding against the pavement, and she screamed before, all of a\nsudden, everything around her seemed to slow down. She saw the guard, still approaching\nher but moving at a very sluggish pace, his foot elevated off the ground but\nnot falling. Immediately, the leopard shot to her feet, running past Nick, but\nunable to resist looking back at him, to see him still moving sluggishly,\nbefore very suddenly, he jerked as if whatever had been impeding his movement\nhad lifted, and his step was complete, still looking where the girl had been\nbut no longer was.            \"What the hell?\" Nick demanded,\nlooking around for her; he looked behind him to see her sprinting away, having\nnot even seen her move from the wall before. He groaned before sprinting after\nher. \"Miss, wait!\" He was close enough that he could reach out to grab her\nshoulder, placing his hand upon it.            Something snapped in the girl;\neverything seemed to slow down, just as it had when she had moved before and\nonce more the guard was slowed, almost standing still as he tried to speak\nagain but his lips were just as slow as his body. The leopard broke away from\nhim and leapt several feet from the man, before he was back at his regular\nspeed again, eyeing her with bafflement.            \"How do you keep doing that?\" He\nasked.            \"I... I don't know!\" She cried\nbefore she broke off running again, and once more the guard was forced to\nsprint after her...             ~~~~~             \"Dispatch\nto any available units, check your screens; we have 10-66 reported at 108 36th\nAvenue; requesting officer 10-49 location. Subject is 311 and refusing to heed\nSecurity personnel.\"            A hand covered in amethyst coloured scales reached for the radio\ntransceiver on the dashboard bringing it to a muzzle of the same colour. \"This\nis Charlie 2-0-6; I'm in the area and can head over; ETA three minutes.\"            \"10-4,\n2-0-6; update when you are 10-97. Proceed code 3 and 10-0; suspect is 12-1A.\"            \"10-4; over and out,\" the reptilian figure returned before returning\nthe transceiver to its holstered position on the dashboard, before she reached\ninto her breast pocket and produced a phone, picking out a speed-dial number\nand raising it to her ear. \"Hey, it's me; there's a possible superhumanoid in\nthe area. Can you come keep an eye on things?\"            \"I've\ngot Pavan with me; just tell us where to go.\"             ~~~~~             Moments later, Obsidian arrived on scene at the parkade, parking her\ncruiser across the road from the concrete structure before she climbed out,\nleaving the flashing lights on as she approached the scene. She found one of\nthe security guards waiting for her as she approached the garage door gate.            \"What's the situation, sir?\"\nObsidian asked.            \"We found an unknown young woman\nwandering the parkade a few hours ago. My partner's been trying to catch her or\ntalk with her but she's terrified, and has some unusual powers.\"            \"Can you describe them?\" Obsidian\nasked, pulling out her notebook and beginning to write down the details.            \"Super speed, by the look of it;\nshe's faster than the blink of an eye,\" the guard returned. \"Every time my\npartner manages to get close, trying not to scare her, she's off again and can\nreach the other side of the parkade in seconds.\"            \"I see,\" returned Obsidian, writing\ndown the info as needed. \"Has she said anything?\"            \"From what my partner has told me,\nshe's scared, and seems to be suffering amnesia; she doesn't know who she is or\nhow she even got into the parkade,\" replied the guard.            \"Off the record, what, in your\npersonal opinion, do you think happened to her?\" Obsidian asked.            \"Given that she was nude when we\nfound her, my first guess would be the victim of a sexual assault. I know\nsometimes that can be a significant shock for some.\"            Obsidian nodded, agreeing that was a\nlikely possibility, given the situation. But it was never good to make\nassumptions; Obsidian just preferred to know all possible scenarios so she\nwould have an easier time exploring all possibilities. \"Alright, if you can let\nme in, I'll head up and see if I can have an easier time convincing her to calm\ndown.\"            \"Go right ahead,\" the guard replied,\nbrandishing his keycard and approaching the gate; he held the card up to the\nsmall scanner on the right-hand side, and after a single 'beep', the gate began\nto open, raising from the ground until an opening large enough for a car to\npass through was revealed.            \"Thank you,\" bade Obsidian before\nshe began to walk into the parkade. \"Keep an eye out, okay?\"             \"I will.\"            With that, the dragoness began to\nmake her way through the parkade. She walked past numerous cars on her way up\nto the other levels, spotting makes and models of various years all around her,\neven some classic cars were among them. She knew this parkade well; it wasn't\npart of an office building like other parkades were; this one was for renting\nparking spots for vehicles to use, either as a place to park their cars on\ntheir way to work or to keep extra ones they couldn't park at home.            Obsidian reached the fifth level,\nand saw the other Security Guard standing hunched over a few meters away,\ngasping for breath. She approached the guard. \"Hey, are you alright?\" She asked\nhim.            The guard turned to her, looking up\nwith some alarm. \"Oh, hello officer,\" he returned. \"Sorry just... let me catch\nmy breath. That girl has... given me a good... run.\"            \"How long have you been chasing\nher?\"            \"Since we called you,\" he replied.\n\"I tried not to scare her but she suddenly took off running; I followed, trying\nto make sure I didn't lose track of her.\"            \"Good work,\" complimented the\ndragoness. \"I'll take it from here; head back down below. I have some backup\ncoming that may be able to help calm her down and take her somewhere safe.\"            The guard nodded. \"I leave it in\nyour hands, officer. If you need me, I'll be within earshot.\"            Obsidian nodded, and watched as the\nguard left, heading down to the levels below, and waited until he was gone\nbefore she reached out with her telepathy, and: \u003cAll clear, guys.\u003e            Seconds later, a pair of winged forms\ndescended from the darkness of the air above, revealing two avians; one red and\ngold in colour, and the other a light brown, shorter and much skinnier than the\nfirst. Both of them were unarmed, but the bigger one especially did not look,\nby any means, helpless.            \"You guys make good time,\"\ncomplimented Obsidian.            \"For the record, I got here first,\"\nremarked Pavan, earning him a punch in the shoulder from Volcan, which made the\nsmaller Wind Phoenix wince. \"Ow.\"            \"So, where's this superhumanoid?\"\nVolcan asked.            Obsidian looked over her shoulder,\nand pointed towards the opposite end of the parking lot. \"She's over there,\"\nthe dragoness replied.            Volcan and Pavan followed where she\nwas pointing, searching along the walls of the opposite side until they spotted\na small figure huddled against the wall near a corner, barely visible as she\nwas hidden behind a green pickup truck. From what they could see, she was\nyoung, barely in her late teens if even that far along, with the pointed, often\nflicking ears of a feline. She was covered in gray and white fur, with silver\nscalp hair and her body was covered in black spots, not like that of a cheetah,\nbut more like that of a leopard, with circles of various sizes. Volcan used his\ntelescopic vision to get a closer look at the leopardess without actually\nhaving to go nearer and saw that she had the same kind of eyes as common wild\ncats -large, glassy eyes with round pupils barely the size of a pea even in the\ndarkness.            \"Gray and white fur, black spots,\nfeline anatomy including wild-cat eyes...\" muttered Volcan. \"A snow leopard.\"            \"Snow leopard?\" Pavan echoed with a\nbaffled tone. \"Don't they live in Asia?\"            \"So do Wind Phoenixes,\" Volcan\npointed out. \"You're Indian, aren't you?\"            \"Half Indian, half English,\"\ncorrected Pavan.            \"Priorities boys,\" interjected\nObsidian. \"We still have to try and reach her before she takes off again. Come\non.\" She motioned for them to follow her. The Fire and Wind Phoenixes complied,\nkeeping pace with her.            The snow leopard watched their every\nstep warily, ready to run again at any moment if she had the chance. Soon, when\nthey were only twenty meters away, Obsidian motioned for Volcan and Pavan to\nstay back and wait, before she carefully approached the snow leopard, keeping\nboth hands where the girl could see the to show she was not armed. When the\ngirl flinched, Obsidian stopped approaching, and simply knelt down.            \"Please... just leave me be,\" the\nleopard called.            \"I am not here to hurt you,\"\nObsidian spoke gently, trying to reassure the girl. \"My name is Obsidian\nKimoyama; I'm a police officer. I'm here to help you.\"            She looked past Obsidian. \"What\nabout those avians; are they officers too?\"            Obsidian looked over her shoulder at\nVolcan and Pavan briefly before looking back at the girl again. \"No, but\nthey're friends,\" replied Obsidian. \"I asked them here because they can help\nyou as well.\"            \"Help me how?\" The girl asked. \"I\ndon't know who I am, or where I am.\"            \"You're in the city of Unity Falls,\nAlberta,\" replied Obsidian. \"Do you know how you got here?\"            \"I don't remember,\" she replied.\n\"All I remember is stumbling through darkness... things slowing down around me,\nfeeling lighter and heavier, off and on...\" She held her hands over her eyes.\n\"I don't know anything...\"            \"It's okay,\" assured Obsidian. \"That\nis what I am here to find out; we can help you, if you let us.\"            The snow leopard looked at Obsidian\nfor a moment, a long silence stretching out between the two until the leopard\nspoke again. \"No; you can't... I can't stay here; I can't trust anybody,\" she\nsaid. \"Please just go away.\" Despite the purple dragoness' soothing voice the\nleopard was still too scared to listen...            But Obsidian wasn't giving up. \"I\ncan't, miss; I can't simply leave you here,\" returned Obsidian. \"You need help,\nand I...\" Before she could finish, the leopard moved, and suddenly was a blur\nas she rushed past Obsidian, heading towards Volcan and Pavan.            Instinctively, Volcan made a grab\nfor the leopard, and felt his fingers brush against her fur, but he missed her\notherwise, and then she raced past Pavan, startling him and making him fall\nover, before she was across the parking lot and running again. Obsidian ran up\nto Volcan and watched the girl get further away. \"Damn it... what do we do?\" She asked. \"I can't get\nher to calm down; her mind is so scattered and she's so confused and afraid she\nwon't listen.\"\"Not to mention she's even faster than Pavan,\" said\nVolcan. \"Nobody's as quick as him, least of all you or me.\"\"Actually, I'm not so sure that was speed,\" Pavan\nremarked, catching the attention of the two as he stood back up. \"There was\nsomething a little bit off when she ran past me.\"\"What do you mean?\" Obsidian asked.\"Well, normally, when someone runs past you there's\noften a bit of a draft behind them, right?\" Pavan asked. \"The speed that girl\nwas going should've tossed up our feathers -in your case, hair, 'Sid- a little\nbit when she ran past us, yet when she ran past me I didn't feel a draft at\nall, like she was barely moving.\"\"Is she immaterial?\" Obsidian asked. \"A ghost?\"\"No; my fingers brushed against her fur when I tried\nto grab her,\" replied Volcan. \"It felt real; she's alive, and not a spirit.\" He\nturned his gaze towards the girl, triggering his infrared vision, evident by\nhis eyes as they glowed a bright yellow colour. \"She's also got body heat;\nspirits are cold. Something else is odd though.\"\"What?\" Pavan asked.\"Speedsters usually generate more body heat due to\nthe increased friction caused by their movement,\" replied Volcan. \"Because of\nthat the heat coming from her legs should be higher than average, but it's\nstill regular. I think Pavan's onto something; I don't think she is a speedster.\"Obsidian turned towards the girl, eyeing her with\ncuriosity as she stared back at them in fear. \"Then... how is she able to move\nlike that?\"            Volcan blinked, and his eyes\nreverted back to normal again, peering at the snow leopard with his\nfluorescent, sky blue orbs. \"I have no idea...\"            \"Maybe I can catch her,\" Pavan\nstated. \"Even if she isn't using super speed I'm still the fastest bird in this\ncity.\"            \"No; we're not here to chase her,\"\nVolcan returned. \"Go cover the ramp; make sure she doesn't go down below. 'Sid\nand I will think of something.\"            \"Alright, but don't expect me to\nstand around all night,\" Pavan pointed out. \"Yanno I hate standing in one place\nfor too long; like I always say...\"            \"On the move to keep your groove; we\nknow,\" Volcan interjected. \"Just get your arse over there and don't let her\npast you.\"            \"Alright, alright,\" Pavan returned,\ngrumbling as he took to the air, using his wind powers to carry himself over to\nthe ramp that led below to the fourth level.            Volcan looked at Obsidian. \"Let's\nkeep trying to talk to her,\" he offered, earning a nod of agreement from\nObsidian.            They approached the girl again, once\nmore Obsidian leading the two. She backed up against the wall as they neared,\nand stopped a short distance from her, as before. \"Miss, don't run like that\nagain, please; I promise that we're not here to harm you.\"            \"How can I know that?\" The girl\nasked.            \"How can we prove it to you?\" Volcan\nasked.            \"I... I don't know.\"            \"Look,\" began Obsidian. \"If I remove\nmy belt and set aside my tools, will that help?\"            The girl thought about it for a\nmoment, looking at the dragoness' belt of equipment, most especially her\nsidearm, and with that, nodded to her. Obsidian unbuckled the belt, and walked\nback several steps, setting the belt down before returning to where she was\nstanding previously, just in front of Volcan.            \"There; that any better?\" Obsidian\nasked, smiling pleasantly.            The girl nodded. \"A little...\"            \"Can you remember anything about\nyourself?\" Volcan asked. \"Name, where you live or where you were before you came\nto this parkade? Think hard; take as long as you need.\"            The leopard shut her eyes, and for\nseveral moments, she was silent. Volcan and Obsidian waited patiently, giving\nher all the time she needed. During that time, they didn't move any closer to\nher, not wanting to spook her again, and when she began to speak once more,\nthey listened.            \"I remember... a dark room. I was in\na confined space, surrounded in some sort of liquid but I wasn't drowning,\" she\nexplained. \"Sometimes, I could hear people outside... 'T' some said when they\naddressed me, but eventually they stopped coming. I was alone, and all I could\ndo was keep sleeping until one day, I was able to get out of the confinement I\nwas in; some sort of glass cylinder. I kicked open the door, and fell out onto\na metal grated floor...            \"I walked through this place... I\nremember seeing some kind of monster inside; I hid from it, and eventually I\nmanaged to find my way to open air. I ran away, descending down a steep slope\nuntil I came to this city; I could see its bright lights but I don't remember\narriving, or coming into this... parkade?\" She looked around. \"Everything is so\nunclear.\"            Volcan looked at Obsidian, a\nstartled look of realization on his face. \"Hey... you thinking what I'm\nthinking, 'Sid?\"            \"I haven't read your mind, so I\ndon't know,\" the dragoness jested, earning a scornful look from the phoenix.\n\"Just kidding... but,\" her face turned serious, \"I think we're of a mind on the\nsubject; it sounds like she came out of a laboratory.\"            \"An escapee from Rex?\"            \"No; the fact she was addressed as\n'T' seem to indicate some kind of codename; not Rex's M.O. from what we know,\"\nreplied Obsidian. \"And that leaves only one person, Nero.\"            \"She's a Project?\"            \"Looks that way,\" replied Obsidian.\n\"We won't know for sure unless Ayane takes a look at her and checked for\nnanites.\"            Volcan nodded, and turned to the\ngirl, stepping past Obsidian. \"Miss,\" he began, but stopped walking when she\nflinched. \"I think I know who can help you find the answers you need.\"            \"Who?\" The girl asked.            \"A very close friend of mine,\"\nreplied Volcan. \"She can help you find out who and what you are, but more than\nthat, there's another friend of mine who is just like you, and you could have a\nhome with him.\" Volcan knelt down to eye level with her, giving her a\nsympathetic look as he continued speaking. \"I can't promise you that you'll\nlike what you find, but I can give\nyou my word that you won't be forced to face it alone. All I ask is that you\ntrust me, and give me a chance.\"            The leopard girl looked at Volcan\nfor a moment; he could tell just by looking into her eyes that she was fighting\nbetween her basic instinct and trusting him, confusion and desperation in her\nmind; confused as to who she was or who she could trust, uncertain if she could\nactually trust this avian before her, but desperate to know if she had a place\nin the word. Slowly, she rose to her feet, and stepped towards Volcan. The\nphoenix's eyes met hers with every step she took; he didn't move, simply\nletting her come to him at her own pace, until she was only a few short feet\naway. He stood back up to his full height, utterly dwarfing the girl with his\nlarge size, but she was no longer afraid of him.            Abruptly the girl threw herself at\nVolcan and wrapped him in a tight hug; he was slightly surprised at first but\nhadn't been entirely unexpecting it. He put his arms around the girl gently and\ncovered her with his wings, blanketing her in warmth and his soft feathers,\nwhich helped relax her. In his arms, despite not even knowing him, the girl\nfelt safe, and pulled herself closer to him, almost wishing she could hide in\nhis feathers forever...            Obsidian watched the spectacle for a\nmoment before she felt a tap on her shoulder and looked back to see Pavan\nstanding there, holding out her belt of equipment to her. She nodded to the\nwind phoenix and put the belt back on before she picked her phone out of her\npocket and dialed a number before holding it up to her ear, waiting for an\nanswer.            \"Vinson.\"            \"Greg it's me,\" returned Obsidian. \"I\ngot the girl at the parkade; had some help from Volcan too. We're going to need\nto set something up for her.\"                        ~~~~~             Later on that night at the hospital,\nthe nameless girl was sleeping quietly in one of the rooms, having absolute\nprivacy except for occasional check-ins by nurses, bringing her anything she\nasked for, and making sure she was comfortable. Volcan, Obsidian, Gregory and\nPavan all stood in the waiting room, discussing everything that took place\nwhile they waited for two others to arrive at the hospital.            \"So you think she is one of these...\nProjects?\" Gregory asked. \"What makes you so certain?\"            \"Her powers don't seem to be\nnatural,\" replied Volcan. \"I've met Speedsters before; Pavan's one, Xavier was\nanother -someone I fought alongside during the war. Speedsters generate\nfriction as they run due the increased rate their muscles are working, and so\ngenerate more body heat. This girl, however, stayed regular body temp every\ntime she moved. For a speedster, that's impossible; even if their bodies were\nnaturally cold like a vampire, they'd still generate some heat.\"            \"So, our only conclusion then is\nthat she's like Rikyuu; a test tube baby,\" Pavan remarked. Obsidian glared at\nthe Wind Phoenix angrily, making him recoil. \"Hey, what? What'd I say?\"            \"Something rather disrespectful,\nPavan,\" stated Obsidian.            \"Just because Rikyuu's not born to\nparents like you and I are doesn't make him any less of a person,\" added\nVolcan. \"Do not refer to him as any less around us.\" Pavan sulked, but looked\nhonestly apologetic as he said he was sorry. \"Just call him 'Project' from now\non,\" replied Volcan. \"He prefers it.\"            \"Right; mentally noted.\"            The doors alongside the waiting room\nopened; the group turned to see two dragons, one a red, female Eastern-type\nwithout wings or horns, and with little fins where the ears on a human would\nbe, dressed in a knee-length black skirt and a white tanktop. The second\ndragon, a blue Western-type, much taller than the red and fairly muscular as\nwell, dressed in a red vest and black pants, the former of which was closed and\nzipped up for the sake of decency; he wasn't one for wearing shirts.            \"Glad you guys could come,\" Volcan\nsaid to Rikyuu and Ayane.            \"So... another of Nero's works are\nhere?\" Ayane asked. \"Where is she?\"            Volcan glanced up the hall. \"Third\nroom on the right; follow me.\" He said, before leading the two up the hall to\nwhere the leopard was. Everyone followed, with neither Rikyuu nor Ayane\nknowing what to expect from this visit. Ayane had, carried in her hand, a small\nscanning device that she brought along to detect nanites; it looked like a\ncommon TV remote at first, except with fewer buttons, no sensor light at the\ntip, and a flared upper portion with a small screen, currently dark.The group reached the room, and Volcan pointed in\nthrough the window. Obsidian, and Pavan kept back; they had already seen the\ngirl, after all, but Rikyuu, Ayane and Gregory had not. They peered inside, and\nsaw the sleeping form of the leopard, laying comfortably on the hospital bed,\nan empty plate on her side table where food had once been, and a half-empty\nbottle of water rested next to the plate. Through the white blanket, her\nslender form could still be seen quite clearly, and only now did Volcan notice\njust how skinny she was.\"My god...\" Rikyuu breathed.\"She looks so young,\" Gregory remarked.\"Her growth acceleration process mustn't have been\nfinished,\" remarked Ayane. \"Either that, or something in her design made her\nstop aging at adolescence, causing her to begin aging normally. This is all, of\ncourse, assuming she is a project.\"\"Hold on; this Nero person accelerates their aging?\"\nGregory asked.\"Believe it or not, Rikyuu here isn't even half the\nage of your daughter, Greg,\" Volcan pointed out, gesturing to the blue dragon,\nwho gave the hawk a sheepish grin in return.Gregory blinked. \"What controversy it would cause,\nif the world knew a four year old destroyed the flagship of the Advanced\nMilitary...\"Ayane glanced at Gregory. \"Suppose it's possible I\ncan go in, so I can run the scan?\"\"Think you can do so without waking her up?\" Gregory\nasked.\"I can move pretty quietly when I need to.\"            After a moment of thought, Gregory\nnodded in agreement. \"Then, I suppose so. But please, do everything possible to\nnot wake her up.\"            \"I won't be long,\" returned Ayane\nbefore she left the group, and entered the hospital room through the bedroom\ndoor, silently approaching the leopard's bed and tapping a few buttons on the\ndevice she was carrying. The screen blinked to life, casting a light over her face\nas she held it in alignment with the leopard, staying a good foot or so from\nthe bed as she waited.            The others waited outside, watching\nwith interested Ayane performed her diagnostic on the leopard. Only minutes\npassed before Ayane was on her way out again, stepping out of the hospital room\nwith the scanner in her hand and rejoining the group.            \"What'd you find out?\" Volcan asked.            \"That your suspicions are right,\"\nreplied Ayane. \"She's a Project, alright; a powerful one at that.\"            \"How powerful?\" Rikyuu asked.            \"Well, the nanotech in her body\nseems to emit a powerful field that causes a warp in space and time around her,\nmaking the entire passage of the continuum decrease its pace dramatically.\"            \"...What?\" Pavan asked.            \"She said the leopard is slowing\ndown time itself,\" replied Volcan.            \"Oh that's what she... wait, what?!\" Pavan barked, prompting both\nObsidian and Volcan to shush him.            \"You're in a hospital, son,\" reminded Gregory, keeping his voice level.            \"Sorry,\" whispered Pavan, meekly.            Volcan looked at Ayane. \"So...\nyou're telling us that this girl wasn't running really fast, we were all just\nmoving super-slow?\"            \"That about sums it up, yeah,\"\nreturned Ayane, nodding. \"I've never seen another Project with an ability like\nthat; the nanites in her body may even be more advanced than Rikyuu's, and\nthat's saying something.\"            \"That's a dangerous gift,\" stated\nGregory, peering into the room. \"Can she control it?\"            \"Based on what we saw at the\nParkade, she can't use them for long,\" Obsidian replied. \"Seems to only happen\nin bursts.\"            \"I noticed that too in my scans; it\nseems the power output of the nanites still have limits,\" remarked Ayane. \"It's\nlikely she'd be considered a 'Prototype' by Nero and his people; still under development\nbut, a sign of progress.\"            \"How'd she escape then?\" Obsidian\nasked. \"If she was that far along with a successful power, there's no way Nero\nwould let her go so easily.\"            \"True... unless even he couldn't\nstop her,\" said Rikyuu. \"Remember, I was\nfreed from him too, thanks to Obsidian. Perhaps she found a way to use her\npowers to escape; once she was out of the capsule, there'd have been little\nanyone could have done to keep her from leaving with an ability like that.\" He\npeered into the room. \"Now... all she needs is a home. I think she'd be safest\nliving with me.\"            \"It's going to start to get crowded\nat your place if we keep finding these Projects, buddy,\" remarked Pavan. \"You\nneed a farm or something.\"            \"Do I look like the farm type?\"\nRikyuu asked, matter-of-factly. \"Still, you have a point. I just might need to\nget a bigger place.\"            Obsidian rubbed her chin in thought.\n\"There's dozens of acreages and such outside of the city, some with small\nhouses or big ones, others a blank lots.\"            Volcan stepped in. \"Hey, hold on.\nMaybe this is a conversation for another time; we still don't know what the\ngirl might want...\" He looked into the room. \"And, we still have to think of a\nname for her; can't just keep calling her 'T' like she said the guys at the lab\ndo.\"            \"Well, Volc, you've always been good\nat coming up with names,\" said Rikyuu. \"What're your thoughts on what we should\ncall her?\"            Volcan rubbed his chin in thought,\nshutting his eyes and going through numerous names in his head. He liked giving\nunique names to anything he bothered naming at all, so it had to be something\nthat stood out to him. Eventually he found his mind running through some\nJapanese words Hikari had taught him during the war, and one stood out to him.\n\"Slow...\" he muttered.            \"Call her 'slow'? That's kind of...\"\nPavan began, but didn't finish before Volcan spoke again.            \"Yurui.\"            \"Yuri? That's a common name in\nRussia,\" Gregory remarked.            \"Not like that; spell it\n'Y-U-R-U-I'; it's the Japanese word for Loose, Lenient and Slow; I figure the\n'slow' part suits her because she slows down time,\" explained Volcan.            \"Yurui,\" repeated Rikyuu. \"It sounds\nperfect for her. Let's see what she thinks of it when she wakes up.\"            Obsidian smiled. \"I'm sure she'll\nlike it.\"             ~~~~~             The Snow Leopard was left in the\nhospital for a few more days until she was healthy enough to go out again. The\ngroup has asked her about the name they had chosen for her, and the leopard\nfound she liked it; henceforth, she was called 'Yurui', and now that she was\nhealthy enough to leave the hospital, Volcan called on his friend, Tsume, to\nlend her some clothes until they could go shopping for something more her size,\nsomething Tsume was happy to help with. On the day of her release, Tsume and Obsidian picked\nYurui up from the hospital, and offered to help her get freshened up. They took\nher to a barbershop in C-Plaza, where she was given a haircut to suit her\nappearance; she cut the back of her hair short, but left two stylish bangs in\nthe front that hung on either side of her face, giving her a rather tomboyish\nlook that actually complimented her features well. Afterwords, the three girls\nwent shopping at several stores around the area, starting with a clothing\nstore. The girls tried on countless outfits together, and eventually Yurui\nfound a look she liked; a pink tanktop with dark blue jeans, adding to the\ntomboyish look her hair already gave her, and really bringing out the colour in\nher fur surprisingly well.After their day of shopping, the girls took Yurui\nout to see Volcan and his band mates, including Pavan, Vinge and Brent, at the\nhome of the lattermost in the countryside. The boys were practicing in the yard\nwhen they saw Tsume's car pull up, and set down their instruments to go and\ngreet the girls. As they neared, Yurui's eyes fell on the white avian in the\ngroup.\"Who's that?\" She asked Tsume.\"Oh, him? That's Vinge; he's kind of the new guy on\nthe group,\" replied Tsume. \"He comes across as serious and maybe a little stern\nbut don't let that fool you; he's quite gentle, and really, really smart.\"\"Not to mention, a phenominal singing voice,\" added\nObsidian. She noticed a slight blush on Yurui's face as she watched Vinge,\nstill huddled down in the back seat where the windows were tinted and the Ice\nPhoenix likely couldn't see her. The dragoness smiled. \"You find him rather\nhandsome do you?\"\"What?! Well sure, but...!\" Yurui flushed. \"Hey,\ndon't read my mind!\"\"I'm not,\" returned Obsidian. \"Your face is giving\nme all the information I need.\" Both her and Tsume began giggling at how\nflustered Yurui was getting.Yurui sighed in exasperation, but found herself\nsmiling as well. \"Okay... yes; I do find him quite handsome.\"\"Well, then, come and meet him!\" Tsume urged,\nopening the door to the car and stepping out, so that she could slide the back\nseat forward enough for Yurui to climb out.Yurui hesitated, but eventually nodded, and with a\nhelping hand from the Earth Phoenix, the snow leopard stepped out of the car,\nand walked with the girls to go and meet the members of Winged Fury...   More adventures await for Yurui and her newfound family the Os-Nàdarra\nSentinels. But who is Nero really, and what are his motives or creating an\nentire race of Superhumanoid beings?That's something we hope to find out someday...Volcan and Rikyuu"}