{"sf1_id":849271,"sf2_id":null,"title":"How It All Fell Apart","author":"Niniju","words":1514,"posted_at":"2015-04-19T00:41:00.000Z","tags":["Bear","Dragon","Fox","Husky","Leopard","Niniju","Panther","Rabbit","Snow Leopard","Tiger","Wolf","red fox"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/849271-how-it-all-fell-apart","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/849271","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=849271\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n(Gary's Point of View)\n   The manager got up\nhere roughly an hour after the cleaning worker left, and I told the other ten\nof the possibility that a twelfth anthro came through in time with us. When I\nmentioned the unknown passenger, Timler became nervous.\n   \"So it's true.\" He\nmuttered, \"I thought I had miscalculated.\"\n   \"What's true,\nTimler?\" I asked.\n   Timler took a shaky\nbreath to calm himself. \"I can tell how many people follow me through time. I\ndidn't think it was possible to sneak onto the ride until you managed to, and\nthat was shocking enough for me.\"\n   \"And you're scared\nthat two anthros snuck into the rift.\" Friz guessed.\n   \"Exactly. I don't\nknow what he looks like or who he is, but he could jeopardize our mission to\nstop the end of peace between anthros and humans.\" Timler said nervously.\n\"Speaking of which, Regir, do you remember how anthros fell into being the\nlowlifes of society?\"\n   \"It was a tragic\nevent that began sometime this year.\" Regir recalled. \"Crime rates had been\nastonishingly low, with the only crimes being committed were by sociopaths and\nkleptomaniacs. Basically mentally unstable people and anthros were the ones\ncommitting crimes. I found that shocking, honestly. When I was born, some would\ncommit crimes over the pettiest things or just 'because they wanted to.' It was\nhorrible, but the world at this time was utopia. We were just recovering from\nthe biggest arms race gone wrong, and folks were reluctant to be 'that guy'\nthat ruins others' days...\"\n(Regir's Point of View\nin the Original Version of the Timeline, Approximately a Month After the\n\"Current Events\")\n   I had just regained\nall memories from my past lives for maybe my fifth or sixth time of being\nalive. A shocking news report had spread globally, and the world was falling\ninto turmoil over it. A gang of anthros had begun going on a rampage, setting\nfires and committing all sorts of crimes. The last straw for this group was\nwhen they began raping humans \"because why not,\" as they put it. The military\ngot involved, and, after an intense gunfight between the gang and the military,\nwhere more humans died than anthros, a passionate humans v. anthros debate\nbroke out everywhere after the identically named trial: Humans v. Anthros. The gang of anthros were quickly convicted, but\nthe debate was over whether the anthros should get the death sentence. That\nparticular punishment had been abolished for a full half millennium, so to even\nspeak about it when these anthros got convicted started an outrage in which\npeople began choosing sides. Most chose the side of their own race, and racism,\na concept thought to be extinct at this point, quickly resurfaced. As the\ndebate heated up and the trial continued, it was ultimately decided that the\nleader of the gang be hanged and his followers were sentenced to life in\nprison. Anthros were outraged. Riots overtook the streets. Neighbors turned on\neach other. Lives were lost. Chaos ensued. A human army of anthro haters began\nto massacre the anthros to \"keep us in check\" and the anthros didn't know how\nto fight back. It wasn't long until Pinnacle and Nethermost were split into two\nvastly different societies. Pinnacle was immaculate. Everything was always\nshiny and new, and anthros were scarce. Nethermost was anthro dominant and most\nbuildings were overgrown or had holes in them from the riots and \"police\nactions.\" I still to this day scoff at this borrowing of a term from the twenty\nfirst century that prevented nuclear war before. I myself lived in a fairly\ndecent building in the Nethermost suburbs, and my life was sustainable with no\ncomplaints other than \"Why does it have to be like this?\" Before I reset my\nlife this time, I became an anthro rights activist my word spread fairly\neffectively, and many heard my call. Pinnacle was the only city that refused to\nhear me, and, after a decade of fierce activism, Pinnacle was the only\nremaining segregated city. This never changed, leading us to the present. My\nname was different then, so I'm thankful I always change it. How weird would it\nbe to be eleven when this year I would turn twenty in my past? I just prayed\nthat I didn't run into myself. That would be disastrous.\n   I relayed a\nparaphrased version of this to my friends, leaving out the personal woes and my\ninvolvement in reuniting the rest of the world in anti-segregation, replacing\nany notion that I did it with the ever useful term \"this guy.\"\n   \"So one group\npretty much screwed up anthro rights for everybody in Nethermost?\" Friz asked,\nbewildered. \"That's pretty brutal.\"\n   \"You have to keep\nin mind that the death sentence was brought up for this group when before even\npsychopaths and other murderers never got executed.\" I explained. \"If I\nremember correctly, it happened around October of this year.\"\n(Gary's Point of View)\n   Just then, the door opened, and I snuck\nout while questions were asked. I was greeted by an anthro rabbit in her\nmid-thirties. She had white fur and long blonde hair. She wore what you would\nexpect a manager of an inn to wear, and she had a friendly demeanor. I accosted\nher, saying, \"There you are. I was beginning to worry she forgot to call you.\"\n   \"Who, Hilda? She\njust takes her time.\" The manager said with a chuckle. She was forcing herself\nto be friendly, though I knew better.\n   \"You're wondering\nwhy we needed you, if I'm right.\" I asked. \"I can tell you don't actually want\nto engage in casual conversation.\" She gave me a quizzical look, and I\ncontinued. \"I'll cut to the chase. We need a place to lay low, and you're gonna\nlet us stay here for free under the alias I gave Hilda. If anyone asks, we\ndon't exist. Got it?\" She only nodded. \"Good, that'll be all.\" She walked out\nof the room. I went back into the bedroom and told the others that it was\nclear. They all came out of the room and Nick, Ghast, and I gazed out the\nwindow at the peaceful scene while the rest talked about the tragedy that would\nbe upon us before the year was up. Judging from the season, it was summer, so\nthat gave us roughly four months at most to fix all of this. I was lost in thought\nuntil Nick yanked me back to reality.\n   \"I wanna play\nball.\" He said with longing. He was referring to the group of children and cubs\nplaying with catch with a tennis ball. Ghast wanted to as well.\n   \"I don't know,\nguys.\" I said. \"You have powers that might flare up at any time, and I've never\neven seen what Ghast can do. I don't trust it.\"\n   \"Oh, come on, Gary!\nI've never been able to play before. Too many responsibilities in the healing\nward.\" He complained.\n   \"Not to mention you\nbecame a necromancer.\" I reminded him. He looked visibly ashamed of that, so I\ncaved. \"Fine, you can go.\" I conceded, \"However, I must issue an ultimatum. You\nare not to use your powers. If you do, this will be the last time you can play\nwith the locals.\" My persuasion powers poured into this warning, and Nick and\nGhast nodded with genuine fear. \"Also, come up with a fake name. Ghast, you can\nuse whatever you want. Nick, since we're brothers, your last name must the same\nas my fake name's last name.\"\n   \"And what's that?\"\nhe asked.\n   \"Robinson.\" He\nnodded, and I dismissed them. It was quite obvious that I was becoming the\nlevel-headed authority figure that would keep us sane, and I was okay with\nthat. What I was not okay with was that mysterious passenger that followed us\nhere, and I was determined to find him. My only hint, unfortunately, is that he\nlooked to be a hyena when I saw his shadow.\n   I watched as Nick\nand Ghast emerged from the hotel, getting the attention of the group that were\nplaying with the tennis ball. They waved in a friendly manner and let the two\nnewcomers join their game. The goal was to keep the ball off the ground while\npassing it around. The game was going well until one of the humans dove for the\nball to prevent losing a point and skid on the concrete on his bare elbow and\nknee. He cried out, and I saw the blood that was beginning to emerge from his\nwounds. Nick rushed to his side in a panic, trying to figure out what to do. I\nsaw his healing instincts kicking in, and he was fighting the urge to use a\nhealing spell. He eventually looked towards where I was, asking with his eyes\nfor guidance. I then realized that my power had revoked his ability to even use\nhis powers willingly...\n"}