{"sf1_id":877052,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 2","author":"Nazca","words":1854,"posted_at":"2015-06-23T11:21:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Mind uploading","Science","War","Wolf","corruption","dystopia","implants"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/877052-victernus-chapter-2","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/877052","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=877052\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            When Namara could no longer feel his\nbody, an immense rush of light and sound filled his mind and then his heart\nstopped. But, to his success, he was still conscious. He opened his eyes and\nheard guns firing and bullets whizzing past him. Some hit the chairs that\ntowered over him, and the others flew by. He stood up in a somewhat clumsy\nmanner and flicked an ear. This is going\nto take a little while getting used to...\n            The guns stopped firing. He knew\nthat the soldiers would be inside the lab at any moment. Looking down at his...\npaws... he saw the same silver wristband that he was wearing earlier and then\ntapped it with the side of his paw. The odd ghosting effect appeared around his\nbody again. Relieved, he stepped out of the stasis chamber and stood on the\ncold metallic floor. The smoke was still clearing from the guns, so the\nsoldiers remained unmoved. He turned to the back door and trotted to it a bit\noddly. It opened when it sensed his presence, and he walked out.\n            Glancing back when the smoke\ncleared, he saw Lynn enter the room and discover Namara's previous - and most\nlikely shredded - body. Lynn smiled and told the soldiers to dispose of it.\nNamara turned away, disgusted, and ran up the stairs to leave the facility. He\nflung the door open by pressing up against it with his head, but part of the\nway, it collided with an unknown object on the other side. He froze as the door\nbounced back a few inches and then opened wide. A guard stared down into the\nstairwell. He pointed his gun first, but then lowered it in bewilderment.\nNamara was breathless.\n            The guard dismissed it and grabbed\nthe doorknob to close it. Namara walked stiffly and silently out, hoping that\nthe guard would not notice the paw prints in the sand below. He barely made it\nout without his tail getting stuck in the door, but he continued walking away\nfrom the building slowly. When he was out of earshot of the guard, he ran\naround the building to get to the main road. It was going to be a long trip\nfrom his lab in Connecticut to the sanctuary in Colorado, but the trip would be\nworth it.\n            When Namara reached the road, he sat\ndown and watched it silently. The breeze still blew softly, ruffling his fur\nand the grass around him. Large trees that blocked out the afternoon sun sat on\nboth sides of the road. Fortunately, it was still early summer. But, he was met\nwith an overwhelming feeling as he gazed down the road. The mysterious paradox\nhe was given years ago - the Koanthanatus - was calling again. The weight on\nhim was a great one. If he could not escape it, then it would be true of him.\nHe would die before he beat it, and it would die with him, fulfilling its\nmeaning.\n            A dark blue truck appeared at the\nend of the road, driving slowly towards him from the left - the facility's\nside. When it passed him, he ran towards it and then jumped into the bed. He\nsat facing backwards, waiting and watching. When they went around a bend in the\nroad where it was darker, he uncloaked himself. The truck stopped shortly\nafter. He heard the door open. A middle-aged man who was relatively plump stood\nin front of him. He was wearing a brown fedora and some farmer's clothing -\nwhich was probably what he was.\n            The farmer grasped the top of his\nhat and looked back at the road, as if he was unsure how Namara had gotten\nthere.\n            Namara smiled with his tongue out\nand tail wagging. He watched the man to see what he would do.\n            The farmer looked back and seemed to\ndecide something. He walked back around and got in the truck, starting it again\nand driving away.\n            Namara suddenly thought about how he\nwould talk to anyone. He heard that one of his companions was working on\nsomething, but he wouldn't be getting it any time soon. He looked to the front\nof the truck. Perhaps I can write... in\ndirt or something... Darn, I didn't think this through completely!\n            The truck pulled into a long, grassy\ndriveway. They made their way along the path and stopped in the front yard of\nthe farmer's house. Namara heard the truck shut off again and then saw the\nfarmer leaving the vehicle. He came around and opened the door to the bed,\npatting his knees, \"Come on, boy!\"\n            Namara came forward and jumped out.\nThe farmer sighed and turned to go inside, beckoning him. A woman who was\nwearing blue jeans and a white shirt opened the door for them and asked,\n\"What've you got there, Hector?\"\n            He shrugged, looking back at the\nwolf following him, \"He just popped up in my truck on the way home from Granby.\nDunno where 'e came from.\"\n            Namara sat down before the front\nsteps and watched the couple standing next to each other. They seemed to be in\ntheir forties - probably about twice his age - with a few wrinkles on their faces.\nHector waved for him to come in and he obeyed, walking between their legs and\nthen sitting down in the living room. The room had a couple of sofas and was\nconnected openly to the dining room and kitchen. The wooden dining table was\nright behind one of the sofas and had a set of lights hanging over it.\n            Hector sat down on the couch and\nturned the television on while Judy went to finish preparing their dinner. The\nsmell of freshly seasoned beans wafted into the living room, beckoning Namara\nto the kitchen. He almost went, but the same reporter who he had seen earlier\nappeared on the television screen. He pointed his ears forward and listened in\ndisgust.\n            \"And another update on the raid of\nthe Transin facility: It seems that the fugitive, former-neuroscientist Namara\nGalvarros, was shot and killed while attempting to sabotage his lab. Some\nsources say that he escaped and has taken on a different form, but we have yet\nto confirm this story. In his place, Doctor Alan Lynn says that he will make\nGalvarros' research available to the public and claims that it will allow\nimmortality for all.\"\n            Judy brought the pots of food to the\ntable and set them down on hot plates. \"Turn that off, Hector. I don't want to\nhear about how they've disturbed that poor man any longer.\"\n            Both Namara and Hector shifted their\nattention to Judy. Hector turned the TV off and went to sit at the table,\n\"Truthfully, I don't know what to believe. All the news stations say that he\nhates the public or is some sort of terrorist, but I don't see what he's done wrong\nother than be good at what he does... I just wish I could talk to the fellow\nmyself.\"\n            Judy sighed and they both sat down\nto pray and eat.  Namara came to the sofa\nand propped himself up on it, watching them hungrily. After they prayed, seeing\nhim sparked sympathy within Judy, so she got up and made him a plate of his\nown. She set it down on the floor beside her chair.\n            Namara came around the table and\nthen stopped at the plate of food. He sniffed it, and Judy asked, \"Do you like\nrice and beans?\"\n            Well,\nI do, but... He tried it cautiously but then proceeded to devour it. Nevermind... The benefits outweigh the risks!\nHaha! He wagged his tail.\n            While he was eating, he overhead\nthem discussing what was going to happen next.\n            \"What should we do with him? I get\nthe feeling that he's not a normal dog...\"\n            \"If he's a wolf... neither of us have\na permit to keep him here. Besides, he'd probably eat all our chickens.\"\n            \"Still, it is odd for a wolf to be\naround these parts. If we give him to the authorities, they might just\neuthanize him.\"\n            Namara shuddered and lowered his\nears. The thought of being put down like an animal made him realize how\nvulnerable he was and how the Koanthanatus had put him here in the first place.\n            Judy looked down at him and saw that\nhe seemed sad. She ran her hand through his fur and reassured him, \"It's\nalright, we won't do that to you...\"\n            She raised her head to look at\nHector, a strange thought entering her mind. She took a look at Namara again,\nand then turned back to her husband. They were silent for a bit too long, and\nthen Judy burst out, \"No...!\"\n            Namara raised himself on the edge of\nJudy's chair to see them. Their eyes widened, and Hector asked, \"A... are you\nhim?\"\n            He nodded, and Hector continued,\n\"Impossible! We need a way to talk...\"\n            Namara let himself back down and\ntrotted to the door. He looked back at the couple and motioned for them to go\noutside with his head.\n            Hector left his plate unfinished at\nthe table and followed him. He opened the door so that they could both go outside.\n            Namara ran out and found a small\npatch of moist and grassless dirt to write in. Using his delicate, unused\nclaws, he scraped various letters into the dirt. Yes, this'll work!\n            Hector caught up to him and saw\nwords carved messily into the ground. He spoke them out loud, \"Need to go to\nColorado. Take me? We can talk then...\" Once again, he grasped the top of his hat\nin awe. Lowering himself to Namara's level, he asked, \"Wait. Why do you need to\ngo?\"\n            Namara wiped the dirt away and then\nwrote \"Friends there\" in its place. He raised his eyes back up to meet Hector's\nto see if he approved.\n            Hector sighed.  \"I see. I just... one more question. All of the\nnews channels say you are some kind of evil person who's out to get us. Are\nyou? What is the truth? What are you doing all of this for?\"\n            He shook his head and stepped back a\ncouple times. Wiping the dirt down again, he wrote, \"searching.\"\n            \"For what?\"\n            Namara shuddered and shook his head\neven more, as if it was too overwhelming.\n            Standing up again, Hector ruffled\nthe silver fur on Namara's head and smiled. \"It's alright. You can tell me\nlater if you want.\" He adjusted his hat, \"We can leave tomorrow, at sunrise.\nHow about you come on inside and get some rest? You're gonna need it!\"\n            Namara\nnodded again and then followed him back into the house for the night. Settling\ndown in the living room, he sighed and smiled to himself. People like him are so rare...","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/877051-victernus-chapter-1.json"}