{"sf1_id":877056,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 5","author":"Nazca","words":2223,"posted_at":"2015-06-23T11:25:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Mind uploading","Science","War","Wolf","corruption","dystopia","implants"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/877056-victernus-chapter-5","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/877056","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=877056\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            It was only a couple of hours before\nthey reached Colorado and were on the road again. The \"Sanctuary,\" as Namara's\nfriends had called it, was built far into the Rocky Mountains, away from most\ncities and inaccessible unless the way in was known. It was built not only to\nachieve his goal, but also so that his friends could live how they wanted and\nconduct their own research without someone looking over their shoulders. From\nthe air, it seemed like there was nothing. It was the perfect hideout.\n            Hector stopped the truck at the end\nof a dirt road, deep within a forest. They had driven at least forty miles away\nfrom the airport in Denver and were now sitting in the middle of nowhere. He\nlooked to Namara, who nodded and then unfastened his seat belt. Taking his keys\nout, he opened the truck and got out. He held the door open for Namara while\ntaking I the view. The noon sun barely came through the dense fir trees\nsurrounding them. Relative to them, the time had not yet changed because the\ntrain was so fast.\n            Namara stepped out in front of him\nand looked back to ensure that he would follow. Hector understood and shut the\ndoor. He followed the wolf into the forest, listening to a few birds chirping\nand the sound of twigs snapping under their feet.\n            After winding around many trees and\ncircling a few times, they stopped at a tall, fat hunk of a tree. Hector looked\ndown and saw his friend writing in the dirt again. It read, \"Speak. Are you a\nfriend?\"\n            Hector nodded, \"Yes.\"\n            Namara shook his head and rubbed out\nthe words, replacing them with \"Say it.\"\n            He thought for a moment and then\nsaid, lacking some confidence, \"I am a friend...?\"\n            When he finished speaking, the tree\nmade an ominous cracking sound. More cracking emerged from the center. A split\nappeared in the bark, and then a light came out from it, as if the tree was\nscanning them. It descended from top to bottom. When it finished, the light\nbrightened and completely enveloped them.\n            The light disappeared. Hector, who\nhad shielded his face, lowered his arm and saw that they were in a different\nplace. They stood in the center of a dark courtyard. It was surrounded by thick\nvegetation. Two sets of stairs stood on both sides of one end.\n            Namara trod across the ground and\nmade his way up the stairs. He went under a wide stone archway and found\nhimself back home. He breathed deeply and smiled.\n            Hector came up the stairs slowly,\nstill trying to comprehend what had just occurred to him. When he found the\narchway, he saw a young brunette woman dressed in brown leather clothing\ncrouched down in front of Namara. She was barefoot. Judging by her facial\nfeatures, she was probably only twenty years old. Both of them were in the\ncenter of a hallway that was about six feet wide.\n            He stopped at the beginning of the\nhallway. When she saw him, she stood up and asked, \"Who's this?\"\n            Putting his hands in his pockets, he\nreplied nervously, \"Hector Addison. That wolf there just appeared in my truck\nyesterday... and if I'm not mistaken, he is Namara?\"\n            She nodded, \"Well, obviously. Theo\nis working on a way for him to communicate with us telepathically, but I don't\nknow where he is with it right now. But, we can talk about that later. I'd like\nto know more about you.\" She turned and walked up a set of glass steps at the\nend of the hallway, Namara trailing behind.\n            Hector followed them, \"Oh, I'm just\na farmer from western Connecticut. Namara asked me to bring him to this place.\nI left my wife, Judy, to take care of things while I was gone.\"\n            She nodded, \"Ah. I am Mahalia\nGalvarros, Namara's mate. We've been living here for a few years, but he had to\ngo take advantage of some resources to get closer to his own goals.\"\n            They came into another clearing - a\nglass, hexagonal platform surrounded by mahogany planks - where they could see\nthe whole sanctuary from above. It was raised, and similar rooms were spread\nout in the forest below them, connected to each other by bridges and ladders.\nEach one had a blue light glowing beneath it, providing ample visibility. There\nwere chairs and tables arranged neatly on each one. Silver railings were on the\nedges, and blue, transparent screens floated in the air just outside of them. All\nkinds of experimental equipment were lying around on the tables. But, most\nimportantly, the whole structure was covered by dense trees. Little sunlight\ncame through.\n            Hector was almost breathless. \"Did\nyou build this all yourself? Or... do you have a contract with the government?\"  \n            Mahalia shook her head and laughed,\n\"Nobody knows about this place. The government would have a panic attack.\nNamara designed it, but our friends are the ones who have been doing most of\nthe research.\"\n            \"Oh. Why do you do it?\"\n            She shrugged, \"Because it's fun. We\nlike working on our own projects without anyone else interfering. It gives us a\ndifferent kind of freedom, you know?\"\n            Hector approached the edge and\nrested on the railing, looking down. \"This must have cost a fortune...\"\n            Mahalia sat on one of the couches\nand beckoned for Namara to come. \"Namara provided most of the money. He didn't\nwant to keep it all to himself, so he invited me and some of his friends to\njoin him. Now we're here.\"\n            One of the floating screens hovered in\nfront of Hector suddenly. It was showing a video feed being broadcasted from a\ndifferent location. Another man who was Mahalia's age and was dressed in a\nsmooth black cotton robe was staring into the camera on the other end. \"Uh... who\nare you?\"\n            He struggled to find words,\nbewildered. Mahalia got up and came to his side, \"Oh, hey Chomp. This is\nHector. He brought Namara with him. What's going on?\"\n            He pointed to something on the\nscreen he was working on, \"Check the security system. There seems to be an error\nin the code, but I can't find exactly where it is. It's screwing up the systems\nover here, and Theo can't seem to get any work done because of it.\"\n            Mahalia stretched her hands over the\nrailing. Another screen appeared below them. \"I'm checking. Do you know if he's\nfinished Namara's communication implant?\"\n            He nodded, \"Yeah. In fact, I\nuploaded it to the system just a few minutes ago. You can send him to the tech\nroom to get it constructed and implanted.\"\n            Mahalia glanced back at Namara and\nmotioned for him to go. Namara went to the bridge on the side of the platform\nand headed out.\n            Chomp continued, \"Once he's all set,\nwe can...\" His face was filled with fright suddenly. He ran his hands through his\nshort black hair, \"Oh crap! I have to cut the satellites! Someone's trying to\nsniff us out. I'll call you back when-\"\n            The video shorted out and the screen\nfaded. Mahalia pounded the railing with her fist, \"Damn it!\"\n            Hector turned and rested against the\nrailing. \"You think they'll be alright?\"\n            She shook her head and sighed,\n\"They'd better be. This hasn't happened before. Nobody should know about this\nplace...\" She narrowed her eyes at Hector, \"Did you bring a tracker?\"\n            \"A... tracker? I don't think so, but I\ndid have a run in with some FBI agents this morning. They gave me this,\" he\nsaid as he pointed towards the bruise on his face.\n            \"Darn.\" She pointed to one of the\nplatforms below them. \"Go stand in the center of that one. If you do have a\ntracker, it'll fix it. Just tell me when you're ready.\"\n            Hector nodded and then made his way\ndown the ladders and bridges. Standing in the middle of the platform, he looked\nback up at Mahalia. \"I'm ready.\"\n            She acknowledged him and typed a\ncommand into her screen. An intense blue light shot down through Hector,\nleaving him stunned. When he came back to his senses, he saw Mahalia talking to\nChomp again. He wiped his brow and came back up to the main platform. \"I guess\nthat worked?\"\n            They both nodded.\n            \"Oh... I guess I was bugged then.\"\n            Chomp disconnected the video. As\nthey settled down, Namara came to the side entrance of the platform. Can you guys hear me?\n            Mahalia turned, a giant smile stretching\nacross on her face. \"Yes! You're back!\" She ran to him and then hugged his\nneck. Hector just watched quietly, smiling.\n            I\nam... And now, I can really try to find it. Hector... You might have to leave us\nfor a while.\n            Hector sighed. \"Well... I know. But...\"\n            Is\nthere something you wanted to ask me?\n            He stood up and stroked his chin.\n\"Yeah... Why?\"\n            Both Namara and Mahalia asked,\n\"Why?\"\n            \"Yes... Why have you done all of this?\nI know about your friends, but what about you? The only thing I know about you\nis what the news stations are saying, and I know that isn't true.\"\n            Namara looked away. Well...\n\"Well?\"\n I'm searching for something. Something I had\nonce. Or at least, I think I did.\nHe paused and looked up at Hector while Mahalia left to get something. For much of my life, I've known exactly what\nit is. I can see it clearly when I think about it. But... He glanced away\nbriefly. I can't seem to say what it is,\nand I certainly don't know how to get it. Every time I try, it vanishes.\nThere's not much else that I care for, except for my friends sometimes... A\nsmall twinge of sadness came through with his thought.\n            Hector watched him, unsure of how to\nfeel about it. \"That stinks... You haven't found anyone else who wants the same\nthing? And, since you are telepathic now, couldn't you just show me?\"\n            It\nis possible, but no... I have not found anyone. Not among the hordes of humans I\nhave met, or even among my friends. He paced around the room. I will try to show you. You will be the\nfirst to ever see it, besides me. Are you alright with that?\n            Hector smiled, \"I would be honored.\"\n            Namara stopped and sat down. Well, here goes nothing... He faced Hector\nand tried to bring every aspect of the Koanthanatus into his mind. All kinds of\nfeelings and images coursed through him. He focused further, trying to hold it\nall together and direct it towards his friend. But, as he began, a new kind of\ntension built up within his mind. Streaks of red and orange light spread to his\neyes, flying at his head and slowly enveloping his vision. What... is this...?!\n            Hector grasped his forehead, \"Whoa, don't yell.\"\n            Namara tried harder, but the intense\nfire he was seeing only strengthened. He groaned. AAAAHHH!!!\n            Hector held his head with both hands, \"Stop... trying!\nIt's not working!\"\n            He was barely able to hear his\nfriend, but he managed to stop himself. However, the fire did not.\n            Hector shook his head to try to\nclear it out. Opening his eyes, he saw Namara sitting stiffly in front of him\nwith his eyes wide open. \"Namara? Are you alright?\"\n            Namara tilted his head to the side a\nlittle bit, as if looking behind Hector. His pupils had shrunk a great deal. His\nvoice came in, but it was clear he was still struggling. W...what?\n            He bent down and held his shoulders,\n\"Talk to me, kid. What's going on?\"\n            A whisper entered his mind. I... see... fire... Where are you?\n            Mahalia came up to the platform and\nsaw the two on the floor, in front of each other. \"Are you guys alright?\"\n            Hector kept his eyes fixed on\nNamara. \"Um... Something happened... He tried showing me whatever he's been trying\nto find, but by thinking it to me, and now...\" He looked back, \"He says he sees\nfire, but that's it. I don't know what's going on.\"\n            When Mahalia approached them, tears\npoured out of Namara's eyes. She picked up her pace, \"Whoa!\"\n            Hurts...\n            She bent down and stroked Namara's\nface, wiping the tears away. She waved to Hector to move back. \"I think he's\ntalked about this before, but I've never seen him like... this.\" She scooped him up and held him in her arms. \"I'll see what\nI can do. Don't worry... it's not your fault.\"\n            Hector nodded and stepped back. \"I\nhope he'll be alright.\"\n            She left through the side entrance.\n\"Oh, I'll make sure of it. You can follow me if you want, but don't touch\nanything if you stay!\"\n            He\nsighed, looking around the empty room. As interested as he was before, this was\nnothing like what he was expecting.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/877055-victernus-chapter-4.json"}