{"sf1_id":877057,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 6","author":"Nazca","words":1912,"posted_at":"2015-06-23T11:27:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Mind uploading","Science","War","Wolf","corruption","dystopia","implants"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/877057-victernus-chapter-6","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/877057","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=877057\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            For the next few hours, Namara laid\non a soft bed of white feathers in one of the rooms below the platforms, or\ncontrol stations, as they had come to call them.  A black wooden dresser stood on either side\nand a waterfall came down just outside of the glass walls.\nHe was conscious and aware of what was going on,\ngladly accepting Mahalia's attempts to comfort him. The fire was gone, but he\ncould barely muster the mental strength to say anything. Few thoughts ever\nentered his mind, and the ones that did were very repetitive. A great internal\nstruggle raged within him, and he was ready to put the Koanthanatus aside for a\nwhile.\n            He felt Mahalia's hand on his head\nagain. For the first time in hours, he spoke.  Where's\nHector?\n            Her voice came from behind him.\n\"Home... He's had enough for today.\"\n            Namara lowered his eyes. Oh...\n            \"You can talk to him later. I have his number.\"\n            Well,\nthat's good...\n            She rubbed his shoulders, \"What's up?\"\n            I\nthink... I'm going to drop this thing for a while. I don't know what happened\ntoday. And Hector... was he alright?\n            Mahalia lied down beside him, \"He\nwas. But, this setback is no reason to give up now.\"\n            Oh,\nI'm not giving up. I'll still be looking, but... less.\n            \"That's very odd of you... What do you\nmean?\"\n            Namara stirred and then sat up. There are other things that need to be done...\nmore important things. He paused and looked down at her. There's something I saw on the way here... something\nthat always disturbed me. It began when I was younger. He shifted his gaze\nout of the open door, staring at the lowest control station. Nothing has changed since then. Not in a\nlong time. And now, everything is falling apart slowly. Some people genuinely\ntried to fix the problem, but not before it was too late. You know.\n            She nodded, \"Yeah, and now most of\nthe western states can't be lived in, not to mention most of Europe, thanks to\nthe war and the droughts.\"\n            He sighed. This problem begins with what each person is taught and what they are\nborn into. I was forced into the American education system, as were you and\npretty much everyone here. I was taught so many things useless to my life and\nthen told, to my face, that it was okay because the whole thing was just for\n\"the experience.\" But instead, the system creates a nation of crippled children\nwho don't want to think for themselves. Not everyone, but a lot...\n            Mahalia was silent, listening attentively to the\nthoughts being projected into her mind.\n            You\nknew I was different. I wanted so\nmuch more out of it, but the only way I could get that was to do it outside of\nthe system. While I was achieving something great, I was still treated like\ndirt... He paused. I wasn't even\nrecognized in the end... The system does not value people like me. They actually\nwant those mindless slaves, and few people have the know-how or the care to do\nanything about it. Now... they've been denying the end for years. I want to warn\nthem. As for this thing in my head... I can't keep chasing it. It is the most\ndepressing thing to me, and I just... I can't do it anymore... He stared down\nat the bed.\n            Mahalia sighed, \"I understand that...\nI'm starting to see it in you. But, you know that it'd take a hell of a lot of\neffort to get anyone to listen to you, right? Like you said, nobody cares about\nthose things.\"\n            He nodded. I know... But if just one person listens, it would be enough for me.\nI'd rather have one person know why their society is falling down around them\nthan have everyone drown like sheep. And if we can find those people, we can\nsave them from it, right?\n            She patted his back and then stood\nup, \"Right.\"\n            Wait...\nWhere are you going?\nMahalia ruffled the fur on his head, \"This\nconversation is good and all, but I've got to go do some things in Denver right\nnow. Get some rest while I'm out. Don't think too much.\"\n            Namara lied back down and watched\nthe water fall outside the room. Fine... I'll\nsee you later, I guess. He looked back up and saw that she had left, so he\nplopped back down on the bed and sighed. Someone's\ngotta do it...\n---\n            Mahalia left the sanctuary and drove\naway in an old black Mustang hidden beside the road. It just past dusk, and she\nwas heading to the backup facility. The others stayed there most of the time in\norder to keep suspicions from rising about the presence and location of their\nsanctuary. It held many of the same capabilities, but it also had a built-in\nlab so that Theo could do his own research there.\n            She switched on the car's radio to\nsee if there was anything interesting playing. It was tuned in to a nearby news\nstation and a man's voice came through scratchily, \"...and Bill five-oh-three was\npassed this weekend, ensuring equal opportunity for men and women all over the\ncountry.  Doug, how do you feel about\nthis?\"\n            \"I think this bill will be the\nturning point for many Americans. The number of science and technology jobs\nwill be cut back, and that'll give us more workers to help rebuild our\ninfrastructure.\"\n            \"And what about the new mandates\nregarding the improved security system?\"\n            Mahalia paid close attention. \"Some\npeople may find it a bit harsh, but I've seen how it runs and I think it really\nwill work.\"\n            \"How much security are we talking\nabout here?\"\n            \"Oh, there'll just be a tower every\nfifty to a hundred miles or so. Anyone who hasn't been chipped will be detected\nand brought to ISAF for inspection. It'll find anyone who's not supposed to be\nhere and send out the enhanced interception drones to disable or capture them.\nTo avoid this, citizens need only to apply for one of the chips. The\napplication is-\"\n            She shut the radio off, \"Damn it!\"\n            A hover-car passed her, going the\nopposite direction at a high speed. She thought for a moment and then turned\nthe car around. This road is a dead end...  \n---\n            As he began to fall asleep, a screen\nappeared in front of him. A thirty-year-old British man in black leather\nclothing watched him through a webcam. \"Namara?\"\n            Namara opened his eyes. Theo?\n            He smiled excitedly and spoke in his\naccent, \"You're awake! I finally found the key to fl...\" The video chopped up,\ndistorting his voice and image. \"...tried sending it to you earlier, but the\nserver seems to...\" It cut out again. \"...might want to run a diagnostic.\"\n            Namara raised one of his eyebrows. The video is all choppy... I can't get some of\nwhat you're saying.\n            \"Huh. There seems to be a...\" The\nvideo cut off and the screen faded.\n            Darn.\nNamara summoned another screen with his mind and set it to run a diagnostic on\nthe system. While he waited for it to complete, he returned to his paws and\nstretched his body. But, when he breathed in, he smelled something a bit odd.\nHe jumped down from the bed and stepped out of the room, closing his eyes and\ntaking a deep breath. And then, he heard the hum of all his technology quiet\ndown. The power shut off.\nHe opened his eyes again and then ran to the center\nof the control station, trying to bring the sanctuary back online before it was\ntoo late. The blue lights under each station dimmed until he was left in\ndarkness. When he realized that his efforts were in vain, he sat down and\nsighed, waited in the silence. But, as the silence intensified, he heard a\nquiet, raspy breathing. He raised an eyebrow and called out. Who's there?\nAn older man's voice emerged from the top control\nstation, \"Why, me, of course.\"\nNamara growled. How\ndid you get in here, Lynn?\n            Lynn paced around, \"This sure is a nice place you've\ngot here. It's a shame I have to torch it.\"\n            He snarled. What?! Why would you do something like that? There's so much here...\n            \"Because I hate you, and the public\ncan't be trusted with technology like this.\"\n            Namara, his eyes fully adjusted to\nthe low light, climbed up the bridges silently. Why do you hate me? I never did anything to you, and all you tried to\ndo was use me.\n            He laughed at him, \"People like you\nshouldn't be allowed to live. You're too different. You destroy the true order\nof society and corrupt it with your wild ideas. Besides, I just don't think that\nwhat you did is right.\"\n            Namara smiled to himself and stopped\nbehind Lynn. What I did was harmless. I\ndid not steal from another creature. This body was made for me and me alone.\nWhat you wanted to do... That was just wrong.\n            Lynn shook his head, \"My cause would\nfinally free humanity from death. Yours was selfish. You don't care about us. I\nknow you.\"\n            He growled again, causing Lynn to\nturn around, pull out his gun and point it at him. Namara stopped and smiled. Come on, Lynn. If you know me, you'll know\nthat you still need me. The research is all in my head now, and you won't live\nlong enough to replicate it again. He pointed his ears forward. You're doomed without me.\n            Lowering the gun, Lynn stepped\nforward and kicked Namara across the room in a rage. \"You're going to help me,\nwhether you like it or not!\"\n            Namara whimpered as he was sent\nback. He coughed at first, but then continued to smile when he settled down on\nthe floor. I could probably have you\narrested for animal cruelty.\n            Lynn advanced on him in a rage. \"Shut\nup, dog!\"\n            He stood to his feet shakily and\nthen felt himself being grabbed up by his scruff. He grunted. I know you too, Lynn. You'd take another\nperson's life just so that you can live longer. You don't deserve any of this.\nBesides... you'd only use my research for yourself. I can't bring myself to let\nsomeone like you live forever.\n            Lynn threw him down into the\nhallway, making him roll and stop near the end. \"I said be quiet!\"\n            Namara groaned and tried to get up again,\nbut felt too sore to do it. He fell back down and watched his attacker approach.\nI will die before I let myself help you.\n            When Lynn reached him again, he\npicked him up and put him over his shoulder. \"Yeah, we'll see about that.\" He\nstepped down into the courtyard and pulled something out of his pocket. The\npower returned and he stepped in front of the transporter. \"Are you ready to go\nback?\"\n            He growled halfheartedly. Put me down.\n            Lynn laughed and then activated the\ndevice, leaving the facility with Namara in tow. \"I'll take that as a yes.\"\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/877056-victernus-chapter-5.json"}