{"sf1_id":883025,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 10","author":"Nazca","words":1481,"posted_at":"2015-07-05T15:30:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Mind uploading","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","tf"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/883025-victernus-chapter-10","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/883025","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=883025\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            A blank, dark silence filled\nNamara's mind. It lasted for just a few minutes. An undying force tore at the\nempty space, dying to get in and wreak havoc upon him. But it didn't. The\nemptiness quickly became calming. Nothing existed there - not even himself. And\nthen, it was over. The pressure strengthened until it was unbearable, and then\nhe opened his eyes.\n            The clamps on his head and wrists\nreleased. He grabbed the edge of the table and sat up, trying to cough up a\nsticky substance that had coagulated in his lungs. He bent over and coughed\nwith force until it was all out and on the floor, then wiped his mouth in\ndisgust. Looking away from it, he noticed that the lights were off and his\nfriends were nowhere in sight.\n            Namara frowned. Strange. He stepped down from the table, careful not to get his\nfoot in the reeking mass on the ground. Lifting his arms up, he stretched his\nbody, which made many loud cracking and popping noises. He sighed. How long was I asleep?\n            Just past the table was the platform\nwhere he had changed just a few days earlier. He stepped up onto it and stood\noff to the side, listening for any signs of life. The floor and the railing\nfelt grimy, like dust had gathered there. Looking down, he saw that some dust\nhad gathered on his body as well. He wiped himself down, running his hands\nthrough his dry fur. Huh.\n            Namara made his eyes level again\nwhen he heard something in the hallway outside of the lab. The doors were left\nwide open and a dim light came through them from the hall. He tuned his ears\ncarefully, listening to something's footsteps come nearer. His heart raced, but\nhe remained silent. However, his fears were nullified when a small raccoon\nwandered past the doors. It stopped for a brief moment to sniff the air and\nthen continued on. He sighed again and shook his head. I don't remember Theo ever having a pet raccoon...\n            He stepped down from the platform\nand made sure to keep his footfalls silent. When he got to the doors, he\nchecked the hallway and then turned left to get to the main lobby. The front of\nthe facility was dome, constructed purely out of glass. In the lobby, there\nwere a couple of counters and chairs for people to sit at. One of the counters\nwas curved, in the center near the back wall, and had a few screens for working\non. They too were very dusty, giving him the impression that he had been\nsleeping for a long time - at least a few months.\nBy the way the light shone through the glass, he judged\nthat it was early morning. He looked to the light switch on the wall, but it\nwas gouged out. He rolled his eyes and then went to the touchscreen consoles.\nTapping on one, he found that it was unresponsive. Darn it. Feeling a bit out of place, he made his way down the rest\nof the hallway past the lobby and stopped at Kyon's room. Looking inside, it\nseemed to be the same way he had left it. A little bit of light entered through\nthe window on the far wall.\nNamara stepped in and stopped at the desk. The books\nand papers that had covered it before remained. Picking one of the books up, he\nblew on it and covered his face when dust went everywhere. When it settled, he\ncould see the cover clearly again. It was bound by leather and was decorated\nwith gold. The inscription on the front read Lycans and the Fall of Aeralis. He smiled to himself. I remember him telling me about that once...\nHe took the book with him and decided to leave the\nbuilding. It was deserted already, and he had no intention of remaining like\none of the books on his old friend's desk. He had people to find.\nWhen he opened the doors to the facility, he\nrealized how dead the air smelled on the inside. He took a deep breath and\nstarted walking, feeling refreshed. He figured that he might as well check out\nhow the regular humans were doing. Denver as only a few minutes away and there\nwas a small river nearby that he could wash in along the way. Looking down at\nhis wrist, he found the same invisibility device that Theo had given him. He\nfound that it still functioned properly, tapping it on and off with his finger.\nAt least something works here.\nNamara walked down what was a small dirt path away\nfrom the road to get down to the river. The cries of the birds above him grew\nlouder as the sun rose slowly. When he reached the river, the sound of running\nwater joined them. He welcomed these sounds as he sat down on the edge,\ndropping his feet in to test it. But, the touch was so exhilarating that he put\nKyon's book aside and dived right in. When he surfaced, he shook himself and\ncleared his eyes. Running his fingers through his fur, he let the water clean\nhim thoroughly.\nFeeling as though he had enough, he retrieved the\nbook carefully and climbed out onto the grass on the other side. Standing up,\nhe shook all of the water out. He looked down at the river, pleased, but\nbrought himself to leave it behind. I\nstill need to find them, wherever they are... He turned and climbed up the\nhill to the road, continuing on his way to Denver.\nWhile he walked, he decided to find out what it was\nthat Mahalia had shown him. He focused, bringing the images back into his mind.\nLooking closely, he saw that many of the building plans were of government\nbuildings. The schematics seemed to be some of Theo's inventions, and the pages\nof text were messages - one from each member of his group. He focused on\nMahalia's first and then read it to himself.\nNamara... it\nreally is difficult to find a way to start with you. You're probably wondering\nwhat's going on, with us disappearing and all. To start... what you were calling\nfor wasn't the best thing, but it wasn't long after your seizure that Russia\ninvaded the U.S. They seem to be after our resources. Theo thinks that a lot of\ncountries are struggling to produce enough food for their citizens now, and\nthat it could have a serious impact on what happens next. We're still going to\nfollow the plan to hide among people in the cities, but as for you... Theo had to\nput you into a deep coma in order to fix whatever went wrong. It seems that\nLynn or someone else sabotaged your work. If we had not intervened, you would\nhave gone completely insane. Of course, we don't know for sure if it worked,\nbut we're hoping. Whenever you wake up, we hope you'll be able to find us\nstill. If anywhere, we'll probably stay in Denver. But, if things get bad, we\nmay have to relocate. I'll leave you some kind of message if that happens.\nUntil the time you find us, good luck. I love you. -Mahalia\n P.S. If it seems like things did get bad, Theo\nsays that you can leave us if you want. The world would be open enough for you\nto find what you are looking for without humans getting in the way. But... if\nthat is what you choose, please... remember us.\nNamara sighed, staring down at the road while he\nwalked. I can't find it alone... It's\njust not possible. He kicked some rocks around. I hope you're waiting...\nWhen he looked back up, he narrowed his eyes. He\ncould see Denver from the road, but it was dark. The tall skyscrapers that\nstood there had their windows smashed out. Large trees grew into them, their\nlong vines hanging down and twisting around the steel frames. A few beat-up\nhovercars were sprawled out on the road ahead. Namara picked up his pace, jogging\npast them to find his way into the city. He stopped on a small bridge that was\npartly broken through the middle. The city was visible, but there was no\nactivity. Little trash laid about, most of it probably washed away with the\nrain. The small houses and stores were worn; some by weather, some by bombings.\nOne of the skyscrapers was tilted to the side with a gigantic tree growing up\nits side, threatening to snap any minute and collapse the entire structure.\n            Namara\nstared at it in disbelief. No! I couldn't\nhave been asleep for that long! He cupped his muzzle while tears formed in\nhis eyes. Oh Mahalia...","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/883024-victernus-chapter-9.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/886992-victernus-chapter-11.json"}