{"sf1_id":900428,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 15","author":"Baumarius","words":1668,"posted_at":"2015-08-19T12:46:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","mind","tf","uploading"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/900428-victernus-chapter-15","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/900428","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=900428\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            Athius picked up a long, thick stick\nand then charged at a creature that was boring a hole in Namara's leg. It used\nthe sharp ridge on its forehead to tear at him. The animal looked like some\nsort of cross between a bat and a lizard, with its thick skin and folded legs.\nHe whacked it on the head and it jumped away, skittering off into the trees.\nBut, as he bent down and grabbed Namara's legs to pull him out into the road,\nhe saw five more latched onto the trees around him. Each one blended extremely\nwell with the trees, but their slight movements allowed Athius to see that they\nwere ready to tear him apart.\n            Readying the stick, he pulled Namara\nout slowly. None of the creatures budged. He tried to make sure that little\nnoise was made by dragging the werewolf from his resting place. Once he got\nNamara out into the road completely, three of them launched from their\nrespective trees and zoomed towards Athius. He swung his stick in an arc, missing\neach one magnificently. But, to his surprise, they all scattered and ran away.\nThe two that were still on the trees before him had disappeared.\n            Looking down the road to the\nfacility, he saw a bright light approaching them. Darn it, they sent out a Sweeper! He lowered himself again and\ngrabbed Namara's legs, pulling him to the other side of the road to hide. The\nlight grew brighter and a low-pitched humming reached his ears. Shaking his\nhead as something tried to infiltrate his mind, he ran backwards and then\nplugged his ears when they were hidden among the trees.\nA large, winged hovercraft with a gigantic light\nfitted to the front floated towards them. It was going very slowly and seemed\nto be scanning the area for something. The humming became stronger and Athius\nfelt as if the very bones in his skull were vibrating. His fingers lost their\ngrip and seemed as if they were coated with a warm, wet substance. Pulling them\nfrom his ears, he saw that they were covered in blood.\nNamara opened his eyes, still half-awake. He mumbled\nsomething, but his voice sounded distorted and robotic. Two markings that\nglowed blue surfaced on the left side of his face and in the center of his\nchest. His eyes changed from yellow to that same blue, and they were filled\nwith thin, mechanical rings.\n            Athius held his head as the\nvibrating worsened. When the hovercraft passed them, it turned around and flew\nback faster than it came. The humming stopped and they were left in silence for\nmere moments before the screeching of their attackers was heard again. Blinking\nhis eyes, he tried to regain his focus. He glanced beside him and saw that his\ncounterpart seemed more conscious than he was earlier. \"Hey, can you get up?\"\n            Namara sat up slowly and nodded\nafter examining his leg, \"Sure. My leg's not too bad.\"\n            He stood up and held out his hand, \"Wow...\nWhat's your name? I'm Athius.\"\n            Namara took it and then got to his\nfeet clumsily, still seeming a bit dazed from the tranquilizer. Using a tree as\nleverage, he tested, \"Would you kill me if I told you?\"\n            Athius shook his head and then\nheaded out into the street, \"No. I just saved your life...\"\n            He sighed and followed, stepping\nthrough the grass. \"Right... My name's Namara. Where am I, exactly?\"\n            Athius continued, \"We're in the forest\njust outside of New Selania.\" He pointed, \"Down the road is a research\nfacility. I can't go there myself, but I can show you the city if you'd like.\"\n            Namara stared at him with surprise,\n\"You don't think the people would be... afraid?\"\n            He smiled assuredly, \"I'm not. The\npeople there are used to seeing new things - we are a society dedicated to science,\nafter all. Though I must say, I was a bit surprised to find you lying out here.\"\n            Namara shifted his eyes back to the\nground and walked along the edge of the road to the city as if he had forgotten\nwho he was talking to. Athius followed, unsure of how to respond to the\nbehavior. He figured that the tranquilizer had something to do with it, but he\nwas still unprepared. He watched the trees to make sure none of the creatures would come back.\nThe notion of intelligent life outside of the city\nwas a hard one for Athius to accept, and the thought that it would come here\nwas an even harder one. In the School, they were always taught that it was\nimpossible for life to exist outside of their cavern because of a nuclear war\nthat took place over a century before. With the arrival of the beast walking\nbeside him, he couldn't begin to imagine what it would mean - especially since\nhe was probably going to fail his studies.\n            It wasn't long before they were out\nof the dim forest light and walking in the open. The road wound down into a\nrocky valley that was home to the main city. Flying lights shaped like rings\nlittered the air above the roads, spaced apart evenly. They never really turned\noff, although they did get dimmer during the night. Athius still didn't\nunderstand what powered them, but he was always forced to put those thoughts\naside. They would never be resolved.\n            Namara\nseemed to come out of his daze when he questioned, \"I heard of some 'great\ndemonstrator' person... Who are they?\"\n            Athius shrugged as they crossed the\nmetal bridge that led into the city, \"I've never seen him, but I know that he\noversees everything. We're told that he knows best for us in school.\"\n            \"I see...\"\n            He stopped by a streetlight just\nbefore the main archway and then returned, \"You know, I've been meaning to ask...\nWhy are you here in the first place? Where are you even from?\"\n            Namara smiled and gazed towards the\ncity. \"I'm searching for some people. I don't know if they'll be here, but if\nthey are...\" He sighed before continuing, watching the cavern and the city in\nawe, \"My goodness, I haven't even been awake for a day!\"\n            \"I'm sorry?\"\n            He laughed, \"Sorry... I was from a\nplace that was far away from this one. You wouldn't know about it. I led a sort\nof... research team... that was trying to find the answer - the answer to humanity\nitself. Or rather, we were trying to decode it. I was given the answer when I\nwas young, and I was told to safeguard it as best I could. I became part wolf\nto express myself more openly, for the most part.\"\n            Athius rested his back on the\narchway and asked simply, \"What is it?\"\n            Namara grimaced, \"I can barely begin\nto tell you. It's so complex... It is sort of like... a base desire that every\nperson starts out with. What everyone wants is their interpretation of it\nunless they've been warped by greed.\"\nHe nodded, \"I understand.\"\n\"By making it known, people could finally be in\nharmony with each other while staying unique.\" Namara paced forward\nreflectively, \"It's kind of funny... You see, the time that I was from - I was\nput into some kind of stasis thing about a hundred and sixty years ago -\neveryone had their own views about how the world worked.\" Putting his hands up\nexpressively, he emphasized, \"So many people were waiting for heaven to come to\nthem and welcome them in, without making things right first. They expected a\nfree ticket without any effort on their part. But no... in order to find any sort\nof peace, they had to bring 'heaven' here first. Nobody saw that.\" He nodded\nand clenched his fist, assuring himself, \"Yes... I have come to find the friends\nI left behind and then make this known to your society. Science alone won't get\nyou there. Not in a million years. An unrestrained focus on science will turn\nhumanity into a mindless collective. By what you've said, I have a feeling\nsomething has already gone sour here.\"\n            Athius agreed and walked to the\nother end of the gate, peering into the city. Two streets branched out before\nthem and the corner of a tall grey building pointed towards them. \"That's true.\nI've had that feeling for a long time, and I'm about to become a victim of it.\"\n            Namara joined him at his side, \"I'll\nbe leaving if they don't listen. I've spent too much time waiting. I must\naccomplish it myself, or else I'll always\nbe waiting for everyone else to do it. You're welcome to come if you like.\"\n            He sighed and looked up at his new\nfriend. \"I might have no other choice. But, if I do go, is there anyone I can\nbring?\"\n            Namara smiled, \"Bring whoever thinks\nthat this will work.\"\n            Athius returned his smile and then\nbegan to walk into the city. He turned back to Namara and said, \"Well, do\nwhatever you need to. I need to go home... I really\ndon't want to be home late. I'd show you around, but I'd probably get in\ntrouble. I would like to hear more about that thing though...\"\n            He nodded back and gestured for him\nto go, \"That's fine, we can talk some other time. I need to find my friends.\nJust, if you ever come across someone named Mahalia, tell her that I'm alive.\"\n            Athius acknowledged him and then\nturned to leave. He walked on the empty sidewalk and headed to his house,\nignoring his surroundings to think about what Namara had told him. He wasn't\nsure if his family would agree, but he had never felt something so powerful in\nhis entire existence.\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/896232-victernus-chapter-14.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/910621-victernus-chapter-16.json"}