{"sf1_id":913216,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Victernus - Chapter 24","author":"Baumarius","words":2447,"posted_at":"2015-09-21T21:01:00.000Z","tags":["Cybernetics","Science","Transformation","War","Werewolf","Wolf","apocalypse","corruption","dystopia","implants","mind","tf","uploading"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913216-victernus-chapter-24","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/913216","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=913216\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\n            Back in his spot, Namara watched Lynn\ngo over some new research from the lab. Images of a small device floated within\nthe screen, spinning slowly. Interested, Namara propped himself up on the arm\nrest and tried to see what it was more clearly. The words filtered past him\nlike they were not there, but the image came through clearly.\n            In response, Lynn shoved him back\noff of the chair and scolded, \"Stay down, dog!\"\n            Namara whined and then lied down on\nthe floor. He closed his eyes, drifting into a daydream. He saw himself as a\nwolf, lying down in a field full of red flowers. Someone sat beside him,\nrunning one of their hands through the fur on his back gently. Smiling, he\nwatched as a butterfly flew by and landed on his nose. Its wings opened and\nclosed, shimmering in the light.\n            When it flew away, he turned to see\nwho it was that was rubbing him softly. A name could not come to his mind, but\nhe recognized them. They wore a brown fedora and blue overalls. Their face was\ntired, but he knew that they loved him. He smiled and laid his head over their\nleg, hoping that they wouldn't stop. Once again, he was where he wanted to be\nin real life, but in a dream instead. \nWhile he did this in his dream, he was brought back\nto reality by Lynn's screen. He looked up at it from the floor and saw a red\ntab blinking in the corner. Lynn reached over to it and pressed it, causing it\nto expand and envelop the whole screen in a red glow. Red lights flashed all\nover. Lynn growled at it in frustration. As he did so, another warning tab\npopped up on the side, but it was orange. After pressing it, he read what\nappeared on the screen and then stood up in complete anger. Pressing a few more\nbuttons, he initiated something and then sat down again, sighing.\n            Namara sat up and watched Lynn\nclosely, as if he was asking about what was going on. His ears perked up and he\nbeat his tail down on the ground a couple times. But, he quickly shifted his\nattention to the front end of the court when he heard a couple of blasts\noutside. Yellow lights shined in through the windows erratically. After every\nfew blasts, a dirty explosion sounded.\n            Looking back to his right, Namara\nsaw that Lynn was trembling. He tried not to smile - he didn't want it to be\nknown that he could resist. Instead, he lowered his ears and tucked his head\nunder Lynn's legs, shaking because of \"fear.\"\n            Lynn paid no attention to Namara. The\nblasts outside of the court stopped. Attempting to compose himself, he stopped\nhimself from shaking and then stood up, bringing his screen up to meet him. As\nhe did this, the large wooden doors smashed open and blew off of their hinges.\nLynn shielded his face as they blew across the room. A crack echoed through and\nwood splinters scattered everywhere.\n            Namara widened his eyes, one half of\nhim wanting to hide and the other wanting to run to see what happened. As the\ndoors and the splinters settled, he caught sight of Mahalia and Athius walking\nthrough the doors confidently. They held laser rifles in their hands and not a\nscratch was on them. He smiled and wagged his tail, but he stayed put.\n            Mahalia walked forward while Athius\nwatched her back. When she got close to Lynn, she raised her eyebrow in\nconfusion and asked, \"Namara? What are you doing there?\"\n            Namara glanced up at Lynn, unsure of\nhow to answer.\n            Lynn smiled, \"Namara is mine now.\"\n            She pointed her rifle at Lynn and said,\n\"He belongs to no man, if you can even call yourself that. Come here, Namara.\"\n            He laughed, \"He's not going\nanywhere! It's too late to save him now. His mind is gone, and it will soon be\nmine forever.\"\n            Behind them, Athius bent down and\nbeckoned Namara to come with his hand. Namara took a step forward, knowing that\nit was his chance to escape.\n            Lynn stepped in front of him and\nshouted, \"No! You are mine, dog!\"\n            Mahalia shot a blast into the obsidian\nof the throne and spoke sternly, \"Let him go, or I will kill you right here. I\ndon't care if Namara is that way forever. He wouldn't. But, I will not let you\ntake advantage of him.\"\n            He sighed and stared down at the\nground. After pausing to think for a few seconds, he stepped back and then sat\nin his throne lazily. \"Fine...\"\n            When Lynn moved, Namara bolted\ntowards Athius. His face was received into Athius' hands openly, and he closed\nhis eyes as his friend touched him gently. The effect of Lynn's device took a\nfew seconds to start wearing off. When it began, the sudden assault of words on\nNamara's wordless awareness was extremely harsh. He struggled silently with it\nat first, trying to let it come back slowly. Instead, it came quickly, and he\nrested on the floor, growling.\n            Mahalia watched both Namara and Lynn\nat the same time. She asked, \"What is it that you want from him, Lynn? Do you\nwant revenge because of who he is?\"\n            Lynn waved her away, \"That doesn't matter.\nLeave, before I have to escort you out myself!\"\n            Namara's clarity returned to him and\nhe stood up. Reminding himself of his act, he started pacing back and forth across\nthe court, thinking to himself. He spoke slowly, \"Lynn... If you ever do that to me again, I will destroy you. Do I make myself\nclear?\"\n            A brief smile appeared on Lynn's\nface before he answered, \"Yes, yes...\"\n            Namara turned and walked out of the\ncourt smiling, \"Good, because I won't say it again.\"\n            Mahalia grabbed Athius' shoulder and\nwalked out with him while making sure that Lynn stayed where he was. They\npassed the broken doors and entered the porch that was just outside. The burnt\nbodies of robots and Lynn's servants were scattered all around. Namara was\nstanding before the bridge that led back to the main city. His arms were\ncrossed and his body seemed tense.\n            When she approached, Namara asked, \"What's\nnext? We can't hide anymore...\"\n            She put her rifle behind her back\nand said, \"Next, you need to find and cut off the city's power. Athius and I\nare going to gather everyone in the city and tell them that they can leave\nbefore that happens, but we won't tell them what\nis going to happen exactly - that way you aren't exposed.\"\n            He nodded and glanced at Athius, who\nhad taken position beside him. \"Are you okay with this?\"\n            Athius sighed and watched the metal\nsections of the bridge below him briefly before answering, \"Yes. I think it's\ntime for something to change.\"\n            Before they embarked on their mission\nand parted their separate ways, Mahalia grabbed Namara's hand. He felt the soft\nskin of her hand on his pads and wanted to smile, but he felt worry coursing\nthrough her. He turned to her and asked, \"What is it?\"\n            She spoke gently, \"Are you alright?\"\n            He smiled, \"Lynn has no control over\nme now. Do not worry for me - I will make sure that we get out of this\ntogether.\"\n            Mahalia pulled him close and hugged\nhim. Namara could feel her soft breathing on his chest, calming him even\nfurther. Her hands ran through his fur softly, and he responded by running his\nhands along her back. Neither of them wanted the moment to end, but eventually,\nthey released. When they did, Mahalia reached into her right pocket and pulled\nout the small tablet that Theo gave her. She handed it to Namara and said, \"This\nis a gift from Theo... sort of. It'll weaponize your implants. Only use it if you\nreally have to.\"\n            He took it and nodded, \"Alright,\nthanks. I guess I'll meet you at the tunnels?\"\n            She agreed, \"Yeah... so get going. Let's\ntry to finish this without any more trouble.\"\n            When the three friends agreed, they\nsplit. Namara ran forward, beginning his journey to the undercity, and Mahalia\nand Athius walked to the School's courtyard. It was time.\n---\n            As they expected, the authorities at\nthe School didn't take too kindly to Athius' absence. When he reentered the\ncourtyard for what was probably going to be the last time in his life, the\nprincipal and two officials from the palace were waiting by the entrance under\nthe atrium. They were beckoning him to come sternly, but he would not leave\nMahalia's side. He kept his rifle ready and his determination in his gaze.\n            When Mahalia and Athius reached the\ncenter of the courtyard, Mahalia pulled out another tablet and initiated a\nmeeting alert to everyone in the city, telling them to come immediately. The\nlights floating around the city pulsed, creating a pattern that flowed towards\nthe school. When the officials under the atrium got the message, they came out\nto meet them. The principal, a balding man in his fifties, addressed them\nbitterly, \"What is this about? Only the Great Demonstrator can interrupt school\nactivities.\"\n            Athius snorted, but Mahalia nudged\nhim with an elbow so that he wouldn't say anything. Instead, she responded, \"We're\nhere to give you a warning, and there isn't much time left. Everyone must gather\nhere to listen.\"\n            The principal raised his eyebrow and\nsaid, \"Well, they'll all be coming now. As for you, Athius, I'm sure you know\nthat being absent from school without reason will result in an audit. The\nPalace Guard has decided that an expulsion is in order.\"\n            Athius chuckled and said, \"You don't\nown my life, and neither does this city.\"\n            He sighed, \"Please, do we need to\ntake you by force?\"\n            Mahalia smiled, \"I'll show you what\nforce is if you so much as touch him.\"\n            The principal laughed, \"What are a\nskinny girl and a boy going to do to us?\"\n            She fired a blast at the ground before\nthem, causing them to jump away in fear. She warned, \"Don't provoke me.\"\n            While they recovered, the citizens\nof New Selania started flooding into the courtyard from the inside of the\nschool and the streets surrounding it. Thousands gathered around, but they were\nsurprised when they saw Athius and Mahalia standing there instead of Lynn. Some\nfaces were confused, some were frustrated, but most of them were blank.\nEveryone wore the same grey uniform with the symbol of the city on it. It was\nas if they were all one person, with the exception of the variations in their\nforms.\n            Seeing them like this sparked both\npity and worry in Mahalia. She was not sure whether or not they would be able\nto even cope with leaving, as New Selania was all they knew. But, she decided\nthat it had to be done. She initiated a command on the tablet she held, and it\nallowed her voice to be projected to all of them. She began. \"Citizens of New\nSelania... I'm sure you are wondering why I gathered you here today. I understand\nthat this is only customarily done by the Great Demonstrator himself. But,\nthere is a matter of great importance that must be brought to your attention.\nFirst, I have a question. Who here remembers how New Selania came to be?\nPlease, don't be shy.\"\n            She scanned the faces of the crowd\nbefore her, but no one offered an answer. She nodded and continued, \"See, you\nwere never taught that. In fact, in your society, only the Great Demonstrator\nhimself knows what happened. He knows of the world before. He knew what it was\nlike. But, he won't share it with you... and that is because in the old world, it\nwas much different. Everyone was different. And before things went downhill,\neveryone was free to do whatever they wanted. They didn't have to stick to a\nspecific schedule for every day in their existence, and they didn't have to\ndevote it all to science. They could go wherever they wanted, whenever they\nwanted. The planet we're on a million times larger than this cavern, and yet\nthis cavern is all you have known for four generations. There is so much more\nlife on the surface, and I'm here to tell you that you can have it again. You\ndon't have to be bonded to this way of life anymore.\"\n            The principal, who was standing\nbehind Mahalia, asked, \"What are you suggesting that we do, then? Do you want\nus to just leave everything?\"\n            She glanced at him and then turned\nher focus back to the crowd. \"Not everything - you can bring as much as you can\ncarry, and that includes your research. But, you must do it with the intent\nthat you will not let it rule you any longer.\" She sighed, \"This city doesn't\nhave much longer to keep running like it is. I suspect that you have no more\nthan a few weeks, at best. The only way to escape what is coming is to leave\nthrough the tunnels - and you can come with us, or you can go on your own\nlater. If you want to do this with us, meet us at the entrance to the Forbidden\nTunnels in one hour. Again, bring only as much as you can carry. I know that\nfor many of you, it will be hard to part with things here - but you must\nremember that there isn't much left here for you anyway.\"\n            Someone in the crowd shouted, \"I\nthought that the surface was barren? There is nothing for us there either!\"\n            Mahalia shook her head, \"We've been\nthere. It's already as green as it's gonna get. All you have to do is take it.\"\nShe paused, waiting for a response, but none came. Readying her gun again, she\nfinished, \"Athius and I will head to the tunnels and wait for you there. You\nhave one hour to meet us. Of course, you can always leave later if you want to,\nbut there's no telling what will happen between now and then. Now is your best chance, but... it's your\nchoice. With whatever you decide to do, good luck. \n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/912884-victernus-chapter-23.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/913286-victernus-chapter-25.json"}