FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

That damned container still smelled faintly of the otter's musk. Vane coughed a couple times, paws pressed against the sides of the clear plastic to keep himself steady amid the giant's jostling steps. Low in the sky, the sun gave shadowed illumination to the forest around him. There were still some normal trees and such, but most of it was made up of the towering plants from the giants' side. Vane gasped. The border. They were crossing the border.

He peered out, searching for something, anything that might tell him how close he was. Though spies frequently visited what had been his hometown, Vane never went near the border himself. Piecing together bits of stories from those who ventured beyond and returned to tell of it, he figured he could be anywhere from a few hundred yards to a few dozen miles. Or more. Why didn't I pay more attention in Geography?

Not that it would do him any good. He rapped a knuckle against the plastic. Nothing he could break, not on his own. Until a chance presented itself, he was stuck. Just like the others, mostly fallen silent inside the wheelbarrow. He fell to the clear floor, slumped down. Even if he did escape, his life as he knew it was over. Home destroyed, no money, no job. The tired fox looked down, watching the earth move by.

<><><>

Bren glanced over his scanner once more, both checking for any tinies that might be scampering about and making sure he was still going the right way. It wasn't often he came from this direction, and he had yet to mark any trails. But from the map, it couldn't be long before... Yes, the boulder. Bren fancied it looked something like a toppled vase, if not so smooth.

The wheelbarrow jostled a bit in his grip as it bounced over a stone, making the otter wince a little. Much as he tried to keep it steady, the area wasn't known for its paved roads. Hopefully the tinies within weren't shaken too much. Besides, they'd almost reached the barn. A bit late, but it wasn't uncommon for much of the work to be done at night. There were still pets back across the border that needed his help, and only so much time could be spent on the micros. Vacation days stretched only so far.

And there it was. Through a gap in the trees, the barn came into view. It appeared no different than most others from the outside, if in better condition than most. The wooden structure stood tall and wide, perfect for his work here. It might be a little old, but a little patchwork and a fresh coat of red paint was all it took to freshen it up. He smiled and pressed on, leaving the woods behind and heading through the clearing for the barn.

<><><>

Vane traced idle circles on the clear plastic floor, watching the terrain pass beneath. The occasional heavy step put him in a sense of freefall, interrupting his bored yet terrified routine. Like sitting in the dentist's office with nothing to do, knowing eventually it'd be his turn. It took some time to realize that the ground so far beneath was different. Where trees and bushes had been, only grass and weeds grew now. He lifted his head. Surely they hadn't crossed the border yet. Where was the Bramble?

In the distance he saw a structure larger than entire city blocks back home. With bright red walls and doors larger than was needed even for the giants, it cast a long shadow over the meadow. The fox gaped in shock. The building had to be at least three hundred feet tall, maybe four hundred. By the way the otter picked up the pace, it must be their destination, for the time being anyway. Vane took a few deep breaths, nerves shaky while the building drew near.

Calm. He could be calm. Just keep an eye open, look for a way out. Something would come. It had to. Yes. Calm. The fox's ears trembled, more details coming into view. Six giants sat around some plastic buckets, dropping things in, one at a time. It looked a bit like those old farmer movies, with the horses shelling peas for dinner. Yet these were no peas.

Coming closer, Vane could just make out arms and legs, heads and tails. He slammed his eyes shut, but his imagination took over. Shelling peas for dinner? Perhaps he wasn't as far off as he thought. How long had this been going on? There must be dozens, maybe a hundred or more in those buckets!

The giant otter stopped moving, and Vane opened his eyes. Calm. The fox felt himself growing dizzy and pressed his paws back against the clear wall. Sun just barely over the horizon, he could see the giants clearly. A bear sat nearby a pair of white wolves, each with a half naked micro in their paws as they idly chatted. They looked as though they couldn't hear the wails. Even a gecko was there, sitting with a horse and tiger and peeling the clothes off their captives.

This was it, then. Processing and packing for lunchmeat.

<><><>

Bren smiled as he approached the barn, waving to the students sitting there. Lyn nudged her brother and the two wolves waved back, placing a couple micros into a bucket before getting up to greet him. The other students weren't far behind, except Liss, of course. She hung toward the back while everyone else told the otter about how their projects were going. Mostly reports about how hard it was to get good data with so few test subjects. Bren looked over at his wheelbarrow, but decided to save the surprise for a bit.

The only other one missing was Terri. The frazzled bat often stretched herself too thin, and was working on a few large homework assignments back at school. Bren made sure to rein in her projects where he could, to prevent the mites in her studies from being neglected.

Sitting down with Liss and Kaz, he grabbed a mite from the clothed bucket and looked it over a bit, ensuring the small creature was healthy. "You reached endpoint efficacy on your nudity trial, I take it?" he asked, gesturing toward the gecko, then to the cute little tiny in his paws, "Be calm, you're not in any danger."

"Of course I have, doctor," Liss replied. "You know I wouldn't go this far without results. I have the data to back this up, my report's in the barn now if you want me to go grab it." She always spoke a little too fast, but she'd always been reliable.

"Been stripping these guys for a good hour now," Kaz said. Bare to the waist, the horse's chestnut fur revealed a body of muscles sculpted by farm work. "Making good progress, too. Just like shucking peas. 'Cept most peas don't squirm."

"Don't they?" Bren peeled the clothes off the mite in his hands, dropping them into a pile near the bucket before setting the little thing inside. Most of them had given up screaming a while back, but some still cried out. They'd get used to this eventually, though their cries were adorable. "I wouldn't have guessed." He turned back to Liss. "I'll read the report later, I take it your preliminary results pulled through after all?"

The gecko fumbled with her micro a bit, thinking. "They did. Initially, complete nudity showed a decrease in happiness and obedience, but prolonged exposure resulted in neutral morale and increased obedience. Fighting declined immediately and was shown to be a sustainable effect, without the... side effects shown in previous attempts to curb violence." Bren caught her eyes flick over to Lyn, but he didn't say anything. They'd all learned their lesson. "That's about it. Cory and Rege were able to duplicate my findings to a reasonable degree." Her paws were awkward as they patted her micro.

"I was here for most of that," Bren said, picking up another tiny and giving it a comforting pat. "I appreciate the update, but I really only needed that last bit. Ah, don't worry about it. You made a good discovery, Liss." He gave her a smile and looked back to the horse. "Didn't expect to see you helping out here, Kaz, but thanks all the same."

Kaz shrugged. "It isn't a big deal. Figured I might as well keep track of what's been going on in this barn here, 'slong as I'm lettin' ya use it and all. Besides, this is good work you're doing. Don't like those snuffers much myself." Gently petting his current micro, the horse gingerly yet efficiently stripped it. Kaz had a way with the mites.

"Regardless, it's appreciated." Bren reached back into the bucket of those yet to be stripped, but found it empty. "Any more inside?" he asked, glancing back at his wheelbarrow.

Tossing his final micro into the bucket, Terrik shook his head. "Most of Liss' group were already stripped, all but the control that is, the rest are inside already, so it looks like we're done here." The tiger followed Bren's gaze and gave a little smile. "That is, unless... ?"

"I've been wondering about that myself, Bren." The otter turned in his seat, finding Annika standing behind him. "Oh, Liss, I got them all back in their boxes. Everything should be set for this group." The tall mink turned back to Bren. "Good to see you again, doctor. How'd it go?" Her bright face was always cheery; Bren wasn't certain she'd ever frowned.

With a chuckle, the otter stood up, brushing off his paws. "Why don't you go look for yourself?"

<><><>

Vane listened close to the giants as they spoke, hoping to learn something that would help him escape.. Their voices were muffled some by the plastic container, but he could understand their booming voices just fine. What was all this about tests and violence and endpoint... whatever that was? He dared wonder if this wasn't some kind of food processing area after all. Midway through his thoughts, he was forced to the floor as the otter stood up quickly.

"I managed to find... a few new subjects," Bren said with a smirk. "Rege! Lyn! Are you almost done over there?"

Vane caught a faint reply, not sure if it came from one of the wolves or the bear. Which didn't matter much, as all three rose and approached. All eyes were on the wheelbarrow. "How many?" It was the gecko. Liss? Names could be important if he had the chance to speak with them.

The view from beside the otter's rump wasn't very good, but he could see as Bren took hold of the wheelbarrow's covering and lifted it off with a flourish, although the rest of his vision was obscured by hip and tail. The sight of all those micros locked away in cages, many tilted at awkward angles and the rest piled together in what one might have called a stack... It made Vane snarl, scratching against the plastic in anger. The giants merely let out a collective gasp. "There must be over a thousand! Two thousand!" Vane couldn't pick the voice out, unable to see the speaker.

"You aren't far off," Bren said, voice touched with more than a little pride. "Just over twenty-five hundred from this haul."

Liss stepped into view from her spot near the back, eyes wide as she peered in. "That... That almost triples what we have now!" She quickly removed a device like the one Bren had used to track all those micros down from her pocket. A scanner, did they call it? Her fingers flicked over the screen. "Healthy for the most part, preliminary registration started. This is wonderful! How did you get so many?"

The otter chuckled. "Got a bunch trying to run from little towns right by the border, but the bulk came from that one big city we were thinking about earlier. It was more than likely going to be destroyed by some engineers." A darker tone crept into his voice. "May have already happened by now. These ones are safe, anyway."

Vane scowled, wrath smoldering inside him. Safe? This was safe? Couldn't they hear the cries for help? The pleas for mercy? No micro could be safe in giant paws. He stopped paying attention as the group took action, talking over each other in excitement while they unloaded the cages and took them back to the buckets.

A mink and one of the wolves were kept busy running buckets in and out of the building, often poking at those scanners before selecting one to move. The tiger seemed intent on organizing the micros, his device out constantly as he sorted through them, dropping them in various buckets by the pawful. The rest all went to work stripping with vigor, apparently enthused by the huge number they had to work with. Vane stamped his paw impotently in his tube.

The sun was well down when their work was finished, a few lanterns scattered about to give them light. Vane slumped to the bottom of the tube, feeling drained. Still stuck on the giant's hip without any clue how to escape, hungry, and exhausted. All the view he had consisted of the otter's rear, that huge red wall, and the gecko. He wanted to keep hoping, but every moment sapped a bit more of his resolve. Putting his face into his paws, he let the night pass on, eyes growing moist.

"What about that one?" Vane looked up. Most of the group was taking their equipment back inside, but Liss walked beside Bren as the otter wheeled a group of injured micros toward a smaller building in the distance. Her finger pointed directly at the fox in his tube.

"Oh, the fox? I was gonna keep him, you know. Thought he could-" The gecko tsked, cutting him off.

"That won't do, Bren. You know that. He'll have to be placed with the others. You don't want to compromise the integrity of our work here, do you?" She folded her arms, eyes firm.

The otter shrugged, a motion felt by Vane, all the way down at his hip. "Fine, fine. Why don't you take these in and get them set up? I'll get this one stripped in the mean time, find him a box and all." He stepped back from the wheelbarrow, letting Liss take the handles. She walked off, Bren reaching for his tube.

Vane shied back from the massive paw pressed against the clear plastic. It rose, bringing the confining chamber with it. With an awful squeak, the lid twisted off just before Vane felt the tube lurch, the bottom tilting up as he slid helplessly into the otter's paw. "Let me go!" He shouted, trying to get to his paws on the spongy surface.

"Sorry, it's nothing personal," Bren said. He looked off toward where Liss had gone, sighing and turning back to examine Vane more closely. He gave a little smile. "You'll be fine, Gaven. I promise." Two fingers closed around Vane's legs, the other paw gripping at the fox's shirt and tugging firmly.

"Hey! I- Mmph!" His words cut off as his shirt pulled over his muzzle. It was cooler out here than in the tube, a small gust of wind racing through his fur. "My name is Vane!"

Bren shook his head. "Not anymore." He shifted his grip to hold the fox's chest, removing the pants as well and leaving his captive clad in nothing more than a pair of boxers. "Just take it in stride, Gaven. You might enjoy it, you know. In fact, I'd bet on it." That smile again. Was it supposed to be comforting?

Vane scowled, though his expression changed quite abruptly. "D-don't touch that!" He squirmed, trying to grab hold of his boxers, but the otter's grip was too tight. His last covering slipped free, leaving him completely exposed to the wind and Bren's massive eye.

"You'll get used to it, Gaven." Bren's hold relaxed, giving the fox enough room to take a few deep breaths and wriggle his arms free. The otter just shook his head and flopped Vane onto his palm, pinning his chest with a thumb. "Relax, everything is just fine."

Relax. Vane did just that, if not out of acceptance, and certainly not obedience. He let his arms lie still, eyes slid shut. Bren's gaze would be taking him in without a shred of modesty, certainly. "Just eat me and have it done with," he said.

Bren lifted the fox closer to his face. "Eat you?" he whispered, voice gentle. "Oh no, Gaven. Not at all. You aren't here as food." Vane flinched as one huge finger brushed over his head. "Don't be afraid. You won't be harmed." The otter held him more gently, petting his chest. "Promise." A few times one of Bren's fingers ventured lower, touching against the fox's sheath before continuing on to the legs. Vane just sighed and let it happen. At least for now, he was stuck.

It wasn't long before Liss returned. "They're all set up in there, but one is worse than we thought. Further scans found internal bleeding in the abdomen. It isn't horrible, but you're better equipped for it." She held her arm out. "You'd probably best let me take care of that one while you take care of the situation back there."

Bren sighed, but nodded. "I'll handle it." Vane braced himself as he was dropped into the gecko's waiting palm. He wasn't sure if it would be better to slip through her fingers and tumble another few hundred feet to the ground. Her grip was tighter, leaving barely enough room to breathe. "I'll see you later," Bren said. He gave a little wave before heading into the cottage. Perhaps it was a trick of the light, but Vane thought the otter was looking at him when he gave the gesture.

Sparing not a moment, the gecko jogged back, apparently none too worried how it jostled the fox in her paw. "Hey! Would you slow down?" He shouted. She gave no sign of hearing. Struggling against her grasp, he bent his neck forward and bit down on her finger. Still she said nothing, but her grip did shift, letting him pry his arms free and beat against her scales.

Vane paused a moment to regain his breath, and the gecko finally stopped. She was muttering to herself, but the fox could make out very little of what she said. Something about "box sixteen" and "waste trial" or somesuch. "Would you at least tell me what you're doing?" Walking briskly into the large red building, she looked down at Vane, glancing him over without really bothering to meet his eyes, shaking her head just a bit.

"Troublesome little mite," she muttered, rolling her eyes. At once, Vane found himself tumbling through the air, directly into one of those buckets. Time seemed to slow as he fell, arms and legs scrambling desperately for anything to hold onto. It looked as though the inside were padded, but that didn't stop his head from slamming hard on its surface. For a moment, he lifted himself, but encroaching blackness filled his vision and darkened his mind as consciousness faded.

<><><>

Tania looked up at the stars, tracing the familiar constellations in her mind. They were about the only familiar things left to her now. Her friends, there for her always. She'd always taken a special interest in the stars. Once, she'd dreamt of visiting them. That was a long time ago.

"Hey. We're not done yet." The lion gave her a meaningful look, holding his cleaning rag torn from a scrapped shirt and giving the huge boot a couple pats. "I'd like to get some sleep soon, you know." Dori was about the only other one with unbound arms and legs. Both he and Tania had given in quickly, and were kept bound now only by a crude harness with a long leash bound to a stake in the ground. The others were still expected to help out, but were given far less slack. A few even had crude but thick gags that she didn't dare try to pry free.

"Sorry," she whispered back. "Just... thinking about before." Taking her own rag back to the huge combat boot, the rabbit sighed. How could they clean even one of these? She climbed back on the stacked field manuals that served as steps and stretched her rag into the cup of water to rinse it. Despite her careful efforts, she slipped on the smooth rim of the cup and fell in with a splash before dragging herself out, drying in the cool night air as she continued to work, shivering a little.

The night wore on, but it seemed they'd have more time to sleep during the day. There was little else to do while her... Tania let out a breath. Her owner. There was little to do while her owner was on patrol, or whatever else.

It wasn't as bad as she expected, the bunny mused, looking back where the leopardess that called her pet kept watch on the small encampment. Certainly not anything she'd choose, but at least she was kept fed. Better than being food, anyway. Even if it meant clambering over boots to clean them.

"I still say we dig up the stake," Migs said in hushed tones. "All of us together, we can have it out and be free before the giants are any the wiser." Tania worried about the coyote. Talk like that didn't sit well with those towering colossi.

Dori chuckled. "It's that kind of talk that makes me wonder why you haven't been gagged. Besides, we don't have any digging tools. Not a single trowel. How do you propose to get deep enough? Be easier to gnaw through the cords." Pausing his work just a moment to shoot a look at Migs, he added, "That wasn't a suggestion. You're going to get us killed!"

Shrugging as best he could with his wrists bound close together, the coyote went back to work on the boot. "Or freed. One of us needs to get out. We've been on the inside now. We can warn everyone about what's coming. Those new devices the giants have. Or would you prefer our cities continue to be destroyed?" His voice rose, no longer quite a whisper. "Perhaps you enjoy hearing about the deaths of our people?"

"Hush, both of you!" Tania snapped.

"Why? Just look at them." Migs gave a pointed glare at a couple of the giants, playing some kind of card game. "That table they set up for their game was directly on my sister's farm two nights ago. Ruined the entire crop, which might mean something if there were anyone left to harvest." He spat, thankfully away from the boot. "They come through our land like they own it, setting up and getting all comfortable wherever they please!" Throwing his rag down, he growled, "I won't stand for it!"

Dori stood up. "It's a good thing we're finished then, isn't it?" He tossed his rag into the water cup and stretched. "I'll be in bed if anyone needs me!" he called back as he left.

Thankfully the moon was bright that night, giving Tania ample light to find her own little nest. It wasn't quite a mattress, but better than the inside of her owner's boot where her previous bed had been. There was even a blanket, salvaged from that same shirt. Away from the others, she could hear bits of conversation from the two giants playing cards, something about "blasted snuffers" and "egocentric males". Listening a bit more closely, it seemed to her that she'd been lucky to have been found by these. The main force was perhaps less forgiving of their prisoners.

She stared up at the stars, not yet ready for sleep. Dozens of stories, each centuries old, danced above her in the sky. Sharlasan, the Jackal. Supposedly he built the Bramble, twisting hundreds of thorns into a great barrier to keep the giants out. Onati, the Bear. Hers was an ancient tale indeed, beating the god of harvest in a challenge of strength to make micro crops proportionally larger.

What gods watched over Tania? Were they there, among the stars?

"All finished with the boots?" Garnet loomed over her, muzzle turned up in a smile only just visible in the darkness so far above the rabbit.

"Yes," Tania said. She shook somewhat, still unable to control her unease around the giants.

The panthress gave a reproving look. "Yes..."

"Yes, ma'am!" For once, she almost wished she were smaller, able to hide between the blades of grass. "Sorry, ma'am," she squeaked.

Chuckling, Garnet reached down with one huge paw, grabbing the bunny as she unhooked Tania's line from the stake with her free paw. "Good. Come here, I could use a bit of company." As if Tania had a choice. Still, it wasn't uncomfortable in that paw. Not really. It was kind of secure, in a way. "Nice night," Garnet said, stroking Tania's head.

"It's a little warmer than I like, ma'am." The rabbit let out a sigh of relief as the grip relaxed some, letting more air brush through Tania's fur. She let out a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Getting past oh-three hundred hours now. Good thing, too. My watch is almost up." She leaned against a tree, one of the ones that towered over even the giants, petting the little rabbit in her paw. "Beautiful stars, aren't they?"

Tania lifted one of her ears hesitantly. "I used to study them, ma'am. They're fascinating."

"You did now? Perhaps you can point some constellations out to me? I never could find most of them." Garnet opened her palm, letting Tania walk on its surface.

The bunny scratched her head a bit, scanning the sky for one of the simpler figures. "I always used a laser to point them out before. Those strong ones that you can see the beam during the night. Aha," she said, lifting her arm out to the left. "That one is Mirias, the sacred rose. Those five stars there, do you see?"

Head tilted slightly, Garnet squinted in confusion a moment before laughing. "Of course," she said. "Asking a mite for constellations." Shaking her head, she let out a soft chuckle. "I'd be surprised if any of them are familiar. Perhaps you know of the Great Whale or the Northern Hero?"

Tania shrugged. "No, ma'am. I suppose giant constellations are different than-" Garnet's fingers closed around the rabbit.

"Hush." Straining to turn, Tania saw the panthress stare into the distance, eyes locked on something beyond the rabbit's view. From one of her many pockets, Garnet produced a pair of binoculars, the fancy kind with switches and buttons. She lifted them to her eyes and spent a few short moments looking through them before stuffing them back where they were. Dashing silently back to the central area, she quickly pulled on a pair of freshly-cleaned boots.

Tania watched hours of work vanish with a single step in the dirt as Garnet picked her back up and stuffed her into one of the boots, leaving the poor rabbit squeezed between her leg and the side as thumping steps carried her away.

<><><>

"Sadri. Wake up." The otter's eyes flicked open at once, seeing Garnet hunched over her, paw giving gentle shakes to her shoulder.

"What is it?" She sat up, grabbing her top to check on the little wolf nestled between her breasts. He seemed to be doing alright. Shame he had to be gagged, though. His voice was especially adorable. Perhaps she'd train him to sing eventually.

Standing up and fishing her binoculars out, Garnet gestured away from the camp. "Something caught my eye out there, I think you'll want to see this. Looks to be some of the engineers."

The otter climbed off her bedroll and accepted the binoculars, following Garnet to a break in the trees. Sure enough, a group of uniformed men were milling about in the distance, carrying various bits of equipment. Zooming in, she could just make out the emblem on one of the shoulders. Demolition. "What are they doing at this time of night?" Sadri growled, handing the binoculars back. "I need to make a call."

<><><>

Vane peeled his eyelids back, greeted only by hazy figures, mostly still. A short matter of blinking brought things into focus, revealing a tight mesh stretching above him. He shook his head a bit and took a look around, seeing a room that might feel large if it weren't full of other nude micros. Rough dirt served as floor and walls for a wide, rectangular chamber. Dim light filtered through the mesh, through which Vane caught a quick glance of a giant's head above him.

Shaking his head, the fox rose to his paws, but immediately sank back down and covered his crotch, realizing that he was just as nude as the others. He tried not to look at the others, thankfully he was spared the awkward moment of finding someone he knew here, stripped to the fur. Still, a couple faces seemed familiar. He decided to avoid them for the time being and took a breath. Might as well stand. He couldn't hide himself forever, and he didn't exactly stick out.

"Excuse me," he said to a nearby bear. "Could... could you point me to the restroom?" Ears stiffening in realization, he added, "Is... is there a restroom?" He forced his tail to hang naturally, rather than curling it around his hips to cover himself.

The bear's expression was somewhere between a smirk and a snarl. "I thought we'd already gotten all the new ones." With a sigh, he gestured off to a corner. "You'll find the... facilities over there. Food, if you can call it that, and water are on the opposite side." Vane gave a nod of thanks, walking toward the lone walled-off section in the room and peeking through the empty doorway.

Wrenching his nose against the smell, Vane sighed. All that lay within was a large pit of sand. If he didn't have to go so badly... With one paw over his snout, the fox padded into what was clearly their litterbox, trying to step carefully as the sand gritted under his paw. At least it was fairly clean. The moment he gave in and squatted down in his chosen spot, a shadow passed overhead, making Vane look up through the mesh...straight at a pair of huge grey paws perched at the edge of the pit high above him.

Without bothering to say anything, one of those giant wolves hunched over with a clipboard, taking a few notes before removing his scanner and tapping away at its screen. Vane blushed furiously, covering himself with his paws as best he could. The wolf's huge eyes, two slightly reflective globes hanging in the sky so high above above, passed right over him without so much as meeting Vane's own, yet the fox got the distinct impression that some of those notes were about him specifically. He finished up as fast as he could and scrambled back out into the general area, finding a mostly-empty space to sit.

At some length the shadow passed. By the collective sigh of relief, Vane wasn't the only one perturbed by its presence. Crisis over, he felt the pangs of hunger and thirst from his long confinement without nourishment and sought out his next meal.

Between a few groups of micros, Vane caught sight of a large, round dish heaped with brown pellets. "You've got to be kidding me," he said aloud, groaning.

"Not at all. Enjoy!" He turned to find the speaker, but only saw a small collection of females giggling at him. Blushing just as furiously as before, he forced his eyes away from their chests. They were probably slightly cracked from all their time here, Vane figured as he approached the bowl. A huge bottle was hooked to the wall beside it, connected to some kind of drinking fountain. At least it wasn't a communal germ pool.

Vane lifted one of the hard pellets, sniffing with disdain. While it certainly wasn't as bad as he expected, it was by no means good. As though someone had created lumps of dirt held together with mashed vegetables. His stomach growled, urging him to continue. Nearly grinding his teeth as he ate, the fox imagined the luxurious meals Bren would be eating while he forced these pellets down.

The blasted otter would probably be in bed right then, having the brightest dreams of his wonderful catch. While a thousand micros screamed for help and curled up to sleep on a floor of bare, cold dirt, he'd just smile and pull the covers a little closer. Cheerful bastard. A pellet crushed to dust in Vane's paw.

<><><>

Bren stuffed his phone back in his pocket and raced out of his bedroom in the cottage. Couldn't those damned engineers wait a single day? Grabbing the wheelbarrow and flicking on his headlamp, the otter cursed. It wasn't the engineers so much, not as a whole anyway. Those Snuffers had their paws in everything these days. He raced back into the forest, wheelbarrow bumping along over loose stones and twigs.

Jogging back through the forest, the otter muttered to himself. "Don't even bother to notify anyone before starting." He nearly tripped over a fallen branch, but recovered. "Not worried about the cute little micros they might kill, no! And no need to find the helpful vets to help them out, none at all!" His anger kept him plenty warm in the chill night air, and he made much better time now that he didn't have to be careful of any tiny charges in his wheelbarrow.

He ditched the wheelbarrow near where the engineers were set up outside the city, the same city he'd gotten all those mites from just hours before. Their machines had encroached even further, causing more damage and blocking off large portions of the city. "Do you have any idea what you're up to?" he shouted, stomping toward the engineers, who were mostly huddled around a table covered in charts and diagrams. Some, he noticed, were busy placing explosive charges.

One of the engineers looked up, the expression on his face annoyed. "We're not catching butterflies,sir. If you would please turn around and let us do our job?"

Bren clenched his teeth. "Oh, I suppose your job is to slaughter micros, then?"

"We are at war, technically." A few mutters of assent arose from the others there, though a few looked vaguely troubled. the speaker went on, "besides, there's hardly any of the little things left here, hardly anything to worry about." Nods all round at this, several engineers looked more confident now.

"War?" Bren snorted, disbelieving, "You honestly think of this as war? With mites?" Bren's own conscience gave a slight twinge, but his words, with a mostly-real scornful edge, clearly resonated a little. "You can't even take the time to get the rest out before you go around blowing them up?"

One of the engineers snickered at that. "They need to be exterminated, can't leave an enemy behind us. Well, can't leave vermin like that behind us." He amended, seeing the others eye him a bit skeptically. "You almost sound like you care about them." He accused

"Someone has to," Bren growled. He looked back to the city, noticing the equipment placed - accidentally of course - in such a manner that no tiny would be able to escape once the destruction began. "This land is public, right?"

"I'm not sure I like that tone." The first engineer who'd spoken stared at Bren, eyes wide and unflinching.

"I don't much care how you take my tone." He met the gaze, then spun around, grabbed his wheelbarrow, and ran straight into the city.

"Stay out of there! Someone get him out!" The pro-extermination engineer, clearly a Snuffer, tried to grab at him, but Bren easily wrenched his arm free, and the rest just watched, torn between amusement and annoyance. After a few moments, the first engineer, clearly the foreman of this group, called off the chase and the engineers got back to work, plainly determined to ignore Bren and his foolishness.

Bren grabbed his scanner, searching for any micros left inside, not bothering to look back. Technically none of the engineers would have the authority to remove a civilian, or anyone really. Paying no heed to the destruction he caused, the otter knocking over several buildings before finding the first group of micros, grabbing them without ceremony and dropping them into his wheelbarrow. The engineers could only watch when they glanced at him during lulls in his own work- clearly, the group as a whole had no real interest in letting Bren interrupt their schedule, although the Snuffer several times tried to start forward and bother him, only to be ordered firmly back to work by the foreman.

To Bren's surprise, some of the mites came willingly upon finding their escape blocked by the equipment and rubble strewn about. All of them had heard the argument for sure, only deafness would prevent it at that proximity. Without a clue how many mites he grabbed, the otter frantically ran through the city until his scanner showed that there were none left alive except those in his wheelbarrow.

Not even a hundred feet out from the city's edge, the first charge blew up with a loud pop. Bren turned to watch, near enough that he could see the amused expressions the engineers wore. Near enough to see them joke and point as more and more explosions cracked through the city, barely intimidating at all to a Macro with any distance from them, although the Micro structures were disintegrating quite thoroughly. Near enough to see the sour looks shot in his direction. He turned and plodded back towards the barn, sighing in relief to know that the micros were safe.

"Perhaps this won't be so easy after all," he said to nobody in particular.