Commission: The Great Enslavement - chapter 3
The night had fallen so the journey back to the store was dark and
lit by the orange glow of urban lights. The streets were beginning to
fall quiet but the public train was still working and would do for a few
more hours. They took it and sat together, and talked in hushed tones -
even a little apprehensively - between themselves.
They arrived and followed Lotus around the back. In the
almost-darkness of the alleyway, among the garbage, was a dumpster and
above it, a window.
Mitsy had been the most nervous of all of them since they'd set off
and it was she who voiced her concerns first. //How are we going to get
in?\
Lotus looked up at a window and put his paws thoughtfully on the
dumpster. //I think... I think I can get in this way. Wait here,\ he
said and leapt up onto the dumpster with an easy power he rarely showed.
He stood on it and examined the window lock, the lid of the dumpster
bowing a little under his weight. Even from Jai's position on the ground
and in the darkness he could see that the lock was weak and could
easily be removed.
Soon Lotus managed to open the window and bunched his limbs to pull
himself inside. //Wait here,\ he repeated over his shoulder and went
in.
Jai sighed and then looked around at the others. //So what now?\ He'd been looking forward to go in - why couldn't he follow?
Vyvi took a step forward to get a better view of the dark rectangle into which their friend had disappeared. //Now, we wait.\
Tong stepped forward a little, echoing her movements, and Jai
realised that the red panda was relying on the mouse to feel secure.
Whatever. Jai wrapped his arms around himself, and his tail around his middle. //I hate waiting.\
//Well, sometimes you just have to.\
Jai didn't know how long he expected Lotus to take, but the big cat
took longer and eventually Jai's impatience got the better of him. While
the two females looked around mistrusfully at the shadows and Digby
drummed his claws on the top of the dumpster, all twitchy impatience,
Jai leapt up onto the dumpster. Tong looked around in a similarly
uncomfortable fashion to the women but looked wide-eyed at the raccoon
as he stood up on the dumpster lid.
//Hey, wait!\ hissed Mitsy but she was too late. He scrambled in through the window before she could catch up with him.
She kept talking, admonishing him for disobeying Lotus, but he'd
stopped listening. Instead he looked around in wonder. By moonlight the
inside of the store looked really cool. The many antique mirrors
reflected the light of the moon and made everything look...
Well, awesome. The room looked big and everything shone silver. He'd never seen anything like it!
He heard scrabbling behind him and Mitsy grumbling and straining to
get in, and went forward to look at more of the store - and to get away
from her. //Wait here,\ she said to the others into the darkness
outside, //We'll come straight back out. Jai, what are you doing?! I
told you to wait outside!\
Jai turned to give the frowning weasel a chummy smile - it wasn't as
if Mitsy was his mom, he didn't have to obey her or anything - and saw
Tong struggling to get his pudgy self through the small space.
Mitsy heard him too and looked at the puffing red panda. //Tong! I
just said- you know what, to hell with this. Do what you like.\ She
folded her arms and sauntered off into the main body of the shop,
clearly making an effort to ignore everyfur while Tong looked stung by
her acidic words.
//I-I just... wanted to... follow Lotus,\ said Tong quietly, his face a rictus of apology.
Mitsy rolled her eyes - actually, she pretty much rolled her whole
head. //Sure.\ She tensed her jaw and looked away as she saw Vyvi and
Digby climb in.
Jai found a box full of vintage soccer balls and picked one up.
//Hey, these must be ancient!\ He tried bouncing it - its bounce wasn't
too great, as it turned out.
//For... sake Jai, put it back!\ hissed Mitsy through gritted teeth, her black-and-white ears turned low with impotent fury.
Jai shrugged and dropped it back in the box, only to see an oval ball
that took his interest. //Oh, cool!\ He picked that one up instead,
waving his stripy tail out behind him as a counterbalance.
//I have the game,\ came Lotus' call from the back room, walking up to the others as he zipped up his backpack.
//There's so much cool stuff in here,\ said Jai, looking appreciatively up at his feline friend.
Digby seemed to find the raccoon's enthusiasm infectious and looked
around with bright-eyed wonder. Jai crossed behind the counter and found
that there were some objects in the shelves hidden from customers'
views - including a miniature carousel with intricate parts.
//Look,\ said Digby, crouching a little to see the parts more clearly, //It has a crank. Does it play?\
//I don't know,\ said Jai and put his paws around it to pick it up.
He pulled at it but instead of leaving the shelf it tilted: it was
hinged to the shelf on one side. Jai let go of it in shock as a rumbling
noise sounded. Everyfur snapped their heads around to look for the
source of the noise.
A doorway rumbled open on one wall. Then all was silent once more.
Jai and Digby both looked at each other in wonderment and bounded
over to the new doorway. There were stairs leading down and a vaguely
moonlit room at the bottom.
//What's this?\ Jai asked Lotus.
Lotus padded to Jai's side to look down into the gloom. He looked puzzled. //I... admit I have no idea.\
//Just leave it guys, please!\ said Mitsy, whose jaw sounded so tight it was a wonder she'd been able to get the words out.
//Oh come on Mitz\ said Jai. //You can't say you're not curious too!\
Vyvi answered quickly before Mitsi could. //I really don't think we
should go down there. Come on, we have what we were looking for. Let's
go.\
//Yes, come on guys, let's go!\ echoed Mitsy, turning her lithe brown body back towards the window.
But Jai was already running for the stairs and got half-way down them
before anyfur could grab him to stop him. Even before Mitsy and Vyvi
could utter a protest Digby was on the third stair down.
//Just one look,\ he said, somewhat pleadingly. //Then we can put the door back.\
Lotus walked down more sedately and, although anyfur there could have
barred his way they didn't. It was his family's store, after all. Tong
followed him, sticking closely by his adoptive cousin's side as if
worried he might get lost in this place.
Jai got to the bottom of the stairs and looked about him, aware of
Mitsy's quiet grumblings near the top of the stairs as she grudgingly
decided to follow everyfur else.
It was just a small, square anteroom with a dirty little window
letting in the most meagre amount of light, just enough to show a dark
hole and a panel on the far wall.
//What is it?\ asked Vyvi over his shoulder. The little tawny mouse
held back and he could sense her tension - and her undeniable curiosity.
//It's an elevator,\ answered the raccoon and trotted into it to figure out if it'd work.
He looked back the way he'd come, at the mouse on the stairs, who
looked at him with wide eyes and shook her head slightly. //We are going
to get into so much trouble for this,\ she said and stepped delicately
into the elevator box.
Lotus stepped down with his usual calm demeanour. //If he finds out that we were here I will take the blame.\
//Really Lotus, you don't have to-\ said Mitsy, only to be hushed by a small smile and shake of the big cat's head.
//I'm curious too,\ he answered and joined his waiting friends.
Digby trotted to Jai's side and Tong squeezed in by Lotus - not that
there wasn't any space left, it was more that he seemed to feel safe on
the opposite side of the snow leopard to everyfur else.
Mitsy stalked into the elevator and stood with her arms folded and a thunderous expression.
//Here goes,\ said Lotus and pressed the Down button.
The box lurched beneath their feet and most of the group gasped. And
then Jai's stomach rose smoothly into his chest as the elevator went
down.
The elevator pinged and opened on to the basement floor. Lotus was
the first to step out on tentative, soft paws. He paused, clearly
wanting to be cautious, but Jai was impatient and pushed past him to see
what the snow leopard could see.
He... didn't understand what he was seeing, but it looked awesome!
Two big dishes - like satellite dishes but not quite - furnished the
right and left walls. Lengths of wire poked out untidily behind them but
the dishes themselves looked polished to a perfect shine. On the far
wall a tall oval hung. Jai might have guessed it was a mirror if not for
the darkness in it. He couldn't get a reflection out of it even when he
waved his hand.
On the wall opposite the oval was installed a box. Big and complex
with switches and unilluminated lights and dials and information panels.
And between all four of these objects were generators, wires and
stranger things that Jai couldn't identify. All of this housed in a cold
square room with no windows and a gritty, unkempt tiled floor.
//What is this?\ Vyvi asked, stepping out and speaking quietly as if
to talk too loudly would start up the machine - for Jai was certain it was a machine.
//I don't know,\ answered Lotus earnestly. //He has never told me of
anything like this before.\ He took to scrutinizing the nearest hunk
of equipment, Tong looking timidly over his shoulder.
//We shouldn't touch it,\ warned Mitsy. For once she sounded more worried than irritable. //What if it's dangerous? A weapon?\
//Oh come on!\ Jai said. //It's not a weapon!\
Mitsy rounded on him. //You don't know that!\ Her voice was sharp,
the way it always got when she was angry with him but she was also
keeping it quiet like Vyvi, as if that would make any difference. Her
body was crouched low; in fact, it gave Jai a rebellious thrill to see
her so nervous.
//Oh come on, aren't you even curious? I mean, this could be, like, a time-travel machine or something!\
Lotus sighed. //I'm sure it's nothing that exotic, Jai.\
Jai gave a sigh of his own and bounded over to the switches. Fine. If nobody else is interested I'll have a look.
He looked swiftly for whatever looked like the 'on' button and pressed
anything that looked like it might be, but he seemed to get the wrong
ones at first.
//What are you doing?!\ fumed Mitsy, storming over to him.
Jai intensified his search for the right button. He wanted to know what the machine did. That was all he wanted!
Lotus strode over with Vyvi and Tong in tow, the big cat's arms
outstretched as if prepared to carry Jai bodily away from the switches.
He's spend the rest of his life wondering about the machine if he didn't.
//Leave it alone!\
He pulled up a big vertical lever and froze in place as the whole room clicked to life.
Everyfur froze.
//What.\ Mitsy's voice carried over the clicks.
The clicks gave way to a hum.
//Turn it off,\ begged Vyvi, as authoritatively as he'd ever heard
her speak, and marched up to the machine. //Jai, which one did you
touch?\ Her ears trembled in the low light and he could see that the
mouse was terrified.
But Jai wasn't about to let this chance pass him by. He stalled by folding his arms and giving her a What are you going to do about it? look. //Lots of them.\
He noticed Tong looking somewhere else and followed his gaze. The
oval 'mirror' - its surface had turned pale grey, and it was getting
lighter with every second.
//Jai!\ boomed Lotus. //Which one turned it on?\
The snow leopard could turn on the authority when he wanted to but Jai stubbornly refused to be swayed. Why is it a crime to be curious? he thought sulkily and refused to answer.
Lotus growled and stepped past Jai to examine the buttons and levers
for himself. He reached out a hand to one he thought Jai might have
pulled but then hesitated. //Tell me which one,\ he said heavily.
Tong said something Jai didn't catch, but apparently Vyvi did. //Oh my god. Jai, turn it off!\
//No!\ he argued. He'd wait until it had finished warming up and see
what it'd do, and after that, in the spirit of friendship, he'd tell
them which lever had turned it on. But it was an adventure anyway, just
him wondering about a big mystery... He looked to Digby for support but
even the terrier was looking nervous, his ears low and eyes wide,
stepping slowly away from the oval.
They'd all look so foolish when they saw that it didn't do anything dangerous!
The oval caught his attention, for it had become blindingly bright, throwing hard shadows against the box and rear wall.
//Jai, just stop messing about. How did you turn it on?\ said Mitsy, her scrawny hands shaking slightly.
Just a few more moments and it'll show us what it does! It
couldn't be anything that dangerous - it was set in the basement of a
building. What was it going to do - explode? No, he was sure it would be
safe. //A few of them. I didn't just touch one.\
//Fine,\ she snapped and joined Lotus at the array of switches. //Which ones?\
The oval began to tinge with pink.
//I don't remember.\
//Jai!\ Vyvi came as close to roaring as such a dainty fur could and
pushed him by the shoulders against the wall. He grunted with the
impact and the shock of Vyvi's sudden violence. //Which. Ones. Did. You.
Touch?\
She was going to feel like such an idiot! //I told you. I don't remember.\
Lotus joined Vyvi and towered over Jai, his muscles tense and bulging
with restrained rage. //Tell me which ones you touched, or by Bastet I
swear I'm going to-\
Vyvi stumbled and Lotus reeled. An instant later Jai noticed that he
felt strange. Lighter almost, or dizzy, as if he wanted to pitch
forward. He leaned against the wall to steady himself.
//Can anyfur feel that?\ asked Digby.
Lotus and Vyvi turned to look at their friends. Digby was gripping
the edge of what passed for a tabletop or pedestal as if to steady
himself, while Tong had taken to crouching and looking baffled. Vyvi
stumbled again, harder this time, and fell to the floor.
Jai felt his tail pulled out from beside him to out in front. It
skimmed his left thigh and floated of its own accord in the direction of
the oval.
Something clicked in Jai's head. Vyvi also had fallen in the
direction of the oval. A quick glance saw his other friends facing the
same difficulties - everyfur braced themselves as if being pulled
towards the oval which had warmed drastically to a rich pink, almost
red.
He felt fear. //I'll turn it off,\ he mumbled and fumbled his way
over to the switches. Now that he looked at them he realized that he
genuinely didn't remember which ones he'd pulled. Maybe that big switch
was all it had taken, all it took to switch it back off again.
He took one step towards it and his feet gave out from under him. He
tried to get up but his arms refused to reach the floor - instead they
were pulled towards the oval.
//Oh god. Jai, what've you done?\ whimpered Mitsy, cowering against
the opposite side of Digby's pedestal to the oval, pressed against it
despite her own will.
As one they lurched or tumbled or skidded and rose into the air. The
girls and Jai screamed and Tong started to cry quietly. Jai had barely
noticed that he was airbourne when he realized that he was going to hit
the oval. He grabbed the first thing that fell into his grip - which
happened to be Tong's stripy tail.
Tong wasn't moving towards the oval and as Jai focussed he saw that
the red panda had a firm grip on a bunch of wires. The raccoon held on
like a limpet and prayed that Tong was stronger physically than he was
mentally as Tong tried to pull them both back towards the floor.
//Oh god please god please no, oh my god-\ whimpered Mitsy as she
floated past him, starting to curl her long body into a ball. Lotus
thrashed as he succumbed to the new gravity.
Jai hoped that gravity was all that it was, because if it was then it
could only get so strong. Maybe Tong could hold both of their
weights...
Maybe, if he'd had more than one hand-hold. But he didn't, and Jai
could see his grip weakening. //Hey!\ he called to the shy little fur.
//Hold on! Don't let go!\
//I can't!\ gasped Tong. //I'm sorry, I can't do it!\
//We're both going to die if you let go!\
//I can't!\ the red panda wailed.
And then Tong's fingers were prised free of the wires by the oval's
force. They were pulled screaming, closer and closer to the oval, faster
and faster until Jai curled himself up into a ball with Tong, clutching
each other and tensed against the inevitable impact...
And then, he felt still cool air.