{"sf1_id":942222,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Commission: The Great Enslavement - chapter 3","author":"Palantean Writer","words":3020,"posted_at":"2015-12-07T20:54:00.000Z","tags":["Commission","Dog","Fantasy","Female","Humans","Male","Raccoon","Sci-Fi","Slavery"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/942222-commission-the-great-enslavement-chapter-3","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/942222","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=942222\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"The night had fallen so the journey back to the store was dark and\nlit by the orange glow of urban lights. The streets were beginning to\nfall quiet but the public train was still working and would do for a few\nmore hours. They took it and sat together, and talked in hushed tones -\neven a little apprehensively - between themselves.\nThey arrived and followed Lotus around the back. In the\nalmost-darkness of the alleyway, among the garbage, was a dumpster and\nabove it, a window.\nMitsy had been the most nervous of all of them since they'd set off\nand it was she who voiced her concerns first. //How are we going to get\nin?\\\nLotus looked up at a window and put his paws thoughtfully on the\ndumpster. //I think... I think I can get in this way. Wait here,\\ he\nsaid and leapt up onto the dumpster with an easy power he rarely showed.\nHe stood on it and examined the window lock, the lid of the dumpster\nbowing a little under his weight. Even from Jai's position on the ground\nand in the darkness he could see that the lock was weak and could\neasily be removed.\nSoon Lotus managed to open the window and bunched his limbs to pull\nhimself inside. //Wait here,\\ he repeated over his shoulder and went\nin.\nJai sighed and then looked around at the others. //So what now?\\ He'd been looking forward to go in - why couldn't he follow?\nVyvi took a step forward to get a better view of the dark rectangle into which their friend had disappeared. //Now, we wait.\\\nTong stepped forward a little, echoing her movements, and Jai\nrealised that the red panda was relying on the mouse to feel secure.\nWhatever. Jai wrapped his arms around himself, and his tail around his middle. //I hate waiting.\\\n//Well, sometimes you just have to.\\\nJai didn't know how long he expected Lotus to take, but the big cat\ntook longer and eventually Jai's impatience got the better of him. While\nthe two females looked around mistrusfully at the shadows and Digby\ndrummed his claws on the top of the dumpster, all twitchy impatience,\nJai leapt up onto the dumpster. Tong looked around in a similarly\nuncomfortable fashion to the women but looked wide-eyed at the raccoon\nas he stood up on the dumpster lid. \n//Hey, wait!\\ hissed Mitsy but she was too late. He scrambled in through the window before she could catch up with him.\nShe kept talking, admonishing him for disobeying Lotus, but he'd\nstopped listening. Instead he looked around in wonder. By moonlight the\ninside of the store looked really cool. The many antique mirrors\nreflected the light of the moon and made everything look...\nWell, awesome. The room looked big and everything shone silver. He'd never seen anything like it!\nHe heard scrabbling behind him and Mitsy grumbling and straining to\nget in, and went forward to look at more of the store - and to get away\nfrom her. //Wait here,\\ she said to the others into the darkness\noutside, //We'll come straight back out. Jai, what are you doing?! I\ntold you to wait outside!\\\nJai turned to give the frowning weasel a chummy smile - it wasn't as\nif Mitsy was his mom, he didn't have to obey her or anything - and saw\nTong struggling to get his pudgy self through the small space.\nMitsy heard him too and looked at the puffing red panda. //Tong! I\njust said- you know what, to hell with this. Do what you like.\\ She\nfolded her arms and sauntered off into the main body of the shop,\nclearly making an effort to ignore everyfur while Tong looked stung by\nher acidic words.\n//I-I just... wanted to... follow Lotus,\\ said Tong quietly, his face a rictus of apology.\nMitsy rolled her eyes - actually, she pretty much rolled her whole\nhead. //Sure.\\ She tensed her jaw and looked away as she saw Vyvi and\nDigby climb in.\nJai found a box full of vintage soccer balls and picked one up.\n//Hey, these must be ancient!\\ He tried bouncing it - its bounce wasn't\ntoo great, as it turned out.\n//For... sake Jai, put it back!\\ hissed Mitsy through gritted teeth, her black-and-white ears turned low with impotent fury.\nJai shrugged and dropped it back in the box, only to see an oval ball\nthat took his interest. //Oh, cool!\\ He picked that one up instead,\nwaving his stripy tail out behind him as a counterbalance.\n//I have the game,\\ came Lotus' call from the back room, walking up to the others as he zipped up his backpack.\n//There's so much cool stuff in here,\\ said Jai, looking appreciatively up at his feline friend.\nDigby seemed to find the raccoon's enthusiasm infectious and looked\naround with bright-eyed wonder. Jai crossed behind the counter and found\nthat there were some objects in the shelves hidden from customers'\nviews - including a miniature carousel with intricate parts.\n//Look,\\ said Digby, crouching a little to see the parts more clearly, //It has a crank. Does it play?\\\n//I don't know,\\ said Jai and put his paws around it to pick it up.\nHe pulled at it but instead of leaving the shelf it tilted: it was\nhinged to the shelf on one side. Jai let go of it in shock as a rumbling\nnoise sounded. Everyfur snapped their heads around to look for the\nsource of the noise.\nA doorway rumbled open on one wall. Then all was silent once more.\nJai and Digby both looked at each other in wonderment and bounded\nover to the new doorway. There were stairs leading down and a vaguely\nmoonlit room at the bottom.\n//What's this?\\ Jai asked Lotus.\nLotus padded to Jai's side to look down into the gloom. He looked puzzled. //I... admit I have no idea.\\\n//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.\n//Oh come on Mitz\\ said Jai. //You can't say you're not curious too!\\\nVyvi answered quickly before Mitsi could. //I really don't think we\nshould go down there. Come on, we have what we were looking for. Let's\ngo.\\\n//Yes, come on guys, let's go!\\ echoed Mitsy, turning her lithe brown body back towards the window.\nBut Jai was already running for the stairs and got half-way down them\nbefore anyfur could grab him to stop him. Even before Mitsy and Vyvi\ncould utter a protest Digby was on the third stair down.\n//Just one look,\\ he said, somewhat pleadingly. //Then we can put the door back.\\\nLotus walked down more sedately and, although anyfur there could have\nbarred his way they didn't. It was his family's store, after all. Tong\nfollowed him, sticking closely by his adoptive cousin's side as if\nworried he might get lost in this place.\nJai got to the bottom of the stairs and looked about him, aware of\nMitsy's quiet grumblings near the top of the stairs as she grudgingly\ndecided to follow everyfur else.\nIt was just a small, square anteroom with a dirty little window\nletting in the most meagre amount of light, just enough to show a dark\nhole and a panel on the far wall.\n//What is it?\\ asked Vyvi over his shoulder. The little tawny mouse\nheld back and he could sense her tension - and her undeniable curiosity.\n//It's an elevator,\\ answered the raccoon and trotted into it to figure out if it'd work.\nHe looked back the way he'd come, at the mouse on the stairs, who\nlooked at him with wide eyes and shook her head slightly. //We are going\nto get into so much trouble for this,\\ she said and stepped delicately\ninto the elevator box.\nLotus stepped down with his usual calm demeanour. //If he finds out that we were here I will take the blame.\\\n//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.\n//I'm curious too,\\ he answered and joined his waiting friends.\nDigby trotted to Jai's side and Tong squeezed in by Lotus - not that\nthere wasn't any space left, it was more that he seemed to feel safe on\nthe opposite side of the snow leopard to everyfur else.\nMitsy stalked into the elevator and stood with her arms folded and a thunderous expression.\n//Here goes,\\ said Lotus and pressed the Down button.\nThe box lurched beneath their feet and most of the group gasped. And\nthen Jai's stomach rose smoothly into his chest as the elevator went\ndown.\nThe elevator pinged and opened on to the basement floor. Lotus was\nthe first to step out on tentative, soft paws. He paused, clearly\nwanting to be cautious, but Jai was impatient and pushed past him to see\nwhat the snow leopard could see.\nHe... didn't understand what he was seeing, but it looked awesome!\nTwo big dishes - like satellite dishes but not quite - furnished the\nright and left walls. Lengths of wire poked out untidily behind them but\nthe dishes themselves looked polished to a perfect shine. On the far\nwall a tall oval hung. Jai might have guessed it was a mirror if not for\nthe darkness in it. He couldn't get a reflection out of it even when he\nwaved his hand.\nOn the wall opposite the oval was installed a box. Big and complex\nwith switches and unilluminated lights and dials and information panels.\nAnd between all four of these objects were generators, wires and\nstranger things that Jai couldn't identify. All of this housed in a cold\nsquare room with no windows and a gritty, unkempt tiled floor.\n//What is this?\\ Vyvi asked, stepping out and speaking quietly as if\nto talk too loudly would start up the machine - for Jai was certain it was a machine.\n//I don't know,\\ answered Lotus earnestly. //He has never told me of\nanything like this before.\\ He took to scrutinizing the nearest hunk\nof equipment, Tong looking timidly over his shoulder.\n//We shouldn't touch it,\\ warned Mitsy. For once she sounded more worried than irritable. //What if it's dangerous? A weapon?\\\n//Oh come on!\\ Jai said. //It's not a weapon!\\\nMitsy rounded on him. //You don't know that!\\ Her voice was sharp,\nthe way it always got when she was angry with him but she was also\nkeeping it quiet like Vyvi, as if that would make any difference. Her\nbody was crouched low; in fact, it gave Jai a rebellious thrill to see\nher so nervous.\n//Oh come on, aren't you even curious? I mean, this could be, like, a time-travel machine or something!\\\nLotus sighed. //I'm sure it's nothing that exotic, Jai.\\\nJai gave a sigh of his own and bounded over to the switches. Fine. If nobody else is interested I'll have a look.\nHe looked swiftly for whatever looked like the 'on' button and pressed\nanything that looked like it might be, but he seemed to get the wrong\nones at first.\n//What are you doing?!\\ fumed Mitsy, storming over to him.\nJai intensified his search for the right button. He wanted to know what the machine did. That was all he wanted!\nLotus strode over with Vyvi and Tong in tow, the big cat's arms\noutstretched as if prepared to carry Jai bodily away from the switches.\nHe's spend the rest of his life wondering about the machine if he didn't.\n//Leave it alone!\\\nHe pulled up a big vertical lever and froze in place as the whole room clicked to life.\nEveryfur froze.\n//What.\\ Mitsy's voice carried over the clicks.\nThe clicks gave way to a hum.\n//Turn it off,\\ begged Vyvi, as authoritatively as he'd ever heard\nher speak, and marched up to the machine. //Jai, which one did you\ntouch?\\ Her ears trembled in the low light and he could see that the\nmouse was terrified.\nBut 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.\\\nHe noticed Tong looking somewhere else and followed his gaze. The\noval 'mirror' - its surface had turned pale grey, and it was getting\nlighter with every second.\n//Jai!\\ boomed Lotus. //Which one turned it on?\\\nThe 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.\nLotus growled and stepped past Jai to examine the buttons and levers\nfor himself. He reached out a hand to one he thought Jai might have\npulled but then hesitated. //Tell me which one,\\ he said heavily.\nTong said something Jai didn't catch, but apparently Vyvi did. //Oh my god. Jai, turn it off!\\\n//No!\\ he argued. He'd wait until it had finished warming up and see\nwhat it'd do, and after that, in the spirit of friendship, he'd tell\nthem which lever had turned it on. But it was an adventure anyway, just\nhim wondering about a big mystery... He looked to Digby for support but\neven the terrier was looking nervous, his ears low and eyes wide,\nstepping slowly away from the oval.\nThey'd all look so foolish when they saw that it didn't do anything dangerous!\nThe oval caught his attention, for it had become blindingly bright, throwing hard shadows against the box and rear wall.\n//Jai, just stop messing about. How did you turn it on?\\ said Mitsy, her scrawny hands shaking slightly.\nJust a few more moments and it'll show us what it does! It\ncouldn't be anything that dangerous - it was set in the basement of a\nbuilding. What was it going to do - explode? No, he was sure it would be\nsafe. //A few of them. I didn't just touch one.\\\n//Fine,\\ she snapped and joined Lotus at the array of switches. //Which ones?\\\nThe oval began to tinge with pink.\n//I don't remember.\\\n//Jai!\\ Vyvi came as close to roaring as such a dainty fur could and\npushed him by the shoulders against the wall. He grunted with the\nimpact and the shock of Vyvi's sudden violence. //Which. Ones. Did. You.\nTouch?\\\nShe was going to feel like such an idiot! //I told you. I don't remember.\\\nLotus joined Vyvi and towered over Jai, his muscles tense and bulging\nwith restrained rage. //Tell me which ones you touched, or by Bastet I\nswear I'm going to-\\\nVyvi stumbled and Lotus reeled. An instant later Jai noticed that he\nfelt strange. Lighter almost, or dizzy, as if he wanted to pitch\nforward. He leaned against the wall to steady himself.\n//Can anyfur feel that?\\ asked Digby.\nLotus and Vyvi turned to look at their friends. Digby was gripping\nthe edge of what passed for a tabletop or pedestal as if to steady\nhimself, while Tong had taken to crouching and looking baffled. Vyvi\nstumbled again, harder this time, and fell to the floor.\nJai felt his tail pulled out from beside him to out in front. It\nskimmed his left thigh and floated of its own accord in the direction of\nthe oval.\nSomething clicked in Jai's head. Vyvi also had fallen in the\ndirection of the oval. A quick glance saw his other friends facing the\nsame difficulties - everyfur braced themselves as if being pulled\ntowards the oval which had warmed drastically to a rich pink, almost\nred.\nHe felt fear. //I'll turn it off,\\ he mumbled and fumbled his way\nover to the switches. Now that he looked at them he realized that he\ngenuinely didn't remember which ones he'd pulled. Maybe that big switch\nwas all it had taken, all it took to switch it back off again.\nHe took one step towards it and his feet gave out from under him. He\ntried to get up but his arms refused to reach the floor - instead they\nwere pulled towards the oval.\n//Oh god. Jai, what've you done?\\ whimpered Mitsy, cowering against\nthe opposite side of Digby's pedestal to the oval, pressed against it\ndespite her own will.\nAs one they lurched or tumbled or skidded and rose into the air. The\ngirls and Jai screamed and Tong started to cry quietly. Jai had barely\nnoticed that he was airbourne when he realized that he was going to hit\nthe oval. He grabbed the first thing that fell into his grip - which\nhappened to be Tong's stripy tail.\nTong wasn't moving towards the oval and as Jai focussed he saw that\nthe red panda had a firm grip on a bunch of wires. The raccoon held on\nlike a limpet and prayed that Tong was stronger physically than he was\nmentally as Tong tried to pull them both back towards the floor.\n//Oh god please god please no, oh my god-\\ whimpered Mitsy as she\nfloated past him, starting to curl her long body into a ball. Lotus\nthrashed as he succumbed to the new gravity.\nJai hoped that gravity was all that it was, because if it was then it\ncould only get so strong. Maybe Tong could hold both of their\nweights...\nMaybe, if he'd had more than one hand-hold. But he didn't, and Jai\ncould see his grip weakening. //Hey!\\ he called to the shy little fur.\n//Hold on! Don't let go!\\\n//I can't!\\ gasped Tong. //I'm sorry, I can't do it!\\\n//We're both going to die if you let go!\\\n//I can't!\\ the red panda wailed.\nAnd then Tong's fingers were prised free of the wires by the oval's\nforce. They were pulled screaming, closer and closer to the oval, faster\nand faster until Jai curled himself up into a ball with Tong, clutching\neach other and tensed against the inevitable impact...\nAnd then, he felt still cool air."}