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Erik could barely retain his consciousness throughout the trek to the village. He retained fuzzy memories of forests, rivers, fields, farmlands. It wasn't until the next morning when he finally woke up, his body unable to continue without rest. He was stiff, dizzy, and still slightly pained.

“Ungh... my head is killing me..." He muttered to himself, eyes creaking open and filling with daylight once again. Before him were thick wooden poles, completely surrounding him, but with his head spinning, the bars went all directions. “Ough... A cage...? What happened?"

A light, low female voice spoke out to him. “You nearly died in the bush, like an idiot." Looking behind him, under a ratty sunshade made of a tarp, was a woman. Wrapped in worn clothes and sporting a large straw hat, she had shiny black eyes, and hairless, shiny black skin, mottled with yellow spots. Erik could do nothing but jolt in surprise at seeing her. “Ngh?!"

“Relax. I'm a salamander, not a monster."

Salamander. It was coming back to him. The squirrel, the beetle... It wasn't a dream, or a nightmare. These people existed.

“I'm a human."

“So I heard. You look silly." She chuckled, tauntingly.

He was building a reply, when he simply sighed and sat back down on his makeshift prison bed, a small pile of hay. Next to it, a small wooden cup of water, and another apple. “I don't want to argue about who looks silly. It's been a long couple of days, okay?"

“Preaching to the choir, human. I almost wish I had more important things to do than guard a sleeping prisoner." She yawned sleepily, then looked to her side briefly. “Ah, the Duke is coming. Hope you're ready to talk."

He didn't think he'd ever get used to this sight. A moose, flanked on both sides by a wolf, and a lynx, walking together down a path, each clad in what could be considered fanciful clothes, if not ragged. It was almost like the start to a punchline, but this time, the human was the punchline.

The moose finally strode to the cage, towering over it, his massive antlers shading Erik, while the others stayed by his side, behind him. A crowd began to form to see what was going to happen. “So... you are the human I've heard about. Where is your technology now, I wonder?"

“I-I don't have any technology... the only thing I had was that chip, and I pried it out." He showed off his arm wound.

“What an awful thing, I want to hope that's true. Why are you here?"

“The squirrel and the beetle-"

“No. In the 'Wildlands'. Why are you out of your hive, human?"

He must have meant the city. “I escaped that crazy place, they don't make any sense and want to kill me."

The Duke and his followers looked at him questioningly. What made less sense, his story, or the city itself? “Why is it crazy? You're from there. That's your home."

Erik shook his head. “No, I'm not..." He sighed and tried to explain, knowing it sounded bad. “They froze me long ago, and only thawed me out because they needed a fresh worker at the city nearby."

The others looked to each other with various emotions, ranging from anger to befuddlement.

“Froze you?! Froze you!" The Duke let out a belly laugh that nearly shook the cage. “Hah! Oh, dear. How absurd!" He leaned in closer. “What year, hm?"

“2025."

“2025? What year is that...?" He thought for a moment. “NT -5? That was... before you humans even made the Wildlands."

Erik sighed. “Look, I can't defend anything humans did... especially after I was on ice. But I didn't harm anyone. I couldn't have."

The Duke looked to his allies in wait. The wolf spoke. “He doesn't seem to be lying. It's crazy, maybe stupid, but not a lie."

The lynx snarled at his compatriot. “You believe this scum?"

“Why not? Humans had all kinds of stupid things going on before the New Times. Freezing someone to enslave later seems like something they would do."

The Duke huffed and looked back to Erik. “Seems you've added some more disarray to the village, it's unusual for my advisors to disagree like this... I have to go think about this."

“Take your time... it doesn't seem I'm going anywhere."

He shook his head. “Nope. Frozen or not, I can't have a human just wandering around our lands." With that, he turned and left, along with his advisors.

Erik slumped down in his cage again and sighed.

“Can't go back, can't live in the city, can't live outside the city. What am I supposed to do...?" He muttered to himself.

“Dummy, just request asylum." That voice again, the salamander woman. Such a taunting but sultry tone of voice.

“Asylum? They already don't like me."

She shrugged. “Might as well take a chance at living."

He moved to her side of the cage, and held the bars as he spoke to her. “You think they'll kill me?"

She noted his fear, and smirked a bit. Perhaps she was too caring to be a guard. “If Jan and Brutus didn't kill you on sight, you may have a chance. Terry and Tom are divided on you, that's rare. And Jarvis, the Duke, is not a particularly spiteful man, though you are a human. You've made your case, I think, but it'll take some time for them to sort you out."

Erik tried to remember all of these names. “And... who are you?"

She was quiet for a moment. “Lisa."

“I'm Erik."

“Maybe this won't be your last day, who knows. But you should eat up, Erik."

“I-I'll do that... thank you, Lisa."

As Erik continued his time in the jail, the subject about him was only just beginning. Jarvis' longhouse was roiling with activity. A huge wooden structure, built to allow a wide-antlered moose man to move about inside, it was truly the centerpiece of the town. Inside, a fire flickered, as he stood before a rabble of people, with his two advisors next to him.

“We can't have a human here! Why did they even bring him here? He should have been killed on the spot!"

“We don't know what the intentions are!"

“He's clearly not one of them!"

“No, he's clearly not one of us!"

“He doesn't fit in around here!"

“We'd be just as bad as them if we killed him!"

Jarvis threw his arms out and called to the crowd. “Order! Order!" His shouts were quite loud, and the crowd began to calm down, a bit, still buzzing just under the surface. “I know this is unusual, rot, it's unprecedented. But a unique situation has revealed itself to us."

“How do we know he's safe?!" Someone shouted. The wolf advisor spoke up.

“We have had spies scope out their cities before. Of all the villages, of all the reports, no human has ever escaped, that we know of, from their cities. We can tell he's not one of their scouts or soldiers, his arm has a hole in it where his implant was, and as far as we know, they need that implant to live there. He's either an outcast or a fugitive, and he's not going back."

“Tom is right. Maybe Jan and Brutus should have ended him when they found him, who knows. It is my belief that they did the honorable thing, and at least brought him here to face justice. We'll deal with that choice another time." Jarvis shrugged, and looked to Terry, the lynx.

“Our home has been opened to a relative of those who created this all in the first place. The very word, 'human' leaves a bad taste on every tongue, and if you forget why, remember the Elder. But, regardless of what once happened... a human is here, in Goldenmere. Jarvis has made it quite clear, he does not intend to let the human go, and I must agree. We can't have him reporting back to his hive where we are, in case they come to harm us. So, now we have a choice to make." He shook his head, with a sigh. “We kill him now, tie up these loose ends, and hope they don't track him here. Or... we make him a part of our community."

The rabble buzzed even more at the notion.

“Why? What good is a human here?"

“They'll come to find him, I'm sure of it."

“He could be harmful, he could spread disease! What about the young?"

One chimed into the rabble with an idea. “We don't even know if his story is true! Did you ask Vera?"

Another agreed. “Vera is about the right age, if anyone could know, it's her."

Terry hushed the crowd his his human-like paws out, claws barely visible from the fluff on his fingers. “No, we do not want to disturb her with what might be a hoax. You may all be right in your concerns. But if we are to keep him, I believe he will make a good laborer. Humans have quite a bit of muscle, even this weak one."

A horse laughed. “Heh, put him to work on old man Decker's farm."

An Australian shepherd jerked his head to the horse and protested. “What? No! Gibbs, you pot of glue!"

The horse sneered back at the comment. “That's just the attitude a human needs to hear, Will! Let him have it!"

Will doffed his flatcap angrily and raised two fists. “I'll let you have it!"

Jarvis hushed the crowd again. “Gentlemen, calm down. I think Terry is right. Will, you've been in need of a farmhand for a while now, haven't you? I believe you asked a couple of weeks ago for help."

The Aussie sighed. “I don't want it to seem like that, but with Kelsey gone on and off, it's just Kerry, Shirley and myself dealing with the whole farm." He explained, but looked sternly back to Jarvis. “You're not suggesting I take in this human, are you? But we have no idea if he knows his way around a farm!"

Tom spoke up. “Well, he's capable of talking. Maybe we should ask him."

“And I don't want him around my daughters!"

“Well, you'll have to tell him that yourself." Tom chuckled.

It was a long and hard night for everyone. Erik tossed and turned in his cage, waking up occasionally as kids poked into his cage with sticks, and ran off into the night, laughing. It wouldn't be long before sunrise came and pulled him from his attempted slumber.

“Unnngh..." He groaned, stretching and squinting as the morning sun glared at him. “What time is it even?"

A voice spoke up again. “Almost seven." It was Lisa, still sitting watch, in the shade as always.

“Were you there all night?"

“Sure. I'm nocturnal, after all. I kind of napped through the day." She chuckled, but stopped when she saw activity on the path. “The Duke is coming again. Better make yourself presentable."

Erik quickly ran his hand across his head, forgetting that he was shaved at the Cryonexus, and only stubble adorned his head these days. “Oh, right..."

Jarvis strode up, with Tom and Terry flanking as usual. Behind them, Will, the Aussie shepherd, followed. He wore a tunic under what seemed to be an old, worn down argyle vest, with matching flax pants.

“Looks like you're awake already, human." Jarvis chuckled lightly.

“Well, I didn't sleep very well to begin with... but that's understandable, I guess."

“Right. I have a couple of questions for you."

“Go ahead." Erik sighed. He was getting questioned a lot these days.

“What's your name?"

“Erik Barnes."

The answer came so soon, and was such a familiar sounding name. Like he could have fit in with any of them already. “I didn't introduce myself before. I'm Jarvis Barnett, the Duke of Goldenmere. I work with the people of the village to keep it safe from within and without. You've posed an interesting hurdle to overcome, Erik."

“None of this was intentional, Duke." Erik shook his head in an apologetic tone.

Jarvis nodded, understanding. “I know. We've spoken about it at length, and we feel you're telling the truth."

“Sir, I know this might sound crazy, but... I want to request asylum."

Jarvis blinked at the request, but waved it off with his hand. “It is far too early for that, Erik. Now, do you know anything about farming?"

“Farming? I... know the basics, I guess, never really done it myself. I'm sure I could learn."

“Right. Well, to tell you the truth, Erik, a lot of people in town don't want you to here. They'd rather you die right now." Jarvis nodded. “Some people here might be mad about it, but I'm going to make you an offer. You get to live. You are going to be the farmhand for William Decker, here." He motioned back to the slightly concerned looking Aussie. “You'll do what he tells you to do, when he tells you to. In return, he'll give you food and lodgings, and you'll have the unique opportunity to keep living in Goldenmere. Or, at least, on the outskirts." It was explained rather artistically for simply being 'you're a slave now'. “This is your asylum. Do we have an agreement?"

“Out of sight, out of mind, huh?"

“Something like that."

So this was it. He escaped slavery in the city to find slavery in the country. But what seemed crazier, packing bugs to feed drones? Or farming to feed these interesting animal people? The choice seemed obvious. He knew when he was beaten. “Well, you lot have been kinder to me than the humans were. I... accept." He nodded, and looked to William. “Mr. Decker, I'll do my best." With that, his cage was lifted, and he was free to crawl out from it, arm still wrapped in its dressing.

William sighed. “I sure hope so, pup. Come on, let's get you to the farm, there's work to be done." As he brought Erik past the group, he glared at Jarvis. “You owe me for this..."

“I know." Jarvis replied, in what whisper he could manage.