by Tom Jones
Jason finished the food that Arcades fed him, and he felt that his question was not answered, “I’m not asking about that. Kurt, I want to know why do you let people restrain you?” Arcades frowned before he replied, “Do I look like I have any say in the matter?” Jason did not quite understand what Arcades was trying to say, “What do you mean by that, Kurt?” The fox replied while he grabbed some more food out of the bag for Jason, “Look at my body. Even if I wasn’t locked up in steel, I wouldn’t be able to resist at all. I’m basically a roll of wet paper towels against those guys. I don’t really have much of a choice at that point.” Jason frowned as well, “Why do you let me restrain you?” Arcades did not continue speaking until he gave Jason some more food. Once the wolf began to eat the food that Arcades gave to him, the fox began to speak, “Because I really don’t see anything to it. You enjoy it, right?” The wolf nodded his head.
Arcades continued, “Then I really don’t see anything to it. I mean, it’s not sinful if it’s not sexual or anything like that. And hey, I guess it’s a good way for me to show to you that I’m not dangerous.” Jason finished the food he was eating, “I guess so.” Arcades shrugged, “I guess that’s really all there is to it beyond that. It’s not even important. Why make so much of a big deal out of something like that? We have bigger problems to worry about.” Jason looked down at the floor, “I’m sorry, Kurt.” The fox shook his head and he looked down at his restraints, “No, no. I’m not saying you’re in the wrong by asking me that. It’s just that I’m trying to tell you that this whole deal with me and these things ain’t really that big. It’s just something that I do. I know that most people who do… well, similar things, tend to treat it as a sexual thing. I don’t do it like that. I don’t do what they do.” Jason nodded, “Alright, Kurt. How about we talk about something else?” The fox nodded in agreement and prepared to stand up in order to return to the bag, “Yeah, I think that’d probably be the best thing to do at this point.” Arcades took a pause before asking the wolf, “Do you want any more food?”
Jason looked up at the standing fox, “How about I feed you now? You’ve served me enough for now.” Arcades asked, “Are you sure, Jason?” The wolf nodded as he used the back wall to help him stand up, “Yeah. How about you sit down and let me feed you?” The fox placed his back against the wall, and he made sure that his tail was out of the way before he sat down. When the fox did sit down, he shuffled about until he was in a more comfortable position. Arcades watched as the wolf moved over to the bag, and he removed some food from the bag. Jason returned to the fox, and he fed the fox some of the food. Arcades looked down at his restraints when the wolf moved back to the bag, “I don’t think I’ll be putting these back on for a little while once we’re out of this mess.” Jason asked the fox, “Why’s that, mate?” Arcades replied, “Well, these aren’t designed to be worn for such a long time. When I put them on myself, I don’t really spend too much time in them at once.”
Jason then said, “Well, when you’re the one with the key, don’t you choose how long you want to stay in them?” The fox nodded, “Yeah, except that I think I would’ve been ready to get out a few hours ago. Too bad I don’t have the key here. Otherwise, we’d probably be out of here.” Jason looked at the door and back to Arcades, “Do you think you would be able to get the key?” The fox looked at the door as well, but it lacked a window, “I believe Spectre has it. We could perhaps get it.” Jason then made a different suggestion, “Don’t you know how to lockpick? Could you do that?” The fox replied, “Well , the problem with that is that I would need something to pick the lock with. Also, since all of these are double-locked, it would be harder for me to do that. Of course, I would eventually get it, but I would not be able to get out on a whim without the keys. I think that getting the keys would be our best option.” Jason returned to the fox with some more food, and he let the fox eat while he talked with Arcades, “How would we be able to grab the keys though? Our movement is pretty limited. Also, they’re armed.” Arcades knew that escape would prove to be very dangerous. He spoke after he finished eating, “I know… Look, we’ll figure something out. We still have time as of now.”
Jason then asked the fox, “What about after we do escape? Where do we go? We have absolutely nothing on us, and we have no way to contact anybody.” The fox sighed, for he knew that these further conditions would complicate their escape, “I guess we’ll have to cross that bridge when we get there. We need to mainly worry about making sure that we can escape in the first place.” Jason fed the last of the food to Arcades, “Well, Kurt if you come up with a plan, then make sure you let me know about it. I’ll do whatever I can to help you out with it.” The fox finished eating and nodded, “Yeah, thanks Jason. We gotta make sure that they don’t know that we’re planning the escape. Otherwise… Well, who knows what they would do to us?” The wolf sat down next to the fox, “I know… You know Kurt, I don’t really think they wanted to help us in the first place.” The fox sighed, “Yeah, that’s probably what happened. Y’know, I wonder if they work for Omega. What do you think?” Jason shook his head, “I don’t see that happening. They would’ve taken us to them directly. Also, why would they attack their own people?” Arcades reminded Jason of what happened in the facility, “Well, Omega did start killing the anthros that they had in there. I wouldn’t really be too surprised, but I see what you’re talking about. They would’ve taken us straight to them, and we’d be at a greater disadvantage. I don’t know where they plan on taking us, though.”
Jason looked to his right to see the fox, “Do you think we’ll be alright?” Arcades gave a confident nod, “Yeah. We’ll be alright. We just need to stick together, and we’ll be out of this in no time.” Jason looked around the room to see if there was something that was of use. The only thing in the room was an empty bag, and the wolf knew that this item would not be useful in the current situation. Jason had another question for the fox, “Are you going to try and take these back home with you? I know that you do own these.” Arcades knew that the wolf was referring to the restraints, “Probably not. I don’t really care though. I’d just buy them again.” Jason was curious, “How much is that going to cost you?” The fox considered the cost in his head, “Well, the Smith & Wesson ones that I’m wearing cost about $100. The waist chain costs about $30… The ones you have are basically the same, but by a different company. I’d say in total, this is about a $270 loss for me. Oh well. I probably won’t be too eager to get back into these anytime soon.” The wolf sat in silence as he thought about everything that had happened. After a long moment of silence, the fox made a suggestion, “How about we try and get some rest? I don’t know when they’re going to want us to get moving, so we better make sure we don’t start tired tomorrow. Everything is practically against us.” The wolf asked, “Kurt, how are we going to sleep in here?” Arcades looked at the floor, “Probably on the floor. I know it’s not going to be comfortable, especially wearing all of this, but we have to make the best of what we have.”
The wolf tried to scoot away from the wall, and he eventually was able to lie completely flat on the floor after he made sure that he was not lying on his tail, “I suppose this’ll have to work for tonight…” Arcades began to scoot himself forwards away from the wall as well, and he did speak to Jason as he scooted, “I’m sorry it’s not comfortable, but I really don’t have a way to make it any better. I really wish those mercenaries cared more about us.” Arcades began to slowly lie down, and Jason commented on the fox’s last sentence, “I guess some anthros just don’t care for other anthros.” Arcades finally was lying down on the floor, “Yeah, but that’s always happened. Just like with humans, anthros don’t always get along with each other. Humans don’t get along with each other either. Nothing new…” The fox could feel the discomfort that the restraints were causing, “I don’t like how people are forced to wear these.” Jason looked to his right briefly, “No? You wear them all the time, though.” Arcades replied, “Yeah,
well that’s different. I only wear them when I want to be in them. I don’t think that people should be forced to wear them if they don’t want to.” Jason was not entirely sure if he understood what Arcades was talking about, but he decided against asking anything further for now. The fox took the silence as an opportunity to speak again, “How about we just try and sleep now?” Jason acknowledged the fox, “Mmmhmm…” Both anthros closed their eyes, and they tried to get some sleep.
Chapter 6
Assault
“Yeah, bring her up here. I want to inspect her personally,” Nine spoke with an ISG member standing in his office. The ISG member replied, questioning the intentions of the site director, “OF-3812? She’s only an orange tier anthro.” Nine confirmed his intentions, “Yes. That’s right. Bring her up here. Make sure she’s…” Nine took a pause in order to figure out the best way to word his request. He continued once he figured out what he wanted to say, “Adequately restrained, too.” The ISG member acknowledged the Site Director’s request, “Yes, sir. We’ll bring her up to you.” Nine dismissed the ISG member, “Alright. Go and get her now.” The human wearing UCP left the room to go and fetch the female wolf recovered from Facility Five. Nine sat back in his chair after dismissing the ISG member, and he was contemplating what he wanted to do to the wolf.
Nine then received a notification on his computer. When the human viewed the notification, he saw that it was the updated location of the CDI transport truck that took the anthros from Facility Five. Nine viewed the GPS via satellite, and he could see that the truck had arrived at a CDI base that was not too far from Facility Nine. Nine pressed a button on his desk, and he heard a voice sound through his speakers moments later, “Security Chief.” Nine replied to the voice, “Alpha-Omega tagged a CDI truck that was taking anthros in from Facility Five. We have found the location of the truck, and it’s not very far from here. It’s a CDI base. I’ll send you the information regarding its location.” The Security Chief then asked, “Sir, what would you like for me to do?” Nine looked at the satellite image of the base again to consider his options. After studying the image for a few moments, Nine made up his mind, “Send an ISG task force. Kill all CDI personnel and all anthros at the base. Demolish the entire base. Leave none alive.” The Security Chief understood the hefty task which the Site Director had ordered, “Yes sir. It will be done.”
“Alright you’re clear to enter,” the CDI base guard said as he finished checking the identification of Sentry 1 and Sentry 2. Sentry 2 waited for the base’s gate to open before he proceeded onto CDI property. Once the gate’s arm fully raised, the human drove his truck into the base. As the two operatives continued driving down the road, they could see the transport trucks carrying anthros were taking up a good portion of the roads within the base. Sentry 2 commented on his observation, “Fucking shit… Can you believe this, man? This place is fucking packed now!” Sentry 1 perked up a small smile by his comrade’s remarks, “Oh relax. Be glad that we’re getting paid to just make sure that nothing happens to the trucks. The longer they take, the more money we get. Think about it like that.” Sentry 2 sighed, “This shit is fucking boring. We spent all that time at that other place just watching them as they go by. Nothing interesting happened there.” Sentry 1 shrugged, “Well, I mean — it’s better than getting shot at. Right?”
After getting held up in traffic within the base for a little while, the operatives finally arrived at their designated destination. Sentry 2 parked the transport truck in front of a building within the CDI base, and Sentry 1 waited for the parking brake to engage before he removed his seatbelt. Sentry 2 spoke as he removed his seatbelt, “I guess we’ll find out what they plan on doing with all of those anthros here.” Sentry 1 exited the vehicle with his comrade, and they collected their equipment they brought with them before proceeding further. Sentry 1 then asked, “Wait, ain’t our job done here?” Sentry 2 considered the situation for a moment, “Well, I guess it is. The trucks made it here in one piece. I’m still interested in what CDI plans on doing with all of these anthros.” Sentry 1 watched as one of the Ural-5323 transport trucks began to unload the anthros they held onboard.
Sentry 2 commented as he watched the anthros climb out of the truck, “Shit… Can you imagine being the guys who had them all in the first place?” Sentry 1 shrugged, “Can’t be too different than running a prison I guess.” Sentry 2 did not know too much about Facility Five itself, “Is that what that place was supposed to be? I know fuck-all about it.” Sentry 1 considered his words before speaking, “I’m not entirely sure myself. I heard that the guys who came in there in the first place had to release them from some restraints of some sort. Except that they said that it wasn’t like a traditional prison.” Sentry 2 was curious, “Oh? What is that supposed to mean?” Sentry 1 continued to watch the other CDI personnel lead the anthros into one of the auxiliary buildings, “Well, rumor has it that it was more like a sexual dungeon than a prison.” Sentry 2 was mildly surprised, but he remembered that they were talking about anthros, “Oh shit. Well, that would be more surprising if they weren’t anthros.” Sentry 1 nodded, “Yeah I agree with you on that, but what I don’t know is how a place like that would even exist in the first place.”
Sentry 2 wanted more information, “Did they figure out who runs the place?” Sentry 1 responded, “Not really. A few of the anthros said something about a Foundation, but we’re not quite sure what that’s supposed to mean.” Sentry 2 shook his head, “Foundation? Wait, if this is all supposed to be true, then how long do you think a place like that has been in operation for?” Sentry 1 now faced his colleague since the anthros that were being unloaded were now all in the auxiliary building, “There’s no telling. That place was huge, and they had thousands of them in there. There could even be more anthros in there that CDI hasn't been able to find yet. But with all of the anthros that were successfully recovered, it has probably been operating for a considerable period of time.” Sentry 2 remembered something that Sentry 1 had told him, “If that place is supposed to be a prison, then why are those anthros in there? What did they do? I never heard of a place like the one you’re describing.”
Sentry 1 could not answer the question, “I have no idea. Nobody has any information about that. At least not yet. Maybe in a week or two we might figure out a few more things than we know right now, but — I dunno, it’s still pretty weird. Did you see how many of them have been behaving?” Sentry 2 nodded as he watched a couple anthros exit another truck, “Yeah, they’re all… What’s the word? What’s the word that’s like ‘dehumanized’ we use for when we’re talking about anthros?” Sentry 1 forgot about the word, “I don’t exactly remember myself. I don’t associate with anthros.” Sentry 2 commented on his colleague’s statement, “Me neither, but I guess we’re both going to have to associate with anthros in some way or another since an event like this happened.” Sentry 1 commented on the anthros he was currently looking at, “Shit. They’re like fucking cattle. Look at ‘em go. Many of them are fucking emotionless, and that freaks the shit out of me.” Sentry 2 looked at the anthros that the fellow human was talking about, “I see them. The fuck did those guys do to them in there?” Sentry 1 sighed, “I heard they did some fucked up shit to them in there.” Sentry 2 did not really want to ask for specifics.
“Time on target, ten minutes,” said the pilot of an Omega Foundation MH-60X Stealth Hawk. The ISG members in the helicopter made sure that their weapons were all loaded and ready for action. Every member carried an XMP-1, and all of the operatives were equipped with kit patterned in the Universal Camouflage Pattern. The pilot looked to his left and right to see some more MH-60X helicopters that were all flying towards the CDI base. The pilot of the lead helicopter spoke over the radio to all of the personnel on the mission, “Attention ISG Epsilon-18, we have been ordered that all non-ISG contacts are considered hostile. This includes all anthros. Eliminate all contacts, and exfil before base destruction.” The helicopter flight continued to
proceed towards the CDI base. Prepared for the attack, the ISG members waited to arrive at their destination.
“Alright, Jason. Just follow my lead, and we’ll be out of this soon enough,” Arcades said as he leaned next to the door. The fox checked the magazine that was in his Salient Arms GRY, and he felt the equipment carried on his chest rig before he prepared himself to open the door. Jason couldn’t help but notice that the room that he was in looked awfully familiar to the CDI facility from Alaska. Arcades was wearing a Crye Precision G4 Combat Uniform in Multicam, and he also was wearing his Multicam boonie hat and a Multicam Vietnam-styled MOLLE chest rig. The fox placed his tan Oakley glove on the door, and he opened it. Within seconds, a CDI operative wielding a Standard Manufacturing DP-12 rushed towards the fox, and he knocked Arcades with the stock of the shotgun. Arcades gasped in surprise as he fell backwards from the operative hitting him. Jason went to raise his own weapon, but he realized that he was not even carrying a weapon. Completely unarmed, the wolf did not know how he would be able to help Arcades. The CDI operative pointed his DP-12 at the wolf, and he prepared to shoot. Recognizing an imminent threat, Jason quickly dove to his left to avoid an incoming shotgun blast. The CDI operative pulled the trigger, but he was unable to hit Jason. The wolf stood up from where he landed, and he could see that the CDI operative was now aiming his double-barreled shotgun directly at Arcades’ head. Jason shouted, “KURT!” The CDI operative pulled the shotgun’s trigger, and the fox’s head exploded within seconds. Jason watched as what was left of the fox’s head landed on the ground apart from his body. Blood, brain, and skull all littered the ground and even was sticking to the walls. Jason did not know what to do.