by Tom Jones
The cabin was now lit up, and Bocchino could see all of Arcades’ equipment in the helicopter. Immediately, the cat could see Arcades’ bag of restraints, and he thought back to the mercenaries from the Congo yet again while he began to mutter his thoughts to himself, “Fucking son of a bitch… What a bunch of motherfucking shitbags.” Bocchino turned away from the bag, and he directed his attention to some of Arcades’ other equipment. The cat picked up the fox’s Rhodesian Brushstroke patterned combat shirt, and he held it up to the light as he studied the uncommon pattern. Bocchino thought to himself, ‘Hm. This one looks interesting. I wonder what Kurt calls this pattern?’ The cat placed the shirt back where it was lying, and he grabbed the Heckler & Koch 433 which was sitting behind some more gear. Inspecting the rifle, Bocchino pulled back the charging handle and looked into the chamber to see that the weapon was indeed empty. The cat shouldered the empty rifle, and he pretended to shoot at a few imaginary enemies before placing the rifle back where it was lying as well.
The cat then noticed something very peculiar: Bocchino could see what seemed to be a thick book partially sticking out from a somewhat oversized pouch. The cat pulled the book out and looked at the title, ‘The Holy Bible Containing the Old Testament and the New: King James Version’. Bocchino sighed upon reading the title, for he was feeling both guilt and resentment for Arcades. Guilt and resentment did not stop the cat from quietly saying a few more words to himself, “Kurt always was a bitch anyways. That son of a bitch fucking wonders why people leave him. Motherfucker’s retarded.” The cat shook his head slowly and let out a long sigh as he flipped through the pages and skimmed through some of the text. Bocchino wanted to toss the book away, but at the same time, he knew that he would have nothing better to do for the next three days. Bocchino looked around at all of the other equipment one last time to make sure that he was not missing anything before he sat down in the middle of the helicopter cabin’s floor. The cat studied the light inside of the cabin for a few moments, and he looked around on the ground to see if there was anything interesting which he would rather mess with instead. The cat flipped the pages randomly, and he continued back and forth before stopping at a random page. Bocchino read, ‘And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.’ The cat began to read further.
Jason asked the fox a question, “Hey, do you think we should try and call Bobby? He doesn’t even know we’re here after all that happened.” Arcades’ eyebrows raised when he remembered the cat, “Oh, yeah. We should probably give him a call.” Jason knew that Arcades would have to know Bocchino’s phone number in order to actually call him, “Do you even know his number?” The fox nodded slowly, “Yeah, I think I remember his cellphone’s number.” Jason replied, “His mobile? Yeah, sure. You can give it a try.” Since both anthros had finished their session of questioning, they were allowed to make a phone call. Arcades picked up the phone connected to the wall and he waited for a moment to make sure that he did indeed remember the cat’s number. The fox began to dial the number into the phone, and Jason continued to watch Arcades as he proceeded to input the number. The fox finished dialing the number, and he looked to the wolf as he began to place the speaker up to his ear. He spoke to Jason as the phone started to ring Bocchino, “Here we go…”
Bocchino’s reading was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone ringing. The cat was surprised to hear that he was getting a call, since he did not know who would be calling him. He was also surprised to get reception out in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, but reliable cell phone coverage had progressed during the decade. Bocchino reached into his pocket, and he pulled out his Samsung smartphone. The cat looked at the screen, but he did not recognize the number that was calling him. Bocchino wanted to simply ignore the incoming call, but at the same time, he could tell that he did want to answer the phone just to see who wanted to call him anyways. After all, Bocchino thought that he would be able to waste a telemarketer’s time for about ten minutes anyways. He did have three whole days to spend on the boat with nothing else to do. Bocchino answered the phone, “Hello?” Arcades recognized the cat’s voice, “Bobby? Is that you?” Bocchino’s eyebrows raised as he heard the fox’s voice, “Kurt? You’re alive?” Arcades responded, “Bobby, it’s me, Kurt. We made it out. Jason and I are in South Dakota.” Bocchino could not believe what he was hearing, “How did you guys escape the mercenaries? And how did you get back to the US? That female fox and Jim are on a boat with me back to the US right now.” Arcades began to explain a condensed version of what happened, “Omega found us, and they took out the mercenaries themselves. They put both of us on a plane and they brought us to one of their facilities not far from where we are now. Jason and I escaped, and we made it to the city -- we’re in Rapid City right now.”
Bocchino replied to the fox, “We still have all of your stuff. What do you have right now?” Arcades then said, “Nothing, really. Is there a way for you guys to pick us up when you get stateside? We have absolutely nothing on us.” The cat spoke, “We weren’t planning on going up to South Dakota, but I guess we can stop by and pick the both of you up. Jason’s there, right?” Arcades nodded, though Bocchino could not see him do so, “Yeah, Jason’s fine. He’s with me.” Jason’s head perked up when he heard the fox mention him. The wolf continued to watch Arcades as he talked with Bocchino, “How long do you think it’ll be until you can get back to the US?” Bocchino promptly replied, “Three whole more days to go. That’s just until we make it to Massachusetts. We’ll still have to find a way to get the two helicopters and both of your cars somewhere.” Arcades asked the cat, “Where are we even supposed to go now, anyways? I don’t have my place anymore.” Bocchino spoke of his plan with Arcades, “We’re planning on going to my place until we can figure something out. We still have to make sure nothing happens to that female fox we rescued.” Arcades said, “Alright. So, you guys can pick us up then?” Bocchino replied, “Where will you guys be?” Arcades spoke, “Pennington County Sheriff’s Office.” The fox heard the cat audibly snicker, “Heh, did you two fags get thrown in the slammer?”
Arcades tried to explain himself while disregarding the cat’s rude remark, “No, Jason and I were found by the police when we got out of Omega. We have nothing on us, and nobody to pick us up. We basically have to stay here until you can come by to pick us up.” Bocchino took in a breath as he started shifting the conversation in a different way, “Well, Kurt. How does that make you feel?” Arcades was quiet for a moment before he finally replied, “Well… I mean -- I’m…” Bocchino did not bother to let Arcades finish, “You foxes belong there anyways, if you ask me.” Arcades was silent for a minute, but Bocchino soon appended his last statement, “I’m just fucking with you, Kurt. Come on; just busting your balls. Don’t take it personally.” The fox’s face was noticeably distressed, but Bocchino could not see this. Arcades replied, “Alright, Bobby.” Bocchino was concerned that he had offended the fox, “Come on, I’m fucking with you. You know that, right?” Arcades gave an unconvincing reply, “Yeah…”
The cat wanted to change the subject, “So, are you guys in jail with the rest of the niggers? Or did they give you two some kinda special treatment ‘cause you’re not really inmates.” Arcades answered the cat’s question, “We’re not with the general population. However, Jason and I do get to share a cell.” Bocchino chuckled, “Hah, you better watch your back, Kurt. You know that Jason’s a fuckin’ faggot. He’s gonna try something on you if you’re not careful.” Arcades shook his head slowly and replied, “Bobby, I highly doubt that. I think we both have had enough of an experience within the last couple of days.” Bocchino sighed, “Your funeral, pal. I guess you’ll have quite a bit to tell us when we finally get over there to come and pick you up?” The fox deeply inhaled before he said, “Perhaps. I’d probably use up all the time they gave me
for this call by trying to explain it all to you.” Bocchino replied, “Well, I’ll definitely be looking forward to that. Anything’s better than being on this fucking ship.” Arcades thought for a moment before speaking, “Well… I’m in jail.” Bocchino chuckled again, “Yeah, you enjoy your stay in the fucking slammer with a fag.” Arcades sighed softly, “I’ll try and make the best of it.” Bocchino decided to wrap up the conversation, “I’ll be seeing you two fuckboy dickheads in about half a week then. How does that sound?” Arcades replied, still disregarding Bocchino’s rudeness, “Sure… I’ll be waiting for you.” Bocchino disconnected the call.
Arcades hung up the phone, and he turned around to look at the wolf who was waiting to hear when Bocchino would show up. “Well?” Jason asked. Arcades stood up as he replied to the wolf, “They’re on a boat from England. They’re not even gonna get to the US for another few days. We’re gonna be here for half of a week at the very least.” Jason shook his head but soon shrugged, “Well, it’s not ideal, but I’d rather be here than in the Foundation.” The fox replied, “Of course. I just wish we could’ve done something about the rest of the anthros in there.” Jason did not remember seeing any anthros, “How many did they have in there? I didn’t see any of them.” Arcades remembered back to what he had witnessed, “They had a few dozen that I saw. They probably had more, but those are just the ones I saw. They all had yellow collars I think.” Jason gestured towards Arcades after a moment of silence; he could tell that Arcades was still visibly distressed, “Come on. Let’s -- just get going.”
Bocchino looked to his left and right, but he did not see where Jim was. The cat proceeded down the rightmost path, and he looked around the halls to see where the human wandered to. Bocchino spoke to himself, “Where the fuck is this guy?” The cat moved down another path, but he still could not see where the human was. Bocchino called the human’s name, “Jim? Where are you at?” Upon not receiving a response, the cat went back out onto the main deck of the ship, and he looked around trying to see where Jim had gone. Bocchino called out the human’s name once more, “Jim!? Where the fuck did you go?” The cat heard Jim’s voice approaching from behind, his voice showed to the cat that the human was rather annoyed “What is it Bobby?” Bocchino spun around to view the human, and he relayed the news, “Kurt’s alive.” The human did not immediately understand what Bocchino was getting at, “What are you talking about? What are you telling me?” Bocchino reworded the news, “Kurt called me. He made it out alive.” Jim was beginning to understand what Bocchino said, but he was not entirely sure he believed him, “Really? You’re not just fucking with me, right?” The cat assured the human he was telling the truth, “Yeah, I’m not fucking with you, man. Kurt’s fucking alive, and he let me know.”
Jim, of course, had a few questions for Bocchino, “What? Did you talk to him or something? How did he let you know?” The cat replied, “Yeah, he called me on my phone.” Jim then asked, “Where is Kurt, then?” Bocchino gave a slight smirk as he replied, “His ass is in the fuckin’ slammer in South Dakota with Jason the fag.” Jim was rather surprised, “Really? What did he do?” The cat answered, “Nothin’. Apparently, the Omega guys picked him up from the Congo --” Bocchino was interrupted by Jim, “Omega had him? Holy shit -- fuck me…” Bocchino continued after Jim finished his statement, “He escaped Omega, and the cops picked his ass up. He’s staying in the fuckin’ slammer until we can get over there to come and pick him up.” Jim was thinking about something else, “I’m trying to figure out how that fox managed to get out of the Foundation. From what I’ve seen, it’s next to impossible for anthros to escape. Hot damn… They must be pissed right now.” Bocchino nodded, “They should be.”
“Hurry up, we don’t have all day out here!” Alpha 1 shouted as he loaded more materials into an unmarked C-5M Super Galaxy. As he finished his current task, he turned around to see the rest of his squad was almost done with loading all that they would be bringing to Facility Zero. Alpha 1 approached Alpha 2 and asked, “Do we have all of the green-tiered anthros in?” Alpha 2 nodded, “Yes, we have the last of them coming in at any moment now.” Alpha 2 heard a vehicle on approach behind him, and he turned around to see what the vehicle was. Alpha 2 watched as a black BAE Systems Caiman parked in front of the aircraft, and he pointed towards the vehicle when it parked, “There they are now.” Alpha 1 nodded, “Yeah, alright. I’ve gotta go and ask Omega if One’s looking any better or not.” The human turned around, and he proceeded into a different area within the cargo aircraft. After a little while of proceeding through the aircraft, he finally found Omega 1, “How’s One?” Omega 1 answered, “He’ll live. However, I’m not sure if Zero will be thrilled with him since he ultimately is responsible for letting that fox escape.” Alpha 1 asked another question, “How did that fox escape anyways? You remember how we brought him in. He wouldn’t be able to escape on his own.” Omega 1 then said, “Like I said, One is responsible for his escape. He probably let him out just enough for him to be able to escape.”
Alpha 1 considered what would happen to One. He also considered what was lost. He knew that Facility One and most of the anthros in it would have to be destroyed before too many people were to discover its existence. He also knew that Zero would be exceedingly unhappy knowing that multiple facilities were compromised within the last couple of weeks. Though he did not know of any further facilities becoming compromised, he did not know what information was able to be recovered from the facilities which were already compromised. Alpha 1 knew what could happen to Foundation personnel who allowed information and anthros to be lost, and he was beginning to wonder if One would be better off if he had been killed by the escaping fox. Though One had not awoken yet, Alpha 1 was not sure if he would not even remember what had happened before he was bludgeoned. All he could do now was wait until he arrived at Facility Zero. From the conversation he had with Zero himself, Alpha 1 discerned that the Overseer was definitely not thrilled with the news.
“Kurt, did you ever think we’d be taken by the Foundation?” Jason asked the fox. Arcades looked up at the wolf from where he was sitting and replied, “No, but at the same time, I’m not too surprised that it did happen.” The fox adjusted his sitting position before continuing, “After all, we were the ones who broke in. We were outnumbered everytime, and it kinda was only a matter of time before something did happen.” Jason shook his head as he thought about the ordeal, “What do you think they planned on doing to us?” The fox exhaled in relief of what did not happen, “Nothing good, that’s for sure.” Jason was still thinking about the Foundation, “Kurt, why do they do that to anthros? Who would do stuff like that?” Arcades decided to answer Jason’s first question, “Why? Because they don’t have God.” The wolf was not exactly expecting Arcades to reply as such, but he did remember what the fox told him in the past.
Arcades continued to speak, “How many anthros believe in God nowadays, anyways? I remember seeing what happened in the first facility I infiltrated. That facility was not like the rest. I’m not sure if I told you about this, but it was basically…” The fox paused as he tried to figure out the best way to word his thoughts. He continued, “It was basically a place for deviancy. It was nothing good. I didn’t see any humans within that particular facility until I got to the roof. There were humans picking up those two anthros that we took off that train.” Jason wondered what the fox saw, “What did you see there?” The fox was rather reluctant to answer, “Nothing good. Let’s just say it’s what would’ve probably happened to us if we didn’t escape the Foundation.” Jason replied, “They were preparing to do something to me before you -- rescued me, but I couldn’t see anything.” Arcades nodded, “Yeah, they had me blindfolded too.” Arcades shook his head again, “I still don’t like how the Foundation treats anthros.” Jason said, “Yeah, I think you told me about that before we made it here.” The fox replied, “I think I did. Yeah, so you remember how I said that I obviously don’t think any anthro should experience a
ny of that at all.” Jason frowned, “Are we going to be able to go back and help the rest of those anthros?” Arcades inhaled before saying, “At this point. I don’t think we’ll be able to help them.” Jason replied with a frown still on his face, “Are they going to die?” The fox frowned as well, “I pray that they won’t, but there is nothing we can do from here.” Arcades gestured to Jason, and the wolf did indeed see that they were still locked in a cell.
Arcades looked at the cell door, “I’m not too much of a fan being locked up like this.” Jason commented, “Curious… You still like being locked up in general, though.” Arcades looked to his right to see the wolf, “You know, Jason. After what’s happened, I think I’m about ready to have a long break from doing anything of that sort.” The wolf questioned the fox, “Why? You’re not doing what Omega does.” Arcades replied, “Yeah, I know, but… Knowing that the same stuff I use for myself is used by the Foundation on unwilling anthros just doesn’t sit right with me at all. It makes me want to not do what I normally do -- if you know what I mean.” Jason shook his head, “Why do you have to be like that, Kurt? That’s like you never picking up a gun again just because a terrorist uses it to shoot people.” Arcades continued the discussion, “Perhaps, but they’re not entirely comparable to me. They’re not entirely the same in my eyes at least.” Jason objected again, “Why should that even matter? Both of them are just products made of metal.” The fox replied, “I know that it doesn’t really matter. I just don’t want to think about all of those anthros the next time I want to put them on myself.”