"Well," the panteress states, "now you know how we met and became mates. Why don't you tell us why your people left?"
"We never left. It was your people who left us," the female opposite her states, "but before I tell you where and when, there's something you should see." A tap on one of the armrests of her chair makes a panel swing open, revealing a set of recessed buttons. A few taps later and the air in the middle of the platform seems to thicken and shadows appears.
"W-what?" the rabbit gasps, "what is that!?"
"It's a hologram," the furless female explains, "a picture made of light. Just wait a moment longer." Slowly the shadows solidifies and changes into two distinct shapes; a small, long-eared animal and a much larger, spotted animal. "The small one is a rabbit and the large one is a leopard. The pictures are in real size."
"It kind of looks like you," Miera grins, grabbing his long ears and tugging playfully at them.
"But the other?" Kerr asks, "Leopard you called it?"
"They are both your ancestors," Florence states. "Rabbits were among the first animals we remade."
"But what about the leopard?" Miera asks, "not that it's not a pretty animal, but there's none on our world."
"No, there aren't," Florence admits. A tap on a button makes the picture slowly change, making the large animal's fur slowly darken until it's almost perfectly black. "On my world, a panther is a leopard with fur so dark that the spots can't be distinguished. Your race was created after them."
"Why?"
"It was thought that you would make good guards," Florence states.
"But why did you create rabbits?" Miera asks, "not that I'm complaining..."
"They were to be menial labour," the woman replies, "and, I'm ashamed to say, as sex-toys for the rich."
"We were to be servants?" Kerr asks, puzzled.
"No," Florence sighs, shaking her head. Pushing a button, she waits for the picture to change to a young rabbit inside a glass tube, with thin tubes going to different parts of his body and a mask covering his face. "We had recently been through a large war, and disease had also killed off many, so we were short of workers to maintain the lifestyle we were used to. Therefore we created your ancestors to be slaves, with not much more free will than a machine. First we stole their childhood. In that tank a newborn could grow into an adult in less than a year. Then we stole their mind. That mask was used to instill absolute obedience." Another tap on a button and the picture changes to a long row of rabbits walking down a field, picking berries and storing them in baskets. "As you can see, they don't talk amongst themselves or show any interest in what is happening around them. That is what your people was created to be."
"Then, what happened?" Miera asks.
"Our greed got the upper hand," Florence states. "When it became obvious that there was profit to be made, more people started to produce slaves. Unfortunately, they didn't always sterilize the females before selling them, and weren't always as good on instilling obedience, either. Some of the females became pregnant, and most owners only saw a new slave they didn't have to pay for, never worrying about the obedience. After fifty years it is assumed that there were at least ten thousand of the unplanned slaves, with at least two hundred who had escaped. The next thirty or so years that last number increased dramatically. At the same time there were those among us who disapproved of what was happening and were trying to put a stop to it, not always in a peaceful way. This all came to a head when this happened." As she speaks, the picture changes to a birdseye view of a narrow valley, filled with large buildings. Suddenly smoke begins to pour out of the largest building and small figures can be seen running away. "That factory had many dangerous materials, and when they caught fire, the owners evacuated the place, slammed shut the fire-proof doors and flooded it."
"Sounds like the smart thing to do," Miera interjects.
"Except that they only evacuated the humans -- my people -- and left all the slaves inside to die."
Oh. "H-how many?" the rabbit gasps.
"At least five hundred," Florence admits.
"B-but..." Kerr mumbles, "that's more than twice the number of people living in my home village."
"It finally woke up the silent majority," Florence begins, "and laws were written to protect the slaves. They couldn't be worked more than ten hours a day, there was certain tasks they could not be ordered to do and the children were to be free."
"And?" Miera asks.
"It didn't help much," the woman admits, "the laws were broken, and the freed slaves could not find paid work as they didn't have any education. At that time we learned how to travel between the stars and found the world you know as home, and that lead to this." A tap on the keys and the picture changes again, this time to show a large group of furs walking slowly down a broad street. As the view zooms in, sound is also added and a rythmic chanting can be heard. Still closer and the leader of the group, a large, male lion wearing scruffy clothes becomes the focus.
"Let my people go!" the lion shouts, "give us INNOCENCE!"
"That was Rohan," Florence explains. "He was the first leader of your people. The world we had found was listed as INC32 and some thought the letters sounded like 'Innocence', so that became its name. What surprised us most was that our leaders actually agreed to let your people have it."
"I think I saw a statue to his honor once," Miera mumbles, "but no one really knew much about him any more and it had fallen into disrepair."
"The sad part," Florence interjects, "is that he never sat foot on your world. He died soon before the first ship was to leave."
"The first ship?" Kerr asks, "there were more than the one we found?"
"The ship you two found was never used to move your people," the woman responds, "and it wasn't built until thirty years after the last of the large transports arrived. In fact, it wasn't supposed to have been anywhere near your world and we're still investigating it."
"There's more, isn't there?" Miera asks.
"Yes. When your people landed, it was somewhere in the cold northern areas, and at least two hundred of the first two thousand died that winter. Nothing was ever proven, but it was suspected that the colonisation had been sabotaged to prove that your people couldn't make it by yourselves."
"Sabotage?" Kerr asks, "what does that mean?"
"A deliberate act of destruction or disruption," Florence explains. "On the second ship came machines used to carve out roads, and with them human operators. I'm afraid that some of those behaved as if your people were still slaves, and spent much of their time building large mansions and collecting riches."
"That would explain the ancient roads," Miera comments. "They are far straighter and smoother than anything we can make today. But there are gaps here and there."
"The machines broke before they could finish," Florence explains, "and replacement parts never arrived. After about twenty years all of your people had arrived, and your leaders then told the humans on your world that their help was no longer necessary and to have a speedy journey home. We were also told not to come back until we could meet as equals."
"And that would be when?" Miera asks, puzzled.
"I don't know," Florence admits. Turning around and gesturing, she states, "We're about to leave the preserve. It might get a little bit bumpy as we enter the residential area, but don't worry."
Looking up from the flickering image, Kerr see that the platform is slowly moving towards what looks like the mouth of a cavern. Seconds later the cavern is revealed to be a perfectly round tunnel, fifty meters in diameter, hundred meters long and in the middle, a fence of transparent material at least five meters tall.
Noticing where Kerr is looking, Florence states, "It's a barrier to keep the animals from leaving the preserve. I can show you how to enter and leave whenever you want, later."
Kerr is about to respond when the platform drifts out of the gloom of the tunnel and into another large cavern like the one they came from, and he is soon engrossed by the sight; under them roads and streams crisscross the plain and dotted among those are what must be buildings. Floating above those again are platforms similar to the one he's in. Gasp! A quick glance up confirms what he feared; that there, too, are roads, streams and buildings.
"It can be unnerving in the beginning," Florence grins, "but you'll soon get used to it."
"But how?"
"We'll show you later." Making a small gesture with her right hand she directs the platform down and towards a building. "Anyone feeling hungry?"
Rumble.
"As Miera said," Kerr grins, "I wouldn't mind something to eat, either."
"I'll just have some rabbit!" the pantheress retorts, "but if you know of a place where I can cook him..."
"You can't cook," the rabbit counters, "or don't you remember?"
"Are you two always teasing each other?" Florence grins.
"Not always," Kerr quips, "we have to sleep now and then."
Just then the platform touches down as silently as it lifted off, outside a large house made of brick and wood. Florence gets up and steps off the platform and down onto a rough, paved courtyard, Turning back to the others, she considers for a moment. "Maybe we should have retrieved your boots first?"
"No need," Kerr counters, getting up from the chair and stepping over to the edge of the platform, "we prefer to be barefooted when possible."
"What he says," Miera states, joining him, "they are so fiddly to put on." Then, holding out her paw for Kerr to support her, she steps down. "Anyway, where are we now?"
"We're at Stavro's," Florence replies, "the best place for a good meal around here." Then she walks over to an othervise unremarkable door, pulls it open and gestures for Kerr and Miera to preceede her in.
Trying to keep her insecurity hidden, Miera grabs Kerr's paw and pulls him along as she steps inside. Sigh. Seeing the wood ceiling-beams, the heavy oak tables, the rough-hewn floorboards and the oil-lamps hanging from the ceiling, she visibly relaxes.
"Like it?"
Huh? Taking a few moments to get herself organised, she turns her head to look at Florence. "It reminds me of the local inn, back home," Miera admits. Sniffing the air, she adds, "But the food smells better here."
"I would hope so!" A large man approaching exclaims. "Well, Florence?" he asks, "aren't you going to introduce me to your friends?"
"Of course," she replies, stepping past the couple. Gesturing towards the man, she begins, "Miera, Kerr, this is Stavro, the owner of this establishment." Then gesturing towards them, "Stavro, this is Miera and her mate Kerr, our accidental visitors from Innocence."
"Delighted to meet you!" he exclaims.
Casting a glance around the room, Florence asks, "Could we have a quiet table?"
"But of course," he replies, "follow me." Then he turns and leads the way to a high-walled booth in a corner or the room. As soon as they've seated themselves, Kerr and Miera on one side of the table and Florence on the other, he picks up a couple of folders from a holder on a wall and hands one to each of them, then disappears to another part of the room.
"What's this?" Kerr asks, looking at the thick cardboard folder.
"It's a menu," Florence explains, reaching over and flipping it open, "it's a list of the food and drinks they serve here."
Studying the writing for a moment, Kerr closes the folder. "I..." he mutters.
"Don't recognise anything on the list," Miera interjects, putting down her own menu, "and neither do I."
"In that case," Florence states, folding up her own menu, "maybe I can order for us all?" Turning towards Kerr she asks, "I know you don't eat meat, but what about cheese?"
"Uh, yes," Kerr mumbles.
"He loves it," Miera interjects. "Right, Kerr?"
Seeing the rabbit's grin, Florence smiles, gathers up the folders and lifts her arm into the air.
A moment later, Stavro is back beside their table as if he had never left. Picking up the menus, he asks, "You have decided?"
"Yes," Florence responds. Nodding towards the rabbit, she states "Kerr will have a Greek salad, with plenty of cheese, Miera will have a portion of mousaka, but go easy on the eggplant, and I'll have a small mousaka with a salad on the side."
"And what do you want to drink?"
"Freshly pressed orange juice," Florence responds.
"Anything else?"
"Not at the moment, no."
"I'll bring a pitcher of juice in a moment," the man states, "the food will take a little longer."
Watching Stavro walk off, Miera states, "Not many customers here. How can he earn enough gold to pay for this place?"
"There's never that many customers on Tuesdays," Florence explains, "it's too early in the week. Besides, as Stavro is a firefighter, he earns enough anyway."
"Tuesday?" Miera asks, "firefighter?"
"A firefigher is someone who is paid to put out fires," Florence explains. "If you look at the walls, you can read about a few of the more dramatic fires that he's put out."
Casting a glance up on the nearest wall, Miera mumbles, "Fascinating." Cough, cough. "Kerr, my throat feels a bit dry. Could you go and look for that juice?"
Puzzled by her request, but knowing the futility of arguing with her, the rabbit gets up and heads for where he believes the kitchen is located.
"I'm a doctor, so I know a fake cough when I hear one. What do you want?"
"I want you to stop talking about reading and writing in front of Kerr. He only began learning to read two years ago. He does his best, but he still has problems with long words." Lifting her right paw and expressing her claws, the pantheress adds, "Hurt his feelings and I hurt you."
"I-I didn't realise," the woman stutters, "I'll try not to mention it from now."
"Good!" Listening for a moment, she adds, "Here he comes, now."
Moments later, Kerr appears with a large, glass jug filled with a yellow liquid held firmly in both paws. Slowly, as if afraid to break it, he puts it down on the table and moves to sit down again.
"Stop!" Miera orders, pointing to her glass, "aren't you forgetting something?"
Sighing, the rabbit picks up the mug and proceeds to fill Miera's glass. Then, as she glances across the table towards the human, he also fills Florence's glass and finally his own.
Picking up the glass and examining it for a moment, Miera takes a sip, then puts it down again. "What'll happen to us?"
"Yeah," Kerr incterjects, "will we ever get home again?"
"In a hurry?" Florence asks, "I believe it's winter where you came from, right now."
"Oh..." the rabbit sighs.
"Something wrong?"
"He just misses his garden," the pantheres explains. "So, what will happen now?"
"Tomorrow," Florence begins, "I'll take you on a tour of this place. Then there are all those who want to talk with you; to find out what your people still know, what you've lost, how your civilisation works, all those things. That'll take some time. And we still need to find out what that ship was doing there."
"And then we'll be allowed to go home?"
"Of course, fuzzy," Miera whispers, puling him close and scritching the top of his muzzle. Glancing towards the human, she adds, "Right?"
"I... hope so," Florence mumbles.
"Explain!"
"We're not allowed to interfere, or meddle, with your people until the time we can meet as equals. Unfortunately, some think that letting you two return after seeing this place will constitute interfering."
"Then why were we brought here?" Miera asks.
"Mostly because the ship came here," Florence explains, "which is even more puzzling, because at the time that the ship was lost, there was nothing here."
"Nothing?" Kerr asks, "no cave, or anything?"
"You have no idea of how empty it was before," Florence states, ruefully. "Anyway, when the ship appeared with you two aboard, you were immediately brought to me to heal you while our leaders discussed. Some wanted to ship you back immediately while others wanted to wake you up so that they could learn how your civilisation was developing. Unfortunately, they took too long to decide, and a few days ago I had to stop keeping you drugged."
"Drugged?" Miera growls, "For how long did you keep us asleep?"
Looking down, Florence quietly replies, "Almost three months. Normally I would have stopped as soon as you were out of danger, but as your future was at stake, I had no choice."
"Months?"
"Eighty-two days, to be exact," Florence explains.
"You let us sleep through almost the whole winter?!" Miera growls, planting her paws firmly on the table and standing up.
Seeing where it's leading, Kerr quickly pushes himself between the pantheress and the table, forcing her to lean back, then sit down again. "What's wrong?" he asks innocently, "you mostly laze about in bed all winter, anyway."
"It's..." she grumbles, "it's just not the same."
"What's done is done," he whispers, giving her a quick lick on the muzzle before moving back to his own seat. "When's the food ready?" he asks, hoping to move the conversation over to a safer topic.
"What is this goop?" Miera asks, holding up her fork with a brown-and-white mass on it.
"Please don't call it goop," Florence admonishes, "at least not while Stavro can hear; I like eating here." Then, after savouring a forkful of her own portion, she adds, "The brown stuff is mutton, the white is slices of eggplant in a white sauce, and the topmost layer is grated cheese."
"Never seen mutton cooked like this," the pantheress grumbles, but takes a small bite anyhow.
Huh? Cocking his head to a side, Kerr watches the pantheress as she takes another, slightly larger bite. "Maybe I should learn how to cook that?" he wonders.
"Maybe Stavro will teach you if you ask," Florence states. Glancing towards Miera, she asks, "But how do you know that she likes it?"
"She's purring," he grins, "she's trying to hide it, but I can hear it."
"I'm not!" the pantheress growls, then quickly takes another bite.
"And you?" Florence asks the rabbit, "how do you like your meal?"
"I've never mixed cheese and greens before," he admits, "but it's good." Spearing a piece of cheese, together with some lettuce, he lifts the fork up to his muzzle and with a contented smile starts chewing.
A few minutes later Kerr puts down his fork. "Strange," he muses, "how such a small portion could make me so full."
"Your stomach shrunk while you were asleep," Florence states, "but now that you're awake and eating again, it'll soon expand to its normal size."
"Nothing else better not have shrunk," Miera growls, looking pointedly at Kerr's lap.
"Huh?" Florence asks. "Oh!" Blushing slightly, she mumbles, "that part of the body usually doesn't shrink from disuse."
"That's very lucky for you."
"Anyone want more?" Florence asks in an attempt to steer the conversation back on track.
"I'm full," Kerr states, patting his belly.
"Me, too," Miera chimes in.
Getting up, the woman states, "If you two wait here, then I'll go and pay the bill." Then she heads off towards the inner recesses of the restaurant.
"Well?" the pantheress asks, "what do you think?"
"The food was good," Kerr replies, "and I think she was genuinely sorry about keeping us drugged."
"That wasn't what I was thinking about," Miera grumbles. "We may not be allowed to return home!"
"But you've looked for the Creators since long before you came of age," Kerr mumbles, "and now you've found them. Think about all you can learn."
"What good is a great discovery," she counters, "if you can't tell anyone about it?"
"Here we are!" the Florence exclaims as the small group exits a small copse and approaches a long brick wall with a plain-looking door set in it.
"Dosen't look like much," Miera grumbles.
"The inside is much better than the outside," Florene states. Digging through her pockets she extracts two white, rectanguar pieces and hands one to each of the others. "These are the keys. Please don't lose them."
Studying his for a moment, then the door, Kerr asks, "But how do we use them?"
"Just like the key you used on Miera's restraints," Florence explains, pointing to a small, discreetly placed panel, painted in a gray colour similar to the wall itself.
"Just hold the key up here?" Kerr asks, holding his key up to the lock. The panel brightens for a moment, then there's a quiet click from the door.
"That's right," Florence grins, grabbing the door, pulling it open and gesturing the others to enter.
"Strangest key I've seen," Miera mutters. "I don't trust it."
"It's safe enough," Florence states. "Not that I know exactly how it works, myself."
"Oooh..."
"Kerr? What is it?!" Miera exclaims, hurrying after the rabbit, only to stop dead in her tracks just behind him.
"I trust the accommodations are to your satisfaction?" Florence grins.
"Huh?" the pantheress mumbles, gazing at the room before her; marble stairs leading down to a gleaming wood floor, shelves with vases, figurines and books on the walls, a large fireplace with firewood already laid up, a group of comfortable-looking chairs and couches around a glass table, and what is keeping Kerr spellbound; wide glass doors leading to a patio filled with flowers of every size, shape and colour imaginable.
"Well?" the woman asks, "do you like it?"
Taking a long, slow breath to compose herself, Miera finally replies, "I don't see any beds, but except for that, I guess it's adequate."
"The couches looks nice," Kerr mumbles, "maybe..."
"The bed is in there," Florence interjects, pointing towards a door. Then, gesturing at the other doors, she adds, "And there's the bath and a small kitchen. There's no food in there at the moment, but I'll see what we can do to fix that later."
"Well, the bed looks nice," Miera mumbles, peeking through the door to the bedroom, "and our packs are there, too." Then, padding towards the bath, she asks, "Coming, Kerr?"
Guessing what'll happen, Florence waits a few seconds, then follows the pair into the bathroom, Finding Miera sitting on the edge of a large bath, sniffing at the bottles lined up and grimacing, she asks, "Is something wrong?"
"What is this foul-smelling stuff?" the pantheress asks, grimacing again.
"That is one of the most exclusive shampoos available," Florence responds, "and far too expensive for me."
"Shampoo?"
"Liquid soap," Florence explains, "and very good for hair."
"I think I prefer my own soap," the pantheress grumbles, "at least it doesn't smell as if a skunk had an accident in a flowerbed."
"What's this?"
Turning around to face the rabbit, who has just sat down on a conveniently placed seat, Florence replies, "That's a toilet. Haven't you seen one before?" Seeing their uncomprehending stares, she quickly explains what it is for and how it works, ending with, "And that's why there won't be any smell from it."
"Enough about that," Miera states. "What about this bath? Where do we get hot water?"
"Push down that knob," Florence begins, gesturing towards one end of the bath, "to close the drain. Then pull that long handle up. Move it towards the red panel to get hotter water and towards the blue to get colder water." Pointing towards a cabinet, she adds, "There should be plenty of towels in there.
"Kerr, you know how hot I like it," Miera orders, "start filling the tub." As Kerr moves over to try the unfamiliar taps, she gets up, and gesturing Florence to follow, quietly leaves the room.
"You wanted to ask something?" Florence hazards.
"Yes," Miera admits. "There's no food here, so what'll we eat tomorrow?"
"Well," Florence begins, "if you're up before I get here, you could go over to Stavro's. He always has a breakfast buffet set up from before dawn till midday. I'll stop by and set up a tab. Anything else?"
"Yes, there's one more thing," the pantheress responds, grinning mischievously, "unless there's anything else we need to know for now, we'd really like some privacy..."
"Just one thing," the woman states, pointing to a small, green, rectangular panel. "Those controls the light. A light pressure on the top will brighten the lights and pressing on the bottom will dim it. You'll find one in every room."
"I'll try to remember," Miera then watches as Florence palms open the door and leaves before heading for the bedroom and her pack. She quickly locates her small bar of cinnamon-scented soap - an expensive fragrance, but one she knows Kerr is particularly fond of - sighing as the size of it. Maybe I shouldn't have given away so much of it to his mother. Then she strips off her robe, and soap in paw, heads back to the bath.
Damn! Back in the bathroom she finds Kerr sitting by the quickly filling tub, fast asleep. Glancing at the crystal clear water she contemplates waking him - he always enjoys spending time in the tub with her - but decides against it. Poor bunny. I shouldn't have dragged you around like that all day. Sighing quietly, she reaches past him to shut off the water and open the drain. Then she slips one arm under his knees and the other aroundd his back, lifts him gently and carries him back to the bedroom.