Wake up Call

                            By:

                         Fox Cutter

08/10/1999:

"Good morning, Fox" Sora said as I stumbled into the
kitchen.  She was sitting at the kitchen table, thumbing
through a PADD she held in one paw. She was using her other
paw to take notes on a small pad of paper, using the fine,
looping handwriting of her own language.

I smiled at the strange incongruity of the image as I poured
myself a glass of juice. "How go your studies?" I asked.

"Hard, but worth it. Once I graduate, my life will be a lot
more interesting," she replied.

"Careful about what you wish for; an interesting life isn't
as fun as it sounds," I said with a chuckle. "Does that mean
I have gotten boring?"

She very pointedly did not say a word, instead turning her
attention back to the PADD. Her wings flexed a bit as she
tried to suppress a laugh.

"I'll take that as a yes," I replied, settling myself across
the table from her. "I'll try to keep your life a little
more exciting from now on."

A smile crept over her lips. "I would thank you, but I don't
think it would be a good idea."

I shrugged. "Your loss."

She nodded, and set her pen down. "It's nice to see you back
to your old self, you've been kind of sulky the last couple
of weeks."

"Yes I was, and I still am. I'm worried about my health," I
said. It was the short answer. The long answer was that my
exposure to the gas had hurt me. The pain had gone away
after a few days, and to be honest, I felt fine, but the
problem would show up over time.

Doctor Stall had been working on it, but he didn't know what
the long term side effects were going to be, just that there
would be some.

I had an appointment with him at the hospital in about half
an hour. The timing worked out well for me, because today
was also the day Samantha was checking out.

"You're also a bit worried about your friend," Sora said,
not noticing my pause.

I nodded again. "That, too. I don't even know if Samantha
will stay here with us. She barely knows me, and it's a
reach to think she'll want my hospitality."

She nodded, flicking her wings again. "You collect friends
around you, Fox. I'm sure she has already noticed that about
you. I did soon after I first met you."

I smiled. "True. It's part of the reason why I liked having
you around then. I needed you in a way I never needed many
others. After Oria's had left, and I lost my world, you gave
me something to hang onto."

"I remember," she replied, "I was still trying to understand
you. This stranger who looked like my sister, and who saved
my life."

I shifted uncomfortably at that comment. Sora had decided
that I was a reincarnation of her younger sister, based
mainly on my fur patterns the first time I had become a fox.
I didn't believe it of course, but she did, so I tried not
to tell her off about it.

Of course, she knew my opinions on that subject, and
sometimes she would use it to tease me.

"I don't have classes today," she said a few moments later.
"I could come along if you would like."

With a smile, I nodded, "that would be nice. Oria is busy
today, so it's just going to be Ravindar and me. If you do
come along, you'll have to sit through a doctor's
appointment first."

She nodded, and closed the cover on her notepad. "That would
be fine. I want to get out of the house, and I think I'm the
only one living here who hasn't met her."

"You and Rachel," I replied picking up my empty glass, and
taking it over to the sink. "I'm going to be leaving in a
few minutes, so you had better get your stuff together soon.
You might want to bring a book, or a movie, or something, to
pass the time while I'm with the doctor."

"I'll be fine with this," she said, picking up the notepad
and the data PADD in her paws and stood, her wings fanning
slightly as she rose.

Together we headed towards the front room, only pausing so
we could both pick up our jackets. Mine was the familiar
denim jacket, and hers was one that had been specially made
to wrap around her wings. I also took an opportunity to grab
a book, and gave Rhea a scratch behind the ears before we
stepped outside.

"So, what are you covering in class right now?" I asked
Sora. There was a taxi already waiting for us at the end of
the driveway. I had called them before I had stopped in the
kitchen, and it should only have been waiting a minute or
two.

My family used the taxis a lot when traveling places where
the folds wouldn't take us. So often, in fact, that the
company had started sending around the same driver each
time. He was a hyena morph, older and a bit heavyset, but
with a pleasant smile.

I really should learn what his name is.

"How to use the consoles," Sora replied. She was referring
to the heavy-duty fold controls that the Hunters used.
Something that was more like a pocket computer than the
simple credit card devices normal people had.

I nodded, "I never got around to leaning how to use those,"
I replied, a bit sheepish about that fact. It made me think
back to the times I had admonished Oriana about something I
knew that she didn't, because they were covered in the
advanced class.

With a grand gesture I opened the passenger side door for
Sora. She gave me a smile and slipped past, settling down in
the seat, but was forced into an off position to accommodate
her wings. Closing her door, I walked around to the other
side of the car and slipped into the seat next to hers.

My bodyguard, looking a bit annoyed that I didn't open his
door, sat down next to the driver. He told the driver our
destination, and watched the road as we pulled out.

"I'm impressed with that they can do. They can even open
Mega-Folds."

"That's not a simple trick," I replied, "It's something most
naturals can't do. I know I can't, though I suspect Jadith
could."

She nodded, relaxing back into her seat, twisting her wings
slightly to get comfortable. The seats, like most seats,
were built with normal people in minds. Wings were rare
things on Prid, rarer than large tails, so things just
weren't built for them.

We fell into silence for a while. Sora eventually returned
to her PADD. I turned my thoughts to Samantha, and
everything that I was hoping would happen over the next few
days.

She had been awake for just under a week at this point, and
recovering the strength in her new right arm. She was pissed
to have discovered it when she had woken up, though not as
pissed to find out that she had missed Cain's death.

I still hadn't told her exactly what had happened, I
couldn't bring myself to bring it up. It still unsettled me,
and I'm sure if I dreamed, it would be a reoccurring theme.

After two days, I had managed to talk her into getting a new
translator chip. Her previous implant was a very old model,
more than a bit spotty, and took well over a day to learn a
new language. The new one was already a big improvement for
her, once she got over the headache from the surgery.

Sora understood that, having gone through the same thing
herself when she had first come to Prid. So had I for that
matter, four times by last count. The first one when I had
originally come to Prid, which was then removed soon after
my exile started. I had a new one implanted when my exile
was partly lifted, and a fourth time soon after, when the
new implant exploded in an attempt to kill me.

Soon enough we pulled up to the main entrance of the
hospital, and we all stepped out of the car. I paid the
driver with my credit chit, and the three of us headed
inside.

"We need to head up to the third floor for my appointment,"
I said, skipping the elevators, and heading towards the
stairs. The others were used to my little quirk about
elevators, and no one commented on it. We simply trekked up
the stairs to the proper floor.

Naturally, this wasn't where Doctor Stall kept his main
office. He had a proper one in Corbin. The office in the
hospital was a smaller, working office, for when he had to
meet people at the hospital, or when he had to work on
something at the hospital.

The three of us walked into the mostly empty waiting room.
It was small, with only four chairs, and no magazines of any
kind. It wasn't a place meant to be used often, so was
decorated as such. Ravindar took up his familiar position by
the doorway as Sora and I both moved to sit down.

The chairs were of a curious design; the seat was wide, and
open in the rear, the back was hourglass shaped, narrowing
to only a few inches in the middle, before spreading out
again. They were built to handle many different species,
from skunks to dragons, and Sora eyed one skeptically before
settling herself down onto the seat. Her eyes lit up as soon
as her wings slid past the back, and it settled firmly
against her, a perfect fit.

I didn't even get a chance to sit down before Doctor Stall
walked into the room. He was a unique man, an expert on
crossbreed species, much like I had become, and the children
were. He was one himself, being a mix of some kind of
reptile, and mammal. I couldn't tell the exact types, but if
I had to guess, I would say he was a mix of a raptor and a
lion. It gave him a unique look, framing his scaled face
with a thick mane of blue hair.

"Hello, Fox," he said, giving me a warm smile.

"Hello, Doctor," I replied.

He motioned for me to follow him back into his offices. As I
followed him I watched his long, thick tail move behind him,
acting as a balance for his forward leaning form. He led me
into a very plain office, with only a desk, a computer, and
a couple chairs.

The chairs were much like the ones in the waiting room, but
better made.

He settled down behind the desk, folding his long fingers
together, and smiling at me once again. "I have good news,
Fox. It looks like the nantie scrub has gotten rid of the
last of the toxin. It will be causing no further damage to
your system."

I smiled and nodded. "What about the damage that it already
caused."

"It's hard to tell what the exact effects will be," he
replied. "There is some scarring to the nerves in all your
extremities. It's not having an effect at this point in
time, but it could be a problem as you grow older. I'm
working on simulations, but it's not easy going. Luckily the
damage seems to be almost purely isolated to your vulpine
form, but there are signs of it in the other three."

I nodded, leaning back in my chair. "That's pretty much what
we I was expecting, bit it's good to know that for sure."

He smiled and tapped his fingers against the tabletop. "Yes,
it is good. I still want to keep an eye on you, to see if
anything else crops up, but on the whole, I don't think we
will see anything else in the near future."

"I'm relieved," I replied.

"I've also prepped the two other doses of the nanites, as
you requested," he said, taping a few keys on his computer.

A frown played over my face as I shifted in my chair. "One
dose now," I replied, "for the ME. The nurse passed away a
few days ago."

Doctor Stall frowned, but nodded. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"So am I," I said with a sigh, "I feel bad that I couldn't
do anything to help him. I tried, I really did, but he just
never woke up from when he was first exposed. Nothing could
have be done, I doubt the nanites would have helped him."

"But the other one is doing well?"

I shrugged, "Well is relative. He's in a lot of pain, and
it's getting worse. The nanite scrub will at least stop any
further damage. Then he'll be able to try and recover."

Doctor Stall nodded, "I'll have it delivered to your home
tomorrow, along with the injection kit."

"Thanks," I replied, standing up from my chair. "Anything
else?"

"Not today, but I may have further information as we study
what we have. I've taken samples of the toxin, and we're
analyzing it, we could have more information for you as soon
as next week.

I nodded.

"I would also like to see your children," he said with a
pleasant smile. "From what you've told me, I think it would
be a good idea. There are things that your regular
pediatrician could miss, not knowing hybrids as well as I
do."

"I'll talk to Oriana about scheduling an appointment," I
said, knowing that she would be willing, but a bit unsure
about it. She liked her current pediatrician, and wouldn't
like undercutting him by going to someone else.

Typing a few more things, he turned away and smiled,
standing up from his desk. He walked around it to stand next
to me, placing his paw on my shoulder. "You're doing fine,
Fox, and I'll make sure that you stay that way."

"Thanks, Doctor," I said with a sigh, as I stood up, and we
walked out of the office.

We parted ways at the waiting room, as he headed back to
finalize the details for the nanites. I hoped they would
work for Doctor Banner, he deserved better then what had
happened to him.

The nurse had deserved better than to die because he was
there with me.

"Come on, you two," I said as I came into the room, "Let's
go get Samantha."

Sora nodded, tucking her PADD away as she stood up. "Can we
get some of these chairs? They are very comfortable."

I smiled and nodded, walking towards the door, with her and
Ravindar at my back. "Sure, I should have thought about it
years ago, but to be honest, I never knew they existed."

"It's OK, Fox. You can't do everything," she said with a
smile as we walked back towards the stairs.

She was right, but some times it was hard for me to remember
that.

We trudged up the stairs to the ninth floor. Sora was
panting as we came to the landing, fanning her wings
slightly, Ravindar had lost a little of his perpetually calm
look from the hike.

I was only slightly better off, the muscles in the back of
my legs burning, and I was slightly out of breath, but it
was something I was used to after years of taking the
stairs.

Walking down the hallway, we came to room 917. The door was
open, and a curtain was drawn over it.

I rapped my knuckles on the doorframe. "Hey Samantha, you
decent?"

"Come in, Fox," she called from inside the room.

With a nod, I brushed the curtain aside and stepped in the
room. There was a single bed, and a pair of normal chairs.
Samantha was sitting in one, next to the large windows, and
looking out on the forest that stretched to the horizon. She
was rubbing her right arm with her left hand. The new limb
was still a pasty white, contrasting with the light tan of
the rest of her skin.

"Hi, Samantha," I said, walking over to her, and sitting on
the edge of the bed. She was dressed in street clothing,
which was a change from the usual hospital smock she had
been in since she had come out of the tank. Her hair had
grown out from it's original dirty blond to show her real
hair color, a warm chestnut brown.

She turned, and smiled slightly as she saw us, her cloth
tail swaying behind her. "Who's your friend?" she asked.

"This is Sora," I replied as she took a seat in the second
chair, fanning her wings out and resting them over the back.

Samantha nodded, "Hello, Sora, nice to meet you. You must be
one of Fox's many friends." She turned back to me and
smirked. "Do you know any men, Fox, or do you just have a
harem back at your place?"

I laughed, "That depends, do you want to join?" I asked with
a wink.

Sora stifled a short laugh, and shook her head. "I'll have
to see when we get there, won't I?" she said.

I nodded, "So you've decided to take me up on my offer?" I
asked.

She nodded, picking up a well-chewed pen from her lap, and
rolling it between her fingers. "For right now. We'll have
to see what I think about you after a couple weeks." She
stuck the end of the pen in her mouth, and chewed on it.

"That's fine," I replied, relaxed back slightly on the bed.
"But I do have a gift for you, before you leave. You'll get
it when you're well enough to go running around."

She raised an eyebrow. "A 'gift'?"

"Oh, yes, and I think you'll like this one." I said with a
smile.

"Really? I'll be the judge of that," she said, and lifted
herself up from her chair. Walking to the small closet in
the room, she picked up a few small items, and stuffed them
into her pockets.

"I can't wait to get out of here," she said, glancing back
at me. "This place doesn't even have a smoking lounge, and
they won't let me go out front."

I nodded, standing up myself. "Prid isn't as bad as Earth is
with smoking, it's jut not that common here, and many places
aren't set up for it. It's a habit that is totally unknown
on my wife's world."

She nodded, "I see."

"It's actually fairly common on my world," Sora commented.

Samantha smiled at her, "Remind me to visit there someday."

"That does bring up a few issues," I said as we walked out
of the room, Ravindar falling in behind us.

"What kind of issues?" she asked, a slight coldness creeping
into her voice. I got the feeling she suspected some of what
I was about to say.

I signed, "It's not something that Oria has on her world, so
she's not used to it, but at least she understands it. The
thing is, there are three infants in the house, and we would
just prefer that you didn't smoke inside."

She frowned, and nodded with a grunt as she walked up to the
elevator. She punched the down button as Ravindar started to
edge toward the stairs.

I clenched my jaw slightly, but held myself. She didn't know
about my problems with elevators, and now wasn't the time to
get into it.

"The room I've set aside for you has a door out into the
garden. The house is pretty large, so you can always step
outside when you want to, and when the kids get older, you
could at least smoke in your own room," I said, as the
elevator doors slid open. I shuffled inside. It was larger
than usual, made to hold gurneys, but that wasn't a comfort
for me. I took up a position in the back corner, grabbing
the railing that ran around the middle of the wall. Sora and
Rvaindar followed quickly.

"Thanks," she said, shooting me a nasty look as we started
to descend. The look faded slightly as she saw the stone-
white look in my face.

"Are you all right, Fox?" she asked, her anger turning to
concern.

I gave her a weak smile. "Sorry, lifts aren't my thing," I
replied.

She nodded, and didn't say anything as we descended to the
first floor. When the doors open I nearly bolted out and
onto the solid ground, taking a deep breath once it was
under my feet.

"I'm sorry, Fox, I didn't know," she said, as she and the
others followed me out.

"It's OK," I said, taking in a few deep breaths. "Come on,
let's get you checked out, and back home."

* * *

"And here's your room," I said to Samantha, using the
statement to wrap up a quick tour of the house. She walked
in, and I followed after.

The room was nearly empty. There was a simple bed, a small
night table, and a chest of drawers next to the closet. As
promised there was a glass slider leading out into the
backyard.

"Nice," she said, sitting herself down on the edge of the
made-up bed.

I nodded, "We don't have much to put into the empty rooms of
the house, so some of them get left alone. Feel free to
decorate it any way you like."

She nodded.

"If you're up to it, we can head off to the Grand Market
later today, and get you some new clothing, along with a
phone, and a television if you want one," I said, standing
by the door.

"And some smokes," she said.

"If you wish," I said with a shrug.

"I would like to run back to my old place," she said, "I
have some things back there I want to pick up, before the
damn landlord steals them."

I smiled, "That can be arranged. We have a fold here in the
house. I'll give you an access codes to get into the room."

She nodded and smiled. "And why do you have a pet lioness?"
she asked, brushing a lock of her hair back. "I mean, it
makes sense for you to keep exotic pets, but with your
wife... well, it seems kind of strange."

I laughed, and shook my head. "She's not a pet, she's my
sometimes identical twin sister, and is just as smart as I
am." I saw the look on her face, and could guess what she
was about to say. "It's a long story, one that would take a
while to explain. She's part of the family, so don't treat
her like an animal, OK?"

She looked at me like I was crazy, and rightfully so, but
she managed to shake it off after a few seconds. "You two
are hardly identical, you're not the same species, or even
gender."

"Not right now, but things do change," I said, which just
added to her confusion.

Eventually, she sighed, and shook her head. "What aren't you
telling me?"

"Everything," I answered with a shrug, "but you'll find it
all out in good time. Come on. If you're ready, we'll jump
back to your old place."

Samantha shook her head, "Not just yet, Fox. There's a few
things I need to know before we go."

"Alright," I said.

She adjusted herself on the bed, kicking her shoes off, and
tucking her legs up under herself. Her tail wrapped around
her hips, like it would if it had been real, which was close
to the truth for her.

"You've been dancing around this issue since I woke up, but
I now I think it's time that you told me. How exactly did
you kill Cain?"

I blew air through my teeth, and shook my head. "That's not
a pleasant thing to talk about. Can't we just leave it with
him being dead?"

"But you did kill him, right?" she asked, her tone growing
forceful as she leaned forward on the bed.

I shook my head, "No, I didn't kill him, but he is dead,
that much I'm sure of," I answered, walking over to the bed,
and sitting down on the edge.

"How can you be sure?" she asked.

I sighed, "How much do you remember about what happened?"

She thought for a few seconds, reaching up to rub the back
of her head. "Not a lot. The last thing I can remember was
Cain escaping down the secret passage."

I nodded, "Makes sense. You got pretty badly hurt, losing
your short term memory of the last few minutes is normal."

"I see," she said, dropping her hand back down to her lap,
the tip of her tail flicking impatiently. "And you're
stalling."

"True," I replied, stroking my fingers over the bedspread.
Then slowly I laid out what had happened for her, from the
explosion, her near death, and the gas trap Cain had set for
me.

"You tried to dodge the bullet?" she asked as I described
the final confrontation between my double and me. She
laughed as she spoke. It was a surprisingly musical sound
that I wouldn't have expected to come from her.

I shrugged, "It didn't quite work," I said, touching the arm
where I had been shot.

"What made you think you could even do that?" she asked.

"It was a trick I learned back before my exile," I replied,
thinking back to that little adventure. It was during one of
the times I was running around solo. I had landed on a
desert planet, and nearly lost the fold, I only got it back
with the help of a local, who was just about as strange as I
was. He had tried to teach me the trick, but I wasn't very
patient at the time, and never really learned it.

Then I started to describe Cain's death, the slow
destruction of his body as it ripped itself apart while I
watched. I didn't go into detail about it, but it was enough
that it made Samantha blanche.

"Shit," she said when I was finished. "That's a nasty way to
die."

I nodded.

"What exactly happened to him?" she asked.

"Ruhk killed him." I said, giving it as an explanation.

She raised an eyebrow, and chewed on the end of her pen.
"How did sie do that?"

"When sie gave him my body, sie did something to him,
implanted something called a Soul Eater. It connected the
two of them, which was how he was able to feed hir power."

She nodded, not saying a word.

"He was going to kill me, and because of their connection,
sie knew it as well. Sie had plans for me, and couldn't
allow him to ruin them, so... sie let the beast free of hir
control. Once free, it ate his soul, shredding his body in
the process. It saved my life, but at the cost of trapping
hir back in hir prison, at least I hope so."

"Nasty," she said.

"You have no idea," I replied dryly.

Stretching out her legs, she let them drop to the floor.
"Still, I wish I could have seen it," she said.

"Ken found me a book that illustrated what one of those
things can do. It's not exactly what happened, but it's
enough to make you ill."

She paused, and then shook her head. "No... it wouldn't be
the same if it wasn't him, and who's Ken?"

"He's a friend of mine," I explained. "Kind of my goto
person when I need magic."

A smirk played over her lips. "So, you do know some men! I
was beginning to worry."

I laughed and nodded, "Is there anything else you would like
to know?"

"Not about Cain, but if you know of a good taco place, it's
been years since I've had one."

"I don't know, but the Market may have something close," I
said, standing up.

She nodded. And she started to pull her shoes on, there came
a knock on the door.

I turned to look at it, as the door swung open, and Ravindar
stuck his head in. "I'm sorry to disturbed you," he said,
"but Oriana needs to talk to you, it's urgent."

"Is everything OK?" I asked, walking swiftly towards the
door, registering the fact that he had used Oria's name,
something that he had never done before. It came from a lack
of respect he had for her, because of how she'd tried to get
out of the guild. That might have been going away now that
she was returning to the work.

"Everyone is fine, but she did make it clear that it's
important," he said.

I sighed slightly in relief, and glanced back to Samantha,
"I'll be back as soon as I can. Feel free to wander around
the house, or hit the kitchen. I've been in the hospital
enough times to know that real food is a treat after getting
out.

She smiled, and nodded. "All right, Fox, but don't take too
long."

"I'll try," I said, and walked out of the room. The tiger
and I didn't quite run, but we did rush down the hallway,
towards my private office.

He stood by my side as I opened the door. Santhera was
standing on the other side, in a position to block anyone
from leaving the room. Oria was sitting behind my desk, and
glanced in my direction as I came in.

I walked briskly across the room as Ravindar closed the
door, and took up a position next to Santhera. Coming to
Oria's side, I finally saw the other person in the room, the
person who had caused all the fuss. A familiar looking black
pantheress sat in the wooden chair with her paws folded in
her lap, looking a bit worried.

Becky.

"Santhera, Ravindar, if you could leave us alone," I said,
my eyes locked on our guest.

I could tell my bodyguard wanted to protest, but wisely he
didn't say anything. Instead the pair of them slipped
quietly out of the room, closing the door firmly behind
them.

"You're not going to believe--" the pantheress started to
say.

I cut her off as I snapped out, "What did you think you were
doing?" There was an intensity in my words that surprised
me, as suddenly all my pent up anger and worry rose to the
surface.

She sank back a bit in her chair, her tail drooping to the
floor. "What?" she asked, looking confused.

For the moment I ignored her, instead placing my hand on
Oria's shoulder. She lifted her paw up, and placed it over
mine, giving me a little comfort.

I glared at my changed friend, a thousand thoughts running
through my mind. I had thought about this moment a hundred
times, working out different speeches, and ways to say
exactly what I was going to say. Now that the day was
finally here, nothing was coming to me.

"Damn it, I thought you were dead!" I finally said.

She shifted a bit, adjusting the clothing on her body. Now
that I had a chance to take a good look at her, I could see
some of Becky's familiar features under the fur, but there
were many changes. The biggest change, both figuratively,
and literally, was her chest. When she was human, she had
been very busty, which made her otherwise thin frame stand
out, so large they hurt her back. Now she was down to
something small and perky, that complemented her figure
instead of exaggerated it.

I still loved her, a love that I only really knew, and
understood, after she had died... after I thought she had
died. Now here she was, still alive. Hidden from me for
nearly five years, she had walked back into my life.

"Becky," I said, the words feeling heavy as they fell from
my mouth. "You could have found some way to tell me that it
wasn't you. Hell, you should have told me that you were
sick!"

She looked baffled, clearly she had her own expectations
about this meeting, and this was not one of them. "Fox, I
couldn't," she said, her voice shaking as she spoke.

"Did you know that Brian's stories are true?" I asked,
leaning forward. "I found out by accident, but if you had
told me about what was wrong with you, I would have tried to
pin him down about it then, more than just simply asking
him. He could have cured you, and then we wouldn't be here."

She bit her lip, looking away slightly, her ears falling.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, "but things happened."

"The Neverending?" I asked.

She nodded, folding her paws over each other, wringing them
in an old nervous tick I still remembered clearly. "And
being sick," she glance around as she spoke.

"You saved my life before, bringing Jadith to me."

"You sound so formal," she said, disappointment hanging over
her voice.

"I suppose so," I replied with a sigh, "But it's almost
necessary after so long. It's been a life time since I last
knew you; everything has changed between us, even what we
are."

She nodded, looking down at her paws, flexing her fingers
slightly. Almost unconsciously I flexed my own, feeling the
tips of my claws slide from my fingertips.

A sigh escaped her, and she seemed to deflate more in the
chair. "It was necessary at the time, and permanent. I'm
never going to be able to return to being human."

I frowned, "You were human for a moment in the caves, that's
how I knew that you were you."

"Really?" she asked, sounding excited for a moment, before
dropping her paws to her side. "It still happens some times,
but not for very long. I used to be able to control it, to
change forms at will, but I lost that ability as time went
on. The last time I was really human was years ago."

"How did it happen?"

She bit her lip. "The cost of the Neverending saving my
life. I had to work for it."

"Just like the unicorn," I said, half to myself. Becky
jumped as I said it, the back of her shoulders tensing up
just slightly. "I see you know of her, but you did have a
choice. You could have come to me, and I could have done
something, anything. I would have gone to the ends of the
universe to save you, Becky."

She turned her head away, her ears dropping down to lay
against the side of her head. "I'm sorry, Fox, it's what I
had to do."

I nodded and sighed, "Then I guess the question becomes, why
have you come to me now? You've demonstrated you could find
us easily, so what changed? Why are you here?"

Becky turned away from us, her long tail brushing against
the floor as she studied the back of her paws. It felt
strange to have my attitude toward her swing back and fourth
between being old friends and the start of an adversarial
relationship.

I frowned, and squeezed my wife's shoulder again. She
squeezed back with her paw, lacing her fingers through mine.
A single glance showed me that she sympathized with how I
was feeling.

"I'm here to ask for your help," she replied, still not
looking towards us. "The Neverending is satisfied with you,
and has sent me here to recruit you to help it."

"Satisfied? You mean that 'test' with the Wyrm?" I asked,
snapping slightly.

She nodded her head, finally turned back to look at us. "One
of them, yes," she replied. "It took a long time for it to
be satisfied that you could do what it needs of you. You
were its second choice, and it didn't want to give up the
first one."

"Second choice?" I asked, feeling a slight pang of
disappointment.

"Something is going to happen during the next few years,"
she said, her voice growing dark, "Something bad. The cost
of allowing it to happen will be astronomical. You are the
best person to stop it, and to save countless lives."

I frowned, and shook my head. "You make it sound a lot
simpler than it undoubtedly is."

"Always," she replied with a sigh, folding her paws into her
lap. "But you have a talent that we need."

I looked at her, narrowing my eyes slightly. "I'm sorry,
Becky, but no," I said, glancing down at Oria, she gave me a
slight nod of approval.

Her tail stopped cold, her ears twitching slightly. "No?
Really, no?" her shoulders slumped down slightly as she
spoke.

"No. No more adventures for me," I explained, Oria squeezing
my paw again.

"You're turning this down?" she asked, disappointment
crossing over her face.

I nodded. "Yes. Rebecca, I have a wife, and children. I
value my life far more than I once did, and I can't be
risking it like I used to do. There's just too much at stake
now."

She winced slightly at the use of her full name. She never
much liked it. "It's not that easy, Fox. Time is critical,
and things are already starting to move forward. We need
your help."

"No, Rebecca, I can't. I'm sorry, but I just can't."

She nodded, and sighed, flicking her tail again. "You've
changed quite a lot since I last saw you. The Fox I knew
would never have turned this down. I guess I should have
expected this, we have both changed."

I nodded.

"The Neverending will keep an eye on you, Fox," she said,
standing up, and walking towards the door. "If you need it's
help, just call for me, and you will get it."

Oria snorted softly, "We all know what the cost of that will
be."

My old friend nodded her head, resting her paw on the door
handle. "Unfortunately, yes."

I sighed, "Go, then, Rebecca. I'm sure we'll meet again some
time soon."

She nodded.

"I'm sorry if you're losing your last hope," Oria said,
watching her as she opened the door.

Rebecca turned back to look at us, and shook her head. "Not
yet, there's still one more person, she is not the best
choice, but neither are you. If we have to use her, we will,
but we would prefer to use you, Fox."

I frowned at her choice of words. 'Use' seemed to be exactly
the right. "Maybe you could change the mind of your first
choice," I suggested.

She shrugged, "We never asked him. Je chose to isolate
himself soon after he came into the multi-verse. It made him
unsuitable."

I nodded.

She opened her muzzle, as if to say something, then snapped
it closed. Shaking her head she stepped out of my office,
closing to the door behind herself.

I slumped as soon she was gone, dropping my paws to the desk
and letting my head hang. "That took a lot more energy than
I expected," I said with a sigh.

Oria nodded, bending down and wrapping her arms around me in
a tight hug.

"She's almost nothing like I remember her." I said.

"That's to be expected after so long," she replied. "She's
had five years of a life different from anything you or I
know, serving the Neverending."

"I just wish I knew what it was," I said.

"And she probably won't tell us until you make the deal with
her," my wife replied.

I nodded, hugging my wife back, "I won't make the deal, no
matter what," I said, never doubting my decision. Deep in
the back of my mind, Though a small part of me worried. If
the Neverending was willing to test me for years it wouldn't
take 'no' for an answer.

-----

This story is copyright 2003 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.