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Bout Time......Chapter 14....weeeee plus a surprise or two

 
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mfwhite
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Joined: 21 Feb 2002
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Location: Big land mass north of the USA

PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 8:48 am    Post subject: Bout Time......Chapter 14....weeeee plus a surprise or two Reply with quote

Chapter 14: When Mother Met Mother.

The day was bright and sunny, Alison looked all around her and spied nothing but fields, forest and a very long dirt road. "Can you tell me why you told the driver of that vehicle to let us off in the middle of nowhere?!!" It was indeed nowhere to her, back to nature was the theme for this journey apparently, almost as bad as the jungle.

Mother, in her confined space, had to chuckle since irritating Alison was fun. "My home is around this area, there is a rear entrance that I have used on occasion. I don't want anyone knowing we are associated with that place."

Alison was extremely frustrated, "And you think that driver is not going to think it's strange to leave someone out here in this wilderness; alone!" Her tone left nothing to the imagination.

"We did explain we were out hiking."

"You think he bought that? Look at us, do we look like a hiker?" She waved her free arm up and down her body with a mocking gesture.

"Well, somewhat," she sighed 'Not really,' she thought to herself but Mother didn't care. "It's not a big deal Alison so forget it."

"Hmmrrrph." She snorted, "Ok, you know this area, where do we go from here?" She wasn't happy with this situation one bit but she hoped that Mother could figure a way to separate them. Mother wasn't the only one with memories that haunted her; she missed her husband badly. He was a kind fur, gentle in his touch. She could almost hear his voice if she listened hard enough. Instead she got a kick in the stomach.

"Alison!!! Stop day dreaming!"

"Ooofff." She cried, "Hey!!! Not so hard."

"You were day dreaming again. It's disorientating for me."

"Sorry Mother," Alison said as she rubbed her insulted tummy. "You have to realize this isn't what I thought I'd ever be doing. I mean this isn't something I would wish to do." Allison struggled with speaking modern English at times, usually when she was stressed.

"Oh I know that, it goes the same for me. Let's get to the lab then we can relax some. At which point I will be able to tell you more about our current situation."

Alison couldn't wait, "Point the way."

"Through those trees in front of you, we'll find the entrance there."

It took a long time to trek the distance, more than what Mother had actually thought it would but they were close now. Mother forgot that the body that they inhabited was significantly smaller and it took shorter strides. She looked through Alison's eyes for a specific crack in one of the surrounding rock surfaces. A few minutes more looking and finally they were there.
"Stop Alison, we are here."
"Here? There's nothing here." Alison looked around and sure enough there was nothing around but trees and rocks.
Mother rolled her eyes, "Well, what did you expect, a big door and a sign that said 'Secret Entrance'? Come on Alison think for once in your life-time."

Allison didn't reply; she was pissed. Ever since she told Mother the truth she was pushing and pushing to get here. No rest just push, "What now?" She asked sarcastically.

At this point Mother realized that she struck a nerve and now had made Alison really angry. She toned down her next request hoping that Alison would cool. "Turn to your left, there is a crack big enough for ones paw to fit into. Reach into it and there you should feel a lever, pull it and stand back."

Alison did as she was told and low and behold found the lever. Pulling on it, she jumped back. She waited a few minutes, "Nothing is happening," she responded.
"I know, we have to wait," Mother said as she began slowly counting in her head; the lever mechanism was on a fifteen minute timer. It was done this way in case someone found it. If they pulled the lever they would find nothing happened and more likely leave. Now all they had to do was wait.

"Mother, nothing is happening." Alison said impatiently.
"Yes, I know that, now shush!!!" Mother resumed her counting, all the while Alison walked around fuming. It took longer than she thought but finally she was sure fifteen minutes were up. "Pull the lever again."
Alison rolled her eyes, "Sure whatever you say." 'This isn't going to work,' she thought; 'what a waste of time.' Again she gave the lever a pull and jumped back but this time there was a loud click. Part of the rock face began to move forward then it stopped. A breath later it then moved aside to reveal a stairway leading down. "It worked!!"
"You doubted me?"
"Yes, who would guess about rocks moving?"
"Precisely."

Inside they found a switch to close the rock door behind them. As the door closed shut they were immersed in darkness. "Mother?"
"Wait for it." In a few moments the darkness began to fade as lights began to come on. "Sensors and cameras have just been activated. The minute the door was opened alarms sounded in the mansion. We should expect company soon."
"What do I say?"
"Don't make any sudden moves and obey their commands without hesitation. Since I knew exactly how to get in here they will be curious about how I knew."
"Ok." She gulped. In perspective, they were small compared to most other furs and everything looked threatening.

She was right, soon two males approached them, one a lion the other an otter. Both had guns trained directly at them neither moving one inch off target.
"Stop! Put your paws where we can see them," Alison put up her one paw, "and the other one."
"I don't have another one," Alison said nervously.

One of the guards broke formation and moved in closer to get a good look at Alison. Once closer he could see that she was telling the truth. Her shirt covered the deformity but it was still obvious she had only one arm.
He nodded to his companion, "You will accompany us."
"It doesn't look like I have a choice", Alison said quietly. They moved along the hallway finally hitting an elevator that they entered and rode up into the mansion proper. The place hadn't changed much; Mother and Alison now could see that the place could obviously use a decorator. Mother was a little confused, it had always seemed fine before. Then it dawned on her it had to be one of those subtle changes Alison had been doing.

They moved into the study where the guards cuffed her feet and paw to the chair she was commanded to sit in.
"Someone will be here in time to speak to you." One of the guards said, "Any attempt to leave this room will result in your death." It was a cold statement from an emotionless fur but Alison and Mother knew it to be true. They were left alone to their own devices.

"Mother, why didn't you tell them who you were?"

"The guards won't listen, I will have to speak to the one in charge. They will have ways of verifying who I am, we just have to be patient."

Elsewhere in the Mansion at this time.

The scans of Mother/Swallow (left) paw were inconclusive, the protruding metallic growths through her skin had her and the machines puzzled. More had appeared on her forearm as well. They were not painful but a surprise, the weeks had gone by quickly but she was still no further on the problems that plagued her. Swallow's body had not yet begun to regenerate her quill like fur; much to her annoyance. She felt every breeze, every cold whisper the air around her brought. Swallow's consciousness was nowhere to be found and she hoped that it would stay that way. The sound of the intercom paging her broke her out of her thoughts.
Pushing the button on the small device she responded, "Yes?"
"We have a female intruder." Her guard said unemotionally.
Her eyes opened wide, "Really? A, did you say…she?"
"Yes, she… came in rear entrance #2."
Oh this is interesting she thought. "Where is this intruder now?"
"Restrained in your study, I was sure you would want to question her."
"That I do."

Now this was an interesting development, one she had to delve into. She grabbed her robe and put it on. It was a poor substitute for her fur but it worked. As she rode the elevator up, her mind crunched on the impossibility of how an intruder could have found that entrance; it was perfectly camouflaged. She put her hood on over her head as the elevator bumped to a stop and the doors opened.
"Not too far now" she thought. The hall was but a short jump and then on her right was her study and her new houseguest.

Alison pulled on the pawcuffs but they did not budge. "Who do you think will interview us?"
Alison asked quietly.
"Why, me of course", came a voice from behind her.
"Alison don't talk anymore just listen…ok." Mother warned. "Answer only when and what I tell you."

Alison stayed quiet and watched as a robed fur came into her view. It turned around and leaned up against the mammoth desk.
"My, now aren't you a sight. What kind of creature are you? Nothing I can put my paw on right away."

There was something about this creature that Mother instinctively knew was wrong. She studied its furless face hidden partially under the hooded robe; trying to put a finger on what her mind said was horribly distorted. The creature kept on talking and stroking their fur, still Mother looked closely at it; then realization bit her hard.
Although it appeared much different without its fur she realized who it was, or at least thought she knew; Swallow.

What was wrong was the way she acted, this wasn't Swallow or at least the one she knew. She remembered back to the last conversation they had. It wasn't a pleasant one, in fact it lead to her own death. A shiver rolled down her spine at the thought of dying, now she was here again looking at her attacker from a very different point of view.

Mother walked around her desk and sat down facing her new guest. She really didn't know what to make of it. Its yellow fur and size matched nothing she knew of, plus the fact it was obviously pregnant gave her more to wonder about.
"How did you find the entrance?"

Mother was leery of answering that, tell her "It was a fluke." Alison relayed the message.
"Fluke huh, I suppose it could happen, one in a million chance but there is something about you I can't put my finger on. Oh well, I have time and resources to discover the truth. You unfortunately are now my permanent houseguest." She reached into one of the desk drawers and pulled out a plastic looking ring.

Mother knew what it was immediately, "OH SHIT!!!!"

Alison started to struggle against the restraints, "Nooooo."

"Oh, you act as if you know what this is." She held up the device, "but how could you?" She got up and walked back to Alison's side the put the ring around her neck. "Now you see that wasn't so bad, was it?" Alison still struggled against the pawcuffs. "Now for the bad part, you see this collar has an explosive device in it, travel outside too far and the collar will beep. Travel farther and the collar will continually beep. Keep going and you won't have a head left on your shoulders. Simple huh…?"

Mother knew all about the explosive collars, they were her design after all. Alison stopped struggling and just nodded.

"Good, glad we understand each other. Feel free to explore the grounds. I'll have my guard release you. Now if you'll excuse me I have some other things to attend to but rest assured we will talk again."

The robed figure left but Mother warned Alison again not to talk, just sit and wait; she did as she was told. The otter guard came soon after and undid the cuffs. "You may explore the house and compound but remember your collar." He didn't stay or say anything else, just escorted them out of the room and locked the doors behind him. Seems that was one room they were not welcome in.

"Alison, outside now!" Mother commanded.

Alison found a back door and headed outside, Mother directed her to a spot in the garden and she sat beneath a tree at a certain angle.
"Why here, like this?" Alison said very softly, under her breath.
"Cameras, here they can only see distance, not actual detail. They know we are here but not that we are talking."
"Ah…Ok…something is not right here."
"You have that right Alison, big time. That creature that spoke to us is Swallow, a creation of mine but she sounds nothing like herself."
"So this is Swallow? She haunts you for some reason."
"What? What do you mean haunt?"
"You talk in your sleep." She didn't want to tell Mother just yet that she had seen her creations and the horrors she had done. "Swallow's name comes up repeatedly."

"Alison, Swallow killed me, snapped my neck."
Alison was quiet for a moment, "I can see now why she would be in your thoughts then."
"But this isn't Swallow, her mannerisms, the way she walks and talks; it's all wrong for her."

Alison became quiet all of sudden, her heartbeat picked up and Mother knew something was amiss. "Alison, you know something…spill!!"
"It's only a speculation." She became silent as in thought…, "never mind."
"No no no. I want to hear what you have to say. Since your memories are more complete than mine maybe you have insight that I don't."
"Tell me a bit about Swallow first, then if what you tell me corroborates what I think has happened then I'll explain."

Mother began to tell Alison the inner workings of her projects, mostly concentrating on Swallow. All the while Alison listened intently putting together pieces of a puzzle that was complex and very dangerous. The revelation of what Swallow was capable of put things into perspective for Alison. Finally Mother came to the end of her tale which coincidentally ended with her own apparent death.
"You know, if I were Swallow I would have done the same!"
"Yeah, well spare me; that was another life. I did things to her that messed her up in the head, I'm not proud of that. My goal of an ultimate assassin failed miserably. She was a monster with a heart of gold and I couldn't do a thing with her."
"She is an interesting creature though. This other…Ti…sounds fascinating as well and so does the 'taur."
"Yes I was very surprised to know that they had survived. So, does my tale add anything to what you speculated?"
"Yes, it does," Alison then became quiet; she had a theory but she would have liked to been more confident in her assumption before letting Mother know.

Mother waited and waited, still Alison didn't make a sound. "Well! How long do I have to wait?"

"You won't like my theory," she said quietly.

"Let me be the judge; spill."

She took one more moment to contemplate and enjoy the sun's gentle heat, it was warming on such a beautiful day. It was a shame to ponder one's doom on such a day but reality struck a crushing blow as she felt the collar shift around her neck. She understood completely that they were in deep trouble. If her theory proved correct then they were already dead.
"I believe your Swallow creation has been taken over by a rogue program, one that is familiar to us; in fact it is us."

Mother was taken aback, "You mean that's me…or us in Swallows head?"

"Yes a copy of our core program or maybe more precisely a fragment of our core program. I theorize that Swallow devoured your carcass and it some how interfered with the download process back to the pod. A copy or fragment was left behind; it became aware, then took over or bound Swallow's consciousness in someway and it became dominant."

"OH GREAT!!!" Mother moved so much inside Alison it caused her to let out a large burp.
"Pardon me!!." Alison apologized.
"We are in deep shit, you know!!! She would know everything I know! Now I see how she knew about the collar."
"Ahh…yeah about that." Alison tugged at it slightly.
"Oh don't worry about it, I never did put high explosives in them, although they do emit a high electrical discharge, enough to stun a person. The explosive was always too unstable, the explosives story keeps folks inline better." She didn't really want to tell Alison of the poor souls that did try to escape, ick!!!
"Oh that makes me feel better. Still I don't think I'll try them out." Alison said sarcastically.
"Hey it's a lot better than boom."
Alison gulped, "Yes much better than boom." She sighed, "So now what do we do?"
"We think of a plan that involves us staying alive."
"Sounds like a good activity to me."

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 8:50 am    Post subject: part 2 Reply with quote

USA Mustelidae household.

Something woke Warren out of his sound slumber, he wasn't sure what it was but he was now awake with an uneasy feeling that something was wrong but he had no idea what. He stared over at the time on his alarm clock, 2:46 am. Still the space beside him remained empty.

He quickly got up and ran down to his den and pushed open the door. Hoping to find his wife dozing at the desk while reading; instead he found her passed out on the floor where she had collapsed earlier.

"DORA!!!!!" He quickly raced to her side and tried to gently rouse her. She didn't respond, carefully he put her back down and ran to the kitchen. His trembling fingers dialed 911; he prayed that he was in time and that she was going to be ok. His mind raced as he tried to figure out what had happened to her.

The paramedics arrived in record time, but to Warren's frantic mind it seemed to take forever. They were ever so gentle with Endora but to him it seemed they were anything but. They tried to wake her up but they didn't succeed. Carefully they did a quick injury assessment, checking her vitals signs and pupil reaction. Concluding she was stable enough for transport they put an oxygen mask on her muzzle and put her on a gurney. Warren quickly threw something on and went with her in the ambulance.

At three o'clock in the morning, the hospital was almost deserted. The waiting room had a couple of furs there, both were just as disheveled as Warren waiting for word of a loved one in the middle of the night.

One of the furs turned out to be a wolf who lived close by. He knew him in passing, it seems his son, Irving had been in an motorcycle accident and was getting his broken leg set. Warren didn't know him all that well but he seemed genuinely concerned for his wife as he told him about the evening's activities. He turned out to be a kind soul, giving him change for the coffee machine and talking small talk with him; all in hopes of taking his mind off the matters at paw. It didn't but he did appreciate his attempts.

He called Sabrina, waking her from her slumber. He couldn't tell her much about what was going on but explained what he knew. She said she'd be there as quickly as possible. He told her to be careful and she reassured him she would.

Sabrina arrived shortly with Amy and Thomas in tow. They all hugged and Sabrina cried. Warren hugged her dearly for he didn't know what else to do; he felt lost. He explained again what had happened but he was at a lost as to why Dora had fallen. They all had coffee again trying to stay awake.

Finally a doctor did come out. "Mr. Mustelidae?" Asked a very old looking male porcupine.
"I'm Warren Mustelidae…how is my wife??" His voice was raw and he was so tired.
"Your wife is resting now, she has a mild concussion and a nasty goose egg on her forehead. She must have hit her head on something."
"I'm thinking the desk, I didn't see anything else about the room."
"That would make sense, she briefly came too obviously distraught and shouting something about her mother, we quickly sedated her so she could rest comfortably. We also had some strange blood work come back from the lab and we redid it just to be sure. The results were still strange on the second run through but we did get one piece of interesting information that did make some sense. Did you know that your wife is pregnant?"

Warren stopped blinking for a few moments, unable to grasp what the doctor had just uttered. "What?" Warren squeaked in shock.
"Obviously not from your reaction. Well, she isn't too far along. Has she had children before?"
"Yes", Warren stammered still stunned at this news, "but she's had trouble carrying." This was incredible news; a baby!
Behind him Sabrina was as equally stunned.

"Ok, I can see this is an obvious shock to you and maybe even her. When she comes around and is feeling better I suggest you two have a chat."
"Yes we will, Doctor. I'm not sure she really knows."
"I can understand that, she isn't that far along. We can tell her when she awakens. At her age, a baby is a definite risk so you two need to discuss this completely. We can give you some literature to take home and study. It's best to be as informed as you can be with this type of decision."
"That might be a good idea. Of course we had this same discussion a few years ago when the twins were born; but they were a planned pregnancy"
"Ok, I'll make sure the attending physician has a talk with her. Now you folks go home, there is nothing you can do for her now. Come back tomorrow, we should know more then."

Warren shook the Doctors paw and thanked him. Once the doctor ambled off Warren said, "I don't think I'm going to sleep now." Warren said, exasperated.

Sabrina threw herself around her Dad, "Oh Daddy theirs going to be another one in our family."

Warren hugged his daughter, "Don't count your chickens yet, little girl. There are a lot of factors we have to consider here, I don't want to endanger your mother. If it's not meant to be then so be it. If it is then we'll deal with that."

Sabrina kissed him, "I know Dad, it's a big decision."

"Yes it is. Now how about we hit one of those all night coffee shops; might help."

The vote was unanimous and it was off to a local all night coffee shop; it was a short trip to the café in fact. The coffee was good and hot, not like the horrible stuff from the vending machine he had as of late. Warren started the conversation since he needed to say something, "I can't believe it; Dora's pregnant."
"Well Dad, things happen, I'm happy for you two." Sabrina smiled, she read her father and he was shook up for sure.
"We are too Warren," said Amy smiling.
"Yes, congrats Mr. Mustelidae," said Thomas adding his support as he sipped his expresso.

"Thanks all of you and I'm sure Dora would have told me if she knew. I think she's in for a big surprise in the morning." He rubbed his head, this was a pretty big piece of news to have at three in the morning. "I'm still wondering what made her collapse though. She was just reading her mother's diary we found yesterday."
"I doubt that had anything to do with it Dad." Sabrina said quickly, "Mom wasn't feeling too good yesterday, remember."
"Yeah…you're right hun. "Tomorrow"…he quickly changed that… "today should be quite a day." Warren could only imagine as he sipped his coffee.

Canada Early Morning: The White's Residence.

Nancy awoke to the new day eagerly, because it was a special day; Heather was home.
She smiled as she remembered watching her daughter walk into their home without any help from anyone when she returned from the hospital. Her heart filled with joy at the sight. She had thought that Heather would forever be confined to a gurney to move about. It wasn't a life she wanted for her adopted daughter but those fears had abated as she watched her walk around the living room the day she came home. She still had to use her arm crutches but that was a small price to pay for being able to stand at all.

She was also glad to see Hector feeling better from his close call. That damned mother of his; she hoped she rotted in jail for the rest of her days. Trying to kill your own, what kind of sick and twisted person was she? She had met Hector's sister finally, she was different; outgoing that was for sure. She was glad to see she was on the mend as well.

Things weren't all going well outside their small little world. Heather's sisters were having a hard time with Ti losing an arm plus the disappearance of Swallow didn't help things. She hoped that they would find her soon and that everything would turn out ok. Today however was to be a shopping day, a good day she hoped.

She did her morning business then woke Sid, he mumbled something about it being too early then started to rise. Her next stop was Heather.
She opened her door and found her daughter spread out across her bed. A light blanket covered her. She looked at peace laying there. Nancy stared at the metal rods that now were connected to her legs. They didn't look natural, just painful. She knew they were screwed directly into her bones and it made her shiver.

"Enough of that thinking", Nancy said to herself, time to wake up sleepy head. She gently shook Heather back to the land of the living.
"Huh…nurse it's too early for my exercises."
"Heather hun, it's Mom."
"Mom…oh yeah I'm home."
"Yes you are and I'm so glad." She cuddled her waking daughter's shoulders. Heather's muffled purrs could softly be heard.
"I missed you too Mom." Heather yawned trying to bring herself to life.
"I suspect you did, this has been your only home. But it seems you'll soon have a new one."
"Yeah, I know!" She really couldn't believe it, "I really didn't think Hector would go as far as building a house for us. I can move around just fine in a normal home, it's just a little more inconvenient. Then there's the fact he built another one, I hope he has this figured right. I don't want him… I mean us to be so far in debt that we can't see our way out of it."
"He's done the math, I know. In fact I've known about this for quite awhile." Nancy winked.
Heather looked surprised, "Really!"
"Yeah, he told me in confidence. Heather, I don't know if I have told you but Hector is a wonderful fur. He's everything I wished in a husband for you."
"Thanks Mom, he likes you too. He thinks of you and Dad as the family he didn't have."
"I'm glad we can be there for him, he's had a rough life."
"Tell me about it. So what's for breakfast? I'm starving."
"I can bet, you've got a big tummy." She rubbed Heather's side and her leg started jerking involuntarily. Her mother grinned and Heather rolled her eyes.
"Mom!"

Construction Site: Early Morning.

As Hector approached the field where the two houses were to eventually stand, he saw a trailer parked near the driveway. It had to be the construction foreman's office. He didn't really know a lot about construction but his friends did and they recommended, Arden Bearridge. A polar bear who was well known in the local construction industry as a fur who knew his business. Getting him had been a stroke of luck from what the guys had said. Hector couldn't believe that since their luck had been nothing but bad as of late.

He pulled the van into the field and as close to the trailer as possible. He saw another truck there and assumed it was Arden's. It didn't match any of his buddy's vehicles. He got out and gave a shout.
"Hello?" Hector saw the trailer move then the door flew open.
"Yes?"
"Hi, I'm Hector Sandrom." He put out his paw in greeting.
"Ah… the financier of this venture."
"Yup, that would be little old broke me."
Arden grinned, "Don't be so sure, I just saved you a bundle."
"Huh??"
"Come on I'll show you." They took a walk out to one of the holes. As they approached, Hector could see the foundation/floor was poured. The plastic covering rustled in the breeze.
"Huh the floor is poured?"
"Yup… I got word of a pour not too far from here, an apartment complex in fact. Quite often loads get contaminated or sit too long in the truck, ruining its potential for a stand up form. But it's perfect for a floor. So I made a few calls and asked if a load that got that way could be brought here and dumped. They charge was half cost on high yield concrete."
"High yield…ah is that good??"
"Well, it's not really a lot different from regular concrete it just gets its strength much faster. It's more expensive but it's great for forms 'cause you can take the form down quicker. It's over-kill, sort of, but you have a foundation and a floor at half cost. Same with the other one, we had to rush the forms on that one but it still will be a good foundation."
"That's great news."
"Yeah, I thought you'd like that, anything to save you some money."

The big bear turned and started walking back to the trailer. "So what's next?" Hector inquired.
"Well, I have to price some stuff. I'm considering having the foundation walls poured. It will mean some cutting of concrete for the rebar but it might work out cheaper than blocks."
"Oh?"
"Depends on where they get them from." They had reached the trailer. "Come on in, let's talk." The trailer was really roomy inside. "I'm glad you're here, I was going to call you to come down and talk with me anyway. I like meeting the people I'm working for."
"I do too; Gary says you're one of the best around here."
"Gary Shanks?"
"Yeah."
"Oh I know him, he's a good framer. Well, I don't like to brag but I usually get things done by my dead line."
"Seems you're off to a good start."
"Yeah, it seems so. I've taken a look at the plans for these places; I haven't done a quad's home before."
"Quads?"
"Quadruped."
"Ah…yeah my fiancé is a 'taur and she needs room to get around."
"Oh you'll have room in this place, lots of it. I see there are a few specialty items here that you have made note of."
"Yeah, those are going to cost but I do need them."
"Ok, the showers, toilets and dryers are not totally uncommon. There are more quads than you'd think. The power lifters are going to be harder to locate, probably a custom build. You didn't specify if you wanted them for both places."
"Yeah I want them for both, especially the bathroom, a lift has to be there. Heather, my mate has difficulty walking and the shower lift will help greatly."
"Ok that's not a problem. We just have to reinforce the joists. This will also be in the other dwelling?"
"Yup, upstairs and down. I know it's a great expense these specialty items but I'm renting the other place to 'taur tenants. I want them to feel the extra price is worth it too them. Since I'm responsible for the other building and if I get a 'taur tenant that's lame; well they'll need those items. To put these things in afterward will cost me even more."

Arden let out a good laugh, "Oh you're right about that, 'pay me now or pay me more later.' By the way, there is a home a buddy of mine built a few years back for a quad who was in a gurney. She's dead now and the place is up for sale, I'm sure I could get us a look through it. There might be something there that you'd like to incorporate into the design. Now is the time lad. It's a lot easier to do it now than later, plus a lot less expensive."

"That's sounds great Mr. Bearridge I…" Hector was cut off mid sentence.
"Arden's fine.
"Arden, I'd like that, I really want Heather to be comfortable."
"Then we'll schedule that. You have a cell phone?"
"Yup." Hector gave him the number. "I don't see many of your type around here."
"Well… heh... My parents (now only mother) lives in Albuquerque. I was born in Phoenix AZ and have lived all over the US and in a few places outside the country. I was offered this job opportunity here in Canada so I took it. I got a few years left in me and it's a lot cooler up here than the desert."
"Well from the last few summers, I don't know."
"You're right about that Mr. Sandrom."
"Hector is fine Arden, I'm not my father yet."
The polar bear winked, "Then Hector it is. Well Hector I have a few more questions. Come on over here and take a look at these plans for a minute."

Hector got up from the chair he was sitting in. The guys were right, Arden did know his stuff and he was glad to have him leading the team to put the houses up. Finally something had gone right!


Tarra: The Hanger Housing The Old World Ship.

Afain and her team had spent many months getting ready for this moment. Today would be the day to show if they indeed succeeded in delving into the past.

Alex, the organic they had struggled so hard to acquire had proven a great asset after Kira had explained the situation to it. After that, Alex was very co-operative. Now it knew the ancient's language and its codes.

It had taken a lot of research to find the necessary codes for that era. Now with them encoded into Alex they were ready to attempt to bring down the seal. Once that was done Alex had to tell the AI not to power up, instead auxiliary power would be supplied to it. That was Lyja's job; she had things configured to slowly power up the ship. Radiation levels were now almost non-existent due to the collectors; they had done their job well. After a final check, they discovered the emitter they were using turned out to be completely wrong. The emitter was a device that sends the codes to the ship, they had forgotten that they needed the correct one. The new ones used sequential waveguides where as the older ones used parallel waveguides. It took Lyja hours to modify it to do what they wanted.

So it was time to run down the checklists to get things underway. Kira had insisted that Afain stay home incase something went horribly wrong. She had argued fiercely but in the end she saw it Kira's way, but she did let Kira have Cleo. Cleo on orders from Afain had made an extra powerful drone just for this occasion with multi-phasing shielding to protect Lyja from an explosion.

All was set, "Lyja are you ready?"
"Ready Kira."
"Good I'm going to maneuver the emitter into place."
"Ok." Lyja stood ready for the command to plug the ship into the reserve power supply. The ship would receive minute power pulses until it could regulate them internally. She then would convert it to a steady stream of low power. The ship's internal systems would have to shift to regulate the stream due to the core being by passed. That's if they weren't blown to a million bits before then. She had great reservations in trying to revive this AI.

"Emitter locked on target, synchronizing the emitter to Alex. Coms are good, we have communication between the two." Kira had waited for this day, now if they didn't get blown away the future, or should she say the past, was wide open. "Alex I need a progress report."
"DATA STREAM FUCTIONAL, NO DATA DEGREDATION."
"Good. Lyja I'm going to give the command, standby."

"Ok." She shouted back. How do you prepare yourself for an explosion? She had to grin ducking wasn't really going to help a lot in this case. Running wasn't really an option either, she guessed it would be over in an instant; at least it wouldn't hurt. She did have a bit of hope Cleo had shown her the shield design that it had come up with. It might work depending on the yield of the explosion. She took a deep breath and waited.

"Alex, time to show it your stuff." Kira pushed several buttons and the emitter began its cycle. It was a simple code if you knew it. She only hoped that the old ship had enough power to respond back. Five pulses were sent directly to the ship then it was to wait for so many seconds then send another five, then four, three, two and at last one. Then it would be Alex's time to wait for the reply, the code it sent back would trigger a specific response. That's what Alex had to interpret if Alex was right it would either open the ship or if wrong; close it off forever. Kira was a nervous wreck as the process was a slow one, too slow for her. In these days the information flowed much faster and the seals were brought down in mere seconds not hours.

After a grueling time the pulses were sent, the message complete now it was the ship's turn. They waited on bated breath. Kira watched for any activity from the ship, nothing; seconds, minutes, then hours. She sighed, then shook her head. Nothing, it had all been in vain. Then something came back, it was weak but Alex picked it up and enhanced it.
"Alex?"
"I HAVE A RESPONSE AND I AM INTERPRETING."
"Good, let me know when you are finished."
"I WILL KIRA."

It took Alex an hour to decipher the codes, "I BELIEVE I HAVE WHAT IT WANTS BUT THERE IS A PROBLEM."
"Go ahead."
"THERE ARE TWO CODES SIMILAR TO WHAT IT WANTS, ONE IS CORRECT THE OTHER COULD BE JUDGED AS WRONG."
"Damn!" Kira cursed out loud.
"What's wrong?" Lyja said coming towards Kira after hearing her curse.

"We have a problem, seems it's all going to come down to chance."
"Huh?"
"Alex has deciphered the ships request but it has two answers to choose from.
"That's not so good news, so what are we going to do?"
"Let Alex choose, I can't do it."
"Then let's do it."

Kira cleared her throat, "Alex choose one message and relay it to the ship."
"UNDERSTOOD." For a moment nothing happened then the emitter fluttered to life once again; with the hope that the door would open and not slam in their faces.

The End Of Chapter 14

Oh crap, snake eyes!!!!!!

Do I cut the red wire or the white?

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anthony
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Heh... You've been talking to a certain polar bear about cliffhangers?

Smile Smile Smile

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:18 am    Post subject: Hehehhe Reply with quote

Hi Anthony,
Hope you enjoyed chapter 14
Lots of things happening..Smile

Almost there....Smile

Cheetaur Laughing

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 1:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It looks like things are coming together...ever so slowly.
Anthony wrote:
Heh... You've been talking to a certain polar bear about cliffhangers?

You have it right!

Fun chapter, Cheetaur.

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 1:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool-e-Mundo!!!

I think I'm beginning to get a glimmer of where things tie together. Mother's in quite a little pickle, though, isn't she? Wink One of them, that is. Or maybe both? You never know. She's AWFULLY wily.

Anthony's right about the cliffhanger. Shame! Laughing

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

FASCINATING!! A very nice episode, my friend.

Cateagle

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 3:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OBA, You are truly rotten!

I loved the chapter Mark. Excellent work.

And you indeed have been taking lessons from Hikaru!

Cliffhanger....WOW!

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PostPosted: Fri Aug 08, 2003 5:06 pm    Post subject: I have joined the dark side... Reply with quote

Twisted Evil

Cheetaur

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PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Damn dude. Great chapter. The next one can't come soon enough though, haha. I loved the series of events involving Alex specifically, and the discussions about sentience and self awareness. Very interesting how that parallels Mother/Allison's current experience, in that they're realizing who and what they are. This is really good. Smile
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 10:23 pm    Post subject: Yay its a hit Reply with quote

Quote:

Damn dude. Great chapter. The next one can't come soon enough though, haha. I loved the series of events
involving Alex specifically, and the discussions about sentience and self awareness. Very interesting how that
parallels Mother/Allison's current experience, in that they're realizing who and what they are. This is really good.


Embarassed Thanks man....i tried to make it fun for all. Alex is a cool, a bit blatent in his explanations but he will evolve eventually.Smile
Although really not in this story.

Mother/Alison yeah its a voyage of discovery for them and us

Again thanks for the comments....(Swelled head)

Cheeataur

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well that was a fairly evil thing to do to us. What am I supposed to do when I have no fingernails left to bite? Have to start biting Kerda's nails I guess...
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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 5:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Xaqtly wrote:
Well that was a fairly evil thing to do to us. What am I supposed to do when I have no fingernails left to bite? Have to start biting Kerda's nails I guess...


I still have some help yourself, don't mind the flaky stuff under them its just dandruff from when I was ripping out my head fur. Razz

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PostPosted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 9:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mike Regan wrote:
Xaqtly wrote:
Well that was a fairly evil thing to do to us. What am I supposed to do when I have no fingernails left to bite? Have to start biting Kerda's nails I guess...


I thought that's what Lee Press On Nails were for.

Twisted Evil


No way, they just don't taste the same Twisted Evil

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