Raven Wolf - Book 01 - The Wilds
Chapter Three
Teddy sits in the cafeteria, the annoyed expression from the conversation he had been in earlier still on his face. “Who does that vixen think she is? Throwing accusations at me like that.”
Yula is sitting at the table across from Teddy, eating his dinner for the day, he grinning and wagging his tail as he looks back to his guard. “What I find funny is that I think you’re more upset that she laughed at your name than anything else.”
Teddy frowns as he looks back to Yula. “Hey, that name got me laughed at a lot while growing up, I can’t help that I’m overly defensive of it. My sister is the exact same way about her name too you know.” He lets out a sigh. “Teddy and Dolly… what the heck were our parents thinking?”
Yula’s tail stops wagging, his ear lowering sadly against his head as he looks to the side, a nervous expression now in his voice. “Is your sister as kind as you are?”
Teddy gives Yula a reassuring grin. “Well… she’s a little bit more difficult to warm up to than me, but give her enough time and she’ll be just as kind… I think…”
Yula stops eating, he now speaking his concerns to the person that had been his guardian for seven years. “You know… it’s really scary… I’ve never left this building. Now… I know I wasn’t born here, but I was so young when I was brought here that I can’t remember staying anywhere else.”
Teddy tries to ease Yula’s worry. “Where you’re going is not much different than this place. Sure the building is not as large as the one you’re in right now but it’s not like you’re able to go anywhere you want to here anyway. You range of movement will end up being the same I’m sure. So it’s not going to be that much different, you’ll just have a couple of new guards looking after you that’s all.”
The worry does not leave Yula’s face, Teddy continuing to try and ease the situation for him. “Look it’s not as scary as you’re making it out to be, I promise.”
Yula begins to question Teddy more about his sister, she after all going to be taking his place once he reached the new facility. “So your sister used to be a soldier like you right? How come she’s working as a guard now? Did she get hurt like you did and have to move down to a different position?”
Teddy lets out a weak laugh. “Not exactly… she was demoted down to the facility guard rank because of her quick temper… she has a tendency to act without waiting for her orders and was pretty ruthless out on the battlefield, don’t let that scare you though.”
Yula stares back at Teddy not amused. “It is scaring me…”
Several members of the military approach the two. “We’re here to pick up Subject #1502”
Yula looks up from his meal, Teddy looking back to him. “Well, looks like they’re ready to transport you. Just behave yourself like you always do and you’ll be just fine.”
Yula nods his head in understanding, he getting up from the table looking once more at his companion before leaving with the people that had come to transport him to his new home. Teddy sighing as he watches him leave. “I wonder what they’ll have me doing now that Yula is gone… being his personal guard was pretty much the only thing I did around here.” His ears perk happily as his tail begins to wag. “Maybe they’ll put me back on the field again! That would be great!” He shakes his head knowing better than that. “But the chances of that are highly unlikely… I’ll probably just be given another test subject to babysit. I guess I’ll find out when I come in tomorrow.”
Yula enters the lobby of the building he is in, Eve and the other scientists that dealt with him as well as several members from the security division of the military, already standing in wait for him, Eve’s boss approaching Yula once he sees him. “Now I know this ordeal may be a little frightening for you, but trust me, this is a normal procedure that the men and women of the military have done countless times before. You’ll be just fine.”
Yula looks up at him, he still a little upset with the situation. “Why can’t Teddy come with us? I really liked him.”
One of the security officers answers Yula’s question for him. “Mr. Conner is assigned to this building because of his particular skills, head of security doesn’t want him transferred to a lower end facility, when he would be of much better use in a high end one.”
“All available security personal please make your way to the north hallway on the fifth floor.”
Yula looks over to the intercom that had made that announcement, one of Eve’s coworkers speaking up to get his attention. “It’s been doing that all day hasn’t it? Don’t worry about it though it has nothing to do with you.”
Two of the military personal that would be assisting in the transport approach Yula and the three scientists, one of them beginning to speak with them. “You must be the three scientists assigned to Subject #1502.” The man that had spoken up holds his hand out to a female wolf with grey fur that stood behind him. “This is Miss. Conner. She will be subject 1502’s guard from this point on.”
Eve frowns at the name as she crosses her arms and begins to look the wolf over. “Conner? That’s the same name as the guard he had last time.”
The female wolf nods her head speaking up. “Yes. My name is Dolly Conner. Teddy Conner would be my twin brother ma’am.”
Eve is taken aback. “Ma’am... do I really look that old?” She shakes her head quickly getting back to the topic at hand. “I mean... I oh, that’s interesting. Now that you mention it his file did mention that he had a twin sister who was also in the service. I completely see the resemblance between you two, you look just like him.” She looks to the side really unsure about this, after all she had been having suspicions about Teddy letting Yula out behind their backs.
Yula’s tail wags as he stares over at Dolly. “You really do look a lot like Teddy! Except much prettier!”
Dolly frowns as she looks from Eve and to Yula. “You must be subject 1502.”
Yula nods his head yes. “Yeah, but you can call me Yula!”
Dolly sighs to herself while her superior continues to speak to Eve and the other scientists. “Miss. Conner comes highly recommended. You have nothing to worry about.”
Eve still seems reluctant over the idea but doesn’t push it any further, the man then looking the group over. “Well then, we should be on our way if we want to keep on schedule.” He looks back to Yula. “Stay by Miss. Conner and do not leave her side for any reason understand?”
Yula nods his head yes. “Alright just like what I had to do with Teddy all the time!” He walks up to Dolly as he begins trying to talk with her. “So just what is the city like!? I’ve never been out of this building so I’ve never seen it myself. Speaking of which this is my first time ever being out of this building, it’s pretty scary but at the same time a little exciting.”
Dolly groans and shakes her head. “I was told that I was supposed to be a bodyguard... not a babysitter.”
Yula laughs at the comment. “That’s the exact same thing Teddy said when he met me for the first time too!”
The group exits the building through the large front doors, Yula’s talking immediately coming to a stop when he sees his surroundings. Past the large parking lot and security fence were buildings, all kinds of buildings as far as the eye could see, large buildings, small buildings, glass buildings stone buildings- “Wow! Look at it all!”
Yula tries to run forward, Dolly grabbing onto him and stopping him, holding him in place. “What are you doing? The situation has not changed, you are not to leave my side for any reason.”
Yula’s ears droop sadly at the reminder. “Oh yeah... sorry...”
Eve watches Dolly, though she looked a lot like Teddy she was defiantly stricter that he ever had been with Yula, the uncertainty Eve had before slowly starting to leave her. There was no way that this woman was going to let Yula get away with anything.
The group all make their way into the van that is waiting for them and begin their journey, Yula hardly able to sit down as he crawls over Dolly’s lap to look out the vehicle’s window, every little thing and person they passed by catching his attention , Dolly continually having to force him back into his spot.
Eve stares at the two in silence, though it was clear that Dolly was not the type that would allow any problems to arise, it reminded Eve of just what kind of life Yula right now lead. He living his entire life confined inside a room unable to see the world around him. Eve looks away, even though she wasn’t the one forcing this life upon Yula she still felt guilty about it. The ability to just go out and see the things around you something that she would take for granted more often than not.
Yula again stretches over Dolly’s lap placing his face against the window and pointing out one of the people that he saw. “Look at that! That lady has bright pink fur!”
Dolly nods her head as she once again pushes Yula back in his seat. “It’s called body dye. You can be any colour you want if you use it.”
Yula finds this information absolutely incredible. “You change colours if your body dies!?”
Dolly shakes her head. “No... not die, dye, it’s a cosmetic chemical you use to affect your appearance. That’s what cosmetics are for.”
“So there’s no dying involved? That’s even more incredible!” He smiles at her. “So how do you know about it? Do you use cosmetics?”
Dolly frowns at the question. “You don’t ask people questions like that, it’s rude.”
Yula looks to the side. “Oh...” He turns back to Dolly. “Does Teddy use cosmetics?”
Dolly gives a loud sigh as she turns back to Yula. “Both me and Teddy’s are our natural born colour alright! No cosmetics involved!”
Yula once again leans over Dolly’s lap to look out the window, Dolly pushing him back into his spot. “Stay away from the window!”
Yula seems upset. “But why?”
The member of the military that sat on the other side of Yula speaks up. “Listen to Miss. Conner. It’s not safe for you to do things like that. You don’t want to get hurt do you?”
Yula sighs to himself as he refrains to leaning over Dolly’s lap to look out the window again, he still though glancing outside of the glass to the things outside, it all too amazing for him to ignore.
The vehicle stops at a red light, Yula ever so slighting leaning towards Dolly as to get a better look out of the window on her side. He spotting a very small child who’s features were well hidden behind many layers of clothing, the young girl looking over to their car and staring at him.
Yula stares back at her, it looked as if this child looking right at him. He turns away from her, looking over to Dolly. “Hey... can the people outside of the car see us like we can see them?”
Dolly shakes her head no. “The window is one sided, no one can see inside.”
Yula looks from Dolly and back to the child, who still looked to be staring right at him, Yula lifting his hand and waving at her, the young girl lifting her hand and waving back, Yula laughing at the reaction. “Are you sure it’s not broken?”
The light turns green and the car once again moves forward, the small girl that was staring at Yula watching as it leaves, she looking up at the street the car was right now driving on. “Did you see his eyes? They were white. That was the oracle... wasn’t it daddy...?”
A voice that sounded as if it were playing off of a computer speaker answers her question. “-Yeah that’s him-”
The girl continues to question the voice. “Where do you think they’re taking him?”
The voice speaks up once again. “-From the rout they’re taking it’s to another laboratory in the city. I wonder what kinds of complications the military has run into to be moving him like this. Something big must be happening-”
The young girl watches as the car disappears. “Maybe you should find out what’s happening...”
“-You read my mind exactly! I’m already starting to look into it!-“
The small girl seems a little concerned. “Be careful dad, I haven’t updated your security defences for a while. This is the military we’re talking about so-”
“-No worries, no worries! Even if you were years behind in my updates I could still get in and out of their system without so much as being seen-”
The small girl begins walking along the street while still speaking to the voice over the speaker. “Do you think that this has something to do with what’s going on in the Eden of North?”
“-You won’t let that go will you? Why are you so convinced that the military presence in that place is important?-”
The girl begins to explain herself. “You read father’s files on the Eden of North! If they really are true then it could be very bad for everyone!”
There is a silence between the two, the voice from the computer once again speaking up. “-You know, I hate to admit it, but I think you might be right-”
The girl seems excited about this. “Why!? What did you find?”
The young girl comes to a stop when a solid green holographic screen appears in front of her, she gasping as she quickly runs out of sight to where she couldn’t be seen. “Don’t do that when I’m in the middle of a crowd! What if someone sees?”
“-What are you so worried about? They can’t read any of it-”
The girl lets out an annoyed growl as she takes a large pair of glasses from one of her pockets. “Honestly for someone that’s supposed to be smart you can sometimes be so dense!” She puts the glasses on, the green screens changing from a solid colour to a screen full of pictures and information under the lenses of the glasses.
“-It seems that the military ran into some interesting information very recently that was compiled from some tests that were taken from a new subject they had acquired last night-”
The young girl stares the screen as she reads the vast amount of information over. “They got their confirmation...”
“-The reason that subject #1502 was moved from his previous facility to another, was because the military was afraid of the complications that would arise if he were to come across their newly acquired subject, subject #2800356-”
The young girl doesn’t seem shocked in the least. “Well I’m not surprised! Just look at this information! I can hardly believe it myself!!”
“-There’s a much bigger situation happening right now. The military has been acting vigorously in the last two years over nothing but suspicions and assumptions. Now that they have their confirmation on the existence of what they’re looking for, things are going to get very bad-”
The holographic windows close, the girl removing her glasses and continuing on her way. “We have to do something, with the oracle being moved to a building with a lower security standard we might just have that opening we’ve been looking for, and well... even if we don’t do anything things are just going to get way worse right? There’s got to be something that we can do to interfere with their plans.”
“-I beg you not to get mad at me for saying this, but what in all honesty could you possibly do? You’re just a little girl, one that’s terrified of stepping foot in public unless it’s absolutely necessary-”
The young girl comes to a stop just as she begins climbing up some steps to a building. “There’s a reason for that and you know it!” She sighs to herself, taking a key from her pocket and opening the front door to the apartments in front of her, making her way through the halls until she reaches the door to her apartment, unlocking and entering it, closing and locking the door securely behind her.
She begins to take her many layers of outer clothing off, throwing everything she removed around her onto heaps of clothes already on the floor while the voice over the speaker continuing to speak with her. “-I’m just saying that this is a situation that’s far out of your league, it’s best just to stay out of it, and if you can’t do that then to get someone to help you that can. This isn’t something that you can do alone-”
The young girl takes the last article of her outwear off, her features no longer hidden. She not like the other people that lived in the city. Her skin smooth and without fur, her face small and flat without a muzzle or button nose, her cat like orange ears and tail the only thing animal like about her, everything else looking human like. “What other choice do I have dad...? I’m not like anyone that lives here... I have no one to ask for help.”
She lifts her arm looking to a small computer that was moulded to fit around her arm, she turning it off and opening a compartment, taking a small memory card from it, she then walking over to a small contraption on the floor of her home, she placing the memory card inside of it and then turning it on. The tiny robot booting up, lifting itself up from its ragdoll like sleep and checking it’s joints to make sure everything was working, the voice that had been speaking to the young girl now coming from the small robot. “-Lumia you know I only worry about you. I’m your father after all I can’t help it-”
Lumia frowns as she turns away from the small robot, making her way over to a computer and sitting down in front of it, the small robot spinning around on its wheels and following after her, the young girl speaking to the robot as she begins to power up her computer. “You’re not my father... you’re just a program that was made by him... my real father is out there somewhere, and I’m going to find him.”
The small robot circles the chair that Lumia right now sits in. “-I’m much more than that, I was created to take his place, I have his research, his memories, I even synthesize his voice perfectly!-”
Lumia doesn’t seem interested in what the program had to say, these all things that she knew. “You don’t ‘worry about me’ You have to actually be a living thing to be able to do that.” It had been several years now since Lumia’s father had left home and gone missing, leaving her in the care of this odd program he has created to take his place. Instead of lust continuing on and accepting a silly little program as her dad Lumia had instead been searching for him ever since waking to find him gone.
She stops the small robot from circling around her chair by blocking its path with her foot. “Now can you help me out here? This is important, we already know the True Bloods and the Domestic Military are after that same thing that was in Dad’s files, if either the True Bloods or the Domestics get that weapon do you know what will happen to everyone? To the entire world? We have to think of something to keep them both from getting it.”
The small robot backs up, turning around and zooming away from the computer. “-I will make dinner for you-”
Lumia calls out after the small droid annoyed. “Oh come on can’t you do that later?” She gets no response as she watches the robot drive into the kitchen. “At least give me the files that you managed to get when you hacked into the military mainframe today.”
The small robot rolls back over to her, stopping in front of the computer and plugging a USB cord into it, the files that he had downloaded now copying onto the computer, Lumia looking back at them and beginning to read through them. “Thank you Daddy.”
She pauses when coming across some files of members related to project 1502. “Teddy Conner, doesn’t this guy live in our building?”
The small robot answers her question. “-Teddy Conner occupies the third apartment on the fourth floor. He moved in exactly two years and sixty four days ago.-”
Lumia looks up at the ceiling, that being the apartment right above them. “I thought he was just a security guard... I didn’t know he worked at one of the military labs! All this time I thought he was a mall cop or something. It’s a small world.” She closes his file opening another. “So then... this is her... subject #2800356... wow is she ever pretty.” She frowns to herself, as she reads over the document in front of her. “It doesn’t look like she’s been appointed a permanent guard yet.” She sighs to herself. “I wonder who they’re going to appoint to that. No doubt the best they got on hand right?”
She pauses for a moment going back to Teddy’s file and opening it, the voice that could be heard from the speakers coming from the kitchen. “-Logically, with someone as important as her, they’re going to be appointing someone from the military-”
Lumia doesn’t look up from her monitor. “Yeah... but I bet it would be really convenient for us if someone that lives in the same building as us happened to get the position.” She stretches her fingers before getting to work. “His work record is clean and pretty good to begin with, I’ll hardly have to do any touch ups at all!”
“-Just what exactly are you doing now?-”
Lumia smiles as she begins ‘fixing’ Teddy’s files. “Just fixing something up, and then putting in a few recommendations. Then with a little luck, we’ll have ourselves an inside man to this whole situation!”
“-It’s going to take more than just a patch job to his files for him to get picked up. Mark my words, a prisoner this important is getting a member of the military to look after him. Mr. Conner would have to do something pretty extraordinary for them to change their minds-”
