It started as a sunny day.
Lush clouds sparsely patterned throughout the vast blue skyline. She raised her paw over to the sun, a paw smaller than she remembered. Screams erupted from the background, and next she knew, someone hurriedly carried her away. Faceless soldiers with rail rifles ransacked stands, with VTOLs flying above them and blaring incessant noise that hurt her ears.
The soldiers marched forward, each shoulder carried the helmed emblem that she later learned belonged to Spartan inc. They fired wild into the fleeing crowds, furs falling to their knees just out of the corner of her eye as someone ran off with her. She could still feel the weightlessness that came from the fall as her carrier jumped down the platforms to escape. Words jumbled into a mix of swears and pleading for silence.
The bunny hadn't even realized she was crying.
As they hid from the sunlight, her carrier pulled her from her back and looked the rabbit deep into her eyes. A face so recognizable, yet unfamiliar stared back at her, tired eyes and scars that tore away her black fur. The mother she never knew. A memory she couldn't keep close. A nightmare that kept coming.
Her mouth moved, but the baby rabbit didn't hear the words. She reached for her mother's face, the teary eyes that pushed her hand away and let her down into the garbage. Covering her whilst the running of heavy boots closed in. She cried out, but no one came.
Skiv couldn't remember what happened next. Her dreams never answered.
***
The black rabbit awoke in a cold sweat. She felt her body slowly sink into something soft, softer than any matt she'd ever slept on. Her body had been blanketed by warm fabrics over her, and the ceiling above her looked clean. Too clean to be home.
She covered her eyes to the bright light from the windows as she shot up. With a rub, Skiv adjusted them, only to open wide in shock as she stared out the windows to see not the squalor and filth of her home, but high buildings with no sign of decay or disrepair.
Out of the bed, Skiv pressed her hand against the glass window and looked further. Below she could see hundreds of furs moving around without a care. At least, she assumed they were furs. They all looked so tiny from where she stood. No place was so high in the slums. The slums weren't so clean either. Had she been captured? The last thing she remembered was Drips standing over her with a gun.
Drips!
She scoured around the room. Bigger than any container or spot she made her home, and filled with strange models and other nicknacks like posters and a single desk with a chair. No sign that anyone else had been in there recently, making Skiv wonder just how long she'd been out.
The first thing that made her smile was a strange looking sword. Didn't seem balanced, but she'd never complained about that before. Picking it up, however, turned her smile to distaste as the grip turned out to be too soft and the actual metal of the blade wasn't metal at all. Some kind of prop.
``What kind of prison-'' she stopped talking as she turned to the door, eyes wide at the helmed emblem of Spartan marked her exit. Fear and rage boiled under her skin and fur, her grip tearing into the foam handle of the fake sword.
Where was she? Skiv moved her hands over her body. Her rags were gone, replaced with some kind of teal gown that didn't cover her backside, and undergarments that by all accounts should have felt tighter but the material had her barely feeling them. She didn't feel any pain in her limbs or any scars from the shots she'd taken. The rabbit had woken up in a bed too comfy to exist, in clothes she barely felt, without wounds and looking out into what she had to imagine was classed society. And with the symbol of her most hated corp on the exit of her room.
Skiv could really use a knife right now.
Swallowing her fear and cooling her rage with a breath, Skiv stripped the gown off of herself and rolled it into a knotted rope of sorts. Hopefully, she could get the drop on someone to choke them out. Stepping quietly to the door, her ears twitched to alert as it slid open. She jumped back, having the door close. A few more back and forth steps revealed to her that the doors were motion-sensitive, which only had the rabbit roll her eyes.
``Can't even be bothered to open your own doors, facking classed jacks,'' she muttered while she stepped silently through the door. The halls were bland but clean, feeling cold to her feet as she minded her pace. She kept an eye out for cameras, but logic told her that classed bastards were probably already watching her escape. The only reason she didn't book it was because they hadn't sent guards. That fact gave her hope they hadn't noticed her leave her strange cell just yet.
Taking a left, she entered a room that didn't deserve the moniker. A wide-open space stretched out before her, with a second-floor railing above and a fireplace built into the pillar in the middle of the room. The walls were littered with pictures held in exotic frames, some depicting military victories, other frames holding tattered flags, and weapons.
Small bladeless handles were on display on one such wall. Despite being in enemy territory, her curiosity got the better of her as Skiv reached for one. Pressing the button, a short and crimson light formed from the handle. The rabbit stared at the blade, mesmerized by the harsh glow. Her fingers twitched as she reached for the blade.
``I wouldn't touch that,'' a feminine voice said, ``You're bound to lose a finger.''
Skiv turned, the blade pointing in the direction she heard the voice. An older raccoon woman stood across the room, wearing a black dress with a white apron and a leather collar locked around her neck. She smiled, unafraid of the weapon in the rabbit's hand as she held her hands together across her hips.
``W-who are you?'' Skiv muttered, cursing herself for the stutter. She didn't need people knowing she was afraid. The only thing she had over classed bastards was their own cowardice to pain. Why else would they hire and train soldiers if not to protect their big fancy houses and keep them out of harm's way? The few she had met in her excursions to classed holes were easy enough to work over. Just draw a knife, give a threat, and they start running the opposite way.
The raccoon walked towards her, ``My name is Mallory B. Harris, personal and head maid of the Karbon family,'' the glare in her glasses had Skiv gripping the knife tighter, ``That you are holding is a hard light kopis manufactured by Brokkr arms. Alfred Karbon had received it as a gift for his accomplishments on Jotun. I would advise you to put it back.''
``Where am I?'' Skiv demanded, pacing away from the approaching raccoon. Her free hand reaching for a gun or something else she could defend herself.
``All firearms on display have their firing mechanisms removed,'' Mallory said in a sickeningly sweet tone, ``As for where you are, you are currently in Atlantis on the planet Posei-''
``I know the name of my city, black tongue!'' Skiv shouted, ``I want to know where this,'' she waved her free hand to the room around her, ``is. Why am I here, where's Drips, and what did you do with my clothes?''
The coon tilted her head and raised her brow, ``Black tongue? That's a new one. Can you explain the reasoning behind the phrase?''
``I'm asking the questions, you bootlicker!''
She chuckled, ``Ah, the black must be shoe polish. As for your questions,'' she stepped closer, her pace unwavering in the face of the knife, ``In no particular order, you are in the residence of the Karbon family, the heads of Spartan inc. Your clothes were filthy and I had them burned, as well as requiring everything in the immediate area to be disinfected. I have no idea who this, `Drips', is so I cannot help you there. As for why you are here, I am still awaiting a more detailed answer, but you have been seen fit to become property of the Karbon family, and the Karbon's take care of their property.''
Property? Skiv grit her teeth. She wasn't anyone's property, especially not some high-class facker who never knew a real struggle. ``You're gonna get me some clothes,'' she widened her stance and held her knife at the ready, ``And get me out of here.''
The maid's expression told Skiv she was suppressing the urge to laugh, ``And why would I do that?''
``Cause I'm armed, you stu-'' The raccoon closed the distance before Skiv could finish. A swift open palm slammed into her gut, the sudden impact knocking the rabbit to her back. She pulled the knife away before Mallory could grab it, using the momentum to roll with the ground and get back to her feet. Threats didn't work, time to fill them out.
Skiv jumped and stabbed at the raccoon, missing only by a hair's breadth. She swung again and again, each strike coming so close only for the maid to dodge the last second. The rabbit had been in enough fights to know that no one waited that long to dodge unless they were really good, or really lucky. From the smirk on the coon's face, she fell in the former.
Mallory only struck when they came too close to a display, pushing the Rabbit back to her feet and moving the fight to the open space. Skiv narrowly dodged the raccoon's kicks, having to force herself on the offensive to keep the maid from attacking.
``You're sloppy, but at least you're holding the knife correctly,'' the maid said, catching Skiv's arm and twisting it, ``I'd figured a third class citizen would be holding it in reverse like they do in those ridiculous vids.''
Skiv grunted at the pain, but didn't let go of the knife. ``What did you call me?'' she asked.
``Third-'' Skiv slammed the back of her head into the maid's snout. The first rule of a fight Skiv knew was that you don't talk. Talking waste focus, as seen by the first hit Skiv got in that made the maid lose her grip. Spinning around, Skiv stabbed her blade towards the coon's shoulder blade to hinder the bitch.
Instead, she got a swift kick to the gut, much stronger than the maid should have been. She flew back several feet, slamming into a couch and hearing a crack. The rabbit wasn't sure if that was the frame of the couch, or her own bones breaking.
Mallory smiled as she wiped the blood from her nose, ``I'll give you credit there, third class. I let myself get too confident.'' she changed her stance, arms out and knees bent, ``I do not like to burden my master's bills with a slave's medical fees, but I will if you do not surrender. Last chance, third class.''
Skiv's body ached as she stood up, but the adrenaline had been making short work on the pain. She returned to her stance, laser knife in hand and eyes with deadly focus, ``I ain't a third class, bitch.'' she said.
``Oh really? You certainly fight better than them, but what else could you be?''
``I'm classless.''
The maid's eye twitched and her smile faded, ``Young master, what have you been up to?'' she muttered to herself. Not that Skiv cared, charging in with her knife ready to carve her up. Something clicked in the maid, and in the blink of an eye Skiv saw the coon's fist in her face. She dodged by an inch, only for a knee to bury itself in her gut, lifting her into the air and finally causing her to drop the knife. Hands grabbed her head, pulling Skiv down to the hard floor with a heavy thud that knocked the wind out of her.
On reflex, Skiv threw a punch to the raccoon when she could, aiming for her face. Mallory caught it and bent the rabbit's arm, forcing her belly against the floor as she restrained her. ``Get off of-?? Mallory?s arm wrapped around Skiv's throat, cutting her air supply off with strength that didn't belong in that lithe body.
``I don't know what lie you told the young master, but it ends here, bitch.'' The raccoon spat as she pulled Skiv up while choking her, ``The master wasted enough of his allowance on your gene cleanse, but I'll do my best to make sure you don't live long enough to enjoy its benefits.''
Skiv kicked the air wild. Hoping for any footing or push to break the grasp or give her an edge. What kind of maid was this? Skiv wasn't a weakling, and she'd broken out of grips from much bigger thugs. So why couldn't she escape this bitch? She blinked, eyes slowly blacking out as she looked for an escape of some kind. Anything to give her an edge. The rabbit slammed her free elbow into the maid's side, but it felt like she was hitting rubber.
``Do not fuck with the Karbon's, classless.'' Mallory muttered.
``Mallory! What are you-Stop!'' a familiar voice roared in panic. The maid dropped Skiv, who reached for her neck to soothe the pain as she gasped for air. She coughed, gagging on her own spit as she looked over to who called out to them.
Drips stood on the second-floor walkway. Only, it wasn't Drips. The fox looked like him, but he was cleaner and wearing a fresh shirt and shorts that didn't look like they've ever been dirtied. He raced down to the floor, and Skiv ran to him when he hit the final step.
``Drips, we need to go,'' she said. Skiv had questions for how he was dressed, but that was for later. Right now they needed to get away from the psycho maid and these freakish classers.
``You are not going anywhere,'' the maid said.
Skiv put Drips behind her, ``If you think I'm gonna let you hurt him, you got another thing coming.'' she prepped a stance again, ``Drips, I need you to stay behind me. This lady is stronger than she looks.''
``Skiv,'' Drips put his hand to her shoulder, ``It's ok, Mallory won't hurt us.''
``Bruises on my neck say otherwise, Drips. And...'' she blinked, looking over to him, ``How...how do you know her name?''
He sighed, ``Mallory, please stand down. Skiv is under my authority.''
The maid shook her head, ``Young Master, as your maid it is my duty to put the safety of the household above all else. This, classless, is a danger.''
``Skiv isn't a danger. I owe her my life.''
``Hold up,'' Skiv said, ``The fuck is she calling you `young master' Drips? And why are you so clean?''
``Oh come now,'' Mallory said, ``I know the classless aren't educated, but surely you aren't stupid,''
Skiv balled her fists at that line, ``You want me to rip out your tongue?''
``Yours is more likely, but I have just cleaned these floors and I do not wish to scar young master Eric to such graphic violence.''
``Eric?'' Skiv blinked, then turned back to Drips, only she couldn't see Drips anymore. No, this clean foxboy, while cute, wasn't the Drips she knew. He was a stranger who went by Eric Karbon.
Drips was a lie.
***
This was not how Eric pictured this situation would turn out. Though, in hindsight, the fox should have stayed in his room with Skiv while waiting for her to wake up. The surgery on top of the gene cleanse had taken a lot out of her. Combined with the wounds she had, he didn't expect her to just wake up right away.
And she didn't. She'd been asleep in his room for over a day. Could he really be blamed for not being there when she finally woke up? He had to use the bathroom, and...well waiting was boring so he went to his den to jack in and play some games as time went by. How was he supposed to know Skiv would cause a wreck?
Because it was Skiv and she was in a classed house, that's why.
``Mallory, can you please leave us?'' he asked the head maid. The raccoon's smile didn't give him any sign that she would listen, not that he could blame her given the damage to the couch. If he could, he'd have just taken Skiv back to his room. But judging from the rage burning behind the rabbit's blue eyes, she wasn't going anywhere with him until he explained everything. It's a miracle he got her to take a seat on the couch at all, despite Mallory's clear dislike of it.
``Young Master,'' Mallory cleared her throat, ``It is my duty as the head maid of the Karbon household to put the safety of the estate and the family above all else. Leaving you alone with this...'' her smile didn't fade, but the utter contempt in her brown eyes were obvious as they stared down to Skiv, ``Classless hooligan, goes directly against my oath.''
``More like programming,'' Skiv scoffed from her chair. Eric couldn't tell if she was angry at him, the maid, or the chair itself. Probably all three if he had to guess, but he wished she'd just keep her feelings inside rather than wear them on her sleeves like she always did. This wasn't the slums, and Skiv wasn't stupid. Uneducated sure, but not stupid, the rabbit could always read a room. ``Why don't you act like a good drone and just do what your `master' says?''
``If you think you can rattle me with petty insults, you are sorely mistaken,'' Mallory said, hands behind her back to hide the tense fists she was no doubt making, ``The young master's safety comes over my own concerns. It is only by his, no doubt manipulated, concern for you that I don't snap your neck and dispose of you in a furnace.''
Skiv grit her teeth, ``I'd like to see you try.''
``I'll be more than happy to strangle you from the front rather than behind,''
``You're just lucky I didn't know you had some augments. If I had known that, I would have fought differently.''
The raccoon nodded, ``Yes, you'd be dead for I'd have no reason to hold back.''
``Enough!'' Eric shouted, ``Just...'' he sighed and rubbed his temple, ``Can you both stop fighting for a second so I can think of how to explain this?''
``You mean how to remove yourself from fault, young master.'' Mallory oh so frustratingly called him out, ``As it is clear that I am not the only one who has been lied to about this `situation' as it were.''
``Oh? You gonna let your slave talk back to you like that?'' Skiv grinned, ``You gonna go grab a prod and teach her why you don't insult your betters, like the classed filth you are?''
``What?'' he blinked, ``No! Thor's sake, Skiv, you know me.''
``I `knew' Drips, not this Eric Carton.''
``Karbon,'' Mallory corrected, ``What sort of name is Drips anyway?''
``Cause he wet his pants when I found him after a flood.'' Skiv chuckled, ``Could smell the urine on him.''
``That's not-'' he blushed as he tried to calm himself, ``Ok,'' he held both his hands out like stop signs to figuratively hold the two ladies back. Clapping them together, he turned to the black rabbit first, ``Skiv, there's a whole lot I need to unpack and it'll take more time than right now, so-''
``Oh,'' Skiv crossed her legs, firmly hiding the imprint of her cock from her underwear, ``I've got all the time in the world apparently. Not that I `like' being in a prison.''
Mallory rolled her eyes, ``A prison better than whatever hovel you called home.''
``Well it was mine.''
``Until someone with more friends or a better weapon came to kick you out.''
Skiv gave a smirk, ``I was the kicker, bitch.''
He sighed, this wasn't working. Taking a deep breath, Eric pondered over his next words carefully. Nothing clever came, only the truth that Mallory, and by extension his family, would discover eventually. He could probably leave out the forged documents, that seems like something his father would overlook. The man signs so many documents daily that they have to blur in his mind.
``Mallory, there's more to what Skiv says to the truth behind my name. Do you remember when I was swept away by a tide in the lower districts three months ago?''
She nodded, the memory not a fun one for her, ``Yes, young master. I was worried sick and was on ready to inform your mother and father the worst when you called me. You had told me you found safety in one of the shops,'' she peered over to him, gazing through the fox's form, ``Am I to know that was a lie as well?''
Nodding, he continued, ``Yes. In truth, I had been washed through the sewers and into the classless territories below. I...'' he gulped, ``I thought I was going to die down there, and I was almost killed by this rhino. Skiv saved me, though I was more or less a distraction for her. Either way, she repaid me in helping me find my way to the sewer tunnels, after I told-''
``Lied,'' Skiv corrected him.
``Lied to her about being from the east side and getting washed away. Ever since then, I've been seeing Skiv at least once a week.''
``You've been...willingly going into the outskirts?'' Mallory blinked, eyes wide in shock, ``How? Why?''
Eric gave a weak smile and scratched his head, ``Well...the network security for access down there isn't that strong, probably `cause the classless can't really get datajacks or have any proper way of using them. Honestly, it's kind of lowtech. As for why...'' he blushed, ``I wanted to see her again, and again...''
Both looked at him, dumbfounded. Skiv's facial fur had a soft blush underneath it, but she tried turning away from him to hide it. She was mad at him, and he couldn't blame her for it. Part of him wished he could, but that was just the shitty side of him that didn't want to feel blame for his actions. Mallory still carried the utter shock, and he could only imagine it was because the youngest of the three children she practically raised herself, the one who had no aspirations, had been sneaking out into the outskirts all this time. Eric wasn't sure if she was more angry at him, or herself. The shitty side hoped it was herself, that way she might leave him alone for a bit.
``Ok,'' Skiv broke the silence, ``That explains why you know me. But not what I want to know. Why, the fack, am I here?''
``And why did you tell me your acquisition was a third class?'' Mallory asked, ``I had my suspects given her wounds, but third classers are commonly caught in crossfires for criminal activity so it was possible.''
``Acquisition?'' Skiv's face looked to him with confusion, ``The fack does that mean?''
The blood drained from Eric's face as he tried to process that, ``W-well, you see you were really hurt. Probably dying from internal bleeding and...well...I didn't want you to die, but I couldn't pay for the proper medical care just out of my allowance, and the family insurance covers servants so-''
``Servants?'' the rabbit blinked, her voice quivering, ``You...'' fingers dug deep enough into the couch for Mallory to try and comment, if not for Eric's hand stopping her, ``You...you facking bought me?''
He shrugged, ``I mean...bought implies you had a price tag, and well classless don't so,''
``I'm not for sale!'' Skiv screamed, shooting up from her chair but standing still. Mallory stood between both her and Eric in a split second, guarding him from the rabbit's wrath.
``You were dying,'' he explained, ``What was I supposed to do? Let you die in my arms?''
``And enslaving me is any better?'' she asked, ``Why not just lock a collar around me like miss robot over here?''
``Oh sure,'' Eric answered with a sarcasm coated tongue, ``Cause you would have woken up so much better with a collar round your neck.''
Skiv reached for him, only for the maid to catch her hand and spin around her, locking it behind her back and slamming her to the floor, ``While I do not agree with the young master's actions, you will show him proper gratitude for saving your worthless life.''
``It was my life!'' she screamed, ``He didn't have the right to take it!''
``You're classless, you have no right to say no.''
``You that facking brainwashed? You sorry sack of,'' Mallory tightened her grip before Skiv could finish.
``Can you two stop?!'' Eric roared, ``Mallory, let her go.''
``And risk her clawing out your eyes? Not a chance, young master. The surgery for cybernetic eyes is extensive and it would ruin your face in my opinion.''
The rabbit grunted under the coon, ``Since when do your masters give a flying,'' Mallory squeezed again, ``FACK! I'm going to kill you!'' Skiv threatened.
Sighing, Eric couched down to Skiv, ``Skiv, I really hate to say this, but Mallory is stronger than you. She's not just a maid, she's the last line of defence to the Karbon household. Right now she's holding back immensely from killing you. I know you hate me right now, I don't blame you. But I do not regret saving your life, and it's not like you have to be my sla...my servant forever. You can buy it off.''
``Oh?'' she forced a chuckle, ``So slaves get salaries now? I thought they were just free labor?''
``Specific tasks net a payment. Like being, say, a bodyguard,'' Eric smiled.
``Young master, if you wanted a bodyguard then your father would be happy to,''
``Mallory,'' Eric stared her dead in the eyes, ``I'm sorry, but shut up and get off of her.''
``She will kill you if I do.''
Eric took a deep breath, ``Skiv, will you kill me if Mallory lets go?''
The rabbit took several breaths, and a grunt before answering with a quiet, ``No.''
``Will you hurt me?''
She looked at him with daggers but answered, ``No.''
``Well,'' he laid out his hands to the two, ``Let her go.''
Mallory did as commanded, letting Skiv free to stand before the young fox. Eric could tell she wanted to hurt him right now, but there was something else behind the rage. A sadness in her blue eyes that hurt him more than any strike she could land. Not that he was looking to test that theory.
``Skiv,'' he pointed to his room, ``Go back to my room and rest up. I'll bring you something to eat.'' He ordered. Her scowl didn't make him feel any better, but she followed along with his demand, massaging the arm Mallory grabbed as she walked over. When she was out of view, Mallory spoke up.
``You realize that I must modify my report now,'' she said.
The fox took a deep breath, ``I am aware, Mallory. Thank you for not killing her.''
``Be mindful of her, young master,'' the raccoon warned, ``The classless have no respect for your stature. Classless slaves, in my mind, aren't fit to even set foot into a first class household unless they are modded to follow commands like machines. She is a wild one, you must see that.''
``I do, Mallory,'' he said. It was why he loved Skiv. She was the only person that treated him without considering his rank or family. Granted, that was because she didn't know it and he didn't tell her. Now she did, and...and he didn't know what he was going to do.
``Please take care of this mess,'' Eric ordered as he made his way out of the living room. Once in the hallway, he made a note to tag the maid's messenger so he could intercept and alter the report she'd be sending out. No use dad knowing about the documents signed in his name just yet.
If ever.
