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Counter Earth Chronicles

Chapter 142: That Which Survives (All Of Our Tomorrows Were Yesterday Part Four)

Day 1061 (Thursday morning, Lady Ursa's Lair)

"How are you feeling mistress?" I said looking into the eyes of my perfect person.

"A little better pet."

"Well your fever has broken and you don't sound so hoarse." I said placing my paw on her forehead.

"It helps when you don't have microbots inside trying to kill you Alex."

"Yes, they should have gotten you a long time ago, but you hung on and fought with every last ounce of your strength."

"How are Lea and Lian?" My warrior bear asked.

"Like you recovering, I visited them admits the many life celebrations and remembrance ceremonies yesterday evening. He is staying in her apartment, by the way who is filling in for her during her absence?"

"Billy, he stopped by yesterday evening, and ran some sort of ultraviolet light over me to make sure that all the microbots had been disabled."

"Was the treatment regimen the same?" I asked.

"Yes pet, everyone has been ordered to drink plenty of fluids in order to flush those things from our bodies."

"So excrete, excrete and excrete as much as you can." I see looking at her gold eyes.

"I can't wait to get back to duty." My she beast said.

"Whoa, slow down there my warrior. You have been through literally hell the last few weeks and you just can't instantly recover. Rest, that is an order." I said kissing her on her snout.

"Alex, are you giving me orders now?!"

"Err, um, anyway I have to go- I am on assignment today. The knight core is hunting 'revelers' per the High Evolutionary's directive."

"Fine. I will still be here excreting when you get back my bear pouted."

"You know you are beautiful when you urinate." I said giving her another kiss before heading out.

I headed toward the science wing of the castle looking for my partner for today's mission. I didn't find him but, I did witness the fate of the first 'revelers' that had been judged and now were receiving their punishment.

"I have the latest prisoners sir." An avian knight said to the goat who was dressed in a white lab coat.

"Bring them in." Billy ordered as he studied his pad at the other end of the lab.

The eagle brought in a human female and her child. Both appeared to have had very rough lives. Their clothing was frumpy, old and worn like it hadn't been changed in sometime, the two also looked like they could use a bath. The junior knight had them sit side by side in reclining lab chairs. As he did he made sure each was comfortable and then nodded to the goat at the far end of the room.

"They are ready sir."

"Very well. Thank you Soar." The beastial scientist said pressing a button on his pad.

"Hey goat why are we here?" The woman asked angrily.

"The name is Billy, I am one of the scientists here."

"I see Billy Goat. Charmed I'm sure." The woman who had dark hair, a thin figure and appeared to be in her forties said.

"Momma what is going on?" Her daughter who looked to be preteen asked.

"What is the last thing you remember?" The beastial scientist asked walking over to the mother and daughter duo.

"My daughter and I were sleeping in the hallway of our building when we were awakened by the knights, captured and dragged in front of the high mucky muck." The brunette said.

"We were judged and sent here." The blond preadolescent said as the beastial scientist scanned her and her mother's tracking chip.

"Well miss Rita Mallow age 42 unemployed and sympathizer of the resistance and daughter Lita Mallow age 13 also unemployed and supporter of the resistance do you know why?"

"I honestly don't know Mr. Goat." The woman said as she squirmed in her seat.

"Do you remember the Great Sickness?"

"Yes, the epidemic that nearly wiped out you animal people?" The little girl said.

"Yes you were observed celebrating our pending demise during that dark period." The goat said crossing his arms.

"We were?" The brunette asked innocently.

"Yes, you were." Billy said placing his pad in front of the two females. "This was taken from the rooftop of the building you inhabit in the basement."

The woman and her daughter looked at the images and video the goat was showing them.

"I believe that is you and your daughter holding a large banner amidst the other revelers. The lettering and characters are quite distinctive and visible from this angle too."

The woman and her daughter made a loud audible gasp as Sir Ram's protégé read the banner's message.

"Good bye animal overlords. Counter Earth is for humans only!"

"But we weren't the only ones at that party!" Lita complained.

"We know that. You were just the first to be caught." Billy said as the two females struggled in their chairs.

"What is going to happen to us?" The little girl screamed.

"You are going to be punished for your actions which border on rebellion Lita Mallow." The goat said addressing her. "I was teetering on experimentation but I am now thinking about reprogramming- scientist's choice of course and don't you even think about trying to escape now. I designed those chairs to be quite comfortable and to restrict the movements of my test subjects." The goat grinned wickedly as his newly acquired play things as screamed.

"I'm sorry Mr. Goat! I promise from this day forward to be a productive citizen and to support the empire completely and fully!" The disheveled woman said.

"No." The goat said looking at his tracking chip scanner. "According to this you have a deep seated hatred of the High Evolutionary, the empire and his creations- all of us. It is the prime motivation for your anarchic actions. It is too late for you."

The woman looked at the goat with such hatred, shock and disbelief.

"But it is not too late for your daughter though- despite having such a horrible role model. Yes, I have something special for you my dear. Something special indeed."

"Something special?" Lita whimpered.

"You are going to find out what it is like to be one of us." The goat scientist said reading her tracking chip.

"But I heard you animals had not had any luck turning humans into beastials?" The little girl gasped.

"100% complete beastials no. But 87% will be close enough he sneered."

"NO!!" The women screamed.

"Something I can do for you Mr. Winter?" Billy looked up from his lab experiments.

I was dumbfounded and sickened from what I had witnessed.

"Hey you!" The woman screamed at me. "Don't just stand there! Help us!"

(Was this what the master meant when he said he was going to punish those who danced in the streets as beastial kind was dying?)

"Mr. Winter?" The goat asked.

"Oh yes, I am looking for Sir Ram we are on assignment today." I said ignoring the horrified woman's pleas.

"He is most likely in the loading area. He left for there about twenty minutes ago." The goat said as he casually produced a large needle and presented it to the preadolescent.

"Ok thanks." I said walking toward the door of the lab.

"Now I am going to begin rewriting your DNA for you transformation try not to scream.... too much...." Billy said to Lita as I left the room.

I found Sir Ram in the loading dock of the castle waiting for me in the silver prototype.

"It took you long enough to get here boy!" The evil beastial said as I took my place in the passenger seat.

"I saw something I found truly disturbing Sir Ram." I said placing my hand on the dashboard.

*Recognized Alex Winter Specialist Castle Wundagore*

"You mean the first wave of 'revelers' being punished?" The ram said clearing his throat.

"Yes." I said looking at him.

"Don't you dare begin feeling sorry for them, they have decided a long time ago that beastials are the enemy and that those who support them are also the enemy." The he beast responded.

(Maybe so, but it was still disturbing.)

"So specifically what is our mission today sir knight?" I asked as the ram knight powered on the prototype and we left the loading dock.

"Surveillance boy. We will be helping the master's forces hunt down all revelers who were seen celebrating beastials' pending demise."

"You mean in addition to hunting down the remainder of the rebellion and pockets of lawlessness as well."

*Until further notice, it is the knight core's prime directive.* The automated assistant announced.

"The other two prototypes have the exact same mission specialist."

*They have been deployed at the north end and the west end of the city. You have been assigned the east and south.*

"Seems pretty straight forward. But how are we going to identify targets?" I asked.

"Mara has uploaded footage the knight core captured during the Great Sickness to the automated assistants in each of the prototypes. They are programmed to alert when the probe identifies any second class citizen during surveillance."

(That is ingenious.)

We soon arrived at the east side of the city and landed the silver coupe on a roof top of a eight story building overing looking the basement.

Sir Ram gave me a devilish look as if to say, let's hunt some humans. I pressed the third toggle switch on the weapons console. As the keyboard and monitor deployed from the glove box. I started typing.

*Surveillance probe deployed.*

"Ok boy let's see what you can see."

I carefully locked the probe's camera on to a busy intersection below, we watched and waited. The automated assistant examined each face of the passers by on the street below and compared them to the footage on file.

Meanwhile the evil beastial seated next to me smiled quite devilishly. Probably wondering how many pre-rebels we would take down today.

"This is point one to point two, three, four and five." Sir Ram said speaking into his communicator. "We are in position."

"Point two here ready and waiting."

"Point three here as well."

"Point four waiting in the shadows."

"Point five ready for the take down, just point me in a direction."

*Target identified.* The automated assistant said zeroing in on two adolescents.

"Bring it up over here." Sir Ram ordered me.

"Right." I said transferring the image to the main monitor.

"This is point one to all other points the two adolescent boys in sweatshirts, dark pants and boots about to cross the intersection!" The beastial knight barked into his communicator.

I watched as two junior knights, a female moose and a male gazelle walked up behind the two teens. The gazelle fired his weapon which was set on paralysis. A flash of light hit the adolescents and they froze right where they were walking.

No sooner had that happened a transport vehicle drove up, the targets were tossed in and driven away to Castle Wundgore to be judged and punished.

I watched it happen again and again over the next several hours, humans who were identified as revelers, were snatched right from the streets, parks, restaurants and apartments.

Next was a blond haired woman, then a blond haired man, then a family. Then two cousins while their friend they were with was initially placed in the transport vehicle with them, but removed when the automated assistant confirmed that she had not been with the other two celebrating during the beastial's darkest hour.

See I told you! She said to the two prisoners, they are ALWAYS watching!

Three hours had gone by during our mission. I watched as the evil beastial smiled demonically with each successive capture.

"Identify any more targets boy?" The beastial scientist asked clearing his throat.

"No Sir Ram- it has quieted down." I said panning the camera on the probe.

"Or word has leaked out that it is hunting season." The he beast said trading glances with me.

"We captured quite a lot of targets today Sir Ram." I said as I eyed a fox couple walking up the street a block from our operation holding paws.

"Yes we did as did our colleagues."

"What do you think will happen to all those captures?" I said as a continued to watch the couple.

(Those two look so familiar where have I seen them?)

"Reprogramming or conditioning although I hope, I can have a few. I would like to replicate some experiments Billy was working on."

I should have been disturbed by what the beastial warrior seated next to me had said. But I was only half listening to what he had said to me; I was transfixed on that cute fox couple out for a stroll. I knew I had seen them somewhere but where?

The female was wearing a red sweater and tan pants and her companion was wearing a green sweater with blue pants.

That was when my mind cycled back to my mission with Sir Ram nearly three years ago tracking one of his escaped man-beast experiments into Great Forest.

"NO FRIGGING WAY!!!"

"Yes way boy." The ram said indignantly.

"Not that! Sir Ram! Fushia and Zed. It is Fushia and Zed!!"

"What are you going on about?!" The evil beastial said turning to me.

"I think I just saw them!"

"That is not possible, 001 devoured them almost three years ago."

"I swear it was them!" I said returning to the footage of the street corner below. But in that instant they were gone.

"You must be mistaken, how could the dead come back to life?"

"Indeed." I said eyeing the prejudiced beastial.

*Sir Ram I have an incoming communication from the acting Watch Supervisor.*

"Put it through." The senior knight ordered the administrative assistant as the image of a nervous cheetah appeared on the upper left monitor in the center stack of the prototype.

"Yes Chemar."

"How goes the operation?" The mid-level knight asked.

"We successfully hunted down 43 so far. But I think word has gotten out that revelers are being targeted at our location." Sir Ram said.

"How is Sanda doing?" I asked the cheetah.

"Still recovering, the microbots had liquified about a third of his organs before they were incapacitated. He came close to joining the 16,188 here in World One that perished during the pandemic."

"But he didn't. What is the purpose of your call?" The ram said rather abruptly.

"I have a favor to ask- can you check on a friend of mine? I haven't heard from him in over two weeks. I would go myself but I am needed here."

What Chemar meant was that staffing was minimal as the Knights of Wundagore recovered from the Great Sickness.

"I assumed that you have tried contacting him as well?" Sir Ram asked.

"I have."

"Another missing person's report?" I gasped.

The nervous knight nodded.

"The last time I got involved in one of those, it didn't turn out so well." I said thinking about Flo.

"Fine Chemar, we could use the break, the boy thinks he is seeing the dead."

"Thanks, I am sending you the information now."

Chemar sent us to check up on his friend Shadow Guigna a kodkod. Who lived near the eastern boundary of the city. He had last spoken to him just after the outbreak weeks ago but nothing since, despite repeated calls.

According to the knight core files Shadow had entered the knight core around the same time as Chemar, but found the job too hard, taxing and emotionally draining. He opted to become a weather scientist instead.

After recalling the probe back to the silver coupe, the he beast piloted the prototype to the far east side of the city, a heavily wooded neighborhood of nice upscale houses that were near a forested area. You could easily tell that those that lived here could afford to live here and wanted to live there.

He landed the silver coupe in a long driveway of a two level grey home which had a several trees and creek running through the grounds.

"Nice place." I said as Sir Ram and I got out of the prototype.

The big horned sheep motioned me to stay put while he went and chimed the door. There was no answer. That was when the senior knight commanded the door to open on his authority.

"Shadow!" Sir Ram called into the nice house. Still there was no response.

"AA deploy the probe but do not launch it." I said as I joined the ram warrior in the house. "Scan the area."

*Affirmative Mr. Winter.*

Sir Ram and I went room to room of the house looking for the missing kodkod. The house was of a much older design with a hallway and the living room, dining room, family room and kitchen branching off of it. While rather nice, it wasn't to my liking, I preferred a much more modern design.

Sir Ram and I had made it as far as the kitchen when the automated assistant summoned us.

*Sir Ram, Mr. Winter I think I found Mr. Guigna*

"Where?" I asked trading glances with Sir Ram.

*A thousand feet behind the house.*

"In the woods?" I said.

"Behind me boy." Sir Ram ordered me taking lead.

We entered the small forest behind the house where the boundary of the city ended. That was where we found the kodkod- he looked like a small spotted cheetah, with a bushy tail and black streaks on the top of his flat head. Shadow was lying on the ground eyes shut mouth opened.

Sir Ram kneeled at the fallen beastial and used his communicator to scan him.

"He died during the outbreak." The beastial scientist said. "He is covered in microbots."

We returned to the house to find a blanket to cover Shadow's remains, that was after the big horned sheep made sure the microbots were inert.

"Shouldn't we just call this in?" I asked.

"Yes, contact the one of the hospitals, tell them that we found another unfortunate victim of the outbreak."

"And you?"

The he beast just stared at me.

"Right you get to tell Chemar that his friend is dead."

The nearest hospital said that they would send over a healer to collect the remains. So while Sir Ram spoke to the watch supervisor, I locked up the house.

As I approached, the ram warrior was in a argument with Chemar.

"That is not possible! We found his body in a forest behind his home!"

"Then it is not him. He contacted me not 5 minutes ago." The cheetah protested.

"I am sending you a picture of what we found." The ram huffed.

The acting watch supervisor gasped when he received the picture.

"It is him." Chemar choked. "But then who was I talking to?!"

"It looks like you have a mystery on your paws watch supervisor." The evil beastial said ending the communication.

Sir Ram and I then resumed our assignment identifying even more revelers and assisting in their captures- essentially continuing the High Evolutionary's reign of terror taking down another 36 targets.

That evening after the conclusion of our assignment, I joined the the beastial warrior and his protégé on the observation ring of the castle to wind down after our shift.

"That had to be one of the weirdest missions I have ever gone on for the knight core." I said staring at my glass of water."

"Indeed boy." The ram said eating his salad. "What did the healer at the hospital discover?"

"The beastial that died in the woods was Shadow Guigna. His organs were liquified; he died during the outbreak as you suspected."

"So what about the imposter?" Billy asked.

"We don't know." The ram said to the goat. "I think Chemar is looking into that."

"So you said Chemar was adamant that that was his friend who contacted him. How could some beast both be alive and dead at the same time?" Billy muttered.

(That statement blew my mind.)

"Speaking of the dead being alive, I also swear I saw Zed and Fushia- two deceased beastial foxes as well."

"Boy they were devoured by 001 over two years ago." The beastial scientist huffed.

"I know, but I tell you it was them Sir Ram!"

"And Billy how was your day?" The big horned sheep said abruptly ending our conversation.

(Moron.)

"I heard that you had quite a busy day." He said to the younger scientist.

"Exhausting mentor; the master's order to punishment all 'revelers' has kept us in the science wing quite busy." The goat scientist said.

"How many revelers did you 'correct' today?" The ram warrior asked.

"Thirty."

"Yes, you were quite busy." I said. I was curious as to what punishments the goat scientist had given- reprogramming, conditioning, forced transformation or just experimentation? But on another front I was scared to ask.

"Alex saw my first 'clients' of the day. It turns out that the mother was a relative of Nikki Waters, you know that rebel that was punished for killing that bison beastial."

"Really Billy?" Sir Ram said.

"Cousins. Apparently hatred and intolerance runs in the family." The goat said nonchalantly as he dove into his salad.

"So what became of Lita Mallow?" I asked hesitantly, very hesitantly.

"No longer human- well completely human I mean." The goat beamed proudly. As Sir Ram and I looked on. "I turned her into a satyr."

"Did she retain her sentience?" The High Evolutionary's chief scientist said asking the younger scientist.

"All of it sir. I also had to slightly reprogram her as well to accept her new form- but Lita made a pretty satyr nice hooves, cute tail. I also made sure to color coordinate her horns with her brown fur."

"Well, I will be!" The big horned sheep said beaming with pride. "The student has surpassed the teacher. How long was the forced transformation?"

"About forty minutes, once I reprogrammed her DNA- it was pretty straight forward after that."

"Did you film it?" The evil beastial asked.

"Of course, I thought you would like to see it." The goat said showing us a pad he had brought with him. The footage was very, very disturbing.

Don't you touch her! Rita screamed at the goat.

Billy looked at the prejudiced human female and gently placed a paw-finger on Lita's stomach. That sent her mother into a fit of rage; the woman struggled in her binds trying to get free but couldn't.

It was at that point the goat scientist shot both mother and daughter with the clothes removal device ray. They were both naked on the restraint chairs in the lab.

My you are quite young. Sir Ram's protege said looking at the preadolescent girl.

Please!! Don't!! Lita pleaded.

Calm yourself human. You act as if your life is ending.

It's not?

No, only your human existence. The goat said as he injected some liquid substance into Lita's legs and abdomen with the needle he showed the girl earlier. You are going to become something else... someone else. He said nonchalantly as Rita gasped.

Fight it baby, fight it! Rita said.

There is nothing to fight. Ms. Mallow. As we speak her DNA is being rewritten, you will be transforming into something you hate very much- one of us. The goat said glaring at the mother indignantly. The transformation will be arduous and quite painful Lita but your mother and I will be right by your side. The goat said as the preadolescent started reacting to the treatment.

Billy and Rita Mallow watched as brown fur started bubbling up from the naked preteen's skin. It grew to cover her legs, crotch and groin area stopping just below her belly button. At that point the goat pushed a button on his pad he was carrying and Lita was turned onto her stomach just in time for her mother to see a tail sprout from the base of her spine. Rita was horrified.

Lita continued to moan and groan as the painful transformation continued, if seeing fur sprout from her flesh was not bad enough, she witnessed her feet reform into hooves before feeling something happen to her ears and forehead. As the transformation concluded, she passed out.

Lita! Her mother called to her.

Finished. Your daughter is now a satyr and a rather pretty one at that. Her transformation also aged her a little bit as evidenced by the breast development; beastials mature quicker than you human types. The goat beamed proudly. When she wakes up, she will start her new life as a beastial one of the preferred citizens.

Are you going to turn me into a hooved freak too? Rita asked the goat scientist.

No. As I said earlier you have too much hatred in your heart to ever change. You my dear are going to be starting over completely .

Billy's recording ended with a teenage satyr walking out of the castle carrying a human baby in her arms.

After witnessing that, I don't know if I was more disturbed or nauseated. Talk about raising one's own mother.

"Well done, Billy- nice job." Sir Ram said beaming with pride.

"Thank you mentor that was just one of the many today." The goat said as we received another visitor in the observation ring.

"Good evening boys. Have a seat for one more?" A female avian asked approaching our table.

"Um." I started to say yes but stopped mid-sentence and stared dumbfounded. I was joined by the shocked beastial scientists who also couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Barran?" The goat said dumbfounded.

"Six?!" The big horned sheep gasped.

"You three look like you have seen a ghost!" The perplexed female owl said.

To Be Continued....