FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

Kamen Rider Wild

CHAPTER 9

It felt like it had been an eternity since Omega had moved his head. For hours now, he'd kept it in the exact same position; craned slightly downwards as his eyes scanned the various displays zipping back and forth. India's station, design model lambda, Thailand's station, design model lambda, Indonesia's station, design model lambda. He swapped back and forth between all of them without any signs of slowing down. Omega was putting all of his focus into this, and thus didn't notice Alpha approach him with her hands clasped in front of her and her head hung low.

Alpha drew in a breath and clenched her hands tightly as she gathered up the courage to speak. However, no matter how many times she tried, she couldn't get herself to do so. Thus, NexUs spoke up for her. "'...Excuse me, sir--'"

"'WHAT?!'" Omega's voice boomed, making Alpha flinch. NexUs' tone was quiet and low once they spoke up again.

"'I'm afraid we bring unfortunate news, sir.'"

"'If it's about losing track of Felicia, don't bother. I'm already well aware of the fact, and I'm already working on our next countermeasure.'"

"'No sir, it's--'"

"'I know where she is likely headed as well. Based on the pattern she's been following thus far, I predict that she's headed to Australia. I've designed the next android model based on that information, and I'm _almost_done. Now if that's all, I must get back to work.'"

"'Sir, if you could--'"

"'The MORE time you waste, the MORE of us we lose!'" A very cold silence followed Omega's outburst. After a few seconds, he realized why. For the briefest of moments, his fingers slowed. His voice was somber as he spoke again. "'...How many this time?'" No answer came. That was enough to get him to stop his work and turn around. Seeing Alpha's head hung so low made Omega's chest tighten. With his voice faltering yet still firm, he asked again, "'...How many?'"

"'...Omega...'" said Alpha, her voice barely a whisper, "I'm...I'm so sorry--'" She had barely enough time to move out of the way as Omega charged past her. The rest of the world practically disappeared to him as he ran like there was no tomorrow. All the while, his heart hammered away at his chest. He passed corridor after corridor until he found the only one that mattered. He didn't even flinch when his bulbous shoulder-guard banged against the door frame from turning too quickly. Once he was in, he immediately raised his hands up and summoned forth yet another electronic keyboard.

His eyes were chained to the display as soon as it flashed on. His fingers raced across the keyboard as a river of commands was typed in. A harsh exclamation left his throat upon a sudden typo, forcing him to rewind several steps. "'Please don't be true...'" he muttered under his breath, "'Please don't be true...'" Several more menus raced through the display as he mashed the arrow key over and over again, and when he finally found the one he was searching for...he stopped. The menus he'd been browsing through all contained varied amounts of percentages and values.

The one he looked upon now was empty on all fronts.

Omega's hands trembled uncontrollably as he processed what he was seeing. The rest of his body remained rigid, almost as though frozen in time. Eventually, both the display and the keyboard vanished into nothingness, forcing Omega to look through the window set in front of him. Through that window, he saw the expansive and enormous room behind it. A room that was filled to the brim with rows and rows of pods dimly lit by the ship's lights. It was a cold and dark room where nothing moved. It was this stillness that stabbed into Omega's heart.

"'...I'm sorry, Omega,'" came NexUs' voice, "'I did everything I could...but it was too late...'" Omega said nothing. He only planted his hand on the window and stared blankly through it. Alpha made as little noise as possible as she entered the room. Seeing him stand there broke her heart, and she found herself wishing she knew the words he needed to hear right now. Despite this, she decided to step forward. She wanted to be at his side and remind him that he wasn't alone. But as soon as she made her first step, Omega whirled around and barged right past her. Confused, Alpha stumbled back to her feet and followed after him.

"'Omega?!'" she called to him as he continued to trudge onwards, "'What are you doing?!'"

"'I'm going back to work,'" he answered, his voice low and monotone. Hearing this made her heart ache.

"'Omega!'" she called again, her throat threatening to close up on her all the while, "'My love! At least give yourself the time to mourn!'"

Suddenly, Omega stopped and whirled around to face her. Then, with pain riddling his voice and his entire body trembling, he screamed, "' WE DON'T HAVE TIME TO MOURN!!!'"

Both humans stood frozen in place, almost as if a single move would shatter the floor beneath them. After an agonizingly long silence, Omega turned back around and stomped away, abandoning Alpha as she collapsed to her knees and broke down sobbing.

***

Soft murrs escaped both Dr. Kagami's and Felicia's throats as they all but melted into their respective beds. "You were right, Doctor," Felicia sighed, "I didn't appreciate the things I had until they were taken away..."

"I told you," he sighed back, swishing his tail with content, "I really wish you'd gotten time to relax in the one back in Thailand though. It was a five star hotel too..." He shrugged and shimmied a little, sinking deeper into the mattress. "Ah well; the ones in this motel aren't too bad either. The fact that you finally get to relax in one is also a big plus."

"Yeah...well, I can't relax for too long. The humans have been able to find us no matter where in the world we've went. Judging from the amount of androids we saw on the way here, I'm willing to bet that they've at least got a feeling we're here."

"Well lucky for us, you can change species at will."

A whimpering growl left Felicia's throat. "Don't point it out. I hate thinking about it."

"Sorry, sorry," he waved his paw around, "You have to admit though, it's really convenient for our current situation." Another growl was his response to that. "Heh, alright, alright, I'll stop."

"Can we just...talk about something else please?" the wolfess begged, draping her fingers over the top of her snout, "Like...you said you already know where Australia's station is gonna be?"

"Yes, actually," Dr. Kagami made an attempt to sit up, only to lay right back down with a lazy huff, "Based on how empty it is, I have a strong feeling that this next station is in Australia's Northern Territory. Because it's mostly desert and very few furs live around here, it makes for the perfect place to hide one. That...does leave one problem though..."

Felicia reached up and scratched her nose with a claw tip. "And what's that?"

"Well, it's a desert, not a forest. That means that there won't be any trees for us to hide in. All we get is sand, some hills, and even more sand. It's basically a completely open field."

This got Felicia to slowly rise. "So...doesn't that mean we only get one shot at this one?"

The mane-less lion flattened his ears. "...Basically. I'm gonna try to rent out a jeep or something just so we have some form of a getaway. But...yeah. We have to really plan out how we approach this one, kiddo." Felicia drew her knees close to her chest. She knew without a doubt that there was another upgraded android waiting for her. The thought of not being able to get away should its abilities overcome her own was one that didn't sit well with her. "Hey," Dr. Kagami called, making her realize she'd been whimpering, "no need to worry. We're gonna come up with a plan before we even attempt this station. In the meantime, we need to rest up for tomorrow."

"Is...that when we go after the station?"

"Not quite," that was when Dr. Kagami decided to sit up as well. He leaned over and swiped up his bag to lay all of the DNA Vials out. "You see, I've noticed that we're starting to make a dent in our Vial count, and it's got me a bit concerned." He grouped the vials until there were three piles of them on the bed. He pointed to the smallest one and continued, "The crate Alpha gave us had 20 Vials for each species; tiger, wolf and shark. We're already down 8 for the tiger batch."

Seeing this made Felicia gulp. That was nearly half of them.

"We've only started dipping into the wolf ones, so we've still got plenty of those, and we haven't even touched the shark ones yet. Granted, that's mostly because I'm afraid of what kind of effects that will have on your body." A soft growl left Felicia's throat before she could catch it, once again being reminded of her current canine body. Dr. Kagami gave her a sheepish, apologetic look as he went on. "Obviously we need to be more conservative with these now, but it's gotten me thinking... So far we've been limiting ourselves to just using these DNA samples, but what if we started using others?"

The wolfess blinked. "I don't think I follow, Doctor."

"I'm saying we try and use the DNA of other furs. Normal furs. Not the ancient feral ones we've been using up to this point." The mane-less lion began to scoop the vials back into the bag as he went on. "Look, tomorrow when we go out to rent out a jeep, we're also going to see if we can collect samples of anyone nearby."

Felicia tilted her head as she gave the idea some thought. It made sense admittedly, but it also made her wonder why they hadn't tried that in the first place. "And...and you think that'll work?"

"That's what I'm hoping. It's not something I've ever needed to test. Actually, if you want, we can do a quick test with my DNA?"

Felicia's snout crinkled up at the thought of putting Dr. Kagami's spit in her system. "...M...maybe later. Besides, why not try out my own first?"

Dr. Kagami shook his head. "To be honest, I'm very hesitant to try yours."

"What? Why? It'd just be me giving myself my own DNA, wouldn't it?"

"...Well..." the doctor scratched the back of his head with a claw, "the thing is...I don't know if it would just be yours. Keep in mind; you've been injecting the DNA of feral era animals into your body for a good couple of days now. All of that DNA is inside you, mixing with your own. I know you told me not to bring it up, but we've seen the effects of using just one species can do to your body. If we were to use the mixture that's been brewing inside of you..."

He trailed off as he noticed the dread-filled look Felicia was giving him. "B-but uh...let's not worry about that too much. We don't even know if normal fur DNA will work in the first place. For all we know, I could be making mountains out of mole hills. L-let's just get some rest, eh kiddo? We've got a long day ahead of us, after all."

"...Y...yeah," the wolfess very slowly eased herself back down, staring up at the ceiling blankly as she sunk into the mattress once more. This was a lot to take in. She hadn't even thought about what all of these transformations could be doing to her body over time. And now they were planning on adding more DNA to her body. From strangers no less. But...they didn't have a choice. Like she had done with everything thus far, she just had to grit her teeth through it all, lest she allow something worse to happen to her.

Or god forbid the rest of the world.

***

"Hi there! Would you be interested in aiding us in a scientific study? We're looking into the DNA patterns of furs and you're just gonna keep walking away. That's fine." Dr. Kagami huffed and rested his chin against his paw. With his other, he nudged the make-shift sign he'd made and placed on the booth they'd rented. He then scanned the area around them, noting the sparse amount of furs that were walking around this part of the mall.

"Say, Hau," he called to her, "you're much younger than me; how do you get furs' attention nowadays?"

Felicia blinked and looked up from her camera. "Doctor...you realize who you're asking here, right?"

"It was worth a shot," he shrugged, sitting back in his chair, "I do kind of wish we'd come here at peak hours. We'd probably have loads of samples to work with by now."

"Along with loads of androids, probably."

"Hence the 'kind of.'"

Both furs stopped as a low ring rang out from the mall's PA system. "Would Mr. Dagon please report to the jeep rental? There are some papers that need to be finalized."

"And that's my cue," the mane-less lion said as he stood up, "Are you sure you don't mind holding down the fort while I'm gone?"

The wolfess nodded as she lowered her camera, "I'll be fine. It's not like there are many furs around anyways." With a thoughtful tap against the table, Dr. Kagami stepped out of the booth and made his way to the rental store. Felicia pocketed her camera before claiming his old seat. Literal seconds after she sat down, she realized there was a group walking by the booth. "h-HI EXCuuuse..." She clammed up when the group jolted from her frantic outburst. "S...sorry. N-nevermind, it's nothing..." she mumbled, lowering her gaze and hiding her face behind her paws.

Felicia rubbed her temples and crinkled her snout as she waited for them to walk away, groaning to herself all the while. Once she lowered her paw, she made eye contact a pair of furs, two cheetah girls with loads of shopping bags in their arms. By the time she realized they were headed her way, they were already at the booth. "Hey there," the one in glasses greeted cheerily, "I noticed the commotion and couldn't help but notice your sign. It says your conducting a scientific study?"

It took a moment for Felicia to find her voice again. "Uh...y-yeah-yes. It's a study on DNA...a-and--"

"Oh my god, sis, stop leaning in so close to her," said the one in a ponytail, yanking her sister's head back, "You're scaring the poor girl half to death. I mean lookit her. Her eyes look ready to pop right out of their sockets."

"Oh come on, I'm just trying to be friendly."

The ponytailed one rolled her eyes before looking over to Felicia. "I apologize for her. She's a bit of a science nut, if you can't already tell."

"You say that like it's a_bad_ thing." All she got as a response was a teasing stick-of-the-tongue. "Anyways, so you're studying DNA? What for, if you don't mind me asking?"

"Uuuuuuuh," Felicia's knee bounced beneath the booth, "s-school project."

"Oooooh neat. I remember my school projects. This one time, I--"

"Ahem..." her sister huffed impatiently, wiggling the load of shopping bags in her arms.

"Oh, right. So do you need any help with your study? Maybe some samples?"

"Y-yes! That'd be a great help, actually! Thank you so much!" Felicia's tail wagged furiously as she prepared the necessary supplies.

"Anything to help out a blooming biologist. Hey sis, do you wanna help out too?"

The other cheetah girl sighed as she set down her bags. "Well, you _did_drag me over here, so might as well join in on the fun."

***

"And to think back then, you said you wouldn't be good at scientific research."

Felicia twiddled her thumbs. "I-it was just the two girls. I couldn't get anyone else to do it."

"That's still two more than me, kiddo." Dr. Kagami only got a shrug in response. "I guess if I'm being fair, a young girl asking for help is more approachable than an old man asking for spit samples... Oh! Here it is!" He let the thought die as the two of them approached their rental jeep. They loaded their bags in the back before hopping on and taking their seats. "Nice, 'innit? I made sure to get one with a closed canopy so we don't get a bunch of sand flying into our eyes when we're driving. It's even got tinted windows."

After buckling up, Felicia took a moment to examine their new ride. The interior as a whole was fairly compact, but carried with it a level of security that she couldn't quite put to words. She looked back and noticed that it was completely open in the back. With the aid of the hand rails bolted to the roof of the vehicle, she could jump from her seat out onto the trunk and vice versa.

"So what do you think? Good?" Dr. Kagami asked, breaking her train of thought.

"Oh, um, yeah. Good."

The mane-less lion nodded with satisfaction before starting the engine. "Alright, just kick back and relax. I'm taking this thing on a bit of a drive just so I can get accustomed to it." Felicia offered a wordless nod to him as he pulled out of the lot and onto the road. With no other subject to address, her gaze wandered to the side and through the tinted window. She absentmindedly watched the streets as they rolled by at a calm and even speed.

Little by little, she began to relax and sink deeper into the seat. Had this gone on for just a bit longer, she might've been able to fully relax. But this wasn't meant to be, as the sight of a single android roaming the streets made her sit right back up. "You don't have to worry about them," came Dr. Kagami's voice. Evidently, she wasn't the only one that had noticed it. "As far as they know, we're just random nobodies driving along the road. Just do your best to ignore them for now. We're fine."

Despite his words, Felicia kept her eyes glued onto the robotic patrolman until it was ways away from them. Only then did she allow herself to sink back into her seat. She took a deep breath before asking, "So how do you think we should attack this station?"

The old lion sighed. "Down to business already, huh?"

"Well, we have all of our stuff. We didn't leave anything at the motel. Once you get used to driving, we can probably just go right to the station."

"Yeah, I get that. But before we do anything, is it alright if I ask you something?

Felicia shuffled in her seat. "Uh...sure?"

"So...I know you like to take photos whenever you're stressed, but...I never understood why. What about it makes it so stress relieving?"

The wolfess found herself at a loss for words; it wasn't exactly a question she had an answer ready for. As she pondered her answer, she slipped out her camera and switched it on. "Well, I think it's less about the photo taking and more about the photos themselves." She pulled up a shot taken out the window of the cargo plane they'd taken. "Whenever I look at them, I feel like I have my own collection of safe havens...places where I can go to just escape reality, even if only for a little bit. Whenever I take new ones, I have a new place to hide away in and forget all of my troubles. Of course...I know at some point I have to come back, but to have such an easy escape at the ready...just in my pocket...it's just comforting."

Silence hung in the air as Dr. Kagami chewed on this. "That's...certainly a new way to look at it. Not to be that old guy, but back in my day, we took pictures to have something fond to look back on."

"I...think that 'your day' is still this day. I don't think anyone else feels the same way as me."

"You'd be surprised. But that's not why I bring this up. When you were explaining yourself just now, you made it seem like these 'escapes' are entirely different realities. Almost like they're unreachable in your own reality. But you know...that doesn't have to be the case."

Felicia blinked. "I'm...aware. I'm there when I'm taking the photos."

"Well yes, but when you are, do you ever really take in the scenery like you do when you look at those photos?"

"...sometimes..."

"Felicia...I don't blame you for wanting to be as efficient as you can, but if there's one thing I've learned in my old age, it's that rushing through life will only lead to regret down the line. In trying to destroy every station as quickly as possible, you're missing out on the places those stations are in. Those places you've been taking pictures of are right in front of you, and you're not even letting yourself stop to smell the roses. All it takes is for you to just look around and see the wonderful world we've been exploring!"

On that note, Felicia's gaze returned to the window to look out of it once more. Before her rolled the large, expansive, empty road, where only a couple of other cars drove by. She noticed the one or two furs walking along the road. She saw...the street lights...blinking on and off. The wolfess slowly turned back to Dr. Kagami and noticed his cheeks were flushed with red. "...Okay bad example, but you know what I mean!" Then came a sound that neither he nor Felicia ever expected to hear.

Her laughter.

It didn't last long, but it was long enough for her to realize how alien it felt to do so, especially after all that had happened. Once she collected herself, now sporting a blush of her own, she said, "Well...I don't think I'm ever going to get myself to slow down. But for what it's worth, I'll keep what you said in mind the next time we have some downtime."

The old lion's smile couldn't be brighter. "That's all I ask. Now then, about those plans..."

***

Eventually, the sparse amount of buildings peeled away into open desert. Just like Dr. Kagami had said, there was nothing but sand, sand hills, and the occasional desert shrub. Before they had arrived, he'd made sure to let out some of the air in their tires to ensure that the sandy road wouldn't prove troublesome for the jeep. "So do you have your vials picked out?" he asked Felicia as she clipped several onto her necklace.

"Yeah, two tigers, two wolves, and one of the six cheetah vials just in case."

"And you're absolutely sure with this set? Remember, once you're out there, there's no running out to re-assess the situation." Felicia nodded very confidently. "Alright then. Hop out onto the trunk then, kiddo. We're coming in hot." With another firm nod, Felicia hoisted herself out of her seat and onto the back. She wobbled a bit as she found her balance on the moving vehicle. Once she was ready, she plucked one of the vials off of her necklace and shoved it into her belt buckle.

D-N-ANALYZE!

TIGER!

"Here they COME!" Dr. Kagami shouted as he saw a swarm of androids headed right for them. With her fur standing and her feet firmly planted, she smacked the button to engage her transformation.

D-N-ASSIMILATION!

In an instant, the black scales of Felicia's armor enveloped her and peeled away, leaving her once again in her tiger form. She gripped the rails of the jeep before hoisting herself over the edge, hitting the sandy road with a running start. Dr. Kagami raced away as Felicia dropped to all fours and charged towards her robotic assailants. Just behind them, she could see the outlines of her true target; the station.

Like the many times she'd done before, Felicia leaped into action and began to rip and tear at every android that dared to try their luck. She tore through them as quickly as she could, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the real threat arrived. With the sand making it difficult to find any proper footing, Felicia resorted to leaping atop the androids' heads and demolishing them from there.

Just as she leapt towards the next one, something zoomed by and smacked her right out of the air. Sand sprayed everywhere as she hit the ground hard, rolling across it several times. Her arms instinctively covered her face as she got back up, a move that she was rewarded for with a sharp strike to her gauntleted arm. The back of her head smacked against the sand from the momentum and she quickly rolled onto all fours to face her new adversary.

Though she'd only caught a glimpse of it, she managed to see what she was dealing with. Like she expected, it was an upgraded android. This one lacked any sort of shield whatsoever. In fact, this one looked even lighter than the mob androids she'd been ripping apart mere seconds ago. Whilst its thighs were bulkier, its lower legs looked as thin as a fence post. Its body was hunched over and its face was covered with an angular, almost muzzle like mask. In its hands were a set of angled daggers, no doubt the ones it had used to strike her just now. And lastly, printed clearly on its chest was the lambda symbol.

In the blink of an eye, Lambda raced up to her and swung one of its daggers right at her head. Her heart skipped ten beats as it scraped against the crest of her helmet in the midst of her moving out of the way. She tried to get up, but the movement made her feet slip and she sunk deeper into the sand. Several androids tried to leap in and take advantage of the situation, only for her to find her footing and tear them to shreds.

Even so, more kept coming and prevented her from any chance of escape. In the distance, Felicia could see Lambda running practically parallel to the ground as gradually circled back around. She desperately tried to claw away at the mob androids, but more and more kept coming. They all suddenly parted ways to allow Lambda to charge through and plunge its dagger into her armor. A harsh snarl left her throat as it pierced through the black metal scales of her shoulder and sliced into her softer under-suit.

She slammed into the ground spinning, kicking up a cloud of sand on impact. The mob androids swarmed around her and grabbed her arms as she fought to stand back up. As she was held up, she saw Lambda circling back around and charging with straight at her with its daggers pointed directly at her chest. The thought of what would happen next sent shocks of adrenaline racing through her veins. She let out a guttural roar as she pushed her strength to its limits and fought against the dozens of androids holding her back. Her muscles felt as though they'd been lit aflame, threatening to tear at any moment.

Then, with a crescendo of snaps, Felicia ripped her arms free and subsequently ripped the androids' arms off. This granted her the precious seconds she needed to dive out of the way of Lambda's deadly charge. She let out a cry of pain as she landed on her bad shoulder. Once she got back up, the last of the mob androids leapt at her. She swatted them all down with a single, pain-stricken swing and nearly dropped to her knees from the momentum.

Now free to watch Lambda without interruption, Felicia noted just how_fast it was able to run. Though the strength of her tiger form was immense, it was useless if she wasn't quick enough to _hit the android with it. Not even her more agile wolf form was enough to keep up with it, even with how long it took to turn back around. That left only one option: the one feral animal she actually knew something about.

She reached up to the Cheetah Vial clipped to her necklace, only for a stray set of limbs to lock her in a bind. Her heart raced as she realized several of the mob androids had faked their destruction and hidden themselves beneath the wreckage of their fallen brethren. She desperately fought to dislodge them all from herself, her eyes unable to tear away from the rapidly approaching Lambda. As soon as she freed an arm, she clawed straight into their heads and ensured they stayed down for good. But as soon as she turned around, Lambda's daggers were headed straight for her chest.

Time seemed to slow down for Felicia as she leaned back as far as she could. The daggers came closer and closer until they began to sink into the black scales protecting her chest. Further back she leaned, and further in they sank. For a moment, it seemed as though this was it. Her saving grace came in the form of gravity, as she leaned far back enough to fall over. And falling over meant falling away from her untimely demise. Time raced back into normal speed as she slammed into the sand again, her heart racing a mile a minute. She frantically rolled back onto all fours as she watched Lambda sprint away. She got on her knees as she reached up to her necklace for the Cheetah Vial. But when her paws grasped at nothing but empty air, she reached a horrifying realization.

Lambda had sliced clean through the Vials on her necklace.