FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Volume One: "Roots", Chapter One: "Emergence"

Have you ever stopped and thought to yourself: "How on earth did I get here?" It doesn't matter if you're one of the highest paid corporates of the world, a sketchy con artist with a gambling problem, or even just a regular musician who plays on the streets for meal money. All people around us, the ones we walk by every day on the street, have a story. You might even be able to guess one's origin based on how they look, their mannerisms, or just their face. However, I urge you to look again. Because there's always details you may miss from the first glance.

1

Foster MacArthur - New York City

He let his fingers trickle down the keys of the piano. The canine's ears stayed sharp, drowning out the noise of the nurse's station nearby and the other patients stopping to listen. He felt as if part of his soul was being tugged on, a feeling he hasn't felt since the months since dropping out of his music program.

It was a new kind of high. The gentle, soothing high notes weaved through his eardrums, lifting up his spirits, elevating him from the seat upon which he sat. Nothing else in the world mattered in that moment; only the next key, the next bar, and the next pattern.

Minutes melted into what felt like hours before the piece ended and he finally opened his eyes.

He heard slight clapping from behind him. "Foster," said a faint voice from behind him. "That was... beautiful."

Foster turned in his seat and smiled at Frankie. "Thanks, Grandma." His first thought was that he somehow played Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 12 in C-sharp minor with his eyes closed. Not that he was able to play it at all. "How are you feeling?"

"You know me," Frankie said, "It'll take more than a little brain tumor to keep me down."

_Grandma's always been a fighter, _Foster thought. This wasn't even her first tun-in with cancer; this was attempt number three. While it was disheartening to see his grandmother back in a wheelchair, having to be tended to by nurses round the clock once again, Foster knew that she's pushed back from worse. He believed she would pull through long enough to finally see his new home.

"So tell me something, darling," Frankie said, "When did you ditch your cello for the ivories?"

Foster looked down at the keys in front of him. His finger traced the very last note on the right end, the one so high that only canines like him and Frankie can hear it. "I didn't," he admitted. "It's so weird. I heard that song before when I was choosing a ringtone for one of my friends, but right as it finished, my brain sort of... unlocked itself? I suddenly knew what the piece was called and how to play it exactly."

"You have a gift," Frankie said. "Maybe this is a sign that you shouldn't give up music."

The pup leaned back in his seat, rubbing his face in his paws. He didn't want to have this conversation again. "Grandma, we've already been over this, if I didn't drop out of college to take that job, how would I afford to help pay your medical bills? Besides... I'm kinda getting used to the city." It was a little lie, but she didn't need to know that. The big skyscrapers, overstuffed streets, and loud, obnoxious noises were very new to Foster, but he was trying his best to adapt.

Frankie rested a paw on his shoulder. "Oh, honey. I appreciate you moving here and spending more time with me. But I've gone through this before. You still have your whole life ahead of you. Please..." She gently squeezed his shoulder, and he rested his paw on top of hers. "... don't waste this. Don't be afraid of what the world may throw at us."

It was hard to not smile again when he heard that. A male nurse came in, approaching the two of them. "Frankie, visiting hours are over. Time to head back."

Frankie waved him off, but didn't argue as the nurse unlocked the wheels of her chair and gently pulled her away from her grandson.

"Bye, grandma," Foster said. He stood up from the bench, giving her a quick side hug. She returned it despite her frail arms. "See you tomorrow?"

"Not too soon, sonny," she warned him, pointing a finger. "Remember what I said." She said that every day, but Foster always stopped by regardless.

The two went their separate ways: Frankie back to her hospital bed, and Foster down to the elevators by the nurse's station. As the doors closed to the car and slowly descended, Foster glanced at the mirror wall. He was a rare breed of canine called an "orange soda" pup; mostly white fur with patches of orange around his eyes, ears, and his torso. His muzzle was a little wide, but short, and he didn't have much to his height, as most orange soda pups grew to around five feet tall by adulthood.

Foster stepped into the lobby once the elevator opened up. He threw on his jacket and stepped out into the streets of the city. At night, downtown Manhattan wasn't nearly as people dense as it was during the day, but there was still some others out and about. Foster drew up his hood and blended into the crowd.

His building was a good twenty-eight blocks away, but he didn't mind the walk. It gave him plenty of time to think over what he would have to do tomorrow. It was nearing the end of the month, so he'd have to make sure everyone's rent checks were in his dropbox, then talk to that new guy that was applying to move into the vacant apartment on the top floor, then see grandma around four in the afternoon.

It sounded like a plan to him.

Foster raised his muzzle and sniffed the air. Smokey, musty, and a little mist filled his nose. New smells, new city, new life course.

I'm not afraid of what'll happen next.

2

Toni Q. McAlister - Berlin, Germany

The fox stared at the clock on the wall. The light ticking was the only sound in the room. Even the humming coming from the secretary's computer was too quiet. His ears flattened. He hated the quiet. Almost as much as he hated being in this room.

He let out a low sigh, his paws resting on his knees. "How much longer do I have to wait?" he asked.

The secretary, a red panda with a weird mole on the side of her muzzle, looked at him and back to her computer. "Not much longer," she said. "Probably." He still wasn't used to hearing an accent. Toni was just grateful she was speaking English, even though he was supposed to be working on his German.

Finally, after what felt like ages, the door to the office opened. Another student walked out and his teacher, the tall tiger wearing khakis and a white buttoned up shirt, stepped out, calling him into the room.

Toni was nervous. Even back in America, he'd never been asked to see a teacher after class before. He knew exactly what his teacher was going to say to him, too. So he wondered why couldn't they just yell at him in class instead of bringing him here? Mr. Fuchs' office felt small, very boxy. Despite the glass partition, there was only enough room for a desk, two chairs, and one filing cabinet and that was it. As soon as Toni sat down and felt the tiger's leering gaze upon him, he felt trapped.

"Toni," Mr. Fuchs said.

"Before you say anything," the fox blurted out. He regretted it immediately. But since he already interrupted his professor, he thought there was already no going back. "I'm just... I-I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to... to do... whatever it was that I did."

His professor leaned back in his seat, looking him up and down. It was all Toni could do just to stay seated. "Toni," he repeated, "are you... happy with the art program?"

Toni looked around the room, unsure of how to answer. It wasn't a question he was expecting. Finally, he said, "I'm... what? I don't understand."

Mr. Fuchs pulled a folder from his bag and flipped it open. There, he took out a sheet of paper and set it in front of the fox. "When I graded your pre-test yesterday, I couldn't help but noticed you seemed a bit... distracted."

Toni looked over the test he took. It was a standard written response questions to get an idea of what people knew about a certain topic. Toni knew absolutely nothing about art, and that was evident by the big, fat zero in red near his name. From a mile away, anyone could spot the basic issues: a lot of answers left blank, doodles on the edges of the page, and questions that he did answer had mostly smart-aleck answers in their spots.

The blue fox sighed and pushed the test back towards his teacher. "Yes," he said, "yes, of course I'm... happy being in art. It took me so long just to get into Study Abroad." Two years of working at a gas station part time, to be more precise. "I'm just... having trouble adjusting is all."

"Adjusting?" Mr. Fuchs asked. From his tone, it didn't sound like he bought it at all. "You didn't even try for most of these answers? For the question 'Which artist created Cubism' you put: 'The guy who made Minecraft'." Toni's ears flattened. He forgot about that one. "I thought you'd be a lot better at this, considering how colorful you keep your hair. So tell me, what's really going on here?"

Toni didn't know what else he could do. He ran a paw through the fur on his head, which he dyed all seven colors of the rainbow. Eventually, he would get caught, and if he didn't get help, he would be sent home. "Okay, okay," he said. "I'll tell you, but you have to promise to keep it between us."

"Of course," the tiger said, his tone lightening.

Toni took a deep breath. "I needed to leave America. I don't feel safe there anymore."

Mr. Fuchs raised an eyebrow. "Why? Because of-"

"No, not because of who's running it." Toni chastised himself for interrupting his teacher again. But the tiger didn't seem upset about it the first time, nor this time. He didn't think, anyways. "I just... I can't tell you yet. Not now, anyways. But yes, I'm not safe there. This art school's my only hope of getting to stay on this side of the world."

"What made you choose to do art, though? That's what I'm not understanding."

"Well... I've thought about getting into drawing for some time. I just... never had the time or place to do it."

Mr. Fuchs nodded. "I see. Well, I don't agree that you should be forcing yourself into something you're not passionate about. The arts is a rather... demanding form of expression. However, I also don't want to see you fail, either." Toni glanced up to see his teacher writing something down on a post-it note. "If you want, you can see me during my office hours if you ever need help. Think of me as an open tutor."

The tiger handed Toni the note. It was a list of hours his office was open. The fox felt a huge relief off his shoulders. The tip of his tail even began to wag a little. "Thank you," he heard himself saying. "Thank you, thank you, Mr. Fuchs. This means so much to me."

The tiger stood and smiled. "Toni, we're both adults, you can call me Martin."

He held out his paw and Toni shook it. As he did, the fox felt something spark between their fingers. He pulled his paw back, wincing slightly. "Ouch, I think you shocked me, Martin."

"My apologies," the tiger said. "I'll see you in class later, okay?"

"Okay." Toni got up from his seat and left the office. He passed the secretary, now noticing that she was secretly playing Solitaire on her work computer.

It was funny, how often he felt that his world was crumbling all around him even when the situation wasn't so arbitrary. He couldn't help it, though. He was simply used to having everyday situations spiral into commotion that he felt that he couldn't control. Nowadays, the tiniest things set off his stress and any bouts of relief was like being lifted among the clouds.

So he could imagine what it was like for that secretary, being the one person connecting the outside world to the staff of the Berlin University of Arts. Toni would have to find his own Solitaire to retreat to when things get tough.

Toni approached the doors to the outside, seeing the world spread out beyond the office building. There was a few shrubs that wrapped around the building, and the road beyond that. Now that the stress of meeting his teacher was over, he would settle into a comforting and familiar routine that would take him back to his dorm. Just a calm, easy walk and he would be there.

The fox pushed the handle on the door to open it. And his world came crashing down on him as the door snapped off its hinges and fell flat on the ground. His eyes widened. The glass shattered. And he felt dizzy.

Oh god. _He grabbed his chest. Why is this happening?_

3

Joey Damien "JD" - New York City

Buzzzzzzzzzzzz. Buzzzzzzzzzzzz. Buzzzzzzzzzzzz.

_ Joey woke up, startled. Groggily, the bear reached over to where his phone was lying on his desk, answered the call, and held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" he muttered, not bothering to even open his eyes yet. _It's too early in the morning for this shit.

"JD, where are you? You're late for work!" He recognized the grouchy voice on the other end. That nurse that was going to train him today.

He sat up, snorting. "Holly?" he asked. "How did you get my number?" And why are you calling me by my nickname?

"What are you talking about?! And I told you to call me Staminelli." It took Joey seconds to remember that was her last name. His senses slowly began to catch up with him: the sunlight beaming through the window, the awful morning taste on his tongue, and hearing the commotion on Holly's end of the phone.

Joey looked at the time on his phone. 11:23. Shit, I really _am late._

The bear threw the covers off his bed. "Sorry, Holly, I must've slept in," he said, pressing his phone against his ear and he slipped on a pair of boxers. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You better! And quit acting so weird, man."

He hung up. There was no time to ask questions, or really to even shower. Joey pulled on his good jeans and t-shirt and stumbled to the bathroom. He'd have to change into his uniform once he got to the hospital. He applied deodorant, rinsed his mouth out with mouthwash, and brushed his fur down so it was somewhat presentable. He grabbed a granola snack bar from his kitchen and rushed out the door of his apartment.

Joey unlocked his bike from the stand in front of his building, swung his leg over the seat, and took off into the streets of Queens. The bear's heart was racing as the streets went by. With every pounding breath, all he could think was: You're late. You're late. You're late. When he moved to New York three weeks ago, he thought he was finally putting his life back together. Guess old habits die hard, he thought.

In the streets leading up to the hospital, Joey noticed how many people were coming and going. Many of them running in and out of the building, wearing masks, and a couple in hazmat suits. He locked his bike outside and rushed into the front desk, where the full energy of what was happening hit him: Instead of the calm demeanor of when he first applied for this job, there was chaos everywhere. Nurses and doctors rushing people on gurneys about, dozens of folks either unconscious or groaning in misery in the chairs just inside the waiting room, the phones were ringing loudly, and the smell of sanitizer was so strong that Joey nearly sneezed just from a single whiff.

Holly, the white marble cat with brown and black spots all over her body, came rushing up to him, thrusting a surgical mask into his chest. "JD, what are you doing?! Are you trying to get infected?!" she screeched at him. It was starting to scare Joey how his would-be trainer was acting.

He put the mask on over his face regardless. "Infected? With what?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb with me," Holly said, frantically. She dug out a thermometer, pressing it against Joey's forehead until it beeped, and she let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god, you don't have a fever. We really could've used you two hours ago."

"Sorry, I slept in and I thought you said to come in at eleven."

"No. I explicitly said nine to you yesterday." Holly set the thermometer down and handed Joey a pair of gloves. "Doesn't matter. You're here now. Now, I need your help administering some antibiotics."

"Okay." Sweat ran down Joey's forehead. The amount of people in the room was making it a bit stuffy in here. But, for his first day, he supposed handing a pill out to everyone wouldn't be so hard.

The bear watched as Holly handed him a small card with dozens of syringes with some blue fluid in it. "Remember, these go in the left arm, and make sure everyone gets these."

"Woah, woah, wait," Joey said, stepping away from the cart.

"We don't have time to wait!" Holly shouted. "These people need this medicine now!" She indicated the crowd of those sitting near the front desk.

"I don't know how to deliver a shot!" Joey said back to her. "You're supposed to be training me to do that today."

Holly finally looked him in the eye. He didn't like what he saw: anger, frustration. She was about ready to tear his throat out from him. "Are you playing dumb today? I trained you over a year ago! Now help me!"

Joey stepped back again. "What? A year? N... No. I just... I just came in here yesterday to apply."

The feline growled and swiped the cart away from him. "Fine, if you're going to play these games, I'll just do this myself. The boss will deal with you later." She swiftly makes the rounds through the lobby, administering the shots of... Joey had no idea what they were.

The bear couldn't focus. There was too much noise going on. And all of it seemed to overshadow the one thing Holly said. It couldn't have been a year, right? Is this some sort of trick?

Joey pulled out his phone again. Checked the time. 12:06. He pulled down the clock to reveal the full date. September 24, 2022.

2022. _Not _2021.

His eyes widened. He nearly dropped his phone.

"How?"

4

Victaria Putterman - Los Angeles

She took her time clocking into work and settling into her desk. It was a cozy little corner, sure, but she didn't really enjoy spending her days as an office worker for some paper company. She would go through some stuff on her computer, answer the phone occasionally, and write stuff down that her coworkers told her to, but that was about it. It was boring; dull. And every day, she wished she was anywhere but there.

At the two week mark of her employment, she was comfortable enough to start decorating her cubicle. Nothing fancy: Just a couple pictures of herself and her partner, Tayler.

Victaria finished pinning up one of her and Tayler on the beach during an anniversary trip when one of her coworkers stopped by her corner. "Hey!" It was only Gavin, the wolf that was responsible for showing her the ropes of the job when she came aboard. She appreciated his help, but two weeks later and his peppy attitude was becoming annoying.

But still, she put on her best smile and said, "Good morning, Gavin."

"I see you've finally started making this space your own. Who's that?" He pointed to the couple pictures she put up.

"Oh, that's Tayler, he's my..." Boyfriend? Lover? They weren't engaged, but they were in their early thirties so it felt odd using the b-word. Her parents were honestly shocked she went back into the dating game at all; but since he was a Labrador canine and she was a vixen, they were just happy with the possibility they'd have full-blooded grandkids one day.

Victaria waved her paw around, still searching for the right word. "... well, I'm not sure what you'd call us, but we've been together for over four years now."

"Nice!" Gavin said. He wore a white buttoned-up shirt, square framed glasses, and a pocket protector with several pens in it. He looked like the textbook definition of a nerd, but she didn't want to be quick to judge.

She also wasn't in the mood for him right now. "I'd like to get to work, if you don't mind," she said as polite as she could.

"Right. Well, the first thing on today's agenda is a big order that came in this morning. All you have to do for it is call this customer to confirm the amount they requested."

Gavin held out a stack of papers to her. She took it by the corner, and as he let go, the papers snagged a little on his paw pad. Victaria winced and felt a sting on her thumb. Next thing she saw was blood.

"Dammit," she muttered. "Paper cut."

"Oh no, I'm so sorry!" Gavin exclaimed, his ears falling flat. "I'll go get you a band-aid."

Take your time, she thought as the wolf scurried away from her desk. The vixen pressed her thumb between her lips. The iron taste quickly stained her tongue as she lapped around where the cut was. It didn't hurt too bad, but it was another annoyance piled on top of everything else. It was hard enough that Tayler had to go off to Moscow for a few days, leaving her behind.

Victaria looked over the big order that Gavin handed her. At the very top was the company's logo: A big arrow with the word Darwin's on top of it. The order was for some place stationed in Germany, but the delivery address was for a place in New York. On top of that, the only thing listed is a regular pack of printer paper with the number 100,000 filled in for Quantity.

Her eyebrows furrowed together. Odd. What does a German business need all this paper in New York for?

Before she could think about this further, Gavin came around the corner, panting softly, holding up a First Aid kit. "I got it," the wolf said, out of breath. "I didn't know what size would work best so I got the whole kit from downstairs."

"Thanks." Victaria took her thumb away from her muzzle, and was surprised to see all the blood was gone. In fact, the whole cut was gone. It was as if she never even had a paper cut.

She could feel the wolf's gaze on her. "Um... just leave the kit with me, I'll get it."

"Okay." Gavin set the small metal box down at her feet. Victaria held her paw against his chest. She didn't want him seeing that she was okay after all. "Let me know about that order, okay? Something that big will need taken care of soon."

"Will do." The vixen smiled until she was sure Gavin was gone. She unclenched her fist and looked at her thumb again. The fur was matted with her saliva, but other than that, there was absolutely no trace of a paper cut.

_What is going _on? she thought.

5

Wade Currentz -- Kansas City

"I bet you I can take you on this time."

"What do I get if I win?"

"If you win I'll... show you my party trick."

"You're on!"

Both men settled into the couch for another game of Virtual Go Karts. Since Wade chose the last track, it was only fair that Lenny got to pick this time. The leopard knew Wade's weaknesses when it came to this game: he had a tough time making sharp turns. So, with this in mind, Wade predicted that he'd pick the hardest course.

And Lenny did. He picked the X-treme track; the one that made a lot of boxy turns and a few loop-de-loops.

"Fine, but I get the better kart this time," Wade said. He personally preferred the kart with the large exhaust pipes. They produced a lot of smoke, and that's usually how his fur was described: very smokey. Now, if only his mother could clarify what kind of canine he was. He wasn't very tall, but he had a long snout, droopy ears, and a slender body.

Oh, and of course the dog penis, but that's not appropriate to tell just anyone.

Wade started the game, the TV showing a few different shots of both of their karts at the starting track. A white checkered flag came into view along with the numbers 3... 2... 1...

_ GO!_

_ _They peeled out, zooming down the start of the track. Wade's kart cruised ahead, but he had to slow in order to clear the first corner. Lenny, meanwhile, breezed his way past him, despite his kart being much slower. "I don't understand how you can do that!" Wade said in frustration.

"Easy, bro," Lenny said, "you just drift the kart by doing this." The leopard showed a few motions on his controller, but Wade wasn't paying any attention to that. He was too focused on trying to zip ahead of his friend. "I don't know how you still don't get it, I've shown you that trick a dozen times."

"Well, sometimes I forget things," Wade admitted. He hated his memory issues, but they weren't too terrible. It would slip his mind now and then of little stuff; he left the toilet seat up, he forgot to change the coffee filter, and he didn't put dryer sheets in the dryer so now all his clothes were stuck together. His girlfriend Stella was usually there to groan in frustration whenever he messed up, but they've managed to get through their issues since high school together and they're still going strong.

Shit, Wade though as his kart slammed into a corner of the track. He thought he had enough to clear it going wide, but he had to waste time backing up and straightening himself out.

"Ha ha," Lenny said, rubbing it in. "Get ready to show me what you've got, Currentz..."

Wade growled. He didn't want his friend having that easy of a victory. The canine swiftly nudged his friend with his elbow, putting the leopard off balance. "Hey!" the leopard shouted. "That's cheating!"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Wade said nonchalantly. His kart passed Lenny's. He bit his lip. One more corner and the finish line was right there. He felt his heart pounding. He could actually win this round. He could feel it, right there on his fingertips...

Wade turned. And turned.

Then Lenny's kart bumped into his. Wade's kart began to spin out of control.

"No, no, no!" Wade whined. His thumbed desperately pushed any button he could, trying to straighten out his kart. But it was no use. By the time his kart stopped, the victory music was playing and the screen flashed Player 2 Wins.

Wade tossed the controller onto the table, slouching in his seat with his arms crossed. "Ha!" Lenny gloated. "Even cheating I can still beat you!"

"Yeah, whatever." Despite losing the match, Wade wasn't too angry. He'd been searching for a way to show his friend this new trick he learned since it started happening last week.

"So," Lenny said, the leopard sitting up in his seat. "This party trick of yours? You gonna show it to me, or do I need to beat you in another round to see it?" He grinned, showing off his bright teeth.

Wade was slightly tempted to punch him, but he decided against it. "Alright. But first, I need to get my laptop."

"Cool. Hey, I'm starving, is that pizza coming yet?"

"Calm down." Wade stood up, stretching his arms and legs. He looked at the clock. Was I really on that couch for two hours already? "I ordered it twenty minutes ago, it'll be here any second." The canine rushed up the stairs and out of his basement. He rushed through the kitchen to Stella's office, taking his laptop off its charger before heading downstairs. He wondered where she was considering it was Saturday. Then he saw a note from her reminding him that she was at a conference for work and that she'd be home around seven o'clock.

Wade returned downstairs, where he left Lenny to scroll through some of the other games on his console. "Alright," he said, setting his laptop down in front of his friend. "I'll show you my trick, but you have to swear that you won't tell anyone."

"Sure, man," Lenny said. The leopard sat up in his seat, brushing his tail off Wade's couch. "Let's see it."

Wade opened up the computer, turning it on. He put in his slightly embarrassing password and the Home Screen came up. The wallpaper was a generic picture of a beach, and there were several icons for the numerous files and programs he commonly used.

Wade reached his paw out onto the computer screen and focused. What happened next Wade found hard to describe. When he did this before, it felt like something was tingling the middle of his head. Sure enough, he felt the same numbing sensation, like something reached in with two fingers and was pinching the center of his brain, opening it up to allow something to flow into it.

Wade's vision blurred from the computer to a series of zeros and ones. The number scrolled by fast, and he could feel them traveling somewhere.

Then, seconds, Wade stepped back. He looked to his friend: the leopard had his jaw agape and his eyes widened. "Dude..." Lenny said, scrambling for words. "How... what... in the... did you... How did you do that? Where did it all go?"

Wade turned back to the computer screen. All of the little icons and symbols that made up his documents were gone. Vanished.

"That's the crazy thing!" Wade exclaimed, his tail wagging excited. "They're all in my head!"

Lenny furrowed his eyebrows as if to say, "Huh?" Then he actually said, "What do you mean 'in your head'?"

"I mean literally in my head," Wade said again, this time with more emphasis. He didn't know how best to describe it, but very vividly, all of his files were right in his mind. The pictures of him and Stella on their three-year anniversary, all of the essays and papers he wrote for college, and every bank statement from the last five years. Every word, every detail; all he had to do was think about it and they suddenly popped up in his head.

"So what, you're like some living computer?" Lenny asked.

Wade didn't like how his tone changed; from intrigued by what he called his "party trick", to genuinely confused and a little annoyed. "Yeah, man," he answered. "What did you think I was going to show you?"

The leopard shrugged. "I don't know," he said, "I thought maybe you were going to show me how you managed to do that thing where you shoot an orange seed out your nose."

"One time," Wade growled, frustrated. He rolled his eyes. Of course he's bringing _that story up._ "I did that one_time at Georald Fincher's party in high school and that bastard clings onto that moment like it's a freaking life preserver. And he _knows that was his fault, he's the one that told that joke about those two whales-"

Lenny threw his arms up. "Hey, I don't need to hear that one again; that was disgusting."

"You were laughing at it too!" Wade pointed out.

His friend shrugged, sinking into his seat on the couch. "It was kinda funny," he admitted.

"Yeah..."

The two sank into a period of awkward silence. Wade closed his laptop, turning around to go upstairs and put it back when Lenny asked, "Does Stella know about that?" Wade was about to bark at him again when he added, "Your computer thing, I mean?"

"No, she doesn't," Wade said. He didn't even think about how she'd respond if she ever found out he had this ability. "I'll be honest, this was the second time I ever tried it out. The first time was a couple weeks ago when I went to turn Stella's computer off and accidentally wiped away all of her files. Spent a good thirty minutes trying to put everything back before I did."

"You should tell her!" Lenny suggested.

Wade perked up. "What would I even tell her?"

"Something, anything. Dude, this is a pretty cool thing to have, you shouldn't keep it to yourself. Think about all you could accomplish with something like this."

"What use is a power like mine?" Wade asked. He admitted that it sounded cool, having awesome powers like his, but when he really thought about it, tinkering with computer memory wasn't something really seen with superhero stories. He didn't believe for a second that his power had much use.

Then his phone buzzed in his pocket. He set his laptop down and unlocked his phone. It was a text from Stella. Hey hun, I forgot to put an important spreadsheet on my flash drive. Can you email it to my work computer? It's titled AB_WinterLine2022 Thx <3

A lightbulb went off in Wade's head. The smokey pup texted Stella back and put his phone away. "Perfect timing," he told his friend. "Stella wants me to email her a PowerPoint."

"How's that so complicated?" Lenny asked.

Wade grinned and held up his paw. "Because we're not going to email it to her."

The leopard slowly caught on, his face lifting up in excitement. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked. "I'll drive." Lenny pulled out his car keys and the two men ran up the stairs.

Wade ran into Stella's office, heart pounding, and switched on her computer. He saw the presentation labeled AB_WinterLine2022 and rested his paw on the screen. He focused his thoughts, opening the channel between his mind and the hard drive. The information tickled his brain stem as he pulled the file directly into his head. When he let go of his paw, he was satisfied -- and a little thrilled -- to see the icon for the PowerPoint gone, and every slide of the show projected into his head.

His thought process was interrupted by a knock on the door. Who on earth could _that be? _he thought.

Wade stepped out of the office and watched as Lenny opened the front door and handed the man standing there cash in exchange for two large boxes. As the leopard shut the door, Wade caught a whiff of cheese and pepperoni. "You ordered pizza?" he asked.

"Um... you did," Lenny reminded him. "About an hour ago. Don't you remember?"

Wade wracked his brain around for when he did that. But, unfortunately, he couldn't recall ordering any pizza. "I don't believe I did." The pup thought about it, then shrugged. "It doesn't matter; what matters now is getting that PowerPoint to Stella."

"Can I take the pizzas with us, then?" Lenny asked.

"Considering it's your car we're taking, I'm pretty sure it'll be fine."

"Cool. You remember where she works?"

"Yes," Wade said, taking the two pizzas off his friend's paws.

... Maybe?

6

Foster MacArthur - New York City

He closed his office door and flicked on the light. The first thing Foster noticed was that his dropbox was full. This was a large bin where his tenants slipped an envelope with each month's rent. The canine also spotted a pile of mail on the floor in front of his feet. Postman must've came early today, he thought.

Foster scooped up the letters and sat down behind his desk. His office wasn't very big; just the desk, a table where the dropbox was, and a filing cabinet to keep everything organized. Simple, and neat; that was always his policy.

Foster went through his letters. A couple postcards from his parents. A few bouts of junk mail urging him to sign up for a credit card. The hospital bill...

He sighed. He knew that even with Frankie's insurance, the number was undoubtedly going to be huge on the total amount. Chemo was expensive.

He set it down on the desk. I'll open it later, he decided. Besides, I have other matters to attend to. Foster got up an looked through his dropbox. Since it was only the 24th, rent wasn't due for another six days. But, there were a couple who paid October's rent early, which he was pleased to see. The envelope at the bottom contained a check for only a few hundred dollars and a note reading: I told you I'd eventually catch up on the electricity. --Mrs. G.

_ Mrs. Garcia, the Latina lynx that lived on the second floor. She'd been behind on her electricity this month, but this amount covered September's _and _a little extra leftover for October's bills. Foster raised his eyebrows, impressed. He didn't think she'd recover financially that quickly. _You know what? _he thought. _Good for her.

_ He tucked the check away in his filing cabinet. Since she paid for _all her utilities, Foster now had to turn on the power for her apartment. It wasn't difficult; all he had to do was go downstairs to the basement, find the breaker box and flip over the switch labeled "Garcia". Easy, peasy.

Foster stepped out of his office. Since the building was recently renovated, there was still bits of dust in the air. He covered his muzzle as he dug out his keys and unlocked the door to the basement. The wooden door creaked open. He cringed inward, hoping the loud squeaking didn't disturb any of the tenants upstairs. There were only four apartments in the building; two on the second floor, and two on the third. But the building was small enough that any tiny sound in the hallway could be heard from the roof.

He felt around the wall for the light switch. He flipped it on. The light bulb ahead burst to life, then flickered out with a tiny pop.

"Seriously?" Foster asked, annoyed. Now I have to make sure to buy light bulbs.

_ _He took out his phone and shone the flashlight feature down the stairwell. Without the light, it appeared as if he were about to walk straight down into the depths of hell. Darkness swallowed the entire room, and if the sun wasn't still up, he'd more than likely be too scared to go down there.

Foster shook his head. Don't be ridiculous, _he reminded himself. _I've been down there dozens of times. It's just a simple switch to turn on, then I'm back upstairs.

His foot found the first step. The wooden board creaked, and he thought it felt damp under his paw pads. Come _on, _don't tell me there's a pipe leak somewhere too? Foster knew the building was old, but he didn't think it was falling apart already.

Foster descended down the stairs. Each footfall making little sounds as he shifted his weight. Even without the light, he knew the layout of the room perfectly. The breaker box was on the wall directly in front of him, about six feet to the right. The stairs led to a corner of the basement, where there was a little bit of room to walk before the rest of the room became dedicated to storing a bunch of random junk: old bicycles, toolboxes, car parts, a kayak. His ears perked when he heard the sound of the furnace kicking on.

See? _he told himself. _Nothing out of the ordinary here.

His fur prickled on the back of his neck. He felt a tiny tickling sensation. Startled, he whacked a paw at the back of his head and staggered forward. His light swung away and he misjudged where the next step was. The canine's foot went through the next board, stopping his leg, but his body continued forward. Foster grabbed onto the handrail, but his momentum thrusted him backwards.

Foster felt a snap in his right foot, and a hot lick of pain crept up his ankle. He didn't scream until he landed flat on his back. Blinding white pain shot from his foot. He balled up his fists, trying not to yell any louder, until he realized that was exactly what he should be doing.

"HEEEEEELP!!!" he cried out. "SOMEONE HELP MEEEEE!!!"

He couldn't stop shaking. He tried moving his leg, then winced when he felt his foot exploding in pain even harder. Sweat began to bead on his muzzle. Foster looked up, his breath coming fast, his heart pounding loud in his ears. There was still sunlight coming up from the doorway, but he couldn't hear anyone else nearby.

He looked to the phone in his paw. Just enough battery life.

_ He tapped three quick buttons and brought the phone to his ear, holding his leg with his free paw. _This is so much worse than they show in the movies.

"911 emergency."

7

Victaria Putterman - Los Angeles

"Tayler, it's an emergency. Please, just... call me back when you get this. I love you." She hung up the phone. It was the third time that she tried calling her partner. It took her three laps of pacing around the living room to realize that it was the middle of the night in Moscow, and therefore, it made sense that Tayler wasn't answering his phone. She needed to calm down. She needed to relax.

She needed a drink.

Victaria padded into the kitchen to the fridge. The vixen took out the bottle of sparkling water she and Tayler got to celebrate their move to California. She got her favorite glass out of the cabinet; a flute glass with a cartoon panda riding on a sled.

She sighed, filled the glass up with sparkling water, and took a sip. The bubbling fluid fizzed in her muzzle for a second before she gulped it down. Immediately, she felt her body relax. Even though there wasn't alcohol in it, the taste reminded her of that first day they moved in.

She remembered falling in love with the house the first time she saw it. It did strike her as odd, however, that Tayler brought up the subject very quickly. It was only four weeks ago that they were still in that apartment in Michigan. Then, the week after the move, he makes a rather impromptu trip to Russia. That man can never sit still, no matter how hard he tries. Victaria never thought to question Tayler's sudden exits; he always explained that his job required him to travel on a moments notice. Though for what, she couldn't say. But as long as they had a roof over their heads and food to eat, Victaria was happy.

She looked down at her paw again. Her thumb ran over the lining of the panda sledding down the side of the glass. She could still feel the paper cut where it should be. And yet...

And yet... there was nothing. If she weren't paying attention, she probably could've thought she imagined it.

Victaria looked up. On the kitchen counter, there was several things still unpacked from the move, but most of the kitchen appliances were out. Their microwave, their bread box, their oven mitts and pot holders.

The knife holder.

The vixen shook her head. Are you mad? What if you _were imagining this morning?_

But, her mind nagged at her, what if I wasn't?

She got up from her seat and walked over to where the knife holder was. She felt ridiculous as she took out the small carving knife from the bottom rack. If I'm going to do this, there's no need to go big, right? In case it doesn't work.

Victaria couldn't tell you in that moment why she was afraid. She was positive that she had a paper cut on her right paw that morning at work. So she made an instant decision, held the knife in her right paw, pressed the blade against her left thumb, and swiftly tore the blade down the length of it.

The sting hit her first. Then the blood.

She winced, dropping the knife in the sink. A stream of red darker than her fur flowed out into the open. She turned on the sink and stuck her paw underneath, watching the water turn a bright shade of pink. Victaria tried to control her breathing as the flow of blood stopped. At first, she thought this would be it, that the cut would disappear.

Except it didn't.

A dark red line remained on her thumb, a stain of what she attempted to prove. Her heart raced, panic slowly taking her body. If someone were to see this, what would they say? she thought. She imagined that folks would assume she lost her mind, and that wasn't the first impression she wanted to give.

Seconds passed. Minutes. Still the line of blood stayed. The pain radiating down her paw and up her arm.

Why isn't it working? Perhaps I _am crazy._

Images flooded her head; Tayler coming home, seeing the scar on her left paw, and wondering what happened to her. Victaria sitting on the couch, trying to explain what she saw at the office and trying -- purposely -- to replicate it.

Then another image came to mind.

Her right thumb. Pressed against her lips. It hurt the first time, and that was her initial instinct. Really, that would be anyone's first instinct, she figured in her head.

Her lips.

She widened her eyes. Suddenly, it clicked to her. She brought her left paw up to her lips. Then she recalled the second part, which was slightly more embarrassing. She lapped at her paw where the cut was. The iron taste coated her tongue again, and this time, she grimaced. It wasn't any better the second time, but she had to know.

Victaria kept going until she couldn't taste blood anymore. She held her paw in front of her. The line was gone. Vanished. She couldn't feel the stinging under the surface of her fur. Instead of blood, the dampness of her fur was replaced with that of saliva.

So _that's how that works?_

Victaria had heard of stories about people being able to heal themselves, but never in a way such as this.

The doorbell shook her out of her reverie.

"Just a minute!" she shouted. The vixen was thinking who on earth could be at her doorstep, but she rushed to clean the blood droplets off the carving knife and the countertop anyways just in case.

Right as she finished washing her paws, the doorbell rang again, twice. As if whoever it was was frantic for her attention. "I'm coming!" She ran back for the front door and opened it. Standing on her porch was a red panda wearing a blue suit and tie. At first, she didn't recognize him, but then she remembered seeing him going into the house next door once. Just a neighbor, she thought in relief.

"Hello," Victaria said, "Can I help you?"

The red panda looked at her -- almost through her -- not quite meeting her eyes. There were tearing forming in the corners of his eyes. "I'm so sorry," he said, nearly choking on his words.

"Sorry?" Victaria said.

Before she could get another word out, the gun was raised and fired.

Fire exploded in her side and she fell backwards, knocking into the small table and falling to the ground. She hit her head on the wood floor. Her vision blurred, black surrounding the edges. Her paw found her left hip were it hit.

Her last thought before she slipped into the darkness?

Tayler.

8

Toni McAlister - Berlin, Germany

The fox paced around his dorm room. This isn't happening. This isn't happening. This isn't happening. He could still see the door falling off its hinges. Slamming -- smashing into the ground into a million pieces. He didn't know what to do. So he ran. Ran all the way back to his dorm without looking back. He thought he heard some people shouting -- whether it was at him, he didn't know.

Hours passed. The sun disappeared below the skyline. His roommate was gone (he never knew where he was at). When he threw the door shut to his room, fear gripped his heart. They'll know it was me. They'll know.

_ But it was an accident? Surely, they'll see that?_

_ No! his inner voice growled. _It's all your fault and you're gonna pay. They'll find you; they know where you sleep at night. They'll send every cop within five miles to hunt you down. And they'll make you pay every penny to fox what you broke. It'll probably be only a measly one hundred grand. Maybe it'll tack onto your student loans just for _being here._

_ _"SHUT UP!!!" Toni shouted, cupping his paws over his ears. His breath was fast, frantic. He knew he was hyperventilating. "It was an accident," he said, mostly to himself.

The truth was, none of it made any sense. He wasn't strong enough to rip a door off its hinges. For god's sake, he had trouble lifting a couple textbooks and carrying them across campus. That's all this was: just a big misunderstanding. Hell, the hinges may have been rusty, he reasoned. I didn't get a good look at it, but that doesn't mean it isn't true.

_ With this, he tried to get his breathing under control. _In. Out. In. Out.

The fox was thirsty.

He went to the mini fridge that was by his roommate's bed (what? He "borrows" things from me all the time) and took out a bottle of water. He twisted the cap off with a satisfying crack and gulped down half the bottle before he finished. Some water dripped onto his shirt, but he didn't care. His head felt less fuzzy. And the voice was gone. For now.

He jumped when his phone rang.

Toni knew he was overreacting, but he couldn't help but be skeptical. Who would be calling me this late at night?

He picked up his phone and saw the number. Oh no, he thought.

Dad.

He hit "Answer", because if he didn't, he'd instantly regret it. "Hello," he said, holding the phone up to his ear."

"What on earth did you do?!" his dad's voice shouted over the line. "I had to find out from the dean that you destroyed a door?!" Toni's ears flattened as he held the phone back a few inches. It didn't help; he could still feel the ring of his father's voice right in his ear drum. "Are you going to say anything to me?!"

"It was an accident!" Toni said, more sure of himself now that he said it aloud a second time. "I went to open it and it fell! I didn't-"

"I don't want to hear your excuses!" his dad shouted over him. "Mags might have been convinced that letting you overseas was a good idea, but I knew -- I fucking knew -- that it was a horrible idea from the start." Toni's throat closed; trying to get words out was difficult. He felt tears springing in the corners of his eyes. "I hope you didn't unpack too much."

The fox felt the world stop. "Why?" he dared to ask.

"Because I'm coming over there to bring you home," his dad answered coldly. "Stay where you are. Understand?"

No, he thought. But didn't say it.

He didn't know where the newfound energy came from. But the white light from the moon seemed to turn red. His body seethed, heat flowing through his veins, and he felt his blood starting to boil.

How _dare he,_ he thought. This is my vacation, my getaway. From _him. And he has the nerve to tell me no? He's not even paying for this! He chose to waste my college fund on a fucking Harley when I turned 16!_

_ _All his bad memories. All the fights with his father. It came back to him in a sudden fit of white, blinding rage. He closed his paw, clenching it in a fist. His phone cracked, and split in two halves. Glass shattered, and pieces rained down from his paw, sparkling glitter reflecting the night skylight, reminding him how beautiful white can be in certain times.

This was not one of them.

Toni dropped what was left of his phone onto the ground. He looked down at his paws. The fox felt an energy flowing through his arms like he never felt before. Like suddenly, nothing was holding him back. Like he was almost... free.

He looked out his window onto the campus. In less than 48 hours, his father would be there to take him back. And for once, he had the confidence to make sure he wouldn't get his way.

Not this time.

9

Wade Currentz - Kansas City

Screeeeeeeeeeech.

_ _Lenny's Toyota halted outside of the office building. "Are you positive this is where she works?" the leopard asked.

"Very sure," Wade said. The image of the building was a blur, but he was certain this was right. It was a four-story building with beige bricks and glass panoramic windows wrapped around the sides like bracelets on an arm. "She works on the top floor, let's go!"

The two men got out of the car and ran inside the front doors to the lobby. The receptionist, a lynx that always had those purple earrings -- what was her name again? he thought, then shook his head; didn't matter --, stopped both men and asked them the nature of their business.

"I need to see my girlfriend," Wade explained. "Stella Stenzky. Tall black skunk? With pink hair, bright blue eyes, kinda has a white spot shaped like a heart on her buttcheek?"

The lynx gave him a confused look. "Why would I know that?" she asked.

Wade wracked his brain for an answer. "I don't know."

"Please!" Lenny cried out. "It's an emergency!"

Wade was almost sure that the receptionist was going to call security, but instead, she rolled her eyes and pointed down the hallway. "She's on the top floor; make it snappy."

The pup wagged and thanked her, pulling his friend along down the hall. He frantically pressed the up button, and he heard a ding and one of the silver doors opening up. Lenny pressed the 4th floor button and the doors closed. The car squeaked and groaned as it carried the two up.

Wade let out a sigh. These things always take forever. His ears perked when he caught the elevator tune. Is that Linkin Park? It was a lot more subdued than usual in the style of elevator music.

Lenny broke the silence. "So... does she really have a spot shaped like-"

"Let's not talk about that." Wade's cheeks burned with embarrassment. He had no idea why he said that descriptor; the pink hair would've been enough to identify Stella amongst the crowd of these people.

Ding. The doors opened, and Wade and Lenny ran into the hall. Wade recalled the steps towards his girlfriend's desk. It was down the hall, taking a right, and another right into a big area with several cubicles. The room was decorated with several giant potted plants, strung-up lights, and bamboo furniture. The carpet was soft and an odd orangish-yellow that reminded Wade of tie-dyes from the 80s. A strong stench tickled his nose, forcing him to fight off a sneeze. Sheesh, how much perfume do these people wear?

When he saw the tall skunk with pink hair, he remembered where he was going. "Stella!" he called out.

She looked up, startled, and noticed him and Lenny weaving around several desks to get to her. "Wade? Lenny? What on earth are you doing here?" she asked. "I asked you to email me that file! I have to give that presentation in ten minutes!"

"I know," Wade said. "But I wanted to show you something. Where's your computer at?"

"I don't have time for these games!" Stella growled. "Please tell me you have it on a flash drive or something." Wade folded his ears back. He hated seeing her like this.

"You really want to see this," Lenny said. The leopard spotted the laptop on Stella's desk at the same time Wade did. He quickly brushed past Stella and swiped the laptop off her desk. He ignored the skunk's protests and opened up her computer.

"You guys better have a good explanation for this!" Stella said.

"We do," Lenny said. He spun the computer around. Wade saw her desktop pulled up. It was a simple background with the logo AB in neon blue lights in a circle amongst a purple backdrop. "Now, man."

Wade pressed his paw to the screen. Opened the channel between his mind and the computer. He took the presentation file out of the recesses of his brain and pushed it directly into Stella's memory drive.

Seconds later, the PowerPoint AB_WinterLine2022 appeared next to her trash can.

Stella's eyes popped when she saw the new icon on her screen. "Wha... how did...?" Without waiting for Lenny to set her computer down, she moved her finger along the trackpad and clicked on the icon. A slideshow of dozens of dresses, pants, shirts, and accessories with various shades of white and blue popped open for her to see.

Wade's heart soared. It worked! He was bouncing on the toes of his feet, his tail wagging fast. He hoped that she would be impressed, even a little excited herself, at what he could do.

He sort of got what he wanted. The skunk looked back at him with a bewildered look, saying, "How the hell did you do that?" she asked. "That's my file... but... I didn't see you putting the file in." She looked at his bright expression, then over to Lenny, who was also smiling eagerly. Then her tone changed. "Wait a minute... was this some sort of magic trick you two pulled off?"

Wade shook his head, his ears flopping around. "Nope. I have a special power: I can move computer memory. With my mind." He said the last bit more quiet. Even though he wanted nothing more than to show off his power and do more good with it, he's read comics and he's seen movies: all those with superpowers must keep it a secret lest they risk being captured and experimented on.

Lenny was nodding his head. "It's true, I saw him do it myself," he explained.

"Uh-huh..." Stella looked like she didn't know what to say next. She looked at the door behind her then snagged her laptop back. "Well... whatever it was, I still have to show these to my boss in a moment. Thank you, boys, anyways. And Wade..." She cupped his cheek with her paw. "... when I get home, we're going to have a long discussion about this."

"Okay," Wade said. "Good luck with your presentation."

"Thanks. Love you, hun." She leaned up and kissed his nose.

"Love you, too." He returned the kiss.

Stella went back to her desk. Wade and Lenny turned around and went back to the elevator. As they went down the elevator, Wade couldn't shake how high he was feeling; that he not only helped to save his girlfriend's career, but he put his new ability to good use. It was almost like for once, he wasn't a screw-up.

They heard the ding again and they exited into the lobby. Wade moved to Lenny's right side. He kept his head down as they walked past the lynx's desk. He was positive that the leopard might start teasing him about the comment regarding Stella's cutie mark.

But then Lenny started jogging a little faster than him. "Dude..." Wade heard the dread in his voice before he saw his friend running out the front doors into the street.

Wade pushed open the heavy doors -- did they feel as heavy going in? -- and followed Lenny outside. The sun was beating down hard, blinding Wade. So it took the canine a second to realize that the street was empty.

"Dude!" Lenny said again, louder. "Where's my car?!"

"I love that movie!" Wade said.

"No!" the leopard shouted. "I mean, where's my car?!" He was pacing in circles where Wade thought he had parked. Then they noticed the red lines painted right in front of the sidewalk. No Parking. Fire Zone.

"It couldn't have gone far, right?" Wade asked.

Lenny's breathing picked up. He was looking frantically in every direction as if his Toyota would magically appear out of nowhere. Then he pointed down the street. Wade looked and saw a big white truck with a Toyota on the back end of it; the truck was towing the car towards the downtown area.

Oh, right!

"HEY!!!" Lenny roared. He took off running towards the truck. Wade, unsure of what else to do, ran after his friend. "STOP!!! THAT'S MY CAR!!!"

10

Joey Damian "JD" - New York City

The bear breathed into a paper bag. In. Out. In. Out. He figured if he did this long enough, his current nightmare would be over with.

Joey couldn't get those numbers out of his head. 2022. A year into the future. How on earth did he miss an entire year of his life? He remembered absolutely nothing: not his birthday, not that summer, not how the city had a viral breakout that seemingly came out of nowhere. Now he suddenly had a year's experience on the job and was somehow friends with some of his coworkers? It was nice, but it felt weird that they knew stuff about him and not the other way around.

After hours and hours of injected people with... well, Holleigh still wouldn't really explain what it was, but either way, Joey needed to get away. He found an empty waiting area on the top floor of the hospital, sat down in a chair by the vending machine, and tried to calm down. When that didn't work, he did the breathing technique using a paper bag. He didn't know why, but he saw people doing it in movies, so why wouldn't it work here?

He looked up at the clock. 5:28. He couldn't believe it was already close to dinner time and he didn't even have a break yet. As far as first days go, this would be Joey's worst. He buried his face in his paws. All the bear wanted to do was go back to 2021 and forget this ever happened.

"Hey! There you are!" Holleigh's voice made him jump. "Are you okay?"

Joey rubbed his face and took in a deep breath. "No!" he shouted. "I'm not okay! I'm freaking out!" He stood up from his chair. Holleigh stepped back, but Joey didn't care. "I'm not supposed to be here! When I woke up, it was 2021! Now you're telling me it's the next year?! I have no _idea what's going on! I don't know what happened the last twelve months of my life, and _people are dying all around us. And you came to me expecting me to know everything that's going on, and I don't know!"

Tears sprung into his eyes. The weight of his situation was starting to hit him. Those downstairs were dying. Of what? He didn't know. And he felt helpless; he wanted to do more, but without any clue for what this outbreak was, he could only do so much.

Overhead, a lightbulb popped, startling the two.

"JD, please," Holleigh said. The marble cat outstretched her paw.

"I don't care!" Joey roared at her. "And leave me alone! Also, don't call me JD! I don't know you well enough for you to call me that!" His claws dug into his paws. It was all he could do to not push her away. It sounded tempting.

"But Joey, I need your help!" Holleigh cried. He could see tears welling on her eyes too.

"I don't care! I can't help! I quit; now go away!" Joey pointed back out into the hall. The cat took a few steps back then rushed out the doors.

The bear sat down in his chair and covered his eyes with his paws. All his rage pooled into his chest and he let the water flow from his eyes, regret gripping around his heart the second he heard the door to the waiting area shut. What have I done? Now I don't have a job, I'm stuck in this place that I don't even recognize with people I'm supposed to know, but I don't know yet.

Joey wished he could take those words back. He wanted to help. He really, really did. His head was in a frenzy. He couldn't tell the difference between left and right.

He sniffled. Then did his best to bury his emotions. I can do this, he thought. Just another minute, I'll apologize to Holleigh, then I'll figure out what to do next.

"Hey! There you are!" Holleigh's voice startled him. He was about to ramble an apology when the marble cat said, "Are you okay?"

Joey looked up, quickly drying the tears from his fur. He decided he wouldn't waste any time. "Holleigh, look, I'm sorry I snapped at you. I'm just... having a hard time figuring this out, you know? Can you forgive me?"

The cat gave him a strange look. "What are you talking about? I haven't seen you in hours."

Joey raised an eyebrow. "But... you were just in here a few minutes ago and I yelled at you." The bear glanced over at the clock, where the hands was greeting the six not long ago.

Except now it wasn't. It was back between the six and five. 5:28.

His eyes widened. Oh. My. God.

"I'm pretty sure I'd remember something like that," Holleigh said when he didn't look back at her. "I've been looking for you everywhere. I still need your assistance on the 5th floor. Are you alright?"

Joey shook his head. Everything still felt unreal. But when he looked at the clock, he felt as if there was some moment of clarity, an idea he could cling onto in this unknown world. I didn't lose a year of my life, because it didn't happen yet.

He looked back at Holleigh, who was waiting for the bear to explain himself. Joey noticed the bulb on the ceiling flickering. "Holleigh, any moment now, that light bulb is going to explode," Joey said, pointing directly above her.

"JD, are you going to stop playing with me are you going to-"

POP.

The bulb bursts, casting their area in the room in darkness. Holleigh's eyes darted from the dim bulb to Joey. The bear wasn't sure how the cat was feeling -- probably frightened, from the way she stumbled backwards -- but Joey felt like he could jump with joy.

"That's what's going on!" Joey shouted in glee. "I didn't lose part of my life! I time traveled!" Holleigh's eyes narrowed and appeared to be wondering what question to ask. So, Joey continued. "Earlier I snapped at you, and I instantly felt sorry about it and I wished I could take it back. And so I rewound time by a couple minutes and it gave me another chance to get our conversation right.

"Now that I think about it..." Joey paced around the room. An image conjured in his mind: him undressing for bed, relaxing in his bed, dreaming about his new life in the big city. "... last night was my first night in the city. I kept thinking about where I may end up in a year. That's why I jumped forward to 2022: I think of a time and I jump there!"

Joey thought Holleigh was going to think he was crazy. Honestly, this sounded crazy to him too, but the idea gave him hope. If I think of home... I could be free from this...

"Hold on." Holleigh raised a paw. "Are you saying that you can time travel? Does that mean you're... one of them?"

"One of who?" Joey asked.

"Them. People with special abilities." There are others? Joey wanted to ask. But the cat continued to ramble. "Oh my gosh... omigosh, that... holy shit we could actually prevent this?"

"Are you talking about the outbreak?"

Holleigh nodded. Joey was going to ask -- rather loudly -- why she didn't start talking about this hours ago, but he let her speak. "Yes. This outbreak..." She waved her paws around, indicating the city outside. "... this was _caused _by people with abilities."

Joey's heart stung hearing that. Right was he was thrilled at the prospect of having a superpower, a frightful thought crept into his mind: that if people had powers, they might try to use them for evil, such as unleashing some deadly virus in a heavily populated world city.

Joey shook his head. Now that facts were coming his way, he needed to work his way around this new reality. "Okay, Holleigh, can you tell me where this virus originated? Is there anything you can tell me about it? Anything at all."

Holleigh wracked her brain around for a couple seconds. "This particular outbreak we've managed to contain here in New York, but it didn't have any specific name. It started with those with special powers. They'd get sick, and not only would their powers become uncontrollable, but their bacteria spread like crazy. At first, it appeared as if it were some regular flu... until people's brains started... melting."

"What?" Joey didn't think he heard her correctly. "Melting?"

"Just in one case out of every five... but yes... melting. After that, every entrance and exit coming in and out of the city was sealed."

Joey sat back down, holding his paws over his head. The last thing he wanted to feel was his head turned into ice cream. "How do we stop this? When did this start?"

"Umm... sometime after that New Year's party. Yeah, yeah, the first cases started to appear the summer after the party."

"What party?"

"The one in Battery Park. I wasn't sure what it was for, I wasn't invited. But it was huge. There were a lot of people with abilities there. I heard that a large fight broke out, but that's not important. What's important is that the first strain of the virus started last summer. Around June, I'd say."

"Alright." Joey stood up from his chair. With a newfound energy, the bear felt like he had an idea of what to do. He would go back to that summer and stop this virus from breaking out. But, because of slight curiosity, he asked her, "Do you know anyone else with abilities?"

"Yes," Holleigh answered. "I do actually." The cat spun around and went over to the abandoned nurse's station. She grabbed a notepad and scribbled a name and ten digits on the paper and ripped it off, giving it to Joey. "He may not do much, but he has a power. Talk to him, he may be able to help."

Joey looked at the name. Foster MacArthur. He stuffed the note in his pocket. "Thanks," he told her. "I'm sorry I couldn't have been more help today."

"JD," Holleigh said, "if you do this, you'll be way more helpful than you'll ever realize." Joey didn't bother to correct the cat about his nickname.

"Okay," he told himself. "I just think of a time and I go there. Shouldn't be hard."

He had a date in mind: June 1st. Seemed like the easiest place to start. But right as he was about to concentrate, Holleigh interrupted him. "Wait! If you go to June now, then how will you get this job in the future?"

"What do you mean?" Joey asked.

"I mean, wouldn't it make more sense to go back a year? That way, you can get those twelve months back?"

He didn't really think about that. He figured that he could regain that time back any day that he could. But the more he thought about it, she was right. By going back a year, the bear had more time to find Foster, and others, who could help him stop this virus.

"Alright. Back to September then."

Joey closed his eyes and focused, very clearly. In his mind, he could see the calendar flipping backwards from September 2022, to 2021. He was floating, almost like he could reach out and touch any day of the year that he wanted. The bear found the right date: September 24th, 2021 and stopped.

He opened his eyes. It was nighttime. Pale moonlight licked its way through his bedroom window.

Joey sat up in bed, surprised. Not only was he back in his room, but -- checking his phone -- he was in the correct time. He pulled the sheets back over himself, shivering as the cool blanket covered his belly. Even though that day hadn't happened yet, he still felt seven hours worth of poking people in the arm with unknown fluids and he was exhausted.

_ _He told himself to rest his aching body. He closed his eyes.

Tomorrow, I need to find Foster.

###

An origin story can lead to many directions. All of us can accurately guess the origin to many a great heroes in the world. But what about the villains? Do we care to know where evil comes from? Probably not. All we care about is how to stop it. There's only one issue with that: sometimes, in order to fully grasp why one is corrupt, one must ask what pushed them down this path? There are multiple paths people can take every day; from being whisked to a foreign land, to lying dead of a gunshot wound, to going someplace ordinary like the towing company. Where in particular does the darkness begin to spread? And even if you knew the exact point in time, how does it make a difference?

_ _

TO BE CONTINUED...