FSE

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Raposa looked across the desk and glared. He breathed out heavily, a solitary vein tattooing his muzzle, quivering slightly with every broken heartbeat.

He growled, fixing a daggered stare at the subordinate in front of him. The constancy of his voice betrayed his frustration, a frustration that was only demonstrated towards the end of his speech. It was then that the drone could sense the poison in his breath.

"I want him here. I want him here now! No more excuses. No more slip-ups. That's an ORDER!"

With that, Raposa swivelled his chair to face the world - a world that looked so tiny from the fifty-third floor of his office block.

He allowed himself a wry smile. High amongst the clouds he felt at one with God, observing a scene that was of both their creations.

Looking at the scurrying ants beneath his feet, his smile cracked into a grin. He was the queen of the hive and they were making his honey. He was served by those who would die just to serve, yet his servants could never explain why they felt so compelled.

Yes, life was pretty sweet, he thought. Like a make-believe story, this engineered world glossed over life's inconvenient truths. After all, there's more hope in an image than there is in a reflection and as Raposa looked down, he started to laugh. For he had the apple and they were Snow White, but in this fairy-tale, the wicked witch would prevail.

---

Roka looked into Raev's eyes and smiled. She still couldn't believe he was here, lying naked next to her, a picture of innocence in such a perverted world. She sighed softly as she strained her ears to listen. His measured breathing was like a lullaby, dissolving all the fears that the last few months had brought.

For a moment, everything was perfect. She moved her paw to stroke his face, half-expecting it to dissolve upon touch like a reflection in a duckpond. As contact was made, her heart fluttered, causing her to reel back in surprise. No, he was here. Here at last. And this time, she wasn't going to let him go.

She stroked his muzzle softly, her smile widening as she wrapped her paws around it and squeezed. In return, he looked down and nuzzled the top of her head, a symbol of sweet intent, of gratitude for being the only one he could ever trust.

He knew that he still needed her but he couldn't let her know why. She had been through enough and he didn't want to destroy this precious moment. It had been a long time coming and he wanted to preserve it. He also didn't know when they would be together again.

But he was fooling no-one. Beneath the contentment, Roka knew something was wrong. Those deep azure eyes had lost their sparkle, clouded by a fear that she couldn't quite pinpoint.

She looked up at the camera mounted on the wall, hoping it would provide answers, but it just stared blankly back, revealing nothing. Oh how she wished she could escape them, just for a while.

She sighed. Everyone wanted their fifteen minutes of fame, but fifteen minutes can sometimes last a lifetime.

She turned her face to shield herself from its gaze, burying her muzzle deep into Raev's neck fur, hoping this nightmare would soon go away.

But deep down she knew that the nightmare was far from over.

---

The printer whirred into life, beeping belligerently as it was disturbed from its slumber. Raposa glared, warning it not to mess with him. Seconds later, a message flashed on the Perspex screen. "TONER OUT".

"Shit! Why can't anything ever be simple?" he growled. Angry at the inconvenience, he rapaciously tore the cartridge from its moorings before masturbating it furiously, trying to force the thick liquid to come to the surface. Two minutes later he was still pounding, determined to get the job done.

As soon as he was sated, he replaced the component and continued with the task in hand, dismissing the printer like the cheapest of whores.

The machine beeped for attention but Raposa was having none of it. He needed this information and he needed it now. He breathed a huge sigh of relief when the paper finally started rolling.

The details soon followed. Name, Address, Age, Sexuality, Passport Number, National Insurance Number, National Identity Number, Driving Licence, Eye Colour, Hair Colour, Muzzle Size, Penis Size, Sperm Count, Paw Print, DNA Code, Previous Schools, Previous Jobs, every single angle was covered.

As the printer did its work, Raposa looked at the picture that accompanied the document. He saw a white-haired creature staring blankly back at him. For a brief second, he almost felt sympathy before he snapped out of his weakness and turned to walk away.

He looked again. It was hard to believe that such an insignificant looking fox could be the root of his problems. Why couldn't he just conform like the rest of them? Why did he have to question the unquestionable? Why did he have to think when it's far easier to believe?

He felt a pang of sadness before dismissing it in an instant. He knew this was necessary, that it needed to be done. It was just the way of the world. In a few short hours, the fox would be as motionless as the picture staring back at him.

---

The light on the camera flashed intermittently as the device whirred around to capture its prey. Roka tried her best to ignore it but she knew she could never escape its vacant stare. Not anymore.

She turned on the living room TV, hoping that Raev would soon wake up again and come for her. CCTV TV. Channels and channels of it from all over the world. Twenty-four hours a day, every day. It was the only thing that remained.

It had seemed a good idea at the time. In the early years of the twenty-first century, the rise of celebrity culture had given the world "reality TV". Suddenly anyone could be famous for the sake of being famous and a lot of people had jumped at the chance.

However, the TV companies were accused of "dumbing down", particularly by the intelligentsia who also clamoured for their fifteen minutes of fame. Thus, competition grew for exactly the same sort of thing and everything else was consigned to the past.

With the dawning of the digital age, it was possible to have an infinite number of channels, all catering to different markets. It also started to become cheaper and easier to film non-stop reality TV instead of commissioning actual programming. The path of least resistance is the path most taken so variety and reality became synonymous. This was only exacerbated by the demise of public broadcasting, with commercial pressures and interests sounding its death knell.

Somewhere in the clamour, all perspective was lost. The oligarchs who ran the media outlets had been increasing their influence over governments for years and now a deal could be reached as lawmakers and the press shared access to official CCTV networks. It was sold as public safety, but it was purely for control - control masquerading as entertainment. And from here it was just a slippery slope.

With an increasingly benign media, one thing led to another. ID Cards, a compulsory DNA database and then legislation making it mandatory to have a camera fitted into every room of your house. How else was the government going to keep the public safe? How else was the "War on Terror" going to be won?

From civil protection to entertainment, the networks soon realised they had a ratings winner on their hands. In the 1990s, CCTV cameras had featured heavily on all the cop chase shows and the TV companies were quick to use the new laws to expand the format. Suddenly YOU were the star and you could watch your own life on TV - from "Kitchen Cam" to "Bedroom Cam" to "Toilet Cam". The problem was, everyone else could watch it too.

So now Loose Women was footage of Women's Institute meetings, Countdown involved turning off the life support machines of terminally ill people and Deal or No Deal saw footage of local youths dealing a range of drugs on shadowy street corners. Reality was king, anything else didn't compete.

It also encouraged snooping, the twitching of curtains that had always existed in suburbia. The rise of the cameras gave this legitimacy as you could now spy on your street from the comfort of your couch.

Everyone was suckered in and Roka was no different. She knew her neighbour had a particular thing for having the back of her knee stroked during sex. It drove her wild and due to the paucity of the walls, she could enjoy the experience in surround sound if she wanted.

Sat alone on the couch, she could hear the bed rocking so she knew it was time for the omnibus edition. Sighing, she picked up the remote and tuned in. She didn't really want to see Sheryl being ridden for a millionth time but anything beat watching the security cameras in Dudley Town Centre. Okay, there was that one night when one of the banks was ram-raided but the usual fare of watching drunks vomiting in the gutter was not really her thing.

And anyway, perhaps Sheryl would try a new position or something. Granted she had had the same boring sex life for the last twenty years but perhaps tonight would be the night she would finally go wild. After all, Bob was a looker if you liked overbites and orthodontics. Surely, he could show her a new thing or two with those teeth?

She sighed again. Why was she trying to justify her natural curiosity? Why did she even care? What had she become?

Should she press the red button and go interactive? That was always an experience. With multi-angles and four different commentaries, it was the ultimate sports package.

Perhaps she should send a text message for £2 plus her standard network rate to see her nonsensical ramblings scroll across the bottom of the screen. That was always a thrill. "Pound her harder next time Bob - and for God's sake use dental floss". Surely this was televisual heaven.

The question was, why did she feel so unfulfilled?

---

As the fog of tiredness filtered slowly over her eyes, the grains on the screen became a warming blur of hypnotic movement. She yawned quietly, her eyes as heavy as her heart as she curled her tail around her shivering body and surrendered to the inevitable.

It was the knock on the door that awoke her from her happiness. Alert, her eyes snapped open and drunkenly swept around the room. When she realised she was alone, she exhaled loudly. At least only the cameras had infiltrated her privacy.

It was scant consolation as the comfort in her mind was soon replaced by panic, a panic only enhanced by her screaming retinas unaccustomed to the bright light of the living room. She looked around again, wondering who was calling at such a tardy hour.

Involuntarily, she jumped up and darted towards the window before suddenly retreating. No, she thought, if it was them then that was the last thing she should do.

A second knock followed, louder, more insistent. She yelped softly as her brain tried to beat through the confusion to provide her with answers. But no answers came, just further scrambled thoughts.

In a haze, she dived into the bedroom, clutching at memories, clinging to hope. That hope was Raev.

The touching of snouts was far from graceful. Neither was the arc that got her there but as she spilled herself upon him, she knew it would do the trick. Spreadeagled on top of her lover, her pale eyes pierced through the air in an attempt to dock with the warming gaze of her protector. The snoutdonk brought him back to her side as his eyes lazily opened to reveal her worried portrait.

"W-w-w-what's happening hun?" her boyfriend exclaimed through his own mental mist.

"We need to leave. There's someone at the door, I think it might be them."

Raev yawned deeply before springing into action. Diving into a pair of tattered jeans, he looked at his sweetheart and slurped her muzzle softly.

"Don't worry my sweetness," he said softly, taking her paw in his. "This will end. Trust me."

For a brief moment, Roka dissolved into his warm eyes, a tunnel of love in an otherwise grey hue. For one second, she felt reassured, safe, protected. Yes, he may have been the one who had brought all this into her life, but he was also the one who had brought so much happiness too. She was lucky to have him, incredibly so. She just wished that they didn't always have to be on the run.

True to form, the next thing she knew she was being dragged out of the backdoor and into the alley adjacent to where they lived. She inhaled deeply before spluttering on the smell of stale urine.

"Sssssh," Raev insisted. "You don't want them to hear us, do you?"

She sighed. Why did it always have to be like this? Why couldn't she just put her paws up and watch daytime TV like the other vixens? Why couldn't she talk about how scandalous it was that Susanne from number eighteen is seeing a wolf behind her husband's tail? Why couldn't she discuss the delightful new women's magazines they were selling in WH Yiff? Or the new slimline pink telephone they had for sale in Vixens? Why did she have to live this life? A Fox on the Run - a pallid soundtrack to a life less sweet.

She sighed again. Perhaps the chickens were always plumper on the other side...

"Where are we going?" she said as she jumped at the sound of their front door caving in behind her.

"I know a place," said Raev. "A place where we will be protected. A place where we will be safe. A place where they can't touch us. Trust me."

Roka knew she had to. She had trusted him before and he had always come through for her. What other option did she have? She didn't much fancy being incarcerated in a state sponsored jail, to become the star attraction in a popular soap that ironically would never be dropped.

She whimpered as Raev grabbed her paw tighter. Glancing behind her, her heart skipped a beat. Hot on their tails were two snarling police dogs, pounding the street and focused on their pray. The hunters had become the hunted and they were slowly being worn into submission.

Roka kept running, even though her legs were begging her to stop. Her head thumping, she blindly followed her mate, hoping that they would reach their destination before it was too late. Buildings and landmarks descended into blurs, streets became indistinguishable, all meaning a paradox. Survival had taken over.

She looked behind her again and smiled. She couldn't help but admire the physique of her suitors as their muscles rippled against their tight blue uniforms. Inspecting the inspectors, her pants became moist. Softly she murred, each elongated sound accentuating passion. She would be their prey any time, she thought, as her heart now pulsated with two forms of desire.

As they whipped around a corner, she quickly snapped out of her lust as a more primeval urge came to the fore. She looked back at Raev and instantly regretted her dalliance. They were in this together and they both needed each other. Now was not the time to let her hormones take over. They needed to survive.

Her mind screamed in surrender but her heart was pumping desire, yearning to be free from the prison of her ribcage. She was still distracted however as the thought of those muscles was sending her hormones into overdrive, a Siren call from the law, from those she must obey.

As they moved closer, the sirens became louder. The snarling did too but it was all buried beneath the heaviness of her breath. Raev looked at his beloved and wished it wasn't this way but in less than a minute, he knew they'd be safe.

Roka looked back and feigned a soft smile, hoping it didn't seem disingenuous. The reality was, she no longer cared. She just wanted it all to be over.

"So where are we going?" Roka pleaded.

"A place I learned about a long time ago," Raev spluttered. "A place with friends, where you can be the real you."

Roka looked up at Raev and smiled softly. Could such a place exist? she thought. Is there really a venue where you can be who you want to be?

She looked up to God before looking around. The dogs were mere feet from their paws and she could hear the sound of growling in her ears. Once more, panic swept in.

"Where is this place?" she desperately demanded. "Where?"

"Here," Raev said as he rounded a corner and dived into a building, dragging her beloved with him as he narrowly evaded the rabid lunge of one of the officers. Behind him, he heard whimpering as his muzzle concertinaed into the cold hard pavement.

It took Roka a few seconds to get accustomed to the scene but when she did, she spied the foyer of a youth hostel laid out in front of her. Dotted around were various characters - wolves, foxes, rabbits, mice and even otters - all happy in each other's company, all happy just to be.

Across the foyer she spied a badger approaching them and as he moved closer, a warm smile spread across his face.

"Hi Raev," he said, hugging him warmly. "It's great to see you again."

He then turned to Roka before saying, "And you must be Roka. I've heard many things about you."

Roka blushed before the badger continued, "Here, may I offer you a cookie. They're choc chip y'know and oh so good. I'm Brok and may I be the first to welcome you to ConFuzzled, our furry haven from the world outside. Here you can be whoever you want to be, away from judgemental eyes."

Smiling at Brok, she took Raev's paw before giving the duo the warmest embrace. As she did so, she spied many new friends milling around and her smile broke into the widest of grins.

Finally, she was home.