Dissension - Chapter I
CHAPTER I
The room was dark, and silent. A soft glow permeated from the walls and floor, but there was little else in terms of light.
She stood upright, hands clasped behind her back. She showed no fear, though it threatened to consume her.
"I take it everything is in order then, miss," he said.
He? More like it. More machine than man. A monstrosity. But a glorious and beautiful monster he was. Perfection, even. The perfect harmony of flesh and metal. Though it was an image of perfection so horrible, so grotesque even, that it bordered on monstrous.
"They are," She answered without hesitation. Hesitation meant fear. And fear in his presence meant death.
His eyes. His eyes narrowed at her. Horrible, beautiful little orbs that saw through her resolute façade, but chose to ignore it out of some sick sense of mercy.
God, they were so horrible.
"Good. What of the subjects. You have yet to relay the results, my good lady."
The results. Damn. He'd surely be disappointed. But she was wise enough to risk telling him.
She cleared her throat.
"Subject one expired quickly after amputation and inoculation."
He interrupted her. "Why. What went wrong." It was no question. It was a demand.
"The subject rejected the surgical procedure violently. The subject quickly went into shock and then cardiac arrest. It expired within minutes after the procedure."
He thought about it a moment. His eyes, damn those horrible things, closed. "I see."
She nodded.
"There were other subjects."
There were.
"The second subject did well in terms of prosthesis-grafting. As for indoctrination, however, the subject quickly became unstable after days of isolation. Some gibberish babbling and severe psychological trauma caused a violent mental breakdown. The subject was then euthanized and deemed a failure."
"So don't isolate them next time. And the third."
"The third...well..."
"Well."
"The third subject committed suicide after a seemingly-successful indoctrination. We tried to refrain from performing prosthesis beforehand, so as to...erm, boost the subject's willingness to go along with the ideal."
"I see."
He didn't "see" anything. He didn't do anything other than sit and think. She was doing all the work. She was taking all the risks. She was taking all the credit, and all the blame.
"I will find more desirable, effective ways of indoctrination. As for prosthesis, consult your medical staff."
She nodded quickly.
"You may leave."
She left.
The elevator ride up was long and silent, dark and alone. There was no soft blue glow to comfort her here, only the soft hum of machinery and absolute darkness.
She reached the floor she wanted, and sent the elevator back down without a passenger.
With a huff, she flopped herself in her high-backed swivel chair in her office, and stared out of the massive window that overlooked the city. It was what calmed her in these times. The soft glow of the lights, up from her perch in the building that towered above all the rest. She was safe there, in her office; safe from all the indoctrination and the blue glowing walls and those horrible eyes and from fear. In the safe confines of her office, nothing could touch her when the doors were closed.
Except she heard them open, and someone scuffled in.
"Ma'am," they said, "We're ready to begin prepping the next subject for today."
Her safety ebbed. Fear followed her in.
Without turning around to face whoever entered, "What happens when you try to change the world?"
They paused. "...ma'am?"
"I mean change it the way you think it should be...in your image, I suppose."
They stammered. "I-I wouldn't know."
"Of course not. But you will. Sometime soon I'd imagine. Everyone will."
She swiveled around in the chair, reluctantly tearing her gaze from the gem of her city. "Show me the next subject," she said as she stood from her chair.
The doors closed behind her.
It was dark, and there were lights zipping around everywhere. Thin lines of green, purple, red, blue oscillated in patterned design. And in rhythm with the booming beat, a strobe flashed. The people there even had lights, too. They held it in their hands, those little sticks of color. Rings around their arms, around their necks, their legs. Whenever they made even a slight gesture, color trailed on behind them. It seemed so effortless when they moved. Almost like the music moved their limp bodies into motion, the beat giving them life.
And the strobe ceased, and there was only black.
The green, the blue, the purple, the red; they cut through the darkness as the beat commanded them to.
There was color and darkness. There was sound and silence. There was excitement and exhaustion.
And where there were these, there was life.
It was Brandon Kaiyne's job to give them that life.
Brandon had just recently celebrated his twenty-first birthday. He stood at about six-foot-five, and was almost unhealthily thin. He didn't look emaciated, however; he was actually very toned and lean. Today Brandon decided to wear a white collared tee with black jeans, and he opted not to wear shoes. He received numerous complements on his eyes; the left was green and the right was a light blue. He had no answer to how they came to be like that, they just...were. But Brandon liked them, so. He kept his long black hair tied back most of the time, letting the bangs dangle over his eyes. Even though the club was really dark, he wore sunglasses just because. Headphones hung around his neck, repeating repetitious techno beats and whatnot.
The black wolf slid the crossfader back and forth, and watched the crowd do the same. Bouncing back and forth. It was fun to watch, let alone provide the entertainment.
Some blonde woman down on the floor looked up at him with an expression of "OHMYGOD I know him he's my best friend from kindergarten!" and waved. So he just waved back nonchalantly and went back to his business.
She probably mistook him for a friend; he didn't know any blondes, human or not.
Actually that was a lie. He did know one...or two.
He remembered when he glanced to his right and saw a blonde-haired doe stumbling towards him.
"Hey! Little Miss Boo managed to make it!" he called out to her over the new track he began to play.
Bambi Boo was a 28-year-old doe who worked for an executive law firm in the Northside of the city. Her long blonde hair was tied back, but her bangs waved in front of her deep green eyes. She always dressed sharply; she wore a white button-up shirt unbuttoned distractingly low, and black khakis. Her black suit jacket was unbuttoned so her pink tie could flail around loosely. She looked a bit out of place what with her hoity-toity getup in a club, but Brandon highly doubted she cared.
She hobbled up the steps to the booth and nodded. "Yeah. You're fucking welcome, I almost lost that pass you gave me to get up here." As she looked over to the crowd, she smirked. "Nice place by the way."
Brandon winked under his sunglasses and smiled. "It does good by me. I love it here." He noticed her hoof. "Can I getcha a chair?"
"Please."
He waved at a droid to his right and a stool from the bar was soon brought up.
"Brandon this isn't a chair."
"Nope! It's a barstool!"
"You said you'd give me a chair."
"Well you got a stool. Take it or stand on that gimp of a hoof you have."
Even in the dark he could tell she was rolling her eyes at him. "I'm thirsty."
"You're really pushin' your luck you know that?" Again, he waved and brought a droid over. With a whisper to it ear, two drinks were brought back from the bar. They both took sips of their drinks after clinking glasses, and Bambi sucked hers down like it was going out of style. "So what happened?" he asked motioning towards her hoof and switching the crossfade.
With a quick swipe of his drink, "I was just walking down the hall at the firm, MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS, and this GUY has the nerve to just blazing out of the elevator like a house on fire! So he bumps into me and I yelled at him and I landed on my hoof awkwardly and then it craaaaaaaacked," she whined. Her focus went from the drink to her hoof. "My gorgeous hoof...does the crack look infected to you?"
Brandon just laughed at her and took his drink back.
"What're you drinking?" she asked. Brandon shrugged, and the doe rolled her eyes. "That's safe. Oh, sorry I was late."
"You mentioned that. It's okay."
"I saw some lady wave at you a minute ago."
"Yeah, people do that."
"...well? Who was she?"
He shrugged. "I have no idea. She just looked up at me and waved like I was supposed to know her."
"Overly-devoted fan?"
Brandon laughed. "That'd be somethin'."
Bambi leaned forward and rested her elbows on the booth. Brandon's eyes darted around, watching the streaks of colored light and tapping his shoeless foot to the beat.
"You alone?" she asked.
"Yup," he replied. "Just us two."
"How's Karigan?"
"Good. She's got some social get-together tonight I think."
The doe cocked her head. "How come you're not at home, then? It sounds like it'd be a good time."
The wolf switched the crossfader and scratched a vinyl as he said, "Not my scene really. Too hoity-toity and stuff." He raised his hand and listened to the crowd roar. "This is where I belong."
Bambi noticed the roar and covered her ears a little. "Wasn't she sick with the flu the other day?"
"Yeah. I gave her some Theraflu before I left. She was dead set on having that little party of hers."
"Shoulda been a nurse, Brandon," she laughed at him as she gently shoved him.
"Coulda, shoulda, didn't." He winked and they both shared a short laugh.
And it was silent, save for the booming and entrancing music.
The doe nodded, and watched the lights and crowd with him.
Look left.
Then look right.
Straight ahead.
Maybe downwards.
It was interesting, watching the people on the floor. They were so in sync with each other. None of them missed a step, or a beat, or bumped into one another. Some of them moved in close, moving their bodies in perfect harmony with each other and with the crowd and with the music. Almost like it had all been pre-planned. Or rehearsed. Maybe it was possible that they were all dead, and the music and the lights gave them life. Wouldn't that be something.
The lights moved sideways.
And down.
Then up.
It was around two hours later when Bambi leaned into Brandon's ear and called out, "I think amma go home."
To which Brandon shrugged and shoved her a little. "Alright. I can't stop ya."
"What'll you be up to?"
"Finishing up here, get a few drinks, then head home I guess. Karigan will want me at the party. For some reason."
"Well if you're getting drinks then I'll drive."
"I rode my crotch-rocket here."
"...oh yeah," she said after a second. Apparently Brandon called out for more drinks, and as he reached to get one Bambi stopped him and ushered the droid that brought them up away. "Finish up and head home. No more drinks for you."
"Yes mommy," he grinned.
Bambi hated when he did that. Bambi liked people thinking she was younger than 28, and being called "mommy" in public -by anyone- didn't help that. So she smacked him upside the head and pulled his ponytail a little.
He groaned out and yelled, "I'm telling on you!"
"Yeah okay, you do that sweet pea."
They were quiet. Bambi left at some point, giving him a hug and kissing him on the head. It was almost time for him to leave too.
The music boomed and made him shake. Just how he liked it.
After the club started to peter out, Brandon collected his pay and walked outside. It was starting to rain, so he frowned and donned his motorcycle helmet, mounting his nearby bike.
He sped off, a roaring crowd of adoring fans bidding him a good night.
For a long while, the world was just a light-streaked blur, and that was alright.
Weaving his motorcycle through traffic on one of the busier highways, Brandon's eyes darted around and looked at just about everything. He saw the city lights, emanating a soft glow against the night sky. He saw the numerous cars he zipped between, ranging from mini-Coopers to Bentleys to Ultimas. He also saw and felt the REALLY cold rain that started to pummel him, which made him frown.
He leaned to the right and sped down an exit ramp, headed towards the building complex where he lived. Thunder boomed overhead, and he felt raindrops hammering against the visor of his helmet. It was coming down pretty hard. Already beginning to shiver, he revved his bike and continued along to his destination.
He didn't end up making it home until about an hour later; traffic had backed up in spots. The rain had become almost -almost- unbearable halfway through the route, and did a fine number on his clothes. His shirt clung to him like a second skin, and his jeans dripped water onto the floor. Hefting his helmet under one arm, he strained to fit his hand into a pocket and rifle around for the keys to the apartment.
After they slipped out of his hand, he stopped and stared at them, wondering if it had actually happened. Like they were only messing with him and would jump back into his hand and say "Sorry! Fooled ya!" But since they didn't, he grumbled a colorful slew of words as he scooped them up and-carefully-turned them into the lock.
He nudged the door open, and sighed.
Sooooooooooo many people dressed in nice suits and fancy gowns huddled together in little groups holding glasses of wine and talking about nothing. So many fake people who were there just because it was good for publicity or something else just as stupid. It was all....stupid.
So many of them had elaborate and decorative prosthetics that looked to be more for show than function. A woman he saw with a strapless dress had etched prosthetic ands and forearms up to just below the elbow. A man across from her had prosthetic eyes, the irises an unnatural green. Some had sections of the limbs hollowed out and decorated; some had their prosthetics etched and laser-engraved with distracting designs. Brandon could have sworn he saw a woman with a prosthetic body from the neck down.
In this day and age, prosthetics were "in". They were like a fashion accessory, a must-have. Brandon never understood why someone would lop off a perfectly good limb and replace it with something fake like that.
Sopping wet and gently glaring at almost everyone in the room, Brandon kind of just skulked around everyone, leaving a dripping bread crumb trail to his bedroom. He tried not to slam the door, but he wasn't all that successful. He pulled off the dripping shirt and was kicking off his jeans when the door swung open, and Karigan stood in the doorway.
"What the hell are you doing coming through the apartment SOPPING WET and slamming doors?!" the snow leopard yelled out.
In all sense of the word, Karigan Teardrop was beautiful. Her long black hair was wavy and shiny, the black matching her gorgeous dress that she wore. In her hand she carried a little black purse, tastefully sequined with...sparkly things. Slight blush adorned her cheeks and mascara for her eyes. Speaking of eyes, those violet orbs could cut glass they were so sharp. But the sharpness betrayed the soft soul that lay within. Except they looked a little mad at the moment, so.
"Whoa, Karigan hun, knock next time. I coulda been naked."
She glanced at his wet undies and rolled her eyes. "Right. Okay, so, how come you're home so late?"
"Turn around?" he asked, and she did. He slipped out of his underwear, kicking them across the room. Stretching for a moment, it felt good being cold and naked, just standing there in the middle of his dark room. But then he remembered Karigan was in there too, so. As Brandon rifled through his drawers for some new -dry- underwear that fit him tight and snug, and he cleared his throat once they were on tight and snug so Karigan could turn around.
She did.
"'Kay, what?" he asked.
To which she sighed. "It's like. Late. How long was your gig?"
"It ran on a smidge longer than I expected." He sat on the edge of the bed and shrugged. "Sorry."
The snow leopard coughed and dug around in her purse for something, but evidently didn't find it. "Well...get dressed."
"I was planning on it, actually," said Brandon, leaning back on his elbows, kicking his feet. Karigan gave him a look so he stopped and sat upright.
"No, seriously," she said. "I want you to meet someone."
Oh.
"Oh," he said and stood up. "R-really?" He was suddenly nervous. "What's he like?"
With a smile, the snow leopard whispered, "He's a lot like you. A little shorter, but really cute."
Brandon rubbed the back of his neck and crossed his legs as he stood. "Is he here?"
"Mhm."
"Oh. Uh. Um," he stammered.
Karigan smiled and patted his head. "It's okay sweetie. Wear something nice and I'll take you to him."
So Brandon rifled through his drawers and closet for something nice to wear, and threw on a blue tight-fitting v-neck tee and black skinnies. Again, he opted for shoeless. The shirt hugged him and showed off his slight abs, which he liked. And his skinny jeans were skinny, but not like, too skinny.
He turned to Karigan, bright pink. "How do I look?"
She was texting on her Blackberry, but she looked up at him. "I'd fuck you." She gave him a wink.
He scoffed and rolled his eyes as he brushed past her, dragging her out of the room and closing the door behind them. "You're washing all these wine glasses afterwards," she whispered in his ear. He was going to say something, but Karigan trotted off before he could. She beckoned him to follow, presumably to who she wanted him to meet. "C'mere," she said to him through the crowd.
So he c'mered and followed her -he was more dragged by the wrist- into the T.V. room that wasn't all that filled with people and led him to someone standing looking out the large window.
The snow leopard cleared her throat and the arctic fox turned.
"Brandon, this is Tyler. Tyler, this is my roomie, Brandon," Karigan said.
Tyler smiled and outstretched his hand, and Brandon took it and shook it gently. He was cute, really cute. He had black hair long enough to cover his eyes, but it was styled so it only covered one. An exposed green eye looked at him, and he couldn't help but stare. The arctic fox was dressed in a tight-fitting red v-neck tee and blue skinny jeans with some black Converse shoes. He had numerous colorful glow-bracelets on his wrists and had a green glow stick on a string around his neck. All in all, he was hot.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you," he said in an adorable voice.
Brandon got butterflies almost immediately. Hopefully he wouldn't screw up.
"I-It uhm, 's nice to me-meet you too," he stammered nervously.
Nope. He blew it.
His cheeks burned and he prayed Tyler didn't notice. It didn't do well to act nervous in front of a potential.
Karigan had walked away at some point, but Brandon didn't notice.
"How long have you known Kari?" the fox asked with a smile.
"A few years. We went to high school together." The wolf smiled a little. "I was a freshman and she was a senior when we met."
Tyler nodded, and sipped the drink he was holding.
They talked for what seemed like hours, about whatever. Brandon learned he liked going to the big clubs that Brandon frequented -and one that he played at frequently-, and that he was twenty-three years old. He learned he liked sleepy afternoons and movie dates and didn't care for anything with avocados in it. All the while they talked, the roaring party volumed down to a muffled roar.
"It's so dumb how you can't get any good coffee at a Starbucks anymore," Tyler said with a laugh.
"Those are still around?" asked Brandon, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Mhm. I think there's one on Adam Lex."
"Oh. I don't usually go there, so that's prolly why I've never heard of it."
"It's some old coffee shop from like...the early 2000's."
"Haha. Vintage, huh?"
"Hehe...guess so."
After they had talked for a little while longer, Brandon mentally kicked himself after he blurted, "So...would you like to afterwards? We could like...uh...hang out or something."
Tyler smiled and turned a slight shade of pink. "Oh...um...I uh..." The fox looked down at his feet, then back up to Brandon, who too was blushing noticeably. "Sure. I'd love to."
Brandon couldn't help it, but he beamed like a little kid and nodded. "Cool, awesome." He glanced over his shoulder nervously, and noticed a fluffy doe tail in the kitchen. "I'll uhm," he started, "I'll be back in a sec."
"Mkay," Tyler smiled. And with that, Brandon smiled back and trotted into the kitchen, pulling on Bambi's tail, to which she yelped out and almost spilled her drink.
"YOU ALMOST MADE ME SPILL MY DRINK you ass."
"Sorry."
"Right. What's up."
He nodded to where Tyler was standing. "See him?"
She leaned forward to get a better look. "He's CUTE. Share him when you're done?"
Brandon blushed again. "He's gonna stay after and we're gonna like--"
"Fuck?" she took a sip of her drink with a raised brow.
Granted, that was on his mind. He hadn't actually been intimate with someone for over three years, and that was the first time he'd ever had sex with someone. It was definitely something to think about, but Brandon didn't want to ruin a good thing. Well, a possible relationship, even.
So he just said, "No, we're gonna like. Hang out and stuff. Talk. You know?"
So she just said, "Mmmmhm. Right. Just use protection sweetie."
Swiping her drink and warranting a dangerous look, Brandon sipped whatever she was drinking and handed it back to her. "I'm going in...wish me luck."
"Luck," she said, pulling his tail.
The party petered out and subsided some time after. Brandon and Tyler had migrated into the kitchen, the wolf sitting on the island kicking his feet and the fox leaning against the fridge with his hands clasped behind his back.
"Is this your idea of a date?" Tyler giggled.
A date? D-A-T-E?
Brandon faltered in his speech. "I-uh-wh-huh? N-no...um..." He gave his best "I don't know" smile and rubbed the back of his neck. Tyler smiled back at him and walked over to the kitchen island, leaning close to him.
"It was a nice first date," he whispered.
Turning pink again, he laughed awkwardly and bit his lip.
He wasn't expecting Tyler to lean up and kiss him.
It felt...good. It did. It felt nice to be close and intimate with another person, especially someone that Brandon was attracted to. But whether or not Tyler felt the same way-
Shut up, he yelled at himself mentally. Seriously. Quit doubting. He wouldn't have locked lips with you if he didn't like-Ooh, that tastes good...
The wolf cupped the fox's cheeks and rubbed his shoulder. Brandon felt Tyler's hands rubbing and groping his chest, which made him perk up downstairs. Just a pinch. Through the kisses, they both exhaled and took in the others' sweet aroma; Brandon scenting of apple body-wash and Tyler like cinnamon and vanilla. Their lips met again and again, and their tongues took it upon themselves to wrestle each other.
He heard Tyler moan his name, but it was more of a whisper than anything. Still, he heard it, and that was all he needed.
So Brandon whisper-moaned Tyler's name back to him and the lip-locking tongue-wrestling bout intensified, their hands wandering to other places. The fox's hand made its way under the wolf's shirt, and the wolf gently and slightly pulled down the fox's jeans so they just barely censored him. He gave out a slight gasp, barely audible, and pressed his lips back against Brandon's, deeper this time. Somehow Brandon's pants became unbuttoned and unzipped. They were both sporting erections that they either didn't see or could see and chose to ignore for the moment. Either way, Brandon was in the mood.
"You don't have to go home, you know..." he ventured to whisper when his lips were free.
They both stopped and looked at each other, where they were, what they were doing, and how they were doing it.
Those gorgeous arctic fox eyes were soft, and he liked his reflection in them. Tyler nodded at him, and gave him a quick smooch. "Okay," he whispered back.
Somehow they made into Brandon's room unseen. The door closed behind them, and the clothes came off. Tyler's shirt went this way, Brandon's went that way. Brandon's jeans were kicked here, Tyler's were kicked there. The underwear came off sometime after that.
They were caressing and groping each other under the covers when Tyler said, "Brandon...wait..."
He waited, and stopped, looking at the fox. "What's wrong? A-am I going too fast?"
A smile and a shake of the head. "No, it's not that. I just wanna make sure you wanna....you know."
Oh.
"Oh," Brandon whispered back. He took a moment, and looked at where he was. In bed, naked, with a guy he'd just met, but really kicked it off with. Maybe sex wasn't the best idea at the moment.
"Uhm...maybe we should just...lay here."
Tyler smiled and moved closer under the covers, resting his ear on Brandon's chest. "I'd like that."
So Brandon wrapped his arms around Tyler and held him close as the fox listened to the wolf's heartbeat. With a click of a remote, the fan beside the bed turned on, cooling the room down and giving off a hum that helped Brandon sleep.
They lay there together, naked in the dark, keeping each other close. He didn't want to let go. At all. He liked it. A lot. He'd do anything it took to make this work. He made that promise to himself and to Tyler right then, that he'd make it work.
Brandon's eyes closed, and sleep took him.