FSE

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Chapter Three

---

"So you had him there. You were talking over lunch. You had the perfect opportunity... and you_choked_?" Hanai looked over the rim of her wine glass and gave her a stern look. "Please tell me you did not choke..." she demanded and Ally blushed heavily and said nothing. Right now Hanai was wearing a soft light blue robe that was probably half the cost of Ally's apartment. The latest model of home service robot was crouched down in front of her giving her a foot massage.

Ally had initially felt bad for just showing up here without at least a quick text to say she was coming, but the snacks Hanai offered had quickly erased all of those qualms. The chocolate up here was nothing like the pasty, chalk like candy bars she had gotten all the time as a kid in the Lower Level. So instead of answering, Ally just grabbed another small strawberry chocolate square and popped it into her mouth. Meanwhile, Hanai tapped her fingers on the plush black couch and shook her head impatiently.

"Sasha was right there in front of you and you didn't ask for more answers? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get him to talk straight about anything? All that fox does is tease you with pieces of information or evade the subject so skillfully you don't realize what he's done until the conversation is over," Hanai complained and then took a deep breath.

"Those brothers have been using me for over a year and I still only have a vague idea of what they want and I'm pretty sure it's not me," she added with a grumble as the service robot massaged some perfumed lotion onto her other foot. Ally immediately frowned at that choice of words.

"So you know they're using you and you're still working with them? Forgive me for stating the obvious but isn't that a bad idea?" she questioned as she took a sip of the cream soda in the glass next to her. Hanai waved her hand dismissively at the inquiry.

"That's how life is when you live up Top unfortunately. No one talks to you or befriends you unless they want something. Sasha and Ashley aren't just opening up restaurants and clothing lines because they're bored. They've evidently been amassing a huge amount of credits for a very long time and credits are what talk loudest in this city. Besides I know without a doubt that they want to see Biotech exposed. But there's something else... something they need that credits couldn't buy them. So they've been waiting and biding their time for years until just the right person came along," Hanai explained and gave Ally a pointed look.

"Me? What would they want with me? I mean aside from my friendship with you I'm nothing special," she objected and Hanai leaned forward and dismissed the service robot. The machine bowed and went off to the next room.

"That's just it. You've grown up in the Lower Level so you know from experience what it's like down there. You live in the Mid Level tiers but you'd be basically invisible in a crowd there and here up Top a lot of people know you're my best friend so you can get away with things that no one else can. Not even me. You have a general idea of how to get around, but there are plenty of people here who look at you as some kind of lost puppy who is way out of her element," Hanai said as she stood up and paced back and forth.

"Gee thanks. I feel so much better now."

"The point I'm trying to make is that if I tried to investigate something no matter what Level I'm on I'd be caught right away and everyone would be suspicious. I'm already viewed as a bit odd after all and no matter where I go there are always cameras. You however can slip by unnoticed. No camera drones are going to swoop down out of the sky to report what kind of nail polish you put on today. You're just an ordinary citizen and that means you can get in and out of places that I may not," Hanai tapped her chin as she turned around and continued her pacing across the carpet.

Ally thought about that as she drank more of her cream soda. Maybe she could get Hanai to loan her a case to take back home with her. She really didn't want any of this trouble though. All she wanted was to do her job, go home, save money, and by some new clothes for once instead of scrounging around the thrift shops for clothes without holes or that still had all the buttons left on them.

"I don't suppose there's anyway we can just forget this?" Ally asked hopefully and Hanai turned on her with a frown.

"No we can't just forget about this. You may be in a position to help people. Seriously help those down in the Lower Levels who are suffering. I know you aren't just going to ignore that. I know you can't ignore that," Hanai said and she was absolutely right. Ally couldn't ignore any of this and that was exactly the problem.

"That's just it. I want to forget all of this. I just want to go home and pretend like that conversation with Sasha never happened. I want to relax and watch some stupid documentary on the screen and go about my daily business. But I can't. I'm going to be dreaming and thinking and fretting about this whole thing until I find out the truth and find a way to make Biotech stop hurting people like my mother," Ally responded as she sank down into the couch and put her hand over her face.

"Why couldn't I just have a normal life? A normal obscure life?" she moaned knowing that this escapade was likely to end up with her either dragging her feet all over the Lower Level tiers or trying to sneak into some high security building here up Top. Or both. Ally was distracted from her thoughts when Hanai peeled her hand off her face and smiled at her.

"Because then you would complain about how nothing interesting ever happens to you. Now come on and help me pick out something to wear."

---

It was around six pm now and they had come down to using the much faster rail system. Now they were back in the restaurant Ally was scheduled to start training in tomorrow. Only this time they were in a private dining room. Apparently Sasha was still here to take care of some business and Ashley had come to join him for dinner. Well before Hanai burst in on them that is.

"I told you. You should have just told her everything up front," Ashley stated as he used a nail file to even out his claws. Sasha sniffed and looked away from his brother.

"I wanted to evaluate her first. We've waited this long there's no need to jump into things," Sasha countered and his twin snorted.

"That's mighty rich coming from you," Ashley muttered as he put his nail file away and clasped his large paws together so he could address them. "I don't blame both of you for wanting the truth and indeed there is much that we could say. However, I think it is best to see it for yourself in person and that will require a trip down to the Lower Level," he added as Sasha took out a pair of smart glasses and slid them across the table.

"You'll be needing these. Just press the button on the side and they'll record everything you see and hear while you're down there," Sasha said and then he handed a pair to Hanai as well. "Of course you my darling will need to find some cheaper clothing if you plan on accompanying your friend down there. Not to mention losing the makeup and perhaps wearing a hat and scarf. You're going to stick out like a sore thumb in that neighborhood," he added and Hanai frowned as she accepted the glasses from him.

"What are we supposed to see down there exactly? And what does this have to do with the conversation you had with Ally earlier today?" Hanai asked suspiciously as she examined the rather innocent looking hardware.

"This has everything to with that conversation. Being well known has its downsides and the Donovan name is known on every Level. You Hanai are not a necessary part of this plan but I highly doubt that you will be leaving your best friend to do this alone so at least try not interfere too much. Having a local who knows many of the people there will open doors that we cannot. You, Ally, can get them talking openly and honestly whereas someone could just accuse us of making threats or some other form of coercion," Ashley explained as both of them stored the glasses away in a safe location.

Now Sasha leaned forward with an eager glint in his eyes.

"We have people within specific Biotech medical centers down on the Lower Level that are working with us, but Otherkin aren't allowed in those centers or hospitals and our most of our people are all being closely monitored. We can't go to them without attracting attention but a former local who needs help or wants information is a different story. You'll be able to get in without attracting attention and once you are inside and have made contact with our spy they'll be able to get you the footage we are looking for. Footage that will prompt serious investigation even from the local government officials who would rather keep their heads buried in the sand," Sasha explained licking his lips.

"The location and directions are already loaded into the holo-display of your smart glasses. Feel free to talk to your former neighbors and family if you feel the need, but getting to at least one or more of those locations and meeting with our operative is the most important part. Not only will you get the answers you need about what happened to your mother, but you'll also be helping us in our goal of exposing Biotech for the liars they really are," Sasha added as his ears pressed back against his head in anger.

Ashley put a hand over on his brother's arm to soothe him and continued saying, "We have personal reasons of our own for doing this. We cannot allow these horrors to continue. You are not the only one who has lost someone to Biotech's schemes," he said but didn't elaborate further on what he meant. Ally pursed her lips as she absorbed this information. After a moment of silence she finally asked a question that had been on her mind ever since her earlier lunch conversation with Sasha.

"All those people in the Lower Level tiers who have bad reactions... all those people who started turning into animals just like my mother did... is Biotech doing this to them on purpose?" she asked trying to keep her voice from wavering.

Ashley's jaw set in a grim line as he looked her in the eyes.

"You're about to find out."

---

Thankfully Hanai had some clothes stored at Ally's house so they swung by there first after their meeting with Sasha and Ashley. They were more casual Mid Level clothes that Hanai would wear when she just wanted to hang out with her best friend without being recognized as easily or followed around by camera drones. The drones primarily relied on facial recognition so as long as Hanai kept her head down she should be okay.

After both of them had changed they headed back out and caught a bus heading down to the Lower Level. The bus routes leading down there were limited, but it would attract far less attention if they went by public transportation. The way Hanai wrinkled her nose, however, said that Ally was putting her levels of tolerance to the test and she stepped around an unidentifiable green blob in the center aisle as they took some seats in the back. Most of those on the bus were busy on their phones or holding onto gifts that were likely for family members.

Thankfully the smart glasses that Sasha had given them had the appearance of cheap low cost models. While they had been customized no one was going to give them a second glance or think much of them upon close examination either. Indeed few people bothered to glance up. A few Otherkin of various species were heading down to the Lower Level as well and Ally tried to to shiver as she brushed up against a lizard with brown and yellow scales before taking a seat.

"You owe me for this one and I am sending these shoes straight to the incinerator after we're done," Hanai grumbled as she looked in disgust at something sticky that was on the bottom of her shoe.

Ally hushed her and looked out the window as they passed from the Mid Level into the Lower Level. Right away the difference became apparent. Run down or abandoned buildings. Broken and flickering streetlights if there were any left at all. Only one or two buildings with neon signs, most just had cheaper plastic ones and a few just had glow paint sprayed across the building facade to advertise their name. It was dark and while brighter lights glowed far above their heads from the higher Mid Level, if you found a spot to look down it only got darker and darker until you couldn't see anything at all.

The bus pulled up a drop off location that had clearly seen better days. Paint of some kind was all over the advertisements and the roof was totally gone. Even the bench was half eaten away. The whole area just felt left behind. Like no one cared enough to bother fixing it up.

Well that's pretty much the truth. The city isn't going to pay to fix up a neighborhood that's just going to get torn up again in a few months, Ally considered as she led the way down the street.

"Before we go to one of these medical centers I want to visit someone. While I did generally avoid Otherkin as a child that doesn't mean I wasn't familiar with them and what they did around town. And there's one around here specifically who knows everything there is to know about what goes on. It won't be free but he's an honest crook at least. I told Ashley about him before we left the restaurant and he gave me some money to pay him with. For the right amount he'll tell you anything you wan," Ally said as she kept her eyes focused and tried not to stare around too much. Doing that was a sure sign that you weren't from around here and it made you a quick target for local thieves and pickpockets.

"There's always one go-to guy in every neighborhood. Believe me we have them up Top as well," Hanai said as she took out the pair of smart glasses she had been given and put them on. "Well in our case it's a woman who does the dealing," she looked over at Ally and smirked. "Not that I've ever gone to her mind you," she said with a wink. Rolling her eyes Ally pulled her around a corner.

"You'd better be glad these glasses aren't recording anything right now," Ally said as she spotted a hooded figure with a long pink tail sitting there talking to a lizard Otherkin with brown and yellow scales. The same one that had just been on the bus with them in fact. The lizard handed over a plasti-card and the hooded figure nodded and pointed them down the street.

"Speak of the devil. I should have known he'd be on his usual street corner," Ally told Hanai as they headed over there. "His name is Rat and he's an Otherkin as well. A rat specifically," she offered as they walked closer.

"A rat who calls himself Rat. That's very original," Hanai said and Ally ignored the comment.

"Rat has been around here ever since I was a little girl. Everything that happens on the Lower Level is known to him. So if he doesn't have any idea of what's going on with Biotech Genosys then no one here will," she said as they walked up and stopped in front of him.

Indeed a rat's pointy face peered out from under the hood and stared back at Ally suspiciously before recognition lit his brown eyes. His fur was black and white and his whiskers twitched as a smile spread across his face. Apparently he still had yet to get his broken teeth fixed.

"Hey, you're the Moreaux girl! Been a long time ain't it? I seen your grandparents up and down this street all the time. Sweet lady. Never too busy to stop and give a poor guy some leftovers. Kept my belly full and my fur warm on many cold nights that she has! I'm so grateful I'll even give you a discounted price. Need some information? Fake rail passes? I can fix you up with some some temporary tattoos that will get you entrance into the Top Level cyber clubs if you like," Rat offered his voice as nasally as ever. Both of his pink ears twitched back and forth as he waited for their answer.

Ally tried her best to make her smile seem genuine. What Rat needed most of all was some dry powder soap and a shower but she wasn't going to say that out loud of course.

'What we need is information about Biotech," Ally said instead and Rat's ears perked up at that. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a plasti-card with 35,000 credits on it. Immediately Rat snatched it up and examined it with his pale pink hands and then bit a corner of it.

"Definitely the real thing and signed by one of the Donovan brothers too? You really have moved up in the world haven't you? Those two are the biggest gang bangers in the city ain't they? Well hey you want to know something just hit up old Rat and I'll let you know," Rat said as he pocketed the card. Now it was Hanai who spoke up. Ally saw her tap the side of her glasses to start recording and she did the same thing to her own pair of smart glasses.

"We want to know what they're really up to down here. The Lower Level has a far higher number of Otherkin than the Mid Level does. Of course a lot of people down here take illegal injections on purpose to change into Otherkin, but that alone doesn't explain why so many of those people who go to medical centers on the Lower Level end up having bad reactions to Biotech injections. The numbers and personal experiences just aren't adding up," Hanai explained and Rat rubbed his hands together as his tail twitched back and forth.

"Oh you sure got that right pretty lady," Rat leaned closer as he spoke. "First off you gotta know more about us Otherkin. You see there are some people in the world who actually believe they are animals or were meant to be animals and that's why they search out illegal injections from the gang members. A lot of folks though are just looking for a better standard of life," he said and he pointed over to a brown and white dog Otherkin that was walking on the other side of the road.

"Dogs have night vision twice as good as humans. Cats have night vision six times better. A dog's sense of smell and hearing is far superior as well and anyone who has seen the strays around here knows about how good a cat's reflexes and flexibility is. Before they closed off the mines at the very bottom of the city, some of the workers volunteered to become bird Otherkin. They could sense differences in the air and pick up on pockets of gas that could cause cave ins or explosions as well as underground water sources with pinpoint accuracy. Then a few became horses for their greater endurance and strength so they could make the mine more productive. So some become Otherkin because of their personal beliefs and others started doing it for the sake of their job once they saw how successful it was. Now some do it because they like a certain animal, but they don't get all deep into it like some do who believe they must become one with the spirit animal inside of themselves," Rat said rubbing his nose.

"What does this have to do with Biotech?" Hanai asked and Rat glared at her.

"I'm gettin' there lady I'm gettin' there!" he shot back and then settled back on his perch which apparently was a garbage can. "Some do it out of respect for friends or family. For example the Donovan brothers, Sasha and Ashley? They had a little sister who always dreamed of being a fox. An arctic fox specifically because she loved the way they jumped and how they could survive no matter what the conditions around them were. She was born with twisted legs and never got the treatment she needed to fix them from Biotech. They claimed she was too young and wasn't a proper candidate for their treatments. She died of pneumonia at just eight years old and her brothers became fox Otherkin in her memory. They also have gone on to become the biggest Otherkin gang leaders in the entire city so mad props for getting them to back you up," Rat said with a wink and Ally crossed her arms.

"This is all very fascinating, but the point is...?" Ally questioned and Rat sighed.

"The _point_is that you can't do all of that without Biotech taking notice, see? The restrictions on Otherkin didn't go into effect until a few years before you were born my dear, Moreaux. All these Otherkin popping up was making Biotech look bad and starting to impact their business. You see humans ain't made to have their genes spliced with animals you know? That's why you have a bad reaction cause the folks up in the Biotech Genosys lab got something wrong and didn't do their job right when they did all their gene splicing stuff," Rat explained using Ally's last name.

"The gene limiters are actually the main problem. By putting them in place it drastically increases the risk that a human will have a bad reaction. You can't contain a genetic reaction like that. Not forever at least. The animal genes start altering every part of the human body instead of just fixing whatever is injured or whatever disease they have. They'll start to actually turn into an animal or a twisted hybrid version of it, but their brain can't handle the change. So instead of retaining their personality the way Otherkin like me do, they degenerate into violent, and mindless beasts. However, Biotech knew they couldn't remove the gene limiters without creating more full blown Otherkin. The general opinion even now is that guys like me should be rounded up and taken off the streets. Put in prison or something so long as we aren't walking around free. So Biotech pressured the government to put the laws in effect restricting Otherkin to the Lower Level and the bottom tiers of the Mid Level right?" Rat asked and when they both nodded he continued.

"That kept the public happy but still didn't solve their problem. How do they cure people without turning them into Otherkin and without the animal genes running rampant and creating brainless monsters? You see those wise guys up in the Biotech labs had a big problem. Every species of animal that they use has to have its genes spliced individually depending on what you want to cure. Say some rich snob up top wants a permanent fix for being short sighted so he gets an injection of eagle genes. That's all well and good but say a woman has damaged vocal cords. Well if they want to use DNA from a parrot they have to start all over again. Using the same method won't work for her because first off she doesn't need better eye sight, and secondly a parrot's eyes aren't as good as an eagles, So the same method would be useless," Rat was getting excited again now an Hanai sent Ally a look.

"So they have to start off at the beginning each and every time they want to make a new cure for some disease or problem. Makes sense. But how do they know it's safe?" Ally asked and Rat rubbed his hands together.

"That my dear Moreaux is the answer to your question. It's the answer to why so many down here get bad reactions. You see Biotech pretty much made the laws on human testing and guess what they say? One says that you can inject a human with a non-contagious disease without their knowledge if it's for the purpose of making or finding a cure. Another law says that human testing can be done only if a human comes voluntarily for treatment and you don't have to tell them that the treatment you're giving them is experimental. So both laws support each other and work to Biotech's advantage," Rat said and Ally closed her eyes at the realization. How many years had this been going on?

Hanai frowned and asked, "But how do they get people sick in the first..." she stopped and shook her head. "No... I remember. People in the Lower Level get mandatory health checks and monthly food rations from the government. Up Top everyone says it's for the best, but Biotech could easily contaminate the food or put it in the vitamins people get at their health check ups. Just a few people out of every hundred and no one would notice. Then they could just sit back and wait to see what happens. When the person does get sick and comes in for treatment they test one of their new cures on them to see if it works. If the person is cured then good for them. If not then Biotech writes them off and goes back to the drawing board," she said in disgust and Rat shrugged.

"That's the way the world turns lady and unfortunately that's the most I know. Some say the people with bad reactions just die or are put out of their misery when their brains degenerate far enough. Others say that Biotech takes them off to highly secure facilities elsewhere on the Lower Levels to try and figure out a way to treat it. They study them to see if they can finally perfect their cures once and for all," Rat said as he took out the plasti-card an examined it once again.

"So if that's all you need then I'll just be taking my money and heading about my merry way," Rat said with a smile as put the card back into his coat and hopped off his garbage can.

"Thanks for the help Rat," Ally said gratefully and the Otherkin bowed to her.

"Anything for your family! Just be careful out there won't you? I'd hate to turn on my screen and see that you'd gone missing," Rat said and gave her a salute before heading off down the street whistling. Once he was gone both Hanai and Ally touched the sides of their smart glasses to stop the video recording. A confirmation popped up in Ally's vision saying that the video had been saved.

For a while neither one of them said anything. Reaching over Hanai grabbed Ally's hand and squeezed it tightly.

"We need to go to those facilities that Sasha and Ashley marked for us. Are you ready? When we get there... we're probably going to end up seeing just the kind of people Rat was talking about," Hanai warned and Ally took a deep breath before nodding slowly.

"Yes. We need to go. We need to get proof and find a way to stop this or at least to expose what Biotech is doing. If not for them... if not for them then my mother might still be alive and it could have just as easily been me who ended up that way. I can't ignore something like this," Ally said as she brought up the map that was loaded onto the glasses.

One way or another they had to put a stop to this.