An Explanation:
This story, which was my first ever real attempt
at creative writing, was based on a bunch of silly movies my friends
and I worked on, involving, of all things, killer dustbunnies
(see video projects page for more details). We'd already made
a few of these spectacular wastes of time when we were joking
around with ideas for a new movie, spoofing Hollywood films. We
finally decided to work on a project ripping off "Jurassic
Park", which is still in production, but before that, I got
the inspiration for a storyline paralleling "The Terminator,"
as well as many other flicks.
Because the story was a spoof, I decided to place
myself in the roll of the reluctant hero, and because I'd been
interested in furry fandom for about a year, I figured a way to
have a (marginally gartuitous) furry element in the story. The
story also uses a couple of the beloved characters from the dustbunny
films (though one of them is converted over to a anthropomorphic
wolf). Because the story was based on our films, and written for
my friends, there are several inside jokes, many relating to life
at an engineering school, but hopefully will still be entertaining.
The story is meant to be incredibly campy and silly, and by no
means should be taken seriously. And with that, enjoy the story
The movie opens in a dark and desolate
landscape. The sky is obscured by dark, dense, angry clouds. Lightning
flashes continuously in the distance. Words come onto the bottom
of the screen: "Earth, 2005, 3.5 years after the genetic
wars, Tuesday, 7:45." The camera zooms along the landscape
flying past hundreds of broken bodies of many different creatures,
many of which are anthropomorphic mutants. The camera comes to
a very gothic castle, it tilts upward and skims along the castle
wall, finally flying in a window on the top floor. Here we see
the laboratory of the Octaurian Overlord, a malignant extraterrestrial,
bent on world destruction. The Overlord is humanoid, but with
skin of a light purple tint. He is wearing a black robe with a
hood, much like the garb of death, and swimming goggles. The Overlord
is locked in mortal combat with another mutant, Confucius Slime.
Confucius Slime is also humanoid, but with some major revisions.
His face is mostly human, except for a wolf-like muzzle, gray
eyes, and pointed ears. He is covered with thin brown fur and
has a tail protruding from the back of his armor suit. His hair
has also been modified, it is long and purple and it sticks up
much like the style of the punk rockers back in the 1970's.
We see the two struggle for a few minutes.
The Overlord then manages to throw Confucius Slime's weapon away
from him. With an evil grin on his face, the Overlord pulls out
his own laser handgun and blasts his opponent with a lethal dose
of radiation. Falling to the ground, as his victor gloats above
him, Confucius Slime's last words are "It doesn't matter
Overlord, you're still beaten, my armies have defeated your dustbunny
minions and will storm the castle in a few minutes. I have not
died in vain." The Overlord looks up with a worried expression
on his face, he rushes to a view screen where we see laser fire
in the distance getting close all the time. Cut to Black... cut
to opening credits.
Cut to the country side, we see a barn
and a farm house near US highway route 4 leading into the city.
The subtitles on the screen read "Earth, 1991, the outskirts
of Troy, NY." We see a flash of light from within the barn.
From the barn emerges a hulking, six-foot-tall, naked werewolf.
As his head turns to the camera we see a momentary flash of red
in his eyes. He turns his back to the camera and heads into the
house. The scene fades to black as we hear strangled screams.
Cut to downtown Troy, outside of Sutter's,
a cheesy college bar. There is another flash of light and another
strange figure materializes. This figure is a female leopard morph
who is well built and strangely very attractive. She is also naked
showing off her well-toned muscles under her spotted fur. She
looks up toward the entrance of the bar as two drunken frat boys
exit from it. Being drunk and not too bright, they do not find
the sight of a humanform feline abnormal, quite to the contrary,
they find it very exciting. "Hey Bob, let's get us some PUSSY!"
"Wait till the guys at the house hear about this!" "Shut
the fuck up assholes and give me your clothes!" "Ooooh,
she's a feisty one isn't she...that's just the way I like 'em."
Tiring quickly of their sophomoric innuendoes, she grabs the nearest
one, digs her claws into his chest, and throws him against the
building where he collapses into a pile of inebriated and bloody
flesh. Turning to his accomplice, she grins at him showing her
full set of very sharp teeth, as he begins to quickly remove his
shirt with a very frightened look on his face.
Will Sanborn, just your average engineering
student, is awoken at 2:30 in the morning by a loud pounding on
his dorm-room door. Musing to himself as to just who it could
be knocking on his door at this time of night, our hapless hero
gets out of bed trying to shake the sleep from his eyes and blearily
answers the door. The sight of a 5' 8" cat morph standing
before him takes a few moments to register in his tired and confused
brain. This slight hesitation is all she needs. She pushes the
door open, grabs him and throws him down on the floor. He is able
to get one muted scream out before she is on top of him. Ripping
open his shirt, she bares his chest and shoves some sort of a
hypodermic needle into his shoulder. As darkness overtakes him,
Will has just enough time to wonder exactly what is going on.
It occurs to him that this is the weirdest cartoon dream he has
ever had and that his friends will find it very amusing.
But this is no dream, and his friends
are nowhere to be seen. Stephen Chan, whose room is just two doors
down, had heard the scream, but he was too deep in sleep to act
on it. Will's next-door neighbor, Jeff "Taldin" Young,
also heard the scream and cautiously stuck his head out his doorway.
The sight of a humanized kitty carrying his unconscious neighbor
over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes is too much for even
an avid D&D player to take. He quickly convinces himself that
this must be a dream, a very twisted one at that, and decides
the best thing to do would be to crawl back into bed and go to
sleep. The only other occupant of the dormitory who heard the
scream was Clark, the R.A. who was used to the guys upstairs making
all sorts of noise by jumping around and smashing hot wheels cars
against the wall at odd hours of the night. He decides that he
is way too tired to deal with their shit tonight, as long as they
don't get too loud.
Darkness slowly fades as a dim light
fills Will's half-closed eyes. Opening them he realizes he is
in some sort of garage or warehouse. His head hurts with a dull
throbbing pain, and to make matters worse he is tied down by his
arms and legs onto a table. The leopard has her back to him, it
looks like she is fiddling with some sort of instrument. Whatever
it is it, it looks very sharp. She senses he's awake and turns
around. He tries to close his eyes and feign unconsciousness,
but it is too late for that. His heart is pounding in his temples
as she leans over him. He's confused, and oh so terrified, what
is she going to do to him? He manages to squeak out "please
don't hurt me, I'll do whatever you want me too." She grins
at him, partially showing her teeth. It is not necessarily an
evil grin, but it doesn't bring him too much comfort considering
the situation he's in. Under different circumstances he probably
would have found the smile very interesting, perhaps even attractive,
but now it does nothing but cause his heart to beat faster, making
his head throb more. It's a miracle he doesn't lose control of
his bladder.
"Relax, I'm not here to hurt you,
quite to the contrary, I'm here to save your ass. If I was going
to kill you I would have done it already, and I have a disdain
for any form of torture. I'm sorry about the ropes, but I needed
to make sure you didn't accidentally hurt yourself, also it will
make it easier for me to install the implant." His face grimaces
at her last comment, the thought of her performing some sort of
medical procedure on him ties his stomach in a hundred knots.
"Don't worry, it's not that bad. It shouldn't hurt, too much."
"Why don't I give you a quick explanation
to raise your confidence in me. I am Captain Morrigan, of the
first division of the rebel forces. I was sent back here to protect
you." "What do you mean 'sent back,' what are you a
time traveler or something." "Exactly, you didn't think
I was from your time did you, I mean the way I look and all."
"No, but the thought of you being an alien had crossed my
mind." "Nope, not an alien, I'm as much an Earther as
you are, this physique is the result of genetic mutations; I'll
explain that later. Anyway, as I said you are in grave danger.
In the future you will be a very key player and somebody wants
you taken out before you ever get that chance." "You
mean somebody wants to kill me" he said, his face becoming
a notch paler. "Yes, but I'll do my best to see that doesn't
happen. You're lucky and you got one of the best goddamn fighters
the rebels have to offer, if I may say so myself." Saying
that she gives him a kind smile, this helps to relieve some of
the worry from his face, but not by much.
"So you're from the future, and
I assume my assassin is too, how did you get here, how does it
work?" "I can't tell you the theory behind it, but it
creates a temporal displacement field around the subject and is
able to merge two time-continuums into the same space. After the
merge, the field is shut down and presto, you're back in the past.
The only kicker is that it is a one way trip." "You
mean you can't get home?" "Nope, but I knew that when
I took the assignment, and it doesn't really matter. If I fail,
there won't be any home for me to return to." "Can't
they send reinforcements?" "No, after I went through
they destroyed the machine. One of ours got through, following
one of them. Nobody else comes, and nobody gets to leave. One
more annoying thing about the displacement field is that it can
only transmit living tissue, nothing artificial can get through.
That's why I wasn't able to bring any of our high-tech weapons;
had to settle for your primitive bullet slingers."
"Enough talk, you're going to need
some rest. But first I have to get this transponder implanted."
She holds up a shinny metal cylinder about the size of half an
AA battery. "What's that for?" "It monitors your
life signs. In case we get separated, I want to be able to track
you and make sure you're still alive." "I'm not too
crazy about the idea of you putting that thing inside me, and
I'm not completely sure that I trust you." "That's why
I tied you down. You really don't have any other choice than to
trust me and I'd suggest you start doing it pretty soon if you
want to stay alive for very long. I'll make a small incision on
your right shoulder. The scalpel emits a pain-blocking field and
will also quick heal the cut after I'm done. You shouldn't feel
more than pressure and a slight sting." "Uh Morrigan,
if the field can't transmit inanimate objects, how did you get
the medical equipment here?" "I had it stored on my
person, as long as flesh is surrounding it there is no problem.
You really don't want to know where I kept it for the trip."
"Well I sure as hell hope you sterilized everything."
"Of course" she said letting out a generous laugh which
helped raise his spirits. After the operation, which was only
a mild discomfort, she unties him and shows him a mattress over
in the far corner. It isn't much, but it is enough for him considering
how tired he is and what he has just been through. "You get
some sleep, I'll stand watch. I'll fully brief you about our situation
in the morning." With that he is fast asleep.
Next morning, the wolf character returns
to picture. We see him force his way into the E-dorms main door.
Then using his massive body, he breaks the lock on the door to
22 Waite, only to find an empty room. He sniffs around and can
tell that his prey has not been there for several hours. He lets
out a disgusted growl and leaves the room with the broken door
hanging by a single hinge. Most of the dorm residents are either
still asleep or at class by the time this intrusion occurs, so
nobody is around to investigate. Matt Garretson, whose catlike
behavior has him up for long periods of time, and whose personal
methodology of study does not include attending too many classes,
is the only person on that side of the building in the position
to witness an attack on his friend's room downstairs. However,
as luck would have it, Matt is so busy venting his anger at losing
yet another game of "Prince of Persia," by kicking the
shit out of the third-floor janitor closet door, that he doesn't
notice the added sound of breaking timber from the floor below.
As the wolf is leaving, with a look
of fierce determination on his face, he runs into Fred the janitor
coming up the stairs. Fred, not being too bright, does not clue
into the fact that this supernatural figure before him could be
dangerous and starts in with an inane conversation. "Say,
you're new here aren't you? You look like you could play football
for the school. My son used to play football, but then he got
his girlfriend knocked up and had to get married. He sells shoes
now, at the Latham Circle mall. Well this kind of pissed my wife
off, but screw her. All she's good for is cooking and cleaning.
She made this great banana bread out of some moldy bananas that
someone threw out here a few weeks ago. Can you imagine that,
somebody actually throwing out perfectly good produce like that?
What is this world coming to?" At this point the wolf, who
is obviously tired with this mindless chatter, grabs Fred by his
scalp and tosses him down the stairs where he collapses with a
busted ankle and four bloody claw marks running the longitude
of his bald head. The beast shows no concern for his victim as
he steps over him to exit the dorm; leaving him sitting there
in a stunned state of pain and confusion.
In the few minutes before the Semiconductor
Electronic Devices lecture starts, the werewolf enters Sage 3303.
Being typical RPI students, who are not concerned with anything
that doesn't directly affect their grades, most of the people
in the room seem oblivious to this apparition appearing straight
out of some horror movie. Targeting out one student, this hulking
figure asks in a very thick Austrian accent "I'm looking
for Will Sanborn, I understand he is a friend of yours. Where
is he?" Ed Perkins is too surprised to fully comprehend what
is happening. He is able to stammer out that he has not seen Will
all morning and that he must be sick or something. "Well,
he's not in his room, I've already been there, so I think I'll
just wait here and see if he shows up. I have some very important
business to deal with him." "Suit yourself, but be warned,
this class is pretty boring." So they sit and wait, and Will
never does show up. Professor Paul Chow, the incredibly clueless,
manages to put everyone to sleep, including the werewolf, which
as you'll soon find out, should not be physically possible.
"Will, wake up, its already 10:00,
we've got to get moving. I brought some clothes from your room
for you to change into." There really isn't a secluded place
for him to change; turning his back to her has to suffice. His
modesty seems to amuse her, although he doesn't notice the smile
lurking on her face. He is much too preoccupied. "I went
and got these for breakfast" as she opens a paper bag containing
some assorted bagels and muffins. "Its the best I could find,
I didn't want to break into any place that was too large. Don't
look so shocked, we're renegades now, until we kill or get killed."
"It sounds like I'm about to have an adventure of a lifetime.
I just hope I'm around to tell someone about it." She gives
him a warm smile, he finds that he is no longer afraid of her
and that she has more of a personality than just that of nameless
warrior. He realizes that underneath her gruff exterior must lie
a very warm and caring person. 'Too bad we had to meet under these
circumstances' he muses 'I would like to get to know her better,
but I guess there isn't time for that now.' He also notices that
when she's not terrorizing him she is strangely attractive. 'Must
be because she's so exotic, one-of-a-kind, at least at this point
in time. But I've got more important issues to worry about, such
as how to keep my ass alive and in one piece.'
"Morrigan, may I call you that,
you said that you would brief me in the morning. Well, we should
get it started. It seems like this is a matter of grave importance."
"Yes, you may call me Morrigan, no need for my title here.
Rank doesn't matter in this situation. You'd better sit down,
this is going to take awhile. Well I guess I should start by explaining
the way I look. You see I'm a mutant, more accurately a retroactively-encoded
genetic recombinant. Most of humanity was altered in 2001 when
the genetic wars started." "So you used to be human,
how horrible. I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, it's just
such a hard thing to comprehend, having your body change so drastically
like that." "It wasn't that bad, true it was a week
of confusion and occasional pain, but I, like most of the others,
have learned to accept what I have become. I've gotten used to
my new body and I like how it performs so much better than my
old one. I have so much more strength and stamina now, I also
have grown accustomed to my new look and find myself attractive."
This causes him to blush slightly. If she notices this she doesn't
comment on it.
"So what exactly were these genetic
wars?" "They were a ploy by an evil extra-terrestrial
being who calls himself the Octaurian Overlord. He fell to Earth,
or will fall to Earth, in the mid 1990's, after the freedom fighters
of the Labidia constellation forced him out of power. Because
of his cunning intelligence, he was able to keep himself from
being discovered while he built a huge economic empire. He was
able to develop new technologies and use them to amass his fortune,
all the time controlling the show from behind the scenes. Only
one or two of his most-trusted and very greedy employees ever
knew who it was they were actually working for. Besides being
a brilliant mastermind, the Overlord was also very demented. He
was somewhat of a schitsofrenic megalomaniac built on world domination.
Because of his body chemistry, which would break down under exposure
to bright light, he was forced to be nocturnal, forever cursing
the sun. His hatred of the sun also led to him to hate all of
humanity. He decided that he was the rightful ruler of this backwards
little world and he would shape it to his liking. It was at this
point when he started up research in genetic engineering to achieve
his goals. He concentrated on mutagenic reagents and the creation
of custom life forms, experimenting liberally on hapless souls
whose only fault was being at the wrong place at the wrong time."
"By the end of 2001 he had amassed
enough of his reagents to spread throughout the world causing
a wave of mutations that spread like the plague. I remember that
being the worst week of my life. The worst part is that I was
living in one of the last places for the change to reach. I still
don't know which was worse, the actual changing itself or the
waiting for it to happen." Her voice cracks slightly and
she pauses her speech. "I'm sorry, I can't believe anyone
could make it through something like that." He impulsively
puts his hand on her shoulder and is surprised by undertaking
such a brave action. She smiles at this and continues on. "Over
half of us didn't make it through the change. It was just too
much for their bodies to take. I think that was part of his insidious
plan. There were different levels of mutation. Some people were
lucky and weren't affected at all, or maybe they weren't so lucky
since they were now a member of the new minority and had a hard
time fitting in to the society."
During this time, the Overlord also
was able to change the whole planet. He had constructed a huge
climate-control apparatus which turned the Earth into a desolate
wasteland, covering the sky with clouds so thick you couldn't
tell if it was day or night. But those weren't the only facets
of his plan. He had also created hordes of killer dustbunny warriors
which he unleashed on us in the aftermath of the change. The following
months were pure hell, we were systematically hunted down and
exterminated. It wasn't until the middle of 2002 when things began
to turn around. Those of us that were left alive were finally
able to group and organize a resistance force. What followed were
three years of battle, but this was better than being hunted as
prey. Then at least we had a sense that the situation wasn't hopeless.
We started winning too, by 2005 we had the bastard beat."
"So where do I fit into all of
this?" "Okay, I'm about half through. This part might
be tough for you too accept though. Hold on, its going to be a
bumpy ride." His face changes to reflect a strange mixture
of surprise, apprehension, and morbid intrigue. "Go on."
"All right, after you receive your doctorate from MIT in
1997, you are offered a job at a fledgling genetic research company.
You are, of course, excited at this research position, and you
jump on it, not knowing that you are indirectly working for one
of the galaxies most notorious psychopaths. Don't worry, you weren't
directly responsible for any of this, you were just a cog in his
machine of destruction. You were also given a chance to make things
right."
"After about a year working there,
you were quickly promoted to a higher- paying job with more responsibilities.
It was then you started working on the mutagenic reagents. We
think you may have discovered what the project was capable of,
or maybe you were just another guinea pig. Either way, there was
a 'so-called' accident at the firm and you became a new addition
to the Overlord's menagerie." His gasp cuts the air between
them, his face is oddly expressionless. "I knew this would
be hard on you. I'm sorry, but you need to know, so you can be
prepared for the future. It's your destiny. It will be hard at
first, but like me you will come to terms with it. In fact you
have, in the future, confided in me that you had grown to love
your new body and its capabilities. In fact you once joked that
if you ever got face to face with the Overlord you would thank
him for the improvements, and then nuke the sucker's ass."
"You mean we know each other in the future?" "Yes,
I'm captain of one of your divisions. You're destined to become
a great leader." "But how can that be, I've never really
had any great leadership skills?" "You'll learn them
sometime, sometime soon. It's amazing what trying situations can
bring out of people."
"You said I'll become a mutant,
what type, I mean of what animal derivative?" He seems oddly
excited but a little apprehensive. Smiling she takes out an old
and yellowed Polaroid picture of a wolf morph with a wild flowing
head full of purple hair. In the picture he is wearing a pair
of sunglasses and grinning a toothy grin at the camera. This seems
to amuse Will. "I like the hair, it reminds me of this punk
wig I got at a costume shop back in high school. We were always
going to start a garage band, but we never had any equipment or
talent, just the attitude. I created this persona of the perfect
poser, when I was wearing the wig I called myself 'Confucius Slime.'
She seems stunned by this, then bursts into laughter, leaving
him with a confused expression on his face. "I'm sorry, it's
just so strange, I mean to find out where you chose your new name
from. I was always curious; you just said it was the best name
you could think of." "What, you mean I actually change
my name?" "You wanted to. After getting used to the
change you wanted a new name to go with your new body and your
new personality additions."
"You were lucky enough to meet
the Overlord after the change. Since you were going to become
a member of his private zoo he didn't think you'd be any threat
and I guess he wanted to gloat. It was the knowledge from this
conversation that you brought to us after the genetic wars. It
would have been much harder to form an effective resistance force
without knowing whom we were fighting against. You were clever
enough to escape from the Overlord's underground fortress with
a few other changelings. With these people, and a few of your
close human friends, you formed am underground group calling yourselves
the 'X Force.' You hide out in a compound in the woods of Vermont
and begin an extensive training regimen. By the time the genetic
wars started, you had assembled a small army and were ready for
the fight."
"So now you see why you are so
important, but there's a little more. Toward the end of the war
there was final battle. We finally had him beat. We were closing
in on his fortress when he realize he was doomed. His army of
dustbunnies was falling and he soon would be taken prisoner and
tried for his crimes against all humanity. He must have been seething
with anger at you as he realized you were the one person most
responsible for his downfall. Killing you then wouldn't do any
good, he would have to find some way of undoing everything you
had achieved. It was then when he decided to not only kill you,
but eradicate you from history. One of the projects he had developed
was the time portal I told you about. Before our forces arrived
at his base he was able to send a member of his special troops
back here to terminate you with extreme prejudice. We were able
to overpower the Overlord and I was sent to protect you. A job
I volunteered for. It was a very honorable mission, and to be
able to meet you before it all started was a chance in a lifetime."
There was another reason why she had wanted to come back here
to meet this hero in the making, but that would have to wait for
later. That is if there was even a chance for it.
"All this is hard to take. Its
hard to imagine that so much is going to happen and that I will
be so important. It is scary but also exciting. At least I know
I won't be slaving away at some boring junior engineering position
for 40 years waiting for retirement." She smiles at this,
"you once said the same thing to me." 'You confided
in me' she mused, 'you said that when we had gotten close, after
the first time.... Stop it, you've got no time for that now, get
a hold of your self Morrigan. Your mind-wandering could him killed.'
"Come on, it's getting late, we've
got to run. There's no telling where the assassin could be."
"By the way, what does he look like; I'd like to know who
to look out for. Is he a mut-- er a changeling like you?"
"Sort of, he's a wolf, a very huge and powerful wolf. He'll
be hard to kill." "What kind of weapons do you think
he'll be using?" "No weapons, they're trained to use
their claws, which are razor sharp. He could snap your neck like
a dry twig." "But we've got weapons. Look at the size
of that gun there, that could probably drop a moose. I'd say that
we have the superior firepower." "Don't count on it,
but let's get moving. Do you know how to use a hand gun?"
"Not really, but I can learn fast in a pinch, pretty much
point and shoot right?" Smiling she hands him a pistol, "pretty
much. Just remember to remove the safety switch, right there."
As they emerge from the warehouse, they
find themselves in downtown Troy, near the Hudson river. "Cool,
we're near the bus station. Let's get the hell out of town."
"No, you're forgetting that I sort of stand out in a crowd.
Also, he will have predicted that plan of action. We've got to
get as far away from here as possible." Taking the back alleys,
they steal away from the bus depot. When they are nearing River
Street they hear a deep growl from behind them. Spinning around
in the blink of an eye, Morrigan throws herself against Will barely
missing the wolf's trajectory as he lunges past them. Pulling
out her firearm she plugs a bullet square into the creatures knee,
knocking him off balance. This gives them an opportunity to scramble
out of the alley onto a busy sidewalk surprising a group of pedestrians.
One fat woman is so surprised she just stands there with a confused
expression on her face watching this strange spectacle approaching
her. Will hesitates in front of her, Morrigan steps in front and
shoves the woman aside. "Come on damnit! You don't have time
to be polite! Your ass is on the line here!"
Behind them the wolf is getting up and
he starts his pursuit with a blank look of determination on his
face. As they run down the sidewalk most people dodge their paths,
those who don't wish they did. Those who don't move for the wolf
don't have time to wish for anything, ever again. "Keep running,
straight ahead, I'll catch up to you." Will obeys her orders
without any thoughts, without any fear. His mind is blank accept
for the primitive instinct of escape. Morrigan turns around and
sees the wolf about a block away and closing very rapidly. Having
the presence of mind to try and save as many lives as possible
she yells to the few pedestrians who are still in the line of
attack. "Everybody, get down, get the hell out of my line
of fire!" With that she brings her assault rifle to bear
on the wolf and opens fire. Bullets spray out like water from
a firehose. Within seconds the wolf's abdomen becomes a mass of
bloody flesh and fur. The life seems to drain out of his face
and his legs stop functioning, bringing him down face first on
the pavement. She tensely waits a few moments, when she sees he
is not moving she turns and begins running of toward Will.
She catches up to him in the Troy Atrium
parking garage. He slows down when he sees that the werewolf is
no longer in pursuit. "Don't stop now. We're still in deep
trouble. We've got to get a car and get out of here. Fast!"
Blindly following her, they exit the garage and spot a car parked
on the street with an open window. As he gets in the passenger
seat, something triggers a warning bell in the back of his mind,
but it does not register to his over-taxed consciousness. She
pulls out a small device, shoves it into the ignition switch and
gives it a hard turn, firing the engine to life. As she takes
off into the street, grinding gears and cutting off several cars,
the wrongness with this situation flashes across Will's brain
like a photographic flash tube. "Holy shit! What the hell
do you think you're doing? We're stealing a fucking cop car."
"We're renegades remember, now hold on and please shut up.
I've got enough shit to worry about."
The cop whose car Morrigan had requisitioned
had been inside the corner newsstand buying the latest copy of
Hustler. He runs out of the store with a pissed and confused
expression on his face. Shouting into his portable radio unit,
he immediately calls for backup. As luck would have it, the remainder
of Troy's finest were stationed for their hourly coffee break
at the Dunkin' Donuts on US Route 7. It just so happened that
Morrigan was blindly speeding on a course which would cross Route
7 in a matter of minutes. As she speeds through that intersection,
narrowly missing a minivan, four police cruisers speed perpendicular
toward her, making a sweeping right-hand turn to join the chase.
What follows is a hair raising car chase through the housing projects
of North Troy.
After five minutes Morrigan sees the
road ending in a "T" intersection up ahead. Locking
up the breaks, she puts the cruiser through its paces, forcing
it to perform a very sharp hairpin turn. The camera shows that
Will is not enjoying this wild ride too much. He is siting there
with a wild expression of terror on his almost sheet-white face
with his body tensed up. His hands are gripping the seat cushion
while his feet clamp down on the floor, trying to press an imaginary
brake pedal.
Morrigan speeds downward toward the
river, with the cops in close pursuit. Only two of them make it
through the turn though, the last two end up sideswiping a tree
and colliding with each other in a comical Disney-ish sort of
way. Reaching River Street, which again ends in a "T,"
Morrigan makes another hard left, sending them speeding back into
lovely downtown Troy.
Reaching the city, which is quite a
confusing combination of one-way streets and several roads converging
at odd angles, Morrigan starts to lose her sense of direction.
There are several near misses with other cars, and one scene where
she sideswipes the front of a very expensive sports car, sending
it spinning into a mailbox, a garbage can, a small tree, and finally
coming to rest against a building.
Speeding through the city, they are
confronted with a road construction crew, whose work blocks half
of the road, which happens to be the side of the road that they're
on. Further complicating the situation, an 18-wheeler truck is
approaching from the other direction. Realizing that she is not
going to make it, Morrigan slams on the breaks, sending the car
out of control, crashing through the glass window of Elda's bar
and Italian restaurant. The cruiser smashes through the wall of
the kitchen and comes to rest against the crumbled remains of
the dish-washing machine, as the two police units in pursuit come
to a stop out front. Luckily for both Will and Morrigan the airbags
in the front seat protect them from most of the impact, leaving
them with only small contusions. Luck would also have it that
Elda's was not very popular during the day since it was mainly
used at night by the college population as a beer house and meat
market. For this reason nobody was injured in the crash which
destroyed several thousands of dollars of both public and private
property. Cut to black.
Captain Jack Stranton is not a happy
man. "Okay, somebody try and explain this shit to me? We've
got two civilians with an insane amount of stolen firearms and
3 destroyed cruisers. Not to mention that the woman is some sort
of tiger or something. What the hell is going on here?!"
"Actually, sir, I thinks she's more of a leopard, tigers
don't have spots, and you're forgetting about the body of the
werewolf we found on River Street." "Oh great, now we've
got Marlin Fuckin' Perkins here! I don't give a shit what species
she is, I just want to know where the hell she came from. What
the hell. We might as well interrogate them now. Bring them in
James."
The two of them are led into the Captains
office. They are bruised up, but not too bad off. Both of them
have several bandages covering various spots of their bodies.
Will looks tired and dazed, Morrigan is seething with anger. If
it wasn't for her handcuffs and the fact that she was being 'escorted'
by two officers, she would have attacked the lot of them. "Okay,
we can either do this the easy way, or the HARD way. Which is
it going to be?" Morrigan shakes the officers' grip off her
shoulders and sits down, showing great restraint she gives the
captain a look that reads 'okay, you've won, for the moment.'
Will numbly sits down and stares blankly at the man sitting at
the desk in front of him. "That's better. Now maybe you can
explain to me just what is going on."
"I'm special divisions officer
657-183, Captain Morrigan of the Earth Resistance Coalition Forces.
I've been sent from the future, 2005 to be exact, to protect Will
here from an assassin, also sent from the future." "Oh,
that's just fuckin' rich. Ralph, get the shrink in here, we got
a live one. Phil, what do we have on this guy here?" "His
name's Will Sanborn sir. He goes to school at RPI. This morning
his dorm room was found broken into and ransacked. I think we're
looking at a simple case of kidnapping here." "Well
not so simple since the perpetrator of the crime doesn't seem
to be human, but it seems safe to say that the kid's the victim
here. Get the Feds on the line, we'll let them take care of the
lady here." "You fools" Morrigan screams as she
attempts to jump out of the chair. She is held back by the two
fast-acting officers behind her. Even with two of them she puts
up quite a struggle. "You don't get it do you, he's in grave
danger. If I'm not human, how in the hell did I get here?! There's
an assassin out there somewhere, and he won't stop until he's
dead!" "Yeah, whatever lady. Look, it's only 12:30 and
it's already been a very bad day. I really don't need any shit
from you. I've got to explain to the mayor how three of our cruisers
were destroyed and a major downtown establishment was trashed
in a car chase. So if you'll excuse me I've got better things
to worry about. Get her out of here guys. Lock her in the interrogation
room until the Feds get there. And I want two guys on the door
at ALL times. Is that understood?" "Yes captain."
As three of them drag Morrigan kicking
and screaming out of the office, Will continues his blank stare.
"Its okay kid. It looks as if you've had a piss-poor day
too. Why don't you lay down on my couch for awhile until I can
get someone to take you to the hospital." With that Will
lays down on the couch and instantly goes to sleep. The captain
mutters some obscenities under his breath, opens his desk drawer,
pulls out a chocolate-frosted donut, and dryly begins to munch
on it looking into the camera with a very pissed-off expression
on his face. Cut to black.
Cut to a scene in a morgue. There are
rows of dead bodies with sheets over them in the foreground. The
camera swoops by them to the back of the room. Here we see two
men dressed in green scrubs smattered with blood bending over
the body of the werewolf. One of them is preparing to dissect
it with a rather large and shiny scalpel which he holds up so
the camera catches the glint of fluorescent lights off it. "This
is gotta be the weirdest shit I've ever seen Jones. I bet the
Feds are gonna have a field day covering this up. You say he was
part of the firefight they had downtown this morning. What the
hell is this world coming too?" "I don't know man, but
this is definitely some bizarre stuff. Nobody's gonna believe
this." They begin cutting through the wolf's mangled chest
which gives way with a wet ripping sound. "Man, this is one
of the worst I've seen. I'm glad I didn't have that burger for
lunch." As he continues to cut he reaches something very
hard. "Hand me that bone splitter. His ribs are a lot stronger
than I figured on... What the hell. Take a look at this. Its fucking
metal." Widening the incision they expose a metal chest plate
which contains raised letters in some alien language. Tapping
on the chest plate, "Man this is too strange for me, this
thing was never alive, it's a fucking robot."
At that split second the camera cuts
to the wolf's eyes which spring open, flashing red for a brief
instant. His claws jump up and grab the nearest paramedic's head
and gives it a quick 90 degree turn counter clockwise. He falls
to the ground with a stunned expression frozen on his face. The
wolf grabs the other whimpering paramedic and forces him against
the wall. Again with the thick Austrian accent. "Where am
I?" "Please don't hurt me, I have a wife and kids."
"Where am I?" This question is punctuated by his claws
digging deeper into the man's flesh. "You're in the morgue,
of the Troy Public Hospital." "Where are the others?"
"You mean the ones you were in the fight with? The police
got them. They're at the station downtown." With that the
wolf releases him, he falls in pile to the floor. The wolf turns
and exits the morgue. Cut to black.
Cut to a scene outside of the Troy Police
Department. An ambulance comes speeding up and crashes into two
police cruisers parked out in front. The door opens and the werewolf
climbs out. The front of his chest is cut open with a flap of
skin hanging from it. The shiny aluminum-colored metal beneath
glints brightly in the sun. He walks to the door with the look
of death warmed over on his face. As he enters the building, the
man behind the steel grill doesn't look up from his paperwork.
"I'll be right with you, just wait a sec." "I'm
looking for the leopard woman and the human male that were brought
in here a few hours ago." "Sorry bud, I can't help you
there. They're both being held for questioning." Looking
up he stares into the face of a monster. "Holy shit what
the hell are you." For an answer, the wolf throws himself
against the wire-mesh door which gives way very easily. Grabbing
the intercom, the desk jockey is able to get out "this is
main desk, help, there's a monster..." before he is rendered
functionally useless as a living organism.
The wolf makes his way down the hall.
Several officers come out of different doorways along the hall.
They take one look at him and open fire. As his body is riddled
with bullets, we see new wounds appearing, but they don't bleed
like that of anything normal. Instead coagulated blood slowly
dribbles out of them. The bullets don't seem to have too much
affect on him, although occasionally he jerks slightly. As he
reaches the first officer, he picks him up and slams him into
the wall.
Cut to a scene from the wolf cyborg's
point of view. Here we see the digitized footage of the cops firing
at him. Here the footage is processed so only the edges of objects
are shown as red against a black background, with random hexadecimal
numbers scrolling across the bottom. We also see several target
crosshairs superimposed onto the picture. These targets are positioned
on the central chest regions of the officers and they track their
movements. Cut to a scene of a cop as she shoots a bullet at the
wolf. Track the progress of the bullet as it connects with his
left eye leaving an exposed socket with flashing LED's. Cut back
to the cyborg's point of view. The screen goes to static. A message
pops up, "optical unit #1 failed. Bringing up backup systems.
Enhancing S/N ratio." With that the screen clears, an icon
of an hourglass briefly pops up, then the original computer vision
footage is restored. Cut back to the wolf, if you use your imagination,
you can see a slight grin on his lips.
Will is jerked awake in the captain's
office by the sounds of gunfire and screaming somewhere in the
building. The sleep has done wonders for him and his mind has
cleared. He realizes that he's got to keep himself together if
he wants to stay alive. He also realizes that without Morrigan
his chances for survival are pretty slim. He cautiously opens
the door and peers into the dark hallway where an occasional fluorescent
light briefly flickers randomly. The sounds of the fight are coming
from the far end of the building. He heads in the opposite direction.
In the interrogation room, a plain room
with a wooden table, assorted chairs and a glass windowed door,
Morrigan has managed to pick the lock on her handcuffs when the
commotion starts. She smashes the small window on the door with
her elbow, causing several lacerations on her arm. The two guards
in front of the door had departed when the commotion had started.
The hallway in front of her is deserted. 'First things first,
I need my equipment,' as she heads toward the evidence room.
The cyborg has managed to significantly
reduce the size of the police force in the last ten minutes. The
main hallway is littered with the bodies of the fallen officers.
Only four officers remain, the rest have been killed or have run
off. At the end of the hallway they are facing off the beast trying
to slow down its progress. Unfortunately the only damage they
have been able to do is purely cosmetic. The werewolf continues
to approach, by now he looks like a rotting corpse animated by
some unholy magic; something George Romero might have thought
of, had he been a furry fan. His only attire is a pair of pants
which by now have been almost totally stained a disgusting shade
of maroon. His hide is riddled with oozing bullet holes. His chest
has been peeled away revealing the shining chest plate, which
is now splattered with drying blood. His left eye socket is dribbling
a pale white fluid while the flashing LED's inside it create an
odd hypnotic pattern. One of his ears has been severed and it
hangs by a flap alongside his head. Perhaps the most horrifying
thing of all is the expression on his face. It is not completely
blank and devoid of emotion like one would expect of an automaton.
Instead there is a subtle look of hatred on the snarl of his lips
and an evil that can be seen in his remaining cold dead eye.
The remaining officers have by now realized
that their task is futile and that death is imminent, but to their
credit they put up a valiant fight. Realizing that there may be
a slight chance in taking out his second eye, one of the officers
takes aim and shoots. Having learned his one weakness, the cyborg
covers up his Achilles' heel this time. In the split second before
the bullet reaches his face, his right claw comes up deflecting
the bullet into the wall. Staring at the officer with a look of
cold vengeance he heads for him. Grabbing him by the throat, he
crushes the windpipe and discards the body like an old rag doll.
The three other officers have similar fates. The only good thing
to be said about it was their deaths were quick, and to some extent
painless.
Will has run into a dead end. He can
hear the fight behind him and it is drawing ever nearer. He doesn't
dare trying to backtrack, instead he crawls into a nearby utility
closet. He realizes if he's found, he'll have no chance of escape,
but he doubts he could outrun whatever it is pursuing him and
decides to bank on the chance that he can go undetected. Inside
the closet he can hear the pounding of his heart which sounds
as loud as some industrial machine. He doesn't know how long he
can stay there without loosing his mind and screaming.
Within minutes the door is swung open.
He does almost scream, but his throat chokes up on him. He is
resigned to the fate when he realizes the shadowy figure standing
before him is Morrigan. He all but collapses into her arms. She
helps him regain his balance and starts to lead him down the hallway.
From around the corner up ahead lurches the cyborg, Will lets
out a stunned gasp. From her belt Morrigan reaches for a magnesium
flare, ignites it and tosses it at the cyborg. Cut to the cyborg's
view screen. We see the image go completely white, "over-saturation
of sensor element, cannot compensate" flashes upon the screen.
Cut back to see Will and Morrigan racing past the cyborg as he
is momentarily blinded.
They race out of the building into the
afternoon sun. Morrigan smashes a window of a non-police car on
the street with her rifle and uses her universal pick on the ignition
switch. They are pulling out of the driveway as the mangled wolf
cyborg runs out of the front door. he watches them driving down
the street. The camera cuts to show a close-up of his face. His
one good eye turns red again, the red region then constricts down
to a point, like the effect of a camera iris focusing on a target.
Back in the car Will is obviously shaken
up, but not catonic as before. "Just what the hell was that
back there." "One of the Overlord's newest weapons,
a cyborg, even more powerful than his dustbunny warriors."
"You mean it's half machine?" "More than half,
the organic covering is just for camouflage to allow them to penetrate
our defenses, it also served as a transportation buffer for the
trip through the portal. These units are tricky bastards, and
damn hard to kill too. Luckily for us he had just started developing
them and had only deployed a few of his prototypes. If he had
come out with them any sooner, it could have lost the war for
us." "But what happened back where we first ran into
him? You managed to stop him, at least for awhile." "I
was taking advantage of a design flaw in the primary power coil
that the Overlord hadn't had a chance to fix yet. If the unit
receives enough of a shock to the power system, located in the
upper abdomen, it will overload and have to shut down. It isn't
permanent, as you have seen, but it bought us some time while
his system diagnostics went through a complete reset cycle. If
we hadn't ran into those idiots with badges back there we could
have avoided that whole unpleasant encounter. We could be halfway
across the state by now."
"But we can't keep on running Morrigan,
you must know that." She turns to face him, giving him a
look of surprise and admiration. "From what I understand,
this cyborg won't stop until I'm dead. We might be able to outrun
him and live in hiding but in the end that will be as good as
if he kills me. I mean in a global sense, of course it matters
to me. I'd rather live, but if I don't finish my schooling and
get into the position where I can learn the Overlord's secrets,
I won't be any use to the rebel forces, then we'd all be dead.
I know the path I must travel down, there cannot be any turning
back. We're going to have to destroy that thing back there, or
die trying." She smiles at him, "I'm glad you've stopped
being such a wimp. I'm beginning to see where you got your leadership
skills from."
They rent a room at a dumpy motel in
Menands. Well actually Will rents the room, Morrigan stays in
the car since she would only draw more attention to themselves.
His bandages and bruises draw enough attention as it is, but the
man behind the desk doesn't do much more than give him a strange
look. He has seen stranger people than that coming in here to
rent a room for the night.
Coming into the room Morrigan throws
her firearms and other assorted equipment on the table and collapses
onto the bed. "It's 3:00, we need to get some rest before
we do anything." There is only one bed in the room. Will
feels a little awkward crawling into it with a woman, especially
one he finds as attractive as Morrigan, but they are both fully
clothed. 'What the hell, I need the rest, it's not like anything
is going to happen anyway. Its funny though, twenty-four hours
ago I never would have dreamed that I'd be sharing a bed with
someone, let alone an exotically pretty mutant from the future.
As they say, shit happens.' Crawling into bed feels so deliciously
comfortable; having a warm body beside him feels so reassuring.
The next six hours are the best sleep he has ever remembered having.
Will's consciousness slowly regains
as he realizes his eyes are open and he has been staring at the
ceiling for several minutes. He turns over and looks at the digital
clock on the night table; it reads 9:16. The yellow light from
the lamp in the parking lot shines in through the part between
the window shades, making objects in the room visible. He turns
over and looks at the sleeping form of Morrigan, admiring her
beauty. He's still looking at her when she comes awake. Stirring,
she opens her eyes and gazes into his, with a slight expression
of surprise on her face.
Will quickly turns away, embarrassed
at being caught in the act of spying. She puts a hand on his shoulder,
"its okay, there's nothing for you to be embarrassed about.
Please turn around." With his heart beating heavily, he slowly
turns to face her. She has a kind look of compassion on her face,
mixed with another emotion he can't quite make out. "I'm
sorry" he mutters. "Don't be, you've done nothing wrong.
Do you find me attractive Will?" Surprised by the openness
of her question, it takes him a moment to answer. "Yes, of
course I do. I think that you're beautiful Morrigan."
With her hand she lightly rubs his shoulder
through the fabric of his shirt, sending tiny tingles shooting
down his spine. He stares into her eyes feeling both mild panic
and excitement. "There was another reason I accepted this
mission Will" she says with a tender smile on her face. "I
wanted to know you before all of this happened. I wanted to meet
you before the change. I had always wondered what you had been
like before." "Do you mean this is some sort of hero
worship?" "No, its more than that. I didn't tell you
this because it didn't seem appropriate at the time, but in the
future you and I are lovers. We have been for a year and a half."
"But that's so far off, I'm not the same person that you
left back there." "Not exactly, but I can see the traits
that I love in him emerging from inside of you. You are a wonderful
person, and what has happened here is bringing out the best in
you. I also find you attractive. You are extremely cute."
He blushes at this comment causing her to smile again. "It's
hard to compare you to how you'll look after the change. It's
not that you're more or less handsome now, just different. I like
what I see, and the idea of you as a younger man is really exciting."
Will doesn't know what to say to this.
He is very confused; his body is on fire and it is hard for him
to think straight. Sensing that she will have to make the first
move, Morrigan gently turns him over on his back, rolls on top
of him and gently kisses him. Reacting first with surprise, he
struggles for a moment before realizing his situation, then kisses
her back. The fuzzy sensation of her lips against his is electrifying.
As she deftly forces her tongue into his mouth he brings his arms
around her, running them up and down her back.
After several minutes, she eases up.
Her face is flushed and her eyes are slightly watery showing the
formation of tears. Will caresses her furry check, moving up to
stroke her ears and run his fingers through her long smooth dark
hair. She turns to nuzzle her head in between his neck and shoulder.
They cuddle for awhile when she realizes that she will have to
take the initiative again. Running her hands down his chest, she
starts to pull up his shirt slightly. "Morrigan, I don't
really have much experience at this. I'm nervous." "Don't
worry love, I won't bite, just nibble a little." With a deliciously
evil grin on her lips, she lifts his shirt up, lifting his arms
he lets her take it off him. She brings her head down on his chest,
running her ever-so-slightly abrasive tongue over his nipples.
She brings her head up to his neck and
continues her kissing. Sensing he still needs some encouragement
she whispers "please don't be so shy" into his ear.
He tentatively brings his hand up as she rolls on her back giving
him better access. He slowly undoes the buttons to her shirt revealing
her inch by inch. We see that the white patch of fur on her neck
and under her chin continues down to cover her chest and abdomen,
trailing further downward into her pants. Opening her shirt he
thinks to himself 'I can't believe this is happening' with a smile
on his face. Most people might not find the woman before him attractive
and may find the idea of what he was about to do very perverse.
Will however, was not most people and was trembling with anticipation.
Bringing the shirt up around her shoulders
and down her arms he buries his head in the fur of her shoulder
inhaling the sweet aroma of her pheromones. He brings his hand
up to cup one of her furry breasts, lightly stroking her erect
nipple. His explorations are unsure at first, but with her quiet
encouragement he quickly learns to navigate the territory. Both
slowly rising to a kneeling position, he kisses her again. Taking
one of his hands he moves it slowly down her spine coming to rest
at the base of her tail. Stroking the region where it meets her
body he illicits a deep growl of pleasure from her.
She brings her hands down and slips
out of her pants, revealing her perfectly toned legs and her furry
buttocks. She gently pushes him down on his back, running her
hands down his chest toward his belt buckle. She hesitates a moment
before undoing the belt, then sliding his pants and underwear
off very slowly to heighten the pleasure. She leans down against
him and he is surrounded by her fur. He has never felt so warm
and secure before. She kisses him as they start to move their
bodies in a rhythmical motion.
Laying in the bed with her head on his
chest she sighs deeply as he caresses her back. "That was
incredible Morrigan, thank you." "Thank you too. I didn't
know if I'd ever be with you again. I think this was the best
it has ever been." They lie there in quiet ecstasy for several
minutes before she speaks again, this time in a quiet shaky voice.
"Will, there is something I need to tell you about the future."
After moment's hesitation, "the reason I came back here was
because there was nothing left for me there." Letting out
a couple of sobs she ads, "you were killed during the final
battle. When we got to the castle we found the Overlord gloating
over your dead body." "Morrigan, I don't know if you
should be telling me this. Nobody should know too much about their
own destiny. I might use that knowledge to act different than
I otherwise would have." "I don't think so, that's not
the type of person you are or will become. You could use it to
save yourself and still win the battle. Now listen closely, you've
got to remember this. The weapon the Overlord was using was a
prototype he had just developed. Unlike ordinary pulse phasor
weapons, which your armor suit could shield you from, this was
a neutrino repulser. The particles can penetrate your suit and
disrupt the electric fields of the molecules in your body causing
them to fall apart. Sometime during your studies you'll need develop
a method to protect you from the weapon's blast."
Holding onto her in the bed, Will wishes
this moment would never end. Finally Morrigan pulls away. "Its
getting late we need to start planning for the fight." With
a devilish grin on his face he says "well we can't go into
battle all dirty like this. What do you say, I'll wash your back
if you'll wash mine." Returning his smile she leads him to
the bathroom, shutting the door behind them.
After they have cleaned up, they sit
at the table working out their plan. Will reaches out his hand
across the table, Morrigan smiles at him and puts her hand in
his. "So now where do we stand, what are the capabilities
of that thing?" "They're incredible, there's not much
I can do with these primitive weapons against that thing's armor."
"You mentioned the design flaw in its power system and that
gave me an idea. How well is it shielded against electromagnetic
interference?" "I don't know, but I doubt if its shielded
very much. Our forces didn't have anything to produce interference
powerful enough to present a threat. I doubt if the Overlord would
have foreseen any need for any extra shielding." "That's
what I was hoping to hear. I believe the school might have something
that could do the trick. We happen to have a Van de Graf generator
in the power lab. If I could get it into overload I believe that
it would create an EMF pulse strong enough to fry that sucker's
brains." "It sounds pretty good, but I don't know how
well it will work. Still, I think it's probably the best chance
we've got. In all the time I've fought for the resistance, you
haven't come up with bad plan yet." "But that's in the
future." "Yes, but in the last few hours I have seen
a lot of Confucius Slime's traits emerging in you. I trust your
judgment."
As they're leaving, Will turns to her,
"Morrigan, in case something goes wrong, I'd just like to
thank you. Not just for saving my life, but for giving me more
confidence. Without you, I don't think I could prepare myself
for what we're about to do or for what waits for me in the future.
I just wish we had more time together." She turns to him
and they embrace, he rests his head on her shoulder. "I wish
we had more time too, we'll just have to see how this works out.
I need to thank you too, for all you will do in future, and for
being there for me when I needed you." They hold each other
tightly, moving their hands slowly up and down the other's back.
They both try to hold back their tears as time seems to stand
still between them. Finally Will is the one to speak, "well...
I guess we should get a move on, we've got a job to do."
They hold each other a moment longer, Morrigan is the first to
let go. They exit the motel and drive in silence, neither one
wanting to mention the possibility of them not coming back.
They enter the Johnson Engineering Center
and proceed to the basement. They reach a door which is clearly
marked as the power lab. Morrigan is able to use her universal
key apparatus to jimmy the lock. Entering the room, which is very
expansive, they turn on the lights which randomly flicker on and
off before coming up to full brightness. The room is basically
a large industrial bay area filled with assorted industrial equipment.
At the far end of the room stands the Van de Graf generator, a
large metal sphere, five meters in diameter, standing on a large
column which raises it high into the air.
Will powers on the unit, bringing the
control panel to life. The unit is a complex array of lighted
switches, with a computer screen in the center displaying a complex
3D wire-frame model of the generator. Will studies the schematic
readout for several minutes. He then enters several commands into
the terminal and flips a few switches and adjusts a knob or two.
"There, it's all set up. When it reaches overload it will
discharge about ten megawatts of power. That should be enough
to toast his ass. We should be safe down here beneath the sphere.
There is one problem though, it will take seven minutes to build
up the charge. We'll need to keep him busy until it blows."
"I'll take care of that. You just make sure it blows when
we need it to."
"Now, how do we let our friend
know where we are?" "We'll considering we left him in
the dust back at the police station, he will have returned to
your dorm by now. My guess is that he's in one of your friend's
rooms waiting by the phone in case you call." "Oh no,
what would he do if they happened to be there when he came? I
can't stand the thought of one of them dying so needlessly."
"Its hard to say, but from what I understand of their programming,
the cyborgs strictly adhere to their prime directive, which in
this case is to wipe you out. It will only kill it's target and
those who get in it's way. The Overlord was fond of taking prisoners...
for use as guinea pigs. As long as your friend is unarmed he should
be okay, except for a mild concussion."
Cut to a scene of a phone ringing, the
answering machine next to it picks up. "Hello. This Is Stephen.
I'm busy eating some pork products right now, but leave me a message
and I'll get back to you when I'm done." "Steve, this
is Will. Look man, I'm in some real trouble here and I need your
help. I need you to go and get Public Safety and bring them down
to the lab. I need all the firepower they have. Get them and bring
them down here to the power lab in the JEC. Its in the basement.
Downstairs and to the left." The camera zooms out and pans
around to see the cyborg standing there with what could somewhat
be perceived as a look of satisfaction on its face. His processors
are not capable of realizing what any student would have in an
instant, that the request for Public Safety, those glorified security
guards, to fight a demon machine from the future, could only be
considered as a joke. The cyborg turns and walks toward the door,
stepping over the unconscious form of Stephen Chan laying on the
floor.
Cut to a scene of the hallway in the
E-dorms. Kumar Ramaswamy, an interesting and hyper freshman, is
coming down the stairs from the third floor to hang out in Steve's
room and play with his G.I. Joe toys. When he is a few steps from
Steve's door, it opens quickly and the cyborg emerges. Kumar,
stunned as he is, manages to exclaim "cool beans" before
he is roughly thrown against the wall. The cyborg turns, goes
down the stairs, and exits the building. Kumar picks himself up
and rushes into Steve's room. Seeing him there on the floor he
immediately calls for an ambulance. Steve is rushed to the hospital
and treated, leaving him with no permanent damage and a hell of
a story to tell his kids someday.
Will hangs up the phone in the lab.
"Okay, that should do it. Steve was the only one with an
answering machine and the others weren't home." "He'll
be coming now, get the machine ready to go." "I can't
start the overload until he's here, then you'll have to hold him
off while it charges up." "Okay, I'll be waiting out
in the hall. I'll yell when he comes. Where does he need to be
when this thing goes off?" "Anywhere near the center
of the lab should do it. When this thing discharges it will spread
out spherically. The only place that will be safe is up here underneath
the unit. Here, take my watch. Make sure you're up here in time
to get out of the way of the field." "Gotcha boss."
"One more thing Morrigan, be careful." She smiles at
him and heads out into the hallway, leaving the door open. The
camera pans to Will who is busy making last minute adjustments
to the system console.
Morrigan is out in the hallway when
she hears the door to the stairwell being slammed open around
the corner. "We've got company" she yells as she ignites
another magnesium flare, just as the cyborg rounds the corner
with a snarl on his lips. She tosses the flare at him, it connects
with his fur and sets it ablaze. Within seconds he has become
a very big torch which is jerking back and forth flailing its
arms in a way which is quite comical. The figure then collapses
to the floor still burning.
The flames take a few minutes to die
down, leaving the cyborg's metal endoskeleton completely exposed.
It is a horrifically beautiful design, especially the head which
resembles a wolf skull, with a permanent death's grin on its metallic
teeth. The camera unit in its right eye is socket is dark. Focus
in on it's head. The camera unit jumps to life, turning bright
red and focusing rapidly. The shot pulls quickly back as the cyborg
pulls itself up on all fours looking life a wolf getting ready
to spring. Its alloy body gleaming in the fluorescent lights,
it slowly raises up into a standing stance. Its head turns and
focuses on Morrigan as it begins to walk towards her. She brings
her rifle to bear on the cyborg and opens fire, walking slowly
backwards toward the lab. The barrage of bullets from her assault
rifle does slow the advance of the cyborg somewhat, but it is
not enough. It is beginning to gain ground on her. She glances
at the watch which is counting backwards and reads 2:45.
Back in the lab Will is sweating over
the control panel as he hears the sounds of gunfire quickly approaching.
A meter on the console shows the unit is charged past the green
safety zone and is halfway through the red region. At that moment
a siren begins to sound and yellow flashing lights dispersed throughout
the lab spring into action. An instant later Morrigan backs into
the lab followed close behind by the cyborg. Will gasps at the
sight of it. Had this been a movie, he would have appreciated
the cyborg's design and the outstanding special effects. However,
since this was actually happening, and he was an active participant
in the show, he had no time for such admiration.
"Morrigan, it's about to blow.
Get up here!" Without turning toward him she yells back.
"I can't. It's too risky. I've got to keep him busy. When
it discharges, I'll get down on the floor." It is now when
Murphy's law takes effect and supersedes the A-team effect of
unlimited ammo. As her weapon whirs to a stop she stands there
with a look more of anger than fear on her face. As Will helplessly
watches, she grabs the rifle like a club and stands there swinging
it at the cyborg with a snarl on her face.
She swings the rifle up to strike its chest. Its left claw reaches out to intercept the blow, just what she was expecting and hoping for. She quickly changes the direction of her swing, missing its claw and bringing the rifle squarely against its head. Its neck jerks to the right, tilting the head and absorbing some of the blow. With its right claw it forms a fist and hammers her in the lower abdomen leaving a ragged bloody wound. She collapses to the floor, falling on her back. "No" Will screams in a prolonged syllable. His thoughts are more of anguish for his fallen lover and protector than of worry for his life.
The cyborg snaps his head around and
regards Will with a look of cold determination, slowly advancing
on his prey. At that instant, a loud crackling sound fills the
air. The camera angle cuts to show the conducting sphere of the
Van de Graf generator which is glowing bright blue. Will throws
himself to the ground as several bright blue arcs of electricity
shoot out from the sphere. The lightning bolts shoot throughout
the room, causing several expensive looking pieces of machinery
to explode.
The cyborg looks up as a lightning bolt
strikes his chest. Several other bolts then connect to various
parts of its anatomy. Its body glows electric blue for a few moments
as the crackling and humming sound intensifies. Suddenly its head
explodes. This is shown from several angles in rapid succession
creating a stroboscopic effect. Its body collapses into a pile
of several pieces. The crackling sound fades to quiet as the generator
powers down, shooting off a few small remaining bolts. The sirens
have also stopped screaming, while the amber warning lights continue
to flash, creating odd patterns through the smoke. As the smoke
clears, Will picks himself off the floor. Walking over to the
remains of the cyborg, he nudges the pile with his foot, as if
to make sure it was actually dead.
Will Stands over the wrecked body of
the cyborg. As he watches, it crumbles to dust. Running over to
Morrigan, he has time to hold her while she lets out her last
breath. Holding her in his arms and caressing her hair, he manages
to choke back his sobs. "No you can't leave me now... I love
you, I need you, I need strength." "I'm sorry but my
time is up, we'll meet again someday though. I love you too."
She dies in his arms; as he quietly sobs, her body dissolves into
vapor. Will is left there dazed as the rescue unit comes to take
him to the hospital.
Later in the hospital, as Will lies
in his bed, and a nurse adjusts his IV unit, two men in suits
enter the room. "I'm sorry, but visiting hours are over,
you can come back tomorrow morning at 10:00." "I don't
think so, this is official business," as he flashes a government
badge in front of her. "Leave us alone to interrogate the
witness please." Will swallows hard, although this is a not
a deadly threat, there seems to be no way to escape it. "I'm
special agent Jim Johnson, and this is Ralph Hill, head of security
for the Engineering Center on campus." Swallowing hard again,
Will stammers "I suppose you have some rather difficult questions
for me, don't you?" "Actually Mr. Sanborn, we already
know more than we care to, we have come to make a deal with you."
As an answer to Will's confused expression he explains. "We
have watched the footage taken from the security cameras at the
police station and the power lab. From these tapes it is obvious
you are not responsible for what happened at the station, but
you could be held indirectly accountable for the distruction of
thousands of dollars of equipment in the lab." "But..."
"You didn't let me finish. I said you could be held accountable,
that is if we wanted to take you to court, which would require
us to show the security-camera footage as evidence. It the opinion
of the government that the American public cannot handle this
type of evidence. Knowledge of these mutants from the future,
our future, would cause widespread panic and total chaos. We cannot
allow that to happen."
"We are prepared to offer you immunity
in exchange for your silence. In fact it's even better than immunity.
Your name will be removed from all official documents connected
from this case; you will have never been involved. Your room has
been repaired and the police report will read that you were abducted
by an unknown perpetrator and found beaten up in prospect park
late last night. You were unable to give a description of your
kidnapper because he wore a ski mask. It seems that this was a
case of mistaken identity. This confused individual thought you
were the son of David Sanborn and had hoped to hold you for ransom.
The story isn't much, but it will hold since no mention of you
appears in the files involved with either the station massacre
or the lab distruction." "What about going back to school?"
"No problem, you can return to classes as soon as you're
released from the hospital. The school is willing to forget that
you were involved. We just had a meeting with the president and
the provost. When we mentioned certain government grants, they
were willing to play ball. So if you agree to keep your mouth
shut, we can forget all about this whole messy situation."
"But how do you expect to cover this up? There has got to
be several dozen people who witnessed our fight down on River
street. You can't possibly find all of them." "Watch
it kid, you obviously don't understand the situation. All the
important information has been removed, what people say they saw
doesn't hold too much weight. First of all, most of the people
involved in the fight were so confused that it was pretty easy
to convince them what it was they actually saw. The few remaining
people may talk, but nobody will listen to them. It may show up
in the Weekly World News, but you won't see Tom Brokaw
or Connie Chung talking about it on TV. So do you want the deal
or not?"
Cut to a TV screen of a News 13 broadcast.
Chris Kapostacy, the ravishing reporter, speaks to the camera
as news footage of the distruction is shown in the upper right-hand
corner of the screen. "Troy residents are still getting over
yesterday's downtown firefight and massacre of two-thirds of the
police force. The FBI has been brought onto the case to see if
they can find any leads." Cut to video of special agent Johnson,
"The perpetrators of this heinous crime will be found and
brought to justice. We will not rest until the deaths of those
officers are avenged and justice is served."
Cut back to Chris. "In an unrelated
story, there was an accident in one of the engineering power labs
at RPI last night, causing the destruction of several thousands
of dollars worth of industrial machinery. A statement released
by the school explains that the accident was a result of a safety
mechanism failure in a piece of automated machinery that was performing
a test while left unattended overnight. Rensselaer president,
Roland Schmitd, also issued a statement, saying that the incident
was a result of incompetence and demonstrates a severe deficiency
in safety inspection procedures. He is establishing a committee
to thoroughly study the situation and present their recommendations
to the board of trustees."
A few days later, after he has somewhat
recovered from his experience, Will returns to classes. He is
still pretty shaken up by the knowledge that the existence of
the entire free world will depend on him, but he is able to pull
himself together and focus his thoughts once again on his studies.
The whole experience has given him a newfound strength. One day
after leaving a particular boring lecture of Computer and Microprocessor
Lab, which was spent playing a monster game of dots, Will notices
a new student leaving the classroom. For some reason he is drawn
to her, it has something to do with her eyes, which are an unusual
shade of green. Getting up the courage to talk to her he introduces
himself and finds out that she is a new transfer student named
Meagan. They spend the rest of the afternoon in the library quietly
talking. "For some reason I feel like I've known you forever,
Meagan." "I have that feeling too, perhaps in another
life... I also have this feeling that we'll be spending a lot
of time together and that we have a lot of adventures ahead of
us." "You don't even know the half of it." Cut
to black.
The scene cuts to that of the Overlord's
lab in the future. We see the Overlord and Confucius Slime doing
battle again. Confucius is blasted with the death ray and falls
to the floor. The Overlord stands over him to gloat, as he does,
Confucius' foot swings up, knocking his gun to the far corner
of the room. Confucius Slime leaps up and forces the Overlord
to the wall. "But how did you survive a blast from my neutrino
repulser?" "Simple, I modulated the current in my armor
suit to randomize the particles' momentum. It helps if a man knows
something about his destiny" They struggle again and the
Overlord is thrown into a giant apparatus covered with flashing
LED's and shining fluorescent lights. There is an energy implosion
and the Overlord ceases to exist; Confucius Slime is unharmed.
From the broken machine, which was presumably
some climate control device, an energy beam emerges, shooting
upward. The roof and walls of the castle cease to exist. As the
beam reaches the sky it diverges and starts to dissolve the clouds.
Confucius Slime's hair and fur is rippled by a moderate wind as
the blue sky starts to break through. Within minutes there isn't
a cloud in the sky and it is a beautiful day outside. The landscape
is also rejuvenated with green grass and plants and bushes starting
to spontaneously appear everywhere.
Just then the first of the rebel army
starts to storm the remains of the castle. This army is made up
of mostly anthropomorphic mutants, but there are also the minority
of humans among them. The human Meagan runs up to Confucius Slime
and they embrace. As they kiss she metamorphizes into Captain
Morrigan, the leopard morph. The scene fades as they kiss on a
grassy hill behind a beautiful blue sky. Cut to end credits playing
some uplifting instrumental piece (perhaps by Danny Elfman 8)
).
Disclaimer:
Any resemblance of characters in this
piece of fiction to those in real-life is intentional and exploits
their comical personality traits. No malice was intended... do
not blame the writer... blame these people (writer included) for
being so strange.
Credit where Credit is Due:
Obviously the whole movie is based on
the Terminator movies. The title is a juxtaposition of
the words in the title to the sequel (pretty tricky, eh?).
The way I have the rebel army fighting
an evil dictator is a lot like the situation in the Star Wars
trilogy. The Octaurian Overlord could be based on the Emperor
in these movies. He is also of course based on the hit movies
Dustbunnies 3 & 4.
The way I give the day and time at the
beginning of the movie is reminiscent of something Stanley Kubric
used to do... I think he did it in the movie The Shining.
Most of the mutants are just generic
furries inspired by the author's delve into furry fandom over
the past year. I was a furry before then, but never knew the genre
existed.
The werewolf cyborg is very pumped up
and has an heavy Austrian accent, just like a certain actor starring
in the Terminator movies.
The way the werewolf's eyes momentarily
turn red was taken from how in the movie Bladerunner, all
of the replicants eyes (including Deccarrd, but that's another
can of worms 8) ) are shown to turn red during one scene or another
for the benefit of the audience members.
The character of Capt. Morrigan is taken
from the Empires stories by Chris Grant. I think she is
rather cute and drawn very well. I like her character, even if
she is rather bitchy most of the time (kinda makes her more attractive
in a twisted and neurotic way 8) ). I also like to believe that
there is a kind heart underneath her gruff exterior, and that
her attitude is result of the war she is fighting in.
The way I named one of the frat boys
Bob is kind of a strange coincidence. A couple of days after I
had written that paragraph I remembered the two Delta Tau Delta
brothers Bob and Zeppo who were briefly (they got fired for being
too lazy... which was really hard to do) on the paint crew with
us the summer after my junior year. They were a pair of buttheads
and they really lived up to the Delts' stereotype. I may have
subconsciously chosen the name Bob for this reason.
The broken ankle Fred the janitor gets
is a tribute to the first dustbunny movie where Don Reiff hurts
his ankle falling down the stairs of Bray Hall.
Semiconductor Electronic Devices lecture
was very boring. It didn't actually put us to sleep, but we came
close a few times. Paul Chow was a very clueless professor. He
existed in a totally separate world from us. His teaching sucked
and like some RPI professors, he couldn't understand why people
didn't understand what was going on. He was so out of it that
he didn't even notice that most of the students who bothered to
show up for lectures would read The Polytechnic, the school's
newspaper during Wednesday's lectures.
The Labidia Constellation was the home
world of the Overlord in the blockbuster movie Dustbunnies
4: The Mother of all Sequels.
The name of the underground movement
started by Confucius Slime is called the 'X Force' which was taken
from the concept of the 'X Men' which I have never read but has
been explained to me by a few friends of mine.
The phrase "terminate you with
extreme prejudice" was horked from the movie Apocalypse
Now.
Marlin Perkins was the old guy on that
program Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom. He was a sort of
safari leader type who would take the armchair explorers of America
across the globe to explore all sorts of cool animal behavior.
Of course he didn't do any real work, he just sat there and did
the narration, while his underling Jim, had to face danger weekly.
Such as getting close enough to a wild beatsie so he could shoot
it with a tranquilizer gun 8).
The way I tell Morrigan that no one
should know too much about their destiny and then use it to save
myself in the future is straight out of Back to the Future.
The message on Steve's machine about
him being busy eating pork products is an inside joke on the pranks
Matt and I used to pull on him. Since he was the only one of us
with an answering machine back then, we used to sneak into his
room and change his message whenever we got the chance.
The directions I give on how to get
to the power lab are "downstairs and to the left." This
of course is paying tribute to one of Matt's brilliant lines in
DB^5.
The A-Team was a really bad show that
aired back when I was in middle school. It was entertaining for
its cheesiness, especially how nobody ever got hit from the barrage
of gunfire and nobody ever ran out of ammo... hence I coined the
phrase "the A-Team effect" which is what usually happens
in a movie where the characters never seem to have reload. I think
it was kind of nice touch to actually have the hero run out of
ammunition at an inopportune moment. This gave her the opportunity
to sacrifice herself to save me (now, ain't that romantic 8) ).
CML class was very boring, the professor
(who unfortunately was also Ed's and my advisor) was a senile
old idiot. The class was so useless I don't even know why we bothered
to show up. We did end up spending one entire lecture playing
as I called it "the mother of all dots games."
The way Confucius Slime saves himself
from the Overlord's neutrino repulser, by modulating his armor's
current, is reminiscent of how on Star Trek the Next Generation
they always end up modulating their phasors to do everything from
killing the Borg to efficiently slice bread 8).
The ending, with the sky clearing up
and the two main characters kissing was probably inspired (at
least on the subconscious level) by the ending to the movie Total
Recall.
Final Notes
And now one answer to a question you
might have been thinking: Why did I choose 1991 for the setting
of my story? Simple. This was the earliest time when I had a single
as dorm room. It was the spring of 1991 when Howard went on his
academic leave of absence leaving me with a super-single. I didn't
want to have a roommate in my story since it would have just further
complicated things when my protector from the future shows up
to get me. It was hard enough dealing with me yelling and screaming
at 2:30 in the morning in the middle of the E-Dorms (boy I bet
Clark really hated that 8) ).
This really didn't explicitly have any
dustbunnies in it, but it was set in our dustbunny universe, and
the world was on the verge of falling under the power of the Overlord
who was using genetic mutation as a weapon. His army of dustbunnie
minions, while never actually shown, was alluded to. This will
have to be good enough.
I had fun dealing with the technical
aspects of this picture. I liked talking in technobabble and I
enjoyed designing the special effects which took extensive use
of flashing LED's (can't be high tech without them you know 8)
). I had fun designing the computer screens for the wolf cyborg's
point of view. Gee could you tell and engineer wrote this?
I'll agree that the destruction of the
cyborg was a pretty voodoo use of science. I took a concept and
extrapolated it to a level that was pretty much unbelievable (much
like in any episode of MacGyver). Still, most of the general
population would have believed it, and like in most Sci-Fi movies,
some suspension of disbelief is required. I mean if you can buy
the concept of the Overlord turning all of humanity into walking
animals and then sending a cyborg werewolf to kill me at college,
why can't you believe that RPI would have a device capable of
creating an EMF field powerful enough to destroy the cyborg (having
it blow up was stretching it, but it made a cool effect). After
all in DB^5 you all believed that RPI had a nuclear reactor and
that our two heroes were able to survive the blast of it overloading
by ducking around a corner 8).
This story has some obvious plot holes
and discontinuities in it, but it wouldn't be a dustbunny film
without them 8). Seriously though, I put a lot of thought into
this and tried to take care of all the details I could think of.
Still this is my first real attempt at creative writing. I think
it came out pretty good and I hope you have enjoyed reading it.
I spent about twenty hours on this endeavor and am very pleased
that I was so motivated to put in all the time and get it finished.
Will A. Sanborn / Confucius Slime -
July 27, 1993
Copyright 1993, Will A. Sanborn - was1@shore.net