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Subject: {ASSM} We Who Are Gathered 2/2 (furry, alternate reality, novel) TBD
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Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2012 11:10:04 -0400
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We Who Are Gathered 1/2 (furry, alternate reality, novel) TBD
---


    03 - Interlude Two - Cautious Optimism


    Interlude Two

    Zarah stood on the observation deck and watched the night. She was
filled with the sense of purpose, as always, but now, mixed with it,
was the sense of pride in the aides she had chosen.

    She'd never be able to prove it, but she now suspected that the
transition from 'human' to 'furry' had been more than a shift in
outward form.

    A threshold of awareness had been crossed.

    There was no other way to explain the ease with which her newly
created 'Wizards' had understood the 'Concept of Everything' she had
revealed to them.

    She felt the man's presence when he joined her, but said nothing.
He'd speak when he was ready, if he desired to speak at all.

    They shared most of the night in silence, until, as the sun rose,
he laughed gently.

    "So, Zarah. We're Von Neumann Machines."

    She giggled. "Close enough."

    "Can you tell me if we are working correctly?"

    She turned to face him and smiled. "Of course we are."

    He nodded thoughtfully. "If that's the case, we are insufficient
to the task ahead of us. Am I right?"

    He shifted his ears so they questioned her.

    She nodded. "You are."

    "Ah. I see."

    She knew that he did, truly, see. She'd chosen well when she'd
shifted him and split his personality into 'one mind in two bodies'.

    She reached and touched his muzzle tenderly. "There will be
others, of course. You, Mike, and your mate Michelle, are the embodied
purpose of this world. Sally, Blaze and Blackie are the embodiment of
the focused will of that purpose, that which provides the corrections
required to make sure success is achieved. The children are, of
course, the embodiment of the unknown future."

    He reached and grasped her paw gently, without lifting it from his
muzzle. "What, then, is left?"

    She smiled. "Faith, and the desire to seek beyond the known. 'The
Keepers of The Faith' will arrive soon, and 'They Who Seek' will
arrive shortly after, even as you now see time."

    He chuckled, and it rumbled from deep within his chest.

    She laughed with him.

    He was grinning when he asked her the obvious question: "And then,
'Tool of the Imposer'?"

    She kissed him and pulled back slightly to let him see her twisted
grin. "Why then, we get down to business and spend eternity building a
world that will make even the most critical of the Imposers jealous of
our skills."

    Laughing together, they wrapped their arms around each other's
waists and turned as one to face the dawn.

    04 - WIP - Keepers of The Faith by Jim Mathews 2008-07-15


    Keepers of the Faith: Samuel & Natalie
    __________________________________

    2-00 - Prelude Two


    Prelude Two - Samuel & Natalie

    As I pulled our SUV and trailer into the parking lot, I groaned.
We'd already been spotted and our fans were converging on us from all
over. By the time we reached the barricades to the vendor parking
area, about twenty people wearing various animal costumes were
escorting us and singing 'The Dogs are back in Town' as loud as they
could.

    Natalie touched my arm and laughed. "I think a few of them have
taken voice lessons, finally. They sound better than they did last
year."

    I sneezed at her. "Yeah. You ready for another Furry convention?"

    She grinned and barked loud enough that a few of the people
outside turned and barked back at her before they went back to singing
the filk they'd written in our honor.

    One of the Rottweilers directing traffic handed me our passes and
parking permit. "Sam. Natalie. Glad you folks could make it again.
They've saved your usual parking space for you and I see your
unloading crew is anxious to get to work, so I won't hold you up. Did
you bring our new costumes, and will you be holding services, like
usual?"

    Nat smiled at him. "Yes, Jim, to both questions. Your new costumes
are in the trailer with the other special orders and we pre-booked one
of the smaller conference rooms so we can hold services every night
during the week. For Saturday and Sunday we managed to get the chapel,
so we should be able to accommodate everyone who wants to attend."

    "Cool! Cindy and I will be there." He stepped back and waved at
his wife to open the rope that blocked access to the vendor parking
area. "Enjoy yourselves, folks."

    I laughed. "I imagine we will, once *they*," I gestured at the
people surrounding us, "get tired of belting out that ballad someone
wrote about us."

    He barked and used his jaws to grin at me.

    I shook my head mock wearily and eased us through the gathering
crowd until I had us parked.

    We climbed out and once we'd stretched, we found ourselves being
passed from person to person as we got the usual 'furry welcome' of
hugs and muzzle touches while they slowly worked us to the door of the
trailer.

    People had already set the levelers and pulled out the steps, so
all I had to do was unlock the door and hold it for Nat while she
climbed in.

    The crowd got quieter when I stepped in and closed the door behind
me. I hugged Nat. "Whew! Exuberant bunch this year."

    She giggled. "Can you imagine what they're going to do when we go
out there in our new costumes?"

    I laughed and started stripping. "Yep. Wouldn't surprise me if
some fool adds another verse to that idiotic song."

    She finished stripping and hugged me. "You love the attention and
appreciation as much as I do. Now, let's get dressed *properly*."

    I hugged back. "Fine with me!"

    We had to help each other with the skin tight costumes, but the
effort was worth it. We carefully made sure everything was tucked in
or settled properly, then helped each other install the facial
controls and settle our heads in place before we mated the seams.

    This would be the first time we'd let the world see our new
designs and I grinned to myself when I pictured people's surprise when
we showed off the extras we'd taken years to develop for our personal
costumes.

    I watched myself in the mirror while I ran the microprocessor that
controlled the head, through it's test routines. Everything worked
like it should, so I was cautiously confident that as long as the
batteries lasted, the rest would work as designed.

    Nat's tests came out ok, too, so eventually there was nothing left
to do except take deep breaths and face the world as Black and Golden
Labrador Retrievers, again.

    I hit the right contacts with my tongue and twisted my ears in
Nat's direction while I used the facial controls to smile at her.
"Ready?"

    She laughed nervously. "About as ready as I was when we did those
paper mache' heads fifteen years ago!"

    I chuckled and gestured at the door. "Bitches first."

    She growled at me and reached for the handle.

    When the door swung open, the cheering started, then slowly fell
off when people realized Nat wasn't in her usual costume.

    I stayed out of sight because it was her moment in the spotlight,
again. I'd done the grunt work with the programming and mechanical
stuff, but she'd done all the work involved in wrapping believable
dogs around what I'd come up with.

    She tilted her head slightly and then used the controls to perk
her ears forward while her muzzle formed a smile as she went slightly
hipshot to pose enticingly.

    It was an old game she played with our friends and usually she got
a few whistles and catcalls.

    This time she got an awed silence followed by enthusiastic
clapping.

    I laughed and pushed lightly. "Go. I'd like to get our booth set
up sometime today."

    She turned her head until our muzzles touched in an open-mouthed
kiss and the 'crowd' went nuts as our jaws merged and clamped each
other. "Sam, I think they like what we've done."

    I laughed again. "Yeah. Now, let's get busy. We can play later."

    She sneezed at me. "Be sure that you do."

    She pulled away and stepped down to let me start sliding our
display cases over so people could stack them on the carts before we
trooped into the hotel's convention hall to get set up.

    By the time we were ready to go, Jim and Cindy had been relieved
and arrived to collect their costumes.

    I made my muzzle smile at them. "I'm glad you're here, finally. We
installed a limited capability production version of the new control
system in the heads for your outfits. There's instructions with them
so you can start using them as soon as you want to. If you folks would
change into your new costumes, I'd appreciate it. Maybe that way Nat
and I can get our booth set up while you impress everyone with our
skills."

    Jim laughed and Cindy giggled. "We saw what Nat was doing with
hers and we loved it."

    She reached and slid a hand over my chest. "I'm more impressed by
how well you hid the seams."

    I chuckled. "It took years, but we finally came up with a method
we can use on everything we make. All the costumes we brought with us
use the new system, including yours."

    She nodded. "Thanks." She turned to Jim. "Come on, lets go change
so we can escort these folks to where they need to go."

    I looked at her with surprise. "You're our escorts this year?"

    Jim laughed again. "Yep. We finally won the honor."

    I shook my head and sighed. "You folks are crazy. I can think of
nothing more boring than escorting a bunch of people who are carrying
boxes into a hotel."

    He nodded slowly. "It's what's inside the boxes that can cause the
problems. Remember a few years ago?"

    I sighed again. An over enthusuastic teen furry had stolen one of
the costumes when we weren't looking. Unfortunately, she'd grabbed a
custom one we'd made for one of the convention organizers, and then to
compound her stupidity, she'd worn it on the floor the next day.

    The resulting fracas had left her naked but unhurt, and surrounded
by a mob of enraged furrys who weren't very happy with her. She was
lucky she only got permanently banned from all furry conventions and
not prosecuted for theft.

    I came out of my introspection and nodded sadly. "I understand
your concern and your presense is appreciated. We've kept the cases
locked ever since, unless we are getting something out or putting
things away."

    Jim and I touched palms and he let himself get serious. "Good.
That will make our job a lot easier."

    He turned away to join his wife in the trailer and I touched his
arm to get his attention. "I think you should know, Jim. Janet bought
a costume from us last year and wore it when Nat and I baptized her.
We're going to ask that her ban be lifted so she can help us when we
go to the conventions in her area."

    "Huh. Weren't you the ones who held out for banning her instead of
legal prosecution?"

    I shrugged. "Yes, we were. People can change and what she did was
not maliciously planned, as so many of the thefts are. We weren't
willing to treat youthful enthusiasm in such a harsh manner as the law
would have demanded, and since we were the ones she stole from, to
prosecute or not was our decision to make, not the crowd's."

    He nodded and went inside the trailer to change. When I turned
around Nat was watching me. "I heard. Do you think the ban will be
lifted?"

    I shook my head slightly. "I don't know. Maybe, if we can get
people to understand that what we did then never really mattered in
the long run. Furrys are people, too, and with the net, even the
pettiest indiscretion will haunt a person for the rest of their life.
Janet has already learned that, and found a way to live with the pain
it brings her every day."

    Nat hugged me. "Well, she has the courage to face people who will
villify her every time they see her. I wonder if *they* will have the
courage to admit she has changed?"

    She must have felt me stiffen with my suppressed anger because she
pulled away and smiled at me. "Relax. As much as we dislike it
sometimes, our word carries a lot of weight in the community. If not
this time, someday she'll be allowed to rejoin the furry community
completely. After all, it was only conventions she was banned from,
not local gatherings, and there are many people who know the young
woman she has become since that day."

    I laughed. "True. I've also noticed that her design for a Furry
Baptismal Suit is being duplicated all over the world--and used. I
think that's a pretty solid vote of confidence that will make it
easier to get the ban lifted."

    She nodded. "True, and it's more meaningful an endorsement than
our word would be."

    We checked the lashings that held the cases in place while we
waited for Jim and Cindy. Eventually they both came out of the trailer
and I laughed when I realized they were having trouble with the
control system. "Relax. Let the system do the work, and allow it a few
seconds to react and settle before you say anything."

    Cindy sighed. "It's not as easy as you and Natalie make it look,
is it?"

    I sneezed. "Nope, and we're using a different control system, that
gives us finer real time control." I grimaced and my muzzle
approximated my action. "Stick with the preprogrammed system we used
on your heads and put up with the limitations of having a small set of
predefined expresions. At least you can eat and drink while wearing
your heads. We can't, because of all the extra sensors we need to get
that fine control."

    They both nodded, then faced us alertly. "You ready?"

    "Yes."

    Cindy looked over the people standing around. "OK, folks. You know
the way as well as we do. Lets get moving."

    I led the way. Nat and Cindy fell in at the end of the procession
to keep an eye on everything, while Jim provided a roving escort to
fend off the overly curious and help ease our passage through the
crowd.

    It was all routine--and I hoped it would stay that way for the
rest of the convention.

    * * *

    The week turned out to be routinely hectic, which was typical for
most cons, but especially so for the one in Las Vegas. After the usual
rush of people picking up their special orders, and the crowds of
people who wanted to catch up on things that we'd done since the last
time they'd seen us, the activity slowed enough that Nat and I could
take time off from the seller's area for ourselves, if we did it one
at a time.

    Jim and Cindy settled in and became demonstrators while still
helping us by keeping an eye on our stuff and that of our neighbors.

    It was Wednesday when Nat and I were showing off some of the
expressions we could coax from our faces when Jim asked a question
that surprised us with its relevance.

    "Sam? Those snarls of yours are truly menacing and sincere
looking. Is there any way to do some custom programming of ours, so we
can do them? There have been times when a good, visible snarl, would
have made our warnings more effective..."

    Nat and I stared at each other in surprise, then she grinned.
"Sam? You're the programmer. Usage related response sets?"

    "Yes... I never thought about that angle. The production costumes
use the same mechanics as ours, so it should be possible. Better,
might be to release the programming code so people can experiment and
create their own sets of expressions. They're going to do it anyway
since all the programming is done through a USB interface and I never
did anything to lock it down."

    Jim watched us and then laughed. "I don't care about the technical
details. It sounds like you can do it. How soon?"

    I thought about it and shrugged. "I'd have to translate the
contact patterns we use, into the proper codes, and there are some
hard coded differences we put in to give us distictive 'male' and
'female' expression sets, so that would mean doing all the coding
twice..."

    I came out of my creative trance and smiled. "Sorry, Jim. Not
before the end of the convention. Might take weeks, might take months
to write and test the code, and that's because our time is going to be
limited due to meeting the orders we're getting and the usual
production back orders for our regular customers. Doesn't leave us a
lot of time to play and that's a major reason it took us so many years
to develop things this far."

    I faced Nat. "I know we aren't going to franchise the costune
designs, but what do you think of GPLing the code and adding a support
area to our forum so people can do their own work on the expression
programming if they want to? I'm using off the shelf controllers, so
anyone can find the op codes on the net once they know the part
numbers."

    She thought about it, then smiled. "Let's sponsor a contest for a
new facial control design. I'd like to be able to eat and drink while
wearing my head. We can offer a free custom costume that incorporates
the winning design, to the person who designs the control system we
like best, then discuss licensing it from them so we can have the
option of adding it to future designs."

    I nodded. "Works for me. I'll make the changes to the site after
we recover from the convention."

    I turned back to Jim and smiled. "That should cut down your
waiting time. I'll try to remember to put an announcent on the forum
tonight, but you can post a request as soon as you like. I'll move it
once I get the new area built, and post the code and part numbers
along with the other specs folks will need, sometime after we recover
from the convention."

    He nodded. "Thanks, Sam. That's a lot more than I had any right to
expect from you."

    Then he frowned. "You do realize there will be knock offs of your
design?"

    I nodded. "We've seen some of them already, that are based on our
earlier designs. We don't care for the way some folks are deliberately
using our names, and those folks we do take the time to go after,
because we have to protect our reputation. But when we look at it
pragmatically, we have enough regular business that we don't really
need what we make at the conventions. In a way, what we produce for
people in the furry community is part of our development and
prototyping cycle. It's also..." I deliberately made my 'face' grin.
"The main way we relax from the stresses of day to day living. These
conventions are more like paid vacations than they are business
trips."

    He and Cindy laughed, then I went back to the routine of a normal
day of answering questions and taking orders or selling from our basic
stock, when I wasn't idly chatting with anyone who wanted to visit
with me when I wasn't conducting business.

    * * *

    After we settled in our room and compared notes about the evening
service we'd held, Natalie chided me gently.

    "Sam, that wasn't very nice, letting Jim assume you'd be releasing
ALL of the data and specs on the costume control systems."

    I shrugged, then managed a tired smile. "People hear what they
want to hear, and the first person who tries to reverse engineer the
controls will discover the hard way that several of the primary
interface modules are custom ones we designed ourselves."

    She laughed, and her own fatigue was obvious. "If they manage to
take the time to track down the manufacturer and order some, I won't
mind the extra income."

    I grinned. "That's assuming they decide they can afford them. One
offs and limited runs won't get the cost lower than what we charge for
the entire costume. I think that might reduce the profit incentive
quite a bit and help slow down the knock offs for a year or so, since
we're converting to exclusive use of the new controls."

    She matched my grin briefly, then stood and stretched. "Help me
get undressed, so I can take a bath and then get some sleep."

    We helped each other remove our costumes, then bathed together and
barely managed to stay awake long enough to settle under the blankets
and snuggle before we fell asleep.

    * * *

    It was Friday morning when Jim confronted me about the part
numbers on the chips we'd used.

    "Sam? I thought you said the controllers were off the shelf? Cindy
and I tried to search the net for the specs last night and we couldn't
find some of them listed anywhere."

    Nat gave me an 'I told you so' look that I ignored before I smiled
at Jim's obvious frustration. "The parts you couldn't find listed
aren't controllers. They're custom interface modules of our own
design, and a special order item. They can be ordered under license
from us, but they aren't going to be inexpensive unless you buy in
quantities of a thousand or more, like we did, and all of the first
run is dedicated to our future production, so we don't have extras we
can sell."

    Jim studied me thoughtfully, his frustration forgotten. "So we
have to wait until you post the specs on what they do?"

    "Yes."

    He sighed. "How expensive are they in small quantities?"

    I grinned maliciously. "In quantities of one hundred or less, each
chip costs more than we charge for the entire costume, and the
manufacturer can't do more than make the chips for us, because we set
up the licensing agreement that way. Another part of the agreement is
that we do our own quality control and testing to get the price
lower."

    He winced, then sighed again. "Sam, you're enjoying this, aren't
you?"

    "Immensely!"

    "You've made your point, and we'll find a way to break the news
they're going to have to wait, gently."

    I nodded. "Be glad we aren't commercial designers. We could ask
ten times what we charge for the new costumes, and have enough orders
pending to keep us busy for the rest of our lives. It was our choice
to fill a previously ignored niche, once we realized we had stumbled
into costume building as our life work, when we aren't fulfilling our
duties as members of the church."

    Jim nodded. "We know, and most people appreciate what you've done
over the years."

    I smiled. "Thanks, Jim." I gesured at our area. "It was a tough
decision to make, keeping our chip design proprietary. But we have a
reputation for quality and realism to maintain, and we can't do that
unless we mix some business sense with our genuine desire to help
others."

    He smiled and settled in to keep an eye on things while Nat and I
got on with the day's routine.

    Since it was Friday, things got intense and extremely active as
people arrived for the weekend.

    Nat and I survived, somehow, but we were so exhausted at the end
of the day that all we did when we got back to our room was remove our
heads and collapse on the bed without removing our costumes.

    And, based on past experience, Saturday would most likely be
worse.

    2-01 - Transformation


    Transformation

    We'd survived Saturday, and the evening crowd had finally started
thinning enough that Nat could go wander the convention again while I
started the end of day routine before we headed back to our room for
our much needed baths and a night's sleep.

    Jim and Cindy had helped me put the remaining costumes and
accessories away, and then, once the costume and accessory storage
boxes were secure, taken off to relax together.

    I was bent over and digging in one of the few still unlocked
storage boxes when I heard a female voice behind me.

    "I'm impressed. You've done a good job on the fursuits you and
your wife are wearing this year." There was a brightness in her tones
that told me she wasn't interested in buying, just being one more
person who was killing time, but genuinely appreciative of our skills.

    I didn't bother turning around when I replied calmly. "Thanks.
It's not a fursuit. Natalie and I are costume designers."

    "I know. I've seen the plays."

    It was an unusual event when someone admitted to recognizing us
because they'd seen at least one of the religious plays we'd designed
the costumes for, but it wasn't enough to distract me from what I was
doing.

    However, it did get me thinking about how we'd stumbled into
costume designing.

    Then, inevitably, we'd become furrys when we realized something in
us *needed* to express itself by 'wearing our true forms'.

    Natalie and I, about fifteen years ago, had volunteered to try and
come up with *something* for the youth drama class to use when they
did 'Noah and The Ark' for our church. Over the years, as the
budget--and our skills--had allowed, we slowly added to the small
paper mache heads on sticks, we'd done for the first presentation.

    Within five years we found ourselves working as professional
costume designers for religiously themed plays. The skin-tight
costumes Nat and I wore at furry conventions not only showcased our
latest designs and allowed us to be our true selves, they proved that
what we made were as practical and comfortable to wear in your daily
life as they were for use in plays.

    We didn't sell many costumes at the conventions, but we usually
sold enough of them and other accessories to pay for the costume
materials and our convention expenses, with a little left over. It
helped that we included in the package a few of the rarest things any
'fursuit' maker could offer: 'Quality, comfort--and durability.'

    I finished digging out the last of the flyers for Sunday's
interfaith gathering, and turned back to the table that was our 'sales
counter'.

    I almost dropped the flyers.

    Standing there with her head tilted slightly, was a woman in the
*best* Irish Setter costume I'd ever seen. I stared, then remembered
what I held in my hand. I looked down, put the flyers in their usual
place and glanced to see if there were any potential customers nearby.

    The crowd had thinned even more and the hall was almost empty, so
I relaxed, then turned my attention back to the woman.

    "That costume," I said with a tinge of envy, "is awesome. I'd like
to meet whoever made it for you."

    She laughed and I noticed how the jaws worked smoothly, and the
eyes and ears mimicked canine body language. Not only was it a
fantastically realistic looking costume, the woman wearing it was
skilled at using it.

    "It's a custom design. I'm glad you like it. "

    "Like it?" I sighed and touched my costume lightly, running my
hands over it and feeling the seams we'd worked so hard to hide. "I've
seen a lot of good work over the years, but this is the first time
I've seen a costume that makes me feel like I'm wearing rags."

    I chuckled sourly. "Clean rags, but rags all the same. I don't
know if I should thank you or curse you for letting me see that up
close."

    She nodded and then touched the stack of flyers. "Reformed
Unitarian'?

    I nodded back. "Yes. All faiths and species welcome. The reformed
part is there mostly because we accept people no matter what they
wear, or what species they feel they are, as part of the way they keep
faith with themselves."

    I sighed and answered the one thing I was heartily sick of, before
she had a chance to ask it. "We have people who only wear the costumes
during sex, of course, but most of the people are otherwise pretty
ordinary, even though they do, sometimes, wear their costumes as part
of their daily lives."

    She grinned back. "I don't enjoy the stereotype any more than you
do. But, like so many things in life, we have to learn to live with
it. Right?"

    I gave her my best imitation canine sneeze of disgust. "Yes."

    She laughed again, then started to turn away. Before she left she
paused and looked back at me over her shoulder. "This costume? The
maker studied your work quite a bit before she created it. I'm sure
that someday she'll thank you for inspiring her."

    I nodded thoughtfully. "Seeing the costume itself is thanks
enough. I wish my wife was here, too. She's going to be sorry she
missed seeing it. But," I shook my head mournfully. "At least she's
not going to feel like she's wearing rags."

    Incredibly inappropriately, she giggled. "What you wear are 'glad
rags', are they not? And they represent the best work the two of you
are capable of? Wear them with your head up and tail high, not with
your head lowered and your tail curled between your legs in shame."

    I winced at her tart comments and then smiled slightly. "Thank you
for that reminder, whoever you are. It won't be easy to do for awhile,
though."

    She smiled and walked away. I didn't bother trying to suppress my
sigh of envy when I realized how naturally her tail stayed jauntily
vertical as it wagged slightly.

    When I lost sight of her after she turned down a hallway, I sighed
again and turned back to the business of shutting down our booth for
the day.

    * * *

    I sighed wearily and handed Natalie my 'head' before I pulled the
concealing flap away and unzipped the front of my costume to get at
the pouch that held my keycard. "You know, love, if I ever hear the
words 'anatomically correct fursuit' or 'velcro' again, I think I'll
see how well those false teeth in my jaw work."

    She giggled tiredly. "Sometimes I wonder if the typical fursuiter
knows how to read. Or, " she noted clinically, "if they can understand
what they read. I was hoping the new brochures would solve those
problems."

    "Yeah. But there are always the ones who think we'll cut back on
the quality, just for them."

    She sighed. "Well, at least some of the other costume designers
will survive another year."

    Then she chortled tiredly. "Doesn't hurt that most of them are
wearing custom costumes we've made for them."

    I laughed briefly. "True. Maybe we should look into franchising
some of our more popular designs."

    She shook her head. "No. I don't want anything out there with our
names on it unless we've made it. If people want to copy the basic
design and make it inexpensively, that's fine. It's not worth trying
to stop them."

    I finally managed to insert the card correctly and the lock
released on the door to our hotel room. I leaned on the handle and let
my weight push the door open. "Sorry. It's the fatigue speaking. I had
a bad day with the newbies insisting that they know more about costume
design than we do, and that if we just opened our minds..." I finally
ran down and sneezed disgustedly. "They'll learn, just like we did.
The hard way."

    It was a good thing the bed was only a couple steps away because I
made the first one, decided any more effort to move was beyond my
capabilities, and let myself fall forward.

    I heard the door close and the lock engage, then I felt movement
next to me. When I turned my head to look, Nat's 'face' was grinning
at me. I smiled in spite of my disgust with the day's events.
"Natalie, love, we really do need to redo the programming on your
head. That stupid looking default grin isn't you."

    Her tired laugh said more than most people's words. "Maybe not,
but it sure saves me a lot of effort by the end of the day." Then she
barked at me.

    I chuckled and woofed back.

    At least we'd survived another furry convention, and managed to
get enough costume orders to pay our expenses. More than that, we
never asked for.

    She helped me sit up and then we peeled the costumes off of each
other. I looked at mine and then simply dropped it on the carpet next
to the bed. "You can have the shower. I need to nap first."

    She started to say something, obviously thought better of it and
then touched me lightly. "I don't think I can walk that far, either."

    I nodded, then we hugged each other and let ourselves fall
sideways. I'm pretty sure I was asleep by the time my head hit the
pillow.

    * * *

    My dream was one of those surreal ones I usually get when I'm
exhausted.

    An indistinct form was sitting on the foot of the bed and holding
the head to my costume. "Samuel Nathan McEvers. Is this the form you
would choose, if you could?"

    I took the head and studied it glumly. "Not really. There has to
be a better way to design the ears so they more closely mimic canine
movements. The skull structure is much too large. The jaws work ok,
but the control system is sometimes more trouble than it's worth.
Maybe someday I'll be able to build the control contacts into the head
instead of having to wear an elastic mask over my face. Overall, it
sort of looks like a dog, but it's just..."

    I sighed and handed it back. "It looks like a human skull with a
muzzle and fur glued on, and it depresses me because I know that as
long as I have to make a human look like a dog, that's all I'll ever
get for the final result."

    The female sounding voice laughed gently. "But, Samuel, given the
choice, you and your wife *would* choose to be anthropomorphic dogs?"

    I smiled sadly. "Yeah, I guess we would rather be dogs. Being a
human is ugly. Dogs are honest. I can't explain it any better than
that. I've tried, but even most of the furrys we meet at the
conventions don't understand when I try to tell them how we feel about
it."

    "I see."

    I shook my head again. "I doubt it. How can you understand it,
when we don't?"

    There was gentle reproof in her voice when she answered my
complaint. "I didn't say I understood. Some things you have to take on
faith, because until you feel them, you'll never be able to
understand. Then, once you've felt them, there's no need to
understand, because... You know."

    I sighed. "Perhaps."

    She laughed gently. "Samuel, for one who is so strong in his
faith, you can be incredibly stubborn, sometimes."

    I couldn't stop my sideways glance at Natalie, who was still
sleeping. "You remind me of Nat. She tells me much the same thing.
Frequently."

    "It is the nature of help meets, to help."

    The woman leaned towards me and carefully placed the head to my
costume over my head. She took the time to align it properly, then
leaned even closer and kissed my muzzle with hers.

    "Keep the Faith, young man. Go back to sleep and dream your dreams
of something better..."

    As she pulled away slowly her voice trailed off into a whispered:
"Because, sometimes, dreams can become reality."

    I was still so busy coming to terms with my 'dream woman' having a
muzzle, that it wasn't until I started drifting back into a dreamless
slumber that I remembered she had clearly said 'Go *back* to
sleep'..."

    I had just enough time left to shrug off the odd phrasing as
nothing more than the typical illogic of dreams, before thought
ceased.


    2-02 - Adapting to the Inevitable


    Chapter Two - The Morning After

    It was the raspy electronic buzz of the cheap clock radio that
woke me. I felt Nat shift as she rolled in my embrace and reached to
shut off the alarm. Then there was another shift and instead of her
usual morning kiss, there was a sharply indrawn breath, a weary giggle
and...

    "I must have been more tired than I thought. I don't remember you
getting up and putting your costume back on."

    "I what?!"

    My eyes snapped open, I started to say something more... And
suffered a bad case of total brain shut down.

    "What's wrong?"

    "Err... I can say the same thing about you. When did *you* get up
and put your costume back on?"

    "I did?!"

    One of her hands came up to explore her face. I watched while she
worked her jaws and in the process appeared to nip her fingers. "Ouch!
I bit myself!"

    I had seen the whole sequence and with a sort of detached clarity
I'd noticed that her muzzle and tongue moved in time with her words.
In fact...

    "Umm." I brought my own hand up to my face and gingerly explored
what I found. I experimented by trying to move my jaws and tongue, and
I was dismayed to discover the ones I felt moved just like my real
ones would, if I was feeling them.

    I didn't like the conclusion I was reaching, but it seemed the
only answer possible.

    Natalie beat me to it. "We aren't wearing our costumes."

    There was one last test to make, and I made it. I felt for the
flap of material that hid the zipper.

    It wasn't there.

    I shuddered, and then remembered. "Honey? I had the oddest dream
last night. This woman asked me if you and I wouldn't rather be dogs,
and I sorta said yeah, we'd probably be happier if we were."

    Nat hugged me fiercely. "Did she put the head of your suit on you
and tell you some dreams can become reality?"

    I grimaced. "You had it too?"

    "Yes."

    I sighed. "Love, I hope we aren't dreaming this. OK?"

    "Me too, Sam. Me, too" We hugged each other and shook until the
snooze alarm went off.

    She giggled a little. "We'd better get up and go hold the
meeting."

    "Umm. Yeah. Right. If we're any indication, it's going to be
somewhat more intense than usual."

    We got up, and while she went to the bathroom and started figuring
out how to use her new body, I went over to the window so I could look
out at the new day.

    I slid the curtains back and froze at what I didn't see.

    Las Vegas, especially on The Strip, was never deserted. Not ever.

    Yet that's exactly that I was seeing.

    Lot's and lots of...

    Nothing.

    I was suddenly certain I wasn't dreaming. No dream imaginable
would make Las Vegas a ghost town, yet in all other ways leave it
intact.

    I found my voice. "Love? Could you abandon whatever it is you're
doing and come look out the window?"

    I heard soft footsteps and smelled her as she arrived at my side.
I didn't need the sudden tightening of her arm around my waist, or her
shivering, to let me know she'd looked out the window.

    I was surrounded by a tangy odor that made me shake violently. It
was something I'd never smelled before, but I knew what it was.

    It was the scent of mind numbing fear.

    "Honey? Where is everybody? Where?..." She shuddered. "Where is
*everything*?"

    I studied the scene. The Las Vegas Strip was there, in all its
tawdry glory. It was a lot cleaner than I'd ever seen it. Quieter,
too, without the cars and people.

    "Nat, I haven't a clue... Wait."

    Movement at the right edge of my vision had grabbed my attention.

    Nine... 'Somethings' were jogging along the center of The Strip as
if they owned it and didn't have a care in the world.

    When they were closer I recognized one of them. "Her."

    "Her?" Natalie made the breathed word a question.

    "Yeah. The woman in the Irish Setter costume. She stopped at our
booth yesterday evening and complimented us on our work. I was so
tired I forgot about it until now."

    Incredibly, when they were in front of the hotel parking lot they
all stopped and she turned her head to look directly at us. She then
turned to the others and said something. After that they all looked in
our direction.

    Then came the final, so-stupid-it-made-perfect-sense, action.

    She removed something from the harness she was wearing, held it in
front of her, poked at it...

    And as she raised it to one of her ears, the phone rang.

    We stared at each other, then, without a word, I went over and
answered it.

    "Hello?"

    "Hello, Sam. Come on down and meet your new companions when you're
ready. We'll be doing our morning sprints for awhile, then we'll all
get some breakfast."

    Bemused by her casual attitude, I mumbled a distracted "Thanks.
We'll be a bit. Got some things we need to do to make ourselves
presentable."

    She laughed. "Fair enough. You'll find the basic grooming
equipment in the drawers. No clothing though. You don't need it here.
See you soon."

    "Right. See you soon."

    She hung up and I carefully put the phone back on its cradle.

    Natalie was frowning. "We'll be where?"

    I gestured at the window. "Out there. We've been invited to meet
our new companions. They're going to do their morning sprints, then go
have breakfast."

    "I heard all that. I just wanted to make sure you heard the same
thing I did."

    She walked back to the window and looked out. "She's the woman who
was in my dream. I recognized her voice. Except..." Her voice trailed
off.

    "Sam? Come over here, please."

    "What is it?"

    "This is unbelievable. Have you ever known anyone who does sprints
through a speed trap?"

    "What? No."

    She started giggling and I joined her at the window.

    What I saw astounded me. "That thing has to be lying. Nobody can
run that fast."

    I was focused on the small trailer that held the mobile radar
system used for speed enforcement. As one of the figures ran past it I
saw the numbers change rapidly, until they settled and showed a speed
of 35 miles per hour.

    Once they were past it they slowed to a jog, turned, and jogged
back to join the ones who had gone before them.

    They did that a few more times each, then the two largest figures
jogged away to stop about a block further away than their usual
starting point. Idly, I noted that with my improved vision, I could
determine their breeds and sex. The male was an oddly patterned Afghan
Hound, and the female was a Saluki.

    They hugged each other briefly, then they turned to look towards
the others. At some unseen signal they launched themselves into a run.

    They quickly reached the speed I was already used to seeing them
run at, then, as they crossed the original starting line, they
accelerated so quickly I was surprised and couldn't track them.

    When I found them again they were well over a block past the speed
trap and slowing. It took another block before they were jogging
easily, at which point they turned around and ran back.

    I recovered from my shock, glanced at the speed readout, looked
away and then, when the numbers sank in, jerked my attention back to
that impossible display.

    "No. No way. Nothing, absolutely *nothing* is capable of running
at 200 miles per hour."

    "Apparently," my wife's voice was droll, "they can."

    She gestured at the group that was now walking towards the hotel.
"Shall we go meet these impossible people?"

    I tore my gaze away from those incredible numbers to face her and
smile wryly.

    "Yes, let's do that."

    * * *

    By the time we got to the bottom floor all we had to do was follow
our noses to the buffet.

    They'd slid a bunch of the tables together and were either seated
at them or serving themselves food.

    It was all, except for the shape of their bodies, comfortingly
normal until I looked at the grill and realized it had a mechanical
head, and arms that it was using to prepare food, apparently on its
own.

    The Saluki noticed my focus and laughed. "Relax. Jason decided he
wanted to experiment with a new transformation. You know how kids are.
Whatever you want, tell him. He's a good cook."

    The head turned to grin at us. "I have access to *everything* that
was on the net. Name it and I'll cook it for you."

    I glanced at Natalie, who was grinning at him. I knew that look.
It was one I'd seen a lot of over the years, so I kept my mouth shut.

    "Jason, is it?"

    He nodded. "Yep."

    She nodded and smiled. "So you enjoy challenges? Like to test your
limits?"

    He grinned at her. "Yes, Ma'am!"

    "Call me Natalie. Ok, then. This should be easy but next time I'll
see what I can come up with."

    He sobered and nodded. "I'm ready."

    She smiled benevolently and I shuddered. The last person she'd
given an 'easy' project to had spent a week just figuring out how to
start researching the subject.

    "Good. Let's keep it simple this morning. Butter saute'd dog
biscuits made from parsley, onion, garlic and salmon. A grilled kibble
that uses beef, celery and corn meal with enough flour to bind it
together until it has the texture of a medium hard cookie. Make the
vegetable dish a stir fry out of whatever it takes to make it a
balanced meal for these bodies.

    She tilted her head questioningly. "Got it?"

    If mechanical eyes could have glazed over, his would have. Finally
he faced me. "Same for you?"

    I shrugged. "Sure. I'm easy."

    He turned back to Nat. "Portabello mushrooms be OK with you? The
flavor will blend well with everything else."

    Nat blinked her surprise. "Fine with me."

    Jason nodded and then looked past us. "Dad? You heard the wish
list."

    The Afghan laughed. and gestured at the counter. "At your
service." All the raw ingredients appeared. Then he twitched his ears
forward. "What kind of veggies?"

    Jason looked what he had over and then raised his head
thoughtfully. "Dad? Mom? Anyone?... What are the nutritional
requirements for our bodies?"

    Everyone turned to look at the Irish Settler.

    She shrugged. "None. Your bodies will manufacture what they need
out of whatever you give it." She looked directly at Natalie and
grinned. "If *you* believe what you eat is nutritionally balanced, it
will be. Shouldn't be a problem for such a strong Faith Holder as you
are. Right?"

    Nat's jaw dropped. Then she closed it slowly before she studied
the grinning Setter. "Are you mocking my faith?"

    The Setter shook her head. "Your faith is why you and your husband
are here. I will tease you, but I will never mock you, Natalie. It is
as I said, for all of you. With faith, all things are possible. Here,
that is the basis of reality as you will come to know it."

    Before either of us could think of a reply, Jason interrupted us.
"Food's ready. Grab a couple plates and dig in."

    Natalie looked at me and I could see her confusion, but couldn't
help since I shared it. Instead of trying to come up with a reply to
the absurd I pointed my muzzle at Jason and our breakfast. "I think
this will be one of those unusual breakfast conversations we tend to
get involved in every time we show up in Vegas."

    She finally sneezed. "At least that hasn't changed." She grabbed a
plate and held it out while Jason filled it.

    I did the same and then we settled in a couple chairs and started
eating.

    We looked up when a young German Shepherd settled across the table
from us. "Did I get your recipe right?"

    Nat crunched another biscuit and smiled at him. "Yes, you did.
Thank you, Jason."

    He nodded. "You're welcome. Would it be OK if I tried some of your
other recipes? Some of them look pretty tasty."

    She laughed. "I put them on the net for people to try out. There's
no need to ask my permission."

    He tilted his head and thought about it. "Oh. You did, didn't you?
OK. Thanks."

    Somebody sneezed and he laid his ears back, then glanced sideways.
"I was in a hurry, OK?"

    I heard laughter in the Saluki's voice. "I'm not the one you need
to ask."

    He faced Nat. "Natalie? What you wanted sounded like something
you'd cooked before, so I accessed your laptop to get the
instructions. Is that OK? I didn't look at anything else, just your
recipe files."

    She choked, cleared her throat and then set her food down. "I
thought I had it turned off."

    Jason shrugged. "Zarah's right. I needed it on, so it was."

    She tilted her head and studied him. "Just like that?"

    He ducked his head, obviously embarrassed. "Yeah. It's just
something I can do, you know?"

    She shoook her head slightly, and sighed. "If you'd told me that
last night, I would have thought you a god of some sort. Now? All I
see is a young man who is apologising for who he is. Relax. Since you
have the gift, the worst thing you can do is deny its expression."

    He looked up and smiled tentatively. "Really? You're not upset?"

    She smiled. "Oh, I was upset, of course. But before God, we are
all open books to read. I doubt you are a god, but perhaps you are at
least an Angel, and it stands to reason that you need to live by rules
I might be uneasy with. From now on, Jason, do what you must to follow
your conscience."

    He swallowed nervously and turned to the Afghan. "Dad?"

    The Afghan finally shrugged. "To thine own self be true, and for
the lesser mind to instruct the larger, is, perhaps, one of the
greatest sins possible, even though the greater, but unfilled mind can
learn from the filled one."

    Surprisingly, the Saluki chided him. "That was cruel, Michael."

    Michael shrugged again and touched her nearest paw. "Jason has a
search function, my Love. If I was cruel, he'll let me know."

    I was only mildly surprised when Jason turned to study the Saluki
I assumed was his mother. "Dad wasn't being cruel, Mom. Just honest."

    He turned back to Nat. "Sorry, Natalie. I know better. It's just
that... Well, I'm connected to everything that's mechanical. Accessing
your laptop was like remembering something. I can't not do it when I
think about it. If I ever figure out how to stop doing it as soon as I
think about it, I'll let you know, then ask your permission from then
on."

    She nodded. "Thank you, Jason."

    She started eating again and I recognized the body language that
said she was thinking deeply about something, so I left her alone and
turned my attention back to my breakfast.

    We made a few more trips to the buffet before we felt satiated
enough to settle and pay attention to our companions. I was idly
swirling my glass of milk when the Setter spoke up. "Sam?

    I looked up. "Yes?"

    "Do you remember wishing you could meet the maker of what you
thought was a costume when we met at the convention?"

    I perked my ears. "That wasn't a costume?"

    "No. I counted on the context to keep you so distracted, you
wouldn't notice that it wasn't one."

    "The distraction worked. Of course I remember what we talked
about. Are you saying I'll get to meet her?"

    She grinned. "Not exactly. You *are* meeting her. I'm Zarah, and I
based this body on a lot of your work, just like everyone here is in a
body that leans heavily on what you and Natalie designed over the
years."

    She held out a paw. "Durable and practical, right? We're going to
have a long time to find out, now."

    I took her paw gingerly and shook it unsurely. "You're welcome, I
guess."

    Natalie came out of her introspection just then. "Zarah? Who are
you?" Her head turned so she could note each person in the room. "Who
are all of you, and why are we here?"

    Zarah kept her grip on my hand and turned her head until she was
looking directly at Nat. "I think you know who I am, Natalie. I'm not
what you expected, am I?"

    Zarah's lips curled into a tender smile. "Yes, Natalie. I'm the
visible part of the being you think of as Your God--and I've brought
you and Sam here to help us all, because of the strength and clarity
of your faith."

    Natalie's head tilted to the left until it was almost touching her
shoulder, an adopted mannerism I knew indicated her throughtful
surprise, and questioning of what she'd just heard. I had questions,
too, but I knew better than to interrupt Nat when she was 'on the
hunt'.

    "Help you?"

    Zarah's relaxed posture changed to one of seriousness as she
leaned forward slightly. "Gods grow, and change, too, Natalie.
Hopefully, just like you do, we learn from our mistakes, and we made
many of them when we built your original world."

    "Gods? Plural?"

    "Of course. Your world was built by a committee, to fulfill a
specific purpose. Those Who Impose had need of such a world and are
pleased with it, even though we tools are still unsure about what the
Imposers needed."

    Nat was aghast. "Then all of the death and conflict... Will never
end?"

    Zarah looked down at her paws and sighed. The scent of her
frustration and anger wafted past my nose and I shuddered before she
spoke the words I somehow *knew* had to be said.

    "Exactly. All I and others can do is accept the Will of the
Imposers, and be content with a job well done. If it consoles you any,
or makes it easier to accept, to you I am a god, and the world you
left behind would consider you gods. In spite of that, there are those
beyond our knowledge who give us less consideration than you would
give to bacteria, if they are aware of us at all, until there are the
final Imposers.

    "Realities spawning realities, each with their own lesser and
greater awarenesses. We are all tools, with knowledge and skills of
our own, but at the same time we are atoms, fundamental particles who
are beyond the awareness of those greater than ourselves--who impose
their own purposes on those lesser than themselves, until the chain
reaches us, and we play our roles in the ultimate purpose, which is
unknown to us all."

    Natalie sounded lost, and I couldn't blame her. "But there is,
somewhere, a God, and that God has... A goal, a purpose that we are
part of?"

    Zarah bowed her head and shook it. "Gods, Natalie. If our concept
of reality approximates 'truth', there are at leasts as many 'ulimate
gods' as there are reons, until you reach the Final Imposer, an
awareness that is constantly recreating itself and thus always the
same, but always different. Perhaps it can impose a purpose on
reality, but we don't know. Our hypothesis breaks down at the
discontinuity, and we see no way past that point. One thing we do
know, is that to the best of our understanding, reality itself has no
purpose. It is the inevitable result of the interactions between the
fundamental particles we choose to call 'reons'. Awareness, in more
forms than anyone can imagine, is also inevitable."

    A slight movement at the edge of my vision got my attention and
when I focused on it I realized Michael and the Saluki both had their
ears all the way forward and all of their attention was focused on
Zarah before they turned to face each other.

    I had the feeling they had a private conversation of some sort and
then they refocused on Zarah. It was the Saluki who interrupted
things.

    "Science. Magic. Faith. All aspects of the same thing. Much like
the seeming paradox of light being both a wave and a particle, their
'truth' is equally valid, isn't it?"

    I froze and then, when I began thinking again, I waited in silence
If what she was saying was right, she'd just taken away one of my and
Natalie's fundamental concepts, that Science and belief in a
Creator--were impossible to reconcile. I wanted to hear more.

    Zarah jerked her head up and stared at the Saluki, then she nodded
slowly before she looked at Natalie, and then me. "Yes, Michelle,
there is a basic logic to reality. Understand *that* and it forces
faith on you by definining the limits of what you can know from direct
observation, and inference. Past those points, on the macro and micro
levels, the same logic insists that there is the forever unknowable.
It *has* to be unknowable, but it *is* there."

    She smiled impishly and spoke one more sentence. "My concept of
reality insists I have Faith, too, if I am to accept all it tells me
about the reality I live in."

    Natalie settled back in her chair and thought for a long time
before she looked at me. I shrugged back. "We're Faith Holders, right?
We're not giving anything up, we're growing into a newer and greater
understanding that encompasses everything we believed in, and reveals
a larger world beyond the limited understanding we used to have."

    She nodded slowly. "In my arrogance, I never considered the
possibility that my God could also be moved by others, who had less
consideration for His Will than I have for the dust on my fur."

    She laughed hesitantly. "God imposes his will on us, and we impose
our will on dogs, who impose their will on fleas. I assumed there were
no other links in that chain, and ignored the truth, which is that the
number of links in the chain is unknowable. Hubris, and the arrogance
of placing my desires at the center of the universe."

    I sneezed my disgust. "Well, if the exsistence of gods is a fact,
we must still have Faith in the chain's exsistence, right? 'All are
one'."

    Zarah laughed. "Very good! That leads in nicely to the reason you
are here."

    I faced her warily. "Oh?"

    She nodded. "All are one. 'We' instead of 'us vs them'. I am this
world's builder, and the purpose imposed on me demands that the basic
ethos be built on the concept of 'we'. You and Natalie will be, if you
choose the roles, the High Priest and Priestess who will live the
ethos and over time, send out followers who will help guide those who
live here to a fuller acceptance and understanding of that concept."

    My jaw dropped. "Us? But... We're not leaders!"

    Zarah stood and came over to rest her paws on my shoulders as she
looked down at me. "Leaders you have been in the past, and leaders you
will always be. I hope you accept the task, because without your all
encompassing acceptance of others, and your Faith, the chance of this
world's survival is significantly lessened."

    I had watched her eyes, and realized that from her point of view,
she was telling me a basic truth, instead of trying to manipulate me.

    I sighed. "And when it's time, who chooses our replacements?"

    She grinned. "There will be no time of choosing. You are my
Angels, and will live until this world is destroyed at the end of all
things."

    I goggled. "Immortality?"

    "Yes. A great reward, for commitment to a great vision. You *do*
want to see the final result of your efforts, do you not? That can
only be achieved if you live until the end of things. The Imposers
impose their will, but in their own way, they are compassionate and
allow their tools to be compassionate to their tools."

    I turned so I could study Nat, and finally she nodded slightly to
let me know she felt we should accept. I turned back to Zarah. "If we
are your Angels, what is your Will, so that we may share it with
others?"

    She gestured for Nat to join us, then she gently tugged me to my
feet and into a three way hug before she placed our paws together. "My
Will? Nothing more, or less, than the desire that like the others you
see here, you live your lives as you choose to live them."

    She grinned, then vanished to leave Nat and I staring at each
other in confusion.

    Assorted sneezes, laughter, and giggles, jerked our heads around
so we could stare at the others.

    Michael was watching us, and his posture said he was resigned and
amused.

    Nat confronted him before I could react. "Michael? What's so
funny?"

    He shrugged. "Call me Mike, and the aptness of my and Michelle's
names is not lost on us. We *think* it's a coincidence, but we've
learned to be suspicious when Zarah is involved. What's funny, is the
situation. One thing certain about Zarah is that she has a 'quirky'
sense of humor. Another thing we've had to accept is that she likes to
duck out when we have interesting questions, so we can start working
on the answers ourselves and arrive at sometimes extremely wrong
conclusions before she shows up again to make us laugh at ourselves
when she points out how we missed the obvious, or made assumptions we
shouldn't have."

    He sobered suddenly and nodded his head abruptly before he spoke
with a serious tone to his voice. "She's the best teacher I've ever
met, and it's obvious that while she's not imposing her desires on us
in any way, she *is* teaching us the concepts we will need to know to
live in this new reality."

    He leaned into Michelle's paw when she started massaging his neck
and he grinned. "So far it has been educational, and sometimes
incredibly fun while being frustrating once in awhile. Get used to it
and move on. As Zarah emphasized, we're in this together."

    Michelle froze and then leaned forward to stare at us. "Mike?
'Together'. Do you see it? There has to be a connection between all of
us if we're going to work well together..."

    I winced when I recognized the looks of awe in their eyes.

    He laughed. "So. Can you blame me for feeling awed? I should have
seen it as soon as we heard your names. You're not just 'Sam and
Natalie', are you? You're 'The Dogs', and the most famous costume
designers in the furry world."

    His ears perked forward and he got the look of a hunter focused on
his prey. "So *that* is the connection Zarah must be using. Furrys.
There must be something in the furry mindset that's essential to the
correct formation of the new culture we'll be building, and who better
to live it than the two most well thought of Furry Faith Holders the
world has known?"

    Natalie and I settled in our chairs again and she studied Mike and
his mate. "Have we met before this?"

    He sighed, and I had the feeling his regret was genuine. "Not
formally. I've been to a few conventions and seen your booth. I've
even stopped and admired your work. I'm most familiar with you from
following current events in the furry community."

    She nodded. "Maybe I should have asked if we knew you somehow."

    He smiled slightly. "Perhaps. No, to be honest, it's likely, if
you enjoy reading stories about furry world building."

    Nat and I both shook our heads. I said it for both of us. "Michael
isn't an author name we recognize."

    He smiled wryly. "Michael is my real name. I used a pen name when
I wrote things like 'The Wizard's Way', and other furry stories."

    It was our turn to feel a bit of awe. We both enjoyed that
carefully crafted world, and the incredibly complex yet 'real feeling'
furrys and people who adventured in it.

    Natalie made a connection before I did. "Then Michelle is..." Her
ears went back on her head. "We always had the impression that
Michelle was a crafted persona."

    They nodded in an eerie unison and Michelle answered for both of
them. "I was. Zarah gave me a body when she brought us here."

    "So until that split you were really the same person? Do you still
think alike?"

    Michelle sighed and shook her head. "We were never the same
person. I have always been a distinct personality. Think of us as two
people who were forced by circumstances to share resources, and unlike
most multiple personalities, we stayed constantly aware of each
other."

    I thought about it briefly. "I've never heard of anything like
it."

    It was Mike who sighed. "Neither have we, but it's been part of
our lives ever since I decided to give my female aspect a voice--and
leave her free to express it and explore life on her own."

    Then I had a strange thought. "Is this world based on the one you
created?"

    They shared a look again, then faced me. "We don't think so, but
we have all of the powers I imagined for our characters. Zarah
mentioned we have new ones, but she hasn't told us what they are,
yet."

    Michelle must have seen someting in Nat that told her what Nat was
thinking because she smiled and nodded. "Obviously, since we spent
thousands of hours considering the aspects of power while we wrote
those stories, we just needed to make the transition from theory to
practice. The rule seems to be 'if you desire it and have it clear
enough in your own mind, it will exsist for you, and others, if you
want it to."

    Nat's next question was filled with a yearning I shared.
"Telepathy and mind-sharing is real, here?"

    "For us, it is. For you? Who knows? Probably, but *we* don't know
for certain. Only one way to find out."

    Nat looked at me and I nodded. "Later. I want us to be alone if it
works."

    Her ears went back slightly, then perked. "Point."

    Mike spoke quietly. "Not if. When. Mindset is everything in this
world."

    I nodded absentmindedly at his gentle correction. "When. I'm
learning that it's a lot different when Faith gets immediately
tangible results. I find that I was used to the rewards being more
abstract and ambiguous in their expression."

    He laughed.

    Before Nat or I could respond, Zarah reappeared. "Mike. Jason. If
you hurry, you can meet the final companions at the barricade, then
escort them the rest of the way. After everyone spends some time
settling in, we'll get busy with building the rest of this world."

    Jason's ears went vertical and then he and his father grinned at
each other. "Race you, Dad?"

    Mike sneezed. "When I know you'd win? Forget it."

    Jason shrugged. "It was worth a try."

    Mike laughed. "A poor one. Plus points for enthusiasm, minus
points for lack of subtlety."

    Jason chuckled. "I was expecting you to agree, then teleport."

    Mike nodded. "I could have, but I'm feeling lazy. It's only about
120 miles, so I feel like running and enjoying the scenery."

    Nat frowned. "Running is being lazy?"

    He nodded. "Teleportation takes more focus and a larger initial
expenditure of energy. It would leave me ready to collapse at the
other end, until I replenished that energy. Michelle and I are working
on the problem, but we don't have it solved yet. Running takes the
same amount of energy, but Michelle and I have learned how to use the
general energy that surrounds us so we can run at speed as long as we
want to."

    He smiled impishly. "Jason's primary mindset is mechanical, so
he'll probably travel as some sort of vehicle."

    Jason grinned again. "I've been working on a wheeled, jet turbine
driven hovercraft. This will be a good chance to test my control over
a long distance."

    I raised my eyebrows. "Wheeled hovercraft?"

    "Yeah. Quicker, more responsive stops and starts, but once I'm
moving, I have the ability to fly if I want to."

    Michelle giggled. "And you can show off for Sally."

    Jason was unapologetic. "That, too. She likes to fly as much as I
do."

    He glanced at the Golden Retriever next to him. "Want to go
along?"

    She grinned. "Of course!"

    Mike laughed. "Jason, I warned you about her and vehicles. The van
never left the yard unless she was in it."

    I laughed at their byplay, then sobered. "Mind if we watch you
folks leave? I still have trouble accepting the idea that anything
alive can run at 200 miles per hour."

    He shrugged. "Like anything else, it's easy, once you know how
it's done. Sure, you can watch. Not much to see though. I'll start
running, leave Jason behind while he's changing, then he'll fire up
and pass me by the time I'm a few miles down the road."

    I stared at Jason. "Jason, how fast are you?"

    He shrugged and I had the impression he would have blushed if he'd
still been human. "I don't know. I've been in orbit a few times and
one time I broke the sound barrier while driving down The Strip. Mom
and Dad were so upset with me they made me replace all the broken
windows by myself. Took me a week and then they told me how to do it
in seconds. I'm more careful, now."

    Natalie looked around at everyone and then smiled. "I'm sure we'll
get to know each other better later, but would someone *please* tell
me what the relationships are amongst you folks? I've been trying to
figure out how a Saluki and an Afghan Hound who looks like a wolf can
have kids who are German Shepherds. While you're at it, introduce us
to everyone, too."

    She took a deep breath. "I'm Natalie Tennille Davies McEvers, and
that's my husband Samuel Nathan McEvers. You already know we're
costume designers. We're also Reformed Unitarian ministers, and Furrys

    Zarah reappeared and nodded. "Allow me, then, to introduce
everyone."

    She gestured at Mike and Michelle. "None of the rest of us are
using anything other than first names for now. Michael and Michelle,
you've had a chance to start getting to know. Here they're Wizards,
and in terms you can understand, they represent the link between the
disciplines you know as Science and Magic. Jason, Nadia and Stan are
true brothers and sister, and have adopted Mike and Michelle as their
parents. They were close to Mike in the old reality, and that carried
over to this one."

    She then pointed at the Golden, the Rottweiler and the Chow.
"Sally was Mike's bitch, Blaze was their neighbors' dog and Blackie
belonged to one of Mike's close female friends. Their natural forms
are the dogs they used to be, and they go anthro by their own choices.
The forms weren't forced on them, but since she's the pack leader,
Sally chose for all of them, as was her right--at the time.

    "The rest of the relationships between them get complicated, so
for now, just think of them as an extended family grouping with me as
the head of the clan. You, and the two who haven't arrived yet, are
also members of the clan, but how you fit yourselves into it will be
up to you."

    She smiled. "You look like you're a bit overwhelmed, so that's all
I'll say for now. Relax, and enjoy yourselves. After the others get
here and all of you have setlled into your new bodies, I'll explain
more."

    She vanished again and I sighed. "A whimsical god with a definite
sense of humor. That's going to take some time to get used to."

    Natalie giggled. "I prefer to think she has a sense of proportion,
and knows enough to not take everything seriously, all the time. If we
were created in her image, it does explain why there's laughter in the
world, in spite of what happens sometimes."

    I thought about it, then nodded reluctantly. "And other gods would
have different personalities, and the cultures they created reflect
those differences."

    When I looked up Mike was watching us thoughtfully. "You folks are
far more adaptable than I expected." He stood suddenly and stretched.
"Never mind. Jason and I need to go collect the rest of the 'clan', so
as much as I'd enjoy sitting here and talking shop, we'd better get
moving. Jason? Sally?"

    The two named stood and their arms went around each other. "Yeah.
We're ready."

    My first stunned and slightly naseous reaction was 'boy and
bitch?' Then I tried to look at it with the new world in mind, and
gingerly realized that in a world of shape shifters, body forms would
be similar to what skin had represented in our old reality. An
artificial distinction.

    I wondered if I'd be able to discard my old views, then realized I
had already been working on that problem--as a furry. The change in
thinking wasn't going to be as radical as I had first thought.

    I realized everyone was watching me and Natalie, and they were all
smiling sympathetically.

    Mike tapped his nose lightly. "Noses. Your feelings affect your
basic scent. We knew what was going on, and besides, I went through a
similar experience after I helped the dogs change the first time."

    He shrugged with his ears. "You'll get used to the atmoshpere of
honesty that scent forces on us."

    I grimaced and noticed Nat did too.

    Mike nodded and headed for the doors with the rest of us following
him.

    Natalie and I fell in at the end of the line, and tried to keep
our voices low while we talked, until Sally turned around and smiled
at us. "You're wasting your time if you want to have a private
conversation this close to people. We have good ears, too. So do you,
now."

    This time Nat I shared looks of astonishment before we grimaced
again. She said it for both of us. "How come we never thought of that
part?"

    I sighed. "You want the obvious answer? We're still thinking like
the humans we'll never be again."

    She sighed and wrapped an arm around my waist while we kept
walking. "We're here and we agreed to help. We'll just have to adapt
to things as we experience them."

    Blaze slowed until he was walking beside us. "You'll do fine. You
wouldn't have been chosen if Zarah hadn't decided you already accepted
the basic ethos this world will base its culture on."

    Natalie studied him carefully. "You were a dog?"

    "Yes."

    "And do you understand that ethos?"

    He laughed. "Of course I do. It's a very simple one. Even in my
old life, I accepted it."

    Natalie thought about that, then she sighed. "What is it?"

    He smiled at her. "Zarah defined it earlier, but I'm not surprised
you've forgotten it. Few ever trully understood it enough to live by
it."

    He touched her paws lightly with his and blocked her, forcing her
to stop. Then he lifted their linked paws to his muzzle and kissed her
paws while he watched her face.

    "We."

    Then he let go and turned to go catch up with the others.

    Natalie looked like she'd been hypnotized into becoming a statue.

    I sneezed to get her attention, and she slowly came out of her
trance and started walking again. I grinned. "He's smooth, isn't he?"

    She slapped at me and started walking again. "Umm."

    I laughed. "I've been watching them, and I think they consider
themselves members of a line marriage with both young and old members,
not the traditional monogamous marriages we are used to. Nor do they
let shape bias affect how they interact with each other, and I have to
reluctantly agree with that. We are who and what we are now, and it's
our attitudes that are important. 'All species welcome'. Remember? We
talked about it as a theory, we just never considered that some of the
species would actually be something other than human in their original
form."

    She sighed. "I know, Sam, but it's hard to discard what I've
always believed. 'Man was given dominion'..."

    "Yeah. I know. I never thought of them as our equals, either, and
it's going to take awhile for me to stop thinking of Jason's obvious
love for Sally as 'perversion' and see it as something shared between
equals."

    She sighed deeply and her tones went slightly bitter. "Live as we
choose to live. Zarah didn't mention that we didn't know enough to
make an informed choice."

    Once again we'd forgotten the capabilities of our new forms
because we both flinched when Mike looked back and spoke gently. "You
know enough, or you wouldn't be here. Your problem is the same one we
all have. 'We followed the logic chains until we found the answers we
wanted, instead of extending the logic all the way to the final
conclusion'."

    Nat actually snarled at him. "Someone could have told us."

    He shook his head sadly. "No. Your faith in what you knew was too
strong for that. You have to grow by your own efforts, from within,
for the lesson to be one you can bring yourselves to believe."

    Nat glared at him. "Damn you!"

    He didn't flinch or chide her, he smiled. "I already am. Doesn't
this world do a good job of matching most Christians' concept of Hell?
And Natalie? Remember that here, your wishes have power. Were I not
the person I am, I trully would be Damned, and suffering in whatever
way your concept demands."

    He nodded at her pleasantly, then turned back to go join Jason in
the street.

    Natalie whispered her shock. "It was just a figure of speech!"

    When we got to the curb I wrapped an arm around her waist. "We
know, but does the power that exsists here honor the actual meaning of
the words, the intent behind them, or a mix?"

    She shuddered. "I hope we never learn that lesson the hard way.
Perhaps one of them knows the answer, or maybe we can ask Zarah."

    Zarah reappeared, then came over to stand next to us. "Intent, but
there is an emotional threshold beyond which, the physical meaning you
personally accept is honored, that applies to all but three of us.
Even then, all decisions we make are potentially reversable, but
again, for three of us, it would take the direct intervention of an
Imposer to reverse some of our decisions."

    She faced the street thoughtfully. "However, I'm sure that's no
answer as far as you are concerned. Natalie. Sam. You can relax. All
of your judgments will be locally reversable."

    I sagged with relief. "Thank you, Zarah."

    "You're welcome. It's time to watch."

    We faced the street and waited.

    Mike was in a runner's crouch and Jason and Sally were standing
next to him.

    They nodded at each other, then Mike launched himself. We had a
better angle on him, so this time I was able to track him. He hit his
full speed in about three strides, and it seemed like it was seconds
later that he was a vanishing speck on the horizon.

    Jason had started changing when his father started running, and by
the time I brought my attention back he was shifted into the hybrid
form he'd described earlier and I could hear the sound of a turbine
rapidly winding up to speed as Sally was getting in. I could see that
she was strapping herself in with obviously often used movements, and
as soon she stuck her head out the window there was the screech of
four tires as they broke loose in clouds of smoke.

    Suddenly they grabbed, and seconds later I heard the distinctive
*slam* of a sonic boom as Jason disappeared.

    Michelle was laughing. "Four wheel drive. That's new. Usually he
relies on the thrust of the turbine by itself after he releases his
brakes."

    Natalie was staring after them with a mixed fascination and horror
that I shared. Her voice was leached of all emotion though, when she
softly asked her questions. "Did I see Sally stick her head out the
window just before they left? And how can she survive the acceleration
without breaking her neck or getting crushed? For that matter, how did
Mike manage to hit full speed in three strides?"

    Michelle giggled. "Sally has always liked to stick her head out
the window and enjoy the breeze. She figured out how to create a
damping field around them that keeps Jason aerodynamic while letting
enough wind through to keep her happy. A similar field moderates the g
forces to something she finds tolerable.

    "Mike does something similar when he decides to use a sprinter's
start, then he creates a set of runner's blocks and uses them to push
off from while he adds enough power to get his legs up to speed so
that when he stops accelerating, his legs are moving fast enough he
doesn't trip during the transition."

    Natalie was shaking, so I hugged her and gazed at the horizon and
thought about what we'd just seen. "He's going to maintain that speed
for how long?"

    "Until they get to the rest area between Baker and Barstow, at
least. That's where we built the barricade, so I imagine it will be
there or someplace on the other side when they meet whoever it is they
are supposed to meet."

    I did some rough mental arithmetic. "You're saying he's going to
run at 200 miles per hour for about thirty to forty minutes?"

    "Yes. Maybe longer, if he has to. Might be less. With Jason and
Sally there, he might push himself, since Sally can 'catch' him if he
trips."

    My jaw dropped. "He can run faster? What's his top speed?"

    "We don't know what his top running speed with power is, yet.
We're still trying to decide if what he's doing now can be considered
running, or if it's a sort of low level flying at those speeds."

    My mind shut down at that point. "Oh."

    She laughed again and I noticed that Nat wasn't doing anything
more than shaking her head with resignation. She finally sighed. "I
could do without surprises for awhile. I'm feeling distinctly
overwhelmed, and I'd appreciate some time to absorb what's happened so
far."

    She looked around, shrugged and then decided to sigh. "I see
Zarah's gone again."

    Michelle walked over to hug Nat. "More questions? Perhaps I can
answer some of them."

    Nat slumped. "How do I know that Zarah isn't Satan, and the rest
of you are her minions, put here to tempt us?"

    Michelle surprised me by shrugging. "Michael used to be devoted,
but in his teens he left organized religion. Since I'm born from his
mind, I share his past. I'm not digressing very much, and it's only to
let you know that I do understand your fear, while not sharing it."

    "Go on."

    "Because of our background, we both sometimes took the time to
study the works and mindsets of different faiths from all over the
world. I can give you at least two reassurances, neither of which are
exactly what you probably crave."

    Nat studied Michelle when she paused, then nodded slowly. "Are
they from the Bible?"

    "One is. Satan, Lucifer, whatever name you know him by, there is
one thing you know for certain. He was a 'fallen angel', cast from
Heaven. That implies he had the power to do good deeds, and as best I
can recall, that power was never taken from him. Isn't there a passage
in The Bible that says something approximating 'Even Satan may, on
occassion, perform good works?' Of course, you have also been
reassured that a goodly person can resist all temptations, and remain
good."

    Nat looked away and at me. "Sam?"

    I sighed. "I don't know. Perhaps Zarah is who she claims to be,
our God, and she is, finally, creating a new world based on what she
has learned from helping build our original one. I'm reminded of
something though..."

    Nat pounced. "Reminded of what?"

    I looked up and couldn't hide the pain I was feeling. "God Himself
has admitted He can make mistakes, and corrected them. The Great
Flood. At Sodom and Gomorah, a mortal persuaded Him to change His
mind. The sacrifice of His only begotten son."

    I blinked. "I don't believe it! 'Only son' doesn't mean He
couldn't have had daughters!"

    Michelle smiled. "Aren't we all His sons and daughters? And
'begotten' does have a specifc meaning. He could have created many
sons and daughters in other ways, Wouldn't the Angels be considered
His children?. So are we, since He created Adam and Eve."

    I shook my head. "Don't distract me. Where was I?... Oh, yes...
The thought I have is a simple one. If God can learn and change His
mind, who are we to insist that what we know is always right, and we
shouldn't change when our understanding changes?"

    Michelle nodded slowly. "Do not dismiss all you hear that
contradicts what you 'know' by calling it 'temptations from Satan'.
Perhaps we are agents of God, sent to give His lessons in the ways
best suited for your growth."

    Michelle turned back to Nat. "Does it bother you to know that you
now have all the powers that have been attributed to your God?"

    Nat sighed. "Yes. If I accept what Zarah told us, we can now
destroy or create, with a whim."

    "Can you? Remember, Zarah also said the ethos of this reality is
the 'Concept of We'. Try then, if you are truly concerned about even
inadvertently 'helping the devil', to choose to live apart from the
rest of us, while continuing to follow your faith as you once accepted
it."

    Nat yipped in surprise, and I knew I flinched as a wave of mental
agony flowed though me.

    Nat looked at me. "You felt it too?"

    I shuddered. "Yes." I faced Michelle. "That didn't feel like
'freedom to live our lives as we choose'."

    Michelle sighed. "I know. Remember what Zarah said about 'The
Imposers'? Apparently, and Mike and I are just guessing about this,
this world has a form of self awareness that sees everything as part
of itself, and it does not willingly tolerate those who would choose
to refuse to think in terms of 'we', and the neccessary compromises it
takes for different viewpoints to get along. Loosely, 'if someone
accepts you and your beliefs, you have to accept theirs'."

    She sighed. "Is it any different than what we left behind? Our old
world was built with an ethos that emphasized differences instead of
similarities. Here, the situation is reversed."

    Nat looked at me sadly. "Zarah offered us Heaven, and we never
thought to ask the price of admission. It is the Devil's Way, and one
of us should have seen it."

    I studied her thoughtfully. "I don't recall that we ever denied
that living in Heaven wouldn't require compromises, or that it would
be anything like the way we lived on Earth."

    I ran my paws over my fur. "Nat, I've never felt as complete as I
do in this body. If I must give up my human centric beliefs, for a set
that is more benevolent and all encompassing, then I will do so. It's
not going to be easy, but I will do it."

    I twisted my muzzle into a sour grin. "Since my God can learn from
His mistakes, I'm not going to insist that I cannot learn from mine.
Apparently, they have been mistakes I wasn't aware I was making, but
that doesn't make them any less real."

    Nat laid her ears back and whimpered. "I fear the temptaion of my
powers, and what I could do if I misused them."

    Michelle hugged her again. "Is it the corruption of absolute power
that you fear?"

    "Yes!"

    "That's impossible, here."

    "Impossible? How?"

    "Zarah said that at our current level of awareness and above,
there will always be checks that can't be avoided. She didn't express
it that way, but if you think of it in terms of that nasty feeling you
get when you want to do something that opposes the basic ethos, that
should work. We will have great rewards, but there will also be
tangible and immediate punishments for selfishness and other
'non-advancing' desires and actions."

    She gazed off in the direction Mike had run. "There is *always* a
price to pay for growth. Pay it though..."

    She refocused on us. "Do you remember how petty your childhood
concerns were, after you became adolescent, and then adults? Very
well, if you aren't ready to grow up completely, you can become as
children, or young adults, and grow at your own pace, as you once
did."

    Nat's voice was subdued. "Is that was it is? Growing up again?"

    Michelle nodded slowly. "We are always growing. Sometimes we can
choose the rate at which we mature, at other times we cannot. We can
even choose to halt the process, for a time. But halted growth is
death, and when all is said and done, I think you and Sam will choose
to live, or you would not have been brought here."

    Nat sighed. "Was it like this for you and Mike? How did Zarah
offer it to him?"

    Michelle laughed softly. "We didn't meet Zarah until we'd been
here a couple days. He was never given a conscious choice. One moment
he was there, and the next moment the electrical power was off and
*we* were here."

    I stared at her. "No chance to make the choice?"

    "Nope! Although, once we were here, we decided we'd accept
whatever price within reason was asked of us, as long as it didn't
involve harm to the dogs. Mike even had this wonderful, well thought
out, tentative explanation for our being 'called' to this reality."

    She giggled. "He had 'called' right, but the rest of it? Zarah put
paid to that once she told us the real reasons she'd brought us here."

    She managed to sober, then she watched Nat's face calmly. "Part of
living here is the ability to choose how fast we grow. If you wish, it
is within my power to block your access to those powers you fear,
until you decide you are ready to deal with them."

    Nat sighed. "And if we decide to never access those powers?"

    Michelle shrugged. "Never is a long time, for an immortal. As you
choose, Natalie, and the rest of us will honor that choice."

    Nat's head slowly tilted while she thought about what we'd heard.
"Michelle? You and Mike aren't the same age as your bodies, are you?
You're much too wise to be that young."

    MIchelle nodded. "Mike was nearly sixty, and knew he was dying. He
had five to ten years more if things went well, or he could have died
without warning at any time. We'd accepted it, but it angered us, too,
because there would be so much we'd never have the chance to learn,
and do."

    I winced. Natalie and I were approaching forty, and been looking
forward to at least another forty years, or more, if our good health
permitted it. Mike and MIchelle seemed so enthusiastic and full of
life I'd assumed they were probably younger than we were, perhaps in
their late twenties to early thirties once we'd learned the kids
weren't their own.

    The lesson wasn't one I was going to ignore. That thought, about
their shared maturity, made me realize that we hadn't yet been told
what their purpose was.

    To think, right now, was to act. "Michelle? Zarah told us what she
wants us to do. Has she told you, Michael and the kids? There has to
be a reason for the great power you and he have been given."

    MIchelle sighed. "Indeed. Great power, and a great price. Are
either of you programmers?"

    I laughed. "I am. Not the best in the world, or the fastest, but I
know how. I feel a little cheated about it, too, since we'd just spent
the last week showing off our new costumes, that have fully
articulated jaws and ears."

    Michelle laughed. "Ah! Then I can tell you what Zarah told us. We
eight, plus you, Natalie, and the two people Mike, Jason and Sally
will be escorting back, are the elements of what Zarah has called her
'Master Control Program' for this world."

    I chuckled. "Ok. I can relate to that."

    She smiled. "Good. In that context, Michael, myself and the other
six are the error handlers."

    Natalie reached for me blindly as she stared at Michelle with
horror. "Let me guess. You and Mike are the primary ones who are
responsible for fixing any problems?"

    Michelle actually sighed. "Yes. Including Zarah's. It's not a
responsibility we would have volunteered to take on, but once we knew
it was there and we are the only ones qualified... We made the only
choice we could, being who we are, and then got on with our lives."

    She looked at each of us and smiled wryly. "That's the main reason
we're here, we think. If we have to make decisions, we make them. We
don't duck and try to pass them on to someone else."

    Natalie grimaced. "So. If one of us decides to 'grow up slowly',
by asking you to lock us away from the powers we could be using, are
we making a mistake?"

    "No."

    Nat looked surprised. "It wouldn't be a mistake?"

    "It's never a mistake to recognize your limits, and honor them
instead of forcing things when you aren't ready."

    I suddenly laughed and Nat spun around to stare at me. "What's so
funny about this?"

    I managed to get myself under control before I replied seriously.
"I just remembered a time when we didn't have a clue, got in over our
heads, and discovered our place in life. 'Paper mache' heads!' "

    Her ears perked in my direction, she stared at me for a few
seconds, then she giggled. "When you put it that way, this should be
*easy*, since we'll have help!"

    I grinned and she turned back to Michelle. "Thank you for the
offer, but we'll decline that in favor of being able to ask for help
when we feel we need it."

    Michelle smiled and touched the side of her head. "Trust your
feelings, Natalie. Here, they are a predictable and very trustworthy
tool."

    Nat's eyes widened and she turned back to me. "She's right! Try
it, Sam. Think of accepting the responsibilities and commiting
yourself to follow the 'Ethos of We' no matter where it leads you."

    I hadn't even finished clarifying my thinking when a wave of...
Benediction and peace suffused me. My own eyes went wide with my
surprise and I knew my ears went vertical. "Wow! I haven't felt that
kind of peace since the day I was consecrated a Minister."

    Nat hugged me. "I haven't, either. I still have doubts, but I will
no longer allow them to take complete control of my actions and
beliefs so that I automatically close out things I am not personally
prepared to believe in."

    Michelle smiled. "Thank you. I think you'll find your balance
quickly, and be ready to deal with whatever future Zarah gives us."

    I shook my head slowly. "It frightens me, to know how much
influence we will have on that future. I've always believed in the
power of one or a few to significantly change things, but now, to
*know* we have that power..."

    Nat hugged me. "Come on. Our SUV is here. Let's take a drive." She
looked at MIchelle. "How long do we have?"

    Michelle touched her lightly. "As long as you need. Go, and come
back when you are ready. Time.." She hesitated, then sighed. "Time
means little to any of us, now, and I suspect it will be millenia
before we begin to understand that 'little'."

    Michelle turned her head to gaze off at some vision of her own.
"Food, fuel and anything else you need will be yours when you desire
it. Peace of mind, though... That takes a little more effort."

    My brain had finally started again. "Do you think Zarah
deliberately took away the basic pressures of survival?"

    "Yes."

    I nodded. "That's a pretty significant bit of social engineering
on her part."

    Michelle gazed at us calmly. "Competition and conflict was imposed
on our original world for a reason. Rest assured the lack of it here,
is just as necessary--for this world."

    I nodded, then took Nat's paw in mine. "Let's go. We have a lot to
think about."

    She smiled. "For now, let's cruise Vegas. I'd like to meet the
others when they get here, then we can go on our retreat." She looked
at the others and nodded decisively. "Three to four hours, then?"

    They nodded back, then we turned and headed for one of the few
things that was familiar, our SUV and the trailer.

    2-03 - Time for Ourselves

    2009-04-03 17:46:32

    Time for Ourselves

    We disconnected the trailer, got in, fastened our seat belts
and...

    I laughed bitterly.

    Nat looked at me. "What's wrong?"

    I gestured at the steering column. "No key."

    She sighed, then laughed hesitantly. "Maybe it's time for an Act
of Faith."

    "What?"

    "Remember Jason and my laptop?"

    "Yes. So?"

    She sighed and looked out the windshield for a long time before
she whispered. "We need the engine running, right?"

    I frowned, then shrugged. "There's more to it than that, it would
be nice to be able to steer and use the transmission."

    She turned towards me, leaned over, touched a finger to the
keyhole and whispered as she twisted her finger as if it were the
original key. "Start!"

    The motor started running and I felt the steering come alive.
"That's..."

    I shook my head and put it the transmission in gear. "Never mind.
Where to?"

    "Doesn't matter. Drive."

    "Yeah."

    I pulled us out on The Strip and cruised slowly as I studied
everything. Habit made me stop at the first few intersections, then I
internalized the fact we were probably the only vehicle running in the
entire city of Las Vegas, and I simply drove through the intersections
while glancing to my left and right more to see what things looked
like, than because I was worried about traffic.

    Nat was silent for a long time, then she sighed. "Eerie. It's all
here but the people."

    I frowned. "Something else is missing, but I can't figure out what
it is."

    "Oh? Besides the people?"

    "Yep."

    I stopped in the middle of the street and got out to look at the
buildings and signs. Then, suddenly, I understood why I was uneasy.

    "Nat? I think I know what it is. Look at the signs."

    She joined me and looked around. "They're there."

    "Right. Except there's no people on them, either. It's as if
humans never exsisted in this world, yet everything they built is here
for us to use."

    We walked over to study the store fronts, and it was Nat who
noticed something else that was missing.

    "Sam? Have you seen any religious souveniers from *any* faith?"

    I deliberately studied the windows I could see. "No. Should we
look for the bookstores we usually visit while we're in Vegas?"

    She moved next to me, put an arm around my waist, then shivered.
"I suppose we could check, but I *know* what we'll find. 'Nothing'."

    "You certain?"

    "Yes. Remember? Zarah made it clear that *we* will be responsible
for starting whatever faith is followed here."

    I thought back to what Zarah had told us. "Nat... Zarah didn't say
we'd be starting a faith. She said we'd be living the Ethos. She said
we'd have followers who will guide people into a fuller understanding
and acceptance..."

    "Sam? Where are you going with this?"

    It was my turn to laugh hesitantly. "In terms of our old faith,
Heresy."

    She watched my face. "I heard the capitalization. How so?"

    "The key word is 'guide'."

    "Oh?"

    "Yes. I'm going to ask you a simple question, the one I think will
be the key to everything else we do in the furture."

    "Ok."

    "Does the 'Concept of We' imply that giving this world a Faith is
perhaps the biggest mistake we could make, since everyone will *have*
to come to their own understanding--and that understanding could be at
odds with our own while being as real for them as our understanding
will be for us?"

    She looked sick, and very, very lost. "But... Everything that we
built our lives around!"

    "I know. But as soon as you get people thinking that there is 'a
best way', even if it's only by inadvertent implication, what
happens?"

    She frowned, and then gasped. "Us against them! Emphasizing
differences instead of embracing them."

    I nodded and hugged her. "I think we're going to have to draw
heavily on Mike and Michelle. Perhaps they can point us at faith
systems that embraced diversity and encouraged it."

    I sighed and slumped. "It's certain that ours, while it was better
than most, still had too many blind spots for me to feel comfortable
about the idea of promoting it here."

    She nestled into me with a sigh of her own. "I wish I could
disagree with you, but my initial reaction to Jason and Sally forces
me to see that what I believe is right and proper, is inherently wrong
for this world."

    Her head jerked up and she had a look of horror in her eyes. "Will
we be able to tell true animals from people living as animals? If we
can't, we risk cannibalism every time we eat meat we haven't created
ourselves."

    I sighed. "We can choose to become vegan, Love. But we can't force
that choice on others."

    She matched my sigh. "My head hurts. Let's table this until we
know more."

    I hugged her. "No problem. Walk, or drive again?"

    She looked around and winced. "Drive. Let's check out the rest of
Vegas. The Strip was never meant to be this empty. I find it
depressing."

    "Kay."

    We cruised different parts of the city, and as we explored, more
and more differences kept forcing themselves on our awareness.

    Around noon I pulled into a shopping center and parked. Before we
got out I tried to put some of what I'd noticed into words. "There's
so much missing, and yet there's so much here. There has to be a
pattern, but other than anything to do with the old faiths being gone,
which I'm starting to accept is neccessary, I can't figure out Zarah's
logic."

    Nat got out and stretched before she started walking to the store.
"Let's go take a look. I want to find something to eat, and check some
things out."

    "You have an idea?"

    "Maybe. I need to take a look inside a few stores, first."

    She wandered through several of the stores while I followed her.
Eventually we managed to discard our old habits, and found some food
to eat while we sat on one of the checkouts in the supermarket.

    After she'd taken the edge off her hunger, she gestured at the
racks next to us.

    "She must have decided to force us to start over. Except for the
labels on the food, I haven't seen any printed materials, and I
suspect the same is true on all the computers. Right now, we have no
history, no documented culture."

    I looked around in surprise. I was so used to ignoring the
tabloids and other stuff that I hadn't realized they weren't there to
be ignored..

    "Nat? That doesn't make sense. We still have our memories."

    She looked down at her lap, where she'd clenched her paws
together. "So did Adam and Eve, about life in the Garden."

    I frowned. "Are we supposed to repopulate the world, too?"

    "Seems that way, but something Zarah didn't say makes me think
that's not all of it."

    "Oh?"

    "Yes. She said 'followers', not 'your children'."

    "Pretty thin reasoning."

    "I know. Do you have any that's better?"

    I slumped. "No. Not unless you count 'wait and see what Zarah
tells us'."

    "Huh!"

    'Having children.' Something about that thought was trying to
trigger a chain of reasoning, so I sat there and tried to tease it
out.

    "Nat? How come we never had children, even though we have always
enjoyed working with them?"

    She finally sighed. "We made the decision at some point, didn't
we?"

    "I don't know. Seems like we'd remember something that serious,
but all I remember is getting the vasectomy so we wouldn't have them
until we were ready, then I was going to get it reversed."

    I sighed. "But I never had it reversed, did I? Why?"

    We looked at each other with despair in our eyes. I said it for
both of us. "What made us decide we couldn't be good parents, even
though we made it our life's work to counsel and help people who *did*
choose to have children?"

    "Sam, I don't know."

    "I don't, either." I shook myself out of my mood and smiled wryly.
"However, that's only part of where I was headed. Did you notice that
Mike never mentioned if he had children? And of course Michelle
wouldn't have had any, since she didn't exsist until they came here."

    Nat nodded. "I think I see where you're headed. We don't know if
any of the dogs ever had puppies, and the kids are too young to have
had any, I assume."

    I matched her nod. "We don't know about these new people, either,
but if what I think is true, is, they wouldn't have had children
either. I can't picture Zarah bringing parents here, and leaving their
children behind."

    She sighed. "So if none of us are interested in having children,
how will this world gain people?"

    "Perhaps, someday, you *will* choose to have children."

    Both of us yipped in surprise. Zarah was back.

    Nat glared at Zarah. "Must you?"

    Zarah smiled, then evaded the issue. "Let's talk."

    I sighed. "Do we have a choice?"

    "If you want some answers, no. About having children? Yes."

    Nat and I looked at each other and then I grimaced. "I'm starting
to miss working for a God who didn't take as direct a hand in our
affairs."

    Zarah laughed. "Same God, different project. Did you deal the same
way with fellow members of your church, and members of the Furry
community?"

    Nat lost her glare and sighed. "Of course not."

    Zarah nodded. "Did that make you different people?"

    "No."

    Zarah smiled. "What about when you were teaching? At first, you
were actively involved quite a bit, but as the class stabilized, and
your students gained knowledge and self confidence, you took a direct
hand less and less often, correct?"

    Nat and I looked at each other with surprise, then she studied
Zarah. "Once you had our old world running pretty much the way it was
supposed to, you didn't need to take as direct a hand as you did
during the early days?"

    Zarah smiled. "Exactly, and we *are* building a new world..."

    Nat sneezed her self disgust. "So naturally, you have to be sure
things don't get side tracked until people are more firmly set on
whatever course we're supposed to travel."

    Her head tilted and she gunsighted Zarah with her nose. "Will it
be the same way for us? Lots of hands on at first, then we can step
aside?"

    Zarah grinned and I suddenly realized she was playing with us.
"Nat? Keep an eye on her tail. She's playing with us."

    Zarah laughed and her tail swished back and forth airily. "True,
but all puppies need to play with their seniors. It's part of growing
up and learning adult behavior patterns."

    I glanced at Nat and winced. "Lessons learned on our own are..." I
shrugged. "The knowledge is more sure, than if it is given to us. Mike
did tell us you were the best teacher he's ever met."

    Zarah laughed, then let her voice turn droll. "I've had some
practice."

    It was my turn to sneeze violently, but at least it was honest
amusement for a change.

    I watched Zarah carefully when I tried to put my next thoughts
into words. "Michelle said she, Mike, the kids and the dogs are the
'error handlers' for this world, then she said something that
surprised me. Something about correcting your mistakes."

    I looked down after taking a deep breath. "She sounded so sure
that you'd make them, and that they would be able to fix them. It
seems... Very wrong, that I have to accept a god who is so fallible
that she requires someone to watch over her."

    Zarah waited patiently, without saying anything, until I managed
to raise my head so our eyes could meet. "What if you are right, and
they decide you're wrong?"

    Zarah smiled and reached to touch my arm. "If that happens, I will
abide by their decision, unless the Ethos of this world steps in and
makes its own decision about the matter. Sam? Much in the way you and
Natilie are learning that you can be right for yourselves yet wrong
for others, I am bound by similar restraints It would be very easy for
me to make long term decisions that are right for *me*, but they would
be very wrong for the people of this world. It is a problem all tools
face, and Michael and Michelle are my solution."

    Nat sighed and I looked at her. "What is it?"

    "I'm feeling especially stupid, because I know that once I hear
the answer, I'll want someone to kick me good for missing the
obvious."

    She turned to Zarah. "Why give them that sort of power over you?
What made him so special?"

    Zarah tilted her head, then spoke softly. "He created 'The
Wizard's Way' and the reality that made it work. During the process,
he learned how to be a god. All I did was change the medium he works
with, nothing more."

    She actually sighed wearily. "He understands personal
responsibility in ways Faith Holders such as yourselves cannot. More
importantly, he knows how to follow logic chains until they end, and
not stop when he reaches a conclusion he is comfortable with."

    She shook her head and twisted her lips into a very sour smile.
"What made him so special? He has the mindset of an 'Imposer'--and I
had no choice. The Ethos of this world picked him out."

    I wasn't surprised when she vanished.

    When I looked at Nat I realized she was staring at where Zarah had
been. "Nat?"

    "Huh?"

    "You ok?"

    "Umm. Don't know yet. I think we just learned something important,
but I'm not sure what it was."

    "Any hints?"

    She finally shrugged. "It wasn't the fact that a god can feel pain
and frustration on levels we can never fully appreciate."

    "Heh. Just remember, in our old terms, we're gods, now."

    "Ouch. I was trying to avoid thinking about that for awhile."

    "Sorry. Missed signal. It's all I can think about, and the
responsibilities that go with it."

    "It's ok. I hadn't decided until just now."

    She stood and stretched. "Any idea how long we've been wandering?"

    "Nope."

    She nodded, then put on a twisted grin that I suspected was her
new body's version of 'I'm feeling go-for-it-whimsically-crazy'. I
watched her carefully. "You're planning something crazy, aren't you?"

    Instead of answering she studied the phone on the checkout, then
lifted the handset and punched a button on the base before she grinned
at me. "Paging system."

    I watched suspiciously. "So?"

    Her grin stretched wider before she lifted it so she could speak
into it. "Michelle? How soon do we have to be back if we want to meet
Mike and the new people?"

    Michelle's laughter came over the store speakers. "I think you
managed to activate every PA system in Vegas! Mike says they're
traveling at normal freeway speeds, so they should be here in about an
hour."

    "Thanks, Michelle. We'll be there."

    She hung the phone up and laughed. "Oops. I was just trying to
page her at the hotel we were staying at."

    She resettled on the checkout counter and grew thoughtful again.
"Sam? Even though she has a lot of powers we'll never know about, we
and Zarah have a lot in common. We're basically tools of others and
not completely responsible for what we do."

    I nodded. "Crudely put, but it sounds reasonable."

    "Good, because I don't know where I'm going with this. Anyway,
Zarah built this world, yet the Ethos, as she calls it, forced her to
make a specific decision that was based on its needs, and not hers."

    I frowned. "Was it forced, or simply one she wasn't expecting?"

    "Good point. Maybe she had her eyes on someone else, but when she
'checked' her list of possibilities, she only got the right feeling
when she thought about Mike and his bitch."

    "I guess that would work. Her frustration would be because she had
to rethink her previous plans?"

    Nat sighed. "Maybe. But that doesn't feel like it's 'something
important to know'."

    I sighed. "Ok."

    Nat looked up suddenly. "Sam? Do you remember when Michelle and
Michael talked about all of us being connected?"

    "Yes."

    "Good. Would Zarah have known about those connections before or
after she picked people?"

    "I don't have a clue. How can we know what her reasoning would
have been? We can assume that Mike and the others were here before we
arrived, we can't make any assumptions about these new folks."

    She sighed. "And that still doesn't tell us who she chose first."

    "Is it that important?"

    "Yes."

    I studied her thoughtflly again. "That sounded pretty definite,
Love."

    She smiled. "I checked with The Ethos."

    I shook my head. "That's going to take some getting used to."

    She surprised me. "No, it's not. We did it all the time, and
called it 'communing with God. All that's changed is that the answers
we get are more definite, as long as our mindset when we ask for
guidance is the correct one."

    "Correct mindset?"

    "Yes. I only get useful feelings when I ignore the possible
consequences to myself and think in terms of possible consequences to
others."

    I blinked and tipped my ears in her direction. "Not 'what does
this mean to me', but 'what will it mean to them'?"

    "Exactly."

    I sighed. "I need to think about that. We'd better get moving now,
or we'll be here the rest of the day, trying to figure things out."

    She nodded and got up. "I need to think about this some more,
too."

    Before we left I glanced at our trash and shrugged. "I guess it's
time I started learning how to use my powers."

    I thought about it, then decided that the safest thing to do would
be to just put it all in a dumpster for now, so I visualized the
dumpster I'd noticed next to the fast food place, and 'thought'
everything into it.

    Nat watched me, then smiled. "What did you do with it?"

    "Something safe. Put it in the dumpster."

    She giggled and I shrugged. "It was all I could visualize to do.
Never occurred to me that destruction would take more thought than
creation."

    She was already headed for the doors when I made my comment, so
she froze, then turned to face me. "That's it!"

    "That's what?"

    "The important thing we learned from Zarah."

    "Nat, you've managed to lose me."

    She smiled. "It's simple. So simple that we never think about it.
What's the ultimate fate of all things created, as far as we know?"

    I shrugged. "Is this a trick question? They die, or get
destroyed."

    "Right. So, if you think about creating something, and you are
considering the consequences of doing so, the end of the logic chain
for that created object would be it's destruction, and the
consequences when that happens."

    She took a deep breath. "And that's what's important in this
world. Not creation, because anyone will be able to do it without
really thinking hard, as we've already learned. As you just realized,
it's *destroying* something that has the most far reaching
consequences--to others."

    I nodded soberly. "And that invokes the Ethos, and the Concept of
We."

    "Yes."

    I shook my head wearily and started moving again. "Let's go. I'm
ready to take a break from all this thinking."

    Once we exited she wrapped her arm around my waist. "I wonder what
other things we'll learn?"

    "Nat? I don't have a clue. But, right now, I can wait for those
discoveries."

    "I, too."

    We made the trip back to the hotel in silence, until we hit the
north end of the strip.

    That was when I stoppped and studied it before I sighed. "I don't
know. I'm a people person and this emptiness makes me uneasy."

    Nat touched my arm. "It won't always be like this. Let's get back
to the hotel and meet the new people."

    "Yeah."

    When we arrived, everyone else was standing in the parking lot and
obviously waiting for the others.

    I pulled in, parked, shrugged to myself and 'thought' the engine
off after I put the transmission in park. "You know, that's going to
take some getting used to."

    Nat smiled and touched my arm. " Haven't we always believed that
in Heaven, everything would be provided?"

    I sneezed. "I suppose. I always assumed 'peace of mind' would be
part of the package."

    She giggled and I couldn't stop my own laughter. "Ok, Nat. I
confess. I always did wonder how we'd keep from getting bored. Now I
know. Right now I resent Zarah doing this to us, but I also know we'll
appreciate it in the long run."

    Nat's ears went vertical and she stared at me before she whispered
through her shock. "Mike and Michelle admitted it was true for them,
too..."

    "What is?"

    She studied me seriously. "You don't see it yet?"

    I shook my head. "I don't think so. I'm still numb and
overwhelmed."

    She smiled slightly. "I've been able to think while you drove.
It's helped."

    I nodded. "Go on."

    "Boredom. We both go out of our way to accept or seek out
challenges, instead of avoiding them. It's one more thing we have in
common and I'm willing to bet the new people will share it with us."

    I lifed my head to gaze out the windshield. "Huhmm..."

    After a few minutes I felt Nat's fingers tighten on my arm. "Sam?
What is it?"

    I laughed. "Sorry. Logic chain distracted me. If what you say is
true, I was just wondering what it will be like to live in a world
full of leaders, or potential leaders and explorers."

    I put my hands on hers. "No need for special prophets, anyway, and
I'm glad of that."

    Nat's fingers clenched and I yipped with the sudden pain.

    She loosened them and smiled a little sadly. "No need for Saints,
either."

    Her attention focused on something outside the vehicle and she let
go. "Come on. Let's go join everyone else."

    She got out and I joined her, then we reached and held hands while
we strolled over to wait for the future to arrive.


    2-04 - Assembling the Puzzle

    Assembling the Puzzle
    ------

    We had timne to join everyone else and do some idle visiting,
before Michelle turned to face south. "They're getting off the
freeway."

    When I matched her movements I couldn't see anything. "Is that
another power we might learn? The ability to see through buildings?"

    "Maybe. It's not one I want. This time, its telepathy. Mike and I
have been in constant contact with each other."

    I sighed. "Oh. He told you."

    She laughed. "Yes. And..."

    She stiffened, then I could tell she focused. "So. Apparently we
were *supposed* to do that."

    Nat studied her, then turned slightly so she could watch the
motorhome that Jason was escorting. "Apparently? Zarah told Mike to go
meet them, right?"

    "Hmm? Oh. That wasn't what I was thinking about. That RV is the
one Mike and I selected and parked next to the restrooms at the
eastbound Boron rest area. We did one on each side, as a distraction
to keep people from guessing which direction we were headed. We also
left dated notes in them."

    Nat nodded. "How long ago was that?"

    Michelle shrugged. "I don't know, and it doesn't matter."

    Her calm indifferrence made me turn so I could study her. "Aren't
you curious about who got here first?"

    At that she tilted her head as she thought about it. "Curious? I
suppose I am, a little. If it's important, we'll be told. Otherwise,
it doesn't matter. We all arrived when we were supposed to, and we're
being brought together, now. As soon as they get here, our future will
begin. That's more important than the past that made us who we are."

    05 - Interlude Three


    Interlude Three


    Zarah suddenly appeared and knelt in front of Stan. She opened her
arms wide. "Need a hug?"

    "Yeah." He stepped into her and she wrapped him in a gentle
embrace.

    He cried for awhile, then looked at her.

    She smiled and nodded. "Lonely?"

    "Uh huh."

    "What about your mom? Miss her any?"

    "A little. She was never home much, and the new guy she's
seeing... He's a jerk. Didn't want any of us around. Not like Mike
was. Why didn't Mike stay with us years ago?"

    Zarah sighed. "He was scared, and he had something else he had to
do, first."

    "Scared?"

    She nodded. "He didn't think he'd be a good father, so he ran
away. He was pretty old, too and he wanted you to have a father who
would be there for you longer than he would have been."

    "But..."

    Zarah hugged him again. "He and Michelle are here, now, and they
haven't forgotten you. I'm sorry you don't have any friends your own
age, but you have Blackie, and soon, I promise, there will be other
people, and some of them will be your age."

    Stan sighed. "Blackie and Blaze are ok, but there isn't a lot to
do except play video games and play Frisbee and stuff with the dogs. "

    Then his head came up suddenly. "What about these people Dad went
to meet?"

    Zarah laughed. "They like to do things in the outdoors. Have their
own adventures."

    "Really? Think they'd let me join them?"

    Zara grinned and tousled his hair. "Probably. You can ask them,
right?"

    "Yeah!"


    06 - WIP - They Who Search by Jim Mathews 2008-07-15


    They Who Search: Virginia Anne & David
    ____________________________________

    3-00 - Prelude Three


    Prelude Three - Virginia Anne & David

    I'd just spent most of the morning, using every bit of skill I
had, to find the scent of the female human we were looking for. I was
hot, tired and really quite ready for a quick nap

    But now...

    Now, I was certain I had located her most recent scent trail. My
partner and I ran along the barely visible path I'd found, with him
hanging on to the other end of my tracking lead.

    I was careful to keep the tension on it steady, so he'd know where
I was and be able to react to any sudden changes of direction, yet let
some of his attention watch what was around us, just in case I missed
something important while I was focused on finding *her* as quickly as
I could.

    I knew this wasn't a practice search. The scrap of cloth he'd used
to give me a good sample of her scent had smelled of soap and health.

    The scent I'd found had me worried. It smelled of pain and fatigue
and that something else I hated, the almost overpowering scent of
impending death.

    It hadn't changed, yet, by adding the subtle difference I couldn't
explain to myself, to the scent that said she was not going to live.

    There was still, according to my nose, a chance.

    Not much of one, I knew, but as long as it was there, I forced
David to his limit while I sampled the air--and the two of us ran, to
save a life once again.

    The end of my search came suddenly.

    'There!'

    I spotted her motionless body underneath the edge of a bush. Her
eyes were open, and watching us. I stopped running and carefully
approached her, then leaned down to touch her with my nose to reassure
her that help was finally here.

    She didn't move. Instead of trying to look at me, her eyes kept
watching the trail.

    I froze. I was too late. I'd failed.

    Wait. Her face was still warm.

    I remembered other times... Other times when I'd *known* I'd
failed, somehow.

    I heard David's praise for finding her and ignored it. Instead,
heedless of her possible injuries, I dug my nose underneath her limp
arm and lunged forward, flipping her onto her back.

    By then David was next to me and I barely had time to get out of
his way as his clenched fists slammed into her chest.

    Again.

    Again...

    And he screamed with frustration, causing me to flinch away from
his anger as he slammed his fists into her again, before, panting from
his exertions, he settled on his haunches to catch his breath.

    Strangely, the next thing he did was look at me, as if he was
asking me for my opinion.

    The breeze shifted, and carried with it the pungent odor of her
death. It was far stronger than it had been on those times when he'd
forced a dead human to live again.

    I slumped, dejected...

    Because I knew I'd failed.

    Instead of bending down and kissing her like he usually did when
he helped someone breathe, he reached for me and hugged me.

    "I'm sorry, Ginny. You did your best."

    Then he cried into my fur while we both grieved over our failure.

    3-01 - The Search Ends


    Chapter One: The Search Ends


    While we grieved, I let my mind sidle away from the pain.

    I remembered when I first met David, and all those new smells that
had been on his clothing, that I just *had* to savor by getting as
close to them as I could.

    I remembered the joy I'd felt when I first realized I was going to
have *this* human all to myself.

    I relived the shivering ecstasy I'd felt when he took off my old
collar and gave me a new one that was clearly *mine*, with only his
scent on it.

    I heard his laughter and savored his pleasing aroma when he let me
explore my new home.

    I saw the first time we explored in the mountains and I remembered
the fun I had when I realized a lot of the smells he'd had on his
clothing the first time we met, were of things I was getting to see.

    I remembered the shared scents of frustration and nervousness that
soon changed to the mingled aromas of shared joy while we struggled
with the other dogs and people, in the classes that slowly taught us
how to start communicating with each other.

    Then, much to my surprise and joy, there was the time when we
started working together, each of us learning to use our abilities to
search for other people.

    It was near the end of that time when I realized David was much
more to me than 'my human', and that his scent told me that I was much
more than a dog to him.

    Finally, on the day we graduated, our mingled scents had the heady
tang of being pack mates who had successfully completed their first
'hunt'.

    As time passed, the joy of the search took control of our lives.

    Most of the time we played with other teams who shared our joy in
the search. It became our joint passion, and my competitive nature
took over.

    All I wanted to do was find something, anything, more quickly than
anyone else did.

    Then, it happened.

    I'd thought it was just another search until the end, when the man
we'd been looking for didn't greet us with the joy I was used to.

    There was a pungency to his odor that made me shiver with fear.

    It was the smell of death, but at that time, all I'd known was
that no matter how sincere David's praise was...

    We'd failed--and we both knew it.

    That was the first time I dreamed of us being the same as each
other.

    We'd shared so much, yet we could only share the surface of our
sorrow.

    As we did now.

    I was lost in my misery when an image in my mind got my attention.

    I was back at our graduation, but this time I was looking at both
of us.

    While I watched, David slowly changed until he was a dog, standing
beside me. I felt something ask me, without words, 'Is this what you
want?'

    I sneezed my disgust. David's touch was one of the things I
treasured about him. If I couldn't have that, I wanted what we had
now, as inadequate as it was at times like this.

    The image vanished and was replaced with one of both of us as
humans.

    Again, the question.

    I hesitated. It was tempting, but...

    I remembered David's obviously poor ability to detect odors, or
see things I saw easily.

    No.

    I wanted the impossible, hands, and to keep living in the world of
scent that I enjoyed so much.

    I sighed my frustration while I studied the image.

    Suddenly my vision blurred, and when it cleared I realized the
image had changed again.

    We looked almost human, but we had fur, and muzzles.

    Suddenly, there was sound. The female who was I, was speaking like
David spoke...

    And he responded in kind!

    Amazed, I watched as they turned together and walked slowly away
from me.

    Their mingled scents blew past my nose and I smelled the joy that
was the joy of the pack.

    A strange female slowly approached the two of them, then walked
past them to settle on her haunches in front of me.

    Her head turned in their direction, then it came back and tilted
in the way that asked if I would like to become David's mate in truth,
in the way I was in the image.

    I shouted aloud with joy and told her how much I had always
desired to be able to fully share our lives together, without feeling
so helpless and crippled because we couldn't share much other than the
basic needs of life, and those haltingly.

    She laughed deeply, and we touched noses gently before she spoke
in David's language.

    "So shall it be, because he desires this, too, with the same
intensity you desire it."

    She and the image vanished, leaving me standing alone, in my
dream, shivering with my sudden hope, until a difference in the
pressures on my feet made me aware of my surroundings again.

    The smell of death was gone, no longer clogging my nose with its
stink.

    David's scents were there, and they were subtly changed with the
added richness of fur that I could tell wasn't my own

    Most strangely of all, my front paws no longer felt the ground I
stood on.

    One thing hadn't changed. I still felt the comforting presence of
David's arms wrapped around my body in a consoling hug.

    I leaned into that pressure, letting my muzzle blindly seek his
face as the still fresh memory of my failure overwhelmed all the new
sensations.

    His arms tightened suddenly. "Ginny? It it really you?"

    "David?" I started to lick his face passionately. "Oh! David! It
*is* you! It wasn't a dream!"

    He pulled back slightly, and started laughing as he tried to avoid
some of the sloppy kisses I was giving him. "Ginny! Stop that for a
minute! You're drowning me!"

    He grabbed my muzzle and gentled me, letting me know he wasn't
displeased, only unwilling to deal with my enthusiasm right then.

    I wallowed in his scent, savoring it as I had always savored it.
"I can talk to you!"

    His eyes seemed to glow. "She was right. Some dreams *can* come
true."

    There was sudden laughter from downwind of us. "Yes, and if anyone
has paid too much to achieve their dreams, the two of you surely
have."

    I froze briefly, then slowly turned to face the female who had
been in my dream. "Failure bought me this?"

    She sobered slightly. "No, Virginia Anne. It is not failure when
you do your best, and more than your best, yet still lose the battle.
It was your shared willingness to sacrifice it all for someone else
that earned you this new life, together."

    I nodded. The slight breeze swirled our scents together and the
mingled result drifted past my nose. I recognized my own aroma, even
though it had changed subtly.

    David's unique aroma had changed, but the subtle flavorings I knew
best were still there.

    The stranger's were there, too, and they shouted with their sense
of purpose.

    I shifted us until we stood facing her, with me slightly ahead of
him in my usual guardian position before I challenged her: "David, she
has a job for us. She reeks of it."

    She laughed again. "Call me Zarah. Yes, I have a job for you, and
a pack to join with while you do it."

    David finally recovered from his joyous shock and jerked his head
down in a quick nod. "Zarah, then. I hope it isn't something that has
to be done immediately..." He deliberately gestured at where the human
female's body should have been. "And like the one we just finished. We
need some time to recover."

    Zarah smiled. "When you are ready, you will know where to go, and
what to do when you get there. Til then..."

    She vanished and her scent traces vanished with her, as if she'd
never been standing in front of us.

    My sneeze of surprise was matched by David's sharply indrawn
breath. "Zarah reminds me of that last tracking instructor we had. The
one who told me 'Be patient with Ginny. At some point she'll put all
this together, then she'll be one of the best'."

    His comment made me search my strangely altered memory until I
found the day he was talking about. "What did he mean?"

    David laughed and hugged me. "Only that because we couldn't
explain what we wanted done, to you, I had to wait until you made the
connection between what we were having you do, and that we wanted you
to search for the scent we gave you, not the food we were using to
encourage you at the time."

    I looked at him in surprise. "I always knew what you wanted me to
do. What I couldn't figure out was *when* you wanted me to do it,
until I realized that you always spoke certain words in a certain
order as you put on my tracking harness."

    He chuckled. "So he was right. It was the association training
that got us past the problem, even if it wasn't the problem we thought
we were having."

    His scent changed suddenly as he turned and faced me nervously.

    "Ginny? I've dreamed of being able to ask you something..."

    I reached out to stroke his muzzle lightly and marveled at the
sleek texture of his fur. Now, at last, I understood his joy when he
had groomed me or petted me. "I've wanted to tell you ever since the
day we graduated."

    I lightly touched my tongue to his muzzle. "Of course I love
you... My David."

    3-02 - I Have A Feeling


    Chapter Two - "I have a feeling"

    We took our time getting back to David's Jeep. Partly it was
because I was learning how to get around in my new body, but mostly it
was because we were just relaxing and sharing the joy of being able to
communicate with each other as equals.

    Then, too, David had his own problems.

    He was learning how to keep from letting the world of smell
overload his senses.

    It was fun, though and we were still laughing when I realized we
were downwind of the parking area and something was wrong.

    My head snapped up in shock and I froze. "David?"

    He was watching me alertly. "What's wrong?"

    "I can't smell any of them."

    "Them?"

    "All the people and dogs. There's no trace of them, not even a
residual scent for me to detect."

    "That's..." He sighed and I looked at him finally. He gestured at
me. "I was going to say 'impossible', but we're here."

    I nodded and started walking again, cautiously scanning the entire
area and sampling the air constantly.

    When we could see the vehicles, we stopped and studied the
situation. Everything looked the same as when I'd drug David off on
our run, but there was no sign of any people or the other dogs.

    "David?"

    "I don't know, Ginny. You're the one with the trained nose, but as
far as I can tell, it looks like nobody has ever been here."

    I nodded slightly. "There should be traces of our scents, and I
can't detect any."

    We looked at each other and he shrugged. "Like we have a choice?"

    I sneezed my frustration. "True, and I'm hungry."

    While I raided our ice chest for a sandwich, David explored the
other vehicles before he came back with some of the 'loot' he'd
scavenged.

    "That," he noted thoughtfully, "was the most unusual experience
I've ever had. Everything is still here, except for the people and
dogs."

    He opened one of the sandwiches he'd brought back. "At least we
won't starve."

    I laughed. "I'm going to enjoy watching you learn how to hunt."

    I bit into my sandwich and winced. "I still don't understand how
you can enjoy these. Peanut butter and mayonnaise?"

    He chuckled. "Why are you eating it?"

    "Because, as nasty as it feels on my tongue, it still tastes
better than the dog food you brought this trip."

    "I don't get it. You've always enjoyed it, as far as I could
tell."

    "I like the texture."

    He shuddered. "That almost makes sense."

    We finished eating, then, because we didn't have anything else we
needed to do and since it was getting late, he set up our tent. Once
he finished he sighed and settled in one of the chairs I'd found and
brought over.

    "Ginny? I'm new to this. Any wild animals around?"

    I deliberately sampled the air. "Nothing we need to worry about.
Why?"

    "I'm trying to decide if I want to get a fire going. Fire and fur
doesn't mix well and I don't feel cold yet, anyway. Plus..." He shook
his head slowly. "Do we want to make it obvious we're here, when we
don't have a clue about what's really going on?"

    I had to be honest about it. "I don't know. Do what you think is
best."

    "Oh, thanks." He was being sarcastic about it. I could smell his
worry.

    I grinned. "You're welcome."

    He sneezed his disgust and stayed in his chair.

    Together we watched the twilight deepen into darkness. Now that
we'd slowed down from the hectic day, I had time to think about
things. That reminded me of how natural sounding his sneeze had been
and that got me wondering about something else so I asked him about
it.

    "David?"

    "What is it, Ginny?"

    "How come I can talk so well?"

    He thought about it for awhile. "I don't know. Maybe it comes with
the body." He sighed. "I'm not the smartest person in the world.
Wouldn't surprise me to learn that you're still smarter than I am,
here."

    I looked at him, surprised. "I always thought you were so much
smarter... Well, you were able to do so much more than I could and..."

    He sighed and slumped in the chair. "Maybe. I wasn't much better
than you, really. I used things. I knew how to make things work, but I
couldn't tell you how they did it. I don't think we were that
different, that way. And now, here..."

    He turned to look at me and a quirk of the breeze wafted his scent
to me. There was none of his usual relaxed humor in it. "Ginny, this
body is more dog than human. I can feel it, somehow. So that means
you're definitely smarter than I am, even here."

    He raised a paw and held it out for me to grab. "I don't mind.
I've known ever since I was a kid that I need to be around someone who
has a sense of purpose, because I don't have that ability."

    He held on and turned back to look out at the valley. "Lead,
Ginny, and I'll follow. It's the way I am. It's what I've always let
you do."

    Before I could reply he stiffened and lurched to his feet, almost
dragging me out of my chair when he forgot to let go of my paw.

    "No!"

    I nervously scanned the area and found nothing to cause any alarm.
"What is it?"

    "There're no lights! No cars on the roads." He tilted his head
back to study the sky. "Nothing's moving, anywhere. Not even any
planes..."

    He brought his head down and stared at me. I could almost taste
his panic and fear.

    Then, everything fell into place in my mind. He was right. He'd
always deferred to me, except when he'd known what I wanted was
unsafe, or he'd known more than I did about a situation.

    "David!" I pulled him into a hug and waited for his shivering to
stop. "Zarah said she had a job for us. Maybe we're supposed explore
and search for any people who survived."

    He pushed himself away slightly. "That's not what scares me. How
are we going to survive?"

    I smiled at him. "Survival is the easy part. I'll have to teach
you how to hunt."

    "Umm."

    I sighed. "That means we both need to learn more about these
bodies."

    He laughed shakily. "I know what that means. More training. Well,
at least we know how to do that. I won't mind the routine."

    He started chortling and I questioned him with a tilt of my head.

    He grinned at me. "I have years of habits to get rid of, Ginny. I
don't think I'll need to tell you 'Sit! Stay' at the beginning of a
training session!"

    I sneezed violently as the absurdity of that image came to me. "If
you do, I'll do the same to you, and insist you wear a harness and
tracking lead when it's your turn!"

    His jaw dropped in surprise. "That's not as silly as it sounds,
you know. We're used to using the lead to tell each other a lot about
what's going on. I think we should do it that way."

    My jaw dropped. He was right.

    Before I could go any further with that idea, I yawned. That
forced me to realize I hadn't slept since before dawn, and we'd been
busy. "I'm tired. Let's go to bed."

    He yawned too and then looked at me for a long time, then at the
tent, then down at himself and finally back at me. I could smell his
puzzlement and confusion. "What's wrong?"

    His ears went almost flat. "There's only one sleeping bag."

    It was my turn to be confused. "So? You know I never liked
sleeping inside it unless it was really cold. I'll just curl up like I
usually... Oh. I can't curl up any more, can I?""

    "Yeah. Something like that."

    I finally shrugged. "I don't see a problem, unless it winds up
getting too hot inside it for you, then you'll have to sleep on it,
like I usually do. If it gets too cold, then I crawl inside, like I
always have in the past."

    His head tilted as he thought about it. "I never thought about
that. Besides, nothing has really changed, has it?"

    I sneezed. "Lots of things have changed, David, but right now I'm
too tired to worry about anything except getting some sleep, finally.
We can worry about the rest tomorrow."

    He sighed. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Worrying about not having
two sleeping bags seems stupid, doesn't it?"

    "Yes, it does, since I have no idea why you worried in the first
place."

    However, there was one more thing I needed to do, and I realized I
didn't know how it was done.

    "David?"

    "What now?"

    "I need to go to the bathroom."

    He pushed himself away slightly. "So? Go. Or should I not watch?"

    "You can watch. I don't know how."

    "That's..." He tilted his head and studied me. Finally he
shrugged. "Just go, I guess. I've never watched a woman so I have no
idea how you should do it."

    I knew I frowned while I thought about it. "I guess I'll get on
all fours this time."

    He managed to go, too, and after we cleaned ourselves up as best
we could, we crawled into the tent and settled for the night.

    * * *

    The sun was well up when we woke up. I nudged him awake. "It's hot
and stuffy in here. Besides, I have to go to the bathroom again and
you're in my way."

    "Huh? Hmmm? Oh. Yeah."

    He rolled to his knees and unzipped the door. The two of us
crawled out, but not before habit made me stretch the kinks out of my
muscles.

    By the time I'd finished crawiling through the doorway, he had
walked a short distance down wind and started going to the bathroom.

    I joined him and this time I managed to figure out a less awkward
method to use. This having only two legs was starting to get
frustrating, and I said so.

    David just laughed unsympathetically and told me I'd get used to
it, eventually.

    I slapped at him half heartedly, but admitted he was probably
right, and that I imagined it was worth it, to have hands instead of
front feet.

    We had breakfast, then tried to figure out what to do for the rest
of the day.

    That was when we both realized how little we really had in common
when it came to describing the world we lived in. The human language
is rich visually, but it is inadequate for describing the world of
scent.

    I finally had to let David lead me to things he could smell, then
I would describe how I thought of them. It was awkward, but by the
time we quit for a late lunch we were beginning to be able to
understand what the other meant when they described something.

    It was David who put it in perspective. "We're inventing a new
language, Ginny. I wonder if anyone will be able to understand us
later."

    I studied him. "We're not using any new words, are we? I don't see
the problem."

    He frowned. "Maybe there isn't one and I'm worrying about nothing.
I just feel that if we stay isolated too long, we're not going to be
able to talk to other people because we'll be thinking differently
when we use the words."

    "David, when strange dogs meet, we can talk to each other without
any problems. Maybe it will be the same way now."

    He sighed. "I hope you're right because I never did learn any
other languages."

    "Other languages?"

    "Yes. There are hundreds of them, and if anyone we meet speaks
something other than English, I won't be able to understand them."

    "Oh." I was stunned. Because dogs all spoke the same language, I'd
assumed it was the same way with humans. I didn't say anything, but
suddenly I wasn't as certain we'd be understood when we finally met
the other people we were supposed to join.

    I decided that since there was nothing I could do about it, I
wouldn't worry about it, either.

    3-03 - Go East


    Chapter Three - "Go East"

    We were standing on a mountaintop and I was staring off to the
northeast.

    I heard the soft crunch of David's feet on the leaves under the
tree behind me and I smiled, but said nothing.

    His arm wrapped around me but didn't squeeze. "Ginny?"

    I smelled his worry and responded to that, first. "I'm OK, David."

    He sneezed disgustedly. I liked that sneeze. It was very masculine
and canine, but it also had something more in it, that told me he was
still the person I'd learned to love.

    "Yeah. You might be 'OK', but something's bothering you. I can
smell your nervousness."

    Instead of answering right away I reached down and wrapped my
fingers around his paw. "Of course I'm nervous. Don't you feel it?
It's time for us to go wherever it is we're supposed to go."

    I pointed. "That way. What's in that direction?"

    "I don't know. I'll take a bearing and we can check the maps." He
laughed. "Purely out of curiosity though. I don't think we'll need
them, other than to find the route we want to take."

    I sighed. "You're right. This has all the signs of a freshly laid
track, just for us."

    He inhaled sharply. "You sure?"

    I tapped my muzzle. "Who's been one of the state's best tracking
dogs for the last five years? I'm sure."

    I sneezed my amusement. "Zarah. I don't know how she managed to do
it, but she's left me a mental trail that reads just like a normal
scent trail."

    It was his turn to sigh. "Let's go look at the maps before we head
out."

    We ambled back to the tent we'd set up. He found the topographic
maps for the area I'd pointed at and laid in the bearing he'd taken
from the peak.

    I watched with undisguised interest while he carefully explained
what he was doing, then suddenly he broke off and started laughing
harshly. "Well! I should have guessed."

    I was puzzled. "David?"

    He shook his head and kept chortling. Eventually he got himself
under control and he explained. "Zarah has a sense of humor I'm going
to like, that's all."

    My frustration made me slap at him. He ducked, then put a finger
on the map. "Here. That's where we're going. Right?"

    I studied the map and something in me 'knew' that he was pointing
at where the track would end. "Right. Where is it?"

    That caused him to look up in surprise. "Oh. I forgot. You don't
know how to read yet."

    "That's not quite true, David. I know some basics. The name of my
dog food. A few other things."

    I thought about it carefully. "It didn't take long for me to
realize you had some way of learning things that didn't depend on
speech. Most of the time, there was no consistency between what you
said to others and what was around us, but over time I picked up the
association between the odd marks you and others made, and the object
they were about"

    I smiled at him. "Colors were the hardest concept to understand.
Most of them all looked the same, except for their intensity. For a
long time I thought 'ball', 'red', 'green' and 'blue' described the
same thing."

    I dipped my muzzle slightly so it pointed at the map. "Where are
we going?"

    He shook himself and laughed. "Las Vegas. Any associations for
you?"

    I shuddered. "Too many. Lights. Noise. Confusion."

    Then I giggled. I couldn't help it. "Lots of collars and harnesses
to choose from, though."

    He stared at me. "What does that have to do with it?"

    I tried to sober up but I couldn't, yet. His shocked look had been
priceless--and one I knew I'd treasure along with so many other
memories.

    I finally managed to get myself under control again and I gasped
out an explanation. "I like them. A lot." I touched the one I was
wearing. "Every time you bought a new one for me and put it on, it
felt special. It told me we were partners and you weren't going to
send me away."

    The memory of that first collar and the ceremony he'd made of
replacing my old one with it sobered me. "David, they have always been
*ours*, with only your scent and mine on them."

    He rocked backwards in surprise, then nodded slowly. "I always
wondered why you got so depressed when I tried to take it off and wash
it."

    I reached to touch him and pull him into a hug. "I didn't
understand at first. All I could think of was that you were denying me
something, taking away my comfort of knowing we were a pack. I was
glad when you figured out that you needed to replace it with another
one, so I'd know you still wanted me."

    He shuddered. "I'm sorry, Ginny. I never realized the collars and
harnesses have been symbols to you."

    Then he kissed me lightly and laughed. "There are a couple of
large pet stores on the way. Shall we stop at them and pick out a few
new ones for you?"

    I started giggling again. "If I can pick out some for you."

    He sneezed his disgust, then sighed. "I should have seen that
coming."

    I was still breaking into fits of giggling while we broke camp and
loaded the Jeep.

    When we finished loading he got in to start the Jeep and then
frowned and just sat there.

    I watched him. "What's wrong?"

    "We'll need gas at some point. There's not enough to get us to Las
Vegas." He raised his head and looked out the window. "I don't know if
we'll be able to get any on the way."

    It was my turn to frown. "Now what?"

    He laughed a little. "We steal some, now."

    "Oh?"

    "Yeah. We'll grab what we need to fill the tank from some of the
stuff here, then, since you won't be riding in the back seat any more,
we can cram as many spare cans in as we can fit."

    We got out and gathered all the gas cans we could find.
Fortunately, there were enough that he didn't have to siphon any gas
from the other vehicles.

    He made sure the two we usually carried were refilled, then we
made room for four more five gallon containers in the back and
strapped them down.

    When we were done I sneezed my disgust. "I'm going to hate
smelling the fumes."

    He sighed. "So am I. We'll use the gas in them first and get rid
of them as soon as possible. OK?"

    "Definitely!"

    We clambered back in and got ready to leave. It had taken a few
days for me to get used to wearing seat belts but they were worth it.
Being able to focus all of my attention on what was going on around me
while we traveled down out of the mountains was definitely something I
enjoyed.

    It was nice to relax and enjoy some of the things David showed me
the Jeep would do as long as he didn't need to worry about me having
to maintain my balance.

    At first I had to stop my panic reactions but once I learned to
trust the belts, it was nice to feel so secure.

    When we reached the main road he stopped and we got out to
stretch, and see if we could detect any signs of other people.

    "Ginny? Anything?"

    I shook my head. "Nothing, and there should be. I'm used to
smelling horses, cattle, and other domestic animals, along with whiffs
of people when the wind is right."

    I grew thoughtful. "I did smell more wild animals than I'm used
to. Didn't see any of them, though."

    I turned my head slightly to watch him. If things weren't so
seriously *wrong*, I would have laughed at all the different ways he
was trying to be able to use his binoculars. "See anything?"

    He finally gave up and sneezed his frustration. "We're going to
have to figure out a way to modify these. From what little I could
see, nobody is around. The houses and stuff are still here, but they
look deserted."

    We got back in and David drove slowly so we could test the air and
look for others.

    When we drove through the small community that was on the way, I
shivered at the silence and lack of odors.

    "David? This doesn't feel right. My nose says there was never
anyone here, and I *know* people used to live here."

    He stopped at the intersection and reached over to pet me lightly.
"I know. It's too quiet, Ginny. I was going to stop and get some food
but now..." I could hear the tremors in his voice. "Let's keep going."

    We looked around again and then he drove on.

    When we got to the next main intersection he stopped and looked at
the road for awhile, then he sighed.

    "What, David?"

    "I don't know. Normally, I'd keep going straight. But, if I turn
here we can stop and look out over the valley once we get to the other
side. What do you think?"

    "Let me get out."

    "K."

    I got out and stood in the middle of the road while I sampled the
air.

    Nothing.

    I walked a little ways ahead and as I passed the intersection I
felt uneasy about something so I stopped.

    "David? Would you come here, please?"

    "Sure."

    He got out and joined me. "Something wrong?"

    "I don't know. I feel uneasy about something so I stopped. What
about you?"

    He shrugged. "Not a thing. I don't care which way we go from
here."

    I nodded. "We know where we're going so it doesn't matter, as long
as we..."

    I hesitated and he touched me lightly. "Ginny?"

    "Shhh..."

    I lifted my muzzle and inhaled slowly through my nose before I
frowned thoughtfully. "Zarah's track turns here."

    "You're sure?"

    I shook myself. "No. But there's something about that direction
that's different and her track is the only thing I can think of."

    We stood there and studied the road as it went over the mountains.

    Finally David sighed. "There's only one way to find out. Will you
be able to scent anything from the Jeep?"

    "Maybe. I'm not sure this is a real scent track."

    "Mm. OK. I'll go slow."

    I thought about it and finally sighed. "All I know is that we need
to go that way. I plan on having a long talk with Zarah if we meet
again."

    We headed up the hill. When we got to the view point we stopped to
look things over.

    David wrapped an arm around me and shivered. "It feels wrong,
Ginny. Nothing is moving."

    I nodded slowly. "No noises, no scents other than wild ones. I
miss all the other scents and the people. Let's keep going." I
pointed. "Maybe we can get some food at that shopping center."

    "K."

    We got back in and he drove down and parked near the doors to the
market.

    There was still no sign of anyone else. The doors were unlocked
and power was on so we went in and filled a cart with what we figured
we had room for.

    While we loaded the Jeep the wind swirled around us and I froze
with surprise.

    David paused in his packing to stare at me. "What's wrong?"

    "Don't you smell it?"

    He pulled his head out so he could point his muzzle into the
breeze. He frowned. "Something's changed."

    I faced north. "People like us were nearby recently. Dogs, too." I
turned to study him. "I smell four of them. A man, a woman, a dog and
a bitch. You?"

    He inhaled carefully. "Maybe... All I can single out is the smell
of fur that's different than ours." He sneezed violently to clear his
nose, then lifted it up again and inhaled through it. "Nope. That's
it. Sorry."

    I reached and hugged him. "Don't worry about it. You're new to
using your nose to identify things."

    He hugged me back. "It's nice to know there are others somewhere,
for certain. I was starting to think the only people we'd find would
be in Vegas."

    He finished loading and waited for me. "Ginny?"

    "Mmm. I think it's worth checking this out. Do you want to follow
with the Jeep or walk with me while I try and follow their track?"

    He thought about it. "Hah! Let me show you how to use one of the
radios and I'll stay back in the Jeep and follow you at a distance
until we know it's safe."

    He dug out the collar that had the radio attached to it and showed
me how to use the radio. I laughed at how simple it was now that I had
hands. "Handy. I can remember times when tracks would have been a lot
easier if I'd been able to talk to you."

    He snorted. "Did the best I could. I'm glad these things didn't
cost much. You've banged up enough of them over the years."

    I sneezed at him. "Be glad I figured out how to move through the
brush without getting them hooked all the time."

    It was his turn to sneeze. "Good point. I had to crawl into some
pretty odd places to free you up, at first."

    I smiled at the memories his words made me see. "OK. Here goes..."

    I strode north with my muzzle up so I could search for anything
that was on the breeze. David let me get across the intersection
before he started up and pulled out to follow me.

    I didn't get far, only a couple of blocks, before I found the
source of the odors I was tracking.

    I called David and he joined me while I studied the fenced yard.

    I glanced sideways. "Well? Smell them?" I grinned at him and
gestured towards the obviously abandoned house. "Go get some practice
and tell me what you find."

    He laughed. "OK. Role reversal again. Don't tell me how badly I've
done until I think I've found everything I can."

    I giggled. "Take your time. I'll fix us some lunch while I wait."

    "Oh, thanks." I knew he was being sarcastic. "At least now you'll
know how I felt when I told you to search an area."

    He sobered and started quartering the yard carefully.

    I watched him for awhile, then, when he got to the back yard and
out of sight, I dug out enough stuff to make us some sandwiches. I
opted to make peanut butter, sliced meat and dill pickle sandwiches
for myself and then couldn't stop my lips from curling with disgust
when I made David's favorite type out of peanut butter, mayonnaise,
sliced cheese and catsup.

    When he finally came down the driveway I held out his food.
"Well?"

    He shook his head. "Not yet. I'm still following their tracks."

    "OK." I ate and watched while he went across the street to check
out the wrecked car and then walked over to explore the house and yard
next door.

    When he finally came back he was shaking his head from side to
side. "It's obvious the man and bitch lived here, and the dog lived
next door."

    I frowned. "What about the woman?"

    He ate one of his sandwiches before he looked at me. I could tell
he was frustrated when he finally spoke again.

    "Ginny? You go check this place out, then I'll tell you what I
think I found."

    "Oh?"

    As soon as I started quartering the yard I gave up walking and
went to all fours. The yard and the house were rich with overlaid
scents that must have been accumulating for years.

    It was in the back of a closet that I found a canvas bag that
surprised me with the variety of canine odors that were coming from
it. I dug it out and opened it, then, when I saw what was inside, I
closed it and carried it with me while I finished exploring. There was
no way I was going to leave it behind. I hoped we'd meet whoever it
was that had lived in this place.

    Eventually I finished my explorations and came back to settle on
the ground in front of David.

    "What'd you find?"

    I looked up. "Something that I think got left behind by mistake. I
hope we meet these people someday."

    I opened the bag and started pulling items out one at a time and
setting them down in front of me. When I was done I had over a dozen
collars on the ground, along with other assorted toys, leashes and dog
tags.

    David knelt opposite me and started picking up each of the collars
and smelling them. "Gin? Each collar smells like an individual dog or
bitch. None of them have been reused, as far as I can tell."

    I nodded. "I know. Some of them don't have the man's smell on them
but those are matched by another one that has the scent of the same
dog and his."

    I took each item, sniffed it carefully, then started placing
things in the order the scents said they should be in. When I finished
it was obvious that until the last bitch, he'd usually had a dog and
bitch at the same time, until the most recent bitch, the one we'd
smelled most strongly in the yard and house.

    However... I looked up at David. "OK. Describe what you found."

    "Umm... I could only detect the most recent dogs and bitches." He
touched the most recent collars and frowned. "There's no collar for
one of the most recent bitches. I could smell the dog from next door,
too, and the bitch never lived there, either."

    I smiled. "Probably belonged to one of his friends."

    He smiled back. "OK. Was it as confusing in our yard?"

    I laughed. "Worse. There were more scents and they were fresher
from all the training sessions we've hosted over the years."

    He nodded. "What bugs me the most is how the man and woman's scent
tracks start next to the computer and there's nothing earlier. The
tracks for the dogs and bitches all cover the yard and house, like I
expected.

    "Oh, whoever it was, they gutted the computer and took the drives
and disks with them. Almost all of the food in the house is gone and
it looked like they took a lot of stuff from the shed. I'm guessing it
was stored food. They left a bunch of stuff just sitting out, too, as
if they didn't care about it any more. Reminded me of how I'd repack
the Jeep depending on what we were planning on doing that trip, except
I always put stuff away if I left it behind."

    He settled on his haunches and shook his head slowly. "Ginny, I
don't understand something. The man and woman smelled the same to me,
except for the male and female stuff. That *can't* be right."

    I didn't answer him at first. Instead I carefully repacked the
canvas bag. "We're going to keep this with us. I want to give it back
to him if we ever meet them." I closed it and smiled down at it. "He
really, really cared for his dogs. He must have been very distracted,
to forget to take it when he left. I got the impression they weren't
expecting to return."

    I sighed and watched David's face carefully again. "Did you smell
anything else about them?"

    "I'm... Not sure. There were some new odors but I don't know what
they mean."

    I stood up and then found a safe place in the Jeep for the bag.
"Come on. Let's follow his track and I'll explain what we find. It
might be a long time before you get a chance to smell some of those
aromas again."

    I took him to where the scent tracks for the man and woman
started, then pointed at the bed.

    "That bed is full of a scent that is the same as mine was, before
Zarah changed us. The bitch loved him, just like she would an Alpha,
of course, but there's something else in it, that says her love was a
lot like mine was. I'm not sure, but I think it was more intense than
what I felt."

    He was learning to read my body language better, and since he was
watching me intently, he didn't miss the way I shifted a little
unsurely.

    "Something about it bothers you."

    I tilted my head and studied the bed. "Yes. I was very frustrated,
that we couldn't talk to each other clearly. It didn't bother her. I
don't smell any frustration at all, just contentment, and even..."

    I frowned. "I don't understand it. Why would she be amused by the
situation? Anyway, those are the base scents."

    He nodded. "All I could identify was one scent, really, and it was
pretty strong. Don't know what it was though."

    I smiled. "I know which one you're talking about. She was being
protective. My guess is that she was warning him that there was
another female and telling the other female that he already had his
alpha bitch."

    I inhaled again and really concentrated on the traces. My eyes
opened wide. "There's something else!"

    "What?"

    "She was confused, too."

    It was David's turn to frown. "Why would she be confused? This is
her home, he was right there, and all she was doing was guarding him,
right?"

    "I don't know. Zarah asked me what I wanted, before she changed
us, so she should have known what was going to happen."

    We thought about it awhile, then David frowned again and I saw it.
"What is it?"

    He spoke slowly. "Do you think she might not have known what was
going to happen? If she'd known, why would she be warning him about
this woman? Wouldn't Zarah have told her?"

    "Wait."

    I bent and sniffed the chair, and then knelt and sniffed the
carpet where the woman had been standing.

    Then I thought about the mix of scents I'd found. "I'm not certain
about this, but I think all of them were confused. There's no
indication they were happy about the change, and I don't understand
that."

    He nodded. "What I can't figure out is why the man and woman would
be on the floor together. They weren't playing or fighting, but one of
them left a real strong scent I don't recognize."

    I shivered. "I recognize it. I wish I didn't."

    "Oh?"

    "Yes. It's what people smelled like when you told them the person
we'd found was dead."

    He frowned. "Ginny? That doesn't make sense. There's no evidence
of any bodies, right?"

    I thought about it. Finally I shook myself out of my introspective
mood. "It doesn't make sense to me, either. The best I can do is say I
think one of them felt like someone they were very close to died, and
they had just found out. Why they were on the floor, is something I
can't figure out at all. There's just a faint hint of panic, but the
scents are so old, I can't tell how strong they were when they were
fresh."

    I sighed. "Maybe, someday, we'll find out what happened. I have
this weird feeling that we're going to meet them in Las Vegas. I can't
think of a reason we couldn't have met them here and then all gone
there, but hopefully it will all make sense, eventually."

    Finally I shrugged a little. "Let's check out the rest of the
house.

    3-05 - Tracking

    2009-10-05 10:50:30

    We didn't need to stop, but we were both used to stopping at the
Boron rest area to take a break, so we did.

    After we parked, David looked things over and then sighed.
"Somebody has been here."

    "Oh?"

    "Yes." He pointed. "That motor home wouldn't have been allowed to
park in front of the restrooms, normally."

    I nodded. "Do you think they're still here?"

    "Don't know. I think anyone here would have at least looked out to
see who it was when we pulled in, but I wouldn't call that a sure
thing."

    I shrugged. "Let's go check it out."

    He stared at it some more, sighed again and then shrugged.
"Nothing to lose, I guess. Treat it like a track?"

    I frowned. "Should work. Get downwind. If anyone is in it, one of
us should be able to smell them."

    "Ok."

    We circled it cautiously, and once we were downwind, we came
towards it while we both inhaled through our noses frequently.

    Nothing.

    I sniffed the door handle, couldn't be sure if I could detect
anything, so I sighed. "Might as well open it. If there ever was a
scent trace, it's gone, now. You?"

    He studied it thoughtfully. "No telling how long it's been here,
right?"

    "More than a week, probably. I still haven't figured out if our
noses are more, or less sensitive than mine used to be when I was a
dog."

    He nodded. "We'll have to figure out some tests, later."

    I sneezed. "It will help if we ever meet other people."

    "True." He reached for the door and I stuck my nose next to it so
I'd get a good whiff of the air as it came out.

    "Go."

    He pulled it open slightly and I gasped with my surprise. "Them!"

    "Them?"

    I clambered in to check it out better. "The people and dogs from
the house, and there was another bitch with them."

    He got in and closed the door, then looked around. "There's a note
on the steering wheel."

    He went over and read it, then frowned. "It's dated, but I'm not
sure how long ago it was. I do know it's dated about a month before we
were called in for that track."

    He started counting on his fingers and got to eight before he gave
up. "I can't remember how many days it's been since Zarah brought us
here. At least eight days though. I guess it doesn't matter, anyway."

    I frowned. "So how many days could it have been?"

    He shrugged. "I guess at least thirty eight, probably more."

    I inhaled through my nose again. "This is pretty strong. I would
have guessed they were here no more than seven to ten days ago. Are
you sure about how long it's been?"

    "Yes."

    I looked around. "Strange. Scents outside seem normal. I didn't
think there was that much difference in how sensitive my nose is now."

    He reached for the door. "No point in checking it out, is there?
The note says everything works and that's it."

    "I can't think of any reason. At least we know we're headed the
same direction they were."

    "True. Makes me think you were right about meeting them in Las
Vegas."

    I sighed. "I hope so. I'd really like to know what's going on."

    "Yeah."

    We got out and looked around. David smiled a little. "Do you need
to use the bathroom before we get back on the freeway?"

    I started to head for the dog area, stopped, and then smiled. "I
watched you often enough, so I know what to do in one, I think. Be
right back."

    I went over and did what I had to do, while thinking David's weird
routine made sense, now.

    I cleaned myself up, then rejoined him. "I'm ready."

    He didn't answer right away, just kept looking at the motor home.
Finally he sighed. "I'm thinking we should use it, and tow the Jeep.
It would give us a more comfortable way to travel and sleep when we
stop."

    "Do you know how to drive it?"

    "I can figure it out. Can't be too hard, and we aren't in any
hurry, are we?"

    "Nooo... I don't think we have to hurry..."

    I walked around it and studied it while I thought about using it
and not our Jeep. I couldn't think of any reason not to, and the bed
had looked very comfortable.

    On the other hand, I enjoyed riding in the Jeep, and I was used to
it.

    It was when I thought about using the Jeep anyway, that I felt
something in my head that hurt so much I yipped in surprise. As soon
as I quit thinking about using the Jeep, the pain went away.

    "David? Have you thought about using the Jeep instead of the motor
home?"

    I was watching him and saw him wince and put his hands on the
sides of his head. "Ow!"

    "That's what happened to me. I think we're supposed to use it."

    He sighed. "Did the pain go away as soon as you decided to ride in
it?"

    "Yes."

    "Did for me, too. Guess we have to. I'd better make sure it has a
hitch we can use. If not, I hope we can find any parts we need on some
of the others. I don't want to leave the Jeep here. We might need it
later."

    When we walked to the back of it he sighed with relief because it
already had a hitch installed. When I noted that it didn't have
anything in it, he laughed and said we could use the one he had on the
Jeep, but he wanted to look around and see if he could find the right
part on one of the other vehicles.

    So he checked the area, found the hitch he wanted after looking
several of them over, and then hooked up the Jeep and got it ready to
tow.

    After we got in and settled, he surprised me by reaching above his
head and flipping the sun visor down. When I asked what he was doing,
he grinned at me and said 'Reading the instructions. They usually put
the basics on the visors, now. Probably a manual somewhere, but I'll
worry about that later.'

    I sneezed without saying anything, and decided that I really did
need to learn how to read, soon.

    Eventually he got it started, and after it warmed up he carefully
drove it off the sidewalk and out to the freeway. He drove slowly at
first but after a few minutes he decided to speed up and cruise at the
speed we were used to.

    "Gin? This thing is easy to drive. As long as I don't have to back
it up, I'll be ok."

    "Good! But why the problem with backing up?"

    "Can't see the Jeep so I won't be able to tell what it's doing.
I'm used to backing up with things I can see in the mirrors. Worry
about it if it happens. When we stop, I'll park so I don't have to
back up, that's all."

    "Ok."

    I relaxed, and then decided to leave him alone and enjoy the view.
"This reminds me of sitting in our living room and looking out the
window."

    He laughed. "More like watching a movie on the big screen, to me."

    I giggled.

    * * *

    We were nearly to the next rest area when he grunted and started
slowing down.

    I didn't have to ask what was wrong because I'd already seen the
pile of cars and trucks that was across the freeway.

    He stopped, we got out, and both of us stared at the pile of
stuff, then we both sneezed our irritation before he laughed.

    I glanced at him. "Why are you laughing?"

    He gestured. "Wasted effort. All we have to do is hook a chain to
the fence, rip out a section, and then we can drive around this stuff
and get back on the..."

    We both heard the sound at the same time.

    "David? What is it?"

    "Sounds like some sort of jet airplane. Awfully low, too."

    We waited, and I flinched violently when two objects came over the
barricade.

    One was something that was flying, but it didn't look like any
plane I could remember seeing, and the other was...

    Someone who looked a lot like us?

    Incredibly, the 'thing' flew in a circle below and above the
person, before it went straight up, stopped, and then slowly came down
to land on the freeway next to our RV.

    It was after it stopped and the engine noise started going away
that I realized I had been hearing a dog barking the whole time, as if
it was enjoying itself!

    Then I remembered the person, and looked for them.

    By then they were quite a ways away, but at least they were on the
freeway, and jogging back in our direction.

    Once they were closer I realized they were male, and a breed I
didn't recognize.

    Just then David gasped, and I jerked around to see what had caused
it.

    I blinked, then stared at where the flying thing had been. Now,
there was a young German Shepherd person standing there with a Golden
Retreiver bitch next to him.

    I was confused. "David? What happened to the flying thing?"

    He spoke slowly. "You're looking at him. It changed into the
German Shepherd after the bitch got out."

    I sneezed my disbelief and he shrugged. "I saw it happen, Ginny."

    When the man got close enough he slowed to a walk, then all three
of them came over to us.

    He held out his hand. "I'm Mike. Hoped we'd get here before you
did, so we could get rid of the barricade before you got here."

    He tipped his head slightly to the side. "Jason and Sally."

    David took his hand and shook it. "David, and that's Virginia
Anne. Ginny, usually."

    Suprisingly, the man frowned, then he smiled suddenly. "Of course!
You were in that advanced tracking class, years ago."

    He glanced sideways. "Sally? Recognize either of them?"

    She snarled at him, but I could tell she wasn't serious. Then she
surprised me by speaking. "They're downwind of us, idiot. I haven't
had a chance to get a good whiff, yet. All I can smell is jet fuel,
anyway."

    She turned her head slightly. "We need to work on that problem.
I'm ok when you're moving, but the vapors seem to condense around us
when you stop and change."

    Jason sighed and looked at Mike. "Dad? We don't know enough. You
or mom will have to help us with that, someday."

    I was thinking hard about his comment about the tracking class,
and searching my memories, when I realized who they were. "You're the
man and bitch from the house! Be right back!"

    I ran to the Jeep and dug out the bag I'd saved, then carried it
back and held it out. "This is yours. I saved it for you, in case we
ever met."

    He took it, and then looked at me and I could see tears flowing.
"Thank you. I'd forgotten about it until now."

    Then he handed it back. "Please, keep it for now, until we get to
Las Vegas."

    I looked at him and he must have understood I was puzzled because
he laughed. "I don't have a way to easily carry it back. I suppose I
could let Jason carry it, but you've kept it safe this long, so I'd
appreciate it if you keep taking care of it until I can accept it from
you and put it someplace safe again."

    Then he looked at Jason. "You want to practice, or should I just
wave my hands and make the barricades go away?"

    Jason laughed and Sally giggled. He grinned. "Sure you don't need
some practice, too? What if I do this side and you do the other?"

    Mike laughed. "Impudent puppy. Fine with me. Let's put them back
in the rest areas."

    Jason nodded. "Ok."

    Then he walked over to stand by the barricade and...

    I sneezed. He'd changed into something that looked like a giant
person, and started picking things up in his paws to carry them over
to the rest area, where he set them down.

    When I remembered to look at Mike, I didn't think he was doing
anything until I realized he was pointing with a finger of his right
paw, then slowly moving it until he was pointing at the other rest
area.

    His movements didn't make any sense until I realized that each
time he did that, one of the vehicles floated through the air to
settle in the parking area each time.

    I sneezed my frustration, then looked at David. "David? Is this
happening?"

    He sighed. "I think so, Ginny. I don't remember falling asleep or
getting in a wreck, and if you're seeing a giant mechanical person
unstack one pile while an Afghan Hound calmly points and unstacks the
other pile, you're seeing the same things I am, so it's pretty
unlikely we're both sleeping."

    I sighed. "That's what I'm seeing, and I can't think of anything
that would have made me have this sort of dream, because I never would
have thought it was possible."

    "Yeah. There is that, isn't there?"

    Eventually the freeway was clear. Jason changed back to being a
dog and Mike lowered his hand and took a few deep breaths before he
refocused on us.

    He laughed. "I had my reasons for making those barricades, and
they turned out to be a mistake. You folks ready to finish the drive
to Vegas?

    David shook himself out of his mood, then smiled. "We could have
removed a section of fence and driven around, but thanks, I guess."

    Mike laughed even harder. "Something I didn't think about and I
should have! You're welcome, David."

    Then, surprisingly, he gestured at the road. "I'm sure Sally will
keep riding with Jason, so that leaves me. May I ride with you folks
or should I just go ahead and jog back to Vegas?"

    David stiffened, then faced him and I could see his disbelief.
"Jog back to Las Vegas? Wouldn't that take a long time?"

    Mike shook his head. "Poor word choice. I should have said run
along side you folks."

    David sighed. "Are you saying you can run all the way at whatever
speed I can drive at?"

    "Yes." He suddenly grinned. "That *was* me you saw jump over the
barricade, you know. I can run slower than that--if I have to."

    David flinched, then sighed. "How fast were you running?"

    Mike looked at Jason, and Jason laughed at him. "250 when you
jumped."

    David sighed again. "Never mind, then." He looked at me. "Ginny?
Want some company?"

    I sneezed. "Don't know what the fuss is about. So he can run fast.
If he rides, we can get some answers, right?"

    "Yeah. Point." He turned to MIke. "If you want a ride, you'd be
welcome."

    "Thanks."

    Mike turned to the other two. "See you in Vegas."

    They nodded at him, then Jason blurred and suddenly the flying
thing was where he'd been standing. A door opened and Sally jumped in,
then it closed and a few seconds later they left.

    I turned and headed back to the motor home after sneezing my
disgust, because I'd distinctly heard her barking happily after she'd
stuck her head out the window.

    When I caught up with David and Mike, David glanced at me. "What's
got you so wound up all of a sudden?"

    I sighed. "Everything. But mostly, I just realized how stupid I
must have looked and sounded when I stuck my head out the window and
barked at nothing, just because it felt good."

    David laughed and I swatted at him half-heartedly, which made him
laugh even harder, until I finally grinned wryly. "Ok. I'm jealous,
too. The window on the RV won't roll down so I can stick my nose out
and smell everything."

    Mike stopped moving and stared at me. "I would have thought...
Have you met Zarah, yet?"

    Both of us sneezed our mixed frustration and disgust with Zarah
and her tricks. I glared at him. "Twice. Once in my dream when she
asked me if I wanted to be with David in this body, and then when we
got here and she told us we'd know when it was time to leave where we
were, and there was a pack we'd join while we do a job."

    I sneezed again to emphasize my irritation. "I have some things I
want to tell her I don't like, too."

    Strangely, Mike laughed. "Yep. You've met her. No point in getting
irritated, though. If the last month and a half has been any
indication for the future, she's going to be doing that sort of stuff
for the rest of our lives."

    David and I looked at each other and we both groaned. I spoke
tartly. "Doesn't matter. She's managed to irritate me quite a bit, and
I plan on telling her so the next time I see her."

    Mike just raised his eyebrows, then shrugged. "Good. She knows she
can make mistakes, and she wants to know about them. That's one reason
you're here."

    My jaw dropped and I knew my head went sideways with my surprise.
"One reason? She never did explain that."

    Mike sighed. "I have the impression she didn't tell you anything,
just turned you loose on your own."

    "Exactly."

    He sighed and gestured. "Let's go. I can explain some of it on the
way. Zarah and the others are waiting for us, then she's going to tell
us some more of what her plans are, and some of the reasons we're
here."

    My ears perked, and I noticed David's had, too, before he turned
and got in the motor home.

    I froze when Mike stopped and stepped to one side, then gestured
for me to get in ahead of him. "Ladies, first."

    He must have noticed my confusion because he smiled. "I'm old
fashioned. It's called courtesy, a way of showing I have a great deal
of respect for you as a person, in your own right."

    I sighed, then went past him. "I hope that someday I'll understand
that."

    He chuckled. "I imagine you already do, but perhaps David never
called it that when he let you go ahead of him."

    I snapped my head sideways so I could stare at David. "David?"

    He laid his ears back. "Yeah. I guess it was, but I never thought
of it that way. It was just the best way to do things most of the
time, to me, and I sort of thought of letting you go ahead as a way to
apologise and make up for all the restrictions I had to use on you a
lot of the time, because I knew you didn't understand the reasons for
them."

    I made my way over to him and hugged him. "My nose never said you
were lying, when you said you loved me. That's what I always thought
your reason was."

    His ears stayed flat. "Yeah. That, too."

    By then Mike had settled in one of the other passenger seats, and
he sneezed his amusement. "What have you two been doing since that
advanced class? All I remember is a young man and an enthusiastic
young bitch who seemed to enjoy the classes."

    It was my turn to lay my ears flat, and David laughed at me before
he let go and sat down. After I sat and belted myself in, he smiled.
"We went from there into rescue work, eventually. Ginny became one of
the top SAR dogs in the state about five years ago."

    Then he sighed. "We'd just finished a track that ended at a body,
when Zarah did whatever it was she did to bring us here. That was...
About eight or nine days ago, I think. Oh, we were called in to do the
track about a month after the date you put on the note."

    Mike sighed, and I had the impression he wanted to snarl at
something, but he managed to suppress it. "Now I know why Zarah was so
obvious about making sure we came out here to meet you folks. She left
it to me, to tell you a lot of stuff that she told the rest of us as
soon as we got here, which wasn't all at the same time, either."

    That was when I realized I was smelling the subtle aromas that
said he was an Alpha. "Mike? Are you the Alpha of the pack we are
supposed to join?"

    He smiled a little. "Co-Alpha, but don't worry about that detail,
yet."

    He inhaled through his nose and sobered when he faced me directly.
"I and my senior mate are co-Alphas of our sub pack and I suppose that
after Zarah, we are also the co-Alphas of all of us. There are two
others who just arrived this morning, who form their own sub pack, and
of course there are you and David, who will be a sub pack, of which it
is obvious you are the Alpha, Ginny."

    I studied him while David got us moving again, then, once we were
cruising, I spoke thoughtfully. "We can remain mates when we join with
your pack?"

    "Of course."

    "Good!"

    He laughed. "There are no rules or traditions we must follow,
Ginny. Here, we will be able to follow our hearts and minds, as long
as we do as little harm to others as possible."

    David spoke suddenly. "Nobody will care that Ginny used to be a
bitch?"

    Mike shook his head. "Some might, but that will be briefly, until
they accept that here, your original shape is meaningless. We are all
people, and that is all that matters when it comes to affairs of the
heart. If you want something a little more definte, to reassure you,
Jason was a human teenager when he was brought here, and Sally was my
bitch. They've become a mated pair since they've been here, and nobody
pays any attention to what they used to be."

    He chuckled. "In other matters, shape may come to mean a great
deal, but that will be because of the skills you bring to a job, in
that body."

    I took over again. "We have no skills, other than at tracking."

    Mike nodded. "Ginny, I cannot tell you for what purpose Zarah
brought you here, but most likely, it will involve tracking that will
push you to your limits, and perhaps beyond them."

    He held up a paw suddenly. "I cannot tell you because I do not
know, not because I am not allowed to. What I *can* tell you is that
you are here to help build a new society, by helping Zarah while she
puts in the foundations of that society."

    David sighed. "I don't see that we can do much, since I know I'm
not that bright, and I'm a follower, not a leader."

    Mike looked at me and I nodded slightly, confirming the truth of
David's words.

    Mike turned and apparently watched the outside for awhile, then he
refocused on us. "David, people can change, in more ways than you
probably think possible, especially here. When Zarah gave us these
bodies, they included new abilities. One of those is what we can think
of as an intelligence enhancement. It will take years while you
discover how you've been changed, but one thing you will discover is
that you are far, far smarter in all ways, than you were in our old
world. I imagine you've already discovered that Ginny is smarter than
she used to be. That applies to you, too.

    "Zarah, in spite of her quirky sense of humor, is also genuinely
appreciative and cares for her tools, so she has done what she can to
help us become the best people we can be."

    He sighed. "Part of that appreciation includes immortality, to
make sure we are able to see the results of all our efforts."

    I saw David flinch, so I focused on him. "What is it?"

    He shuddered again. "Mike? Real immortality? We'll never die?"

    "Yes."

    "And I'm going to get smarter? Does that mean that someday I'll
know what it's like to feel a sense of purpose, instead of always
following someone else, like I have Ginny?"

    Mike leaned forward and put his hand on David's shoulder. "If that
is what you want, then you will have it, because that is the other
gift Zarah has given to this world. The power of belief. If you desire
it, as long as it does not violate the 'Ethos of We', then you will
have it."

    He fell silent, then glanced at me and chuckled. "It was obvious
Zarah did not tell you of that. If she had, Ginny would not have
complained about her window. Turn, Ginny, place a paw on the window,
and tell it, out loud or in your mind, to roll down, until you are
satisfied."

    He didn't wait but turned back to David. "If you desire proof,
watch your fuel gauge and wish the gas tank full again."

    David sighed. "Can I just wish it full, then check? Today is the
first time I've driven one of these."

    "Do it however you wish, or not at all. You could even stop and
experiment. There is no schedule you have to keep. We will get to Las
Vegas when we get there."

    I tuned them out and put my right paw on the window, then thought
about the window going down.

    Incredibly, it started going down, and I was rewarded with a
breeze that carried most of the scents I was used to smelling when we
traveled to Las Vegas. I stopped it about halfway down, and then stuck
my nose out and inhaled deeply, just because I could, again.

    Tentatively, I barked, and when I realized it felt right to do it,
I did it again, just because I was suddenly so happy with life.

    After all, the man who was our Alpha had just told me David and I
could stay mated when we joined his pack!

    Laughter made me bring my head back in so I could sneeze at the
two of them. "You should try it sometime. When we're moving like this,
the scent patterns change so rapidly I can't separate them all.
It's... Intoxicating."

    David nodded. "Head rush, maybe. I'll try it someday, but not
until you learn how to drive."

    Mike chortled. "I know what you mean, Ginny. After all, I just ran
all the way from Las Vegas at over 200 miles per hour. I'm learning
how to depend on my scent memory and it has been quite a learning
exprience."

    I studied him, and in spite of his complaint, it was obvious he
enjoyed running.

    "Do you think I would be able to run that fast someday?"

    He sighed. "I don't know. You'll have to learn how to draw on the
energy around you, and practice a lot at slower speeds before you try
to run as fast and as far as I did today."

    He gestured at himself. "This form is designed to run fast, and
while I don't know when it will happen, like you I have many jobs to
do, and there is something inside me that tells me that someday I will
be called on to run as fast as I can."

    David glanced at Mike, then turned his head back. "I think I
remember you. You were the assitant instructor who helped Ginny and me
past her problems. Didn't you have a dog back then?"

    Mike closed his eyes and sighed. "I did. Sally was a puppy, and
too young for anything execept basic obedience work. I usually brought
her so she could socialize and get used to being around other people
and dogs.

    "I don't remember what I did to help you. A lot has happened in my
life since then, and you and Ginny were just one of the many teams
I've tried to help over the years."

    David sighed. "What you did was keep me convinced to be patient,
and you explained that eventually the association training would get
her past a problem we were having. Without your patience, I don't know
if I would have stayed in the class."

    "I understand. I'm glad you did stay with it, and I'm glad to have
you and Ginny here, since I know I'm the one you should blame for
that."

    I snapped my head around to stare at him "Blame? No! We thank you
for it! I've always wanted more than what we had, ever since we
finished the basic obedience class. I think David did, too."

    David nodded. "I did. Maybe not everything we have now, but I
always wished we could talk to each other as equals, at least."

    Mike looked at each of us, then smiled a bit sadly. "Thank you.
Zarah hasn't confirmed it, because I've never asked. But so far,
everyone here is someone I've met, or known in some way. I don't
understand this world's reasons for doing it that way and to be
truthful, I don't have any plans to try and find out."

    David surprised me with his next question. "This world? You make
it sound like its alive somehow."

    "It is alive, and it has enough awareness to have a purpose.
Utimately, it decides what we should do, or not. Think of it talking
to you with feelings, and that will work."

    I sneezed. "Feelings. It hurt us when we found this motor home,
and thought about using our Jeep instead."

    Mike's ears snapped in my direction. "Hurt, not made you feel
uncomfortable?"

    I thought about it. "It was a very uncomfortable feeling in my
head, and David acted like he was in a lot of pain."

    I refocused on Mike. "Is there that much of a difference between
'hurt' and 'uncomfortable'?"

    He started to speak, stopped himself, and sighed. "There is one,
but I can't think of a way to explain it right now. Let me think about
it. Maybe Sally will be able to explain it so you understand it."

    I frowned. "You said she was a bitch, didn't you? She was just
like me, so how would she know more?"

    He laughed. "I was a writer. Quite often I used to think out loud,
as if I was explaining things to her. It helped, even though I knew
she couldn't tell me what she thought, if she actually understood any
of what I said. Apparently she understood more than I thought she did,
and she is able to remember it all, and has been able use that
knowledge after we got here."

    He paused, studied me, then sighed. "Ginny? Sally is the Alpha of
the three dogs that Zarah brought here at the same time she brought me
and Michelle. She has many other concerns to deal with, and I know
Blaze and Blackie will always defer to her, so that leaves you. You
and Sally will have to figure out what your relationship with each
other is."

    I thought about it for awhile. "Is she your co Alpha?"

    "No. I guess you might be able to think of her as beta to me and
Michelle, but I am certain that in the future there will be times she
will be speaking for one of us when she makes suggestions or gives
orders."

    I finally grimaced. "Only thing I can think of is to do like we
did when we were called in for tracks. We treated each other like
equals in a large pack, with the humans and their relationships being
the ones that mattered."

    Mike nodded. "You'll have to think of yourself as one of the
humans, now. There will be times when people other than myself or
Michelle will know what has to be done, and the person who knows the
most, will be acting as the Alpha."

    David twitched an ear at me to get my attention. "What, David?"

    "He makes sense, and so do you. That wouldn't be any different
than when I had to take orders from the person who knew the most about
the area, or what needed to be done, instead of the person who was in
overall change. If you think hard enough, there were times when we
knew the search area best, so they put me in charge of organizing the
SAR teams. Only difference now is that it could be either one of us,
instead of just me doing it."

    I waited, and when I realized he was done speaking, I took the
time to search my memories until I understood what he was talking
about.

    "Ok. I guess my biggest worry is that I'm not interested in
fighting to establish my pack position. I always knew I wasn't really
the Alpha, but I don't like taking orders from anyone other than David
at home, or when we are working."

    Mike laughed again. "I think that's another reason all of us are
here. We would rather talk things out when there are problems."

    Then he sobered and it was obvious he was thinking about
something, because he looked out the window again, but his ears kept
moving all the time and pausing when he heard something that attracted
his attention. It reminded me of when I'd been in an unfamiliar
siuation and trying to stay aware of *everything* that was going on
around me, so I went back to looking out the window while keeping part
of my attention focused on him, too.

    Eventually he looked at me and tilted his head thoughtfully, then
shifted his attention to David.

    "David? Did you ever wish you and Ginny were telepathic with each
other?"

    David laughed. "Yeah, lots of times. Best I could do though was
get the radios. At least I could talk to Ginny and tell her what to
do, and listen when she or someone made enough noise to trigger the
vox."

    Mike laughed. "I know how you felt. Never did any serious long
distance work with any of my dogs, so I never invested in radios.

    "Anyway, I've been talking to Michelle, and we think there's a
good chance those of us who are mated will eventually be telepathic
with each other."

    David's ears twitched towards Mike, then the nearest one focused
on me. "Really? And nobody could listen in while we were talking to
each other?"

    Mike's ears twitched, then he sighed. "The key seems to be wanting
to be able to do it. I don't know about listening in. Assume Zarah can
always hear what we're saying, and probably see us all the time, if
she wants to. So far, nobody has said anything about hearing Michelle
and I, and neither one of us is telepathic with anyone else, yet."

    David sighed. "Ok. I'll settle for being able to talk to Ginny.
Sure would be nice to share our senses, too."

    Mike laughed. "Remember what I said about wanting something? If
you don't get the feeling that it's wrong, then there's a good chance
you can go ahead and do it. Don't bother asking Zarah what's possible.
She'd have to consult the awareness of the world to find out, so you
might as well ask it directly."



    07 - Interlude Four - Free Will


    Interlude Four 

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25th June 2011 #2
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Default Re: Abandoned Work - Furry : "We Who Are Gathered" (furry,
alternate reality, novel)

    Here are the working notes for WWAG that have survived the decade
plus that I have been working on it. They aren't in any order.

    What isn't included here is the collection of files I saved from
assorted web sites while I was doing the stride vs speed research.

    The sites were varied, and included a site that had the history of
the speed records at various distances for men and women, a site that
discussed the efforts to determine the speed of cheetahs, and even a
site dedicated to human powered vehicles, that had several
spreadsheets for doing calculations. (hpv.org iirc)

    I even found a site that had information of how an animal's
'natural' speed could be estimated by using linb length.

    It all got read, and distilled into my thinking about 'how to
design a furry capable of running at 200 mph'.
    ===


    General Notes


    Final purpose is for the Imposer to create itself.

    Michael and Michelle are first to realize and accept this concept?
    Zarah already knows it, but isn't allowed to reveal it.

    Feedback situation with the Imposer being able to ignore time to
create the conditions that led to its creation. This pervasive
'awareness' is what ultimately guides everything and in this reality
is called 'The Ethos'. Think of it in terms of 'remembering' and then
those memories become self-sustaining. Remember differently, and the
final result changes, but there's no contradiction because the old
memory becomes a lesser probability, a might have been that didn't
happen.

    As someone eventually points out, 'as much as we personally detest
the conditions that originally made us who we are, they were
necessary, or we wouldn't be who we are'.

    A practical infinity of realities all tied together with different
levels of later awarenesses that are all part of the ultimate imposer.

    Michael was chosen first because this reality was created to
enhance many of his personality aspects in a later awareness.

    So, when Zarah encountered him, this later awareness
recognized/remembered its progenitor and 'encouraged' Zarah to choose
Michael first, then make her other choices based on people who would
support his development.

    It's not 'Thou art God' but 'Collectively, we are part of God'.
    ===


    Wednesday, September 17, 2008 8:59 AM
    ZARA: Hebrew for "dawn" and Arabic for "princess." An unusual
shift from the more standard Sara. Princess Anne and Mark Phillips
chose this name for their daughter. Relatives: Zarah, Zarry, Zari,
Zerlinda.

    3/31/2009 12:52:45 AM
    Is there a fossil record? Is it natural or has it been created in
situ?

    Mike's mother was a trained dress and clothing designer, so he
picked up many of the tricks as a child. He's also done upolstery
work, so he knows how to sew (which means so does Michelle) He can
have a conversation with Sam and Natalie about desining clothes for
their new forms, for show and protective puposes. This would also
explain the casual ease with which he and Michelle 'created' their
clothing.

    4/8/2009

    &&& Ethos is not limited to one direction in time. It can see
future consequences while Zarah and the 'Angels' cannot. It tends to
provide a 'yes-no' response and it is up to the questioner to figure
out the details
    ====





    They Who Search - Working Notes


    Virginia Anne Pruitt (Ginny, Gin) - GS bitch / GS furry (GS =
German Shepherd)
    David Wilkens - human / GS furry

    Partnered name for bitch as furry: Virginia Anne Pruitt-Wilkins

    Ginny obsesses over new collars and harnesses due to training
association.

    ----

    Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:10 AM
    use traces from collars in canvas bag to clone all his old dogs
and bitches for some future purpose?
    ====


    The Wizards - Working Notes


    Thursday, July 17, 2008 1:45 AM

    Change Keepers of the faith to mascot costume designers
    Return from convention? Can't get suits off?
    AVOID FURSUIT ISSUE!

    Remove sex scene, but add some sort of dog role playing scene.
    Need to figure out who is most uncomfortable witih species switch
and new relationships.

    Possible conflicts:
    Enclave of some sort who force changes from furry to human?
    Enslavement?
    Other difference related discrimination?

    Would new bodies affect attitudes? (muscle memory already noted,
what about instinctive mental paterns?)

    Conflict 2:
    World is proof of concept for getting diverse people to work
together and avoid fragmentation over differences, thus an immortal
group to act as overseers or supervisors (preisthood, lawgivers, etc)

    Need humans because canine descendants aren't pragmatic enough
when needing to make distasteful decisions?

    Irish setter can't do it all herself, so they are 'priestly
caste', etc.
    They become aspects of her personality?
    ====

    2001-10-31 Discussion with a friend

    Note 2011-06-25: Here is some more of the original concept work.
It's a genuine mix of selected items from my life, mixed with quite a
bit of fantasy, to start building the first group of people and
generate the relationships between them. Years later, I was able to
use the matching to create the mated pairs seen in the final version.

    Body types for Michael and Michelle underwent several revisions,
until I settled for the final versions of a male Afghan Hound with the
fur and patterns of a wolf, and a female Saluki.

    Note the female name of 'Lady Karen'. The shift from using my
online personas was already beginning.
    ----------

    10-31-2001:
    Well, I'm thinking of ridges in front of the eyes that create a
pressure area that deflects smaller object. Laminar flow that would
help make a barrier at speeds. The nostrils could have backward facing
openings, or skin that past a certain air pressure distorts to shift
the opening away from directly into the airstream.


    use of salt water solution to toughten pads. start exercise
routine to condiditon bodies.
    ---

    notes to self:

    The theory that Michael will eventually reveal is that he has been
involuntarily made part of a reality shift that happened to someone he
knows. The connection between them has to have been a deep one for it
to reach as far as it did. His own concern for a few loved ones
brought them through the barrier with him. A part of the theory says
that the shape-shift only happened to people who easily visualized
themselves as a furry. He didn't take on his 'full Borzoi aspect'
because that form is of a full canine, not a true furry. The feeling
of Borzoi caused his body to take on the physical aspect of the
Rabelaisian Bard Nikkolai, who is heavily based on his own
personality. Because his most recent online avatar as a furry has been
Starshadow Stealthwolf, his fur became that of a wolf. Since
Starshadow and Nikkolai are both power handlers, Michael as Nikkolai
shares their abilities.

    But, because he often sees himself as Lady Karen, that image was
so strong that it equaled his self-image as a male furry. Because of
that unexpected equality that even he wasn't aware of, the power that
caused the change created *both* his male and female furry personnas
as furrys.

    He loves his mother but to his knowledge, she has never seen
herself as a furry. Furthermore, she has never used a furry personna
on the net. Thus, she was left behind or vanished. He doesn't know
which happened and the point is moot. She's no longer around and that
is the reality.

    Sarah and Blaze make the crossing because Sarah is his current
lover and he has a deep concern for Blaze. He also has a strong sexual
attraction for Blaze that he's never consumated.

    Blackie makes the crossing because she was a lover of his many
years ago. Blackie's owner is another person whom he loves deeply but
has never used a furry personna. The other unnamed friend he checks on
is his friend's woman friend. If one had made it, it would have been
likely that both did. The point is moot since neither crossed over
into the new world line.

    He loves the unnamed family, especially the woman. But, as far as
he knows, she has never used a furry personna on the net. Also, while
his love is extremely deep, he knows it will never be consumated as
she has a family of her own that deserves her more than he does. They
had a dog, a male one. Michael cared for the dog but his love wasn't
strong enough to bring the dog and not the people. For that small
favor, he is deeply thankful.

    The three kids who *do* make the crossing, he loves from a
distance as an 'uncle' who has been adopted into the family. They have
no father living with them. In fact, the oldest boy detests his real
father with a passion that Michael understands too well. That, and
other things have allowed them to form a bond that lets Michael,
without speaking of it openly, act in a role that is more that of a
father than an uncle when they are together. To a lesser degree, the
young girl and the younger boy have also formed an attachment to
Michael. Ultimately, the deep, unspoken attachment they feel for each
other drew the three kids across the barrier with him. The older boy
shares a passion for transformation type cartoons and characters with
Michael. It is this shared passion that linked them and forced the
boy, his sister, and his brother to change into furrys. The young girl
and younger boy have role played as animals in the past. Much to
Michael's dismay, that, combined with what he feels for them--was
enough to bring them along as he was changed. Since his deep feelings
had never had a chance to try and bridge the gap to their mother, she
was left behind. The tragedy is a direct result of Michael's own
hidden love and as such, he and Karen both know they have to do
whatever they can to take care of the three kids.
    ====




    2001-10-31 log

    Note 2011-06-24: As this edited conversation revealss, the
original story was going to be built around my own life. That got
changed in the later versions, but some of the original work was
retained, thus the similarities between Michael/Michelle and Tom/Lady
Chrystal
    ---


    Me 10/31/01 1:23 AM I did get something done though. A few hours
    of wandering the web in searxh of info on
    human stride vs speed, speed records and other
    stuff to help me figure out just how fast a
    furry might be able to run. I *think* I can
    justify the figures I've used, if I do some
    redesign of the anthro layout to optimize it a
    bit for running. :/

    Other 10/31/01 1:24 AM you could make it a more efficient user of
its
    'fuel'. See Poul Anderson for winged beings
    who shouldn't be able to fly, but have
    'superchargers' as part of their breathing
    system.



    Me 10/31/01 1:29 AM I could. However, there are physical
    limitations based on the moment arm of the
    legs. I can safely justify 6 strides per
    second. Long distance runners and the average
    person can do 3 strides per second, sprinters
    can do 5-6. The usual way to increase speed
    for bipeds is by increasing the stride length.
    A human tops out at about 26 mph. The 100
    meter record is about 23mph when calculated
    out.

    Other 10/31/01 1:31 AM though stride length isn't solely based on
the
    leg-length; Secretariat had a FAR longer
    stride than any other Thoroughbred. Granted,
    he was a big horse, but not huge; there've
    been many Thoroughbreds bigger.


    Me 10/31/01 1:35 AM Point. However, bipedal vs quadrupedal gets
    involved in different mechanical problems. I
    need bipedal speed. I also need to figure out
    an acceptable way to get stride length to the
    20-30 foot range at 9-10 strides per second.
    The only real solution is to have more energy
    available at the lower legs for the push off
    to lengthen the stride and maintain forward
    momentum. I also need a narrower torso, some
    sort of inherent eye protection and a way to
    prevent the inpact from the random bug
    factor. The speed I'm looking for during
    sprints has to be near 200 mph.



    Other 10/31/01 1:36 AM the eye protection's easy. nictitating
    membranes.

    longer legs -- especially the upper segment--
    might help.

    Me 10/31/01 1:37 AM Oh, non-'power-assisted' runs are slower. The
    natural, unaided sprint can range between
    100-125 mph

    Me 10/31/01 1:39 AM Well, I'm thinking of ridges in front of the
    eyes that create a pressure area that deflects
    smaller objects. Laminar flow that would help
    make a barrier at speeds. The nostrils could
    have backward facing openings, or skin that
    past a certain air pressure distorts to shift
    the opening away from directly into the
    airstream.

    Other 10/31/01 1:40 AM all possible, I guess.

    Me 10/31/01 1:43 AM nod. I hope so. I may work up a 'paper' and
    then wander a few of the furry ngs to see if
    anyone else has done any research on the
    problem.

    BTW, the official clocked speed for a cheetah
    is around 64 mph. I found an interesting
    article that discussed all the attempts and
    how the best guess was done by a guy who
    didn't publish his results until 30 years
    later.


    Me 10/31/01 1:46 AM Anyway, I have a set of cells in a spreadsheet
    that I can use to plug in various combinations
    to see what comes out. I've been using that
    to do 'best guess' work so I can find ways to
    finagle some speed for the purposes of the
    story.


    Me 10/31/01 1:51 AM Yes. Fortunately, as speed increases, the
    stride length will increase as well. I
    suspect my main problem is going to be the
    energy requirements. I have that solved in
    the story already, However, I need to fine
    tune the speeds at which the runner shifts
    from 'internal unassisted' power to 'external
    power to get rid of heat and metabolic waste
    products'. All in all, it's an interesting
    set of problems that I've never seen anyone
    deal with as part of the story.

    Other 10/31/01 1:52 AM okay. don't get so caught up in that, that
    the story gets lost.

    (you sound like you're doing a Hal Clement)

    Me 10/31/01 1:57 AM The story isn't lost. Yet. Most of this
    isn't going to get mentioned except as
    possibly an appendix. As far as the story
    goes, only the numbers and the fact of the
    problems of learning how to run at these
    speeds are mentioned. "I need to know just
    what this body will do." is what happens.
    Once that's done, the extreme capabilities
    will only be used in a forthcoming emergency.

    Other 10/31/01 1:58 AM nod

    (btw, the Hal Clement remark was a compliment.
    He does most excellent aliens/worlds)

    Me 10/31/01 1:59 AM blink... Thank you. I do happen to enjoy HC.
    'Mission of Gravity' and its sequel come to
    mind.

    Other 10/31/01 2:00 AM yah. those two are great, and there are
    several others.

    Me 10/31/01 2:05 AM nod. My problem is that I dislike 'bending'
    known scientific 'fact' past a certain point.
    This is for 'The Awakening' alternate reality.
    Mostly our world but with me somehow split
    into myself and Vel, in our furry forms and
    given the powers of Rabelaisian Bards. Most
    of those are mental skills that partake of
    some aspects of magic but, the magic is more
    the tapping of energy rather than any sort of
    'free lunch'.

    Me 10/31/01 2:05 AM 'Clarke's Law' <g>

    Other 10/31/01 2:06 AM nod
    ====


    Hmmm... I'm wondering if I need to build a wind tunnel to
determine airflow characteristics of a furry? I'm wondering how much
of a factor turbulence caused by body hair will be at high speeds.
Will the tail act as a device to reduce drag?


    Other notes:

    Extra large cartilige pads between the joints to absorb inpacts.
Pads on feet that are capable of dealing with the friction and not
wearing out at speed. Some sort of selective adaptation that has them
tougher than earth-normal. Would toenails be normal length or would
they be naturally worn shorter due to running? Would sprinters wear
shoes and clothing to reduce damage to feet and cut down turbulence
caused by fur?
    ==== 

End: We Who Are Gathered 2/2
End: We Who Are Gathered
======

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