V12 - Chapter 143

--- Alnus Community ---

February 7th, 2026

As Tyuule walks out of the Apex Liberty after her shift, she heads through the town of Alnus. She is heading to The Alnus Market to pick up some dinner for her and Delilah. They got these spices and recipes from their trip from Earth and want to try making it, something called a pop pie.

She has only started getting used to civilian life. Being a civilian and not a Queen or slave seems to be quieter and more peaceful than she thought. However, she does find it a bit unsettling. She wants to feel useful again, feel important, like when she was a Queen and the responsibilities that came with it.

She is surprised how well Delilah has done with her freedom. It almost seemed to come to her naturally. Maybe that was because she did not surrender like the rest of the Warrior Bunnies. She fought until the very end, escaped and now she has a new home here.

As she leaves the residential area, she passes the newly constructed public bath building. Because of the quake and the growing population, there are three such buildings scattered around. Each section is separated by males and females, guarded by the Alnus Military Police. Delilah was explaining to her the American State Department wanted to keep certain cultural practices in place to help ease the transition. And it saves resources on installing a bathing unit in each home-like in their world.

She then sees the clothes washing market. She sees mostly women and children from many different races walking around, washing, and drying clothes. Some are in robes while some are naked as they wash up. Kids running around chasing each other.

She has heard stories that the Other Worlders have these machines that wash clothes for them. She finds that strange and unnatural, wondering why they are that lazy. She remembers the talk about installing such devices here but many still preferred to do it manually.

Just like the bathhouse, she sees police standing there acting as guards. She has noticed the NATO joint policing force mostly station women to these primary female locations while male police are in male areas in the town. She understands why as they do not want to create a harassment situation. The Other Worlders see it as inappropriate for males to be around females in this manner. She wonders if they are overcompensating for something but then remembers her time in Sadera where such restrictions were limited. She respects the prioritization of female safety but still wonders if it is too much.

Right before the market, she sees the public drainage or what the Americans call the public toiletries facility. What surprised her the most is how well and efficient their engineering is. The pumping in the ground to allow all the sewage, keeping the town clean. The shiny windows on the roofs that collect sunlight for power. The water collection system to collect rainwater and send it to the water storage planet.

As she enters the Alnus Market she sees another Bunny standing there. In her arms is a bag of fruits. She has seen her before, one of Delilah friends and one of the few Warrior Bunnies in Alnus. She has seen more and more appearing in time, some joining the new Alnus Militia.

She knows they know that their Queen is here but none of them have approached her. So far only Delilah has been the only one to show her love and respect, everyone else still blames her for her surrendering to Zorzal. She does not blame them though. She should have known better to surrender to the Empire, but the alternative was genocide for her people.

The Bunny she sees is named Griine, a white hair Bunny. Delilah told her that she was one of two other Bunnies that escaped with her. The other being Parna but she surrendered and volunteered to become a slave after the fall.

She sees Griine, and she seen her. She tries to wave at her but Griine looks away and walks away.

Her ears fall and she walks into the market.

As she walks around all the different booths, she notices Corporal Myuute and First Sergeant Miloslav Suchanek. They have been partners in the Alnus Military Police since the beginning. Myuute is a green hair Siren who tried to raid Italica. Because of her relationship with Rory and being a worshiper, she redeemed herself to enforce the law.

Miloslav is a cold soldier who takes the law literally. Unlike most of these soldiers who were sent over here, he volunteered. He is from a small country called the Czech Republic. She has learned that he is not cold because that is his personality, but it is his people's culture, who were oppressed under something called the Iron Curtain for about fifty years.

She has seen them work well together, each using their personalities to do something called 'good cop, bad cop'. But she has noticed something different after the quake. She has seen Myuute come into Apex more often bummed out, upset with Miloslav but she cannot explain it. Even now as she looks at him, she can tell something is off with him. It is a feeling that she feels like she had before but cannot place it.

She then sees Miloslav walk away and see Myuute standing there pouting. Unlike her own kind, she does not feel insecure to talk to Myuute. She walks over to cheer her up. "That could have gone better."

Myuute looks over to her and then rubs her eyes, wiping away the tears. "Hi, Tyuule. Sorry about that."

"Is he still being mean?" She asked.

Myuute stands there, debating on how to respond. "I don't know. I feel like something is off."

"I wish I could help but we Bunnies don't normally do relationships," She replies. "We just go out and mate with a male we like until we get bored with them. Since our babies come out as females and male bunnies are rare, we just never saw the need for marriage. We are... we were once very communal"

Myuute looks at her and blushes. "No. We're not dating. It is not like that. Is that how people see it?"

"The way you two have been fighting recently maybe," She replies and bends her ear down. "But I didn't not mean to imply that. Shows we Bunnies are not good with such things."

She looks away, down the path Miloslav went. "Maybe he is just a brute. You know how men can be."

"I don't think so," Myuute replies and crosses her arms. "I feel like there is something else going on. He does everything like we used to. Nothing is different, just something seems off. Every time I press it, he gets angry and defensive."

"Like what just happened?" She spoke.

"Yeah…," Myuute replies. "It is like something on his mind, but I don't know. Maybe I think I felt something, and I have pushing on nothing."

Hearing that she debates if she should tell her that she has felt the same thing. Bunnies are better able to detect more subtle emotions and changes from Humanoids. Most people have a set way of how they walk, speak, look, and so on. Bunnies can see those traits for closer than most other races. Any minor change by a person is plainly obvious to a Bunny, that is why they are able to see Dars so easily.

Humanoids develop a pattern of behavior as they get older and settle down that behavior. It is very rare that behavior changes. While most can see major changes in someone's behavior, most can't see micro changes. Bunnies can see those micro changes just as if they were a life-changing event.

At one point she considered the idea that Miloslav was replaced by a Dar, but he proved to be the real deal. Normally she would shrug it off, letting Humans be Humans but something is driving her nuts about him.

"Honestly, I feel that something has been was with him," She said.

She sees Myuute look at her with this shocked look in her eyes. The look is more of relief than anything else, glade that she is not alone and crazy. "I thought I was crazy."

"Maybe," She replies. "But to be honest, my experience with men hasn't been positive so I might be biased." She then thinks about the three years she was Zorzal's slave. Before him her experience with males was limited.

The only other two males she has been around the most is Captain Bailey and Major Sharpe. She knows they are good men, but she is still somewhat scared of them. Bailey is friendly and their trip to Earth was amazing(1). He seems funny and sweet but then there is Sharpe.

While she knows he is not Zorzal and means well, Sharpe is an Alpha male like Zorzal and that is why she fears that trait. She talked back to him during the quake(2) and she felt bad for doing that but she couldn't help herself.

"It is ok Tyuule," Myuute said, placing her hand on her arm. "I have found most men are not like that, so you don't have to live in fear. Remember Noriko, she had a kid, and she trusts them."

"That is because she is their kind," She replies.

"Aren't we all at this point?" Myuute points out. "Let's assume Alnus falls to the Empire. We are all equally going to suffer. We are all in this together and need to see ourselves as that. Otherwise, why are we even here?"

She looks at Myuute and thinks about that. "I didn't consider looking at it like that."

Myuute smiles and takes a stressful breath. "I should go back on my shift. Thank you for listening to Tyuule. I am going to try and see if something else is bothering Miloslav."

"I need to finish up here and start making dinner," She said. "I finally got my own room."

The second and third floor of the Apex bar are apartments, most of them are for the staff. So far, she has been living with Delilah, both are used to living in cramped quarters, so it never was a problem. Bailey was always deployed on one mission or another. When he gets back from the war, she usually has to find another place to live so they can be together. Now she finally got her own room with her own stuff.

"That's great Tyuule," Myuute said. "I will have to see it sometime, but I have to get back to work. See yeah."

She waves goodbye to Myuute as she walks away. She takes a deep breath as she cheers herself up. "Why can't things go back in being simple?"

After spending a few hours at the market, she heads back to Apex Liberty.

She passes the Alnus government tax building. That is the one thing she hates the most. Everything has a tax on it. All the services and buildings she saw before you had to pay a tax to use, excluding the public toiletry.

Her home country did not have taxes. They did not need any. They did not have fancy buildings or the need to employ large forces. The only reason they ever had currency was to trade with the outside world.

She understands why they need to tax. To fund the war and security, to provide the food and all these amazing luxuries cost money. Sadera was the same thing. You cannot build a massive civilization without taxes. She just hates it.

She sees Apex and her apartment window. Before she crosses the street, her noise picks up a smell.

She starts to sniff, smelling whatever that smell is before. "This… is strange."

Her ears hear something down the alley, so she looks. She sees this catboy. She saw the boy being chased in the clothes washing market.

That is when she sees this Human man with the boy. It is a French soldier kneeling to the kid, handing the catboy some candy. She can tell by the flag patch on his arm.

She has seen that sight before. So far, she has seen NATO soldiers be very friendly to kids. They enjoy giving them free candy and toys, playing games with them. She is fine with that, finding it adorable but something seems off.

After the French soldier handed the candy bar to the kid, he led the kid away around the corner. Alnus has many different paths that go between the buildings and it is known for the children to run around. She has seen soldiers escorting kids back to their homes after it was discovered that some were being kidnapped.

Before she starts walking away, she takes another big sniff and then her eyes widen. The smell triggered a past memory. It is a hallucination powder that non magic users use to hide their true skin. Assassins or spies usually use them. What you do is spray the powder on your intended target and they see whatever you want them to see. It is not that effective, so the assassin dresses the part to help trick their victims.

She wonders if the Other Worlders are using it but then she remembers their idiots when it comes to these things. With all their power and knowledge, they are like children and learning new things.

The only reason she knows about the hallucination powder is that she had to fight off those assassins before.

"Why would a French soldier use a hallucination powder on a kid?" She asked herself. "Wait… I smelled it, that means I was poisoned."

She realizes that there is no reason one of the Other Worlders police would do that. It must be a spy of some kind, maybe taking the kid.

She drops her grocery bag and then rushes down the alleyway. She turns the corner and sees the French Soldier and the catboy. The catboy seemed to be passed out, laying on the ground. This confirmed it for her, for some reason this soldier is trying to take this kid.

"Hey!" She yells.

She sees the soldier look up confused. He did not get a chance to react because she moved so quickly. Being a Warrior Bunny, she is faster and stronger than the average Human male.

She ramps right into the French soldiers and they start to struggle. "What are you doing? Why are you doing this?"

As they start to roll around and she blocks some reaction punches from him. She punches him in the head trying to knock him out. As she grabs him something feels wrong. He does not feel like a Human male. This male seems to be thicker, heavier.

She uses her claws and cuts his helmet off. Once the helmet is off, she looks closely at this man, trying to identify him.

What she sees is half Human, half something else. Her vision of his face slowly started to clear up and the Human parts started to fade away. She can tell she has been lightly poisoned by the hallucination powder.

She punches him in the head again, making his nose bleed. She looks closely as she sees the powder lose its effect. She only got a contact high because she was trying to smell it.

Her eyes widen at what she sees, a Haryo or what the Americans call them, a pigman or Man-Bear-Pig.

She has a long history with the Haryo Tribe. They live around where her kingdom once laid. They tried to assassinate her before and tried to infiltrate her people. They want to erase her kind for Falmart because of how they breed.

The Haryo Tribe are masterminds in tricks, staying in the shadows to claim power. But when confronted, they become cowards. All you have to do with them is face them to defeat them. What is bothering her now is why are they here and doing over here? This Haryo is far away from home.

She does not understand why they hate her people but right at this moment she doesn't care. The Haryo Tribe must be the reason why the children have been taken from Alnus. She does not not know why they want them, but she will end it.

She raises her left hand and releases her claws, planning on ending its life.

Before she could end him, an arrow cuts her arm, making her bleed. She jumps back and grabs the kid. Using her ears, she detects where the arrow came from.

Looking up to where the arrow came from, she sees a shadowy figure with pointy ears on the roof. She can make out who it is, just assuming it is an elf.

She looks back and sees the Haryo get up and runs off as he covers himself. His ally on the roof disappears.

She thought about chasing them, but she does not know how many there are. If there are two of them then there could be more.

She grabs the kid, ignoring her wounds and runs out of the alley, going to find help.

***

--- Schwarz Goat Path, Farmhouse ---

February 7th, 2026

Yao Haa Dushi is sitting in the back of Sharpe's metal wagon that they call vehicles or JLTVs. She finds it strange how these people find new labels for things that already have names.

She looks around and sees many of the team waving goodbye to this farming family. Apparently, that stopped here before and the farmers took care of them. As payment, they spent a day rebuilding their home and property(3).

So far, she has found this group very strange. Human soldiers from another world. They do not act like Imperial soldiers and that has been confusing for her. It seems like they are far friendlier than soldiers she is used to.

Then there is a High Elf. It has been a long time since she dealt with Tuka Luna Marceau's kind, nothing personal but shocked that she tags around soldiers. Then there is the young blue haired mage named Lelei La Lalena and she is reading from this thin glowing device called a tablet. The most baffling member of the group is the Apostle Rory Mercury.

So far both Rory and Tuka have been getting her caught up on all their adventures. So far they only got to the Battle of Havcristen and how they fought against Krysist, how Sarah was kidnaped, and how they defeated the Imperial Army there(4).

She looks out the window and sees all the vehicles driving in the convoy. As they left Alnus, Major Sharpe explained that three Vanguard teams are heading to her village for escort. They are guarding five big trucks.

While she is uncomfortable with these strange military vehicles heading to her village, Sharpe said the trucks are for transporting her people to Alnus.

Their first interaction was Sharpe arresting her. While she doesn't fully trust him yet, the one thing she has noticed the most is all three girls' loyalty to him. While she worships Hardy and serves Giselle, she respects Rory.

Based on the story Rory has been with these people for a long time and if she is willing to place her trust in him, she is willing to give him a chance.

What is bothering her is that Rory is the one helping them. Her people have been begging Hardy for help, waiting for Giselle to come and slay the dragons and return their lands. She wonders why her goddess' enemies is helping her people?

"So far you all have interesting adventures but why are you personally here?" She asked, confused about their motives.

Tuka puts down her phone and looks at her. "They helped free my people, so I followed them around and helped out. I am representing my people as we rebuild."

She then looks to Rory as she sits there cleaning her Halbert. "How about you Rory the Reaper?"

Rory smiles hearing that. "Well for one, it has been the best fights I can remember. But I support what these people are doing. They are a nation of freedom and liberty and I want that to spread here. The era of kings and emperors must end for this world to prosper."

She thinks about that, finding it interesting that the Apostle of war, death, and darkness wants freedom and prosperity. "That sounds too good to be true."

Rory then crosses her legs and smiles. "It is an experience we all went through so it is hard to say it. I wondered if it was too good to be true but when we went to Earth Jackson here showed us one of their history museums. He and others have explained the bad stuff too. America was built on removing native people from their lands when first colonizing. How for the first two hundred years of their history they had slavery before abolishing it. None of that bothered me, I liked how honest he was. Politics do bad things and being a powerful one always ends up doing something stupid. Jackson here made sure we didn't only see the good things."

She blinks hearing that. What Rory said reminded her of the Empire. "How is that different from the Empire? It sounds like they are no better."

"You must remember, politics sucks no matter what," Rory states. "I had that thought when I first met them, but he saved Selina, the little girl you saw before. He saved some villages from the Flame Dragon."

"Then they saved Italica and everyone inside it," Lelei adds as she reads from her tablet. "And look at Alnus. No one is being oppressed. Some people there think they have been too soft on the population."

"Correct," Rory states. "The Empire has been around for over six hundred years and the United States has been around for over two hundred years. In the timespan, they ended slavery, spread the rights of man, fought to end discrimination. And most important is the idea of being an American. Lelei."

Lelei looks up from her tablet, slightly annoyed having to stop reading. "You know we have Humans, Elves, Cats or Nekos, Bunnies, and that we each have a label."

"Yes," She said.

"The word American does not apply to those standards," Lelei said. "As the Major explained it, the name American is an idea rather than a racial group. We cannot stop being Human, you and Tuka cannot stop being Elves. For them, it does not matter if you are white, black, or any other group, you are free under the law equally and you're an American. It is a choice and that's why it is attractive."

"Correct," Rory adds. "Both Lelei and me are American citizens because of all the work we did. Tuka here is still in the process."

For her, that was a lot to take in. "But that still doesn't explain how they are different."

Rory takes a deep breath as she thinks. "As the Empire grew, more and more people suffered and were oppressed. As America grew, more and more people were granted freedoms. That is the difference. Their ability to grow and change. To admit mistakes and learn from it or at least try to. Most governments would never do something like that."

"While not perfect, it is different," Rory said and then looks at Jackson and Andrew who are in the front seats. "And their people went through a massive shock when the Empire attacked them. While the Empire cannot beat them militarily, they fear this world. They are not accustomed to being attacked and I want to make sure they don't abandon their ways."

"Rory is quoting the Age of discovery," Lelei adds. "Or Age of Exploration, depending on what source you read. Their people are more advanced than anything we have ever seen but they seem to be new to other creatures in the Heavens."

She thinks about what Rory said. The Gate and that all life came through it is a common legend throughout Falmart. She has heard the stories herself and never put thought behind it. She finds it interesting that she and others have not put the two ideas together. That the Gate connects to other worlds from the heavens and others come here. Just like what is happening now.

"I only came up with this recently," Lelei continues, speaking very calmingly like she spent a lot of time thinking on the subject. "When we get back to Alnus I like to show you around the town. That will answer many of your questions. While we never had such ages, this is the second great age of exploration and discovery for them, and what scares them the most is how little they understand."

"Yup," Rory jumps in. "It is very adorable. They have a saying that history repeats itself unless you learn from it. Someone who has lived for nine hundred and sixty years-."

"Explains the wrinkles," Lelei states as she goes back to reading.

"Hey!" Rory yells.

"Hey!" Sharpe yells. "I am on the radio. Don't yell!"

"Sorry!" Rory says, looking directly at Sharpe. She then looks back at her.

What she just saw baffled her. An Apostle submitting to a Human man, even though Rory is impossibly stronger and faster than any Human, so she is surprised she would listen to him like this. She then smirks by that, finding it more trusting and comforting.

"Anyway, Lelei is right," Rory said. "We talked about it before during a girl's night. Their civilization is at a fork in the road, like the one the Empire once did. I like who they are now, and I don't want them to go down a dark path because they fear us."

"How Lelei explained it when I first came around is that they have powerful weapons, but they are like children learning about our world," Tuka said as she grabs her lude and lightly plays a few strings. "They are trying to have a good first impression, not repeating what happened on Earth, but they don't understand our world. As long as we help them, they will have nothing to fear and the bad pulses won't need to emerge."

"Pretty much," Rory said. "That's why I am here. I want them to win but I want them to win by who they are. Do not get me wrong they are not perfect. They will make mistakes; they will fall in the mud but as long as stand by their side they will stand strong. Falmart deserves a better world then what we Apostles can provide, and this is the best alternative we ever had."

Rory leans back in her seat and looks in front of the vehicle. "We are in this together and we need each other to better ourselves. Otherwise, both of us will fall into darkness, and not the sexy kind of darkness. Hardy darkness."

"That is very interesting," She said, placing her hand on her chin to think. That was a far greater answer then she expected. But as they all spoke, she could tell there was just more than just helping another country in their war effort. There seems to be something more personal otherwise why would they only follow Sharpe.

She looks over to Lelei.

Lelei keeps her head down as she presses the screen of her tablet. She is reading about astronomy, studying the different worlds in Sharpe's home. "I am here for knowledge. They have learned and seen so many things we took for granted. It has increased my magical abilities tenfold."

"I understand that," She replies. "But why astronomy? They're just stars."

Lelei stops and looks up at her. "You have no idea."

Rory reaches down and pats Lelei on the shoulder. "Down girl. You only found out like a week ago. Just explain."

Rory's reaction confused her but then she hears Lelei going on a rant about everything she recently learned. She claims that those bright lights in the heavens are other Flares like their own and that they have another world like theirs.

She laughed at that, finding that silly but as Lelei continued about the other two worlds she saw that orbits around Flare, and then she showed her pictures of these seven other worlds that orbit their Flare.

As Lelei explains she just listened, struggling to believe what she is hearing. It quickly became clear that this was not a joke or some cultish speaking nonsense. That her world is far bigger than she expected, that Uros is round and not flat.

She decided not to argue and trust what Lelei is saying. She does not seem like the one who will lie for power but a seeker of the truth. One thing that has been bothering her is them calling Falmart, Uros. "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Lelei said. "You don't need to ask; you can ask us anything without needing to ask for permission."

"We are like sisters after all," Tuka said with a giggle.

"Why do you say Uros?" She asked. "I think I heard that name before but why?"

"That is kind of our fault," Lelei said. "Legend says Uros was once a god, the god of creation. I have been researching him with what I have. My masters in Rondel have been researching him under my request and they haven't found much."

"In the beginning, they called Falmart the Special Region but hated that name," Lelei continues. "They still call Falmart, Falmart. That is the name of our continent after all. They call over this world Uros. They separate the two."

"Yeah," Rory adds. "We were talking about this subject and Uros and Idos were mentioned and then they started calling our world Uros(5)."

"Ok," She said. "Assuming I don't get arrested again, I will be happy to look around Alnus. My people have always been isolationist. We live deep in the Roldom Valley and as long as people left us alone, we left them alone. It worked for centuries but the Flame Dragon pushed us out."

"And let's hope we can do something," Tuka said.

***

--- Roseisle Forest, between Rondel and Knappnai, Dun-Kat Haryo Facility ---

February 7th, 2026

Isaac Duncan is being dragged through the dark chambers. He was taken by these kids close to Camp Galileo in the High Hills. He was on a research mission with the rest of his expedition and he and his other female scientist were taken.

Then this pig-like creature who called themselves the Haryo Tribe took him away, leaving her alone. He has no idea what happened to her, but he cannot think about that right now.

He has no idea where and how he got to this facility. The place is dark, the only light he could see is from the torchlight. He assumes this is a dungeon based on what he sees. When he first arrived at this world, him and other scientists got a briefing on some of the basics of pre-medieval society.

When he got here, they stripped him naked and are now taking him to this table. He sees this large pit of fire that looks like a forge at a blacksmith.

"Please let me go," He begs. "I will tell you anything."

"You will tell us everything," One of the Haryo's said. "Your kind is so weak without your weapons. But we have other plans."

"Strap him down on the table," A different Haryo said.

He looks at them both scared out of his mind. He has been against the war, seeing it as another Western war against weaker people. Just like the 2003 Iraq invasion, Syria, Libya, and all the others. He has heard the barbaric stories of these militia groups doing to the locals and westerners.

But right now, he wishes those American soldiers blowing the doors open and storming in here to save him. He forgets all his past criticism and prays to God that they would just come in here and save him.

As they drag him into this large room, he can smell blood everywhere, rotting body parts in jars and chests everywhere. He can see three others of these Haryos standing there, one next to that forge.

As he begs for his life, beginning to cry uncontrollably, they strap him down headfirst on this table. He can hear them saying something and laughing, which just scares him more.

He looks to his right and sees the pigman grab this branching tool. They walked over until the pig stands right next to him.

"It is ok to scream, we like it when they scream," The Haryo said.

He then feels this extreme hot burning as the branch touches his right shoulder. He lets out a loud painful scream, his body struggling to move because of the tight straps. "What are you doing?"

"We are labeling you," One of them said. "So, we know what project you will be for."

"Don't tell him," Another one says with a chuckle. "They don't need to know our plans."

The pigman moves the brand away and the burning sting stops. The others unstrap him and start dragging him along with his feet dragging.

His body feels exhausted, it being a long journey. He just tries to picture being back home, safe, and secure with his family. He starts to wonder if he will ever see them again.

As they drag him, he forgets how long he has been dragged, just focusing on his memories. He looks up as they stop and sees this cell. The door opens and he gets tossed inside.

He slowly sits up as the door is closed and locked. He looks around and sees seven other people sitting around the walls, most women but two of them are men.

He remembers the reason they picked him was that he was a man, and this place needed more men. That the other female scientist was going to be sent to another facility.

As he looks closer, they are all naked but all Human. Each one with a brand on their backs, some with two brands. He sees three different designs of branches, making him believe that they are labels meaning something. Like labeling planets during a science project.

That is when he realizes what is happening. This place is a research facility of some kind.

"Are you new?" This woman asked in broken tired English. Her eyes look like she has seen some barbaric things.

"Ye… yes," He replies. "I was just taken."

As he looks at them more closely, some are white, some are black, and one is Latino. That is when he realizes these people came from Philadelphia during the Empire invasion. They must have been taken as the other slaves.

"Are you all from Philadelphia?" He asked as he sat up, trying to control himself.

He looks around as no one responds at first.

That is when this black man speaks. "I forgot the name of that city. Are you not from there?"

Then this other woman speaks. "We all were. They took us off the streets when they attacked."

"Wait…" Someone else asked. "Didn't you come from Philadelphia? You said you were recently taken?"

He looks around and he can see the broken souls of each one. They are only halfway listening like they gave up hope in life. If they were taken from Philadelphia that means they probably were here since the beginning. He tries to think of the horrors they have witnessed but struggles to come up with anything.

He takes a deep breath as he is being careful of what he is going to say. "I was taken recently. I don't remember how long ago. Maybe a week?"

"How is that possible?" The Latino woman asked. "We're all that is left."

He looks at her and takes another breath. "No. Currently, the United States is here on Falmart fighting the Empire and these pig beasts. They retook control of Philadelphia and invaded this world. Right now, they are fighting through this world. They have a massive beachhead and have been fighting."

At first, he sees this confused look on their faces, not believing what he said. "And it is not just them. Britain, Frances, rest of NATO are here. It has been tough, but they took the fight to these bastards."

Hearing that second part seems to push what he said into their heads. They finally understand that they are not alone here in this world, but their countrymen are here too, fighting.

"Why haven't they saved us yet?" One asked.

"I… they don't know about this place I think," He said, knowing it will break what little hope he just gave them. "But they found others like you and are searching. They are trying."

He looks around again. "What is going on here?"

"We are cattle, nothing more," One said.

"They told us there was no hope in going home," This man said. "That we are here to serve them during their research. We do not understand why but they think we have some magical gift because of our cell phones. I don't understand."

What he said made no sense to him. What magical gift? What would that have to do with a cellphone? There is no magic on earth so why would they keep them, prisoner, for that? He wonders if these Haryo think that Earth technology is magic.

"Ok," He mumbles. "Is this everyone?"

There are a long silent moment before anyone answered the question. "There were more. Most have been chopped up and bled out."

"They have been dissecting us," Another one said. "Trying to see what is in us. They have been trying to blend their blood with ours."

"Interesting," He said.

"Interesting?" The Latino women said. "They see us nothing as caged cattle. They test us like animals. They care nothing of us. To make sure they don't run out of us, they make our breed. There have already been three pregnancies. There is another room."

"I meant no disrespect," He said. "I am just trying to understand."

He can see that these Haryo do see them like cattle. From what he understands, there are no native Humans here, everyone here seems to be American slaves they took from Earth. This is targeted and his kidnapping was a targeted attack.

He was going to ask why they are trying to breed more children, but he answered his own question. It makes sense, scientists do that on Earth to keep a healthy pool of test subjects on animals. If these Haryo think American DNA is special somehow, they won't want to lose their supply of cattle and it must be very hard to go hunt for more. He concludes he was an exception in being taken.

"Where are the children?" He asked.

"So far there have been three kids, but they took them," A different woman replies. "For research reasons. We don't know what."

His body shakes a bit as he tries to wrap his mind to this new information. He just assumed it was his country's propaganda on how brutal this world is. He knew they conducted barbaric acts like slavery but this, this is another level he just assumed was a lie.

Before he asks his next question, he hears this man screaming. He looks out the cell, being the only one who does. He sees these two Haryos dragging this American man down the hall.

The man is begging for his life in a desperate panicked tone. They walk into this large room and the door closes.

"What is in there?" He asked.

"We don't fully understand but they try to merge our blood or another body part together," The black man said. "We rarely see anyone come back."

"They are trying to merge our DNA with theirs," He said, answering his own question. "I was a scientist before I was taken. I do not know why but…. I don't know. We need to escape."

"If there was a way, you think we wouldn't have tried?" This other man said. "We are stuck here with no escape. Our only hope is for our people to find us."

He sits up and drags himself to the wall and leans back. His body and his mind is tired. He knows what that man said is correct, their only hope is to be rescued.

Reference:

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Map: https://www.wattpad.com/846518959-gate-wotw-pictures-alnus-regional-map

(1) Chapter 136

(2) Chapter 123

(3) Chapter 125

(4) Chapter 86 – 90

(5) Chapter 30

Editor:

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LucerFier