Fallen World: The Complete Trilogy

by Tom Jones

  The three anthros walked back to the parking lot where they came from, and they all stayed relatively silent. Arcades tried to make some conversation to make the walk a bit more lively, “Hey Jackie, do you remember my gray Ford Mustang? I’m not sure if you’ve seen it or not.” The vixen did in fact remember seeing it when Bocchino and Jim got her out of Europe, “I remember it going on the boat back to America.” Arcades was not expecting the vixen to remember the vehicle, “Oh really? Jason and I weren’t really there for the ride. We had a different way we got stateside. Did Bobby or Jim ever tell you what happened to us?” Jackie stated what she remembered, “I know that you both got taken away by those black cats.” The fox decided to tell the vixen a bit more information, “Yeah, some Foundation operatives found us and took us from those cats. They killed at least one of them if I remember correctly.”

  Jackie knew what it was like to be in the Foundation, “How long did they keep you?” Arcades replied, “We didn’t stay there for a long time. I escaped and got Jason out not too long after they brought us to their facility in the U.S.. After we both escaped, we got detained by the police, and that’s why you guys had to stop and pick us up. We didn’t technically do anything wrong, but they still detained us. I guess you could say it had a bit to do with us being anthros and at least one of us still chained up. It could also have to do with the fact that I was armed with a gun I got from the Foundation’s facility.” The vixen became curious, “Why did that happen?” Arcades filled in some more information for Jackie, but he was not sure as to exactly what the vixen was asking about, “Well, they put us in these restraints that used different keys. I was only able to find the keys to open mine, and they didn’t work on Jason’s set. The cops had to cut them off when they detained us. They held us until you guys stopped by to pick us up. Basically, we were there for that entire week you were on the boat coming back to America.”

  Jackie was a bit curious still, “Why did they keep you in jail? They didn’t charge you for anything, did they?” The fox shook his head, “No, but they did not want to let us go either. I’m not exactly sure why it had to go that way, but I guess that’s what happens if you’re an anthro.” The vixen, being a red fox herself, knew how it was to be both an anthro and a red fox in a world politically dominated by humans. She then spoke to Arcades yet again, “I remember that Bobby was making trouble with you. He’s not around anymore?” The fox replied, though he knew he already said that Bocchino was no longer part of his crew, “He left by himself. He wanted nothing more to do with me. Jim’s gone too, but he was more interested in just making sure that the Foundation was dealt with. He wasn’t really someone who wanted to be friends with us.” Though the vixen definitely knew that Bocchino was not in the most robust relationship with Arcades from what she could see, she never quite understood why, “What was Bobby’s issue with you, Kurt?” Arcades took a deep breath, and he tried to piece together the best way to explain the situation to Jackie. The fox attempted to speak at first, but he stopped himself, “Well, you see… The thing is… Uhh…”

  Arcades knew that he would be unable to explain the situation without describing what Jason had attempted to do, and the fox was not ready to just disclose such information if the wolf did not want Arcades to bring up the topic again. Before proceeding further with answering the question, the fox decided to ask Jason’s consent for him to tell the vixen, “Jason, is it alright with you if I say what happened?” The wolf already knew what Arcades was talking about despite the fox’s use of rather vague terminology to refer to a specific event. Having the event in mind, the wolf did hesitate for a split second, but he decided that he would give the fox consent to divulge the information, “I won’t mind, mate.” Despite the wolf’s response, Arcades was still not sure if the wolf would be embarrassed or offended, “Are you sure?” Jason replied again, but he did so less than the time it took for him to reply to the first question, “I’m alright with it. You told me I don’t have to feel guilty about it.”

  The fox addressed the wolf’s last point first, “It’s not really a matter of you feeling guilty about it. It’s just that it’s something that you don’t just tell people that often. Like take me for instance: I don’t have to feel guilty about what I do, but what happens to me isn’t necessarily a stranger’s business.” Jason then said, “She’s not a stranger, mate. She’s also been in the Foundation, so it can’t be that far from her comprehension.” Arcades replied, “I know she’s not a stranger. You know what, how about we wait until we’re in the car for this? I don’t really want to say too much in earshot of the general public. They wouldn’t understand it without the underlying context, and that would take way too long for me to get into. This is neither the place, nor is it the time to have this type of discussion.” Jason decided that Arcades was probably right, and that it would be better to get out of public earshot before speaking about personal events. He did not want to feel embarrassed if somebody eavesdropping heard Arcades reveal the event which eventually led to the discrepancy between him and Bocchino.

  The trio fell silent for the next couple of minutes as they reached the fox’s Ford Mustang, and the fox reached into his pocket to pull out the key fob. As the fox unlocked the doors, he spoke, “Our guest here gets the passenger seat. Jason, do you want to drive, or would you rather sit in the back?” The wolf responded to the choice the fox presented him with, “I guess I can drive on the way back. You drove me here.” The fox was willing to accept the wolf’s choice, so he entered the vehicle first by crawling into the rather small rear seat. The coupe was not really made to accommodate more than two passengers, but it was able to hold a third. Jackie entered the passenger seat, and she immediately found Jason’s boots left directly in front of the seat, “Are these yours, Jason?” The wolf looked over, and he could see the boots that the vixen was referring to. Jason nodded and took a seat in the driver seat, “Yeah. I reckon I should put those on before we get going.” Jackie handed the boots to the wolf, and Jason began to put them back on after putting the socks he left in his boots over his feet. Arcades handed the wolf the key fob, and Jason accepted it once he finished putting his footwear on.

  After all three anthros put on their seatbelts, Jason started the vehicle and began to drive out of the parking lot. Jason was not exactly sure where they were going at first, but Arcades took out his phone and asked, “Anything in particular you guys want to go for dinner? Or would you rather wait until we get closer to Foley?” Before anybody could reply, Arcades amended his question by rephrasing it, “How about I ask this instead: How hungry are both of you?” Jackie was the first to reply, “I can wait.” Jason followed shortly after, “Yeah, I’m not too hungry right now.” The fox gave a nod and then said, “Sure thing. All we need to do is just head west, get on the interstate, and we’ll be back in Foley in no time.” Jason did ask the fox a question, for he was not too familiar with the area they were in, “Erm… What’s the highway called, mate?” The fox replied rather quickly, “It’s Highway 98. All we need to do is just stay on it heading west, and it’ll take us straight to Foley.” It did not take Jason too long to spot the sign pointing him towards the highway which Arcades mentioned, “Yeah, I think I see it now.”

  After a few minutes of driving, the fox remembered that he still should probably tell the vixen about what had happened with him to create the discourse he had with Bocchino. The fox asked the wolf one last time for his consent, “Jason, I’ll ask you this one last time: Are you alright with me telling her about it?” The wolf nodded and spoke, “Go ahead, mate.” Arcades took a deep breath and got the vixen’s attention, “Jackie, are you ready?” The vixen turned to her left enough that she was able to view the fox, “Sure.” Arcades began to speak, “Back in 2028, about a couple weeks before we encountered you again, Jason found out about my little -- interest in being restrained. He assumed that I was in it for sexual reasons, so he attempted to engage in sexual activity with me. Bobby found out and strongly urged that
I get rid of Jason, but I wanted to give him a second chance. Quite frankly, I really can’t blame Jason for making the assumption in the first place. However, things aren’t always as they appear, so it’s easy for things to get mixed up. Anyways, I declined Bobby’s suggestion, and he then went on to assume I was in a homosexual relationship with Jason. This wasn’t true, but he still held onto it and wouldn’t let it go. After we took down the Foundation, he left our fold and we haven’t really seen him since. All we know is that he’s doing construction. Other than that, he’s gone, and we don’t talk to him anymore.”

  After the fox finished speaking, he waited to see what the vixen had to say in response. Jackie did reply after a few seconds of silence, “Wow. I didn’t know that’s what had happened.” Arcades gave a few quick nods and continued speaking, “The bad thing is that it happened in the middle of this Foundation issue. Bobby was more worried about dealing with us than dealing with the Foundation. You saw how he was when he was here with us. Anyways, it’s not that I can really blame Bobby for making that sort of assumption, either, but like I said, sometimes the truth is more than what meets the eye.” Jackie turned her attention to something specific which Arcades did say during his initial explanation, “You like being tied up, Kurt?” Arcades took a deep breath and his face did show a bit of embarrassment, but he decided to go on and answer the question anyways, “Yeah…” The next thing Jackie said was hardly a surprise for the fox, knowing how the Foundation operated, “Me too.” Arcades began to slowly shake his head, “Oh boy…” Jackie was wondering why the fox was acting the way he was, “What’s the matter, Kurt?” Arcades replied as he placed his thumb and index finger on the center of his face, “I just -- I don’t really like telling more people about all of that. It’s very embarrassing for me.” The vixen was not sure what the fox’s problem was, “Why? What’s wrong with it?” The fox shook his head, “I’m not doing anything wrong, but it’s just something weird in my opinion. I don’t really like for other people to have to deal with it.” Jason could tell that the fox was becoming uncomfortable, so he intervened, “Hey Kurt, isn’t that supposed to be a CDI jet?”

  Arcades did not entirely hear what the wolf said, “What’s that, Jason?” The wolf pointed at an object in the sky while he still continued to drive, “Over there. Is that a CDI jet?” Since the car’s roof was in the way, the fox had to duck down before he was able to see the flying object. Once he viewed the object, he was able to recognize it, “It’s an F-35, but I don’t think that’s one CDI has. It looks like it’s gray, and CDI doesn’t fly gray planes that I know of. I’m thinking it’s an aircraft from Eglin Air Force Base. That base ain’t too far from here.” The wolf then said, “I think I saw a few of those when we took on that last Foundation facility. Do you remember that?” Arcades nodded and spoke, “Yeah, they had some of those on their carrier, but I don’t think that one is the same variant. The C model is compatible with the carrier, but the A and B variants are not. I don’t think Eglin has any F-35Cs, so I’d say that one is probably an F-35A. The B model is used by the US Marines, and Eglin is not a Marines base. Anyways, the A variant is the same type that the Royal Australian Air Force has. Though if we were closer to the jet, I’d probably be able to give you a more confident answer as to what variant it is. The F-35C has larger wings than the other two variants.” Once Jason saw that he had distracted both foxes from the previous topic, he deemed his goal to be a success. The wolf replied, “That’s very interesting, Kurt. How about we think about what we want to eat when we get back to Alabama, yeah?” Arcades agreed with Jason, “I’ll go and see what our options are.” The fox pulled out his phone, and he began to look for restaurants they could go to.

  Chapter 6

  Learning the Ropes

  The rest of the car ride back to Foley was not too eventful. The group stopped at a local steakhouse on the way back right before crossing over state lines, and they did not encounter any issues on the remaining trip back to Arcades’ home. There was some light conversation, but it was just standard smalltalk with nothing too important as the point of discussion. By the time the group had arrived at their destination, it was just about nightfall, and the sky had only just a tad bit of sunlight left. After opening the garage door, Jason parked the Ford Mustang in the same spot where he and Arcades would have normally parked it. Since the Toyota 4Runner was still in the garage, there was only one spot where the wolf could park. After the wolf parked the vehicle, he disabled the engine and announced to the two foxes in the car that they had arrived, “We’re here.” Since the Mustang only had two doors, Arcades had to wait for one of the other two anthros to vacate their seats before he would be able to disembark from the vehicle for himself. The fox looked to Jackie and said, “Ladies first.” The vixen gave a slight chuckle as she opened the passenger door and stepped out of the vehicle. Arcades was now able to exit the vehicle for himself since the passenger seat was empty, but he decided to wait for Jason to vacate his seat as well.

  The wolf stepped out of the vehicle, and he closed the door behind him. Jackie did not close the door on her way out, so all Arcades had to do now is simply step over the center console and exit the vehicle. The fox carefully stepped over the console; he did not want to leave a footprint on it. Even though the fox’s feet were not that dirty, he did not want to make his car look dirty. He wanted his vehicle to last as long as possible, so he had to take good care of it to ensure its longevity. After the fox was able to step out of the car, he closed the passenger door, and he turned to see that Jackie was looking around the garage. The vixen commented on the state of the garage, “Looks pretty tidy in here. You guys keep it organized?” Arcades nodded, “Yeah. It’s easier to find what you’re looking for if everything is in a set location. We don’t keep much in the garage anyways. How about you follow us into the main building?” The door connecting the garage to the rest of the building was always unlocked; there was not really a need to keep it locked since nobody would really have access to the garage without having access to the vehicles on the inside. Jason opened up the door, and he entered. Arcades, on the other hand, opened the door, but he did not enter into the building. Instead, he waited for Jackie to enter while still holding the door for her. Once the vixen entered, the fox entered for himself and closed the door behind him.

  Jason flipped on the lights, and he turned around to wait for the other two foxes. Arcades walked down the hallway, and he directed Jackie to enter his storefront, “Come check this out.” The fox entered his main storefront, and he turned on the lights that would illuminate many of the various firearms he had on the walls. When the vixen entered the area, she stood in awe at all of the weapons the fox had on display, “Wow. That’s -- a lot.” Arcades smiled and said, “Most of them are for sale. The only ones that aren’t are the ones that I can’t sell.” The vixen was prepared to ask which guns Arcades could not sell, but she noticed a familiar looking weapon on the wall, “That gun looks like the one the Foundation guys had.” Arcades realized that Jackie was referring to the XMP-1. The fox approached the unique weapon and started speaking, “That’s because it is. We got that one from the Foundation. They call it the XMP-1. It’s really two guns in one: You’ve got your standard assault rifle on the bottom, and then you have an airburst grenade launcher on the top. It’s based on this one prototype weapon called the OICW. I’m not even sure if they still make these now since the Foundation lost their facilities.”

  The vixen studied the weapon with her eyes, “I remember they had those when I was in the Foundation. They looked so big and scary.” Arcades took the weapon off of the wall, “I can assure you that the weapon is not as scary as you may think. How about you hold it? Would that make you feel any better about it?” The vixen was rather intimidated by the look of the weapon, but she was willing to hold it, “I-I guess so.” Arcades could tell that Jackie was rather fearful of the weapon, and he began to wonder what all the Foundation did to her when she was in their custody. The fox h
eld out the weapon, and the vixen took it off of him after a brief moment of hesitation. Jackie found the weapon to be heavier than she was expecting, but she was not even really sure what to expect in the first place since she had never held a firearm before. As the vixen tried to get a grip on the weapon that felt comfortable, she asked the fox a question, “So, how much does this one go for?” Arcades replied, “I can’t sell it -- not to any individual, that is. That weapon was made after May of 1986, and the law states that you cannot register any new fully-automatic weapon to an individual after that date. I could sell that gun to a company that holds the proper FFL and SOT clearance, but I’m not sure who would even buy it. I mainly have it there for display. I can’t find any ammunition for the airburst launcher, but the standard assault rifle part of that uses the same ammo that many of my other guns use.”

  The vixen did not understand the bulk of what Arcades told her, but she was beginning to feel a bit less intimidated by the weapon now that she found that it would not hurt her. Perhaps Jackie felt more at ease since Arcades was there rather than a member of the Omega Foundation’s Internal Security Group, but the fox’s presence did not entirely eliminate the vixen’s fear. After a few moments, Jackie relinquished the XMP-1 back to Arcades. The fox took the weapon back and questioned, “Done already?” The vixen did not give a reply, but Arcades did hang the weapon back on the wall where he took it from. After making sure the rifle was properly held by pegs on the wall, he asked the vixen, “These guns don’t scare you, do they?” Jackie looked down towards the ground and said, “They used those to scare us in the Foundation -- to make us do what they wanted.” The fox brought his hand underneath the vixen’s chin, and he lightly lifted her head up until her eyes met his, “They get their power from fear. Once you see through their act, they’re powerless. They want you to believe that the Foundation is something that you cannot escape from, but look what happened. We made it out of the Foundation, and we lived to tell the tale.”