Fallen World: The Complete Trilogy

Home > Other > Fallen World: The Complete Trilogy > Page 155
Fallen World: The Complete Trilogy Page 155

by Tom Jones


  The wolf continued to speak to the fox, “I’m very thankful that you were willing to be as patient with me as you were. I know I’m far from perfect, and that I’ve definitely done some things in my life which I definitely should not have done.” Arcades replied, “The good thing is that we can be forgiven for whatever we’ve done. That’s why I don’t discriminate if someone does something perceived as being minor or major. In God’s eyes, one small sin is just as worthy for damnation as something we’d consider to be more severe.” Jason then said, “Of course. If we could be good enough for ourselves, then we wouldn’t need a Savior. You know, that’s something that I haven’t heard before I met you. I used to think that all you had to do was just be a ‘good person’ to get to a position where you’d be deserving of salvation. However, after hearing your perspective and reading the Bible for myself, I know that’s plainly false.”

  Arcades gave a small nod and said, “Unfortunately, a lot of people also think the more popular view is the correct one. It’ll truly be sad when they come to find out that their good deeds are worthless in the eyes of a Perfect Judge.” Jason brought the conversation back to the reason why he started it in the first place, “That’s right. Kurt, I know you’re not perfect either, and I’m not expecting you to be perfect. I just want you to take it easy. I know that all three of us have been out on the move for this week and that we’re in a bit of a rut right now, but thinking about what could happen won’t make it any better for us. We should be focusing on what we can do right now. If we happen to run into any more interesting people, then we’ll deal with them as we need to. Otherwise, we should be worried about what we’re able to do right now. Kurt, we made it through the Foundation before, and I’m sure that we’d be able to do it again if we really needed to do so.” Arcades straightened his back and turned his head towards Jason, “You’re right.” Jason said, “I know it’s been stressful for us. Mate, I’ve been here with ya practically this entire time. I just think that we’ll all have an easier time of reaching the best possible outcome if we don’t get bogged down thinking about what could happen. I know that the Foundation is very real, but what can we really do about them? They’ve plenty more personnel and resources than we’ll probably ever know, but even with all of the odds stacked up against us those two years ago, we were still able to come out of it.”

  The fox nodded his head, “Sometimes, it’s just these situations that just make me feel a bit… What’s the word? Demoralized? You know that I don’t like feeling helpless.” Jason patted Arcades on his back, “Yeah, I know what you mean, mate. But I’ve always reminded myself that even if the worst possible scenario were to occur, then we’d still be alright in the end. We shouldn’t fear the man who can destroy the body, but the God who can destroy the body and the soul.” Arcades perked up a slightly larger smile when he heard the wolf make the Biblical reference, “Too true…” Jason still continued speaking, “Technically, aren’t we all helpless since we can’t save ourselves? We still have to rely on the Blood of Jesus to atone for all of our many sins. Without that trust in God, then there’s really no hope for us at all. At least God’s perfect, and that He’ll always be there to save us. I know it’s tough for us to remember that when times get rough, but it’ll make things easier for us if we remember that we still have a Savior who is going to let us live for eternity. An eternity free from evil, free from sin, free from hardship, and everything else that we have to deal with while we’re here on Earth. We were not made for this world.”

  Arcades was rather happy that Jason was the one to give him this reminder which he felt he needed at this point and time, “I’m glad you’re the one telling me this, Jason.” The wolf drew himself closer to the fox, “Don’t mention it, mate. I know that we all need a good talk like this every once in a while. Even the best of us still need it at one point or another. One thing you’ve taught me was to always be patient, and after I realized the truth of the Gospel, I don’t think anybody can be as patient as the Lord Himself.” Arcades placed his left arm around the wolf’s shoulders, and he said, “I’m glad to hear that, Jason.” The wolf smiled at the fox and said, “So, are you feeling better now, Kurt?” Arcades gave a confident nod, “Yeah.” The fox fell silent for a few seconds, but he spoke once more, “I think you did a pretty good job giving us this little session of church right here, don’t you think?” The wolf brought the fox in for a hug, “There’s a time the responsibility comes around, don’t you think? I still don’t forget that one night when you held that little church session two years ago in that motel.” After the two anthros embraced for a good moment, Jason gave one more suggestion, “So, how about we go and see what we can find in this house now?” Arcades, now feeling better, gave another confident nod, “I’m with you. Let’s go for it.”

  The two anthros set out to search the house for anything that they found notable. Arcades and Jason checked every room within the house, the general vicinity surrounding the house, and they even checked the attic. All the while, Jackie was following the two anthros to most of the places they went to check, but she still did not have much to say. The vixen mainly just wanted to stay close enough to the fox and the wolf just in case they needed to do something to help her out again. Fortunately for the three anthros, nobody else arrived at the house, and since the house was secluded enough from outsiders, Arcades and Jason were free to search the house without needing to worry about being caught by anybody. For a great deal of their search, the anthros found nothing too out of the ordinary. Though they did find a few firearms and other tactical equipment, Arcades did not consider the items he found to be very special. After all, the fox practically lived his entire life around weapons and tactical gear, so he was fairly used to the sight.

  The fox even made an effort to express his complaint for a lack of weapon variety to the wolf as they started wrapping up their search towards the end, “Man, it’s just an HK45. I was expecting something better like a Mark 23 or a USP .45. Y’know, if you’re gonna get an HK product, why not get something that’s a bit more -- unique?” The wolf shrugged, “Well, I don’t reckon they spent too much time trying to decide which product’s the more unique one. I’m pretty sure they were more concerned with what they could get at all. Besides, didn’t you say that HK stuff was pretty good off in terms of quality?” Arcades knew that he did tell Jason about how he liked firearms products by Heckler & Koch, “Yeah, I did. The HK45 isn’t any bad, but I was just wishing that I’d see something a bit more unique here. Heck, why not have something completely off the wall like a CZ or something? A CZ isn’t really too special when you think about it, but I’d say they wouldn’t be something I could picture the Foundation supplying their guys with.”

  The wolf decided that he should bring the conversation back to the topic at hand, “Besides these guns, we didn’t find anything actually useful, did we?” Arcades shook his head as the two anthros proceeded to move back into the main room. Jackie was still following the two anthros, but she kept a couple feet of distance and also kept her mouth shut. The fox said, “No, we didn’t. It sucks.” Jason recalled passing by a laptop a few times during their search, “Did you ever check the laptop?” Arcades remembered the computer which the wolf was mentioning, “No, did you?” The wolf shook his head, “I thought you were going to search it.” The fox gave the wolf the reason as to why he neglected to check the computer, “Probably password protected anyways. If you’re going to have this place be absolutely spotless and without evidence, then I’m pretty sure that you’d have the common sense to log out of your computer when you get up.” Jason and Arcades both came into the room which contained the laptop in question. Jackie followed her companions, and she kept her gaze fixated on the computer: It was a black computer with the Acer logo directly underneath the display.

  The laptop’s display was off, and Arcades was now looming over the computer, “Well… I suppose we should at least give it a try at this point.” The wolf agreed, “Yeah. It’s still worth
a shot. After all, many of the most important things are often first overlooked.” Arcades placed his fingers on the trackpad, and he pressed the integrated mouse buttons on the computer’s case. Within seconds, the computer came to life, and it displayed a screen which did not ask the user to input a password. Instead, the laptop was actually displaying the standard Windows desktop. Arcades’ eyes widened slightly in astonishment, “Wow…” Jason smiled and chuckled, “Haha… What did I tell ya, Kurt? I bet that computer has plenty of stuff worth checking out on it.” The fox moved his mouse around the desktop, and he began to wonder why it was not prompting him to enter a password, “Why do you think it went straight to the desktop like that?” Jason gave his best guess, “D’ya think someone forgot to log off?” Arcades did not find any other reason he could think of as to why the computer immediately displayed the Windows desktop, “I suppose so. I wasn’t expecting that at all.”

  Jason came closer to the fox, and he briefly scanned the display with his eyes, “Quite the oversight. You didn’t even have to do anything to get in.” Arcades gave a nod as he tried to think about where he should begin his search on the computer, “I know. I guess whoever last used this computer didn’t bother to take the two or three seconds that it takes to just log off.” The wolf thought of something else, “Do ya reckon they’d a password on it in the first place?” Arcades opened a folder on the desktop and began to visually scan the contents of it for a brief second before minimizing it and replying to the wolf, “I don’t really want to find out.” The wolf smiled, and he looked over his shoulder to see that Jackie was still following them around during their search. Jason looked back at the fox and asked, “You plan on looking through this computer, don’t you?” Arcades moved away from the laptop for a moment, and he looked back at the wolf to give him his answer, “Yeah. How long have we been here today?” Jason was not wearing a watch, but he was able to look at the time displayed by the computer’s clock, “Wow. We’ve spent quite the time here. It’s already five in the evening.” Arcades realized that he could have checked the computer’s clock for himself, but he was not exactly thinking with the entirety of his brain. After all, his mind was a bit more occupied with why such a secret society would forget such fundamental aspects of computer security.

  Arcades made a suggestion, “Are you two hungry? It’s been a while since we’ve had anything to eat. How about you and Jackie go and get something to eat? I’ll find what’s on this computer likely by the time you get back.” Jason crossed his arms, “Are you sure, Kurt? Even with these bogan out of the picture, we should stick together. If that computer didn’t time out in the time that we spent turning this house down under, then I doubt anything would happen to it in the time it would take for all of us to get something to eat and come back here. We’d likely be back to the hotel in due time; unless you’d rather spend the night here instead, that is.” The fox considered the options which Jason suggested, “Well… I guess it would be best for us to stick together. I was just thinking about what would get the most done while making sure that neither of you guys go hungry.” The wolf raised an eyebrow, “So why should you go hungry instead? Come on, mate. I sincerely doubt this computer’s going anywhere anytime soon. It’ll still be here by the time we get our meal and come back.” Jackie finally spoke up providing a suggestion, “Erm… Why not take the computer with us?” Arcades and Jason both heard the vixen speak for the first time in what felt like a long while, and they immediately provided her their undivided attention. The fox replied to Jackie’s suggestion, “I would, but the problem with that is that these computers are supposed to automatically log out and go into sleep mode when the lid is closed. Also, if we were to unplug it from the wall, I’m not sure how long the battery would last when unplugged. Since we would have to make sure the computer doesn’t turn off or go into sleep mode, it would likely get run down before we would be able to find anything.”

  After the fox finished talking, Jackie did not have anything to say in response, but Jason spoke to the fox instead, “Mate, I’m sure it’ll be fine just where it is right now. Aren’t you feeling hungry at all?” Arcades did not realize it before, but he was feeling quite hungry, “Gosh, I guess I am pretty hungry.” Jason reiterated his suggestion once more, “Yeah? How about we all go and get some food together? It won’t take us that long, and the computer won’t log itself out if we spent all that time searching the house and it didn’t do that before.” Arcades was accepting the wolf’s logic, “Alright, I suppose this can wait.” Jason nodded, “Of course. By the way, didn’t you say that getting evidence was the secondary objective? I mean, if we didn’t run into these Foundation guys in the first place, then wouldn’t we still be on the way to go try and find a more permanent place to live?” Arcades knew that the wolf was correct, so he nodded his head, “Yeah…” Jason patted the fox on the back, “Then how about we go and take care of ourselves? Let’s go and eat. We all need food.” Arcades rose to stand straight; he had been sitting on his knees while he was using the laptop since the seat for the computer was not really in immediate reach. The fox began to walk with the wolf as Jackie joined the two of them, “So, what are you guys hungry for?”

  An hour and a half later, the 4Runner pulled back into the driveway of the house. From the view the three anthros had from their SUV, they could not see anything pointing to activity at the house during the time they had been gone. Arcades put the SUV in park; he was the one who drove to the restaurant and back. After turning the key to disable the vehicle’s engine, the fox looked to his right to see that Jason was in the process of undoing his seatbelt. The wolf noticed that the house looked exactly the way they left it, so he said, “What did I tell ya, mate? Doesn’t look like anybody’s been here.” Arcades acknowledged the wolf’s preliminary verdict of the house, but he was not ready to confirm Jason’s early victory until he got a look inside of the house, “Yeah. Let’s see if the laptop’s still there.” Jason exited the vehicle first, but Arcades waited for just a moment to allow for Jackie to disembark from the vehicle as well. The vixen remained silent, but she did follow the fox as the group entered the house yet again. This time, however, the sky looked a good bit darker than it was a mere hour and a half ago.

  The wolf entered the house first, going through the unlocked door, and he looked around the main room he entered. Jason did not speak until Arcades and Jackie both entered behind him, “Would ya look at that? Nothing happened here while we were out.” The fox looked around the main room for himself as well, and he did not see any items that happened to be displaced since they were last in the house. Arcades did not say anything until he checked the room with the computer for himself. Once the fox laid eyes upon the laptop resting in the exact same place as it was left, he finally confirmed the wolf’s verdict, “Looks like you were right, Jason.” The wolf entered the room behind the fox and patted him on the back, “See mate? I told you that it’d still be here.” Arcades replied to the wolf, “I was just wanting to play it safe.” Jason said, “I’d say there’s a difference between being complacent and not taking things too seriously. Didn’t it feel better to go and grab a meal before getting to this? We’ve been basically running around all day, and we didn’t even get much of a break. We dealt with the problem we had when it came up, and now it’s all over.”

  Arcades gave a silent nod to the wolf, and he brought the computer chair over in front of the desk before sitting down to access the computer. When the fox moved the cursor via the trackpad, the laptop’s display immediately turned on and showed the desktop. Arcades gave a slight sigh of relief, “Good thing this is still going.” The wolf loomed directly over the fox, “Why wouldn’t it be, mate?” Arcades gave a reply, even though it may not have been factually correct, “I was thinking the computer may have gone into sleep mode, and we wouldn’t be able to get back in without the password.” Jason reminded the fox that the computer was not in sleep mode when they first accessed it, “That wasn’t the case before. All you had t
o do was just touch the keyboard and turn the display back on.” The fox finally began to go through the items on the computer’s desktop, “Well then… I guess if we’re not going to have any more things we need to take care of for the time being, I’ll be able to see what we’ll be able to dig up from this thing.” Jason gave a nod that the fox did not see, “Strewth. Right then, I guess we’ll have a go at it. Are you gonna let me know when you’ve something interesting that you found?” Arcades was in the process of reading a file he had opened, but he still heard the wolf’s question, “Yup.”

  Jason turned around to see what Jackie was doing: The vixen was standing in the corner of the room silently watching the two anthros. The wolf visually scanned the female fox: She seemed to be just as healthy as any other young adult anthro. The only difference was that Jackie just seemed to be withdrawn from just about everything. While they were at the restaurant getting dinner, Jackie did not have anything to say, and the only conversations that transpired were the ones between Arcades and Jason. The wolf was starting to wonder why the vixen seemed to be so socially withdrawn, but he did remember that she had been in the Foundation. At the same time, Jason remembered how the vixen behaved when she reunited with the two anthros a few days ago: Jackie seemed to have no problem approaching Arcades despite the fact that she really did not have an exact reason to believe that the fox she was talking to was indeed Kurt Hofmeier, but she still approached him in a way that sharply contrasted the way she seemed to be regularly behaving at this point. Jason was not present the very first time the fox and the vixen met, but he was present for the second time Jackie and Arcades met at one of the Foundation’s secret facilities.

  Though Jackie’s treatment by the Foundation was not explicitly known by either of the two anthros currently protecting her, Jason could imagine that whatever the vixen had to go through was not the most pleasant experience in the world. Jason did know what it felt like to be taken to the Foundation, but he did not know what it felt like to actually be at the Foundation for an extended period of time. From what the wolf knew about the Foundation from being forcibly taken to one of their facilities, he was rather convinced that staying in the Foundation probably was not any better of an overall experience. The wolf still thought back to the first time he had ever seen anybody who actually came out of the Foundation: Back in 2028, Arcades was successful at recovering two anthros which were being taken to another Foundation facility. Jason remembered the two anthros specifically since they did not seem to even behave like rational beings. Instead, they tended to behave as if they were mindless robots, robots with no thoughts and choices of their own.

 

‹ Prev