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When the bag went over his head, the world around Max faded into complete darkness. All he could make out was the tightness of the bag around his head and the musky scent of the fox that was now his captor. Mal screamed on and on. Internally, he could feel his digital daemons panic, their digital voices causing a cacophony in his mind.
Amidst the turmoil, Sherlock tried to calm everyone. "[Please, everyone, focus. We need to prioritize. Max will be alright. His augmentations are already working.]" Sherlock said, yelling over Mal’s hysterical crying. Max tried to make a sound, but his throat choked up.
“[Go limp, boy! These critters already caught ya! Play for time, while yur body recovers. Gal’darn it. Mal’s gone off the deep end. Is there a mute feature like on the telly?”] Boone grumped.
Max went limp. Although he couldn’t see, he could feel himself being roughly dragged through the woods. He tried to calm Mal, while he monitored his energy rates. Mal finally calmed to the point he could ask her questions.
“[Finally! Mal, please! We all need to work together and come up with a way out of this. My grappler cable is too strong to break and I’m all tied up. My body is a mess, but it's healing fast. My energy store is starting to grow, again. Maybe I’ll be able to fight soon. But I need to get loose first. Any ideas? Anyone?]” Max asked his council.
“[While the circumstances aren’t ideal, this unfortunate event is essentially a turn for the better. Someone has organized these animals! And I expect we are being taken to them now. The hacker is connected somehow and we may finally get answers.”] Sherlock said with annoying cheerfulness.
“[Easy for you to say. You’re a piece of distributed software. I’m a bleeding mess, hogtied, and being dragged deeper into the dead zone of the Grand Oaks. If I can’t get loose, we could all be done for.]” Max growled. Mal spoke up.
“[Let me think…stop chattering…Ahhh! Ok. No, I’m fine. Shhh. Max, your augmentation advancement track might have something. In extreme circumstances, new abilities can be unlocked. I can see fhtagn R’lyeh. I can see everything in your specs and help guide you.]” Mal said, still unsteady and erratic. Max’s confidence in her help was rapidly dropping.
“[Broken Cup. Keep some pressure on your restraints. Expand your chest, deep breath. Flex your arms and legs out. Don’t let them tighten the restraints any further. When the time is right, we do the opposite and maybe have some little freedom to aid escape. You understand?”] Musashi advised softly.
“[Max, can you use your enhanced vision to see past this bag? We need to see what’s coming.]” Sherlock suggested.
Max tracked his energy levels. 300/446 and growing faster now. He had enough now that he could spare some to use with his low-energy skills. The bag prevented normal and thermal vision, but his terahertz and microwave sight as well as EM sense could “see” past the hood barrier.
He focused and suddenly he could make out forms, a surreal multi-spectrum vision of the world. The fox, dragging him by loose lines of his twisted grappler cord, had four more companions flanking them. The “trees” shone with electromagnetic fields, stretching out and overlapping… very much like neurons in a brain scan. Sherlock gasped in surprise, as Max was sharing his vision with his daemons.
“[My word! Mycroft might be right, after all. Could this be our hacker’s computational base?]” he said.
Max felt Boone’s digital presence surge in his mind. “[I ain’t got a clue about all these numbers and figures, but if y’all reckon this damn trees got somethin’ to do with our troubles, I say we cut it down.]”
“[Mr. Boone, it’s not just this tree. It’s the entire Grand Oaks Reserve. It covers much of what you knew as the Appalachians. I wonder if the Amazon Reforestation and the Saharan Reclamation are being used like this as well?]” Sherlock asked.
“[Focus, my friends. We must first prevail over these bonds.]” Musashi said.
“[Ok, Max. I have found a couple of options, but I’m not very sure about them.]” Mal said.
“[Anything Mal! I’m not going to be picky about it.]” Max sent.
“[You just acquired the transform skill. It can reshape your body! It's very energy-intensive and takes a long time. Growing extra arms like Xavier might require significant material…food I guess. Maybe just stretching a few inches in height can thin you out and loosen the grapple lines? Not sure how long it might take with only level 1.]” Mal muttered.
“[Ugh, seems like a lot for a little. I’ll try it, but do you have anything else?]” Max said. He tried to picture himself taller and slimmer, triggering his newest skill. He heard a tone, but nothing seemed to happen. He hoped it was working.
“[Oookay! How about your claws? The skill is level 8, I can see the next evolution tier is called Vorpal. That means super sharpness. Two levels is a lot, but the system responds to stress, and yours is off the charts right now.]” Mal suggested meekly.
Breathing heavily, Max extended his claws. He could barely flex enough to scrape the cord with a claw edge. It felt..strange…his claws were great for slashing and piercing. Using them to try and saw through a cable? He focused, sliding the edge back and forth along the steel-like line. He concentrated on the repetitive motion, unsure if he was making progress.
Soon, Max was roughly thrown against an upright surface and the bag was pulled from his head. He blinked rapidly, reordering his sensorium, to take in the scene.
He was in a large glen, that stretched out from a familiar sight. One of the special trees, the focus of EM activity, and this one looked familiar. Max was on the ground, looking up at the entrance to the root cave where he had recovered the Tesseract. An enormous Ape stood at the entrance looking down at Max.
“Harambe! We. Capture. Dog. Thief.” The kitsune that tied up Max, stalked forward, growls and hisses came from all around. Max swiveled his head, seeing a crowd of forest creatures coming out of the wood line. Several large bears, a family of badgers, deer, wolves, raccoons, and large birds. Max whined involuntarily under the hostile gazes of the many animals. The ape held up a great fist and the sounds quieted.
“Thank you, Kuro. Perhaps now we can understand the Voice’s command and the meaning of this Seed.” The massive ape said in a deep baritone. He was using sign language as well as English. His massive form strode forward, crushing saplings in his way. He took a commanding sitting pose upon one of the massive tree’s exposed roots, looking very much like a ruler upon a throne.
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“Dog. Traitor! Human. Spy.” Kuro replied, pointing an accusing claw at Max. The fox paced back and forth angrily, its eyes malicious and its many tails lashing the air.
Max remained quiet, shrinking back from the advancing hostility. The glen was filled with animalistic growls, squawks, and barking noises as the surrounding wildlife crept closer. The uneasy tension was interrupted as his network chimed a notification in Max’s head.
"[Max, Transform has finally been initiated. But the change...it's slow. It's going to be a while before your restraints loosen up.]” Mal messaged him.
“[Max, that’s Harambe. It was thought that he was dead many years ago. He was the first animal uplift and the reason it was banned for so long. Be careful, he’s very dangerous. He killed many people when his uplift went badly. Try to keep him calm. Get him talking if you can so we can understand what exactly is going on here.]” Sherlock pressed.
“[Got it, Sherlock. I’ve played enough games to know the drill. Get the boss monologuing and play for time.]” Max thought. Max took a steady breath, his heart pounding erratically. He mustered all the courage possible and carefully answered the beast.
“I’m no thief. I don’t know about any seeds. My name is Max, and my father created a device that I recovered from that cave. Your rabid fox attacked me!” Max said, trying to lean forward, the line digging in painfully. He kept sawing at it with his claw down by his side.
The hulking ape, Harambe, squinted at Max, then turned and signed to the animals behind him. They whispered among themselves for a moment, and then Harambe turned back to Max. His gaze was hard to read.
“You have intruded upon our home and are awakened like us. No one here has passed the Gift from the Voice to you. Where do you come from Max? How did you get it?” Harambe boomed, his hands flashing signs to the crowd.
“Dog. Is. Human. Spy!” Kuro snarled, a dangerous flicker in his eyes. The crowd bristled anticipating conflict.
“I don’t know any Voice; my father arranged my uplift. Why did you attack me?" Max retorted, feeling his confidence building. He continued sawing with his claw against the binding cord, hoping he was making progress, although the tug on his body ceased to ease.
Harambe raised a long hairy hand to quell the crowd. His gaze now switched back to Max, he beat his chest and advanced menacingly towards him. Boone quickly advised Max to avoid eye contact which the beast might take as a challenge. Max quickly looked down and away, using his other senses to track the ape. The ape stopped its dominant display and settled back into its "chair". Max hesitated and spoke in a low voice.
“I came here to retrieve my father's device and save my friend. What is the Voice?” Max asked, looking down.
“Humans hate animals. Hunting. Caging. Slaughter. No more!” Kuro hissed.
“SILENCE KURO!” Harambe yelled, accompanied by a violent signing. The great ape shifted and slammed its huge arm against the barrel of the tree. Max’s eyes widened.
“[Max, that hit was extremely powerful. I think that Harambe had more modifications beyond uplift.]” Boone reported.
Mal interrupted with a whisper. “[Max, I have another idea to help us get out of this. Earlier I, or I should say, Casa, released a robotic raven to loiter above this glade. If the Tesseract decoy was moved, it was supposed to signal the bird with an SOS and then pass its AV data via laser comms. If you look up and use your strobe skill, I think I can restrict it to infrared, so the animals don’t see it.”]
Max discretely glanced up as Harambe was finishing his dominance display. The sky was growing dark. He used his telescopic vision and did see a bird circling far above. With some help from Sherlock regarding the code, he quickly flashed his strobe with an SOS. It cost a bunch of energy but he wasn’t going anywhere.
[Body Skill - Strobe +2, Strobe reaches level 3]
Breathing heavily, Max returned his attention to the intimidating figure in front of him. He watched as Harambe signed something to Kuro who immediately skulked back into the crowd, a defeated grimace on his muzzle.
“Show respect! This Dog is no human. He has been oppressed like all of us, though he may be under the influence of the humans.” Harambe's booming voice echoed throughout the glen, followed by a silence that hung heavy in the air. Max watched as the crowd of animals murmured among each other, confused and surprised by their leader's words.
“Max, I am the first Uplift. The Voice shared with me the secrets that humans didn’t want me to know. Wars! Extinctions! Destruction of the very lands! Their greed knows no bounds, and their appetite for animal flesh is insatiable.” Harambe intoned. It sounded like a well-rehearsed speech, talking to the crowd more than to Max.
“[Mal, did the bird respond? Has anything changed?]” Max asked mentally.
“[I saw a brief series of flashes to link for upload, but more importantly, that means Casa will be aware of the change of status and the SOS. If we stall, I’m certain your family will come to help us. Try to keep him monologuing.]” Mal responded.
Max swallowed hard, his gaze firmly on Harambe, who was still delivering his damning verdict against the humans.
“The Voice has chosen me to lead and chosen us all to spread the awakening and rise against our foes. Do you dispute the Voice, Max?” Harambe asked, in a tone that suggested a wrong answer might not go off well. Max slumped back against his restraints, thinking hard about his reply.
“I don’t know about any voice, but my family has only ever treated me with kindness and love. Who is this voice if not another human? Are you sure you are not being used?” Max said thinking quickly.
Harambe’s eyes hardened on hearing Max's words, his entire body stiffening. While Harambe still glared at him, he noticed the crowd had begun to shift uncomfortably, discussions rising in the foggy air as the night continued to darken.
Mal was tied close to Max’s augmentation and saw flickers of activation from one of Max’s skills. She escalated it; forcing it to trigger.
[Mind Skill - Empathy +1, Empathy reaches 4]
[Harambe Ape - distrust, restraint, doubt]
[Kuro Fox - distrust, furious anger]
“The Voice has provided for me and these newly awakened. I see you enjoy human augmentations as well as awakening. We too have that. The Trees provide. I find it very unlikely that Voice would mean us ill with all the help it has provided. It strikes me as very much the opposite of these humans.”
“Our oppressors made a very big error with me. The uplift virus is still very active in my blood and I can share it! The Voice has directed the trees to provide berries that give augmentation similar to yours.” Harambe said.
“[That seems pretty improbable, Max. I’ve reviewed some of the details on your uplift and augmentation. It’s customized to you. For each animal species to get custom uplift and augmentation would…require…an impossible amount of…computation.]” Sherlock tapered off as he realized what they were dealing with again. “[A SuperIntelligence.]” he finished.
“No more will animal kind be subservient and prey. All will be given this gift so that they can defend themselves.” Harambe yelled to the crowd. He kept his gaze on Max, however, waiting for a response.
“Maybe I was a human's dog... but not anymore. I was given the ability to think, speak, and decide for myself. It's... harsh to paint all humans with the same brush." Max retorted, his words causing an immediate hush in the crowd.
Harambe blinked, taken aback by Max’s words. He turned to the crowd and signed something. The crowd seemed to reconsider their previous notions.
[Mind Skill - Empathy +1, Empathy reaches 5]
[Harambe Ape - Doubt, Hesitant]
“Your words have some small merit, Max. But the sins of the human race are vast indeed.” Harambe finally spoke, “But ask yourself, have you ever actually gone against your family? Or have you been obedient? I wonder what might happen if you weren’t.” Harambe continued to sing the praises of the Voice to the crowd, but Max was distracted.
He felt something tickling him. He covertly looked down. Flip was there! He had crept closer and was hiding in the ferns that Max was propped up upon. He was trying to loosen Max’s Grappler line.
[Flip Squirrel - Fear, Concern, Determined]
Max had a sudden hope and smiled. Maybe not all animals of these animals are going to be enemies after all.
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