Tales of the Amalgam'verse: Endangered Species, part 2 · 11:00pm Oct 8th, 2019
Relevant Links:
Character Profile: Sara Ross
Character Profile: Dr. Jane Tiptree
Endangered Species: Part 1
Sarah Ross has been surviving, but not thriving, for several years since the loss of her adoptive father and home. With her very genome a potential Pandora's Box that could threaten the human race, the few groups that know of her species even existing are always hunting her and her companions. Some, like the GDF, seek to establish if she is a threat or not. Others, like the weapons creator MARS have far less than noble pursuits.
And one of them just found her....
===============================================
Back in 2008, Morning of the day Dodgson came to town
===============================================
The alarm clock bleeped and rang for a good ten seconds before a hand, searching around blindly for it, finally found it and stuck a finger into the top to halt its insistent ringing. A previously resting form slunk her way out of bed, briefly glancing at her clock to ensure she hadn't gone back to sleep and overslept. A truly astounding number of skeletal pops were audible as she got herself up and standing, testing her toes against the floor before hobbling out of the bedroom with a furry form following after.
"Uuuuah… Ah-Shit!" the woman yipped as the cat weaved himself between her bare legs.
She nearly stumbled over on the doorway and having to catch herself on a railing to the stairs. Eyes narrowed as the persnickety feline slinked away, blissfully happy and content his owner would no doubt fetch him breakfast soon. A groan chased after the feline, his owner… or food and snuggles slave wiping a bang out of her face. Well, one net positive was at least the jolt had woken her up more.
Quick trip to the shower and throwing on a few towels, and the tall woman was back down in the kitchen. Her tabby mewled at her, pawing at the air in anticipation and jingling the little pet tag around his neck that had the name 'Clovis' etched into it. Watching the wiggle in his whiskers and twitch his ears in delight, Clovis' young owner couldn't resist giving him a quick rub on the head with her palm before pouring out his kibble. Seeing the cat go to town on the grub, she let the towels drop off her and lazily kicked them to a dirty clothes pile off into the corner before fixing up her own meal.
Exactly eleven donuts, three oranges, and half a liter of milk later; the spikes of hunger had finally been polished off. Picking up the last sugar filled fuel on a finger, the women reclined back on an old, second hand recliner and used her free hand to flip on the window AC unit to let the cool air run over her plates. On her lap and scattered around the chair were half a dozen books, often with written assignments, a few worksheets, and an essay or two wedged into the pages. Picking one up as she swallowed the whole Boston cream, she reviewed her old, "A+" write up before returning to the first book.
Facts and details flew by like wildfire and were memorized instantly-
Dogs are owned by approximately 36.5% of all American households with a total population of just over 65 million-
Cats are owned by a fewer percentage of households but outnumber dogs in total, this increases their change for communicable diseases by roughly 9% more-
Crocodilians owned as exotic pets need extra Herpetology notice as they have Avian respiratory and circulatory systems, consult Ornithological care-
Horses on average cost 300 USD every year for standard check ups and care-
Another alarm buzzed and she, with some reluctance, gulped down the milk, closed the book for tomorrow's night class at the university out of town and raced back to the bedroom. A simple long sleeve and jeans combo was thrown on, with attention paid to put in some extra napkins and rags in the pockets in case of spills.
"Hold down the fort Clovis," she quipped as she power walked out, reaching out to pet her feline companion once again before she passed out the front door and kicked it shut behind her.
Stepping into a clearly worn and used car with more rust than paint, Sara Ross' eyes instantly trained upon something in the care.
"GAH!" Her orbs widened and she jolted back, arms up defensively, upon seeing a pair of glowing blue eyes staring at her through the rear view mirror that had been loosely hanging down.
It took her half a second to realize, as the eyes of blue staring at her also widened, it was just someone she recognized intimately. Sara rolled her eyes, reaching up and stroking back several exoskeletal tendrils that resembled dreadlocks of hair.
"Heh, hello beautiful," she snipped as she shook her head, fixing her mirror to more readily show her own reflection. Blue, armored hide changed back into pale, human skin and the tendrils were overtaken by long blonde hair. What looked inhuman became human and Sara just kept looking at herself with mild annoyance.
Changed back in her sleep, again. Good thing her pet cat Clovis was such an accepting housemate, but problems could arise if she'd drove into town looking like how she woke up. Most folks come to work looking like they just rolled out of bed, they'd probably be told to clean up at best or go home at worst. If she showed up with her bed-head, Sara had no illusions to how many would come barreling in on this small, backhills town and whose face would end up all over the news.
Sara held out her palm and rotated her hand about, observing how the blued exoskeleton and talons morphed into lightly tanned skin and innocuous nails. A frown formed, on her visage.
Sloppy. She'd nearly gotten sloppy. She couldn't afford to be sloppy, something Sara was reminded of as she drove into town.
Taylor, Arizona was, in many ways, perfect. Just small enough to fly under most radars, the town's topography map and LANDSAT imagery hadn't been updated in over a decade. Out of the way too, a good two and a half hour drive to anywhere with a population over 4,000 like the university's dwelling. But, not so miniscule one couldn't find some comforts. And, a populace just small enough to fit in easily, but just big enough to blend in without everyone in town needing to know who you were. Fade into the background.
Hide.
Sara's car rolled up to a sort of long abandoned train tracks, the aged wood, let over poles, and gravel paths the last reminder of the metal titans that once thundered through her. Except, right now, she saw one…
Sara Ross' hands clutched the steering wheel so hard it warped the metal through the rubber and plastic, tremors going up and down her arms. The train, the cargo carrier of two years ago in Virginia, rolled past.
Gone was the wide expanse of Arizona. The dust, the browns, the grays, the yapping coyotes at night and the sun through the scrubwood trees by day.
She was back in Virginia, back in the Blue Ridge Mountains and forests. Back with company a few months after she saw the poster…
-Read the Rest on Fanfiction.net!
Posting on FanFiction.net as I'm fairly certain FimFic isn't okay with me posting M rated material in blogs as the safe search doesn't extend to them. If someone knows otherwise, lemme know.
Alright Tarb, you've got me hooked... you're pretty good at that aren't you?