//------------------------------// // Kira's Nightmare: Part 2 // Story: Foretellers: Continuation // by BioQuillFiction //------------------------------// Kira had experienced her first reset. The memory of dying haunted her dreams and left her sleepless. Still, she pushed on. The memories of losing two of her brothers hurt far more than those of her own death. For the most part, she let things play out as before, save one difference. Avoiding the Orphanage. "So… where to hit next?" Jenny hummed as she looked over the map. Everything was as it was last time, down to needing water. When the orphanage was brought up, Kira shot it down quickly. "Maybe we should start looting houses?" Alex offered. “That would be a good idea.” Kira nodded, trying to think of any good houses that might have a decent amount of water. "We usually steer clear of houses because people might be in them or something worse." Damn reminded. "Yeah but it's still gotta be safer than other places." Alex countered. “It’s better than nothing.” Kira said honestly. “How many houses are nearby that we can loot?” "Well, two miles from here should be the Garicettes. I know their family worked in banking but not much else." Alex said with a shrug. "House should be abandoned. People like them probably evacuated to some private island or something." “So they would probably have some water stockpiled.” Kira brought up. "Probably? They did have a fancy house so it makes sense a fancy well stocked kitchen would still be there." “Plus they might have a lot of other things there we can take.” Kira brought up. "Maybe." "You know the layout Alex?" Lan asked. "Well, last time I was there was two years ago but it's roughly the same size as my house so, kinda." "Alright. You and Kira can run in and out. Here." Lan said, handing Alex a semi auto rifle and me a handgun. "Just in case." “Thank you.” Kira nodded, never actually having held a gun before…and even with all the fighting she did, the many times she was in a life or death situation…it felt heavy to her. “Weird…it’s not all that heavy so why?” Kira thought to herself worriedly, making sure the safety was on so she didn’t do something silly. She and Alex jumped into a spare car and rode quickly to the next house. The front gate was left wide open. The house itself was in fairly good condition. A broken window, lawn a less, but nothing to worry about. Yet. "Well, here we are." Alex said, turning their car off as he and Kira got out. “Well, so far thing’s look okay.” Kira said, holding her gun at the ready. "Some blood." Alex said, rifle pointed down to a dried blood stain. "Probably zombies." “Hopefully it wasn’t looters, only we’re allowed to loot.” Alex chuckled. "Everyone is just trying to survive Kira. Looting is something we're all having to do now." “I know…” I sighed. “Just…wish this didn’t happen…” "Well, statistically one had to happen eventually. We just rolled a nat one and got all of them at once." “And whatever higher power is out there can suck my ass.” Kira frowned, knowing exactly who this ‘higher power’ was and not liking him more by the day. "Yeesh. When did you start swearing like that?" Kira sighed. “Sorry…I suppose I’m just stressed is all…” She yawned, the young girl knowing she’s not entirely being subtle about how little sleep she’s been getting but not entirely caring. "Looks like you haven't slept right in a week." Alex said as he and Kira entered the home. Furniture was overturned and some dry blood on the walls and in the carpet, but so far no threats. "Nightmares?" “Sadly…” She sighed. “But I’m good, trust me.” "Kira, you once didn't sleep because you had a nightmare about Elmo was trying to eat you." Kira blushed. "Lan told me that story. Cute but you're not convincing me this one is nothing." “Lan promised not to tell~.” Kira whined, pouting hard at that. Alex chuckled, kneeling down and looking at Kira. "I know I'm not the most… respectable big brother, but you know you can talk to me or any of us about nightmares and such right? Just because it's the apocalypse doesn't change that." Alex said. "If you tell me your nightmares, I'll tell mine." Kira looked at Alex. Surprised that he was even having nightmares. “You…have nightmares?” Kira asked worriedly. Alex nodded. "Long before this all happened. So, tell me yours, I tell you mine?" “Well…” Kira sighed. “It’s…any of us dying…like the orphanage…I had a bad nightmare…it felt so real and…and I watched creeper vines…break your neck…” Kira teared up, remembering that horrid experience and hating it. Alex hugged Kira, letting her cry until she collected herself. "My first nightmares were about my parents. Mainly… something they told me once when I was about your age." Alex said, taking a deep breath. "They said I had one duty to my family. And that was to marry a pre selected bride. Someone they picked before I was even born from among their… elitist friends." “That sounds awful.” Kira frowned. Alex nodded. "My whole life they had planned out. Once I graduate I was gonna be shipped off to some expensive college where I was to graduate with a masters in business then right after that, I was to marry whoever they picked. I still don't know who she was, or is, and from there I was to work with my dad, day in and day out at the company offices. I hated that I had no choice in my own future. The idea I was being forced to grow up to be just like my dad was… terrifying." “I can imagine given how…cold he looked in those paintings.” Kira said honestly. "Be glad you never met him in person." Alex added. "These days, I just worry about keeping us all safe and together. Once we reach this place we can hopefully ride out what's left of this chaos." “Yeah, hopefully thing’s can get better.” Kira nodded in agreement. With that, Alex got up as he and Kira searched the house. Kira found it similar to Alex's. Save differences like layout, photos, and the zombies in every other room. She found shooting them oddly satisfying. They eventually found the kitchen, looking around and finding the pantry where twenty six packs of one gallon bottles of water sat alongside various boxed and canned goods. "Shit this stuff will keep us stocked food and water wise for a while." Alex said with a grin. “This will help us with our trip as well.” Kira said with a growing grin herself. "Can't believe this was right next door the whole time." Alex said, slinging his rifle over his back. He then stopped. "Hey Kira… you think the hallways are big enough for the car to drive through?" “Hmm…maybe? If not we can make it fit.” "Sounds like fun." The two ran back out, grabbing the car and driving into the house and down the halls. It was a near perfect fit. Running over and through some furniture, doors and one wall to reach the kitchen again. Once they were the two began loading the goods. "Eragh!" "I got the zombies. You load the last of the stuff." Alex said, raising his rifle and shooting at the zombies then began walking in through the halls and hole in the wall. “Alright.” Kira said, quickly getting the rest of the goods in the car as fast as she could. Kira quickly grabbed the remaining box of goods and shoved it into the car. Rapidly she pulled out her handgun and shot off at the zombies with Alex. The last zombie fell and taking the chance the two got into the car, and shared a laugh. "That. Was. Insane." Alex said with a chuckle. “Yes, yes it was.” Kira chuckled as well. “But at least we’re safe.” "And it was kinda cool. Felt like when we first all played Left 4 Dead." Alex added as he started the car. “Yeah, I remember that.” Kira smiled. “And we got out perfectly fine.” The two drove back to Alex's house, loading the new supplies into the armored truck and tomorrow morning they were all on the road. The armored truck was large, bulky and admittedly slow, but it had room for makeshift beds and all their food, water and weapons. Jenny sat at the wheel, Lan in the passenger with a rifle. Dan sat next to Crow. Crow was set up in a makeshift hammock to reduce pain from bumps in the road. Alex sat next to the only window in the back looking out where they passed, and Kira sat reading a book. A cell phone in her hand, and her family's link to Coder. Their mystery tech helper and eye in the sky. She had a few suspicions as to who he was but only one made sense. “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if it was Zeke that was behind this.” Kira thought to herself, just lightly twiddling her thumbs as they drove cross country. "How long do you think it will take us to reach Canada?" Crow asked. "With stops for fuel, hopefully only a few months." Dan replied. "This thing is slow but thankfully it's got a tank ment for long trips." "So we hope there aren't any extra obstacles in the way." Crow said with a sigh. “Yeah, but’s nice going on a road trip like this.” Kira said, trying to keep some spirits up. “Even if it’s…not very friendly outside, we’re all taking a family road trip.” "Post apocalyptic road trip does sound oddly charming." Alex said with a laugh. “Yeah, helps make things simpler than…what’s really going on.” Kira said, smiling at hearing Alex’s laughter. "When will we expect a call from Coder?" Dan asked. “No idea.” Kira shrugged. “But they probably know we’re on our way.” The ride was silent after that. Many hours passing by in silence save the roar of the engine, and the wind outside. At some point Crow fell asleep, Kira taking Dan's place and sitting next to Crow. She knew he had nightmares too. Some recent, but she remembered back at the orphanage, he had them a lot there too. “I just hope this will all work out…ten years of this…the hell…” Kira thought to herself bitterly. Another few hours began to pass until the truck came to a stop. "Alright, road stop!" Jenny called out. Getting up with a stretch, Kira made her way to the door, opening it and seeing they were at an odd ramp gas station. Cars and semi trucks all over the place with varying degrees of damage. "See if the pumps work. Diesel fuel only, siphon if we have to and loot anything useful." Lan stated as he, Jenny, Kira and Alex all began looking through the cars. Kira followed with Jenny, who spotted a twelve gauge shotgun, into the station to see about starting the pumps. "Hope they have some stuff leftover." Jenny said. “I’m sure they do, couldn’t be completely empty after all this time.” Kira brought up. “I just hope the pumps still work.” "Yeah. App the cars and semis here make me worried."  The two entered the gas station. Dust and the stench of rot filled the place as In the middle of the floor lay a headless corpse. “Well…that’s…pleasant…” Kira coughed. "Here." Jenny said, rapidly putting a disposable mask onto Kira's face. "With all the crap going on the last thing we need is getting sick from rotting corpses." Kira grabbed the mask and put it on quickly. “Yeah, we really don’t need to get sick.” Jenny did the same and the two began to loot. There was candies, warm sodas, warm beers, melted ice, some chip bags, and a lot of cigarettes and chew tobacco. Jenny ignored it all, walking behind the counter and looking around. "Crap. Looks like the pumps are controlled from the register but there's no power." “Crap…” Kira grumbled. “Uh…what if we get Dan to try and hotwire something to try and get power going?” "Maybe but I don't know if we have time. Hey, can you call Coder on your phone?" “Uh…I should.” Kira hummed, pulling out her phone and seeing if she could get into contact with their mystery savior. I opened contacts and selected the only one available. After a bit of warped ringing the other end picked up. "Need something?" Coder asked. “One, glad to know you’re still here, and two, the gas station we’re at is out of power and we were planning on getting a refill, think you can help us out?” Kira inquired, not sure if their magic Coder friend can help get the power back to a completely different store but hope was still there. "One moment…. Okay, the whole area you're in is a power dead zone. Looks like the local substation is, er, was, on fire for a while. Can't reroute power to you but from the satellite camera I can see there's a gas tanker right near you. If it isn't full of fuel it will have keys to the gas tanks you can use to open it up and use the trucks built in pump to pull the gas out of there." “Awesome.” Kira smiled. “How close is it from the station?” "Just up the road a bit. Maybe half a mile. You should be able to see it from there." “Cool, thank you.” Kira nodded. “Anything worrying near it that you can see?” "Not nearby. Just try not to head east from here." “What’s the trouble in the east?” I inquired. "Hell." “Good to know.” Kira nodded. “No going east.” "The road north so far is good, but once you enter Oklahoma you're gonna need to take some back roads. All the main roads are crawling with giant bugs." “Good to know.” I nodded. “Thank you, your information is invaluable.” "Stay safe and stay alive." He said, ending the call. Jenny and Kira wasted no time in finding the oil tanker. It was still good on oil inside the tank, and Jenny drove it up next to the truck and began filling it up.  "Should we try and take this with us? Fuel wouldn't be a problem for a while." Jenny stated. "You're the only one of us that can drive. Plus if something hits it or someone shoots it, too risky." Lan said. "Maybe we can find some gas canisters to store some in at least." “There should be some around here.” Kira mentioned. “Would be weird if a gas station didn’t have some gas canisters.” The group looked around, finding a few and canisters but only one had a lid still. "Well, what can we use for makeshift lids?" Lan frowned. "Any high density plastics or synthetic rubbers." Dan informed. "Worst case scenario we just keep it taped shut. It's temporary but effective." "Better than nothing I guess." Kira said, trying to think If she noticed anything that could be of good use to keep it sealed.. Eventually the group used some cheap bags as makeshift lids with tape, then left. Kira didn't know when she fell asleep, but she woke up to the sound of the engine running, and the wind outside as they drove. "Huh? What did I miss?" Kira asked groggily, yawning loudly from her impromptu nap. "Nothing much." Crow said from his hammock bed.  "How…far are we?" Kira asked, cutely rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. "We crossed into Oklahoma a while ago and at Coders suggestion have been keeping to back roads." Alex said as he rubbed his eyes, also waking up. "Alright…cool." Kira nodded. "As long as we're safe…" "Did see one of those bugs he mentioned. Yikes." "Yeah…I'm surprised I got sleep after seeing that thing." Kira shuddered. The bug in question was an ant. Easily the size of a large can and was biting through street lights. Still, the group drove, taking backwoods and avoiding the giant insects. After all, if ants were the size of cars then how big would the bigger insects be? "Should we make a rest stop?" Dan asked, waking up. "Probably. There are a few stops along these roads. Best use them." "Yeah, best everyone is well rested." Kira said nestly.honestly. "Just hope we don't run into any bugs." Alex sighed. “Yeah, we really don’t need to run into bugs.” Kira nodded. The armored truck soon came to a stop. The small road stop had no cars, just a small gas station that looked to be intact.  Jenny walked towards it, shotgun drawn and entered. After a few moments she emerged. "It's clear. Power is on too, small solar generator in the back probably has been keeping the place running." "Useful." Lan said. “Very useful.” Kira agreed. “Sure it’s small but the solar generator and gas station should help a lot.” "We can camp here for a few days, stretch our legs-" "Those who have them!" Crow called out from the back. "Right… then hit the road. Gives us all time to practice with our firearms too." “Yeah, it’ll be fun.” Kira said with a warm smile, glad to be hearing a plan for something simple for once. "Alright. Jenny, let's get the grill set up and see about opening that propane tank cage. Alex, you and Kira set up a target practice range. Use been cans and bottles. Dan, see about getting Crow in a wheelchair so he can be out of the truck for a while." Lan instructed. The group got to work. A makeshift camp around the truck as potatoes and slices of span cooked on a grill. "Hey… you think those bugs are edible?" Crow asked. "I mean… most likely. Why?" Dan asked. "Think they taste like crab? You know, having exoskeletons and such?" “Uh…I don’t know.” Kira said. “I mean, there’s the universal ‘it tastes like chicken’ argument but who knows.” "Are you saying you think we should eat them?" Lan asked. "Bugs are supposed to be high protein and all that right?" Crow offered. "Well, yeah. A single roach has more protein than a prime steak." Dan added. "I guess it would be best to try it… gonna be a while before we reach Canada so… should get used to eating stuff not from cans…" “Yeah, we‘ll all have to figure out how to forage and hunt.” Kira said honestly. "What brought this up Crow?" Jenny asked. "There's a giant ant over there." He pointed. The group all looked, seeing a car sized ant standing and investigating the road. “Well…I don’t need sleep…” Kira commented nervously. "So… ant meat anyone?" Jenny asked, picking up her shotgun. “Sure.” Kira nodded. “Just be careful of any splash zones.” With a nod, Jenny got up and readied her shotgun. "Should be entering Kansas soon." Lan called from the front. The road through Oklahoma was fairly uneventful. Several large big encounters but nothing too dangerous for the group. Coder informed them that Kansas seemed to be, for lack of a better word, on fire. Upon arriving at the state border the group learned why. The whole state was full of small, some barely bigger than a car, volcanos spewing or bubbling with magma. "Holy crap…" Jenny said. "That's… new…" Dan said. "Oh…well…I'm trying to think of a 'we're not in Kansas anymore'...but I'm blanking." Kira frowned. "I was gonna say that Yellowstone grew some serious acne." Alex said. "I just wanna know if we can even get through that?" Lan spoke up. "I know this thing can tank a few hits from, well tanks but magma resistance is not typically on a military vehicle." “Well…the only thing I can say is, at least Yellowstone didn’t blow.” Kira said honestly. “And…yeah I don’t know, cause Lava is really hot and would probably melt our car before we could do anything.” "Best call Coder and see what's up." Jenny said. With a nod, Kira brought out the phone and dialed. "Coder here. You all reach Kansas already?" “We’re not sure, cause it looks like a Lava World.” Kira pointed out. "Yeah that's Kansas now. Whatever isn't melted and under magma is still pretty damn hot. Few things that are living there are not pleasant from what I have seen. I took the liberty of looking for alternative roads and I only found one, but it's only marginally better." "It can't be worse than what's in front of us." Alex huffed. "Well, if you drive back and west some you'll reach Colorado but the whole place has been settled by various aliens and from what I can see they are all at war with one another and the path cuts concerningly close to three alien settlements." "Meaning we might be driving through a war zone…" Dan sighed. “Maybe they won’t bother us if we just drive by?” I asked "From what I've seen only two of the alien species seem to actively hunt and capture or kill humans. One are your typical little green men in silver suits. The others look more like cyborg terminators. I did see one group of them actually helping humans, and, I shit you not, they look like eight to ten foot tall buff ferrets that, and had the satellite not caught it, I wouldn't believe it, seem to control electricity." The group was silent for a while. "So the only ones we can trust are the Furries…" Alex summarized. "Pretty much yeah." “I want a ten foot tall buff ferret…” Kira said meekly, poking both fingertips together in embarrassment and a blush as she said that out loud. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that." Lan said. "So, by any chance are these ferret like aliens one of those settlements?" "Yes. Once you enter Colorado and drive north on the main highway you'll have to drive close to the Green guys territory but thirty miles north is the ferrets area and hopefully they can help you out once you're in their territory." “Cool.” Kira said with a smile. “At least there’s some new race that wants to help us.” "If we're heading there we best make sure we're ready. Jenny, you and Alex mount the big gun back into the roof and keep ready. Dan, you and I will get the explosives ready and if need be, use them." Lan started as everyone got to their jobs. “What about me?” Kira inquired. "You go make sure Crow is alright, alright?"  “Alright…” Kira said, knowing keeping Crow safe and okay was important but wanting to do more than be a glorified babysitter. She walked over to Crow's hammock, sitting next to him and sulking. "Lan put you on the bench again?" Crow asked, flipping through a comic book. “Yeah.” She sighed. “I mean, I know taking care of you is very important…but come on, I know I can do more…he might also be nervous about what I said earlier…” "Heh. He's just worried in general. You should have seen him when he and Jenny found me. I'd never seen him so terrified, or pissed. It actually scared me a bit, and I'd already had my legs cut off and turned into oven roast." “Yeah…you got all of us worried Crow.” Kira nodded. "Well, at least they were cutting me up… more than a few of those other guys either were cooked whole, eaten alive or… deep fried whole…" Crow shuddered. "Hence why I'm not eating pork ever again." “Yeah, I can imagine how horrible that would be.” Kira nodded. "Well, enough about my trauma. So, what's the situation?" “So, all of Kansas is quite literally a Lava World from Super Mario…and we need to take a slightly better route that involves getting way too close to a war between three alien factions.” Kira said. “Either the little green men in space suits, Terminators…or the only friendly we can hope for, which are eight to ten feet tall buff ferret people.” "Huh… and just when I thought this apocalypse couldn't get any weirder." Crow said dumbly. “I mean…would it get weirder if I said I wanted one of those ferrets?” Kira asked, wanting to see Crow’s reaction after Lan went ‘Nope, I’m not hearing shit’. "Well, I wouldn't be surprised to find out you're a furry." Crow said, making Kira blush. "So's Alex given his saved pictures folder." "I heard that!" Alex called from a small hatch above where he and Jenny were putting a huge gun back on a mount. Crow laughed. "Just try and wait til you're older before doing anything alright squirt." Crow added as he ruffled Kira's hair. “Okay okay.” Kira giggled. “But I’m still going to at least try for the boyfriend.” “Kira please.” Lan whined as if some part of his soul was dying at hearing her wanting to date. "Man, woman, ten foot tall ferret, so long as they treat you right I won't care." Crow said with a shrug. "Just watch out for Lan. He'll probably try and scare them off." “Considering how done he sounds, I wouldn’t be surprised.” Kira giggled, hearing the sounds of an older brother’s soul leaving him that made the entire car erupt in laughter. Once the preparations were made the group drove off. Jenny was keeping at a fast but steady speed. Once they entered Colorado they saw it. The nearby town had been converted into a huge city of metal and glowing blue lights with space ships flying all around. It was beautiful, in a cold and mechanical way. “Wow…” Kira said in awe. "That is impressive." Lan said. "It's a shame they're gonna use that to try and kill us." Dan huffed.  "Right." Lan said. "Dan, Alex, you two on explosives. I'll man the big gun on top and Kira, strap Crow into that hammock. We don't want him falling out of it." “On it.” Kira nodded, getting Crow strapped in before things get really bumpy. "I have become a cocoon. I shall emerge with wings." Crow said light heartedly. “At least then you won’t need legs.” Kira pointed out. For a few minutes there was no noise aside the vehicles engine. Then something sounding like a small explosion hit near, and the sounds of Lan shooting the big gun and Dan and Alex shooting off some grenades. Everything got loud. Then still. Kira began to wake up, her vision hazy and her mouth dry as sand. She couldn't remember what happened but felt sore all along her body. “Ugh…what…what happened?” Kira groaned in pain, trying to get her bearings and figure out where she is. The first thing Kira noticed was she was halfway in what felt like water. Her eyes finally adjusting showed she was in some pod, laid on her back. Moving her body she felt off. Her arms and legs felt longer. Looking down she also noticed she grew on her chest as well. Forcing herself not to panic she managed to kick the top of the pod off. Cool air sent a chill across her skin but she pushed it open and sat up. As she expected, she was bigger. Longer limbs, she looked down in the dark red liquid she was in, seeing her reflection… she was older. She noticed all her limbs from hands, feet, torso all had large scars. Some looked from slicing, others looked as if something had been stabbed into her all across her body. “What…what the hell…” Kira coughed, not remembering a single thing that happened and…and… Panic started to set in as Kira looked around frantically for the others. “Lan? Jenny? Crow? Anyone!?” Kira called out, not caring that she was probably captured by bad alien’s as she struggled against whatever bonds she had. She discovered she had none. She got up out of the pod, looking around and seeing she was all alone in whatever room she was in. She looked around, hoping to find clothes or something. Before she could properly search something, a door, slid open and what walked in surprised Kira. It was one of the ferret aliens. As buff and fluffy as she imagined. The face and body was human in shape but they had more than enough of the ferret features to identify. "Oh you're awake!" They said. Kira forgetting her shot just enough to cover up what she could with her arms before just walking around behind the pod. “U-uh…h-hi there mister fluff hunk…” Kira said, before she went even more beat red as she realized what she just said even though they were buck ass naked. "Uh, hang on." The ferret man leaned back out the door. "She's awake! Fetch some clothes and Captain Crow!" He leaned back in. "Uh, you'll get some answers soon enough, Miss Kira." “Abs…wait,” Kira shook her head, trying not to drool over how hot the Ferret was. “Did you say ‘Captain Crow’?” "Yes. Captain Crow. He's the reason we finally were able to… help you." The ferret being informed. Some clothes, plain white ones were delivered and Kira quickly put them on. "There's my little sister." Kira looked to the door and did a double take. It was Crow. She knew that immediately, but he was also very different. He was standing, taller and more muscles than she ever expected him to have. “Holy crap…” Kira blinked. “Crow…man, I must still be dizzy from waking up, but look at you…” "I know, but look at you… my god…" He said, walking up to her and hugging her. "I'm… I'm sorry I couldn't rescue you sooner…" “What…what happened?” Kira asked, hugging Crow back. “I…the last thing I remember was everyone else starting to fight and…and everything went dark when thing’s got too loud…” Crow sighed, taking Kira's hand. "It's been four years since then Kira…" Kira blanched immediately as she heard that. “Wh-what? H-how? What happened?” Kira asked, tearing up as she already feared the worst. "That day, we were attacked by a different alien species. Not the little green ones we were expecting, Progolites, they're called, we were attacked by the cyborg ones. Giations. Giation and human biology are actually very alike, but they have a philosophy of machine over flesh. See, their people value technology and strength over everything else. They attacked and tried to kidnap us all. Well, they did. All but me. Being crippled they dropped me from their ship almost thirty feet in the air.  "I broke an arm and almost all my ribs but I crawled. Not sure how long until the Electronians found me. Patched me up and began making me some replacement legs " Crow said, pulling his pants legs up, showing his mechanical limbs. “Fancy.” Kira said. “But…have you saved the others? Am I truly okay?” Kira asked, lightly bunching up her shirt to try and hide her more pronounced figure after four years. "So far you're the only one we've been able to catch. See, the Giations augmented you with their technology, but being an extremely racist species, like the Progolites, used you and the others as soldier drones. Capturing you was hard, and having all those augments removed was almost a month long surgery." “What…what augments?” Kira asked, fearing that she lost…so much more on herself than just four years. "External weaponry, synthetic organs we actually couldn't remove, namely stomach, liver, kidneys and heart. Lots of bones too were… replaced to beat attach the external armor." Crow motioned to the large scars like… having been stabbed. They lined up all along her arms, legs and several ribs. "And this." He gently put a finger to the back of her head. The light touch made Kira wince as if being hit there. "That is where they shoved what was controlling you, keeping your brain asleep while a machine piloted your body for the last four years." “Oh…” Kira said sadly. “This…this is awful…” "The others are in the same boat. Each one is rather far. Closest is Alex in New York. Or what's left of it. Jenny was last seen in Brazil. Dan is in the UK. Lan is all the way in Russia, but making his way south to China." “I…hate how everything’s going wrong so fast…” Kira shook her head. "Well, from your perspective it has yeah. Bright side at least, humanity hasn't been completely wiped yet. Got a good three million fighting here and another six million safe and sound living on the Electronians Homeworld." Kira took a deep breath, trying to focus again. “So…Electronians…beings with Electricity powers…and their big sexy ferrets?” "Yes, yes and yes. And surprisingly, or maybe not, fully compatible with humans. Got a few thousand hybrids back on their Homeworld." “That’s…very good to know.” Kira said. “Also wow, got legs and decided to just have a lot of kids?” "What? No, no, no, not me. Other horny furry lovers." Crow said. “That’s fair.” Kira said honestly. “So…we’re off to save the others?” "Soon. Right now you've been more or less asleep for the last four years of your life." Crow stated.  "Four years…" Kira thought. "Four years less I need to survive. But also means more time I need to save them…" “Yeah…I’m gonna need to do a lot of thing’s to catch up with all the time I missed…”