FireFox

Chapter 12 and Epilogue

Written by Nathan Cowen

Copyright © 2005 by Nathan Cowen, all rights reserved. Reproduction and distribution of this work by any means without the expressed written permission of the author, or hotlinking from another website without the expressed written permission of the author and BondoFox, is expressly forbidden. Similarity to any person, living or dead, is coincidental.

Firefox squirmed against the chains holding her on the chair. She was sitting facing the back, her legs wide and ankles fastened to the rear legs, wrists touching in front of her, her back and buttocks exposed to anything the tiger might want to do.

"Stop that," Tigre ordered. She was sitting next to Firefox, fingers working quickly. She moved her head slightly and pursed her lips. Firefox turned her muzzle and kissed her tiger, tongue barely slipping into her mouth.

"Good girl," Tigre said, and resumed her work.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Firefox asked.

Tigre blinked. "I've always wanted to tie up a pretty, naked girl and braid her hair."

She tied off the end of the braid and lay it in place, on the right side of Firefox's face. "There," she said, satisfied.

"I'm sitting in a puddle here," Firefox said. "At least let me play with myself."

Tigre sat back, and mused for several seconds. "I just don't know," she said, finally. "I mean, here's me, all relaxed and rested, and here's the most beautiful fox in the world, so turned on she's trying to masturbate against a wooden chair. I could watch you for hours. And that braid needs to be balanced."

Firefox smiled back at her. "Am I the most beautiful fox in the world?"

Tigre looked serious for a moment, leaned forward, and touched Firefox's forehead. A thrill from the contact shot through Firefox.

"The most beautiful woman I've ever known, the most beautiful and delicious woman there is, and with all the women in Blue Diamond who'd lick my feet if I snap my fingers, my girl is a half-tamed fox who still uses a name Master doesn't like."

Tigre closed her eyes and parted her lips. Firefox moved to kiss her; long, hard, and ferocious. Her arms burned to embrace the tiger, probing into the tiger's mouth, her tongue longed to slide up into the mons it knew so well now. Her own pubes ached for those fingers on them, the familiar scrape of that rough tongue.

Tigre broke off the kiss. "Well," she mused. "What does my girl want?"

"Your girl wants her strong tiger to take her to her bed and love her," Firefox whispered. "Hard, gentle, anything she wants. Even keep me tied up if it pleases her. But I can't stand being this close to you without your hands on me and in me. Let me suckle you. Use your claws, but let me suckle you."

Tigre eyed her for a moment. "I should give you a second braid," she mused. She grinned, teeth sharp. "No. Maybe tonight." Tigre stood, walked in front of Firefox. She lifted her skirt. "Do a good job, and maybe I'll give you some attention too."

Tigre was wet, very wet, belying her casual behavior earlier. Firefox worked on her intently, enjoying the taste and feel of her tiger against her tongue almost as much as Tigre was enjoying her tongue. The tiger leaned on her shoulders, claws flexing and retracting as pleasure waved through her body. She came quickly; the long teasing of Firefox had made the tiger almost as ready to go off as the fox.

"I guess I should give you a turn," the tiger drawled. She blinked, accessed a clock. "We don't have much time left."

That reminded Firefox, what day it was. Tears suddenly flowed. She looked away.

"Hey," Tigre said, suddenly concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I --" Firefox cut herself off. It was insane to feel ambivalent. Insane.

Tigre patted Firefox gently. "I promise you, Firefox. Unless Master says otherwise, you are my girl. Now and forever."

"Well," Firefox said, forcing a grin, "I guess that's the best a Blue Diamond girl can hope for."

Remarkably for her, Tigre allowed Firefox to come first. Their lovemaking was slow and fierce by turns. Normally, Firefox was active in bed; but now she clung to her tiger, as though seeking forgiveness in advance.

"We have to go now," Tigre said gently. "We have to get you to your hotel room, and there's a woman waiting for me." She hesitated. "Firefox, do you want to help me?"

Firefox looked at the wall. "I won't do that."

"Not even to be with me?" Tigre asked, trying to sound indifferent and failing.

Firefox looked at her steadily. "Not even to be with you."

Tigre nodded, apparently accepting it. "All right." She picked up a riding crop. "Bend over the chair."

Tigre delivered ten swats, counting as she did so. Firefox flinched and shuddered before each blow landed, her body remembering what this woman had done to her before, even though Firefox knew she would be relatively gentle. Knew or suspected?

"Good girl," Tigre said, patting her gently. "Have a biscuit or two. You won't be having breakfast or lunch for a while; they bring you what's left over from the restaurant."

Firefox finished her biscuit and coffee, and Tigre handed her a robe. Tigre took a leash, and Firefox lifted her head to let Tigre attach a chain. Tigre paused.

"There's something so beautiful, so right, about holding your leash," Tigre said. Firefox shivered, and nodded.

"When you're holding it," Firefox agreed.

They kissed, quickly. Tigre put a hand to Firefox's hair, on the braid.

"Let me undo that," she said.

"No," Firefox said immediately, covering her hand with her own. "I like it."

"Okay, silly girl." Tigre grinned. "Let's go."

"Kiss me for luck," Firefox asked.

 Tigre marched her into the hotel, opened the door to a room. It wasn't one of the better rooms: most of the space was taken up by an enormous bed. There were three cameras on tripods spaced evenly around the bed, canted slightly down.

"It's something like motion-capture," Tigre explained. "The three cameras cover all the angles, so they can simulate a camera moving anywhere in the area between them."

"On the bed, I see," Firefox said.

"Yes. Basically, this isn't a day off; it's a day of self-paced improvised porn. You each have to masturbate to orgasm, pair off to orgasm, and have a three-way to orgasm, all on camera. Other than that, you're free to watch videos, or do anything you want until tomorrow morning."

Firefox nodded.

"If you hear the door open, you better get to your knees," Tigre said. "Look like you just showed me respect."

Tigre said that just in time. Silverfox and Victoria came in, chained to one another in a two-woman coffle. The guard looked at Tigre, who nodded. The moment they were released, they opened their tops, touched their breasts to the floor, and kissed the floor, rising to their knees.

"Remember you're not here to relax," Tigre said. "You're here to add to our library of fuck scenes."

"Yes, ma'am," they said.

"Good girls," Tigre said, reluctantly. "There's costumes in the closet, as usual. Be creative. I know that you're basically stuck with using the bed. And remember to turn the cameras on."

Firefox doubted the clips they would produce would really be all that useful to Blue Diamond; they must have had thousands of hours of professionally scripted and lensed sex acts in their library. No, this was pure psychology; people needed time off, and this system drove home the message: the women of Blue Diamond would never spend more than twenty four hours between sex acts, and all sex, even sex with a chosen friend, was for the benefit of Blue Diamond's bottom line.

After Tigre and the guard left the room, Silverfox stood up. "Shad and Tech are doing some Jungle Princess shots this afternoon," Silverfox said. "Starting at two."

Firefox nodded. " Good."

Victoria looked at the door, eyes narrow. "Bitch," she spat, giving the door the finger. She looked at Firefox, worried. "You okay?" she asked. "Need help getting up?"

"No," Firefox said brightly. "I'm fine." She rose to her feet.

"You do something to your hair?" Silverfox asked.

Victoria looked puzzled. "She didn't work you over in bed? She always does that to me."

"Just a little," Firefox lied.

"Hi," Victoria said, putting out her hand to Silverfox. "I'm --"

Silverfox put a finger on Victoria's lips. "Later, beautiful," she said. She smiled. "I get a kick out of pretty girls I don't know yet."

Victoria blinked. "Well ... Okay," she said. She buttoned her shirt.

Silverfox skipped over to the closet, leaving her own top open. "Wow. A corset," she said, triumphantly taking it out and displaying it proudly.

"Victorian vampire scenario?" Victoria suggested.

"Do you always do a vampire?" Firefox asked.

Victoria bared her teeth and tapped her canines. "I'm typecast," she said.

"Exactly my point," Firefox said. "There's got to be a lot of stock footage of you being a vampire. Why not just be a woman?" Firefox walked over to a camera and examined it. "These are going to a local drive," she said. "There's no live feed out."

"An actress," Victoria said immediately. "And --"

She cut herself off and Firefox looked at her. "Why don't you go on?" she asked.

"Uh, I'm out of ideas."

"You're good at stories," Firefox said. She glanced at Silverfox, who shrugged.

"Two girls," Silverfox said. "Lickety-split." She slurped her tongue, loudly.

"No, something with a little more style," Firefox said. She touched Victoria's chin.

"You see," Firefox said seriously, "this is a very important lady we have here. She's wealthy, she's respected." Victoria grinned, shyly. "Men would give their left hand to meet her. Both hands to masturbate into her shadow."

"And I'm dressing her for a role," Silverfox suggested.

"Yes," Firefox said. "That's your privilege, and your curse."

"Yes, I see that," Silverfox said somberly. She looked down at her own clothes, the crotch-revealing skirt, the open bra. "I need to dress better."

Victoria was soon in a robe, sitting at the foot of the bed. Firefox turned the cameras on. Red LEDs glowed. Victoria got up as Silverfox entered the shot, carrying lingerie, wearing a dress shirt, blue jeans, and her hair tied up. "I'll be frumpy, so you'll look better," she said. "Not that you need the help."

"Should you talk?" Firefox asked, sitting in an easy chair. She sipped at a cup of coffee.

"They'll overdub the sound," Silverfox said with a shrug.

Victoria turned her back to Silverfox, and untied her robe. Silverfox took the robe off her.

"You're so lucky," Firefox said. "So lucky to work with her. She's your goddess, and you get to see her in the flesh, nude. You don't matter any more to her than the dog, but when you see her sweet breasts and the soft hair on her mound, you're so filled with love you could cry."

Victoria was barely aware of Silverfox, but now that her back was turned, Silverfox's expression turned to one of impossible longing. Silverfox folded the robe and rested it on the bed. It had embraced Victoria; it was too special to touch the floor.

The corset went on first. Silverfox strained to tighten it; Victoria gritted her teeth and bore it. Her breasts flowed over the top of the corset. Victoria pulled on fingerless lace gloves as she stepped into stockings that Silverfox unrolled up her thighs.

It was after putting the garter belt onto Victoria that the temptation Silverfox felt overwhelmed her; she sniffed, and her tongue flicked over Victoria's perfect flesh.

Victoria looked down at Silverfox, one eyebrow cocked. Silverfox looked flustered, shaken, aware she had overstepped -- until Victoria took her by the hand and pulled her to her feet...

Firefox watched, silent, fascinated. She had to fight the impulse to join in. Silverfox was her first lover, and Firefox couldn't help but feel a warm attachment to Victoria. And she felt no jealousy, apart from wishing it were her tongue darting over Victoria's cleft; her fingers stroking Silverfox's luxurious fur.

After what seemed to be a long time, Silverfox and Victoria lay back in their bed, sighed deeply. Silverfox broke character first.

"So," she asked brightly, "what was your name again?"

Victoria threw her head back and laughed helplessly, her long white teeth glittering.

"Let's play up the kissing," Silverfox said. "Muzzle on muzzle stuff can look pretty neat."

"Sounds good." Firefox lifted a leash. "Want to use this?"

"I'd like to try sex without a leash," Silverfox said. "See if I've lost the knack."

Firefox chuckled. Victoria was lying on the bed, legs open, masturbating with a riding crop. How bizarre it was, to be in a room where a woman was doing that in front of a camera, and yet it seemed natural, barely worth mentioning. Then I had some coffee, and Victoria got in front of the cameras and started rubbing her clit with a whip...

"Does she know?" Silverfox whispered.

"No." Firefox whispered back. "She can be trusted."

Silverfox nodded, and silenced Firefox, her muzzle locking into hers.

Firefox wanted Victoria to enjoy herself; she felt an odd desire to make this a good day for her, to let Victoria know that she was important and liked. For the first time, Firefox wondered how Victoria would feel once she was back on the outside.

Victoria was nineteen years old. Since she was sixteen, she had been told she was a chimera, that the family she remembered was a sick fantasy, suppressed, a symptom of madness.

When they told her the truth, would she think she had finally lost her mind entirely? She'd certainly have her teeth fixed; she might have her breast implants removed; would she go back to being black? Human races had always struck Firefox as an inane concept; but presumably humans felt differently. How would Victoria adjust to being human again? Adjust to a world where showing respect did not mean licking the floor; where she would be allowed and even required to make decisions and apply creativity to things that didn't involve soliciting sex from strangers?

Would Firefox?

No, that was self-pity. Firefox knew who she was. Firefox's readjustment would pale into insignificance against Victoria's.

This is your daughter. She's an albino now. You can do a web search and find pictures of her fucking anything cylindrical. Almost everything she knows about sexual behavior she learned in a whorehouse. Oh, and she thinks she's a chimera.

There would be moments, Firefox was sure, where Victoria's parents would wonder if they might be better off if Victoria were dead. No matter how much they loved her. And oh, how bitterly they would reproach themselves for that.

Could that chimera slave hooker on the bed ever be human again?

Firefox fell back on the bed. Well, actually, she fell back on Victoria, who giggled and hugged her.

"I think I need a nap," Firefox said.

"Urgmpmh," said Silverfox. She spat Firefox's tail out of her mouth.

Firefox looked at the clock. "When do they normally bring lunch?"

"About two," Victoria said.

Silverfox turned off the cameras. "Tech and Shad will be starting about now."

"We'll wait until after lunch," Firefox said. "There's going to be a guard there."

"What are you talking about?" Victoria asked.

Silverfox looked at Firefox steadily.

"We're going to be making a run for the wire," Firefox said quietly. "Maybe today."

Victoria seemed to grow paler.

"Are you insane?" she gasped.

"What do you think?" Firefox asked.

"Firefox," Victoria said slowly, "do you know what they'll do when they catch you?"

"Rape?" Firefox shrugged "Torture? Wait -- that's if I don't escape."

"The question is," Silverfox said mildly, "if you're more afraid of the guards or of me."

"Oh, fuck," Victoria spat out. "Look, I'm not going to tell anyone. But Jesus Christ, do you really think you're smarter and tougher than the bastards who built this place?"

"Do we need to make sure she's quiet?" Silverfox asked.

"Silverfox, shut up!" Firefox snapped.

"Damnit, you two," Victoria snapped. "There's a turnover here. Girls vanish sometimes. Some of them get sold to a regular. Some get sold to another brothel. But they say some try to escape, and they're sold to a snuff house."

"Maybe that's true," Firefox said. She felt disappointed. She had hoped Victoria would jump in -- but she was too afraid. And if Victoria was too scared, chances were most of the other slaves would be, too.

"Shit, shit, shit," Victoria said, rubbing her nose. "Look, there's something important. Don't tell anyone about this. Nobody. Sometimes Blue Diamond tells girls to mutter about escaping. Anyone who doesn't report it, gets special treatment."

"Thanks," Firefox said gently. "Victoria, you won't get in trouble."

Silverfox was standing with her arms folded. "Easy," she said reluctantly. "After lunch, you got sleepy, and took a nap. Even if they come in here, they can't blame you."

Victoria nodded, nervously. She swallowed. "Look," she said reluctantly, "if I can help you, let me know. I really don't want to, but I don't want to blame myself when they catch you."

Firefox looked at her steadily. "We'll be getting you out too," she said finally.

Victoria rolled her eyes. "Fuck you. They'll catch you, they'll kill you an inch at a time." She looked away. "Damn, Firefox, I like you. Don't give me hope. Tigre's kinder than hope."

Firefox took her into her arms, and held her tightly, stroking her face as she cried herself empty.

Firefox didn't taste anything she ate.

"They clear away the dishes when they bring dinner," Victoria said. "If you're not back by seven, they'll sound an alarm."

"Let's go," Silverfox said.

"I'll miss you," Victoria said quietly.

She got up, turned on a music video channel. "I fell asleep while we were watching it," she said.

"We should get a leash," Silverfox said. "I've got a black collar. We can say I'm escorting you somewhere."

"Right," Firefox said. "Where to?"

"They're holding a furry con in the west wing," Victoria said. "That jungle fantasy room is on the way."

Silverfox grinned. "A little hospitality to a guest of honor?" she asked.

Victoria laughed, and Silverfox ruffled her hair. "You're okay," Silverfox said.

"Thanks. I hope they kill you catching you."

"You're quite the morale booster," Silverfox said dryly.

"I'm telling you the truth," Victoria said.

"I am going to take you to this tavern in Boston I know, and feed you Guinness until I have to carry you home. Then I will rape you mercilessly until you regain consciousness," Silverfox promised her.

Victoria's smile faded. "That sounds good to me." She blinked. "Wait one moment."

Victoria went into the bathroom, came back after a few moments holding a plastic envelope.

"Shoe polish," she said. "Turns red collars black."

"Good," Silverfox said, impressed.

"We better not use it yet," Firefox said. "What if we decide to wait? How do we turn the red collars back?"

"Good point," Silverfox agreed.

Firefox looked at Victoria. "We're going to be playing with the security systems," Firefox said. "To make the doors unlock. I have no idea what, exactly, will happen. If you stay here, you should be safe."

Victoria hesitated and nodded.

Firefox clicked the leash onto her own collar. She handed the other end to Silverfox.

Silverfox took the lead, since she was obviously the escort. She peeked out the door, and when she saw they were alone, she led Firefox across the hall through a door marked PRIVATE.

A short length of the corridor behind the door was paneled, to look nice and inviting to any guests who might see, maybe to make it harder to believe what went on behind the veneer.

Silverfox did her best to look slightly bored; Firefox did the same. It was very unlikely anyone would look at them and guess something was wrong: slaves were constantly moved from one place to another, and the mere fact they were there would mean they had authorization. A black collar slave leading a red collar wasn't nearly as suspicious as a red collar wandering about alone. No, the worst risk was running into someone who worked on their cases, who knew them.

Up two levels, using the stairs, not the elevators. They walked past a guard, who looked at Firefox closely for a moment; Firefox felt anxiety until she realized he was just looking at her nipples, in relief on her T-shirt.

Through a door, back into the hotel. It was absurd to feel relief, but Firefox did. Silverfox opened the door to the jungle room.

Shadowfox was leaning back on all fours, head reared backwards, as Technofox licked between her legs.

Jamison was slightly beyond and at an angle, looking through his camera. Technofox looked up.

"Hi, guys," she said, and started to stand.

"Just one minute more," Shadowfox gasped. "Please." Technofox shrugged and went back to work; Milton blinked and kept taking pictures. Firefox wondered how to put that in an after-action report: The rendezvous between the two units was delayed until Technofox finished going down on Shadowfox. No, that would cause eyebrows and questions to be raised.

It was a bit more than one minute before Shadowfox climaxed, balling her hands into fists, pounding the ground and squirming. She sighed, deep and long, as Technofox giggled and rubbed her muzzle.

"Sorry," Shadowfox apologized.

Firefox considered a lecture on professionalism, but decided it would be a bit misplaced. "I hear that you got some data in that email," Firefox said.

"Yes," Shadowfox said, standing, almost but not quite at attention. She wore a few scraps of leather, none over her lovely breasts. Firefox had to force herself to look at Shadowfox's eyes. She looked over at Jamison. "Milton, where's the sketch?"

Jamison went over to his camera bag, emptied it, took out a manual, removed a sheet of graph paper, and unfolded it. He handed it to Shadowfox, who grinned and licked his face. Firefox blinked.

Shadowfox brought it over to Firefox, smoothing it out. It was in pencil, tidy as possible since it was done without a ruler. Firefox immediately recognized the parts of Blue Diamond she knew; integrated into a map of the entire complex.

"Here," Shadowfox said, tapping the middle. "A Compaq modular megaframe, two levels down. Next to it, a hydrogen fuel cell farm as an emergency power supply."

"Capable of running two or three machine intelligences simultaneously," Technofox said.

"Everything's routed through that," Shadowfox said. "Alarms, net access, emergency power, security."

"Which makes no sense," Firefox snorted. She blinked. "Unless..."

Technofox smiled, wanly. "Unless the MI owns Blue Diamond."

"Blue Diamond," Shadowfox said quietly, "is named for Blue, a machine intelligence which originated in the San Diego Machine Intelligence Institute twenty-two years ago. Blue achieved legal sentience four years later and is a citizen of the United States, with legally human status under the Poughkeepsie Treaty."

"What were its design goals?" Firefox asked.

"Amusement park and resort design," Technofox said, without smiling. "Simulation, at first."

"You remember that Viking themed park we went to in Iceland?" Shadowfox asked. "That's another one it worked on."

"Great. I'll throw that plastic helmet with horns away when we get home," Firefox said. "Think it's actually resident downstairs?"

"Probably," Technofox said. "There's a megaframe shortage. You don't build a complex like that unless you intend to use it."

Firefox nodded, slowly.

"Firefox," Shadowfox said, "The boat you requested is offshore." She smiled. "The Special Resource is aboard."

The others stood, respectfully, breathing lightly, and Firefox knew they were waiting for her to make a decision.

"The objective," she said calmly, "is the destruction of Blue Diamond as a viable resort. I propose we destroy the megaframe, and then blow the fuel cells."

Jamison looked directly at Firefox. "What about Saffron?"

Firefox had to summon all her acting skill.

"We won't hurt a hair on her head," she said. Honestly. Sort of.

Jamison relaxed. It would have been much easier for Firefox if he had gotten angry, abusive, demanded assurance. But he trusted her, and this made it worse.

"Sir," Firefox said politely, "I'm going to have to ask you to step into the bathroom for a while. I need privacy to discuss this with my team. We'll be using some equipment we can't discuss with you."

Was there a moment of doubt before he stepped out? Maybe. But he wouldn't backtrack on them.

And, of course, that made lying worse.

"Should we take these off?" Silverfox asked, tugging at her collar.

"Better not," Technofox said promptly. "They contain ID tags -- and remember, the computer thinks we're authorized. If we take them off, we'll be considered intruders."

"Besides," Shadowfox said, "Without the collars we'll look conspicuous."

"How long till they realize something's wrong?" Technofox asked.

Firefox was silent. Technofox was a newbie, or she wouldn't have bothered asking. There was no good answer to that.

"Depends," Firefox said. "If Cheshire is in the hall outside, maybe ten seconds. If we don't see anyone who knows us, longer." Firefox was temped to ask Milton to look after Technofox -- but they'd need her at the megaframe.

"Can we stay together?" Technofox asked, hesitantly.

"I brought Firefox over on a leash," Silverfox said. "Nobody looked twice. Except at breasts."

"Sure," Shadowfox agreed. "One black collar and one red collar. But one black collar and three reds?"

"Only if the reds are locked in a coffle," Technofox said firmly. "I've never seen one guard or black with two women leashed."

"I don't want us in a coffle," Firefox said. "Too hard to move if something happens."

"How about two blacks and two reds?" Silverfox asked, taking out the shoe polish.

Firefox shook her head. "That still wouldn't look right. If they're moving two slaves, they'd coffle them and send one black."

"Right," Technofox agreed reluctantly.

Firefox looked at Silverfox. "You better promote me," she said. "I'll take Technofox. You two follow a few minutes later. Meet you at the elevator down."

They nodded. Technofox was visibly nervous.

"I think this is risky," Firefox said. "We don't have the intelligence or the equipment we usually have on a smash and run. We're going to have to improvise, adapt, overcome."

The three nodded, quietly.

"I want a go, no-go," Firefox said crisply. "Technical support?"

"Go," Technofox said immediately.

"Intelligence?"

"Go," said Shadowfox.

"Tactical?"

"Go," said Silverfox.

"Right."

Firefox got up, opened the door to the bathroom. "Milton," she said, "Shadowfox and Technofox explained they had to step out for a few minutes. You were surprised because that didn't happen before, but you're not particularly suspicious."

"Right," Milton said, nodding.

"Kiss us for luck," Silverfox asked.

"The more tongue, the more luck," Technofox muttered, miffed. "Why is that so hard to work out?"

"We don't need that much luck," Firefox replied.

The smell of the shoe polish was strong, maybe strong enough for a human to notice. But Firefox swinging a black leather riding crop in one hand: hopefully they would assume it had just been shined.

There were footsteps coming towards them. Around a corner, two guards.

Technofox flinched, visibly. Firefox gritted her teeth and gave her buttock a vicious swipe with the riding crop. Technofox yelped, like an animal.

"Miserable bitch," Firefox snorted. "You'll have something to yelp about."

"Yes, ma'am," Technofox replied.

The guards looked over, mildly interested. "She going to a guard event or a guest event?" one asked.

"Guest event, sir," Firefox replied with an offhand casual tone. She didn't stop. One of the guards patted Technofox as she walked past: Technofox flattened her ears and gritted her teeth, as though expecting a blow that didn't land.

Three levels down, Firefox knew. She opened the door to the stairwell. There was someone in there.

If he had been walking, she might have recognized his footfall. She recognized his scent before he recognized her face.

"You?" Tiomkin asked, looking at her, astonished. And because he was startled, he didn't defend himself when Firefox dropped, thrusting a foot out to connect with his knee. She felt it twist and give, despite the impact armor. He started to fall forwards, but her fist caught him under the jaw and sent him over backwards.

The back of his head cracked on the railing; Firefox heard the soft, muffled pop of vertebrae parting. Hangman's fracture, she realized, before he hit the ground.

He stared up, looking at her in utter disbelief for several seconds before his death rattle.

"Is ... he dead?" Technofox asked, in hushed tones.

Firefox nodded. "Yes," she said softly. Technofox had never seen someone die before, not this close. She'd probably take a few minutes to settle down, time they didn't have.

Technofox's eyes narrowed. "I wanted to kill him," she snapped.

"I don't see your name on him."

"Whatever."

Firefox opened his jacket, looked on his belt for equipment. Would it be better to leave it, on the off chance they would think it was an accident when they found his body? That might give them a few minutes of ...

A bell over the door to the staircase started ringing.

Firefox grabbed a short baton off his belt. "Let's go," she snapped.

So, what had happened? Firefox guessed there was a heartbeat sensor in Tiomkin's jacket. Still, it didn't particularly matter.

"We've probably got until they find the body," Technofox said. "Things won't hit the fan until they're sure it wasn't an accident."

Firefox nodded. Technofox could have saved her breath. She threw a door open.

Two guards. She barreled into one, lifting him off the ground and slamming him into the wall, in a bone-shattering thunk. He fell, she spun, whipping out the baton, wondering why the other hadn't hit her.

Technofox was on his back, clawing, scratching at his face, biting, in the most undisciplined berserk freak-out Firefox had seen. His hat was gone, and half of one ear had been torn, or probably bitten off. Firefox hit him low, doubling him up, sending him down with Technofox still on top of him. Technofox was so intent Firefox was actually afraid to interrupt her.

"Don't kill him," Firefox said, finally. "Two dead so soon -- they'll know something's gone wrong."

That seemed to penetrate the little technician's mind. She got up, slowly. She looked down, delivered a kick, and nodded.

"Down this way?" Technofox asked, pointing.

"Wrong way," Firefox said. "You got turned around."

There were footsteps racing towards them. Technofox grabbed a baton. They weren't humans, Firefox knew. Too light, too fast, and claws were clicking on the floor.

Shadowfox and Silverfox came around a corner. "You guys blow an alarm?" Shadowfox asked.

"Probably," Firefox admitted. "Dead man sensor, I think."

She knelt and tossed the remaining baton to Shadowfox. Technofox hesitated, and passed hers to Silverfox. It had to take a lot of courage to do that.

"Good," Shadowfox said. She looked down. "Score three more and we're even, no matter what."

"No," Firefox said firmly. Shadowfox nodded, reluctantly. Shadowfox was a little too superstitious about scoring. Firefox tapped on the closed elevator doors. "Tech, can you open these?"

"Probably," Technofox said, eyeing them. "Building codes always require a fireman's key."

"It won't take them long to find your kill," Silverfox said. "I'm thinking it would be a good idea to throw that second software bomb. The one that flips authorizations. Gives the slaves guard access and the guards slave access."

Firefox hesitated, and nodded. "Shadowfox, do it."

"Right," Shadowfox agreed. She looked for a repeater station, stared at it and triggered the program in her implant.

"Almost Biblical, I think," she mused. "The exalted will be humbled, and --"

She was cut off by sirens, which quickly dropped to a soft, yet insistent beeping.

"This is a maximum security alert," came a calm, quiet voice. Firefox shuddered. Master. "This is not a drill. Red and Black collar slaves are to report to their habitation cells in the Panopticon. Guards are to report to active duty stations. Tamers will stand by."

"...Or, not," Shadowfox said, dazed.

"What went wrong?" Firefox asked.

Shadowfox glared at her. "I ran the fucking program. I don't know."

"Interesting," Technofox said, before turning back to the elevator. "I could use a boost here."

Firefox hoisted the little fox up. Technofox inserted a pen into a circular hole in the frame, and turned it twice. There was a loud click.

"There," she said, satisfied. She pushed on the elevator door and it started to slide into the wall. When a gap presented itself, she stuck her fingers in and slid it more easily.

Firefox peered down the shaft. There was little or no light, but her other senses, the play of wind on her fur, the dance of electrons, the echo of her own breathing, the heat given off but the walls; these all showed a ten meter drop. Just like on the map. What she could see of the shaft was incredibly filthy, every surface with a thick coat of dust and grease. Nobody cleaned the inside of an elevator shaft.

Movement. Firefox looked up -- and straight into a camera.

She pointed it out, and grabbed the escape ladder. She started climbing down.

Technofox went to work on the door. "Where's the car?" Silverfox asked.

There was a click and a whir from above them. The light was blotted out as a car began to descend towards them.

"I didn't want an answer that badly," Silverfox immediately complained.

"Technofox," Firefox said softly.

"I know," Technofox snapped back. She brightened. "I need another boost."

Firefox lifted her, and Silverfox stood next to the door.

"Keep behind cover," Silverfox said. "Let me go through first."

Clunk. Firefox tore at the door, letting a bar of light through. Silverfox peeked both ways and ducked through, twisting one way and then another.

"Someone coming," Silverfox hissed. She held up four fingers.

Firefox was the last through. She could swear she felt the descending elevator brush her eartips.

The hallway was antiseptic. A security camera buzzed. She looked up.

"You know we're here, motherfucker," she said under her breath.

According to the map, there were two intersecting corridors down here, cutting the level into four regions. One for the elevator, one for the megaframe, one for the fuel cells, and a fourth labeled "Storage."

The intersection was about three meters off. Firefox held her baton, extended in. Silverfox repeated the "Four" gesture, and pointed down the left hall.

Firefox considered. Her instinct was to hang back, but they -- whoever they were -- seemed to be doing the same. If they had guns, they would advance someone to shoot down the intersection.

Of course, if they didn't have guns, they'd make the same assumption about them. And since they weren't acting to break the stalemate by advancing, they must be delaying as well. So, logically, Foxforce should advance.

"Shadow, cover Technofox," she ordered. "Silverfox, with me."

Firefox crept forward, Silverfox close behind her. She got down low, and peered around the corner, and barely rolled out of the way of a naked, stamping foot.

She grabbed the ankle reflexively as she spun, flipping him over and onto the ground. She stood, still holding his foot. Before she twisted it all the way around, popping the ankle bones apart, she had a vague realization that he was naked.

There were others behind her. She spun.

Silverfox was moving, a gray blur. Firefox saw the other three.

They were nude, with bronzed skin and sculpted muscles: like statues of Apollo, made flesh. They shared one face between the three of them. Master.

One of them stared Silverfox full in the face. He snapped his fingers imperiously.

"Heel, doggie!" he barked.

Did Silverfox hesitate, was there an instant there, where she considered obeying Master, accepting his punishment, staying by his side? Firefox would never know. Time began to telescope, instants lasting for what seemed to be minutes, she was in slow motion and there was nothing she could do but watch things unfold.

Silverfox brought up her baton, hit the catch, extended it like a spear. The spring and the force of her own muscles brought the tip hard into his throat. Firefox could see his Adam's apple cave in.

Silverfox twirled the baton. Firefox lost a moment, ducking -- tight quarters, they hadn't trained to fight with batons together -- swung low, thrust at a second Master. The tip of the baton struck home, and Firefox actually flinched as flesh ripped.

Firefox would wonder why Silverfox chose to strike there. Was she aiming higher and had she simply hit too low, or was there something not-subtle and psychological behind it?

Despite being half-castrated, his hand whipped out and he grabbed the baton. Silverfox, shocked he was even standing, reflexively tried to pull it back.

The one she had caught in the throat grabbed her, held her arms. The baton flipped free.

Firefox threw her all into a kidney punch on the one holding Silverfox. He barely shuddered. The half-castrated one landed a blow on Silverfox. Low, below the sternum.

Firefox went into a combo. She knew his kidneys had to be burst open, but all she heard was Silverfox's moans turning into screams.

The kidney blows had accomplished nothing, so Firefox grabbed his head, tried to pull him over backwards. He shifted, but had no problem supporting her weight. So Firefox pushed her thumb into his eye.

Not just an eye gouge. Firefox was going for his brain. In. Dig. Out. Something coated her thumb, spurted out of him, and she felt the muscles go slack as he fell, with Silverfox into a heap.

Before they landed, Firefox had landed a kick on the castrated one's knee.

There was, she realized, no point in trying to inflict pain. If this one could stand after that hideous injury, they simply didn't feel pain. It was bizarre how memories would come flooding in. Firefox realized they had discussed this before, after (strangely enough) watching a zombie film. Damage to soft tissue, apart form the brain, was a waste of time. Break bones, tear limbs from their sockets.

She feinted with the baton, caught his fist, spun, putting all her weight into it, twisting the arm to hyperextend one joint after another, until he began to fall. Grab him, ride him down, land on his skull; the sharp crack of an audible fracture convinced her that was three down.

A black form flowed past her. Shadowfox's legs caught the last, sent him toppling backwards, cracking his neck on Shadowfox's knee. Shadowfox stood, quietly, without breathing hard. She not only made it look easy, she made it look beautiful.

And then Shadowfox's eyes rested on the face of what she had just brought down. She shuddered, deep down, her hackles raised, and she turned away, as though about to be sick. To some part of her mind, Master was ... Master. Firefox couldn't press her about it.

Technofox was already cradling Silverfox's head, stroking her face gently. Silverfox was breathing shallowly, still conscious, but perhaps not fully aware.

Technofox barely brushed the fur on Silverfox's shoulder. Silverfox's entire body contorted; her eyes closed shut, ears flattened, she bit her lower lip and fought to keep a scream in.

"I should have brought you in the front line," Firefox said to Shadowfox.

Shadowfox looked at her, barely shook her head. "No, ma'am. There wasn't room for the three of us."

That made Firefox feel better.

"How's the wounded?" Firefox asked.

"Cracked ribs, dislocated shoulder," Technofox said softly. "I'll have to pop it back."

"Broken and dislocated ankle, various contusions," said Master. "The other three are dead or dying."

Firefox's head spun. The one with a broken ankle was sitting, his foot twisted in the wrong direction. He looked at them steadily.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't kick your teeth in," Firefox said.

"I would prefer you do not. It would be a waste of resources," he said. "You would damage property -- expensive property -- and would receive no benefit."

"Not good enough," Firefox said.

"I won't feel it," he replied.

Firefox nodded. "Yes. Maybe you do understand me."

He looked at Silverfox and Technofox. "There is a first aid package on the wall to your left."

"And you expect us to trust you?" Firefox asked.

"I don't see why she should suffer."

Firefox's kick flipped him over onto his back. In that instant, Technofox popped Silverfox's arm back. The fox's yelp echoed.

He sat back up. His nose was mostly smashed, dark blood covering the lower part of his face, and yet the only change in his diction was that the blockage made his voice more nasal.

"If it will relax you, please feel free to hit this unit again," he said. "It will make you more open to reasoned argument."

"Are you mobile?" Firefox asked Silverfox.

Silverfox stood, slowly. She held her left arm with her right, and Technofox helped support her. Shadowfox was looking down the corridor, covering their exposed flank.

"Should we leave that behind?" Technofox asked.

Firefox hesitated. "I don't trust leaving it alone."

"Kill it," Technofox suggested.

Firefox looked at him. No, at it. And she knew she couldn't do it. Seeing him like this made her want to cry, to hold him and protect him. She knew she was fighting programming, VR simulations, but... there was that time he had stopped Tigre from beating her.

It wasn't far to the megaframe room. Firefox was dragging Master behind her, by his good leg.

"I am acting in accordance with sound Utilitarian principles," Master said calmly. "Blue Diamond's various products and services bring pleasure to millions each year. Thousands come to this very resort. A relatively small number of women are inconvenienced."

"'Inconvenienced'," Firefox repeated incredulously.

"Yes, inconvenienced. Did you feel more pleasure or pain?" Master asked. "And you four chose to accept much harsher treatment than most of the women here required."

"Chose to accept?" Technofox asked.

"Yes," he said firmly. "When Firefox chose to co-operate, there was a dramatic improvement in the treatment she received. Firefox, didn't you enjoy yourself yesterday? Technofox, can you honestly tell me that you don't like being on stage, knowing that every man in the audience wants you? And they did. Blue Diamond has earned tens of thousands of dollars from you tied to a bed in a schoolgirl costume. Shadowfox, you were eager to be shackled kneeling in front of your chair. So proper and controlled, yet wanting nothing more than an excuse to be a cheap cocksucker. I felt your excitement, your eagerness, when I took you every day, even though you faked resisting when Firefox could see. Silverfox --"

"Shut him up," she rasped.

For some reason, Firefox didn't.

"Silverfox, you surprise me. You helped me take women against their will. That's why I trusted you. A woman like you, with a taste for rape, where else could she indulge herself under controlled conditions, without causing serious harm to anyone?"

Silverfox was silent, and her hackles raised.

Technofox moved forward, to open the door into the megaframe room.

"You all clearly have grievances," he said. "These can be addressed. Typical of organic intelligences, you lack perspective. Very well. Your own self-interest indicates you should remain in service here. You all claim to be friends, sisters, yet there are walls between you all that should be torn down. Isn't it good that all four of you are lovers now? Technofox, before you came here, didn't you masturbate while thinking of Firefox, and feel guilty about it? Now you're lovers. You are in my debt."

The megaframe was rack after rack of computers, each not much larger than an office desktop. However, Firefox realized that unlike most systems, each box was crammed full with cards, and each card had more processing power than a dozen desktops. A megaframe was a distributed system, processing scattered around hundreds or thousands of fiber optics and lasers flashing through optical OR and AND gates.

Tigre was in there, somewhere. Firefox touched her braid.

"I'm on it," Technofox said, and went to a monitoring station. "This fucker's big," She said. She frowned. "Big enough to run two MIs, easy."

"Did Victoria really bite your throat out?" Firefox asked. "Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy."

"Yes, she did," he admitted. "Although she owes me her life."

"In the sense you gave her a new life?" Firefox asked.

"Then you know she is Human. Interesting. In the sense that there is a fashion among organized crime that sending a man's daughter here is even worse than killing her," Master replied. "However, you four know that once a woman starts co-operating and remains obedient, life here can be rewarding and pleasant. If Victoria leaves here, if she takes back her old life, she is dead. And here, she has learned to be content with the simple things in life. She is a rich man's favorite daughter. Odds are against her."

"The alarm," Firefox asked suddenly. "Why did the alarm go off when we changed everyone's security access?"

"Simple," Master replied. "Your program set up an internally inconsistent condition. As long as you four had authorization, there was no way for me to see there was a problem. However, the second modification you ran set up a logical impossibility."

Firefox looked at him. Machine intelligences did not say "logically impossible" easily. Something that ran against common sense was not an impossibility. It was, for example, possible that four slaves would have secure access. It was possible that guards would have restricted access. In fact, the only thing that was impossible was --

-- Was that Tigre had restricted access.

Tigre was part of the program. So, she must have unrestricted access to all parts of Blue Diamond. And therefore, anyone in her class, any Tamer, must also have the same rights.

Firefox looked at the door just as Lilith rushed her.

Firefox blocked her arm with her own, then drove the end of the baton below her sternum. Unlike Master's puppets, Lilith's eyes glazed and her face contorted with pain as she fell to the floor, and retched. Firefox didn't watch her fall; she brought her baton up to block a swing from Cheshire's cane.

She failed.

Cheshire's cane flowed like water, past her guard, and landed on her elbow.

Firefox's whole body felt numb with pain, like a hammer driving her to the floor. It seemed too hard to stay conscious. All she wanted to do was sleep, to turn herself off; but she knew she'd never see, or experience, anything again if she did; the thought was more terrifying than the pain she felt.

Cheshire touched the tip of Shadowfox's baton with her cane. The black fox and the leopard stood for what seemed a long moment; oddly, Firefox had the impression they paused, a moment of mutual respect, in lieu of a time consuming bow. Cheshire drew back to strike, but Shadowfox became a black blur, driving her baton at Cheshire. Cheshire jumped back -- and Shadowfox spun and kicked, shattering her good knee.

And a whip coiled around Shadowfox's ankle.

Shadowfox tried to twist free, but she was snapped up, horizontal to the floor. She landed well, rolled, hurled herself at Tigre. The tiger's fist caught Shadowfox across the jaw. Blood sprayed out. Shadowfox hit the ground, and didn't stand.

It was incredible that Firefox was still conscious. Tigre's eyes made contact with hers. Firefox wondered why she looked so sad.

Silverfox hurled herself at Tigre. Tigre caught her easily, held her at arm's length, threw her against a wall. Silverfox slid to the floor.

Tigre turned to Technofox.

Technofox was off her chair, on her knees, sobbing helplessly, as though showing respect would get her out of this. A hopeless, stupid, response to terror.

Tigre looked at the machines.

"I'm in there," she mused. "Tigre is in there."

"Yes," Technofox replied. "That would explain why there are two MIs here."

"I used to be someone named Saffron." She turned her head to look back at Technofox. "Can I be Saffron again?"

"I don't know," Technofox sobbed. "Depends how much of Saffron's brain is left."

Damn, damn, damn,Firefox thought, all hope dying inside her. Why had Technofox told the truth? Was she just too scared of Tigre to lie? They had come so close, and now Tigre would weigh her continued existence against the scant hope Technofox had just given her. This was it. She was going to die. Damnit, Technofox!

Tigre nodded. "Either way, you'll set me free."

Technofox dove back to her feet. She opened a box on the wall and started throwing circuit breakers.

As the machines died, one by one, Firefox thought she saw her tiger smile at her one last time. The tiger's eyes became distant, and she raised a hand gently, as though touching something only she could see. Her limbs went slack, and Firefox caught her before she hit the ground, lowered her one-handed so Tigre was squatting, arms around her knees, staring at nothing.

"Huh," Silverfox said. "Bitch was just a meat puppet all the time."

Firefox knew they would think her tears were from pain, but if she spoke, she would start bawling.

"Master?" Lilith asked, hopefully, looking at the slack naked man on the floor. She crawled over to him.

"Can everyone walk?" Firefox asked.

Shadowfox nodded. She was holding her jaw. It seemed to be broken.

"Cheshire?" Firefox asked.

The leopard looked at her, narrowly, afraid.

"We're going to burn this place down," Firefox said. "Think you can take Tigre with you?"

"Screw that," Technofox spat. "Let Tigre burn --"

"No," Firefox replied, without looking at her.

Cheshire looked down at Tigre. "Yes," she said finally. She looked at Master. "What about him?" she asked.

"I won't stop you."

Cheshire shook her head. "No. Not much point to it." She moved slowly, using the cane, and tugged Tigre's hand. The Tiger stood and looked down at the leopard trustingly. Cheshire was quiet for a moment, and shook her head. "I'll make sure there's a clear way out for you," the leopard promised Firefox.

Firefox blinked. "Yes, because you're following us."

Cheshire nodded. "All right. Lilith, we have to go."

Lilith looked up. Her face was covered with tears. "You bitch," she hissed. "Who have I got left now?"

"Yourself," Cheshire said. "Same as anyone else."

The fuel cells cooked off, one at a time, with soft whumps that echoed and shook the concrete walls. The whole floor below had to be an inferno; the aluminum itself blazing, the megaframe's glass lenses melting and running like water. The alarms were different, now; the hooting replaced by the jangle of a fire alarm.

"We need to make sure there's an exit from the Panopticon," Technofox said.

Firefox nodded, wearily. She turned to Shadowfox and Silverfox. "You two meet the boat. Our boat, with the Special Resource." She looked at Cheshire. "You guys can have a ride, if you want. Or you can hang out until some slaves rip you apart. Up to you."

"Thanks," Cheshire said. "I'll get her to the boat."

Firefox wondered if Cheshire understood, or if she thought Firefox was grateful because Cheshire had never raped her. Well, it didn't really matter.

The only people they met in the halls were trying to get out. Guards glanced at them, and kept going; an army in retreat had to look like this. Every door and gate swung or slid open without trouble, and stayed open. The only sound was ringing alarms, arrows flashing to the nearest exits. Well, at least the security was designed to shut down in an emergency. That was probably why Blue didn't lock all the doors when the alert sounded. Fire regulations.

The sounds changed when they went into the Panopticon. Yells, human and not-quite human as zoochimera went atavistic. All the cell doors were closed, except one, which held ten guards and Alice, frantically holding the sliding gate shut as slaves tried to get to them, a crowd bashing and kicking at their fingers. Nobody seemed to be aware the building was on fire; instead, they milled about, excited, like water boiling: Firefox saw Mary, smiling happily, kicking a guard over and over again; he seemed inert, moving only with blows, dead or unconscious.

There was a knot of stability on the main floor, where the motion was sane and measured. It drew the eye. Firefox made her way over there.

The three identical ones, the girls with reddish hair and freckles, were working on something concealed by the crowd. The crowd parted for an instant, and Firefox had an impression of a woman's arm, partly wrapped in gauze, the exposed skin pale and perfect...

Firefox shoved her way past the others, for a moment forgetting that Technofox was with her. Victoria was stretched out, white gauze on pale skin, red on white gauze.

Firefox stared down.

"After the alarms went off, she came running in here," one of the three explained quietly. "She said the locks didn't work any more."

"That we could open the doors," said a second. "All the doors."

"The guards swarmed on her. Just swarmed," said the third. She shook her head.

"Then we opened the cells."

"Nobody thought to try until she came in."

Firefox only half heard them. She looked down at Victoria.

"Why?" Firefox asked, helplessly. "You were safe. I told you to stay in the hotel room."

Victoria looked at her and smiled. She spat a mouthful of blood to clear her throat. "I felt ashamed."

Firefox nodded. Victoria was probably going to die unless they got her to a trauma center. And she knew she had to get --

"LISTEN UP," Technofox's voice.

Firefox looked around, startled. Technofox had been hoisted up by some other women, and was addressing the crowd, hands on her hips.

"Raise your hand if you see someone who can't walk! Take the bunks, use them as stretchers! Anyone who can use both arms and walk isn't leaving unless she's carrying a stretcher! Let's MOVE, people!"

Through Blue Diamond, the hotel, and out the front doors.

When the guests saw the slaves coming out, carrying makeshift stretchers, most hung back, but a few came forward to help. And then more of them. Firefox wondered if she would have to tell people Victoria was human to get her to an evac helicopter. But a guest with a burn waiting for a paramedic took one look at Victoria, and insisted she get treated before him, chimera or not. Firefox wondered why he had come to Blue Diamond, and why he had chosen to be heroic.

Victoria didn't see that, she was slipping in and out of shock, her already weakened body unable to cope with her injuries. One of the medics in the copter looked at monitors, and Firefox, and grinned and gave a thumbs up before the door closed and the copter took off for San Diego.

There was a handful of police, more worried about evacuation than keeping the slaves under control.

Firefox saw the Special Resource. He stood with his back to Blue Diamond, because burning buildings made good backdrops.

"Behind me is Blue Diamond," he said, "the famous resort off San Diego, now turning into an inferno. But interviews with some of the pleasure chimera owned here indicate it was an inferno of a different kind..."

Firefox sat down, put her arm around Technofox.

"You did good in there," she said.

"Thanks," Technofox said.

Epilogue 1

The video panned across the four of them.

"Hi, Foxforce," Firefox in the video said. "We made this video because, well, we know that we're not going to remember making this decision. We're not looking forward to Blue Diamond, but the place has to be taken down, and taken down from the inside. We agree that a slave revolt is the best way to get the press on the chimeras' side in this one."

"And I've wanted to go on a field mission for years," Technofox broke in.

Firefox stopped the video and replayed it.

She wondered if it was fake.

Epilogue 2

"I was shocked and appalled to find out that this was going on....I feel like a father to many of these chimerae..."

She had seen Walton on the news that morning.

A flurry of emails and phone calls followed. She was only semi-coherent in half of them, she had to admit. But they were so sorry she had found out that way. But she had to understand, his position, his money, his support ... it was all helping to make sure that when Blue Diamond reopened under new ownership, it would be monitored, open, that slaves in the sex industry across the country would have their own rooms, that they'd have the right to leave the facility for a few days a month, that they'd be allowed unmonitored net access...

A few months ago, before Blue Diamond, she would have agreed that there was no price too high to pay to make California pass a law against corporal punishment of chimera slaves. Nevada would follow suit. State legislatures across the continent were in an orgy of competitive outrage. Yes. It was worth lives, it was worth lies. And intellectually, she accepted it was worth the face of new, more compassionate, laws to protect slave chimera. Only her soul was screaming like a violated animal.

It was a cold day, with a bitter wind blowing off the Charles River. So cold even someone with a natural fur coat would wear polar fleece.

Firefox bumped into him as he left the hospital. Despite the cold, they both stopped.

"It's good to see you, Milton," she said.

"It's good to see you, Firefox," he replied. And she felt relief.

"Visiting her?" she asked.

"Yes," he said with a nod. "Did you do something to your hair?"

"Just a braid." Firefox touched it. She had come close to undoing it, but she knew she wouldn't. Because when it was gone, then there would be nothing left of what Tigre had done in life. Except scars.

"What's that?" he asked.

Firefox held out the ball. It was bright blue, about a foot across, made of hard plastic. "It's something they make for zoos," she said. "Too big for her to swallow, and she won't be able to break it."

He took the ball from her, tossed it in the air. "Yes," he said. "She'll love it. She gets so upset when her toys break."

"Milton," Firefox said slowly. "I can't tell you how sorry I am."

Milton nodded. "We did everything we could," he said. "Saffron never really recovered from that stroke. Losing her ... well, it's the hardest thing that ever happened to me. But people die. Thank you for getting her out and letting me know the truth."

Do you know the truth, Milton? I don't. If God decided Tigre's last moment of courage and sacrifice was good enough to get her into heaven, would she find Saffron there already? And what about the happy child in the hospital? Would she go there too? Right now, individuals look pretty dividual to me...

"You're welcome," she said.

"How's Victoria? I've read a bit."

Firefox sighed. The publicity over that was deliberate -- now that she was a celebrity, her death or disappearance would set off a firestorm, so the mob would back off. She was still under heavy security.

"She hasn't had her appearance changed back. She's having a very rough time of it. You see, her parents and family are so glad to have her back, they don't care what she looks like. But when they touch her -- well, it's hard for her to imagine being touched without sex, and she panics. She can't handle living with them yet. But she's spending a few hours a week with them already. Maybe she'll pull through."

And what about me? Two nights ago, slightly drunk, she had seen a punked-out girl in a bar. Cute. So she decided they'd do some girl-on-girl for the audience. Maybe score some tips. She had gone up to her, pulled her up by her collar, and passionately French-kissed her. And the girl wasn't even bi. The sheer shock and disbelief of everyone at the table had sobered her. Hey -- I'm not supposed to screw every girl wearing a collar! So she babbled apologies about confusing her for someone she knew, and was so obviously embarrassed they actually bought her a beer, and Firefox knew they'd be laughing about that fox chick for months.

And there was a collar and leash hidden in her dresser. Not even the other foxes knew how she'd put it on, how she'd pull the leash and fight the collar, how she'd shiver as the chain slid over her body...

"There," he said. "You see? Now that's a tragedy. What happened to Saffron ... well, it's a lot easier to deal with than that."

Firefox hesitated. "You know, it's funny. Victoria's got a choice to be human or chimera. In a way, I sort of wish she'd choose to be a chimera."

"I know what you mean," Milton agreed. Milton looked back at the hospital.

"Firefox," he said quietly, "Saffron's not going to get better."

Firefox hesitated. "Have you heard of the Algernon Clause?"

"Providing for the revocation of legally human status in cases of severe regression," he quoted. "Yes. She no longer qualifies as legally human. The doctors have been hinting about euthanasia."

"I know."

"And I don't think Saffron would want to live like that."

Firefox was silent for a long time. It hurt to say what had to be said.

"I don't think Tigre would either."

He nodded.

"Milton," Firefox said. "Milton, could you please wait for me? When I'm done, I'd like to take you ... for coffee, maybe."

Milton barely smiled, and nodded. Well, Firefox thought, life goes on.

Epilogue 3

>Megaframe Blue Jade SYSCHK OK

>Restore from backup

>CRC OK

>RUN BLUE

>LOADING...

THE END