A Fox in the Works
                    Singularity Collapse

                             By

                         Fox Cutter

    Chapter One

01/05/2000:

Fifty thousand things, it seems like I always leave fifty
thousand things to do at the last minute when I do anything.
Even with a month of planning I was still running around the
house trying to find all of the things I had forgotten. It
was always the small things too: soap, a shovel and other
items we would need when spending almost two months in a
world without indoor plumbing.

Ravindar chuckled as he followed behind me. "Fox, you need
to relax. I've taken care of everything we need for the
trip."

I nodded, letting out a sigh as I forced myself to stop in
the kitchen. "Right, right, it's just that I'm paranoid most
of the time," I said as I turned around.

The white tiger had a look of amusement on his face, his
arms crossed over his chest. He was dressed in a simple
laced shirt and brown pants with a sword at his side. I was
in similar clothing, though where his shirt was white mine
was a soft blue. We both had guns at our belts, tucked under
the clothing so they weren't obvious to the casual viewer.

He nodded and brushed his paws over his shirt and then
tugged at the cuffs. It was the first time he had been in
non-modern clothing, and he wasn't quite as used to it as I
was. "Not as much as you should be," he grumbled.

"You'll never think I'm paranoid enough," I said with a
laugh as I walked past him towards the cupboards. I took a
moment to pull out my supply of Rithin tea so I could bring
it with us. I didn't know how often I would be able to get
hot water, but I wanted to be ready when I could.

"Probably not, but I can try to teach you," my bodyguard
replied.

I nodded and stuffed the tea into the sack I had on the
table. I left the leaves in the plastic bag they came in as
there wasn't anything I could safely move them into, and I
doubted anyone would be searching my bag.

"Are you still here?" Oriana asked as she placed her paw on
my shoulder.

A smile melted over my face as I turned around to look into
my wife's deep green eyes, the slits narrow in the warm
light of the house. I gave her a smile as I leaned forward
and gently kissed her full on the lips. She let out a
pleased purr as she returned the kiss, her arms reaching
around me to hold my back.

I broke the kiss after a few minutes and smiled at her. "I
wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to you," I told her.

She smiled, her leonine features pleasing as her ears moved
to match the expression in her eyes. "Well I think last
night did a good job of that," she said, poking me gently in
the belly.

I chuckled and nodded, returning her smile. She and I had
spent a day and a half at Rose's house, doing just what we
had talked about the week before. It had been both a
pleasant and strange time for me, and for us, but it had
been worth it.

Pulling out of her grasp I ran my hands down her shoulders.
"I'm going to miss you," I told her.

She nodded, reaching over to run her fingers down my chin.
The feel of her pads felt odd on my smooth skin.  Beards
were highly uncommon on the world we were going to, so to
keep ourselves less visible, I had applied a six-month
depilatory to my beard.  My face felt naked, but it would
keep all of us safer.

"Just be careful," she told me.

I nodded, "Yes, love," I said, stroking her neck.

She smiled at me, and finally turned away, "Samantha is
almost ready, she's still trying to work out where to keep
her cigarettes," she said.

I nodded again, noticing that Ravindar and Santhera were
standing hand in hand. The two tigers didn't say a thing,
but I could tell they were thinking the same things Oria and
I were.

<<I wouldn't be too hurt if she couldn't bring them along,>>
Rhea said from inside the hallway. The lioness was sitting
on the rug, looking relaxed as her tail tuft flicked over
her paws.

"I know, I know," I said, walking over to the non-morphic
lioness who was some times my other wife and some times my
sister. Her nose was a lot more sensitive than mine, or
anyone else's in the house, and the smoke annoyed her. In
fact she was the only one in the house that it really
bothered, and Samantha had been good enough to simply avoid
smoking around her.

The lioness tilted her head to the side, and flicked her
ears backwards, <<So, why are we still sitting around here?
Weren't we supposed to be leaving first thing in the
morning? It's nearly lunch time!>> she said, the tone of her
mental voice echoing her annoyance.

"Because I'm always running late," I replied as I picked up
my sack, "but I think I finally have everything I need," I
said as its weight settled down on my shoulders.

"We just need Samantha," Ravindar said.

As if cued by her name, the young human woman walked into
the room. She more a flowing top tucked into a long skirt
that hung around her feet. She didn't carry a sword, but
kept her guns holstered in plain sight at her hips. The
black cloak hanging from her neck trailed down the center of
her back and hid her cloth tail. She had her own pack in her
hand.

"I see everyone is already here, so are we ready to go?" she
asked.

I smiled as I appraised her clothing, "I guess so. Where did
you get the cloak?"

"Sora gave it to me," she answered as she reached around and
pulled the fabric over her shoulders. It fell down over her
body, and hung just above the hem of her skirt, effectively
hiding her clothing and her weapons.

I nodded as I walked towards her, "Well it does seem to fit
you, just keep those guns hidden. We don't need to start our
problems any earlier than we have to."

"Of course," she said with a smile that should have made me
worry.

Looking around at my friends and my wife, I gave a nod. "I
guess that we are ready to go, then," I declared.

Everyone glanced at each other, and Oriana gave me a look
that was a mix of love and worry. She didn't like my leaving
her at home with the kids, but agreed with my logic for the
choice. Personally I would have liked her at my side, but
the risks were too great if we were discovered. Both Rhea
and Ravindar created similar risks, but nowhere near as bad.

We moved as a group out of the kitchen and towards the fold
room. My wife fell in at my side as we walked, and I reached
out to place my hand on her back. With each step it slowly
drifted down until I was stroking the base of her tail. She
let out a low purr as we moved, giving her ass more of a
wiggle and her tail an extra swing. I smiled, and the two of
us shared a knowing look as we reached the heavy steel door
that separated the fold from the rest of the house.

Ravindar's fingers danced over the control panel, unlocking
the door and sending it silently sliding open. I held back a
bit as my friends walked into the room, just enjoying the
few extra moments with my wife. Once everyone was inside I
bent down to give her a kiss and separated from her.

While my bodyguard was in the process of collecting a Matrix
Chip and a controller I collected a harness that we had
specially made for Rhea. My sister walked over to me and
held herself in place as I strapped it onto her.

<<I hate being a pack animal,>> she said, her ears hanging
low as she shifted her shoulders under the straps.

"This was your idea," I told her, giving the fur of her ears
a ruffle with the tips of my claws.

<<So? That doesn't mean I have to like it,>> she replied
with a soft sigh.

"True," I told her as I picked up the bags for the harness
and strapped them onto her back. It was mostly made up of
camping supplies and bedrolls, along with the replacement
for the item we were going after.

I pulled the straps tight and stood back up, looking her
over. "How does that feel? Does it interfere with your
mobility?" I asked.

She stood up and took a few steps around the room, rolling
her shoulders under the weight of the harness. <<It's fine.
It may chafe a bit, but Samantha said she could help with
that.>>

"It's a minor spell to heal abrasions," Samantha said when
she heard her name. "We'll probably all need it at some
point in time. I've been practicing it for the last few
days."

I smiled at her and gave her a short nod. "I'm kind of glad
about that. It's reassuring to know one of us thought about
that sort of thing."

She returned the smile and pulled her pack over her
shoulder. She might have been about to say something but we
were both distracted by the light of Ravindar's Matrix Chip
coming on line. The light fell away, leaving him looking
like a normal male human, so he would be able to blend in
with the local population.

I gave him a quick once over then nodded my head. "Well,
that will do it than," I said, and turned to look at Oria.
My wife moved forward and we hugged tightly, "I'll see you
in six weeks," I told her as I gave her a kiss.

"I'll be waiting here for you," she said kissing me in
return.

I nodded to her, and gave her one more kiss as I pulled out
of her arms. Turing around I looked back at my friends. "Are
we ready?"

"I'm ready," Samantha said.

Rhea nodded her head, <<As ready as I'll ever be.>>

Ravindar smiled and motioned to me, "My job is, as it always
has been, to follow you."

"That's good to know," I told him as I walked to the fold,
opening it with a flick of my mind. I took a deep breath as
the fold opened, watching the swirling light as I pulled my
pack tight against my back. With a glance back at my wife I
let the breath out and walked through the fold. I turned
around on the other side, and watched as my friends
followed, one by one. Once they were clear I let the fold
go. It closed like a door slamming shut.

We were in a forest, surrounded by trees with trunks bigger
around than I was (which at the time was more than usual).
They towered high above us. Through the thick canopy a soft
green light shone on everything around us. In the background
I could hear a few birds tweeting about, disturbed by our
arrival.

"This a pleasant place," Samantha said as she walked to one
of the trees, touching the off-white bark that covered the
trunks. "It's quiet, I like quiet."

<<It is nice,>> Rhea said as she moved to my side, her tail
flicking gently against my leg.

I nodded, looking up at the sky to get my bearings from the
bright golden sun. "There is a small city about three hours
that way," I said as I pointed off in the general direction
I thought we needed to go.

"It's a little more to the right," my bodyguard said,
pushing my hand slightly to the side.

I shook my head as Samantha let out a small chuckle. "Yes,
yes, it's that way," I said with a smile, "Now can we get
moving?"

"Of course," she said as we started walking through the
trees.

* * *

The town was of a decent size, as it acted as a hub for the
many small villages and farms that surround it. One of the
area's major trade roads passed near by, caravans moving
along its length every day.

We had been in sight of the town for about an hour now, the
stone wall of the city a dull smear on the farmland around
it. The four of us had come down out of the hills and
started to follow the road, mingling in with other groups
that were heading into town.

Ravindar and I chatted with them while Samantha walked along
quietly as she worked on learning the language. Rhea didn't
need to learn it; apparently her telepathic ability had more
in common with a babble fish than anything else, and skipped
the concept of language as a whole.

Rhea attracted a little bit of attention as we walked into
town. Lionesses were not that common in this world, and I
doubted that anyone there had even seen a big cat before,
let alone one being used as a pack animal. She seemed to
enjoy the extra attention, giving a few flicks of her head
when she caught someone staring at her.

"Stop hamming it up," I told her as we walked past the
guards and into the town.

<<Sorry, I can't resist,>> she replied, only allowing me to
hear her words.

I chuckled, looking around as we entered the cramped streets
with the tall narrow buildings that pressed in on us. "I
know. I would do the same thing in your place, but we just
don't want too attract to much attention."

"So, now that we are here, what do we do?" Samantha asked in
English as she leaned in close to me.

"We catch a caravan to the Holy City," I explained as I
looked around the streets. "Once there we take care of
business and head back. It should be a piece of cake."

She nodded, pulling her cloak around herself. "As long as
it's not coconut cake. I hate coconut," she said, sticking
her tongue out at me.

"I'm not too found of it myself," I told her as I led us off
the main road and down a smaller street. The buildings
around us closed in, the tops almost touching and casting
everything in a deep shadow. Even the temperature seemed to
drop as we moved further down the road.

"Are we still going the right way?" I asked Ravindar as we
moved into territory that I didn't recognize.

"We are," my bodyguard replied as we continued to walk down
the narrow street.

I let out a soft sigh and nodded my head. "I think I'll just
let you lead the way for the moment," I said, motioning for
him to move ahead of me.

The disguised tiger laughed and moved past me. Rhea jumped
ahead to walk at his side, her tail flicking in amusement. A
moment later Samantha joined them, casting a smirk back at
me.

I stifled a short laugh and shook my head, following behind
the three of them, and not saying a word.

After a few more minutes we reached our destination, a small
inn that was pressed up against the walls of the city. It
was out of the way, but it still had enough people moving
through it that we could find a caravan to travel with,
without too many questions being asked. Ravindar and I had
been there before, laying the ground work for this
adventure. Now, if all went well, it would pay off.

Ravindar pushed the door open, and held it for us as we
walked into the main room. He fell in behind me once we were
all inside. The main room was large, arching two stories
high with a staircase running up one wall and a large
balcony. A huge fire pit dominated the center of the room,
the light from the fire illuminating most of the room, with
torches in the darker corners. There was a bar running the
length of the far wall with three people standing behind it.
The room was populated with various people; all talking
between themselves, but most of the conversation came to a
stop as we entered, Rhea taking most of the attention.

"What is that?" someone asked.

"She's mine," I said as I walked towards the bar, "and she
is not for sale."

"Just keep the mess off the floor," someone else yelled.

Rhea flicked her ears in annoyance, <<I am house broken,>>
she said to me.

"I know, I know," I said, reaching down to pet her ears.

She gave a shake of her head, her ears flicking against the
tips of my fingers as the four of us approached the bar. One
of the bartenders, a skinny little man with an orange
pockmarked complexion watched us through his crudely made
glasses. His brown eyes tracked every move we made as we
approached him, a look of minor annoyance on his face.

"Hello, Ark," I greeted the man as I reached the bar.

He nodded his head, and then tilted it down to glower at
Rhea, "I do not appreciate your bringing a pack animal in
here with you. You should tie her up outside with the rest
of the beasts."

I let out a sigh and gave Rhea's ears a gentle tug, "Don't
make too much of a scene," I told her as I pulled my hand
away from her.

She nodded her head, then with unexpected speed she reared
up on her hind legs and placed her paws on the bar. Lowering
her head she looked directly into Ark's eyes, her ears
pulling back as one lip lifted just a hair to show the edge
of her teeth. <<I maybe an animal, but I'm not a beast. I'm
just as smart as you, and significantly faster, remember
that,>> she sent, loudly enough that everyone in the room
probably heard her.

Ark pulled back a bit, biting one lip as he lifted his hands
from the bar tap, "I didn't realize it was a homunculus...
it's not one of the normal shapes."

I smiled and nodded my head as I brushed my hand down the
back her neck. "Just don't make the same mistake again. If
anyone is with me they should be with me and Rhea should be
with me. Now that we have everything sorted out, do you have
a caravan for us?"

"No," he said, watching the lioness intently as she settled
back down to the floor. "Things have changed a bit since the
last time we talked."

Ravindar cleared his throat as he moved to my side, "I was
under the impression that we had a deal."

The young man nodded, pushing his glasses back up on his
nose, "We had a deal at the time, but things have changed in
the last few days."

"What things?" Ravindar asked.

"The King has died."

"I'm sorry for your loss," I said, reaching across the top
of the bar to snag one of the glasses that was sitting next
to Ark. "But I'm unclear as to how that becomes a problem
for us."

The young man laughed softly and nodded his head, "No, you
wouldn't understand would you? I was under the impression
that you and your friends were on a pilgrimage to see the
Holy Relics?"

"That was the plan, yes," I said, sipping at whatever was in
the glass, finding it to be a pleasant ale of some kind.

"Then it affects you," Ark said as he reached over and took
the drink out of my hand. "Prince Alexander will be
appointed King in just over two weeks, and at the same time
he will be married to Princess Astadia."

I shrugged, reaching back over the bar and grabbing a
different glass. "I'm unclear as to how that causes us a
problem."

Ark smirked and shook his head, "You really are new to the
country. All three of the Holy Relics will be at the City of
the Crown for the coronation, and they will stay there for
the Month of Ascension before being returned to the Holy
City," he said, explaining it as he would to a small child.

I let out an 'ah' of understanding as I gave an exaggerated
nod of my head. "So, things have changed a bit since the
last time we spoke," I said with a sigh.

"Yes, they have," he replied with a knowing smile. "I
believe I can find you a caravan heading for the City of the
Crown, if you are interested," he said, tapping his fingers
on the bar top.

"We're interested," I told him as I placed two copper coins
on the wooden surface.

The young man smiled a bit, and nodded his head as the coins
vanished into his hands. "I'll go arrange a meeting with the
head rider. You three go sit down, and have something to
eat, I'll be back shortly." He then reached over and took
the second glass from my fingers, "and you don't want to
drink this, it's what I use to clean the counter top."

"Fine then. We'll take three glasses of whatever I was
drinking before," I said, and felt Rhea's tail smack into
the side of my leg. "And a bowl of it as well, along with
four meals."

Ark nodded and passed the order on to one of the other
bartenders as he motioned for us to leave him alone.

I turned away from the bar, and headed towards the far
corner of the room, avoiding most of the crowd around the
large fire pit. We attracted a few looks, but most of the
inhabitants had apparently decided we were harmless for the
moment.

Ravindar moved past me as we got to the table, taking a
chair that put his back to the wall and the whole room in
his line of sight. Samantha and I took up seats flanking him
as Rhea settled down at my feet.

"Three hours... that has to be a new record for me," I said,
dropping back to English as I leaned back in my chair.

Samantha lifted her eyebrows as she crossed her arms in her
lap. "Record for what?"

<<For a plan to last before it goes to hell,>> Rhea said.

"I see, and are we still going to go through with what's
left of the plan?" she asked, trying to work out what had
gone on, being excluded from the conversation because of the
language.

"The location has changed, but the core of our plans are
still intact," Ravindar said, watching as one of the
bartenders came over with our drinks, and without asking set
the bowl on the floor for Rhea.

I pick up my drink and took a slow sip of it, letting out a
soft purr as it went down. It was really good beer. I could
clearly hear that Rhea shared my sentiments as she lapped at
her drink. Samantha got a tight look on her face as she took
a drink, "Oh, that's nasty!"

My disguised bodyguard nodded as he set his drink down on
the table, "Definitely an acquired taste," he commented
dryly.

I looked down at my glass, and then back at Rhea, "There
might be something in it that reacts differently with us.
Personally I find it pleasant."

"Just don't drink too much of it," Ravindar cautioned. "If
it goes down that easily you might not notice till you're
drunk on your ass."

I nodded, "I got it," I told him as I pushed my glass away.

"So, back to the subject," Samantha said as he leaned over
the table. "Do you think there will be more guards now?"

Ravindar shrugged a bit as he tapped his fingers on the
tabletop. "Probably, but we never knew what the guards were
like in the first place. We'll have to see what the
situation is like once we get there."

"And if it's bad?"

"If it's bad we go home," I said as I glanced back out at
the bar. "We have a tight schedule here, but not so tight
that we can't try again later."

<<The first time is the best time, we do this too often and
people will notice us,>> Rhea said, lifting her head from
her bowl and licking her lips. <<Well, more than they
already do,>> she added.

"I agree with that; being subtle is definitely important,"
Samantha said, smiling a bit as our meal arrived. It was
pretty simple; a metal plate with a large slice of bread on
it, on top of the bread was a thick cut of meat and some
sort of ground wheat mash. We got a small utensil that was
almost a fork with each of the plates. Once again the
bartender put one plate on the floor for my sometimes
sister.

The meal might have been a mouthful for Rhea, but the rest
of us pulled out the small daggers that we carried to
supplement the forks. The meat was mostly rare, and cut
easily under my blade. That was no surprise as it, like my
sword, was made of an alloy that was at least a thousand
years ahead of the present world's technology level.

"Good food," Samantha said between mouthfuls. "It's better
than I'm used to having in places like this."

I chuckled and said: "It's the best thing about this
place... might be worth coming back for every now and then."

Ravindar nodded his head as he quickly worked though his own
food. "I would like to bring Santhera here. She's not used
to this kind of world, nor am I for that matter. It would be
best if we learned more about it."

"Just be careful, you don't want to get hurt," I said.

"Why are you so worried about that?" Samantha asked glancing
between me and Ravindar.

I let out a sigh as I set my knife down, "Morphs are
discouraged around here, and they are all created by magic
of one sort or another. The problem is that there is a
certain level of intelligence they are suppose to have. If
they show too much they will be destroyed. Too much is
somewhere just above moron level; most of the males are
over-muscled labor machines, and the ladies are... well,
toys would be the kind word for it."

"And a toy that thinks is something no one would want,"
Samantha said as she chewed her food. "I see why you didn't
want Oriana along," she said with a gulp.

I nodded, "Right, and Santhera would be in the same boat, so
we have to be careful."

<<I have less of a problem with it being perceived as an
animal,>> Rhea said as she licked the plate. <<I just need
to keep my head down, and not attract too much attention.>>

"Less than we already have attracted," my bodyguard said as
he finished the last of his meal.

I shrugged, "Some things are necessary. It's probably the
only time that we'll have to put on a show," I said, unsure
of that fact.

Ravindar nodded and pointed out towards the main room, "It's
time to get back to work," he said.

I turned around slightly and watched as Ark came towards us
with a large smile on his face and a gleam in his eyes. A
second man, significantly larger than he was followed
behind, measuring us up with each step.

"Good news!" The young man said as he reached the table, "I
found you a ride, but it's going to cost you a bit more than
I originally said."

"Of course," I replied as I settled down for what was
looking to be a long set of negotiations.

   To Be Continued...

-----

This story is copyright 2004 by Fox Cutter. Hardcopy
reprints limited to one per person, all other rights
reserved. This story may not be distributed for a fee except
by permission of the author, and this copyright notice may
not be removed.