Foreboding Silence
Chapter 2: Quenching Curiosity

	Vacare and I trudged through the forest for a few miles; her large, poofy red tail was constantly hitting me in the face as she wagged it gleefully.
	“Hey, Jake... Mind if I call you Jake? I'm already sick of calling you Rhenon all the time.” Vacare burst out randomly.
	“Uhh, yeah?” I replied, startled by the sudden outburst.
	“How did you end up all the way out, here, anyway? 
	“I'm as confused, if not more, than you are. I just woke up, and there I was.”
	“People don't just “wake up” somewhere else, Jake. They have to be put there, first.”
 	“Look. I don't know who you are, who I am, where the hell we are, or what the hell just happened! So just back off!” I snapped, flustered and angry.
	Taken aback, she just shrugged and continued on the path through the dense forest. Avoiding eye contact and in a thouroughly bad mood now, I attempted to find an object of interest among the endless expanse of grass and trees. Upon failure, I resorted to staring at my paws as they followed Vacare's beaten path. 
	"I'm sorry, Jake." 
	"My name's not Jake..."
	"Well, then, Grumpy McStick-in-yer-ass, what do you want me to call you?"
	"I don't know..." I muttered, mortified by the thought of not knowing my own name.
	"Hey, you don't have to go by Jake if you don't want to. But I just thought that naming the nameless was the right thing to do."
	"I guess so..."
	"Glad to hear you cavin' in, Jake!" She said, patting my shoulder with a wink. "Not too much further until we get to Gheri."
	Bewildered by her mastery over speech manipulation, I just gave up trying to resist and looked around for any sign of a town. Up ahead a short ways, the monotony of the forest ended and a bright beam of sunlight illuminated a small passageway out of the woods. We made our way through and into a mass expanse of grassland. 
	The little town of Gheri was like a concrete island in a sea of grass, its houses and buildings a dull, steely grey. To the side of the town lie a patch of farmland, growing some sort of crop that is not discernable from this distance. Vacare was giddily skipping through the fields, arms outstretched to feel the grass against her paws. She seemed generally happy to get back to town. She then burst out into a sprint, blowing the grass to the side as she flew by. I struggled to keep pace as she ran through the gates of the town. The guard out front gave a pleasant, though exasparated look. When he saw me, his expression quickly shifted to a glare.
	"What are you doing here?" He grumbled, his gun trained on my head.
	"Let 'em through, Louie, he's with me." Vacare shouted back, jogging backwards. The guard muttered something under his breath and lowered his weapon.
	"Have a nice visit." He said in a condescending tone and with a false smile.
	"Ey' Drake! Yoohoo!" Vacare hollered as she jogged past the townsfolk. A large, portly man had to jump out of the way to avoid a collision.
	"Well! She sure knows how to make an entrance!" He said with a chuckle. "Hey, who're you?" He said, noticing me.
	"Uhh... I'm, err, Jake."
	"Jake, huh? Haven't seen another one of your kind for quite some time, now."
	"My kind?"
	"What are ya' daft? You hardly see a Hybrid passin' through. Can't find one these days that doesn't try to shoot you dead!" His brain almost made a clicking sound as he pieced two and two together. "You'd better not try any funny business, now. Vacare seems to trust you, but I'm not letting my guard down." 
	"Don't worry, I don't mean any harm!" I explained. He just let out a grumble and went back to his business. "What did he mean by that?" I thought as I tried to locate the energetic fox that had eluded my sight. I suddenly realized that the townsfolk now find me an object of interest, the gazes of fear and hostility all affixed on me.
	"Well, there you are!" Vacare said, yanking me by my right arm. "We've been looking for you everywhere!" 	
	She pulled me away from the leering crowd to a larger, rectangular building. It was slightly larger than the surrounding buildings, as well as having more ornate architecture. We walked through the large double doors to a large main hall. She dragged me to one of the doors and shoved me through.
	"So I hear you need answers." A man said behind a large wooden desk. He had silver hair, looked to be about in his mid fifties, and had a gruff, yet pleasant face. His cold, brown eyes stared at me, intrigued at my prescence.
	"You must be Drake." I replied.
	"Drake Hansen, nice to meet your acquaintance, Mr....-"
	"Jake, sir."
	"Jake, huh? Did Vacare give you that name?" He laughed a little bit. "She's given a name to every Hybrid we've ever met, even if they already had one!"
	I found it hard to make eye contact, for some reason I was intimidated by his forthright demeanour.
	"Well, you're not testifying in court! Sit down, relax."
	I took a seat at one of the dark, wooden chairs in front of his desk.
	"Vacare tells me that she found you in the forest, delirious and unarmed. She then protected you from a Cyrian scout drone?"
	"That is correct." I said, sliding down in the slippery, leather seat.
	"That's odd. We've had our share of Hybrids through our town; some have even stayed." Vacare grinned from her vantage point in the corner of the room. "But every single one consistently tells of escaping the Cyrians. You see, the Cyrians were at once, only one man. That man, sent to exile for his crimes against nature, broke out of the prison he was contained in, and amassed some followers to initiate a rebellion. After being easily quashed, he developed a genetic alteration device to create his own race of super soldiers, the Hybrids. He has, since then, staged a war against humanity, hoping to wipe us off the face of the Earth."
	"There are certain exceptions to the Hybrids," Vacare chimed in, "People like you and me that didn't fall for their mind controlling-"
	"Ahem!" Drake cut her off, "Like she was saying. The Cyrians, to keep order, have a mind controlling system which makes rebellion, much less escape, nearly impossible. A rare few are resistant to that certain brainwave, allowing for logical thinking. I'm sorry for droning on like that, but it's a little weird explaining it, almost like teaching a young child... Anyhow! You are probably anxious to get around town. I'll set up a hotel room for you, and you can look around for maybe some work, or perhaps some clothes."
	"I can show you around town, Jake!" Vacare said excitedly.
	"That's a great idea, Vacare! You two head off, and I'll arrange that room."
	"C'mon! Let's go!" 
	The gleeful fox yanked me back out through the doors and back into the strange and unforgiving town they call Gheri.