Sympathetic Vibrations Chit looked at the screen. A claw scratched the dirt. Dust settled slowly. Kara bounced into the room, the energy almost tangible in her every movement. "Whatcha reading now, Chit?" she asked, circling around to look over his shoulder. "The news," he said, switching off the computer. The holographic screen wavered and died. "The devilbunnies killed the McGregors' child." "Yeah, I saw that. It's horrible! [chitter]" He looked at her, and she looked back. "What? You don't think so?" "Let me tell you a story, Kara." She looked at him slightly askance. Chit scowled. "Don't worry, it's short." "Should I get the others? They like to hear your stories! [flick]" "No." After a second, she shrugged, and moved over to one side of the rough chamber to give him room. Chit turned to face her, and began. "After what happened in Colorado, I reported in to Teral at UCirc for new orders. But on the way, I stopped in Toledo." "Toledo? Isn't that where --" "This was before that. It was never a very important city to the bunnies, except as a bunnymover stop, although I didn't know of the warren at the time. But I had to stop there. It was where I was from." "I didn't know UCirc recruited from Toledo..." "They didn't." Kara looked uncomfortable. "Let me go on," Chit said. She flicked assent. "I stopped in Toledo to see my family. They lived quite close to the warren, and I was almost captured by a bunny patrol, but I acted like a normal squirrel and they didn't give me a second look." "SOP," Kara said, "Bunnies never give us a second look." "I wonder how long that will last... but that isn't my point. "I stopped by my old house --" "House?!" "But it was empty. The windows were dark, the paint was peeling, the grass was overgrown, and there was a for-sale sign in the front yard. I stole a quarter and called the real-estate company, asking where the previous owners had moved to." "You were some human's pet?" "The human I talked to checked the records, but that information was missing. He suggested I call the post office, but there was no forwarding address. "One of the bunnies saw me using the phone, but I used the same bluff Sylvie used in Colorado, and passed myself off as a bunny agent. They dragged me in to talk to the warrenleader, and I thought I was dead for sure, but he wasn't 'in the loop' as far as PAW was concerned -- wasn't even a militia member -- and I managed to convince him not to call in. Told him I was there to do a routine report on the supply status of bunny safe houses. Figured it was the kind of drudgery they gave squirrels, and it explained the sort of thing I was doing. "Told him I was a corporal." Chit grinned. "He actually saluted. I love hierarchies." His face fell. "Wouldn't try that now, though. From what I've heard, they aren't letting squirrels run around unsupervised anymore. I guess we have Teral to thank for that. "Anyway, once I was out of there I tracked down the agent who'd acquired the account, and asked him if he remembered what happened to the people who'd lived there. "He remembered. It was a memorable event. The house was siezed for nonpayment of taxes, but the police investigation failed to turn up any sign of the owners. Not surprising, since the case was closed after three hours. "So I talked to the neighbors. The house on the right was a rented duplex, and neither family had been there at the time. The neighbors on the other side didn't have a working telephone, and I didn't want to show up in person. That left the neighbor to the back. I called him up. "'Who wants to know?' That's what he said -- who wants to know. I told him I was 'a concerned party'. He told me to stop by and he'd tell me all about it. I tried to insist he tell me over the phone... "'Hey, I know all about you bunnies. Stop by, it's okay. I'm a good friend of the mayor's, and I've seen what you guys do for him.' So I came over. "The guy was probably the slimiest symp I've ever had the misfortune to meet, and I could tell why the bunnies hadn't put him in charge of anything more important than the block watch. He was kissing up to me the whole time, and dropping hints about how this person and that person was disloyal. "I gave him my most authoritative look and *ordered* him to tell me. "He'd turned them in. The had 'the same last name as one of those wierdos on the list.' The next day, they were gone. "So I went back to the warren, and checked the records." "So the humans that owned your family were taken by the bunnies? What happened to your family, were they set free?" "The humans *were* my family, Kara." She stared at him. "Stop acting like you didn't know. It's not as if I haven't dropped enough hints." "But --" "What?" "That's impossible! [chitter] They've been working on turning humans into squirrels at UCirc for *ages*!!!" "They know more at UCirc than they let on," Chit said, "They haven't released all their findings because they aren't as stupid as they look, or as naive as Teral. The squirrelvirus was based on the bunnyvirus, and when it was modified to enhance squirrels, its other function wasn't eliminated. Merely deactivated." "You mean, we could bite humans and turn them into squirrels?" "It takes a bit more than that," Chit said, "and I don't know the details... you'd have to ask Sylvie, or the mentat she learned it from." "And Sylvie's dead!" "Ah, yes, of course. So that leaves the mentats. And the don't want the secret to get out, because it might -- it *would* -- turn the humans against us." "So you were really a human?" Chit nodded. Kara still looked a bit shocked, but asked, "What happened next?" "I went back to the warren and checked the records. My family had been brought in for 'preventative counseling' because my genetic line had shown 'antisocial tendencies'." Kara watched Chit carefully, but he showed no sign of emotion, not so much as a twitch of his tail or the hint of a chitter. "They'd brought in my mother, my sister, even my grandmother. Everyone with my last name." "What was that?" "Mandelbaum. My sister had transferred to PAW for militia training. That should have told me all I needed to know right there, but I kept reading. My grandmother hadn't survived the process --" Kara looked a bit lost. "They converted them, all of them. Even though my grandmother was much too old to survive, they tried anyway. "Both of them were gone, but my mother --" "And your father?" "He died of cancer years before any of this. Anyway, my mother was still at the warren, doing clerical work, so I tracked her down in her burrow. "'Hi!' she said, wiggling her whiskers at me, 'Are you lost? [helpfulfluff]' "'I'm looking for... Patsy?' "She giggled. 'What could a big squirrel like you want with a little doe like me? [gigglepoof]' It was revolting. But I looked around, and there was no one near, so I told her who I was." Kara waited, but Chit remained silent. He looked down and scratched circles in the dirt. "Was she surprised to see you?" Kara finally asked. "You could say that." He lifted his gaze and looked her in the eye. "She called the guards. I barely escaped with my life." "Well, at least she wasn't killed..." "Yes," Chit said, tensing imperceptibly, "She was." "After she saw you?" Chit sighed in exasperation. "Oh." Kara chittered. "So..." "So I understand what the McGregors are feeling. Anger. Hatred. Guilt. "I also understand Teral's reply. But he's a fool. He thinks the truth will solve everything. He thinks he can talk the Fudds around to the side of reason. Argue them out of their doubts." "Can't he?" "Most of the Fudds are young. Even the old ones. They have no idea what they're doing. They think it's all a game. They think nothing of risking their own lives..." "But the bunnies *don't* go around killing people's families! [flick]" "I know," Chit said bitterly, "They don't like giving the Fudds propaganda. The waited to take my family until after they'd crushed WOMBAT, and I'd dropped out of sight. After they figured I was dead. "As long as the Fudds live, their families are safe, barring screw-ups like the Dunwich affair. But how many do you think would fight if they knew what was *really* at stake?" == Chit (been reading too much Lovecraft lately...)