Bury the Dead Chapter 1

"They say the hardest thing to do is bury your dead. But none of them have really experienced feeling your loved ones die in their arms." - Unknown

Tony stared at the doctor while sorting through several pieces of paper in a folder before putting the folder down with the papers showing. "So", Rattus started to speak, " Do you know why you're here?" Tony saw the Rattus' nose twitch twice. Tony sighed a little bit.

"Yup". Tony moved his gaze from the Rattus' muzzle then onto the folder that held court documentations. The Rattus picked up the folder and flipped through several pages before speaking again.

"Says here you broke the lower muzzle of a Didelphis after hitting him several times and had to be removed by force. Not only that, you were still tearing at his clothes to get at him." The Rattus closed the folder and tossed the folder behind him, landing it on the desk.

Well, I guess I should start with what the room looks like before I continue my little story. The room looks like every psycologist's office. The standard pictures of family, friends, colleagues, and the standard plaque from the "best" university in the world framed all over the walls. Accomplishments, rewards, and collection of heads ranging from humanoid to completely alien with parts of brains written in different languages.

Sitting before Tony was a humanoid rat known as a Rattus. Tony stared at the Rattus before speaking up, "yeah, wasn't exactly my proudest moment. I'm usually a calm person Doctor Smit." Tony smiled weakly as he spoke but finished staring at the Rattus' exposed feet wondering how the doctor trimmed his nails. The doctor's his face was triangular and his nose came to a round point. His jawline appeared thicker when he looked directly into your eyes. His cheeks seemed angular when looked upon directly, but his cheeks always appeared stuffed from the side. His chin held a white spot in contrast to his grey fur, much like his whiskers. His black eyesmade you feel like you would be swallowed up into their warmth and trust darkness. His eyes were blurred behind thick rimmed lensless glasses that enhanced the appearance of his intelligence. He possessed white eyebrows that were always in a fixed position of concern and would highlight his each and every movements. His nose was brownish with a white tip and twitched occasionally as to keep a sense of his surroundings. His mouth was small and perplexed with a hint of reservation. He possessed no visible hairline except for the grey fur that covered his body and a few scattered spots of white. The doctor's body was shaped like an avocado along with thin arms and legs attached. The tail was thick and hairless as it snaked around his legs in a show of comfort. His posture was hunched over as the long hours of studying took their toll. He never went anywhere without his black and white suit if he was working. The doctor would always look around at times as if to avoid a larger danger but always tried to keep his focus on his patients. His hands would either be holding papers or calmly sitting in his lap. He would sporadically cross his legs and uncross them with his mood. His feet were bare while in his office but a pair of dress shoes lay near the entrance .

The doctor flicked his tail behind him in an effort to try and push Tony along, but Tony kept silent. Smit coughed before continuing, "Yes, the council has noticed this and has taken an interest in you. That's why they sent you to me to find out why you are doing this. So, why don't we start with telling me about how this all happened?"

"I", Tony paused for a moment before continuing to make sure everything made sense to himself, "was talking with one of my co-workers about jokes that I grew up hearing. A lot of them were insults and we were comparing jokes. Our jokes finally took a turn into the 'Yo momma' side of insult slash jokes." Tony waved his hand in a slashing movement at the end of his sentence. "I tried to change the subject because I knew what 'Yo momma' jokes lead to when it comes to me." Tony coughed a little bit before he continued. "They always lead to someone making a joke about my mother and I always response with 'That's pretty damn good for a pile of ashes'." Tony shrugged his shoulders when he said his response and acted out with his hands when Tony would give replies with as if Tony was giving the other person something.

"Well, that's what happened when Paul, that's the Dodelphis, did not take the hint and continued to verbally throw 'Yo momma' jokes aimed at me. I informed him that those jokes hurt and it was best to let them go, but Paul kept going. I asked him several times to just drop them and move on, and I finally yelled at him to shut up. Paul must have taken this as a challenge and yelled out at everyone a 'Yo momma' joke with my mom's name in it. At that point, I completely lost track of everything and I get sporadic memory recalls as to what I did. I remember a pipe that I tore off the wall, a lot of blood, and even biting into clothing."

Smit listened quietly while Tony spoke and nodded to inform Tony that Smit was listening. Smit took some time as he let Tony absorb what was spoken out loud. Sometimes it was best to let the person absorb what they have done so they can start healing themselves. "That," Smit emphasized as he leaned closer to Tony," is why you are here. Your co workers insult your entire family from your four siblings to your father with no reaction. Your mother is the one thing that makes you lose everything that you are. We want to fix your explosiveness because not many people feel the same way you do. Many feel that their mothers aren't worth their time and feel that others must meet that same feeling with their own mothers."

Smit waited for Tony to speak up some more, but continued after waiting several minutes. "I understand that work has decided to relocate you to another job site so you don't have to interact with Paul ever again. We both know that Paul apologized for insulting you but refused to accept your actions or apologies. So work and the council has moved you to make sure you two never cross paths again."

Smit paused again while he waited for Tony to speak up, but Tony continued to stare at Rattus' feet. Smit wiggled his toes and smiled at Tony when their eyes met. "I want to help you because I think you deserve this. Do you want my help?"

Tony's mouth twitched a little as he answered, "Yes but a part of me doesn't want this to go away. It would be like completely forgetting her and that's what really tears me up. If I forget about her dying then I would never really exist."

Smit's smile disappeared as he saw the twitch. "Everyone has a healthy way of remembering their loved ones who have passed on and I don't think yours is a healthy one." Smit raised his hands in a defensive posture, "BUT I could be wrong. I could be just getting bits and pieces of a much bigger picture. So why don't we start at the beginning?" The Rattus smiled and made a noise of encouragement through his nose.

Tony leaned back into his chair in a slouch and sighed out loud. "Okay but this is going to take a while." Smit waved his hand for Tony to continue. "First, you know that my family has been dead ever since I took a long sleep in cyro-stasis and information about human history vanished. I am, I want to say roughly, one of five hundred of a species that is slowly getting its feet back on the ground. I meet with several humans every month to gripe and compare our daily lives. We have a good laugh and some even marry from our group. A couple of them became my friends and have been trying to get me to go out with the only other single person in the group."

Tony shrugged before continuing, "I think they want to watch a gay couple since the only other single person is a guy. I always tell them that they should give up because I prefer women. They bring up the match up as a joke now and I brush it off. The other guy found himself a boyfriend so it's a running gag with his boyfriend too. I don't take anything they say to heart and joke along with them."

Tony stopped for a second and Smit spoke softly, "Go on please". Tony took in a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing, "It's just that lately..." Tony took a long pause before he continued, "Lately I feel left out, so I dove back into my family history to try and see if anyone made it. I knew that my mother passed away while I was alive and my siblings were still alive. I found out my father remarried and all my siblings got married, had kids and carried on my last name."

Smit filled in for Tony when he paused again, "That's when things got worse, right?"

Tony nodded and continued, "I started to look for women to fill the void. I filled out sixteen resumes, answered numerous questionnaires, and even signed up for mating match services. I failed on several of my dates but kept trying. I eventually found my mother's journal when I was cleaning up my families storage shed on my day offs from work and dating. I read through them and found a note about myself."

Smit leaned back into his chair by now and relaxed as he waited for Tony to continue. "The note stated that I am a momma's boy and that I would be the most trouble. At first, I was angry that she wrote this, but I looked back to all my interactions with her. Everything was focused around her and me. I don't remember much about my siblings, my father, or even my ex girlfriends but I remember her the most. That's when I knew she was right and I needed to find a way to get closer to being normal so I can move on or something along those lines. I tried to find normal and healthy relationships but I kept striking out."

Tony stopped then turned his gaze to the outside as he tried to gather more strength from within. The next part he didn't want to admit but he had to. "I went out with a girl that wasn't within my age range. In fact, she was much older than me. Thing is, everything went okay for a little while. Then we got into our biggest fight which ended our relationship." Tony became silent as he tried to mull over his own words before Smit spoke up.

"Why don't you tell me what the fight was about?"

Tony leaned to his right side as he spoke. "The fight was really stupid. She wanted me to move in with her but I told her that this was too soon. We were dating for a couple of weeks and I felt like I would be losing a piece of myself if I did that. She said that I would be gaining a piece of her and she continued to pressure me. I told her no and left. I got a message from her saying to call her or that we are over. I didn't call her that day and she left me." Tony rubbed his fingers together as he became more nervous.

Smit's voice sounded happy as he spoke to Tony, "Thank you for sharing. I think I might have a place to start from and we can experiment with possible solutions. This isn't going to be a simple thing that can be fixed overnight and we will often meet dead ends. This entire thing will be a long process and I will making drastic decisions because I believe that they may be necessary."

"So," Smit stood up and picked up an electronic pad before continuing, "I am prescribing you a replacer."

Tony quickly spoke up before the doctor could continue, "A what?"

Smit stopped writing as he looked up at Tony with a surprised look on his face, "I'm sorry. I forgot you haven't caught up with our terminology yet. A replacer is an android with an AI who has volunteered to replace someone you have lost. They make great companions to talk to. Thing is, this is experimental and not usually suggested. I'm ordering it because I believe this program would benefit you."

Smit's ears twitched slightly as he waited for Tony's response and saw Tony go through several emotions that were displayed on his face and body. The first one was easy to read because it was something Smit expected. Confusion was quickly followed by anger then resolve as Tony's face became calm. Smit expected things to be worse and wrote down everything he saw in the prescription. The notes Smit added were to make sure that the technician could easily understand what AI to give Tony. Smit added notes what he suspected and what to expect the reactions from Tony when he first receives the AI.

Tony stood still as he tried the best to hide his emotions from the doctor. This was one thing Tony knew how to do very well since he was a child. Hiding reactions and emotions make a man stronger. Or at least, that's what he was taught. Tony finally gave into the one emotion that was festering since he first arrived here.

"Can I leave then since we are done here? I have an orientation and a couple of hours of work to do before today is over."

Smit shook his head in affirmation before he put the electronic pad down on his desk. Smit stared at the message and thought for a few seconds before hitting the send button. Smit turned his head towards Tony as he was leaving. "Hold on, I have to let you know what's going on for the next few days. You won't be working but you will be going to orientation. The court says that you shouldn't be going to work at all until we resolved this issue but I think that learning about your future job won't hurt. Plus, this will give you a chance to not think for a bit about what happened and concentrate on moving forward. I want us to move forward until you won't need me or our sessions."

Tony stood still as he heard everything the doctor was telling him. Tony's breathing slowed as he concentrated on the words the doctor said before he finally spoke. "And what about the AI?"

Tony heard the doctor take a couple of steps towards him as Smit finally answered him. "The AI and yourself will be doing tasks before our next meeting. This AI's sole purpose is to help you since I cannot be there all the time. Also, the AI will report directly to me, and only to me, when it comes to any development that may occur."

Tony heard more steps towards him as Smit spoke again. "Let the AI help you do what you think is best because this AI will be putting a lot of trust and faith in you. That's why the one thing I want you to do is go to the local religion center and light a candle. Light a candle and say your mother's name out loud. Then light candles for eachmember of your family that you have lost. Remember them and speak with them."

Tony's body tensed up as he heard "mother" and stayed stiff until the doctor finished speaking. "Okay doc, I'll do that but don't expect me to blindly trust this AI. I have trust issues with strangers. You're an exception because I expect our conversations to be private."

Tony heard the doctor chuckle before answering, "I wouldn't expect you to. No one now a-days blindly trusts anyone they don't have under contract. Good luck and god speed Tony."

Tony quickly picked up speed as he couldn't wait to leave this room. The room and everything about it made him feel uneasy. He only shared this much because Tony knew that if anything became worse, the future ahead would be ten times worse. 'Stop the problem now and save a headache or keep going and the problem becomes bigger than you can handle.' That was something Tony learned from his father. He guessed that he remembered more about his father than he expected to.

Tony was lost in thought and found himself looking around a little on an electrical bus to his work orientation site. Tony sighed to himself which caught the attention of a female leopard hybrid out the corner of his right eye. 'Ignore them and they'll ignore you.' Tony started to look at his fingernails until he heard the leopardess walk up to him.

Tony raised his head and faked being shocked as he noticed the leopardess close to his face reaching out to him. Tony instantly noticed that the leopardess had a lower body like a feral but an upper body like everyone else. Tony remembered their name something along the lines of centaur. Takia. Tunic. Something like that.

Her face was heart-shaped with a wide forehead and a soft, round chin. Compared to her chin, her cheeks made her face appear sleek and narrow. Her yellow eyes were average sized and focused into Tony's soul as they locked his eyes. Her eyes danced in swift motions as she tried to drive out the answers she was looking for. She would slowly close her eyes but quickly open them in fear of missing something. Her small nose appeared like a soft and leathery brown letter T that barely moved as she took a deep breath. A black line connected the bottom of her nose to her mouth in the shape of a smooth W. Her mouth hung slightly open when she was calm and wasn't aware of herself. The black spots that scattered all over her yellow and white fur showed no clear distinction of a pattern. However, the black spots near her nose lined up to her black and white whiskers. The pattern looked like six rows that spread mostly across the front of her face to the side of her muzzle. Her back along her humanoid and feral side were yellow and the front and underside of her body was a lighter yellow to a shade of white. The white on her chest made the black spots appeared like freckles and were easy noticeable amongst her cleavage. The tuffs of white fur in her cat-like ears showed that she took the time to groom herself. Her upper body was shaped like a full hourglass with a little extra around her belly. The lower part of her body, which is the feral taur, was built like an agile hunter but even more muscular and toned. She would often place her hands into her pockets that hung near the taur section of her body. Her stature was in a constantly relaxed position as age stole away her jitters. Her clothing mostly originated in the fashion sense of the 1950's era. Her favorite teal silk shirt was evidence enough. Red, white, and blue nail polished accented her hands. She wore hard leather shoes that hugged her large feet.

Tony smiled as he started into the yellow eyes of the leopardess. "Sorry about that. Is there something I can help you with?" He noticed that the leopardess outstretched hand went directly to her chest out of surprise.

The leopardess smiled, "Yes. I saw you at my work yesterday and I was wondering if we are going to be working together."

Tony continued to smile and offered his right hand towards her. "Yes, My name's Tony. I'm just going through orientation while the paper gets finished." 'What's the point of telling her that I'm going through therapy so I can work there.' Tony thought to himself methodically.

The leopardess shook Tony's hand with a delightful smile on her muzzle, " Good. I don't understand the usage of 'paperwork'. Unless you are a spy." She pulled Tony closer to him and looked into his eyes deeply. "Are you?"

Tony pulled his head back in suprise as his smile faltered. "What? No, I just like to use old terminology because it's what I was raised on." 'Well, I guess I could be a spy, with a chip in my hand that holds all of my personal information,' he thought. "I am going to be helping with the technical support and repairs around the offices."

The leopardess seemed to take a long time to process this before she spoke, "Okay, I see. I guess you mean the process has yet to be finished. That can take time for some people who aren't in the system." She paused a bit before her eyes shot open. "Oh yeah, I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you my name. My name is Kumbukani Abena and I work in the translation department. I work with helping translate the complex language of AI and I also help with debugging programs."

Tony kept shaking the leopardess' hand before he stared at his own hand. Kumbukani stopped talking then noticed she was still shaking his hand. Tony looked up to catch the facial expression that he guessed was embarrassment. "Sorry about that", the leopardess cooed softly.

Tony withdrew his hand into his pockets before replying, "That's okay. I figured you were excited about meeting another employee that might understand where you're doing. I do understand what you're talking about and even dabbled a little in programming myself. It's just getting all the terminology of everything and stop calling everything a 'doo dad' for many reasons." Tony curled his fingers into air quotes as he said doo dad. Tony continued on while keeping his hand either to his side or on an over hanging bar, "I manage to piss of management because I keep calling everything a doo-dad." Tony smiled at this as the leopardess smiled at back at him.

Before Kumbaukani could speak, they both heard a ding quickly followed by a mechanical voice. The mechanical voice said three times "Ashton offices" before a ding followed shortly after. "This looks like our stop," Tony quickly piped up and waved his free arm towards the door. "Ladies first if you like."

Kumbukani smiled seductively at Tony before walking towards an exit. "You just want me to go because you stare at my flank."

Tony blushed a little as he notice that his eyes went straight to the leopardess lower body. Tony heard someone say, "Disgusting" before he looked up at the voice. Kumbukani smiled at him with a mixture of pleasure and embarrassment. "I hope you enjoyed the view," Kumbukani seductively cooed out towards the human.

Tony grabbed an imaginary collar around his neck and pulled on it, "Mercy me. I do declare that I feel a heat coming on." Tony heard Kumbukani laugh loudly while the bus came to a complete stop. The human looked around the bus and noticed that there were only two other passengers on the bus. Both of which were into their virtual reality or tablet reading something.

Tony's attention quickly snapped to his front as the doors opened. His eyes went again to Kumbukani's butt as he watched it seem to trail off the ramp of the bus with ease. Tony closely followed her as his fears of the automatic doors closing on him always made him rush out of the bus. Tony got caught once in the doors and has since been cautious of them ever since.

Tony looked up and noticed Kumbukani stare at him following her. The human walked around her and continued to walk with her. "So", Kumbukani paused while she found the correct words," what do you have planned after work?"

"Well", Tony stared ahead of him, "since lunch is over. I plan to head to a local Chinese food joint that I go to every night during the weekdays. The food there is really good and healthy. Plus the rice is very tasty and I don't like to cook for myself as much anymore." Tony saw Kumbukani stick out her tongue a little.

"I hate overly greasy stuff unless I am in the mood." Kumbukani's muzzle gave a disgusted look before Tony broke in.

"No, no," Tony quickly spoke, " this food isn't that greasy. In fact, very little of their food is fried at all. They have," the human thought to himself a bit before continuing. "About two to five items that are fried. The rest of the items are freshly cooked or cut the day of. They rarely have leftovers and aren't a buffet. You're thinking of the American Chinese resturant down the block."

Kumbukani stopped and looked at the human with a puzzled look. "How did you know that?"

Tony turned and smiled, "Because I also ate there once and disliked it." The leopardess nodded before continuing to walk then jogged to match the human.

"Okay, well I got plans with others and wanted to see if you wanted to also go." The request Kumbukani gave him was almost a kind of plea to Tony.

Tony shook his head, "Not tonight. I appreciate the offer and wouldn't mind hanging out with you after work with the assumption my plans and yours don't clash." The human stopped to hold open the door for Kumbukani.

The leopardess smiled at him, "Sure. I would like that." Tony's smile appeared to beam as he followed her in. Tony had to stop himself from staring at her flank and looked around the building to find his entrance. "Welp, nice meeting you. Hope to see you again."

Kumbukani piped over her shoulder, "Same here. Bye." She waved a furry hand in Tony's direction. Tony waved back with a standard reply of 'Have fun' he always gave everyone. The human turned the handle and walked into a room filled with computers. 'I guess today wasn't as bad as I originally thought.' This was Tony's last thought as his training began to take over, sending his mind off into the mindless tasks of work...