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Time seemed to move so slowly in that room. It had only been half an hour in there talking with the medic, whom everyone calls Duke, but it seemed like hours with him throwing so many questions at me. What was my blood type? Am I allergic to anything? Do I have a preference in medicine? After awhile, he just started small talk and general questions, I guess to understand me better; either way, I like him since he's the first to treat me nicely other than the fox that brought me here.

"Ah, you look a lot better now that you're cleaned up."

My ears perked and I looked up to see the large canine standing in front of me with his arms crossed. Something seemed different about him this time, he was....smiling, but for what reason? Suddenly he started to approach me and my fur stood on end as I felt his paw upon me.

"Hey hey, calm yourself there uh... Ein is it?"

I looked up at him and raised my brow curiously but then nodded as I recognized my name. His smile perplexed me though, I never took him to be a type that would; what was he so happy about? He turned and extended his arm out to usher me towards a room. I only nodded in response and followed after him as we headed towards the room. As soon as we entered, it felt all too familiar, I knew exactly what I was in; an interrogation room.

"Have a seat Ein, please. As I mentioned earlier, I have a great deal of questions to ask you since your mysterious appearance."

With that, I approached the chair he pointed to and sat upon it, looking at him with a nervous gaze. My mind was racing with questions of my own, some of which Id hope to be able to ask, but more so, my anxiety was heightening. What if I couldn't answer his questions? Would he just throw me back down in the prison to waste away until he felt reason to bring me out again? I raised my head and immediately noticed he now had a folder in front of him that he was sifting through.

"According to this file, a few interesting things come to mind."

I tilted my head at the statement. Interesting things? I opened my mouth to try and speak but he gently raised his paw to signal me to stop. I did so, obediently, as he laid the file down.

"Ein, I do not know where you have come from or how it is you have gotten here. I doubt you have had much chance to be able to see outside so I will cut to the chase." He cleared his throat and leaned forward almost as if he had to whisper. "We're in a time of great war. The facility, in which you are in, is an underground base of operations that I have constructed with and for the men whom fight with us."

I cast my eyes to the side, looking out the windows with bars on them. A war... how did this come about? I turned my gaze back to him and saw he had the file in his grasp once more. I needed answers as much as he did, so I did the only thing that came to mind.

"S-Sir?"

The larger canine perked his ears and looked up at me, but he was smiling again. "Oh so you do speak? That's wondrous news; I was beginning to think you were a mute or something." He added a small chuckle at the end as he threw out his sarcasm at me.

I nodded and proceeded to speak once more. "I...I'm not sure where I am or even what happened... I woke up to the sound of the fox yelling at me. All I recall was that he found me in a place he called the N-Zone..."

The canine's eyes widened and he quickly leaned forward. "The N-Zone?!" He glanced back down at the file suddenly and started shuffling through them, speaking aloud to himself. "Why was he there... what purpose did he have going that far? I only told him to do reconnaissance on the perimeter of the base..."

"Sir?"

He shook from his thoughts and looked up at me but with a quizzical look. "Are you absolutely sure that's what he said; that you were in the N-Zone?"

I lowered my ears and nodded. "Yes... I couldn't see anything at the time, as if I was temporarily blinded." I looked down at my paws and curled my fingers up into my pawpads. "I am sorry if I was the cause of endangerment to one of your men, I hope you can forgive me..."

"Hahaha! Endangerment?! That's the funniest thing I have ever heard!"

My ears shot up from the sudden change in tone within the conversation. I looked up to see the canine laughing, almost maniacally at what I said as if it were a joke he heard for the first time.

"Oh you crack me up my good man, ah..." He wiped his eye and turned at me with an even bigger smile. "My men face danger everyday being out there on the battlefield, but where you were found, it is a safe area for the citizens of the city, thus why it is called the N-Zone or Neutral Zone. Both sides of this war may be against each other but we are respectable enough to not harm the citizens."

I looked at him curiously, placing my paw on my chin as I tried to recollect the memories of the event. The massive pain in my side, I was blinded, the fox yelling at me to move me, the screaming and gunfire... wait. I tilted my head as I pieced together my next question.

"Um, sir... if it's a neutral zone, why was there screaming and gunfire?"

His expression must have meant I had caught him off guard. He quickly stood up and walked over to the guard at the door and whispered something to him, signaling him to leave. After a few moments, the canine returned and sat down at the table looking at me once more, but his expression was no longer happy.

"This news you have given me is very serious... Both our sides have been in a standoff for months with neither side attacking. They ceased fire on us first and we would've struck at the given opportunity but we have been low on rations and supplies so we agreed to the mutual silencing of arms." He stood up and walked to the window, holding his paws behind his back as he clenched them tightly.

I turned to face him in the chair. "So if both sides agreed to a momentary cease fire, then what could the events that I heard mean?"

He turned and faced me while shaking his head. "I'm not entirely sure myself, but we both know someone who could possibly know."

"We do?"

He smirked and nodded. "Yes, his name is Todd and he is an extraordinary young man; capable of talents and feats that outrank most of the experienced men of my resistance."

I blinked and turned to lean back into my chair before looking back to him. "Pardon me for my ignorance of whom you and all others present are, but... who is Todd?"

"That would be me."

I jumped slightly at the sound of another voice present in the room and I turned to find the source. When I moved to glance at the door, that's when I saw him, the young fox whom had brought me here. I could see all of him now that we were in a well lit room. He was a grey and silver toned fox but he had special markings on his muzzle; three light blue stripes the likes in which I had never seen. I turned my gaze slightly as I saw his tail flicker behind him. The very same blue color on the bridge of his muzzle, was present on the base of his tail as well.

"There something on me, or you just staring for kicks?"

I glanced up at him and smiled, while shaking my head. "You are unique looking and it fascinates me to see others who bear unusual markings on them. In fact it amazes me, each and every day, seeing new faces with unknown origins."

The young fox raised his brow at me and smirked. "The way you speak, it's as if you had a job to study these kinds of things, like a scientist or something."

I lowered my ears at the thought. Now that I thought of it, I couldn't remember much before when I woke up here. My sudden change in expression caught Todd's attention because he walked over and kneeled next to me. I turned my head to look at him and saw him concerned.

"You ok mate? You seemed to shut down a bit at that comment."

I shook my head. "I don't remember anything honestly. The night when I was in the prison with you, I had a dream about someone I know but that's it, but everything else is in a fog in my mind. I know who I am obviously and recognize my name, but my life is a mystery."

I suddenly felt a pat on my back and saw the fox rise to his feet and face the canine. "We'll help you get your memory back; won't we sir?"

I smiled and glanced at the larger canine whom nodded and gave a short smile. "Indeed we will, but right now I must ask you some questions Todd, about your trip to the N-Zone."

The fox brushed his paw on the back of his head and looked down. "Oh yea, you're probably wondering what I was doing so far from base..."

"In truth yes I am, but what matter more is what was happening. According to Ein here, he said he heard gunfire and screams, is this true?"

"Yes it is sir. I was on patrol around the perimeter as instructed but when I was in the old refinery, I saw what resembled a ghost of some sort."

The larger canine crossed his arms and leaned against the wall with a puzzled expression. "A ghost?"

Todd nodded and continued with his report. "Yes. At first I thought it was a child playing amongst the machinery, but when I called out to get their attention, they just vanished."

A ghost in the refinery... why did that sound familiar? It's almost as if I had heard this story before...

"What happened after that?"

Todd shook his head and walked over to the other chair across from me and sat down, propping his arm on the table to rest under his chin. "Well my curiosity got the best of me so I went to where I had seen the person and when I got there, I saw them again but they were down the street by the old Wilkinson Building."

I saw the large canine's eyes widen at the last part and knew immediately something was amiss. He pushed himself off the wall and walked out of the room immediately. Both Todd and I glanced at each other with confused expressions and turned our heads when we heard him re enter the room with a large file. The canine approached and dropped the file on the table in front of us.

"Sir what is all this?"

"This... this is all the information we have on the Wilkinson Estate. You do know what happened there don't you?"

Both Todd and I shook our heads and looked down at the file. There were photographs of 4 individuals; an older looking vixen whom was dark colored and had silver and black; a silver fox. Next was a male and a vulpine as well but he had general red fox markings. The third was another female, a daughter I presume, whom looked like her mother, but the last one... was bewildering.

"The case behind the Wilkinson Estate is that they were a wealthy family, rich and powerful but they loved everyone. They held great parties and banquets for all to enjoy, even those less fortunate."

I glanced up at him. "Where are they now?"

He sighed and turned a page in the file to show more photographs but these were gruesome. All three were of the previous seen but the last one from the photographs was missing. I turned the page back and laid out all the photos. The mother, father, and their one daughter were in the newly seen pictures but they were murdered, with branded markings and symbols on them, almost archaic looking. I glimpsed back at the one that stood out, it was a young girl, younger than the previous daughter but she looking completely different. She was all white and her eyes... blood red; was she an albino?

"Ah I see you have taken interest in the youngest daughter; quite an unusual one too and lucky for that matter."

"Lucky?"

He nodded "Mhm, as you can see, her body isn't seen with the other members of the family. She was never found and with her disappearance, all sorts of accusations and legends have revolved around her."

I picked up the photograph and examined it. This girl was a mystery and now supposedly was gone without a trace. I looked up at the canine officer, "What legends and stories have come from this, might I ask?"

"Well many have arisen over the years since it's happened but two stand above the rest. One was that the daughter escaped and fled the country, which would explain why no one has seen her. The other, however, may seem fictional and outrageous but there's no honest evidence against it."

Todd took the photograph from my paws and glimpsed at it, then laid it with the rest. The canine walked to the other side of the room, by the windows, then sighed once more. "The other possibility was that the youngest daughter had murdered her family."

My ears shot up and I looked at him with a gasp. "You can't be serious?!"

He looked over his shoulder and nodded slightly. "I am serious. When we investigated the estate, the whole house was in ruin as if some struggle had taken place. Only one room was untouched and that was the young girl's room. The only unusual part about it was that we found a sketch pad with disturbing drawings in it and the same markings as we found on the bodies."

I shuddered at the thought and pinched my fingers to my brow. Just the sheer thought of it was enough to send chills down my spine. I glanced down at the photographs and shook my head. Suddenly, a voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see Todd holding the photograph of the youngest daughter.

"It was her..."

The officer canine stepped forward and crossed his arms. "What do you mean?"

Todd shook his head and set the photo down. "It was her I saw when I was in the refinery; I'll never forget those blood red eyes." He sat back in his chair and folded his arms on his chest. "She fits the description too. She has the red eyes, she is still a young looking white vixen; it has to be her especially since she went back to the Wilkinson Estate."

I nodded and looked at the canine as he placed his paws down on the table. He gathered all the papers and photos then placed them back into the file, handing it to the young fox firmly while giving him a stern look.

"This will be your next assignment then Todd. I want you and our new recruit to go back to the N-Zone and investigate the happenings around the refinery and Wilkinson Estate. If we have a chance, we can find the missing daughter of their family and possibly restore the family to its original state of wealth and prosperity. Maybe, just maybe, it might give some hope to the people who live in this ruined country."

I glanced over at Todd in time to see him nod yet give an odd look on his face. He set the file down and twitched his tail. "Sir, might I ask whom the new recruit is?"

The canine laughed and raised an arm to usher at me. "Why it's none other than the young man you brought here with you. We can't have him lazing about doing nothing can we?"

I widened my eyes and stepped up out of my chair instantly "Me?!"

Todd tilted his head and then looked at me, smiling. He started to approach and I just continued to look back and forth between him and the officer. I know he'd want me to work, but why send me on service? I'm not trained for this type of stuff and certainly am still not in the best shape to be moving about easily.

"Well man, looks like you and I, are gonna be partners on this assignment; if that's alright with you dude."

I looked at him and saw a bit of ease and comfort mixed with confidence in his expression. Something told me that, even with my lack of experience and training, he'd at least make sure that I'd make it back in one piece. With that I nodded and we both turned to face my now superior officer, waiting for further instruction.

"We will do our best and don't worry, I'll make sure I get him home in one piece sir."

The canine nodded and ushered for us both to exit the room. It seemed so unreal, all of this. Only yesterday, I woke up on the ground in the middle of a supposed warzone and now... now I'm getting ready to receive weapons and gear to be able to go on reconnaissance with some guy who saved my life. If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was dreaming but hey, it's best to take life for what it is.