Locked Up



"So," The otter anthro said. "This is the first session the three of us have had as group. How do you feel?"

"Annoyed," Said a tiger anthro. She was sitting in the bare-walled room across the table from the otter, her arms wrapped around in the tight straightjacket that was all that she was wearing. Next to her was a wolf anthro, who struggled a bit to get her arms free. Doctor Marshal watched them, and opened up a couple of file folders.

"The two of you were incarcerated to St. Claire's seven days ago," He read. This wasn't for their benefit, he was sure they knew this. "You've been kept in isolation for that long to try and get you two to come to terms with your condition by yourselves." He leaned back. "That hasn't worked, nor did we think it would."

"Your 'isolation'?" The wolf asked. "You kept us in a dark room, blindfolded us, and gave us earplugs so we couldn't' see, hear, or move! You nearly drove us insane!" Marshal gave her a look as if to suggest that he knew that.

"Worst mental hospital every," The tiger muttered.

"And why is that, Allison?" Marshal asked.

"Because we're not insane!" She exclaimed, leaning forward so her arms were on the table. "We told that to our families last week, we told that to you when you threw us into those padded cells, and we're telling it to you now!" The wolf nodded in agreement. "Why don't you listen to us?"

"Well, I'm going to be straightforward with you," Marshal said. "But I've heard that before. Admittedly from people who were trying to tear their fur off their arms, or people who were rocking so hard they actually fell out of their chairs." He watched them absorb this information. "I am going to say, you two are fairly normal when it comes to behaviour. But your story, it's just… not true. Cannot be true." The wolf glared at him. "Tobi, do you know why you two are wearing straitjackets?"

"No," Tobi spat.

"Oh? Let me tell you," Marshal said. "Allison, when you first got here, it took three men and a tranquilizer to calm you down. Tobi, you bit a guard and it took an extra three guards to get you to stop. You two are not only a danger to each other," He said. "But to people around you." He sat back. "But that's not why we're here. I want you two to tell me why you think you're here." For once, the two were silent. "Tobi? Do you want to start?" The wolf sighed.

"Fine," She said. "I'll tell you why we're here…"


Keegan had called me over to check out this… new program he had found on the internet, one that he had claimed he had made himself. He insisted we try it out for a "trial run" before he sold it to some company.


"I'm sorry," Marshal asked. "But when you say, 'Keegan', you are talking  about Allison, correct?" Tobi closed her eyes.

"Of course I'm talking about her!" She exclaimed. Marshal nodded.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, please continue," He invited.


"I did it," Keegan said.

"Did what?" I asked.

"Remember that giant commission AKEA was giving to me for a program they needed for their electronics line?" He said. "Well, I just finished it."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow. "That's… interesting."

"It is!" Keegan grinned. "And the best part is, is that it works."

"I know I'm going to regret saying this," I said, sitting down. "But, prove it." Keegan grinned and turned to the computer, typing out a few things. When he stopped, Keegan motioned for me to look down.

I did, and gasped.

"How did you… how did you do that?" I asked, motioning to my breasts and new, girlish body. Somehow, in the blink of an eye, Keegan had turned me into a girl.

"This program alters reality in a five mile radius from where you currently are," Keegan said. "If you left this room, everyone would remember you as Tobi, and nothing you told them would be able to convince them otherwise." Another few taps on the keyboard, and I was back to normal.

"Nicely done," I complimented. It was quite impressive. "How many people know about this?"

"Just you, me, and my contact in AKEA," Keegan said. "I'm going to email the program to him in a few minutes, they let me keep a copy for myself, as long as I used it for cosmetic uses only," He winked.

"What else would you use it for?" I asked, confused. Keegan shrugged.

"World domination, I guess," He said, opening his email and sending it to someone. "Well, now I just wait to be paid for my hard work."

"Could I see the program?" I asked, curious. "I want to see if I can work it." Keegan looked at me for a moment, then shrugged.

"Sure, it's user-friendly, so it shouldn't be too difficult." I smiled and budged him over. I opened the program Keegan had used and looked through it. He was right, I wasn't a programmer, but this was pretty straightforward. Different tables to specify who and what you wanted to change, a 'preview' button, a 'save changes' one… yeah, this I could use.

I typed in Keegan's name, and his picture appeared in the sidebar. Grinning, I selected female, and then selected "Tiger" from a selection of animals. A scale showed up, asking me how far I wanted to take the transformation. I pulled it all the way down to about 33%, then clicked "save changes". I turned to my right to watch Keegan start growing fur, black and orange stripes, his hair growing longer as his chest expanded, breasts growing as his shirt and pants changed to fit his new body. Keegan, now Allison looked at me and grinned.

"Nice," She said, moving me over and clicking a few things. I looked down just in time to see grey fur sprout out of my skin and a tail pop out of my spine. My breasts returned, as did my feminine body.

"Well, Tobi?" Allison asked jokingly. "It's only fair." I nodded.

"I'm not complaining," I told her. After thinking for a moment, I asked, "By the way, what did you have planned for today?" Allison shrugged.

"Pretty much just hanging around here," She told me.

"Well… that's kind of boring," I said. "Let's go out, or something," I took her hand. "We'll come back and use the program later!" Allison hesitated for a moment, then grinned.

"Alright," She said. "Let's have some fun!" </i>


"So," Marshal said. "If I can get your story correct… the two of you used to be 'human', and males?" Allison and Tobi nodded. "And… Keegan? Keegan here was some sort of mad scientist hired to do a commission by a reality-altering company named AKEA?" There was hesitation, but the two of them nodded regardless. "Why the hesitation?" Marshal asked.

"When you put it that way," Allison said. "I suppose it does sound…"

"Silly," Tobi interjected. Marshal nodded.

"And when you two returned from your 'excursion', you discovered that the program was not only missing, but no one would remember who you were?" He asked. Again, no disagreement there. "And that later on, your parents committed you because they were worried they might harm yourselves… correct?"

"That's exactly it," Allison said.


Marshal had them, and they didn't seem to know it.


"That's the story you tell," Marshal said, opening their files again. "But here's what the evidence says: The two of you were born almost twenty years ago. Allison, in 1990, Tobi, in 1988. Both of you were female when you were born, as showed by your birth certificates." He stared at them. "That's what we know." He pulled out a picture. "This is an artist's representation of what a human might look like."

"That's not even close," Tobi scoffed.

"It's more like a caricature than a 'representation'," Allison agreed.

"That's because humans don't exist," Marshal said, putting the picture down. "There's no way to tell what they may or may not look like. 'Pale skin' and 'almost no fur' also describe a naked mole rat – but you say that's not right either." Marshal flipped through a few notes. "Allison graduated from high school with moderate grades in the sciences and maths, excelling in history and English classes. In University, she became a history major, not a physics one," Marshal said. "Nor was she in programming. Speaking of which, we did some analyzing, and checked your computer. There was no trace of any program that could do anything capable of what you say it could. In fact, the computer was clean. Almost like it was never used, no documents or anything." He watched Allison react to this. She just stared at him with cold eyes… what was she thinking? Marshal wondered. "The last piece of evidence is that AKEA does not exist." He watched their ears perk up in shock. Why were they surprised by this? It was as if they were expecting all of the information, but to hear that this fantasy store AKEA didn't exist? "In fact, the closest thing to an 'AKEA' is IKEA, but that's a Norwegian furniture store," Marshal said, closing the files. "So. With all of that considered, do you want me to accept your story as the truth? How can I, when I know for a fact that this kind of technology would be decades, perhaps centuries ahead of our time, and therefore can't exist?"

"Because it is true!" Allison said. "You've got to believe us!"

"I can't," Marshal said, starting to stand. "And perhaps in time, you two won't believe your story either." Tobi growled, and he watched her. He knew the signs of anger and desperation; Tobi was exhibiting both. He waited.

"The good news is, I think it's time you were no longer in solitary," Marshal said. It was true, when they had brought them out of it, they were traumatized… but they would be grateful towards them, subconsciously, for setting them free. At the same time, they would know that Marshal could put them back into solitary at any time. "However, we're going to have to keep you two in straitjackets," He said. "And leg restraints once you two are returned to your cells." Tobi growled and jumped, legs taking her far enough that she landed with her knees on the table.

"No!" She exclaimed, fangs bared. "You will let us go!" There was a slamming sound as the guards ran in, grabbing Tobi and pulling her back. They grabbed Allison as well, even though she was sitting calmly on a table. "You'll let us go! We are not insane!" Tobi shouted as she was dragged out of the room. Marshal sighed. It was always the ones who seemed normal that snapped.


"It's for your own good, you know," Marshal said as he tightened the straps around Tobi's legs. "We'll feed you in three hours. You two just sit here and… talk." He smiled. "I find that talking is the best way to solve a problem." He turned, leaving Allison and Tobi sitting against the padded wall of their cell. Closing and locking the door, he stood and watched through the one-way glass at them.

"So?" Nurse Mary said, looking in. "What do you think? Are they… are they going to be okay?"

"They'll be fine," Marshal said. "In time, they will understand that this… fantasy is just that; a fantasy."

"I've never seen anything like this before," Mary murmured.

"It's not uncommon… and she is quite smart," Marshal nodded. "Both of them are quite smart. Insane, yes, but very smart..."


Tobi grunted, pushing herself against the wall and using her legs to push herself into a standing position. She wondered how long they would be trapped in the straitjackets, and hoped that it wouldn't be long.

"Well," Allison said. "I think that could've gone better."

"You think?" Tobi snapped.

"Hey, it could be worse," Allison said. "They could've put us back in solitary." Tobi was inclined to agree, but she was more relying on her friend to accept that this was her fault.

"This is your fault, you know," Tobi said.

"What?" Allison exclaimed.

"You just had to be the mad scientist and create something that landed us in jail!" Tobi said. "Oh, wait, I'm sorry, you got us trapped in the loony bin instead!"

"Hey, you were the one who wanted to go exploring!" Allison shouted. "If anything, you're the reason we're stuck here!"

"Why you…!" Tobi pushed with her feet and pounced, landing on Allison, who had been sitting on the floor. They squirmed, on top of each other, snapping at each other's necks and fur in a fury of anger.


"Doctor!" Mary exclaimed, pointing through the window. Marshal looked in and saw the two fighting. Immediately, he sprang into action.

"Grab two muzzles, I'll separate them," He said, quickly opening the door. He rushed in and grabbed Tobi around the waist, pulling her off.

"Let me go!" Tobi shouted, wriggling to escape his grasp. With her arms and legs bound, however, that was nearly impossible. The nurse came back with the muzzles. Marshal grabbed one and pushed it onto Tobi's face, turning her shouts into muffled "hmms" and "mmm" of anger. Marshal then set Tobi down and turned to Allison, picking her up and dragging her across to the other side of the padded cell.

"Hey!" She shouted. "What are you doing? She started it, not – mmmm!" Allison was muzzled as well, and leaned up against the other side of the cell. The two huffed through the gags, silent now.

"Those muzzles are there to keep the two of you from hurting each other," Marshal said. "You're as much of a danger to each other as you are to yourselves. Stay where you are until the two of you think you've reached some sort of idea of what you've done." He stepped out of the cell and closed the door behind him, sighing.

"Are you okay?" Mary asked.

"I'm fine," he said, watching Tobi and Allison. "Their treatment may take longer than I thought, is all."

"Can they see us?" Mary asked, seeing Tobi glaring at the small circle window in the door.

"No," he replied. "But she knows we're watching. She's smart… which may be a problem as much as it is a blessing."

"Doctor!" Mary gasped, pointing to Allison. She had struggled to her feet, standing precariously against the wall. Wobbling a bit, she gave a small hop, her feet and legs bound tightly together. Another hop, and she was a foot closer to Tobi. Tobi was watching her now with a gaze that was a mixture of anger and curiosity. Marshal and Mary watched as well as Allison slowly hopped across the room, risking falling flat on her face and breasts. Marshal put his hand on the doorknob, ready to go in if Allison seriously hurt herself. Something told him, however, that Allison would be fine. Call it intuition, or just a hunch, he watched Allison cross the room unharmed. He relaxed his hand off of the doorknob five minutes later, when Allison twisted and leaned up against the wall, sliding down until she was sitting next to Tobi.

"Wow," Mary whispered. Allison lay her head on Tobi's shoulder, and her tail rubbed her foot lightly. "What are they doing?"

"She's asking for forgiveness," Marshal said. "She's apologizing." Tobi stared at Allison, her gaze softening. She nodded. "And Tobi accepted it." Marshal smiled. "This is good," He said. "This is very good."

"Why?" Mary asked, watching them.

"Because, even though they have a long way to go," Marshal said, "This is a step in the right direction."


Allison was glad that Tobi had accepted her "apology", but her expedition was just a show for the doctor, her goal was really just to get close to Tobi. She had gotten an idea.

She tapped Tobi on the leg with her tail, motioning for her to look at it. She moved it out of sight of the door, so Marshal wouldn't see what they were doing. If he looked in (and he was looking in, Allison knew it) it would just look like Tobi and Allison were bonding in silence. In a way, they were.

"Hmm?" Tobi asked through the muzzle.

"Mmm," Allison said, bumping her head against the padded wall. She could feel the springs behind her head. She did it again, trying to find one that made a sound. She didn't, but that was okay. Tobi just stared at her, confused. What was she trying to say? Allison sighed, then motioned with her tail again. Tobi looked down, staring as she made a spiral shape with it. She still didn't get it.

Allison gave an annoyed grunt. She made the spiral shape with her tail again, then bumped the padding with her head. Spiral, padding. The same pattern, what was she saying? Something about the spiral? What was she trying to say… it looked like a corkscrew, or a waterslide, or a…

Tobi's eyes widened. Allison nodded, grinning behind her muzzle.

"Mmmhmm?" Tobi asked.

"Hmmm!" Allison nodded. Tobi grinned behind her gag as well. There were springs in the wall, and springs were usually metal. The padding was simply cloth, as were the straitjackets and the buckles. Although, if they could get the straitjacket off, then there'd be no worries about the belts holding their legs together. And if they could get all of that off, then they could escape…


Tobi nodded to Allison, and Allison nodded back. The two of them began to slowly try and wear away the padding on the wall… it would take a while, yes, but it would be so worth it…




TO BE CONTINUED?