Locked Up Again (Part One)


It started with the computer.


Despite all the warnings from his friends, Seth was browsing through the online AKEA store. It was there that Seth found the program.

It popped up in a window that was an advertisement for a new system that AKEA was going to try out, and the ad offered a beta test of the new software. The trial was free to download, and guaranteed an "interesting experience". Seth, not being one to shy away from new experiences, clicked "download".

Two weeks later, as Seth would stare at a small, tinted window, separated from everything he knew and loved, he would wish he hadn't.

What happened at first was nothing special, the installation program appeared, and he followed the steps necessary to complete it. Ten minutes later, the new program was up and running, and he was amazed. The program asked for his name, and once he had typed that in, it had returned with his height, weight, age, even species. After spending some time looking through the program, Seth learned that not only could he alter the image of himself on the screen, but he could alter his very body and reality around him. So many possibilities… Seth had to think.

He could TG himself into Steph and surprise his wife Tara, but Tara wouldn't be home for a few more hours. So, what could Seth do in the meantime? After a few more moments, he got it. There was a character he always loved playing and writing, a young wolf girl named Edy. He had already gotten into most "roles", except for hers. So, using the program, he transformed the image into that of the anthro wolf's, however he left out one part: Edy talked in third person. It would be easier getting used to the form first, Seth decided. Then the mind. Then, finger hovering over the "save as" function, he double checked. The mind change option was at 0%, while the reality change was at 100%.

"Good enough," Seth said, then clicked "Save As and Apply Changes".


That was the last time anyone saw Seth.


THREE WEEKS LATER


Keegan jumped out of bed and threw open the door, rushing to the bathroom and splashing his face with cold water. Breathing heavily, he stared at his reflection, shaking off the remnants of his nightmare.

It had been four weeks since he and his friend Tobias had escaped from an insane asylum. Of course, if it was just that, Keegan wouldn't be having such vivid nightmares. No, thanks to a program he invented during a commission for AKEA< Keegan and Tobias had been transported to an alternate universe where they were their female fursonas: the tigress Allison and the wolfess Tobi. There, they had been committed to an asylum for their ravings of being male and human, and had been stuck there for three weeks.

"Three weeks," Keegan muttered. There was a complication, as always. Later they learned that Kelly, Keegan's twin sister, had managed to turn back the clock so it never happened, thanks to the AKEA program. But, it erased their memories of the ordeal, and so the two would end up going through the next three weeks over and over again.

That was, until Marshal.

Marshal started to remember the time loop, and during the last "cycle", he had realized what had happened. Suddenly, the doctor turned from sadistic to apologetic, and thanks to his interference, managed to end the time loop for good.

Keegan stared at his reflection. The two of them had been trapped in the loop for the equivalent of two years. An experience like that left one…

"Traumatized," Keegan said in a flat voice. He hadn't heard from Tobias, mostly because he unplugged the phone cord. He slept on his bare mattress, he couldn't' stand the bed sheets now. They were too… restricting. And he had nightmares. Sometimes he wondered if he ever left the asylum. One look outside at the rising sun told him that he did. With a sigh of relief, he walked out of the bathroom and into the living room, sitting down and watching the sun rise, its comforting rays sending away the dark shadows of his memories.


It was breakfast when it happened.

"Have you heard from Seth at all?" Kelly asked. Keegan dropped his spoon into the bowl of cereal. Seth!


"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.


                                                                                                     ----- That was how the memory was supposed to go. Suddenly things changed. She saw an Abyssinian cat anthro dragging a white wolf down the hall by the back of her straightjacket. She was snarling and yelling. Allison could hear the words clearly.


"Stop this! My name is Seth, not Steph! Let me go, I'm not crazy!"


                                                                                                    Then, the memory resumed.  -----


"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.</b>


Keegan paled.

"What's wrong?" Kelly asked. Of course, she wouldn't know what had happened over the two year cycle.

"Nothing, just…" He thought frantically. It couldn't be the same Steph… but at the same time, why hadn't Seth called? Or e-mailed? Or even came by to check why he hadn't responded to anything for a few weeks. "I'll go by Seth and Tara's place," Keegan told her. "I'll find out what's up."


"Hey Keegan," Tara smiled. "How are you?" She asked as she let him in.

"I'm good," He said, only lying a bit. He felt good right now. Tonight was when he would go crazy. "You?"

"I'm alright," She said. Keegan nodded and smiled and decided to cut to the chase.

"Is Seth home?" Keegan asked. Tara shook her head, and Keegan's stomach fell.

"He's out on a business trip right now, he said it would be a few weeks." This struck Keegan as very odd.

"A few weeks? What kind of trip was it?" Again, Tara shook her head and waved Keegan off.

"To tell the truth, I kinda zoned out," She said, and that troubled him. Tara wouldn't have waved something off like that… not unless something was interfering with her mind. The two talked for a while, and the longer they did, the more Keegan was convinced that something was drastically wrong.

"Could I use your bathroom for a moment?" Keegan asked.

"Sure," Tara nodded. "It's just down the hall." Keegan nodded a thanks and walked out of the room. Walking as quietly as he could, he found Seth's room where the computer sat. He hated sneaking around his friends, but he had to be sure. Booting it up, he searched for any recently downloaded programs. He paled as he saw the AKEA logo on one of the recent programs. Opening it, he looked around before finding the most recent "world" on the program. Loading it, he gave a small gasp as he stared at the wolf girl almost… no, exactly identical to the girl in his flashback. Taking out a memory stick, he downloaded the program into it, and was about to turn the computer off when…

"What the hell are you doing?" Said a voice from behind him. Giving a startled jump, he turned at stared at Tara. "Why are you snooping on our computer?"

"Look, Tara," Keegan said, unplugging the memory stick. "I have proof that Seth isn't on a business trip. In fact, I don't think he's anywhere in this world."

"What are you talking about?" Tara asked, clearly upset.

"Seth used a program, a program I wrote and created," He said, holding the USB stick out. "He used it to transport himself to another world."

"I think I would remember something like that," Tara said, moving quickly from upset to angry.

"You wouldn't, that's the point," Keegan explained. "The program alters reality slightly to give you a good, reasonable explanation to why Seth isn't here! Your mind has been changed!"

"Get out." Tara said. "Get out, before I kick you out. And you don't want me to do that." Keegan opened his mouth to try again, but stopped. Tara wasn't kidding. He couldn't convince her… and wouldn't until Seth's return. Putting his head down, he left the house. Opening the front door, he turned to Tara.

"I know you don't believe me, but I promise I'll do everything I can to bring your husband back."

"GO!" Tara shouted.

Keegan went.


That night, Keegan uploaded the program. Looking at the wolf's image, he plugged into the Pod's mainframe. There had to be some sort of gateway or a trace of the portal that transported Seth to the other world. Keegan yawned and waited. Sure enough, the Pod came back with a world. There was a 99.999, and a bunch nines after that, percent chance that Seth was there. Using the Pod, he searched for news articles or anything that would hint at Seth's presence in the other world. He froze as he found one, dated two weeks prior.


VIOLENT ATTACK IN NEIGHBOURHOOD CAUSED BY MENTAL BREAKDOWN.

Around 9 p.m. last night, police responded to what seemed like a domestic disturbance. Arriving at the home of Steph and Tony…

Keegan scrolled through the article until he reached the part that he needed to know.

…had injured three officers and it took four more to subdue her. She was sent to St. Tomas' Institution for Troubled Adults…</i>

Keegan felt like his throat had seized up. That was the same institution he and Tobias had been trapped in. The next segment of the article froze him as much.

"We get cases like these often," Dr. Reidman, the Head of the Institute, told reporters. "She may be a tough case to figure out. But there is no doubt that something happened that made her mind snap. It is up to us to repair that break in judgement and ensure that she can go home safely."</b>


Keegan felt a rush of anger. He began searching for records or some kind of document that would hint at Steph's freedom. None were found. He sighed and looked over at the phone. He had some calls to make.