Well, I honestly forgot about this thing for a while. Busy with stuff, blah blah blah. Anyways, as mentioned last chapter (I think), I don't really have a set time to do these, since this is really just a time killer for me, also because I haven't actually seen a good story about HIZ (not that mine is really any better, but I'm still biased to say I like mine more).

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Traffic, why was there always traffic at the worst possible moments? Knowing you'd normally only be ten minutes away if things were normal makes it even worse. The incessant honking was going to drive her insane any second now as well. Do they think that slamming the horn is going to magically make the line move forward? Letting herself slump further in her seat, she cranked the volume dial to a level that would probably make anyone deaf within a few minutes just to drown the rest of the noise out. After seemingly three and a half eternities, the traffic finally started to move from a dead stop to a somewhat bearable pace. A few minutes later she saw the culprit of her lateness. Seems someone didn't know how to drive their fancy sport car, and decided he should introduce it to a semi-truck. Shaking her head, traffic went to its normal pace a few seconds after the wreck. Coming up to her work, she saw that everyone else must've met her fate as well. Only her boss's truck sat in his usual spot, maybe he'd be a bit softer since she made it first? She quickly parked her car, nearly diving out of it before hearing a voice a few seconds later.

"You're late" the voice said, her turning her body slightly to the source. Her boss was just getting out of his truck, seems he got there only a few seconds before her. He turned back to his truck, grabbing something from the other seat, continuing to talk, "Though I can't exactly scold you for it this time, seeing how some idiot couldn't drive" he finished. Turning around revealed a small plain cake along with a small paper bag, probably full of plastic utensils.

"Uhm… right. Look, about last night-" she was cut off by him raising his paw.

"I've already forgotten that conversation, don't try to bring it back up. This is to be a celebration of sorts, anyway. Also, did you notify Ryan's family of his status? I'm sure they're the ones that should know most of all." He said, walking to the front door, meeting Violet halfway.

"Ah, nope. I didn't, should probably do that now then, right?" giving a slight laugh, he definitely wasn't in a great mood today. As they entered the building, she followed him to the main hallway as she dialed Ryan's sister. A couple of seconds later she was already telling her about him, the sound of utter excitement screaming from the speaker, though by the strain and hoarseness of her voice she could tell she had been extremely depressed. She quickly thanked Violet, hanging up a few seconds later. Violet didn't even realize she had followed her boss to the break room when she stopped going on auto pilot.

"When everyone else gets here, tell them to head straight to the break room, cake goes stale very quickly when left out in the open." He said, setting the cake and bag down on the small coffee table. Taking the items out of the bag showed the expected utensils, but she didn't expect ice cream to boot.

"Right, they should be here any minute now anyway. We all usually get here around the same time, they can't be that far behind." She paused for a bit, giving a small sigh, "Look, I really am sorry about bringing up… that. I was just tired, and said something stupid," she finished.

"Violet. Drop it. I've already said that I've forgotten it. Unless you cannot understand social cues, I suggest you not bring that up again." If words could cut, she'd be strips of jerky by now. She pursed her lips to prevent herself from talking, quickly turning around to go to the front door. She definitely did not want to make things worse right now. Her phone buzzed a short while later, a wall of messages showing up.

"Hey, tell the boss I'm gonna be late, he's not answering his phone."

"Hey, just want to let you know I'll be really late, traffics not even moving right now."

The rest painted the same picture, looks like she was extremely lucky, probably leaving a split second early enough to get through in time. Without everyone else here she couldn't get much done, all there was to do was wait. There's no way she was going to tell her boss that she was going to leave for Ryan for a couple hours at the least, not unless she wanted to live. Sitting in the front desk lounge chairs, she sifted through the internet, killing time until everyone else managed to break free of the jam outside. After seemingly hours, one finally arrived, the door chime signaling her to look up.

"Hey, look who managed to show up" she joked.

"Honestly, I would've made it here faster if I took a walk instead" he looked around, finally settling on looking at Violet. "Where's everyone else? Stuck in the traffic?" he received a nod in response, "Figures. I see the boss made it, no surprise there, where is he by the way?" walking to the chair next to her as he spoke, sitting down with a loud thud of the cushion. Violet looked up from her phone, resting her head on her propped up arm, staring at the wall in front of her.

"He's… probably in his office. I wouldn't go to him for a while though" her last sentence giving of a nervous chuckle.

"Do I even want to know?" he crossed his arms, eyebrows raised slightly. She nodded side to side, "I said something dumb, that's all there is to it" she turned towards him, "Now he's acting like some dad that's so angry instead of screaming he just gives you that 'you've done messed up' look instead" air quoting for emphasis.

"Well, he'll get over it soon. Besides, once Ryan gets back he'll lighten up" he noticed Violet's ears perk up, noticing a slight 'ding' go off in her head as she sat up straight.

"Oh! Almost forgot, there's cake and ice cream in the break room, wait till everyone else is here though. I don't want someone getting pissed because they didn't get a slice or something"

"Hey, first come first serve is the rule of the land where I'm from. Not our fault they left two seconds later than us" he sat up, stretching as he did. "I'm going to the food, don't worry, it'll still be there" disappearing down the hallway a short bit later. Time to wait for the others….

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"Hy, wk u. Rn, wa up" his ear twitched at the annoyance trying to wake him from his sleep. The annoyance continued, so he sluggishly swatted his arm in the direction it came from. Suddenly, he felt something wet and cold slam on his head, causing him to shoot up.

"Cold cold, cold, cold!" he grabbed his blanket to wipe himself off, once he was finally warm again, he already knew who had done this horrible crime. "You know, a slight pat or shove would do the trick instead" he sat up, leaning on the backboard with the pillow as a cushion.

"I didn't feel like you swatting at me again. Besides, it worked" sitting the glass down on the counter next to her. "Before you try to say anything, I've questions that need answering. No funny business at all, this is extremely serious, understand?" her tone wasn't hostile like he would expect with those words, something must've spooked her to act like this.

"Shoot" he responded.

"Do you know of any secrets and whatnot of your countries military capabilities?" Ryan's expression went straight to confusion.

"…What? You're not going to attack us are you? Come on, I thought we were making some progress here" she brought a finger to his mouth, hushing him.

"No, we're not, but they might be, and soon. Very soon. So we need to know what you know. I don't want to hear any jokes of any kind. I want answers, and nothing else. So, what do you know? If there's anything that you know that we don't you need to tell us" her words spoken like some movie on fast-forward.

"Well, what do you know? I'm not going to sit here and think of stuff if you already know about it. Besides, I'm an archaeologist, not some military general. I barely even cared about that stuff." She started giving him "that" look. "Look, tell me what you know, I'll add on. Sound fair?" he finished.

"Fine. You've barely started to use jet propulsion in your aircraft, mostly relying on propulsion via turbine or propeller. Your radar can't pick up anything that we or they use. Your anti air and tanks, along with your missiles are rudimentary at best. And you've hardly any advanced personnel weaponry since you rarely ever war against one another. From what we can see, you do have plenty of satellites and commercial airliners, which could be retrofitted if needed. That's the short and sweet of it."

"…That sounds like just about everything." He gave her a blank stare, they really have a hawk eye on them for her to know all of that. He shook his head, gathering his thoughts, "Hold up a sec. Back up few minutes, the Polts are going to attack us?"

"We don't know, that's why in the case that they do, I figured you might know something we didn't. That way we I decide the best thing to do" she grabbed the empty glass, starting to twirl it around.

"What about us, though? I mean, I get that maybe you might not try to kill us anymore. Well, if we left you alone, at least. But actually just letting us die is something entirely different" he continued to remain confused, slightly less so.

"If we decided to help you, it'd be a side effect. If they manage to seize land above ground, we will be in much more danger. Agriculture will be infinitely easier, and there wouldn't be any issues with housing space. That means more people to throw at us. My first and foremost concern is my own people, not yours. Anyways, that's all I needed, you can go back to staring at the wall" she started making her way to the door, a slight buzz emanating from her pants pocket. Drawing it out and reading the message displayed, Ryan could see annoyance plastered on her face. She darted out of the room before he could ask what was going on. Only seconds later an alarm started going off, the sound of thundering footsteps coming from below and above him. The door to his room opened, a nurse running to his bed.

"Can you walk?" she hurriedly asked.

"Probably…? I haven't really tried, agh… what's going on?!" she didn't answer, grabbing him out of his bed.

"Come, we need to go to the bunker" then it clicked. Another bombing raid, they had been hobbling past others when the alarm stopped, the intercom replacing the noise.

"False alarm. I repeat, false alarm, enemy aircraft have averted course and are headed away from this facility. All staff members and civilians, you may return to your duties and activities with caution, be alert and stay prepared in case of another emergency" he heard a collective sigh of relief as the tension in the air broke instantly. As the nurse guided him back to his room, he noticed the glares he received from the others. Seems most still wanted him out, or worse. That honestly wasn't surprising though, given their view of his kind. That didn't really matter anymore, though. Soon he would be out of this place, and as long as he didn't let their existence slip out of his mouth, he should be scot-free. Letting himself fall into his bed, he counted down the few mere hours before he was to depart, as long as everything went as scheduled that is. Now to find some way to kill time as fast as possible…

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The office was now fully staffed, though an hour later than usual. The festivities slowly dying down, people going back to their usual routine, save for Violet. Thankfully she was given three days to return with Ryan, or at least have him transported to the nearest hospital. She gave her goodbyes, starting her trip to New 'Shire. Expecting a two day round trip, with an extra to get Ryan situated, should be ample time. Tuning to her usual radio station, she relaxed into her seat to let it drown everything else out, the sixteen hour drive was going to need it.

"Well, Dia-a I'- sure -e Green -x won't let t-ems-ves be be-en on their -wn turf.-"

"It's only been a couple hours and I'm already out of range… what else is on…" flipping through the stations, glancing at the road every few seconds to see if anything decides to jump out at her.

"-Crafts causing a fair amount of unrest in the coastal city. With no word from our government about what happened, how can you blame them? If a bunch of random stuff started flying over my head and I had no idea what it was, I'd be a bit nervous too! That's the second time this week, that fuzzy camera video being the first. Like I said before, without any word from the military or our damn leaders, what are we supposed to think? That alien conspiracy is starting to make a lot of sense to some people. Even if we get some canned response like some exercise, it's taken so long that rumors are bound to spread."

Raising an eyebrow, she seems to have found a new favorite station. Another sighting, in broad daylight? There's no way it would be aliens, though. Probably just some new jet fighter the knucklehead pilots at the air force are trying out.

"Seriously, do we really need another killing machine? There hasn't been a war for like… ever" rambling to herself, turning off a freeway. "I'd give it till' next week, then they'll have some surprise airshow where they unveil their newest wonder-craft" she chuckled to herself. A few minutes later, traffic started to slow to a crawl, with her spotting a few road workers in the distance. "Great… this is going to take forever."

Forever it did seem to take, half an hour passing before the workers in the distance turned from a blur of fur to an animal. Getting closer and closer, she heard a strange sound overhead, though extremely faint. Noticing a few others peeking out of their car upwards, her soon following, she saw what looked like hundreds of tiny dots slowly moving across the sky.

"That must be what the radio was talking about… at least… I hope so. Well… that airshow must be starting soon, I guess…" she joked, though even she wasn't laughing. Feeling a few goosebumps at the view, she sat back down in her seat, turning the radio back on.

"-Just worried, I mean, I'm not trying to cause any panic. But there were tons of those things in the sky. Unless we get some explanation soon, I don't know what everyone else will do. I don't think it's aliens or anything, it might just be some new jet that some company or the military made." A voice said, probably a talk guest.

"If it was a brand new aircraft, there'd only be one of them. Maybe two or three if they're feeling adventurous, not hundreds. Another thing, too, tons of people have stuff that can pick up other planes and stuff. But I've had quite a few people on here, and none of them managed to see anything on the scope. All those things, and not even one blip?" The host responded.

"I'm sure we'll get some explanation, just give it a week or two." Was all the guest seemed to think of.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll get some explanation, all right. But it better be a good one. Some last second thought or pre-recorded response isn't going to cut it for a lot of us" With that, Violet turned the radio back off. Silence was much preferred to the near fear-mongering of that station. Guess she'll have to cross that one off her favorite list.

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So, this is it, the time finally ticked down to zero. Already hobbling to what he could only assume would be a ship of some sort, seeing that he didn't notice any aircraft in the hangars when he walked by. A soldier had come into his room, explaining what he was to do as they were walking. When he reached his destination, about five miles from the beach, he would be "dropped off". When Ryan asked why he was being dropped off so far away, the soldier just said "So the rest of you can't see us when we get there. Don't be worried though, we've made you a small wooden craft, should last until you get close to the beach. You remember the promise you made, right?" the soldier giving him a glare, daring him to test his patience.

"Don't worry, you'll get to keep living in your comfy hole in the ground. Just… don't send any weird things to spy on me. Privacy is kind of a thing you know, besides, my shower singing is terrible, I don't want to force one of you to have to endure that, am I right?" giving a nervous laugh, trying to lighten the mood, though he didn't think this guy had a sense of humor to begin with. A couple of minutes later, and about a million flights of stairs thrown in, they finally reached the aquatic section of the base. Upon reaching the docking bay, Ryan notice something off about one of the ships.

"So… is that thing supposed to be half in the water? Doesn't look like a submarine, more like some… giant, terrifying hunk of metal with more cannons than bolts…" His footsteps slowing as their neared the colossal vessel.

"And you'll have the wonderful experience of sitting in the cargo bay the entire trip. Hope you're not prone to motion sickness" Though the voice seemed to become softer and more distant as the words went on. Turning his head, he noticed the solider was walking away.

"He's not serious, right? A cage doesn't suit me well, or anyone for that matter..." His tail nervously twitching back and forth.

"Hey, you!" A voice yelled in the distance, catching Ryan's attention. A presumed older male was standing on the bow of the ship dressed in a sailor uniform, though extremely decorated with medals and the like. "Yes you, fur ball. Get over here so we can get going already, we're five minutes behind schedule, I don't need you stalling on top of that!" an old man yelled again, seems like he might be the captain of the "ship", best not to get on his bad side. The one hour trip could turn into a living hell if he's not careful, heck, even if he's not careful it could be an hour of hell. Ryan slowly walked towards the ship, nearing a snails pace. Seconds thoughts of them just dumping him in the ocean to drown aside, the idea of going in the holding area for their "cargo" didn't exactly seem too pleasant. Not like he has much of a choice if he wants to get out of this place, though.

As he walked towards the bridge to board the ship, he could feel the stabbing glares from the rest of the crowds. Some curious, others cautious; bordering scared, but mostly it seemed hostile-not like that's a surprise. Thankfully, it wasn't long before he got to the door to step on the ship. What he wasn't planning on was being yanked to the side and escorted through the ship. Of course, no tour of the ship would be complete without a blind fold and cuffs, must come complementary to temporary visitors like him. After a few minutes, he was told to sit where he stood. Unfortunately, there was no chair, just regular air. Toppling over, he heard his escorts and the same voice of that old captain break out in laughter. He swore he heard a few profanities and the words "stupid animal" more than once, but as long as he got out of this place, it was worth it. After they were done with their little schadenfreude, the captain spoke up.

"Once we near the drop off location, these two will bring you up to get you off my ship. These guys will be keeping a keen eye on you. So don't move, don't speak, don't touch anything, and don't even think of doing anything. Any funny business, and you'll be dropped off through the tubes by yours truly, got it?" The voice of that captain rang in his ears.

"Y-yeah, got it. No issues from me" The captains voice was so close he was certain he just shouted in his ear. He tried to rub his ears to save them from the echo and ringing, but to no avail. Being cuffed makes it a tad bit difficult.

"Sure we can't just rough em' up a bit? Just make sure he won't try anything, of course" he heard one of his guards say.

"As much as I'd love to grant you permission, I have my orders specifically saying that no one is allowed to do that." The captains voice trailing off. "Then again, it's not like I'm going to be in this area for much longer to witness anything" the sound of a heavy metallic door closing was heard a second later.

Ryan heard footsteps come towards him shortly after. They're not really going to beat him within an inch of his life, right? Melanie wouldn't allow that, right? No... the captain was joking, that's all! Just stay calm, it'll be fine.

"So, what should we do first?" He heard one say through a slight chuckle.

"Oh, I have plenty of great ideas. He's going to be coming in on a raft out of thick jungle, right?" The other spoke.

"Yeah."

"Got a razor for something that thick?"

"I can go grab one, why do you-Oh, that'll be brilliant"

The sound of the door opening and closing, and foot steps coming closer to him, there was no mistaking they weren't going to follow her orders. Dear god, what're they going to do with a razor?!

"H-h-hey, uhm… what're you-" his words cut off by a hard smack to the side of his head

"Hey, remember the captains words? No speakin', anymore "nonsense", and it's the tubes for you" his laughter bellowing throughout the area.

For fear of any worse predicament that may fall on him, his mouth would've sown itself shut if it could. And it nearly would've, had the ship not disembarked from the dock, causing him to fall over from his sitting position. His head hit a box, thankfully wooden, but still causing a slight yelp.

"Oh, ship's moving, watch your balance" he sarcastically said.

This is going to be one long trip...