Marshall Adonnis Shan's Story

Marshall was tired. He was tired of being the only one in the town who gave a damn about what happened to the people on the other side of the wall. He was tired of trying to pretend that he didn't care. He was tired of his coworkers throwing things at the Janitors of the office he worked at just because they were different. Didn't they understand that this was what caused the World Wars of old? Didn't they understand that segregation would just make it worse?

Enough is enough, he thought, as he watched one of the Dims dodge yet another soda can on his way to clock out for the night. If I can't beat them, maybe I should just... Making a decision, he placed a slip of paper down on the desk of his cubicle. The resignation was long overdue, anyways. He'd been working this dead end office job for over a year, already, hoping he could climb the ladder and make a change. Alas, there was never any sign of promotion, and no change was forthcoming. It was time for a different approach.

It took him a while, after that, to learn which cracks in the Curtain were left unguarded. Places that no one would think to look. Besides, no one was looking for a scrawny, black haired human when they glanced at the wall. So no one noticed when said scrawny boy slipped through. It was far too easy.

The steel wall wasn't very thick, he thought once he'd gotten far enough away from it on the other side. No, the SWATS had to be the main deterrents. Between them and the required papers it took for a Dim to even get a job on the other side, it was no wonder they didn't even try, anymore.

Akma's big cloudy pupils stared blankly into the alley he was sitting in, leaning up against the partition wall with a small cardboard sign with a few scribbles on it. He couldn't read, but neither could half the other Dims. Someone, somewhere, had told him the humans scribble on cardboard and sit, while other humans give them small amounts of change. This had never seemed to work out for Akma, looking forward to another night of mild starvation or garbage picking. Letting fourth a few clicks from his elongated snout, he checked the sonarscape as his eyes did the best they could to fill in the blanks.

Akma heard something interesting as he waited for the bounceback.. Rustling, but not from up or down the alley.. but from the wall. As if someone was slipping through. But the time of day was wrong.. It was very early in the morning, and all the Dims would be GOING to work.. not coming from.. He rose to his feet, ears propping up as he let out a short screech, locating Marshall as he came into the alley. "Ahh..." He said softly, mainly to himself. "One is playing hooky!" He continued, as he hobbled closer to Marshall.

"Do you have money? You give me money and I won't tell." He said, using a small cane to tap the wall as he drew near. He reached out his hand in front of him, drawing closer to Marshall before poking him in the chest with a digit. Akma stopped and squinted, trying to make light of what he was seeing with his barely functioning eyes. "You want to pass you give me money!" He said again, poking the scrawny guy in the chest, still simply assuming he was a Dim running away from responsibility.

Shit, now what? Marshall stood stock still for a moment. While he knew it was impossible to hide the fact that he was human, he hadn't exactly been expecting to get caught this close to the wall. He stared at the Dim that poked him with the stick. "Wait... Hooky? I'm not playing hooky!"

He backed up a step, pulling his satchel off his back. "You make it sound like the SWATs actually give a damn." He rifled through the bag, frowning slightly. The Demi-human obviously didn't work much, or he wouldn't be trying to mug him. He looked back up.

The man didn't look like he weighed in much more than Marshall himself, he realized. Which meant that he'd probably been starving. The only problem was, he also looked scruffy, which made it exceedingly hard for the boy to gauge what dietary needs he had. Except, he didn't look old, but was mistaking him for... "You're blind, aren't you?"

Akma snorted with offense. "And you're rude, aren't you?!" he said, smacking him with the cane he held. "You eat, you work! I starve, and dont!" He stumbled over a can, and lost his balance. He grabbed out in fron of him and only found Marshalls wrist as he caught himself. He paused, awkwardly so as he held his wrist, realizing there was no fur upon it, and the digits were strangely... human. Oh.. My.

Akma retracted his hand and fell against the wall, suddenly in shock. "No um.. You don't owe me anything..."he said, inching along the wall. "I uh, just remembered I have plenty!" He leaned down to collect his sign, not finding it and giving up as he began to back away from Marshall, ears back, posture hunched. He didn't need any trouble from any humans.. he was having trouble enough backing away. "Please.. Just.. Forgive me." He whispered as he inched away from Marshall, fearing a blow from a baton at any moment for his attempted bribery.

"Woah there, it's alright!" Marshall stood back up, finally pulling out what he was looking for. They were of an older style, but the frames and lenses were still in decent shape. Between that and a bit of string, he could help the poor man at least avoid the wrong humans.

"I'm not a SWAT, I promise. And I don't have a gun, or a tazer, or a baton. I also don't want to hurt you." He moved forward slowly, holding out his other hand in an offer to help the Dim up. He did stay just within reaching distance, though, remembering what he'd learned from his school. Some Dims still had some of the primal insticts of their ancestors. Where his classmates laughed and thought of fetch... He thought of how to make friends.

"Look, I just want to help. Can we start over? I'm Marshall, and I used to live and work in HNT. I have a little bit of food here, and maybe some glasses, if you want them." He kept his voice soft, so as to try not to scare him.

Akma wasn't falling for it.. He had heard of people being fooled with bribes and never being seen again.. But his stomach rumbled, it had been a few days. Despite the poor blind things judgement, he reached out a hand, grasping for Marshalls as they both got to his feet. "Why.. are you here?" he said inquisitively.

"Look, i just want to help." his sentence begun.

Akma nodded along, looking at nothing but the shape in front of him. He visibly perked up when he heard the word food, his long tongue sticking out revealing his silver piercings as he thought of what it could possibly be. He had never heard the term glasses though. What could those possibly be?

Warily, Akma took the kid at his word. "Okay... But if the food is bad... I hit you again!" He said, trying to make a joke, but missing the tone of humor on it. He raspily wheezed out a few laughs, steadying himself on the wall.

Marshall smiled as he helped the man up. "I have a few options... But I'm not sure about your diet." He unfolded the glasses in his hand and tied a band to the arms. "Here, these might help you See better. Hold them close to your eyes, and if they work, use the string to tie them on. I'm afraid they weren't made for... bat ears."

After handing Akma the glasses, he dug in his pack again. Two different bags. One held trail mix, and the other had jerky. "It isn't much, but I was hoping I could find food here, too."

Akma's eyes remain wide open and vacant, before he blinked a few times, adjusting through the lenses as his giant pupils dialated and grew smaller. "What... what is this??" He exclaimed, jerking back in surprise at the sensory overload. "Magic!!!" he yelled happily, looking over to Marshall and poking his face. "Its so.. colorful.." He looked all around the alley, excited as a school kid. As he stood the classes did in fact fall off, but since Akma was able to see where they fell he quickly picked them up and put them back on, putting the string behind his ears and perking them up. "Do I look cool?" he grinned as Marshall dug in his bag.

Hearing the krinkle of bags within his backpack he intensified and looked over to the sound. "What.. is that...?" he said, rudely plucking the jerky out of Marshalls hands and tearing it open with his teeth, pouring the majority into his hungry waiting maw. He was barely through chewing the jerky when he grabbed for the trail mix, once again opening it with his teeth and eating it as quickly as he could. Meat, and berries?! An exquisite banquet for a half starved vagrant bat such as he.

Satisfied he was in fact here to help, he looked at him through his thick new eyes, blinking a few times as he adjusted them for comfort.

"Marshall, what brings you here? Why do you wish to be among the dirt and grime like the rest of us?"

He pointed to the wall. "Thats where you belong... With the betters of society. They take care of us and make sure we're happy. Or thats what they tell me." He said, awaiting an answer.

Marshall had to try hard not to laugh at the overly excited bat. He couldn't help but remind him of a cartoon he had watched when he was much, much younger. Ferngully. With a shake of his head, he collected the trash from the food and tucked it back into his bag, until he could find a proper trash receptacle.

"They're called glasses. They won't help much at night, unless they actually light the street lamps, these days, but they're something we've had for... Oh gods, centuries. Be careful with the lenses, though. They're made of glass, and they don't work well if they break."

After he heard the question, he couldn't hold back the snort, anymore. "Take care of you? That wall has been nothing but a menace since the day they built it!" He shook his head. "Besides. Maybe here I can actually do some good. I would never have thought a pair of glasses would be considered 'magic,' after all. You guys have it even worse than I thought."

"Glasses." He repeated happily. "They are like new eyeballs to me. Why don't they make these for us if you have had them for so long then?" he said, pushing them up on his nose as he looked at his own clawed hand and the rings thereon. "I never knew these were silver..." He said softly, realizing anyone could have mugged them from him at any time, but, no dim did. Maybe it was was just too much even for vagrant dims to steal from a blind bat. It honestly gave Akma hope for the future.

He listened as Marshall snorted and spoke. Akma's mouth started to open to protest as Marshall continued. "But.. Akma has always heard they built that for our safety. Because we can't be trusted to do the right thing." he pointed to Marshall. "I mean you people made us from your bodies, and gave us the gift of speech, and let us live in these nice cities, how could we not see you as nice and friendly!" He said, slowly trailing off. "Well.. Except.. The blue ones. They are kinda mean." He said, referencing the SWATS.

Unconsiously his hands travel along a tear in his wing, one that hadn't fully healed right and was still open at the beginning.

"But I'm alive, and I eat sometimes, and now..." he grinned, pointing to his glasses. "I can seee!!!" he said, adjusting them again as he happily patted his stomach. "And I am full. So you, sir, are my proof that humans cannot be as bad as people say." He said with a smile. "But you never answered..." He repeated. "Why are you here?" His exaggerated pupils dilated as the question was posited.

Marshall winced slightly, shaking his head. "SWATS are pretty terrible, huh?" He sighed, swinging his bag back onto his shoulders. "Akma, Theoretical question: How many friends do you have that you don't trust? See, I know better. I know you guys can be trusted. If you couldn't, then almost every business on the other side of that thing would be belly up, by now."

The boy turned and stared up at the wall. It seemed so much bigger from this side. As he listened to Akma, his eyes dimmed more and more. Was that really how Dims were being told things were? Where basic medical care was akin to magic, but they were protected? Dims weren't even allowed to work in hospitals, he remembered. Humans didn't trust them not to steal medicine, or supplies. In some cases, mothers even feared the loss of children.

He remembered, though, before the wall was built. It had only been for a few days, but he remembered the young cat he'd befriended. Who only wanted food. Who thought it was amazing that a little Human boy had been willing to share a tunafish sandwich.

"I crossed the wall because I want to change things. I want to make things better for Dims. The humans all seem to forget about our own history. Segregation doesn't protect anyone. It stirs up trouble. Eventually, someone over here is going to decide enough is enough. To be honest, I'd rather be on your side."

Akma nodded softly as he commented on the SWATS. But, as he was asked the question about his friends, Akma had to admit he didn't know anyone he would equate to a friend. He was either bothering shopkeeps or hiding at night from the patrols. "Well, I don't know about that..." He said softly, but honestly couldn't comment on it. he had been in the dark for so long, literally and figuratively, that it was no concern of him, his usual concerns included surviving the night and eating the next day.

Akma smiled happily at Marshall as he talked of changing things, letting the other half of his sentence sink in as well, but not particularly focusing on it. "But you have! Already you have." He said with a smile. "With these things I might be able to find work now! Then maybe... just maybe I could buy a home.." he said dreamily, thinking about not having to hunker down in abandoned buildings or forgotten backstreets. "And no one will decide that..." Akma chuckled, completely believing himself. "But... If you were looking for someone who likes to cause trouble... I might be able to show you someone who fits that bill..."

Marshall couldn't help but smile at Akma's cheerful attitude. This was why he couldn't understand why the Dims were so looked down upon. "I didn't change that much," he murmured, before listening to the rest of what Akma had to say.

He was silent for a few moments, considering. On the one hand, he did want to make a difference. On the other, why would anyone looking to rebel against his fellow human beings want to trust him? He was still quite young, after all. Not to mention that all he had to prove his good intentions was the money he had brought with him, a meager food supply, a bat with glasses...

Infomation, his mind supplied, and he thought about it quite seiously. He nodded slightly, coming to a decision. "If you think you can convince them to give me a chance, that is."

"Come!" Akma said happily as he stood up, adjusting his new glasses. He swiveled around and ran to the end of the alley, before stopping.. And tapping his chin. "No..." He said to himself, before running the other way and stopping. "Erm..." he said, thinking to himself as his huge eyes blinked, ears folding down. "Ah." he said with a smirk, before finding his stick and then removing the glasses. "I never found it with eyeballs." he said a bit low on the volume, as he began to tap the side of the wall, putting the glasses away with his free hand. He tapped his way about two or three blocks down the back alley, calling back to marshall: "If you see anyone, don't stop, just keep going!" He said, tapping along. They rounded corners, and went over a bridge, then uphill, further into the slums, all the while with Akma humming and squawking every once and a while for direction. "Almost there..." He said, taking the glasses out of his pocket and holding them to his face as he turned around, squinting and looking for Marshall to make sure he had kept up.

It really wasn't all that difficult, Marshall thought, following someone who was used to finding his way by beating on the ground with a stick. In fact, nearly the entire distance, he was only a couple feet behind. Now that he was certain that Akma was decended from a bat, it made far more sense as to why he was blind. He just couldn't figure out why, when the scientists were splicing genes, they didn't account for the lack of vision. What use to humans is a blind soldier? He didn't really want to think about it.

Marshall did pay attention when Akma said not to stop even if the people they passed gave him strange looks, but it was hard not to. It wasn't as if he could blame them, really. How often did even SWATS come in this far without it being solely to harrass the inhabitants? When Akma stopped to check on him, he finally spoke.

"So, Akma, tell me about this guy you're taking me to see?"

Akma turned around and happily pointed down a very thin alley through a bunch of sheds, leading Marshall even further into the fray as the crowds thinned out, presumably because everyone was at work. He tapped his way through the corrugated metal shacks and plywood barriers. "Yes.. Close now.." he mumbled. A couple, one tall skinny wolf looking type, and a shorter, but still skinny cat girl walked past them as they avoided eye contact and walked on ahead. They dissapeared into the labyrynthe of alleyways to destinations unknown as Akma attemped to get his bearings once more. "Now... let me see..." he said softly, before tapping a particularly interesting piece of sheet metal in a few places, causing a voice from inside the shack to tell him where he could stick the stick he was using. "Emm... Heh... This way!" he said, starting to fumble in the direction that the couple had dissapeared down.

"We take you to see my friend! He used to share with me on his breaks from the factory. He would let me have some of his food. In return, I would listen. To everything. And tell him what I heard. He was so nice, only wanting that in return!" Akma said happily as he tapped down the alley further. "We take you to him. I sure don't know what to do with you, but he will!" he said with a smile, which faded as he sniffed the air. "No..." He said grumpily as he took his glasses and put them back on. "Maybe eyeballs will help after all." He squinted, heading off down the direction. "He described the door to me, but forgot I couldn't see. Red! A red old door that is sturdy and strong." He said with a nod, slowly continuing down the alley. "Did you think it was like this human?" He said, chuckling as he waved his hands all around at the "grandiose" around them. "Its so nice!" he said, despite the smell of rotting garbage and stagnant puddles on the ground, no building codes or engineers ever setting foot in this shanytown.

Marshall nodded along, listening silently as the man described his friend. It was amazing, he thought, how much the people on this side of the wall tried to help each other. Never once did he lose track of where Akma was, keeping up with him easily. "That is one of the few ways that you're luckier than some humans, Akma. Humans tend to ignore the homeless."

He kept his eyes peeled for the red door, searching for it while he surveyed the surrounding... Mess. "You make it sound like this place is a palace," he mumbled, knowing full well that the hightened hearing of his new friend meant that he'd be easily heard. "These buildings aren't all that safe. Why, that one over there looks like a gust of wind could tip it over!"

He supposed that it was a good thing that he didn't have the heightened sense of smell that the Dims had, either. The garbage was bad without it. Finally, his eyes fell upon a door that looked as if it could have been red, once upon a time. "Akma, might that be it?"

Akma shrugged happily as they continued further into the alley, before the door was pointed out to him. "Ah! Yes! This is where Data is." He said as he walked up to the door. "He is the one that will want to say hi, I bet. " he said happily, banging on the door three times. There was a hush from inside. They waited a few minutes, before Akma looked back to Marshall. "Um. Heh. He must not have heard me." He added, before banging on the door again, louder. "Come on..." He said, tapping his foot impatiently as he looked over to Marshall. "Hey! Come here and stand next to the door. He doesn't like surprises." He then thought about it a bit. "Well, you are kind of a surprise though in your self. " he said with a laugh, as he heard ffootsteps on the other side of the door begin to approach. "Ah! Here he is!" he said with a smile. The door handle slowly began to turn.

Marshall immediately moved to do as Akma said, moving into plain view. He even went so far as to put his backpack on the ground in front of him, pulling off his zippered jacket, and held up his hands in a non threatening gesture. He really would rather not be mistaken for one of the SWATS again. Once was enough of that.

He watched as the door began to open, his blue eyes bright and curious. This was farther than he'd really expected to get without being caught by the guards. "I just hope your friend is... friendly," he mumbled quietly.

Randa and Tanta looked at each other one last time before the raccoon turned, baseball bat in hand, to open the door, letting it stop at the chain. He peered out with an inquiry: "Who is it?" he said, bracing himself in case it was the SWAT. But the only thing he could through the door was a pair of comically magnified cloudy eyes.

"Data!!" Akma said happily as he tried to get in the door, not understanding it was chained and only jostling it a bit. "Em.. Hrm..." He said, trying again.

"Dammit, Akma, stop." Tanta said, eyeing him suspiciously still. "What the hell is that on your head?"

"Oh! OH!" He said, getting visibly excited. "That is why I am here. I have found someone you might want to talk to, aaannnddd~" He said, with a dramatic wave of his hands, tapping them at the very end. "They're magic. Its not a big deal though." He smugly stated.

Tanta wasn't visibly amused. "You know, you were about to get your bell rung, Akma." he said, raising the baseball bat into view. Akma, either not understanding or not caring, simply smiled and shrugged. Randa, all the while, was intently watching the door, ears perked towards it. Shooting Zonia a glance, he gave her a reasurring nod, letting her know that everything seemed to be okay. Randa approached the door, peeking over Tantas much shorter head. He had seen the bat before, but only staring into the abyss, holding signs with incoherent words on them.

"SO! Come onnnnnnNNNN!" Akma said, again trying the door, adding to Tanta's suspicion about his motives. "Let me introduce you to my friend!" He obviously thought there must be some other reward in his escort quest other than the pride of knowing he helped. Perhaps, he wanted a bit more of Tanta's food. Eying the bat, Tanta slammed the door, leaving Akma to retract his long snout before it was slammed in the door. Turning to Marshall, he gave a nervous shrug. "Maybe... He went to get us snacks...?" he said, hopelessly optomistic.


On the other side of the door, Randa was colored unimpressed. "A homeless bat?" He snorted, taking out a cigarette and lighting it up. Tanta turned, looking down to the floor as he cupped his chin in deep thought. "He could be useful. He helped me a lot with data collection, witting or not when we still worked in the Tinderbox together. And he has never sought me out, so whoever this Dim is that he brought must be very important, or at least he thinks..." he stopped mid sentence, as he turned around to glare at Randa, stomping up to him and taking the cigarette out of his mouth, stomping on it with his foot. "Smoke is hell on electronics!!" He exclaimed. "Oh, and your lungs, or something. I don't know. "

Randa was obviously perplexed, but listened silently to Tanta's commands. "Well, come on then. We'd better not keep them waiting." Randa retorted. Tanta nodded, and walked back to the door.


Akma stood patiently, still at the door, hoping against hope these few minutes passing was just a friendly conversation inside. Suddenly, his ears perked up as the sound of a chain sliding off its hinges clattered into the alleyway. The brass handle began to turn and the door opened, three perplexed inhabitants inside, all looking towards the bat, and Marshall. Suddenly, the large Maned wolfs ears shot back as he darted towards the door. Pushing Akma aside, he grabbed Marshall by the collar and dragged him into the Room, surprisingly stronger than his tall wiry frame would lead on. Using his non bandaged hand, he pressed Marshall up against the wall, glaring into his eyes as his snouth almost touched his nose. "Close the door!" He barked at Tanta, which he dutifilly did, but not before Akma was able to slide in, looking truly confused. "What are you doing wolf man??" he exclaimed, running over to help. Randa simply shot Akma a glare, that froze him in his track, his large eyes blinking as his ears drooped.


"Tanta, the fuck?? You just let your people bring humans here??" He said, to which Tanta responded with a stutter and a shrug, looking completely amazed at the scene unfolding in front of him. "I, I, I mean.. L-l-ook, I didn't know this vagrant was bringing pinkies here! But look... He's not SWAT... Hes a.. He's a civilian! On this side of the wall!!!" Tanta exclaimed, rubbing his hands together in fascination. But Randa's paranoid mind would not let him off the hook that easily. He glared into Marshall's eyes, growling softly before setting him down on the floor, but keeping a grip on his shirt. "You have thirty seconds to convince me you're not a spy." Tanta and Akma both grew silent, slowly moving toward Zonia close to the computer desk, watching the scene unfold. The tension in the air was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everyone's eyes were on Marshall, and everyone's next breath hung on his explanation.