We all are animals anyway

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NOTE: Its important to have read chapter "52 Monkey Tail" before reading this one, or you would be very confused.

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Link stared at the tail for what felt like hours to Zid, but in reality, was just a couple of seconds.

"In case you forgot about it, there is a lady present" Link says giving a quick glance in the Princess's direction.

Zid nods and starts to pick up his trousers, but Link snapped his fingers to draw Zids attention, then held up his palm to signal Zid to stop. Link walk towards his backpack and opens it to pull out some boxers, he then grabs the knife he hides in his boot to quickly make a hole on the boxers.

"Am I supposed to remain half naked then?" Zid asks annoyed.

Link hands Zid the boxers "Put these on, I teared a hole for that appendage of yours, I don't what you to keep coiling it around your leg, I understand the need to hide it, but you are applying too much pressure on your leg" the Hero tilts his head staring at the leg's color "you are strangling it. And now that I think about it... it's probably the root cause of your limp, isn't it?"

ZID POV

Well yeah… it is. I won't stop doing it though, pressing on my leg with it prevents me from moving it and being noticed. And of course my leg it's a little blue, I have been chocking it with my tail since you kidnaped me.

I am kind of surprised at Link's observational skills, and how fast he connected the dots; I guess I am not used to being paid so much attention to. I still consider him an asshole.

WOW… this piece of clothing feels so soft. I am gonna keep it.

"It is, I needed to avoid moving it in order to keep it hidden. My solution was to coil it around my leg pressing hard" Zid said as he moved his tail around enjoying the freedom "This really doesn't bother you?" Zid asks.

"Your limping bothered me, not this." Link turns to Robert "You can release her now, Zid is decent"

"You call THAT decent? He is not wearing trousers" Li complains.

"He is not naked either, that is decent enough" Link says rolling his eyes "I bet Zelda is not going to mind"

Li sighs and turns the Princess to face her new brother. Zelda's jaw drops, she slowly approaches Zid her gaze fixed on his cerulean eyes, and not on his tail. That amazed and kind of scared Zid.

"Zid, is that real? Why were you hiding something so amazing?" she says.

EXCUSE ME? This is FAR from amazing, it almost got me killed way too many times… You have no right to make me feel special about it, I KNOW I am not. Stop playing with my emotions bitch.

"What is so amazing about an animal part attached to me? or are you saying it's amazing I have managed to stay alive despite of it" the Pirate asks her in a somber tone.

Link makes a hand gesture to invite Zid to sit on the tatami, the Pirate reluctantly sits and the Hero follows sitting across from him. Zelda chooses to sit between them for precaution. Li on the other hand, chooses to remain standing.

"Do you know how you got that tail? And no… I am not going to ask for the blood test to be redone, they already ran it 3 times before telling me you are my match, that means WE ARE A MATCH. So, start speaking bro"

-----------------REMEMBRANCE-------------------

Zid opens his eyes as confusion sets in. Where is he? Why is he in a bag of some sort? And most important of all… who is he? He could not remember ANYTHING, he tried but his memory was a void. He managed to open the potato sack he was in and was about to climb out of it, but stopped as soon as he heard voices.

"I say we put some stones on the sack and throw him in the ocean"

"Yeah, that sounds easy enough" sighs "I will miss him though, I kind of liked his company. But he was born male, buyers pay for the girls with animal parts, not for boys, they don't find them cute enough. Did I tell you how much we are receiving for X2P-678?"

"No, you didn't, who is she by the way?"

"I thought I did, maybe you were busy preparing the pentobar shot for this guy. Or checking on the embryos. X2P-678 is the girl with the cat ears"

Buyers? Animal parts? I guess they are manipulating our genes somehow, and profiting by selling us. What animal part do I have?

The van they were riding passed under a light pole, the brief moment of proper illumination allowed Zid to see he had a medical bracelet on his wrist, it read: Z1D-403

I guess this is supposed to be my name. Wait, I am sure something moved in here. FUCK!!!

Zid managed to contain his scream, there was something with him in the sack. The way it moved made him suspect it was a snake. But he soon realized it was a tail… HIS TAIL.

They gave me a tail. These motherfuckers are playing God, but they are far from being one, they can't even choose the sex of the embryo or what animal part we get. The bastards just cross their fingers and hope for the best.

"Just throw him out already, we need to head back to the lab, there was someone interested on the girl with a horse tail, and we need to vote if we get rid of the one with the monkey feet or not, I mean… feet are a kink for some"

Zid quickly tried to reclose his sack and stayed very still, he felt how he was pulled out of the car, then a man opened his sack to place a few big rocks inside with him, sighting the man said: "I am sorry little guy, I thought you had a chance at being bought, but years kept going by... you were getting old" the man said as he stared at Zid for too long, he was studying the semblance of the monkey boy, the child looked different from what he remembered. The man shook his head thinking he must be hallucinating; then closed the sack and tossed it into the ocean. Zid held his breath and didn't emerge until he was sure they had left.

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"You are telling me you were made? And there are others?" Link asks maintaining his stoic mien.

"I am telling you all I know, I don't remember anything before that, I tried seeking help but the people here feared me and even tried to kill me." Zid sighs "Months later I heard the lab workers got killed and the Lab exploded killing the babies and embryos in the explosion… lucky bastards. The older ones managed to escaped, but eventually got killed by locals or some tourists who were promised pay. But all I heard was complains from the tourist because they never got paid" Zid said chuckling about it.

Link was trying to maintain his composure, but was finding it hard to do so the more he heard. Suddenly Robert started speaking with indignation.

"The inhabitants started a witch hunt on your kind out of… fear? I find it hard to believe that they had no idea of what was happening on that lab, they should know you are not monsters, you are victims"

"THEY DO KNOW, what angers me is that they did nothing to stop it. They started referring to us as ¨the cursed children¨ and put a price on our heads to get rid of us without dirtying their own hands"

Link started fidgeting with his hands, he needed to punch something but felt like right at that moment… he should not.

Li then cleared his throat "Damn, I think the locals behaved that way because they could not stand the shame, maybe they could not even look at all of you without feeling regret for actively dismissing what was going on. So, they opted to get rid of your kind to permanently erase the reminder of who the real monster is. And to seek peace of mind for themselves" Robert said unable to hold his tongue any longer "Hope they never found the peace they craved, they don't deserve it." he ends and starts walking around in the room trying to drain his anger somehow.

LINK POV

Z1D-403 died, just as Robert did. I think the lab's explosion was SWORD's fault. I remember the event being referred to as the ¨happy accident¨ by my peers. It was an accident that killed all the targets effortlessly, but also innocent unregistered children. Skull was in charge of that mission, and was demoted from agent to archivist because of that outcome. He demanded to repeat training for reinstallation, and SWORD agreed.

Link smiles sadly "All this is kind of depressing, and we should not be… thanks to Zelda's sniffing power we found you, we should be celebrating with food… meat preferably."

Zid's eyes widen "WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" he yells.

"ME? WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?" Link yells back.

Zid covers his face with the palms of his hands "Do you really don't fear me at all? Or just how morbid are all of you?"

"Very morbid" Li says joking.

Zelda throws a murderous glance at Robert, then talks to Zid "Why should we fear you? you have not harmed any of us in any way. I actually think your tail is cool, I mean I am kind of jealous, to think of all the mischief I would do with a tail if I had one" she catches her breath and just blurts out "How much can you control it? Can you pick things up and throw them with it? How strong is it? I mean… can you hold your body weight from a branch with it? All that is gross motor skills, can it perform fine motor skill too? Which ones?"

Robert gasps and slowly approaches Link's frozen sitting figure.

"Look at that, the princess asking THE IMPORTANT QUESTIONS" Li whispers chuckling.

Damn right she is, and she is doing it without any shame or concern. I want to stop her; she could be coming in way too strong. But I can't, I want to know too.

The Mugger raises his palm in front of Zelda's face to stop her "PAUSE, BREATHE. No need to throw a grenade of questions at me, we have time, I am not going anywhere… unless you ask me to" Zid looks at the boys as he makes that statement.

Link stares at Zid shifting his seating position "You know, I was about to ask you to OUCH!!!" Robert kicks Link on the ribs, then says looking at Zid.

"Why would we want you to go anywhere? You still have to accept the program, RIGHT?" Li states as he kicks Link's rib cage again.

Gosh, I get it. No joking with the monkey boy. WAIT… I need to finish reading the data SWORD send me, I need to know how can Zid accept the program if he does not have a phone, papers or a house? Wow… he cannot receive the program's benefits if he technically doesn't exist.

Link stands up and walks away scrolling on his cellphone. Zelda is giggling at the whole scene and listens attentively to Zid's answers to her questions. Link calls the general and starts arguing heatedly.

"I wonder how he plans to negotiate the deal for you?" Robert says.

That peaked Zid's interest "What do you mean?"

"The basic deal is 10 K monthly, he managed to lower my pay to 8 k in exchange of a house, then I shifted the deal by demanding him to let me participate in a mission if he wanted me as a donor, and finally he renegotiated the whole thing when I said I wanted to become a SWORD agent" Robert shares the ordeal he put Link through.

"Is that what you did now?" Zid grins mischievously and stand up to walk towards Link.

Link notices Zid's approach but maintains his stoic countenance "Zid… the only way for you to consent to the program is verbally, you could speak now with my boss and agree to it if you still want it, he will answer any questions you may still have"

"Hand me that phone then" Zid says.

Link gives Zid his cell "It's a video call so behave BOTH OF YOU" he warns both talkers, laughter from the General is heard "Try not to touch the screen as much, so you won't accidentally end the call" Link tells Zid.

The Pirate holds the cellphone "Hello bigshot, before you say anything I wanted to negotiate"

"Damn, you look just like… What do you want?" asks the General.

WHAT? It's not like he should not negotiate, but he didn't tell me he wanted something in particular, what can he possibly want? I was thinking of asking to relocate him to the USA.

"I want the WHOLE EXPERIENCE, like Robert got, I mean a house and to participate on a mission. I would love it if the house was located far away from Australia, since I am kind of hated here."

Link slowly turns to stare at Robert, disbelief radiating from his eyes. Li just raises both his shoulders with a sheepish smile. Link closes his eyes and shakes his head chuckling.

"I… SWORD doesn't allow for normal citizens to participate in our assignments, even less if they are underage" William says with finality.

"I don't care, it still happened for Robert, meaning it can and should happen for me too. That's IF you want me to accept the program… we will be waiting for SWORD's assignment. Good day." Zid hangs and gives the cell back to Link. Everyone was staring at Zid.

"WHAT? I was not disrespectful, I behaved… besides I saved you" points at Link "the hassle of fighting for me, I can fight for myself, I am a big boy" he says smiling with pride.

Yes, you are… one of the biggest. DAMN HIM, I don't really know him, how can he make me so fucking proud. Might sound egocentric since he is ME in a way, but I know that is not the case… he is his own person. They both are their own person. As fearless and capable as me, but still completely different from me.

Link grants him half a smile and grabs the trousers.

"I am going to make a hole on these too if you don't mind"

"WAIT, NO. I can't go out showing my tail, what abo-"

"WHO FUCKING CARES!" Link yells "You are with ME, I fucking dare them try to attack you in my presence, they will regret it"

Zid's face drains in color, he begins to remember his dream, he starts hyperventilating. Zelda notices, so does Link and Robert, but she is the one to rush to Zid's side and give him a hug trying to soothe him.

"What's wrong?" Zelda asks in a sweet tone

"What if they hurt all of you too"

Zelda laughs at that "I am glad you care, but you still have to know your brothers. You think Link is making a hole on your pants out of care? Sorry to burst your bubble, but he wants to use you as an excuse to start a fight with the locals" she points at Robert "they both want to start a fight, just to rid of how uncapable they felt listening to your story. You shouldn't worry about them; they both are REALLY GOOD fighters."

Well, look at that. the princess figured out my real intentions… I guess she pays more attention to me than I thought she did. I don't know if that is a good thing.

"Should we really continue to allow her to speak?" Robert asks annoyed.

"Has she lied about ANYTHING?"

"No"

"Then I have no reason to stop her" Link answers.

"YOU have no reason, but I DO, she is making me feel exposed and ashamed on top of the frustration, I can't stand it." Robert starts walking towards the Princess but Link pulls him back by the neck line of his t-shirt.

"Bro, you need to learn to handle praise, you are going to get A LOT of it from now on" Link says.

Zelda managed to put Zid at ease, he actually begun laughing at the stories she told him about Link, and the few she knew of Robert. Link give the trousers back with a hole and Zid put it on, marveling at how different the pants felt now with his tail free. Zid turns to Zelda lifting and eyebrow.

"I have a question pretty lady; do you also work for SWORD?"

Robert and Link start chuckling.

Ha, NO SHE DOESN'T.

Zelda cackles at that "Fuck no, I love myself… why do you ask?"

"I thought they hired you in case logical thought and convenience was not enough to convince me to agree. Your job would have been to…" Zid caresses her arm with his index knuckle "persuade me, if you get what I mean"

Her eyes open wide "YOU THOUGHT WHAT!!!" Zelda yells slapping his hand away.

Zelda turns to Link exacerbated; but Link is laughing hard. Once he stops, he tells her "What? You want me to reprimand him? I won't scold him for thinking something I would have thought myself, sorry"

Zelda squints her eyes and turns to Li, he shakes his head slowly "never told you, but I also thought that was your purpose at some point" Robert says chuckling.

Zelda throws a disdainful snort and exits the shack. The boys kept staring at the now empty space left behind by the Princess, Zid sighs.

"Well fuck, I took it too far, I need to tell her I am sorry; I don't want her hating me" Zid laments.

"DONT" both Link and Robert scream.

"She will NEVER hate you; she ADORES YOU. she is just a little pissed right now, she will get over it in a few minutes." Link assures him.

"She will? I have never met a girl that doesn't hold on to grudges… she is so fucking weird; she is all sweet and lady like one moment, and the next she knocks the light out of me. I just never know what to expect from her" Zid says shaking his head.

Robert whistles and half smiles "Neither does she about you. Damn, I myself don't know what YOU will come up with next, it's kind of scary. You and her are the same that way. Me, I am stable and predictable as fuck; with Link you have to toss a coin but he follows a pattern most of the time, but you… you are CHAOS. That is what I have seen so far"

My silent engineer analyzing the fuck out of all of us, cool.

Zelda rushes in with a smile and hands her phone to Link.

"READ IT" she orders.

The Hero opens his eyes wide and taps on the pockets of his jeans searching for his cellphone "MY CELLPHONE IS SENDING CARLA TO VOICE MAIL?" Link yells confused; he draws it noticing it was turned off.

Zid looks at Link mischievously "That may or may not have been me, it may or may not have been an accident, I may or may not have been trying to get some extra time with you. Since you can't prove it was me and I won't admit to anything, there is no point on berating me or me apologizing, is there?"

Link glares at Zid as Zelda winks at the Pirate smiling, she then turns to tell Link "Don't worry, you gave Carla my contact number, so she sent ME the details of the mission, you are welcome" the Princess says grinning as she approaches Zid to give him a high five. Zid gives her one and then closes his hand into a fist for a fist bump, she gladly gives him one giggling.

"CHAOS, I TELL YOU" Robert yells raising his hands and arms dramatically.

Definitely chaos, but I don't mind a little chaos in my life, I am used to it.