It's been a few weeks. Ally Miller has been sleepwalking as Karlen—on and off. She's returned to work at a SHIELD office. She reviews reports on Mr. Fox's kits, his abductions, and studies theories about his methods. Her theories are competent, though still evolving—refined with her small team. Mr. Fox's existence is too destabilizing for a large task force. So the case is high-classification, low-agent count. Their theories suggest Mr. Fox's realm is some representation of his mind. That he transfers minds and matter into it somehow, and uses the Fox Frequency to see and interact with our world. His shadow foxes act as anchors—links to his realm—when placed into someone's shadow.
Her sleepwalking with Karlen has been... interesting. He's getting better with a human body. He now walks—rather than crawls—but it's more like a dog standing upright than a person walking. They've had a few conversations. She prints out text in Chinese; he writes responses. He can still write, oddly enough. She translates it into English. She also gave him a book to start learning English. He could sleepwalk every night if they agreed... but she's learned her body doesn't like that. Her back pain got worse—bad enough she needed a chiropractor after three nights straight. Along with exhaustion. Headaches. They've settled on a schedule: once a week, on Saturdays. She now has an expensive chiropractor subscription. The chiropractor complains: "Your back must be the worst I've ever seen. It's like you're walking on all fours half the time."
She's kept all this secret from her team. She doesn't want to be tested. Not yet. Maybe never. She doesn't want this in a SHIELD database. In terms of what she's learned, she asked: "How old are you?" Karlen wrote: "Not sure. Was taken in 1980. What year is it now?" She asked, "Why were you taken?" He wrote: "Don't want to think about it. Hurts." She asked, "Will you ever tell me?" He responded, "Perhaps... but it hurts. Because insides are out. No emotion can hide. No feeling can hide. Unable to block a single line of thought." Then he asked her, "What's it like to hide stuff? Emotion? I can't stop it. None of it. Anymore." She said, "I'm... not sure. I've never experienced my insides being out." He is too human, she realizes. It unnerves her. But she keeps getting closer anyway.
He asks questions about her work. "SHIELD follows superheroes, yes? What are those Avengers people? We see them all the time. Foxes talk about them. Confused." She replies, "They're heroes. They save lives. Stop the bad people from hurting the world. The stuff we can't fix easily." Eventually she asks, "How do you know so much about my work? How much of my life do you see?" He replies: "All of it. I am always there. Though I can't see thoughts or memories. But I can feel your emotions. It's hard to speak most of the time. I do sleep. But I'm always there. We shadow foxes don't sleep like you. We go quiet. We remember." He watches her all the time. That... is creepy. He's seen her naked. In the bathroom. She's just glad he doesn't mention it.
Then she asks, "What happens when you're fixed?" He responds: "When a shadow fox processes all their trauma, we get two choices. Stay with Mr. Fox, and work. With more freedom. Fun, even. The band that plays and writes songs are others like that. Or leave... Leaving results in you becoming almost a ghost in the real world. You can use some of Mr. Fox's power to help others. Watch your loved ones. Enter dreams. But that's mostly it. You can return to Mr. Fox anytime, if you find your way back. Mr. Fox doesn't like these options either. He wishes he could return us to human form. His realm's fun, though. There are parties. Spaces made by other foxes. But it's hard to fully escape blindness. Even if you become moral and change, if you keep hitting yourself, you stay stuck." She asks, "Can you die?" Karlen replies: "Yes. If we go too far into blindness. So far, it corrupts the core of self. Mr. Fox tries soul surgery. It usually fails."
She asks, "Do you know why you can't walk well?" He says: "Yes. We walk on four legs all day. We have no ghost limbs. Being a shadow fox also gives... instincts. You just know how to move like a fox. And... you can't move like not-fox." She asks, "How strong is Mr. Fox in the real world?" Karlen replies: "Very. He holds back. He's afraid of some strong auras on your planet. But he told us to keep his power and plans secret. So... sorry. Not telling." She writes one time: "What do you think of the stuff I do?" He responds: "It's you. What is there to say? After many years, I don't care. I think you're a good person. Worthy of Mr. Fox's eye." She asks: "How many foxes are there?" He replies: "A world. Too many. We have several cities." She asks: "What is blindness?" Karlen replies: "Mr. Fox explains it like this. Blindness is not seeing something. Anything at all. Blindness is unavoidable. Not always bad. Just... it creates all bad things. If the wrong blindness is too strong, too unmoving... it allows immorality, bad traits, bad states of mind to form." It unnerves her. How real Mr. Fox's animated realm seems. How accurate his ideas are. Blindness makes sense—as a psychological theory.
Time passes. Her back improves. Despite Karlen still walking like an animal trying to be human. At first it's a relief. Less pain. Then... she notices something else. Her body moves better when Karlen is in control. Faster. More balanced. Her chiropractor says, "Your back is better now. Weird. It looks a little off... but okay?" She sees the X-ray. Her spine... more bent. She notices, with horror, she's walking on her tiptoes. Like Karlen. Her hands move with more control. She slouches. Moves more quietly. Even fellow agents are starting to stare. Her instincts feel sharper. More animal. She tries to ignore it. But it's scary.
She shakes as she writes a message to Karlen. Wakes up the next day. She had asked: "What's going on with my body?" Karlen responds: "I'm sorry. Mr. Fox wants you stronger. He put me in your shadow to improve you. We need you. You were chosen to be Mr. Fox's chosen. I'm not sure what a shadow fox's power does to a human soul. But you're seeing it. Mr. Fox sees the need for a hero—like the Avengers. He told me once. Called it a 'path to changing this blinded world.' He also said he respects the Avengers. I'm sorry. I don't know how far this will go. But your soul isn't being turned inside out yet." She shakes as she reads. "Oh god. Oh no..." Her hands grip the table. Then she whimpers. It sounds... animal. "What?! Shit!" She slams her fist into the table. Angry. At herself. At the link. "What... what are you making me into?" She realizes the plan. Mr. Fox wants an avatar. Someone to act in the real world. Without a TV. A conduit to Earth.
Ally Miller lays on the couch. Looking at her hands. She sighs deeply. The sound... not human. She remembers the stress at work today. Keeping quiet. Forcing herself not to make strange sounds. She remembers what Mr. Fox said when asked, "Why cartoons? Why foxes?" He said—fucking advertising. She sighs again. It sounds even more animal. She shakes. Holds her head. Gets up. Walks with a strange grace. Tries to walk normally. Push it back. Straighten up. Flat feet. Shoulders aligned. It feels wrong. Her back starts hurting again. The opposite of before. Karlen used to cause her pain. Now... walking like herself does. Mr. Fox stole it—her gait. She's walked like a human for 28 years. Now... she can't. She bends down. Feet bend upward. She walks as if she should have a tail. Something feels off. She grabs the bathroom counter. Breathes in. The smells... stronger than she remembers. She looks in the mirror. Brown hair. Long-ish. Sharp eyes. Human eyes. Pretty face. Not tall. Average figure. She rubs water over her face.
She closes her eyes. Quiet. Feeling something... there. In her shadow. The sense of being watched has grown stronger. She used to not feel Karlen at all. That night, she sleeps. Wakes in the realm. Black water. Black void. Karlen stands nearby. Black fox form. Glowing purple eyes and teeth. But she feels more now. Can read him. Emotions. Presence. She looks at her hands. Purple pulsing cracks spread through them. She speaks: "How long... until it's complete?" Karlen replies—in Chinese—but she understands. It's the clearest his voice has ever been. "I don't know." She wakes. No sleepwalk tonight. They hadn't scheduled one. Still... she had the water dream.
As she lies in bed, early morning. She notices her pose. Curled. Legs near hands. Like a sleeping fox. She frowns. It feels... natural. She gets up. A little scared. She walks on her knees. And hands. It doesn't hurt. It's... easy. She whimpers. Rolls off the bed. Stands. She hates how lonely life is now. No boyfriend. Unless you count a shadow fox. No friends. She was always a loner. Especially after agent training. She abandoned her college friends to pursue this path. The path to help others. Solve murders. Catch bad guys.
It wasn't intentional. She tried relationships. But after the Fox Case... she can't imagine it. She isn't normal anymore. Yet she still feels like herself. Just... further. Her dreams last longer. She's more aware. Her last dream—Karlen showed her a mirror. She saw black animated fox ears forming on her head. A tail. Transparent. Cracked with purple light. Her whole body—animated. Like everything in the realm. She woke. Checked for ears. Tail. Nothing. She's avoiding doctors. Karlen says, "Your body is changing. It could be detected." But he knows little about modern medicine. When asked, he just shrugs: "Eh, I was taken long ago. We don't get sick in the animated realm."
Now she walks with a fox-like grace. Quiet. Her nose—too strong. She stopped wearing perfume. Cooking with spices makes her gag. Makes her sneeze. Cartoon physics in the real world, maybe. Karlen doesn't know. "Mr. Fox has never put this power into a living, unchanged human. Side effects are expected." No big mental changes. Just behavior. Head tilts. Walking quieter. Jumpier. Growling. Whimpering. Yipping. It all sounds... real. Too real. She stays home. Work feels awful. She mostly works alone. Avoids the others. Though it's hard. She's the top-level investigator. They all know she has a shadow fox. They saw it in the recorded interview with Mr. Fox.
They just don't know the effects. But now... they're starting to guess. She notices their eyes. Nervous. Her gaze—too animal. Too expressive. Emotions spike weirdly. Like being on her period... but animal. Specific. Only some emotions. She doesn't feel human. Not exactly. It's not like being something else. It's like... lacking something human. Instincts. Reflexes. But still having all the thoughts. Emotions. Logic. It's weird. She looks in the mirror. At home. Sighs. "I hate this... I'm becoming a fucking furry. Should just wear a prosthetic tail. Ha. Fucking hell." She sighs deeper. The depressive joke hits too hard. Why did Mr. Fox pick a fox? He was human once, right? She wonders. Wordlessly. Wishing he didn't.