- The Snow Bunny -

It was 3am, the dead of night, when I caught sight of the elusive Snow Bunny. The darkness was fractal, waiting for happen in this nowhere-space. The air was crystal clear, filled with the buzzing white noise of silence so utter you could hear the Control Computer of the Universe humming in the background.

There it sat, a tiny figure framed against an endless hyperborean expanse, its soft fur pure, silky and white as the virginal layer of snow. Its fey green eyes met mine and blinked. Once.

I made Clayman pull over the bus. Aeolia swore at me, the sudden change from motion to rest having made her drop her DS on the floor. It was OK. They always are.

"If you're gonna go out there on a night like this..." she said, pressing the DS into my hand, "You're gonna need this."

The soft plastic protective casing felt funny in my hand but it was still kinda reassuring. I felt no fear as the heavy, pixellated darkness swallowed me whole like a large download eating a small bandwidth. I accepted my fate the same as I had on that first night and I strode forward.

It didn't run away. It must have heard the bus stopping, heard me walking towards it- I have a habit of humming under my breath when I'm nervous - but it didn't move. Even when I reached out a hand to touch it...