Your Life In an Anthro's World

University Ambush

"So... will I be required to do anything... drastic?" You asked as you sat in Malcom's office.

The mayor sat behind his desk as he rolled his eyes skyward in thought before smiling and giving his reply, "Depends on what you consider drastic. It'll certainly be different." You frowned at having received such a vague response. Malcolm grinned in amusement at your sour response. After a moment his mirth faded and a serious expression washed across his face, "What I will say is that it's perfectly safe, I wouldn't ask you to do anything if I thought it would put you in danger. You've had enough of that to last a lifetime, and the unfortunate reality is that my sister may not be done with you just yet. However, I won't stand for anyone threatening your safety in my city and I won't force you to do anything. The decision is yours to make."

"Does Luna know anything about this?" You asked.

"She does, and while she has some concerns, she feels that it would be worthwhile to seriously consider going through with it."

"If she feels that it's worth considering, then I guess it can't hurt," You replied.

"Excellent! Now I can tell you what I have in store. I've made arrangements with a university in the city to examine you," Malcolm stated.

"You did what!?" You shouted in surprise.

"Let me explain," Malcolm said, "I completely expected that reaction which is why I made you agree to meet me here and waited until you promised you'd go through with it to tell you."

"And that makes this okay?" You demanded.

"No," Malcolm replied as he shook his head, "The fact that I'm explaining it to you makes it okay. The fact that I'm sending you there with Luna, makes it okay," The nine tailed fox then stood up and regarded you with a gentle and honest expression, "The fact that I'm doing this to try to make other anthros see how alone and alienated you feel... makes it okay."

You remained quiet for a moment, "I'm sorry... I didn't know."

Malcolm sighed, "No, you didn't. However, it can't be helped. You've spent most of your time trying to avoid a place like that. Hence why I didn't want to tell you without having you agree to it first."

"And what makes you think that I would have gone through with that promise?"

"To be honest, I wasn't sure that you would. The simple fact is that I wanted to see if you trusted me," Malcolm explained, "Had I told you what I was planning from the start, I have no doubt that you would have resisted it with unbreakable resolve." Malcolm then moved to one of the windows in his office where he gazed out at the city, "However, that response would have been out of raw instinct. It would not have been based on, or affected by your level of trust toward me. In short, I wanted to know if you would be willing to actually trust me without knowing what's ahead. A sort of trust fall if you will."

You looked down at your lap and furrowed your brow as you processed the mayor's explanation, "I understand what you did, but I don't understand the motive."

Malcom chuckled before turning around, "Yes, I suppose to you it would seem odd as to why it's important to me that you trust me. I could give you a list of reasons or a complicated answer with some deep psychological drive at the core of my actions. But the short answer is; because I care about you. I feel that there is much that I, along with other anthros can learn from you. At the same time, I am keenly aware that my sister has treated you poorly to put it mildly. That's the very reason you feared me when you first came here. Because Silvia painted our family and race in a bad light as far as you were concerned. I want to show you that she is an anomaly. Not everyone is like her."