“I refuse to wear it anymore,” Lou insists, plopping down in her seat.

Her cuff making a clank when it hits the table she threw it on.

She invites the human friends to her home. Bell, Amelie, Jeremiah, Liam, and Tharen couldn’t come, but the rest did. So Jones, Roman, Ria, Cross, and Zac are lounging about in her animal sanctuary.

All her animal friends choose a human friend to sit near or on.

Surprisingly, Ajax curls up next to Zac. It’s odd to hang out with Zac, who Lou has barely ever seen without Liam, but she’s not one to sit and ponder.

He’s quiet. Like a bunny. And Lou likes bunnies, so he’s fine in her view.

And if he gets Ajax’s stamp of approval, then who is she to question a cat’s intuition.

“Who do we even tell? Who can we trust?” Jones questions.

Humans are very untrustworthy. Lou has realized from a young age that there are very few humans you can trust. Only your family and friends. Though from what Bell’s life is like right now, Lou is certain that not everyone’s family is as nice as her own.

That’s why she has so many animal friends. Life is much easier with them.

“Obviously our principal knows and agreed. Who knows if the teachers did,” Cross adds, unconsciously petting Scooby, who laid his head on his lap.

Ria sits up a bit straighter, trying not to jostle a sleeping Fern on her arm. “We do have something at our disposal.”

“And that would be?” Zac asks.

“The internet. Social media. We could just anonymously post what we found,” she proposes. That’s promising. Lou doesn’t use the internet much except for assignments and to look up what animals you can legally have as a domesticated animal. Otherwise she doesn’t have any social media, so she has to take Ria’s word for it on the anonymous part.

“Or send it to a newspaper and let them report it,” Roman suggests.

That would be the easiest approach. Once they send their information to someone, then it’s paws off.

But it doesn’t feel right to Lou. This whole thing began because they realized something was up with the muzzles. It is affecting them. Why don’t they have a right to speak up about it?

Zac strokes Ajax in the spot behind her ear. She purrs in his lap. “This will cause chaos. If we choose to release this, everyone will freak. We have to think about what will happen with either direction,” he points out.

He’s right. They don’t want to spook the people high on the food chain.

Lou doesn’t know what to do. Before, she had such a strong compass on what to do. It was to figure out what was happening. They know now.

But this is bigger than them.

“Ok, if we in some way release the info on the cuffs, then the school could get shut down. Principal Colan would probably get fired,” Cross starts.

Lou wouldn’t be opposed to seeing that happen. Well, the principal getting removed. He never liked her animal friends and banned them.

He clearly never had a cat sleep on him and purr with complete peace. If he had, he would be a much nicer person.

But the school shutting down would be sad. Before the muzzles, school used to be fun. It was a habitat that had her human friends.

“I guess it could go our way and the cuffs get removed from any school that has them,” Roman adds. His voice isn’t very strong though. She would have to agree with him.

It is unlikely that a calm, lowkey solution would happen.

Ria snuggles Fern closer but has a grave expression, like she just witnessed a bear in a bear trap. Lou isn’t sure how someone holding a ferret could be so downtroddened.

“Or it could be swept under the rug,” Ria points out. No one has a response. Lou isn’t sure what to make of Ria’s statement. “What? It’s possible. This was a government sanctioned program from what the documents say.”

Lou never thought of that. The government is something she won’t ever understand. Animals don’t have them. Everything is by instincts. Though humans probably shouldn’t go by their instincts since they can be pretty problematic.

“But if we don’t, who knows the harm it will cause everyone. And what the government will do with that information,” Jones counters.

That’s also true. She’s never been so lost before. No option feels like it’ll be a fully good trail.

Scooby gives a whimper, reminding Cross to keep up rubbing his belly. Cross does though he is obviously distracted. “And we have no idea what happens if they succeed with getting rid of soulmates, which is the theory we’re going with, right?” he says.

“Exactly, what happens to our soulmate connection if they take our powers?” Ria exclaims.

All her animal friends made a chorus of noises in concern.

Lou doesn’t know who she is without them. Animals have been the constant in her life. They are her past, present, and future.

She can’t think back to any memory that doesn’t include animals or the thought of animals.

It makes her heart race just thinking about a life without their words. Being able to understand them is a gift. A gift she never had to imagine herself without.

“Will you be able to talk to us still,” Ajax meows, her whole body tensing at the thought. Zac notices and sets a calming hand on her head.

“It’s too dangerous to keep to ourselves,” Lou concludes. Until this moment, she hasn’t spoken a single word. She just didn’t have anything to add, but this, she feels sure.

“We don’t know the long term effects of the muzzles. They want us to be their prey. Their testing guinea pigs. But we will not submit to them,” she says, her tone ramping up, gaining confidence. The air feels different, electric. “I think we post it. Somewhere that our names appear so everyone will know it was us. That way we are in the spotlight.”

“Do we want the spotlight?” Jones asks.

Ria adamantly nods her head, her pastel highlights shaking vigorously. “It’s a shield. It would be risky to take a shot at us if we are in the public eye.”

They each glance at one another. Lou can tell they are all, both human and animal, in agreement.

Something needs to be done. And you can’t ensure that unless you do it yourself.

“So the only question is, where do we post it and when?”