Routine Recruitment
By Limewah
Patron Reward for Justacritic (June 2023)
18+

SNEAK PEEK

It was movie time again.
Movie time was an important part of the prey’s morning. After every breakfast, they marched straight to the theatre to sit and digest some new entertainment while they digested the nutritious meal their overseers had provided for them.
It was easier to focus on a full stomach, after all, and it was important they absorbed every message.
The hare loved movie time. 
The pictures were always very nice to look at - lots of nice shapes and colours that never made any sense, but they made the hare feel very tingly and warm and sleepy.. There were usually some very nice sounds, too. He never remembered what they looked like - just that looking at them made him feel nice.

Something was different this time. As he sat with all the other prey in the dark room, he expected to immediately see pretty shapes. Instead, this time, he saw stripes - blue, black, and red, a plain looking backdrop that wasn’t even moving.

A logo spun onto the screen. It was dense, round, full of silhouettes of various animals… hares, mice, cattle, sheep, and other Prey like him. A. P. E. S. was stamped into the middle of it.
A voice spoke - it was a familiar voice, commanding and authoritative. As he spoke, various black and white images flashed on the screen, showing miserable, dejected prey animals like him.
“Are you frustrated with your life? Feel like you’re not getting appreciation? Wish you could have a better relationship with pred animals? Feeling tension with your carnivore co-workers?”
The last image was of a hare in a drab, ill-fitting office drone’s suit and tie, staring directly into the camera and slowly, sadly shaking his head. He looked sort of familiar…

“You can fix all of this and more by obeying the Apex Predator Empowerment Society, or A.P.E.S.!”
The screen was awash with colour again - beautiful, saturated colour, more real than real life, as the hare on the screen beamed.  He snapped to sudden attention, his right hand’s fingers pressed to his temple in a martial salute. His boring suit and tie were gone - in fact, all of his clothes were gone except for a very tight camo-patterned jockstrap that hugged the outline of his cock. 
The golden-furred hare was muscular, toned, and incredibly beautiful. And their identity was just on the tip of the hare's proverbial tongue... not that he was going to speak. He had to be quiet while watching the movie.
Two winged hands rested on his shoulders, and the white head of a bald eagle dipped into view, smiling with a piercing gaze. 
It was The Commander.
That wasn’t The Commander’s name, but it was what the hare was trained to think of him as. For some reason, he felt like he knew a different name for the bird…

“In this video, you’re going to see exactly what awaits you when you submit… your details to one of our recruiters, and we’re going to do it with the help of our good friend, Theo. Are you ready, Theo?”
“Sir! Yes, Sir!”  Theo barked, still beaming, eager to please. The hint of drool slithered along the corner of his mouth, and the eagle wiped it away.
..the Hare remembered. Theo was his name! He was the subject of the video! That was exciting… he didn’t know he’d filmed anything with the Commander. And he looked so good! 

But… even so… where were all the pretty shapes? 

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