Temperature: 2°C. The air was heavy — smelled of ash and broken promises. His head felt heavier than concrete. His eyes opened slowly, as if booting up.
Luke Burjak was lying face-down in the dirt. Well — dirt with a hint of hay. A warm carrot poked his cheek like someone was trying to resuscitate him with breakfast.
Around him — silence. Not peaceful silence. The kind that came right before either revelation... or explosion.
"Hey. You alive?" Not a human voice. Rough. Muffled. Suspicious by nature.
Luke turned. A silhouette stood over him. A rabbit. In armor. With four helmet lights. A scar across the left ear. And... a weapon?
"Yep... You're Burjak? Human? Fantastic. Well, not really. You look awful. That was the missing piece."
"Wha... what is this? Where am I?" Luke croaked.
"Beta-Fluff Zone. Used to be a park. Now it's neutral territory. Or... it was, until your squishy biological body crashed into it."
The rabbit tapped something on its wrist comm.
"Target conscious. Intelligence unknown. Probably standard human level. Proceeding with evac."
Luke sat up. Head pounding.
"You're a... rabbit. You talk. You have a communicator. And a gun?!"
"And I tolerate your screaming. Only because the chip in your head? We need it. If you die, it fries. And I'm not digging through another crater for someone named after a vegetable."
"It's a surname!"
"It's a verdict if you don't get up right now."
The rabbit extended a paw.
"Corporal Hrum. Unit: B.U.N.N.I.E.S. Welcome to the Resistance."
***
Most of the journey was a blur. Tunnels, grassy corridors, doors that opened at the touch of a paw. Everything around them felt like a cyberpunk bunny village — cables, helmets, long-eared silhouettes. Some rabbits wore civilian clothes. Others, full uniforms with sharp-looking patches.
"We're not an army. We're evolution," Hrum grumbled.
They were met by a silver-gray rabbit — ears shaped like satellite dishes, a QR code tattooed under one eye.
"He looks... dim. You sure he's got the chip?" she asked.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Then let's plug him in."
The scanner looked like a cross between a coffeemaker and a sheepdog. Luke was forced to sit, his head locked into a circular harness, and blue lights blinked all around him.
"If you feel something weird — normal. If you see a rabbit in a tuxedo reading poetry — also normal. But if someone in your mind calls you 'The Key to the E.A.R. Program'? Tell us immediately. That's important."
A few minutes passed.Then the machine beeped.
ACTIVE. SIGNAL ESTABLISHED.
Zina took a step back.
"Oh no. He is the key."
"The what now? What the hell is the 'E.A.R. Program'?!" Luke shouted.
Hrum gave him the kind of look commanders give rookies who just realized this isn't a simulation — and they're already behind enemy lines.
"It's... our only hope. And also our biggest liability."
"So I'm important?"
"Yes, Burjak. And you know what happens to important people? They get hunted. And if they find you before we're ready... there'll be no one left to save you."
"So what now?"
"Now? Training. Missions. And one huge, fuzzy war. Ready, key-boy?"
Luke exhaled. Somewhere deep inside, something stirred. Fear? Maybe. Readiness? Possibly. But one thing was certain:
Life just stopped being normal.
"5 Things to Know Before Getting a Rabbit"
1. Rabbits don't live on carrots alone — it's like giving a kid only cake.
2. They need space — cages are prisons, not homes.
3. Rabbits need specialized vets — not everyone knows how to handle ears.
4. Rabbits are social. Isolation breaks them.
5. Never get a rabbit on impulse. It's not a toy — it's a life that trusts you.