As she continued to pet Lucille, Mac made a mental note to suggest to Meyer on their next Neural Net conference that the Church get in touch with OS&C, and President Cross, as soon as possible. Of course she would let the Monsignora and the rest of the clergy handle the matter themselves, as Isa had suggested, but she wanted to remind Greta not to forget to make the appropriate calls. From what the psychologist had said, Faith Haven could benefit from a wide variety of products, both food and non-food, by dealing with OS&C, and that was important for the colony, both for its economy and for the well-being of its inhabitants. The more comfort and variety, the better mental health they would have. She would try to make a videocall with Faith Haven in the evening, after dinner, and she would also take advantage of the opportunity to request information on their most seriously ill patients.
When Mac thought about what Isabella had told her about Lucille's rescue, and about how the animals on Planet Gaia had been treated by the Galllics, she felt very sad. She looked at the little fox, and her severed leg, and wondered how anyone could cause such pain and harm to a defenseless animal, just for pleasure or amusement. Although there were some faith believers of Gallic origin in the Church, such as the Minister of Commerce, Monsignor Richelieu, Mac didn't know much about Gallian customs, but she wasn't surprised that they included something like that. She knew that hunting as mere entertainment was something practiced in many cultures.
In Bretonia, for example, the House that saw her birth, there was a disgusting tradition of 'sport' hunting with packs of dogs, inherited from the times of Old Earth, and practiced by the wealthy classes and royalty. An animal was released into the wild, giving it a certain advantage, and then the participants would chase it on repulsor motorcycles, accompanied by a horde of furious and hungry dogs, trained to catch up and tear apart the poor victim. The unfortunate animal usually died amidst great terror and suffering, only to the delight of the human participants. These practices seemed barbaric and despicable to the neurologist, and in her opinion, an animal should never be mistreated. When one of them had to be killed for food, it should be done in the most painless and quick way possible, and of course hunting only for fun was certainly unacceptable for her.
"I can't avoid thinking about what Lucille must have gone through." Wilson scratched the fox under the chin and looked at Saito. "As a doctor, and especially as a doctor at Faith Haven, I've seen many accidents that resulted in amputations. I know how a human being feels when they violently lose an arm or a leg, it's terrible. The physical recovery is complicated, but above all the most difficult is the psychological recovery. The brain isn't designed to accept losing parts of your own body, especially those that are more visible and evident, and it responds in very strange ways. Many people become depressed, and there are those who can never overcome the situation." Mackenzie looked back at the fox, who was yelping softly with happiness at her caresses, and felt very sad. She headed towards Isabella again. "I'm not a biologist, and I only have knowledge about human physiological behavior, but I imagine that animals, and specifically animals as intelligent as Lucille, feel and suffer in ways very similar to how we do. I'm glad she could be rescued and can live in such a wonderful place like this, but I would have preferred that there had been no need to rescue her." The doctor shook her head. "In truth, humans carry evil within us, just as the Sacred Codex of Deux says. It's the only thing that can explain why someone would torture and mutilate an innocent being for pure pleasure."
A wet feeling on her hand distracted Mac from her thoughts, and she realized that the little vixen had sat up on the bench and was licking her hand lovingly. The neurologist smiled in amusement and let her do so for a few seconds, then petted the vixen between the large ears. The two beings stared into each other's eyes for a few moments, and Mackenzie felt as if Lucille were able to probe her soul and somehow understand how she felt. Likewise, as she focused her gaze on the animal's pupils, the doctor perceived for a millisecond a kind of wave of warm, welcoming, loving feelings that didn't come from herself, but they seemed a reaction from the vixen to the neurologist's own mood.
Mac startled, and removed his hand from Lucille's head rather quickly. "What the hell...?" She whispered, while noticed how the fox was watching her, with the head tilted, although without fear. "Well... You're an interesting lady, Lucille." She turned to Isabella, some shock in her expression, but she smiled. "These Gaian animals are curious... I don't really know how to express it... but for a moment I felt..." Mac looked again at Lucille, who had lain back down on the bench and was absentmindedly scratching one of her ears. Then turned back again at Isabella. "I've felt like she could understand me, and I could understand her. On a very basic emotional level, of course, but it's been..." Mac laughed nervously "Well, some of it has been terrifying, although also very exciting. Are these animals capable of doing that? Because if not, I'm afraid I might be suffering from an aneurysm."
