Flying was terrible.
This needed to be established immediately.
Humans had spent thousands of years looking at birds and thinking:
Wow. Freedom.
Birds were liars.
There was no freedom here.
There was only wind.
So much wind.
Wind in my eyes.
Wind in my ears.
Wind turning my beautiful golden fur into what I assumed looked like an exploded sofa cushion.
And below me—
A very, very long way down—
Copper-9 raced past in a blur of frozen ruins.
N had one arm wrapped around me.
The other held Uzi.
Unfortunately, he had grabbed Uzi around the ankle.
Meaning she was currently upside down.
"PUT ME DOWN!"
"Okay!"
"NOT LITERALLY!"
"Oh!"
N stopped descending.
Uzi swung beneath him like the angriest pendulum ever invented.
"Turn me RIGHT SIDE UP!"
"Sorry!"
He shifted her.
For one terrifying second, he let go.
Uzi screamed.
N caught her by the waist.
"Gotcha!"
"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!"
"That's fair!"
A beam of yellow light sliced past N's wing.
His expression changed instantly.
"Hold on!"
I had enough time to think:
Hold on to what?
Then N rolled.
The entire world became:
Sky.
Ground.
Sky.
Ground.
Sky.
Existential regret.
"BARKBARKBARKBARK—!"
J shot past behind us.
V followed.
Laughing.
Of course she was laughing.
Who laughed during aerial murder?
Apparently V.
"FASTER!" Uzi shouted.
"I'M TRYING!"
"TRY HARDER!"
"VERY MOTIVATIONAL!"
N folded his wings.
We dropped.
My stomach attempted to remain at our previous altitude.
The yellow beam passed overhead.
N reopened his wings inches above a ruined building.
We shot between two collapsed towers.
Metal screamed behind us as V failed to make the turn cleanly and carved through an old sign.
"HA!" Uzi shouted.
Then V emerged from the debris.
Still smiling.
"Never mind!"
N banked hard.
My system appeared in front of my face.
『 CURRENT EP: 421 』
『 RECOMMENDATION: SURVIVE. 』
Fantastic.
Even the system had stopped pretending there was a sophisticated strategy.
A huge structure appeared ahead.
The bunker.
Uzi pointed.
"There!"
"I see it!"
"Get us to the entrance!"
N accelerated.
Behind us, J's voice carried through the storm.
"N!"
He flinched.
Not physically.
Emotionally.
I felt it anyway.
"N, TURN AROUND."
He didn't.
"You are making this considerably worse for yourself."
N's jaw tightened.
Uzi glanced at him.
For once, she didn't say anything sarcastic.
N flew faster.
The bunker door grew closer.
Then Uzi's face changed.
"Wait."
N looked at her.
"What?"
"The door."
"Yeah?"
"The bunker door."
"...Still yeah."
"If they see you coming toward it, they know exactly where everyone lives."
N went silent.
Oh.
That was a problem.
A massive, obvious, horrifying problem.
J and V weren't just chasing us anymore.
We were leading them directly toward the Worker colony.
N's wings shifted.
"I can pull away."
Uzi stared.
"What?"
"I'll take them somewhere else."
The answer came instantly.
No hesitation.
He meant it.
He would turn around.
Fight both of them.
Probably lose.
Just to keep us away from the bunker.
Uzi clearly realized the same thing.
Her expression tightened.
"That's stupid."
N smiled weakly.
"Yeah."
"And suicidal."
"Probably."
"And I'm not explaining to Biscuit why his idiot Murder Drone exploded five minutes after adopting him."
My ears perked.
N looked at me.
I looked at him.
My tail wagged once.
Damn it.
Uzi pointed toward an industrial district northeast of the bunker.
"Loop around those buildings. Lose visual contact. Then come back low."
N's eyes widened.
"That's actually really smart."
"I built a railgun."
"Right! Sorry!"
"Move!"
N moved.
Five minutes later, we hit the ground behind the bunker.
When I say hit, I mean N landed.
When I say we, I mean my organs filed several complaints.
Uzi stumbled away from him.
"I hate flying."
I crawled into the snow.
"Whuff."
"See?" Uzi pointed at me. "Biscuit agrees."
N crouched beside me.
"Are you okay?"
I stared.
"Sorry."
He scratched behind my ear.
...
Apology accepted.
Uzi approached a massive exterior control panel.
The main bunker door towered over us.
Layers of reinforced metal.
Locks.
Hydraulics.
Engineering so excessive that one thing became very clear:
Whoever had designed this bunker had been terrified of Murder Drones.
Uzi entered a code.
Nothing.
She tried again.
A speaker crackled.
"UZI DOORMAN."
Uzi froze.
Oh.
Dad voice.
Even species extinction couldn't kill the Dad Voice.
"Khan—"
"DO NOT 'KHAN' ME."
Uzi looked at N.
N whispered:
"Is that your dad?"
"Unfortunately."
"I heard that!" Khan shouted through the speaker.
Uzi winced.
"Of course you did."
"I have been trying to contact you for THREE HOURS!"
"My communicator broke!"
"You TURNED IT OFF!"
"Basically the same result!"
"UZI!"
N raised one finger.
"Should I say hi?"
"No."
"Okay."
The door began unlocking.
Layer after layer released.
Uzi turned toward N.
"Stay behind me."
N looked down at himself.
He was approximately seven feet of murder weapon.
"...I don't think that's going to hide me."
"I know. I'm improvising."
The door opened.
Khan Doorman stood on the other side.
Hands planted on his hips.
Visor narrowed.
Anger radiating from him strongly enough that I didn't need a supernatural system to identify it.
"Young lady—"
Then he saw me.
He stopped.
His eyes widened.
"...Dog?"
My tail wagged.
Khan's anger cracked.
Just slightly.
"What is—"
Then N leaned around Uzi.
"Hi!"
Khan screamed.
Not dignified.
Not restrained.
A full mechanical:
"AAAAAAHHHH!"
He slammed the door control.
Uzi shoved her hand against the panel.
"WAIT!"
"THERE'S A MURDER DRONE!"
"YES!"
"WHY IS THERE A MURDER DRONE?!"
"It's complicated!"
"THOSE WORDS HAVE NEVER MADE A SITUATION BETTER!"
N waved.
"Hi! I'm N!"
Khan pointed at him with both hands.
"STOP INTRODUCING YOURSELF!"
N slowly lowered his hand.
"Okay."
Khan looked at Uzi.
Then N.
Then me.
Then Uzi again.
His visor displayed what I could only describe as a system error.
"Uzi."
"Yeah?"
"Why."
That was it.
One word.
All available fatherly suffering compressed into three letters.
Uzi folded her arms.
"He followed us."
"I did!" N said.
Khan's head snapped toward him.
"STOP HELPING!"
"Sorry!"
Khan rubbed his face.
"Let me understand this."
Bad idea.
"You left the bunker."
"Yep."
"To fight Murder Drones."
"Yep."
"With the railgun I explicitly told you not to take outside."
"You never explicitly—"
"Uzi."
"Fine. Yep."
"You encountered them."
"Three."
Khan stopped.
"Three?"
"J, V, and him."
She pointed at N.
N waved again.
Caught himself.
Slowly lowered his hand.
Khan's voice became quieter.
"You fought three Murder Drones."
"Technically."
"And lived."
"Obviously."
Khan grabbed her shoulders.
His anger vanished.
For exactly one second.
"You could've died."
Uzi stiffened.
Khan's grip tightened.
"You could have died and I wouldn't even have known where you were."
Uzi stopped fighting.
"Dad..."
Then Khan noticed the puncture damage in her hand.
His eyes sharpened.
"What happened?"
Uzi glanced at N.
N raised his hand.
"That was me."
Khan lunged.
"YOU—"
N jumped backward.
"I FIXED IT!"
Uzi grabbed Khan.
"DAD!"
"He stabbed you!"
"Technically his tail stabbed me."
"THAT IS NOT BETTER!"
"It actually kind of isn't," N admitted.
Khan stared at him with genuine murder in his eyes.
Ironically.
N lowered his head.
Then I walked between them.
Khan stopped.
I sat.
Looked up.
Tail wag.
His expression glitched.
"Don't..."
My head tilted.
"No."
Tongue out.
"Biscuit," Uzi warned.
Khan stared.
N whispered:
"He's really good at this."
Khan's shoulders dropped half an inch.
My system chimed.
『 NEW EMOTIONAL SOURCE DETECTED 』
Khan Doorman
Shock
Fear
Parental relief
Confusion
Reluctant affection toward Host
Harvest: +44 EP
Current EP: 465
Forty-four.
Nice.
Khan pointed at me.
"Where did the dog come from?"
Uzi shrugged.
"Surface."
Khan went still.
"The surface."
"Yeah."
"A biological dog."
"Golden retriever," N added.
Nobody asked you, N.
"Was alive."
"Yep."
"Outside."
"Still yep."
Khan looked toward the airlock.
Then at me.
"That's impossible."
I sneezed.
N's visor became delighted.
Khan stared at me.
N crouched and scratched my chest.
"Biscuit's really special."
Khan slowly looked at him.
"Biscuit?"
"His name!"
"You named the unexplained apocalypse dog?"
"Immediately."
"Of course you did."
N smiled.
"He likes it."
I did not.
My tail wagged.
Stop presenting fraudulent evidence.
N beamed.
"See?"
Another chime.
『 N — sustained pride, affection and joy. 』
+35 EP
Current EP: 500
Everything stopped.
Not around me.
Inside me.
The system window expanded.
Golden letters burned across my vision.
『 MILESTONE ACHIEVED 』
CATEGORY D UNLOCKED
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Available:
Emotional Resonance — 200 EP
Amplify emotions and increase harvesting efficiency.
Empathic Communication — 250 EP
Transmit emotions and simple concepts to bonded beings.
Protective Instinct — 300 EP
Gain temporary physical enhancement while protecting bonds.
Emotional Anchor — 350 EP
Improve emotional stability of bonded beings nearby.
Pack Synthesis — 400 EP
Create deeper multi-member pack bonds.
I forgot about Khan.
Forgot the bunker.
Forgot J.
Forgot V.
Empathic Communication.
Two hundred fifty points.
I could finally—
Not speak.
But communicate.
Actually communicate.
No more attempting diplomacy through eyebrow-less facial expressions.
No more relying on barking.
No more watching everyone debate what I wanted while I sat there screaming internally.
I almost purchased it immediately.
Almost.
Then remembered the two flying murder machines actively searching for us.
I closed the menu.
Not yet.
Five hundred EP was power.
Power was also useless if I spent everything impulsively and got vaporized twenty minutes later.
Human maturity.
Finally useful.
"Why is he staring at nothing?" Khan asked.
N gasped.
"Maybe he's thinking!"
"He's a dog."
N looked offended.
"So?"
Before Khan could answer—
A Worker Drone rounded the corridor.
He saw N.
He screamed.
Another Worker appeared.
Saw the screaming Worker.
Then N.
Then screamed too.
Within approximately fifteen seconds, the bunker achieved full social collapse.
"MURDER DRONE!"
"HOW DID IT GET INSIDE?!"
"THE DOOR FAILED!"
"WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE!"
"Why is it HOLDING A DOG?!"
"I DON'T KNOW!"
"IS THAT ACTUALLY A DOG?!"
"WHY IS THERE A DOG?!"
N backed against the wall.
His claws remained retracted.
"Hi!"
Twenty Workers recoiled.
"Maybe don't say hi," Uzi suggested.
"Right!"
More Workers poured into the corridor.
Some had improvised weapons.
One had a pipe.
A literal pipe.
Against N.
I admired his optimism.
Khan shoved himself between N and the crowd.
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN!"
Nobody calmed down.
Good.
Actual realistic response.
"THERE IS A MURDER DRONE IN THE BUNKER!"
"I KNOW!"
"WHY?!"
"I DON'T KNOW YET!"
"THAT'S WORSE!"
N raised both hands.
"I'm not going to hurt anybody!"
Several Workers raised their weapons higher.
N looked at Uzi.
"That normally works better."
"When?"
"...Never."
My system began flashing.
『 MULTIPLE NEW EMOTIONAL SOURCES 』
23 individuals detected.
Host-directed:
Shock.
Confusion.
Curiosity.
Aggregate Harvest:
+159 EP
Current EP: 659
My eyes widened.
Oh.
Crowds.
Crowds were ridiculous.
Twenty-three people seeing me for the first time had generated more EP than several entire conversations.
Which meant—
N suddenly lifted me.
Oh no.
"Look!"
NO.
"He has a DOG!" somebody shouted.
"Biscuit!" N corrected.
He held me up like Simba.
I stared over a crowd of terrified robots while a seven-foot mechanical predator proudly presented me like a furry peace treaty.
"My name is N! This is Biscuit! He's my best friend and I promise I'm not going to murder anybody!"
Uzi covered her face.
"Your sales pitch needs work."
One Worker lowered his pipe.
"He's... fluffy."
Another leaned sideways.
"The dog or the Murder Drone?"
"The dog."
"Obviously the dog!"
I wagged.
A tiny electronic sound came from somewhere in the crowd.
"Aw."
Everyone turned toward the Worker responsible.
He immediately crossed his arms.
"I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING."
I tilted my head.
Three more visors softened.
N whispered:
"Do the ears."
I didn't know what that meant.
One ear flopped.
The corridor made a collective noise.
Not everyone.
Some were still terrified.
Several hadn't lowered their weapons at all.
But the emotional balance shifted.
Fear remained.
Curiosity joined it.
Then disbelief.
Then amusement.
Then the unstoppable biological weapon humans had spent thousands of years refining through selective breeding:
Golden retriever face.
『 CROWD EMOTIONAL SHIFT 』
Curiosity
Amusement
Affection
+127 EP
Current EP: 786
Good grief.
I was farming robots by existing.
This system was unethical.
I loved it.
"Everyone."
A new voice cut through the corridor.
Workers moved aside.
A female Worker Drone stepped through.
Taller than Uzi.
Controlled posture.
Two WDF drones behind her.
Unlike Khan, she didn't scream when she saw N.
Unlike the crowd, she didn't immediately focus on me.
She assessed everything.
Door.
Uzi.
Railgun.
N.
Me.
Crowd density.
Possible exits.
Then she looked at Khan.
"Khan."
Khan straightened.
"Administrator Lara."
Ah.
Authority figure.
Wonderful.
Because this situation desperately needed management.
Lara folded her arms.
"Why is there a Disassembly Drone standing inside my bunker?"
N opened his mouth.
Uzi covered it with one hand.
"Mmph?"
"Let someone competent answer."
N nodded.
Still muffled.
Lara looked at me.
"And why is it holding a golden retriever?"
Uzi removed her hand from N's mouth.
N immediately spoke.
"His name is Biscuit!"
Uzi sighed.
"I tried."
Lara stared at me.
Her eyes narrowed.
Not suspiciously.
Analytically.
That was somehow worse.
"A biological organism."
Nobody answered.
"On Copper-9."
Khan nodded.
"Apparently."
"Alive."
"Very."
My tail thumped against N's arm.
Lara stepped closer.
N stepped backward.
Tiny movement.
Protective.
Lara noticed.
Interesting.
"Where did you acquire him?"
N hugged me slightly closer.
"I didn't acquire him."
Uzi muttered:
"You absolutely acquired him."
"He chose me."
"Debatable."
Lara ignored them.
"Has the animal been scanned?"
N's visor narrowed.
"No."
"Thermal imaging?"
"No."
"Blood analysis?"
"NO."
"Genetic sampling?"
N's wings twitched.
"Definitely no."
Lara stopped.
"N."
His visor flickered.
He hadn't expected her to know his name.
"I heard your introduction from halfway down the corridor."
"Oh."
Lara pointed toward me.
"I have no intention of harming the dog."
N relaxed approximately three percent.
"But a biological organism surviving outdoors on Copper-9 is impossible according to every environmental model we possess."
Uzi raised a finger.
"To be fair, he's not great at walking."
I looked at her.
Really?
That's our scientific contribution?
Lara continued.
"Either Biscuit represents an environmental fact we don't understand..."
Her gaze sharpened.
"...or Biscuit is not what he appears to be."
N's claws extended.
Not fully.
Barely.
But the sound silenced half the corridor.
Lara's guards raised their weapons.
Workers backed up.
Khan moved toward Uzi.
Uzi's hand went toward the railgun.
And N—
N simply held me tighter.
"No experiments."
The cheerful voice was gone.
Quiet.
Serious.
Lara looked at his claws.
Then at his face.
"I said nothing about experiments."
"You said blood."
"I asked whether anyone had taken blood."
"Still don't like it."
"Neither does Biscuit," Uzi said.
Everyone looked at me.
I licked my nose.
I had no contribution.
Lara lowered one hand.
Her guards followed.
"Non-invasive testing only."
N remained still.
"Temperature. Respiration. Surface scanning. Fur sample only if the animal willingly permits it."
N looked down at me.
"Biscuit?"
My canine brain heard:
Fur sample.
Human brain translated:
A few hairs.
I had an entire coat.
Sure.
Tail wag.
N sighed.
"Okay."
My system chimed.
『 Administrator Lara — focused curiosity. 』
+9 EP
Current EP: 795
『 N — protectiveness, anxiety, determination. 』
+27 EP
Current EP: 822
Lara looked past us.
At the enormous crowd.
Then her expression became annoyed.
"Why are all of you still here?"
Nobody moved.
"Return to your stations."
Instant dispersal.
Wow.
Khan needed lessons.
Within seconds, only a handful remained.
Lara turned.
"My office."
Uzi groaned.
"Are we under arrest?"
"No."
"Can we be?"
"No."
"Worth asking."
N raised his hand.
"Can Biscuit come?"
Everyone stared at him.
N slowly lowered it.
"Right. Stupid question."
Walking through the bunker with N was fascinating.
Every Worker we passed performed roughly the same sequence.
Step one:
See Uzi.
Normal.
Step two:
See N.
Immediate existential crisis.
Step three:
See golden retriever in N's arms.
Second, entirely separate existential crisis.
It was beautiful.
The EP counter kept climbing.
By the time we reached Lara's office, I'd gained another sixty-nine points just from being stared at.
This might genuinely be the easiest progression system ever invented.
Lara's office was small.
Desk.
Monitors.
Bunker schematics.
Security feeds.
No decoration.
Nothing personal.
Someone lived entirely through responsibility.
That smelled exhausting even without a nose.
Khan stood beside Lara.
Uzi leaned against the wall.
N sat on the floor.
I remained in his lap.
Lara activated a recorder.
"Uzi Doorman. Surface excursion. Start from the beginning."
Uzi crossed her arms.
"I went outside to test the railgun."
Khan made a strangled noise.
Lara ignored him.
"I found Biscuit."
"Technically I found you," N said.
"Nobody asked."
"Right."
"Then N attacked me."
Khan's eyes snapped toward him again.
N shrank.
"Briefly."
"He stabbed my hand."
"Accidentally?"
Uzi stared.
N corrected himself.
"Deliberately at the time."
"Wonderful," Khan muttered.
"I shot his head off."
Khan looked at Uzi.
Then N.
Then Uzi.
"You what?"
N nodded.
"Really good shot."
"Thank you."
"STOP COMPLIMENTING MY DAUGHTER FOR SHOOTING YOUR HEAD OFF!"
"Sorry!"
Lara pressed two fingers against her forehead.
"Continue."
Uzi explained.
N's regeneration.
His reaction to me.
J.
V.
The chase.
N refusing to kill her.
N turning on his squad.
Nobody interrupted during that part.
Especially N.
When Uzi finished, Lara looked directly at him.
"You defected."
N's expression changed.
"I..."
"Your squad ordered you to kill a Worker Drone."
"Yes."
"You refused."
"Yes."
"They then attacked you."
N hesitated.
"...Yes."
"And you assisted their target in reaching this bunker."
Longer pause.
"Yes."
Lara leaned back.
"That is defection."
N's smile disappeared completely.
Something in him seemed to shrink.
"My squad..."
His voice became quieter.
"They're the only people I've ever really had."
Uzi looked at him.
No joke this time.
Lara didn't soften much.
But she did soften.
"Then I imagine tonight has been difficult."
N looked down at me.
My nose pressed into his hand.
His fingers curled gently into my fur.
"Not all of it."
Ding.
I ignored the system.
That one felt too private to count.
Lara noticed me watching her.
She crouched.
"May I?"
N looked at me.
This time he didn't answer for me.
Good.
I sniffed Lara's hand.
Industrial oil.
Old metal.
Electronics.
Stress.
So much stress.
I leaned forward.
Licked one finger.
Lara froze.
Uzi snorted.
Khan looked delighted someone else had been emotionally compromised.
Lara slowly looked at the wet mark.
"That was unnecessary."
My tail wagged.
Her mouth twitched.
Barely.
System:
『 Lara 』
Amusement.
Curiosity.
Emerging affection.
+34 EP
Current EP: 925
There it was.
Nine hundred twenty-five.
In one day.
Not bad for a former office worker who had recently discovered that stairs were a natural predator.
Lara returned to her desk.
"Here's what's going to happen."
Everyone paid attention.
"Biscuit remains inside the bunker."
N relaxed.
"For now, no invasive testing."
More relaxing.
"N does not receive unrestricted access."
N stopped relaxing.
"He is to remain accompanied by either Uzi, Khan, myself, or another designated WDF member at all times."
Uzi's face dropped.
"Why am I on that list?"
"You brought him here."
"He followed me!"
"Congratulations. Responsibility followed you too."
Khan nodded approvingly.
"Finally, someone understands parenting."
Uzi glared.
Lara continued.
"The presence of a cooperative Disassembly Drone may be the greatest strategic advantage this colony has ever possessed."
N brightened.
"Thanks!"
"Or the greatest security failure in its history."
N un-brightened.
"Also fair."
"Until I determine which one, he is under observation."
Khan raised a hand.
"And J and V?"
Silence.
That was the real problem.
Lara's gaze moved toward a security monitor.
"They pursued you?"
Uzi nodded.
"We lost them before returning."
N's voice was much less certain.
"Temporarily."
Lara turned toward him.
"What does that mean?"
"J doesn't give up."
Pause.
"Ever."
"And V?"
N grimaced.
"V really likes murder."
Uzi raised both arms.
"Again: WHY IS HE THE NICE ONE?"
N pointed at me.
"Biscuit."
"Right."
Lara stood.
"Khan and I need to review bunker defenses and determine whether your presence has compromised this facility."
She looked at Uzi.
"Take N somewhere isolated."
Uzi blinked.
"You want me to babysit him?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because he's already decided he likes you."
"I tried to kill him!"
N smiled.
"That was before we were friends."
"We are not—"
Lara pointed toward the door.
"Go."
Uzi groaned.
N stood.
He picked me up.
"Adventure?"
"No."
"Secret bunker adventure?"
"No."
"Friend adventure?"
"Absolutely not."
We left.
Behind us, Khan spoke quietly to Lara.
I caught the words anyway.
"What happens if the other two find us?"
Lara didn't answer immediately.
Then:
"We hope the friendly one is enough."
N heard it too.
I felt his grip tighten.
He kept walking.
Uzi glanced sideways at him.
"You okay?"
N smiled.
Too quickly.
"Yep!"
She didn't believe him.
Neither did I.
The system appeared again.
Not an EP notification.
A reminder.
『 CURRENT EP: 925 』
『 CATEGORY D AVAILABLE 』
Empathic Communication — 250 EP
Protective Instinct — 300 EP
Emotional Anchor — 350 EP
Pack Synthesis — 400 EP
『 HOST HAS ACCUMULATED SUFFICIENT RESOURCES FOR MULTIPLE EVOLUTION PATHS. 』
『 Recommendation: Choose carefully. 』
I stared at the options.
N carried me through the bunker.
Uzi walked beside us.
Behind reinforced walls were hundreds of Worker Drones who had spent their entire lives hiding from creatures like him.
Outside those walls were J and V.
Looking for us.
And sooner or later, they were going to find us.
Nine hundred twenty-five points.
For the first time since waking up on Copper-9, I wasn't helpless.
I just had to decide what kind of creature I wanted to become.
Uzi opened a maintenance door.
"Okay, Murder Drone."
Darkness stretched beyond it.
"Welcome to your terrible new apartment."
N gasped.
"I HAVE AN APARTMENT?!"
"It's a storage room."
"WITH BISCUIT?!"
"Unfortunately."
N practically sprinted inside.
My tail began wagging.
And somewhere in the back of my human mind, beneath the system windows, survival calculations, and increasingly ridiculous circumstances, one conclusion became impossible to ignore.
I had died because of a banana peel.
Now I was helping shelter a defecting Murder Drone from his murderous coworkers while accumulating supernatural power through weaponized dog friendship.
Somehow—
my second life was going considerably better.
END CHAPTER 3