Uzi's idea of an "apartment" was a maintenance storage room.
This was false advertising.
There was no bed.
No furniture.
No bathroom.
No windows.
Half the lights didn't work.
One wall contained enough exposed wiring to qualify as an electrical threat.
A faded sign above the door read:
SECONDARY COOLANT STORAGE — DO NOT ENTER WITHOUT AUTHORIZATION
N stared at the room like he'd been handed the keys to a palace.
"This is AMAZING."
Uzi stared at him.
"It's a closet."
"A SECRET closet."
"It's where we used to keep coolant pumps."
"A secret coolant-pump closet."
"You're impossible."
N spun in a slow circle, admiring several empty shelves.
"We could put Biscuit's bed there!"
I looked.
Bare concrete.
Fantastic.
"And maybe his food there!"
Empty shelf.
Wonderful.
"And toys!"
Uzi crossed her arms.
"Where exactly do you think we're getting dog toys?"
N froze.
His visor widened.
"...Biscuit doesn't have toys."
Something inside him broke.
I could feel it happen.
"Uzi."
"No."
"He doesn't have TOYS."
"We are hiding you from several hundred people who would dismantle you with gardening equipment if they knew you were here."
"But Biscuit—"
"Doesn't need a tennis ball right now."
N slowly looked down at me.
I looked up.
He whispered:
"She doesn't understand."
I wagged my tail.
Uzi pointed accusingly.
"Don't encourage him."
Too late.
N dropped cross-legged onto the floor and scratched behind my ears.
My tail thumped happily against the concrete.
Okay.
Storage closet wasn't entirely terrible.
『 EMOTIONAL HARVEST 』
N
Affection
Joy
Residual anxiety
+24 EP
Current EP: 949
Nine hundred forty-nine.
I still hadn't spent anything.
At this point, that was becoming irresponsible.
Especially since two hostile Murder Drones knew exactly what I looked like, knew N had turned against them because of me, and had probably spent the last hour composing increasingly creative ways to make all three of us regret existing.
Uzi leaned against the wall.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then:
"So."
N looked over.
"So!"
"You said J doesn't give up."
N stopped scratching.
His emotions changed immediately.
Joy fell.
Anxiety rose.
"Yeah."
"And V?"
"V also doesn't give up."
"Great."
"But for different reasons."
Uzi gave him a look.
N counted on his fingers.
"J doesn't give up because failure makes her mad."
One finger.
"V doesn't give up because murder is fun."
Second finger.
"And I usually didn't give up because J would yell at me."
Third finger.
He stared at that finger.
Slowly lowered his hand.
"...Oh."
Uzi's expression shifted slightly.
I felt it now even without system assistance.
Concern.
Curiosity.
The beginning of understanding.
"You really were scared of her."
N immediately smiled.
Too fast.
"What? J? No!"
Lie.
"She's just very organized."
Lie.
"And confident."
Lie.
"And supportive!"
Massive lie.
Uzi's visor flattened.
"She hit you."
N's smile twitched.
"Constructive criticism?"
"She called you useless."
"Motivation!"
"She tried to kill you."
"...Advanced motivation?"
Uzi stared.
N's smile finally disappeared.
The room became quieter.
"She's my squad leader."
His voice had changed.
No performance now.
No enthusiasm plastered over everything.
"She and V are..."
He searched.
"...the closest thing I've ever had to family."
I looked up at him.
N's hand rested motionless against my fur.
"But then I met Biscuit."
Warmth flooded the bond.
Not magic.
Not yet.
Just emotion.
"So now everything feels..."
He made a vague gesture.
"...wrong."
Uzi didn't interrupt.
"I keep thinking about stuff I didn't think about before."
He looked toward the floor.
"Like Workers running away."
His voice dropped.
"Or screaming."
Another pause.
"Or how I never actually liked killing them."
Uzi's expression hardened, but she stayed silent.
"I just thought..."
N's fingers curled gently into my fur.
"...that's what I was supposed to do."
Something in my chest tightened.
There it was.
The part beneath the jokes.
The reason Biscuit hadn't magically changed N.
He hadn't created kindness.
He'd given kindness somewhere safe to go.
The system chimed.
『 SIGNIFICANT EMOTIONAL HARVEST 』
N
Vulnerability
Loyalty
Gratitude
Fear of rejection
+53 EP
Current EP: 1,002
One thousand.
Okay.
No more hoarding.
I opened the menu.
It appeared quietly this time.
No fifty-page corporate handbook.
Thank God.
『 ENHANCEMENT MENU 』
Current EP: 1,002
Selected:
Empathic Communication I — 250 EP
Emotional Intuition I — 70 EP
Comforting Presence I — 75 EP
Agility I — 45 EP
Speed I — 50 EP
TOTAL: 490 EP
Remaining: 512 EP
CONFIRM?
I hesitated at Durability.
Sixty EP.
Useful.
Extremely useful.
I was, after all, still constructed primarily from meat.
But communication changed everything.
Right now, Uzi and N had to guess what I meant from barking, staring, paw placement, tail activity, and the occasional accidental sneeze.
In a fight?
That could get somebody killed.
Confirm.
The system vanished.
For half a second—
Nothing happened.
Then my body changed.
Not visibly.
There was no glow.
No lightning.
No giant LEVEL UP explosion.
My nervous system simply—
clicked.
The room sharpened.
My balance became effortless.
I shifted one paw and instantly understood exactly where the other three needed to move.
Muscles responded faster.
My body suddenly felt less like a vehicle I'd stolen and more like one I'd actually learned to drive.
Then something stranger appeared.
Emotion.
Not thoughts.
Not voices.
Emotion.
N beside me felt warm.
Bright.
A ridiculous mixture of affection, anxiety, and golden-retriever-related happiness.
Uzi felt completely different.
Sharper.
Restless.
Curiosity buried beneath suspicion.
Exhaustion buried beneath sarcasm.
Concern buried beneath approximately forty-seven layers of teenage hostility.
I stared at her.
She noticed.
"What?"
Whoa.
That was weird.
I could practically feel the defensive wall appear.
I looked away.
Then came the last change.
A channel.
Not speech.
Not telepathy in the "hello, I am inside your brain now" sense.
More like finding a door in a room that hadn't possessed one five seconds earlier.
N was behind that door.
I focused.
Simple.
Nothing complicated.
I pushed one feeling toward him.
Safe.
Then:
Thank you.
Then:
Friend.
N stopped moving.
His fingers froze against my neck.
His visor flickered.
"Biscuit?"
Uzi straightened.
"What?"
N looked at me.
I pushed again.
You. Good.
His mouth opened.
Closed.
Opened.
"Biscuit just..."
He touched his chest.
"...said something."
Uzi looked at me.
I looked back.
"What do you mean 'said something'?"
"Not words!"
N was already getting emotional.
Of course he was.
"It was like..."
He grabbed his head.
"Like a hug."
Uzi blinked.
"A hug."
"IN MY BRAIN."
"That's usually called brain damage."
"No!"
He scooped me up.
"There were FEELINGS! He said thank you! And safe! And—"
N's voice cracked.
He stared at me.
"Friend."
Oh boy.
『 EMPATHIC COMMUNICATION SUCCESS 』
Bond synchronization with N: High
Emotional response harvested:
+42 EP
Current EP: 554
N hugged me against his chest.
Carefully.
Always carefully.
"You can TALK to me."
Kind of.
I attempted to send that.
What reached him was apparently:
Maybe. Confusing. Limited.
N gasped.
"HE SAID KIND OF!"
Uzi pushed away from the wall.
"Okay."
She crouched in front of me.
"Do me."
Excuse me?
She noticed my expression.
"Not like—oh, bite me."
N looked horrified.
"Don't bite her!"
"I mean send me something!"
Oh.
Right.
I focused on Uzi.
The connection was weaker.
Not absent.
But where N felt like an open door, Uzi felt like yelling through a wall.
I tried something simple.
Purple.
Her visor flickered.
"What the..."
Good.
Next:
Railgun.
Her eyes widened.
"Okay."
Then:
Angry.
Uzi stared.
N covered his mouth.
I continued.
Small.
"HEY."
N failed to contain himself.
A laugh escaped.
"HE CALLED YOU SHORT!"
"I KNOW WHAT HE DID!"
I wagged.
Uzi pointed at me.
"You are getting way too powerful."
I pushed one final concept.
Friend.
Her finger stopped.
Silence.
Her expression changed.
Very slightly.
Then she looked away.
"Yeah, whatever."
The system immediately tattled.
『 COMBINED EMOTIONAL HARVEST 』
N — amusement, affection
Uzi — surprise, amusement, reluctant affection
+67 EP
Current EP: 621
I grinned.
Or whatever the dog equivalent was.
Tongue out.
Mouth open.
N scratched my head.
Uzi muttered something about smug animals.
And then—
My ears moved.
I didn't tell them to.
They rotated toward the ceiling.
Something.
Very faint.
Metal.
A vibration.
I stood.
N noticed instantly.
"Biscuit?"
I sniffed.
Nothing useful.
The bunker smelled like machinery from every direction.
But my new Emotional Intuition caught something else.
Not yet clearly.
Too distant.
Just...
pressure.
Then the feeling entered range.
Seventy-five meters.
Cold.
Controlled.
Furious.
I knew that emotional signature.
My fur rose.
J.
A second presence crossed the edge of my awareness.
Excitement.
Hunger.
Delight.
V.
Oh.
They hadn't waited until tomorrow.
Of course not.
Why would anyone in my second life possess reasonable scheduling habits?
I slammed the warning through my bond with N.
DANGER.
His claws came out instantly.
Uzi jumped.
"What?!"
Two.
J. V.
Close.
N's entire demeanor transformed.
One second: golden-retriever enthusiast.
Next second:
Murder Drone.
Wings expanded.
Claws locked.
Tail rose behind him.
"J and V."
Uzi grabbed her railgun.
"How do you know?"
"Biscuit."
She stared at me.
"The dog radar?"
I barked.
"Right. Psychic dog radar. Obviously."
A metallic shriek echoed through the bunker.
All three of us froze.
Another screech.
Closer.
N looked toward the ceiling.
"They're not at the main doors."
Uzi's expression dropped.
"Maintenance ventilation."
N looked at her.
"What?"
"The sublevels connect to external service vents."
Another SCREEECH ripped through the walls.
Uzi swore.
"They followed us."
No.
I could feel J.
Focused.
She wasn't wandering.
Wasn't searching randomly.
She knew where she was going.
Us.
I sent the concept.
N's face hardened.
"They're following Biscuit."
Uzi looked at me.
Then the wall.
Then N.
"So much for the secret apartment."
A crash thundered somewhere above.
Dust fell from the ceiling.
An alarm began screaming.
N stepped toward the door.
"Take Biscuit."
Uzi frowned.
"What?"
"Get him somewhere safe."
N didn't look at either of us.
"I'll stop them."
My stomach tightened.
No.
He heard it.
His shoulders stiffened.
"Biscuit—"
No.
"N, they're going to kill you," Uzi said.
He looked back.
His smile was small.
Sad.
"They're my squad."
"That's not an argument."
"I know how they fight."
"Two against one."
"I know."
"They'll kill you."
N looked at me.
And there was no fear for himself.
That was the problem.
Only fear for me.
"If they get Biscuit..."
His claws tightened.
"I can't let that happen."
Emotion crashed through the bond.
Protect.
Love.
Acceptance.
He was completely serious.
He was prepared to die.
For a dog he'd met tonight.
Absolutely not.
『 SIGNIFICANT EMOTIONAL HARVEST 』
N
Protective determination
Love
Acceptance of personal risk
+85 EP
Current EP: 706
I walked toward him.
N shook his head.
"Biscuit."
I sat at his feet.
Pack.
He froze.
I looked toward Uzi.
Then back to N.
Pack. Together.
"Biscuit—"
Together.
The connection strained.
I pushed harder.
Not a sentence.
Images.
N.
Uzi.
Me.
Three points.
Connected.
Danger comes.
Pack stays.
Pack protects.
No one gets left.
N's visor trembled.
Then Uzi crouched beside me.
She hadn't received all of it.
But enough.
"I think he's saying you're an idiot."
N laughed once.
Despite everything.
I sent:
Yes.
Uzi smirked.
"See?"
"Wow."
N wiped beneath one eye despite having no tears.
"Psychic dog betrayal."
Then his expression hardened.
"Okay."
His wings opened.
"Together."
Uzi lifted the railgun.
"Together."
I stood.
My tail did not wag.
We reached the central maintenance junction less than a minute later.
Three corridors.
Heavy support pillars.
Limited sightlines.
One civilian route behind us.
If J and V got through here, they had access to the occupied sections of the bunker.
N studied the hallway.
"V comes straight."
"Shocking," Uzi said.
"J won't."
"Also shocking."
N ignored the sarcasm.
"She'll make us look at V."
Uzi immediately looked upward.
"Then come from somewhere else."
"Yep."
I extended my emotional sense.
V was close.
Very close.
J—
Different direction.
Moving around us.
Smart.
I sent:
V. Front.
N crouched.
J. Moving.
Uzi braced the railgun against a support column.
"How long until—"
V arrived.
Not walked.
Not ran.
Arrived.
A silver blur exploded out of the corridor.
N met her.
BOOM.
The collision rattled the walls.
I flattened my ears.
N went backward several feet, claws digging trenches through the floor.
V laughed.
"HI, N!"
She kicked him through a pipe.
Steam erupted.
"Miss me?"
N launched back.
"No!"
"Rude!"
Their claws collided.
Once.
Twice.
Then they disappeared into speed.
I could barely follow them.
Metal flashed.
Wings struck walls.
V's tail stabbed.
N caught it.
V flipped over him.
N slammed her into a support pillar.
She came off the pillar smiling.
That woman needed hobbies.
"Where's J?!" Uzi shouted.
I searched.
Cold focus.
Above—
No.
Behind—
Wait.
Nothing.
That was wrong.
My instincts screamed.
J knew I could sense her.
She was controlling herself.
Reducing emotional output.
Suppressing the signal.
Clever.
Very clever.
I sniffed.
Oil.
Metal.
Dust.
Ozone.
Then—
fresh lubricant.
Above Uzi.
My head snapped upward.
A ceiling grate moved.
UZI. MOVE.
She flinched.
Not enough.
J dropped.
Claws first.
I ran.
Speed I turned the world strange.
Not slow.
Just manageable.
My paws hit the floor with precision I'd never possessed.
Ten feet.
Six.
Three.
Uzi started turning.
Too late.
I hit her legs.
Hard.
She toppled sideways.
J's claws missed her face by inches and buried themselves in the floor.
SKRRRANG!
Uzi landed.
I rolled.
My upgraded agility pulled my paws beneath me almost instantly.
J looked up.
At me.
Her expression changed.
"The dog."
I growled.
J slowly pulled her claws from the metal.
"You pushed her."
My lips peeled back.
"Oh, that's interesting."
She stood.
Uzi scrambled behind me.
Which was ridiculous.
I was a golden retriever.
But for two seconds, my body refused to care.
Pack behind me.
Threat ahead.
Protect.
J tilted her head.
"You weren't this fast before."
No answer.
Obviously.
She stepped closer.
My growl deepened.
"Enhancement?"
My heart jumped.
J noticed.
Her smile changed.
Not cruel amusement.
Interest.
Scientific interest.
Much worse.
"There you are."
She crouched slightly.
"You're not just anomalous biology."
I sent everything I had directly at her.
BACK.
J's visor flickered.
Her head jerked.
Only slightly.
But she felt it.
"Oh."
Her smile widened.
"You're communicating."
Bad.
Very bad.
"J!"
N's voice hit the corridor like a gunshot.
He saw me.
Saw J.
Saw Uzi on the floor.
Something inside him snapped.
V caught his shoulder.
N punched her directly through a wall.
Not into.
Through.
Then he hit J.
They crashed across the junction.
J recovered first.
Of course she did.
She spun.
Blocked N's claw.
Redirected his momentum.
Kicked his knee.
Drove an elbow into his face.
N stumbled.
J slashed his chest.
Oil sprayed.
"N!" Uzi shouted.
N attacked again.
Too fast.
Too angry.
J smiled.
She had him.
Every strike he threw was huge.
Desperate.
Predictable.
She dodged one.
Blocked another.
Cut him again.
"You're emotional."
N swung.
Missed.
J drove him into the wall.
"Sloppy."
Another strike.
"You've always been sloppy."
N tried to stand.
J kicked him down.
"But now?"
She grabbed his head.
"Now you're embarrassing."
Something hot and vicious exploded through our bond.
N's pain.
N's shame.
Old pain.
This wasn't the first time she'd made him feel worthless.
Not even close.
I barked.
J ignored me.
I barked again.
Empathic Communication flooded into the sound.
Not toward N.
Toward J.
It wasn't clean.
She wasn't bonded.
Most of it scattered.
But enough reached her.
HEY.
J's visor glitched.
She looked at me.
Exactly what I wanted.
N's claws tore across her already-damaged shoulder.
J screamed.
Oil sprayed.
She spun toward him—
"UZI!"
Uzi fired.
BOOOOM!
The railgun blast hit J in the torso.
No graceful dodge.
No smug remark.
She flew backward like she'd been hit by a truck.
Through one maintenance cart.
Into a wall.
Then halfway into the wall.
Silence.
A bent metal panel fell.
CLANG.
J's legs twitched.
Uzi stared.
N stared.
I stared.
From somewhere inside the crater:
"...I hate this dog."
Okay.
That was funny.
V stepped out of the hole N had punched her through.
She looked at J.
Looked at N.
Looked at Uzi.
Then looked at me.
"Wow."
Nobody moved.
V pointed at J.
"You look terrible."
"V."
"Like, significantly worse than usual."
"V."
"Should I take a picture?"
"V!"
N raised his claws.
"Leave."
V's smile disappeared.
Just slightly.
"You really mean it."
"Yes."
"You'll attack us."
N stepped between them and us.
"Yes."
"For Workers."
"Yes."
V's eyes moved to me.
"For him."
N didn't hesitate.
"For my family."
That word hit V.
I felt it.
Not sadness exactly.
Something buried so quickly my new senses barely caught it.
Then her smile returned.
Wrong.
Sharp.
Defensive.
"Family."
She laughed.
"That's cute."
J dragged herself from the crater.
Her regeneration had already started.
Metal crawled slowly across the damage in her torso.
She looked furious.
And humiliated.
Mostly humiliated.
Good.
Title justified.
"V."
"Yeah?"
"We're leaving."
Uzi blinked.
"Really?"
J's eyes locked onto me.
"No."
Her voice came out distorted.
"We're changing the mission."
That was worse.
N stiffened.
J pointed at me.
"The biological is no longer incidental."
My stomach dropped.
"It thinks."
Her damaged visor flickered.
"It communicates without standard transmission."
Another step.
"It enhances itself."
N's wings spread wider.
"And it altered your behavior."
N snarled.
J smiled.
"I don't need to kill it."
Great.
"I need to bring it back."
Much worse.
V's expression brightened.
"Alive?"
"Preferably."
She looked disappointed.
"Can I remove anything?"
"NO," N shouted.
V laughed.
J unfurled one damaged wing.
It sparked.
Did not open correctly.
She stared at it.
Then at the hole in the ceiling.
Then at her wing.
This was apparently becoming an increasingly unlucky evening.
V looked at her.
"You need help?"
"No."
J jumped.
Made it approximately four feet.
Crashed back down.
Uzi snorted.
J slowly turned her head.
"Say one word."
Uzi raised both hands.
"I didn't say anything."
I sneezed.
N made a choking noise.
J's eye twitched.
V finally grabbed J around the waist.
"Come on, boss."
"Put me down."
"Your wing's broken."
"I can climb."
"You just tried to fly into a ceiling."
"V."
"Yeah?"
"I will kill you."
"Aww. There she is."
V launched upward carrying her.
J's furious voice echoed through the shaft.
"THIS ISN'T OVER!"
Uzi cupped her hands around her mouth.
"FIX YOUR WING!"
"UZI," N whispered.
"What?"
"Maybe don't antagonize the Murder Drone commander."
"She started it."
Fair.
The sound of their wings faded.
I kept watching the shaft.
Waiting.
Listening.
Feeling.
V's chaotic excitement receded first.
J's fury remained detectable until the edge of my range.
Then—
nothing.
Gone.
I sat.
All four legs immediately began shaking.
Oh.
There was the fear.
Apparently my survival instincts had placed it on backorder during the fight.
Uzi noticed.
She crouched.
"Hey."
Her hand hovered.
Then rested against my back.
"You're okay."
N dropped beside me.
He was damaged.
Badly enough that I could smell his oil.
His chest plating had several deep cuts.
One side of his visor flickered.
And he looked happier than anyone with that many holes had any right to look.
"We did it."
Uzi shook her head.
"We survived it."
"Still counts!"
He looked at me.
"You saved Uzi."
I wagged once.
"You warned us."
Again.
"You distracted J."
Another wag.
"And you called her stupid!"
I froze.
Uzi looked at me.
"You did?"
I sent:
No.
N blinked.
"Oh."
Pause.
"Felt implied."
Fair.
Then his expression crumpled into pure pride.
"You're a HERO."
No.
Absolutely not.
I had shoved someone out of the way and barked aggressively.
Lassie had accomplished more before commercial breaks.
N hugged me anyway.
Uzi sat beside us.
For a second, the three of us simply existed.
No enemies.
No screaming.
No impossible system decisions.
Just the aftermath.
Then the system appeared.
『 COMBAT RESOLUTION 』
N
Triumph
Love
Gratitude
Protective satisfaction
Uzi
Relief
Respect
Affection
Gratitude
TOTAL HARVEST: +251 EP
Current EP: 957
Lifetime EP Accumulated: 1,447
I stared at the number.
Nine hundred fifty-seven points.
Even after buying five enhancements.
My system economy had officially become absurd.
But something else appeared beneath it.
『 BOND UPDATE 』
N — PROFOUND
Empathic Communication clarity significantly increased.
UZI — STRONG
Empathic Communication clarity increased.
I looked toward Uzi.
She was staring at the damaged wall where J had landed.
Then she looked at me.
"The dog saved my life."
N immediately pointed.
"I TOLD YOU."
"Do not make this your victory."
"I told EVERYONE."
"You also named him Biscuit without permission."
"Biscuit is a GREAT name."
I pushed toward both of them:
Pack.
They stopped.
N's expression softened.
Uzi looked away for half a second.
Then she reached down and scratched behind my ear.
"Yeah."
Quiet.
Almost embarrassed.
"Pack."
N gasped.
"We have a motto now!"
Uzi immediately regretted everything.
"No."
"PACK PROTECTS PACK!"
"No."
N stood dramatically.
One wing sparked.
He ignored it.
"PACK PROTECTS PACK!"
"N."
"We should put it on SHIRTS."
"We don't wear shirts."
"BANNERS!"
"No."
"TATTOOS!"
"WE'RE ROBOTS!"
I wagged my tail.
Uzi looked down at me.
"Don't you dare support this."
I sent:
Banner.
N screamed with joy.
Uzi covered her face.
And then the bunker alarm activated.
Every light turned red.
A siren ripped through the maintenance level.
My ears flattened.
N looked up.
Uzi sighed.
"Right."
Footsteps began echoing through the corridors.
Lots of them.
Workers.
Coming toward us.
Toward the wrecked junction.
Toward N.
Who was currently standing in full Murder Drone combat configuration, covered in oil, holding the impossible psychic golden retriever everyone was already suspicious of.
N slowly looked at himself.
Then at Uzi.
"Do you think this looks bad?"
Uzi stared at the holes in the walls.
The destroyed maintenance equipment.
The oil.
The claw marks.
The smoking railgun.
N.
Me.
She nodded.
"Oh, catastrophically."
N's claws retracted.
His wings folded.
"Better?"
"No."
He smiled hopefully.
"Now?"
"No!"
I heard dozens of Workers approaching.
My system quietly displayed my current balance.
957 EP.
Two Murder Drones repelled.
Five enhancements active.
Two major bonds.
One bunker full of terrified robots about to discover what had happened.
And somewhere outside, J was carrying back a report containing the words:
thinking biological anomaly.
I had a strong feeling her unlucky day was going to become my unlucky week.
The first Worker rounded the corner.
Saw N.
Saw me.
Saw the battle damage.
His visor went completely blank.
Then:
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"
N waved.
"Hi!"
The Worker screamed louder.
Uzi sighed.
I sat down.
My tail wagged.
Of course it did.
END CHAPTER 4