《Hellhound》 Chapter 1: Lost Light I can¡¯t see. . My eyes don¡¯t work anymore. . Seeing that they melted right off my face, its to be expected, really. ¡®Seeing¡¯, get it? Did you ¡®see¡¯ the pun coming? Ha¡­ Hahahaha¡­ haha¡­ . *sigh* . I can¡¯t see. . . I feel sick. . . What did I do to deserve this? What the fuck did I do to deserve this? I rejected her cleanly. It wasn¡¯t me who made fun of her publicly. What was I to do if my friends rummaged about in my desk and found her letter. Some friends¡­ the assholes cut and run the moment they saw me writhing on the ground, screaming as the acid burnt through my face. Gave her enough time for another splash. If the gormless fuckers had a little more iron in their spines, I would have just been disfigured instead of disfigured and blind. . Hah haah haaah. . I¡¯m hyperventilating again. Fifth time this week... A week without the light. I want to scream... I can¡¯t. My body won¡¯t let me. I feel dizzy, my consciousness is growing fuzzy. I¡¯m going to faint again, aren¡¯t I? . *whine* . A cold, wet snout touches my feverish face. *whine* I can feel the concern flowing off her. *hum* Another nudge and antsy whine. . I can feel my anxiety flowing out of me and my breath steadying. I grab Ria and burrow my face into the soft fur of her neck.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. *rrmble* She growls comfortingly as my wracking sobs shake her entire body. . I am reminded of how I don¡¯t have tear ducts anymore. They say real men shed no tears. I must be one since I practically can¡¯t. Hahaha¡­ Damn it. . My sobs grow louder. . I was a military brat. I lived in the Army quarters along with my mother. I only saw my father several times a year. The rest of the time, it was just the two of us. Until it wasn¡¯t. ...........My mother thought me too young to understand. She was wrong. I knew she had caught the sickness which I had seen tear apart several families in the quarters already: Infidelity. So, when my father came home for summer, I told him. . It didn¡¯t stop our family from crumbling like dry earth that hadn¡¯t been moistened by the rain of affection for a long time. My father humiliated my mother in court. Utterly. To retaliate, she asked for full custody of me. When asked, I chose my father. After all, he was supposed to be a Hero who fought for our safety while my mother was the one who had betrayed him. Right? .....My father chose to give me up. I was shocked....... Was this the man who played catch with me every summer? Was he the one who had taken me to the pool to learn how to swim? Hadn¡¯t he promised to help me learn how to ride a bike next summer? Then why did he abandon me? Why? . ¡°Son, I¡¯m sorry but I¡¯m at an important stage in my career¡­ I have to be present full time if I want your custody¡­ I¡¯d have to retire. Your mother loves you, son. Go with her¡­ you¡¯ll be happy.¡± His baritone sounded unfamiliar over the phone. His words seemed stranger still. He chose his career over me. Worse, he lied to me about me being happy with my mother... I wasn¡¯t. She knew I was the whistle-blower. She knew I was the reason she couldn¡¯t hold her head up in society anymore. She made sure I knew too. My back was always crisscrossed in red with her reminders. . Her lover abandoned her as soon as the court came into the equation. Turned out, he was married too. Even had kids. . She had us move to another state to escape the judgemental eyes. The meagre allowance she managed to wrangle from my father as child support went into alcohol to ¡®soothe her weary soul¡¯. It was a horrible few years until our neighbours moved in and hired security. It was my first contact with dogs as they weren¡¯t allowed in the military quarters. When I first saw the majestic German Shepherd patrolling the block, led by the uniformed guard, I felt a connection. When its eyes locked with my own, I could tell what it was feeling. ¡®vigilance¡¯ ¡®curiosity¡¯ ¡®light hunger¡¯ That day, I learnt that I was an empath. At least, for creatures with simpler minds, like dogs. . I was seventeen by the time I made enough off of using my power to train dogs for legal emancipation from my mother. It had been a hard fight to keep my job a secret from her and a harder one to keep her from drinking away all my earnings when she found out. The moment I had all the forms signed, I parted ways with her, shifting to a different city to start rebuilding my life. Over the years, my training of dogs had enhanced my powers enough that I could get a fuzzy read of human emotions. A powerful weapon to have when your peers are hormone driven bundles of self-consciousness. I was popular. It seems, I was too popular with some. . *sigh* Fuck! . I finally exhaust myself while crying against Ria. She is the Labrador I was training to be a Guide dog for an old man who had lost his sight to cataracts as part of my charity work. Its ironical that I am the one who ended up needing her. Without her, alone in my rented apartment, I would have taken my life. I¡¯m sure of it. Her simple emotions, a constant cycle of hunger, playfulness and an unconditional love for her pack leader, me, kept me grounded and alive. Well, it¡¯s a moot point as the hospital wouldn¡¯t have let me go so soon without her presence. Having a trained Guide Dog at home was a powerful argument for discharging me. They seemed to believe it would be helpful for my rehabilitation. Specially since the burns from the hydrochloric acid were mild enough that they didn¡¯t pose a threat of infection. Too bad, my eyes were too far gone. . I embrace Ria tighter, immersing myself in her sense of satisfaction at being useful, the giddy joy takes the edge off my depression. . My future is dark. In more ways than one. Chapter 2: Expanding Horizons *drip* *drip* *drip* Annoying. *drip* That leaky faucet is going to drive me insane. *drip* Aargh. It won''t even let me wallow in self-pity. *drip* Damn it. *sigh* Can¡¯t be helped. I force myself to get up from the sofa and walk towards the kitchen. *clatter**clatter**clatter* Ria walks up to me from the other side of the room, her claws striking against the linoleum. I taught her to walk that way, instead of on the pads of her feet. It¡¯s a desirable trait in a Guide Dog. It is helpful in forewarning their blind owners of their coming so they don¡¯t get startled by them. She nudges me away from the obstacles in my path with her body as we make our way to the source of the annoyance. *drip* I fumble around the sink before my palm closes on the knob of the faucet and I twist hard. Silence. Finally. Haha Its so ironic, that silence can bring me joy so soon after losing my sight, I can¡¯t help but chuckle slightly. I focus on my hearing and the silence becomes less crowded, letting in the slight sounds of the evening traffic.My apartment faces the main road and the honking and sound of the traffic seems so loud now that I am focused on it. So many things go unnoticed because of the constant bombardment of information through our eyes. I stretch out my hands, feeling the roughness of the wall through the skin of my fingertips. Guided by Ria, I make my way to the living room window that faces the street. I fumble with its latch for a moment before throwing it open wide. The muffled sounds of the traffic immediately become clearer. I take a deep breath of the fresh air¡­ *cough**hack**cough* Yeah, right¡­ My brain must have grown soggy for me to even expect fresh air right above a busy main street. After hacking and coughing out my lungs in my body¡¯s bid to rid them of the carcinogens, I finally settle down and lean against the grille, feeling the cool night breeze against my face. *arf**arf* Ria¡¯s body pushes against me as she excitedly puts her forepaws on the sill and barks at the world with reckless abandon. It brings a smile to my lips, imagining her silly appearance as her tongue lolls out of her mouth as she announces herself to the world. I take a sharp intake of breath as the burnt skin on my face splits due to the stretching. I can¡¯t cry and now, even smiling hurts... Maybe, I¡¯d be good at poker. . My improving mood falls to the valley again. I scratch the back of Ria¡¯s ears, drawing out an appreciative whine. She doesn¡¯t deserve to be cooped up with me in this depressing atmosphere. I decide to take her out for a walk the next morning. With the anti-pollution mask and the sunglasses, I¡¯ll just be another nameless, faceless member of the crowd. At least it worked with the pizza delivery guy. My nose twitches as I¡¯m reminded of my diet for these few days. The smell of slightly rancid cheese assaults me along with the smoky taste of the urban air. . I straighten up my back. Just because I lost my sight doesn¡¯t mean that I should maltreat the rest of my senses. My taste buds are numb from the taste of pizza. My nose is complaining about the stench from the unclean state of my quarters and unwashed body. And I have been lounging around in my uncomfortable sofa for the entire week. I slap my cheeks, hard. The pain, from both the slap and the burn, shoots through me, jolting me from the haze I¡¯d been living in for the past few days. I need to regain control of my life. If not for myself, then for Ria who has been forced to suffer along with me.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. I shuffle my way to the sofa, using my feet to kick the discarded boxes that are lying around with it as the centre. Soon, Ria bounds over, barking excitedly as she thinks that it¡¯s a new game. With her help, we soon have the discarded boxes gathered into a big pile. Bringing a garbage bag from the kitchen, I bag the pile and set it outside the door for the garbage man to pick up. I step back into the room and take a deep breath. The smell has grown a lot paler and the breeze from the open window is rapidly purifying the room. I don¡¯t know why¡­ but a sense of accomplishment sets over me, diluting my depression. I whistle to Ria and we race each other to the kitchen, me trying my best to avoid all the furniture from memory. She still wins, doubling back to prevent me from tripping over a stool. I lean against the wall, panting hard. Haha Hahahaha Haha*bark*ha*bark**arf*ha I double over in laughter and Ria joins in. The skin on my face stretches and the pain makes my laughter turn into wracking sobs. . Fuck. . It''s been this way all week. . Fucking mood swings. . . After a long time, I return to normal. Straightening up, I wash my hands at the sink with soap. Rummaging about blindly through the drawers of the kitchen, I take out a large bowl, the cutting board, my wooden spatula and a kitchen knife. *whine* Ria whines at me inquiringly as she pulls at my pants with her teeth to catch my attention. I can¡¯t blame her¡­ I did try to end it all with the knife a couple of days ago. If she didn¡¯t sense my mood and start barking her head off¡­ Who knows¡­ I project my feelings of calm at her and she settles down, still keeping a wary eye on the implement. I feel warmed by her concern. Washing the bowl and the tools under the running water, I set them aside as I walk towards the refrigerator. I fumble around by memory for the eggs I knew I have sitting around in there on the second shelf. I smell them for freshness¡­ after all they are nearly a week old. They seem fine as do the tomatoes in the bottom drawer. Grabbing a handful of coriander leaves, I walk back to the kitchen with my hands full, kicking the refrigerator door closed. I crack the eggs into the bowl as best as I can, spilling some over its sides. I carefully chop up the tomatoes by putting my thumb on them and gliding the knife down the nail, drawing the nail back by the amount I want for the thickness of my slices. I whistle and Ria barks letting me know her position. I throw a slice in her general direction, hearing the sound of her jaws snapping shut on them. She barks happily at me. She loves tomatoes¡­ I always had to be careful of leaving the green ones lying around in the open as they are harmful to dogs. Ripe ones are fine though and the ones I am chopping are practically squishy. Running the knife over them again, I have my diced tomato which I sweep into the bowl. I carefully paw around in the spice cabinet until I lay hands on the weirdly shaped porcelain pot I keep my salt in. I remember buying it from a curio shop. It¡¯s blue with cloud patterns in white painted on it. Not that it matters now. I sprinkle a pinch of salt in the bowl and twist the pepper grater a few times to boot. Placing the bowl on the induction plate, I switch it on. I stir the contents of the bowl with the wooden spatula as it cooks. I have no idea what setting the cooker is on so I wing it by the texture of the stuff. The stuff is getting crumbly. I switch off the heat and replace the spices in the cabinet and wash the utensils as it cools. Shredding the coriander further by hand, I put it into the bowl. Finding a spoon and washing it, I return to the living room with the sloppiest bowl of tomato scrambled egg I¡¯ve ever made. I¡¯ve already fed Ria so I can enjoy the fruits of my labour without worries. I sit down on the sofa and switch on the TV for the first time this week. The TV was a reminder of a world I would never be a part of again. That¡¯s why I shied away from turning it on for the whole of this week. I had even blocked all the contacts on my phone except the hospital and the pizza delivery. I had basically cut myself off from society. Now, after doing something productive for the first time after the incident, I feel like facing the world again. The TV opens to the news channel. The voice of the female newsreader resounds through the room as I take my first bite. ¡°¡­ been seven days since the beginning of the mutation. Let us consult Dr. Zachary Mulligan about the opinion of the scientific circle.¡± I grimace as I spit out a piece of egg shell that has found its way to my mouth. I can¡¯t help but notice how she rolls her vowels off her tongue. Little details like this keep popping out at me as my hearing tries to compensate for my missing vision by becoming more sensitive. ¡°Hello. I am Zachary Mulligan from NSRO. It¡¯s my pleasure to be here tonight.¡± The voice seemed to belong to someone old due to the quiver in it. It was deep, making me associate it with a large frame. His tone was authoritative, somehow making me concoct up the image of glasses. So, Dr. Mulligan, for me was a broad chested, bespectacled old man. The savoury taste of the tomatoes complemented the crumbly texture of the egg and the coriander offset it perfectly. Simple dishes, in my experience, were often the best. He spoke again: ¡°We believe it to be a consequence of disturbances in the spatial matrix around Earth. Imagine crumpling a piece of paper into a ball. Now imagine that this balled paper is the Earth. Then, what would happen if someone were to pull it out and flatten it again? The Earth would expand¡­ that¡¯s what we are facing now. We, at NSRO, are working on analysing the spatial warping and have discovered a new energy being radiated due to the fluctuations.¡± ¡°How do you explain the mutant beasts and humans.¡± ¡°Well, we speculate that the new energy is responsible for it and¡­ ¡° The spoon dropped out of my hand in my shock, clattering against the side of the bowl. It seemed the world had decided to have a makeover in the time I wasn¡¯t ¡®looking¡¯. It must have been too shy to do it under my gaze. Hehe. . . What the fuck? World expansion? Mutated beasts? Mutant humans?! Wasn¡¯t it enough to be blind and disfigured? Now I have to be blind and disfigured during the apocalypse?! . . *drip* . Oh, you can¡¯t be serious! . *drip* *drip* *drip* Chapter 3: A Ray of Hope I had my extendible stick in my right hand and Ria¡¯s leash in the other. Tapping the road ahead, I kept searching for bumps as I let her lead the way at a moderate pace. The morning wind was cool as it blew against my face. Not that I could feel much of it through my anti-pollution mask and my sunglasses. *tap**tap**tap* *clatter*clatter*clatter* The sound of my stick tapping against the pavement and Ria¡¯s claws striking the ground were the only discernible sounds this early in the morning. It was five o¡¯ clock¡­ it was probably still dark out. Not that it mattered to me. For me, it was perpetually dark. *bark**bark**arf* *bashinnn* *mrreow* Suddenly, Ria jerked at the leash and started barking at something¡­ from that last call, probably a stray cat. It probably knocked over a trashcan in its hurry to flee. This was why I still had her. Her training wasn¡¯t complete yet. She got easily distracted by random stuff while on the road. I had tested this with her before by blindfolding myself and letting her guide me. I was supposed to work on it this week. Haha. Didn¡¯t think the situation would turn into this. I tugged at the leash sharply and she came to heel. At least she knew enough to not give chase. I walked over to her and gave her a light rap on the top of her head and projected my disappointment at her through my empathy. *whine* I¡¯m sure she was giving me the puppy eyes. Sorry Ria, that won¡¯t work anymore. We resumed our walk and slowly made our way towards the local greenery belt. It was less of a park and more of a hedged garden with paths to walk through. They didn¡¯t have enough space. Overcrowding, poor town planning and all that jazz. It was deserted at this hour. There was an hour yet till the laughing club patronized it. I never saw the merit behind gathering together and laughing artificially. I even looked it up once out of curiosity. The net threw all sorts of unsubstantiated psychobabble about how laughter made us happier as our brain associated the two things. There was something about increased oxygen content of the blood too. I call bullshit. You laugh when you are happy¡­ doing it the other way around only leaves you more depressed. Trust me¡­ I¡¯ve had enough first-hand experience over the last week. And I remember laughing so hard that I grew breathless¡­ basic biology tells me you need to breathe to get oxygen. Laughing with my friends¡­ I grit my teeth as I remember those assholes¡­ I¡¯m suffering the consequences of their bullying. I made sure to clarify their part in the matter to the officer who came to take my statement. I hope they rot in a cell somewhere¡­ but they¡¯ll probably get off with suspension. The girl on the other hand¡­ what was her name again? Lily? Lorna? Yes, Lorna¡­ she¡¯ll get properly screwed seeing that we are all over eighteen. I don¡¯t hate her as much as my friends somehow¡­ maybe because she¡¯s a victim too and I could sense the depth of her hatred as she came at me¡­ If I was in as much mental pain¡­ I¡¯d act crazy too. I shake my head to clear off these depressing thoughts. Where was I? Yeah¡­ laughing club. These people would be better off doing yoga.Breathe in. Breathe out. Inhale confidence. Exhale doubt. Catchy jingle that¡­ I picked it up off some Swami or the other as I was surfing channels. As my mind was wandering I reached the gate of the green belt. Fumbling around for a bit I manage to get it unlatched and walk in. Winter¡¯s coming and the roses are in full bloom. Their scent fills my lungs as I walk through rows of them. I wish I could see them again. I try to remember them¡­ the tightly coiled petals, the glistening dew on the leaves, the vivid colours¡­ In my mind, they seem to be muted somehow¡­ The colours fading as the boundless darkness presses in from all sides. My breath starts becoming rapid again as I futilely try to grab onto the memories. Like water, they flow out of the seams of my mental fists. *hah* *haah* *haah* I have to calm down¡­ I¡¯m having another panic attack. I thought I was past this phase after last night. It seems I overestimated myself. I sink down to my knees, burying my head between my knees. I can smell the rich loamy smell of the earth. I try to order my breathing.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it. *whine* Ria comes over sensing my distress, rubbing her snout comfortingly into my neck. My breathing slows. Calm, I am calm¡­ in control¡­ its all right. *sigh* I stand up shakily, dusting off my knees. That was fun. Think positive me. You have one extra sense that no one has¡­ now you lost one so you are back to the normal five. It¡¯s still no problem. Being blind has advantages¡­ like, like you get your admission quota for universities under the physically handicapped bracket. I can apply to the colleges I had no chance in before. Yeah¡­ with my empathy¡­ I can work my way up the social ladder and make connections with the future leaders of our nation. I can start up a charity for the blind or something and have them support it. I can still be successful. Maybe I¡¯ll combine my expertise in training dogs and make it my selling point. Blind guy training dogs for others like him. Yeah¡­ seems like a trending metube video. It¡¯s like a gay friend of mine told me¡­ guys give the best blowjobs because they know what they want if they were the ones on the receiving end. Mmm Hmm... Yup¡­ this could work. I am feeling better now and give Ria a rubdown and a kiss. She barks excitedly. My fingers come across a few knots in her fur and it seems a little less silky than usual. She needs a bath. Looks like I¡¯ll have to coax her into getting one when we get back home. She positively hates baths. As I am scheming about how to trick her, she suddenly grows very quiet and from her mind I feel a great deal of tension. Something has her spooked. I too grow still as I try to pick up on whatever she¡¯s feeling. . . . . . It¡¯s silent. Too silent¡­ all the wildlife in the area has grown still. The birds who had started to wake up and begin chirping have clammed up. It¡¯s like the entire world is waiting with bated breath. *rrrrrrrrmmmmmmmbbbbbbllllleeeeee* . An earthquake? Very slight tremors run through the ground beneath my feet. If I wasn¡¯t kneeling and looking out for it, I wouldn¡¯t have caught on. I strain my ears to listen for aftershocks but that¡¯s it. The birds start calling again and the unnatural stillness is in the past. Ria, however, hasn¡¯t come back to normal. I can feel excitement radiating off her¡­ she¡¯s practically vibrating as her training to stay near me wars with her desire to run off and investigate whatever it is that has her riled up. *whine* I can feel her hope for me to say yes and I have no reason to deny her. I¡¯m curious too. *yelp* With a joyous yelp, she starts bounding through the hedges as I try my best to keep up, tripping and stumbling through them behind her. She stops so suddenly that I nearly step on her. I can feel her excitement peak as she starts panting as she sits in a particular spot. Confused, I keep my mind on her emotions as I try to figure out what the hell is going on. It¡¯s just a random empty spot in the hedges. Wait?! Empty spot in the hedges? There should be no empty spot here¡­ the hedges are continuous¡­ has the gardener been getting snip happy with his shears? I squat and place my palm on the ground, laying aside the walking stick. It¡¯s smooth¡­ its like it has been polished until the rough edges have been ground away. Or as if two surfaces have been rubbed against each other, smoothening both out. A tingle runs up my spine as I realise that the characteristics of this spot is exactly the same as what Dr. Mulligan described in yesterdays programme for small scale spatial expansions. My breath grows loud¡­ the spatial expansion mainly occurs at the borders of tectonic plates but in rare cases, it can happen far inland. Thus, the plate borders have been occupied by the armies and research teams of various countries as they try to make sense of the world expansion and also to prevent the mutation of beasts and take the chance to mutate themselves. Many ambitious people are taking a trip towards their nearest plate borders in order to cash in on this latest fad. Owners of real estate in strategic positions have become millionaires overnight. I was planning on making a trip myself. I couldn¡¯t help but cling to the hope that my mutation might repair my eyes. Now, it was right here in front of me¡­ the thing I was hoping for. My hands grew clammy as I began to sweat. I couldn¡¯t help it¡­ I had no idea of how to absorb the energy Dr. Mulligan talked about¡­ I was deathly scared of doing something wrong and losing my chance to regain my sight. Maybe breathing it in mutated the lungs¡­ was I supposed to expose my eyes to it? What if I could only mutate one thing and because I was too impatient, I ended up mutating something else. Should I move away¡­ or was it already too late? Was it a particle or was the energy a radiation? Or like light could it behave like both? I could feel another panic attack coming. I forcefully depressed the bubbling unease and decided to roll with whatever hand life dealt me. I ripped off my mask and sunglasses. Focusing on Ria¡¯s mental state, I started copying her breathing. I tried to move my eyes¡­ the few undamaged muscles pulling on my empty eye sockets (the doctors had to scoop out the corroded goop) causing jolts of pain to shoot up to my brain. I clenched my teeth¡­ maybe the destruction would trigger the mutation. Lines of blood started dripping down my cheeks. Powering through the pain, I focused on my empathy and tried to link my mind with Ria¡¯s¡­ it was another way I hoped I could get my vision back¡­ by jacking into her or any other living being¡¯s senses. The empathy was already something special¡­ so I felt that it was logical that my mutation would strengthen it¡­ Even if this world expansion hadn¡¯t occurred, I was planning to train it so I could do that anyway¡­ after all, my powers had strengthened after years of using it to train dogs¡­ though I wasn¡¯t sure whether it was due to my training or a natural consequence of growing up. Whatever¡­ I wasn¡¯t letting a single possibility through. I picked up a handful of soil and started licking it trying my best to stop myself from choking on the strange earthy taste¡­ snakes used their tongue to sense their prey¡­ so could I. I tried my hardest to split my attention enough to focus on the smallest of sounds¡­ echolocation was another way I could go. I breathed deeply through my nose, trying to take in every scent within my perception. Suddenly, a sharp spike of pain blasted through my brain. The world seemed to spin and I felt nauseous. As the ground came up to meet my face and I lost consciousness, I couldn¡¯t help but pray to any deity that might be bored enough to listen. Give me my light back¡­ it¡¯s all I want. Chapter 4: ROOT I see light at the end of the tunnel. It¡¯s a fleshy, moist tunnel that is trying its best to expel me though. I seem to be quite powerless to resist. The convulsions are getting weaker. Hey don¡¯t stop Mr. Tunnel¡­ get me out of here. I can¡¯t breathe. The convulsions stopped. *kuu* What was that? Was that my voice? It sounds so feeble. Like it will momentarily be extinguished by this suffocating darkness. . Suddenly, the entrance to the tunnel widens and light pours in. *kuu* It is hurting my eyes. But¡­ I can breathe. Large gloved hands scoop me up and place me somewhere warm and dry. I¡¯m exhausted. I¡¯ll¡­ sleep. . . Hey? Where am I now? It¡¯s dark. I don¡¯t like the dark. I have a strong desire to move towards the light. But¡­ the desire seems foreign somehow¡­ like it isn¡¯t mine. Hey, I can see a little pinprick of light that way. I try to move towards it. I desperately paddle my paws as if I were swimming. A sense of incongruity hits me¡­ Shouldn¡¯t I have hands? Why do I have paws? Even that thought seems foreign so I ignore it. It grows weaker as I reach closer to the light. Both of us seem excited as the pinprick expands to the size of a door and we fall through it. . . I am the runt of the litter. The others are all stronger and larger than me. When its time to feed, they push me out. Even if I manage to get to the teat faster than them, they shove me and pull my tail until I move. When I try to do that to them, mother stops me though. I don¡¯t get it. It isn¡¯t fair. I somehow get the feeling that I am not part of the litter. She tolerates me staying there and feeding off the dregs of her milk after the litter is done. But she growls warningly at me whenever I try to compete with them. I am always hungry. At least they let me pile up with them to sleep. Their bodies are warm against me as I drift off. . . I¡¯m back in the dark. I have hands this time. There is something moving behind me. I grab at it. It¡¯s a tail. Something at the back of my mind tells me that it isn''t part of me. But it is drowned out by an excitement at finally having caught my tail. Something I had been trying to do for years. Suddenly, I have paws again. I turn my head back and there''s that annoying thing wagging at me as if it is taunting me.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. *bark* I start chasing after it with reckless abandon, moving in circles all over the place until I accidentally fall through another portal. . . I am sitting there leashed to the wall. My chin is resting on my paws as I study the boy, looking at me, through half closed lids. It¡¯s the same thing every day¡­ in the morning, they keep us tied up in the cage while in the evening, they let us out for food and exercise. Sometimes people come and take one of us away¡­ nobody has taken me yet. It¡¯s quite boring in the mornings so I sleep them off. The boy in front of me points at me and says something. I raise my eyebrows as I peer up at him. The keeper seems to be saying something. Then he goes away, leaving the boy behind. He kneels by my cage and peers in through the bars. I suddenly feel very curious about him and I sit up. A voice at the back of my head tells me that these feelings aren¡¯t mine¡­ but I don¡¯t care, I¡¯m curious. I want to know more about the boy. I sniff in his scent, remembering it. I suddenly like him a lot. I want to follow him as my pack leader. I don¡¯t know why though¡­ even though he doesn¡¯t have fur or claws and his teeth are really blunt. The voice at the back of my head is even more insistent. But I can¡¯t resist the dictum of my emotions. The keeper is back and seems surprised at my change. The voice at the back of my head tries one last time before falling silent. . . I don¡¯t know why but I suddenly feel guilty. I shake my head as if I would shake off water. My ears flop against my head as I shake it. I am back on all four of my paws. I suddenly don¡¯t like that boy too much. In fact, I have a strong urge to bite him the next time I see him. A voice at the back of my head seems to protest against taking that course of action. It sounds suspiciously like that of the boy. I sniff around, trying to find him. Suddenly, my snout shrinks and becomes a nose and my forepaws become hands. Although the fur is still there. I don¡¯t feel like pursuing the responsibility of the boy anymore. I waddle along awkwardly on my mismatched limbs and walk into a particularly bright portal. . . I am at the park. Its my favourite place in the vicinity. The air is clean and filled with scents other than the nasty haze that is emitted by those large metallic beasts. That smoke blocks my nose and makes me want to sneeze. Here though, I can let loose and breathe deeply. I can smell the flowers and the scent of prey¡­ there are a few mice around that way. I have never hunted them but I just know that they are prey. I want to go over and explore but a voice at the back of my head tells me that I can¡¯t leave my pack leader too far. So, I stay¡­ though I really don¡¯t want to. I turn back to see my pack leader fumbling along, tapping a stick against the ground. I can smell the depression seeping off him. It¡¯s been the same for a week. He¡¯s been moping around in a closed room and regularly having panic attacks. There¡­ he¡¯s having one now. I walk over and rub my nose into his neck. I can feel the blood coursing through the artery beneath his skin. It would be so easy to lay my teeth against his neck and have him submit. A pack leader shouldn¡¯t be so weak and need the comforting of the second¡­ maybe I should be the pack leader for a change. The voice at the back of my head flares up again and all I can do is whine at him in order to comfort him. The voice at the back of my head floods my mind with satisfaction. I feel like I did the right thing¡­ I¡¯m happy. . Suddenly, I sense something. A feeling rises up from the depths of my mind¡­ it is something far more powerful, far far more ancient than that puny voice. It fills me up with anticipation towards what will happen next. *rrrrmmmmmmbbbbllleeeee* The tremors of the earth run through my body thoroughly stoking my excitement. All sensitive life in the area stills as the world, from one moment to another, becomes different. I feel the primal urge to rush towards the epicentre of the mutation which is extremely close to me. I am just about to bound away when the annoying voice strikes again. I try to fight it off but it is too deeply entrenched. Left with no choice I debase myself towards the pack leader. *whine* He nods and I¡¯m off, rushing through the hedges to that smooth piece of land where I instinctively know something important lies. Prompted by instinct, I start breathing in the air greedily. Racing against time to get as much of it into my system as I can before it disperses. I vaguely feel the pack leader joining in¡­ but I have no time to care. I can feel something entering my body with each breath, strengthening me¡­ I can feel the fog that has always been over my mind clear and the clarity of my thought processes increase drastically. I now know that the boy has been manipulating me, bending me to his will. I feel my teeth sharpening in my mouth. I run my tongue over them. I feel myself anticipating the taste of his blood. I feel myself anticipating the taste of his FEAR. But, for now, I must make use of every moment. Suddenly with a spike of pain, I black out. . . I wake up with a massive headache. Everything is quite blurry. Where am I? Who am I? Oh! Right. I was trying to regain my sight via mutation. My heart starts to beat harder due to my nervousness. Did it work? I think about opening my eyes and a blinding light shines into my eyes¡­ *yelp* And I yelp in surprise. My vision slowly adjusts to the brightness and I can see. I can SEE! I CAN SEE AGAIN! Hahahaha. I can see again. Whoo. Although it¡¯s all black and white¡­ And a snout is blocking part of my vision¡­ Wait¡­ snout? Snout?! *woof* Paws¡­ check. Fur¡­ check. Tail¡­ check. Yup. It¡¯s final. I am in Ria¡¯s body¡­ Well¡­ it¡¯s not that bad¡­ I was kind of expecting something like this when I tried for mutation. Okay¡­ now I just have to figure out how to get back to my body. Which¡­ is lying there¡­ ...not breathing... . . . Fuck me sideways. I¡¯m stuck in the body of my dog¡­ No¡­ scratch that¡­ I¡¯m stuck in the body of my BITCH¡­ Fuck. My. Life. . A feminine voice resounds in my mind, ¡°Get the fuck out of my body, you parasite!!¡± . . Oh, great, now I have schizophrenia on top of everything else.
[Welcome to the ROOT.]
And, I''m hallucinating... . *AWOOOOOOO!!* Chapter 5: Picture of the Past There¡¯s a colosseum in front of me and I am sitting on the bleachers with my chin resting on my palms as I lean forwards, supporting my elbows on my thigh. Beside me Ria is sitting on a modified seat with a lot of cushions. We are watching a fight between a dog and a boy wearing a gladiatorial costume. That dog is Ria and the boy is me. Confused? It¡¯s pretty simple. We are in a shared consciousness space which formed after I went and possessed Ria¡¯s body. We are in here as astral projections? Soul bodies? Well¡­ as something or the other. And we can have one main projection and multiple sub projections that are like clones, which are just mindless versions that can only focus on one order at a time. Right now, our clones are duking it out with an order to fight to the death. Ohh¡­ clone me just managed to pull off a shield bash right into clone Ria¡¯s face. Hmm¡­ now where did I learn to do that? Here¡¯s the thing¡­ clones can only know what the original does¡­ so I probably picked up basic shield mastery from somewhere¡­ Skyrim? I knew I liked that game too much. *crunch* Ouch. Clone Ria just chomped down on¡­ let¡¯s call him Metwo¡­ I always was a sucker for pokemon. Annd Metwo uses counter and sticks his little gladiator sword in her brain. K.O. The clones dissipate and I shudder and rub my arm from the phantom pain from the feedback from the clone. Beside me Ria scratches her head¡­ probably feeling weird from experiencing one fourth of the pain of being stabbed in her brain. At least it¡¯s better than the actual thing¡­ trust me we know. Believe it or not we were foolish enough to try this with our original astral projections¡­ if not for the fact that the originals can resurrect infinitely, our dispute would have ended in mutual destruction. What¡¯s the dispute you ask? Simple¡­ we are fighting to decide who gets dominion over our body for the next hour. Initially, when I heard her voice, I thought that I had turned schizophrenic. That stopped when she pulled my astral projection into this space and laid into me with her teeth. Apparently, the mutation opened up her wisdom and instead of being a dumb dog¡­ she has the mental capabilities of a human¡­ So, I have a roomie in my mind. Joy! *sigh* Fuck this. Anyway¡­ since either one of us can drag the other into this space forcefully, leaving only our instincts in charge of our body, we had to come to an agreement. Fighting to the death using clones was what the barbaric bitch chose. Well¡­ at first, we didn¡¯t know about clones and she wanted to use the originals¡­ which scared the shit out of me so much that I ended up discovering clones. Just think ¡®take the shit for me¡¯ real hard and poof¡­ mindless drone +1. I won this round, so the next hour was mine¡­ I snapped my fingers and a huge screen replaced the colosseum. It was curved to give the 120-degree field of view effect showing a black and white image: That of our body snout-deep in some trashcan in an alley¡­The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Dogs don¡¯t see in colour¡­ back to the nineties anyone? . ¡°I knew her training was incomplete¡­¡± I muttered and immediately, Ria¡¯s hackles rose beside me. ¡°Don¡¯t you dare bring up training, human! How dare you debase one with the noble bloodline of the Hounds of Hel?!¡± I was riling her up to get her to let slip with just such nuggets of information. She knew things. I don¡¯t know how, but she did. Hel huh? Wasn¡¯t it some Norse underworld? Did she become chuunibyou? I turned to her and said, ¡°Okay, you can have this turn¡­ but instead you tell me all about this bloodline and Hel stuff.¡± She struggled internally for a bit and then ground out, ¡°Six hours.¡± Well¡­ she didn¡¯t say that¡­ it was more like *bark**arf* and somehow it auto translated from Dogese? Doglish? to my mother tongue. ¡°Deal!¡± The information was much more important. She touched her forehead with a claw and pulled out a silver thread and deposited it in a stone bowl that she conjured up¡­ It looked suspiciously like a pensieve from Harry Potter¡­ I raised an eyebrow at her and she huffed, ¡°What? I liked that series¡­ the Cerberus in the first film was really handsome¡­¡± she stayed starry eyed for a moment before disappearing to take over our body and get its snout out of the trash. Oh Gods¡­ what did I just hear? My bitch has a CG waifu. . I sat there for a time watching Ria run about through the projection of her point of view on the screen¡­ Actually, I could turn on the 7d experience with touch, smell etc. But that would be weird because my astral projection is human and the sensations would come from a dog shaped body¡­ so I usually went for sight only. I remembered my situation and became depressed. We had left my corpse in the park and run away to a nearby alley before bickering about body ownership¡­ I needed to think of a way to get back a human body¡­ maybe my power was body possession? Yeah¡­ I needed to make more informed choices¡­ just winging it had gotten me into this situation. If I had studied more about the mutation, I could have guided it properly. Instead I was stuck in a dog. Experimenting with the powers was secondary to information. I turned to the pensieve, held my breath and plunged my head into it¡­ Only to knock my head against the bottom¡­ hard. Ouch! That bitch! It was intentional¡­ I just know it. I looked back at the stone bowl and the silver stuff was gone and there was new knowledge in my head. . Apparently, earth was a living creature which had to breathe. So, at regular intervals, it expanded like an accordion and drew in some good radiations¡­ cosmic oxygen if you will¡­ these radiations caused mutations and stuff. But that was secondary. Its main function was making creatures more intelligent. Then when it breathed out, the accordion compressed and out came the CO2/bad radiation and dumbed everyone down. Apparently, after the last exhalation cycle, everyone was dumb and then due to some luck, humans became intelligent and then you know the story. But this bloodlines thing is from the last inhalation age¡­ some scientist, who was an owl by the way (sheesh, talk about stereotypes), found a way to genetically imprint information into the next generation. Like humans have an instinctive fear of snakes due to some information locked away within the genetic code, his tech imprinted stuff like language etc. So, you didn¡¯t have to go to school¡­ booster packs of knowledge¡­ boom¡­ done. Sounds like TM from pokemon¡­ Anyway¡­ since everyone could start earlier and had superpowers it became really high tech before the end of the fun times¡­ then came the apocalypse. Mwahahahaha. Sadly, no animal Nostradamus pulled through for them and they were caught unprepared ¨C only had time to imprint some stuff about their civilization into their descendants. Hel was a nice country¡­ too bad when the space folding happened, it went into the crevice and the earth that you see now came out. It¡¯s like a coin flip; you see our small and homely Blue Planet, or you see the expansive Other Earth. That¡¯s all that there was in the memories¡­ I could guess that Ria wanted to go to Hel for a visit, but had no idea of how to do it. Even I was curious about Other Earth¡­ would everything there be intact¡­ or, would the rubbing of the spaces grind it smooth like the patch of ground in the park. If it was intact, could we get some animal tech out of it?
Welcome to the ROOT.
Also, I now knew what that blinking notification that had been distracting the shit out of me was all about. ROOT, the acronym of Resas Ounis Oum Technicia, which translates roughly to Root of All Knowledge, was an all-encompassing system that spanned Other Earth. It was basically the agglomeration of the knowledge possessed by all the races and it was governed by a highly intelligent AI formed from the agglomeration of every conscious individual linked to it. It was put in place by an Esper with the skill [Mind Link] in collaboration with his wife who possessed the skill [Perfect Memory]. At first, it was only used as a convenient communication network -- the "Internet of Minds" if you please. But with the advent of bloodline technology and the ability to encode memories directly into the DNA... it became something much, much more. Chapter 6: Leaping Rooftops Ever read George Orwell¡¯s 1984? I have. The concept of a Big Brother watching over all our actions scares me. The concept sleep learning -- of a machine instilling different values into us as we sleep so we wake up as different individuals terrifies me. If that is dystopian, then it is a dystopian kiddie pool compared to the vast ocean that was the Other Earther society. They brainwashed kids for god¡¯s sake! The moment you were born, or even in your mother¡¯s womb, the memories loaded into your genes by the ruling authorities would imprint themselves into your mind. Other Earthers were born with a full command over language, basic science and whatever moral paradigm was in vogue at that point of time. Considering that they also had superpowers¡­ they were true blue superbabies. Or, in the case of the Hounds of Hel: superpups. That was how Ria ended up as a canine supremacist within moments of her awakening. While I can''t bring myself to support the practice, I can see why it became so popular. Consider for a moment how much time is wasted drilling basic knowledge into the heads of children in our current education system. Years. Decades! And we aren¡¯t even learning anything new. The alphabet, the number system, the four basic operations of arithmetic¡­ that is what a grade schooler spends a year learning. In Other Earth, it took an instant. You might argue that human interaction is sacrificed in this process¡­ there is no time to form their own world view. But, in fact, there is more time for social interaction when you don¡¯t have to waste valuable years cooped up in a classroom. Time made even more precious by the fact that a dog¡¯s lifespan is much shorter than a human¡¯s. Sacrificing a large chunk of freedom for increased efficiency¡­ I cannot claim to be qualified to pass judgement on an entire society but, despite the blistering rate of progress resulting from the practice, I wouldn¡¯t want to be born on Other Earth. . . Reluctantly, drawing myself out of the catatonic state inspired by my ponderance of an entirely new society, I decide to entertain myself otherwise. Luckily for me, I have a live show to watch. Conjuring up some popcorn and cola, I sink back into the most comfortable chair I can imagine and turn on the giant screen. Ria was still in that alley, stretching herself to get used to her new body. Apparently, the mutation had made her stronger and she had grown a bit larger too. She was testing her now retractable claws and elongated fingers. No opposable thumbs sadly. Her fur seemed a dark grey¡­ a far cry from the beige it had been. Well, I was seeing stuff in black and white so it could have been anything from brown to a dark shade of hot pink. Finishing her warm up, she retreated back to the end of the narrow alley to get space for a running start. I am curious¡­ what does she want to do? Her muscles bunched and she pushed off the ground, the surroundings blurring on the screen as she reached the trashcan she had placed in the middle. She jumped on it and then kicked off again, aiming for the metallic fire escape staircase that ended a floor and a half from the ground. *splat* She slammed face first into the wall above the staircase and slid down until her hind legs touched the staircase, then she fell back, her head hanging backwards off the staircase with her tongue lolling out and her forelegs curled up into the air. *canned laughter.mp3*Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. She had underestimated her power up from the mutation.
[Jump] proficiency: 95.71 percentile
This was the function of the ROOT. At its core, it was a learning aid. Based on the proficiency of an individual in a certain skill, they were awarded a percentile score telling them how good they were at it compared to the rest of the population of their race. Going by the number of digits after the decimal on the score, I estimated that at least a thousand dogs had already awakened their powers and joined the ROOT and Ria was in the top five percent by jumping prowess. Ria quickly struggled up from her disgraceful belly-up posture and shook her head to clear the dizziness from the impact. This was the tallest apartment in the block with five whole floors and as such had a fire escape stairway on the outside. To prevent burglary, the stairs stopped a floor and a half above the ground and a foldable ladder was placed there for someone to get the rest of the way down. The house beside this one had four floors, beyond which was my four-storeyed apartment complex. The fourth floor of which was mine. Ria quickly climbed to the roof using the stairs and then began to take a run up stance. My eyes widened as I realised what she wanted to do. She wanted to enter my room from the roof. I immediately morphed my astral projection into the form corresponding to our canine body and turned on the 7d setting. And suddenly, I was in our body¡­ sight, sound, touch¡­ everything. Just, I wasn¡¯t in control of the body. I could feel the muscles bunch, the racing heartbeat, the feel of the air against the tongue, taking away the excess heat away from our body¡­ then we were off. Our body stretched out with the forepaws braced for impact with the ground. Front right, front left, bunch up the body, back right, back left, kick off with the hind legs¡­ repeat. I could feel the fluid grace with which my whole body contorted to eke out the maximum speed until we reached the edge of the roof and then suddenly, we were in mid-air. Geronimo! *skitter**skitter**crash* We landed onto the roof of the next house and using our claws, bled off the momentum, only stopping after crashing into a flowerpot and knocking it over.
[Sprint] proficiency: 77.51 percentile
[Jump] proficiency: 99.82 percentile
We lay there for a moment, belly-up, savouring the feeling of the jump and panting to cool down our overheated body. Dogs don¡¯t have sweat glands so they have to make do with their saliva evaporating on their tongue, cooling them off. ROOT had ranked us for our sprinting and our jump proficiency rating had improved. A trickle of information entered our minds. Which muscles to flex when we were taking a run-up, which ones to use when we were pushing off, the optimal breathing pattern¡­ we suddenly knew these things as though they had always been there at the back of our mind and we were just remembering them again. This was our reward for improving our rating. The ROOT, true to its name of the root of all knowledge, rewarded an eagerness to explore. It analysed and compiled the skill data of every individual connected to it and used it to form a model of the most optimal way to perform that skill. Whenever an individual, through their hard work, improved themselves, their findings were added to the database of the ROOT and used to perfect the model further. The individual was remunerated by knowledge about the optimal model. The amount of knowledge granted was based upon their initial ranking and the degree of improvement. After a brief rest, we got up and prepared to jump again. This time was much more dangerous¡­ This building and our apartment building had the same number of floors, but due to the difference in construction standards over the years, this one was pretty old and ours was built recently, the height of this roof was higher. Still, the height difference was less than that of the previous jump so we needed to put much more power into the jump to be safe. Fortunately, the reward from ROOT had come just in time. Ready¡­ run up and JUMP! *Aaaah**slam* Oh, shit oh shit ohshit¡­ We were hanging off the edge of the roof with our forepaws while our hind legs were scrabbling for purchase against the wall. Finally, one of our hind claws got stuck in a crack in the masonry and we had enough leverage to send the other leg over the wall. We then somehow crawled over and fell onto the roof where we panted for breath. Too exciting¡­ God knows how spider-man does this for a living¡­ Hey wait¡­ maybe there really is a real-life Peter Parker by now who has been bitten by a mutated spider and gained superpowers¡­ Or more plausibly, died.
[Jump] proficiency: 100 percentile
Oh yeah! It¡¯s official. We are the top bitch, dawgs. A stream of information flows into us, much greater in volume than the previous time. It seems like reaching the top of the rankings has a large bonus reward. The information this time consists of the current version of the perfect model for canine leaping as well as a lot of disorderly data about how different species do their jumping. A cursory glance nets me an impression about how a rabbit makes those multi-body-length hops. I get the distinct impression that the ROOT wants us to explore and help it improve its model. I¡¯m glad Ria thought to experiment with roof-hopping now rather than later. It has only been a few days since the mutation started and there are already a thousand dogs in the system. The more time that passes, the more members there will be and the more time they will have to experiment with their skills. Getting this reward will be much tougher in the future. Chapter 7: A Life Lost Finally, getting back our breath, we walk through the perpetually open gate to the roof. Going down the staircase, we finally reach our apartment. I retreat back into the mindscape, morph back to human and turn on visuals only. I watch as Ria drags out the doormat, picks up the key and slots it into the door with her teeth after a bit of a fumble. Unlocking the door, she enters the living room and kicks the door shut with her hind leg. Suddenly, she¡¯s back in the mindscape. ¡°Human, go and get us a map of the nearest area where the world mutation is occurring and directions on how to get there. I detest asking for your assistance but I cannot read.¡± I don¡¯t like her tone so instead of complying immediately, I ask her a question. ¡°Why the acrobatics? Why didn¡¯t you just walk up from the ground?¡± She huffs in annoyance and says, ¡°I look quite a bit different and didn¡¯t want to be seen by the gate guards. Your corpse is still there in the park and soon your clansmen will come looking for me as the suspect or to imprison me for research¡­ I don¡¯t want my changed appearance associated with you. It¡¯s the same reason I discarded that collar of yours¡­ and it was a reminder of my shameful past as your mindless thrall. Now that you have your answer, hurry up.¡± Shrugging, I engage my mind and just like that, I¡¯m back in Ria¡¯s body. This time I¡¯m in control and already familiar with it by inhabiting it for some time during the 7d mode. I run to my room and open my closet to take out my small camping bag. It¡¯s empty and just the right size for my body and big enough to fit in my laptop and charger. I put my forepaws on my desk, bite down on the laptop and carefully bring it down to the ground. Opening it, I click the power button with a claw.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. It runs Windows so it takes ages to load¡­ so in the meantime I run up to my couch where I kept my phone before going out and try to get it to work. Sadly, the touchscreen doesn¡¯t work for my dog paws¡­ something to do with bioelectricity and the skin on the paw pads being too thick¡­ Anyway, I hear the start up music and run back to the laptop and unlock it by typing out the password one letter at a time. I feel like some zombie without my touch-typing capabilities. I can¡¯t help but feel that if someone just clicked a photograph of me now, it¡¯d be meme-worthy. Some dicking around with the wifi later, I finally manage to download what we need. Some dude had photoshopped the known plate lines onto every map on an atlas and put up the ebook version on Kindle. It was on the top downloads list in minutes and the reviews were fantastic so one claw later, it is mine and the dude, five dollars richer. Ria is right and the cops could be here at any time and I need to haul tail¡­ I have no wish to be dissected. I shut the laptop lid and stuff it into my empty bag along with the charger and after some thought, my in-ear earphones. Scrounging around my room, I find some bubble wrap¡­ *pop**pop* Damn it! These things have some sort of infernal charm you can¡¯t help but pop them bubbles even in such an urgent situation. Finally restraining myself, I pack the sides of the laptop with the stuff to protect it and zip up the bag. Passing my forepaws through the straps, I buckle the strap on my waist after some fumbling with my four fingered paws¡­ oh how I miss my opposable thumbs... I am now ready to step onto the road of adventure. On to glory! I put my paw on the door handle and it swings open¡­ To reveal a cop who looks just as surprised to see me as I feel¡­ . . Oh shit! The cop¡¯s hand reaches for the holster on his side and I start panicking. Suddenly, my vision tunnels and I am thrown back into the mindscape. Through the screen, I watch Ria lunge for the cop¡­ Her jaws closing on his throat¡­ *crunch* . . Oh ... shit.