2018-12-20 - spike - The New Shop 91

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 91
Date: 20 December 2018

Chapter 91
Four looked at the list of slaves and shook his head.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you think any of them are worthy?”

His shoulders sagged. “It’s not that. Some of them are my friends. Ones I captured to give them the same life I’d learned to love. Five of them… Not to mention that one.” He prodded the screen of my armband.

“And that one?”

“Nothing. I still think of it like that. I really should stop. It’s become a lot more likeable since it trapped itself in the suit.”

Six glanced over his shoulder and nodded. “It wouldn’t be fair for either of us. We all shared the same circle of friends, and those two…” His shoulders shook. “Oh god, it’d be good if they were both dogs at the same time. I’ll have to withdraw too.”

I sighed. “OK. How about this… I picked one. Each of you pick a favourite too. We’ve got five suits. How does that sound? What about those two?”

“Brothers. One of them doesn’t even know the other’s here.”

“M mentioned twins a few times… Trying to outdo each other shocking the public… They’ve both submitted to dog training?”

“No, not them. One of them volunteered, its brother didn’t. We’ve got another pair of brothers too. Nothing and blank. Well, technically they’re both blank now, it earned its upgrade from nothing years ago.”

“Ah, the shoplifter? Stole the suit and went to a nightclub? M told me about him… it… too. I would’ve thought it would’ve been sold by now?”

“Hard worker and learned to love the life. It even said the best thing it ever did in its life was steal that suit. Q deemed it worthy to stay in the end.”

“Right then, I’ve chosen mine, one for each of you. It’s not likely to be the only dog event, just the first so they’ll all get to dog up eventually. The silvers should be given a chance too, later. Not to mention you lot.”

Ten shook his head. “Not me. I’ve tried on the dog suit, spent half a day in it when they were first being designed.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Half a day?! Try ten! That was my first time in the dog. Originally meant to be three but what with… Well, you all know the story by now. Trust me, once you get into the spirit it’s fucking good. Doesn’t matter now though but if Q gives you the chance to try… DO. Even M loves it.. Now… Choose.”

Four studied the list again and prodded. “That one. Gaz. Well, that was its old name. It took it harder than the others. Saw the suit as worse than prison at the start.”

“Prison? Ex-con?”

Four nodded.

“Is it paired up with anyone right now? We sent an ex-con and the shrink who came to the shop to treat Alpha said he’d given ours homework and put it with another who’d spent time in jail to help it.”

Ten nodded. “It is, yes. They’re not tied together but two weeks…”

I shrugged. “I’m not sure I’d pick that one then. It has work to do. I think I spoke to it. Lashed out at Four when he unfroze it after its clean? Said it was loving it?”

Four nodded. “How did you”

“I asked. Had a few blanks wheel me around over the past couple of weeks. Always interesting to see how they ended up here. Even met one of ours. That’s the one I chose.”

“Right then.” Four fiddled with his band and typed. “I’m sorry, blank. I was going to select you for the dog but Eleven asked if you’d been paired with an ex-con they recently sent. Ten confirmed you had. It wouldn’t be fair on it to take you away from it now for two weeks. I guarantee, the next time we do this, you’ll be top of the list. Especially if you can talk your new friend into submitting to dog training too.”

Another fiddle and four pointed at another blank’s ident. “That one then. Nick. It reacted violently to being forced into the chair for its tubing. Didn’t even say it never wants out, so… Yeah. That one.”

“Six?”

Six chuckled. “It’s always been a fan of extremes, even more than its brother… Yeah. One of the twins, the one who doesn’t know its brother’s here.”

“Does its brother know which one it is?”

Six nodded. “They’ve spoken but it’s never let on who it is. It’s afraid if it finds out it’ll get clingy.”

“Five?”

“One we captured just before I left the shop. I got on really well with it.” he pointed. “That one.”

“And Ten?”

Ten nodded. “I think I’ll give the blank who was nothing some fun. It did adjust amazingly well to its enslavement. I like it.”
* * *
Ten contacted the designer, the suits were brought up and the five dogs summoned.

It didn’t take long for them to line up before us.

“We decided on a different method of choosing than what we originally intended. We selected based on pure favouritism. Four and six didn’t think they could objectively choose with so many of their friends as volunteers. Therefore, we chose one each. Congratulations, you’re dogs for the next two weeks.”

The one in the middle twiddled. “So, Four chose me?”

“You’ll have to tell me which one you are?”

“Four hated me at first. Blamed me for the death of his friend. Oh god when I found out Dan WAS Four I ran up and hugged him. Thanked him. I needed that kick in the teeth he gave me when he explained how I’d been acting that first day.”

“That… doesn’t help me, blank. Anything more?”

“They originally named me nothing, sir.”

“Ah, then no. Four selected another. One of his friends. It was Ten who selected you.”

“Oh god, it looks good. Thank you, Ten, sir.”

“Let’s all get you into the dogs then. These five blanks before you will be provided with dog training bands. The only words you’ll hear for the next two weeks apart from instructions for the event itself will be from those bands. Doggy commands. Each of these blanks raced and some spent over a month in those suits. They’re all experienced so should be good at training too.”

I selected the burglar. “Step forward.”

A lot of force and manipulation later, the suit’s designer peeled back the adhesive tape and with his guidance, I helped in the sealing of the suit. That done, the plug’s core was removed, the tail added, the goggles and butt sealed to the inner suit, I patted him on the head to get his new ID and selected everyone in the room.

“How would you like a name similar to your friends, boy? Slasher, Bandit, Rascal… I think I’ll call you… Rogue.”

A wag of the tail, another dog was named.

Four called his forward.

It twiddled. “Oh fuck this should be good, sir.”

Four nodded. “Let’s get you in there.”

“What’re you going to name me, sir?”

I chuckled. “Patience, blank. You’ll find out, let your tail decide.”

Another struggle. Another dog born. Four knelt. “I know how much you loved the old Battlestar Galactica series. How do you like Muffet, boy?”

Muffet’s tail went into overdrive and his shoulders shook with laughter. He nodded.

Five didn’t even need to think about it. The moment the tail was in place, he named his Killer.

Not a glimmer, not even a sway from side to side, the tail remained motionless.

“That a police dog name, Five? Dixon was a cop so a police dog name made sense for him.”

He nodded. “I… Can’t think of any other dog names that haven’t already been used.”

“What did blank do before it was blank?”

“All kinds of things. Builder, carpenter, little bit of plumbing and electrical too. Still does that now.”

“How about Jack? Good dog name, Jack-of-all-trades.”

Five nodded and stroked his dog. “How about it? Jack?”

Another tail wag.

Then it was Ten’s turn. He didn’t kneel, he stood before his dog.

“For you, how about going back to your roots?”

The dog cocked his head in that way we all did when curious.

“I won’t name you zero. You earned your way out of that years ago, but zip means nothing too… No, I won’t name you zip either but how about Zippy? Two meanings, one for how you used to be, annoying as fuck, according to Four… The other, quick which I expect you to be when you’re trained.”

Another nod, another chuckle and another tail wag.

I looked at Ten curiously. “Why’s Zippy annoying?”

“You’re American, Eleven. You obviously never saw Rainbow. It was a very loud and obnoxious puppet on a kids TV programme.”

Then it was Six’s turn. “I like Ten’s way of thinking. Going back to your roots. How does Sleazy sound? I heard that was the original name of Duke before he sacrificed his humanity to save M during the first race. No-one was sleazier than you, not even your brother.”

This one collapsed into fits of what I could only assume was laughter, its tail going into overdrive.

I nodded. “Good. All the dogs are named. I don’t think Duke will object to its old name being reused. Not that it matters what it thinks of course. Storm, step forward and choose your dog.”

It twiddled. “And Rogue was one of us? One of our batch? The same batch as Slasher and Duke?”

“He was.”

“I’ll choose him then, sir.”

I glanced at Four. “Any objection to Psi taking its place in a different block for a couple of weeks?”

“Why?”

“I don’t want Caesar and Brutus to see any other dogs until the day of the race. It’ll be a surprise when they find themselves facing up against the rest.”

“Can’t see any harm in it. Cell block three has a few empty ground floor cages.” He tapped something on his wristband. “Two, temporary cell reassignment. Put Psi in block three. It’s got a dog to train.”

“Rascal, step forward. Choose your dog.”

“I was going to choose Rogue, sir.” It turned to Psi. “Please. I don’t see it often, we’re in different blocks and it was… is a friend.”

“He, blank, not it while in a dog, remember.” I turned to Psi. “How about it Psi?”

Psi’s shoulders sagged a little. “Sorry blank. I didn’t think. I’ll take Sleazy, should be able to get him up to speed quickly enough… Hope I can anyway. Hope he’s as good as the original.”

“Dash?”

“I’ll take Jack, sir.”

Saxon selected Zippy and with a name like Muffet, it was hardly a surprise when he was selected last. His master for the next two weeks, Rebel.

“Is anyone else here in cell block one?”

The other four shook their heads.

“Good. Then dismissed. Begin your training. Don’t forget, they need to be fed and washed in the same way you are. And don’t overwork them. You all know how long it takes, so be patient and be generous with the good dogs at the start.”

As each led its new pet to the elevator, the designer handed them armbands and before we knew it, they were gone.

Four chuckled. “That went well. So what are your plans for Caesar tomorrow?”

“Something I’ve not had a chance to do yet. Go for a run outside with them.”

He nodded. “Just, steer clear of any forests or wooded areas.”

“Forests? I thought everything was dead!”

“It is. It didn’t wipe the island clean though. The trees are dead but they’re still there and as there’s nothing to cause the wood to rot, in this heat, it’s turning brittle. A breeze is enough to bring a branch down and those things could kill you if you’re not careful.”

“Any other advice?”

“When you’re in outgoing, turn around a few times in the second chamber.”

“Errr…”

“A fine aerosol mist in there, make sure you get a good coverage. Factor fifty, it’ll protect you from the sun.”

“I thought the suit did that.”

“Yes, but that sun’s hot and the UV’s pretty strong too. Not enough for a total lock but it’ll make the suit more difficult to walk in if you’re not covered. It also acts as a reflective surface to deflect some of the heat. Oh, and don’t forget your trainers. You could go out there without but it wouldn’t be comfortable unless you’re used to walking barefoot.”

“From the rec room?”

“Oh god no. There are footwear shelves in outgoing. Check them out there along with your nose filter. When you’re on the way back in, check them in before decon. They’ll be decontaminated too and put back in outgoing.”