2018-12-26 - spike - The New Shop 92

Author: spike
Title: The New Shop 92
Date: 26 December 2018

Chapter 92
I stood in the scanner enduring that excruciating itch again, worse, this time, it seemed to be spreading.

It was clear they were fixing me in other places now. What worried me was there was some around my mouth. I wondered what the hell they were doing to me, but shrugged internally. Whatever it was it didn’t matter. I was Q’s and happy with that in ways I couldn’t even put into words and my mouth? Not something I’d ever need again anyway.

The doc unfroze me. I stepped out and pointed at my mouth.

“Ah, that. Yes. As you’re tubed up for the rest of your life, you have no need of teeth. We’re loosening them, neutralising the nerve endings that go to them and shutting down the blood supply. Over the next couple of weeks your teeth will begin to loosen so when we get you out of that suit they can be pulled without causing you any injury or pain. No bleeding either, so the washing cycle shouldn’t be a problem for your gums.”

I strapped on my armband again and typed. “I’d never even thought of that. Thank you, sir. You’re right, I don’t need them anymore. I suppose they’ll be more trouble than they’re worth in the end.”

“Quite.”

“What else were you doing? The itching in my body spread too.”

“More repairs. Nothing to concern yourself with. How do you feel, now? Any remaining pain?”

“No, sir. I…” I examined how I did feel. “In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever felt better, sir.”

“Good. That should continue to improve.”

“What about the others, sir? Can’t remove their teeth, not without removing their suits.”

“Oh, we can. The nanites will work on them too. Not in the same way of course. They can dismantle the teeth inside out, reabsorb the minerals for reuse in the body. You’ll all be as toothless as an old hag by the end of the year.”

I chuckled to myself and nodded.

“Now, I believe you’ve got a couple of dogs to train.”

I gave the doc a thumbs up and rushed down to the cell block to collect them.
* * *
It was a large building. I’d passed it and the other two a few times on my walks but this was the first time I’d ever looked at it closely. This one was the exit nearest to the beach.

Two doors, one with no handle, the hinges obviously designed to swing outward and no way I could see to get it open. The other had a handle, so, I entered. The dogs followed.

A line of benches and pigeon holes lined the walls. On one side, heavy work boots, on the other, sneakers in all the sizes you could get them in.

I pulled down a pair of size elevens but when I tried them on they were way too big. Good brand too, so I didn’t know why the sizing was so bad until I saw a size comparison chart pinned to the wall. They were in British sizes. Of course! Silly of me. I selected a pair of size nines instead and they were a perfect fit.

The door at the end looked like a heavy metal airlock with a large sign in red writing.

“Never forget your breathing apparatus.” and an arrow pointing diagonally down to a shelf filled with the same air filters we’d used during the chemical spill in the store. Beneath that was a rack with more complex breathing kit including air cylinders.

I grabbed three filters and shoved them up our noses. I gave mine a tug to make sure it was secure and it came out again. I shoved it back up my nose tubes and contacted Four.

“The filters aren’t secure, don’t I need someone with a fob to secure them?”

“Don’t worry, eleven. The moment you set foot in the next chamber, they’ll seal in automatically.”

“Thanks, Four.”

“It’s all still new to you. No problem.”

Beside the airlock, a panel. I tapped it and it immediately opened, sliding to one side. We stepped through, it closed behind us and a mist began to descend from the ceiling. I followed their advice, turned around swinging my arms about in it to ensure I got a good coverage. I noticed Caesar was trying to do the same.

“Brutus, copy Caesar. You need a good coverage of sun protection.”

He nodded and did the same.

The next door along had a red light over it. Another airlock. This one had no panel. Clearly it was timed to ensure we got a good layer of protection as a minute later the light turned green and the door slid open to reveal a much smaller room, barely a cubicle, but when that door closed, there was a hiss of air and the barren wasteland presented itself when the final door opened.

“Heel, boys.” I made a beeline to the beach.

I watched them with interest as we continued. Both were much more capable after their first day and a good night’s sleep. It was time to increase their speed. The moment we hit the beach, I increased my pace.

I kept this up for hours. Seeing them improve and when they no longer had to struggle to keep up, I increased my pace again.

We were a few miles from the compound when I started to jog.

After twenty minutes of that, I halted, sat on the beach and ordered the dogs to sit too.

I looked at Caesar, his new collar and name tag glistened in the sun. “So, scale of one to ten, Caesar. One, oh god, I want out! Ten, keep me in this forever. Where are you at, boy?”

He tapped four times.

“Brutus?”

Brutus tapped six.

“Still having trouble, Caesar? I permit you to spell. Why?”

He glanced around, tapped twice, shook his head, trotted over to the waterline and picked up a piece of driftwood in his jaws. He walked back and drew in the sand.

“Bored. Worried.”

My shoulders sagged. “Stop thinking like a human. I’ve explained how it is for me, boy. Try to embrace that dog. Put aside your concerns. Forget your plans. You’re a dog. One thing and one thing only and that’s fun, everything else. Forget it.”

“Hard.”

“Since when was anything worthwhile easy?”

His shoulders shook and he nodded. “Try.”

“Things should get a lot more interesting for you tomorrow. You know how the tail works. It’s time you learned how it felt. How to read it.”

His tail began to wag.

“Good.” I stood. “I’ll race you back. First one to the beach by the compound gets a very good boy.”

I bolted back the way we’d come. What surprised me was, Caesar was keeping pace. Brutus lagged a little behind but as we continued, he began to gain too.

As we got there we were neck and neck, Caesar literally winning by a nose.

“Very good boy.”

I chuckled at his reaction. Tail on full turbo, stumbling from the pleasure of it, he sat in shock.

I knelt before him then. “You know I have something up my sleeve, boy. I won’t tell you what yet, but I think there should be a penalty for coming last. Don’t you?”

He sprang to his feet and his tail sank between his legs.

“You’re a blank in that dog so I outrank you, boy. Each race we had at the store, you imposed the penalty of one month, only out on Sundays. It’s only fair don’t you think?”

His shoulders sagged, he nodded.

“If nothing else, it’ll give you an incentive not to come last, boy. I will allow you out for two days to handle your affairs. I know yours are a hell of a lot more complicated than ours, after all but would that be enough time to arrange to be incommunicado for all but one day a week?”

I could tell that was a sigh. He nodded.

“Good. Do well and it won’t matter. If at the end of your two weeks you love it as much as I do, I won’t blame you if you come in last place deliberately. Now…” I tossed the ball I’d been holding. “Fetch.”
* * *
I dropped the ball outside the door, stepped back into the building and the moment I was through, the door slammed shut. I removed the sneakers and looked around.

There… A line of cubbyholes just the right size for a pair of sneakers or boots. I put them in, a glass screen dropped into place and a purple goo began to fill it.

This was a small room, almost an alcove. Nothing but a chair for removal of footwear. I pressed the panel and the next door along slid open. I stepped through and glanced back as it too slammed shut. This one had a window in it, so I peered out to see the first door open again and one of the dogs enter. Another slam.

The room I’d entered was even smaller than the first, barely three foot square and eight feet tall. The moment the door was closed, it began to fill with that same purple goo and god did it fill quickly.

I took a deep breath and, wanting to get as much of it on me as possible, ducked under the surface and started rubbing myself all over as it continued. I broke the surface to take a breath just before it reached the ceiling.

Oh fuck… It wasn’t lowering, the level… It was… Just before I was about to explode from lack of air, with a whoosh, it was gone. How it could be gone so quickly I’ve got no idea. There must be a vast container under the building, maybe the entire floor had opened up, but when I looked, I didn’t see anything different apart from the goo dripping off me and the walls.

The next door and the same thing only this time, it had a much more… watery consistency and it was red, almost oily. Again, it filled the chamber completely. Again, I fought for breath until finally, another whoosh and it was gone. And again, the door opened and I stepped through.

Another identical chamber. Fuck how many stages? Blue. The next was green. The one after that, clear and finally, nothing but a shower head and a box labelled “used filters”.

I pulled it out of my nose and put it in the box. The shower started automatically, I scrubbed myself down and waited.

Ten minutes later, Caesar emerged, his tail between his legs. I removed his filter and scrubbed him down under the shower. Another wait, another dog, another filter put into the box.

We emerged together into the garden.

I glanced down at them. “I know. God, that was unpleasant. Is there a need for them to fill?”

Caesar nodded.

“Oh well, I’ll ask when you can talk again. Come on, let’s get you two back to your cage. You both did well today.”

Down to the block, I gave both of them a good boy and handed their leashes to the nearest blank.

“You know the drill, no more exercise but make sure they’re washed and fed.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
* * *
The next day, I took a page out of the sarge’s book. The old transferring balls from one side of the gym to the other. Well, it started with balls.

After a couple of hours, I stood them by a mirror.

“Now, feel that tingle in your butts. Feel how it changes. I’ll give you an hour to rest and recuperate while you’re studying that feeling. Learn the position of your tails because the next part’s where it gets important.”

I left them to it while I prepared the next part of their exercise, replacing the balls with four ounce dumbbells. By the end of the week, I intended it to be five pounds.

I worked them hard that morning after which, I gave them another hour by the mirror, fed them some water and headed back to the surface again. At least this time I knew what to expect during decontamination.

The exit I chose this time wasn’t the beach. It was one that pointed inland and the moment the door opened, I ran. The dogs managed to keep pace and again, I pushed them. Pushed them hard.

Wherever I looked, it was utterly dead. Not a bird, insect, not even a blade of grass. A lot of dead shrubbery, a few skeletal trees in the distance but… Well… I knew the island had been killed and I knew the environment was still incredibly toxic. It was still a freaky feeling running through such a lifeless place.

I didn’t stop, I didn’t pause to let them catch their breath. I’m not sure how far I ran, but god it felt good and what’s more, I didn’t even feel out of breath when we got back.

The dogs on the other hand looked absolutely exhausted as they wobbled up to the door.

“Sit, boys. You need a rest before you go through decontamination again. Touch the panel with your nose when you’re ready. Oh… and…“ I switched to the other band. “Very good dogs!”
* * *
For the rest of the week it was the same routine, scan, wash and gym for me, run into the ground for the dogs, but they did have something more to work towards too.

The balls had been deployed, first in the compound, then out in the wastes. Their job, just as during our training, find them, bring them back. Most balls wins.

Little did they know that’s what I had in store for them for the event as well, with a few added twists.

Their butt senses improved daily, just as I hoped they would and by the end of the first week, they were capable of distinguishing between the three sensors to such an extent, I could order them to fetch a specific type. They were ready. Both of them.

I sat on a rock on the final day of the first week ten miles from the compound and petted them.

“Now, score out of ten? Both of you.”

This time, Caesar nodded and tapped an eight.

“Eight? That wasn’t a stutter?”

His shoulders shook and so did his head. He tapped eight again.

I swooped down and gave him a hug. “Oh god you’ve done it. You learned to love it. I suppose the last two points, you know you can’t be a dog forever so why bother tapping ten?”

He nodded.

“And if you could?”

He shook his head.

“And you… Brutus?”

Brutus cocked his head in that curious way.

“Score?”

Another cock of the head and a tail wag.

Hmm… “Sit.”

He sat.

“Roll over.”

He rolled over.

“Tell me how much you like it. Scale of one to ten, as before.”

Another cock of the head.

“Good god? Really? Oh you lucky fucker. You haven’t just found your dog, you’ve fully become him even… That’s it isn’t it? You can’t understand a word I’m saying beyond the basic commands?”

Another cock of the head and a tail wag.

“When you’re out of the dog, I’ll have to ask you. I imagine you’ll come back to yourself soon enough.”

Nothing but another tilt of the head. I chuckled to myself. Even I hadn’t experienced it to those extremes. Hadn’t so fully immersed myself in the dog that I’d lost the ability to understand. God I’d love to feel that way. I gave him an even bigger hug than Caesar.

“Very good dog.”

A minute to recover and I headed towards the beach.

“Heel, boys.”