Mason's Transformations - Chapter 7

Mason's Transformations
Mason in the Mirror


Mason lay on top of Cruiser for a moment, his mind wandering off to sleep. He tried to close his eyes, but more of Adam's comments sunk deeper into his brain. "Discard...me?" thought Mason with a cold shudder. His body trembling against the other heap on the wool bed. Mason didn't want to be alone, or abandoned. And especially not by Adam. As he pondered the words over and over. The thought of disposing another human like Mason or Cruiser, even in their current state, was cruel at best. "But why was Cruiser abandoned, too?" His results were far beyond Mason's own transformation. His mind and body had been perfectly altered, and yet he was sleeping right here on Mason's wool bed. And Adam...Mason had grown so attached to him, and yet, he remained the biggest mystery of all. Mason knew that Adam was tied to the facility, but he didn't care, he loved Adam way too much for words alone. And that was a good enough reason for Mason to pardon Adam from any enmity.


It took awhile to dig through the thoughts coursing through his head, but Mason finally dozed off to sleep. It didn't take him very long once he thought of Adam scratching his ear! However, what awaited him was not the soft comfort of sleep, but the familiar images that clouded his dreams the night prior. Places passed by him again and flickered in a million shades of color. But as soon as he had reached out and tried to grasp one, again they disappeared into the thick nothingness. Mason stood there waiting for another memory to appear before him. But nothing came, and he soon found himself wandering the darkness for answers. The empty feeling in his stomach hounded him, reminding him that he was alone. And it was the same emptiness as when Adam dropped Mason's leash to carry Cruiser back to the cabin.


But the thought soon faded from his mind as he noticed a glimmering object in the vast emptiness. A glint of light reflecting off a large object in the distance. Without a second thought, he trotted as fast as he could to the glass and saw in it, a human image, which was unmistakably himself. Agast, he saw all the objects on his body. Each piece clung tightly, an external reminder of the mental conditioning that left him a pup. Placed over his hands, he saw heavily padded mitts. The clasps had been melted and no amount of fidgeting would remove them. He turned around and saw the pup tail; it was hollow and unfortunately...permanently lodged. His feet had been bound to his thighs and pads lined his knees similar to his mitts. Long pieces of material clung to the sides of his face and made two points near the tip of his head. They were unmistakably replicated dog ears. But something was different about them. He remembered Adam in the kitchen digging through pots and pans...and realized that the ears helped his hearing. But it was his collar that frightened him the most. A deep red leather collar clung to his neck. On the ring of the collar he recognized the same tags that Cruiser had when the two first met. However, the name on it was not "Mason," but the word "Griever" was typed across it with the serial number: 00-000-0001.


It was then that Mason realized he wasn't dreaming about what he looked like. He was seeing another memory of his conditioning. The darkness...the feeling of being alone, it was all a memory of him being trapped in this dark space...to wander. Recognizing that he wasn't in control of this version of himself, Mason continued to gaze from behind his own eyes. They were fearful and at the same time determined. But in the darkness, he knew this Mason was lost, and disoriented. "Am I trying to escape?" Mason thought. He noticed the glistening sweat on his face in the mirror and realized he had probably been running for awhile.


It was only then that men shuffled into the room and turned on the lights. They quickly cornered Mason and clasped two dog catchers around his neck. He felt the tightening pressure mounting as each of two men tugged in different directions. And was slowly led out of the room and down a corridor. The fear was indescribable, as he felt the cold heartlessness of each unnecessary tug. He knew escape was out of the question now, and that he might be severely punished for trying to escape. But he didn't care, at the time; he only wanted to seek out the remains of his former life. He was being absolved of humanity and he needed desperately to cling onto any remains or memories he still had.


As he made his way from corridor to corridor, he soon realized that his attempt at freedom was coming to a close. He found himself in a room with an open cage and sure enough he was placed inside it. The cage was closed, but unlocked and the two men shuffled out of the room. For a brief moment, Mason thought of trying to open the lock again, but dismissed the idea when he thought of how long it took to do the first time. And before he could think of anything else, a man entered with a shiny object in his hand. He knelt down to Mason's cage and slowly placed a padlock on the latch. But there was no clinking on the padlock, and no cold silence from this man. "It only has to look like it's locked up tight. Don't worry pup, we'll get you out of here soon. Until then hang in there." And with that the man exited.


It was soon after that Mason was jarred out of his dream by Cruiser. He had gotten up and was scratching at the door. Mason stared in puzzlement as Cruiser continued to whimper and claw the door. After a few moments, the pup came back and instead of sleeping, decided to lick Mason's stomach before resting his head gently on it. But Mason was too absorbed in the happiness of his own dream to care. Although his escape attempt failed, he realized he had just heard the very same voice of the person that is caring for him now. And that man was fighting for him, even when Mason was undergoing his conditioning. The man's voice was Adam's and nothing was going to shake the happiness he was feeling at that moment.