Bark slowly regained his human posture and attitude, the excited puppy in him turned into a terrified man. He looked into her eyes with real fear in his. “I was just…it just…you see, there is this…uh…problem.”
Snow took him by the shoulder. “Bark, tell me. What is the matter?”
“I…I…I didn’t want you to see me like this. I have to go.” Without further explanation, he ran out of the arboretum, leaving her behind as bewildered as she had ever been.
Bark ran through the station, dodging people and hoping to not be stopped by anyone for any reason. They would see in him something he hated. It was not the dog in him that he hated, it was the tears in his eyes. After dashing through the food court, down a corridor of classrooms, and past several confused teachers and students, Bark found the room he wanted to be in right now.
Toshi was not expecting him; usually Bark was on a date at this time of the day. So, it came as a rather shocking surprise to see him burst through the door and close it quickly behind himself.
“Inu-chan? What is wrong?” She set down her tea and watched him stop with both hands held against the door, his forehead pressed on it.
Bark didn’t look at her, but she knew he was crying from the hard sniffing. He replied, “I couldn’t tell her. What did I do? Why couldn’t I control that urge?” He slammed his fist against the door. Finally, he turned to look at her, and, she could see the fear and sadness. His hair was a mess and there were streaks of wet fur running down his face.
Toshi got up. “My boy, what happened?”
Bark let out a deep breath, turned away from the door, and leaned up against the wall. He slid down the wall and sunk to the floor. His arms up on his knees, and his face riddled with sorrow, he said, “She deserves a man, not a pet. I…I chased a ball.” He said this like he had gone out and killed someone.
Toshi smiled and patted him on the head. “There's nothing wrong with that. It might even have been cute.”
Bark, for the first time ever, actually hit her hand away from him. “NO! It was stupid. I was practically begging her to throw that damned ball. When she did, I had to chase it, I had to bring it back. My mind was not human then, it was all dog.” He wasn’t frightened for having hit the most dangerous person on this station. He was too sad to be. He put his head down as far as it would go and meekly said, “What am I becoming?”
“Let’s go see the doctor again.” She pulled on his hand.
Bark resisted her. “No. I can’t. I just can’t hear him tell me what I already know. I need to think. I need to just get away from everyone and rest.”
Toshi was not willing to push him. She did not believe that his worries would come true, but she also knew that this was a bad time to pick a fight. “Okay, you may rest here. I have a few extra futons rolled up in the back.”
Bark looked up to her and asked, “What do I tell her? I want to leave her for her own good, but I just can’t bring myself to that. I love her so much.”
Toshi thoughtfully paused and then answered, “I've been around for a long time. Throughout the centuries, I've noticed that there is one power greater than all others: love. Trust that your love for her will defeat this fear. And, if you would like, I will go and speak with her. I’ll explain the situation.”
Bark shook his head. “No. Please don’t tell her yet. I have to think about what should be said and when.”
“Alright. Come, let’s make up a bed for you.”
***
The General summoned a select group for a briefing. He started off by running over a point by point reiteration of the information they had gathered so far about the enemy. The General turned off the screen at the head of the briefing room. “Did I miss any of the details about the first attack,” he asked Snow and Spark.
Snow nodded slowly. “Looks like you got it all.”
Spark nodded in agreement. “That’s about it.”
“Okay, people, we have a mission at hand. Listen up.” The General gave the floor to Josiah.
Josiah walked to the head of the table where Spark, Snow, Solstice, and Dr. Ogle were all waiting for the mission briefing. He turned on a screen to show one of their security and training bots. “Here is the plan. The energy ray we are going to use has been installed on this bot’s arm cannon. It has been programmed with the targeting parameters to hit a fast-moving target and take down the armored body.”
Spark asked, “How are we going to attract it?”
The General smiled, a smile that most students don’t like to see. “Well, it seems to like your energy signature.”
Spark rolled his eyes. “Great. Getting shot out of the sky again isn’t exactly what I had hoped for.”
Josiah answered, “Not the plan. I have had our engineers reprogram the shuttle’s holoshield to block anyone or anything detecting the energy signature until it has landed. Once it lands, you and Solstice will disembark and then turn yourselves into targets.”
Solstice added, “Once that thing approaches, the bot will zap it and we'll bring it in.”
The General answered. “Yes. That’s just about it. Nothing too complicated. Just get its attention and take it down.”
“His,” Dr. Ogle interrupted.
The General frowned. “His?”
“You called him ‘it.’ That body is supposed to be mine, and believe me, it’s a ‘him,’ not an ‘it.’” He took a little pride in that fact.
The General did everything he could to control his eye-twitch. Ignoring the doctor, he said, “Solstice, Spark, you have one additional order. If this fails to work, you are to bring that thing down if possible. I do not want it making any more trouble. Got it?”
Spark nodded. “Understood.”
“Hey, wait a minute! That’s my body.” Dr. Ogle was offended by The General’s order.
The General gave the head a stern glare. “That thing is terrorizing a populated city and has the potential to do considerable harm. Even if your head were attached, I would still give that order.”
Dr. Ogle’s eyes widened. “I see. Well, try to save it. It was a lot of work crafting that and I would hate to lose my body.”
“You have your orders, everyone. Now get to it. Oh, and Snow, Solstice would like to ask you some questions about fighting that thing. I want to make sure that we are as prepared as possible.” He looked up to the very sad-looking girl in the room.
Snow nodded and half-heartedly said, “Sure.”
“Dismissed.”
Josiah picked up Dr. Ogle’s head and walked out with him, talking the whole way. He was trying to comfort the poor man who was worried that he was about to lose another body. Solstice got up with Spark and began to speak about the bot they were going to bring with them. She knew better than anyone else on the station about how to transport those bulky robots.
“Snow, I'll speak to you in ten minutes,” Solstice commanded before leaving the room.
Snow nodded and then slowly stood up.
“Is everything okay,” The General asked, in a slightly uncharacteristically gentle voice.
Snow looked up to her commanding officer. “I'm not sure. Bark acted strange last night, and I haven't been able to get in touch with him this morning.”
The General frowned. “Did he ask you –” He stopped himself, realizing that it was quite possible that Bark had not popped the question yet.
Snow gave him a curious look. “Did he ask me what?”
The General cleared his throat and attained his usual commanding tone. “Nothing. I'll check on him and see how he's doing.”
“Thank you.” Snow smiled at him weakly and walked out with her arms folded and her brow furrowed.
***
Bark stumbled through the corridors of the UCH, his eyes hazy and his legs stumbling. He was naked and panting like a dog. All around him were bodies of students and instructors he knew, bloody and mutilated.
He stumbled over a body of a worker he kne
w well. The shock of that sight tripped him and he fell against a wall. He tried to say something in response, but it came out as a growling bark. He grasped at his throat to find the collar, but it was not there. Then he noticed his arms. He was even furrier and shaggier than before. His claws were longer and more menacing. He had mutated. He was no longer human, just a mindless killing machine. A dog created to murder innocent people.
Suddenly in the distance, he heard a scream. He knew it was Snow. She was running for her life something was trying to kill her. He ran, jumping over the dead and chasing the sound of her voice. He passed the bodies of Spark, Thrasher, The General, and even Toshi. Someone had killed them all. He had to find who was chasing Snow and stop them before they took her life too.
He burst through the arboretum doors and found one of the dog soldiers from Korea lurching over Snow’s broken body. “NO!” He ran at it intent on destroying it. But, when he got to it, it was not there. He was now lurching over her. She was not dead, but fearfully holding her hands up against the attacker. Her body was covered in blood from the wounds she had already received.
“Do it. You know you want to,” the calm, cold voice of the man in the dark suit taunted Bark.
Bark looked up with a shot. He was absolutely terrified to see this man again.
“Yes, my loyal soldier, kill her. Prove yourself worthy as my pet, my guardian, my killer.”
Bark looked away and thought to himself, “I won’t turn into that.”
The dark-suited man seemed to hear his thoughts, for he responded, “But, you already have. Look, you are a good dog, you have done what I asked.”
Bark’s face shot forward and he looked to see that Snow’s neck had been torn and she was dead against the grass, blood everywhere. “Snow!! I didn’t mean to kill you. I didn’t kill you.”
“Oh, but you did. Look, her blood is all over your hands.”
Bark held up blood-stained claws and felt horror as the reality washed all over him. He had done this. He had killed her. He had killed everyone he cared about or who cared about him.
“Don’t worry. I told you, I didn’t mean to do this to you.” Dr. Ogle’s voice replaced that of the dark-suited man.
Bark looked up to find the evil man gone and the head-box sitting on the ground near Snow. “You!” Bark jumped up to kill this man. He hated him. He wanted to destroy him. If it were not for this man, none of this would have happened. He grabbed the head out of the box and meant to crush it like a melon.
Dr. Ogle responded to his assault, “You can’t kill me. You're already dead.”
Bark was shocked to see that he was now holding his own head. He dropped it and backed away in fear. Suddenly, the head was attached to a body. It was his body, and he was dead. Frozen all over. Snow was no longer dead, but alive and standing next to Spark.
Spark consoled her. “It was the only way to stop him.”
Bark sat up with a shot, breathing heavily. It was a dream, a horrible dream. He looked around and found himself lying in the middle of the dojo’s training hall. He was sick to his stomach and shaking all over.
“Snow? Toshi?” He was relieved to hear the voice box speaking for him.
The fogginess of his mind was clearing up as he looked around in a panic for the floor-length mirror Toshi kept in the corner. Finally, he found it and looked at his reflection. His chest was puffing hard with terror-filled breath, his eyes were wide and bloodshot, and his body was visibly shaking. But, he was still the man he had been when he laid down to sleep. No extra fur, he wasn't naked, and no blood staining his body. This came as a little reprieve from the nightmare he had just suffered, but the fear was still in his heart.
It was probably morning and nearly time to get up for classes, but he was much too distraught to get up now. He returned to the futon mat and laid back down.
The images of Snow’s dead body and her pain at what she had to do to him danced in his head. He did not wish to go back to sleep and possibly dream this again, but he was so tired he could not help it.
Chapter 9: Seeking Answers
“I'm telling you, it could be fun. Just give it a try.” Spark, piloting the shuttle, talked endlessly with Solstice.
Solstice, a very professional hero, hardly broke a smile. “I disagree. Besides, it’s against the rules.”
“Oh, I don’t think that it's going to destroy the UCH if you and I have a little fun. Besides, Snow and Bark did it.” Spark was very insistent, but then again he liked getting his way. He was through with women turning him down.
Solstice looked out over Knoxville. The bridge was still being cleaned up from the attack. It was a clear day, with a lot of sun, which made her happy. “Just because they are romantically linked doesn't mean I'm going to break any rules with you or anyone. The subject is closed.”
Spark did not close the subject. “It’s not like I'm asking you to go to Vegas and get a quick marriage. I just want to have a little fun, and I think you could use a little fun now and then.”
Solstice gave him a glare that could melt an iceberg. “And what do you mean by that?!”
Spark shrugged and looked away. “It’s just that you're so dedicated to your job that you don’t even smile very often. Loosen up, throw off the socks, and live a little.”
Solstice could deck him right now, had she not been focusing on her job. “Look, just because you want to sneak off the station and go have lunch at a special steakhouse in Texas is not a good reason for me to break the rules with you.”
Spark let out a harsh sigh, rolled his eyes, and finally gave up. “Fine, fine. I just thought that if a couple of students can get away with it, we can certainly make it. Besides, Bark said their steaks are the best he has ever had and, coming from a dog that has to mean something.”
Solstice resisted grinding her teeth and put her mind back on the mission at hand. “Just find a good place to set us down. Dr. Ogle said his armor’s computer would not allow the body to leave the Knoxville area, so we're going to have to find a safe place to battle this thing without putting a lot of people in danger.”
Spark looked out over the city and then smiled. “In for a little football?”
“Huh?”
Spark pointed down to the large stadium on the UT campus. “I think we can set down right there. It'll give us room to deal with it, and few people are going to be around there right now. Besides, that area is designed for battles. It'll be fine.”
Solstice considered this for a moment. “I don’t know. If we have to actually battle it, it could do a lot of damage to that stadium. The last thing I want is to take out a landmark of that size, or bring it down on our heads.”
Spark shrugged that off. “Don’t worry. Dr. Stone’s energy beam will take it down and we'll just have to drag it onto the shuttle and get it back to the station, easy peasy. Prepare for landing.”
The shuttle lowered through the open roof and slowly made its way to the far end of the field, landing near a goalpost. The few people in the stadium were completely unaware of their arrival, as the shuttle was cloaked beyond recognition.
“Okay, let’s get the bot out and summon this thing.” Solstice was ready for this mission to be completed. She unbuckled herself and proceeded to activate the security bot sitting in the passenger seat nearest the exit.
“SYSTEMS OPERATIONAL,” the bot stated as its lights all blinked on. “PLEASE STATE THE MISSION,” it requested.
Solstice opened a panel on its chest and typed in a code to allow it to accept her orders. “Mission 104.”
“MISSION ACCEPTED. PROCEED.” The bot got up and waited at the door.
“Certainly ready to leave,” Spark commented, and he pressed the release button for the door.
The bot walked out as soon as the door opened and stationed itself for optimum targeting, moving towards the center of the field where it could see in all directions and have a clear shot. Solstice and Spark both got out and joined it.
Spark smiled and looked up. “Get ready, we have to attract it.”
“I know, I read the briefing. Let’s do it.” She opened up her arms to absorb sunlight while Spark rubbed his hands together.
All at once, Spark and Solstice both shot energy right into the sky. Spark let out a spray of crackling electricity, while Solstice shot a straight beam of solar light. This continued for a few moments until suddenly the ground near them was penetrated by a green bolt of energy. Spark and Solstice both stopped firing and watched the armored body fly through the sky heading right for them, its arms held out with the weapons at the ready.
“TARGET AQUIRED.” The security bot immediately recognized the armor from its programming and held up the arm with the energy weapon. Releasing a blast of green energy, it hit the body dead in the center of the chest and sent it down across the ground like a rag doll being tossed aside. It came to a stop and was still.
“See, easy peasy,” Spark exclaimed, flashing his smile.
Solstice shook her head and walked toward the body. “Bot, assist me.”
“UNDERSTOOD.” It followed behind, ready to do whatever was requested.
***
“Bark, wake up.” Toshi pressed on Bark’s shoulder.
Bark slowly opened his eyes to find he was still laying on the floor of the dojo, sleeping in nearly a fetal position in the corner of the room. “Sensei?” He looked around. “I must have been walking in my sleep.”
Toshi nodded. “Yes, you were. You made all sorts of strange noises and I heard you leave and lay in here. How do you feel?”
Bark sat up and felt in his body that he had slept on the floor all night. “Ow, I feel like my bones all hate me.”
She laughed. “I don’t think they are too happy with a hard floor to sleep on.”
“What time is it?”
“Eleven hundred hours,” she said quite matter-of-factly.
Bark gasped. “I missed my classes!”
“Don't worry. I've excused you from your classes today. You're not well and you need some time to get better.”
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