A lone, lanky jaguar, wearing an oil-stained brown coverall reclined in a chair, bouncing a ball off the metal walls of his office. The walls made a distinct hollow sound every time the ball connected; it was the only sound in the room, aside from his breathing. Catching the ball on its return bounce, he sighed. "I'd give anything for something to do; It's too damn quiet on this ship. Computer, what system are we in?"
A light blue hologram, just a few inches tall, of a fresh-faced male caracal popped up. Streaming from a small round crystal of the same color embedded in the corner of a nearby desk. "Greetings, user." He addressed the jaguar sarcastically, glaring and sticking his tongue out. "I have a name, you know. I know I've told you to use it. And I'm not a computer, anyway, I'm an - "
"A.I.! Fine, whatever! Spare me the lecture. Desen, what damn system are we in?" The jaguar snarled and threw the ball at the hologram, causing a distortion as it passed through the field of shaped light.
"Such violence. I suppose I'll call you by your name too, since you've extended me the courtesy, Holstein."
The jaguar snapped. "Why the fuck did they give me an intelligent A.I.?! I'm not a cow, you ass, my name is Hollin!"
"Ah, yes, sorry. It's been so long since we exchanged pleasantries I forgot." Desen's projection moved to the center of the room, growing to be life-sized. Stretching, it gave Hollin a mocking bow. "At your service, my Engineer."
"I'm still a Researcher. You know this is only a temporary assignment." The jaguar glared at Desen, but his lower lip trembled a little.
"Right. You've been monitoring the Friedhelm for over three hundred years now. How much longer before we actually arrive somewhere?"
"Three hundred's not that long, and you know I was in stasis for a lot of it." The jaguar seethed as he sucked in air between his teeth. "And gosh, if only there was a system in place to tell me when I arrive places. You could, I don't know... TELL ME WHERE WE ARE?!" Hollin roared.
Desen raised his paws in acquiescence. "My, you're testy today. Fine, let's see... we're in the C-58B72 planetary system, about 4 days away from planet H-69C."
The jaguar blinked. "Wait, really? We're that close already? Also, who the hell is naming these places?"
"As far as I'm aware, I am. This place isn't on any official star charts. We're the only ones out here. Of course, I am still transmitting our location, and your reports, to Corporate. I..." The hologram's face took on a look of shame. "No-one's been reading your logs, I don't think. I haven't received a response in over a decade. Would you like me to - "
"Keep sending them. I'll never get out of here if I don't buckle down and play by their rules."
"Very well. I - " Desen's body flashed red. "Ah, it seems one of our esteemed guests is paging maintenance. There's something wrong down by the airlock. No further information provided."
Hollin rolled his eyes. "Useful, as always, Desen. I'll get around to it."
"Didn't you say you wanted something to do? Besides, it is the airlock. While I don't doubt your frankly obsessive attention to detail, shouldn't you check it out?"
The jaguar wordlessly rose from his seat and started rummaging around the room. Putting on a visor and grabbing a bag of tools, he broke his silence with a single word.
"Fine."
Stomping down the corridors of the labyrinthian ship, he arrived at the single airlock on the ship in about a quarter of an hour, where a slightly older Siamese couple were playing with their young child. The mother perked up when she saw Hollin approach. "Oh! Hello, Engineer Hollin! Thank you for coming, I know you're very busy."
"Er, yeah, real busy..." Busy avoiding the drudge work. This whole place is beneath me. With a sigh and a shake of his head, Hollin changed the subject, bowing slightly. "Esteemed guest, what is it you require of me?"
"Oh, hush, you don't need to go through all that! We're all stuck in this tin can together! And you'll be here long after I'm gone; I'm almost jealous. But we wanted to have our little ones, isn't that right, Ramona?" The mother lifted her daughter high in the air and twirled around.
The jaguar spoke through gritted teeth. "Madam, I... appreciate your levity. I am glad you are enjoying yourselves. Now, the reason for the report. Please." Frustration oozed from Hollin's every pore.
The Siamese remained oblivious to his growing irritation. She said, "Oh, sure thing, hun! Here, Albert, take Ramona for a minute." She handed the child off to her husband and kneeled on the cold steel floor. "Well, here, you see this panel? It's a little loose. I didn't know if it was important, so I thought I'd do my due diligence and report it! I didn't expect you'd come right away, was I right? Is it important?"
"What is your name, ma'am?"
Still smiling, she grinned up at the jaguar. "It's Pastora, my dear! Oh, I'm so excited, Hollin Arensen knows my name!" She wiggled in delight.
Hollin blinked, taken aback. "Ah, w-wait. You know my last name, too? That's... unnecessary."
"Oh, but you worked with Guy Hadwin, yes? The man who invented A.I. and the M-Suit system! He's such a genius, and I know only the best worked with him. Makes me feel safer just thinking about it!"
Rage welled up inside Hollin. "I did work with him, yes. I prefer not to talk about my time there. It was... stressful. Let me tighten the bolts on that panel, and I'll get out of your hair. What are you even doing here anyway? There's a park on level 3 where the other children play, this is a little... strange."
Finally, Pastora's face fell. "I... Ramona has trouble with other people. She doesn't talk much, too much noise upsets her, and she doesn't like being touched by anyone but us. The doctor's say she's just shy, but... my younger sister was the same." Shaking herself out of her stupor, she smiled again, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. "Still! That just means I know how to help her now. Just like Willa!"
"Oh, I see... sorry." Hollin looked away, then dove into his tool bag to escape the awkward silence that filled the room. "Uh, this... the drill is loud. Take Ramona elsewhere, maybe? Before I get started."
"Oh! I hadn't even considered! Thank you so much!" Pastora reached down and ruffled his finger-length head fur. "You're quite thoughtful, aren't you? I'll remember that!"
For the first time in a long time, Hollin felt himself blushing. "Y-You're welcome, ma'am."
"Call me Pastora!" She called over her shoulder, exiting the room into a wide corridor. Stopping to turn and wave, Hollin caught her broad smile. "I'll see you later! Let's do dinner somet - "
Desen's voice rang out through the ship, stilted and automatic.
"Alert. Alert. Priority 1 Threat Confirmed. Lockdown Engaging."
A blast door slammed down in front of the family, cutting Hollin off from the rest of the ship. Alarms blared as the lights dimmed and turned red. He looked around frantically, searching for an escape. Shit, shit, shit! I have to get on the bridge! The vent? No, it's too small... I wonder. The jaguar ran over to a console next to the airlock. "Computer! Open the blast door!"
Desen's head popped out of the crystal embedded in the center. "It's Desen. And I can't do that, the captain has entered the emergency override. All commands are locked until further notice."
"Not the time!" Hollin hissed. "Fine! Status report."
"Status reports are classified by order of the - "
"Override!" Hollin passed a badge over the console.
"Override accepted. A few minutes ago, contact was made on an unknown channel. Communications Officer Harbol decoded the transmission, and it was brought up on screen. The transmitter appears to be canid. The language was - "
"Stop! Wait, canid? You're sure?"
"Quite certain. Lighting did not afford a species identification, but the outline suggests a canine of some sort."
"There's never been contact with a canid species before! This is... this is first contact! Finally, something interesting!" He pushed the klaxon alarms from his mind with pure glee. "This is it! If I could just talk to even one of them, I'll be set for life! Think of the research grants!"
"Well, you'll get the chance soon. They have us surrounded, what we assume are weapons are trained on us from all angles, and they'll be breaking through the airlock in about fifteen seconds."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN - "
BOOM!
An explosion rocked the ship, blasting Hollin off his feet and sending his visor clattering across the floor. In the distance, he could hear boots dashing down a long, unfamiliar corridor. With a cough, he struggled to his feet. "Desen! Quick! Activate Emergency Protocol 17-B! Begin transfer!"
"Your clearance is not high enough to - "
"Override command A-621HOL!"
"That is not a recognized - " Beep! "Oh! Fascinating. Beginning full transfer to personal data matrix."
A small crystal embedded on the back of Hollin's neck grew uncomfortably warm, causing the jaguar to wince and rub the tender area. Hollin imagined Desen's face and thought to himself. Desen? Can you hear me? Is it done?
Desen's voice ran through his mind. "Data transfer and wipe is complete. All A.I. processes have been removed from the shipboard data banks and moved to your personal matrix. I have to say, it's quite roomy in here! Did you give yourself an upgrade? This is definitely not corporate sponsored. And what's with that override code? That had administrative board-level access! Nobody has that except - "
"Shut up! Now is not the time! They're here!"
The eerie red lights illuminated three decidedly canine figures as they ran into the small room. One of them pointed what appeared to be a firearm at Hollin, who froze. "You! Name and rank!"
"Ah! Hollin, Engi-... Chief Researcher of the Friedhelm. We, ah, come in peace?"
The canines looked at each other, then a bark from the lead dog made the other two train their guns on the jaguar. The first canine, who looked to be a massive wolf, tilted his head slightly to address what appeared to be a mastiff. "Did you - what it said?"
"Not a - ." The mastiff replied.
Hollin blinked. "Why am I missing words Did I hit my head?"
"Yes! But that's not why; it's my translation matrix. I started downloading their language before they cut off communications. I didn't quite get all of it, though, and their transmission dampening is something marvelous. Oh, uh, this could be a problem..."
The mastiff glared at Hollin. "Is it a - ? - kill it?"
Hollin's eyes grew wide at the conversation between the two canines. "W-wait! Kill?!" The cat dropped to his knees, paws raised in the air.
"What is it doing?"
"I don't - . We need to - kill it."
Tears welled up in the jaguar's eyes. "Please! I don't want to die! I can't die yet! Please..."
The third dog, some sort of Doberman, tilted his head and looked at Hollin quizzically. "It's... crying? Why is it crying? Oh. OH. Oh no. - understand us?!"
"Yes! I understand you! Sort of..." Hollin jumped up, pointed at the Doberman, then to himself, and nodded vigorously.
"It understands us!" The Doberman's eyes widened.
" - !" The wolf's eyes filled with panic, and he squeezed the trigger on his firearm. A blast of bright white light sped towards Hollin, and he felt his body seize up, then collapse. As his eyes slid shut, the wolf crouched down and grabbed the jaguar by the scalp, yanking his view up to meet the canine's eyes.
"The - survived?"
"Take it with us."
...
Hollin woke up in a brightly lit square steel chamber, oversized for the bed he was lying on, and a... Huh. That's definitely a toilet. Sitting up and looking around, he yelped as every muscle in his body screamed in agony.
"Don't move!"
Hollin jumped and turned his head. The Doberman that he'd seen before, now wearing a bitter expression, was standing outside the open wall at the end of the room. A strange curtain of quietly crackling light separated the jaguar from his captor. He had one paw on a smaller version of the firearm from before, and another raised in front of him. Seized by a strange rage, Hollin stumbled to his feet. "You assholes! I didn't do anything to deserve this! You... you shot me! That hurt!"
The canine took a step back. "How? How are you moving? The Captain shot you!"
"How do I move? Pretty simple! My body spends energy to fuel muscle fibers and tendons! Not that you understand me anyway, I guess. Good sarcasm, wasted. What's even the point..." The jaguar slumped against the wall, slid down to the floor, and buried his head in his hands. "Ugh, I can't believe this shit... First contact with a brand new species and I get shot and thrown in alien jail. I just wanted to talk to you. That's all I wanted. I just wanted to say hello."
The Doberman's expression grew stony and tense. "Um... hello? Prisoner?"
Hollin's head whipped around. "You understand me? Wait, have you been able to understand me this whole time?!"
The jaguar's captor sighed, glaring at him. "Look, I don't know what you're saying. We're working on a translator patch; they retrieved your language from your ship's computer. Well, Ker thinks it was a computer... uh, and he's kind of assuming it was your language." He raked a paw through his close-cropped brown headfur and looked away. "Do... do you have a name?"
"Hollin." He said, blurting it out before he could stop and think about it.
"Hollin? Is that your name?" The jaguar nodded slowly as the Doberman blinked. Hollin saw a flash of... something, in those calculating eyes, but he wasn't sure what. He caught the corner of the dog's mouth quirking up, though, however briefly. "Huh. I - "
"Officer Cavan! Return to your post at once!"
"Y-yes sir!" Panic flashed across the Doberman's face as Cavan scrambled back to his post, taking up an unwavering stance just to the side of the cell's opening. An imposing wolf flanked by two smaller shepherds strode into the room, wearing a similar uniform to Cavan's.
Clearing his throat, the wolf barked into the cell. "Prisoner! You understand us, correct?"
Glaring, Hollin gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod. "Desen? I'm not missing words anymore. Why?"
"I'm near their transmission arrays now. Snagged the rest of their language and a schematic of the city before they detected my intrusion. I don't think they have intelligent A.I. like we do, either."
"Wait, city? Where are we - "
"PRISONER! I AM SPEAKING TO YOU!"
The jaguar flinched as his captor snarled, but quickly put on a cool demeanor. They were just like his old bosses, and he'd had plenty of experience with them. Standing up, he walked up to the opening of the cell, so close he could smell the earthlike scent of the wolf. The canine took a step back, apprehension written on his face. Smirking slightly, Hollin pointed at himself, and simply said. "Hollin."
"Hollin? What's a hollin? Is that what you freaks call yourselves?"
Shaking his head, the cat pointed at himself twice more. "Hollin. Hollin."
"What? We don't speak your language, I can't understand - "
"Captain, that's its name. They're telling you their name is Hollin." Cavan said flatly from behind the group.
Hollin smiled and pointed at the Doberman, nodding. "See what being polite will get you?"
The captain ignored the jaguar and stared at Cavan. "You can understand that thing?"
"I don't think it's a thing, sir," Cavan said. "I think it's a person. It understands us, somehow. A-And I think we abducted sentient, non-hostile life. We didn't even detect any weapons on the ship, just some strange space suits."
"You didn't?" Hollin asked incredulously, before clamping a paw over his mouth. Stupid! Stupid, stupid! At least they can't understand - Wait.
"Desen?"
"Yes?"
"Can you override my speech centers? Make me able to speak their language?"
The A.I. processed this for a bit. "I can, yes. Though you may find that you still have trouble actually forming the words, since you will only know what sounds to make, not how to make them."
"Good enough. How fast can you - OW!" Hollin winced as his crystal flared with heat again.
"All done! Happy chatting. Try not to get us all killed."
The dogs were arguing with Cavan over something; Hollin was too stressed and tired to really pay attention to what. Information was flooding his brain as the entire canine language poured into him. The voices outside his cell were rising, and all four canines had their paws on their weapons. The jaguar felt his stomach churn, and his eyes darted around the room, looking for some place to hide. Finding nothing, Hollin tried his luck entering the heated conversation. "Um, excuse me? Can you understand me now?"
A quartet of canines immediately went silent, and they slowly turned to stare at Hollin. The two shepherds and the wolf looked ill, but Cavan was almost expressionless. The Captain drew his pistol halfway out of its holster on his hip. "You... you speak our language? When the fuck did you learn to speak our language?!" The panic in the Captain's eyes went wild as he drew his weapon and leveled it at the feline.
Hollin took a step back and raised his paws, making himself as small a target as he could. "Wait-wait-wait! I only just realized I could do this like, five minutes ago, it's - Ugh, this is way harder than I thought it would be, why do you use so many hard consonant sounds? - Technology! It's technology. I assumed it was like what your translator would do..."
"You can learn a language that fast?!" A small voice piped up around the corner. Another Doberman, that looked strikingly like a smaller version of Cavan in a lab coat, dashed around the corner. "Put that thing down, Grimm, he can't hurt you from in there. And you're scaring him!"
Slowly, the wolf lowered the weapon. "That's Captain Grimm to you lab rats. And what do you mean, him?"
"We've finished analyzing his medical scans! They're remarkably similar to our own species, just shaped a little differently. They even have a similar blood type!" The scientist spoke rapidly and enthusiastically, gesturing to emphasize his words. "Even their sex organs are the same, though I doubt we could interbreed successfully. That'd be wild, though! Can you imagine - "
"That's enough, Doctor Kerne!" Grimm silenced the Doberman, but Hollin did notice a flush playing about the wolf's ears. "How is it speaking our language?"
"I don't know! It's fascinating."
"I can explain, if you give me a minute." All eyes turned back to the cat, and the Doctor nodded vigorously, gesturing Hollin to continue. "All right. So, I don't know how much we're supposed to tell new species, we didn't have a diplomat on board, but since I'm the highest ranking employee here, I guess this is up to me."
"You're not the first new species we've encountered. Some have found us, some we found on accident wandering the universe. We have a... long lifespan, I guess, and we have the ability to travel far, far away from our home planets. So, we developed software that lets us learn languages quickly. I actually helped write the one I'm using, although that's more of a - " The cat shook his head. No, don't share more than you have to! They're clearly hostile! "Ahem. My software is unique. Not everyone can do what I'm doing, although anyone on our ship should still have access to understand your language, mostly."
A long stretch of silence grew between the groups. The Doctor spoke first. "My boy! Your accent is ghastly! Fascinating!" This elicited a sharp crack of laughter from the cat, although Kerne continued. "Tell me, how does your software learn the language? We haven't transferred any data to you yet."
"Ah... C-Contextual observation?" A flimsy lie, but hopefully enough to throw them off. Hollin really didn't want them to know he'd broken into their databases yet.
"Incredible! You must teach us how you do it! I'll set you up in a lab, and - "
"Hold on there, Doc. They haven't told us what they're doing in our space yet." The wolf turned and glared at Hollin again. "I asked you this on your ship, guess you can answer now. Name and rank. Spit it out."
Hollin glared back, resolving to give the abrupt canine as much of a hard time as he could. "You're awfully rude, considering you shot an unarmed civilian on an unarmed ship. Still, it's only polite, and I suppose one of us has to be the better cat. My name is Hollin Arensen, Chief Researcher of the Friedhelm. That's the name of our ship, by the way. Since you seem to have trouble with those."
The inside of Grimm's ears turned purple. "You little - " His clawed fingers twitched a few times, but then he abruptly seemed to calm down. He looked away, bringing one of his claws to scratch his cheek. "You... you're right. Damn, I'm gonna get court martialed for this..." With a sigh, the wolf looked back at Hollin. "Look, for what it's worth, I'm sorry. You people are the first alien species we've ever met, and we were a little on edge. We didn't even know there was other life out there."
"Mmh... Apology accepted. Though we don't really appreciate being called `you people'. Try `felines'."
"That's another thing. Why do you look like the cats we have on our home planet? That's why I shot you, you look like a jaguar, those things are dangerous even without weapons."
Hollin smiled toothily, causing the Lieutenant to blanch. "Hey, don't worry about me. It's funny, though. Most other sentient life seems to have similar non-sentient species to each other, with some occasional differences. The Andromodean Squirrel Hegemony doesn't have any great apes, for instance."
"There are sentient squirrels?!" Kerne, Cavan, and the shepherds blurted out, tails beginning to wag.
Great, they're definitely dogs. Hollin rolled his eyes, but couldn't quite stifle a small grin. "Yes, among many, many others. Provided you let us go, we can tell all of them about you. You'll get to meet all kinds of aliens!"
"Er, about that..." The doctor's face sagged. "Your comrades are... gone."
Hollin's heart plummeted in his chest. "W-what do you mean? You let them go?"
"N-no, that's not - Captain, explain."
"Uh... I can't. I mean, I don't know how, I'm not good at giving this kind of news, I - "
Hollin felt his eyes grow hot and wet. He shouted, "Would someone please just tell me what's going on?! What happened to my... my people?"
The canines stared down at the ground, shuffling their feet. It was Cavan who finally stepped away from the wall up to the edge of the light screen. An emotion the jaguar didn't quite recognize welled up in his eyes. Was it pity? Remorse? ...Fear?
"So, your ship is... suspicious. It looks exactly like a stripped-down version of a - well, an enemy ship. And it didn't have any weapons on it, so we boarded. It's the first time we've had the opportunity to look inside one, and then we, er, found you. As far as we knew, the ships were unmanned, but they're always hostile and kill on sight."
Cavan continued, saying, "When we'd... apprehended you - " The Doberman's eyes flicked to look at Grimm for a moment, " - we began towing your ship back for inspection. It ejected something, and it began drifting towards the city at high speed. Fearing an attack, we incinerated it. But when we did a scan of the ship again, we... detected no life signs. Our techs assume it was some kind of escape pod, though we don't know why they would've flown towards us, maybe you can... Oh!"
Tears started flooding down Hollin's face, and he switched back to his native language on instinct. "I-I'm alone. I'm all alone out here. Why would they... They were going to leave me all alone? Why would they do that?" He stumbled back against the bed, sitting abruptly on it. His shoulders quaked as he sobbed. "Captain, what did you make them do? This was first contact, you should've known better!" Raising his dampened face to Cavan, he choked out, "D-Did anyone make it? Anyone at all?"
The Doberman bit his lip and slowly shook his head. "We didn't... we didn't even find any bodies. We searched for hours, but - "
"Wait! How long have I been unconscious?!" Hollin's sadness turned to full-on panic.
Cavan's paws went up, waving in front of his chest frantically. "Hey, hey! I'm... I'm sorry, okay? Please stay calm, I'm not trained for this.. But, you've been out for almost a day. That's about 35 hours, I don't know how your people measure time."
"That... that long? And none of my people tried to communicate with you, at all? Our translation software should have..." Oh, no. Oh, gods, no! "Desen? Desen?!"
"Yes?"
"Did you leave any functionality behind when I pulled you out of the mainframe?"
Desen paused for a moment. "Of course not. Your override code pulled all A.I. functionality to prevent hostile action; you got my entire database. Why?"
"I... I killed everyone on that ship. It's my fault they're dead."
"What do you mean? It was a simple misunderstanding that - "
"A misunderstanding that happened because I took the fucking translation and navigation programs with me!"
"Hollin? Little feline? Are you with us still?"
The jaguar's internal monologue was interrupted as he snapped out of it and looked up. To his surprise, he found Cavan in the cell, with his muzzle so close that Hollin could feel the dog's warm breath on his face. The glowing barrier had disappeared. "W-what?"
Cavan's powerful jaw tensed while his moss-colored eyes studied Hollin closely. "I am, again, sorry. I've lost a lot of comrades over the years, and I know how hard it can be to... cope." The dog sniffed him a few times, grunted, then stood and stepped back a few paces, his stony expression returning. "Is there a reason you can think of that they wouldn't reach out the same way you have?"
"N-No, I don't... I don't know." Hollin's lie choked past the lump in his throat. How could he say it was him? If they hadn't been so trigger-happy, it wouldn't have mattered, anyway. It really was their fault. And he almost let himself believe that. "M-Maybe the, um, software was corrupted? When you probed for our language?"
Cavan and Kerne's faces turned to fright as the others glanced around nervously. Kerne spoke up timidly. "I-I sincerely doubt it. My programs are first-rate, they would never corrupt a database with a simple data probe. I - "
Hollin interrupted with a sneer. "And you have experience with crystal matrix cryptography and data storage, yes? Oh, of course, you must. As well as matrix data recovery and conversion, right? Since you don't store data in a crystal storage, you must know how to properly transfer your programs to and from. You personally must be on the forefront of latticed data technology, considering your entire station still uses magnetic disk drives to store information."
Kerne scoffed. "Latticed...? Bah, this is ridiculous! Data storage is data storage, it's just a matter of getting the systems to talk to each other, and my A.I. made quick work of that. I - wait... how did you know that?"
Hollin blinked. "I am myself an expert in crystal matrixes. My research team and I pioneered the technology when it was introduced - "
Kerne shook his head, leaning in to study the jaguar's face intently. "No, no, not that. You said we use magnetic disk drives. That's actually true... but we never told you that. You haven't been out of your cell, and we locked down your wireless data probe immediately. You never got in. So... How. Do. You. Know?" He spat out each word with increasing venom.
"Uh... I don't, um..." "Desen! How do I know this?"
Desen's voice echoed in Hollin's mind. "Because I've been probing their network while you were knocked out. And I'm in your personal matrix. Anything I know, you know. Some things you won't even have to ask. Go on, recite pi to the three-thousandth decimal!"
"Not the time! What do I tell them?"
"I'm A.I., Hollin. I can't help you there. That's something my creator left up to the organic life."
"I'm... Your creator was an idiot." Hollin sighed and rubbed his temples. "W-We... my people, that is, have excellent communications technology. We're used to facilitating communication between different species, after all... We connected to your databases very, very briefly before you shut down our signal. We got very little information, and I wasn't able to learn much before the little soldier boy shot me." The cat stuck out his tongue at the imposing wolf, whose upper lip curled into a snarl.
Kerne's own expression was unreadable. "Captain, your presence is clearly upsetting our prisoner." Hollin winced at the emphasis he placed on the last word. "Take your subordinates and leave me alone with him. I think I'll be able to extract more information without you around."
Hollin's ears flicked back at the way the scientist phrased that sentence. What does he mean, extract?
"But it could be dangerous! It just admitted to breaching our computers without us even knowing! I can't - "
"He's the only live one left, and he's in prison. I doubt we'll find him much of a threat now. I'm pulling rank on you, Grimm. Leave. That's an order."
Hollin blinked as the four security canines snapped to attention. "Yes, sir..." Grimm muttered. "Come on, boys." The shepherds turned on their heels to follow, but Cavan stayed standing at attention, back to the wall. "Officer Cavan? We've been given orders."
"With all due respect to you, and the Doctor..." Cavan said coolly, "I have orders from the mayor to guard the alien. Both to protect us from it, and to protect it from us. And the mayor is the highest ranking officer in the city, so I'm not leaving."
Kerne and Grimm both grumbled under their breath. The wolf spoke first. "I'll be having words with Geanna, then. Let's go." Grimm stalked off and left the two Dobermans alone in the hallway.
"You being here will make it harder for me to interrogate the lifeform, you know." Kerne said in a dispassionate voice.
Hollin shuddered. "H-Hey, I thought we understood each other. You called me a `him', right? You know I'm just a person. We can talk about this."
"No, we cannot!" the doctor yelled, striding toward Cavan. "You somehow bypassed firewalls - the pinnacle of our encryption algorithms - that I built personally, without even setting off an alarm! I cannot trust you! Answer my questions, or I'll simply beat the truth out of you with a wrench, you pestilent - "
His words choked off as Cavan swiftly closed the distance between them and placed a paw on Kerne's shoulder. He gripped it so tightly that the doctor's knees buckled. When he spoke, his voice was rough and cold. "You will do no such thing. I am recording this interaction, and I will report this threat to Mayor Geanna. There will be an inquiry."
"Augh! Fine, fine, just let me go, you brute!" Kerne pried the other doberman's paw from his shoulder, rolling it around to ease the pain. "Some brother you are..."
"Wait, you're related?" Hollin blurted out. His paws flew to cover his mouth as the unintended words escaped his lips. "Sorry, sorry..." he mumbled.
"Hmph... interesting. You react much the same way we do when we say something incredibly stupid." Kerne gave a derisive snort and kneeled by the opening to the cell. "But sure, we're related. Twins, though I got the brains and he got the brawn. Still, it takes all kinds, I guess." The doctor fished out a small metal cylinder and inhaled on it, breathing out a small cloud of white fog.
"What - what is that?"
"This? It's, um, a vaporizer. This one contains... well, it's a liquid called ghuivaer, but I'm not sure if that translates. It's a synthetic mood-altering drug that keeps me from being quite so, er, high strung. I'm trying to calm down; you said you were willing to talk, so I'm trying to relax and not see you as a top security threat."
"We have some things like that; quite a lot of them, actually. I used to make some of them myself in my younger years."
Kerne's ears perked up, a motion Cavan caught and rolled his eyes at. "Really? Do you think we could compare notes? I've built up quite a tolerance to most things we produce, at least legally anyway. The illegal stuff, though - "
"Kerne!" Cavan glared at his brother, paws balled into fists. "You're supposed to be getting sober! For the millionth time, you're the Chief Surgeon!"
"Yes, yes, and do you know how much stress that puts on me? We're only twenty-six! I wasn't ready, but just because I saved Geanna's life..." Kerne sighed. "Look, it's the only fun I get to have. And come on, it's alien drugs. You can't say you're not at least a little interested. I remember your cadet days, we thought you wouldn't graduate with all the partying you were doing."
Hollin cleared his throat. "Ahem... not to interrupt your little bonding moment, but I'm still here, you know."
"Oh! So you are." Kerne looked legitimately shocked that the jaguar was still present. "Well, then, I have a question. You mentioned your younger years... well. Our medical scans are top of the line. So, imagine my confusion when I ask it to chronodate you for your age, and it comes back with this." He pulled out a sleek black square and pressed a button on it to light it up. He turned it and faced it towards Hollin. "I'm no expert in your physiognomy, but I will say you look remarkably well preserved for three hundred and forty-six."
Cavan stepped back, looking at Hollin like he'd just grown an extra head. "T-That can't be right! Your scans have got to be wrong somehow!"
The jaguar blinked and said, "No... no, I'm honestly impressed. You're very close. I'll actually be three hundred and fifty-four in a few months, though my seniority got reset, so I might as well be a fresh-faced centarian... You have very good scans."
Kerne fumbled the small screen, nearly dropping it. "Wait, it really was accurate? How long do your people normally live?!"
"Normally? Around eighty to ninety years. I'm... complicated." Hollin said, a hint of a smile playing on his lips. He was enjoying teasing them with this information.
"Oh, I see... And how long are you expected to live, then?"
"I'm not sure, actually. But there hasn't been a corporate funeral since I've been alive. It's a hell of a healthcare plan. Most people live as long as they can afford access to - " The jaguar stopped. Why am I spilling all these secrets? What keeps making me think I can trust them?
Kerne licked his lips and leaned forward. "Access to what, exactly? Is it what kept you alive when you were shot?"
"Maybe? I don't know why the treatments would have anything to do with... wait!" Hollin bristled. "Everyone keeps thinking I should be dead. What the fuck is up with that? You just stunned me. I mean, I assume we're a bit more frail than you are, I guess. You both look like you could snap me in half, and you're what, a surgeon? Still, we're not - "
"Ah, Captain Grimm wasn't using a stun setting..." Kerne interrupted, swallowing and looking away. Cavan similarly averted his eyes as the smaller Doberman continued. "He had it set to maximum power. You shouldn't even be in one piece; those blasters, at that setting, can blow through steel."
"What?" Hollin blinked as a quiet question slipped from his lips. When no answer was forthcoming, he spoke again, softly and tremulously. "What? Dead? Already?" Hollin's eyes teared up as he shivered. "I... I need to think about this. Can I please get some space?"
Kerne hesitated for a moment, then stood. "Very well. I'll need to run some tests, but those can wait, I suppose. Get some sleep. We'll talk again tomorrow."
The doctor left, leaving the jaguar alone with Cavan. Hollin looked up at him slowly. "I don't suppose I could convince you to leave too, could I?"
"No. I... I'm, uh, sorry." Cavan shifted from paw to paw uncomfortably, looking down. "I can, um, talk to you... maybe. I-If you want."
"No, there's nothing to say now. I'm alone, I'm stranded, I'm in alien prison, and all my co-workers are dead. I-I-I..." Hot tears flooded out of the jaguar's eyes and streamed down his cheeks. Scrunching up his muzzle, he buried his face in his palms and wailed. "Augh! Damn it! Why?! Why me..." They're dead, all dead, and it's my fault. I can't ever undo what I've done. I don't deserve to be alive...
Collapsing back on the bed, Hollin curled up into a ball and cried so long he fell into a fitful, blessedly dreamless slumber. His day had gone from deadly boring to just plain deadly in just a few hours, and as he drifted off, one thought kept running through his mind.
What...
What comes next?
