Forty minutes sounds like a lot of time.
It isn't.
Not when twenty-three Murder Drones are flying toward your home.
Then forty minutes becomes approximately six seconds wearing a trench coat.
The bunker exploded into motion.
Not literally.
Yet.
That distinction felt important.
Workers flooded the corridors.
Emergency shutters closed.
Old maintenance tunnels opened for the first time in decades.
Anything unnecessary was disconnected from the main power grid.
Anything remotely explosive was moved somewhere that hopefully contained fewer people.
Khan discovered that somebody had suggested sacrificing Door Seven as part of a barricade.
He reacted like they'd proposed executing a family member.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT."
Uzi pointed at the tactical map.
"Dad, it's a door."
"It has served this bunker faithfully for TWENTY-FOUR YEARS."
"It's metal."
"SO ARE YOU."
Uzi froze.
Khan froze.
I froze.
N slowly raised one finger.
"Technically—"
"Don't."
"Okay!"
Thirty-seven minutes.
Lara stood over the tactical display.
Twenty-three yellow contacts continued approaching.
They were no longer one cluster.
They'd begun spreading apart.
Wonderful.
Somebody on their side possessed tactical awareness.
Why couldn't our enemies ever be idiots?
One group moved high.
Another stayed low between ruined buildings.
Four signatures separated completely and began circling toward the northern side.
The enormous central contact continued straight toward us.
Slow.
Steady.
Too large to maneuver like the others.
VA zoomed in.
"Range is improving."
The image sharpened.
Everyone stared.
The large object wasn't shaped like a person.
It was—
Uzi leaned closer.
"...Is that a ship?"
N's visor narrowed.
"Kind of."
Kind of was not a reassuring description.
The thing resembled a flying industrial platform.
Four massive engines.
Armored lower hull.
Mechanical structures hanging beneath it.
No obvious cockpit.
No markings we recognized.
And beneath the central body—
doors.
Lots of doors.
Khan appeared beside us.
His eyes widened.
"...Beautiful."
Uzi grabbed his shoulders.
"FOCUS."
"Sorry."
N studied the image.
"I've never seen one."
Again.
That sentence.
I was beginning to hate that sentence.
Lara turned.
"Could it transport additional units?"
N hesitated.
"Probably."
Everybody became approximately twelve percent more miserable.
VA checked the sensor estimates.
"Twenty-three confirmed signatures are outside it."
Silence.
"So whatever is inside," Uzi said slowly, "is extra."
Correct.
Fantastic.
Twenty-three Murder Drones and a mystery box.
The apocalypse had loot crates now.
Thirty-four minutes.
My system opened.
『 LARGE-SCALE HOSTILE EVENT 』
Current EP:
6,445
Probability of Host survival during direct engagement:
31%
I stared.
Thirty-one?
That seemed—
Actually better than expected.
Then another line appeared.
Probability of Host survival while protecting bonded entities:
8%
There it was.
That sounded more realistic.
N glanced down at me.
"Biscuit?"
Nothing.
Fine.
He could apparently recognize my staring-at-invisible-menu face now.
I projected through Pack Synthesis.
Thinking.
Uzi immediately responded.
Dangerous.
I looked at her.
She smirked.
N laughed.
Lara did not.
"Think faster."
Fair.
I focused on the menu.
Show options.
The screen changed.
『 EMERGENCY DEVELOPMENT OPTIONS 』
PHYSICAL ENHANCEMENTS
Strength III — 600 EP
Speed III — 650 EP
Agility III — 600 EP
Durability III — 700 EP
Sensory Integration II — 400 EP
Predator Awareness I — 800 EP
Pack Protection III — 1,600 EP
Vessel Development —
LOCK—
The word flickered.
Then changed.
『 CONDITION ACHIEVED 』
Lifetime EP exceeds required threshold.
Host has experienced lethal-threat events.
Host has established four or more significant bonds.
Host has encountered entities whose physical architecture exceeds the limitations of current biological vessel.
Vessel Development unlocked.
I stopped.
Oh.
That sounded important.
Open.
The menu vanished.
A new screen appeared.
And for the first time since reincarnating—
I forgot about the twenty-three Murder Drones.
『 VESSEL DEVELOPMENT 』
Your current vessel determines the maximum expression of several Host attributes.
Current Vessel:
BIOLOGICAL — GOLDEN RETRIEVER
Advantages:
High emotional compatibility.
Extreme social response generation.
Natural sensory processing.
Pack bonding affinity.
Efficient instinct integration.
Soft.
I stared.
Soft?
『 Accurate. 』
Don't editorialize.
『 Accurate. 』
Moving on.
Disadvantages:
Low structural durability.
Limited force production.
No native repair system.
No integrated energy source.
No digital interface compatibility.
Limited combat survival.
Limited communication.
That last one hurt personally.
I continued.
Available development:
SECONDARY VESSEL I
Cost:
5,000 EP
I stared harder.
Five thousand.
That was almost everything.
Details.
『 SECONDARY VESSEL I 』
Creates a synthetic secondary vessel modeled after the Host's current biological architecture.
Host consciousness may transfer between primary and secondary vessels.
Primary vessel enters protected stasis during transfer.
Secondary vessel destruction does not kill Host if primary vessel remains functional.
WARNING:
Secondary vessel damage may cause neurological feedback.
WARNING:
Connection range is currently limited.
WARNING:
Secondary vessel is NOT equivalent to a dedicated combat machine.
WARNING:
Canine instincts transfer with Host consciousness.
I paused.
Excuse me.
Read that last one again.
『 Canine instincts transfer with Host consciousness. 』
So even in a robot body—
BALL would remain?
『 Correct. 』
Cruel.
Absolutely cruel.
I checked the cost.
5,000 EP.
Remaining afterward:
1,445.
That was a horrifying investment.
Five thousand points could improve almost everything else I had.
Strength.
Speed.
Durability.
Protection.
Awareness.
But none of those solved the central problem.
I was flesh.
Everyone else here was metal.
A Worker could lose an arm and potentially have it replaced.
N could regenerate injuries that would've reduced me to a strongly worded obituary.
I got slammed into a wall once and my ribs had submitted a formal complaint.
And if I died—
Pack Synthesis disappeared.
Emotional support disappeared.
Whatever weird thing the enemy wanted from me became irrelevant because I would be dead.
I projected toward Lara.
Have idea.
Her head turned.
"Explain."
Hard.
New body.
Silence.
Uzi blinked.
"What?"
N's emotional signature immediately became panic.
NEW BODY?
Temporary.
Maybe.
Probably.
"What does probably mean?!"
The system supplied information through the connection poorly.
Images.
Concepts.
Metal.
Secondary body.
Original body sleeping.
Transfer.
N processed approximately half of this.
His panic doubled.
"No."
I stared.
"Nope."
N crouched directly in front of me.
"No experimental body swapping during an invasion."
Uzi crossed her arms.
"Wow."
N looked at her.
"What?"
"That's probably the smartest sentence anyone in this room has said today."
"Thank you!"
"Low bar."
"Still counts."
Lara stepped closer.
"What are the risks?"
I mentally opened the warnings and pushed them through Pack Synthesis.
Neurological feedback.
Limited range.
Secondary destruction painful.
Primary body vulnerable while inactive.
Lara absorbed the information.
Then asked the important question.
"What does the secondary body provide?"
I checked.
System?
『 SYNTHETIC CANINE VESSEL I 』
Approximate dimensions:
Current Host size +18%
Construction:
Synthetic skeletal frame.
Composite musculature.
Impact-resistant external plating.
Thermal synthetic fur.
Internal power cell.
Sensory conversion array.
Self-repair capability: Minimal.
Integrated weapon systems:
NONE.
I liked that word.
None.
Great.
Wonderful.
We were spending five thousand points on a robot dog with no guns.
Then—
『 COMPATIBLE HOST ENHANCEMENTS WILL SCALE TO SECONDARY VESSEL. 』
Wait.
Meaning?
『 Physical enhancements apply according to vessel architecture. 』
Oh.
Ohhh.
My biological strength enhancements made me—
a stronger dog.
The same enhancement running through mechanical muscles?
Different ceiling.
I checked estimates.
Synthetic body physical output:
Approximately 3.8× current biological baseline.
Durability:
Approximately 5.1× biological baseline.
Speed:
Approximately 1.7× biological baseline.
Agility:
Comparable.
Sensory capability:
Improved.
Jaw pressure:
I stopped.
Why was there a jaw-pressure statistic?
『 Retriever. 』
That does not explain it.
『 Dog. 』
You're becoming less helpful.
N was still staring at me.
"Absolutely not."
N.
"No."
Need.
"No."
Protect.
His expression changed.
There.
The unfair word.
Protect.
I felt fear surge through him.
Not fear of the approaching army.
Fear of losing me.
His hand rested against my head.
"You don't have to do everything."
I knew.
That was the problem.
I wasn't trying to.
Lara commanded.
Uzi fought.
N protected.
VA trained.
Khan built.
Hundreds of Workers maintained the bunker.
Pack didn't mean Biscuit heroically solved every problem by becoming Dog Superman.
Pack meant everybody contributed what they could.
And my current body couldn't contribute enough against twenty-three Murder Drones without being one mistake away from death.
I pushed one thought through the connection.
Want live.
N went still.
Then:
Better chance.
His hand tightened slightly in my fur.
He understood.
He hated understanding.
But he understood.
Uzi looked toward the approaching contacts.
Thirty-one minutes.
"Can you change back?"
Yes.
"Original body stays alive?"
Yes.
"Can the robot body explode?"
I checked.
Why was that her first question?
System?
『 Catastrophic power-cell failure is possible. 』
Possible.
Uzi nodded.
"Everything can explode."
Khan stared at her.
"That is not comforting!"
"It's engineering."
Lara made the decision.
"Do it."
N looked at her.
"Administrator—"
"If it increases his survival probability without sacrificing his primary body, we need the option."
She looked down at me.
"But your original body goes into the deepest shelter."
Agreed.
"Under guard."
Agreed.
"You're not using the synthetic body to charge directly into twenty-three hostiles."
...
"Biscuit."
Agreed-ish.
"No."
Agreed.
N pointed at me.
"I'm watching you."
My tail wagged.
Wrong response.
His visor narrowed.
"That trick isn't working."
I lowered my ears.
His emotional signature immediately collapsed.
"Okay, it works a little."
Victory.
BUY SECONDARY VESSEL.
『 CONFIRM PURCHASE? 』
5,000 EP
Current EP after purchase:
1,445
Yes.
The system flashed.
『 PURCHASE CONFIRMED 』
For approximately one second—
nothing happened.
Then my entire body tingled.
I looked down.
Still paws.
Still fur.
Still—
My legs stopped working.
Oh.
That seemed bad.
I tipped sideways.
N caught me before my head touched the floor.
"BISCUIT?!"
Fine.
Probably.
System?
『 SECONDARY VESSEL CONSTRUCTION INITIALIZED 』
Estimated construction time:
11 minutes, 42 seconds.
Required material:
Available.
I looked around.
Available where?
A section of the floor behind me glowed blue.
Everyone jumped backward.
Metal moved.
Not magically appearing.
That somehow would've been less disturbing.
Loose material from the room began sliding.
Scrap.
Broken plating.
An abandoned maintenance panel.
Two ruined Worker replacement components.
A metal chair.
Khan screamed.
"THE CHAIR!"
Uzi looked at him.
"Really?"
"It was a good chair!"
The material collapsed into a growing sphere of blue light.
Parts broke apart.
Compressed.
Reshaped.
Wires formed.
Metal folded.
Synthetic material spread across a skeletal structure.
Four legs.
Spine.
Rib assembly.
Tail.
Head.
N stared.
Uzi stared.
VA stared.
Lara stared.
I stared.
The unfinished machine on the floor was shaped like—
me.
Not humanoid.
Thank God.
A dog.
Slightly larger.
Mechanical frame visible beneath incomplete layers.
The head looked almost unsettling without fur.
Synthetic eyes remained dark.
A metal jaw rested slightly open.
The tail was currently a segmented mechanical spine.
Uzi whispered:
"Robot Biscuit."
N immediately shook his head.
"No."
"What?"
"We're finding a better name."
"Bisbot."
"No."
"Dog.exe."
"Absolutely not."
"Golden Deceiver."
I barked.
Both looked at me.
That one was offensive.
Uzi grinned.
"He understands."
Of course I understand.
Twenty-eight minutes.
The body continued assembling.
Armor formed across the chest and shoulders.
Not heavy.
Flexible overlapping plates.
Paws gained segmented pads designed for traction.
Then synthetic muscle fibers wrapped around the limbs.
Finally—
fur.
Golden.
Actual golden synthetic fur spread across the frame.
N's eyes widened.
"Oh."
He touched it.
The system wasn't even finished.
"N."
He touched it again.
"Soft."
Uzi groaned.
"Of course that's what matters."
"It matters a lot."
"It literally doesn't."
"It matters to me."
VA cautiously touched the synthetic fur.
Then blinked.
"...That is weirdly convincing."
N pointed.
"See?"
Twenty-four minutes.
The new body finished.
It lay on the floor.
Motionless.
Golden retriever.
Slightly bigger.
Slightly broader.
The paws looked normal until you noticed the thin metal joints beneath the fur.
Its eyes were dark.
No breathing.
No heartbeat.
No life.
Yet.
The system appeared.
『 SECONDARY VESSEL COMPLETE 』
Transfer available.
Primary vessel must remain stationary during operation.
Recommended secure location.
Lara immediately picked me up.
I had questions about how normal everyone had become about carrying me around.
We moved.
Deep shelter.
Three reinforced doors.
Khan looked extremely proud of all three.
Medical equipment surrounded an old maintenance room that had been converted into something resembling a veterinary apocalypse bunker.
My biological body was placed on a padded platform.
N refused to leave.
Uzi refused to admit she was refusing to leave.
VA stood near the door.
Lara stayed because apparently administrators on Copper-9 had never heard of delegating.
The synthetic body lay beside me.
Still.
Waiting.
I stared at my own face.
This was unsettling.
Not because it looked wrong.
Because it looked right.
Same ears.
Same muzzle.
Same stupidly friendly face.
Same golden fur.
Whoever designed the system had recreated even the tiny darker patch near my left ear.
I hadn't realized I possessed a darker patch near my left ear.
I looked between bodies.
Organic me.
Synthetic me.
Human me—
gone.
That thought arrived unexpectedly.
I hadn't had a human body for weeks.
I hadn't thought about it much.
Survival had been too loud.
But once—
I had hands.
Five fingers.
Twenty-three years of walking upright.
A face I barely remembered seeing in mirrors every morning.
Then stairs.
Darkness.
Paws.
Now another body waited beside me.
Four legs again.
Dog again.
Was I the body?
Obviously not.
I'd already lost one.
Was I the brain?
That had changed too.
Canine instincts had folded into my human thoughts until separating them became increasingly difficult.
Was I memories?
Relationships?
Choices?
Pack?
I didn't know.
Existential philosophy was much easier when twenty-three Murder Drones weren't approaching.
Twenty minutes.
N sat beside me.
"You okay?"
I projected:
Scared.
He smiled slightly.
"Me too."
Uzi looked at the secondary body.
"That's reassuring."
"It wasn't supposed to reassure you."
"I know."
I placed one paw against N's hand.
Then looked toward Uzi.
Then VA.
Then Lara.
Ready.
N wasn't.
But he nodded.
Transfer.
『 INITIATING SECONDARY VESSEL TRANSFER 』
Three.
Two.
One.
Darkness.
Not death darkness.
I knew death darkness.
This felt—
compressed.
Like somebody had turned off every sense simultaneously.
No smell.
No sound.
No body.
Nothing.
Then—
BOOT.
My eyes opened.
Too fast.
Everything was bright.
Data flooded my vision.
Temperature.
Distance.
Movement.
Power levels.
Audio frequencies.
Structural outlines.
N was directly in front of me.
His visor displayed pure panic.
"Biscuit?"
I tried responding.
Nothing happened.
Then—
"WOOF!"
Metal speakers amplified the bark throughout the room.
Everyone jumped.
I jumped.
My legs disagreed about direction.
Oh no.
Not again.
Left front paw shot forward.
Right rear paw moved sideways.
My mechanical tail activated at maximum enthusiasm.
I tipped.
CLANG.
Face-first.
Silence.
Uzi covered her mouth.
N stared.
VA turned away.
Lara's shoulders moved once.
I lifted my head.
Nobody laughed.
Uzi broke first.
She fell against the wall.
"NEW BODY—"
She wheezed.
"SAME PROBLEM!"
I growled.
It came out through an electronic speaker.
"GRRRRRRRR."
That sounded significantly more threatening.
Uzi laughed harder.
N finally lost it.
Even Lara smiled.
My dignity had survived death.
It had not survived reincarnation.
Apparently it wouldn't survive robotics either.
I stood.
Slowly.
This time I let the canine instincts handle movement.
Immediately—
everything clicked.
Mechanical paws contacted the floor.
Balance data flowed through my mind.
Tiny motors adjusted faster than muscle ever could.
I stepped.
Then another.
Walked.
Trotted.
Stopped.
Okay.
That—
felt good.
Really good.
I jumped.
Too much.
I launched nearly five feet.
BONK.
Ceiling.
CLANG.
Floor.
Uzi stopped laughing long enough to point.
"Do it again."
No.
N checked me frantically.
"Are you damaged?!"
System?
『 DAMAGE: 0.3% 』
Fine.
N hugged me.
Mechanical body.
Metal skeleton.
Reinforced chassis.
He somehow still picked me up.
Of course.
"You're heavier!"
I barked directly beside his head.
"OW!"
Good.
Then my nose activated.
And reality became terrifying.
My old sense of smell had been incredible.
This wasn't smell.
This was chemical analysis pretending to be smell.
Oil type.
Temperature.
Metal oxidation.
Electrical discharge.
Synthetic fabric.
N.
Uzi.
VA.
Lara.
Each possessed a signature I'd already memorized biologically.
Now my new sensors translated them differently—
and yet I recognized everyone instantly.
Pack.
That mattered more.
I checked the clock.
Seventeen minutes.
Enough testing.
Move.
Lara nodded.
"Let's see what you can do."
We returned toward command.
Running felt wrong for three seconds.
Then it felt incredible.
My paws struck metal.
THUD-THUD-THUD-THUD.
Faster.
I accelerated.
N flew beside me.
Uzi shouted from behind:
"HEY!"
I slowed.
Sorry.
"No, you're not!"
Correct.
The bunker noticed.
Workers stopped.
Stared.
One dropped a welding tool.
Another pointed.
"WHAT IS THAT?"
Someone else answered:
"It's Biscuit."
"THAT IS NOT BISCUIT."
I barked.
The first Worker froze.
"...That's Biscuit."
EP notifications appeared.
Curiosity.
Shock.
Recognition.
Relief.
+17.
+26.
+11.
+8.
I almost laughed.
New body.
Same capitalism.
We entered command.
VA updated the tactical map.
Twelve minutes.
Lara immediately assigned roles.
"Decoy Beacon One activates now."
A false power signature appeared three blocks west.
Six hostile contacts changed course.
Good.
"Beacon Two."
Another.
Three redirected north.
Nine separated.
Fourteen still coming.
Better than twenty-three.
Remote gun positions activated outside the bunker.
Not designed to kill Murder Drones.
Designed to annoy them.
Bullets.
Flares.
Electrical mines.
Noise.
Things that made flying directly toward us inconvenient.
The enemy formation fragmented further.
Ten minutes.
N watched the map.
"They're adapting."
Of course they were.
Two contacts destroyed Beacon One.
Another ignored it completely and returned toward us.
The large transport never changed direction.
Straight line.
Coming directly here.
No.
Not here.
I stared.
My sensory system highlighted something.
A faint signal.
Not sound.
Not radio exactly.
System?
『 UNKNOWN TRACKING INTERACTION DETECTED 』
What?
『 SECONDARY VESSEL IS BEING OBSERVED. 』
By what?
The large contact.
A line connected us.
My synthetic body—
to the transport.
My stomach would've dropped.
This body did not currently possess a stomach.
Emotionally, though?
Very dropped.
I projected:
Large sees me.
Everyone froze.
Uzi leaned toward the map.
"What do you mean sees you?"
Tracks.
Lara's expression sharpened.
"How?"
Don't know.
N stepped in front of me.
Pointless.
Very appreciated.
"But your original body's underground."
Correct.
VA understood first.
Her face changed.
"...Then they weren't tracking his biology."
Silence.
Oh.
Oh, that was bad.
The fast stranger from the previous attack had called me:
The anomalous biological.
We had assumed biological was the important part.
Maybe it wasn't.
Maybe whoever issued the mission didn't fully understand what I was either.
Because my biological body was currently asleep behind three doors.
My consciousness was here.
And the enemy had immediately found me again.
Uzi whispered:
"They're tracking you."
Yes.
"Not the dog."
Yes.
"You."
Yes.
N's fear spiked through Pack Synthesis.
The large contact transmitted.
Every screen in command flickered.
VA jumped backward.
"External intrusion!"
Static.
Yellow.
Black.
Then text appeared.
Not JCJenson.
Not Worker code.
Not anything N recognized.
My system translated it automatically.
That was worse.
Much worse.
『 HOST TRANSFER CONFIRMED 』
Nobody spoke.
My synthetic ears slowly lowered.
Another line.
『 SECONDARY VESSEL COMPATIBILITY: ACCEPTABLE 』
Uzi read it.
Her voice was suddenly much quieter.
"...It knows."
N unfolded his claws.
Lara immediately shouted:
"Disconnect external communications!"
VA slammed controls.
Screens went dark.
Too late.
The message had arrived.
And somewhere outside—
the giant transport accelerated.
Eight minutes.
Lara looked at me.
"Can it locate your primary body?"
I checked.
System?
No answer.
System.
『 UNKNOWN. 』
Great.
Very useful.
I projected:
Assume yes.
Lara nodded immediately.
"Move Biscuit's primary vessel."
N looked toward the shelter direction.
"I'll do it."
"No."
He turned.
Lara pointed toward the approaching contacts.
"I need you here."
N hated that.
I felt it.
Uzi stepped beside him.
"So do I."
He looked at her.
Then me.
I sent:
Stay.
His hands tightened.
"...Okay."
Workers relocated my biological body deeper through the emergency tunnels.
Which was an extremely strange sentence to experience while standing somewhere else.
Seven minutes.
The first hostile reached the outer perimeter.
Remote gunfire erupted.
A yellow signature dropped.
Not dead.
Hit by an electromagnetic trap.
Two more turned.
N launched through the outer breach.
Workers shouted.
Uzi ran after him.
"WAIT FOR THE REST OF US, IDIOT!"
I followed.
Lara's voice immediately entered Pack Synthesis.
Biscuit.
No charging.
Fine.
You are currently accelerating.
Strategic running.
Biscuit.
Strategic.
I hit the first exterior corridor as an enemy crashed through the ceiling.
Yellow visor.
Blades.
It saw Uzi.
Saw N.
Then saw me.
Stopped.
Actually stopped.
"...What?"
Good.
Confusion.
I'll take it.
Its mission data flickered visibly across its visor.
TARGET ACQUIRED.
Of course.
It lunged.
N intercepted.
CLANG!
They hit the wall.
Another came through behind it.
Uzi raised her recharged railgun.
"HELLO!"
KRAK!
The blast clipped a wing.
The Drone spun.
I ran.
Not toward its chest.
Not toward its claws.
Joint.
Always joints.
My synthetic jaws closed around its ankle.
CRUNCH.
This time—
no pain.
Oh.
That was new.
I pulled.
Mechanical muscles engaged.
The Drone's leg moved.
Not broke.
Moved.
That alone would've been impossible yesterday.
It looked down.
I looked up.
Its visor displayed:
?
Same.
I yanked sideways.
It lost balance.
Uzi kicked it.
"GOOD BOY!"
My tail wagged.
DAMN IT.
The Drone raised a weapon.
N's tail punched through its shoulder from behind.
It collapsed.
Not dead.
Disabled.
Maybe.
No time.
Two more signatures entered.
Then three.
Workers fired from barricades.
Not uselessly.
They targeted wings.
Sensors.
Previously damaged areas.
They had learned.
We had learned.
One Drone crashed after three Workers concentrated fire on a damaged flight assembly.
Another reached the barricade and tore straight through it.
Nobody stood there.
Decoy position.
Lara's strategy.
The Murder Drone realized this approximately one second before an electromagnetic charge detonated underneath it.
ZZZZZRAK!
It fell face-first.
Pipe Worker appeared.
Pipe raised.
I stared at him.
No.
He stared at me.
"YES."
He smacked the disabled Murder Drone.
CLANG.
Why.
"FOR MORALE!"
You know what?
Fair.
Four minutes.
The transport arrived overhead.
Everything shook.
Not an explosion.
Engines.
Massive engines.
Snow blasted horizontally through the breach.
The outside sky disappeared beneath metal.
N looked upward.
Uzi slowly lowered the railgun.
"That's..."
Huge.
Yes.
Very useful observation.
The underside doors began opening.
No.
No no no.
We already had enough Murder Drones.
The system flashed.
『 LARGE CONTACT OPENING 』
Thank you.
Eyes work.
Something descended.
Not twenty more Murder Drones.
One object.
Long.
Mechanical.
It dropped on cables.
Then touched the snow outside.
A tower?
No.
A machine.
Four mechanical legs unfolded.
Its upper section rotated.
And every hostile Drone near the bunker suddenly changed.
More coordinated.
Sharper.
Faster.
N dodged a blade by centimeters.
"They're networking!"
A command unit.
The transport hadn't brought an army.
It had brought something to control the army.
VA's voice came through the connection.
"Signal spike! Huge one!"
Uzi looked at the machine.
Then at her railgun.
"Oh."
I knew that look.
Bad idea incoming.
"I'm shooting it."
N shouted:
"UZI—"
KRAAAAAK!
She fired.
The command machine turned.
A barrier flashed.
The railgun blast dispersed across it.
Uzi stared.
"...Rude."
The machine rotated toward her.
Weapon ports opened.
N grabbed Uzi.
They moved.
BOOM!
The corridor entrance vanished.
I went airborne.
Synthetic body hit snow.
Rolled.
Recovered.
No broken ribs.
I could get used to this.
Then—
everything yellow turned toward me.
Every Drone.
The command machine.
The transport.
All at once.
Oh.
That's concerning.
Text appeared across my system.
『 EXTERNAL PRIORITY UPDATE DETECTED 』
Hostile objective changed.
Previous:
CAPTURE HOST
Current:
CAPTURE ACTIVE VESSEL
Secondary:
LOCATE PRIMARY VESSEL
My body went cold.
Which was impressive considering it was synthetic.
They knew there were two.
N felt my fear.
"Biscuit?"
I sent the information.
Everyone in Pack Synthesis experienced approximately the same emotional event.
Bad.
Very bad.
Lara reacted first.
"Emergency Tunnel Six. Move the biological vessel immediately."
VA responded:
"Already moving."
Good.
Uzi raised her weapon.
"What happens if we wreck the command thing?"
N looked at the synchronized Drones.
"They probably stop sharing targeting."
Probably?
Good enough.
Lara:
Do it.
Uzi:
Gladly.
N:
Together?
I stared at the machine.
Barrier.
Hostiles.
Transport overhead.
Twenty-three had become—
I checked.
Seventeen active.
Six disabled or diverted.
Still terrible.
Still impossible in a fair fight.
The system's earlier recommendation returned.
DO NOT FIGHT FAIR.
Right.
I looked at the command machine.
Then the bunker.
Then our decoy systems.
Then myself.
Oh.
I had a horrible idea.
Which meant Uzi would love it.
I projected:
They want me.
Uzi turned.
"Yes."
Use me.
"No."
That came from N.
Immediately.
Absolutely.
Use fake me.
Pause.
Uzi's eyes widened.
Then she grinned.
"Oh."
N looked between us.
"Oh no."
Lara understood.
"Can we reproduce his synthetic vessel's signal?"
VA answered.
"Not perfectly."
Need enough.
Uzi was already running toward the equipment room.
"WE HAVE A ROBOT DOG. WE CAN FAKE A ROBOT DOG."
N shouted after her:
"THAT SENTENCE DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!"
"It doesn't need to!"
Three minutes later—
we created the stupidest military strategy in Copper-9 history.
Six old maintenance carts.
Golden thermal blankets.
Signal repeaters tuned approximately to my secondary vessel.
Movement scripts.
Remote control.
Lara stared at them.
"They look nothing like Biscuit."
Uzi crossed her arms.
"The enemies are using electronic targeting."
One cart's blanket fell off.
Underneath was a trash container.
N pointed.
"That one is literally garbage."
"Electronically, it's Biscuit."
I barked.
Offensive.
Uzi patted my head.
"You're premium garbage."
More offensive.
We launched them.
Six fake Biscuit signals scattered through the ruins.
The command machine hesitated.
One Drone turned.
Then another.
Four peeled away.
Then six.
YES.
The command unit tried recalibrating.
Our repeaters changed frequencies.
VA laughed through the connection.
"It's working."
For twenty seconds.
Then one fake Biscuit drove directly into a wall.
Another tipped over.
A third continued spinning in a circle.
N stared.
"Why?"
Uzi looked offended.
"I HAD THREE MINUTES."
Fair.
But twenty seconds was enough.
N launched.
Uzi aimed.
Workers opened fire simultaneously.
Not at the barrier.
At the ground beneath the command machine.
Explosive maintenance charges detonated.
Snow.
Concrete.
Metal.
The machine's front legs dropped into the collapsing surface.
Barrier flickered.
N hit the side.
Claws.
Acid.
Not enough.
I ran.
Protective Instinct activated.
『 PROTECTIVE INSTINCT II 』
30 seconds.
My synthetic body surged.
Oh.
OH.
This was different.
Mechanical muscles took the percentage increase and actually knew what to do with it.
I accelerated.
Too fast.
Corrected.
Jumped.
The command machine turned.
Weapon aimed.
Uzi shouted:
"BISCUIT!"
I hit the weapon arm from the side.
My jaws closed around cables.
Pulled.
Metal tore.
The machine fired.
Sideways.
The blast hit one of its own escort Drones.
Friendly fire.
My favorite fire.
N tore open the opposite housing.
Uzi waited.
Barrier flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Gone.
"Knew it."
Railgun charged.
The machine rotated toward her.
I bit down harder.
N held the weapon assembly.
Workers fired.
Uzi squeezed the trigger.
KRAAAAAAAAAAK!
Blue-white energy punched straight through the command core.
Everything stopped.
The machine froze.
Every remaining hostile Drone froze too.
Not shut down.
Disconnected.
Confused.
Independent again.
N shouted:
"NOW!"
Workers fired.
Drones scattered.
Without synchronized targeting, the formation collapsed.
Some attacked.
Some retreated toward the transport.
Two collided in the air while trying to avoid the same railgun line.
V would have been embarrassed for them.
The transport began rising.
No.
Wait.
It was leaving?
Uzi looked upward.
"That's right! RUN!"
The remaining Drones followed.
Not all.
Three remained disabled outside.
Two inside.
Others had been damaged badly enough they couldn't follow.
But the majority retreated.
N landed beside me.
Workers slowly emerged.
Nobody celebrated yet.
We'd learned that lesson.
Wait.
Watch.
Confirm.
The massive transport climbed.
Higher.
Higher.
Then stopped.
Every screen in my vision flickered.
One final external message.
Not to the bunker.
Not to Uzi.
Not to N.
Me.
『 ACTIVE VESSEL DATA ACQUIRED 』
My tail stopped.
Second line.
『 PRIMARY VESSEL LOCATION: INCOMPLETE 』
Good.
Third.
『 HOST ADAPTATION RATE: ABOVE PROJECTION 』
Not good.
Fourth.
『 NEXT RECOVERY ATTEMPT WILL ACCOUNT FOR VARIABLE. 』
Definitely not good.
The transport disappeared into the storm.
Nobody moved for several seconds.
Then Uzi spoke.
"...I hate ominous computers."
Same.
The system opened.
『 LARGE-SCALE HOSTILE EVENT COMPLETE 』
Hostile units destroyed/disabled:
9
Hostile units retreated:
14
Large contact:
Retreated
Command relay:
Destroyed
Bunker fatalities:
2
Wounded:
9
I stared at the two.
Not zero.
Again.
Victory wasn't clean.
It never was.
Then:
『 EMOTIONAL EVENT HARVEST 』
Courage
Trust
Relief
Coordination
Hope
Pack cohesion
+2,804 EP
Current EP:
4,266
Additional achievement:
『 NEW BODY, SAME HOST 』
Successfully operated secondary vessel during lethal-threat event.
Reward:
Vessel synchronization improved.
Transfer delay reduced.
Synthetic motor calibration increased.
I waited.
Anything else?
『 No. 』
No cool laser eyes?
『 No. 』
Missiles?
『 No. 』
Jet-powered tail?
『 No. 』
Useless.
『 You survived. 』
...
Fair.
N crouched.
His hands moved through my synthetic fur.
"You feel like Biscuit."
I stared.
I am.
"I know."
Uzi approached.
Covered in dust.
Railgun smoking.
She poked my nose.
CLINK.
Her eyes widened.
She poked it again.
CLINK.
Stop.
CLINK.
Uzi.
CLINK.
I growled.
She grinned.
"This is going to be fun."
I bit her sleeve.
"HEY!"
N laughed.
Workers began repairing.
Again.
Somebody shouted for medical crews.
Again.
Khan emerged from a ruined corridor.
He stared at the damage.
At the missing wall.
At three destroyed doors.
His visor went blank.
Nobody spoke to him.
Nobody was brave enough.
Finally—
he whispered:
"...Door Seven."
Uzi slowly backed away.
"Dad—"
"They killed Door Seven."
"It was technically the explosion—"
"DOOR SEVEN HAD SIX MONTHS UNTIL RETIREMENT."
N looked at me.
I looked at N.
We walked away.
Some grief required privacy.
Twenty minutes later, I returned to the deep shelter.
My biological body lay asleep on the platform.
Alive.
Breathing.
Golden fur rising and falling.
I stood beside myself.
Still weird.
Very weird.
System.
Transfer back.
『 CONFIRM? 』
Yes.
Darkness.
Then—
smell.
Warm synthetic fabric.
Oil.
N.
Uzi.
Metal.
My lungs inhaled.
Heart beating.
Real paws.
Soft body.
I opened my eyes.
N immediately grabbed me.
"BISCUIT!"
I barked.
Normal volume.
Much better.
He hugged me.
Uzi scratched behind my ear.
VA stood nearby.
Lara checked the transfer monitor.
Everyone safe.
Mostly.
I relaxed.
Then Uzi reached into her pocket.
Pulled something out.
Green.
Round.
Fuzzy.
A tennis ball.
My brain stopped.
No.
Absolutely not.
I had just fought an invasion.
Discovered some unknown force could track my consciousness between bodies.
Purchased a synthetic combat vessel.
Helped destroy a command relay.
Learned that another recovery attempt was coming.
I was a twenty-three-year-old reincarnated human being dealing with serious existential questions regarding identity, mortality, consciousness, and—
Uzi threw the ball.
BALL.
I launched off the bed.
N shouted:
"BISCUIT!"
Too late.
BALL.
I hit the floor.
Slid.
Grabbed it.
Turned.
Tail wagging hard enough to achieve low orbit.
Uzi stared at me.
Then at N.
Then at Lara.
"Yep."
She pointed.
"New body."
I dropped the tennis ball at her feet.
Throw.
She smiled.
"Same problem."
Throw.
She threw it.
BALL.
Maybe some parts of identity were easier to understand than others.
END CHAPTER 8