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Nathan woke relaxed but invigorated.

"Ra ruh roo."

"I love you, too," he replied, and reached out to scratch Sasha behind a furry ear.

Her tail thumped the bed as she licked his face. There was something different about her. Oh, her paws. Each one now had separate toes with claws. Her joints seemed more realistic, too, with tendons visible at her hocks.

Oh, Lord, he thought. CNFs. Smart cloth. Active control. Apparently she was getting ready for the new deception. The implications, though....

Since she was already lying down, "Sasha, roll over."

She promptly rolled over, a little awkwardly, just as the security monitors had. Her rib cage was distinct as her stomach sank in while she was briefly on her back.

"Ra ruh roo."

"You know, this is going to take some getting used to."

"Ra ruh roo."

"Sasha, quiet." She gazed at him, looking a little hurt.

"Sorry, I don't mean it that way. You can say whatever you want. It's just that hearing that same phrase over and over would get to be annoying after a while, even though I know you really mean it." He stroked her head and down her neck, then thumped her on the ribs.

"Time to get up, I suppose. I want to try to get Luke to eat breakfast this morning. Maybe that'll keep him from gorging at lunchtime." At least now his own physical reactions would be reduced. Maybe.

"Ruh!" Sasha agreed and leaped down from the bed, her claws rattling slightly on the hardwood floor. Something else to get used to. At least she wouldn't "leave smelly excreta in surprising locations." Hmm. On second thought, that obviously was just marketing hyperbole. She could if she wanted. Nathan shuddered at the thought of finding month-old garbage in surprising locations.

She did run around the room, though, and did a little dance in front of the door to show how impatient she was, or was pretending to be. Siberian huskies were extremely active dogs, they'd learned last night, who needed plenty of exercise.

"Aren't you supposed to be a security monitor? I suspect they don't act quite like real Sibers."

"Ruh." She started walking stiffly, head turning back and forth.

"Now you're just being silly."

"Ruh," she grinned at him.

The door to Luke's room was open and neither he nor Ben were there. Had he slept on the couch all night?

Sasha preceded him down the stairs, almost dancing, tail waving.

He had. He was still sound asleep, sprawled on his stomach with one arm draped over the edge, his hand in Ben's fur. The t-shirt he'd been wearing was in a pile on the floor. The tiger opened one eye, then both, staring at the new Sasha, who was patrolling the room.

"Ben, I'm going to wake him, OK?" The tiger nodded. Luke would want to use the bathroom, at least, before eating. He'd decided to fix French toast, which wouldn't take long.

Nathan knelt to shake the nearest warm, furry shoulder. "Luke, wake up. I'm about to fix breakfast. Come on, wake up. It's getting late."

Luke just grumbled.

"Luke, if you don't get up, I'll sic Ben on you." He shook the shoulder again.

Luke pulled the Afghan up over his head.

"Now you're just being difficult. Ben, I guess I'll just have to leave it to you."

A loud "Aaagh!" followed him into the kitchen.

This was shaping up to be a fine Sunday morning!