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>Some time before deployment >Somewhere closer to home

I stepped off the bus, a small napsack of personal items slung over my shoulder, not knowing what to expect. The building looked like what I'd seen in the flyers and documentaries. Impressive, in the nondescript 'future' way that so many high tech groups were going for these days, glass domes and weirdly shaped spires and big sweeping forms and the like, sitting roughly in the middle of nowhere with nothing but trees and deer in all directions.

Other new recruits were getting off the bus behind me, looking at the set of buildings before us that seemed more like a science center or pricey college campus than a military base. I think they all probably felt like I did, surprised and a little nervous. When I'd made my application I hadn't expected to become anything special, I was just a kid looking for something to do, help pay for college. I was never expecting to be tapped for Wardog training.

Of course I'd dreamed about it, Wardogs were big in the news, movies, they were cool and still fairly new, who didn't at least think about being a half ton war machine that looked like a cross between a warg and a tank? But I never thought they were recruiting straight from the raw newbies, I'd always assumed you needed to be a 20 year veteran with a couple dozen missions under your belt before they'd even let you look at an application. Surprise or no, when I saw the salary was better than anything else I could hope to get, I signed up.

The feeling that I'd been sent to the wrong address got stronger as we were greeted by a smartly dressed woman in a uniform that looked more like something to wear to a business meeting than the expected screaming drill sergeant.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to our facility. If you'll come with me I'll show you around and explain a little of what we do here."

Feeling more like I'd shown up for a museum tour than a training facility, I followed along with the other recruits, being buzzed through the gates and walking through a large scanner before being let into the facility. It did feel more like a tech company, elegantly laid out sidewalks, little parks and fountains, crisp cool air blowing.

"I know at least someone is thinking it, because someone always asks." The woman said. "Why does this place look more like an accounting firm than a military base?" She said, some of the others nodding, having thought the same. "This is a military base, and we are a military institution. But our primary focus here is research and development. Don't worry, you're all going to be in armor, but most of the noncombatants in the Wardog branch are scientists and researchers. Apart from the individual handlers working with each deployed team, Wardogs are seconded to existing deployments, so we don't really have a chain of command like the other branches do. We conduct ourselves more like a tech company, we're contracted to produce a product to the highest standards, and we do it. That product, by the way, being you all of you, and the armor you're going to be wearing."

We nodded, seemed to make sense. No need to shake things up too much because there was some new tech right? Though I did wonder what made this so different that it required its own branch, but not its own command structure. Still, I wasn't the expert, so I just shrugged it off and continued the tour. She pointed out some research buildings, programming, prototyping, that kind of stuff.

"But the central building here is the most important, at least as far as you are concerned. It contains our primary indoor training facilities and is where you'll first suit up in your Wardog armor. There are firing ranges and other outdoor training further behind the main compound, but lots of gunfire isn't good for a research working environment, so we try to keep the more loud activities away from the base."

We entered through a large lobby, before being brought into the deeper areas of the building. There were a lot of offices, a few labs and workshops and we all drew a collective intake of breath when we saw a partially assembled Wardog chassis being worked on, mechanical guts bared to see.

Our guide seemed to find this amusing. "Don't worry, we'll have you suited up before nightfall if all goes smoothly, we just need to run a physical and then we'll get you right into it. You've already been approved and your psych profiles look fine. So there shouldn't be any problems."

I was surprised to hear that, I'd assumed there would be a lot more training and drilling and running around before we got to touch the armor. But who was I to argue? If they wanted to give us the nicest toys to play with right away I certainly wasn't going to complain. She led us onward, showing us some obstacle courses, and we all stopped for a moment to gaze in fascination at a few Wardogs being put through their paces. These weren't the sleek, black deadly ones I saw on the shows though, they were missing their sleek battle armor and instead had boxy plating with yellow and black hazard stripes. Though there was one that looked like the real deal, prowling around the outside as the yellow and black ones went through their paces.

"The yellow and black ones are trainees, like you're about to become, being overseen by one of our veterans." We watched for a few moments longer, the black dog barking loudly at the trainees as he watched them, though they seemed to be doing pretty good. So powerful, graceful, I couldn't wait to get a shot at trying that out for myself.

After that there wasn't much left to see that was very interesting, certainly not as interesting as seeing real Wardogs in motion. We were split up and taken to individual waiting rooms with a light snack, waiting to be given our physicals. I wasn't sure why we were split up, but I could be patient.

Eventually I was pulled out of the waiting room and taken into a medical room, again the only trainee present, a doctor coming in a moment later. "Hello trainee, I'm Doctor Richards. This won't take long but you're going to have to disrobe please."

I nodded. "Yeah, sure." I turned away, fumbling for a moment before I just got it over with and stripped down. Thankfully the procedures after that weren't nearly as invasive as I'd feared for a moment. After my clothes and personal items were sealed in a little bin I went through a medical scanner, then someone else came in after I'd lain down on a table.

"Nothing to worry about." Richards said soothingly, starting to work on the little port on the back of my neck. "Just need to do some upgrades on your neural jack, needs to handle more bandwith."

The neural jack was getting more and more common lately. A little port on the back of your neck with a soft magnetic latch, giving direct input to all kinds of useful programs, and allowing thought based control over compatible technology. Full mind uploading and the like were still the stuff of science fiction, but who knows how long that would be true for. Still, it wasn't exactly comforting feeling them rooting around back there, the clicks and snaps deafeningly loud inside my head.

Soon though the procedure was done. "Alright, you are fully prepared. Let's get you to your chassis." I hopped up, going for my personal items, but Richards stopped me. "No no, you won't need those, just come with me." I paused, then nodded, not wanting to blow this chance, and followed along, still naked.

After that I was sat down in a little barbers chair and my head shaved, which didn't take long, after a shower I was led further on, heart pounding from the indignity of my situation, and the excitement of what was to come.

Finally, I laid eyes on the canine body sitting there, waiting for me, standing on all fours, covered in the yellow-black training plates. A few techies were standing around, the doctor having returned to his tasks, a young man waving me over. "You're all set, let me pop the lid for you."

He tapped a few keys on a touchpad, and with a hiss the back popped open, lifting up to reveal a cramped interior compartment, lined with blue gel.

"Not much room." I said, poking the soft gel. It didn't look like a cockpit of any description.

The techie nodded. "No, there's not. Now I'm going to explain to you how this works, so you'll understand you're in no danger, and not panic, okay? Okay. The suit is controlled directly through your neural jack, direct mental control, no controls for your hands or feet, so you don't need to move. As such, you're going to be held completely in place. Don't worry, it's like sleeping on a cloud. The gel will receive an electrostatic charge, conforming to your body's shape and dampening all shocks and movement."

I poked the gel again, it did seem quite cushy.

"Now, while this suit is capable of both bipedal and quadrupedal movement, you're going to be locked in quadruped mode at first. Otherwise new trainees just walk around in biped mode and never develop proper movement skills. Also, rapidly entering and exiting the armor isn't... a good idea. Headaches, nausea, disorientation. So we're going to disable your ability to get out on your own."

I looked at him sharply, and he held up a hand."Don't worry, we'll be monitoring your vitals. If you need to get out, we'll have you out in seconds. But the only way we find for people to adapt to this different of a system is to force them to stay in it until they adapt, otherwise they just keep leaving and no worthwhile training happens. Now, you're in good hands here, we invented this technology, and we're going to get you through this, okay?"

I nodded. "Alright... guess I trust you then." He nodded, gesturing for me to climb in. I did so, crawling into the gel lined space and laying down, arms and legs fitting into rough grooves as a techie helped put a mask on me, breathing hose supplying air. The back of the mask had a plug that went straight into my neural jack, before a hand on the back of my head gently pressed it down into the gel.

"Alright, closing the hatch, it'll be dark and still for a moment, just sit tight for a few seconds."

I would have nodded if the hand wasn't holding my head still, before it was removed and with a hiss the hatch lowered down. I flinched as the cool gel touched my bare back all at once, my ears popping as a seal was made. All was silent and still, entombed within this chassis, air coming in silent breaths through the hose over my mouth. Suddenly the gel around me tensed, squeezing, before it relaxed and... damn that was comfortable.

Every part of my body was being cradled in suspension, perfectly supported. I couldn't even feel gravity anymore, it was like I was floating in a warm empty space, not touching anything. I couldn't move but that was fine, I could just hang here forever, sleep. Was I falling asleep? I could feel... something. I was drifting away, slowly, gently, carried away to...I opened my eyes slowly, seeing the tech bay ahead of me. What... had happened? Had I seriously fallen asleep in the suit and they had to pull me out? Damn, well their fault for making the thing so damn comfortable. I went to wave and say I was sorry.

I couldn't move. I couldn't speak. I started looking around, feeling a little scared, but the techie from before was there, walking over quickly, to lean over a little, looking me in the eye.

"Hey, hey, woah, easy. Easy I said, you're fine. It's always a little weird the first time."

The first... time? My eyes widened, and I tried to look down at myself.The techie laughed. "Yes, you're in the armor. I know right? Feels like there's nothing there. We've got you locked up and your motor functions past your neck are offline, just going to ease you into this." He pushed a button and I felt myself being lifted up on a crane, dangling from my back. I looked down, seeing canine paws hanging limp below me.

"Alright, bringing locomotion online... now, move carefully."

I felt a twitch, and suddenly I started moving, the little instinctive twitches of the body. I moved my arm... leg... and looked down at the paw on the end, wiggling the toes a little. I could feel them moving, like my own fingers.

The techie smiled as he watched me, letting me explore a bit, slowly moving my limbs as I hung there. He walked me through some basic movements, trying to get a walk cycle down, familiarizing myself with each joint and limb. It felt easier than it should have been, I suppose there was some software that helped translate my desired motion into actual commands, easing the process.

After a good half hour of hanging in the air, he slowly lowered my down to the ground, where I set down on shaky feet... paws... the cable still holding most of my weight as I started to carefully move. I took my first fumbling steps about, grinning as Is tarted to get the hang of it. It took a while, and I wobbled a lot, but eventually he unhooked the cable and let me walk. And fall with a clatter, whining loudly.

That was weird. I'd tried to curse but all that came out was a loud whine. He coached me through getting up, constant little reassurances helping to ease my nerves. Eventually, after who knows how much work and practice and falling over, I managed to get a basic walk cycle down, soon trotting steadily around the room with him beside me.

"We'll have you ready for a dogshow at this rate." He said with a little grin. I... wasn't sure how I felt about that, but at least I was making progress. Eventually he decided I was good, or perhaps got a call from something else, and led me off, hand on the back of my neck. It was strange, feeling so naturally like that. I knew what he was touching was metal plating and synth flesh... but it felt like he was touching my own skin.

He eventually led me to a long room that looked like a barracks, though instead of beds there were just rectangular cubbies sunk into the walls with pads in them. Some of the other trainees were there, sitting around in their armors as well, though we all looked basically the same. Only size was different, each suit tailored to the wearer, but the markings were all the same so... how were we supposed to tell who was who?

He led me over to an open space in front of one of the cubbies. "Now sit here." He said, waiting as I awkwardly sat like a dog, like the others. "Good." He praised, and I was proud to have figured out another thing in this strange experience. "Now stay, someone will be along soon."

I nodded, watching him go, before I turned to the other trainees, trying to talk to the one next to me. All that came out was a canine 'awoo?'The one next to me and spoke back. <I dunno, I've just been sitting here.>

I blinked a few times. Very deliberately saying <How long?> The noises that left my mouth weren't human speech, dog noises, slight computerized undertone. But... I knew it was language, and the other trainee responded.<Dunno, a few minutes.>

That was weird, but kinda cool, we chatted for a little bit as more newcomers were led in and sat in their places, nobody good enough at walking to really go anywhere it seemed. I got more used to this strange language, translated instantly from my intention to the noises I was making. We carried on for a while longer until the door opened, all eyes turning as something other than the techie and another trainee came in.

A large man in a smartly pressed uniform walked in briskly, at his heels trotting a Wardog in the full military chassis, black armor and a combination of smooth curves and hard lines, eyes looking steadily out at us from behind protective lenses. The Wardog sat by the door on his haunches, watching us steadily as the man spoke, walking slowly down the room past each of us.

"I am Major Davis, I oversee all training at this facility. You are all my responsibility from this moment forward, and there are going to be a lot of changes in your life from this point forward. It will be difficult, it will strain you in ways you never thought possible. If you are worthy, then I will drag you out the other side and you will be worthy of being called a Wardog. Until then, you are mine."

He reached the end, turning around to pace slowly back. None of us could take our eyes off of him. "You may have noticed that your chassis translate your speach into animalistic noises, barks and growls and such. This is to confuse the enemy, so that even if you are reduced to audible communication, they will not know what you are saying. Until training is over, your speech processor is locked in this mode, you will not be able to speak any other language, unless I or another training officer gives you permission."

There was some noise at this, a little uncomfortable shifting and worried whines, it was a strange order. "Quiet." He said, stopping his pacing, not moving until we were silent again. "I do not know your names, I do not care to know them. The names you answered to no longer matter. When you graduate, you may chose your new names as Wardogs. Until then you will answer to 'dog' or 'boy'. Am I clear? Am I clear!" We weren't sure how to answer, so we nodded.

He reached the end and turned around again. "Not good enough. Bark." He ordered. We looked confused. "Bark!"

We let out a few half-hearted 'woofs'. If he was upset, he didn't show it easily. "Bark! Louder! When you say 'yes' you bark!"

We started barking, trying to shout and yell 'yes' which seemed to work, a cacophany of barking ringing off the walls. Davis soon let out a loud 'shh!' and made a cutting motion with his hand, which shut us up like someone had just grabbed our throats.

"Training begins tomorrow, I suggest you all rest well." He turned, and left.

The black Wardog however, did not leave after the door closed, rising up on his paws to start walking towards us.

He sniffed at the first ones he passed, letting out a low growl that did weird things to my insides.

<I am Fafnir. Davis may be in charge of this base.> He began, voice a low, rumbling, purring growl, the noise a V8 engine would speak with. <But I want all of you to understand who is in charge of this pack. You may be wearing his hardware, but each and every one of you are -mine- from now until you leave here.>

He prowled by me, giving me a powerful glance that made me shrink down a bit. <He may call you dogs, but to me, you are pups. Maybe you'll grow up big and strong, or maybe you'll piss yourselves and run home with your tails between your legs. So from now on, to me, you will answer to 'pup'.>

When there was a tiny noise of discomfort from across the room, he wheeled around instantly to glare the offender down, growling. <Be glad you're pups. Pups might become something someday. Piss me off and you'll answer to 'bitch' from now on. Now, we're a pack, as miserable as you all are. We eat together, sleep together, run together, and if you fuck up we're punished together, which makes me very, very unhappy, and liable to punish you again myself.>

He growled deeper, slowly walking around the room, sniffing and glaring at us each in turn. I noticed the other recruits tails were ducking between their legs, and after a glance I saw mine was too. I... couldn't stop it.

Fafnir gave us another glower as he got to his own cubby. <I'm tired, and I do not want to listen to yapping pups. Keep your traps shut and go to sleep. If you wake me you'd better be on the verge of death, and if you're not I'll put you there myself.>

That said, he crawled into his cubby and vanished in the shadows. We all looked at each other, head held low and ears drooping, before we crawled into our little sleeping alcoves. It wasn't tall enough to stand up in, and there wasn't enough room to lay out, so I curled up in a ball, resting my head on the meat of my own side before letting myself drift off to sleep.

I woke to the sound of barking and yelping, jumping and bashing my head on the ceiling of my little alcove, whimpering in pain.

<I said get the fuck out of bed pups!> Fafnir was barking. <Get up in ten seconds or I'm dragging you out by your tails!>

I scrabbled to get out of my alcove, remembering how my limbs worked before I got out and stood with the others, whining after having banged themselves and scrabbled to get out. Fafnir walked down the line, giving us all a good glare. <Not bad for pups who just learned to walk.> He growled, and I felt a little thrill in my belly from his approval.

<First, we're going to eat, after that you're doing calisthenics, learn to use those bodies so maybe you'll stop tripping over yourselves.>

We didn't leave after that declaration though, Fafnir just paced the room, inspecting us, watching the way we reacted to his presence. When nobody spoke for a while he sighed. <I'm a dog, not a humie, if you want to say something, say it. But be respectful or I'll put you in your place.>

One of the other recruits took a nervous step forward. <If we eat first... why aren't we going to eat?>

Fafnir looked to the door. <You see a handle on this side of that door?> He asked, there wasn't one. <We eat when they feed us.> Nobody wanted to say anything after that. Eventually though the door slid open, the recruits all looking up with interest as a cart was wheeled in by a uniformed man, and one by one we were all given... a bowl of dog food.

I stared at the bowl I'd been given. Kibble. Dry, hard, kibble. I looked around, the others were all looking around as well, waiting for some asshole to lean through the door, laugh at the joke and give us real food. All except for Fafnir who was standing over his bowl chowing down on the kibble with loud crunches. <I advise you eat, it's the only food you're seeing until dinner, and you'll be running a lot today.> He said before going back to his food.

I lowered my head to to the food bowl, sniffing it, it smelled more like chemicals than anything, and I started to eat with reluctance. I wasn't sure how Fafnir did it, scooping up the bites of food without effort, they kept falling out of my mouth. My jaws crunched the kibble up into powder and I gulped them down. It tasted... it wasn't bad exactly, it was more like the absence of good. Chemicals and nutrients and everything I'd need to survive, processed until there was no flavor left but an unpleasant aftertaste.

My bowl empty, and thoroughly depressed, I looked up, Fafnir going around and inspecting us again. <That bowl is the only thing you're allowed to possess while you're here. Take care of it, you won't be given another if you lose it.> He rumbled, before sitting and looking at the door. It soon opened, and he got up without a word, snorting at us to follow him, the stragglers scarfing down the last of their kibble before they got up to stumble after him.

We ended up on the training area I'd seen earlier during thetour, though Fafnir didn't demand we do anything too complicated. Which was good because we'd just end up falling a lot. Far from the grace I'd seen others performing, we were just trying to work ourselves up to a jog without faceplanting. It was getting easier though, each lap a little more confident than the last, and I had to admit I felt a rising excitement inside me.

I had a ways to go sure but I was feeling that power, the speed, pulsing through this robotic shell like a life of its own, taking form as I pounded the track, building up a steady pace. After we seemed to get walking in mostly straight lines down, Fafnir activated recessed slalom poles, ordering us to weave in and out of them. Again there was a lot of falling and running into poles, but we adapted again, figuring out how to put weight on the suit's paws and shift our center of mass around.

I wondered how much of this was me, and how much was the suit. This kind of mental interfact had to adapt to the wearer to better serve their commands, so as I was learning how to work the armor, it was probably learning how to better understand my intentions, adapting to each other to work faster, smoother. Ideally, there wouldn't be any disconnect between armor and wearer, and that certainly helped explain the perfect grace Fafnir moved with, as naturally as if he was in his own body.

After the slaloms came vault gates, and tires to jump in and out of. I started to realize the plating we wore was indeed very important, considering the number of times we bashed ourselves against the floor, obstacles and each other, all while Fafnir barked at us for particularly inventive screwups. His reprimands made me feel ashamed and sorry, but even the smallest hint of approval picked up my spirits again and made me feel more optimistic.

Finally, he called us away. <Alright pups, enough for now before you break something important.> He growled, going over to a shallow pool and hitting a button with his paw, filling it with water. <Gather round and drink.> He said, before leaning in to start lapping up water.

I soon realized that this wasn't as much a reward as another training exercise, figuring out how to drink was even trickier than figuring out how to eat, the mouth wasn't right for just sticking your face in and sucking up water. It took a while but eventually I figured out how to scoop up water with my tongue. As I drank, I glanced around at the others, pressed close around the watering hole, bodies bumping together, tails swishing. We really did look like a pack of dogs gathered around a puddle to drink.

When we'd drunk our fill, Fafnir let us relax a little bit, going around one by one to quietly offer advice on how to solve some of the more glaring movement problems, balance and joint movement and the like, his low growling tone making it impossible for anyone else to overhear. I padded around the room, looking up at the tinted windows, wondering if anyone was looking down and watching me.

I felt a movement of air brushing over my rear. Odd, did someone open a door? I looked behind me and yelped, jumping forward about a foot, Fafnir having been sniffint at my... the armor's backside.

The big black wolf looked at me and let out a barking laugh. <Your eyes are wide as dinner plates, cute pup.> He snickered, my tail going between my legs as I turned half towards him.

<Why... did you do that?> I asked shakily.

He snickered again. <Just saying hello. You're fighting your instincts, all pups do, you won't be a dog until you learn to embrace them. If you feel a weird compulsion to do something, try it out, if it's bad I'll correct you. Training here isn't just about running and jumping and shooting, you could do all that and still not be a dog.>

I blinked, still feeling defensive, but curious despite it. <What is it about then?>

He shrugged, letting out a little almost-whine noise. <Getting in the right mindset. You have to be a dog before you can be a Wardog, any fool can shoot and run, but only the ones who embrace what the armor lets us become are worthy to be one of my kin. I could tell you were struggling with it.>

<Really? How? We haven't talked about it.> I asked, curious.

<I can smell your emotions.> Fafnir said flatly. I stared at him, not believing it. <No, really, you can tell how each other is feeling by scent, once you get used to it. You've been switching between self conscious shame and confidant excitement all day. I suppose I'll have to wring the shame out of you all somehow...>

Not quite knowing how to react to that, I just nodded, letting Fafnir walk off to chat to another pup, thinking on what he'd said.

Our physical training slowly got more ambitious after that, Fafnir moving about and helping us all deal with what we were having trouble with. After his rough introduction I wasn't expecting him to be this personable, helping the trainees improve their abilities. He only seemed to get mad when someone was making the same mistakes repeatedly, starting to call them 'bitch' angrily and snap at them, before they got it right and he started calling them 'pup' again.

Eventually we were led back to our room, tired and worn down, but having made a lot of progress, and soon our bowls were full of kibble again before we flopped down to sleep in our little alcoves, myself falling asleep almost as soon as I curled up into a ball.

The next morning was basically the same as the one before it, get up, stretch the body that was slowly becoming more familiar, choke down another bowl of kibble as Fafnir started talking about our coming day.

<We're heading outside today. You pups don't seem to be falling over at the drop of a hat anymore, so it's time to train some different skills I think.>

We perked up at that, all of us getting tired of the inside. Somehow getting out of this building felt... right. We waited for the door to be opened to let us out before we followed along with Fafnir outside the building, all of us looking up and shaking ourselves a little as we felt the cool air brushing over our bodies. I paused, lifting my nose a little to sniff, sensitive nose picking up on... well I wasn't sure what I was smelling, but it was as strong to me now as if I'd stuck my nose in a bunch of flowers.

Pine needles, tree sap, mechanical grease and vehicle exhaust, the smell of people and, more distant, animals. A confusing but enticing mess of sense data. I looked down when I heard movement, Fafnir turning to round up stragglers, me among them. <The first scents of the outdoors can be overwhelming.> He said, not seeming too upset as we gathered around. <In time, you will learn them all, and you'll wonder how you ever got by without that nose of yours. It's like you've been blind your whole lives pups.>

He let us sniff the air for a little while longer before leading us out. <Stray too far and your bodies will lock down and await retrieval. We've had a few pups who couldn't take it and tried to run off or got lost, don't be like that.>

I had been expecting some kind of difficult training exercise, like climbing a mountain or something, but this was almost restful. We walked off the trails and into the forest, roaming behind Fafnir as he led us along, pointing out scents and landmarks. I opened myself to the forest around me, the scents, sounds, the feel of the slightly moist earth beneath my paws. We paused, sniffing at deer tracks before following the herd by scent, learning how to track and navigate by our noses alone.

Eventually we found a river and our guide jumped into the cold water without hesitation, the rest of us following, learning to paddle and bathing in the river. The cold water felt amazing on my form. After a fair bit of splashing about and drinking, we got out, Fafnir watching us.

<I've noticed something of a problem with you pups.> He said, walking around us slowly, us getting a little self conscious at his inspection. <The way you move and react when touched or looked at. Shame.>

We fidgeted, looking at each other, wanting to speak up. I wasn't ashamed to be here, why should I be?

<Not shame because you've failed in some way or done somthing wrong. But simple, human shame, embarrassment.> He snorted, stepping closer. <Well pups, get this into your heads. You. Are. Not. Human.> He growled, making us shrink a little. <You became dogs the moment you put on that armor, and until you leave this place one way or another, there is no taking it off.>

We glanced at each other, letting out little whines, when he put it like that, it sounded pretty terrifying actually and... I didn't feel like taking the armor off, it was so comfortable and... Suddenly I became aware of my own body, curled up inside the suit. Or rather, I became aware of how not aware of it I was, unable to feel myself within this armor, like I was completely a thing of metal and synth flesh. A dog? No I wasn't a dog, that was just a name! I was a person damnit!

Fafnir's loud bark pulled me out of that thinking, and some others as well. <Stop thinking the ways you used to, you're pups, grow up to be good dogs, good dogs lead happy lives, believe me, you want to be that. But first, I'm going to have to help you shed your human thoughts.>

He looked around, seeming to select one trainee at random. <You, pup, piss on that tree.>

The recruit blinked. <What?!>

<You heard me.>

The pup tucked his tail between his legs, looking around at all of us as if we could save him. Fafnir growled as he just stood there, walking promptly over and biting his ear, dragging the whimpering, yelping pup over to the tree and shoving him against it. <Come on bitch, lift your leg. Fucking now!> He barked, the recruit lifting it shakily, looking like he might fall over.

Fafnir steadied him, growling in irritation as he kept demanding and ordering. None of us could look away, it was like watching your house burn down, a fascination at the bizarre train wreck playing out in front of us.

<Do it, bitch, right now, I know you need to.> He growled, before he snapped his head forward and clamped his teeth around the pup's throat. The recruit cried out loudly and... yeah... there it was.

We watched in breathless silence until it was done, Fafnir releasing the terrified and confused trainee, who stumbled around aimlessly before flopping to the ground. Fafnir lifted his leg and obliterated whatever scent mark had been left on the tree, not breaking eye contact with us as he did so. <All of you, now, unless you need my 'help' do to it.>

Nobody wanting our leader to have to literally scare the piss out of us again, we did it, shakily, nervously, in ones and twos, there in the clearing. I felt... used... sullied, unable to stop whining as I held my leg up in an awkward position. When it was done I... can't really describe how it felt, us having all gone through this bizzare experience together. I felt like I'd passed through some sacred ordeal, dirtied and insulted by it, but with a strange bond to those who had gone through the same embarrasment. What exactly do you say to each other after you've stood around and watched... this?

We didn't get the chance to say anything in the end, Fafnir hopping up on a log. He lay down lazily, resting his head on a paw, the other dangling, tail swishing idly. <You, pup.> He said, nodding to me. <Come here.>

I nodded, walking up in front of the log.

<Sit.> He said, voice almost drowsy.

I sat, settling on my haunches as the others watched.

<Good pup... lay down.>

I hesitated for a moment, before I lay down, shifting my paws.

<Roll over.> He said lazily.

I blinked. <What?>

<You know... roll over.> He said, voice disinterested. <Come on, you can do that, can't you... bitch?>

Even though the voice was gentle, the rebuke stung. I shifted my weight, rolling onto my side and kicking my legs, building enough momentum after a few tries to roll over onto my other side, settling up on my paws.

<Good bitch. Again, roll back.>

Tail twitching, I rolled the other way. He had me roll over twice more before he started calling me 'pup' again, and his little words of praise were doing weird things to my insides. Finally, he had me stop halfway through a roll, planting his paws on either side of my shoulders, keeping me from rolling over from laying on my back, looking down at my exposed black belly with a look in his eye I didn't quite know how to classify. 'Hungry' was a word that came to mind.

He said in a reassuring tone. I wasn't entirely sure of his intentions but... no matter what he'd done, he hadn't hurt us before now. In fact he could be downright nice at times, at least compared to what I heard from my cousin about his time in boot camp.

Fafnir lifted a paw and laid it on my belly, which tensed up, but he held it there until I relaxed and started stroking up and down. That... felt kinda weird, nice though, it had been a while since someone's touch made me feel like that.

He growled softly, stroking over my belly, how could a war machine have something so soft and sensitive. I glanced around his body, looking down at myself, noting with embarrassment that my tail was steadily wagging at his touch, and everyone was watching. They were all looking at my wagging tail, my belly being stroked my...

My eyes went a little wide as I saw what was between my legs, a canine sheath and a pair of balls. Why was that there!?! Why on earth would they give the armor one of that, what freak designed this thing? I whined and tried to cross my legs to hide it, and Fafnir clicked his tongue and tapped my belly.

<Relax pup, open those legs, you've nothing to be ashamed of.>

Having now drawn attention to it, the others eyes all went down to my synthetic junk when my legs slowly opened again. I looked away in embarrassment, laying my head back, Fafnir's belly flexing gently above me as he resumed his petting.

<Yes, you all have a set, as for why you do, that's something we'll get into later. You all need to learn to stop hiding yourselves. Be proud of these bodies you've been given, every single part of them.>

I glanced upward after a moment, seeing that Fafnir as well had a sheath tucked between his legs. Though any further investigation, and indeed all thought, ended when I felt his tongue licking my belly, making me let out a very happy coo and whimper, tail thumping the ground as I twitched and trembled in joy.

<Everyone... pair up, explore each other, get used to casual contact. I keep seeing how you all flinch when touched, or try to hide your underbelly or keep your tails from wagging. So we're going to keep doing this until I wring every last ounce of shame out of you. Be proud of yourselves, forget shame and privacy and social standards. You're dogs now... stop pretending to be people.>

The scariest thing was, I could feel those old standards slipping away, and as much as it terrified me to stop being a person... being a dog was starting to feel really, really good.

The next week of training was a mix of multiple styles of training. Increasingly difficult physical training in the various gyms and training courses, the pups soon getting the hang of these new bodies, running obstacle courses and engaging in steadily more ambitious stunts. Other times we walked in the woods. We learned to track by scent, eventually playing tag and hide and go seek, reveling in our ability to track down each other by scent alone.

Then, far away from prying eyes, and under Fafnir's direction, we would engage in more shows of intimacy. We soon became closely familiar with each other's bodies, having nuzzled and licked most everywhere on each other. Embarrasment at our quasi-nude state was eventually forgotten, the touches felt too good to keep worrying about it, and it was just us here right?

I couldn't help shake the growing feeling that there was something wrong with all of this, a little twinge of shame and embarrasment that made me tuck my legs and tail, even though this felt so good. I was thinking over all of this, when dinner came in, my bowl being filled with...

I stuck my nose down in the bowl, sniffing intently. Was that... meat? Meat! It smelled delicious! No that wasn't actually meat, it was kibble with preserved meat chunks. I scooped one up on my tongue. Oh... oh god... it was delicious. Well okay it was still pretty bad but after a week of flavorless kibble, even meat byproduct tasted like ambrosia. There were general sounds of excitement and happiness around the room as we scarfed down our bowls of food, Fafnir laying at the end of the room and watching with a knowing eye.

The next day we were playing in the woods again, dancing about, chasing each other by scent and careful hearing. I looked down to the ground, sniffing at the tracks I'd found, left by one of the other pups. I got his scent and trotted after him, nose low and occasionally glancing up. It was nice to have a little peace and quiet, my head had been bothering me lately. It felt fuzzy and heavy at times, I was getting headaches. Being here helped me clear that, thinking back to my family and memories beyond this place.

I came to a stop, the smell having changed. My target was close by, I knew! I was so busy looking for him, that I didn't notice the pup dropping out of the tree until he was slamming into me.

<Gotcha!> He growled loudly, knocking me aside.

I skidded to a halt in a fighting stance, growling. <Only get one surprise attack!> I barked back, grinning. The energy coursing through me was fantastic, I felt so powerful, and a fight? Even a play fight got my motor running these days.

He barked and jumped at me again, but this time I was ready, rolling and kicking, his snapping jaws passing by my face, missing by inches. I used his momentum against him, kicking him hard as he went by, sending him skittering with a heavy thump into a tree.

<Haha! Luck doesn't beat skill it seems!> I teased, prancing a little as I turned to see the canine dusting himself off. He was about to say something, when with a creaking, splintering noise, the tree started to fall, weakened by the impact I'd thrown into it.

<Look out, move!> I barked, backing up and then diving to the side as the tree came down, hearing a loud yelp and a painful sounding 'pop'.

For a moment, I thought he was dead, getting up from the ground to look. But the pained whining and cries of my fellow, and his terrified flailing showed he was still alive.

<Oh shit, oh shit shit!> I muttered, jumping over the fallen log to look at the damage. The log had fallen on one of his front legs, twisting it, I could see it was at an odd angle. <Are you okay?> I asked, though he clearly wasn't.

<My leg's broken!> He whimpered, tugging at it. I put a paw on him.

<No, no don't yank it, I'll get the log off of you.> He nodded, and I threw my shoulder into the tree. <Shit, I'm sorry, I didn't think the tree would fall over.>

<Just get it off of me!> He whined, trembling as the tree groaned. Eventually he was able to extract his leg, one of the joints snapped and hanging limply. He whimpered sadly, examining the damaged limb.

<It... it doesn't hurt... exactly...> He said morbidly, watching the limb dangle there.

I looked at him, ashamed I'd accidentally caused this, before laying down. <Come on, lay over my back a little, I'll help you walk back.>

<Are you sure? We've never done anything like this.>

<I can do it, come on, let me get you home.> I said, giving him a sincere look. He nodded, shifting his weight to lay part of his front end over my back as we started slowly walking back, raising up to howl in distress as we went.

<I'm sorry, I'm so sorry.> I whimpered, my companion laying on my back heavily, but limping along as best he could.

<It's fine... fine... they'll fix it, it feels bad but... it doesn't hurt... I think it just hurt a joint.>

I thought for a moment. I'd forgotten for a moment, this was all mechanical, there would be no reason to actually have blinding pain, that wouldn't be useful. But... I actually had forgotten That these bodies were not truly our own. When had that happened? Was this thing worming its way into my mind? The whines of my injured friend pulled me out of that, carrying him further towards the base.

Fafnir found us on the way back, worrying over his injured pup, compassionate in a way he often didn't let us see, and I had to admit it was comforting to see him in this crisis. He helped me carry the pup back to base, ruling the injury to be not too dangerous, at least not in a safe environment like this. A broken leg in combat would be another matter entirely.

The injured pup was soon strung up in a lab, hanging from his back harness as some engineers worked on his leg, removing bundles of synth muscle and inspecting the damaged joint. One of them walked over to me.

"Hey there, Fafnir told us you were the one who brought him back." He said with a grateful expression.

I tried to tell him I'd also been the one to cause his injuries, but remembered I couldn't speak english, only make whining noises.

"Aww, it's alright boy." The engineer said, smiling comfortingly. "Your friend is going to be okay." He started petting my head, stroking me gently.

His words were comforting, caring, smile earnest and genuine. His hand stroked over my warm head, ruffling my ears as it went. It felt so good, so very good, and that's why I was overcome with revulsion, pulling back with a little growl.

The engineer looked surprised, pulling his hand back, scared for a moment. I... felt terrible, having scared him, he was helping my friend, and thanking me, why should I scare him?

"You okay boy?" He asked again, gently reaching out to run his hand down my back, petting me some more. So good, it was so damn good, I could just melt and... I turned and briskly walked away, ignoring the tech's confused words calling after me. I was not a pet, I was a person, a soldier in training, I did not whimper and melt when someone stroked me, and no matter what I looked like right now I was not a damn dog to be cooed over and petted, how dare he?

I marched off through the compound, still confused and upset.

The injured recruit was back the next day, leg good as new. They'd just replaced some of the mechanisms in the joint and zipped him back up, right as rain, the guy coming over to me after breakfast. He bumped right against me, rubbing his nose against my neck.

<Hey, hey what are you doing man!> I asked, pulling away from the pleasant contact.

<Just thanking you for helping me yesterday, it wasn't your fault the tree fell. Man those people are so nice! They petted me and gave me treats to cheer me up!>

I nodded, looking back to my food, munching on my kibble. <That's uh... real good I guess.> I muttered, letting him trot off happily.

Fafnir came walking down the center aisle, looking us over as he moved. I had to admit there was something fascinating about watching him move, every flex of muscle and sway of his joints belying the perfect familiarity with his synthetic body. He wasn't just good at moving it, he was comfortable in it, the way he arranged his legs when he lay down, or the way his tail swished as he walked.

In a strange way, it was attractive, the way he carried himself. Absolute confidence but without the boorish need to prove how unafraid he was like so many pricks had, throwing their weight around just for the satisfaction. Fafnir may have busted our asses and dragged pups around by the ears from time to time, but he only did that in the effort to train us and get us to do it right, not because he felt he needed to take it out on one of us. I kinda wish I could feel that confidence, and I wondered if it was real or an act.

He glanced over at me, seeing how I'd been staring at him and I quickly buried my nose in my kibble, not looking up again until he'd moved on. Soon we were out jumping about in the gym, diving in and out of hoops and jumping across poles, climbing, jumping, diving and spinning.

We'd gotten good, Fafnir was better, occasionally showing us how it was done, dancing and twisting through the obstacles like it was effortless. Taking a break for a moment, I padded over to the water trough and started lapping up some water, seeing a technician taking notes as he watched the displays nearby. "Thirsty work eh boy?" He asked, looking down at me.

I grumbled a little as he watched, drinking my water after a particularly tasking performance that had almost seen me plummet to the floor. I tensed, back arching slightly as I felt his hand stroking my neck, scritching gently. Oh damn he knew how to use those fingers, scratching at the synth flesh under the lip of the plate.

I glanced up at him, but he didn't even look away from his pad, flicking through some notes or whatever, not even sparing me a glance as his hand teased out tension in the black flesh, drawing out a little whine. I pulled away from his touch, going to walk away, afraid I might just sit there forever and soak up his touch.

"Boy, come." He said softly, making me freeze in place. I turned back to him, the tech looking at me with a patient, expectant gaze. "Come." He said, firmly, pointing at his feet. I walked over, sitting down warily.

"You've done quite well here, your scores on our various tests all show a lot of promise." He said with a smile, reaching down to pet my head, ruffling my ears in a way that felt too damn good. "You need to work on your attitude a bit though, I'd hate to see you become antisocial. I might sign you up for a bit of therapy, nothing bad!" He quickly assured me, scratching behind my ear, making me shudder a little.

"Alright, someone will get you if I decide you need it, run along and play now, good boy." He said, the pride and care in his voice tying my insides in knots as I rushed off, needing to get away from his confusing presence.

I must have been fairly obvious, because I soon heard a familiar rumbling growl. <You look toubled, pup.> Fafnir said, walking up beside me.

I hung my head, looking away. <Not feeling so good.>

He sniffed at me. <You don't smell sick, you smell upset.>

My tail hung a little as we walked on together. <I keep feeling bad when they treat me like a...>

<Dog?> He asked, not sounding upset like I'd expected.

<That guy wanted to sign me up for therapy. I don't need therapy.>

I froze, trembling as Fafnir licked my cheek. <Everybody says that, you should go, it really helped me when I was new.>

He gave me a little nod before walking off, leaving me conflicted and confused, glancing up to watch him slink away over to the tech, giving him a little bark and laying at his feet. The tech, sitting on a bench, petted him idly as the black dog watched his pups train, and I soon joined them, trying not to think about it.

Turns out that they did sign me up for therapy, someone fetching me after I'd eaten breakfast, leading me through the halls. I wasn't sure what to expect, my mind conjuring up images of cigar chomping germans with monocles. Though I did snicker at the image of a half ton metal canine lounging on one of those head-shrink sofas.

The room I was eventually led into was completely different than what I'd been picturing. It was totally unlike the rest of the building, which was all slick steel, glass and polished

granite. This room has thick carpeting and the walls were painted a relaxing blue. There were bookshelves, a TV sitting opposite a big cushy couch, and an almost comically huge version of a doggie bed. I eyed it warily... it looked extremely fluffy.

The door behind me opened after I'd poked around for a few minutes, and a young woman walked in. Like the room, she looked severely out of place. Instead of a uniform or lab outfit, she wore jeans, sneakers and a hoodie. "Hey there." She said, walking over, bending at the hip to lean over me a little, though she didn't touch me, keeping her hands in the pockets of her shirt.

"I'm Jamie, I'd ask your name but I know you can't speak. I really think they should give you little nametags, but I can usually tell you all apart. Body language, you know." She said, walking past my confused self to sit down on the couch.

She laughed at my obviously confused expression, head tilted a little as I looked at her. "Not what you expected, huh? Well, good then. I'm not some head shrink who's going to ask you a bunch of questions and pick apart every word you say, like I said, you can't talk. So I won't push or question you. That's not why you're here."

She waved her hand, inviting me over with a warm smile, and I took a few steps closer. "I am here, to help you have a good time." She said simply. "I can tell, you're stressed and worried and conflicted. And this is a safe place where you can be comfortable. Nothing we do here leaves this room, and nothing that happens in here has any bearing on your standing or performance on this base."

I nod, understanding, it sounded like a pretty appealing idea actually. It'd all been either sleeping in the common room, or training with the group. The closest I got to relaxing was when I stole a little personal time out in the woods. She seemed friendly and, more importantly, she wasn't part of this whole slick training program. I nodded again, tail wagging a little as I cheered up.

She beamed, and my heart melted a little. "Great! Well, I've booked you for basically the whole day, so what do you want to do? There's lots of books here, but I'd have to read them to you because of your paws. I've got a lot of DVDs here too so we could watch some movies?"

That all sounded really, really appealing. I thought about it a little bit before I went over and nosed the TV cabinet.

"Movie time it is!" She said, going over to get a few movies out, holding them out for me to inspect. I ended up bumping the box to a harmless looking comedy with my nose and she popped it in, dragging the big pet bed around to the front of the couch. "Bet that's a lot comfier than the beds you get in the den."

I prodded it, it was indeed very fluffy and soft, and with a grumpy little huff I figured that comfort was better than dignity. Besides, this was all a secret right? So I lay down on it, soon surrendering to the fluffy comfort as the movie started rolling, Jamie sitting down on the couch, her legs near my head. I could smell her perfume, like the flowers in the mountains I ran through with the pack.

The movie was nice, and I chuckled as I lay there, watching. I felt like I was back home almost, lazy saturday, though I wasn't laying on a pet bed at the time. I glanced up at the couch she was on, Jamie looking down at me. "Nah, stay off the furniture boy."

I snorted, shifting my position a bit and getting comfy, laying down and watching. She seemed to be enjoying it too, her scent changing subtly as we watched. She didn't do much of anything as the movie went on, laughing along with me and just sitting there. I felt better when the movie was over, looking up as there was a knock on the door as the credits rolled.

"Just a sec boy." She said, lightly patting my side before going to the door, me watching from the bed. She got something from outside then brought it back in, setting it down as my eyes zeroed in on it. Meat, red, raw, delicious smelling on a little plate.

"I know that kibble you get isn't very good, so I got you something nicer." She said cheerfully, and I quickly got up, going over to the meat. Jamie giggled as I stuck my nose down to the plate, the meat was raw but seasoned lightly. Oh, it was delicious, and I quickly snapped up the meat, trying to savor it before gulping it down.

"Hehe, you're all so adorable when you're happy, that tail." She said, scratching my neck a bit and ruffling my ears, just for a moment, before she let me eat in peace. When I was done, she asked me what else I might like to do, and before long she was sitting on the floor next to the doggie bed reading a book I'd chosen, she did have a very nice voice. I slipped into her lap a bit, looking at the words as she read them.

I liked reading, it made me feel like a little kid being read to, but it was kinda nice at the same time, one of her arms wrapped around my big neck, my paws on her lap. Eventually I just got tired of reading and lay my head down in her lap, listening to her voice until I drifted off to sleep.

The next few days were weird, but enjoyable. The usual training continued, but I'd often go spend an hour or more with Jamie in the cozy little room, working through the book she was reading or watching movies. The food kept coming, delicious meat and other treats on the tray that moved closer and closer to the couch each passing day.

I remained confused on many things, my feelings for my future as a Wardog, the twinges of something that might have been envy, or something else, as I saw Fafnir move with his confident grace as I felt myself stumble, and more things I couldn't quite hold onto long enough to understand.

I choked down my morning kibble, glad they'd given us the kind with little meat bits today, glancing up as Fafnir's black paws padded past me. His scent drifted across my nose, getting more sensitive and skilled by the day, my eyes drifting over his form. We were all starting to move more like him, more comfortable in these forms, no longer moving like we were controlling a machine, but simply walking around. Still, the totally effortless way he moved was impressive, synthetic muscles rippling under the smooth skin covering. He caught me staring and I quickly went back to breakfast.

We were out in the woods again that day, tracking scents and practicing survival skills, long distance communication without radios, tracking each other over the foothills and mountains, and attempting to avoid being hunted down by each ohter. Fafnir walked beside me for a bit, sniffing at me.

<The therapy's been helping.> He said simply, and I nodded, looking to him.

<Not sure what it's supposed to do exactly... but it's nice. Just... relax I guess?>

The black wolf nodded. <That's part of it, true. Just roll with it, it'll make sense in the end.>

I thought back to how he suggested the idea to me. <So... you had to have it too?>

He was quiet for a moment, but nodded. <Yes. I recognized a bit of my old self in you, I could smell your emotions in turmoil.

Why did you chose to become a Wardog?>

I shrugged. <The pay was good, and I qualified for it. And I always thought it was an amazing opprotunity. I mean, the things you hear about on the news or read about them doing, I wanted to do that for myself.>

Fafnir nodded. <I see. That would explain it, you wanted the benefits of being one of us, without really understanding what that means. I was similar, you have to understand that being what I am, is a lot more than a job. It's... a way of being. One that I've come to embrace.>

<And... what if it's not one that I want to embrace?> I asked carefully, knowing this was a subject seemingly near and dear to my trainer's heart.

Fafnir considered for a long moment. <I think it would be a shame, because I think you could make a fine Wardog someday, pup.> His words filled me with a swell of tingly, giddy pride.

<But if you truly don't want this, then there is no shame in that. You can't be one of us if you don't want to be, and there's no shame in being human.>

<Do you not think of yourself as human then?> I was curious.

He shrugged this time. <I try not to think about it. I hardly ever leave the armor, I don't like to. I like the role I play and the way I'm treated. I don't have to deal with all the bullshit the people do, paperwork and taxes and red tape. I let my handlers point me at a problem, and I deal with it. If I succeed, I get rewarded, if I fail, I am comforted and healed.>

<Sounds like there's not much of any freedom in that kind of life.>

He shook his head. <Depends on how you look at it. Freedom to travel where you want, or do whatever you like? No. But then nobody in the military really has that. But I'm free from all the niggling little worries that bother people. I know what my purpose is, I know I'm valued and my masters appreciate me, and that's all I need. I'm cared for, respected and prized, and my masters show me their affection. My packmates, when I have them, are all the companionship I could ever need. So... no I don't have much freedom. But at the same time, I'm completely free.>

I looked down at the ground as we walked, quiet for a while as I thought about that. I was conflicted again, that statement more or less outlining my own internal conflict. I wanted to feel good about this, and that kind of carefree life appealed to me. But was it really worth giving up everything I'd gotten used to, the social conventions, standing, customs I'd grown up in. I couldn't be both, couldn't live both lives, and just the description of what Fafnir's life was like was twisting my insides in maddeningly pleasant ways. But could I really give up my personhood, for that?

Fafnir gave me a long look, sniffing at me, probably picking up on my discomfort. <I'll give you some time to think, but don't take too long to decide, my masters won't wait forever for you to decide. In or out, you're going to have to make a choice. I can't tell you what to do, it's your life. But whatever it is, make sure it's not a choice you're going to regret.> He bumped against me once, letting the contact linger for a moment before he trotted off, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

The next day I was back in Jamie's room, watching a movie on the bed. She was sitting on the floor next to me, leaning her back against the couch and resting her hand on my side. It felt nice... I guess. She cared about me, and that felt good.

"Oh, excuse me, food's here." She said, getting up at a knock to get the usual bowl of meat from the door, coming back over to sit next to me again. Oddly, she didn't put the food on the floor like she usually did, but held it in her arm. "You hungry boy?" She asked, looking down at me with a smile.

I cocked my head a little at the behavior, letting out a questioning little whine. She just smiled.

"So how have you been doing?" She asked, stroking her hand gently along my side. I fidgeted a bit, not sure what to do, I couldn't talk.

"Come on, tell me, you're bothered by something."

I huffed. <Well it's... I've been having these weird feelings lately.> I began, not sure what the point was. She looked down from the movie, paying attention, giving me a nod. <It's... I'm not sure what I want anymore. I mean all this stuff we've been doing fels really nice it's just...>

She nodded. "Uh huh, I see. Keep talking."

<Well it's that... I mean I really really feel good when we do this together, but I kinda feel ashamed by it as well, it makes me feel bad later but I still really like it and... and I just don't know what I should do anymore. I mean I don't want to stop being a person, but being a dog is starting to feel really good!>

"Yeah, uh huh, tell me all about it, good boy." She said, starting to pet between my ears, egging me on.

<And I like being here and I want to be a Wardog, and I want to do good and be praised for being good because that makes me feel really good, but I don't know if I do what I'll be anymore, or if I'll stop being...>

I went on like that for a while, yammering and yowling about my problems as she patiently nodded and encouraged me, petting me a bit more and more as time went on, stroking between my ears and gently rolling me to the side so she could rub my belly, which made me melt and twitch a little. Eventually I just ran out of things to say... and realized she hadn't understood a word of it, but she still nodded and petted me.

"I'm glad you told me all that, it's good to tell me your problems, being honest is important. In fact, I think you deserve a reward."

I sat up at that, ears perking. A reward? I liked rewards.

She held up the bowl of meat, and I quickly fixated on that, leaning in. Jamie tapped me firmly on the nose, making me pull back as if I'd been smacked by a hot iron, blinking.

"No, not this time." She said firmly, taking one piece of meat from the bowl and holding it out towards me.

I looked at the meat, then to her. "Go on, take it." She said, smiling. I leaned in, slowly, before grabbing the meat from her fingers and pulling back to eat. She let me finish, then leaned in to do it again, this time holding it in her palm, making me scoop it up with my tongue. It felt... weird, being hand fed. But... she did this because she cared about me, right? Yes. That was right, she cared about me and I would do what she wanted, because I liked her and I was good about that. This made sense. Besides, I liked treats, it was so much better than the kibble we were usually fed. I eventually finished the bowl, one bit at a time, and we settled in to watch another movie, my head in her lap.

Two days later, we finally got to go to the shooting range and put some lead on target. Everybody was excited, we'd all been wanting to shoot our guns and put these weaponized bodies to the test. Fafnir knew how impatient we'd all been and had been watching us with some amusement as the techies got us all set up, keying in our weapons systems and explaining how it all worked at great length, before they finally released us to shoot some things.

The augmented reality targeting system was cool, the system would let me target pretty much without effort, at least with the weapons that were set up to use them. To be honest I barely even noticed the AR overlays that filtered my entire vision anymore. I looked at something, and it was now just... expected that he would also see a technical specification of what it was, and know to within a millimeter exactly how far it was from his snout. The number and sophistication of the sensors on the Wardog body was actually shocking, LIDAR, RADAR, ultrasonics. He could 'see' in all directions in one form or another, he hadn't really noticed until now, it just felt natural.

Finally though we got our guns, black ARs with big helix magazines, strapped onto their back racks. They spread out on the firing range, learning how to use the guns. The easiest way was to just tie it into your sight, like the helmet gunsight on an attack chopper, the gun aiming exactly where you were looking. A digital line of AR graphics popped up on his vision, showing firing angle, bullet drop calculations, distance to target, automatically compensating for everything from range to observable wind conditions. It was pathetically easy to start sinking shots into the human shaped targets when the range was cleared hot, ammo counter on my vision ticking down.

More tricky was independent targeting. The gun had a special sighting system on the top rail, looked like a fancy scope. You could use it like that but it was also a camera sensor, one more to add to the pile. An extra set of eyes you could aim with, able to shoot off at something while not even looking at it with your main eyes. It was... weird, looking one way while also looking somewhere else, but my mind seemed to be accepting it, building a more three dimensional sphere of awareness. I was no longer limited to seeing what was right in front of me, that's just where my vision was best.

I'd shot plenty of guns before, so maybe I had an upper hand on some of the other recruits. Fafnir put up a scoreboard, rubbing our noses in the dirt a little as he started picking off multiple targets in rapid succession with repeated bursts from dual rifles, able to track and target at frankly shocking speeds, his shooting looking more like a naval point defense system than anything else.

Focus, focus, I'm one of the best shots. Speed and accuracy that's what counts. I quieted my mind, letting the targeting data flow through me. Shoot, shoot, track, lead target, start planning your next shot while your current ones are still leaving the barrel. It was like a zen trance, no thought, pure action, no mistakes.

Hit, hit, hit, my score was going higher, it was hard to keep calm, my stance wide and stable, unblinking mechanical eyes sweeping for targets. I stopped worrying about score, just focusing on shooting, target after target. The ammo counter went into 10% remaining, going from warning yellow to red, before finally clicking empty, smoke rising from the barrel. I looked up and suddenly all thoughts of professionalism vanished.

High score! I got high score! Except for Fafnir of course... But high score! I yipped and jumped about, tail wagging furiously. The range went cold as the others ran out of ammo shortly after, instead of being upset they ran over to congratulate me, barking and jumping around me as I howled in excitement. Fafnir laughed, trotting over, his twin ARs silent on his back.

<Nice job pup.> He congratulated, pushing close to give me a big lick on the cheek that turned my insides to butter. That felt so good, so damn good. Fafnir laughed again, giving me a nuzzle. <You should go tell her, she'll want to know.> He said, pushing past me and rubbing alongside for a moment, the tease. But he was right, Jamie had to know how good I was!

Permission given I went racing off through the corridors to the cozy room, pushing the door open and going in. Jamie was there, jumping a bit as she looked up from her computer. "What is it boy?"

I barked happily. <I was the best shot out of all the recruits!> I yapped excitedly, knocking a book off a table with my tail in excitement.

She laughed, getting up and going over. "Oh yeah? You must have done really well!" She said, starting to pet my head. That felt nice, ooooh~ She was rubbing behind my ear, making my legs go weak.

<Yeah, yeah! I shot all my targets and had the best accuracy rates of any of them! Fafnir said I did a good job, and everyone else was so happy for me! It felt so good to finally get to shoot stuff.>

I panted a bit as she praised me some more, petting my head, tail thumping behind me. There... was something odd about this. I felt great, yes, but... something off as well. I... should I be acting like this? Sure it was a good job but I wouldn't normally gush like this to someone, and... she was petting me like a dog. I was a dog. At least, I was becoming a dog... Did I want to be a dog? I remembered what Fafnir had told me, that I'd have to make a choice. I... was this time time I had to chose? Did I want to be a dog? It... felt so good though, so good. My heart hammered deep in my chest, body trembling, this all felt so right, so good. But that was what scared a part of me, a part that was getting smaller and quieter the more Jamie petted my head.

"What's wrong boy, you got quiet. Come on, you did good! You should be a big happy puppy." She said with a smile, scratching right behind my ear.

Oh... oh god, that felt so good, so fucking good. One of my front legs wobbled, then it collapsed, folding beneath me as I rolled over on the floor. My front paws went up onto my chest, my bottom legs spread a little.

"Hehe, someone wants belly rubs~" Jamie teased, getting down on her knees to rub my big black belly.

This was bliss, knocking on heaven's door, I don't remember sex ever being this good. <I... I... I'm...> I whimpered.

"Come on boy, what is it? speak for me."

<Immadog!> I yipped. <I'm a dog! Oh god, oh fuck yes that feels so good, I wanna be a dog, can I be your dog please? Oh god just keep petting me!> I yelped in rapid succession, and the tiny part of my mind that felt shock and revulsion at what I'd become finally dissolved completely, replaced by the bliss and joy of this perfect moment.

"Good boy! Such a good boy for me, I'm so proud of you." Jamie said with a smile. I think she knew what had happened, a tiny part of me wondered how many dogs she'd broken like this, but the rest of me didn't care, I only cared that this felt good, and that she was happy with me.

"Say it again boy. Keep saying it for me." She said softly, scratching in juuuust the right place to make one of my legs spasm uncontrollably.

<I'm a dog.> I said, happy to say anything to keep her petting going. <I'm your good dog, and I want to be a dog forever! I'll do anything just keep being happy with me please!>

It went on like that for a while, before we settled in to watch a movie together. I didn't care about the pictures and noises on the screen very much, I just wanted to spend time with the human, laying at her feet and rumbling now and then, her petting my ears from time to time. When I left, Fafnir was curled up outside the door, and gave me a little look over.

He chuckled, knowing that an armored human had gone into the room, and a dog had come back out. <Good work today... wardog.> He said, giving me a lick on the cheek. His praise made me think my heart might burst in my chest.

I moved out of the pup barracks after that, getting my own little room, moving on to the advanced training. Fafnir finally explained to me that the whole basic training scheme wasn't about teaching us to operate the chassis we were in, it was about teaching us how to become dogs, and how to stop being people. I agreed with that, it felt a lot better to be a dog, I was glad he'd helped me learn.

Yes, we became lovers, it was pretty casual. I'd not really thought about being with men before but... it just felt right, and he was a damn sexy dog, what can I say? When he made a move on me, I just went limp and let him take me out to the woods and mount me.

The other pups eventually made it as well, learning to kick off the dregs of their humanity and follow in my example, losing the remains of their old beliefs and habits at long last. I congratulated a couple of them with a roll in the hay, or just going to the woods and playing. After we became dogs, the training intensified, and we learned how to become dogs of war. Tactics, combat, weapons qualifications and combat specialties. A few months of shooting, mock fighting, combat training, and growly rutting sex, I honestly didn't really think about it ending. Of course, eventually it did.

I was laying on the concrete outside, the day a bit overcast, some rain puddles on the ground. I was in my new body, no longer restrained to the blocky training model which was covered in hazard stripes, now I was a sleek, dark war machine. I even had my name, Fenris, decided it when I'd written back to my family.

The humans couldn't really understand what had happened to me, or what I was now, and I wasn't really one of them anymore. But they were my family, and I still loved them. Maybe I'd get to go home on leave eventually, it would be nice to curl up on the rug in front of the old fireplace at dad's feet, yeah that'd be nice.

I perked up a bit when I heard voices, a human and Fafnir's synthetic voice speaking english.

"So he's a good shooter then?" The human asked.

"One of the best. Not really a specialist at anything, but he's fast and smart, and he's one of the best general combatants we have." Fafnir responded, I could hear them getting closer.

"Good, my pack is a dog down and we're deploying before long, is he good to go?"

"Yes, he's ready whenever you need him. Which is now I assume."

I finally saw the two walking closer, making me look up from the rebar I'd been gnawing on. Fafnir of course, and... a human I hadn't seen before. She was tall, blonde, but what struck me most about her was how she moved. She walked with a brisk, direct pace, feet ringing in the pavement. Her back was straight, chin up, it was the kind of walk that would make a crowd of people just part in front of you through force of will. She walked right up to me, and I sat up on some reflex, feeling a heavy weight pressing on my shoulders.

"Your trainer says good things about you." She said, after looking me over for a moment. "Fenrir. Hmm. My pack is a shooter down and you're the replacement, we leave immediately."

I didn't move, I didn't know if I should.

"Respectful boy, that's good, I don't have time to break you in. But you shouldn't be afraid of me, if you do your job and stay respectful, I'll be good to you, as long as you obey."

I glanced up, giving her a little nod.

She held out her hand, showing me the back of it, right in front of my face. "Lick." She commanded, though her voice was soft. I licked, dragging my tongue over her warm skin, her taste and scent ingraining into my mind, mixing with her dominant position over me.

"Good boy." She said softly, and petted my ears, which lightened the mood a bit. She kept petting me, using her other hand to gently grip my chin. Though she barely applied any pressure at all, I couldn't resist lifting my gaze up to meet hers.

There was a little smile on her face as she looked down into my eyes. "I am packmaster." She said, a voice that was deafening despite being so soft. "And from this day forward. You. Are. Mine."

I whimpered happily, tail wagging, because in my heart and soul, I knew I always would be.