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Tristan sighed, the Dalmatian walking down one sterile white corridor after another. By now the route was rote, and he casually logged into the facility wifi on his phone as he walked. In his other paw he held an insulated cup from a coffee shop venting steam from the lid. He grumbled quietly as he went through the authentication steps, before he came to the door he was heading to. He tucked his phone into the pocket of his lab coat and tugged his badge from his lapel. Once it was free he pressed one side of his badge into the magnetic strip reader beside the door and swiped... and swiped.

On the third attempt the reader's light turned green, and the door opened. "Gods." Tristan muttered as he stepped through the door. In front of him was a large glass tank, about chest height. To one side of the tank was a series of broad steps leading to be level with its top directly opposite the door. Situated on the middle of these steps was a chair, and beside it, a clipboard. "So, it's you and me again." Tristan spoke to the contents of the tank casually.

The tank's contents sloshed and surged, as though something inside the white goopy substance was pressing towards the direction of Tristan's voice.

"It's nice to see you too, Snow." He smiled a bit self-deprecatingly and headed over to his chair and clipboard, setting the hot cup down on the next step up. Tristan picked up the clipboard, and took a note of the time of his arrival and that the substance was active.

The white goopy substance churned, sloshing and then settling, as though its base were tilted, to have as much of itself closer to the pup as it could.

"I don't know how I was ever convinced to take a night shift." Tristan muttered, setting his clipboard in his lap and picking up the cup, sniffing the air, "This isn't even coffee. I hate coffee. This is cocoa..." He sighed, "I've told you that before, probably." He chuckled.

The white substance churned a little, the surface rippling.

Tristan scribbled the time of her ripple on his clipboard while his other paw moved to his lips with the cocoa. He paused, cup nearly to his lips, and looked down at his clipboard. Towards the bottom of his recording sheet was a small post-it note.

"Mister Hawthorne, you will report to the equipment room for required equipment for the new experiment. You will be expected to take a more active role than you have due to the nature of the next experiment."

Tristan set his cocoa down. "Well, it looks like I won't be freeloading off the wifi anymore." He chuckled a bit and stood back up, moving to set the clipboard down.

The goop in the tank surged, splashing against the inside of its lid.

The Dalmatian perked and made a note of that on the clipboard, before heading to the door. He looked at his phone, "Now, where's that damned equipment room?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tristan only got turned around three times trying to find his way to a new location. When he arrived, his supervisor was standing next to a metal box with dials and digital displays, all on wheels with a handle for moving it like a hand truck.

The pinto was giving his most withering of looks to the intern. "Ah. Mister Hawthorne. You've made it."

"Yessir." Tristan responded politely. He'd learned the hard way not to make excuses for anything.

The equine picked up a bag from the nearby shelf and started pulling wires out of it, "I am going to need you to remove your coat and shirt. It seems that the fluid emulsion we have had you monitor responds to your presence, but I would prefer a bit more solid data."

Tristan did as he was told, carefully folding his lab coat, then his shirt. He perked at a mechanical buzzing and looked back to his supervisor.

In the hoof-like hand of the scientist was a fur trimmer. "I am going to have to connect electrodes to your skin."

Tristan swallowed, forgetting one of his hard-learned rules. "H-have you performed a control to eliminate the chance that the sample is reacting to the electric pulses?"

The pinto stared Tristan down. "Yes."

The Dalmatian fidgeted nervously, unable to make eye contact, before walking across the room to his supervisor.

"I'm only going to shave where the electrodes need to go on." The horse said in a manner that was probably meant to be reassuring in some way that was taught by sensitivity counselors, not by learning through empathy.

Tristan nodded. "Yessir."

As the equine started to buzz away small circles of fur from the Dalmatian's arms and chest, he spoke again, "I do appreciate your dedication to scientific accuracy. Given the polymeric nature of the substance, however, no response was recorded in regards to various electric and electromagnetic stimuli." His tone was as cold as before.

The canine suspected that the horse's sole motivation behind this apparent open discussion of the experiment was to calm his new test subject, so as not to introduce new variables. He quivered at the strange cool sensation left behind after the trimmer removed areas of his fur, but did his best to remain still.

His supervisor put the trimmer away soon and pulled open a nearby case to reveal prepared electrodes. Deftly he lifted them one at a time and started to adhere the prepared sides to the newly bare patches of flesh.

Tristan clenched his paws into fists. If he thought it was cold before, now there was an adhesive gel and metal pressed to these bare patches.

The pinto finished attaching the metallic electrodes and hooked each deftly to a wire, the other end of each leading to the small box on wheels that sat beside him the entire time Tristan had been there. When he finished, he stood up. "Alright, back to the test room. For our first test we're keeping you in line of sight."

Tristan nodded nervously and started back out of the equipment room, leaving his shirt and coat behind. He heard his supervisor start to wheel the machine wired up to him after him. He shuddered a little, but did his best to just keep walking. Before long they had reached the Dalmatian's normal workspace. He swallowed, and looked down. He had left his badge on his jacket. He sighed and took a step aside.

The equine scientist stepped forward and swiped his badge, which caused the door to open on the first try. He walked right in, causing Tristan to have to follow to keep the electrodes from being torn off. "So, I hear you've named it." The horse said critically, looking over the vat.

Tristan swallowed, and moved towards his normal observation chair. "Well, not officially." He sat down and automatically picked up his clipboard as the white goop churned and sloshed towards him, preparing to note it down. "I think it looks like snow. Well, not like snowflakes or anything, but when you see snow from afar... the whole thing." He looked to his supervisor lamely; realizing he probably should have lied and contradicted the horse. "So, when I just... kinda... voice my thoughts, alone in here... I call it Snow."

"Snow, huh?" The elder scientist peered at the vat impassively. "Well, let's see how Snow feels about you."

Tristan definitely thought he should have just kept his mouth shut now. Though he wasn't sure whether that was malicious or dismissive. He wasn't sure which would be worse, either.

"Put down the clipboard. I will be making the observations for this test." The horse calmly wheeled the machine wired to the pup around him and up to a higher platform, before walking back down and around to the other side. Once he stood where the wheeled machine was waist high he started to operate various knobs on the device, instigating a low, electric whine.

The Dalmatian set his clipboard down next to his still untouched hot cocoa, looking between the machine and the vat. He blinked, and leaned in his chair a little to get a better perspective of the way the substance's surface was tilted away from him rather than horizontal, but it rotated to keep facing him when he leaned. Tristan wondered why he'd never noticed that before.

"Feel free to respond as you like to this part of the test." The horse said as his only warning, before pressing a button, completing a circuit through each of the wires leading up to Tristan and discharging the capacitors.

The canine grunted and clenched his fists as the charge caused his muscles to tense, but it wasn't painful. "nnngh..." He closed his eyes, then slowly opened them as he heard a wet, heavy slosh and blurp from in front of him. The material was reacting.

"Now, that is interesting." The horse adjusted a knob, and the whine of capacitors being charged filled the room again. One of his hoof-like fingers jabbed the discharge button again, and Tristan's muscles convulsed a bit more violently.

He could taste metal in his mouth now, shuddering, breathing rapidly, but not moving. He was staring at the vat. The whole substance had sloshed back away from him then sloshed towards the equine rapidly, splattering itself against the inside of its sealed lid, before gathering back up at the other side and sloshing again.

"Is your affection so easily swayed?" The horse chuckled darkly, turning the knob again as the fluid sloshed repeatedly at him.

Tristan yipped involuntarily. The next shock had crossed the threshold from just a tingling sensation and a muscle tensing to actual pain. The pads, which had been applied cold, now felt warmer than his body temperature. But still, he did his best to focus on the vat. He could barely believe his eyes, but he thought he saw something inside the thick white fluid, distorting the surface, rearing back and ramming forward. The realization made him miss that whine of capacitors charging once more. He gasped and tensed, jaws clattering.

"Let's see how much amperage he can take, shall we, Snow?" Tristan thought he heard the horse say calmly. Then another shock came through, and Tristan felt burning on top of his muscle spasms.

The glass broke. Shards went everywhere, and the white goop surged, slamming the equine to the wall. Tristan tried to stay awake, but his vision was swimming. He leaned, then fell to the step below the step his chair was on, his head loudly colliding with the floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Snow was angry. Snow had been annoyed in the past, namely every time Tristan had to leave, but now anger was the driving force. The white substance pushed over the equine with a low wet burble, surging down into him, filling him, enveloping him. Soon, Snow had taken the beast that hurt Trissie. Snow churned and flowed around the remains of the vat that held it away from the pup for so long to check on him.

Tristan laid prone amongst shards of glass, little cuts all over his head and the arm he landed on.

Snow tried to pick Tristan up from the floor, but found the fluid state very difficult to operate. Slowly, the mass of white fluid started to condense and re-shape, using memories of the absorbed scientist and words the pup spoke to... her... Snow decided she was female. Trissie was her puppy. That felt best in her mind.

Somewhere else in the facility, an alarm went off.

Snow's newly formed eyes narrowed. "No more." She peeled the electrodes off Tristan with her still flowing paws and looked around the room. Mining the scientific mind she stole, she placed the electrodes up against parts of the wall that would burn, cranked a few knobs and pressed the button. Smoke appeared first, then licks of flame began to spread. She stood, making sure the flame would spread, feeling it lick against her partially fluid surface.

A second alarm started.

With a glare to the monitoring camera in the chamber, Snow turned back to the prone pup. At his feet was a spilled cup of cocoa he never got to drink. Using her new semisolid form she lifted Tristan into her arms, formed up a strong looking foot and kicked the security door down.

She ran through the door with the unconscious Dalmatian held tight, her form starting to stabilize the more she focused. She kicked another door down and entered a hallway where fire prevention sprinklers were pouring ice-cold water in a perfect spray, wetting down her pup's remaining fur and adding a wet, glossy sheen to her body.

Snow kicked down another door and found herself in the lobby, as fire fighters rushed into the building. She looked down at Tristan, then at a computer console nearby. Her fingers moved rapidly on the keyboard, and the fire prevention sprinklers turned off throughout the building. And the furnaces went into overdrive. She nodded firmly and walked out of the building with her pup in her arms. A row of Ambulances was awaiting anyone coming out of the facility. Snow narrowed her eyes at a group of scientists dressed similarly to how the horse had been.

A Labrador in EMT gear approached rapidly, and Snow clung to Tristan. "How long has he been unconscious?" The EMT asked carefully.

Snow blinked, "A few minutes. I think." Her gaze turned back to the scientists, glaring.

The Labrador gently put a paw on her shoulder, "Oh dear... you're ice cold. This way..." He started to guide her to a gurney, before walking around to the other side. "Set him down." He turned away, digging around in the ambulance.

After looking around cautiously, Snow nodded and set the unconscious pup on the gurney. "The nice medics will help you feel better," she whispered, "And don't worry. I'll take care of you too." She watched the pup's chest slowly raise and fall with his breath, and put a paw on her own chest.

The EMT turned back to the gurney with a metallic coated thermal blanket, walking around it with a smile. "Here you go." He gently eased it around Snow's back. "Now, can I get anything to warm you up? Cocoa?"

Snow watched the blanket go on and gently held onto it, before smiling. "Yes. I love cocoa." She assumed she did, given the Dalmatian's preferences. "So does Trissie. Can you make sure he has some when he wakes up?"

The Labrador looked down at the prone pup on the gurney. "Well, he's headed to the hospital to see about his injuries..." He paused, staring, before gently lifting and rotating Tristan's wrist, looking at the methodically shaved areas, and the signs of sub-dermal burns there. "Oh my god..."

Snow nodded in agreement. "He needs to be healed. He was hurt so badly." She looked from the burns to the Labrador. "They can fix him there, right?"

The EMT looked a bit confused by Snow. "He should be fine. He looks stable, but we won't be sure until we've run some tests." He gently took hold of the gurney and started to wheel it towards another group of EMTs.

Eyes widening, Snow grasped the other side of the gurney desperately, trying to stay with the prone pup.

The Labrador looked to her, smiled, and said calmly, "Don't worry. Just sit down and I'll get you some cocoa."

"H-he'll be safe, right?" Snow clung to the gurney.

The other canine gently reached over to wrap her blanket around her a bit tighter. "We'll take care of him. Don't worry. In the meantime, we need to get you warm."

Slowly, Snow released her hold on the gurney. "As long as you're sure." She sighed, tugging the blanket around herself a bit and moving to sit down. She sighed and watched as Tristan was wheeled towards another ambulance, where a deer in the same uniform as the nice Labrador started to press the gurney up and into the vehicle. She turned her head back towards the building she'd never been outside of before. The flames were visible from outside now. She smiled, watching the fire fighters run in their rubbery suits.

Soon, the Labrador had returned to her, and was offering a steaming paper cup.

Snow reached to gingerly take it, pausing. The other ambulance was being closed up by the deer EMT, and then it started to roll away. She grasped the cup of hot fluid and sighed, already feeling its heat entering her body before she'd taken a sip. "Safety for my pup." She murmured. She inhaled the steam coming off the cup and smiled a bit. She had always been sealed away from the substance in her vat, before. She sighed, and took a sip, being struck with the flavor, and the sensation of heat inside her body. She swallowed, and the hot fluid surged down inside and helped raise her core temperature. Emboldened by her sip she started to gulp openly.

The EMT stared at her as she swallowed scalding hot cocoa with no sign of pain or duress. "Hey, uh..."

The white, rubbery canine looked at herself, and then around at everyone at the scene. "I think I should find some clothes."

"I guess your clothes were in there?" The Labrador pointed a thumb at the burning building, now practically an inferno.

Snow looked earnestly confused, and shook her head.

The other canine looked more concerned, "Do you need a ride anywhere? Your home? " He swallowed nervously. "Do you have anywhere to go?"

The laboratory building began to collapse, fire fighters running out to avoid the rapid structural failure. Snow watched and spoke calmly but sadly, yearning, "No. I don't have a home."

The EMT swallowed, "Look, I know a place." He gently tugged the blanket tighter around Snow again. "A shelter. They'll take you in, help you get on your feet. Get you counselling if that's what you need. Would you like me to take you there?"

Slowly looking away from the burning collapse, she smiled. "Yeah." She nodded. "I think I would. You're nice." She started to wag her tail as she looked over the concerned Labrador. "Thank you."

He nodded. "I'll be right back." He turned to walk away.

Snow gulped down the rest of her cocoa with a sigh and set the cup down, standing and following the EMT, smiling.

The Labrador approached the deer and the other EMTs. "Hey, uh... if it's okay with everyone I'm gonna take her to a battered woman's shelter... I don't know what they were doing to her but she says she doesn't have a home." He pointed a thumb back towards the Ambulance he left Snow at.

Luckily Snow had followed him to be in line with that thumb. The naked pup waved cheerily.

The deer waved back awkwardly, "Wow... uh. Yeah. We'll call you if we need you back here tonight. Make sure she's taken care of."

The Labrador turned and started at Snow standing close to him, wagging and smiling. "This way..." He started to guide her to a car, gently tugging her blanket around her again.

She grasped onto his paw with a smile, walking along with him.

He carefully opened the door of the car with his free hand, and then reached to help ease her into the passenger seat. The Labrador reached across her to fasten her seat belt, and then carefully closed the car door. He walked around, and slipped into the driver's side, before starting up the car.

Snow leaned to the window, and turned her eyes away from the destruction, and towards the sky. "I never knew it was this big out here."

The Labrador swallowed, worriedly, and drove.

The synthetic canine watched the stars, and then tilted her head as they faded, obliterated by the light of the city they were rapidly entering. She sighed and turned her head to watch where they were going.

It wasn't long at all until they had reached their destination, and the car stopped in the loading zone. The EMT stepped out and walked around to help Snow out of the car. "C'mon. There's hot food and hot showers inside." Once she was on her paws, he gently wrapped the blanket tighter around her, and guided her into the lobby of the shelter, "Hey, Dolores," He called to the afghan seated behind the counter, "You know that laboratory up at the end of 101st?"

Dolores gasped softly, standing up.

The Labrador leaned over the counter and said quietly, "It seems like they were doing some illegal testing. It's just burned down, and I found this pup carrying another test subject out of the fire, totally naked and soaked to the skin. The pup she was carrying showed signs of electroshock torture..."

Snow smiled awkwardly, "The lab burnt down, so now I don't have any place to stay. Can you help?"

The afghan swallowed and walked swiftly around the counter, gently embracing Snow. "Of course, sweetie. We have plenty of rooms, and warm meals and hot showers..." She trailed off and looked to the EMT. "Thank you for bringing her here. Where's the other?"

The lab sighed. "He was unconscious; looked like he'd fallen through a plate glass window on top of the burns. He's off to the hospital."

Dolores nodded firmly. "Good."

Snow smiled. "Thank you. It seems a lot nicer here than at the lab..." She trailed off, and reached to hug the EMT tight. "Thank you too."

He awkwardly tried to keep the blanket wrapped around her as her movements threatened to cause it to slide right off her at every turn. "You're still freezing."

The afghan perked up, "Yes, you need a hot shower, and when you get out, I'll have some clothes for you to choose from." She gently pulled Snow away from the Labrador and towards the entrance to the shelter proper.

Snow nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Dolores." She looked around as she was guided into a hallway, looking back and waving to the nice pup who took her there.

He waved back and sighed, heading back out to his car.

"Now, what's your name, sweetie?" The afghan smiled.

She smiled warmly, "Snow. My name is Snow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tristan slowly awoke with a sharp pain in his head and an ache just about everywhere else. "Uugghh..."

A male nurse peeked in at the sound. The greyhound walked over to the side of the bed.

The Dalmatian blinked and blearily looked around. "this... is not the lab..?"

"No, luckily for you." The lanky canine gently felt his patient's forehead on a spot that didn't have gauze over it. "What were they doing to you in there?"

"Well..." Tristan closed his eyes, wincing a little. "Last thing I remember is my boss administering shocks." He raised an arm to try to rub at his head, but the motion caused a strange sensation. He looked and realized he was pulling on his IV, and dropped his arm back down.

"Yes... it looks like the amperage was stronger than is medically advisable." The greyhound paused. "Your- Your boss?" The nurse looked shocked. "You weren't even a test subject?"

The wounded Dalmatian looked up at him quixotically. "I'm an intern..." He trailed off, then groaned, "Gods, have I violated the nondisclosure agreement...?" He raised his other arm to try to rub at his head. "I'm never gonna get those 6 credits at this rate..."

The nurse sighed and gently pressed Tristan's arm back at his side. "I don't think that's something you should worry about right now. But I need to find out more about you first. Do you remember your name?"

"Trissie." The Dalmatian blinked, shook his head, and then corrected himself. "Erm... Tristan. Tristan Hawthorne." He wondered why he called himself that, squinting. "I thought I had my wallet in my pants..."

"It's there." The greyhound chuckled, "I needed to make sure you knew who you were. You hit your head pretty hard."

"Heh... thought that only knocked people out in the movies..." Tristan groaned quietly and attempted to touch his head again, only to be blocked by the nurse.

"Well, it's either that or the electric shocks." The lanky nurse chuckled, "Or the blood loss. You're lucky to be alive."

"B-blood loss?" the prone Dalmatian tried to sit up, winced, and settled. "Wait, what happened?"

The greyhound checked the IV gingerly, "I'm not sure. The EMT said a test subject carried you out. The building was on fire."

"I didn't even know we had test subjects. I observed an experiment passively for months and months before tonight..." Tristan swallowed dryly.

The nurse looked at his patient intently, "It's good to see you've got your faculties about you. We'd like to keep you under observation for the night, given the severity of your injuries.

The Dalmatian nodded. "Should I try to stay awake?"

The greyhound smiled, "No concussion, luckily. We've already done a few tests for that."

Tristan closed his eyes to block out the harsh florescent light and tried to relax. "Okay."

"Is there anything we can get for you?" The nurse asked.

"I'm guessing hot cocoa's not something you give out?" The shocked and cut up pup managed.

"I'll see what I can do." The greyhound's voice carried his smile. "Anything for the pain?"

Tristan furrowed his brow. "Ibuprofen?" He ventured, lamely.

The nurse chuckled, "You'll need something a bit stronger than that. I'll be back soon."

Tristan nodded and settled as best he could into the bedding, keeping his eyes closed against the pain. He could hear the greyhound do something next to his bed, and then walk out. The Dalmatian breathed slowly, and gradually, his pain started to grow fainter, as though distant from him. And the exhausted pup was able to sleep.