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🕑 Added 2024-05-31 22:25:34 +0000 UTC Scott's heavy boots echoed through the vast halls of the factory as he completed another solitary round. The dim lights flickered overhead, casting long shadows on the cold concrete floor. The monotony of his job as a security guard weighed heavily on his shoulders and a sense of frustration lingered in his mind. He had once dreamed of being a police officer, a childhood dream of acting as a guardian of justice. He was even preparing to begin training but after the Black Lives Matter movement and hearing just how corrupt cops were, he couldn’t do it anymore. “From dreaming of defending the weak to protecting corrupt people. What a twist,” he said to himself as he walked through the cold empty hallways. “At least I'm not beating up innocent people,” he consoled himself. Upon arriving at the security room, Scott saw his supervisor, Dan, waiting for him at the door. “Scott, good news! We’ve taken your request into consideration.” Scott’s face brightened. “Will I get a K9 companion?” “Sort of. Why don’t you follow me?” Scott did just that as Dan rounded the corner and opened the door to his office. Leaning against the desk was a mutant woman with a few dog features. She had an athletic build, though her arms were slightly longer than normal and a thin layer of dark grey fur with white spots covered her. Scott’s eyes landed on the six breasts that covered most of her front before he forced his eyes upward, suddenly remembering his manners. They’d only been covered by skimpy bikini tops and the sight caught him quite off guard. Her face was mostly human except her ears and a few other small canine features. To say Scott was surprised would be an understatement. The dog-girl smiled at him and exclaimed excitedly, “Hello! I'm Laica Roberts, your new canine companion. I will be your human and canine companion at the same time!" Scott raised an eyebrow, skeptical at this unexpected turn of events. "A mutant dog woman as my partner? Really?" he murmured softly to Dan. “It’s the perfect choice. She passed the training with flying colors, plus she solves the problem of staff shortages while also fulfilling your request for a canine companion. We kill two birds with one stone.” “I don't know if this is even close to what I asked for,” Scott said nervously. He loved dogs, but his social skills were pretty lackluster. Laica chuckled. "Don't worry, I've got your back. I can smell trouble from miles away." Without saying a word, he looked her up and down one more time. “Okay but why the bikini tops instead of a shirt? Dressing like that is so unprofessional.” Laica glanced down at herself and shrugged. “It’s hot as balls out and this is cooler. Not to mention the fact that I have a thin layer of fur everywhere. These are the same color as the uniforms, so I don’t see what the problem is.” Scott looked at her dumbfounded. He was surprised his supervisor hadn’t even told her to change. Okay Laica, take good care of Scott, he’s good at his job, although he can be a little cold sometimes.” And just like that Scott and Laica were left alone. There was an awkward silence in the room, as Scott looked at his strange new companion. She was shorter than him and she could give puppy dog eyes without even trying. “So?” she asked. “So what?” Scott asked, still somewhat stunned by the situation. “Are you going to take me on a tour of the station?” she said, laughing. “Oh, uh, sure,” he rubbed the back of his head nervously then motioned for her to follow. He showed her where to clock in, the logbooks, and where he ate dinner usually. Then it was time to make the rounds to ensure everything stayed as it should. Immediately there were problems. Scott was used to doing his rounds silently, taking stock of any and all noises he heard and making mental notes of any signs of potential trouble. Laica, however, wouldn’t stop talking. It made doing anything impossibly hard. Before long she was even bent over walking on all fours. “W-what are you doing?!” Scott said, frazzled. Laica looked up at him and tilted her head to the side. “Walking around with you, dummy.” When Scott didn’t respond she continued on. “It’s easier for me to walk like this. Makes it easier to pick up on scents and also makes it a bit easier for me to concentrate. My long arms even allow me to run quite fast when I need to.” “Ok, well, whatever makes it easier for you,” Scott said as he continued walking. He couldn't help but notice the rhythmic movement of Laica’s butt as she walked on all fours in front of him. He did everything he could to not stare at her but her long rather fluffy tail kept drawing his eye. Her brown fair had a slightly red tint to it when the overhead lights hit it just right. “Wow, this factory is huge,” Laica said in wonder. The only sound in the entire building was the sound of her claws on the ground. Her eyes were roaming everywhere from the ceiling with exposed pipes, the shelves of boxes along the far wall, and the concrete floor beneath their feet. “You did these rounds alone all this time?” “Yes, for a whole year. You get used to it." “And you didn't talk to anyone?” Laica asked, genuinely surprised. “No, but the silence doesn't bother me,” Scott said. “I couldn't survive like that. I would go crazy. I have a tendency to talk a lot, if you haven't noticed,” she chuckled nervously. They kept walking, each footstep lightly echoing off the mostly bare walls. “It hadn’t even crossed my mind.” For a few minutes neither said a word. Scott enjoyed the silence, but Laica had decided to take a moment to sniff the ground and familiarize herself with the scents of the place. “Do you know the history of this factory?” she asked. “Can’t say that I do,” Scott said. “I looked into it when I heard this was where they were going to be sending me. It’s not the prettiest, but it’s also not the most uncommon. The place was apparently a front for a large drug trafficking ring.” Scott stopped walking for a moment, the disappointment stopping him in his tracks. “And this is what I’m protecting…” he murmured to himself. He wanted to protect and serve the weak, not millionaires and criminals. Suddenly Laica froze, too. Her nose was to the ground and not a muscle in her body moved until she spoke. “Someone is here. I’m sure of it. They’re towards the entrance.” “There shouldn't be anyone here besides us,” Scott said as he pointed his flashlight at where Laica was pointing. A guy dressed in black was trying to sneak behind a container. “He's mine!” Laica shouted and took off running towards the intruder. Scott ran after her, trying in vain to keep up. Halfway there Laica tripped over a lose that was laying across the room and went tumbling. Hot on her heels, Scott crashed right into her and tumbled with her. When they were finally able to get their bearings again, the trespasser was fleeing out the door and they noticed that Laica’s bikini tops had all fallen off leaving her entirely exposed. “He’s getting away!” Scott shouted as he tried to scramble to his feet. Laica was already trying to fasten her bikini tops back around her boobs. “I-I’m sorry,” she said. Her cheeks were so red they almost glowed in the dim lighting. Scott sighed. “I knew those weren’t good to wear for work here. You should be wearing a proper uniform, not just strips of fabric.” Of all the ridiculous things, his supervisor letting anyone be on the clock dressed like that took the cake. He watched her try to put them back on, but she was clearly struggling to tie them properly. “Come here, I’ll help you,” he said in a much gentler tone. There was nothing that could be done about proper uniforms now, the bikinis were all she had for the night. Laica did as commanded. She lifted her long hair so Scott could tie the bikini tops behind her in tight knots. His hand brushed against her fur in the process, and he couldn’t help noticing how soft it was. A rich, earthy scent mixed with pine wafted up from it. “There you go,” he said when he had finished tying all three of them around her. “Thank you,” she said as she let down her hair. It was the same color as her fur and blended beautifully with it. “I really messed things up tonight. This just proves I was right to leave the academy…” “What academy?” Scott asked. “The police academy,” Laica said. “I used to dream of being a cop and chasing bad guys. Then that dream went up in smoke a few years ago when I got a real eye opener.” “Let me guess,” Scott said. “The Black Lives Matter movement?” Laica nodded. “How stupid that something like that had to take place for me to see the truth.” A small smile tugged at Scott’s lips. “Well, you’re not alone in that at least. I too wanted to be a police officer and defend the weak. But after George Floyd and everything I just couldn’t. I couldn’t be part of such a corrupt system. I was just about to complete training and I dropped out. Course this isn’t too much better really.” “We ARE looking out for corporate interests,” Laica said, laughing, “What a pair of fools, right?” “Well, this pair of fools still has work to do,” Scott said as he affectionately petted Laica's head. “That saboteur must still be out there.” "What makes you think he’s here to sabotage things? Wouldn’t a simple thief make more sense?” “Well, there's not much to steal in this factory, at least not if you're all by yourself. Everything is too heavy for one person to lift. Plus, there have been rumors about someone hiring people to actually sabotage this place,” Scott explained. “This isn’t really that different from police work after all, huh?” “I guess not,” Scott offered her a small smile. “Do you think you can track him?” Laica looked around, sniffing the air. It smelled of old machinery and dust, but a scent that didn’t belong hung in the air. It was a mix of salt water and pine, as if whatever intruder this was had just spent time out in the woods by the bay. “Yeah, I think he’s this way,” Laica said and pointed down a nearby hall. They crept forward, keeping their flashlights off using only Laica’s nose as their guide. Peering around the corner, still hidden in the shadows, they spotted the intruder over by one of the bigger machines. The fact that he had the audacity to stick around even after being spotted made Scott scoff under his breath. “This guy has some real nerve,” he whispered. In the darkness it was almost impossible to make out what the guy was doing, but from what they could tell he had some sort of tool and was trying to manipulate one of the machines. Laica didn’t wait for instruction. She leapt forward, bounding across the room on all fours as fast as her body would carry her, and sank her teeth into the intruder’s arm. He yelped and the metal tool clanked to the ground in front of him. Scott was right behind her. He grabbed the dropped tool and bashed the intruder over the head enough to knock him off guard long enough to handcuff him. Laica smiled brightly at their success and without thinking jumped up and kissed Scott on the cheek. “Oops,” she said when she realized she might have been too forward. “Sorry, sometimes I get carried away.” Scott blushed a bit as well and touched his cheek where she had kissed him. “I guess I’ll just have to get used to it, right?” Laica beamed, happy that he wasn’t offended by her impulse action. Scott called his supervisor and the police to file an official report. When the police and Dan arrived a few moments later, Laica and Scott were waiting beneath the front entrance light with the intruder seated on the ground beside them. The night was buzzing with excitement as the two security guards were quite proud of their accomplishment. “Good job,” Dan said and clapped Scott on the back. “You did great. Next time just call me immediately before trying to apprehend someone yourself. You’re a security guard not a police officer. And make sure you write up a report of everything that happened.” “Will do, sir,” Scott said. Dan walked off to talk to the police and tell them that yes, they would like to press charges. Laica was once again at Scott’s side the moment Dan had walked away. “Are you going to put the part about me ending up topless in the report?” she whispered. Her tail twitched nervously. Scott gave her a secret smile then whispered back, “I think we can leave that part out.” They watched the police put the intruder in the back of the police car then speed off with red and blue lights flashing and siren blaring. “So, we saved this corrupt factory from another corrupt factory,” Laica said as she watched the police car disappear down the road. “We did. But you know. Meeting you has made me realize another childhood dream that I would like to see come to fruition.” Laica tilted her head to the side, her tail swishing happily. “Oh? What’s that?” “I want to open my own detective agency,” Scott said with a giant smile on his face. Laica’s heart melted. Scott may be a somewhat quiet and shy guy, but he certainly had a heart of gold. “You know what your detective agency needs though?” Scott shook his head. “A cute dog to help sniff out criminals!” There was no denying Laica’s cuteness or her enthusiasm. “You know. You’re right! Partners?” He extended his hand to her in offering. “Partners!” Laica agreed, grasping his hand in hers as her tail wagged happily.
