Selene awoke to the sounds of a heart monitor.
"W-where am I?"
"You're in the IBT division still. A medical room in the research and containment department." Dr. Bryant said, he'd looked over to her with mild surprise. He was standing next to another familiar doctor—Dr. Halsy. The one who'd she met on Endelon.
Her red hair was curly as before, but she'd styled the bangs differently so that they were swept to the side in a wave. She wore wide brimmed glasses that were curved at the bottom and pointy at the tips. She gave off an air of professionalism along with 'I'm sorry you're here' vibes like she did on Endelon.
"How are you feeling?" she asked.
She felt fine. Better than before actually—her constant headache was gone.
"...Fine. I.." should she tell them what she saw? About the visions? The alien armada that seemed like it was about to invade the sector? Probably a good idea.
"I saw something. That thing spoke to me. And I saw another planet. Full of those things. Flying ones. Ones that can go into space and it looked like they were leaving the planet. Going somewhere... Probably here."
That peaked Dr. Bryants curiosity. He took a seat and wheeled it closer to the hospital bed in which she laid.
"Your empath abilities seem to interact with the Zykra in surprising and unique ways Ms. Carrington. These visions you speak of, they're probably your brain trying to interpret the Encephalons influence. I'm sorry to admit that I might of taken advantage, I was so curious how the Encephalon would react to a telepath with similar abilities! ..Sometimes in the pursuit of knowledge... I uh, get ahead of myself. I should've made sure the psionic shielding on the containment cell was far stronger than it was. I didn't expect you to suffer what you did. I'm sorry."
As sincere as it sounded his vibes told another story. He didn't care about Selene, or anyone really for that matter. He cared about his research. The only worry he had was that she'd die before she could further it somehow.
Her vibe-reading abilities seemed to be stronger than before. Compared to that queen bug human minds were easy mode.
Selene took a breath. She'd only just woken up but she knew exactly what she needed to do now. The confusion, the apprehension before—was gone. Replaced with something else. She had a good idea.
"Frankly your sorry ain't worth squat doctor. From now on, tell me whenever I'm putting myself at risk and then pay me fairly. I actually have something in mind.."
"W-what?" he asked haphazardly.
"I want a specimen. Something I can train with one on one. Learn to control. Whatever that thing did to me... I never want to experience it again."
Dr. Bryant relaxed. He leaned back in his chair. "Well, I did intend something like this, to expose you to the zykra, and see just how far of your control over them extends..."
"Are we sure this is wise sir? She just suffered a severe seizure from exposure to a Zykra!" Dr. Halsy was having none of it it seemed. Darn that Hippocratic oath. Medical doctors cared more about health than research it seemed.
"That was an Encephalon, they have telepathic abilities of their own that are quite similar to Ms. Carringtons. So long as we don't expose her to it again—before she's ready, she should be fine. If we exposed her to something smaller, like a scantid perhaps... She could build a tolerance."
Dr. Halsy let out an exasperated sigh; "Either way, Selene needs to rest for some time. Using her abilities after an episode like that is a recipe for disaster."
Dr. Bryant nodded. "It will take some time to prepare a specimen. For starters, how do you feel about dogs, Ms. Carrington? Or do you prefer cats?"
Selene was in her apartment not long after that.
With four dogs and two cats.
The puppies were various breeds. A beagle, a shiba inu, a german shepard, and a bernard. One of the cats was a tabby and the other was some kind of fluffy persian with a grey coat and black pattern of waves through it. And a white fluffy tummy.
So many... This wasn't what Selene had expected when Dr. Bryant brought up pets.
"I can't believe this place even allows pets." was the firsts thing she said when they were delivered.
Animal vibes were different than people vibes she discovered. Easier to decipher. If Zykra were hard mode, humans were easy. And animals were even easier.
The dogs were affectionate. Their vibes were pretty consistent that way. Even now as the bernard sat on her carpet and stared at her the vibes it emitted could be boiled down essentially to; "I love you, I love you, do you love me?"
It's tail waged excitedly. The beagle was snapping at it as it swished across the carpet. It kept pawing the side of the bigger dog and doing play bows. But the bernard was having none of it.
The cats had a completely different vibe. Standoffish. Entitled. Bored.
All of the sudden her apartment was abuzz with animal activity. It was a refreshing change of pace.
The shiba had pulled a pillow from the couch and was whipping it around trying to tear it apart. The shepard was in the bathroom drinking from the toilet. One of the cats was on the kitchen counter gradually pushing a glass cup towards the edge.
"You guys make me miss Tywin... Alright, who wants to go for a walk?"
All the dogs picked their head up at that.
She ordered some leashes and harnesses for them and waited a half hour or so for them to show up in the little pneumonic chute mailbox in her room.
Then they set out for the stations park nearest them.
Selene was confused and unsure about having so many pets. One or two was one thing, six was another matter entirely... What was Dr. Bryant planning with this? Was she supposed to learn to control animal vibes first?
'Stop walking' she thought at the Shiba in front of her.
Nope. Wait- it stopped. Oh no. It lifted a leg and started to pee on one of the garden plots in the hall beneath the decorative rock wall.
"Wait until we're at the park first!" she shouted at it, grabbing it's face and mushing it all around. It whipped it's head away and 'arf'd' at her annoyedly. She'd have to use the vacuum pet cleaner thing she ordered to clean it up.
"You a dog walker private?" someone asked. Selene looked up to see a man in his fifties wearing a similar uniform. But with a few badges and a patch that signified the rank of 'Captain'.
"For now I am sir."
The captain walked over to the bernard and kneeled down to pet him; "I've always loved animals. Just no time for pets unfortunately." he stood up and offered his hand. "Captain Hyrax.", "Private Carrington." Selene shook his hand.
"How long have you been on the Alexandria private?", "Little over two months sir.", "And already you've gotten clearance for pets. IBT division?" he asked, mostly rhetorically Selene assumed. "Yes sir.", the captain waved a hand. "Call me Hyrax Ms. Carrington please, it's not like we're in wartime."
"..Okay."
He kneeled down again and all the dogs jealous of Bernards pets all jumped at him licked at his face. He dodged with amazing agility for his age and chuckled giving them headpats.
"Whose a good boy? You're a good boy!"
The dogs gave off a vibe of "Yes! We like that!", but Selene didn't need her empath abilities to know that. Their tails were creating a gust of wind at this point.
"Well I shouldn't allow myself to be distracted for too long... Unfortunately I have some captainly duties to see to. I hope to see you again Ms. Carrington." he gave her a nod to signify his leaving and she returned it.
As he turned to leave though Selene made an *Ahem* sound, Hyrax looked to her.
"And uhm... You can call me Selene, if you don't mind. Hyrax."
He gave a polite smile; "Selene." he gave a little half bow and continued walking away.
He seemed like a nice guy.
The park was a large open chamber like the training field. Impossibly large for the lack of supporting structures. It was possible thanks to gravity and pressure systems in the station.
The dogs were running about off leash. A nearby sign said it was fine for pets to be leash-less so she used the opportunity to be free of them for a moment.. Selene was sitting at the bench with her tablet. Trying to setup a schedule to look after the pets.
"Man, I need a bigger apartment..." she grumbled as she marked a time to feed them in her schedule.
The german shepard was sniffing a bush, and the beagle was sniffing her. And Bernard was sniffing him. A little chain of curious doggos. Shiba was running around trying to chase someone elses frisbee that they were tossing to each other.
"Shiba! Knock it off!" she shouted. The dog stopped and flickered her ears a flick sending vibes of irritation. This one had a lot of sassy vibes in general. Selene's headache was returning...
"It's fine! She's adorable!" the frisbee players shouted back.
Selene gave them a wave as if to say; 'fine.' then looked back down at her tablet.
Tomorrow she had CQC and rifle training. She'd have to shoot a gun.
That'd be different.
Then she'd help around in the containment department. She ordered some more odds and ends from the store app. Jumbo bag of dog food. Chew toys. Cat tower.
"Arf! Errrr!" she heard German growling and throwing a fit. She looked up to see the brown and black shepard fighting over a chew toy with the beagle. It yanked and pulled way too hard causing the smaller dog to let out a whine.
"HEY! Get over here!" she shouted.
German lowered her ears and tail and quickly jogged over to Selene.
"He's way too small for you to be so rough! Bad dog! No!" she jabbed a finger in German's direction. German whined and gave her puppy dog eyes.
"Sorry. I love you. Sorry. Are you going to bite me?" Germans vibes said.
Selene sighed and knelt down and began to kneed Germans ears. "You're a big dog German, and he's a little dog."
A vibe of confusion and happiness came from German then.
She took all the dogs home after that and found the cats huddled together on the back of the couch. Or well, sort of. The persian had the tabby in a chokehold. Whom seemed to of accepted his fate at some point. They were both sleeping soundly.
There was a notification on the mail chutes display. She pressed the button and a rolled up dogs bed fell out. Expanding rapidly.
She pressed it again and another fell out. Then another. Until there were six pet beds. Six food bowls and water bowls. Parts of a self-assembled cat tower fell out.
Selene really needed a bigger apartment.
She lined the bowls up in the kitchen, set up the litter boxes, and put the beds in the bedroom. Which had very little floor space now.
Selene sat on the couch and the beagle joined her immediately. He put his paws up on her shoulder and started panting in her face. She put a hand on his muzzle and turned him to face the TV.
He turned back instantly like a spring. And she repeated this again before she gave up and turned the TV on. Trying to ignore the dog breath as she did.
Oh, she had access to the news now. Nice.
They were covering political stuff. The royal family was having disagreements it seemed. And the two party system was picking sides. Same ol' same ol'.
They cut to some official military looking dude who was listing off new divisions in the Protectorates Defense Force. But then they mentioned the IBT.
"The whistleblower from the Endelon farming colony is currently working with the IBT division of the P.U.C. Defense Force to prevent further dangerous events from happening..." they showed a picture of Selene.
"Hey, that's me!" Selene said to the beagle who was still breathing in her face.
'lick'
"Puh! Heeey!" she reached for him but he ducked out of her arms and ran away. "Get back here you little rascal!" she laughed before chasing after him. This riled up the other dogs who started chasing too. The apartment was like a miniature circus at this point.
Meanwhile the muffled voices on the TV continued on.
"The Interplanetary Biohazard Division has reported a substantial interplanetary threat in the Joaquin system and is requesting additional military support from the defense force at large. 6 planets have already been evacuated and it is projected that at least a dozen more will be in the following months..."
Selene didn't catch any of that.
Later that night Selene laid in a pile of floof. Her new pets refused to use their own beds.
She dreamed of a vast cosmos of swirling nebulas and countless stars. And two massive violet orbs floating in the void of space, staring at her.