11:59:40
11:59:39
11:59:38…
The glass corridor behind me was empty.
Fluffy had vanished.
Even the butler was gone.
Only me, the sleeping original body in the tank, and the warm black box that felt like it had a heartbeat.
I walked to the only console in the room: a single slot glowing soft blue.
11:59:15
My hands shook worse than the first time I polished the collar.
11:59:05
I slid the box in.
Click.
The countdown froze at 00:00:03.
Everything went dark.
Then every screen in the room lit up at once.
Lines of code.
Brain scans.
Old videos of Fluffy (the real body) running on a beach, barking at waves, chasing a little girl with pigtails.
The girl was maybe seven years old.
She was laughing.
Calling him "Fluffu".
A date flashed on the main screen:
15 March 2018
Location: Oberoi Private Island, Maldives
Then hospital footage.
The same girl on a stretcher.
Doctors shouting.
Fluffy barking like crazy, trying to jump on the bed.
Flatline.
Followed by another flatline… from Fluffy himself minutes later.
A new timestamp appeared.
Neural Transfer Protocol – SUCCESS
Subject consciousness moved to synthetic host
Original body preserved in cryo-suspension
Sponsor: F.O.
The lights turned blood red.
A single line appeared in golden text:
"Welcome back, Papa."
The original body in the tank opened its eyes.
Normal brown eyes.
No red glow.
It looked straight at me and spoke for the first time.
Not the robotic body.
The real one.
"Thank you, Vikram."
Its voice was small, tired… human.
The glass cube unlocked with a hiss.
The wires detached themselves.
The dog stepped out on shaky legs, dripping fluid, and walked straight to me.
It sat.
Looked up.
And waited.
Behind me the elevator doors opened again.
Fluffy (the red-eyed version) walked in slowly.
Both dogs stared at each other.
Seven years apart.
One synthetic.
One real.
The real Fluffy spoke again, voice barely a whisper.
"I kept my promise.
I took care of everyone… like you asked."
The red-eyed Fluffy lowered his head and placed it gently against the real one's forehead.
For thirty silent seconds they stayed like that.
Then the synthetic body went limp and collapsed.
Red glow faded from the eyes.
The butler appeared from nowhere, picked up the empty synthetic shell without a word, and carried it away.
The original Fluffy (now just a normal dog again) looked at me.
He was smaller than I expected.
Weak.
Old.
He tried to stand taller, failed, and simply leaned against my leg.
I knelt down and scratched behind his ears without thinking.
He closed his eyes and let out the longest, happiest sigh I'd ever heard from any living thing.
The butler returned.
"Master's final order, Mr. Meghal.
Take him home.
Real home.
No palace. No bodyguards.
Just a normal life.
The fortune remains yours to manage.
But he only wants one thing now."
I looked down at the tired dog resting his head on my knee.
"What does he wants?"
The butler actually smiled. A real one this time.
"A quiet garden.
Good food.
And someone who will never leave him again."
I felt something wet on my hand.
Fluffy was crying.
Not the billionaire.
Not the king.
Just an old dog who had finally come home.
I picked him up gently.
He weighed almost nothing.
As we walked to the elevator, he licked my cheek once.
And whispered (so softly only I could hear):
"Thank you… beta."
The elevator doors closed.
Countdown reset to infinity.
End of contract.
Beginning of family.
(The End… or maybe just the beginning of a very different story)